9. Synergy - Part One
Letters From a Little Princess Monster
Synergy
Darkness enveloped the small town of Ponyville in a cool all-encompassing embrace, bringing cool night breezes in through open windows and a peaceful serenity to the empty streets. Nothing moved except a few pieces of laundry put out to air overnight, throwing faint shadows on the paths that intertwined between the houses and shops.
Only one of the shadows moved.
No ground-bound observer noticed the motion of a mottled shadow who never seemed to touch moonlight, but slid past instead. For several nights now, the small town had been the host of the small shadow. Unnoticed. Unseen. A shadow hidden inside a shadow. It had visited many houses, peeking in through open shutters and windows as if looking for something that it was unable to find. Several of the town pets had seen it, from the curious barking of a dog who was willing to play despite the lateness of the hour, to a cat, who had ignored it the same way as cats ignore any other creature beneath the majesty of cats, which is to say all of them. Even the library owl had caught a glimpse of it on occasion and inquired about its name. But it did not answer, merely slipping away into the night.
The shadow paused this night outside a small house, from which a haunting melody drifted on the cool breeze. The music faded and rose, with occasional pauses and repeats as the players went back and retried difficult places, but even the mistakes seemed to blend into the night and echo back from the stars. Four small hooves rested in familiar hoofprints, growing deeper every night the shadow visited to listen to the entrancing music and water the concealing bush with her tears. The silent moon kept watch as the music swept her away for hours, until the musicians could no longer play and silence once again filled the streets.
And the shadow was gone.
But golden eyes in the darkness watched as she left.
---~^~^~^~^---
“Miss Zecora, it’s been almost a week. Can’t Monster… I mean Flower come out and play?” Scootaloo and the rest of the crusaders fixated the zebra with their best mournful eyes, which she met with a sleep-deprived look of her own.
“My little Flower has spent much time in our herb cellar with the thyme.
She’s been most upset and does not wish to speak of it yet.
We have been through times like this before
And it will do no good to knock upon her door.
The best we can do is to wait out her sorrow too
Perhaps today, or even tomorrow, Scootaloo.”
Five little ponies plodded away in the bright sunshine, feeling as dark and gloomy as if it were pouring rain on a school vacation day.
“Ah can’t believe there’s nothing we can do to cheer her up,” groused Apple Bloom, kicking a pebble down the road.
“Well, I’m not going to just sit around anymore,” said Featherweight. “It’s time for action! Who’s the best pony for cheering up somebody with a case of the gloomies!”
“Pinkie Pie!” chorused the little ponies.
* * *
“I’m sorry girls. And Featherweight,” added Pinkie Pie before the little colt could finish swallowing one of the delicious cupcakes the five friends were eating. “I’ve already talked to Miss Zecora, and she says whenever Flower is having a grumpy grump day like this, anything she does to cheer her up only makes her grumpier. I mean, you’d have to have somepony even grumpier and crankier than her to cheer her up, and that’s not easy, because even Trixie is not as grumpy as she used to be. I just can’t think of anypony grumpy enough to do the trick.”
“Rainbow Dash when she wakes up from a nap?”
“No, Thcoots.” Twist shook her head, knocking a few small candies out of her mane that she had planned on smuggling in to Monster. “Thee needth thombody who feelth like thee doeth. Thombody who underthandth how bad thee feelth.”
“I suppose. But the grumpiest pony I’ve ever met was—” Sweetie Belle bounced out of her seat and dashed over to the window, pointing into the distance where Canterlot was visible in the brilliant morning sunshine. “I’ve got it! What we need is the gloomiest, grouchiest glum grump in existence to talk with her so she feels happy by comparison. And I know just the pony.”
---~^~^~^~^---
The cool breezes of summer nights whispered quietly through Ponyville, carrying the sorrowful music through the silent streets once again. Monster stood in her accustomed spot, floating away in her mind as the music enveloped her in darkness and grief. She could feel the spirits of the earth once again under her hooves, whispering to her as she shifted her weight on the dark, rich soil beside the bush. Their words still did not make sense, but their meaning was very plain.
She was being watched.
Monster turned to face the street, knowing where the charcoal-grey pegasus with the golden eyes was even before as she stepped out of the shadows. There was something familiar about her, an undertone of grief and sorrow that struck a chord of harmony in Monster’s heart even as she took in the sharp teeth and unnatural eyes that marked the pony as an exile from normal society. The mare wore an an elaborately embroidered cloak over her concealed wings, and carried herself with a certain level of grace that reminded Monster of — Celestia, although the princess would not have been impolite enough to simply stand there and stare at Monster. It seemed as if words had failed the pegasus, and Monster decided to supply her own.
“What do you want?”
The strange mare fumbled for words, looking back and forth up the street before blurting out, “I’m looking for Twilight Sparkle.”
“So am I,” whispered Monster, turning back to the music.
“No, I mean…” The mare scowled and looked back over her shoulder momentarily. “How did I let myself get talked into this? My name is Laminia, and I’m here to ask for a favor.”
---~^~^~^~^---
The light tapping at Princess Luna’s bedroom door could only be from one pony, and after a brief untangling of obstinate sheets, Luna opened the door to glare at her sister.
“Tia? I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
Celestia nodded and stepped back, revealing a pair of unicorns Luna had never seen before. “I can understand your apprehension, my sister. That is why I was hoping you would agree to speak with Twilight Sparkle’s parents. She is having a rather rough time in Ponyville at the moment, and I was hoping you might have some insight that would ease her troubles. Lord Night Light. Lady Twilight Velvet. This is my sister, Princess Luna. I understand you have a number of things to speak about, so I will allow you some privacy.”
As the Princess of the Sun strode quietly away, Twilight Velvet stepped forward and bowed along with her husband. “Princess Luna, I understand you have seen my daughter. Is she… well?”
Luna considered the word ‘well’ for a moment, trying to figure out just how it would apply to a young mare who had been nearly killed by magical overload from the sun, raised in the Everfree Forest, and reborn through the Element of Magic in the form of a small alicorn filly. “Considering her circumstances, she is quite well. She has friends,” added Luna wistfully. “She writes of them and of you in her correspondence. Would you like to read them?”
A few minutes later, Luna opened the silver coffer on her desk and floated out the letters she had received, watching Twilight Sparkle’s parents read through them with an intensity that bordered on disturbing. They held themselves well, limiting themselves to a few damp sniffs that were muffled in some tissues, and eventually giving the letters up to be tucked back inside the coffer.
“Thank you, Princess,” said Night Light, his golden eyes moist with tears, reminding Luna far too much of the golden eyes of the Nocturne outside her door that night. The frightening incident had not been repeated, and that single glance was the only time she had seen them since, although the golden glint of hiding eyes seemed to fill the darkness whenever she peered out the curtains at her beautiful night.
“We would not have bothered you this evening, Your Highness,” said Twilight Velvet with one last dab of a damp tissue on her nose. “But we were approached by one of your guards with a problem that was very synergistic with ours.”
---~^~^~^~^---
The dark pony named Laminia had curled up in the damp grass of the garden and wrapped her cloak around her, shivering in the warm breeze as she looked at the distant moon. Monster could not concentrate on the music with the other pony in close proximity, as the faint glint of sharp teeth and the rustle of anxious membranous wings beneath the cloak were poorly hidden signs of her obvious discomfort at being in Monster’s presence. They remained side by side in the garden for a while, but after a long period of time had gone by without any further words, Monster asked, “Why?”
“Because I was asked by a friend. A very annoying friend, but since I don’t have very many of them, so I thought it would be…” Laminia trailed off, seemingly entranced by the silver glow of the strange empty moon in the sky, so different than all the years she had watched it with mom. “You saw her, did you not? Our Queen of the Night, who we have waited a thousand years to return, striding across the sky in majesty too great to be comprehended. I felt her that night as she called to me, but I was unable to answer, and when I woke, she was gone.” The dark mare slowly turned from looking at the sky to stare into Monster’s eyes. “What was she like? Where did she go? Will she return again soon?”
“No. She’s gone. Not coming back. Ever.” Monster shivered at the burning look in Laminia’s eyes, but did not look away.
A deep voice in the darkness much like a warm foghorn said, “Peace. We don’t want to hurt you or your friends.” A similar dark pony emerged from the night beside Laminia, only he was a stallion dressed in dark purple steel armor with a look of concern focused on his counterpart. “You were supposed to only ask her to intervene with the Princess of the Night about our kind, as we discussed with Night Light and his wife.”
Monster backed up underneath the comforting darkness of the bush next to the house, her eyes wide in the darkness. “No. Not them too. Please. Just go away.”
“Smooth move, Lumpy,” muttered the dark mare, moving to stand in front of the armored stallion. “Look, Twilight Sparkle. We only want you to speak with Luna about talking with Lumpy and his ilk. It seems he put his hoof in it pretty solidly when he ambushed her on the way to the baths, and—”
“Not Twilight. Monster,” she whimpered, trying to draw magic for an escape and feeling the spirits of the earth struggle against her instead.
“No, no, no!” Laminia sat down abruptly and laid her head down between her forehooves, followed in a rather slower fashion by the dark stallion. “I’m sorry. And so is Lumpy. If you want us to go away, we will, but we only want to talk to you about Luna. Even if she isn’t really Celestia’s sister.” Laminia twitched as if she had been solidly poked in the side and let out a pained grunt before she continued. “Anyway, Lumpy and a bunch of his tin-headed idiot friends are all impatient to meet her now that they think she’s back. He did a stupid and made her cry, but some of your friends visited us in Canterlot and came up with a smart idea. We would come here and talk with you about our problem, while… another couple would talk with Luna about their problem.
---~^~^~^~^---
Luna’s bedroom felt very cold as the Princess of the Night regarded the two quiet unicorns sitting nearby. “You wish me to speak with your daughter and convince her to meet with you. Is that correct?”
“Yes, Your Highness,” said Night Light with a nod of his head that made his mane bob.
“You do realize she was traumatized greatly by her time in the Everfree Forest, correct?”
“Of course, Your Highness,” said Twilight Velvet, a small catch in her voice the only sign of the stress she was going through. “Our son kept us informed of their attempts to reach her. From what he and Princess Cadence told us, our little Twilight seems to have traumatized the Everfree Forest quite a bit in return too.” A nervous giggle broke away from the mare’s iron restraint, and Night Light moved to place one comforting hoof on hers. “I mean, she was so uncontrolled, I was always afraid that they might actually be able to catch her, and then what? When Princess Celestia told us about Zecora, I couldn’t make up my mind whether I was furious somepony else had taken our little Twily away from us, or just thankful she had found somepony to love her like a mother. Do you understand, Your Highness?”
“No,” said Luna flatly. “I’ve never had foals of my own. Even your Twilight Sparkle is as close as I have ever been to becoming a big sister.” The dark alicorn turned away from the compassionate looks of the couple and tapped the silver coffer with one hoof. “From her letters, I understand she had an encounter with the changelings in which she killed a number of them. The act of taking a life can be quite strenuous on the young, and I can see why the deaths would weigh heavily upon her soul. But with therapy, I’m sure she will get over her—”
Night Light’s face had become more and more emotionless as Luna spoke, finally breaking in with a low voice tinged with an arctic chill. “Cadence told us after Twily and her friends were captured and imprisoned by the changelings, she killed their entire hive, thousands of them, just as coldly as if you or I had stepped on a bug. Turned the entire hive into an explosive of some sort and rode out the blast in a magical bubble inside the hive.”
Luna blinked, taken aback by the carnage of the mental image. “I see.”
“And then she carried her friends out of the blown-up hive still wrapped in their cocoons, just so five little fillies wouldn’t see all the deaths she had caused. She waded through their blood and guts so her little friends would not have to see what she had done.”
Words would not come to Luna as she thought of the screams from that horrible night of her own so long ago, as Nightmare Moon drew the power out of all of her new creations, burning them to ashes in a futile attempt to fight Celestia and the Elements of Harmony. Their charred remains had been left behind when she was banished to the moon, but the memories of her dying followers were just as sharp and clear as the night they happened.
“Then afterwards she met the Queen of the Changelings, and came within a whisker of using her magic to kill every single one of them. She didn’t, and even Princess Cadence says she’s not sure why, but you know what, Princess? I don’t care. My Twilight could have done far worse, and we still love her and want to be with her. I want to believe she needs us, even with her friends and Zecora. We’re her parents, for pony’s sake. She’s our own flesh and blood, and she will always be that on the inside, no matter how she looks on the outside.”
The limitless power of the Everfree flowed through Nightmare Moon, wrapping the group of pegasi in front of her in a crimson flow as the spell took hold. Feathered wings warped with a crackle of reshaping bones, and the screams of agony slowly gave way to a hushed silence as she leaned into the spell, adding just the smallest portion of her own soul to the newly formed creatures who stared back at their creator with adoring golden eyes.
---~^~^~^~^---
“What do you really want?” whispered Monster to the two subservient pegasi, both still laying on their bellies with the faces in the damp grass. Even with their eyes closed and looking down, she could still feel little flickers of gold as if they had never quit looking at her with those mournful eyes.
“Just speak with her about us. That is all we wish.” The dark stallion remained face down as he spoke, sounding somewhat muffled from his position.
“I only send letters.” Monster shifted uncomfortably, the music forgotten as she looked up into the starry sky. “Nothing back. She’s afraid of me. Everypony is. I think. Maybe.”
“She is our Princess of the Night,” intoned the stallion. “There is no fear or doubt in her heart, only love.”
“She’s a fraud,” snapped the mare. “Created by Celestia for whatever weird purpose she has in mind, probably just to reduce her workload.”
Monster looked back and forth between the two dark pegasi, one large and bulky in his purple armor, and the other small and well-dressed with what looked to be a perpetual scowl on her otherwise beautiful face. They seemed so different on the surface, despite their matching golden eyes and dragon-like wings, and yet there was a harmony between them that fairly crackled with power, as if they were two different parts of the same whole. For twelve seasons, mom had been an inseparable part of Monster’s life, as unchanging as the moon and the stars. In just the last few weeks, mom had changed beyond all comprehension, showing overwhelming feelings much the same as these two. And with a changeling.
The earth spirits beneath her hooves spoke of other changelings in the huge town, all quiet and peaceful now despite their strange appearance and her first violent encounter with them. They could be accepted despite their appearance, even as her friends had accepted her, but they had not done the horrible things she had—
images danced through her head as the music stuttered and stopped. visions of pale ponies streaming green goo being pulled out of shriveled changeling pods, their motionless bodies being carried to a heaping pile of refuse. small ponies being carried away from villages and stuffed into pods without number, all packed into the darkness of a much larger hive. burning trails of wagons with heaped bodies all around, and other prisoners being carried by lines of changelings, returning them to feed the insatiable hunger of the enormous hive. and over them all, a huge changeling queen, watching with approval as she feasted on the captured love energy, traces of which still resonated within Monster’s body.
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Last update before Season 4. Better make it a good one.
An interesting little part 1.
I'm not sure what to say to this, but only that I'm speechless
*low-key whistle* Something tells me big stuff is going to happen soon.
Pretty good update, though I hope that delusional bat pony mare doesn't do anything stupid.
On a side note, why is everybody liking the love triangle, they should be disturbed. Princess Luna had sex with Big Mac after knowing him for all but five minutes, that is pretty slutty. Celestia is not much better, putting out after what could constitute as a few dates. And if they actually start fighting over him, well than they're just idiots. I am sure there are plenty of hunky, kind farmer stallions in Equestria who would be more than happy to plow their plots, no reason to argue over just one. Really, I would definitely not want a couple of petty whorses running my country.
3518325 Twilight's about to have a super omega 3 break down from her remembrance or recall of the changelings actions before her lethal intervention.
I don't think things are going to turn out to well.
3518392
Can't tell if serious....
Well looks like things are about to get chaotic soon. Better start building that Fallout Shelter just in case.
dat ending
Missing a word in the third paragraph, probably it from the context.
So, Trixie? Cranky Doodle?
Hah! Ain't that the truth.
Huh, so Twilight's parents want to reconnect with her (understandable), Lamina is currently going with the "Luna is fake" theory (silly bat), and Monster just experienced a traumatic memory/vision of the bad stuff that the changelings used to get up to. Here's hoping she doesn't react to it poorly, Tallgrass is the closest changeling at hand and he really has suffered enough.
3518656
More of a joke pointing out the general problem with love triangles involving the princesses or Mane6. Pretty sure any 8 of these mares can get whomever they want, two are royalty and six are national heroes. I don't believe an fight over a man would ever really occur between any of them, especially because they all represent the Elements of Harmony, princesses included, and a cat fight is like chaos incarnate. Discord doesn't even compare.
Also, though I can't actually be sure, I think they're all suppose to be attractive by pony standards. Since when have attractive females ever had trouble getting a male to have sex with them? Heck, Luna proves this when she gets Big Mac to f$%k her instantly.
If I may ask, what were they doing in the interim?
We really need a picture of a fan in here - because this situation is probably going to escalate quickly and end abruptly.
3517791 and you have done well as far as I can tell, so loving this
3517791 You succeeded. This was a great update, I think I look forward to your updates as much as I'm looking forward to Sat morning.
3521399 Well, Saturday I'm going to be watching, not writing.
3519933 Well, it's only a few yards away. They're not doing anything plot specific, so I didn't include it, but if it helps, you can think of them as respectfully walking over to the reception area and making themselves comfortable.
3519823 *Gasp!* I assure you, Princess Luna only had the most moral of intentions with Big Mac, staying the night so that he could show her his stamp collection and the family photo album. And the second visit was to get his opinion on the proper garnish for rose petal salads, a topic which is very near his specialty in cooking. Officially. *ahem*
3519259 1) fixed it. Heck, my proofreader had even spotlighted it for me.
2) Laminia, of course. Didn't you know her last name was BTFSPLK?
3) "Um. Hey mom? I kind of broke your coltfriend. But you can just go pick another one out, right?"
3521734
I guess. I just thought it seemed odd that there was a break in the conversation that lasted several minutes before Luna carried through on her offer, during which nothing of note was done. (Now I can't help but imagine them all just zoning out right after Luna asks if they want to read the letters, just standing there, staring into space, until Luna comes back to her senses and retrieves the letters.) More seriously though, you might want to consider replacing the time based transition with an action based one, if you don't mind my suggestion.
I sure wish I wasn't so stopped by awe of this chapter in order to actually comment on this chapter. But this will suffice, I think.
Plz make the next update soon this has been a great story so far.
I can already see 
. I can't wait!!! 
Twilight SparkleMosnter sneaking in to see Luna when she stops right in her tracks paralyzed by fear (remembering some traumatic events aka visions) by seeing her parents there, oopsneeds end " marks.
______________
Poor Twi and Luna I can't wait to see them start bonding. They need each other.
I see, you can't run away from your past.
...I cautiously continue down this saccharine path, ever watchful for the lurking predator that is the Big Mac subplot, hoping that it is just paranoia that keeps me looking over my shoulder...*shudder*
Yeah the forest trembled in her presence
Dr. Warthorpe: "We carry a lantern into the night so that no other need peer into the Veil."