private Tale of Two Princesses (1x1 with Caligula)

[Obsidian]

An alicorn? Sent to the same place as her? To learn about... uh, friendship? But why? Friendship was nothing but a trifle! A vulgar plaything of plebeians, who had nothing - nor power or duties! If she was, indeed, a royalty, she should learn about many things - but the pathetic craft of wasting time and energy on other creatures was not one of them. Empires had no friends - only interests, and monarch, as a living embodiment of the state, should follow this wise rule too.

"I'm treating you with as much respect as I can muster for an alicorn" Obsidian answered coolly. "And right now past is everything I have" she peeked in the guards' direction. Eh, they were already too close. "I will keep in mind this little meeting."

With just a bit of luck being roughed by guards will be more pleasant than discussing with this quasi-royal creature. 

[Flurry Heart]

"Oh." Realization seemed to dawn on Flurry Heart. "Sorry about that. I probably shouldn't have demanded respect from you like that... And saying that the past doesn't have to define you probably wasn't the best statement to say at that time. So you must be going through a lot right now. How could I help you?" Flurry Heart asked. The royal guards rounded the corner and Flurry Heart seemed to realize how she could help.

"... Shining Armor, Everypony loves alicorn Shining Armor. Sure, he's got his group buckball club and he's always throwing parties at one of the other royal guard's house. How come we don't ever get invited? Are we not good enough in his eyes? It's like the rest of the royal guards assign us the worst jobs knowing that we will fail and then mock us when we do. Sure, like they ever looked after a pony filled with dark magic and prevent it from escaping. When I get my hooves in this Obsidian pony I'm going to..." The royal guards vented as they went down the hallway. They came to an abrupt stop in front of Flurry Heart. Flurry Heart narrowed her eyes when she realized who the ponies were.

"Oh hello Flurry Heart, are you free tonight?" One of the royal guards flirted.

"Now's not the time for flirting, Butch," another one of the royal guards shouted at the first. "Where's Obsidian? We have a bone to pick with her."

"She's right here, are you blind, Brick?" the first one said.

"Dude, chill. What did she do?" Flurry Heart asked.

"She destroyed the lamp and escaped!" The third guard (Boomer) shouted.

"Well I think that we should help her work through what she has been through and allow her to transition into this society. I doubt doing whatever you plan on doing to her is going to help," Flurry Heart defended.

"Fine," the guards grumbled. "Flurry Heart keeps defending these new ponies that she just met like they are her friends already. I wish that kind of excuse would work with Shining Armor. Nopony ever seems to believe us. I can't believe we actually have to listen to her," The royal guards grumbled right in front of Flurry Heart.

Flurry Heart gave them an irritated look but didn't comment.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Obsidian]

"Your opportunity to help me passed" Obsidian mused, not too happy with the outcome of her escape attempt - and with the low quality of the guards that were chasing her. Now, in the light, without fear she was feeling after they cornered her in her own room she could finally realize what a pathetic rabble they were. Loud, disorganized, rude... Frankly, now that she was thinking about it, she should have try to beat them. With surprise on her side, they wouldn't even realize what hit them. 

And more importantly, they didn't seem too eager to actually pick fight with her, or they woukd already.

"Are you sure you are royalty? They are very rude in your presence. You should punish them for their insolence" she said more or less casually to Flurry.

 

[Flurry Heart]

"Oh," Flurry Heart sighed when she realized that she couldn't help Obsidian in any way. Her ears drooped and she gave Obsidian her best 'cute yet hurt look' even though she was pretty sure it wouldn't work on her. "Well then, I suppose we should go catch the train."

The royal guards prodded Obsidian to follow along as they walked towards the train station. They also seemed to snicker a lot, about what was anypony's guess. When Obsidian mentioned how insolent the guards were, Flurry Heart whispered back.

"Actually, those three are the absolute worst. All the rest of them listen to me, but they think that they don't have to because I'm younger than them. However, the strange thing is, one of them also has a crush on me even though I already told him I'm not interested. Hmm, I probably could get them in trouble by telling their commander things I know they messed up on... Hmm..." Flurry Heart smirked.

"Do carry my bags for me, will you please?" Flurry Heart asked Butch before dropping her saddlebags on him. He gave Flurry Heart a dreamy look before nearly collapsing due to the heavy bags, and he struggled to keep up with the rest of the group.

"So, what was it like when Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire?" Flurry Heart asked, hoping to get more insight on Obsidian's life.

[Obsidian]

Indeed, the only look that would work on Obsidian right now was the glare of her mighty father - but he didn't seem to be around any longer. A shame, really, she was pretty sure that in his presence entire city - including those guards and one alicorn quasi-royal - would behave much, much better.

What was the point in keeping 'the worst' in the guard without putting anything mind-controlling on them? Collars, helmets - just a single, small artifact and voila, even the worst trash would be quiet, obedient and willing to give up life for the greater good. 

"Ordered" she answered shortly. "Everycreature had known its role and was either accepting it, or was forced to do so. Empire was strong, built on the backs of thousands of slaves and soldiers, with not a single pony daring to do as much as look nastily at the king..." she peeked at insolent guards. "...let alone talk to him without respect. It seems that plenty of things became worse since those great days."

[Flurry Heart]

"Oh, well I mean those guards are the worst," Flurry Heart said with an eye roll.

"Obsidian, if it was my decision, I would have sent her to a maximum security prison where she can't bother us," one of them whispered not so quietly and all the others laughed in the least professional manner possible. "Also, she's kind of ugly, don't you think?" and the rest of the guards laughed even louder. Butch laughed so hard he collapsed on the ground before struggling to get back up.

"Huh, order, ok then..." Flurry Heart stammered, not quite sure what to say. The group exited the castle through the main entrance. "Huh, did the Crystal Empire look different back then? What was life like for the citizen?" Flurry Heart asked. Some crystal ponies nearby noticed Obsidian and they gasped. Their shine seemed to dull a little when they saw her, and they immediately glanced away.

"Don't worry, we got her all under control! You got that? All under control! We're sending her to prison Ehem, to be reformed, and she's not escaping on our watch!" The royal guards shouted. However, the citizens still looked nervous.

[Obsidian]

Ah, at least normal citizens were treating her with respect. It was heartwarming to know that, even after years, they remembered lessons that her father's rule taught them.

"Of course it looked different. Crystals are very sensitive to dark magic" she answered - but that was enough of her patience. Obsidian stopped in place to glare at guards.

It wasn't a pleasant look. She didn't care about comment about her look half as much as they probably thought, but she was simply irritated that they talk that much.

"Do you want to lose your tongues that much, maggots?"

[Flurry Heart]

"Losing tongues? That's impossible. Almost as impossible as Sombra coming back, am I right? Also, we aren't maggots! Obsidian is kind of dumb if you ask me, she can't even tell that we are ponies. That's probably why she tried to escape, but we caught her anyways because we're too smart for her. Now move along, the sooner we get to the train station, the sooner Flurry Heart leaves and the sooner we can go lounge around in her suite while making Hurry Fart jokes," the guards said, pushing Obsidian along and laughing loudly.

"Hey! Don't talk about Flurry Heart like that! I have a crush on her," Butch said.

"Oh yeah, you want to fight me!?" the other guards said, butting heads. "Hurry Fart, she thinks she's such a snob and she can boss everypony around like she's a princess and she also hates us for no reason... Oh, and she found her purpose now. Now we can't even manipulate her by saying that she's the princess of nothing. Like I always said, those princesses are the worst."

"Ugh, they are the worst. Let's just get to the train station and then we won't have to see them again," Flurry Heart said to Obsidian with another eyeroll. She knew that as soon as they ran into Shining Armor at the train station, she was going to tell him everything that those guards did.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Obsidian]

"For a royalty you practically seem to be afraid to put them in their place. It would make the world a better place - I mean, look at them, they are so dumb that it's a miracle that they are able to walk and breathe at the same time" Obsidian replied to Flurry with an almost cheerful voice. "They even talk about desecrating your private chambers, and are not aware that tongues can be easily removed with a sharp knife... or not so easily with a blunt one."

At the moment the fact that they were out in the city, or that guardians were still making sounds, didn't matter. Not at all. In fact, she was outright ignoring them, focusing only on Flurry.

"So, if you are not willing to punish them, then I will do it. I'm not sure if they have enough brain for me to mind control, but I can try. Except for the one carrying your things, I can spare him for now."

[Flurry Heart]

"Woah, we don't remove tongues or control minds around here, at least, not anymore," Flurry Heart exclaimed. However, she was still going to give the guards a piece of her mind. "Zipp it!" She shouted, turning around abruptly to face the guards, "If I hear another peep out of you between here and the train station then I'm going to change your occupation to miner! Then, you can go complain all you want and talk trash about royalty where nopony else can hear you while you mine crystal," Flurry Heart shouted in the guards' faces. The ones what were arguing were so taken aback by Flurry Heart's outburst they nearly stumbled into her and collapsed on the ground. They nodded.

Flurry Heart turned around smiling only to realize that they have arrived at the train station. "Oh peachy, we're here. I'm still telling Shining Armor what you did," she said.

The train platform was very crowded, but there was a clear space where they could pass to get onto the train. Most of the students had already gotten onboard and their parents could be seen waving from the platform. Flurry Heart noticed her parents Princess Cadence and Shining Armor and ran up to them and hugged them. There was also a light teal royal guard pony hovering next to Shining Armor that was watching the group carefully.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Obsidian]

Obsidian threw Flurry a puzzled look.

"Why not? You are threatening them with mining crystals. Both physical maiming and slavery were considered a viable punishment options during my father's rule" she remarked. Just giving guards a stern talk was simply not good enough in her opinion - punishment should always be far more serious than the crime, otherwise criminals would ignore some laws, knowing that they don't have to fear anything. Those three stallions were commiting a crime by talking, so simply talking back wasn't enough.

And... By Darkness, what was that big thing? Obsidian was so stunned by the sight of modern technology that she almost missed the fact that the 'royalty' she was talking with just walked to two other, older alicorns and hugged them. It was safe to assume that they were her parents - which was making the entire scene nauseating. Why would three royal alicorns act in such undignified way? Were they a real royalty at all? She couldn't even imagine her treating her glorious father with such lack of respect. 

[Flurry Heart]

Somehow, the crowd either hadn't noticed Obsidian, or they didn't care. They just continued waving to their students onboard the train.

"I'll visit frequently, I promise," Flurry Heart said as she let go from her hug. She turned back to Obsidian. "Oh, this is my mom and dad, Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor," she explained, pointing to each of them. "And this..." she stammered, glancing at the mysterious crystal pegasus royal guard. She wasn't sure who this pony was.

"I'm Dr. Clue, and I am the royal guard that will be accompanying both of you princesses to Ponyville," she explained. She turned to Brick, Butch, and Boomer. "Shining Armor already knows about everything," she said in a neutral tone, which caused the three incompetent guards to shudder.

"We're doomed, we are going to end up trapped in the mines and we are never going to see the light of day again!" One of them moaned.

Dr. Clue grabbed Flurry Heart's saddlebags from Butch and balanced it on top of Obsidian's saddlebags that she was already carrying. The, she followed Flurry Heart onboard and they all sat down in one of the last available seats. Dr. Clue managed to get the saddlebags full of textbooks into the overhead bins with ease. Looking out the window, the group could see Shining Armor turn to glare at the three guards. Nopony onboard knew exactly what he said next, because at that exact moment, the train blew it's whistle and started moving.

"Right, hello your majesties, I have introduced myself earlier as your royal guard, and if I could be any service to you, than let me know," she said professionally.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Obsidian]

Not that Obsidian cared about the crowd's reaction - the fact that they were not bowing or panicking only made the travel to the train station easier and calmer. However, when they reached it... By Darkness, what was it? What a monstrosity of steel Equestrians created! It didn't take Obsidian too much time to figure out that it was merely another kind of chariot - but its size and the fact that it apparently required tracks to move awed her.

It didn't change the fact that she was a bit reluctant to board this thing - and when she did she just sat on her seat, doubly nervous. Not only she was leaving the Empire for the first time in her life, with everything she knew ripped away from her - but also this strange machine was making a lot of noise.... overall, it was rather unexpected new experience.

She could only hope that this new guardian will be more quiet than those before. What was wrong with plebeians in the modern times? Why were they talking so much?

[Flurry Heart]

Since it appeared that Obsidian wasn't interested in talking, Flurry Heart spent most of her time glancing out the window. Outside, it was snowing and quite windy too. Dr. Clue kept an eye on the two princesses, with Flurry Heart occasionally glancing back. Elsewhere in the car, other students could be heard talking to each other, and their excitement could be felt in the air.

After a while of silence, Flurry Heart spoke up. "I miss my family already," she said.

Dr. Clue gave her a reassuring smile. "It's natural for all ponies to feel like that, being away from their family for the first time. However, you will be able to visit them frequently, and Aunt Twilight is in Ponyville. Plus, you will get to learn all about friendship," Dr. Clue said, trying to reassure Flurry Heart.

Flurry Heart's eyes light up. "Oh yeah, Aunt Twilight. Yeah, she does still live in Ponyville. And I get to make some new friends," she said. Flurry Heart turned towards Obsidian. "What's it like knowing that you probably won't be able to see your parents for a while?" she asked.

[Obsidian]

Maybe for Flurry riding a train was nothing new, but for Obsidian it was the first time in life when she was moving away from the Crystal Empire - an experience tainted by the constant buzzing of other ponies in the train who, for some reasons, were not separated from their betters. What kind of madness was it? Why royals didn't receive an entire train for themselves? Crystal Empire was turned into something truly savage.

And the blizzard beyond the window was something new to her as well. For her entire life she saw weather safely contained outside the borders of the city. Seeing the raging elements was making her uneasy.

Not as uneasy as Flurry's question. Obsidian looked at her, spending a few precious seconds trying to figure out what she was asking about.

"...are you really asking me how it feels to learn that, as far as everypony is concerned, my entire family is dead?" she answered with the voice colder than the weather outside the train. "Oh, it's a wonderful feeling, I assure you. I recommend you to try it out yourself, I'm sure you will greatly enjoy it" her voice was practically dripping with venom at this point.

[Flurry Heart]

Dr. Clue, who had been paying attention to the whole conversation between the two princesses raised her eyebrow at Obsidian, but didn't say anything. However, she remained alert, ready to step in and break things up if things got too heated.

"I'm sorry, I have been so absent-minded this whole train ride. Everything is going to be so different. Look, I'm sorry about your loss. I would probably lash out at somepony if I lost my parents too. I guess now I know that feeling, kind of," Flurry Heart said. She wasn't really sure how to put into words that heart-sinking feeling she had as the train continued to travel its way through the eternal blizzard further and further away from the Crystal Empire where she called home.

She also mentally kicked herself for constantly angering Obsidian, but she wasn't sure what she could say to make her feel better. It felt like whenever she tried to break the ice with Obsidian, she just ended up making things worse. That awful feeling, combined with the fact that she already missed her parents made her feel sick. She sighed and took out a piece of paper, absent mindedly folding it into a crane.

[Obsidian]

'Absent-minded' was an understatement, at least in Obsidian's opinion. For her whole life she was taught it's her duty to be aware of her surroundings and herself - so meeting an alicorn noble who was talking before thinking was rather unpleasant experience, even disregarding the fact that her 'absent-mindness' could be easily mistaken for mockery. Bah, if not for her apologies, Obsidian would be SURE it was a mockery!

She only scowled in response - and then tried to calm down. Obsidian never experienced either travels or emotions like that, so it was hard, but she was managing to stay - more or less - composed.

And a bit bored. She peeked with a mix of curiosity and suspicions at the quasi-crane in Flurry's hooves.

 

[Flurry Heart]

"Yeah I'm really trying to work on being less absent minded for obvious reasons. Oh, this crane is..." Flurry Heart stumbled. She had noticed Obsidian watching her, but she wasn't quite sure how to describe what she was doing. "Well it's origami. It's about folding pieces of paper to create creatures, but I use it to fight off boredom. It's from Japone apparently, and a Kirin from there showed it to me. I can fold other things if you like, or I could show you how if you are interested, that is," Flurry Heart said, smiling nervously.

Meanwhile, outside the train, the climate had slowly gotten warmer as the train traveled closer towards Ponyville. Now, the weather appeared cloudy and there was snow on the ground but it was no longer falling from the sky. Dr. Clue had pulled out some of the origami papers and was offering one to Obsidian.

[Obsidian]

...Japone? Kirin? What were those things? Obsidian could only hope that she will find an opportunity to catch up with modern knowledge as soon as possible - being ignorant was humiliating. The name of this exotic art didn't tell her anything.

"Is it some kind of magical ritual? Is it possible to utilize those... origamis... in any way?" she asked, dumbfounded. She took offered paper, though, obviously, at the moment she had no idea what to do with it - or if there was any point in it. If it was an art of foreign creatures, from faraway lands, then maybe they could be, uh, brought to life or something? Small, paper servants would be useful, that's for sure.

[Flurry Heart]

Huh, seems like she's interested. Hopefully I don't mess it up this time, Flurry Heart thought to herself. She noticed that Obsidian had taken the paper that was offered, so she took another piece of paper to show her how to fold something.

"Well no, it's not a magical ritual. I mean, personally, I think that it is really interesting how you can turn a flat piece of paper into interesting shapes by folding it. Well, the paper creatures are mostly used as decoration once they are folded. Let's see, we could do a bunny? I mean, I think it's cute and I like cute things," Flurry Heart said. She started folding the paper slowly with her hooves, making sure to hold it where Obsidian could see it. "So you see, you fold it like this, and this, and you can start to see the shape forming." She waited a bit to make sure Obsidian could catch up.

While she was waiting, she absent mindedly levitated out some candy from her bags and ate some. From what she heard, it was important that ponies made sure they got enough sugar daily as a part of a healthy diet, and it just so happened that she loved sweets. (She still does.) She held the candy in the air using her magic in order to keep her hooves from becoming sticky and unable to fold paper.

Dr. Clue appeared to be drinking a cup of water, and Canterlot could be seen passing by outside, which meant that they were almost to Ponyville. By now, there was no snow on the ground and it was partially sunny.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Ocean Wavedream

[Obsidian]

So - it wasn't a ritual. There was no magic involved. It was merely a meaningless waste of time, meant for entertainment. What a shame... Though, as far as Obsidian was concerned, she could - sooner or later - try to put it to a good use. A small crystal here and here, a simple spell, and she could have a useful spy, or another tool. As such, maybe it would be worth learning? Nopony would expect that, ugh, a 'cute bunny' could be enchanted.

Of course, there was a downside - her crystals were black, so she'd need to find out how they could fit bunnies. Actually, how do bunnies look like? 

Obsidian patiently followed the instructions - it wasn't hard, just a matter of few folds - and peeked outside. A city on a mountain... Could it be Equestrian capital? Thousand years passed since she read about it. What was its name...? Okay, there was a palace in Everfree, where Equestrian rulers lived, but they were building a new place - Canterlot or something...?

 

[Flurry Heart]

Flurry Heart blinked blankly. It seemed that Obsidian wasn't saying anything. Flurry Heart wished she knew what Obsidian was thinking, but at the same time, she dreaded the kind of thoughts that could be in her mind. Flurry Heart seemed to notice Obsidian staring outside at Canterlot, but she wasn't sure what to say about it, so she said nothing. However, it appeared that the classmates in the train car would do the talking for her.

"Hey look! There's Canterlot, where Celestia and Luna rule. My, that city looks really majestic up on the mountainside. Almost as majestic as Celestia and Luna..." One of the ponies said.

"Yeah and then we are going to Ponyville, where Twilight rules with her five friends, and we came from the Crystal Empire, where Cadence and Shining Armor rule. And then there's Flurry Heart. Yeah I got nothing for her. This whole six alicorn rulers thing of Equestria confuses me," another rambled.

Flurry Heart became kind of irritated by this but since she couldn't figure out who said it, she couldn't do anything. She sighed as she slid down her seat.