Post by Bardigan on Sept 15, 2012 1:15:09 GMT -5
Bardigan can never decide whether he's an early bird or a night owl. He vascillates, depending on when his muses strike him. Tonight finds him wide awake at a late hour, surely after most ponies have retreated back home, their cozy lights shining out of their windows. But libraries are traditionally a late night shelter for him, and the door to Ponyville's Library gets pushed slowly open, followed by Bardigan's feathered hat and then his head, looking back and forth before he steps fully inside. He flutters his wings, adjusting his saddlebags. "Ah... hello?" he asks in a whisper that nopony will hear anyway.
But there -is- a pony present in the library. And it's not Twilight Sparkle, although in the meager amount of light there is, one might be forgiven for mistaking this pony for the librarian, before noticing she's only a filly. The library is dark; Twilight and Spike are sound asleep in the upstairs, but near the center of the floor, Midnight Glimmer is sprawled on her belly, a candle illuminating the small space she occupies, casting dancing shadows on the walls. The young unicorn looks up from the book she's reading, one of her eyes hidden by a lock of hair. "Um... hello? Can I help you?"
Bardigan starts with a quiet and dignified gasp, one hoof raised over his chest when he spots the mini-Twilight in the middle of the room. A brief alarm flashes in his head that Twilight was experimenting with age spells, but when he hears Midnight's voice he manages to relax. "My apologies," he says, remaining just inside the door, which swings shut behind him. "I'd thought I could slip in just before closing, but it seems I've missed the librarian... oh! My name is Bardigan." He quickly removes his hat and bows his head. "Simple playwright."
The filly in the room seems fairly at-ease with your greeting. Her horn glows, and in a moment the candles lining the lower section of the library glow to life, filling the downstairs with a cozy light. "Oh! Yeah, the librarian's my sister. I'm Midnight. Is there... something I can help you with? I've been staying here for a while - I'm not a librarian, but I sorta basically know where stuff is in here."
Bardigan tilts his head, focusing on the filly's half-hidden face for a moment, a little smile hovering on his lips. "Ah... yes, I see. Very good, very good." He perks his ears and his smile grows when the candles flare up. He adores watching unicorns work their magic so deftly. "It's a pleasure to meet yuo, Midnight. Well, ah, I was here... thinking of collecting some books on stars. Specifically, the falling kind. Anything and everything will help. I'm working on a related project. A story in the making."
Midnight_Glimmer nods in acknowledgment. "Well, I can show you where the astronomy section is, that should get you started at least." The filly speaks with the cadence of a child who's a bit wiser than her years, almost as if she'd gotten ahold of adult conversation earlier in life. It's reminiscent of her sister's behavior, to anyone who's met Twilight - although something essential is missing, some spark of confidence and poise that's a trademark of the Element of Magic. Midnight almost seems... understated. The little pony plods over to a particular shelf, shuffling a few volumes around with her horn-a-glowing. "Here we go. This is the Earth Science shelf." She steps aside, with a manner that seems to be encouraging you to search for the book without her 'interference'.
Despite Midnight's best efforts to fade into the background like a faint stain on a photograph, Bardigan keeps glancing her way as he peruses the shelves, like he's asking if he's browsing right. But really, he is just trying to pounce upon a topic to avoid awkward silence. "How long have you been living here with Miss Sparkle?" he wonders with a hoof on his chin, scanning titles. "To my shame I haven't chanced upon you before... if it was a matter of not noticing, I must apologize."
Suddenly very self-conscious, Midnight's gaze immediately drops to her hooves. Now -most- of her face is obscured by a curtain of hair - hair which bears a similar dome-curve to Twilight's. "Oh! Well, just a couple of weeks. I've just been..." She looks up, eyebrow cocked. "Wait, did you say 'Miss Sparkle'? It's -so- weird hearing people call Twilie that." She pauses, still speaking low, as the low light of the after-hours library seems appropriate. Unsolicited, she continues that train of thought: "Ponies in this town act like Twi is some kind of super... heroine, messiah pony thing. It's so bizarre. She leaves Canterlot for like less than a year, and now everyone's telling stories about how she's saving Equestria and stuff." There is a note of resentment in the young filly's voice that isn't entirely well-concealed.
Bardigan's hoof timidly slides up from his chin to his mouth, hiding a self-conscious smile. "Ahh... well, my tendency towards formality is sometimes a bit *too* ubiquitous, yes..." He trails off as Midnight goes on, his smile flattening into a somber line. "I'm... sure they're just trying to give her the proper recognition," he says, eyes now staying with the filly instead of the bookshelf. He scratches his mane, well aware of his own brand of hero worship in the form of an entire *play* about the famous Elements. "Heroes need to be... recognized- er, but, Miss Spar- Twilight? I know she is very modest about it. She did what she did with of the strength of other ponies, not all because of her power, great as it is. She doesn't *want* to cast some great shadow over... the rest of us."
Midnight_Glimmer's eyes flash. "Modest?! Are you -kidding me-, guy? YOU should meet her in PRIVATE. She's the bossiest, biggest bossypants pony in all Equestria. She thinks she's -sooooo- great, for getting to study with Princess Celestia. I'm in the school for gifted unicorns, just like she was. NOPONY will let me forget what kind of reputation I have to live up to." The filly takes a few baleful steps forwards. "You think she's a -hero-? She made me cry on my 7th birthday, for one thing. My parents think I'm a -dud- because of her. I've gotten A's my whole life, and I'm looked at like the -failure- of the family. Don't even -talk- to me about shadows being cast. You've never had to live in hers." The little filly is huffing now. This is clearly a vitriolic topic for her. "It's NEVER enough. Someday, I'm gonna be -way- more powerful than her. I bet I already am more powerful than she was at my age. Everyone's gonna see."
Bardigan struggles not to bite his lip as his mind whirls. He came by to get books and drop off a package, but instead this-! This opportunity is being thrown in front of him. To help a filly that clearly needs it. He stays silent and still, letting Midnight's rant taper off a bit. When it comes, his voice is gentle and low. "I know another filly much like you," he sighs. "One who only wants to prove herself." He rubs his chin again, and decides to go out on a limb. He's a pegasus, so it's not a daring move in his opinion. "I don't know much about stars at all, but would you like to hear a story about one?"
Midnight_Glimmer is obviously wary. She's smarter than a lot of adult ponies presume, and is used to being talked down to, but she isn't yet convinced you're another grownup with no clue what he's talking about. So, she perks an ear and listens - although the look on her face tells of her -very- short patience. "All right... yeah?" She invites you to tell the story, the subtext being 'you'd better not annoy me because I'm on a short fuse'. She already has a torrent of commentary about how she's -not- just out to prove herself and how there's no way you understand her predicament, but the jury, for the moment - and it's a short moment - is out.
Bardigan smiles. He knows that look: stories are just for little foals and they belittle my concerns, right? Ah, if only more ponies realized their value... "There are ancient, perhaps totally untrue, but still quite inspiring tales of gods that existed before Celestia and Luna were even born. One of them was Sinderea the star-maker. She traveled the void in a time when everything, from time to shadows to light itself was alive. It was her purpose to plant stars wherever she went. These stars thought they were the only things of worth anywhere at all: after all, in those days only stars burned fiercely with Sinderea's light. And one star in particular was stuck right in the midst of a big, boisterous bunch of them, but it was just kind of... small-ish compared to the rest.
"Sinderea didn't show favoritism, so the stars judged themselves. And this small-ish star couldn't possibly outshine its brothers and sisters, and was always ignored or even mocked by them. And eventually, it just couldn't take it anymore, so it left to find something to shine on and show the rest how bright it was, though the rest mocked it so for even trying. They thought there was nothing out there in the void beyond Sinderea's light. The star was determined, and tried to leave the other lights far, far behind, until it was in the Utter Darkness and seemed lost. But then something remarkable happened: it bumped into a planet. The planet was grateful, since it had been in the dark for so long it didn't even know what light really was, and called its friends over to bask in this new light. The star's light, however, was not bright enough to fill the void. And Darkness itself came to try and eat the star and plunge the planets back into shadow. But just in the nick of time came even more lights! The other stars had been inspired by the first one's bravery, and came out to shine in places where there had never been light before. At first the small-ish star was angry, but it saw how the Darkness was big and terrible, and gave some of the worlds to its brothers to keep them safe. And the Darkness was banished with their help, and all the sky soon became full of stars coming to help the others.
"And Sinderea herself came one day and looked favorably on them all: for the stars were supposed to shine upon everything, including each other. The small-ish star itself was happy at last, for even though it was surrounded by its brothers again, they all knew that they were supposed to shine brightly for their new little wards, the planets." Bardigan takes a deep breath, looking at Midnight quite strangely, as if he isn't really himself. "Because the purpose of stars isn't to shine so bright they blind each other. It's to *shine.* And what's important to remember is *every star shines bright* regardless of how bright it or any other star is. Every one of them is important to make the night sky complete, and keep Darkness at bay. And so are you, whether anypony realizes it or not already."
Midnight_Glimmer's eyes rove up and down the storyteller, briefly. It's clear even in the first moments of her reaction, silent though it is, that she has been listening and has been, somewhere, inside, moved by what she's heard. She hasn't flinched, hasn't budged, hasn't taken her eyes from yours since you started speaking. To have this foal's attention is more riveting than with most her age; she makes her presence felt. In the moments while she takes in the thrust of your story, she appears ponderous. Strangely fixed, and unshaken for a young pony in her position. "I get what you're saying," She concedes, pausing to swallow and take a breath. "And I think you're right." Her temper, it seems, is now safely defused. But those gears, shadowed and undeterred, turn away within her mind, and anypony intently studying her eyes could see them. "But... see, that's my whole point." Turning her gaze back to you (at least with the one eye not shaded by her hair), she continues, "So what if I've been shining as brightly as I can... and my whole situation still seems geared against me? Like, I'm not trying to over-reach, I'm just trying to be -me-. And it's being treated like that's not enough." It's clear this situation runs much deeper than she's explicitly stating. In fact, there's been rustlings as high as the princesses about her in particular. "I'm not just some pony. I know my destiny is going to be just as... storied as my sister's. Maybe more, even. I'm not the first to say so, either." She turns her eyes to you with almost a desperation. "How am I supposed to prepare for it? Twilight had her cutie mark when she was 2 years younger than I am. I feel like I'm running out of time." If you feel like you may be out of your depth at this point in the situation, you're not alone. This is an unusually troubled young filly.
Midnight leans in toward you, now whispering conspiratorially, with a look of desperate pleading in her eyes, "I know Twilight's going to be the next alicorn. Thousands of years, and I know she's the one. It's never been clearer. These patterns tend to repeat themselves. What does that make -me-?"
Bardigan settles down on his stomach, tucking his legs beneath him. He's inadvertantly gotten himeslf drawn in for the long haul, and it would be ungentlecolt-like in the extreme to back out now. "Another short story: I didn't have my cutie mark until I was eleven. I got it by accident. But that's neither here nor there." He removes his feathered hat and plops it down on the floor next to him, immaculately styled mane flowing free. "I think it's ponies around you that need to learn that story. A star isn't fixed in the sky: it wheels and turns and even falls, sometimes. Were it not for Celestia, our very sun might go flying off. Who can say what place a star will take? Or that you will? Stars are affected by each other, held even, but not controlled." Twilight's destiny as the 'next alicorn' doesn't seem to phase him; perhaps it's too big a thought for even the playwright's mind. "Perhaps you should take a page from the small-ish star's book and simply venture out when the time is right. As long as you know there will be others coming from behind to support you.
Midnight_Glimmer purses her lips, considering all you've said. Her thoughts are very tumultuous and impossible to organize at this moment. But she realizes you're not just another adult talking down to her - and in fact you're offering a kind of poetic guidance she can actually -use-. It even seems to be favoring her in some way, unlike most of the other advice she's customarily given. There's a silence. "I'm gonna.... have to think about all that." She remarks, earnestly. Meeting eyes with you again, the filly adds, "Thanks. For talking to me about this. I haven't made a lot of friends in Ponyville yet. A lot of ponies make me feel like I'm a footnote. You don't." For the very first time that evening, a small smile curves on the youth's lips, demonstrating a peace in her she hasn't exposed yet. "Will I see you here again?"
"Most certainly," Bardigan says, and stands up to replace the hat on his head, now smiling again himself. "I have business to attend to here that remains unfinished... but thank you for the books, Midnight. It was a pleasure to speak with you. Should you need more stories, you know which pony to call on." He turns to the door, figuring his package can wait until a later date. His saddlebags, however, bulge with new books from the shelves, chosen almost totally at random.
But there -is- a pony present in the library. And it's not Twilight Sparkle, although in the meager amount of light there is, one might be forgiven for mistaking this pony for the librarian, before noticing she's only a filly. The library is dark; Twilight and Spike are sound asleep in the upstairs, but near the center of the floor, Midnight Glimmer is sprawled on her belly, a candle illuminating the small space she occupies, casting dancing shadows on the walls. The young unicorn looks up from the book she's reading, one of her eyes hidden by a lock of hair. "Um... hello? Can I help you?"
Bardigan starts with a quiet and dignified gasp, one hoof raised over his chest when he spots the mini-Twilight in the middle of the room. A brief alarm flashes in his head that Twilight was experimenting with age spells, but when he hears Midnight's voice he manages to relax. "My apologies," he says, remaining just inside the door, which swings shut behind him. "I'd thought I could slip in just before closing, but it seems I've missed the librarian... oh! My name is Bardigan." He quickly removes his hat and bows his head. "Simple playwright."
The filly in the room seems fairly at-ease with your greeting. Her horn glows, and in a moment the candles lining the lower section of the library glow to life, filling the downstairs with a cozy light. "Oh! Yeah, the librarian's my sister. I'm Midnight. Is there... something I can help you with? I've been staying here for a while - I'm not a librarian, but I sorta basically know where stuff is in here."
Bardigan tilts his head, focusing on the filly's half-hidden face for a moment, a little smile hovering on his lips. "Ah... yes, I see. Very good, very good." He perks his ears and his smile grows when the candles flare up. He adores watching unicorns work their magic so deftly. "It's a pleasure to meet yuo, Midnight. Well, ah, I was here... thinking of collecting some books on stars. Specifically, the falling kind. Anything and everything will help. I'm working on a related project. A story in the making."
Midnight_Glimmer nods in acknowledgment. "Well, I can show you where the astronomy section is, that should get you started at least." The filly speaks with the cadence of a child who's a bit wiser than her years, almost as if she'd gotten ahold of adult conversation earlier in life. It's reminiscent of her sister's behavior, to anyone who's met Twilight - although something essential is missing, some spark of confidence and poise that's a trademark of the Element of Magic. Midnight almost seems... understated. The little pony plods over to a particular shelf, shuffling a few volumes around with her horn-a-glowing. "Here we go. This is the Earth Science shelf." She steps aside, with a manner that seems to be encouraging you to search for the book without her 'interference'.
Despite Midnight's best efforts to fade into the background like a faint stain on a photograph, Bardigan keeps glancing her way as he peruses the shelves, like he's asking if he's browsing right. But really, he is just trying to pounce upon a topic to avoid awkward silence. "How long have you been living here with Miss Sparkle?" he wonders with a hoof on his chin, scanning titles. "To my shame I haven't chanced upon you before... if it was a matter of not noticing, I must apologize."
Suddenly very self-conscious, Midnight's gaze immediately drops to her hooves. Now -most- of her face is obscured by a curtain of hair - hair which bears a similar dome-curve to Twilight's. "Oh! Well, just a couple of weeks. I've just been..." She looks up, eyebrow cocked. "Wait, did you say 'Miss Sparkle'? It's -so- weird hearing people call Twilie that." She pauses, still speaking low, as the low light of the after-hours library seems appropriate. Unsolicited, she continues that train of thought: "Ponies in this town act like Twi is some kind of super... heroine, messiah pony thing. It's so bizarre. She leaves Canterlot for like less than a year, and now everyone's telling stories about how she's saving Equestria and stuff." There is a note of resentment in the young filly's voice that isn't entirely well-concealed.
Bardigan's hoof timidly slides up from his chin to his mouth, hiding a self-conscious smile. "Ahh... well, my tendency towards formality is sometimes a bit *too* ubiquitous, yes..." He trails off as Midnight goes on, his smile flattening into a somber line. "I'm... sure they're just trying to give her the proper recognition," he says, eyes now staying with the filly instead of the bookshelf. He scratches his mane, well aware of his own brand of hero worship in the form of an entire *play* about the famous Elements. "Heroes need to be... recognized- er, but, Miss Spar- Twilight? I know she is very modest about it. She did what she did with of the strength of other ponies, not all because of her power, great as it is. She doesn't *want* to cast some great shadow over... the rest of us."
Midnight_Glimmer's eyes flash. "Modest?! Are you -kidding me-, guy? YOU should meet her in PRIVATE. She's the bossiest, biggest bossypants pony in all Equestria. She thinks she's -sooooo- great, for getting to study with Princess Celestia. I'm in the school for gifted unicorns, just like she was. NOPONY will let me forget what kind of reputation I have to live up to." The filly takes a few baleful steps forwards. "You think she's a -hero-? She made me cry on my 7th birthday, for one thing. My parents think I'm a -dud- because of her. I've gotten A's my whole life, and I'm looked at like the -failure- of the family. Don't even -talk- to me about shadows being cast. You've never had to live in hers." The little filly is huffing now. This is clearly a vitriolic topic for her. "It's NEVER enough. Someday, I'm gonna be -way- more powerful than her. I bet I already am more powerful than she was at my age. Everyone's gonna see."
Bardigan struggles not to bite his lip as his mind whirls. He came by to get books and drop off a package, but instead this-! This opportunity is being thrown in front of him. To help a filly that clearly needs it. He stays silent and still, letting Midnight's rant taper off a bit. When it comes, his voice is gentle and low. "I know another filly much like you," he sighs. "One who only wants to prove herself." He rubs his chin again, and decides to go out on a limb. He's a pegasus, so it's not a daring move in his opinion. "I don't know much about stars at all, but would you like to hear a story about one?"
Midnight_Glimmer is obviously wary. She's smarter than a lot of adult ponies presume, and is used to being talked down to, but she isn't yet convinced you're another grownup with no clue what he's talking about. So, she perks an ear and listens - although the look on her face tells of her -very- short patience. "All right... yeah?" She invites you to tell the story, the subtext being 'you'd better not annoy me because I'm on a short fuse'. She already has a torrent of commentary about how she's -not- just out to prove herself and how there's no way you understand her predicament, but the jury, for the moment - and it's a short moment - is out.
Bardigan smiles. He knows that look: stories are just for little foals and they belittle my concerns, right? Ah, if only more ponies realized their value... "There are ancient, perhaps totally untrue, but still quite inspiring tales of gods that existed before Celestia and Luna were even born. One of them was Sinderea the star-maker. She traveled the void in a time when everything, from time to shadows to light itself was alive. It was her purpose to plant stars wherever she went. These stars thought they were the only things of worth anywhere at all: after all, in those days only stars burned fiercely with Sinderea's light. And one star in particular was stuck right in the midst of a big, boisterous bunch of them, but it was just kind of... small-ish compared to the rest.
"Sinderea didn't show favoritism, so the stars judged themselves. And this small-ish star couldn't possibly outshine its brothers and sisters, and was always ignored or even mocked by them. And eventually, it just couldn't take it anymore, so it left to find something to shine on and show the rest how bright it was, though the rest mocked it so for even trying. They thought there was nothing out there in the void beyond Sinderea's light. The star was determined, and tried to leave the other lights far, far behind, until it was in the Utter Darkness and seemed lost. But then something remarkable happened: it bumped into a planet. The planet was grateful, since it had been in the dark for so long it didn't even know what light really was, and called its friends over to bask in this new light. The star's light, however, was not bright enough to fill the void. And Darkness itself came to try and eat the star and plunge the planets back into shadow. But just in the nick of time came even more lights! The other stars had been inspired by the first one's bravery, and came out to shine in places where there had never been light before. At first the small-ish star was angry, but it saw how the Darkness was big and terrible, and gave some of the worlds to its brothers to keep them safe. And the Darkness was banished with their help, and all the sky soon became full of stars coming to help the others.
"And Sinderea herself came one day and looked favorably on them all: for the stars were supposed to shine upon everything, including each other. The small-ish star itself was happy at last, for even though it was surrounded by its brothers again, they all knew that they were supposed to shine brightly for their new little wards, the planets." Bardigan takes a deep breath, looking at Midnight quite strangely, as if he isn't really himself. "Because the purpose of stars isn't to shine so bright they blind each other. It's to *shine.* And what's important to remember is *every star shines bright* regardless of how bright it or any other star is. Every one of them is important to make the night sky complete, and keep Darkness at bay. And so are you, whether anypony realizes it or not already."
Midnight_Glimmer's eyes rove up and down the storyteller, briefly. It's clear even in the first moments of her reaction, silent though it is, that she has been listening and has been, somewhere, inside, moved by what she's heard. She hasn't flinched, hasn't budged, hasn't taken her eyes from yours since you started speaking. To have this foal's attention is more riveting than with most her age; she makes her presence felt. In the moments while she takes in the thrust of your story, she appears ponderous. Strangely fixed, and unshaken for a young pony in her position. "I get what you're saying," She concedes, pausing to swallow and take a breath. "And I think you're right." Her temper, it seems, is now safely defused. But those gears, shadowed and undeterred, turn away within her mind, and anypony intently studying her eyes could see them. "But... see, that's my whole point." Turning her gaze back to you (at least with the one eye not shaded by her hair), she continues, "So what if I've been shining as brightly as I can... and my whole situation still seems geared against me? Like, I'm not trying to over-reach, I'm just trying to be -me-. And it's being treated like that's not enough." It's clear this situation runs much deeper than she's explicitly stating. In fact, there's been rustlings as high as the princesses about her in particular. "I'm not just some pony. I know my destiny is going to be just as... storied as my sister's. Maybe more, even. I'm not the first to say so, either." She turns her eyes to you with almost a desperation. "How am I supposed to prepare for it? Twilight had her cutie mark when she was 2 years younger than I am. I feel like I'm running out of time." If you feel like you may be out of your depth at this point in the situation, you're not alone. This is an unusually troubled young filly.
Midnight leans in toward you, now whispering conspiratorially, with a look of desperate pleading in her eyes, "I know Twilight's going to be the next alicorn. Thousands of years, and I know she's the one. It's never been clearer. These patterns tend to repeat themselves. What does that make -me-?"
Bardigan settles down on his stomach, tucking his legs beneath him. He's inadvertantly gotten himeslf drawn in for the long haul, and it would be ungentlecolt-like in the extreme to back out now. "Another short story: I didn't have my cutie mark until I was eleven. I got it by accident. But that's neither here nor there." He removes his feathered hat and plops it down on the floor next to him, immaculately styled mane flowing free. "I think it's ponies around you that need to learn that story. A star isn't fixed in the sky: it wheels and turns and even falls, sometimes. Were it not for Celestia, our very sun might go flying off. Who can say what place a star will take? Or that you will? Stars are affected by each other, held even, but not controlled." Twilight's destiny as the 'next alicorn' doesn't seem to phase him; perhaps it's too big a thought for even the playwright's mind. "Perhaps you should take a page from the small-ish star's book and simply venture out when the time is right. As long as you know there will be others coming from behind to support you.
Midnight_Glimmer purses her lips, considering all you've said. Her thoughts are very tumultuous and impossible to organize at this moment. But she realizes you're not just another adult talking down to her - and in fact you're offering a kind of poetic guidance she can actually -use-. It even seems to be favoring her in some way, unlike most of the other advice she's customarily given. There's a silence. "I'm gonna.... have to think about all that." She remarks, earnestly. Meeting eyes with you again, the filly adds, "Thanks. For talking to me about this. I haven't made a lot of friends in Ponyville yet. A lot of ponies make me feel like I'm a footnote. You don't." For the very first time that evening, a small smile curves on the youth's lips, demonstrating a peace in her she hasn't exposed yet. "Will I see you here again?"
"Most certainly," Bardigan says, and stands up to replace the hat on his head, now smiling again himself. "I have business to attend to here that remains unfinished... but thank you for the books, Midnight. It was a pleasure to speak with you. Should you need more stories, you know which pony to call on." He turns to the door, figuring his package can wait until a later date. His saddlebags, however, bulge with new books from the shelves, chosen almost totally at random.