Days of the Past

"If you are to live in one of my rooms, then you should at least assist me in my work, regardless of whether or not you're from the future. I'm sure that you won't be able to understand half of what I'm doing, but you will be useful for fetching ingredients and books, I suppose," Star frowned slightly. "No one else will work with me, so you'll have to do,"

"Oh, I wonder why in Equestria nopony will work with you, Perhaps it could be that they don't take kindly to bering told that they're stupid and barely fit to help you gather items?" Octavia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. She got the feeling that it wouldn't be easy to work with this pony, but she wasn't being given a choice in the matter. Either she helped him with whatever he was doing, or she got thrown out in a Canterlot from a thousand years before she was even concieved.

"No, that can't be it. That would be silly," Star replied, somehow completely unable to detect the sarcasm. Octavia was starting to find it difficult to believe that he was the Princess' student as he said he was, as he seemed to lack much of the intelligence that Twiilight Sparkle had. Although she hadn't seen him work, and if he was speaking the truth then that would be where he was in his element.

Octavia frowned as they turned a corner, leading to a hall at the end of which were two large iron doors, upon which was a large sign that read 'Canterlot Research and Development'. A small smile appeared on Star's lips, and a spark of interest in his eyes that had previously been absent appeared, finally making Octavia feel that he was actually there with her, as opposed to somewhere else entirely. She was unsure if she liked it or not. On the one hoof it was nice to feel that he was paying some attention to her; on the other she couldn't shake the feeling that all of his attention would now be directed at this experiment, and he would ignore her even more than before - if that were even possible.

Star's pace increased considerably, forcing Octavia to double her speed. He reached the doors and threw them open, a wide grin now on his face. "Alright Octavia, go to that shelf over there and find me a red book entitled 'Doctor Whooves' Guide to the Timestreams'. It's all complete rubbish, of course, but it's a nice starting point. Not everypony can know what they're talking about," Star shouted, moving towards the centre of the room where a large chalk circle was drawn on the polished marble floor. The room was full of shelves, some filled with row upon row of books, others filled with scientific equipment that meant nothing to Octavia.

"For Celestia's sake, hurry up and get the book Octavia!" She was snapped out of her analysis of the room by Star's snapping. Sighing, she ran over to the indicated bookshelf and grabbed 'Doctor Whooves' Guide to the Timestreams', before throwing it over to Star who deftly caught it in his magic. "Now go and get me the powdered crystal from that shelf over there, and try to hurry it up this time, will you?" Star shouted, leafing through the book. Octavia groaned and walked quickly to the shelf on the other side of the room. She had a very distinct feeling that it was going to be a long day, a suspicion that was confirmed when she returned with the powdered crystal and was immediately berated for her slowness, before being given an ever more ridiculous list of things to do and collect.

***

"Octavia, grab me that book detailing the properties of crystal powder!"

"But you're using the book on crystal powder!"

"No, that's powdered crystal. How can you be so stupid?"

***

"Go and get that ugly rat out from that beaker will you? It's distracting me,"

"That's my reflection!"

"Same thing!"

***

"Thanks for helping so much, I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Did you just thank me? Well, you're welcome, I suppose,"

"Huh? No, I was just congratulating this flask, it's done far more for me than you have, and much faster too!"

"Urgh..."

***

"For goodness sake, I asked for a vampony stake, not a vampony steak!"

"It's a little difficult for me to tell the difference in speech! Perhaps you should have been more clear?"

"No, because that would imply that I'm wrong. I am not wrong, so therefore by extension it is your fault!"

Octavia groaned loudly, before stomping her right forehoof on the ground. "That is it! I have had enough of this! I have done everything you asked, taken ridiculous insults and dealt with your petty little problems, but no more! It's only been a few hours, and already I am losing the will to live! Either you give me some request that allows me to get away from you for a few hours, or you thank me for the frankly brilliant job I've done of coping with you!" As she spoke, she stepped forward slowly, and by the end of her rant Octavia was eye to eye with Star, both of them steadfastly refusing to back down from their glares. They probably would have died from starvation had they not been interrupted by a mare who walked in to the room.

"Oh for Celestia's sake..." Star turned to face the newcomer, and Octavia followed his gaze a few seconds later. The mare was a cream unicorn with an orange and red mane that was neatly curled. Her cutie mark was a small broom enchanted by magic, and alongside the apron that she wore that was covered in dust, it didn't take Octavia's best deductive skills to figure out that she was a cleaner at the castle. "Star, you just can't work with anyone for more than an hour without them wanting to kill you, can you?" The mare spoke softly, but there was a hint of weariness clearly noticeable in her voice.

"Dust? Now of all times? Look, it wasn't my fault, it was hers -" Star tried to explained, before being interrupted.

"It always is their fault, isn't it? So who is this new mare that you've broken? And how is she stupid enough to have worked with you? No offense, sweetheart," Dust - Octavia presumed that was her name - smiled gently at Octavia , before walking over to them. Star frowned, his eyes narrowing.

"Her name's Octavia, and it really is her faul-" Star began before being silenced by a cream hoof being put to his lips.

"Octavia? That future girl? She comes all the way from the future and you just grab her and drag her to your stupid lab? For the love of Celestia, Star, you're a genius but you can be so damn dense sometimes! Come with me Octavia, we're getting out of this place." She began walking towards the door, motioning for Octavia to follow her. Octavia glared briefly at Star, who let out a small 'hmph' and turned away, then headed after Dust.

As soon as Octavia had gone through the doors and closed them behind her, Dust held out a hoof and smiled. "Sorry about that, he can be so dumb sometimes. So anyway, my names Dust Shine, and I'm Star's friend... probably his only friend." Octavia shook Dust Shine's hoof, before walking alongside her down the hall. "I already know who you are, future girl. I guess that explains how you didn't know about Star Swirl's legendary obnoxiousness when he works." Octavia nodded, before looking back at Dust in confusion.

"Wait, did you say Star Swirl?" Octavia asked, rather more loudly than she intended to. Dust nodded, her eyebrow raised. "Celestia, I'm stupid! Princess Celestia's student, a talented magician who's creating advanced spells and I didn't figure out it was him? That explains so much!" She put her hooves to her head, wondering how in Equestria she could have missed the signs.

"What, is he famous in your time or something?"

"Well, yes. He's the most famous unicorn in all of Equestria, to put it lightly. Although he's called Star Swirl the Bearded in my time, and they didn't portray him as being such a..." Octavia tried to find the best way to put it lightly.

"Obnoxious dense ignorant stuck-up jerk?" Dust added helpfully, a small smirk on her lips.

"Well, yes, I suppose you could put it like that." Octavia laughed, deciding that she quite liked this mare.

"He's always been that way, though it got worse when the Princess took him on. I'm basically the only one that can put up with him, though he acts pretty differently when it's just me." The two turned a corner in to a corridor filled with a tapestry depicting Celestia and Luna's victory over the great Timberwolf attack on Canterlot. A small smile crossed Octavia's mind as she thought of something.

"Are you and Star Swirl... you know?" Dust looked at Octavia blankly, before her eyes widened and she blushed furiously.

"Oh no, no no no no no! Definitely not! He's a good friend, but he's not interested in a relationship, and I... uh... I'm on team Luna, if you know what I mean. Not like 'Nightmare Night forever', but... you know..." Dust moved her hoof in a circle, but Octavia shook her head to indicate that she had no idea what she meant. "Uh... you don't know huh? I guess it's not common knowledge. Well... how do I put this? When it comes to relationships Celestia has always been a little more traditional, and in to colts. Luna, on the other hoof, was a bit more in to... you know..." She recieved a blank stare from Octavia, and she sighed. "Luna was a fillyfooler. and so am I!" Dust shouted, before looking around to see confused stares by the other occupants of the castle, causing her cheeks to redden further.

"Oh. Interesting. And Star Swirl... is he, you know?" Octavia asked, to which Dust shrugged.

"Heck if I know. He hasn't had a single relationship with anypony, so it could be anything. He could be in to Timberwolves for all I know!" Dust laughed, before stopping at a large pair of iron doors. "Well, we're gonna head outside now. Trust me, a trip out on the town is just what you need after a few hours with Star. He can be great when you get to know him, but working with him is like trying to pull your brain out through your eyeballs." She laughed, before pushing open the doors and walking out in to the gardens. Octavia gathered her thoughs before following.

Two things bothered Octavia. Firstly, Luna was a fillyfooler? That was news to her, and if she ever got back in to her own time it would be interesting to see if anything had changed.

And secondly, how did Star Swirl, the arrogant genius, and Dust Shine, the everyday cleaner, become friends? And - now that Octavia thought about it - how did she know what it felt like to pull your brain out through your eyeballs?