[Short Story Inspiration]
I talked about a friend once, the 14 year old "Narcissist Role Player". Is about time I talk about a fragment of his character, or better say, his world. When I played with him, he never seem to have any ideas on how his world should flow. One day we'd be on Chapter 44 of his made up story, to then scrap it all together and begin the next day on Chapter 26.
In the end, the chapters had no meaning other than to emphasize progress. I bet my friend didn't had any idea on what the story chapters were suppose to have. It was all for the purpose of making the chapters look more special than what they already were. Because of this, some moments in the story where it involved my character devolved into holiday specials where everyone got drunk.
And it got kinky...
Probably too kinky...
[Chapter 4: Paranormal Season Forecast]
In the room located in the northern tower, the little filly was gazing at the cloudy morning sky. Flabbergasted is an appropriate description for her state of mind, as the clouds above Canterlot poured snow in a time believed to be summer.
She flew up to the sky like she always does in the morning, and picked up a snowflake right out of the air. When it melted, she started to look at the guards walking around. None of them seem to be phase at the sudden change of season.
Lapistoria: (Did I just... sleept through summer and autumn!?)
[Start of the 2nd day: 28 days remaining]
Princess Celestia stood in the balcony of her room with Spike along side her. They were both looking at the snow unamusely. This was just another Tuesday for them, in a literal way.
Celestia: I'm willing to guess Lapistoria will probably come here any second now.
Spike: "Probably?" You're sure about that...?
Lapistoria: PRINCESS CELESTIA! SPIKE!
The young filly, incredibly stressed out, landed in the balcony of Celestia's room. The princess and dragon were already aware of Lapistoria's reason to be anxious. But they let her speak first so that she can vent out her nerves.
Lapistoria: Did I just slept for a YEAR!?
Celestia: No, more around 5 to 6 "Normal Months."
Lapistoria: That's TERRIBLE!!! So does that mean the world has ended!? It doesn't feel like it ended yet...? Am I missing something?
It was natural for her to feel that way, especially without knowing the concept of Real and Normal days. Princess Celestia never went into detail about how it works, she only gave a warning. So what better time as any than to explain how it truly works.
Celestia invited Lapistoria into her room, and asked her to sit in her bed while she searched for a chalkboard. She found one in her closet, and with the help of Spike, brought it over to the front of the bed.
Celestia: Unfortunately, I'm limited in what I have to say at the moment. So I'll be focus on drawing here to help you visualize while Spike explains how days work.
Spike: Look Lapis, this is some complicated stuff. It even took me a while to understand this nonsense. So to make it easier on the three of us, I'll only talk about the things you NEED to know about Normal and Real days. Understand?
Lapistoria: Yes Mr. Spike!
Mr. Spike: "Mr. Spike!?"
Princess Celestia burst out laughing due to the irony of the name. Not only were they similar in age, but the princesses herself was a teacher of her own school. Although the circumstances of this day didn't allow her to teach, she was still the most qualified to give the lesson. Not that it matter anyway, she was looking forward to how this will end up.
Celestia: It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
Mr. Spike: Y-Yeah! Of course it does!
Celestia: This won't take long, so right after this we can have some breakfast, ok?
Lapistoria: YAY!
Mr. Spike: *Ehem* Let's start!
To begin the explanation, Celestia draw a line across the middle of the board. She then divided the line into twelve sections, and wrote above those sections their corresponding months. The entire line represented a year, so she wrote that below it. All there's left to do was for Spike to explain what this all meant.
The days work as such; They only work in accordance to a moment in time Galaxy wants to be in. It is merely for his convenience and nothing else. But it has a small gimmick to it. Apart from the royal sisters and Spike, other ponies around them seem to be able to experience the passage of time as if it never skipped.
This is how "Normal" and "Real" days came to exist. Normal Days are the amount of months and days that takes to reach a Real Day. While Real Days are an important moment in time that can't be skipped.
Lapistoria: Hold up! Something doesn't quite fit here...
Mr. Spike: What is it?
Lapistoria: This has been happening for three "Real" months right? How haven't I notice it till now? This is insane!
Mr. Spike: Hey, don't look at me! I'm just surprise I get to see this stuff myself.
Celestia: I do not know the reason of your awareness Spike, but I do know Lapistoria's. I just can't say it because...
Mr. Spike: Yeah, I know...
With that out of the way, the little dragon resume with his explanation. There is still one more thing left to explain, and that is; If the passage of time is erratically moving forward, how haven't they aged one bit? Six Normal Months in a one Real Day is a long time, so imagine how long three Real Months would be. Depending on how random the dates are, it is to be assume that around three hundred to five hundred Normal Years might have already passed.
Lapistoria: Huh... This really is nonsense...
Mr. Spike: I KNOW RIGHT!
Celestia: Then allow me to remove the prefix out of "nonsense" so that it can finally make "sense".
Going back to the board, Celestia draw another line that ark from the ending to the beginning of the year. This gave Spike a chance to explain that years never truly pass. Time never moves beyond a year. It always loop's back in order for everypony to remain young forever.
Mysteriously, even when time is looped back, every day ends up being different. Almost as if an actual year has passed.
Mr. Spike: Do you have any more questions?
Lapistoria: Nah, I think I got the gist of it. Every day is different, so we shouldn't be surprised when summer turns into winter, and spring turns into autumn.
Spike: Good, we are done! Let's go eat something. I'm craving for some green gems right about now.
Before they got a chance to sort out everything, the door of the room opened without warning. On the other side was Luna herself, who was entering the room in a drowsy state. It was easy to know why she was like this. Galaxy's nightmares are always so... "Tragically Demanding".
The filly, dragon, and sister look at her with blank expressions, before Luna finally became aware of what they were doing.
Luna: O-Oh... I see... *Yawn* Lapistoria, did you knew that Galaxy Spiral can... Umm...? Time Travel?
Celestia/Spike: LUNA!!!
Luna: What...? you still... did not cover that? Or am I not suppose to... say anything...? *Yawn* Excuse me... mind giving me some... space?
Lapistoria: Huh...? OH!!! Yeah sure!
After Lapistoria moved a little to the side, Luna lay next to her with a desire to sleep. It was strange how abruptly she entered, so naturally they wanted to ask why she was here. However, it didn't matter since Luna was straight to the point. She took out a letter, and show it to Celestia.
Luna: You got mail... Ugh... it's Twilight Sparkle again...!
Celestia: Let's be honest, when isn't it Twilight? Just leave it on the table. I'm going to start making breakfast for the four of us.
And just like day and night, Celestia left and Luna stayed. Right as Celestia closed the door, Spike reacted quickly and took the letter from Luna. The sleepy princess didn't even care in the slightest. If her sister didn't took interest in reading the letter, there was probably nothing important written on it to begin with. Therefore she allowed the little dragon to take it.
Spike on the other hoof had a more urgent demeanor. For him, it is important to hear what Twilight has to say, even if the message was never meant for him.
Lapistoria: Aren't we gonna wait for Princess Celestia to read that?
Spike: No, now a days she almost never reads Twilight's letters. They stopped carrying any kind of meaning ever since Galaxy appeared, so there's no point in reading them anymore...
Lapistoria: Then why are you reading them?
Spike: I don't know...? maybe... because this is the closest I'll ever be to talking with her again...
Lapistoria: ...
Spike: Hey now don't be sad. On the bright side, I don't have to burp out letters anymore! HE-HE-HE... *Sigh*
The ambient turned a bit sour. It was obvious how much Twilight meant for the little dragon. Acting like if it's not as bad as it looks did not convinced Princess Luna and Lapistoria. So Spike, in an awkward way, opened the letter and began to read out loud.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I been meaning to ask you this for a while, and now that its winter I believe this is a good opportunity to do so. Do you mind coming over for a sleepover me and the girls are planning. If you want to know, Galaxy is going to be there. I know is weird, but Galaxy doesn't get bother about girly stuff like any other stallion. That mature nature is one of the reasons I'm in love with him. No pony, not even my brother, Shining Armor can compare to Galaxy in terms of how attractive he-"
Spike: BLA-BLA-BLA-BLA-BLA! The usual Galaxy tangent. BLA-BLA-BL... Huh!?
"Please don't say this to the pegasus filly. But Galaxy thinks she is "Sus", the word Galaxy uses to abbreviate the word "suspicious". If Galaxy thinks that, there's no reason to doubt him. I myself thought she was Sus too, so we decided to do research, and found out she might actually be a-"
Spike/Luna: !!!
In an instant, Spike threw the letter, and while it was airborne, he blast it with his green dragon fire. The Princess of the Night and dragon remained silent for a while, as their hearts beat hard from the scare the letter gave them. The filly in the room stood confused due to not having enough context of the situation. But she decided to not intervene with the thoughts of Spike and Luna. They had a lot in mind to process.
Spike: Yep... this is bad...
Luna: Galaxy's intuition is as sharp as ever.
Spike: My goodness! What am I going to say to Princess Celestia? Things are going more south than the actual direction! That's how bad it is!
Luna: Let's calm ourselves for a moment, and clear our minds of the issue.
Spike: But Galaxy is metagaming harder than a newbie playing "Ogres and Oubliettes!" There is NOTHING that is going to calm me down in the moment like this!
Lapistoria: ...
Spike: Oh... I take back what I said... Sorry...
Calming down was easy, but to not think about what they read was hard. Lapistoria is literally there next to them, and this issue clearly involves her. Yet, she didn't spoke a word. Spike and Luna were feeling incredibly awkward by the silence of the filly. So they talked to her in order to see what's in her mind.
Luna: Lapistoria, how can you stay quiet after our hard display of emotions? The topic of our fears involves you!
Lapistoria: Does that means you will tell me what's going on? Princess Luna?
Luna: ...
Lapistoria: I never told you this, but Mom and Dad always hide stuff from me too. Heck, even Princess Celestia never told me why I can see Real Days. Isn't that funny...?
Spike: Wait, so the reason you aren't taking, is because you know we aren't going to tell you anything!? That's so... sad...
Luna: But also true... we can't say anything...
Lapistoria: Don't worry, is not sad at all! What I'm doing is just respecting your boundaries. I'll be patient about it, and when the time is right, we can just talk about it. Is as simple as that!
The Princess of the Night was amazed at the mental fortitude of the young filly. Her cognition has developed faster than any filly or colt her age. However, Luna realize that her inability to ask tough questions hints a huge problem with her mindset. Lapistoria is a coward pretending to be wise. In other words, she severely lacks conviction.
The three of them remain quiet for a while, keeping their thoughts to themselves. This is when Spike knew he shouldn't mope about the letter, and gave Lapistoria something she desperately needs...
Trust
Spike: Galaxy knows you're from Baltimare.
Lapistoria: W-What!?
Spike: The letter said that you might be a filly from Baltimare. They know where you live, and they believed you are suspicious because you're meant to save us from Galaxy. But they don't know that yet...
Lapistoria: Spike... are you seriously saying to me stuff I'm not suppose to know?
Spike: Well dah! You don't want to say it outloud, but I know you lack belief in others.
Lapistoria: Is it really noticeable...?
Spike: No, you're very good at hiding your feelings with that positive facade. But when you refuse to know what we were hiding from you, I realized what kind of pony you are. You're a pony who is afraid of conflict.
Lapistoria: !!!
Spike was able to vocalize Luna's thoughts very well, even if he didn't meant to. By this point Celestia should be done with breakfast. So Spike and Luna got themselves ready to head for the dinning hall. As they were walking and crossed paths with Lapistoria, they knew there was something she wanted to say.
Luna: We would have never figured out what kind of pony you are if it wasn't for that special thing you did yesterday. Do you know what it was?
Lapistoria: No...
Spike: You made us your friends!
The smile Spike gave when he said those words gave a tingling sensation to the young filly. It felt like something she needed to hear. A feeling that brought her the trust she was looking for. Friendship is the link that allows us to understand each other. Even the Princesses of Friendship is unable to grasp that concept now a days
With her heart at ease, and her stomach growling, the three of them were about to head for the dinning hall. That is, until the door suddenly slammed open, revealing Celestia on the other side.
Spike was the first one to recognize the letter hovering above Celestia. It's the same one he burned away a moment ago. With immense shock, the dragon acknowledge the mistake he did. The fire he use to burn the letter was the same fire used to deliver letters to Celestia. He must have accidentally use it because Twilight's letters are the ones he always sends to her.
It was an innate instinct.
Celestia: Tell me something... did Lapistoria read the contents of the letter...
Celestia's tone didn't felt right. They couldn't tell if she was angry, sad, or afraid. The reaction she portrayed was a more exaggerated version of Spike, and Luna's reaction.
Spike: ...
Luna: (I'm sorry Spike... I can't force myself to lie.) No sister, she's unaware of what it says. Spike and myself are the only ones who read it.
Lapistoria: Huh!?
Spike: (WHAT ARE YOU SAYING LUNA!!!)
Without warning, Celestia's magic turned dark and malefic. Her eyes hinted to her viewers that the magic she was using was similar to King Sombra. It was magic made out of Hated and Fear.
Suddenly, the letter hovering above her got consumed by the dark magic. A crackling sound can be heard amidst the darkness. And once the letter was released from its grasp, nothing remained other than ash. This brought major shock to the ones witnessing it.
Once Celestia return back to normal, she finally noticed their flabbergasted faces. It all got pretty tense, to the point in which Luna, Spike and Lapistoria could not bring themselves to say a word. This brought Celestia an urge to clarify her true emotions.
Celestia: I... I am not mad at any of you. If anything, I should be mad at Twilight for sending such an insensitive-... Huh...?
The faces of Luna and Spike made Celestia stop, when she became aware that they turned into dreadful regret. Spike was responsible for sending the letter that made Celestia angry. And Luna's attempt to "hide the truth" brought doubt in the mind of Lapistoria. She now doesn't know if Spike was actually honest about the contents of the letter. It could have all been a lie, but due to her low conviction, she's afraid to ask.
The Princess of the Sun now knows the mistake she did. If anything, she shouldn't be blaming this on Twilight. Not even to the one who influenced the letter. She turned her back on them, and before leaving the room she told to them...
"Breakfast is ready..."
[End of the 2nd day: 27 days remaining]
[End of Chapter 4]