Missing Pages & Scrawled Footnotes

by Ice Star

Pri(n)celess [Cancelled] [Outline]

Author's Note:

This is totally related to the other something other right here. Read it. And forgive me if the tone of these notes isn't always serious.

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I Put The Goddamned Title At The Top Already

Teen|Horsie Kisses|I Give The Fuck Up

Princess Platinum is in mourning after the death of Clover, her faithful companion. But none would know just how deep their bond really was, and it would be a secret that the noble unicorn takes to her grave... among other less-than-noble things.

Story Summary/Draft Notes:

-The age difference between Clover and Platinum is six years. This means that Clover 'the Clever' was six years old at the time of Tear the Sky Asunder.

-The ponies in the Tribal Era were homophobic. Favorable Alignment is the only story of mine (so far) to highlight this in any way.

-The reason that the Tribes held this particular prejudice is briefly mentioned by a modern Celestia in the previously mentioned story. She's a very unreliable narrator, but in the letter where the topic is discussed she states:

Ponies like that were never hated in the Tribal Era, but they weren't regarded with the same kindness ponies are treated with now. They couldn't have legitimate heirs, which is what everypony wanted back then, so they were shunned to some degree.

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Anything marked with those lovely *s will be revealed with the spoiler function at the very bottom of the page if you want to learn the context of that particular spoiler without having to read where it originated from. Had I gone and completed this story, many of these would have been worked into the narration where I could, thus rendering this the best fill-in I could come up with.

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Chapter 1: Platinum is five years old, and being read to by her father, the cowardly* King Tantalum, on one of the rare occasions that he decides to spend time with her. As a noble, she'll eventually be taught to read a little, but since she isn't that old** she has not yet been taught. The 'ghost' of her mother watches, showing no strong emotion toward her daughter as the scene unfolds. The story being read to her (Platinum) is a rather twisted sort of fairy tale - think like a morality play, but with propaganda and in the form of a children's book - that reflects the Tribal equivalent of the 'and they lived happily ever after' deal.

But being the Tribes, which is basically ye olde Europe with cartoon horsies it sucks. Since Platinum is still rather young and doesn't quite grasp what marriage is, she manages to inquire into the matter, but in a surprisingly un-inquisitive way that lacks the usual curiosity that makes, like, 90% of children children.

King Tantalum actually bothers to give a bit of a fuck about his daughter and answer her question about the story's depiction of marriage (after all, he plans to marry her off one day, not that she's entirely unaware of this). He tells her about the 'dangers' of love - something the Tribal ponies have none of because they all suck*** - and her father continues to tell her in a really half-assed way because he's seriously not the smartest, but he at least gives an accurate portrait of Tribal bias and explaining why ponies get married in the Tribal Era - heirs, politics, and money.

After his rambling, the king asks Platnium to promise him that she won't fall in love like this is absolutely normal to be asked. He then encourages her to not ask any more questions in the future.

Platinum agrees to both, not seeing - or ever questioning - why she shouldn't. As she does so, the 'ghost' in the background that only she can see offers an eerie applaud.

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Chapter 2: Platinum is now eight years old, shallower, pettier, and has to mask further instability due to being 'haunted' by the 'ghost'. She is playing with her dolls in her chambers and decides to have a doll wedding, but as she arranges them for the wedding, she realizes that all her dolls are mares - there's no groom! How can she have her doll wedding now? Should she just quit and demand a servant entertain her? What was the harm in playing though?

Innocently, she tries to rationalize - silently, and to herself - reasons in why there isn't any harm in using a boyish-looking* doll of a mare to be the stand-in for a groom. The 'ghost' queen watches silently as ignorant young Platinum acts out a wedding scene uses her dolls, enjoying herself - though a bit nervously - before that caution fades away. To Platinum, her wedding of two mares feels 'almost right'**.

The queen continues to watch silently as the ignorant filly is discovered by a maid in her play - and there is no mistake in what she is doing. Platinum is harshly scolded for her behavior - the maid knows that this is the only heir to the unicorn throne and that she is the only means of getting 'proper' heirs, as the king has no other foals that he can marry off once they are of age***.

While the ghost still stares on, young Platinum is still confused as the maid repeats what her father told her a few years ago - the 'correct' way to do things - only far more harshly.

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Chapter 3: Platinum is still eight years old in this continuation of the last chapter. Her father hears about what happened and though he is displeased, he isn't violent towards Platinum in any way. He lectures Platinum on what is expected of her - after all, she is near marrying age - and essentially tells her how her entire life is supposed to go, according to his pretty much set in stone plan that was decided before she was even born.

Young Platinum manages to lie her way out of any kind of punishment or suspicion and gets her cutie mark - a mirror that reflects* her surface deep personality, deception, and inability to question the world around her, thus being willing to live a lie - while her father falsely praises it as a mirror of truth.

His mood changes a bit and he talks excitedly about her her first servant - a rite of passage for any proper noble. The 'ghost' agrees as soon as her father talks about a possible hoofmaiden in Clover 'the Clever' - a 'student'** of Starswirl the Bearded's.

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Chapter 4: A ten year old* Platinum meets a sixteen year old Clover 'the Clever'. The latter is fretful, spastic, and awkward as well as incredibly meek. She is very paranoid (but never can explain why she is) and has been used in some of the (largely fruitless) magical experiments, leaving her very scatterbrained and a bit of a lunatic, but still functional enough to serve the princess.

Platinum doesn't really like her at first - she's only a servant - but finds herself steadily growing infatuated with Clover - an experience she hates and fears in good measure.

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Chapter 5: With no other more eloquent way to put it, Platinum tries to deny her infatuation with Clover, both a servant and a mare. She does nothing to give herself away as a gay horse, but that doesn't make her life much easier.

Her mother's 'ghost' grows worse and Platinum only begins to just hide her madness at times. She gleefully indulges the bitchy side of her that only grew with age by viciously taunting a younger Luna and Celestia on the occasions they are brought to the castle by Starswirl.

Eventually, Platinum overhears discussions about potential marriage to a noblestallion. This drives her to have a breakdown in her room, right in front of her mirror, smashing it as the 'ghost' taunts her even more than usual.

She is found by Clover, who fetches her disappointed father. He refuses to do anything about the episode other than deeming her unfit for marriage. Her 'madness' (which Clover and Tantalum only observe the aftermath of) is kept secret and brushed under the rug.

Platinum is fourteen years old.*

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Chapter 6: Platinum and Clover set off and 'find' 'new' land* for the Tribes to live in and call home. The 'ghost' still bothers her, but not as much as when she spends time around Clover, whose company she actually enjoys, even if she still treats her like a very low servant.

Before she leaves, Platinum gives Starswirl a payment of books (something Platinum sees as useless) from an old archive** in the castle as payment for him agreeing to poison her father. Among them is the Book, which Starswirl opens and proclaims blank. He tries to argue with her to take it back, saying that he'd rather have her as his bride than a cache of old hoarded knowledge. She manages to get him to take the books - and the Book*** - anyway.

After Clover, Pansy, and Smart Cookie save the rest of the founders from the windigos, Platinum gets a moment alone with Clover and gives her a kiss, which shocks the ever-nervous and meek Clover, who is in fact, asexual aromantic****. She still agrees to personally swear her undying loyalty (not that she would have had a choice otherwise, as a servant) to a very heartbroken and ambitious Platinum, who is now twenty two***** years old and as bitchy as ever.

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Epilogue: In the Forte* in Canterlote**, Platinum mourns Clover's death***, while preparing wine - that she has poisoned for the occasion. As she goes about this, it is revealed that she was a very surprisingly heartless and stern ruler who continued to obey tradition**** instead of making much of any real civil progress that would eventually be made by Celestia and Luna*****.

Even though she always treated Clover like a servant - and despite her love - not a particularly influential one either - she barely showed Clover any real love other than a vain fascination of some kind over the years. She is old-ish****** but her age is not specified.

Through the narration (which never switches to first person) she announces that she will see Clover by morning. Suddenly frantic and displaying something other than coldness for the first time, the panicking 'ghost' tells Platinum that it loves her.

Platinum expresses nothing beyond saying 'I do not'******* before drinking the wine.

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Footnotes:

Chapter 1:

[1] In chapter six of Asunder the king, Tantalum, more or less lets his wife die.

[2] Tribal ponies didn't live very long, no matter which Tribe you were in, so their perception of age isn't a very good one.

[3] They're more or less all racist, dystopia dwelling, prejudice peddling imbeciles with far too much power for their own good - power that they use to oppress themselves and their neighbors (the other Tribes) as well as fuel numerous civil wars.

Chapter 2:

[1] This doll would have likely been a warrior mare, a rarity to the unicorns, but common among the other Tribes. However, this doll wouldn't have been anything other than a unicorn mare - so all Platinum's dolls would have been like an intentionally very racist version of horse Barbie.

[2] She's gay.

[3] Basically a ten year old. In the Tribes a pony from 8-10 would have more or less been considered an adult and married off. But just because the pony was now an adult in the eye of the Tribe ponies didn't mean they had any rights or say in their future - it was all a matter or power and tradition.

Chapter 3:

[1] Her talent is actually lying - the perfect cutie mark for any future politician!

[2] Clover is a live in servant for Starswirl and has been since she was a young filly. She knows only a little more than the average unicorn in magic (considering how stupid they were, this would be considerable) but is otherwise very weak and unable to do magic. She has no say in her life and what will become of her. If she were alive today, Clover would certainly not be 'clever' but more along the lines of - for lack of a better term - magically retarded.

Chapter 4:

[1] She's marrying age now! Oh no! She's also an 'adult' and will be treated as such by the servants, however she still has little, if any, say in anything until she becomes a queen or manages to get any sort of power for herself - which is nearly impossible since her husband would be the one to inherit the Unicorn Throne, not her.

Chapter 5:

[1] According to most ponies of the era, Platinum should have had at least one foal by this age, so her being unamarried still would be extremely strange.

Chapter 6:

[1] They're simply returning to the southern land their ancestors fled so long ago, during the Collapse, when all was ruin and wasteland as far as the eye could see.

[2] Ponies with access to this kind of knowledge (which would be very lacking and mostly medieval 'science' and 'magic' about the alleged workings of the world) would be in a purely superstitious and ornamental position with little actual value in Tribal society. Being paid in books - most of which would only offer a testament to how dumb the Tribes were - would almost be insulting, unless you were a sorcerer who tried to work on your own magic (as successful or silly as that would be) but those would be largely nonexistent.

[3] The exodus Luna and Celestia lead in Through the Snow was some years after the events in this chapter and before Onyx was under Starswirl's 'care'. The founders would have set up a camp and tried to establish a base for a few years before sending somepony back to rally the other Tribes for an exodus and prepare for the massive amount of travel that would have to be done.

[4] The Tribes would have no word for this, and it would be frowned upon, but if Platinum's sexuality were brought up, Clover's asexuality would be forgotten - though not considered a 'lesser evil' to the corrupt Tribes.

[5] An unmarried and foalless pony at her age would be jaw-drop inducing shocking to other ponies.

Epilogue:

[1] The meeting place of the former Tribes, now known as the Equestrian Triarchy, made up of Hurricane, Puddinghead, and Platinum. What, did you really think that Clover, Pansy, and Smart Cookie would get anything other than ornamental positions as 'advisor'? They didn't.

[2] The city that the former unicorn Tribe chose to establish. The pegasai and earth ponies had their own main cities too.

[3] See The Symphony of Dawn.

[4] Right now, those two would be living in the Everfree Castle. They would be in charge or raising the sun and moon now, but have no political power and be rather reclusive (yes, even Celestia). Despite this, ponies would still be able to see them, if they made the journey. There would have been parties thrown by Celestia at the castle then, so they weren't completely withdrawn. When the events of Spare Him His Life roll around, they would be sought out as advisors to rule in times of crisis or champions to be called upon to do what no mortal could. Their titles of 'Princess' are solely a formality at this point, but they still act as defenders of First Equestria. Only after Discord's fall would they take the throne for themselves.

[5] Platinum is in her 40s-70s, most likely.

[6] She'd likely be using a majestic plural.