Chapters Trixie laid sprawled out on the the plush bed. Stars and crescent moons adorned Twilight's duvet. They matched the stars and moon in the sky that evening. Trixie cradled her carton of ice cream, alternating between it, the cheese logs and the jar of pickles. Ever since she'd moved in with Twilight, her belly had expanded to a tremendous amount.
"Twilight!" Trixie hollered across the house. Twilight was there immediately in a flash.
"Trixie! Is everything okay? Are you alright?" Twilight asked frantically by her bedside.
"No, it's not!" Trixie cried.
"Oh my gosh! What's wrong?" Twilight panicked, putting her hoof to Trixie's very large tummy.
"I finished my peanut butter crackers. Can you get me more?" Trixie said.
"That's what you yelled for me across the house for? Crackers!?" Twilight fumed. Trixie nodded, looking at her innocently with those pouting doe eyes that always melted Twilight's heart. She hated that she looked that cute. She sighed. "No Trixie, I can't get you any more. You ate them all. There are none left in the house."
"Could you run down to the store and get some more?"
"No. The store is all out. They have to order more from Fillydelphia. They won't be here until the end of the week."
"I ate all of the peanut butter crackers in the whole town?" Trixie asked. Twilight nodded. Trixie began to bawl. "I'm so fat!" She cried. "Look at me!" Trixie rolled over, shifting her massive body, causing the bed to creak. She got to her hooves on the floor, albeit a bit unsteady in front of the mirror, rubbing her belly with her hoof. "Do you still think I'm sexy?" She asked between sobs. Twilight had dealt with enough of her mood swings to know how to handle this.
"Of I do, Trixie! I love you. Nothing would ever change that." She assured her. She put her hoof around her holding her close, putting her hoof over hers on her belly. "I'm so proud of you. You're so brave." She nuzzled her ear, nibbling it gently. "Who's my pretty pony?" She asked playfully.
"I am."
"Who's my pretty pony!?" Twilight asked again, laying Trixie back onto the bed, planting kisses down her neck.
"I am!" Trixie said more confidently now.
The past eleven months had been difficult for Trixie. Shortly after they were married, Twilight was crowned a princess and became an Alicorn. As if Twilight needed another thing to be better at than Trixie, now she could fly. But the real problem arose whenever Twilight went off on one of her adventures with her friends. Trixie wanted to be by her side, but Twilight insisted that she stay home, what with the condition she was in after all.
It wasn't fair. Twilight could go off and get into adventures, and Trixie was left to stay at home and worry about whether or not Twilight would return. Trixie wanted to spend more time with Twilight's friends too, and make them her friends as well. But after being more or less housebound for the better part of the last year, she could barely get herself around now, even if she wanted to.
Trixie had always thought that if and when she'd settled down with somepony that she would have been the career mare and her partner would be the stay-at-home counterpart. But Trixie never did get back into her showmare gig after the Ursa Minor incident. And now that Twilight was a Princess, well, that pretty much sealed it. Not to mention the other, more pressing issue.
But all that mattered now was that Trixie loved Twilight, and Twilight loved her. They were married by Princess Celestia herself shortly after Twilight's coronation. It was a private wedding, attended by Twilight's family. Her friends helped to fill out Trixie's bare side of the aisle. Her friends were all happy for her to have been married to Trixie. But the true nature of their relationship was known only to Princess Celestia and Twilight's family, not including her sister-in-law, Cadence. It was a closely guarded secret. One of the very few Shining kept from his wife.
"Who's my pretty pony? TBBBPPBPH!" Twilight said, giving Trixie's belly a playful raspberry.
"I am!" Trixie laughed on the bed. Twilight felt the bedding under her knees become wet. They must have knocked over the pickle jar onto the bed again.
"Trixie! The pickle jar!" Twilight yelped. Trixie craned her neck, looking for it.
"It's on the nightstand." She said. Twilight looked over, following her gaze. Indeed it was. Which meant...
"The foal is coming!" Twilight panicked.
The rare calm of the emergency room was shattered as the doors to the hospital were violently bucked in.
"MATERNITY!" The purple unicorn yelled, dashing inside. A very pregnant Trixie held gingerly aloft behind her in a purple aura. Trixie had never seen Twilight move so quickly in all her time knowing her. As she was sprinting through the middle of town, she ignored Trixie's repeated suggestions to just simply teleport there. Twilight refused to use that magic with the foal involved. Though she obviously seemed to have no problem towing her along with her levitation spell.
Nurse Redheart barely had time to rise from her seat, even quick as she was, before Twilight was already on the move again. She swooped up a gurney with her magic, placing Trixie in it. "Maternity!" She shouted again.
"This way!" Redheart said, leading the way down the hall. She had to sprint to keep from being run down by Trixie's gurney.
"Twilight, I- Nggh!" Trixie was cut off by another contraction. "Twilight, you know how I feel about wheels!" She yelled as her bed rolled through the hall to the delivery room. Twilight transferred her to a stationary delivery bed, equipping the stirrups and propping her hooves into them. Only then did Twilight pause to take a breath for the first time since they'd left the house.
"Okay. We're here." Twilight breathed. Nurse Redheart had taken off and returned with the doctor. He scrubbed in and walked over to them.
"Princess Sparkle! I didn't expect to see you today." He said. "And this is?"
"Trixie. Trixie Sparkle... my wife." Twilight said. That gained a raised eyebrow from the doctor.
"Princess Twilight, I hadn't realized that you had taken a... spouse." He said as he settled into his seat between Trixie's raised legs. "But then again, I don't really keep up on the news. As you can imagine, I don't get out of here much for more than to go home and sleep. A doctor's work is never done." He said with a tired smile. "But, enough of that. Let's focus on the star of tonight's show!"
"Star?" Trixie asked.
"Yes Trixie." Twilight said beside her, holding her hoof. "Tonight is all about you, not me." She knew that Trixie hated always being sidelined in social settings. She was never the showmare Trixie, magician headliner. Or even just regular Trixie. She was always 'Princess Twilight's wife'. But not this time. Twilight wouldn't let it spoil tonight. "You know, Trixie here was once a very accomplished magician performer before she met me." She said to the doctor. "'The Great and Powerful Trixie' they'd all call her." Trixie blushed.
Something clicked in the doctor's mind. "Ah yes, I knew I recognized you!" He said at last. "I saw a show of yours in Baltimare a couple years ago!" Trixie smiled. She loved attention of her own, rather than by proxy of Twilight.
"Yes, well, for my next trick I'm going to pull a foal out of a- oooohhhhh" Trixie groaned as another contraction overtook her.
"Whoops, looks like it's showtime!" The doctor said.
"Twilight, I'm scared." Trixie said. Her panicked eyes looking into Twilight's.
"Your first foal?" He asked quickly. She nodded. He reached into the drawer, grabbing a sliver ring and gave it to Twilight. "For her horn." Twilight looked at him quizzically. "For our safety." He explained. Twilight placed the ring on her horn, securing it snugly.
"Don't worry Trixie. No matter what happens, I'll be right here by your side. I love you." Twilight said.
"I love you too."
After nearly an hour, Twilight kept herself a safe distance from Trixie's pummeling hooves. The vulgarities directed at her no longer cut so deep.
"GAAAHH! I HATE YOU!" Trixie cried. "Get this thing out of me!" The base of her horn glowed brightly, The fury of her rage fueled magic inhibited only by the ring. In days of old, first-time birthing unicorns were taken out into the countryside, lest they accidentally level the town. Beneath her gown, the horn of the foal appeared first, leading the way.
"A Unicorn." The doctor announced. "Just be happy it's not a Pegasus. Wings make it very hard."
"Happy!? HAPPY!?" Trixie yelled.
"Oh no." Twilight could only watch as Trixie pulled her hoof from the stirrup and kicked the doctor in the head. Instantly unconscious he fell backwards off the stool, sprawled onto the floor. "Trixie!" Twilight scolded.
"He'll live. You won't!" She growled. Twilight scrambled to take over the doctor's job as the nurse dove to the floor to see to the doctor. Twilight lifted Trixie's hospital gown.
"Let's just see what's going on under here- OH MY CELESTIA! It looks like she's blowing a bubble!"
"PUSH!" Nurse Redheart yelled from behind her.
"I'm trying to! It won't go back in!" Twilight screamed.
"No, Trixie, you push! Princess Sparkle, just be ready to catch the foal!" Redheart advised.
"NNNNHHGGGGGAAHHHH!!!!" Trixie pushed.
...
...
...
"Whaaa! Whaaaa! "
The little foal cried out. Twilight cried. Trixie cried. Nurse Redheart rolled her eyes, and the doctor out on a gurney.
"It's a colt. And what a colt!" Trixie said, looking at her newborn son.
"Um, that's the umbilical cord. But yes, he is a colt." Twilight said. She cut the cord and cleaned him before she wrapped him in a blanket.
"Damn." Trixie cursed "We were so happy with the filly name that we had picked out too. We never did decide on a colt's. Did you bring the coin?" Trixie asked. Twilight pulled the bit from her bag.
"Remember, no arguing after!" Twilight said.
"Agreed."
"Call it in the air!" Twilight said, flipping the coin.
"Heads!" Trixie said confidently. The coin struck the ground, bouncing and spinning about as both mares watched intently. It landed tails.
"Tails!" Twilight said triumphantly, jumping a little in joy. "Welcome to Equestria, Starswirl Sparkle!" She said to their new son. Trixie was less than enthused with the result. But they did agree.
"Well, if you ever decide later that you'd rather be Trixster Sparkle, you just let me know." Trixie said playfully to her tiny foal.
Another pony took over for Nurse Redheart after she left with the recovering doctor. She came in with a clipboard and a birth certificate.
"Name." The new nurse said curtly. It didn't even have the upward inflection at the end, indicating a question. It was an imperative remark. A demand.
"Starswirl Sparkle." Twilight said. The nurse looked at each of them.
"Who's the father?" She asked. Twilight and Trixie exchanged nervous glances.
"Um... me?" Twilight said.
"...How?" She asked.
"Magic?" Twilight offered.
"Whatever." She said, filling out the certificate. Father: Princess Sparkle After all, she got paid to do clerical work. Not to care.
The clock on the wall said that it was just after midnight. The first foal born on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration. Not that it had any significance on it's own, Twilight reasoned. But it would sure make remembering his birthday a lot easier.
Tiny Starswirl, for his part, couldn't care less either way. He'd already had a hell of a first day and he was exhausted. He felt that now that he'd made his grand entrance into the world, his next course of action called for nap time. His parents followed suit shortly after as Twilight helped Trixie to her recovery bed.
...and promptly joined her and her son in it.
"Spike, take a letter." Twilight instructed. He had been awakened the previous night from their noisy departure. Twilight told him to come to the hospital the next day, today. He took out his parchment and quill. "Dear Celestia..." She began.
"Umm, do you want me to add 'Princess'?" He asked. Twilight answered by fluttering her wings. "Right. Okay."
"Dear Celestia," She repeated. "I'm writing to inform you of a joyous occasion..."
Cadence and Shining happened to already be in town for another matter. They had been visiting earlier that morning. Little Starswirl had quite the liking for Uncle Shiny. It was a bit strange for Shining though, given the circumstances. But with Cadence right there, it made it doubly difficult.
"Oh, look Shiny, he likes you." Cadence said. "He's got his uncle's nose... and ears." She said. He and Trixie exchanged an awkward glance. Shining felt uncomfortable at the comparison. But it was true that the foal did have some of his features. But that was where the similarity stopped. His fur was blue, like his mother's. But just a shade darker. And he had Twilight's eyes, a deep violet. His mane and tail were definitely from Twilight. Striped pink and lavender, like her fur. Shining gave him back to Trixie. Cadence watched as the new mother held him in her hooves in her hospital gown.
"Don't you wish we had one of those?" Cadence asked her husband.
"A hospital gown?" He asked.
"A foal, silly." She said. "You certainly pester me enough to practice making one."
"Cadence!" All three of them scoffed at her blatant remark.
"What? Is it so wrong for a mare to want a foal? Oh Shining, can't you just picture the feeling of seeing your newborn foal?"
"Oh, I can imagine." He said, looking at the foal in Trixie's hooves.
"Drats!" Cadence cursed, looking at the clock. "Time flies. We have to get back to those delegations. I'm sorry Twilight."
"It's okay. I'm sure we'll all see eachother again soon." Twilight said.
"Thank you for coming." Trixie added. They had a bit of peace and quiet for a short while. That is, until Twilight could hear Princess Celestia's arrival as various ponies curtsied and greeted her as she arrived. "Princess." "Your highness." "Your Majesty." Her tall form finally stepped into the room.
"Oh, let me see him let me see!" She was giddy. Princess Celestia, normally so stoic and aloof, was giddy. Twilight had never seen Celestia giddy. Ever. Trixie adjusted herself in the bed, showing off tiny Starswirl in her hooves. "Oh he's sooo adorable." She practically squealed as she held him in her magic. Luna entered the room shortly after, coming alongside her elder sister.
"Ah, the Sparkle progeny." She said curtly as she took her turn holding him. She turned him about and looked him over with a clinical inspection. "He appears well." She said.
"Yes, the doctors said that he is perfectly healthy." Trixie said, grateful. Celestia gave the proud parents a surreptitious wink.
"You know, we would love to have you back in Canterlot." Celestia said "You would be closer to his grandparents."
"He would attend the School for Gifted Unicorns, of course." Luna added.
"Actually," Twilight said. "We were thinking about staying here in Ponyville with our friends. He can go to Cheerilee's school." She moved closer to Trixie's side, taking her hoof in hers. "And later, if he chooses to, he can take the entrance exam in Canterlot. On merit, just like everypony else, of course."
"Of course." Celestia agreed. Twilight had more wisdom about her than Luna gave her credit for. A prince with small-town roots could only make a better leader, more in touch with the citizens.
"Prince Starswirl Sparkle. You have quite the hooves to fill. We will be watching your career with great interest." Luna said to the foal. "Though you hardly seem like the 'prince' type to me." His response was the wittiest retort an infant could offer, vomiting on her midnight blue fur. Luna returned the foal to his mother, wiping her fur clean with a cloth. "Yes, well I suppose I may have had that coming." She sighed. Celestia could barely contain her giggle.
"You should both be very proud." Celestia said at last before they left.
"Thank you. We are." Trixie said, bidding them farewell.
Nightmare Night, Several Years Later
Starswirl paced back and forth at the base of the stairs, waiting for Twilight. Or as he called her, Madre. It was a bit of a trick early on for parental labels. Obviously Trixie was mom. She earned that title in the delivery room. Twilight wanted to share the title, but he needed to be able to differentiate when he called across the house for one of them. Though, Twilight was uncomfortable with 'dad'. Madre ended up being the compromise idea that they got from their friends Bon Bon and Lyra. His mom, Trixie was already downstairs with him and Spike.
"Ugh, we're going to be late!" He complained, looking at the clock. "Time is candy!"
"She's punctual every other day of the year." Spike said. "How's my costume?"
"Same as it was the last time you asked. It's still a Manticore." He said. He looked over his own costume. Rarity had done a great job making his Changeling costume. Especially with the thin filament wings. He thought it turned out a lot better than Spike's costume.
"I'm just so happy with the way mine turned out." Trixie said, flaunting her Luna costume. It was little more than replicas of her royal shoes, collar and crown with a bit of glitter tossed into her mane and tail. But then his mom always thought she was beautiful all on her own.
"MADRE!" He yelled up the stairs. Twilight appeared at last at the top. "Oh not again!" He groaned. She was wearing her Starswirl the Bearded robe again. "Every year!? UNCLE DISCORD!" He yelled to seemingly nopony. In a flash, the summoned draconequus appeared in the room.
"Yes? Did somepony call my name? Oh it's you Starswirl." He said, tussling his mane.
"It's just Stark now." Starswirl said.
"Ooh, 'Stark'. How edgy." Discord mocked playfully. "Well, what did you pull me away from my literary dinner for?" He said, munching on a book. Stark pointed at his madre. Discord didn't make any effort to conceal his snicker. "Again Twilight? I mean it's bad enough you named your son after him. You don't need to rub it in."
"I know right!?" Stark said.
"What? This is my Nightmare Night costume." Twilight tried to defend. "I didn't have Rarity make me anything else."
"Okay, leave this to me." He said. With a snap of his claws, the costume was off of Twilight and hanging over his paw. Another snap and Twilight's fur and wings were turned white as snow. Her mane became ethereal, colorful and billowing in an unseen wind. On her hooves, neck and head were copies of Celestia's apparel. If not for the height difference, she could actually pass for the sun princess. "You know, I think you actually wear it better." He said, satisfied with his work.
"Aww." Trixie complained. If it was one thing she hated, it was being upstaged.
"Um, could you, uh..." Stark pointed at his mom, flipping his mane.
"Why not." Discord snapped his fingers again. Trixie's hair billowed like Luna's, showcasing her sparkling glitter.
"Yay!" She squealed. "Oh Twilight, look at us!" She said moving to her side. "We're a shoe in for best couple's costumes this year!"
"Yay." Twilight groaned flatly. Discord offered the colt beside him the Starswirl robe on his arm.
"Not a chance. If your claws try to put that costume on me you'll be pulling back a stump."
"Sheesh! Such gratitude." Discord balked. "If I'm no longer needed, I'll just be on my way." He said, setting the costume folded neatly on the table as his form shimmered into that of Nightmare Moon, strutting out the door. His exit was greeted with terrified screams of foals outside.
Twilight moved to the table, checking the robe. "This is a good costume. Look at the borders on these robes. These are hoof stitched!"
"But you wear it every year." Spike said.
"Yeah Twilight." Trixie agreed. "Besides, variety is the spice of life. I like this new look on you." She started nibbling on her ear.
"Ooh, Trixie..." Twilight cooed, turning to kiss her.
"Ugh." Stark groaned. It was weird enough that his parents were kissing. Made worse by the fact that it now looked like Luna making out with her sister. "I think I'm gonna be sick before I eat too much candy." He looked at Spike, nodding toward the door. "Come on, let's go." After they left, Twilight broke the kiss with Trixie.
"Maybe I should start up a pony group to teach ponies about history. I bet everypony would love it."
"You can be so dense sometimes. Thank goodness for that flank." Trixie said, resuming the kiss. Twilight glanced at her now-white behind. Noting that it was disproportionately Celestia-sized.
"HEY!" She yelled. A disembodied voice chuckled at his handiwork.
"Just until midnight. " The chaotic voice echoed. Trixie put her hoof on Twilight's flank.
"Well we better not waste it!" She pulled Twilight's hoof toward the bedroom.
"Um... do you think he can see us?" Twilight whispered nervously. Trixie took Twilight's face in her hooves and looked her dead in the eyes.
"I WANT him to watch!" She breathed.
"Oh my. "
Blissfully far from the range of his parents voices, passing by the town well, Stark saw a filly from his class at Cheerilee's school, Pumpkin Cake.
"Hey Spike, Can I ask you for some advice?"
"Sure."
"How do I ask a filly I like to go to the Nightmare Night dance?"
"Dude, you're asking the wrong dragon." Spike lamented. "I've been playing, and losing, that game for years. I'm afraid you're on your own with that one."
"Oh."
"But, if I could relay the advice that had been given to me, I would say, be direct." He said. "Mares like a pony with the courage to speak their mind."
"Okay. But what if she says no?"
"Then she won't go to the dance with you. Will she go with you if you don't ask at all?"
"No."
"Then what have you got to lose?"
"Huh. I guess you're right." Stark realized. He trotted over to Pumpkin. Spike noticed Rarity over near the stage with Sweetie Belle. Sweetie was going to be singing that night. But Spike had his eye on her older sister.
"What have I got to lose... " Spike repeated to himself as he walked toward her.
"Hey Pumpkin." He said once he got close enough.
"Hmm? Oh hey, Stark. Nice Changeling costume." She said.
"Thanks. I made it with my mom." He said. "Where's your costume?"
"Ugh, I ditched it. My parents wanted me to go as a jack-o-lantern. Again!" She complained.
"Tell me about it. My madre was going to go as Starswirl the Bearded again."
"Wow, really?" Pumpkin laughed. "Why doesn't she just go back in time and marry him?"
"She probably would if she could. And if she wasn't already married to my mom." He said.
"Well you know what I mean." She smiled.
"..."
"..."
"So Pumpkin-"
"You go ahead." Stark said.
"No, it- it's silly. You go."
"Oh, uh, um..."
Be direct.
"Pumpkin, I, uh, was just wondering if you wanted to go to the-"
"PUMPKIN!" Stark looked a the voice from behind him
"Oh for pony's sake!" Pumpkin muttered putting her face in her hooves.
"There you are." Her brother, Pound, said. "What did I tell you about running off on me? I'm your older brother."
"Yeah, by like a minute! I'm not a little foal. You don't have to keep watching over my shoulder." Pumpkin said.
"What are you doing with my sister?" He said, turning to Stark.
"We were just talking." Stark explained.
"Uh huh. Come on." He said, taking his sister's hoof. Stark knew better than to try to get between them. The last thing he wanted was to be on the receiving end of one of his infamous poundings.
"It was nice talking to you." Pumpkin said over her shoulder to him.
"Yeah, you too." He called back before she was out of range. He shuffled back over to the well where he came from. Spike was already there, looking just as dejected.
"No luck?"
"No luck."
"Next time." They assured eachother.
Elsewhere, ponies dressed as the royal sisters were getting lucky.
"Oh, Celestia!"
"WHAT!?"
"....."
".....call me Celestia again. "
At school the next day, everypony had brought the candy they had collected the night before. Out on the playground at recess they were trading with eachother. Stark had hoped it would be another opportunity to talk to Pumpkin. But as usual, Pound was always nearby, on the lookout for any colts with his sister. Twilight often talked about how his uncle, Shining Armor would look out for her when she was younger. Stark wondered if that was the reason why it was so hard for her to have friends too.
The second half of the day went by quickly. About an hour before school let out, Miss Cheerilee made an announcement. They were going to get out of school early! They were going for a surprise field trip. And with that, Cheerilee led the class a short ways across town to the Golden Oaks Library.
"Princess Twilight has graciously volunteered her time to start up a pony group to teach ponies about history. I bet you will all love it." Cheerilee said, knocking on the door.
"Yay! Twilight time!" The other ponies cheered, honored to spend time with Ponyville's princess. Twilight opened the door. Stark wanted to disappear when he saw that she was wearing the damn Starswirl costume again.
"Come on in everypony! Spike is making nachos." Twilight said as they filed in.
"Thanks for this Twi." Cheerilee said quietly. "If you want to later, I'll be over at the Bannered Mare with Berry, trying to imagine a career that doesn't so closely resemble Tartarus." She whispered, a bit frazzled.
"Oh I'm sure they're not that bad." Twilight said.
"Well, you say that, but... I don't know how to end that sentence." Cheerilee said as she headed toward the pub.
Inside Stark's home, the public area of the library had been transformed into a small school room, with several chairs. Up front was a chalk board and a small table with book. He pitied the foals, as they sat there excited to be in the princess's home. For they did not know what fate worse than death awaited them. Lecture.
At the front of the room, Twilight began writing on the chalkboard as she spoke.
"Today for our pony group to learn about history, we will be learning about Starswirl the Bearded." Twilight said. The other ponies in the class who knew his real name turned around and looked back at him. He was busy trying to make himself as small as possible. To him it felt like a scene from Fluttershy's Wild Kingdom.
Watch now, as mortified colt's fur changes color to blend seamlessly with the surroundings. A natural camouflage to hide him from the view of the predatory classmates.
Hardly camouflage, he only managed to turn a bright shade of red.
"No, not that Starswirl. Hi honey." She waved at him. As if he couldn't see her. As if he wasn't already embarrassed enough. A few of the other colts snickered. Salt in the wound. "I'm talking about the historical Starswirl the Bearded. He was the most important conjurer of the Pre-Classical era and the father of the Amniomorphic Spell." Twilight read out loud to the class from the book of Obscure Unicorn History. Stark didn't need to see the cover to know which book she was reading to the class.
Because she had read it to him before.
Several times.
"He created more than 200 spells." She continued. "He even has a shelf in the Canterlot library named after him. And he was the mentor of Clover the Clever, one of the founders of modern Equestria." She was interrupted by a voice from upstairs.
"Oh Twilight~ where's my naughty librarian?" Trixie said, appearing at the top of the stairs in stockings and a lacy saddle. The whole room went dead silent. "....Oh. Was that today?"
"Starswirl, open this door!" Twilight called into the room. After the fallout from Trixie embarrassing him in front of his entire class, he'd locked himself away in his bedroom. "Come on. You're going to be late for school!"
"I'm not going to school!" He shouted from the other side of the door. "Not today, not ever again!"
"You HAVE to go to school!" Twilight shouted back through the door. It was about this time that all the ruckus had gotten Trixie out of bed much earlier than she was comfortable with. Her spouse and son knew better than to trifle with her before she'd had her coffee. But this ongoing exchange of raised decibels could no longer go unaddressed by her.
"Would you two PLEASE stop shouting this early in the morning?" Trixie growled.
"She started it!" Stark said.
"NO!" Trixie yelled. "I started it years ago in a moment of passion! And I'LL END IT the same way right here, right now! " The other two went silent. "Now," Trixie continued, slightly more calm, "I am going to go downstairs and make some coffee. If, by the time I finish it, you are not at, or on your way to school, I swear to Celestia, I am going to teleport you there MYSELF, and I will personally escort you through the front door, wearing the little number from yesterday!" The door cracked open.
"You wouldn't." He said meekly. Trixie's horn illuminated, starting the coffee percolator downstairs, and levitating her lingerie from the bedroom. The sound of hot water bubbling echoed upstairs.
"Clock's ticking..." She said menacingly. "Do you feel lucky?"
"Aww." He groaned. Stark grabbed his school bag and stepped out into the hall. Trixie swatted him upside the head with her hoof. "OW!"
"And don't you EVER talk back to your Madre like that again! What's wrong with you!?" Trixie scolded before he took off downstairs, grabbing a bite before heading outside to school.
"Thank you Trixie. It really means a lot that-"
"Shh. Coffee ."
"Right." Twilight whispered, stepping back to give her wife a wide berth as she shuffled past her to get her morning brew.
Starswirl Sparkle sat in the back of the classroom. It was one of the perks of having a last name start with a letter nearer the end of the alphabet when Miss Cheerilee insisted on arranging her students in seating order. The drawback was that Pumpkin Cake was way up in the front, beside her brother.
Still, it wasn't all bad. He still had a great view of her from back there. His distance from the teacher gave him more freedom to engage in more of his personal pursuits. Cryptography was a hobby of his. He would make and break codes that he would bring to work on after he finished his in-class assignments way before his so-called peers.
Cheerilee used to scold him for his lack of attention and class participation. She was hesitant about it at first. She'd never had a prince in her class. But Princess Twilight was very clear on her orders. He was to receive no preferential treatment. In her classroom, he was just another foal.
But his test results were proof enough that he was doing fine in his studies. He certainly wasn't cheating off of anypony around him. He was always the one with the highest grades. No, the truth was far less exciting or sinister.
Home schooling.
His academic aptitude started very early on in his school life. But then, living in a library with two caring mares who would read to him about all manner of educational topics would do that. It was a reinforcing cycle once it started. He would finish his in-class assignments early. Leaving him time to do his homework in class. Thereby ensuring that he would have plenty of time for leisure at home.
Or so he thought.
Mom, Madre, I'm home.
Okay, make sure you do your homework before you go off to play.
I did it in class.
Really? Well then, I could teach you a thing or two myself...
Twilight took it upon herself to follow up with Cheerilee though, since she felt that the curriculum wasn't nearly challenging enough for her colt. And before he knew it, he was in the advanced course with ponies two years his senior, including Pumpkin and her brother. At home, it was prep school for his entrance into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.
He began to tread a familiar path of both of his parents, though. His supplemental learning continued to push him light years beyond his classmates. And accelerating his grade level would only further separate him from ponies around him who were much older than him. It wasn't that he resented the extra work. Far from it. He has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He craved it at all times. The basics in the school house bored him; they were a waste of his time. Time that could be better spent unraveling the mysteries of the universe.
Or kissing Pumpkin.
His other classmates didn't share his intellectual interests. And more and more, he simply felt contempt. Stark looked down at his paper. His most recent code cipher was a particularly complex one. He was doing code permutations. It was a key that changed as you solved it. You would solve one part at a time, and then use the new information to change the key for the next section. It was the only thing he could do to stave off boredom.
"... blah blah blah ? Starswirl? Which one was it?" Cheerilee said. He voice had an upward inflection indicating that she was asking him a question. Horse apples! He glanced up at her, indicating that he was acknowledged her addressing him. But his mind was miles away. He had no idea what had been asked of him.
His mind flew. On the desk beside him, the history book was open to the Wonderbolts. Up at the front of the room was a list of Wonderbolt commanding officers on the chalkboard. It was incomplete, ending at a particular time frame. An arrow led across the board from the list to a sketched sun, that of Celestia's cutie mark, followed by a heart and a question mark. Unless she was asking which Wonderbolt was in love with Celestia, he had deductively narrowed it down well enough to be confident of his answer. He had a facility for memorizing facts and historical events. His mind was a galaxy of stored information.
"Maybe his mom knows." One of the other ponies in his class said, gaining a few snickers. Stark mentally recalled a spell that would turn his desk into thermite, but thought better of it.
"The Icarainian Sun Salutation." Stark said, his voice free of emotion. He wouldn't give the bully the satisfaction of a reaction. And as far as which Wonderbolt was in love with Celestia, spoiler alert, it was all of them.
"Correct. The Icarainian Sun Salutation is Princess Celestia's favorite flight pattern." She said. He resumed tuning her out for the rest of the afternoon.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot
Princess Celestia settled back into her throne after a late, albeit pleasant, lunch. Her assistant, Raven, followed shortly after.
"So, Raven," she said as she got comfortable, "what is on the agenda for the rest of the afternoon?" She asked.
"The rest of today looks clear." Raven said as she looked over Celestia's royal day planner. "Next week is a little busy though." She flipped a couple pages. "Um, let's see... Oh, first up, Princess Cadence requires the attendance of you and Princess Luna at the Crystal Empire for the final deliberations with the Duke and Duchess of Maretania. And then, after that-"
"Not Twilight?"
"Hmm?"
"Is Twilight not to attend?" Celestia asked. Raven double checked her notes.
"...No, her presence wasn't requested by the delegates." Raven said. "I would imagine that they desire to keep the number of those privy to these confidential discussions to a minimum."
"Hmm. I know she's a new princess. But I want her to be able to do more than simply have the title. Is there some other way she could participate?" She asked. Raven looked over her notes on the ceremony to be held.
"Their stay would be quite brief." She said. "Hmm, I suppose she could unfurl the Maretanian banner upon their arrival."
"Is that all?"
"Princess, you have to understand that we've already agreed to their terms for the meeting. We wouldn't want to create an affront by suddenly changing the guest list at the last minute. It could jeopardize our ambassadors' work."
"Well we mustn't do that."
"And if I might speak freely Princess?"
"Of course, Raven." She said, pouring herself a cup of tea.
"It's just that, well... we all kind of get nervous whenever all four of our leadership get together in one place at one time. It's one of the reasons that we're glad that Princess Luna is back, parsing up the day, and why Cadence is in the Crystal Empire, and Twilight in Ponyville. It mitigates risk. If anything were to happen..." She trailed off. "Princess Twilight did perform... adequately in your absence during the Harmony Tree crisis. And if it ever came down to it again, it might be best that she be available here."
"Your concern is duly noted, but not needed. We will be fine." Celestia said with absolute confidence. "Send a copy of the Crystal Empire summons to Twilight and Spike. Now, what else do you have for me?" She asked, sipping on her tea.
"Oh, um... Prince Starswirl's birthday is coming up. Do you need me to get a gift?"
"Is that coming up again!?"
"Same time every year." Raven said, turning her planner around, showing the day on the calendar circled in red. Starswirl's 14th birthday.
"Fourteen?" Celestia asked.
"As it says. Do you want me to buy a gift for you to bring?" Raven asked. Celestia sat there in silence. "A gift for the party?" Celestia just stared out into the room, somehow turning even whiter than normal. "Princess?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." Celestia said, snapping back to the present. "Um, no. I will get something for him myself this year."
"As you wish. Now let's see... ah later next week we need to"
Celestia stared out the window. Starswirl would turn fourteen this year. She knew what it meant. It was a sign.
"... so barring any major disasters I think that should go smoothly as well." Raven faded back into Celestia's attention.
"Thank you Raven. If there isn't anything else, why don't you go ahead and take the rest of the day off?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty." She said leaving the room. Celestia sat and finished her tea. After a few moments, she rose from her seat.
"Camisa Roja?" She called out to the royal guard by the door. He knelt quickly in acknowledgement.
"Your Highness."
"I'm going downstairs to my personal study, so that is where I will be if anypony asks. I don't expect any more appointments today, and I will be back up to lower the sun later. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am." He nodded. Celestia exited the throne room.
Inside her personal study, she reached out with her magic, feeling for the tendrils of the enchantment on her book case. She brushed it aside with a spell known only to her, dispelling the ward. The bookcase slide aside, revealing a secret entrance to an ancient staircase. Celestia called light to her horn as she walked downstairs to her innermost sanctum. The bookcase closed behind her. She need to consult...
The Book
_____________________________________________________________________
"Mom, Madre, I'm home." Stark said as he walked into the Golden Oaks Library. Trixie walked out of the kitchen.
"Your Madre has been summoned to the Crystal Empire." She said to her son. "To do some... princess stuff." She said with an irritated tone in her voice. "I wanted to go with her, but she insisted that I stay behind to look after you."
"I can look after myself." He said.
"I know dear. That's what I told her. But she insisted. And you know how she can be." Trixie said.
"Yeah..." He sighed, sitting at the table with her. "I was thinking about applying to Celestia's school this fall."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, I... I think I'm ready."
"You've been ready for years." His mom said. "Why now?" In response, he gave her a bit of a glare. "Oh. Listen, I'm really sorry about... yesterday. But you shouldn't base a big decision like this on something like that." He pulled a folded piece of paper from his bag. He held it in his hoof.
"This," he said, "made its way around the classroom today before I got a hold of it." He passed it to her. Trixie unfolded it and blushed. It was a penciled sketch of her, holding a ruler, dressed in her lingerie from the day prior. Above her was a speech bubble. "Where's my naughty librarian?"
"Oh my."
"Yeah. So I think you can understand my reluctance to go back there this morning." He said. "This is even worse than the regular teasing."
"Now Starswirl, you know what your Madre would say about all this."
"Yeah, yeah. If they were my real friends, they wouldn't tease me." He recited. "But that's just it Mom, they're not my friends. They never were! I just want to go somewhere else and start over!" He laid his head on the table and covered it with his hooves. Trixie ran her hoof through her son's mane.
"Did your Madre ever tell you what I did before I met her?"
"Yeah. She said you were a performing magician. She met you at one of your shows."
"Well, yes, that's part of it." Trixie said. "I was a traveling magician. But part of my performance was boasting about how much better I was than anypony in my audience. Anything you can do, I can do better I would say." She smiled weakly. "But all it did was alienate me. It forced me to keep moving on from town to town. And then..." Trixie recalled the events leading up to her obtaining the Alicorn Amulet, and exacting her revenge. "... and then, well, your Madre help to show me that there were better things in life. Her friendship helped me to be a better pony. And that was, gosh almost fourteen years ago." She said. Stark understood that he would be turning fourteen soon himself. And that the gestation period of a pony was nearly eleven months.
"Mom?" He asked. She looked at him. "You know how Auntie Pinkie Pie has a dad?"
"Yes dear?"
"And Auntie Rarity has a dad. And Sweetie Belle and Pumpkin Cake have a dad?" He asked. Trixie knew where this was going. She knew what he was asking. It had taken him far longer than she had expected. But she was no more prepared for the delay. "And you had me after you met Madre."
"Of course dear. You're our son."
"But how? You're both mares. Am I adopted? I must be. And don't feed me a line of me being delivered by a damn stork."
"You are MY son!" Trixie said, taking his hoof in hers, looking him in the eyes. "And I am your mother."
"Then who's my dad? My real dad?" Stark asked.
"He's- I- I don't..."
"You must know." Stark said. "I've taken... that class. I know you need a stallion. And that you and him had to... you know-"
"It's just that... it's immaterial!" Trixie said, frustrated. "What does it matter who the... sperm donor was? Twilight, your madre , my partner, was the one who helped raise you! And that should be all that matters!" She said, tearing up.
"Mom, I'm not trying to diminish what Madre has done. I just... I just want to know. I need to know. Mom?" Trixie looked at him between sobs. He'd grown up so much. "Please?"
"Okay." She wiped her eyes. "Your mother wasn't always a magician. After I met Twilight for the first time, I lost everything when a giant magic bear smashed my caravan. I ended up becoming a dancer in Canterlot. An... exotic dancer." Stark's eyes went wide. "Yeah, I know. I was never proud of it, but the pay was good. Especially when I did... favors for stallions."
"Mom? You- you were a- a whorse ?" He asked in a hushed whisper. Trixie wept.
"I'm so sorry. I was just going to be a dancer, I swear. But sometimes I- did. I did those things." She cried. "But that was how I met your father."
"Do you know who he was?" He asked. Trixie looked at him. If it was anypony else, she would be able lie to him. Years of being a performer gave her that talent to act. But not him. If she lied to him now he would see right through her. And she just couldn't stand the idea of losing his trust. She nodded, affirmative. "I want to know who he is. I want to at least meet him."
"You already have."
"So who is he?" Stark asked his mom. "Who's my dad?"
"I'm sorry sweetie." Trixie said. "I'm afraid I spoke a bit out of turn." She regained her composure. "Your Madre and I could never decide when to tell you the truth about it, if ever. We'd always just hoped that you would be content with your life and family. But she knew from when you were very young that eventually your curiosity would lead to this. And she would want to be here for it."
"Oh." He sighed. It was worse than all those times his answers were denied with a 'you'll find out when you're older' response, or a 'because I said so' answer. Trixie took his hoof in hers.
"Son, I promise that we will tell you the truth about him when she gets back from her princess trip. Okay?"
"Okay. When will that be?"
"Um, I'm actually not sure." She said. "But I'm sure she'll be back in time for your birthday. She wouldn't miss that."
KNOCK KNOCK
"This is your singing telegram. I hope it find you well. You're invited to a party because we think you're really swell.
Starswirl is turning fourteen, so help us celebrate. The cake will be delicious, the festivities first rate.
There will be games and dancing, bob for apples, cut-a-rug. And when the party's over we'll gather 'round for a group hug.
No need to bring a gift, being there will be enough. Birthdays mean having fun with friends, not getting lots of stuff.
It won't be the same without you so we hope that you say yes. So please, oh please, RSVP and come and be our guest."
The party mare finished singing. "Pinkie, of course I'm going to be at the party. I live here." Trixie said.
"I know. I had an extra." She said.
"Okay, but why are you giving it to me so late?" Trixie asked.
"Better late than never." Pinkie said, bouncing in place. Trixie just watched as the pink mare simply enjoyed her own company outside her door.
"Well are you just going to stand out there? The party is about to start." She said.
"Of course not silly. I want to come inside, Trixie."
"Whoa, I walked in on the wrong part of that conversation." Discord said, strutting past the doorway behind Trixie as she bristled. He was already in his magician outfit. Behind him, the other attendees were already getting into the swing of things. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were bobbing for apples. Fluttershy and Rarity were playing pin the tail on the pony. Spike was bringing out another plate of nachos for Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
Part of the dance floor was made into an impromptu stage where Discord was getting set up. It was a bit of a tradition that he come by and do a classic magic routine for Starswirl's birthday ever since he was a small foal. Trixie always felt a little strange being in the audience for these performances. By right it should be her up there being the stage magician. But that stopped as quickly as it started the first time she tried.
When Starswirl turned one, she was entertaining the foal and her guests with a bit of classic Trixie. On stage, the whole show routine, with the lights and illusions. But it just so happened that the draconequus decided to crash the party and upstage the mare. It was mostly just to antagonize her. But when he did it again the second year, she just let him take it rather than make another scene. The guests seemed to enjoy his brand of entertainment more anyway. And for whatever reason, he had taken a liking to the colt. But this year it seemed to not have the effect that he had desired. The birthday colt just sat at his table, moping.
"Hey Swirly! Why the loooooong face?" Pinkie asked, stretching his complexion to an obscene degree, letting it snap back like a rubber band.
"I thought I told you not to call me that." He grumbled, still not smiling. Pinkie looked around the room. It was very light in the guest department.
"Where are all of your other friends?" She asked. He narrowed his eyes at her. Spike set a plate of nachos in front of him. He wrapped his hoof around the dragon, pulling him to his side.
"Here he is." Stark said. He let Spike go on his way, hoping Pinkie would do the same. But she just stood there, smiling at him, waiting for him to do the same. "What?"
"My name is Pinkie Pie."
"I know."
"And I am here to say,"
"What?"
"I'm going to make you smile, and brighten up your daaay!" She sang. He clamped her mouth closed with his hooves.
"No. No singing." He said.
"Aw, but I'm so good at it." She whined. "Here, why don't you open your present then. It's sure to cheer you up." She said, giving him the wrapped box, pushing it across the table. He pulled off the ribbon as the lid exploded off in a flurry of confetti to the sound of party noise-makers as Pinkie Pie popped out of the box. "SURPRISE! It's me!"
"You're my present?" He asked, incredulously. "Do you come with a gift receipt?"
"No silly! It's my presence ." She said. "Because the past is passed and the future has yet to come. But right now is a gift. That's why it's called the present." She sang.
"What did I just say about singing?" He sighed.
"Aww, why so serious Stark?" Discord said. "Here, let's give this this situation a little less... gravity."
-SNAP -
Everything in the room began to drift freely about.
"AHH! My mane!" Rarity freaked out.
"Ooh everything is all floaty!" Pinkie giggled.
"I'M FLYING!" Scootaloo shouted in euphoria. Rainbow Dash remained where she had already been hovering in the air. Defying gravity was nothing to her. This was just a Tuesday. As Stark floated upside down near the ceiling, Discord swam through the air to meet him.
"Oh, come on now. You really need to... lighten up!" He said. "Isn't that what you want for your birthday? Isn't that what everypony wants?"
"This isn't what I had in mind." Stark said.
"Then indulge me. Quickly before the cake candles reach the books." Discord said. Stark whispered something into his ear.
-SNAP -
The gravity was returned to normal. Everypony flashed back into their seats. The cake reappeared in front of Stark.
"Blow out your candles and make a wish." Discord said.
"Shouldn't we wait for Twilight? She should be here any minute." Trixie said.
"We'll save her a piece." Discord said. "Go on, before the wax gets on the frosting." Stark blew out the candles, making a wish in his mind. Pumpkin Cake burst out of the confection, getting frosting on Stark's fur.
"Happy birthday, Mister Sparkle..." She started to sing to him. His surprise gave way to joy, smiling so wide you could tie his lips behind his head. "I've got something for you." She said. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips. He pressed his smooch against wrapping paper. He opened his eyes to see a wrapped gift in her hooves bumping against his nose. "It's your favorite..." She purred. He opened the box and looked inside. It was empty. "Disappointment!" Pumpkin had transformed back into Discord, covered in frosting and laughing like an idiot.
"Discord!" Rarity fumed. "It is incredibly cruel to toy with somepony's heart like that. You should be ashamed."
"You're one to talk. " Spike said under his breath.
"At least he got you to smile." Pinkie said.
"Yes... he's a real sweetheart. We're all so lucky to have him in our lives." Stark muttered.
"Are you gonna eat that?" Pinkie said, pointing to the frosting on Stark's fur.
"Please don't lick me." The front door flew open. Twilight burst inside. The sound of her approach caught up with her, shattering the windows with a deafening boom. Everypony and everything inside was covered in glass. "Do you mind?" Stark motioned to Discord. With another snap, the glass was replaced into the panes and order was restored. For all the messes he makes, he's just as good for cleanup as well.
"Sorry, sorry I'm late. I got here as fast as I could." Twilight said.
"We could tell." Rainbow Dash said. "Geez Twi, it's usually you telling me to keep it sub-sonic withing the town limits."
"Oh, did I miss the cake?" Twilight asked.
"We can do it again." Pinkie said, which was answered with a chorus of 'No!' "Aww."
"I'm so sorry my trip ran so long." Twilight apologized again. "Princess Luna tried to give her Mogwai a bath and- ugh, it's not important anymore. I'm here now." She ran upstairs and dug in her closet, bringing down a wrapped, dense hexahedron that was suspiciously book shaped.
"Oh boy." Stark deadpanned. He settled in front of the other guests' gifts, starting with their cards. Some were funny. Some were heartfelt. Pinkie's was a pop-up musical one. It was a pony, and taped to her hoof was a small foil package that said Trojan on it. Did she just give him a condom?
Yes Stark. Yes she did.
"Don't be a fool. Wrap your tool." She chimed. "What? He's getting to that age."
"Could this get any more awkward ?" Stark thought to himself as he buried the card.
"Hey, where's Cadence?" Twilight asked. Shining and Cadence chose that moment to fall out through the pantry closet door. The room went silent.
"Oh, did somepony say my name?" Cadence blushed.
"We were just... looking for various sundry items... in the pantry." Shining said.
"Note to self, " Stark thought, "Do not tempt fate. "
The party languished on. Presents were opened, cards were given, cake was eaten. A pinata smashed, apples bobbed, tails pinned. Things eventually wound down. Ponies left. One last pony arrived. Having always arrived via the balcony, Princess Celestia suddenly realized how awkward it was ducking to get inside the front, pony-sized door.
"I seem to have missed out on the festivities." She said in her melodic voice.
"Don't worry, you didn't miss anything." Stark said. "Actually you did. But you'll be glad you did." She knew that look.
"Not a fan of birthdays?" She asked. He nodded. "Me either." She sat down beside him at the table.
"But you're a princess. I bet your birthdays are, I dunno. Huge."
"They certainly are an... event." She said. "Any excuse for the Canterlot elite to have a party I suppose. But when you get to be as... old as I am, well, you'd need a dragon to light that many candles." They each shared a chuckle. He didn't know what it was about her. Sure, he'd had his eye on Pumpkin for as long as he could remember. But there was something about Tia that interested him. It wasn't love, he knew that much. It wasn't even coltish lust. It was more of a kindred spirit feeling. Another pony who felt so alienated from society. For as long as he'd know her, they'd had an instant rapport.
It would never happen. He knew that. He took comfort in it even. There was something liberating about it. That he could just be himself around her. No need to try to impress or act. She would see right through it if he tried anyway. He respected her too much to try to be somepony he wasn't.
"I brought you something, by the way." She said. She passed the item to him. He could only describe it as an 'item'. It was hardly a gift. Certainly if it was coming from royalty. It was wrapped in a simple brown paper, with plain twine. It was suspiciously book-shaped.
"Another book." He said. "I've always wanted one." He said flatly, looking at the library shelves surrounding them.
"Actually, I think you'll like this one." She said as he unwrapped it. "I know how much you dislike extravagances." It was true. He didn't see the point in wrapping something in pretty paper just to unwrap it. It was a waste. But then, he was nothing if not pragmatic. "It's one of Starswirl the Bearded's last books." She said.
"I've read it." He said. Barely finishing unwrapping it. "Trust me. I've read them all. Madre has seen to it."
"Actually," Celestia said with a smile, "this is one that she hasn't ever seen before." That gave him pause. For him to know more about Starswirl the Bearded than Twilight did? The very idea made him so excited his teeth itched. He opened the book. It was unreadable.
"What is this?" He asked.
"Starswirl was a big proponent of 'knowledge for all'." She said. "Every other book of his was written for anypony to read. Except for this one. This one was written in a code that only he could unlock with a cipher that he created. Code breaking was never my forte, but Twilight has told me that you have become quite the cryptographer yourself."
"It's a hobby."
"Yes well, if you can unlock this coded book, you will be the first pony to know Starswirl the Bearded's final secrets."
"Wow... Thank you, Tia." He said. "So, um, what do you know about it so far?"
"Well, the first part is definitely a spell, judging from its format. But the rest seems to be more in the style of letters. Rough drafts perhaps. We're not sure. That's why I wanted to let you give it a shot." She said. She glanced out the window and then at the clock on the wall. It was getting late. She would have to lower the sun soon. She cursed her sister for her ill-timed, post-midnight exotic pet feeding. She looked at him beside her, studying the symbology in the book. A tear rolled down her cheek.
"Are you okay?" He asked, noticing her distress.
"I'm fine, it's just... I've just realized how long it's been since I've seen you last." She said.
"I just saw you a couple weeks ago." He said.
"I know, I just... I've always treasured our time together." She said emphatically.
"Okay. Me too. It's nothing to get all misty over." He said.
"No. You're right." She said wiping her cheek. "I was just thinking of something else." She rose from her seat. "Have you ever seen me set the sun?" She asked. He shook his head. "Come on outside with me." They walked outside into the orange-red glow of the sun, already low in the sky. Before his eyes, she flew up into the sky, taking hold of the sun with her magic, pulling it below the horizon with her descent. It slipped below the horizon as her hooves touched the ground. But he wasn't watching the sun any longer. He was focused on something else.
"That- that was, you were-" He stammered.
"Shhh." She said, putting a hoof to his lips. "Tell me, the next time you see me." She said with a wink. "Happy Birthday, Starswirl." She said, giving him a peck on the cheek before taking off into the sky. Stark fall backwards onto his haunches as he watched her fly off.
"You're beautiful." He whispered into the sky.
Princess Celestia flew higher into the night. She wept. Her tears flowed freely now that she was away. Seeing him again gave her no comfort. It was only a reminder of what she had lost already. And she knew damn well that she would never see him again.
Back inside, it was once again it was just the four of them. Twilight, Trixie, Spike and Stark. Spike was busy getting to work cleaning up the mess in the kitchen.
"Okay." He said to them. "Now that you're home from your princess trip and Celestia is gone, mom can finally tell me."
"Tell you what?" Twilight asked as she walked out of the kitchen with Trixie.
"I promised that I'd tell him our big family secret." Trixie said.
"What? That I'm your sister?" She asked. The next sound was that of Stark's head hitting the floor. It seemed that fainting was hereditary.
"What should we tell him?" Trixie asked in a hushed voice. They'd carried Stark to his bedroom, letting him recover on his bed. They kept their voices down to let him rest.
"About the sister thing?" Twilight asked.
"I mean about his father."
"Anything but the truth."
"But I was going to tell him the truth!" Trixie said. "I think he could have handled the idea that his father was Shining Armor. But now that he knows that I'm your sister, well, I think he'll be able to put two and two together and he is NOT going to like the answer."
"So what should we tell him?" Twilight asked. "I mean, how many stallions have you... I mean, you know."
"Okay, first of all, I don't appreciate the implication." Trixie huffed. "But more importantly, who among that actually-short list has he already met?" She asked. Twilight gave her a puzzled look. "He asked me who his father is. I wanted to wait to tell him once I had spoken with you. But I did tell him that he'd already met him before."
"What if, what if he doesn't remember what I said right before he passed out?" Twilight asked, hopeful.
"In that case it would be okay if he knew that Shining Armor was his father."
"Shining Armor is my father?" Stark said from the doorway.
"Starswirl! How long have you been standing there?" Twilight asked as she opened his door the rest of the way.
"Long enough." He said, letting the silence ensue after.
His parents' minds scrambled for some explanation, anything, anything at all to say to break the silence. Twilight braced herself for the worst, for him you yell, or cry, or run. But his expression was unreadable. After everything he had been through, all the adventures and disasters, this was the moment that broke his mind, she feared.
He just stood there looking back and forth between them. He should have felt surprised, or hurt, or angry. Or felt some combination of upset emotions. But he didn't. He might not have understood the details of the matter but he knew the important parts already. They were his parents and they loved him. He loved them. And he was wise enough to understand that whatever happened, they had their reasons for keeping things from him. There was only one important question left that he needed the answer to.
"Who else knows?" He asked calmly. The question was so simple it was unexpected. Twilight spoke first.
"Well, um, uncle Shining knows." She said.
"Obviously."
"And our parents. You grandparents."
"Obviously." No other names came. "Anypony else?" He asked. Twilight shook her head.
"No. That's everypony." She said quickly.
"Okay." He said calmly. "Here is what's going to happen. I'm going to pack a weekend bag, and tomorrow I'm going to go to the Crystal Empire and visit Uncle Shining."
"What are you going to do?" Twilight panicked. "You're not going to tell Cadence are you? You can't! She'd be devastated!"
"I'm going to do exactly what I said. I'm just going for a visit. They always complain about how little time they spend with me anyway. And I just-" He sighed and rubbed his cheek with his hoof. "It's just something I need to do." He stepped back into his room and opened a bag on his bed. "I'll be fine. I promise." His parents left his doorway, letting him be. Outside of his range of hearing, Trixie pulled Twilight aside.
"He took that news... surprisingly well." Twilight said.
"You didn't tell him about Celestia?" Trixie asked.
"Shining and our parents knowing, he would have figured that out on his own. But he respects Celestia so much. And I know she'll never broach it with him. There's no need for him to not be able to look at her the same way again."
The Friendship Express pulled away from the Crystal Empire station. A crystal guard pony had a sign reading Starswirl . Twilight had Spike send a message ahead that Stark would be visiting for the weekend. Shining and Cadence made arrangements for him to be picked up at the station. He trotted over to the guard.
"I'm Starswirl." He said.
"I know. This way please."
It wasn't his first time in the Empire. Far from it. He'd been there many times before with his Madre and her friends. But every time, he still couldn't get over the magnificence of the place. The acute architecture, the shimmering skyline, punctuated by the enormous Crystal Palace, and the streams of aurora. He could certainly see why it was the number one tourist destination in Equestria.
He took in the sights in peace. His escort, pulling the chariot, seemed to care less for conversation. And that suited Stark just fine. But as distracting as the city was, he couldn't keep the task ahead from his mind. He was going to see his father today. Sure he'd seen him before. Many times even. But even when looking back on those memories through the filter of this new knowledge, it wasn't the same. He'd known the stallion, Shining Armor, his entire life. But somehow, it still felt like he was meeting him for the first time today.
"Here we are." His chauffeur said as the came to a stop. Stark looked around them. The castle was still a few blocks away yet. He didn't mind walking, but still.
"We haven't reached the castle yet." He said.
"Quite right. The Prince is in the Colosseum." He motioned to the stadium beside them. "He has given instruction that you are to meet him here."
"And the Princess?"
"She will be joining him shortly after she finishes her day court session at the palace." He said. Stark waited a moment, trying to reassess his plan. "Right through there sir." The guard said, pointing to the main entrance. An attendee was waving over to him, clearly expecting him.
"Right."
She waved him through the gate and he walked inside the stadium. He had been in there once before when the Equestrian Games were held there. It was only the second time that had happened since the Empire had returned. But his view was from up in the stands. Today he was walking out onto the field. It looked quite a bit different from what he remembered. The entire field had been redone.
"LETS GO LADIES!" Came a shout from across the way. "ARE WE GONNA GALLOP OR ARE WE GONNA TROT?" It was his uncle Shining.
It was his father
He was shouting at a group of ponies running laps around the edge of the field. He hadn't noticed Stark yet. "MOVE! MOVE! MY WIFE CAN RUN FASTER THAN YOU!" As Stark got closer, Shining saw him approaching. His stern glare yielded to a bright smile. "Oh, hey Starswirl! I was looking forward to you getting here. Did you want to play a scrimmage of hoofball with the team?" Shining grabbed a hoofball out of the equipment bag. Stark watched the group of fillies finish their last lap of running.
"Um, hoofball isn't really my thing." Stark said.
"Oh. Okay." Shining said, tossing the ball in the air to himself a couple of times. "How about just a bit of catch then?"
"Catch isn't really my thing either."
"Hmf. You sound like your mother." Shining huffed.
"Trixie?"
"No, your other moth- you know who I mean. Twilight."
"Yeah, I knew who you meant. I call her Madre." Stark reminded him.
"I remember now. Sorry about that." Shining apologized.
"It's okay." Stark frowned.
"Hey, are you still upset about your birthday?"
"Yeah, a little I guess."
"You know, there's an inverse correlation between exercise and depression." Shining said, throwing the ball to him. He almost caught it but bobbled it in his hooves before dropping it.
"Shining?"
"What's up?"
"Happy Father's Day."
"Thanks. But I don't think that really applies to me, since I'm not a father." Shining said.
Stark just gave him a look. His eyes said it all. And Shining could see it. He didn't want to. He hoped like hell he was wrong, trying to keep up the bluff on his face. Stark went in for the kill, slowly raising his eyebrow. Shining swallowed nervously. Stark felt a little bad. He didn't mean to put him on the spot like this. But he needed to talk to him before Auntie Cadence got here.
"When did you find out?" Shining asked.
"Yesterday."
"Who?"
"Mom. And Twilight too, sort of."
"Why?"
"I asked."
"..."
"Hey coach!" One of the fillies said as she ran over. "We're done our run."
"Okay. Good practice today girls. Go hit the showers and I'll see you this weekend for the game." Shining said. She smiled at Stark and jogged off with the rest of her team. He looked back at his dad. Shining looked back at him. "So what now? Are you going to tell Cadence?"
"Of course not! I'm not trying to hurt anypony. It's just that... well, when I found out, I wanted to come meet you." Stark said.
"Yeah, but it's not like you've never met me before." He said.
"I know, but now... it still kind of feels like I'm meeting you for the first time. Do you know what I mean?" He asked. Shining put his hoof around him.
"Actually, yeah. I do." He held him for a long moment. "Listen I'm- I'm sorry I couldn't be your father. It was- things were- did your mother tell you... how?" Stark nodded.
"Bachelor party. Before she met Twilight." Stark said.
"Right."
"..."
"Dad, " Stark whispered. Shining looked down at him. "I think I would like to play catch."
"I'd like that too... son ."
Back in Ponyville, Twilight sat down at the table for lunch with her wife. Trixie chewed on her daffodil sandwich that her sister had made for her. It was still such a strange concept to her, as she looked across the table at the lavender mare reading her book. They didn't grow up together. They never had that familial relationship. She was her sister by blood and title only. Starswirl's recent curiosity only now reminding her of it. But she did wonder now.
"Twilight?" She asked. She looked up from her book.
"Yes?"
"Has it ever bothered you about our relationship being, well, you know?"
"Incestuous?" Twilight said bluntly.
"For pony's sake Twilight! I'm trying to be tactful about this. But, yeah, that's what I mean." Twilight put a ribbon in her page and set the book down.
"Why do you ask? I mean, why do you ask now? What brought this on?" Twilight asked.
"Well, it's just that, with Starswirl asking about it, it kind of got me thinking about it myself." She said, idly making little circles on the table with her hoof.
"You don't regret it do you? Us being together?"
"No, no! Of course not. It's just that I've been thinking about it these last couple of days. I guess I was just wondering if you ever did though." Twilight put her hoof on hers.
"Trixie, do you remember what I said on our wedding day?" Trixie blushed and nodded. "When we said our vows, I meant them. Even as I knew the truth about us, there was never a doubt that I loved you. Our- relationship is like... gravity. It is what it is. It's a fact of our lives. But it's not something that we need to consciously think about everyday. But it's certainly something we shouldn't forget about either. And there's nothing that we can do that's going to change it."
"What about your gravity spell? And Discord the other day?" Trixie asked in provocation. Twilight gave her ear a playful nip.
"You know what I mean!" She said. "Remember when Tirek tried to destroy Equestria? You and Starswirl were holed up, hiding in Sugarcube Corner."
"I think he just wanted to hide there to be with that Pumpkin filly." Trixie interjected, giggling.
"Anyway," Twilight continued, "when he destroyed the old library, I had only a second to rescue everyone inside. But I could only find Owlowiscious. In that moment I thought for sure that you two had been killed!" Her eyes started to water at the vivid memory. "And then, then-" Twilight choked up. It was Trixie's turn to hold her.
"I think all of Ponyville remembers what happened then." Trixie said, recalling the exchange of the two magical juggernauts clashing. The landscape of the region still bore the scars of that battle to this day.
"My point is," Twilight said, wiping her eyes, "I didn't think I was avenging my sister and nephew that day. I was avenging my wife and son. That's who you are to me, who you've always have been. And you always will be." Trixie hugged her tighter.
"How do you think things are going with Starswirl in the Crystal Empire?" Trixie asked.
"I don't know." Twilight sighed, resting her chin on Trixie's shoulder. "I just hope-"
"What?"
"I just realized that today is Father's Day."
Cadence watched the hoofball wobbled erratically as it sailed through the air. Shining had to run in to close the distance and make the catch. She made her way down the stairs of the arena toward where they were playing on the field.
"You have to give it a bit more spin on the release so that way it has more control." Shining advised. He backed up a ways and blasted it across the lawn. It arced through the air with absolute precision. Starswirl didn't have to move an inch. He put his hooves up for the catch, just in time to miss it as it careened off of his skull yet again. Cadence cringed, but had to stifle a giggle. She'd know the colt his entire life, and he was never much of an athlete. She was actually impressed that Shining was able to persuade him to take part at all.
"Ooh, sorry kiddo." Shining said. "Try giving it another throw." Starswirl picked up the ball and rubbed his head.
"Wouldn't it just be easier to just use magic?" He said, levitating it and giving it a perfect spin as it suspended in air.
"Yes," Cadence called out. "but it wouldn't be fair." They both looked over to her.
"She's right." Shining said. "Hoofball is a game for everypony to play. Earth ponies can't use magic. And it wouldn't be very fair if pegasi just flew with the ball across the field. The rules have to be the same for everypony. No wings, and no magic. Now come on, give it another throw." Starswirl's next throw was an improvement. A little less wobbly, a little more distance. He was a promising novice. Shining didn't have to run nearly as far forward to catch it this time.
A blind-sided Shining went tumbling as the ball went flying from his sprawled form, lofting down into Cadence's waiting hooves.
"And the quarterback is toast!" She said triumphantly, spiking the ball.
"I think you mean receiver-" Shining groaned.
"Is toast!" She repeated. "Come on. It's time to eat anyway."
Dinner was more or less uneventful. The food was good. But then the difference between eating at one princess's residence to another wasn't particularly jarring. To be honest with himself, Starswirl wasn't really sure what to expect anyway. He sat at the table with Shining and Cadence and they made small talk. They had already been sped up on current events in his life just the other day at his birthday party.
He sat and ate dinner with his biological father and unbeknownst step-mother. But it didn't feel any different from the last meal that they shared. His knew knowledge didn't really change the way it felt. It still felt like Uncle Shining and Auntie Cadence. Realistically he didn't expect some kind of warm embrace of a home-coming. "How would that even work?" He thought.
It wasn't like he suddenly expected some kind of strange joint custody, where he would stay with his dad on the weekends on a regular basis. He wasn't the stallion who raised him. His Madre was right. It didn't matter who the sperm donor was. His parents were back in Ponyville. After the meal he excused himself to his room.
His travel bag had been delivered to his temporary quarters while he was out playing. It waited for him on the spacious bed. He unpacked his bag, laying out his things. Among them was the book that Princess Celestia had given him. He set it on the desk to read later. Something jingled at the bottom of his bag. He upturned the pouch and poured out the final items.
His overnight bag was one of a matched set that his Madre had gotten. One, he used for his travel bag, another, she used to store her Nightmare Night costume during the year. He'd grabbed the wrong bag by mistake. Her Starswirl the Bearded costume laid on his bedding. He folded it neatly and put it back in the bag before settling down at the desk for a quiet evening.
As the evening dusk gave way to Luna's night, his quiet was supplanted by the rhythmic thumping of the headboard in the next room.
Thump thump thump thump... -
He stifled his nausea and threw his book and the notes he'd taken into the bag and stepped out into the hallway. A passing guard stopped him.
"It's after hours young master. You should be about on your own." He said.
"Yeah, I know. But I was just going to find a quiet place to read for a bit." Starswirl said.
"You could go to the library. I just need to know where you are for accountability."
"I understand." He said. As a young prince, he was used to this kind of limited freedom.
"Do you need me to show you the way?"
"No, my Madre, Princess Twilight showed me where it was the first time I came here."
"Okay then. But don't wander elsewhere without letting one of us know please. But may I ask why your room is unsuitable for reading?"
"The noise from the neighbors." He said. They both stood in silence, straining their ears. They could both hear the thumping of the bed frame from the royal chambers.
"Ah, that. At it again. It's like that every night. We've learned to just tune it out." The guard said matter-of-factly. Starswirl trotted down the hall to the library in the palace wing.
Cadence watched her husband going at it, sweat pouring off of his fur.
"If you keep it up you're going to break the bed frame." She said.
He didn't break his frantic pace. "Yeah- -but it hurts- -to do crunches- -on the floor!" He said between sets of abdominal reps. He kept doing his speed crunches on the bed while she got into her pajamas and brushed her teeth in the bathroom.
Stark trotted down the hallway to the palace library. It was one of the very first things his Madre, Twilight, had shown him when she had brought him to the Crystal Empire for the first time. And every time thereafter. He knew the way by heart. In fact, he could even find his way there with his eyes closed.
Which would be handy since the way wasn't particularly well-lit at night. And night did come early to the Frozen North.
Even in the nearly twenty years since it's reappearance, the Crystal Empire had changed little. There were arguments on both sides regarding the matter. After all, the poor citizens who reappeared with it were thrust forward a thousand years into the future. The technological marvels of modern time Equestria would boggle their minds if they were exposed too quickly.
Others however, particularly historians of Equestria, wanted to preserve the Empire as a pristine relic of the past. A compromise was struck with the integration of minimal technology for the sake of inter-equestrian travel and diplomatic communications. The tourism industry was certainly a boon for the blossoming commerce of the region.
"They could at least update the lighting." Stark mumbled in the dark passageway. It mattered little. After the predicted number of steps he arrived at the door to the castle archives.
His meager candle did nothing to help the sign's readability. But he already knew what it said. He pushed the door open and sat at the nearest reading table. He wasn't tired in the least. Stark was never one much for sleep. He was more of a night owl. An apt label, as he remembered many a nights staying up and reading with Owlowiscious.
He slipped of his bag and set it on the floor beside his chair. He took the old book that Celestia had given him and opened it to the first page again, taking out the notes he had taken on separate slips of paper. He was actually making good progress toward a working cipher for the code in which the book was written. It was very similar in style to one of the code he was working on earlier that week in class.
Stark had a momentary rush of adrenaline. Tomorrow was Monday. He would be absent from class. The anxiety passed. It was nearly the end of June. Last week was the final days of class. It was summer vacation now. The 'vacation' never meant much to Stark though. Twilight was sure to have him fitted with all manner of academic chores.
"Every day is an opportunity for a learning experience." He recited aloud, mimicking his Madre. He became very self-aware in that moment. Here he was, arguably on a 'vacation'. And the first thing he does with some spare time alone? Research in a library. He cursed under his breath. "She ruined me for life." He groaned, before resuming his work.
The spell on the first page could be any combination of evocations. It would be impossible to use as a decipherable reference. But the next few pages seemed to be a collection of letters, judging by the formatting. But the symbology of the heading was confusing. They were mostly all addressed to the same pony.
If I could figure out their name...
The greeting was unique as well. It wasn't 'Dear somepony,'. He tried transposing different words. Hello? Greetings? Salutations? No. None of them fit the pattern. The permutation of 'most dear'? Dearest? Dearest! Dearest fit. It wasn't much, but it was a start. "Dear Mare," Stark grinned. It seemed old Starswirl the Bearded was writing to a lady friend.
He rewrote the greeting on a separate paper and flipped the page back. He set to work transposing the symbols, assigning them to modern letters.
"Damn, I need to remember that D and R together are one letter in the Pre-Classical Equestrian alphabet." With that in mind, he was able to work out the primary cipher. Using it, it translated the page into gibberish.
To the untrained eye.
The mess on his piece of paper served as guide for the secondary cipher. He was on a roll now. His pen flew across the page, writing out the final translation. He could feel his heart racing. He would be the first in a millennium to know the final spell that Starswirl the Bearded ever recorded! He couldn't wait to rub it in everypony's face.
"There. It's finished." He said, looking at the final draft. He couldn't know for sure though. Evocation spells like this were never real words. They were spelled out phonetically for the caster to make very precise non-words. After all, one couldn't be having spells cast by accident with idle conversation. He sounded out each word individually to make sure he had the pronunciation correct. Then he read the spell all together to see if it actually did anything.
Nothing. He double checked his work.
"Damn it! That D R combination." He went back and made the corrections, updating the primary and secondary ciphers. He put the rest of his notes, the old ciphers and headings into his bag. Confident now, he re-read the spell, focusing his magic will into each word. At the apex of the spell, the sudden shift from the dark library to blinding white light left him reeling. It was seared into his retinas, even as he clenched his eyes.
The light faded, but he'd lost his night vision. He squinted into the room. He didn't summon any monsters, and the library wasn't on fire. All he'd managed to do was temporarily blind himself.
"What kind of stupid spell was that?" He complained as he rubbed his eyes. "Like, how do I even show that off?" He groaned as he regained his balance. He had manage to blow out the candle when the spell completed. He called light to his horn. It was brighter than a candle anyway.
The candle and the holder were both missing. In fact, everything at the table was missing. Even worse, the walls of the library were no longer a pretty, azure blue. They had been scorched black. He gulped at the thought of having to explain that to Shining and Cadence.
The door to the library flew open. A cloaked pony dashed inside and closed the door behind him. His eyes immediately landed on Stark, his horn still lighting the room. Without a word, the mysterious pony dove across the room faster than Stark could have prepared for, tackling him to the floor. He put a hoof to Stark's mouth, stifling his scream.
"Put it out!" Came the feminine voice, albeit in a hushed hiss as she held him still on the floor behind the table. He obeyed, fearing for his life, extinguishing the light. Not a moment later, a crystal guard came by, checking inside the library with his torch. The flickering light of the burning stick did nothing to reveal them and he closed the door, moving on down the hallway in his patrol. Once she was sure he was gone, the mystery mare took her weight off of Stark, but still kept his mouth covered as she spoke.
"I am not your enemy." She said in an urgent whisper. "I'm going to let go now. But you need to promise not to scream or we'll both be dead ponies. Do you understand?" He nodded. "Okay. We need to get out of here! But first I need to rescue my sister. Will you help me?"
"Wait, rescue?" Stark gasped. "From what? From who?"
"Sombra." She said.
The spell brought back King Sombra.
Stark felt the color leave his face as an icy chill ran up his spine. This was bad. This was very very bad! He'd only ever heard about King Sombra from his Madre and a few reluctant citizens of the empire. All accounts were horrific nightmare fuel. And he brought him back with a careless incantation. His parents had warned him against such rash actions. If he was unlucky enough to survive this night, he'd have to face their wrath too. It was his fault the king was back. Of course he had to help fix this.
"Of course I'll help!" He said. She took his hoof, pulling him along.
"This way. We need to avoid detection. He's grown too powerful. We can't take him on in a direct confrontation." She said.
"What about Shining and Cadence? Are they okay?" He asked.
"I don't know." She said. "They may be in the dungeon as well."
"Dungeon?"
"Yes. Under the castle." She explained. "That's where we're headed. Now keep quiet." Stark followed her through the dark halls. She moved in near-silence. He tried his best to keep his hooves from making too much noise as well. He squinted into the dark, trying his best to keep up with her. She was nearly invisible in her black cloak, except for the white fur of her exposed face. "There, just up ahead." She pointed across the way as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Two guards were illuminated by the light of a pair of torches on the wall. They wore armor blacker than ink, and were most definitely NOT the palace guards he was used to seeing. "I need you to go run past them" She whispered.
"But they'll see me." He whispered back.
"Yes. That's the point. When they turn their attention to you, I'll take them out." She said.
"Are- are you sure?"
"I promise." She said.
Stark took a deep breath. His mind was racing. He was never one to trust strangers. Even less, to act on impulse like this. But there was just something about her. Everything in his mind was screaming that all of this was crazy, and to just get out of there, just run.
Just run
He ran. He ran down the hallway, past the two guards. They turned to give chase. Stark looked over his shoulder as a billowing shade leaped from the shadows upon them each. He stopped running and turned back as she snapped the neck of the second guard.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, he's... they're-" Stark felt his stomach flip at the sight of them on the ground.
"Hey, come on. Don't fall apart on me." She said.
"I just- I've never seen..." He stuttered. She pushed them into the shadows, out of sight.
"Well, now you've seen one. But there's going to be a whole lot more if we fail. So I need you to focus, okay?" She said. He nodded. She ducked into the prisoner block hallway, checking the cells. "She's here!" She called out to Stark. "Quick, put those out!" She pointed at the sconces on the wall. He extinguished the flames. In the dark he heard the iron bars creak open. She and the second set of hooves moved toward him. "Follow us." She said.
The well-timed traversal of the castle led to their eventual escape out into the open of the empire grounds. The entire region had been transformed into jagged black precipices. It was a nightmarish landscape. Stark quietly prayed that indeed this was all just a bad dream. The the spell he'd cast had merely knocked him unconscious. He wished that he would just awaken with a bad caster's headache.
He wished it so very much.
The sky was devoid of light. The aurora of a happy empire was gone. They ran silently through the dark streets. Hidden from view, they witnessed the endless chains of crystal ponies, shackled in a horrific parade to pony-knows-where. At the edge of the empire they arrived at the southern border. The Empire Train Station was destroyed. It was completely gone. Even the tracks had been wretched from the ground, clear to the horizon. There was naught but a dirt path to follow, out into the cold wilderness.
"We've reached the edge of the empire." His rescuer said. "But I had only brought enough garments for myself and my sister." She motioned to the other pony, completely covered in a black robe of her own, shivering beside her. "Have you anything to wear into the cold?" He was about to say no, but remembered that he indeed have something to wear.
"I can't believe this." He mumbled to himself. At the bottom of the bag, he dug out his Madre's Nightmare Night costume. It looked ridiculous, but it would keep him from the wind and cold. They stepped over the threshold of the empire, into the cold of the Frozen North, following the dirt path south into Equestria.
"He did WHAT?" Cadence screamed.
"Your Highness," The guard backed away, "Young Starswirl went to the library last night. He wasn't in there or his room this morning. It seems that he's disappeared." He said. The guard behind him brought a few items forward. A book and a few slips of paper. "Theses were all we found."
"FIND HIM!" She commanded. "If Princess Twilight finds out that her son is missing, she'll tear all of Equestria apart looking for him. Starting with us!" She yelled. The fear she was trying to instill in the guards was genuine. She'd seen first hoof what the lavender mare was capable of, laying waste to an entire region in the clash with Tirek. No sooner had he left did the trumpets blare outside, sounding the arrival of a very important pony. They barely had time to finish the bar before Celestia burst through the doors.
"Forgive my sudden arrival, but I come on a most urgent matter. Is young Starswirl here? I need to speak with him right away! There was something I needed to tell him." She asked.
"I'm sorry Princess Celestia. But I'm afraid we're having a bit of a crisis ourselves. Starswirl went missing sometime last night." Shining said. Celestia had held back her tears up to that point, but she no longer had the will to keep back the floodgates. She wept openly now, tears running down her cheeks as she put her hoof to the nearby window.
"Tia! Auntie! What is it? What's wrong?" Cadence ran over to her. Celestia sobbed against the glass. Her legs gave out as she collapsed against the window. Her tears wet the pane as she slid down, inconsolable. Cadence was aghast. She'd never, EVER seen Celestia like this. She was always so stoic and composed. Even when the fate of the world was at stake, lives hanging in the balance, she was calm and sure.
"Cadie! What's going on? What's wrong?" Shining said, joining her side. Cadence's face was whiter than his. Her eyes were wide with horror.
"I have no idea." She gasped. "I've never seen her like this. It's like the end times or something!" Celestia bawled out on the hard floor, her crown fell from her head, clattering across the floor. Between heaving sobs she was only able to get out two words. The stained glass of the ancient windows rattled with her desperate cry.
"HE'S GONE!"
The night of travel through the Frozen North by hoof was arduous. It was dark and cold. The ubiquitous cloud cover keeping even the moon from lighting the way. But being June, and the height of the summer solstice, they needed only to get down off of the plateau to get into more temperate climate.
In the small hours of the morning, they entered a small, mountainside hamlet. Most of the citizens were asleep. But there was a modest inn that still had the front lamp lit. Stark's vision was blurry with exhaustion. He followed the two mares inside. After a brief exchange with the front desk that escaped his hearing, they were in a room. He slept where he fell.
Stark awoke to the dawn as it streaked in through the window. The other two were already awake. He stumbled up off the floor. They stood at the window, overlooking the valley ahead, watching the sunrise. He could only make out their silhouettes against the sun behind them. They turned toward him at the sound of the bells on his Starswirl ensemble.
"Good morning." She said. "I hope you slept alright." Stark twisted his head about, trying to get the knots out of it. He still felt like he could sleep for another age. But his curiosity outweighed his fatigue.
"I've had worse." He lied.
"Come on then. We haven't a moment to lose." She said, leading him outside. "We need to find a way to stop Sombra. If any place will have the answer as to how, it will be here." She said, waving about her at the village. "Young unicorn, let me be the first to welcome you to Canterlot."
"HA!"
"Hahahaha"
"HAHAHA HA HAA! YOU DOLT!" Stark clutched his sides at the absurdity of her statement. "This isn't Canterlot! Why, this is barely a hovel! I- wow!" He practically keeled over. "I just- I'm sorry- hehehehe! It actually takes a lot to make me laugh that hard." He said between gasps. He was practically tearing up. "Oh ho ho, oh-" He sighed "Okay, but seriously, where are we?" He asked once he had composed himself. His companions were mortified. They hadn't expected him to make such a scene. Luckily most ponies were still asleep at this hour.
"I AM being serious. This IS Canterlot." She said.
"Wha- what?" Stark asked incredulously "No, no it can't be. Canterlot has a castle on the side of..." He trailed off as his view traveled up the side of the mountain. "...no." He put his hoof up in front of his view, blocking out the muddy huts and squalor. "No." His eyes narrowed. This was the correct mountain. He recognized that ridge line anywhere. This was the right side of it. "It's impossible!" This was the place. "Nononono!" He ran to the ledge overlooking the valley below. Where Ponyville once lay was naught but grass and a smattering of trees. "What the hell happened!? Where is it!?" His legs gave out as the world spun around him. The hard cobblestone against his skull worked like no ordinary tranquilizer could.
"... and then he just went crazy and passed out. "
Stark looked up from the bed he was on. Some sort of cleric was muttering something beside him. Candles were everywhere.
"Oh good, it worked doctor. He's awake." She said.
"You purged the demons!" Her sister said.
"What? No. I just got to worked up and my blood pressure spiked." Stark said, sitting up.
"You did what with the blood now?"
"Ha! I knew it was bad blood. Good thing we had the leaches." She said. Stark looked at the mollusks on his legs.
"AHH!" He peeled them off, painfully. "No! This is not how medicine works! What is wrong with you ponies? You. Get out!" He barked, dismissing the 'doctor'. "Now... can somepony please tell me what is going on?"
"You started talking crazy and then you fell asleep out in the streets." She said.
"I don't mean about me, I mean the world! It's not right!" He said. They both looked at him strangely.
"We don't understand. Are you sure you are alright?"
"Yes... No... I don't know. I just- who are you anyway?" He asked. After everything that had happened, he'd been too scared or tired to even bother knowing the identities of his companions. But then he never was the most social of ponies. But now was the time that he needed answers. Starting with them. She pulled back her hood, finally revealing her entire face.
"My name is-"
"Celestia!?" He asked in sudden recognition. Her mane was pink, and she and her horn was shorter. But even without her royal jewelry, those eyes, it was her.
"N- no. How- how do you know her real name?" Her sister barely had time to finish her question before he pulled her hood back as well.
"Luna?" He knew he recognized her voice as well. Her mane was a pale blue, but it was definitely her too.
"I'm sorry, have we met? How can you know our true identities?" Celestia asked.
"He must be a spy!" Luna said.
"It's me! Starswirl!" He said. He was met with blank stares from both of them.
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Starswirl." Celestia said, extending a hoof. Luna gave her a glare. "What? I can tell when a pony is lying. And he's clearly not a spy. After all, he helped me break you out of the dungeon."
"But how do you know us?" Luna asked. "Our identities were kept secret by the unicorn tribe. Who talked?"
"Luna, be calm." Celestia intervened. "He's a fellow unicorn like us." She turned her attention back to him "If you know who we are, then you must know what we do." She probed.
"Yeah. You're responsible for raising the sun and moon." He answered.
"And how did you come by this knowledge." She asked.
"Everypony knows. It's common knowledge." He said.
"No. Wrong. Only the upper most echelon of the unicorn tribe knows this!" Luna barked.
"Wait..." Starswirl's mind raced.
He's a unicorn like us.
upper most echelon of the unicorn tribe
UNICORN TRIBE
"Oh no." He breathed. "I need something to write on. NOW!" Celestia hurriedly grabbed a blank notebook from her bag, along with a quill and ink. Starswirl pulled the bits of paper from his bag. The spell from the first page of the book and the heading from the second. He checked it against his cipher. "Dearest Mare," But it was wrong. The second R in the greeting was a different symbol. "Oh no."
"Princess Cadence?" The guard asked of her attention. She looked up from what must have been an incredibly interesting floor, given how much time she'd spent staring at it in the last twenty four hours.
"Yes?"
"Princess Twilight Sparkle has arrived." He said.
"Yes. Send her in." She said. Cadence didn't know what was about to happen. But Celestia had been crying all night. Amidst her bouts, the only information anypony could get from her was that Twilight Sparkle was to be summoned immediately, if not sooner. And that upon her arrival...
"Cadence! I came as fast as I could. What's wrong?" Twilight said, galloping toward the crystal throne.
"That's just it Twilight, I have no idea!" Cadence said. "Princess Celestia is in the royal suite. She's been inconsolable since she arrived, crying all night. I'm fairly certain it has something to do with your son's disappearance, and-"
"Disappearance!? Starswirl is missing!?" Twilight yelled.
"Yes. But Celestia seems to know where to. But she refuses to speak to anypony but you." Cadence barely finished her sentence before Twilight turned on her hoof and was headed back out of the throne room. Cadence looked to the guards. "Remember," She said to them "Celestia gave very specific instructions that they are NOT to be interrupted under any circumstances." She said. The guard stood fast. The doors to Celestia's room flew open. Celestia was a mess. She hadn't slept a wink all night. Her eyes were puffy and red.
"Celestia! What happened? What's wrong?" Twilight asked quickly, closing the door behind her. Celestia's teeth were on edge. She'd rehearsed this speech so many times before. And here she was. And she was lost. For the first time in a millennium, she was genuinely afraid.
"He's gone." She wept. Twilight had only ever seen Celestia cry twice before in her entire lifetime. Even then, it was barely a single tear from the normally stoic princess. And here she was, openly crying forth buckets.
"Starswirl? Yes I heard. We need to find him. Do you know where he went?" Twilight asked desperately.
"Not where ." Celestia said, pushing the pile of papers across the table to her. Twilight looked down at the encrypted book. It was clearly ancient. On the paper was a decoding cipher.
"This is the last book of Starswirl the Bearded." Celestia said. "The first page is a spell, but the rest..."
"But... I've researched everything about Starswirl the Bearded. I've never heard about this book." Twilight said.
"Nopony has. Because you were not meant to until today." Celestia explained.
"But what does this have to do with-"
"The answer is in those pages." Celestia said. Twilight quickly decoded the first sentence.
"Okay, it's a letter to somepony. A mare-" Twilight jumped back from the paper as though it had transformed into a snake. "NO!" She looked up at Celestia. This book was many hundreds of years old. The normally regal princess could barely bring herself to meet her gaze. "He didn't! He isn't!?" Twilight choked up. Celestia just gave the barest of nods. "And- and you knew? You KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN? MY SON!?"
Celestia braced herself. Twilight was upon her in a flash. She was too distraught to use magic. But her hooves moved in a blur, pummeling the white alicorn while screaming every expletive she could think of. Celestia offered no defense. Her hooves hung limply beside her as she took the blows to her chest and face. Celestia's head jerked from side to side from the repeated impacts. Somewhere in Celestia's brain, the information could be called pain. But it was drowned out by the pain in her heart. Her jaw crunched. She tasted blood. Twilight kept swinging blindly, screaming through the tears as she beat her former mentor. She swung and hit her over and over until her muscles burned and her hooves bled. Celestia continued to take the beating.
He was gone forever now and there was nothing she could do to bring him back.
The purple pony on top of her soon exhausted herself, crying just as hard as the alabaster princess under her. Celestia only reached out and hugged her, even as she flailed her hooves weakly at her between sobs. Celestia held her to close to her bruised chest, even as she continued to curse her name until her lungs were sore.
"I'm so sorry."
"R and D were one symbol." Starswirl said looking down at his scrap of paper in ancient Canterlot. "It wasn't 'Dearest Mare,'. It's 'Dearest Madre'. It was my book. My journal that I wrote to her!"
"Your son is Starswirl the Bearded." Celestia said. Twilight continued to cry weakly on top of her. "This book is yours." She said. "He wrote it to you in code. The cipher is for you to read it when nopony else could." Twilight barely heard her. She was still in shock. "... when you're ready."
"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." Celestia said, helping Starswirl to the water basin in the room. She splashed a bit on his face. The polished metal disk in front of him barely served as a reflective surface. He ran his hoof across the thick scruff on his jaw.
"I don't suppose either of you have a trimmer?" He asked. They continued to look at him like he had ten heads. "Screw it. I'll just grow it out." He resigned. He sat back at the table. He'd copied the spell he'd used to get here into the book for study later, using the original coding, before he could forget. Then, in a moment of clarity, he closed the notebook and looked at the cover. This was that book. This was the book. This book would travel through the ages to his Madre's hooves over a thousand years from now. He knew what he needed to do. After having been working with it for so long, he knew the coding by heart. It was like a second language to him now.
Dearest Madre...
Twilight's tears stained the ancient parchment as she read the page.
Dearest Madre,
If you're reading this, then it means that I am gone. I have only just arrived in the distant past, shortly after Sombra staged his coup in the Crystal Empire. I have met a young Celestia and Luna. Which, I know, means that Celestia knew that this had to come to pass. I hope you are not too hard on her for it. I realize now that she had no choice but to let it happen.
Twilight looked up at the bruised princess and cringed.
I finally understand my destiny, and who I am supposed to be. I suppose it is fate that it could not happen any other way. If mom would have had her way, he I would have been Trixster the Bearded. Because they do not have beard trimmers here in the past. I will have to invent them. I will have to invent a lot of things, now that I think about it.
It is still a bit strange, thinking about all the things that Starswirl the Bearded did in the past tense as future things I am destined to do. Ponies here don't even know how to call light to their horn. I had to teach them. One down, one hundred ninety nine to go.
Madre, there is something I wanted to tell you. Something I felt my whole life but could never tell you before. Now this is my last chance. I always felt like you were constantly comparing me to him. Starswirl the Bearded. And I always felt like I could never live up to whatever it was he did to gain your admiration. I never understood your obsession before. But I guess it is well placed now. So watch me.
Watch me go.
- Starswirl the Not-Yet-Bearded
P.S. Give my love to Mom.
Twilight clutched the book tightly as though it actually were her son, threatening the old bindings. She nervously turned the page.
Dearest Madre,
You will not believe what happened today...
Dearest Madre,
You will not believe what happened today. Well, actually I suppose you must. After all, you taught me the very historical events that I've now become ensnared in. After I performed the spell I reappeared in the ancient Crystal Empire circa King Sombra's reign. But then I was rescued by none other than...
"Celestia," Starswirl said, finishing his first entry in the book.
"Please, just Tia is fine." She said.
"Okay. We need to get back to the Crystal Empire so you can defeat King Sombra." He said, recalling the historical battle.
"Me?" She asked incredulously.
"Both of you." He said, looking to Luna as well.
"But how?" Luna asked. "We only just managed to escape ourselves. The king knows that the unicorn nation entrusted us to be the reagents of the sun and moon. He captured us to try to take control of our powers."
"We were sent as envoys in response to the Windigos spreading from the Frozen North." Celestia said. "That was when we had discovered that hatred and fear had taken hold of the Crystal Empire under Sombra's cruel dictatorship. These things will be reflected across all of Equestria. The Windigos are but the symptoms of the beginning."
"Our mission now is to return to Princess Platinum with our findings, so that she will task her forces to march on the Crystal Empire and remove him by force." Luna explained. "I was captured before we could escape." She looked at her older sister. "We have already lost too much time. You should have just returned to the princess right away and left me."
"I couldn't just leave you there!" Tia cried.
Starswirl's mind recalled every history book he'd ever read. Records from this era were sketchy at best. Before its return, few even knew that the Crystal Empire had existed at all. But Twilight's written record of Celestia's recollection made no mention of a grand battle between the unicorn nation's army and King Sombra's forces in the Empire. She was quite clear that she and Luna were the ones to solely defeat him.
"No, that's not how you defeated-" Starswirl corrected his tense. "I mean, how you will defeat him." He was again frustrated by their blank stares. "To prevent the necessity of bloody battle and the loss of many lives, you'll use the Elements of Harmony."
"The elephants of what now?" Luna asked. He looked back and forth between them.
"You two honestly have no idea what I'm talking about!?" He asked in astonishment. They both shook their heads. He paced about the room, thinking frantically. How are they supposed to defeat Sombra without the Elements of Har- The answer suddenly became so clear. He knew exactly what needed to be done, and where they needed to go. After all, as his Madre would say, 'knowing is half the battle'. The other half would be getting there. "You can defeat Sombra with the Elements of Harmony. I know where they are. They're in the Everfree Forest." Their confused expression did not bolster his confidence.
"Where?" Tia asked.
"The Everfree- come here!" He said, leading them back outside. Walking back to the ledge overlooking the valley below, he pointed to the dark forest beyond. "There. In the forest to the south of that large meadow." He said.
"There?" Luna asked nervously.
"Yeah. Why?" He asked.
"Nopony goes into that forest." Tia said.
"So neither of you have been in there before?" He asked.
"Goodness no. Folks say it doesn't work like the rest of Equestria." Luna said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Starswirl asked.
"Nopony knows." Celestia said. "Anypony who's ever gone in has never come out."
"Oh come on!" He scoffed. "That's just perpetuating unsubstantiated rumors."
"No, it's true." Luna added. "It isn't a natural place. The way the plants grow, animals care for themselves, and the clouds move, all on their own!"
"Yes. Terrifying." He dead-panned. "But it's where the elements are. So that's where we need to go."
Out in the marketplace of tiny Canterlot village, they passed by a couple of garment booths. The sisters were inconspicuous in their plain, brown cloaks, keeping their identity hidden. Starswirl on the other hoof, was the complete opposite. His ostentatious robe of stars and bells was a real head-turner, and garnered much unwanted attention.
"I need a new outfit before we travel any further." He said, pointing at a plain cape.
"Well don't look at us." Luna said.
"Yeah, we just escaped the Crystal Empire." Celestia added. "I spent the few bits I lifted off the guards to pay for the hostel last night."
"Fine. Never mind." He groaned, moving on from the booth. Passing by a spice stand, he pocketed a vial of table salt. He wasn't proud of it. And he hoped he wouldn't need it. A short walk from the marketplace took them to the Canterlot train station. Or where it would be. His mental timeline of when certain things were invented was a bit hazy. But he was fairly certain that trains were invented shortly before the late Granny Smith was born. Which would mean that they wouldn't be around for another several centuries. But more importantly, it meant that they'd be walking to Ponyville. "We'd better get going then."
Twilight Sparkle always avoided the decadence associated with being a Princess, even after Tirek destroyed her library and she moved into her new, crystal tree castle. Her spouse, Trixie, on the other hoof reveled in it, much to her chagrin.
"But Twilight," She recalled Trixie reasoning one day, "if we don't let our pegasi guards fly us around in their chariots, they'll be out of a job. You don't want to get rid of their livelihood do you?" Twilight remembered the rehearsed pouts on their faces. Certainly she didn't want to take away their jobs.
Trixie was her wife. And their fidelity to one another was never a question. But her suspicions of ulterior motive were confirmed later when Trixie confided that she did enjoy watching the shapely flanks of her chauffeurs as they worked. Twilight couldn't be mad at her. She silently agreed. Indeed there were occasions when the two of them would take extended trips, and the view would excite them to the point of ordering their pilots "eyes forward" until the could relieve one another of the tension in the semi-private chariot.
True to form, Trixie arrived in the Crystal Empire with full fanfare. She was adorned with one of the dresses that Rarity had made for her. In stark opposition to Twilight's humble demeanor, Trixie was one of Rarity's biggest clients. And not out of generosity. Twilight pardoned her flashy lifestyle on the condition that she fund it herself. The guards were assigned to them, but she insisted that anything beyond that was self-raised capital. She would not abide Trixie buying dresses with Canterlot coffers. It was hardly an issue. Trixie made plenty just from simple appearances. Shop grand openings, airship christenings, and the like. Not to mention autographs and photo opportunities. The bits she made left her wanting for naught.
"Princess Cadence," the crystal guard announced, "Princess Trixie has arrived." Cadence nodded in acknowledgement.
"Thank you. Princess Twilight said that she be directed to join her in Princess Celestia's suite." She instructed. He bowed and left to do as he was told. Cadence still did not understand what was going on. Twilight and Celestia had hardly left the room since she arrived yesterday. Stark still seemed to be missing, but Twilight had canceled the search effort claiming that she knew where he was. She sighed in exasperation. She hated not knowing what was going on.
"Oh Twilight," Trixie called into the room, "Spike got your message last night and I came as soon as I heard. Then I took the overnight flight. Ha ha ha!" She laughed at her own joke. She looked around the room. They were both on the bed. They were engrossed in the book Twilight was reading. "Typical Twi. " "Twilight." She called again. Her spouse looked up at her name being called as she got closer. "Ooh, what happened to you two? Hit the Canterlot ale a little too hard last night?"
A quick glance at the mirror on the vanity said it all. Celestia hadn't bothered to use any healing magic on herself. She was still feeling self-loathe. Her pummeling yesterday was still evident in her bruised appearance. Twilight's eyes, meanwhile, were red and puffy from her crying spell.
"Trixie!" Twilight climbed from the bed to greet her wife. Their relationship had no shortage of affection. But this hug seemed particularly intense.
"What brought this on? We've only been apart for two days." Trixie asked as she hugged back.
"It just feels like longer." Twilight said, pulling her into a kiss.
"Is everything okay?" Trixie asked. She could tell when something was off with her. Twilight glanced back at Celestia, who gave the subtlest nod of reassurance.
"Yeah. I think everything's going to be okay." Twilight said.
"All right." Trixie said, taking off her traveling hat and sunglasses. "Say, where's Starswirl?"
"Oh, he's... checking out the historical districts." Twilight fibbed. "But he's shared his journal of what he's been up to." She said. "We were just reading up on it."
"Oh? And just what has our colt been up to?"
The trio had walked down the dirt path that would one day become the Friendship Express Railway. After reaching the bottom of the mountain, they crossed the meadow destined to become Ponyville. The large rock formation at the southern border didn't look any younger from how he remembered it. It was a timeless sentinel, marking the boundary of the town. Beyond lay the Everfree Forest.
"All right. I know exactly where we're going. So stick close to me and we should be in and out before dark." Starswirl said. "And whatever you do, don't wander off!"
Twilight turned the page.
So naturally, Tia wandered right into a patch of blue leaves. I tell you, what happened as a result was something the three of us swore to never speak of again.
Twilight looked up from the page. "Poison joke? What happened?" Celestia's expression hardened, pursing her lips. Trixie was confused at the question herself. "What? Did your hair go wild? Did your voice change? Did you horn get floppy?" She asked. Celestia's eyes simply narrowed. "Okay. Fine." Twilight read on.
"What did I just say!" Starswirl snapped.
"What's wrong?" Celestia asked.
"Look!" He pointed at the patch of blue plants around her ankles. She lifted her hooves to see if she had stepped in something. "No, it's the plants. That's Poison Joke!"
"Poison!?" Luna cried. Celestia dashed out of the leaves back to Starswirl's side. "Is her life in danger? How much time does she have? What's going to happen?"
"It's not really poison ." He explained. "You're not going to die or anything. But the side effects are... unpredictable." Celestia began to sweat. "Don't worry. I know the ingredients to brew a cure. We can collect most of them while we're in the forest. But first we need to get to the Tree of Harmony."
"A Tree of Harmony ? Sounds made-up." Celestia said.
Starswirl silently cursed himself. He had a unique opportunity to shape the course of history. He'd always dislike the name of the tree. He should have refereed to it as the Tree of Bad-Assitude, Or Tree Kick-Ass. Something cool like that. But it was too late now.
The day's sunlight barely penetrated the thick foliage of the tree canopy above them. All around them, sounds emanated from the forest. Creatures that had yet to be discovered, classified or named. His mental catalog ran through all the hostile elements of the area.
"Ooh! Look at this adorable thing!" Luna said. He looked back over his shoulder. A parasprite had happened upon the group, buzzing about her head. "Can we keep-"
"No!" He cut her off. "Absolutely not! And whatever you do, do give it anything to eat." A tiny, shrill voice called out as the parasprite followed them.
"Hey!" It said. He groaned. "Hey! Listen!"
"Just- just ignore it and it'll go away eventually." He said. He tried thinking of what else they might run into. There were Manticores, Serpents, Ursas, (major and minor) even the possibility of a dragon, as he recalled.
"Hey! Listen!" It squeaked again. It was hard to even think with that thing following them. Now, where did he leave off? Oh, right, dragons, and what else? That was when he smelled it. The telltale breath of- "Watch out!"
"Timber wolves!" He yelled as the pack rushed through the underbrush behind them. "Run!" The three of them ran blindly forward deeper into the forest. Celestia lifted a large rock with her magic and slung it back at one of their pursuers. Starswirl glanced back over his shoulder at the sound of it impacting the lead wolf. The rock slammed into it with a sickening crunch, scattering branches and twigs everywhere. In less than the time it took for the rest of the pack to pass, a wisp of green magic had already begun to reassemble itself.
"What in the world?!" She cried.
"That won't work!" Starswirl yelled. "They're magic!"
Luna pirouetted on her hoof, charging her horn. "Avada Kedavra!" She shouted. The green bolt of magic struck the next wolf, brushing off of him like dandruff.
"What did I just say? You can't kill them like that!" He yelled. The wolves were getting closer. The three of them couldn't outrun them forever. Their equine bodies were ideally suited for running, true. In an open field a pony could easily outrun a timber wolf. But the wolves had the home field advantage here in the forest. They'd hunted here daily. The knew every path, every tree. Starswirl tripped over another root, causing the wolves to gain on him further. "Tia, fire!"
"What?" She asked.
"Use fire!" He yelled. Celestia turned and planted her hind legs into the ground behind her in a gambit. It cost her an extra second. But she needed to concentrate. The world around her slowed. The volume of the things around her turned down. Everything seemed to fade away. Luna moved impossibly slowly beside her. Her hooves seemed to hover just above the ground. Her mouth was frozen open in a silent scream. Dead ahead, a timber wolf was nearly upon Starswirl. She met his eyes. She focused on a single thought. A single word. A simple, idea. And she forced it into his mind. His eyes dilated the tiniest fraction in acknowledgement. Now for the spell.
Celestia didn't even have time to blink. The wolf was already mid-pounce, maw wide, teeth barred, and ready to strike Starswirl. She didn't have time to blink, but she needed to close her eyes. She focused on her vision, on the signals being sent to her brain from her eyes, and blocked them out. She focused on the burning pain from her leg muscles and her lungs. And she blocked it out. She focused on the pounding noise of her heart in her ears. And she blocked it out. She was alone in her mind. She was ready. She coalesced the spell in her mind. Shaping it, and its elements. She aimed the shapes in front of her. The wolf was right next to him. She had to be precise. Her horn glowed red.
Fire
Her senses came flooding back as she loosed the gout of flames at the wolf pack. Starswirl heeded her command in his mind. Duck! Nothing about it was pretty. He let his front legs go out beneath him and rolled forward. His head smacked into the ground and the rest of his body flipped over himself. He landed on his back, hard. The wind was knocked out of him. He struggled to gasp. His eyes opened just in time to see the wolf above him. The wolf was on his way down in his pounce. But something was weird. More than just his adrenaline, the wolf seemed to move slower. His normally green eyes were glowing red and orange.
That was when he saw it. Reflected in the wolf's eyes was an incandescent ball of fire moved over the top of his field of vision. It was inches from his face but he felt no heat from it. But the wolf's timber body burst into fire as the arcane blast passed through it. The force of the impact scattered its ashes. She had somehow combined a fire and earth spell together to make a damn meteor. It moved past them and toward the rest of the pack. Before they were incinerated, he felt Celestia's hoof grab him. She pulled him away from the others. She seemed to move impossibly fast.
Further from the fireball, time resumed its normal speed. He realized that she had woven in a temporal warp into the spell, slowing time around the attack. It was how she was able to get to him so quickly. He turned to see the rest of the pack burst into flames in slow-motion.
Luna snuffed out the green auras of the wolves with an exorcising spell before they could reshape themselves from the loose branches of the underbrush. He was in awe of Celestia. He'd never seen such a complex spell manifested on the fly like that. He had more expected a rushed gout of flame thrown past him.
"Come on, we shouldn't linger." Luna said. She was right, he realized. The noise of the fight was sure to attract more unwanted attention from the local denizens.
As they blazed a trail deeper into the forest, Starswirl continued to bop off into different directions, moving in more of a zig-zag pattern, than simply straight forward. He moved cautiously through the bush as he snatched up various leaves and flowers.
"What are you doing that for?" Celestia asked.
"I need to get the ingredients together to treat your exposure to poison joke." He said.
"But I feel fine." She said.
"Yeah. For now." He said, stuffing a star-shaped leaf into his bag. "I only need a couple more things, then I can brew it together for a bath. Be on the lookout for green mushroom with a long, narrow stem and..." He paused, trying to remember all of the ingredients that Zecora had taught him. "And a blue flower with red thorns." He continued to look around for them. "Just be careful when you find the flower though. Don't try to-"
"I got it!" Luna said, grabbing the flower stem with her teeth and yanking it free.
"NO!" He shouted. But it was too late. He'd never seen it happen before, but Zecora had warned him about it. They moved so fast toward them in the underbrush. The quick rustling was the only warning. And then in an instant they were upon them. They got to Luna first. She felt it wrap around her hoof.
"GAH! A snake!" Celestia screamed.
"No, worse!" He yelled. Before Celestia could even react, vines moved like lighting wrapping around her legs and waist. She tried in vain to wrench herself free. But her struggling only caused them to grip her tighter. They tore the mares' simple garments from them. The cold, almost scaly texture felt vile against her warm fur. She looked to her sister, trapped in the vines herself, flailing her hooves. More vines spiraled up her legs, arresting her movement. She continued to try to kick against them, flexing her muscles beneath the fibrous attackers. Tendrils moved higher up her limbs.
"Tia!" Luna cried out as one of the vines tried to pollinate her. Celestia's horn blazed to light. Starswirl couldn't warn her before it was too late. She got one shot off, severing the violator. Smaller vines shot out from the ones wrapping her alabaster waist, wrapping themselves around her horn, pulling tight. She yelled in agony as her head was jerked backwards. The vines absorbed her magic from her horn before she could charge it into another spell.
Starswirl moved slowly. He had to. Any sudden movement would attract vines to him as well. He stifled a shudder as the vines slithered past his hooves. It was torture watching the princesses being attacked. But would be no use to them as a captive as well. He was running out of time. Luna's horn became wrapped as well. Another pollen vine approached Celestia's flank. The flap of his bag pulled back, he pulled out the salt that he had pilfered. With a quick blast of a wind spell, he scattershot the salt out over the plants.
The sound of the plants quickly shriveling was almost a shrill of pain as they receded back into the foliage. The hooves of each mare touched back down on the ground as the attackers vanished from around them. Celestia rushed to Luna's side, leaving her tattered cloak in a heap like Luna's. Luna shied away from her, trying to hide her red face. Celestia put her hoof around her. "Luna, are you-"
"I'm fine." She said, trying to hide her tears in her mane.
"Shh." Celestia whispered, holding her tight. "It's okay. You can talk about it when you're ready." Luna shuddered, falling to her haunches as she wept silently against her older sister. Starswirl just stared with eyes the size of dinner plates.
"Tia? Luna?" He asked, still frozen in shock. Only Celestia looked up at him. His mouth hung open a moment more. He finally found the words. "... Where are your wings?"
