Three: Liaisons 'R' Us
The voices and hoofsteps stopped outside her doorway.
"The Rarity Suite's open? When did THAT happen? Usually, they only open it for foreign dignitaries and VIPs... and it's never just left sitting open like this! Ooooh, maybe there's a burglar! Oh, I really hope so! You got my flank, Mica?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Great! Awesome! Now, brace yourself - I'm going IN!"
The mare came flying through the doorway to land almost dead-center in the middle of the floor, her hooves raised in a martial-arts style defensive position.
"Nobody move! Thunderclap Dash is HERE!"
The pegasus mare was undeniably athletic - she had muscles to spare, and stood almost a head taller than Butter Churn had been. She had a deep blue coat with a bright yellow mane and tail, both of which became rainbow-colored right before they reached their roots. She also looked dressed to the nines, so to speak, and was wearing fashionable workout clothing. Her cutie mark was what appeared to be a sports thermos with a tri-colored lightning bolt on the label.
The stallion simply stepped inside and gave Obsidian a deadpan look. He had a grey coat, with a light brown short-cropped mane and braided tail. He looked utterly dull, especially with Thunderclap standing right next to him. However, he was handsome in a bookish manner, and he certainly didn't waste words, either. His cutie mark was what looked like a pickaxe with a golden handle.
"Mica Chip, what the heck are you doing?"
"Observing." The first actual word he'd spoken yet. He merely leveled a look at her as Thunderclap stood down. The massive mare seemed to relax a bit and sat on one of the opulent cushioned benches, looking at Obsidian with a bit of wonder and a touch of wariness.
"Unicorn... definitely don't look like some crook... and no burglary tools. Hmmp. Well, there goes my 'incredible capture', I guess..." The mare seemed crestfallen at the realization there wasn't about to be any fighting.
The stallion rolled his eyes, then looked at Obsidian. "Hey. You lost?"
Ah, finally a pony that wasn't flapping his tongue around! It was somewhat annoying that these two barged in without asking, but this mare sounded as if she was a guardian - if Lemon Custard hadn't told everypony in this place about her, then it wasn't surprising that some ponies could act with such a suspicious nature.
"No. Lemon Custard told me to use this room as bedroom for now and my last guest... ah, forgot to close the doors as he left."
The mare gave a chuckle as Lemon's name was mentioned. "So Custard has a new project, eh? HA!" She gave a short bark of a laugh. "He's suspicious of EVERYPONY, don't worry - not at all like his brother, Cupcake. Lemon'll give you the creeps for a bit, but s'long as you're okay, then you've got nothin' to worry about!"
Now wait a second... brother? Cupcake? The egocentric idiot was Lemon's brother? Now it sounded somewhat bad; Obsidian doubted that their family was similar to hers, so if the moron decided to complain, then Lemon probably wouldn't laugh it off and order him to get a spine.
She looked at the newcomers. Hmmmm... for guards, they didn't seem to be armed. "So... who might you be?" she asked as she tried to solve this issue in a more diplomatic manner.
The stallion nodded his head and addressed Obsidian. "Mica. Clap already introduced herself, so... yeah."
Thunderclap flexed some of her muscles, then struck a pose. "Hey, a rock hard body like this needs no introduction!" She flexed a bit more, murmuring 'awwww, yeah' as she stared into the mirror across from the bed.
Mica came closer, looking her over... especially her horn. "And who're you, all set up in the Rarity Suite?"
"Princess Obsidian. I was arrested... or kidnapped; I'm still somewhat confused about my current situation." Nope, surely they were not guards. Of course, this pegasus mare seemed to be big and strong enough to handle any burglar she encountered... but did she have the right to do so?
"Do you work here, or perhaps this is where you live?" she tried to guess.
"Princess?" Thunderclap said in shock. "Wait a minute - nopony said there'd be any Princesses visiting today! WOW! Totes awes!"
The muscular mare sat down on the extravagant couch, looking out-of-place among the finery with her rough-looking nature. "Mom didn't tell me there'd be Princesses!"
Mica rolled his eyes. "Probably because you'd act all starstruck, Clap."
He then turned to face her again. "Princess? Of what kindgom?"
Hmmm, they didn't answer her question. How rude.
"I'm a daughter of the honourable King Sombra, of the Crystal Empire. The only heir... as far as I'm aware," she admitted with some hesitation. For most of time Obsidian was stuck in her rooms in the palace, so she could only hope that she didn't have any siblings in a similar situation. Her father wasn't exactly a 'family pony', but if he had her, then he could possibly have had more children as well...
"However, I was told that a lot changed since my most honourable father decided to hide me underground... a thousand years ago."
Both of them stood there for a moment, silent and unblinking. Then...
"Weeeeeelllllllll, this has been interesting, good meeting you and all, let's not keep you busy, come on Mica, we gotta go now..."
The strong-looking mare was making her way toward the door, making sure not to break eye contact with Obsidian as she made her way towards leaving.
"No."
Thunderclap froze. "Uh, Mica? You DID hear what she said, right?"
Mica looked at his friend. "I heard her. No."
Thunderclap gave a look as though she were trying to stop herself from yelling at him about what a dunce he was being... but Mica just turned back to face Obsidian again. "I'd rather stay. She seems okay."
"SHE'S SOM-..." she glanced around furtively as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "... she's Sombra's daughter, Mica!"
"... and?"
Thunderclap sputtered a bit at that, but Mica pressed on.
"Has she done anything bad since we got here?"
"Mmmmmmmm... n-no, not really, BUT-"
"... conjured any Dark Magic?"
"N-not really, BUT MICA-"
"Threatened your life?"
Thunderclap sighed and threw up her hooves. "Fine, FINE! Point MADE! All RIGHT!" She made her way back into the room and returned to the couch... though she was now a bit more... alert. Prepared. Apprehensive.
Mica, however, simply went on as if Obsidian had said she was a baker or a dentist. "To answer your question, we have family that comes here. Thunderclap's mother and my auntie show up here; we're not guards."
Well, well, well... so it seemed that ponies were still afraid of her father? It seemed that even if he was really 'defeated', he was still considered dangerous. It was quite a soothing realization for Obsidian, as she was starting to fear that nopony would treat her with any respect in this accursed place.
"This castle seems to be quite... lively. Quite a few ponies showing up and so on; is this normal?"
After all, her father's palace was a little bit less popular and nopony really wanted to visit it. Granted, some ponies were forced to do so, but none of them were ever happy about it.
"Yes, it is." Mica answered.
"Yeah," Thunderclap continued, "lots of pones make the rounds here, especially when Princess Twilight's about - plus, like, GREAT hangout, too! Lots of room here... not like at the Friendship Academy." She rolled her eyes.
"Still," Mica said, "lots of active ponies here. Especially in the library."
And yet she was forbidden to go to the library. Of all ponies, she wasn't allowed to check out the books of the local ruler! What a terrible shame.
... Wait, what? What in Tartarus did the mare say?
"... what's a... Friendship Academy?" Obsidian didn't have too much experience with schools and academies, but it sounded somewhat suspicious...
Well, at least those two already told her more than the moron before, despite saying less than one-tenth of the words he used.
Thunderclap sighed and began speaking as if she were repeating something by rote... and was utterly tired of hearing it.
"...groan ... Equestria's Friendship Academy is a place of learning and discovery... about how friendships are formed, as well as a standard curricular of advanced learning for those who have graduated from regular elementary school... we have fun learning, as we learn to have fuuuuuuuuuun..."
The last word was apparently meant to be said enthusiastically, but Thunderclap seemed anything but excited about it.
"Basically, it's more classes - yawnfest." To illustrate, she gave a large, loud yawn and stretch.
Mica simply shook his head. "Clap doesn't like school; I do. It's pretty much what she said. Ponies learning more about both education and friendship."
That sounded completely, utterly ridiculous and absurd; did future ponies really make an academy dedicated to basically teaching young minds how to waste time? Why would anypony be learning about friendship?
Was that something that only the commoners were learning?
Thunderclap then gave a small smile, "Heyyyyy... wait. You sayin' you're interested in going?"
Mica, with a curious look on his muzzle, raised an eyebrow at Obsidian. "Are you?"
"I... don't know. I don't know of any other alternatives yet, or even if it would be possible. As far as I am aware at the moment, I'm not even supposed to leave this very room without my liaison - so for the time being, any enrollment to a school would be somewhat... difficult."
"Oh, if you're a lost princess with nowhere else to go, with the family history YOU got, I'm pretty sure they're gonna MAKE you go there!" Thunderclap shrugged.
Mica sighed, then nodded. "Yeah. Probably. But it's not so bad."
Another groan and eyeroll combo from the muscular mare. "Says YOU, Egghead."
Mica didn't flinch. "That's right, Musclebrain."
Thunderclap looked a bit angry at first... but her stare dissolved into laughter as she clapped Mica on the back. "Yeah, yeah, yeah... so maybe it won't be that bad, sure - but if you're anything like me," she smiled smugly, "then you don't really need it."
Mica slowly, sadly shook his head. "Better to be smart; easier to keep up with in old age."
Thunderclap just gave him a skeptical look, then tousled his mane. "You're a RIOT, Mica!"
Unflinching, he said, "I know; I get it from my Mom." He turned back to Obsidian. "A liaison? Maybe we would count?"
"Hey, yeah," the mare chimed in as it dawned on her, "WE could be your lee-... liayz-... lee-... your guards!"
They would make her go to the 'Friendship Academy'? Granted, the thought of attending a real academy sounded good - but friendship sounded wholly ridiculous. However, with the utter lack of any other ideas about her options, it was as good as any other goal in her life. She couldn't just waste her time waiting for the inevitable return of her most honourable father, could she?
"I'm not sure if Lemon Custard would approve of it. Besides, I'm waiting for Butter Churn, as I've asked her for some books from the library." Eh, why these ponies forbid her from going there? They could just forbid her from taking books about magic and so on - it would work just as well.
"Butter Churn!" Thunderclap smiled broadly. "If she said she was comin' back, then she is - that one is as honest as her mom, but stronger!"
"Well," Mica pondered, "we could wait with you, if you want."
"Or we could just cut out the middle-mare and take you to the library ourselves!" Clap's grin doubled in size. "Wouldn't be a problem; we could just say we were acting as a leeay-... uh, guards... and if there's any trouble, I'd be happy to take the blame!"
Mica lifted an eyebrow. Clap actively ignored him.
"Besides, it's gotta be BOOOORRRRRR-ing, sitting here with nothing to do; you look like you need some adventure!"
Mica shrugged. "I guess we could - if you want. Maybe we'd meet Churn on the way." Clap laughed and gave Mica another swat on the back; he seemed unfazed, as if she did this a lot.
So everypony knew each other here, hmm? Perhaps there weren't too many servants... or it was just a coincidence.
Oh, and everypony was FAR too enthusiastic for her tastes. It seemed as if it would be quite easy to manipulate them into doing things for her... but, on the other hoof, it was also somewhat irritating... but hopefully nopony would be as bad as Cupcake.
"I'm not allowed into the library," she said. That should explain everything - nopony would insist on taking her to the place that was forbidden to her, right? And... boring? Boredom was a sign of weak minds; it was becoming more and more obvious that Clap wasn't exactly the brightest pony around, but she shouldn't practically brag about it!
"Allowed, shmallowed! You'd be under MY watch, and no one would have a thing to worry about!"
"... plus, Lemon isn't really in charge here - he just thinks he is," Mica added with a nod. "He has some authority... but I'm pretty sure Aunt Twilight wouldn't approve of just shutting you into a room like this."
"See? There! We'd be poor friends if we just let you waste away here for nothing! I say we forget Custard and take Siddy here to the Egghead Emporium!"
"Don't call her 'Siddy'; she's a princess, remember?"
"And?" Clap tilted her head a bit. "Friends give each other nicknames, right? So, if we're gonna be her first friends, then we gotta do stuff like that! Mom says nicknames are a sign of friendship!"
"... or a lack of couth," Mica muttered, sotto voce, to Obsidian.
"So, whatcha say? Are we headed to the library now? I mean, I don't care for it, but that hardly means anyone else doesn't. Wait..." Clap stepped closer and examined Obsidian from mane to hooves.
"... you're not The Princess of Eggheads, are you?"
Mica facehoofed, sighed, then remarked, "Probably not." Then, facing Obsidian again, "So. We going?"
So Lemon wasn't as important as he was trying to appear to be, eh? It was an important lesson; Obsidian had witnessed it once or twice - servants trying to use the little power they've got from her most honourable father to improve their lives or boss around other servants.
That never lasted too long...
And who was this 'Siddy'? What's a 'nickname'? Who was 'aunt Twilight'? Surely, they weren't talking about the local princess, right?
"... no, I'm the princess of the Crystal Empire. In this case I think I can... risk..." she said this word with a great dose of hesitation, "... going to the Academy. Not to the library, as it was explicitly forbidden. Also... is this 'Aunt Twilight' you are talking about the local princess? And who is Siddy?"
Being Sombra's daughter she didn't know too much about the existence of nicknames. And she certainly would never think that anypony would try to give one to her.
Clap and Mica both stared at her for a moment. Then, slowly, Mica turned to his companion and spoke softly.
"That's... somewhat sad."
"You don't know what a nickname is? What, did you live under a rock your whole-"
"No - she was Sombra's daughter," Mica cut Clap off before she said something else stupid. The words, once there, hung in the air for a moment, nopony saying a word.
"Nicknames," Mica cut the silence, "are a form of familiarization between friends; it's something friends call each other, rather than using their full name, over and over again."
"Yeah, like me - Mica calls me Clap, because we're friends and I kinda like it. And it's sometimes - but not always - something to do with the proper name, so... instead of Obsidian, I figure you could go by Siddy! Pretty cool, right?"
Mica sighed, then turned to face the princess. "And yes, Aunt Twilight is the Princess of Friendship here in Equestria. She governs along with her council-"
"Which my mom's a part of!" Clap interrupted.
Mica just nodded, his muzzle remaining expressionless as always. "Right. Each one holds a title of 'Element Bearer', but the only one who ascended to alicornhood was Aunt Twilight."
"Or Twily, as Shining Armor calls her!" Clap added with a grin.
Oh... so 'Clap' was not just a shortened version of 'Thunderclap', it was an entire nickname?
"Siddy sounds like 'seedy'," she noticed. It wasn't a protest, or taking offense or anything like that - she just noticed it and wanted to bring it to their attention.
Ascended to alicornhood... Shining Armor... who was that pony?
"... does it mean you are royalty too? Is this Shining Armor princess Twilight's husband?" She tried to guess.
Everything - literally everything - would be far, far easier if she could just lock herself in the library for a few hours, but noooooo... they had to forbid it, so she had to ask about everything. Her distinct lack of knowledge was humiliating...
Clap burst into peals of loud, hearty laughter. "NO! EWW! Shiny is Twily's brother!"
"She didn't know that," Mica tried to explain, but Clap was so amused at the thought that she continued to laugh aloud.
Obsidian shot Clap a glare; not knowing something was bad enough - being laughed at by anypony from a lower class than her was even worse (of course it meant that the only pony who could laugh at her was her most honourable father).
With a roll of his eyes, Mica went on, "Technically, I suppose Rainbow Dash and the other council members would be more considered..." he eyeballed Obsidian for a moment, "... barons, so to speak. If that analogy works for you. So, no - she's not a princess. And my aunt Pinkie is on the council, but my mother - Maud - is not. She is Pinkie's sister, however, so that makes us cousins."
Clap paused from her gigglefest to think over what else 'Siddy' had said. When she realized the comment about the nickname, she spoke up.
"Sounds like 'seedy'? No, not Seedy - that's rude! I said Siddy!"
Sighing, Mica returned to his conversation. "So, no - not royalty. In fact, there is a princess at the Academy; her name is-"
"Awwwwww, not Hurry Fart!" Clap groaned and made a show of rolling her eyes exaggeratedly.
Mica made a small, almost chuckle-like sound before saying, "... yes. Princess Flurry Heart." He slid his gaze sideways toward Obsidian. "Of the Crystal Empire."
Internal politics of the Equestrian Nation probably weren't too complicated, but the mere fact that Obsidian wasn't allowed to just calmly read about it was annoying. She would pretty much prefer to just, well, read all about this council, princesses, their family trees and so on - and only then have a small-talk with these ponies, being on an equal footing. Right now, she was only making a fool of herself!
"... I assume 'Hurry Fart' is another nickname. It doesn't sound too friendly, however." Princess... with all princesses around did it mean she was a ruler of the Crystal Empire? Or perhaps she was a daughter of the new queen?
"Oh, Celestia," Clap groaned, "you have no idea how much of a brat she is! Always dressed to the nines-"
"Like top-of-the-line gym clothing?" Mica cut in, pointedly staring at Clap's highly fashionable sportswear.
"... and how she's always trying to be the center of attention and stuff!" Clap continued.
"Sounds familiar," Mica added, looking at the boisterous and loud Thunderclap.
"... and she just seems to think she's got the whole of Equestria under her hoof!" Clap ended with a huff. "I mean, yeah, her mom's in charge, whoop-de-doo, but really, she's SO... STUCK... UP!"
"Technically," Mica said, "she does stand to rule the Crystal Empire when she's old enough. But that's hardly all of Equestria. And no, she isn't all that spolied - you two just don't like each other."
Clap bristled a bit, then breathed a sigh and relaxed visibly, as if trying not to show how it got to her. "Well, we can agree to disagree, Chippie."
"And yes," Mica turned to Obsidian again, "sometimes nicknames can be purposefully hurtful - like, for instance, 'Chippie'," he glanced at Clap, only to have her smile and tousle his mane a bit.
"Yeah, sure, okay... but I mean Siddy as a GOOD thing, Siddy!"
She might not have been bright, but Thunderclap seemed truly sincere; she meant no harm to Obsidian - she was merely familiarizing herself.
So some ponies didn't like this 'princess' and she seemed to be... rather decadent? It was terrible that such a lowly creature was under the impression that she would rule anything! Luckily, Obsidian wasn't planning to just leave it that way.
Crystal ponies will be glad to learn that their true rulers have returned.
"... I will keep it all in mind. And, perhaps, we could at least leave a note for Churn, if we are going to this whole Academy."
Mica nodded. "I can leave a note."
"Yeah, hey!" Clap smiled enthusiastically, "Why not show Siddy the Academy! I mean, it's not that far from here, and since classes are over for the day, it'd just be us and whoever's still doing club-type-stuff! C'mon, you two! Let's DASH!"
Mica shook his head bemusedly, then took a sheet of paper and a pen from his small satchel and began to write. Meanwhile, Clap trotted out the door, then came back and said, "Come oooooooonnnnnnn, Mica! Churn doesn't need a whole BOOK!"
Mica finished, then set the letter down on the bed where it could be seen easily, and turned to the door. He then made a sweeping motion with a hoof. "After you, princess - ladies first."
"Race ya!" And, with that, Clap was off like a shot, flying exceedingly fast towards the front hall, presumably to beat them outside. Mica simply looked after her, then turned to face Obsidian.
"Now that my loud companion is elsewhere, maybe we can talk." He now gave the tiniest of grins; it had the effect of making his whole muzzle light up, as it was the first time she'd seen him with any facial expression whatsoever.
"Is there anything else you want to know about, or would you prefer companionable silence for the trip - because I'm certain there will not be much of it left when we finally catch up to Thunderclap."
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
977 users online
1,453,821 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
This chapter was...amusing.
I like Mica the most right now.
Lol, isn't that just basically what highschool is?
Current fav character right now is Mica.
i would rather die before attending something killed the friendship academy