How Moonstruck Got Her Groove Back

Finite Sledgehammer

Disclaimer: Hasbro's toybox, I'm just playing in it.

---

It was amazing how small minded individuals reacted to the unexpected sight of an alicorn in their midst. The catchers froze in abject terror, eyes glued to Moonstruck. If Moonstruck wasn't worried about them suddenly snapping out of it, she, Joseph and Glenda could have simply walked away. Alas, their shock was short lived, and soon enough they were being frantically apologized to, then escorted out of the cave room beneath the castle and back up to the courtyard above, where still more unicorns awaited with much larger cages, and netting, and sullen looking earth ponies pulling cruel wagons. A wave of murmurs preceded them as the strange procession made its way through the parting crowd. Moonstruck inspected the troops out of the corner of her eye, taking note of what sort of weapons they carried, how fit the unicorns looked, how many of them had cutie marks, and whether or not they'd managed to catch any fleeing pegasai. The cages and nets stood empty, so it was possible that their dalliance had bought the clan more time.

As for the weapons, there were few. Officers had throwing knives that they could fling with telekinesis; lower ranking soldiers had clubs that they could wield with their mouths. Nopony had a cutie mark. She was fairly confident that most of these unicorns could only use the most basic of spells.

There was a rushed conversation between the officer in charge of the group that was escorting them, and another high ranking pony; worried and confused glances were cast in their direction, then they were led over to an extendable walk way that stretched to a massive airship that was drifting placidly beyond the castle walls, out of sight of most ponies in the courtyard. Several smaller airships were tethered beyond it, though they lacked any way to reach the ground. It was likely that they merely flew support. Each smaller airship seemed to have some sort of cannon attached to it; Moonstruck suspected that it threw nets. They were similar in design to the airship seen from Stirrup Springs, though Moonstruck felt they were smaller. That could simply have been a trick of the magical distortion.

She glanced briefly at Glenda to make sure she was keeping it together, and was heartened to see that while the mares eyes were wide, and wild, she stared fixedly ahead, and did not hesitate to step willingly onto a walkway that likely led to a life of torture and hard labor of so many of her kin. Moonstruck wasn't sure about her entire plan of action, but seeing to it that Glenda survived, and was reunited with her granddaughter was at the top of her priorities list.

"Admiral Desmond will speak to you now." Said a slim, prim mare in narrow spectacles and a uniform that looked like it had been chiseled out of stone. Her mane was pulled up into a bun so tight that it appeared painful. "Follow me."

"Finally, someone who knows what's going on!" Moonstruck huffed, tossing her mane as she stepped into the airship, Joseph and Glenda in tow. It was considerably cooler inside, which Moonstruck found impressive. Either it had a top notch air conditioner, or somepony was quite good at climate control spells. The mare took her through a maze of wood and brass corridors that Moonstruck would be hard pressed to backtrack through, then stopped outside a set of large, ornate wood doors.

"Your staff must wait here." Said the prim pony in clipped tones, scrutinizing Joseph and Glenda critically over the top of her glasses.

"Of course." Moonstruck inclined her head, then threw a meaningful glance at Joseph. Stay on your guard.

Joseph nodded once, crossed his arms over his chest/crop region, and turned so that his tail was to the door. He made a very intimidating bodyguard. Glenda, thankfully, shuffled over to stand behind him in the corner, eyes downcast, which worked wonderfully well.

Moonstruck marveled for a moment that all of this was working out so well thus far, then used her magic to open the double doors and march in to the surprisingly spacious office beyond. One would assume that space would be at a premium on such a ship, but clearly this only applied to common soldiers. The admiral was at his desk, a hunched figure with a chestnut coat, and a short cropped mane going over paperwork. He did not hold the paper up with magic, Moonstruck noted. He also didn't look up at her when she burst into the room. This was likely a subtle power play. She felt inclined to shatter it.

"My goodness, what in blazes is going on in these parts!? This is quite possibly the worst run country I have ever set hoof in!" She said before he could speak.

Admiral Desmond flicked his eyes up, then did a double take. He had perhaps been planning on brushing her off as some sort of high strung nuisance, but the sight of her wings slightly fanned, her horn glistening in the afternoon sun, and her oh-so prominent cutie mark seemed to have forced him to change strategies. He recovered better than his underlings at least; he only stared for a few seconds.

"F-forgive me, I was told someone extraordinary had appeared, and I had not quite expected your highness." He said, standing, then moving around his desk, where he had enough space to bow deeply. He was not a tall stallion, but he was powerfully built. He bore a cutie mark but it was oddly faint. Moonstruck did not chance staring at it long enough to figure out what it was.

"I was unaware that Queen Lucena had any living relatives aside from the prince, and her cousin."

"I have no idea who that is." Moonstruck batted her eyes and sniffed. "I am Duchess Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III of Bananalund."

It was a ridiculous name; it was the first thing that had popped into her head, and for reasons unknown, no one was questioning it. Granted, everypony here had some pretty weird names, but she was pretty sure this one was absurd everywhere. It was difficult to keep a straight face, but she was determined to see the joke to the very end.

Admiral Desmond hesitated for a moment. "I...see."

"It's a part of the United Equid Confederacy. South of Equestria? As you can likely surmise, our chief export is bananas." Moonstruck half closed her eyes.

"I am afraid I do not know what a banana is." The Admiral shifted his weight. "But... I do take it you are from outside Roanamia, then?"

"Yes." Moonstruck sighed heavily. "I have been trying to explain to your underlings that my caravan was thrown off course in a thunderstorm. I have no idea how we ended up here, but we have been wandering these blasted mountains for weeks! Possibly longer, for all I know. Things are so strange here! And nopony seems to have any clue what I'm talking about!"

"There is a shield around this country that cannot be penetrated." The admiral said slowly, carefully. "And the closer you get to the shield, the more distorted the landscape becomes. No one gets in, no one gets out."

"Well, that certainly explains a few things." Moonstruck huffed. She certainly hadn't noticed a shield in place, though it was possible that the ponies living here had been convinced there was. It was also possible that the spell that was throbbing through the crystal mines was the remains of a shield spell that had deteriorated and become corrupted over the eons.

"Yes. Though I don't see how you could have gotten past all that."

"Nor do I, but here we are." Moonstruck spread her wings wide for a moment, then folded them neatly at her flanks.

Admiral Desmond frowned deeply. "This will require a higher authority."

"I will require accommodations befitting myself and my staff." If Moonstruck was going to be stuck with some crazy unicorn slavers for a while, she was getting a decent meal and a hot bath out of it.

"Of course, your grace. I will have my staff prepare the VIP suite." He bowed his head. "Oh... by the way, did you encounter anyone while you were wandering the mountains? Any wild pegasai?"

Moonstruck looked him dead in the eye. "Not a soul."

---

As soon as the door to the moderately spacious VIP suite on the catchers airship shut, Moonstruck cast a quick spell to check for the standard array of eavesdropping devices both mechanical and arcane. Thankfully it was a very minor spell and it didn't cause much pain. She slumped as soon as she knew the room was clear. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna puke."

"So much for going unseen." Joseph rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but now we get VIP treatment. Glenda, you can have anything edible in my saddlebags."

"HOW IS THIS BETTER!?" Glenda yelped as Joseph lifted the bags off of her back and started rooting around in them. "HOW IS THIS ESCAPING!?"

"Easy, we're guests, not prisoners." Moonstruck sat down on a cushion. The first cushion her rump had met with in quite some time. It was a good cushion.

"We'll ditch these bozo's as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Even if they tell, no one will believe them. Besides, they're probably just taking us back to their base, and it's probably fairy remote. It's impractical to launch operations like this from the heart of the city."

Glenda worked her jaw around a little. "I am thinking that perhaps you are more cunning than you let on."

"Every now and then." Moonstruck grinned. "Seriously, eat. They should feed us, but you look like you're about ready to collapse."

Joseph pulled a baggie of dried greens out of the saddle bag, opened it, and offered it to Glenda, who did a double take.

"This is all the food you have? I-I can't -"

"It's a lot greener on the other side of the mountains." Moonstruck shook her head. "I've been eating well, all things considered. Have at it."

Glenda bit her lip, stared down at the proffered bag then slowly accepted it. She set it on the floor and gingerly pulled a few leaves out, eating pensively. Joseph stepped past her and began cautiously exploring the room. He moved very carefully, as if he'd never been in a building with furniture before. Moonstruck suspected he had not.

And neither had Glenda, she realized a moment later. She frowned as it occurred to her that if they were going to pull this off, she'd need to show Glenda the ins and outs of pretty much everything; indoor plumbing, doors, drawers, being a completely inconspicuous personal assistant – the whole nine yards. Actually, she should acquaint herself with the plumbing first, in case Roanamia used something weird. Plus, she was filthy, and as princess, she got first dibs on the shower.

"I'm gonna get cleaned up." She grunted as she reluctantly stood. "They'll expect us to be clean and presentable by the time we land, so you guys'll have to bathe too."

"Um... okay." Joseph furrowed his brow and scratched the back of his head as Glenda gave her a confused look.

Right, she'd have to show Joseph as well.

"I'll give you guys a crash course in a little while." Moonstruck chuckled. She ambled over to the first of three closed doors and pushed it open to find a small bedroom. The next was a much larger bedroom, the third was the bathroom. She glanced back at the others, about to mention that they were a bedroom short, then realized that Joseph would probably have a hard time fitting in the smaller bedroom with his long tail. He'd probably be more comfortable, and a more effective bodyguard on the sofa. Shaking her head; she stepped inside, flicked the lights on and shut the door behind her with a hind hoof.

It was compact, as she'd expected, but very efficient. The plumbing was nothing exotic, and there were fresh towels on all the racks, and some heady floral scented soaps scattered around on every available surface. There was no bath, but Moonstruck suspected the potential for disaster was greater in a ship such as this with a tub that might leak or overflow. She'd have time for a long soak later, she knew. She shuffled over to the glass walled shower, slid the door open, then cautiously turned on the faucet. The water sputtered out of the shower head in rusty bursts, which compelled Moonstruck to give it a minute or two to clear out the pipes. It was highly likely this suite wasn't used often.

She closed the shower door and stepped back to the mirror to take a look at the sorry state of her mane, then stared at her reflection for a few long moments. It might just be a trick of the light in here, but it appeared as though her periwinkle mane and tail were now bone white. She opened the door to let in more light from the main room and the windows. Her mane did not change color.

"Hey, Joseph?" She called, poking her head out.

"Yeah?"

"Since when is my mane white?"

He squinted at her. "Um. Wasn't it always white?"

She gave him a flat look. "It was periwinkle.

"Er..."

"Light purple." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, right right. Umm..." he shuffled awkwardly, "since after the crystal mines, then. I think."

"Why didn't you say anything!?" She barked, whirling to look at her reflection again.

"I thought you'd already noticed!" He yelped.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a mirror, and water always washes my mane out so I never pay that close attention to my reflection in water!" Moonstruck turned back to the dragon.

"Oh. Well. Now you know."

"It looks nice?" Glenda offered timidly.

"Thanks." Moonstruck sighed. "I don't hate it, I'd just like to be informed of these things."

Actually, she liked it, though she wasn't sure if it was a bad sign, or not. Magical overexertion could most certainly cause white hair, though she'd never heard of someone having their mane and tail completely bleached in one go. She closed the door again, then gave the water coming out of the shower head another inspection. It was now clear, and of an agreeable temperature. She stepped under the stream, slid the door shut, and watched the water at the bottom of the shower turn brown as all of the dust she'd accumulated since the last time she'd taken a bath ran down the drain. She hoped she didn't clog the plumbing.

Although she desperately wanted to linger for a while, as this was the first hot shower she'd had in some time, she kept it short, and chanced telekinesis to help speed up the shampooing process, and minimize the amount of awkward twisting she'd need to do to get everywhere. Her wings were especially tricky in such a small space, though they didn't exactly require soap, just some good splashing off and some grooming later. It seemed especially difficult to get them thoroughly wet; they seemed larger than she recalled. She couldn't open them fully without hitting the walls or ceiling. Yet, the shower was large enough to accommodate a good sized pegasus. Strange.

Once all the soap was rinsed out, she splashed off the thin layer of mud she'd left on the walls of the shower, then reluctantly shut the water off. She stood for a few moments with her eyes closed, listening to the water drain away through the maze of pipes beneath her hooves, the slow drip of the shower head, and the hum of the idling airship.

She startled herself awake, surprised that she'd fallen asleep. She shook her head, then shook off more vigorously to start the drying process. Once she was sure she wouldn't drip on the floor too badly, she slid the shower door open and stepped out onto the bath mat, where she cast her drying spell. The magic didn't cause much discomfort, though it seemed to take more effort to cast. Now dry, and smelling strongly of lavender, she heaved a sigh and opened the bathroom door.

"Next."

Joseph and Glenda stared wide eyed at her, then exchanged glances.

Moonstruck slumped against the door frame. "I'm serious; they'll expect us to be clean and presentable when we get to wherever we're going."

More wide eyed staring.

"Fine. Joseph, get in here. You have scales, and scales don't need as much water."

He grumbled, then reluctantly hoisted himself off the sofa. Moonstruck showed him how all of the plumbing worked, wished him luck with fitting in the shower, then shuffled out, closing the door behind her. Glenda watched her curiously as she fished a pair of brushes out of her saddlebags and began brushing down her dark gray coat. She'd groom her wings next, then eventually tackle her mane and tail.

It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, but nor was it comfortable. Moonstruck wasn't used to such scrutiny from near total strangers while she did mundane tasks. The silence was broken as she realized that more than just her mane, and possibly wings had changed.

"Huh, look at that."

She lifted a fore hoof to show Glenda, who raised an eyebrow.

"Your... hoof?"

"Yes, well, the flags." Moonstruck rotated it as much as she could to take a look at the longer fur growing around her hooves. "I was wondering if I'd end up with some feathering – I tend to take after my dads side of the family, and they're mostly draft-types."

"Draft?" Glenda scowled.

"Er... more of a stocky, powerful build. Sometimes with feathering like this." She waved her hoof. "Usually you see draft type Earth ponies, but that side of the family is mostly unicorns. Kind of unusual." She set her hoof down and brushed out the flags, then moved on to her other hoof.

"So you are half unicorn." Glenda said pensively. "I did not know the offspring of a unicorn and a pegasus produced an alicorn."

"They don't, usually. My moms an alicorn." Moonstruck muttered as she carefully extracted a burr that had embedded itself deep in the flags of her right front hoof. "I'm Moonstruck, by the way."

"I am Glenda." She said hesitantly. "But you already know that."

There was a soft knock on the door. Moonstruck let the brush fall to the floor and hauled herself to her hooves. As she ambled to the ornately carved wooden door, it occurred to her that Glenda should really be answering the door. Now was one of those times that she wished Windwake was here; she hated to admit it, but his staunch professionalism and adherence to decorum would be useful right about now. Shrugging, Moonstruck magicked the door open herself as she adopted an annoyed look, looming over the small unicorn in the hallway.

"Yes?"

"Y-your m-meal, Y-your Grace." The unicorn bowed deeply and stepped aside to reveal a cart loaded down with a small feast. Moonstruck was mildly surprised they had that much to eat on board.

"I am also honored to inform Your Grace that we will be underway very shortly."

"Good." Moonstruck inclined her head slightly as she stepped aside to allow the unicorn to timidly push the cart into the suite.

"If the Admiral does not have any need of me, I would prefer not to be disturbed for the rest of the day, if at all possible."

"O-of course, Your Grace. There is an alcove up the hallway where one of your staff may leave the cart for collection." Said the unicorn, stopping the cart in the center of the room, then backing away, eyes downcast. He never even looked up at Glenda, whom was seated awkwardly on the floor near the sofa, nor Joseph whom had just stepped out of the bathroom with a towel on his head.

"There is also a button by the door, press and hold it if you need anything."

"Thank you." Moonstruck dipped her head regally, then closed the door behind the retreating unicorn. Once his hoof-steps faded down the corridor, she slumped and ambled back into the room.

"Wow, what a haul." Joseph grunted, peeking out from under the towel.

"Yeah. Think they slipped something into any of it?" Moonstruck asked, lifting a lid to see what was hiding underneath. Steamed carrots with some kinda greens and a honey glaze. She vaguely recalled a spell that checked for poison, but she was disinclined to attempt it in its semi-remembered state. Especially when a certain dragon whom was currently dripping all over the floor could do the same thing.

"Hold still."

"Eh?" Joseph gave her a funny look as he slid the towel back to rest on his shoulders. He yelped as Moonstruck cast her drying spell on him, then shook out his wings as the hot air fizzled out. "The heck was that?"

"Drying spell. Very important when you have a curly mane and tail and live in a drizzly country." Moonstruck smirked. "Anyway, can you tell if anything smells off?"

"Of course!" He snorted. He sniffed over the cart in general, then began lifting lids to take inventory of what was underneath, pausing every now and then whenever something piqued his curiosity. "Seems okay. Not any meat though."

"You can hunt later." Moonstruck rolled her eyes.

"I was more worried about her." He pointed at Glenda, who was staring at the food laden cart in shock.

"You alright with just plants for a while?" Moonstruck asked.

"I... uh... yes." Glenda shook herself.

"Good. Lets eat. I can show you the wonders of indoor plumbing after."

---

The rest of the day went by surprisingly quickly. Teaching Glenda about the marvels of indoor plumbing was a minor fiasco that thankfully did not result in a flood, or anything broken. Personal grooming took a bit of time, as did coming up with a comprehensive, unified story for their presence out in the mountains. They moved on to etiquette as the sun began to set. It boggled Moonstrucks mind to be teaching others how to conduct themselves around royalty, when generally she was pretty bad at it herself. She supposed not being found out and consequentially executed (or worse) was a pretty good motivator. If her sister had been here she probably would have died from shock.

They staggered off to bed once it was fully dark, too tired to continue. Moonstruck blearily showed Glenda how beds worked as Joseph stretched out on the sofa, which was actually too small for him, though he didn't seem to mind. He could always switch to the floor if being draped over the furniture was too uncomfortable. Moonstruck tossed a spare blanket at him, then shuffled into her room. She drew the curtains shut with magic, flopped on the bed, closed her eyes and fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The others were not so lucky. Although Moonstruck had shown him earlier, Joseph had a little trouble turning the lights off in the main room. He eventually figured it out, and thankfully he only broke one small portion of a pull chain that no one would notice. As the room settled into darkness, he closed his eyes and listened to all of the unfamiliar night noises that came from sleeping indoors. He'd slept in abandoned houses before, but never occupied ones. They had a different sort of nocturnal symphony, and this one was especially alien to him, seeing as how it was a great flying machine. His hearing wasn't as good as Moonstrucks, but he could hear the engines clearly, as well as the clicks and whirs of various other devices busy at whatever tasks they had been built for. Too there was the sound of ponies moving around in hallways all around, and perhaps in other rooms like this one. With the strange artificial lights, ponies could stay up well past dark, and judging by the amount of activity buzzing around them, they may well be at it for a while.

The sofa was not uncomfortable but he was limited in how he could lie on it, considering it was meant to accommodate the anatomy of a small pony, and not something with a long tail, and large wings. After a few minutes of contorting in various ways, he gave up and slid down to the floor. He wasn't sure why he'd tried the couch at all, since he typically slept on the ground anyway. He pulled the blanket down with him; it was surprisingly chilly.

Joseph heaved a sigh and closed his eyes again, letting the thrum of the engines lull him into a light doze. He suspected he would not sleep much tonight.

Glenda was in a similar state, though she was standing awkwardly in the middle of her small room. The only building she had ever been in was the castle, and it was crumbling so badly that the only stable part of the place was down in the cave room – which is where the clan resided, for the most part. She'd explored the rest of the castle in her youth, but it hadn't been anything like this wood and metal monstrosity. It was merely stone upon stone, any finery long since removed, or decayed away. It seemed to be more an extension of the mountain, than something a pony had built.

She had been trying for hours to wrap her brain around how the day had turned so bizarre so quickly. This morning she had wondered if the others would find enough food to go around so that she could eat, and perhaps live a few more days. This morning she had been reminded as she had been for every morning since the rains stopped that she was the oldest living member of the clan, and the very last of the elders to cling to life. This morning she had known with certainty that she would not live to see the moon wax full once more.

Then the strangers arrived. She hadn't even considered that the newcomers would bring about even the smallest change, and even if she had, she would not have factored herself into the new world. That was why she had sat down, and waited for the catchers to come. They would not have bothered with her; they only wanted young, strong pegasai. It was possible that they would have been merciful and put her out of her misery.

But now, here she stood, simultaneously a prisoner and a free mare with a full belly, a soft bed waiting for her, and the knowledge that her granddaughter was alive, and being cared for beyond the borders of this wretched country. She couldn't shake the possibility that Moonstruck was lying to her; playing some cruel joke, but she also felt that the alicorn was being honest. It was vexing, being of two minds about things. Glenda sighed heavily and hung her head, listening to the strange noises the airship made, and absently sniffing the floor, which had a plush covering that Moonstruck had called carpet. It smelled of dust, mostly, and of metal, and steam, and grease. None of it particularly strong.

She glanced behind her as the light went out in the main room. It was very dark on the airship, her room had no window, so she could not use moonlight to see. Deciding that she may as well attempt to sleep, she cautiously stepped over to the plush bed, then carefully climbed under the blankets. She'd never had a blanket before, nor a bed so soft. The closest thing she'd come to this had been when she would snooze in the warm sand by one of her favorite creeks (back when the creeks had water). Sand was softer than other things, but it still didn't give quite like this. Moonstruck had said it would be good for her joints. Glenda was skeptical, but she was willing to give it a try.

---

Moonstruck lifted her head as she heard a firm knock at the door to their suite. She blinked blearily and stared beyond her partially open bedroom door to the small piece of the sofa she could see, willing Joseph to get up and answer the door. It was still mostly dark in the suite with the curtains drawn, but daylight was seeping past them enough to allow her to see fairly clearly, and inform her that it was after dawn, at least. There was another knock at the door. Something just beyond the sofa twitched, followed by the grumbles of a sleepy dragon.

Moonstruck relaxed slightly as she heard the dragon drag himself to his feet, then shuffle over to the door. The door opened with a faint creak, and there was a soft, short conversation. The door shut. A few seconds later Joseph poked his head into her room.

"They say we'll be arriving soon."

"Thought so. What time is it?" Moonstruck yawned and slid out of bed.

"I dunno."

"Wow, this thing must move slow." Moonstruck muttered. It couldn't take that long to get down to wherever their base was, did it? She sidled over to a window and opened the curtains. Bright sunlight assaulted her optic nerves forcing her to squint and look away; when her eyes adjusted, she found herself fully awake, and on the verge of panic.

They weren't approaching some remote base lower down in the foothills, they were sailing swiftly over a vast, dingy metropolis wreathed in steam and smoke, and towards a great, twisted tower that loomed out of the heart of the city. Moonstruck let out a choice curse, then scrambled out into the suite.

"This is bad! This is so bad!" Joseph yelped, bounding after her.

"I know!" Moonstruck gritted her teeth and pushed Glenda's door open. The pegasus was curled up on the floor, partially under the bed. "Glenda! Gotta get moving!"

"Wha-what're we gonna do? Can you talk your way out of this? Did you mean to take them to their supreme leader, when you demanded to talk to someone in charge yesterday!?"

"I don't know yet and – no! I expected to be tossed into the bureaucracy!" Moonstruck snapped. "Corrupt governments always have an absurd bureaucracy to get lost in!"

"What's going on?" Glenda asked, looking back and forth between the two as they scurried around in a panic.

"You always wanted to see Bridle-Dur, right?" Moonstruck asked as she opened all the curtains.

Glenda yelped and ran out into the main room, then she backed herself against a wall. "No... no, no, no, this is no good!"

"Joseph already sent me that memo." Moonstruck stopped in the center of the room, closed her eyes, and gritted her teeth. She had to think. There had to be a way to keep them all alive, and mostly well. She felt better after a good nights sleep, so she could probably do some more advanced spells today; if push came to shove, they could just make a break for it. They probably wouldn't get very far, but it was worth a shot.

"Mooney!?"

"I'm thinkin'! I'm thinkin'!" She snapped, glaring at the panicking dragon. "You wanna trade? I be the muscle, you be the brains?"

Joseph growled irately. "I don't know anything about pony politics! You're the expert here – and you got us into this mess! Argh! I knew I shoulda just bolted after I showed you the way in!"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes. She did get them into this. It was still a pretty good plan, she just hadn't anticipated being taken straight to the capitol to meet with the queen. She really should have factored that in.

"Alright, we're gonna stick to the plan." She said firmly, magicking her brush over to her to try to loosen up a few curls. "It's still a viable plan, we just have to stretch it out for a while. If I can convince Lucena that I am too dumb and/or incompetent to pose a threat, but too interesting to just have executed, we might be able to survive long enough to figure out how to escape."

Joseph let out along groan.

"If you have any better ideas, feel free to speak up." She said sweetly as she glared daggers at him.

"I don't." He grumbled.

"What about me? She must recognize where I'm from!" Glenda whimpered, crouching slightly.

Moonstruck turned to look the pegasus up and down. That strange thrill that had gone coursing through her body in the crystal mines was back, seeping its way into her bones as a wild realization reared its head.

"She doesn't know that pegasai outside Roanamia don't look like you."

Glenda blinked a few times and straightened up out of her crouch.

Moonstrucks heart beat faster as she continued brushing her mane. "That's right... Lucena is as out of the loop as anypony else. She has no idea what's been going on out in the rest of the world for the past thousand years."

"She's also completely off her rocker." Joseph remarked dryly.

"I can work with that." Moonstruck said vaguely. She resisted the urge to let out a manic giggle and shook her head. "Right. We need to get ready. C'mere Glenda, lemme do something with your mane and tail. Joseph, pack the saddlebags, but leave my little velvet pouch out."

Twenty minutes later, they were being led down to the loading bay, where they were met by Admiral Desmond. Moonstruck had managed to tame her curls somewhat and looked fairly presentable all things considered; and Glenda looked appropriately demure with a neatly braided tail, and a few small braids in her mane. Joseph didn't have to do much of anything, since he tended to keep himself impeccably groomed anyway. He was lucky like that.

The admiral bowed deeply as they approached. Moosntruck dipped her head respectively, and allowed him to lead her down the ramp; Joseph slightly behind and to the right of her, and Glenda a tad further behind and to the left. Moonstruck wished that she had a spare cloak so that both she, and Glenda could wear one. They'd opted to drape the travel cloak over Glenda to gloss over how emaciated she was, and giver her a hood to hide in if things got to be too much. Plus, the saddlebags hiding underneath the cloak beefed up her silhouette a tad. Moonstruck didn't want anyone suspecting that Glenda was too weak to fly at the moment.

Her mind buzzed with possibilities as they were formally introduced to the captain of the guard, whom was a tall, lean, stoic, bluish gray unicorn stallion called Falcon. They were then informed that the queen would see them immediately. Their entourage grew as a dozen guards armed with cruel looking halberds fell into step around them. Admiral Desmond remained in the lead, though he was joined by the captain of the guard.

No one spoke while they made their way up to the audience chamber, which gave Moonstruck the freedom to take inventory. The guards wore armor, so she had no idea if they had cutie marks or not – likely not. Captain Falcon seemed to have a faded, vague cutie mark not unlike Admiral Desmond, and she could not even begin to identify what it was, even though he was walking only a short distance ahead of her. The faded marks reminded her of an ink drawing that had been placed in water; the design blurred and lifting off the paper. She did not remember reading anything about Roanamian ponies having strange cutie marks.

The tower seemed lightly staffed with guards stationed every hundred yards or so, and she did not see any domestic staff running around, though it was entirely possible that they had been cleared off their route for security reasons. The carpet they walked on was downright ancient, she was surprised that it wasn't unraveling beneath their hooves. The ceilings were extremely high; a good forty or fifty feet overhead, and pointed at their peaks in flying gothic arches. This particular hallway had no windows, but a corridor they turned down did; tall windows to their left with stained glass that reminded her of the elegant galleries of Canterlot Castle, though these windows depicted no fables, nor feats of heroes. It was the same design in every window; a mottled red field upon which rested a great green eye with a slitted pupil. The red light shining across the red carpet gave the whole place a sinister, bloody glow. At the end of the hallway there were a pair of massive double doors, carved with the same eye motif, though they had not painted the doors, merely stained them very dark.

A slim, pink, unicorn mare in a black uniform stood in front of the doors, watching them approach with sharp, half lidded eyes. She had no cutie mark, as near as Moonstruck could tell. When they were a few paces away, she stepped forward to briefly speak with the stallions, threw a glance at Moonstruck, then spun and marched up to the doors. She used telekenisis to open them both wide, then stepped into the chamber beyond.

"I present Her Grace, Duchess Angelina Francesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III, of Bananalund." She announced, her voice silencing the crowd, and resonating clearly across the audience chamber. She stepped aside and bowed deeply.

Moonstruck half closed her eyes, stuck her snout in the air, and marched smoothly after the stallions, careful not to do more than glance at the crowd gathered in the audience chamber. It seemed that the royal court was in session, and the hall was filled with nobility from across Roanamia. All of them were unicorns, and only a small number of them had cutie marks. She noted that only the older ponies seemed to have them; the younger members of the court had blank flanks.

The gallery was lined with tall, narrow, red stained glass windows alternating with tapestries depicting the various family crests of the court. Above each tapestry was a blood red crystal that emitted a deep crimson light. Overhead was a skylight; thankfully it was neither stained glass, nor red; though judging by the shadow the support beams left across the floor, it was a complex spiderweb of steel and glass which had a very foreboding effect. Nopony wanted to be caught in this web.

She focused forward, to where the queen was waiting on her throne in a tall alcove of twinning roses carved from red crystal. Above the alcove was an eye with a slitted pupil carved from a truly massive emerald. Lucena herself was in a surprisingly undignified position for a queen holding court; lounging as she was on her exquisitely carved wooden throne. The reason for the strange pose became clear as they grew closer. Queen Lucena had... altered herself.

Moonstruck very nearly stumbled as she realized that the queen had somehow stolen, or perhaps adapted the body of a minotaur; she walked on two legs, not four, and had hands instead of front hooves. Her black wings were arched over her back in what had to be an uncomfortable position to hold for any length of time. She wore a gossamer dress over her blood red coat and lean frame, and her black mane and tail were streaked with gray. Her large yellow eyes were surrounded by fine lines. It was jarring to see an aged alicorn; Lucena was around Celestias age, yet Celestia still appeared to be in her prime.

"Well, well, what have we here?" The queen said, as they approached. Admiral Desmond and Captain Falcon bowed deeply and moved aside as the party came to a halt in front of the dais upon which the throne rested.

"A little lost alicorn from afar? And a mere duchess? Things must truly be strange out in the world."

"Greetings, Your Majesty, and well met." Moonstruck dipped smoothly into a low, wide winged bow, hoping Joseph and Glenda were following her lead.

"Rise. And tell me what house you belong to. I am afraid I am unfamiliar with Bananalund nor... "

"The Bananafana Fo'Fescas." Moonstruck supplied as she straightened up. "It's a relatively new house, less than three hundred years old. It's the joining of a minor branch of House Drui and House Loma."

Moonstruck was pretty sure House Drui and House Loma were dead houses, since no alicorns of those lineages lived, and the bloodlines that lived on in common ponies hadn't produced a pony of note in some time, but Lucena didn't know that.

"Mmm... agriculture lines. Of course." Lucena nodded. "How is it you are but a duchess? Are there truly enough alicorns to have superfluous relatives whom hold no queendoms of their own?"

Moonstruck sighed heavily. "Yes. I am but a cousin to the clan heir, and a second daughter at that. I have a modest holding, though I act as minister of trade for the country and clan."

"I see, I see." Lucena leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "They figured out how to get the magic to breed true, did they?"

"Yes, though I don't know it." Moonstruck huffed. "They never tell us younger alicorns anything. At least not until they've decided we're ready."

Lucena cackled and leaned back in her seat, steepling her fingers in front of her chest, and twisting so that one flank was visible in the slit of her long dress. Unlike everypony else, her cutie mark was distinct and clear; a green eye with a slitted pupil.

"Yes, they are quite secretive, aren't they?" She narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, how did you come to this country? How did you get past the shield, and over the mountains?"

"I have no idea. The last thing I knew I was in my carriage with my caravan; we were on a tour of Equestria and the Northern Lands, heading to the Eastern Nations and had just left Timberwhisp, which is on the northeast corner of Griffon territory. A freak thunderstorm caught us by surprise, and my caravan was struck by lightening – most everyone died." She gestured with one wing to Joseph and Glenda.

"Only myself, my bodyguard and my maid survived. Most of our goods were destroyed in the crash. All I can say for certain was that the storm blew us far off course. We've been wandering the mountains ever since."

"So, Equestria still stands? Is it still powerful?" Lucena lifted a manicured brow shrewdly. If the idea of a violent thunderstorm somehow allowing two ponies and a small dragon to breach her shield seemed impossible to her, she didn't show it.

"Yes, of course. It never fell." Moonstruck blinked cluelessly, unsure how she should respond to that and deciding that genuine confusion was the best course of action.

"What of Princess Luna?"

"She and her sister had a bit of a falling out a while back, and she was banished to the moon." Moonstrucks mind whirled. Her gut was telling her that Lucena would not be happy to hear that both Luna and Celestia were alive and well.

Lucena let loose a wide grin. "And Celestia?"

"She's still around, though the fight with her sister left her considerably weakened. The other houses decided to remove her from power. She simply manages the sun and moon now."

"Fascinating. And she finds this arrangement agreeable?"

"Likely not, though she doesn't have much say in the matter. If she doesn't do her job, everypony dies, and she can't stomach that, even if she hates going on as she is." Moonstruck waved a hoof flippantly as Lucena erupted into raucous laughter.

"Oh ho ho, that is far better than I had hoped would happen!" She clapped her hands together, then sat up straighter. "You have a cutie mark, but you are powerful, I assume. What of the lesser ponies?"

That was not a question Moonstruck was anticipating. It seemed that Lucena knew why so few ponies had cutie marks, but without this knowledge, Moonstruck could not think of any reason why ponies outside of Roanamia wouldn't, and she didn't have time to hesitate.

"Most ponies have them."

"Hmph." Lucena rubbed her chin with one hand. "That must make things more difficult."

"Make what more difficult?"

"Keeping everyone in line, of course."

How Moonstruck wished she could just ask about the cutie marks! She sensed that she wasn't in a position to ask prying questions at the moment; only answer them. And her answers had to be interesting enough to keep the queen engaged. She shifted her weight and rolled her eyes, trying to think of the laziest, most diabolical way to oppress ponies – preferably without them knowing it.

"Not really. It just takes so much effort to keep everypony in line through force, so we let them think they're following their destinies or whatever." Moonstruck said, allowing herself to drawl a tad. "It's basically a carrot on a stick. They toil away at their little projects, make money and goods, pay taxes, but never really get anywhere. Some of them even spend thousands and thousands of bits and gems on higher and higher education in an effort to attain better employment, but mostly they just end up in massive amounts of debt that they have to work off doing menial jobs because there simply isn't that much demand for such highly educated ponies. Meanwhile, we alicorns sit back and watch our wealth grow, since we own most of the biggest corporations, and run the governments."

Lucena tilted her head back and stared at her for a disturbingly long time. Moonstruck was convinced she was about to order their execution, when the elder alicorn cracked another wide, disturbing grin.

"I like it. I prefer a more proactive approach, but I like it." Lucena chuckled. She turned her gaze to Joseph. "And what of your draconic bodyguard? Are dragons now under pony control?"

Moonstruck silently showered praises on Joseph for keeping his head bowed, eyes downcast and hands clasped in front of him – she knew this must be driving him up the wall.

"Swiftclaw? Oh, he's not a dragon, he's a draeglach – a sort of chimera. True dragons are too difficult to control, so somepony a while back figured out how to make something more manageable."

"Hmmm, fascinating." Lucena said, flicking her eyes over the silent dragon.

Don't try to control him, don't try to control him, don't try to control him... Moonstruck chanted silently to herself. She had a weird inkling that Lucena couldn't control Joseph, but either way, trying to control him would be bad. If she could, it blew Moonstruck's pet theory out of the water, and forced some massive changes to their plan; if she couldn't, she wasn't sure how the queen would react. She might simply buy Moonstrucks explanation and move on, or she might take offense – or worse.

Lucena seemed content to merely look, and turned her gaze back to Moonstruck. She smirked.

"Forgetting our manners?"

"Your Majesty?"

"It is rude for an alicorn to appear in such a -" her lip curled up into a sneer "-bestial state before a higher ranking alicorn, though I can forgive your nudity, all things considered." She leaned back in her throne and crossed her legs, drumming her fingers on the arm of the chair.

Moonstruck was about to explain that most of her personal effects had been either destroyed or abandoned, when she realized what the queen meant. She expected her to be able to transform into some sort of weird pony/minotaur thing. Moonstruck laughed nervously, mind racing to find an explanation.

"Oh! Of course! Forgive me, your majesty. I have been out in nature for so long, and intent on preserving my energy that I simply had not thought of it." She chuckled, and bowed. Moonstruck did not know a single transformation spell, so an illusion would have to do. She hoped that it would be enough.

She fanned her wings over her head, closed her eyes, and did her best to mimic Lucenas strange transformation, picturing herself as a similar creature. She also added a bit of smoke and sparkles for the effect. When the spell finished, she slowly stood, pushing herself up on her hind legs as she did so, just in case the illusion wasn't quite as complete as it should be. It was a good thing she'd been observing Joseph all this time, otherwise she'd have no idea what to do with hands. She hoped she could maintain this as long as she needed. Walking around on her hind legs would probably be the most difficult part, but she couldn't afford to have her physical body mismatched to the illusion at the moment, even if it was invisible. Hopefully she would have the chance to come up with something better later.

"I'm afraid my wardrobe is lost somewhere." Moonstruck said, running an illusory hand through her illusory mane to shake it out a little. "So this will have to do for the time being."

Lucena nodded once, content, it seemed. Then she lifted her gaze beyond the trio to the double doors at the end of the hall, that were in the process of swinging open.

"I do hate when he does this..." she muttered just loudly enough for Moonstruck to hear.

Moonstruck half turned to take a look at the semi-unannounced guest.

"I present Prince Maximus Dragonwing of House Rosegard." The pink pony announced from the center of the aisle just in front of the doors. She bowed, and moved aside, allowing a tall figure to stride into the room.

The prince was one of the largest ponies Moonstruck had ever seen - even for an alicorn; which he was - in a very general sense. She found herself drifting aside as he moved closer. He seemed to have a mix of both pony and dragon features. He had blood red fur, like the queen, but he also had glossy white scales over much of his back and shoulders. He had a black mane that was more leonine than equine, and a long, fleshy tail with silky looking black flags. His large black wings were like a dragons, with leathery membrane stretched between spindly fingers, and his horn twisted in a rough, almost scaly spiral. The green eye with slitted pupil motif was carried over here as well. Those eyes may well have been his eyes. He did not appear to have a cutie mark, which was surprising, though it could simply indicate that he was young, perhaps around her age. Ponies here didn't seem to get their marks until later in life – if at all.

The prince stopped before the dais, swept into a bow, then stood again on his hind legs, now in the same strange guise as Lucena, albeit taller, bulkier, and more menacing. "Mother."

"Your manners are atrocious, my son." Lucena said, inspecting one hand lazily. "We have a guest from afar. Perhaps you should greet her properly."

Maximus threw them a brief glance. "I see that. I also know that you instructed me to report to you as soon as I returned."

"I suppose you are punctual, at the very least." Lucena muttered. "Very well, what news have you? And make it quick, you're embarrassing me in front of the duchess."

He narrowed his eyes. "Lord Vertram refuses to stand down. The shield spell holds sound, and he insists that he will only negotiate with you, and you alone. He is threatening to cull half of his work force if his demands are not met."

"You flew all the way back here just to tell me that?" The queen sighed. "You could have sent a message and saved me the trouble." She turned to Moonstruck. "Don't you just hate it when unicorns let their pathetic power go to their heads?"

Moonstruck rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yes, it's such a chore putting them in their place."

"Oh, I enjoy that part, I just find it absurd that they think they can challenge me at all. And really, it's been ages since I've had a proper challenger. These lot are vexingly pathetic." Lucena cast a sour look at her son.

"Almost as vexing as when young stallions don't obey their mothers. Greet our guest, Maximus."

He let out a sigh akin to a growl, spun elegantly, then dropped into a low bow. "Prince Maximus, at your service, milady."

"Duchess Angelina Franesca Bananafana Fo'Fesca III of Bananalund." Moonstruck said, bowing in return, and nearly falling over. Luckily she was able to complete the motion into a sort of curtsy.

The prince straightened up, then turned back to his mother. "Now, the matter of Lord Vertram..."

"Yes, yes, I suppose I can have a word with him." Lucena lifted herself out of her chair slowly. "He most likely is just doing this all for the attention, such a needy thing." She snapped her fingers, and a dark green unicorn mare wearing a smart black uniform stepped out from behind the throne.

"Prepare a guest suite for the Duchess and her staff." She said. "Tonight we feast in honor of our improbable visitor. Perhaps the Duchess shall demonstrate her abilities for our entertainment, since I assume it has something to do with card tricks."

Moonstruck smiled and bowed as the queen stood fully, relief sweeping over her. For the time being, they were in the clear.

"It would be my honor and pleasure, Your Majesty!"