My Little World

In a way, Lauren was curious about where Fancy lived. Even though she had a good idea of what he was like as a character, it never occurred to her that she physically came up with any other details like where he lived. Any other details had come from show and comic writers much later, so it would be interesting to see what just having dinner would be like.

Of course, she knew that Fancy was wealthy. On the carriage ride over, they were taken to the wealthier part of Canterlot. On a road that led up the mountainside, some mansions that looked out to Equestria. Many mimic the style of the palace with its white walls, blue roofs, golden onion domes, and tall windows. There were some elements of classical architecture too such as the marble columns out front, the symmetrical designs, and even the occasional statue.

Fancy’s home, as Lauren discovers, reminded her of something close to Monticello. Classical in design with white roofs, a dome, and blue brickwork that gave a sense of elegance. It had tall windows with a taller pair of front doors, simple white columns, and a fountain in the front. Fancy was there to welcome his guests, bowed graciously to the princesses, and showed them to the dinning room. A place that was much like the rest of the home – clean white walls, vaulted ceilings, wooden floors, and a menagerie of all sorts of objects from artworks to curiosities from different parts of Equestria and beyond.

“What’s that?” Alice pointed.

Fancy looked over his shoulder. “Those masks by the fireplace?”

“Uh-huh. They’re weird looking.”

Fancy chuckled, “You know little missy, you’re not the first one to say that. Those are from different tribes in Zebrica. Each mask you see has a different meaning, a way of telling someone at a distance what you want to say. For instance. That one with the small eyes and large forehead says: ‘Welcome to our home.’ The one next to that with the black and white strips says: ‘I am a friend.’ And the one next to it says: ‘No soliciting on Thursdays.’” Fancy rubbed his chin, “I’m not entirely sure why I was given that one to be honest.”

“One of these days, I would like to see Zebrica,” Luna commented. “Of course, I could only see it from afar during my banishment. So, it would be lovely to see what it is like up close.”

Of course, they weren’t the only ones attending this dinner party. Lauren had to take a glance around to see that there were some she recognized. And every single one of them was either looking at her or her daughter. Fancy sat at the head of the table, next to him was Fleur de Lis. Then Perfect Pace, Hoity Toity, Celestia, Luna, her, and Alice. It was already surreal to dine with some of Canterlot’s elite for Lauren, yet the addition of her daughter, Celestia, and Luna there made it all the more bizarre.

Perhaps nowhere near as strange as what she was planning on doing.

Lauren heard someone clear their throat. Looking up, it was Perfect Pace who was trying to get her attention. She remembered this earth pony well. The blue coat, bright orange mane with golden eyes, wearing a white collar with a red bowtie, she recalled how fans thought that this stallion was one of the Doctors from his hourglass cutie mark.

“So uh… Lauren, is it? How is your time here in Canterlot treating you?”

“Pretty well so far.”

“Have you been here before or is this your first time in the capital?”

“It’s my first time being here. Celestia has been showing me around the city, after making that speech in the radio. Still… Sorry if I scared anyone.”

“Oh, water under the bridge. I think we’re all relieved that the world isn’t coming to an end.” Then after a beat, he asked, “So… You’re the princesses… Mother?”

“Yes, I know it’s uh… a bit complicated. But it’s true in a sense.”

Perfect raised an eyebrow. “I’ll have to take your word for it. Though forgive me, it’s still odd to have the mother of the princesses here. And not the way anyone would expect.”

“Mother can take on any form,” Celestia entered the conversation. “But we always recognize to be her. And I can safely say that it is her.”

“Maybe so…” Hoity commented. “But what exactly is she? I don’t recall any creature look remotely like this before. It’s almost uncanny. Threatening and not at the same time.”

Lauren raised an eyebrow. “Threatening how?”

“I don’t know.” Hoity shrugged. “I guess it’s not everyday you see someone on two legs constantly. And being unusually tall too. I don’t mean it as an insult, it’s just nopony has seen anything close to what you are before.”

“And that is perfectly understandable.” Luna nodded. “Mother often times appear in unexpected ways at unexpected times. Sometimes she comes as an alicorn, and other times some other creature like a dragon, or a griffon – but there is always an essence of her that we do recognize. Usually she is her alicorn self, but something like this is rare.”

“Now that is indeed interesting.” Perfect rubbed a hoof under his chin. “Appearing at different times and in different appearances. And I take this is usually without warning?”

“Why… Yes, it is.” Celestia tilted her head. “How did you know?”

“I have a knack for picking up details.”

Lauren was amused at this conversation. ‘And apparently Time Turner might not be the only Doctor in this Universe. I’m more surprised there is a Doctor Who at all… That is if this is the Doctor.’

Soon enough, the food was served. For everyone there, they were served a vegetarian curry – all that was except for Alice who was given a plate of macaroni and cheese. A thoughtful meal, Lauren thought since the curry would have been too spicy for her three-year-old daughter.

As they ate, the conversations ping-ponged between Alice asking Fancy what some of the knick-knacks were and the guests engaging with other small talk. But Lauren was plotting. What exactly, she was still trying to figure out – but her goal was to get Discord’s attention in some way so unusual that even the Ex-Lord of Chaos would have to respond. She was going to break a deal alright, but it needed to be done in a way it would be like a beacon for him.

What was needed was an opportunity.

“Can you do magic?” Hoity asked.

“What? Me?” Lauren asked.

He nodded. “I was curious, but from what rumors I’ve heard, you could do magic without the use of a horn. Is that possible?”

This gave her an idea.

“Well, I am new this this, but I guess I could try.” Lauren set her plate to the side.

“Mother? What are you doing?” Luna asked.

“Seeing if I could do magic.” She pulled the napkin on her lap on the table, holding a corner of it but leaving half of it laying flat. “Like something say… a card trick with a pack of cards?” She pulled the napkin up and there on the table in front of her, was a deck of playing cards.

“Wait, how…?” Hoity lifted his sunglasses. “Where did those come from?”

“No idea.” Lauren shrugged. She moved the deck and spread them out in front of Hoity, urging him to, “Pick a card.”

Celestia and Luna looked confused. Alice was paying attention, along with Fancy. Perfect looked on with intrigue.

Hoity ran his hoof, stopping at one of the cards at random. Picked it up to look at it. “Now what?”

“Well… Hold on to that card, because I’m going to figure out what it is without you putting it back in the deck.” Lauren gathered up the remaining cards in her hands, shuffling them. “Do you think it’s possible for me to do so?”

Hoity shrugged. “If you’re going for common magic tricks, I’m pretty sure that you have some trick in figuring it out.”

“Typically, yes. But I can tell that you might not be so easy to be impressed. So how about we make it interesting but say… Having the cards be spontaneously set on fire.” And like that, the cards in her hands busted into flames.

“Mother!” Celestia cried out, swatting the burning cards away with her aura and onto the marble floor. The ponies saw that the cards went up in smoke, and Fancy tossed a glass of water on over them. Now leaving them both soggy and thoroughly singed. Celestia turned back to Lauren, “Mother, what are you doing?”

“Performing a magic trick, of course.”

“But how?” Hoity questioned. “You burned the rest of the deck. How can you do a card trick without cards?”

At this, her imagination was running at full speed. “You know what? You’re right! I can’t do a card trick without cards. I would have to get a new deck. And in the process, I’ll do it with the process of elimination.”

“Proose of… What Mom?” Alice tilted her head confused.

“That’s a grown-up word meaning to figure out what something is by what it is not. Like for example, the card in Celestia’s mane.” She reached into Celestia’s ethereal mane and pulled out a card. “Is the Jack of Spades. But Hoity doesn’t have that, so it isn’t that.” She tossed the card over her shoulder. “Or the card under my plate.” She lifted it to show there was a card there. “This is an Ace of Diamonds. But that isn’t what Hoity has.”

Taking her napkin, she held it up. “And I know none of the cards in this napkin are it.” She shook it, and dozens of playing cards fell out of it before tossing it over to Perfect. He inspected it, turning this way and that but found there was no way it could have concealed all the cards that were spilled on the table.

“I’m willing to bet ya that none of these are his cards either. Or even in my shoe, I bet the cards that are somehow stuffed inside aren’t it either.” She pushed her seat back to undo her shoe, and then turning it over, a stream of cards came gushing out like a pitcher of water onto the floor.

“So Alice, Mommy doesn’t think Hoity’s card is any of these. I bet you he doesn’t have his card either.”

“What are you talking about?” Hoity asked her, picking up his card. He paused in shock. Taking off his sunglasses, he slack-jawed at what he was seeing. Or rather… didn’t see. His card was blank.

“No, I bet his card is really on the back of my neck.” Lauren reached over and pulled the card out, three of clubs. “Is this your card?”

It was then, the room shook. Lauren immediately sat down and thought that there was an earthquake – but then she remembered. There are no earthquakes in Equestria. All around her, the was confusion and alarm to what was happening. That was until the table suddenly split, a greenish light emerging with smoke and the scent of sprinkles. Out from it, a rather crossed Discord emerged in a black and white stripe suite with his mane died green and covered in crusty white makeup. His missed-match arms crossed; he was glaring down at Lauren.

“You really couldn’t help yourself, could you?” He growled. “I was in the middle of a Beetlejuice reboot cartoon audition, giving my all, scaring the living daylights out of everybody… And then you do this!”

“Well hello to you too.” Lauren reached into her pocket and feeling the key, pulled it out to toss it on the table. “Just so you know, I changed my mind.”

Discord’s eye twitched. “Come again?” He growled like a wolf.

“I changed my mind. No, I am not going to hand Sky Cloud over to you. And I not going to simply stop with this whole warping reality thing either. Here,” She gestured to the key. “You can have that back.”

The roof felt hotter when Discord busted into flames. “How dare you! I can’t believe that you of all creator gods would be this backstabbing! You thoughtless, stupid, idiotic, witless, self-centered, unfaithful, colossal king Kama bi-”

Lauren tossed a glass of water in his face, cutting the irate spirit of chaos off guard.

“Are you done? Because I wanted to tell you why.”

Discord wiped his drenched face, makeup, and all, but kept his furious face.

“First of all, I’m sorry that I had to get your attention like this, I didn’t know any other way to get in contact with you.”

“You could probably just call me. We have phones in this universe you know.”

“Do you? I don’t recall ever seeing a phone anywhere.”

Discord rolled his eyes and poured a cheeseburger phone into existence. “I have the latest model. You don’t have to break the laws of existence just to get my attention.”

“I didn’t know I could call you. But anyway, the reason why I’m turning your deal down, is I think I came up with a better one.”

“… You had me interrupt an audition where I had snakes, claws, and who-knows-what-else coming out of my face for that?”

“Excuse me, Lauren,” Fancy’s hoof raised up. “While I am quite entertained by this exchange, would you please explain to me what exactly is going on? And why the spirit of Chaos is on my dining table?”

“I can answer that one.” Discord turned to him, “So to make a long story short, these two,” he pointed at Alice and Lauren, “can change reality like me. Not only did that upset a delicate balance, but the three-year-old brought an imaginary friend into existence. This crossed a line, and I want to rebalance everything before everything gets screwed up that isn’t my doing.” Turning back to Lauren he asked, “Okay, so what is your deal then?”

“Simply put, I think Sky Cloud should be in his own pocket dimension.”

Discord raised an eyebrow, “Isn’t that exactly what I was gonna do anyway?”

“But,” Lauren raised a finger, “I want it where Alice and I make that world fit enough for Sky to live in.”

Tilting his head, Discord blinked. “You and Alice?”

“I mean. I don’t see why not. Sky is Alice’s friend, and I have experience in coming up with worlds for stories. So how about you open an empty void, and we can fill it up? A blank canvas for us to paint on.”

Humming, Discord strokes his goatee. “That way, ‘My Little World’ would make perfect sense…” He muttered.

“Can we see it?” Luna asked, getting everyone’s attention. “I mean this isn’t every day where we get to see our mother at work.”

“Ooh, good point.” Lauren thought about it for a moment, “Probably wouldn’t hurt to invite a few others in the creative process as well.”

Discord leaned forward, “As long as you stay out of trouble, I’ll do the same. In the meantime,” he snatched the key, “I’m taking this back, thank you very much. Now if you please excuse me, I have an audition to come back to.” Discord leaned over backward into a coffin that appeared on a table, fell over into it with the lid slamming shut, and the coffin sank into the table.

Everyone looked at Lauren, “Uh… And then the table repaired itself like nothing happened.”

The table obeyed her narration, wood, broken China, shattered crystal goblets, scattered silverware, and spilled food reversed themselves until they were all back in one place.

There was a moment of stunned silence with everyone looking at Lauren. “Sorry about that, Fancy, it was something that needed to be taken care of. So anyway, have you ever been to Shire Lanka?”