Author's Note
So, firstly I just wanted to warn you that English is not my native language, still, I tried my best to translate this work.
Secondly...
Canon: These characters are not family. Opaline is bad, evil and abuses poor Misty. There is no trace of any family relations.
Author with her headcanons from September 2022 that these characters are just like family for each other: I will write fluff and no one's gonna stop me.
I would be happy to recieve a feedback and thank you for the reading!
Tell me a story
In fact, darkness was not unusual for Misty. Opaline’s castle was so huge, empty and gloomy, so little unicorn had to move very carefully through dark unlit corridors. She also knew how dangerous it is to take the stairs — in the darkness it’s so easy to fall and to get hurt! So Misty wasn’t afraid of the dark, it was a part of her life, after all.
She was also used to the constant bad weather outside the window — the sky is almost always overcast, thunder rumbles and rain doesn’t stop. She didn’t even pay attention to flashes of lightning at night. Misty felt excitement and anxiety at the same time. The thunder was scary and wind howled loudly, yet, it provided a warming sense of security and comfort. No one will ever approach the lair if there is such terrible weather around. Misty liked to think that winds, rains and thunderstorms were an insurmountable barrier to outsiders who might come and try to harm her and Opaline.
But everything was a bit different this night. Misty didn't know why. Maybe the reason was that last night she had a very scary dream and in this dream she couldn’t escape from something terrible that chased her. Maybe it was because she felt very sad and lonely. She just laid down on her mattress on the floor, curled up, covered herself with a thin blanket to warm up, but still couldn’t fall asleep. And the storm began again, and the thunder rumbled — so scary! — more like the roar of a wild beast. Misty cowered, stretched out her hooves to her stomach and froze, afraid to move. It felt like someone evil and dangerous was hiding in the corner of the room, and Misty shuddered with horror thinking about it. And when the wind howled loudly somewhere under the roof, Misty couldn't stand it anymore. She screamed, jumped up from her bed and rushed to the door, clumsily trying to get out of the blanket on the way.
She found Opaline in the throne room — well, actually, she almost knew that Opaline is in her throne room. Misty has long noticed that most of the time Opaline spends time here and feels comfortable only on the throne. That's because she used to be a real queen.
So, when Misty came, Opaline was sitting on her throne, looking at her flawless reflection in the mirror and humming softly. Misty's presence was obviously not necessary for her, so the alicorn preferred to pretend that she was absolutely absorbed in contemplating her own appearance, but Misty came over anyway. She leaned on the throne and buried her forehead in Opaline's warm flank — and only then did she feel warm and safe. Opaline is powerful, she will protect from anything.
"Will you tell me the story of the Alicorn Queen and the Unicorn Princess again?" Misty asked without any unnecessary preliminaries.
She even allowed herself to climb on the throne, although she usually couldn't think of such a thing. The unicorn closed her eyes and moved closer to Opaline.
It seemed to her that an irritated growl rumbled in Opaline's chest, and the next moment the alicorn pushed Misty away — the unicorn squeaked in fright.
“No-o-o,” Opaline drawled, making a disgusted face, as if the very thought of it made her feel uncomfortable. "Misty, I've told you this story already”.
The filly only clung to Opaline again, burying her face in the soft mane. She completely ignored alicorn’s rudeness.
“Ple-e-ease,” Misty asked politely, looking at Opaline with big sad eyes. "I promise I'll be good."
Opaline abruptly pulled away — the unicorn's touch was unpleasant to her — and rolled her eyes, amazed at impudence of her ward.
"Don't touch me," she muttered, wincing in disgust, but Misty didn't notice it. “It's indecent.”
Misty hunched her shoulders and looked away staring at the floor.
"I'm afraid to sleep alone," she confessed shyly, lowering her ears. “I'm scared. There's a thunderstorm and wind.”
Opaline flapped her wings dismissively.
“Why do you think this should be my problem?" she asked, but Misty at this moment was looking at the feathers on alicorn’s wings with fascination and didn’t answer.
"Please, Opaline," the filly asked again, gently touching the soft wings and stroking them curiously. “I really liked this story. My favorite part is where…”
“Yes, yes,” Opaline replied casually. “Okay.”
Misty perked up and lifted her ears happily. She was instantly distracted from the soft pinkish feathers on the tips of Opaline's wings. Caressing and clinging to the alicorn in the vain hope of getting at least a little tenderness in return, she looked up, her gaze full of expectation and childish delight.
“Many, many moons ago,” Opaline began. “In a beautiful place called Skyros, the Alicorn was born.”
Misty twitched her ears excitedly and didn't even pay attention to another thunderclap.
“She was a real alicorn! Just like you!” she said enthusiastically, and Opaline nodded, trying to hide her displeasure.
"She wasn't just an alicorn," she corrected, tossing her head arrogantly. "She was a fire alicorn.”
Misty smiled and closed her eyes wistfully.
"She must have been so pretty…” she murmured admiringly and added again: "Just like you."
“Oh, yes," Opaline nodded approvingly. “She was beautiful. She was absolutely beautiful and very talented.”
"Even the fire obeyed her,” Misty whispered breathlessly. She had heard this story before and was now making sure that Opaline will not forget a single detail.
Opaline sighed a bit hoarsely. Maybe she realized that Misty would keep interrupting, or maybe some kind of aching, painful, dreary feeling squeezed her heart. She jerked her head irritably, banishing this feeling, and continued:
"Yes, even the fire obeyed her," she confirmed, not without pride.
Misty nodded, closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to Opaline, enjoying the warmth. She imagined an alicorn filly, brave, beautiful and very, very powerful. She imagined playing with a little alicorn – and how the alicorn showed her her amazing magic. Misty really liked to think about it.
"I want to be friends with her," Misty muttered. “She would love to be friends with me. We would play together. She must have had many, many friends,” Misty always said that, even though she knew what would happen next.
Opaline's gaze darkened, but the filly did not notice it — she buried her face into the soft fur.
"She didn't need friends,” Opaline said flatly. Hatred and resentment flashed in her eyes. "Other alicorns were stupid anyway. They did not want to be friends with her and looked only at the alicorns of Sun and Moon. So what.”
Misty raised her head and looked into Opaline's eyes worriedly.
"Poor Alicorn..." she sighed and blinked tears away. “What a stupid alicorns! They really didn’t want to be friends with her?”
Opaline shook her head.
"No,” she said. “No one wanted to be friends with her and no one wanted to play with her. Do you know why?’ She snorted. “They thought that fire was "not as cool" as the Sun and Moon. What a nonsense!”
“And I would definitely be friends with her!” Misty exclaimed, and her thin voice trembled with resentment. “She's so beautiful and talented! She must have been terribly lonely," she lowered her voice and whispered: "Like me."
It was said quietly, timidly, because Misty knew that it was wrong thing to say. After all, she has Opaline and she doesn't need anyone else.
"She was talented and powerful,” Opaline continued. She didn’t notice Misty’s last words. “And she grew up to be a wonderful alicorn. She was destined to become a queen and rule Equestria forever.”
“Yes!” Misty said. "She would be a very good ruler!"
The filly had already forgotten that she was ready to cry just a couple of minutes ago, and now she was looking at Opaline admiringly. Her eyes were shining with delight. She had already imagined how wonderful it would be if Equestria were ruled by a powerful and fair Alicorn Queen.
"Almost all the magic belonged to her,” Opaline said hushfully – her mind was somewhere far away at this moment. "But the lower ponies were jealous of her and wanted to steal all the magic for themselves.”
Misty stamped her hoof in annoyance.
"Those stupid ponies again!” she exclaimed angrily. “Why did they ruin everything all the time?!”
"Envy filled their minds,” Opaline continued. Her body tensed and her voice sounded a little strangled, as if she was struggling to contain her rage. "And one day, an impostor princess stole magic from the Alicorn."
“I hate her!” Misty exclaimed loudly. She was always very indignant at this moment. “What a terrible princess! Did she want to rule by herself? But she wasn't the Alicorn Queen.…”
Misty stopped talking and thought about it, putting a hoof to her chin.
“And how did the princess steal magic from the Alicorn Queen?” she asked, because it seemed to be a very important detail for her. “If the alicorn was that powerful… I thought no one could defeat her.…”
Opaline was silent for a few moments, and the unicorn continued to look at her expectantly.
“Oh, Misty, you can't imagine how cunning and sneaky ponies can be," Opaline finally whispered softly, enjoying her own words. Misty lowered her ears in alarm. "They tricked the Alicorn Queen and stabbed her in the back when she wasn't expecting it.”
“And she believed that they were her loyal subjects!” Misty added again.
"The princess banished the defeated Alicorn Queen outside Equestria," Opaline continued – for some reason it was getting harder to speak. “And the Alicorn Queen was left all alone, without her subjects, without her power and almost without her magic. She became only a pale shadow of herself.”
"What a sad story..." Misty whispered pressing her forehead against Opaline's wing again. She would like to snuggle up to the Alicorn Queen from the story in the same way, to warm and soothe her. Surely the Alicorn was very upset when she was betrayed and banished.
“Poor Queen...” said the unicorn aloud. “She was very sad and lonely outside Equestria.”
She heard Opaline chuckle softly.
“You think so?” the alicorn asked, a hint of mockery in her voice.
Misty thought about it, remembered how sad and lonely she felt in this castle sometimes and nodded decisively.
"She spent hundreds of moons in her castle outside Equestria, forgotten by everyone," Opaline continued and Misty's eyes widened in surprise. She couldn't even imagine such a long time... “And ponies had paid the price for their envy. They didn't know how to handle magic, so they accidentally destroyed it.”
Misty wanted to gloat but she couldn't. Because if ponies don’t have magic anymore, then the Alicorn will never be able to get it back. This means that poor Alicorn Queen will live forever alone in her castle, and no one will ever come to her, because no one knows about her. It was so sad.…
“I really, really want to meet her, hug her and tell her that I will always remember her!” Misty exclaimed fervently. The Alicorn Queen must have been as warm as Opaline, and her fur and feathers must have been just as soft.
"The end,” Opaline announced. The ending turned out to be slightly blurred, but she didn’t pay attention to it. She was glad that she would finally be left alone. “Now go to sleep.”
But Misty was in no hurry to leave. She frowned, a little offended, childishly, and looked up at Opaline in anticipation. There was both gratitude and mild condemnation in her eyes.
"But you promised to tell the story about the Alicorn Queen and the Unicorn Princess," she reminded insistently, emphasizing the last part, and wrinkled her face. "You didn't tell me about the Unicorn Princess."
Opaline snorted disdainfully and tried to push Misty off the throne.
"Go to bed," she repeated. "You're distracting me from..." she hesitated for a moment, "...whatever it is."
The disappointment in Misty's eyes was as if Opaline had terribly offended her. The little filly started stroking alicorn's soft wing in the hope of appeasing her and rubbed her face against Opaline’s cheek.
“Please..." she begged plaintively. “This is my favorite part of the story.”
Opaline rolled her eyes and gave up. Perhaps she really relaxed from the nice, gentle touches of her little servant. Or maybe she just didn't want to listen to all this whining.
“The Alicorn Queen found a little unicorn one day," Opaline continued, and Misty squeaked delightedly, pleased that the alicorn had agreed to tell her the rest of the story.
"Unicorn got lost and couldn't find her way home," Misty said. This was the part of the story that she and Opaline came up with together last time. Opaline was making it up and Misty was just adding all sorts of details. She wanted the unicorn in the story to be like her. “She was crying bitterly and calling for help.”
“Alicorn Queen gave the unicorn a shelter,” Opaline added. She realized long ago that Misty would interrupt her story anyway and no longer even pointed it out, but only waited patiently for the filly to finish. “And raised her as her own daughter.”
Misty sighed happily and shut her eyes. She snuggled closer to Opaline again, warming up and thinking that in story the little unicorn had snuggled up to her infinitely loving adoptive mother in the same way.
"The Alicorn Queen took very good care of her little unicorn daughter," she murmured sleepily. “That was so sweet of her. And then what happened?”
Opaline thought for a moment.
“Well... you know... the Alicorn Queen has found a way to regain her powers," she replied. "She took her rightful place on the throne and ruled Equestria forever.”
“And she had a unicorn by her side!” Misty added enthusiastically, looking at Opaline sternly – just like she was trying to say: “how could you forget such an important detail?”
"And she had a unicorn with her,” Opaline agreed. “The unicorn filly was her closest ally and beloved daughter.”
"She was the daughter of the Alicorn Queen, which means she became a princess," Misty whispered breathlessly. "And they ruled Equestria together."
She thought about it.
"I think the Unicorn Princess was very loyal and always helped the Alicorn Queen," she said without a doubt. “They were the best rulers in the history of Equestria!”
“Yes, indeed," Opaline said. Her gaze softened slightly as she looked at her happy ward.
"They were such a powerful duo,” Misty whispered. Then she raised her head and looked at Opaline with big green eyes tenderly. “Do you think they really loved each other like a real family? The Alicorn Queen and the little Unicorn Princess?..”
Opaline frowned. The concept of love was alien to her, she always considered this feeling to be something not peculiar to true alicorns, something disgusting and stupid. Love, trust, affection... — it was a sign of weakness, and she had sworn off experiencing such feelings hundreds of moons ago. But Misty looked at her so trustfully, she hoped to hear a positive answer so badly…
"They really loved each other,” Opaline finally said. “Like a real family.”
Misty was grinning happily now.
"They were the best family," the unicorn said softly. She rested her head on Opaline's shoulder and continued, "They never quarreled, and the Alicorn Queen never yelled at her daughter. And the Unicorn Princess was so nice and kind, she never failed her mother and always helped her. And then... and then the Alicorn Queen gave the little unicorn a cutiemark… And also… She also turned her into an alicorn so that the Unicorn Princess would also live forever and they would never be separated..."
Misty's voice was getting quieter— she was gradually falling asleep — until it stopped completely. She fell asleep, clinging to the Opaline, and no longer paid attention to the thunder outside. Opaline just let out a sigh of relief, pleased that it was finally over. And where have you seen a beautiful and proud alicorn telling stories to children?! That’s all-fired!
She looked down and opened her eyes in cold surprise. Misty was smiling softly and clinging so trustfully to Opaline – she seemed so fragile and tiny… Opaline sighed and shook her head. Then she looked around, warily, as if checking to see if anyone was nearby, and carefully, almost clumsily stroked Misty's head, removed the strands of mane from girl's face, covered the filly with her soft wing. The unicorn smiled even wider and muttered something in her sleep, but Opaline couldn't make out what it was. An unusual, long-forgotten warm feeling stirred in the cold soul.
"Well, sleep...” the alicorn muttered.
She sat beside Misty for a bit longer, continuing to cover the filly, and then got up from the throne, carefully so as not to wake Misty up. She stretched and spread her wings wide. And before she went to her chambers, she turned and glanced at Misty curled up on the throne and sleeping peacefully. Anger and contempt swept over her for a moment — the unicorn on the throne, so hideously! But Opaline suppressed those emotions. She didn't want to wake Misty up —she'd be bothering her again, asking silly questions and not falling asleep, or even whining for another story. The last thing Opaline would want at this late hour is to mess with a filly. And yet, how lucky Misty is! She even gets to listen bedtime stories — Opaline has never had that.
She shook her head again, noting the absurdity of what was happening, and left the throne room.