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The Tragedy of Queen Chrysalis

by Mario Hyrulia

Chapters

Prologue: Before the Show

Just outside the Canterlot Grand Theatre, everypony is bustling underneath the night sky. Pegasi, unicorns, and Earth Ponies are all gathered in front of the massive building with tickets in hoof, anxiously waiting for the doors to open. Among the large mass of ponies, stand seven friends huddled up as best they can so as to not bump into the others.

One of the friends, a cyan coloured pony with a rainbow mane and tail, cries out, “This is ridiculous! What’s so important about some boring play?”

“Rainbow Dash,” another friend snaps, agitated by the rude nature of her friend, “this play is an adaptation of one of the oldest folk stories from across the seas. Some of the top performers, musicians, playwrights, and directors have been preparing for this moment in ages, one of them being a supposed descendant of a character in the story.”

“Twilight, I know that, I read the synopsis ten times while waiting here. I still don’t get how anypony would find other ponies roleplaying as thrilling.”

Another friend, a white mare in a red silk dress, replies, “You clearly have no respect for the arts Rainbow.”

“I do Rarity.” Rarity raises her eyebrow in disbelief, being reasonably skeptical of her claims.

“You do?”

“Well, certain arts…”

“Will you girls quit quarreling about back there?” the fourth friend barks at the head of the group, staring at the rotating doors in front of her between the broad shoulders of the big-wig ponies in front of her. “You’re all lucky that Princess Celestia gave us these tickets to join Twilight for this, considering the last time we were invited to a big ol’ fancy shmancy get-together. We wouldn’t have gotten caught in this waiting crowd if yous weren’t all late.”

“The doors are going to open soon Applejack!” a pink mare cheers and screams into the orange pony’s ear in front of her, “I can feel it!” The mare rubs her now deafened ear with her hoof before turning towards the hyped pony.

“Pinkie Pie, we still have another minute or two. And tone down your excitement when we get in. Plays are supposed to be quiet.”

“Oops… sorry,”

As the others continue to argue, the sixth and seventh friends of the group, a yellow pegasus and a purple baby dragon, are examining the brochure given to them by their Princess Celestia, giving great details on the play’s synopsis, background, the cast, and little hints of trivia. A puzzled look becomes imprinted on the dragons face as his looks at the front page showing the title in a fancy golden text.

“’The Tragedy of Queen Chrysalis’…” he mumbles to himself. The mare next to him softly asks in response to the mumble,

“Is there a problem Spike?”

“I don’t know. Why is there a super famous play based off of one of our biggest enemies? Wouldn’t ponies dislike something portraying a villain in such a sympathetic way?”

“From what I can tell, Queen Chrysalis wasn’t always a villain. She was made into what we know as her through a series of events.”

“Hey Fluttershy,”

“Yes?”

“What are your thoughts on Chrysalis?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I just want to see if anypony else thinks that this play we’re going to see is kinda weird, like it’s praising a villain or something.”

“Well, she is a bully, I can’t look over that, but I am willing to see what she was like before she was mean.”

“I see…” Spike then looks over to the other five friends, still talking with each other. He raises a claw and slowly taps Rainbow Dash on the shoulder.

“What?” She replies with a subtle hint of her aggravation still in her voice.

“What are your thoughts on Queen Chrysalis, since we’re seeing a play about her… tragedy?”

“Me? I think she’s just another cliché villain we come across time to time. Nothing more, nothing less,”

“A pony like you would think so narrowly of others,” Applejack barks.

“You’re defending Queen Chrysalis?”

“No I’m not, she’s still a villain. But she’s still a pony like everypony else.”

“Like everypony else?”

“A bizarre one, but a pony nonetheless,”

“Oh, I have something to say!” Pinkie Pie calls out from the opposite side of the group, “I think she was once an everyday pony, but then the government took her because she had a special blood type in her and they needed it for a super soldier army, so they launched her to a space colony for the blood to be extracted, only for it to turn out that a large alien had taken over the space colony, so she then launched herself back towards our planet and was mutated by the space radiation, turning her into Queen Chrysalis!” Upon finishing her ramble, the others look at her with total confusion.

“I completely lost you after ‘the’.”

“Oh, then allow me to restart-”

“No need for that Pinkie Pie darling!” Rarity quickly interrupts, fearing that her brain will melt if she were to listen to Pinkie’s lecture again. “As for me, I wouldn’t really focus much on Chrysalis all that much. I’d much rather see the culture and the arts portrayed in the show. It’s not like her past will cause any changes to what we see as Chrysalis now.”

“Hey Twilight, what about you?”

“Me?” the purple alicorn stammers. She knew that she and her friends would be seated in a reserved row right next to the royal box where Celestia and the other princesses. So when the play was over, Twilight and her friends could simply walk to the princesses and talk to them in a matter of seconds. If Twilight were to say anything crass or vulgar to her friends now, they could accidently tell the princesses and ruin Twilight’s polite reputation. “I’m… neutral to say the least.”

“Okay…” Spike replies with a confused look on his face, trying to see what Twilight was truly thinking.

“Oh look, the ribbon’s about to be cut!” The friends and everypony else immediately turn their attention off of their peers and towards the front of the theatre, where a long red ribbon is stretched across the doors. A royal guard, dressed in his golden armour, walks out of the building with a pair of scissors in his levitation and pries them open over the ribbon. The ponies silently watch as the blades slowly join together and cut the fine cloth.

When the silver scissors finally slice the ribbon in two, the pieces of silk quickly drift onto the sidewalk. Everypony then immediately crowds the revolving doors to enter, with the volume of the commotion spiking to triple from what it was before when they were waiting. Amazingly however, despite the chaos outside the large building, the seven friends manage to reach the doors and enter the main foyer. Inside, magnificent portraits of royalty, landscapes, and mythological creatures are hung against the velvet and gold walls. A massive gold and crystal chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling with its hundreds of candles illuminating the entire room.

The friends try to see as much artwork as they can before being shoved into turning in their tickets at the front desk, going upstairs to the balcony overviewing the entire room, and exiting from the foyer by various guards and patrons. The seven then quickly walk through a maze of different chambers and hallways before finally reaching the main amphitheater with an entire wave of motley coloured ponies behind them. They snap their heads to the side and locate their seats in the middle of the room, right next to a wall obscuring their view of the royal box that hides behind it.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike sidle down the row and to the red plush chairs that awaited them. Upon sitting down, each give a sigh of relief and close their eyes, now that the chaos had finally ended.

“Ah, that was too much…” Spike groans.

“I know, but at least we’re one of the first here. So quiet now after hearing nothing but shouting for an hour,” Twilight opens her eyelids slightly, only to then pry wide open as now she can get a good look at the enormous chamber before her. “Whoa…”

Twilight’s eyes beam as they examine every fine detail of the room. The walls were covered with the same fabric she saw in the foyer; with mini-chandeliers hung alone the walls providing a soft light that filled the theatre. The curved ceiling several stories above Twilight’s head was a massive painting of the night sky that stretched to every corner of the ceiling. “It’s a fresco…”

“A what?” Rainbow Dash asks, peeking one eye open at Twilight and seeing her upward gaze.

“On the ceiling Dash, a gigantic watercolor painting on plaster, showing the night sky. It’s so accurate as well. How did the ponies hundreds of years ago even make this?” Dash’s eyes open fully as she cocks her head up to see what her friend was praising, only to drop her jaw upon seeing it.

“That’s so cool...” As the blue pegasus continued to gaze at the art, Twilight snaps her attention off of the paining and continues to examine the rest of the area, noticing the rows of once bare seats rapidly filling up with ponies.

“Enjoying the view?” A familiar voice whispers from behind Twilight’s head. She swiftly turns her seated body around to see who was talking. It was the white alicorn of the sun herself, Princess Celestia. Her fur, mane, and tail were finely groomed and her golden shoes, crown, and chestplate, all recently polished.

“Yes Princess, it’s beautiful. Sorry I was a bit late, my friends and I were a little late to enter early.”

“It’s okay, as long as you made it. Want to join me in my booth, or do you want to be here with your friends?”

“I’ll stay here.”

“I see, but if you need me, you’ll know where to find me.” The large mare then turns towards the large golden wall. Her horn glows a golden hue as the wall slides into the building, revealing the royal booth with Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and Shining Armour sitting at its gigantic jeweled thrones of seats. Celestia walks into the booth and closes the wall behind her like it was before.

“Oh wait, I forgot to ask her what it was like when this place was being built!”

“Attention,” a stallion’s deep voice booms from the entrance where the girls came from, “the show will begin in one minute, silence your horns, tuck your wings, and take care of any private matters at this moment.” As soon as he had finished, the voices of other staff members echo from the many other doorways scattered around the seating area. One by one, the candles from each of the wall chandeliers dies down as the entire room gets progressively darker. The voices of the audience die down as well, with only a few, mainly being her friends, whispering as the last few candles go out,

“The show’s about to start.”

“Somepony’s tugging on my dress.”

“That’s just you.”

“Quiet down.”

“I’m so excited.”

“It’s so dark.”

“Shhh!”

Pitch darkness encapsulates the room; a minor stir erupts amongst the audience, but slowly goes away. After several seconds of darkness, a sling beam of light is casted from the back of the theatre and onto the wooden front of the stage, illuminating the golden-brown planks. A tall, skinny Earth Pony, dressed in a black tuxedo, steps into the light. The young stallion’s light green fur and uncombed orange-yellow mane saturate brightly as he clears his voices and looks at the fairly visible members of the audience.

He speaks, “Ladies, gentleponies, foals of all ages, my name is Jack Epee Cystic, and I just want to put this out there right now. Being in this very room, with all of you watching right now, dedicating your time to watch this story that had been in my family for generations, has really touched my heart. I’ve heard a lot of the Changeling invasion that had happened in this country, and I saw the opportunity arise. The opportunity to tell you how those creatures truly came to be, a knowledge that only my family knew for hundreds of years. I only have one sister. I have no brothers, nor cousins, nor any distant relatives of my generation. And if I and my sister were to pass on with no descendants, I’d want the world to know of my families’ story. Others may have heard of the story, I’ve heard that there are a couple of famous renditions of it. But none were ever as true as the pure truth, our truth. So with the money I could gather, I have arranged a team of directors, playwrights, musicians, performers, and many other members of staff, all fans of the story, to help me in showing all of you one of the greatest plays here tonight. I shall be playing as Prince Seirbigh Cystic IV, my, admittedly foalish ancestor that began the story by recounting his time as a prince. But he shall not be the focus of our story, we have instead focused our story on the poor, fair life that was taken away and transformed into a monster, Princess Crystal Charm, Queen Chrysalis. Ladies, gentleponies, I give you, ‘The Tragedy of Queen Chrysalis’…”

The single spotlight fades away, bringing forth the absolute darkness that was there before. A series of wooden taps pierce the silence, the conductor has struck his baton against the wooden stand where his music sheets lie. A hundred violins spring to life in the darkness, creating an ambience throughout the theatre. A series of large beams of light emerge from the top of the walls and shine onto the stage, illuminating the entire area and the red curtain with gold trimmings at the back of the stage. The curtains open, showing a painted backdrop of a beautifully clear sky and a shallow wave of water rushes from the curtain that held it back. The water quickly covers the entire stage, but doesn’t flow off, being held back by magic. A large quantity of sand then poured from behind the top of the curtain and into the water below, forming a small beach on the stage. The friends are quickly entranced by the presentation, only to be pulled in further as the rest of the orchestra, hidden between the front rows and the stage, displays its entire array of instruments. Trumpets, tubas, trombones, violins, cellos, vocalists, tambourines, drums, flutes, harps, chimes, and many more, all together producing a grand symphony of lighthearted music to the audience.

A young mare’s voice speaks above the music and narrates,

“A long time ago…”

Act 1 Scene 1: Four Friends

A long time ago, across the Grey Sea, beyond the lands of Vaporia, past the Forgotten Sea, laid a small island, Trihearth. Trihearth was a largely populated island, filled with many different types of ponies, and was one of the largest centers of trade. No pony knows who the first inhabitants of the island were or how they managed to transform such a small piece land into what it became at the time, but the mystery never bothered the current ponies living there.

Its lands were split amongst three kingdoms, the Forest Kingdom, the Metal Kingdom, and the Pearl Kingdom. Despite several hardships over the centuries before, the three kingdoms were peaceful with one another and supported each other in times of need. However, ever since the newest generation of rulers have been coronated, tensions have slowly begun to build during their reign. However, this did not stop the friendship amongst four young ponies, for a time…

One morning, along the northern east coast of the island, a group of four ponies are playing at the beach, running, chasing, and tackling, each not having a care in the world. This playfulness lasted for hours until they became too tired to continue their fun and games. They lay down side-by-side on the sandy beach with their tails tickling the foamy edge of the waves that calmly wash over the silver shore. On the far left of the row, rested a beautiful mare, who said in a gasp,

“Today was so much fun.”

“It ‘tis, Princess Crystal Charm, Earth Pony daughter of the king and queen of the Forest Kingdom,” The tall and thin stallion next to her replies in a pant. He turns his head towards the mare and stares into her bright magenta eyes. Crystal sees this from the corner of her eye and cocks her head towards her friend and stares into his deep blue eyes.

“What is it, Prince Seirbigh Cystic IV, pegasus son of the lord and madam of the Metal Kingdom?”

“Just thinking about you, how beautiful your pink coat of fur looks as it reflects the rays of Heaven’s light.”

“Oh, such a coincidence, I was just thinking about how well your light green fur looked.” The two ponies give a soft giggle as the two ponies next to them, stallion and mare, brother and sister, older and younger, give a sigh of contempt against the two’s behaviour. Seirbigh turns his head at the two others and asks them,

“Why are you sighing, o’ Sir Dorch and Lady Ceann Folam, unicorn son and pegasus daughter of the emperor and empress of the Pearl Kingdom?”

“Nothing is the matter,” Sir Dorch replies. “We are simply tired.”

“Not entirely true,” Lady Ceann argues. “We’ve been noticing that you and Princess Crystal have been together for a long time and have slowly been parting from us.”

“Don’t give mind of my sister Seirbigh, she’s been ill-minded and this playtime has exhausted her of rational thought.”

The sister gives a loud huff to her brother in annoyance.

“Dorch,” the prince of the Metal Kingdom replies. “Don’t bring such unhappy tidings to our hours of merriment and fun. You’ve been seemingly practicing this behaviour for a while now.”

“I’ve merely been researching the politics of our kingdoms, for sooner or later, we shall all be rulers one day, and uphold the legacy and responsibilities of our parents.”

“Why squander thy precious youth and freedom on such things? We shall learn when the time comes.”

“But do you know when that time will be? How do we even know that this is our time, and we have been wasting it on these activities?”

“You worry too much Dorch, enjoy this time whilst it lasts.”

“I’m just saying-”

“Listen to Seirbigh,” Ceann adds, “did you not enjoy this time at the beach? Would you rather be inside a stone room, educating yourself and not spend time with your friends and sister?”

“Considering what is going on right now amongst our fathers and mothers, political studies are at a high priority. You’ve all been oblivious to it and are rather than preparing for an event of war, you are merely foaling around. What leaders would that make us if we were to fail upon or responsibilities if Trihearth came under external war or even civil war?”

“Don’t be so worrisome of the worst that could come. You’ve been like this for at least a year and I’m starting to worry about you.”

“Worry about me? I’m worried about you. What if our island came under civil war the next day and you’d have your throat being slit by a Metal Kingdom soldier because of your failure in proper diplomacy.” Immediately after Dorch completed his sentence, the green pegasus springs to his hoofs and looks over the dark blue unicorn’s rested head, obscuring his bathe in the sun’s light.

Seirbigh gives a short snort into Dorch’s face before sternly replying, “Hast thou implied of my citizens being cutthroat savages? This, coming from the son of the owner of the most powerful navy of all of Trihearth. The pony who uses intimidation to get what he wants.”

“You dare to retort to me?” The stallion that was once below the prince springs up to his hooves as well. His long mane and tail, with the colors of night running through each hair, gently sway in the breeze as he and Seirbigh aggressively stare into each other’s eyes. “You, the son of a weakling and a war-hungry maniac, dare to challenge me?”

“How dare you disrespect my father and mother. My father respects all of his citizens with the kindness of his heart and my mother is not afraid to stand up to a threat for she is loyal to her ponies. I refuse to let a foul-mouthed bookworm treat my kingdom this way.” The two stallions take a hoofstep closer, eyes locked onto each other, ready for the kill.

However, just before the two raise their hooves and fight, Crystal leaps in between them and pushes them apart, all while shouting, “Stop! This has gone far enough.” The two stallions’ gazes snap away from each other and both quickly remember that they were friends.  Their attention turns to Crystal, who is shifting her head from side, giving quick looks at her friends. “Is this what you want the future of our home to be? You’ve both have said somethings wrong towards each other. Apologize.”

“…Why yes, you are right. I’m sorry Sir Dorch, I must admit, I have taken what you said the wrong way.”

“I myself… I also apologize, Prince Seirbigh,” the unicorn groans, “it was wrong for me to demean your parents and your ponies like that.”

“There,” Crystal concludes, changing out of her once sharp and stern voice and returning to her chipper tone of voice, “we don’t want to make enemies out of each other. Someday, we will take our parents’ place as rulers of our lands, and we must remain in harmony for further generations to grow upon the proud examples we set for them. Maybe we should attend some studies more often as Dorch proclaimed, but also make time for each other in our youth, as Seirbigh suggested.”

“I second her statement,” Seirbigh cheers, “what say you Dorch and Ceann?”

“I agree as well,” Ceann proclaims, “I’m just happy that we could all agree on something and remain friends. What about you brother?” Dorch doesn’t replay, and instead appears sidetracked by something, staring in Crystal’s general direction. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” the brother finally replies after a minute of silence, “I think I’m a bit woozy from the summer sun. I fear I may swoon anytime soon. Come sister, let us return home.”

“Do you at least agree with Crystal?”

“Wha- …well… Yes, whatever must be done for the betterment of Trihearth and its ponies. Now come.” Ceann follows her older brother’s orders and both begin their journey down the coast southward to where their home is. Crystal and Seirbigh watch as the large dark blue figure and the smaller, lighter figure walk away side by side as their shadows follow behind.

After several minutes of walking silently, Dorch looks behind to see a pink and green dot in the distance. He then turns to Ceann, staring blackly forward with a small scowl on her face. “Is there a problem?”

“I don’t know, are you sure you’re alright? It’s like, all of a sudden, you’ve been very distrustworthy towards Seirbigh and the Metal Kingdom. Whenever its citizens show up anywhere near the castle, you are always at the balcony, watching them, as if they were up to no good.”

“Well, you see sister…”

“I see what?”

“You know how Seirbigh can be sort of, foalish and immature at times. How he can be fairly reckless to his surroundings.”

“He’s a young pony like you and me, he’s living in the moment. He’ll mature when him time comes.”

“That maybe what you think, but the truth says otherwise. Him, his parents, and most of the ponies of the Metal Kingdom lack, control. From engaging in fights with others for mundane reasons, to being a pushover when others tell them what to do despite not having the higher authority to say so, the Metal Kingdom is a loose cannon of sorts.”

“So what if they’re a little twitchy from time to time?”

“If something or somepony were to push them too far in the wrong direction, it could mean an all-out war across all of Trihearth and maybe beyond. It is our duty to correct the Metal Kingdom as if it was our own kingdom.”

“And how do you suppose we do that?”

“You don’t think the prince will set it straight?”

“I do, I just want to hear what you’re thinking.”

“Nah, I should probably just keep it to myself. I shouldn’t fuddle your mind with such heavy politics for now.”

“Okay...” A minute passes of nothing but the sand shifting around their hooves occurring as they trot down the coastline. A large stone castle soon begins to appear on the horizon, followed by several smaller buildings surrounding it. “The Pearl Kingdom, we’re nearly home!”

“Say, Ceann,”

“Yes?”

“You and Seirbigh are close friends, am I correct?”

“And you and Crystal, we all are.”

“Well, yes, that goes without saying. But, if Crystal never existed per se, would you have, special interests in Seirbigh?”

“What do you mean? He’s with Crystal; I would never see myself taking Seirbigh away from her.”

“But if Crystal and the prince weren’t in a relationship at all, would you find yourself, attracted to him?”

“Well… I guess, a little. But I perish the thought of such a thing happening in real life. Love is a powerful thing, and I’ve never seen a more true love between him and Crystal.”

“I see, I see. Very well then, hurry along.”

Act 1 Scene 2: True Love

Meanwhile, back at the beach where the four friends were last together, Crystal and Seirbigh stand at the water’s edge side by side, feeling the cool salt water flow between their hooves. A long breath exits the pink mare’s throat as her eyelids grow heavy. The green stallion looks to his right to see Crystal’s drift into relaxation and decides to take advantage of it. In one swift move, he shifts his body right next to hers, massaging her bare side with the muscles in his wings. A soft coo is breathed out by the Earth Pony and scoots closer to her partner.

Seirbigh then reaches his head close to Crystal’s ear and asks in a whisper, “How do you feel?”

“Paradise,” she responds, rubbing her lips together in synchronization to the rubbing of the prince’s wing on her side. “I’m even starting to doubt that even Heaven can best this moment.”

“I’m so glad thou think that, for who else deserves better than you, my prize rose of the garden of Eden?”

“Other than you, my pure diamond buried the chasms of a coal mine?”

“Yet we keep these thoughts to ourselves in secrecy, despite our friends knowing of our relationship. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I guess the lack of time we have to share these moments in privacy make it all the more desirable.”

“But is Ceann right? Are we pushing Dorch and Ceann away from us just to have these desired moments together?”

“I’m afraid to say that we cannot deny the possibility of such a theory. Yet, I hope our friends understand why this is so.”

“Why must our few moments together always have to end with some sort of political talk? Why can’t we just spend the time enjoying each other’s company and not care for anypony else?”

“I want it just as much as you do, but as a prince and princess, we can’t, for every action we do, it will change the lives of many ponies one way or another.”

“Then let us not be royalty, let us be free for this time.”

“If only it could be that simple.”

“Then I shall make it that simple.” With a beat of his wings, Seirbigh swings his body around and moves directly in front of Crystal’s face, creating a faint slosh upon landing. The prince then leans his face into hers, gently rubbing his soft nose against her even softer nose. With both eyes firmly sealed, the internal nature of the two ponies overcame their sentience of the outside world and all they could think of was each other

They continue to massage each other’s snouts for what seemed like days with no end. The water below their hooves kept their knees and legs from aching as time was no longer sensible between the two lovers. Finally, after an eternity of nothing but each other, the sound of sand abruptly shifting far off in the distance echoes into the ear of Crystal Charm, prompting her to lift her nose from his. Seirbigh eyes abruptly open upon losing contact while Crystal turns her head towards the noise and slowly open her eyes. “Is there a problem?”

“Somepony is coming.”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know.” Crystal narrows her eyes onto the brown dot on the horizon, trying to make out who or what that is. She calls out, “Who is it?”

“It is I,” the figure responds with a male voice, “your father, King Adamán Charm.”

“Father, what are thou doing here on the other side of Trihearth in the Pearl Kingdom? Shouldn’t thou be looking over the Forest Kingdom?”

“I was, but after you didn’t return for your midday meal, I became worried about you.”

“Why didn’t send a guard?”

“Nothing you need to worry yourself with my dear Crystal. You should be returning home.”

“Okay Father, just give me a minute to say farewell to my friend, Seirbigh.”

“I’d actually like to have a word with him as well, go along after you finish, I’ll follow behind shortly.” The brown figure in the distance began to pick up its pace, becoming more and more visible to the two young ponies. Crystal turns to Seirbigh and solemnly moans, “I’m sorry for my father to ruin this moment.”

"It’s okay,” the prince replies, “I shall return here at midnight when the moon touches the peak of the sky. We can continue our moment of privacy once more then. I may even have something special to give you…”

“Alright, farewell Seirbigh,”

“Crystal, wait.”

“What is it?”

“I… um…” Seirbigh stood in silence for a full minute, giving ums and stammers along the way, trying to bring the words from the back corners of his mind to his mouth. “You see…”

“Tell me tonight, we don’t have enough time right now. Farewell.” Quickly, Crystal trots away from her lover and past her father. She then walks around the corner of the beach and heads westward towards the Forest Kingdom, but not before giving one last look at the green pegasus.

“King Adamán Charm, Earth Pony King of the Forest Kingdom,” Seirbigh bends a knee down and gives a regal bow to the large stallion before him before continuing, “what fine purple robes that rest upon your body and golden crown that caresses your black dreadlocks today. What do I owe the honour of being in your presence?”

“I’ve been seeing you being around with my daughter lately,” he responded. A small frown rests upon his face as the old stallion continues, “A lot more. And I want to have my facts straight before proclaiming any judgements upon you.”

“What facts do you seek to correct?”

“Is it true, that you and Crystal are very close friends?”

“Well, yes, so are Sir Dorch and Lady Ceann of the Pearl Kingdom.”

“Hmmm…”

“Sir?”

“Do you have, special feelings, towards the princess?”

“She’s one of the fairest maidens in the land thanks to your guidance. I wouldn’t be surprised if anypony else had such feeling for her.”

“…Well then, what are your thoughts towards the Forest Kingdom? And be completely honest with me, for your benefit.”

“To be honest, I think it’s better than the Metal Kingdom in its current state.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

“Recently, my parents have been changing to kingdom expenditures to increase support in military. It’s not that big of a problem, but some citizens, both inside and outside the kingdom, are drawing conspiracy from it and it’s destroying royal privacy.”

“You seem very open to telling me about this, why might I ask?”

“Why should I hide anything from you o’ king? We are allies.”

This lad is clearly hiding an ill intention for telling me this.

“Aren’t we?”

“We shall see. And now, what about your ponies, is it true what they say? That ever since the rule of your parents, they’ve been a bit, unstable?”

“What does this have to do with me and Crystal?”

“Has thou become hypocritical to his own word? Has thou been hiding something from me?”

“No, I just want to know why you’re asking.”

Aha! I knew that any descendant of that vile dragon of a lord’s wife would be trouble. “What makes thou think that you’re worthy of my daughter’s hoof, if not even her alliance with you if you are not true to your word and withholding secrets from me.”

“Are you judging me because of my parents?”

“It is all discrimination, dear boy. You’ve taken influence from your parents and are now exerting thy influence upon me.”

“Your discrimination is based upon bias. I apologize for the rudeness of my statement, but-”

“Do not apologize if you do not mean it. I have seen how your ponies act around others and the negative consequences that follow, and I do not want such behaviour among my ponies, especially within my kin.”

“I promise you sire, me and my ponies are not as violent as what they rumor. I shall be a great king and lead a greater kingdom. And I know that Crystal will be an even greater queen, and together, with the wisdom of Dorch as the future ruler of the Pearl Kingdom, we shall pull Trihearth from the recent darkness and back to the glory in which it once stood.” The king then approaches the smaller stallion, sizing himself over Seirbigh and narrowing his sharp dark green eyes into his soft blues. The prince tries to uphold his masculinity and bravery before the large figure, but soon begins to feel a faint buckling building in his knees.

“The only reason that the kingdoms are declining is because of disloyalties between each other. I don’t want any of these disloyal attitudes anywhere near me, even if that means taking extreme measures to stop it. For that is what a good ruler must do, despite what others would see it as morally wrong.” Seirbigh’s legs finally give out, and the green pegasus shivers onto his knees while the king continues to stare him down. “However, after seeing your dedication, bot to your ponies and allies, I shall be open minded towards you, for now. You might be a good king.”

“So, what are you saying?”

“If you can prove yourself as a good pony and future ruler, I may give you my blessings.”

“Sir, it would be an honour.”

“I must go home now, I best suggest you do to.”

“Yes King Adamán.” The two ponies gave a quick bow to each other before heading away from each other, with Seirbigh going into the jungle far from the Coast and Crystal’s father following in his daughter’s hoofsteps along the northern coastline.

I can’t believe it! He’s actually giving me a chance. The giddy pegasus thinks to himself as he flies over the jungle below. He looks down to see the once branches and leaves of the labyrinth of palm trees, now looking like a green squishy blob of moving color. He realizes that he is moving at a much faster rate than normal, a possible side effect of his excitement. He then looks up to the blue sky above. His nostrils expand as the wave of fresh, cool air flows directly to his brain. Can this day get any better?

After a minute of flying and thinking to himself, his eyes come across a small grey object on the horizon. He knew that beyond the jungle, there is a large volcanic mountain range. And in that mountain range, there is a fertile valley with a beautiful clean river that flows through it, an ideal place for his home to have been built many generations before. He remembers all of the beautiful stone and wood buildings that cover the green valley in a perfect pattern, and couldn’t wait to show Crystal the land he knows from his castle built into the face of a mountain.

With a tailwind at his back, the prince soars over the forest and into the mountain range. As he flies over one of the many smaller volcanoes that make up the area and observes the bubbling and mesmerizing glow of the magma inside it. He has always seen the molten rock inside the mountains surrounding his home before, but today, he felt that it looked more beautiful before.

His sightseeing is immediately brought to a screeching halt however by a voice yelling at him from below, “Seirbigh Cystic the Fourth, what are you doing?” He takes a double-take and examines his surroundings, realizing that he just flew over the valley due to his euphoric state of mind. He hovers back slowly onto the rocky valley ledge overlooking his valley. He looks over the hilltop to see his mother, a bright red unicorn with a silver crown resting on her silver mane and a copper show-saddle on her back. The prince’s eyes subtly roll in annoying as he lands in front of her.

“Sorry mother, I was out-”

“Ah-ah,” she shush him in her usual over-loving tone, just happy to see her son not in any state of injury, “You’ve been gone for six hours, at least. I was starting to get worried about you.”

“I kinda figured…”

“What was keeping you gone for so long? Did anypony cause you any trouble?”

“No mother,” he moans, having gone through this type of questioning many times before, “I was just with my friends.”

“Well okay, but if anypony, ANYPONY, Is causing you trouble, just tell me.”

“I know, I know, you’ll take care of it.”

“Aw, you remember, that’s right.”

Been knowing for over fifteen years Mom…

“So what were you and your friends doing?”

“Nothing much, just played as usual.”

“Nothing special at all happened?”

“Well, I guess there is, one thing that was, special of sorts.”

“What ‘tis it?”

“Well, there’s this mare-”

“Oh, it’s that sort of mare, I’m so proud of you. Finally, you’re maturing into a true ruler of this country.” Seirbigh’s mother exclaims, giving him a tight squeeze around the torso in the process. “What’s she like?”

“She’s funny, able to get me to smile with a single joke or witty comment. Wise, knows so much about astronomy, biology, science, mathematics, and is able to use them to help me and others. Beautiful, has the perfect shade of pink in her fur and a blonde mane and tail, just the purest uncut length one could ask for.”

“She has pink fur and a long blonde mane? I don’t recall any of our citizens having those traits…”

“That’s because she isn’t a citizen of the Metal Kingdom.”

“What?”

“She’s the princess of the Forest Kingdom.” His mother immediately became silent and stares off towards the west, towards where the Forest Kingdom lies. Seirbigh begins to feel worried for what he could’ve done to make his mother act like this, as if he had just cursed the land for making a deal with a witch.

“Oh dear…”

“Mother, are you alright?”

“You have, these feelings towards the daughter of Adamán?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Come with me inside, I’m afraid I have to tell you something.”

“What ‘tis it?”

“Something I didn’t know you to know, but I’m afraid I’ll have to tell you. Best we do it in privacy so no pony takes this the wrong way.” The two then head off back to their home, with Seirbigh following his mother the whole way back.

Act 1 Scene 3: Family Matters

Far west from the mountains of the Metal Kingdom, there lays an enormous forest that’s owned by the ponies of the Forest Kingdom. At the center of the labyrinth of tall trees, the castle where Crystal and her royal family lives in towers over the smaller tress surrounding. And inside the dark wood castle of the Forest Kingdom, in the long dining chamber, Crystal and her mother, Queen Ceria Charm are sitting together with massive silver platters of food before them at the long table. As Crystal talks about Prince Seirbigh, at the side, Ceria is sitting at the end, eating her spiced apples while listening to her daughter.

“…and he has the greatest of smiles.” Crystal cheers. Her mother gives an offhooved nod in response before swallowing her bite of apple. “Doesn’t he sound great?”

“Yep, sounds good.” The unicorn queen replies in a lukewarm delivery, having different things on her mind as her daughter talks. “Say, when’s your father coming back?”

“He just wanted to talk to Seirbigh, he shall be here any second. Why?”

“Oh, just want to remind him to point out a few things during our meeting tonight.”

“What meeting?”

“The yearly meeting of the three kingdoms for your father and me to discuss political matters with the others.”

“Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“Because you were never really interested in politics. You were always too sucked into your fantasy books to notice whenever we left.” The queen takes another bite and swallows before continuing. “Which makes me wonder, why are you now so interested?”

“Well, Dorch’s-”

“Who’s Dorch?”

“The sir of the Pearl Kingdom, I’ve told you about him before.”

“Oh, well, I guess I merely forgotten about him then, carry on.”

“Well, Dorch has been studying politics for a while and today he suggested that we study as well.”

“That’s a good idea. Say, what say you join me and your father at the annual meeting, for you to get a head-start and for Adamán to stop worrying about you and focus.”

“I do focus,” A heavy voice replies behind the queen’s chair, “I just get a little concerned.” Ceria drops the spiced apple that was held in her telekinetic grip upon hearing the voice and twirls her head around the back to see the brown stallion’s face.

“Honey, you’re home, how was your meeting with Sinbad?”

“Seirbigh,”

“Seirbigh, seems to be a common name now,”

“Nothing too much to concern yourself with my dear.” The king edges his brown nose against his wife’s white nose and gives a gentle kiss. He then trots over to his seat at the far end of the table away from his bride and daughter. A lidded platter soon hovers over his head in a cyan glow and lands in front of the king. The unseen servant then lifts the lid to reveal a steaming loaf of brown bread before his master. “Thank you, Penwood.”

“Dear,” Ceria’s voice echoes across the table and into Adamán’s ears, “I have some discussion points I need you to memorize for the meeting tonight.”

“Okay.”

“First off, you must address the activists that are attacking the Metal Kingdom. We must show the lord and madam that we are taking measures to control them.”

“Wait,” Crystal interrupts her mother, “why are they attacking the Metal Kingdom?”

“They claim that their government’s corrupt and they’re taking actions to so call ‘liberate’ its ponies.”

“Is the prince in danger of these attacks?”

“Actually, he’s the prime target.”

Crystal gasps before leaping from her seat and clinging to her mother.

“Is he going to be alright?” She asks.

“Don’t worry, there have been no serious injuries thus far.”

“Honey,” the king replies. “You can’t just frighten our daughter like that all of a sudden.”

“I apologize, I’m just a bit tense from all of the administration work the last couple of weeks, and I am losing tact because of it.”

“I wish I could help you more, but I’ve been terribly busy with Crystal’s coronation and studies.”

“That isn’t until two years.”

“We must attend to the future my dear.”

“I know, but we have to deal with the current problems now if there is going to be a future.”

“You’re right, continue.”

“After the activists, we need to address the problem regarding our wood and spice trade with the Pearl Kingdom. They’re claiming we’re selling for far more than the usual price recently.”

“Alright,”

“Then there are the trade tax inflations, the peace treaty detail violations with the Metal Kingdom, the coastal transportation route trafficking in the Pearl Kingdom, the river poisoning incident that was caused by an unknown terrorist group…”

“That’s quite a lot.”

“There are a couple more items. There would’ve been a lot more, but fortunately, I took care of them for you. I have already made a list to help you.”

“Oh, dear Queen Ceria, where would I be without you?”

“No need for praise, your kingdom is my kingdom.”

“And soon it shall be our daughter’s kingdom.”

“Quite correct.”

“What about Seirbigh?” Crystal asks.

“Who?”

“The prince of the Metal Kingdom,”

“Metal Kingdom?!”

“Yes, don’t you remember?”

“…”

“Mother?”

“Adamán!”

“Oh dear…” the king mumbles with a piece of bread in his mouth. He swallows the piece in a loud gulp before firmly responding. “Yes my queen?”

“When you said that I had little to concern myself with regarding this Seirbigh, did you think I wouldn’t be so concerned that our daughter is with the prince of the Metal Kingdom? I thought this pony was just another commoner with the same name as the lord.”

“I was even more skeptical myself. But he seemed pretty determined that he wasn’t going to be too much like his parents, so I granted him a petite leniency.”

“Petite? You’re putting the fate of all of our kingdom into the hooves of the Metal Kingdom.”

“I hate the sound of it too, but I don’t want to hurt Crystal, she and Seirbigh seem much attached to each other and I’d hate to see the repercussions of separating them.” The queen moans as she slams her head at the edge of the table.

“Oh, dear heavens…”

“Mom?” Crystal worriedly asks, leaning her face close to better see her mother’s.

“Crystal, don’t worry yourself. Just go up into your room while I and your father talk.”

“But, what is it about the Metal Kingdom that’s making you so distressed?”

“It’s none of your business, I can assure. Just, please go.” Nervously, Crystal exits from her chair and leaves through the large oak doors behind the queen’s seat, giving one last look at the dining table with her mother and father seated at opposite ends before leaving.

Meanwhile, back at Metal Kingdom, inside the stone castle overlooking the valley, Seirbigh is with his mother, Madam Petti, in the throne room. The prince sits on his father’s throne as he listens to what lesson his mother wants to teach him.

“The ponies of the Forest Kingdom,” she states, “they are not like us.”

“What do you mean?” her son reasonably asks, “We’re all Earth Ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, what makes them different.”

“Well, yes, that goes without saying. However, the Forest Kingdom ponies tend to act as if they are on top of everything. They plan for many years ahead of them and make sure every aspect of their plan is considered perfect. So, they tend to act, pushy, when with us.”

“Crystal isn’t like that?”

“You sure my boy?”

“Well, maybe, a tiny mite.”

“And when she grows up and you decide to marry her, you’ll just end up being pushed around.”

“That sounds a bit too harsh to be Crystal.”

“Any mare of power will try with all of her might to make sure she is pulling her husband’s strings.”

“Does this include you?”

“Oh please, your mommy wouldn’t stoop to such lows like that. I simply just aid your father in running our fabulous country. Don’t let all of those gadflies get to your head, what I do is perfectly justified.” Suddenly, the massive doors on the opposite side of the room where the throne sit, leading to the foyer, swing open as a green pegasus, dressed in red and black robes, enters the chamber.

“Lord Seirbigh Cystic III, Father, where were you?”

“Hello son,” the dark green ruler humbly replies, “I was just fetching your mother’s dress for the meeting tonight.”  The lord walks up to the pair of thrones and greets his wife with a gentle kiss on the cheek.

“Oh dear Seirby,” the queen joyously responds, adjusting the black crown sitting on her spouse’s long grey mane. “You just came at just the right time. I was just about to ask our son if he’d like to join us to the annual meeting.”

“But I thought he didn’t want to go. He told us last year that he wasn’t really interest in politics at the time.”

“Yeah,” Seirbigh confirms, “I not sure if I’m ready or even have the patience.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” the madam replies. A subtle hint of aggression had escaped from her mouth as she replies, leading to the two stallions to wince a little. “It’s about the right time that you start. You could get a head start and show those other kingdoms who a true future ruler is.”

“That’s not really necessary,”

“Son, you’re coming, do I make myself clear?” The young prince begins to shrink himself into the cushioned seat of the throne trying to avoid eye contact with his now agitated mom.

“…”

“I said, do I make myself clear?”

“Transparently, mother,” The queen’s head then turns to the father, who is now squatting onto the cold floor,

“Seirbigh III?”

“Glasslike, honey,” the lord squeaks, “our carriage is ready to go. Me and Seirbigh will be with you in a second.” The mare clears her throat and gets out of her throne and walks to the foyer doors, gently rubbing against the lord’s side on the way out.

“Thank you dear.” As soon as the madam left the throne room, the lord closes the doors behind her and turns to his son, still cowering in his seat.

“Never annoy your mother. She can be a bit headstrong, but she still loves you all the same. That’s the reason why I married her, for this kingdom needs a pony that can get things done, but still make time for her family. Now head to your room, some maids will get you into your dress suit and escort you to the carriage.”

The prince gives a slight nod and replies, “I know Father, I know that’s she’s a little tense over the last couple of months as well from political matters. Don’t worry, I’ll make it up for her.” Seirbigh then strikes his large wings open and promptly flies out of the throne room through a side door leading to his chamber.

Meanwhile, just outside the Pearl Kingdom’s stone walls, a lonely carriage rides away from the castle in the midst of night. Inside, Dorch, Ceann, their unicorn father, King Tiotán, and their pegasus mother, Queen Dia, are all sitting inside the wooden coach. Each are dressed in the most formal puffy suits and gowns a pony could ever buy, sporting gradients of the colors of both the ocean and sky. As the clopping of the hooves of carriage pullers mumbles through the white wood of the coach, the royal family remains silent, preparing themselves for the consultation.

The silence dies however, with Lady Ceann asking, “So, why do we always join the meeting every year, ever since we were little foals?”

“Simple,” Dorch explains. “To learn on how to raise our kingdom and prepare ourselves for when the other kingdoms act up. Isn’t that right Tiotán?”

“That’s correct son,” the midnight blue emperor cheers. “Now remember, don’t let whatever lies they spew get past you.”

“What lies?” The light blue daughter asks, only to immediately receive a tsk by her father.

“We cannot trust the other kingdoms. They are unstable. We can’t just let them stir up any trouble whenever they like, we must have control over them and know what is truly going on.”

“That sounds a little, invasive…”

“Don’t worry little one,” the mauve empress comforts the small pony with her wing gently brushing Ceann’s chin. “We just want the best for everypony.”

“Sometimes,” her father sternly continues, “the best decision may not always be the most morally correct at the time, but makes up for it in the future. You understand?”

“…”

“I do Father,” Dorch quickly replies, prompting a wide grin upon the large emperor’s face.

“I am so proud of you.”

“I know sir.” After a minute of silence and aimless staring out of the side window, Tiotán looks to his other side to see Dia and Ceann looking out of their side window. He then turns to Sir Dorch and leans in to whisper to him,

“If only your sister was as obedient as you are.” The blue prince also leans his head in and whispers as well,

“I try to convince her, but she’s just too, too…”

“Too attached to these ‘friends’ of yours?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your friends are the descendants of the royal families of both the Forest Kingdom and Metal Kingdom. Am I correct?”

“Yes.”

“The reason she won’t listen to me all that often is because she thinks I’m attacking her friends or something of sorts. But what I say and do is in love for both of you. I know the other kingdoms all too well, and I know that we can control them into making Trihearth a better place.”

“What do you mean control?”

“I mean to bend their laws to our advantage and give ourselves, the diplomatic and intellectual minds, a higher position in their governments.”

“I see.”

“And one more thing I want to remind you of.”

“What?”

“Don’t ever be afraid to use any method, even if that includes your sister, to make that best decision.”

“For the good of all.”

“For the good of all, there’s my son.” The stallions lean back to their normal seating positions after sharing their moment, only for the coach to come to a grinding halt. The family of four are lightly thrashed around before regaining their setting and examining their surroundings from the windows. Sure enough, the coach has arrived at the front gates of the Forest Kingdom. An Earth Pony, dressed in sharp metal armour, opens the carriage door by the two mares and the royals of the Pearl Kingdom climb out, one by one. A rumble of thunder catches their attention, as Empress Dia looks up to see storm clouds through the tree branches.

“Best we hurry up,” she exclaims, “we wouldn’t want our attire to be ruined just before the meeting by some rainstorm.”

“Yes mother,” Ceann and Dorch reply before picking up their pace and practically galloping towards the main castle with their parents slowly following behind.

“Honey,”

“Yes Dia?” The emperor asks.

“What were you talking to Dorch about?”

“Nothing much, just a reminder to not slouch.”

“Good, because I don’t want you filling our children’s minds with these unethical thoughts you call political actions.”

“They aren’t as bad as the word them dear,”

“...I just don’t want them to become scheming power-succubi like your father.”

“That will never happen, I promise you.”

Act 2 Scene 1: Trihearth Tension

Inside one of the many massive chambers of the castle, a large courtroom is bustling with high-rank civilians from all three kingdoms and their leaders. They sit in the stands circling the large chamber, overlooking the three royal families sitting at their individual tables with individual thrones, facing one another. In the middle of those three tables where the royalty sat, a circular judge’s stand towers over the ponies.

“Order in thy royal court,” a unicorn announces before clamming a gavel onto the podium before him upon the stand. “As Grand Prime Minister and judge, I decree that the annual meeting of the kingdoms of Trihearth has begun.” The audience in the galley quickly stops talking and turns their attention towards the announcing judge and the ten royals that sat around him. “King Adamán Charm, and Queen Ceria Charm, rulers of the Forest Kingdom, rise.” The brown Earth Pony and the white unicorn follow the judge’s order and rise from their seats, leaving Crystal remaining down. The pink mare quickly examines her surroundings as her parents stood, catching a quick glimpse of Seirbigh sitting with his parents at her right.

“Hey Seirbigh,” she whispers, trying to get his attention.

“You may now sit. Lord Seirbigh Cystic III, and Madam Petti Cystic, rulers of the Metal Kingdom, rise.” Crystal’s parents sit back down on their small thrones as the green pegasus and red Earth Pony get out of theirs. “You may now sit. And finally, Emperor Tiotán Folam and Empress Dia Folam, rulers of the Pearl Kingdom, rise.” Prince Seirbigh’s parents sit back down next to him as the dark-blue unicorn and mauve pegasus get up with their children watching in their seats. “Sit back down.” Dorch and Ceann’s parents follow the judge’s orders and sit. “All are present and with their kin I see, so now this meeting shall continue.”

This is so boring… Seirbigh thinks to himself, playing with his uncombed mane to pass the time.

“First item we shall discuss tonight, shall be regarding Forest Kingdom activists attacking Metal Kingdom royalty under the pretenses of reformation. King Adamán, what are you doing about this matter?”

The king immediately replies in a sharp tone of voice, “As king of the Forest Kingdom, I have enacted several actions to quell the activist activities and finding out who’s responsible.”

“You may have enacted these actions,” Madam Petti snarks “but are they being executed?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“What Adamán has failed to provide to you Judge, is the evidence that these preventative measures he preaches have not yet happened, and we have been under attack by more of his ponies by the day.”

The grey unicorn at the stand turns his head towards Lord Seirbigh and asks, “is this true what thou wife says?”

“It ‘tis,” he calmly responds, “and we are fearing, now more than ever before, that our son may be in grave danger.”

“I see.”

“Your honour,” Emperor Tiotán interjects with a mischievous smile upon his face. “If I may ask the lord, or should it be, the madam, since she seems to be the one in charge, why these activists are attacking?”

“You may.”

“So, why is it so?”

“First of all,” Lord Seirbigh barks, “I am the one in charge, Petti helps me, as a truly loyal wife should. And regarding the activists, they are attacking because of some budget changes we made they see as a threat to their trading activities with us.”

“And might I ask, what are these budget changes?”

“Uh, we are emphasizing upon military by drawing small portions from other funding programs, one of them being the trading guilds, emperor,”

“Military? I don’t recall you being a militaristic type Seirbigh, why now are you doing this?”

“Well…”

“My children must trust your kingdom when they come of age in a couple of years and we cannot trust thou who are hiding secrets from us. Why have you enacted this alteration to your expenditures?”

“In all honesty, it was my wife who enacted the change.” Tiotán’s small grin immediately grew into a gaping smile of success, knowing that he now has the upper hand in the debate. Dia looks at her husband and slowly frowns, also knowing he now has the power to attack the Metal Kingdom’s authority.

“So, you allowed your wife to make the decision instead of you, when you’re, or at least you claimed before the court, that you’re supposed to be the one in charge?”

“That is irrelevant!” The madam hisses, “Can we return back to the main matter at hoof?”

“Oh no my lady, I think this trust struggle is much more interesting.”

“But it isn’t the main focus,” Prince Seirbigh retorts, slowly rising from his seat, motivating Tiotán to give a weak chuckle before replying.

“You hear this, your honour, the Cystic family is clearly hosting problems that threaten the safety of the Forest Kingdom and Pearl Kingdom. I request a restraining action to be placed upon them.”

“You don’t have the authority to do that.” Crystal shouts. The entire galley bursts into a loud wave of whispers and gasps, to see the princess of the Forest Kingdom stand up for the Metal Kingdom at this time of distrust.

“Order I proclaim!” The judge yells and slams her mallet upon the wooden table, “Order in this court! Princess Crystal, please contain your actions and withhold your position in this room. Prince Seirbigh and Madam Petti, control your temper. And Emperor Tiotán, wipe that smug look off of your face, this is a professional court of law, not a tavern.”

“I apologize,” the emperor sneers, “continue.”

“Alright then, seeing as now, the Metal Kingdom has broken several trusts upon the peace treaty with both the Forest Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom, which they signed in their own blood, I will have to enact a government power limitation or a complete reassignment of government control to one of the other two kingdoms, whichever I see fit.”

“Wait,” Lord Seirbigh pleas, “there has to be a way we can amend this. Is there a way we can repair the trusts?” The judge becomes silent, trying to think of a solution. He then ducks his head below the stand from everypony’s view, only to come back up with a scroll in his hooves. Carefully, he unfolds the delicate scroll with his magic and examines the paper.

“This has been the first time in generations for a kingdom to break its peace treaties. But luckily, they kept the old scrolls detailing what to do in an event such as this upon us. Here we go, according to the sixty-ninth amendment of the Declaration of Distrusts, ‘If a kingdom were to break one or more trusts detailed within an agreement of peace with one or both other kingdoms of the land of Trihearth, the Grand Prime Minister can enact any change in that kingdom’s government as he sees fit. However, the broken trust can be amended, under the commitment of the wrongdoing kingdom’s heir to be bound in holy matrimony with the heir to thy kingdom that it has wronged. If the heirs are already bound in holy matrimony and one or more trusts have been broken, then the Grand Prime Minister has the authority to move all the government’s power to the heir.’.”

“So, in order to keep our power, we must have our son,”

“Be legally married to a descendant of the next generation of the royalty of either of the two kingdoms you have broken trust with. Seirbigh the Fourth, are you currently married or engaged with a princess of either of the kingdoms?”

“Well…” the pegasus stammers, not wanting to put Crystal into an unwanted and downright serious marriage. “I…”

“He is,” Crystal declares, standing up from her seat and glaring at the judge in confidence. “With me, Princess Crystal Charm of the Forest Kingdom.”

In an instant, the entire galley roars with chaos. Every citizen of the Forest Kingdom and the Metal Kingdom boo at the proclamation, since the two kingdoms have been bitter rivals for many years. The citizens of the Pearl Kingdom however were probably the most unruly, screaming as they believe that the two kingdoms will then favor one another and be unfair towards the Pearl Kingdom.

“Order!” The judge screams once more and slamming his gavel. “Order in thy court! Now!”

But the audience does silence down one bit, continuously yelling at each other and the royals in front of them. A blue aura soon wraps around the judge’s horn, and in a burst of frustration, he fires a shockwave of magic over the entire courtroom, causing everything to become mute. The ponies realize that they could no longer make any form of audio and decide to calm down, seeing as it would be pointless now. Another blue wave a magic fires from the judge’s horn and the silent ambience of the room resets.

“Remain silent until this meeting is over.” He proclaims. The ponies in the galley slowly nod their heads in fear of the sharp tone of voice exerted onto them.

“I shall marry Prince Seirbigh IV and bring peace to our two houses.” Crystal declares once more.

“Prince Seirbigh, do you agree with this fair mare?”

“I do sir.” The stallion reluctantly replies.

“Sir, do you agree with the terms and conditions that follow with this action?”

“Can you remind me?”

“If you are to be found in a relationship with anypony else before the wedding, if either you or her die before the wedding, if you commit a violation of your kingdom’s peace treaty, or if in any other way, you are to be found unable to uphold a pure marriage with Crystal Charm, the reclamation will become void, and your kingdom shall suffer the consequences. Do you accept these terms?”

“Yes.”

“And to you, Princess Crystal, accept these terms?”

“Wait your honour,” King Adamán interposes, “can I discuss this with my wife before we proceed.”

“I shall allow it. But know this, if you fail to provide evidence of progress towards controlling the activists in your kingdom, you as well will have violated the peace treaty. I declare a ten minute recess, assembly is adjourned.” The judge firmly hits the small hammer on the board once more, prompting everypony to exit the room except for the royal families of the Forest Kingdom and Metal Kingdom. The king and queen turn close to each other and begin to whisper as Crystal and the others watch, unable to hear them.

“We must do this, it’s the best option.”

“Have you gone mad?” Ceria softly barks, “The reason we’re in this whole mess is because of them. I am not letting our proud bloodline go to shame with this troop of mongrels.”

“We might not have a future bloodline if we can’t provide evidence to justify the activist problem. Think of our daughter as well, she’s clearly very much attracted towards the prince. Don’t you want her happy?” The queen looks towards the table of the Metal Kingdom and sees Crystal now standing next to the prince. She then studies the lord’s and madam’s faces. They appear very happy. Ceria then turns back to her husband, giving a small groan before replying.

“You’re right, we have no other better option, and it’s probably the best for both her and him. Just, don’t leave her with that stallion’s parents, I don’t trust them yet.”

“I’ll try to remember that my love.”

Several minutes pass, the courtroom fills up once more. As the room returns to its previous state before the recess, the judge enters and stands upon his stand.

He speaks, “we shall now proceed with Princess Crystal’s verdict for the marriage of Prince Seirbigh IV. Crystal Charm, have you and your parents come to a unanimous decision?”

“We have,” she claims, “we have agreed to the marriage.”

“Then it is settled.” The wooden hammer slams onto the podium once more before the judge continues. “I hereby declare, that all violations of the peace treaties between the Forest Kingdom and the Metal Kingdom shall be expunged upon the marriage of Seirbigh Cystic IV and Crystal Charm in three days. Now onto the next item of this year’s meeting,”

“Excuse me, can I be excused?”

“Yes, you can be excused, you are no longer required to remain present in the courtroom thus far.”

“And me?” Prince Seirbigh asks.

“Fine.”

“And me?” Ceann also asks the judge.

“Yes, does anypony else want to be excused before we continue?”

“I desire for my son to be excused as well.” Emperor Tiotán announces. He then turns to Dorch and whispers, “Do what you must, make me proud.”

“If your son agrees, then I shall allow it.”

Dorch rises from his seat and gives a humble nod to the judge. He then exits the courtroom from the center doorway, soon followed by his sister, Crystal, and Seirbigh.

“Now, onto the topic of the wood and spice trade between the Forest Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom…”

Act 2 Scene 2: Plans

The midnight moon glows upon the quiet beach and calm waters, the trees before the coastline sway gently against the wind, and two young lovers, Seirbigh and Crystal, stand in the shallow tide, gazing at the stars.

“So,” the prince speaks, nervous about the arranged marriage. “We are now going to be married.”

“Wasn’t that always our plan?” Crystal replies in a dreamlike stupor. “Could it be fate, making sure we are together?”

“I don’t know.”

“Seirbigh, what will Ceann and Dorch think of us after the marriage?”

“They’ll still be our friends. Ceann I know for sure.”

“What about Dorch?”

“…I don’t know, he’s very close to his father, and he was more than eager to overthrow my family.”

“Dorch wouldn’t do that to us.”

“You sure?”

“He is our friend after all.”

“I guess.”

“Any plans for the festival together, now that we’re in this arranged marriage?”

“What festival?”

“The Festival of Harmony, the one that occurs every year after the meeting.”

“Oh,”

The princess gives a soft giggle before responding, “Oh, if I wasn’t there for you, you’d probably forget you had wings.”

“Haha, maybe, maybe… Crystal, I know this may seem off timed due to circumstances, but,” Seirbigh turns to face his lover and bends down on one knee before opening his right wing to reveal a small black box underneath. The pegasus then stretches out his wing to her with the box balanced on it. “The reason I desired you here tonight was to propose to you.”

With a rush of glee pulsing through her body and a wide smile on her face, the Earth Pony slowly opens the lid of the obsidian box with her front hooves. Upon looking inside, Crystal sees Seirbigh’s proposal gift to her, a golden pair of ball earnings. She immediately becomes overwhelmed with joy and lunges towards Seirbigh, launching the box from his wing onto the sand and the prince into the water with her hugging his thin torso.

“Thank you, thank you so much! What can I do to even repay you?”

Although the tide is up to Seirbigh’s ear level, he can still hear her sweet voice as perfect as before.

“You don’t, my queen, my sparkling prized gemstone of all the land, sky, and sea.”

As the two ponies cuddle each other in the cool water, an unseen pony watches them from the forest brush. His dark blue, nocturnal mane and tail, and seaweed green eyes made him invisible as the stalks the lovers’ merriment.

“Look at them…” Dorch mumbles to himself in the brush. “Two lovers, practically inseparable, if I wasn’t such a practical gentlepony, I’d call it true love. However, I fear that this love will bring negative reproductions to our kingdom. They will soon favor each other over my land, and soon, my ponies shall suffer for it. Wars may follow because of it, bringing so many innocent lives to an end, as well as my father’s respect. I must do something to ensure that my kingdom, under my wise rule, shall guide Trihearth to equality and prosperity, for these two, as much as they are my friends, will surely become more terrible rulers than their parents. But how will I be able to perform such a task? What if I were to marry the princess and Ceann to marry the prince? I’ve always had feelings towards such a beautiful mare, and my sister has confessed that she’d want to marry Seirbigh as well. If the marriages were changed, the Forest Kingdom and the Metal Kingdom would lose their power and it be given to me and Ceann. And with me as the eldest brother, I can lead all three kingdoms and make my father more proud of me than ever before. But how shall I make this be? Surely my sister won’t marry Seirbigh if he’s with Crystal, and I will never be able to pick the prized flower from the prince’s garden at this rate. Surely, there must be a way to split them up in three days. There is no such thing as true love, for any bound can fall if the right something were to happen.”

For hours, the dark figure continues to lurk in the forest, watching the lovers resting in the tide and contemplating a plan to separate them. Eventually, a memory bubbles into his mind and in an instant, an idea strikes upon him like lightning.

“I know what I shall do. Lore speaks of a witch pony by name of Medicine An Uisce. She is said to be the disowned offspring of a pegasus from the Pearl Kingdom and a zebra from across the seas, abandoned in the swamps of the Pearl Kingdom for hundreds of years. And in those hundreds of years of banishment to this day, it has been rumored that she brews potions, potions that can perform any task magic can perform. Not even arcane alicorn magic can escape from her legendary skills in brewery. If that is so, then she might provide me a potion or brew that I require. I usually don’t believe in such fantastical beings of myth and legend, but it is the only way I see that can possibly execute my plan properly. But what will my sister think of me, what will my parents, my friends, even my kingdom and all of Trihearth think of my actions? Will I be seen as a villain, a traitor, an associate with a witch, a schemer against the traditions of Trihearth? Is performing the greater benefit to the greater number for the price of love between two ponies and the loyalties of already untrusting kingdoms wrong? If doing such makes me a villain by definition, then I shall be a villain. I shall become the necessary evil for the betterment of all ponies. I have now set my path, my destiny, and I shall fulfill it, no matter what others say.”

Upon finishing his speech to himself, the dark unicorn sneaks away into the thick of the jungle, leaving Seirbigh and Crystal alone as if nothing had happened.

Back at the beach, Princess Crystal and Prince Seirbigh have now fallen asleep in the shallow wake of water, still locked together in a close cuddle. It is unknown exactly when they fell asleep, but to them, it didn’t matter. Visions of the two dancing, playing, and nuzzling together upon golden grains of beach sand dance in their heads through the night as the water and wind rock their bodies back and forth. It was only until an hour later, when a rogue wave crashes upon their still bodies, did they wake up. Upon the foaming wall of water crashing onto the ponies, Crystal’s and Seirbigh’s eyes shoot open as Crystal slid off of Seirbigh’s belly and into the water. Chills rocket down her spine as she stumbles to get her face out of the water. In the blink of an eye, the green stallion gets to his hooves and searches for Crystal. He immediately finds her, muzzle deep in the sandy bottom of the tide. He grabs upon her bare sides and yanks her from the water. Crystal gasps upon escaping from the shallow’s grip and leans herself into her companion’s warm embrace.

“What, happened?” She nasally sputters as drops of water pour from her nostrils and mouth.

“We must have fallen asleep,” Seirbigh responds, thumping the sides of his head to drain the water from his ears, “probably for an hour or two judging by the moon.”

“The meeting might be over by now! Our parents are probably worried sick about us!”

“Thou shall not fear, if we return home in time, then no pony will notice our absence.”

“Then we must go now, see you again at the festival as we planned?”

“I shall be there.” The two ponies quickly share a brief kiss on each other’s cheek before departing on their separate ways back home.

Act 2 Scene 3: Medicine An Uisce

The swamp is very lively tonight as opposing to the coastline. The wind howls as it races through the trees, the calls of nocturnal insects shriek across the bog, and even the plant life seemed to be alive as their roots bathe in the green water and mud below. Amongst all of the chaos, a lone pony silently wades through the shallow muck, seeking the legendary witch that could solve his problem. His black and navy suit that he wore to the meeting was now torn and moist from the branches and deeper parts of the swap in which he walked through. Dorch has grown quite tired from all of his walking and wants to return home after an hour of trudging through the bayou with no benefit to reap.

“This is sickening,” the angry unicorn mumbles in disgust, examining how much vegetation was now attached to his hoof. “I have been nauseating myself for who knows how long, and I have nothing to gain from it. I might as well return home to think of another plan to control Trihearth.”

However, just before he was about to turn around and leave, a faint orange glow of light catches the corner of his eye. He looks to his side to see, at the horizon in which he could see, what appeared to be a candle’s grow amongst the darkness of the swamp.

He declares, “Have I found it? The home of the witch, is it where that light now glows?”

Quickly, he runs towards the warm glow, not minding all of the water and insects now being splashed all over his body. As he comes closer to the light, a very small wooden cottage producing the light soon forms from the darkness. It is suspended above the water surface by four tall tree trunks, with the only way to reach the balcony where the door stood either having to fly or teleport. Upon reaching the base of the house, Dorch notices that the main building itself was no bigger than two prison cells, with the balcony talking up a third of the space. He doesn’t care at the moment and quickly teleports onto the balcony of the hut, facing the closed thin door.

Slowly, the dark stallion lifts a hoof and knocks the door. Knock. Knock. Knock. No response is given from whatever from inside, if there was anything inside. The sir patiently waits for five minutes, hoping that the pony he needed was just asleep. The door doesn’t open. Defeated, the filthy pony knocks the door once more, praying now more than ever for a response.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

The unseen interior remains quiet. Dorch, now being a combination of both furious and exhausted, turns his back to the cottage and prepares to head home.

“Who goes there?” An old mare’s voice calls from behind the door. Dorch immediately turns back around and tries to fix his attire before responding.

“My name is Sir Dorch,-”

“Son of the emperor and empress of the Pearl Kingdom, I was expecting you.”

“You were? How do you know me?”

“You know the answer already. That is, if you truly believe it…”

“Are you, Medicine An Uisce, witch of the swamp?”

“Such an ugly name, 'witch', I prefer being called a medicine mare.”

“So you are her?”

“Depends, do you believe in such ‘fantastical’ beings such as her?” For a second, Dorch became silent, dumbfounded as to how she knew what he said if the legends about her weren’t true. “I see that I have caught your attention, do you believe that Medicine An Uisce is real?”

“I do ma’am, shall I come in?”

"..." The old sounding mare on the other side doesn’t respond.

Instead, the door creaks open towards Dorch ajar. The sir takes it as a sign of acceptance and slowly opens the door, only to be awestruck at what he sees. From what on the outside looks like a cramped, wooden cottage, inside, it is a large metal room as large as a royal throne room.

“...But how? How is it smaller on the outside, yet bigger on the inside? No feat of magic could ever do this.”

“There’s a lot of things out there that you don’t know about, things that you could never even imagine in your oddest of dreams.” The blue unicorn looks around the door to finally see the witch that has been talking to him. She was a sickly green coloured pony with black zebra-like markings and wings of a pegasus, dressed in ragged brown cloth that looks as if it hadn’t been washed in decades. The large wings were tattered and dirty, with the edge covered in a brownish mass of fur. Her eyes were as red as fresh blood, her stiff mane and tail bore black and white stripes, and what caught Dorch’s attention the most, a pair of white fangs protruding from her top jaw and a dark mole below her right eye.

The stallion becomes disgusted at the sight of her, but quickly reclaims his composure and asks, “Did you do this?”

“You should know the answer, that is, if you truly believe.” Dorch soon remembers why he came here in the first place and changes the subject on the spot,

“That isn’t the main reason why I am here, I require help to-”

“To perform some miraculous feat for the prince and princess to split from their love and have them fall in love with you and your sister so that you achieve absolute power of Trihearth. I know.”

“How do you know-”

“What has happened in the past and what will happen in the future that I cannot see? A simple pair of potions that I concocted a century ago.”

“How have you been able to keep alive for so long?”

“You know the answer already. Do you want it? No. Now how about we keep matters relevant to your situation.” The old witch then chokes a disgusting old laugh from the pits of her bowels, having irritated Dorch once more with her wit and his urgency.

“Quite… Can you just help me so I can leave you at peace?”

“I can help you, for a price.”

“What is this price you are referring to? Bits, gold, silver, spices, fame?”

“No, to give you what you desire, all I desire is six drops of your blood.”

“Several drops of my blood? Why do you ask for such a small, yet unusual price?”

“You best keep your head out of other ponies’ business. Speaking of which, why do you wish to intrude the love between two lovely ponies?”

“Don’t you know the answer?”

“I do, but do you know?”

“What type of ridiculous question is that? I am tired of your tomfoalery and I demand your services at once.”

“Fine,” The old hag snaps, “shall you pay the price?”

“I shall.”

“Good.” The zebra pegasus swiftly turns to the center of the metal chamber and walks to it with Dorch following behind. In the center of the candlelit room, lays a large metal cauldron, twice the size of Dorch and three times of Medicine. Upon peeking over the edge of the pot, the unicorn sees that it is filled with boiling clear water.

The witch meanwhile, reaches behind the cauldron from her guest’s view and pulls out a small glass bottle filled with a familiar looking white fluff. With the bottom secured in her left wing, Medicine pulls out the cork lid with her right wing and pours the fluff into the water, causing the liquid to turn an opaque white, all whilst chanting,

“A tuft of cloud…”

She then flies to one of the many dark wooden shelves mysteriously attached firmly to the iron walls and pulls out a crystal ball with a rainbow coloured liquid flowing inside from the top shelf. The medicine mare hovers back to the cauldron and smashes the ball against the lip of the black bowl, shattering the crystal and leaking the rainbow liquid into the pot, turning the white liquid into a swirling pool of colours.

“A bright rainbow’s glow…”

She then flaps over the tub and ducks her head into her wing and bites it, causing the floating mare to wince in pain. Medicine jerks back, causing three of her darkest feathers to be torn from her body and trapped in her teeth. She spits out two of them and lowers over the pot with the one feather firmly planted between her lips. The old mare then swirls the feather around, mixing the contents of the cauldron, turning the liquid into bright pink fluid, now boiling heart bubbles instead of circular ones. She then spits out the final feather onto the metal floor next to the pot.

“Stir with the pegasus feather of a virgin, quickly, not slowly. Serve to two ponies thou aren't in the know.“

“Is it ready?”

“Almost, it is usable now, but with a special ingredient, I can add one more influence to the spell that shall make sure the love stays forever. It ‘tis an added security of sorts.”

“What is it?”

“A scale from the body Aspidochelone. You have one.”

“I do?”

“When your mother was bearing you, she drank a scale of the beast, crushed in a powder and added to her drink. It is in your blood now, which I require sixty six drops of.”

“I thought you only required six from before.”

“The first six drops ‘tis for payment. The sixty six is what I need if you desire to make sure that the potions effects will never wear off. Do you want this special bound, or do you wish to risk having the potion fail and you being caught for this conspiracy, destroying you, your family, your kingdom, and even making your father disappointed in you? The only thing separating victory from this grave risk is sixty six drops of your blood. Do you wish to make that added payment?”

“…Fine, I accept.” Immediately, Medicine An Uisce swoops down and bites Dorch’s leg, sinking her sharpened fangs into his flesh and veins. The stallion screams in pain and terror, too much in shock to do anything else as the mare penetrates his upper front leg. And just as quick as she bit into his leg, she lets go, with her fangs now as red as her eyes. As Dorch’s leg now bleeds a small river of red liquid, the witch swoops around the room and comes back with an empty bottle in her hooves.

She lifts the petrified pony’s leg and holds the bottle underneath it, counting every drop of blood that rapidly drips from her victim’s hoof and into the jar. Upon reaching sixty six, she pulls the bottle away from the leg and pours the few milliliters of liquid flesh into the cauldron. As soon as the last bit of blood slips into the pink liquid, the entire pot bursts into a black vat of swirling liquid with ghoulish streams of gas steaming from the mass. The candles scattered across the rooms flicker out one by one, leaving Dorch with no visibility and only to hear the mare’s final chant.

“Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble. You shall be the eternal bond of two ponies’ fates. If one pony fails to look at his or her lover in the eyes for a twelve of a moon’s life, then the lover shall be transformed to a creature of thy master’s design. The lover shall pursue her once love until he or she finds him or her, even at the cost of however many lives and homes gets in the lovers way. The transformed lover shall only survive when consuming upon the love which binds two ponies together. Heed my prayer master! Bring me the liquid to define a fate! I call forth the authority thou shall bring me this magic! I call for you, Aspidochelone!”

Upon finishing her chant, the candles relit and Dorch, now bleeding slower than before, gets to his three clean hooves and looks into the pot. He looks over the edge to see that the liquid has returned back to its pink state before the blood was mixed. He then looks towards the witch, now examining the two holes on his lifted hoof.

“What did that chant mean? What did you do to the love potion?”

“Love potion?” She disconcertingly replies. “What I have concocted was a love poison. Now, lend me your hoof to give me your payment.”

The unicorn follows the mare’s orders and stretches his hoof out to her, where she already has an empty bottle ready beneath.

“Poison? What’s the difference?”

“If the two lovers disconnect eye contact for an hour’s time, then they will transform into whatever the spirit of the master’s blood desires, and must require an essence of love to feed upon to survive.”

“A monster? You mean that Crystal can turn into a monster if I lose eye contact with her for an hour?”

“She will, so I best suggest you make sure she keeps eye contact with her lover.”

“You mean me?”

“No.” Medicine snaps.

“What?”

“You will not be the pony to drink the poison with her. She shall gaze into the eyes of the prince of the Metal Kingdom as the two drink my brew and become locked in a stare of love.”

“Are you mad? I want her to fall in love with me, not the stallion who’s already going to marry her!”

“Don’t fret, I have a plan in which you shall succeed in getting you control of all three kingdoms. I already have your payment now, so all you need to do now is make sure that the princess and prince keep staring into each other’s eyes after they drink the poison I shall offer them at the festival tomorrow.”

“But why don’t you just give me the brew and I take care of everything else?”

“Do you not trust me?”

“It ‘tis not that, it’s just that I would feel better if I was the pony handling the potion.”

“Well I would feel even better if you follow my plan and let me handle my poison.”

At this point, Dorch was now infuriated with Medicine’s banter and challenging of his authority.

With the two bite marks on his leg now clotted and the blood that had poured out has now dried, he stamps his hoof onto the thick metal floor and shouts, “I am the one in charge, I command you to give me that love potion this instant, you witch.”

“How dare thee!” The witch hisses back while arching her back and wings to make herself look taller. Medicine leads the now terrified Dorch into a dark corner of her chamber and leans into his face, making sure he was able to only smell her unclean breath. “You have no idea of what I am capable of. Maybe I could breathe fire this instant and burn you alive. Maybe I can summon the forces of Tartarus and have them pull you through the earth and into their domain of suffering. Maybe I could just bite you in the neck and suck out every drop of your blood in a minute. You do not know. Now, you shall follow my orders to receive your just rewards. Do I make myself clear to thee?”

“…”

“Do I?”

The scared stallion squeaks, “Yes…”

“Very well then, you’ll lead our ponies not in the know to me during the festival, I shall have a tent setup and there we shall commence our plan. Try to cover that leg of yours while you’re at it.”

“Y-y-yes ma-ma’am-m…” In one swift motion, the winged zebra grabs a bottle filled with a grey gas from the nearby shelf and slams it between her and Dorch. The jar breaks and releases the gas, obscuring the stallion’s vision of everything, including the walls and floors that he was touching. The smoke eventually dies soon, however, instead of reappearing the witch’s cottage, Dorch finds himself sitting on the beach, facing the ocean.

As he returns home, Dorch ponders to himself, “What is this mare’s plan? I do not know. But my only option now is to trust her. I might as well head home now to rest, the festival will begin in several hours and I must look at my peak in order for Seirbigh and Crystal to not think of me suspicious.”

Act 3 Scene 1: Festival

The sun shines brighter than ever before from the past months as the festival begins below in the Forest Kingdom. Cloth tents, wooden shops, merchant carpets, simplistic mechanical attractions, and various pieces of decoration crowd the vast clearing in the forest where the Festival of Harmony is hosted every year. Ponies from all three kingdoms, noble and poor, arrive from all four corners of the area and partake in either operating their units of business or enjoying the various amusements and shops. Celtic music echoes from all sides of the clearing as musicians march with the ponies and play their instruments. Among the bustling patrons, musicians, and lenders, in the center of the festival, the four royal friends, Prince Seirbigh, Princess Crystal, Sir Dorch, and Lady Ceann, are together, observing the golden statues of their six parents side by side on top of an iron and clay pedestal several metres thick.

“So Crystal,” Seirbigh asks, “what is it that you desire to do?”

“I don’t know,” the mare responds, “I’ve been on all of the attractions and shops many times before, and it’s always the same.”

“There could be a new attraction or shop,” Dorch replies, keeping an eye out for any sign of Medicine An Uisce, “You never know unless you explore.” Ceann turns to her brother, feeling as if she was being spied on by the corner of the sir’s eye. She then notices a series of bandages wrapped around his leg that weren’t there last night.

“Brother,” she asks, “why do you have bandages around your leg?”

“What?” The dark unicorn looks down to see that his suit’s sleeves he was wearing had become folded on their way to the festival, revealing the ribbons of cloth that cover his bite wounds. “I… I scratched myself against a bush last night, yes…”

“What were you doing anyways? You weren’t back home for over an hour after you left me to go ahead.”

“I… I was distracted, yes.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine sister, why don’t you, get some flowers for father and mother? Me and the others will explore whilst you’re gone.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t have to go alone,” Crystal disputes, “I shall join you if you don’t mind.”

“No, no,” Dorch politely argues back, “you and the prince need some time together before your wedding. Yes. And, to put it generously, Ceann will merely be an interference in your bonding.”

“Hey, then why don’t you join me as well?!” The light blue sister squeaks, only to have her lips held close by her older brother’s magic.

“Not another word dear sister, for you see, I am required to be with them during the festivities. Certain ponies might be here beneath our noses, planning to sabotage our friends’ time together, and it shall require a gentlepony of diplomacy to keep them away. No, run along.” Dorch then swirls the pegasus around, with her hind at the pedestal and facing her towards the shops before her. Upon being let go, Ceann unfolds her wings and flies off into the market area.

As she flies, the small mare begins to speak to herself, “What is with my brother all of a sudden? Ever since this morning, he has become more sly and ambiguous. And he never has used magic on me before to push me or even shut me up at least a decade. Why is he so jumpy about last night? Does he want me gone? Is he right? Am I truly a distraction from Crystal and Seirbigh, my two closest friends? Is mother right, has our father been a negative influence upon us as his father was as well? Or is Dorch actually concerned with the marriage? Something seems off and I intent to figure it out, just not now, for my brother will probably be on his guard and his true intentions from me.”

Meanwhile, at the other end of the festival grounds, the three older friends are walking alongside the buildings lined up to their right and their left. Like arranged troops in a military team, each building was different in size, shape, color, and specialty, but all carried out a single mission, to serve for their country and life. As the trio explore throughout the area, Dorch snakingly rearranges himself to be between his two companions. He then subtly nudges Crystal away with him on one side of a large line of ponies leaving Seirbigh to stare at the buildings on his side.

“So, Crystal,” he states, “you and Seirbigh are very close already. Am I correct?”

“You are,” she whimsically agrees, now thinking of the good times she and the prince have in privacy. “This marriage is going to be perfect, I know it.”

“I’m sure it will be, however…”

“However what?”

“However, what do you plan to do after that?”

“What do you mean by this? Seirbigh and I shall live as great rulers when the time comes and have a foal or two to raise together in love and care until it is then his or her time to take the crown.”

“Sounds wonderful, but what if the time comes shortly after your wedding? Seeing as you and Seirbigh’s parents are in trouble, one little blemish will cause you and him to become the rulers. Will you or he be ready?”

“Not really, but we will learn.”

“In how much time? Between you and me, I’m estimating that our green pegasus friend will probably require at least a year to get his studies straight before becoming a rightful ruler. If only he was a pony who could actually focus upon his lessons, who studied diplomacy and the arts for most of his life, who could take control of a kingdom or two and maintain them at any moment.”

“Like you?”

“Me?” Dorch gives a fake chuckle before replying. “I am quite capable of qualifying for those traits, but as it stands so far, you and Seirbigh must be together.”

“What do you mean?”

“Considering how the Metal Kingdom and the Forest Kingdom are in peril of losing their position in Trihearth’s government, it is seen as a necessity for you to marry him. Unless…”

“Unless what?”

“If you were to marry another pony that proves to be a beneficial ruler, then your kingdom shall be secure.”

“But what about Seirbigh and the Metal Kingdom?”

“Sadly, their kingdom will lose power and may even be taken control of by another kingdom. However, that power could then be given to you and whatever stallion that shall rule wisely.”

“That sounds… intelligent Dorch, but I’m fairly certain that Seirbigh and I shall be fine.”

“Yet-” Before he could reply however, Seirbigh appears over the two ponies and swoops in besides Crystal and exclaims,

“Sorry I lost you guys, I was a mite distracted with the jester court back there.”

“Forgivable…”

“Find anything interesting I hope?”

“Nothing much, we just talked.” Crystal answers. “But you seem fairly keen on the jester court, so how about we head back there?”

“Crystal, I’d hate to be such a tart in the choice of entertainment,” Dorch interrupts, “but I may have a better idea. During my chat with you, I’ve overheard two ponies we passed by talk about a fairly peculiar shop, one that’s new and unique to the commons we’ve seen over the years. May I suggest we search for it and find what curiosities behold?”

“I see why not. Prince Seirbigh, want to join us?” The prince simply nods his head in reply, prompting the three to begin the search for the ‘shop’.

Back at the large statue at the center of the festival, a lone blue pegasus with a bundle of flowers clenched in her mouth stands, now waiting for her friends to return. For several minutes, she waits for Crystal, Seirbigh, and Dorch to return, but to no avail. Now bored and seeking for something to occupy her loneliness, she gently places the flowers on the grassy ground and begins to talk to herself once more, “I guess it’s just you and me, my mind's eye. I wonder what Crystal and Seirbigh are up to now. Probably enjoying each other’s company in an exotic garden while my brother is getting some food outside the garden. If only I had a special somepony to spend my lonely moments with. But who could that pony be? The only true friend I know that could even qualify would be Seirbigh, and he’s with Crystal. She’s a lucky mare. That soft brush of orange hair and plushy green fur that does not require excessive grooming to keep its condition, those eyes of sapphire that glisten like the waves of the ocean, and his strong, thin structure that any mare could only dream of… But what am I doing? Am I mad for even fantasizing of being his special somepony? No, I must remain caste, and not summon such wicked thoughts into my head.”

After walking for what felt like an hour, the three friends, now inside the borders of the festival, stop and sit upon a flat stone in the middle of the lane. With the sun fully awake and beaming its bright rays upon the entire island, Crystal and Seirbigh begin to grow tired.

“Dorch,” Seirbigh moans, “are we there yet?”

“No quite,” the unicorn replies, still full of energy, “we might be close.”

“You keep looking,” Crystal yawns, “Seirbigh and I will just stay here and rest.”

“So be it.” Dorch stretches his head up over the heads of most of the commoners passing by as he looks around for Medicine’s tent she said she would set up. He looks left, then right, then left again, then behind him, then in front of him, checking every angle in his sight to get a glimpse of something that he doesn’t even know what the tent looks like. However, in the corner of his eye, the dark pony sees what might be the tent. He head whips towards it and thinks he has found it. It was a small purple tent in the distance, barely any higher than the wooden shacks surrounding it. Rips and tears, big and small, were all over the roof, and it looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in decades. “I found it!”

“You have?”

“Yes, quickly, follow me!” In a hop and a skip, the stallion jumps from the rock and gallops towards the tent, quickly followed by a still exhausted Crystal and Seirbigh. Within two minutes, the three ponies reach the front entrance of the small tent. The prince and princess examine the small shelter before them, curious of what could be inside, if there was anything.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“Quite, for it is nothing like what we have seen before.”

“I guess…” Slowly, Crystal and Seirbigh push the front flaps aside with their bodies and enter, unaware that Dorch is not following them and is instead waiting patiently outside.

Act 3 Scene 2: Love Poison

Inside the tent, the two lovers look around, only to be surprised at what they are seeing. The inside appears a lot larger than what the tent is from the outside. No rips or tears could be found in the interior and instead a well decorated room with crystals and gemstones dangling from mobiles on the walls and ceiling. At the center of the chamber stands a round wooden table with three chairs surrounding it, with one of them being seated upon by a figure completely cloaked in a brown cloth and darkness.

The figure speaks in a calm old mare’s tone, “Welcome to my abode. Come, sit, and enjoy the wonders in which I shall present you with.”

“What are these wonders you speak of?” Seirbigh asks as he and Crystal walk towards the empty wooden chairs in front of them.

“Hoof reading, herbs, magical feats, miracle brews, and many other treats.”

“Sounds, interesting, what is your price?”

“For such a lovely couple, I shall charge thee nothing for my services. Come, sit, and let me read your hooves. Let me ease your mind with my herbs. Let me impress you with my magic. And let me offer you a humble brew that shall relieve you from all of your woes.”

“Thank you very much ma’am,” Crystal replies, “but we wouldn’t want to take advantage of your kindness. I insist that we should pay.”

“No need to worry my dear, soon, I shall be the happiest mare alive, and I want to offer what I have now before I move on to my new life.”

“Deal!” Seirbigh cheers, leaping into the empty wooden chair in front of him, anxious to what luxuries he shall receive for free. Crystal, though hesitant, takes the last seat and prepares for what awaits her. With both lovers now seated with her, the old mare ducks her head below the large wood table, only to pop back up moments later with a peculiar looking mirror in her mouth. She places the looking glass in the center of the table, allowing the light from outside to reveal her dark red fangs still coated in dried blood from last night.

“M-m-miss,” Crystal stutters, “why does thou have sharp teeth in the shade of crimson red?”

“’Tis nothing,” the hooded figure replies, “just something I was born with. Now, my lady, rest thy hoof above my glass of truth.” The pink Earth Pony follows Medicine’s orders and lifts her right hoof above the mirror, where the old pegasus zebra examines it thoroughly. “I see, I see a beautiful, young mare. I see that thou has a most eventful future before her. Is this true?”

“Why yes, me and Seirbigh are being married in a couple of days.”

“But not just the wedding I see. I see a transformation, something that shall impact all of Trihearth.”

“A transformation? Like what?”

“You’ll see in time my dear, all in good time. Now, Seirbigh, reveal thy hoof to me and I shall deliver.” Crystal pulls away her hoof as the green pegasus lifts his over the glass. The witch then examines his hoof, only to give him an unseen disgusted look.

“Is there a problem?” The prince nervously asks.

“I see, I see a foal. I see a tomfool that shall make a grave and unwise mistake in the not-so distant forthcoming.”

“What?! What is it? How am I a foal?”

“However, what you and many other shall see as a tragedy, some will see it as a miracle.”

“What is it? Who are the some that you speak of?”

“All in good time…” Now panicked, the frantic prince grabs the mirror with his hooves and stares into it, shaking it uncontrollably. Yet, all he can see is a distressed stallion, his own self. “I suggest you return that mirror to me, for you lack the knowledge to know its secrets and use it to calm you. I shall appease your stress with my herbal tea.” In defeat, Seirbigh gently places the mirror back onto the center of their table. Crystal reaches a hoof over to her shoulder, calming both him and herself from the gloomy forecast. Medicine grabs the mirror in her mouth and reaches her head under the table once more, coming back above with two silver goblets in each hoof and a ceramic teapot in her mouth. She then pours the rich brown liquid into the two cups and pushes them to her guests, in which they promptly take the goblets and drink the tea. The drink was warm, smooth, and instantly made the insides of their mouths and necks become tender upon contact. The tenderness flows into their minds, putting the two lovers in an almost euphoric state of mind, having now completely forgotten about Seirbigh’s hoof reading. “Do you feel much better?”

“Much, I can barely remember why I was so upset earlier.”

“Good, now, continue to relax as I show you some magic I have perfected since I was a little foal.”

“Actually,” Crystal calmly interrupts, “I was wondering if you could tell us about your tent.”

“What about it that makes you so curious?”

“How is it ragged, torn, and small from the outside, yet elegant, neat, and large inside? I have never heard of such magic that could perform such an extraordinary feat of architecture.”

“There are a lot of things about magic that most ponies don’t know about. I learned these hidden gems of knowledge from many, many years of research and exploration.”

“What other types of magic are there? What spells and feats of magic are there that most don’t know about.”

“Mere words cannot describe such mysteries, yet there is a way I can show you. For my final service to you and your love, I shall offer you a brew of miracles. Upon drinking it, your fates shall be intertwined for all of eternity. No force of magic shalt separate the bond that you two share today for the rest of your life.”

“That’s impossible…”

“Nothing is impossible my child.” The cloaked witch then exits her chair and enters the pitch-black corner at the back of the chamber. For an entire minute, the winged witch stays hidden in the corner, leaving Crystal and Seirbigh to wonder what’s going on back there. Eventually, Medicine An Uisce emerges from the black with a large golden goblet balanced upon a single hoof. The witch slowly walks towards the table and reaches the big cup towards the smaller silver dishware. With the steadiness of a surgeon, the old mare pours the pink liquid inside her golden cup into each of the silver goblets, half and half. “Both of you shall partake in drinking this brew, and all I have alleged would happen, shall happen.” The two guests examine the pink potion in their cups, making sure that it didn’t have any unseen poisons or unnatural ingredients not dissolved in the brew.

“Are you sure it is safe to drink upon?” The young prince skeptically asks as the tea’s savory effects begin to wear off.

“I assure you sir. I give my vow.” The two lovers take a small gulp of air, preparing to drink the mysterious liquid. They turn to each other and slowly, the two lift their goblets from the table to their lips. The pink fluid pours from the silver metal and into their mouths, flowing against all of the exposed flesh of their insides. It tasted unusual at first, seemingly bland and very thick. However, the unknown love poison turns very thin in their throats and seep into their veins and rushes into their brains.

The witch watches with a devious smile upon her face as the eyes of her two guest snap from squinted disgust into sets of wide open domes of pulsating pink and purple colours. She knows the love poison has worked. The two lovers are now bonded by the magic that rested in her brew. As the two gape into each other’s eyes, Crystal and Seirbigh lose all awareness of the reality around them, soon believing that their other is the only other thing to exist in the vast void of their current lives. They now saw each other as perfect, with no flaws, imperfections, or stains of guilt, only pure innocence. “How do you feel?”

“Why have I not seen this before…” Seirbigh proclaims, “Princess Crystal, you’re… perfect…”

“Not as perfect as you Prince Seirbigh…” Crystal softly coos, “You are the only thing I have ever truly known to be real in this illusion they call reality…”

“You are the most beautiful diamond in all of the universe, hoof-crafted by the gods, just to be mine…”

“And you, you are the mountain of stone and iron in which I shall lay upon. You will never bow or fall to wind, fire, ice, nor water, and shall be there for me always, as I shall be for you…”

“Crystal…”

“Seirbigh…”

“Crystal…”

“Seirbigh…” The two ponies, under the spell of the poison, continue to repeat each other’s names with seemingly no end. Medicine, now sure that she has played her part, sneaks past the two oblivious lovers and pokes her hooded head out from the tent flaps. The sun blinds her for a split second, but thanks to her hood, she quickly ducks her head down and shields the rays of light from her eyes. She shifts her head side to side and squints her red eyes. The witch sees Dorch to her right, looking back at her with a nervous look upon his face.

“Has the deed been done?” He asks, twiddling his front hooves in anxiousness.

Medicine replies, “It has been done. Your friends are now locked in an eternal gaze of passion. Make sure it stays like that, will you?”

“Yes Miss Uisce. Though, I still do not understand. How will this give me absolute power of Trihearth?”

“All in good time my boy. Good things come to those who wait. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must return to my home. There is a thing that I have been waiting for hundreds of years, and it shall come soon.”

“What ‘tis it?”

“Something that I have desired ever since my banishment, you shall see in time.” The witch then leaves her tent and heads out towards the edge of the festival grounds, leaving behind Dorch with her tent and the two ponies inside. The unicorn turns towards the witch’s abandoned tent and looks inside to see the massive chamber with his two friends still inside, still staring into each other’s eyes and proclaiming the other’s name. Dorch pulls his head back outside to look to where he viewed Medicine slowly walking away, only to find that she had completely vanished from the scene, with no trace left behind.

“An odd pony, that medicine pony… But, if what she says is true, then I shall become the rightful heir to the entire body of government of Trihearth. All I must do now is watch Crystal and Seirbigh, and make sure they stay together.” Dorch then reenters the tent and calls towards the two. “Princess Crystal, Prince Seirbigh, come out. We should head back to the center and wait for Ceann.” The midnight pony doesn’t receive a response from either of the two, as if he wasn’t even there. Sir Dorch then approaches the two lovers, now lightly rubbing their noses against each other. “Pardon me, but I request that both you follow me towards the center of the-”

“Seirbigh,” Crystal utters from her curling lips, “you are the most handsome stallion I have ever seen…”

“Well, maybe you could see his great handsomeness better in the rays of the sun. The center statue is the perfect spot from what I have heard.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Seirbigh replies, now remembering that Dorch exists, “Let us go, my fair lady. In the beams of heaven’s light, I shall be able to take witness to your divine purity.”  Crystal and Seirbigh exit their seats and follow Dorch out of the tent, still keeping their eyes locked onto each other. The trio then exits the unusual tent and heads off towards the statue where they were once before. Dorch looks back after a minute or two of walking to find that the witch’s tent has disappeared, leaving behind a small empty plot of earth and no evidence of its existence.

Act 3 Scene 3: Eternal Bonds

A lone light blue pegasus quietly lies next to the large statue of the royals of Trihearth. Her friends and kin have not yet returned to meet her for at least an hour now. Her gentle eyelids are shut over her soft hazel eyes as the young mare dreams of finding a special somepony of her own. However, her dreaming is cut short all of a sudden by the deep tones of her brother’s voice piercing her visions,

“Sister, wake up.” A moan exits the small body as Ceann wakes up from her slumber. She opens her eyes to see her brother looking over her frail body, then at Crystal and Seirbigh, noticing their unusual public behaviour.

“Wha-what did I miss?” The filly mumbles as she stumbles to her hooves.

“Nothing to concern yourself with Ceann, did you acquire the flowers for our parents?”

“Yes,” Ceann sleepily points to the bundle of flowers off in the distance from where she slept. Dorch grabs the flowers with his magic and examines them.

“These are good. Our parents shall enjoy them. Thank you.”

“Are Seirbigh and Crystal alright? They seem to not be behaving as themselves.”

“They are quite fine. Nothing to worry thy small head with dear sister, you should head off towards home with your flowers before they wilt.”

“But it’s barely before noon. Can’t I stay at the festival a little while longer? I’ve barely have had any time with our friends.”

“I advise you that that is not a productive idea.”

“Why?” However, before Dorch can invent a lie to shoo his sister away, Ceann attention immediately snaps to Crystal tightly wraps her front hooves around Seirbigh’s chest and immediately beginning to rub her face into his fiery mane, yet not letting her line of sight avoid his.

“Seirbigh Cystic,” she loudly moans as she comforts herself in his fur, “you have the strongest of bodies, the most fine of fur, and the most luxurious of manes...”

“You, Crystal Charm,” her lover announces as he embraces the princess with the muscles clenching in his chest, “you have the most mystical of eyes, the most wondrous structure, and the most graceful of hooves…”

Ceann edges her head to see the display of public affection going on behind Dorch before exclaiming, “Oh my! Are you sure they are alright in the head? I have never seen the two quite as, affectionate before.” Dorch’s cheeks grow a bright red and his head turns stiff, now trying harder than ever not to show his fear. Sweat begins to run down his head as his sisters grows more and more suspicious of his activities.

“They are most certainly perfectly fine in the head.” He replies while sidestepping between the two lovers and Ceann to obscure his sister’s view, “Seirbigh and Crystal are merely… unwinding… with their marriage now imminent… yes…” From behind the midnight stallion, the sounds of cooing, moaning, and quite audible sounds of ponies rubbing against each other affectionately catch the ears of both of the royal siblings. “Completely fine I decree.” Ceann stares directly into Dorch’s eyes, catching ever single micromovement they make with hers. It was now obvious he was hiding something, but considering what is going on between her other friends, Ceann figures that her brother may have seen something occur that she dare not know about, but still remains suspicious.

“I see,”

“You should. Now, hurry along home, go study or something of the like. I have a feeling you may require it soon.” The brother then shoves the bouquet of flowers into the younger mare’s mouth and motions his hoof to shoo her. Ceann, although heated after just having thorny plants abruptly planted in her mouth, nods her head in compliance and flies off with the blossoms. Dorch then turns around and sees what his friends are now doing, only to wince in confusion at what he is looking at. Right in front of him, Dorch takes witness to Crystal and Seirbigh, kissing each other flamboyantly. Their mouths being locked together by whatever Dorch could imagine was going on in there. Yet the most disturbing part to Dorch was their eyes, opened wide towards each other, still pulsating the pinks and purples from the love poison. The dark unicorn becomes uncomfortable looking at just their enormous eyes, as if looking at some sort of outlandish pair of creatures mating.

Finally, a minute after becoming mesmerize at the weirdness of the gaping, pulsating eyes. Dorch realigns his attention to the problem at hoof. “How am I going to keep this a secret? It is very uncommon for Crystal and Seirbigh to be this public with their affections towards each other. Surely, somepony will question this and it shall soon lead to me, with the result becoming that I shall be removed from the throne and fail my family and Trihearth. How do I keep this to a limited number of civilians and staff from noticing this abnormal behaviour? How do I keep their parents from knowing? How will they resume eye contact when they require rest? Surely, they’ll have to sleep with their eyes open. Yet, how shall I make so they sleep together with no pony seeing this abnormal sleeping behaviour? Some many questions, if only that old winged zebra was here, it was her plan to begin with.” Dorch sits upon the soft grass below him and silently thinks to himself. His gaze focuses on the two ponies still displaying their now synthetic love, making sure that nothing extreme occurs while he ponders.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea jolts through his consciousness. “I’ve got it! I shall organize a private, romantic cruise around Trihearth for two days. This shall isolate themselves from most of the peasants, nobles, and even royalty from intervening their eye contact and my involvement until the scheduled. Ceann will not intrude, for she has a delicate stomach upon the seas. And with the vessel having only a handful of luxurious resting areas, Seirbigh and Crystal will be able to share a room in privacy and rest with no pony interfering. Yes Sir Dorch Folam, this is a brilliant plan. My father will most certainly be proud of me as I dawn the crown and have control over all of Trihearth, resolving its problems and restore it to its days of glory, harmony, and prosperity.”

The dark blue pony leaps from his seated position and slowly walks directly adjacent to the pink mare and green stallion, still locked in their presentation of eyeing and smooching. “My friends, I have an idea of what you two can do before the wedding. I propose a dreamy oceanic voyage around Trihearth.” The two lovers break from their kissing, but still maintain eye contact, as they acknowledge their friend’s suggestion.

“That would be fantastic,” Seirbigh decrees, “For when the sun sets on the horizon, I shall turn to you Crystal, and I shalt tell you how the beauty of the sunset will not even compare to your amethyst eyes…”

“Is this stallion even hearing himself?”

Crystal responds to Seirbigh’s comment as if neither of them heard Dorch’s offhooved remark, “That would be most lovely. And when the moon glows upon the ocean, I shall turn to you Seirbigh, and I shalt tell you how the splendor of the sea will not even hold challenge to your sapphire eyes…”

“Quite. The voyage will be ready by tonight. Pack your finest clothing, wish thy families farewell, and we shall be off.”

Meanwhile, as Dorch is setting out to execute his plan, Ceann, now in her private room at the Pearl Kingdom castle, is now lying upon her silk bedsheets. It had only been a few minutes since she arrived home and given the flowers to her parents, yet the young lady feels as if she has rested upon her large bed for at least a day. The soft cuddle of her sheets begin to remind her of what Seirbigh’s fur felt like when they played at the beach. She raises her head from the bed glances outside her single window from her room high up within the upper floors of her palace and sees the treetops of the Forest Kingdom off in the distance. Recent memories of Crystal and Seirbigh showing their passion before her soon slip into her mind. An underlying temptation soon entraps her mind in a viscous cycle Ceann initially didn’t want to be a part of, but now finds herself impossible to escape from.”

“Why…” she speaks to herself. “Why do you have these feelings, these emotions, these temptations? You know that Prince Seirbigh is engaged to Crystal, and even before, it would’ve been impossible for you to even see yourself with Seirbigh and betray Crystal. Yet, after seeing what passion, what devotion, what hypnotic sights yielded before you at the festival, you can’t help yourself. The feeling of Seirbigh’s fur, against your own, the intimacy of his deep blue eyes staring into your own, his bodily and spiritual warmth radiating into your very insides, it drives you crazy. You now sometimes see yourself in Crystal’s position, snuggling and kissing that stallion. No, I must remain conscious. I must remain aware of what’s what. I cannot allow myself to endure these temptations. I must not allow it.” The young pegasus remains in her room for the rest of the day, sealing herself from the outside world and Seirbigh, not knowing that he, Dorch, and Crystal, are currently boarding a galleon to sail around the island for two days.

Act 4 Scene 1: Storm of the Seas

The next morning, as the sun begins to rise from the east horizon, a lone galleon sails over the rolling seas only a couple of kilometres away from the coastline of Trihearth. Inside his private chamber, just below the captain’s quarters of the vessel, Dorch wakes from his slumber and is greeted by the smell of salty air and moisture enters his nostrils. He takes a deeper breath and sighs in relaxation to his surroundings. The dark unicorn then exits the room and heads past the galley and up to the main deck of the ship. Although much of his view is obscured by massive white sails, thick webs of suspended rope, and a rather foggy haze, the young sir attempts to get a good look and feel of his surroundings.

“My,” he exclaims to himself, “The sky seems awfully cloudy this morning. A storm may be upon us, but surely nothing too severe shall occur. At least a fine fragrance will be with us, I could use the fresh air. I’ve forgotten how good this feels, with the sun illuminating the grey wool blanket of clouds, the pleasant breezes that comb my fur, the sounds of the ocean and nothing else. I must have been just too focused on my studies to notice. But now, in a couple of days at least, I will never be able to experience this. I will become consumed in political duties to my country, and never have time for this. Seirbigh had a point, surprisingly…”

“Don’t be so gloomy my child…” a stony voice creaks from outside of Dorch’s view. The stallion squeaks in shock and snaps his head towards his right to see who dared to surprise him. It was a familiar-looking pony that spooked him, dressed in a brown cloth that covered her entire body. She is sitting at the edge of the starboard with her back turned against Dorch, appearing as if the mysterious pony was looking towards Trihearth. “You will have plenty of time to enjoy this.”

“Who are you?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Either you must be an absolute idiot, or I must be too elusive for you.”

“Medicine An Uisce I presume then?”

“My, aren’t you clever. However, there is still a lot you should learn.”

“Maybe another time. How did you get on the sh-” The stallion immediately halts his question, already knowing what the response will be.

“I see that you have done a great effort in keeping our two prey from losing eye contact. I saw them during the night, staring into each other’s open eyes whilst their bodies remained stone. Abnormal to most, but I say it’s beautiful, a great feat of brewery and magic matched with a beautiful couple.”

“But not as beautiful as me and Crystal are going to be. Correct?”

“…No.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You and the pony you have been fawning over will not be together. I have other plans for her.”

“Other plans?”

“Yes, I intend for Crystal not to marry you at all. If such a thing were to happen, my plan will surely fail.”

“Your plan? This is supposed to be my plan.”

“Your plan was absolute rubbish. Your intentions were vague and did not prepare you for the results. Therefore, I had to develop another plan that you’d play into that would get you what you want and me what I desire. I too have other plans.” Immediately infuriated with the witch, Sir Dorch charges at his partner and grabs her by the shoulders, spinning her around for her wrinkled face to face towards him.

“What are the meanings of these other plans? I wanted Crystal to be wed to me and Seirbigh to be married Ceann! What makes you think of changing my scheme, my desires, my order?!”

The green and black zebra mockingly laughs with an ear-to-ear grin plastered upon her face. A wet cough abruptly ends her ominous chuck and as she clears her throat, Dorch continues to grow more and more hatred for her apparent betrayal. The witch regains her calm demeanor and replies, “You only truly agreed to absolute power over Trihearth, and I shall deliver. You thought you knew why you wanted to split their love, for mere power and control. I knew what you truly wanted underneath that thick head of yours, but you merely brushed off of my assurance, so I followed you, adjusting the plans to creating a much more vast benefit.”

“So, if I’m not going to marry Crystal at all, then what are you planning to do with them?”

“No need to fret my boy, you will receive all of Trihearth before the sun sets upon the next day, I assure you.”

“Just tell me!”

“Why tell you, when I can show you?” Medicine’s wings begin to fumble beneath her cloak, pulling and tearing at the poor fabric that conceals them. After a moment of fiddling with her concealed feathers, a clear glass bottle drops from beneath her cloth containing several drops of a bright red liquid.

“My payment…”

“Now, summon your friends.”

“But it’s too early, they’re probably still asleep and the guards keeping watch of the two will follow them. You’ll be sighted and locked in the brig for trespassing upon a royal galleon containing three of the four heirs to the thrones of our country.”

“Do it.” Although both quite confused and scared, Dorch nods his head towards the medicine mare and slowly makes his way back down into the galley and to Seirbigh and Crystal’s room, right next to his. Two guards stand half-asleep at each side of the resting chamber’s doors, having not been disturbed when Dorch snuck out to the deck, most likely due to the constant creaking and booming of the ship. The midnight stallion takes a brief gulp of air before loudly clearing his throat. The two armoured guards jump from their sleep and immediately stand at attention, acting as if they didn’t doze off.

“I require Prince Seirbigh and Princess Crystal to accompany me to the main deck.” The two white stallions give each other a skeptical look with the corner of their eyes. “As Sir Dorch, I do not require questioning as to why I request this order. It ‘tis merely a personal matter with friends.” Hesitantly, they bow their heads and step away from the doors, but still keep Dorch within their line of sight “Thank you.” The royal’s horn glows a dark green as the wooden double doors before him slowly creak open, revealing the small yet luxurious bedroom inside. At the other end of the room, lay Crystal and Seirbigh in a large veiled bed. They looked exactly as the witch described them to Dorch, stiff as stone with their eyes still locked upon each other. Soon however, the two bodies begin to shift beneath the sheets upon being disturbed by the dark unicorn. Eventually, Crystal and Seirbigh wake up and exit the bed.

“What has disturbed my Crystal from our delightful rest?” Seirbigh yawns, “Was it you Dorch?”

“I apologize Seirbigh, but I need you to come with me to the main deck.”

“Why must we go now?” Crystal moans, “Can’t we spend some time together in this room, alone with you my Seirbigh?”

“Why spend your lovely time together in this damp chamber when the weather outside is perfect for you to embrace each other in.”

“It ‘tis?”

“Quite.” Immediately, the two lovers dash out of the bedroom and out towards the stairs to the deck above, not letting their eyes escape each other for the entire duration of the run. Meanwhile, with the two guards following Dorch, the dark stallion slowly makes his way, making sure that the witch has planned will be executed in time before any staff see her.

After a minute or two of slow walking and minor intentional distractions, Dorch and the two guards reach the deck. Medicine was not present anymore and the only activity to be seen is Seirbigh and Crystal at the bow of the ship cuddling each other and a couple bolts of lightning jolting across the blackening sky. The two guards assume nothing suspicious and head towards the bow to supervise the prince and princess. As the four ponies are distracted, Dorch explores around the outside of the ship, searching for the witch. As he reaches the stern, a small glass clink grasps his ears’ attention. Dorch swivels around to see the glass bottle Medicine had dropped before, only now empty from any liquid content. He then looks back towards the stern and sees the witch standing there with her cloak now missing. “Medicine!”

“It is time!” She bellows. Suddenly, the dark grey clouds above begin to swirl into a spiral. Heavy rainfall soon bathes the entire area in a matter of seconds. Lightning strikes hit the roaring waves surrounding the vessel, unleashing a wave of thunder every couple of seconds. At the bow of the ship, foaming sea water splashes on board of the rocking galleon, drenching Crystal, Seirbigh, and the guards in icy cold water. Dorch is barely able to keep his hoofing against the violent gales sweeping through his body. Medicine however stands perfectly firm at the edge of the stern, looking up to the menacing skies.

“Is this your doing?”

“Here my plea, great beast Aspidochelone. I call for you, my master. With scales of that of a dragon and the strength of a million titans, you are a god in my eyes. For thousands of years, you have fallen asleep, vanishing beneath the waves, leaving only the top of your magnificent shell to become exposed to the light. I have brought you the fresh blood of a pony blessed with your bread. Feed upon it, and become known to all once more! The ponies that have built their cities upon your foundations, they have become corrupt, and have become unworthy to live upon thy foundation they call Trihearth.”

“Wait, are you saying that Trihearth’s actually the top of the shell of a monster? That’s preposterous, you’ve gone mad!”

“The foalish ponies have forgotten of your name and power. I was once one of them savages. Yet, when I was disowned by them, I found you. Isolated in the swamps, the only piece of your land still preserved in your image, I have gained from your mighty wisdom. As your loyal servant, I ask for you to forgive me, and smite the ones that have wronged you!”

“Enough of this madness I decree! This was not in our deal. I am to rule Trihearth, not have it destroyed with whatever black magic you are up to. Cease!”

“From the four corners of the world, from every top of a mountain and bottom of a pit, from every pony of every type, they shall be reminded of your presence my king. Awake my master! Surge domine mi!” The witch then arches her neck back to the farthest it can go before snapping a screams out with all of her might. The scream was that of a banshee, causing the storm to go silent compared to its mighty pitch and piercing volume. Dorch’s eardrums burn out in only a couple of seconds, the black skies above ripple and bend to her screech, and even the restless waves seem to be affected by the horrendous scream. A bold of lightning strikes the stern of the ship, creating a bright flash that blinds the dark unicorn. The shriek immediately dies upon Medicine being struck.

Dorch soon regains his vision after a couple of seconds of blindness and ringing in his ears. However, Dorch notices that the witch had vanished with no trace, not even a burn mark remained from the bolt. He looks around to see the storm still raging, but now he cannot hear it.

The stallion attempts to speak to himself, “What ‘tis this wizardry now?” However, he does not hear his voice, leading to a horrible discovery. Dorch realizes that he had become permanently deaf from that witch’s scream. Yet that and the raging storm did not matter now, as the sir knew what would happen if Seirbigh and Crystal were to break eye contact during this storm for a long enough time.

Meanwhile, all of Tartarus is breaking loose at the bow. The four ponies cling to the flooring with all of their might as the gales and sea work together to try and knock them off as if it was a sadistic game. Back and forth, the ship rocks and breaks at the seams, either going to capsize or snap in two at any moment. Crystal and Seirbigh continue to gaze into each other’s eyes however, seeing both the oblivious love and the known fear in each other.

“Seirbigh!” Crystal screams, “Don’t fall!”

“I won’t!” Seirbigh yells back.

“Can you fly?” The pegasus attempts to open his wings, only to find them frozen stiff from the water.

“They’re frozen stiff, I can’t!” A humongous gust of wind then rips across the ship, launching the bow up into the air. The two armoured guards lose their grip and tumble down the deck of the ship. Luckily, they manage to grab onto the upper deck’s railing and catch Dorch, still in his state of panic, as he was about to fall just below them. The boat drops back down onto the water, launching the two lovers off of the deck and onto the bowsprit. With Crystal and Seirbigh now dangling over the edges of the wooden pole and only their forelegs keeping them from falling into the abyss below, the two attempt to reach and grab each other’s hooves. Their muscles and skin burn as they try with all of their might to protect each other, for this was not just the power of the love poison that is driving them this far.

“Seirbigh…”

“Crystal…”

“I almost got you my love!”

“Just another inch my love!” However, just as they are about to touch and lock hooves, a rouge lightning bolt smashes into the part of the bowsprit between them and the main ship. The pole snaps off and drops down towards the dark blue liquid below. Crystal and Seirbigh scream in terror as they prepare for the inevitable. Just before the green pegasus hits the waves, an aura of white magic encapsulates him and lifts him from the water. Crystal however, falls into the foaming sea and disappears before her love’s vision in a flash. “Crystal!!!” The pink Earth Pony, now below the ocean surface and deep in the water, looks up to see Seirbigh hovering back towards the deck of the ship. She tries to call for his name, only for saltwater to flood her mouth and lungs. Crystal struggles with all of her valor, but everytime she gets close to the surface, the waves manage to push her deeper below than before.

At the bow of the ship, Dorch stands next to the two unicorn guards fishing the prince from the water, watching in fear of Medicine’s warning. However, upon the guards letting go of Seirbigh onto the deck, the green stallion charges towards the edge and attempts to dive back into the water.

“Seirbigh don’t!” Dorch yells out. The two guards grab Seirbigh once more and hover him behind the edge.

“I must rescue Crystal! I must see into her eyes once more! I MUST!” The fanatic stallion bucks and struggles in the rain, trying to escape his watchers’ grip. The two guards begin to look over the bow to try to gain visibility for Crystal in the sea, but as with Seirbigh, the dark water and violent foamy waves make it impossible for them to see. Crystal on the other hoof, sees them near-perfectly from beneath the waves. Her eyes still gaze into Seirbigh’s, despite the sting of the salt water in her eyes and the ever-growing pain in her limbs. The guards continue to search, the storm continues to stir, Seirbigh continues to struggle, Dorch continues to watch in fright of the poison’s effects dying, and Crystal continues to survive for what seems like forever. Finally, after an hour of thrashing, Crystal’s strength immediately dies. Her magenta eyes turn grey as they close. The last of her breath escapes from her small body as she gently drifts towards the unseen bottom of the sea.

Back above the surface, the hurricane abruptly comes to a stop and slowly returns to normal. The waves calm down and the sun shines once more through the grey morning clouds. Seirbigh finally ends his struggling against the guards and the two gently place him near the center of the bow’s deck. Panting, Seirbigh’s eyes close for a minute to process what had just happened. “What happened?” He asks, “Why don’t I remember anything ever since the festival?” Dorch couldn’t hear what his friend said, but didn’t care at the moment. As the prince opens his eyes again, the unicorn notes how the eyes have returned to their normal state before the poison’s effects took over. He knew that the love poison’s love effects have died, but to his fortunate surprise, the grim aftereffects the witch had stated have not happened.

“How can this be,” Dorch accidentally loudly whispers, “Seirbigh hadn’t turned into a monster. Was the witch truly mad this entire time? Will Trihearth not be destroyed by some mythic monster of the deep? I should’ve figured.” The guards and Seirbigh snap their heads towards the suspicious pony in confusion.

“What?” Dorch then immediately realizes his mistake and turns his head to see the three stallions staring at him.

“Ahem, never mind that. We must return to shore at once, there we shall recount what has occurred with the royals and decide what course of action we shall take. We must uphold our lucidity on this unstable vessel, despite what has just happened. We must protect those on board and prevent a similar incident occurring. Guards,” The white stallions give each other a look at first, but soon come to agree with Dorch. They quickly gallop past him and into the interior of the galleon, preparing the ship and remaining staff inside for return.

“Dorch, what has happened? Where’s Crystal? Where’s Ceann? Why are we on this destroyed galleon?”

“Seirbigh, I’m afraid I have some terrible news for you. When we return to Trihearth, I shall explain everything there. Best not to ask me questions, I will not be able to hear you.” Eventually, the ship turns towards their island home and the ponies sail off with grave news to tell. On their way, Dorch turns back towards where Crystal was last seen. A bitter guilt builds from his insides, the guilt of killing one of his few friends. But he tries to shake it off, reasoning with himself that it was not his fault.

Act 4 Scene 2: Rearranged Marriage

Back at the harbor of the Pearl Kingdom, everypony anxiously watches as the ship that is carrying Dorch and Seirbigh approaches them. Ceann, Crystal’s parents, Seirbigh’s parents, and Dorch’s parents stand side by side at the boardwalk’s edge, all the most concerned for their loved ones. After what seemed to be hours of anticipation, the lone ship finally reaches the port and slowly stops at an appropriate location. The two guards and several sailors that are on the ship promptly jump out and tie the ship to the moors on the dock. The ponies spectating grow more and more intense as this silent procedure continues. The guards then levitate the boarding plank from over the boat’s railing and straddle it between the edge of the vessel and the dock before the seven royals. A dark blue unicorn appears from over the edge of the ship and makes his way down the plank.

“Dorch!” Empress Dia calls out. A glowing smile emits from her, Tiotán, and Ceann as their kin walks towards them.

“Hello mother, father, sister,” Dorch solemnly replies, “I have something to speak with you about.”

“What ‘tis it? Was it the storm? We all saw it from afar. Are you hurt?”

“Mother, I didn’t hear a thing that you have just said, nor will I ever be able to hear you. I have become deaf. The reason why, I know not,”

Tears begin to swell in his mother’s eyes as she quickly rushes to his and embraces her son in her hooves. “My poor baby! What a travesty this is! I will never be able to tell you how much I love you,  you’ll never be able to play with your friends  the same way as before, nor will you be able to run your kingdom with as much ease as you have prepared yourself for these many years! I’m so sorry!”

“Dorch, you’ve become deaf in thy ear?” Seirbigh responds from behind. The ponies look up to see the prince hovering from above Dorch and Dia.

“Seirbigh!” The lord of the Metal Kingdom shouts, “Are you quite alright?”

“I’m fine father, although I’m not entirely sure. I seem to be suffering from some sort of amnesia, I can’t remember anything after the festival yesterday it seems.”

“That blasted storm,” Seirbigh’s mother groans, “it must have performed a number upon your crown.”

“It must’ve.”

“Where’s Crystal?” Ceann asks as she lifts herself to her friend’s level.

“I haven’t the slighted clue. I searched our galleon high and low for her. It was if she had never boarded. Yet from what I’ve heard, she had joined me and Dorch on a voyage.”

“Wait, look below, one of the guards is approaching the king and queen of the Forest Kingdom. Maybe he knows the whereabouts of Crystal.” As Ceann stated, the white unicorn guard slowly walks towards Crystal’s parents, still concerned about her absent presents. The stallion motions his hoof and the two rulers lend their ears towards him. The guard then whispers into their ears, telling them about their daughter’s grim fate. The lady and prince watch in horror as Adamán and Ceria’s faces turn from an anxious look, to a shocked expression, to a saddened frown. Tears begin to rain down their cheeks, as well as the guard’s, as he finishes his story. Thousands of possible fates race through the two onlooker’s heads. The two float down as the crying stallion turns back towards his partner and Dorch with his mother still attached to him.

“What did he say your majesty?” King Adamán slowly turns his head towards the green pegasus, allowing his watery browns to be meet with Seirbigh’s ocean blues.

Sniveling back tears, Crystal’s father cries, “My daughter, she-she fell from the boat during the storm. The guards couldn’t find her in time… And she- And she-e- And she… …drowned…”

“What? It can’t be!”

“I wish that as well, b-but, it just is.”

“Crystal, is dead?” Ceann whimpers, forcing back the tears building up in her eyes. “But-but, why? She didn’t deserve to die! Why?!” Queen Ceria’s head perks up upon hearing Ceann’s questioning and slowly turns her head towards Lord Seirbigh and Madam Petti, walking towards their son.

Ceria calls out, “Petti…”

“What?” The madam replies in concern, “Do you need me? I’m so sorry for your daughter.”

“You miss are certainly not!” Immediately, everypony whips their heads towards the two mares, catching the queen’s violent remark. The red unicorn begins to tower herself above her white Earth Pony nemesis as Ceria yells at her. “So this is your response to the activists attacking your family, by killing one of ours? A pegasus like Seirbigh would have no trouble creating such a storm to kill Crystal and create a thunderclap powerful enough to turn Dorch deaf. How dare you!”

“How dare I?” The madam swiftly shouts back, “Are you mad? My boy would never harm or even lay a foul hoof upon her or anypony that didn’t rightfully deserve it. What if it was your daughter that planned this all? What if she poisoned Seirbigh’s mind, poised Dorch to become deaf, to forget and not know of her plotting and executing her death in order for us to appear as the villains?”

“My daughter would never stoop to such lows as of killing herself in such a barbaric scheme.”

“My son would never attempt such an evil as to murder a pony.” King Adamán and Lord Seirbigh jump in between the two bickering mares in an attempt to calm them down.

“Ceria, dear,” Adamán states, “what if wasn’t the Metal Kingdom’s fault? What if it was just a normal typhoon?”

“Petti, darling,” Lord Seirbigh proclaims, “The Forest Kingdom wouldn’t do that. You said so yourself, it might have been the storm that tempered our son’s mind.”

“No, it was them!” The two female rulers scream. They walk around their husbands and return to their stances, ready to fight.

However, just as they were about to raise their hooves, a random voice in the crowd of peasants speaks up, “What if Sir Dorch did it?” The two rulers’ hear the random shout and immediately turned their attention towards Dorch, Tiotán, and Dia, with the three looking back at them.

“Emperor Tiotán,” the king barks, “I’ve known you as a sly, villainous, scheming dog for all of my life. This would be something you’d pull.”

The lord continues, “You’ve boasted about your son’s incredible abilities in magic. Creating a storm and giving my son amnesia would not be out of his range if I assume correct. And faking being deaf ‘tis a very simple feat.”

“And given our trust issues two days ago, killing my daughter would ultimately give you overall power to all of Trihearth. What say you now, you tyrant?!”

“You plotted this attack upon both of our families. I’m usually a peaceful, diplomatic ruler, but when somepony does something so underhanded to my son and his love, then my restraints are released.” As the two male leaders stalk towards Tiotán, Dia, and Dorch, the surrounding citizens begin to form a wall between the mainland and the boardwalk their rulers stand upon, both fearing and anticipating what will happen next. Cheers and boos erupt amongst the spectators for and against each of the three kingdoms.

The emperor raises a hoof towards the approaching stallions and shouts, “You dare think I would do this? You don’t deserve your crowns, and neither do your wives or your children if they are anything like you! If this must result in bloodshed, I will be more than willing to defend my kingdom, Trihearth’s future, and my family! Dia, move Dorch away from us and prepare to fight.” Dia looks at her husband preparing to fight the two stallions before him, knowing that she must protect Dorch even at the cost of her life. The empress shoos her son towards the wall of ponies and slowly reaches the emperor’s side, ready to fight as well. Madam Petti faces against Queen Ceria, King Adamán faces against Emperor Tiotán, Empress Dia faces against Lord Seirbigh, all ready to brawl to the death. They each look into each other’s eyes, seeing the sadness, the anger, the animosity, and their sheer will flowing throughout their pupils.

However, just as their lift their hooves to deliver the first punches, a pair of ponies on the boardwalk scream, “STOP!” The six rulers, followed by Sir Dorch, look over to where the screams originated from and see Prince Seirbigh and Lady Ceann, standing side by side at the edge of the port, wings barely touching each other.

“This has to stop,” Ceann proclaims. Determination bursts from her and her stiff body as the rulers become powerless to shut her up nor continue fighting. “This fighting will solve nothing. My friend will never come back, my brother will never be able to hear again, and I may never get over the heartache that has fallen upon me, not to mention Seirbigh. There is no reason to fight, other than destroy your own ponies and the centuries of greatness our ancestors trusted us with. I will not stand for this violence, and neither will Seirbigh, my friend.”

“What is this dear daughter,” Tiotán rumbles, “Why do you stand near the very pony that could’ve very well killed your friend? For all we know, he could be lying about the whole amnesia thing. Why do you trust him?”

“Because he’s my friend, my best friend, and I know as a friend that he would never in a million centuries lie to me nor intentionally harm Crystal.”

“Whatever you believe, fine, you shall continue to believe. But that does not excuse for the break in the deal. Crystal is dead, therefore Seirbigh will not be able to marry her, therefore, the Forest Kingdom and the Metal Kingdom must have their political powers stripped from them and handed towards us.” Immediately, the leaders return their glares back to their rivals and snap back into combat stances. Growls rumble from behind their grinding teeth as the fight is once again set to begin. Ceann looks to Seirbigh, staring what seemed to be nothing. Small pools of tears begin to build under his eyes, as the full of weight of Crystal’s death falls upon him. Lady Ceann watches as the once stoic stallion beside her degrades into a weeping wreck. The gears in the little filly’s head rotate rapidly as she contemplates what to do.

“What should I do?” She silently whispers to herself, “I can take Crystal’s place and marry the prince, restoring Trihearth to harmony. But what would my family think of me? They would disown me and treat me as one of that of the Forest Kingdom, an enemy. And what happens when the time comes? I won’t be at my brother’s side to aid him with hearing. But I just can’t leave my friends’ and their futures be crushed, I must take the risk if I’m going to save them. But what about Crystal? What would she think of me if she saw me taking away her love that has been loyal to her for years? What would she want me to do? Yet, there’s something, something that’s telling me to forget my friend, that she is dead and no longer matters. Is it my desire to be with Seirbigh, the fantasies that have plagued me for the last hours, the urge to be with a stallion that has displayed his dedication towards a partner? My body says yes, my mind says yes, my soul says yes, but I am still finding myself saying no. Am I aware that these are dark temptations that must be cleansed from me, or am I oblivious to what is truly at risk and what is not of risk? I can easily tempt Seirbigh with my beauty and trick him into replacing his once love with me. The emptiness in him is at its ripe and he’d most likely do anything to fill it back up, replacing his dedications to Crystal in a heartbeat if needed. If I wasn’t so conflicted with these feelings, I would have called it pure evil. But the young, innocent me has left with Crystal, and now, the adult, mature me has made her decision. I will restore harmony to Trihearth and have Seirbigh, no matter the costs as I have been told…”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” The crowds of onlookers chant as the six large monarchs edge closer and closer to starting the first swing.

“Wait! I shall take Princess Crystal Charm’s place as the kin of the Forest Kingdom!”

“What?!”

“In order to restore equality and peace to our three houses, I will change my position as a daughter of the Pearl Kingdom to that of a daughter of the Forest Kingdom. Then, I shall marry Seirbigh and restore the treaties to when they were full and unscaved.”

“What?” Crystal’s mother reasonably asks, “Why? Why would you do that for us?”

“Because you are also my friends.” Queen Ceria becomes shocked at the young mare’s response. Ever since Ceann’s birth, Ceria always looked down upon the filly, seeing her as one of the enemy. She had always thought the blue pegasus would never like her due to the rivalry between the kingdoms. Seeing such undeserved loyalty given to her shatters her cold heart as the queen slowly walks to the small mare with a small smile appearing on Ceria’s face.

“I, I am your friend?”

“Why not? You had no fault over the death of your daughter, and seeing you lose the control of your loyal ponies, it would kill me if I wasn’t loyal to those who are to be my allies.” Adamán’s angry glaring at the emperor comes to a screeching halt when he catches his wife at the corner of her eyes with the small pony. Tiotán soon follows, followed by the lord and madam of the Metal Kingdom and the empress of the Pearl Kingdom. “King Adamán Charm, Queen Ceria Charm, will you accept me into your family and allow me to marry Prince Seirbigh? I shall rule your kingdom as your daughter would have if she was still alive.”

The rulers of the Forest Kingdom give each other a quick look before the king responds, “If you are willing to do so, then I see no reason why not.”

“What say you Seirbigh?” Ceann looks back over to see Seirbigh, now shivering on the floor. It has seemed that he kept his sadness so silent and to himself, that no pony noticed. “Seirbigh?”

“What?” A sniffling moan exits the green ball of fur, “You aren’t Crystal. She’s gone now.”

“Seirbigh, I know how it feels. It feels as if you have an aching void in thy chest, seemingly never to be able to be filled. I was always there for you, and I always will be there for you, to fill that void.”

“It’s not the same without her. Like an idiot, I let her slip from me and let her die, what makes you not think that I might do the same to you?”

“I can assure you, I will never leave your side.” The prince winces as the soft light blue nose of Ceann brushes against his wing. “Please, don’t let your parents down, don’t let Trihearth down, don’t let me down.”

“…” Ceann looks back at the spectating ponies. They soon realize the invasive atmosphere they’re creating and promptly back away. The six rulers exit the boardwalk as well and watch from a distance. Dorch however, leaves without anypony noticing to find the witch and find a way to restore his hearing.

On the edge of the boardwalk, Ceann edges her mouth close to Seirbigh’s exposed ear and softly speaks, “Seirbigh, I’ve never had the courage to say this before. But, now… Seirbigh, I love you.” The stallion exits from his ball shape to look up at Ceann’s face. Her eyes began to glow in the shade of her shadow, her baby blue mane droops down like the vines of a willow tree, and her mouth opens into a small smile that begins to mesmerize the prince with its charm. Desperate to fill the black void in his hole, Seirbigh’s mind begins to forget his loyalties to Crystal as the beautiful young mare hovers above.

“I-I-I, shall. I shall marry you. If you are able to fill this agony, then yes, make my suffering end.”

“As you wish.” Seirbigh leaps up onto his hooves as he and Ceann begin their way off of the harbor and onto the mainland where everypony else it. However, as the two walk, a subtle guilt begins to enter each of their minds, guilt of how wrong or foalish they made their choices, but the temptations for each other manage to keep the guilt at bay from manifesting into anything notable.

Act 4 Scene 3: Transformation

The bottom of the sea, a vast wasteland where very few venture into, and even fewer return. From what limited visibility one can get, only sand can be seen in this aquatic wasteland. Several rocks of various sizes are sprinkled around the area, but being too far apart from one another, most would say they don’t exist down in the unknown. On one of the larger stones, the small, pink body of an Earth Pony lays there, lifeless. It had been hours since the poor creature had air in her lungs, warmth in her heart, eye contact with her long gone lover. Her golden hair had lost its glow a long time ago, and is now just a ribbon of yellow hair attached to a pink figure. The body once known as Princess Crystal Charm continues to lay there motionless, with no sign of life to be found anywhere near it.

However, Crystal was not truly alone at the bottom of the oceans outside of Trihearth. A voice, deep and ominous, echoes from seemingly nowhere and enters the ears of the mare, “Wake up…” The young mare’s eyes open from hearing the voice. All she sees is darkness and the pale ground surrounding her black island. The last thing she remembers before blacking out and waking in this strange place was her struggling to reach Seirbigh on the ship during the storm.

“Am, am I dead?” Crystal speaks, unsure of where she is or how she got here.

“No, nor are you alive.”

“What? Where am I? What do you mean by me not being alive?”

“So many questions, so much time, so much to do. And to think, I’ve only awoken from my centuries of slumber in less than a day.”

“Who are you? Where’s Seirbigh? Please tell me!”

“My, I can’t just let my newly appointed proxy struggle like this, I must enlighten you. You are currently on the ocean floor, a couple of kilometers off of the coast of Trihearth. Your life was depleted from your body when you drowned on the surface above by a storm one of my loyal servants summoned from me. However, you are not dead. Your body, your soul, your passion for this stallion you speak of still exists in this world. The love can be seen in your eyes that pulsate the colours of desire.”

“What does that mean?”

“Your body and soul do not thrive upon life anymore, but upon love. You have never broken eye contact with your love with the last seconds of your life, fueling your soul to never pass on and pursue the love that is now bonded to your essence. And now that you have no life within you, I shall now take over your body and breathe a new life into it, and make you my proxy.”

“But who are you? And what do you plan to do with me?” A loud rumble then shakes the ocean floor, nearly throwing Crystal from her rock. She sees something move in the darkness in front of her, it appeared to be massive. The large figure then moves forward and reveals itself to her. The voice that had been speaking to her turns out to be what appeared to be a massive dragon’s head, with a curved mouth resembling the structure of that of a parrot and millions of dark red scales masking its face. A pair of glowing yellow eyes opens near the top of the beast’s head and stares into Crystal.

“My name is Aspidochelone, the Great Beast of the Unknown Seas. I travel the world and display my power and majesty to all. However, one day I fell asleep and  could not wake up, most likely a sleeping poison was placed upon me by some hunter in attempts to slay me. As I slept for thousands of years, the backmost part of my great shell became the foundation for an island, the island you know as Trihearth. But, instead of respecting me, it appears that the citizens of this country don’t give their gratitude for me supplying their home, and have become corrupted individuals fighting each other for their own selfish reasons. And thanks to one of my loyalist of proxies, I have awoken to my fresh blood flowing through my veins. You shall serve as my instrument of revenge for the destruction of the prestige of my body.”

“But Trihearth is not corrupt. It’s just going through troubling times now, peace and harmony will return.”

“Are you sure? How then? Thrill me if thou must.”

“I was about to marry the love of my life, Seirbigh. And together in the future, along with my friends Dorch and Ceann, we’d take our place as rulers and repair the bonds that were once broken at the time of our parents’ reign.”

“You claim that this Seirbigh is loyal to you?”

“Why would he be not?”

“I sense otherwise. My shell hears what is happening upon the surface, and it hears of something that challenges thy statement. But you don’t believe me, does thou? I shall show you, my servant.”

The massive beast’s eyes close and deep rumble emanates from its head. Crystal groans in discomfort as she feels her spine and her hooves being stretched out beyond her natural limits. “What are you doing? My body, it feels strange…” She then looks down to see her lush, pink fur and sees it rot into a sickly black. “My coat, it’s disgusting!” Crystal then witnesses her golden waves of hair decay into streaks of teal vines. “My mane! Please, stop it!” No response from the beast is given to her as the transformation continues. Sharp pains spike across the princess’ body as holes begin to appear on her hooves. A long, sharp, gnarled horn sprouts from her forehead and stretches several centimeters in length. Thin, weathered, insectoid wings emerge from her sides with a crystalline structure forming around her midriff. Crystal, now crying as the pain drastically increases, begins to bash herself against the hard rock below her, trying to end it all, but only worsens the agony of the alteration. “Please... Stop…” But the dragon-like beast is not done yet. He continues to deform his victim even further by giving her fangs, a scrawny torso, and turning her eyes from their once magenta hue into a hypnotic gradient of cyan colours. When his work was complete, the beast known as Aspidochelone opens his piercing eyes once more to see his creation.

“You are now perfect, my servant.”

“Perfect?! I’m hideous!” Crystal weeps, examining her new form. Her voice begins to grow deeper and distorted, like two similar voices unsynchronized, “I hate everything of what you’ve done to me! Anypony will not recognize me and think of me as a monster. My citizens, my friends, my family, even Seirbigh will be revolted by my ugly appearance. I’ll do anything, anything you desire, just change me back to whom I was.” The behemoth stayed silent for a while, contemplating his vast array of options.

“I give you the ability to change your form. I shall now call you by that by the name of a Changeling, a name suited for you and other creature of your likeness. However, you can only change your appearance into that in which a pony loves. This shall include friends, family, lovers, or anypony that receives anything by the definition of love that I see fit.”

“What do you mean by other creatures?”

“Other animals, ponies, or botanical life that has a likeness to you and your abilities, this includes proxies that you wish to create to help execute my commands. How to create a Changeling of your own control, you must seep out the life of a living pony by either biting into his neck, or engage the pony in intercourse. This shall also be your means of self-survival, for although I am replacing your life, your body still needs food, and that food is love. Now, do as I say, and go to Trihearth. There you shall see the erring of your beliefs.”

“Why should I do anything you say? I might as well let myself starve to death than serve you and accept your disturbing methods.”

“You can. There is nothing I can do to prevent that. But what about Seirbigh, you still seek him. Don’t you? You are practically at the edge of your stone, wondering what is going on upon the surface world. There’s no use denying it, all I have said, you are accepting it to be possible, but thou doesn’t know if it is in actuality.”

“Stop this now! You’re putting words that I have not spoken into my mouth!”

“You may not have spoken it, but I can sense within the darkest, most secretive fragments of your body and soul. End this self-denial now, do as I say, and go back to Trihearth. Your new life begins now…” With that said, the massive beast retreats back into the darkness, with the last thing Crystal seeing are his yellow eyes. Now, back alone on the barren ocean floor, the disfigured mare looks at herself once more as she thinks of what to do next.

“Why must this have happened to me? What must I have done to deserve this? Am I a monster, or still a mare? Must I follow this ‘master’ and return to my home, as this disgusting abomination? Will Seirbigh still see me as Crystal Charm, or a demon of the seas? I still love him, but will he still love me? And what did that monster mean by me creating my own Changelings and surviving without a life of my own? Must I kill and turn the innocent into abominations like me, all for the pleasure of some mysterious creature of the deep? I can no longer trust what life tells me to do, for it is gone and replaced with the wishes of that foul beast. My body and soul say no, and yet, at the same time, it desires for me to return to my love, no matter the costs. I must go to Trihearth, I shall return to my home, and I will reunite with Seirbigh.”

The black creature looks up towards the sun above the surface of the water. Her wings unfold and begin to buzz rapidly, lifting her off of the black rock she had laid upon for hours. Crystal quickly ascends to the ocean surface and bursts from the waters, returning to the sunlight and air she was used to. Hovering several metres above the sea, the reborn pony looks around and sees Trihearth in the distance. Giving no time to take in her surroundings, the princess darts off towards the island, more eager than ever to see in her love’s eyes once more.

“Go, do as I command thee. As soon as chaos reaches its peak across each of the warring states, I shall make myself known once more…”

Act 5 Scene 1: Siren’s Call

A reawaken Crystal soars over the forests of Trihearth, searching for her home. The air is cool as it brushes across the black fur of the mare. It smelled of thousands of candles, all burning at once. The princess knew that smell all too well, for it was the scent of a moment of greatness throughout all of the kingdom.

“My,” Crystal speaks to herself, “this scent that fills the air. Mostly during weddings would this aroma make itself present, for thousands of candles would be lit to commemorate a joyous occasion such as that. Today’s the day of the wedding if I recall correctly. Does my love still hope that I am alive, and is waiting for me? What joy! He still loves me then! If that oceanic monstrosity’s correct then I can assume the form of my old self, and it shall be as if nothing had ever happened! I’m coming my love!”

The energetic mare soon finds her castle at the center of the area and descends to it. She then locates the church located nearby her home and swoops down to its front doors. As the stone and wood chapel towers over her, Crystal begins to feel nervous. “What if I’m too late? Will Seirbigh not notice me as a Changeling? If my disguise fails, he’ll surely know, how would he react?” Crystal takes a deep breath for a moment to calm herself down. “There’s no need to panic Crystal... I just need assume the form of Seirbigh’s desire…” The nervous mare takes another breath before singing a tune to herself.

“This day is going to be perfect, the kind of day of which I've dreamed since I was small, everypony will gather around, say I look lovely in my gown, one in which I shall design with my true love…” As Crystal continues to hum, the bottom of her hooves glow a thick green aura of lime. They begin traveling up her legs, leaving behind a set of golden slippers where her hooves filled with holes were. Crystal’s eyes face forward into the pair of golden door handles facing her as she prepares to make her grand entrance. The transformation finishes her torso and now her head and face become engulfed in the green glow. “Finally the moment has arrived, for me to be one lucky bride…”

With a swift push of her front hooves, the wooden doors to the wedding hall open with a loud groan. Crystal becomes shocked at what she sees before her. At the altar at the far end of the church, stand Prince Seirbigh and Lady Ceann before the priest reading from his book. The surprised mare attempts to tell herself that her friend is merely the maid of honor, but her ears begin to tell her a different story.

The priest’s words echo throughout the audience sitting upon the oak benches and to Crystal just outside, “…For it is not the words that you will speak today that will bond you together as one, but the strength of the love and commitment found deep within your souls…“

A wave in fury washes over the onlooking princess as Crystal loudly yells, “What is the meaning of this?!” Everypony in the aisles whip their head back towards the unseen pony, only to give looks of shock and confusion upon seeing who it is. Several gasps rupture from the crowds, even the priest begins to wheeze from what he is seeing. “Well? I demand an answer.” The fuming pony then marches herself down the runway to the alter. The white priest stamper and stutters, searching for the right words to address the situation.

“B-b-b-but, how?”

“How am I still alive? Out of the matter now, what I demand to know is why Ceann is marrying Seirbigh. He’s mine.” Crystal begins to notice something wrong with her voice. It wasn’t as she remembered her original voice as, but rather, a softer, more gentler one.

“But you, well you appear to be miss, is that of Lady Ceann, a-another one…”

“What? I am Crystal Charm, princess of the Forest Kingdom-” A light blue stand of hair drops in front of Crystal’s vision, small feathers soon to make their presence known to the mare’s sides, and Crystal begins to notice how small she is compared to everypony else. Slowly, the princess looks down and begins to cry at what she sees.

“M-my fur, is blue, instead of pink. Instead of being bare in the back, I have wings. Instead of my normal size, I’m smaller than I was. Instead of having golden locks of hair, I have these light blue strands. Why do I look like Ceann? Seirbigh, have thou betrayed his loyalty to me, Crystal, for her…” Seirbigh winces upon his name being called by the mysterious doppelganger.

The green pegasus tries to keep his composure as he replies, “Well, you see, I-I-I… When I thought you died, I had to marry another in order to keep my family and kingdom safe and…”

“Lies…” Crystal bows her head towards the floor, seeing the baby blue fur exposed from the shortness of the slippers that she did not see outside the building. The corner of her right eye catches a glimpse of her mother and father, watching at the front bench. She know they still loved her. Her body then undergoes another transformation, this time into the figure of her parents’ memory. The crowd gasps as Crystal reveals herself as the form she once was known as. Still having her head lowered, the princess begins to thinks of the past. “Nineteen years ago, I was born, and one of the first ponies I saw as a foal was you, Prince Seirbigh. I look back at that moment right now, and I see that even when you were only a year old, you saw me as beautiful. We played together, every day, oblivious to the wars between our parents. Dorch was too busy being prepared by his father, even when he was merely two years old, and Ceann was never even born at the time, so the only friend I had was you, and the only friend you had was me. Even when Ceann was born, we were still as close as we were before. The years went on, Ceann and Dorch joined our circle of friendship, and we all played together. But you, you never could keep your eyes off of me. Then, as we got older and more mature, we discovered that the chemistry between us all this time, was love. All this time, we were meant to be together, no matter what happened. An undying loyalty, had stayed ever since the start of our lives on this land. Yet, here, the most important days of our union, the day where everything dating all the way back nineteen years has been building up to. And what do I see? I see that you have destroyed it with another mare. Why?”

“Crystal… I-It ‘tis you!” Slowly, the prince approaches Crystal, tears beginning to water in his eyes, both of guilt and of joy. “I’m so sorry. When it looked as if you died, I was heartbroken. I needed somepony to repair my broken heart. Please understand, I was desperate. We can still be married once more, seeing as you’re still alive.” At first, Crystal doesn’t respond. Her head slowly shifts from side to side as the gears in her mind whirl rapidly. Suddenly, something inside her snaps, releasing an inner demon of unmeasurable power. Her tears turn to steam and her eyes begin to burn with hatred.

Crystal’s head snaps forward into Seirbigh’s frightened eyes and the mare begins to yell at him, “What’s the point now? You desire Ceann now and not me, I know, you can’t lie. You think you can merely say some words to make me see past that? Is this what love is, shallow loyalty with a pony until they are gone, just to move on to the next one and continue the cycle?! How was I such an idiot back then to believe in such a stupid thing? I see it now. Love is merely a tool to get what your selfish black heart desires, your animalistic cravings and nothing more. You have destroyed my life Seirbigh, you.”

“Crystal, I’m sorry, I admit that I was being foalish for not being loyal to you. I admit it all! Please, forgive me!”

“Never!” A tingling sensation begins to tickle at her hooves. Crystal looks down to see her pink hooves return to their disgusting black and punctured state. She looks back at Ceria and Adamán, both shaking their heads in tremor and sadness.

“What have you become?” Her mother’s mouth words as she watches her daughter slowly turn into a monster.

“Mother! Father! It’s me, your daughter, Crystal. Remember?”

“I do,” her father solemnly replies, “and you are not her…” Slowly, Crystal returns to her Changeling state. The ponies in the church cower in horror of the outlandish being before them. The princess circles around to see everypony’s face staring at her, either in disgust, shock, terror, aggression, or even disappointment. Her attention returns to the alter, where she sees Seirbigh and Ceann standing at each other’s sides. The priest is nowhere to be seen now, most likely having run away under a table or bench. Crystal slowly approaches the two ponies in front of her, a look of sadness upon the large mare’s face. The prince and lady back away from the princess before being brought to a halt by the podium.

With the pony they once knew as Crystal now three centimeters away from their faces, Ceann swallows her fear and speaks, attempting to calm her down, “Crystal…”

“Ceann,” The creature whimpers, “why?”

“Please, don’t hurt anypony. I never meant for this to happen, I’m sorry. Over the past couple of days, so many things have been going awry. I couldn’t stop myself from being sucked into it as well. If any pony’s going to take responsibility for stealing Seirbigh’s heart, it would be me. But Crystal, we can end this now. Nothing that has happened over the past several days will matter if we can just move on. Let’s go back to the fun times we had those many years before. Right?” The monster takes a hoofstep back from the couple with a blank face, thinking. “Crystal?”

“…It’s too late. Seirbigh no longer loves me, he loves you. You have taken what was my only true procession that I valued. However, you are not at complete guilt. Seirbigh, the foal he is, instead of refusing your advances, he has taken them to his heart. You both are fully responsible for destroying everything I believed in. I might actually congratulate you, for you two have revealed the truth to me what ‘love’ and ‘friendship’ truly means. But no, I have to right the wrongs at this moment, starting with you two!”

“Crystal!”

“I shall no longer be called upon by that forsaken name! She was an idiot who believed in love and was destroyed by the ones she most counted upon. She is dead, and I am now born, anew from her body from the sea. My death and rebirth were the most important moments of my existence, the cocoon transforming me from a frail insect to a powerful monarch. I shall be known, from this day forth, as Queen Chrysalis!” Slowly, the massive mare begins to once again approach the two pegasi before her. Ceann shrieks in terror as she squishes her body into Seirbigh’s shivering wings. The queen looks into her ex-lover’s budging eyes and sees her face in the reflection in his pupils. “You know Prince Seirbigh, although you have betrayed me, you still are quite attractive. I must say, you’d make a great start to my Changeling army.” Chrysalis’ mouth pries open as she reveals her white fangs to the prince. Her head leans in towards the trembling pony’s neck, readying herself to make sure it hurts. However, as the tip of her teeth touch the prince’s flesh, a sharp pain pierces into her side. The Changeling whips her head back and roars in pain. She looks to her side to see a metal spear jabbed in her lower torso. Groaning in agony, she pulls out the weapon with her magic and examines the tip. It was dripping a warm black ooze that came from her body. Furious, Chrysalis looks to where the spear came from, only to see it was Lord Seirbigh who threw it.

“Get away from my son,” he barks.

“Step down you coward, get back in line and let me do what I must.” Seirbigh’s father continues to stand and shakes his head in revolt. Madam Petti also stands up from her bench and joins her husband’s side. “You as well!” Soon, several other ponies, citizens of the Metal Kingdom, stand from their seats and face the demon before them. Ponies of the Forest Kingdom and the Pearl Kingdom also join in the revolt. “Do you all wish to become my minions? Because if not, then I demand you sit, back, down!” Now everypony in the church is standing, stallions and mares, nobles and peasants, pegasi and unicorn and Earth Pony, all rising against Queen Chrysalis, including her parents.

“I suggest you back down now.” A voice behind her speaks. The queen snaps her head behind her to see Prince Seirbigh, holding the spear that had just stabbed her a minute ago.

“I’ll never listen to the likes of you…” In one swift motion, the queen twirls her body towards the prince and bites him in the neck. Seirbigh screams as Chrysalis’ fangs dig into his veins and suck up his life. However, halfway throughout the sucking, Chrysalis is yanked off by an army of ponies, forcing her to let go of Seirbigh and become buried in a sea of motley coloured ponies. Punches and kicks fly from every side of the battle as Chrysalis tries to fight back. The prince falls onto his side just after being let go.

“Seirbigh!” Ceann cries, rushing to Seirbigh and examining his neck, “Are you alright?”

“I…” The prince gasps, “I can’t breathe… I feel as if half of my soul is gone…”

“Don’t panic, I’m here for you!” Ceann takes a closer look at his neck, finding the pair of bite marks oozing with his red liquid. She gently places a hoof onto the bite and applying pressure to it. “We have to get out of here, now!”

“The docks… Go to the docks…” Ceann wraps her wings around his body as she and the prince get up onto their hooves. They then limp around the pile of brawling ponies and eventually reach the open doors. However, just as they are about to escape, Queen Chrysalis bursts from the pony pile and sees the two in front of her. She screams and begins to fly at them. Just before she reaches them though, the church doors slam onto her face and the queen falls back. The pair of armoured guards that closed the door on her quickly run towards her with spears in their magical grip. The queen is quick to react as she grabs the left guard by the neck with her fangs and flies up towards the ceiling. The guard screams in pain and terror as his life is wrenched from his body. Upon finishing the feeding, Chrysalis drops the limp body of her prey onto the guard standing below.

“Might I say, that was quite a delicious feast! Love may be idiotic, but it certainly feels great!” As Chrysalis floats back down and opens the doors, muffled screams can be heard behind her. After several seconds of the guard’s squeals drying, she looks back to see two creatures similar to her standing side by side. They stand the same height as a normal pony, but with solid blue eyes and fur and body structure similar to their queen’s. “My, what adorable little Changelings I have created! Now then, minions! You want more love to feed on? Get Lady Ceann and Prince Seirbigh, now!” From the mound of wrestling ponies, a huge armada of Changelings erupts from inside and swarm towards the doors. Lead by their queen, the Changeling army exit the church, leaving behind whatever ponies that weren’t bitten. The army then flies above the forest and begins to scan across the area, searching for their targets. “Seirbigh Cystic IV, prince of the Metal Kingdom, Ceann Folam, lady of the Pearl Kingdom, I will find you, and I’ll make sure you pay for this.”

Act 5 Scene 2: Forever a Monster

Fear and panic pulse through Seirbigh and Ceann as they board onto a galleon in the harbour of the Pearl Kingdom. Although Seirbigh was incredibly weak when the queen bit him, his energy returned fairly quick when they were running to the ship. Immediately, the two command the crewmembers on the ship to depart immediately, ordering each to do a task. The two then rush out to the stern and see an army of a hundred Changelings flying over the kingdom’s castle and quickly catching up to them. In the front lead Chrysalis, with rage flaming from her eyes. Adrenaline pumps in the veins in both parties as the pursuers grow closer and the vessel grows faster. The prince and lady flap their wings into the sails with all of their might.

“Hahaha,” the queen chuckles loudly, “seeing your attempts to flee are just adorable! Might as well give up you traitors, it’s no use.”

“Never!” Seirbigh barks back. With a mighty flap of his wings, a gush of wind pelts the wave of disfigured ponies, sending a quarter of the mob of them flailing backwards and crashing into the shore.

“Don’t let some measly wind stop you, go!” The buzzing of the insectoid wings grew louder as the minions approach the ship. Seirbigh performs another gust attack, sending another quarter, and well as Chrysalis, out of control. However, the queen quickly recovers and dives into the rolling wake of the ship unbeknown to everypony on board. Holding her breath, she quickly swims along the keel of the long galleon and emerges from underneath the bowsprit, hiding herself from the crew.

“Back off!” The prince grunts as he kicks a Changeling in the face on deck and launches him into the water below.

“Seirbigh,” Ceann yelps from above, “they’re hopping on board,”

“How many are there?”

“Forty two at most.”

“Don’t worry my love, they won’t get you, just keep pushing the sails!”

Meanwhile, Chrysalis continues to wait below until she sees a guard looking over the edge of the bow, navigating as it seems. Quickly she teleports right underneath his outstretched head and bites him in the neck. In a single heave, she tosses him overboard and into the rolling waves below, leaving a small puddle of red as he disappears.

“Walter!” A stallion on deck screams, catching Chrysalis’ ear. She then uses her magic to take the form of the screamer’s who she just launched off and slowly climbs over the edge and onto the ship, acting as if she was the stallion. “Walter, are you alright?” The disguised queen watches another white guard approach her, this one being slightly taller.

“I’m fine, I just slipped.” She replies in her latest victim’s voice.

“Good, come, we need your help. The prince is fighting off the monster while the lady is providing winds to the sail, both at the stern, we need to-” His statement was cut short by his supposed partner quickly biting him in the neck. Choking gags exit the stallion’s throat as he watches the pony biting him return to her original form of Chrysalis. Upon releasing her fangs, the white guard falls over onto his side with his body twitching and his eyes gaping open. She then leans over the pony’s face and looks into his eyes, giving a smirking smile as Chrysalis watches the stallion die before her.

“Oh, poor thing,” she talks in a sympathetic voice as she transforms into Ceann, “if only you didn’t talk so much.” The guard’s pupils shrink and his body begins to slow down to a halt. “Don’t worry, it’ll all be over soon. You’ll become a Changeling in a matter of seconds. But for now, I have some business to do.” Now in the form of her former friend, the Changeling queen walks past the running crewmembers scattering around the galleon and makes her way to the stern. Her eyes peak up as the queen sees the true Ceann, vigorously flapping her wings against the sails and oblivious to her surroundings. She then looks down sees Seirbigh fighting off the ten Changelings that were still able to battle at the edge of the boat. Chrysalis takes a moment and looks her backside, seeing how clean and pristine Ceann’s wedding dress is. The queen then bites into the silky white dress and begins to tear at it, making it appear as if she was attacked. After finishing her mess, the disguised Chrysalis prepares herself and slowly hovers above the prince. In one swift motion, she flops onto the neck with her belly facing up, causing Seirbigh to jump back in shock of the sight before him.

“Ceann!” He gasps, “What happened!”

“The-the creatures…” the queen exclaims, sounding as if she was out of breath, “they… they attacked m-me…”

“Are you okay?”

“No… Seirbigh… take me down into a bedroom… K-keep me safe…”

“I shall my love.” The fake Ceann cringes for a split-second as the green pegasus picks her up onto his back and runs down into the ship interior, leaving the real Ceann alone.

“Seirbigh,”

“Yes, we are nearly at the bedroom.”

“I have a question?”

“Not the best of times, but what is it?”

“Why did you betray her?”

“Betray Crystal? What do you mean?”

“After she died, why did you marry Ce-I mean me?”

“You must be suffering from amnesia, you clearly don’t remember, best you not speak.”

“But why? Remind me once more.”

“Later, things are becoming too hectic. We’re here.” Chrysalis turns her head forwards around Seirbigh’s head and sees a pair of wooden doors before her. Seirbigh nudges the doors open and gently lays her onto the silky bed inside.

“Close the doors if you will, it’s cold.” The prince follows the faker’s orders and closes the doors behind him, leaving Seirbigh and Chrysalis alone in a private bedroom. “Hopefully the crew on board can take care of the rest of those monsters. Right now, let me tend to your wounds, where are they?”

“Check my bosom, that’s where the struck the hardest.” Seirbigh hops onto the bed and leans into the queen’s blue chest, thoroughly examining it for bruises. With the pegasus’ head right below her, Chrysalis uses one of her wings to brush the red mane off of Seirbigh’s back, revealing a pair of clotted bite marks on his neck.

“I don’t see anything yet…”

“It hurts though, please, make sure you didn’t miss a spot. I’ll check your neck to see if that bite has infected you.”

“I feel fine, just a little, empty I guess.” As the stallion continues to examine the fraud, the queen begins to slowly lean her jaw above his neck. Inching closer and closer, Chrysalis’ mouth begins to drool for the taste of the prince’s flesh and love. Her pupils dilate and deform into those similar of a cat’s as the green fur and pink flesh beneath pump with the warm blood of his veins making themselves ever more present to her sight.

Suddenly, the bedroom’s doors swing open as a voice from outside screams, “STOP!”

“Ceann?” Chrysalis snaps her head towards the doorway and sees the true Lady Ceann standing there.

“That’s Crystal that’s with you, run!” Immediately, the prince leaps from his spot and feels the drool as the top of his mane brushes the imposter’s chin.

“It is her!” In a split second, Seirbigh dashes from the bed and next to Ceann and both begin to staring aggressively at the Changeling. Blasting with fury over her interruption, Chrysalis leaps from the bed, still in the form of Ceann, and tackles the real one. “Let go of her!” The prince then turns his back on the pair of mares, lifts up his hind legs, and delivers a powerful buck at Chrysalis on top, sending her into the wooden wall behind. The queen, now resting against the wall, pants in exhaustion as her body soon transforms back to its original Changeling form. “Give it up!”

“Why should I?” Chrysalis snaps back, “You took away everything from me. My kingdom, my life, my family, my love, you took it all. It only fits that I return the favour.”

“What happened to you Crystal?”

“My name is Queen Chrysalis!”

“Crystal, you were not a monster!”

“Chrysalis!”

“Crystal, my close friend, please, don’t become the monster they fear you’ve become.”

“Me, the monster? You were the one whom stolen the heart of what was truly mine. You knew very well of that, and yet, you managed to gather the audacity and succeeded in ruining my life.”

“It was not my fault you died. It was no pony’s fault for believe you’d come back. It was not Seirbigh’s fault for being a pony that needed a companion, a mare after just having his before love swiped away by the seas in a matter of moments. I beg of thee, as a friend that still loves you, don’t become a monster.” Chrysalis looks at her front hooves as her gnarled horn begins to glow and sees them transform into the graceful pink hooves she once had.

“I have taken on the form of the friend you love. I see that you still have hope in me, even if it ‘tis blind sighted.” A small smile grows on Ceann’s face. “…However, your trust is completely idiotic. How can I forgive you for this, after all that thou has done? If not being a monster means for me to have faith in your friendship, a friendship that you have destroyed with you and Seirbigh’s actions, then who am I? Am I a pony, an idiot who still believes in fairy tale garbage? Or am I a monster, a greater being of endless abilities and the power to right the wrongs? I have my own ponies, my own army, my own kingdom at my disposal, and you say that I should throw it all away, just because we were once ‘friends?’” The pink mare picks herself up from the floor and begins to approach the two pegasi in front of her.

Ceann, though cowering in fright of the approaching creatures, tries to hide her fear and warmly replies, “We are still friends Crystal. Please, although I can’t force you in what you want your future to be, I can still make you think about what will come from your choices. Your friends, your family, Trihearth, the life that you’ve built yourself up to, think about all of that.” Silence took place over the next couple of minutes, as the Changeling queen ponders at the options placed before her. Memories of her family and the fun times she had as a filly flash in her head. Finally, Chrysalis takes a couple more steps towards the two and extends a hoof out towards the young lady. However, as Ceann attempts to reach out a hold it, Chrysalis pulls her hoof back and immediately backslaps her in the cheek, sending her hurdling into a support pole, smashing the small head against the middle of the wooden beam and knocking the small mare unconscious.

“Fine! If what I am is a monster to you, then so be it! I don’t care about you anymore!” Seirbigh then jumps onto the queen and knocks her back to the wall with a powerful dropkick. The mask of Crystal fades away as the Changeling is met eye to eye with the fiery blue eyes of her once love.

“Leave her alone!” The prince barks. This surprised the queen at first, seeing the full rage of the pony she knew all of her life released upon her. “You are a monster! A hideous, disrespectful, abomination of all life you are!”

“Seirbigh,” she whimpers, feeling the harsh words pierce her heart for the first time, “you surely don’t mean these things…”

“I mean what I say with all of my heart. You’ve struck Ceann though she hast done nothing with any intention to harm you. You are not my friend, thou hast become my enemy.”

“No,” the queen begins to tear, “I didn’t mean to do it! Please stop with these hurtful statements, I never intended for this.”

“I now am even starting to question myself as of why I even loved you in the first place, if all this time, you were just a ravenous beast. A vile serpent that has the nerve to insult the innocent with a mighty voice, yet tremble when confronted by your own actions, that ‘tis what you’ve become. That ‘tis who you are. That ‘tis the choice you’ve made. Get off of my ship, take your imps and leave, may you parish in Tartarus.” Furious, the queen rises once more and slowly backs towards the stairway to above, but not before delivering a final threat and her mind of Seirbigh’s words.

“Some mighty selection of words you will regret to have spoken!” Chrysalis blubbers in between the weeps being held back inside her black body, “You’ll pay for this! Both you and Ceann! You two shall rue the day you condemned me, Queen Chrysalis. Whether it be your foals, your future descendants, or even their friends, some day, I will have my revenge! May these words forever curse your peace wherever you retreat to!” In a flash of green light, the Changeling disappears from the chamber, leaving Seirbigh, Ceann, and whoever else still alive on the lone galleon to escape.

Back at the harbour of the Pearl Kingdom, the queen of the Changeling sits at the edge of the wooden dock and watches the ship in the distance disappear into the sunset upon the horizon. Her body twitches and tears pour from the creature’s eyes as Chrysalis sees the last of her once love leave. “Why?” She cries, “Why, despite being betrayed by him, despite that I should fell angry at the stallion, why does it still hurt so much? Is it the love that I hunger for, or is it something more?”

A small thud rocks the deck with Chrysalis on it, prompting her to look down to see what it is. She sees one of her minions, a small Changeling, face down on the water surface, motionless. With a flick of her horn, she lifts the being from the water and cradles it in her hooves. The Changeling soon begins to gag out water that was in his lungs for so long. His big blue eyes open to see Chrysalis looking at him. “Once a pony, an innocent citizen of the kingdoms of Trihearth, now a lifeless minion that nearly drowned, all because of me. I truly am a monster, and I forever will be…” Chrysalis’ attention then returns back to the horizon where the sun is setting. A deep familiar voice soon echoes into her ears as she gazes out to sea.

It speaks, “Chrysalis, you have seen what love and friendship truly mean. You have completed your task that I have demanded from you. You shall have your revenge one day, and it will be the greatest day of your existence. Now go, go out across the world, create your army of Changelings. Liberate the ponies oppressed by the very love that you and your followers feed upon, and raise your kingdom in your perfect image. No matter what they call you, monster and beast alike, know that they are wrong…”

“Yes my master… Like a mother raising her foals, I shall watch over the Changelings. I may not be able to get over my loss of Seirbigh, but I will never let myself love another once more, nor subject myself to the weak words of friendship. I will no longer suffer from the folly I was raised with, and neither will the ponies I shall liberate” She then looks back down at the Changeling in her arms, seeing it cuddle into her torso. “Don’t worry my child, I shall keep you fed, I shall teach you what the real world is like, and I shall never make you suffer as I have…”

Act 5 Scene 3: Fall of Trihearth

Deep within the swamps of Trihearth, a deaf stallion marches through, searching for his old partner. As the day is dying and the night is awakening, the unicorn knows he must hurry with whatever light still remained to keep his sight. Dorch quickly locates the hut where he first met the witch and teleports to the balcony. With a mighty swing of his hoof, he punches at the door, breaking it from its hinges. However, instead of the large metal chamber that Dorch expected, inside the hut, was a tiny wooden room, fairly proportionate to its exterior.

An old cackle is heard from behind the sir, followed by an old, familiar voice, “My, my, my, it seems you truly do believe in me. I’m quite surprise. Oh, I see that look on your face, a face that has heard nothing for several hours, with the only thing to break the silence is my voice.”

“You,” Dorch growls, “I know that that rouge bolt of lightning didn’t truly kill you. Also, I know that you have made me senseless in the ear. I demand that you return it at once. After such, I will see to it that you are punished for betraying me.”

“Hahaha, such nerve, you threatening me like this. I’m almost flattered…”

“Enough of your games, restore my hearing, or so help me, I shall have you executed.”

“And by what power do you command so with?”

“By the power of my father, the Emperor of the Pearl Kingdom. Don’t pretend yourself a moron, you know as well as I that you are knowledgeable about what is all that has happened upon this island and off.”

“I know you are a royal of the Pearl Kingdom. I know who your father is. I know that as heir, you most certainly have the power to summon your forces to arrest me and kill me without trail.”

“Right then, then I suggest you do as I command.”

“But, I just have one question to ask…”

“What ‘tis is, you witch?”

“Is there still a Pearl Kingdom?”

“Why must I just tell you,” from her left wing, Medicine pulls out a bottle of grey gas and slams it between her and Dorch. Gas spews from the jar and completely clouds their vision. “…when I can show you. Show you what is happening before your eyes.” The grey smog dies quickly though, as the two now find themselves in the forest by the coast. However, there was no sand to be seen at the forest’s edge, just the sea.

“What ‘tis this?”

“The ocean, you should know. Aspidochelone has awaken as is beginning his voyage across the world. The salty waters of the seas have washed over the coast upon my master’s decent, and soon this forest will no longer be here above. The land in which you once called home, is now gone, many metres below.”

“No… This can’t be…”

“Yes it ‘tis, Trihearth is sinking, all thanks to you. In a matter of moments, this land shall no longer exist for hundreds of years. However, there is more that has happened that you are not aware of.”

“Like what?”

“Remember the night you came to me, the night I created the love poison from your body? More specifically, remember the sixty six drops of your blood that was added to the love poison?”

“What about it?”

“Look to thy right.” Dorch does what Medicine An Uisce commanded, and what he sees before him causes his jaw to drop. Several tens of Changelings, all gathered together in a single clearing of the woodland, with Chrysalis watching over them from the center.

“What are they?”

“They were once your ponies. The sixty six drops of blood you’ve given to Crystal hast transformed her into the queen of this hive. The Changeling creatures that follow her are the lifeless bodies of the ponies you’ve loved, turned into imps. See those two laying together a little to the right? Those are your parents.”

“Father? Mother?”

“You did this to them, ha, ha.”

“NO!” Dorch begins to run towards the Changeling horde, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a mighty earthquake.

“The master is departing from his slumber. Quickly, we must go before we sink and drown.”

“No!” As the quake continues to grumble, the Changeling herd rises from the ground and flies off. “Mom! Dad!” Another cloud of grey gas appears around the midnight unicorn, dissolving shortly after to reveal that Dorch is now on the decrepit ship he was on when Crystal fell overboard. From the bow of the vessel, the sir can see what’s left of Trihearth in the distance, slowly dipping down into the waters below. Medicine slowly walks to his side from seemingly nowhere to watch the spectacle unfold.

“Isn’t it just beautiful? Centuries of anticipation and patience, rewarded in the most satisfying of matters, something most ponies would never have the feeling of. Though you have murderous intentions bent upon me as of now, I am a merciful pony. For your services of freeing me from the oppression of the ponies of Trihearth, I have spared your life upon this vessel.”

“Mercy? Beautiful? What madness do you speak of?! All that I have loved are now lifeless husks or dead!”

“Not all, Ceann and Seirbigh managed to escape from Crystal.” The zebra turns to Dorch and gives a fulsome smile. “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Why you!” In a split-second, Dorch grabs the mare by the neck and pins her to the floor.

“Oh, what good will come if you were to attempt to kill me? You know I won’t truly die.”

“I can very well try to!”

However, before Dorch can get a proper grip of the hag’s throat, the rouge rays of the twilight sun flash into his eyes, blinding him for several minutes. Upon recovering his vision, the witch had already fled, leaving Dorch alone on the damaged galleon in the dead of night. Silence returns to his ears once more, but in his mind, the screams of millions of ponies roar inside. His parents, his friends, his sister, and everypony else he knew, were the loudest to be heard inside his head. Eventually, Dorch becomes absolutely mad from the voices, screaming out loud to nothing.

“Is this what you want!” He hollers. “I admit it, I am a foal! It was wrong for me to betray my friends and family! I beg to anypony, anypony! Make the madness end!” The voices and screams grow louder and louder against his command, driving his sanity into oblivion. “I know what shall appease the ghouls that haunt me!” Dorch rushes into the captain’s quarters and finds a log book placed upon the desk. With a flick of his horn, the book opens and an inked quill is levitated from the nearby bottle and begins to frantically write into the empty pages.

“My name is Sir Dorch Folam, heir to the now nonexistent Pearl Kingdom upon the now nonexistent isle of Trihearth. I have written this to appease the ghosts and souls of the ponies I have destroyed. May it be my own insanity or the work of that vile witch, I no longer know. I shall recount every sin I have performed, in hopes that I will be forgiven by whoever or whatever is watching over me and cure me of my curse me. I will recount my parent’s struggle, my villainous plots, my deal with the vile witch, the death of one of my only friends caused by be, and the eventual loss of everything. I pray, I pray that those that shall read this will forgive me…”

Dorch continued to write aboard that ship until he died from unknown causes. His diary, filled with his side of the story that has unfolded was found on the coast of a distant kingdom long after the fall of Trihearth.

Trihearth, a once proud and mighty land, ruled in harmony by its three kingdoms, sank underneath the waves in a night and a day, leaving no trace other than the ships which eventually capsized. Perhaps, if it wasn’t for Dorch’s intervention, the land would’ve been torn apart by the wars amongst the three kingdoms during its unseen final hours. Centuries later, legends came around the world, each stating that if a pony were to see the ghost island, a terrible storm would come.

The six final rulers of Trihearth, Kind Adamán Charm, Queen Ceria Charm, Lord Seirbigh Cystic, Madam Petti Cystic, Emperor Tiotán Folam, and Empress Dia Folam, all perished. The Charms, although hid well from their daughter, went down with the island of Trihearth and drowned. The Cystics died as Changelings, being knocked out and drowned by their own son. The Folams became Changelings and followed their queen for the rest of their existence as heartless succubi.

Seirbigh and Ceann, having escaped from Queen Chrysalis and the destruction of their hope, were married on a neighboring land that housed a kingdom that Trihearth had good relations with. Without a kingdom to rule, the two lovers and their followers became citizens of the neighboring kingdom. The couple eventually had foals of their own, whom they watched over relentlessly due to their fear of Chrysalis’ wrath towards them. They taught their children of their once friend and the story that caused Trihearth to fall, a story that would be passed down from generation to generation for all time.

As of Medicine An Uisce, her fate remains unknown, as if she had vanished from all of history.

Princess Crystal Charm, once the heir of the Forest Kingdom, once to be married to the love of her life, once to have a great life set for her, now a monster that despises love and friendship. As queen of the Changelings, she and her army began their global campaign of destruction. Fitting to the disguises of loved ones, the Changelings toppled kingdoms left and right, devouring every grain of each country’s love and growing their army. However, despite Queen Chrysalis’ finest efforts, she’ll never be able to let go of the betrayal of Seirbigh. There will always be a void in her soul, and no matter how much love she consumes, she’ll always remained tortured and desire more, for the rest of her eternal days.

Many who have heard this tale and wrote it from their own perspective often make mistakes in their interpretations. They tend to create a villain, whether it be Crystal for her transformation, Seirbigh for his betrayal, Ceann for her disloyalties, Dorch for his schemes, Medicine for her plans of summoning the great beast, Aspidochelone himself, or even Emperor Tiotán. However, the truth is, there is no true villain, nor is there a true hero. Everypony did something that influenced the fall of Trihearth and the corruption of Crystal, either it be of intention or of indirect faults. Yet, these causes were not of the sake of evil desire, but to perform betterment to all in their sight.

What this story is, should not be the battle between good and evil, but rather, a cautionary tale of how the choices we make can create an impact on everything. Ask yourself the questions this story has given you. Who made the right choices? Who made the foalish choices? What would you have done in those situations? Who should you give your pity towards? There is no wrong answer. Perhaps the fall of Trihearth was a good thing in the end. Though causing many to suffer and die, this tragedy can teach the future.

May you exit our performances with an open mind, and question yourself upon the choices seen before you.,,

Epilogue: After the Show

“May you exit our performances with an open mind, and question yourself upon the choices seen before you…” the young mare’s voice proclaims, concluding the play.

Silence washes over the massive chamber in darkness as the world of Trihearth fades and the reality of Equestria returns to their minds. One by one, the mini-chandeliers that hang from the red fabric walls light up. The stars upon the fresco twinkle once more in reflection of the candlelight.

In only a few seconds, the cushioned seats surrounding the stage become visible as well as the various ponies seated. The stage lights up as well, only to show the red curtains drawn closed and the wooden platform devoid of anything, not even any liquid stains. With the lights now fully illuminated and with many ponies starting to leave, the seven friends turn to each other with a combination of confused, sad, and even one with an upset face.

“That was…” Twilight speaks first with a look of confusion on her face, “interesting. I didn’t really expect to see a play like this.”

“Definitely a lot sadder than what anypony would’ve expected.” Rarity adds. Black mascara is seen running down her face, and appearing to be very fresh. “Oh, that villain Ceann, if she didn’t take the prince, then Seirbigh and Crystal could’ve had their happy ending!”

“Ceann’s the villain?” Fluttershy disagrees. Though not as sad as Rarity, the play did tug on Fluttershy’s heartstrings. “Wasn’t it Dorch that caused the whole plot with the witch?”

“But Ceann was the one who took Seirbigh away, things would’ve worked out fine if it weren’t for her.”

“She couldn’t help herself,” Twilight debates, “and besides, it was the emperor’s fault for influencing Dorch. Logically speaking, it was him that started this whole thing.”

“Logic smogic,”Applejack rebuffs in an angry tone, “Crystal should’ve acted better rather than just ‘sploding like that. For Pete’s sake, she thinks that slaughterin’ an entire kingdom will somehow make her feel better after some breakup.”

“Don’t you insult such a poor creature,” Rarity snarls, “Crystal was together with Seirbigh for nineteen years. How can you not pity such an innocent pony that has lost everything, only to be the slave of some monster.”

“Don’t you see the pony who deserves the blame?” Rainbow Dash announces to the group, confused at their apparent obliviousness, “it’s obviously Seirbigh himself. It was his disloyalty that made Crystal snap.”

“Because Ceann influenced him,”

“He should’ve known better than that. You said it yourself, he should’ve been loyal to Crystal after nineteen years of being together.”

“But she was considered dead.” Twilight replies, “It would be kind of strange for Seirbigh to still cling to a dead mare.”

“Still, it wasn’t right for him to turn to Ceann right on a bit. He’s practically the villain.”

“Wait, isn’t that Medicine witch the villain?” Spike protests in confusion, “Although Dorch was the one who wanted Crystal and Seirbigh to split up, wasn’t it Medicine who was pulling the strings and made it her plan to destroy Trihearth?”

“You do have a point there Spike,” Applejack replies, “and she was the henchpony of that turtle-dragon thing. So what if it was that monster who was ‘posed to be the villain.”

“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy declares, “Trihearth was its shell. And from what I could tell from Medicine, it was being abused by the ponies above. Perhaps there is another pony that is the true villain. Pinkie?”

“I knew that you would be come to me for all of the answers…” Pinkie said in a mysterious, yet still sad character, “For you see, I have gathered enough evidence that many ponies would’ve missed that has proved who the true culprit was.”

“Who-”

“It was the Spanish Inquisition!”

“The what?”

“No pony ever expects the Spanish Inquisition!”

“Never heard of them.”

“Exactly!”

Twilight speaks, “I doubt it was the… whatever, I’ll go check on the princesses, see what they think.”

“It was Ceann!” Rarity shouts.

“It was Dorch!” Fluttershy shouts.

“It was Crystal!” Applejack shouts.

“It was Seirbigh!” Rainbow Dash shouts.

“It was the witch and the beast!” Spike shouts.

“It was the Spanish!” Pinkie Pie tearfully shouts. Twilight exits the seat and approaches the wall separating her and the royal box. Slowly, she knocks her hoof against the wall. It then opens and she is greeted by the familiar, yet fairly weathered, face of her older brother.

“Shining,” Twilight exclaims, “you look fairly beat. Did the play get to you?”

“No,” he says with a yawn, “Cadence was practically socking me when Crystal arrived at the church in a crying fit. Though I see that the play did get to you as well Twi,”

“Oh please, you make it sound like I cry at every sad play. But anyways, who do you think was the pony that basically caused everything to go downhill? My friends are pretty split on the matter.”

“I don’t know, I’m a bit too beat up to give a good answer. Who do you think?”

“Emperor Tiotán, see as how he was the one who gave the idea of ‘doing what you need to do’ to Dorch.”

“Wasn’t there some offhoof comment by his wife about Tiotán taking influence from his father?”

“I think so now that I think about it.”

“Then again, though I may not be thinking straight, but Dorch’s plan didn’t seem too bad. He was going to unite the three kingdoms in marriage. Even if it was him that was going to be pulling all of the strings, he apparently studied very hard in order to be a good ruler.”

“…Oh, I never thought of it like that…”

“Hey, that Jack guy’s coming to us soon to hear the princess’ response to his play. Maybe you can ask him.”

“Alright.”

“I think he’s walking towards us as we spea-”

“Shining!” A mare’s voice screams from inside the booth, outside of Twilight’s narrow vision of the golden chamber.

“Oh dear, that must be Cadence needing her strong stallion to embrace. Gah… Come inside Twi.”

“She always was a crier for these romantic tragedies.” Twilight replies. Slowly, the purple alicorn followers her brother and enters the golden room before looking around. At the edge of the booth facing towards the view of the stage, sits her brother while his wife is tightly wrapping her hooves into his body and loudly weeping. To her left, she was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, facing away from her and to the other opened entry wall to their seating chamber. Twilight slips herself between the two and sees the green stallion that played Prince Seirbigh trot towards them with a stoic look on his face.

“Ah, Twilight,” Celestia whispers, “I hoped you liked the show. It can be a great education.”

“Wha-” but before Twilight can finish her response, Jack unknowingly interrupts her and speaks,

“My fair princesses,” he proclaims, “what do you think?”

“It, was, interesting…”

“Mr. Cystic,” Celestia strongly replies, “you have done a great honour to both your family and our understanding of history. With this performance, not only have you entertained the masses with your showponyship, but you have also created many questions for us to answer and better ourselves with. I declare your performance to be one of the greatest that I have ever seen.”

“Most marvelous,” Luna declares. “These special effects and characters you have flushed life into turned this watching experience into what felt as if it were a dream. And I should know what a dream feels like. What I also must admit is that it has brought some tears to my eyes. And just between us, Celestia cried a lot more than me.”

“I heard that, and I most certainly did not.”

“Hehe, I was right next to you, I should know. Oh, and by the way Mr. Cystic, where did you get those wings from? When I saw you before the show, you were an Earth Pony if I recall.”

“I had some help with several unicorns and a zebra to magic me these here fake wings. They were a bit of a problem trying to fly with them during rehearsals, but I managed to work them. I plan to go backstage after this to return to my normal state.”

“But don’t you enjoy flying.”

“No… Flying, not even once for an Earth Pony like me,”

“Well, I’m certainly glad you managed to perform so gracefully tonight.”

“Thank you.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Cystic.” Twilight nervously asks.

“Yes ma’am?”

“My friends and I have a question that we are each completely split about. Who is the pony who is the main reason that everything fell apart? Who can be called the villain?”

“That’s an interesting question, with an even more interesting answer. You see, there isn’t exactly a villain. Everypony played a part in the fall of Trihearth correct?”

“I guess so…”

“Who did you think was the villain?”

“The emperor,”

“I see why you think that, he was the one who taught Dorch to be unethical if it meant the greater good for all ponies. But is he wrong for thinking that? Being a princess, would you make a decision most would see as morally wrong in order to greatly benefit your ponies in the future.”

“I-I don’t know. I guess I never truly though of that until seeing this play and talking to my friends about it.”

“Best you think of the best answer before the occasion occurs, that way you’re ready. That’s one of the many reasons I love my ancestor’s story. I find it amazing just how an absolute disaster can bring such insight to give lead to positive decisions for the future.”

“How we learn from our own questions?”

“Exactly,”

“Thank you Mr. Cystic, if there is any way I can repay you for such an experience, just tell me.”

“You’re welcome Princess Sparkle, I don’t need anything though, seeing such royalty learn from my work is enough. Although, you can just call me Jack, no need to be formal.”

“Sure, Jack. Oh, and one more question.”

“What ‘tis, I mean, what is it?”

“Not to sound rude, offensive, or anything like that, but… Did this really happen? Is this the origin story of Queen Chrysalis that attacked the royal wedding a year or two back?”

“Yes Princess Sparkle. I kinda know how you’re feeling. I’ve heard about that whole attack here back at my country. It really is a shame, seeing such a once innocent pony turn to such madness that’s barely recognizable from her once beautiful and fair state. I sometimes wish I had the chance to apologize to her, but I guess that’ll never happen. Oh well, might as well move on.”

“I see, thank you Jack, and you can just call me Twilight.”

“You’re welcome Twilight. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off.”

“You’re excused.” The two regal sisters replies. Jack then turns around and heads back towards the backstage area.

“What a most curious pony…” Luna speaks.

“Some are more unique than others,” Celestia replies, “just look at us.”

“A quirky character to say the least…”

“Come along Luna, we should be heading back home.”

“Wait,” Twilight exclaims, “Celestia.”

“Yes Twilight?”

“Did you learn anything from the play?”

“Well, yes. But I prefer not to go into much detail.”

“What do you mean?”

“Throughout my years, there has always been this, consistency, that I’ve always had trouble dealing with. This play has helped me find options in dealing with it.”

“Okay.”

“What are your current thoughts on Queen Chrysalis now?”

“…I don’t really know. I have so much to say, so much to think through, and seeing how you and Luna need to be heading back soon, I just…”

“I see. You just need some time to process your thoughts. You can write to me once you figured it out.”

“Okay.”

“Thank you for accompanying me tonight, it would’ve not been the same without you.”

“Thank you Celestia for giving me and my friends this opportunity as well.”

“Now, I must be off.”

“Goodbye.” Twilight turns around and exits the royal booth from the other end, returning her to her group. Her six friends were still arguing, but it seems to have been not as aggressive as before. She clears her throat and calls out, “Spike.”

“Yes Twilight?” The little dragon replies, peeking his head over the flank of Rarity to get a good look at Twilight.”

“I need you to write a letter. Got a paper and quill on you?”

“Like always.” Spike runs around the white unicorn and walks in front of the purple alicorn, pulling a clean sheet of paper and an inked quill from behind his back. The baby dragon sets the pen to the page and begins to write. “Dear Princess Celestia,”

“Wait Spike, this letter isn’t going to her this time.”

“Oh really? Who then?”

“It may seem weird, but just follow my lead.”

“Okay…” Spike tucks the feather between his claws. He then uses a free finger to lick and wipe off the recently written line before it settles. Spike resets the quill into its writing stance and awaits further instruction. “I’m ready... I guess…”

“Dear Queen Chrysalis…”

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