The Marionetter

Tonight, Princess Luna was a little distressed after her meeting with The Marionetter, turning the events over in her mind to understand what had happened. Only last week he had poured his heart out to her, today he was cold after she tried to wield one of his Marionette Sticks.

Luna had flown in as always, sharing a savoury with him over the discussion of his latest story; the tale of a lone fishercolt who never left the sea. After learning of the remarkable griffon he had been inspired by, she had inquired into the nature of his Marionette Sticks again. He was as evasive as always, but she decided to be playful and taunt him with one.

A spark had unintentionally flown out and he had blocked the embers from touching her with his hand. The ember burned a hole in the glove, it was the first time she had seen under the clothing he wore. The fur had been burned with the fabric and a distinct pale scar was visible. She did not mean to appear shocked. She had thought he had been hurt but on further inquiry was asked to cut their meeting short for tonight, with him abruptly taking the Stick.

She was shown the door leading to the backstage and the anxious manager, now eager to please. Luna did not feel like eating at the moment. This abrupt anger she had caused was a stain on their perfect set of encounters. She had never seen that side of him, to be so bold as to make her leave. He had done it in such a subtle way though, never once did he behave disrespectfully, but he had stopped calling her Luna then. It was now back to the usual princess, highness nonsense she hated.

As Luna went to the exit she noticed the singer, Melody, was preparing herself in front of a tiny makeup mirror carefully balanced on a stool. Sometimes Luna forgot how humble this place was. She suddenly had an idea, ears perking up at the thought. “I wish to speak with your vocalist alone if you please.”

“But of course, Princess.”

The backstage was deserted aside her and Melody. Sadly the band, Melody and Marion were the only performers in this theatre. It must have been a great pressure to keep their nights entertaining to the Canterlot ponies.

Melody was not the type who’s looks would charm her way into fame. She had that raw, sophisticate appeal that said she was beautiful but one would have to know her to see it. With her pronounced muzzle, strong cheeks, golden hair and amber body, she projected a strong visage. The red dress with woven crystals was clearly her favourite, she wore it every night. Luna had a nagging suspicion though that it might have been the only dress she had. Her full figure and strong body was reminiscent, and fitting, of the description of ‘battle axe’ that Marion often gave her. Luna had tried to visit her dreams, a particular one with Marion causing much embarrassment and burning cheeks. She approached the mare, oblivious to the princess in her enrapture of reciting scales and readying for the next performance.

Luna took a deep breath, “Thine voice does so sweetly sound, Melody.”

The mare spun around, “Oh my gosh, PRINCESS LUNA!” She sang. The nervous mare, nearly falling over, bowed to the point where her muzzle almost touched the ground. Luna always found it difficult not to laugh as she did it, suppressing a multitude of giggles bubbling traitorously.

“You may… rise.”

“To what do I owe your company, Princess Luna?”

“We speak seldom I find.”

“That’s fine! How could I be so selfish?!”

Luna hesitated, rubbing her foreleg with embarrassment. “I am afraid I am being selfish right now.”

“Oh?”

“We have spoken a great deal and your gift of, I believe gossip is the word, has impressed me. I have need of knowledge over your colleague.”

“Colleague? Oh you mean Lead Foot! He catches many an eye of the fillies. How can I help?”

“Not him, good pony. I meant your rather mysterious colleague.”

“Oh! Brass Tacks? Now she used to be part of a syndicate of traveling musicians…who…toured Equestri…a…” Luna watched the nervous mare shifting awkwardly for a moment.

“Melody… must we play this game?” The mare could not look her in the eye, and Luna knew she needed to tread lightly. “I do so love games, but now is not the time please. I need know more of his attachment to the wrappings he wears.”

“He…likes to dress sharp.”

“Which is why he evicted me so fortuitously when I mistakenly beheld a fragment of what he was?”

The mare shot to her hooves. “He kicked you out?”

“Indeed he did.”

“Excuse me!? He did WHAT?” Melody marched past Luna with burning anger in her eyes. Before she reached the door, Luna grabbed her shoulder to spare Marion that wrath. Melody cooled down as the event leading to tonight's sudden eviction was explained.

“I can understand.” Luna admitted.

“I can’t! How dare he kick a Princess out!”

“Perhaps it was fear that guided the action.”

“You are too forgiving, Princess.”

“And you are not, it makes us a good team!”

Melody laughed at her joke. “I guess we do.”

Luna did not wish to damper the lighter mood, but there was much still to be discussed. Having seen Melody interact with stage hoofs and other performers, she learned the mare appreciated earnest intentions and honest speech. It was possible to speak of other things such as the weather, but a mare that savvy would see though the charade to end up resenting it.

“I wish to thank you for taking in my friend Marion from the streets and fighting for him to perform here.”

The mare looked surprised. “Is that what he told you?”

“It is the truth?”

“Umm...” she began tapping her hoof with a nervous smile.

“Melody...”

“Princess, he would be so angry if I said anything.”

Luna leaned in to whisper to her, a naughty idea in mind to get the truth, “Does he… hurt you?”

Her ears sprang up in alarm. “WHAT?!”

“Shh! Keep your voice low in case he hears. Does he hurt you? You are a type of possession to him?” Luna liked watching the mare’s eyes grow wider with each word, “If he has hurt you, I will see to it-”

“NO! I mean...umm...he would never hurt me.”

“Speak the truth to thine Princess, I shall hold it to me.”

“He called you his friend, Princess?”

“As true this is as the moon is in my night.”

“Princess Luna I am unable to say anything personal about him.”

“Something is different in him lately, he seems to grow weary of me.”

“Oh that’s just Marion,” Melody casually dismissed. “He will grow out of it in a day or two.”

“He seemed very worried when I tried to examine his sticks. He has apparently lied to me as well about your knowing him casually. You do after all know of his habits. Are you and he...one?” Luna had to look away from the mare's eyes.

“Eew no! Marion?! I mean he’s nice and all but I’m a committed mare, Princess.”

Luna let her sadness carry her words, “Then at least his lies are but one fewer.” Melody remained silent, “He lies to me about his Marionette Sticks. About the way you two met, his true name probably-”

“Princess. Please forgive my interruption but how has he lied?”

Luna looked to the mare, a concern clearly visible in her modest features. Her ears fell back in the weight of what was felt.

“Why would he hide truths from me? I would not hurt him, scorn him. He is a good friend and I do so enjoy picking that mind. Is he even as old as he claims? I feel...lost.”

Melody lead Luna away from Marion’s room. She kept her voice low. There were no ponies around but there was still a need for discretion apparently. Luna could see her worry, without any idea why.

“Marion can create a story in moments, it makes him a talented liar. He lies to protect me, to protect himself. There is something about him that may be hard to hear.”

“How…hard?”

“I am still here because of him, but he had to do something very…dark for that.”

The once bouncy mare Luna had come to know gained a new appearance in her eyes. The secret she held was tempting to hear, and she was willing to tell it.

“I wish to know regardless.”

The mare hesitated, whispering even more quietly in the silence of the wings. “You know those sticks of his?”

“Indeed.”

“They are not meant to be used for acts and smoke tricks. Princess please promise me you will listen to this carefully and not act rashly.”

“You dare to presume your Princess shall act rashly!?” Luna was annoyed but it was irresistibly funny to watch the nervous mare wriggle. She could barely speak, Luna winked at her to try and reduce the fright.

“He...umm...saved me with them.”

“Oh? The Marionetter is a hero then?”

“He would never accept being called it, but he is one to me.”

“Please tell your princess… your friend,” Luna gestured to an upturned wooden basin large enough to accommodate them both, sitting down and waiting for Melody to join her. This story seemed too good to pass up. Melody was reluctant at first. She took a deep breath after sitting beside her.

“I was on my way here on a late night. There were some colts trying to take my money...”

Luna raised her hoof letting her loudest voice echo forth, “Despicable! I shall have their heads! Show me the memory and I will hunt them down. I will see them pay for harming the-”

“He beat you to it.” Luna was stunned and her hoof fell back down in unison with her ears.

“Then they are no longer...” Melody nodded and Luna’s heart was gripped. The mare battled against her eyes but began to cry. She felt guilty for pushing her. “Show me what happened, think upon the memory and I can travel to it. There is less pain then for you. I am sorry to push but I must see if he is a danger to ponies.”

“Princess please, he is not. He is the sweetest soul. Please do not hurt him.”

Luna was stunned, he had asked the same of her when they first met. Now she understood his fear, “I promise you, Melody, I shall not. Princesses honour.” She put her hoof to her chest for emphasis. Melody smiled and dried her tears, the battle axe was not as sharp as Luna had imagined.

“It’s a big thing to promise.”

“Marion is strange but I do not think him dangerous. There will remain a lingering doubt until I know otherwise. Thine… You have the ability to aid your colleague, your friend. I will never force thee, but I ask you consider this.”

She did consider it a moment. “Alright, Princess Luna. For Marion.”

Luna smiled. “Close your eyes please and remember what happened. It might feel a little cold.”

Concentrating, Luna let her horn release the darkened mist around the pony, the scene unfolded as clear as night.

She was in the eyes of Melody, able to see and feel every detail that was happening. She was frightened, cornered in an alley with what seemed to be seven shadows around her. She cursed herself for not reading the pegasus forecast today, and for not realising they needed a shower to clean the streets from the dust that had collected. She hated being that forgetful.

There was a heavy rain that night, it fell cold on her, merciless in its stinging ice. Warm water was on Melody’s face from the tears. She was begging the shadows to stop. “Don’t do this guys, please leave me alone.” They did not answer. Only two chuckled as they closed in. One did not come closer as the other four pushed her to a back wall. She could see the hunger in their eyes, taking her purse was not enough.

Two grabbed her forelegs and forced them to bend, lowering her front. She was unable to scream, she could barely breathe with the terror. That terror numbed her then as the seventh shadow grew larger behind the colts, nearly twice as large. It held two forelegs above them with a series of small sparks of white light at the end of each. The sparks drifted down, to form strings like a spider's thread. The grip on her released. She looked up to them, unable to understand.

It was pure silence for a moment. Then it broke when the ponies were trying to call out through their closed mouths, a chorus of muffled screaming. The more prevalent statement; ‘I can’t move’ amongst them. A deep rumble spoke out to her, she covered her head with her hooves in fear of this phantom.

“Miss...I am sorry I could not act earlier. I had to be sure.”

“H...h...he...” she could not breathe.

“Run away and leave this place, they will no longer be a problem.” The eyes in the colts darted about trying to see the figure, their muffled screams growing as they sputtered. Saliva was spraying through the nostrils of some in their effort to break the bonds. She did not have the strength to move, only to look up. The glinting strands wove about each colt, reaching into and around their bodies. “They apologise to the pretty lady.” On cue the phantom raised and the colts bowed. This was horrifying to watch, to hear their bodies strain under the force.

“Thank...” As it turned away she squeaked with the shock, the large eyes of a black pony coming into view, unblinking. The colts clumsily followed after it.

Her terror subsided as she watched them line up against the adjacent wall of the alley. From the glow of the sticks of the phantom, she could see their faces; their rapid breathing and those horrified expressions matching her own. She wanted to gallop away, but the phantom's voice spoke out clearly to hold her there.

“I could have forgiven the insult had you not taken a life only days ago. You are all very sick to be that cruel. I only regret not doing this sooner. I waste my words because I believe your spirits will carry them on. Do you see my hands?”

Melody looked to them, outstretched high above it. They seemed to pulsate rhythmically to an unheard beat. The colts began to scream through their sealed mouths at the sight. She recognised the rhythm then, a heartbeat. The phantom twisted its sticks and the voices all fell silent in an instant.

“Remember this in your very soul; act wicked and I shall find you in your next form. I swear it. Ut inveniam salutem animarum vestrarum.” The hands stopped pulsating for a brief moment, then clenched around the sticks. The muffled screams fell silent. The silence of that rainfall descended heavily upon them.

Melody could not look away, Luna had to see the rest.

These colts were once infamous for terrible murders in the residential theatre district. They were sick. This creature was the one who had silenced them. She had found him and now knew what he had done.

She had to know how he had moved them on his own. The answer nearly made her lose the contents that was dinner. The bodies, while lifeless, did not drop. They remained standing, wide eyed and limp. With a flick of the wrist they marched out the alley and to the place where they were found. The phantom did not follow them on their canter.

Melody could not move. She was terrified. A long time passed with it remaining in the alley next to her. Those horrible unblinking eyes of the phantom watched on as the bodies neatly lay on the sidewalk. It was fitting that their calling card, a black carnation, was lain on top of each one. The glow from the phantom faded. Pulling the sticks under the cloak it wore, it remained still.

Only the sounds of the cold rain played out as they hit the surface of the streets, an odd thundering to accompany it. The creature stepped into the street and to a payphone. She could not hear what it said to the thing it called.

She sneezed and felt the freezing air seeing her breath. No mist came from the form of the phantom as it turned to the new sound, the eyes never blinking. She wanted to run but as it walked towards her, but these legs buckled and she failed to force out a scream through her sobbing. She collapsed and covered her head, a great warmth and darkness covering her. After some moments she dared to look up. The rain was no longer falling. The darkness became obvious as a sweet voice spoke to her. The cloak of the phantom was draped over, she could only make out the eyes. The wands it held glowed to light, and Melody did loose the contents of her stomach.

Occupying a memory was something else. They are created and therefore less accurate, the reason why a memory changed as any creature grew older. Luna had discovered that trauma was an exception to this rule. To actively remember a sensation or place was a wilful construction of the mind, trauma was never wanted. It had the nasty habit of sitting there and often refusing to change.

Melody had an exceptional memory. Luna regarded the creature before her through her own eyes, instead of this terrified mare’s, and his mask was exactly as the one he wore now. The clothes were not of the same cut, they were far less elegant. Luna was grateful she had not seen him this way in their first meeting, for her actions towards him would have been shamefully dismissive.

He was wearing an abundance of torn clothing belonging to creatures nowhere near the same cut as his own. The leggings were by far were the most poorly constructed. It was not one single shirt, or tunic, or even cloak, but many held firmly in place by the odd rope or two. Her eye caught a flash of colour against the darkness, a tear in the lower leg. It felt taboo to look upon the exposed piece of flesh, but taboo had not stopped her thus far.

It was severely scarred, burnt enough that no trace of his fur coat could be seen. The form was a very meaty muscle which pressed out of his leg in a vulgar protrusion, much as a boil did. Her heart stopped with a terrible thought, one which dared to address his entire body with that single protrusion. He could have been a mass of those vulgarities…down to his face. Luna actively shook her head to push that thought away, she would face it alone and not at this time. She jumped as he spoke. His voice was deeper here, a deep hiss that whispered mercilessly through the rain.

“Miss...I am sorry you had to see that. Please do not fear, you are the safest you have ever been. I will not hurt you.” Still she could not move seeing the lifeless eyes on her. “Do you live close by?” She sneezed again. She wanted to say something but the shock was holding her back, her mind unable to form words on her lips in its flurry. “That does not sound good. How could you let yourself get caught like this? Do you not listen to they way the populace talks, this storm has been planned for nearly a month.”

All she could do was whimper to reply, her body now shivering. She wanted to cry out as she felt the arms close on her, and the ground fall away. “There is a place close by, Miss. I cannot leave you out here in this condition.” The body was unbelievably warm under the cloak. She released and let her head sag on the shoulder as the arms supported her. He let the cloak comfortably drape over her head to leave her muzzle free, whispering sweetly, “You’re alright little one, let’s get you somewhere warm and safe.” They went out into the night and Luna found the end to the memory as Melody passed out.

She opened her eyes to see the mare smiling at her, tears flowing freely with drooping ears. Luna reached out and pulled her in close, Melody’s hooves holding her in kind. Both their hearts were still beating rapidly and took some moments to return to a rest.

“That was...”

“I know, Princess… They had hurt ponies, they were going to hurt me. Maybe they would have done worse. I promised to keep that secret but you are his friend. You deserve to know.”

“I have wondered on the fate those cruel ponies met. There was no lead to be found, a simple notifying through the telephone machine to the guard, but nothing.” Luna noted the mare’s nerves. “A princess can only do so much. I wanted to find them and enact a swift justice for invading my night. I am sorry you were nearly harmed.”

“Are you going to punish him? Please-”

“Hush now, my little pony, I cannot. He acted with forethought and at great personal cost. As you said; he beat me to it. They had taken more than their share of lives.” Luna thought on the barrage of reports of the four mares left for dead after such unspeakable cruelty, the nights she spent ruthlessly combing every scream and whimper, every dream and thought to discover them. Marion was considerably more merciful than she could have been, and she would wager it left a bad taste in his mouth not to exact due justice. “The one he must have witnessed was their last.”

“After this happened I was numb and sick. I thought he was going to do that to me too. Marion was using this old empty baker on Pinenut Avenue to sleep in. He held me all night in that home; run down old place. Just sat there humming some sweet things and let me take my time to recover. He was so sweet Princess, I know what he did was wrong but I cannot hate him for doing it. If he hadn’t-”

“You need not think on that. I understand his actions, I will not hold him to it. The nature of his power though is distressing.”

“Princess, I will tell you something I have managed to learn about Marion; if his life's in danger he will not fight. If anypony else’s is, he can be ruthless. He has no enemies, do you understand?” Luna pulled away and levitated a makeup tissue box to them, passing a piece to melody then taking one for herself.

He had none for he made no mistake of leaving them alive. That, Luna could understand. She and her sister had fought on many occasions on the wisdom of sparing a fallen enemy. Celestia had not been wrong to do so, more so she had convinced Luna most eloquently. She shuddered thinking that Marion did not have a Celestia to debate him, thus his mercy was a swift end.

“I…do.”

“Would…would it matter if he did look like that?” The question stopped Luna’s heartbeat. Of course this mare knew what she thought, it was the great downside to explore a memory of a conscious creature. In her eagerness she had thrown caution to the many disciplines of thought that should have anchored her to stillness of mind. Luna would not lie to this mare, she would speak truthfully and earn the trust already placed in her title.

“It would make the use of his mask more understandable,” she replied without revealing her revulsion.

“I see no reason to think anything else of him.” The thought was a musing to herself, but it shamed Luna deeply. A mare with a drop of her lifetime contained more wisdom than she. Luna realised that it was not the shape she was averse to, but what her idle mind thought of doing with that shape. She pushed the thought away with a rehearsed smile but could not stop the brief flash of colour to her cheeks. She needed to continue speaking, to forget.

“Does he wield that power often?”

“That was the only time I saw it, Princess.”

“If you two are this close, then why does he hide from you all?”

“He just wants to be left alone. He is always there for me though. If my day goes badly or I just need somepony to listen, he is there. Never tries anything. It just feels so safe to be near him, you know?”

Luna’s smile faded, “He sounds charming.”

“Princess, do not worry. We cannot be intimate. I have a special somepony waiting for me back home. He is so innocent, I just love that about him.”

“It is no interest of mine about your bedroom habits!” she snapped.

“Sorry, Princess!” Melody back stepped, “please forgive me. I felt the need to emphasise Marion’s innocence.”

Luna had to adjust her pout from the misunderstanding. “Yet he can take lives,” she bitterly reminded herself.

“He does not do it out of choice. It hurts him to do that. Those ponies he… well. He did that because they were beyond help. They had a desire to hurt others and he had to take them away so they could not hurt anypony else. In doing so the burdens of loss are passed on to him. Because he did not act sooner, the ponies that were hurt before became his responsibility to bear. That’s how he explained it anyway.”

Thinking about it, Luna could understand his reaction to her playful mistake. “Yonder oddity is very… damaged, isn’t he?”

“Princess, would you mind if I asked you something a little personal?”

“I believe we are passed that limitation after what we have shared.”

“Has a pony ever fallen in love with another creature?”

“I have been back for a short time, but I have heard of a few griffons and ponies falling for each other. Wait! What are you-”

“I saw how sad you were when you thought he and I were...more than partners on the stage.”

Luna began to blush, hating her ears for shooting up in betrayal. “Tis a lie! Thou art a liar! I could never-” Melody giggled, “What does amuse you so!? Hast thou found joy in your Princesses embarrassment!?”

“No Princess. I find it really cute.”

“Cute! CUTE! Thou art… art...” Luna sighed at the sheepish grin of Melody, “We are so alike. I want to take that pain he carries away. Is this… wrong?”

“Forgive me, Princess.”

“What must I forg-” she stopped as Melody hugged her, squeezing and squeaking with a wide smile. Luna was glad they were alone at the moment, because her cheeks threatened to ignite they burned to such a degree. She did not fight it though.

“Can you make my friend happy, Princess?” Luna was more stunned than she was moments ago, speech failing her. Melody pulled away and closed Luna’s gaping mouth with a giggle. “He is so sweet when he wants to be. He just lights up after you visit him, and tells me all you do is talk. He loves talking to somepony who likes to listen to it.”

“Dost thou think he holds a flame for this princess?”

“He told me you always talk like that when you get nervous. He might, I like to think he does. I don’t know. Why do you keep visiting him?” Melody prodded Luna’s chest.

“It is my...duty to see this unique… umm… creature, there may… be more and...” she trailed off. The sceptical look of Melody was not accepting it, “It has been but a month. In so short a time I am already thinking about such inappropriate things.”

“A month is a long time if you are honest.”

“He has not been honest.”

“Well… I think he is as honest as he can be. Maybe he does not want to upset you. I mean it could be possible. Marion is very cheerful lately.”

“I do not think him interested, or curious enough to try. We are so very different and he has suffered much because of being so different. Imagine the embodiment of that torment taking interest in him.”

“Embodiment?”

“He has suffered greatly under ponies, my ponies.”

“He has been involved with many kinds, Princess. Marion is not the type to judge all ponies based on the actions of one.”

Luna could not understand that. “One would think his caution would outweigh anything else.”

“From what I have seen of him, there is that cold judgement reserved for the truly sick.” Luna hung her head seeing the bodies of the vision, looking up to Melody as her hoof touched her shoulder. “But there is still this stubborn part that refuses to stop being so gullible to see the better nature in anyone.”

“I find this…tough to believe. After hearing his first reception to Equestria I scarce understand why he does not indeed hold greater resentment.”

“I heard that story, flank head is not so private about it. One of his best untold ones.” She sighed. “Luna, I just want him to be happy. I want my friend to stay the way he is after he sees you.”

“After?”

She laughed to herself. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I caught him looking at himself in a mirror.”

Luna was beside herself. “What is under that mask? Surely you-”

“Calm down, Princess.” Luna, and these ears, retreated back in shame of her outburst. “I did not see his face, but I did catch him posing in the mirror.”

“Posing?”

“He…studies his body. He tried to flex the muscles in his arm and in his belly.” Melody blushed. “I might have been looking for more than a minute. There is a tough layer there for sure. It is…odd.”

“Odd?”

“No hair at all.”

“No…hair?” Luna tried to picture it, the only image of service being a balded pony. The mass of boils somehow became less menacing if only in the wake of Melody’s mischievous grin that held no place in a traumatic remembrance.

“Marion is another creature, you have to respect that nature made him the way he is. He cannot, or will not, change because that body is disturbing for some ponies to see. It freaked me out, but I was not prepared for it.”

“Tis so…odd?”

“Well yes,” she bluntly clarified. The boiling mass came back to mind.

Luna felt her ears falling in her disappointment. The plans once made slowly withering apart. Love could only transcend so much in her experience. For him to be barren, without a single flicker of colour was indeed disheartening. For him to appear the way he did in her mind was a very stark reality to transcend.

“Then the unwelcoming reception was not without reason,” she sighed, already feeling her eyes well. The sadness stayed a moment as Melody rested her hoof on Luna’s shoulder to regain attention.

“You are missing it.” She puffed herself up and flexed. “Marion is thinking about his body and the way he looks. Maybe he does it normally, maybe he does not know why he is doing it, or maybe he wants to test how much of a shock it is going to be for you.”

“Me, me?” Luna felt dizzy hearing that, the thought inspiring anxiety she never imagined. “Me?”

“It really was not bad,” the mare spoke softly to ease Luna into a breath. The soothing tone was as calming as a mother's, doing justice to the name of Melody. “I will not tell you why I was shocked, but please do not scream when you see.”

“There shall not be a ‘when’!” she huffed. “You assume me to be a foolhardy filly chasing what? A fantasy? Tis a laugh to think I, Princess… that I…” That stare was hypnotic in its mischievous grin. “I wanted to see without him fearing, I think.”

“Luna, he is never going to be comfortable enough to do that. You have to push,” she nudged Luna, “a little.” Melody leaned back and sighed. “I think he was upset you would have the reaction I did. So I am trying to prepare you without depriving you of your genuine feeling.” Luna was grateful Melody thought she spoke of his fear, it was shameful to be otherwise.

“A…spoiled her?”

Melody glanced back with confusion. “A what?”

“I hear many new things, what you describe is the spoiled her. To reveal information left best discovered so as not to deprive a pony of their full emotional reaction.”

“Oh,” Melody laughed, “It’s a spoiler alert.”

“Yes, that.” Luna blushed with a shy smile. “That does harken true.”

“Sure. Let’s call it that.” Melody sat up and focused on Luna. “No matter what, do not scream at what you see. Mare to mare promise.”

Luna looked up at the extended hoof awaiting hers, the stern glare of Melody replaced by an encouraging smile. She liked this mare, enough to not correct her at referring to Princess Luna as nothing more than Luna. She lifted her hoof and tapped it to Melody’s.

“I promise I will not scream should it come to that.”

Seemingly satisfied, Melody looked away and peered to Luna with a smile of content. There was a bond struck there, one with which Luna understood she had made more than one friend in her continued visits here.

“I do ask you are sure you want him. I know you like Marion but you cannot break his heart, do you understand?” Luna slowly nodded.

“I know not of love, but I do see you love him deeply.”

She smiled to Luna. “Marion is a scary guy, but he’s got a lot of heart to give. I love him, but not in the way you do. I am ashamed to say it but I could never love a non pony like that. That is my shortcoming, not yours.” If only that were true.

“I…appreciate this council, friend Melody. I will be sure where I stand and of what I desire.”

Melody glanced to a hanging clock and stood up, “I must excuse myself, it is nearly time for my solo. I will say one more thing Princess.” She adjusted her mane one more time in the small mirror. “Ever since your second meeting, he has always waited for you at the window. Even on the nights you did not come.” Melody winked and trotted off to the curtain, smoothing her dress as an introduction was made to her piece by a single rising saxophone.

This knowledge left Luna surprised, in the most pleasant way imaginable. He was different but not different. That image of a grotesque mass of boils became more symmetrical and softer. He was still Marion, nothing would change that. Love, she now thought on that word, was holding a new and strangely powerful meaning. Her niece would no doubt shower every cliché upon her. Perhaps it was possible those clichés were repeated so often with reason.

It was clear there was something in his mind, possibly hers. Luna was the princess of the night, unbound to time or pony. Her night was her one true, yet this strange Marionetter had shattered that. Truly it was not wise to involve herself with this odd one, and yet she wanted to. The only question now was if she should try to make The Marionetter…hers.