The Most Beautiful Mare in Seven Kingdoms
Moonskin
an adaptation of Charles Perrault's Donkeyskin & Robin McKinley's version: Deerskin
Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess by the name of Nightmare Moon. It was said that she was not only the most beautiful princess in all of seven kingdoms, but that she was also the most beautiful mare in those seven kingdoms as well. Her father, a great and powerful Alicorn King had it decreed that when she was of age, she could only be married to the bravest, cleverest, handsomest and kindest prince in all of Equestria, for only the best could be given to his beautiful daughter.
When the time came and the princess was old enough, the powerful king sent word to all seven kingdoms. In his message, he stated that If somepony were to be eligible enough to wed his daughter they must undergo several tests and that those who wished to become a candidate for the princess' hoof that they should come to his kingdom to pay homage and to learn just what these tests might be. In addition to the princess, the dowry of his entire kingdom would be given in payment to the stallion for taking and caring for his daughter.
Soon, stallions from all over Equestria flocked to the old king's palace. Among the multitudes were princes from each nation, several noblestuds, and even some daring and brazen soldiers. Bright banners flapped proudly in their wake, each bestowed with a crest from their family or their respective kingdoms. When the halls of the king's grand home were filled to the brim, he spoke with great eloquence to each and everypony there.
It did not occur to any of the king's loyal subjects that the old king might not want to share the company of Nightmare Moon with anyone but himself. The old stallion had lived a long life, and had had several wives with which he had greedily kept to himself until one by one, he stifled the life out of them, like a flower kept from the sun in a cold and threatening place. The reign of this great stallion had such command and overflowing treasuries that his kingdom itself was eager to overlook his small faults. They could not deny the old king for his want of company for the beautiful daughter which he had sired.
Now, for each would-be suitor that presented himself to the princess there would be a set of tasks to prove their love, each more impossible than the one before. There were things whispered of suitors searching for a never ending story, stallions looking for creatures that could spin gold from straw, and still others who were tasked with speaking to every living pony in the world before they would be allowed to come on to castle grounds again. Many suitors hung their heads in defeat, for no pony of common birth could ever commit themselves to such monumental tasks. They hadn't the time, nor the funds to embark on such farfetched and ridiculous pursuits. The old king foresaw this and was glad. After setting such impossible standards for his subjects, he turned to the princes of the other six kingdoms and saw that they were, the most dangerous and threatening things to the time he had left with his daughter. To them, he gave the most difficult tasks of all.
In his booming voice he let it be known to his kingdom and all the rest that he would not even consider their proposals for marriage until they had brought him the head of the ferocious dragon that had been terrorizing his kingdom and pillaging his rich jewel mines for generations. He would not accept another word in regards to being in the same room with his daughter until the suitors had gone to the other side of the world and brought him seven burning eggs from one of the rare phoenixes there. The old king would not even look upon the suitors until they had gone again to the other side of their world from the phoenixes to bring him a fabled living heart that was made of ice, encased in the most gloriously clear and sparkling crystal. Surely, he thought, these things will be too much for the princes to undertake and they shall become discouraged like the rest of the commoners who have come to steal my daughter away.
Once the tasks were given and understood, the old king watched one by one as they bowed and looked longingly upon his daughter, struck dumb by the astonishing and almost sacred beauty that she was. Her black fur was sleek and resplendent, her form delicate and achingly suggestive; her eyes and face were like that of a painting come to life. Impossibly more beautiful than the three impossible tasks set upon her possible suitors. The old king saw their desire for her and their appreciative glances, and the old king's soul darkened in contempt for them. The last to leave however--the youngest prince, who went by the name of Prince Sombre, and came closest in age to his daughter, looked upon the most beautiful mare in seven kingdoms and began to speak to the princess Nightmare Moon.
Baring his soul to the radiant beauty, he professed his love for her and spoke eloquently about her beauty and dusky features. He vowed that he would do these tasks and succeed at them, though they might cost him his life. He promised that should he perish, he would continue with his mission even in death so that when he returned and was accepted as the princess' bridegroom he might spring back to life at the joy of such news. As the princess watched this last suitor go, the old king watched his daughter watching the stallion, and glowered with a seething and powerful hatred, cursing the young and handsome prince very thoroughly under his breath.
Time passed and news came from each of the six princes' journeys. The first and oldest had died when he approached the jewel mines, having been burned to a crisp by the ferocious dragon there. The old king was greatly pleased by this.
The second and third, thinking better of these challenges cowed and formed a truce between their kingdoms, each agreeing to marry the others' sister, for the fate of being married to a slightly uglier mare than the most beautiful mare in seven kingdoms was a fate more desirable than dying for only a small chance at winning these challenges. It was reported that both kings were surprisingly happy with this arrangement and had several children sired by each of them. This news made the old king sigh in great relief. Already half of his worries had been assuaged and had taken care of themselves.
The fourth and fifth stallions, learning of the sixth's determined speech, had come together and decided to plot against him, reasoning that if they merely followed him to the ends of the earth and let him do all of the work that was needed for these tasks, it would be a much easier and less impossible thing to simply kill him and duel for his prizes once he had been disposed of. Not at all pleased with this piece of information, the old king snarled and sent out an army to kill the offending ponies. He would never allow such vile and cheating treachery to befall his daughter--much less let the damnable studs marry her! It was in this way that the old king rid himself of two of the last three of his worries.
The sixth prince, prince Sombre, unaware of these two plotters' deaths, went his honorable way, traveling first to the jewel mines where the dragon was said to be. In a great roar, he challenged the mighty winged creature and in kind, it roared back at him. The two waged war indefinitely; the prince dodging spurts of fire even as the dragon weaved through the air to avoid the magic from the unicorn stallion's horn. The peasants, crying in fear and terror could only watch, later generations lengthening the time in which it took the brave prince to finally kill this great foe. Using the magic infused within his horn, he sliced through the dragon's deep red veins, and cried out in pain as he did so. Soon it was over, and the sixth prince had successfully cut off the dragon's head. The deed was finished, but accomplishing such things came with a price. The blood of the dragon, as hot as the flames that he had once spit out in life had stained the unicorn's horn a dark and foreboding color, and marked him for all other dragons to see that he had killed one of their brethren.
With a heavy heart, he picked up the dragon's head and cast a spell on it to preserve it for the rest his journey, always remembering the wonderful prize of the most beautiful mare in seven kingdom's love if he succeeded. When he had journeyed far enough to reach the other side of the world, the sixth prince looked about him, and in anguish, saw a land filled with nothing but ash. The lush and rich forest in which the phoenixes were said to dwell had been burned to ash. Crying out his anger and desperation, prince Sombre screamed his anger and frustration. How could he return now when he could not even find a living bird to bring back for explanation? Angrily, he sent up seven beams of magic into the sky--one for each of the eggs in which he was tasked with bringing back. They crackled and popped in the air, spiraling down towards the ground, amplified and given more power than he had ever had before because of the dragon blood that now coated his horn. So immersed in his frustration was prince Sombre, that he failed to notice something happening in the ash before him. From the dirt and earth and greyness before him sprung seven golden, flaming eggs. Gasping at their brilliance, the stallion covered his eyes lest he go blind from the sight. When he recovered from his surprise, he gathered up the eggs and placed them into a silken bag. When he went to pick it up however, the bag burst into flames and was rendered useless. Frustrated, he tried to place them into the bags he had with him again, careful only to touch the flaming things with his horn. After several tries, an idea so strange and ingenious struck prince Sombre, that he scarcely believed he had not thought of it before.
Taking the dragon head which he had brought with him, he hollowed out the insides of its skull and rested each of the seven eggs within it. Completing this, the sixth prince smiled and shouted his glee. His victory was short lived however, for now he had to venture again to the other side of the world and retrieve a living heart of ice encircled by crystal.
Using his powerful magic and a new, controlled confidence at the success of his previous task, the unicorn stud made it to the other side of the world in just under a year, he noticed a change in the landscape in which he traveled. The ashen forest desert gave way to grassland, and grassland gave way to marshland, and marshland to jungle. So on and so forth it went until finally, climbing past the largest mountain in the seven kingdoms, the sixth prince came upon a great and storming tundra--and in the middle of it was an empire of crystal. Balking at the sight, for he had never expected to see such an unexpected thing--there were only seven kingdoms in his known world after all, and the grand structure of the crystal palace which he found himself venturing towards was almost too much for the tired and weathered prince to grasp as an eighth kingdom. He steeled himself however. This was his last and most important task of all. Without the heart of ice encased in crystal, he could never return to his beloved princess, and that thought alone was enough to stir him onward.
High and low prince Sombre searched for this heart. What was he to do? Where was he to find it? Despite its size and hospitable buildings, this crystal empire was void of any life save his own. The snow and the winds outside the palace were relentless and powerful. They howled like wolves at the window and the prince found himself despairing once more. Oh how could he possibly succeed against these odds!? Beating his chest with his hooves, he thrashed against the walls of the palace, climbed feverishly up and down the endless flights of stairs, and wept profusely. It would take years to find such an absurd thing as a living heart encased in crystal.
Driven to madness at his situation, the prince was once again struck with an ingenious idea. The dragon head had helped him before, it would help him again now. Laughing at the irony, of it all, he lifted his head up to the heavens and shouted at the old king in earnest. "You have given me all of the tools I have needed so far, foolish king! I, Prince Sombre of this Crystal Empire, shall come home triumphant, and win your daughter, Nightmare Moon's hoof in marriage! I am a prince of the seven kingdoms, and I hereby restate my vow to return from these things you have set upon me with gifts and souvenirs for you and my wife-to-be."
Using his magical horn once more, the unicorn prince cut out the largest and sharpest fang from the mouth of the dragon he had slain and used it to cut into his chest and to take out his heart. With his last bit of strength, prince Sombre covered his heart in the ice of the howling blizzard outside, and carved a case of crystal to keep it safe within. When this task was done, the prince let out his last breath... and died.
Looking down at his mangled body from above, the spirit prince sighed and picked up his prizes. First placing the two largest teeth of the dragon into his body's mouth as if they were his own, the spirit prince smiled, thinking how sweet his vengeance would taste if he were to tear out the old king's heart with such macabre tools. Shaking his head, the unicorn stud decided against it, thinking that his beloved would never forgive him for such an atrocity. Regardless, he kept the teeth where they were and looked to his other prizes. The heart which had once beat in his chest, was now completely covered in ice and crystal, an agonizingly slow beat that would have made an impatient pony think it dead. The spirit prince packed this into a silk bag, and along with his body and the head of the dragon which he had slain, and the seven phoenix eggs within it, the spirit prince Sombre magicked himself away from this strange, and lifeless crystal empire.
Freed from the physical limits of his mortal body, the spirit prince found that he could now fly, unencumbered by the small gait of his hooves. The love he felt for his princess guiding him through harsh terrains like a lighthouse's beacon in the middle of a roaring and dangerous sea at night. When he finally reached his beloved's castle, the spirit prince caused a great uproar, displaying his gifts for all to see.
Upon his throne, the old king knew then that his hatred and cursing of this unknown prince Sombre had been right from the beginning. This young foal would be the one to take his beloved daughter from him, and in a violent display of power for this upstart stud, the old and bitter king cursed him as he had done the day they had first met.
But the princess, seeing that this prince from a distant land had done exactly as he said, flung herself in front of the smoky tendrils of his spirit and berated her father at once for his behavior. The old king, seeing his daughter's defiance reared up on his hind hooves, shocked and shamed by her audacity. Hanging his head, as her action quelled his anger; the old king seemed to shrink in his grief and defeat. There would be no thing that he denied his daughter, and so turning from the most beautiful mare in seven kingdoms and her chosen suitor, he gave them his blessing.
As the words of blessing left the old king's mouth, the spirit prince was sucked back up into his body, restored to his former glory, his red dragon-horn glowing brightly with the love he felt for his bride-to-be. The two married the very next full moon and the stars above twinkled in their approval for the happy couple, blessing them their first night together with the news that they had already conceived a filly with their powerful love.