Chapters Little Steppes in the Magic Shoes
A long, long time ago, when the Township of Ponyville was little more than a collection of earth pony homesteads, there lived a farmpony named Mighty Steppes, his wife Grassy Steppes, and their daughter, a small filly named Little Steppes; all of which were earth ponies. The Steppes were a family of earth ponies with various sades of red coloured fur: Grassy was a paler shade of red, while her husband was a much darker shade; their daughter was a light coppery brown. They weren't wealthy, not by any regard, owning only a fairly small cobbler's store on the outskirts of the still relatively new Ponyville. But like many earth ponies, they were diligent and hard-working, for the most part...
Little Steppes breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the last of the galloping hooves outside as the other students of the schoolhouse went to play, she had been one of the first out, like a lightning bolt and had gone to hide in a bush, a bush which was located conveniently under an open window to try to combat the stifling heat of the summer afternoon. It was known fact that Mr. Chalk, their teacher, was known for falling asleep at his desk during break-time, leaving the schoolroom unattended. This was especially interesting information as Apple Rose, the teacher's pet from the rather wealthy Apple family, had brought a plateful of sweet apple tartlets for him. Little Steppes could see them, they were right there, on his desk, and since she was hungry, she wanted one. In the time during the previous lesson, she'd thus hatched a plan: She knew the front door was quite squeaky, floorboards near the front door were especially squeaky! The open window was right next to the teacher's desk, so all she needed to do was quietly climb through it, and sneak up to the desk and help herself, simple!
She took a breath. "Okay, you can do this!" She thought to herself, placing her hooves on the windowsill, she wore a set of worn black school shoes on her hooves which gave her a little bit of extra grip. Counting to three in her head, she pulled herself up with her forelegs. She felt a snag on the skirt of her school dress as the bottom of it was caught on a rouge branch, ripping slightly as she went and sending her off balance, tumbling inside the schoolroom. She quickly readjusted, turning what would have been a heavy thud into a slightly more elegant if still heavy forward roll into the room. She breathed a sigh of relief, which lasted only for a moment when she saw the tear in her school dress (which also doubled up as her day-to-day wear): Great, her mother wasn't going to be happy about yet another tear to her clothes needing to be fixed.
She crept through the classroom, a twang in her heartstrings at each creek of the boards under her hooves like a off-tune guitar string. Her school shoes weren't helping, they were big and scruffy and clumpy and stupid; she carefully kicked them off to finish the heist in her socks. As her name suggested, Little Steppes was very small for a pony of her age. This offered her a number of problems, but occasionally it was very useful: This time was one such time, her small frame made her very light on her hooves, and she knew she could move very quietly if she wanted to: More than once this had been great for helping her steal sweets from the kitchen at night.
They were right there, withing hoof's reach! Sweet Celestia, those apple tarts smelled good... "I probably shouldn't take too many" she thought to herself, as it would be obvious that somepony had stolen some of them when Mr. Chalk woke up if she did. "I'll just take the one, and then Mr. Chalk could have the rest!"
She trotted up to the desk, rising to her hind legs while keeping a forehoof on the desk, she swiped one of the apple tarts up in her mouth, enjoying its sweetness, the flaky pastry and the juicy fruitiness of the apples therein. It was warm, tasty bit of loveliness. Oh, surely she could take just one more, there were many on that plate after all, and she was still pretty hungry.
So another went down, as pleasant to the young filly's pallet as the last. Then another... And another. Oh, the Apples were good cooks! As she went to take her fifth, the door to the schoolhouse suddenly swung open, causing Mr. Chalk to jerk awake!
"Mr Chalk, Mr Chalk!" The familiar lilt of Miss Smith's tone called. "Me an' Apple Rose are real worried 'bout Lilly! She was lookin' all skin an' bone through class, an' now we can't find her anywhere! Can ya'... Oh, there y'are Lil' Steppes..."
An awkward silence clung to the room. Mr. Chalk, already miffed at having been so suddenly woken, was giving the most vicious dagger eyes to Little Scopes, who gulped, part in fear, part to empty her crumb-covered mouth before giving the nervous grin of a pony caught red-hoofed, before speaking in a very small tone. "Erm... Hi..."
Busted. Needless to say, Mr. Chalk was NOT happy to see Little Steppes stealing from his desk, again. He'd warned her about if she did this again: The first time he'd found her sneakiness quite clever, and she'd nearly gotten away with it too that time; the second time, he'd given her a stern talking to and detention. This time, he'd had no choice, as he'd warned her this was going to happen: She was getting a detention, he was going to tell her parents, and she was getting the cain...
And so, she was sitting in the schoolhouse after the day's end and the other ponies had gone home, the clock ticking painfully as she had to write "I must not steal", over and over her detention was over... At 4:30pm. She was tired, she was bored, her jaw was cramping up from holding the pencil in her mouth, and her flank was red and sore (but hey, at least for the next few hours she could technically say she wasn't a blank flank anymore).
Once again, old Chalky was napping, occasionally twitching slightly: It was RARE that he ever actually used corporal punishment on anypony, and he always looked more sad than angry whenever he did it. He was known to hit the colts harder than the fillies, and would often just stop one the foal started crying: He was a big softie really, this sort of thing just wasn't in his nature. Little Steppes had considered trying to cry to get out of it early, but in truth, she liked Chalkie, all the students liked old Chalky after all, so she wasn't going to cheat him: Little Steppes HAD stolen from him, after all, so she was already pushing her luck.
There was a sly tapping on the window close to where Little Steppes was sat for detention (it was her seat in class, and unsurprisingly the reason the window was open for her scheme). She turned, silently undoing the latch and pushing it open for whoever was trying to get her attention.
"Psst, heya' Lilly." Whispered Apple Rose through the window.
"What do you want?" Little Steppes whispered back.
"Me an' ma' cousin were looking for ya'. We could'a heard ya' grumbling belly from the other side of the class. Ma' cousin twisted ma' leg on it, and wanted to ask if ya' wanted some of our lunch. We were tryin' ta' find ya'."
'Lilly' blinked. "You were? Why?"
"It jus' we saw how much ya' were eyin' up them tartlets for Ol' Chalky, and felt a little bad. We know that yer' family can't always afford to buy the pastries we make an' stuff."
That remark stung a little. Everypony knew the Apples were one of the most successful families in Ponyville: They were one of the first to settle in the area, and had the most land and the best produce of anypony around. Still, there were no more decent folk than the Apples, or so Little Steppes was often told: They weren't the types for condescension, but they were the types for blunt, sometimes tactless honesty. "My folks would never allow it. They don't much care for 'charity'."
Apple Rose frowned. "An' they care for ya' thievin'? Come on now, ya' now that's no good."
"Yes, I know, mother and father are going to remind me about it as well."
"Ah, yea', sorry... But ya' don't 'ave to tell 'em 'bout our talkin'? Jus' stop stealin' from Chalky, an' I'll happily share ma' lunch with ya'. Ah' don't even know why ya' do it so much. For goodness sake, Lilly, ya' make yer'self look bad!"
"I... I don't know. it's not even about the thing I'm stealing, it's just so much fun sometimes being stealthy and going places where you're not supposed to. Even just climbing into the schoolhouse was such a thrill! It's like all those adventure stories, stealing the treasure right from under the nose of a sleeping dragon!" She sighed. "It's much more fun than being a cobbler's daughter. It'd be nice if we could make nicer shoes than the black or metal ones everypony wants."
Apple Rose and her cousin were both a little older than Little Steppes, and everypony said they were quite mature for their age. Little Steppes knew that she couldn't argue with Apple Rose's logic, she made a very tempting offer, and it'd make Chalky feel happy, as it'd look like Little Steppes learned her lesson and so he wouldn't have to hit her again. And so, Apple Rose left Little Steppes with a small slice of apple pie on a napkin, and Little Steppes left Apple Rose with the promise that she'd "think about it". Once Apple Rose was gone, the window was still open... Little Steppes sighed again, and closed the window, staring at the clock: 3:50. It was going to be a long 40 minutes...
Little Steppes' parents, mercifully, weren't going to use corporal punishment for her misdemeanors, she'd suffered enough in that regard they decided. However, they were more than happy to read her the riot act...
"Again?" Mighty Steppes groaned, looking up at his daughter while he worked: He had a lot of orders in today, and didn't really have time to stop work to tell his daughter off, so he was attempting to do both at once. "This is the third time from that school alone. We've taught you better than that, Lilly!"
Grassy, who had brought Little Steppes to her father so she could tell him in person what she'd done. "She was probably hungry. It's been a long time since we had treats like that."
"Don't try and justify her thieving!" the husband snorted. "We were all living on the basics here! Lilly shouldn't be stealing from her teacher!"
"I said I was sorry!" Little Steppes winced. "But I was REALLY hungry, and there were loads of those apple tarts, and they smelled SO good! I couldn't help myself!"
Mighty saw his daughter, a little shorter than most fillies her age, and he sighed. "Made by that goody four shoes Apple Rose, hm? ...The Apple family make the best damn pastries in ponyville. The Apples literally ARE apples in this town."
"So, what do we do?" Grassy asked her husband. In answer, he finished up with the pair of shoes he was working on, setting them on a wooden workbench. He stood up, removing his brown apron and throwing it aside.
"She needs to learn a trade. Or do something productive, so she learns the importance of hard work." Little Steppes looked ready to groan. "Don't give me that, Lilly! If you weren't such a sticky-hooved little thief we wouldn't be having this problem!" He snorted, looking down at his work. "Yes, I think it'll do you some good."
"But..."
"No buts, missy." Mighty snorted. "Would you rather I just grounded you instead? You have to learn from this, after all."
Grassy stepped in. "It won't be THAT bad." She tried to soothe her daughter. "It might be difficult, or a little boring sometimes, but you really do take pride in making something yourself." She gave her a little hug. "Do you remember when we'd bake things together?"
"Yeah."
"So, and you made the dough for the bread, and you kneaded it yourself, you rolled it and knotted the dough up into little rolls. They were really good when they came out the oven."
She smiled slightly. "They were pretty tasty."
"I'll say! They were the best bread rolls we'd had in a long while. Far better than the ones Flour Sack makes in his bakery."
"Heh, his taste like sawdust..."
"Indeed. So, try to feel that sense of pride in making things when you're working with your father. Then you'll do fine!"
Little Steppes had gotten off quite lucky, it seemed. At least at first. Sure, she'd have to occupy her free time with the new chores her father was going to make her do, but it wouldn't be THAT bad... She was going to be cooped up indoors all day though, and he did still seem pretty angry at her about the whole stealing thing, though... Hopefully he'd calm down a bit tomorrow.
"Alright, Lilly." Might spoke as he produced a cutting knife from a cupboard. "I need you to hold down that piece of leather while I cut out the shapes for the shoes. Hold still, okay. Otherwise I might end up cutting you by mistake."
She suppressed a bored groan as he carefully cut out the leather pieces, marked with chalk outlines, with the blade: The first time this had been pretty interesting, and she was fascinated that her father could cut the material so carefully and so well with the knife... Using his mouth! This, however, was the 6th pair of shoes she'd had to help with now, which means she'd been holding down pieces of leather, standing there and watching this process 12 times now: It had lost all novelty for her by this point. All of his shoes were the same! Tough, black leather which could double up for practical outdoor work or, with a bit of polish, smart indoor shoes: This was the only kind of shoe that Mighty ever seemed to make, even though he had way more fancy, pretty looking things on display in the shop windows.
"Why can't we ever make anything more interesting than these?" Lilly asked as he finished, binning the discarded remains and sorting the cutlets into neat piles organized by the sizes the shoes would end up when they were done.
"Because, the fancy designs are more expensive." He answered. "Nearly everypony here works in a farm of some sort, and everyone wants practical, hardy, and efficient work shoes. If anypony wants something else, they have to commission it in advance, since we can't afford that sort of thing. It's not like Canterlot where everything HAS to be the latest fashion."
She sighed wistfully. "Tell me about the story about Canterlot again?"
He huffed. "I've told you about them a thousand times."
"Please." Lilly asked again. "I know that's where you met mother. It all sounds so lovely."
He rolled his eyes. "Alright..." He set down his tools and invited Little Steppes to come sit with him. "Okay. So many years ago, me and your mother used to live in Canterlot. I would work in the Cantering Dragon, in the Market Quarter. And yes, we made all kinds of different shoes for all kinds of different ponies. But, a lot of them were just practical work shoes, or the refitting and fixing up the boots worn by the Royal Guard." He pointed to a pair of large, gold horseshoes sat in the corner of the window display: The boots of the guard ponies who protected the towns and cities of Equestria (fixing their boots, if you hadn't already guessed, was the second most common thing Mighty Steppes worked on). "I was paid fairly well, since my master was a rather kind, if strange and energetic young unicorn. Since she was a unicorn, she could often put spells on her work, which made them all the more valuable, since then shoes can change to fit their wearers, or make them run faster, or kick harder, or... Well, anything, really."
He smiled, which always made Lilly feel happier: He didn't smile very often, after all. "It was there where I met your mother. She was one of those wealthy elites living in town, and she'd asked for a smart pair of dancing shoes to go with this beautiful red dress, the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. So, I worked and worked through the night, making the best pair of red shoes you ever saw. When I showed them to my master, she offered to put a spell on them which would help her dance better than she'd ever done before." Another sigh, but this time it was happy. "When she tried them on for the first time, she looked at me with a glisten in her eye, and asked me to dance with her, right there in the shop! I'd fell in love with her from the second we locked hooves and started to waltz. Even if she hadn't been wearing those shoes, I still think she would've taken to the dance as if born to it... When my apprenticeship was over, my master gave me a loan so I could set up a shop of my own. Me and Grassy eloped on that night, and we never looked back."
"You eloped?" She asked: These were new additions to the story, she'd not been told about the loan, or the eloping before.
He gave Lilly a gentle hug, for he was so much larger than her. "Now, I think you're old enough to know about it. And it's one of the reasons I get so cross with you when you steal from ponies, and why we can't always have nice things. I swore that I'd pay back every bit my master gave me, because she was practically family to me. You see, I was a homeless urchin as a foal, forced to do what you did to your teacher, steal food just to get by, where you do it out of envy, and because somepony has something you wanted. My master took me in, fed and clothed me, and taught me how to do better. And, when I see you stealing from the markets, your classmates or the teacher..." He trailed off. "Please. Just promise me you'll try not to do that sort of thing anymore. You're a better pony than that, and a far smarter pony than I was at your age, and you're spoiling everything that's good about you, and for what? An apple? A necklace? Some baked treats? I worry that others won't give you the chance I was given if you keep doing this sort of thing. I need you to promise you'll try to be better than that."
Lilly nodded: That last part stung, but not in the same way as her father simply shouting at her. He wasn't shouting, but it was equally painful to be on the receiving end of. She sighed as she trotted off and her parents finished telling her off... Maybe, maybe she should try to behave herself for a little bit? Just until things calmed down at least...
The bell rang at the front of the shop, signifying the arrival of a new customer. He stood up. "Lilly, could you go out front and see who that is? I need to finish up back here."
She shook herself to, a little shaken by the story this time, in a way she hadn't been before: The new context had rather changed things for her, and she felt a whole new sense of guilt for things. "Yes, father." She nodded quickly trotting out front. "Hello." She greeted. "Welcome to Steppes and Knoll's Cobblers. How can we..." She trailed off, the customers were Precious Stone, the owner of an importer of fancier goods from the big cities, and her daughter, Silver Stone. Silver Stone didn't like Little Steppes very much, and hadn't done since she'd stolen a silver necklace from her desk in school a few months ago. "Erm, hello. How can I help you?"
Precious was civil, even if she gave Lilly a very discerning look. "Well, where is your father?"
"Erm, he's in the back." She answered. "Making some more work shoes."
"And why are YOU here?!" Silver spat. "Or were you sneaking off to steal from the cash register?"
"I'm not! He's showing me the trade, he's just busy out back!"
"SILVER!" Precious hissed at her daughter. "Watch your tongue! If her father wants her to pay off her debts to society, and try to make an honest pony out of her, that's his prerogative." Silver shrunk back, but still stuck that unwatched tongue out at her rival. Precious ignored this, and continued speaking, dumping a pair of silver slippers on the table. "Me and my daughter will be leaving for Canterlot in a week, but my daughter's grown too big for the formal shoes she wants to wear. She tried, and she broke part of the frontage." She beckoned to a small part of the intricate front weaving, which had snapped off. "I need them repaired and enlarged by the end of the week." With this, she dumped a large bag of bits on the table and Lilly wrote down the order on a scrap of paper.
"Don't worry." Lilly forced a smile. "My father should be able to get these fixed for you."
"Good. Let me know once he's finished. I don't want to be kept waiting." That said, she turned to leave, though Silver lingered.
"Stupid peasant." She hissed. "I've not forgot what you did."
"You got your stupid necklace back, and I apologized, didn't I?" Little steppes retorted.
"I don't care!" Silver snapped. "I'll get you for stealing from me! You'll see!"
"Come along, Silver!" Precious Stone called, and the grey filly turned and left too. Lilly sighed: Well that sucked...
Determined to not let Silver's empty threats spoil her day, Little Steppes pressed on, helping her father with his work. He generally seemed happier thanks to her helping out. He seemed pleased that he was FINALLY starting to get through to her, even if she didn't necessarily enjoy shoe-making as much as he did.
Still, Paver felt a little bad about things at the moment, and wanted to try to do something nice for her father... Perhaps she could bake something!
She went to go ask her mother about the idea, once she'd finished her work in the shop for the day. She knew that Grassy had kept some extra flour lying around.
Grassy tapped her chin with her hoof, thinking. "...What about tackling two problems at once? Our money troubles, and your desire to something nice for your father?" She offered: "There's a lot of wild fruits and other plants growing in the Everfree Forest. Some of the bushes and trees have some nice berries, wildflowers and mint. We could send Lilly to go gather some and bring it home. I have some spare flower sitting around, I could make a pie! Perhaps two at a stretch, one for us, and we could see the other for some extra bits."
"Oooh, that sounds fun!" Lilly perked up, she knew her father enjoyed berry pie, and baking was always fun!
"It'll be pretty dangerous though." Grassy warned. "The Everfree isn't the safest place in the world, and there's some strange magic in there sometimes."
"I know, I'll be careful!"
"I know you will." Grassy smiled. "You're a smart kid. Stay to the outskirts of the forest, stay alert and come back before dark, I know you'll be fine. Besides, it's not as dangerous as it used to be. There used to be dragons in the mountains, but they were been banished from Equestria hundreds of years ago."
"So I can go?"
Grassy nodded. "Yes. I'll tell your father that I plan to send you to the woods tomorrow to gather berries for me to sell in the market, and we can make the pie the day after. We can keep it a secret, a nice surprise for him, and I'm sure a whole pie will bring in some nice money for us if you can find enough berries for two."
THAT sounded like a challenge! She continued to ponder what tomorrow would bring as she slept that night. The Everfree Forest was scary, sure, but she'd be the bravest pony in Ponyville to happily meander through it each day to pick up tasty berries and herbs and stuff! Plus, it was the Everfree Forest! Scary stuff aside, nopony ever went there! Imagine what sort of adventures she could have in there. There were even tales of an old castle nestled deep within the woods... If she could find it! Ooooh, that'd be amazing!
"Ouch!" She yelped, sharply retracting her hoof from the ground, seeing the sharp stone nestled among the leaves of the woodland floor that she'd initially missed. She sighed, seeing the hole it had punctured through the bottom of her shoe, leaving a hole in its sole: This trip had not been amazing. Finding all those lovely berries, wildflowers and herbs had been harder than she'd been expecting, especially in keeping with her father's rule not to go too deep into the forest. That wasn't to say that she'd had slim pickings, she'd already filled up one of her two admittedly-small saddlebags with some incredibly juicy looking blackberries (which she'd thoroughly enjoyed nibbling on from time to time!). She just wasn't getting the adventure vibe she was expecting. Instead, she was getting tripped by gnarly tree roots, scartching herself and her clothes in bush brambles, and now the uneven and rocky ground had ruined her only pair of shoes!
At least the weather was lovely: Another gloriously sunny day, so perfect that even the thick canopy of the Everfree Forest was punctured with countless rays of Celestia's golden sunshine. Even though it was proving a bit tricky, she WAS still enjoying her walk through the woods, and if she failed to find more wild fruit, she knew where Sweet Apple Acres was, and surely they didn't need every apple in their orchards...
Ah, But that wasn't adventure! That was just stealing again, and not in the fun sneaky way! More in the 'steal from the ponies who being nice to you like a jerk' kind of way!
...Why couldn't she go deeper into the forest? Not THAT much deeper, mind. She'd only go until she couldn't see the outskirts anymore, the woodlands weren't THAT thick after all... Hmmm, okay, well, the Everfree forest was to the west, as was the deeper stuff, and Ponyville was back east from here. Okay, so all she needed to do was go due east when she was done in the forest, simple!
She wasn't sure, but she was beginning to think that the horror stories about the Everfree had been a load of hooey. This was great! Heading deeper into the forest had almost immediately brought her upon a nice patch of mint, which she was quite happy to pack up into her saddlebags and go on her merry way. Maybe, maybe the forest was worse at night, but during the day it was lovely!
As she continued on her journey, Little Steppes eventually came across a small clearing. Time had passed, and it was starting to get dark, though it wasn't REALLY starting 'starting', it wasn't evening! She could spend a little longer here before she went home: She had packed a storybook to read if she had time after all. That storybook could wait though, as she wanted to look around first. This clearing was almost entirely covered in flowers, a treasure trove of colours. However, what REALLY caught Lilly's attention was a large, flat rock at the top of this tiny hillock which the natural terrace of flowers, a rock with something sparkling tantalizingly atop it, as though this treasure trove of flowers housed a real treasure at its heart.
She drew closer to this stone, growing more excited as it came more into view. Atop the stone was a set of shoes, extremely beautiful, elegant shoes made out of a blue-metallic and glittery material, lined inside with a soft, silvery silk. They looked positively regal! As Little Steppes reached to touch one of them, something strange happened: As her hoof drew closer, the rather large shoes shrunk to what looked like her size! She gasped, the shoes were magic! She wasn't imagining it, the shoes actually got smaller! They were the size of an adult mare's hooves originally, and a pretty big one at that, and now they were the size of a young filly's; how else could that be justified other than being a pair of fancy magic shoes which changed size to fit their wearer?
She looked around: There was no sign of anypony else having ever been there, not even so much as hoofprints in the dirt. They were faint though, so the wearer had just left them there. Did they not want them anymore?! Lilly certainly wanted them: Her shoes were old, scruffy, and falling apart on her hooves! These new shoes however were in perfect condition. She picked one up, realizing it was actually pretty heavy, not extremely so, but they were heavier than ordinary leather shoes; these were ACTUALLY made out of some kind of silver, or even... She'd heard stories about mithril, a legendarily rare metal which was as light and as beautiful as silver, but tougher than steel! Could these shoes be made of that?
She'd heard enough. If whoever had left them wasn't coming back for them, then finders keepers! She was going to take the shoes. Perhaps she could find whoever their owner was; perhaps she could just keep them, Lilly knew she wanted to; or, if she couldn't find whoever owned them, she could at least sell them in the market: Who knows how much she could sell such fine shoes for? It could set her family up for an incredibly long time!
For now though, Little Steppes needed something to wear home, and her current shoes were ruined. She pulled them off, and tossed them into her saddlebags, leaving her standing in her stocks in the clearing. Then, one by one, she slipped her hooves into these new shoes. She stood up, trotting about to test them: They were quite a tight fit on Little Steppes' feet, but they weren't really uncomfortable, and she figured that they might be less so once she'd broken them in. She beamed, staring at her new shoes as she pranced around the hillock: What a find!
A lot of the flowers in the clearing were actually edible for ponies, and there were a ton more than she could carry. That didn't stop her from filling her saddlebags though, and she spent the rest of the time in the clearing on the large, flat stone, reading her storybook until evening came, when she made her way back home.
"Mother, father." She called as she entered the house. "I'm back! And I found loads of lovely things!"
She trotted up to the table in the front room of their home, setting her saddlebags down upon it as her parents joined her.
"Hmm, you have been busy." Mighty exclaimed, looking through the bags. "Quite a healthy amount here. MORE than enough berries for that pie Grassy was talking about, right Grassy?" Grassy nodded in reply. "Some wildflowers, some herbs, and..." He stopped when he saw Little Steppe's old shoes in her bag. A little confused, he turned to look at his daughter properly. "Erm, excuse me." He spoke sharply, staring at his daughter and pointing a hoof at her new shoes. "Where did you get those?"
She looked down for second. "Erm, I found them." She answered.
"You found them?" Grassy gave her a look. "In the Everfree Forest?"
"Oh yes, that's likely." her father snorted, anger in his tone.
"It's the truth!" Lilly protested. "They were in a clearing in the woods, on a rock surrounded by flowers. It's where I got all those daisies and dandelions, and all the other wildflowers."
"And a pair of shiny new shoes with not so much as a scuff on them?! Tell the truth! Who did you take these from?!"
"I'm not lying!" She cried. "I didn't take them from anypony! They'd just been left in the forest, they're mine!"
He snorted as Lilly turned extremely red in the face.
"It's too late to do anything about it now." Grassy stepped in. "Maybe somepony left them in the forest and forgot to pick them up. Either way, we'll find out the truth tomorrow. I'll take Little Steppes out into town tomorrow, and we'll find out who their original owners are."
Lilly winced. "But..."
"No buts, you!" Mighty gave her dagger eyes. "Your mother may have given you the benefit of the doubt, but it's going to take more than words to convince me you've not just been a little thief again."
"Mighty, don't be cruel! Even if they're not her shoes, she said she just found them in the woods. People lose things all the time. You're her father, and if you can't see any good in her, who will?!" He huffed. "Innocent until proven guilty. If Little Steppes stole them from somepony in town, we'll know. If she genuinely found them in the woods, and they belong to somepony in Ponyville, we'll give them back, won't we, Lilly?"
"But... But..." She sighed. "Yes mother. But what if they don't belong to anypony here?"
The two parents looked at one another, pondering their answer. "...Well, Lilly's shoes have been in a bad state for ages, and it looks like the soles finally gave out today." Grassy answered.
Mighty grumbled a little. "It'll mean I won't have to make her a new pair, and they look pretty sturdy."
"Yes, yes they are! So can I keep them?"
"IF they don't belong to anypony else in town, and if you take care not to break or lose them, then yes, yes you can."
"And if she's stolen them?" Mighty asked.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Grassy answered. Mighty nodded, before walking out.
With Mighty gone, Grassy sighed. "Don't be too upset by your father. He's all thunder and noise, but he cares about you."
Lilly looked away. "He thought I was lying. I wasn't lying. I wasn't!"
"I know, but let's face it: You've lied to ponies before, including me and him. Of course he's going to be suspicious. But trust me, if you're telling the truth, I know he'll come around." She sighed. "Just, don't be lying, okay? If you've done something silly, now's the time to tell me. I'd rather you were honest with me."
Lilly turned an even deeper shade of red. "I'm not lying!!" She yelled.
Grassy frowned. "Alright. Well, take off your shoes and come inside for dinner."
Little Steppes nodded, kicking at her hoof to shake off her shoes. She too frowned when it didn't work. She pushed at one of the shoes on her forehoof with the other, but the shoes were too tight on her feet, and she couldn't push it off. "Come on." She growled, stepping on the back of one of the front shoes with her other forehoof and lifted the pinned hoof, but still the shoe wouldn't come off.
"Are you having trouble?" Grassy asked as Lilly rolled around, trying to pry the shoes off with all the strength of her hind legs, to no effect.
"I'm trying to get them off." She yelled. "But, I can't get them off! They're too tight!"
Grassy walked back over. "Come on, sit up, let me help." Together the pair tried to remove the shoes from Little Steppes' feet. The mother got up and fetched a shoehorn from the cobblering tool cupboard, trying to crowbar them free. After several minutes, and a broken shoehorn, even then the shoes stubbornly clung to Lilly's feet.
"Lilly..." Grassy groaned. "What were you thinking? How did you cram your hooves into these shoes if you knew they were too small for you?"
"But, but they weren't!" Lilly protested, slumping onto her haunches and staring at the shoes on her hooves. "They were much bigger when I found them. They got smaller when I put them on so they'd fit me. They're magic, and now I'm trying to get them off, they're too tight." She huffed, kicking her shoes against the floorboards. "It's like the more I try to pull them off, the tighter they get." She felt her heart pounding in their chest. "It's like they're trying to cling on, and won't let go of my hooves!"
Grassy gave her a look. "Magic shoes?" Grassy sighed again. "You knew they were magic, and you put them on anyway? ...Alright. We'll just have to go the library. Hopefully Mrs. Gleaming will have a spell to help get those things off you. Otherwise, you'll just have to wear them inside for now, it's too late to deal with them tonight."
It just wasn't fair: She goes to steal some tarts from her teacher, and she gets busted by a pony trying to find her to share their lunch with her; she goes to have an adventure in the Everfree Forest, and she breaks a part of shoes and gets a stone stuck in hoof; she finds a shiny new pair of shoes after wanting a pair for so long, and now she had them, they wouldn't come off! Life seemed to be full of nasty little ironies like that, it really wasn't fair at all. She had to wear the shoes inside, much to the ire of her father, then she had to wear them to bed as well: It was strange wearing her night gown with shoes and socks, but she didn't have any choice...
In the dead of night, Little Steppes tossed and turned in her bed: She couldn't sleep, and she felt a tingling in her hooves, and an itch to stretch her legs. She tried to sleep, but she simply couldn't lie still as the moonlight flooded in from her bedroom window, bright enough to quite easily illuminate her room, even with all the candles blown out.
She climbed out of bed, her hooves silently connecting with the floor as she stepped out and carefully onto the floor: This wasn't the first time she'd got out of bed during the middle of the night, and once again, her small, light frame made sneaking around the house very easy in the dead of night, while her parents were sleeping. She drifted towards her window, staring up at the night sky. The moon was full and silvery bright, dominating the horizon beyond her window. Something was strange, however: The moon usually had the face of a unicorn in it, the Mare in the Moon... Except the surface of the moon was pure white and unblemished: That mare was missing.
She turned away from the window and back into her bedroom, she still wasn't sure how she was going to get to sleep tonight, she felt a surge of energy flowing through her, tingling in her nerves like electricity: She didn't even feel tired, as awake as she had been in the middle of the afternoon several hours ago. Maybe she needed a glass of water, so she made her way out of the bedroom and down the stairs. However, turning left and into the rather small kitchen of their home. However, rather than stopping at the water faucet, her hooves suddenly kept going, walking her past the tap and drain and towards the back door, they wouldn't stop! She couldn't grab anything to force herself to be still, nor could she make her hooves turn around, but her legs and hooves continued to move as if possessed, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open, her shoes glittering excitedly in the moonlight... The shoes, it was the shoes! They were controlling her feet!
She tried to call for help, but she couldn't: Either it was the shock of her dilemma, or some force which kept her silent, but nothing short of a cracked, silent squeak escaped her throat as the shoes continued to walk her down the garden path and out the back gate in a quick trot. The night was cold, and she shivered in her gown as she continued to be taken on the shoes' journey, down the dirt streets of Ponyville and past its outskirts, towards the Everfree. Now, she understood completely why this ancient forest was considered so frightful to ordinary ponies. No light showed her the way through this cursed woodland, the sounds of creatures hidden in the shadows could be heard all around... And still she walked, against every screaming nerve in her body, her every instinct telling her to stop, turn back and run home to safety, she continued on.
Perhaps this was a nightmare, Little Steppes thought to herself, struggling to suppress her fear, constantly reminding herself that she was a brave pony, and brave ponies could handle anything. If she could just wake up, it would all be okay! Perhaps she'd still be stuck in these evil shoes, but at least she'd be safely in her bed. She bit her tongue, hard, yelping at the pain, as the magic controlling her had no need to suppress her voice anymore, but she was still caught in the trap of the shoes. No, this was DEFINITELY happening, and now her tongue was bleeding. Lilly struggled to think how this could possibly get any worse!
Maybe it was a prank, was her next, slightly more desperate theory: Some pony was getting revenge on her for something! Oooh, it was probably Silver Stone! Yes! That little mare had never forgiven Lilly for stealing from her, and she HAD sworn she'd get her back for it: She'd probably paid some sneaky unicorn to put a nasty spell on them to scare her! Once the shoes had taken them to wherever they were going, perhaps this would all end. She'd get laughed at for being scared, then she'd get the blame for 'stealing' another one of Silver Stone's things, and then she'd probably be grounded for the rest of her life and the nasty, spoiled little Silver Stone would never let her forget it! ...but at least this would all be over!
The darkness started to lighten, if only slightly. Not because of any change to the night sky (although Little Steppes had no idea how long she'd been walking for), but simply because they were reaching a clearing in the woods. Little Steppes looked behind her, seeing only blackness, which chilled her to the bone even more: In this night, perhaps she could just do as she had done earlier, and just go due east to return to Ponyville, but that assumed two things: The first was that she'd have to wait until daylight for even a shred of navigational help on that front; the second was that she'd ever regain control over her own feet.
Then, a large, ruinous castle began to come into view: This was the place the shoes were taking her! She knew this as they sharply turned towards a rickety rope bridge to the castle, which she was made to cross before walking up a flight of old, crumbling stairs, and through a cavernous set of old, wooden doors. Once inside, the doors sharply swung shut, causing Lilly to jump in surprise, but now she was still: She had control over her legs again.
Her first instinct was, of course, to try to take the shoes off again. She practically lunged at herself, pushing, pulling and prying at the silver shoes on her hooves, but to no avail. She even tried biting them, clamping her jaws around the shoes and tugging with her all strength, she HAD to get these things off! She gave up once her jaw began to cramp up, sitting on her haunches, exhausted as her legs lay limp and aching on the ground. Once she'd stopped, the tightness they employed the cling onto her relaxed, noticeably so now, they didn't even have so much as bite marks! Stupid mithril shoes! It was true, they didn't WANT to come off. Could shoes even be alive? And if they could be, did these shoes actively seek to taunt her, and stay stuck on her hooves permanently? Why would shoes want that?! They were shoes!
Okay, so magic shoes stuck on her feet, Lilly could live with that; philosophical debates about the sentience of enchanted footwear may be very interesting, but she wanted to go home! Her second instinct was to try just that. She turned to the doors, now sealed shut. She rattled against them, trying to push, pull, even buck them open, but they were locked shut, and these mighty oaken doors were not about to be burst open by a small filly's kicking. There were windows, many lacking any glass to speak of, but they were all fitted with wrought iron bars, and they were too narrow for her to squeeze past. She was trapped, the only way she could go was forwards, deeper into the castle.
She pushed open another pair of giant double doors, seeing a narrow slit of light peering through them. It was a struggle for such a small filly, lacking in a unicorn's magic or the strength of a larger pony; nevertheless, the doors creaked open, revealing a large, long room, faintly illuminated by moonlight through holes in the ceiling, and rows upon rows of torches hung on the walls, each burning with a cold blue flame.
"Hello?" Little Steppes called out as she entered the room, the doors shutting behind her. "Who's there?! Silver Stone?!" Silence. "Okay, you made your point, very funny! I want to go back to bed, let me go!"
"Oh, my dear. I don't think THAT'S going to be happening just yet." came a silky, sinister soft, decisively NOT Silver Stony voice from the shadows at the far end of the room. That wasn't good, Lilly didn't recognize that voice, but it made her blood run cold nonetheless. She wanted to turn and run, but now she found her shoes rooted to the ground, unable to life her hooves to flee. The voice then boomed. "Come here, child, NOW."
In sharp, almost puppet-like movements, despite Lilly fighting to resist her ever step, she began to march forward, towards what she now realized was a large, elegant throne, carved out of stone and a pale, crystal-like glass, resembling bat wings: The throne was infinitely better maintained than the castle which contained it, and was the seat of a towering alicorn, as dark as the night sky itself.
"You're... You're Nightmare Moon?"
She chuckled coldly, rising to her hooves, her bare hooves. "And you, you're Little Steppes, the slimy little thief who thought she could steal from me? The Princess of the Night, and the RIGHTFUL ruler of Equestria!"
She winced at the strength of the princess' furious voice. "But it wasn't me!" she protested. "I didn't steal them!"
"Oh, and you expect me to take the word of a liar and a thief? A filthy village earth pony who dirties MY SHOES with her smelly peasant hooves?!"
"Hey! I'm not dirty!" Lilly snapped back, it was a common stereotype for earth ponies to be unwashed farmers, and while many were farmers, the label of them as dirty was one Little Steppes' family resented. "My family aren't farmers! We're shoe cobblers! And my mother makes me bathe twice a day. The only reason I couldn't yesterday was because your shoes won't come off my hooves! ...My socks would've shrunk in the bathwater" She added that last part a bit quietly: She'd ruined a nice pair that way (which her mother wasn't too pleased about) when trying to help with the laundry.
"And I am an alicorn princess! Do you think I care about your cobbler father or your bathing habits?!"
"I, well, no... But how do you know about that anyway!?"
The princess smirked. "Do you think me ignorant of what goes on in your earth pony hamlet, so close to my castle as it is? I cannot leave My sister has weakened my powers, and her banishment leaves me trapped between the moon and this castle, but I can STILL observe the dreams of ponies! Your father, having nightmares about his precious little daughter locked up in a dungeon as a common pickpocket. Or your teacher, having flashbacks of being caned as a foal until his flanks bled. I know all about YOU and your sticky hooves. I may not be able to leave, but I've known about YOU for quite a while!"
...Hold on a moment, Lilly pulled a face: Something didn't quite add up there. "Wait a moment." She called out suddenly. "You're lying! You said you couldn't leave this castle! But I found your shoes in a clearing! How could they have gotten there if you can't leave here?!"
Nightmare Moon went silent for a moment, before chuckling. "Hm. Clever little filly."
"So you knew! You knew I was going to be in the Everfree Forest, and you laid a trap to bring me here! That's why I can't get these shoes off!"
"Correct." The princess answered. "As I said, those shoes are MINE. They will only go where I want them to go, and they will only do what I want them to do. My control over them is far stronger at night than during the day, but once night fell, I wanted my shoes to return to me, and here they are."
"Well..." Lilly stammered slightly. "Why were you trying to make it look like I stole them? Why didn't they bring me straight here?"
"I have less control over my magic during the daylight. I had to wait until nightfall to have you brought to me. And besides, you're a little thief in the eyes of your family and your town. I suspect Daddy had words, thought you a thief? Well, how's it going to look when you ran away from home in the dead of night, rather than face the fact you got caught stealing from somepony again? It'll confirm all of their suspicions about you."
"But that's not fair!" Lilly cried. "I didn't steal from you, and you know it!"
"True, but it's your word against mine. And you're not going to be there to protest it."
She winced, all of the ponies she'd hurt, and all of them would so quickly believe this was yet another example of her being a liar and a thieving little mare. But she wasn't! Not this time! "You can't just keep me here! I want to go home!"
"Ah, but you see, my little filly. The second you put those shoes on your hooves, you became mine too. You'll only do what I want you to do, and you're only going to go where I WANT you to go! The only reason you're still speaking is because you're so adorably entertaining."
"So, so I'm supposed to be your slave now?"
"Hmm... Slaves are so... Sombrian. You can be my personal herald. My voice in Equestria while I am trapped here. You'll run along and do whatever I tell you to do, and one way or another, you're going to help me get free if you ever want to see your family again!"
That didn't sit well with Lilly, she was nopony's slave! "S-so? What if I refuse? You can send me to water, but you can't make me drink it!"
"Well, if you're that desperate to remove those shoes you were so eager to wear and skip around in. I can simply kill you now and take them off your corpse?" She gulped: No, that wasn't any better! "Oh? I didn't think so. You'll do as I say, Little Steppes, and only once you help me get my strength back enough to challenge my sister proper will I consider freeing you."
Get her strength back... hmmm... Little Steppes had an idea, a risky one, but she had very little else to loose right now!
"But... You're Nightmare Moon." She said, adding a little lilt of admiration to her tone, looking up at the princess with her biggest possible eyes. "My mother would tell me stories about you all the time! About this mythical mare in the moon, who created the most beautiful night skies, and who grew so jealous because everypony was sleeping during your nights."
"Oh, come now, do you think you're smart enough to fool me with flattery?"
"Erm, no, not really..." She lifted up a hoof, wiggling the magic shoe clinging to it up at the princess. "I mean, I'm only HERE because you managed to outsmart me in the first place."
The alicon gave an amused smirk. "Touche. What's your point?"
"My point is, princess, I know. I know about your nights. You said you knew what I did, you saw my dreams. You must surely have known I'd woken during the night, and that I stared up at your night sky before you brought me here. I know about how powerful you are! How you can lure ponies away in the dead of night to eat them."
"Eat them?!" She roared. "You silly foal, I am many things, but being a cannibal is nothing more than hysterical nonsense! I have never eaten anypony!"
"Exactly!" Lilly cried. "You're better than that! You're a princess! And the only princess in this whole kingdom who had the nerve to challenge Princess Celestia in the first place!"
"Foolish foal! There are only TWO princesses in this kingdom!"
"And one of them is ruling Equestria! The other's hiding in a castle, relying on a filly to do what an alicorn princess is more than powerful enough to do alone. Come daylight, she wouldn't even be able to stop her stop her running home to her family without killing her, and then she'd be alone, back to square one! Only everpony would know you are here, and you wouldn't be able to set another trap like it!"
Nightmare Moon, at the behest of Little Steppes' berating, looked half ready to kill the young filly, and was halfway between an enraged glare and more thoughtful pondering. After a long while, she sat back, another snort escaped her.
"Nightmare Moon, Princess of the Night, taking council from a cobbler's daughter..." She chuckled somewhat. "You're a braver pony than most of my subjects. I'd have clipped their wings, amputated their horns or cut off their heads for such insolence, for daring to speak to ME as you have done." A small smile emerged on her face, an evil one. "But, you're right. I am the Princess of the Night! The RIGHTFUL ruler of Equestria, and I will NOT cower in my castle as my sister lords it over me! This night will last forever! And If she comes to challenge me, I will banish her as she banished me! Nearly a thousand years on the moon! A THOUSAND!"
Well... That worked exactly as intended. Nightmare Moon had said it herself: She was too weak to take on Celestia at the moment. And yet, if the night didn't end as it was supposed to, where was the first place that Celestia was going to look for the answer to this phenomena? Who was going to be the first pony she'd suspect? Celestia had beaten her sister once before, and Nightmare Moon had time to prepare back then.
...There was, however, one small problem with Lilly's scheme. Actually, it was a HUGE problem: She'd just convinced Nightmare Moon to make this night permanent. The sun would not rise, and if the sun didn't rise, the shoes' power over her would never waver long enough for her to otherwise flee and seek help. In short, if Celestia DIDN'T defeat Nightmare Moon, or help free Lilly from her enslavement... Well, unless Nightmare Moon showed her mercy, she'd likely end up as her slave forever...
Little Steppes in the Magic Shoes
* * *
Little Steppes was making a dangerous gamble by convincing Nightmare Moon to push so aggressively so quickly. Perhaps this may have put herself in good standing with the Princess of the Night, but it also put her freedom on a knife edge, not to mention the whole of Equestria with it! The more she thought about it, the more young Lilly was beginning to think she'd made a mistake...
...But what about right now? Nightmare Moon doubtlessly had plans for Little Steppes, but what?
"So, what am I supposed to do?" She finally asked, distracting the princess from her thought.
"Ah, so have you quashed your thoughts of trying to escape? Good..." More silence. "Hm. It would take you too long to travel those places where support for me is strongest, and Canterlot would be too dangerous to make my presence known... Curse it, why couldn't you have been a pegasus or a unicorn, something more useful than a magicless, flightless filly?!"
"I'd love to be able to use magic like a unicorn, but I can't help being born an earth pony." Lilly defended. "I mean, what am I supposed to do about that? Unless you can get me a horn or something, that is..."
"Hmpf." Nightshade snorted, pondering whether or not to do just that. "Perhaps if you prove useful to me, I'll consider it. For now though, I know there's at least one pony in Ponyville who I may be able to recruit."
"Wait? There is? Who?"
"Have you heard of the librarian? The only unicorn in your entire town? Gleaming Lulamoon . Her parents were fairly loyal to me, one can only wonder why she never fell into their hoofsteps... That will be your first task. Go to Golden Oaks Library, and convince her to join us. Show her my shoes, and tell her the night will last forever, and she will understand. Go, now."
...And that was that: As soon as the order was given, Lilly's shoes turned her sharply on the spot, trotting her back out of the throne room and beyond, its grand front doors now opened once again to allow her to leave. Another long walk through the woods and the dark as she was walked back to Ponyville.
The magic of the shoes was strange: She'd been walking for what she assumed was a long time, and yet her legs didn't ache, and she was as wide awake as she was when she got out of bed. For reasons which quickly became obvious to her when she thought about it, the shoes' magic was keeping her awake, removing tiredness and strain from her body so she could continue to do Nightmare Moon's work. It was a shame: Being able to stay up late and never getting achy legs from walking around a lot would've been really useful... You know, if it didn't also mean she had no control over her own movements.
She felt a warm sense of relief in her heart as the straw thatched roofs of Ponyville came into view, and had she been returning of her own accord, she'd have simply gone straight home. Indeed, she did have a bit more degree of control over her hooves again now, save for one thing: She could see her family home down one of the dirt streets, and she couldn't help herself: Surely Nightmare Moon wouldn't mind her going back just for a bit? Even just to put on something warmer than her night gown. And so, she did try to quietly trot down that way instead of onward to the great, hollow tree which contained the town's library. However, the closer she got to that street, the heavier her hooves became. Eventually, her hooves were rooted to the ground, again. Not a single step more could she take towards her home. It was heart-breaking, and she struggled to keep her eyes dry as she tried to throw herself to the ground: She'd drag herself home if she had to, she'd bit into the dirt and pull herself forwards by her mouth if she must! But again, her legs would not budge. As her shoes lost patience with her, and she found herself being turned away, she felt her eyes go wet: There it was, home. She was so close! So close, but she couldn't go back, couldn't go to her warm bed, or see her parents. She wasn't allowed to, and her magic shoes wouldn't let her try: She had a job to do, and she was going to be made to do it, whether she wanted to or not.
As she walked, she was at least allowed a moment to pause and wipe dry her eyes: She HATED crying, but at this stage, she couldn't help it. Her thoughts had been stuck on a painful truth since she'd left Nightmare Moon's castle: this was entirely her own fault! She'd stolen from her teacher, which got her scolded by her parents, who gave her a job to go to the Everfree, so she'd do something productive, leading her to Nightmare Moon's trap. A trap she'd fallen into wholeheartedly, so enamoured was she by the shiny new thing, and what had it brought her? Both her parents, even her mother, had assumed this was yet another theft on her part, that she simply couldn't ever resist stealing something from somepony, and this was yet more proof of how their daughter was becoming little more than a common thief. Nightmare Moon had played her for a fool, and she had indeed been very, very foolish.
She wiped her eyes, her face red. No, no, she had to try to be strong, like her father, if she wanted to get through this. She couldn't cry and give up: She HAD to have faith that Princess Celestia would see the smoke signal she'd lured Nightmare Moon into making, realize something was wrong and come to help her. If nothing else, perhaps she could convince Gleaming to tell her parents what was going on, so they wouldn't assume she was just a cowardly thief. A weak, shaky chuckle escaped her as she walked: Well, at least she had an honest job now, just like they would've wanted.
And there she stood, at the door of the library. No turning back now. She sighed, knocking loudly on the library door. She looked up, hearing a faint sound of hoofsteps, and a light in one of the upstairs windows. Then light emerged from the ground floor, and the door opened, revealing Gleaming Lulamoon: A young, navy blue unicorn, somewhere in her mid-20s, with a short, neatly cut mane of silvery hair. She looked down, confused at the filly at her door. "Erm, you're one of the school fillies, right? Lilly?" Little Steppes nodded. "Good gracious! It's 2 in the morning! Whatever are you doing up at this time of night!?" She then saw her face, her eyes still slightly red from her earlier crying. "...Is, is something wrong?"
"I, I've come to bring you a message." She sighed, lifting up a hoof to show the librarian her shoes. "The Princess of the Night has ordered me to tell you that... Well, the night will last forever. "
Her eyes went wide in horror. "Oh... Oh no. Quickly, come inside." She swiftly hurried Little Steppes inside the library: The hollowed out tree allowed for a vast, airy chamber, selves carved into the wooden walls, lined with books of all subjects. She paced up and down, sweat beading on her forehead. "No, no no no..." She stammered over and over. "YOU were the one she told of in my dream? A child?! Why would she do this to a child?!?"
Lilly blushed a little. "Erm... Hello? I thought you were loyal to Nightmare Moon? What's going on?"
She sharply turned to face her. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear... I, I don't know how to explain what's going on... I, well, erm..." Gleaming's mouth was dry, still a little confused and upset about a young filly, still in her pyjama gown and the princess' shoes, clearly plucked from her bed at the dead of night. "Nightmare Moon, you see, has been visiting my dreams for a while now. And recently, she'd been trying to convince me to come to her castle and pledge fealty to her, as my parents had done long ago."
"Wait." Lilly interrupted. "...but I thought she couldn't influence dreams right now?"
"She said that to you?" She asked. "And you think she won't lie to ponies now and then?" Lilly went quiet, she should've seen that coming. "It's a half truth. Observing dreams is far easier than influencing them. One must be resourceful with their magic, after all. She's conserving her strength, and only influencing the dreams of a handful of ponies at a time. Namely, me. She warned me that she'd recruit somepony to secure my support someday... And, I'd know them by the shoes which would bring them here. Her shoes."
"...Shoes which would only go where she tells them to go, and do what she wants them to do."
The unicorn shuddered. "I didn't think she'd go so far as to enslave a child, though! I knew she was brutal, and ruthless, but... A child?!" She shook her head.
"So, what are you going to do? You're not going to help her?"
Gleaming growled. "This is why I left Canterlot! I couldn't live with the Nightmare Moon fanatics in my family, I had to bring it to an end, change my family's name so we're not just those crazy moon worshippers. I didn't want to be a part of that reputation, so I left... Everypony had assumptions made about me and my family, and I didn't want to live with such a bad reputation." She sighed. "No, I won't help her. I'm sorry you were dragged here for nothing."
"I... I..." The young earth pony shuddered. "Well... Please, can you help me ?" Gleaming froze. "These shoes keep making me go all over against my will and I can't get them off. Please can't you do something ? I want to go home, but I can't with them on."
The librarian approached her, taking a closer a look at the shoes. She reach out a hoof. "May I take a look?" She asked, to which Lilly nodded. He took one of Lilly's hooves in her own, closely studying the shoe. "I've never seen them this close before... They're very beautiful."
Lilly scoffed. "I know. Nightmare Moon is pretty good at baiting her traps."
Gleaming blushed. "Apologies... Hmm. I've not seen a pair of shoes like this before. That's not silver, it's a strange material, that's for sure."
"Could it be mithril?" She asked.
"Mithril?" She pondered in reply. "...Hm, perhaps. If anypony could find and adorn herself in such mythical metal, it would be Nightmare Moon. As strong as it is elegant. I can see why she'd chose such things. A manticore could chew on these for a week and they wouldn't even lose their shape."
"Heh, I can imagine. They certainly didn't show any signs of my trying to pull them off with my mouth."
"Quite." Her horn glowed, engulfing her hoof in a pale blue light. The magic tugged at the shoe, pulling her along but not causing the shoe to budge. "Darn, they really are stuck on tight there."
"Mm-hm." Lilly nodded. "Don't you have a spell or something you could use?"
"I, I might... I was always more of a reader than a magician though... Her magic shouldn't be as strong in the morning, we'll be able to fight it then."
Little steppes gulped. "Erm... Well, that's the thing..." She blushed intently as Gleaming stared at her. "Nightmare Moon... She might be, maybe, slightly deciding to... Make tonight never end..."
"Oh..." Gleaming shrunk back. "...This, this is bad."
"But, but Celestia will see it, right?! She'll know it's her sister, and will come to stop her!?"
"Well, yes... Nightmare Moon's playing her hoof this early WILL get Celestia's attention, but..." She wet her lips a little, her mouth dry as it was. "...Celestia has been defeated before... She needed the Elements of Harmony to defeat her sister last time, and the princess has only gotten older since then..." She shuddered.
"So, so what do I do?!"
...Gleaming sighed, trotting to a cupboard and producing a parchment roll and a quill. She quickly scribbled down a pair of letters, handing one of the two to Little Steppes. She then ushered her visitor into her kitchen, where Lilly found her rummaging through a cupboard. She produced a small bottle with an ominous skull and crossbones on its label.
"For now, we must trust that Celestia can somehow defeat Nightmare Moon... But if we can't..." She sighed regretfully. "Lilly... You're going to have to kill Nightmare Moon."
"What?!?" she stepped back, dumbstruck. "But, but I can't kill anypony! How am I supposed to kill an alicorn princess!?"
"With this..." the librarian answered, showing her the bottle. "Gentle Goodnight's Rat Poison. It's supposed to be humane. Odourless, tasteless, but extremely deadly. If you can get this into Nightmare Moon, she'll fall into a deep sleep and, where she'll promptly perish."
"But, b-but how?" Her voice cracked. "A-and I've never killed anything before!" She felt her eyes go wet again at the thought: Even SHE had her limits. "I, I don't want to!"
"Oh, I know, I know." Gleaming gave the young filly a hug. "But you must. Nightmare Moon is known to be arrogant. When you go back to her castle, hide this in your night gown and appeal for mercy to her. Do what you can to convince her to make you her assistant, a cupbearer, a servant in her kitchens. Anything of that ilk. Once she trusts you, place this into her food or her drink." She showed her the other letter. "I will send for help, and Celestia will definitely notice the perpetuity of the night, and hopefully you won't have to do anything. But, if Celestia can't beat her sister... Or worse, you'll be the only one who can prevent her from taking over Equestria."
"But, what happens if both of the princesses are... Are..." She didn't want to finish that sentence.
"I don't know. One can only assume that Nature would take over... Perhaps, perhaps we'd need to find a new ruler... If all ends as I fear it does, we might see the end of Monarchy in this night. Hopefully you'll never need to use it, but if it has to be so, at least this way you'll DEFINITELY be able to walk free." She slipped the small bottle into the pockets of Lilly's gown anyway. "The only other thing I can think of would be to do something to distract Nightmare Moon in her fight with Celestia... Hmmm... I do have one thing, but it's a stretch, let's put it like that. And I don't think it would even work."
"What is it? If I can help Celestia somehow, without..." Little Steppes shuddered.
Gleaming ran upstairs, leaving Lilly alone in the library for a while before she returned. "I do have this." She showed the earth pony a short, narrow wooden stick of some sort. Well, it was no twig, this was quite a nicely carved, polished sort of thing with the same kind of length and width of a pencil.
"What is that?" Lilly asked.
"It's a wand." The librarian answered her. "Have you ever heard of Meadowbrook the Enchanter?" Lilly shook her head. "He'd created several magical items of great power over the course of his life. But here's the thing of curiosity. He wasn't a unicorn, he was an Earth Pony." Lilly blinked, she'd never heard of him before, nor had she ever heard of non-unicorns using magic, well, like that. "He started out with a simple wand, much like this one, and gradually managed to build up his strength and his skill. He wanted to prove to the world that some ponies out there, not just unicorns, could be great wizards too... Provided they had the ability, and the right tools." With this, Gleaming gave Lilly the wand.
"Wow..." She gasped. "But, but I've never..."
"I know, and this might not work anyway. But, if it does... This is still a pretty weak wand, you'll only really be able to make a large flash of light with it, a stun at most." She added. "But it could give Celestia an advantage if you use it correctly..." She frowned. "...If you can use it at all... Take it, try to test it out."
It was a clumsy to wield in her mouth, though she did consider just wrapping her hoof around it somewhat. She figured she'd try and hold it as she'd hold a pencil, and that seemed to work a little bit.
"Now, wha'd do I do?" She asked with the wand still in her mouth.
"For now, you are going to want to try to use that thing as a unicorn would use their horn." Gleaming explained. "Try to, try to focus on drawing your strength into your mouth and through the wand..." She groaned. "It can be rather difficult to explain what comes so naturally to unicorns like me to a non-unicorn... Basically, think like you were going to spit, but don't ACTUALLY spit, it's the magic you want coming up that way. Nothing else."
Lilly chuckled with nerves, TRYING to do as Gleaming suggested. Focus, focus! She stared at the wand in her mouth and concentrated with all of her strength to make it do SOMETHING! A little spark fizzled out from the end of the wand.
"Look, see." Gleaming smiled. "You're doing it. Keep going!"
Encouraged, Lilly pressed on, her body beginning to ache from the strain. The wand began to glow. "Look!" She cried. "Look! I'm doing it!" Then, there was a blinding flash and Lilly yelped, reeling back and dropping the wand. When she came to, her vision had light spots flicking in her eyes, which slowly faded as she pulled herself to her hooves. Gleaming rubbed her eyes, but she looked pleased. "Well, you're no Meadowbrook. But get that in Nightmare Moon's face and she'll be dazed for sure."
"But, how will I be able to do that again?" Lilly asked, picking up the wand, feeling her entire body aching if she'd ran a marathon.
"Trust me, dear, it gets much easier the more you do it." Gleaming beamed. "But Lilly, don't be disheartened for a second! You're an earth pony who just cast a spell, with a wand, on your first try! You do realize that even some unicorns your own age would struggle to maintain a light spell like that? ...Granted, when they do it, it doesn't usually explode in a flash in their faces..." She had a thoughtful look on her face. "...You keep that wand, okay? I'm sure it will help Celestia when she confronts her sister. Just... Be careful, okay?"
As Little Steppes took Gleaming's reply in her dress pockets and made the long walk back to Nightmare Moon's castle, her thoughts were a mess. A wand? Magic? She'd just used MAGIC! It didn't go terribly well, but how many earth ponies did you see going around casting spells?!
...Her excitement at the thought was quickly doused by her reality, however: Having to somehow use that flash against Nightmare Moon? Or worse: The idea of having to be the pony to use that poison and kill the princess was horrifying. She stole from other ponies, and she could live with the idea of people thinking she was a thief, she DESERVED that. But a murderer? Even if it was a pony as evil as Nightmare Moon, it would still mean that Little Steppes had murdered a pony. That was something only the worst of ponies would even think to do, and Little Steppes wasn't a bad pony! She wasn't! She wanted to be free, she wanted to get those horrible shoes off her hooves, and she wanted to go home... But, she didn't know if she could do THAT, even when the stakes were so high...
"Ah. You're back at last..." Nightmare Moon snorted as she saw the small filly quietly enter her throne room. "You took longer than expected."
Lilly looked up. "I'm sorry." She spoke sadly. "I, I have Gleaming's reply for you." She trotted up and offered her the letter, which the princess took with her magic. The young filly watched as the princess quietly read it. "Hm. So she's on board? Why didn't she come with you?"
"I... I don't know..." Lilly answered weakly, trying to come up with something to cover him. "...I, I think she was worried about blowing your cover before you were ready to make yourself known to the world. I, I'm sure she'll be here soon, hopefully." Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "But, what about me? What else can I do for you? C-could I get you something to eat, or drink, maybe?"
The princess chuckled. "You've changed your tone. Where's the sudden humility come from?"
"I... I..." She winced. "...I saw my home when I was in Ponyville... I tried to go back, I just wanted to see my family again, or at least put on something warmer than this stupid gown..." She choked up a little. "...I couldn't. Just as you said."
The Princess of the Night didn't react at first. "I used to keep casks of wine in a concealed part of the cellars, along with some preserved cheese, stored in wax. Go and fetch me some, and you may cut a small slice for yourself. Let's call it a reward for proving your loyalty. Don't get greedy with my cheese, though! I'll know if you do..." She huffed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go!"
Little Steppes hurried off as quickly as her shoes could move, taking her down a corridor at one of the sides of the throne room. It wasn't as well-lit as the main chamber, and had the eerie ambience of a long-abandoned castle, the only light coming from the night sky and the moon beyond.
She turned a corner and down a flight of spiral stairs. It was still awfully, awfully dark the deeper she went. There was torchlight down here, however, lighting the cellars just enough to navigate. There were bookshelves, lots of bookshelves. Many of them were empty, save for a few books here and there. The clincher though was one bookshelf with a single, suspiciously upright book on the shelf... It also helped that this was the shelf that Lilly's shoes parked her in front of. She reached up, grabbing the book and pulling it from the shelf, revealing it to be a lever, opening the shelf as a secret door. Okay, that was pretty cool: Under better circumstances, Lilly would have found this discovery more exciting.
As she entered the wine cellar, moisture sloshed under her hooves: Some of the lower barrels had leaked, and shallow pools of red wine dotted the floor. Most of the barrels, however, were perfectly fine. There was a cabinet of wine glasses, a large silver platter, and a knife for cutting the cheeses.
As she finished pouring out a glass of the wine and cut a slice of the cheese for the princess, she took out the bottle of rat poison, holding it in her hoof. She stared at it, and at the knife, then at the wine glass. She could have her freedom right here and now, if she chose it. But, that would be murder, no question about it... But this was Nightmare Moon: The pony who'd trapped her, dragged her from her home and enslaved her. Surely she deserved it, right?! But, if it was doing the right thing... Why did Lilly feel horrible thinking about it?
As she returned, she caught sight of the princess on her hooves. She'd left the comfort of her throne, and was standing, looking upwards at the wall behind it. Lilly followed Nightmare Moon's gaze, up to a tattered and moth-eaten pair of banners, one a night blue, and the other a golden yellow: It was the yellow banner which the princess was staring at.
"P-princess?" Lilly spoke, breaking the silence and snapping the princess out of her trance.
"What?! What do you want?!" She snapped.
"Sorry. I'm just bringing you the food and drink you wanted."
The princess huffed, walking over and snatching up the wine and the cheese plate with her telekinetic magic, not wasting any time in taking a large sip of the drink. "Very good." She returned to her throne. "...Very good." She took another sip. "You don't have any siblings, do you, Little Steppes?" the filly shook her head. "Good. In my experience, an older sibling would stab you in the back for their own ends if they had to choose between what they want and what you need." She snorted bitterly. "Then again, I assume you'd just steal whatever you like from them, wouldn't you?"
"I wouldn't." Lilly protested weakly. "I promised my father I wouldn't anymore."
"Oh, of course. Because words mean so much, don't they?"
"I, I know what I did was wrong. But I'm not a bad pony... I, I really meant it this time."
Nightmare Moon sighed. "Shut up, Lilly."
"I, I'm sorry if I've annoyed you." Little Steppes said. "But, but I'm sure she regretted what she did. I mean, she's your sister, she loves you."
Within seconds, Lilly suddenly found herself caught in the grip of Nightmare Moon's magic and dragged before her by her scruff! She seized the filly and shoved her against a wall. "I SAID SHUT UP!" She barked. "I don't know what goes on in your stupid head, but if 'Love' came into this, she would not have done what she did! Do you understand? Princess Celestia does NOT love me!"
"You're wrong." Came another voice suddenly, causing Nightmare to release Lilly from her grip, the young filly scrambling away from the Princess of the night. She turned to see who had spoken, seeing a towering, white-furred alicorn, her wings folded and her face grim: Princess Celestia.
Nightmare Moon turned, a cold smirk on her face. "Ah, Celestia. What a pleasant surprise."
"Luna..." Celestia took a step forward. "I didn't realize you..."
"That I'd gotten free?" She snorted. "Your magic has been getting weaker and weaker for years! There's been cracks forming in your spell, and in those cracks, I have emerged. I thought myself free, but still you keep me trapped in this castle! Tormenting me with the world outside! This castle is like a cage, you know? So, perhaps you should learn how it feels!" She chuckled, turning into a laugh. Her horn glowed, the golden tapestry flew aside to reveal a crystal podium with a strange level like device fitted atop it. The lever was pulled and suddenly, all around Celestia, crystals shards erupted from the ground! This happened rapidly to form a circular cage like construct, far too narrow for Celestia to climb through. Celestia gasped, and tried to teleport away, but something was preventing her from doing so!
"You stupid pair of fools!" She spat. "I knew that Gleaming Lulamoon was unwilling to support me! Those who were truly loyal would've come to me when I called for them! I knew that the child was going to try to get help when I sent her to Ponyville!" She smirked, looking down at Little Steppes. "I'm sorry, my little pony. This was a trap all along, and you were the bait!"
"Luna!" Celestia called. "I know what I did! You cannot imagine how much it hurt when I had to do what I did. I spent nearly a thousand regretting it."
"You had ALL the choice in the world, but you chose the adoration of your subjects over me! You vicious liar! You always WERE the indulgent one! Enough was never enough! Always more treats after dinner, always more playtime in your sunlight, always more adoration from your subjects. You ALWAYS needed more!"
"...I was swept up in the adoration." was Celestia's reply. "...We were young, and I was stupid. Even when we'd fought for Equestria together, neither of us had ever experienced leadership of a kingdom before. I'd been selfish, and I'm sorry."
"Sorry?! SORRY?!?" Nightmare Moon's face was locked into a deadly glare. "You claim to be sorry, but if you had your way, you'd send me back to the moon again this very night!"
Celestia's head lowered slightly. "I have failed you, Luna. If I can't find some way to convince you to find your better self, if I can't convince you to end this madness, and let that child you have kidnapped go free... The sister I know would never have enslaved children to get her way... I fear I may be doomed to fail you again."
"SHUT UP!" Nightmare Moon barked at her sister, stepping forward to shout at the white-furred alicorn. Lilly saw the trap trigger, and a clear path between her and it. This was her chance to DO something!
She jumped out from her hiding place, wand in her grasp. She pointed in in Nightmare Moon's direction and closed her eyes as it began to glow. She didn't see the flash, she did hear Nightmare Moon's yelp, however. She opened her eyes to see the alicorn princess furious writhing, her eyes struggling to focus. Lilly didn't waste any time, she bolted, running to the lever and jumping at it, pulling with all her might at the lever, slowly dragging it to its original position, before the trap was triggered.
...She heard a click, but before anything else could be heard or done, she froze, unable to move! Her body was engulfed by the blue magic of Nightmare Moon's horn.
"Stupid foal!" she hissed. "Try to blind ME with your little wand?!" She dragged the filly over to her, snatching her wand and snapping it in half. "How about I show you MY magic?! I'll do far worse than blind you!"
"Luna!" Celestia barked, the cage now gone, and the Princess of the Sun now free. "Your fight isn't with her! Let her go!"
Nightmare Moon cackled. "You always were a soft spot for the children! You fool!" She turned to face Celestia directly, the magical grip around Lilly's body tightened painfully. "So this is how it's going to be. You are going to release me from this imprisonment, or there's going to be a VERY bad end to this little filly's night..."
Celestia went quiet. There was nothing Little Steppes could do: She couldn't move, she couldn't even open her mouth to speak, even breathing was difficult with the hold Nightmare Moon had over her. "So is that how you're going to begin your reign?"
"I will rule however I see fit."
"And how are you going to rule when everypony knows your reign began with the spilled blood of a child?"
"If that's what it takes!"
"But you did all of this because you wanted ponies to appreciate your work on such a beautiful night." Celestia protested. "You want them to love you. Love you as they loved me. You never saw it, but ponies DID love you, Luna! There have always been ponies who looked up at your nights in awe, wondering what lies beyond. Ponies who used your stars to travel the world, and ponies who were inspired by the night sky. Are you prepared to bloody your own work, this eternal magnum opus, by bloodying the moon with a child?" She shook her head sadly. "If any blood should be spilled here, it should be mine, not hers."
"Who's to say I can't have both?" Nightmare Moon asked with a smirk. "Perhaps it's better to be feared, than loved."
"Then I have failed you." Celestia sighed, a look of hurting but steeled resolve in her eyes. "...Do what you must to me first. I'm sure you want the child to fear you, since I only feel pity. She can watch as you defeat me."
Nightmare Moon snorted, throwing Little Steppes aside, causing her to hit the floor with a painful thud! Again, Nightmare Moon lunged at Celestia, this time her horn facing her heart; she wanted to gore the Princess and red the throne room floors herself! But one final time, Celestia teleported, again she appeared atop the throne. Her horn glowed, seizing Little Steppes in light and quickly shoving her in a small space behind the throne.
"Stay back, little one. Your work is done for tonight." She instructed quietly, her tone strangely comforting despite the situation. The young filly obeyed, hiding behind the large, stone throne: She knew she could well have just been killed for what she did, and it put the fear of death in her!
It was well timed, she felt the force of Nightmare Moon violently connecting with Celestia, the pair slamming against the throne, shaking the thing and causing Lilly to yelp. Celestia forced her sister back with the flash of her magic shield, a large scratch at her side from where Nightmare Moon had so-narrowly missed her mark: She was lost in her rage, and charging blindly in Celestia's general direction. Celestia forced herself up, grunting at the pain from her injury. Her horn glowed, there was a warm glow around the comparably inconsequential wound which quickly healed.
Nightmare Moon charged again, her horn glowing brightly as she fired blasts of blue magical energy at her sister! Celestia remained expressionless as she raised a magical shield, the blasts bouncing of it at wild angles, smashing against the walls and columns. "I will not fight you!" Celestia shouted. "Stop this madness!"
"If you will not fight, then I will kill you eventually!" Nightmare Moon's voice boomed. Again, they continued their dance: Celestia would not fight back, she only blocked the shots which came her way and teleported before Nightmare could strike her.
"I'm sorry, Luna... But you're leaving me no choice." Again, Celestia's horn glowed. And then, Lilly saw 6 gemstones materialize around the white-furred princess.
"The Elements of Harmony?" Nightmare Moon stammered, before exploding in rage, but backing up from the white mare. "I knew it! I knew that as what you would try to do! You really are a coward!" The elements flew into a large planetary astrolabe which rose from the floor with Celestia's magic. As the gems entered the planets of the astrolabe, it began to brightly glow. Celestia looked away, her eyes tearing. "Do not look directly at it." She instructed Lilly, who continued to hide behind the throne. "It could blind you if you look." Magic erupted from the astrolabe, a rainbow of colour, charging at Nightmare Moon like a missile. She cried out as it ensnared her like lasso, pulling her towards its heart.
"CELESTIA!!" She roared as she fought vainly against the light. "CELESTIA, you coward! If you're going to send me away again, look me in the face! I want you to look me in the eyes when you're banishing me! Look at me!" and again, she screamed, one final time."LOOK AT ME!!"
A shaky, cracked moan quietly escaped the elder sister, and she opened her eyes. Those ancient, magenta eyes wet with streaming tears as she watched her sister be dragged into the light of the Elements of Harmony and vanished. There was a flickering of the moonlight, for nothing more than a nanosecond, and the face of a mare emerged upon the surface of the moon once more. The castle rumbled, small pieces of rock and masonry fell from the walls and the ceiling as though an earthquake shook the chamber, but then there was silence, and peace returned to the castle.
There was a horrible silence in the air. It surrounded Lilly like a fog, but felt like a choke-hold around her neck. The only thing which broke that evil quiet was the brief, oh-so-gentle sobbing of the kingdom's ruler. It was so quiet, but it was the only sound in those dark, cursed halls, Lilly found herself crying too.
...Not for her own sake, mind, but for the scene which had played out before her, so raw was the wounds laid bear before her. She felt like she had no right to bare witness to the confrontation which had transpired; her presence was a blot of red paint on a dark, sombre portrait where she had no good business being. She'd promised never to steal again, but she felt, deep down, like she'd stolen this moment and made it about her; a fight between sisters turned into a rescue mission for a stupid, stupid filly!
"Are you hurt?" Little Steppes suddenly heard the voice of Princess Celestia, and looked up, seeing the princess staring down at her.
"N-no..." Lilly sniffed. "I, I'm okay."
Celestia took a step back as the young earth pony climbed from her hiding space. "My dear, you look anything but fine right now." Celestia's eyes were red and bloodshot, and it only served to make the smile she put forth look more forced, and more painful for Lilly than any physical injuries: Again, Celestia was putting on airs for Lilly's sake, when she should've been allowed this moment for herself to hurt.
"I, I-I'm sorry." She whimpered. "This all wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been so stupid!"
Celestia went quiet. "What do you mean?"
"I, I mean, if I hadn't have been a thief and gotten myself into trouble over and over, I'd never have come out here to the Everfree. I'd never have been caught in these shoes, and I wouldn't be here to... To..." She trailed off. "...And, and you're here, asking if I'M okay..." She wiped her face in vain. "After running out and nearly getting myself killed! ...And then before... Oh, oh no... I'd contemplated... Something horrible..." She fumbled in the pockets of her gown, producing the small bottle of poison. Celestia took it up in her magic, studying it. "Did you..."
"NO!" Lilly screamed, startling the white alicorn princess. "I didn't do it!" She sobbed. "I couldn't! I wanted to! I wanted to SO much, because... Because she could've brought about eternal night, and done so many horrible things. But, I, I also wanted to be free! If, if you couldn't... And Nightmare... I... I..." She felt herself engulfed in the warm, golden glow of the princess' magic, who pulled her into a long, motherly hug. "Everypony thinks the worst of me. My parents, my teacher, the kids in class, even other people in my town! All of them, and they're all right! I steal, I lie, and I'm so stupid all the time! But I didn't do THAT!" She buried her face in her hooves, quivering.
Celestia held her in the hug, and let her cry as much as she needed to, and the young filly hating every second of it. "I was going to say..." Celestia spoke softly. "...Though I think I can guess the answer now. Did you feel how horrible that choice weighed on you as you held the bottle in your hooves? That pain is what I felt when I first did what I did to Nightmare... To Luna . A thousand years on the moon? It felt like I was killing her. All that pain just comes flowing back so readily. Hungry to bite more pieces out of you like so much flesh from a corpse... I wouldn't wish that on anypony..." A squeeze of the wings around the young filly, careful not to hurt her. "...I'm sorry you had to suffer that, and everything you've been subjected to tonight... But, I'm deeply, deeply thankful you didn't kill my sister." She sighed. "I couldn't do it either."
"But, what do you?" Little Steppes looked up at Celestia. "But, she's gone. You banished her for a thousand years again?"
"No..." Celestia shook her head. "She is still bound to her original banishment... All I did was prevent her from manifesting in the castle again until the spell finally ends..." she faltered. "I, I'm not strong enough to banish her again."
"But, you're Princess Celestia? You're the one who can raise the sun and the moon, and rule over Equestria, and..."
"No, Lilly, I don't think you understand..." Celestia corrected her. "I mean to say I couldn't do it . Not again."
"But, but that means that... She can come back?"
"Someday, yes. But that is nothing for you to worry about. It'll be a hundred years or more before that ever happens, and... And..." She smiled, that warm and motherly she was so good at, even when her eyes screamed pain.
"...As for you... Lilly, was it?" Lilly nodded. "...As for you, Lilly. It's been a long time since I saw an earth pony who could use magic. I didn't realize what you were even doing until I saw the flash..." She sighed, picking up the broken remains of Gleaming's wand in her magic. "I'm sorry about what happened to your wand."
"I... It's not mine." Lilly said. "The librarian in Ponyville gave it to me..."
"So, that was only your first time casting spells?"
"Well, no... I practiced a little with Gleaming before I came back here..."
"Well..." Celestia went quiet, a thoughtful look on her face. "...That's very impressive, that you were able to cast a spell to daze my sister like that when you'd barely learned the spell an hour or ago. And standing up to her like that was very brave of you."
"Very stupid, more like." Lilly sniffed. "...I just, I was being cowardly, hiding. That's all I ever do, run away and hide! I just wanted to stand up to her, to help you! ...Like a good pony."
"Not everything is in black and white, Lilly." Celestia told her. "You're not a bad pony, I'm yet to meet a pony that had no bad in them at all. Or even a bad pony which didn't have something good to them, once." She went quiet for a moment, thinking on what to add. "...Say, for example. If I couldn't have stopped my sister. Would it have been bad to use your poison to kill her, knowing she would've probably killed you, and who knows how many other ponies?"
"I... I don't know anymore..." Lilly answered. "I, I think, maybe ? Maybe it would've been better if I'd just... But... To kill a pony... I... I couldn't do it."
"See? It isn't as simple as 'good pony, bad pony', is it? All we can really do is try to be the best we can be, and try to learn from our mistakes. Nevertheless, I'm truly thankful you didn't do it." Lilly looked at her, confused. "...Nightmare Moon is evil, but Luna isn't. Deep down, somewhere in that mare, my sister is still screaming to get out. One day, I hope I will be able to free her from that monster she's become... If Nightmare Moon had died, my sister would have surely perished alongside her." Again she trailed off, looking up at the night sky. "Good heavens! The night has gone on for far longer than it should have done!" She smiled again, nudging Little Steppes with her snout as she stood up. "I think it's time to take you home."
"But, but what about these?" She asked, lifting a hoof to shoe the princess her shoes.
"Don't you worry." Celestia's horn glowed. "As I said, your work is done for tonight. You just rest ."
Again, Lilly was engulfed in the glow of Celestia's magic, finding herself slowly lifting up into the air. At the same time, she felt herself become light-headed, woozy. Her vision blurred as she was carefully set down upon the warm, soft fur on Celestia's back. The last thing she remembered before drifting off completely was feeling a flap of Celestia's wings, the ground swiftly running away from them as the princess took to the skies...
"Lilly..." Came the familiar voice of her mother. "Lilly dear, it's time to wake up. I'm sorry, we all seemed to have overslept."
Little Steppes slowly came to, feeling herself lying on something familiarly soft. Her vision focused, seeing a familiar wall in a familiar room: She was in her bedroom. The sun shone brightly through her window, illuminating a perfect blue day, set to the tune of birdsong and the quiet bustle of the village ponies beyond. Was that all a dream?
"Oh, my... Did you have this window open all night?" Grassy trotted over to the window, sliding it shut. "Honestly, how cold must it have been in here?"
Lilly blinked: That window had DEFINITELY been closed last night, she'd checked... Right? "I, err..."
Grassy continued to trot around the room, stopping at a small table which was kept in the bedroom. "Oh, well, that explains it. Did you manage to get those shoes off before going to bed in the end?"
What? Lilly threw the bedclothes off herself and checked her hooves: Somehow, the shoes were gone! She looked over to her mother, seeing her standing next to the table, the strange, magic, mithril shoes sat nearly on the table top. So it WASN'T a dream?
"I... I..." She was distracted by the sound of knocking at the front door. "Oooh, the door! I'll go get it!" She took off downstairs. As she reached the end of the staircase, she saw her father there, already opening the door. He was greeted by the sight of Bobby Peeler, a white-furred royal guard pony who doubled up as the local constable; he and his family were also the first Pegasi to have settled in Ponyville, having come with him from Canterlot when he was assigned to protect the village.
"Oh, hello again, Constable." Mighty sighed, looking down at Lilly. She'd had one or two run-ins with him before: He was nice, yes, but he also had a shouting voice on him when he needed it, and being a Pegasus, it was almost impossible to run away or hide from him. "Has something happened again? Lilly came home with a pair of shoes which weren't hers yesterday. She said she found them in the woods."
"I did find them." She spoke up. "Everypony just thinks I stole them, when I didn't. I wish I'd never laid eyes on them!"
"Well, nopony has come to me saying they've lost a pair of shoes, and I didn't see her in town at all yesterday... Maybe she did just find them? Besides, I am here about Lilly, but not for anything bad."
This took Mighty aback. "Oh, I see... Would you like to come inside for something to eat or drink?"
"Erm, no thank you. I'm here to deliver a pair of letters. One for you and Grassy, and one for Little Steppes."
"But, you're not the mail pony."
He scoffed. "I know, I know. But... Look. I was approached by some hooded stranger on her way out of the Everfree. She and I talked for a while, and she said she was on her way to Canterlot. She spoke very highly of Lilly though, and asked me to deliver some letters for her before she was on her way."
"You met somepony in the Everfree?" Mighty looked down at his daughter, he wasn't angry, but curious. "Why didn't you say?"
"I... I..." She looked down. "I didn't think you'd believe me."
It was a white lie, since she never met anypony that previous day, but what else could she say? Either way, Mighty said nothing, but he looked wounded as he took the letters given to him by the guard. After that, Bobby asked Lilly's father to take his boots, since they needed new inside linings and the metal was chafing against his legs. With that, he smiled and took wing. Quietly, he closed the front door, walking to the kitchen to take a seat, calling over Grassy to read the stranger's letter, written with extremely elegant handwriting, written in a deep blue ink, set upon luxurious, creamy paper...
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Steppes,
I met your daughter while traveling in the area. I made camp in the Everfree Forest for a time, taking in the land around Ponyville. It was during that time I met your daughter, Lilly. She chanced upon my camp by mistake. We chatted for a while, and she shared some of her berries with me, and helped me do a spot of cooking with my campfire. She'd ruined her old shoes while gathering what she'd found, so I decided to give her my shoes, since I'd enchanted them to fit their wearer, and I can always get another pair for myself. She'd told me about the trouble she'd gotten into, and her worries about everypony judging her on her bad behaviour. Lilly will need to get over these bad habits, sure enough, but I like to think I'm a good judge of character, and I think Lilly will do very well when she's older, proven she learns from her mistakes.
Best regards,
Sunny Tia.
PS: Lilly was far too quick to run off in her new shoes. I didn't get time to warn her that they might become a bit... clingy, at first. But don't worry, they should be perfectly safe to wear by the time you read this. The shoes are Lilly's now, and they'll only go where she wants them to go, or do what she wants them to do.
Sunny Tia? That was the name she was going by?! Lilly looked at her parents, who set down the letter on the kitchen table. They looked stunned: A letter handed to them by the local constable, written with ink and paper no locals could've had, with handwriting far superior to almost any earth pony. There was no way this could be a fake, and both Lilly's parents knew it. Mighty was the first to move, he rose to his hooves, walking over to his daughter, a sad look in his face. "You always protested your innocence when we accused you of stealing those shoes, and we didn't believe you. I'd already decided you were lying, regardless." He gave her long, warm hug. "I was asking you to be good, and when you were, I refused to accept it... My own daughter..." He sighed sadly as Grassy joined the hug.
"It wasn't just you." She added. "Even I was beginning to doubt. It was unfair of both of us."
"I know, I know." Mighty nodded. "Just, Lilly. I love you, and I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."
Lilly resisted letting herself cry again, she'd had more than enough of crying for a long time, but the sense of vindication, and her father speaking as he had to her just then? It was enough to get a few happy tears to escape their confines. "I love you too." She peeped in reply...
The family hug went on for a fair while. It only ended when Lilly remembered that she and her mother were meant to be making a pie for her father. He was quite happy to go away and do his work while Grassy got everything ready. Lilly, meanwhile, went upstairs to get dressed.
Throwing on her day dress and a change of socks later, Lilly remembered the shoes on her table... She shuddered a little bit at the thought. Then, she remembered Celestia's OTHER letter, the one addressed to her specifically...
Hello Lilly,
I'm sorry you had to be dragged into my fight with my sister last night, and that she subjected you to slavery with her trap. I know I said a lot of things in my other letter, and you've probably predicted by now who 'Tia' is... I always did like that nickname.
I want you to remember what I told you back at the Castle of the Two Sisters last night, and take it to heart: You are NOT a bad pony. In my experience, there is no such thing. You might have done bad things in the past, but I saw your guilt, and how much the thought of people seeing you as a bad pony hurt you: You'd clearly been bottling things up. Don't. That's not healthy. Instead, you need to focus on being the best pony you can be. Learn from your mistakes, and in improving your standing in Ponyville, don't worry too much about grand gestures. Nothing happens overnight after all. It takes a long series of little steps. (Okay, even I know that was an awful pun. Let me have this.)
For now though I know you still need a pair of shoes, as your old pair broke, didn't they? That was why you had Nightmare Moon's in the first place I assume. Well, as I said in my other letter, they're not Nightmare Moon's shoes anymore, she doesn't really have any need for them under the circumstances. As a result, the shoes are yours now. The way I managed to release you from their grasp was to use my magic to force them to see you as their owner, rather than Nightmare Moon. They are your to keep now, and you'll find that they'll always fit you no matter how much you grow, and will never break nor ware down. However, I must ask that you do not let anypony else wear them, or else we might be at risk of having somepony suffer what happened to you. They're your reward, but not your reward to share.
Fondest regards,
Princess Celestia.
PS: Those shoes of yours might be a bit more useful than stylish footwear when you're older. If you ever wish to try to learn how to take advantage of the shoes' magic, come and seek me out someday. Many assume that only unicorns can use magic, but they're born with a magic channelling rod as part of their anatomy. If you ever wish to learn more, perhaps... Perhaps then you be able to discover what those magic shoes can really do.
Lilly looked up from her letter, her eyes lying on the shoes on her bedroom table. She didn't understand what Celestia meant with the final paragraph of her letter. But, although part of her was still very scared of the idea wearing them, Celestia had promised, twice, that the shoes were now safe for Lilly to wear, indeed the shoes were actually, physically and magically hers now, and they would serve her as they once served Nightmare Moon. She sighed: It was a great gift, and her parents believed the story that the shoes had never been harmless at all, and that Lilly really had no reason to be nervous about them.
She shook her head, she was being silly again! She was NOT a pony who got scared like this! "Honestly, Lilly, pull yourself together!" She thought to herself. It was very simple: Did she trust Princess Celestia? Yes. Yes she did. Lilly grit her teeth and grabbed the shoes, slipping them onto her hooves. She trotted around in a circle in her room, all was perfectly normal. She noted that the shoes lacked that tightness that they had before, which was a good sign. Then, she kicked at one of her hooves to shake off its shoe, and the shoe obediently slipped from her hoof, quietly clattering onto the floor. That was the most comforting thing about this whole experiment, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she stepped her hoof back into the stray shoe. They truly were hers now, and to be honest, she was glad: She liked her magic shoes, and with them on, she was ready to start taking steps in the right direction...
Author's Note
So, apparently Metalbrook is actually Meadowbrook . So, I've had to change that.
Little Steppes in the Magic Shoes
* * *
Lilly's parents seemed a lot happier with her today. Grassy had doubled down on the belief that her daughter had turned a corner, and had trusted her with two things: The second of the two pies they'd baked, and today's food budget. Grassy had asked her daughter to go into town to pick up the daily shopping from a list, and to sell the spare pie for some extra money. Once all the things on her list were bought, she could spend whatever money was left on something for herself. Today was going to be a good day!
Lilly's saddlebags were heavy, she knew there was enough bits in the coin purse to pay for everything on her list; selling the pie was Grassy's way of giving Lilly some pocket money to spend in the market. At first, Lilly had been very tempted to do just that, she'd have loved to have a bit of pocket change to buy some treats from the market for herself, especially when one of the crafts stalls had some pretty baubles on it... Then, she saw her teacher, Old Chalky, walking back to his schoolhouse. She remembered the other day and she sighed sadly: She knew what she had to do.
She knocked on the wooden door of the schoolhouse. "Erm, Mister Chalk?" She called. "It's me, Little Steppes. Can I come in?" She heard the squeaking of the floorboards, and the schoolhouse door opened.
"Oh?" He looked down at the young mare. "...It's not a school day today."
"I know. You're not busy, are you?"
"Oh no, no." He smiled wearily. "I was just about to have a quick nap... Was there something you needed?"
"No. I just wanted to see you." She replied. "Can I come in?"
"Yes, of course." He stepped back, inviting the filly inside.
"I realized the other day that I never apologized for stealing from you." Lilly explained.
"Oh, the tartlets?" He smiled. "It's in the past... I'd rather not think about it... How, how are you feeling? After..."
"I'm fine." She said quickly. "Well, no, I'm not... I know everpony looks at me like I'm a thief, and I... I do enjoy the thrill of sneaking around and doing that sort of thing. But I never realized how much I was hurting everypony I cared about doing it... I really just wanted to say... I'm sorry I stole from you." She rummaged in her saddlebags, producing the berry pie. "...I made this today, and my mother told me I could sell it for some extra pocket money to spend in the market... I, I want you to have it. To make up for what I took."
His smile widened, he looked about ready to cry. "I..." He chuckled slightly. "...You're a good pony, Lilly." He carefully carried the pie to his desk, where he set it down, producing some cutlery from his desk. "I don't think I could finish all of this by myself though. Would you like to share it with me?"
Well, she was pretty hungry. She took a quart of the pie, and left the rest with Chalky. Knowing herself as she did, she'd probably have scoffed a lot more if left to her own devices. In a sense though, she felt good about the situation, as if she'd paid off a debt she'd owed her teacher since... Well, the other day.
She continued her walk about the village, noticing something going on at the library. She sped up to a quick trot to see what was happening. Apple Rose and her cousin were there, chatting with another two ponies near a small train of caravans and carts. One of these wagons was being packed with boxes of luggage being carried in the blue glow of a unicorn's magic.
"Hey!" Lilly called, approaching the Apples. "What's going on?"
"Oh, I dunno what's gotten' into Gleamin', but she said she was movin' on." Apple Rose answered.
"Moving on?!" Lilly blinked. "But, where? I need to go talk with her."
Apple Rose nodded, stepping aside as Lilly made her way inside. There, she saw the town librarian packing up her personal effects into some luggage cases.
"Oh, hello Lilly." She greeted, looking down confused at the filly after examining her. "The, the shoes?"
"What?" She looked down. "Oh that! It's okay! Princess Celestia saved me, and she put some magic on them so they belong to me now, not Nightmare Moon." She focused on why she was here in the first place. "But is it true? You're leaving?"
Sadly, the unicorn nodded. "I thought I'd escaped being followed by Nightmare Moon and my family's ties to her. But, apparently not. I've done a bit of soul searching since we last spoke... I'm tired of running and hiding. So... I'm going to do a bit of traveling for a while, then I'm going back to Canterlot."
"But... But you can't." Lilly stammered. "What about your family? What about Ponyville? And... You were one of the first ponies to try to help me last night, and... Well..." She look away. "I'm just grateful that you tried to help me... And I'm going to miss you."
Gleaming smiled weakly. "I'll miss you too, Little Steppes." She replied. "But, how about I write to you on my journeys? It would be nice to have a pen pal or another I can keep in contact with on my travels, and maybe one day, when you're old enough and I'm back in Canterlot, you can come and visit?"
Lilly smiled. "I've always wanted to go to Canterlot."
"No, not yet. For you, you're far too young for that." Gleaming shook her head, struggling to lift some of her luggage with her magic.
"Well... Could, could I help you pack, at least?"
Gleaming couldn't really stop her, so between them, the two mares continued to load the large, blue wagon with her effects, choice books and some other home comforts. It actually looked pretty cosy.
"Are you going to be okay, travelling by yourself?" Lilly asked the librarian, who smiled.
"I'm not travelling alone." She said, showing her the ponies Apple Rose had been talking to. "Lilly, meet Apple Seeds."
"Hello..."
"Howdy'." The older mare gave a polite nod. "I'm Apple Seeds, an' this is my son, Apple Cart. Apple Cart! This is 'Lil Steppes."
Apple Cart appeared a year or two older than Little Steppes, and was another earth pony, like most of the Apple Family: He was surprisingly burly for such a young colt.
"Hi..." Lilly smiled. He gave her a polite nod in return.
"'Afternoon." He greeted with a tip of the hat, before turning to face her properly, where he seemed to falter slightly. "I... I like your shoes. They really compliment your, err... Legs... I mean, socks! I mean, hooves? ...I mean, they look really nice." This caused the pair to blush and Apple Cart to look like he'd stuck his foot in something unpleasant in the presence of company, Apple Seeds to roll her eyes.
"Don't ya' take no notice of my son, Lil'un." She instructed. "He's got a heart'a gold, but he's as dumb as post. He don't mean no harm, but he really needs ta' think before he speaks."
He winced. "Sorry, 'ma."
"It's okay." She smiled. "I like your hat."
"Thank'ya kindly." He smiled. "It's jus' ta' keep the sun otta' my eyes, though. It ain't nuthin' special, like. Those shoes look like somethin' a pincess would wear, all sparklin' and pretty."
Lilly's blushing intensified. "Erm... Yeah... I guess so."
"Apple Cart, pack it in! Yer' embarrassin' the poor filly!"
"Oh, sorry." He apologized.
"Go on, you go an' help Gleamin' get her stuff in the wagon. Go on, 'get goin'!"
He nodded. "Alright, ma'. T'was nice ta' meet'ya, Lil' Steppes."
"Oh, please, just call me Lilly." She smiled.
"Will do." He smiled, and trotted off to go pick up some luggage. "Cya, Lilly."
"Bye." She sighed, watching him leave, before realizing her cheeks were still burning. "Do, do you guys ever come back to Ponyville?" She asked Apple Seeds.
"Oh sure we do!" She smiled. "There's Apple all over, but we always come find time to meet up for our family reunion. I'm sure we'll be back.
Soon, Little Steppes, Gleaming and the Apples had finished packing up the librarian's wagon. They took one last little break before deciding it was time to go. It was at this time where Lilly told Gleaming about the letters Princess Celestia had given her: There was one last thing she was curious about.
"Hmmm, so Celestia is saying that your shoes can do more than just change size?" Gleaming said as she folded up the letter and handed it back to Lilly. "That's... Interesting."
Lilly had a thought. "...Both Celestia and Nightmare Moon said that the shoes... They'd do what their owner wanted them to do. Originally I thought it just meant that Nightmare Moon had put a spell on them to control me. But then Celestia said it too! I don't understand what she meant by it, especially when she added that last part... I mean, they're shoes ? Magic, but there isn't anything else to now, right?"
Gleaming wondered for a moment, sitting back and stirring a cup of tea with a small spoon. Lilly had finished her cup already, so the unicorn magicked over the teapot and poured her another cup. "Celestia is pretty clever. If she said it like that, I imagine she didn't say it for no reason... If all the shoes did was change shape to fit your feet, she wouldn't have needed to say that other part." She frowned. "I wish I hadn't packed up the biscuits already. I love a nice custard cream with my tea..." In mild fustration she tapped her spoon against the table to some tune in her head.
"Yeah..." Lilly nodded. "...Say, do you suppose it's safe to go back to Nightmare Moon's castle? I know where the princess hides all of her cheese and wine... Oh, shoot, I left the pieces of the wand there too! I think Celestia must have taken them with her..."
Gleaming sighed. "...Yeah. To Tartarus with that that evil witch! Nopony's going to blame you for stealing cheese from her."
"I suppose... But I did promise my father that I wouldn't steal anymore."
"Considering what Nightmare Moon did, and threatened to do, I think you'd be even." She shrugged. "I'll leave it up to you, I don't think I can put off flying the nest any longer. But I promise I'll keep writing to you, and I'll think about the secret of those shoes and Celestia's letter. If I discover anything, or have any more thoughts, you can expect that I'll get a letter your way about it."
Lilly nodded sadly, following the unicorn out and to her wagon, where she used her magic to hitch herself up to the cart. "Wait." Lilly trotted up to her. "Thank you for the tea... And... Well, everything else."
Gleaming smiled, giving the young mare a hug. "It's alright. You take care of yourself, Little Steppes. I'm sure we'll see one another again someday."
With that, the former-librarian hitched herself up to her wagon, nodding to the other travelers, and they began to set off on their way. She sat there the whole time, waving them off with Apple Rose and her cousin until they disappeared into the setting sun.
The End.