Thirty Minute Ponies

by Arcainum

Lights From The Past

Prompt #242: Whatever happened to Rainbow Dash?

“Mama?”

“Mmm?”

“Where do the pictures in the stars come from?”

Sooth Words looked up from her book, surprise furrowing her brow with good-natured curiosity. “That’s an odd question, little one. Why do you ask?” She smiled as her daughter shrugged without turning to face her, her gaze still fixed on the twinkling heavens.

“Iunno. I like them. But I think it’s kind of weird that they’re there.”

With a chuckle, Sooth let her magic fade, gently placing the book on the table beside her daughter’s bed before moving to sit by the window. Her daughter sat back from the window, nestling into the warmth of her mother’s side while keeping her eyes fixed on the worlds above them. Sooth thought for a moment before speaking.

“I can tell you about one of them, if you want, but there’s a bit of a story attached. It’s something of a history lesson. Is that what you want before bed?”

Her daughter nodded enthusiastically, yawning even as she did so. Sooth smiled again and shifted her weight on the soft quilt until she and her daughter were comfortable, resting against the headboard in such a way that they could comfortably watch the stars as she talked.

“Well, then. It starts long, long ago, in the time of the Triad. There was a pony, you see, a pony filled with pride. She was strong, and courageous, and would never, ever abandon her friends. But she knew this, and so she went her own way, and this sometimes put her odds with the other ponies. But they loved her nonetheless, and she loved them.

Now, this pony lived in the same village as the Triad. She played with them, taught them, helped them search for their marks. Of course, this was before the Charter. But then the Triad made their journey, Three Foals Walking In The Dark, and they returned to their village with the Charter in hoof.”

“Mama, why are you talking like that?”

“It’s a story, dear, but an important one. You have to tell it with respect. Now… where was I?”

“The Charter.”

Oh, of course! Ah, the things the Charter said and says! it changed us, little one, changed our entire world, and the way we saw it. For years we had been in thrall to the cutie mark, to unthinking adherence to the path life laid out for us. But the Triad showed us the other way, the better way.

Anyway, the Charter, naturally, changed everything. The village became the most important village in the world, because it was where the Charter was. Ponies came and went with every passing hour, the movement spreading far and wide. Before long, the Unmarking was developed, and on that day every pony was given the Choice. For you see, even now we respect the gravity of the decision they made. They cut themselves free from the safety of destiny and leapt, with nothing to support them but their own flailing fates, into the sea of free will. And do you know how many ponies agreed?”

“Um… most, right?”

“Every single one, my dear. On that day, the first day of the Free Times we now live in, every single pony alive agreed as one to undergo the Unmarking and change our fate, to allow our fate to be changed, forever.

Except one.”

As she whispered the last, she extended a hoof to the sky, which her daughter eagerly followed.

“You see there, between the Ursa Birthing Grounds and the Raised Barn? That is The Marked. Can you guess who she is?”

There was a moment’s silence before her daughter gasped in delighted realisation, evidently pleased at her own acuity. “The proud pony at the beginning of the story!”

Sooth ruffled her daughter’s mane proudly and smiled down at her. “That’s right! Well done! I’m glad you still pay attention when I tell stories!” As she paused, summoning the words for the rest of her story, her face became solemn. “The Marked did not agree. She spat anger at her friends, at the Triad. ‘How could you do this?’ she cried. ‘How could you throw away what makes us special, what makes each and every one of us unique?’

The Triad of course, replied, saying ‘We were not unique! We were all trapped in the chains of our birth! Our lives were spent working toward an invisible goal set for us at the moment we came into existence! Now we are free, to live our lives as we see fit!’ But The Marked scoffed and turned away. She could not, or would not, understand.

But as she turned her back on the ponies she loved, on the world that had embraced an impossibility she could not accept, she fought back tears. For she was loyal, the Marked, loyal beyond reckoning, and she could hardly bring herself to take the first step.

At last, as her closest friends silently watched her, she took step, and every step thereafter was easier. She walked, and then she ran, and then she flew, tears streaming down her face. She flew as far as she could, until she reached the end of the world, and then she flew up, and up, and up, and up, and up, until…”

Sooth hesitated, the emotion of the story catching in her throat. Her daughter stared into her eyes, enraptured.

“Until?!”

“Nopony knows. She was never seen again. But the very next night, there was a new picture in the stars, and the magic of the Six was broken, and the monsters stepped out of the shadows. And that is why, when the light catches the rain just so and the air is filled with colour, we curse The Marked, because she destroyed Harmony with her pride.”

Her daughter’s mouth hung open. Sooth stroked her mane absentmindedly before gathering herself and finishing her story.

“And that is the story of that picture in the sky, little one.”

Her daughter let out a huge breath, seeming almost exhausted by the weight of history her mother had just laid upon her. Within moments, however, her awe seemed to fade, replaced by the quick, curious expression Sooth had come to at once adore and dread.

“But… wasn’t… wasn’t The Marked right?”

Sooth froze. What?

“I mean… She chose her own path.”

“Little one, I’m not sure that’s-”

“Because, you see, everyone was acting as one, right? Nopony wanted a cutie mark because they meant we were en… enthralled to them, but then they all said ‘Okay, we’re all going to do exactly the same thing, and follow the Triad.’ And they all did exactly what the Charter said. Isn’t that the same?”

“No, you see-” But her daughter seemed unable to stop, the words spilling from her with the terrible power of certainty.

“So The Marked was doing exactly what you said she should be. She was being loyal, and she was choosing her own path. She brought the monsters back, but she did it by herself, because it’s what she thought was the right thing to do. Isn’t that what free will is all about?”

There was an awful silence. Sooth stared open-mouthed at her daughter. How… how could she speak such words? What had she done, what terrible mistake had me made in assigning her studies? But before she could recriminate herself further, a faint glow caught her eye. It came from her daughter’s flank. Icy fear dripped down her spine.

“Little one… turn around.”

“Why? Is there somethi-”

“Turn around, little one!”

Her daughter, fearful of her mother’s vehemence, slowly shuffled around, and into the light slowly emerged.

“Oh… oh, please, no…”

On her daughter’s flank was a shape, a splash of colour contrasting her cool blue fur. A tri-coloured triangle.

A cutie mark.

“Mama? What is it? What’s this? Is this a…”

Sooth leapt forward and clasped her daughter tightly to her as she cried out in anguish and she gasped great sobs of sorrow.

“Oh, my baby! You are cursed, doomed! How could I let this happen?! I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry, Still Blue…”

As Sooth’s tears soaked into her daughter’s mane, and her daughter quaked under the weight of discovered destiny, and the sun began to rise, sending gentle light across the hills of Equestria just so…

It began to rain.

Author's Note:

OH MAN AUTHOR'S NOTES

Yes it's been that long since I updated anything.

Anyway, this was one I ended up really liking. It just clicked. Every now and then you do something that you just LIKE. Plus it's my first TMP in forever and they (or Kyronea at least) were super positive about it. So yknow.

Also straight copy-pasting, 30min typos and all.

Comments

[Firebirdbtops]

From a misty lost land
A figure emerged, update in hand
A memory of great times long past.
He called to us "Hark"
And we knew it was Arc,
back from his gaming at last.

[PonysaurousRex]

Holy shit! You actually updated something!

All joking aside, I really enjoyed this deeper look into the history pf the world of the Triad. And it was really well put together for a TMP story.

[Exuno]

Oh man you had me with the start of this Triad thing, and then you kind of lost me when you continued it, but now you have me again. This is absolutely gold worldbuilding. I mean, I'm a sucker for anything takes on free will and destiny as a theme, but you nailed it. And, iunno, the writing itself was perfect and flowing in that fable-y way, and really, the fact you did this thirty minutes is kind of insane.

[RTStephens]

Welp, that settles that.

You gotta expand on this idea! It's too glorious not to!

[Pen Brush]

EXPAND THIS!! that is...if you want to...