Beginnings
By ParanoidBrony
The light of the moon barely pierced the forest canopy. It splashed across the back of a dark hood and cape worn by lonely pony moving through the underbrush. He pushes aside branches and oversized leaves as he searches for a path or trail or…something.
He saw lights, he knows it, but where were they? Where was the path? DAMMIT! His head swam. He had to keep going. He couldn’t stop. Not now. The Princess must be told. He must keep going.
He’s breathing became hoarse. His became lightheaded. His hoof was numb. He stopped to check his bandages. The snake came out of nowhere, he thought to himself. I’m usually more careful then this, he murmers to himself. The poultice was holding and slowing the poison from spreading. Not enough.
He spun his head as the bushes shook. “Hello?” Nothing replied. “I’m losing it. I have to move.” He strained against the weight of his bags as he got back to his feet, a sure sign that his strength was been sapped.
It seemed like an eternity as he pushed on through the strange forest, his vision blurring. Squinting to see in the dark, he trips over an exposed root and sliding indigently down a slope, landing on his face. A fatigued groan escaped from the ground. He lifted his head to discover he landed in a clearing and just ahead... “Aha! I knew it.” The lights he saw previously were now just ahead in the form of some small village. He struggled to get to his feet a second time, nearly straight back falling over again. “It’s now or never.” He thought as he started to stagger forward.
By now there were few lights left, being a late hour many ponies would be in bed asleep. His best chance looked to be a…tree? Yes. He was sure it was a tree with windows and lights. He wasn’t moving in a straight line anymore. He couldn’t see any distance; his sight obscured by a fog he knew wasn’t there. Slumping against what he thought was a door, he laboured for breath. Barely conscious, he beat his hooves against the wood.
The purple unicorn looked down at the innocuous-looking brown beetle. It was sitting amongst the leaf litter at the bottom of a jar, chewing on a bit of leaf. “It looks harmless enough.” She turned to orange earth pony to her left. “I can’t see it being any kind of pest.”
“Not right now it ain’t. Give it this here piece of apple and wait an’ see.” Replied Applejack, handing Twilight an apple half. Twilight levitated the fruit into the jar then all three stared at the insect. Soon enough, the beetle spotted the apple and consumed it with the speed and ferocity of a school of piranha. The unicorn could only utter a dumbfounded “…wow.”
“Gosh! I’ve never seen anything like it. Except, maybe a Parasprite.” The yellow Pegasus, currently hovering overhead, turned to her friend Applejack. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what creature this is.”
“It’s alright Fluttershy, nether have Granny Smith or Big Macintosh, and they have lived on Sweet Apple Acres all their lives. These critters are already in the back of the South orchid and are spreading quick. We need to get rid of them before they ruin this year’s harvest! Ya’ gotta’ find out what it is, Twi.”
Twilight lifted her front hoof off the floor and turned her head, striking a gleeful pose. “Don’t worry Applejack! I’ll solve this mystery in no time!”
“Oh, you won’t hurt them, will you Twilight?” A worried pegasus face looked back at the unicorn. “After all, it’s not their fault. Their just hungry.”
“We shouldn’t need to. I’m sure that there’s a safe, harmless repellent here somewhere. SPIKE! Spiiiiike?” Twilight called out to her favourite assistant, a purple and green baby dragon named Spike.
“Ah, Sugarcube, isn’t Spike in Canterlot?”
A look of realisation came over Twilight’s face. “Oh, right…” Spike had in fact gone to Canterlot as part of a royal errand for Princess Celestia and would not be back until the day after tomorrow.
“I guess I’ll get started on my own then.” Twilight looked around the library for the section on insects and pest control.
The Ponyville librarywas built inside a large tree in the middle of the village. Windows were cut out from the trunk and balconies rested on thick branches. The main room was large and mostly round with a high ceiling. Here was housed the libraries store of books, with bookshelves carved into the tree itself.
As several books started levitating from a shelf, there was a knock from the door. Twilight and Applejack looked up from their books and stared and noting the slow, heavy manner of the noise, they hesitated.
“I’ll get it” Declared the seemingly undeterred Pegasus. The unicorn and earth pony exchanged silly looks before looking through one of the floating books. The purple pony started “Now let’s see… theirs several possibilities here. It could be a...“
Ekkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!
The books fell as the two ponies jumped from shock from their friend’s high pitched squeal. They spin around expecting some kind of looming monster, except all they see is a pony laying in the doorway and no Fluttershy. Applejack checks the pony on the floor while Twilight looks for the absent Pegasus.
“Fluttershy!?”
“I…I’m up he,he,here” Twilight’s head followed the stammering up to top of a nearby bookshelf where Fluttershy lay shaking, trying to hide. “I opened the door and it sort of.. I mean.. kinda just.. I.. it… meep!”
Twilight spoke, reassuringly “It’s ok Fluttershy.”
“But he isn’t. He’s in a bad way.” She put her ear close to his chest. “He’s barely breathing.”
Twilight looks over the pony, finding the bandage on his hoof. “This looks bad.”
“Oh dear.” Fluttershy floats down to the others, her fear replaced by compassion. A sudden coughing fit however, sends her airborne again with another “meep!”
Gasping between words, the sickly pony starts to speak, “forest…snake…yellow and blue…” before going silent again.
“We gotta git him to the doctor quick, Twi” Applejack pleaded, having already started to remove the ponies’ bags, making him easier to carry.
“Of course. We also need to identify a ‘yellow and blue’ snake so he can be treated.”
“Yellow and blue? Oh my!” Floating down from the rafters, the Pegasus continues “That sounds like a Banded Viper from the Everfree Forest! Their very poisonous. I keep anti-venom at home for my animal friends.”
Twilight went into organising mode. “Alright. Applejack, you take him to the Doctor’s office. Fluttershy, you get your medicine in case the doctor doesn’t have any. I’ll go wake the doctor and bring him to the patient. Got it?”
“Load an’ clear!” Applejack lifted the pony onto her back and started toward the office.
Fluttershy replied with a nod before flying for her cottage. Twilight pushed the bags aside and closed the door behind her before she galloped at full speed to wake the doctor.
The orange mane looked more like a flat soufflé then its usual muffin shape; the Doctors’ eyes also had noticeable sag. He listened to his patients’ chest. “His heart rate and breathing is getting better. Looks like we got the anti-venom administrated in time.”
Applejack however wasn’t convinced. “He still ain’t movin’ much.”
The patient is lying on a examination table. He’s still unconscious and wearing his hood and cloak.
“He’s gone through a lot,” began the Doctor. “I’m surprised he lasted this long, travelling through the forest with this bite.”
Twilight walked over the examination table and removed the pony’s cloak, exposing his cutie mark. It was four dark grey stars in a staggered line, connected by a white line. It resembled a star constellation. “Does anypony know who he is?”
Both Applejack and Fluttershy shook their heads.
“He’s not from Ponyville. Shame, it would be good to inform his family what is happening to him.” The doctor began to usher the mares out. “You three have done everything you can. But now, all we can do is wait.”
“I wonder who he is? And why was he in the Everfree forest?” Twilight was thinking out loud as the three mares were walking through the village square.
“Maybe he got lost?” Fluttershy suggested.
“Yea.” Applejack joins in. “It’s easy to get turned around in there.”
The unicorn frowned, deep in thought “But why be in the forest at all?”
Applejack yawns loudly. “Well, no point fussin’ about it now. I need to be up early. Big Macintosh an’ me need to smoke out the bugs in the Orchid.”
Twilight perked up, remembering the Apple family’s problem. “Oh, I nearly forgot! I still haven’t found out what the beetle is yet.” As if on cue, the three arrive at the library. “I’ll start first thing in the morning.”
The ponies said their goodnights as they went their separate ways.
Twilight opened the entrance to the library but it stops short of opening completely. Twilight looked behind the door. “His bags! Maybe there’s an answer in here” She closes the door and levitates the bags onto the table in the middle of the room.
One bag contained miscellaneous traveller’s items; rope, dried food, nothing out of the ordinary. The other bag however, contained a large book and an ornate box. Pushing the box aside, she investigates the book. It appears to be some kind of travel journal or research notes, maybe both. Twilight could only guess though looking at it, because she couldn’t read a word of it.
“What is this?” The symbols, which seemed to be letters, were in some weird script. It was mostly made up of circles and straight lines, with the occasional curved line. The sentences also looked unusual as the letters merged seamlessly to form the words. “I can’t make heads or tails of anything.” Twilight began flicking through pages at random hoping to find something understandable, but what she found only deepened the mystery.
Accompanying some of the text were crude sketches. There were sketches of strange buildings, animals, insects and intricate symbols different again from the main text. The most unusual of these were sketches of upright creatures, wearing clothes and using tools. They looked like nothing she had ever seen before. The unicorn lowered the book and looked at the bags. Where did you come from?
The apple farmer pulled her head out of the water trough. The cool water washed over her, removing most of the sweat and soot from the morning’s task.
Applejack looked over to her older brother Big Macintosh, a large red stallion, hauling a cart of bee smokers and fuel. “How long do ya’ think that will work for?”
The stallion released the cart off his back before replying. “Not sure. We scared them off, but not for long.”
The apple farmer put her hat back on her head with a sigh. “I’m going into Ponyville to see if Twilight has found something about these critters.”
“Eeyup” replied Big Macintosh, before dunking his head into a water trough.
Applejack looked dejected. They spent most of the morning smoking the infected apple trees and it may have only given them a day or so. Without a more permanent solution these insects are going to eat all of Sweet Apple Acres. The mare’s mind began to run through the possible scenarios. If they eat all the trees then there will be no farm. No farm, no money, no home! What else could we do? Gardening? Manual labor? I suppose that’s what we do now…
The farmer pony worried alot. Sweet Apple Acres always had some problem or another to deal with and Applejack had to deal with it. Most of her worring was done internally so not to let it show.
Applejack’s inner dialogue shifted into the positive as she approached the library. Now Applejack, have some faith in your friends! Twilight probably has a solution already. I’ll just get to the library and everything will be alright! You’ll see…
The mess was almost indescribable. Piles of books and scrolls carpeted the floor, some flying this way and that. And in the middle of this disaster area, was a familiar purple unicorn.
“No no NO! That isn’t it!” Her mane was in tatters, her eyes wide and panicky. “Where is it? It has to be here somewhere!” Several books where thrown across the room, adding to the already impressive piles as new ones where taken from the now almost bare shelves.
Applejack had seen Twilight like this before. She was smart as they come, but had a tendency to beat her head against a problem she couldn’t solve.
“Err, sugercube? Don’t you thin…” Twilight twisted her head towards her visitor in what seemed to be an unnatural manner, the mania spread across her face.
“Applejack! I don’t know what it is!” The unicorn began to pace across the library. “I’ve been up all night trying to figure it out, but it’s not in here anywhere! It’s being driving me crazy!”
Applejack moved closer to comfort her friend. “It’s ok hon, there’s no great rush. You still got a couple of days. Why, we can get the others to help. Before you know it, we can find a way to get rid of these beetles.”
Twilight stared blankly at her friend for a few seconds before responding. “What beetles?”
The apple farmer recoiled slightly. She started to ask softly “Err, the beetles in our orchid?...” The stare continued. “…that are eating the apples…” A slow blink followed by more staring. “…that you are trying to find a solution to?” The last part sounded more desperate.
“I’m not looking for beetles. I’m trying to decipher this.” A book floated in front of Applejack. “It’s belongs to the stallion from last night” Curious about what got her friend so worked up, she flicked through some of the pages. “This just looks like gibberish to me.”
“It is. I think it’s some kind of code, possibly based on some obscure language. If I could just…”
The orange mare put the book down on the table in the centre of the room. “Twi, did you sleep at all last night?”
“No time!” The book zipped back into the air. “Maybe it mathematical? If I just…” She drifted off into her own manic little world full of flying books and insane gibberish.
This has to stop. “TWILIGHT!! Snap out of it girl!” The unicorn’s head rattle around her shoulders as her friend tried to shake some sense into her.
The librarian pony shook her head, returning from her waking dream. “Er, I… Applejack? What happened?” She was confused. And slightly dizzy.
“You and your fussin’ happened. You’ve been goin’ crazy over this here book.” Her hoof made a soft thud on the cover. “I'm sorry, but I had ta’ snap you out of it. Remember what happened last time?”
She hung her head. “Yes. I remember.” Last time, an enchanted doll nearly caused Ponyville to tear itself apart. The princess was not impressed. “I’m sorry Applejack.”
Sighing of relief, Applejack continued. “It’s alright. Now, there’s no need to fret about these things just now. Go get some shut-eye, and then we can sort out this…” She looked around the library. “…mess.”
Twilight yawned loudly as the fatigue caught up with her. “Alright. I’ll start again this afternoon.”
“Good. I’ll come back then ta’ help. See you then.” She watched the sleepy librarian climb the steps to her bedroom before leaving herself. Once outside, she breathed in the fresh air and allowed herself to muse; I wonder if this is what sanity smells like?
“Then what happened?” The question came from a unicorn wrapped in seaweed with 2 cucumber slices for eyes and wallowing in a pit of mud. Her companion had just a smear of mud on her cheeks. “Well, we got him to the doctor, made sure he was alright then we went home.”
“It sounds like you had an exciting night, dear. You needed to be pampered today.” Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s weekly spa visit’s gave them the opportunity to catch up.
“Do you want to get a bit to eat after this?” The spa attendants helped to clean the two ponies.
“Um, actually, I was wondering how he was doing. You don’t mind if I go check on him?”
“Not at all, Fluttershy! I’ll go with you to see this stallion for myself.”
“Oh, that would be nice. If he’s feeling better, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the company.” Honestly, she preferred the company. Fluttershy wasn’t very comfortable around ponies she didn’t know.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky as the two friends walked through the village square. Market stalls lined the walkways selling everything from jewellery, pots and pans and home-grown produce. There was a general hustle and bustle as ponies browsed, creating quite a sound.
“So, tell me about this stallion. What is it about him that has you so…interested?” Rarity hadn’t seen her shy friend this interested in a stallion before and was looking for a reaction.
“He was hurt and needed help. I couldn’t just leave him.” If Fluttershy noticed Rarity’s teasing she didn’t rise to it.
Rarity rolls her eyes. “Of course not.”
The inside of the surgery was the opposite of the markets, cool and quiet. A nurse was sorting paperwork behind the desk while the doctor was looking at a patient’s chart. He looks up towards the door as it chimes.
“Ah, you’re the Pegasus from last night. Fluttershy, was it?”
“Oh, yes. I was wondering how the patient was doing?”
“I don’t see why not.” The doc put down the chart and led them down the hall. “We still haven’t found out who he is yet. The mayor even came through to see him.”
“So he’s awake?”
The doctor shook his head. “No, he’s still unresponsive. The venom really took its toll.
He lead them to a small room. On the bed, lying on his side was a peach coloured Pegasus with short brown hair.
“He’s improved a lot from last night. Somepony from the hospital came to see him. They don’t want to move him yet, so he’ll stay here until he well enough to walk on his own.”
“Is this what he was wearing?” Rarity moved over to the dresser with a dark grey hooded cloak.
Fluttershy looks up to Rarity “Yes. He had some bags as well. Is there anything special about it?”
Levitating the cloak into the air, she examines it. “Mmmmmm... No, not really. The fabric is cheap but durable, no labels or tags and its machine stitched.” Rarity loses interest. “It’s like Applejack’s work ‘duds’. Practical, but not very interesting.” She flicks the item back onto the dresser, when a small necklace falls out. Rarity lifts it to eye level.
“Now this is interesting!” On a simple metal chain sits a gold, up-side down tear-shaped necklace with a symbol etched into the front. On the back is a number of pegs.“It marvellous! Simple but exotic. It would make a wonderful accessory with a gown.”
Fluttershy moves closer to examine it. “It looks like it fits into something. Like a key?” She looks at the symbol on the front. “I’ve never seen this before. I’m sure the Twilight can tell us what it is. Maybe she can find out where he comes from.” She turns to the doctor. “May we take this to the library?”
The doctor shrugs. “Why not? It may give us his name if it’s unique.”
“Oh, thank you. We’ll bring it straight back, won’t we Rarity?” Rarity simply responded with a quick “uh-huh”, too busy admiring the trinket as she begins to wonder out the door. “Oh, Rarity. Wait for me!”
The Pegasus lay on a cushion flicking through a book full of insects. She lazily blows a tuft of multi-coloured mane away from her eyes. Sighing in disgust, she closes the book and pushes it away before floating just above the floor.
“This is SOOOOO boring!” Rainbow complains as she hovers around the room. “What’s the matter, Dashie?” A pink pony with a fluffy pink mane bounces up to the irritated blue Pegasus. “I thought you liked reading now?”
“I do, Pinkie. It’s just that, these books are boring. Their nowhere as exciting Daring Doo!” The Pegasus strikes a heroic pose for effect. The orange mare in the corner rolls her eyes.
“Not everything has to be exciting Rainbow. Although, you do have a point.” Applejack stands up to stretch her legs. “This is a might bit tiresome. Who knew there were so many critters in Equestria?”
“This is nothing!” Twilight spoke up, nose still buried in a book. “These books just contain apple tree pests. If we wanted to look at all the insects of Equestria, they would fill several of these libraries.”
Noticing the following silence, Twilight looked up from her book to her unimpressed friends faces. She smiled awkwardly; her fun little fact wasn’t as much fun as she thought. Luckily, the door chime interrupted this embarrassing moment.
“Hello girls.” Fluttershy announces as she and Rarity walk in, Fluttershy carrying a cardboard box on her back while Rarity was fiddling with a necklace. “We bought cupcakes.”
At the mention of cupcakes, Pinkie Pie tosses her book and zips up the bearer of cupcakes, her eyes as wide as her grin. The timid pony flinches from the sudden invasion of her personal space. “Oh, um, here… Pinkie” She offers the box to the Pink invader which she whisks away to be consumed.
Twilight just shakes her head as she approaches her visitors. “Thank you both for coming,” she turns to Pinkie Pie rapidly and messily devouring the box of pastries, “and bringing cupcakes for EVERYpony,” the pink pony looks up with a silly grin and pink frosting on her face, “but we might be finishing soon.”
“Oh, we don’t mind, do we Rarity?”
The white unicorn was still adjusting her jewellery. “Of course not, dear. I’m always here to help my friends.” She turned to Twilight. “What do you think dear? Up,” she moved the pendant up to her neck, “or down?” It moved lower, across her chest.
“I’ve never seen this one before. Is it new?”
“Well, sort of.”
“It belongs to the stallion from last night. We were hoping you could tell us more about it.” Fluttershy points to the front of the pendant “I’ve never seen this type of symbol before, have you?” Twilight stared at the etching, before sighing heavily. “Yea, I’ve seen it before. It’s the same type of symbols as in his book.” Twilight points to a book sitting on the desk. “I’m afraid I don’t know what it means.”
“Well, it is a lovely necklace, so what does it matter?” Rarity trots around, trying her best to show it off. “If he doesn’t need it anymore, maybe I can buy it from him? How much do you think it’s worth?”
“Why would he not need it? It’s still a necklace.”
“It seems to open something, like a key.”
Twilight took a second to think. Open something… Then it hit her. “Aha! I know!” Rarity protested as Twilight levitated the pendant off of her neck. “Heyyyyyy…” She followed it to the desk in the middle of the room. She is joined by her friends, who had long gotten bored of their reading assignments.
“I bet you it opens this.” Twilight picks up a small ornate box in her hooves and places it on the desk. Rarity gasps at the sight of it. “A jewellery box? Oh, I simply must see what’s in here!” Her horn glows as she tries to lift it, but fails. “Huh?” She tries harder, grunting a little from the effort. It has no effect.
Twilight stops her. “It doesn’t work for me either. It has some kind of magical seal, stopping any magic working on it.” She lifts the pendant up. “Which is why we need this.”
“I wouldn’t open it, Twi.” Surprised, Twilight turns to the objector, finding her nose first in a book. “Pinkie? Why not?” Pinkie looks up and replies “Because it says so, right here in this book. ‘Do not open the box’” Twilight looks down to the book Pinkie was holding, and squealed in delight.
“PINKIE!!” She rushed her friend, causing her to drop the book. “You can read this?” Twilight quickly picked up the book and turned to a page. “What does this say?” She flicked to another. “Nonono. This one?” Pages fly by in excitement. “What about this one?”
“I can’t read this, silly! It’s just scribbles!” Twilight looks confused. “But you said you could read it?”
“Well, yea! The bit on the last page.” Twilight skimmed through the book until the writing stopped. The rest was just blank pages.
“Pinkie, there’s nothing here.”
“Sure there is.” Pinkie starts flicking through until she reaches the inside of the back cover. “Here.”
There it was, written in clear Equestrian. Twilight started to read it out load.
To whom it may concern;
If you are reading this, for whatever reason, I have not completed my journey.
Contained in this book is important information about something incredible that has been discovered and now I need your help.
This book and the box I carry must get to Princess Celestria in Canterlot immediately. It must go straight to her and noponyelse. She must be told.
I’m sorry, but if I could deliver it myself I would. Please make sure it gets there. There may even be a reward in it for you.
One last thing, whatever you do, DO NOT OPEN the box.
There is no name or signature.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Everypony looked up at the impatient blue Pegasus. “Open it already.”
“Now wait just a gosh darn minute! You heard the warning! It said not to!”
“Psh, yeah.” Rainbow dash shrugged off the warning. “Probably because it has treasure in it.” She crossed her front legs. “Finders…keepers.”
Rarity speaks her mind. “I have to agree with Applejack. We have no idea what’s in here.” She points at the box.
“That’s exactly why we should open it!” Pinkie decides to bound into the discussion. “It might be super-duper-looper-ultra-fun-tastic!”
Dash flaps her wings in excitement. “See! It could be whatever Pinkie just said!”
“Or it could be dangerous! I say send it to the palace.”
“Indeed. They are much better equipped to handle something like this.”
The discussion breaks down into a shouting argument as opinions fly back and forth; with talk of treasure, danger and crazy oatmeal for some reason. Twilight looks to Fluttershy next to her, who is unwilling to join in. “What do you think?”
“Oh, um, well, I don’t, um, maybe?...”
I thought so. Twilight decides to take control of the situation. “QUIET!!”
Everypony stops and looks at the librarian. “We don’t know what’s in the box and we won’t open it to find out.” Rainbow and Pinkie look rather disappointed. “Whatever it is, it’s meant for the Princess.” She levitates the book back to the desk. “And I will send both to her tomorrow. In the meantime, we can pick the pest problem in the morning.”
The quarrel over the box had less to do about curiosity, but boredom. The last couple of hours had been spent pouring over books, trying to identify Applejack’s beetle and the box was just a convenient distraction to get away from them. Twilight had done the same many times over long study periods.
Applejack yawns long and hard, the bags under her eyes showing the long day behind her. “Sounds like a good idea to me, sugercube.”
“Yea. Those books were boring me to death.” Rainbow added, showing the usual amount of tact.”I gotta get up early to move some rain clouds over Sweet Apple Acres. Maybe some rain will scare the little buggers off?”
“Would be nice if it were that simple. Anyway, thanks for the help Twi.”
“It alright Applejack. You know I’m always ready to help a friend.” She opened the library door for everypony.
The sun had gone down and the night started to cool down. The stars were out and Princess Luna had just raised the moon into the sky. Ponyville had slowed down to its usual night time schedule. The streetlights started to come on over the quiet streets. Most ponies were having dinner in their homes and relaxing after a day of work.
The six friends stood outside the library. Rainbow Dash watched as Pinkie Pie bounced around the group while Fluttershy and Rarity were having their own conversation. Twilight turned to Applejack. “If we can’t find out what it is here, I can send the one we have to Canterlot tomorrow to be identified. I know some ponies from the Canterlot Academy who could help.”
“Alright. Just get some rest this time, ok?” Twilight blushed slightly, remembering the morning’s occurrence. Twilight waved goodbye as her friends left.
She had the library to herself again. It was also a mess from the little research project. She had started organising books into piles so they can be used for tomorrow’s study session, when the box caught her eye. She stood there thinking about it for a second.
“No. It’s for the Princess.” She continued to clean. She looked over to the desk again and stared.
She shook her head. “I said no.” She finished moving a stack next to the desk and again she found herself looking at it again.
“Well, just a peek couldn’t hurt, right?” Her curiosity got the better of her. She pressed the pendant into the front of the box and it clicked open.
The moon shone through the window and onto the sleeping pony. The room was dark and quiet. He slept as peacefully as he had the whole day, still recovering. His body had no intention of waking anytime soon either. It was warm, dry and comfortable; better than the last couple of days. There was no danger so it decided to rest as long as it needed. Maybe it would wake up tomorrow? Maybe not, it didn’t care at this point. His mind was relaxing too, giving his gentle dreams to pass the time.
Until he felt a distant click and his eyes sprang open.
She lifted the lid. Inside was a clear, six sided crystal about as big as a hoof. “Is this it? This little thing?” She knew certain crystals were valuable, but this didn’t seem to be worth the effort. She levitated the crystal into the air to examine it in the light. As she was, a book levitated off the floor. Then another. And another. Soon, a swarm of books floats through the library.
Twilight only noticed when one bumped into her. “Huh? What?” She sees the small ocean of literature around her. “Whoa!” The books began to circle around her.
“Ok. Enough of this.” She tried to focus her powers on the books but couldn’t stop focusing on the crystal. It seemed to draw power from her, sucking it out of her body. The more she tried, the stronger it got. The books moved faster and faster. Her eyes began to glow as she is pulled into the air.
Ok. Now I’m in trouble!
“All I’m saying is smashing them would be faster.” The rainbow maned pegasus smacks her hooves to show her point.
“SMASH!” The group of friends are moving through the night, discussing the beetle problem.
Her yellow counterpart floats next to her looking concerned. “Oh no, that would be terrible.”
“As well as messy and brutish.” Rarity’s raises her nose to show her disgust for the proposition. “Once Spike gets back, I’m sure a proper solution will be found.”
“If only by keeping Twi grounded. She can get real nutty about these things.” Applejack looks over to the unusually quiet pink pony bouncing along. “What do you think, Pinkie?”
“I keep thinking about what’s in that box.”
The whole group stops. Rarity breaks the silence. “Do you think it’s a good idea to leave it with Twilight?” The friends look at each other nervously. Applejack waves her hoof.
“You heard her. She’s sending it to the Princess in the morning. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Purple light explodes out of the library, blowing open doors and windows and sending paper flying like confetti.
The farmer responds with a sullen “Oh, right” before they all race towards the library
The five race through the door. They gasp when they see what’s happening. The content of the library is flying around the room. It’s caught up in the purple tornado-like vortex of magic swirling around the centre of the room. In the centre is Twilight, floating limply with her eyes glowing. Just floating above her head is a glowing crystal, tendrils of energy flowing from the librarian.
Applejack called out. “TWILIGHT!”
After getting no response, she leapt into action, charging headfirst into the storm. She dodged several books before being picked up and thrown into a wall.
“I’m coming Twi!” Rainbow dash soared up to the ceiling before diving into the vortex from above. Like Applejack, she was tossed aside. The farmer was on her feet and trying to push through to reach the centre. She quickly got pummelled by a section on home maintenance and was sent flying. Both her and Rainbow tried again but with similar results.
Fluttershy dragged Rainbow back to the door. “It’s no use! *pant pant* I can’t get through!”
A peach coloured unicorn appeared in the doorway. He took one look at the vortex and narrowed his eyes. “Great.”
Applejack approached the pony. “YOU? Is that yours?” She points at the glowing crystal generating the storm. “What’s going on?”
The stranger looked to the other ponies. “You need to listen to me very carefully, alright? That crystal is feeding off of that unicorn and we need to get her away from it.”
Rainbow Dash now had to yell over the worsening storm. “How? We tried that already!”
“I can get to her. I need the rest of you to get that crystal back into its box! It’s the only way to stop this!”
The friends look to each other, nod and line up infront of the door. “Alright! We’re ready when you are!”
The unicorn leaps forward, horn glowing orange. He zaps a swarm of books coming for him, which fall to the ground. He moves deeper in the vortex. White lights like fireflies emerge and surround him. The storm weakens arround him as he approaches but it still kicks around him. With a final burst of energy, he breaks through.
The centre is calm with no flying debris. Above him floats the comatose purple unicorn and the parasitic crystal. He conjures more lights around Twilight. The links connecting her to the crystal weeken as she begins to desecend. The stallion jumps and grabs her feet. They both crash into a pile of books, but it works. The crystal’s glow begins to shudder. With its source of power gone, the storm begins to weaken.
Pinkie bounces through the weakened vortex, avoiding the remaining books. Grabbing the box from the floor, she tosses it to Rarity.
Rarity passes it to Applejack, who throws it into the air where Fluttershy catches it and passes it to Rainbow dash. She takes careful aim, looking for an opening. Suddenly, she dashes through the storm heading straight for the crystal. The crystal is caught out of the air with the open box and Rainbow crashes into the ground.
The storm stops immediately and books fall from the sky. The blue Pegasus struggles with the box, the crystal does not want to be contained. It spits light and magic out from the unsealed lid. Both Applejack and Pinkie Pie press down on the lid and it snaps shut. The box rattles around for a few seconds before coming to a stop.
Twilight begins to wake up. She’s lying on top of a peach unicorn in a pile of books. He looks at her sternly. “Did you read the warning in the back of the book?” Twilight looks back awkwardly. “Well, yes.”
He replies “Then why did you open the box?”
The sun is shining bright the next morning. Ponyville once again starts another day with ponies working and playing.
Sitting outside the library is a gold chariot with two white pegasi waiting in its harness. A peach unicorn walks out the front door carrying two saddlebags. He is talking to a purple unicorn and an a orange earth mare.
“My name? It’s Starseeker. Why?” He looks at the two with a confused look on his face.
Twilight carried out his cloak he wore when he showed up. “You show up out of nowhere and nopony here has ever seen you. So we tried to figure it out.”
“Did you try the collar?” He pointed to the cloak. Twilight looked inside the collar. Inside was a tag that read ‘Starseeker’.
“Oh…”
Starseeker chuckled slightly. He continued. “I was part of an exploratory expedition to Zebrabae, to help map out the Eastern shore.” He packed the saddlebags into the chariot. “I found something there. I requested permission from the Princess herself to investigate. That’s when it got…interesting.”
Applejack replied “Sure seems that way, what with the magical crystals and what not.”
Starseeker lifted the box into the chariot. "It's called a Nexus crystal. It amplifies any magical energy focused on it. It can be hard to control.”
"Which is why it's in a locked magic-sealed box."
"With a warning" The farmer reminds Twilight, who can only respond with a grin and "Heh, heh, yeah..."
Suddenly, she remembers something. "Wait! What about this?" His book levitates infront of him as Twilight flicks through it's pages. "What about these symbols, these sketches, this language..." She stops on a page covered in a sketch of a pony, surrounded by the unknown creatures found throughout the book. "Who are they?"
Starseeker gently took the book from her and closed it. “I can’t tell you.”
“What!” she exclaimed.
The unicorn puts the book in one of his bags. “What I found must be reported to the Princess first. She will decide what to do with it then.”
“You mean you can’t tell me anything? I am the Princess's personal student, after all.”
He shook his head.
"B-but I..." She begins to argue but he interupts. "Sorry."
She groans in defeat. “GUH! Fine. Here.” She hands him a jar with air holes in the lid and a beetle in leaf litter in the bottom. “At least take this with you to get it identified.”
He looks at the beetle crawling around. “What is it?”
“It’s what’s been eatin’ all my apples, is what it is.”
He looks closer. “Apples, you say? Has it eaten any other fruit? Oranges, maybe?”
She looks at Twilight. “Er, I don’t know. They seem to like our apples just fine.”
The unicorn levitates the beetle into the air and looks it over. The beetle’s shell is a dull brown, but underneath, is a bright metallic green. “It’s called an Lime beetle. I’m surprised to see it here.”
“Wait, a ‘Lime’ beetle? As in citrus? What’s it doin’ eating apples?”
Starseeker continues. “It’s regarded as a citrus pest because it’s found in citrus orchards. However, it’ll eat just about any fruit it can get to.” He puts the beetle back in the jar and gives it to Applejack. “Look it up under ‘Common Orange fruit pests and diseases’ and you should find a repellent. They shouldn’t be much of a problem after that.”
Twilight emerges from the library carrying the book. “Here it it. Lime beetle.” She looks up at him. “How did you know?”
“My parents own a small store in Canterlot. Sometimes we find them in our deliveries.”
Applejack breathes a sigh of relief. A huge load has been off her mind. “Thank heavens! They were starting to eat us out of house and home. Is there any way to repay you?”
He just shook his head. “No need. Besides, you’re the one who helped me when I need it. Let’s just call it even.” Applejack seemed quite pleased with that.
One of the pegasai interrupted. “Excuse me sir, but the Princess requested your presence as soon as possible.”
“Well, I reckon we’ll be seeing you. If ya’ ever in Ponyville come see us sometime.” Starseeker shook the Applejacks hoof.
“Of course.”
The pegasi trotted down the road before launching up into the air, heading for Canterlot with their passenger in tow.
“Well, hasn’t this been an interesting couple a’ days?” Applejack said out loud. Twilight could only respond with a “…uh huh” as her attention was stuck firmly in her current book. Suddenly, she responds with “I wonder how the beetles got here? Was it by a delivery”
“I’m not sure, maybe?”
“I should check to see if there’s been any other outbreaks. Cross reference delivery companies, where they came from, what they were delivering…” Applejack just sighed. Twilight was off in her little world again. “Come on, Twi. We need to see a pony about bug repellent.”
Applejack lead the way as Twilight followed, chasing Lime beetles across Equestria.
Chapter One in the Starseeker Series
Chapter 2: Explanations Part 1
Explanations Part 1
By ParanoidBrony
Starseeker is nervous. He paces back and forth, muttering off his list.
"Okay, okay. Podium, check. Call cards, check. Projector..." He clicks through several slides. "check." This has been the fifth time he's checked it in the last five minutes.
"Alright, calm down. It's just a presentation for the Princess. In person." Biting his lower lip, he searches around for something to correct. He looks down to his chest.
"A tie. A tie would be good. Do I need a tie?" His lack of a tie suddenly makes him feel naked. "I've got time. I'll just quickly duck out and..." Starseeker jumps slightly as the door in front of him opens. Too late. He takes several steps back as Equestria's monarch steps through.
"Y...your highness!" He quickly bows his head in respect. "Good morning!"
"Good morning, Starseeker." Her highness bows slightly in return. "Are you ready to present your report?"
Forget the tie. "Uh...Yes! Of course." The tie-less pony moves toward the podium. "Shall we get started?"
"Of course." A pair of chairs float through the door. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited another to come and listen."
The presenters ears pricked up. He turned around and asked, "Who?"
The doors flew open dramatically as a gust of wind blows through. The dark mare steps through, her heavy hoof steps carrying an air of authority and power. Her wings stretch out to their limit as she raises her head as regally as possible. As to speak as clearly and loudly as possible, she opens her mouth before...
"Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnnnnn....."
Her wings droop to the floor and her head sags to one side, as any illusion of intimidation was lost.
The lethargic mare looks to the sun princess while trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. "...morning, sister..."
Celestia can not help but smile at her sister. "Good morning Luna. I was just telling our presenter you were attending."
Luna!! Princess Luna is sitting in! The presenter pony bowed mechanically to the night princess. "Good morning, Princess Luna! A pleasure to have you here." His face is covered in a fake smile.
Luna looks over to Starseeker, either not noticing or ignoring him earlier. "Oh, yes. Greetings Starseeker." She did not seem overjoyed to see him.
This is not the first meeting between the two. After Starseeker arrived at the palace, he was sent before Princess Celestia. As a child, he had heard the story of Nightmare Moon but had not yet heard of Luna's recent return. His reaction to her sudden appearance behind the Princess was... less than respectable. Being dog piled by a number of palace guards did nothing for his dignity either.
After a quick explanation, Starseeker was released and he apologized. Luna forgave him but did not forget. He knew he had to play nice.
"I am surprised you decided to attend. Even as a guest, I didn't thin..."
"GUEST!! You think us as a guest!" The Royal Canterlot voice came in effect. "We are the Princess of the Night! Our attendance is considered necessary! To assume anything else is..."
Celestia stepped in "That's enough Luna." She moved between the two, levitating the chairs into place. "I hadn't told him you were attending and I just finished saying we had a guest."
Luna could see how the mistake could be made. "Oh. Very well, You are forgiven." Before Starseeker can respond, she turns and moves to her chair.
"Ookkkayyy. So, who is our 'guest'?"
Celestia looks slightly puzzled. "She's usually quite punctual. It's strange for her to be late."
A breathless unicorn bursts into the door "I'm here! *pant* I'm here!" Standing in the doorway, she stops to catch her breath. A assortment of quills, ink, parchment follow the mare through the door. "Am I late?"
"Of course not, dear. We haven't started yet." The Princess turns to him. "Starseeker, this is my personal student, Twilight Sparkle."
"We've met. Twilight and her friends helped me back in Ponyville."
"It's good to see you conscious at least."
"Heh. Guess you'll be getting your answers after all."
Twilight magically lifts a student desk next to the princess's plush recliners, her writing supplies arranging themselves neatly on it's surface. "I certainly will."
Starseeker stands at the podium and straights his notes. Looking up he sees Twilight and Celestia looking back, anxiously. Luna, however, looks bored already and is studying the paint on the wall. Tie or no tie, there was no more stalling.
"So, where should I begin?"
Not even bothering to look forward, Luna dryly replies "The beginning would be sufficient." All ponies look in her direction, each with different looks.
He mirrors Luna's tune "Fine. My name is Starseeker." She rolls her eyes, catching her sister's glare. She sits up straight and at least pretends to pay attention.
"I was born and raised in Canterlot, in my family's general store. Ever since I was a colt, I was fascinated with exploring. It got me in trouble at times, sticking my muzzle where no one wanted it"
Twilight suddenly waved her hoof above her head. "Oh, oh! Is that why your cutie mark is a star constellation?"
"No. Turns out, I have a gift for alchemy. I have to admit while getting my cutie mark was an exciting time, I was disappointed it wasn't a compass or a map."
"So, how did you end up... where ever you went?"
"I studied alchemy at school but never outgrew that curiosity and desire to explore. When, as a teenager, I heard that a Royal Cartography Expedition to Zebrabae was looking for applicants, I jumped at the chance. A few weeks later, I was at work."
+++++++++
The wind blew across the rocky plain. Hooves knock over stones in their path. A peach unicorn walks towards a wall of rock carring a measuring stick, his hat's wide brim bouncing up and down. Starseeker plants the stick into the ground then looks up. A distance away, a pair of ponies watched. The Surveyer was looking through a survey tool before speaking instructions to his assistant next to him.
She waves her hoof to the left. Starseeker adjusts the stick slightly. her hoof waves over her head signaling to keep it steady. The Surveyer begins to take notes. Starseeker sighs, mostly out of boredom.
I know I don't have much experience, but all I've done this trip is holdup this thing. It's a little sad to know that your one job could be easily done by a tripod.
The Assistant waves back. Starseeker picks up his stick and starts to walk back to camp. He catches up with the others just as the Surveyer is packed.
"Nice work out there, Star. That stick never 'stood' a chance. *chuckle*" The Assistant's joke wasn't the first he had heard about his current task. He knew how to respond "Well, somepony has to 'support' this expedition. Otherwise it might fall over."
She laughed. He didn't mind. There were some nice looking young mares in the group, and she was one of them. While there was a lack of elagible young stallions, Starseeker's physicique limited him a bit. He had always been a bit small for his age... and gender.
Base camp looked pretty much what it sounded like, a gathering of tents. Tents for sleeping, tents for working, tents for eating, tents, tents, tents. Starseeker didn't mind though, this is what he wanted. Out here, he was on the frontier of explored Equestria.
The sun had began to set. Campfires appeared as food was prepared and ponies began to settle in for the night. Starseeker found a spot next to a fire for the two of them. They chatted and laughed, talked and flirted, until...
"...and as it turns out, it was his hat after all!" They both laughed. "You know Star, your really not a bad ...stallion." Her eyelids fluttered at the last word. Starseeker puffed out his chest and replied "Of course not."
She slides up to him. "You know what would make this REALLY fun?" Starseeker knew. "Wait right here. I'll be two seconds." He got up and headed to the main mess tent.
Despite being in the middle of nowhere, and the begging and pleading, alcohol had been kept out of reach of the younger expedition members. That didn't mean there was none. Sneaking around the mess tent, Starseeker peeked through a hole. The senior members were too busy talking about the days results to notice a bottle gently slide off the edge of the table. It floated just off the ground and under a flap. He grabbed two glasses on the way out.
He hurried back with his ill-gotten gains. Slowing down before rounding the corner, he poked his head out to surprise his date, then stopped.
It was like they were trying to suck each others tounges out of their mouths. By the sounds they were making, they were pretty close to succeding. She was on top of him, her wings flaired up, making out like the world was about to end. He recoginised him as one of the porters, a whole head taller then him and twice as much muscle on display.
Starseeker pulled he's head back before he was spotted. Ten seconds...TEN SECONDS!!! What could he had said in the last ten seconds that would of lead to this? He honestly would like to know, they were really going at it.
With a look on his face, he opened the bottle, swigged a mouthful then left it on a table as he wondered off to bed.
The next day, he's luck didn't fare any better. Somepony had found the tripod Starseeker had hidden away at the start of the trip. His job now taken, he had to
"Ah...Ahem"
+++++++++
Everypony turned to Luna, as she interupts the presentation.
"As entertaining as it is to hear about your misadventures in attempted romance and petty theft, (She wasn't lying. Luna was quite enjoying it) perhaps we could skip to the point of why we are here. Namely, your big discovery?"
Celestia replied calmly. "You would have a point there Sister, if you hadn't insisted we start at the beginning." Luna just turned her head away, cheeks inflated.
Twilight looked between her Mentor and the Night Princess. What's going on? She had not seen the two sisters together before and was unsure of their current behaviour. Is something wrong? Are they fighting? The unicorn turned to the presenter whom seemed to have the same expression as her.
"Err...well, yes. I should get on subject." Starseeker sensed that getting the Sister's attention's away from each other would be best for everyone. "Let's see...here we are. The days went past with the same routine. Until..."
+++++++++
A glass marble rolled across the table. The table shifted and the bead slowed to a stop then rolled back the way it came. The peach unicorn had repeated this cycle until he had become quite proficant at it. He shifted the table again, it's uneven legs allowing a see-saw motion.
A hoof came down, halting the moving orb. The unicorn who was attached to the hoof spoke to the table rocker. "Stop it."
Starseeker just sighed. The last week he had been bounced around the expedation until he landed with the record keeper, but he still had no job. She was just a babsitter.
"There has to be something I can do! What about..."
"No." The record keeper said flatly.
"Maybe I could..."
"Nope."
Starseeker open his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. "Not a chance."
He sighed again and put his head on the desk. The keeper continued to scribble notes down in the large red ledger being held by a wooden stand. That's all she did. All day. Everyday.
Nothing is gonna happen around here. "I'm going for a walk."
"Ah huh..." She had no intention of stopping him.
There wasn't many ponies around the camp during the day, most were out collecting measurements for the Map makers. The afternoon sun was low enough to work and there was still an hour of useable sunlight left. Looking in the opposite direction, to the east, he thought about walking to the port. The only reason he hadn't yet was no junior member was suppost to leave camp without permission.
To hell with this. Grabbing his hat and pack, he walked out of camp towards the Port.
Port Diligence was originally a trading post. It now was a major trade and shipping route which ran along the eastern shore. The Eastern shore of Zebrabae was well known by most ponies, if only for it's infamy. The Eastern shore lay next to the Bleak Sea. The sea was an anomaly, as a constant storm raged some distance off shore. No ship or pony had ever crossed it. Many had tried, some even came back alive.
As always, the Port was bussaling. Ships heavy with cargo were being unloaded and the marketplace was brimming with both ponies and zebras.
Starseeker hadn't been here by himself before. Usually when with a group they were in to much of a hurry to stop and look at anything. now, he had all the time in the world. The exotic foods, the strange animals... it was all a bit overwelming.
Then he noticed a group had gathered. His curiosity peaked, Starseeker went over to investigate. The group had packed tight so getting a look in was difficult. After much struggling, he wiggled to the front. "What did I miss?" He asked the pony next to him.
"It seems that something washed up on shore." She replied. "Also, it looks like somepony was wandered away from camp." Starseeker clamped his mouth shut before he could swear outload. Of all the ponies I could run into here... It was none other then Dusty Trails, the Expadition Leader. The elder earth mare turned at him with a knowing look. "So. Which leader are you with out here?" Ok Star, quick, think of a lie. Thinkthinkthink...
"I came out here to help Comet Tail. We got separated so I came back to the marketplace."
Her face didn't move. "Comet Tail and her team have been out on the East Ridge since this morning."
"Well, yes! But... she needed extra supplies and..." She waved her hoof. "Save it. I'm not surprised. You don't seem the type to sit around camp doing nothing. Who got stuck with you this time?"
"The Record keeper." He says glumly.
She rolles her eyes. "Yea, she's a barrel of laughs."
The crowd got excited as the covered object was wheeled up on a wagon. Once the wagon stopped, the tarp was pulled off. Underneath was what looked like a piece off of a side of a ship. It was quite damaged, probably from losing an arguement with a rock or reef. It looked like anyother piece of shipwreck, except...
"What is that painted on the side there?" He pointed to a line of symbols with a large one on top.
Dusty shruggs. "Probably a navel code. There used to idenify ships."
"Not like this one." Living close to the port for the last couple of weeks, Starseeker has seen a lot of ships come and go. "I don't think it's even Equestrian."
At this point, he's studying it up close. Seeing him facinated by this mystery give her an idea. "Why don't you find out?" He spins his head around, excited. "Really?"
She nods. "Sure. You have to do something around here." Last thing we need is a bored teenager with too much time on his hooves.
"I'll get started right away." He turns to look at the ship piece again. "Could I get a photo of this?"
+++++++++
The photo of the ship piece was cast against the screen by the projector. In the photo, Starseeker and Dusty Trails stood on either side.
"This was the last I saw of this piece. Shortly after this photo was taken, somepony dragged it off and sold it as firewood."
"If it was important, why destroy it?" Twilight asks.
"It wasn't important, it was junk that floated onto the beach. The only reason it was dragged away was it could of been a hazard to nearby ships."
"What did you do next?" inquired Celestia
"Once these photos developed, I took them to the Linguists to find out about the symbols. They just snorted and disregarded them as fake souviners to sell to gullible travellers. That no such language existed in Equestria."
"Afterwards, I returned to the port to ask around. I asked sailors, locals and merchants. Even after three days, I had nothing."
"Nopony had seen these symbols?" Twilight asked. He sighed. "No. But, I had an idea. The one I saw was considered junk and the Linguists thought that they were some cheap knockoff, so i tried my luck with the Junk traders. Sure enough, more symbols started to appear."
Starseeker clicked through several slides, each with bits of ships and each with similar symbols. Princess Luna made an observation. "It appears to be more than a coincidence. If they were fakes I would think that they would be different each time."
"Exactly! They wouldn't produce the same thing over and over again. See..." Starseeker levitates a pointer upto several of the symbols. "This group of symbols and this symbol repeats over" He switches to a second slide. "and over," Then a third. "and over again. And these are not similar pieces either. No no, each piece is on different wood types, different ship constructions, and they're different ages as well."
"At this point I had only found a few examples, by no means enough to present as proof. I continued to dig until I got a tip about a collecter who also had an interest in these symbols."
The image of a Zebra village slid into view. "From what I was told, a Zebra here had a number of the pieces I was looking for. He agreed to let me see and photograph them, but I had know idea what I was about to find." The next photo was cast onto the screen.
"Whoa..." Twilight murmured in astonishment. The photo showed dozens of ship fragments, covering two entire walls, all the way upto the ceiling with almost no wall showing through. "There was a another room full of them as well. I had definatly hit the motherlode."
Luna appeared shocked but speechless,while Celestia seemed oddly unmoved. Luna regained the use of her voice. "How...how many are there?" He had to think about it for a second. " It took awhile to count and catalogue them all. There was over a thousand, all different, all with the same set of symbols."
"With all this evidence catalogued, I then sent my findings off to Canterlot. A week later..."
+++++++++
Starseeker dodged falling tent poles and porters carring tools and supplies. He was almost finished packing when 'His presence was requested' in the main tent. He had the feeling something was wrong, and maybe, he had caused it. His feeling wasn't helped by the sounds of an argument from within Dusty's tent. Pulling back the flap caused everypony to stop and stare at him. Oh yeah. I'm in trouble.
The silence was deafening. Their eyes seemed to bore into him, as his stomach leaped into his throat. His mind frantically searched for any offence he may of commited, meanwhile he managed to choke words out. "So... what's up?"
"Did you send your findings about your 'Mysterious' symbols to Canterlot?" Dusty's voice was stern and delibrate. Starseeker was a little surprised at the question. "Yes. Yes I did." His response was confident. He was told to investigate so he couldn't be in trouble for doing what he was told.
Dusty looked at the others, as if looking for their input. "Well, it seems you got a response." She takes a large scroll from the table and hands it to him. He looks it over, then he notices...
"Is that the royal seal?" "Yes. Yes it is." Dusty confirmes. "And we are all wondering what it says." He brakes the seal open.
They all stand in silence as Starseeker's eyes move over the parchment. Dusty clears her throat. Starseeker looks up. "Mmm?"
"So," she asks gently, "what does it say?"
"Oh, it's from the Royal Archaeology Society. You know,"Well done. Good job. Your contribution is important." Yadda, yadda..." He changes the page. "This is interesting. The request has been approved. By the Princess, no less." Starseeker gets a confused look on his face. "I didn't send a request."
"Let me see." she takes the parchment and quickly starts reading it. "-mumble mumble- We are intrigued by -mumble mumble- very curious about -mumble- we request permission..." Dusty stops reading, wearing a shocked look on her face. One of the senior members pokes her. "Um...Dusty?"
Dusty snaps back to a serious expression and turns to Starseeker. "The Princess has approved an expedition into the origin your symbols and requests you lead it."
+++++++++
"WHAT?" Both Luna and Twilight yelled in shock. Starseeker simply replied, "That what they said."
"How could you approve a teenager to lead an expedition?" Celestia thought back to that day.
+++++++++
It was a another boring day. Another boring day sitting at her boring desk with her boring stamps and her boring inks and quills. On her boring desk was a sizable pile of boring paperwork. Paperwork that while working on all day, seemed to be a big as it was at the beganning. She sighed as she continued to read and stamp, bored.
The chamber door opens and a unicorn enters, levitating a pile of papers. He dumps his load onto the pile of paperwork already on the desk. The sun princess suppresses the urge to yell profanities.
"That should be the last of it your highness." One of the first things a ruler like Celestia learns to do is to grit their teeth and smile, no matter how difficult. "Wonderful. Thank you."
The unicorn begins to leave but remembers something. "Oh, yes. I was also sent to remind you about the garden party this afternoon." Celestia rolled her eyes. "Yes, I remembered." At least paperwork didn't try to smoose you at every opportunity. The unicorn looks out the window. "Should be fun, and that cake is huge!"
Celestia's ears flick up. Cake? In a flash, she's at the window, staring out into the Canterlot Gardens. Sure enough, amonst the guests was a table and on it, a large ornate cake. Her mouth begins to water contemplating the cake's moist interior and delicious frosting.
"I'll just leave you to your work, your highness." He left. Celestia looked back to her desk, piled high with paperwork then back to the window. An idea formed. "I shouldn't." She thought about it, but the temptation was too much. "Oh, why not."
Levitating the paperwork, quill and stamp, they start with blinding speed. Any other pony's eyes would only see a blur but to the Sun princess, she saw each paper signed and stamped perfectly. What would of taken hours insteat took less then a minute.
Her work 'finished', Celestia trots out with papers in tow. She quickly catches up to the courier and hands him the bundle. "Would you take these with you, dear?" The unicorn's mouth is agape. "You...your finished, your majesty?" Celestia smiled, "Yes. All signed and stamped. If you will excuse me, I have a function to attend." She heads down the hall towards the gardens and that lovely cake, with a spring in her step.
+++++++++
Celestia simply replied, "I signed a lot of paperwork that day."
"I wager that 'cake' was involved." Luna grinned. Celestia gave her sister another glare. Fearing an arguement between the sisters, Twilight ran interference.
"So, Starseeker, um... what happened next?"
"Well, I had to go to the only place these ship pieces could of come from, the islands within the tempest."
"You mean, the Bleak Sea tempest?"
"It took a while, but I belive I found a captain brave enough to take me into the storm and investigate the islands. Initially hard to track down, my search lead me to a dive bar down by the docks."
+++++++++
I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but nopony seemed to notice me entering. Would the Captain take me seriously? He shook his head and went up to the bar.
"Barkeep?" A sturn-looking earth stallion in a white apron turned around to face the newcomer. He was polishing a tankard with a dirty cloth. "Wat' you want?"
"Yes, well. I'm Starseeker and I'm looking for somepony." The bartender spit into the glass and continued to 'clean' it. "...So?"
"I need a ship captain for a job." He waved a hoof towards the other patrons. "Place is full of 'em. Take your pick." "I'm actually looking for one in particular. A Captain Sea Spray?" Starseeker turned to see he had everyponies attention. Even the bartender stopped cleaning and threw his cloth over his shoulder.
"Kid, their's few reasons ponies need Capt'in Sea Spray. Nun' of 'em bode well for you." I need to put my hoof down here if I'm going to get anywhere. "I'm here to hire the captain to take me into the Bleak sea tempest."
He resumed cleaning. "Then you got a death wish. And Sea Spray is the captain you need."
"Good." Starseeker turned to see the other patrons had returned to their previous occupations. "I know this is the captain's regular watering hole, but doesn't seem to be here." He pulls out a piece of paper. "When the captain shows up can you..."
GGGRRRrraaaaggggttttt. The unconsious mare laying on the bar groggaly gurgles and tries to get to her feet. "Sea Spray? Wh...Waht do yout wan with that lllloser! EH!!" The drunk staggers a little. "That ushless excuse of ah capt'in couldn'...cou,could n..." She trails off before eyeing Starseeker. "You a l'il little to beth in her, arn't ya? You losth or som'ting?"
"No, no I'm not. I'm looking for somepony. You don't happen to know where I can find Sea Spray?" She just stares at him. "Who?" Sigh. "Nevermind."
"Hey, hey, listhen. Listhen. Come here." He moves forward cautiously. She drops her leg over his neck and talks into his face. "What ye shoold know is... what I...I mean...what yeas REALLY shoold noes is...issss..." She trails off again before collapsing to the floor. Starseeker's face scrunches up. "Just give this to the captain when you can." The job offer is slapped onto the bar as Starseeker leaves.
The reply is received three days after. Tomorrow, Dock 3.
Early the next morning, Starseeker arrives at the dock to find the ship being loaded by it's crew. Looking at the backend of the ship he sees it's name, the 'Salty Mistress'. Cute. Another sudjective ship name.
He approaches one of the crew. "Excuse me, but have you seen the captain?" The zebra crewmember chuckles and replys, "Sure have lad! I am one of the crew after all!" His fellow crewmembers burst out laughing, Starseeker stands there with a dejected look on his face. The crew quickly became quiet as a voice spoke up. "Here now, Chuckles! What sort of jests ye be making this mornin'? I could do with laugh meself."
'Chuckles' reacted instantly. "Oh, er. Mornin' captain! I was just telli..."
"YOU?!" Starseekers eyes went wide as the captain came into view. "Your the drunk from the bar! YOUR the CAPTAIN?!"
"Are ye accusin' me of drinking?"
"...Yes."
She stops to think about it. "Yea, that sounds about right." She tips her hat and smiles. "Captain Sea Spray, at ya service." She gives him a quick look over. "So, who in th' heck are you?"
"I'm Starseeker and I'm the one who hired you."
It take all but one second for the whole crew to start laughing their heads off. It lasts for much longer as well. They laugh long and hard, with most hitting the deck, unable to stand, laughing and rolling around. The captain herself was lying on her stomach, laughing into the deck.
Starseeker just sat there, scowling. I'm getting tired of this! He takes out his orders and slaps it on the deck in front of the captain. Reading between fits of laughter, she sees the Royal seal. She picks it up and scans through the rest. Her face gets serious.
"ALL OF YA'S SHUT IT!!" The crew obey save a few stray giggles. "Chuckles! Get ever' pony back to work!" He snaps a quick salute. "Aye capt'n!" She turns to Star. "You. Me. Cabin. Now."
They walk into the Captain's cabin. It's suprisingly sparse with a small table and cabinet, both secured to the floor. She moves around to the other side of the desk and sits on her chair. Starseeker breaks the silence. "So when do..."
Sea Spray slams the orders on to the desk. "What kinda scam you running?!"
"Scam? What are you talking about?"
"A kid doesn't just show up out of th' blue with orders signed by Celestia herself!" She leans forward, glaring at him. "You working for a forger?"
"I'm not running a scam! How would it even work?" She snaps back. "I dunno, I anin't running it."
Star sighs. "Look. My orders are to investigate the islands in the Tempest for evidence of habitation."
"Habitation? Out there!What kinda stupid..." She stops midsentence and thinks about it. "Do we still get paid if you don't find nothin'?"
"The job intails transport, nothing more."
The captain leans back in her chair and stares up at the ceiling. "And I get to set the course?"
"Your knowledge of the Tempest is necessary."
She folds her hooves behind her head. "Hmmmmm... I don' know..."
Starseeker grins. "You can drop the act captain. I know you're already taken the job."
"Oh really? How?"
"Your crew is assembled, your ship is loaded and..." He points out the window. "we appear to be moving." The masts of neighboring ships drift past the open window.
"Hahahahaha. Ya' quick one, you are." She sits up straight.
"Why the act? You saw the orders."
"Coulda still be a forgery. Had to judge ya reaction to make sure. With that outta' way..." She pulls out a large map from the cabinet and rolls it out on the table. "...how about our course?"
The ship pulls out of harbour and heads towards the Tempest. At each island it stops and waits for Starseeker to investigate. While he does find a small haul of long forgotten smuggler's rum (much to the delight of the crew) no trace of civilization is found. All the while, Captain Sea Spray seems rather disinterested, staying mostly to her cabin between giving orders to her crew.
Once they entered the Tempest, that quickly changed. Within the storm, she was almost always on deck. Starseeker approched her usual spot at the front of the ship over looking the sea. "How are we faring Captain?"
They both had to talk loudly to be heard over the approching storm. "Quite well. Wind's up and swell's somewat' calm. That'll change quickly though!"
He looks at the water around him and notices the ship passing several small islands.
"Shouldn't we be stopping to investigate those." He points out to the water. She hands him a small spyglass. "Look all ya' want!"
Extending the scope, Star looks at the islands. "I don't know who sent ya' here, kid but ya' wasted ya' time! There's nothin' out there but rocks!" Sure enough, the view through the spyglass shows them to be nothing but bare rock. If anything had been there, It was long gone by now.
"But you saw the ship pieces! They had to come from somewhere!" He hands back the spyglass. "Yea I suppose. But it ain't from here!"
"You knew this, yet you still came out here. Why?"
She grins. "Maiden's Rock."
"What's Maiden's Rock?"
"Ye would have noticed the flags stuck into your tiny islands, right?" He had seen them. Flags bearing a symbol and a name each. "So?"
"Each is the mark of a Captain and the name of their ship and how far they came." Starseeker put it together. "So you used me and my papers? to fund a mission to plant your mark on some far off PIECE OF ROCK!!" The anger rose in his voice. "YOU CHEATED ME!!"
Sea Spray spun around and glared. "Don'ta accuse me of not doin' the job! We stopped at every bare spit o' land so far!"
"Besides," Her tone becoming calm, "Maiden's Rock is the farthest known land mass in the Tempest. By going there I'm still doing the job. Transport, remember?"
He rolles his eyes and sighs. "Fine. We'll mark this 'Maiden's Rock', have a big 'Best Captain' party and go home. Should be... fun." He starts walking away.
"If we survive."
"Of course, if we sur..." He spins around. "IF WE SURVIVE!?"
She just laughs outloud. "The Old man hasn't let anypony mark her yet..."
"But how...who is...?" The captain interrupts his protests. "Ye better get below. There's a storm acomin'!" The daring grin appearing on her face.
Below the decks of the Salty Mistress was dank, dark and cramped but Starseeker had adjusted. All you had to remember was to duck under that one beam, a smooth groove showed that many had forgotten. Probably at night or while drunk Starseeker mused.
He found his way to the 'Dining hall', so called because it was a small room with a few serviceable tables and chairs. Also, it was close to the deck so noone wanted to sleep there because the roof leaked.
He sat down and thought about his conversation with the captain. He decides to ask the crew. "Hey Chuckles, who is..."
Chuckles shakes his hoof. "No no, it's pronounced Chuckles." A few of the crew snickers.
"Sure. Who is the 'Old man'?"
"HA! I thought you was supposed to be clever." That was Salty, the ship's 'Cook'. The only one brave (crazy) enough to try and pass what they eat as food. "That's 'Old man Sea'. Old as the Sun and Moon, he is. Patient too, waits until just the right moment and BAM!" He slams a hoof onto the table. "He pounces on ya' and drags you to the depths."
"So when the captain said that the Old man hasn't let anypony mark her, that means..."
"BAM!" Salty slams his hoof down again.
"How many have been lost trying to mark Maiden's Rock?"
Salty shrugs. "Dunno. Lost count."
"And how many times has the captain attemped this run?"
The cook thinks about this. "Errrr, a couple?"
Star looks at him, raising an skeptical eyebrow. "A couple?"
"A couple... dozen... times?"
"So let me see if see if I got this right. We are floating on a giant piece of wood, in the middle of an ocean, driven by a obsessed captain who is directing us towards a giant rock, on purpose, on an apparent suicide mission? And your OK with this!?"
"Well...yea." All around the crew nod and agree.
Starseeker's head makes an audible thud as it hits the table.I give up. Before he can vainly argue the insanity of this all this, the room lurches sideways sending ponies and utensils flying. The room just as quickly returns to normal, sending everything flying in the opposite direction.
Starseeker tries to find his feet. "Did, did we hit something?" "No lad, more like something hit us!" A call comes down from the deck. "ALL HOOVES ON DECK!! TO YOUR STATIONS!!"
The crew fly up the stairs with practiced percision while Star struggles before forgeting to duck under that beam. Rubbing his head he finds his way onto the deck. The crew were hard at work trying to control the ship's sails and lashing down loose cargo. The captain was at the wheel, the same manic grin spread across her face. She was staring out into the rapidly growing storm.
"CAPTAIN!! TURN US AROUND!!"
"NO BLOODY CHANCE!! YARHAHA!!" She spins the wheel and the ship lurches, sending Starseeker sliding across the deck. He grabs the mast and holds on for his life, accepting the fact that he the ship isn't turning around.
The Captain breaks out into a rather crude version of 'Drunken Sailor'.
She spins the wheel again throwing ponies and equipment aside. The crew scramble to keep the ship together as the tempest tries to pull it apart. The captain just laughs it off.
Yea, she's insane.
+++++++++
"She's insane!" Twilight remarked. "Of course she's insane. Insane is what we needed."
+++++++++
"THER' SHE IS!!"
Starseeker looked toward the front of the ship to see what the captain had been so excited about. She was right. In the distance was a tall spire of stone jutting out of the ocean, Maiden's Rock.
"Take the wheel, boys." She leaps from the wheel. The wheel spins uncontrolably taking three of the crew just to hold it steady.
The captain grabs her flag and runs to the front of the ship. Starseeker lets go of the mast and attempts to follow. The ship was taking damage and becoming unstable, the storm throwing it around. After struggling to keep his footing he reaches the captain.
"Captain, we have to turn around NOW!"
"Not on your life, mate!" She bellows back. "I'm so close, too close. I can almost taste her..." Her obsession consumed her thinking. "Almost there..."
"If we don't turn back now there won't be a ship to turn back on! Your ship is falling apart! Think of the crew!" She turns her head to see the damage. Some of the crew are injured. And she could feel the ship groaning under her hooves."But...but I..." She flicks between the rock and her crew, before sighing and making her choice.
"ALL HOOVES COME ABOUT!! WE'RE RIDIN' THIS STORM HOME!!" She throws the flag onto the deck then runs back to the wheel. The three crewmembers are still struggling to hold the ship steady when the captain takes it and spins it with one hoof. The ship protests the sudden change in direction with a loud groan before turning towards port. "Com'on ya' blasted ship! Hold it together!"
Relieved they were returning to dry land, Starseeker attempted to make it back to his cozy mast. However, Old Man Sea had other plans.
A rope holding down several barrels snapped and the barrels bounced across the deck. Starseeker heard the rope snap and turned in time to see one of the barrels hit.
+++++++++
Starseeker rubs the side of his head. "There's still a lump where it hit me."
Both Luna and Twilight were on the edge of their seats. The curious librarian spoke first. "What happen next?"
"I don't know. The impact knocked me out cold. I don't remember falling, I don't remember hitting the water" he shook his head" ...nothing."
"I think I can explain what happen next." Princess Celestia broke her usual silence. "When the ship returned, the captain explained what had happened and search teams were sent." The sun princess's face grew grim. "After months with no results or sightings, I had to declare you missing, presumed lost at sea. I still remember the day I had to break the news to your parents."
A pained expression came over Starseeker's face. "My parents... that must of been terrible."
"But they must be thrilled to hear your alive though! After all this time..."
He looked at the floor. "I haven't told them yet."
"Why not?!"
"Because I have a job to do. This is important for many reasons, I had to see this through. Once I'm finished I can stay with them for as long as possible."
Twilight breaks the silence. "Maybe we should all have a break." She holds up an empty inkwell. "I seem to have run out of ink."
"A good idea, my student. A short break, then we can continue."
The Royal sisters leave the room, leaving Twilight and the presenter.
Twilight approched him as he adjusted his notes. "Why haven't you talked to your family yet? Didn't you miss them?"
"Of course I missed them! I thought of them every day I was gone! I had to do this first. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to focus on this."
Twilight looked him up and down. "Is this really that important?"
He looks back at her. "This changes everything."
Chapter 2 of the Starseeker Saga
