The Tale of the Twinkle-Eyed Ponies
Author's Note
I grew-up watching the original (G1) My Little Pony and playing with the toys of that generation. This story grew out of desire to see how two of the toys/characters I grew up with (Quarterback and Fizzy) might fit into the G4 series universe. However, to make a story about Fizzy, I thought I needed to make a G4-version of a back-story for how the twinkle-eyed ponies came into existence. This is what sprang that idea. My G4-version of the origin of the twinkle-eyed ponies is very loosely based off a comic made in G1 about how the twinkle-eyed ponies came to be but employs characters, ideas, and other aspects set into G4 lore instead.
The Tale of the Twinkle-Eyed Ponies
In the sky, Princess Celestia has begun to lower the Sun so that Princess Luna could raise the Moon as Quarterback made his way into the little town where would he spending a few days. His cart was heavy with the deliveries he was to make. Most were to be delivered to Fort Withers which was a day‘s journey away still yet, but a few were to be delivered here in Frog Rock. However those could wait until the morning. He was tired from the day’s journey and few ponies cared for dealing with their orders right before they planned on going to bed anyway. So Quarterback, made his way straight to the inn just inside the town and found a place to set is cart up for the night in the designated area beside the inn.
By nightfall, Quarterback was at the to check-in counter to get a room, saying little outside of thank-you as he passed the stallion at the counter the appropriate amount of bits. The ground floor of the inn was a bar where drinks and food were serviced and it was upstairs where the rooms, and more importantly his room for now, awaited. However Quarterback wasn’t interested in sleep just yet as he was hungry having not eaten since far earlier that day. So he walked straight over to the bar and found himself a seat. The bar was empty outside of Quarterback and a mare behind the counter. Most likely the other guests staying there tonight (if there were any, as the town was small) had already went up to their rooms to call it a night. Behind the counter, a green unicorn mare with a multi-colored mane stood with her back to him, her magic moving a rag along a upper shelf while she worked another rag along the counter with a hoof.
“I’d like to order a carrot-burger, a blueberry puffin, and some apple cider please.” Quarterback said, pulling out a pouch holding his bits from his saddlebacks once again.
“That’ll be 10 bits,” said the mare behind the counter setting down the rag in her roof as Quarterback focused on getting the bits out of his bag and setting them on the counter. Quarterback didn’t look up until the mare was standing in front of him as he finished fishing out the right number of bits.
“What the hay?!” Quarterback exclaimed as he got a good look at the mare. Her mane and tail was a curly mix of dark green, hot pink, light pink, and white and her cutie mark was a tall glass filled with a frothy drink. However it was her eyes which really shocked Quarterback. Where her irises would be were red gems perfectly set within her eyes.
“Hay, huh? Funny, I thought you said you want a carrot-burger when you walked in.” She remarked in a light-hearted sarcastic tone, acting as though Quarterback’s reaction was not new to her as she picked up the 10 bits with her magic and moved them out of view below the counter. “You’ve never been around these parts I wager?”
“No. I mean, I’m sorry, I just have never have seen a pony with eyes like that before. That was rude of me.”
“Eh. It happens. Twinkle-eyed ponies aren’t really seen anywhere else in Equestia,” she said as she levitated a glass of the shelf, poured him a drink, and set it down in front of him with her magic. “Name’s Fizzy.”
“Quarterback,” he replied quickly taking the drink between his fetlocks and drinking happily. The apple cider on his tongue and now in his belly woke him up quickly. “‘Twinkle-eyed ponies?’ I’m afraid I’ve never heard of such.”
“Like I said, we’re kind of specific to this area, and the reasons why is quite the story.” Fizzy said as her magic worked to add all the ingredients needed to finish Quarterback’s carrot-burger.
“I would like to hear the story if you don’t mind.” The apple cider and the prospect of having a good story had made him more chatty. Fizzy looked across the room at the lack of other costumers.
“Well, its a slow night, and talking will pass the time as I clean,” she mused mostly to herself before saying, “Sure, why not?” With that she had finished making his carrot-burger and, again using her magic, picked up a warm muffin from a warming cabinet and set both onto a plate in front of him.
“Before you start, can I have some more?” Quarterback asked offering his now empty glass.
“This story goes back to before Princess Luna’s return. When Princess Celestia alone ruled Equestia and raised the Sun and Moon,” Fizzy said as she refilled Quarterback’s glass and he started on his burger. “Before Frog Rock was founded, this place was just a lonely mountain. However a magically talented unicorn named, Black Quartz discovered that powerful magic infused gems could be found deep with the mountain with a few little towns around it. Nobody knows what drove him to do it, but instead of hiring ponies for the job of mining the gems, he foal-napped and enslaved ponies to do it. Ponies began to go missing in areas surrounding the mountain. Their friends and family searched but no trace could ever be found of what happened to them. Before long, a dozen ponies had-”
“Why didn’t they just escape?”
“I was getting to that. See, Black Quartz spirited the ponies deep into the dark caves of the mountain. Its like a maze down there. He also hid the exist. To further keep them disoriented and more under his control, he used a great magical gem that he had already found. He placed several spells upon it, which allows him enhanced sight and awareness within the tunnels. Then, placed a curse over the ponies completely robbing them of their sight.
“That-that’s horrible,” Quarterback groaned. Fizzy gave a nod before continuing.
“So the blinded ponies - most unicorns and a few Earth ponies - were forced to work constantly digging for the germs which had the most magic Black Quartz used them to increase is own magic and who knows what else. He never told the ponies what exactly he did.
“In time, a few of the mares became pregnant - due to them finding companionship among some of their fellows,” Fizzy quickly added upon seeing Quarterback’s disgusted face and had come to another conclusion. Quarterback relaxed a little at that. “However,” Fizzy sighed, “The foals born were as blind as their parents. Black Quartz had placed a generational curse upon them. All their decedents would be as blind as they were.” Fizzy stopped cleaning. In an instant her magic flicked two glasses down between them and in another began filling them.
“This round is on me,” Fizzy said, lifting her glass with her magic and waited until Quarterback lifted his between his fetlocks. “Cheers,” she said drolly, and downed her glass in one go to Quarterback shock.
“I love the kick of this stuff…” Fizzy sighed setting the glass on the counter. Catching himself, Quarterback took a drink.
“This is pretty good. What is it?”
“Local brew. This is here is my own variant of it.”
“You did well.”
“Good because my special talent is in drink making after all,” Fizzy gave a smug grin as she turned to give a better view of her flank once again.
“Now, where was I…” Fizzy said as she went back to wiping down the bar as Quarterback continued to nurse his new drink, savoring the taste. “Ah, yes. Well, the stars were in those ponies favor. A filly by the name of Searchlight discovered one day she had a talent for directions and mapping when she figured out where the entrance was all by herself. Some time after escaping the mountain she was discovered by a group of ponies. Searchlight’s story of her escape, and the condition of her and the ponies still enslaved within the caves was quickly sent to Canterlot. From there, Searchlight was quickly flown to Canterlot where she described the mountains tunnels in detail to Princess Celestia and her royal guards. The information became invaluable to them while they formulated an attack.
“Within days of Searchlight’s escape, Princess Celestia and her royal guards surrounded and raided the mountain’s tunnel system. Their attack was in two groups. Princess Celestia feared Black Quartz might try to use the captured ponies as living shields or as hostages. So she and a small group of her guard swiftly made their way to the tunnels where the captured ponies worked while a large group of her royal guard sought out the places where Black Quartz tended to be. Princess Celestia’s plan was to quickly get the ponies to safety and then regroup with the rest of the guard to bring Black Quartz in. However, things didn’t go as planned. Princess Celestia and her guards were able to quickly and safely remove all the ponies from the tunnels without a hitch; however, Black Quartz was found quicker than they had indicated and he was willing to stop at nothing to not be caught. Keeping him at bay until the rest of the force arrived was about all they could manage.
“A magical battle erupted within a large cavern. He blasted at massive stalactites to make them fall on the guards as well as fire off all sorts of spells at any guard that he spotted trying to fire back while taking cover behind stalagmites. Princess Celestia had given them orders to bring Black Quartz in alive in hopes of discovering what spells he had used on the ponies. She hoped to be able to reverse the spells effects. The royal guards were good, but their unwillingness to use spells that could be deadly put them at a disadvantage. Then, Princess Celestia and the rest of her guard arrived. At seeing her, Black Quartz blasted the ceiling with a great spell. No one knows if he had planned to kill himself or if he thought it would merely allow cover for him to escape, but in the end he was buried in the rubble along with two of the royal guard.
“With his death, the exact spells he had used to curse the ponies was lost. They say Princess Celestia was devastated with the outcome of the raid.”
“Our Princess Celestia, devastated? And no one knew the spelled he had used?” Quarterback asked, finally setting down the empty glass on the counter.
“No, apparently. With him dead, the details of Black Quartz’s magical ability, his history, his motive, and everything had died with him. He didn’t talk about any of that to the ponies he captured so they couldn’t even help give any bit of information to the table. Black Quartz had used some really heavy black magic that not even Princess Celestia was really familiar with. Not familiar enough to create a counterspell anyway. Princess Celestia ended up calling for the best unicorns from her newly created School for Gifted Unicorns to help her figure out the spells used. They had recovered the gem along with the dead and hoped its magic might lead clues in what to do. Princess Celestia and the unicorns poured over every book and scroll they could find anywhere, but their searching come up empty. At a loss of finding a way to restore their sight like it had been, they began looking for ways to replace their eyesight.”
“And they came up with giving you… jewel eyes?” Quarterback asked.
“That they did. They used the very gem that had been Black Quartz’s. It already had several complex spells related to bestowing sight attached to it. So all they did beyond that was basically place a sort of… I don’t what its really called, but its sort of like a “healing” spell but for objects. Its so that pieces could be broken off and used while the gem itself would become whole again.”
“But what kind of spells did the unicorns use? How did they get those pieces to be your eyes? How did-” Quarterback began asking abruptly but Fizzy’s light scoff made him stop mid question.
“I don’t know. I’m just a bar tender, remember? I’m not exactly rolling in esoteric knowledge here. I only know the basic things, myself.” To make a point, Fizzy levitated the empty glass Quarterback had been using before sitting it back down. “If you really want to know details like that, you’d better talk to a historian who is pretty well versed in magic. All I’ve got is the general explanation I learned in school and from living here.”
“Oh. Oh, yes. Sorry, sometimes my curiosity gets the better of me.” Quarterback said. Fizzy gave a shrug.
“So, like my mother, I was born blind. I was given my eyes when I was a young filly.”
“Did it... hurt?” Quarterback asked motioning to his own eyes shyly.
“I don’t really remember. I was little. It felt weird, I guess from what I can remember. One moment there was nothing, the next… everything,” Fizzy said wistfully.
“Interesting,” Quarterback said. Fizzy gave another shrug though a smile crossed her face as she levitated the bottle suggestively. Quarterback nodded pushing the glass forward.
“This round is on me this time.” At that, Fizzy refilled their glasses promptly.
“So what about you?” asked Fizzy, “You got any stories you’ve collected from your travels?”
With that Quarterback began to ramble about his time as a delivery pony as they enjoyed their drinks. He talked about having actually been in Kanterlot once on a delivery run and actually catching a glimpse of Princess Celestia, and had once been in Griffinstone for a delivery of goods there. From there, their conversation turned to various things from. Right in the middle of their discussion about the recent reappearance of the Crystal Empire, they both heard a tired voice call Fizzy’s name.
“What‘s up?” Fizzy piped up as the both turned to the entrance way.
“The night is almost over. I’m surprised you’re still here,” replied the stallion who had been at the counter when Quarterback had checked-in.
“Its that late already? Quarterback and I must have had too much fun talking.”
“What? The night is nearly over? I really need to head to my room and get some sleep. I have deliveries to make tomorrow.” Quarterback set the bits for the drinks on the counter before stepping down. “It was great talking to you Fizzy. I had great time.”
“Same to you. It was great meeting you.” Quarterback turned and started to make his way to his room.
“Hey, Quarterback,” Fizzy called, “Next time you’re in the area, you come by for a drink and some more talk, ya hear?”
“Will do, Fizzy,” Quarterback called back.
