Decades of Equestria: The Filly in Orange

A warm, cheery smell hung in the air, gently clinging to my muzzle as I inhaled the odors deep into my nostrils. I was in a small room, laying on a small bed in the center. The bed was soft, gently supporting me as my eyes tried to adjust to the light.

“Good morning,” a voice called out through the blinding whiteness. I could faintly see the form of a mocha earth pony. She was smiling at me.

“Am I dead?” I asked sleepily.

“Oh no, you are very much alive, thanks to my daughter. It makes a mother proud when your little filly saves a half-dead pony out of the kindness of her heart...” she paused, retreating into her own thoughts “...I’m sorry about your tail! Don’t worry, it will grow back.”

“My… tail?”

“Oh goodness, I’m getting ahead of myself again! I had to cut your tail off. There was no way I could have cleaned it. A good fire was the only way to get rid of all the… regurgitation which covered it. I could have sworn you were heaving out your insides, sweetheart,” she said, seeming far too jovial for the topic at hoof.

“I was sick?” I remembered the wave of nausea that followed that statement all too well. The worst part was that nothing came out. I just laid there, chest heaving, feeling awful all over.

    As I finished, she smiled at me and told me to rest, and that I would probably be able to go home the next day. I agreed readily and allowed sleep to gently welcome me into its embracing hooves. It was an amazing feeling to fall asleep. It seemed… almost foreign.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

Light streamed through the window behind me filling my entire library with a beautiful golden yellow light. The subtle sound of chirping birds drifted in from outside while images of the book I was reading played across my mind.

I knew this moment. This moment had woven itself into the very fiber of my being. It had replayed itself in my mind over and over again; that fateful moment that ruined my life.

A shrill whistle behind me broke me from the confines of literature. A red and gray pegasus hovered just outside my window, a brown bag slung over her side and a sloppy grin plastered upon her face. “Come on, Spots. You’re leaving me hanging!” she smirked. ”There’s a scroll for you, if you aren’t too busy reading that to listen to me!”

“Crimson, you know I can’t hear you flying,” I grinned, taking the scroll she was offering. “Are you still coming for dinner tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” she called, flapping her wings forward, sending a small gust of wind into my face.

The scroll was made out of paper not the normal papyrus I was used to. It had an official looking silver stamp on it, bearing the likeness of a unicorn. I opened it slowly, not sure what to expect. As I finished reading the letter, tears began streaming down my cheeks. I ran downstairs to tell mom, leaving the scroll lying open on the bed.

Respects,

It is my great pleasure to inform you that by order of her royal majesty, Princess Platinum, you are being promoted to an apprentice of our majestic art of statesmareship. A convoy will arrive for you on April the 6th of the 36th year of our lord Unicolas. I truly wish you my greatest compliments on your promotion.

Bezier Curve, Royal Scribe to her esteemed majesty Princess Platinum.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

I awoke, feeling completely refreshed, though slightly saddened at my recountature. The nurse was still smiling through lidded eyes and a familiar brown mare was sitting in a corner of the room reading a scroll.

As I stirred, Flex looked up at me and tapped the slumbering nurse, “Mother, awake.”

Her mother awoke at the disturbance and glanced at me. “How are you feeling, Lady Light?” she asked through a yawn.

This was novel! Until my arrival here nopony had ever referred to me as ‘Lady’ before, at least in a non-derogatory fashion. It was rather exciting! The ponies here didn’t hate me, maybe even respected me… and I hadn’t even done anything hard! I was beginning to like my new home.

“I feel… decent. When can I go home… and where is home?” I asked, sheepishly.

She smiled, “Follow main street up the hill and you’ll find the keep.” There was a special emphasis on that word ‘keep’. “As long as you take it easy, you should be fine to go home. Be sure to come straight back if you experience any negative effects.”

“Do you know where I can find a good scribe?” I said, glancing behind me as I started for the door. My legs were still slightly quaking from hunger and exhaustion as I waited for her response.

The establishment she directed me to was a small shop near the Town Hall. As I entered, an earth pony looked up from where he was writing and motioned for me to wait a moment. I sat down on a bench and began examining the walls, which were littered with posters promoting everything from lost cats to my arrival. The majority of them, however, were publicizing various treatments for clean water. Best of all, most of them were written in Earth.

The stallion spit out the quill he was holding in his mouth and turned his attention to me, “Good evening. What brings your Ladyship (so exciting!) to my humble shop?”

“I want to take a letter, my good sir, ” I responded, withholding the squee I wanted to expel so badly, “and it needs to be in Unicornian. You know Unicornian, correct?”

“Of course! Your ladyship hurts me-” He looked genuinely hurt “-what kind of scrivener would I be if I wasn't fluent in my native tongue?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume...” It had just now struck me that I was speaking in Unicornian. This wasn’t back home where it was rare to find a scribe who knew my race’s language.

He motioned for silence, went to a shelf and acquired a scroll, then picking the quill up again, he waited for me to dictate my letter:

Αγαπητοί πριγκίπισσα πλατίνα

(Dear Princess Platinum)

Έχω φτάσει πρόσφατα στην καλπασμόςπαρτίδα όπως ανατεθεί. Μετά την αξιολόγηση της κατάστασης

(I have recently arrived in Canterlot as assigned. After assessing the situation I was wondering if)

Αναρωτιόμουν αν είχατε κάποιο ανταλλακτικό πυρομανής πόνι που θα μπορούσε να στείλει το

(you had any spare pyromantic ponies which you could send my way. I am planning a few)

δρόμο μου. Είμαι σχεδιάζει μερικές ανακαινίσεις του συστήματος παροχής νερού.

(refurbishments of the water delivery system.)

δούκισσας Καυτάνέα

(Dutchess Spotlight)

“I’m assuming that's all?” he asked, setting down his quill. “Or do you have a post scriptum that you wish to append?”

I shook my head, thinking of how I was going to pay the bill. “Can I get the postage cost on credit?”

He looked confusedly at me for a moment, “I was just going to bill your treasury. Would you rather I didn’t do that?”

It was now my turn to look confused, “I have… a treasury?”

“Of course! Don't you know that? Where do you think all of our tax money goes?”

“I have a treasury. I have taxes. Do I have anything else?” This ‘reassignment’ was turning out to be rather nice! For once I had people telling me I ‘owned’ something.

“You also have the keep.”

“Great, now I’m living in a castle,” I said sarcastically, even while my insides bubbled with joy.

“It’s more of a mansion, really.”

“Ok then… where is this mansion?” My ears drooped a little as I said this. A castle would have been such a magnificent place to live.

In response, he returned to his wall of scrolls and selecting one behoofed it to me. “Here is a map of the town, the keep should be on the top,” he said, pointing to a rather large square on the map. I noticed that it was on the main road through town, just like Flex’s Mother had told me.

இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—

The location marked on the map was a large Unicornian building surrounded by many smaller huts. A small moat surrounded the entire compound. Compared to the architecture back in the Unicornian capitol (or the rest of the town for that matter) it was a slum. But it was my slum!

Inside the side door, I snuck through what seemed to be a kitchen, filled with the overpowering smell of fresh strawberries. Trying not to get noticed, I wanted to see how far I could get before somepony noticed me. Several earth pony chefs were talking around a table while a Unicorn lounged on a mat in one of the corners of the room.

I snuck out through an open door into a tight hallway as a maid passed by the door. She stopped as she saw me and straightened up into an awkward salute. Apparently, I couldn’t get far.

I looked at her and then grinned. “At ease, soldier,” I growled, imitating my brother, Iron (the adopted one). After rethinking my situation, I inquired if she had a map of the grounds.

As it turns out, most of the maids have a map in their possession. She said that it was because, “Lord Serve was always getting lost.”

I opened the map and she took this as her cue to leave. The map showed that the mansion had three stories, with a staircase going up on the third story, as well as a staircase on the first floor which went down. The map made no mention of where these staircases went. The biggest thing to catch my attention, however, was the fact that the entire third story was one room: the ‘Master Bedroom.’

Something tapped my shoulder. The same maid was standing there and taking a deep breath she started, “I told the mistress that you had arrived, and I was instructed to inform you that your presence is required in the Council Chamber.”

After a big breath, she was gone and I was left alone in the hallway, wondering where the ‘Council Chamber’ was and what kind of a council I was going to have to attend. The first question had a simple answer; the map showed that my destination was just down the hallway.

I was almost to the chamber when a door opened straight into my face. It hurt. Worse than that time I managed to slam my hoof in a door. It, however, lacked the longevity of said injury, and after shaking it off I was able to continue. The worst part-- I didn’t even get to see the culprit.

Rounding the final T-section of the hallway, I stood in front of a large room with the words ‘Councill Chamber’ engraved in large letters upon the door. Inside was a chair. There was a lever next to the chair and a large door made up most of one of the walls while a single guard stood next to the chair. Other than that, the room was empty-- seriously devoid of any of the council that its name implied would be there.

The guard snapped into a strong militaristic salute as I entered. I noted that it was much better in form than the one the maid had presented. Then, in a voice far more cordial than his body language would have suggested, he wished me good morning.

“Good morning, I think… What time is it?” I responded, trying to maintain my controlling demeanor.

“11:23… there is a clock on the wall over there,” he said, pointing towards a wall with a clock hanging from it.

        I nodded, “What does this lever do?”

        “It opens the door M’lady.”

        “So… where is the council or whatever it is that I am supposed to be seeing?” I finally decided to ask after several moments of silence.

        “Outside.”

A small patch of orange light surrounded the handle of the lever, gently rotating it back. The door lifted up slightly and then with a horrific screeching sound continued on its assent.

“It apparently needs to be oiled,” the guard said sheepishly.

“You don’t say...” I said as every single muscle in my body dripped with sarcasm.

Outside stood a small herd of ponies, each in their own stage of suspense. All of their attention immediately snapped to me as I reached the very large doorway. Every pair of eyes in that field were locked on mine, each saying the same thing, “Help!”

I was standing there trying to decide what to say when a mare slowly nudged her way out of the group and vocalized what must have been going through all of their heads, “Um… I don’t mean to assume, but... I was wondering what you were planning to do about the water? There is only so much wood we can spare for clean water... and with winter coming; we are already short on firewood!”

This brought a new angle to the problem! Winter in the northern territories was bad, and if ponies had to choose between drinking and staying warm… it could prove disastrous. My plan was beginning to look even more brilliant! I gulped. They were expecting something definite and all I had for sure was an idea that no matter how brilliant it looked, it wasn't anything comforting.

“I-I-I-I,“ deep breath, ”I have a plan, and I assure all of you that it will work!” Smile, Spots. Look confident. Hope they buy it.

There was a slight murmur and they all turned away and started back on their half-mile trot home. It would have been really sad if the mare who had spoken up first hadn’t stayed behind.

She was eyeing me-- skeptically, “Madam, if I could be so bold… would you please tell me what precisely your plan is?” That was a good day for new titles. It honestly helped my self-esteem tremendously!

“Well, not to go into too much detail. When I was younger, I saw a pyromancer pony who claimed that he could make an infinite flame, so my plan is to create an infinite flame at the aqueduct and boil the water at the source. I have already ‘cleaned’ the lake. Between those two the plague should be cured!”

She thought for a moment, “Where are you going to find a pyromancer? We only have nine of you unicorns as residents, not counting your honor. And I assume that if you could cast that kind of spell you would have already done so… So, where are you going to find a pony like that?”

“I already wrote a letter to the Princess requesting such a pony.”

She nodded. My stomach growled, painfully reminding me of my lack of food. “Is there anything else you wanted to ask me?”

She seemed to have heard my internal cue with a quick, “No M’lady.” With a small curtsy, she trotted off.

The map, which I still had nestled securely in my flank pocket-- right you don’t have a flank pocket do you Shadow? Well, most ponies (not you for some reason) have a small pouch of skin which their flank marks are engraved upon. They are like what kangaroos have but with a magic tattoo that shows what’s special about you on it as well. They prove incredibly useful when trying to carry objects. Now, back to the story-- showed that there was a room labeled ‘Dining Hall’ next to the kitchen. Without delay, I hastened back down the hallway towards my next meal.

The room was huge! More like a military dining hall than a civil one. The table which took up the majority of the room could easily fit fifty hungry ponies. Right then, the only thing I cared about was the place at the head of the table, where two plates and four bowls were neatly arranged.

The next few minutes were a blur… where I completely ignored everything but the plate in front of me. I ate like a crazed starving mare, which for the record I was. Leaving only a… yellow dandelion.

Why was a dandelion on my plate? What was going to happen to me? How many more dandelions had I eaten? I had read of ponies dying from eating too many dandelions; each one was laced with a small amount of poison, which in high enough concentration could prove fatal. Was an entire arrangement plate enough to be fatal?Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

I sat there momentarily stunned. As the shock faded I was left feeling sad and empty even if my stomach was full. My life began floating by me as the world around me began to blur… I was sad because I had been abandoned. Sad because I had reveled in blood. Sad because I was now trusted with so much. Sad because I had failed. Sad because I had eaten poison! Sad because this was the end; the end before my life had really even begun.

The world wobbled around me as tears streamed down my face. In the darkness that was building in my vision huddled a foal. It looked helpless and cold. Then looking me straight in the eyes it screamed, “Mommy!” Icy tendrils surrounded me, and I was brought once again into the realm of those half dead.