Sonata Discovers What?!
Chapter 25
Pinkie and Sonata arrived at school and could immediately tell that something big was going on. For one thing, Rainbow Dash was arguing with Rarity and Twilight about something as they both held her back on the soccer field to keep her from running off somewhere.
The air felt electrically charged, and Applejack was marching straight towards them with a very serious expression on her face. Sonata nervously smiled at the farm girl and wondered if ‘Dagi had made her next move yet. It was a very real possibility and the Rainbooms didn’t seem to be treating her with as much fear as they should have been even though they promised they would.
“Applejack!” Pinkie greeted, happily oblivious to the mood her friend was in.
Sonata offered a very weak smile.
“Hey.” Applejack stopped in front of Sonata. “Ah gotta ask ya a real hard question, and ah need ya ta be honest with me.”
Sonata giggled nervously. “Oh sure.”
“Are ya here just because of Adagio?”
Sonata blinked. “Well d’uh, I’m here to help prevent you girls from getting in trouble. I mean that’s pretty much my entire motivation. It’s so not worth it to get revenge for something like losing our voices when I can have Pinkie Pie instead.”
Pinkie smiled with a stray tear in her eye. “Awwwww, I love you too, ‘Nata.”
Applejack shook her head frustratedly. “Not now, Pinkie!” she snapped.
Pinkie’s hair started to deflate again. “What’s her deal anyway? I mean it isn’t like Sonata has done anything evil. Why do all our friends want to be so mean towards her? She’s trying really, really, really hard!” Pinkamena sounded really mad. Pinkie tried not to worry about it.
Applejack blew a bang out of her eyes and stared intently at Sonata. “So when were ya gonna tell us she could hypnotize folks again?”
Sonata stared at Applejack with a blank expression on her face. She started laughing. “Very funny, Apple girl, ha, ha! I love it, Adagio can’t do that because she can’t sing, if she can’t sing she can’t entice anybody. What a great joke, not!” she finished in a bitter tone.
Applejack shook her head. “Fluttershy saw it, Adagio put that there mind whammy on her folks next door. They’re obeyin’ everythin’ she tells’em to.”
Sonata’s expression changed. She glared at Applejack with her lips in a thin straight line and her eyebrows angled in a very serious looking angry expression that just did not suit Sonata at all. “What are you talking about?” she demanded pushing Applejack with enough force to actually cause her to stumble.
“’Dagi can’t be singing again! If she had her voice back then I’d have my voice back and… ahhhh, ahhhh, ahhh.” Her throat ached and the screeching tone of her voice drove many of the nearby students to cover their ears at the pain. “Nope, still can’t sing for shit, miss bossy Rainblossom!”
Pinkie watched her girlfriend get angrier and angrier, and Applejack prove to be just as stubborn. It was like a freight train loaded with sweets and baking ingredients barreling over a cliff because Old Doc Brown hadn’t managed to get his new time machine invented yet.
Applejack shook her head. “Fluttershy ain’t lyin’!”
Sonata stomped her foot. “Prove it!”
Applejack blinked. “Um… Ah cain’t.” she admitted. “It’s hard to prove somethin’, but I represent that Element of Honesty thing Sunset said. So I know when somebody is fibbin’ or not. Fluttershy ain’t lyin’…” Here she trailed off suddenly with wide eyes. “And you ain’t neither, you honestly didn’t know your sister could sing again ta hypnotize people?”
Sonata’s anger melted away and in its place was the worst possible thing. Pinkie gasped and tried to hug her, but Sonata pushed her away. “’Dagi can sing again? But why would she keep that from us? How did she even regain her power? We never even went back to get our broken gems after we ran off stage…Element of Honesty can’t lie, so then-“ She cut herself off with a gasp, tears stinging the sides of her eyes. With a slight shake of her head and a brief sob she turned and fled. She needed to see Aria right now.
Pinkie watched her go, her hair completely straight and her face full of concern and despair. Whirling around she shot a glare at Applejack that was so un-like Pinkie it actually scared her friend. “You made Sonata cry!”
Applejack took a step back in nervous fear. “N-N-Now Pinkie, ah didn’t-“
“That’s almost worse than BREAKING a PINKIE PROMISE!”
“Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash tried to calm her friend as she, Rarity and Twilight approached from the field.
Pinkie shook her head frustratedly slapping Rainbow with her newly straightened hair. “Shut up, Dashie!” she growled. “Pinkie isn’t here right now.” Stomping closer to Applejack she jabbed the farm girl with her index finger. “You’re going to apologize to Sonata! And maybe I’ll speak with you again, but not before, you got that?”
Applejack rapidly jerked her head up and down in a silent nod of compliance.
“Good,” Pinkie purred contentedly. “Now I’ve got to go make sure Sonata’s ok. Dashie, please tell Mr. Magnet I won’t be in class because somebody broke my girlfriend’s heart!” She glared angrily at Applejack before stomping off, a little angry cloud seemingly following after her spitting lightning everywhere.
“Do we try and stop her?” Twilight wondered.
“Nope!” Applejack declared before rushing off to class.
Rainbow Dash watched her go and was surprised to see a very conspicuous wet spot underneath where she’d been standing. “I think we should let Pinkie cool off,” she decided. “Besides, Sonata looked really upset. I don’t think she knew about Adagio being able to do that mind control thing again.”
Rarity smiled. “Why Rainbow Dash, I’m amazed at how quickly you’ve overcome your own desire to run off blindly to save Fluttershy’s mother.”
Rainbow Dash shook her head and blushed. “This is more important, Rarity. The last time Pinkie’s hair was that straight she was sitting alone in her bedroom having a tea party with inanimate objects.”
“When was that?” Twilight wondered.
Dash shrugged. “When we were eleven and tried to throw her a surprise party. Seriously do not ever try to throw Pinkie a surprise party, she’s gotten better, but she’s still not over what happened and she sometimes can get a little scary.”
Rarity blinked. “A little scary!” she snapped. “Applejack literally had the… ahem, if you’ll pardon my language, piss scared out of her.”
Dash sighed. “Yeah, maybe she’s really that serious about Sonata. I just thought she was humouring the clueless siren, but… well clearly there’s something more there.”
Twilight sighed and fidgeted with her bang. “This is all getting so serious. And nerve inducing. Do you girls always have to deal with these sorts of things?”
Rarity rubbed the bridge of her nose and offered a hesitant smile. “Welcome to Canterlot High, darling, and the typical difficulties one faces when magical problems start to crop up.” She sighed and glanced towards the school. “I’d best fetch Applejack one of my emergency pairs of panties and perhaps a new skirt or something.” So saying, she walked off to go do just that.
Twilight was left with Rainbow Dash, who was torn between her loyalty to AJ, Fluttershy and now Pinkie Pie. Though you wouldn’t know it from just looking at her.
Dash screwed her face up into a frustrated expression and she hollered incoherently.
Twilight took a step back.
“Damnit! I hate when this shit happens, I never know who I’m supposed to help. Not even if I try and listen to my magic like Sunset suggested.” Whirling around she marched back towards the field where she’d left her ball.
Twilight sighed slightly unsure of what to do.
Flash Sentry approached her at that point. “Magic problems?”
Twilight groaned. “Yes, I can’t wait until Friday’s party now, maybe everything will have sorted itself out by then.”
Flash frowned. “What party?”
Twilight’s cheeks flushed. “The CMC’s club party,” she explained.
Flash sighed. “I still haven’t gotten any invites to that place, is it really as good as people are saying?”
“Come this Friday and find out,” Twilight muttered. “It can’t be any worse than what’s happening to our friends right now.”
Flash watched her leave with a sigh. “Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.” Dejectedly he turned around and headed back towards the school.
Lily Breeze sat in the back row; a typical thing for her, the teacher was droning on and on about the upcoming exam. Her mind however was anywhere but here. Fingering her snowflake shaped pendant she watched Scribe out of the corner of her eye.
She’d done something she was not proud of when she encountered the Siren in Diamond’s office. She hadn’t wanted to, but she needed to help Scribe. He was linked to her pendant now because of their close bond of Friendship. It was what Adagio claimed at any rate.
Did that mean she’d taken away his free will? Lily let go of the pendant and took in a sharp breath as she realized all of the implications that could mean. Adagio’s words returned unbidden to mind.
“See, my little Windigo, you can use your powers to strike up the rage and the anger and all of those wonderful negative emotions. Harness enough of them and you can create blizzards to burry everyone in snow and ice forever! But that’s just the big guns.
“Windigos aren’t exactly known for their subtlety, but they do possess less grandiose abilities. Such as the power to manipulate ponies’ minds. It’s a little known fact that Windigos can erase knowledge from the minds of those who have seen them… So be a good little girl and erase his mind of our conversation.”
Lily anguished about it for the rest of that day and all of this morning. She felt horrible. She felt worse than that; she was as bad as Diamond Tiara. Taking Scribe for granted, literally erasing his mind and manipulating him.
Lily hadn’t even noticed when they started, but large wet drops of water fell onto her desk. Mindful of the other students around her and her link to the pendant via her emotions, she quickly rubbed at her eyes and tried to center herself.
“This is what I’m willing to do to walk again?”
“It’s easy to use magic to repair your legs. Just sit around the school and absorb all that wonderful negativity you humans foster so much. The hate will come easily, Harmony can’t prevent it here. No matter how much Sunset Shimmer and her stupid friends think it can.
“We’re living proof; it was simplicity itself to tear the student body apart. So just do what comes naturally, my little Windigo. And once you have enough power, shape it, mold it, use it like a fine clay and will yourself to stand. It’s that simple.”
Lily was suddenly aware that everyone seemed to be looking at her. Glancing up she saw the teacher with a concerned expression on his face. “Um, what?”
“I said, do you need to see the Nurse?” Mr. Magnet asked shooting Lily a hesitant smile.
Lily blinked. “Ummm, no, I’m good.”
“Miss Breeze, your nose is bleeding.”
Lily dabbed at her nose in some surprise and then quickly started wheeling herself towards the door. “Umm. Oh, I’ll just go, to the bathroom then. If that’s ok, Mr. Magnet.”
Waving his hand with obvious concern he nodded. “Yes, yes, quickly my dear.”
Pinching her nose between her fingers Lily slipped quickly out of the class and down the hall to the nearest girls’ room. “Did my powers do this?” She hadn’t felt anything. One minute she was recalling the words Adagio spoke to her and the next she was suffering a nosebleed.
Struggling in the bathroom, she managed to get some paper towels and soaked one of them to help clean her face. She waited a few moments until she was sure the nosebleed had stopped and then started to clean off the mess left behind. She couldn’t help fearing that perhaps something was wrong with her.
As she cleaned the last of the blood away an image appeared briefly in the mirror. It was a white equine shaped face, made up of mist, and it had her eyes. Rearing back in fright she let out a voiceless scream of terror. Her mouth opened to scream, but nothing could be heard from it.
“Daughter.”
Lily trembled at the haunted voice that floated out of the mirror.
The friendlier image of her mother suddenly appeared. “Lily, if you are hearing this message then it worked. I managed to record it into the pendant just in case of a situation where I was no longer around to instruct you.”
Lily glanced down at the pendant in surprise.
“You have begun to tap into the powers of the Windigo. It is a creature from a dimension adjacent to ours, linked via portal. It is equine in appearance and quite a dangerous creature, but its powers locked away in this pendant are neither good nor evil. Magic, all magic, is fueled by intent. If you use the powers for evil purposes you will be branded as dangerous by certain detection spells left by the one who gave me my pendant.”
Lily reached up to the mirror and caressed its surface. “Mother.” Hot tears stung her face, she hadn’t seen her mother in far too long.
“These powers are a gift. They will help you at times of great danger. The detection spells will warn you if you begin to slide into the grasp of darkness. As they did my sister and me. Lore and I were young once, we were selfish and desired happiness. We thought the way to achieve this was to steal men we fancied from their wives. We used the mental control powers. Eventually Lore overcame her insecurities and found a husband to cherish. I was not as fortunate.”
Lily frowned at the words in the message and blinked back more tears.
“Your father loved you very much, but he was not your biological father. I know, I know, it’s cliché and all the bad soap operas of the world have done this story to death, but I coerced your real father into having sex with me and… one thing led to another, and I was punished for it. My sister managed to save me from the ice and snow, she and her husband Crag succeeded beyond all hopes.
“But I could never tap into the full potential of the pendant ever again. I implore you, no matter how much you are tempted, do not follow me down that path. Use the Windigo abilities wisely and justly. If I am not here to help teach you, then go to your Aunt Lore. If she is not able to teach you, seek out your cousin.
“Celestia will be able to demonstrate how best to use your newfound abilities. If she has chosen to accept Lore’s pendant and not her father’s. Luna may have inherited Lore’s abilities in that case, but either of them should be able to help you…”
Lily was confused. She knew her cousins were in charge of this school of course, but considering how easily they were affected by the Sirens it seemed to her that they hadn’t taken up any powers from anybody. They certainly didn’t seem to have any pendants or pins or anything like that around them. Maybe neither of them had inherited these powers.
Was it possible Grandpa Discord had taken them as he had taken Snowfall’s pendant before it could be passed to them?
“Lily?” Silver Spoon walked into the girls’ room with a look of concern.
Lily turned slowly to her friend and shook her head. “Oh, was I gone too long?”
Silver Spoon nodded. “Mr. Magnet sent me to make sure you were ok.”
Lily trembled as she started rolling towards the door. “I’m better now. I’m not sure what happened.”
Silver Spoon stood squarely in her way. “Lily, if it’s about Diamond forcing you to get that camera in.”
Lily shook her head angrily. “It’s completely unrelated!” she snapped.
Silver stepped backwards in surprise. “Ok, Lily, but… if you need to talk about this, I can listen. I’ve been where you’ve been before. I know Diamond’s manipulative and can get on anybody’s last nerve. I’ll help anyway I can.”
Lily’s face scrunched up in an expression of anguish and despair. “I don’t think anybody can help me, Sil,” she admitted a haunted look in her eyes as she fingered her pendant again. “I did something horrible.”
Silver shook her head. “Whatever it was, we can forgive you.”
Lily laughed miserably and turned away. “It’s something I have to forgive myself for first.” Pulling away from Silver Spoon she made her way outside quickly.
Silver sighed. “We were so close to all of us being happy and free from Di’s drama, what happened to change all that?” Turning she left the girls’ room and made her way back to class. She never noticed the small layer of frost that had coated one of the mirrors, or the strange shimmer from outside the window where the remains of the Canterlot horse statue continued to rest.
Sonata stormed into Aria’s home without a word. She marched straight through the living room, past the downstairs hallway entrance and straight up the stairs. She ignored the guest room and pushed her way into the bedroom. Aria was just getting ready to change for her next class.
Sonata took a deep breath, ignoring the confused look on Aria’s face. “Adagio has her voice back!”
Aria slowly put her top down and took a few deep breaths.
Sonata started pacing in front of the bed. “The Rainbooms claim that Fluttershy told them Adagio is forcing her family to do her every bidding. I didn’t believe them at first, but the Element of Honesty confronted me. Told me to my face that she wasn’t lying. That means…”
Aria slammed her fist into the closet door. “That fucking bitch!”
Sonata kept pacing and nodded. “Aria, you’re not the worst. Adagio’s the worst!” she screeched frustratedly.
Aria was taken aback at the level of vehemence in Sonata’s tone. “Woah.”
“Tides right whoa! We’ve been family for over a thousand years! We’ve put up with Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis…” Sonata shuddered. “Even that creepy Scorpan tried to get us to stop what we do. And then! After we lose our voices and our power to feed, Adagio just decides she’s going to try vengeance. As if that ever works! When has anyone ever succeeded in getting revenge? Ahuizotl knows who, but it certainly never works!” Sonata paused in her little rant, tears streaking down her face.
Aria wasn’t sure what to do, but she was beginning to wonder if she’d been a bit too harsh on her sister. Sonata could really get mean when she wanted to.
Sonata stomped her foot and resumed pacing. “I’m tired of living under her shadow! Following her orders! And I really like Pinkie Pie! I like friends, it’s a lot less stressful than hunting for negative energy in this miserable dimension! I saw the way you looked at that Coloratura girl when she was singing, tell me you don’t like friendship!”
Aria rolled her eyes. “I don’t like friendship.”
“Lies!” Sonata spun on her heel and, lacking much else, threw her shoe at her sister.
Aria caught the feeble projectile and stared at her sister. “You done?”
Sonata shook her head. Opening her mouth she let out a wail that tore at her throat; it also destroyed every piece of glass in the room.
Aria sighed. “You’re paying for that.”
“You’re not signing.” Sonata was surprised.
“Only at school. I kind of let it slip out I could talk still to ‘Rara, so…” Aria sighed and retrieved her top.
Sonata flopped onto the bed with a groan. “Adagio is going to use her power to get the Rainbooms in trouble.”
“Why should we care?” Aria demanded. “I can’t stand any of those drippy Rainblossoms.”
Sonata pouted petulantly and leaned her head in her hand so she could glare at Aria. “We’re sisters, you care about me, and I care about Pinkie, which includes those stupid Rainbooms she’s friends with. I want some decent sex with my girlfriend, you got it out of your system with your girlfriend.”
Aria glowered at Sonata. “She’s not my girlfriend!”
“So you just use her for sex then?”
“Of course not! She’s cool, you know. She reminds me of… how other sirens used to be, before those stupid Seaponies and their Kelpie companions started herding us further and further away from their territories.”
Sonata sighed. “I hate seaponies.”
Aria nodded. “They’re even worse than Adagio on a power trip.”
The pair of siblings started to giggle.
Nervously Sonata sat up and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. “What do we do about Adagio? If she can sing again, I mean really sing…”
Aria sighed and pulled her top on. “I don’t know. She’s still our sister.”
“I know! Pony Princess Twilight is back and now they can blast her with the rainbow of death again.”
Aria shuddered. “I still have nightmares.”
Sonata’s expression soured. “And you think I don’t! We were creatures of Disharmony. Getting blasted by Harmony hurts, in here.” Sonata indicated her chest.
“But Harmony isn’t evil.”
Both sirens spun to find Pinkie Pie standing in the doorway. Her skin was a duller shade of pink and her hair was long and straight.
Aria couldn’t believe the change in the girl. “Well, of course not!”
Pinkie took a step towards Sonata. “I’m sorry Applejack said those things to you. I’m sorry she had to mistrust you. By not trusting you she didn’t trust me. I’m not stupid you know, I get that you’re not entirely reformed like Sunset, you’ve got that little bit of bad girl in both of you.” She smirked slightly glancing over at Aria. “But I can see you both really want to change. You’re tired of being alone, you really want friends. You really want to be respected for who you are not just what you are.”
Sonata slowly nodded. “That’s kind of true. But Harmony and Disharmony are just never going to get along.”
Pinkie snorted at that a giggle escaping her, which made her new appearance ten times creepier. “Harmony needs Disharmony to exist. If there’s too much of one thing it becomes stagnant and can’t grow. You can still be Sirens and have Friends. Everybody can have friends, Princess Twilight told us even the Changelings reformed. Except their nasty queen, but she’ll probably come around eventually.”
“That doesn’t sound like letting people live the way they want to,” Aria pointed out.
“The Changelings changed?” Sonata repeated with a curious expression.
Pinkie nodded. “Yepperoonie.”
Sonata shrugged. “Changelings always change.”
Aria slowly approached Pinkie and looked into her eyes, what she saw creeped her out, but she stood her ground. “How can Sirens live in Harmony while still being Disharmonious?”
Pinkie sighed and sat down next to Sonata. “I don’t know. Maybe just be yourselves. Turn your songs into something to spread love, don’t eat negative energy…I just don’t know. All I know is, if my friends are going to make me choose between you or them.” Pinkie smiled briefly and snuggled into Sonata’s chest. “I choose you.”
Sonata’s eyes shone with delighted tears and she nuzzled the top of Pinkie’s head.
“Yuck.” Aria hated sap. Then her eyes widened when she noticed Sonata glowing a soft blue. “What the?”
Sonata looked down in surprise. “Pinkie, why am I glowing?”
Pinkie stared at Sonata in curious wonder. “I have no idea, ‘Nata, but it’s pretty cool.”
“It creeps me out.” Aria shuddered. “Sonata, turn that off!” Reaching for her sister she was stunned when she noticed her own arm glowing a muted purple colour. “It’s contagious!” she shrieked in surprised fear.
Pinkie took both Sirens by the hand and stared intently at their glowing forms. “Sing!”
Sonata flinched. “We can’t do that.”
“Sing!” Pinkie insisted.
Aria curled her lip in disgust, but if the only way to get the Rainboom out of her house was to prove a point she opened her mouth and started to sing.
After a beat Sonata joined in, tears staining her face.
Aria stared at Sonata in disbelief.
Whirling all around them was a harmonious melody of the distant past. Slowly, but surely the shards of glass from the broken mirrors and windows in the room hovered up from where they’d fallen earlier and began to mend themselves.
Pinkie clapped excitedly, her hair exploded back into proper shape and her skin became its proper vibrant tone. “Your magic is back! And you don’t have those nasty negative jewels either!”
The Sirens stopped singing.
“But… Why?” Aria wondered reaching up to touch her throat.
The glow faded from the pair of Sirens and Sonata tried to sing again, only for the same screeching warble to come out. “No fair! How come we can only sing when we’re glowing?”
“I have no idea,” Pinkie told her. “But isn’t this the most exciting thing ever!”
“It’s just a platitude,” Sonata said disappointedly.
Aria shook her head. “I think you mean Placebo.”
Sonata nodded. “Yeah that! We can only sing if we’re all glowy and junk, what a gip.”
Pinkie shook her head this time. “No, it’s more than that. It shows you and Aria are learning to appreciate Harmony. Did it hurt when you tried singing without the glow?”
Sonata frowned slightly as she tried to remember. “Not as badly as before.”
Pinkie grinned. “Then that’s it, you’re healing. Slowly, but you are healing. Eventually you’ll both be able to sing again, without those tacky jewels.”
“Watch it!” Aria threatened. “Those jewels were part of us.”
Pinkie waved her hand dismissively and hugged Sonata again.
Sonata giggled and returned the embrace.
Aria sighed. “I’ve got a class to get to. Don’t you have school too?”
“Oh my gosh! We have to let the girls know about this!” Pinkie declared.
Sonata’s face fell. “I don’t want to. They’ll just accuse me of working with Adagio again.”
Aria grunted and prepared to say something.
Pinkie’s eyes flashed. “I already told Applejack off. Scared her so bad she pissed her panties,” she stated with a semi-dangerous gleam in her eye.
Aria blinked. “Wow. I did not know you had it in you.”
Pinkie snuggled next to Sonata again. “Sonata’s mine, nobody makes her feel bad while Pinkie Pie’s around.”
Sonata slowly smirked before glancing over at Aria. “You know, maybe we should let the Rainbooms know about how we’re healing. Because if we’re on their side then we can confront Adagio and show her up. I mean we learned to get our voices back by working hard, Adagio never worked hard in her life.”
Aria chuckled. “Totally. Ok, so we’re officially on their side. When Adagio makes her move I want to be there. The bitch deserves to finally get taken down a peg.”
Sonata nodded. “Thinks she’s the best because she’s the oldest. Acting all high and mighty, who learned sign language first? Who dances way better now?”
Aria’s cheeks flushed at the compliment and averted her gaze from her sister.
“Who scores free dinner?” Pinkie chimed in with a giggle.
“What?”
Sonata giggled too and shot Aria a sly smirk. “Totally got free dinner; that Scribe kid paid for our meal.”
Aria chuckled again and shook her head in bemusement. Then she noticed the time and sucked in a breath. Sliding her shoes on fast she made her way for the exit.
Sonata waved her off without a word.
Pinkie got to her feet and helped Sonata to hers. “Let’s go blow their minds.”
Inside the majestic throne room of the Castle of Dreams; or Dream Castle, the dissatisfied ruler of the kingdom sat drumming her fingers against the jeweled armrest. She had been forced to remain hidden for the better part of seven hundred and fifty years, give or take. And she was beginning to get fed up with it. Especially considering what was currently going on in her kingdom.
“I warned you not to let Discord have so much free reign,” Smart Cookie reminded as the somewhat older woman glanced up from her reading.
The queen remained silent as she glared at the floating orb resting in the center of the throne room.
Clover sighed and tapped a stave against her thigh while she practiced a few levitation tricks.
“Soldiers waste away when there is nothing to do! Sequestered in this rotting old castle!” Commander Hurricane strode into the room, his cape flying out behind him as he marched straight towards the throne.
“Um, sir!” Private Pansy rushed behind him to keep up. “We… Um… we disbanded the army,” she reminded softly.
Commander Hurricane’s lip curled in frustration. “I know that, Pansy!”
Pansy leapt back in surprise and alarm.
Through the usual bickering the queen continued to stare intently at the floating orb. It would only be a matter of minutes before Puddinghead decided to chime in with some ridiculous out-of-date comment. Her entourage had been gifted by the visitor from Equestria, just as the others had been gifted.
And while Starswirl attempted to study the darker magic of Equestria in a place where those abilities could better be contained, the royal court had been gifted with elements of the three pony tribes to grant them certain abilities. Hurricane had better endurance and stamina over all thanks to the set of wings he wore as a pin on his breast. Pansy held mastery over the winds and skies able to manipulate the very fields of natural weather patterns and her eyesight had improved considerably.
Clover’s stave was imbued with the full might of the Unicorn tribe. Puddinghead and Cookie shared the best traits of the Earth tribe, Cookie enjoyed her gardening while Puddinghead preferred more eccentric pursuits jaunting this way and that in the Everfree Wildlife Park.
Which left the ruling head, herself, the grace and wisdom of the Alicorn. It was necessary to stave off headaches and the like when dealing with her currently ageless court of utter buffoons. Rising from her throne with a sudden shout she silenced the other five with a powerful impact of the tip of her lengthy staff. Shaped in the form of the Diarchy’s out-swept wings on top and being as tall as herself fashioned from an enchanted ruby quartz, it was quite impressive.
“The Windigo talents are being abused! The Sirens are slowly coming around to our side after a thousand years of being imprisoned here! And that blasted old goat continues to prove elusive, and all you care to do is argue and bicker and belittle one another!” Queen Platinum glared at her entourage. “Have you learned nothing of the example of Hearthswarming, Starswirl warned us not to let our anger and mistrust rule our hearts, but despite our long years of ageless beauty and silent rule, you continue to focus on the negative aspects of your lives and those of others.”
Clover offered a tight-lipped smile as she rose to her feet. “My queen, we are not ponies. Being mistrustful and suspicious of good fortune is often a prerequisite.”
“And Discord is pretty much in charge at the moment,” Hurricane reminded.
Queen Platinum sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Starswirl, for some unfathomable reason, entrusted him with the book of prophecies. We have seen how well his schemes and machinations have led us on the path to at last being rid of the greatest threat to either world. Equestria and our Dimension are inextricably linked… Our counterparts may have long since perished, but they, like so many others represent a larger truth of the fundamental nature of our two worlds.”
Pansy nodded her head. “Quite true, but we’ve had so little to do ever since we sequestered ourselves away up here. Surely you must see that perhaps we’ve gone… slightly stir crazy.”
Puddinghead chuckled and shook his head. “Oh don’t be ridiculous, Pansy. My rambles through Everfree have left me as fit as a man a third of my age, and I don’t feel the need to bemoan my lot in life with our esteemed Monarch.”
“You’re no soldier, Puddinghead!” Hurricane snapped. “My skills grow rusty, should the threat reach our door I shall be unfit to protect our Queen!”
Queen Platinum’s staff began to glow with a rather odd combination of sun and moonlight plunging the room into a dark eclipse. Slowly she strode down the few steps leading up and her elegant gown melted away into a regal looking armour. “We sequestered ourselves up here because Starswirl foresaw a time when one would come, and were we still below in the eyes of the public it would lead to far too many questions. Sunset Shimmer was that one, were she to have discovered our talismans before her reformation she would have done her level best to steal one of them and use their power to return to Equestria to conquer it!”
Clover nodded her agreement.
“What’s this really about?” Smart Cookie asked shrewdly studying the queen.
Queen Platinum sighed. “Lily Breeze is the daughter of one of our oldest friends. She has begun to tap into the gifts of the Windigo and it has led to a troubling development. Celestia and Luna both forsook their parents’ gifts in favor of remaining close to the portal, they chose to become silent sentinels to ensure that none would be harmed. And both have done quite well, but as neither possess Lore or Crag’s gifts they cannot help to teach her better control.” Platinum shook her head slightly.
Clover nodded once more. “And while you may trust Discord, his ability to teach Lily properly isn’t exactly one of his strong suits.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Smart Cookie muttered with a smirk.
Hurricane, Pansy and Puddinghead chuckled in unison.
Queen Platinum smirked. “Her training must be handled by one who can truly aid in her understanding of emotional magic. Arcane abilities of that sort can be difficult to master at the best of times, let alone for a paraplegic teenager. And with the events surrounding the Sirens coming to a head in the next few days…”
Clover bowed to her queen and briefly flicked her stave. Slowly her shape changed masked by an illusion of an older woman, slightly plump, and with rosy red cheeks. “I shall nip this problem in the bud. Time to introduce Lily to her ‘Fairy’ Godmother.”
“I thought Lore was named Godmother of her sister’s daughter,” Puddinghead mused.
Clover shook her head. “No, she declined. And Chrysalis is certainly not suitable. I’ll just pop down on the weekend after this other problem comes to a head and ensure that she begins proper education in her natural gifts.”
Queen Platinum smiled gratefully and waved her staff. “Fair winds on your journey and luck to your appointed task.”
“And what are we to do?” Hurricane demanded as Clover left the room.
Platinum groaned.
Puddinghead smiled. “You could set up a watch post near Camp Everfree. I noticed a strange phenomenon there a day or two ago, and Gloriosa may be inclined to investigate.”
Hurricane grinned eagerly. “At last, a chance to battle.”
Pansy shook her head. “Just to protect and observe, remember Discord insists that Sunset and her friends deal with Gloriosa’s problem themselves.”
Hurricane groaned. “Must we forever be forced to trust in the hands of teenagers?”
“And now you’re sounding like Tirek,” Smart Cookie teased.
Hurricane shuddered. “Starswirl forbid!”
“Get going you two, we should have somebody stationed near where the next Mystical Convergence is destined to occur,” Platinum commanded.
Hurricane bowed low to the ground, sweeping his cape back as he did so. “By your leave, your Majesty.”
Queen Platinum watched the others settle down once more as Hurricane and Pansy left to their appointed task. Puddinghead was soon snoring away as he sat in a chair in the corner while Smart Cookie hummed to herself. Banishing her warrior guise she returned to her throne and once more examined the hovering orb, which revealed the state of Harmonic and Disharmonic magic in the world. Slowly one corner was shifting between Disharmony and Harmony. With the Sirens on their side it would only be a matter of time before the last great threat of Equestria banished to this place was dealt with.
Her gaze shifted briefly and lingered on the stained glass windows that Starswirl had enchanted to represent the most important developments as they occurred. One depicted the fall of Sunset’s reign. Another the initial defeat of the Sirens and the third the encounter with Midnight Sparkle.
Studying the image of Princess Twilight in the original window she smirked slightly. “Soon we shall meet. I look forward to that day, Princess Twilight, as the current Equestrian Ambassador I’m afraid we’ve been neglectful of our proper channels.”
“Your highness,” Smart Cookie spoke up. “You’re dangerously close to monologuing again.”
Queen Platinum groaned. “Yes, thank you, Cookie.” Rolling her eyes she settled back properly into her throne and resumed her bored observation of the little orb hovering in the room. Some days she really wished she had a royal heir to foist some of these duties on, it had been far too long since her last swimming session, and a trip to the Spa would be really enjoyable right about now. “Discord owes me a month long cruise after all this magical nonsense is dealt with, preferably on a very prestigious ship with a bevy of burly sailors and clothing is optional for the duration package.”
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Okay you were doing good with the Pinkie and Sonata stuff, and the Lily Breeze thing despite not reading the about her windigo origin, (Yeah I've skipped a few chapters) and then you throw in the founders of Equestria! WHY?! Why does story have keep adding new characters and plots with them?
8130251
Because skipping chapters leads to missing important details. The Founders of Equestria are not The Founders of Equestria, and their placement in this chapter is a necessary evil for the sake of a huge punchline coming up in the story. It isn't like they haven't been mentioned before, Clover even appeared in a much earlier chapter talking to Discord.
Once this story is listed as complete and every chapter is posted I expect to see a lot of people trying to break it down and make sense of things and possibly even realizing why things happened the way they did. Either that or we're going to get hit with a massive influx of dislikes for some of the stuff my muse insisted upon.
I do apologize gentle readers, but they had to appear somewhere if only because we've been dancing around the subject for some time now. Mentioning the founders' counterparts, involving Discord so heavily in things, springing stuff that is purely Headcanon for what Starswirl might have been doing when he first discovered the EQG universe. I understand that it may not be up to everyone's tastes, but that's just how the story wrote itself. Or rather I should say sprang into my mind and leached through my fingers into the keyboard onto the MS Word doc.
Might seem complicated, might even seem to be too involved with too much going on for the plot, personally I didn't think that when I wrote the scene. I was looking for something fun and light to break up all the angst going on. A queen without a kingdom slowly driving herself mad staring at a glowing orb for over seven-hundred years seemed to be the perfect fun moment to end the chapter on after all the drama. Guess I just miscalculated.
I am so confused right now with all of the different plots
8130282
This felt like the reverse.
I'd say this story has fallen into the same trap all good "slice of life" stories do.
8131765
Too many characters? Or too many twists?
Ah well, the story is pretty much finished, everything will clear up in the next few weeks as we focus all of our efforts on resolving the issue of Adagio and Diamond Tiara.
Does anyone remember when this story used to be simple?
8131832 It was not "fun and light" and did not "break up all the angst" but instead doubled down on it.
As for my other comment, you took a relatable story and increased the magic component to the point that your mythos becomes almost indecipherable to the casual reader.
8132589
So basically too much magic world building not enough harmless nudie fun with regular relatable characters in a fictional setting.
Gotcha, next time I'll know better. Sorry folks for messing up the universe with too much magic, we've still got a bit to go and then you can look forward to other, less mystical centric tales. I guess I can get a bit too complex for my own good when weaving backstory and world building into a universe that has precious little of it to go on anyway.
Again I do apologize for how the story turned out. I enjoyed crafting it, I'm sad to say it wasn't up to expectations. Lesson learned, try not to be too creative when creating a story... Ugh and no matter how I try to not sound like it, it keeps coming off as if I'm bitter because of this criticism, which I'm really not, honestly. Wording things just right can be quite difficult at times.
Darn it all, and most of the world building stuff is just for the sake of a Celestia Damned Punchline. Making a joke too complicated is also a bad idea, writing Comedy is definitely as hard as they say, especially when using serious undertones and sometimes overtones for the sake of a good joke.
fyre-flye has wendigo powers?
8134501
Actually, Lily's mom was Snowfall Frost... Mostly because Lore N. Frost was her sister and I liked the name from that one episode.
Since we've pretty much covered it during the course of the story.
Harmony:
Queen Platinum, Alicorn Staff
Clover the Clever, Unicorn Stave
Former Commander Hurricane, Pegasus Wings Military Style Pin
Former Private Pansy, Feather Shaped Earings
Smart Cookie, Seed Shaped Broach
Former Chancellor Puddinghead, Flower Shaped Cufflinks
All of which Starswirl gifted to them and grants them their extremely long lifespans and certain abilities as mentioned in this chapter. Also feel free to correct me if I mentioned a different piece of jewelry or something for them. I cooked this list up on the fly and may have forgotten exactly what was said.
Disharmony:
Mayor Tirek, Symbol of the Centaurs (That Triangle Shaped thing he gave Discord in the Mane Continuity)
Scorpan, Symbol of the Gargoyles (Haven't seen anything on the show yet. Some kind of tie clasp I'm thinking.)
Chrysalis, Symbol of the Changelings (I think it was a necklace I gave her in the chapter she was featured in)
Superintendent Sombra, Symbol of the Umbrum (Something Ritualistic looking King Sombra had, haven't fully envisioned it in my mind yet.)
Lore N. Frost, Symbol of the Windigo Icicle Shaped Earrings (Deceased)
Snowfall Frost, Symbol of the Windigo Snowflake Shaped Pendant (Deceased)
Crag M. Kraken, Symbol of the Griffon Belt of Golden Feathers (Deceased)
Discord, Symbol of well Discord The little pin he's constantly fiddling with, Starswirl gave him something else at the time, but when Discord contacted him he used his chaos magic to change it into something more him, so currently it looks like one of his wings.
All of which again grant them their extremely long lifespans and certain abilities. I would probably cover more of those in a Starswirl Prequel if I was inclined to write something about it, you know really hash out what their abilities are and the like more so than what's been covered here. But I doubt anyone is interested enough to read about more confusing stuff with magic. Also I haven't got any good plot ideas for a beginning, middle and end for that kind of story just at the moment.
8135082 Wasn't the question. fyre-flye = Lore
8135277
If anyone is wondering by the way, the reason both of them have Windigo powers is complicated. But basically boils down to the simple fact that Windigo magic needs at least two participants to harness properly. At least in my view of the subject matter, since it took three of them to freeze out the old pony nations. Two is less damaging than three.
8135305 Yes, that is her, check the underlined link in previous comment, although she hasn't posted there in two years, I'm guessing motherhood has taken up her time somewhat.
God this story sometimes... just when you think it's starting to focus it flies off to some other crazy plot thread. If there winds up being another sequel after this I really hopes it's more like the first one.
8144926 Hmm. I see. I think I'm going to cut my losses and drop the story here, then.
8135082
I've been keeping up pretty well so far, and I like it. Helps that I've watched a lot of Doctor Who and have practice taking in multiple stories at once. Though I will play devil's advocate and state that this does indeed feel like a small shelf of unfinished stories put together, as this could have easily been less than half it's current length. Basically, it could have been cut off at the point where Diamond first comes up with her plan for Lilly and ended a chapter after, and the magical stuff could have easily been used as either a "Sequel Story", a "Simultaneous Story", or a "Related to the Universe but not Strictly Connected Story."
8145185
Well. I love your stories and stuff, but that seemed a bit harsh. Yeah, this may be a small "WiP Stories" folder smashed together, but at least he gave it the best he's got.