Tenses Saga: Adjustments

[caelum]

Well, here's Part 2 of the Tenses Saga, reposted from the old forum for your enjoyment!

The Tenses Saga
Past...Present...Future... Tenses
Part 1: The Beginning of the End
Part 2: Adjustments (You're reading it!)

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, nor any of the characters contained therein. I do have a few OCs, but I'm usually willing to share, provided you ask permission.

Part 1: Strangers
In which Cheerilee gives the term “stressed” a whole new definition…

Cheerilee didn’t know what to think of the stranger standing in front of her. The other’s face was void of expression, and her eyes were fixed blankly on the floor. She didn’t make eye contact, didn’t speak, didn’t move aside from swaying ever so slightly. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was obvious this pony was breathing and standing on her own, Cheerilee would have wondered if she were truly alive. As it was, she was just a shell—an empty, purple shell of who she had once been.

“Queen Lily Lightly?” Cheerilee asked, tentatively calling out the unicorn’s name. When she received no answer, she went on, “Lily Lightly? Lily? Can you hear me?”

The unicorn’s eyes flickered briefly, meeting Cheerilee’s for just a moment before looking back to the floor. And, for the first time in her life, Cheerilee felt truly afraid. If someone could hurt her friend, could make her suffer this much damage…

“Oh, Lily,” she whispered, taking a step forward to place her head on Lily’s neck in what she hoped was a comforting manner. To her surprise, Lily Lightly stepped back, evading the embrace and eyeing Cheerilee uncomfortably. Cheerilee felt something in her break.

“Who did this?” she demanded, turning to face the other ponies in the room. “Who the hell did this?” Her eyes landed on the white earthling standing beside Captain Radiance. The newcomer looked worried, scared, tired… Cheerilee didn’t really care. “Well?” she demanded, looking directly at the white mare. “Was it you?”

“No!” the other exclaimed, looking shocked. “No! I’d never—”

“Who, then?” Cheerilee demanded, walking forward to stand over the newcomer. “And who are you, anyway? What were you doing in the Lavender Mountains? Answer me.”

“Cheerilee,” Radiance broke in, casting a quick glance at the now-terrified earthling, “I don’t think you need to be quite that harsh…”

“Tell me this, Captain,” Cheerilee snapped, “how is it that a stranger—an Earth Pony, no less—suddenly shows up the same time our queen is incapacitated, her guards are killed, and her husband—” She broke off there, shivering. Taking in a deep breath, she shouted, “Do you think this is all just a coincidence?!?”

Radiance frowned. Cheerilee rarely got like this. Normally she was a sweet, polite mare who would do anything for her king and queen. Which was probably why she was so upset. “I admit it is suspicious…”

“So forgive me if I want to know just what is going on! We have no idea what she”—she gestured emphatically at the white mare—“is doing here! Maybe she was sent to assassinate the king, maybe she—”

“I wouldn’t!” the white mare broke in, looking horrified. “I would never—”

“Then just who are you and what are you doing here?!?”

The other shuffled her hooves nervously. “I—it’s a long story…”

“Then you’d better get talking,” Cheerilee growled. When the other was silent a moment too long, she went on, “Are you responsible for what’s happened to the king and queen and their guards?”

“No,” the other said quickly. She seemed to think a moment. “Actually…”

“IS THAT A YES OR A NO?!?”

“I—it—I—” She looked conflicted. “I suppose…it was because of me…that they got hurt…”

“What did you do?” Cheerilee’s voice was dangerously low. The white mare didn’t answer, however, as a door suddenly slammed open and a light blue unicorn dashed in.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said quickly, coming to a halt next to Cheerilee. “I was trying to—oh, wow.” She broke off in the middle of her sentence, staring at the white earthling. The other stared back, albeit nervously.

“Whistle Wishes,” Cheerilee stated. The blue unicorn blushed.

“Sorry,” she said to the stranger. “It’s just—I’ve never seen an earth pony in real life before…”

“Most of us have never seen an earth pony at all,” Radiance shrugged. The white mare frowned.

“So…” She looked at Whistle Wishes. “How have you seen earth ponies, if no one else here has?”

“In my dreams,” Whistle Wishes answered. “Speaking of which,” she turned to Cheerilee, “I was trying to see if I couldn’t fall asleep again, maybe get more information, but it didn’t work. They don’t feel like sharing much, I guess.”

Cheerilee sighed. “Right then,” she grumbled.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Whistle Wishes went on, looking at the earthling. “I’m Whistle Wishes, as you’ve probably figured out.”

“I’m Wondermint,” the other answered. “Uh…nice to meet you.” Her eyes flickered worriedly to Cheerilee. Whistle Wishes followed her gaze.

“Something wrong?”

“Yes. There is,” Cheerilee scowled. “Our queen isn’t mentally sound, her guards are mysteriously dead, our king is—is—” She shivered, her loyalty to her monarch showing plainly. “And there’s an Earth Pony standing in our throne room! Do you think this is a coincidence?!?”

“High Advisor,” Radiance began, hoping to calm Cheerilee down by using her title, but Whistle Wishes beat her to it.

“She’s a friend, Cheerilee. I was told that in my dream. We are to treat her well.” Whistle Wishes looked at Cheerilee meaningfully. The other unicorn kept her eyes on the ground. Whistle Wishes didn’t find the floor tiles all that interesting, so she turned to Wondermint and began walking around the earthling mare in a circle. “It’s interesting,” she said. “You don’t glow. I guess not all earthlings glow, but the ones I see in my dreams do…”

Wondermint frowned at that. “Glow?” she repeated, but Whistle Wishes didn’t answer, because she was looking back to Cheerilee.

“It’s still suspicious,” the High Advisor was grumbling. Normally the purple unicorn kept a level head, but with all that’d happened, Whistle Wishes was surprised she hadn’t ordered Wondermint’s head on a silver platter already. Yeah, Cheerilee really was loyal to her king and queen…

Speaking of the queen…

“How is she?” Whistle Wishes asked, looking towards Lily Lightly. Cheerilee sighed.

“She’s…she’s gone, I think,” Cheerilee whispered. “I don’t think she knows who I am…who we are…where she is…”

Whistle Wishes froze. She hadn’t thought it’d be this bad. “What…what about Rarity?”

Cheerilee took a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

There was silence for a moment. Then Wondermint spoke up.

“She…Secret Wish said she might get a little better, if she’s taken care of…”

Cheerilee turned to the earthling. “Who?”

Wondermint shuffled her feet. “Secret Wish.”

“Who’s that?”

“You know…I don’t really know.”

Cheerilee scowled, but Whistle Wishes was interested.

“Secret Wish?” she repeated. “That’s her name?”

“Yeah…she, uh,” Wondermint paused, looking nervous. “She glows.”

Whistle Wishes was all ears. “Glows?” she repeated. “Like, shines? With some sort of inner light?”

Wondermint blinked, dumbfounded. “Yeah…just like that.”

Whistle Wishes was ecstatic. “What does she look like?”

“Well…she’s pink…”

“Light pink or dark pink?”

“Um…it’s just pink, really…”

“Okay, think of it this way. Is she more of a pinkish-pink, or a purpley-magenta pink?”

“Pinkish-pink.”

“Green eyes?”

“Yep.”

“Light pink, plain pink, and burnt-orange hair?”

“Yeah, just like that. And her symbol—”

“Is a magic wand in the shape of a star,” Whistle Wishes beamed. “I’m right, aren’t I?” Her expression was hopeful. Wondermint smiled. She rather liked this mare.

“Yes. Just like that.”

“YES!” Whistle Wishes exclaimed. “FINALLY!! I know one of their names!!”

Everyone else looked at her funny, except for Lily Lightly. Whistle Wishes forced herself to calm down. “You know…those dreams I have…” She looked to Cheerilee for help.

“Whistle Wishes has dreams every so often,” Cheerilee explained, looking at Wondermint grudgingly. “They’re weird, but helpful.”

“And there’s always a glowing pony in them,” Whistle Wishes added. “They…tell me things.”

Wondermint looked curious. “What did Secret Wish tell you?”

“It wasn’t Secret Wish. It was…the orange one. I don’t know her name. But she told me the queen needed help, and that you were a friend.”

Wondermint was silent for a moment. “She said she’d send for help,” she said quietly.

“Who did? Secret Wish?” Whistle Wishes’s questions knew no end.

“Yeah.”

“You have dreams too?”

“No, I didn’t dream her. I saw her. Like, in real life.”

Whistle Wishes stared at Wondermint in shock. “Real life?” she breathed.

“Yes.”

“You…you actually saw her…?”

“Yes…”

“Tell me.” Whistle Wishes looked desperate. “Tell me everything.”

“Yes,” Cheerilee added, looking at Wondermint. Whistle Wishes’s dream said the mare was a friend, and while Cheerilee had no reason to like the newcomer, she trusted Whistle Wishes’s word. Besides, Wondermint was the only one who knew what’d happened to Lily. Cheerilee needed to know what’d happened to her friend, and screaming the only witness into terror wasn’t going to help. “Tell us everything.”

Ha. Poor Cheerilee. She isn't always so grouchy, but having the government of your country suddenly and violently rearranged and learning your best friend's brain was turned into a slurpee in the process can put a damper on your personality.

[caelum]

Part 2: Plans
In which Wondermint gets caught up in the affairs of a country she didn’t even know existed until very recently…

“…She said Rankle focuses her attacks on the brain and the nervous system,” Wondermint explained. “She makes you feel pain, but doesn’t actually hurt you physically.”

They were sitting in a comfy little room, gathered around a little table and laying on plush pillows, having tea. Cheerilee’s gaze was focused on the window in the room, as it had been throughout most of Wondermint’s story—not that there was anything to see outside. It was pitch black—as was typical of one o’clock in the morning.

“So,” the High Advisor said, tearing her gaze from the window to sip at her tea, “she wasn’t really hurt, it just…felt like she was.”

“Yeah. That’s the gist of it.”

“And then her mind…” Cheerilee trailed off and closed her eyes. Oh, Lily… If Wondermint was right, there was a good chance her friend would never be the same.

“Yeah,” said Wondermint. The earthling stared down at her tea, and there was a long moment of silence. Wundy glanced at her companions curiously. She was still getting used to seeing ponies with horns on their heads. Radiance was paying special attention to her drink, somberly sipping it. The captain of Unicornia’s guard had a unique color scheme—red, with dark yellow hair and a single cyan stripe running through her mane. A little off-kilter, but strangely pleasing to the eye. Whistle Wishes—the last of the room’s occupants—had more conformist coloring; blue body, yellow, green, and pink hair. All in all, she looked like one of the rainbow ponies Wondermint had seen paintings of, courtesy of the secret records stored back in Celebration Castle. If Whistle Wishes had only one more stripe in her hair—bright blue—she really would qualify as a full-fledged rainbow pony.

At this point Wondermint realized that, as interested as she was in the unicorns, they were probably just as interested in her. Whistle Wishes was staring at Wundy out of the corner of her eye, scrutinizing her, but blushed and looked away when she saw the white mare was watching. Wondermint did the same.

Yeah, it was weird seeing ponies with horns—but they probably thought it was weird to see ponies without them.

“So,” Cheerilee said. “What happened then?”

“Secret Wish helped her a bit,” Wondermint went on. “She sort of…touched her forehead, and they started glowing…it’s hard to explain. But it calmed her down, and healed her a bit I think, and then Secret Wish told me I had to get her home.”

“She knows the way here then, I take it,” Cheerilee said. Whistle Wishes snorted.

“She visits me in my dreams, Cheer. I think she knows a lot more about a lot of things, including Unicornia’s existence and location.”

“Point,” Cheerilee conceded. “Then what happened?”

“She took me as far as she could before leaving. She said she had work to do—had to figure out what to do about Rankle or something. So she left, and we kept walking, and after a while we ran into Captain Radiance and her troop.”

Radiance nodded. “I think we know the rest from there.”

“It’s an interesting story,” Cheerilee said. Her gaze returned to the window. “Very interesting…”

“Mm-hmm,” Whistle Wishes nodded, eyeing Wondermint. The earthling had the unnerving feeling that the blue unicorn would later pin her against a wall and ask her for all sorts of details concerning Secret Wish. Whistle Wishes was certainly inquisitive. “I suppose the help she sent was the orange pony in my dream—she told me, I told Cheerilee, Cheerilee sent out Radiance…”

“Exactly,” Wondermint nodded.

“Well,” Cheerilee said, sounding quite business like. Radiance and Whistle Wishes exchanged glances. Now that the purple unicorn had heard the story, she wasn’t quite so hotheaded as she’d been earlier. This was the Cheerilee they knew—businesslike, to the point, efficient, and constantly thinking of the good of the kingdom. “Now that that’s settled, and we’ve established that you’re trustworthy”—she looked at Wondermint pointedly—“we have other issues in the kingdom that must be seen to. Our king is dead and our queen incapacitated. The princess is far too young to take the throne.”

“That leaves you then, High Advisor,” said Radiance. Cheerilee sighed and rubbed her temples.

“Yeah. I noticed.” She thought a moment. “Tomorrow’s gonna be hell.”

“You’ll be a fine ruler,” Whistle Wishes said encouragingly. “Just until Rarity’s old enough to take the throne. You’ll do great!”

“Arrg,” Cheerilee shook her head. “I know. I just…really don’t want to have to deal with this…”

Moment of silence.

“Alright,” Cheerilee said at last. “The Rainbow Council will meet tomorrow as early as possible.” She looked at Whistle Wishes and Radiance. “Make sure everyone else knows, alright?”

“Got it,” said Radiance.

“Also, we need to make a formal announcement to the public regarding the king’s death and the queen’s condition.”

“Right.”

“Speaking of which, I’m going to go see Lily now.” The purple unicorn stood up, stretching her legs. “I’ll be in the hospital wing if anyone needs me. I’d like to get in some peace and quiet before hell breaks loose. Radiance, tell the other Council members about the meeting tomorrow. Whistle Wishes, find the Countess a room. And don’t terrorize her with questions. She’ll be living here now—you’ll have plenty of time to ask her things later.”

Whistle Wishes looked a little put off at that, but nodded. “Right, fine, I won’t.”

“Thank you,” Wondermint said. “For letting me stay here…after all that’s happened…”

Cheerilee shrugged. “I trust Whistle Wishes’s dreams. If these glowing ponies consider you a friend, then you are. Have a good night. Morning. Whatever the heck it is.”

[caelum]

Part 3: Regrets
In which Wondermint realizes just how much she’s screwed up the life of a certain unicorn…

Wondermint followed Whistle Wishes down a hallway. The blue mare kept sneaking glances Wondermint’s direction. The white pony sighed.

“Okay, you know what? Stare all you like. I don’t mind.”

Whistle Wishes stopped walking and turned to look at the other. “Really? You don’t?”

“So long as you don’t mind me staring at your horn.”

Whistle Wishes shook her head. “Nope. Not at all.”

For a long time, they just stared at each other’s foreheads.

“You know, it’s odd,” Wondermint said at last. “I thought your kind died out ages ago.”

“Really?” Whistle Wishes thingyed her head. “You Earthlings think we’re all gone?”

“No, actually, I’m the only one who thought that. The rest of us believe you never existed to begin with.”

Whistle Wishes flicked her tail. “Oh.”

“What about you Unicorns? Did you all think us Earthlings had died out, too?”

“Oh, no,” Whistle Wishes shook her head. “We knew you were all still out there. We even have an idea of where you’re located. We just don’t know what’s been going on with you guys.”

“Ah,” said Wondermint. They continued walking.

“So, Wondermint—”

“Wundy.”

“Huh?”

“You can call me Wundy,” Wondermint said. “It’s a nickname.”

“Oh, okay then. You have a nice name, you know. Quite unique.”

“Thanks. Yours is…” Wondermint trailed off, trying to think of a good adjective.

“Don’t bother me about my name. I’m not quite sure what my mother was thinking.” Whistle Wishes was smiling amusedly. “It’s weird. It reminds me of Windwhistler, though.”

Wondermint froze. “Windwhistler?”

“Oh…yeah, you wouldn’t know about that, I don’t think. Windwhistler was a—”

“The Pegasus? Windwhistler?”

“Oh, so you do know of her?”

“Of course!” Wondermint exclaimed. “How do you know of her?”

Whistle Wishes snickered. “Oh, come on Wundy. You’ve just discovered a hidden civilization comprised entirely of Unicorns—the wisest ponies to walk the land! You think we won’t have some inkling of our past?”

Wondermint blushed. “Sorry. I just—wait, so you all know about Old Ponyland?”

“What, Dream Valley and stuff like that? Yeah, of course we do. Granted, some of us know more than others—all of us here working in the government, and the members of the Rainbow Council, we know the most and have access to the records and whatnot… Why, doesn’t everyone in Ponyville know it?”

Wondermint shook her head. “No. Most of us Earthlings don’t even know about most of that stuff, let alone believe in it.”

“Huh,” Whistle Wishes said, stopping by a door. “That’s odd.” She opened the door, and walked into the room. Wondermint followed to find that a nice, spacious living room. “Here. Since you’ll be staying with us for a while, we figured you could have one of the bigger living quarters.”

Wondermint stared at the place. “You—you really don’t need to do this,” she stuttered. “I mean, I can happily go find some place out in the town, get a job, buy a house—”

“Oh, yeah, right, like we’ll really let the only earth pony anyone’s seen in centuries go out about town,” Whistle Wishes snorted. “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything, but you’re an oddity. Go out there right now and you’ll have ponies staring at you twenty-four-seven. And besides, we’d like to have you close by, just in case.” She flashed Wondermint a grin. “Don’t worry. We’re more than capable of taking care of you here.”

Wondermint looked around the richly decorated room. “Thanks.”

“Well, there isn’t much for you to do now, so you should get some sleep,” said Whistle Wishes. She yawned. “Heck, I should get some sleep. Like Cheery said, tomorrow’s gonna be hell.”

“What will I be doing tomorrow?” Wondermint asked. Whistle Wishes shrugged.

“I don’t know. There isn’t much you can do, aside from tell your story. Cheery’ll probably want you to do that before the Council, but other than that…eh, there isn’t much for you to worry about. Aside from, you know, Rankle hunting you down and killing you in your sleep.”

Wondermint froze. She’d been trying to forget about that. “Sure. Thanks.”

Whistle Wishes blushed. “Sorry.”

Wondermint shook her head. “So, tell me, this Council thing—what is it?”

“The Rainbow Council?” Whistle Wishes asked. “It’s…well, it’s a part of our government with just as much power as the monarchy, but not quite the same kind of direct control. We’re trusted advisors to the king and queen, and make many important decisions for the kingdom. We also help renew the Vow.”

“The Vow?”

Whistle Wishes smiled. “That’s another story. I’ll tell you later. Though you need to tell me all about Secret Wish.”

Wondermint sighed. She’d known it would come to this. “Right, fine. Whatever you want.”

Whistle Wishes actually squee’d. Wondermint suddenly realized something.

“Wait a minute…what do you mean by ‘we’re trusted advisors of the king and queen’?”

“Huh?” Whistle Wishes asked. “I’m on the Rainbow Council. Didn’t you know?”

“Uh…no.”

“Oh. I’m the Blue Councilor. Cheerilee’s Violet, and Radiance is Red. There are seven Councilors in all, one for each color.”

Wondermint blinked. “Oh.”

“I know, I seem a little young to be a member of such an important group,” Whistle Wishes smiled, “but I qualify. I’m going to bed now. If you need anything, I live in the center of the castle. I’m in one of the rooms by the Crystal Dome, you can’t miss it. Just ask for me.”

“Alright,” said Wondermint. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Have a nice night.”

“I’ll try.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“…and then Captain Radiance, er, winked me and Her Highness back here,” Wondermint finished, looking nervously at the six unicorns sitting in the room. “After that Lady Cheerilee questioned me, and—”

“We know what happened next,” Cheerilee groaned, rubbing her temples. “You don’t need to repeat it.” Wondermint nodded and fell silent. Cheerilee looked exhausted, and the earth pony didn’t blame her, seeing as she was now suddenly completely in charge of the entire kingdom. Wondermint looked at the other six unicorns in the room. Radiance and Whistle Wishes were there, as well as a yellow mare with a sunrise symbol, a green mare with a sort of cloud-head symbol, and a pink mare who seemed to be the leader. Like Whistle Wishes had said, one for each color…except for orange. That was the only color missing.

“Well,” the green mare stated, “I suppose the only thing I can say is: This sucks.”

“Yes, Councilor Thunderhead, thank you for your ever-present bluntness and complete lack of tact,” Cheerilee scowled. The green mare—Thunderhead—snorted and tossed her purple mane.

“Well, it does.”

“Of course it does, just—”

“Quiet,” the pink mare ordered firmly. “Yes, our situation, as you so aptly put it Thunderhead, sucks. Right now, we need to work hard in order to get things back under as much control as possible. Cheerilee, I take it you’re handling the political problems?”

“Yes,” Cheerilee nodded. “I’ll be acting as regent until Rarity is old enough to take the throne.”

“That takes care of who’s in charge of the country, then,” the pink mare nodded. “Now we need to be on the lookout for the next Orange Councilor, as it’s obvious that Windimoor will no longer be among us.”

There was an awkward silence at that. The bodies of King Windimoor and his guards had been retrieved only a few hours ago, and seeing the remains of their dead leader only made the unicorns’ situation all the more real.

“We’ll keep an eye out for the new one, then,” said Cheerilee. “Is there anything else the Council needs to worry about, Councilor Sunfall?”

The pink mare, Sunfall, shook her head, her ivory mane bouncing. “Not that I can think of. For now, we must secure the country, and keep things running smoothly. I don’t know if this Rankle person will be back to finish whatever she started, but if she is, I don’t want her catching us unprepared. This session of the Council is hereby ended.”

The unicorns all stood and left the room through the several doors leading out of it. Wondermint, unsure of where to go, stood awkwardly until Whistle Wishes tugged on her mane.

“Come on,” the blue mare smiled. “Let’s go. Oh, and this is Brights Brightly. I know you learned her name, but you didn’t really meet, persay.”

“Oh…hi,” said Wondermint, looking over the mare beside Whistle Wishes. The Yellow Councilor grinned brightly.

“Nice to meetcha,” she said.

“Same here.”

“Where are you heading to, Brights?” Whistle Wishes asked, leading the way out of one of the doors.

“Not sure. You?”

“Back to the Dome. I want to see if there’s anything I can do that’s useful.”

“Alright. Maybe I’ll come with you, hang out…”

The three ponies suddenly stopped right outside the doorway, their paths blocked by a small, pink filly with a rainbow of hair smiling up at them.

“Hi!” she said brightly.

“Hi Rarity,” smiled Whistle Wishes. She turned to Wondermint. “Wundy, this is Princess Rarity. Sweet little devil, isn’t she?”

“Hello,” Wondermint smiled at the filly. “I’m Wondermint. You can call me Wundy.”

“Where’s your horn?” Rarity asked.

“She’s an earth pony,” Brights Brightly explained. “They don’t have horns.”

Rarity scrunched up her face in thought. “That’s weird.”

Wondermint laughed. “Well, I think it’s weird to have a horn growing out of your head.”

“No it isn’t.”

“What are you doing here, Rarity?” Whistle Wishes broke in. “Shouldn’t you be playing in your room or something?”

“I’m waiting.”

“Waiting?”

“Uh-huh. I got bored with playing, so I came here to wait.”

“Normally it’s the other way around,” Brights Brightly muttered.

“Waiting for what?” Whistle Wishes asked.

“Daddy.” The filly was too young to notice the stunned silence following that announcement. “I heard the Council was meeting, and every time after the Council meets Daddy usually comes out this door, so I figured I’d come surprise him.” She tried to peer around the threesome into the room behind them. “Is he still talking to Lady Sunfall or something?”

“No,” Whistle Wishes said dazedly. “No, Rarity, he isn’t.”

“Oh. Did he go out another door?”

“No, Rarity. He…he…”

Wondermint shuffled her feet self-consciously. “Maybe I should go…” she muttered.

“Yeah,” Brights Brightly said. “Yeah. You probably should. I’ll go get Cheerilee…she and Rarity are close, she’ll be able to tell her…” She trailed off uncertainly, sadly, and turned back into the room, where Cheerilee was speaking with Sunfall. “Do you remember the way back to your rooms?” the yellow unicorn asked Wondermint.

“Yeah. I can get there.”

“Alright. I’ll be seeing you later, then. Cheerilee…”

The purple mare turned around. “Yes?”

“Rarity’s waiting outside the door. She’s…waiting for her father.”

Cheerilee stood still for a moment before saying a word that made Wondermint blush.

“I’ll handle it,” the Violet Councilor sighed. “Wondermint, you don’t need to worry about this. Just go back to your rooms or take a walk or…do whatever you want, really.”

“Sure,” Wondermint said, and she walked off, feeling like a complete and total jackass for ever having being born. For running away. For not dying.

There was a happy little filly just outside that door whose entire life was about to be shattered.

At that moment, Wondermint would have given anything to be back home, with Crystal Lace, doing the humorous, nonsensical nothings that made up their everyday lives.

Thunderhead is another Unicorn you can see in the background on the DVDs. She's the lime green one with purple and yellow hair, and her symbol is a...cloud with a happy face. Wish they'd made a toy of her...

[caelum]

Part 4: Lives
In which Crystal Lace ventures into the outside world…

I just saw some of the most amazing creatures ever. They were like ponies, only in water and with fins…they looked an awful lot like seahorses, actually. They said they were sea ponies. They’re really good singers. Applejack and I accidently fell off that bridge we were crossing, but the sea ponies got us back to shore. It’s a good thing this diary was in the supply bags Bowtie was carrying—otherwise it would’ve been ruined.

The sea ponies gave us a shell once we were out of the water. They said to use it to call them if we ever needed help again. Not quite sure how that works, but everyone else seems to think it’s normal, so I suppose it’s alright.

We’re nearly to the Moochick’s place—only another day of walking, Twilight thinks. I can’t wait to get there—it’s been a long journey, about three days. The ponies claim they’ve traveled longer, though. I’m just worried about what my parents and Danny and Molly are going through right now. I’ve been gone four days after all—the first day when Firefly found me, and then these past three days of traveling. Majesty said she’s worked some magic so that they won’t notice me being gone, and I’m not sure if I should be glad for that or just creeped out.

Gotta go. Twilight says I should get to bed. I miss bed. Sleeping on the ground is not comfortable.

Crystal Lace sighed and closed the diary. She’d read a good way through the first one, but still wasn’t anywhere near the end. This Megan Lennox girl really had written an awful lot in a mere few days. Apparently she’d been really bored.

Crys was getting bored herself. Well, not so much bored as overwhelmed. Here she was, surrounded by the history of an entire lost civilization, in a secret chamber of the castle that no one knew about except for her and Wundy, learning secrets that she’d never dreamed of.

What time was it, anyway? How long had she been down here? Several hours, at least, going through the diaries and the books and maps and portraits, not really looking, just checking things out…

She sighed and left the room. She could come back later. Right now, she needed sleep.

But as she stared at her bed, she found that sleep was the farthest thing from her mind. Where was Wundy right now? Was she running from enemies? Fighting for her life? Already dead? (Actually, at the moment, Wondermint would rather have been doing any of those things. Any of them would have been easier than facing the knowledge that you’ve just destroyed a filly’s entire world.)

Crys sighed again, looking out her bedroom window. It was foggy and cloudy outside, but she didn’t really care. This castle was suffocating her. She pulled out a random cloak from her closet and put it on, making sure it covered her jeweled hip mark. Then she left her rooms, making her way towards the castle’s front door.

When she got there, she ran into Duchess Gem Blossom.

“Hey, Crystal Lace, wanna hear a joke?”

“Not now,” she gritted out.

“But it’s a really good one! C’mon, maybe it’ll cheer you up. How do you know when the ocean’s friendly?”

“When it waves,” Crys grumbled.

“Aw, did you already know that one?”

“Yes,” she lied.

“Well, how about another one then? Lessee here…okay, there’s this Breezie, and it’s a really windy day—”

“Sorry, gotta go,” Crystal Lace said, walking away from the yellow mare. Gem Blossom made no move to follow her. Everyone in the castle knew that Crys had been going through “a phase”—yeah, that was a nice way to put it, seeing how Wondermint had run away and was probably never coming back and all.

Crys wasn’t sure where she was going once she got outside the castle. All that mattered at the moment was that she was out. Here in Ponyville, she wouldn’t have random ponies approaching her, trying to cheer her up or telling her how sorry they were about Wundy. No one here knew who she was or what she’d been through.

It was nice to be anonymous.

She traveled down the streets aimlessly, taking in the sight of ponies going about their happy everyday lives, playing, roller-skating, laughing…

So much laughing…

Snippets of conversations reached her ears.

“Hey, Minty, wait up!”

“You’re going too slow, Pinkie!”

“Don’t look so glum, Snowflake, summer’s almost over, fall will be gone soon enough, and then you can have your precious winter. C’mon, cheer up.”

“Any new information on that Countess Wondermint debacle?”

“That? Old news. They canceled the search parties a few days ago—I don’t think we’ll be hearing anything more about it.”

Crystal Lace growled under her breath and stalked towards the end of the street. Before she knew it, she stood before a happy pink building, with a sign over the front reading ‘The Cotton Candy Café’. She stared at it for a moment before her stomach growled, and she was reminded of the disapproving glares Lickety-Split had been giving her the past few days. Maybe the purple mare was right—Crystal Lace really did need to eat something… Sighing, she entered the café.

[caelum]

Part 5: Acquaintances
In which Crystal Lace discovers the joys of alcohol…

It’d been a slow day so far. Granted, most days here at the Café were slow, Cotton Candy reflected, but this one seemed slower than normal. She sighed to herself as she wiped the counter for the fifth time that day—she really needed more customers. The café had only been open for a few months, really, and she didn’t have much of a customer base. There were a number of ponies who stopped by often enough, but she needed more if she was going to keep this place running.

Granted, she had only been running this business for a few months…it was normal for things to take a while to pick up, right? A few more months, and she’d have plenty of customers! That was all the problem was, really…

Or maybe it was the fact that the Super Sundae Shop on the other side of town was hogging all the business.

Cotton Candy winced at that spiteful thought, and shook her head. No, it was just because she was new, and the ponies of Ponyville were used to the sundae shop, so they hadn’t made their way over here yet… But they would… They would…

The café’s door opened, and a pony wearing a cloak walked in. She looked around, taking in the sights, and Cotton Candy winced. First impressions are very important, she knew, and from the first glance one could tell that her café wasn’t the busiest place in town. In fact, it almost seemed melancholy, sullen—a mood not helped by her extremely quiet regulars. Sweetsong and Piccolo were playing a boring game of checkers in the corner, Lolligiggle was glaring at his rainbowberry juice, and Dream Blue had, inexplicably, fallen asleep on the floor, right in the middle of the room. Cotton Candy winced again. She’d be one lucky pony if this new customer didn’t turn around and leave right now.

The stranger, however, took in the sullen atmosphere and entered the café. She stepped over Dream Blue’s still form and came up to the counter, looking up at the menu on the wall.

“Have any rainbowberry juice?” she asked glumly.

Great, Cotton Candy thought. I open up a nice, happy, pink café, and it turns into the local sob stop.

“Actually,” she said sheepishly, “I do…but it isn’t exactly drinkable. Kinda fermented.”

The stranger looked over her shoulder at Lolligiggle. “Then what’s he drinking?”

“The last of the unfermented stuff.” She really needed to store her juice better. There just wasn’t enough room in the fridge.

The customer sighed and turned back to Cotton Candy. “Fine. I’ll have some of the fermented stuff.”

“Uh…are you sure?”

“I’m feeling uncharacteristically adventurous.”

“O…okay then…” Man, this place really is becoming the local bar…why do I attract the weird ones?

She got the pony a glass of fermented rainbowberry juice, and the mare took a gulp. She made a face. “Ugh.”

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah…it’s fine…” She sipped some more. Piccolo got out of his seat and came up to the counter.

“Hey, CC, can we have some cookies?”

“Sure….here.” She handed him a plate. He gave her some coins. Then he glanced at the pink mare.

“You do know that orange and pink don’t go well together, right?”

“Huh?” She looked at her bright orange cloak. “Oh…whatever.”

Piccolo quirked an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t exactly looking when I grabbed it. I just wanted to get outside.”

Piccolo snorted, but didn’t say anything.

“What’s your problem?” the stranger asked.

“None of your business,” Piccolo snapped.

“He and his sister are having a fight again,” Dream Blue said tiredly from the floor. She lifted her head and sniffed. “Cookies?”

“Not for you,” Piccolo said, moving away from the counter and glaring at her. “Honestly, it isn’t my fault if Bee Bop doesn’t feel like listening to reason…”

“Eh?” the stranger asked.

“So, what’s your name?” Cotton Candy asked, attempting to change the subject. The stranger, however, seemed at a loss.

“What?”

“Your name?”

“Oh! It’s…it’s… Pink Prism.” She winced for some reason, but shrugged. “Yeah. Pink Prism.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Cotton Candy. In an undertone, she added, “Don’t worry about Piccolo, he and his sister just have little spats every now and then…”

“You’d think they were married,” Sweetsong muttered as she came up to the counter. “Hi, I’m Sweetsong by the way. That’s Dream Blue on the floor, and the one trying to make his drink explode with eye laser beams is Lolligiggle.”

Lolligiggle snorted angrily.

“Don’t mind him, he just hates his name. And color scheme. And cutie mark.”

“I hate that term,” Lolligiggle grumbled.

“Cutie mark, cutie mark, cuuuuuutie marrrrk!” Sweetsong sang.

“Shut up!”

Pink Prism leaned closer to Cotton Candy. “Is everyone in this place insane?”

Cotton Candy hesitated before sighing. “Yeah. I think they are.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” Pink Prism sipped some more juice.

“You don’t seem too perturbed.”

The pink pony rolled her eyes. “You have no idea what I’ve been through lately. Honestly, I think I can handle this.”

“You’ve got weird fashion sense,” Dream Blue commented from the floor. Pink Prism closed her eyes tightly.

“I…can…handle this…” she said through gritted teeth. Cotton Candy had to resist chuckling.

“Sorry. We are a wacky bunch.”

“I’ve seen wackier,” Pink Prism smiled. She sipped some more rainbowberry juice. “Ya’know…this stuff really isn’t that bad when it’s fermented.”

“When given to the right customer, at least,” Cotton Candy shrugged. “Now, if I’d’ve let Flutterbutter have a glass…”

There were unanimous groans from around the room.

“Great scot, the world would implode on itself!” Piccolo exclaimed. Lolligiggle snorted into his rainbowberry juice, looking horrified. Sweetsong’s eyes were distant, as though she were imagining the spectacle, and Dream Blue’s eyes had widened from their half-closed state.

Pink Prism, however, merely looked confused. “Who?”

She got five scrutinizing stares in return. “You aren’t from around here, are you?” Piccolo asked at last. Pink Prism seemed to think that over for a moment.

“Uh…well, actually…no.”

“Right then,” said Piccolo. “In that case, we’ve got some explaining to do… You see, Flutterbutter is, uh…well…”

“The village idiot,” Lolligiggle supplied bluntly. Piccolo winced.

“For lack of a better term…yes, that does just about sum her up.”

“Oh,” said Pink Prism. She took another sip of her juice. “Just…uh, how much of an…uh…”

“Idiot?” Lolligiggle suggested.

“Uh…yeah…idiot…how much of an idiot is she?”

“She thinks she can fly,” Cotton Candy said.

“Oh,” said Pink Prism. “So…she has delusions or something?”

“More like hallucinations,” Cotton Candy corrected. “She really does believe she’ll fly if she tries hard enough…”

Pink Prism shrugged. “Well, we all need some sort of dream to cling to, I suppose.”

“She jumps off of rooftops,” Sweetsong said softly. “She’s convinced she’ll sprout wings one of these days and soar off like a bird.”

Pink Prism blinked. “Oh.”

“It’s all we can do to keep her away from the hot air balloons,” Sweetsong added. “Her poor sister…”

“Sister?”

“Yeah. Fluttershy,” Dream Blue yawned. “Nice mare. Very sweet. Good with photography. Devoted to taking care of her younger sister. Though, it does take up a lot of her life…”

“She could really use a break sometimes,” Cotton Candy sighed. “Flutterbutter’s a sweet thing, but she’s just so aggravating…”

“She wasn’t always,” Lolligiggle mumbled sullenly into his glass. No one seemed to notice.

“I’m sorry,” Cotton Candy said. “You’re a guest here, and we’re just dumping on you. I’m so sorry.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it,” Pink Prism answered, downing the last of her rainbowberry juice and standing from the counter. “It was nice talking to you, actually.”

“Really?” Cotton Candy asked hopefully. “Do you think you’d come back some time?” She nearly slapped herself. Yes, she was desperate for customers, but to outright ask whether or not someone would come back—

“I think I might,” Pink Prism said slowly. “I rather enjoyed it, actually.”

Cotton Candy blinked. “Oh. Glad to hear it.”

Pink Prism smiled at her, paid for the drink, and turned towards the door.

“Next time you come, wear something that matches your color scheme,” Piccolo called after her. “Like blue. That goes nicely with pink.”

Pink Prism huffed and stomped out the door. Cotton Candy scowled at the blue stallion.

“Idiot.”

“What?”

“I’m trying to establish a nice customer base and you go and say something like that!”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, c’mon, she’ll be back anyways.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside, Crystal Lace took a last look at the café before turning and heading home, feeling much better than she had when she’d set out. Maybe it was the alcholic rainbowberry juice, maybe it was the strange company she’d just left, but she felt her resolve coming back to her. She was going to read all twenty-seven of those diaries, no matter how crazy they may seem. And then she was going to read all the other documents in that secret room, and look over the maps, and the paintings, and everything else. And then, if anything new ever came up with Wundy, she’d be ready.

And she was definitely going back to that café at some point. It’d been a nice little place…despite the oddness of it. And also—Pink Prism? What in the world had she been thinking?!? Ugh… Still, it’d been refreshing to get out of the castle.

Once she’d stepped back inside the purple walls, however, she felt royal life sweeping her away again.

“PRINCESS PINK SUNSPARKLE!!! WOULD YOU MIND EXPLAINING JUST HOW MUSTACHES APPEARED ON EVERY PROFILE PICTURE IN THE CENSUS REPORTS FROM LAST YEAR?!?”

“So then the stickbug says to the walrus—and it’s funny, remember, because stickbugs look like sticks—”

“Heeeeey, Crystal Lace, you’re looking rather gorgeous toda—wait, I don’t get it. Either you’re trying to make a bold fashion statement, or you got dressed in the dark.”

“Shut up, Thunder Flash,” she said, brushing past him cheerily. Yes, that little walk outside had definitely done her demeanor some good.

Now then, there was a certain batch of diaries calling her name…

Rainbowberry juice has to be one of my most favorite canon concepts introduced by the G3s. X3 It's even more fun when you ferment it. Or make Lolligiggle glare at it for no reason. He's funny like that...

[caelum]

Part 6: Pities
In which Whistle Wishes decides that Wondermint needs to get to business…

With a single backwards glance, Brights Brightly led the shaken Rarity from the room. Cheerilee sat down heavily on the cushion next to her queen’s bed. Lily Lightly lay still on the mattress, eyes open but not really taking anything in. Cheerilee sighed.

“Well, that went well.”

Lily Lightly didn’t answer. Cheerilee closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what to do, Lily. Never mind the kingdom—I know that’ll be fine—but your daughter…”

The only experience Rarity had ever had with death before was when Thunderhead had accidentally hit her pet gerbil with a stray lightning bolt. The filly had been upset, and confused, but had quickly come up with her own definition of death. When she heard that her father was dead, she thought it meant that he’d fallen asleep and was never going to wake up, and that he had an awful lot of singed fur and a nasty burnt smell. Explaining the lack of both those latter traits had been harrowing. And after Rarity had seen the state her mother was in, she wasn’t feeling any better.

Maybe she’d given the filly too much information at once, but Cheerilee was of the opinion that withholding the facts from the child would only hurt her more. Hopefully, everything would turn out alright.

Hopefully.

Cheerilee looked to Lily again, but the other mare’s gaze was still empty. The High Advisor—now Regent—sighed. What she wanted to do was to stay here with Lily. What she needed to do was to go handle some more political matters for the good of the country.

Cheerilee stood up and left the room. Lily Lightly would have wanted her to take care of the country, not shirk her duties to keep company with a catatonic unicorn.

And, Cheerilee realized sadly, it wasn’t like said catatonic unicorn would recognize her presence—or lack thereof—at all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wondermint had sat in her room for a few hours, wallowing in a giant gaping ditch of self-loathing. Now that she thoroughly hated herself, she felt that she could continue with life, so she tentatively left her quarters and walked down the hall, taking careful note of her route so she could make it back if she got lost.

She was bored. Very, very bored. Back home, she would’ve entertained herself by grabbing Crystal Lace and going for a walk. Or hunting down Princess Pink Sunsparkle and her partner-in-crime, Princess Roomperoonie, to see what sort of shenanigans they were getting up to. Or she would’ve paid a visit to Aa Flow, the nerdiest stallion she knew, and asked him to show off whatever experiment he was working on lately, and then run off laughing when it exploded in his face, as those experiments tended to do. Heck, if she were desperate, she’d even seek out Duchess Gem Blossom for one of her awful Joke-A-Thons™.

But only if she were really desperate.

What was she supposed to do for fun in Unicornia? No, scratch that—she’d inadvertently caused the orphaning of an innocent filly, she didn’t deserve fun. She didn’t deserve life. She didn’t deserve anything.

Fifteen minutes later, Whistle Wishes found the white earthling in the kitchen, drowning her sorrows in a heap of ice cream.

“Uh…what are you doing?” the unicorn inquired.

“Contemplating,” Wondermint answered morosely, staring at the massive glob of creamed milk. It was green.

“Mint?” Whistle Wishes asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” answered Wondermint. “You guys don’t seem to have any purple ice cream, so this is my second favorite flavor. Want some?”

“Purple?” Whistle Wishes repeated, coming forward for a bite. “What kind of ice cream is purple?”

“We have it back home,” Wondermint said with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Very nice. Sort of light, fragrant flavor…hard to describe, really. And I notice you don’t have any blue flavors here, either. Or orange.”

“Uh, no,” said Whistle Wishes, taking some of Wundy’s ice cream. The earthling pushed the entire bowl towards her.

“Here; I’m not hungry.”

Whistle Wishes stared at the green goo before looking to the mare beside her. Wondermint was staring balefully at the countertop. “Uh…you okay?”

Wondermint groaned. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Wanna talk about it?” Whistle Wishes asked cautiously. She took a mouthful of ice cream.

“I’ve accidentally caused the death of two—no, wait, one…plus three—four unicorns and possibly irreversible brain damage to another, thus completely rearranging your kingdom’s infrastructure, as well as the entire world of an innocent filly.”

Whistle Wishes snorted, trying to lighten the mood. “Innocent? Rarity? Please, the foal’s a firebrand. Absolutely aggravating.”

Wondermint shrugged. “Whatever.”

The blue unicorn rolled her eyes. “Look, no one blames you, okay? Well…alright, alright, actually, that’s wrong. Erm…how to word this… We do blame you, because, well, technically, you are the catalyst for all of this…”

Wondermint nodded bleakly.

“…But we also aren’t angry at you. I mean, we’re talking about glowing ponies who talk to me in my dreams, here. And ponies who fight against them. I mean…well…it isn’t like anything could be done.” She shrugged lamely. “And besides, they killed your parents too, didn’t they?”

Wondermint froze at that. “Yeah. They did.”

“Well then, you’ve got as much right to complain yourself.” Whistle Wishes licked up some more ice cream. “Sure you don’t mind if I finish this?”

“Go ahead.”

“Thanks. So, tell me more about these weird ice cream flavors you’ve got in Ponyville.”

“Huh? Oh, well…we’ve got ice cream in all the colors of the rainbow, really. Red and yellow and blue…”

“That can’t be natural.”

“Well, we’ve got some pretty talented chefs. Especially the head chefs at the castle, Lickety Split and Port-O-Bella—are you alright?”

Whistle Wishes was choking on her ice cream. After a moment, she managed to get it down, took in a few deep breaths, and fixed Wondermint with an incredulous gaze.

“Lickety Split?!?”

“Uh…yeah…?”

“Well,” said Whistle Wishes, with a look in her eyes that illustrated she was clearly getting over a great shock, “that explains it, then.” She took another bite of ice cream.

“Explains what?” Wondermint asked. Whistle Wishes gave her an odd look.

“How you have such odd ice cream,” she said in a voice that clearly stated, duh.

Wondermint blinked. Twice. Three times.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Whistle Wishes stared at her. “Your parents got assassinated for knowing about Old Ponyland, and you don’t even recognize…” Her voice trailed off and she simply stared at Wondermint. The white mare fidgeted, feeling rather out of place.

“Am I missing something?”

“How much do you know about Old Ponyland? Really?”

“Well, ah…I know about Tirak…”

“Oh, good. That’s a start.”

“And then there’s Megan…and Danny and Molly of course.”

“Good, good.”

“And the Grundles, the witches, Dream Castle, Paradise Estate…”

“Right, okay, any names you know? Like, names of ponies?”

“Well, Firefly, of course…and Gusty, and Sparkler…and Majesty, and Spike, and…Sundance…” She trailed off unimpressively. Whistle Wishes continued with that unnerving stare.

“And?”

“That’s…about it.”

“You’re kidding!” the unicorn exclaimed. “That’s IT?!? That’s hardly even the basics! You scarcely mentioned anything beyond the basest of myths! I mean, you didn’t even say anything about bushwoolies…”

“Oh,” said Wondermint, memory stirring. “Secret Wish mentioned bushwoolies…what are they, exactly?”

“GAAAHH!!” Whistle Wishes shouted, nearly tearing her mane out with her own teeth. Instead, she wolfed down the rest of the ice cream, grabbed Wondermint’s mane, and pulled her out of the kitchen.

“OUCH!”

“C’mon,” said Whistle Wishes, voice muffled by purple hair.

“Where are we going?” Wondermint demanded.

“Li’wary,” Whistle Wishes responded. “Din’t yu eveh rea’ anyting about Old Ponylan’ at home?”

“Erm…” Wondermint blushed. “No, actually, not much. That was my parents’ job. They took care of the records—as all my direct ancestors have, for generations. All I know was from what my mom would tell me as a kid. I was never really interested beyond that, and…well, I always figured I’d worry about the records when my parents couldn’t any more, or when they died.”

Yeah. And then they’d been murdered, and Wondermint, with a sickening suspicion as to why, had high-tailed it out of there, leaving the records in the care of her best friend.

What had she been thinking?!? Crystal Lace had never even heard of Old Ponyland before—it was so outdated it was hardly even a myth!

“So you never read any of it?” Whistle Wishes demanded, letting go of Wundy’s hair. “Never looked over things, read any history books, anything?”

“Well, I’d flip through some things sometimes when Mom or Dad were working…but most of the stuff is pretty old and fragile, and, well…I just didn’t really have the patience to work with it. So I left it alone for the most part.”

Apparently, to Whistle Wishes, this was awful. “Great Rainbow! You mean to say that your life is on the line, and you don’t know why?!?”

Wundy hesitated. “Uh…yeah, pretty much.”

“Well,” said Whistle Wishes grimly, “that changes now.” She pushed a door in the hallway open, and shoved Wondermint in.

The earthling stared. “That…that’s a lot of books.”

“Welcome to Unicornia’s Royal Library,” Whistle Wishes said proudly. “Though this is only the Ancient Records Branch, of course. We’ve got some pretty amazing stuff stored in here.” She walked to one of the bookshelves and pulled out a book. “Well, we’ve got to start somewhere. You might as well begin with this one.” She held the book out to Wondermint, who looked at it surreptitiously.

“The Pokey Little Pony—a children’s picture book?”

Whistle Wishes smirked.

Ha. Wondermint's been a little lax in her duties. Aren't flawed heroes fun? Speaking of fun, I had waaaaaay too much of it while writing about her self-loathingness. ;D

As for The Pokey Little Pony, be sure to keep an eye out for some other ponyfied children's classics!

[caelum]

Part 7: Responsibilities
In which Wondermint reads childrens’ books…

“Alright everyone, standard formation, now!”

Wheeeeeee! Captain Radiance’s whistle blew sharply as thirty unicorns scurried to do their superior’s bidding. She surveyed the troop before her critically.

“Alright folks, as you know, the kingdom sustained some terrible losses the other day. As the guardians of Unicornia, it is our duty to protect this country, with our lives if need be. Due to the unfortunate circumstances we’ve found ourselves in, training will be more rigorous, so as to better protect the kingdom.” She noted, with pride, that not a single voice raised in protest. “First drill—I want eight laps ‘round the track—go!” Wheeeee!

As the unicorns galloped off, a voice behind her asked, “Eight laps? Geeze Rad—that’s two miles!”

She turned and smiled at Thunderhead. “Nice to see you, too.”

Thunderhead shrugged and watched the troops running. “Normally, it’s only four laps.”

Radiance turned back to view the track. “I’ve decided training needs to be stepped up a bit. We thought we were safe, and we lost our rulers. The Unicornian Guard has protected this kingdom for centuries, and I’m ashamed to say we grew lax when we thought things were peaceful. This kingdom has remained secret all this time—I’ll be damned if it’s conquered simply because we didn’t train well enough.”

Thunderhead was silent for a minute. “You know…it wasn’t your fault they died. Had their enemies been normal ponies, they would have been more than capable of handling the situation—but how was anyone supposed to know that they’d be attacked by some sort of…super-strong, super-fast…things?”

And Radiance knew that the green unicorn beside her was not referring to Windimoor and Lily Lightly, but rather to the three unicorns who had been guarding them.

“I handpicked them to be the king and queen’s escort,” she said softly. “They were among the best of my soldiers. I believed they would be able to handle any situation that would be thrown at them.” She took a deep breath. “Yet they wound up just as dead as the king. I know they were up against some sort of super-powered creature, and that there’s probably no amount of training in the world that could prepare any of us to fight against a being like that. But I can’t tell them that.” She watched the unicorns run past on the track. “I can’t sit here and say that there’s nothing we can do. I can’t tell my subordinates that, should they ever come across this Rankle person in a fight, they’ll be facing certain death. I have an obligation to take care of these troops, and even if I can’t do it physically, well, I won’t let them fall apart mentally.”

Thunderhead studied her for a moment before shrugging. “Well, hope does make people feel better…” It was a lame statement, she knew, but she didn’t know what else to say, and she was rather useless when it came to comforting people. Her emotional jurisdiction didn’t go very far—she tended to be terribly blunt, rather gruff, and occasionally surly. Oftentimes she was compared to Captain Gusty of Old Ponyland.

They watched the troop run another lap before Radiance spoke again.

“So, how’s Rarity?”

Everyone had been worrying about the filly ever since Cheerilee had explained things to her the day before.

“She’s…shaken, is a good word for it, I suppose,” said Thunderhead. “And upset. And quiet. And I think the quiet part is the worst of all.”

Radiance nodded bleakly. “She doesn’t quite understand, does she?”

“She sort of does,” Thunderhead said slowly. “I mean…well, she knows what ‘dead’ means, and yet she doesn’t…”

“Well, the Mr. Fuzzles incident was rather confusing…”

“It was an accident!” Thunderhead exclaimed. “I didn’t mean it! I mean…geeze, how was I supposed to know a gerbil’s fur would produce that much static electricity? I apologized a million times!”

Radiance snickered.

“Anyways, she’s out playing with Brights Brightly now,” Thunderhead went on. “Though you can hardly call it ‘playing’.”

“She’ll be alright,” Radiance said. “Give her some time, she’ll be alright.”

They watched the troops some more. At lap four, Thunderhead yawned.

“Well, I think I’ll go practice my magic some.”

“Do it somewhere far away, please,” said Radiance. “I don’t need any of my troops getting electrocuted.”

“No worries,” Thunderhead smirked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I will not eat them ‘neath a tree. I will not eat them by the sea. I will not eat them on a wall. I’ll never eat them, not at all! I will not eat blue bread and yams! I will not eat them, Berry Jam!

Wondermint sighed and closed the book. She glanced at the pile of other picture books she’d carted back from the library. Whistle Wishes expected her to read them all before moving on to the harder stuff. Wundy didn’t know whether she should be relieved or annoyed. Yeah, it was somewhat insulting to have to read kids’ books first, but she didn’t really know if she could make it through the thicker history books…

The children’s books were proving to be charming, though, especially those written by one Dr. Sousaphone. He had an extraordinary knack for rhymes and interesting concepts.

And she’d finally learned what a bushwoolie was. Judging from the illustrations in Euphoria Buphoria, they were balls of fur with arms and faces who acted as maids to ponies and took metaphorical phrases far too seriously.

Kind of like how Whistle Wishes was taking her education in Old Ponyland far too seriously. Wondermint didn’t fault her, though. She had been somewhat neglectful of her duties, when you thought about it…

And now she was counting on Crystal Lace to take care of those documents for her, when she herself had hardly done anything with them!

I’m such an idiot, she thought bleakly. Stealing a glance out the window, she added, In more ways than one.

Outside, a pink filly with rainbow hair was halfheartedly kicking a ball around with a bright yellow unicorn. There was a crack of thunder from somewhere, and a bright flash of light, followed by a shout of “Whooo-eee! That was a beauty!” Dimly, Wondermint heard the yellow unicorn—Brights Brightly—say to Rarity, “Let’s go see what Thunder’s up to, hmm?” They walked off. Wondermint silently watched them go before picking up Blue Bread and Yams again.

Ponies had died for this information. She wasn’t about to let their sacrifices go to waste.

I love Thunderhead and Radiance. They're fun to write. Especially Thunder. Poor Mr. Fuzzles... It's hard when your childhood pets die. It's even harder when they die because of a lightning bolt set off by a family friend. Rarity is suffering through an extremely traumatic childhood...

Children's book titles, in case you didn't get it (in which case I'm very disappointed in you ):
Blue Bread and Yams = Green Eggs and Ham
Berry Jam = Sam-I-Am
Dr. Sousaphone = Dr. Sous
Euphoria Buphoria = Amelia Bedelia

[caelum]

Part 8: Misfits
In which the pond apparently causes delusions...

“See? I told you blue went well with pink!”

Piccolo’s exclamation caused Cotton Candy to look up from where she’d been polishing the counter for the eighth time. Pink Prism had just walked in, and was smiling at Piccolo with exasperation.

“Glad you like it,” she said sarcastically before walking up to the counter.

“You’re back!” Cotton Candy grinned, mentally slapping herself. She sounded like she was desperate for business. Well, she was desperate for business, but she wasn’t supposed to sound like she was!

“Told you I’d be,” Pink Prism answered. “Nice to see the gang’s still here.”

“Nothing else to do,” Lolligiggle grumbled. He was glaring at a chocolate chip cookie that was Cotton Candy’s idea of a joke. She’d arranged the chocolate chips to form a smiley face when she’d made his order.

“It’s good to see you again,” Cotton Candy beamed as Pink Prism reached the counter. “Can I get you anything? We…ah, we still have fermented rainbowberry juice…”

“Nah, that’s alright,” said Pink Prism. She studied the menu centerpiece on the counter. “The triple-chocolate cheesecake looks pretty good.”

“I’ll get you a slice,” Cotton Candy said, hurrying to fill the order.

“And some…uh, unfermented rainbowberry juice, too, please.”

“Sure!”

“So, what’s new with you guys?” Pink Prism asked, turning to survey the rest of the café.

“Not much,” Sweetsong shrugged, moving a checker piece across the board. “King me.”

“You’re too good at this,” the blue mare across from her growled, relinquishing a captured black piece to make Sweetsong’s king.

“This’s my little sister, by the way,” Piccolo said. “Beebop, in all her glory.”

“Shut up, Pick-Your-Nose.”

“You shut up, Bee-Butt.”

“Ah, sibling love,” Dream Blue muttered sleepily. She wasn’t on the floor this time, but rather slouched in a booth.

“How’re things with you going?” Cotton Candy asked, bringing Pink Prism her order.

“Eh, not much going on really,” the pink mare shrugged. “Been doing a lot of…studying lately. Other than that, there isn’t much going on.”

“Studying?” Dream Blue asked, pulling a long lock of hair out of her face. “What’re you studying?”

“…History.”

Cotton Candy noted the split-second pause before Pink Prism’s answer.

“Oh, cool,” said Dream Blue before her head crashed back onto her table and she let out an exceptionally loud snore. Cotton Candy looked away from the sleeping mare, and saw Lolligiggle staring oddly at Pink Prism. After a moment, his eyes met Cotton Candy’s, and he quickly went back to glaring at his happyface cookie.

Pink Prism took a bite out of her cheesecake, not seeming to have noticed the odd exchange. She looked around the café again. “This place isn’t very busy, is it?” she observed. Cotton Candy winced.

“No…ah, truth is, I only opened a few months ago. And there’s this ice cream shop across town that’s been open for a few years, so everyone goes there…”

“Ah,” said Pink Prism, nodding. “I see.” She took a sip of rainbowberry juice. “I take it business isn’t very good, then, is it?”

“Well…no,” Cotton Candy admitted. “No, it isn’t. This is pretty much my customer base right here.” She gestured to the café’s occupants.

“Just our little ragtag group,” Sweetsong grinned.

“Yep,” said Piccolo. “That’s us—the misfits of the misfits.”

Pink Prism blinked. “That’s an interesting self-description.”

Piccolo shrugged. “Hey, it’s true. We’re all here for a reason, instead of going to the ever-busy Super Sundae Shop. All of us are pretty reclusive.”

“How so?”

“Cutie marks, mostly,” Sweetsong said, grinning as she saw Lolligiggle wince at the term. “Me, Piccolo, Bee Bop—oh, and our friend, Banjo Blue—we’ve all got some pretty strange markings. It was a sore topic when we were foals, and now we just like to be left alone, instead of hanging out in crowded places.”

“And Lolligiggle?” Pink Prism asked. The stallion stared at her dully.

“I have a pink hopping bunny on my butt.”

“Uh…right. So…why’s Dream Blue here?”

“They don’t make chocolate chip cookies at the SSS,” Dream Blue smiled sleepily. “Hey, Cotton Candy—”

“Coming right up.”

“Thanks.”

Pink Prism took another sip of juice. “Can I see your cutie marks?” she asked, looking at Sweetsong, Piccolo, and Bee Bop. The other three shrugged.

“Sure,” said Sweetsong, getting out of her seat. Pink Prism left the counter to look at her symbol closely.

“That’s very interesting,” she said softly.

“Yeah. No one’s quite sure what it is.”

“It looks like a musical instrument of some sort.”

“That’s what I always thought, but I can’t for the life of me find out what it is. It isn’t quite a guitar, and definitely isn’t a banjo…”

“Huh,” said Pink Prism. “Very interesting…” She moved on to Piccolo.

“A piccolo, obviously,” he shrugged. “And a drum.”

“A piccolo?” Pink Prism repeated.

“My mom says its some sort of instrument you blow into,” the blue stallion shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Never seen one.”

“Huh,” Pink Prism said again, moving on to Bee Bop. She froze. “A harp.”

“Yeah,” Bee Bop snorted. “After my parents demonstrated their fantastic naming skills with Pick-Your-Nose there, I’m lucky they didn’t name me Harpy.”

“I’ve always wondered why we have such strange cutie marks,” Sweetsong said. “I mean, even if these instruments ever did exist, there’s no way a pony could play them. Hooves can’t pluck strings.”

“You’re telling me,” Pink Prism snorted. “Stupid harp,” she added under her breath.

The door slammed open, and everyone turned to see a drenched blue-green mare standing there, panting.

“CC,” she said, “could you get me some rainbowberry juice, please? And chocolate chip cookies?”

Cotton Candy hurried to fill the order.

“What happened to you, Banj?” Piccolo asked. The other mare sighed.

“Fluttershy owes me big.”

“How so?”

“I just saved Flutterbutter from drowning.”

There was an awkward silence.

“She’d been watching the ducks in the pond take off, you see,” she explained, making her way to the counter and dripping everywhere. “And she thought that maybe she could fly, too, if she started in the water. So before anyone could stop her, she was in the pond.”

“But…Flutterbutter can’t swim,” Bee Bop said tentatively.

“I know,” the other snorted. “I was in there as fast as I could, and it took me a few minutes to find her…you know how dark the water is.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Lolligiggle asked.

“Yeah. She’ll be fine. I, however, need a drink.” She gladly accepted the glass Cotton Candy had brought.

“Oh, Banjo Blue, this is Pink Prism. Pink Prism, this is Banjo Blue,” Cotton Candy said by way of introduction.

“Nice to meet you,” Banjo Blue said. Pink Prism nodded.

“You too.”

“I’m going,” Lolligiggle announced, getting up from his seat. “I’ll see you all later.” He left his smiling cookie on the table.

“Bye,” said Cotton Candy.

“What a day,” Banjo Blue muttered.

“Have the fermented rainbowberry juice, it helps,” Pink Prism suggested. “I’m afraid I need to go now, too, but I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Nice seeing you again,” Cotton Candy smiled.

“You too. Bye.” Pink Prism exited the café to a chorus of good-byes—and snores from Dream Blue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way back to the castle, Crystal Lace stopped and stared at the pond in the park. There were still a number of ponies gathered around it, gossiping, but she saw no sign of Flutterbutter and Fluttershy. Keeping away from the crowd, she made her way to the water’s edge.

It was very dark. She didn’t know the specifics of what’d happened, but she supposed it was a miracle that Banjo Blue had managed to rescue Flutterbutter.

She stared down into the water, thinking.

Shoo-bee-doo, shoo-shoo-bee do.

She jerked her head up, scanning the pond’s surface. A fish jumped out of the water several feet from the bank, but other than that, there was nothing there. Crys shook her head.

Those diaries really are getting to me, she thought bleakly. And now it’s time to read more. She walked back to the castle.

Banjo Blue! I love her! She's got such a pretty design! I love using all these random ponies no one really cares about... Like Flutterbutter. Who's been given the role of Village Idiot. This is the second time we've heard of her, but she'll show up in person later, along with her older sister Fluttershy. What? Important? Nah, they aren't all that important... >.>

[caelum]

Part 9: Obligations
In which Cheerilee is unimpressed by Wondermint’s royal duties in Ponyville…

Boredom was no longer a concern. Whistle Wishes had made sure of that, what with the orders to read every single book in the Ancient Records Branch. Wondermint had a feeling that she could never be bored again.

But the feeling of utter uselessness… Now that was going to be harder to take care of.

“Isn’t there anything I can do for you?”

Cheerilee surveyed the earth pony—she still hadn’t gotten over it; a real, live earth pony—in front of her. “No, sorry. All the jobs that need to be taken care of are being taken care of. But thanks for the offer.”

“Yeah, but surely there’s something—anything, really, it doesn’t matter, even if it’s just some silly little thing no one else has gotten around to…”

Cheerilee shook her head. “When I said there’s nothing to be done, I meant it.”

Wondermint sighed. “Look, there has to be something I can—”

“What did you do at home?”

“Huh?”

“At Celebration Castle,” Cheerilee said, “what were your duties there?”

Wondermint hesitated. “Uh…about that…” She fidgeted under Cheerilee’s gaze for a moment. “I…didn’t have any. Not that I was lazy or anything!” Yeah you were, she thought bleakly. All those records and books to read and you were off fooling around somewhere. Shaking the thought away, she went on, “You see, there really isn’t anything to do in Ponyville…not much the government needs to take care of, really, they’re just kinda there for formality… The kingdom’s pretty good on its own, everyone’s happy, things are great, everything comes up roses…”

“I see,” Cheerilee said dryly.

“…So there was really nothing I ever needed to do.”

Cheerilee blinked. “So…what did you do all day?”

Wondermint thought a moment. “Lots of things,” she said at length. “Crystal Lace and I, we’d hang out together, go for walks, tease Aa Flow about his failed experiments, run away from Duchess Gem Blossom, make fun of Peri Winkle being all mystical and stuff, go for balloon rides…”

“Sounds fascinating,” Cheerilee said, even drier than before.

“Uh…yeah, us earth ponies are pretty sheltered…”

Cheerilee smirked. “Well, taking your background into consideration, even if there was some sort of job available, I wouldn’t give it to you. You wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Yeah, but you don’t understand,” Wondermint whined. “I brought this upon you! There’s gotta be something I can do to make it up to you!”

“Stop feeling so guilty, for starters,” Cheerilee ordered. “It’s a terrible tragedy, yes, but it’s disrespectful to our king and queen to complain about their sacrifices.”

Wondermint winced. “Sorry.”

“Also, didn’t Whistle Wishes give you something to do?”

“Yeah…”

“Then I suggest you read those books. Trust me. All unicorns know at least the basics of Old Ponyland, and, seeing your position, I want you to know as much as possible. It wouldn’t do for our rulers—and your parents—to have died, or been incapacitated, without you understanding the secrets they protected.”

Wondermint shuffled her feet. “Alright. I get it.”

“Good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wondermint wasn’t certain what time it was—it could have been anywhere from eight to midnight for all she knew. The point was, it was dark outside, the stars were bright, and she was wandering the hallways, looking for that balcony—there it was. A nice stone balcony, complete with sitting block and gorgeous view of the town on the side of the mountain. And the night sky. Lovely.

Sitting down on the sitting block, Wondermint pulled her latest reading material—Make Way for Summerwings—out of the bag of books she’d brought along. She had nearly finished all the children’s books the library had to offer, and would soon be moving on to the more adult-worthy tomes.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d sat there, staring at the book without seeing it, or looking out at the view, or at the night sky, but her nonexistent thoughts were interrupted by a very young voice asking, “Whatcha doin’?”

She turned and found herself nose to nose with a pink unicorn filly. Waves of rainbow-colored hair framed the foal’s face, and Wondermint felt herself freeze. Rarity.

“I’m reading,” she replied, as casually as she could.

“You’re reading a kid’s book,” Rarity observed. “Why don’t you read grown-up books?”

Wondermint smiled. “Because right now, I’m not smart enough to read the grown-up books.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“…Yeah.”

“Wow. You must be pretty stupid.”

Wondermint blinked. “Beg pardon?”

“Sorry,” Rarity said, abashed. “It’s just…well…most grown-ups read grown-up books.”

“I’ll be reading grown-up books soon,” Wondermint stated.

“Well, that’s good I guess,” Rarity shrugged. “Why don’t you have a horn?”

“Because I’m an earth pony.”

“Ohhhh. I’ve seen pictures of those in picture books, but I didn’t know if they really existed.”

Wondermint rolled her eyes. “Oh, we exist all right. Tell me, what’s a filly your age doing out at this time of night?” She was sure it was quite late by now. Judging by Rarity’s expression, she was right.

“Please don’t tell!” the filly begged. “I—I miss Mommy and Daddy”—Wondermint cursed herself; the kid was close to tears, but quickly got them under control—“and I couldn’t sleep so I decided to go for a walk and I was only gonna be out for a little bit but then I lost track of time so I was gonna hurry back to my room and go to bed but then I thought I’d like to see the stars so I came to this balcony cuz it’s my favorite one and then I saw you and—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Wondermint said, grinning in spite of herself. “You like stargazing?” There were far too many things here that reminded her of home, she reflected. How many times had she found Starbeam craning her neck up at the sky at two in the morning, or asleep in the middle of the hallway around noon?

“Sometimes,” Rarity shrugged, glancing at the sky. “Daddy would wake me up some times, and we’d watch shooting stars or look at constablations. And then we’d go back to bed without telling Mommy.”

Wondermint felt her smile slip from her face. “Oh.”

They were silent for a long time, staring at the sky.

“I think you should get to bed,” Wondermint said at length, standing up. Rarity nodded.

“Okay.”

“Where’s your room?”

“Uh…it’s down a floor, on the other side of the castle.”

Wondermint stared at the filly. “That must’ve been a long walk.”

Rarity smiled innocently.

“C’mon, let’s get you back.”

“Okay… Hey! I know how to get there faster!”

“A…shortcut?”

“Yeah! C’mon, I’ll show ya’!”

Wondermint grabbed her bag of books before following the jumping filly back inside and down several hallways.

“Here, through here!” Rarity said, opening a door.

“What’s that?” Wondermint asked. Before she could get an answer, a herd of gigantic bouncy balls came bounding out of the room.

“WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

Wondermint dodged a blue ball and looked up to see Rarity sitting on top of a white one.

What the heck? she thought, and jumped up onto the ball behind the filly.

“Rarity, what is all this?!?”

“It’s how we get around Unicornia!”

Wondermint noticed that the ball was bouncing down the corridors. “Are you controlling this thing?”

“Uh-huh! With my magic!”

The ball went down a stairway, and out another corridor. Wondermint was beginning to feel sick.

“Rarity…could you slow this thing dow—”

“WHEEEEEEE!! FASTER!!!”

“Ugh…”

By the time they reached Rarity’s door, Wondermint’s coat had turned green.

“That was fun!” Rarity laughed. “Let’s do it again!”

“Sweet Rainbows, no,” Wondermint answered, leading the filly into her room.

At the same time, though, she suddenly knew what she could to make it up to Unicornia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Babysitting?” Cheerilee asked, raising one eyebrow. Wondermint hesitated.

“More like nanny work, I guess…”

“Didn’t I tell you not to worry about anything?”

Wondermint frowned. “That foal’s basically an orphan because of me. I owe her this much at least. I understand why you don’t want me helping with your country’s affairs, but let me repay my debt to her.”

Cheerilee sighed. “Do you have any idea of what you’re getting into?”

Wondermint thought of the time Pink Sunsparkle and Roomperoonie had turned Thunderflash’s hair a nauseating shade of green. He hadn’t gotten any dates for a week. “I’ve had experience with hyper foals.”

Cheerilee smirked. “Before the bounder ball incident?”

“Yes,” Wondermint affirmed. She hesitated. “Uh…did you manage to gather all those things back up?”

Cheerilee looked out her office window. “Looks like we’ve got one more…” Outside, Thunderhead and Brights Brightly were chasing after a pink bounder ball. The green unicorn was shouting angrily, and Cheerilee knew her short fuse was nearly burnt up…

There was a flash of light and a crack of thunder.

“Never mind. It’s been blasted to smithereens.”

“Oh. Okay. And, uh…how’s Radiance?”

“Has a terrible headache,” Cheerilee smirked. One of the rogue balls had hit the red mare squarely in the head. “Funny, really, she’s trained so hard to be capable of overcoming the greatest of threats and she gets slugged by a bounder ball. Still, she’ll be fine. You’re quite certain you want to become one of Rarity’s primary caregivers?”

“Yes,” Wondermint nodded. “I am.”

Cheerilee smirked again. “Your funeral. Still, you have no idea how happy you just made everyone in this castle.”

After watching Greetings From Unicornia, I was struck with a question: What the @#%$& is with the gigantic bouncy balls??? So, in an attempt to use and make sense of as much of MLP canon as possible, I wrote them into this chapter. Hopefully my explanation doesn't completely suck.

[caelum]

Part 10: Hobbies
In which Bee Bop enjoys the thrill of victory, and Piccolo experiences the agony of defeat…

Ugh, I’m so bored!!! We’ve finally made it to Midnight Castle, and now we have no idea what to do. I still have the Rainbow of Light Mr. Moochick gave to us, but I have no idea how I’m supposed to use it. And now we’re camping in this glen by the moat surrounding the castle—okay, it’s not a glen, more like a thicket of thorn bushes, but it provides cover—trying to figure out our next move. I had the bright idea to throw the shell from the sea ponies into the moat, but nothing’s come of it yet. It’s all really, really boring.

I’ve also been getting rather worried about everyone back home—after all, I’ve been gone for nearly two weeks. Mom and Dad’ll be really worried, and I have no idea how to explain this to them. I could hardly believe it myself when Firefly crash landed in our well, and to tell Mom and Dad that—

I’ll worry about it later, I guess. And maybe Firefly’ll help me explain things better.

Of course, if I wind up dying in the middle of this, it’ll be pretty tricky to explain…

Yeah, I still have no idea why these ponies decided to take me along on their adventure. As Medley put it, “Firefly crashes on the other side of the Rainbow, drags a human kid back with her, proclaims that this girl is the ticket to defeating Tirak, and Majesty smiles and nods serenely.” Well, she didn’t exactly nod serenely, more like went into a ton of meetings trying to figure out what to do with me before sticking me on this expedition, but I’ll admit, she did have some sort of knowing look. Ah, well. I trust Majesty.

So now we just wait until we know what the heck we’re doing here—

Gotta go. I hear sea pony singing coming from the moat.

Crystal Lace finished the diary entry and closed the book, swishing her tail thoughtfully. Despite her skepticism, she found herself becoming intrigued by all these old records. Maybe there was more to the myths than she’d thought. What was that old saying? There’s truth in every story, or something like that…

She’d done an awful lot of digging around the past few days, wanting to find out just what sort of things were stored in this hidden chamber. She’d found a handy book cataloguing the room’s contents, written by Wondermint’s family. It seemed they’d been the stewards of this place, before Wundy had run off.

And now, it was all hers.

The implications were frightening. If Wundy’s parents had been killed because of what they knew, and Wondermint herself was on the run…

Well, Crystal Lace thought, I suppose I shouldn’t let them know that I know. Whoever the “them” in question was, she didn’t know, but she knew she didn’t want to become their next target.

Still, it was going to be hard to not tell somebody. She’d become part of one of the biggest secrets Ponyville had ever seen, for crying out loud! How could she not tell someone?

Shaking her head, she picked up her harp—even though she couldn’t play the thing, it’d become her constant companion on these trips to the secret room—and headed towards the door. She could really use some of Cotton Candy’s chocolate chip cookies right now.

As an afterthought, she turned around and grabbed Megan’s diary as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Priz,” Piccolo greeted her as she came through the door. Crystal Lace smiled at the stallion.

“Hello, Picc. How’ve you been?”

“Fantastically, seeing as I’m well on my way to beating Bee Butt here at checkers.”

“In your dreams, Pick-Your-Nose,” Bee Bop sneered, doing a series of jumps and effectively taking five of Piccolo’s pieces out of commission. And reaching the other end of the board. “King me.”

“No fair!”

Crys grinned at the exchange. “Cotton Candy, some chocolate chip cookies and rainbowberry juice, please. I’ll be over here—I wanna see how this turns out.” She pulled a chair up to Piccolo and Bee Bop’s booth, watching what was promising to be a Sibling Death Match.

“It’ll turn out the way it usually does,” Dream Blue yawned. “Bee Bop’ll win, Piccolo will go off on a tangent about the injustices of the universe, Bee Bop’ll tell him to stuff it, Piccolo’ll insult her somehow, she’ll overturn the table in anger, CC’ll kick them both out, and over the next few days they’ll take turns coming in here to whine about each other.”

“Then they’ll forget it ever happened and challenge each other to another game,” said Banjo Blue, drinking the last of her chocolate milk.

“Does this happen often?” Crys asked, going up to the counter to collect her order.

“About once a week,” Cotton Candy shrugged.

“Glad I don’t have any siblings,” Crys snorted, returning to her seat, and nearly tripping over Dream Blue in the process. The mare was sleeping in the middle of the floor again.

“King me again.”

“Why do you always get so many kings?!?”

“Because, big brother, I inherited our family’s brain cells, however few they are.”

“Oh, shut up. There! I got your piece! Hahaha!”

Bee Bop took out three more of Piccolo’s checkers.

“Dangit!”

“You’re never going to beat her, Picc,” Sweetsong stated, leaning over Crys’s shoulder to get a good view of the checkerboard. Piccolo had basically lost already. All that was left was for Bee Bop to go in for the kill.

“Just you watch!” the stallion snapped, refusing to acknowledge the game as a lost cause. “I’ll get her! Just you wait!”

“King me.”

“HOW DO YOU DO THAT?!?”

“You’ve got some pretty good entertainment here, CC,” Crys called over her shoulder.

“Thanks. I try my best.”

Crys took a bite of her cookie and looked around. “Hey, where’s Lolligiggle?”

As if on cue, the door opened and the stallion in question trudged in, looking more glum than grumpy. He made his way to the counter.

“Cotton Candy, some rainbowberry juice please.”

“Sure,” she said, getting a glass.

“Dude, where’ve you been?!?” Piccolo demanded. “I’m getting my tail handed to me on a silver platter by my little sister here! I need your strategical expertise!”

Lolligiggle snorted. “You’ll never beat Bee Bop, Picc. Accept it.”

“Oh, c’mon! Anything’s possible! C’mon, you’ve gotta help me here!”

“Figure it out on your own,” Lolligiggle grumbled. “Besides, I’m more of a chess person.”

“Yeah, but to get myself beaten this many times by a mare—”

“At least you’re blue,” Lolligiggle snapped, glaring at Picc. The other stallion rolled his eyes, but backed off all the same.

“Fine, fine… HA! KING ME!”

“Sure.” Bee Bop then proceeded to take out another piece.

“GAH!!”

Crys snorted and headed back to the counter for a refill on her rainbowberry juice, politely waiting for Lolligiggle to finish.

“So, where were you?” Cotton Candy was asking the pink stallion. “We were wondering.”

“Fluttershy’s,” he shrugged.

“How’re they doing?”

“Alright. Flutterbutter’s hyper as ever; isn’t freaked out about almost drowning at all.” He sighed and downed the last of his rainbowberry juice.

“I’m not surprised. Her mind’s so far gone, she can’t really process that sort of thing…”

Lolligiggle grimaced. “Can I have another glass of this? The fermented kind?”

Cotton Candy rolled her eyes. “I don’t know if I should keep selling that stuff or get rid of it.” She fetched him another glass and turned to Crys. “What can I help you with?”

“I’d like another glass, too,” she said, holding out her cup.

“Please say the non-alcoholic stuff.”

“Yes. That.”

“GAAAHH!! NOT AGAIN!! I HATE YOU, BEE BUTT!! I HATE YOU!!!!”

Lolligiggle made his way over to his usual booth, where he proceeded to stare at his drink. Cotton Candy brought Crystal Lace her order, and she went back to the checker match, where Bee Bop was basking smugly in her victory and Piccolo was bemoaning his defeat.

“Get over it, Picc,” Banjo Blue sighed.

“He should’ve gotten the comedy and tragedy masks as his cutie mark,” Sweetsong observed. “So much drama.”

Crystal Lace snickered, and then noticed the way Bee Bop was staring at her. “Uh…everything alright?”

“Sorry,” Bee Bop said quickly. “I just…is that…?” She gestured to the instrument slung around Crystal Lace’s neck and shoulder. Crys glanced at it, and realized she’d forgotten about the harp.

“Oh…yeah, it’s a harp.”

A sort of stunned silence settled over the café. Cotton Candy stopped polishing the counter, and even Lolligiggle looked up from his drink. Finally, Banjo Blue asked, “Can I see it?”

“Oh. Well, um…yeah, sure.” Crys carefully took the instrument from her neck and gently set it in the middle of the table. Banj stared at it critically.

“Wow,” she said. “I never…I never quite believed string instruments existed.”

Bee Bop was gazing at the harp with nothing short of awe in her eyes. “It’s beautiful,” she said, reaching a hoof out to touch it.

“Don’t,” Sweetsong said quickly, stopping her friend’s outstretched leg and glancing worriedly at Crys. The jewel pony shrugged.

“It’s okay; you can touch it.”

Bee Bop hurriedly did so, running her hoof over the wood. “Wow,” she giggled. “I never thought…”

“Where did you find this?” Banjo Blue asked, looking genuinely curious.

“Well…” Crystal Lace decided to settle on the truth. “A friend gave it to me.”

“Where’d they get it?”

Some old, crazy land with humans and unicorns and pegasi and sea ponies and dark lords and stratodons. “I don’t know.”

“Can you ask?” Sweetsong had a sort of desperate hope in her eyes.

“Um…no, sorry. I don’t know where she is anymore.”

“Oh.” The purple mare seemed crestfallen, but as she gazed at the harp, she regained a sort of spark in her eyes. “I wonder…if harps exist, then what about…” She trailed off softly, and Crys suddenly realized why these ponies were so awestruck about the musical instrument. Sitting before them was proof that their cutie marks—their strange, unorthodox cutie marks—were more than just useless fantasies.

“How do you play it?” Bee Bop asked.

“More like how do you make it?” Banjo Blue snorted. “Hooves can’t carve like that! Look at those flowers in the wood!”

“It would have taken opposable thumbs,” Piccolo smirked. “Or magic.”

Crystal lace watched as Bee Bop carefully picked the harp up and, with a questioning glance to Crys, tried strumming the strings.

“Harder than it looks,” she snorted as her hoof produced nothing melodic.

“Yeah. I’ve been trying for ages,” Crys smiled.

For the next hour they discussed the harp, attempting to play it, or at least pluck the strings. Cotton Candy abandoned her counter to see the instrument, and even Dream Blue woke up for a bit to look at it. Lolligiggle remained in his seat.

“Gotta go,” Crystal Lace announced at last. “Stuff to do, and all.” She could feel Megan’s diary in the pocket of her cloak, pressed to her side.

“Alright, alright,” said Bee Bop, relinquishing the harp. “Come back tomorrow?”

“Sure,” Crys grinned.

“And bring a piccolo,” Piccolo quipped. Crys grinned.

...This is, by far, one of the most fun scenes I've ever written. I love that checker match... Heck, I love everything canonical about the Cotton Candy Cafe. The checkers, the rainbowberry juice... And I love twisting all those elements into humorous situations. ;D

Also, it's pretty fun to write Megan's diary entries. I figure the events of Rescue at Midnight Castle took much longer than a single evening, as portrayed in the cartoon. I like a dose of realism in my fantasy, oxymoron though it may be. Like fat-free ice cream... Or Microsoft Works...

Also, the line in italics under the chapter title is a parody of Jim McKay's famous line from ABC's Wide World of Sports.

[caelum]

Part 11: Companions
In which time goes by…

When she came back the next day, she wasn’t surprised to find everyone anxiously awaiting her return.

“Hi Priz!” Bee Bop greeted her at the door. It seemed she’d been waiting there all morning. “How’ve you been?”

“Alright,” Crys grinned, entering the café and making her way to a table. Bee Bop nearly bounded after her.

“Did you bring it?”

“Of course,” Crys answered, pulling the harp from her cloak and handing it over. “Here. Have fun.”

“Thanks!” the blue mare exclaimed, sitting across from Crys and stroking the instrument. Crys smiled, amused at the other’s antics. It wasn’t long before Banj, Picc, and Sweetsong migrated over to the table.

“Hey, Cotton Candy, can we have some angel food cake and rainbowberry juice over here, please?” Crys called. “My treat,” she added.

“Hey, you don’t have to do that,” Sweetsong protested. Crys shrugged.

“Aw, c’mon, I’m feeling generous.”

“Thanks,” said Piccolo, taking her generosity without question. Crystal Lace rolled her eyes and pulled out Megan’s diary while the others busied themselves with the harp. She hadn’t gotten to read any more the day before—it’d been a hectic time once she’d cotton back from the café. Thunderflash had asked her out, for starters. After shoving him into Lickety-Split’s industrial refrigerator in the kitchens, she’d found herself caught between Duchess Gem Blossom and Earless Peri Winkle, and had ultimately given herself over to the self-proclaimed mystic, because slightly-amusing futures and fortunes were somewhat better than really bad jokes any day of the week. Plus Peri tended to leave her victims alone after a few minutes, as opposed to Gem, who would follow her prey around all day, spouting nonsense about chickens.

After getting through Peri’s fortune telling—apparently, she was going to marry Aa Flow and have fifteen children—she’d found herself the victim of one of Pink Sunsparkle’s pranks. And then, just as she was certain she’d gotten all the glue and feathers out of her hair, Aa Flow had gone and exploded something in his lab, and she needed to help put out the fire.

Could she really be blamed for wanting to sleep after that?

Now, however, she felt the urge to read more. Megan and the others were about to infiltrate Midnight Castle, and Crystal Lace needed to know if they managed to defeat Tirak or not. She remembered Megan’s words in her last diary entrance.

Damn you, Tirak.

There were twenty-seven diaries. How long had they fought against this dark lord person? And—the question that had been gnawing at Crystal Lace’s insides for a while now—had it truly lead to their ultimate downfall?

And why was she feeling so sad and worried over the fates of people she’d never known, never would know, and hadn’t even known or believed existed up until a week or so ago?

“What’s that?”

Crys jerked her head up from the diary to find Cotton Candy dishing out the angel food cake and juice. “Huh?”

“What’s that?” Cotton Candy repeated, gesturing to the book.

“It’s…just a book I’m reading.”

“Is it good?”

“Oh, yes,” Crys smiled thinly. “Very interesting.”

“What’s it about?” Sweetsong piped up. Crys looked at the diary.

“I’m not quite sure,” she said. “But I’ll tell you when I find out.”

Over in his corner, Lolligiggle slurped up the rest of his rainbowberry juice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It really was an amazing battle, but I never want to do anything like it ever again. I was terrified the whole time, and it was all I could do to keep up with things. I have no idea where I got all that energy. Windwhistler says it was something called an adrenaline rush. I don’t really care. I’m just glad it’s over, and that I’m alive.

We’re back at Dream Castle now. The ponies are having a celebration in honor of Tirak’s defeat, along with Spike and Scorpan, since we brought them back with us. Spike’s absolutely adorable, and he’s having such a great time dancing with the baby ponies. Scorpan, though…well, he’s obviously happy, though I can tell he definitely wants to get home. Who would’ve known he’d turn out to be some sort of Elf prince? Well, king, actually—Tirak killed his father when he took over. I didn’t even know there were Elves here. Actually, I didn’t know that Elves could be as tall as humans. I thought they were short little things who worked for Santa. But Scorpan claims that he’s an Elf, and a prince/king, and that he really needs to get back to Midnight Castle so he can start fixing things up. Apparently, when Tirak took over the Elf kingdom, the Elves he didn’t kill or enslave ran off into the woods somewhere. Scorpan wants to find them and start rebuilding, and he’s apparently a little short on patience.

Firefly said she’ll take me home soon. I’m happy and sad. I don’t really want to leave, but I miss my parents, and everyone’s probably worried about me… But Majesty said that maybe I’ll be able to come visit again some day. That’d be great.

Gotta go—Scorpan’s asked me for a dance. He says it’ll help kill time. He’s not such a bad guy, once you get to know him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She came to the café nearly every day, reading more of the diary, letting her friends play with the harp. She trusted them with the instrument—it was just as special to them as it was to her, albeit for different reasons. It was good to get out of the castle, good to get out of that stuffy secret room of Wondermint’s—it was a treasure trove of history, yes, but when she spent too much time in there alone, she felt as though all the hundreds of years stored in that room pressed down on her, suffocating her. Here, in the café, she could enjoy her time—get away from the (strange) stress of castle life, of being the heir to a history she’d never dreamed of. She could happily read of Megan’s quest while joining in her friends’ light banter, listening to Piccolo bemoaning the existence of his sister, laughing when Cotton Candy tripped over Dream Blue and sent a chocolate cake flying onto Lolligiggle’s head, watching amusedly as Sweetsong, Banjo Blue, and Bee Bop all tried their hooves at the harp, over and over, to no avail.

A week after first bringing the harp in, she was nearly done the first diary. Megan and her companions had defeated Tirak and his Rainbow of Darkness with the help of the Rainbow of Light—something that had Crystal Lace quite confused, as she remembered Megan’s angry words in her last diary. She found Megan’s homecoming quite interesting, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mom got upset and yelled at me—I have been gone an awful long time, after all, and the police were looking for me and everything. Now that it’s obvious I’m alive and wasn’t kidnapped, everyone seems to think I just ran away from home for a while. And now I have to go to some stupid therapist or something. They’re all just glad I’m safe and back home, though. I did tell them what happened—all about the ponies and Tirak and Mr. Moochick and the Rainbow. Mom told me to stop telling stories, Danny rolled his eyes, and Molly wasn’t quite sure what I was talking about. Dad didn’t really say anything.

Hafta go. Time for another session with Dr. Nancy. Joy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The diary went on to tell of Megan’s life for another year before reaching the last pages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now that Danny has a new camera, he’s been taking pictures of everything. Mom keeps telling him to stop wasting the flashbulbs.

Wow, looks like I’m on the last page. Well…it’s been fun. I suppose I’ll have to get another diary now. It won’t be as nice as this one, though. Those ponies sure do know how to make diaries. Pity I can’t go back to get another. I catch myself staring at the sky sometimes, waiting for a pegasus. And every time I see a rainbow, I smile. It’s funny to think it’s been nearly a year since I went to Ponyland. Everyone seems to think I’m bonkers, but Dr. Nancy had assured them all that I’m perfectly sane. Thank goodness.

~Megan Lennox~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crys pursed her lips and stared at the last page of the diary. No mention of Megan going back to Ponyland. Maybe there was more in the next diary…

She fervently hoped so. Reading the details of a young girl’s personal life, while somewhat amusing, got rather tedious.

“Finish the book?” Piccolo asked.

“Yeah,” Crys shrugged.

“How was it?”

“Eh…interesting. Very interesting.”

“Did you ever find out what it was about?” Cotton Candy asked, setting a bowl of ice cream in front of Banjo Blue. Beside the green-blue mare, Dream Blue’s head nodded forward and landed squarely in her oatmeal.

“Yeah,” said Crystal Lace. “It was, ah… Well, there’s this dark lord, you see, and, uh….pegasi and unicorns and sea ponies, and humans, and they have to stop him from taking over Ponyland…”

Piccolo frowned. “I’ve heard of pegasi and unicorns, but what are sea ponies?”

“Sort of…well, like sea horses, only a lot bigger…”

“Sounds like a great fantasy novel,” Sweetsong said.

“Yeah…it is…but it doesn’t end very well.” Crystal Lace idly flipped through the pages. “I need to read the sequel.”

...Seriously. If your kid came home after being away for over two weeks, babbling about magic and dark lords and ponies, would you believe them? (Okay, so we pony collectors are biased, but think about this objectively.) Yeah, I didn't think so. Thus Megan gets shipped off to a shrink for a while.

Hope you caught the mention of flashbulbs in the one entry there. Since this is taking place during 1984, there aren't any digital cameras or flashes the way we know them. Back in those ancient days, they had little cubes with lightbulbs in them called flashbulbs. Each bulb was good for only one flash, and there were four bulbs in a cube. It was a primitive existence, but the humans managed. XD

I wasn't alive back then, but my mom was, and she's a professional photographer. She also enjoys telling my sisters and me how good we have it these days. So I know random stuff like that. XD (Though if any of YOU were alive during the 80s and notice I got something wrong, please tell me!)

Edit: Had to add in the diary entry about the celebration ball and Scorpan. I adore Scorpan. Since we know so little about him, there's so much that can be done with him! ;D And of course I'm going to take advantage of that fact...

[caelum]

Part 12: Friends
In which Cotton Candy realizes why everyone likes her fermented rainbowberry juice so much...

In the end, it was her fault they found out. She really shouldn’t’ve left the diary on the table when she went to paint a mustache and glasses on Dream Blue’s face. The mare was practically asking for it, the way she slept all the time…

She came back to her table to find Bee Bop with her nose in Megan’s first diary. Crys had brought both number one and number two along with her this time so she could cross reference them. She hadn’t been counting on someone actually taking an interest in them.

“What are you doing?!?” she asked, trying her best to not sound hysterical.

“This is a pretty interesting book,” Bee Bop commented. Crys noted that the other mare’s voice also sounded slightly anxious. “Who wrote it again? I couldn’t find their name anywhere. Or a copyright date.”

“It’s really old,” Crys said lamely.

“Right,” Bee Bop nodded nervously. “Of course.” She swallowed. “So, ah…where’d you get it?”

“A friend.”

“Same friend who gave you this?” Bee Bop cautiously patted the harp on the table.

“…Yeah.”

The blue mare’s eyes flitted back to the page. “It must be pretty old. It looks handwritten. Like, actual handwriting on paper. Like a real diary.”

“Yeah. It is pretty old. Be careful with it.”

“I am,” Bee Bop answered nervously. It occurred to Crystal Lace that Bee Bop was in the same boat as she was—unsure of what to say or how to handle the other. Finally, with a longing look at the page she was on, Bee Bop closed the diary and slid it over the table to Crystal Lace. “Here.”

Crys took the diary and held it carefully. Then she realized she and Bee Bop were being watched by everyone else in the café. Piccolo was scrutinizing his sister, trying to see how he could best use the exchange for his benefit in sibling rivalry. Sweetsong looked bemused. Cotton Candy and Banjo Blue were waiting to see where it would go from here. Even Dream Blue had cracked an eye open and was staring at them—albeit unaware of it—through a pair of glasses drawn on her face with marker. Lolligiggle was staring out the window.

“So,” said Crys at last, hoping Wondermint wouldn’t kill her for this, “do you like it?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cotton Candy stared at Pink Pris—no, wait, Lady Crystal Lace. “I’ve had royalty coming to my café for weeks and I didn’t know it?!?” she shrieked at last. Priz—erm, Crystal Lace blushed.

“Uh…yeah. Sorry.”

Cotton Candy looked like she might start hyperventilating. “Oh—gosh—golly—gee—”

“Calm down,” Piccolo ordered, glancing at Crystal Lace, who was shuffling her hooves. “Take deep breaths.”

Dream Blue’s eyes were uncharacteristically wide. “So…all this time…”

“Yeah,” Crys shrugged. Her cloak had been removed, letting her jeweled cutie mark flash in the sunlight. “Sorry I didn’t tell you guys…”

“It’s alright,” Banjo Blue said, though she looked just as shocked as everyone else. Even Lolligiggle was staring at her, and hadn’t the slightest look of grumpiness about him.

“Okay, okay,” said Cotton Candy. “Alright…I’m okay…I can deal with…with…with having royalty come to my café! I can…I can…”

“If it helps, I’m ranked pretty low in the hierarchy,” Crys offered.

“GAH!!” Cotton Candy shrieked, covering her face with her hooves. Sweetsong emerged from the counter with a glass of juice.

“Here.”

Cotton Candy grabbed the cup and downed the beverage. She made a face. “Oh, yuck. What is that?”

“The fermented stuff.”

CC mused over that for a moment. “Whatever, it helps. Get me some more. Please.”

Sweetsong retrieved the cup and went back for some more.

“So, let me get this straight,” said Bee Bop, looking through Megan’s diary. “Countess Wondermint’s parents are killed, supposedly because they know this stuff.”

“Supposedly,” Crystal Lace nodded.

“The countess herself then runs off in fear of her own life.”

“Right.”

“Leaving you in charge of…of all these old…records.”

“…Pretty much.”

“That’s where you got the harp?”

“Yeah.”

“And this diary is all about…about this so-called Old Ponyland, and…and all sorts of other things that don’t exist.”

“That’s pretty much what I thought, too,” Crys nodded. “But it’s just…it’s too real, and all the other old records are, too…”

“I can see that,” said Bee Bop, leafing through the pages.

Sweetsong came back with a full glass. “Here, CC.”

“Thanks.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Lolligiggle asked suddenly. Everyone looked at him, confused.

“What do you mean?” Sweetsong asked.

“I mean…” He hesitated, eyes flickering back and forth worriedly. “Look, it’s not that I blame you, it’s just that…”

They waited patiently.

“Look, if Count Agate and Countess Pearldrop really were…murdered because they knew these things, why are you telling us about them?”

Crystal Lace froze. “I…” hadn’t been thinking at the time, but that’s besides the point. “I don’t know.”

“It’s alright,” Banjo Blue said, putting a comforting hoof on Crys’s shoulder. “We understand. Comfort of a stranger, and all that.”

Crys hesitated. “You’re…okay with all this? You don’t think I’m loony?” After the way she’d treated Wondermint, she was surprised at the others’ reactions.

Banjo Blue, however, laughed. “Hey, remember, you’re looking at a bunch of outcasts. Four of us have weird cutie marks with instruments we’ve never seen before. Except for the harp, of course. It isn’t as hard for us to believe something like this—especially when you provide proof.” Her eyes flickered meaningfully to the instrument on the table.

“She’s right,” Piccolo nodded, still helping Cotton Candy, who was looking much better.

“Do you need any help?” Bee Bop asked suddenly. “With taking care of the archives, or anything like that? Anything at all?”

“Ah…maybe. Why do you ask?”

“Because…” Bee Bop trailed off, looking back at Megan’s diary. “I want to help, is all.”

“Yeah,” said Piccolo. Banj nodded, CC smiled bleakly and took another sip of juice, Dream Blue looked hopeful and curious, and Lolligiggle seemed alright with the idea.

“Can…can we all read the diaries?” Sweetsong asked shyly. Crys hesitated. She didn’t want these ponies in any more trouble than they already were—she really shouldn’t’ve said anything to them—but still… She knew that Sweetsong really wanted to know what her cutie mark was. Piccolo wanted to see his namesake. Banjo Blue wouldn’t mind knowing more about her instrument, as well. Lolligiggle looked like he needed some sort of purpose.

“…Alright,” she said. “How…how about I read the first diary out loud, then? And then we can move on to the second.”

They all smiled. “Okay,” Bee Bop said. They found a place to sit, and they began.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wondermint and Rarity stood facing each other. The filly seemed to be sizing the earth pony up, and Wundy wondered if she shouldn’t feel worried. Finally, Rarity broke the silence.

“So,” she said, “you’re my new nanny?”

Wondermint smiled and shrugged. “I guess you could call it that.”

“So you’re taking Nutmeg’s job?”

“Not quite taking it,” Wondermint explained, thinking of the nerve-wracked unicorn mare who was currently on a nice, long, relaxing vacation. “More like helping her out.”

“Oh,” said Rarity. “So…whaddaya wanna do?”

Wondermint looked at the bag of books she carried at her side. “…How about we read?”

“Are you still reading kids’ books?” Rarity smirked. Wondermint rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I am. But I’m almost ready to move on to the adult books. Happy?”

Rarity giggled. “It’s good that you’re getting smarter.”

Wondermint pretended to be indignant. “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s go read. Anywhere in particular you’d like to settle down?”

Rarity paused at that. “Well…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seriously Cheerilee, you’re doing very well ruling the kingdom.”

“Thanks, Sunfall. You’ve got no idea how much that means.”

The pink and purple unicorns were walking down the hallway, towards the infirmary.

“It’s just a matter of waiting for Rarity to grow up so she can rule,” Cheerilee went on.

“And making sure that she knows how to rule, and rule well,” Sunfall snorted. “I take it you know what to do about her education?”

Cheerilee sighed. “Yes…Lily and Windi were going to wait a little longer before having her tutored, so I suppose I’ll give her some more time before she starts on her education. She can already read and write well enough anyway, and she’s got a good grasp of history, so until she’s old enough to understand politics…”

“Don’t forget magic,” Sunfall smiled. Cheerilee nodded.

“Well, Lily and Windi wanted you to teach her that.”

“And so I will,” Sunfall nodded. She hesitated as they came to stand by one of the doors lining the hallway. “Speaking of Lily… How is she doing?”

Cheerilee took a deep breath. “Well…she hasn’t worsened, but she hasn’t gotten better, either. Here.”

She opened the door. Inside, Lily Lightly lay on a bed, her ears flickering timidly as she stared at a white mare and a pink filly curled up on the bed next to hers.

“…I will not eat blue bread and peas! I will not eat them, Sam-Is-Me!” Rarity read, laughing. She and Wondermint looked up, grinning at the newcomers, and even Lily turned her head to stare at Cheerilee and Sunfall, showing the first bit of awareness Cheerilee had seen from her in weeks.

“Cheery! Sunfall!” Rarity grinned. “You wanna read with us? Wondermint’s almost smart enough to go to grown-up books now!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door opened, and Crys stopped reading. Everyone looked up to see two ponies enter the café.

“Fluttershy!” Cotton Candy exclaimed. “What’re you doing here?”

“Flutterbutter and I were out for a walk,” the pearly pink pony shrugged. “And I knew Banj tends to hang out here, so we decided to stop by and say hi." She nodded at Banjo Blue, who smiled back.

"Everything going alright?" the teal pony asked. "No incidents?"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes. “Well, today’s been rather uneventful, thank goodness.” She smiled at her sister.

For the first time, Crystal Lace found herself looking at Flutterbutter, the village idiot. She was a sweet-looking thing—white body, golden hair—but there was something…off about her. Maybe it was the blank look in her eyes, or the goofy grin on her features as she looked around the café.

“Lolligiggle!” she exclaimed suddenly, her voice sounding with the pointless excitement of a child. “Hi!”

Lolligiggle stiffened. “Hey, Flutterbutter.”

She bounded up to him, her sister looking on worriedly. “Whatcha doin’?”

“Not much,” he answered, not quite looking at her.

“Flutterbutter, don’t be rude,” Fluttershy chided, looking far too accustomed to exasperation.

“I’m not!”

“Can I get you anything?” Cotton Candy asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

“No. Just dropped by to say hi. But thanks.”

“What’re’ya doin’?” Flutterbutter asked again, pushing her head forward to see the book Crystal Lace held. “Readin’?”

“Yeah,” Crystal Lace answered, smiling and not quite sure how to deal with the strange pony.

“Flutterbutter,” Fluttershy said, in the firm tone of voice that quickly brought wayward foals back to their mothers. Flutterbutter, however, didn't seem to notice.

“Whatcha readin’?”

“Oh, just some silly story,” Sweetsong said quickly, trying to help Fluttershy out. The faster Fluttbutter became disinterested, the sooner the tired mare could go home.

“What about?”

“Uh…fantasy.”

“There’s all sorts of imagination things in it,” Bee Bop added. “Like, well…humans.”

Flutterbutter’s face screwed up into an expression that was probably supposed to indicate deep thought.

“Humans?” she repeated.

“Yeah. And…and pegasi, and unicorns, and...and...”

“Sea ponies?” Flutterbutter provided.

“Yeah,” Bee Bop nodded. “Yeah, sea ponies, and—” She broke off, suddenly realizing what the mentally-challenged mare had just said.

Everyone stared at Flutterbutter, except for Lolligiggle, who was looking at the floor, and Fluttershy, who didn’t seem to understand what was going on.

“Excuse me?” she asked. “Flutterbutter and I kinda need to get home…”

Flutterbutter giggled. “Yeah! Home!” she exclaimed, jumping around as her sister guided out the door.
"Nice talking with you all," the pearly pink mare said over her shoulder.

"Wait," Crystal Lace said, scarcely able to keep the tremor out of her voice. "How does she--um...what's a sea pony?"

Fluttershy turned around, smiling sadly. “Not sure. She made it up, I guess. Her mind’s gone, but her imagination is as rampant as ever.”

She left the café, unaware of the shocked silence that followed in her wake. While everyone else was looking at the door, though, Crys noticed that Lolligiggle was staring at the table, his gaze at the wood more intense than she'd ever seen it directed at a glass of rainbowberry juice.

End Part 2

*coughs* What was that I was saying about Flutterbutter and Fluttershy not being important? >.>

Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading! Adjustments was a fun installment to write, despite the fact it was mostly filler and character development. I swear it'll pay off. My goal is to make my readers be completely familiar with the characters and their personalities (and judging from reviews I've received in the past, I seem to be doing a pretty good job! )

Be on the lookout for Part 3: Dances in Air, a rewrite of Dancing in the Clouds, which should be out in a few weeks, provided I manage to pound the plot into a pleasing shape. In the meantime, I'm copying and pasting the little "trailer" I made for it from the Arena for your enjoyment.

The lyrics are from the song Shine from Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It's a pretty song, and you can listen to it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s a place you can go where your heart is free,
There’s a rhythm that’s right for your soul.

Skywishes is standing on the cliff beside the waterfall, eyes closed and mane blowing back behind her in the wind. Her eyes suddenly snap open to find Star Catcher, smirking and hovering in front of her with the help of her wings.

Take a breath, find your courage, and make the leap,
‘Cause your feet always know where to go.

Skywishes bites her lip and jumps off the cliff, to find herself supported by Star Catcher’s butterflies. The pegasus smiles at her newfound friend. There’s a sudden flash of an image—a blonde girl, bursting through the clouds on the back of a pink pegasus.

And you dance and you dance in an endless flow

—Skywishes and Star Catcher zoom through the air—

In the grace of a perfect design.

—the blonde and the pink peg twirl in the clouds—

Stepping out of the dark and into the glow

—and Skywishes and Star Catcher fall through the air towards an island of green in a bright blue sea.

And the whole world will see when you shine.
You can shine.