The Kaleidoscope is on the Chair

Clung
Cin

The blue hearth mare was tidying the huge room after the full work day. Various bottles of potions laid on the counter, waiting to be again flung to their respective positions. It had been another profitable day in this modern Equestria, especially since she began selling...

“Do you sell the toy?”

The shop-keeper almost fell from the ladder she was on. She hadn’t been expecting anypony. Luckily she had years of experience juggling and grabbing falling potions, especially the ones she knocked off with her high mane-do. Once she got safely to the ground, she turned to look at her wanna-be customer.

“The shop’s closed for the day, little one,” she said to the light blue colt with green mane in front of her. He must have been really young. He didn’t even have a cutie mark yet.

“Awwww...” He pouted. “But everyone in the city has one, and they said I could buy it from Mage Meadowbrook. Can’t you just sell me one? Pleasepleaseplease!”

Meadowbrook sighed. “Sorry, but even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. They sold out today. But if you come back tomorrow, I’m sure to have some mo…”

sniff

The colt’s eyes started watering. “No, no, don’t cry. What’s your name, little one?”

“Name? M-my name is O-opy.”

Strange name for a pony. Maybe it was an abbreviation for something else. “Okay, Opy, do you want to hear a good story?”

“But… but the toy?”

“It is a story about the toy, something only you will know, and nobody else. And when tomorrow you’ll come buy it, you will truly know why it is so amazing. Do you promise not to tell others, Opy?”

“Yes! I promise! What is it?” he answered, drying his tears.

She took a dusty book from the shelf, one of the few among the countless antidotes and herb flasks. She opened it up on the counter, under the curious and now excited eyes of the little foal.

“Woah,” he said. “Pretty colours!”

“Yes,” started the Mage. “It all began after the Sirens’ banishment from the kingdom, even before Equestria was founded, thousands of years ago...”

“They’re still not themselves!”

A slightly younger Meadowbrook looked at the young Stygian while he ran towards them. “They must be still under their influence!”

It was just a few hours after the battle against the Sirens. Even if they were victorious, the problem seemed to be still unsolved. They all turned to the bearded pony as he stepped forwards and charged his horn, focusing on the city.

After a few moments, he said, “There’s no lingering magic in their mind. The Sirens are not controlling them anymore.”

“But they’re still fighting!” Stygian was almost in tears.

Rockhoof scanned the relatively silent city “Are you sure of that? There does not seem to be any quarrel.”

“No, but they’re not talking. Everypony is avoiding each other! Even the families are split. They may not be arguing on the outside, but it’s like they are!”

“I guess…” said Starswirl. “That those wretched creatures drilled the hatred in their skulls for too long of a time. I say to give them some time to rec…”

“Starswirl.” Mage Meadowbrook called him. “I think you might be underestimating the problem. If it’s true the Sirens’ magic has left deep trauma in their mind, then waiting could actually worsen the situation. We need to intervene.”

“Oh, Mage, you are the expert in physical healing, but I didn’t know you also knew about mind healing.”

“I heal ponies to make them feel better, may it be physically or mentally; it does not change my mission. Believe me, it is the best way to cure them.”

The bearded pony nodded. “Admirable. How do you propose to proceed?”

The Mage looked sideways at the green forest on the hill near the village.

“I know something that can help them, but I will need your magic too.”

“Oh? My magic? I may remind you that I have devoted my life to the study of magic. I can change the shape of a pony, but I cannot change their mind.”

“Don’t worry, I just need your magic for something I am sure you will be able to do.”

“And that is where the colours went boom?” said the foal, looking at the image of a bearded pony conjuring rivers of glittery colours over the city.

Meadowbrook laughed a bit. “Yes. The colours went boom, three times over actually, before all the ponies were cured.”

Opy looked at her inquisitively. “Three times? Why so many?”

“For it to work,” said Meadowbrook, turning a page, “it was necessary to find the right… Intensity.” On the paper were now two illustrations of the village ponies.

The first image showed sleepy ponies, looking at a rainbow with glassy eyes. “The first time, it was too little. The ponies were a bit dazed of the colours, sure, and that helped them forget about their worries for a bit, but that was it. It was clear that they needed something stronger, and that’s what they got.”

The Mage swiped her hoof on the book, shifting the gaze of the little foal from the first image to the second one. It showed the same village ponies, but this time they were looking at a vortex of colours with lop-sided smiles. “The second time, they started actually enjoying the colours, basking in their swirling. They started to regain their own mind, but the shadows of the Sirens’ magic still oppressed them. That wasn’t quite enough.”

Opy looked up from the book. “They needed more?”

“Yes,” another page was turned. “But in order to do so, something else was needed. Something to untwist their minds and shape the colours. Something like...”

“... the toy?”

Meadowbrook smiled “Exactly.”

“Have you gone out of your mind, Mage?”

“No, Starswirl. It is not my mind that is astray. It is those of those poor ponies. And it will remain thus if we do not act.”

“We have already done this twice. And it seems that it quite worked. The burden seems to have been lifted from their heart.”

Meadowbrook shook her head. “For too little, and for too short of a time. You have seen them. They are already returning to their former state.”

Starswirl stroke his beard. “Still, rising the power is… I guess I can try to repeat the last spell. Maybe after that...”

“I’m sorry, Starswirl, but that would be not advisable,” she answered, with a frown. “It would help for a while, but just like last time, it wouldn’t last for long. In the long run, the ponies would become dependent on us two, and even if we accept to treat them periodically, that would be unhealthy for them. The only option left is to increase the dose again. I can assure you we are still within the danger threshold.”

The bearded pony looked down, thoughtful, and looked at the pieces of modeled glass in his hoof. He closed his eyes, and with a sigh, he finally said “So be it.”

“Thank you, Starswirl,” said the Mage, bowing.

“I hope,” said him, heading for the village, “Yours will not be the only thanks I will hear.”

The bearded pony in the picture was shooting his magic through what looked like small pieces of glass, angled so that the light would refract and reflect countless times. The result appeared in the sky as a swarm of symmetric and patterned coloured shapes, extending from the sea to the mountains.

“And that was the first documented use of a kaleidoscope.”

The colt looked up confused. “The kale.. di.. what?”

Meadowbrook rolled her eyes. “That’s the name of the toy.”

“Oh..” said him, returning to the book after an instant of contemplation. “But, if the colours made them feel better, why not more? Like, double?”

At the thought, a slow chill crept on the back of the mare. “T-there was not the need, Opy. Especially because on the third try, the charm finally worked, and a miracle appeared.”

“Miracle? The colours can also pull out miracles?”

After a giggle, she continued. “Indeed. The citizens stopped staring at the colours, and started looking, and then they remembered something else they had to look for. Something they had lost.”

She pointed at the last picture, where the village ponies, looking more healthy than ever, were joyously dancing and celebrating. “The colours led them, and then they found it again. And with it, they also found themselves.”

“What? What did they find? Tell me.”

“That,” said Meadowbrook, closing the book. “Is something you will need to find out yourself tomorrow, Opy. But I promise, it will be worth the time.”

“Oh.”

“But for now, I need you to leave. It’s late and you should go back to your parents. And I still have work to do, especially if you want to buy your toy tomorrow.”

“Really? But… You are an earth pony. Don’t you need a wizard to…”

“Do you think the word ‘Mage’ in my name is just for show?” She winked at him and he giggled. “See you tomorrow, Opy.”

“Okay, Mage! Bye!”

She watched him go, and then she immediately turned back to her work. She had to focus on production, if she wanted to have more toys to sell the next day, and also respect the huge order she received earlier that day.

Her eyes wandered to the back of the shop. There, on a worktable, laid rows of finely worked lenses, jars of glitter, coloured papers and other flasks.

“Thankfully, with all these modern inventions, even magic is not needed anymore, though an additional hoof would be helpful even now.” She looked at the crate at her side, much larger than the merch she had already finished assembling. “Oh well, time to stop moping and get back to work. They are already waiting for this shipment, and from what I heard, these little toys will really be useful for those poor people. They really had seen them all.”

On the crate was written an address.

Ponyville.