All the world is waiting for you
Bellatrix was once considered the most important performer of all. She was invited to all the important festivals in the world, in each event she participated she convinced ponies that magic existed with her tricks. Everypony appreciated Bellatrix but one night, when the wedding of the most important merchandiser’s daughter occurred something strange happened. She headed to the big house where a guard was checking the invitations of the other guests.
“Invitation, please,” the guard said, receiving the piece of paper from the guests and letting them in. “Thank you.”
Bellatrix approached to the entrance but the guard denied her the access.
“Your invitation.”
“I’m Bellatrix,” she posed for him, but the guard was unimpressed. “...The performer.”
“I know who you are, but you can’t get in without an invitation.”
“But the gala can’t start without me.”
“Oh really?” he asked unamused. “Just listen.”
The guard pointed to the window, Bellatrix tilted her head rightwards and could notice some mini fireworks and listen to the music. She knew something was wrong and she needed to get in, but how? When the next invited guest, a unicorn mare with a wide dress, appeared she pretended to leave the place and when the mare spoke to the guard she hid under the dress. She was able to sneak in the establishment.
The main area, crowded by ponies, had a large stage with pipes where the fireworks came from, the public was hypnotized by the lights and colors to the point that nopony noticed Bellatrix, not even the guards inside. She then heard some noise coming from behind one of the curtains. After outwitting the guards and the public she arrived to the place where the noise came from, moved the curtain and got an astounding surprise: it was a machine. A rotatory cylinder with a pendulum that registered the waves of sound and, depending of the vibrations, the music accelerated and different fireworks appeared depending on the speed of the artifact. Bellatrix was speechless and dropped her jaw. A shadow appeared and covered her, she turned her head around.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” the merchandiser appeared behind Bellatrix and caught her by surprise, his name was F. Pants. “Listen Bellatrix, with this machine the performers are over,” Bellatrix put a hoof on the machine. “Don’t touch that!”
The machine bumped a little and stopped. The fireworks disappeared from the air and the music ceased. The once amazed guest were suddenly looking at Bellatrix, who remained stillness. She didn’t stopped the machine on purpose, she just had curiosity but that didn’t matter to F. Pants who ordered her guards to throw her out of the house.
“Get out of here!”
The landing hurt her but not as much as the rest of the implications. She got up on her feet and left the place. Upset and sorrow she headed to a nearby lake. Sitting on the pier ledge she looked at her reflect on the surface, moonlight was glowing strong above the lake. She kept thinking in that machine. Performance was her purpose of life, her reason of existing. If this was going to become a trend then she was afraid of the future. What was she going to do in her life afterwards? If somepony had the decency to watch her, she’ll be acclaimed like she was used to?
She started to sob and some tears landed on the water. By the magic of the moonlight the lake shined, its center glowed in a cyan tone and a whirlpool formed in the center. Bit by bit it increased its size, after a few minutes the whirlpool covered the surface and bubble rings emerged from the center. She spotted a shell appearing from the bubble rings, it opened to reveal a pink-purple pony with a fishtail, a siren. Bellatrix was intimidated at first but the siren’s presence calmed her a bit.
“Thanks for your performance, Bellatrix. I’m Glimglam, the Lady of the Lake.”
“Do... do you know my name?”
“Yes, and I know your pities.”
“I know. What Bellatrix is supposed to do? Performing for ponies is my life and now...” she sighed. “Bellatrix can only wait the time to die alone, because nopony needs her anymore.”
“Don’t say that,” Bellatrix started to sob again. “Listen to me, I can help you but only if you do what I say. Understand?”
Bellatrix sniffed and wiped her tears out. “Ye-Yes.”
“Perfect,” said Glimglam as she brushed her mane with her hooves. “You’ll go to the merchandiser tomorrow and tell him you’ll go in a trip around the world.”
“But I can’t do that!”
“Do not worry, just tell him what I say. Just remember, everything about this encounter is between you and me only.”
The next morning Bellatrix headed to the big house to tell the owner the deal she agreed with the siren. She got in hearing sounds from the cosmetic room and unexpectedly caught F. Pants in his morning routine, more specifically a barber shaving his beard and trimming up his moustache, along with some of his personal entourage, composed of an orange earth pony named Carrot Top, a purple pony called Berry Punch and a white unicorn known as Fleur Dis Lee, having breakfast.
“Excuse me, Mr. F.”
“Oh dear, the former best performer of the world,” said F. Pants. “What brings you here, my dear?”
“Bellatrix wants to make a deal with you... about richness and benefits.”
“And why your sudden interest in those topics?”
“You see, after...” Bellatrix felt fear run through her body but she was able to handle it the best she could. “What happened yesterday Bellatrix went to the lake to order her thoughts. I was thinking in another form of income and the one thing that came to my mind was the precious merchandise you owned. Here’s the thing: Bellatrix wants a trip around the world.”
“A trip around the world, you say?” F. Pants wondered about that mysterious deal and he couldn’t help but rubbing his shaved chin. “What is your purpose?”
“Well, I need a ship full or merchandise, so I can sell them out to a foreign country. You can keep 90% of the income and Bellatrix can guarantee you’ll be the richest unicorn in the world.”
“I like that... In fact, I compromise to give you my ladies as your crew.”
Those words disliked the entire entourage. Carrot Top almost choked with a slice of pie and Berry Punch spat on Fleur’s face, much to her dismay.
“Dear, you can’t do that! This performer doesn’t even have the guts or the knowledge to accomplish such a big task like that,” the white unicorn complained as she took a napkin to clean her face. “Besides, what if she gets away with your possessions? How are you so sure Bellatrix won’t escape?”
“...That’s a good point.”
F. Pants tapped his hooves and the guards quickly came into. They placed around Bellatrix’s horn a magic suppression cap, to make sure she didn’t do anything illegal. She knew she couldn’t mess up with F. Pants.
“If you don’t come back I’ll order to cut your head off. Deal?”
F. Pants stretched his hoof, Bellatrix gulped nervously but she put herself together and held his. “Deal.”
F. Pants fulfilled his promise: he gave Bellatrix a ship full of precious merchandises and, as he said, he gave his ladies as her ship’s company too, to their discomfort. Just in a few days the ship arrived to the sea. She sailed to the south, in every harbor she landed she sold her merchandises: fur, woods, honey, you get the idea. In exchange of them she received gold, silver, pearls, gems, spices and rare perfumes.
After a few months she decided to come back to home but suddenly the wind stopped blowing, for the sailors of that time the lack of wind was a sign of bad luck. The ladies were recharging on the mast while Bellatrix was checking the possibilities, after months of being stuck with her they opened their mouths and headed to her.
“This is a call from the Princess of the Sea,” said Fleur annoyed. “She is not happy about this.”
“It’s also your fault,” added Berry Punch. “Since we set sail you haven’t thank her not even once.”
“You haven’t give her a single gift,” continued Carrot Top.
Bellatrix was not exactly comforted with her crew’s attitude but they were right and, although she didn’t want to get rid of her treasure, she had no choice and grumbled in silence. “Ok. Throw overboard a vat of fine silver!”
The ladies picked up a box full of silver coins and threw it to the sea. After hearing the splash Bellatrix checked the sails but they didn’t move.
“Throw overboard a vat of pearls!”
The ladies picked up a barrel full of silver coins and threw it to the sea. After hearing the splash Bellatrix checked the sails but they didn’t move. They continued doing this for a couple of hours but nothing they threw overboard moved the sails, not even a little bit.
“A pile of pure gold is not enough for you?!” Bellatrix complained and shouted to the sky. “What do you want, Princess of the Sea? It’s not like we’re going to sacrifice a pony.”
The crew thought silently about that.
“Why not?” Berry Punch broke the silence.
“That’s true,” said Carrot Top. “Why not?”
The mares went malicious and ambushed Bellatrix. While Carrot Top held her front legs and Berry Punch held the back legs, so Bellatrix couldn’t move, Fleur used her magic to levitate her. Once the blue unicorn was in the air the other mares released themselves.
“Wait, no! What are you doing? No!” Bellatrix struggled to get free but everything was worthless. Fleur’s horn stopped glowing and Bellatrix fell into the ocean. “AAAAHHHH!!!!”
The splash was heard, surprisingly the sails expanded, clearly the wind had come back. The ladies celebrated because now they were able to be home. But these weren’t good news for Bellatrix, without her magic she couldn’t levitate or teleport and her blue coat and mane were a disadvantage in the open sea because nopony would spot her. But when she was about to drown a huge shoal of fish surrounded her and gave her a bubble so she could breathe underwater. They carried her to an enormous submarine castle, conformed by shells and clams, the golden doors opened and the throne room appeared behold her eyes. A blue reptilian creature with a trident in claw was there, looking that she was waiting for her all this time, the fishes released Bellatrix and she lifted her head up to observe her. For her appearance she knew this creature was the Princess of the Sea.
“Well Great and Powerful Bellatrix, since you didn’t come it was necessary I had to find you,” said the royal member.
“I-I-...” Bellatrix babbled uncontrollably until she heard the ‘nickname’ the Princess gave to her. “Wait. How do you call me?”
“The Great and Powerful Bellatrix.”
“...Nice name,” Bellatrix felt as the most awesome pony of the world until she remembered why she was there. “I didn’t know about this, Princess. I was just–”
The Princess raised her left claw and Bellatrix kept silence. “Please call me Ember. Now that you’re here I want to hear a melody,” a couple of fish gave her an instrument, similar to an electric guitar.
“But Bellatrix doesn’t know how to play guitar.”
“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do great.”
A coral scenario appeared from the ground and Bellatrix stepped in. She began... but in a smooth and calm tone, almost like a ballad.
“You better believe ♪”
“I got tricks up my sleeve ♪”
“And I captivate ♪”
“Cause I’m powerful and greeeeeeaaaaaaaat ♪”
This eventually concerned Ember who wanted a change for the tone.
“Come on,” Bellatrix stopped playing. It was clear that ballads were not her cup of tea. “Don’t you have something more rhythmic, more modern or faster?”
“The Princess of the Sea wants a faster melody? Then a faster melody was what Bellatrix would give,” she thought as she higher the volume of the guitar and began again.
“That’s better! Faster! Faster!”
She didn’t notice but, at the same time she was playing her hardcore cover, the sea was becoming savage, waves of devastation were emerging from the deeps and signs of a storm yet to come were present.
“Louder! Louder!” exclaimed Ember, supporting Bellatrix to play faster. “YES!”
Bellatrix was so lost in herself that she wasn’t conscious about her surroundings. At the surface the old ship and her former crew were having trouble to maintain themselves, the waves shook the ship and, one by one, each of the mares fell into the ocean. They tried to remain on the surface but the powerful winds and the unstable sea currents made them disappear under the waters and, to make things worse, a lightning stroke into the ship. From beneath the surface the environment was flashy, like a white curtain covering the sea.
“Look right there.”
The Princess of the Sea pointed to her right and the performer followed her claw. Throughout the holes of the castle, Bellatrix could spot the image of the sinking ship in the distance, there was no view of her former crew. She stopped playing entirely and dropped the guitar.
“My ship... my sailors.”
“Are you happy now? That’s what you wanted, right?”
Bellatrix was speechless, Ember was wrong. The performer kept looking at the horizon, as the marine creatures began to colonize the sinking ship.
“What happens Bellatrix?” Wondered Ember. “You look upset.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Bellatrix paused. “I didn’t want this to happen. Besides, I-I-I don’t have a ship anymore. How am I supposed to return to my country?”
“Don’t mind about it,” the Princess addressed. “Stay here, with us... forever.”
Ember placed her claws on Bellatrix’s shoulders, trying to convince her. But she was interrupted by a siren, who came from the main door.
“I think I have the solution.”
Both the Princess and the performer looked at her. She was a familiar face to Bellatrix.
“Glimglam?” Bellatrix asked. She ran to her to hug her, thinking she will find consolation in her. “I can’t believe it!”
“So do me,” the siren replied.
“How–?”
“This is my home,” then Glimglam directed towards the Princess. “Can I guide her to my bedroom, mom?”
While Bellatrix put an awkward face due to what she just had heard, Glimglam begged to Ember with a puppy face. At first the Princess was immune to her charm but in the end she couldn’t resist.
“How can I say no to that face?” Ember patted Glimglam’s head. “Go ahead.”
While they were coming out of the castle, Bellatrix wanted to clear out some issues. “How is she your mother? She doesn’t seem like.”
“I know, right?” Glimglam paused dramatically. “We’re like twins!”
Glimglam retired to her room, which was an empty shell, with Bellatrix. The shell opened, gaining access to its interior and later it was closed.
In reality Ember felt sorrowful, she wanted Bellatrix to stay with her so she could perform for her, but at the same time she knew the importance of happiness among her subjects so, in the end, she agreed. Later that night, Glimglam was preparing herself to be alone with Bellatrix... and I mean really alone.
“I’ve been waiting for you all this time.”
But then she noted that Bellatrix wasn’t exactly comfortable. Her mind was focused in something else and her gaze expressed preoccupation. Glimglam stopped doing what she was planning and leaned next to her.
“Is something the matter?” she asked as she cuddled softly Bellatrix’s body. “You don’t seem to really enjoy our reunion.”
“Yeah I know. But...” Bellatrix leaned to her on one side and looked at her eyes. “I can’t stop thinking about my poor sailors. They were not kind to throw me overboard but that’s not an excuse to drown them anyway.”
“Stop thinking about it. Sleep, you’re tired, tomorrow a surprise will be waiting for you.”
“What surprise?” Bellatrix yawned and, with a last cuddle and kiss from Glimglam, she fell asleep.
While the screen was black she didn’t notice the changes in the environment and, sooner than she expected, she listened chirps from the birds and the scrunches from the leaves and a familiar voice came on the scene.
“Bellatrix,” it was from F. Pants. “Bellatrix, wake up!”
She opened her eyes and slowly, got up on her hooves. She discovered she was at lake at the very first hour of the morning. Cofounded and feeling a little bit drowsy, she met face to face not only with the merchandiser but also his entourage and the three members were safe and sound.
“Don’t cut my head off!” she screamed of fear.
“What’s the matter?” asked F. Pants. “You had a dream?”
“It was a dream?” Bellatrix scratched her head confused but also glad, she sighed. “It was a dream.”
“We’ve been looking for you for hours,” said Fleur Dis Lee.
“For what?”
“Mind to come to my house?” F. Pants proposed to Bellatrix a deal. “I’m offering a public dance for my daughter’s wedding and I want you to be there.”
“...But what about your machine?”
“Oh you know, they are mechanicals.”
“And they bored you after a while,” said Berry Punch.
“It’s not the same, you feel things,” added Carrot Top.
“You know when ponies are bored or they wanted to have fun,” continued Fleur.
“And besides you tell stories,” F. Pants finished the good descriptions. “Come on, forgive us for being so rude. I promise Bellatrix, all the world is waiting for you.”
Tears of joy fell from Bellatrix’s eyes and ran downwards her cheeks, she stretched hooves with F. Pants and accompanied their fellows to the event and since that day to the end of her life Bellatrix was invited to all festivals.