• Published 26th Jun 2019
  • 534 Views, 10 Comments

Knight of Equestria IV: Unmarked Time - scifipony



Tirek is stealing pony magic. DJ Flopsy Mopsy aka The Songbird, reluctant secret hero, is heading for Canterlot for a record deal. While the princesses have a plan for Tirek, DJ FM carries out a pragmatic one. Then she meets Discord—again.

  • ...
3
 10
 534

Coda

I had fainted from blood loss.

I woke hooves-up in a yellow-painted room adorned with daisies. I found bright sunshine streaming through a window, a needle attached to clear tubes in my foreleg, and my right hind-leg held straight by a system of pulleys and cords. Some device beeped in rhythm with my heart beat. A nurse walked in.

The white-clothed palomino mare said, "The royal physician, Dr. Flowing Waters, says you're going to survive." She also told me the Exchequer had paid for my stay.

All I needed to do was heal.

I did as ordered. My parents visited me and cried a lot. They told me I was crazy and I agreed with them. Sapphire Shores visited, too. By the time she finished telling me what she thought about my involving her stepson in my plan to kill Lord Tirek, I needed burn treatments for my left ear.

She signed me to a three-record deal. She arranged tutors to help me with my songwriting. And she gave me a new stage name. DJ FM didn't cut it for the recordings she wanted Eohippus to produce. Flopsy Mopsy was just wrong in too many ways to enumerate.

Songbird Serenade...

I'd get used to the name, I supposed. Anyway, Cheers!

Princess Celestia didn't visit me, thank... well, thank Celestia. I'd got her royal guard to disobey her orders. She'd obviously had a plan. It was plain to see, reviewing how Princess Twilight had acted as I escorted her to the train station that night. Crazy me. I of no faith. Well, I did have faith in Twilight Sparkle. That princess was the best, despite her steadfast naïvety.

As I waited in a entirely unnecessary wheelchair for the discharge nurse at Canterlot General, a scroll appeared midair. It was tied with a ribbon and stamped with a wax seal the design of which matched my medallion. I jumped away from it, knocking the chair over as I fluttered, then yelped when I put weight on my right leg by landing. I wore a bronze brace. I'd sprained multiple tendons and muscles, and cracked the bone when Lord Tirek tripped me midair. An uncontrolled fall for a pegasus could be fatal. I'd been lucky. With the brace, at least I could walk normally.

Helping Hoof met me at the exit. He shook his head. "You can't turn down a summons from Princess Celestia."

"If wishes were bits, all ponies would be rich," I said as he walked me to a waiting taxi.

Whatever the princess wanted she got. Still, I found the term "public audience" alarming. I can't exactly say I was embarrassed by my militant behavior because I would admit to it, if pressed. No, that pony who didn't fear death was not the pony I wanted others to recognize me as. It wasn't the pony I wanted to be. I didn't really like that me. "There are plenty of dress shops in Canterlot. Stop at one."

When I arrived at the public audience hall in Canterlot Castle, I wore a simple body sock that covered me from chin to hoof in black (did you expect any other color?), concealing the multitude of wounds I bore. A simple black bustle skirt covered my flank and hid my tail and recognizable cutie mark. It didn't hide all of the brace, but that added a nice touch of bronze color that stood out as if I were hiding armor under my clothing.

Maybe I was.

I'd tied my black mane back into a simple bun that crushed the hair together so it looked less mop-like. It left my deep blue eyes visible, but today I wasn't being shy. I couldn't hide. Bruises peppered my face, especially around my broken nose, so whilst anypony could see my light fur color, mostly they'd see a train wreck—and would look away. I could be incognito even in plain sight.

The doors to the throne room had been completely torn away, and the pony-sized twisted bronze hinges stood as a mangled testament to a conquering foe. As I strode in, carefully putting less pressure on my rear leg, I lifted my medallion with a wing to show the majordomo.

The red-robed pony straightened up. "Lady, please follow me."

I muttered to myself, "Lady is it now? Does anypony listen to how often I curse?"

The majordomo led me forward beside a queue roped off with red velvet. Ponies started looking. Even the earth pony merchants currently talking with Princess Celestia in front of her throne glanced back.

The princess wore her full regalia, her purple-jeweled breastplate, gold crown and horseshoes. She stood head and withers above everypony. Sunlight streamed colorfully through tall stained glass windows on either side of the long hall. Some force had melted one of them. Judging by the deep purple smear in the sagging glass, I had an inkling who had been depicted there.

So... Lord Tirek had captured Equestria's monarchs, after all. What kind of plan was letting that happen?

The throne itself was the fabled waterfall throne. Water surged down the sides, burbling, and added fresh moisture to the air as I approached. Princess Luna had joined her sister, despite it being late morning. She stood when she noticed me as if in shock, but sat again, looking down at some papers she had been reading.

I didn't miss that she glanced at me now and again.

As we walked beyond the queue, I saw benches against the wall. Upon one rested an orange pegasus and a blue earth pony brushing his blue handlebar mustache. Mum and Dad. They stood when they saw me, looking confused, concerned, and awed at the same time. We were immigrants from Trottingham. Nopony sat in the presence of the Queen Bliss More, and no commoners were invited to direct audiences.

But we were in Equestria.

I heard Princess Celestia say, "I'm sorry. We must continue this later."

The earth ponies bowed and retreated back to the head of the queue, far behind where I stood with the majordomo. He announced, "The Right Honorable, Lady Flopsy Mopsy, daughter of Duster and Spinfluff of Trottingham."

Bloody Tartarus. He styled me as the daughter of peerage, but my parents were untitled. Right honorable elevated me above my parents station. It made no sense. I guess I didn't know anything about the subtle stylings of titles in Equestria1.

I did curtsey though.

"Your Royal Highness!" While I had no compunction about meeting eyes with powerful ponies, I knew when being rude was being rude. I looked down, holding the pose.

"Lady Mop, please rise. I wave formalities with you."

"Thank you, my liege." I raised my eyes and saw the the princess quirk a half-smile.

I'd called her "my liege." I had been naturalized, so it was true.

Her mane flowed behind her, the green, pink, and blue colors caught in a magical zephyr. Her violet eyes were as striking now as they had been the first time I had seen her, in the pre-dawn light on the day of the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration when I'd seen her ambushed and caught in her sister's rainbow magic. I'd seen her heavily mascaraed eyes go wide. I'd thought I'd seen her murdered, that I'd witnessed regicide.

I glanced at Princess Luna. She glanced speedily down at the papers held in her magic. She'd been looking at me—and had found that embarrassing. In her Nightmare Moon aspect, we had history.

I knew better than to speak until spoken to. After a moment, Princess Celestia said, "I called you here today to speak of the events three days ago."

Here it comes.

I had to stop it.

I steadied myself and spoke, taking the thinest possibility that she had given me leave to do so. "I did what I had to do. It was no more than for another pony to breathe. I desire no credit for my actions and will bare any punishment my actions deserve."

I lowered my eyes.

The princess chuckled. "You will get what your actions deserve. Do not lower your eyes in my presence," she added sharply.

I looked up. Our eyes met and she bowed her head to me.

The gesture took my breath away.

Some ponies had been paying attention. I heard gasps from the assembled crowd. I blinked, stunned, despite all the words we'd shared the evening after the Changelings had been defeated. In private, she'd given me my medallion and dubbed me one of the Heroes of Equestria. She'd held me when I'd cried after remembering out loud my actions after I'd thought her murdered. This, however, was different.

I glanced and saw Princess Luna had also bowed her head to me.

Celestia continued, "Three days ago, you saved uncounted ponies from suffering thanks to an essential kindness in your heart. You saved a thousand pegasus lives that would have been lost but for your initiative. And, through a few words uttered from your mouth, your kindness saved a city from the torture of chaos unleashed." She raised her head and locked her gaze with mine. "You have a heart bigger than you know, my little pony. I hope that one day you can accept yourself the way other ponies accept you."

There was truth in those words, but she didn't see deep inside me. I was broken. I accepted only that much.

She saved me from having to respond by adding, "And please accept this for the kindness you bestowed on Canterlot and Equestria."

I glanced down at a little black velvet box set by her magic at my hooves. I curtseyed. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness."

"Thank you."

I swept it up with my wings as the Princess returned to her throne. I had been dismissed.

That hadn't been so bad. I hadn't been publicly called a Hero of Equestria. My audience might merit a paragraph or two in the royal going-ons in one or two newspapers, to be forgotten. Hopefully Sapphire Shores wouldn't pick up on it for some publicity. At the diner, I'd asked her to keep my story to herself.

I found myself walking to Mum and Dad. They waited until I got to the bench to enfold me in their embrace. My bruises complained, but I didn't cringe. Dad said, "Look at you, my little sweetie drop, recognized by a princess."

I hugged them back. And we all shared tears, despite it having to be a public spectacle. One thing I cared about was my Mum and Dad, and it felt brilliant that they could be proud of me.

Mum asked, "Did you do all of that?"

I liked Princess Celestia's sanitized version, but it was a bit of a lie by omission. "I can give you details later if you want."

"Supper? I'll make you your favorite, squash fingers and kale crisps!"

"I'd like that." I hadn't eaten much fried breaded food since I'd got out of the house, but it'd be a lark.

Mum asked, "What's in the case?"

I knew what the black velvet jewel case held. I wasn't surprised at the gold medallion on a gold chain. I was a second time a Hero of Equestria. 109 was stamped upon it.

Who was 108?

Mum noticed the 107 medallion hanging from my neck, and raised a hoof to better see it. Dad said, "Is there something you've been keeping from us?"

"Can we chat about it tonight?"

"You may. And..." Dad took a deep breath, "If your Mum and I catch the 11:35 to Ponyville, we can take the afternoon job in the Town Hall archives we'd had to tentatively cancel. See you for supper, right? Ta!"

I grabbed Dad with a wing and with the other pulled out a couple of silver bits from my purse. "Be a lord and a lady. Take a taxi."

"You're a luv." They grinned and trotted off.

I would have given them gold bit, but they prided themselves on their self-reliance. It had taken months before they'd let me pay off the house. This little token, being able to do little things for them, that made me smile for the first time today.

I glanced right and caught Princess Luna studying me. Her eyes flicked down to her papers as Princess Celestia resumed with the merchants.

"I'm happy," I whispered to myself. And...

I was. I was happy.

I put the second medallion over my neck so 109 nestled over my heart next to 107. I climbed up on to the bench and lay, making like a sphinx, suddenly content to veg.

Ok, that wasn't entirely true. The veg part was true, mind you, but something else kept me there. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, and when I opened them I found Princess Luna again watching me. Her behavior struck me as a foal in a restaurant who had spotted a celebrity and desperately wanted to fangirl about it, but couldn't, because, well, you know, parents. Princess Luna wanted to talk to me.

Princess Nightmare Moon had made me the Hero of Equestria I was today. I had bonded to her like the duckling to a mother duck.

So I lay there, awaiting the mare as she screwed her courage to the sticking-place. Princess Celestia's sister had a reputation for being haughty, prissy, cold, and fiery-tempered. The afternoon of the morning Nightmare Moon had broken me, Princess Luna had danced to my beats at a party thrown for her return. She'd been rejuvenated into a filly barely my age. She'd grown a lot since then, grown a darker midnight-blue coat and her mane had filled with a magical wind and twinkling stars. But then, as now, she'd demonstrated a shyness when dealing with ponies. I'd made the ingénue comfortable at the party, providing her a safe place beside my turntables to enjoy the music away from everypony. We'd left talk of Nightmare manias and knighthoods unspoken by mutual unspoken consent.

With my eyes closed, I heard a general shushing of the the chatter in the hall. A minute later I heard the clatter of approaching hoof falls. My heart began to race in my chest, making it hard to control my breathing as I pretended not to notice.

"Lady Flopsy Mopsy," said Princess Luna.

I jumped off the bench with a flutter of my wings, into a perfect curtsey. Pain shot through my leg as I said, "Your Royal Highness!"

"Please call me Luna."

I dipped my head. "Luna, my liege."

She laughed lightly. "Raise your eyes. Of all ponies, I understand the intricacies of court language. Just Luna."

I met her deep blue eyes. "Luna."

"I—" She glanced away, then said, "I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your music."

"You sound like a fan."

"I may not be your biggest fan, but I am your most royal one."

Unlike her sister, who'd attended the rave after the Canterlot Wedding with 107 in her saddlebag, I felt certain that since the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration, Luna had never attended a club or festival I had headlined. There were the bootleg recordings, of course, but I decided to push. "You remember me?"

She blinked a moment, the blue powder applied over her eyes making it a semaphore of her emotions. "My sister is correct. You are very kind. That first day when I returned to myself, I cannot express how your music calmed my nerves. It let me fit in when we first met."

"We met before that."

Silence. A very long silence, then, "I-I had been a bad pony, and then everypony forgave me. I was very confused. How could they? I had been—" She took a deep breath and whispered, "I had been evil."

I shook my head and said, "There is some good in evil, princess. How I kept Discord from rampaging three days ago, how I kept ponies safe while the Changelings attacked, how I prevented the stampede at Town Hall when Princess Nightmare Moon panicked everypony... all that was because of you. You saw me, you looked me in the eyes, and you transformed me into what I am today."

She blinked rapidly.

"When you were Nightmare Moon."

Her eyes began to glisten. She said, "I remember. You were the first pony to recognize me as royal. You were the first and only pony to bow to me as Nightmare Moon."

"You see," I swept my wings up to point at myself, to jostle the medallions that glittered there. "Good can come from evil."

Like me, the princess stood there, broken. Tears streamed from her eyes and rolled down her muzzle to drip to the marble tile floor. We had been watched, of course, and a hush came over the hall. It lasted maybe seconds. She didn't even wipe her eyes. She suddenly let out in a deep sob of what seemed like anguish and grabbed me up her wings into a tight embrace. Between sobs, she said, "Thank you! Thank you!"

I felt her tears roll down my neck as her mane pulsed around me like a living dreamscape. She felt very warm.

She added, "Your words are a gift of incalculable worth."

"And true," I whispered into her furry blue ear. They had to be true, because deep inside I was evil. I just redirected my evil to good purpose.

"Oh, oh, oh!" she said, pulling free. She swiftly wiped her tears, slightly smearing her eye shadow. "I have a long overdue gift. Kneel. You have to kneel."

In Trottingham, everypony kneeled or bowed. None of these wimpy curtseys mares got away with in Equestria. I prostrated myself as directed, left leg out and right bent, but I kept my eyes up so I could see.

She said, "In Equestria, we do not have knights. That is for fairy tales and histories. Ancient Unicornia had knights, but we rejected that for the hypocrisy and bad choices of its autocratic queen. Still, a knight should represent the best of ponykind, the strength and the kindness shown for the ponies of a nation. We don't have knights, but you, Flopsy Mopsy shall always be a knight in my heart, not just for your respect or for your loyalty to the nation, but for the good you have bestowed upon our world." Tears again streamed from her eyes as she bowed to me.

Or not.

Her long blue-grey horn lightly touched my left shoulder and then my right.

"I dub thee Dame Flopsy Mopsy. Please rise."

I stood and we looked around at the same time. Princess Celestia had continued her conference. A good couple dozen petitioners had watched and looked confused. None appeared to be court reporters.

In a loud whisper, Luna proclaimed. "You are now the first knight of Equestria, as promised!"

We smiled at one another, then began giggling in unison.

In our darkest moments, we had remembered one another. It meant a lot to me, and by her tears, it also had to Princess Luna. We had both found good in evil.

"Oh," Luna said.

"What, my liege?"

She snorted. In a real whisper, bending to speak so I felt her breath in my ear, she said, "I was wondering... Do you think you could spin me a private show? I would truly love that."

"Name the time and place."

"Is now good?"

__________
Footnote: 1Right Honorable. "Right" means "Very" in this instance. In this case it denotes a member of the princess' privy council or an acknowledged agent of the crown.

Author's Note:

Time to rate the story. Hint: 👍 (Please)


From Nightmare Moon's promise to fruition, Flopsy Mopsy's adventure to knighthood is complete. She's gone from music fan, to DJ, to headliner, to DJ producer, to singer/songwriter—and has the stage name she will be known by at the Friendship Festival. She now has her posse, which includes the Songbird-ettes, Helping Hoof, and Oat-boy Blind. In the picture, Helping Hoof is on the left and Oat-boy on the right. OBB is wearing magic glasses, but that's a different story. Can you find 107 and 109 in the picture?

As an experiment, I wrote the story arc out of publication order. I wanted each installment to stand alone, reprising the most important elements necessary for the current story from the "previous" ones. I did almost no fix-ups, so you might see some discrepancies in Unmarked Time, but I left them as Flopsy Mopsy's memory is ordinary and she does color some events through her own perspective. The stories were written in this order:

Knight of Equestria I: Certainty
Knight of Equestria IV: Unmarked Time
Knight of Equestria II: Discordant Harmony
Knight of Equestria III: Pizzicato and Changelings for a Pegasus Heart

While Flopsy Mopsy's story is complete, there are two other titles in the cycle.

Knight of Equestria V: Girl's Night
Knight of Equestria VI: Rainbow Tears

Flopsy Mopsy appears as a secondary character in Filly, Separated, after the events in Rainbow Tears.

I created the four covers from composited images. Each is different, meant to highlight something in Flopsy Mopsy's life.

I completed writing the first four stories prior to my publication of the first. This was a good thing for you as a reader. The cycle has turned into a labor of love. As you can see by the view count at the end of this chapter* (subtract 11 views tallied during editing), Songbird Serenade's saga has not been well received. This likely has to do with a protagonist who—aside from singing, and her alter-ego writing, the best song of the movie—has a personality and character in the movie best described as... meh. Had I not enjoyed this story as much as I did, and all the messages about royalty, heroism, the psychological affects of living with danger, how pony mentalities differ from human mentalities (they are truly aliens in the SF sense), etc., I might have abandoned the cycle sooner—completed work be damned.

At this moment, V is partially written, and what I have written so far might pass as a completed story. It includes Luna. It's supposed to include Fluttershy, and a dangerous and easy-to-misinterpret costumed new friend she dresses up for the occasion. It takes place the Nightmare Night the year after the events in The Scare Master. VI is a rough outline. It's what really happened after Tempest Shadow conquered Canterlot, and answers why Twilight's friends had relatively little problem getting into and through occupied Canterlot, and why powerful friends didn't help.

You probably guessed it by now, but I'm putting the series on hiatus. (Oh noes!) I thrive on my stories being read, but barring a spotlight or a good review in a group like Seattle's Angels that dramatically improves the number of readers, Songbird Serenade, Knight of Equestria is now officially on the back burner.

Please. Please don't let this news or disappointment hurt your rating of this story! I'm just trying to be fair in telling you what to expect. You are welcome to encourage me to continue in the comments.

I will be publishing other stories, soon, so I'm an not giving up writing. Far from it!


*Check the last chapter of the other stories, subtracting about 10 from each to get the actual reader views.

Comments ( 4 )

What's Princess Compulsive Disorder?

9758519
It's the diagnosis a snarky doctor gave to a certain apparently ordinary pegasus who acted like a princess, taking on dangers that she was ill-equiped, in his opinion, to deal with.

I love this series and it definitely should get far more views than it got.
And I for my part really want to see how she did during the happenings of the movie. Considering what I've seen of FM until now there seems to be so much potential. I'd love to read your take on it. :heart:

Yeah, the problem with redeeming a lackluster character is that going in, people just see that there's going to be a lackluster character.

Still, lukewarm reception aside, I loved this installment of the saga of Flopsy Mopsy... even if I didn't exactly show it through assidious reading. Sorry, magic loss is one of my big squick factors for MLP, which makes me hesitste with anything involving Tirek. Still, a fantastic read from start to finish, especially how Discord is still deathly afraid of that angry little pegasus. Thank you for it. I do hope you reviist the Knight of Equestria sooner rather than later.

Login or register to comment