Asha's Story

## Part One

(It's very early in the morning, so early the sun hasn't even risen. But even though not a single light is on in the city of Ignus, in a small room at the top of the palace is a light. In this room sit two little girls. The older one looks about seven years old, and she has dark skin and long orange hair, which looks as if it hasn't been brushed in a month. The other one looks like the first one, but her hair is cut into a neat, perfectly-brushed pixie bob and she looks to be about three. The sisters are curled up in a small, red armchair reading a book together, when a knock comes on the door.)

Unnamed older sister, quietly: Come in, Mum.

(A woman comes into the room. She looks like both of the girls, but she's in her thirties and is wearing a golden tiara, indicating that she is the current queen, Aithne of Diserto.)

Queen Aithne: Asha, could you come here please?

(The sisters look at each other, and the older one, Asha, gets up and goes over to her mother.)

Asha: What is it, Mum?

Queen Aithne: I received my invitation to this decade's Princess Prom yesterday. And I was wondering if you might like to go, since some of the other queens are bringing their kids.

Asha, without hesitation: No.

Queen Aithne: Well, you have to. You can't just stay in here all your life with your sister, you need to meet other kids.

Asha: No I don't. I don't need friends. I have Cyra, she's my sister, which is better anyway. I can just stay in here and read. Learn to control my powers.

Queen Aithne: That isn't true. You need to have friends, it's normal. And even if you didn't, you're going to be queen one day, and so are these kids. It'll help if you already know them when you all start to take your kingdoms' thrones.

Asha: Bring Cyra instead. I'm not going.

(The next day, she and her mother are going through her closet, looking for dresses. Asha sees some peach tulle in the back of the closet. She pulls it out. It's a dress, and it's made entirely of tulle, with a bit of solid peach fabric forming a built-in slip. She gasps.)

Asha: Mum, can I wear this?

Queen Aithne: No, Asha. It won't fit you. Maybe when you're older.

(A few hours later, they're at the palace of Bright Moon, which is unrecognizable under layers of very pink decorations. Asha clings very close to her mother, glancing warily at girls her own age that she saw.)

Asha, thinking: >Hmm, that pair of blondes over there must be the queen and princess of Plumeria. Maybe I should talk to them? ...Nah.<

(She and her mother make their way to the back of the room, where Angella sits on her throne. Asha stares up at the angel in awe, curtsying awkwardly. She and her mother say the formal Princess Prom greeting - and then Asha makes a decision. She turns and runs, ignoring her mother when she tells her to come back. But she doesn't look where she's going - and she runs right into someone else. They both tumble backward.)

Asha, quietly: Oh my gosh. I'm sorry.

(She looks at the person she ran into. It's a younger Glimmer. Asha jumps to her feet and helps her up.)

Asha: I'm really so sorry! Are you okay??

Glimmer: You should look where you're going!

Asha: Yeah, I should.

(There's a pause for a few seconds. Asha stares at Glimmer, wondering why her heart is beating faster.)

Glimmer: Hey, what's your name?

(A few minutes later, Aithne and Angella find the girls talking. Both open their mouths to yell, and then realize - their daughters are talking to each other!)

Aithne: There you are, Asha. Never do that again, all right?

Asha, almost whispering: I won't, Mum...

Aithne: We'll talk about this later.

Angella: And once the ball is over, Glimmer, you are grounded.

(But the girls are already gone, running off across the ballroom together.)

Asha: So, um, what are we gonna do now?

Glimmer: We can hide under the table and scare people!

Asha: No, there's a grownup under there.

Glimmer: Why?

Asha: I don't know. Mom says there is something wrong with her head.

Glimmer: Ohhh. That makes sense. Hey, I know what we can do!

(A few minutes later, Asha is watching Glimmer climb up the back of her mom's throne.)

Glimmer: Asha, come on up!

Asha: No, what if I fall? What if *you* fall?

Glimmer: It'll be fine!

Asha: No. We're probably not allowed to do this, and anyway it's dangerous.

Glimmer: Ugh, fine. \*teleports back down\*

(Once Glimmer was un-grounded, they spent all their time together, even though they had barely anything in common - Asha was quiet, shy and always followed the rules, while Glimmer was bouncy, rowdy and rebellious, but somehow they got along anyway. Aithne got used to seeing Glimmer - sort of - and Angella got used to seeing Asha - again, sort of. The girls grew up like this for several years - until disaster struck, three years later.)

To Be Continued...

## Part Two

(It's early afternoon at Bright Moon, and the sky is bright, the light of several of Etheria's moons shining through the palace windows. And footsteps echo in the corridor as the young Princess of Bright Moon runs through the halls, careening around corners and only pausing to look behind potted plants and puzzled guards. She's about 10 years old now, rather than seven.)

Glimmer, singsong: Asha, I'm coming to find you!

Asha: \*giggles\*

(Asha stands up from behind a potted plant, putting her hands up.)

Asha: You found me! I surrender!

Glimmer: \*laughs\* You better, or I will destroy you!

Asha: Tag?

Glimmer: Yep. \*taps her on the shoulder\* You're it! \*runs off\*

Asha: \*chases her\* You know, maybe we should play outside. We might break something in here...

Glimmer: \*stops\* Fine.

(She teleports them outside, and then they chase each other around the palace grounds. Asha runs into the woods, and Glimmer follows her. They run through the forest, laughing - and then Asha screeches to a halt, seeing... someone else?)

Glimmer: You're it!

Asha: Shh! Look.

(She points to where, only 20 feet away, a younger Bow is shooting - or rather failing to shoot - small, makeshift arrows at a tree with a bow made from a vine and a bent stick. The two Princesses watch.)

Glimmer: Hmm, I've never seen him before. Let's go say hi!

Asha: No way. He's a boy! You know I don't like boys!

Glimmer: How bad can they be? Come on.

(She grabs Asha and teleports her into the middle of the clearing. Bow is startled and drops the bow and arrows.)

Bow: Whoa!

Glimmer: Oh, did we startle you? I'm sorry! I'm Glimmer and this is Asha. What's your name?

Bow, uncertainly: Um... hi. I'm Bow. Wait, aren't you the Princess of Bright Moon?

Glimmer, proudly: Uh-huh!

Bow: Um... I have to go.

(He runs off through the woods, leaving his bow and arrows. Asha, who has been frozen in place from nervousness the whole time, exhales finally.)

Asha: Welp, that's that. Dude doesn't wanna hang out with us. Trust me next time I say something like this won't work.

Glimmer: Maybe we can come back tomorrow and see if he comes back too?

Asha: Oh, no sir. No thank you.

(The next day, however, they are back out in the woods. Sure enough, he's already there. Glimmer walks out of the trees this time, pulling Asha with her.)

Glimmer, quietly: Hi.

Bow: \*pauses\* Hi.

Glimmer: I don't know why you ran away yesterday, but we're nice. You don't have to be worried.

Bow: \*thinks about it\* Well... okay. You girls seem nice.

(For the next few days, the three of them hang out - or rather Glimmer and Bow hang out, and Asha watches silently, refusing to ever talk to him. It's not that she doesn't like him, it's just that she's too shy. She just doesn't want to talk to anyone but Glimmer. And so she feels lonely, and a little bit angry too. And one day, she snaps.)

Asha, quietly: Why do you like him more than me?

Glimmer: What? I don't!

Asha: But you're always hanging out with him now. When's the last time we hung out by ourselves?

Glimmer: Well, you could hang out with both of us. We could all be friends.

Asha: No. I can't.

Glimmer: Why?

(Asha pauses - then turns and runs away. The next day, when Glimmer goes to see her, she finds that the door to Asha's room is locked. Instead of just teleporting inside, she decides to leave her alone for a while, thinking she'd come back and apologize soon. But she never does. And they don't speak again - at least for seven years.)

## Part Three

(It's morning in Diserto, and in a high-up room, someone rummages through a closet, looking for a dress. A small "Aha!" comes from the closet, and a young woman pops out. It's Asha. She's a lot older now, about seventeen. She looks almost exactly the same, only now she wears the circlet her mother used to wear. It's golden, and it has a red gem in the shape of a heart. She looks out the window at her kingdom, thinking about how strange it is that it's Princess Prom day again. She's changed so much - she's come from being a shy wallflower with only one friend in the world, to being a bouncy, upbeat, king young woman with tons of friends. Not that she doesn't miss her first friend. She sighs. Then, her mother, former queen Aithne, comes in.)

Aithne: Asha, are you almost ready?

Asha: Yes, Mom. I'm just so nervous. I haven't taken a break for more than an hour since I became queen, and I definitely haven't left the kingdom.

Aithne: Don't worry, kid. The planet's not gonna blow up while you're gone. You go have fun.

Asha: Okay. Hope I don't get nervous enough to heat up while I'm in Frosta's castle. I really hate having pyrokinesis sometimes.

Aithne, firmly: You won't. Now get dressed and go!

Asha: Okay, Mom!

(Later, she arrived at Frosta's castle. Unlike when she was little, she walked into the party confidently - if slightly bitterly, as she'd asked if she could DJ the event but was turned down. She didn't mention Frosta's age when she bowed, however, which did indicate that she wasn't that mad. She knew quite a lot of the people there - things had changed since she was ten. Everything seemed to be going well, until she twirled away from her dance partner and found herself dancing with Glimmer, who looked very sad, with tearstains on her face.)

Asha: Glimmer?!

Glimmer: Asha?!

Asha: Um... hi?

Glimmer: ...Hi.

(They dance in silence for a second.)

Asha: Why are you upset?

(Glimmer explains about her and Bow's fight about him going to the party with Perfuma. Asha listens.)

Asha: Wow. You know, you really need to work on your jealousy there, girl.

Glimmer: You're one to talk. You ran off and avoided me for seven years, just because I made a new friend!

Asha: Yeah. I, um... I'm sorry about that. I was a dumb kid who didn't know you can have more than one friend at a time. I shouldn't have freaked and run away. Or I should've at least talked to you and asked if you really didn't like me anymore.

Glimmer: \*pause\* Well... yeah. You should've. But... I forgive you, I guess. Now that I know what you thought.

Asha: Thank you. Also, I'm sure he'll forgive you. He'd better, anyway.

Glimmer: \*laughs a bit\*

(They switch dance partners. The rest of the Princess Prom episode happens. Asha's mother forbids her to go on the mission to get Glimmer and Bow back, in case she loses control of her powers and burns the entire Fright Zone to the ground. She thinks that would be a good thing, but her parents disagree. However, after the others get Glimmer and Bow back, Asha goes to see them - okay, mostly to see Glimmer, but to see him too. And from then on, it's just like the last seven years never happened, only now they hang out with Adora and Bow as well - and everyone is perfectly happy with this.)

Original post links:

**Asha's Story** by **SimplyDiamond--** **Part 1, Part 2. Part 3**