There was something strangely satisfying about the sounds of a large locomotive grinding to a halt and watching the steam of its engine first jet out from its chimney and beneath its carriage from its air breaks, then lazily rolling across the windows of the first few passenger cars lucky enough to see it pass through before those smoke clouds disappeared into the cold winter air. With the chugging of the train's wheels gradually coming to a halt, the train let out its distinct whistle to let potential and current passengers know that it had officially arrived at the station to the small hamlet of Ponyville.
From the train, only a few ponies disembarked. Of those who disembarked, most were there to visit family or friends, with fewer still being returning ponies who had been away for some reason or other. This was like any normal day for the station who hardly ever saw special commuters on uneventful, holiday-less weeks like this one. Ponyville was not Equestria's prime tourist destination after all, even with the newly ascended alicorn, Princess Twilight, having made it her home. And yes, even if her new home was also the impressive magical crystal palace constructed by the magics of friendship, which she aptly named "The Castle of Friendship". For some reason or another, Ponyville had remained a quiet little town where only the occasional world-threatening disaster would pop in for a visit from time to time.
But while this day seemed like any other to the small town and its train station, one pegasus mare that disembarked along with the rest had completely changed that. Her saddlebags where chock-full of intricate devices, metal molds, and even long metal rods that jutted out quite a bit in all directions, which made it difficult for her to maneuver past the train car's door. After a quick tussle, she finally managed to rough it out but not before almost tumbling in the process. To compose herself, she brought one pale, soft pink wing tip up towards her orange and yellow gradient glasses to readjust them. Worn as they were, her glasses quickly slid down again almost towards the very tip of her nose and back onto their familiar resting place where her sleepy, gentle eyes had gotten used to them being at. Then she ran that same wing up towards her hair to give it one pass over to reorganize her naturally wavy, short hair that almost seemed to shine in the sunlight due to its many distinct pastel colors that closely resembled her cutiemark.
If anyone had caught a sight of it, surely they too would've noticed just how important a pony this pegasus mare was, as her work and her art had touched many lives throughout all of Equestria. That simple light prism and pastel colors that made up her cutiemark had become a very household symbol amongst the grown adults. But thankfully for the mare who did not seem to share everyone's enthusiasm over her own work, her overly stuffed saddlebags had acted as the perfect obstruction and guise.
Most would look at you funny for implying that such a simple trick could disguise someone to that extent. But it happens more frequently than one could imagine. For many reasons. Public perception is a strange psychological phenomenon. You could look absolutely identical to someone that's larger than life and ponies would still ignore your presence with a few careful adjustments and actions. In the way that you walked, in the way that you talked. Heck, even a simple pair of glasses could do the trick. It was a skill known commonly as "hiding in plain sight". There were many ways to hide your presence amongst a crowd, and that's something the colorful mare had perfected after a long time.
Because despite how famous she was and how adored the world over her art had become, she simply did not feel the same way as others did over it. Her lack of self-esteem had convinced her she was unworthy and undeserving of such glory. The only reason she had continued to pursue her art was mostly because she found it fun. She enjoyed seeing ponies be happy over it, even if she didn't quite understand why. That invisible wall created by her own troubled emotions had persisted strongly to this day, even as she rose to such a status as to be Equestria's most prominent Glassmith, the very pony tasked to immortalize its history with stained glass windows that now adorned the holiest of sanctuaries and most decorated of venues, like Canterlot castle.
And she would have remained perfectly hidden that entire time had it not been for a very meticulous pair of eyes that were scanning the crowds voraciously from A.) Bouts of panic and nervousness at messing up their introduction, and B.) Excited glee at being able to commission her for an art piece. Upon catching sight of their intended target, those eyes immediately bolted up to the mare and took one of her hooves onto their two eager ones, shaking it profusely.
"So wonderful to meet you at last! Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for coming to Ponyville at my request! It's a pleasure to have the renowned Pris-" The wound-up purple Alicorn found she could not continue her introduction after a mouthful of soft pink feathers from the pegasus mare found its way into her mouth, quite on purpose.
"The pleasure is mine, Princess Twilight. My good friend Celestia informed me that you had a request for me and I was more than happy to do it for you, since Equestria owes you a world of debt. But uh, can we go somewhere less... crowded?" She whispered softly to her so that Twilight could clue in to look around at the many curious onlookers who had seen the commotion and were now wondering why the Princess herself had, had such an intense and excited outburst. The careful veil of anonymity she had constructed was close to breaking now.
"Oops. Haha... Yes, of course. It would be a pleasure to show you to my home." Twilight whispered back after the feathery wing removed itself from her mouth. Far too eager and excited to comply, the Princess opted to instantly teleport the both of them straight to her castle's doorstep with her magic.
"Whoa! It's not everyday I get teleported around." The mare shook her head to regain her bearings since teleporting had a way of jumbling you up inside.
"Sorry, force of habit! Hope that was okay." Twilight admitted.
"Don't worry, this helps a lot actually! These saddlebags are heavy, and I'm not a stranger to teleportation. Celestia used to do it quite a lot when I used to work with her." She gave Twilight a playful grin that eased her worries, especially when mentioning Celestia's similar nature.
"Well, allow me to properly welcome you again. Thank you for coming all the way out here, Prism Glass, and for entertaining my request. It would mean the world to me if you could make one of your beautiful stained windows for my castle." Twilight pushed her castle's doors open to invite her in.
"The honor is all mine, Princess. I would more than love to. I'm surprised you requested me specifically, but I'll do my best for you, that's a promise." Prism Glass extend her wing out to shake on it, which Twilight took a second to guess that's what it was. She also took yet another second to follow along due to her unpracticed wing-usage. With a quick wing handshake, they shook their deal into existence.
"Of course you're the only pony for this job, Prism. It can't be anyone but you!" Twilight followed up with.
"I don't know about that, Princess. There's plenty of great glass makers out there."
"No, I really mean it, Prism. I remember seeing your newly created pieces in Princess Celestia's throne room and being absolutely smitten by them. The first one you made of my friends and I when we defeated Nightmare Moon and brought back Luna? It was beautiful. The ones you made of the royal sisters against Discord and the one of Princess Cadence and Spike were also fantastic too. And I cannot even begin to describe to you just how much I loved, just loved the one you made of me when I ascended. It meant a lot... So I reiterate. You're the only one for this job, no matter if there are better artists out there." She said adamantly.
"You honor me greatly, Princess. Thank you. It makes me beyond glad to know my art has touched someone that deeply. Although I still don't think I'm worth all the praise." Twilight hadn't caught whatever Prism had whispered to herself in that moment thankfully, otherwise this whole conversation would've gone in circles for ages. "So, do you have everything ready for me then?" She asked as she walked in, with Twilight leading the charge in order to guide her around the castle.
"Oh yes! I heard from Princess Celestia that you'll be needing a workshop with a proper furnace and ventilation, so I had a few craftsponies make them in one of the rooms in my castle before you arrived. That way you don't have travel any distance to the nearest one."
"You didn't have to go that far, Princess! But thank you, this will help me out a lot. Can we head there first so I can go drop off my tools?" Twilight gave her a nod. "Um, but while the room is great and all, that wasn't what I was asking for."
"It wasn't? Sorry, I've never really commissioned an art piece before so I took a lot of advise from Princess Celestia. Anything you need, I'll get it. Just say the word."
"The thought alone is very kind of you, Princess Twilight. But it's nothing like that. What I meant when I asked that was more as in the plans and the details of this commission. Any references you might have on the kind of pose, angle, and style you wanted. Any detail, pony, or creature you planned to include. Etc. The most I know about this request of yours is from what Princess Celestia told me, and that was only that you wanted a stained glass for your circular throne room." Prism let down her tools on the first table available in the workshop that had been made specifically for her. "We should probably head there next so I can get a good look at the size of my canvas."
"Ah, I see. That's what you meant! Um..." The Princess thought for a while. She hadn't given the specifics of what she wanted any mind. She had been so busy trying to accommodate Prism's arrival that she was woefully unprepared when thinking about the very thing she had called Prism there for. After a fair bit of silent thought with Twilight getting nowhere inside of her own head, Prism politely coughed to get her attention.
"There will be more time to think about it later. For now, can we go see the throne room, Princess?"
"Yes. Yes! Of course, this way." All the way there, Twilight spent it mulling over what she wanted. Even as they entered the throne room with its circular round crystal table and its many crystal thrones, Twilight spent that entire time thinking while Prism Glass measured, calculated, and tapped on the walls to get a feel for the consistency and thickness of them so she could picture in her head the kind of complimenting colors that would go along with the décor of the room. There was a lot to consider when it came to making stained glass, since just the thickness of a pane of glass alone could dramatically change the color and style of a composition, so she needed to know how to compensate for it.
After a lengthy amount of time with Prism finally having concluded her many different calculations and mental interpretations of possible pieces, she turned to Twilight who was still in the middle of thought. "Excuse me if I sound rude, Princess. But did you not have anything in mind when you requested for me?"
"I did! At least I think I did. But it's so hard to picture it in my head. I'm not an artist so trying to picture every single detail is proving to be really difficult. I think about all the things I want to add, and then realize that overstuffing it will just amount to more work for you. And also that it might overcomplicate and muddy up the art piece. I also realize that maybe my vision is not the best for it either, and I'm constantly having to turn every idea I have for it around and around trying to imagine what it would look like. I'm sorry, Prism..." Twilight grew a bit despondent at not being able to come up with a proper answer for her in a timely sense.
"That's pretty great actually!" Twilight was taken aback by Prism's response. "I was worried you might've not had any clue as to what you wanted. But we can work with this."
"Really?" Twilight asked with a bit of hope.
"Of course. I've worked with many ponies before. Sometimes, a lot of them leave it up to me to interpret basic ideas. Unless I could read minds or if you want a very specific composition that you could draw for me before hoof that I could translate to a stained window well, it's usually very hard to have one hundred percent of the picture in mind. So instead, I usually hear out what the other pony wants and work off whatever details they give me. I then show them the preliminary composition and they let me know if it's something they'd be satisfied with. If you don't have a good picture of what you want, you can leave it to me to make it the way I think you might like it."
The Princess had cheered up considerably at this. "That sounds perfect! Let's go with that then! I trust your art, Prism."
"So then, what do you have in mind Princess Twilight?"
"Well, the reason why I called you here for an art piece was because I wanted to honor my protégé's accomplishments. She saved all of Ponyville and perhaps all of Equestria from catastrophe thanks to her selfless actions. More than that, she means a lot to me. So having a depiction of her to immortalize her history in my home is something I really wanted to do for a while now."
"Your protégé, Princess? Do you mean Starlight? Sorry. I've only read up a bit on your exploits in the newspapers. At least, any that reach Canterlot news anyways. I'm not entirely familiar with the story here."
"Oh yes, of course. I didn't factor that bit into it at all! I forget sometimes that not all of Equestria knows us the way we do." Twilight let out a shy smile, having almost forgotten what her previously anonymous life was like. "This all happened very recently for Ponyville. Even my protégé's official arrival here was recent, despite having met her for a while now. She's um..." Twilight was a little hesitant to say it, since she also hadn't factored in that Equestria as a whole was still reeling in the idea that changelings were not all bad, with the worst adoption rates obviously coming from Canterlot itself due to their initial invasion. She imagined that Prism, as a pony from Canterlot, would immediately fly back home upon hearing the truth. "She's uhhh..."
"Everything alright, Princess?"
"Yeah. Um. Please promise not to freak out?"
"Okay..." Prism started to feel a bit nervous about how much of a serious deal Twilight was making this out to be.
"My protégé is a changeling that I've been taking care of for a while now."
Dead silence.
After a bit, Prism finally spoke up. "Okay...? Princess? Was there anything more you were going to say or was that it?"
"That was it." Twilight responded, a little flabbergasted to see her strangely composed reaction.
"Um. How is that something to freak out about again?"
"It's not. It isn't! Sorry. I guess since most of Canterlot has been adamantly refusing to hear us out that not all changelings are bad, I just assumed you'd be uncomfortable with one too."
"Ah, okay. I can see why now. No need to apologize. I would've been cautious too with that in mind. But there's always outliers to everything, isn't there? I just immediately defaulted into thinking the changeling under your care is a good one, since you're personally vouching for her, Princess. And you're giving this whole art piece a lot of thought for her sake. In my mind, if you're willing to go so far to remember her in this meaningful way, then she can't be a bad changeling. Besides, I wasn't affected by that whole invasion in Canterlot anyway. I was off making another commission somewhere else in Equestria at the time."
"That's a huge relief." Twilight sighed and seemed to melt from the stress of that tiny blunder having escaped her.
"So you wanted to make a stained window of this changeling? Can I meet her? I don't know how she looks like or even how a changeling is supposed to look, so I'm not sure how I would begin to depict her." At Prism's words, Twilight looked over to a nearby clock in order to look at the time.
"Looks like we have good timing for it. She should be arriving soon from grade school. If you'd like, we can wait up at the entrance of the castle. It shouldn't be long." With no reason to disagree, the two of them began to trot their way over to the castle's entrance.
A sudden thought popped into Prism's mind on what Twilight had said. "Hold on Princess, you said grade school? Does she work as a teacher there?" Prism asked, a little confused.
"No no, she's studying there along with all the young colts and fillies. We both agreed it'd be best for her so she could learn to make friends her age there and so she could study pony society more. She's also studying really hard to get over a speech impediment she has. She's still very easy to understand, and it's really cute in its own way, but I'm just letting you know now so you're not confused over it."
"Wait wait wait, hold on. She's a child? You say she saved Ponyville and possibly all of Equestria? As a kid?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Crazy now that someone says it out loud. But then again, crazy things are always happening in Ponyville." Twilight couldn't help the small laugh she had as she looked upon Prism's wide-eyed astonishment.
"Did she have adult help? Was she just sorta helping with something mundane, like how Spike managed to save the Crystal Empire?"
"Yes and no. It was all very harrowing, but she almost single-hoofedly saved us all on her own. Twice, almost. Well, now that we're waiting, care to hear her story?"
With a nod from Prism, Twilight began to recall all the important things that happened since the changeling's arrival. Of the moment when she first appeared to Twilight in the middle of Everfree Forest injured and alone, forever altering Twilight's own story and having Changed the course of history. And of the moment when she officially joined Twilight in the world above to study under her, all in order to change the pony's prejudices so that she could give all of changeling-kind a new Beginning.
"See ya tomorrow Chrys! Remember, we've got some Crusading lined up for this weekend. We're doing a lot of desert-themed cutiemark hunting activities like camel riding, desert guiding, and sand surfing. Starlight's Saddle-Arabian friend is going to be helping us out with it. Be sure to pack sun screen!" Sweetie Belle yelled out to a bright, spritely changeling child.
"Mm!" Enthusiastically, the small changeling waved the three Cutie Mark Crusaders off as they finally decided to part ways, only a few meters away from the Castle of Friendship where the lonely road towards it began. With Autumn slowly coming to an end, the winter breeze picked up and swept her long flowing bright green mane which would've slapped her across the face had it not been for an ornate golden hairpin that kept the front part of her hair neatly tucked away.
Chrys was a unique child in more ways than one. Her overly serious nature was often telling her that she needed to be doing something productive with her time, and since there was a lot that she could be improving on at any given second, she was always making herself busy. Even just traveling that short distance towards the Castle of Friendship, she had made a game out of her practice flight lessons with Rainbow Dash. Cupping air beneath her thinly translucent wings, she would hop at every strong gust of wind that pushed against her, taking up a glide only a handful of feet off the ground just barely enough to be called flight. Touching back down to ground after not even a minute, despite adorning a special flight harness meant to help her focus on her wings, was a show of just how difficult even a simple glide was proving to be for her.
Even when compared to other changelings, her wings were far thinner and more fragile since she had been born with a few deformities. Her wings being one, but also in her horn too, which had grown in a strangely bent and twisty way. If a pony was not in the know of common changeling physiology, they would've assumed that a bent horn was a natural occurrence for their species, or maybe even a product of their corruption when considering the damages that their kind had sustained in a tragedy that occurred to their kingdom long ago. Those damages being the obvious holes and blackened appearance that the mad and heartless changelings present during their attack in Canterlot could be seen with.
Unfortunately, Chrys' twisted horn was not only atypical of a healthy and normal changeling appearance-wise, it had also severely dampened her magical abilities early on in her life, and it was only through great effort and incredibly trying circumstances that she was able to finally unlock the power nestled in her heart. The white choker accessory she wore around her neck was a stark reminder of all she had gone through, as it hid a severe burn scar that ran along the length of her neck when she was forced to speak by an intense and powerful source of magic.
But despite all the many sad and traumatic things she had to face, Chrys had proven to be a truly wonderful girl with a great heart. Her brightly golden eyes seemed to reflect just how much sheer love she had for the world and all of her friends. And that love was the most obvious when she met with her favorite pony, Twilight Sparkle. With Twilight looking on at her flight progress with so much pride in her expression, and Chrys almost diving into her hug as she glid into her forelegs from a small flight she had taken, if you stopped thinking about the physical differences between the two you would forget entirely that they were not parent and child.
"Chrys! You've been practicing so much, haven't you? I'm so, so proud of you!" Twilight twirled her around in her forelegs, all while the changeling giggled with happiness.
"Mm! But, not flying, yet. Very. Hard." Her expression seemed to drop as she contemplated her lack of progress despite the many months she had spent practicing with Rainbow Dash.
"What are you talking about? You weren't touching the ground for a bit there! You technically flew, and technically is the best kind of correct." She pressed her nose against the small changeling's, making her light up again at her encouragement. After letting her go from their hug, Twilight looked around after realizing she had forgotten something. "By the way Chrys, we have a special guest with us today. I wanted you to meet her, she's uhm..." For a bit, Twilight wasn't able to find her until she finally spoke up to introduce herself.
"Hello, Chrys. My name is Prism Glass. I've just finished hearing all about you. It's great to finally meet you." A soft pink wing extended itself out to the little changeling.
While the small girl was a bit hesitant to greet her back with a wingshake, it wasn't due to shyness or even a lack of understanding on what Prism Glass was trying to gesture at with her wings, since Chrys could've easily determined what she wanted due to how similarly expressive she was with her wings as Rainbow Dash tended to be. What kept her from taking it up was her absolute astonishment. It had happened once already with Rainbow Dash the first time, and now it was happening again. Something about the beautiful rainbow pastel colors of her mane or even just the practiced and careful wing-mastery this mare had, had mesmerized the small changeling girl completely. Perhaps it was also astonishment by the look of the color, brightness, warmth, and shape of the fire in her soul. Likely, it was all of that combined. She found her to be a sight to behold, like some sort of breathing, moving, living art. With amusement in both of the grown mares' faces, Prism was finally met with a wingshake after a short delay.
"Can I say? You're the prettiest little thing I've ever seen, Chrys." Prism gave a her gentle smile, which seemed to shrink the small girl with embarrassment. It was obvious she was not used to compliments, especially from strangers.
"Thank, you..." She turned to the side to hide her face with her mane, pawing at the ground. "Miss Prism, too. But, taller. Prettier."
"Nah, I don't believe you." She gave her a playful grin, prompting her to reiterate since Chrys wasn't too familiar with that type of sarcasm. "Just a joke, dear. Thank you for the wonderful compliment, Chrys." Prism finally turned her attention away from Chrys and over to Twilight to continue on with the main topic. "I'm more than happy to make it happen, Princess. Hope you don't mind if I borrow her for a bit so she can model for my design?"
“I did want it to be a bit of a surprise, but it’ll be hard to hide it like this anyway, won’t it?” Twilight turned to Chrys and coughed a little awkwardly as if knowing what was about to happen. “So uhm, Chrys, Prism here makes these really wonderful windows. And we kinda sorta wanted to make one... about you. So what do you say? Will you model for her so that she can do that?”
"Model?" Chrys tilted her head inquisitively, not knowing what that meant. She had heard Rarity use that word every time Chrys would let her fuzz over her when trying out new clothes, so she half expected that it was something similar to that.
“Yeah. You’ll just stand still for a bit so she can have a good image of how you look like. It’s easy, promise. Then Prism should easily be able to capture your likeness in her art.” At the mention of the last word in Twilight’s sentence, the expression on the small changeling dropped almost immediately. Understanding the careless blunder she had just made, Twilight quickly put both her hooves over her mouth half believing that would be enough to hide what she had just said, but it was too late.
Usually, this is where Chrys would’ve agreed without much question or hesitation since she was inquisitive by nature and was always looking to learn something new. But art was something that Chrys was not unfamiliar with. She had made her own for school projects in the past and had learned more about it from her classes. Unfortunately for Twilight, she also understood that art was meant to be shared and seen by a lot of ponies. Due to personal reasons concerning everything she had been through, and further augmented by her personality, it turned out that the small changeling was adamantly against having her likeness be the focus of any form of art.
The next few seconds after that slip-up were a complete blur. One moment, the small changeling had been standing there and listening to whatever Twilight wanted of her with eager willingness. The next, not even after a handful of seconds had passed, she had vanished almost as if from thin air. To the untrained eye, it must’ve looked like her whole being was vibrating faster and faster until she was just one bright green and dark gray smudge that was quickly changing shapes and slipping into the castle to hide in one of its many rooms. It had all happened far too fast for either of the two grown mares to see where she had ran to.
“Chrys! We talked about this. Please come out and do this for us. All of Ponyville and I want something to honor your history!” Twilight called out to her, with only the quiet echo of the castle responding back to her.
“I can see why you wanted to keep it a secret! I’m guessing this is not the first time you’ve tried to do something like this for her?”
Twilight sighed and turned to Prism, a little despondent. “Yeah... Several times now. I initially wanted to build a statue of her, but you can imagine that wasn’t going to work at all. Instead, I figured we could have a small Chrys appreciation day here in Ponyville for her, so the entire town got together to throw her a party, but she didn’t show up for that either. At least with the close ponies that care about her, I wish she would let down her guard a bit more.”
“This has to do with that thing you were telling me at the end of the stories then?”
Twilight nodded sadly. “Chrys is still afraid to be in the public eye. And now that every pony knows she’s a changeling princess and the savior of our town, everyone has been treating her almost like a celebrity. This all started at the talent show she did where she revealed her true identity to everyone.”
“This seems a little more serious than just stage fright, Princess Twilight.”
“Yes... It's true. This seems to be a deeply rooted trauma she’s kept subconsciously for ages. Princess Celestia knew her since was newly hatched. She told me about how Chrys’ twisted horn and lack of magic had been a real sore spot for the changeling kingdom of the past, and so being a princess was especially rough on her. Even Queen Chrysalis was not able to protect her from the prejudices of those times.” Twilight’s brows had furrowed to show her troubled thoughts. “She’s had to shoulder a lot too since she felt personally responsible for the mad Queen and the mad changeling’s actions due to her being a princess. And now that she has finally let go of that chain that was binding her, it seems she hates the idea of becoming one again.”
"Perhaps it's for the best if we drop it then? If it's something she really doesn't want... Won't we just cause her more distress by pushing things on her like this?"
Twilight sighed again, with a lot more sadness in it. "You know, I thought so too... After realizing how much she hated it the first time, I dropped any notion of it. Whatever Chrys wanted, I wished that I could give it to her." While searching for the small changeling by opening doors into the individual rooms, at that moment, Twilight opened the door to her own bedroom. She walked in and towards a very large gem which was carefully presented atop an ornate marble stand with a velvet cushion. Her eyes fell onto the intensely foggy dark purple of its design, and she reminisced while staring at it in silence for a while. "But everything that happened made me realize that I wouldn't always be around to protect her. Queen Chrysalis taught me that I shouldn't try to stop the inevitable, as it is inevitable for a reason. And that if I don't prepare her for the future, she won't be able to face it. So as much as I wish I could take away her princess-hood in order to give her the life she wants, for her sake, I won't. And even if I could, I can't. The ponies who look up to her are many, and the changelings who are beginning to wake from their slumber know the truth of what she's done for them. The numbers who idolize her are starting to grow. One day, whether she wants to or not, she'll have to contend with being an influential figure. A leader."
Prism was silent at this, contemplating her own meaning and understanding of those words. She felt she could not entirely relate with Twilight or Chrys due to obvious reasons. Their circumstances were far too extreme when compared to her own. In only a few ways she was able to say that she could. When she responded to Twilight, she did so with the only small bit of her that understood.
"I may not be a princess with the world at stake. But in a strange way, I understand what Chrys might be feeling. Like I said earlier, I think this runs even deeper than stage fright or even an ancient trauma. You mentioned it yourself too, that she had taken on her responsibilities as a princess before. Anyone else would've abandoned them entirely if they were truly afraid of them. I should know..." Prism pushed her glasses up with her wings in order for them to sit properly and firmly atop the bridge of her nose where they were ever rarely at. "That fear she has, it sometimes has no rhyme or reason. That worry can come from anywhere, and seemingly at random. When there's so much pressure put on you, any little fault can make you break."
"I suppose I really should drop it then...?" Twilight's tone was almost pleading. To her confusion and pleasant surprise, Prism shook her head in a no.
"I wouldn't be able to make anything beautiful if I were to just give up, would I? I understand where you're coming from too, Princess Twilight. You faced, and are still facing, those unique challenges yourself, are you not? After you became the Princess of Friendship..." She nodded quietly to respond. "You know, my own success was gradual. At first, it was only a few ponies who said they liked my work. Then, I started to grow and grow. The more I grew in popularity, the more the pressure to be better and constantly improve myself became. But it wasn't the pressure that broke me, Princess. This is something that, you, Chrys, and I can relate to... What broke me was in thinking that all their feelings were misplaced." Twilight's eyes grew from realization, and she dropped her head in quiet contemplation. "At some point, everyone decided amongst themselves that my art was worthy of the beautiful halls of a castle, or the holy sanctuaries of cathedrals. And I? Well, if I must be honest... I didn't agree, and despite everything I've done, I still don't. I know my problem is my lack of self-esteem. I know I should think better of myself. But I think it's only natural to have doubts of your own self-worth when you're being propped up to be larger than life. Because it's impossible to be 'larger than life'. Don't you think so too?"
Twilight let out a weak laugh. "I guess I do, yes. If it weren't for my friends being there for me almost every step of the way to reassure and help me, I doubt I could've taken on my own princess-hood in good conscience. Thank you for weighing in on this, Prism. Well, it seems we'll just have to give Chrys some time to get over this hunch. Sorry to have wasted your time and for having dragged you into this emotional mess of ours."
"It's okay, Princess Twilight. It's been a long time since I was directly involved with my clients. And I feel for the both of you. Besides, art is far more special when you're making it for those you care about." Prism's glasses fell down towards their usual resting place at these words. "But say, think I can try to convince her? I feel all she needs is to put things into perspective. Sometimes, all we need is a little reminding of what's important."
"I do think you should give up for today, Prism. But if you feel you can convince her, I won't say no. Just uh... Be prepared to play a mean game of hide and seek. She's really hard to find when she's trying avoid something. I learned that the hard way the first time around."
"The sooner, the better. You said she'll be going on a field trip to Saddle Arabia pretty soon, did you not? And I think you might be overexaggerating now, Princess. She's only a child. It can't be that hard to find her."
"Do remember she's a changeling. She has a habit of transforming whenever she's panicked about something, so I'll tell you this now: Keep a sharp eye out." Twilight closed her eyes so she could feel the lingering traces of magic in the air more clearly. "She should still be inside the castle. I can sense that she's already changed into something else. Keep her height and size in mind. It's easier for her to transform into something equal to herself. Let's split up and look around."
Sure enough, Twilight hadn't been lying. Finding her was more than tricky. To begin with, Prism didn't know the Castle of Friendship in or out, so finding her was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Most of the many rooms in Twilight's castle were storage or libraries. Only a few were living rooms, guest rooms, and bathrooms. And only one kitchen. Prism would open door after door to complete silence and dead still rooms. But every now again, she would enter a room to some slight movement. Perhaps opening the door caused a breeze that shook loose objects, or perhaps the pressure in the room became unbalanced when that release happened. Possible, but unlikely. If anyone could be called a hide and seek champion, it was Prism. And she had more than once correctly surmised that those rooms were mighty suspicious.
But every time she would go to investigate, the rooms themselves seemed to be playing tricks on her. Almost as if she were hallucinating, she could swear that she was seeing double from time to time, only to rub her eyes or look back towards the doubled items and seeing that there was only one of what she had seen. The rustling and movement of those rooms would only increase as she slyly, deliberately stepped through them slowly to build up tension. In the same way that one could hide their presence through their mannerisms and careful visual adjustments, so too could they augment it by putting on stances and gaits that seemed to say 'I know you're there, come out and play'. Which worked to great effect at unnerving the small changeling girl enough so that she would undo her transformation in order to run away as fast as possible.
And run away she did! For a child, she was incredibly nimble. But it was no coincidence. The changeling had mastered the art of transformations and could even do partial morphs. Her lightning quick speeds and on-a-dime agility were a result of having changed her hooves and forelegs into muscles and structures of quicker animals like rabbits and deer. Whenever she needed a quick burst of speed or to be able to turn sharply at a corner, she would do partial morphs for split seconds at a time to carry her momentum forward.
Prism refused to give up. Getting the hang of where Chrys preferred to hide and as what, she found she was finding her more and more quickly with each attempt. Despite her incredible ability to transform into quite literally anything, she was terrible at actually hiding. Or at the very least, Prism was just that good at seeking. After several hours with the sun now beginning to set, Prism now felt like she was close to cornering her.
But as she gave chase after Chrys in that final attempt now that the small girl had exhausted herself, Prism realized she had made a mistake the moment she finally caught sight of the kind of expressions the small girl was making. She shouldn't have been chasing the changeling at all. She'd completely lost sight of what her goal was after having participated in this strange game of hide and seek, and failed to realize that Chrys was less likely to be convinced about having art be done of her if this hunt was any indication of what that meant for her. The look of distraught and distrust in her eyes as Chrys tried her hardest to avoid her said it all.
Having run out of magic altogether and being unable to transform anymore, as the small changeling huffed for breath and stepped away from Prism in her fear of her, she stumbled and fell backwards onto the side of a nightstand next to what looked to be a highly luxurious bed. Thankfully, Chrys hadn't been injured by stumbling onto it, but the weight of that knock did manage to flip it to its side, sending the one item on top of it hurtling to the floor and shattering into many pieces of colorful glass shards.
That item was a gift that Chrys had received only just recently. A very precious and deeply important one at that. It was a lamp that had been hoof-crafted by three individuals. Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. The only thing still in tact of that lamp was the magical gem acting as the light source that looked an awful lot like the one Celestia had used at the center of her breastplate. It had been a while since Prism had last seen the Princess, so she could not discern on whether that was or wasn't the same gem.
Prism immediately understood just how much the lamp had meant to her, judging solely by the expression of horror and sadness that ran across her face at seeing it be destroyed. Chrys did not seem like a materialistic sort, so the only conclusion was that she was heartbroken by having this emotionally significant gift of hers be ruined.
"Oh no! I didn't mean to..."
The small changeling had been frozen over the remains of the lamp, seemingly taking a while to process it. She turned to look at Prism with a world of hurt in her eyes, stopping her from saying more. Prism stepped forward with a hoof out to her, hoping to convey her apologies with that alone as she could not muster the words. But as she did so, Chrys took a step back. Her distrust had only grown twofold from this, and even in the way she recoiled from her with a misty fog forming around her eyes, it was heart rending.
"I... I'm so sorry, Chrys..." The small changeling shook her head, not wanting to hear it. Hesitantly, she stepped backwards until finally bolting into a full sprint as fast as her normal body could carry her out of the room, which wasn't as fast because she'd already been exhausted from that day already. Prism was wrought with remorse. She hated feeling like she had only made things worse for Chrys. She knew from personal experiences that even small incidents like these could completely alter one's outlook in life, and that this might just be the thing that would keep her from growing as a result. Desperate to find even the smallest excuse to keep her from running out that door forever, Prism quickly thought of dozens of things she could say in those precious few seconds. Just when Chrys was about to disappear out into the hall again, Prism was able to blurt out her last, desperate attempt to make it all alright. "Chrys! Wait! It's fine! We can fix it!" She yelled as loudly as she could just as Chrys disappeared past the doorframe, hoping it had gotten through to her.
And at first it seemed like all was lost since she didn't return immediately. Prism began to feel terribly sorry over it all, beginning to tear up herself. But after a short while, a familiar and wonderful little crooked horn poked out from the edge of the doorway, with a bright green mane following suit and only one concerned eye. With only a small bit of her showing from the doorway and her foreleg hugging the edge, she wiped away her own misty eyes.
"Really, can, fix?" She said quietly, with a hint of hope in her tone.
"Y-yes! Of course. Yes, we can fix it. Uhm, uhm. Let's see." Prism stretched out a wing over to her back to notice that her tool bags were missing, and even if she did have them on hoof, she still needed a furnace to work with. "Thank goodness for the workshop!" Prism exclaimed in a moment of realization and flew over to an empty basket that sat in the room and used it to carry all the broken pieces of the lamp inside. "Don't you worry, Chrys. I'll make this as good as new, if not better!"
Following a short distance away and still keeping wary of her, Chrys did her best to keep up with Prism who was flying as fast as she could through the castle of friendship to reach the workshop within. Seeing that she was having troubles due to her exhaustion, Prism opted to slow down her flight speed to match her pace but still making it look like she was rushing to get the lamp fixed, which worked well to alleviate the girl's concerns.
Finally at the room, Prism immediately got to work. Thankfully Twilight had already prepared everything. Prism was thankful for the alicorn's meticulous nature in that moment, as she tossed the many special hot-burning coals into the furnace who sported many intricate ventilation shafts around it. Twilight had even prepared a magnesium fire starter rod which made it very easy for her to start a fire for the furnace even without the use of magic. In the corner of the room attached to the bottom part of the chimney-like furnace rest a very large and hefty bellow. If Twilight had, had one oversight, it had been the sheer size of that thing. Even just pressing it down took all of Prism's bodyweight and the force afforded to her by using her wings to push it down even more.
Thankfully due to the size, it only took a few back-breaking heaves of the massive bellow to get a roaring fire going. With every puff of air, the fire seemed to lunge out and kick up embers that floated in the space within the room for a brief moment before disappearing. Chrys kept her distance during that entire process, standing by the doorway and as far as she could from the furnace. When Prism was finally satisfied with the heat levels, she took one of the metal rods from her saddlebags which had a circular drip pan at the very end of it, like one long cooking pot almost. She then poured some of the quartz sand prepared for her by Twilight and filled the pot a good ways before dunking it into the fire, where for a while, Prism spent a bit of time controlling the flames by hitting the bellow a few more times.
Finally, there came the time to bring the pot out of the fire, and this is where even the initially wary Chrys shook her fear over the furnace to get closer in order to get a good view of the molten glass. Prism used another one of her long metal rods to dip into the pot and then spun it using both her hooves and her wings. As she lifted this burning hot spaghetti lollypop, the glow and the sheen of the glass was mesmerizing.
With her wings again, Prism took a pair of square thongs and began to push and pull against the taffy-like molten glass, slowly but surely creating a design out of it. Once she was happy with the ovular tear-drop shape, she reached over to the basket containing the broken bits of the lamp and pulled out the magical gem in order to eye it down and get the physical calculations of its size and dimensions. She then took another pair of finer thongs and very carefully adjusted one end of the tear-drop shape in order for it to have prongs that could hold the gem. Lastly, she dug some indentations into its sides so as to hold up any future lamp shades. Happy with it at last, Prism dropped the still-glowing glass into a special refrigerator where she would proceed to cool it for a while. In the meantime, she had another thing to attend to. The lamp shade. And she had the perfect idea for it.
"How are you feeling so far, Chrys? Confident we can fix it?" The small changeling nodded, now fully entranced in the glass-making process and growing more hopeful by the second. "Okay, get ready, because here comes the fun part." Prism drew from her bags two metal molds identical to each other in perfect neat cylinders. Using the heat from the furnace, she opted to weld them together at one end to leave the other open. Carefully, intricately, and precisely, she inched the individual pieces of the broken glass from the lamp one by one in-between the molds, often having to cut them down into smaller pieces or smooth them into small plates. Since Chrys could not see what was happening with the shards, all she could do was watch in wonder at why Prism was being so delicate with this part of the process. Then to the changeling's surprise, she took the long pot and poured all the remaining molten glass in-between the molds where the shards were and quickly placed them into the refrigerator by replacing it with the glass lamp base she'd made earlier. Now that it had cooled, Chrys could see that the translucency and beauty in its design was stunning, as Prism had grooved out texture into it by twisting it around a bit, so it was a swirling ovular glass vase that could perfectly nestle the magical gem at its top.
"So, pretty." Chrys could only stare at such truly beautiful craftsmareship.
"It's not complete yet, Chrys! It's missing one last thing. I hope you're ready for this." After waiting long enough for the molds to cool, Prism took it out with more dramatics and fanfare than simple metal molds deserved.
The jaw dropping moment happened shortly after as Prism adeptly and quickly removed the metal molds to reveal something of truly stunning beauty. The only thing that had mattered to Chrys about the lamp before was that it had carried a lot of emotional worth, so she only cared to see it fixed and illuminating it's warm night light. But when Prism revealed the new lamp shade meant to adorn the gorgeous lamp base she had made, she could no longer simply say she wanted it "just fixed". Thanks to all the many colorful glass shards that Prism had used of the broken lamp, it seemed to glow with a rainbow sheen at just the refraction of the nearby light. Not only that, Chrys now understood what all the precise and careful adjustments that Prism had made earlier to it were, as she had specifically set up each individual piece inside the cylinder molds to make shapes and figures of reminiscent things.
And reminiscent they were... What they pictured were images very, very familiar to her. On the bottom of the lampshade, adorned with green and brown shards, Prism was able to create the image of a forest all along the bottom. Near the top however, there were several different designs. The things that mattered most to her about the previous lamp were now in full display there, as they showed a yellow sun, a blue moon, and purple stars in the very familiar shapes of her loved one's cutiemarks.
Then the real magic happened once Prism put the lamp altogether, gem and all, and turned it on. She had doused the furnace off completely before hoof and now that the sun had set entirely, it was almost pitch black in that room when Prism did so. In the same way that lamp shimmered in rainbow colors, so too did the walls all around the room sparkle with that symphony of colors.
And there on the wall to compliment the beauty in it all, where the pronounced shapes of the figures that could be seen on the shade, reflected off as colorful silhouettes. For a brief second, Chrys forgot she was at the castle of friendship. She was reminded of the very start of her journey that changed her life for the better. Of the moments when she traveled across the open world for the first time finally free from a life of unending darkness. Of all the beauty nature and life had to offer. And then there they were, the things she most wanted to see. The sun, moon, and stars. And again there they were, the ones she loved so dearly.
Finally, the spell broke when the normal lights of the room flickered on suddenly as Twilight ran into the room in a frantic, rushed, and out-of-breath way, drowning out the lamp's effects.
"Chrys! There you are! Please please don't run away from me anymore... I was so worried about you." Twilight flew straight to the small changeling and hugged her tight. "After I couldn't sense your magic anymore, I thought you'd left the castle and I was searching all over town fearing the worst. Thank goodness I was able to clue into where you were thanks to Prism using the furnace to send a smoke signal to me." To Twilight's utter confusion, both Prism and Chrys began to laugh at her words. Prism in loud guffaws, and Chrys in the cute hiccup-y way she knows how to laugh. "Wait, was I wrong?"
"Very, Twilight!" Prism said, finally letting go of honorifics in front of her. "Chrys never left the castle. She was with me the whole time. And I used the furnace to make some glass, not for signals. We were trying to fix something we accidently broke."
"Well... don't I have egg on my face." She blushed with embarrassment and looked over to the beautifully ornate lamp. "Oh! I recognize those shapes. Was this your lamp Chrys? The one the Princesses and I made for you?" She nodded at her words. "That lamp meant so much to you... I'm sorry Chrys, if it helps, we can always make you another one."
Chrys shook her hood to reply with a no. "Miss. Prism, fixed. Very pretty. Very, cool!" Chrys walked over to turn off the normal lights in the room to show Twilight what she meant, and much like Chrys, she had a similar reaction. It was a true work of art.
"Prism!" Twilight directly addressed her, making her jump. "This must've been such hard work... I don't know how I can begin to thank you for this. How many bits will it cost?" She said as she produced a money pouch with her magic.
"No money at all. After all, I was the one who broke it."
"But this is more than just a simple fix! I can't just..."
"No. Money. Princess." She reiterated.
Twilight huffed with exasperations. She didn't know where to direct all her gratitude.
"But there is something I want." Before Twilight could speak up to have her name anything she wanted, Prism had turned to Chrys and got down to her height by kneeling in order to speak to her directly. "Heya Chrys, will it be okay if I take my payment from you?"
"Mm. Anything." She nodded, fully intent on repaying this favor now.
"Before I ask you for anything, I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. Because of me, we ended up breaking your lamp. And you probably had an awful time constantly running away from me, didn't you? I didn't realize since at some point, I forgot why I was even trying to look for you. I never meant to scare you in the way I did. I just found myself having... well, fun. You we're pretty good at hiding, and then it just started to feel like a game. So, will you forgive me for that?"
"Mm. Um, had fun, too. Miss. Prism, very good, seeker." Chrys smiled up at her, alleviating the worry in heart immensely. "Still. Don't want, art. Of me." Her brows furrowed when she thought of it.
"Thank you for forgiving me, Chrys. And that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Only you know yourself best, Chrys. And so Twilight and I wanted to know why you're so against having art be made of you. We can think of a few reasons, but unless you tell us, we can't help you."
Chrys gingerly pawed the grounded with her hoof, hesitant to say it. But she wasn't about to go back on her word. She took in a deep breath. "Ponies believe, I saved. Town. Saved, them."
"From all the stories I've heard, that's exactly what you did, didn't you, Chrys? You're Ponyville's heroine."
She shook her head at this statement. "Not, hero. Didn't, save others. Saved, friends. Not town."
"Ah. So you think the rest of the town was saved as just a happy coincidence of you saving your friends at that time? And you feel you don't deserve all the respect and admiration you're receiving now, is that it?" The small changeling nodded to Prism's statement.
"Chrys..." Twilight brow's furrowed with her concern as she was now witnessing Chrys' internal battle with her self-esteem in full force now.
"And being a princess is a big deal. You feel like because you didn't try to save any of the ponies in this town or the changelings that weren't your friends, that you're undeserving of being one. Correct?" Again, the changeling nodded, made sadder by having it be spelled out to her.
"Prism, maybe that's going a little too..." Twilight tried to interject.
"And now you're feeling like maybe you don't even deserve to be next to Twilight and all her friends who selflessly save Equestria over and over again. And that the last thing you want to do is pretend to be someone of any worth by having art be made of you. Right?" At this, Chrys looked directly down to the floor with how shaken she had become at Prism's words. Twilight had become visibly troubled now, and she would've said something had it not been for Prism's quick cut-off. "But you see, Chrys..." The small girl looked up towards Prism who was holding that beautifully ornate lamp in her forelegs.
The light from the lamp was now making her pastel rainbow mane that much more colorful, and she almost seemed to be glowing. She then ran a wing tip along the width of the shade so that it began to... spin. Following suite, the silhouettes on the walls began to move too, but they twirled and dance in a motion that would have not been present had it stayed fixed. On the wall, the colorful display showed the sun making way for moon, the moon making way for the stars, and stars giving way to sun again. The forest below seemed to spring alive as it turned circles around the room. The last of Prism's surprises, a moving lightshow.
"Whether you think you deserve it or not, others will think that you're a true heroine, and that you saved this town. It might have been a mistake, but the fact remains that you did save everyone in the end." Prism pointed a wingtip behind Chrys to make her look back to see her own shadow playing a part in the story being told by the lamp. "You were born a princess, and although that hardly defines a true leader, there will always be those who think you're more than worthy of being one, even if you think otherwise." Twilight's shadow joined in at this moment, showing who it was that Prism was talking about. "What you think you're worth no longer matters when it comes to the most important of all these things. Twilight, your friends, this town, and myself now. We'll love you no matter whether you think you're worthy or not. Because love doesn't care about worth. It cares about you." Prism stepped ahead of the lamp to join her shadow with the two in order to complete the trio.
At these words, the small changeling began to grow misty eyed again, but not due to the same things as before. No, as Rarity had said before... These are happy tears. Prism took her into a hug and cradled her for a bit, allowing her to let out her emotions.
"So you see? You mustn't be afraid of art. This is art, right here. Does it look scary to you?" Prism held the lamp up on her hooves, prompting Chrys to shake her head. "Whether it's a statue, a party, or some colorful window, someone will always try to make something for you to honor you Chrys. Because they love you. It's as simple as that. So what do you say? Can I make art of you, Chrys?"
"Mm." After feeling better at last, Chrys finally agreed to model for the new window.
Twilight was a bit of a nervous wreck as she had deliberately sat back to watch it happen without her input. During Prism's initial questioning, she had strongly felt like stepping in to defend Chrys, but her own words from earlier had been nagging at her. That she wouldn't always be around to protect Chrys, and she needed to prepare her. And sitting back to do just that, thankfully, had paid off in a great way, as Prism had managed to help Chrys in a way that she could not. Twilight brushed the misty fog off her eyes and was just joyful to know Chrys had finally accepted her worth. Then with a great start, a realization filled her head.
"Chrys! It's gotten pretty late already. We still have to go help the Queen for today."
With a start, she too quickly got to her hooves and nodded over to Twilight.
"Huh? Queen? Wait. You're going to go see the Queen of the changelings? Can I come along? I've only ever heard rumors, but it was enough to interest me in meeting her."
Twilight looked to Chrys to be the one to give the okay, and graciously, she nodded to accept.
With two flying ponies and Chrys riding on Twilight's back, it didn't take long for them to reach the inner reaches of the cave within where the Queen still lay asleep and unconscious. Prism hadn't been told in what way she would get to meet the Queen, so she was rather disappointed when she did finally get to see her. All she could do was watch in bewilderment at the kind of spell that Chrys used in that moment. Her magic was a true sight to behold. Uniting her horn to that of the Queen's, her magic filled the room in waves of soft golden light, bringing everyone within a sense of calm and ease. Ponies often said that this spell reflected the heart that cast it in its warmth and strength, and in that sense, Prism had no doubt in her mind of just how noble the soul was that created it. All she'd heard were stories of the kind of abilities the small changeling had mastered, and Prism had already seen her perform a few fantastical things already. But this spell was on a whole level of its own. She'd seen it be used before by some of the healer unicorns, but never to this potency. It was almost as if Prism could feel the practice and heart that had gone into it.
After that was done, Chrys moved on to perform that same spell again in a bigger room where the bewildering sight of hundreds of changelings lay. Prism had never seen changelings before her arrival to Ponyville, only that of which was shared from written accounts on newspapers, artistic depictions in various art, and photographs taken from their invasion of Canterlot during the royal wedding. So it came at quite the surprise when she found herself staring at a mass swarm of them even deeply unconscious as they were. Many of their wings would vibrate from the occasional sleep twitch from time to time, creating a buzzing noise that would bounce from wall to wall creating a surreal and unnerving atmosphere. Stranger yet, while a few still had their darkened appearance from what she remembered seeing of them in various depictions, some of the changelings were starting to show... change. Instead of all black and greys in the way she could see of Chrys or the Queen's colors, Prism was now noticing that the rest of the changelings were beginning to show greens, reds, yellows, and all sorts of colors as though someone were slowly turning a dial on their saturation. Many of them no longer even showed the holes that dotted along their hooves. Prism found herself lost in all sorts of complicated thoughts as she pondered upon these things while looking at the differences between them and the royal girl before her.
However, in the middle of Twilight and Chrys performing their duties for the room where all the rest of the normal changelings lay unconscious, Prism was reminded of something they'd entirely forgot about that entire time.
"Hey, Twilight. Know what you want to add to the window now that we've got Chrys' approval?"
Twilight broke out into a cold sweat from guilt, realizing she had not spared even a second to think about it since the start of this whole ordeal. Again, she felt terribly unprepared. Then, like a lightning bolt, it struck her.
"Chrys!" She turned to the small changeling to address her directly. "Do you think she could see those?" Twilight pointed over to a passage way that was illuminated by a trail of small glowing crystals on the ground.
At the mention of them, Chrys' eyes grew wide and her faced flushed with embarrassment, pawing at the ground in the usual way she showed unsurety. Then she remembered Prism's words from earlier.
Art is art. Someone will always make something to honor those they love... Just as she had done for the ones she loved.
"Mm" She said at last.
It was not every day that the whole of Ponyville and several visiting outsiders from all across Equestria came together to celebrate within its Town Hall. Such a thing was usually reserved for auspicious events, meaningful holidays, or to decorate one of the townsfolk's most important accomplishments. To stand upon its raised stage as an outsider, it meant that you were no longer one. It didn't matter who you were. It didn't matter what you were. To the ponies of Ponyville, you were now one of their own. A neighbor. A friend. A member of that close knit family.
So it truly was a special night for Ponyville when it was said that a celebration was being thrown at Town Hall to honor someone. Rarity had been in full swing the days before getting almost everyone in Ponyville a suitable dress ready, much to her pleasure. Applejack and her family had been hard at work preparing the venue's snacks, drinks, and food in some of the classic Sweet Apple Acres' baking style. Fluttershy had practiced numerous recitals with her bird friends, and had even found the courage to sing along with them for the special performance she was meant to do that night. Rainbow Dash had made herself busy traveling across Equestria to send word to the key ponies invited, which was no trouble for someone of her speed. And of course, Pinkie loved every moment of setting up Town Hall for the special day as she finished her decorations early and occupied the rest of her time hiding some of her many hidden party poppers and her trusty cannon throughout it all.
And both Twilight's and Spike's efforts could be felt throughout it all, as they had helped with every effort for the celebration and perfected everything as best they could. Twilight in particular had been running the gauntlet for this occasion, as she was fully intent on making sure it went without a hitch. It had been a long while since she had tried and failed to organize a similar event before, and now she was certain that things would go smoothly this time. Prism's finished work had taken a while, but now it was ready to be presented and was waiting upon the stage waiting to be unveiled to the folks of Ponyville for viewing before the window would permanently become fixated to her throne room's walls. The art had finally been made, the party was set, everything seemed to be going great.
But minds and hearts are fickle. Even if the intent and the want is there, something will always stand in our way. Life is not an empty road full of predictable outcomes after all. Everything had been perfect up until the point it wasn't so. The star of the show was missing yet again. And even as her friend group and the hide-and-seek champion, Prism Glass, were all scattering about to find her while Twilight made sure to entertain the guests before the officials celebrations went underway, Chrys was still nowhere to be found. To Twilight's chagrin, it seemed that Prism's month-long stay had made the small changeling terribly good at hiding every ounce of herself after numerous repeated games between them, so all efforts were now proving to be useless at such a pivotal time.
Do not get her wrong, Twilight was not the least bit worried about having another celebration ruined. She was not the type to sulk in a mired reputation when there were more important things at stake. This celebration was important to Twilight, because it would mark Chrys' readiness to accept her role in life. Seeing her back down now, after all the reassurance and progress they had made in talking it out in the days prior, was showing to her that she was still too hasty in her decision to have the small changeling step up to the plate.
Slowly as the night wore on, the crowds began to murmur amongst themselves on the delayed start now that all the guests had arrived. Twilight's friends all returned with no good news, not even Prism. With a heavy heart, Twilight felt like she had overstepped again.
"Are you sure you've checked everywhere?" Twilight's voice was not frantic or panicked when she asked them. Only saddened and sorry. Their silent shaking heads all confirmed what she was hoping against. "It was still too much to ask her to brave a public stage. I only wish she were here now to tell her I'm sorry if I seemed a little pushy ever since we started setting this up. I know how she still had her hang-ups about this, but I was hoping for... Well, I was hoping to see her grow."
"I'm sure she understands that you only wanted the best for her, sugarcube. And even if this is still too much for her today, that don't mean she won't ever be ready. Ah'mean, she finally agreed to having some art of her, no? She's already getting closer to it." Applejack spoke up.
"Oh, I'm sure it's just nerves. Take it from me. Even I still get shy when I'm in front of so many ponies. And we have quite the turn-out tonight thanks to the many visitors from all over Equestria and even outside of that." Fluttershy tried to reassure with.
"It'll be okay, Twilight. That girl has done nothing but grow since she first arrived here! Soon, she'll be taller than all the other foals considering how fast she's grown in height."
"Rainbow Dash, that's not what I meant by-"
"I know, I know. Not in the physical sense. But I mean, just look at all the progress she's made already. Never mind even the more obvious things, like her gliding and magic-usage. She's practically glowing now compared to how she was when we first met her!"
"Her personality has only grown much more beautiful overtime, and I daresay she's become Ponyville's hidden gem. Her beauty rivals my own, and I don't say that about just any pony, you know. But that beauty took effort and growth to cultivate." Rarity added, feeling the emotion of the moment.
"Not only that, she has so many friends now! I'm thinking someday, she'll even out-friend me! That's crazy!!" Pinkie Pie violently shook Twilight to further exclaim her statement. Perhaps the shaking had loosened some of the stress floating about Twilight's heart, as she finally let out a smile at Pinkie's words.
"Thank you, girls. I tend to get stuck inside my own head, don't I? Chrys doesn't need to prove that she has grown. That should be obvious enough to see."
"I could've told you that. Wait, I HAVE been telling you that this entire time, Twi!" Spike crossed his arms, annoyed to have confirmation that his words had fallen on deaf ears.
"You're right, Spike. I'm sorry for not heeding your words earlier."
"So long as you get it. No one should know more about Chrys' growth than us. She's our family." Twilight snickered at Spike's statement. "What. What's that laugh for?"
"Oh nothing. It's just, I'm remembering a time when you didn't even trust Chrys at all, much less see her as family."
"!" Spike jumped as though he had just had an embarrassing part of his past be revealed. Unfortunately for him, he could not retort since it was very much true, and all he could do was turn his flushed scales away from the knowing and amused smiles from a group of mares.
"Even if she doesn't show up today, Twilight, I'm sure one day she'll be well and truly ready. Until then, we just have to make sure that we'll be there to support her when she is." Prism was the last to throw her hat into the ring to reassure her.
Twilight graciously nodded to her. "You're right, Prism. Thank you for being here today and for all you've done for us. We are blessed to have you."
"Oh, please, Twilight. I should be the one thanking you all. I've never felt more on top of my art than I did with this one. It's rare that I get to place all of my heart into something and for someone... so thank you."
Before the group of mares could devolve into a group hug like how the sentimental situation was calling for, it was Rainbow Dash who brought them back to Equestria. "Okay, but like sappy stuff aside, Twi', you should really go out there and unveil this thing before ponies start leaving. We don't got all night you know." With a flush smile and a quick rush to the stage, Twilight went to go do just that.
"Friends, loved ones, and neighbors. Welcome one and all to our small gathering here in Ponyville. Today we gather to celebrate something that has been long overdue. And by Ponyville traditions, we have hosted this in Town Hall in order to truly honor this occasion. Since the very town's founding by the Apple family, Town Hall has seen the rise and growth of a people, be they Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, dragons, zebras, mules, griffons, bovine, our animal companions, or any other race looking to join our community. And today, I am beyond proud and happy to have you all attend the celebration of one its newest members. Our very own Chrys. A changeling with a truly beautiful heart."
The crowd had erupted into a cacophony of applause, whistles, and hollers to show their approval and enthusiasm. It certainly was a world of difference when compared to the kind of reception one could have expected had this celebration been done at the start of Chrys' arrival in town. But the drastic change had happen with good reason. Not only with the events of one bombastic, world-shattering event, but also from a prolonged and sustained effort from the little girl. There was no end to the stories being told of her good deeds. From smalls stories of seeing her feed and help animals here and there whenever possible as well as all sorts of small acts of kindness like this, to the more impactful ones like seeing her use her transformation abilities to protect and help the folk from things that even Twilight and her friends could not get to, especially now that the Castle of Friendship were urging them to travel farther and wider across the world.
She had, through great trial and effort, become Ponyville's heroine in every sense of the word. Even in the more mundane things in life like an average day for the citizens, she would often be seen improving someone's day simply by being a force of positivity and cheer. Due to her nature, she could not leave an ailing heart alone, and that spell she had used earlier had been steadily becoming more and more practiced from sheer usage.
But even in the moments when she was not in the public's eye, she was in the hearts and minds. Stories perpetuated and gained in scope and size as they echoed and reverberated with similar stories. Truth gave way to myth. Myth gave way to admiration. Admiration gave way to tall tales. And Chrys being born of royalty just further pushed that image that had been created of her. It was a perfect storm. And from that storm, emerged a saintess. An angel.
With all that in mind, maybe now you can understand the kind of positivity that was being exuded in that gathering. There is one last thing that has been left out of all of this, and that was that for the citizens of Ponyville, their attachment to community and for their lives having been directly saved by Chrys, this was all just doubled for them. Everyone there truly did care for her greatly.
Hypothetically speaking, if someone had the ability to see into the hearts of the creatures before them, perhaps that person would've been moved to tears. Perhaps they would've been so touched by the wonderful emotions in the air, that any fear would feel like nothing in the face of that. Perhaps they would be truly grateful, from the very inner reaches of their soul. This all just hypothetical, of course.
"Unfortunately, I must apologize to you all. I was too near-sighted to see that Chrys herself might not be ready to take to a stage like this, so for today, I hope you'll forgive her absence. But as she has allowed this day to pass, I want for you all to join me in celebrating her anyway, in name and in spirit!" With understanding nods and more hollers of approval, Twilight was able to smile at the bright and supportive community that had endeared her to Ponyville all that time ago. "So without further ado, I wish to present to you all the careful month-long work that a wonderful new friend of mine has created for me. For that I will allow her to unveil it herself, as per her wishes. Please give a warm welcome to our special guest, Prism Glass!" With that, Twilight walked off the stage to go join her friends at the floor of Town Hall, leaving the risen stage to her.
Prism Glass let out a small huff of air. Something about the light of a spotlight just made her uncomfortable, in essence. Pedestals were meant for masterpieces, and she had always felt like both her art and herself were not so. But this piece was different. Finding the courage to step up onto that stage was confirmation of that. In any other occasion, perhaps her confidence would've wavered and waned with each step before reaching the microphone at the center. But she was beyond confident for this one. Her heart was in it, 100%. In a sense, it was less of a matter of confidence, and more a matter of not caring. If the world saw it and disliked it, she felt okay with that. This was the purest form of her art. In a way, this art was her. And it was a masterpiece. If the world could not see the beauty in it, then it was just a simple matter of the world being blind to her.
The crowds were now murmuring amongst themselves excitedly, since almost everyone knew of Prism and her art. She was uniquely beautiful to look at in most situations, but there and then, dressed in a beautiful shawl of her own design, she sparkled under the spotlight. There was eager anticipation in the very air thanks to the kind of impression she exuded. Prism motioned a wingtip towards the ornate drape that hung over the stained window before beginning her introduction and showcase. At that very moment before she even had a chance to open her mouth, she felt frozen in fear. Her bravado had disappeared. The tip of her wing felt hot to the touch as she clung to the drape. Her stomach churned. All over again, she felt undeserving of everything. Why was her work being lauded again? What did they see in it? She hadn't even unveiled it yet. Couldn't muster the strength to pull the sheet. Fear had won out and her self-doubt consumed her. Her heart and soul was on the line with this piece.
If the world didn't like it... then that meant they just couldn't see her. That was such a... lonely feeling. A mist began to form around her eyes.
"Oh no! Prism!" Twilight muttered under her breath as she watched her freeze in front of everyone.
"It looks like serious stage fright, the poor dear." Rarity spoke sympathetically.
"It feels much deeper than that... I mean... I should know..." Fluttershy empathized.
"Quick Twi! Let's go help Prism before it gets worse for her." Spike jumped up to her back.
But right before Twilight could begin her mad dash towards the stage, the truly unexpected happened. Or something that she had convinced herself was off the table already anyway. Both the stage and all of the space within Town Hall was filled with the golden glow of a familiar spell. This was likely no easy feat, as Town Hall was terribly big and the magic required to fill it with that kind of complicated spell was way beyond what even a studied and practiced unicorn could perform even on a good day.
Not so for the changeling in question, however. Changelings are a unique race, as they transform emotion into magic. And there was quite a lot of that going on already, so it's easy to imagine that for Chrys, this must've been a walk in the park for her.
Prism's nerves began to fall and calm, slowly, surely, soothingly. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again, now fully returned to normal from her earlier panic. Having understood this was Chrys' doing, she looked around for her, but saw nothing. Wherever she was, it seems that she had been watching that entire time, and protecting her. Angel huh? Prism thought to herself, thinking there were some truths to the stories we told. She looked up towards the still veiled window and at the design of the ornate quilt, seeing the silky dark green of its design which reminded her the reasons why she was even up on that stage to begin with.
"Chrys saved the day again! I'm glad she's at least watching this celebration." Twilight smiled with pride clearly written all over her face. "Seems like Prism is doing a lot better now too."
"You reckon she's okay, Twi? She seems to be fixated on the drape."
"Probably just getting her bearings back. But speaking of which, that is a lovely unveiling drape you made Rarity, thank you."
"Huh? I certainly don't remember making a drape. But it's strange. I do recognize that design. It's definitely one of mine. Where did it come from?"
Wide-eyed, Twilight looked back towards the stage to see Prism murmuring something as if speaking to the drape itself.
"That's the sneakiest spot yet, Chrys. I couldn't find you whatsoever. But it's definitely not the time to be playing games, don't you think?" Prism whispered to the drape, with nothing whispering back. "Well, this is not really a game is it? Were you hoping to put off this celebration for a little longer by being absent?" Silence. "It's too bad it didn't go as planned. And now you're in quite the tricky position, don't you think? How are you going to get out of this one? Are you faster than lightning? Can you go invisible?" More silence. "Just nod or shake your head, do you want me to get you out of here? Just say the word, and I'll do it. It's not too late to put it off for a little longer, Chrys." Finally, the first response. The drape shook from an outside force as if someone was shaking their head. "No? Are you sure? Well... do you want to do this together then?"
"Mm." A shy little squeak could be heard only to Prism.
"You're a brave girl, Chrys. You'll do just fine, I know it."
With one final signaling tug, the warm-to-the-touch drape that Prism had felt earlier fell to the floor by itself as if it had a mind of its own and suddenly, to everyone's incredible astonishment and pleasant surprise, transformed into the shape of the small changeling once it was all on the floor. Unbeknownst to Chrys, she had a way of creating accidental bombastic entrances. Not only was she adorned with Rarity's most carefully adjusted dress of the evening, even her mane had been styled to fit the occasion. She was a sight to behold, especially for Twilight since her whole outfit had been meticulous created by Rarity to resemble her very first Grand Galloping Galla attire. Well, Twilight was going through a NUMBER of different emotional things at seeing her appear as she did, so it's safe to say she was overjoyed by the whole thing.
On top of Chrys' unique entrance, behind her was the sheer stunning beauty of Prism's art in full display now that the drape was gone. In a single massive panel that reached almost all the way to the ceiling of Town Hall, Prism was able to encapsulate Chrys' story. The fires that destroyed her home from so long ago. The evils and the darkness that brought the changelings to madness. And the heroine of their story, breaking through with the power of her heart.
The crowd had, had a severe case of whiplash. Which in the end, only served to compound their feelings even more. They were in stunned awe, bewildered and amazed by it all. And finally after the silence broke, there was applause all around. Finally, it was time for the two to speak.
"Uhm, hello everyone. I'm Prism Glass. I made this piece you see here before you today at the request of Twilight. You may or may not know me from a few other things I've done." The crowd laughed as though Prism had just made a joke, since she was world-renowned after all and this just sounded like a play on humility.
"I'm, Chrys. Hello." The small changeling managed to squeak out into the mic, which was hardly audible even then. But the crowd had been silent as she stepped up to say her introduction, wishing to hear it. It was a short and simple introduction, but it was enough to get everyone to cheer her on. Chrys shied away behind Prism to hide her face from the crowd, her shyness reaching critical mass.
"I'm sorry if I haven't met many of you lovely folk in the last month I've been here. I've been squirreled away creating this for today. But you know... All this wonderful reception to all of this is starting to make me believe that everyone here will agree with me when I say: I feel truly blessed to be here today. In front of you all. Working for Twilight. Making art of an angel." To Prism's amusement, she felt a shy little tug on her dress from Chrys, not wanting to be associated with something that grandiose. "But, working on this made me realize that we're all just individuals at the end of the day. We all have our flaws. We're all prone to sad things. And the best way we can make a true community of unity and love is to support each other as much as possible."
Chrys poked her eyes from the side of Prism's forelegs to see the crowd, all listening in intently to her words. Prism was now employing one of the lessons she'd taught her. How to command attention. To augment your presence, instead of hide it. A lesson in regality, nobility, and leadership.
"I made art not of an angel, but of a beautiful soul that gets pretty close to being one through great effort. As a result, this has been some of the best time I've spent on this good, green Equestria. Now that I know them better, even if Twilight hadn't asked me to create this, I would've done so anyway. To show them how much they mean to me. I struggled for the longest time to find purpose in my art, but I think I'm beginning to see it now. And I owe it all to you." Prism turned to Chrys to look at her directly. "Thank you, Chrys, for all that you've done, and all that you do."
Prism knelt one foreleg and bowed her head in respect. Just as the ponies had done last time during her talent show, they followed suit and began to kneel as well. At the time, Chrys could not accept that reverence. It felt alien to her. She'd never had that kind of admiration directed at her. And she felt wholly undeserving of it.
Even now, that still held true for the most part. Deep inside, it didn't feel real. It didn't feel earned. Even as every pony saved from the Mistress kneeled. Even as Twilight and her friends kneeled. Even as Chrys' friends, Pipsqueak, Tiara, and The Crusaders kneeled. Even as the royal sisters, who'd been invited as special guests as well, kneeled too. And lastly, what felt the most alien to her was when the few awakened changelings kneeled too. Less than a handful had returned from their madness so far, and they all shared in the feelings floating about then.
But while her heart was not ready to accept it in kind yet, she was getting closer to it. And unlike before, she did not shy away from this gesture this time much as she wanted to. Like Twilight had taught her, she held her head up high and looked on towards the greater beyond.
"Thank, you, everyone"
The whistle of the train rang out loudly in order to let any current and potential passengers know that it had arrived at its current destination of Ponyville's station. In attendance to say goodbye to Prism Glass was nearly the entire town of Ponyville. In the weeks after Chrys' celebration that she spent there, she got to meet and befriend many of them, and even got to make her beautiful glass work for some of them. Now, she was being waved goodbye by all of the many friends she'd made, with Twilight and Chrys at the forefront.
"There was never a doubt in my mind, Prism. You were the best pony for this job. Never mind if there are better, more skilled Glassmiths out there. You will always be our friend, our family, and the best of the best at what you do, and we love you for it."
"Thank you, Princess. You honor me greatly. Truly. I had a lot of fun. And, working for you reminded me of what my own worth was. You tend to lose sight of it when there's no one to remind you. So I'm glad to know I have good friends in all of you."
"I'm still surprised it took you as little as a month to finish that window. It was so massive! That looked like at least half a year's worth of work alone."
"Oh don't be silly Twilight. I finished that thing in under a week."
"Huh? Then why did...?"
"I'm... still not prepared to show the world what I truly spent all of my heart and soul on. Even with that window, I felt like I would lose so much of myself if it all went wrong... But I've come to trust that you'll love what I made. So once you get home, you and Chrys should go to your room. Find the magical wallpaper I put up to hide the true window. And send me a letter about what you thought of it. Well... seems I should get going now, since the train won't wait much longer..." She said to a flabbergasted Twilight, not knowing how Prism could've slipped something as a window past her and into her own bedroom of all places.
"Goodbye, Auntie Prism. Hope. To, see you, again." Chrys said as she motioned for one last hug. Prism would never have said no to such a thing at this point, and got down to begin her hug with Chrys. To her surprise, Chrys brought her forehead onto hers before initiating their hug. And after all she'd been through, Prism had learned that this was a symbolic gesture from Chrys only to those she loved and trusted the most. She felt deeply touched by it and the hug that happened after was a bit tighter as a result.
"Hope to be back soon, Chrys. Stay strong, okay? And be sure to keep working on those lessons I gave ya for glass making." Then she leaned in a little more so she could whisper only to her. "And the ones on how to erase your presence so you can learn to hide better. It'll be super handy in the future, I can feel it. Just don't let Twilight know. You know how much she dislikes it. She is just a sore loser since she's even worse at hide and seek now."
"Mm." They winked at each other knowing smiles, completely unbeknownst to Twilight.
With one final melancholic whistle and the train sinking into the horizon, Twilight and Chrys waited until it disappeared from view to return back to their home. There they would have a constant reminder of what their worth really meant, immortalized in the beautiful ornate panes that now decorated The Castle of Friendship's throne room. It was a telling of a story of one small changeling who saved her loved ones and her town. And in a way that no one except those present for the creation of it could know, it was also the telling of a meaningful friendship with a whimsical and wonderful Glassmith known throughout the lands as Prism Glass.
And as for Twilight's surprise, well what do you think? Would she have been happy with it?
The answer is a definite yes.
