Out of the Darkness

by SergeantShenanigans

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Main 6, Romance, Princess Luna, Original Character, Spike
Length: 135012

On a dark midnight in the middle of the Everfree forest Zecora stumbles upon an injured pony. Join this pony as he tries to regain his memor

On a dark midnight in the middle of the Everfree forest Zecora stumbles upon an injured pony. Join this pony as he tries to regain his memories from a shrouded past.

Published 2012-03-03 20:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-21 09:24:51 UTC

Ch 2: Another Point of View

"I need to find this kava, so that I may go home and drink some java," Zecora remarked idly.

Zecora had spent the past hour or so searching through the forest for a plant called the kava, a plant used to brew a sedative or an anesthetic. She was searching for this plant because Fluttershy needed it to take care of her animals.

Passing through a few trees she finally found what she was looking for. The kava was a dark green spade shaped leaf, while normally if consumed it would be toxic; if strained and extracted correctly it was a very useful medicinal herb. The plant itself was fairly easy to spot against the dark brown and black background of the rest of the area.

As Zecora reached down to collect her findings, she heard a sudden explosion that sounded as if Rainbow Dash herself was just a few meters away pulling off a Sonic Rainboom.‘What was that?’ she wondered. Gathering up the bit of kava that she had found,she quickly departed to locate the source of the loud noise.

Walking in the direction she heard the explosive sounding noise come from she came upon a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a motionless dark figure lying on the ground. ‘Is that the being that made the noise?’ she wondered, approaching the figure. Upon closer inspection she could see that it was a stallion, who was seemingly unconscious, and very hurt.The stallion was wearing a tattered and torn cloak that covered most of his body.

While inspecting the stallion she immediately noticed one of his legs, which was bent in a way it shouldn't have been able to.‘He is damaged I do concur, perhaps I should see if he will stir?’ She thought as she leaned towards the stallion and slowly, brought her hoof to his chest to see if it was alive. As a response she felt the steady beat of a living heart.

Zecora let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.‘Good, this pony’s fate did not turn out as I thought it would.’

Gently, she prodded at his back left hoof to see if he would stir. She instantly regretted this as his eyes jolted open. ‘Why did I feel compelled to prod this colt and move his body with such a jolt?’

For a moment he simply looked at the moon, then to his left staring at some trees, then to his right staring at the other trees.

When his eyes finally came to rest on Zecora, she decided to speak up. "Sorry for your hooves that I did shake, but I had to check if you would wake." She said calmly trying to think of what to do with this stallion.

He seemed to try and respond, only for his eyes to cringe in pain. "Please do not try and move or your consciousness you will lose." She warned, still trying to think of what to do.

Finally, Zecora decided that she would carry him back to her hut and tend to his injuries. "If your injuries I do not tend, your bones and cuts will not mend."

He responded with a questioning look. ‘At least, Ithink it’s a questioning look…’ she thought. Before she could ponder it any more, she decided to carry him back to her hut. Even though she tried carefully, he still lost consciousness.‘I hope I am not too late,’ she thought grimly, picking up her pace as she raced back to her hut.

Many hours later he slowly stirred into consciousness. His first priority was to see if his eyes would open, and instead of his body being unresponsive as he assumed it would be, he was rewarded with his eyes slowly opening. When they were completely open he took a moment to take in his surroundings.

Doing so he found himself in a hut of some sort, upon further inspection he found many vials, plants and masks spread throughout the hut.‘Looks like I’m in some kind of witch doctors hut.’ He decided upon seeing the masks.

With that in mind he began to contemplate what kind of creature lived in this hut. His thoughts were interrupted when what happened the night before came rushing back to him. ‘I wonder where that strange pony went?’ he wondered.

After a few moments of searching around the room and not finding the strange pony he decided to get some more rest and regain his energy.

Sometime later, he was abruptly woken by the sound of a door closing. Looking towards the sudden disturbance he recognized the pony who had found him the night before, to his surprise she turned out to be a zebra not a pony. She had a black and white mane sticking up in a mohawk, a strange spring like necklace around her neck and her cutie mark was a spiral surrounded by small triangles.‘Huh, I don't think I've ever seen a zebra before.’

That stray thought caused something to click inside his head. ‘Wait, have I ever seen a zebra before? Come to think of it what’s a zebra? How do I know what a zebra is? Who am I anyway? I don't even know who I am!’

Seeing his eyes widen Zecora quickly approached him with a worried expression on her face. "Do not strain yourself to move, if it is in strength you have nothing to prove."

He briefly wondered what she meant.‘Strength…?’ His eyes widened again as he came to a sudden conclusion. ‘I couldn’t move my body the night before so what condition is it in?’ He tried to look down at his body but his effort was in vain, without the use of his neck he could not see his body.

"Your body is in a bad condition, if you were wondering how it was then you should listen," She waited for him to calm down before continuing. "Broken bones and cuts cover your body, the fact that you live strikes me oddly. That is all that I can tell, for your internal organs I hope this bodes well. Until you are better what I think will be best, is if you stay in that bed and get some rest.”

Having explained the situation, Zecora decided that he should get some food to help him regain his energy. Using the last of her vegetables for the month she made a carrot, corn and green bean stew. After carefully spoon feeding it to him, she let him get more rest and head into ponyville to restock on her monthly supplies and check in on her friends. As she left the last thing on her mind was what had happened in the month that she had been gone.

Ch 4: Another Filler

After arriving back at her hut, a strange scene awaited her inside. The pony,who had been resting on the makeshift bed the night before, no longer rested there. He was lying on top of a very, very embarrassed looking Fluttershy, who let out a small squeak of distress. Fluttershy was a yellow pony about as tall as Zecora with a pink mane, three butterflies for a cutiemark and light blue eyes.

"Well this sight is something new, why is he on top of you?" Zecora asked with a sly, mocking smile.

"U-ummm…. W-w-well…." Fluttershy stammered out bashfully “It all started this morning…”

Earlier that day

It was a remotely normal day for Fluttershy; she had woken up to the sounds of birds singing and the roosters’ cock-a-doodle-doo-ing. Looking out the window she saw that the sun was just beginning to raise, its bright orange and yellow shade mixing into the now brightening sky.

She admired the sight until the sun had officially risen, then proceeded with her daily duties. First, for breakfast, she had a bowl of cereal and a muffin. After finishing her morning meal she proceeded to get breakfast for her pet bunny, Angel. After arguing for a bit and two time outs, Angel finally ate his breakfast, after whichFluttershy made her way outside, where she spent the next few hours feeding the many animals that she cared for.

Having finished taking care of all of the animals earlier than usual, she decided to relax under a nearby tree. Her mind began to wander over what she might be able to do with the rest of her day. ‘Well… I could go and see my friends, that might be nice,’ she considered. ‘But they might have stuff they have to do, and I wouldn't want to burden them.’

She sighed contently, enjoying the warm breeze from under the shade of the tree ‘Maybe I should take a page from Rainbow Dash’s book, relax under this tree, enjoy the weather, and take a nice nap,’ she wondered, yawning at the thought.

‘Actually, on second thought, if I do that then I won't be around to help if something bad happens…’ with that thought in mind, she started to panic, thinking of all the things that could go wrong. "What if I’m not awake and a creature from the forest attacks somepony? What if a dragon shows up and starts chomping down the ponies in ponyville? WHAT IF IT EATS MY FRIENDS!" She exclaimed.

While this was happening, she didn't notice the orange mare with a blonde mane and a stetson walking up to her, pulling a cart filled with apples. As the mare got close to Fluttershy, she greeted her friend. “Howdy Shy, Ah w-”
Her sentence was interrupted by a tackling hug from Fluttershy. "NO! I don't want you to be eaten by a big mean dragon!"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on. What dragon?" Applejack asked curiously.

Applejack was an orange earth pony with a blond mane, a stetson, and a cutiemark of three apples.

"Wh-wh-what?" Fluttershy stuttered out. After realizing what she had just done she quickly jumped off of her friend and blushed heavily.

Applejack cocked an eyebrow, "The dragon, y’know, the one you were yellin' 'bout just now."

"Oh umm…" Fluttershy hid her face in her mane, a blush quickly growing on her face. "There is no dragon, I was just worrying for nothing."

Applejack simply shrugged and walked over to the cart she had been pulling. “Not the weirdest thing that’s happened ta me today,” she gestured to the tipped over cart of apples. "Well,here’s those apples ya asked for, though I can't guarantee none of 'em are bruised now.”

Fluttershy quickly began helping Applejack put all of the apples back into the cart. "Thank you very much Applejack, I needed them, I just used the last of them to feed the flamingos and goats."

They pulled the cart back to her cottage and as soon as the apples were gone from the cart, Applejack was off to get back to work at the farm ‘At least I have something to feed those goats this time, I was worried I would have a repeat of last time,’ Fluttershy shuddered at the thought.‘No. Never again.’

As she put away the rest of the apples, she was confronted with the same problem as earlier; she had nothing to do with her day.Once again she found herself sitting against the tree, her eyes slowly wandering over the animals when it came upon one of her hummingbird friends that was still recovering from a broken wing.‘Oh yeah! I still need to get those kava leaves from Miss Zecora!’

Fluttershy was too deep in thought to notice when she had entered the Everfree forest, so she didn’t notice the absolute lack of creatures throughout the forest, though it would have only been brought to her attention if she had actually seen another creature in the forest during her walk.

After about 20 minutes of walking at a steady pace, she finally arrived at Zecoras hut. Arriving at the zebras hut brought her to the realization that she had just walked through the Everfree Forest, the Everfree Forest…"AAAAHHHHHH!" She screamed, opening the door, running in, and slamming it behind herself. ‘What if something had been stalking me during my walk? What if I had been attacked while I wasn't paying enough attention to run? What if I walked through poison joke without noticing?’

She took a deep breath and spoke aloud. "Now Fluttershy stop worrying, nothing happened, you’re fine, there’s nothing to worry about,"

As she finally began to calm down, a loud groan came from across the room, causing her to squeak very loudly and hide behind her mane. "I’m sorry for disturbing you Zecora, I just wanted to know if you had gathered the kava I asked you for, but if you haven’t that’s okay."

She stood still, looking at the ground, waiting for a response, but one never came.Looking over to the source of the noise, she found not Zecora, but a very damaged looking pony lying on the bed across the room. At least he seemed to be damaged; he wore a torn and tattered cloak that covered his whole body so she couldn’t really tell.

"Oh I’m so sorry if I disturbed your nap, I was just looking for Zecora, do you know where she went?" Fluttershy asked quietly, receiving only a groan in response.

"Umm excuse me mister or misses pony are you okay?" she walked over to where he lay and looked down at him.‘I wonder why his face is covered by a hood….’ She slowly began reaching for the hood to see what he looked like. Unfortunately, she stretched her body too far and fell onto the edge of the bed, fell off and landed on her back. Because of the sudden shift of body weight, the pony in the cloak fell on top of her. A few moments later Zecora walked in.
One explanation later…
"…and right after that happened you walked in," Fluttershy finished, happy that Zecora had helped move the pony off of her.

"I see. So that is what did happen, but why is he still unconscious then?" Zecora asked, gesturing to the seemingly unconscious pony.

Though he had woken up as they were putting him up on the bed, he chose now to speak up "I am awake, I have been since you helped me off of that yellow mare,” he explained hoarsely.

"It seems you are conscious, but until you get water, you should talk less. Excuse me for a moment, while I get you a refreshment.”

That left Fluttershy alone with the now conscious pony. "So…. you heard all of that?" she asked

"Yes, I was listening and I am sorry for falling on you," he said quietly, so he wouldn't strain his voice trying to talk again.

Fluttershy was surprised by his sudden apology.‘Usually I'm the one apologizing for something I didn't do…’ "Don't worry it wasn't your fault, you were unconscious."

After finally gathering up enough courage to ask him about his cloak, Zecora walked in carrying a bucket full of water. "Sorry for the long wait, I had run out of water as of late," she explained, pouring some into a glass and taking it over to the hooded pony. She slowly tilted the glass up, allowing him to drink at a careful pace. "Thanks! I feel like I haven't had anything to drink in an eternity!" he said finishing off the glass of water. "Thank you, miss….?" He left the end of the question unanswered hoping that the zebra would finish the question, thus introducing herself.

"Zecora is what I am called, I have gone by it since I have crawled," she answered smiling.

"Nice to meet you miss Zecora, and I assume that the pony next to you would be Miss Fluttershy then?" He finished gesturing his head over to the yellow pony.

"Yes, it is nice to meet you too mister…." Fluttershy said copying what he had done to find out Zecora’s name.

"Oh, of course how rude of me, my name is…." Once again he was reminded that he had no memory to speak of. "I would tell you if I knew, but I don't really remember anything about myself."

"Oh you poor thing!" Fluttershy said, her inner mother taking over as she hurried over and hugged the colt in his bed.

"As much as I appreciate your kindness Miss Fluttershy, most of the bones in my body are broken, so if you could please release your grip…" he said in a strained voice.

"Oh I’m so sorry!" Fluttershy apologized,jumping away from him.

"It's alright; I didn't know that most of my bones were broken until a few moments ago, when I was placed back on the bed. Now, would you two kind ponies help me come up with a new name? Until I find out who I am, I would like to be known as something other than ‘that strange pony’ or ‘it’ or just ‘pony’," he asked politely.

"Oh, of course! But it might help if I saw what you look like…." Fluttershy hinted, hoping to see what was wrong with him.

"A good idea that is not, for in a state of shock you would be caught," Zecora quickly chimed in.

Fluttershy quickly regretted her suggestion. "That’s okay then, why don’t you come up with a name Zecora?”
"Alright, first thing after I get out of this bed I am going to check what I look like," the colt decided "but first,we should come up with a name."

After thinking it over a bit, Zecora finally decided on a name. "How about Midnight Star? It fits your situation so far."

With questioning looks from both ponies she explained what had happened the night before.

"Midnight Star…" he said slowly "I like it," he decided

"I like it too, it’s a good name," Fluttershy smiled encouragingly, then turned to Zecora. "Why were you in town? I thought you only went into town for food and herb supplies?"

Zecora took a moment to explain why she went into town, and what happened when she was there.

After hearing the story, Star sighed. "I hope I don't have anything to do with this ‘Discord’character, that would be bad." both Zecora and Fluttershy nodded their heads in agreement.

Fluttershy’s eyes absently wandered over to the window, where she saw the sun was just starting to set. "Oh my gosh! I’ve been here for hours! Angel is going to be very upset with me!" she exclaimed, almost dashing out the door before stopping, remembering why she was here in the first place. "I am so forgetful, Zecora may I have the kava leaves that I asked you to gather?"

Walking over to her saddlebag Zecora pulled out a small pouch filled with the plant and gave it to Fluttershy. "it was nice to meet you Midnight Star, goodbye to you both!" she said rushing out the door.

"Well, she is interesting," Star commented as she left, then looked over to Zecora. "Thank you, it was nice finally knowing who saved my life and learning something to refer to myself as," he said looking over to Zecora.

"Yes it was fun, but for the best, you should lie down, and get some rest," she advised, walking over to her own room, the only other room in the entire hut, and bid him goodnight. Midnight Star almost immediately fell asleep thinking of the events of the day.

Ch 5: Walking Again

Midnight Star woke in a cold sweat, breathing heavily, with eyes as wide as dinner plates. After finally calming down, a heavy scowl grew on his face.‘What was I dreaming about?’

The only thing he seemed to be able to recall from his dream, was a pony with a pointed hat. At least he thought that it was a hat, it was very hazy and he couldn't exactly make out what it was. When he finally decided to give up on trying to remember his dream, he decided to check what time of day it was.

His current position prevented him from getting an exact view out of the window, but with a strategically placed mirror, he could barely make out the sun, just starting to rise. It seemed as though, just to mess with him, the sun had chosen that exact moment to shine on the mirror, temporarily blinding him. "OUCH!" he yelped.

Figuring that he wouldn't get any more sleep after his sudden panic attack, he decided to check and see if he could move his legs. To his surprise, he could move his front two legs perfectly fine now, besides the occasional bruise and cut, it didn't hurt to move them.

A large grin grew on his face as he tested his luck with his back ones. Much to his disappointment, when he tried to move his back left leg, it didn't move, or rather it couldn't move. It was now wrapped in what he could only guess was a cast, it looked like some kind of sling attached to the edge of the bed propped up by the wall. ‘I guess that Zecora either got up early or couldn't sleep.’

After admiring the cast-like sling for a few minutes he decided to try his other back leg and it moved almost as well as his two front legs. ‘They must not’ve been as bad as I thought they were,’ he decided. A wide grin grew on his face as he realized that some time, very soon, he would be able to walk. ‘But where would I go? I do not think that those ponies will be too happy with a mysterious pony who refuses to show his face and showed up at the same time as that “Discord” fellow did.’ It was with a sigh that he finally pushed the thought out of his mind, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

He laid still, he didn't know how long it was for, but for the first time since he could remember he was happy. He sat in contentment thoughts of what he could do when he walked again ran through his head.

After what seemed like a few hours he finally registered that he hadn't seen Zecora yet that morning. Looking over to her door he could see it open, so Zecora must have left at some point to go out and do something.

Scanning the room for the first time since he awoke, he his eyes drifted over the room until he saw something that caught his eye. On a table just to the side of the bed was a note with his name in bold print on the front, a bowl filled with water, and two apples. Curiosity won over his hunger as he decided to read the note first.

To Midnight Star,
I have gone out to get you a portable cast, as you have been recovering quite fast.
I have asked Miss Fluttershy to check on you, take care she will know what to do.
~Zecora

As he read over the note he had finally decided, he would do or get something for Zecora to show his appreciation for caring for him the past 2 days. He started to think of what he could do when his stomach broke out in a vicious growl. Resigning, he decided to oblige and eat the apples that the kind zebra had left him.

After sating his hunger, he wondered how long he had been sitting there doing nothing. Looking again at the mirror, making sure it wouldn't blind him again; he saw that the sun was no longer in vision of the window where he could actually see it. ‘I guess I've been here for a few hours,’ he thought before lying down again. He then began to let his mind wander; thinking of what he could do that day.

He was starting to get stir crazy, he had been lying in the bed all day, he wouldn't have minded if he didn't have so much excess energy from doing nothing for 2 days. ‘I really need to get out of this bed, even if I can't walk on all four legs,’ he finally decided that he was going to get the cast off and take a walk, even if he had to limp.

He leaned forward as far as he could reach his head, and with difficulty, he got the cast untied from the end of the bed. Removing the cast from his leg he foolishly decided to hop off of the bed, he then ran around the room and proceeded to run outside and feel the wind blowing in his mane.

‘Yeah, that would have been great,’ He decided, his thoughts returning to reality. What had actually happened was he jumped out of the bed, but his legs weren't strong enough to hold his full weight and the force of him jumping out of the bed, so he had fallen onto his face, hard. As he lay, contemplating why he was foolish enough to think that his legs would be able to withstand the force of jumping from the bed, a knock sounded at the door.

Hearing the knock he wondered who it could possibly be. As if reading his mind he heard a very quiet voice from behind the door "Excuse me Mister Midnight Star, are you awake yet? Zecora sent me here to check on you while she went into town for something."

"Yes I am awake, just one moment," he answered trying to get up again, but instead of jumping up and trying to move more than his legs could handle, he pushed himself up and limped towards the door.
As he opened it, he received a very shocked and concerned look from Fluttershy. "What are you doing out of bed? You shouldn't be out of bed yet, your legs haven't completely healed, you shouldn't even be able to stand much less walk over here!" Fluttershy scolded as she pushed Star back into bed. "What were you thinking getting out of bed! You won't be able to heal if you don't get your rest!" she added in a motherly tone

"I'm sorry, I could finally move my legs again and I was excited, so I wanted to see if I could walk or stand at all," Star looked to the ground in shame.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know, I would probably have wanted to try and walk too if I couldn't remember the last time that I had," Fluttershy sympathized.

"It's alright, you were just doing what you thought best,"

A few moments passed in silence, neither of them saying anything. It wasn't an awkward silence, it was one of contentment. Finally breaking the silence, Star decided to ask. "Where exactly did Zecora go anyway? I know that she went to get a cast for my leg but she has been gone for hours,"

"Oh she just went to Ponyville hospital; I don't actually know what is taking her so long,"Fluttershy explained.

Looking over at her, Star decided to find out more about this kind yellow mare "So, where do you live? You probably don't live in town if you take care of so many animals and I don't think you live in the forest.”

Fluttershy took a moment to respond. "I live just outside of this forest in a cottage where I take care of animals, so you were right. I don't think I could live in this forest because it’s really extra super scary at night. And during the day.And all of the time in between.”

"Tell me about Ponyville, because I will probably end up there after I can move again, I would like to know what to expect."

She seemed to brighten up at the thought of Ponyville. "Oh, well most of the ponies who live there are very kind, also that’s where all of my friends live, that is, besides you, Miss Zecora and my animals," she said happily

"Wait, I am one of your friends?" He asked with a tilt of his head

"Well of course we are! That is if it is okay with you….." She asked, hiding her face in her mane.

"Well of course it is!" Star said happily. "I would love to have such a kind pony as a friend!"

A small blush grew on Fluttershy’s face."Oh, well thank you Mister Midnight Star"

"Fluttershy, if we are going to be friends, then you will call me Star or Midnight, although, I would prefer Star. It sounds better," Star stated happily.

"Alright Mister Midnight Star,” She hesitated a moment “Sorry! I mean, Star."

"So anyway, tell me about your friends that live in ponyville."

"Well first there’s Twilight, the one who wants to come and question you, she lives in the library, which fits her because she loves to read books. She has an assistant baby dragon named Spike, he is really cute, I love baby dragons, but only baby dragons, not full grown big ones. Next there’s Pinkie pie, she lives in Sugarcube corner and she’s a baker there. She’s really happy all of the time and she loves meeting new ponies, throwing parties, and playing pranks on ponies."

She paused and giggled as if a funny memory had passed through her mind then continued.

"Then there’s Applejack, she lives at a farm called Sweet Apple Acres, she grows apples and sells them to ponies. She also grows the best apples in town, although she is the only one who grows apples in town so there isn't much competition. Then there’s Rainbow Dash, she lives in a cloud house just outside of town, she is the fastest flier in Equestria! Well at least that’s what I think, she loves speed and racing and one day she wants to be a Wonderbolts," Star gave her a questioning look when she said Wonderbolts.

"The Wonderbolts are some of the fastest fliers in Equestria, they are an elite flying team that do shows to entertain ponies all over Equestria," she said explained.

"Finally there’s Rarity, she runs a store called Carousel Boutique and she makes the best dresses ever, she’s also my closest friend," Fluttershy finished.

"They all sound very nice; maybe I will meet them when I finally go to ponyville. That is, if they don't run me out of town, thinking that I am some sort of deformed monster."

"Why don't I introduce you to them when you can walk again? If that's okay with you that is…." She asked.

"That sounds great!" he responded happily.

After talking for a few more minutes the door opened to reveal a very happy looking Zecora. "Your new cast I have brought, it is for the walking that you have sought," she then pulled out a white cast from her saddlebag and brought it over to Star.

"Wow, it looks great! With this I will finally be able to get out of this bed!" he exclaimed.

Zecora went about putting the cast on his leg, this however proved to be a little difficult, as she didn't know how to put on the cast correctly, ending with it being put on strangely a few times. Finally after much trial and error she managed to put on his cast. He got up slowly and carefully, making sure that he wouldn't end up on his face like last time.

Testing his weight on the cast he slowly walked around the room then turned to Zecora and Fluttershy. "I can walk again! Thank you so much Zecora! I will do something to make this up to you," He exclaimed almost jumping for joy, but stopping himself just in case.

"So you can walk again, that is good.Now tell me what happened in my absence, if you would," Zecora asked. So Star and Fluttershy filled Zecora in on what had happened while she was gone.

After they finished telling Zecora what had happened Star decided to ask. "What took you so long anyway? You were gone all day; it couldn't have taken that long to walk to Ponyville and back."

"When I went to get a cast they had not one, so I had to wait for a cast to be done."

"I am so sorry that you had to wait to get me a cast!" he regretted having the cast now, seeing that Zecora had to wait for it. "You shouldn't have gone through so much trouble for me!"

Zecora dismissed him with a wave of her hoof. "Do not be sorry, it is quite alright, you should not regret it, though you might."

Fluttershy,who had been quiet up until now decided to speak up. "Well this was nice, but I think it’s about time I started heading home…" She looked out the window where the sun was almost completely set. "Oh no! I’m going to be late going home again! Angel will be so upset!" she exclaimed.
She turned to Star. "I need to stop coming over here because I keep staying too late." she said a little playfully. Normally she wouldn't be so bold but she felt safe acting like this around him, he had a calming aura.

"Well this has been fun, but I have to go now, bye!" Fluttershy said cheerfully before rushing out the door.

"A long day this has been, I believe I am going to turn in," Zecora said yawning slightly and heading towards her room.

"Goodnight Zecora," Star said. Watching her as she left, he also decided that he should get some rest. Before he laid down, he remembered something, something he had promised himself. ‘I forgot, I said first thing I'm going to do when I can walk again is look at myself in the mirror.’ he reminded himself.

Walking over to the mirror he looked at it, and his still currently torn cloak. As he reached for his hood he hesitated, remembering how worried Zecora looked when Fluttershy had suggested that he remove his hood. Finally mustering up his courage, he pulled his hooves up to his head and, hesitated again. ‘Why does this bother me so much?’ he thought still wondering why he couldn't pull of his hood, with a new resolve he finally decided to pull it off before he could think about it.

All that worry had led up to this moment, when he finally saw his own face, what he saw disturbed him.

Ch 6: Meeting Twilight

Midnight Star sat in silence, watching the sun rise at a painfully slow speed. It had been about a week since that day. As hard as he tried, he couldn't keep his mind from wandering back to that night.The night he looked into the mirror.

One week ago

What Star saw confused and disturbed him. He had light green almost silver eyes, and a white coat. Though neither of these were the cause for his shock. The first of two things that shocked him was, reaching from the top of his right eye down to the bottom of his left in a slash, was a large scar.

The second was that he was a unicorn.Being a unicorn didn’t scare him, what scared him was that his horn was shattered. It looked as if it had been smashed by a rock, in place of what he assumed was a normal horn was a small, jagged, 2 inch long stub.

The part that disturbed him about this were the implications. No normal pony had scars such as these, these were the marks of a criminal. His mind frantically traveled from one theory to another, trying to figure out what had happened. Or better yet, who he was, so he would know why he looked the way he did. Regardless of how much he tried to remember, he could only remember the silhouette of a pony with a pointed hat.

He hadn't had any sleep that night and had a feeling that he wouldn't for a long while.‘What if I do have something to do with Discord?’ Star wondered.

A chill quickly spread through his body ‘I really hope not.’

Present day

That memory had haunted him ever since. When he asked Fluttershy about Discord, her eyes widened and she squeaked out something about bad memories before making an excuse and rushing home. With a new resolve, he decided that he was going to find his identity and find out what happened to him once, he got the cast off of his leg. Finally resolving the problem, Star thought that he might as well start walking on his leg, to help it regain its strength.

Star decided that he was going to leave a note for Zecora and go walking around the forest for an hour or so. After locating a quill and a piece of unused paper, he started writing. About halfway down the page, Star realized that he didn't know how to write. Looking over what he had just written, he found a bunch of squiggles.

Because he had no way of letting Zecora know that he was going to leave at the moment, he was forced to wait for her return. After about an hour, he started to get impatient and decided to find something to keep himself occupied. After walking around the room and searching for about 10 minutes, he found a book to read, or more so, to see if he could read.

The title of the book read “Basic pony healthcare and diagnosis” ‘I guess that Zecora didn't know what she was going to do with me when she found me.’ Opening the book, Star found it to be an easily understood book and it extensively described different injuries and illnesses and how to treat them.

Thinking of something to search up and read about, he decided to look up how to take care of broken limbs, like his leg. After a minute of searching the book index he found the page he was looking for and turned to the page about broken legs, it read "The patient's leg will be incapacitated for at least 2 weeks, so make sure that they stay off their legs or it will take longer. It can take less than 2 weeks for unicorns however, because their magic is stronger and acts as an immune system, finding the problem and trying to fix it. The stronger the unicorn's magic, the faster it heals but the more a unicorn uses his/her magic, the slower it heals. After the patients leg is no longer incapacitated, give them the appropriate equipment to help them begin to walk again until fully healed, i.e. crutches, wheelchair etc…"

‘Well I guess that explains why I'm healing so fast.’ Star thought happily. Not being able to think of anything else to search up, he closed the book and thought of what he ways to regain his memories. He mulled over the possibilities for about 30 minutes when the door to Zecora's room opened and out walked the zebra, with large bags under her eyes.

For the past few nights, she had been out almost all night searching for and researching herbs that were unknown of. Apparently, that’s why she lived in the Everfree forest. Nopony would dare go into the Everfree forest and as such there were probably hundreds of unknown types of herbs there, such as the Poison Joke.

Deciding to give her a little while to wake up, he limped over to the window and took in the scenery. The sun was still below the middle of the sky, so he determined that it was still middle to late morning. He turned his attention to the forest itself, which seemingly had more wildlife than it had for the past week.

Finally, he turned his attention back to Zecora, who was sipping from a mug filled with coffee. "Good morning to you, would you like some of this brew?" Zecora asked noticing him looking at her coffee.

"Thank you that sounds nice right now," Star answered gratefully.

After receiving an answer, she grabbed another mug and filled it with the dark brown liquid.

"You seem a little askew, is something bothering you?" Zecora asked.

"It is nothing that you need to worry about," Star dismissed.

"Well if I possibly knew, I might be able to help you."

"Well….. alright I guess I will tell you."

So Star told her what had happened the week before, from his appearance, to his fears on how other ponies might react to his appearance. He did not tell her what he looked like, partly because he still feared her reaction, and partly because he felt she already knew.

After he told her all of his thoughts, she remained silent. After about 5 minutes of silence, she decided to speak. "Of their reactions you will not know, until your face you do show," Zecora said carefully.

"I guess you are right, but for now I feel more comfortable wearing my cloak. Until the ponies in Ponyville get used to me, I am going to keep my cloak on." ‘I really need to do something to thank her…’

Zecora simply nodded her approval and finished her coffee. After some time ofmaking small talk Zecora looked outside. "I must leave, I have herbs to study, seeing as the weather today is not muddy." Saying goodbye she walked out the door leaving Star all alone.

While they were talking, Zecora mentioned that it might be a good idea that he went into town and talked to Twilight Sparkle, because she was a librarian and also very intelligent, she might be able to help with his memory problems. Seeing as he didn't own anything but the cloak on his back, he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

For the first time since he had woken up on the forest floor, he was outside. He had never imagined it to be so amazing, well not where he was in particular because there were dead trees and shrubs all around, but because there were flowers growing on the sides of the path, he heard birds chirping and felt a light breeze, he was completely at peace.

Walking down the path with as much as a spring in his step as he could muster, he allowed his mind and eyes to wander over the scenery as he walked. Along the way he saw many strange creatures and plants, both beautiful and intimidating.

As he was nearing the end of the path he came upon a patch of beautiful blue flowers right on top of the path. He would have happily gone over and sniffed at the flowers, maybe even picked one up, but he vaguely remembered Zecora warning him about blue flowers so he decided to go around them.

Star had finally reached the end of the path, his breath taken away at what he found. In the distance, he saw beautiful lush green hills and birds singing overhead. Even farther over the horizon in one direction he saw the town and in the other he saw a lone cottage, which he assumed was Fluttershy’s.

He decided to stop in and ask Fluttershy for directions because she was one of the only two ponies he actually knew and he was too shy to ask for directions from other ponies in ponyville. Over the week that he was incapacitated Fluttershy stopped in almost every day to check on his healing progress. During the time they had gotten to know each other better and had become good friends.

After Star arrived at Fluttershy's house he walked up to the door and knocked, after a moment he heard a quiet voice from behind the door. "Just one moment please."

When Fluttershy answered the door she let out a squeak of surprise when she saw a scary looking pony in a torn cloak standing in her doorway and was about to flee into her house when she noticed that the pony had a cast over its back left leg. A concerned look quickly grew on her face. "Star! What are you doing here? You shouldn't be on your leg walking around just yet."

"Well, I had nothing planned today and Zecora thought it would be a good idea to go and talk to your friend Twilight Sparkle because she may be able to help me with my memory problems," Star mumbled shifting the his weight from his casted leg.

Her concerned look turned to a beaming smile. "That’s a wonderful idea, I’m sure that if anyone will be able to help you, it’ll be Twilight. She’s one of the smartest ponies I know,"

"Alright then that brings me to the matter at hoof, I came here to ask you for directions to her home because I have never been to ponyville and I forgot to ask Zecora before she left," He explained.

"Twilight lives in the library, it’s a big hollowed out tree. I'm not doing anything today, I could show you. That is, if it's okay with you…"

"I would appreciate that."

"Alright, just let me tell Angel bunny." She said closing the door to her cottage.

After a few minutes of waiting Fluttershy reemerged from her cottage. "Alright thanks for waiting, let's go."

The walk to ponyville was peaceful; neither of the ponies talked much on the way besides the occasional comment on something around them.

As they reached Ponyville, Star stopped Fluttershy along the path in front of Ponyville. "Why are we stopping right in front of town?" she asked cocking her head to one side.

"I didn't really think of it until now but I am kind of scared to walk into town. What if people think that I am some kind of monster or freak or something?" he asked.

"Don't worry about that, nopony will think that you are a monster or a freak unless you give them reason to believe so." Fluttershy reassured.

The scene was very opposite, Fluttershy, the very shy pony was giving another pony tips on how to deal with what other ponies thought of him when she herself was usually scared at the thought of such a thing.

"Alright I guess we can head into town now, thank you for the reassurance, I needed that," he said gratefully while walking back onto the path heading into ponyville.

Walking through town went better than Star had expected, besides the occasional strange look or whisper as he passed by, it went really well.

After walking for about 10 minutes he began wondering where Twilight’s library was and, not paying attention to his surroundings, didn't notice the three fillies approaching at breakneck pace until they tackled him, yelling "Cutiemark Crusaders Private investigators!" the next thing he knew he was on the ground.

They were about to tear his hood off to get a look at his face when a very concerned Fluttershy apprehended them. "What do you girls think you’re doing? Don’t you know it’s impolite to go around tackling ponies?”

"But Fluttershy! We were just gonna find out what he looked like!" One of them interjected in a pleading tone.

"Then you should just ask him," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Fine," they all groaned while getting off of Star.

After getting up, he got a good look at the three fillies. One of them was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and a bow in it. The second one was white unicorn with a curly mane that was a very light purple with pink stripes in it. The third one was an orange pegasus with a short purple mane.

“What was that all about?” Star asked the three fillies.

"Well, we overheard you telling Rarity that there was an injured pony staying with Miss Zecora in the Everfree forest and that you didn't know what he actually looked like. Then we overheard Rarity earlier saying that she wondered what he looked like and we wanted to see what he looked like too. We woulda’ went to Zecora’s hut and seen him but we aren't allowed to go into the forest anymore since the Cockatrice incident. When we saw you walk into town with a mysterious pony we figured it was him and decided to see what he looked like." The yellow filly with a bow in her hair finished.

"If he wanted people to see what he looked like don’t you think he would take off his hood?" Fluttershy asked.

Both the yellow and the white fillies responded with "We're sorry" while the orange one only responded with a grunt.

"It's alright, I would be a little curious about a pony walking around wearing a cloak too. By the way it's nice to meet you fillies my name is Midnight Star,"

"Nice to meet ya my name is Applebloom," responded the earth pony.

"My name is Sweetie Belle," responded the unicorn.

"Scootaloo," responded the pegasus.

"Well now that we’re all acquainted, what are the Cutiemark Crusaders and why private investigators?" Star inquired.

"The Cutiemark Crusaders is our club and we were private investigators to find out what you look like!" responded Sweetie belle who promptly looked at her flank and sighed "and it didn't work!"

"I know!” Applebloom shouted with one hoof raised in the air “Y’all saw how easy we took Mister Star here down, maybe we can be Cutiemark Crusader wrestlers!"

"Yeah!" they all agreed as they ran off to go on another one of their crusades.

"Well those three certainly are interesting," Star commented watching them leave.

Fluttershy giggled at the comment, "Alright let's get going to the library."

After walking for another few minutes they arrived at their destination. Fluttershy knocked on the door very softly as if she were trying not to hurt the door. Deciding that this would get them nowhere, Star walked up to the door himself and promptly knocked louder and harder. This yielded the result of a small purple dragon answering the door "Hey Fluttershy, hey…. Gaahhhhh!" he jumped into the air, turned around and ran.

A voice was heard from upstairs “Spike? Who’s at the door?”

A few moments passed in silence before the voice was heard again “Spike!”

A few more moments passed before a lavender unicorn walked down the stairs. “Spike couldn’t you hear me shouting?”

The small purple dragon peered out from under a nearby table “Twilight! There’s a really scary pony at the door, hide!” He hissed.

“Spike, haven’t you learned anything since that incident with Zecora?” She asked, before turning towards the still open door. “Nice to meet you, my name is Twilight Sparkle,” she held out a hoof.

Star took her hoof and shook it “Please, come in,” Twilight offered.

As they walked into the library Star took a moment take in his surroundings, the inside was as to be expected from the outside, it looked like it had been carved from the inside of the tree. It was relatively big and had furniture scattered around the room. What he noticed first though was how many books were on the book shelves in the library, he had taken a liking to reading while he had been incapacitated.

He was still standing and staring at the books when Twilight used her magic to grab the dragon from under the table. “This is my assistant Spike, sorry for how he reacted, he does that sometimes."

Twilight was a lavender unicorn with a dark purple mane that had a pink stripe running through it. Spike was a baby dragon, his scales were purple and the ones on top of his head were green.

"Hello my name is Midnight Star and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," He said with a wave of his hoof.

"Well nice to meet you Midnight Star what can I do for you?" Twilight asked.

"Please just call me Star, and I was wondering if you could help me with a problem I have" he said getting right to the point.

"I will help if I can but first I have to know what the problem is."

At that moment the silent until now pegasus decided to interject. "Star has no memory of who he is or anything that happened before a week ago."

Twilights eyes widened as she came to a conclusion. "You were the pony that Zecora found in the forest the same night that Discord appeared!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I've been told that." Star answered in a less than enthusiastic tone.

"Before I help you I have to scan your magic to see if there are any traces of Discord's magic." She stated more than asked.

"Alright, I'm fine with that, I don't have anything to hide." Star said confidently. "I don't think I do anyway." He added as an afterthought.

"Alright this will be over in a moment." Twilight assured, her horn glowing in concentration.

Star had an itchy feeling in his head as he was engulfed by the purple aura, it wasn't completely unbearable but it was a nuisance. After about 2 minutes, Twilight's horn stopped glowing and she gave Star a curious look. "Well to be honest, there is a small trace of Discords magic in there, not enough to do anything but it’s there. Also your magic is stronger than a regular pony's, would you happen to be a unicorn?" Twilight asked after telling him the results of her scan.

"Technically yes I am a unicorn." the irony of it made Star stifle a laugh ‘Is a unicorn without a horn really a unicorn or just an earth pony?’ He wondered.

"What do you mean, technically?" Twilight asked.

"I would rather not talk about that yet." Star stated flatly.

"Alright," Twilight said deciding to drop the matter "now, is there anything at all that you remember? It will be harder to help you if I don't have a trail to follow."

"Well, all I can remember is a hazy picture of a pony with a pointed hat," Star answered.

"That won't help all that much, I guess you can read some books on Equestrian history and see if you remember any of the events from them," Twilight suggested.

"Alright, if you think that’s the best thing to do let's get started."

Twilight then levitated over 4 books on Equestrian history, they were Early Equestrian History, Celestia's rule, Recent Equestrian History and Founding of Equestria.

Staring at these with a curious look Star asked "Who is this "Celestia"? Is she some kind of queen or something?" he vaguely recognized the name but he couldn't put his hoof on it.

Twilights eyes grew wide in surprise "You don’t know who Princess Celestia is?" she exclaimed.

Shrinking away Star half mumbled half whimpered. "I'm sorry, I kinda can't remember anything."

"Sorry about that, I kind of over reacted" Twilight admitted guiltily.

"It's fine, but whoever she is, she must be important," Star replied with regained confidence.

Opening one of the books for him to read, Twilight pointed to a picture in the book and said "This is Princess Celestia, she is the ruler of Equestria."

Looking down he saw a picture that made something in his mind stir, his eyes widened as images ran through his head. He saw a kingdom surrounded by a beautiful forest, he saw a strange cave, and the last thing he saw in his mind was Princess Celestia sitting on her throne smiling at him before he blacked out.

Ch 7: Confrontation

"Star! Are you alright?" Fluttershy gasped as he fell onto the floor unconscious "Twilight what happened to him?"

"I don't know," Twilight responded not knowing what had just happened "I will go and ask Zecora if this has happened before you and Spike keep an eye on him"

Twilight left before Fluttershy could object "I don't know who he is but I am going to get to the bottom of this." When Twilight had scanned Star she detected Discords magic hiding something in Stars subconscious which she suspected was his memory.

Her theory was that Discord had created this creature and turned it into a unicorn, which is why he said "technically a unicorn" because he thought that she would be able to check if he was lying, this creature was going to try and get close to her and her friends and try to destroy their friendship then free Discord.

Of course, she could be wrong, that's why she didn't just tell him right out, "I'm going to have to ask the others to help me keep an eye on him and watch for anything suspicious" she decided

Back at the tree house

Fluttershy was concerned about what had happened to her new friend, one moment he was fine the next he was on the floor unconscious "What could have possibly made him pass out?" she wondered

She spent the next few minutes examining the book that he had been holding right before he had passed out seeing as she found nothing unusual she gave up and went to check on Star who she and Spike had moved onto Twilights bed.

Star had been unconscious for two hours before he finally awoke. He lifted his head and scanned his surroundings, he appeared to still be in the library but he was now in a bed. He got up from the bed and walked down the stairs where Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike were having a discussion he was going to just walk in and greet them before he heard Fluttershy say "Twilight, I am surprised at you! How could you think such a thing you don't even know him." Stopping to listen he decided he wanted to know what they were talking about.

"That's just it Fluttershy, I don't know him and he had traces of Discords magic in his subconscious and it was hiding something, we can't be too careful." Twilight said seriously

"So what do you plan on doing to find out?" Fluttershy asked still cautious about the whole idea

"Well I think that if he is going to try anything to ruin our friendship he will have to be around us and our friends, so I think we should all spend time with him and watch to see if he tries anything. Worst case scenario he really is being controlled by Discord. Best case scenario we make a new friend." Twilight said trying to convince Fluttershy that nothing would go wrong.

"Well, alright, but I don't think that he will be able to spend much time with us while his leg is healing." Fluttershy finally gave in and decided to agree to the idea

It was then that Star decided to interject "While I feel hurt that you think I could have something to do with this "Discord" character, I don't disagree with you, and you're just trying to protect your friends. Also don't worry about my leg getting in the way it is healed I just need to get this cast off." He had feared this since he heard that he had arrived at the same time as Discord.

His sudden interjection surprised them "How much of that did you hear?" Twilight asked worried that her plan had been ruined

"Enough to know your suspicions about me being controlled by Discord and your plan on keeping an eye on me" Star answered honestly

Twilight sighed in relief, he hadn't heard her saying her suspicions about him being "technically a unicorn" or how she thought that he was trying to "destroy their friendship"

"Well it's settled then, tomorrow we will introduce you to our friends and discuss the situation with them" Twilight said happily that she would get answers to the questions that had been plaguing her mind since she heard of the strange pony appearing when Discord had.

"Now that that's out of the way, what happened? Why did you suddenly lose consciousness?" Fluttershy asked finally deciding to speak after recovering from the shock of having Star listen in on their conversation

Trying to remember what he had seen. The images ran through his mind sending a sudden jolt of pain to his head. In response he held his hooves to the sides of his head "I remembered something from my past then I just blacked out."

"What did you remember?" Twilight inquired

"There were three things actually; well they are more of images than full memories. Firstly I saw a beautiful white castle in the middle of a forest, secondly I saw a strange looking cave and lastly I saw Princess Celestia looking at me and smiling" Star recounted

"Princess Celestia was in your memory? I will have to ask her about it when we sort out the whole "influenced by Discord" thing" Twilight decided

"Well this has been nice, it was nice to meet you Twilight but I think it is about time that I leave" he concluded

"Really? Don't you still need help with your memory?" Twilight asked curious as to why he wanted to leave so soon

"Yes I do I will come by another time and read through these and try to jog my memory," he paused then continued "before I go, do you know anywhere in town I can get a job? I would prefer not to impose on Zecoras hospitality any longer seeing as I am healed and able to move around again"

Twilight thought about it for a moment "Well you could try Quills and Sofas or one of the local markets, I would suggest Sugarcube Corner or Sweet Apple acres but considering our "situation" I would prefer if you weren't around my friends too much on a regular basis" she said carefully trying not to offend him

"Thanks I will check them out, see you later" he said and was about to leave when Fluttershy decided to speak up

"Star, you don't know where those places are but I will show you if you want me to that is" she asked in her usual shy and quiet tone

"I would appreciate that, let's start with Quills and Sofas first" he said gesturing towards the door

After a short walk through town they arrived at the store. On the inside the store was split into two sections, one half had sofas and the other had quills and to his surprise over on the quills side there were some board games and specialized dice. Among the board games he saw Marenopoly, Stairs and Slides, and Sugarland.

Walking up to the counter he saw an earth pony wearing a blue vest, he had a brown coat and mane he was reading a book and not paying attention to the two ponies who had just walked into his store "Excuse me, sir I was wondering if you were hiring" Star asked although he doubted that he would be hired looking like he did.

Looking up from his book the pony answered "Well you are the first pony who has ever walked in here and wanted a job or ever actually been interested in working in a store that only sells quills and sofas so sure I'll hire ya. You start on Wednesday be here at one so I can go on break and you can close down shop at nine" he said closing his book "by the way I'm Davenport nice to meet you" he extended his hoof

"Nice to meet you Mister Davenport my name is Midnight Star" Star said taking Davenports hoof in a hoofshake "So what exactly will I be doing here?"

"Well you will sit here and wait until someone comes in looking for some quills or a sofa or on the rare occasion someone comes in for a board game or some dice" he said indicating towards the board games

"Alright thanks see you tomorrow Mister Davenport" Star said waving goodbye to him as both he and Fluttershy left the store

"That went really well you didn't even have any requirements to meet to get the job" Fluttershy said happily

"Yeah that was lucky that no one was ever interested in working there, I wonder why?" he asked more to himself than Fluttershy

Leaving the question unanswered they walked until they reached Fluttershys cottage "I guess this is where we part ways, see you tomorrow Fluttershy" Star said waving as he walked away

"Alright see you tomorrow Star" Fluttershy replied before walking into her cottage and closing the door

The walk back to Zecoras hut was uneventful and when he arrived he was unsurprised that Zecora wasn't there, she usually didn't get back until late at night and the sun was just currently setting. Deciding that he might as well get some rest he took off his leg cast and set it on the table beside the bed, laid down and fell asleep.

The next morning when Star woke he was surprised that Zecora was awake and brewing something in her cauldron. He slowly got up looked out the window to see that it was noon then looked over to Zecora "Wow this is the first time you have been here this late in a week, why the sudden change?"

"Of these herbs I've found enough, though finding them was very tough" She said happily

"So I guess that means you are testing them now?" he asked looking at the brew in the cauldron

"Yes it is true a new herb is in this brew" she began stirring the brew again

"So what does it do?" Star asked wondering how she could tell

"Of what it does I cannot tell, I can only hope it ends well" She said adding a strange looking purple flower into the brew

The liquid changed from a dark red into a light blue and Zecora sighed in relief "This one did not explode like the last, I am surprised you didn't wake from the blast" she smiled

"Now how do you test it?" Star asked staring at the liquid

"Of this I am not sure, we must wait until it matures" she said with a shrug

As they waited for the mixture to "mature" they talked about what had happened the past few days for both of them because they hadn't actually talked besides their conversation the day before. Zecora told Star about 3 new types of herbs that she discovered that she had yet to name and where she found them. Then Star told Zecora about what happened to him the day before, leaving out Twilight's conspiracies and just saying that she wanted to introduce Star to her friends.

Zecora took in the information for a second then started to walk towards her room "When I discovered you, you were not all I found, I also found a saddle bag next to you on the ground" She reemerged from her room carrying an old dark brown saddlebag.

Looking at it curiously Star took the bag and began to examine it "I have not taken anything or opened it for fear that it may cause you to throw a fit" Zecora said watching Star examine the bag

"Thank you for respecting my privacy" Star said starting to open the bag

Inside the bag he found a medium sized pouch, a book and a scroll. He decided to inspect the pouch first when he opened it he found a bag full of platinum-looking coins. After counting them he found that he had 500 of the small platinum coins, he put the pouch back into the saddlebag.

He was about to read the scroll when a knock came at the door "One moment" he said deciding to answer the door because Zecora had gone back to experimenting with her new herbs

When he opened the door he was greeted by Fluttershy and Twilight "Hey Star we're here to…." Fluttershy suddenly paused staring at Zecora "What is she doing?"

"She is testing new herbs that she finds in the forest." Star said as if this were a normal thing.

"Can we leave before something blows up?" Fluttershy asked in a concerned tone as she saw the liquid start to bubble

"Sure, just let me get my saddlebag" he said walking over to the bag and putting it over his head "I am going to go with Fluttershy and Twilight to meet their friends today and discuss the whole "Discord" situation I will be back later" he walked to the door and before he closed it exclaimed "Don't blow anything up!"

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Twilight decided to speak up "When did you get a saddlebag?"

"Oh, Zecora just gave it to me apparently I had this with me when she found me" Star answered

"What was inside it? Is there anything inside to help with your memory?" she asked

"Well, there was a pouch, a book, and a scroll" he said recounting what the bag contained

"What was in the pouch, what was the book, and what did the scroll say?" Twilight asked wanting to know about the strange items

"I only opened the pouch, let me check" he opened the saddlebag and looked inside "I guess I forgot to grab the book and the scroll because I only have the pouch in here" Star said looking at the pouch

"It can't be helped we will just see what they were later" Twilight said she may have wanted answers but her friends deserved answers first "what is in the pouch?" she asked gesturing to the saddlebag

"About 500 coins why?" Star asked wondering what the coins were

"500 bits! That's a lot to just be carrying around!" Twilight said surprised that somepony would just be walking around with 500 bits

"Maybe he was on his way to buy something important when he lost his memory?" said Fluttershy who had been quiet up until just then

"Could've been but we won't find out until I read that book and scroll" Star said as they finally walked into town "where are we meeting your friends?" Star asked as the thought came to his mind

"We are going to meet them at Sugarcube Corner because Pinkie Pie is working right now" Twilight responded

They walked in silence for the next few minutes until they came up to a building that looked like a gingerbread house with a cupcake on top.

"Here we are" Twilight said as they walked in the door

The inside was just like the outside, decorated to look like a gingerbread house. There were a few ponies inside the building eating and chatting amongst themselves. They walked over to where a rainbow maned cyan coated pegasus, an orange earth pony wearing a Stetson, and a white unicorn were sitting.

They all simultaneously looked over at the ponies approaching them "What took you guys so long" questioned the rainbow maned pegasus

"We had to walk from the Everfree forest" Twilight said looking at the pegasus

"You guys were still slow, I would have been there and back In ten seconds flat!" the rainbow maned pegasus exclaimed

Turning her attention from the rainbow maned pony Twilight said "Hello Applejack, Rarity" she said motioning her head towards each one as she greeted them.

"Howdy Twilight, Fluttershy" Applejack said mimicking what Twilight had just done

"Hello girls" Rarity responded looking at Twilight then Fluttershy

"Hello" was Fluttershys only response

"Now that that is done with who is this guy?" The rainbow maned pegasus said gesturing towards Star

"His name is Midnight Star, he is the reason I asked you all to meet us here Rainbow" Twilight responded

"My name is Rarity and what is that dreadful thing you are wearing!" Rarity responded gesturing to his torn cloak "That is simply horrible, how could you stand wearing such a thing!"

"Now don't you listen to her, it looks fine" the orange earth pony extended her hoof and shook Stars hoof "by the way ma names Applejack pleased to make yer acquaintance

"I don't think I should have to introduce myself, everyone knows who I am. I am only THE best flyer in all of Equestria!" the rainbow pegasus said bragging

Twilight rolled her eyes "That is Rainbow Dash"

"Nice to meet you all" Star said sitting down "So who else are we waiting for?"

A pink earth pony appeared out of nowhere yelling "oooh oooh pick me pick me I know this one!"

Twilight looked over at the pony "That is Pinkie Pie and she is the one we were waiting for"

"Awwwwww! I didn't get to answer the question!" Pinkie Pie said with a pout

"It is nice to meet you too Pinkie Pie my name is Midnight Star" he responded

"Nice to meet you too Star" she said immediately bouncing into the air "Wait a second! I haven't seen you around town before which means you are new in town! I will have to throw you a party! Oh and it will be the bestest party you have ever been to there will be cake and games a-"

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight interrupted "We have discuss why Star is here"

Pinkie Pie sat down, none of them knowing what to do they all just stared at Star

The silence had gone on for a full minute before Applejack decided to speak up "Alright now what are we here to talk about?" she said finally looking away from a very nervous Star

"Star here is the pony I was telling you about yesterday, the one who appeared at the same time as-" Twilight stopped talking when Rainbow suddenly tackled Star to the ground

"We know you are working for Discord and sorry to break it to you pal but he is gone now, that's right we sent his flank back to his stony prison!" Rainbow said glaring at star who she was holding down

"I don't actually work for Discord" he said nervously "at least I hope I don't, that is what we are here to talk about"

Rainbow was about to barrage him with questions and accusations when Twilight interrupted "Rainbow get off him and I will explain why we are actually here!"

Still glaring at him Rainbow got off of him and sat back down "Alright but I don't trust him"

"Anyway as I was saying, he is the pony who appeared when Discord did Zecora has been taking care of his injuries up until yesterday. We might not be able to trust him because there is a trace of Discords magic blocking something in his subconscious, but he doesn't actually remember anything he literally doesn't even know who he is."

Applejack decided to point out the obvious "Then how does he know his name's Midnight Star?"

"Zecora was kind enough to name me" Star answered

"Well that was nice of 'er to do that" Applejack said content with the answer "go on Twilight"

"We can't completely trust him yet because Discords magic may influence him but we can keep an eye on him while he tries to regain his memories." Twilight said summing up what he was here for.

"So, you want us to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything evil or mean?" Rainbow questioned

"That's right" Twilight confirmed

Once again they all sat in silence staring at Star for a reason he didn't understand. After about 2 more minutes of awkward silence Rainbow spoke up "Alright I'm just going to ask the obvious question here, why the heck is he wearing that cloak?"

Star was surprised at the question "That is why they have been staring at me for 2 minutes? I thought they were planning on how to destroy me if I happened to be under Discords influence. I wear this cloak so that ponies can't see what I look like" Star answered relieved that that was all that they were thinking

"Why don't you want ponies to see what you look like?" Rainbow pressed the question further

Star had feared this moment would come, he knew one of them was likely to ask the question he just didn't know how to answer it "Well….. it's complicated"

"What do you mean complicated?" Rainbow asked dissatisfied with his last answer

"I just don't really like to talk about it" Star said hoping that she would drop the question

"What, are you horribly disfigured or something?" Rainbow asked jokingly

That comment hurt him "It has been nice meeting you all but I think it's about time I leave" he said sounding like she had physically struck him. He stood up and walked towards the door just to be stopped by Fluttershy "Rainbow! That was mean! He obviously didn't want to talk about it so why did you keep asking him!" Fluttershy scolded Rainbow

"I was just joking!" Rainbow added defending herself

"It is alright Fluttershy, she was just asking the question you have all been wondering. I just felt hurt because she is more right than she thinks" he said sitting back down reluctantly

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" Rainbow said sounding like she really regretted her actions

"Alright how are we going to be keeping an eye on Star?" Rarity asked hoping to change the subject

Twilight jumped at the change of subject "I thought we could just spend time with him individually and show him around ponyville" Twilight explained

"Sounds fine to me except I won't be able to between 1 and 9 for a few days" Star answered

They all looked at him questioningly before Fluttershy decided to answer "Oh yeah I forgot you got a job at Quills and Sofas"

"How much bits do ya make at the job?" Applejack asked being the business pony she was

"I don't know. Actually, how much is a bit worth anyway?" he asked

"Let me explain it to you this way" Applejack said taking out a couple of bits "For two bits you could buy an apple or for 4 bits you could buy an apple pie" she said gesturing to the gold bits on the table "I don't exactly know how to explain it better 'n that because we learned as fillies in school" Applejack put the bits away

"Wait a sec, that is what a bit looks like?" Star was suddenly confused

"Yeah, what did ya think one looked like?" Applejack was curious

Taking the pouch out of his saddlebag he opened it up and pulled out a couple of the platinum coins "I thought that these were bits"

Twilight gasped at the sight "Those are platinum bits!"

Rarity gasped also but the rest of them looked at Twilight questioningly hoping that she would explain

"A platinum bit is worth at least one hundred bits each!" she said in a very surprised tone

"One hundred bits!" they all said incredulously

"How many of them things did you say you had in there?" Applejack inquired

"About 500" Star said wondering why this was so surprising

"That means that those coins are worth 50,000 bits!" Pinkie Pie yelled wondering how one pony could have so much money

"I-I-Is that a lot?" Star asked still not completely understanding the value of a bit

"A lot? Only famous and successful business ponies have that kind of money!" Rarity yelled in surprise

"Well we know one thing. Whoever Star was he must have come from a wealthy family or been very wealthy, so that narrows down our search" Fluttershy said deciding to try and change subjects again

Returning the bits to his pouch and to his saddlebag Star turned back to the others "With this in mind I really think I should go and take a look at that letter and book now, it was really nice meeting you all, see you all another day!" he left before anyone else could say anything

Once again the questions ran through his head. "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why do I have this money?" The only way to find out was to read the book and letter.

He arrived at the hut and trotted inside just to see that Zecora had already gone to bed "I guess she hasn't had that much sleep lately" he guessed. He ran over to the book and letter that he had left on the table, they were just as he had left them.

He walked over to the book first, looking at the front he couldn't read the title it just looked like a few strange symbols and runes "Strange" he thought opening the book. The inside was filled with the same type of symbols that were on the front "I will have to ask Twilight about these symbols tomorrow" he decided

He opened the scroll and on the top it said To my student, "I guess that I either had an apprentice of some sort or I was apprenticing in something." He looked farther down the scroll and saw that he could actually read it.

To my student,

I am sorry for what happened yesterday, I may have over reacted about it but I stand by what I say.

I decided to go through with it, if it succeeded then you will not have to read this letter and this will not matter.

But if you are reading this then that means things went wrong, I left you the book and a pouch with 500 platinum in it, use it wisely.

I just wanted to let you know that these years we spent together were the best in my life, I also wanted to let you know that you were my best student and also my best friend.

It was nice knowing you while I did.

Your Mentor/Friend

M.S

This letter left Star with a million questions floating around in his head "Who is M.S? Is it Midnight Star? No it couldn't be Midnight Star, that was just a name that was made up for him. What was the book and what was in it?"

He sat for what felt like hours trying to come up with an answer but he just couldn't so resigning he decided to get some rest for tomorrow, he started work at the Quills and Sofas store.

Ch 8: A Regular Day

Star woke that morning in a really good mood, he didn't know why because yesterday had been emotionally exhausting. "Maybe I am just happy that I finally found something towards revealing my past?" he thought that whatever the reason, he was really happy.

Looking to see if Zecora was awake yet it turned out she was gone looking for herbs again. He walked over to the window to see where the sun was to see when he had to leave for work. The sun was still low on the horizon so it was still early in the morning "Looks like I have a while" he concluded

Walking over to where he had placed his saddlebag on the bedside table he opened it again and found himself looking at the book again "Why can't I read this book?" he asked himself. He spent the next hour or so just looking through the pages hoping that he could decipher something in it, to give him a clue as to what it contained, to his disappointment he could not find anything in the whole book that made any sense "I should go ask Twilight about this book" he mentally decided

Grabbing his saddlebag he departed towards ponyville. He had been walking for about ten minutes before he reached the edge of the forest. The sight he saw still amazed him, the lush green hills, the birds chirping happily, and the beautiful blue sky.

He began to walk towards ponyville when something in the distance caught his attention, over in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage there seemed to be a pegasus flying back and forth franticly. Upon closer inspection it was Fluttershy who was flying back and forth "Oh no oh no oh no where could he have gone?" Fluttershy continued to fly back and forth frantically

Star approached her to find out what was wrong "What is wrong Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy squeaked and flew into a tree in surprise. Looking to what had startled her, she saw Star looking up at her "Oh, it is just you Star, you scared me."

"Sorry about that, but again what is wrong?" he asked, still curious as to what Fluttershy was worrying about.

Her eyes widened remembering what she had been worrying about "I woke up this morning and I can't find Angel and I have been looking everywhere!"

"I will help you look if you want" Star said trying to reassure her

"I would appreciate it" Fluttershy said in a still very worried tone

"Alright, where have you looked for him so far?" he asked trying to narrow down places to look

"I have looked in the chicken coop, and in and around the house" she said confirming that he was nowhere around the house

"Have you checked in town yet? Or in the forest?" he asked

"No I haven't, but Angel knows not to go into the forest, at least I hope he knows not to go into the forest by now" she said quietly, as if she were remembering something

"Alright then let's check in town and see if he went there for something" Star said motioning for her to follow

Star walked in silence as Fluttershy voiced her worries "What if something happened to him? What if he got hurt? What if-"

"Fluttershy, he is fine and we will find him" he interrupted trying to calm her "I bet he went into town to look for something or to do something."

After a few more minutes they arrived in ponyville "How are we going to find Angel there are so many places he could be!" Fluttershy said starting to panic again

"It is fine we will just have to ask around, maybe we can ask your friends if they have seen Angel?" he asked

"Alright we can go ask Twilight first, the Library is the closest place from here" she agreed

A few minutes later they arrived at the library. Star knocked on the door and heard from inside "This is a PUBLIC LIBRARY you don't need to knock!"

Shrugging, Star walked inside to see Spike dusting the floor and Twilight reading a book and looking very serious, she looked up to see Fluttershy and Star "Oh, hey guys what are you doing here?" she seemed very distracted by what she was doing

"Fluttershy can't find Angel and we were wondering if you have seen him?" Star asked trying to read the title of the book Twilight was reading

"Nope, sorry I haven't seen him, why don't you try Rarity maybe she has seen him." She didn't even look up from her book to respond

"What are you reading anyway?" he wondered what she could be reading that was so interesting that she didn't even want to put the book down to talk

"This book is about Equestrian history, I am trying to find out the last time platinum was used as currency because it hasn't been for a long time." She said turning a page and putting her face back into the book

"Alright then I will stop by later, I have to talk to you about something" Star finished walking out the door with Fluttershy "Okay Fluttershy let's go to Rarity's place then"

A few minutes and reassurances later they arrived at Carousel Boutique where a surprised looking Rarity answered the door "You are still wearing that… that… THING?" she said indicating to Stars tattered cloak

"Yeah, it is kind of the only thing I have to wear" Star said simply, thinking that it didn't matter what condition the cloak was in

"No no this will not do" Rarity shook her head "What are you two here for anyway?"

We were wondering if you have seen Angel, I woke up this morning and he was gone" Fluttershy responded

"I am terribly sorry but I haven't seen him, now if you will excuse me I have something to attend to" she said closing the door on them

"Alright, let's check Sweet Apple acres then, maybe he was hungry and wanted something to eat?" Star said hopefully

"Okay let's go check" Fluttershy responded in a hopeless tone

When they arrived at the farm what they saw made them laugh both in relief and the comedy of what they saw. They found Angel, but he was hopping around wearing a bonnet and diaper and being chased by the Cutiemark crusaders. Behind them was a very dazed looking Applejack in a barrel and Big Macintosh laughing heartily at the scene before him.

After fifteen minutes a broken crate and a rabbit paw to Stars face they finally stopped the Cutiemark Crusaders and Angel "What happened?" asked a very curious Fluttershy

Angel made a few angry gestures and pointed to each of the Cutiemark Crusaders then to the bonnet and the diaper "Will you girls please tell me what happened?" Fluttershy asked again

It was Applebloom who spoke up "This morning we saw a buncha bunny rabbits hoppin around on the outside of town and one of them had a hurt paw and was being carried around by another bunny so Sweetiebelle thought that it would be a good idea to try and get our Cutiemarks in takin care of bunnies so we went to see if we could take care of Angel and we tried to take care of him and he didn't want us to take care of him so we went to ask Applejack about it and Angel got out and we chased him around till Applejack came out to try and stop us and we accidentally ran into her and knocked her into a barrel and we kept chasin him and that's when you two showed up" Applebloom finished taking in a huge breath

"Well there was nothing wrong with Angel and even if there was you should have asked me" Fluttershy scolded them in a motherly tone

"We're sorry" they all said lowering their heads ashamed at what they had done

"It's alright, come on Angel let's go home I still have other animals to take care of." She said motioning for the bunny to follow her

Star sighed in relief and looked up to see what time it was. The sun was just past the middle of the sky "Crud! I'm going to be late for my first day on the job!" Star exclaimed taking off at full speed towards town

He arrived at the shop out of breath with his legs in pain from pushing himself so hard; he walked in to see a very uninterested looking Davenport once again reading a book

"I made it" he said breathing heavily

"What happened to you kid, you sound like you just ran the running of the leaves" Davenport said looking at Star curiously

"I'm sorry I am late, I was helping a friend and I was at Sweet Apple acres when I saw what time it was and-"

"Kid, It's alright, you are actually 10 minutes early"

"What? The sun is exactly where it should be at one twenty what do you mean I am early?" Star asked incredulously

"What do you mean the sun? You don't use a clock like a normal pony?" Davenport responded looking at him strangely

"Clock?" Star asked curiously "What's that?"

"You don't know what a clock is? What were you raised under a rock?" he asked as if he were talking to a crazy pony

"Well, actually I can't remember anything about my past and I am here trying to find out who I am." Star said bluntly tired of explaining his story

"Oh, well that's a shame" Davenport said in an understanding tone "A clock is an easier way to tell time it is a lot more convenient and simpler than telling time by the sun" he gesturing over at the clock on the opposite wall of him

"Alright let's get started" he said putting down his book and looking over to Star "You don't actually have to work here every day, I don't usually either. Because most ponies don't need sofas or quills on a regular basis I don't usually work here. I usually have a notepad out front where ponies write down what they want or how much they want of it. I only come into work when somepony wants a sofa and they want to see what we have in stock" Davenport summed up

"So, what will I be doing here exactly then? If you don't come in that often what will I be doing here for a job?" Star asked

"I decided that it is boring when I do have to come in here because I have to wait all day for the ponies to come by so, since you wanted a job, whenever a pony wants some quills or a sofa you can deliver it for them, I prefer making them better than selling them anyway. I will pay you five bits an hour for eight hours a day Monday to Friday that's a great deal for not having to do absolutely anything, but the catch is that you have to be available to come in and sell a sofa or some quills whenever anypony wants them at any time. If you ever sell a sofa I will give you a twenty five percent profit off of the price of the sofa." Davenport summed up

"What about people who want board games?" Star asked remembering the only other things he sold

"If anypony ever wants one of them then just sell it to them just like you would a quill or a sofa though I doubt that will ever happen" Davenport sighed "why did I agree to sell those things anyway?" he said to himself more than Star

"Alright so I guess that means that a pony wanted to buy a sofa but they haven't come by yet?" Star assumed

"Yep, I wish that they would give a specific time they wanted to come in instead of just Tuesday or Wednesday" he walked towards the door "you don't actually have to stay until nine, just until the pony decides to stop by and buy one. If you have any problems consult the list I left behind the counter, see you later" he said leaving Star alone in the store

He understood why Davenport had wanted to get away from this place, there was absolutely nothing to do, he had been standing behind the counter for 3 hours and nothing had happened. He was starting to regret not bringing a book or something to entertain himself while he waited, when Rarity walked through the door

"There you are! I have been looking for you everywhere!" Rarity exclaimed

"Why were you looking for me?” Star asked questioningly

"Well when I saw you earlier today and you were still wearing that horrid thing I couldn't let such a crime to fashion continue to walk the streets" she said in a dramatic voice "so because you insist on wearing a cloak and hiding your face and body I made you another cloak that isn't so…. Destroyed" she said pulling out a dark grey cloak from her saddlebag

"Wow! Thanks Rarity! I can't pay you right now but I will once I get paid" Star said feeling bad that he couldn't pay her

"Oh no it is quite alright, the cloak is free. But you said you have to wait until you get paid? What happened to those platinum bits?" she asked wondering where that many bits could go

"I don't feel like I should spend that, I had it for a reason and until I find that out I don't feel comfortable spending it on anything" he answered

"Well, why don't you try it on?" she said putting the cloak on the counter

"Sure, let me just go to the back room and change, I still don't feel comfortable letting other ponies see what I look like" he said taking the cloak and walking into the back room

"I was kind of hoping he would forget and change in front of me so I could at least see his face" Rarity thought as he walked away

As he walked into the back room Star noticed that it was full of empty crates. Walking over to an empty space. He then, for the first time since he could remember, took off his cloak which surprisingly didn't smell rotten even though he had neglected to wash it. While he was taking off his cloak it got caught on something, he looked down to see that he was wearing a necklace of some sort. Upon closer inspection he could see that it was an amulet, it was bright golden amulet with an emerald in the middle leading from a spiral covering the rest of it "I wonder where I got this from” he thought with furrowed brows

After admiring the amulet for a few minutes he finally decided to put on the cloak which to his surprise was very comfortable.

Walking back into the main room he saw that Rarity was pleased with her work "I knew the cloak would look good!" she clapped at the sight "Well this was nice, but I have other things to attend to. I will see you later" she said walking out the door

Once again Star was plagued with something that was the worst possible thing that could happen to a pony, he was bored, again. It had been 2 hours since Rarity had left and he only had two hours left until he could leave. He was about to fall asleep when he heard the door open looking up he saw the large red earth pony he had seen at Applejacks farm earlier that day.

"Excuse me, do you know where ah could find Mister Davenport?" he asked in a southern accent like Applejacks but much deeper

"I got hired by him to sell quills and sofas to anypony who wants them, apparently he likes making them more than selling them." Star answered with a shrug

"Well, ah came here for a sofa, ah woulda come earlier but ah had ta do work down at the farm." He responded looking over at the sofas on the wall to his left

"So I guess Applejack had you come down here to get a new sofa for the house?" Star guessed

"How do ya know mah sister and how did ya know she was mah sister?" he asked curiously

"I met her when I first came into town and I saw you when Fluttershy and I were at your farm earlier today looking for Angel." Star answered holding out his hoof to the red pony "nice to meet you my name is Midnight Star"

Taking it he answered "Mah names Big Macintosh, it's a pleasure to make yer acquaintance"

"So, which sofa did you want to buy?" Star asked getting right to business

"Ah was lookin at that one over there" Macintosh answered pointing his hoof to a simple small wooden sofa with brown cushions

"Alright, do you need help moving it?" Star asked

"Nah it's fine, how much'll it be?" Macintosh asked

Walking over to the sofa he read the price sticker "That will be two hundred bits" Star responded walking back to Macintosh who pulled a pouch out of his saddlebag and gave it to Star who took it and put it behind the counter

"Aren't ya gonna count it?" Macintosh questioned

"I don't think I need to, I trust you, you seem like an honest pony" Star responded

"Alright then, thank ya kindly" He said as he pushed the small sofa out the door

Happy that he could finally get out of there he walked out the door closing and locking the door behind him with the keys that Davenport had left behind and decided to make his way to the library and ask Twilight about the book.

He arrived quickly and knocked on the door and was once again responded with "When will you ponies understand that this is a PUBLIC LIBRARY you don't need to knock!"

Opening the door Star walked inside to see Twilight in the same spot as hours before but reading a new book and surrounded by many others "Still no luck huh?" he asked closing the door and walking over to Twilight

"Actually, I found out that nopony has used platinum bits as currency in the past six hundred years, so while they would still be rare they would not be impossible to come by even with the five hundred you have." Twilight answered "So what is it you wanted to show me?" she asked remembering what Star had said when he was their earlier that day

"I was hoping you could help me interpret the book that I found in my saddlebag" he said getting right to the point and pulling out the book

Twilight took the book in a magic purple glow and inspected it "What is this?" Twilight asked wondering if he knew anything about the book

"That is just it, I don't know. I don't understand anything in the book and I was wondering if you could" Star said once again staring at the cover of the book

"This symbol seems familiar" she said pointing her hoof to one of the symbols on the cover "I don't remember where, but I have seen this somewhere before"

"What do you think it is?" Star said excitedly

"I don't know, will you leave this book here with me tonight so I can study it?" Twilight said more than asked

"Sure, I guess I will talk to you tomorrow about it" Star said leaving disappointed that she didn't know anything about the book

He arrived at Zecoras hut pretty quickly and found that Zecora was in her room asleep "I never see Zecora anymore" Star realized "I will have a chance to talk to her tomorrow" he thought reassuring himself.

He found himself lying in Zecoras makeshift bed that she had made for him when she had found him. His mind wandered over the events of that day, from finding Angel to getting the new cloak to the strange amulet that was hanging around his neck "I forgot about that" he realized. Pulling the amulet from around his neck he once again admired it but instead of admiring the color and the design he admired the gem itself.

As he looked at the emerald he found himself getting lost in the spiral surrounding it as his mind suddenly went blank.

The next thing he knew he was looking at a pony in a cloak reading a scroll. He soon realized that this pony was him, he was merely a spectator so he assumed that this was a memory that his mind had pushed forward.

He saw himself staring at the scroll for a few more seconds before he rolled it up, threw it, the pouch, and the book into his saddle bag. While he was doing this he was muttering "No, no this can't be happening, this can't be happening, I can't let this happen!" he said in panic his voice finally raising to a shout and ran out the door.

Ch 9: Forgetting To Remember

After Star had left the room he ran down a very large hallway, it looked as if he was in some sort of castle. Star watched as he exited through a door at the end of the hallway then, his position changed once again following his memory self.

He appeared to be in some sort of castle courtyard, he couldn't admire the sight because as soon as he could see it he exited through another door. Once again Star was running through some sort of hallway but this time at the end of the hallway there was a large double door. He arrived at it and spoke to some guard looking ponies "I need to get out it is an emergency" he said urgently

"Yes sir" was all one of them responded before opening the door for him to leave

He was outside in what looked to be a beautiful forest, lush trees, bushes, and multicolored flowers everywhere. He ran into the forest until he came upon a strange cave, the real Star realized that it was the one he saw during his first memory flashback.

He ran into the cave and quickly came upon a dead end, he pulled out the emerald amulet that he wore around his neck and the gem started to glow brightly, opening up a passage at the once dead end. He ran through the cave and eventually came upon a large door.

Instead of pulling out his amulet he instead knocked on the door shouting "You can't do this! It is insane! You will get yourself killed!"

When nopony responded to him he seemed to get more frantic and bucked at the door, which budged just enough that he could see through it when he looked through it he saw

Pink. All he could see, was pink.

"Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" he yelled suddenly realizing that he was back in the real world and not in the strange memory realm he was just in "I was so close! I almost found out what I was panicking about!" he said to himself forgetting the pony that had woken him up.

"What are you talking about silly willy?" Pinkie pie said questioningly

"I was having some sort of flashback and it was all leading up to one moment and when it got there, you came in and woke me up" Star answered disappointedly

"I am sorry! I didn't know!" Pinkie said in a very apologetic voice "I know what will cheer you up, Twilight told me to come and get you because she had something to tell you!" Pinkie said in a very happy tone

"Really?" he said in a very excited tone "Maybe she figured out the book I left for her!"

"It might be, let's get going!" the pink pony said in a very excited tone grabbing Star and pulling him out the door

The entire trip to ponyville was a blur of pink, blue, and green. He assumed that the blue was the sky and that the green was the grass, he had a hard time telling as Pinkie Pie was traveling at the speed of Pinkie. (A/N Yes, I just said at the speed of Pinkie. I think she deserves her own speed setting)

They soon arrived at the town of ponyville and soon after that at the library where Star suddenly found himself surrounded by all the books in the library on the ground around them and a very grumpy Spike grumbling as he picked up and put them away "Hey Spike where is Twilight?" Pinkie asked as she finally let go of Star

"She is in the basement, why?" Spike asked as he put a few books away

"Twilight asked me to go and get Star and bring him to her" Pinkie said once again grabbing Star and dragging him down into the basement where a very anxious looking Twilight was waiting for them "What took you so long Pinkie? You left to go and get Star over an hour ago"

"I had to do something first" Pinkie replied simply "Anyway I gotta get back to Sugarcube Corner now bye!" she said hopping out the door

"Alright, well good thing she finally brought you because I found out something towards deciphering what the book says" she levitated the book over to herself "I haven't found anything to decipher what the book actually says, but I did find something that will help"

She walked over to Star still levitating the book right beside her "What did you find?" Star inquired

"See this?" she gestured to the symbols at the bottom of the book "This is the symbol that Starswirl the bearded used as his signature! That means that Starswirl wrote this book!"

"Starswirl the bearded?" Star asked questioningly

"I forgot, you don't have a memory so there is no way you could know about him, just one moment" she said walking out the door for a moment then reemerging with another book being levitated behind her "This" she said pointing one hoof to the inside of the book "Is Starswirl the bearded"

Star looked at the picture "Starswirl the bearded? I can't help but feel I know something about this pony"

"So, who was this Starswirl pony?" Star asked finally getting to the point

"He was one of the greatest magicians of all time! The only problem was that most of his notes and books were never found and those that were are incomprehensible and I suspect that they all looked like this" she said pointing to some symbols on the other book

"So, you are saying that I have a book that was written by one of the greatest magicians of all time?” Star said summing up the conversation

"That's right, which means that we just have to figure something out that ponies have been trying to find out for over a thousand years" Twilight summed up

"Piece of cake" Star said jokingly

"Yes, but I think that we might be able to get some of his other books from the royal library if Princess Celestia will allow it" Twilight said hopefully

"Didn't you say you didn't want to involve Princess Celestia until you figured out my whole "Discord" problem?" Star said remembering the problem for the first time in days

"I will just tell her that I want to see if I can decipher Starswirls writings as a project of mine, I won't mention you" Twilight said as she levitated a scroll and quill over to herself

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I was wondering if I might be able to borrow a few books from Starswirl the bearded from the royal library, I decided to take on the project of trying to decipher his writings."

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle"

She finished up the letter and yelled "Spike! Will you send this letter to the Princess please?"

A moment later Spike came hurrying down the stairs "Sure I will! But isn't it a bit early for your weekly friendship report?" Spike asked

"This isn't a friendship report Spike this is just a letter to the princess from me requesting if I can use some books from the royal library" Twilight answered levitating the baby dragon the scroll

"Alright" Spike said simply blowing fire onto the scroll

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be sending the letter not burning it?" Star said in surprise

"That is just a way of magically mailing it, he didn't burn it" Twilight explained

"Oh, alright I was worried that Spike had decided to burn your mail just to spite you" Star said relieved

"Spike has his moments, but he wouldn't do that for any reason" Twilight said simply

Suddenly Spike burped out some green fire and along with it a scroll; Twilight levitated the object from the floor and read it out loud

" Dear Twilight Sparkle,

Of course you can get some books from the royal library! I don't see why you would have to ask to come and get some books from it, seeing as you grew up in that library. It would be delightful to see you again; I haven't seen you since the Gala. If you would like me to send you a carriage to deliver you from Ponyville to Canterlot please respond and tell me so that I can make the arrangements for one to pick you up tomorrow.

Your Friend

Princess Celestia"

"Well it is settled then, I will leave tomorrow to go to Canterlot and get some books on Starswirl the bearded" Twilight concluded once again picking up the quill with another parchment.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

It would be very kind of you to send me a carriage to help me travel to Canterlot, I appreciate it a lot and I look forward to seeing you again

Your Faithful Student

Twilight Sparkle"

Spike took this letter and mailed it too making Star wonder how you could burn things and send them to another intact "Star, why don't you come with me to Sugarcube Corner, I'm hungry and I would appreciate the company" Twilight asked walking up the stairs

"Sure, I don't have anything else to do today" Star said following

"What do you mean "rest of today" it is dark out already" Twilight said motioning to one of the windows in the library

"Really?" Star said looking out the window she motioned to "How long were we down there or how long was I asleep" Star said quizzically

"I think that you just slept in today, Pinkie didn't bring you by until about six" Twilight answered

While they walked to Sugarcube Corner they stayed silent and Star was lost in his thoughts "What was behind that door? Who was I so worried about? Where was that castle at? Where was that cave?" Star shook his head "If I keep thinking about all of these questions my head is going to explode" He decided to give up on the matter and take in his surroundings. Ponyville was peaceful during the night, there was nopony around besides the occasional group of ponies going about their business and it was completely silent.

As they arrived at Sugarcube corner he saw that it was completely quiet inside and even though he didn't know Pinkie very well, he knew that this was too quiet "Maybe she is asleep?" thought Star as they walked in.

"SURPRISE!" Yelled every pony in the room

Looking around he saw Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Spike, and Big Macintosh

"Um, what is this?" he said gesturing to the whole room

"Earlier today I realized that I didn't throw you a welcome to Ponyville party, to welcome you to Ponyville so I talked to Twilight about distracting you long enough so that we could set up the party and she had me go and get you so that she could talk to you about something so I went and invited everypony but I didn't invite anypony you didn't know because they would question you about why you wear your cloak and it would make you feel uncomfortable and that wouldn't be very good for a party now would it?" Pinkie Pie answered bouncing around in excitement

"I….well I um….." Star said, speechless

"Come on everypony, let's dance!" Pinkie yelled as music started to play from nowhere in particular

Everyone was dancing except for a very self-conscious looking Big Macintosh, a bored looking Spike, and a still dumbfounded Midnight Star who was standing by the snack table

Noticing this Pinkie hopped over to Star "Come on! You have to dance with us, it is your party!"

"Pinkie, I don't even know what dancing is, so maybe we can do it another time?" Star said hopefully

Pinkies eyes widened in surprise "What! You don't know wha-" she suddenly stopped remembering who she was talking to "Oh yeah, well next time we spend time together, I am going to teach you to dance" Pinkie said hopping back to the middle of the room with the other 5 ponies

"Uh, yeah sure I look forward to it" Star said mostly to himself

Big Macintosh walked over to Star "You actually convinced Pinkie Pie not to make ya dance? How'd ya do that?"

"I don't even know what dancing is let alone how to pull it off, so Pinkie let me off with a warning" he said jokingly

"Wish ah woulda thought of that when she made me dance first time ah went to one of 'er parties" Big Mac said enviously

"I was serious about not knowing what dancing is" Star said seriously

"Oh, ah thought ya were jokin 'bout it. How don't ya know what dancin is?" Big Mac asked

"Guess I haven't told you yet have I? Well I have no memories about my past and I have no idea who I am" Star said summing it up

"Ah never woulda guessed it, but ah haven't really talked to ya so ah wouldn't know" Big Mac answered honestly

They made small talk for another before few moments before Spike walked over and joined in too "Man this is boring," Spike said as he grabbed a cupcake "I never really liked dancing but at least I have somepony to talk to now"

They continued with small talk until eventually Rainbow Dash made her way over from the dance floor "Hey so what are you guys talking about?"

"Just stuff in general" Star responded as he ate a cupcake

"Sounds fun, you can only dance so much before it gets boring" she said stating why she had come over

"I bet so" Star said simply

"So what were you guys talking about before I interrupted?" Rainbow asked hoping to restart a nice conversation

"Oh yeah, so Macintosh you were saying something about apple bucking?" Star said turning to Big Macintosh

"Eeyup, ah may have ta leave it up ta Applejack now unless ah learn ma own strength, instead a bucking down some apples yesterday ah bucked down the whole tree!" Macintosh said incredulously as if he still didn't believe it

"Wow, you must be pretty strong to buck down a tree after kicking it" Star complimented

"Ah guess so" Macintosh said "ah hope ah can just learn how ta deal with ma strength"

Star turned to Rainbow Dash "So, I haven't really talked to you before, at least not without you threatening me or glaring at me" he said jokingly "what do you do for a living?"

"I usually help with the weather, but when I am not doing that I practice to become a Wonderbolt" Rainbow dash looked smug "not like I need practice though I AM the fastest flier in Equestria"

"That sounds like an admirable dream to pursue" Star said ignoring her bragging

Just then Applejack decided to walk over from the dance floor

"That was fun, but I am tired from all that dancing! What’re yall talkin 'bout?" she asked

"Macintosh's strength and Rainbows future goals" Star said

"What 'bout Macintosh's strength" Applejack asked

"I hadn't told 'er yet" Macintosh said glaring at Star

"Sorry" Star apologized

"What do ya mean?" Applejack asked again

"Applejack, ah didn't do any Applebuckin yesterday or today" Macintosh paused before continuing "because last time ah tried ta ah broke a tree" Macintosh said embarrassed

"Ya broke a tree? By buckin it?" Applejack said incredulously "Me ‘n you are gonna have ta start workin on you controllin yer strength"

"Alright sis" Macintosh said

"Now that that's settled, what about you Applejack, what do you do for a living?" Star asked

"Ah do tha same thing as ma brother, ah spend ma days buckin apples" Applejack answered

"At least you have your life already figured out" Star answered

"Well, most ponies do by tha time they're about Appleblooms age" Applejack said

"How do they do that?" Star said curiously

"They find their Cutie marks" Applejack answered as if everypony should know about it

"What is a Cutie mark?" Star asked curiously

"A Cutie mark is a mark that appears on tha flanks of ponies when they figure out their callin in life" Applejack explained "Ya haven't seen any of our Cutie marks?"

"Nope" Star said simply

"At least that means ya aren't some kinda pervert" Applejack said laughing and causing everyone but Star to laugh

After all of the laughing died down Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Twilight walked over to the small group "So what were you all laughing at?" Twilight asked curiously

"Applejack explained Cutie marks to me then asked if I had seen any of you girl's Cutie marks, I said no then she said "At least that means ya aren't some kinda pervert" and they all laughed, but I really don't get it" Star summed up

"You have the innocence of a young pony" Rarity said to Star

"That, or my Cutie mark has something to do with my past" Star concluded "Pinkie, is there a bathroom in this store? I have to check something"

"Sure! Just go down that hallway and it is the first door on the left" Pinkie answered

Star hurried down the hallway and entered the door and to his relief there was a mirror, he took off his cloak and looked at his back left flank to see his Cutie mark which wasn't there which meant that he didn't have one "Or Discords magic is hiding it" he said finishing his thought process, he put his cloak back on and headed back out to rejoin the party.

When he walked back out everypony was looking at him expectantly "Either I don't have a Cutie mark or Discord's magic is hiding it" he announced

"Maybe only you can't see it, why don't you see if we can?" Rainbow asked hopefully

"I really doubt that, but nice try" Star answered

Rainbow simply shrugged "Can't blame a pony for trying"

They all talked and played games for a few more hours before everypony decided it was time to depart. All that was left was Star and Pinkie Pie "Are you sure you don't want help cleaning up? I would be more than happy to" Star asked

"No thank you, it was a party I threw for you, I should clean it up" she said happily

"Alright then Pinkie I will see you later" Star said while walking towards the door

"Okie dokie see you later!" Pinkie Pie responded before jumping at the mess from the party and in a pink blur started to clean it up.

He decided to stop by the library and pick up the four books that Twilight had showed him, one of which had caused him his first memory flashes. When he go to the library Twilight was to his surprise reading a book "How unexpected!" he thought to himself sarcastically

"Hey Twilight, I was just wondering if I could get those four books you showed me the first day I came here" Star asked

"Sure, just one moment" she said her horn glowing bright purple as she levitated the books over to Star "here you go, tell me if you remember anything"

"Alright, I will see you later Twilight" he said leaving the library

As he started to head back to Zecoras hut he noticed how beautiful the night was and he decided to enjoy it and read the books out in the nice cool night time air. He wandered until he found a nice peaceful hill with a beautiful view of a forest that he didn't know the name to.

Finding a comfortable spot to lay in he decided to pick up one of the books and start reading, he decided to start with the one that had given him his first memory flashes "Celestia's rule" he turned to the page that he saw the picture of Celestia on and one again found himself looking at the picture but this time he didn't have sudden memory flashes this time he was just looking at a picture.

He read through the book and read how Celestia had ruled over Equestria for 1000 years and her many political achievements. None of these things caused him to remember anything so he decided to look through "Founding of Equestria"

This book proved to be an interesting read, it was about the three types of ponies earth, pegasus, and unicorn and their fight over land until the Wendigos caused a blizzard that froze over the land forcing all the types of ponies to come to terms with each other and treat each other equally.

Nothing really seemed to keep his interest in this book either so he decided to read "Early Equestrian History" he read through it, it explained the founding of the individual towns like Canterlot, Ponyville, Manehatten, Fillydelphia, and a few more. Once again nothing interested him until he read that one day, the Everfree forest went from a nice peaceful forest into the forest was now. He decided that he would ask Twilight about that when he next saw her.

Finally he got to "Recent Equestrian History" He started reading through this until he came upon a picture of a dark blue pony with a mane that looked like it was filled with stars then suddenly a familiar feeling came over him as he blacked out.

Ch 10: Unexpected Twist

Star once again found himself in a flashback type state, but this time he was looking at a young white coated unicorn wearing a cloak without a hood. He watched this unicorn fiddle around with a telescope-like device for a few minutes before he realized that it WAS him, just as a young colt.

The young Star continued to fiddle with the telescope-like device for a few more minutes before he announced triumphantly "I did it! I built it! Now you can show me the constellations!"

Out of the shadows behind the young colt came a unicorn with a grey coat and a brown mane "Good job son, now tell me, what do you see?" he said approaching the colt

"I see, Orion's saddle, the big dipper, and the little dipper and draco" the young Star responded to what Star assumed was his father

"Now, look a little south of draco until you see the big dipper" he told the younger Star

"Alright" he responded tilting his telescope up a little farther "I see the big dipper"

"Now look at the middle star in the handle and the stars that lead down from it and it goes in a downward curve then back up and it looks like a large bears head, that is an Ursa Major"
"Woah! This telescope was the best birthday present ever! Thank you dad!" the young Star said confirming that it was in fact his dad

"It wasn't me that thought of it" he answered thoughtfully "it was your mother who thought of it"

"I wish that mommy could have stayed longer" colt Star said in disappointment

"I wish that she could have too, but your mom is a very busy person, at least your cousin and your aunt stayed, come on let's go back downstairs and spend some time with them"

The flashback suddenly ended and Star was brought back to reality and the sun was high in the sky "What was I reading again?" he looked back down to the book where it said "Princess Luna recently returned to Canterlot with her sister and once again started controlling the night sky" "I guess that her looking like there were stars in her mane and the fact that she controls the night sky made me think about looking at the stars with my father" he concluded before hearing something in the distance

"Where are you! I swear when I find you I'm going to hurt you!" he thought he recognized the voice as Rainbow Dash

Upon closer inspection he saw Rainbow Dash flying around quickly searching for something and Pinkie doing the same thing just on the ground "I think I see him!" Rainbow called rushing towards Star

When she got within hearing distance, which only took about one second Star called out "Hey, Rainbow! What are you looking for!" Apparently she didn't hear him because she just seemed to fly at him faster and tackled him "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Pinkie Pie went to talk to Twilight about something and she wasn't there, what did you do to her!" Rainbow yelled at him while still pinning him to the ground

"What do you mean? Twilight went to Canterlot today didn't she?" Star said questioningly

"How do I know I can trust you! Rarity said that she saw you walk into the library last night confirming that you were the last pony to see her!" Rainbow accused

"That was because I wanted to get these books from her" Star said gesturing towards the books nearby "She went to Canterlot to get some books on Starswirl the bearded from the royal library" Star answered calmly

"What did you do last night then? What did you want these books for!" Rainbow repeated when Pinkie finally arrived

"Ya, you big meanie!" Pinkie chimed in

"I didn't do anything to Twilight, She went to Canterlot" Star said keeping his calm demeanor "now would you kindly get off of me?" he asked Rainbow Dash

"Not until you tell me what you did to Twilight!" Rainbow yelled at him again

"I just told you, Twilight went to get books from the royal library" Star repeated

"Prove it!" Rainbow replied in an angry tone

"Alright, Twilight will probably still have the letters that the Princess sent her yesterday about her going to Canterlot. If you will get off me I will lead you to them" Star answered

She complied and they followed Star to the library where he went into the basement, grabbed the letters, and brought them up to Rainbow "Here you go"

Rainbows eyes moved as she read the letters, her expression changing from angry to ashamed "Oh, when she wasn't here I assumed that something bad happened because Spike isn't here either and nopony had seen her all morning. Then when I checked over at Zecoras she said she hadn't seen you all night" Rainbow explained "It didn't help that Pinkie suggested that she might have been kidnapped" she said giving Pinkie a dirty look

"Ya, sorry I was being a big mean dummy head" Pinkie said hopping once again "I know! I will bake you an apology cake!" she bounced out the door humming a tune

"Sorry that I over reacted" Rainbow apologized

"*sigh* it is okay Rainbow, you were just worried for your friend and went straight to the sketchiest most likely pony to do it" Star said in a forgiving tone

They sat in awkward silence for a few more seconds before Rainbow broke the silence "You know what? It isn't okay, I have been nothing but mean and suspicious to you since I have met you and you forgive me just like that? You are supposed to be mad at me! It is what I deserve" Rainbow finished in a sad tone

"Rainbow, it is really okay, there is nothing wrong with being suspicious of a pony who won't show his face and doesn't know who he is and also happens to have traces of Discords magic in his subconscious" he said in a forgiving tone

"That's just it! It doesn't matter who you are! You have been nothing but nice, kind, and forgiving to everypony that you have met so far and I have treated you as if you were some jerk that has been mean to my friends, but that isn't the case and I shouldn't treat you like I have, I won't blame you if you already hate me" Rainbow finished looking at the ground

"Why would I hate you? You were nice to me at the party, you act as if you have never shown me any kindness, but you have by just being nice and talking to me. I have no reason to hate you, you were just being protective of your friends because you saw me as a threat and, until I remember who I am, I might be one" Star finished simply trying to justify Rainbows actions

Rainbow looked back up at Star "Seriously, what is wrong with you?" she said questioningly "Anypony else but you would have been furious and hated me now, but you have been calm and forgave me. What is wrong with you?"

Star thought about the question for a moment "I think that I haven't gotten mad because I don't have any past experiences or knowledge on anything to compare it to, so I can't expect you to act any other way than you do, so instead of getting mad like most ponies would because they would have thought differently, I can only hope to understand the situation and learn from it" Star explained

Rainbow shook her head "You are really strange, you know that?" she said starting to regain her confidence "Hey, how’s about I show you some of the tricks I've been working on as an apology, you won't have to pay to see them" Rainbow said finally recovering from what had just happened

"That sounds like fun" Star responded "but I don't know if I would ever pay to see some tricks" he said mockingly

"Hey! These aren't just any old tricks, they are MY tricks" Rainbow said confidently

"Alright then, show me something that would make me want to pay to see some tricks" Star said walking towards the door

"Fine, follow me, I know where I will show you" Rainbow said walking out the door behind Star.

Star followed Rainbow as she flew out of town into a clear field on the opposite side of town as the Everfree forest, the only thing in view of the field was a floating cloud castle. As Star finally caught up to Rainbow she was laying on the ground faking asleep, she looked up at him acknowledging him "Hey slowpoke what took you so long? I fell asleep waiting"

"I was only slow because I am still reluctant to believe all your praise about your "amazing" tricks. So go on then, let's see them" he said sitting down

"You just wait! You'll be begging me for more after this!" She said shooting into the air in a streak of rainbow

First she did a few flips and loops in the air, then she flew around some clouds sending them spinning and started kicking the clouds on top of each other all the while they were still spinning. She then flew higher and higher into the air until she was just a speck in the sky then twirled around and flew straight to the ground.

As she sped up the speck soon started to grow, eventually he could make out her rainbow mane, as she got closer and closer a circle started to form around her that soon turned into a cone. Just when Star thought that she was going to nosedive straight into the ground the cone suddenly exploded in a wave of rainbow shooting across the sky.

As Rainbow landed she saw that Star was still staring at the explosion "I really wish I could see his expression right now" she thought waiting for Star to snap out of it.

She waited a few more minutes and he still didn't snap out of it "Star? Are you alright?" she walked over to him and poked at his head "Hello? Is anypony there?" she received no response "Um, Star? Are you okay?" her voice started to panic but he still didn't move or respond "I will go get Fluttershy, you wait right here!" she said as she shot into the air

Soon enough she arrived at Fluttershy's cottage where she saw Pinkie Pie talking to Fluttershy "Fluttershy! Hurry come with me! Something is wrong with Star!" she said in a worried tone

Fluttershy immediately flew up to Rainbow Dash "Where is he?" was all she asked

"Follow me" Rainbow said starting to fly away

After a few minutes they all arrived back at the field where a still motionless Star sat "Star? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked concerned

Pinkie Pie hopped over to him and poked him in the head a few times "Helloooooo? Staaaaarrrrr? Is anybody theeeerrreee?" after not receiving a response she turned to Rainbow Dash "I think you broke him" was all she said before hopping back to the side of Rainbow Dash

"Broke him?" Rainbow repeated

"Yup" Pinkie responded

Fluttershy flew over to Star "Star? Are you okay? Please speak or move or something" Fluttershy said worried before turning to Rainbow "What happened? What did you do to make him act like this?"

"I was showing him some of my tricks and then I did the sonic rainboom and he just…..broke" Rainbow said using Pinkies description of it

Fluttershy turned back to Star "Oh, I do hope that he isn't broken, whatever that means"

On the outside Star seemed broken but on the inside his mind was spinning. He felt like how he did during his usual flashbacks except he couldn't see anything it was as if his mind was broken. He didn't know how long he was like this but eventually he started to hear faint voices which steadily grew louder.

He heard his colt self talking, even though he couldn't see him he could recognize his younger selfs voice. "What is this place?" he asked

"This is my library, it is where I will teach you of the magic arts" another voice that he faintly recognized said

"So that means you are finally going to teach me how to use magic properly?" his younger self asked

"That's right, from now on I am your teacher you will refer to me as master and nothing else" the other voice said sternly

"Yes master" Star responded "When are we going to start?"

"Tomorrow evening" the his master said

"I can't tomorrow, I get to spend the day with my mom tomorrow!" he said happily

"Fine, we will start the day after tomorrow, now come on let's head back to the castle" said the other voice

As they left the library Star started to hazily see things again and soon could see the scene before him, he saw them exit from a familiar looking cave, but this time he saw where the cave was, he still didn't know where it was but it looked like he had been there before, since he had lost his memories. Just as he was about to get a glimpse of his master Star was suddenly pulled back into reality.

The first thing he heard was a quiet voice saying "Oh, I do hope he isn't broken, whatever that means"

"Who's broken?" he asked looking over to see Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash looking at him

"He isn't broken!" Pinkie said in surprise

"What happened?" Rainbow questioned

"I had another flashback" Star said simply

"Another?" Pinkie said quizzically

"When you and Rainbow found me this morning I was waking up from a flashback and when you came to get me the day of the party I was waking up from a flashback too" he said as if it were a normal thing

"And you didn't think it would be important to tell us you started to remember things?" Rainbow added "I don't want to keep acting like you don't know anything"

"I haven't started to remember anything yet, these are just flashbacks" Star explained "and I do to know stuff, I resent that comment"

Just then a yellow maned mare with eyes that didn't seem completely focused flew over to the small group "Are you Midnight Star?" she asked Star

"Yes I am, and who are you?" Star asked her

"I'm Derpy Hooves the mail mare, I have a package for you" she said fishing something out of her bag "Here you go" she threw him a pouch attached with a letter then flew off

"Wonder who this is from" he wondered aloud before opening the letter and reading it

Hey, Midnight Star it's Friday so I decided to send you your first weeks pay. In this pouch there is 400 bits, I know you should only be receiving 120 bits for your work plus 50 bits for the 25% of selling that sofa but you are new in town so think of it as a welcoming gift to get you started

Davenport

"Well that was nice of him, now I can get started on making myself a house" Star said after reading the letter out loud

"What do you mean by that? You could probably buy any house in Ponyville!" Rainbow said remembering that Star was loaded

"I have that platinum for a reason, I'm not going to spend it until I know what I was going to do with it before I lost my memory" Star said "besides, I'm not going to live in Ponyville"

"Why not?" Pinkie Pie asked "Ponyville is wonderful! All the ponies there are nice and the parties are awesome!"

"There are a little bit too many ponies in town for me to be comfortable there, I kind of like the idea of living in solitude" Star mused "I think that I will just make a house by or in the Everfree forest, probably just beside it because I think it would be a pain in the butt to make a house in there" he said confirming his thoughts

"I guess that we will be neighbors then" Fluttershy said finally speaking up

"Yeah, that's right, I forgot you lived outside the forest" Star said in realization

"It's about time that I should head back I need to go take care of Angel and the other animals" Fluttershy said as she flew away

"I need to head back to Sugarcube Corner because I still haven't made my apology cake to Star yet" Pinkie Pie said hopping off

Stars stomach grumbled "I'm going to go down to Sugarcube Corner and get something to eat, I haven't eaten in over a day and I am starving" he said more in realization than as a statement "I will see you later Rainbow" Star said walking off, he turned back and saw Rainbow fly up to the floating cloud castle "So that is her house? That's pretty cool"

He arrived at Sugarcube Corner and walked in to see it was almost empty besides a blue pony with a pink mane. He walked up to the counter and she spoke to him "Hello, I don't think we have met, I'm Mrs. Cake" she said to him while squinting her eyes trying to see his face under his cloak

"Nice to meet you, my name is Midnight Star; I am new in town" he said cheerfully "I was wondering if I could order four cupcakes"

"Alright, that will be six bits please" she said pleasantly while walking into the kitchen to get some cupcakes

Star took out the pouch that Davenport had sent him, took out six bits and placed them on the counter. A few moments later Mrs. Cake reemerged from the kitchen with a plateful of 4 cupcakes and set them down on the counter for Star "Thank you for your business" Mrs. Cake said taking the bits he had set down and put them away

"Thank you for the cupcakes" Star said taking the plate of cupcakes over to a table in the corner of the room and devoured them all as quickly as he had sat down "these cupcakes are REALLY good" he thought wishing he had more

He decided that he wanted to get a few tools and supplies to help him build his home. He walked through Ponyville until he came upon a hardware store. He walked inside the warehouse like building and started to browse through the tools and equipment. Picking out a power drill, some screws, and some lumber, he thought he might need more stuff but he just wanted to start up the base for his home for now.

He took all of this on a cart and brought it up to the counter to pay for it. At the counter he saw a colt wearing a hardhat and an orange vest, after checking what Star had in the cart he said "That will be one hundred and twenty bits please"

Star took out the pouch full of bits, counted out the appropriate amount and hoofed them to the pony wearing the hardhat "Thanks" Star said "I will bring the cart back after I drop everything off, but until then keep my pouch of bits until I get back, so that you know that I will come back" Star said putting the bag on the counter

"Alright" was the other pony's only response

After walking down to the edge of the Everfree forest he dropped off the supplies and brought back the cart true to his word, grabbed the pouch and headed back to where he set down everything. Before he could start working he decided that he should tell Zecora that he was going to be moving in right next door so he headed into the forest.

He soon came upon the small hut and walked in to see Zecora once again working on some type of herb

"Hello Zecora" he said closing the door behind him

"Hello Star how are you? Would you like some of this brew?" she said indicating towards a cauldron full of soup

"No thank you I just ate, I just came by to tell you that I am going to be your new neighbor. I am going to be building myself a house just outside of the forest" he said happily

"We will be neighbors that will be nice, but building it yourself are you sure it will suffice? " she asked

"I don't really know yet, but I hope it will turn out well" he said happily "I haven't seen you in a while has anything interesting happened while I have been gone?"

"Well that is nice to know, but in things interesting I have nothing to show" she said

They chatted for another hour or so before Star decided to leave, he headed out the door to get started on his home before the day ended.

He started by making a base for the house, a large square to outline it. After 4 hours of screwing wood together, trying to get the measurements perfect and a few mishaps when he had screwed his cloak into the wood, he finally had the base for both the floor and the walls.

The sun had set an hour before so he decided it was time to get a good night's rest, he found a comfortable place to lay down and as he was about to fall asleep he heard someone shouting something in the distance. He got up and went to inspect it only to find Twilight wandering around in the dark shouting "Star! Are you there! I have to talk to you about something!"

Walking over to her he said "Right here Twilight, what do you want to talk about?"

"I found something out about Starswirl the bearded!" she said happily

"What did you find out?" Star asked

"Actually I found out two things, first I found out that Starswirl had a hidden library in a cave hidden in a forest" she said excitedly "Secondly, apparently Starswirl had an apprentice"

After hearing that something clicked in Stars head "Um, Twilight? Can we talk about this tomorrow? I really need to think about something" he said in a worried tone

"Sure, but I will be here first thing tomorrow to discuss it with you" said an impatient Twilight

"Goodnight, Twilight" he said walking back to where he had been lying down

"Goodnight Star" she said walking back to Ponyville

Star was left alone to think about this new development when he finally came to terms with it "I may or may not be Starswirl the bearded's apprentice" he thought to himself. Star thought about the subject for a few more minutes before exhaustion overcame him and he fell asleep.

Ch 11: The First Clue

It had been a week since that night, Twilight hadn't come to see him yet and he still wanted to know how she had figured that out about Starswirl the bearded. He may have wanted to, but he couldn't between working on his house and waiting for somepony to come in and pick up a sofa from Quills and Sofas he hadn't really had time to see Twilight. Well, it isn't as much that he hadn't had time to; it is that he didn't want to confront the matter of what had been revealed that night.

Nothing really interesting had happened that week, except the fact that Star was nearly done with his house, the house it's self was done. It wasn't a very large house; it had two rooms, a main room and his bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. To say the house was completely done would be an overstatement, all that was done was the main mechanics for the house, like the outlining of the rooms, the floor was built and in place, and it had a roof and walls.

Strangely enough, he never asked anypony about what he was doing except when he asked the hardware store clerk how to use the drill, for some reason he knew basically how to put the house together. He still had to put up an actual wall instead of the wood that was being used as a wall right now, and then he had to actually decorate the house and put in furniture of sorts. But that would have to wait because he wasn't paid until Friday of each week, and that brings us to where he was currently.

Star was sitting in Quills and Sofas playing a game that Davenport had showed him how to play when he had come in to sell some quills a few days before, Solitaire. He may not have been good at it but it kept him occupied while he waited. He had been waiting for somepony to come in and pick up a sofa for about 2 hours and he was starting to get bored of Solitaire.

Eventually a green unicorn walked into the door and asked "Excuse me, is mister Davenport here?"

The mare had a light green coat with a light blue mane "No, I am working for him though, I am actually waiting for somepony to come in and buy a sofa"

"I guess that would be me" the green pony answered with a shrug

"That's good, I have been here for two hours playing Solitaire" Star said relieved

"That sounds tedious" was all she responded before walking over to the sofas and inspecting them

"It is, so any sofa in particular that you were looking to buy?" he asked walking over to her

The sofa she pointed at was a decently large sofa that was blue-green in coloring "I think that one looks nice, how much is it?"

Walking over to check the price he announced "It is three hundred and fifty bits"

Her eyes widened "Really? I thought it would be around four hundred and fifty or five hundred!"

"Nope, only three hundred and fifty, would you like to keep looking or do you want this one?" he asked with a raised eyebrow

"I want this one" she said walking over to the sofa "And to think that Bon-Bon thought that this sofa would be around seven hundred bits! That's ridiculous!"

"Sofas aren't really as expensive as that, I think that the most expensive sofa in here is about four hundred and twenty" Star answered thinking of the prices he had seen on them

"That's good to know" she said taking out a pouch and counting out the bits "Here you go, three hundred and fifty bits" she put them in a bag that Star was holding out to her so that she didn't have to just leave him the pouch like a few ponies before her had done

"Do you need any help taking out the sofa?" Star offered

"Oh yeah, I didn't really think about getting it back home, I would appreciate it" she said in realization

"Do you have a cart outside to carry it?" Star asked

"…no" she said facehoofing "I really didn't think this through"

"It's alright, I will just bring the cart that Davenport uses for deliveries around from the back and I will help you load it into that" he said walking towards the door

After pulling the cart around to the front door he walked inside to see the mare in the exact spot she was in when he walked out "Alright, let's get moving it"

"Okay" she said simply

They both walked over towards the sofa and pushed it to the cart, and then they awkwardly lifted it into the cart. As they walked they made small talk and he found out that her name was Lyra, and that she spent almost every day with her friend Bon-Bon in the park. They finally arrived at her home which was just a few houses away from Sugarcube Corner.

After about 20 minutes of trying they finally succeeded in getting the sofa into Lyra's house "Thanks for the help Star" she said happily

"You're welcome, I will see you another time" Star said walking out the door

He eventually made his way back to Quills and Sofas with the cart; he put away the cart and locked up for the night. As he was walking back to his makeshift house he was run into by an obliviously bouncing Pinkie Pie causing them both to tumble to the ground.

"Oh, hey Star!" Pinkie exclaimed as she got off of him "You were just the pony I was looking for!"

"Why were you looking for me?" Star questioned

"Well, I have tried to make you that apology cake at least a HUNDRED times now, but whenever I am about to bring it to you, I take a taste, and then another, and then it is gone and I have to bake another one. So I decided that if you were there when I bake it that I wouldn't eat it all" Pinkie said grabbing Stars hoof and dragging him towards Sugarcube Corner.

When they arrived Pinkie quickly dragged him into the kitchen and began baking immediately. Star watched as Pinkie went around the kitchen in a blur adding and mixing ingredients then finally putting the pan into the oven "So Star what have you been up to?" Pinkie asked setting a timer on the oven

"I have been working on building a house. What has happened with you since I last saw you?" Star asked back

"Nothing really interesting, except a few days ago Twilight had a mental breakdown when she couldn't figure anything out to write down for her weekly friendship report to the princess so she put a spell on her old Smarty Pants doll that would make everypony want it and the princess had to come and save the day! Now we all send her friendship reports whenever we learn something about friendship" Pinkie explained in one breath

"Twilight had a mental breakdown? I really wish I hadn't decided to spend all of my time working on the house now" Star said enviously "That would have been hilarious!"

"It was more creepy than funny" Pinkie said simply

Suddenly Pinkies eyes widened as if she remembered something then she ran out of the kitchen then came back in with some sort of stereo. Before Star could say anything Pinkie pressed a button on the stereo and music started to play. She took Stars hoof and she dragged him through a dance as dramatic music played in the background.

When the song ended Pinkie twirled Star and bowed him down backwards before letting him go "What was that?" Star asked quizzically

"That was a tango! Remember, I said I was going to teach you how to dance the next time we spent time together?" she asked

"That was a strange dance though" was Stars only response

A few seconds later the timer buzzed and Pinkie rushed over and took the cake out of the oven then proceeded to put frosting over it. When she was finished with the cake it looked delicious, it was a vanilla white cake with pink and blue frosting with the words "Apology Cake" written on it.

Star sat down and took a bite out of it "This cake is amazing!" Star exclaimed while eating the rest of his slice of cake in nearly one bite "You are an amazing cook!" Star said gratefully before grabbing another piece of the cake and eating it. In the end of it both he and Pinkie had consumed half of the cake each, while Star laid on the ground rubbing at his stomach, Pinkie seemed completely unaffected by eating that much cake.

For the next few hours Pinkie taught Star how to bake a cupcake, which most of the time didn't end well and once resulted in a small fire, but eventually he made a half decent cupcake that didn't look as if it were about to burst into flames "I guess that my specialty isn't cooking" he said in mock disappointment

"Don't worry, your cupcakes only caught on fire most of the time not all of it" Pinkie said playing along

They both shared a laugh before Star decided that it was time that he left "It was nice spending time with you Pinkie, but I better head out"

Just as he was leaving he bumped into Twilight at the door "I really need to start watching where I'm going" Star thought while getting up "Sorry for running into you Twilight"

"It's alright, actually I came here looking for you. I went to your house that is still under construction, Fluttershy's cottage, Zecora's hut, and Rainbow Dash's castle before I finally decided to check here" Twilight listed

"What did you want me for" Star asked experiencing Déjà vu from earlier that day

"I never got to talk to you about Starswirl the bearded, you said you realized something and you would tell me about it the next day, but I was busy up until now" Twilight explained

"Oh, right, that" Star said in a disappointed tone

"What's wrong? You seem as though you don't want to talk about it" Twilight said a little concerned

"No, it is alright, let's head back to the library and you can show me how you found out about Starswirl the bearded and I will tell you what I realized" he said walking out the door

Star didn't want to be in public when he said this, he didn't like thinking about this subject too much but he would have to confront it eventually. They soon arrived at the library and Twilight walked over to some books that had been left on the ground and motioned Star over to her.

"I found this book in the Royal library about Starswirl the bearded, it chronicles his life and tells of his achievements. It also mentions that he had an apprentice, that everpony already knows about, but in one of his entries he mentions something about BOTH his apprentices. I figured out that he had a secret library somewhere around here because I found a note shoved into the book that you gave me that says, "Meet me in front of the cave to the library" and it is signed by S.S. the B which was Starswirl the bearded's signature, I figured out that it was somewhere around here because he lived in a time when the castle in the Everfree forest was once inhabited by ponies" Twilight finished pleased "Now, what did you conclude that is bothering you so much?"

"Twilight, I am not one hundred percent sure about this but, I think that I may have been Starswirl the bearded's apprentice" Star admitted reluctantly

Twilight chuckled "That isn't possible, because Starswirl the bearded lived over a thousand years ago and you live right now"

"I have been having occasional flashbacks about a few things in my past, one of them was a pony telling me that I was going to be his apprentice, and that he was going to teach me in his library. Also I have seen the castle surrounded by a forest that I suspect was the Everfree forest before something happened to it, also I have seen the cave entrance more than once in my flashbacks, also that note falling out of the book further confirms it" Star said finally getting his thoughts out of his mind

"That isn't possible! A pony can only live so long, not for over a thousand years! You would have had to have been put in stasis or magically imprisoned by something like-"

"Discord" Star finished her train of thought

She suddenly stared at him like he was a diamond "You were Starswirl the bearded's apprentice! I could learn so much from you! You could help decode his works and get back all of his lost work too!" she said excitedly

"But, I still don't know who I am and what happened to me" Star said killing her mood

She slumped down but then perked up again "You could still identify the cave if you saw it! We could go looking in the Everfree forest for it until we find it! It might help you remember your past!" Twilight said once again really excited by the thought of all that lost knowledge in one place

"I'll tell you what, we can go looking for it tomorrow and we will see if we can find it, until then I am going to go home and get some sleep" he said looking out the window at the now dark sky

"I will be over first thing in the morning, and don't think I will get distracted for a week this time!" she said defiantly as he left

Star went back to his home to see that there was a pouch with a note pinned to it, he picked it up and read the note.

Here is your pay for the week, the 120 that you earned and the extra 85 you earned from selling that sofa, see you next week

Davenport

Star set the bag aside and walked over to a comfortable spot in the grass and lay down to sleep. He had taken a liking to sleeping outside it was peaceful, he liked the nice cool night air and how peaceful it was.

Star woke the next morning to being nudged in the side by something, he slowly opened his eyes to see Twilight, along with Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and an almost asleep looking Rainbow Dash.

"What time is it?" was all that Star asked

"It is about eight in the morning" Twilight responded

"Too early to be awake" Star responded

"I think so too" Rainbow Dash agreed

"Why are you all here this early?" Star asked

"I told you, first thing in the morning, also I brought everypony else along to help the search" Twilight explained

"I forgot to explain that I am the only one who can actually find the cave" Star said remembering his amulet and his flashback

"What do you mean by that?" Rainbow asked competitively, now looking more awake than before

"It is hidden from sight and it deceives anyone who finds it, there is a dead end at the end of the cave that only I can open" Star said answered with a yawn

"Why are you the only one who can open it?" Twilight questioned

"This," he said while taking the amulet off from around his neck "is the key that opens the dead end" Star explained

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?" she asked

"I didn't think it was relevant" Star said simply

"This is relevant to everything in your past!" Twilight exclaimed

"Which I didn't know until last night" Star answered

"Do you know where the cave is?" Twilight said finally giving in

"Well….." Star hesitated "yes, and no"

"Is it yes or no because if it is both then it is maybe" Pinkie interjected

"No, maybe means it could or couldn't be" Twilight explained "now, what do you mean yes and no?"

"I know where it is from the castle that I saw in my flashbacks, I don't know where this castle is though"

"There was a castle in the forest?" Rainbow Dash asked "I have flown over the forest a lot of times but I have never seen a castle"

"I guess we will have to look for one then, won't we?" Star answered walking towards the forest

"Now wait just one second" Applejack stopped them "that forest's pretty big, how're we gonna find anythin in a forest like that?"

"We don't have any way to find it" Star answered "unless we look we won't find it, if any of you don't want to look for it, you can leave. I don't want to feel like you are helping because you feel obligated to help me" he said looking at the group of ponies

"We don't feel obligated, well I don't, but I feel that we should help you because we are your friends" Rarity responded

"Friends? I have never considered them as friends, or at least I never thought that they considered me their friends" "Friends?" Star said repeating his thoughts out loud

"Why, of course dear, what would make you think otherwise?" Rarity questioned

"I just thought that you girls were pitying me because I was some helpless pony who had no idea who he was or where he came from" Star said honestly

"Why in Equestria would you think that we would pity you?" Twilight responded "We haven't really helped you in any way, you have taken care of yourself and you haven't even needed any help to get along. You were dropped into someplace you didn't know where was and you didn't remember anything, and the first thing you did when you were able to move was go out, look for clues as to who you were, get a job, and begin making a home"

"You make me sound a lot more intuitive, brave and awesome than I really am" Star said thankful that nopony could see the blush he felt on his face "besides, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if it weren't for all of you. You have all been kind to me and you don't even know who I am or what I look like. So I just wanted to say thank you all."

"As much as I enjoy the ego stroking" Rainbow intruded "I think that the sooner that we start looking the sooner we will find the castle"

"You are right, let's get going" Twilight said walking towards the Everfree forest

They walked in silence for a while, staying to the path so that they didn't find anything that they would regret finding. "If there is going to be a castle anywhere, we have to stay along the paths, look for really old trails leading from this one" Twilight explained

They had been walking along the path for 2 hours and they had only found a few stray paths, gone around a steep cliff, walked through a stream, and walked across a bridge until they came upon what looked like the remnants of an old castle "Isn't that…" Rainbow asked leaving the question hanging

"Yes it is" Twilight answered

"Isn't it what?" Star asked

"Ah didn't think ah'd ever come back here" Applejack said

"I really hoped I would never have to come back here" Fluttershy said in a near whisper

"This place still gives me the creeps!" Pinkie said in a happier tone than the other ponies

"Will somepony tell me what this is?" Star said getting impatient

"This is the castle where we discovered the elements of harmony and defeated Nightmare moon. Nightmare moon was really Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's sister, who was overcome by jealousy of how ponies loved the daytime more than the nighttime so something inside her manifested itself into Nighmare moon. Princess Celestia didn't want to slay the monster because she would also be slaying her sister, so she used the elements of harmony to banish her to the moon for one thousand years. When she finally made her return we had to make our way here through her trials and use the elements of harmony to cleanse Princess Luna of that monster" Twilight explained

"This place seems…. familiar somehow" Star said walking towards the ruins

The inside of the ruins looked just like the outside, destroyed beyond repair. Walking through the hallway reminded him of the hallway in his flashback "This is the same castle, I remember the doors and this hallway" Star said walking back to the door "we will explore the castle another time, let's go see if the cave is still there"

They all followed Star along a path that they couldn't see until they were on it. The trees along the path were so narrow that they had to walk single-file the whole way. They finally came into a clearing, on the other end of the clearing there was a wall of rocks "I don't see a cave here" Rainbow pointed out

"Of course not" Star said "you are looking at it the wrong way" he walked over to the rock wall and disappeared behind one of the larger rocks "are you coming or not?"

They followed just to see that there was a large rock covering the entrance from being seen. On the inside the cave was smooth and unnatural as if somepony had carved it out. The top of the cavern was about 20 feet up and it was completely dark inside.

"Star? Where are you? I can't see a thing in this cavern!" Twilight exclaimed

"What do you mean? I can see perfectly fine" Star said looking around the cavern

"How? It is pitch dark in here!" Rainbow exclaimed

"I don't know what you are all talking about, I can see everything perfectly fine" Star repeated

"Maybe you can see in the dark?" Fluttershy suggested just outside the cave

"What are you doing out there Fluttershy?" Star asked

"Oh, ummm, it is dark and scary in there, I will just wait out here" she said quietly

"It's fine darling, just come in" Rarity said "it is surprisingly clean in here, the floor seems polished"

"o-o-okay" Fluttershy stammered before joining them in the cavern-room

"Here" Twilight said making her horn shine bright purple "Now we can all see"

"Alright, I see the dead end, now how do we get past it?" Twilight asked

"Ah could try ta buck it down" Applejack suggested

"The only way past is with the amulet" Star answered

"Now or never" Star thought taking amulet from around his neck and holing it above his head.

Suddenly the amulet began shining bright green.

Ch 12: Hard Labor

Nothing happened. They waited for minutes and still nothing happened. The amulet still glowed very brightly but nothing was happening "Maybe it's broken" Pinkie suggested

"No, I'm just doing it wrong" Star said stubbornly

"Just move you stupid rock!" he mentally shouted

Suddenly the rock slid out of place and revealed a door that was just as wide and tall as the cavern itself. Star walked towards the door and pushed, but it didn't budge, he pushed harder, and it still didn't budge "I can't open it" Star announced

"I will open it" Twilight announced as her horn shined bright purple

It was a very strange sight, the door got surrounded by the purple aura of Twilights horn but it just kind of, slipped off of the door. It was literally slipping off of the door like somepony slipping in some mud. It literally couldn't get a hold of the door.

Frustrated Twilight condensed her magic and sent it flying in a clumpy shape of a rock at the door. It just bounced off of the door "What is wrong with this door!" she shouted running at the door hitting it and landing on Star

"Let me try, ah'll get it open" Applejack said walking over to the door. She turned her tail to the door reared her legs and bucked at the door, but it sent her flying onto Star

"Alright, let me try" Rainbow said flying out the cave entrance

She got as far away as possible then flew back into the cave entrance and right into the door but she bounced off and landed on Star also

"I know!" Pinkie yelled as she popped out of nowhere wearing a yellow hardhat with safety goggles, she was carrying a jack hammer which she put against the door and started to hit it but she also landed on Star

"Please stop hitting the door! It's just going to keep punishing me for you girls hitting it!" he said under the four ponies "now will you please get off of me, the door isn't going to move"

"Stupid door! If you weren't protected by magic I would chop you into firewood!" Rainbow yelled shaking her hoof furiously at the door

"At least we know where the door is" Star said sighing "let's head back to Ponyville"

They left the cave and followed the trail back from where they came from. "Star? I was just wondering, why it bothers you so much that you were Starswirl the bearded's apprentice?" Twilight asked

"It isn't that I am his apprentice that bothers me" Star said trying to drop the matter

"Then what bothered you so much? You can tell us we are your friends" Twilight persisted

"Friends. I am still not used to that word" Star thought "*sigh* alright I will tell you why it bothers me so much. Do you know how long ago Starswirl the bearded lived?"

"Over a thousand years ago, why" Twilight answered

"That means that I lived over a thousand years ago too, correct?" Star asked

"Yes, where are you going with this?" Twilight asked

He hesitated "That means that all of my friends and family, my life itself, is gone" Star said in a depressed tone "My entire life before now was taken from me by something for some reason and I can only assume it was because of Discord"

"That is horrible!" Fluttershy interrupted "I am so sorry for you"

"THAT is why I avoided you all for a week, because I didn't want to have to think about THAT again" Star said not turning back to look at any of them "and don't feel bad about it, it wasn't any of your faults and there was nothing any of you could have done about it

Star didn't talk anymore after that, mostly because the other six ponies were staying a little farther away than usual and whispering, occasionally gesturing towards Star. When they finally got to the edge of the Everfree forest where Stars house was he turned to them "Thank you all for helping me look for that, I will try to find a way to open it"

Star started to walk towards his house before he was stopped "Star, wait" Twilight said walking forward "I just want you to know that if you need any help for anything don't be afraid to ask us" she put her hoof on his shoulder "I will be trying to find a way to open that door so don't worry I will find something, drop by later and we can talk more about it"

Twilight walked away before he was approached by Applejack "Why don't ya stop by Sweet Apple acres sometime, ah could use an extra pair a hooves since Macintosh's accident" she then walked away

Rainbow Dash followed suite "We need to hang some time, I still need to show you all of my awesome tricks!" she said bolting into the air

He was then was approached by Pinkie Pie "Come by next time you need a treat, want another dance lesson or need help with a party!"

Fluttershy slowly trotted over to Star and her face turning bright red she hugged him "If you ever need to talk to me about any problems, just come by, that is if you would want to…." Fluttershy quickly let go and hurried on her way back to her cottage

Lastly Rarity approached him "Feel free to drop by Carousel Boutique any time, make it sometime soon, I have something I need to discuss with you"

Star was left speechless "What was that all about?" he shook his head "these ponies are very strange" then a smile grew on his face “Though that isn’t such a bad thing”

They had been searching for some hours so the sun was a little past the top of the sky. Star decided that he was going to spend the rest of the day working on his house.

After a trip to the hardware store and lots of reinforcing he had finally built up the walls of his room, the bathroom, and half of the kitchen. He would have finished the kitchen or more but he was tired of the tedious work and it was late so he gave up and decided to get some sleep because he hadn't had much sleep the night before.

The next day he woke a little after the sun had risen. He lay in the grass and enjoyed the peace of almost nopony being awake.

He decided that for today he was going to go to Sweet Apple acres and help Applejack because he had nothing productive planned that day.

After asking a few ponies in town he found out that Sweet Apple acres was just outside of town. Walking the direction that he had been pointed he soon found himself at Sweet Apple acres. The farm was enormous; it had acres upon acres of trees "How many ponies do they have working on these fields?"

He approached the small house just past the gates and saw Applejack walking out of the building "Hey Applejack! I came because you said you could use an extra hoof!"

"Ah didn't think anypony woke as early as ah did!" Applejack said in surprise

"I went to bed early last night, it was an emotionally tiring day" Star admitted

"Alright then, let's get started. Ah will show ya the ropes of apple buckin" Applejack motioned for him to follow as she walked towards a cart filled with buckets "we pull this out into the group of trees we're buckin an we catch the apples in the buckets" she explained "usually ah wait an have Macintosh help me pull this thing, but you're here so go ahead an hitch yerself onto it"

They pulled the cart into the trees until they came upon some trees with apples in them "Alright, first ya have ta walk over to the tree ya plan on buckin" she walked over to one of the trees and set a few buckets around the tree "then ya turn yer back on it" she once again followed her own instructions "then ya rear up yer legs and kick at the tree, but don't try too hard or ya will throw out yer legs" she said bucking the tree. With a satisfactory shake the tree dropped all of its contents into the buckets

"Wow! You have really strong legs!" Star exclaimed

"Well, Ah've been doin this since ah was just a little filly" Applejack explained "now you try"

Following in her example Star walked over to a tree, put down some buckets just as she had, turned his back on the tree, reared his legs and bucked. A few apples fell into the buckets but not near as many as had fallen into Applejacks buckets "I guess that my legs are still weak from misuse" Star guessed "I haven't really worked them out since I regained use of them"

"Well then, ya will just have ta work on the farm with me some more an git some muscle on them chicken legs!" Applejack said jokingly

"Hey! I don't have chicken legs! You can't even tell, you can't see my legs" Star said defiantly

"Sure," Applejack rolled her eyes "why don't ya start off on just pullin the cart and carrying the buckets 'till ya can buck more than a few apples outta the trees"

For the next few hours Applejack and Star worked on the trees until Star was sweaty and exhausted and Applejack had barely broken a sweat "Alright now, that's enough fer yer first day, let's get this last cart full to the farm"

The entire time Star had not once complained and it made Applejack curious "Ya haven't said anythin 'bout how exhausted ya are, ah can't tell from lookin at ya 'cause of that cloak, are ya exhausted or do ya have more endurance than ah pegged ya?"

Star looked over at Applejack "I am as exhausted as I can ever remember being" he said simply

"How exhausted’s that?" Applejack said taking the bait

"So exhausted that if I stop moving my legs I don't think they will ever move again, ever" Star said jokingly

Applejack laughed at this "Why don't ya come in for a glass of apple juice and some apples? It's the least ah owe ya fer yer help"

"That sounds nice" Star admitted

They walked into the house and saw Applebloom and Big Macintosh sitting down and eating at the table in the kitchen

"Howdy Star, ah was wonderin who was helpin Applejack this mornin" Macintosh commented

"Hello mister Star" Applebloom chimed in before continuing to devour an apple strudel

"I came over because you are too strong for your own good and Applejack still needs help around the orchard" Star joked

This earned him an annoyed look from two out of the three apples in the room

"Ah am not too strong for mah own good!" Macintosh said defiantly

"Ah didn't NEED yer help, it was just appreciated!" Applejack also said in a defiant tone

"If you say so" Star said not giving them a reaction and only making them feel more defensive

"Alright, heres yer apple juice" Applejack said handing him a glass of apple juice and two apples

Star took them gratefully swallowed both the apples whole and drank the apple juice in one gulp "Ya seem like ya haven't had anythin ta drink or eat in years" Macintosh commented

"I was just exhausted because I haven't been working out my muscles since I regained use of them" Star answered

"What do ya mean since you regained use of 'em?" Applebloom asked

"I was injured and staying with Zecora, remember?" Star asked her

"Oh yeah" she said in realization before turning to Applejack "can ah go out and play with mah friends?"

"Sure Applebloom" Applejack responded

"We are going to get our ventriloquist Cutiemarks today!" she exclaimed running out the door

"Those kids an their adventures" Applejack commented shaking her head

"This was nice Applejack, but I am going to get going now, I will see you later!" Star said waving and leaving the apple residence

Star left thinking of something to do that day and eventually decided that he was going to try and decode the book, he had an idea.

As he walked through town almost every pony he passed by gave him an excited look, a wave and a smile. Walking farther into town he saw that a lot of ponies were decorating the buildings in darker colors, bats, ghosts, and dark shapes of a pony "What is all this?" he thought scrunching his eyebrows

He soon arrived at the library to see Twilight, true to her word, buried in a pile of books and reading furiously, she didn't even notice Spike let Star into the library "Hey Spike, long time no see. I haven't seen you in about a week, besides Twilight's mental breakdown, what is new?" Star asked

"Nothing really, besides that tomorrow is Nightmare night!" he said excitedly

"What is that?" Star questioned

"It is something that ponies celebrate to commemorate the day that Nightmare moon was banished to the moon, even though it is a few weeks off, it is still fun to go around and get candy from ponies" Spike explained "the whole point of Nightmare night is to have fun, scare ponies, and dress up as some sort of creature for free candy"

"As fun as that sounds, I think I will not be attending this event" Star answered

"Why not? It's fun" Spike said temptingly

"No thank you, I dress up every day so that I don't look like a monster, I'm not going to stop for free candy" Star said half jokingly

Spike simply gave him a questioning look before dropping the matter "Alright then"

"So Twilight, I just came by to pick up the book" Star said walking towards the pile of books

"Oh, yeah here it is" Twilight levitated it to Star without looking up from her book

"Alright I guess I will see you later" Star acknowledged that she would prefer to keep reading than have company

Walking back through town he saw that the ponies were still decorating and still every pony he passed by looked at him excitedly and waved at him with a smile "What is wrong with these ponies? Did I do something wrong?" he decided to ask one of his "friends" later "I'm still not used to that word" he thought shaking his head

He soon arrived at his home, where he sat down to read the book when he realized that he hadn't finished the kitchen wall. He set down the book and spent the next hour working on and finishing the kitchen wall. After finishing that he still had to work on the main room. He spent another hour putting what was left of the wood until he had run out.

He was about to go out and spend the last of his bits on some more wood when Derpy flew over to him "I have another letter for you Mister Star"

"Thank you Derpy" he said to her as she flew off

Star opened the letter to see his almost weekly letter from Davenport

Hey kid, orders for this week are a delivery of quills for Ms. Cherilee, Twilight Sparkle and the big yearly delivery to Barnyard Bargains today. If there is no trouble with the Barnyard bargains deal then I will give you 10% of what we make on it. Also, don't worry about Twilight or Cherilee paying for their quills, I already have a deal worked out with Princess Celestia to pay for Twilight and the town pays for Cherilees quills. Then either today or tomorrow a pony named Junebug is coming by to buy a sofa so you get a short week this week unless something else comes up

Davenport

"Guess I will have to wait to get working on the main room" Star said to himself leaving and forgetting completely about the book

As soon as he arrived at the store there was a pony waiting around with two carts "Hey, what took ya so long?" he asked, he was a tan pony with a brown mane.

"I just got the note, I guess you are here to help with the delivery to Barnyard Bargains?" Star asked holding out his hoof "my name is Midnight Star, but you can just call me Star"

"That's why I'm here" the brown pony confirmed taking Star's hoof and shaking it "my name is Caramel"

"Give me one second and I will start loading up the quills" Star said opening the door

He walked into the store and into the back room to the room he once thought was full of empty crates but later learned that they were full of quills, 1,000 quills per crate to be exact, Barnyard bargains had ordered 8 crates. How ponies went through that many quills he would never know.

With the help of Caramel, he eventually loaded the crates up 4 to each cart "How do ponies use this many quills?" Caramel asked incredulously

"I have no idea" Star answered with a shrug

They pulled the carts to a part of town Star had never been to, this part of town appeared to be a market because it was full of stores.

They walked until they came upon a store that was larger than all of the rest and it said in bold letters at the top "BARNYARD BARGAINS" "I guess this is the place" Star commented

"Yep, let's take these around back to the loading dock" Caramel said walking around the store

At the back of the store there was a large wooden door that he assumed was where they were taking the crates of quills.

Standing right in front of the door was a light brown pony with a black mane "There you are, it took you ponies long enough" he commented

"I came as soon as I got the letter, sorry for the delay" Star apologized holding his hoof out "I'm Midnight Star, pleasure to meet you"

Staring at it for a second before taking it the light brown pony responded "I'm Filthy Rich, pleasure to meet you"

"So, what should we do with these quills?" Star questioned

"Just put them in the storage room" he said gesturing to the door behind him

"Alright" Star said pulling the cart over to the door

It took him and Caramel 10 minutes to unload the crates. When they were finished Filthy Rich walked over to Star with a huge pouch "Here you are"

"How many bits are in this?" Star asked in surprise

"Four thousand bits" Filthy Rich said proudly

"How do you make a profit then?" Star asked

"I get the two quills for one bit and I bought eight thousand quills. Then I sell them in my store for one bit per quill" he explained

"That is pretty smart" Star admitted

"Thanks" Filthy rich said proudly "now Caramel, get to work on refilling the quills in the store"

"Alright, it was nice meeting you Star" he said walking inside the store

"It was nice meeting you both, but I have more deliveries to take care of so goodbye" Star said leaving

When he arrived back at the store he started counting out 100 quills for both Cherilee and Twilight each. When he finished he put the quills for Twilight in a box labeled "100 quills!" and did the same for Cherilee's

He then walked to the library and gave the box of quills to Twilight "I needed these, I just used my last one a few hours ago" she said

Then Star went to the school and delivered the other hundred quills to Cherilee then walked back to the shop to find that it was time for him to close down the shop, so he locked the door and went on his way.

He soon arrived at his home, exhausted and spent from his day of labor. He lay down to sleep in his newly bought bed, but he couldn't sleep. His mind kept wandering back to the book so he decided to test his theory on how to translate the book.

He walked over to the book and looked down at it again still not understanding what it said. He brought out the amulet, he didn't know what he expected but he held the amulet above the book and suddenly it shined bright green just as it had when he opened the entrance.

He stared at the cover of the book and it's strange symbols and thought "Amulet, you worked once so far, so translate this book!" and surprisingly enough the strange symbols started to change into readable words. The cover read "The Spell Test Book" and at the bottom it read "Written in experience by Starswirl and apprentice"

Star opened the book and began to read.

Ch 14: Ruins and Rubble

Star woke the next morning with a massive headache "I ate too many sweets last night" He thought, holding his hoof to his head and running over the events of the night before.

After 5 minutes of convincing himself he finally got out of his bed "We stayed up WAY too late last night!" Star thought in surprise

He walked over to the window to see how late he had slept in, just to see that the sun was still low in the sky "I haven't slept very long, I could go back to sleep…." He thought, the temptation to just turn around and go back to bed was overwhelming "No, I will regret it later when I want to sleep and can't" he resolved

He left and decided to go and get some breakfast from Sugarcube Corner. When he finally arrived there he saw a very happy and surprisingly not very tired looking Pinkie Pie behind the counter "Hey Star! Where have you been all day?" Pinkie asked

"What do you mean all day? It is still pretty early in the morning, I shouldn’t be awake yet though, we stayed up too late last night" Star said with a shake of his head

"I STILL haven't slept yet" Pinkie commented "Because if I did, I would be a real tired pants right now!"

"I know that feeling" Star admitted "Pinkie, I would like to order two blueberry muffins and a coffee"

"Sure! That will be five bits" she said cheerfully

Star reached into his saddlebag and took out his pouch of bits "Here you go" he said putting the bits on the counter

"And here you go" Pinkie said pulling two blueberry muffins out of nowhere and putting them on a plate with a mug of coffee that he hadn't noticed before

"Thank you Pinkie" Star said taking the muffins and the coffee

He soon found a place to sit because most ponies weren’t awake yet. He made short work of the muffins and enjoyed them. Then he slowly drank his coffee and contemplated what he would do with his day "What should I do today?” He thought idly chewing on one of his muffins “I could read up on some more Equestrian history and try to trigger another flashback" he contemplated briefly before shaking his head "No, I can do that later, I don't want to deal with the stress that these revelations bring right now.” He thought for a moment while he finished the last of his second muffin “I could help Applejack around the farm" he decided

Finishing his coffee he went on his way to the farm. When he arrived he saw a familiar rainbow maned pegasus and orange earth pony racing around the orchard, when they came to a stop in front of the farm they started to argue, curious, Star approached the duo.

"Hey girls, what is the problem?" Star asked

"Me and Applejack were having a race, I won and she won't admit it!" Rainbow claimed

"Ah won! Ya just don’t want yer precious pride damaged!" Applejack accused

"My precious pride? What about yours!" Rainbow countered

"Why don't you just race again? I will stand at the finish line and announce the winner" Star proposed

"Sounds fair ta me, as long as Rainbow doesn't use her wings this time" Applejack said huffily

"I don't need to use my wings to beat you!" Rainbow said defiantly

"So, where does the race start and finish?" Star asked ignoring the argument

"It starts and ends right here, we run 'round the apple orchard, first one back wins" Applejack explained

"Alright, here is the starting and finishing line" Star said dragging his hoof on the ground in a straight line in the dirt "Stand behind this line and start when I tell you"

Both Rainbow and Applejack complied "Ready?" he asked and received two nods "GO!" before the words even came out of his mouth they were off like rockets

He watched the race and was amazed by their speed, it was a blur of rainbow side by side with a blur of orange. First the orange was in front, then the rainbow was in front, then the orange, then the rainbow, and it kept up like that until they came into view. They were approaching the finish line extremely fast and Star kept his eyes on the line to see which passed first when the blurs passed the finish line.

Star was quickly approached by the two ponies "Who won" Rainbow demanded

"Yah, tell her how ah won" Applejack bragged

"You didn't win Applejack" Star said simply

"Hah, I knew I would wi-" Rainbow started

"You didn't win either Rainbow" Star interrupted

"WHAT!" they both shouted simultaneously

"You both crossed the starting line before I said go, it was an early start and you were both disqualified" Star explained

"Are you serious! It doesn't matter about being disqualified! We both started at the same time, now who passed the line first!" Rainbow shouted

"It was a tie" Star answered

"WHAT!" they both shouted again

"Yep, it was a tie" Star said simply

"Looks like neither of us win the bet" Rainbow said relieved

"Bet?" Star asked

"If ah won, she was gonna have ta work in the orchards with me today, if she won, ah was gonna have ta admit that she was the superior athlete between us" Applejack explained

"Well looks like neither of you won so the bet is off" Star said with mock disappointment

"For now" Rainbow said competitively

"Ah have ta get ta work on the orchard now, ah will see ya later Dash" Applejack said walking towards the orchards

"Alright, bye Star, bye Applejack" she said flying off in a flash of rainbow

Star caught up to Applejack "I was actually here to help you in the orchards today" Star explained "I have nothing to do today so I decided to do something productive"

"Well yer in luck, we always have work 'round here to do" she said happily

Star and Applejack spent the next few hours getting apples from the trees until eventually Star felt as exhausted as he had the last time he had helped with the apples. It was around noon when they headed back to the barn with the last baskets of apples "So Star, are ya as exhausted as ya were the last time ya helped?" Applejack asked

"Yes" he answered

"Ya really are outta shape" Applejack commented "Ah don't think most ponies would be this exhausted right now"

"I'm not most ponies" Star answered

"Fair enough" Applejack conceded with a shrug

They finally arrived back at the farm where they put away the baskets of apples "Well that was fun" Star said sarcastically

"If ya didn't think so ya wouldn't have come by to help" Applejack pointed out

"I guess so" Star admitted

"Why don't ya come in for some lunch, you've earned it" Applejack offered

"Sounds great" Star said happily

They walked into the apple house to see that nopony was there "Where is everypony?" Star asked

"Macintosh is in town deliverin some apples to ponies, Applebloom is still at school and Granny Smith is asleep right now" Applejack explained

They ate a lunch of apple tarts, apple fritters, and apple pie with a side of apple juice

"That was delicious" Star said rubbing his now full stomach

"There are two things that apples know how to do, that's hard labor, and cookin apples" Applejack said proudly

"Agreed" Star said happily "I better get going, I have to ask Twilight what she has found out from her relentless studying so far"

"I'll see ya later" Applejack said cheerfully

Star took his time walking to the library, he walked slowly and enjoyed the scenery. The lush green hills that he never grew tired of looking at, the blue cloudless sky, and the black smoke floating around from inside the orchard "Wait…… that's not right" Star tilting his head at the scene before bolting towards it in surprise

When he arrived he saw a small tree house that was on fire and three familiar fillies dragging a fire hose. Before he could react water started spraying from the hose whipping the fillies around in the air until they were thrown through the air leaving the fire hose going crazy and the tree house on fire.

Reacting quickly Star ran to the hose and slowly got control of it. He aimed the water blasting from it at the tree house and slowly, put out the fire. He turned the water off and was approached by three fillies "Thank you mister Star! You saved our tree house!" Sweetie belle said happily

"What were you doing anyway?" Star asked curiously

"Well….." Scootaloo said guiltily

"We were tryin to get our Cutiemarks in makin fireworks and that started the fire… then we tried to get our Cutiemarks as fire fighters by stoppin the fire…" Applebloom explained

They all excitedly looked at their flanks then lowered their heads and sighed "and it didn't work" Applebloom finished

"Well, there are about a million more things to try so don't get so down" Star explained "If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a Cutiemark"

"Really? That is so lame, you are way older than us and still don't have a Cutiemark!" Scootaloo commented

"Well then, you will just have to try harder not to end up like I did now won't you?" Star said encouragingly

"I know! We can be Cutiemark motivational speakers!" Sweetie belle chimed in

"Yeah!" Applebloom agreed

"Only if we get to try bungee jumping afterwards" Scootaloo answered

"Okay" Applebloom and Sweetie belle agreed

As they ran off Star started back on his path to the library. He arrived there after a short walk and walked inside to see what he saw almost every time he went to the library, there were books all over on the floor and a purple unicorn in the middle reading one of the many books "Hey Twilight, read anything interesting lately?" Star asked

Twilight looked up from the book she was reading "Nothing really relevant to our situation, I haven't read anything about magic repelling doors or spells" she admitted

"That's alright, I never told you about the multiple teleportation spell did I?" Star asked

"No, I would love to know how it works" Twilight asked hopefully

Star took the book out of his saddlebag "Alright, says here that you have to focus yourself as if you were going to teleport, but don't teleport. Next you put your magic around another pony as if you were going to levitate them, then while your magic is still around them teleport to a spot of your choosing and it should carry the other pony along with you" Star read

"Alright, let me try this" she said wrapping her aura around Star "we will be teleporting outside the library" she announced before the next thing he knew, he and Twilight were outside the library, just as she had said

"Good job Twilight!" Star congratulated her

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before!" she said happily but she sounded a little tired after it

"Let's head back inside" Star suggested holding the door open for her

They walked inside and Twilight went back to her spot in the books

"I have absolutely no idea where to go from here, the door wouldn't open and I have no other leads" Star admitted

"I had an idea, Why don't we go to the castle ruins and look around? I'm sure we might be able to find something that will help us"

"That sounds like a great idea, but I'm going to go alone" Star told her more than asked

"Why? It will be more dangerous with only one pony instead of two or more. In fact, why don't we ask the others if they want to too?" Twilight suggested

"No" Star said flatly "I appreciate the concern, but I really need to do this on my own"

"But you don't have to do this alone, you have friends who will help you" Twilight insisted

"It is fine, I really just need to do this on my own" Star pleaded

"Why? It will be dangerous and you will need somepony there to help you in case you get hurt" Twilight insisted again

"Why are you worrying so much?" Star countered

"I couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of my friends and I wasn't there to help it" she answered with a slightly sad tone

"It will be fine, I will be back later and we will talk about what I find. Alright?" Star asked trying to cheer her up

"Alright" she agreed with a smile

Star set off on his way to the castle ruins "I wonder why she was so concerned about my safety? Is it really that dangerous in the forest?" he wondered as he crossed the bridge and walked to his destination.

Inside the castle ruins were just as he remembered when he had been there with his friends, destroyed beyond repair and desolate of life. He walked along the hallway before he came upon a pedestal that looked as if it had once held something in it, it had 6 empty mini-pedestals on it, he decided that he would ask Twilight about it later.

He walked past this to the end of the hallway and opened a door that led to a familiar but destroyed looking courtyard. He looked around and saw broken wood and stone debris all around covering the walls and blocking off all other doors and entrances besides the one on the exact opposite side of him, the exact door he was looking for.

He opened this door and walked into the hallway that he had run along in his flashback. He searched every door along the way hoping to find the room he had been in when he had left in his flashback. He had searched about 10 rooms and found nothing interesting before he came upon the room that he had left during the flashback, if he was going to find anything useful, this was the best place to search.

The room looked like somepony had lived there at one point. First off, the room was completely intact, there was no sign that it had been unused for over a thousand years besides how dusty it was and all of the cobwebs. The room had a bed, a table with a candle, and a quill with parchment "I wonder who used to live here" He thought to himself while walking over to the parchment and read it

Dear Mother,

I believe that he is actually going to go through with it, you need to talk some sense into him. I have tried over the past few weeks to talk to him and convince him otherwise but he seems dead set on going through with it. Please, I beg you, talk to him, make him think otherwise.

Your son

Star

"Wait a sec. This is signed Star. My actual name is Star? That is oddly coincidental" he thought putting things together, it had to be him who wrote the note, he was trying to convince Starswirl not to do something and in this note he was asking his mother to convince him not to also. So he had to find out what it was that Starswirl was going to go through with.

Searching the rest of the room he found nothing else of interest. He exited the room once more with questions floating all around in his mind "What was Starswirl going to do? Who is my mother? What was my full name?" He shook his head trying to clear it "One step closer two steps back, I answer one question and raise three more" he thought ironically "I better head back to town then, I don't think I will find anything else that is useful here"

He walked out of the room and made his way out of the castle. Upon leaving he saw that he had been in the castle for hours as the sun was starting to set "I better get moving if I want to get back to town before dark" he decided before breaking out into a gallop towards the forest

He eventually made his way into town but it was eerily empty, even for it being night time "Where is everypony?" he thought walking to the library, he had promised Twilight that he would stop by afterwards

He walked into the library and saw that it was empty. Curiously he decided to go and ask Rarity if she knew where Twilight was. When he arrived at Carousel Boutique he found that it too was abandoned, so he decided to go to Sugarcube Corner to see if Pinkie knew where they had gone. When he walked into Sugarcube Corner he saw that it was completely empty besides Pinkie who was carrying a cake, who when seeing Star stopped in place and stared at him "Are you alright Pinkie? What is wrong?" Star asked

She immediately dropped the cake and bolted over to Star, pulling him into a bear hug "You are okay! I was so worried and after what happened to Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow I panicked!" she sobbed

"Wait, what happened to them?" Star asked worried

Pinkie looked at him then pulled him back into her killer bear hug "They went into the forest looking for you after you went exploring in the ruins, but they ran into a pair of Manticores and everything went wrong" Pinkie hesitated "they are all in the hospital, everypony is going to be fine, they only have a few cuts and bruises. We didn't know what happened to you, we thought you might have been hurt, or injured, or worse" Pinkie said before perking up and letting go of Star "I know! We need to go and tell them that you are okay!" before Star could respond he was dragged off by an excited Pinkie Pie

They arrived at the hospital pretty quickly and he was rushed inside. Inside they saw a waiting type room and a main desk where a nurse sat; she was an earth pony with a white coat and a bright pink mane. "May I help you?" she asked Star and Pinkie

"We are here to see my friends" Pinkie responded

"They are in room thirteen, you can go see them" she told them

Pinkie then rushed him to room thirteen where he saw Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity and Twilight talking quietly to each other and Rainbow complaining to Applejack. Once they saw Star the room went silent "…hi" Star said lowering his head and staring at the ground

They all just stared at him, as if not knowing what to say so Star continued "I am sorry for taking so long at the castle, but why did you come looking for me?" Star asked

"We were worried about you" Fluttershy answered

"Why were you worried about me? I told Twilight where I was going" Star asked

"Because you were gone for 7 hours" Twilight answered

"That's reasonable, but obviously not the main reason, now, why were you so worried" he pressed

"Because the Everfree is dangerous?" Fluttershy threw in confirming Star’s theory of them avoiding the real reason

"Of course it is dangerous, this whole incident is evidence of that, but it isn't if you stay on path and know where to avoid, which I do" Star answered "Now, why were you so worried"

"Why wouldn't we be worried, you're our friend" Applejack threw in

"That is a reason, but judging by Fluttershy's face and you avoiding eye contact with me means that that isn't the main reason" Star pointed out

"Fine!" Rainbow exclaimed "You want to know why we went looking for you? It's because we were worried you would do something stupid!"

"Stupid how?" Star asked still not understanding

"Remember when you were telling us why you were so depressed and that you lost your old life? We thought that you might find out what happened and do something stupid to get yourself hurt, which is why Twilight was so insistent on you having someone go with you, that is why we were all so insistent that you spend time with us after our trip to the Everfree. We didn't want you to do something stupid to yourself like hurt yourself or worse." Rainbow explained

Star stood still, taking in the information, a few moments passed by before he answered "That doesn't explain something"

"What doesn't it explain?" Rainbow asked

"That still doesn't explain why you all care so much about what happens to me, I know that we are friends, but you all seem so concerned about my wellbeing" Star questioned

"That is what friends do" Twilight explained "They worry about each other and help each other when they need help. They are there for each other"

"That only leaves one question, why did you think that I would hurt myself or worse?" Star asked "I have gone this far with how I look and not done anything, nothing short of me actually being Discord will make me hurt myself" he joked

"What do you mean by the way you look? Is it really that horrible?" Rainbow asked

Star let out a sigh "I've put you all through enough trouble, you deserve to know why I wear this cloak" he said as he reached up and took off his hood

Ch 15: Facehoof

Seven audible gasps were heard after he took off his hood. He kept his eyes on the floor for a full minute before anypony spoke up "You're horn….. can it…. can it…..?" Twilight asked awkwardly

"I don't know, I haven't tried. I don't actually know how to do magic, you know, no memories" he said tapping his hoof against the side of his head

"So, when you said "technically a unicorn" you meant….." Twilight said in realization

"Yes" Star confirmed

"Unicorn horns are made of impossibly strong stuff, how could that have possibly happened?" Twilight asked gaining courage

"I don't know, but when I do, you will be the first to find out" Star answered

"You know, it's funny" Pinkie started "We all talked about what we thought you looked like, but none of us guessed that you had a white coat. We all talked as if you were in some horrible accident but this isn't as bad as we all imagined it to be."

"I thought it would be much, much worse" Fluttershy agreed

"Is that really bad enough to make you not want to be seen?" Rainbow asked

"Imagine losing your wings" Star answered

"I take back my question" Rainbow said immediately

Star turned to Rarity then Applejack then Spike "You all have been quite, anything to say?"

"I love the color of your eyes, but there is something about your face that distracts me" Rarity said subtly meaning his scar

"You can just say that my scar is huge, I already know it" Star said

"That would be rude" Rarity said simply

"Ah think that the scar makes ya look tough" Applejack commented

"It isn't that bad dude, I can understand about the horn but the scar makes you look like some kind of hero" Spike admitted

"I doubt I am some kind of hero, I bet I got the scar because I was doing something dumb, like tripping down some stairs or something" Star said killing the complement

They were all silent for about another minute before Star spoke up "Well at least I don't look as bad as all of you imagined me to be, that makes me feel better" Star said flatly none of them knew if he was being sarcastic or serious "Now that you know" he said putting his hood on "I have to get going, I am going to get some sleep, I suggest you do the same"

He left before anypony else could say anything and went straight back to his home where he lay down and thought about his day. On the up side he found out his actual name was Star, so at least he got that right, also he stopped his friends from worrying about him all the time by showing them how he looked and a good explanation. On the down side he caused his friends to get hurt by a Manticore, none of them will look at him the same ever again, and he might have scarred his friends mentally for life by his horrible appearance.

Star sighed, "Every day keeps getting more and more complicated, why can't I just have a normal life or at least know who I am?"

He decided that he was just done for the day and closed his eyes to sleep.

Instead of his usual perfectly fine sleep where he couldn't remember his dream afterwards, this time it was different, he felt like he did when he had a flashback, except nothing triggered this one, it was just sort of happening as he slept.

Star found himself looking at himself, he wasn't wearing a hood over his head, just a cloak as he usually wore and somepony he didn't recognize who was wearing a cloak "I think it's about time I gave you this" the cloaked pony said to Star as he levitated Star a blue box

"What is it?" Star asked

"It is an amulet, this isn't just a normal amulet, you can store power in it to be used later, or you can use it as a magic outlet when your horn fails you" the other pony explained

"This is cool!" Star exclaimed

"Try it on" the other pony prompted

Star watched himself slide the amulet onto his neck, the same amulet that Star currently had around his neck "I love it" Star said gratefully

"You have earned it, besides think of it as a consolation prize for not being able to spend the day with your mother" the other pony condoned

"I haven't seen her for more than an hour at a time in twelve years. I am not surprised that I couldn't spend the day with her" Star said simply

"Well at least you get to spend the day with your dad, so come on let's get going" the other pony said who he now recognized as an older version of his father that he had seen in his childhood flashback

They both walked away and Stars vision started to get hazy before it suddenly shifted to a scene of himself and a pony who was wearing a large pointed hat with bells on it and a cape both of which had a star design, he immediately recognized the pony as Starswirl the bearded without even seeing his face "What do you think of the idea" Starswirl asked Star, the real Star recognized this voice from somewhere but he couldn't put his hoof on it

"I think that it is insane and if you go through with it you will most likely be killed" Star answered somberly

"I would have to disagree, I believe that it would work" Starswirl countered

"How would that possibly work? Even with your level of magic it would be insane!" Star exclaimed

"If you are so against it, then I won't go through with it" Starswirl conceded

"Good, or I would have had to tell Celestia" Star explained

"Ooooooh, I am so scared" Starswirl mocked

"So, what is this new spell you are working on?" Star asked changing subject

"The spell I am working on is going to be an aura transfer spell, or a magic transfer spell. What it does is one unicorn or magic creature can transfer their magic to another magic creature or unicorn" Starswirl explained

"That sounds pretty useful" Star admitted

"Yes it will be, it will be better than last week's attempts at creating a teleportation spell that can be shot" Starswirl said in a mocking voice

"You are just mad because I teleported your sandwich to parts unknown before you could eat it" Star pointed out

"Sure, sure, whatever you say Star" Starswirl said

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and Starswirl went to answer it, he heard Starswirl say "It's your mother" before his vision collapsed and he went crashing back to reality

Star woke with a jolt as he looked around to see what caused him to wake up. Eventually his eyes dropped onto a certain purple unicorn "I couldn't wait until you woke up and I am curious, what did you find when you went into the castle?"

Groaning Star complied "I found a note that I wrote to my mother and I signed it "Star" So that is my actual name, though I doubt it is my full one" Star explained

"Besides that, I was sent here to get you, we are all getting together at Sugarcube corner again to talk about last night" Twilight said gesturing for him to get up

"*sigh* do we really have to talk about my appearance?" Star complained

"Not only that, but what we think might be in the castle, what happened to us during the manticore incident, anything important you have learned besides what you learned at the castle and stuff like that" Twilight explained

"That's right, I still haven't told any of you about most of my flashbacks, I guess we should just get that out of the way" Star admitted

When they walked outside Star saw that it was still early in the morning. It didn't take long before they got to Sugarcube Corner and walked in to see the other five ponies sitting at a table near the end of the room.

They walked over to their friends and took places around the table they were sitting at "Hello everyone" Star said trying not to sound awkward

They each in turn replied to his greeting. After that they all sat in awkwardness, until Twilight decided to talk "Alright, I am going to say it if nopony else is, Star, you are stupid"

"I agree" Star said with no argument

"You are- wait, what?" Twilight looked taken aback

"I agree, I am stupid" Star said simply

"Do you know why I said you are stupid?" Twilight questioned

"No, but there are so many things to choose from, let's see, I got you all hurt by taking too long at the castle, I went to the castle alone, I showed you all what I look like and now everything is awkward, that is just the tip of the iceberg" Star listed

"That isn't why" Twilight stated

"Then why?" Star questioned

"Because you thought we would think you were a monster or something because of your horn and scar" Twilight explained

"I had no idea how any of you would react to it, we may be friends, but I don't know you all very well. I just felt awkward without my hood and I know that people would point and stare at my scar and horn" Star stated

"I guess I can see why you wouldn't want to show us your face, seeing as none of us really know you all too well either" Twilight admitted "but we should change that, if we are going to keep being friends, then we have to get to know each other better"

"We will work on that" Star agreed "Now that that's out of the way, tell me, how did the whole manticore thing happen?"

"Well, after you left I decided to go ask if any of the girls wanted to go with me when I followed you, Applejack and Pinkie couldn't because Applejack was babysitting the crusaders and Pinkie couldn't leave in the middle of her shift. We walked through the path leading to the castle but along the way we thought that we saw a shadow moving in the forest, it looked about the same size as you did so we followed it. Turns out it was a baby manticore and the parents weren't too happy, the mother hit Fluttershy into a tree and Rainbow to the ground. Then when Rarity tried to move those two out of the way it hit her down to the ground by them. I was being approached by both of them so I panicked and used the multiple teleportation spell you taught me and brought us to the hospital" Twilight explained

"Good thing you teleported them out before any lasting damage was done" Star said happily

"Now that we answered your question, what have you learned from your flashbacks?" Twilight asked

"So far, I have learned that I loved astronomy, I had a father who I spent most of my childhood with and a mother who was never around because she had to attend to a lot of important business, I was trying to stop Starswirl from doing something stupid and as I was about to see what it was I was woke by Pinkie the day that you figured out Starswirl's signature and of the party" Pinkie gave everyone a sheepish look "I learned where the cave was and how to open the entrance to the door, I learned that the amulet is used as an outlet for my magic, so I don't have to use my horn, or it can store magic for later use, I was about to see who my mother was before Twilight woke me up" this time it was Twilight who gave a sheepish look

"And how long have ya known all of this?" Applejack asked

"Over the course of how long I have been here" Star explained

"Why haven't you told us about it darling?" Rarity asked

Star shrugged "It didn't seem relevant"

"Is anything relevant to you?" Rainbow countered

"You've got me there" he admitted

"Does your scar still hurt?" Fluttershy asked shyly

"Nope, I never noticed it until I saw it in a mirror" Star explained

"The horn is an extension of a unicorn, it is a big part of who they are, does it still feel like it's there?" Rarity asked

"I don't know what it felt like to have a horn, this feels normal to me" Star answered

Just then a group of mares walked into the store and it raised a question in Stars mind "I would like to know something, where are all of the colts in town? I see a few here and there, but colts only make up about an eighth or a tenth of the towns population, where are they all?"

"I always wondered that but I never asked" Twilight threw in "Where are all of the colts in town?"

"Ponyville is a small, peaceful town. Most colts don't like that and a lot of them move to Manehatten, Fillydelphia, or join the Royal guard" Rarity explained "Those who do stay have a life of their own or enjoy the peacefulness of the town"

"I guess that would make sense that the majority of the only colts in town are children or parents" Star admitted "The only other colts in town that I have met that aren't married or children are Macintosh and Caramel"

"There is only a hoof full more" Rarity pointed out

"Any other questions for me?" Star asked nopony in particular

"What did that letter that I gave you from Luna say?" Twilight asked

Star thought for a moment "I haven't opened it yet" he reached into his saddle bag and found the dark blue letter from the Princess of the Night, he opened it and read it out loud

"Dear Midnight Star

We are writing this using an automatic quill so please forgive any mistakes. We, I mean I, would just like to invite you to Canterlot for a day or more to see if we can figure out anything about your past. We, I mean I, would invite you to stay right now, but w- I have important business to attend to with ou- my sister. Please respond to this letter sometime next week or after that and w- I will send a carriage to bring you here. I would love to help you in any way so do not hesitate to ask us, I mean me, for help.

Your Princess, no that sounds too official, Your Friend, yes that sounds quite nice, Your Friend

Princess Luna"

"As much as I appreciate the offer, I don't think I will until I find out about the whole "Discord" situation, lest they throw me in the dungeon" Star half joked

"She seemed as though she knew who you were before all of this, why don't you just ask her?" Twilight pointed out

"Because, I still don't know if knowing me was a good thing, or a bad one" he pointed out "anypony have any ideas as to what to do now to try and find out my memories? We don't have any more leads"

"Have you figured out any leads towards opening the door?" Fluttershy asked Twilight and Star

"Nope" Twilight admitted

"I haven't really thought about it" Star admitted

The other ponies continued to speak but Star stopped paying attention "How can we get that door open? We tried magic, brute force, and not so brute force, what else is there?" he thought about it for a moment "I used the amulet to open the entrance, why didn't I try it on the door?" Star facehoofed so hard the sound bounced off the walls "I. Never. Once. Thought to try the amulet on the door" Star started to bang his head against the table

"What are you doing?" Twilight asked in concern

"I *thud* am *thud* stupid *thud*" Star said in between his rhythmic head beating

"Why are you stupid now?" Rainbow asked

"I *thud* realized how *thud* to open *thud* the door *thud* to the *thud* library" Star answered

"Will you stop hitting your head against the table before one of them breaks?" Pinkie asked

Star stopped hitting his head against the table "… I never thought to use the amulet to open the door" he said simply and in disappointment

They all in turn facehoofed much the same as he had "and from your reaction I am guessing that you didn't either?" he guessed

They all nodded in response "I guess it's settled then, I am going to go and try to open the door with the amulet, I will see you all when I get back" he announced getting up to leave

"We are coming with you" Twilight demanded

"No" Star said flatly "I don't know what is in there and I don't want to put you girls in any more danger than I already have"

"It will be less dangerous with us there" Twilight insisted

"Fine, let's go" Star conceded before rushing out the door before any of them could even stand

He hurried along his path as fast as he could with only Pinkie, Applejack and Rainbow keeping up with him. They soon arrived at the cave which was as untouched as it was the last time they had been there, the door was still uncovered

He waited until the others finally caught up before taking out the amulet "Alright let's see" he said to himself "Open you stupid door!" he mentally shouted

In response the door slowly slid open a crack "It worked!" Twilight cheered

Star walked up to the door and looked inside before he was knocked unconscious by another flashback

Star found himself in a familiar setting and he once again saw his self-pounding on the door shouting "You can't do this! It is insane! You will get yourself killed!" and just as before the door slid open a crack and he looked inside.

Ch 16: Sisterhooves Social

Inside the library was a wreck, there were things scattered everywhere as far as he could see and he suddenly heard maniacal laughter coming from somewhere inside "Who are you and what did you do to Starswirl!" he shouted

"Who is there, what is this, maybe it is old Starswirl's apprentice?" the insane sounding voice said and the door slid open

What he saw was some kind of mixture of about every kind of animal he could imagine, it looked like a pony, a dragon, a griffon, and a great deal many more "What are you?" Star asked

"I am chaos of course! But you can call me Discord!" the creature said

"What did you do to my master!" Star demanded

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?" Discord taunted

"Yes" Star said flatly throwing off Discord

"Do you have no sense of humor or something?" Discord asked

"I have a sense of humor, but you are changing subject, now, where is Starswirl!" Star demanded

"I would love to tell you, but I have got to go. You know how it is, Rulers to overthrow and kingdoms to topple. Tata!" he said disappearing in a puff of smoke

"NO!" Star shouted pushing open the door and tackling at the puff of smoke just to pass through it

"I have to warn the Princesses!" he said running back out the door and closing it behind him

Star suddenly regained consciousness from his flashback and heard a worried voice "Rainbow, are you sure that this has happened before? He has been unconscious for ten minutes" said a voice that sounded like Twilight's

"I'm sure he will wake up any minute" Rainbow said confidently

"It could take longer, usually he has flashbacks that last all night" Fluttershy pointed out

The door to the library had not completely opened, it was still only open ajar, he looked over and saw the other six ponies in a group a few feet away from him. They had built a fire to see and keep warm, seeing as Star could take a while before he woke up. He decided to listen to their conversation because he knew that they would talk more freely without him around to hear

"Ah'm surprised Rarity, ya haven't complained 'bout the dirt or anythin the entire time we've been here" Applejack commented

"It is actually surprisingly clean in here, I wonder if they put a dust repelling spell in here, and I wonder if I could be taught how to use it" Rarity said hopefully

"The dust just can't stick to the smooth surface of the cave, it can still accumulate dust, but it doesn't because all the dust that gets accumulated in here gets blown back out because of the wind" Twilight explained

They sat in silence for about another minute and Star contemplated getting up and letting them know that he had awoken, but Rarity decided to speak up "So, it is obvious that he won't wake up for a while, I would like to know what you girls think about him"

"What do you mean "what we think about him"?" Twilight asked

"None of us know him all too well, even he doesn't know himself too well, I would just like to know what you girls think of him" Rarity asked simply

"He is a little frustrating, he doesn't get mad about anything" Rainbow said

"He likes cupcakes and muffins!" Pinkie threw out

"He only thinks of the situation at hand, he doesn't think about anything else as relevant" Twilight said

They all nodded after she said that "But, he is really nice, and he is honest" Fluttershy pointed out

They also all nodded at this "He's a hard worker, and he doesn't complain for anythin" Applejack threw out

"Why are we analyzing him anyway?" Rainbow asked

"I was wondering if there really was a possibility of him being controlled by Discord, and by your reactions, I don't really think that he is" Rarity said

"He does overreact a bit though, he doesn't need to hide his face all the time" Twilight added

"His scar isn't that bad, although, it is the first thing your eyes jump to" Rarity admitted

"I think it makes him look like some sort of hero, maybe he was fighting Discord when he got it" Rainbow said

None of the other ponies had thought about it like that before "I thought that maybe he got it when he was in the Everfree forest" Fluttershy suggested

"Maybe" Rainbow admitted "but it seems more likely that he was fighting Discord when he got it, I mean come on, we are all pretty sure that he lost his memory because of Discord"

"But the question is, was it voluntary?" Twilight asked

They all sat in silence for a few seconds until Fluttershy spoke up "I trust him, I don't think that he is a bad pony, or that he ever was one"

"Ah agree" Applejack contributed

The rest of the ponies nodded in agreement "I am glad to know what you all think of me" Star said finally speaking up

"How long were you listening?" Twilight asked a little annoyed

"When you all "analyzed" me" Star admitted

"Why didn't you just get up and talk to us?" Rainbow asked

"Because you wouldn't have been that honest if you would have known I could hear" Star explained

They all went silent, they knew he was right "It still wasn't right of ya to listen in on other ponies conversations" Applejack said

"It was wrong" Star admitted "But if any of you were in my position you would have done the same thing, I don't think that I could trust all of you without all of you trusting me"

"Can we please just get the door open? I have been waiting patiently but I want to see that library!" Twilight said urgently

"Sure" Star answered walking back to the very large double doors

He walked over and pushed the door expecting it to stay in position, but instead it moved and they walked into the library. Everypony gasped at the sight, there were ashes and rubble strewn everywhere. Twilight ran over to one of the book cases and started looking for anything that may have survived, Rarity and Fluttershy volunteered to stay outside because it scared Fluttershy and Rarity wouldn't even come close to the door after she had seen what was inside.

Star looked around to get a good look of the library. It was a room that was obviously carved out of the mountain, it was big enough to house more than one full sized dragon, though only a small portion of it was taken up by actual clutter, the majority of it was taken up by nothing, most of the room was empty besides the stuff they found not far from the door. Star assumed that the rest of the cave was used as a testing ground for spells that Starswirl was inventing.

What was there was all destroyed, there were two book cases that were so large that Twilight commented "Would put the Canterlot library to shame" most of the books were strewn about and burned beyond repair.

After a few hours of searching they found a few things, firstly they found two books that were still intact, they found a locked chest that was about two feet wide and four feet long, and they found another cave that lead off from the main library cave that, they decided to explore another time.

Twilight was eager to get back to town so that she could inspect the two books so they didn't waste time getting there. As soon as they arrived at the library each of the ponies said their goodbyes and left, leaving just Star and Twilight in the library to study the two books.

Twilight excitedly opened one of the two title less books and groaned aloud "These books are written in the same symbols as the book you have!"

"Really?" Star asked her before checking for himself and sure enough, the books were also written in the same strange symbolic language "That's disappointing, I guess that I will have to work on translating the writings"

"I guess so. I wish I knew how you translated those things" she hinted

"I don't know myself, I just brought out my amulet and it did it itself. I don't know if it is my magic or just the magic that is already in the amulet" Star admitted

"Oh, well, if you do find out, teach me how so that we can translate them faster" Twilight said disappointedly

"Alright, I will take them with me, I will see you later" Star said walking out the door

His mind wandered over the events of the day so far, he had found two books and a small chest to add to his group of mysterious items. He had learned that his friends trusted him, he didn't want to acknowledge it, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but think that they might turn on him at any time because of his connection to Discord now, he knew that they wouldn't.

He looked up and saw that there were still a few hours of daylight left and contemplated what to do with the rest of his day, he decided to spend it trying to translate the books. He soon got to his home and lay down in his bed with the three books and took out his amulet "Translate these books" Star thought to his amulet.

He looked through the books but nothing was translated "um… please translate these books?" he thought to the amulet and again checked the books to no avail "I thought that would work"

He sat in silence and just stared at the books not knowing what to do, he just decided to give up and go to sleep, he hadn't gotten much the night before.

He woke the next morning and it was still dark outside, so he decided to go for a walk through Ponyville. He walked through the peaceful town as the sun started to rise, it was peaceful and there were no sounds at all. His walk soon took him from Ponyville to Sweet Apple acres, just as he was turning back he saw Applejack kicking apples off of the ground and Applebloom catching them in a basket on her head, wondering what they were doing Star decided to go ask.

As he approached the duo they did not notice him, and Applejack accidentally knocked an apple right into his head "Whoops!" she said as she saw Star get knocked down "Are ya okay Star?"

"I'm fine" he said getting up and dusting himself off "I was coming to ask what you and Applebloom are doing"

"We're practicin for the Sisterhooves Social!" Applebloom said in delight

"Sisterhooves Social?" Star asked questioningly

"Tomorrow, we're gonna be holdin the annual Sisterhooves Social here at Sweet Apple Acres, we're practicin to win" Applejack explained

"Sounds fun, will there be anypony else that I know competing in this competition?" Star asked

"Sweetiebelle is going to try and convince Rarity" Applebloom chimed in

"This is going to be interesting, when are you going to be setting up for the event? I would love to help" Star offered

"We'll be settin up in the afternoon, sometime after Applebloom gets home from school" she explained "ya can come and help then"

"Sounds good to me, I will see you then Applejack" Star said leaving the sisters to practice

Once again Star found himself walking in the serene silence that was Ponyville before most ponies woke up, there were a few ponies here or there going about their business, but otherwise it was completely silent, that is, until he was yelled at by a certain pink pony "Hey Star! I need to ask you something!" Pinkie yelled to him as she bounced towards him

"What is it Pinkie?" Star asked

"When's your birthday?" she asked

"I don't know, I don't even know how old I am right now" he answered with a shrug

"Oh, I was hoping so because I am updating my birthday calendar of everypony in town and I was hoping to find out when yours was so that I could throw you a party for it, but I guess that it will have to wait!" she said hopping off to do who knows what

"Ok then, that was weird, I might as well go and get some breakfast" he said to himself walking towards Sugarcube Corner

He soon arrived at Sugarcube Corner and saw that it was empty besides Mrs. Cake at the counter, which wasn't surprising because it was still early in the morning "Hello Mrs. Cake, I would like to order three blueberry muffins" Star asked

"That will be five bits" she said happily walking into the kitchen to get the muffins

Star reached into his saddlebag, took out his pouch of bits, took out five bits and put them onto the counter as Mrs. Cake came back out with three blueberry muffins on a plate "Thanks" he said giving her the bits

He soon took his usual seat in the corner of the store and settled down to eat his breakfast. After eating his breakfast he thought of what he was going to do that day until he could help with the Sisterhooves Social, he could help Rarity and Sweetiebelle with their practicing, he could try to decipher the books again, he could explore the library some more and hope to find something to help him remember more things about his past, he could just hang out in town today and do nothing. He was thinking so deeply that he didn't see the purple unicorn approach him with an anxious look on her face "So, did you decipher the books?" she asked him which made him jump in surprise

"Sorry, I was lost in my thoughts" he apologized "I didn't actually, I will try at it again today, or I might actually do it right now if you want, I don't actually have anything to do today until about four" he explained

"I would like it if you would try to decipher them now" Twilight said hopefully "but if you don't want to you can just do it later"

"I will do it now, I have nothing else to do anyway" he said walking towards the door "I will go grab the books and meet you at the library in a few minutes"

After a short trip to his house and back he found that Twilight was waiting anxiously at the door for him "There you are, what took you so long?"

"I was only gone for a few minutes" he said "What has you so anxious?"

"I am excited to find out more about one of the greatest magicians of all time!" she said almost bouncing in place "so let's get started!"

Star took the three books out of his bag and then removed the amulet from around his neck and stared at the books "Alright amulet, will you please decipher one of these books? I would appreciate it- wait a second, I am acting as if the amulet can understand me. Alright, now focus" he though focusing on deciphering the books this time instead of asking his amulet to do so.

Soon, the middle book started to shift a small bit as an aura the same color as Star's eyes covered the book and it revealed a title that was not there a moment ago, the title read "Starswirls Journal"

Twilight gasped "is that what I think it is?" She asked excitedly

"It looks like it" Star said "Let's take a look inside"

They read the journal as far as it was deciphered and learned three things, first Starswirl actually DIDN'T have another apprentice besides Star, he had hired somepony to act the part of his apprentice so that nopony knew that Star was his apprentice, which made them wonder why he didn't want Star to be known. Secondly Starswirl only wore the bells on his hat so that other ponies thought that he was insane and they wouldn't bother him. Thirdly, he mentioned something about a key that he hid in a secret compartment in the library

"I thought that Starswirl wore the bells to help him concentrate" Twilight commented

"I wonder why he didn't want ponies to know that I was his apprentice?" he thought out loud

"One thing is for sure, we need to find that key, I bet that it is the key to the box that we found" Twilight suggested

"I think so too" he agreed "I would decipher more, but I am guessing that it only deciphered this much for a reason, I don't think I could do more if I tried"

Star proceeded to look outside and saw that it was about time that he head down to the Apple farm and help with setting up the Sisterhooves Social event "I have to go now, we will talk more about this later Twilight, feel free to examine the books further while I am gone" he said leaving

He arrived at the apple farm after a short trip and saw that Applejack and Big Macintosh were setting up some sort of obstacle course "Hey guys, I am guessing this is the event that everypony competes in?" Star asked

"Eeyup" Macintosh answered

"Is that all you ever say Macintosh?" Applejack asked

"I have only ever heard him say that one other time besides now" Star defended Macintosh

"Ah guess" Applejack said dropping the matter "now Star, ah want ya ta help set up some of these baskets and hay bales"

They worked on the course for six hours before they finally finished "That was a lot quicker than it usually is!" Applejack said happily "Thanks for your help Star"

"It was my pleasure" Star said looking up to see what time it was "I better get going, I will see you here tomorrow"

"Ah will see ya tomorrow then" Applejack agreed

He left after that and went to check on Twilights progress, when he arrived he was informed that she had learned nothing new. Taking the books Star said goodbye and made his way back home long after the sun had set, he decided that he would try to decipher the books again tomorrow, after he had a good nights rest and saw the Sisterhooves Social competition.

The next day he woke up and saw that it was near noon so he headed off to Sweet Apple acres. When he arrived there were a lot of other ponies there too. But he didn't see Rarity, he only saw Applejack, Applebloom, and Sweetiebelle. He approached them and was about to ask about Rarity when he was given a warning look from Applejack

"Hey girls, you excited for the race?" he asked

"Yes! I get to race with Applejack today!" Sweetiebelle said excitedly

Star gave Applejack a questioning look and she gave him another warning look so he dropped the matter. Star saw Granny Smith and Big Macintosh approaching the stage "looks like you guys are about to race, better get ready"

"He's right, come on Sweetiebelle" Applejack agreed

They walked over to the starting line and Granny Smith gave an introduction before starting the race, they all started off well, but Applejack immediately fell into the mud, when she got back up, Star saw that her eye color had changed from her usual jade green to a sapphire blue "Wait a sec, isn't that Rarity?" Star thought as he saw right through their charade

After the race ended he saw Applejack exit the pool of mud and Rarity reveal herself, after an explanation of what happened Sweetiebelle hugged Rarity. Star decided that it was time for him to go home and he also decided that he was going to try and decipher more out of Starswirls journal

After saying his goodbyes he made his way home where he started to decipher the journal, which he got one more line uncovered it was on the last page of the journal and all it read was "Despite what Star thinks, I am going through with it, tonight I either succeed and live, or fail and die"

Star blacked out and found himself in a flashback like state as he had many times before, but this time he saw himself in a small house facing down Discord who glaring at Star angrily "Did you come here to try and save Starswirl? Well, you are too late because he is already dead!

Ch 17: Denial

"No….." Star said in disbelief "no….. this isn't happening, this can't happen" he was ignoring the being in front of him

"What's wrong little pony? Do you miss him? Do you mourn for him?" Discord said still mocking Star

"This didn't happen, he isn't gone" Star continued ignoring Discords mocking

"This must have been your best birthday ever, your master dies and you gain me as a new ruler!" he gloated, seeing that this did nothing he decided to try a new tactic to anger Star "He created me, I would know what happened to him" Discord said trying to rouse Star

Star's eyes were suddenly filled with a fiery rage "YOU!" Star started to approach Discord "This is YOUR fault! YOU killed Starswirl! YOU killed my best friend, my mentor, my FATHER!" Star screamed at Discord

Discord looked smug after this "That's right, submit to your rage, for with rage, chaos follows close by"

Star ignored this statement and his eyes started to glow a bright gold "I WILL END YOU!" his voice was suddenly layered with several other pitches of voices that made him sound as if he was possessed

Star bolted like lightning at Discord and physically struck him before he could even react, knocking him across the small room. Before Discord could stand back up Star was already at him, hitting him with his hooves "Enough of this!" Discord said using a blast of magic knocking Star across the room "I have more important business to attend to" and with that he teleported into a cloud of smoke

"NO!" Star yelled in his rage and burst out the door searching for Discord.

He started to strike out with magic at anything that moved, until he heard a voice that was calm and pleading "Please, stop this Star"

His eyes started to return to normal as he looked over to the voice and said "m-m-mom…?"

Just then Star regained consciousness and saw that he was still in his bed at home "WAIT!" he shouted "nononono come on!" he closed his eyes "stupid flashback continue!"

He eventually stopped after yielding no results and decided to rethink what he had seen "Discord killed my father, and my father is… Starswirl" he realized piecing what he had seen together, suddenly small flashbacks came back to him, the vision of him and Starswirl talking and the one of his father giving him the amulet, how hadn't he recognized his voice?

He thought for a few more moments and realized a few more things "That still doesn't explain why he didn't want anypony to know that I was his apprentice, or his son. That also doesn't explain why Twilight never told me how Starswirl died" Looking outside and seeing that it was noon, he decided to go and speak with Twilight about this new revelation.

He grabbed his saddlebag and hurried as fast as his legs would carry him and soon found himself at the library. He knocked on the door and which was answered by a very surprised looking Spike "Hey Star….. what are you doing here?" he said only sticking his head through the door

"I need to talk to Twilight, right now" he said urgently

"I kind of can't let you in right now" Spike said looking inside then back to Star

"Why not?" Star asked impatiently

"Because….. um…. She's sick. Yeah! Twilight's sick!" Spike answered

"Sick or not she can still speak and would like to know what I have to tell her" Star countered

"She can't talk she has…. Laryngitis" Spike said hastily

"Fine, I will come back later, just tell her that I have something to tell her that is very important to the past of both me and Equestria" Star said walking away, deciding that he would get some breakfast

After going to Sugarcube Corner and getting his usual muffin and coffee breakfast, he sat and thought again, which he had been doing a lot of lately "Why didn't Twilight want to talk to me right now?" he thought finishing off his muffins and coffee

He arrived back outside and saw that the sun was just past the middle of the sky so it was shortly into noon "Now what?" Star thought as he wandered aimlessly

He decided that he would go into the library and look around for the key that would open the small locked chest, the Journal hadn't specifically said that it was in the library, it had said that it was in Starswirls home, and since they saw beds in the library, he had decided to start looking there.

It was a relatively short trip, but he soon arrived at the cave that housed the library and entered it. He walked into it and saw it the exact same way they had left it, it was still in shambles and destroyed but nothing had been moved.

He walked around and moved things where any type of secret compartment could be, but to his disappointment he couldn't find anything. He took out his amulet "Find the secret compartment" he thought trying to manipulate the amulet as he had done many a time before, but nothing showed up "Show me where the key is!" nothing happened but a small bit of magic floated away from the amulet to a deeper part of the cave, he decided that he would inspect it later, as he didn't want to try anything stupid and lose the trust of his friends.

So he left it as it was and left the cave, he looked up to see if any more time had passed and saw that it was now late in the afternoon, he decided that whatever Twilight was doing, she should be done with it by now so that Star could discuss the matter with her.

The walk back to Ponyville was just as uneventful as the rest of his travels, he soon arrived back at Twilight's library and knocked on the door once again and once again Spike answered the door "What do ya need Star?" he asked

"I still need to talk to Twilight, I figure that half of the day would be long enough for her to be done with whatever you were stopping me from finding earlier" Star explained

"Was I that obvious?" Spike said sheepishly

"Yes, now can I talk to Twilight?" he asked again

"I don't know, let me go and ask" Spike walked back into the building and closed the door.

While he was inside Star heard muffled whispers coming from inside that he couldn't really make out what they were saying so he decided to just wait for Spike to come back out. About 5 minutes later Spike came back to the door "You can talk to Twilight in an hour, come back then" Spike said closing the door once again

Star simply sighed and contemplated what he was going to do for another hour, he decided that he would simply waste the next hour at home trying to decipher more out of the books.

He arrived at his home and for the next hour he tried to decipher more out of the books, but he failed miserably, as he was going to try again there was a knock at his door. He answered it and saw Spike "I came to tell you that you can come into the library now" he said "Let's get going"

He and Spike walked to the library in silence and when they arrived at the door Spike opened the door for Star and he walked into a dark room "SURPRISE!" a bunch of ponies in the room yelled

"What is this for?" he said in surprise

"This is for your late or early birthday since I don't know when your actual one is!" Pinkie said happily bouncing up and down "I would have had it at Sugarcube Corner, but the Cakes are doing an extended hours thing for a while to bring in more late business"

Upon thinking about a birthday, Star's mind went back to his flashback and Discord's voice mocking him about his birthday "Thanks" Star said sounding sadder than he had intended

"Y-y-you don't like it?" Pinkie said in disappointment

"No, no, I love it, this just brought back a painful memory from one of my flashbacks" Star explained

"Something about birthdays?" Pinkie asked curiously

"Yes, but let's enjoy this first, I will explain everything later" Star said cheerfully

For this party, it was Star, Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, Spike, and Macintosh, just like the last time they had a party.

Just like the last party the six friends were in the middle of the room and dancing, while Star, Spike and Macintosh talked by a small table with snacks on it.

This time however, when he was approached by Pinkie Pie, she dragged Star out onto the dance floor and threw him around dancing and having a fun time, until she accidentally let go of Star's hoof and sent him flying right into the snack table, making him land in the cake "oopsie!" Pinkie said "sorry about that, I can be a real clumsy pants sometimes"

"It's okay" Star said getting out of the cake and wiping as much off of him as he could before deciding that he had to take off his hood to get any cake out of his mane and off of his face.

As he pulled off his hood Macintosh's eyes widened in surprise "So that's what ya look like" he commented

Star looked over to Macintosh "Oh yeah, I haven't shown you what I look like yet have I?"

"Nope" he answered

"I have to go and get what cake I can out of my mane and off of my face" he said walking towards the bathroom, oblivious to everypony in the room staring at him

As soon as he had washed what he could out of his mane he returned to hear the middle of a conversation "-don't you girls agree?" Rarity finished

Each of them nodded "agree about what?" Star asked

Rarity suddenly blushed "Oh, nothing dear" he looked and saw that each of them was blushing, as if they were embarrassed of something

"Alright" Star said dropping the matter, deciding to ask them later

He returned to his spot by the snack table and noted that they were all still staring at him "Oh yeah, I still have my hood off" he said putting his hood back on his head

"Why did you put your hood back on?" Spike asked him as the other ponies resumed dancing

"I don't know, I don't feel uncomfortable with it off anymore, I guess it's because everypony was staring at me" he admitted

"I can understand that" Spike said staring at Rarity "if a bunch of ponies were staring at me, I would want to hide too" he said with a dreamy voice

"Spike… I may not be the most observational pony around, but do you have a crush on Rarity?" Star asked noting his behavior

"W-w-what! N-n-no, I-I don't, w-well maybe just a little" he admitted "but don't say anything!" he added hastily

"Your secret is safe with me" Star told him

"Good" Spike said relieved

Just after that, Pinkie came over and made Macintosh dance with her too, she wouldn't have it if everypony didn't dance at least once in her party

Shortly enough Macintosh made his way back over to Star and Spike when Pinkie had given up on trying to throw him around as she had Star, Macintosh was much broader than Star and much heavier

"So Macintosh, how is learning to control your strength?" Star asked conversationally

"It's gettin better, I haven't broken a tree since that one accident" he said proudly "though a few have been cracked" he admitted

"That's good" Star said happily

They continued to have a good conversation before Pinkie declared it time to do party games. First they played pin the tail on the pony, which got a laugh out of all of them when Rainbow Dash pinned the tail to Spike's back "Good thing that they are tape on and not pinned" Twilight said between fits of laughter

After that they all played a few games of cards, which Rarity and Pinkie won almost every time. Then they played truth or dare.

"Alright, I will start!" Pinkie said hopping up and down "Spike truth or dare"

Remembering what he and Star had talked about earlier he blushed and said "Dare"

Pinkie's eyes narrowed then popped back open again "I know! I dare you to kiss Rarity!" she said deviously

"W-w-w-what!" was Spike's only response

"Go ahead Spike, it was a dare after all" Rarity said turning her cheek towards the dragon

After a lot of hesitation and reassurance Spike kissed Rarity on the cheek making everypony collectively "awwwwww" which made Spike blush and quickly return back to his seat

"Alright, my turn" he said his eyes narrowing and passing over all the ponies until they stopped on Star "Star, truth or dare?" Spike asked

"Truth" Star said snickering a bit because he didn't usually lie anyway

"Who do you like?" Spike asked him

"Everypony I have met so far" Star answered honestly

"no, no, not like that, I mean, like-like" he said emphasizing the second like

"like-like?" Star asked questioningly "Is that like liking a pony, only double?"

"You are still so naïve" Rarity said shaking her head

"I mean, who do you have a crush on?" Spike said impatiently

"Why would I crush someone? I am not that mean!" Star said incredulously

"How couldn't you know about something like that?" Spike asked in surprise

"I lived over a thousand years ago, I don't know all that much culture-wise" Star admitted

"Having a crush on somepony is like thinking you are in love with that pony, but the feeling isn't so strong as to call it love yet" Rarity explained

"Ooooooh" Star said understandingly "Nopony"

"Nopony? There has to be somepony" Spike pressed

"Nope, I haven't really thought about anypony like that" Star said simply

"Really? Nopony?" Spike asked in disbelief "how old are you anyway?"

"I thought we had this established, I am over a thousand years old" Star said jokingly

"Haha fine, it's your turn" Spike said finally giving up

He wanted to ask them what they were talking about before he had walked in, he thought about who would choose truth and not dare, if he asked Applejack, Pinkie, or Rainbow they would all say dare, but if he asked Fluttershy, Twilight, or Rarity, they would all say truth so he decided to ask Rarity, because she had asked the question "Rarity, truth or dare?"
"Truth" she answered

"What were you all talking about when I walked into the bathroom to wash up?" he asked them

Rarity started to blush and looked at the ground "We all saw your face again and I commented on how you… you look… handsome, and the others agreed too"

"Okay?" Star said not knowing what to think on the matter "now Rarity it's your turn"

Rarity looked taken aback "You really just don't care? You aren't flattered or embarrassed or anything?" she asked incredulously

"Nope, everypony has their own opinions on things, and I just learned what yours is on my face, nothing wrong with that?" Star said simply

Spike stared at Star "Rarity just said that you are handsome and you just shrug it off?" he said incredulously before blushing intensely and hiding his head in his hands

"I'm not shrugging it off, it just isn't that big a deal, why should it be?" Star asked

"Because I was giving you a compliment on how you look good, and you aren't accepting it" Rarity said a little annoyed

"I am accepting it, I just don't care what I look like to most ponies, if you girls think I look good then thank you" he said simply

"If you don't care what you look like to most ponies, then why are you wearing that hood?" Twilight pointed out

"Because I feel uncomfortable without it, I don't like ponies staring at me all the time" Star answered

"That means that you do care what ponies think you look like" Twilight pointed out

"I guess it does, but I only care to the extent that I don't want ponies to stare at me all day because of a scar on my face or a broken horn" Star admitted

"Alright, why don't we do something else?" Twilight said trying to change the subject

"Sounds good to me!" Spike threw in

They ended up just talking for a few hours before it came to the subject of why Star wanted so desperately to talk to Twilight earlier that day "Twilight, how did Starswirl die?" he asked curiously

"He died of old age, why?" Twilight asked

"No he didn't" Star stated

"You just asked me how he died and I told you, how isn't that how?" Twilight asked

"I had another flashback last night, and it revealed a lot about my past" Star admitted "It started and I was in some kind of small house, Discord was taunting me about my dad being dead, I didn't react I was in denial, even when he pointed out that it was my "best" birthday ever, I lost my father and I gained him as a ruler, I only reacted after he said "he created me, I would know what happened to him" and then I snapped, I got mad and in a furious tone I told him "YOU! This is YOUR fault! YOU killed Starswirl! YOU killed my best friend, my mentor, my FATHER" then my eyes started to shine a bright gold and I had a layered voice and I yelled that I would "end him", after hitting him a few times he retreated in a puff of smoke, then my mom appeared out of nowhere and calmed me down, as I was about to see what she looked like, the flashback ended" Star summed up

They all stayed silent for a while until Pinkie spoke up "That doesn't sound like the best birthday ever to me!"

"Star does that mean that Starswirl was your…?" Twilight asked

"As far as I can tell from my flashbacks and that, yes" he answered

"Not only did Starswirl have a secret library, he also had a secret apprentice, a son, and he created and was killed by Discord" Twilight said in disbelief "This wasn't in any of the books about Equestrian history, I wonder why Princess Celestia would hide something like this?"

"I don't know, but until we find out more we can't ask her" Star pointed out

"I guess" she said reluctantly

"So, I haven't heard anything from any of you yet, what do you think of it? My father was one of the best wizards in all of history and he also created one of the worst things to happen to Equestria, any comments?" Star asked them all

"Nope" Macintosh answered

The rest of them were silent "If there is nothing else, then I guess that I am going home to get some rest, I will talk to you all later" Star said getting up from where he was sitting and left

When he got to his home he decided to try one more time to decipher more of the journal, he succeeded in deciphering a few pages, they explained a two things, firstly, he learned that Starswirl didn't live in the library, he and Star had lived in a house near the Everfree forest, much like he did now. And he learned that Starswirl had proposed whatever plan he had done to create Discord more than once and Star had denied him every time.

Thinking about all of this he decided to go to sleep for the night.

Ch 18: Birthday

It had been a month since that day, since then, Star had been trying to get used to not wearing his hood, which did not gauge a good reaction with the town, when he tried it first, a few ponies ran screaming from him screaming something about an "undead unicorn!" or "unicorn ghost!"

After a lot of explanation and some prodding and convincing from his friends, he tried again and received a much better reaction, apparently six mares who were angry at a town was convincing enough for them not to run screaming from him.

Besides getting used to not wearing his hood, he had gotten a lot of orders for Quills and Sofas since then; he had sold sofas to Caramel, Noteworthy, Mayor Mare, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and Bon-Bon. He himself had also bought a sofa to go along with his house which was now painted a light yellow thanks to Rarity. It was also full of furniture and he had a kitchen full of food and ingredients to make food.

He had given up on trying to figure out who he was during that time because he was so busy, besides what happened to him, there was an incident with Applebloom and a bunch of Cutiemarks, he didn't actually hear the whole story for that. Rainbow Dash had gotten a new tortoise pet that Star thought was Rainbow's perfect opposite. The most recent development in ponyville was the mysterious Mare Do Well, which Star never found out who she was, but he had a feeling that it was one of their friends.

Now though, he was helping prepare for Twilight's birthday party, he wasn't actually going to help or participate in the event, but they all argued with him until he conceded and agreed to participate. They were just setting up a few decorations when Twilight burst through the door, she had received a letter from Rarity.

Twilight explained that apparently Opal, Rarity's cat, had gotten sick and she was staying in Canterlot until she was better and unfortunately couldn't make her way back to Ponyville. She was immensely disappointed, until Pinkie suggested "I know! We can bring the party to Canterlot so that we can be with Rarity!"

"That sounds like it would be fun!" Twilight agreed

"How far away is Canterlot anyway?" Star asked

"It is about an hour from here on pegasus drawn carriage, but if we just walk or run the whole way it will take a few hours" she explained "We can go over tomorrow to have the party"

"Sounds good to me" Star agreed

"Then it's settled! I will load the party cannon!" Pinkie yelled rushing out the door of the library

"Did she just say…. Party cannon?" Star asked with a worried tone

"It is a cannon that shoots out party decorations and in Pinkie's words it is for "partying on the go!"" Twilight explained

"Should I be worried?" Star asked

"Nah, she usually does things that are much weirder than that" Rainbow answered

"Alright then, I guess I will go and get Twilight's birthday present from me ready" Star said walking away

"Ya got Twilight a birthday present?" Applejack asked

Star turned to her "Yes, is that a bad thing?"

"No, ah'm just surprised ya thought to get her a present" Applejack admitted

"Hey! I am not a thoughtless pony all of the time! Just most of it" Star said jokingly

"Ah didn't think ya were, it just surprised me that ya would think ta get her a present" Applejack said

"Why? She is my friend" Star said walking out the door

The rest of the ponies sat in the room stunned, Star had shown two new emotions, he was being thoughtful and he also seemed genuinely happy, also, up until then none of them had heard him use the word "friend" to describe them, he usually used the word "acquaintance" or something like that, but never friend, until now.

"What's gotten in ta him lately?" Applejack asked no one in particular "He used ta be an almost emotionless pony, but lately, he's been changin"

"Maybe it has something to do with his remembering his past?" Rainbow suggested

"Or he just felt like being nice" Twilight suggested

"Why don't we just ask him?" Pinkie asked the rest of the group

"I agree, we could just ask him why he is acting differently" Fluttershy agreed

"Is it really a big enough change to bring up?" Spike asked

"Yes" Twilight answered "up until now, he has been kind of refined and emotionless, but occasionally showing a sense of humor, now he is just acting differently"

Star had found something for Twilight's birthday that he knew that she would love, in his spare time, he had been deciphering the spell book and he had deciphered about ten out of the hundred pages so far, including the multiple teleportation spell.

Along with the multiple teleportation spell, it also included a spell on locating certain types of plants, a tracking spell that can be placed on items and living creatures, a spell to see in the dark, a stunning spell, and a few others. He knew how much she loved learning the multiple teleportation spell, but he didn't know if she would ever let him live down his horrible failures that were recorded in the book, like stunning himself, Luna, and even Princess Celestia once, or how his night vision spell had made the iris's of his eyes rainbow colored and he could only see in green

There were many more that he was sure he would be mocked for by Twilight and the rest of his friends, but it would be funny so he decided that the gift would be good.

The next day he was awoken a very tired Rainbow Dash, accompanied by two very excited ponies, Pinkie and Twilight, Fluttershy who was doing what she does best, sit back and smile, and Applejack who seemed indifferent on the whole matter "Are you ready to PARTAY!" Pinkie said excitedly

"Not right now, maybe later" he said closing the door on them, then using a new trick he had taught himself, he used the amulet to silently teleport behind them and started to walk away and said "It's later, are you coming or what?"

They were all taken by surprise at this "Wait, what? Where did you come from? I thought only Pinkie could do stuff like that!" Rainbow said looking more awake now than she did earlier

"I can't tell you, it's a secret. Now are you girls coming or what?" Star asked them

They all kept a short distance from Star to talk in peace "Ah told ya, he is actin different, more emotional" Applejack said

"I like this Star, he surprised me! And it is really hard to surprise me!" Pinkie said in excitement

"I agree with Pinkie, this new attitude adjustment is an improvement" Twilight commented

"Thank you for noticing" Star said from behind them, they hadn't noticed that they had passed and were in front of Star now

Applejack, Rainbow and Twilight jumped in surprise and Fluttershy hid in her mane "Will ya stop doin that?" Applejack asked annoyed

"You passed me, not the other way around" Star answered

"Why are you acting so… different?" Rainbow asked

"I have no idea, I am just really happy lately, I guess that since I didn't know who I was, I was kind of emotionally dead, but now, I am happy, because I know that who I was wasn't a horrible pony!" Star said happily

"That makes sense" Twilight agreed

They walked in mostly silence for the rest of the walk there, it took them a few hours but they finally reached Canterlot and while walking through town Star got strange looks, but nopony said anything about him or paid him more than a passing glance "I like it here, nopony stares at me like I'm a freak" Star commented

They soon arrived at the castle and then at the tower that Rarity was staying at, when they opened the door and saw Rarity, the other five ponies all yelled "SURPRISE!" and Rarity fainted

After a few minutes she finally gained consciousness "w-w-what are you all doing here?" she stuttered

"When we heard that you couldn't make it back to Ponyville for my birthday, we decided to bring the party here so that you could enjoy my birthday with us" Twilight explained

"That is too kind of you, but I need to take care of poor Opal" she explained

"How is the poor dear anyway?" Fluttershy asked in concern

"I will be right back" she said closing the door on her friends

When she came back out, they saw Opal, she was shivering and looked like she had been sweating a lot, she was resting on Rarity's bed where Fluttershy immediately flew over and hugged her "Poor dear, she must be very sick"

Twilight approached a mannequin with a dress on it, the dress was yellow with a pink bow on the front going around the neck "Is this my dress?" Twilight asked

"Yes" Rarity said hesitantly

"It's so simple, so practical, so… me! It's the perfect dress for my party!" Twilight said hugging Rarity

"*sigh* you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that" Rarity said in relief

"Why would you be worried? I love all of your dresses" Twilight reassured her

"Oh, no reason, I thought you might not like it because it was too simple" Rarity said hastily

"It is perfect" Twilight confirmed

"I wish so much that I could go out with you all, but I have to take care of Opal" Rarity said again in disdain

"I will watch her" Star offered

"Are you sure Star? We could just stay here instead of go out and have a party" Twilight offered

"No, I would feel bad if you had to miss your party because of a sick cat, I will take care of her" Star said turning down her offer

"Thank you very much" Twilight said hugging Star

Rarity not looking too thrilled said "Alright then girls, let's get going"

They all left and Star was left to his own devices and a sick cat, who started to shake back and forth until her coat poofed back to its usual state "You aren't sick?" Star said curiously

"Meow" was his only answer from Opal as she started to lick her paws

"Why was Rarity trying to make you look sick?" Star asked Opal which he knew still wouldn't be able to give an answer, Star decided to ask Rarity about this later.

Star spent the next few hours reading through and trying to decipher more spells in the spell book, he had taken to never leaving home without the spell book, Starswirls journal, and the still title less book that he had yet to decipher anything from.

After finally deciphering another page in the book he was interrupted by Opal, who was rubbing her back at his hooves hoping for attention. She had been doing this almost constantly since he had gotten there. Star sighed and reached over and scratched the spot behind her ears which made Opal purr in satisfaction.

Reading through the page that he had recently deciphered he learned of a new spell, the ability to walk on walls and the ceiling, how this would come in handy, he did not know, but he still thought that it was pretty cool so he spent some time trying to get the amulet to put the spell on him.

After a few tries and failures, he succeeded, just in time for the other six ponies to arrive back from their party. Star sat on the roof looking down on them all and waited to gauge a reaction, the ceiling was really high up, as they were in a tower.

"Where did Star go?" Rarity asked "I must thank him for watching Opal"

Opal walked out from where she had been hiding and stared at the group "She is all better now!" Fluttershy squeaked

"She was never actually sick" Rarity admitted

"Oh" Fluttershy blushed and hid her face in her mane

"That still doesn't answer, where did Star go?" Rainbow Dash asked

"Hi girls!" Star nearly shouted from the ceiling

They all jumped and looked up at him "HOW ARE YOU STANDING ON THE CEILING!" Twilight shouted in surprise

"Star! Ponies don't walk on the roof, get back on the floor silly" Pinkie Pie scolded

"Star, stop acting acting like Pinkie Pie, we only need one of her" Rainbow told him

"These are just new spells I have been trying out, I teleported this morning and now I am trying a newly deciphered spell out of the book" he explained

"This is strange, would you mind getting on the floor so that we can speak properly?" Rarity asked

"Sure" Star answered walking down the wall and back to the floor, where Opal rushed over to him and rubbed her back against his hooves again "what is with this cat, she constantly wants my attention"

Everypony but Fluttershy stared in shock "Opal doesn't like anypony, she usually just ignores most ponies or hisses at them" Rarity said

"I am not most ponies" Star pointed out once again scratching behind Opals ears

"Most of the animals that I take care of like him too" Fluttershy explained "I don't know why, but animals just like him"

"It might be because he has such a calming aura" Twilight offered

"Calming aura?" Star asked curiously

"Some ponies just have a calming aura, when you are around them you feel less stressed, as if nothing is as urgent as you thought it might be" Twilight explained

"I never really thought about it like that" Rarity commented

"Is that why Fluttershy took to him so quickly? She is usually impossibly shy around everypony" Rainbow asked

"We are getting off track! I still need to give Twilight her birthday present!" Star interrupted

"I am curious as to what you would get her" Rarity asked

"It's kind of obvious" Star said taking out the spell book "It's Starswirls spell book, I have deciphered about ten more pages, eleven if you include the multiple teleportation spell, I thought you would like to learn the spells and get a good laugh out of my failures"

"Thank you!" Twilight said happily taking the book before her expression changed to one of confusion "failures?"

"Starswirl had me as a test subject to try out his spells, he wrote down exactly what happened during each one, and let me save you the trouble, the most ridiculous one is when I used a stunning spell I ended up stunning myself and both of the princesses" he explained

They all looked shocked "What?" Twilight asked incredulously "You stunned both Princess Celestia and Luna?"

"Yes, and I would prefer that you not bring it up until we find out more about who I was" Star said hopefully

"My lips are sealed" Twilight said using a zipping motion across her lips

"I want you all to Pinkie swear" Star said

They all did the recited and did the gestures of a Pinkie swear "Thank you" he said letting out a sigh "I don't know about you ponies, but I am going to head back to Ponyville now, see you all later"

Before he could leave Twilight stopped him "You are planning on leaving in the middle of the night? I was planning on us all having a slumber party here because we can't leave until morning"

"As much fun as it would be to be the only colt in an all mare party" he paused "I would rather just head back to Ponyville, besides, I love the night time, it is peaceful"

"What is this? Star thinks that it would be awkward? That is a new emotion for him!" Rarity said impressed

"He was also thoughtful to get me a gift, and he seemed genuinely happy this morning" Twilight explained

"Three new emotions in one day? Our little Star is growing up" she said wiping her eye in fake sadness

"I resent that, I am over a thousand years older than all of you, I am not your "Little Star"" he responded defensively

"Now he is offended! That's four!" Pinkie said excitedly

"I am going now before this gets any more out of hoof" Star said once again walking towards the door

He left and enjoyed the darkness along the way, before he left the castle grounds, he was stopped by Princess Luna "What? You are going to be here and leave without even saying hi?" she said in a much more modern way of speaking

"Sorry, I hadn't thought about it, we were here for Twilight's birthday" Star explained

"We who?" Luna asked looking around

"I came here with our other friends" Star answered

"Why are you leaving and not being accompanied by them?" she asked

"I didn't want to stay at an all mare slumber party, and I enjoy walking during the night time anyway, it's peaceful" he said happily

"Any leads as to who you actually are?" she asked getting right to the point

"I figured out who I am pretty much, about half way I guess" he said after thinking about it for a minute

"And who exactly are you?" Luna asked

"You knew me before actually, something happened to me over a thousand years ago and it turns out I am Starswirl the bearded's secret apprentice and son" he answered

Luna just sat in shock, she eventually said "I don't remember many things before being banished to the moon, but I do remember Starswirl, he was a good pony, I don't remember you though"

"Really? Apparently I once stunned you with a stunning spell and I once teleported you and a rabbit on accident" Star explained

"I remember nothing of this, it will come to me eventually, I guess we will have to wait, I will send you a letter when I figure it out" she said walking back to the castle

Star shrugged and made his way out of the castle grounds and walked through the nightlife of Ponyville, there weren't many ponies around but there were groups of friends out enjoying their nights. Star made his way through the town before he was stopped by a group of ponies who looked, tipsy would be the correct word "Hey you, what you tryin to hide with that cloak?" said a grey pony with a blue mane

"My face" Star answered honestly

"What were ya in some kinda accident?" he pushed

"Yes" Star answered deciding to be as honest as possible so that they would lose interest

"Well, why don ya take it off fer us ta see?" he asked in a slurred tone

"Sure" Star said taking off his hood and looking at their shocked faces

"G-g-g-g-ghost!" the grey pony yelled as he bolted away in the opposite direction of Star

"Ghost!" the other ponies chanted in agreement as they followed the first pony

Star put his hood on and was starting to walk away when a pony opened a door from nearby "You okay out there? I heard screaming"

Star looked at the pony and saw that he was wearing a white, folded looking hat, he was a tan pony with a brown mane and green eyes "Everything is fine, just a bunch of delinquents trying to bother me so I scared them off"

"How?" the pony said approaching star

"I showed them my disfigured face" Star answered

"Disfigured?" the other pony asked

"I will show you" Star said pulling off his hood again

The other pony's eyes stared in shock then he finally spoke up "I think it only scared them because of your bright white coat and broken horn, it makes you look like a ghost"

"That makes sense, by the way, my name is Midnight Star, but you can call me Star" Star said holding his hoof out for the other pony

"My name's Joe, I own pony Joe's Donut shop" the tan pony answered taking Star's hoof "Don't think I've seen you around here before, are you new in town?"

"I came here for a friend's birthday" Star responded

"Who is this friend of yours? I might know them" Joe asked

"It is Twilight Sparkle" Star answered

"Haven't seen her in a couple of months, not since she, her friends, and Princess Celestia came here the night of the Grand Galloping Gala" Joe said reminiscently "Any friend of Twilight is a friend of mine, can I offer you a donut?"

"No thank you, I was just on my way out of town, thank you though. It was nice meeting you Joe" Star waved and made his way back to the gate.

After a few hours of silence and peace he finally saw Ponyville in the distance, he got to his home and fell asleep, not noticing the letter that popped into existence right in front of him.

Ch 19: Greed

Star woke the next morning on his own accord, for the first time in a long time, nothing had woken him up, he had the privilege of waking by his own choice. As he got off the bed he felt something squish underneath his hoof. He picked it up and saw that it was a scroll, unrolling it he read

Star, where are you? We heard a commotion outside the castle and there were ponies everywhere with torches and pitchforks screaming something about a ghost, we asked Pony Joe and he said he had seen you and that some ponies had made a commotion about you looking like a ghost and riled up the whole town.

Please respond as soon as possible

Your friend

Twilight Sparkle

Star sighed "What were they going to do to a ghost with torches and pitchforks? If they were going to get rid of a ghost they should have used some type of trapping spell, not pitchforks and torches" he thought while facehoofing

Star walked over to his drawer that was just to the side of his bed and took out a parchment and quill and started to write on the paper. He had forgotten that he couldn't write and he drew lines and squiggles on the paper, which he recognized as the strange symbols that made up all of Starswirls books "I can write in it, but I can't read it, this is the exact opposite of Equestrian, which I can read but not write" he thought ironically

Deciding that they were probably back in Ponyville by then anyway, he left to the library to talk to Twilight not noticing the other letter that had arrived for him that in his hurry he had knocked under the bed. He soon arrived at the library, Spike let him in "Where is Twilight?" Star asked

"I thought she was still in Canterlot with you?" Spike questioned

"I guess that means they are still in Canterlot, would you mind writing a letter to her for me? I can't write" Star asked him

"Sure" Spike said walking over to a table and grabbing a conveniently placed quill and parchment "Tell me what to write"

"Dear friends, I am in Ponyville and I am fine. I have to ask, what were those ponies hoping to accomplish using torches and pitchforks against a ghost? Why didn't they try to use a trapping spell or something like that? Your friend Midnight Star"

Spike laughed after he sent the letter "What is this about a ghost?"

"Some strange acting ponies saw my face and thought I was a ghost, and apparently started some sort of mob to chase down the "ghost"" Star answered putting emphasis on ghost

"Are you serious? You may have a white coat, but I didn't think you were that white!" Spike said laughing again

Just then Spike burped up a scroll and read it to Star "Dear Star and Spike, I assume you had Spike write the letter because I recognized his claw writing. Star, are you serious? There is a mob looking all around for you in Canterlot and all you can think about is their efficiency? Granted, it is very funny, but you had us worried all night! We are heading back to Ponyville right after this letter is sent, we will see you soon your friend Twilight Sparkle"

"I guess that we will see them in an hour or so" Star assumed

"I guess" Spike agreed

"I will see you later Spike, I am going to go home and get some breakfast, I didn't eat before I ran over here" Star said leaving the library and going to his home

Star arrived home and ate a few haycakes; he had learned that he really liked haycakes, almost as much as he loved blueberry muffins.

Just as he was finishing up his meal there was a knock at the door, when he opened the door he was tackled by a blur of pink "There you are! We thought something bad had happened to you!" Star looked up from Pinkie's mane and saw that the other five of his friends were there too

"Why do you girls always assume the worst has happened to me?" Star asked them

"Well, when an angry mob consisting of almost everypony in Canterlot is chasing one of your friends you tend to be worried" Twilight retorted sounding slightly annoyed

"I'm sorry?" Star said carefully

Twilight sighed "It's not your fault; we were just worrying about you since last night"

"You shouldn't have worried so badly, nothing bad would have happened" Star started "I mean really, what is the worst that could have happened, I would be poked a few times by a confused pony and then they would leave me alone because I obviously wasn't a ghost?"

"There is no way you could have known, some ponies could be a lot worse than you assume" Rarity countered

"I appreciate all of your concern, really I do, but I am not a child, as naïve as I am, I can take care of myself, you don't need to worry for my wellbeing at all hours of the day" Star reassured them "Now, will you get off of me Pinkie?"

Pinkie got off of him with a cheerful smile "Okie dokie lokie"

"You're right, sorry for jumping to conclusions" Twilight apologized

"It is okay, I would have worried just as much for any of you" Star acknowledged

"Now that that is out of the way, I have to be going back to the boutique now, goodbye all" Rarity said walking away

"Ah have ta leave too, ah have ta get back ta the farm" Applejack said following Rarity's example

Each of the ponies had their own reasons to leave until Star was once again at his home alone. Star found himself in a situation that had plagued him many a time before, he was bored and there was nothing to do. He decided to go and get some books from the library to read.

Star found his way to the library and picked out a few books to read, two books on spells, a book on cooking, so that he could diverse his menu of meals, and a book on Equestrian myths, he decided that if there was going to be anything that helped him remember more, it would most likely be in a book about myths instead of a history book, seeing as nopony knew that Starswirl created and died at the hands of Discord

Star decided to spend the day reading in the Ponyville Park, because it was such a nice day outside. This is what his days consisted of, teaching himself some spells and trying to find something to help him remember more of his past out of the myths book, he spent his days occasionally seeing one of his friends and talking or working at Quills and Sofas, but otherwise he was researching the book, which to his disappointment, he found nothing pertaining to his past.

After about a week of this he was starting to lose hope in finding something, until he came upon a small section of the equestrian myths book about the spell of eternal youth, it read

There was once a great unicorn, he was renowned among the lands, he had fame, fortune, and friends, everything a pony could ever need. But he was greedy, this wasn't enough for him, he wanted to live forever. He spent years trying to find the spell that would make him live eternally, but to no avail. He didn't end here though, he gave up on conventional magic and started to do darker, more evil magic until he was feared throughout the lands and lost everything he had sought to conserve. One day, he finally succeeded where he had once failed-

While he was in the middle of this sentence the book was snatched from him by something and he heard a fierce cry "SPIKE WANTS!”

Star looked to who had taken the book and saw what looked like Spike running away at top speed, but this creature was larger than most ponies, as it left sight he was trampled by Twilight, and Applejack, who fell onto him as they ran into him "ouch!" Star exclaimed beneath Twilight and Applejack

"Sorry Star" Twilight apologized

"Sorry" Applejack added

"It's fine, but who was that and why did he steal the book I was reading?" Star asked

"It was Spike, for some reason he has been stealing things from everypony and growing larger" Twilight explained in a hurry "We have to stop him"

They suddenly heard a high pitched squeal in the distance "That sounds like Fluttershy!" Rainbow exclaimed as they all went towards the source of the noise

They soon arrived at Fluttershy's cottage "Fluttershy? Fluttershy" Twilight called

"I'm up here!" they heard from the top of a very large tree

"What happened?" Twilight asked

"I was helping my squirrel friends with a dance step when a giant, rampaging *whimper* dragon stormed through" she explained

"That was Spike" Twilight explained

"Spike? Why would Spike steal my chicken coop? He just pulled it out of the ground and filled it with a bunch of apples and stuff" Fluttershy asked

They heard another high pitched scream "That sounded like Pinkie Pie" Rainbow pointed out

"How can you identify their screams from this distance?" Star asked

"They get into trouble…. A lot" Rainbow explained

They ran and soon found themselves at Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie Pie was sitting on top of a shelf throwing cake at a very large Spike "Take that, and that!" she exclaimed

"Pinkie, stop giving him cake!" Twilight said urgently

"I am not giving him cake! I am ASSAULTING him with cake!" Pinkie exclaimed throwing more cakes at him

Spike stole all of the cakes off of the shelf causing Pinkie to fall face first onto the floor "How dare you take the cakes!" Pinkie exclaimed

Spike suddenly hit a growth spurt and broke through the roof of Sugarcube Corner. He lost interest in the ponies inside and with his tail grabbed the chicken coop full of stolen items and went to find more stuff "We've got to stop him!" Twilight exclaimed while she led all of the ponies to chase Spike

As they tried to catch up to Spike they were slowed down by all of the ponies running around. When they caught up to Spike he had his tail wrapped around Rarity, and he had the chicken coop in one hand and a wagon in the other, looking at them as if measuring their worth. His eyes widened and he ran over to the water tower, taking the container right off the stand and making all of the water flow down onto the town ponies.

He placed his items in it and his attention suddenly turned to Rarity, she said something to him and he roared in her face, causing her hair to straighten out behind her. "We have to help her!" Twilight exclaimed

"I've got this. Come on Fluttershy" Rainbow said pulling the shy pegasus along with her. On one side of his head was Rainbow shouting something in his ear and Fluttershy in the other looking like she might have a heart attack from being scared. Spike reacted to this by swinging his tail at Fluttershy and Rainbow, causing Rarity's cape to catch them in a net like position and drop them into the river.

Three ponies flew at him from nowhere and Star heard Rainbow exclaim "The Wonderbolts!"

The Wonderbolts flew at Spike and annoyed him slightly; he then ran to the mountain in the distance and began to climb. As he was climbing the Wonderbolts attacked again and cut most of the scales on his head clean off. Spike then dumped the contents of the water tower into a nearby cave and caught the Wonderbolts in the container, then stuck it into the mountain.

Watching all of this happen from the bottom of the mountain annoyed Star so he teleported up near Spike, not knowing what he was going to do. When he arrived up near Spike he saw Rarity scolding him, she tore off whatever outfit she was wearing showing it to him and yelled something else at him. Spike stared at Rarity as she folded her arms in annoyance.

Spike suddenly shook his head and looked confused, then he transformed back to his normal self, in midair. Star watched as his two friends fell to the ground, thinking quickly he ran over to the spot where they would land to try and catch them, luckily for him Rainbow and Fluttershy caught them in the same cape that had trapped them earlier.

Deciding that they had the situation under control he made his way over to the water tower, where he used a levitation spell that he had been practicing a lot of, he wasn't good at it but he only needed to push it slightly and it fell. He looked over to the Wonderbolts who were shivering in fear when they noticed that they were free, they quickly approached Star and the one with the fire orange hair spoke to him "Thanks for the help, but we have to get rid of the dragon"

"The dragon is taken care of, you don't need to worry about that anymore" Star explained

"You took care of the dragon?" she said incredulously

"No, the situation resolved itself" he explained "I have to get back to my friends; it was nice meeting you ponies"

When Star finally arrived at the bridge he saw Rarity kiss Spike on the cheek, he also noticed that he was the only one who had seen it so he didn't bring it up "Now, will one of you please explain to me what in the hay happened here?" Star asked

"It was Spike's birthday today and he got a few presents from ponies but got greedy and began to grow" Twilight explained

"So Spike will only grow out of greed? He won't grow up and will stay like that forever?" Star asked

"Not exactly, most dragons just grow up and grow larger, but apparently when a dragon is greedy, the larger that their horde grows the larger they grow, and when they grow in this "greed grow" they don't grow wings either" Twilight answered

"Okay, so where did he leave his horde? He stole the book I was reading in mid story" Star asked

"On top of the hill" Spike guessed

"Thanks" Star said making his way towards the mountain

After a few hours of searching in the cave he found the book, but when Spike had grabbed it his claw had gone clear through the book and now it was un readable "*sigh* I guess I won't know what happened now" Star left in disappointment

When he got back to town he saw ponies wandering around the wreckage and cleaning things up, Star decided to see if Twilight had another book on myths since he had nothing to do with his time anymore. He arrived at the library as they were just finishing putting the books back into the book shelves "Hey Twilight, do you have any other books about myths? When I was reading the one you lent me Spike grabbed it in his fit of greed and his claw went straight through it"

"Nope, sorry, I don't usually get books on myths, I think that they are pointless" she admitted

"Too bad, oh well I guess that I will try something else to help jog more of my memory, by the way, how is the spell book?" Star asked

Twilight suddenly burst into laughter "I can't believe that you were scared of an ostrich!"

"You would be scared if a bird that is taller than you chased you for two hours!" Star said in defense

"Yeah, well you were right about me laughing at the book" Twilight said after another fit of laughter

"Is there a book in here that will help me with learning to write? When I tried to write back to you and answer your letter today I wrote in those strange symbols that the books are written in" Star asked

"You can read in Equestrian, but not write in it, you can write in these strange symbols, but not read it" Twilight said in disbelief

"Yep" Star confirmed

"I think I have a book about that somewhere…." Twilight said skimming through the books "aha!" Twilight levitated Star the book with a huge grin on her face

The book read Writing for Dummies "Perfect!" Star said happily making Twilight laugh hysterically

"When did you develop a sense of humor?" Twilight asked Star

"Before you did" Star said back with a grin that Twilight couldn't see

They talked for what seemed like hours before Star finally left; when he was outside he noticed that it was night time. He arrived home after about half an hour of walking and immediately delved into learning about writing. He knew words and letters he just had problems in writing them down, which he slowly started to get right.

He spent a few hours working on writing down the letters then he started on words, his hoofwriting was barely legible but he would work on that once he could write in complete sentences.

He worked late into the night until he was too tired to keep working on it and walked over to his bed. He lay down and slept for a while before in his sleep he rolled off the bed and rolled under it in one tumble, he didn't feel the floor on his face though, he felt something smooth, grabbing it he pulled it and himself out from under the bed and lit a candle.

He looked at what he had found under his bed and saw that it was a dark blue envelope, similar to the one he had received from Princess Luna, he opened the letter and read

Dear Midnight Star, I may have found a solution to your problem

Ch 20: More Questions

Star's heart skipped a beat, "Could Luna have really found a solution to my memory problem?" he read on

I believe that I have found an answer at least, I have been studying some tomes, err, I mean, what are they called as of recent? Books! Yes books, sorry about the mess up, I am using an automatic quill. As I was saying, I have been studying some books that have to do with memory loss, and there is a spell that is recommended to help remember things, if you would allow I would like to try this spell on you to see if it would help. Please respond accordingly with your answer on the matter.

Your Friend

Princess Luna

Star stared at the letter "Could it really be that easy? All it takes is a spell to end all of my trouble and make me remember my past?" Star shook his head "I better not get too hopeful, it might not work out and I don't want to be too letdown if it doesn't"

Deciding that he should just worry about all of this in the morning he got back onto his bed and went to sleep.

He woke in the morning with a muddled mind; he didn't know what to think about anything right then. He went into his kitchen and made himself some cereal. After finishing his breakfast he got to writing a reply to Luna

Dear Princc Princess Luna,

I am sorrry sorry for any mistackes mistakes in this letter, I am still getttng getting used to riting writing. To make this letter short, I would apprecate appreciate the help, would you like me to go to Cantorlot Canterlot or were you planng planning on coming to Ponivillle Ponyville?

Your friend

Midnite Midnight Star

Star looked over the letter and sighed "I really need to work on writing and spelling" he stared at the letter for a moment longer before deciding to look for a way to send the letter back. He searched for a spell that would make his quill be used as an automatic quill like Princess Luna had been using, he did not find a spell like that though, he did find a spell to send the letter and a spell that would change an objects color for a short while.

He sent the letter hoping that the princess would be able to read it and decided to practice spells in the park as he usually did. He arrived after about a half an hour of walking, going to his usual spot off to the side of the park under the shade of a tall tree where he wouldn't disturb any of the other ponies with his practicing.

First he did his usual levitation practice; he had learned to use magic without taking out his amulet, he lifted a rock into the air and carefully put it down onto a crevice in the tree. Then he practiced picking up more than one rock at a time and stacking them on top of each other. After a while of practicing that, he started to practice his teleporting, first he teleported to the top of a hill not so far away, then back, and continued like that for a few times before trying for distance, he would teleport to the other end of the park.

When he reappeared at the other end of the park he was run into by a rainbow blur "Ouch!" he exclaimed

"Watch where you're going!" Rainbow snapped

"Sorry Rainbow" he apologized

Just then they were approached by their other five friends and their pets "What are you doing here Star?" Twilight asked

"Practicing magic" Star explained

"What happened?" Rarity asked

"I was practicing teleportation and I teleported in front of Rainbow on accident" he said standing up "What are you girls doing here?"

"We are having our weekly pony pet play day" Fluttershy answered

"That's nice, sorry for interrupting, I will just get back to practicing magic" Star said happily teleporting back to where he had been just moments before

When he reappeared he picked up the spell book to see if there was anything else he should be practicing, suddenly a dark blue envelope appeared in front of him, he smiled and opened it

Dear Midnight Star,

It is quite alright about your hoofwriting, though I recommend using an automatic quill spell, it is very useful. I will arrive in ponyville tomorrow evening to attempt the spell, I will see you then.

Your friend

Princess Luna

Star smiled brightly while reading this letter, until he remembered that it might not work, then his smile drained, he turned to get his book and saw his six friends looking over his shoulder at the letter, as soon as he turned to see them they all zoomed back to their pets and pretended that they were there the whole time.

Ignoring this Star picked up his magic book and skimmed through looking for a spell, he eventually came upon a spell that would change one item into another, such as turning a tree into a rock, or a book into an apple.

First he grabbed a nearby rock and attempted to change it into an apple. He succeeded, but when he took a bite out of it, it turned back into rock and he had a mouth full of rock. He spit it out and heard giggling from behind him, he turned and saw his friends once again watching him curiously but rushing back to their pets.

Star approached them "Am I really that interesting?"

They stared at him "I don't know what you're talking about" Rainbow lied

"I was just wondering why you are all watching me then pretending that you weren't" Star pursued

"We saw you get that letter then we watched you bec-" Pinkie started

"Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted tackling her and holding a hoof to her mouth

"What is so wrong with wanting to know what the letter contained?" he asked them

"Rarity got us all really suspicious, you have been acting happier and different lately and she has us convinced that you have a marefriend" Twilight admitted

"Why would that change the way I act?" Star questioned

"Love changes many ponies, it was the most rational answer to your attitude change" Rarity stated

"It was a letter from Princess Luna-" Star started

"YOU'RE MAREFRIEND IS PRINCESS LUNA!" Twilight shouted

"N-n-no! She's just-" he started to say

"How did you get a mare like Princess Luna without showing her your face?" Rainbow asked

"I didn't-" he tried to explain

"He was obviously a romantic pony and caught her attention to his actions and personality, not his looks" Rarity explained

"But I'm not-" he tried again

"It's good that Star found a marefriend" Fluttershy commented quietly

"Ah didn't think that ya were really interested in all that romance stuff Star" Applejack admitted

"I'm not-" he started

"We need to celebrate your new relationship!" Pinkie exclaimed

"WILL YOU ALL JUST STOP!" Star shouted, they all stared at him before he continued "I am not in a relationship with Princess Luna and I do not have a marefriend, where did you get such ideas?"

Five sets of eyes fell to rest on Rarity "I'm sorry, I convinced the others that the most rational reason you changed your attitude was that you had a marefriend" she explained

"I am just changing because I don't have to worry about my past as much anymore, it isn't as important as it was before" he explained

"Sorry for jumping to conclusions, I was just confused as to who you would be dating" she explained

"It's okay, now if you don't mind, I would like to continue with my spell practice" Star said walking back to his spot across the park

He once again picked up a rock but this time, instead of turning it into an apple, he turned it into a replica of the book he had read the spell from. The spell worked but the book was empty, after a few seconds it turned back to a rock.

He continued like this for a small while, sometimes the transformation time would stay for a few seconds longer or sometimes it wouldn't change at all. Satisfied that he had thoroughly practiced this spell he searched for something else to occupy his time. He looked in his saddlebag and found the book he was looking for, Starswirls journal.

He attempted to decipher more out of the book, and on his first try he deciphered a new page. It explained how Starswirl had been planning a surprise for Star on his birthday, which would be on the winter celebration day. It also went into detail saying that he had brought up this plan before, but it was shot down by Star, but when he accomplished this task, Star would be unimaginably happy. He turned the page to read more to find that the runes (he had taken to calling the symbols runes) continued on from this page.

Sighing he decided to ask one of his friends about this "winter celebration". Looking over he saw that they had left; he had apparently spent more time practicing than he had thought.

He decided to ask Twilight, the library was close to the park anyway. When he arrived at the library Twilight looked as if she had been there all day reading because of the amount of books that surrounded her "Hey Twilight"

"Hello Star, how are you today?" she asked

"I am good; I have to ask you something, what is the "winter celebration?"" Star asked

"That would be Hearth's warming day" she explained

"And what is this celebration about?" he questioned

"It is about the day that all three types of ponies finally got along and founded Equestria" she answered

"That's a good thing to celebrate" he commented

"Why did you want to know?" Twilight asked

"I deciphered another page of the journal and apparently that is my birthday, unless there is another winter celebration" he explained

"Nope, guess we found out when your birthday is, but why did you want to know?" she asked

"If I study the history of the event maybe it will say something about Equestria's worst known evil being born" Star guessed

"That would make sense, seeing as things at random have triggered your memories." Twilight agreed

"Do you have any books on the history of Hearth's warming?" he asked

"I have a few, feel free to borrow them all" she said levitating Star 3 books

He thanked her and went on his way back to his house. As he had arrived he saw that it was late in the afternoon, he had spent a lot longer than he thought into practicing his spells.

He opened up one of the books and sure enough the entire celebration on hearth's warming eve was about the treaty between the three types of ponies. He read through the other two books too, but none of them said anything about a significant event happening during Hearth's warming. After reading through each of the books again to see if he had missed anything he went to sleep.

The next morning was just as his others were usually; he ate breakfast and practiced spells in the park. It was around noon when he was practicing his transformation spell again. As he was about to transform a rock into a tree there was a bright blue flash in front of him that took his concentration off of the spell and the rock turned into a stump.

Turning to the light he saw Princess Luna who had just teleported to the side of him "Greetings Star" she said cheerfully

"Hello Luna" Star greeted almost as cheerful as she sounded

"Are you ready for me to attempt the spell?" she asked him

"As I will ever be" he admitted

"You seem troubled, is something wrong?" she asked

"I am trying not to get my hopes up, there is a chance that this won't work" he answered

"We will have to see about that" she said her horn glowing

Star felt her presence pushing through his mind and he heard her speaking to him mentally "Now, for this spell to work I have to find where your memories are being hidden, would you have any idea where that would be?"

"I remember Twilight saying something about the presence of Discord's magic in my subconscious, why don't you start there?" Star guessed.

He felt her consciousness stir within his, it was a strange experience, it was as if she was actually inside his head. She soon stopped near the recesses of his mind as far as he could tell "Did you find anything?" he asked

"There is a wall here, but the wall isn't made of magic from Discord, the magic feels as though it is coming from….. this can't be, why would she do that?" Luna sounded surprised

"What? Who do what?" Star asked urgently

"My sister is shielding your memory, I never thought that she would have a hoof in this, why would she do that?" Luna said sounding upset

"Why don't we ask her?" Star asked

"She is in Fillydelphia at the moment, she is taking care of some problem or another." Luna explained

"Will you tell me when she gets back so that I can speak with her?" Star asked

"Sur-" Luna was cut off by a commanding voice from nowhere

"Luna, stop with your interference with this pony" the voice sounded upset

But sister! This pony is trying to figure out who he was and you are stopping that! Luna countered

"I would prefer that this pony not remember who he was and what happened to him…. He has been through too much, I would prefer him not to remember what happened" said the voice of who he assumed was Celestia

"But Celly, he is a kind pony who just wants to know what he has forgotten" Luna persisted

They suddenly felt what could only be described as anger flash through his mind "Luna persist this matter no longer!" Celestia shouted

"…. As you wish. Sorry Star, I guess that you are on your own" Luna said retreating from his mind

"It is okay, I have no idea why Celestia didn't want me to remember who I was, but it must have upset her greatly" Star said a little disappointed

"I apologize again, I will be leaving now, I will see you another time" Luna said sounding a little disappointed

In a bright flash of blue she disappeared just as she had appeared. Star stood still for what seemed like an eternity, trying to come up with reasons that Celestia might not want him to remember his past; she had said something about him being through too much "Did something bad happen before I lost my memory?" he thought morbidly.

He was still standing still when he was approached by his six friends "Are you okay?" Twilight asked

"Why are you six always watching me?" Star asked them

"We just wanted to know whether or not you got your memory back" Pinkie explained

"No" he responded in disappointment

"The spell didn't work?" Fluttershy asked

"I don't know if the spell would have worked" he answered

"Why not?" Pinkie asked

"Apparently along with Discord, Celestia is trying to block off any further memories of mine" Star explained

"Why would she do such a thing? I don't believe you" Twilight said in disbelief

"She said that I had gone through too much and she would prefer that I didn't know what happened to me" he answered

Twilight's eyes softened "That sounds more like her, but I don't understand what could have been so bad that you shouldn't remember it?"

"Well, from what we know so far, it was on my birthday, the same day that my father died, and one of the worst evils Equestria has ever known was born, and apparently something worse than that happened, so I don't know if I should know or not" Star said half jokingly

"If you put it that way it sounds horrible," Rainbow commented "Which it is!" she threw in quickly "But I think that you should still try to find out what happened to you, if you don't it will bother you for the rest of your life"

"Rainbow! How could ya say such a thing!" Applejack said in disbelief

"She is right, I wasn't going to give up on it yet" Star admitted

"Even after Princess Celestia said not to?" Twilight asked

"Yes" he said resolutely

"I don't approve going against Celestia's orders, but I think that I should help you because you are just as much of a friend to me as she is" Twilight said reluctantly

"Thanks" he said appreciatively

"So, where are you going to start?" Rarity asked

"Well I- ummm…. I don't know honestly" Star admitted

"We could try to decipher more from the books, or we could find the key to open the locked box, or we could try to explore more of the library" Twilight listed

"I hadn't thought of those, once again Twilight, you show your genius" he said happily

Twilight blushed slightly "Oh, I don't know if I would say genius, but…." She left the statement hanging

"I will speak to you all another time, hopefully with more information about my past" he said walking away

He was stopped by Rainbow "Woah woah woah, didn't you hear her say WE could try that?"

"Most of it is very tedious work, are you sure you want to Rainbow?" Star said trying to appeal to her fast moving nature

"I don't want to, but I will for a friend" she said showing a lot of loyalty

"You are very loyal Rainbow" Star commented

"I wouldn't be the element of Loyalty if I wasn't" she said proudly

"Element of Loyalty?" he questioned

"I forgot to mention, the six of us are the bearers of the elements of harmony, the ones that banished Nightmare moon and the ones who cleansed her too. I am the element of magic, Applejack is the element of honesty, Rarity is the element of generosity, Pinkie is the element of laughter, Fluttershy is the element of kindness and as you now know, Rainbow is the element of loyalty" Twilight explained

"I didn't know that, but onto the matter at hoof, would you all really want to go through the tedious work of deciphering the books or helping me search for the key to the box or exploring more of the library?" he asked

"I would love to, mostly because your entire backstory has me very curious" Twilight admitted

"And what about you girls? If any of you don't want to you don't have to, I don't really think we need the help" he asked them

"I will help" Fluttershy said quietly

"I'll help" Applejack offered

"Me too" Rainbow agreed

"Ooooohhhhh! I wanna help! Pickmepickmepickmepickme!" Pinkie said bouncing up and down holding her hoof in the air

"I would love to help" Rarity answered

"I guess it's settled then. Since nopony besides Star can decipher the books, he will be doing that. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Applejack, you girls can explore the cave, Rarity, Fluttershy and I will be searching for Starswirl’s old home so that we can find the key to the box" Twilight explained

"It sounds like you thought this out before you even got the answer from me, did you even think that the spell would work?" Star asked in a hurt tone

"I was hopeful, but I planned for both inevitabilities" she explained "Now, let's go girls" Twilight said leaving Star to his thoughts

"I wonder why Celestia was angry when Luna tried to help me with my memories? I guess I will find out when we find out more about my past" Star concluded. Picking up both the books full of symbols he started to do what he always did to decipher them, he would transfer magic from his amulet to the books and think about the words being translated, it is the only thing that he had tried that had even worked.

He felt something happen as he transferred the energy to the books, one of the books started to shake. The book that had started to shake was the title less book that he had yet to decipher anything from, a title started to appear on the front. The title read Star's journal.

Ch 21: Lost and Found

He stared at the journal for what seemed like hours not knowing what to do; he had never once thought that he had a journal, though he had no way of knowing. He opened it excitedly to find that it had not been translated as the cover had, it was still as illegible as it had been moments ago.

Sighing he closed the book and put it back in place beside his father's journal, he stared at the book wondering what it could possibly contain, it bothered him greatly that he couldn't find out what he used to act like and what he used to think.

After trying for another hour he decided to go and see how the search for the key had been. He arrived at the library after a short walk and found that nopony was there. He assumed that they were still searching for the hut so he walked his way to the Everfree forest and started walking at its border, hoping to eventually run into his friends.

As soon as he got near Fluttershy's cottage he saw his friends talking in front of it. "Find anything interesting?" he asked as he approached them

They turned to greet him "We found one thing, we think anyway. We believe that Starswirl used to live in Fluttershy's cottage, we circled all around the edge of the forest and did not find even a trace of a building besides your house and Fluttershy's" Twilight explained

"So somewhere in or under Fluttershy's house is a key that we need to use to unlock the mysterious box?" Star asked

"As far as we can tell, yes" she concluded

"I will help you search for it later then, I am going to go and see how the search through the cave went for the other three" he said walking into the forest

Soon enough he came upon the familiar cave that contained the library. He walked inside and found Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack, unconscious at the entrance to the rest of the cave just past the library.

He hurried over to them "Are you three okay?" he asked in a worried tone

None of them stirred so he poked Pinkie with his hoof experimentally, he received a reaction of her jumping into the air and screaming something about cookies. Once she calmed down she saw Star "Hey Star, when did you get here?"

"Why were you guys on the floor unconscious?" he asked

"We were?" she looked over to her other two friends "Oh, I remember getting here and starting to walk into the cave when we just kind of fell asleep I guess" she shrugged

Star then proceeded to wake his other two friends "How long have we been out?" Applejack asked

"As far as I can tell, about an hour or two" he explained

"What happened?" asked a still slightly dazed Rainbow Dash

"We were knocked unconscious by somethin" Applejack answered

Star walked past the entrance of the cavern and turned back "Well, why don't we all just go and explore it now"

As they tried to follow they dropped on the ground just as he had found them earlier. He roused them again and explained what happened "Maybe you and Starswirl enchanted the cave so that only you could pass through" Pinkie guessed

"If that is so, then I guess I will explore the cavern and you girls can go and help the others look for the key at Fluttershy's house" Star said

"Now hold on a minute" Applejack interjected "What if somthin bad happens and no one's 'round ta help ya?"

"I will be fine, I will meet you girls back there in an hour at most" he reassured them

"If you go and get yourself hurt for some stupid reason I am going to kick your flank" Rainbow threatened before they left

Once they left Star turned back into the tunnel that led from the library and entered. He walked for what seemed like half an hour before he came upon the end of the tunnel, but the ending wall wasn't made of rock, it was made of wood, like that of a house.

He approached the wall and saw a strange symbol on it; it looked the same as Starswirl's signature. He examined the wall and searched for some sort of crevice or opening so that he could get through, not finding anything like that he started to use his levitation magic to pry apart the wall.

The wall was made of eight tall and wide pieces of wood set side by side across the wall. After a lot of work and strain, he pulled loose one of the pieces of timber. He looked inside and saw a dark room filled with a few items spread far and wide. He finally pried another piece of wood out of the wall and walked into the small room.

Looking around it looked to be some sort of study, there were papers stacked on a desk against the wall to his right, and the wall to his left had a few boxes stacked together, on the wall at the end of the room there was a stair case. He approached the staircase and opened the door to see that it was covered up.

He pulled this apart just as he had the wall below and found that he was in a small cottage. He heard voices coming from outside and looked out a near window to see Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity looking around outside, the tunnel had led him to Fluttershy's cottage.

"I guess that settles it, this was where Starswirl and I lived over a thousand years ago" he thought

He looked outside to see that the other girls had arrived too, he was going to approach them but he thought of another idea. He covered up the entrance that he just uncovered and used the wall walking spell to stand on the ceiling, it may not have been high up, but it was enough so that they wouldn't see him.

He waited until they walked inside; he was going to wait for a lull in the conversation to surprise them with his newfound information "What do you mean you let him go into the tunnel alone!" Twilight exclaimed

"We couldn't exactly go into the tunnel, it had some kind of spell on it that made us fall asleep" Rainbow said defiantly

"You could have told him to wait for us so that I could undo the spell!" Twilight exclaimed

"It's too late for that, besides, he said he would be here within an hour, so he will be here in another thirty minutes" Rainbow said calmly

"What do you think he will find?" Fluttershy said in a slightly worried tone

"Don't worry darling, I doubt he will find anything dangerous" Rarity reassured her

"So what do you girls think about this whole situation?" Twilight asked

"What situation?" Pinkie asked

"With Celestia not wanting Star to remember his past, what could have possibly happened to him that was bad enough for Princess Celestia to deny him his memories?" she explained

"It could have been the event when he lost his horn" Rarity suggested

"That seems the most likely, unless Star's past was so unimaginably horrible that it was even worse than losing the extension of his magic" Twilight said grimly

"Or maybe he really just learned something he wasn't supposed to and Celestia erased his memory" Pinkie threw in with a suspicious voice

They talked about this for another twenty minutes before they started to worry about Star

"Where is he? He has been gone for over an hour" Twilight pointed out

"I hope nothing bad happened to him" Fluttershy said timidly

Star took this opportunity to join the conversation undetected "I bet he is okay" he said

"Yeah, I bet he is on his way here right now" Pinkie said happily

Star just stood in silence with the others staring at the door, he could hardly contain his laughter "Maybe we should go search for him" Rarity suggested

"We'll wait for another ten minutes, and if he isn't here by then, we'll search for him" Applejack said calmly

"Sounds good to me" Star said almost losing control and laughing, and still nopony noticed him

Ten minutes passed and Rainbow got impatient "Are we going to search for him or not?" she asked

"Do we really need to go looking for him?" Star asked almost laughing again

"Yes Star, we need to go look for Star" Twilight said and looked at the door another moment before looking at Star with wide eyes "When did you get here?"

They all looked at him and jumped back in surprise "I have been here the whole time, none of you noticed though" Star said before he broke out in laughter

"And you didn't say anything?" Rarity asked

"I spoke and nopony noticed" he said simply after his fit of laughter

"How did you get in here without using the door, and we would have noticed you if you teleported" Twilight asked curiously

"As I said, I was here the whole time, I was sitting on the roof and waited for a lull in the conversation" Star explained

"I really dislike that you can use that spell" Twilight commented

"Why? It is useful for playing pranks!" Pinkie said excitedly "We need to go pranking some time Star! Me you and Rainbow Dash can sometime, it would be super duper fun!"

"The spell would be useless short of dropping pastries or buckets of water onto ponies from above" Star said

Pinkie's eyes widened in excitement "I didn't even think of that! There is a whole buncha stuff that we could do with that!" she said bouncing up and down in excitement

"Enough delay, how did you get in here without us noticing" Twilight pressed

"I could have just teleported in before you girls walked in" Star responded

"Did you?" Twilight asked

"No" he admitted

"Then how did you get in here?" Rainbow asked

"Through the basement" he said simply

"Fluttershy, darling, you have a basement?" Rarity said curiously

"I didn't know I had a basement, I am terrified of basements, they are dark and scary and dusty and full of *shudder* bugs" she said in a slightly panicking voice

"An where is this basement?" Applejack asked

"On the wall to the side of the stairs" he said pointing to the wall he had entered through

"It is just another part of the wall" Rainbow said plainly

"I put it back together so I could surprise you girls" Star explained

He once again pulled the wood away from the wall to reveal a door "Does this mean that we were right about Starswirl living here?" Fluttershy asked

"I think so" Star answered

Star opened the door and walked into the newly reveled basement "Are you girls coming or what?"

"No thank you, I will stay up here" Fluttershy responded

"I will be staying up here too, that much dust in such a small area gives me the chills" Rarity agreed

The five of them walked into the basement "ummmmmm Star? None of us can see down here" Rainbow commented

"I forgot, I can see down here and you can't" Star said "Twilight, I would light up the room, but I can't seeing as I don't have a horn"

Twilight illuminated her horn bright enough to light up the room "By the way Star, why can you see in the dark?" she asked

"I read it in the spell book if you haven't gotten to the night vision spell yet, apparently the side effects of me messing it up were it permanently left my eyes a shade of green and now I can see in the dark" he explained

"That's pretty nifty, another thing that would make you an awesome prankster" Pinkie commented

They examined the room, in the boxes they found old stuff that they assumed were Starswirl and Star's possessions. Star opened one of the boxes and found some familiar pieces of scrap. He took them out of the box and placed them on the floor "This was my old telescope!" he exclaimed

"That's not a telescope silly, that is a pile of scrap metal" Pinkie said

"I am pretty sure I disassembled it, or I had to put it away for some reason" he guessed

They scavenged through the rest of the boxes and found nothing else to note, just some candles, some furnishing such as pillows and blankets, and some blank sheets of paper that looked like there were meant to be pictures on them, but they were blank

"It looks like you were going to move to a new home" Twilight commented

"Yeah, it does look like that" he agreed

They looked around the room more and found nothing interesting "So this is where Starswirl lived huh? It isn't very interesting" Rainbow commented

They searched for a few more minutes before they reemerged from the basement to see Rarity and Fluttershy having a conversation, they turned to their friends "Did you find anything?" Rarity asked hopefully

"Nope" Star said simply

"I guess that leaves us with only the books again" Twilight sighed

"Oh yeah! I deciphered the cover from the other book and apparently that is my journal" Star said

"Really? Did you find out anything from it?" Twilight asked

"Nope, but now I know what that book is, and that is one step closer to finding more stuff out" Star said happily

"This searching was enough for one day, we will do more another day" Twilight concluded

"Alright, I will see you girls later" Star said leaving Fluttershy's house and leaving to his home.

By the time Star arrived at his home the sun had just set so he decided to sleep. The next morning he continued his usual routine and by the afternoon he was walking to the park to practice more magic, but when he arrived he saw ponies running back and forth around the park. He saw Applejack among the ponies and decided to ask her about it "Hey Applejack, what is all this about?"

"Howdy Star, these ponies are practicin for the annual Runnin of the Leaves" she explained

"And that is…?" Star asked

"It's a race that ponies do every year, we do it to knock all the leaves from the trees" she explained

"Sounds fun, I may just compete" Star said competitively

"No offense sugarcube, but ah doubt that you'd be able ta keep up with everypony else, ya aren't all that athletic" Applejack said hesitantly

"I don't mind losing, I just want to compete" Star said simply

"Ya sound like Twilight did last year" Applejack said mockingly

"So when is the running of the leaves?" Star asked changing subject

"It's tomorrow afternoon" she explained

"I guess I will leave you to your practicing, I will see you at the race tomorrow" he said leaving the park

Since he wasn't practicing spells Star didn't know exactly what to do, he usually had his day planned out but now he had nothing to do. He decided to go and get a muffin to snack on at Sugarcube corner while he thought.

When he got there it was nearly packed full of ponies. He approached the counter where Pinkie was happily taking customers’ orders "Hey Pinkie, what is with all of the business today?" Star asked

"I invented a new treat! It is a cupcake with pudding filling!" she said excitedly

"That sounds… pretty delicious" he admitted "How much for one"

"First one's free" she said slyly

"How do you make money like that?" Star asked

"You just leave that to me" she said with a sly smile handing him one of her pudding cupcakes

Star stared at it for a moment before he slowly took a bite out of the cupcake, then before anypony could even comprehend, the cupcake disappeared from sight. Pinkie stared where the cupcake had been "Where'd it go?" she asked confused

Star was surprised; he had actually confused Pinkie Pie, the master of confusion. He was woken from his surprise by a hoof being waved in front of his face "Hellooooooooooo Staaaaaaarrrrrrrr, is anypony thereeeeeeee?"

Star shook his head "How much for another one of those" he asked

Pinkie gave a knowing smile "two bits" she explained

Star was about to order another but he remembered the race the next day "I will be here tomorrow after the Running of the Leaves, expect me to eat a lot of those"

"I look forward to it" Pinkie said happily before serving the next pony in line

Once again Star found himself with nothing to do, so he decided to take after what the ponies in the park were doing. He ran a few laps around the edge of ponyville before he was finally exhausted enough to take a break.

He made his way back to his home and lay down exhausted. After resting for about half an hour he started to get restless so he grabbed the books and started to try and decipher them. He worked at it for about another hour but nothing happened so he gave up. Looking outside to see how much time he had left until the end of the day he saw that it was just into noon, that day was going to be a long day.

After much debating he finally just decided to walk around Ponyville, he had absolutely nothing to do. He wished he at least had some work to do at Quills and Sofas, but nopony was ordering anything so he had no work to do. He walked around the town aimlessly he walked from the front of the town to the back and everywhere in between, but he couldn't find anything to do. He thought back to the day before and remembered his telescope, "I can rebuild my telescope!" He thought excitedly

He ran to Fluttershy's house and saw the yellow mare outside her house speaking to Rainbow Dash. As he approached he heard Rainbow complaining "I'm bored I'm bored I'm bored I'm bored I'm bored!" she repeated over and over again

"What's wrong?" Star asked Rainbow

"I'm bored!" she repeated

"Why?" he asked

"The day before the Running of the Leaves is, for some reason, the most boring day of the year!" Rainbow complained

"I thought that today was boring too" Star agreed

"Why are you here?" Rainbow asked hoping for something to do

"I am just going to get the telescope parts out of the basement and take it home to rebuild it" he said

Rainbow Dash groaned "I was hoping you would be doing something interesting!"

Star turned to talk to Fluttershy but she had slipped away during their conversation. Star entered the house and saw Fluttershy drinking some tea "Hey Fluttershy" he greeted

"Oh, hello Star" she said with a smile

"Do you mind if I go into the basement and grab the pieces of the telescope?" he asked

"Not at all" she said cheerfully

Star walked down the stairs into the dark basement and picked up the box with the telescope pieces in it. After a 30 or 40 minute walk he got back to his home with the telescope. He took the pieces out of the box and started to familiarize himself with the pieces.

Upon closer inspection he found that the lens was heavier than it looked, he looked into the lens and saw complete darkness. He unscrewed the top of the lens and tipped it upside down, a cylinder shaped container slid out. He unscrewed this and found a note and a key, he read the note

Dear Star,

By now, I am either gone or you won't have read this note anyway, with this key, I leave you the box in the library, I hope that the contents of the box brings you as much joy as they has brought me.

Your master, friend and father

Starswirl

Star's eyes widened as he read the note, he stared at the key. He took the box out of his saddlebag; it had not left his side since he had found it. He put the key into the lock on the front and opened the box.

Ch 22: Competition pony

He gazed into the box not knowing what to expect, on the inside there was a golden heart shaped pendant and a picture. He picked up the picture and looked at it, on the picture he saw himself as a child, Starswirl, another young colt with a cyan mane a green coat and purple eyes, and a mare that looked almost the exact same as the younger colt, but she had magenta eyes.

This raised even more questions to Star "Who are those two ponies?" he thought to himself.

He stared at the picture for a few moments before noticing that there was something strange about this picture, it was much clearer than any picture he had seen since he could remember.

He sighed "Yeah, that is just what I needed, more questions about my past" he thought sarcastically

Eventually he stopped staring at the picture and put it back into the box. He turned back to the pieces of the telescope and, only knowing how it was supposed to look when he was done, started to put it together.

He tried about 42 times before he finally gave up on trying to put it together, he put the lens back onto the main cylinder part of the telescope, and that is how much he did successfully "I guess I don't have a knack for building" he thought

Starting to feel tired Star looked outside to see what time it was, the sun was just past the horizon, it had just set. He had a very large smile on his face, now he could just sleep and wake up to go to the race the next day. He laid down into his bed and fell asleep.

Star found himself in a strange trance-like state, just as he had once before, he was experiencing a flashback in his dreams. He looked at the scene before him and saw himself, without his hood on, speaking to Starswirl.

"What happened to it?" Star asked

"It absorbed the spell, I don't know about any side-effects yet" Starswirl responded

"It absorbed the mind-reading spell?" he asked in surprise

"Yes, but while wearing it you can't read anypony else's mind, the amulet seems to read yours" Starswirl explained

"How? The amulet is an inanimate object" Star said in confusion

"Using its ability as a conduit of magic, instead of using conventional means of doing spells, it takes your thoughts and uses them as a spell. In other words, if you think of what kind of spell you want to cast and what result you want, that is what will happen. It takes the energy from your body and uses it to accomplish the goal" he explained

"What if you don't have enough energy to cast a spell and you try to use it?" Star asked

"It will do just what actual spell casting will do, it will drain your life force and kill you" Starswirl said bluntly

The scene shifted before him as he stirred into consciousness. He looked around to see that the sun had risen and it was morning. He got up from his bed and walked over to the window to see what time it was. The sun was still low in the sky "I still have an hour, I might as well ask Twilight if she has a book about the race so I can memorize the path" he said to himself

He made his way down to Ponyville and to the library where, as always Twilight was reading a book "Hey Twilight, I was wondering if you had a book on the Running of the Leaves, I think it would be good if I memorized the path I have to run today" Star explained

"Sure, one second" she said putting down her book and looking over her book shelves. After a moment she levitated a book out of one of the bookshelves and gave it to Star "Here, this book will have everything you will need to know about the Running of the Leaves"

Star sat down and immediately began reading it

The Running of the Leaves is an annual event that ponies participate in; it is a friendly race that helps get all of the leaves off of the trees to get ready for winter.

Above this explanation it showed a path that ran through Whitetail woods, which was the path he was supposed to run. Thanking Twilight he went on his way to Whitetail woods

When he arrived he saw a ponies gathering near the front of the woods. He approached them but was stopped by Mayor Mare "Are you going to be participating in this event?" she asked

"Yes" Star answered

She slapped the number 58 onto his flank "Here's your number" she said leaving him to mingle with the other racers.

Star approached Rainbow Dash and Applejack "So, which one of you two is going to win the race?" he asked

"I am of course" Rainbow said confidently

"Don't get yer hopes up, cause I'm gonna win" Applejack said competitively

"Well, I am going to take third then" Star said happily

"Third?" they both said in unison

"One of you two will take first, the other will take second, so I am going to take third" he said simply

"Ya aren't even gonna try ta beat us?" Applejack asked curiously

"I will try" he reassured her "but I doubt I will be able to keep up with you two"

"I am pretty fast, aren't I?" Rainbow said egotistically

"Not as fast as me" Applejack said in a competitive tone

Just before they could continue with their banter they heard a voice in the megaphone "Welcome everypony, to the annual Running of the Leaves!" he recognized the voice as Pinkie Pie's "What do you think about the competitors Spike?" she asked the unseen baby dragon

"This year's competition looks fierce! Up front we have the two most competitive ponies in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash and Applejack!" he said popping up from inside the basket of the weather balloon that Pinkie was floating in

"Last year they lost because they kept sabotaging each other, but this year they won't be doing that so everypony be sure to try their hardest to keep up with them!" Pinkie finished

Everypony shared a glance at Applejack and Rainbow Dash before Pinkie continued "Now, everypony to the starting line!"

All of the ponies that were racing lined up at the starting line, Star recognized Lyra and Bon Bon who were participating in the race, he would try to see if he knew anypony else in the crowd, but he didn't know anypony else in town so he got up to the starting line "Alright everypony are you ready?" Pinkie started

"Get set!" Spike continued

A bell rang and all of the ponies started running "Aaaaaaannnnndddd go!" Pinkie said after the bell had sounded.

They all started off to a good start and surprisingly enough, Star was keeping up with Applejack and Rainbow Dash, but quickly falling behind as they kicked up their speed to pass each other. He looked behind himself to see that he was still in third place, as he had predicted.

It was a long track so every once and a while in between he would take a break by walking, soon enough the crowd of ponies that were also competing in the race caught up and passed him. Star simply enjoyed the rest of the run, he knew that he was going to take last but he was fine with that.

After a long run he finally saw the finish line. He approached and passed the finish line and heard a roar of cheers as he was swept over into a crowd of ponies "Congratulations! You won the race!"

Star was stunned, everypony else had passed him "How? I was in last place!" he said incredulously

"No you weren't silly! You took first!" Pinkie said happily

"But everypony passed me! I saw them!" he said in disbelief

"Well you were the first pony to pass the finish line so here is your medal!" Mayor Mare said happily giving him a golden medal

"That means something bad must have happened to everypony else" Star commented "Pinkie, let's get into the balloon and search for everypony else"

They got into the balloon and flew above the woods looking for the missing race ponies, they finally found them, they were running the wrong way through the woods, they somehow got turned around and were running back to the starting line. They approached the crowd in the balloon "HEY! YOU PONIES ARE GOING BACKWARDS!" Star shouted

All of the ponies stopped and turned to see Pinkie and Star in the weather balloon "What are ya doin in that thing and not in the race?" Applejack asked

"You ponies must've taken a wrong path and gotten turned around, we figured that out and came to tell you" he explained ignoring the question

Hearing this all of the ponies turned back around and started to run the correct path. Star and Pinkie went back to the finish line and waited.

After about another 20 minute wait the other ponies came into sight. Star heard Pinkie and Spike commentating again "Rainbow Dash is in the lead, no Applejack, no Rainbow Dash, no Applejack" she said as they went back and forth

They passed the finish line in what appeared to be a tie "It's a tie!" Pinkie confirmed

"Are you serious! Again!" Rainbow said in frustration

"At least we both got first" Applejack said happily

"That's where you are wrong" Star objected

"What place did we get then" Rainbow said reluctantly

"You both got second" he answered

"Who got first?" They said simultaneously

"I did" he said simply

"HOW!" Rainbow said in surprise "Everypony passed you!"

"I was the only one who didn't take the wrong path" he explained

"How did ya know what path ta take in the first place?" Applejack asked

"I found a map of the course we were supposed to run from a book in the library and memorized the path" he answered

"Ugggghhhhhhh! You sound like Twilight!" Rainbow said in frustration

"Is that such a bad thing?" Twilight said walking up to her friends, followed by Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie

"It isn't a bad thing, it is just annoying" Rainbow admitted

"So, how did you girls take the wrong path anyway?" Star asked

"Well, I think it was when we got to the fork in the road with the arrow sign" Rainbow thought out loud "Somepony must have put the arrow pointing in the wrong direction"

"That would make sense, I didn't follow the path with the arrow pointing towards it because I still had the map and path memorized" Star said

They talked for a bit before there was a lull in the conversation "Now what?" Twilight asked

"Pinkie, as I promised I am going to go and eat a LOT of those pudding cupcakes, I will see you girls later" he said leaving to go to Sugarcube Corner

When he arrived Pinkie was at the counter, she had somehow gotten there before him, but he decided not to question it "Alright Pinkie, I have a pouch full of bits and a craving for those cupcakes"

Four hours, two hundred cupcakes and an eating contest later Star was laying on the floor beside Pinkie rubbing his stomach "I can't believe I almost ate as many cupcakes as you, and that I thought it would be a good idea"

"You still did good, you ate two hundred of them, I ate two hundred twenty three" she said happily "and that is something to be proud of, nopony eats as many sweets as I do"

Just then their other five friends walked in the door to see Star on the ground without his hood on rubbing his stomach with his hoof and Pinkie doing almost the exact same thing "What happened? Did the cakes leave the sweets pantry unlocked again?" Twilight asked

"Cupcake eating contest" Star answered

"Two contests in one day? What are ya the new Rainbow Dash?" Applejack teased

"He isn't awesome enough to be the new me" Rainbow said defiantly

Twilight rolled her eyes "Who won?"

"Pinkie did" Star answered

"How many more cupcakes did she eat than you?" Rainbow asked

"Twenty three" he answered

"Only twenty three?" Twilight asked incredulously "How many cupcakes did you two eat?"

"I ate two hundred and twenty three, he ate two hundred" Pinkie answered

"You ate two hundred cupcakes!" Twilight asked Star

"Yes, and I will never be eating anything else ever again EVER" he emphasized "Why are you only surprised by me eating that much? Pinkie ate more than me" he asked

"We've come to expect that from Pinkie, but we have never seen another pony who has eaten that many sweets" Rarity responded

"There is a first time for everything" he said rolling himself over to stand up "What were you girls all doing here? You don't usually travel around in a full group unless something bad happened" he paused "Did something bad happen?"

"No, we were going to invite you two to a picnic to celebrate the race, but I can see that neither of you would want to after that" she explained

Pinkie suddenly jumped into the air "I would LOVE to go to a picnic" she seemed unaffected by the cupcakes anymore

"I appreciate the offer, but I am just going to go home and try to put that telescope together again" he said

"You couldn't put it together yesterday?" Fluttershy asked

"I wasn't entirely paying attention to it" he admitted

"Why were you distracted? Worrying that you were going to lose to me in the race?" Rainbow asked

"No, I just found the key to the box" Star said as if it were no big deal

"WHAT! AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?" Twilight yelled

"I found it last night, I haven't had a chance to tell you till now" Star said slowly

"What was in the box?" Pinkie asked "was it a present? I love presents! What was it?"

"It was a picture and a golden heart shaped pendant" he explained

"A picture of what?" Twilight asked

"Me as a child, Starswirl, and two other ponies I don't recognize" he explained finally starting to feel better after his cupcake binge

"Wait, how do you have a picture of that? Camera's were invented a hundred years ago not a thousand" Twilight questioned

"I have no idea" he admitted

"Can we see the picture?" Rarity asked

"Sure" he answered reaching into his saddlebag and grabbing the box. He opened it and brought out the picture "here it is"

Twilight grabbed the picture and they all looked at it "Awwwww" they all said simultaneously

"You used to be so cute!" Fluttershy commented absentmindedly

"Ummmm…. Thanks?" Star said awkwardly, not knowing how to handle this particular situation

Realizing what she said Fluttershy hid in her mane and turned a bright crimson "This picture is much clearer than most, how was it taken?" Twilight asked nopony in particular

"I have no idea" Star said as he took the picture and put it back into the box.

"Maybe she was your mother?" Pinkie guessed

"Maybe, but if she is then I had a brother" Star said

"So now that this mystery is solved, we only have one thing left to do, decipher what we can from the journals" Twilight said

"I guess so, well you girls enjoy your picnic" Star said leaving to go home.

He found it slightly hard to walk while full of cupcakes, especially two hundred of them, so he walked at a very slow and monotonous pace the whole way home. He finally arrived but it had taken him an hour and a half to get there.

He walked into his home and lay down in his bed to think. "What am I going to do now?" he thought about it for a moment before deciding "I guess there is nothing else I can do but try to decipher the books and be patient"

He started to try and decipher the books again before a thought came to him "What if there is something I missed in what I have already deciphered?"

So he read back through what he had already deciphered and found that he hadn't missed anything "Oh well, it was worth a try"

He then tried again to decipher the books, learning how the amulet did spells he decided to try it as it had been explained "Alright books, I want you to translate into Equestrian text from your rune text" he then thought of the rune's changing into letters, and sure enough he felt his magic transferring into one of the books.

He then flipped through Starswirls journal expectantly looking for something new, he found nothing so he turned over to his own journal hopefully and opened the book. He flipped through pages of runes before he finally came to a page that was translated into Equestrian text, it read

Today was a strange day, at first I thought that somepony had figured out my secret, but it turned out that the secret they found out was just that I could see in the dark, for a while there I thought that I would have to go into hiding. Starswirl was furious and my mother was in a panic, if anypony found out my secret there would be a reckoning to pay.

Star stared at the passage in his book "Great, just great, now I have another thing I have to find out, except now it's some secret of mine"

He decided to press his luck and once again tried to decipher something out of the journals and surprisingly enough he actually deciphered two more things, one more page out of his journal and one more out of Starswirls.

Reading through Starswirls it was a very similar passage to the one he had just read, but instead Starswirl stated how he was angry and if anypony actually found out about the secret then there would probably be a war.

He then read through the other page he had deciphered and it looked like a recipe of some sort, under it he read

This is the recipe that my mother taught me today, it is the family recipe for our sweet and sour pie, I love this pie so much, I just got through eating about a hundred of them!

Note to self for the future, eating more than one pie will cause an addiction to it, even an obsession, now I have to go and get more

Star chuckled to himself about this, he would have to make some tomorrow, maybe if he loved it enough he would remember more about his past. Resining for the night he put the books away and went to sleep.

Ch 23: The Recipe

Once again Star found himself with too many responsibilities, especially since the snow had started to fall, because ponies spent a lot of time inside on their sofas enjoying the fire and warmth of their homes a lot of ponies decided that they would like replacements, and that is where Star came in.

For an entire month Star was busy doing this, he spent so much time in the store that he had just brought a giant stack of books from the library to read, which he ended up reading about twenty books each week, seeing as he spent about 10 hours in the store each day.

From this month of work, he ended up making somewhere around 2000 bits, which was a lot of bits. At the end of the week in the last week of the month he received a package from Davenport, it read

Hey kid, Hearth's warming day is coming up in a few days, with this letter is a pouch containing 500 bits, think of it as your Hearth's warming bonus. Also, your work is done until the snow melts so enjoy your time off.

Davenport

Star looked at the letter then at the pouch, he really didn't know what to do with the money that he already had, along with the 2000 that he made that month, plus this 500, plus the other 1500 that he had from other pay days, he had 4000 bits plus the bag full of platinum bits that was worth 50,000 bits, he was rich and had nothing to do with any of it "I guess it pays off to be the only employee of a company" he thought happily

He stared outside at the snowfall, he discovered that he loved the snow, so much so that he had to be told on more than one occasion to go home or go inside before he froze to death.

Star chuckled to himself and took a drink of some hot chocolate that he had made for himself. His eyes wandered until they came upon a certain pie on his counter, he had ended up making the sweet and sour pie, and he understood the foot note in his journal about being obsessed with it, it was one of the best things he had ever eaten.

He limited himself to one piece every few days, which proved to be very challenging to him, seeing as he loved it so much, but he did not want to become obsessed with it so he had to keep with his procedure.

Star had a problem, he was bored, he had absolutely nothing to do, he found himself in this situation one too many times, so he picked up reading books, but even that didn't keep him occupied enough, he read the books too quickly and had to get more during that, he needed something to do with his days.

He heard a knock at the door, he opened it to find a shivering Pinkie Pie "Hi Star!" she said happily

"Hello Pinkie, please come in" he said standing aside to let her walk in "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company"

"Oh, well I haven't seen you in about a month, none of us have, so I decided to come and see if you were okay!" she said cheerfully

"As of today, I have until the snow melts for time off, so I won't be so busy anymore for a while" he explained

"That's great! Now you will have time to hang out with the six of us and we can pull pranks and have snowball fights and have fun!" she said excitedly before her eyes dropped upon the pie on the counter "What's that?"

Star looked at her then to the pie "That is sweet and sour pie, apparently it is a family recipe of mine" he answered

"Can I try some?" she asked with a bright smile

"Sure, but I have to warn you, it is terribly addicting" he warned her

"I will be fine" she reassured him

She walked over to the pie and took a piece that was already cut out then ate it whole. Her expression was blank, she gave off no emotion, she simply stared at the pie. After a few seconds of this she suddenly ate the whole pie in one bite "THIS IS THE BEST PIE EVER!" she yelled in excitement "I HAVE TO HAVE MORE!"

"Sorry Pinkie, you just ate the rest of it for the month, I am only making one once a month" Star said apologetically, he knew how she felt

"WHY! SOMETHING THIS GOOD CAN'T BE PUT TO WASTE! WE HAVE TO MAKE MORE!" she demanded

"This is the reason that I am not making any more, it supposedly makes you obsessed with it" he explained

"I'm not obsessed with it, I just want more, that is all" she said seemingly back to normal

"I'm sorry Pinkie, but no" Star stood his ground

"Than at least give me the recipe! I have to have more!" she pleaded

"I can't it's a family recipe" he apologized again

"Please!" she pleaded again

"No, now if you will excuse me, I am going to go to the library and get more books to read" he said indifferently

Pinkie followed him the whole way back pleading him until they arrived at the library where Twilight, Rarity and Applejack were speaking among themselves "Hi girls" Star greeted

"Hello Star" Twilight greeted

"Please!" Pinkie asked again

"No" Star said again for he didn't know how many times

"What is she asking?" Rarity questioned

"She wants the recipe to some pie that I made, but it is a family recipe" he explained

"PLEASE!" Pinkie asked again

"Why don't ya just make her some then?" Applejack asked

"Because I am only making one pie a month" he explained

"Why?" she asked

"Because apparently ponies get obsessed with the pie if they eat too much of it" he answered

"I doubt there is such a pie that would make a pony become obsessed" Rarity scoffed

"Regardless, I just came to get some books" he walked over to the section of the library he had left off on, he decided to just take a few books from a section each time until he was finished with them all, instead of just randomly going through them all and not knowing what he had and hadn't read

"PLEASE!" Pinkie pleaded once more

"No Pinkie, it is a family recipe, and it is going to stay that way" he said resolutely

Pinkie got a shine in her eyes and tackled Star "Marry me!" she yelled

"PINKIE!" Twilight shouted

"Get off me" Star said in a slightly frustrated tone

"Not until you agree to marry me so that I can have that recipe! I mean because I love you" she said quickly

"That isn't going to work, now get off" he repeated

"Alright, now I have to try some of this pie if it drove Pinkie to proposing to you" Rarity said with wide eyes

"Ah agree, ah think that this whole dang thing’s stupid but ah have ta taste this "amazing" pie" Applejack agreed

"Fine, I will make some of the pie, but you all have to Pinkie promise not to beg me to make more, or try to marry me for the recipe" Star said half jokingly

They each in turn did the pinkie promise and recited it "Good, now get Fluttershy and Rainbow too, I will meet you girls back here in an hour, I will make them Pinkie swear too, so don't get any funny ideas" he threatened

Surely enough an hour later Star returned with the pie and made Fluttershy and Rainbow Pinkie swear, it was a cream pie, not a conventional oven baked pie, from the top it looked like a simple banana cream pie "This is what Pinkie has been obsessing over?" Rarity asked

"Yes" Star said simply cutting out a piece of the pie for each of them and putting it on the nearby table "Now, dig in" he said reluctantly

They all at first took a small bite, besides Pinkie who ate the whole thing in one bite. Applejack was the first to react, she then quickly scarfed down the rest of her piece, followed by Twilight who just shoved the whole piece into her mouth making her mouth puff up, then the rest of them each excitedly ate their piece until there was none left.

Rainbow looked annoyed "Why did I agree to Pinkie promise and not beg you to make more"

"Now that was some delicious pie" Applejack said with a burp

"I agree, I see why Pinkie was pestering you about the recipe now" Rarity admitted

"That was um, very delicious" Fluttershy said

"That was THE. BEST. PIE. EVER" Pinkie said hopping up and down

"This is certainly the best pie I have ever eaten, but it tastes strangely familiar" Twilight commented

"Now that that's settled, I am going to get going now, it was nice seeing you all again" Star smiled he turned to the window and saw his reflection, his eyes widened "How long has my hood been off?" he asked curiously

"All day" Pinkie said

"All day?" he said incredulously

"When I saw you this morning you weren't anyway" Pinkie shrugged

"All day? Nopony even said anything to me" he thought to himself

"Probably because nopony really cared" Pinkie answered his thought

"Wait what?" Star said in disbelief "I was just thinking- and you- but then- and I- but- Huh?"

"It's just Pinkie being Pinkie" Twilight remarked

"Okay, anyway as I was saying, I will see you all later" he said leaving with the books that he had picked out

Star walked through the streets absent mindedly, he had nothing to do at home either way. His mind wandered to what he would be doing for the rest of his Hearth's warming break "Wait how do ponies celebrate Hearth's warming day?"

He questioned this but it was interrupted by the giggling of a nearby group of ponies, mares, to be more specific, he looked over at them which caused them to giggle even more. He ignored this and went along his path before he was stopped by one of the mares "Excuse me, are you new in town? I don't think we've met, I am Junebug" she said to him with a strange tone and a weird look on her face

She was a yellow pony with an orange curly mane, it also had a very light orange line going through it "I'm not very new in town, I have been here for about four or five months now, I am Midnight Star by the way. You may have heard of me, I am also called the ghost who haunts Canterlot, the idiot who was stupid enough to challenge Pinkie Pie to a cupcake eating contest and the winner of the Running of the Leaves competition this year"

She laughed at his explanation and once again wore the strange look on her face as she did earlier "That scar you have makes you look rugged, and daring" she commented

"That's a new one" he joked

"So, what happened to your horn?" she asked curiously

"I don't know" he said honestly

"How could you not know?" she said in disbelief

"I have little to no memory of who I was before five months ago" he explained

"I am so sorry, is there anything I can do to make you feel better?" she asked in that strange tone again, along with the strange face she kept making

"It's okay, thanks for the offer though" he said happily walking away

He looked over his shoulder to see Junebug return to the small group of mares and she started talking excitedly gesturing over to Star he simply shrugged and walked away. Once he rounded the corner he was approached by Rarity "What was that?" she asked

"What was what?" he said confused

"That whole deal with Junebug" she pressed

"She asked if I was new in town, said something about my scar being rugged or something and if there was anything she could do to make me feel better about my horn and losing my memory, and she kept talking weird and making a strange face" he explained

"She was obviously flirting with you" Rarity pointed out

"Flirting?" Star said questioningly

"Trying to get your attention in a way, just a more romantic way" she explained

"I still don't understand, why would she want to get my attention romantically?" he asked

"You are naïve and as thick as a rock" Rarity said shaking her head "She was hinting that she was interested in you and would like to date you possibly"

"Oh" he said in realization his face turning slightly red

"I am going to just put this as bluntly as possible" she paused "There may be quite a few mares pursuing your feelings now that ponies can see your face because, firstly, you are quite handsome, you also have the rugged look because of your scar and the sympathy factor because most mares would feel bad about your horn, you also would have their attention regardless because of how few stallions there are in town, so that helps too" she explained

"And if ponies were to suddenly figure out that I am wealthy because of the platinum that Starswirl left me?" he asked

"Then that would be another factor to make mares want you more" she said simply

Star looked at the ground and murmured "I liked it better when ponies didn't know what I looked like"

"Why?" Rarity asked barely hearing what he had said

"I don't like attention, I'm not very social, the most ponies I have socialized with at once were you, the other girls, Macintosh and Spike" he explained

"At least ponies don't know that you are the son of Starswirl the bearded, then you would be famous, rich, handsome, nice, and a gentlecolt, the perfect stallion" Rarity said dreamily

"But I'm not any of that, I'm not going to be famous because I don't want anypony to know about my past besides myself, I may be rich for now, but I will probably give it all away, I am clumsy, I don't consider anypony else's feelings on anything, and I am not a gentlecolt as far as I know" he retorted

"You are a gentlecolt, you are also humble" she said before shaking her head "What was I out here for again?" she thought out loud

"I don't know" he said curiously "What were you out here for?"

"I remember now! I had to bring a letter to Derpy to send out, I am ordering more fabric" she said walking away

Star watched her leave and continued his walk through town looking for something to do. He found nothing so he finally gave up and went home to read out of the books he had gotten from Twilight

When he got to his house Rainbow was standing in front of his door "Is there something I can help you with?" he asked

"Nope" she said simply

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" he asked

"Why do you need me to move out of the way?" she asked

"So I can get into my home" he responded

"You don't need to get into your house" Rainbow said "You can just stay out here and enjoy the nice cold air"

"Move or I will move you" Star said flatly

"Just try it!" Rainbow said defiantly

Star then levitated her up and away from the door. He walked in to see things thrown everywhere and three ponies searching through his home, he saw Pinkie, Twilight and Applejack "May I ask what you girls are doing?"

"We weren't looking for the pie recipe!" Pinkie said quickly before clamping her hooves on her mouth

"Well good luck with that, because it isn't here" he said knowingly

"Where is it then?" Twilight asked

"You don't need to know that, if I tell you then you will look for it another time" he explained

"Sorry" Applejack apologized

"It's okay" he said cheerfully

"Where is it anyway?" Pinkie asked

"It is in my old journal" he answered

"Where's that?" Twilight asked

"It's with the box, Starswirl's journal, and the bag of platinum, in a place where you girls will never find it" he explained

"Hey Star, quick question, completely unrelated to the current situation, where is that box? I was wondering what those ponies in the picture looked like again" Pinkie asked

"I will show you the picture another time" he said putting his sofa back right side up

"I might have an idea who they are, but I have to see the picture again" she pursued

"Look, Pinkie, I make the pie once a month, you can all come by and get a piece then" he said cutting to the chase

"A whole month? That is too long!" she said in a whine

"Tell you what, I will make two pies on those days so that you can eat even more of the pie" Star offered

"Fine, but I will be here first thing in the morning in exactly one month from now!" she said in a defiant promise as she left and slammed the door

Star turned to Twilight and Applejack "I had a question, how do ponies celebrate Hearth's warming day?"

"It is a day to spend time with family and friends, to exchange gifts and enjoy each other's company" Twilight explained

"Sounds like fun, when is it anyway?" he asked

"In two days" she answered

"That's nice to know" he said simply

"Do ya need any help cleanin?" Applejack offered

"No thanks, I will clean it" he said

"Well, I better be goin now, g'bye Twi, g'bye Star" she said before she left

"I'd better be out of here too, I will see you later" Twilight said cheerfully before she left

After all of his company had left he had put all of his efforts into cleaning up his house, it took him another hour to clean it all up. He sighed as he finally finished, they had made quite a mess trying to find the pie recipe.

Star found himself doing what he was doing that same morning, he was drinking some hot chocolate and enjoying the day as it was. After finishing the hot chocolate he picked up one of the many books that he had picked up from the library.

The particular book he had chosen to read was about Discord, it explained how Discord had ruled over Equestria with an iron fist for a long time, until Luna and Celestia discovered the elements of harmony and imprisoned him in a stony prison, freeing all of the ponies across Equestria from his rule.

"Wait, Discord was created by Starswirl, he didn't rule over Equestria as far as I can tell, where did such a story come from?" He contemplated this thought for a few moments before deciding that it was probably some pony who just wanted to be known for his opinion on the story.

Star looked out the window thinking over the events of the day, deciding that tomorrow, he would go out and find presents for his friends.

Ch 24: Gifts

Star found himself hanging from the roof of Carousel Boutique with his hooves tied behind his back and he saw four ponies out of the corner of his eyes, but he couldn't figure out who they were. He felt bruises developing on his body and he didn't know what was going on, to try and figure out the situation, he thought back over what he had done that day
Earlier that day

Star had spent the majority of his morning thinking of what to get his friends for Hearth's warming eve, he could almost literally think of nothing, so instead of gifts, he thought about the attributes of his friends hoping something would come to him.

Thinking of nothing, he decided to explore Ponyville searching for ideas. Ponyville was quite peaceful during the day now; most ponies were inside their homes enjoying the fire or in small groups enjoying the snow. His eyes wandered around some shops that he passed by until his eyes fell upon a jewelry store "I know, I can buy something for Rarity here, she seems like she would like jewelry"

He walked into the store hopefully, but left in disappointment, he couldn't find anything there that he thought that Rarity would want. So he once again went on his way to find something to buy them. As he left the store he was approached by Pinkie Pie "Hey Star, what ya doin?" she asked

Not wanting to let her know that he was looking for gifts for them, he quickly thought up an excuse "I was just….. um….. wandering around doing nothing" he said nervously

"Are you sure that was all you were doing?" Pinkie said her face getting closer to Star's

"Yes….. yep that is what I was doing" he said nodding his head

Pinkie's squinted her eyes "Okie dokie" she then hopped off on her way doing whatever she was before she approached him.

When she finally got out of sight he let out a loud sight that he didn't know he was holding in "That was a close one"

He started off on his journey once again looking for a good gift for his friends. Doubling back he decided to buy a big jewel for Spike. He emerged from the store with a bright green emerald the size of a pony's head, he had gotten it for a good price because he had bought such a huge gem, it had cost him around 300 bits.

He continued to search through town until he came upon a peculiar building; it had a large sign that said Event tickets sold here he thought about it for a moment before deciding to see if they had Wonderbolts tickets or something of the sort.

He walked in to the building to see an almost empty building, save the pony at the main counter. He approached the mare to see that it was Derpy hooves "Derpy? You work for this store too?" he asked

"Yep, can't only make a living on mail delivery" she said cheerfully "So, is there anything I can help you with?" she asked

"I was looking about buying two Wonderbolts tickets" he asked

"Why two? Do you have a special mare in mind?" she asked slyly

"I am giving them to a friend for Hearth's warming eve, I am getting two so that she can take a friend too" he answered

"Alright" she said walking into the back room of the building. She reemerged from the other room holding two almost solid gold looking tickets "These are all we have left, they are Deluxe VIP Tickets"

"Alright" he answered taking out his pouch of bits

"Don't you care how much they are?" she asked curiously

"Oh, sure, how much?" he asked

"Two hundred a ticket" she answered

"Okay" he said counting out the bits

Derpy looked at his bag of bits "Where do you work?" she asked incredulously

"I work at Quills and Sofas, surprisingly enough, I am the first pony who ever even wanted a job there" he answered sliding the appropriate amount of bits across the counter to her

"How many bits do you make there a month?" she asked

"About two hundred or so a week, so about 600 bits a month" he answered

"That isn't much, seems kind of cheap if you ask me" she said in a conspiratorial tone

"I also get twenty five percent of every sofa that we sell" Star added

"Oh, well I guess it isn't as bad as it seems" she said setting the tickets onto the counter for him "Here are your tickets"

"Thanks, see you later" he said leaving the store

"Oh, and Star?" she said just before he left "Thanks for not making fun of my eyes, most ponies don't say anything to me directly, but I’ve heard the rumors about it and most ponies treat me differently, but you haven't, you treat me like a normal pony, so thank you" she smiled after she said this

After Star left the store he thought about Derpy's eyes "What is wrong with her eyes? Is it because they’re yellow?"

He didn't notice where he was going when he accidentally knocked into Twilight, who also wasn't looking where she was going "Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going" he apologized

"Neither was I" Twilight admitted

"Twilight, you’re an observational pony, I was speaking to Derpy a little bit ago, she said that ponies made fun of her because of her eyes, I didn't notice anything, is it because they are yellow?" he asked

Twilight stared at him in shock "You didn't notice that her eyes aren't exactly straight?" she asked

Star gave her a questioning look "That? That's the reason that ponies treat her differently and make fun of her?"

"I don't see why ponies would make fun of her for it either" Twilight sighed

"I didn't even notice, I don't see why other ponies would pay much attention to it either" he said shaking his head

"Where did you speak to Derpy?" Twilight asked changing the subject

"Oh just around….. by the way, it seemed unlike you to be scavenging for the pie recipe yesterday, why were you?" he asked changing the subject again

Twilight looked ashamed "It tasted familiar to me and I was hoping that seeing the recipe would help jog my memory, I hate not being able to remember something, it drives me crazy"

"That's okay, I just wanted to know why, now if you will excuse me, I have business to take care of" he said leaving Twilight to continue whatever she had been doing

He then crossed Rainbow off of his mental gift list, now he didn't have to worry about a present for Rainbow or Spike, but he had better drop his presents off before he got over encumbered and his gifts were seen by his friends.

Focusing he tried to teleport to his home, without success, he tried to teleport just a short distance, which also didn't work, so he tried to levitate a nearby clump of snow, which also didn't work "What happened to my magic?" he couldn't come up with a rational answer so decided to address the matter later

He walked back to his house feeling as if he was being watched; he kept glancing behind his shoulder to see if there was somepony following him, but to no avail. He soon arrived at home and dropped off the giant emerald and the Wonderbolts tickets; before he left he decided to hide them in the small hole underneath his home just in case Pinkie came around to look for the recipe one more time.

When he had been building his home he had failed to notice a small lowering in the ground beneath the flooring, so now there was a hole about three feet wide and two feet down under his house. After finding the hole he decided that it was too late to deal with it so he just loosened the boards above it and until then hadn't found a use for it.

He placed the two gifts in a cloth and put it into the small hole before covering it up and heading back to ponyville. When he arrived he saw Applejack selling warm apple cider at a stand near the town square. He approached her and struck up a conversation, after he bought some of the cider of course. The conversation soon came to how the Apple family's business was picking up and they needed more land for the fields, but they didn't even out enough profits this year to afford it, so they were going to do it next year.

This gave Star his idea for their gift, he would buy the Apple family two more acres of land, one as a gift to Applejack and one as a gift to Big Macintosh "I have to get going, I have business to attend to"

"Star before ya leave, ah have to apologize for yesterday, ah over reacted. Ah thought ah tasted apple in the pie, but Rainbow denied this and said there wasn't, so ah agreed to look for it to prove her wrong, it was wrong of me" she apologized

"It's okay, no harm done" he said with a smile

Star went on his way and eventually found his way to the city hall, where he would ask Mayor Mare about buying two more acres for the Apple family. He arrived in the building and saw a desk with a bored looking earth pony. She was a white pony with a black mane that was tied back into a bun "Can I help you?" she asked

"I would like to speak with Mayor Mare about purchasing some land" he asked

"Sure, one second" she walked into the room behind herself for a few moments before emerging from it "Go right in"

Star walked into the building and saw Mayor Mare at a desk similar to the one just outside that same room "Can I help you?" she asked

"I am looking to buy some land, two acres along the side of Sweet Apple acres land specifically" he explained

"Why?" she asked

"I am buying it as a present to Applejack and Big Macintosh, Applejack passingly mentioned how they need to buy more land" he explained

"Do you know how much an acre costs?" she asked

"Nope" he said with a shrug

"Five hundred bits per acre" she explained

"That is a lot, but I can afford it" he said taking out his bag of bits that was quickly draining, after this he only had 2300 left of the 4000 he started with

Mayor Mare then took out a slip of paper and started to write on it "Two acres on which side?" she asked

"On the north end of the acres" he answered

She started to write on the paper again then asked "And you want this land signed off to the Apple family, right?" she asked

"Yes" he answered

She stopped writing and hoofed him the piece of paper "Here you go, I bet this will make them very happy"

Star thanked her and left, putting the slip of paper in his bag. As he crossed Applejack off his mental checklist he saw the Cutiemark Crusaders staring at him intently, acting as if they were hiding "May I help you girls?" he asked

"Aahh! Abort mission, abort mission! The target has seen us!" Applebloom yelled as they all ran out of sight

"That was strange" he commented before leaving to find more gifts

He was still wandering around town before he came upon a pet store, where right in the window he saw one of the cutest kittens he had ever seen, it was still very small, which he assumed meant that it was still very young, maybe two or so weeks old. It was white with a small brown spot around its eye, and its eyes were a very deep sky blue.

He walked into the shop deciding that if he was going to get Fluttershy a gift, then it should be something that she loves, and as far as he knew, that consisted of animals and plants, but he saw the kitten before a plant, also it was much cuter than any plant he had ever seen.

Star walked in and saw a unicorn standing at a service counter that had containers with pets around it. "Hello, can I help you with anything?" he asked

The pony standing at the counter was a dark blue with a white mane that had a very light blue almost grey streak going through it "I was wondering about that kitten in the window" Star asked

"That poor little kitten was born about a month ago, his mother died when she gave birth to him and his two sisters, the sisters are gone to good families and now he is all that is left" the other pony said in disappointment

"I was wondering about buying him" Star said cheerfully

"I am so happy about that!" he said in excitement rushing over to the window to grab the kitten

"How much for him?" Star asked

"He is free, just because you were kind enough to get him to a nice home before Hearth's warming day, we were all worried that he wouldn't ever get to a nice home" he smiled

"Alright, I would also like to buy some cat food" Star asked

"What size?" the other pony asked

"The biggest" Star said happily

"Alright" he said reluctantly

After a few moments he came out with a bag of cat food that was larger and wider than Star, it was about two heads taller than him "That's a lot of cat food" he said in awe

"That will be eighty bits" he asked

Star took out his pouch of bits and paid the pony "So, how are you going to be carrying this?" the other pony asked

"Will you be able to hold the kitten and the food here for the day? I will be back for them later today, the cat is a surprise for a friend" Star asked

"Who?" asked the blue pony

"Fluttershy" Star responded

He sighed in relief "Then I know he is going to a good home"

"Thanks, goodbye" Star said leaving to continue his adventure for gifts

He went over the list in his head "I have gotten a gift for Spike, Rainbow, Applejack and Macintosh, and now Fluttershy. Next I have to find something for Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity"

He didn't have to go very far to find where he would look next; he found an antique store almost next door to the pet store. He walked in thinking to find something for Twilight, she didn't only like reading books, she also liked things that peaked her interest, so he would either find something interesting with a strange back story, or an interesting book.

He wandered aimlessly through shelves full of seemingly random items. Eventually he came upon a very large tome, he wouldn't have paid it any mind but on the front was an illustration of what looked like a very large tree.

Upon further inspection he found that the book was a biography of some of the greatest magicians in Equestrian history, this wouldn't have been very interesting if the entire volume wasn't all of autobiography's.

Taking the book he brought it to the main counter and bought it, it was only 20 bits. Once again he made his way back to his home and dropped off the gifts. While walking back to Ponyville he got a brilliant idea for what to give Pinkie, he would send her on a scavenging hunt for a secret buried treasure, which would turn out to be a chest completely filled with pastry's. He smiled at the thought; Pinkie would go insane about it. Now he just had to find a gift for Rarity.

Before he went to find her gift though, he decided to ask Twilight about his not being able to use magic. When he arrived at the library Twilight was wearing a brown cloak, it was shorter than Star's by a lot, and speaking at a mirror "Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?"

"What are you doing?" he asked causing her to jump into the air in surprise

"I was practicing my lines for the Hearth's warming eve play" she explained "What are you doing here?"

"I had a question to ask you, I was trying to use some magic earlier, but it wasn't working, is there a reason for that?" he asked

Twilight gave him a curious look "Have you tried to levitate anything?" she asked

"Yes, it didn't work" he answered

"Try again" she asked

Star turned to a book on a table near the end of the room and tried to levitate it, but nothing happened "See? Nothing" he said disappointed

"One second" she said using her magic to scan him just as she did when they had first met "There is nothing different about you now than there was then, except your magic isn't as strong as before, did something happen?" she asked

"Not that I can think of" he said while in deep thought

"What about the amulet, does it have any side effects? Or maybe I didn't check close enough for your magic last time…." she questioned

Star thought about it for a moment before he came to a realization, he scoffed the idea at first, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense "What if I didn't have any magic to begin with? I think I may have just been using magic that was being stored in the amulet, maybe that is what Discord has been blocking, my magic" Star suggested

Twilight stared at him "That… that actually makes sense" she said in realization "It would explain your magic not working and why you had to focus on using the magic through the amulet instead of using the magic from yourself to the amulet" she thought out loud

"So, now I can't perform magic and… all that practice I did all of those months was worthless and didn't change anything, all it did was waste the magic" he said hitting his head against his hoof with an audible smack

"Well that must be disappointing" Twilight condoned him then her eyes widened "Now you can't decipher anything else in the books!"

Star groaned "Oh yeah….. now we have literally nowhere to go with this" he said in disappointment

Twilight hesitated and looked as if she had something to say, after a pause she suggested "We could ask Princess Celestia about it"

Star looked at her "I don't think that the princess will agree to an audience with me, she will probably not even let me into the castle"

"You could come with the six of us when we go to Canterlot for the Hearth's Warming Eve play tomorrow" she suggested

"That might work" he said with a smile "I will at least be able to give them their gifts on Hearth's warming day" he thought "But the princess still won't want to speak with me"

"It will be a surprise, we usually see the princess on Hearth's warming day, at least, I do, I spend the day with her and the others find something else to do with their time, at least, that is what we did last year, we started doing this last year." she explained

"Alright, sounds like a plan, I guess I will see you tomorrow in Canterlot" he said happily

"Won't you be riding in the carriage with us?" she asked

"That depends, when will you be leaving?" he asked

"In the morning" she answered "The play starts around six"

"I will be there before the play, but there is something I need to do first" he said as an excuse for him bringing the gifts without them knowing, mostly the kitten, seeing as it would be impossible to keep it quiet for a few hour long ride to Canterlot.
"Alright, I will see you tomorrow then" she said happily before turning back to the mirror and practicing her lines again

Star left the library in deep thought, for what he would get Rarity as a gift, for how Discord was blocking off his magic, and for how he was going to carry all of those gifts to Canterlot and keep them hidden from the others for the whole day.

He began to think of Rarity, he thought of what she liked and what she acted like, until it hit him like a train "She might like a nice dress!" he felt stupid for not thinking of it earlier

He made his way over to a shop that sold dresses, he browsed through everything but he found nothing that really caught his eye, in a last ditch attempt, he decided to go and buy her a dress when he was in Canterlot.

Star spent the next few hours setting up his Pinkie Pie scavenger hunt. When he was finally done he let out a sigh, his search ended in town under a bush near Sugarcube Corner. As he started to walk away something moved under him and he found himself hanging from a rope about eight feet off the ground, he panicked and looked around trying to see what happened, but that just made the rope snap, causing him to hit the ground and fall unconscious.
Present time

That brings it back to what was happening right then, nothing that happened that day could help him figure out what was happening. Suddenly the four figures in his peripheral vision started to shift and move towards him. He found that it was Pinkie and the Cutie Mark Crusaders "What were you doing all day today?" she asked pacing back and forth in front of him

"I can't tell you" he answered

"You were going all around town into stores and buying stuff, what were those tickets for huh? Were you just going to skip town or something?" she accused

"No, Pinkie look, I was buying gifts for you girls for Hearth's warming day, but you have to Pinkie promise not to say anything to anypony else, you too girls" he gestured towards the Cutiemark Crusaders

They all Pinkie swore and Star let out a sigh "Why am I hanging from the roof of Carousel Boutique?" he asked them

"We were going to interrogate you and thought it would be harder to find out what you were doing" Pinkie admitted

"Why were you girls helping her?" he asked

"We were trying to get our Cutiemarks in spying" Sweetiebelle answered

"Will you girls get me down, please?" Star asked

"Sure!" Pinkie said and immediately Star fell from the ceiling to the floor

"Wait, how….?" He questioned

Pinkie turned on the light revealing she had some scissors in her hooves and there was a rope that they had used right by her "Oh" he said simply "Well if there is nothing else, I will be going now, I will see you tomorrow at the play" he said as he left

Star anticipated Hearth's warming day, for on that day, he either learned the truth about his past, or he made an enemy of the ruler of Equestria.

Ch 25: Meetings and Snow

Star felt both good about today and anxious, he would be going to Canterlot today and seeing the Hearth Warming eve play, afterwards he would be spending the night in Canterlot, the next day, he would give his gifts to his friends and then the moment of truth would approach, he would confront Princess Celestia about his past.

Star smiled at the thought, on Hearth's warming day, everything would come to an end, either he would know who he was, or he would provoke the princess more until she banished him or something of the sort, this was going to certainly be very eventful.

He just kept going over this in his mind over and over again all morning; he didn't pay attention to almost anything else, short of seeing his friends off for their trip to Canterlot. He stood idly by as they each got ready to leave; they were all gathering in front of the train station, they would be taking a train to Canterlot.

"Are ya sure ya don't want ta just ride with us?" Applejack asked him

"Yep, I have business to take care of first" Star reassured her

Just then Pinkie came by dragging a very large and heavy looking suitcase "Could you help me with this Star?" she asked

He walked over to Pinkie and started to help her drag the suitcase "Not like that, with your magic" she explained

"I don't have any magic anymore" he said simply

Pinkie suddenly stopped and stared at him, so did all of their other friends except for Twilight "When did this happen?" Rarity asked

"Yesterday, my magic stopped working, I think I may not have been using my own magic anyway, I am pretty sure that I was just using the magic stored in the amulet. Twilight and I think that Discords magic may be blocking off my magic" he explained

"So the first thing you think of is that it was Discord, not something else? How could you possibly know that that's why you don't have any magic?" Rainbow asked

"I don't know, but that seemed the most logical explanation, I am a unicorn with no magic, and Discord just so happens to have some magical influence shielding something inside my subconscious, so until we find out the actual reason, I am going to guess that that's it" he explained

"Wait, without your magic you won't be able to decipher the journals anymore, what are you going to do now?" Fluttershy asked in sudden realization

"That is why I am going to go to Canterlot with you girls, I am going to confront Celestia about it and ask her what happened to me and who I was" he answered

The other ponies and baby dragon stared at him as if he were a crazy pony "Are you crazy? What if you upset her and she banishes you to the moon!" Pinkie said in surprise

"Yeah! That sounds like a bad idea" Spike agreed

"She wouldn't do that…. Would she?" Star asked worriedly

"No, that is just an old foals tale, she does not banish ponies to the moon for no good reason!" Twilight said slightly annoyed

"Looks like the train is waiting" Star said gesturing towards the train that had just pulled up to the station.

They all boarded the carriage and Star waved as they left; now he had to start his preparations for tonight.

His first stop was to go and rent a cart to carry the presents over to Canterlot. One hour a cart, a misunderstanding, and a complimentary cart rental later he was on his way to the pet shop to pick up the kitten and the pet food.

After getting the kitten and the cat food he stopped by his home and retrieved the items from the small hole where they were located. With only the kitten as his company he was on his way to Canterlot.

The walk there was uneventful until he came upon a large group of ponies surrounding a snow hill. As he got closer he saw that a few ponies were digging at the snow and there were some guilty looking Cutiemark Crusaders right by it "What happened here?" he asked them

"We were trying to get our demolitionist Cutiemarks and we kinda…. Sorta….. caused a teeny tiny bit of the smallest…" Sweetiebelle tried to explain

"Avalanche, we caused an avalanche" Scootaloo interjected bluntly

"I was getting to that" Sweetiebelle said shooting an annoyed look at Scootaloo

"And why are there ponies digging at the snow pile?" he asked

"There might've been one or two ponies there when it happened" Applebloom said carefully

"Have they found them yet?" he asked

"Nope" Scootaloo answered

Star turned away from the Cutiemark Crusaders and approached the snow pile; he then proceeded to walk across the top and dug at anything that rose above the relatively flat snowline. Eventually he came upon a pony whose shouts for help had been muffled until that moment "heeeeeellllp!" he heard just as he uncovered the pony

He looked down at the pony and saw that it was a unicorn mare "Are you okay?" he asked helping her out of the snow

Upon closer inspection he saw that the pony was blue with a silvery mane, she was wearing a hat and cape with star-like designs "I'm f-f-fine," she said between shivers "thanks Mr….?"

"Name's Midnight Star, pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms….?" He asked repeating her actions

"T-T-Trixie, known by m-most as The g-great and p-powerful Tr-Trixie" she said shivering again

"May I offer you some nice hot chocolate? My home isn't far from here" he offered

"T-that would be nice, m-m-may I ask where you live exactly?" she asked

"Ponyville" he responded

Suddenly she made a sour expression "Oh, you live T-THERE" she said with emphasis "d-don't you already know w-who I am?" she asked

"Nope, I moved in about 5 months ago, why, should people in Ponyville know you?" he asked

"Yes, I was h-humiliated during one of my shows by T-Twilight Sparkle, I had not thought that I would find such a t-talented pony in the audience, I usually go to a town and out show the local h-hotheads, but I was out shown and defeated, I even lost my c-cart, it took me up until about a month ago to get all of my equipment back" she said in an annoyed tone

"She is my friend, I am sure she just thought that you were some over confident bragging pony" he explained "she is a good pony, but nopony ever accused her of under reacting"

This earned a small chuckle from her "I guess I c-can understand that, I kind of h-humiliated her friends when they took my b-bait, I act over confident and act l-like I can out show anyp-pony, and when a pony is angry and trying to prove that they are b-better, they tend to mess up m-more, making it easier for me to best th-them, it didn't help when two of my f-fans brought an ursa minor to the town either" she said rolling her eyes

"So, would you like some of that hot chocolate or not? It will be a while before they get your cart out from under there and I can't get past until they uncover the road" he offered

She smiled "That would be nice"

When they got off of the tall hill of snow the Cutiemark Crusaders approached them "What are you doing hanging around HER" Scootaloo asked

"She is the pony that you girls hit with your avalanche" he answered

"We're sorry" they said with their trademark puppy dog eyes

Trixie looked at them in confusion "YOU caused the avalanche? How did you manage that?" she asked incredulously

"We might've sorta set off some dynamite at the top of the hill" Applebloom explained gesturing to a nearby hill

"Why?" she asked

"We were trying to get demolition Cutiemarks" Sweetiebelle explained

"I never asked, blowing up what?" Star questioned

"Just some boulders we found…" she answered

"And did you blow up the boulders?" he asked

"Kind of" she said reluctantly

"What happened to the boulders then?" he pressed

"They might've flown off in random directions and hit a few things, just a little bit" Applebloom demonstrated by holding her hooves very close together

"Did they hit anypony's property?" he asked

"Not that ah know of, one flew towards Everfree, one flew towards the road, and one flew towards….. Sweet Apple Acres!" she exclaimed running towards her farm

Star was about to follow when he remembered that he was going to get himself and Trixie some hot chocolate while they waited for her cart to be unburied, so he watched them rush off and went to get his cart.

The walk to his home was quiet until Trixie heard a faint meow from the cart "What is in there anyway?" she asked

"Presents for my friends, you probably heard the kitten that I got for Fluttershy" he explained

"Presents for what?" she asked

"Hearth's warming day" he answered

"I had forgotten that, it's tomorrow isn't it?" she guessed

"Yep" he said

They eventually arrived back at his home where for the next few hours they just drank hot chocolate, talked and ended up playing with the kitten. Star learned a lot about Trixie, she was an apprentice to a wizard pony who was very successful in his trade, he was also apparently very famous, his stage name was The Amazing Hoofdini.

He also told Trixie that he had no memory of his past, he refined from telling her about his being Starswirl's apprentice and son, seeing as he had just met her. Eventually there was a lull in the conversation "Well, I guess we can check and see if they got your cart out now" Star suggested

"Guess so" she agreed

Sure enough when they arrived back at the scene of the avalanche, the ponies had uncovered her cart and were asking around who's it was "It's mine" Trixie explained

After she was asked a few questions and given a few dirty looks from ponies who were crowding around the avalanche, which Star assumed they saw her when she first went to Ponyville, she was allowed to take her cart.

Trixie approached Star as he was getting ready to leave "Thanks for the hot chocolate" she said

"My pleasure" he said while hitching himself to the cart

"So, where are you going now?" she asked

"Canterlot" he answered

"Well, if I am ever in a town you are in, feel free to come and see one of my shows" she offered

"I would like that" he said happily

Trixie then said her farewell and went on her way. During that event he had lost a few hours before his traveling time, but it didn't matter, he wouldn't be doing anything in Canterlot until that night anyway. During his peaceful walk he suddenly heard a voice, but it sounded faint, almost from a distance.

He kept hearing it getting louder and louder until he could finally make out a faint "HEY STAR, WAIT UP!"

He turned to see what looked like Macintosh pulling a wagon. He waited and sure enough it was Big Macintosh pulling a wagon with the Cutiemark Crusaders and Granny smith in it "Howdy Star" Macintosh greeted

"Hey" he greeted "Where are you all headed?" he asked

"To Canterlot for the play of course, did ya think we would miss out sister's performance?" Applebloom asked

"No, it didn't occur to me" he said with a shrug of his shoulders "So, why are you walking like I am, instead of taking the train like the others did?" he asked

"The trains are done runnin fer today, so we usually just take this cart up" Macintosh explained

The rest of the walk Star and Macintosh walked side by side down the road making small talk. Eventually they came upon the place they were headed, they arrived in Canterlot. They said their farewells as Star went to find a hotel to sleep in for the night and Macintosh and the others left to find Applejack.

He wandered through town before eventually stumbling upon what he had been searching for, he found a hotel by the name of The Golden Horseshoe Hotel, it was a wide hotel instead of a large one, it had separate buildings off to the side for the hotel rooms, instead of inside the main building itself.

He walked in to find a white unicorn with a blonde mane standing at the counter in the front staring into a small mirror. Star approached him "Excuse me, I would like to rent a room" he asked

The other pony after hearing Star seemed much more interested in his mirror. After a few moments passed he asked "Do you have any available rooms?"

The other pony sighed "We have a few rooms available, if you want one, the deposit on the room is thirty bits a day"

Star pulled out his bag of bits and gave the pony the bits for the room. After waiting for a few moments he asked "Which room will I be staying in?"

The other pony sighed in annoyance "Do I have to do everything? I am a prince you know, I don't have to take this" he complained

"And I'm over a thousand years old, now which room is mine" Star said cheerfully

"I am serious! I am Prince Blueblood!" he said in defiance

"I believe you, so what is a prince like you doing in a hotel" Star inquired

"Well, if you must know, I apparently over reacted at last year’s gala and mistreated somepony, my parents found out and made me get a job to learn ethics and how to treat other ponies or something like that" he answered

"Sounds to me like you deserved it" Star said simply

"You annoy me" he said flatly

"The sooner you tell me which room is mine, the sooner I am out of your mane and out of your life" Star offered

He smiled at this "Room forty-six, now go away" he said giving Star the key and shooing him away

Star left the main building and brought his cart around to one of the nearby buildings. Eventually he came upon a door that said the number 46. He got into the room and brought each of the presents into it. After this he left to find himself and the kitten something to eat.

He returned an hour later with a can of tuna for the kitten, which he enjoyed a lot. Looking outside at the sun he saw that it was starting to set so he left on his way to find the theatre where the play was being held.

It wasn't that hard to find it, seeing as the streets were full of ponies heading for the same destination as him. When he finally got to the theatre he hurried to find a seat before the whole place got too packed up, he found a seat by Big Macintosh near the front.

Just as the last of the ponies filed into the theatre the lights dimmed and he saw Spike walk onto the stage. He gave an introduction explaining that a long time ago the three pony races didn't live in harmony and they all hated each other. Then the actual performance started and it told the story of Hearth's warming day.

After the curtains closed Star got up with everypony else and started to leave, until he was stopped by a blob of pink "Did you like it? Didyadidyadidyadidyadidya?" she asked bouncing up and down

"It was pretty nice, you were all very good" he complimented

Star started to leave again but was stopped by her once more "We are all going to Pony Joes for a snack, do you want to come with? I was actually sent to come and ask you"

"Um, sure, I guess, why not" he agreed

Pinkie grabbed his hoof and dragged him over to the dressing room, the entire way there she was saying something about cupcakes and donuts, and something or other about oatmeal, until they got to the dressing room, where he was quickly pushed back out "Pinkie what are you doing leading a colt into a mare's dressing room?" Rarity said shutting the door

"Um, Rarity? It doesn't really matter does it?" Applejack asked

"Yes! We aren't wearing any clothes!" she said incredulously

"Ummm Rarity, we don't normally wear clothes, we already went over this" Applejack pointed out

Rarity rolled her eyes "Fine you can come in"

Star walked into the dressing room and saw them all putting their costumes away "So, any particular reason Pinkie was sent to invite me to Pony Joes?" he asked

"Just thought it would be nice to invite you" Twilight said quickly

"I may not be the most observational pony, I am pretty thick, and I get distracted easily…. Wait, what was my point again?" he thought for a second "Oh yeah, I may not be the most observational pony, but I can tell from your answer that there is another reason"

"Was I really that obvious?" she asked before sighing in defeat "We have all been talking and, maybe it isn't such a good idea to confront Celestia about the situation, maybe you should just leave the situation alone and just live your life as it is right now"

"You know I can't do that, even if she does banish me to the moon" he said jokingly

"Well, now that that's settled, how was your trip here?" Rarity asked trying to change the subject

"Oh, well I met Trixie-" he started

"What! What was that big meanie doing back in Ponyville" Pinkie said in surprise

"Two things, first, she isn't a "big meanie" and second, she wasn't going to Ponyville, I don't know exactly where she was going, but it wasn't here or Ponyville" he explained

"What do you mean she isn't a big meanie! She made fun of us and acted like she was better than us!" Pinkie said in outrage

"That is what she does for her shows, it isn't all just illusions and explosions, she acts all boastful so that she can draw out some of the local hotheads and make a show of it" he explained

"So you're tryin ta tell us that that boastful foal of a pony was just actin?" Applejack asked

"Yep, spent a few hours with her today because the Cutiemark Crusaders buried her and her new caravan in an avalanche" he answered

"They did what?" Rarity asked in shock

"They were trying to get their demolition Cutiemarks" he explained

"Did anypony get hurt?" Applejack asked

"Nopony got hurt" he reassured her

"Well if that is all the invitation to Pony Joes was, then I guess I'm-" he was interrupted by the door opening

"Good show girls, you did just as good if not better than last-" Princess Celestia walked into the room and stopped speaking just as she saw Star "This was a nice visit, but I believe I should be going" she immediately turned back to the door

"Wait" Star stopped her "I need to talk to you"

"No you don't" she said in a nervous tone

The other ponies just stared in surprise "Star, you are making Princess Celestia nervous, PRINCESS CELESTIA!" Rainbow said in surprise

"No he isn't I just have to leave" she started to walk out the door again but Star stopped her

"Look either I confront you about this tomorrow, or now, your choice, get it over with now or on a day for celebration" he offered

"Star! You can't tell Princess Celestia what to do!" Twilight said in surprise

He ignored her "I have gone five months now, looking like this," he took his hood off for dramatic effect causing Celestia to gasp "and not knowing why, and when I actually got close, you prevented that, so I am here right now and I demand an explanation!" he said boldly

"You can't talk like that to the princess what's wrong with you!" Twilight said in surprise again

Celestia looked at the ground in shame "No, it's alright, he deserves an explanation, after all, it's my fault that this happened to him anyway"

Ch 26: Finally, Answers

Eight audible gasps were heard, one from each of his friends, including Spike, and one from not Star, but Princess Luna, who just walked into the door "Is this true Tia?" she asked

"Yes, I take full blame for everything that has happened to him" suddenly Celestia looked on the verge of tears, but she shook her head and took on a more calm look, though she still seemed slightly shaken up "When I placed that spell within your mind to block any further memories from arising, I also looked through the memories you have now and that you have remembered, I have to ask you one thing, do you really want to remember all of this," she gestured towards his face "you already have another life, do you really want to be haunted by memories of an old one?"

Star looked to the ceiling in thought for a moment "Yes, I have to know"

Celestia made an expression that looked both hopeful and relieved, Star couldn't tell because the expression was gone before he could fully register it "One moment then" she said, her horn started to glow and suddenly Star's head wasn't clouded and he didn't have trouble thinking anymore, he hadn't wanted to trouble anypony, but since Celestia had blocked his memories, he had a hard time recalling anything that he had remembered previously, but now he could recall every flashback clearly.

"What did you just do?" Twilight asked curiously

"I undid a spell I cast onto his mind, when I found that Luna was going to be helping him remember his past I found where in his mind his dormant memories were stored and I blocked them off" she explained

"It was also making me forget any flashbacks I already had" Star added

"What was the point of that?" Luna asked

"I guess that is what I'm supposed to be explaining isn't it?" Celestia said to herself more than anypony else "Alright, now where to start from" she said putting a hoof on her chin in mock thought

"Stop stalling Tia" Luna said impatiently

Celestia sighed "You are right, I guess that it would be better to show you all then to tell you"

Her horn started to glow a light magenta color and the aura soon covered everypony in the room. Suddenly Star was brought to a scene that he recognized, it was just at the end of his tantrum flashback, when he had attacked Discord, it was in the exact perspective of when he had left off in this particular flashback.

"How are we seeing this if I am the pony that saw this?" he thought

"I am showing through your memories, if I showed them through my own then we would be able to feel everything I did, seeing as it would be a self-inflicted spell" another voice said

"Celestia?" he guessed

"We will all be able to speak to each other through thought while we are connected like this" Celestia explained

Suddenly the scene in front of them shifted and started to play out

"NO!" the Star in front of them suddenly shouted with a very layered voice

"Star please stop this" came a calm voice from the pony in front of them

Stars eyes started to turn from the golden glow back to their silver-green state "m-m-mom?" he asked in surprise as Celestia walked out of the shadows

This caused everypony to gasp in shock "D-d-d-does that mean that Star is…..?" Rainbow asked

"But sister, you never had a son!" Luna said in shock

"All will be explained after this" was all Celestia said, regardless of the other ponies prodding at her for answers

They watched as Star ran towards Celestia and hugged her, both of them were clearly crying. After a few minutes passed Star finally spoke up "H-h-he's gone" he then let out a wail of sadness and buried his head into Celestia's chest

She whispered reassurances into his ear until he finally calmed down enough to speak "What happened?" she asked

"H-he finally did it, even though we both t-told him not to, he went and tried anyway. He failed a-and that THING was born" he said between sobs and sniffles

"Thing?" she said sadly

"He called himself Discord, he told me that he killed Starswirl, he also said that he was going to kill you and that he was going to rule the kingdom" he managed to explain

"Wait, this isn't what happened" Celestia interrupted

"What do you mean?" Star asked

"I will explain after this" she answered

Celestia's eyes widened in surprise "We have to stop him! Follow me, we have to get back to the castle"

They ran through the forest until they came upon a clearing, it seemed eerily familiar to Star "Wait isn't this where Zecora found me?" he thought to himself

Sitting in the center of the clearing was Discord, for some reason he seemed to be arguing with himself "This was a horrible idea! We should have killed the kid when we had a chance! Now he will warn the princess and the whole plan will be ruined!"

He then turned the opposite direction and spoke to himself in a different much deeper voice "No it isn't, we can still destroy the kingdom, it will be simple, nothing can defeat us regardless" he then gave out a diabolical laugh that sent chills through Star "Wait, can I even have a chill sent through me mentally?" he questioned but was not answered

Celestia crouched near Stars ear "I have contacted Luna, she will bring the elements of harmony"

He stared at her with wide eyes "That's insane! There is no telling what they will do!" he whispered back

"I doubt I would be able to defeat them myself" she said almost cryptically

"Who is there?" Discord asked suddenly turning to Star and Celestia "Ah, if it isn't the little crybaby son of Starswirl and his soon to be dead mother!" he said with an insane grin and that deeper and almost more evil voice

After this Star looked like he was about to explode with rage on the spot, but suddenly it looked like something inside him snapped and he looked at Discord "You won't get away with this" Star said with no emotion, almost as if he had no opinion on the matter, but it was more fact than an opinion

"Little daddy's boy is getting all upset now isn't he?" Discord prodded getting right into Stars face and nudged his side with his elbow

Star didn't flinch, he simply turned his head to Discord with no expression and emotionless eyes "You aren't going to win"

Discords flinched and retreated back to his earlier position at the far end of the clearing "Geez, what did ya do to this kid? It's like he got so mad that his rage just broke" he said in his normal voice

"That doesn't matter, just destroy them both" he said turning and speaking in the deeper voice again

He charged Star but was intercepted by Celestia who hit him with a missile made of pure magic "You stay away from him!" she said her voice full of rage

This blast caused him to hit into a nearby tree, he quickly recovered "How unexpected, the mother protecting her young" he taunted before this time charging Celestia

Before he could hit her she dove out of the way and tried again to shoot him with a magic missile but she missed, hitting a tree just past him. He charged her and swung at her, he grazed the side of her cheek causing three claw marks to form on her cheek that started to bleed almost immediately.

She retaliated by thrusting the pointed end of her horn at him, she hit her mark and stabbed him straight through the gut. She pulled out her horn in triumph and started to walk away but was stopped by a sudden insane laugh "Did you really think it would be that easy?" he asked

Celestia turned in time to see the whole she had left in his stomach being healed. Just as it closed up he immediately rushed at her and using the sudden distraction of his healing he landed a solid blow to her side that sent her flying through the air into a tree where she was impaled onto a stick that went right through her leg suspending her on the tree, also causing her to lose consciousness.

Star watched as she was pinned up in the tree, he could see the pain that it caused her and something else snapped in him, though it would be more accurate to say that something was rekindled inside him, as if his rage was reborn again "DISCORD!" he shouted in the strange layered voice again as his eyes started to glow golden

Discord turned just in time to see a faint golden aura wrap around Star, it got denser and denser until all around him was a form of magic. He was suddenly surrounded by a formation of a dragon made up entirely of his magical aura, Discord looked at him with interest "You have already mastered using an avatar have you?" he said in the same deep voice he had been using earlier "No matter, you still cannot defeat me"

Star charged Discord but he jumped out of the way "You missed!" he said in delight

"I WASN'T TRYING TO HIT YOU" Star said as he broke off the branch that was holding Celestia and pulled it out of the wound

As he was closing up the wound as best he could with his magic he was hit in the side by a wave of raw magical power, not like a missile that Celestia was shooting at Discord, it was a complete wave of raw energy that shot through the air like a sound wave. It knocked Star to his side and threw Celestia back into another tree causing her to regain consciousness.

She stared up at Star "Star?" she asked dazed

"Yes, Starswirl was teaching me about using avatars before he…." He left the statement hanging in the air, as if he dare not speak it

Celestia just nodded in approval "Good luck"

"Such a heartwarming moment! But if you don't mind, I would prefer not to waste my time on such pitiful beings" Discord taunted

Star turned back to Discord and struck at him knocking him away. Star smiled triumphantly, but this was short lived because he suddenly felt an immense pain on his forehead, he looked up and where his horn usually was he saw a small stub of its former glory.

The avatar disappeared as he fell to the ground "Looks like I've won" Discord said triumphantly

"I don't think so" Celestia interrupted

Discord turned in time to see Celestia and Luna with the six elements of harmony surrounding them. He was too slow to react and was hit by the magical beam that they shot out.

Discord looked at his feet and saw a wave of magic running up his body, turning him to stone, in one last ditch attempt he turned to Star and cast a spell on him, suddenly Star was disappearing much the same as Discord was "If I am to be imprisoned for eternity then so shall your child! As long as I am stuck in this prison so shall he be stuck in my mind!"

Celestia watched with a look of horror as Star disappeared "No!" she ran to Star and started to pull on his cloak and what was left of his head that she could see. Star looked at her and smiled one last time before disappearing along with Discord turning to stone, his words echoed around the clearing as Star faded "As long as I am stuck in my prison so shall he be stuck in my mind!"

Star once again found himself in the changing room in the theater, and he was immediately embraced by a very large group hug. After they all let go of him he found himself in tears, he turned to see Celestia with tears running down her face too "Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked

"As I said before, I did not want you to have to relive something like that, nopony should have to" she said in a very sad tone

"How do I not remember you having a son?" Luna asked

"After the event, I did not want anypony to remember that it had ever happened, especially myself, so I destroyed all evidence of that night, I burned down the library and set a spell on all things that Starswirls magic touched, the spell made anything that his magic touched to be unreadable or complete nonsense, I did the same with Star's magic. I even went to the trouble of hiring a fake Starswirl so that nopony would suspect anything, I also erased your memories of him, I did not want to, but I did not want to remember this event either"

"Does that make me an alicorn?" Star asked

"Yes, you are" Celestia answered, her tears had stopped flowing so freely

Without further thought he took off his cloak and heard this time not 8, but 9 audible gasps "What?" he asked

He looked at a nearby makeup mirror and was stunned at what he saw, his body , much like his face, was white, but he did not have wings either, there was just a small rigid patch of skin where they once were. The rest of his body was just as shocking, it was covered with a large amount of scars, scars that ranged from the entire length of his body, to ones that looked much smaller, but much deeper "When did all of this happen?" he asked

Celestia looked on the verge of crying again "That monster" she said to herself in rage

"You mean Discord?" he asked

Celestia shook her head "That is what was wrong with your memories, Discord wasn't the only being that was there, along with him was an entity by the name of Destruction, Discord was seemingly harmless compared to this being, he only wanted to see things be crazy and unorganized, but Destruction, he wanted to see the end of everything, he wanted to watch the world burn, so to speak"

"What happened to him?" Star asked

"We defeated him the same way we did Discord, we used the elements of harmony, but the elements of harmony bring harmony to the situation as it is. With Nightmare moon the first time, I needed more time to find the bearers of harmony, so the elements sent her to the moon for a thousand years where she could not effect anything or anypony in Equestria. When she came back we had the bearers of harmony so it was able to cleanse her of the evil that plagued her. With Discord he wanted to keep on the move, make sure that nothing ever made sense or stood still long enough to think how crazy something was, but when the elements affected him they turned him to stone, stopping him completely and giving him time to think with himself instead of act continuously and on impulse, literally putting a stop to him. But with Destruction it was different, he simply wanted to destroy and hurt every living being in Equestria, he had no motivation, it was simply what he was. So with that the elements couldn't just stop him, so they did exactly what the name implied, they brought him harmony, but because he was a being made up entirely to destroy, he was destroyed in the process himself" she explained

"So what does he have to do with this?" Star asked gesturing towards his body

"When he was destroyed, it was only his physical body that was destroyed, his essence exploded outwards and affected the whole forest, also a large amount of it went into Discords statue, which I believe is how you ended up like that, Discord may have been evil, but he wasn't a monster, he probably couldn't have hurt you that badly if he tried"

"I have two more questions" Star said after a few moments of consideration

"What is that?" she asked

"Firstly, what is my actual name?" he asked "Throughout everything I read and saw, my full name was never once mentioned"

Celestia smiled in amusement "You always hated your full name and insisted upon being called Star instead, but if you must know, your full name is Starlight Sky"

Star mouthed it a few times before nodding his head in agreement "Yeah, it's a nice name, but I don't really like the idea of being called that"

"What was your second question?" She asked

"Oh yeah, why did nopony know that you and Starswirl were in a relationship and why did nopony know that you had a son? I guess ponies could have known, but I doubt it" he asked

"I told you, I erased all traces of both you and Starswirl, but you are correct, nopony but myself, Starswirl, Luna, your cousin and your aunt knew" she answered

"My cousin and aunt?" he asked

"She was Starswirls sister and he was her son, you two were best friends, his name was Iceberg Wind and her name was Snowy Day" she said with a smile

"So, again, why didn't anypony know?" he asked again

"Because I was only a few hundred years old and I was a foal, I fell in love with a peasant, he was a great magician who would come by the castle and preform for me, eventually we fell in love and you were born. But if ponies were to find out about this then there would be a retaliation, simply because I was royalty and he was lower class, I wish it weren't so but it was" she sighed

"So wait, wouldn't that make you Queen Celestia instead of Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy pointed out

"You would be correct if we were to have been wed, but we did not get married, as I said, there would be retaliation" she explained

"What was he doin that both of ya disapproved of so much?" Applejack asked

Suddenly Celestia looked very exhausted "Why don't we continue this another time? I need some time to rest and think" she suggested

"Me too," Star agreed "Besides, it's Hearth's warming day tomorrow" he put his hoof to his chin for a moment considering asking her a question that came to his mind before shrugging "I will ask her tomorrow"

As they left Celestia approached him "Would you like to stay in the castle? We have plenty of room, and you will be able to spend more time with your friends, because they are staying there too" she offered

Star thought for a moment "Thank you for the offer, but I think I will just stay in the hotel room I rented, please don't be offended" he pleaded

"Why would I be offended?" she questioned

"Because, you finally have your son back after well over a thousand years and he won't even come home with you" he pointed out

"It is quite alright, we have plenty of time to spend with each other, I will see you in the castle tomorrow morning?" she asked

"That sounds great" he agreed

With that they departed and Star found his way back to the hotel, back to his room and fell asleep on his bed with a kitten lying on his chest.

Ch 27: Hearths Warming Day

Star woke that morning with a smile and a purpose, he finally found out who he was and what had happened to him, even if it was only partially. Also, it was his birthday and Hearth's Warming day, he got to give his friends their gifts today, which he hoped that they liked. Before he did that though, he gently woke the cat that was on his chest and it gave out a cute yawn.

He spent the next half an hour putting all of his gifts back into the cart, securing them and making sure they were hidden by a large cloth that he had been using to cover the top. He approached the main part of the hotel and entered to see a very tired looking Blueblood "Ugh, it's you again, what now?" he asked grumpily

"I am here to check out of the hotel room and give you back these keys" Star said putting the keys onto the counter in front of him

"Good, now go away" Blueblood said coldly

"BLUEBLOOD! You will say farewell to our customers the way we practiced!" yelled a hidden pony from somewhere inside the building

Blueblood sighed and grumbled something about him not having to deal with this before turning back to Star "Thank you for your patronage, come back again sometime and have a nice day" he said between clenched teeth

"I will be sure to" Star replied in an amused tone, which earned him a very dirty glare from Blueblood

With all of that settled Star set off with the cart behind him. Before he went to the castle he went to a dress shop in town, where he had ordered a dress for Rarity that was to be done by then. He had asked a dress maker by the name of Fleur de lis if she could make a dress for Rarity, after hearing Rarity's name she immediately started fussing and putting a dress together claiming that she was hit by a sudden inspiration and that it would be done the next morning.

When he arrived at the store he walked in to see her with a very happy expression on her face, it looked like one of triumph "I have done it! I have made the perfect dress for your friend!"

She levitated the dress over to Star for him to inspect it. The dress was a light purple near the back leading into a dark crimson near the head, it was studded with bright blue and purple gems along the sides "It's great" he complimented

"Thank you, it is one of my finer works" she said gladly

"So, how much will it cost?" he asked

"It is free, it is Hearth's Warming day after all" she said with a smile

"Thank you very much" he said gladly

After leaving the shop he brought the dress over to the cart and placed it carefully beside the other presents before setting off towards the castle. When he finally arrived at the castle itself he was stopped by some guards "What business do you have in the castle?" the one to his left asked

"I am here to spend some time with my friends, the bearers of the elements of harmony, also with my good friends Luna and Celestia" he explained, he would have just told them who he was, but he wasn't sure if Celestia would want him too yet.

The guard glared at him "If you are friends with the bearers of harmony, then tell me their names and who bears what element?" he asked

"Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic, Fluttershy, the element of kindness, Rarity, the element of generosity, Rainbow Dash, the element of Loyalty, Applejack, the element of honesty, and Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter" Star answered without missing a beat

The guard sighed "The princess said that a friend of theirs would be coming by this morning, just had to be sure"

With that the guards moved out of his way and let him past. He approached the main gate and was stopped by another guard "I can take your cart for you if you like" the guard offered

Star stopped to consider this before nodding his head "If you would, just leave it here, I will need it soon"

The guard nodded and pulled the cart to the side of the large double doors. Star walked into the castle to find a large room with a staircase right in front of him. He looked to the side and saw another of many guards "Excuse me, could you tell me where Twilight and her friends are? I am here to see them"

The guard gave Star a passing glance before nodding his head towards a hallway and walking towards it. After following the guard for a few moments they were soon in a very large dining hall, there was a very large table in the center, but at the far end at the chairs were Celestia, Luna, and each of his friends.

Upon walking into the room they all stopped talking and stared at him "If it isn't the birthday boy" Celestia commented with a smile

Star approached them and pulled off his hood "Really? I thought that it was Hearth's Warming day, I came here with presents and everything, but I guess if it's my birthday I shouldn't be giving out gifts" he smiled and sat between Celestia and Luna, a chair had been left empty for him

"Wait, you have presents? Who are they for? Is one for me? Ooooooh can I open it canIcanIcanIcanI?" Pinkie said excitedly

"I have presents for the seven of you, though if I had known what I do now, I would have had nine presents" he said jokingly

Celestia smiled at him "I already have the best present possible, I got my son back"

There was a chorus of "awwwww's" that went through the room

"Wait, you said seven, you got a present for me too?" Spike said curiously

"Yeah, why?" Star asked

Spike shot Twilight a nervous glance but she just nodded in approval "Well, last time I got presents from ponies I got greedy and grew large, if you remember" he explained

Star thought back and remembered the whole ordeal "Oh yeah, but you are only getting one present from me, not multiple ones, don't worry about it" he said with a smile

Spike then grinned back at him "You are right, now, what is it? Can I know?" he asked gaining Pinkie's excitement

"You will all have to wait a moment, it will take me a while to bring them all in" Star said cheerfully

"The exchanging of gifts can happen after breakfast, you will all have to wait patiently" Celestia said with a wink to her son

Star simply grinned and chuckled lightly. About a minute later a few ponies in wearing black tuxedo's came out of a nearby door carrying plates piled high with food. There was hay and all kinds of amazing looking flowers, along with those there was all kinds of deserts and sweets, but one in particular caught Star's eye "Hey, isn't that Sweet and Sour pie?" he asked pointing towards a pie piled high with whipped cream

Celestia gave him a curious look "How did you know that?" she asked

"I read it in my old journal, which I had to decipher because of your spell" he explained

She then shot him a worried glance "How much of it did you eat?" she asked

"Don't worry, I limited it to making one once a month" he answered

"Yeah, he did" Pinkie said in disappointment before perking back up "Wait, did you say that that pie right there is the same pie?" she pointed towards the pie

After receiving a nod from Celestia she dove at the pie and immediately shoved her face into it, this caused everypony in the room to laugh, including the waiter ponies. After a very good breakfast Star sat rubbing his hoof against his stomach "I haven't eaten this much since I competed against Pinkie for her cupcake eating title" he said

This earned him a curious look from everypony in the room besides Pinkie "When we had that cupcake eating contest Pinkie said that if I beat her she would give me her title of "Cupcake Eating Champion"" he explained

This earned him a giggle from both Celestia and Luna "You thought that you could beat her at eating a pastry?" Luna asked

"I didn't know how much she could eat!" Star replied jokingly

"Alright, now that we have eaten, how about that present?" Pinkie said impatiently

"Pinkie!" Rarity said sounding appalled "Manners!"

"It is alright, I would be anxious to see what kind of presents I would get too" Star said before leaving the dining hall. He wandered his way back to the entrance and with the help of one of the guards, brought all of the presents back to the dining hall. Just before they walked into the room he stopped the guard behind him "I will be giving the presents to them one at a time, I didn't wrap them" he said

He walked into the room empty hoofed "Alright, now who wants their present first, I would just give them to you all at the same time, but I didn't wrap them" he asked

"Mememememememe!" Pinkie exclaimed

Star left the room and came back holding the rolled up piece of paper "What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Pinkie asked in excitement

"Close" he said deviously before giving it to her. Her eyes scrolled down the note as she read it "I love it!" she exclaimed hugging Star before sitting back at her place

"What is it?" Rainbow asked

"It's a clue, to a treasure hidden somewhere near Ponyville!" Pinkie exclaimed

"Alright who's next?" Star asked

"Me!" Spike said raising his hand and shaking it

He left and came back with the very large emerald "HOLY GEM!" Spike exclaimed before taking it and immediately gnawing on it

Star simply looked at the rest of his friends before Rainbow's excitement got the best of her "Alright, what's mine?" she asked

Leaving the room once again Star reemerged with a small blue box that he had bought the other day, to add dramatic effect "Great, it's a necklace or something" Rainbow said very unenthusiastically

She opened the box and gasped “Omygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygoshomygosh!” she exclaimed quickly after looking into the cushioned box and finding the two golden VIP Wonderbolts passes, she tackled Star saying “thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

After waiting a few moments and having nopony offer to have their presents next he simply grabbed the closest gift to him, which happened to be the book he had gotten Twilight

She looked at it with a slight look of disappointment "What's wrong?" Star asked

"I already have this" she said in disappointment

"No you don't" he pointed out

"Yes I do" she argued

"You have the biography of it, but this is a book of the AUTObiography's, as in, written by the ponies themselves" he explained, he knew that she already had the biographies of these ponies, but not the autobiographies

Twilight's eyes widened as she reread the title "THERE ARE ONLY THREE OF THESE IN ALL OF EQUESTRIA! ONE WAS DESTROYED, ONE WAS PUT IN A MUSEUM AND ONE WENT MISSING, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS!" She exclaimed in surprise

"I got it in the antique store in Ponyville" he answered with a pleased tone

He then did what he did the time before, he grabbed the closest present, this time it was the deed that he had bought for Applejack "Here you go, this is for both you and Macintosh" he said giving it to her

Her eyes moved back and forth over the paper before her eyes widened in surprise "Thank ya Star, but ya didn't have ta do somethin this big" she said in disbelief

"It was my pleasure" he said cheerfully

"What is it? That is, if you would like to tell us" Fluttershy asked timidly

"Star went and bought the Apple family two more acres of land!" Applejack replied happily

"That must have cost quite a shiny bit" Rarity commented

"It wasn't that much" Star said before leaving to grab the next gift

When he returned he was carrying the kitten, he then gave him to Fluttershy "Awwww! He's adorable!" she said sounding extremely pleased

"I also got you a very large bag of cat food, and I cannot stress enough that it is LARGE" he warned her

"Oh, it can't be that…" her words were stopped dead as the guard came in bringing the large bag of cat food with him "Never mind" she said taking back her claim

"Alright, now for the last gift, for Rarity" he said as he left the room, grabbed the dress and brought it in. As he presented it to Rarity there was a collective gasp in the room "Do you like it?" he asked

"It's…." she started

"It's what?" Star pressed

"It's… beautiful, where did you get it?" she asked

"From Fleur de lis" he explained

Rarity shot him a surprised look "Fleur de lis? She only makes dresses for famous ponies, and even then, they cost a fortune! How much did such a dress cost?" she asked

"Does it really matter?" he answered

Rarity looked very pleased with her gift before giving Star an uneasy look; she then looked at the other ponies he had given gifts to who shared her uneasy look "What's wrong?" Star asked

"Well, it's just um…." Fluttershy started

"We feel bad that we didn't get you anything" Rarity explained

Star raised his eyebrow "What do you mean you didn't get me anything? You were all nice to me and treated me as a friend since I have known you, I think that's the greatest gift ever, this isn't just a present for Hearth's Warming day, this is also my thanks for being there for me during the good and the bad" he said appreciatively

They all looked at a loss for words "You bought all of this expensive stuff, how much did it all cost you anyway?" Spike asked

"Yes, how much did it cost? How did you afford all of this?" Celestia pressed

"It didn't cost that much and I have a well-paying job" he explained

"Where do you work?" she asked

"I work at Quills and Sofas, I make five bits an hour for eight hours from Monday to Friday, I don't even usually have to go in, I just have to be able to come in at any time, I also get twenty percent of all sofa sales" he answered

"Sounds like you are doing well for yourself" she commented

"Yep…. Oh yeah!" he said opening the saddlebag at his side "Here, Starswirl left me this, I think you should have it, even if you don't need it" he said as he hoofed Celestia the bag of platinum

She opened the bag and looked inside "How much Platinum is in this bag?" she asked

"Five hundred platinum bits" he answered with a smile

"Even if I did need this I wouldn't take it" she said giving it back to him

"I don't know anypony to give this too… never mind" he said putting the bag away "I know who to give this to"

With that settled they spoke of the day before, apparently before they went to the theatre to prepare for the play there was a misunderstanding with Rarity and Twilight, though they didn't want to go into it Rainbow was more than happy to.

Apparently Rarity was fussing over Twilight's mane in public and commenting on how pretty she was, which led a lot of ponies around them to believe that they were in a "Romantic" relationship, a few ponies even patted them on the shoulder or back and said "You are so brave" though nopony knew what they meant until Pony Joe asked Twilight about her marefriend.

Both Rarity and Twilight were blushing heavily after this which caused everypony else to laugh even harder "How was your trip here? You got interrupted yesterday" Twilight asked Star quickly trying to change the subject

"Well…. you heard about Trixie, now, what else happened…." He thought for a moment "Oh yeah! When I got to town and found the local hotel there was a well-known stallion there"

"Who?" Rarity asked suddenly very interested in the conversation

"Oh, you know, just the only other prince of Equestria, as far as I know at least" he said waving his hoof dismissively

"Only other… wait, you would be one, and that makes the other… you saw Blueblood?" she asked curiously

"Yep, but you won't ever guess what happened to him" he challenged

"What?" she pressed

Star smiled brightly "He was running the front desk in the hotel, his parents made him get a job"

After hearing this all of the rest of the ponies in the room burst out laughing, the thought of Blueblood actually having to do something to earn his lifestyle was hilarious.

After a few more minutes of idle chatter Rainbow turned to Star "Hey, why are there two tickets?" she asked

"For you to take a friend, it would be boring to go alone" he explained

"Oh, I guess that makes sense" she said content with the answer

After another few minutes of talking Luna and Celestia both had to go and finish some kind of royal business that they didn't bother to explain.

Star turned to his group of friends as they left the castle "So, now that all of this is over with I am guessing you will all be heading your separate ways?" he asked the other ponies in the room

"What do you mean?" Pinkie asked

"Well I got told that usually you all just find something to do in town for the day" he answered

"Oh yeah, we did last year at least" Rainbow agreed

"So were you going to do that this year or what are you all planning to do?" he asked

"Why, did you have anything special you were planning on doing?" Fluttershy asked

"No, I don't actually have anything planned today, I will probably just stay here and talk to Celestia more about the whole "memory situation" he said with a shrug

"I hadn't really planned this far, usually I am up all night thinking of the possibilities of being in this town, but last night all I thought of was the sudden explanation of your past" Rarity explained

"I understand, that is all I was thinking about last night too" he admitted

Just as they reached the castle gates Star blacked out.

Ch 28: Disguises

When Star woke up he found himself in a white room, he was lying in a bed with a blanket pulled up to his neck, he also noted that he did not have his cloak on for some reason. Upon further inspection around the room he saw that there was a single window to his left, it had turquoise curtains.

"Where am I and why am I here?" he thought to himself

After a few more moments he heard some crying and a few sets of hooves moving towards the door on the far end of the room. When it opened he saw Celestia, Twilight, Luna and a doctor walk in. When they saw him awake he was immediately embraced by the three ponies "Wait, what happened?" he asked

"We were leaving the castle after you gave us the gifts and you suddenly fell unconscious, we waited a few minutes but you didn't get up so we brought you here, when we scanned your brain there was no response, the doctor told us that you were in a coma that you wouldn't likely wake up from" Twilight explained with a sniffle

"How long was I out?" he asked

"About two days" she answered

"You all shouldn't have worried this much, I was just having an extended flashback-type experience, I usually black out when I have flashbacks anyway. Though this was different, it wasn't as much a flashback, I actually felt like I was there, as if I was reliving the experiences first hand" he explained

"What did you remember?" Celestia asked

"I lived through the time when I started to be Starswirl's apprentice to the point where we saw in the memory we all saw, but it skipped around a lot, mostly only showing big events or memories" he answered

"What caused this?" Luna asked

"He was slowly and gradually regaining his memories, but because of my interference I think that the memories had a sort of back up, kind of like when a dam is built in front of a river, and when it was taken away, the memories all came flooding back, though I don't know why it took this long to affect him" Celestia guessed

Star got up from the bed "So where are the others?" he asked

"Only three ponies are allowed to visit at one time" The doctor answered

"I guess that makes sense, now, I have to ask, where is my cloak?" Star inquired

"I will fetch it for you" the doctor said leaving the room

This left Star alone with Twilight, Celestia, and Luna who were all inspecting the scars across his body. Suddenly Celestia's expression turned to one of concern and sadness "What's wrong?" he asked

Her face immediately changed to one of reassurance "Nothing" she said giving him an empty smile

The doctor then entered the room and gave Star his cloak "May I have a word with you?" he asked

"Sure" Star agreed

The doctor pulled him to the side and out of hearing range of the other three ponies "I would like to know what happened to your body, I have never seen such extensive damage done to a body that has survived, you are literally a medical marvel, what happened to you?"

Star thought about this for a moment "I honestly don't know, but if I find out, then I might tell you about it"

With that Star left with the other three ponies and were greeted by his other 6 friends in a waiting room just outside, he was immediately given a warm embrace by each of his other friends much like he was by his mother, aunt and Twilight

"We thought we weren't ever gonna see you again" Pinkie said with a sniffle

"Really girls, it isn't that big of a deal, it's the exact same thing that was happening when I was having the flashbacks, though this was a lot longer than last time" he reassured them

"This WAS a lot longer than usual, why was this one different?" Rarity asked

Celestia explained her theory which received a few nods of understanding, she also explained how he had literally relived his memories that he had remembered. Upon hearing this both Fluttershy and Pinkie gasped "But doesn't that mean-" Pinkie started but was stopped by Celestia who put a hoof in her mouth

"We will have to wait and see, we will discuss it when and if it ever happens, preferably not" she said hopefully

"Wait, what?" Star asked with a questioning look, which was followed by the other ponies in the room giving them a questioning look also

"Nothing you need to concern yourselves with" Celestia said in reassurance

With that they all left the hospital and made their way back to the castle. Although it had only been a flashback that had made him pass out, his friends refused to leave until they confirmed that he was going to be alright.

With that it was agreed by everypony but Star that they all would be staying in the castle for another week to keep an eye on him and his health. No matter how much he protested about this saying that they all had responsibilities of their own and that if they stayed here they would be shunning them.

They, however, had taken care of all of that already though, Applejack was having Caramel help around the farm while she was gone, Pinkie could take a few days off, the Cakes only really needed her around when they weren't going to be at the shop for longer than a day, Fluttershy was having Derpy take care of the animals, Rainbow was high up on the weather team and didn't particularly have to be there unless there was going to be a major storm or something of the sort, Rarity was a self-made pony so she didn't need to do anything besides take care of Opal, who would be staying at Fluttershy's along with the other ponies pets besides Winona and Twilight was going to have Lyra watch the library while she was gone.

On the first day they didn't really do anything, most of the time was spent with everypony around him watching his every move just in case, it was very awkward when he had to use the restroom, especially when Pinkie kept asking "Are you okay in there? Are you done? Do you need any help?" although they were innocent questions it was still awkward for him.

After the first day he wasn't watched as closely as before, though they all still tried to keep a semi-close eye on him. Near the end of the day he was trying to find his way to the kitchen to fetch himself a glass of water. Of course he could always ask one of the many servant ponies if they would get him one, but he wanted to get one for himself.

Obviously he got lost, not knowing the castle very well and it being so large helped with that. Just as he was starting to give up he passed a room that he heard voices coming out of, he would have dismissed it if he hadn't heard his name mentioned.

He put his head against the door and listened in, he could make out the voice of Luna, though who she was speaking to was a mystery "I think that it would be a good idea, both for his self-esteem and so you both can be seen together in public without ponies seeing it as a scandal of some sort"

He then heard a voice he recognized as Celestia's respond "I guess you are right, I do not wish to have to hide to act like a mother to him"

"Then we can tell him tomorrow" Luna agreed

"Or now, I would wait, but I am curious" Star said entering the room

The room looked like any generic bedroom in the castle, but most of everything was decorated with a bright sun on it.

"Or now, now works" Luna agreed

Celestia sighed "How long were you listening?" she asked

"When Luna said that it would be a good idea, but I don't know what "it" is" he answered

"Luna suggested that it might be a good idea to show you to the public and officially announce you to Equestria" she explained

"I don't really know how to feel about that, but I will agree to it, on two conditions, firstly, I would like a way to change my appearance so ponies cannot tell my current condition, this leads into my second condition, I would like to stay as Midnight Star in Ponyville, I have seen the way ponies act around you and nopony will treat me equally besides my friends if they know that I am royalty. That and I don't like attention or large groups of ponies, I would attract a lot of it if everypony knew who I was at all times" he listed

"Alright, but if you get those conditions then I get mine, firstly, I will see about your appearance, but short of illusionary magic, we cannot do much, we will be able to salvage your horn, seeing as it has happened to unicorns before we found a solution to that, but it can only be regrown, and we can only speed up the process, luckily you were preserved in your current state, you aren't very old physically and it will grow back with ease. The scars can be hidden by illusionary magic, but as for your wings, I am not sure that we will be able to regrow them, I am sorry. Secondly, I will publicly address you by your proper name, not just Star, you will be known as Starlight Sky. Thirdly and lastly, I reserve the right to call you embarrassing mother-type nicknames at all times, such as "Sweetie" or "Starry" or "Honey", I will probably only use them in large groups or crowds for full effect" she countered

"Why?" he asked incredulously

A large grin grew on her face "Because it will amuse me" she said rubbing her hooves together playfully

"Deal, now that this is done with, I am going to continue my exploration of the castle until I find the kitchen" he said walking back towards the door

"The kitchen was right by your room; when you left did you take a right or a left?" Luna asked

"….. A right" he said reluctantly

"The kitchen was on the door to your left right as you leave your room….." she explained with a smile that now matched her sisters

"Time to explore until I find my way back then" he said with a shrug

"Why don't you just have a guard pony lead you there?" Celestia suggested

"Nooooooooooooo" Star said defiantly while running out of the room towards the way he came

Sure enough when he got back to his room there was another door to its left with a small circular window at the top. When he walked in he saw the immense kitchen, it looked like at least 40 ponies at the least worked there. After getting his water he went off to bed.

The next morning he opened his eyes and all he saw was red and orange, when he moved colors flew away from his eyes , allowing him to get a better look. He saw that what had been resting on his head was a phoenix, and it looked like it was just going into its second out of six stages of life. The first was its prime of youth, it was graceful and amazing, in the second stage, it wasn't quite as bright with all of its colors, in the third stage it lost almost all color in a lot of its feathers, then in the fourth and fifth stages it lost all of its feathers and died, then the sixth stage was rebirth, thus beginning the cycle again.

He admired the phoenix for a moment before a thought came to his mind "Wait, how do I know that?"

Star pondered the thought for a few minutes until the phoenix in question got impatient and slightly nudged its beak at him "What do you want?" he asked

The phoenix was holding a scroll in its talons; he took the note and started to read it

Dear Star,

I have sent Philomena to give you this scroll in the early morning, it is about 8 when you should receive this letter, as for what we spoke about last night, the only day that I think would be appropriate for it would be tomorrow, during the end of winter celebration, this event is held because we don't have an official Hearth's Warming day or eve celebration, short of the play. I will be busy today with preparation for tomorrow, but you have quite a bit of stuff you need to take care of.

Firstly, Zecora is sending a potion that she said will help regrow your horn, she also, to my relief, said it will probably only take till tomorrow to grow back, it is amazing what kind of concoctions she can make with those plants she finds.

Secondly, you must meet Twilight in the library, she is going to attempt some illusionary magic to make it appear that you have wings and no more scars, of course these wings will not function, but they will appear as though they do.

Lastly, you need to get used to not wearing your cloak at all times, I have informed the guards and servants of who you are, they were skeptical but they understand, so don't worry about being kicked out of the castle for no reason.

I will see you when I return this evening, until then, good luck and I hope we get to spend some more time together.

Your loving mother,

Celestia

P.S. The phoenix is Philomena, as I stated in the beginning of this letter, you probably don't remember her though, when you last saw her she was but a hatchling.

After reading over the scroll he smiled, he would probably get to spend time with his mother, AND he was going to get his horn back, today was already off to a great start for him.

Getting out of his bed he took off his cloak as he had been instructed "I feel naked without it. Wait….. ponies are always naked, so I guess it doesn't matter"

Before he left his room something caught his eye in the mirror on the wall, upon closer inspection he saw that he had a cutie mark, surprisingly enough, it was of a sun, it looked similar to Celestia's, but it was colored differently, it was a blue that looked the hue of the night sky, it was also full of what looked to be stars "How appropriate, I am the son of Celestia and Starswirl, my Cutiemark is a sun with stars in it" he thought ironically

With that, he left his room to find Twilight, it didn't take that long though, she was in the place he was most likely to find her in, the library. When he finally arrived there she was reading a book that he couldn't see the title to "Hey Twilight" he greeted

She looked up from her book momentarily, upon seeing him her expression flickered from concentrated to something else for a moment, he couldn't tell what it was because it was gone to fast to identify, she then stuck her head back into her book, hiding her face "Hey Star, I guess the princess sent you here about that illusion spell?" she asked

"Actually yes" he confirmed

"Great, now let's get started" she said closing her book

With that one line being uttered she immediately started to attempt making him appear unscathed. Though, as most science goes, 99% trial and error, after about 4 hours of trying to change his appearance she had managed to hide a few of his scars, but she did not practice illusionary magic very often, so she was having some trouble in the category.

But along with the good of hiding a few of his scars came a price, she turned him various different colors and made his scars on more than one occasion appear to be on fire. After those 4 hours they finally stopped and decided to take a break and get some lunch.

When they got to the dining hall they were joined by their other friends and Princess Luna, but not Celestia "My sister will unfortunately not be joining us, she is busy planning for the celebration" she explained

With that they ate a very quiet meal, not out of awkwardness of anything, but because nopony had anything to say.

After they all finished eating Twilight and Star got back to the library and started to work once again on trying to change his appearance to be unscathed. Luckily for them Twilight finally figured out how to hide his scars with no side effects, but then they were presented with the problem of trying to make him some fake wings that would look relatively realistic, she had only once made fake wings for somepony, and those had been butterfly wings, she had never tried to make actual realistic pegasus wings before.

That is what the rest of his day consisted of, both him and Twilight trying to find a way to give him some realistic wings for the next day, but they failed. Finally after a few more hours of trying Luna came in carrying with her magic, a small vial that was the color of the sky "I come bearing the gift of horn regrowth!" she said happily before giving it to Star

He took it gratefully but looked at it reluctantly "Now or never I suppose"

He then drank the vial of sky blue liquid expecting it to taste disgusting, but on the contrary it tasted like blueberries "Well, now we wait until tomorrow" he said

"Well I guess that I will see you tomorrow then" Luna said walking back the way she came

"Wait, could you help us with something first?" Twilight asked

"It depends on what I will be helping with" Luna said curiously

"We are having problems trying to make the illusion of Star having wings; maybe you could give it a try?" Twilight asked hopefully

"Hmmm….. I haven't really tried very much illusionary magic since I have been back, but I will give it a try, let me see that spell tome- err I mean book" Luna said gesturing to the book being levitated just to the side of Twilight

With that in mind the rest of the day was filled with both Twilight and Luna attempting to give him realistic looking wings. After a while they started to get an actual wing to take shape, but it didn't usually turn out very well.

Usually one of them would just look disfigured or damaged, other times it would look like some other type of creatures wings, and even once, he was given a very large pair of bat wings, to which Star loudly proclaimed "I am Batcolt!"

This caused the other two ponies to laugh very loudly and very hard. After their laughter died down Twilight asked where he had heard of Batcolt, to which Star simply replied that he read it in one of the books in the library.

Besides this slight distraction, they kept at trying to give him realistic wings until finally, after about a thousand tries, they got him a pair of realistic alicorn wings, they were larger than an average pegasus's wings, but not quite as large as Celestia's, which made them fit him perfectly.

"Now for the last touch" Twilight said with her horn glowing

Star anticipated feeling something else on him change, but nothing happened "What did you change?" he asked

"Your eye color, now they are a very bright silver, instead of the slight green invading it" she explained

With all of that taken care of the rest of Star's day consisted of him just walking around the castle doing nothing of interest, Celestia never showed up that evening so he would not see her until the next day.

The next morning he woke up feeling very nervous, today was the day that he was presented to Equestria as Prince Starlight Sky, or he would probably just be called "The Prince" or "Prince Starlight" or even "Prince Sky"

When he walked into the dining room all of the ponies in the room had their eyes on him and most of them had their jaws open in surprise "I see that your horn grew back in nicely" Celestia commented

He took a nearby glass and looked at his reflection, even when it was being distorted it looked as if it had never been broken "Thanks" he said happily

Upon sitting down he noticed that the other mares besides Celestia, Luna and Twilight, were still gaping at him "What? Is there something on my face?" he asked

"Ya, a horn!" Pinkie said in surprise

"Didn't Celestia tell you all? I am going to officially be announced as prince at the end of winter celebration, but I still wanted to be known as Midnight Star in Ponyville, so I can keep up an alternate personality and not have to deal with ponies treating me differently. So I asked if we could change my appearance for that and now, this is what Prince Starlight looks like, though I still have the scars and I still don't have wings, I do, however, have a horn now" he explained

"Those wings are fake?" Rainbow said incredulously

"Yes, we spent a lot of time perfecting them, and I think that they turned out great" Luna said triumphantly

"Me too" Star agreed

After that they all sat down to eat, for some reason he kept finding one of his friends or the other staring at him for a moment, but if he looked over at them they would turn their heads away immediately, so he dismissed it.

After their breakfast everypony had their own reasons to dash off, mostly to get ready for the celebration. This just left Star alone to wander the castle again.

He started down a hallway at random and just kept walking around, he had no destination in mind and turned at a whim. After a few hours of wandering the castle he learned two things, firstly, never take cake from strange ponies that come out of dark rooms, he didn't eat the cake after the room disappeared, though he had no idea why the pony had given him cake. Secondly the castle is too big to try and play hide and seek in, it took an entire search team to finally find Pinkie.

Just as he decided to find a book to read in the library a scroll appeared in front of him, picking it up he read

Dear Star,

The guests will be arriving shortly, I will introduce you when everypony gets here, so until then you will be free to wear your cloak and hide your appearance, enjoy the celebration.

Your loving mother,

Celestia

He simply shrugged and found his way back to his room. After retrieving his cloak he put it on and found his way to the ballroom where it would be held.

When he walked in there were a lot of ponies that had already arrived, while a few of them gave him passing glances almost nopony paid him any attention, which he appreciated.

He decided to find his way to the snack table and just stay there; he didn't have anything else to do. When he got there he poured himself some punch from a bowl, he was about to drink it when he heard somepony calling his name, turning around he saw Pinkie calling his name from across the ball room.

He shrugged and made his way towards her, while he was weaving through the crowds of ponies he accidentally bumped into somepony and spilled his punch on them "Sorry" he apologized

"What is wrong with you? I have half a mind to- oh, it's you" the pony who he recognized as Blueblood said in disgust

"Hey Blueblood, how's working at the hotel?" he asked cheerfully

This caused a few ponies within hearing range to laugh "Don't you dare speak of that! I am Prince Blueblood and I don't have to take such acts or words of arrogance from some common pony! You mark my words, you have just made me as an enemy, and having royalty as an enemy is not a good thing!" he said in rage

"Okay" he said simply, which caused Blueblood to get an even more furious look on his face before Star turned away and made his way over to his friend.

When he got there he was greeted by Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity "Hey girls" he greeted

"So, how do you feel, prince?" Rarity asked playfully

"Proud, I just made my first royal enemy, I accidentally spilled some punch on Blueblood, he didn't seem to happy" he said in a cheerful tone

This caused Pinkie to burst out laughing, while Fluttershy let out a small squeak of a laugh and Rarity had her hoof over her mouth trying to stop herself from laughing.

Before they could continue their conversation, it was interrupted by Celestia "Quiet down my little ponies, I have an announcement to make"

After hearing her they all immediately shut up "This celebration is being held for two reasons, the first you all know is to celebrate the end of winter, but the second is for something much less known, I have recently found a long lost family member of mine, he has been gone for over a thousand years, even longer than Luna was"

Before she could continue everypony started to speak to each other in curious whispers "Settle down my little ponies, I am going to tell you all who he is"

Once the crowd finally died down she continued "The pony I am going to introduce is actually my son-"

Again Celestia was interrupted by excited and hushed whispers from the crowd "Please quiet down"

Immediately everypony shut up again and listened intently. She turned to Star from where he was in the crowd "Come introduce yourself son" she said with an encouraging smile

With that in mind, he made his way up to Celestia at the front of the crowds of ponies.

Ch 30: Painful Memories

"This is bad, please don't let it be what I think it is" Celestia muttered to herself as she ran down one of the many hallways of the castle. She carried Star right behind her, who was still unconscious, and was also being followed by the ponies and dragon who had been in the room with him "What's wrong with him?" Twilight asked after finally catching up with Celestia

"We will find out soon enough" she said in a worried tone

After a few minutes of running they made it to the hospital "I need a doctor, now!" Celestia demanded

"Right here princess, what is the problem?" Asked the doctor, who Celestia recognized as the one who had taken care of Star last time he was here

"I need you to take a look at Star again, see if there is anything wrong with him" she said impatiently

The doctor agreed and Star was taken into one of the many rooms in the hospital. After two agonizing hours of waiting the doctor reemerged from the hospital room with a confused look on his face "Is he okay?" Celestia asked in a voice full of dread

"He is perfectly healthy, no more scars as far as I can tell, he just seems to be unconscious" he answered

Celestia audibly groaned in despair "Please no, not this, please say I am wrong" she started to pace around the room

"What is it?" Twilight asked feeling more scared than she ever had, usually when something went wrong the princess was still calm and in control, but with her being the one worrying it just made it all the worse for Twilight

"I hope I am not right, I REALLY hope I'm not, but I think that his mind is catching up with his body" she explained

"What? His mind left his body?" Pinkie asked in confusion

"Not literally" Celestia hesitated before continuing "You've seen his scars and physical damage right?" she asked, she received nods from everypony "Well he received those while he was imprisoned in Discord's mind, but his physical body couldn't actually be transported into somewhere that only exists metaphorically, so his actual body was put somewhere else, while still taking the damage that he received while stuck in Discord's mind. When he came back to this realm, because he couldn't recall anything that happened, and because his body was mostly healed by then, his mind didn't register all of the damage that was done to it, but because his memories are coming back-"

"His mind is simulating each and every scar and hit he received during his thousand plus imprisonment" Twilight finished her eyes widened in worry

"That is just my theory, pray that I am incorrect" Celestia said with a nod before walking over to Star's room "But there is no way to tell until he wakes up"

"What do we do until then?" Rarity asked

"We wait" Celestia responded, a tear streaking from her eye

All he could feel was pain, all he could think was pain, all he knew at the moment, was pure and agonizing pain. He didn't know what was happening, he didn't know why, or how, but all he could even register was pain so sharp that he felt he would rather end his own life or have it ended than endure this any longer.

How long he had been there, he couldn't tell, but after what seemed like a hundred eternities, the pain stopped, it was so sudden that he couldn't register anything but the relief that the pain had ended. He could faintly make out laughing, maniacal laughter, laughter of triumph, laughter of revenge "It is time! I am finally being freed! Enjoy not being able to remember your life, and also enjoy your new life as an orphan earth pony!" he heard a delighted voice tell him, though he couldn't really register who's it was because most of his mind was still focusing on the relief of the pain's absence.

He felt his eyes open, his brain was still having trouble coping with how much relief his body felt, after a few moments light started to fade into the endless darkness that now encompassed his eyesight, as his eyes slowly started to focus he could make out the color white on the ceiling.

It took a long time, not that he noticed, he still couldn't focus his mind, but eventually his eyes focused enough to make out some of his surroundings, he couldn't move his head, but he could see the tip of something sharp above his eyesight.

Eventually his mind started to become clearer, not enough to process deep thought or anything, but he could just see a light flooding in from the wall to his right "Or is that my left?" he thought, to his surprise, he was actually able to process thought.

After what seemed like a very long time after that, he could finally see clearly again, his mind was just starting to clear up when he heard something moving near the wall on the opposite side of wherever the light was coming from.

He heard a creak and an intake of breath, then all he could see was white. He heard heavy sobbing and felt his body being squeezed "You are okay! You woke up! I thought you weren't ever going to wake up again" he heard a voice say between sobs

His mind started to clear up and he finally realized what had happened, he was spending time with his friends when he blacked out and "AH!" he inadvertently let out a yelp of pain

The figure above him quickly got off of him "I am so sorry, did I hurt you?"

He looked over at the figure to see none other than his mother. Her mane was disheveled, her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dried tears under her eyes "It's fine" he said quietly and carefully

"W-what happened?" she asked hesitantly

Star physically cringed at this "You don't have to think about it or say anything about it if you don't want to!" She said quickly

Before Star answered to this he heard a slight sniffling noise and saw Twilight standing beside Celestia, her mane also a mess and just like Celestia, she also had bloodshot and tear streaked eyes

"How long have I been out?" he asked

"Two weeks" Celestia answered

"Where am I?" he asked

"Your room in the castle, you would have stayed at the hospital but, well, while you were living through THAT, you w-were screaming out of pain and terror, you sounded like you were being t-tortured, so I couldn't stand to be away from you for too long" she forced herself to explain

As his mind went back to what had happened he cringed in pain again, just to have his mother immediately hug him in comfort again, whispering words of safety and comfort "Why aren't you back in Ponyville like I hope the others are?" he asked Twilight

Twilight looked him the eyes and said "I had to make sure you would be okay"

"I appreciate it, but you all have responsibilities in Ponyville, did the others go back?" he asked

"Not without a fight, but yes, they went back, but they have all been sending letters about every day asking about you" she explained

"I am blessed to have such great friends and family" he said a smile growing on his face

A small blush grew on Twilight's face as she looked at the ground idly kicking her hoof "Thanks"

"Do you know what happened to me?" he asked turning to Celestia

"I-I have a theory" she said hesitantly before explaining her theory to him

He tried to nod in agreement, but failed and gave her an awkward looking head bob as it moved left and right instead of up and down "That makes sense, but I-" he was cut off by a sudden wave of pain that was only comparable to what he had been feeling earlier

He held his hooves to his head in pain before collapsing to the ground for a few moments before raising his head to look at Celestia "P-p-please just cast a sleep spell on me, or anything, just make it stop" he pleaded

"As you wish" Celestia said her horn glowing

Star woke once again, but this time he didn't have all of the difficulty of trying to make out his thoughts and surroundings, he woke just as he normally would, though he still felt hesitant about moving. Eventually he decided to move, and surprisingly, it didn't hurt.

When he finally got up he felt strange, it had nothing to do with his mind or what had just happened, he just felt, off, there was something wrong.

With that in mind he inspected himself, the illusions for his scars and wings were still in place. He couldn't find anything off about himself so he just decided to go inform his mother and friend that he was okay.

Just as he walked out the door he was stopped by a palace guard who was apparently stationed nearby "I was ordered to keep you in your room until further notice" he said in a blank tone

"I only want to get out of here and speak to Celestia and Twilight" Star asked

"I only want to do my job, and that is listening to the princess, and she told me not to let you leave until further notice" he said with a blank expression

"Look, I'm trying to be reasonable, but one of two things are going to happen here" Star paused for dramatic effect "I am going to either try to get past you, fail, resist, and get hurt, getting you in trouble for hurting me, or I am going to try and climb out my window, fall, get hurt, and get you in trouble for not watching me, how about we avoid these possibilities and you just let me past?"

The guard rolled his eyes and sighed "I will just have to stop you and not hurt you now won't I?"

"Then I will climb out the window" Star said turning away

"The princess has the window magically locked in place, just in case you tried to leave in your current condition" the guard called after him with a snicker following him into the room

"Well that foils all of my plans, how's about we play a game?" Star asked turning to him

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" he agreed

"I am going to ask you a riddle and you are going to try and figure it out" Star replied with a devious smile

"Against my better judgment, alright" he answered

"Okay, now what has four legs, can't climb, and is in one place at one time, yet isn't?" Star asked

The guard cocked his head then looked at the ceiling with his hoof at his chin. After a few moments he shrugged "I don't know you've got me stumped what?" he asked

After receiving no answer he looked around the room just to find out that Star had escaped while he wasn't paying attention, but now there was a piece of paper on the bed, picking it up he read it then facehoofed, the paper read "Me" on it "I am so fired" he thought with a sigh before crumpling up the paper, throwing it away, and returning to his post.

Star started to make his way to "Wait, where am I going to find them anyway?"

He wandered for a moment before deciding to try and find Twilight, if she was still there that was, it was about time he got rid of the illusions, he didn't mind them too much, but he would rather not have his physical appearance be changed by illusions.

First he made his way to the library, seeing as that would be the most likely place for him to find her. After a few minutes he finally found the library, walking in he couldn't see anypony around, but he could hear a faint noise coming from deep within the maze of book shelves.

Eventually he got close enough to hear that it was somepony singing quietly and it sounded beautiful. He finally got close enough to hear the song clearly, what he heard was one of sadness and isolation, but just as he thought it could get no more depressing, it started to pick up tempo and started to sound more upbeat and joyful, while still retaining a slight impression of the sadness that was evident just moments before.

As the song ended he decided to find out who the owner of the beautiful voice was, as he turned the corner of the bookshelf he had been hiding behind he was surprised to see his aunt Luna looking at a book on the ground "That was beautiful" he complimented

She nearly jumped in surprise before turning a deep crimson "Oh, you heard that….?"

"Yes, you have a beautiful singing voice" he said with a smile

"Thank you, and it's nice to see you out of bed, sister has been most worried about you" Luna said with a nod

"Have you seen her or Twilight anywhere? I have to let them know that I'm okay, the last time I saw them it wasn't under the best circumstances" he asked while trying to avoid thinking of what had happened

"Oh yes, Twilight Sparkle took sister into town to try and get her mind off of… well, you know" she answered hesitantly

Star nodded in understanding "That was nice of her, but while I am here, would you mind getting rid of these illusions? I would prefer to look like myself and not some pampered fancy pony, it just feels unnatural"

She nodded "I would be happy to"

After that was said her horn started to glow a rich dark blue color, this color soon enveloped Stars entire body as he felt her magic go to work on the illusions. Luna's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as she retracted her magic from him "What's wrong?" he asked

"I- but- how- when- it's- but- just- I- WHAT?" she exclaimed in a dumbfounded tone

"What's wrong?" he repeated sounding much more worried this time

"Well you see… It's kind of like… I guess that… When did…. I just…. What?" she said blinking her eyes

Star waved his hoof in front of her eyes "Hellooooooooooo Equestria to Luna? Are you in there?"

"Y-y-your wings" she finally managed to stutter

"What about them?" he inquired

"They're… They're…" she said regaining her former befuddlement (I love that word)

"They're what? Did the illusion do something to my body?" he asked gaining a worried tone

"Th…re …l" she muttered in disbelief

"They're what?" he asked again

"They're… they're…" she started

"Yes?" he prompted her

"Real" she finished

"Real?" he asked confused

"Real" she confirmed

"What do you mean they're… WHAT!" he shouted looking back at his two new appendages, surely enough, his wings were still there, just as they were this morning, he didn't feel any different than then though.

He experimentally tried to extend his new appendages and surely enough they moved just as he tried to make them "I- but when- how- what- just- but- I- what?" he said gaining Luna's dumbfounded manner

After a few moments he finally recovered to hear Luna exclaim "Your scars are gone too!"

"WHAT?" he said inspecting his body again, and surely enough he no longer had scars covering his body "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?" he shouted in surprise

"I don't know, but at least it isn't a bad thing, like the things that have been happening to you as of late" she pointed out

Star nodded in agreement "I guess you are right, but just… how?" he asked himself more than her

Luna simply shrugged "Okay, I no longer have scars covering my body, and my wings regrew" he told himself "yeah, because that happens normally" he added in disbelief

Luna sighed "Yet another mystery we will have to solve"

"I guess so" he said with a shrug

They stood in silence for a few moments, well, Luna was lying on the ground once again looking into the book she was reading before he arrived, but that is irrelevant, when Star decided to follow her example and picked a book at random out of the many books around them

Grabbing the first book on his left he turned it over and read the title Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone

He tilted his head in confusion "I wouldn't expect a royal library to be carrying an adventure book" he commented

"We collect any and all kinds of knowledge here, both real and fictional" she said simply

For the next few hours he read through the book, which to his surprise held his attention more than most books he had read had ever done before. Eventually Luna yawned "It's about time that I lower the moon" she commented

"Wait, it's night time?" Star asked

"Yes it is, Celestia should be back soon to raise the sun" Luna explained shutting her book and placing it in a nearby shelf.

Star did the same before following her out of the library and to the front of the castle where Luna stood in place and looked at the sky with a determined expression. Her horn suddenly started to glow while her eyes narrowed in concentration.

Looking into the sky he saw that the moon was being lowered past the horizon, and the sky started to brighten as the sun followed the direction of the moon. As the moon lowered past the horizon the sun passed the opposite horizon and started its daily cycle.

Luna turned to Star "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get up at night to raise and lower the moon so I don't usually stay awake during the first part of the day, goodnight" she said walking to the castle

"What are you doing out of bed?" he heard the voice of his mother ask

He turned to her "I am okay, really" he reassured her

"….Alright, but how did you get out?" she asked

A grin grew on his face thinking of what happened earlier that day "I tricked him" he said beaming at her

"How?" she said with a raised eyebrow

"I stumped him with a riddle and while he was thinking I made my escape" Star explained

"What was the riddle?" he turned to hear Twilight ask

"I asked him "Okay, now what has four legs, can't climb, and is in one place at one time, yet isn't?"" he recalled

Celestia looked like she was deep in thought and Twilight was just the same, after a few moments of this Twilight sighed "Alright, you've got me stumped what is it?"

"I can't tell you till my mom guesses" he replied

They waited a few more moments before Celestia too looked truly stumped "Alright, you've got me, what is it?" she conceded

"Me" he said simply

He received two questioning looks before breaking out in a fit of laughter "The only reason none of you could figure it out is because I added "can't climb" to throw you off by making it seem like an important part of the answer"

Twilight nodded "You've got me there"

"So, how long was I out this time?" he asked changing subject

"Only a few hours" Celestia answered

"What did you do in town?" Star asked

"Why don't we talk while we eat, I'm hungry" Celestia replied with a sheepish smile

"Agreed" Twilight

They made their way back into the castle then into the dining hall where they ate and explained to Star what they had been doing while they were gone, Twilight had taken Celestia out to see a play from Shakesmare, he was apparently a very famous play writer.

They then questioned Star on his antics since he had left his room and his eyes widened and he froze in shock remembering what had happened, he hadn't quite come to terms with it yet "Well, you know it's a funny story, well not so much funny as it is shocking and unbelievable" he said in disbelief

"What happened?" Celestia asked her eyes widening

"Well, when I left I decided to go and ask Twilight to get rid of the illusions on my body-" he started

"But we weren't there" Twilight interrupted

"I am getting to that" Star said before continuing "When I got to the library I found Luna and found out that you two were gone so I asked her to get rid of them-"

"But they are still there" Twilight interrupted again

"I am getting to that!" he replied impatiently "So she agreed and tried and well…. I kind of….. sort of… regrew my wings" he said bluntly

He received two disbelieving looks, so to convince them he flapped his wings a few times "WHAT?" Twilight shouted as the shock of it hit her

"I- wait- when- how- but- just- what?" Celestia said in confusion

"My scars are gone too" he added

"B-but how? I can believe the scars being healed, that isn't hard, but it is unheard of to regrow lost limbs!" Twilight said incredulously

Star shrugged "I have absolutely no idea"

They both turned to Celestia who in turn shrugged and simply replied "Magic"

"When did this happen?" Twilight demanded

Star stared at the ceiling in thought "Well… it might have happened when-" *thud* he immediately fell to the ground and passed out

Celestia rushed to his side "Are you okay?" she asked

She turned him over and saw that he was passed out "I guess we just have to wait, the worst has already happened, now I don't know what is happening" she said helplessly

"He will be okay" Twilight reassured her

Inside Star's head was a different story, he found himself inside Starswirl's library, but it was still destroyed just like it was when he had discovered it, and unlike his usual flashbacks he found himself able to move around, it felt as if he was actually there.

He heard the sound of hoof on stone and turned to see a figure approaching him, as it came into view he saw a pony that looked unbelievably just like himself, the pony smirked and greeted him "Hello, brother"

Ch 31: Getting Sidetracked

Star stared at the other pony with a look of pure confusion "Wait, brother?" he asked in surprise.

The pony in front of him simply gave him a knowing grin "That is correct, I bet you didn't know that you had a brother, did you?"

Star furrowed his eyebrows for a moment in thought "Nope, in fact, as far as I can remember I was an only child, were you born after I was imprisoned?" he questioned.

The pony in front of him chuckled darkly "Technically speaking, yes, you are an only child, but I am just as much your brother as Celestia is our mother and Starswirl was our father."

"But how? Celestia and Starswirl I know for a fact only had one child, and that was me, how can you also be their kid?" Star asked with a growing confusion in his voice and on his face.

"That is, my dear brother, because I have no physical body to speak of, I was born as more of a sentient conscience within your own." The mirror Star answered.

"Then how does that make you my brother, you were born within my mind, wouldn't that make me your father or creator or something?" Star asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly, I wasn't born from your consciousness, you see, I was born from a combination of mother's and father's, so that makes us brothers." the other pony explained.

"That is pretty interesting, so, why did my mind bring me here? I was trying to come up with how my wings regrew, then I ended up here, do you have any idea how that happened or how my scars healed?" Star asked.

The other Star looked at him curiously "You really don't remember that of all things? I thought that you would have remembered that as one of the first things." He said in mild surprise.

"How did it happen?" The real Star asked.

"Well, think of it as being a farewell gift from father, he healed your physical wounds as a last blessing, but it couldn't take full effect yet, because the magic he used affected your mind, but it couldn't actually take effect until the spell was registered within your subconscious, and I guess since you regained the majority of your memories, that the spell he used to heal you took effect." The other pony explained

"So, even after he was gone he was still looking after me." Star concluded with a slightly disheartened tone. He stayed silent for a few more moments before looking back at the other Star "That still doesn't answer one question, why did my mind bring me to you, instead of just showing me the memory of it?" he asked

The other Star simply shrugged "Beats me, but it is nice to finally meet you in the flesh." he said happily

"So, what do I call you?" Star asked.

"You can just call me Solar Spin, or just Solar for short." Solar replied with a smile.

"Nice to meet you Solar, it's nice to know that I have a brother." Star said cheerfully.

"The feeling is mutual." Solar replied giving Star another beaming smile.

"So, any idea how long I'm gonna be here?" Star asked.

"Oh, you should be regaining consciousness in about three….two….one." Solar counted.

Just as he reached 1 Star saw a sudden bright flash of white as he was thrown back into reality. He woke to find himself in his room, he then got out of his bed and decided to go and tell Celestia and Twilight what had happened to him.

As he was walking down one of the many hallways he heard a faint sound coming from nowhere in particular, he stopped and listened to find out where the sound was coming from. The sound started to get faintly louder until he could hear a voice "Testing, testing, can you hear me?" he heard a voice inside his head ask.

"Solar?" Star asked out loud.

"That's me." The voice of Solar replied.

"How are you talking to me?" Star asked seemingly nopony.

"You can just think to speak to me, you don't have to speak out loud" Solar explained.

"Alright, now, how are you talking to me?" Star asked again.

"I could always talk to you, I just didn't want to try and then find out I accidentally sent you into shock or a coma or killed you or something, I had to wait until you got your memories back" Solar answered.

Star bobbed his head from side to side in understanding "I appreciate it." He replied

"Just remember, if you ever need anything, I am just a thought away." Solar offered him before deciding to stay silent.

With that in mind Star once again started to make his way to find his mother and friend, but not knowing where they were, he decided to just start from the front door and search from there.

When he arrived at the door he saw a curious sight, he saw all six of his friends, but it was an odd sight, Rainbow was holding down Twilight and Pinkie was sitting on Rarity, Fluttershy watched from the sidelines timidly and Applejack was pacing back and forth "Geez girls, get a room." Star joked as he approached them.

They turned with surprised looks to see him, Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity all grew crimson red blushes on their faces and Pinkie immediately jumped and tackled him "You're okay! We were all super duper worried about you!" Before he could respond she got off of him and stared at him expectantly "So, what happened?" she asked.

"Well….." he put his hoof to his chin in thought, while trying to remember what happened a fresh wave of pain shot through his body, it was not severe or sharp, more of a small sting, but it surprised him enough to make him jump straight into the chandelier that was hanging right above him.

He and the chandelier fell with a mighty crash that shook the floor, the chandelier shattered and covered him with the debris "Ouch." He said in a muffled voice.

"Star are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Is it normal to see birds flying around my head?" Star asked.

"Not normally, but there was this one time that I was walking, well I was actually hopping, but that doesn't matter, anyway, I was hopping through Whitetail woods when I suddenly came upon a birds nest! I-" Pinkie started to spin off into a random story but was stopped by Applejack putting her hoof in front of Pinkie's mouth.

"A simple no would've worked Sugarcube." She said with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

"Okay, the birds are gone, now I am going to attempt to exit the debris." Star said in mock fear.

He slowly made his way out of the debris and thankfully, nothing cut or stabbed him out of all of the broken glass around it. "So girls, what was that all about?" Star asked after dusting himself off.

"I don't know, you just suddenly jumped up into the chandelier." Twilight, who apparently had gotten Rainbow off of her, replied with a shrug.

"Not that, why was Rainbow holding you down and why was Pinkie sitting on Rarity?" Star asked shaking his head.

A blush suddenly grew on Twilight's face "Oh, no reason." She attempted to say nonchalantly but failed and ended up sounding nervous.

Star simply raised an eyebrow and shook his head "Alright then, so, why are you all here?" he asked looking at each of his friends.

"Twilight said that you were better now and we decided to come and visit you. What, did you think we would forget all about you?" Pinkie said cheerfully.

"Oh, I knew that Rainbow would be here, and another one of you would be, I just didn't think that the rest of you would be able to come down so soon."

He received a few confused looks prompting him to explain, he turned to Rainbow with a confused look "You didn't forget about the Wonderbolts show, did you?" he asked

Rainbow's eyes suddenly grew wide in realization "Oh crud! I forgot that the show was today! Quick, what time is it?" she asked quickly

Star looked over at a nearby grandfather clock placed against a nearby wall, "It's twelve thirty five." Star answered.

Rainbow let out a relieved sigh "That was scary, the show isn't until two, I was worried that I missed the show."

"I thought that you would have been counting down the days on a calendar, is something wrong? Did something happen?" Star asked with a slightly worried tone.

Rainbow shook her head "I just haven't been paying attention to very much; they've all been pretty worried about you so I have had to try and keep their minds off of it."

"It is nice to know that somepony was able to keep their head clear and not worry too much about me, thanks." Star said gratefully

"Yeah, I wasn't worried a bit." Rainbow replied quietly and hesitantly before shaking her head "I mean yeah! Of course I wasn't worried! There was nothing to be worried about in the first place!"

"Exactly, now, seriously, how did you all manage to take more days off of your responsibilities? Pinkie, I bet that the Cakes would need your help, Applejack I bet that the farm is lagging behind without you there, Twilight I bet you are behind in some assignment or another, but I doubt it, Rarity, I bet you have at least one order you have to finish, Rainbow, I was expecting you to be here anyway, and Fluttershy, who is taking care of your animals?" Star said in one continuous breath.

Pinkie simply shrugged "The cakes closed down Sugarcube Corner for today and gave me the day off, I don't know why."

"I do not, in fact, have an order to finish at the moment." Rarity explained

"Pokey Pierce was nice enough to watch over my animals for today." Fluttershy said with a smile

"Who?" Star asked with his eyebrow raised.

"The nice colt who sold you Brownie." Fluttershy explained.

"You named the cat Brownie? I like it honestly." Star said with a shrug before turning to Applejack.

"Big Macintosh can take care of the farm just fine without me fer a day, though he isn't the one doin the chores, the crusaders get to do that." She replied.

"Why?" Star asked with a curious tone.

"Remember when they were workin with those fireworks and caused an avalanche, and made those boulders fly off in random directions?" She asked rhetorically "Well, one of 'em smashed right through the barn! Tha other two hit town hall and Tom!" she exclaimed.

"Tom?" Star asked curiously.

"Never speak of it!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Okay, what about you Rainbow?" He asked turning to Rainbow.

Rainbow shrugged just as Pinkie had "The weather schedule has been pretty self-maintaining lately, just leave the skies clear, which isn't hard."

"I've been here with the princess the whole time, she hasn't told me anything to work on." Twilight replied simply.

"Oh, alright" Star replied not knowing what else to say.

There was a few moments of silence before somepony spoke up "What happened to you anyway?" Pinkie asked breaking the silence.

"Twilight will you explain it? Whenever I think about what happened a jolt of pain shoots through me for some reason." Star asked

"Sure, well basically, his body caught up with his mind, just as you, Fluttershy, and Celestia guessed, he has been reliving his imprisonment for the past two weeks, and apparently, his wings regrew and his scars healed themselves." Twilight explained calmly.

"H-his wings what?" Fluttershy asked in disbelief.

"Apparently they regrew" Star confirmed with a shrug.

The rest of the ponies in the room were left speechless "But how- that doesn't- then when- but- just- what? I know ponies that have lost their wings and they haven't been able to regrow them, what makes you so special?" Rainbow asked.

Star shrugged "Starswirl was a pretty smart unicorn, I don't know how either."

"Wait, what about Starswirl?" Twilight asked quickly.

"Oh, yeah, I haven't told any of you what happened when I passed out earlier." He said in realization before explaining the situation to them.

"So… you have a brother?" Rarity asked slowly.

"Yep, and he looks exactly like I do." Star confirmed.

"I think that you are making that up." Rainbow accused.

"I don't expect you to believe me, I am trying to get you to believe in somepony that you can't hear, see or touch." Star admitted.

"That isn't true, I could project my voice into their minds if I felt the need." Solar contradicted.

"Well then, why don't you introduce yourself Solar?" Star asked him, not realizing that he had said that out loud.

"You don't know how crazy you sound, do you?" Rainbow said shaking her head.

"He isn't crazy." Solar said projecting his voice into each of their minds.

All of their eyes widened in surprise "He's real." Twilight said in disbelief.

"Nice to meet you all, and it isn't that unbelievable, separate sentient consciousness's can be developed into more than one mind at a time, usually ponies are considered crazy though, mainly because those separate consciousness's can't communicate with anypony besides the consciousness that they are attached to essentially, I, however, can communicate with more than just my hosts mind." Solar explained.

"Why is it that only you can do this?" Twilight asked.

"Well, seeing as I am a combination of Starsiwirl and Celestia's subconscious thoughts that have taken place and flourished within Stars, two out of three of these being alicorns, and the last being one of the most successful sorcerers in Equestrian history, the explanations are limitless but the answers are nearly unobtainable." He answered honestly.

They all heard an audible groan, Star turned to see that it had come from Rainbow "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My brain hurts." She answered.

"From what?" Star asked.

"From their conversation, it is sooooooooooooo nerdy!" she complained.

"Not that Ah'm agreein with Rainbow, but ah didn't understand a word ya just said." Applejack pointed out

"It was kind of hard to follow." Fluttershy agreed.

"Are you girls crazy? It was a simple explanation, he was just explaining that the representation of what most ponies consider "voices in their heads" are usually a separate consciousness that has developed within their own and achieved a sentient level of thought, though most of these can't communicate with anypony but the host that they share minds with, and that he can communicate with us is highly unusual but not impossible because he is a combination of three different minds, two of who are alicorns and the other is a very powerful sorcerer, so most likely with their combined magic being intertwined to create this single consciousness it is most likely strong enough to establish contact with other minds besides his hosts." Twilight explained with a smile.

He received blank looks from the other ponies "Could you repeat that in Equestrian please?" Applejack asked.

"He was created by Starswirl and Celestia's magic leaving behind a mark inside Star's mind, it then started to develop and began to be able to process thought, after a while he started to be able to think of what was outside of his small, bubble, if you will, and he developed and learned through Star's memories. While he was born from the same parents, he is, to put it simply, Star's brother, and he can only communicate with us because of how strong Stars, Celestias, and Starswirls magic is." Twilight replied simply and with a sigh.

"Oh, that makes sense." Pinkie said nodding her head.

"So Solar, what is it like being a disembodied consciousness?" Twilight asked.

"It is normal for me, I do not know how it is being a consciousness with a body so I cannot compare it to anything else, but the best thing I can explain it as would be, think of not being able to move around on your own, but being able to access all of your memories while rarely forgetting anything, and being in a constant state of deep thought." He attempted to explain.

"So, how much of each ponies memories do you have? I know that you are a mixture of both Celestia's and Starswirl's magic, but how much of each of their memories do you have access to?" Twilight questioned.

"I honestly only have a few bits and pieces of memories from Celestia and Starswirl, most of my memories are Star's" Solar answered

"It is good to see you up and about again." Celestia greeted cheerfully as she approached the group of ponies.

"It's nice to be up and about again." Star responded with a beaming smile.

"So what happened this time? Why did you pass out?" Celestia asked.

"Oh right, mom, meet your other son, Solar." Star said gesturing at everywhere in general.

She gave him a questioning look and was about to say something but was interrupted by Solar "Nice to meet you, mother" he greeted

"What?" Celestia asked in shock "I don't have another son."

Star and Solar then proceeded to explain to her how he came into existence "So Starswirl's magic with my own created you?" Celestia asked.

"That is correct." Solar confirmed.

"So I have two sons now?" She said with a smile.

"Yep." Star responded.

Celestia suddenly broke out laughing "What's wrong?" asked a confused looking Twilight.

After a few more moments of laughing Celestia finally stopped long enough to explain "I have had two sons before Luna has even had a date! This amuses me greatly!" she exclaimed.

Star put a hoof to his chin for a moment "That only leaves one thing left to say." He said vaguely.

"And what's that?" Pinkie asked.

"It's one forty-five right now." He said simply before looking over at Rainbow.

She looked confused for a moment before her eyes widened in surprise "The show starts in fifteen minutes! We might not make it in time, come on Applejack you're coming with me!" she exclaimed flying out the door carrying the surprised looking orange earth pony.

Ch 32: A Day On The Town

They all shared a laugh as the worried Rainbow Dash flew off into the distance, Star turned to Twilight "Are you ever going to tell her that you changed the time on the clock to be forty five minutes fast?" he asked.

Twilight put on her best innocent face "What? Me? I would never prank Rainbow, even though it might seem like payback for her replacing my shampoo with bright yellow hair dye, do you really think that an egghead librarian like me could trick a devious mastermind like her?"

This caused Star to burst into a fit of laughter, followed by Twilight, which caused everypony to laugh at the interaction.

"Well this has been nice, but sadly it took me all of the 6 months Star has been here to accumulate enough energy to be able to speak to you all for this long, so with a heavy heart, I bid you all ado." Solar said sounding slightly depressed.

"It's okay, you can still hear them and speak to me." Star reassured him.

"Now I have to figure out if being stuck with only you is a good thing or a bad thing." Solar replied sarcastically.

"Hey! That wasn't nice!" Star retorted out loud.

"Who are you talking to now? Do you have some other second secret brother?" Pinkie asked conspiratorially.

Star let out a long sigh before replying "I was speaking to Solar, I just forgot that we can speak mentally, which makes me look and sound less crazy while we converse."

They each sat in silence, none of them wanting to be the one to break the sudden silence that suddenly came over them. Star turned to look at Celestia for a moment when a thought came to his mind, not knowing exactly how to bring it up "M-mother? I don't wish to bring up any sour memories or anything, but I am sure that we all have a fair amount of questions involving father and what lead up to him doing whatever it was that he did, so, if I may ask, what was he doing when he created Discord?" he asked sounding fairly nervous.

She stared at him for a moment with a blank expression, as if she were inspecting and analyzing him, before she gave him a beaming smile "There are no memories of your father that are sour, so do not hesitate about asking of him, I still miss him a great deal, but do not fret, you deserve to know." As she said this her beaming smile turned into another blank expression.

She paused, pacing the room for a moment as if contemplating how to explain "You can take a few hours to collect your thoughts, I think that it would be better if we waited for Rainbow and Applejack to return first." Star offered.

Celestia gave him an expression of such relief it seems like he had just freed her from a dragon "I would appreciate it, I haven't thought about it in a great deal of time." She said in a grateful tone that matched her expression.

She gave them each her farewell before retreating to who knows where inside the castle. Star then turned to his friends with a questioning look "So….. how've you girls been?" he asked trying to start a conversation.

There was an awkward silence that followed the question "Geez, did somepony die?" Star asked jokingly.

Twilight grimaced at this "Up until yesterday, we had thought that you were going to."

"Why did you think that?" he asked somberly.

Twilight looked very uncomfortable "While you were…. Incapacitated, you had… problems, more than once your brain shut down or your heart refused to beat, but nopony could figure out why, and none of us liked seeing you in such pain." She paused for quite some time before continuing "That is why the girls were able to get here so quickly, we planned ahead to be here today, it hurts me to say this, but we were going to plan your funeral."

This hit Star like a train "Oh." He replied dryly.

Twilight winced back, expecting him to explode from their lack of faith in him. Star felt as if he should be furious at this, like he should be outraged that they gave up on him, but for some reason, he could see no reason to do so "Well, all that matters is that I'm here now!" he replied in a Pinkie Pie cheerful tone.

"I'm sorry it's just that-wait, what?" Twilight said with a double take, what he had said and how he said it surprised her to no end "I thought you would be mad that we gave up on you?"

"I think I probably should be, given the circumstances I should probably be furious, but I can't really see why I should be, I mean think about it rationally, I was in pain showing no sign of recovering, and in my pain I was making you girls worry, and seeing me in such pain must have been horrible, so it was for the best, I could have just dropped dead at any moment from the pain." He said plainly.

Twilight sighed in relief and annoyance "Only the child of Celestia could be this rational, I am sure that if it were almost anypony else they would have been furious." She said to nopony in particular "Except maybe Fluttershy." She added.

"Well, we have a few more hours before more answers, worries, and drama is added into the puzzle that I call my life, what would you girls like to do today?" Star asked in an upbeat tone.

This caught them off guard seeing as most of their eyes widened in surprise "Ooooooh! I know!" Pinkie exclaimed.

She proceeded to pull a calendar from nowhere, she then began to flip through a few pages before sighing "There isn't anything to celebrate today!" she said with a pout.

"We don't need to celebrate anything though, we can just find something to do, or we could just sit around and talk." Star offered.

"So, just hang out?" Twilight asked

"Sure, we never have before." Star confirmed.

"What ever would we possibly do though?" Rarity asked.

Star thought a moment before his train of thought was interrupted by his growling stomach "Why don't we go into town and I will treat us all to a nice lunch?" he suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie agreed.

After deciding on that they all set out into town to look for a place to eat. As they wandered around Canterlot Twilight would suggest one thing just to have Rarity contradict it and lead to somewhere else, usually they would drag poor Fluttershy into the conflict as a third opinion.

But besides that occasional disagreement their walk around Canterlot was relatively quiet, though they did attract the occasional gaze or whisper they were usually immediately withdrawn for some reason or another "What are they afraid of me?" Star thought to himself.

Eventually though, hoping to avoid being in the center of another disagreement, Fluttershy found a café by the name of Java's cafe just off the side of the main road, it was the kind of place that you would pass by without a second thought, in fact, the four of them had passed right by it when Fluttershy had stopped by it, with all of them in agreement of their place of choice they walked inside.

From the outside it just looked plain, compared to every other building in the city, but from the inside it was quite different from the sophistication of the usual building in Canterlot, it had a simple look to it, the floors were made of dark brown planks of wood, the walls were a light green, not like lime green or neon green, just a lighter version of a woodland type green, and there were a few tables around the room, including a few stalls here and there.

At the main counter there was a grey earth pony with a black mane wearing a white apron, this pony was speaking to another pony who appeared to be the waitress, she was a cyan colored unicorn, not as sky blue as Rainbow, but a much darker cyan and her mane was a deep purple.

As they noticed Star and his friends approaching the smiled warmly and welcomed them "Can I help you all?" the earth pony asked.

"Yes actually, can we have a menu or something to see what you sell here?" Twilight asked.

"Sure, here you are." The unicorn said levitating each of them a menu that read what was available.

With that they left and sat in a nearby stall, with Star, Twilight and Rarity in one side, and Pinkie and Fluttershy sitting on the other. After a few moments they were approached by the waitress, she greeted them with a warm smile "I don't believe I've met any of you before, are you new in town?" the unicorn asked.

"Well, yes, and no, we don't live here, we're just visiting, at least, I THINK I'm visiting, I'm not all too sure about that yet, but these four are just visiting." Star explained.

He received a questioning glance from her before her eyes wandered over to his wings "Wait….. aren't you….?" She started to say before she ran over to the other pony, she started to say something and speak very animatedly.

While this was happening they all shared questioning glances, she suddenly reappeared by their table "Sorry about that, but as I was saying, aren't you Prince Starlight?" she asked pleasantly

Star winced at that "Please don't call me that, I don't really like my full name, you can call me Star." He said introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you Star, my name is Amethyst Mist, and that old colt over there is Java Bean." She responded introducing the colt who was at the counter.

"I am not old! I'm just… youth challenged is all!" he defended.

This caused them all to laugh at him, Java simply shook his head and chuckled "So, what can I get you all?" Amethyst asked nicely, but mostly looking at Star.

"I'll have a daffodil sandwich, and some Ceylon tea please." He asked not noticing that she was staring at him.

After the rest of them had each ordered their own foods Amethyst walked away with a smile "What's she up to?" Rarity asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Star asked.

"She was staring at you and smiling the whole time, she must be up to something." Twilight agreed acting very conspiratorial.

"I think that she was just doing her job, you know, being a waitress she is probably just supposed to be nice to the customers." Star explained with a roll of his eyes.

Twilight and Rarity both looked over at each other, nodded, then looked over at Fluttershy and Pinkie for support, Pinkie simply shrugged and Fluttershy hid in her mane avoiding eye contact.

Star sighed and let his mind wander "What's up with those two lately? They've been acting strange for a while, maybe they really are in a relationship?" he contemplated this for a moment before dismissing it with a laugh "I really doubt that though."

When Amethyst returned with their food and drinks Star found that she was actually staring at him with very much interest "Are you okay? According to my friends you have been staring at me for a while now." Star asked curiously.

Her eyes widened and a blush grew on her face "Oh, I- um- that is- I mean-." She seemed slightly flustered for a moment before shaking her head "I was just excited that Prince Starlight decided to visit our tiny café, imagine the kind of business this is going to get us! This'll show those snooty ponies down at Canterlots finest!" she said proudly.

"Pardon?" Star asked with a raised eyebrow.

She blushed and gave him a sheepish grin "The owner and workers over there usually get more business than us and rub it in our noses, but now that royalty has been here, we will get way more business than them, so for once we will be doing the nose rubbing!" she said happily.

"I'm glad I could be of some use." Star said cheerfully.

He received dirty looks from both Twilight and Rarity, he gave them a questioning look before they turned to their food and began to eat with angry expressions. Amethyst shared his confusion but simply shrugged it off "Anyway, if you need anything, please feel free to call." She said walking back over to Java.

Star turned back to Rarity and Twilight "What was that about? Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

"She is just using you for publicity! How can you be okay with that!" Rarity demanded.

Star simply shrugged "Well, I am eating food here, and it isn't exactly my fault that it helps with publicity or whatever, and I can't really help it even if I wanted to, I am already here and eating." He explained.

Just as Amethyst had predicted a few ponies had started to come in and order food, she looked over at Star and gave him a thankful smile. Star turned back to Twilight and Rarity "See? How can something that makes somepony happy be all bad?" he asked.

Rarity remained silent and Twilight mumbled something unintelligible under her breath "I agree with Star, what's wrong with making somepony happy?" Pinkie asked.

"Nothing, it just doesn't seem right to use Star for publicity is all." Rarity replied avoiding eye contact with them.

"Rarity, anywhere I go for a while will probably attract attention or "publicity" because I am the secret son of Princess Celestia and Starswirl, ponies would crowd to see her if she was in public, and I am new and a mystery, so whether I want it or not, I am going to attract attention." Star explained.

Rarity sighed "I guess, let's just enjoy our food."

With that they all resumed eating their own food. After they had finished Star called over the now very busy Amethyst, she hurriedly approached their table "Is there anything you need?" she asked.

"Yes, how much do I owe for the meal?" he asked.

"You mean the bill?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

Star looked left and right suspiciously "I don't see any ducks here." He said with a straight face.

This made Amethyst giggle "Okay, here is the bill for the food." She said writing on a small notepad then placing the paper she had been writing on onto their table.

Surprisingly enough, the bill only summed up to 20 bits, though he was sure it was at least 35 or more. Looking through the bill it read the prices of each of the meals, it totaled up to 43 bits, but at the bottom of the list of meals it subtracted 13 bits for "publicity" and under that it subtracted another 10 for "making me laugh" this made Star smile.

Star took out the appropriate amount of bits and left a decent tip, he left a total of 25 bits. They then left the café with full stomachs.

The trip back to the castle was peaceful, until two blurs shot past them, very familiar rainbow and orange blurs, heading right for the castle. When they finally arrived at the palace they saw Rainbow and Applejack arguing, and there was only one thing it could be over "Neither of you won." Star said before they could eve raise the question.

"Whatever I totally won!" Rainbow argued.

"No ah won! If anythin 'twas a tie!" Applejack retorted.

"Why don't you just race later, to determine who won this one?" Star asked.

"I'm fine with it if she is." Rainbow agreed.

Applejack shrugged "Ah don't see why not."

"So, how was the show?" Twilight asked with a devious smile.

"We were twenty minutes early!" Rainbow beamed "I went so fast that I went back in time!"

Twilight facehoofed, causing everypony besides her, Rainbow and Applejack to break out laughing "What's so funny?" Rainbow asked.

Ignoring her question Star led the group of ponies back inside the palace, and surprisingly enough, waiting for them patiently inside were both Princess Celestia and Luna "We've been awaiting your return." Celestia said with a smile.

"I guess that means you are ready to answer all of our questions?" Star asked.

"Yes, I am as prepared as I can possibly be." She answered with a smile.

She gestured for them to follow and they did. She led them down a few hallways until they came upon a very cozy looking room, there was a very soft carpet, a few chairs and a lit fireplace against one of the walls.

When they all finally got cozy Celestia sighed "Alright, what questions would you like me to answer first?" she asked hesitantly.

"I've got one to start with, why doesn't Star know anything about Romance or what happens between a Stallion and a Mare to create a child?" Rarity asked.

Celestia sighed "He was very sheltered, that and because he was so isolated he never even met a girl besides me or either of his aunts, he didn't go through the stage that most ponies do that makes them think differently about the opposite gender, as he never really met anypony, so he doesn't know anything about romance or how it feels to have a crush or to be in love, at least, I don't believe that he does." She explained.

Rarity nodded, accepting the answer "That would make sense, we usually start to develop *ahem* attractions to other ponies at a young age, but I can see how that would put him at a loss in the subject."

"I don't get it." Star said simply.

This caused the other ponies in the room to giggle at his discomfort, Celestia then sighed again "Star, we will speak of this later."

She then refocused her attention to her thoughts "Anything else?" she asked.

"What was father trying to accomplish when he created Discord?" Star asked.

Celestia sighed at this "I guess it's about time I told you that, get comfy, this isn't a very pleasant story."

A/N For those of you who read ahead on Fanfiction.net I will not be posting my April fools chapter, so for those of you who haven't read it yet, you won't have to deal with it.

Ch 33: Winter Wrap Up

"I guess I should start this with the root of the problem." She hesitated for a moment before continuing "When your father and I started our relationship everything was wonderful, during the day, I was very busy, but at night, we would meet up and enjoy each other's company, but soon enough the doubt came to his mind just as it had been plaguing mine, alicorns live for thousands of years, but regular ponies have much shorter life spans, so he asked why I bothered being in a relationship with him, if his life was to end centuries before mine. I had questioned myself with this on more than one occasion, but I had come up with an answer beforehoof, I told him that I didn't care about any of that, and that I loved him and that was all that mattered, I thought he had forgotten about it after that, but I was wrong. A few years later you were born, he once again seemed distraught, he worried that he wouldn't be around to help take care of his newborn child as long as his mother, he seemed withdrawn for quite a few months until eventually he approached me, he was ecstatic, apparently he had studied into some of our older spell tomes and found a spell that would supposedly give the user eternal life, though the requirements were dire and the entire thing was very sketchy, I told him that it wasn't worth the risk and that I would rather that he didn't bother with it. For quite a few more years he didn't bring up anything and we enjoyed our lives and watched you grow, but around your tenth birthday he tried to convince me again to allow him to attempt the spell, though I denied it. Over the next fourteen years he tried and tried to convince me to allow him to go through with it, and each and every time I rejected the idea. On the day of your twenty fourth birthday I received a letter from him saying that he had finally done it, he had all the requirements to perform the spell and that he would be doing it as a birthday gift to you, but instead he gave up his life and gave birth to two beings of evil, Discord and Destruction." Celestia explained with almost no pauses for breath in between.

Star sat in silence while the information processed into his mind. The other ponies in the room stared at him in anticipation, waiting for his reaction to learning what really happened "So, all of this happened because he wanted to be there for us…." Star finally said, more to himself than anypony else.

"That's right." Celestia confirmed.

Star suddenly started to shake, as if he were about to explode with emotions, but a small tear trickled down one of his cheeks and he let out a small, bitter laugh, surprising even Celestia with his reaction "Why are you laughing?" she asked.

"I feel like I should be shouting at the skies and trying to find Discords statue to break it or something, but I know that it won't accomplish anything, it's kind of funny though, we told him not to so many times because we were worried about him, but he was only trying to do it because he was the one worried for us." He answered slowly.

After a few moments of waiting for Star to recover from the sudden revelation he looked back to his mother "That does raise one question in my mind though, why did you lie to everypony about the origin of Hearth's Warming day?" he asked.

Celestia tilted her head at him in confusion "What do you mean?" she asked.

"According to the Hearth's Warming story, the three races of ponies founded Equestria on that day with Clover the Clever, who was Starswirls fake apprentice, being one of the main ponies in the event, which isn't possible because I would have been there too, and you would have been ruling over Equestria at the time, also in the story I was told explaining Discord, he ruled over all of the races of Equestria until you and Luna put a stop to it, meaning that it would have to take place a long time after that day, but you were ruler when Discord was created, completely throwing off that timeline, so that means that it is a false story, so what is the true history behind that day?" he asked.

Celestia smiled sadly after hearing this "You got your wit from your father, that much is obvious. Yes the story behind Hearth's Warming day is false, the true story behind that is that the year after you and your father were gone and just before I had taken care of getting rid of all evidence of either of your existences, I was in my room, crying and reminiscing over that day, when Luna and Snowy Day came in to see what was wrong, they comforted me and we ended up spending the night in my room enjoying ourselves and just talking, being friends. I still wanted to celebrate your birthday every year, so I made up the story about the Windigos and the friends triumph over the bitterness of each of the races of ponies as an excuse to celebrate your birthday without being too obvious and attracting suspicion." She explained "But don't go around telling anypony, that celebration brings much peace and friendship with it." She added.

Each of the ponies nodded in agreement "How is Blueblood your nephew exactly?" Rarity asked.

Celestia smiled at this "Actually, technically speaking he is my step-nephew, Starswirl and I may never have been officially married, but we considered it that way, so I considered his sister my sister, and I considered her part of my family, Blueblood is her descendant, thus making him my nephew." She explained.

"If he knew he wasn't really royalty he would have a fit!" Rarity exclaimed between laughs.

After a shared round of laugher there was a contented silence, which was shattered by Pinkie "Oh! I have a question, Since you raise and set the sun, and Princess Luna raises and sets the moon, what was Star going to control?" she asked.

"What else is there to control? I take care of the sun, Luna takes care of the moon, even if I wanted to have him do some sort of royal duty, there wouldn't be anything to do." Celestia explained.

Twilight looked over at a clock on a nearby wall, noting that the sun would be setting soon "We've got to get to sleep early so we can get to winter wrap up on time, so if there was any business you girls needed to get done while you were here you had better get to it." She commented.

After a few moments in which nopony spoke up Star stood up from where he had been sitting "Well, this was revealing, but I think I'm going to rest and collect my thoughts." He said walking towards the door.

He was then stopped by Celestia "Wait just one moment, if you would all please leave, I must speak privately with Star."

With a shrug all of the other ponies evacuated the room leaving just Celestia and Star remaining "Alright, now, how much do you know about mares?" she asked.

After an hour, some misunderstandings, and some very embarrassing explanations later Star emerged from the room with his face a very deep shade of crimson, as he retreated from the room at a quick run down the hall Celestia called after him with a large grin "Remember, it's all about Kama Sutra!"

Star immediately stopped in his tracks and covered his ears with his hooves "Lalalalala I can't hear you lalalalala!" he said trying to block out her explanations.

Celestia simply chuckled and walked off shaking her head at his reaction. After a few moments Star checked to see if the coast was clear, he never wanted to have such an embarrassing conversation with anypony ever again, especially his mother.

Satisfied that she was gone and was done teasing him he made his way to his room to get some rest from that hectic day. He arrived at his room and immediately collapsed on his comfortable bed to get a good night's sleep.

This was enjoyed for a total of 20 minutes until there was a knock on the door "The door is open." Star said prompting the pony that had interrupted his brief sleep to enter his room.

He watched as Pinkie and Applejack walked into his room "Hey girls, what's up?" he asked.

"We were comin ta check if ya wanted ta play a round of truth or dare with us." Applejack asked.

"What is up with you girls and truth or dare?" Star asked.

"It is the easiest way to ask you questions without it seeming like we are trying to find out things you wouldn't normally answer truthfully." Pinkie explained.

"Pinkie!" Applejack exclaimed covering Pinkie's mouth.

"You girls could just ask me any question you want; I don't have any reason to lie to any of you." Star said with a roll of his eyes.

The two other ponies shared a look and a shrug before Applejack let go of Pinkie's mouth "Alright, then would you please follow us to Twilight's room? We would all like to speak with you." Pinkie asked in a very businesslike manner.

Star sighed "Alright."

He left his nice comfortable bed and followed the two over to Twilight's room where their other friends were waiting "You ready to play some truth or dare?" Rainbow asked in anticipation.

"Cut the act Rainbow, he knows." Applejack said quickly.

"Seriously? We had this whole act rehearsed, Fluttershy was even going to stand in the middle of one of the hallways shouting that she ate some bad haycakes." Rainbow said in disappointment.

"All of this because none of you wanted to ask me direct questions?" Star asked in surprise.

This caused everypony to avoid eye contact with Star while a few of them simply looked at the ground and kicked their hoof at the floor "Are you girls afraid of me or something?" he asked.

"Not exactly… we didn't really know how to bring up the subject, what were we going to say "Hey Star, can we ask you some very personal questions and expect you to be perfectly honest?" It seemed like that would be too pushy, and you usually only choose truth when we play so….." Twilight explained.

"What do you mean "very personal questions"?" He asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Like, what did you and the princess talk about when we all left?" she asked.

Stars face turned a very bright red as he averted his eyes to the ground trying to avoid eye contact "O-oh, um nothing really, she was just asking how I was and….. stuff." He said vaguely.

"I doubt that is all she talked to you about, what else?" Rarity pressed.

"I- um… well…. can we please just talk about something else? The way this conversation is headed it is going to be very awkward." Star pleaded.

"So you were talking about something private and awkward huh?" Rainbow accused.

Star looked uncomfortable for a moment before a slight grin grew on his face "I don't really think that any of you want to hear what I was speaking to her about."

"I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know." Rainbow pressed.

"Well…. she did tell me about this one time when you were about nine, she saw you at a Wonderbolts show and-" he started, just to be interrupted by Rainbow.

"Okay, okay! I'm not going to ask about it again!" she said quickly "Why was she telling you embarrassing stories about me anyway?"

"She told me stories about each of you, to try and make me feel less uncomfortable about what we really talked about." Star explained.

"Which was….?" Twilight asked.

"Well, a little while after you started your apprenticeship with Celestia, just after the summer sun celebration-" he started again, just to be interrupted this time by Twilight.

"Alright I won't ask!" she exclaimed.

"Alright, if we are done with that, anything else?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What's it like having somepony living inside your mind?" Pinkie asked.

"It's normal, I guess, I don't feel unusual or anything, I haven't even spoken to Solar since earlier today when we were all talking to him." Star explained with a shrug.

Twilight and Rarity glared at each other for a moment before nodding and turning back to Star "So, Star, have you found that special somepony yet?" Rarity asked.

"Special pony? What special pony?" he asked in confusion.

Rarity sighed "I mean have you developed a crush on anypony yet?" she asked.

Stars face turned bright red and he looked to the ground "Can we talk about something else?" he asked.

"So you have! Who is it?" Rarity demanded.

"No, I haven't, I just don't want to talk about this right now." He said defensively.

"Wait a sec, you don't want to talk about this… it makes things awkward…. so….. *gasp*! That's what you and Celestia were talking about!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"No it isn't!" Star exclaimed quickly.

"Yes it is! You are a horrible liar!" Pinkie shouted pointing at him

Star sighed in defeat "Yes, that is what we talked about, in very, VERY, extensive detail." His face could be mistaken for a tomato from the color it was.

This caused everypony in the room to turn red "I can see why you wouldn't want to talk about it now…." Twilight admitted.

"Anything else you girls would like to ask or can I go back to sleep?" he asked after regaining his composure.

He received 6 head shakes, with that as an answer he went on his way back to his room to get some sleep.

The next morning he was woken by a knock at his door. Slowly and groggily he got up and walked over to find out who it was. When he answered the door he found Twilight and Rarity standing in front of it "Hey Star, how would you like to come and help with winter wrap up?" Twilight asked.

"That depends, do I have a choice?" he responded after a few moments of pause.

They both responded by shaking their heads "Alright then, sure." He answered submissively.

"Great! You better get ready, the train to ponyville leaves in an hour!" she exclaimed just before rushing off with Rarity to who knows where.

"…..What's winter wrap up?" he thought aloud.

With a sigh he made his way to the dining hall to get some breakfast, he had a feeling that today was going to be a long day.

When he arrived at the dining hall he found Celestia, Luna, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Applejack eating breakfast.

Star was going to sit down and eat with them, but first he had to get something to eat in the first place, so he walked over to one of the double doors and walked into the kitchen. He was immediately thrown out "Hey!" he exclaimed as he landed on his face.

A pony wearing a chef's hat walked out and glared at him "You would be insulting my abilities if you were to make your own food, now please, take a seat and be patient."

With that Star made his way over to where the other girls were eating and sat by Fluttershy "So Star, have you been thinking of what we spoke about last night?" asked Celestia with a sly grin.

"Which part?" Star asked already knowing the answer.

"When I had a "private" word with you." She answered with a wink.

Luckily Star didn't have to answer this because right then the chef pony walked in carrying a platter, he placed it in front of Star, on the platter was some toast, hash browns, and two very large chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes.

After thanking the chef pony, he simply smiled, took a bow, and walked back into the kitchen. Star turned back to his food and immediately began to eat.

"So, what are you planning to do today Star?" Luna asked.

"Apparently I am going to be helping with winter wrap up in Ponyville." He said as if he had no choice in the matter.

Luna responded with a small giggle "You sound like you don't have a choice in the matter."

"According to Rarity and Twilight I don't." he explained.

"And why not?" Celestia asked.

He responded with a shrug "I have no idea; they just kind of recruited me I guess."

"But why-" Celestia started, but Fluttershy interrupted her by walking up and whispering something into her ear, her eyes widened in realization "Oh, I see."

"What?" Star demanded.

"Nothing." Celestia answered with a giggle.

Star resigned with a sigh and finished his food "Well, there is one more thing to sort out before I leave." He turned to Celestia "I am probably just going to stay and resume my life in Ponyville, though I will still visit and keep in contact, I think it might be good for me to just live in Ponyville for the time being, that is, unless you want me to stay here with you."

She looked lost in thought for a few moments before she seemed to come to a decision "I think that it would be good for you to go back to Ponyville, your friends are there, and maybe even more awaits you." She said with a wink.

Just then Pinkie, Twilight and Rarity walked into the dining hall "Alright girls and Star, let's get going, we have to make it back in time to help with winter wrap up." Twilight called.

"Why did you say "Alright girls and Star" instead of just "Alright everypony"?" Star asked.

"Doesn't matter, let's move!" Twilight said excitedly.

Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Star got up to follow Twilight but Star stopped by Celestia and Luna for a moment to say goodbye.

After that they headed down to the train station where they boarded a very Pinkie Pie looking train, as in it looked like Pinkie Pie had designed the thing. After a 40 or more minute ride they arrived in Ponyville.

As they walked down the streets it was strangely vacant "Where is everypony?" Star asked.

"Over at town hall for the annual pep talk" Rainbow explained.

When they arrived at town hall they saw very large groups of ponies, but they were separated into different groups according to a color of vest that they were wearing"And here they are now, the team captains! And apparently they are being joined by none other than Prince Starlight himself!" she exclaimed.

Everypony in the crowds turned to look at them, causing Fluttershy to hide in her mane and look at the ground "Alright everypony, are you ready for another great winter wrap up?" Twilight asked loudly.

She received a loud "YEAH!" from everypony in the crowd "Alright then, Mayor Mare, anything else to add?" she asked.

"Nope, alright everypony, let's get to work!" she exclaimed.

As everypony dispersed the seven of them walked towards Mayor Mare, where everypony but Star was given a vest "So, who are you going to help?" Mayor Mare asked watching the rest of the ponies leave to their respective jobs, besides Rarity and Twilight.

"I don't even know what I am supposed-" Star started but was interrupted by Rarity.

"He can help me weave baskets!" she suggested.

"No he can't he doesn't have magic to use that can help him and he probably doesn't know how to weave baskets. He CAN help me with checking on how everypony is getting along, though, he doesn't need magic for that, come on Star let's start by checking on how the ice skating is going." Twilight said dragging him away before anypony could protest.

They soon arrived at a small pond looking body of water, where a familiar pink pony was waiting anxiously nearby a group of ponies wearing blue vests, she immediately approached the duo as they arrived "Hey Twilight, do you happen to know where a pair of skates are? I can't seem to find mine."

"Nope sorry Pinkie." Twilight said at a loss.

Star put a hoof to his chin and stared at the sky thoughtfully "Pinkie logic states that there is always something where you know it isn't, so going by that logic they should be….." he started to walk over to a nearby tree and gave it a firm buck, causing a pair of skates to fall to his side "Right here."

He brought the skates over to the now gaping mares "HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Pinkie logic." Star said with a shrug.

"I- but- that- that only works for Pinkie!" She shouted.

Star answered with another shrug making Twilight sigh "Fine, Pinkie, here are the blueprints for how the pond should be cut this year." Twilight said taking out a blue scroll of paper and levitating it over to the pink pony.

Pinkie took the paper and smiled at Twilight gratefully; Twilight sighed again, pulled out a clipboard, checked something off, and walked away. When she was just out of hearing distance Pinkie turned to Star "Did you really master my Pinkie powers?" she asked.

Star let out a laugh "Of course not, when I was thinking I looked up and saw them in the tree, but don't let Twilight know, this is going to drive her crazy."

Star ran to catch up to Twilight "What were you talking to Pinkie about?" she asked casually.

"I was telling her not to lose her skates again, they aren't very easy to find." He lied.

Twilight gave him a skeptical look and sighed "Alright, now we're going to see how the farming is getting along.

Soon enough they arrived at a large field that was being plowed by some stallions in green vests, actually it looked to be about the ONLY stallions in town, seeing as there weren't very many. They watched as 8 lines of ponies with 3 ponies in each worked, the one in the front plowed the snow, the second one plowed the land, and the last planted the seeds.

Twilight and Star walked over to Applejack from where she was overseeing all of the work "Any problems yet?" she asked.

"Nope, yer way of doin this is a lot more efficient than how we used ta do it." Applejack complimented.

A small blush grew on Twilights face as she looked at the ground and kicked her hoof idly "Oh, it isn't that good." She said quietly.

"Ah think that ya deserve the praise." Applejack said with a smile.

"Thanks." Twilight said with a happy smile, she then took out her clipboard, checked another thing off and started to leave "Now let's check on Fluttershy."

After a small walk they arrived at their destination, Fluttershy and a few other ponies were setting up a bell system that ran to every animals sleeping den "Hey Fluttershy, how are things going?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, everything is working out nicely; we are just adding the finishing touches on the bell system." Fluttershy said with a cheerful smile.

As she said that a plum colored pony with a light purple mane walked over to her "The bells are all set up, would you like to do the honors?" she asked Fluttershy.

"I would love to." Fluttershy said happily.

She trotted over to where the rope was hanging from a nearby tree and pulled it, causing bells to ring in front of all of the animal dens.

Satisfied with the results Twilight checked this off of her clipboard list "Alright Star, now let's check up on Rainbow's group."

They made their way to a particularly large cluster of clouds, a pegasus peered down at them from on top of one of the clouds then retreated, bringing back Rainbow, who flew down to greet her two friends "Hey guys, how's everything going?" she asked.

"Everything is going as planned, now, is your group ready to get rid of the snow?" Twilight asked.

"Of course we're ready!" Rainbow exclaimed before shooting back up to the large cluster of clouds.

After a few moments of waiting they saw a large group of pegasi fly through the clouds, causing it to look like some sort of tornado, they flew right over the snow causing it to follow quickly behind being sucked into their tornado like formation.

Twilight crossed this off of her list also before a frown grew on her face "Alright, now we just have to check on Rarity."

They very slowly made their way to where Rarity was working on birds nests, Twilight was moving especially slow for some reason. When they arrived they saw Rarity and a few other ponies quickly working on putting together some nests, judging from the pile nearby they were almost finished.

Rarity looked up at the two and had a scowl on her face, that quickly turned to a smile "Hello you two! How does the overseeing go?" she asked.

"It goes well, this is the last place we need to check on before we are done." Twilight said in a matter of fact tone.

"That's nice; we are about done here ourselves." Rarity said competitively.

They glared at each other competitively for a moment before Star interrupted it "Twilight? Rarity? Heloooooooooooo, are either of you alive?"

Twilight and Rarity shook their heads simultaneously "Oh, right, well looks like you are all doing very well." Twilight said checking off the last thing on her list.

When Twilight finally finished looking over the checklist again she turned to Star "Well, our work is done, I'm hungry, do you want to get some food?" she asked.

"Sure, sounds great." Star said happily.

Twilight beamed at this, as they were leaving she turned to Rarity and stuck her tongue out, then proceeded to lead Star to the library, where they found Spike sleeping in the middle of the room "Spike! Why aren't you out helping with winter wrap up!" Twilight scolded, waking up the sleeping dragon.

"Huh wait what?" Spike said jolting upright.

"You've been asleep this entire time and everypony else has been helping with winter wrap up!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I usually only help you anyway, so it isn't like I really missed anything, besides, if you needed my help you would have come and woken me up." Spike pointed out calmly.

"That's not the point, the point is that you should have been out there helping somepony, even if it wasn't me." Twilight scolded.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry, but what are you two doing here instead of being out there and helping then?" Spike asked suspiciously.

"We finished our work and decided to come and get something to eat." Twilight explained.

"Oh, well would you mind making me something too? I'm hungry." Spike said rubbing his stomach.

"How about since you didn't help with winter wrap up YOU make all of us something to eat?" Twilight offered.

Spike sighed "Fine, but only if you get me some gems to eat with it."

"Deal." Twilight agreed.

A half an hour later after Twilight had gone out and gotten some gems and Spike had cooked them all some Macaroni and Cheese with hay, they all enjoyed their meals "Wow Spike, this is good." Star complimented.

"Thanks, I kind of like to cook, after doing it so often I started to enjoy it." Spike said while gnawing on one of the gems that Twilight had gotten him.

After finishing their meals Twilight turned to Star "Okay, I have to tell you something I-" she was then interrupted by the door bursting open.

"Hello all! I just came to see how you all were." Rarity said happily walking into the library.

"Hi Rarity." Star said indifferent to the sudden interruption "Now, what is it you have to tell me Twilight?" he asked turning back to Twilight.

"Twilight has something to tell you huh?" Rarity asked suspiciously.

"I…. was just going to ask if you wanted seconds!" Twilight said quickly.

Rarity narrowed her eyes at Twilight for a moment before looking back at Star "So, what are you going to do with the rest of your day?" she asked.

He hadn't really thought of this, after thinking about it for a moment something hit him, when Celestia had taken the spell off of his mind it might have taken the spells off of his and Starswirl's journals "I have to go and check something, I will see you all later." He said quickly leaving the library to run to his house.

When he arrived he walked over and placed his saddlebag on his bed, he emptied the contents and found the book he had been looking for, the book titled Star's Journal, he picked it up and began to read.

A/N Woohoo! This one is finally caught up with the one on fanfiction! Now all of you have to deal with my infuriatingly frequent cliffhangers and my almost once a week updates! But don't worry, sometimes I update two or three times a week, but either way now you all have to suffer my deviousness!

Ch 34: A Nearly Sleepless Night

This was one of the most entertaining things he had ever read, he wouldn't have believed any of it if it weren't for the fact that it was in HIS journal and the fact that most of the stuff in it most probably could have happened.

Almost the entire journal was full of…. adventures would be the appropriate word for it, the journal was full of adventures that he and Starswirl had been on, though Celestia was never informed of these because apparently she would have worried too much or not allowed Star to go on them.

Some of the things in the journal were amazing, and apparently Star had helped save Equestria on more than one occasion with Starswirl. His not so world ending adventures were just as adventurous, such as fighting against and with pirates, stopping three wars, The Dragon and Griffon wars, or also known as The War of the Burning Wings, The Griffon and Minotaur Wars, known as the Predator Wars, and the Dragon Wars, this was more of a rebellion of dragon vs. dragon, but it ended up as a war in the end, finding and preserving rare and valuable artifacts, and even once or twice he had ended up having stories told about his adventures, of course his name wasn't actually in them, Star decided to try and find one of these books later and read more about his "Adventures".

This did raise two questions in his mind though, firstly, why couldn't he remember any of this, and secondly, how could they possibly keep some of these things a secret from Celestia?

Star contemplated this for a while before an idea formed in his mind "Hey, Solar, you can see through all of my memories right?" he asked.

"Yes I can, why do you ask?" Solar responded quickly.

"I was just reading through my journal and apparently a lot of stuff happened to me that I still can't remember, do you know anything about any dragon wars or rare and valuable objects or pirates?" Star asked.

"Nope, sorry I don't know anything about any of those." Solar apologized.

"That's okay, I will just have to research them, thanks anyway." Star said with a shrug.

With that in mind Star made his way to the library where he intended to study up more on the subject of his adventures. When he arrived at the library he saw Twilight speaking to Rainbow, who seemed very upset "What do you mean that there aren't any more of them!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"That's just it, you just finished the last book in the series, as in, there aren't any more." Twilight explained.

"That can't be the end! There has to be something else!" Rainbow yelled in disbelief.

Twilight flinched back "I'm sorry Rainbow, but that is it, there aren't any more of them, but I could suggest another book series for you if you really want to read more, though they won't be the exact same as the Daring Do books." She offered.

"Fine, but these books better be awesome." Rainbow said reluctantly.

They walked over to a shelf on the other side of the room and began speaking, but Star couldn't hear them so he lost interest. He approached one of the bookshelves that held most of the myth, fiction, and fantasy books and began searching for anything related to dragon wars, griffon wars, pirates, or some type of book with Starswirl in it.

He was so engrossed in searching that he didn't notice the lavender unicorn approach him "Need help finding something?" she asked right by his ear.

This made Star jump in surprise "Don't do that!" he exclaimed.

That made Twilight giggle in amusement "So, as I asked, do you need help finding something?" she asked again.

Star thought for a moment before nodding his head "Yes actually, do you have any books on dragon wars, griffon wars, pirates or Starswirl?"

Twilight tilted her head "I only have a few fictional books on Starswirl, and I think I might have a book or two on griffon wars, but not dragon wars, and I think I might have a book on pirates, why?"

"I'm just doing some studying." Star answered honestly, it was the truth.

"Alright, one moment please." Twilight said with a smile before making her horn glow in concentration.

After a few moments a few books flew over to her "Here is a book on pirates, two books on Starswirl, both fictional, and a book on griffon wars." She said triumphantly.

Star took the books, thanked her, then made his way back to his home to read the books and find out how much of his journal was actually telling the truth.

It had taken him a few hours but he read through the book on pirates and the book on griffon wars, for the War of the Burning Feathers, it simply said that two unidentified ponies helped resolve the conflict, thus ending the war, and in the pirate book it mentioned him twice, once when it said that Starswirl and some unidentified pony stopped a crew of pirates from stealing from a cargo ship filled with gems and gold, and another when it mentioned two fleets of pirates locked in conflict, only for Starswirl to intervene and help one of them defeat the other, it only passingly mentioned that there was another pony with him.

In the books on Starswirl that was another story though, it told of Starswirl going on many of the adventures that he read of in his own journal, though it said that Starswirl was accompanied by somepony who wasn't given a name, he was simply referred to as "The apprentice".

These books seemed to be written for more entertainment value than for learning value, but from what he had been learning lately a lot of it was true, except for some parts in them that claimed that they were both notorious womanizers, he knew as a matter of fact that he knew nothing about mares and Starswirl only had eyes for Celestia, but he assumed that it was only put in to make the stories more interesting.

Although a lot of it was obviously made up, like how it stated that Starswirls apprentice was secretly a demon or something of the like, or how it said that he and Starswirl were actually a part of a secret group under the rule of Celestia.

The main parts of the stories were usually accurate, as far as he could tell at least, though he still couldn't confirm any of it until he regained his memories of these, but there was a problem with that plan, he had no idea how to go about doing that.

With a sigh he put away the books and refined himself to going over the facts so far "Okay, I think I have just about everything from my past figured out, except these "adventures" with Starswirl and why my magic is being blocked off."

He stayed in his bed contemplating all of this for what felt like hours before there was a knock on the door, he silently got up from his bed and went to find out who his visitor was.

When he arrived at the door he opened it and found Rainbow Dash standing at the other end of it "Hi." Star greeted cheerfully.

"Hey." She said returning the greeting.

"So, is there anything I can do for you or are you just here to visit?" Star asked getting right to the point.

"Actually yes, I want to race you, not running, but flying." Rainbow said competitively.

"I would love to! But there's a problem with that, I haven't even attempted to fly with these things yet, so that isn't going to work out very well." he explained.

"Fine then, I will give you flying lessons and you have to race me when it is finished!" she exclaimed impatiently.

"What is with your fixation on racing me?" he asked.

"I have raced and beaten every pegasus in Ponyville, except you, so I have to find out how good you are." She explained.

"How about this, give me a week to practice then we will race, sound good?" he offered.

"Fine, you can have a week, but only because you are gonna need it." She agreed competitively before flying off in a streak of rainbow.

Star simply shook his head and walked back into his humble abode. He was once again lying in his bed thinking of everything that had happened recently when he remembered something "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed.

He grabbed his saddlebag and made his way through the forest to the hut of one of his very good friends.

Soon enough he found his destination, Zecora's hut. He knocked on the door and waited for a few moments but nopony answered the door, so he opened it "Hello? Zecora are you home?" he called out.

He entered the hut and looked around expecting to find the zebra doing something or other but apparently she was not home at the moment. He left, deciding to come back the next morning and speak to the zebra.

By the time he got back to his home it was already dark out, so he decided to get some rest. This decision was short lived as there was a knock on the door, he sighed and walked over to the door to find out who disturbed his rest.

He opened the door to find Twilight wearing a sheepish grin "Hey Star, how's it going?" she greeted.

"Fine, how about you? Anything you want to talk about?" he asked.

"Well, it isn't that big of a deal, but I was kind of wondering what you wanted those books for." She asked.

"You came here, hours after I got them, to ask why I wanted the books?" he asked.

She gave him another sheepish grin and a nod "I told you I was doing research." He explained.

She nodded "Yes, I remember you saying you were doing research, but for what?" she asked.

"I read my journal and found some interesting things." He said with a shrug.

"Like what?" She asked eagerly

"You sound a little to excited over this, why?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

A blush grew on her face "Well, usually when somepony grabs books about pirates and Starswirl, I would dismiss it, but when it is YOU doing that, I have to find out what you are trying to find out."

"Am I really that interesting?" Star asked.

"Yes." Twilight said flatly.

"Well apparently Starswirl and I went on a whole bunch of adventures, fought pirates, stopped a few wars, found rare and valuable artifacts, and saved Equestria a few times, now can I go back to bed?" Star summed up.

"Wait, WHAT?" Twilight exclaimed.

Star sighed and rolled his eyes "Apparently Starswirl and I snuck around behind Celestia's back and went on adventures like that, I read about them in my journal, does this answer satisfy you?" he asked impatiently.

Twilight had a look of pure shock on her face, her eyes were wide as dinner plates and her jaw was almost touching the ground. Star waited a few more moments before shaking her out of her shock "Twilight, are we done here? Because I get grumpy when I am tired."

Twilight shook her head and looked back at him "Fine, but can I borrow that journal? I want to read this for myself." She asked.

"Sure, though at some points it is a little embarrassing, so please don't make fun of me too much for it." He said giving her the journal.

She thanked him and left with a happy look, Star sighed in relief and went back to bed.

He slept for what felt like ten minutes before there was another frantic knock at the door, he groggily and grumpily walked over to the door to find out who it was NOW.

Standing on the other side of the door was Twilight, again, wearing another sheepish grin "Hey Star, sorry to bother you again but… could I see those books you borrowed?" she asked

He quickly gave her the books and closed the door, then proceeded back to his bed to sleep. This was also short lived when he heard ANOTHER knock on the door "What does a pony have to do to get a decent night's SLEEP around here." He complained to himself.

He answered the door again to find Twilight giving her all too often shown sheepish grin "Hello again Star, I was just wondering how much of this stuff is true…?"

Star let out an annoyed groan "Look, Twilight, can we just talk about this tomorrow?" he asked grouchily.

"But I have to know right now! This is going to bug me until I find out!" she complained.

Star glared at her for a moment before saying "Just talk to me tomorrow, end of discussion." and closing the door on her.

He heard more knocking on the door but he ignored this and lay back down in his bed to sleep. He couldn't do this however, because Twilight kept knocking on the door without any signs of stopping, so with a sigh Star climbed out of a window on the opposite side of his home and walked into the Everfree, where he found a comfortable looking bush and immediately fell asleep.

Eventually, after knocking on his door for a few hours Twilight gave up and decided to climb in through one of his windows, they were all locked except for one that was left open, when she entered his home he wasn't there "He must have left through the window" she assumed.

Leaving back out through the window she noticed some hoofprints leading into the forest, assuming that these were Star's she decided to follow them.

When she reached the end of the hoofprints she found a strange sight, there were two owls, a cockatrice, a manticore, and Star, well, that wasn't very accurate to say the least, there were two owls an ursa minor, and a cockatrice who were all unconscious, and Star who was RIDING the manticore, he then loudly proclaimed "I AM THE KING OF THE EVERFREE!"

"What?" She said incredulously.

He turned to her and gave her a triumphant grin "Hey Twilight, how's it goin?" he asked nonchalantly.

"How's it goin? YOU'RE RIDING A MANTICORE AND THERE ARE UNCONSCIOUS ANIMALS ALL AROUND!" she exclaimed.

Star inspected the clearing as if he was getting a good look of it for the first time "Oh yeah, that happened." He said absentmindedly.

"What happened?" Twilight asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well…. I accidentally slept on this manticore," he said gesturing to the manticore below him "and that cockatrice" he gestured to the unconscious bird/snake "was attacking those owls" he gestured to the birds "when that ursa" he gestured to the large moon bear "tried to save them, causing this manticore to wake up, get grumpy, I was thrown at the ursa, this annoyed it, so it tried to hit me, but I dodged, then while the manticore distracted it, I dropped a rock on its head knocking it unconscious, then the manticore hit the cockatrice against the tree, knocking IT unconscious, then the owls fainted, leaving only me and the manticore, so I made him run into a few trees, I jumped on his back then you showed up." He summed up.

"So… you slept on a manticore without knowing it?" she asked with a giggle.

"I was very tired!" he said in his defense.

"Why didn't you just say that? I would have let you sleep." She explained.

Star shrugged "Too late for that."

Twilight sighed "Why don't we head back to your house and we can talk about your journal."

"Fine, but you have to promise not to laugh, not matter how humiliating some parts are, you have to at least promise not to make fun of me for it." He warned.

Twilight looked offended "I'm hurt that you would think that I would make fun of you for anything."

"Sorry, just had to be sure, let's go." He said dismounting the manticore and patting it on the head.

Soon enough they arrived at their destination and entered where Twilight immediately began questioning him about his adventures with Starswirl "Did you two really stop three wars? And fight pirates? And find rare and valuable artifacts? And save Equestria a few times? Were you and Starswirl secretly womanizers? How didn't Celestia find out about these? What-"

She was interrupted by Star covering her mouth with his hoof "Yes, yes, yes, it might have been a few, no we weren't secretly womanizers, and I have no idea how she didn't find out about them. Now, if you would please, one question at a time." he asked politely.

She nodded and Star moved his hoof away from her mouth "What kind of artifacts?" she asked.

Star shrugged "I have no idea; I still don't have any memory of these events."

"Then how do you know that all of that happened?" she asked.

"Firstly, I wrote it in my journal, so that should be enough evidence, but even I was skeptical, so I checked Starswirl's journal as well, and it had similar stories in it, though from his own perspective." Star explained.

"So, you and Starswirl were secretly adventurers?" she asked.

"Actually no, we just traveled a lot, Starswirl believed that experience was the best teacher, so we explored a lot, we just so happened to be in the middle of all of those conflicts, we didn't go looking for any of it on purpose, that is, if my old journal is to be believed."

"Does that mean that you really are an honorary dragon and griffon?" she asked.

"I think so." He guessed.

"And that you dueled a dragon and secretly fear coconuts?" she pressed.

"…yes." He answered hesitantly.

"Just how much stuff did you do in your past? Seriously, I used to think that your past was interesting, but this is ridiculous!" she exclaimed.

Star shrugged and with a grin replied "I'm a pretty interesting colt."

Twilight gave him a playful nudge and walked to the door "Well then Mr. "king of the Everfree" I'm going to go and get some breakfast at Sugarcube corner, wanna come along?" she offered.

Star gave her an appreciative look "Sounds great." He said happily.

The two of them left Star's home and went to Sugarcube corner thinking that that day was going to be great, however they didn't know how wrong they were.

Ch 35: The War Of Ponyville

When they arrived at Ponyville it was seemingly deserted, there was not a soul in sight, though they could not figure out why for the life of them, so they decided to go ahead as originally planned and proceeded to Sugarcube Corner.

When they walked inside they saw that it was also empty, just as they were about to leave and search around more they heard a sharp "Psssst!" from their left.

Turning they saw Pinkie hiding behind the counter gesturing them over "Get over here!" she whispered.

Looking left and right Star walked towards her and Twilight followed after. When they got near her she pulled them both behind the counter with her "Are you both CRAZY! It's dangerous to be out in the open!" she exclaimed in a low whisper.

"Why?" Star asked.

Pinkie put her hoof over his mouth "Shhhhhh! Whisper!"

After she removed her hoof from his mouth he repeated "Why?"

"There's a war going on out there!" she exclaimed before looking around hurriedly and repeating it in a whisper "There's a war going on out there!"

"A war? Over what?" Star asked worriedly.

"Doesn't matter, now, do either of you know how to throw a water balloon?" she asked.

"Water balloon….?" Star asked raising an eyebrow.

"Water balloon." She confirmed.

"Why water balloons?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie looked over at her like she were crazy "It's a WATERBALLOON war, duh!" she whispered back.

She received two confused looks prompting her to explain "Me and Dashie were having a disagreement so we decided to settle it with a water balloon war, but almost everypony in town has ended up joi-" there was a sudden crashing sound that interrupted her, she then pulled out what looked like a large cannon and started to rapidly fire water balloons towards the door, apparently barraging somepony who was walking into the store.

Satisfied, she put the cannon away where she had gotten it from and turned back to them "As I was saying, everypony in town ended up joining! And since I saw you two first you're on my team!" she said beaming.

"What makes you think that we even WANT to participate in this?" Star asked.

"You don't have a choice anymore." She said simply.

"Why not?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie gave them a smile "Because you made the mistake of walking into Sugarcube Corner, you have been marked as a member of my team, if you walk out of here you're both gonna get soaked into next Tuesday."

Star turned to Twilight and gave her a shrug, which she returned to him before they both turned back to Pinkie "Alright then, how do you plan on winning this war?" Star asked.

"The only way to win this war is to soak Dashie, so we are going to have to gather all of our troops and go in for an all-out attack, all of the pegasi are on her team and all of the earth ponies are on mine, the unicorns chose teams on their leisure." Pinkie explained.

"So, who do we have to gather and how?" Star asked.

"Well, I will get almost everypony, but the hard ones to reach are going to be our friends, they will be under the most fire and in the most danger, Star, I need you to go and get Applejack, Twilight, I need you to go get Rarity, Fluttershy is on Dashie's team. Do you both get that?" she asked.

They both nodded in understanding and they were each handed a bag full of at least 20 water balloons each "Make each one count, if you get hit you can be captured by the enemy team." She said in a very serious tone, which was very unPinkie like.

"So this whole thing is just a game?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie looked at her horrified "You think this is just a game? There are ponies out there getting soaked as we speak just because we can't end this war right now! Now, get moving!" she demanded.

They both comically saluted her and went on their ways out the door, once outside the door they both ran their separate ways.

It was quite a run from Sugarcube Corner to Sweet Apple Acres, Star just hoped that he would be able to make it the whole way there without being notic- "It's Prince Star!" he heard a voice exclaim

"Well, so much for that idea." Star thought while he picked up his pace and ran full speed down the road in hopes of making them lose his trail.

He could hear ponies frantically running after him, he even heard and saw a few water balloons fly past him or be dropped near enough to land right by him, but he wasn't hit once. Just as he thought he was going to be hit he saw Sweet Apple Acres in the distance, he sighed in relief and picked up his pace.

He barely made it to the acres without being hit, before heading to the apple household, he made sure he lost his pursuers in the acres. Just as he knocked on the door to the house he was quickly pulled inside by none other than Applejack, who immediately threw him against the opposite wall where Macintosh and Applebloom held him down.

Applejack approached him, balloon in hand, ready to strike, but she hesitated "Which team 're ya on?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm on Pinkie's team, I was sent to find you actually." Star said calmly.

She squinted her eyes in suspicion "How can ah be sure yer on Pinkie's team?"

"Not too sure honestly, I don't know how the teams were chosen, all I know is that Twilight and I walked into Sugarcube Corner earlier and were recruited by Pinkie, Twilight is out getting Rarity right now." He explained.

She stared at him suspiciously for a few more moments before nodding to her siblings prompting them to release him.

After they gathered up their own supply of water balloons they left the household and attempted to make their way out of the acres without being noticed by the ponies who were pursuing Star not too long ago.

They made it about halfway through before one of the ponies hovering above the acres let out a yell to alert the others of their presence, causing them to pick up their paces to a full run.

Right as they reached the gate they heard a cry of surprise and turned to see that Macintosh had been hit "Keep goin, I'll distract 'em." he reassured them.

"They'll just capture you!" Star exclaimed.

"Ah know, jus' make sure ya win this thing." He answered giving Star a serious nod.

He nearly had to drag the other two Apple siblings along with him to make sure that Macintosh's sacrifice wasn't in vain. After a short run they found themselves just outside of Ponyville, where some pegasi were scouting around looking for anypony on their opposite team.

"Great, now how are we going to get back to Sugarcube Corner?" Star asked disheartened.

Applejack put a hoof to her chin for a moment "Ah've got an idea." She stated.

Star raised an eyebrow and Applejack pulled him and Applebloom into a huddle and quietly whispered her plan.

"This isn't going to work" Star thought to himself while he pushed along the two Apple siblings holding a water balloon in his mouth in mock aggression.

They made it a good way into town before they were stopped by none other than Derpy Hooves "Where are you going with those two?" she asked.

Star spit out the water balloon before responding "Rainbow asked that I capture these two and bring them to her, she wants to take them out personally." He explained.

Derpy gave Star a skeptical look before shrugging "Alright then, you better hurry, she is usually pretty impatient." She advised.

"Don't worry, I will." Star said giving her a friendly smile.

When they were out of eyesight and earshot Applejack turned to Star "Ah can't believe we didn't get caught!" she exclaimed.

"Me either, now come on; let's hurry down to Sugarcube Corner." Star urged.

They set out and quickly made their way to their destination, when they walked in they saw about thirty earth ponies, Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle "Hey guys!" Pinkie greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Pinkie." Star said returning the greeting.

"So… where's Big Mac?" she asked.

"He was captured, as far as we know at least." He explained.

Pinkie's face once again grew serious "That's all I needed to hear."

She then looked around the room before shouting "HEY EVERYPONY!" to get everypony's attention.

They all turned to her and waited for her to continue "So, right now we are in the middle of a war, one that I plan on winning, but I will need all of your help." She turned away from all of the other ponies and unfurled a large map of Ponyville that had been hung just behind her "We are here," she pointed to Sugarcube Corner "and our objective is here," she pointed to City hall "here is where Dashie has set up camp, and this is where we are going to strike, any questions?" she asked turning to the crowd of ponies.

A single hoof went into the air from near the back "Yes you right there?" Pinkie asked pointing at the raised hoof.

The crowd parted to reveal that the colt who was asking the question was a brown earth pony with a dark brown mane "Just one question, how exactly do you plan on pulling this off?" he asked.

Pinkie let out a happy smile "Just the question I wanted asked, now, here's what we do." She said before explaining her plan to the group of ponies.

"This was a horrible idea Pinkie!" Star exclaimed while hanging upside down from the ceiling of the City hall. While most of the ponies had been sent to fight with the rest of the opposing team, Pinkie had appointed herself, Star, the pony he now knew as Doctor Whooves, and Applejack. While everypony else was distracted they were to infiltrate City Hall and attack Rainbow directly, but they didn't count on there being traps set all around the building.

This brings us to where they were right now, Star was hanging by his back left leg from the ceiling, Applejack was holding off other ponies at the door, Doctor Whooves was in the same predicament as Star, and Pinkie was having her own small war with Rainbow.

"This was a great idea! It turned out a lot better than I thought; I mean none of you have been hit yet!" she said with a maniacal laugh before she continued to shoot at Rainbow with her water balloon cannon.

"You expected us to get hit?" Star asked in surprise.

Pinkie ducked behind her cover as Rainbow Dash returned fire with a similar water balloon cannon "Just and eensy weensy teeny tiny bit yes." She admitted.

"Can ya hurry up Pinkie? Ah can't hold 'em back forever." Applejack asked.

"I'm trying!" Pinkie reassured her while just dodging a water balloon to the face.

"So, any ideas on how to get ourselves down Doctor Whooves?" Star asked turning his head to look at the other pony that was hung by the ceiling.

"Please just call me The Doctor, and I DO have one idea, why don't you just use your wings and turn yourself upright to cut the rope with your horn?" he suggested.

"I can try, but be warned that I don't actually know how to fly." Star said before starting to flap his wings.

"What do you mean you do-" The Doctor asked before being knocked into by Star.

"Sorry, let me try that again." Star said with a determined look on his face.

This time he did not hit into The Doctor, he managed to turn himself upright and cut through The Doctor's rope, but he then lost control and fell back upside down.

He tried two more times unsuccessfully before he finally managed to free himself from the rope. When he landed he looked over and saw that both Pinkie and Rainbow were still having their showdown so he decided to find a way to win.

After a few moments a devious idea came to mind and he set to work on constructing his brilliant plan, a few ropes and two water balloons later he stood to the side of their battlefield with a devious grin on his face and a rope to his side "Hey, Rainbow, Pinkie, guess what?" he asked.

They both stopped their battle and turned to him "What?" they asked simultaneously.

He put a hoof to his chin "Honestly, I can't really think of a cool catchphrase so…" he left the statement hanging and pulled the rope, causing two water balloons to fall from their positions, one on Rainbow and one on Pinkie.

Pinkie was the first to recover "Good job Star! But why did you hit me too? I was on your team." She asked.

Star shrugged "I may have been considered on your team but you have to remember, pegasi were on Rainbow's team, and earth ponies were on yours, I am an alicorn, so I was technically on both teams, this was the only way I could win without losing." He explained.

"Smart thinking." The Doctor interjected.

"But now there's no winner!" Rainbow pointed out.

"All the more reason to have another one next year, I figure that everypony enjoyed this, myself included, so why not make it a yearly thing, it could be fun." Star suggested.

"That sounds super fantastic!" Pinkie chipped in.

"Let's go let everypony know that the war is over, and ask Mayor Mare about having this again next year, maybe farther into the summer, when it gets hotter." Star said walking towards the door.

After an hour of gathering, reassuring, and being pelted with water balloons, they finally managed to gather everypony in town square where Pinkie, Rainbow, Star, and Mayor Mare were standing in front of the crowd on a small stage.

Mayor Mare pulled out a megaphone from who knows where and began speaking to the crowd "Alright everypony, the water balloon war is officially over! Now I know that many of you would like to know which team won, and I was quite shocked to learn that, both teams won and lost." She explained.

This was replied with confused sounds from the ponies in the crowd, prompting her to explain "You see, Prince Starlight," Star cringed as he heard that "over here took out both team leaders at the same time, now, the team he was on would obviously win, but that is where the dilemma came in, he is an alicorn, pegasi were on one side and earth ponies on the other, but an alicorn is one of all three races of ponies so he is automatically put on both teams, and since he took out both team leaders at the same time they both won and lost."

There were sounds of understanding now heard in the crowd before she continued again "Now, it has been proposed to me that we do this as a yearly event, though I would need to know how all of you ponies feel about that, so, who wants this to be an annual event?" she asked.

There was a roar of approval from the crowd "And who doesn't want this to be an annual event?" she asked.

The noise level immediately dropped to nothing as it turned so silent that you could hear a pin drop and hit the dirt, and that doesn't make very much noise.

Mayor Mare smiled brightly "Then it's settled, as of this year forward today will be known as-" she was interrupted as Star walked over to her and whispered something, she nodded and continued her speech "Actually, in two months and one year it will be an annual thing, I think we can all agree that it would be better to be had in the summer when it is much warmer outside?" she asked.

After another roar of approval from the crowd she spoke once again into the microphone "I hope you all had fun and will have fun next year, everypony have a great day!" she said cheerfully before leaving the stage.

Slowly the crowd dissipated into nothing leaving Star, Pinkie and Rainbow standing on the stage Pinkie turned to the two of them and gave them a sly grin "Well, there is only one more thing to do."

"I think there is." Rainbow agreed returning her sly smile.

Star looked back and forth between the two of them nervously "A-and what would that be?" he asked.

Their smiles grew as they each pulled out a few water balloons and began pelting Star with them "Revenge!" They both called out.

Star dove off the stage, took up a strategic position and began returning fire.

After they each ran out of ammo they were approached by Twilight "Alright everypony, that's enough of that till next year, Star, I have to speak with you." She said approaching him.

Star tilted his head at her signaling for her to continue "I was reading more out of your journal and it passingly mentioned that there were books written after yours and Starswirls adventures, correct?" she asked.

"Apparently so, why did you find one?" he asked.

"Yes and no, you see I was reading through the last Daring Do book that came out recently and near the end the author explained that a few of the characters and other things were based off of things from a series of stories she read as a foal, I further investigated this series and it seems to be your adventures, but they are over exaggerated." She answered.

"Over exaggerated how?" he asked.

"Well let's take you stopping the Dragon and Griffon war, in your journal you put that you had a hunch and went with it, solving the main problem they had, but in the book it says that you single hoofedly took down both armies then made them promise to stop fighting." She explained.

Star was on the ground laughing with his hooves on his stomach rolling from side to side "Me hah take down hahahha an entire hahaha army of hahah *breath* dragons hah AND griffons? HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

After he finally calmed down Twilight sighed "That wasn't the funny part." She said simply.

"What was?" he asked curiously.

"Daring Do was based off of you! Your personality inspired a GIRL character!" Twilight then burst out laughing.

Star gave her an annoyed look "I will take that as a compliment because Daring Do is awesome." He said defiantly, just making her laugh louder and harder.

He looked up to see that the sun was getting low in the sky, then he suddenly realized how hungry and tired he was, he had barely slept and he hadn't eaten all day "This was nice Twilight, but I am going to go home and get some rest before you can tease me anymore."

They went their separate ways and when Star got to his home he immediately ate the entire contents of his fridge "I need to go to the store soon." he thought.

He was about to get to sleep before he remembered that he still had to pay a visit to Zecora, so with that in mind he grabbed his saddlebag and made his way through the forest to the all too familiar hut.

He knocked on the door not expecting an answer once again, but instead it was answered by Zecora "Hello Prince Star, may I ask how you are?" she asked with a sly smile.

He returned her smile "Please, none of that "prince" stuff, we are friends, and my friends call me Star."

She showed her acknowledgement with a nod before inviting him inside. Walking inside the hut he found it in much the same condition as it had been in when he had left "It is nice of you to visit, but of your purpose what is it?" she asked.

"I came here for two reasons, firstly, I came to visit and speak for a moment, I haven't seen you in well over a month, and secondly, I have a gift." He said opening his saddlebag and taking out a small brown pouch.

A look of curiosity shone in her eyes as she stared at the pouch that he held out to her, she took it tentatively and opened it, revealing a large amount of platinum bits "This is a bag full of five hundred platinum bits, each are valued at one hundred bits each in the current marketplace, placing that all as a total of fifty thousand bits." He explained.

"This gift is nothing short of generous, but I cannot take this." She said pushing the bag of bits back towards him.

"Zecora, I am not going to argue with you over this, this is a gift for everything you did for me when I got here, from taking care of my legs to giving me a place to stay, I probably wouldn't even be here without you, if you don't accept this gift it will hurt my pride and my honor, so please just take the gift." he pleaded.

"I usually don't spend much more than a bit, what am I to do with it?" she asked.

"I don't know, buy more equipment, maybe order some herbs from far out to experiment with, I don't know, but don't spend it all in one place." He said happily.

She gave him a happy smile "With it I still don't know what to do, but regardless I still thank you."

Star returned her smile "I guess I'm gonna go now, I barely got any sleep last night and sleep sounds really good right now, bye." He said walking out the door.

Eventually he got back to his home and went to sleep. The next morning he was woken from a deafening roar in the distance.

Ch 36: Round 2

"Wait wha*thud*" Star said startled before smacking his head very hard into something above himself. After he recovered and looked around he found himself under his bed, apparently he had fell and rolled under it, and whatever had woken him up had surprised him into hitting his head on the underside of his bed.

He got out from under his bed and saw a gaping hole in his roof "I woke up to a loud roar, but THAT didn't wake me up?" he thought incredulously before shaking his head and leaving to find the source of the disturbance.

He was shocked to see what had caused the disturbance, it was coming from town that much was clear, but he didn't have to be very close to see what it was.

Smack dab in the middle of Ponyville there was a dragon, a very large, green scaled dragon "Wait… do I know that dragon from somewhere?" Star thought as he approached the town at a flat run.

When he finally arrived at the town he was trampled by ponies screaming things like "RUN!" or "IT'LL EAT US ALL!" or even once he heard somepony shout "IT'S THE END OF DAYS! EVERYPONY STALLION, MARE AND FOAL RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

After he recovered he once again approached the dragon deciding to try and resolve the problem. When he finally arrived in the town square, where the dragon was standing, he saw Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike all surrounding it and it looked like they were yelling at him.

Just before he approached the dragon he swung his tail at the small group of ponies and knocked them into a nearby building "HEY!" Star shouted while charging the dragon.

As the dragon turned to face him images flashed through his mind as he remembered where he knew this dragon from, this was the dragon that he had been in a duel with and won "Razor Claw?" he asked.

The dragon smirked "Ah, just the pancake I was looking for."

"Wait, pancake?" Star asked before dodging the dragons foot as it stomped the ground where he had just stood "What's wrong with you?" he asked in surprise.

The dragon let out a small chuckle "Yes, I am Razor Claw, and if you remember you humiliated me in front of my fellow dragons and royalty!" Razor Claw exclaimed before trying to stomp on Star again.

"How did you even know that I was here or how to find me?" Star asked.

"I heard the zebra speaking to herself about you giving her a gift, I immediately flew out here and caught your scent in a small cottage just outside the forest where I live, I destroyed part of it looking for you but you weren't there, so I decided to pay these ponies a "visit" and "kindly" ask where you were." he explained before picking up a nearby chunk of debris and throwing it at Star.

Star narrowly dodged this and turned back to the dragon "What were you doing in the Everfree? Last time I checked you were in the pride lands about to get married to Princess Yellowscale?" he asked while narrowly avoiding one of the dragon's claws.

This made Razor Claw growl "Then you don't remember yourself stealing her from me and being engaged to her just to tell her that you WOULDN'T become nest mates with her?"

Another thing clicked in Star's mind as the memory of the event resurfaced in his mind, Razor Claw was going to duel Star for her affections, but when he had turned down her proposal it had just infuriated Razor Claw even more, not only had she chosen him, a PONY, but he had rejected her feelings and upset her.

"Oh, right, but that still doesn't explain why you're here." Star asked once again while dodging Razor Claw's tail.

"After you turned her down she went into a life of solitude, choosing not to have offspring or a nest mate in fear of that same rejection, so I vowed to avenge her, no matter how long I had to wait!" Razor Claw exclaimed while swinging his tail at him again.

This time the dragon's tail had made contact with a nearby building, causing part of the wall to crumble. Razor Claw growled in annoyance "There is no room in this place; I can't properly destroy you…"

He appeared to be thinking for a moment before he was bucked in the back of the head by Rainbow Dash "Hey you big lug, leave our friend alone!" she exclaimed.

Razor Claw turned to Rainbow Dash in annoyance "Who's going to make me?" he asked with a sneer.

"She is!" Rainbow exclaimed pointing at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked as if she were trying to hide inside herself by curling into a very small ball, which she was succeeding at, she slowly peered up from behind her hooves to see the dragon staring at her, she then quickly retreated back into the fetal position.

After some encouragement from Rarity and Applejack she slowly and reluctantly flew up to the dragons face "Um, excuse me Mr. Dragon, I don't mean to bother you but would you please maybe possibly consider leaving us all alone and going back to your cave? That is, if you don't mind…." She asked in a very quiet and timid voice.

The dragon let out a nice smile "Well since you asked so nicely…" he started to walk away before quickly turning back and swinging his tail at Star again, this time hitting it's mark and knocking him to the ground.

Fluttershy then approached the dragon again, this time she looked furious "Now listen here mister," she said getting right in his face "nopony, and I mean nopony, gets to hurt my friends, got it!" she exclaimed.

The dragon stared at her with a very bored expression "Oh no! That scared me and made me feel bad, I had better leave before I get hurt by the big bad scary yellow pegasus!" he said sarcastically before showing a devious grin and trying to hit Star with his tail again, missing its mark and hitting another building.

"I'm warning you!" she exclaimed.

The dragon completely ignored her and began speaking to himself "Now, where can I go that has enough room for me to crush him in…"

He gained a maniacal grin and in one fell swoop grabbed Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike in his tail while grabbing Rainbow Dash in one claw and Fluttershy in the other "There is no room in this town to crush you so here's what's going to happen, I am going to leave and go to the everglades just to the east of the castle ruins, you are going to meet me there or you friends…" he slowly pulled one of his claws across one of Fluttershy's cheeks, causing her to let out a small squeal of pain as a small cut formed and blood trickled down it.

"Stop that!" Star exclaimed.

The dragon simply grinned at him again "If you ever want to see your friends ALIVE again, then you will meet me there."

The dragon flew off with Star's friends and all he could do was watch, not any moment since he could remember had he ever felt so useless, he was an alicorn for Celestias sake, he should be able to use magic or fly and stop it, but some alicorn he was, he couldn't do either of those.

He immediately began chasing after the direction that the dragon had flown off. As he ran he was stuck with his thoughts, he was angry with himself, all he could do was sit and watch as the dragon took his friends and flew off.

Suddenly he heard a voice faintly in the back of his mind "You couldn't help them, he took them while you just sat and watched." It taunted.

"SHUT UP!" Star screamed out loud.

"You were helpless to stop him, now if you don't get there in time he might start hurting your friends, just because you couldn't stop him." It continued.

Before he continued to argue with the voice he realized that it was right, he was powerless to stop Razor Claw from hurting his friends "Who are you?" Star asked.

"I am your conscience." It replied.

"If you think I am so powerless then what should I do about it?" he asked.

"Get angry, don't let him get away with that." It explained.

He found himself agreeing with the voice "You're right." He agreed before running harder than before.

"Star don't listen to it, you weren't helpless to stop him there was nothing you could do to stop him then, but you can help your friends now, stay calm and think this through, find a way to beat him without getting yourself and your friends killed." Solar reassured him.

He felt the sudden need to argue with Solar over that point, that he should be mad, but then logic took over and Solar made the better point "Sorry conscience, Solar is right on this one." He thought.

He spent the rest of the trip there listening to the steady rhythm of his hooves against the ground; the simple beat of it ingrained itself into his mind. Eventually he arrived at his destination, the everglades, he wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact that the mud made the steady beat of his hooves hitting the ground become muffled.

There, right in the middle of the everglades was just the reason he was here, there he saw the dragon holding all of his friends with his tail now.

He hadn't noticed Star yet so he decided to use this to his advantage and try to end it before it started, though he had no idea how he was going to do this.

He saw Twilight shoot off a few bursts of magic at the dragon attempting to hurt him and possibly free themselves, but it was to no avail and simply made him hold onto them tighter, also causing a new wave of anger at the dragon to wash over Star.

Taking a moment to analyze the situation he decided that if he could get his friends free and out of here then it would be easier to defeat the dragon, that way he wouldn't have to worry about their wellbeing while trying to keep himself alive as well.

Then he noticed just what he was looking for, making sure that the dragon had yet to notice him he put his plan into action.

After a few moments of adjustments he had everything in place, he was standing on a cliff just behind the dragon, the cliff reached to the top of the dragons head, but that isn't what mattered, what mattered was the precariously placed boulder near the edge of the cliff, just above the dragon's tail.

Making sure everything was in place once more he got a running start and pushed the rock off of the ledge and watched as it hit its mark with a loud thud as it smashed that part of his tail.

With a loud roar he dropped them from his tail and held it in pain "RUN! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Star shouted to his friends.

"But what about you?" Twilight called to him.

"I'm going to do what I have to." He reassured her with a smile.

Before she could argue she was grabbed by Pinkie "Come on Twilight, you heard the alicorn prince let's get outta here and let him take care of it."

They didn't actually leave very far away; in fact they were attempting to hide in a nearby bush, and failing at keeping themselves hidden.

Ignoring this he followed the boulder's example and jumped down on the dragon, but instead of landing on the tail, he jumped onto the upper neck and used his back and tail as a slide to reach the ground.

He turned just in time to dodge a claw from the dragon; he had apparently recovered from the boulder "You're going to pay for that!" Razor Claw exclaimed.

Star gave the dragon a confident grin "Alright, how's about I pay you back with some nice hot tea, one lump or two?" he asked.

The dragon seemed caught off guard with this question "What? Oh, um, one?" he asked deciding to see where this was going.

No sooner than the words had left his mouth had Star thrown a small rock and hit the dragon in the snout "OUCH!" he exclaimed rubbing the spot that the rock had hit "What is with you and hitting me with rocks?" he asked furiously before swinging a claw at Star again.

Star jumped out of the way but received a small scratch across his side "I'm just distracting you until I can think of a way out of this situation." He said honestly.

The dragon raised an eyebrow "And you think it's a good thing to tell your enemy your plan?" he asked.

"You're not hitting me, are you?" Star retorted with another confident smile.

Razor Claw roared in frustration and started to gather his breath, it took a moment for Star to realize what was happening and he was nearly burnt to a crisp as a large wave of flame passed just behind him as he jumped out of its path.

He stared at the dragon wide eyed before looking back at his now singed tail and grabbing it "You burnt my tail!" he exclaimed.

"Next time I'm going to burn more than your tail!" Razor Claw exclaimed once again taking in a huge breath.

However this time Star had anticipated this course of action and prepared for it, while he appeared to be inspecting his tail he had grabbed a pile of mud, and just as the dragon was taking in his breath he threw it.

Luckily for him the mud landed where he had wanted it to, because he had no way to dodge the fire this time had it been aimed at him, he was currently backed against the large rocky cliff that he had dropped the boulder off of.

Taking this brief distraction to think he came up with a plan, though he doubted it would work all too well, "There's never a reward without some risk I suppose" he decided.

"If you get killed can I keep your body?" he heard Solar ask playfully.

This made Star smile "Sure, if you want to live the rest of your existence controlling a body that is buried underground and probably made of ashes or full of holes."

There was a consequence to not paying attention to the matter at hoof; he had taken a solid backhand to the side knocking him into a sharp rock which cut into one of his rear legs "You're dead now!" Razor Claw taunted.

"That's what you think." Star responded under his breath before watching in surprise as his friends charged the dragon.

They each had their own battle cries but the strangest of all, though he must have misheard them, because he could have sworn that he heard Rarity yell "Nopony hurts MY stallion!" and Twilight yell "Get your dirty claws AWAY from my future husband!" though he had to have misheard them, right?

Shaking his head to clear it he watched as his friends tried to hurt the dragon, they might've even succeeded, but Rarity must have forgotten what happened when Twilight attempted to use magic on the dragon, because she tried to shoot off some magic to hurt the dragon, just for it to bounce off of his scales and knock Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to the ground.

Razor Claw smiled at this before receiving a hard buck to his left leg, he let out a scream of aggravation before turning to the pony who was responsible, Applejack gave him a triumphant smile, it didn't last long as he grabbed Twilight and Applejack, threw Applejack into the air and hit her with Twilight using her like a bat and Applejack as the ball.

Star watched as Applejack hit into Spike and Rarity just as they were about to reach the dragon, he looked at the pony in his hands and smiled "You're that lavender pony that prevented me from incinerating that purple hatchling that I found in my hoard. It's going to be a pleasure to burn you to a crisp." he said in anticipation.

This was the last straw, Star had had enough of this dragon, he kept hurting his friends because of a millennia plus grudge. Suddenly, he felt a large pool of magical energy building up inside of him; though until that moment he had been void of magic it was suddenly coming from nowhere.

Though he was being blinded by anger he somehow managed to remember that the dragon was somewhat magic resistant, so he used the environment to his advantage.

The look on the dragon was priceless as the pony he had just been holding in his claws was replaced with a small raccoon, which he let go of in surprise.

Looking around he could not find the lavender pony, now he only saw Star, who's eyes were now glowing a bright red, before the dragon could make a snide remark the ground beneath him seemed to raise itself in a slant causing him to fall flat on his face, he got up in a rage and charged Star, who teleported out of the way causing the dragon to knock into the cliff head first.

While it was on the ground dazed Star approached him "Finish him, he hurt your friends, make him suffer." He heard his so called "conscience" tell him.

He was about to do just that, he was holding the large boulder from before above the dragons head before a familiar voice stopped him "Wait! Star don't do this, there is no reason to do this, you have bested him and that is all that matters." Solar reassured him.

Once again he felt the urge to defy Solar, but just as it did last time logic got the best of him as he realized that Solar was right, he dropped the boulder to the side and walked away.

As he was walking away he felt accomplished, just as he passed one of the trees heading into the forest he was grabbed by one of the dragon's mighty hands and impaled through a very large and sharp spike shaped rock.

Ch 37: Readjusting

Razor Claw roared in triumph "I finally did it! I have regained my honor!"

He then flew away still making noises of triumph while Stars friends approached his unmoving body. They all just stared at it while on the verge of tears, all of them, except Twilight, who suddenly broke out in laughter.

Her friends stared at her like she had just gone insane "Why are you laughing?" Rarity asked horrified.

"Star, you can come out now, the dragon is gone, I want to know how you did this." Twilight said between laughs.

"Darling I don't think you quite grasp the situation Star is-" she was interrupted by a nearby rustling of bushes as Star walked out of them as alive as ever "hiding in a bush and not really dead." She finished stunned.

"But you- the dragon- how did- what?" Rainbow stuttered out.

Star gave them a sheepish grin "Well you see during that short time when I had magic at my disposal I remembered something Solar had told me earlier, he said "Stay calm and think this through, try to find a way to beat him without getting yourself and your friends killed" but to keep you all alive I had to die, which I was fully prepared to do and was going to do before I regained the use of my magic, but let's not dwell on that, anyway, when I had magic at my disposal I thought of a way for me to die while not dying at all." He then walked over to his other body "This isn't a real body, this would be considered a "golem" or a mindless dummy, wizards used to use them to do menial tasks and such, but I used it as a replacement, right before he grabbed me while I was still behind the first tree that I passed I used a combination of 3 spells, firstly I constructed the golem nearby, then I used a copy-paste spell, to make it look like me, then I used a transfer spell, to switch places with it, and voila! Fake Star!" he said gesturing to the nonmoving golem again.

Twilight clapped her hooves in approval "Bravo!"

The others looked less than thrilled at this "You couldn't have told us beforehoof?" Rarity asked.

"Nope, actually it was originally planned for that to be the real me, but hey, that isn't what happened so let's look past that and think of the positives." Star answered with a bright smile.

"Wait, you came here fully expecting not to come back?" Rainbow asked.

"Pretty much." He confirmed.

"You had absolutely no confidence in yours or our abilities?" Twilight asked.

"No no no, I had COMPLETE confidence in each of your abilities." He reassured her "But the thing is, regardless of whether or not we won, none of us wanted to end the life of that dragon, no matter how much he wanted to end ours, so he would have kept coming back until either all of us were dead, or just me, and I personally would have preferred the latter to the former." He explained.

"So ya came here ta *gulp* die so we didn' have ta?" Applejack asked.

Star sighed in annoyance "Are you all still on that? Yes, it happened, it's over, everything turned out good, don't dwell on what could have been you'll drive yourselves insane. Now, let's go home."

Just as he started to take a step he tripped and fell face first to the ground, that was when they got a good look at his physical condition, he had a large, bleeding scratch across his body, his front right leg was twisted in such a way that it looked as if the bone had been broken in half, it was a miracle that he was able to stand at all.

He was immediately surrounded by his friends as they helped him up "You really shouldn't 'even be able to stand right now." Twilight marveled.

"Oh, I actually shouldn't even be conscious right now, but the pain of this and the exhaustion of using all of that magic at once has put me into shock, right now I may seem fine but once the shock wears off I will hopefully be knocked unconscious immediately, otherwise I will be screaming in pain for a while." Star explained.

"Then we should probably get you to a hospital." Pinkie suggested.

"I agree." He said before attempting to walk back the way they had come.

He was stopped by a purple aura "You shouldn't be walking in your condition, I will carry you." Twilight stated before taking his lead and walking the direction that he had been just moments before.

After about a minute of walking Fluttershy approached Star "Hey Star, I was just wondering, I mean if it's okay with you, I wanted to ask why that dragon hated you so much, that is if you don't mind me asking."

"Yeah, what'd you do to tick him off so much?" Rainbow asked.

"Well you see, it happened while I was out "exploring" with Starswirl, we ended up in dragon country, also known as the pridelands, anyway Starswirl had business with the-" Star stopped midsentence "The shock just wore off." He added in a very strained voice.

He looked frozen before letting out a small "ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh" in pain before passing out.

Fluttershy gasped "Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked.

Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder in reassurance "He'll be fine darling."

Star woke to the all too familiar scene of a hospital room, he looked over and saw a white earth pony with a light pink mane and silvery blue eyes, she was also wearing a nurses hat "Excuse me Ms…?" he left the statement hanging signaling for her to introduce herself.

"Nurse Redheart." She obliged.

"Nurse Redheart, may I ask how long I have been here?" he asked.

"Your friends dropped you off about twenty hours ago." She explained.

"Thanks." Star smiled gratefully, causing a smile to grow on her face as well.

He grew a slightly more serious look "So, how bad is the damage?" he asked.

The smile drained from her face as she sighed "I hate this part of my job." She said under her breath before looking back up at him "Well, there is no permanent damage, but you're front right leg bone was shattered in the middle, you will have to stay off of it for about a week and a half, you also have a large scratch across your body, it won't be healed fully for another few days." She explained.

"Wait, only a week and a half? Shouldn't it take longer for my leg to heal?" he asked in surprise.

"Well, the thing is, your body seems to be healing at a much faster rate than anypony else I've ever seen, you're a very lucky pony." She praised.

"I should ask my mom about that later." He decided.

After quite a bit of arguing with Nurse Redheart, two other nurses, and a doctor, he was finally allowed to leave, but he had to have a cast on his leg and stay in a wheelchair, and they made each of his friends sign an agreement that they would keep him in the wheelchair for at least another week.

They wheeled him to Sugarcube Corner where Pinkie had set up a "Congratulations on getting out of the hospital and getting rid of that dragon" party.

Then, after a few hours of partying they all ended up as they did at the end of their previous parties, all of them just sitting, laughing, and talking. After a lull in the conversation came Twilight turned to Star "You never got to finish explaining why that dragon was so upset with you." She pointed out.

Star sighed "Upset is too refined a word to describe it, I would say anger with which is only comparable to the white hot fury of a thousand suns, but that's my description of it. Onto the subject at hoof it was like this, while Starswirl and I were "exploring" we ended up in dragon territory, also known as the pridelands, that I already told you, anyway Starswirl had business with the… king is to formal and all-powerful a title to explain it, let's say he was the alphadrake of this particular pack of dragons, and that this pack of dragons was the most powerful out of all, anyway he had business with the alphadrake and I was stuck with nothing to do, that is until Princess Yellowscale showed an interest in me, we immediately struck up a friendship. She is as her name implies yellow, though it is much more of a gold than yellow, anyway after a while she proclaimed her feelings to me, which I politely rejected. Her father was furious and demanded me executed, and since Razor Claw had already challenged me to a duel all he did was get angrier, after I defeated him in a duel and left he vowed his vengeance." He explained.

"You stole the affections of the dragon he loved then rejected her feelings? You're a regular heart breaker." Rarity teased.

"Yep, the ladies just can't resist me." Star joked while making a pose, causing the other ponies in the room to laugh, everypony, that is, except for Spike, who appeared to be glaring at Star.

Star took notice of this "Something the matter Spike?"

"Nothing's the matter." He grumbled out.

A sly grin grew across Stars face before he leaned over the edge of his wheelchair and nudged Spike with his elbow "I may be notorious for stealing women from dragons, but don't worry, I won't steal your woman from you."

Another wave of laughter was heard through the room, though he could have sworn he heard Spike mumble something like "Too late for that." But it was too quiet to tell.

Eventually the group of ponies dissipated until Star was left alone with Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie Pie "So, Twilight, before I leave, how do you like the spell book now that it is completely deciphered?" Star asked.

Her eyes widened in realization "I haven't even looked through the book since it was deciphered completely! I need to go do that right now!" she exclaimed before galloping out the door dragging Spike close behind.

Pinkie giggled at this before letting out a small yawn "I'm going to get some sleep, I haven't slept in… What day is it?" she asked.

"I think it's Tuesday… no Wednesday, I was asleep for a day, it's definitely Wednesday." He said with a nod of his head.

"Hmmmm… that means it's been three days since I last slept! Wow, I guess time really DOES pass by really fast when you're searching for treasure." She said shrugging.

"Wait, Treasure?" Star asked.

"The one at the end of the map that you gave me for Hearth's Warming day." She explained.

"You still haven't found that?" he asked.

She shook her head "Nope, I got near the end but I can't find it anywhere!" she exclaimed.

"Let me see the map." He asked.

She took out the map and pointed to a point in the map "See! I searched all around here but I can't find it!" she exclaimed.

"Um Pinkie? The map is upside down." He pointed out.

"The Earth is round silly, there is no up or down!" she said rolling her eyes.

Star raised an eyebrow to her "The Earth may not have an up or down, but that paper does." He pointed out.

She looked at the map, then back to Star, then back to the map "So it does… so it does." She then got an inch away from Star's face and stared right into his eyes accusingly "You're a psychic aren't you!" she exclaimed.

Star rolled his eyes "Yes Pinkie, I'm psychic." He replied sarcastically.

She gasped "Tell me everything that will happen to us and our friends tomorrow!" she exclaimed.

"You are going to have an awesome day, Twilight is going to learn something new, Applejack is going to be working in the orchards later than usual, Rainbow Dash is going to crash into a tree, Rarity is going to rip a stitch in a dress she is working on and have to restart, and Fluttershy is going to cower in a tree." He complied with a shrug of his shoulders.

Pinkie eyed him suspiciously again before pointing at her eyes, then to Star before backing away and climbing up the stairs to her room.

Star shrugged again and left to his own home to get a good night's rest. When he woke up in the morning he found all kinds of animals in his house, there were a bunch of birds and butterflies, a few foxes, bunnies and owls, and a hedgehog. After opening the door and letting out all of these animals he looked around to see how they had all gotten in, he saw one of his windows was open and he was once again reminded of the gaping hole in his roof "I need to get that fixed" he decided before making his breakfast.

When he opened his fridge he found a jar that looked to be filled with a rainbow, attached to it was a note that read To Star from the Apple Family, it also had a label, it read Zap Apple Jam, and thus he was struck with a sudden inspiration.

After failing about 40 or so times he made cupcakes that looked and tasted decent, then he filled one with Zap Apple Jam, after decorating it with pink frosting and sprinkles he took a bite, then another, then ate the rest of the batch of cupcakes "That was a great breakfast" he thought to himself with a smile.

First things first he decided to ask if Twilight would put the illusions over him to make him look like he used to when he was referred to as Midnight Star, he wanted to resume his life to what he referred to as "normal" as soon as possible.

When he arrived at the library it was a mess, it looked like a tornado had gone through there, he chuckled at how likely that actually was. Soon enough he found Twilight, she was in the library's basement focusing on a book with a determined look "Hey Twilight, what are you doing?" he asked.

She turned to him and smiled "Thank you so much for this book, this has the most challenging, useful, and strange spells in it I have ever read!"

"So, what's with upstairs? It looks like a tornado thrashed through there." He asked.

She smiled bashfully "Well you see… I kinda tried to perform one of the more difficult spells in this book." She explained.

"Which was…?" he asked.

"The future sight spell, I had to see something." She said vaguely.

After hearing this Star burst out laughing "What's so funny?" she asked.

Eventually his laughter died down enough for him to speak "That's the most useless spell ever invented!" he exclaimed between snickers.

Twilight raised an eyebrow "I don't know what you mean, this could be one of the most useful spells ever invented or discovered." This caused Star to break out laughing even more, with a sigh she asked him "Why is this the most useless spell ever?"

"Because first of all, if you use it then whatever you see can't happen, because you already know what is going to happen it can't happen because things will have happened differently, and even if they didn't that spell only shows what would happen in the future if absolutely nothing changed from the exact moment you cast the spell." He explained before laughing again.

"I can see why that would be ridiculous, even laughable, but why do you think it's THAT funny?" she asked.

"I'm laughing at the irony of the situation, after you all left yesterday Pinkie got it in her head that I was a psychic, and now I bet she is going around trying to see if any of it is going to come true." He explained.

"And why is that ironic?" she asked.

"Because I just caused one of the things I guessed." He answered.

"Which was…?" she prompted him to explain.

"That you would learn something new today." He answered.

Twilight let out a slight chuckle "That is amusing." She agreed.

"Twilight, I was wondering if you could put the illusions on me that will make me look like Midnight Star again, I want people to look at me like I was a normal pony again, not like I was some sort of idol or something." He asked.

Twilight agreed and placed illusionary spells on him that made his wings invisible, his horn appear broken, and the scar on his face appear to be real, but if you were to touch where his wings or horn were, you would still feel them ,and you wouldn't be able to feel the scar on his face.

After thanking her he decided to go home, grab his cloak and check on how Davenport was doing holding down the fort, he had yet to receive a letter from his boss telling him if he had anything to do.

He was shocked when he arrived at where Quills and Sofas had been, and HAD was the correct term because the building was nowhere to be seen, in its place was a large pile of rubble, inside the rubble there were a few sofas here and there and a few small crates that he assumed still had quills in them "What happened here?" he thought in surprise.

Luckily for him Davenport was just barely leaving the pile of rubble dragging a few things "What happened?" Star asked.

Davenport put down the boxes he had been dragging "Hey there kid, so I was watching the shop while you were "preoccupied" and whaddya know it, outta nowhere a dragon steps on the shop and crushes it! My insurance doesn't cover dragon attacks, I'm going to have to fix this whole thing myself. Also, why are ya in a wheelchair?" he asked.

He couldn't say that it was because of the dragon because Davenport would have heard the story about how apparently Prince Starlight Sky had defeated the dragon and in a few different versions of the story, thrown him into a volcano, trapped him in a magical prison, or banished him to the moon, or Star's favorite, that he had trapped the dragon in a magical prison inside a volcano on the moon.

"I fell off of a hill and broke my leg." He replied honestly, it had broken when he had jumped off of that cliff and slid down the dragon, he hit the ground quite hard.

"How bad is it?" Davenport asked.

"I'll be on my feet again in a week and a half." Star reassured him.

Davenport simply nodded at this and began to move things out of the rubble again "If you want I will help you with rebuilding this thing." Star offered.

"I won't be able to pay you." He warned.

Star shrugged "I still have about 2000 bits left, I will be fine." He reassured him.

"Then I would appreciate the help, now, would you mind helping me drag out what's left of the shops contents?" he asked.

For the next 2 hours Star helped Davenport salvage what they could out of the shop, which actually a lot of the sofas and quill boxes survived, while a few didn't.

Once they were done Davenport thanked him and left to take everything to a storage container that he had rented.

With nothing else to do with his day he decided to try and practice flying for his race with Rainbow Dash in… "I have to race Rainbow Dash in two days and I still don't know how to fly, I'm doomed." He decided.

Regardless, he decided to practice at least being able to fly in the first place. After a few hours of trying he found that he took to flying rather naturally, also, he flew at a decent speed, as in he would be able to match pace with Fluttershy "Not too bad, once I get used to it I might be able to fly as fast as Rainbow Dash does when she flies lazily around town!" he thought excited.

Just then he was approached by his friends, all of whom were following Pinkie, he flew down and landed in his wheelchair waiting for them.

When they reached him he was greeted by Pinkie shouting "Tell me the future again!"

Raising his eyebrow prompting her to continue she did "I had an awesome day today, Twilight learned something new, Rainbow Dash flew into a tree, Applejack was working later than usual out in the orchards, Rarity ripped a stitch in her dress making her restart and Fluttershy WAS cowering in a tree when I found her! Everything happened just like you said it would!" she exclaimed.

Star chuckled at this "I'm not psychic." He said simply.

"But everything you said was going to happen came true!" she exclaimed.

"You had an awesome day today because you got to try and solve the mystery of whether or not I was psychic, Twilight learned something new from the spell book that I reminded her to read today, Rarity ripped a stitch in her dress when you went to ask her if she ripped a stitch in a dress today, Rainbow crashed into a tree when you tried to call her down and ask if she had run into a tree today, Fluttershy was cowering in a tree because you surprised her, and Applejack had to work later in the fields than usual because you distracted her so it took her longer to get her work done." He explained.

"But how did you know all of that would happen?" Pinkie demanded.

Star shrugged "Common sense, mostly cause and effect guessing, one thing leads to another etcetera etcetera."

"So you were just pretending to be psychic?" Pinkie asked in disappointment.

"Yep, but anypony can do that." Star pointed out.

"How?" she asked eagerly.

"Just guess vague things that are obviously going to happen in that pony's future, things like "You are going to have a long and happy life" or "You are going to get a great gift on your next birthday."" He explained.

"Never mind girls he's not actually psychic." Pinkie said in disappointment.

They all shared a shrug and left without another word. Deciding that he was done for the day he went back to his home to get some rest, where he found a letter on his bed, he then sat down and read it.

Dear Starlight Sky (Yes I used your full name =P) "Did my mother put a smiley face on this letter?" he thought before continuing to read it.

I am writing you this letter to ask how you are doing after that dragon attack, because I have a visitor here that claims to have been told that you are dead, which I know for a fact you are not, I would like you to come and meet this visitor and clarify the situation.

Your loving mother,

Celestia

Star went to sleep that night with his mind full of questions.

Ch 38: Misunderstanding

Star was walking slowly through an endless field full of the most beautiful flowers he could ever imagine. He took in a deep breath and attempted to take in his surroundings; along with the many beautiful flowers was a land covered in lush green grass, looking to the skies he saw nary a cloud in sight, but what clouds there were greatly complimented to the bright blue of the sky. He leaned over to sniff a particularly white looking flower and it tickled his nose, he blinked and looked again and saw that the flower had whiskers "Wait, flowers don't have whiskers" he realized before reality came crashing back in…

As his eyes opened he realized two things, firstly, there was a cat on his chest, licking its paws and looking content, secondly, he realized that the gaping hole in his roof was gone, though he had no recollection of fixing it he wasn't going to complain.

Looking once again at the cat he realized that it was none other than the kitten that he had gotten Fluttershy for Hearths Warming day, though how it had gotten in his house, he had no clue, but he decided to return the kitten to his owner before she panicked. As he neared the door he heard a pony outside, when he opened it he found Fluttershy flying back and forth in worry.

Before she could even say a word he gave her the kitten "Thank you oh so very much, I was very worried about him." She said happily while hugging the cat.

"Don't mention it; by the way, do you know how he could have possibly even gotten in here? Or who patched up my roof?" he asked.

"I have no idea, sorry." She said with a shrug.

"That's alright, I can just ask around, thanks anyway." He said with a nod.

After Fluttershy left his house Star started to look around his home trying to find out how the cat had gotten in. Eventually he found out how the kitten had gotten in, he had still forgotten to completely close one of his windows.

Reading back over the letter he had received the other night his mind was once again filled with questions, like who was this visitor, and who had told them that he was dead, and why hadn't his mother told him who the visitor was?

Trying to push these recurring questions from his mind he decided to eat some breakfast. After he had eaten his breakfast he went outside to inspect the hoofwork of the pony who had fixed his roof.

He was surprised to see that the roof looked just as it did before it had been destroyed "Would you look at that? Huh, color me impressed" he thought with a nod of approval.

Just before he left he saw a note attached to the side of his home, picking it up he read it.

I noticed that your roof was broken so I decided to fix it.

-Your secret admirer

Attached to the note was a white flower, just like the one he had been about to sniff in his dream, he eyed it warily waiting for it to turn into a kitten, when it didn't he began to think about the note "Since when do I have an "admirer"?" he thought before putting the note inside his home and leaving to ask his friends about a most likely candidate so that he could properly thank this pony "Unless it isn't a pony." He considered.

First he decided to see Rarity, she seemed the most likely to know something or other about this. When he opened the door to Carousel Boutique he heard a bell ring that was attached to the door, shortly after this he heard a muffled voice call out "Just a moment please."

As she walked into the room she looked dead tired and grumpy, but when she saw Star she visibly brightened up and looked like her normal self, albeit with dark blue bags under her eyes "Hello darling, is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"Yes actually, this morning I woke to see that the large hole in my roof that the dragon had left was fixed. Along with it I found a note, the note said "I noticed that your roof was broken so I decided to fix it" it was signed by my secret admirer, because apparently I have one. I came to ask you if you knew of anypony who might be my so called "secret admirer" so that I may find that pony or other sentient creature and thank them." He explained.

Her eyebrows furrowed with what looked like annoyance for a moment before shaking her head "No I don't know anypony who would be your secret admirer, now if you'll excuse me I have to leave, I have to go and speak with Twilight a moment about… something. If you'll excuse me!" she exclaimed racing out the door.

Star stared at where the white unicorn had been standing just moments before, looked over to the door, then back to where she had been standing "I am surprised that neither her or Fluttershy has noticed that I'm not in my wheelchair…" he thought before shrugging and deciding to ask Rainbow about it. If there was a pony who was giving him their attention instead of her, she would know.

Eventually, he found Rainbow in Sugarcube Corner, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie "Well that narrows down my search of possible ponies who could know who it is." He thought before approaching the group.

"Hey girls." He greeted.

Each of them greeted him in turn and continued to what they had been doing, Pinkie was cheering on a hoof wrestling match between Rainbow Dash and Applejack, which appeared to be a tie for the moment.

Eventually after a few moments Applejack managed to win the match "Nice try Dash, maybe next time," she said with a triumphant smile "ah won, now ya have ta do yer part 'a the deal."

With a roll of her eyes Rainbow Dash ordered a cake with the words "Applejack Hoof Wrestling Champion" written on the front.

After Pinkie went off to bake it Rainbow turned to Star "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be out practicing for our race tomorrow?" she asked.

"Actually I can't practice today, I have a train ride to catch in a few hours, my mom had a visitor recently that she wanted me to meet. And I am here to ask you girls a question." He explained.

After a few moments silence Rainbow Dash looked annoyed and exclaimed "What's the question!"

"Somepony was at my house last night and fixed my roof. There was a note taking credit for it and it was signed by my 'secret admirer', I asked Fluttershy and she had no idea, Rarity seemed like she might've known something but I didn't want to press, so I decided to ask you girls." He explained.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shared a look then turned back to Star "Sorry sugarcube, ah have no idea who it could be." Applejack apologized.

He looked at Rainbow and she simply gave him a shrug "Sorry." She apologized.

"Now if'n yall 'll excuse us, me 'n Dash here have ta go to the library, she was gonna show me… uh…" Applejack started to say. "The new series of Daring Doo books she found!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "C'mon, AJ, we should get going." Rainbow then grabbed her orange friend and dragged her out the door.

After giving them a curious glance he decided to follow "Maybe I can just ask Twilight" he thought while he walked. When he arrived at the library he saw an unusual sight, Twilight and Rarity were right in each other's faces glaring at each other, Rainbow Dash was in a pile of books, Applejack was standing to the side with a look of concern, and Spike was standing next to her looking a little upset "What's been happening here?" Star asked walking into the library.

Every pair of eyes in the room immediately snapped to him in surprise, when they didn't continue or look away it made him nervous "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

He still didn't receive an answer; it looked as if nopony in the room knew exactly what to do at that moment, as if they were afraid to be the first one to say anything.

The minutes passed as the ponies continued to stare at him, still none of them said anything "Is something wrong?" he asked again in a very worried tone.

Still he received no answer, after a few more moments the silence was broken by the sound of a small pop, and right in front of Star materialized a scroll with the all too familiar golden C on the front, he grabbed it, opened it and began reading "Dear Star, our guest is getting impatient, she says that it's been over a thousand years, she has waited long enough, and if you haven't already figured it out our guest is the esteemed Princess Yellowscale, along with her, you and I have much to discuss that has been pointed out to me, forget about your train I am sending a chariot to retrieve you, it will be there shortly after this letter, it will meet you in front of Twilight Sparkles library. Signed, mother."

Still, he had yet to raise any response out of the ponies standing in the room with him "Well with that in mind I am just going to get going, I might come back when things make more sense." He said leaving the library.

As soon as he did the other ponies began to stir "…Do you think he heard any of that?" Twilight asked.

Rarity shook her head "I think he may have had a bit more to say if he had heard our conversation previous to his intrusion."

Applejack sighed "Ah thought he'd never leave, ya had us in an awkward situation here Twi."

"When I said the next thing I want to hear is an explanation and nothing else, I didn't think that Star was going to walk into the door!" Twilight defended.

Rarity's eyes suddenly widened "Wait, where did he say he was going?" she asked in alarm.

"To Canterlot to talk to Princess Yellowscale, why?" Spike asked.

"Because she's a dragon! Most dragons aren't known for their kindness, especially to ponies who broke their hearts!" Rarity exclaimed.

Twilight's eyes widened in realization "We have to stop him before he gets there, that dragon is going to kill him!" she exclaimed.

Just as they ran out the library door they saw Star flying off in a royal chariot "We're too late!" Twilight exclaimed.

"No we're not!" Rainbow exclaimed before shooting off after the fast moving chariot.

She quickly caught up to the chariot and landed inside on the seat right next to Star "Hey." She greeted casually.

"Hi." He greeted just as casually.

"So… do you really think it's the best idea to be going to see this Princess Yellowscale?" she asked.

"Yes, why?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Well… don't you think she might still y'know, hate you for breaking her heart?" she asked.

This caused Star to laugh "Everything will be fine, now, you go back and tell the others that too." He said shooing her off.

She hesitated for a moment before shrugging and leaving to tell their friends what he had said.

When she landed back in front of the library she saw that Fluttershy and Pinkie had arrived also "So, is he going to have them turn around or what?" Twilight asked.

"He said everything will be fine, and I'm not very inclined to go and dig around in his business anyway, he will tell us what happens when he gets back." Rainbow said.

Her friends looked taken aback "Well Rainbow, how very patient and considerate of you, that's certainly different." Rarity commented.

"I just don't think that it's right to go and snoop your way through another pony's business, that's all." Rainbow mumbled.

Twilight shook her head vigorously for a moment "Regardless, I don't think he knows what kind of trouble he's getting into. We have to get to Canterlot before she hurts him, or worse."

They quickly set about trying to find a quick way to Canterlot, they decided upon using Pinkie's air balloon to get there. It would be the quickest way to travel there, especially since Rainbow had volunteered to help pull it, also volunteering Fluttershy to help.

After appointing Spike to watch the library they quickly set the air balloon up and went on their way to Canterlot, hoping that they weren't too late by the time they got there.

After what seemed like an eternity they finally arrived at the castle, where they quickly approached the door to hear a scream coming from inside "No, don't do that!" it sounded like Star.

"Don't worry Star we're coming!" Twilight exclaimed.

As they burst through the door Rarity exclaimed "You unhand him you-" she immediately stopped her sentence when she saw what had really been happening.

There, right in the middle of the room, was a dragon, this dragon was about as large as Razor Claw had been, but slightly smaller, it also had a very, very different color, it looked to be a bright golden color, but it had a certain yellow to it more than gold.

This dragon was holding Star's cloak high above him where he couldn't reach it, but she was staring at the group of ponies that had just burst through the door "Hey girls, what are you all doing here?" Star asked.

"I-um-er-well-hello there." Rarity stammered out.

"Oh, how rude of me, Princess Yellowscale, these are my friends, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie." He said gesturing to each of his friends as he introduced them "Girls, this is Princess Yellowscale, one of my oldest friends." He said introducing her.

The other ponies continued to stare at the dragon "What's wrong?" Yellowscale asked, her voice was rumbly, just like most adult dragons voices were, but it was very light and sweet sounding.

"Aren't you mad at Star?" Pinkie asked.

"Why ever would I be mad at Star? Besides the fact that he disappeared for over a thousand years. Also, do any of you know what happened to his horn and wings? They seem to be missing." She said shooting Star a look, to which he responded with a sheepish grin.

Twilight absentmindedly undid the illusionary spell on Star making him look like his normal self "Now that's the Star I know." Yellowscale commented.

She then turned to the group of ponies again "You still didn't answer my question, why do you think that I would hate him?" she asked.

"Well, he broke your heart, most creatures hate others that break their hearts." Rarity pointed out.

Star and Yellowscale shared a look before breaking out in laughter "What's so funny? I wanna know! I wanna know! I love funny things!" Pinkie demanded while bouncing up and down.

After the laughter died down Yellowscale wiped a tear from her eye "That's rich, I had forgotten that we had to keep up that fabrication."

"Fabrication?" Twilight asked.

Star gave them a sheepish grin "You see, I had to tell you the story like that because I was sworn to secrecy, and I will tell you the true story if I am allowed." He explained before turning to Yellowscale.

She nodded in approval before he continued "You see, I did become good friends with her while I was at her home kingdom, but what I couldn't tell you was that she didn't develop feelings for me, she developed feelings for a dragon that was of a lower social class, the regular princess falls for the peasant story, but anyway nopony could know of this, and she was already promised away to marry Razor Claw, so we came up with an idea, that she was to fake having feelings for me, I would turn her down, she would go into "isolation" and voila! Problem solved! Except now Razor Claw has returned looking for her to tell her that he has killed me, she already has a family with five hatchlings so she is staying here in Equestria for another few days, after a week has passed he will have to give up his search and he will probably find another mate." Star explained.

"So Star isn't in danger?" Rainbow asked.

Star looked offended "Why is it that you girls always assume that I'm in danger?" he asked.

"Because you are." Twilight countered flatly.

"Touché." He conceded.

"So what was all of that when we first got here, I heard Star yell "No don't do that!"" Twilight asked.

Yellowscale smiled deviously "I stole his cloak." She explained.

"And she wasn't very nice about it! She nearly took off my cast doing that!" Star exclaimed.

Yellowscale looked down at it as if seeing it for the first time "I am assuming that you got that when you were fighting Razor Claw?" she asked.

Star smiled weakly "Yep, and it didn't feel good either."

"You're such a baby, that is nothing compared to when you broke all four of your legs up to the shoulders and a part of your neck." She teased.

"Well that hurt worse, and it was your fault." He argued.

"You're the one who asked how far somepony could be knocked by being hit by a dragons tail." She pointed out.

Star smiled wildly at this "And I don't regret that decision in the least."

"This is nice and all, but since we came here for no reason at all, I'm going home, who's with me?" Rainbow said.

In turn they all ended up leaving, though Twilight and Rarity still seemed slightly reluctant to leave him alone with a dragon after much reassurance they left after warning Yellowscale that if she hurt Star, they would use the elements of harmony on her.

After they left Yellowscale turned to Star "Why are they so protective of you?" she asked.

Star shrugged "Beats me."

Shortly after Star left in the chariot

A very relieved Applebloom sighed as she watched Star leave, he gave up on asking questions, now he wouldn't find out that she was secretly the one who had rebuilt his roof, though she still didn't know who left the flower, or the note…

Ch 39: A Return to Normalcy

After a few hours, meeting up with his mother and aunt, and ending up in the castle ballroom to give Princess Yellowscale more room to move, Star had just realized how strange the scene before him was. They were all sitting around a rather large table, all four of them had a cup of tea in hoof and hand, and each of them were sporting a top hat, a monocle, fancy mustache and they were all speaking in a fancy Manehattan accent.

"If I may inquire, why are we all wearing this ensemble?" Star asked.

"Quite obviously because it's tea time my dear lad!" Luna explained.

Celestia looked around at the other ponies and dragon and nodded "And might I add that we all look quite dapper, brilliant if I may say."

All nodding in agreement they all simultaneously took a sip of their respective cups of tea "I say Luna; you brew a delightful cup of tea." Yellowscale complimented.

"Why thank you kind madam." Luna replied with a smile.

Taking one final sip of tea Celestia turned to Star "All silliness aside, Star, we have much to discuss."

"Like what?" he asked tilting his head slightly.

She gave him an incredulous look, then looked from him, to Princess Yellowscale, then back to him "Really? You didn't think it important to mention that you made friends with a dragon?" she asked "A PRINCESS of the dragons no less!" she added after a moment.

"I was sworn to secrecy." He explained.

"By whom were you sworn to secrecy?" Luna asked still sporting her Manehattan accent.

"Starswirl." He answered before taking another sip of tea.

"Just how much did you two do when I had my back turned?" Celestia asked.

Star looked to the ceiling in thought "Well… we helped the dragons in a couple of wars, fought some pirates, saved Equestria, procured and hid many dangerous artifacts, and a few other things." He explained.

Before Celestia could respond his eyes widened in realization and he reached into his saddlebag "I know!" he exclaimed before taking out a small book with symbols on it "Here is Starswirl's journal, I think that you should have it. Along with it showing how he felt day to day it will explain what we did during our travels." He said giving her said journal.

She tilted her head and stared at it "I thought that you were sworn to secrecy?" she pointed out.

"Well I was," Star agreed "but I'm not telling you anything, you will be reading it in his journal."

She stared at it with a sad smile for a moment before taking it and giving Star a grateful look "Thank you."

He shot her a beaming smile before finishing off the last of his cup of tea "So, any other questions?" he asked to no one in particular.

"How much of all of your journeys' do you remember?" Luna asked.

"Do you just automatically assume that I have memory problems with everything?" he replied in mock offense.

"What? No! I wasn't- I just meant- I was just-"she stuttered out while attempting to think of something to explain her question.

Star interrupted her panic with a fit of laughter "I was just joking, judging by my background it's not all that surprising that you would jump to that conclusion. But to answer your question I really only remember a few brief periods during my visit to the dragon kingdom when I met Yellowscale, otherwise it's all a blank." He explained.

"So you don't remember stopping an invasion of changelings before they reached the borders of Equestria?" Celestia asked looking up from the journal that she had been reading since she had received possession of it.

"I remember reading about it in my journal but nothing else." Star answered.

Yellowscale raised an eyebrow "What is a changeling?" she asked.

"A creature that is roughly the size of a regular pony that can change into any form and feed off of positive emotions, mostly love. Though as far as I know there haven't been any changelings seen in Equestria for well over a couple thousand years." Celestia explained.

Yellowscale turned to Star "I thought you were just an apprentice to some random sorcerer, but it turns out that you were really a prince and a traveling hero. Got anything else up your sleeve to impress me?" she asked.

Star immediately fell to the floor laughing. "Me? A hero? That's one of the funniest things I've ever heard!" he exclaimed.

He received confused looks from the three of them prompting him to explain. "I've never done anything heroic. As far as I can tell from what I've read in my journal Starswirl is the hero," He explained.

"From what I've read in his journal it completely contradicts that, in fact more than once he claims that he needed to be saved by you." Celestia said while still reading from said journal.

"He's just being modest," Star dismissed.

"If you've never done anything heroic, then what do you call saving your friends from Razor Claw?" Luna questioned.

"That wasn't me saving them, that was me fixing a mistake I made, I should have never let them get involved in that," He said shaking his head slightly.

"What about when I was knocked unconscious by Destruction and you saved me before he could kill me?" Celestia asked.

"I didn't save you, I kept his attention while you and Luna got the elements of harmony and saved me," Star pointed out.

"Why do you keep denying that you have been heroic?" Yellowscale asked.

"I'm not; I just can't see myself even remotely brave enough to do anything of the sort," He said defensively.

"Wait, this story seems familiar …I will be right back." Celestia said putting down the journal and leaving the room, leaving Yellowscale, Luna and Star.

"So, how are you two?" Star asked casually.

"Great! I no longer have to fear Razor Claw coming back and I recently found one of my best friends again," Yellowscale answered.

Star nodded in understanding and turned to Luna "And you?" he asked.

"Brilliant!" she exclaimed still speaking with a Manehattan accent.

Before Star could respond Celestia once again walked through the door "I was right!" she exclaimed.

This was followed by silence and confused looks… "I recognized something from the journal, apparently somepony wrote down all of Starswirl's and Stars journeys and published them as stories, though these books have been in the royal archives since about the time Star disappeared I never made the connections," She explained.

"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that there are a few books that tell some stories of mine and Starswirl's "adventures"," Star said in realization.

"Says here that you and Starswirl were notorious womanizers..." Celestia remarked with a sly smile.

"A lot of it is just made up, and seriously, why is THAT one of the only things that both you and Twilight looked at?" Star asked with a facehoof.

Celestia looked as if she was about to say something, but she hesitated and instead shook her head. Looking back into the book she now held in her pink aura "It also has about twenty or so conspiracies about you two being secret agents, outlaws on the run from me, or just secretly being omnipotent beings who travel time and space righting wrongs in the universe."

Star looked to be deep in thought 'The description she just used reminds me of something or somepony, I don't know when or where, but I think I've described something like that before…' he had his hoof on his chin in thought for a few more moments before shrugging it off.

A few moments passed in contented silence, besides the occasional sound of tea being sipped or the sound of a page being flipped it was completely silent.

Star took this time to think over what has happened since he woke up that fateful day almost a year ago. Since then he had found out his identity, most of his past, found his family, he made friends, got a job, and found a home.

He smiled at all of this until his mind came to rest on the current situation, causing his eyebrows to furrow in thought. Noticing this when she looked over to Star, Luna decided to ask what was wrong "Is there a problem?"

This broke Star out of his train of thought "Wha huh?" he blurted out before shaking his head to clear his thoughts "Nothing is wrong. In fact," He turned to Celestia "I need to ask you a question. I seem to have an affinity for healing quickly, in example I should be in these casts and disabled for another month or so, but I will be getting out of them in about a week and a half, why is that?" he asked.

He received a simple shrug as a response "Guess that's something else to do with what I still can't remember," He remarked.

Once again the room was filled with silence, besides the occasional turning of a page "Well this was nice, but I have to get back to town and help Davenport with cleaning up the remnants of his store," Star declared.

After they all shared their goodbyes Star made his way outside where he was about to start walking back to Ponyville. However he was stopped by a nearby guard who was pulling one of the chariots "What are you doing?"

"Walking back to Ponyville?" Star said curiously.

"It has been requested that you be taken by chariot to any destination of your choice," The guard explained.

"Really?" Star asked.

"Really," The guard confirmed.

Star shrugged his shoulders, "Guess I don't have much of a choice…" He then hopped into the back of the chariot and they flew off to Ponyville

When he landed, in Ponyville he was surrounded by what he thought to be all of the ponies in town As he started to get out of the chariot they all made a path for him and bowed their heads "What's all of this about?" he asked Lyra, who was one of the ponies in the front of the crowd.

Her head shot up immediately, a look of shock on her face "You're M-" she was quickly quieted by Star's hoof in her mouth.

"I would prefer it if nopony knew who I was, it would make living here much more difficult. So if you wouldn't mind, please don't say anything," He pleaded in a hushed tone.

She nodded her head in understanding before he removed his hoof from her mouth "Now, would you mind telling me what all of this," he gestured to the crowd of ponies that were still bowing to him "is about?" he asked.

Lyra looked around the crowd then back to Star "This is how we greet royalty, by bowing to them," She explained.

Star looked around the crowd awkwardly "Excuse me everypony, I'm not all too accustomed to this so please don't think me out of line, but I don't really like this kind of treatment. If you would please, resume whatever it was you were all doing before I got here."

There were many hushed whispers and confused looks shared throughout the crowd before Lyra tapped him on the shoulder "We don't do this because we have to, actually we do this out of respect for our royalty. If you don't let us act like this it would be an insult," she explained "but once you pass through the path that was opened for you they will resume whatever they were doing."

Nodding in understanding, Star walked down the middle of the two rows of ponies. As he passed a pony they would rise and continue to stare at him.

When he finally reached the end of the group he turned back to see them all staring back at him, as if waiting for him to explain something.

'Maybe they're wondering why I'm here?' he thought to himself "I'm not here for any official business, I'm just visiting a friend," He explained.

Most of them nodded and the dispersed, save the odd pony here or there who continued to stay in place and stare at him. Ignoring this he made his way to the library to have Twilight return the illusions to his body so that he could walk through town without attracting the attention equal to that of a circus elephant riding through town on a large rubber ball.

Arriving at the library as he had many times before he found it to be nearly deserted, save Spike, who was taking a nap in his small basket of a bed, which for some reason or another was dragged to the bottom of the stairs.

Curiously Star made his way over to the sleeping baby dragon and prodded him in the side in an attempt to wake him. This however proved ineffective as Spike simply scratched at where Star had prodded him and turned to face the other way.

He furrowed his eyebrows in thought for a moment before he was struck with an idea "Why of course I will marry you Rarity!" he loudly exclaimed.

Spike immediately sprung from his bed shouting "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Making a quick scan of the room he did not find Rarity, only Star with an amused grin on his face "What's so funny?" Spike asked.

Star shook his head slightly "Nothing, nothing. Onto more pressing matters, I came here to speak to Twilight; do you know where she is?"

Spike groaned at this, "She's upstairs asleep. I'm down here because she has been talking in her sleep. she woke me up saying something like 'the stallion of my dreams in the starlight' or something like that. I didn't really hear her very well."

"Well if she's still asleep then I will just come back tomorrow, thanks," Star said walking back out the door.

As he watched Star leave Spike wore a confused look "Or was it, 'the stallion of my dreams, Starlight?'" he mumbled before shrugging and going to get himself breakfast, or as it was supposed to be, dinner.

At a loss of what to do with what little hours of light there was left in the day he decided to see how much progress Davenport had made cleaning out the ruins of the store.

When he arrived he was surprised to see that the plot of land was empty, save a group of about 15 ponies wearing yellow hard hats and orange safety vests, Davenport, and a pony in a suit.

Upon further inspection he saw that the pony in the suit was none other than Filthy Rich, the owner of Barnyard Bargains "Hi," Star greeted walking towards the duo.

From Davenport he received a grunt and from Filthy Rich he received a bow "It is nice to meet you Prince Starlight," This made Star cringe.

Hearing this Davenport's eyes widened in surprise "Wait, Prince Starlight? That's strange, you sound just like…"

"Like who?" Star asked.

Davenport stared at him for a few moments before narrowing his eyes "Nopony, just thought I recognized your voice."

"So, what is royalty such as yourself doing at a construction site?" Filthy Rich asked with an eyebrow raised.

"I heard that this building had been leveled due to the dragon attack recently, so I decided to see how bad the damage was," Star explained.

Davenport looked up at him with a knowing smile "Why did you come all the way down from Canterlot to see this?" he asked.

"Mr. Rich, would you excuse us for a moment?" Star asked before taking Davenport out of hearing range.

"How'd ya get out of that wheelchair?" Davenport asked just as they stopped walking.

"I didn't actually need it, it was just the doctor's orders, and how did you know it was me?" Star asked curiously.

Davenport grinned widely "Firstly, your voice gave you away, but that's just because I've heard it so much. Secondly you've been acting the exact same way that you do when you're all dressed up as Midnight Star. Lastly and most noticeably part of the front of your cast came off when you were helping me clean up the debris, it's still missing."

Star slowly applauded him "How very observant of you. Did you used to be a detective?"

"No, with all of my spare time in the shop I used to read a lot of mystery books. Now, let's get back to Rich, I was just talking to him about his help in rebuilding the store," Davenport said walking with Star back over to Rich, who was looking at what seemed to be a schematic.

"What's that?" Star asked.

"These are the blueprints for the new Quills and Sofas. I was planning on renovating it soon anyway, all the dragon did was give me that last push to actually go through with it," Davenport explained.

"I am going to need to speak with that employee of yours, Midnight Star, if he is going to be running the shop I think we might need his input on all of this," Rich said while looking over the blueprints again.

Davenport looked over to Star questioningly and Star shook his head. He put one hoof on top of the other, then gestured it going in an arc over to the opposite side of his hoof, like something moving across the sky.

Davenport looked confused for a moment before Star pointed at his Cutiemark, then gestured again moving one hoof in an arc "Oh!" Davenport said in realization.

"What?" Rich asked raising an eyebrow.

Davenport turned to him "He will be busy until tomorrow. Why don't we all meet here tomorrow at one?"

Rich nodded in agreement "Alright, one it is. See you tomorrow," He said walking away.

When he was finally out of earshot, Star turned to Davenport "Why aren't you being all nervous and trying to get my approval? When most ponies see royalty they act weird and only say what they think royalty wants to hear."

Davenport shrugged "I'm not going to treat anypony different because they're in a different social class, even if they are royalty."

Star smiled gratefully at this "Thanks, that's why I usually look like Midnight Star. I hate getting special treatment."

"Well I have to get home; the wife is probably wondering what is taking me so long, see you tomorrow." Davenport said walking away.

As Star was about to walk away Davenport called over to him "One more thing, if you're royalty, why do you need a job?" he asked

Star smiled "I don't want to have everything given to me; I would prefer to have to work for it."

Satisfied with this answer Davenport left, leaving Star alone with nothing to do once again. After a few moments he decided to just go home and get some rest.

When he got to his home he took a moment to look it over. He rarely ever thought about it, but he really loved his home. Not just the way it looked, but the fact that it symbolized somewhere he could come back to after a very trying day. He could just relax, knowing that he had a place to call his own.

Star opened the door to his house just to find it blocked by something at his hooves. Looking down he saw what looked to be a large mailbag, curiously he picked it up and inspected it. On the side he found a note, it read

You have received a lot of mail lately, I decided to just have it all sent to your home. Expect the rest of it soon.

Love,

Mom

Eying the bag curiously, he decided to see what all of this was about. Entering his home and finding a comfortable place to sit he picked a letter at random and read it.

Dear Prince Starlight Sky,

You probably don't remember me, but that's okay, I was the mare that asked if you had a marefriend, and you said that you weren't looking for a relationship, but that's okay! It doesn't have to be a relationship, it can be whatever you want it to be.

Please respond soon,

Strawberry Sundae

Star stared at the letter curiously 'What does 'Whatever you want it to be; mean? For that matter what is 'it' in the first place?'

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he read another, though it was less stalkery and less creepy it was the same concept.

After reading every letter he summed them up into a few different categories; Marriage proposals, relationship proposals and miscellaneous proposals, which made him blush even thinking about.

'What's with all of the love letters? I bet most of these mares haven't even ever seen me,' He thought shaking his head.

With a sigh he put the bag of letters on the table then lay down to sleep.

Ch 40: Day of the Race

The next morning Star woke gradually and of his own choice, he couldn't say as much for almost every morning since returning to Ponyville.

For a while he just stayed in bed, enjoying the silence and grace of the early morning life. Finally, with much reluctance, he decided it was about time to get up. Stretching first, he decided to assess his activities for the day "Alright, now first I think I still have to help Davenport with the blueprints for the new Quills and sofas, but that's not till one… Next I have to race Rainbow Dash, and… I think that's it!" he thought happily. Slowly getting out of bed he immediately slipped opened the largest of the three piles of letters "And I'm going to get through the rest of these letters…" he realized with a sigh.

Getting to his hooves he found that there was a letter stuck to his face, he removed it from his face and read it. A blush quickly grew on his face as he hastily gathered up the other letters and shoved them into the mailbag that they had arrived in.

With a grumble of his stomach he decided to start his day with a nice breakfast. This plan was quickly shot down as he found out that his home was completely absent of food. Instead of running to the store he decided to go to a nearby diner for breakfast.

After walking through town for a bit he arrived at his destination, a diner by the name of The Hay bale.

Walking inside brought attention to something he had failed to do yesterday. He had forgotten to have Twilight recast illusion spells, so at the moment he still looked like his normal self. The moment he walked to the diner he was mobbed by a group of ponies.

After a few minutes of distraction, weaving and bobbing he finally seated himself off in the back corner of the diner, in hopes of being unnoticed.

His breakfast went off without a hitch. That is, until an all too familiar pink blob appeared in his peripheral vision. Acting quickly he scarfed down what was left of the food on his plate and ducked, just in time to avoid the flying pink projectile.

Upon landing she quickly ricocheted back and tackled Star to the ground in a spine breaking hug.

"!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Pinkie, let go, can't breathe," He struggled through a choked voice.

She quickly let go and gave him a sheepish smile "Sorry about that."

"Now, what was that for?" Star asked getting back up and dusting himself off.

"I found the treasure! All of the sweets in it were delicious!" Pinkie said patting her stomach in satisfaction.

"You already ate them all? There were hundreds of sweets in there! How long did it take you?" he asked.

She looked to the ceiling in thought "Well that depends, what time is it?"

Star looked over to a nearby clock "It's a quarter past nine, why?" he asked.

Pinkie gave a look of surprise "Wow! It took me all morning to eat those! That's the slowest I've ever eaten a bunch of sweets before!" she exclaimed.

"But how did…. you know what? I don't even know why I'm surprised anymore," Star conceded.

"I've gotta go fold my sprinkles now, bye!" she exclaimed shooting out of the diner in a flash of pink.

Star took a moment to absorb what had just happened to him. "How do you fold a sprinkle?"

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he paid for his meal and made his way out of the diner. Upon leaving he found a very antsy looking Rainbow Dash waiting for him.

"You ready for our race?" she asked.

Star looked at her and tilted his head "Shouldn't you still be asleep, for like another ten or so hours?" he asked.

"Nah, saving that for my victory nap! Besides, I figured you'd want to change back to being Midnight Star as soon as possible, so we have to race while you still have wings," She explained.

"It doesn't actually get rid of my wings, just makes them invisible, I think," he explained

"Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Let's get going," she said anxiously.

"Alright, where are we going to race?" He asked.

"Twice around Sweet Apple Acres," Rainbow answered.

"Well no point in delaying any longer, let's get going," Star said walking towards their soon to be race track.

Rainbow quickly caught up to him "You're gonna walk, huh? Good idea, you'd better conserve all the energy you can, you'll need it," she told him before quickly shooting off towards the acres.

When Star arrived at Sweet Apple Acres he saw Rainbow speaking animatedly to Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.

"You girls ready to see Rainbow kick my flank?" he asked.

"Darling don't be so pessimistic, I'm sure you'll do just fine," Rarity reassured him.

"Ready to race?" Rainbow asked anxiously.

"No, but I am fully willing to participate," Star said with a smile.

"Alright then line up you two," Pinkie said pointing to a white line that had been drawn for both the starting and finishing line.

When they lined up Pinkie approached them "Alright, I want a good, clean race out there. That means no cheating, no hitting, and absolutely no wereponies. Got it?"

After shooting her a confused look they both nodded in acknowledgement and leaned down low ready to shoot forward as fast as possible.

Suddenly the other five of their friends began quietly giggling, when Rainbow looked over at them, she saw five straight faces staring back. Shaking her head she leaned even lower and narrowed her eyes in anticipation "Alright! On your marks! Get set! GO!" Pinkie announced.

Just as the words left Pinkie's mouth Rainbow shot forward. When the dust settled Star was still standing at the starting line. Casually he turned to the opposite direction and began to fly as fast as he could.

A few minutes later Rainbow passed the finish line "Yes! I won! I'm officially the fastest pony in Ponyville!" she exclaimed.

This was rewarded with full blown laughter from her friends "What's so funny?" she asked.

"You went the wrong direction!" Twilight exclaimed between laughs.

Rainbows eyes widened in surprise as she realized that Star had been going the right way. She quickly looked over to see that Star was done with his first lap and was about a quarter ways done with his second.

She quickly took off in the opposite direction that she had started in, trying desperately to catch up with him.

Rainbow quickly caught up and passed him for her first lap. When she got to her second lap she began feeling confident and checked to see how close Star was to finishing. She let out a small "Crud!" when she saw that he was ¾ of the way done with his second lap.

She immediately responded with a quickened beat of her wings as she pushed herself more and more trying to catch up with him.

Just as Star was about to finish the race, Rainbow shot past him at the last moment to take the win.

Star approached the now very exhausted Rainbow Dash and congratulated her. She shot him an angry look "Thanks for telling me I was going the wrong way! Why didn't you say anything?"

"I tried to tell you, but you were going too fast!" Star exclaimed.

"Oh," she said scratching the back of her head "sorry."

With the race being done the ponies began to disperse, each having something or other that they had to attend to. Star quickly caught up to Twilight as she walked "Hey, would you mind doing something for me?" he asked.

"That depends what it is." she said casually.

"I wanted to know if you would be able to store some magic inside of my amulet, so I don't have to constantly bother you to place the illusions that make me look like Midnight Star and then have you take them off again," He asked.

"Well… that would be much more convenient, but maybe I like when you bother me," she said blushing slightly.

He gave her a blank look "You like it when ponies bother you?"

Twilight sighed "Just give me the amulet for a moment."

Star stared cautiously at his amulet "Can't you just do it while I'm still wearing it?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes "Of course I can't, your body will naturally absorb the magic like that."

He was hesitant to take off his amulet, he had never taken it off before and had no idea what would happen if he did.

Slowly he took the amulet off from around his neck and held it out for Twilight.

As the amulet left his hoofs, his mind began to cloud up and he felt dizzy. Just as he started to fall over Twilight caught him with her magic "Are you alright?" she asked.

After a few moments silence his mind began to clear up and he could stand on his own again "I don't know, but it might happen again soon, so would you please hurry?" he asked urgently.

Nodding in agreement she quickly stored some of her magic within the amulet and gave it back to Star, who quickly put it back on "There you go, that should be enough magic to change you to and from Midnight Star about five times," she explained.

After changing his appearance back to Midnight Star he thanked her and started off on his next priority, buying groceries.

He enjoyed grocery shopping, it was always so peaceful and he almost always found something new to try. Though it wasn't as peaceful as he had hoped, there were two ponies in the middle of one of the aisles arguing about something or other.

Upon further inspection he found the two ponies to be none other than Lyra and Bon Bon. Deciding to find out what was wrong he approached the duo of ponies.

"Lilacs!" Lyra shouted.

"Daisies!" Bon Bon countered just as loudly.

"Lilacs!"

"Daisies!"

"Lilacs!"

"Daises!"

"Excuse me?" Star interrupted "sorry to interrupt your…. disagreement, but what's wrong?"

Simultaneously both ponies turned to stare at him, after a moment a grin grew on Lyra's face "Maybe HE can help us settle this little disagreement," she wondered aloud.

"Well maybe he can!" Bon Bon agreed.

Star wore a look of confusion "Settle what?" he asked.

"You see, Bon Bon here thinks that daisies are better than lilacs, when they clearly AREN'T," Lyra explained shooting her friend a glare "would you kindly inform her that lilacs are clearly better?"

"And Lyra here thinks that lilacs are better, when clearly DAISIES are the superior flower. Would you mind telling her that?" Bon Bon asked.

Looking cautiously from one mare to the other he took his time coming up with an answer that wouldn't get him yelled at from either party.

Taking a deep breath he began to mediate "Before I answer, what does it matter which is better than the other?" he asked.

"Because lilacs are the best!" Lyra answered.

"No daisies are!" Bon Bon countered.

"Lilacs!"

"Daisies!"

"Alright!" Star interrupted again "I may not be the best pony to answer this, but here goes nothing. I believe that regardless of what one of you think is the best flower the other obviously thinks otherwise. So why argue about it? Why not just accept that? It's not as if shouting ever got anypony anywhere."

"But what if a bunch of ponies just wouldn't shut up and you needed to tell them all something?" Lyra countered.

"Not helping," he snapped.

"I guess lilacs aren't THAT bad…" Bon Bon conceded.

"Of course they're not! Unlike those Dais-" Lyra was interrupted by a prod and a look of disapproval from Star "Okay Okay! Daisies aren't that bad either!" Lyra admitted.

Thinking the matter settled, Star turned to finish his shopping, he was stopped by a hoof on his shoulder. Turning he saw that Lyra and Bon Bon were looking at him with looks of approval "Anything else I can help you with?" he asked.

Lyra smiled and patted him on the back "You did good there princey boy, you did better than I thought you would."

He gave them a confused look "What did I do?"

"Lyra wanted to test you and see how well you would handle a situation like this," Bon Bon answered.

"Why?" Star asked.

"Because you seem new to this royalty stuff and I needed to see how well you'll be able to do your job," Lyra explained.

"Did I do any good?" he asked.

"Passed exceptionally, but not perfect," she answered.

"Well I promise to perfect the art of argument settling if you promise not to tell anypony else about who I really am," Star offered her his hoof.

"Sounds good to me," Lyra agreed, shaking his extended hoof.

Satisfied with this they each went their separate ways and Star finished what little shopping he had left.

When he got back to his home and put all of his purchased goods away he looked out at the sun to find that it was time for him to go help Davenport and Filthy Rich with the plans for the new store. After checking to see that he had fully closed his windows, he left his home and made his way to the construction site.

Upon arriving he found the group of 15 or so ponies still working on the base of the building, with Davenport and Filthy Rich off to the side.

When he approached the duo Davenport greeted him with his trademark grunt of acknowledgement while Filthy Rich stared, his mouth slightly agape "Is there something wrong?" Star asked.

"No, I've just never seen a pony with such extensive injuries! May I ask what happened?" Filthy asked.

A million scenarios ran through his head "Crud! I never came up with a reason to be this injured!"

"I was uhhhh…" He froze as his mind raced to come up with an answer "How do injuries like this happen? Uhh… falling off a cliff? No… being attacked!" "attacked! Yeah, I was attacked by uhhhhhhh… " He froze up once again "What's mean and attacks ponies? Ursa Minor? No most of them are mostly harmless… Cockatrice? No I would be a statue by now… Timberwolves!" "a pack of Timberwolves! Yeah, I was attacked by a pack of Timberwolves! Mean creatures those ones," Star explained with a nervous smile.

"Why were you even in the Everfree?" Davenport asked with a sly smile.

"I was… helping Zecora look for some herbs." Star answered shooting him a glare.

"Shouldn't we be discussing the blueprints of the new shop?" Star pointed out, hoping to change subject.

"But of course!" Filthy agreed, producing said blueprints. "Davenport and I were thinking of not only making the store bigger, but selling more types of furniture than just sofas and a more diverse selection of quills," He explained giving Star a list of the stores future wares.

Star quickly read over the list "But I thought that quills and sofas were kind of Davenports' thing, that's what his cutiemark is and that's all he makes," Star pointed out.

"That may be true, but I've always wanted to have an extension to my store that sold furniture, and here I have the chance to do that while helping a good friend at the same time," Filthy explained.

"So let me get this straight, Davenport gets a new store and you get to sponsor another store that sells furniture, which you were going to do anyway but doing it like this also lets you help a friend. Is that correct?" Star asked.

The other two ponies shared a look "That pretty much sums it up," Filthy acknowledged.

"Yep," Davenport agreed.

"So… why do you need me here?" Star asked.

"I just thought that you might like to be included in what's going to be happening to the store, seeing as you're basically the manager at this point," Filthy answered.

"Well if the store is getting bigger and getting more furniture then won't you need to hire more employees?" Star asked.

"Didn't actually think about it," Davenport shrugged "how's about I put you in charge of hiring? I think we only need about three other ponies to help out."

"I'll put an ad in the paper and leave a sign outside the shop as soon as construction is finished," Star assured.

"That's all settled then, all I need is your signature on this document," Filthy said holding out a rather large document.

"Why do you need my signature?" Star asked.

"Legal reasons," Davenport explained.

Satisfied with this answer he signed the document in his best hoofwriting, which is to say that it was still barely legible.

After making idle conversation for a few more minutes they went their separate ways. They decided to meet back at the site in one weeks' time, which was the estimated date that the building would be finished.

It was still too early in the day to retire back to his home for the evening so he decided to aimlessly wander Ponyville.

After walking through town for what felt like a few hours he looked up to find that it was still relatively early in the day, there was still at least five hours left of light.

Looking at this made Star sigh in despair "I need to get a hobby or something, I have WAY too much free time," Star decided.

Instead of dwelling on the matter he decided to do something about it, by looking around town for something he could do in his spare time.

After searching for what felt like an eternity his results came up empty, he found absolutely nothing to do.

Completely out of ideas he decided to just pick up a book from the library and spend the rest of his day reading it

Upon arriving at the library he found a large group of ponies just outside the door, most of which had cameras in their mouths.

Curious as to what happened he quickly pulled one of these ponies to the side "Excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?" Star asked.

"Juicy news story! We have a bunch of sources saying that that new prince keeps comin' to the library for somethin' and we think he might be in a relationship with the librarian!" the newspony explained.

"What makes you think that?" Star asked.

"Usually stallions don't just go somewhere for long amounts of time to spend time with a mare for nothin'," the newspony explained "by the way, names' Snap Shot, but my friends call me Snap,"

Snap was a grey earth pony with a light grey mane and a camera giving off a flash as his cutiemark.

"I'm Midnight Star," Star responded, shaking the stallions hoof "and wouldn't it be possible that he's just, you know, reading?" he asked.

He received a blank look from Snap "Oh, didn't really think about it like that, be right back," he said running back to the group of reporters.

They quickly huddled up and discussed something before Snap ran back over "That seems pretty likely, but ponies don't like a borin' story like that! So we're just gonna keep with the one we have,"

"What if you found a more interesting story?" Star asked.

"Then we'd go report about it," Snap responded with a shrug.

An idea hit him that would get rid of the mob of newsponies. Acting quickly he ran behind a nearby building, got rid of the illusions, and ran back into the open "I'm hungry, I think I'm going to go to Sugarcube Corner!" he announced loudly to get the reporters' attention.

Before they could catch up to him he ran behind the building once more and recast the illusion spells, right when the mob of reporters appeared running right past him.

Pleased with the result he then went back to doing what he was going to originally, get a book to read.

When Star tried to open the door to the library it seemed to be locked "Is anypony home? I wanted to get a book to read!" he asked.

"How do we know you aren't with the reporters?" Spike asked from behind the door.

"Because I just want a book?" Star guessed.

"I'm not falling for that," Spike said as the door was opened by a familiar lavender aura.

"Thanks Twilight," Star said waking into the library.

"Twilight! He could have been in cahoots with the reporters!" Spike exclaimed.

"Why would Star be in cahoots with the reporters? And for that matter since when do you say cahoots?" she asked.

"Sorry, those reporter guys were starting to rub off on me. And why WOULDN'T he be in cahoots with them?" Spike retorted.

Twilight raised an eyebrow "Because their news story was about my alleged relationship with Prince Starlight?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot," Spike said pushing his index fingers together.

"By the way, how did you get them to leave?" Twilight asked.

"I just wasted one of the transformations and had them following a fake trail to Sugarcube Corner," Star explained grabbing a few books at random.

"So, any particular reason you came here?" she asked.

"Just to get some reading material, without an actual job I don't really have anything to do during the day," he explained.

"You don't have a job?" she asked.

"You didn't hear? Razor Claw destroyed Quills and Sofas," he explained.

"That was one of the buildings he destroyed?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it, it's being rebuilt. It should be back up and ready for business in about a week," Star assured.

"That's good, Celestia knows how many sofas this town goes through in a year," Twilight joked.

Thanking her for the books Star started on his way back to his home, where he was going to begin reading this random assortment of books.

When he walked into his home he was surprised to see another mailbag, but this one was a lot larger than the last one "Great, that's exactly what I needed, more stalkerish and creepy mail,"

With a sigh he immersed himself into reading them all, but instead of the type of mail that he found last time, he found letters that were mostly written by children.

These weren't the type of letters that he had expected to read, some were from fillies saying that they wanted to grow up and marry him. While others were from colts saying they wanted to grow up and be just like him "Seriously, what is up with these ponies? Most of them don't even know who I am or anything about me!"

Once again confused as to why he was getting these letters he decided it was about time to hit the hay.

Ch 41: A Very Busy Day

It had been a week since Star had last met up with Davenport and Filthy Rich, and it had proved to be a relatively uneventful week.

Out of the little that happened, he did learn why he had been receiving so many letters from random ponies that knew nothing about him. Not only had everypony begun to exaggerate stories about him, varying from him "defeating" Razor Claw to how and why he was imprisoned by Discord. But they had begun asking the princesses why he was almost never seen in public.

Secondly, he learned that Razor Claw had actually left Equestria, and Yellowscale had taken her rightful place as the leader of her flight.

But as of that morning, after speaking to both Davenport and Filthy Rich, he began his quest to find three new employees for the new and improved "Quills and Sofas" furniture store.

The day before, he spent placing ads around town. But now, he sat patiently in his brand new office and began preparing for the interviews. He checked once more to make sure that he had a notepad and a quill to write down notes. It had only taken about 10 minutes before a few ponies began to show up wanting one of the newly available positions. After talking to the ponies and getting them to line up outside his new office, he called in the first interviewee.

First up was a light brown earth pony with a hardhat on her head and as her cutiemark.

"Nice to meet you Mister Star, I'm Hard Hat," She began, holding out her hoof.

"Likewise Miss Hat," Star greeted shaking the other pony's hoof, "but please just call me Star."

Hard Hat took a seat, "Alright Star, as long as you don't mind calling me Bash."

"Bash?"

She looked away and tried to hide a light blush, "It started as a bit of a joke while I was working construction and it stuck. Besides it's better than the usual nickname of either the first part of my name or the second. Hard sounds inappropriate and Hat just sounds stupid."

Star simply nodded, "Before we get started I have to ask which position you would like."

"Usually I let the stallion choose." she said, bursting into a fit of laughter.

Star waited for her to stop laughing before giving an awkward laugh, "Sorry I should have specified, which position would you like to apply for?"

"Oh, I would like to apply for the position of 'sit around and do nothing while still getting paid', but we both know that isn't an option. So I guess I'll settle for the delivery job."

Star nodded, writing down a few notes, "Now, I'm going to ask you a few basic questions, and I want you to answer them honestly. Firstly, have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Bash hesitated, "Uhhhhh... like what?"

"You know full well what I mean, don't try and dodge the question," Star said sternly.

She scowled and rolled her eyes, "Okay, there was this one time where I got charged for assault and public disturbance, but he had it coming!" Bash slammed her hoof onto the desk, "He always walks around like he's better than everypony else and he thinks he's too good to talk to anypony, only ever says two words! 'Eeyup' or 'Eenope'!"

"You got into a fight with Macintosh Apple?"

"Yeah, you know the guy?"

Star took a deep breath and resisted the urge to tell the mare off, 'Everypony has their own opinions, Big Mac can handle himself,' "Yes, I do know him, but that has nothing to do with this interview. Next, do you have any problem with gender or racial diversity in the work environment?"

"No offense to you sir, but I prefer to work with other earth ponies."

"But would you have a problem with working with a separate race of pony or even another species?"

Bash furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance, "Yes, I would have a problem with that. No offense to you sir, but unicorns and pegasi usually think that they're better than all of us hard working earth ponies."

Star wrote something else down onto his note pad, flipped through it, then looked back to the other pony, "How much weight are you able to pull, seeing as you want to be the delivery pony."

"I can pull about four hundred fifty pounds with a good wagon."

"Last question, where can I find you if I need to contact you?" Star asked.

"You can find me just down East Trot Boulevard, the first building on the right side after you pass Sugarcube Corner from the front."

Star flipped through his notes one last time, "Well I'll be sure to contact you to tell you if you've got the job or not."

Bash smiled gratefully and left. Just as the door closed behind her Star let out a huge sigh of relief, 'She's racist, doesn't seem to like most ponies, makes inappropriate jokes and got into a fight with one of my friends. She has two and I suspect more felonies on her record and can pull just above the average weight for an earth pony. I really hope that the rest of the interviews today turn out better.’

Unfortunately, they did not. In all, Star interviewed 26 different ponies. He interviewed 18 for the delivery pony job, 4 for the accountant and 4 for the salespony.

Out of all 26 ponies, only 9 qualified for the jobs and of the 9 he considered hiring 5 of them, yelling at 3 of them, and calling a therapist for 1 of them.

It was with a relieved sigh that Star locked up the store, officially ending the interviews. As he turned away from the building determined to go home, rest, and think over the ponies he had interviewed, a scroll with the very familiar capital "C" crest on it appeared in front of him. He picked it up, unfurled it, and read it.

Dear Starlight,

I have delayed this as long as I could possibly manage, but the time has come. Through much discussion it has been decided that on occasion in the future you have to help with some of the many royal duties Luna and I must participate in regularly. But before that happens, you must meet with some of my many royal advisors and political representatives. I have sent a chariot to pick you up, it should be there by the time that this letter arrives.

Love,
Princess Celestia
Mom

Sure enough, as he looked up from the scroll he found two royal guards attached to a chariot and giving him a blank look. He approached the ponies, "How did you get here so quickly?"

"It's our job," One of them responded.

Star thought this over for a moment before nodding, changing his appearance back to that of Starlight Sky, and getting into the chariot.

The ride itself was moderately uneventful, aside from a flock of geese running into the side of the chariot.

Sooner than he would have liked, Star arrived at the gate to Canterlot castle. Waiting outside for him was none other than Prince Blueblood.

"Howdy there cousin," Star greeted.

Blueblood immediately scowled at him, but with visible strain managed to turn his expression blank, "Starlight."

Star furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Victor?"

Blueblood cringed, "How dare you call me that!"

"I thought that we were calling each other by our first names...?"

Blueblood turned away from Star and began to walk towards the castle, "No we aren't, and we never will. Don't speak to me, I want this all to be over with as soon as possible,"

Star followed and cocked his head to the side, "Why?"

Blueblood stopped in place and turned to Star, "Because I don't like you," he said flatly.

"Why not?" Star asked stopping beside him.

"You didn't get it the last time we spoke? I marked you as my enemy. Enemies don't like each other."

Star comically began to search his body, "Mark? What does it look like? Is that where this freckle behind my leg came from?"

"It's not a physical mark!" Blueblood snapped.

"Then what kind of mark is it?" Star asked with a slight scowl.

Blueblood let out an exasperated sigh, "It's a social mark. As in I am now going to go out of my way and embarrass and demean you in public."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're annoying, inconsiderate, and unintelligent! Almost more so than all of the ponies in this stupid city combined! You're a disgrace to the royal bloodline and don't deserve all of the respect you get from ponies!"

Star glanced over Blueblood's shoulder and smiled, "Checkmate."

Without giving Blueblood time to respond, he turned and entered the gate leading to the castle.

It took Blueblood a moment to understand what had just transpired. He glanced over his shoulder to find a small crowd of ponies who were listening intently to the entire conversation, including the part where he insulted their city and the inhabitants.

Insulting a few ponies wasn't much of a problem, but ponies tended to over exaggerate and spread rumors. This wouldn't be good for his image, especially after the Gala incident.

Deciding to try and get on his aunt's good side before things turned ugly, he quickly caught up to Star, "I'm going to get you back for that."

Star turned to him and quickly feigned innocence, "Get me back for what?"

"You made me rant in front of a group of ponies who're going to spread rumors!"

"I didn't make you do anything," Star pointed out.

"But you knew what was going to happen the entire time and didn't say anything!" Blueblood exclaimed.

"I didn't know what you were going to say, I thought that you were going to be really nice to me,"

"Nice! I'll-" Blueblood was cut off by an intentionally loud cough.

Both ponies looked to the source of the cough to find Princess Celestia standing in front of the castle door, "Is there a problem?" She asked.

Blueblood looked from Star to Celestia and back again nervously, "No, no problem here! My favorite cousin Star and I were just having a nice, friendly conversation."

She stared at Blueblood blankly for a moment before turning to Star with an amused smirk, "Is that true Star?"

Star draped his foreleg over Blueblood's shoulder, "Of course it is! Why would it be anything but a nice and friendly conversation with my favorite cousin here."

Blueblood gave a forced smile, "Exactly. I was just catching up and learning more about my cousin,"

Celestia smiled brightly, "That's good. Now, There are a few ponies I would like you to meet Star,"

The three ponies entered the castle and turned, walking down one of the castle's many hallways.

Soon, they reached Canterlot's courtyard, located just outside the ballroom. The courtyard was crowded with "Canterlot's finest".

Before he knew what was happening, Star was introduced to what seemed to be an endless stream of ponies, all of whom gave names and ranks that he was sure he would never remember.

After what seemed to be an eternity he was introduced to a pony that seemed genuinely pleased to meet him. He was a white coated unicorn with a blue mane and tail. He wore a black dress shirt with a purple bowtie, a monocle, and he had 3 crowns for a cutiemark.

"A fine pleasure it is to finally meet you, Prince Starlight. I've heard quite the tale about you," He said, shaking Star's hoof.

"I might say the same but you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

The unicorn chuckled slightly, "Ah yes, my apologies. My name is Fancypants, and this lovely mare next to me is Miss Fleur De Lis," he gestured to a white unicorn mare just to his left.

Her coat wasn't as white as Fancypants's and had a slight pink tint. She had a pink mane and tail, and she had three fleur de lis's as her cutiemark.

"So you're this Fancypants I keep hearing about?" Star asked.

"I would hope not to be presumptuous but I am the only Fancypants that I know of. Besides of course my late great grandfather, Sir Reginald Fancypants the third."

After a bit of idle chat, Star looked over and saw two ponies whispering to each other and occasionally glancing at him.

Confused by this, Star decided to find out what was so interesting, "So what have you been told about me? You said that you have heard quite the tale about me and I would like to know what ponies have been saying about my sudden arrival."

Fancypants put a hoof to his chin, "Well for starters, there's a rumor going around that you were the one who really defeated Discord this time around. Then there's that whole incident where you defeated that dragon who had been terrorizing Ponyville, though some ponies say that you were defeated but resurrected yourself after the dragon left. Then there's the most recent rumor of your apparent romance with your mother's protégé. I do have to ask though, how much of that is true, and how much is exaggeration?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I had nothing to do with the defeat of Discord. I didn't even hurt Razor Claw, I broke a leg trying to avoid him. I didn't get defeated I tricked him into thinking that I was dead. And there's nothing romantic going on between Twilight and I, we're just friends. But there's no point in telling that to anypony, because of your political position ponies will just think you're trying to cover something up and begin making even more convoluted assumptions."

"Fair enough. You seem to be getting the handle on the politics of Canterlot," Fancypants commented.

Star rolled his eyes, "I would hope so, if I'm going to be stuck with it, I might as well understand it."

The rest of the evening passed with other ponies showing up and Star being introduced to each. When the sun was starting to sink behind the horizon, everypony began to leave until all that were left was Star, Celestia, and Luna.

"Now that we have a moments peace," Celestia began, turning to Star, "how did you like meeting 'Canterlot's Finest'?"

Star let out a small laugh, "Honestly? I probably couldn't remember most of those ponies names if I tried."

"It takes a lot of practice, even Luna doesn't remember everypony's names all the time anymore."

A small blush grew on Luna's face, "Neither do you!" she exclaimed.

"Oh contraire dear sister, I could name anypony and everypony that I know and or have ever met in my entire life!"

"Prove it."

And she did. Celestia proceeded to name everypony she had ever met in her long life. By the time she finished the moon was nearing the middle of the sky, "And just this morning I met misses Aqua Spring's brand new daughter," She finished with a smug look, only to hear snoring coming from Luna.

"Is that really everypony that you've ever met?" Star asked.

"No it isn't, but don't tell Luna," she said with a wink. She then turned to her unconscious sibling and used her magic to lift Luna into the air, "I think it's about time I get a bit of shuteye, at least before it's time for me to raise the sun. Why don't you get some shut eye too? I'll have one of the guards help you to your room so you don't get lost again."

"I can find it just fine on my own," Star said defiantly.

Before Celestia could disprove him, he quickly made his way back into castle and began searching his way through the halls. Celestia simply shook her head and followed suit.

Star woke the next morning to find that both Celestia and Luna were out on royal business. Without any other reason to stay, Star made his way out of the castle and decided to take the long way back to Ponyville and enjoy a nice, peaceful, and quiet morning walk home.

His walk was nice, quiet and peaceful. For the first four minutes, that's when he tripped over something unseen in the road.

Star slowly got up with a groan, 'What did I trip on?'

He inspected around the area where he tripped and found the sharp corner of an unknown object protruding from the path.

After a few moments of digging, he discovered that it was a book. The title read "The History and Bloodline of Equestrian Royalty.".

Deciding to find out what this book contained, he opened it and began to read as he walked.

It was made from a strange rough material and looked to be as old as Equestria itself..

The book contained information on the entire royal bloodline all the way down to Celestia and Luna.

The most interesting part of the book was the page that contained the Royal Family Tree, listing all of the ponies in the royal bloodline, from the farthest back down to the most recent. At the bottom of the page resided his own picture and name.

Star stopped at a small scripture next to his image and read it over a moment, ‘Who wrote this book, and how did they get all of this information?’

A familiar voice from behind a nearby tree answered the question, “It’s a self expanding book,”

Star turned to face the voice, and his eyes widened in shock. Coming from around the tree was what looked to be a completely mirrored image of himself, save for his mane and eye color which were dark blue and yellow respectively. Star stumbled backwards slightly as he tried to form words.

The other alicorn flashed a toothy grin. "Hello, brother."

Ch 13: Nightmare Night

He read the book all night, or at least what he could read, not all of it was translated. What was translated was a passage explaining a multiple teleportation spell and in extensive detail explaining how many times that his apprentice had messed up.

I have developed a new teleportation spell that will allow you to teleport more than one creature at a time. To do so you must focus your magical aura as if you were to teleport, but instead spread the magic onto another pony, as if you were going to levitate them. Let your magic cover the other pony and then teleport. Your magic should also carry them.

Test 1: I am using my apprentice to try out my spells. In his first attempt he tried to teleport himself and an apple at the same time. He managed to teleport more than just himself; he also transported the leaf on top of the apple. The apple is nowhere to be found.

Test 2: He successfully transported what I can only guess is a chunk of the apple that has been dried up, and spit out of somepony's stomach.

Test 3: He teleported the apple, but we couldn't find it. Again. When he reappeared, a small rabbit transported to the side of him. I theorize that he might have transfigured the apple into a rabbit, but I also think that is nigh impossible.

Test 4: He teleported it successfully but this time what reappeared was the apple and a very confused Princess of the Night I plan on searching for my apprentice once I stop laughing.

Test 5: The test was finally successful, it is easier to use live creatures than fruit, and I learned that the hard way. He transported himself, the rabbit, and a watermelon. He and the rabbit transported perfectly, but the watermelon is currently stuck on my horn

He read this passage over and over again until he was tired enough to sleep "Princess of the Night?" surprisingly that is the question that came to mind, not anything else in the whole passage had jumped out at him as much as that one statement, he would ask Twilight who the Princess of the Night was tomorrow he decided plopping down on his bed and falling asleep.

He woke the next morning once again finding himself in an inexplicably happy mood. He walked from his house to town planning on stopping at Sugarcube Corner to get breakfast. When he walked into town it was done being decorated and it was now filled with all kinds of decorations and dark coloring. When he got to Sugarcube Corner it was decorated just the same as the rest of town.

He walked inside and the inside was just as decorated if not more in preparation of Nightmare night. He walked up to the counter to see Mrs. Cake "Can I get three blueberry muffins?" Star asked her

"Sure" she said walking into the kitchen then coming back out a few seconds later with three blueberry muffins on a plate "that will be 6 bits please"

"Here you go" he pulled out 6 bits and placed them on the counter "thank you" he said then taking the muffins and walking over to a table to sit down. He was enjoying his muffins when suddenly a giant pink chicken jumped out of nowhere, knocked over his plate and started to peck at his last muffin on the floor "Wait, chickens aren't pink" he thought in confusion

Looking back at the chicken he saw that it was actually Pinkie Pie in a chicken costume "What is with the strange costume?" Star asked

"I am dressing up to go around on Nightmare night for free candy!" Pinkie exclaimed "you should come with!"

"Spike tried to convince me to also, but I will tell you what I told him. I dress up every day so that ponies don't think I am a monster, I am not going to stop just for candy" he explained

"You seem like you don't enjoy ponies dressing up as monsters and ghouls and chickens" Pinkie pointed out

"I just don't like the idea of me having to dress up as something else" Star explained "what I actually look like is already monster like I don't want to go around and encourage ponies to think that"

"I doubt you look like a monster silly" Pinkie said "I mean, I don't know what you look like but I doubt it is like a monster"

"Alright, well I am going to go and work on my house, I will probably see you later tonight" Star said walking towards the door

"WAIT!" Pinkie exclaimed "Don't forget to pick up some candy because I am going to be stopping by your house!"

With that in mind Star went back to his house on the edge of the Everfree forest and started to finally work on the walls of his main room. It took him 4 hours but he finally finished the walls on the final room in his house "Now I just have to decorate it" Star thought out loud as somepony knocked at the door.

He answered it to find Derpy "I have a package for you" she said handing him a pouch with a letter attached to it "I will see you later Star, I have a lot of Nightmare night mail to attend to" said before flying off

Star opened the letter to find another note from Davenport

Hey Star I got the money from the delivery and I am pleased that everything went alright. In the bag is 500 bits, 400 from the 10% of the delivery and another 100 from Filthy Rich, he says that if you are ever looking for another job talk to him. Don't worry about selling the sofa to the pony I mentioned in my other letter, she came by when I went there to pick up the money for the order so I just sold one to her, enjoy the rest of the week off

Davenport

Star smiled at the bag "Five hundred bits! I am rich!" then he thought back to the bag full of platinum "Well, richer. Now I get to go and buy stuff to paint the walls and the outside of the house" he smiled at the thought before realizing that he knew nothing about painting or design or what color he wanted or anything like that, but he knew a pony that did.

He made his way to Carousel Boutique through the crowds of ponies out getting candy. When he finally arrived at Carousel Boutique he knocked at the door and he was responded with "Come right in!"

He walked into Carousel Boutique and saw Rarity working on some kind of dress, he couldn't tell it just looked like cloth on a pony mannequin "Hey Rarity, I need your help with something" Star asked

"Oh, hello Star, what is it you need my help with?" she asked while measuring something on the mannequin

"I am going to start painting my house now, but I don't know what colors to do for the outside and inside of the house, I don't even know what my favorite color is" he admitted

"I would love to help you, but I am busy tonight, I have to finish this dress for a customer by tomorrow" she said in disappointment "I really wish I could have spent time with the girls this Nightmare night, but oh well. I will help you tomorrow if that works for you?" she continued adding another piece of cloth to it shaking her head and removing it

"That works for me, and when you left the other day you said you needed to discuss something with me?" he asked

"That is right!" she said stopping her work on her dress "I was elected to talk to you about your past" Rarity explained "We all think that it is admirable that you want to know what happened to you, but do you really want to know? It made you really depressed thinking about it, it makes you distant from all of us, and do you really want to know what caused you to be afraid of yourself so much that you would wear a cloak to hide it?" she questioned

"Yes" he said simply "I think that if I gave up now I would regret it for the rest of my life, I would be filled with questions of what if or what could have been so I am going to see this through and find out what happened to me"

"Alright, just know that we will help you see this through until the end" Rarity said relieved "besides, if you gave up this would drive me crazy! I love mysteries and if I didn't know the answer to this one I would just die!"

"It was nice talking to you Rarity, I guess I will leave you to work on your dress now" he said walking out the door

He thought to the night before and remembered that he hadn't asked Twilight about the "Princess of the Night" so he decided to go to the library

When he got there he knocked on the door and heard "Go away Pinkie! You already got candy!"

Star walked in the door and said "I know I look exactly like Pinkie, especially in a chicken costume, but please stop confusing us"

"Oh, hello Star, sorry Pinkie keeps coming by and asking for more candy” Twilight replied with a sheepish grin

"And that surprises you?" Star asked with a raised eyebrow

"No not really" Twilight answered honestly

Twilight was wearing a large hat with bells and stars on it and a cape with stars on it, but the most distinguishing characteristic of the costume was the beard "Let me guess…. You are a homeless old hobo!" Star asked jokingly

"You know who I am supposed to be!" Twilight said annoyed

"Yes I do, master" Star answered

"haha very funny, you are the only person who could actually say that" Twilight pointed out

"yep, so I was wondering, who is the Princess of the Night?" he asked

"Princess Luna, the one who used to be Nightmare moon, and the reason we celebrate today, why?" she questioned

"Because I was able to translate one of the passages in the book, it was about me and my master trying to perfect multiple teleportation, trying to teleport one or more creatures or items at a time" he explained

"That would be amazing!" Twilight exclaimed "did it explain how to do it?" she asked curiously

"Yes, but during the tests it mentions the Princess of the Night and that is why I wanted to know. I will bring the book by sometime tomorrow and I will show you" Star said

"Twilight, are you ready to head into town and catch Zecora’s Nightmare moon story?" Spike asked walking down the stairs

Star noted that Spike was dressed as a dragon, regardless of the fact that he actually WAS a dragon "Sure, Star why don't you come with? It might be fun" she tempted

"I am not going to dress up for some holiday, I dress up every day to NOT look like a monster" Star said repeating his earlier statement "so, no thank you"

"You don't have to dress up" Twilight pointed out "you could just come along, ponies would think that you were dressed up as something, maybe even Nightmare Moon"

"That would explain why ponies kept looking at me smiling and waving yesterday….." Star thought back to the day before

"Exactly! They thought that you were dressing up as Nightmare Moon!" Twilight said "so why don't you just come with instead of being some shut-in who stays at home every day" she said mockingly

"I am almost never home besides when I work on it and sleep" Star said defiantly before sighing "alright I will come with"

"Alright, let's go!" Spike said running to the door "If we get there soon, there will still be some candy left!"

"Get where?" Star asked

"Town square! There is usually a pony or two that leave a basket of candy in front of their doors because they aren't home" Spike explained "If we don't hurry all of it will be gone!" he said once again standing at the door jumping up and down impatiently

"Alright, let's get going then" Twilight said following Spike

They soon arrived in town square and saw a very creepy looking Mayor Mare wearing a rainbow afro and a red nose, and Big Macintosh wearing a top hat and a cape with an apple that looked like a skull, he was pulling a cart filled with hay giving ponies rides around the square. The whole square was filled with all kinds of stalls selling all kinds of sweets and treats.

As soon as they passed by a house Spike ran off to find candy "Wow, he stayed with us for 4 minutes, which is better than when we lived in Canterlot" Twilight said laughing

"That is because I am so awesome he had trouble leaving" Star joked

"I think that you have spent too much time with Rainbow Dash" Twilight commented

They were approached by a giant pink chicken that looked very familiar and three young fillies and a colt following her "Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul!" she exclaimed showing Twilight her bag full of candy

While this was happening he saw a rainbow maned pony wearing a black outfit with yellow lightning bolts on it approaching from above on a dark cloud. The pony flew above Pinkie with the cloud and hit the cloud causing lightning. The lightning caused Pinkie to jump into the air in surprise and shoot away at the speed of pinkie and the other small ponies following in her wake.

"Rainbow, that wasn't very nice" Twilight said scolding Rainbow who was laughing hysterically

"Oh come on Twilight that was hilarious!" Rainbow said

"It was pretty funny" Star agreed

"Alright, just be careful who you do that to" Twilight warned to the pegasus as she flew away to find her next victim

They walked a little while more before they came upon an apple bobbing game that was being run by Applejack who was dressed as a scarecrow "Hey there Twilight, Star" she greeted "Nice costume Twilight"

"Thank you Applejack, your scarecrow costume is nice also" Twilight complimented

"So, are ya supposed to be a country music singer?" Applejack asked

"No, I am Starswirl the bearded" Twilight said in an offended tone

"Sorry" Applejack added with a sheepish grin "why don't ya try some apple bobbin?" she asked them both

"That sounds fun. But the water will either make the hood stick to my head or pull it off and I don't want that happening. But Twilight would be more than glad to ruin her beard and hat" Star joked and pushed her towards the container of water, luckily for her Mayer Mare chose that time to interrupt by speaking to everypony present.

"Welcome everypony, I hope you are all having fun!" she exclaimed into a microphone "I would like to suggest that all the young ponies out there that have been collecting candy to follow Zecora and hear the story of Nightmare Moon!"

Everypony cheered "I want to hear this story, do you want to come with Star?" Twilight asked

"No thank you, I think I am going to go and try out some of the snacks at the stands. Tell me how it was when you get back!" Star said walking away

He wandered aimlessly until he came upon a stand selling cupcakes decorated with frosting to make it look like a spider. He saw that Mrs. Cake was selling these sweets "I would like to purchase some of these spider cupcakes" Star asked taking out his pouch full of bits

"Oh put that away! Everything is free tonight, it is a celebration after all!" Mrs. Cake said giving him a bag with 2 of the cupcakes in it "Thank you Mrs. Cake!" Star said happily walking away

He found a place to relax and enjoyed his cupcakes until suddenly Pinkie and a bunch of other ponies ran into the square screaming "RUN IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON!"

Star looked up to see a midnight black carriage being pulled by some scary looking ponies "Whoever that is, they have a good costume" Star commented to no one in particular as he was the only pony still standing.

The pony jumped down from her carriage and he got a closer look of her appearance. Firstly he assumed that it was a she because it was Nightmare moon, which was a mare, she was wearing a cloak similar Stars except hers wasn't as long and you could see her legs as she walked towards the other ponies. She took off her hood and he saw that she was Princess Luna, the pony who was originally Nightmare moon. She looked around and began to talk "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE SO THAT YOU MIGHT BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" she yelled with a voice that almost carried a few ponies away "A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARES NO LONGER, BUT INSTEAD A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION, TOGETHER WE SHALL CHANGE THIS DREADFUL CELEBRATION INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!" she yelled and lightning flashed in the background.

"Did you hear that everypony? Nightmare moon says she's gonna fest on us all!" Pinkie said in terror as she and her group of ponies ran and screamed in terror.

"What? No children no, you no longer have reason to fear us, screams of delight are what your princess desires, not screams of terror" she said in a lighter tone while stomping her hoof on the ground "Madam mayor, thy princess of the night hast arrived" she said pointing her hoof at Mayor Mare who shook in fear "What is the matter with you?" she said pointing her hoof at another pony who also shook in fear, then another and another "Very well then, be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell" she huffed and walked away

Star approached Twilight as she got up "I am going to go and talk to her" Twilight decided

"You can't Twilight! Star talk some sense into her!" Spike pleaded

"Why not Spike? She is probably just having trouble adjusting to her new life, remember she has been gone for a thousand years" Star said sensibly

"I think so too, come on Star, let's go talk to her" she said walking towards the direction that the princess had gone

"I will Twilight, but don't be offended when I don't approach her, I don't want her talking and blowing the hood off of my head" Star said honestly

"I understand" Twilight answered

They found Luna lying in front of a large statue of Nightmare Moon "Princess Luna? Hi my name is-"

"Starswirl the bearded" Luna interrupted "Commendable costume, thou even got the bells right"

"Thank you finally! Somepony besides Star who gets my costume!" Twilight exclaimed

Luna just stared at her sadly "I just came to ask what you thought of the celebration, my name actual name is-"

"Twilight Sparkle" Luna interrupted again "IT WAS THOU WHO USED THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY TO CLEANSE ME OF NIGHTMARE MOON AND MY DARK POWERS!" she said again in a shout

"Isn't that a good thing?" Twilight asked nervously

"But of course, we could not be happier, is that not clear?" Luna asked in a not happy sounding tone

"Well, you kind of sound like you are yelling at me" Twilight said

"That is the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice, it is tradition to speak in this tone" she answered

"That might be why the ponies didn't exactly welcome you with open hooves" Twilight pointed out "Maybe you should change your approach"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" Luna asked

"Lower the volume" Twilight answered

"Sorry, I am not used to talking with my actual voice very much" Luna said looking at the ground bashfully

"It is okay, we will just have to work on it. I might know somepony who will be able to help" Twilight said walking away "Star, you can come out now, I don't think she will blow the hood off of your head. Keep her company while I go get Fluttershy"

"If you say so" Star said walking into the clearing with Twilight and Luna

"Who is this pony? I have not met him before but his voice seems familiar" Luna narrowed her eyes in concentration

"I am Midnight Star" he said introducing himself "I do believe that we have not had the pleasure of meeting before Princess Luna"

"Why do you wear that cloak? What do you have to hide?" Luna asked suspiciously

"I would prefer not to say, but if you want I will tell you" Star answered

"I would like to know" Luna said simply

"I am horribly disfigured under this cloak and would rather ponies not think of me as a monster everywhere I go" Star answered honestly

"What happened to “horribly disfigure” you?" Luna asked her curiosity growing

"I actually do not know, that is why I am in town. I am trying to find out who I am and what happened to me, Twilight and her friends are trying to help me" Star explained

"That sounds like a terrible plight, if there is anything we can do, please let us know" Luna said apologetically

"Thank you princess, I appreciate it" Star said gratefully

"We are still curious, it seems as though we have crossed paths before…" Luna wondered but was interrupted

Just then Twilight came into the clearing with her horn shining "Twilight? Why are you carrying me here, I could have walked with you…." A very shy voice said floating behind Twilight "Nightmare moon!" Fluttershy squeaked trying to get out of the magical grip

"No Fluttershy, this is Princess Luna" Twilight said patiently "I was wondering if you could help her with her speaking problem"

"What speaking problem? She hasn't used the Royal Canterlot Voice the entire time we were talking" Star pointed out

"That is because we were trying out hardest not to blow down your hood, we know that you would not appreciate it" Luna pointed out her voice starting to get louder

Star backed away to the trees again and Luna looked horrified "It is fine, I just want you to be able to speak normally and get used to speaking with out the Royal Canterlot Voice without feeling obligated to" Star said

"WILL YOU HELP US WITH OUR VOLUME PROBLEM?" Luna asked Fluttershy who shrank back in the magic bubble she was in

"a…t" she mumbled

"WHAT WAS THAT?" Luna asked

"al….t" she said her voice starting to quake in fear

"WE DID NOT UNDERSTAND, WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Luna said impatiently

"alright" her voice was barely more than a whisper

"ONE MORE TIME, WE STILL DIDN'T HEAR YOU!" Luna asked again

"alright" Fluttershy said just barely audibly

"THANK YOU, WE ARE OVERJOYED BY YOUR ANSWER" Luna said smiling

"First, try lowering your volume, just a little, if you don't mind" Fluttershy said still with an afraid tone

"HOW Is this?" Luna asked

"Just a little quieter" Fluttershy said

"and this?" she asked again

"Perfect, now try to put a little less air in your voice when you speak" Fluttershy asked

"How is this" she asked normal volume compared to other ponies

"That is perfect, now if you would let me go Twilight, I really need to get home" Fluttershy said nervously

Twilight rolled her eyes "Fine" she said letting go of Fluttershy

"We would like to thank you Fluttershy, your help is appreciated" Luna said gratefully

"No problem, goodbye everyone" she said shooting out of the clearing and back into the direction of her home

"Did I do something wrong?" Luna asked in concern

"No, that is just Fluttershy, she is very shy around new ponies" Twilight explained

"Now, we go and try out our new voice on the ponies" Luna said walking towards town

When they arrived in town everypony once again ducked in fear and once again Pinkie and her group of ponies ran screaming something or other about Nightmare Moon "What did we do wrong?" Luna asked concerned

"Nothing, they just still fear you and see you as Nightmare Moon, we will fix that" Twilight said looking over to the apple bobbing stand to see Applejack also cowering in fear "Applejack!" she said in surprise "you are the last pony I would expect to act like this!" Twilight said in surprise

"Sorry Twilight, she scared me is all" Applejack admitted

"I need your help to warm everypony up to Princess Luna so that she doesn't feel like everypony is afraid of her" Twilight explained

"Alright" Applejack agreed

They approached Luna "If ya want ponies to warm up to ya, ya need to get more comfortable, try relaxin, playin some of the games, eat some snacks, just have fun" Applejack explained

"Fun? What is this Fun?" Luna asked

"Fun is, well it is, um…." Applejack said completely speechless as to how to explain it "how's bout I show ya instead?" Applejack said walking over to the spider toss "come try this" she gestured towards Luna

"And how do we "try" this?" Luna asked

"Ya have ta throw this spider like so" Applejack said grabbing a spider and tossing it at the webs "and try ta land it on one of the webs"

"Like this?" Luna asked walking over and grabbing a spider. Applejack, Twilight and Star all nodded their heads in encouragement and Luna tried to get the spider on the web and succeeding "we feel strange, not bad strange, but a good strange" she stated

"That is fun, go ahead, try again" Star said encouragingly

She took another spider and threw it onto the web again "We forgot this "fun" and how much we enjoyed it!" Luna exclaimed

Everypony decided that it was safe and started to warm up to the princess when she was approached by Pinkie who exclaimed "She is just trying to gain our trust so she can eat us!"

She started to run away again until she was stopped by Twilight "What is wrong with you Pinkie? This is Princess Luna not Nightmare moon! Stop saying stuff like that you are upsetting her!"

"I know that she is Princess Luna Twilight! We are just running from her and being scared because it is fun!" Pinkie explained

Twilights eyes widened in realization "Oh! You were just doing that to be scared for the fun of it!"

"Yep" Pinkie said after being let go, she proceeded to dash of in the same manner that she had been doing all night.

Twilight walked towards a very sad looking Princess Luna "I found out why those ponies were running scared from you. It was because they were enjoying being scared by you" she explained

"Enjoying being scared" Luna asked with a tilt of her head

"Yeah!" a small pony dressed as a pirate interrupted "This was the best Nightmare Night ever! Will you be doing it again next year?" he asked Luna

"You enjoyed being scared by me?" she asked

"Yes! That is the whole point of Nightmare night, being scared and eating candy!" he said happily

"Well then, we will just have to do it again next year won't we?" she asked

"Yes!" he said excitedly "You are my favorite princess, Princess Luna!" he said happily walking back to his group of friends

"Favorite?" Luna repeated as if tasting how the word felt on her tongue "we enjoy being favorite!" she said happily "Now, let us have all kinds of fun!"

"Yay!" all the ponies in the square agreed

They all spent the next few hours enjoying the wackiness and silliness that a celebration in Ponyville brought. The only thing Star didn't like about the celebration was while he was talking he could see Princess Luna squinting at him as if trying to recognize something

As the night drew to an end all that was left was Luna, Star and their six friends. They all enjoyed some conversation before the moon was starting to set and they all decided to call it a night. Luna went back to her guards and her cart "We enjoyed this celebration very much, we hope to see you all another time"

As she left Star was approached by Twilight "Princess Luna asked me to give you this letter, I think that you left a good impression on her"

Star took the letter and put it in his saddlebag "I will read this letter later, I am going to go home and get some sleep"

Star went home, set his saddlebag on the ground by his bed, plopped down on his bed and fell asleep.

Ch 29: Celebration

As he approached Celestia the crowd parted to clear the way, as he walked he heard murmurs and whispers which he assumed were directed towards him. When he arrived in the front of the crowd with Celestia he turned towards all of the ponies. After a few moments of him just looking out into the crowd of ponies he took off his cloak and revealed himself, which caused a lot of the ponies in the crowd to gasp loudly before whispers were heard around the room again.

"Nice to meet you all, though most of you already knew about me, even if you don't know it" he started

This grabbed everypony's attention, they all stared at him in silence prompting him to continue "Most of you ponies know me as "The Phantom of Canterlot" and-" he explained, but was interrupted by lots of laughing in the crowd

Once the laughing died down he started to speak again "But now you can all know me as the new prince of Canterlot, or just as the son of Celestia, or you can just call me S-Starlight Sky seeing as that is my birth name" "It feels unnatural saying that name" he thought while saying it hesitantly, before he paused for too long, he continued with his point "Now I know a lot of you probably have questions, and I think they should be answered, so in an orderly fashion, feel free to ask me"

After a few moments a few ponies started to wave their hooves in the air and shout things like "ooooh me, me, pick me!" or "I have a question!" he finally decided to answer the question of none other than Pony Joe "What was your question?" Star asked

"I am going to ask the most obvious question that we are all thinking, who is the pony that managed to capture the heart of our fair princess?" he asked

"Actually, it is a pony you all know, he is known by all of you as Starswirl the bearded" Star explained, this was followed by a large collective gasp from the crowd

At random he picked a pony from the crowd, he picked a mare that had orange hair and a blue coat "Do you have a marefriend?" she asked

"Ummmmmmm….. no?" he answered

"Do you want one?" she said hopefully

"I'm not really looking for a relationship, sorry" he explained

He then scanned the crowd again and pointed at a unicorn with a blue mane, a white coat, and a monocle "Where have you been all this time?" he asked

"I have been imprisoned by Discord" Star said simply

This once again caused a very audible collective gasp from the crowd "Are all of my answers really that shocking?" he said to himself before speaking to the crowd again "Well that's all you need to know about me, now everypony enjoy the party!"

Regardless of what the other ponies attending the party decided to do next, he decided to enjoy himself, which he did. Though some ponies did have a few more questions for him that they asked him personally, though most of them weren't questions, on more than one occasion he was bluntly asked to do activities that he had no knowledge of, usually involving a riding crop or a bed.

He usually just found an excuse or avoided these ponies but the most of his time was spent with his friends, though whenever he returned from one of these conversations he would get strange looks from a few of his friends, though he didn't know what the looks were for they immediately changed into smiles as they continued to enjoy the celebration.

A few hours after the moon had been raised ponies started to leave, so Star decided to follow suite and leave also. Eventually he arrived at the castle where he found his way to his room and lay down in his bed thinking over the events of the day.

As he did his eyes drifted over to the piece cake that the mysterious pony had given him, he didn't trust the cake for two reasons, firstly, the voice seemed vaguely familiar but he was sure he had never met the pony before, and secondly, the room he reentered afterwards immediately disappeared, he wasn't sure why he still had the cake, but he just had a feeling that he should keep it.

After a few minutes of him being alone with his thoughts he heard a knock at the door "The door is open" he said

The door was opened to reveal Twilight "Hey" he greeted

"Hey" she greeted back avoiding eye contact

"So, what's up?" he asked

She then gave him a strange look "What? I am starting to pick up on this generations lingo" he said defensively

This made Twilight let out a small chuckle "Anyway, we all got to talking after the celebration and why don't we all continue the celebration in one of our rooms? But this time, just us friends, not a large crowd of ponies that will hit on you or ask you awkward questions" she offered

"Sounds good to me" he agreed with a shrug

"Great, come on, we are going to be doing this in Pinkie's room, hers is the closest to everypony else's rooms" she explained

Star got up from his bed and followed Twilight to their destination. When they arrived in the room it was full of streamers and balloons and treats and all kinds of party things. After looking around the room Star froze in place "There is something missing here" he said in a worried tone

"What?" Twilight asked

"I don't see Pinkie anywhere in the room, I am scared to move anymore in fear of being on the wrong end of a prank" he said through clenched teeth

"That's redic-"she started before she was hit with a pie to the face

Looking over to the table that had all of the snacks on it they saw two snickering ponies, a pink one and a blue one "Hardy har har" Twilight responded with a roll of her eyes, before they widened with a mischievous look.

Before they could react they both also received a face full of pie. After they both recovered from this all three of the mares turned to Star and he was hit with three pies to the face at the same time.

They each took up positions across the room and war started. They were each hit a good amount of times before they heard somepony from inside the room shout "What is wrong with you all?"

Turning they saw Rarity wide eyed in front of the door "I mean really! What is wrong with you all?" this caused them each in turn to look down in shame "You are all acting foalish and-"she was interrupted as she was pelted with pies by each party

They watched for a reaction, Rarity simply stood still with her mouth agape and her eyes widening, there was a high pitched noise coming from her mouth that sounded like pure shock. Just as they thought that they were going to be on the bad side of one of Rarity's famous temper tantrums, her horn started to glow light blue as she returned fire.

The fight went on down to the last pie, afterwards each of the ponies that participated were covered with remains of pie, it was banana cream pie, the perfect throwing pie. They all laughed and looked around at the result of their fight, the walls were covered with whipped cream and pie filling. They turned when they heard a pony laughing.

Standing to the sidelines were Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy, Applejack was the one laughing "That was the funnies food fight ah've ever seen!" she exclaimed

"That's because you have never seen me in a food fight before" Star joked

They all shared a laugh for a few moments until suddenly Pinkie started dashing around the room in a blur, each of the ponies and the dragon tried to keep their eyes on her but with no success. As she stopped all the remnants of pie on the walls and ceiling were gone, and in the center of the room on her back sat a very comically bloated Pinkie Pie "I think I ate too much of that pie" she said in a strained voice

Suddenly her eyes widened and she started to burp, the force of the burp sent her flying around the room like a deflating balloon and as soon as she landed she had her regular figure back "Wait, how does that work?" Star asked

"Pinkie Pie" Applejack responded simply

"Oh, right" he said in realization

They all once again shared a laugh "So, why all of this?" he asked

He received confused glances from them opting him to explain "You know" he started to wave his hoof around the room "Didn't you all get enough partying during the celebration?"

"You can never get enough partying!" Pinkie said defiantly

Star looked at her and shook his head "That is understandable from you, but what about you girls?" he said turning back to the other mares

"We thought it might be fun to actually have all of us spend some time together without other ponies interrupting every few minutes" Pinkie explained "Just like how-" she started

"PINKIE!" the other ponies said in chorus before tackling the pink mare and covering her mouth

"Ummmmmm… okay?" he said with a raised eyebrow

"What? She was just saying how you girls didn't like the kind of attention he was getting from those ponies and that you thought that they were all-" Spike started before he was interrupted by a zipper surrounded with a purple aura appearing at his mouth and zipping closed

Star stared at them with his head tilted in curiosity "What is the big deal? So you didn't like the kind of attention that I have been getting from those ponies, if it doesn't bother me, why should it bother all of you?" he asked

"I- wait, it doesn't bother you?" Twilight asked

"No, why would it?" he countered

"It's just that, if I were in your position, having mares left and right outright declaring their love to me just because I was a young, handsome prince, who was modest, and a gentlecolt, and kind, selfless and…" Rarity said getting sidetracked, she shook her head "Wait what was my point again?"

Twilight sighed "I think what she was trying to say is that we thought you might have been bothered by all of the attention because firstly, you yourself said that you aren't very social, and secondly, it must have been very awkward for so many mares suggesting untoward things" she explained

"I honestly didn't even understand what they were asking, and none of them declared their love to me, just asked me to participate in strange activities that I understood nothing about" he said with a shrug

"Just how sheltered were you?" Rainbow said with wide eyes

"I don't think I was sheltered, more of the only ponies I ever interacted with were my mom, my two aunts, my dad, and my cousin, even then it was almost only my dad and my cousin" he said

"That does explain a lot" Rarity agreed

"Wait, was what they were asking bad?" Star asked with wide eyes

"Well you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other veeeerrry much-" Pinkie started to say before she was also given a zipper on her mouth

"I think that this matter would be best explained by his mother" Twilight interrupted with a heavy blush on her face

"That still doesn't explain, was it something bad?" he asked in a worried tone

"That depends on your definition of bad" Rainbow said emphasizing bad

This just made him more confused "What?" he said curiously

"Rainbow! That is inappropriate!" Rarity said in surprise

"GAH! Just yes or no!" Star said in frustration

"Can we just talk about something else please!" Fluttershy squeaked

"Ah think that would be the best" Applejack agreed

"Let's partay!" Pinkie loudly declared

"But wait how did….?" Twilight said with wide eyes

"Just Pinkie being Pinkie" Rarity said plainly

As they each in turn looked away from Pinkie none of them saw Star and Pinkie laugh silently and share a hoof bump. While they weren't paying attention Star had taken the zipper off of Pinkie's mouth.

Suddenly Pinkie ran over to the other side of the room and turned on some music. After they danced for a time Pinkie then loudly declared "Game time!"

They then proceeded to play pin the tail on the pony, some twister, then the girls gave each makeovers while Star, Spike, Rainbow and Applejack made idle conversation "Well, I think that I am going to get going, enjoy the rest of your party girls and Spike" Star said walking towards the door

"Wait!" Pinkie said stopping him "We didn't play truth or dare yet!"

"Is it required?" he asked

"Yes! Whenever we have a just friends party, to make up for the lack of ponies it is required to play truth or dare!" she said defiantly

"And if I don't participate?" he asked

"Then I will have no choice but to use my super amazing persuasive powers to convince you, and I have to warn you, they have only ever been used once before!" she declared

"When?" he asked

"When I was trying to get you to make me more sweet and sour pie" she answered

"That wasn't very persuasive and it didn't work, but I will participate if you say the secret word" he replied with a smile

"Is it a word I know?" she asked

"Yes it is, I just said it" he replied

She put a hoof to her chin and thought "Am I allowed to ask for help?" she asked

"Sure" he agreed with a shrug

They all put their heads together and occasionally gestured towards Star before they turned to him "When did you say the secret word?" Twilight asked

"Some time after I was born and before I died" he said with a snicker

"You died!" Pinkie said incredulously

"No, it was a joke" Rainbow explained

"Did you say the word today?" Twilight asked

"Yes" he answered flatly

"When today?" she asked

"While we have been here, and that is your third hint and last hint, now enjoy thinking" he said with a smile

"Why do we have to guess a secret word anyway?" Rainbow complained

"Because I am bored and this amuses me" Star shrugged

They started to list just about any amount of words they could think of until they started to give up "Is it even really worth this just to play a stupid game?" Rainbow asked

"It isn't about the game anymore, I can't let this beat me!" Twilight said defiantly

"Alright, you know what? I will help you, this will give it away" he paused for dramatic effect "That wasn't very persuasive and it didn't work, but I will participate if you say the secret word"

They all looked at him curiously for a moment before Twilight's eyes widened in surprise "The secret word!" she said triumphantly

Star started to clap slowly "Good job, it took you long enough" he said

"Can we just play truth or dare now I am bored!" Pinkie asked

"If that's what you girls want to do, I got to do what I thought would be entertaining" he said happily

"Great! I will start!" Pinkie exclaimed "Okay Star, truth or dare?"

"Hmmmmmmm….. truth, because I have nothing to hide and if I say dare you will make me do something strange or demeaning as revenge" he answered

Pinkie looked disappointed for a moment but quickly rebounded "How do you make sweet and sour pie?"

"You put some ingredients together and eat them" he said with a smile

"STOP BEING SO LITERAL!" she exclaimed

"I didn't say dare I said truth" he said with a laugh "But I am going to stop because I can tell that I am starting to annoy you all"

They each nodded in agreement "Okay, hmmmmmmmmmmm who to choose" he said turning his head to look at each of his friends

He eventually stopped his gaze on Rainbow "Truth or dare?" he asked

"Dare" she said without missing a beat

"I dare you…. to let Rarity give you a full makeover" Star finally decided

She only replied with a grumble before Rarity happily started to apply makeup to her face. She then turned to Rarity "Truth or dare?" she asked

"Truth" Rarity decided

"Do you think of Star like you did Blueblood before you found out how he actually acted?" Rainbow asked with a sly smile

Rarity started to blush heavily "I admit, just a little bit" she answered

"What did she think of Blueblood before she found out how he actually asks?" Star asked

"Star, truth or dare?" Rarity said changing the subject

"Truth I guess" he answered

"Oh, you're no fun" Pinkie complained

"You have had time to think of this since the last time we played truth or dare, Star, who do you have a crush on?" Rarity asked

"Nopony, same as last time" he said simply

"Really? Nopony at all?" she said incredulously

"I don't really think about any of that, at least, I haven't really had the time or interest to" he responded

"Oh, alright" she said in what sounded like disappointment before returning to giving Rainbow a makeover

He turned to Pinkie "Truth or dare?" he asked

"Dare!" she said excitedly

"I dare you to… pull a prank on Luna" he said mischievously

She gasped "Isn't that against the law or something?" she asked

"There isn't a rule against pulling pranks on the princesses" Twilight answered

"Alright now what am I going to do for a prank… I know I-" Pinkie started but was interrupted by a very loud and agonizing scream, it sounded as if somepony was being tortured, looking over they all saw Star, on the ground rocking back and forth and screaming at the top of his lungs then suddenly Celestia burst through the door and hit him with a spell that immediately put him unconscious.

Ch 1: Out of the Darkness

‘Where am I?’

That is one of the only two questions that plagued the currently motionless pony’s mind at the moment, all he could see, everywhere, was darkness.

‘Wait,’he thought slowly.‘Are my eyes even open?’

Trying to test this theory brought to attention the other question. The second, being why he couldn't move his body. After some trial and error he resorted to trying to move anything. He did succeed in moving his mouth, but moving his jaw shot a wave of pain through his skull.

Next he directed his attention to trying to move his eyes, which also refused to respond. Instead of wasting the small amount of energy that he still had, he decided to lie still and assess the situation.

‘Okay, let’s see here, one, I have no idea where I am. Two, I’m completely paralyzed, save my mouth. Now where does that leave me?’ he mused. ‘That was kind of a pointless question, I haven’t been able to do anything, so that means I’m still stuck at square one,’ he attempted to chuckle at this, which only resulted in his breath coming out sounding choppy.

Before he could muse this any longer a jolt of pain coming from his legs caused his eyes to shoot open.‘I guess that means I’m not completely paralyzed,’ he acknowledged.

After quickly reassessing the situation he decided to look around. Looking directly forward towards the sky he saw the moon shining brilliantly, with millions of stars floating around it. ‘Well, I can tell that there are a lot of stars around the moon, that must be a good sign.’

He then decided to look around to the extent that he could without turning his head. From what he could gather he was in a small clearing of some forest.

Looking to his left he saw a large cluster of trees that looked eerie in the current light. They looked twisted, withered and he thought he saw one with a face.Blinking quickly he looked back to where he thought he saw the face, but it was gone. Looking to his right he saw.'What a surprise, more trees!'

With nothing else to look at he decided to look where the source of his earlier pain had come from. Standing at the edge of his hooves was a figure in a hooded cloak which, after he finally acknowledged its presence, decided to speak up. "Sorry for your hooves that I did shake, but I had to check if you would wake," itstated quickly.

After hearing its voice, he realized that it was a "she," not an "it”.Attempting to open his mouth he had failed to remember that it was in such a fragile state, earning him another jolt of pain.

Seeing this, the hooded female approached him. "Please do not try and move, or your consciousness you will lose," she advised. "If your injuries I do not tend, your bones and cuts will not mend.”

He briefly pondered what she was talking about when he was swiftly lifted onto her back. The sudden jerk of movement brought on a wave of pain that immediately knocked him unconscious.

Ch 3: Explanations

As Zecora trotted towards Ponyville she couldn't help but feel as if something was wrong. Usually along her trip to ponyville she would see many a creature along the way, but for some reason there wasn’t a creature to be found. ‘The animals are gone, this is strange. Perhaps they scattered when one caught the mange?’ She wondered. ‘Perhaps I shall ask dear Fluttershy where the animals have gone and why,’

After a moment she let out a drawn out sigh. ‘Great, now even my thoughts are rhyming as of late.’

As the town of ponyville came into view something seemed off about the usually bustling town. As she got close enough to make out the streets and buildings she finally noticed that the town seemed to be deserted, just to add to the effect a tumbleweed slowly blew across the path as she entered town.

On any normal day she might've thought that the ponies were just avoiding her again, but today was different. Besides the pony now residing in her hut she had seen no sign of life all day. "It seems the town ponies are gone too, I wonder what fate has thrown into this brew?" she remarked idly before picking up her pace and heading for the library, hoping that Twilight Sparkle could shed some light on the situation.

She quickly found the building she was looking for and knocked on the door. It was quickly answered by a very paranoid sounding voice. "Who’s there! I have a broom and I'm not afr-" was all she could make out before she heard a series of loud thumps that was followed by one loud crash followed by many smaller crashes. Curiously Zecora knocked on the door again but this time, her knock was answered by a much calmer, lighter tone than from before. "Please come in and watch your step."

When she walked into the library the scene before her made her extremely curious. Directly in front of her she saw the broom she was threatened with was broken in half and just to the right of it was Spike, his head sticking out of a pile of fallen books.

Spike was a small bipedal creature standing at Zecora’s back in height, he was purple all over except for his head and his chest, he had green scales pointed up from his head to his tail that looked like spines, while his chest was a yellowish white.

Now standing at the end of the stairs was Twilight Sparkle a lavender colored unicorn with a cutiemark that resembled a pink directional star surrounded by sparkles and a dark blue mane that had a pink and purple streak in it. "Please explain the scene as I walk in the door, I see books scattered and a dragon on the floor!" Zecoracommented with an amused tone.

"I sent Spike down to answer the door, and when he began walking down the stairs he tripped over the broom, breaking it and sending him toppling into that book case,” Twilight explained gesturing to the fallen bookcase.
Zecora looked over at the dragon, who was now dusting himself off, then back to Twilight, before she fell to the floor in laughter shortly followed by Twilight and Spike. After the laughter died down Zecora decided to ask. "Enough delay to my business, where are all of the other ponies in all of this mess?"

"Well, Applejack is back at her farm, Pinkie pie is at Sugar cube corner, Rainbow dash is probably napping somewhere, Rarity is at Carousel Boutique, and Fluttershy is at her cottage taking care of animals."

"About your five friends is not what I meant, I wanted to know where all the other ponies have went," Zecora asked gesturing broadly out the door towards the rest of ponyville.

"Oh, right, it happened only yesterday, so of course you wouldn’t have heard," Twilight hesitated before continuing. "Yesterday an ancient evil was brought upon all of Equestria, this evil was known as Discord. He used to be a statue in the Canterlot gardens, but for some reason he escaped his prison. After being put in a very difficult trial, my friends and I trapped him back in his stony prison using the elements of harmony," Twilight explained. "As for the whole town being empty, everypony is being paranoid and thinks that bits of Discords magic is still in the town, so everypony is reluctant to leave their homes."

"Of this ancient evil I did not know, he sounds as though he was a dangerous foe," Zecora said more to herself than to Twilight.

After a brief pause, the silence was broken. "Why are you here anyway?” Twilight asked. “Not that I don't enjoy your company!" She added quickly. "It’s just that, you had enough food to last you another few days, what happened to it?"

"At midnight last night an injured pony I did find, but let his troubles be the last of thoughts in your mind."

Twilights eyes widened suddenly "You found an injured pony last night? I have to talk to him immediately!" she almost shouted at Zecora

Zecora looked taken aback at this comment. "Why do you worry about this pony, when the one taking care of him is me?"

"I’m sorry Zecora, but if there is any chance that him arriving is related to Discord, then I have to check on him," Twilight explained resolutely.

"The extent of his injuries you do not know, if you stress him his health will not grow," Zecora said just as adamantly.

"Alright,” Twilight conceded.“I will wait until he is recovered, but you have to tell me when he does so that I can question him!"

Zecora said her goodbyes and headed into town to get more supplies. ‘Even my actions are beginning to rhyme, is this how it’s been all the time?’

After buying her months’ worth of supplies and then some, she began her long walk home.