Chapters Prologue
A bell chimed joyfully as the door swung open; a lavender mare looked up from the book she was reading to see a gray pegasus mare with saddlebags clearly marked with the painting of a letter happily walking into the library. The lavender mare, named Twilight Sparkle, placed a bookmark on the page she was reading, closed the book gently, and got up with a wide smile on her face, greeting the pegasus.
"Good evening, Ditsy!" The pegasus returned the greeting with a smile while ruffling in her saddlebags.
"Hello, Twilight! You got a letter!" Indeed, the words rang true, as Ditsy pulled out a letter and waved it slightly away from Twilight's face. The lack of a response caused the pegasus to continue waving the letter in front of the unicorn with a confused expression on her face. "Twilight? Twiiiiiiiiilight? Are you okay?" The unicorn was staring at her in a rather uncomfortable way, and the pegasus was beginning to wonder if it had to do with her eyes. Ponies stared all the time at her, but she didn't mind; at least, unless they started calling her names.
Fortunately, the unicorn snapped out of the trance she was in, and hesitantly accepted the letter. "Thanks, Ditsy...I'm sorry, I'm a bit tired, and I thought I saw a trick of the light. I think Princess Celestia does that to tease me." Both mares giggled together, and then the pegasus began to walk outside of the library.
"Well, I need to deliver some more mail! See ya, Twilight!"
"Take care, Ditsy!"
After the pegasus had left, the warm smile on the unicorn's face was gone, and was replaced by a slight, thoughtful frown. "Hmm...I feel as if Ditsy...And I just lost my train of thought. Maybe sending a letter to Princess Celestia could help me! Spike!" With the sudden cry for his name, Spike promptly came out from the kitchen, with scattered 'crumbs' of sapphires across his face. Twilight blinked at the sight, and then pointed at him. Confused, the dragon wondered what was wrong until she sighed, and levitated a small napkin over, brushing away the sapphire remnants. Needless to say, the dragon did not take kindly to this.
"H-Hey! G-Gerroff Twilight!"
"Hold still, Spike!"
"No! You're attacking me with a napkin! Oh, the worst way a dragon could die!"
"Just let me wipe your mouth, and stop struggling!"
"Nothing's wrong with my mouth, Twilight!"
"Just a little bit here...And there...Stop...Done!" The unicorn tossed the now soiled napkin away into a small bin, and winked at a disgruntled little dragon, who had his back to her. "I'm sure that if it was Rarity that wiped your mouth, you wouldn't complain about it." He opened his mouth, trying to find the words to argue with her, but none came forward. Rolling his eyes, he turned around, crossed his arms, and frowned.
"Okay, point taken, no need to say anything more. What did you need me for, Twilight?"
"I want you to take a letter to Princess Celestia, Spike. Ditsy Hooves came by-"
"The pegasus that dropped a piano on you? And a lot of other stuff?" The unicorn glared at her assistant, who only smirked at her.
"Yes, the very same. Spike, I need you to take a letter because Ditsy Hooves reminds me a little too much about another mare in a story that I faintly remember reading, and it intrigues me."
"Why would that be important enough to send a letter to the princess? I mean, shouldn't you be making a friendship report instead? It's been quite awhile since you've made me write one of those, so shouldn't that be more important?" Spike grabbed a quill and some parchment regardless, ready to write a letter for her, and to later, send it.
"I don't know; however, I think I should have you write a letter and send it anyway. I can write a friendship report later."
"Actually, you mean, you have me write a friendship report later. You really need to learn to write your own letters one of these days."
"Less cheek, more writing, buster."
About twenty minutes later, after being sent via dragon breath, Princess Celestia had a welcome surprise in the form of a scroll suddenly appear next to her, and before it could land in her bowl of hot, steaming tomato soup, thus making it unreadable, a gentle shimmer of her magic caught it, and was brought closer to her. "Well well, Twilight Sparkle, it's been awhile since I've gotten one of your friendship reports, a long while indeed! I wonder what happened in Ponyville that could've caused you to send me a letter. Hmm, it could be any number of things! Just, hopefully not one like Applejack's, where she said she didn't learn anything; that one irked me a bit. Maybe you'll teach me something new that you've learned!"
"Maybe it could teach you to stop monologuing? It makes me feel like you're talking to your food, Tia, and that's...Disturbing." The princess of the sun looked up from her scroll to her sister, who was rolling her eyes in mock despair while munching on some toast. She swallowed after a moment and spoke up again upon seeing that her sister hadn't said anything. "What? I merely speak the truth." Celestia broke from her stare and giggled, then tucked the scroll under her right wing, keeping the scroll nice and safe until came the time to read it. She decided to jab back at her sister lightly.
"Maybe I'll stop monologuing after you stop insisting on having a moon pie with every single meal you take, Lulu." At this, the lunar princess looked at her sister defensively, and edged the moon pie on her plate closer to herself, afraid that it might suddenly disappear into someplace other than her stomach.
"What is wrong with wanting to partake in a dessert that shares the name with my moon?
"You eat one with every meal, Lulu...You're eating a moon pie during breakfast right now!"
"Why is that a problem?!"
"You'll spoil your breakfast!"
"The dessert tastes so magnificently sweet that I don't care about that! Besides, I went one thousand years without a single dessert. Not. A. Single. Dessert. Nothing sweet to eat at all! Could you do the same?"
"Well...No. I wouldn't take a dessert with me to every meal I eat, though! You're eating breakfast, for pony's sake! All those moon pies are going to your flanks, mark my words, Lulu."
"Hypocrite. Honestly, the treats have already gone to yours, Tia."
"LULU!"
After a verbal battle with her sister that she was sure that she had won, Celestia retired to her quarters to prepare for her sleep cycle. At least, that's what she was supposed to do. Instead, she kicked off her golden shoes and tossed her regalia carelessly; afterwards, she plopped down on the bed in an unprincess-y manner. It wasn't like anypony was going to see her like this, she reasoned, and she was still a pony, no matter how many labels got placed on her.
She unfurled her right wing to extract the scroll that had somewhat poked into her side, but she didn't mind; after all, this letter was from her student. Opening the scroll up slowly, she began to read what her student sent her.
Dear Princess Celestia,
How are you? I, myself, am doing fine in Ponyville; how could I not? Ponyville is the best place that I could ever stay in; is Canterlot the same for you? I ask this because, well, this isn't your normal friendship report, and I know I've been slacking off on those, so this is more of an informal letter. Don't worry, I promise to make some when opportunity presents itself! You're probably asking yourself now, if not a friendship report, then what else would I be (Well, okay, Spike) writing about? Well, it may just be a trick of the light (Are you teasing me at times?), but recently, Ditsy Hooves (Who is sometimes called 'Derpy', even though I believe that nickname feels wrong) came by the library with a letter (I have yet to read it, darn it!). I didn't mean to, but I stared at her for awhile, and something...Just seemed to click. I don't know why, but something did.
I have come to a conclusion, and I believe it had to do with one of your stories, although I'm not sure which one. Ditsy is a gray pegasus that works for the mail service with an average body composition and a bubble cutie mark. She would be a rather ordinary (At least, as ordinary as a pony could ever be!) pony, were it not for her eyes. They are cross-eyed, which again, reminds me of a story that I once read; oh, if only I could remember what the story was!
I'm wondering if I could request dropping by sometime and discussing this with you? The story, of course, not Ditsy. I eagerly await your reply, princess!
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle
Well, this was certainly different from her other letters, and it certainly wasn't what she was expecting. That was good, though; getting caught off guard could be a stimulating experience sometimes. Celestia huffed as she re-read the description of the pegasus Twilight had written in, and was trying to place the pony into one of the many stories she had read in the past. Not many had the description of the pegasus. She was about to give up and think about it over tomorrow when she suddenly remembered an old tale that even she had some difficulty in remembering. Levitating a quill and some parchment over to herself, she began to write back to Twilight.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I must say that I was not expecting this from you, but it is a welcome surprise! I am indeed doing well in Canterlot, however, you know nobles; all talk and no fun. In regards to your question, you are welcome to join me for tea two days from now, to discuss it. There is one thing I must mention as well; I, too, must make a request from you. Do not worry, for it 'should' not be too much of a problem; at least, if the other pony is willing to go. Twilight, I ask that you inquire as to if this 'Ditsy' would also like to join us for tea if she is not occupied with any tasks.
This is merely to clarify a lead I may have in figuring out if your friend does indeed look like this pony in this particular story. It is not something you should trouble yourself over, however, for I am certain that even without your friend, I can draw what seems to currently be a strong lead on the story.
Don't slack off on making friendship reports, either!
Sincerely, Princess Celestia.
P.S: You're so cute when you get confused by 'tricks' of the light.
Celestia yawned as she finished her rather short letter, and touched it with her horn, causing the scroll to burn up and begin its journey back to Twilight, however, she had purposefully used very little magic so that the scroll would take quite a bit of time; it would appear in the morning. Satisfied with herself, she turned off the lights in her room, and prepared herself for some blissful sleep.
Author's Note
Hey there! This story is mainly a test to help me see if I'm doing well in terms of dialogue; feel free to point out any suggestions or tips that you may have for me.
...I also have no idea what to tag this as.
The (Rather) uneventful trip to the castle
The (Rather) uneventful trip to the castle
Twilight Sparkle awoke to the sun; that is, to the sun that had just barely managed to pass through a crack in the blinds that were put up over her window and just happened to hit her eye. Figures; she groaned as she lifted a hoof up to block the offending light, and rolled out of bed. The sound of her hooves hitting the floor awoke Spike, who yawned sleepily as he snuggled into a more comfortable position in his basket.
"Go back to sleep, Twilight...Rarity is about to invite me over for dinner..."
Looking at her assistant with a mixture of amusement and despair, she two possible choices right now; letting Spike sleep in for a little while longer, or flipping over his basket so that he woke up already. Deciding that he could use a little more sleep, she resumed her walking to the bathroom, eager to take a shower and prepare for the day. After closing the door and locking it, she was about to enter the shower when something in the mirror caught her eye, and she looked up in curiosity. When she saw her bed mane, she couldn't help but guffaw loudly at the sight, holding onto her sides as she barely managed to stop from crying at the sight. After about two minutes of this laughter and rolling on the floor helplessly, which somehow didn't wake Spike up, she got back on her hooves, wiped a few tears from her eyes, and proceeded to take a nice, long shower.
Once out of her relaxing shower and ready to start the day, Twilight noticed a grumpy Spike making breakfast; she could tell he was grumpy by the way the pancakes he was cooking looked. They were slightly lumpy, and cooked a bit too long for her taste; some of them even looked slightly burnt. Deciding not to comment on the pancakes, she sat down at the table, levitated her fork, and began to cut into the pancakes on her plate.
"Something wrong, Spike?"
"Yes, I was in the middle of a nice dream when a scroll came by for you; it's in your study, by the way."
"Ah, good! It must be from Princess Celestia! If anypony can help me, it's Princess Celestia; she'll know what to do! Oh, out of curiosity, what was your dream about?" She had a feeling she knew who it was going to revolve around, though.
"Diamonds. Lots of diamonds."
"You sure like diamonds, huh?"
"Mhm." When she saw the dreamy look on his face, she knew that he wasn't telling the whole truth and that her suspicions were right. She decided to tease him a little bit about it.
"Diamonds, as in the ones that are a certain pony's cutie mark?"
After nearly dying from laughter at how red Spike turned, she was in her study, reading over the scroll that Celestia had sent her. Once she was done reading, she set aside the scroll with a thoughtful expression. "Two days, huh? Bringing Ditsy along as well? That doesn't seem to be too hard, it's going to be Saturday in two days. I'm sure Ditsy won't have any problems or commitments preventing her from coming along. Still, I should probably ask."
Walking downstairs and past a brooding assistant, she found herself walking through Ponyville at a rather busy time, where the market would be filled with ponies looking to buy the items they needed. She didn't mind, though; she got to say her hellos to her friends and take a nice little stroll around before she happened to chance upon Ditsy at Sugarcube Corner, buying...'Oh, what else? Muffins!' She thought idly to herself. Striding forward, she smiled at Ditsy, who smiled back, having just grabbed the bag of muffins.
"Hey, Ditsy, do you mind if I took some of your time to talk to you?"
The pegasus nodded, and pointed with a hoof at an unoccupied table that was recently washed. Twilight walked over to the table and was just about to sit down when she heard a crash, and looked over towards the source of it; she saw a gray pegasus on the floor, with a bag of some unknown treat in the bakery that managed to avoid getting squashed. It took a moment for Twilight to register that this was Ditsy, and with a stifled gasp, she walked over to her quickly and helped her up.
"Are you okay, Ditsy?" Other than looking confused, Ditsy seemed to look perfectly fine, other than being a little dusty, but it never hurt to ask.
"I'm okay, Twilight, and so are my muffins!" Well, that was one thing out of the way. She then guided Ditsy over to the table, and both mares sat down at a seat. Ditsy reached into her bag of muffins, and pulled one out; blueberry, none the worse for wear. The pegasus munched on it happily, and Twilight began to talk with her.
"Are you busy in two days, Ditsy?"
"Mm...No! Well, I do have Dinky to take care of, but I think Rarity could take care of her for me. Why do you ask, Twilight?"
"I was wondering if you could go to Canterlot with me, to have some tea with Princess Celestia?" Ditsy looked up from her muffin, and frowned.
"...Tea? With the princess? Will there be muffins?"
"...I don't know. I could ask to have some on hoof for you when we have tea, though."
"Then I have no problem coming along with you!"
"Okay then, Ditsy. Meet me at the train station at roughly seven o'clock in the morning!"
Two days later, Twilight found herself waiting for a gray pegasus that was five minutes late; admittedly the train was due to leave in another twenty five minutes, but she did like to be on top of things. Minutes ticked by like seconds, and the agitated unicorn was beginning to doubt that her friend was ever going to arrive. However, right when the train was beginning to accept passengers into the train cars was when she heard a crash and the shouts immediately after it. Naturally, her head turned around towards the source, and what else, but Ditsy, having crashed into a poor pony's luggage; a rather high looking stallion, a unicorn that looked rather infuriated with having his luggage knocked over by a flying gray missle. Sighing, Twilight galloped over towards the scene that was quickly getting out of hoof.
"I'm sorry! I can't see well!"
"Then you shouldn't be flying in the first place! Oh, I have half a mind to press charges on you!"
"Nopony was injured, and I didn't knock over anything important! You said it yourself earlier that your more expensive gear was in the luggage bag that wasn't knocked over!"
"I can still press-" Before the stallion could continue on with his tirade, Twilight ran into the middle, and checked Ditsy over quickly.
"Can you stand, Ditsy?" The pegasus looked up to see a friendly, if worried face, and nodded meekly.
"Yes, Twilight."
"Get up then." Twilight helped Ditsy up to her hooves, and the stallion snorted in disgust.
"I won't settle for anything less then reparation for what she has done!" Twilight sighed, and frowned; she disliked dealing with ponies of this type, and there wasn't time to argue with him.
"Look, she's sorry-"
"Sorry doesn't help me here."
"-Also the train's going to leave soon so you better get somepony to help you quickly before it leaves." With that, Twilight teleported onto the train, much to the other unicorn's sudden surprise, and he shouted at the ponies around him to help him get his luggage onto the train. She looked over at Ditsy, placing the unicorn behind her head, and frowned.
"I thought I asked you to come by here at seven o'clock, Ditsy?" The pegasus sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, and offered an apologetic smile.
"Rarity wasn't available, to take care of Dinky, so I had to scramble around Ponyville for awhile until I could find somepony that could; thank Celestia that Colgate didn't seem to mind! I didn't think it would take that long, Twilight; I'm sorry." The unicorn sighed, and leaned back in her seat.
"Twilight?"
"Yes, Ditsy?"
"Before we meet the Princess, can you take me on a little tour of the Canterlot gardens?
"I don't see why not. Well, at any rate, it's going to be awhile before we get to Canterlot anyway, so we should get comfortable. Know any good stories?"
"Oh, yes I do! There was this time when..."
"...And that's how I got my cutie mark!"
Although appearing to be calm and collected on the outside, she was hiding a subtle twitch, and a few strands of her mane popped out of place. She didn't know stories could be anything like...Well, what she just heard. She opened her mouth to talk about a nagging thought in her head when the conductor yelled out.
"You are now in Canterlot, fillies and gentlecolts! Enjoy your stay!"
Twilight wordlessly walked out of the train, followed by Ditsy, and frowned as she caught a fleeting glance of the unicorn that they 'met' earlier on the train platform at Ponyville. Deciding that now would not be a good time to restart that argument, she pulled Ditsy rather abruptly towards the train station exit, and began walking up the shortest path to the castle, while flicking an ear at the gray pegasus' inquisitiveness of the city.
"Oh, Twilight, Canterlot is so pretty!"
"Look at all these unicorns!"
"Is that an airship I see?!"
"All these products are so expensive!"
"Oh gosh, is that a bakery store?! Without muffins?! The horror!"
The unicorn would answer some of the pegasus' questions, but gave up upon realizing that she wasn't really paying attention and was too busy gawking over Canterlot to notice her answers. Thankfully, the castle was right up ahead, and she walked up to it...Only to realize that the pegasus wasn't with her. A quick look around her surroundings, and one pegasus with a bubble cutie mark was found about three meters away, gawking at the sight of the castle; well, she gawked at everything else before it, so she wasn't surprised.
After gently nudging Ditsy and reminding her of why they were here in the first place, they continued on towards one of the entrances into the castle; this one wasn't as heavily guarded, and allowed one quick access into the Canterlot gardens, which Twilight had been asked to show Ditsy before meeting Princess Celestia. Once they reach the entrance, one of the guards, pegasus, presumably a newer one, raised their spear challengingly, but the guard next to them, unicorn, snorted, and smacked the spear away, then spoke in a heavy accent, male, one that Twilight recognized immediately, to her delight.
"Hold it, young 'un, that's Twilight Sparkle, Princess 'lestia's student, best let 'er and 'er liddle friend go on by. The other guard, pegasus, a mare from the sound of her voice, huffed, and frowned at Twilight and Ditsy.
"They could be changelings."
"Ah doubt it."
"You're the unicorn, you cast the spell and prove me wrong. Or right."
At this, the other guard rolled his eyes, and lit up his horn; a light green beam of light began to scan across their bodies, and Ditsy squirmed uncomfortably through it, while Twilight smiled at the slight tingling of the spell. After an extended period of time, the guard dissipated the spell, and leaned back in a relaxed manner, looking at his companion with amusement.
"Nope, Thin Mint, ah dun think so." The younger guard sighed, and resumed her stiff posture; her companion guard winked at Twilight, and waved a hoof. "Been awhile, miz Twilight. Or is it missus Twilight, now; that purdy pegasus thar yer liddle fillyfriend?" If she had been drinking something, Twilight was sure that she would've done a spit take. She was recovering her thought process while Ditsy, on the other hoof, shook her head, something the unicorn was grateful for.
"No, just a friend of Twilight's! Are you one of her friends too?" The guard chuckled, and extended a hoof out, which Ditsy took, and shook with enthusiasm as she introduced herself; the guard to the side rolled her eyes, but continued her vigil where her partner was not.
"Ya. Waz 'er caretaker when Princess Caddy couldn't take care of 'er, and what a job that waz! Watched 'er grow up as a wee liddle filly when she waz studyin' under Princess 'lestia." Twilight nodded slowly, smiling as she remembered the times she caused trouble for the now aging guard. Apparently the guard knew what she was thinking about, as he threw a wink at her before continuing to introduce himself to Ditsy. "Names Iron Hoof, by the way. Grew up on a farm; waz adopted by farm ponies who I now call papa n' mama. Bit rough 'round the edges, but I kin be smoother than a foal's rump when I need to be. Howsa 'bout yew?"
"My name's Ditsy Doo! Some ponies call me 'Derpy' though, because of my eyes. I try to not let it bother me, but some days, it just..." He cut her off, understanding her plight.
"Ah understand ya, lass, I really do. Say no mor', I kin figure out the rest." Although a bit peeved that she was cut off, she was grateful that she didn't have to go into detail. Iron Hoof's expression grew from casual happiness to something a little more serious, and he stared at Twilight with that familiar glare that she had come to dread when she was a filly. Apparently his glare still had that same effect on her today. "There a problem ya need handlin', Twilight? I kin take ya straight to the Princess if it's somethin' important." The unicorn shook her head, and began to explain why they were here.
"I'm just here to give my friend Ditsy here a little tour through the Canterlot gardens before we have tea with Princess Celestia to talk about a story. Nothing big, Iron Hoof." The guard raised an eye at the explanation, clearly not buying it.
"Fergive me, Twilight, but ar' ya sure it's jus' a story? Seems like yer downplayin' it, like several other problems yeh had over the years." Twilight frowned at this, and carefully formulated her next words so that they weren't denied access to the gardens.
"I'm not 'downplaying' anything, Iron Hoof; it's not important, and probably won't be. I promise."
"Well...Alright, yew two git on ahead; we'll jus' stand 'round 'ere."
"Thank you, Iron Hoof."
"Yay, the Canterlot gardens! Thanks Iron Hoof!"
As the two mares passed on by, Thin Mint looked at her partner, and scowled at him. "What did I do to 'deserve' getting paired with you, the laziest, most relaxed, protocol breaching and most annoying pony in the royal guard?"
"Do I really 'ave to answer that question? C'mon lass, dun tell me it's 'ard to do yer job with me."
"I don't care that this isn't hard, I care that that I'm paired up with somepony that can barely do their job!"
"Ah haven't had trouble with mah job fer twenny years!"
"I can see why, being the old coot you are."
"Now ya take that 'old coot' remark back missy, or things'll get real messy 'round 'ere."
Ditsy couldn't help but gasp at the awe inspiring sight that was the Canterlot gardens; at least, from what she could see so far, anyway. Twilight had told her that this garden stretched on for miles, and that it took an army of gardeners daily just to water them, not including anything else. A sudden shout caused the pegasus to turn around towards the sound.
"Twilight, what was that?" The unicorn she was talking to sighed, and rubbed at her forehead gingerly.
"Iron Hoof gets into arguments easily; he's one of the more relaxed guards, however he's also old and...A bit off his knocker." Another shout was heard, and Twilight rolled her eyes. "That's probably one of his arguments happening right now."
"I see." The pegasus looked behind her after awhile, then her attention went back to the gardens. "These flowers are very pretty, Twilight! So many of them, too! Oh, why do those plants have spiky things on them?" She pointed at a small row of plants with spike protruding from the surface, and Twilight gently nudged Ditsy away from them; she didn't want the pegasus accidently falling into them somehow.
"Those are called cacti; I wouldn't get too close to them, Ditsy, they can hurt you." The mailmare backed off from the row of cacti, and flattened her ears in distress.
"Suddenly I don't want to tour around the gardens anymore, Twilight. When do we meet Princess Celestia?" The unicorn was opening her mouth to reply when she realized that she never did get an exact time to meet her. Sheepishly, she rubbed the back of her head.
"I...Don't know, Ditsy. I didn't get an exact time, so I guess we should go inside the castle now." A voice, not belonging to either pony, called out to them.
"Or, my faithful student, you can join me for some tea here, with Luna and I in the gardens." Turning around towards the source of the noise, they saw Princess Celestia and Luna, both of them sharing a giggle as the two ponies immediately bowed at the sight of both princesses. "Now, now, Twilight, that's enough of that; come up here and share some tea with us, please. We may even share a story with you." Twilight shot a look at Celestia, who only winked at her. Both ponies began walking up to the royal sisters, and sat down, Twilight, next to Luna, and Ditsy, next to Celestia. once sat down, Twilight gently enveloped the tea pot with the soft glow of her magic, and began to pour some tea into a cup, repeating the gesture for Ditsy. As she poured Ditsy's cup, she began some idle chatter.
"Have we kept you here long, Princess Celestia?"
"Not at all, Twilight; Lulu had just arrived when you two showed up. I have to say, I didn't expect you to take a tour of the gardens first."
"Well, I didn't, but Ditsy here asked to tour around the gardens first; and who's Lulu?" She took a small sip of the tea, and frowned; this wasn't a blend of tea that she had ever sampled before. Noticing her distress, Luna spoke up before her sister, giving Celestia a bit of an annoyed look on her face.
"I, Twilight Sparkle, am 'Lulu'. It's a name she likes to call me when we were little, and still happens to like calling me today, it seems. I, myself, happen to like to call her 'Tia'. As to answer the obvious question that is being made clear to me by your facial expression, this is a form of tea known as Masala chai ; it literally means 'spiced tea', and it is such a delight to drink, is it not?"
"It's wonderful, Princess-"
"Please, call me Luna, or even, I daresay, Lulu."
"Also, Twilight, you know you don't have to add 'princess' to my name, either; just 'Celestia' is alright with me."
"Erm...Okay, 'Lulu', and Celestia." Celestia giggled softly, and looked down at Ditsy, who has having a bit of difficulty drinking from the cup.
"Do you require a straw, Ditsy?" The pegasus looked up at the solar princess, and nodded.
"Yes, please! I'd like a muffin too, if that isn't too much trouble!" With a slight nod, Celestia's horn glowed softly as picked up a small bell, and rang it gently, letting it chime three times, letting the sound fade away completely before she repeated the action. Then, three ponies heeded the call of the bell.
The first was an brown earth pony, with a dusty looking yellow mane, male, who had scampered up out of nowhere; he smiled at the princesses and their guests with a friendly smile, and a tray with clip-on holders attached to his back, presumably to leave him free to let him run on his hooves. The second pony, arriving only a second after the earth pony, was a sky-blue pegasus, sporting a light green and cropped short mane, female, with a loose tray held in her hooves as she remained floating in the air with a sour looked on her face. She opened her mouth to speak, when the third pony appeared; a buttery yellow unicorn, with a striped black and yellow mane that suddenly came down from the sky with a soft thump, a tray attached to her back similar to the earth pony. She winked at the princesses, and then stood at attention. Now that the three of them were there, the pegasus began to complain at one of the servants.
"Runner, you're such a cheat, you threw my tray up in the air!" The earth pony looked at her innocently, and gave a soft chuckle.
"I would never, Sky."
"Don't play games with me, Runner!"
"I'm not! Stop being fussy over being a second late."
"No! My wings can beat faster than those legs can run!"
"Hey, on the bright side, you managed to beat Popper."
At this, the buttery yellow unicorn rolled her eyes, and began to stretch her legs out slightly, with an exasperated look on her face.
"Heh, I wouldn't say that, Runner, my legs, unlike yours, need to be precisely augmented with enough magic for me to get here, and not too much that I accidently overshoot my target; I'm sure that if I was charged up when Princess Celestia called for us, I'd beat you both. Anyway, we aren't here to chat, ponies. What can we do for you, Princess Celestia?" The princess smiled at the three ponies, and cleared her throat to begin her instructions.
"Steadfast Runner, I require you to bring a straw for Ditsy here; she cannot drink the tea properly without it, and I don't want to be accused of poor hospitality for not providing her with something so simple." The earth pony nodded, and dashed off towards the storage room, living up to his namesake. Turning her head to the pegasus, she relayed her second request.
"Bounding Skies, I require a few muffins from the kitchens, preferably enough to fill up a medium sized plate." The pegasus gave a salute, and took to the air quickly at a speed that would even make Rainbow Dash envious.
Celestia turned to the last servant, the unicorn, and smiled at her. "Sky Popper, I require you to 'pop', so to speak, into my court, and explain to the aristocracy that I will not be holding any sessions with them today, nor will Princess Luna; we think it more important to spend some time with a few ponies, namely, one Twilight Sparkle and her most esteemed friend about their problems ."
Sky Popper grinned at the thick, exaggerated sarcasm and winked at the solar Princess. After turning around towards the direction of the castle, her horn lit up with a lime-green glow, and seemed to travel down to her legs. "I sure hope you're ready to deal with aristocracy later, then, because they're probably going to be very annoyed about this." With a sudden 'pop' similar to a mini explosion, the unicorn jumped into the air. Twilight and Ditsy watched in amazement as the unicorn sailed through the sky and out of sight.
"H-How...?" Twilight managed to choke out after awhile, pointing in the general direction at where the unicorn had jumped to. Celestia giggled, and took a sip of her tea before replying to her student.
"Sky Popper can concentrate her magic into her legs so that she can 'jump' to places, similar to teleportation, but much less instant; she also needs to 'pad' magic onto her hooves so that she isn't seriously injured when she falls down on them, as well as some training in magical shields to prevent injuries to her entire body if she messes up her jumping. I must say, it's quite interesting to see the reaction of the ponies around me when she 'pops' in when I need her. Now, I don't think either Luna or I will be bothered for awhile, so what do you need, Twilight?"
After taking a sip of the tea to recollect her thoughts, the unicorn spoke up. "Ditsy, as you probably well know, reminds me of a pegasus I remember being described in a story, however, I don't remember what story it was. I also can't find it anywhere in my library, so I wondered if you knew what I was talking about, Princess."
Celestia nodded slowly, and looked over at Luna, who gave a knowing wink at her sister. "After some research, we both very well know the story of which you speak of, Twilight, and it would be an honor to recite an old, classical story to you. However, we might want to wait for the servants to arrive, in three...Two...One..."
As if on cue, all three pony servants arrived, although Sky Popper landed with a much harder thump than last time, and with a disgruntled expression on her face. Trying to stifle his snickering, Steadfast Runner spoke up first.
"Here is your straw, Ditsy, as requested." The pegasus giggled, and placed it into her cup of tea.
"Thank you!" The earth pony nodded, and then subtly stepped back a step. Bounding Skies stepped up, and set down a tray full of muffins, smiling as she did so.
"One tray of muffins, about half of them blueberry, a half of the other half chocolate, and the rest are banana nut. Freshly made from the kitchens, too! Cooks weren't so happy with me taking most of the batch, though." Sky Popper rolled her eyes at Bounding Skies, and began her report, which was 'interesting' to say the least.
"Aristocracy told of both princesses not being able to attend to their respective courts for today, and, well, apparently that caused a bit of a riot. Don't worry, it wasn't anything big, just two houses of nobles throwing food at each other; I'm not even sure how that's even classified as a riot. That's all." Celestia and Luna stared at each other for a moment, and then looked over at the three servants. Clearing her throat, Celestia spoke up first.
"That is all, ponies." Luna held up a hoof, halting the servants before they could leave.
"Yes, indeed we require no more; although, how much food was...Ahem, 'thrown' to waste?"
"Roughly an entire table's worth of refreshments."
"I...See. Dismissed." All three servants left in their various ways, leaving behind the two princesses and two ponies behind to enjoy some tea. Twilight had just taken the last sip from her cup when suddenly, Luna and Celestia bursted out laughing.
"Oh, how I wish I were there, sister!"
"I wish I followed Sky Popper inside, Lulu!"
After a few more comments shared between the two, the royal sisters calmed down, and wiped their eyes. "Okay," Celestia exclaimed, refilling her cup with tea, "We should probably get started on the story already."
The story of the box
"Bear in mind, Twilight, Ditsy, that this tale is very old, and as such there will be many confusing things that you may wish to ask questions about. While I don't mind having a few questions here and there at appropriate times, too many will hinder the time we have to spend together, so I ask that you sate your curiosity for once, Twilight." Celestia looked at Twilight with a steady stare, and the unicorn, in turn, blushed.
"I promise not to ask too many questions and disrupt the tale, Celestia." The alicorn smiled, satisfied with her student's answer, and then looked at Luna, who winked at Twilight mischievously.
"Fear not, Twilight, for all questions will be answered, within reason and if there are not too many of them!" Celestia confirmed Luna's statement with a nod, and stared intently at Ditsy for a short moment before speaking up quietly.
"Now, you say that Ditsy here looks similar to another pegasus in a story..." Ditsy looked up from the muffin she was happily munching on, and looked at Twilight in confusion; she still didn't know why she was here. From what Twilight said earlier, she reminded the unicorn of another pegasus, but that still didn't explain the significance of needing to meet with the princesses.
"I am?" Celestia nodded slowly, with a slight smile on her face.
"You are, Ditsy. Twilight has also mentioned that you have a nickname that some ponies use offensively, known as 'Derpy'; all I can say is that there is nothing to be ashamed of that name. In fact, it's the very name of the pony that's in this story, so you should feel honored. Lulu?"
"Did you need something, Tia?"
"Will you tell most of the tale? After all, I wasn't there to see what happened."
"Yes, sister, of course. As Tia has said, Derpy is the name of the actual pony that opened the box." Twilight and Ditsy both looked at Luna with different thoughts swirling in each other's head; Twilight, with heavy interest about this box, and Ditsy, with heavy confusion about the whole thing. Luna, smiling slightly, looked over at her sister. "Tia, do you still hold the very box that Derpy opened?"
"I do, indeed, however as of now I fear I have grown too attached to the warmth of this chair, and I don't believe any servant whom I may call upon would know what I would be talking about nor know how to find 'Derpy's box'." Luna sighed, and shook her head slowly in despair at her sister's laziness.
"A pity, then, that your royal rump does not want to leave your chair; it would be nice to allow them to see the box that changed Equestria forever. Fear not, Twilight, Ditsy! We shall start the story regardless of the box." Celestia rolled her eyes, and took a sip of her tea before speaking up.
"Luna and I were the only ones who inhabited Equestria at the time of this story; there was nopony else, no other beings; just me and my sister. The world was also still under the raw influence of our magic as we continued to shape it to our liking, so we didn't give much thought to the fact that we were the only beings on Equestria." Luna bit into a muffin, chewing it slowly before swallowing it; Twilight took this opportunity to ask a question.
"So the world was created by magic; specifically, your magic?"
"Indeed! Tia and I have shaped this world with vast amounts of magic; there is so much of it that even we cannot control what it does anymore, and the magic is making its own changes as it sees fit, even as we speak! Why, the world today isn't the same as the world we created so long ago!" The unicorn flattened her ears, clearly uncomfortable with that thought.
"So...Places like the Everfree Forest...?"
"Completely untouchable by our magic; it is a wondrous place, is it not? Free from our control and able to change anything it wants, whenever it wants!" Both Ditsy and Twilight shot each other a worried look; upon seeing how distressed they were at that piece of information, Celestia cleared her throat, and looked pointedly at her sister.
"Of course, we have been keeping tabs on places such as the Everfree forest to ensure that such wild magic does not grow out of hoof, so there is nothing to worry about."
"True, true! There is only so much we can do, however, and I think one day such magic may even be stronger than ours!" Deciding that a fearful audience did not make a good audience, especially if her sister continued to go off on a tangent completely unrelated to the story, Celestia decided to be blunt with Luna to get her on the right track.
"Lulu?"
"Yes, Tia?"
"I think it's best if you continue on with the story. Please."
"Oh, I almost forgot about that! Well, to explain in a little more detail about how we created the world, we raised mountains that kiss the sky, created scars in the land that to this day still remain, and have created lush, green fields to cultivate food with...But it was empty, oh, so empty, with only us residing in the world! It was then that Celestia decided to create life by molding clay, something that we had never tried before, although her intentions for doing so were dark indeed. The result was a beautiful, innocent, and somewhat clumsy mare." Twilight raised up a hoof, frowning slightly at her mentor, and Luna took the opportunity to finish the muffin.
"You created the first pony? From clay, and the pony was a mare?" Celestia nodded slowly, with a faint blush on her face.
"It was only to be expected, Twilight, since Luna and I are both mares, and clay is an easily moldable substance, is it not? Do not ask about how stallions were 'made', though, because it is a rather embarrassing story and isn't really needed to be known for this one." At the subtle nod of understanding from Twilight as she poured some more tea into her cup, Celestia continued on with the tale.
"So, I shaped the first pony; I shaped her like I saw Luna and I. Before I continue, however, just to clarify, did you say the pony in the story you read was a pegasus, right?" After a nod from Twilight, Celestia shook her head. "Close, but not close enough. No, she wasn't a pegasus, she was actually an alicorn. However, at the time, I did not know how to imbue magic into the horn, nor how strong earth ponies should be, so she ended up as a winged unicorn that couldn't use magic, had a bit too much strength, and could fly just like a normal pegasus today. This doesn't honestly change much in the story, but it does help to know who this pony was." Luna spoke up, then, cradling her cup of tea in her hooves.
"She was gray, with a blond mane; in fact, you nearly look exactly like her, Ditsy. I believe the only differences are that your coat is lighter and the fact that you have a different cutie mark; her's was a lamb, which represented her innocence."
Ditsy frowned as she bit into another muffin. "Nearly exactly like her..."
"Yes, Ditsy. She really was the most innocent little thing, perhaps even shyer than the Element of Kindness, Fluttershy, and it was just adorable how her eyes would...Well, 'wander' around, like yours." Celestia coughed guiltily, and offered a sheepish smile.
"I was new to making ponies, and I didn't think about her eyes." Luna frowned, and gently nudged her sister with a little burst of magic.
"Even so, sister, your hoof was...'Shaky' at best. I have always been the better artist, you know." Celestia did a mock gasp, and looked hurt.
"Your words wound me, Lulu."
"I'm not sorry. I speak the truth!"
"Well, the truth sucks. I didn't think you were sorry either. Moving on, I named the pony 'Derpy' because of the eyes she possessed; a rather curious trait of hers that would work favorably in my plans."
"Plans?" Ditsy asked, taking another bite into her muffin.
"What plans?" Twilight set aside her cup of tea, and stared intently at her mentor. Celestia looked over at her sister, who nodded slowly, and the older royal sister chuckled nervously before speaking.
"I didn't like Luna." At the sight of the widened eyes of Twilight and Ditsy, she tried to soften her words. "Well, to put it less bluntly, I was jealous of her at the time. She created the most beautiful stars out in the sky, while I truly did not have anything to call my own, as we created the earth together, and the sun, while admittedly was mine, it's just not something you're supposed to stare directly at. To see those wondrous works of art that my sister created compared to mine was...Disheartening, to say the least. So I conspired against her; you see, there was this box that has been with us for quite a long time. We don't know where it came from, but it was with us since the beginning of time, ever since we found it; in fact, when I first woke up, it was the first thing I saw in this world. It's actually indestructible, so we still have it now, to this day.
"We never opened this box, for we could feel powerful magic inside of it; powerful magic that threatened to overwhelm us. As long as the box never opened, however, we were safe. Probably. We placed this box in our little home, and sometimes, Lulu and I played a little game, making guesses about what could be inside that box."
Luna poured herself the last of the tea and grabbed the last muffin, much to Celestia's disappointment. "LuLuuuuuu!" Luna stuck her tongue out, and sipped the tea quickly.
"They're both mine, Tia! But yes, we would make guesses about the box's contents; ah, those were the days, just me and you, Tia."
"Indeed. Looking back, those days weren't so bad. Anyway, so the plan to 'get back' at Luna was to place the blame on her...Although, I needed something to happen that Luna wouldn't be able to connect back to me, at least, directly. I needed another pony to do my 'work'. I then decided that, if I couldn't do it, why not create a pony to do it for me?
"After Derpy was created, I told Luna that she would be taking care of her, as I was going to spend more of my time designing the world and adding new things to it, even though I didn't really need to add anything more. It was...A decent excuse at the time, because Lulu believed it." Luna sighed, and flicked a crumb at Celestia.
"I was sixteen hundred years old, Tia!" Upon the confused expression on Twilight's face, Luna explained. "We grow up more slowly than normal ponies. Or in Celestia's case, not at all. She still acts like a silly filly." Ignoring the look of indignation on her sister's face, Luna continued with a smirk on her face. "So I came to Derpy's care whenever Celestia was out 'designing' new things in the world; I didn't mind, though, because I was smitten with how Derpy acted. She was so adorably innocent that even I couldn't hold out on...What is it called today, 'D'awwing'? However, one day, she inquired about the box..."
Luna paused for a moment, thinking about how to continue the story, and Ditsy raised a hoof up during this. Celestia nodded at the pegasus, and offered a smile. "Is there something you need, Ditsy?"
"I want more muffins, please."
"Consider it done! We may as well order some more tea, as well." Celestia ringed the same bell, although she only rang it twice; she repeated the action, and before she set the bell down, as before, Steadfast Runner as well as Bounding Skies were at Celestia's side.
"Yes, Princess Celestia? How may we serve you?"
"Could you bring us another plate of muffins, Bounding Skies? Oh, wait; Ditsy, I'm sorry, I never asked, is there any specific kind of muffin that you want?"
"No, I just want more muffins! They all taste good to me! ...Unless they're baked bads." Celestia smiled warmly at the pegasus, and then nodded at Bounding Skies.
"No need to worry about anything bad being baked here, Ditsy. You heard her; any kind of muffins, so make it quick!" The pegasus pony looked shocked at what Celestia said, and then a fierce grin was on her face as she curtsied.
"Quick? You haven't seen quick until you've seen me!"
"...I'm looking at you right no-" Celestia's sentence went unfinished as Bounding Skies disappeared from sight. "Oh. Anyway, Steadfast Runner, could you bring us some more tea, please? The same flavor, and not too much, mind you." With her horn softly glowing with magic, she placed the empty teapot on his back, and made sure to latch it onto his tray securely. The earth pony nodded, and sped off without a word towards the kitchens.
Luna, by this time, had figured out what to say, so she continued with her part of the tale.
"When Derpy asked about the box for the first time, I told her that it was a very, very dangerous thing, and that it was better off that she didn't ask about it again; unfortunately, she seemed to have too much curiosity for her own good, no doubt Celestia's doing. She would constantly ask me, always trying to persuade me to open the box for her, always staring at the box...I tell you, it made me uneasy to see her take such an interest in the box, but I simply wrote it off as simple curiosity; after all, Tia and I were very curious about the box as well, once before. I assumed she would lose interest in it, in time."
Steadfast Runner then ran in on the conversation, with a plate of tea. "Your tea, princess!" Celestia smiled, and levitated the teapot from his back onto the table. As the teapot landed, Bounding Skies made her entrance, and pouted as she carefully set down a tray of muffins onto the table.
"Stop being faster than me!" Steadfast Runner chuckled, and began to walk away, surprisingly slowly.
"Not happening."
"Oh, I don't believe you!" The two servant ponies eventually faded away from sight and sound as they argued with one another. Luna looked over at Celestia, and then levitated the teapot over to pour herself some more tea.
"You hire the weirdest ponies as our servants, sister."
"They are...A bit competitive in their job, I admit, but you cannot deny that they don't get things here on time, Lulu."
"True enough. As I was saying, I continued to watch over Derpy, and the days and nights went by peacefully. Sadly, the peace that Tia, Derpy and I enjoyed was not to last for much longer; Derpy, in her desire to know what was in the box, snuck into my room one night, when I was feeling particularly sleepy. She stole the key to the box, and then grabbed the box itself before sneaking off into her room; I still wonder how she managed to not wake me up.
"She told me that once she locked the doors and turned her attention to the box, she thought about what she was doing. Remember, she was the most innocent pony I have ever known, and would have never done anything without our permission. However, her curiosity got the better of her, and ruled over her judgement in the end. She inserted the key into the box, and turned it..."
Luna seemed to choke, and she closed her eyes. Twilight prepared to say something, when Celestia stopped her student's hoof with her own, shaking her head slowly. After about two minutes of uncomfortably waiting, Luna managed to open her eyes, and smile sadly.
"Forgive me, I...Still feel bad about that day." Celestia nodded slowly, and moved her hooves over on top of her sisters, squeezing them softly.
"As do I, sister, as do I. It was poor decision making on my part."
"If it were uncountless years ago, Tia, I would have doubted your words. Nevertheless, Derpy opened the box. Out with it...Came Discord, and with him, his chaos. He told Derpy how thankful he was for releasing him, a little story of how we refused to open his box and of how boring his life was, contained in the box until she came along, and then he vanished with a 'pop', teleporting somewhere else, leaving behind a distraught, confused, and scared pony surrounded by chocolate bubbles. Derpy shut the box, closing it tightly, and ran into my room, sobbing, beginning to scream about the horrible thing she had done; needless to say, I was shocked, hurt, and angry at her. I demanded her to open the box back up, to truly see for myself that whatever was in the box was truly gone, for I still sensed powerful magic inside the box. Was I taking an unnecessary risk? Could she have been deceiving me? Perhaps, but the tears and emotions I felt from her felt too real to be faked for the sake of satisfying her curiosity.
"When she opened the box for the second time, it was not what I expected. Six pieces of jewelry flew out from the box, and were arranged in a circle around us. To this day, I know not how, but I instantly realized that these were the Elements of Harmony...These would enable us to capture Discord the first time, and would be the six things that the future ponies in Equestria would embody.
"I heard something whisper to me, in a voice that I cannot remember yet feel like I've known the voice all my life, 'Thank you, for not leaving us in the box as well. We are the Elements of Harmony, and no matter how bleak the future looks, no matter how dark and desolate everything is, you only need us...And a little hope."
Celestia took a sip of tea from her teacup, and sighed appreciatively. "That, Twilight, Ditsy, is the story of Derpy's Box, and the first account of the Elements of Harmony."
Author's Note
If you don't like origin stories of the princesses then I'm sorry, but this is based on Pandora's box and how the first woman (Or mare, in this case) was created, so I didn't really have that much room to wiggle around in.
Epilogue coming up after this, and then it's done.
Epilogue
"So, are there any questions that you still need answered, you two?" Luna asked as the story came to a close. Twilight nodded, and tilted her head slightly in an adorable, yet questioning way.
"Whatever happened to Derpy?" Luna flinched slightly at the question, and it took nothing less than draining her entire teacup in one go before she responded, in a rather sad tone of voice.
"Derpy was distraught despite the calming, reassuring words of the Elements, and spent many days and nights thinking about what she had done because of her curiosity. She would often look to the stars in her self inflicted punishment, and wonder out loud about what was beyond this world when she thought one of us couldn't hear her. One day, completely out of the blue, she strode up to us, and bluntly said that she would be leaving." Celestia took a small nibble from a muffin, and then began to cradle her teacup in her hooves, trying to savor what little tea she had while continuing where Luna left off.
"She said that her curiosity would do us no good, here, since everything in this world at this time was of no interest to her, but the stars...Those where things that captured her curiosity and had her thinking. What I saw, however, was more than just a silly pony thinking about the could-beens and what-ifs. I saw a pony serious about her words, far from the innocence that she once was. The most disturbing and wonderful thing about her, though..."
"Her eyes were straight," Luna broke in suddenly, causing her sister to look at her with minor irritation, but she said nothing as Luna continued. "Her eyes were straight and focused on us, no longer the funny eyes that wandered around lazily. That was the most unnerving sight my eyes have ever graced upon to this day...Her eyes were straight. Gone, was the innocence she had, replaced with this fiery glint that said that she was ready to go off alone and take care of herself.
"She claimed that she was going to travel to the stars, my stars, and see what interesting things she could find; I tried to tell her that it was a fruitless endeavor, that she would merely be wasting her time by flying up to my stars, but she refused to listen to my words. She left us that very night, when the stars were their brightest, and bid us farewell before she made her journey. We have not seen her since then, so long ago."
"I...See. Wow." Twilight flattened her ears slightly, saddened by the image she was picturing. "Do you think she's still out there, wandering among your stars?" Luna hesitated in giving an answer, and when she did, it was with a sad smile upon her face.
"There are times when I am communicating with my stars that I feel the slightest hint of another among my stars; of something that should not be there, yet feels so comforting in its presence. Whether that's Derpy or not, I do not know. I like to think that it is her, however, enjoying the beauty of my stars and doing who knows what out there."
After a long moment of silence between them, Celestia spoke up quietly. "You know the rest of the story, Twilight; we gathered the Elements and sealed Discord in stone the first time after a long and hard battle, created life and took a back seat to watch over them, which then paved the way for the Equestrian history you have learnt about in other tales.
"On a slightly related note, it's not easy, walking by Discord's statue in the gardens. It reminds me of my past mistakes, and it especially reminds me about Derpy. While I do not regret creating her, I do regret having made her for such a despicable purpose.
"However, as much as I would like to continue on babbling about my feelings, Twilight, Ditsy, I do believe you have a train to catch; it'll be dark soon, and I think tea time is over." Luna snorted, and reached for the last muffin, only to be beaten to the punch by Ditsy. She sighed, and settled for flicking more crumbs at her sister, who scowled at her.
"So soon, Tia? Sharing one story and that is the end of tea time? Why must it be cut so short?"
"We do have duties to attend to as well, sister, and would you please stop flicking crumbs at me?"
"No. Such news saddens me enough to flick muffin crumbs at my sister."
Twilight and Ditsy both got off their chairs, and curtsied to the princesses; after the polite gesture, Twilight spoke her piece.
"Thank you for allowing us to share this time with you, Celestia, Luna." Ditsy spoke up after her.
"Yes, thank you! It was rather interesting to know that there's a pony out there, somewhere, with my 'nickname' as her name, and what she did!" Both sisters smiled, and they, too, got off their chairs.
"It was wonderful to spend the time with you, Twilight Sparkle, Ditsy," began Luna, "I would not mind if you were to 'drop in', so to speak, here again to listen to some more stories over tea; it would do me well to take me away from Prince Blueblood." She shuddered at the mere mention of his name, and sighed, clearly showing her distaste of him. "Almost anything would be better than spending time with him." With that remark in the air, Luna began walking away back to the castle. Celestia rolled her eyes, and walked up to Twilight, giving her a hug that was quickly returned.
"She gets annoyed too easily; ah, well, I suppose even I get annoyed with the prince as well at times, so I can't blame her. Anyway, forget about that, and have a good night, my faithful student."
"You too, princess." Celestia pulled away from the hug with a slight frown on her face.
"I thought you agreed to not add the 'princess' title when we're among friends?" Twilight blushed, and backed out of the hug in shame.
"I-I'm sorry, Celestia." The princess gave a short chuckle that was interrupted by Ditsy.
"Um, I don't want to sound rude, but I think we're about to miss the train..."
The next day
Spike whistled to himself as he was given another set of chores by Twilight, who, after being interested in last night's story, began to look through older tales that the princess' may have had a hoof in, whether directly or indirectly, and planned to discuss these stories with them over some more tea at a later date. Her train of thought stopped at the station early, however, when a light knocking disturbed her thoughts. Curious, she opened up the door to reveal none other than Ditsy, holding up a box.
"Delivery! One box for Twilight Sparkle! It also came with a letter addressed to the both of us! Strange, huh?" The pegasus set the box down on a table, then offered Twilight a letter that indeed had both their names addressed on it. "I haven't read it yet, so read it to me, Twilight!" Perplexed, the unicorn took a look at the letter, and levitated said letter over to her. After clearing her throat and removing the letter from the envelope it was in, she began to read the letter aloud.
Dear Twilight Sparkle and Ditsy Hooves (If she is there),
I've found the box! Although that in itself is a tale that my dear sister Luna would love to relay to you, that's for another time. The box enclosed in the box is none other than Derpy's box; you won't be able to mistake it for any other box despite its looks, but you'll know what I mean when you see it; just open it, and...Well, that'd be ruining the surprise. Please, while the box itself isn't important anymore and is indestructible by any means, it can still be lost, and we both don't have the time to search across Equestria for a box. It holds quite a bit of sentimental value to Luna and I, so we both hope that you'll keep the box safe for however long you wish to keep it.
Other than the fact that I wish you to see the box, there really isn't much to do with it. It's an empty box; it's beautiful, but there's absolutely nothing of interest inside of it, so I think you'll be sending it back to us soon anyway.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
After reading the letter out loud, she looked at the box, and smiled, clearly happy at the chance to see something so endearing to the princess'. "Huh. So, this is Derpy's box, huh? Spike, Spike! I need you over here for something special!"
A muffled "Coming!" Was heard, and Spike ran out from the kitchen with some gem crumbs on his face. After taking a moment to look at her assistant critically, she levitated a napkin over. Realizing what she was going to do, Spike vainly tried to wipe his mouth, but nevertheless, Twilight fussed over him.
"Twilight, Ditsy's watching!"
"How many times do I have to tell you not to eat so messily?!"
"It's just a few crumbs!"
"Just stop squirming so much...There! Now, Spike, I just need you to open this box."
His eyes traveled over the box, and he sighed as he jumped up onto the table. "More books, Twilight? Didn't we just order some last week?"
"Oh, these aren't books. It has a box in it."
"...A box...Inside a box?
"This isn't just any box, this is a very, very special box!"
"That's inside another box. Why, exactly?"
"It's a priceless sentimental treasure to the princess'!"
"...Okay." Unconvinced, the dragon began to cut the box open with a sharp knife carefully; Twilight and Ditsy had a few minutes of speculation of what the box would look like as he worked. Ditsy thought the box would be covered in beautiful jewels and gold plating, making it tempting to open; In contrast, Twilight thought that the box would look something a little more subtle and practical, but no less eye-catching, such as a steel box laid with magical enchantments. After all, it held Discord and the Elements!
Both, however, were disappointed when Spike pulled out a wooden box that looked like it was colored roughly on with crayon without any sense of color coordination. Twilight couldn't comprehend how Discord could be encased in a 'box' like this; a simple wooden box wouldn't have held him inside. Apparently, Ditsy thought the same, because she touched it gently with a frown on her face. "Is this really the box, Twilight? It doesn't look so...Special."
"I...Guess it is. Princess Celestia said that we wouldn't be able to mistake it for any other box, so there's probably something inside of it that could convince us that this isn't your normal box. Do you want to open it, Ditsy?" The pegasus' eyes lit up at the thought of opening up a box that belonged to the princess', and smiled at the unicorn happily, which was more than enough of an answer. Spike placed the box down on the table, and wondered why anypony would be excited to open a box, especially this one.
"Oh, this is exciting! This must have what Derpy must have felt like when she knew she was going to open up the box!" Twilight nodded slowly, and even Spike leaned in, interested in what the box held inside.
Slowly, Ditsy opened up the box...
With a long bang that could put Luna's royal voice to shame, out came confetti, streamers, fake snakes and all sorts of silly things that one might find in a prank, which was what this probably was; her library now rivaled anything that Pinkie's party cannon could pull off and put the cannon to shame. Spike sighed as he tried to untangle himself from a few rolls of streamers that seemed to have immobilize him when he saw a letter fluttering in the air. Reaching out with a hand, he just barely managed to grab the letter, and opened it, reading it out loud to the dazed unicorn and likewise entangled pegasus in an unamused tone.
Dear Twilight Sparkle (And Ditsy Hooves if she hasn't flown off in surprise),
Gotcha!
I apologize for the prank, but I felt like adding a surprise to the box. Yes, in case you have any doubts, that messily drawn on box is indeed Derpy's box. The box has one other special property other than being indestructible, and that property is the fact that you can store anything inside the box, without limit. In theory, that is; I have never found out just how much the box could hold because the way how the box seems to have been designed has made it so that any items you put into the box will all come out of the box at the same time, or will, at least, attempt to, in the case of the Elements of Harmony appearing after Discord when the box opened a second time.
Due to this somewhat dangerous quality of the box, I ask that you return the box after you have done whatever it is that you wish to do to it, Twilight. This box could be used for the wrong reasons, assuming somepony else grabs hold of this box, so it is vital that you do not tell anypony what the box can do; just state that it is an old box from your fillyhood, and you should be fine.
Sincerely, Princess Celestia
It was true, then. She had Derpy's box, right there in the library with her! If she was going to get any experiments on the box done, however, she was going to have to get rid of all the confetti, streamers and everything else Celestia had packed into the box that were now decorating the library as a result of Celestia's prank. "...Spike, help us clean up the library." The dragon groaned as he finally freed himself from the streamers, and looked around the library in despair.
"I just cleaned the area too."
Author's Note
The story is completed, thank you for reading!
