1 An Act Of Cowardice
My story begins, like all stories about smart Imps, with an act of cowardice. After all every Imp knows that even against the weakest armed human, our only strength comes from being many, a lone Imp is as my grandfather liked to say, a dead Imp. Now, what's a human you ask? Imagine a big and tall monkey with no tail and no fur save for the top of their head, and they wear clothes to cover most of their body, that's a human, now please don't interrupt me again.
I was with my fellow Imps, guarding a treasure chest. When the heroes attacked us. Of course we tried our best, but unfortunately it was not enough against three heroes. Thankfully I soon noticed I was the only left and begged for my life as taught in the Imp Minion Training Manual For Imps. Unlike what usually happens, it worked! One of the heroes, a human girl wearing two strange circular pieces of glass over her eyes, told the others to let me live in exchange of information. Yes all the heroes where human, no there wasn't any pony, and who cares if those things are called glasses? What I told you about interrupting?
So I told them about the spare key they needed to enter the chamber to rescue the Princess and where to find it. After that they let me go and I ran away. Yes you guessed right, the princess was human, if you interrupt again I am leaving, you don't want me to leave? Then pretty please shut up! Now, I was not someone important, even for an Imp, but I knew a few things. One of those things was how to use a magical mirror that, to avoid the usual greed of heroes, was hidden under the floor. Knowing my betrayal would soon be found out, I took the mirror out of its hidden place and recited the magical words, then I passed trough the mirror and it felt wet, like sinking in water.
But instead of ending inside The Great Magus Castle, where I planed to pretend being a different Imp as all Imps look alike to non Imps, I ended in a completely different castle. Maybe because of my nervousness I had said the wrong words, maybe it was just Imps luck. So imagine my surprise, when instead of the basement I was expecting to find, I found myself in a room worthy of a queen or a princess. And indeed I found a princess there, but it was a princess of a kind I never saw before.
You see, the princess I found was a unicorn, but who had wings like a pegasus. You see from where I come from there are unicorns and pegasus, but they don't talk, and unless a wizard made one for fun there aren't any unicorns with pegasus wings. For me the more amazing thing was that the creature wasn't a filthy human who had been cursed, but actually was supposed to be like that, and had no idea what a human was.
Of course I found out that later, because the reaction of the Princess when she saw me at her room wasn't exactly pleasant. Not that I blame her of course, she was in her right to react the way she did, and I am grateful she had decided to spare my life in the end.
Now, has my humble narration catch your interest so far? If that so, how about a coin or two? If you don't have money, an apple would work, even a piece of bread, it doesn't need to be todays bread. Please, I am starving!
Oh, thank you very much child, as my grandfather used to say, an apple a day... well he usually changed what he said about that a lot, never-mind. Now I am sure you want to know who is the second princess I am talking about, right? Oh, you think you know? Well we will see about that. I will be here tomorrow at the same hour. Now, don't look at me like that, I would love to continue my story, but time flies and I have to be somewhere else soon. Tell you what, you won't have to give me anything tomorrow if you bring some other ponies willing to listen and give me food, okay?
Good, it was a pleasure making business with you, now I really gotta go, see ya tomorrow unless it rains. Yes I know its not supposed to rain tomorrow, but this place is close to the Everfree forest, isn't it? Now you better be a good girl and go home.
And so, the young filly watched the strange short green creature walk away, then noticed it was getting dark and followed the Imp advice of going back home.
The Imp continued his walk, despite what he said he didn't seem to be in a hurry, soon, once the filly could no longer see him, he changed direction and entered a road leading the Everfree forest. He walked the path for several minutes until he left it and walked some more until he reached a hut, then he knocked the door.
"Who knocks at my door at this time of the day, don't you know the Everfree is a place where you should be afraid?" asked a female voice
"I can't rhyme to save my life, but I gotta say, an Imp is an Imp no matter what." said the green Imp
The door opened and a familiar zebra greeted the monster "Is nice to see that you are in time. I will stop my rhymes because I know how much they bug you. Did you follow my advice?"
"Yes I did Zecora. Today it was just one pony, but maybe there will be more tomorrow. You where right, telling my story helps." The Imp then smiled and entered the hut, then sat while the zebra started making some tea.
Meanwhile, the young filly had arrived home, she greeted her big sister and said "Applejack, you aren't gonna believe who I meet today!"
Hello again child, I see you brought company, are those two your friends? Yes nice to meet you two, No, Imps don't get cutie marks, why are you even asking? No, I don't think Zecora the zebra has a cutie mark, it looks more like tribal tattoo to me, but I could be wrong since I never asked her. Is that earth mare that's looking me from behind that bush your big sister? Well I guess it makes sense she won't trust me.
Anyway, where was I? I guess I was telling little miss... Apple is it? Okay, I was telling miss Applebloom here how I accidentally ended in a certain princess bedroom due to a spell gone wrong...
The Princess of the night had just finished a tiring night of hard work, then took a pleasant bubble bath and headed to her bedroom for a well deserved rest. So imagine her surprise she felt a small tingle in her head and, from inside the mirror of her room, emerged a tiny and ugly green creature dressed in dirty clothes of such a bad quality she wouldn't even make her prisoners wear them. Then a trap spell activated paralysing the creature.
In that moment, with her privacy being invaded, she didn't think that maybe it was a prank made of her sister or about calling her royal guards. No, what was in her mind was one simple thing, righteous fury!Then her eyes and horn gloved white while illuminating all her room like a flash of lighting.
"HOW THOU DARE TO INVADE OUR ROOM?" Princess Luna said in a loud and strong voice. But then she realized that in order for the monster to respond to her, she had to remove the trap spell, so she did.
The green, small and pathetic monster, upon seeing Luna display of power and her angry voice, and suddenly finding himself able to move after being paralysed. Screamed in fear and tried to jump out a window, never mind they where high up in a tower or that the window was closed.
But while the princess would have probably loved the intruder to suffer a painful dead, she needed answers, and for that the creature needed to be alive. So she grabbed it with her magic mere inches before it touched the glass window. Then proceed to hit it with a non lethal yet powerful lighting bolt while keeping it floating inches over the ground.
"ARGG, PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, I AM SORRY!" The pathetic creature screamed in pain, yet even in pain his voice was not as loud as that of an enraged Princess of the Night. Sure her enemies could not have sent such a weakling to kill her, right? No, considering the creature small size, it must be some kind of spy.
"WHO ARE THOU? WHY ARE THOU HERE? WHO SENT THOU?"
"My name is Larry, Larry the Imp, I got here by accident, and no one sent me, I swear it by the Great Magus!"
"Accident? What accident do thou speak off?" Luna asked, her rage forgotten and now her face was filled with curiosity. Is not like this creature was a treat to her anyway.
"Magic mirror... spell gone wrong..." The green monster who called himself an Imp said panting hard, and then fainted, probably because of a mix of pain and fear. Luna then placed the small green monster on the ground.
'Such a pathetic creature, maybe it had all been an accident like it said? A magic mishap? But her own mirror wasn't even magical, how could that be? Anyway, this required further investigation, so for now at least, she would have to keep this so called Imp alive.
Then Luna heard somepony knocking her door "Uh, excuse me Princess Luna... is uh... everything alright?" said a soft voice, too soft for Luna to have heard if she had been asleep. Well to be fair, Luna was a heavy sleeper, and used to cast a silence spell before she got asleep, so her servants had to usually enter her room if they wanted to wake her up for some emergency.
"Posey, call my guards." Now that Luna had calmed, she was no longer using an archaic way of speaking, in fact she rarely used that way of speaking anymore since the last Nightmare night, but she tended to revert to that way of talking when she got angry.
"Yes Princess!" Luna could swear her maid was doing a military salute behind the door, Posey had been a secretary in her sister royal army before becoming her maid and old habits die hard.
Now, the day after being arrested, I was given a quick breakfast and gently escorted to my trial. Yes they did have me food the day before, that was very nice of them. Now, you probably been never been there, but I must say the the Royal Court of Canterot was an impressive sight. The judge's seat sat on the ground floor, and the podium of prosecution stood in the center. Behind the judge's seat was a thirty-something foot high stained glass window with a picture of a white mare with a black blindfold over her eyes, holding the scales of justice. I think they originally wanted the mare to be Princess Celestia, but she didn't like the idea.
I could see great decorated balconies hung over the room, where senators and royalty where supposed to sat to to view the prosecutions. Behind the central area was a semi-circle of seats for the common crowd. It surrounded the floor, giving the spectators a full view of the person on trial. That's it, if both the balconies and seats weren't empty. You see the only ones in Court was me, the two guards escorting me and Princess Celestia. It seemed that Luna wasn't there because she sleep during the day, and because she had got into some kind of argument with her sister, I later found out that argument had been about me.
The Princess was sitting in the judge seat and looked at me right into the eyes. "Larry the Imp, you have been charged with the crime of intruding inside the room of my sister Princess Luna," She said. "How do you plea?"
"Guilty." I said, there was no point in denying it, yet I was kind of surprised I wasn't accused of more things, like kidnapping and so on.
"In that case, I Princess Celestia of Equestria, will be lenient taking in account your claim that it was a magical mishap the reason you ended in Princess Luna room. I condemn you to a week of solitary confinement as punishment."
Now, for you girls a week in jail may seem harsh, but since I was kinda expecting at least prison for life at a minimum, only the presence of guards avoided me doing a happy dance. And that's all for today, now Miss Applebloom our deal said you haven't got to pay me today, but what about your friends? Do they have some food for me? Oh great, more apples, thank you. Is not that I don't like apples, but I can eat other fruits, is just a suggestion. Do you want for me to continue my story tomorrow? Yes? That's good. Now I have to go, no sorry, I can't play with you, because Applebloom big sister doesn't seem to like me, goodbye.
And so the Imp walked away, while biting off one of the two apples they have given him, while the Cutie Mark Crusaders just watched him walk until he was gone.
"So, what do you think?" Applebloom asked her friends
"He seems sad and lonely." Sweetie Belle said "Why doesn't your sister like him?"
Of course the three fillies had decided to ignore the fact that Applejack was close by, still hiding behind a bush even if her cover had been blown.
"Because he is a monster." Scootaloo said "He is green, and smells funny, he could be dangerous!"
"That funny smell was actually soap." Sweetie Belle said in a deadpan tone
"That's my point, no one is that clean... well besides your sister, but she uses perfume too, is weird!"
"Are you saying that Rarity is weird or that Larry is weird?" Applebloom asked
"Both!" Scootaloo got an angry glare from Sweetie Belle "I mean... Larry is weird!"
"Girls..." said Applejack walking to the three fillies "Is getting late, Applebloom has to go back home, and I guess you have to leave too."
"Right... see you tomorrow!" Scootaloo said and left in her scooter, she seemed to be in a hurry. Applebloom left with her sister and Sweetie Belle walked home on her own.