The Fairest of All

When at last the day of the festival dawned, Hebe rose with the sun, too excited to be tired. She did not have much to prepare, but she found that a white linen gown had been laid out for her, and so she put it on and brushed her curls free of knots, humming a bubbly tune all the while. Then she looked in the mirror hanging on her wall and smiled at herself. At last - at last, she was to see those she loved again. Her heart raced at the thought. Two brusque knocks came at the door, as always they did, but this time no tray of food was pushed in through the slot at the bottom of her chamber door. Instead a pair of armored guards entered, carrying each a golden chain. Hebe did not protest when these were attached to the golden band clasped round her throat. She obediently trotted down the stairs, through a door, a hall, and another door, and her heart leapt to her throat. Oh, the grass, how it rippled in the light breeze. The smell of rain, of flowers. She hadn't known til that moment just how much she'd missed this. King Aster lay in wait, draped lazily upon a beautifully crafted couch. It was of the sort that would be lifted by a group of ponies in order to carry him through the crowded streets. Though she would have preferred to glare, Hebe raised her chin and kept her bright smile still on her face. He told her that she was to walk amongst the hoofmaidens, and that the guards would be in front of her with the same chains, ready to stop her if she tried anything. She was to follow his own guards through the streets and then to the court, where she would be presented before the foreign queen, Jonquil. When she asked what she should say to the queen, one corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk, and he dismissed her to join those already stood gathered about the Kolkwitzia that protected their kingdom. It was perhaps two hours before the parade began, but Hebe's energy did not fade. Her heart felt ready to burst with joy so that she could hardly stand still. This would be the last time she felt such joy. Hebe was not a stupid filly, but her mind had grown foggy in captivity, and she did not connect the things she should have. The chains, the linen gowns, the parade... She let the puzzle pieces remain apart. All that she could think of was what she would say to her mother, to her father, to her friends. When the parade began, and she was walking, she kept her head held high, names running through her mind. Four minutes passed before she spotted one of her dear friends. Ivory Keys. She made eye contact, and waved. Ivory looked away. On its own this did not crush Hebe's spirit. Though none of her friends waved back to her, she supposed they might not recognize her in a gown and with gold. The first time it stung was when she lifted her hoof to wave to Cherry Pit, making sure that the brown bracelet braided about her ankle was visible. Cherry wore an Identical bracelet; they'd made them together one day while they were stuck inside during a particularly bad storm. When Cherry's face wrinkled with disdain and she looked away, Hebe's stomach went cold. Her smile dimmed. What was going on? Well, maybe they had moved on. Maybe they just weren't friends now that they'd been apart for a whole year. She'd still get to see her parents, and that kept her steps light. They came to a temporary stop when they were about 2/3 of the way along the parade route, and then Hebe spotted them. Her parents, just between a filly and an old mare. Her parents. Hebe waved to them, smiling a big smile, and they noticed her - and then her mother frowned and pulled the filly closer, and her father murmured something to her mother, and Hebe's blood ran cold. Her smile froze on her face. Tears came to her eyes, but did not fall. Hebe's ears folded back. Her parents. Her parents were right there, and they didn't recognize her. All at once she felt a numbness spread through her limbs. When the parade began to move again, she had her head down, trying to keep her hooves moving correctly, but she couldn't remember how they were supposed to walk. They didn't feel like her legs. She was a stranger to everyone she loved. Not a single one of them had waved back to her, smiled, or even acknowledged her. By now she was trembling, and suddenly so, so tired. Her limbs ached and tingled. The tears still wouldn't fall, only making her vision wobble and blur. She barely even noticed as she was led into the court, or when suddenly an ornate mirror was in her hooves. Why didn't they recognize her? Her own parents. Someone told her to touch her horn to the gem at the top of the mirror. Mechanically, she did as she was told. Her vision suddenly twisted, and pain stabbed through every part of her being, as if her bones were being shattered, and.. and then it was over. She felt odd. Where had her legs gone? She couldn't feel her legs. She couldn't move them. She... she couldn't see them. All she could see was King Aster's chin, a golden apple, and then Queen Jonquil, who glittered with cold beauty. Jonquil spoke, and it sounded as if Hebe's ears were full of moss or water. She was stuck on something cold and stony. "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall... Who's the fairest of them all?"