Chapters Night. Night was always the hardest part of the day for Stardust. The wind battering her messy white coat, and the occasional rain, like tonight's, trying to freeze her. In many ways, the night time was a battle for survival. However, night was also Stardust favorite time of day. The stars amazed her as she watch them shine in the dark sky, and the meteor showers that sometimes appeared were beautiful to see. Lastly, she loved the dreaming. Dreaming that she had a brother or sister to love and that they loved her back.
You see, Stardust never knew her parents. She was left in the streets of Canterlot by her parents many years ago and never knew them or any other home. Her only dream in life was to have a family that loved her and that she was able to love them back. It was a dream that felt hopeless, but yet something told her that she would someday have one (maybe the plot told her?). She didn’t know how soon it would be, but awaited the day that it happened.
Tonight, however, that was the last thing on her mind. Her only thought was making it through the thunderstorm going on. Stardust absolutely hated thunder, the big noise it made sounded like a kick drum she had heard a pink pony playing one day in the center of town, but a lot less beautiful and a hundred times scarier. She shivered as she found cover underneath a bridge near the edge of the city.
As she shivered there, she suddenly her the sound of hooves coming near her. Initially, she thought that it was someone crossing over the bridge above her on their way to somewhere, but it didn’t fade away as quickly as she thought. Instead, the sound just seemed to keep getting closer and closer, meaning that whoever it was saw her under the bridge. She looked up when she heard them stop walking, her light blue eyes meeting that of someone unexpected.
“Hello there,” The voice came from the dark blue alicorn standing right in front of her. She knew who she was, or at least to an extent because despite the face being familiar, the name was a mystery to her. Seeming to get this, the dark blue alicorn continued “I’m princess Luna, who are you?”
“S-stardust,” The young pegasus replied shivering. Stardust was absolutely baffled as to why princess of the night was standing in front of her. “Why are you here?”
“I was out walking when I heard you sniffling down here,” Luna explained “Shouldn’t you be in bed right now? Your parents must be worried sick about you.”
Stardust looked down at the ground when Luna brought up the fact about her parents. The look on her face gave Luna all she needed to knowing, feeling bad about bringing up something that seemed so sensitive. Luna sat down next to Stardust who was still shivering badly. Luna had to give it to this young pegasus, she had a lot of brains if she managed to survive by herself for this long.
Luna put her left wing around Stardust, hoping to give a little comfort to the young pegasus. As she did, she felt just how unclean her fur was from living on the streets without a bath for so long. It was very sticky, her mane was even worse with dirt, mud, and who knows what else in it. Luna felt very depressed as she looked at Stardust.
“Did you come up with the name yourself?” She asked. Stardust didn’t seem like a very normal name (ironic considering some of the other names she heard) or a name parents would come up with at all.
“Yes,” Stardust replied, putting a smile on her face as she looked back up at the princess. “I thought it up from how the stars look in the night sky. Their so beautiful and the only thing I can really look to when I’m sad so I decided that it was a fitting name.”
Considering the way she just described it, Luna was surprised that she was able to keep such a wide smile (of course her teeth didn’t look the best but that was besides the point) living such a life. Luna couldn’t imagine a life without a family at any point, let alone a life without a home to live in. She looked at the smile young pegasus with a face of deep thought. She needed to do something, but needed to first show that she cared about her.
“Wait here,” Luna said confident “I’ll go get you some food,” and she took off into the night.
Even as another boom of thunder came, Stardust looked at where Luna was. She was completely shocked that someone so high class cared enough to help someone like her. In all her years living on the streets the high society ponies were probably the ones that cared about her the least. She was even more amazed when she actually saw Luna come back with a satchel strapped to her.
“Here,” Luna said as she used her magic to open the satchel and handed Stardust a loaf of bread.
Stardust has never seen such delicious look food in her life. Hearing the growling of her stomach, she eagerly started gulping down the bread as Luna stared stunned. How long has it been since this pony ate? She could only guess that it's been a few days, but didn’t really know how long someone could survive without water.
“Thanks,” Stardust replied once with an even bigger smile than before. “It’s incredible.”
Luna simply smiled, not wanting to interrupt the pony in front of her. When Stardust was done eating Luna sat back down next to her. Her mind wandered a little bit as she wondered how her sister would react to this. There was something about Stardust that gave her a feeling of joy, but wasn’t sure what it was.
Looking back out she saw that the storm was starting to get worse, and she figured that it would only be a matter of minutes until it got too bad to fly. She had no choice, she couldn’t think about the consequences or the questions that Celestia would ask about the option she was making. Looking back she saw Stardust looking at her, eyes wide with wonder. Luna motioned the pegasus to her side.
“Come with me,” Luna requested to Stardust. “No way anyone should sleep out here, it’s not safe. You can sleep in one of the spare castle rooms for tonight.”
Stardust could tell if this meant what she wanted it to or not, but she wasn’t going to pass up the option to sleep under a roof for once in her life. Without a single doubt in her mind, she happily followed the princess out into the rainy night as the head to the castle.
The walk back to the castle was an exciting one, both ponies rushing to escape the rain. When they arrived, Luna had to explain to the guards why the young pegasus was with her. Following the princess’ command to let them in, Stardust looked around at the amazing decorations inside the castle. Luna watched as the young pegasus wondered the halls on the way to a bedroom.
When they arrived at one, Luna opened the door for Stardust. The room was small, but still shocked Stardust as she has never seen anything like this before. Before Luna could say anything about give her a bath, Stardust jumped up to the comfy bed, not bothering to lay under the covers, and fell asleep. Luna left the messy white pegasus to sleep, deciding it was best not to wake her right now. It must of been a dream come true for her to sleep in something other than the hard ground of the Canterlot streets.
Luna closed the door to the room Stardust was using, and left for hers. Before she could even so much as turn around, she heard the voice of someone coming from behind her.
“I suppose you plan to take care of her,” Luna turned around to see her sister standing there.
“She was on the streets alone,” Luna said, trying to explain the best she could “How was I supposed to leave her there. She looked so scared, I wanted to do something but didn’t know if I should tell you. Please don’t make her leave, I only wanted to help her.”
Celestia let out a sighed looking at her sister with a slight smile on her face. It was obvious that her sister was intent on looking after this young pony. She didn’t know who she was, but if it meant this much to Luna than Celestia was happy to agree.
Walking up to Luna, Celestia gave her reply “If you promise to look after her then I don’t see any reason to make her leave. Just remember she’s going to be your responsibility and not mine.”
Luna put her hooves around Celestia, happy to hear her sister’s response. Honestly, Luna was actually a little scared, she knew nothing about being a mother and never thought she have to worry about it. She wasn’t going to turn her back on Stardust however, seeing someone young like her living without a home was to much to bare.
“So,” Celestia said, still wondering something “What’s her name?”
Taking one look back at the door, Luna gave her sister her answer “Stardust.”
Author's Note
I'm going to totally admit, this was much easier to write then a chapter of Our Days Are Numbered by a long shot. It may be shorter then later chapters, but I plan for that to change after this. Anyway, the next chapter of this won't be for sometime sense I'm going to be picking back up Equestrian Despair (which I can know spell correctly) and will be transitioning between the two stories for the next for weeks. That being said, I don't plan to drop Our Days Are Numbered, but simply put it on the hiatus spot for a while like Equestrian Despair. Before I go, please leave a comment, like if you enjoyed this first chapter, and check out my other two stories I'm currently writing. Until then, see you guys next time.
First morning at the Castle
For the first time Stardust could know, she wasn’t crying in her dreams. Instead her dream made her happy, seeing Luna’s face as the two them played together. It was a much different dream than the others she was use to having. While they usually ended sad, this one stayed happy all the way to the end, when Stardust was awoken by the sound of something knocking around her.
“Excuse me. May I come in?” Stardust woke up to hear Luna’s voice on the other side of a door. Last night wasn’t a dream after all, it was real!
“Yes,” Stardust said giving her answer.
The door swung open as Luna walked in with a smile on her face. She looked at the young, mud cover pegasus with a sigh. She made a mental note to give Stardust a bath as soon as possible. She closed the door behind her as she went up to Stardust, ready to tell the young pegasus what she was about to do.
“So,” Luna said, hurrying to find the right words to use “Last night me and my sister had a talk. I told her about how you’ve been living and that I wanted to do something to help you, and she said that as long as I look after you, you can stay here at the castle.”
Stardust’s eyes widened as she heard this news. That feeling that she had for so long, finally coming into focus. Luna just stated she was adopting her, which brought both shock and undeniable joy to the once homeless pegasus. Never had she expect that it would turn out like this in the end for her, living with princess, having a mother figure to look up to. It was all too much for her mind to process.
“For real?” Luna nodded understanding Stardust’s shock. “I can’t believe this. I know this is real but it just feels like something out of a dream. Thank you so much.”
Stardust jumped at Luna, giving her a big hug as Luna put a bath from mental note to absolute necessity. The odor coming from Stardust’s fur was much worse than she thought. Taking this into account she pulled the dirty young pegasus off of her and guided her to the bathroom. Stardust didn’t know how, but she somehow managed to see exactly what Luna was doing. Of course, seeing how dirty she really was, she didn’t bother to try escaping. Besides, this was a princess, she didn’t want to do anything that majorly upset Luna.
That being said, Stardust hated water both warm and cold. After all her experience out in the rain at night, water was something she never wanted to deal with. Of course, that also didn’t make her struggle due to already stated reasons.
The bath itself wasn’t as bad as Stardust thought it would be, but still didn’t like it. Stardust hated how the water felt, and the fact that she had to get completely wet in order for Luna to fully clean her was one of the scariest things she ever did. She had no idea she was suppose to hold her breath underwater, so she ended up getting water and bits of dirt that had fallen off her fur in her mouth. While brushing wasn’t as bad, it constantly got caught on Stardust and it was a bit of a tug of war to get it out.
“Note to self,” Stardust mumbled during this “Never go out in the rain again.”
By the end, the water was no longer a clear blue color like it was at the beginning, but had been turned brown from all the dirt and mud Luna had cleaned off. Stardust hopped out, soaking wet with a small clump of her mane sticking to the front of her. Despite how filthy she was before hand, she seemed like an entirely different pony. Her dark blue mane (with an occasional bundle that was pitch black) mane shined with all the filth off of her. Her once white coat actually came out to be a very light shade of blue, which somewhat shocked her.
Luna handed Stardust a towel, which she quickly grabbed and used to get all the water off her. When she was sure she couldn’t feel a single drop of water anywhere on her body, she placed it on the floor, not knowing what to do. Stardust knew nothing about living a civil - or high class in this case - life. It was obvious that Luna would have to teach her about that as time went on. She also made note to sign her up for school, and introduce her to Celestia and the elements of harmony.
“I’ll take care of it later,” Luna said, seeing Stardust confusion “There’s a few things we need to do anyways before the end of the day.”
As long as it had nothing to do with water, Stardust was fine (and yes, it well be brought a lot). She followed Luna out of the bathroom and down a set of halls, looking around at the beautiful walls, floors, windows, and other things she had never seen before. After some time, they arrived at the dining hall to see Celestia waiting patiently. Stardust looked in awe at the princess, as she could have almost mistaken her for a good if she didn’t know who she was. Luna simply just smiled and rolled her eyes. It seemed like everything (except the bathtub) amazed Stardust.
“I see you took your time,” Celestia responded, giggling at the young pegasus’s expression.
“There was a bit of a,” Luna looked down at Stardust, “Complication.”
Luna and Stardust sat down next to Celestia, who was on the other end of the table as they waited for the chef to come with their breakfast. Stardust wasn’t so sure what to do after sitting down on the chair, she honestly had no idea what they were waiting for. All she could do at the moment was follow Luna’s example and hope she didn’t mess up.
“Stardust, correct?” Celestia asked, making sure she remembered. Stardust simply nodded. “It definitely is a interesting name. Nice to meet you. I’m Celestia.”
“Nice to meet you, too,” Stardust forced out, a little unsure about the words. “Thank you for letting me stay. It was really nice.”
“It’s okay,” Celestia said, understanding the young pegasus’ confusion. “I know this is very different from what you're use to, but we'll try and help you fit in. Also, don’t worry about being too formal, neither me or Luna is,”
Formal? That was a new word for her, and definitely not the last one she will here this morning.
“She means you can act like yourself,” Luna explained, seeing Stardust’s confusion.
At the moment, the most important thing for Luna was getting Stardust comfortable in the castle, fix up her mane as it was still a bit of a mess, getting some attire for proper events, and most importantly, signing her up for school. Stardust wasn’t as young as the CMC, but was still young enough where she needed to know most of the things that she didn’t know in life. Luna didn’t want to send her to school here in Canterlot, as she didn’t feel like it was the best environment for someone like Stardust to learn in. She would probably get picked on a lot and wouldn’t get the help she need from the teacher their. Cheerilee, however, who taught over in Ponyville would be a much better choice. It was a longer journey for sure, but school didn’t start for a week, and she could easily find a place for Stardust to stay during the school week.
When the food finally arrived, Stardust was meet with a meal she never imagined was possible. Fresh pancakes sat on a plate in front of her covered in maple syrup. Stardust has seen them in restaurants, but never got the chance to try one before. Without a second thought, Stardust quickly dug in. Devouring half of a pancake in a matter seconds. When she looked up, she saw the chefs jaw drop as he saw her eat. A small giggle came from Celestia as Stardust realized what she had just done.
“Good luck princess,” the chef said, as she left the room.
“They’re good, aren’t they,” Luna said. She never imagined what it was like eating with magic, but she didn’t need to embarrassed herself to find out.
Stardust gave a nodded to her new mother as she gulped down what she had eating. “I’ve never tasted anything like it before. It’s incredible!”
The smile that appeared on Stardust’s face was different than the one she wore last night under the bridge. She wasn’t smiling because she had to, the smile was as real as any other ponies Luna had seen before. Luna knew just how much of an impact she was making in a single day just by that smile, one that she would never forget.
As breakfast continued, Stardust easily devoured two pancakes before being full. Celestia and Luna leaving the young pegasus alone, not wanting to ruin the smile they had placed upon her face. Luna explained what she was going to do today to get things settled for Stardust. While most of the stuff she could do here in Canterlot, she decided to have Stardust’s mane done in Ponyville since she had to go there to sign her up for school. She would also take Stardust to carousel boutique to get her a few options for attire to wear during events like the Grand Galloping Gala, as well as introduce her to Rarity.
“Is Rarity of friend of yours?” Stardust asked.
“In a way, yes,” Luna replied “She and her friends have helped me out in the past so I figure it would be good if I introduced you to them, especially since you're going to have to stay there during the school week.”
“Are you planning on taking the train?” Celestia asked somewhat surprisingly. “It would be good to not attract to much attention since she doesn’t even know anyone there yet, and people would be wondering why a pegasus is accompanying one of the princesses.”
“Yes.”
Stardust tried to understand as much of the conversation as possible, but couldn’t really keep track with some of the words that they were exchanging between each other. After some time, Luna stood up from the table and walked up next to Stardust.
“Ready?” The princess asked.
Stardust nodded, following the princesses lead as she headed out the door. Luna was wondering how she would explain this to the kingdom that she had a daughter? It would be tough for sure. However, it wasn’t that urgent at the time, so she pushed away. Looking down at Stardust, full smile on her face, Luna made sure of one thing.
She was never going to let the smile disappear, never.
Author's Note
There we go, the second chapter is up (and much sooner then I thought). I want to thank all of you who are supporting this story, it's been amazing seeing how well it's doing after just one chapter and I hope to continue delivering what you want in terms of this story. That being said, I do want to finish of the Class Trial for Equestrian Despair and it will probably go up before this. That being said, I hope to get the next chapter up very soon. Please leave a comment, like, and follow as they all help show me your support and thoughts on the story.
Hitting the breaking point.
As Luna got out of the train, she sighed with relief. She looked at Stardust, who was shaking with fear behind her. Throughout the ride she was getting stared at by everyone on board, it was not a fun experience. However, it was all over now and there was nothing to worry about. Stardust followed Luna as they walked away from the train station, and looking in awe at the giant crystal castle in front of her towering the small town. Even in a place like this, royalty seemed to exist.
As they entered town, Luna and Stardust were happy to see no pony staring at them. Stardust looked around, she already was liking it better here then she had in Canterlot. It wasn’t as lively, but still had ponies talking and walking around in it. No one seemed to wonder what such a young pony was doing with Luna, or why Luna was here at all. Knowing that she wasn’t being questioned or watched made her feel much safer.
As they continued to walk until they came to a store at the end of town. This was their first stop, Carousel boutique. Luna and Stardust walked in to see a white unicorn working on a dress at one end of the building. She looked up as she saw Luna and Stardust come in.
“Well,” Rarity said, shocked to see Luna “This was quite unexpected. Hello Luna and what could I-,” She stopped once she saw Stardust hiding behind Luna. “Why Luna, I believe a your being follow by someone.”
Luna looked down at Stardust, scared of what she saw around her “It’s okay,” Luna explained “She’s a friend of mine.”
Taking a look at Rarity, Stardust came to the conclusion that it was safe. She was feeling the full effects of the fear of the unknown. She knew no one, knew almost nothing about the world, or anything that could contribute to her previous life. However, she felt as if she could trust Luna’s words, so she step out from behind her and completely showed herself to Rarity.
“Stardust,” Luna said, “This is Rarity. Rarity this is Stardust. I guess you could say that she’s my daughter. She doesn’t know much about normal life, so understand if she acts a little strange.”
Seeming to get this, Rarity reached out a hoof to Stardust “Nice to meet you Stardust,” Well, almost got it. Stardust stumbled back when Rarity held out her hoof, unsure of what it was suppose to me. “Your suppose to shake, deary,” Stardust did as Rarity said, but pulled away and shuffled away from her.
“Anyway’s,” Luna said, trying to make things less awkward “I was hoping to have some dresses ordered for her since the Gala is coming up in two months and I want to make sure she is ready for the occasion.”
Rarity nodded and took a step toward Stardust, the pegasus backing away as she did. “Listen darling,” Rarity said, try to make the young pegasus understand. “I know you don’t feel that comfortable but I promise I’m not going to do anything bad. I just need to take some measurements so I can make sure the dress fits you. You’d be okay if I borrowed you for a few minutes right? Luna will be right there.”
Stardust looked to Luna, who gave a nodded. Looking at the ground, Stardust responded “O-okay” She stuttered as she spoke.
Luna looked on as she watched Stardust do the hardest she could to stay still. She new Stardust had little experience with ponies before, but this wasn’t just normal fear in the pegasus’ body. Something about her past made her this tense around others. It became clear to Luna that she was the first pony Stardust had actually been able to get close to, but why?
“Alright,” Rarity said, finishing up. “You’re good to go.”
Before anyone could say anything, Stardust rush over to Luna and hid behind her. Luna sighed, she would have to talk with the young pegasus about this. It would hurt her later on if she kept acting like this. However, she saw the full effects only a few minutes of it after, when a unicorn filly quietly sneaked up behind her.
“Boo,” Was all that Stardust heard before she kicked in self defense at the noise.
Looking behind her, Stardust saw a white unicorn only a year or so younger than her with a purple and pink color mane. She looked to see her go straight across the room into the wall. Embarrassment crawled over her face as she saw what she had done. It wasn’t the first time she had done this to somepony, and it wasn’t going to be the last.
“Sorry,” She apologized to the young unicorn “I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just get a little tense when I’m around unicorns. Their probably the one thing that scares me the most next to water.”
“It’s okay,” the unicorn said in response “Should have been a little more thought before trying to spoke you. Name Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s sister.”
Rarity sighed as she saw the entire thing happen. She new Stardust didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but the fact that she took such measures to such a simple scare was beyond belief. If that’s how she reacted to that, she didn’t want to see this pegasus when they came across someone like Trixie.
“Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said, walking to help her sister up. Stardust had made a small dent in the wall with her kick “please don’t do that again. I can’t afford to pay bits on things caused by you and your friends. Look at what you made her do to my house,” She looked at Stardust, feeling sorry for what she had just said. “Don’t worry about it Stardust, it wasn’t your fault, but what happened to make you so scare of unicorns?”
Stardust didn’t answer, which didn’t surprise Luna one bit. She knew that unicorns usually saw themselves as high and mighty. They probably did somethings that she didn’t want anypony to know about.
“Sweetie,” Luna said, “Would you mind if Stardust joined you for sometime today, I’m going to sign her up for school and I want her to meet some of the other classmates there."
“Of course,” Sweetie Belle said rushing over to Stardust “Don’t worry, you can trust me.”
Despite the smile on Sweetie’s face, Stardust wasn’t convinced “How can I know you’re telling the truth?” A bit of anger accidentally seeking into her voice “No unicorn has done something to help me in the past, how can I be sure you won’t make me do something I regret.”
“Because this isn’t Canterlot,” Sweetie explained “Things are different here in Ponyville. Everypony helps each other out here.”
Stardust still wasn’t fully certain about going with Sweetie Belle, but she felt sure enough to tag along. After saying goodbye to Rarity and Luna, the two headed out into ponyville. This place made Stardust feel more comfortable than she did in Canterlot. In truth, it seem that what Sweetie Belle had said was true, not one sight of anypony being mean to another. As she was looking around, she accidentally bumped into somepony, knocking her down.
“Oh sorry about that,” The yellow pegasus she had bumped into said, “I was so zoned out I wasn’t looking.”
Stardust got up and took a look at the pegasus she had bumped into. It was a pegasus about her age with a pitch black mane. Despite the smile on the ponies face, something about them gave Stardust and Sweetie Belle an odd feeling.
“Guess I wasn’t the only one,” Stardust said, taking the pegasus’ hoof. “Sorry about that. Names Sta-.”
The pegasus was already running off in the other direction, once again giving an odd feeling to Stardust. Despite everyone else in town, this pony seemed to act somewhat strangely. She helped Stardust up, sure, but that didn’t take away the fact she ran off right afterwards.
“Don’t worry about her,” Sweetie Belle said, “Her name’s Dandelion, or at least that's what she’s told everypony. Moved in a the start of the summer, no parents from what I heard. She’s a nice pony, but it doesn’t seem like she really gets to close to anyone. One minute you're having a nice chat with her about something, and then the next she just runs off without a thought in her mind.”
“Still,” Stardust says, “Something about her makes feel… weird. Not afraid like I did around you or Rarity, but a feeling that she’s trying to hide something.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Sweetie Belle replied. “She’s one of the few ponies in town that are more random and odd. It’s nothing unusual, in fact most ponies are quite use to it at this point.”
Deciding that it was nothing, Stardust followed Sweetie Belle downtown. However, they had no idea that somepony had been watching them that entire time.
After walking a bit, Stardust and Sweetie Belle came to a tree-house that was in the middle of the woods somewhere. Stardust had been mostly quiet after the run in with Dandelion earlier, preferring only to answer when Sweetie asked a question that wasn’t to personal. That being said, there wasn’t a lot of questions Sweetie could ask that didn’t seem to go outside that range. Especially on the subject of her mom and dad, which Sweetie even admitted seemed like a stupid question to bring up.
“Hey,” Sweetie yelled up to the tree-house “Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, you in their.”
Out of one of the windows Stardust spotted two ponies peek out. One was a yellow earth pony with a red mane and a bow in it. The other was a orange pegasus with a purplish mane. They both seemed to be around the same age as Sweetie Belle.
“Hey Sweetie,” the earth pony said, who Stardust guess must have Apple Bloom “Whose that you got with ya?”
“Her names Stardust,” Sweetie answered “Mind if we come in?”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
Stardust and Sweetie Belle head up the stairs leading into the tree house. Apple Bloom opened the door and both of them entered to a somewhat empty room. Stardust once again felt tense, not as tense as she felt with Rarity, but still somewhat tense.
“Stardust,” Sweetie said, “These are my friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, this is Luna’s daughter Stardust.”
Both the ponies eyes widened (as if Apple Bloom’s eyes could get any bigger that is) with what they just heard. “Adopted,” Stardust said, trying to calm them down. It worked… on one of them at least.
“Wow,” Scootaloo said, started to get a little too close for Stardust’s comfort as she tried to back away. “You’re really lucky, you know that. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like act living in a castle, but I think it would be awesome. Is it? Please tell me.”
Once again, one of the CMC had gone to far. Stardust turned and gave a kick, sending Scootaloo flying (ironically) across the room. This time it wasn’t because of her being a pegasus, she just got a little too close for her to handle.
“Ow,” Scootaloo said, sitting up and rubbing her back.
“If it makes you feel any better I did it to Sweetie as well,” Stardust said, trying to make things better. “Also, please don’t get that close to me.”
Apple Bloom reconsidered following Scootaloo’s lead, not wanting to be number three. “Why did you do it to Sweetie Belle?” She asked instead. “She scare you or something.”
“Yes,” Sweetie answered for her, “However I guess something about me being a unicorn also had to do with it.”
“I’ll shamefully admit it,” Stardust said, looking at the floor “I didn’t mean to kick her that hard, but I was somewhat panicked so yeah. Sorry by the way.”
“I’m fine,” Scootaloo said “I’ve been in worse, but what do you have against unicorns?”
“It’s not exactly that I hate them,” Stardust explain “But they did something that caused me to be wear I am now.”
“Oh come on,” Scootaloo said, not realizing what she was about to do, “I can’t think of a single unicorn that would do anything that bad. Besides, you’re living with Luna. What could really be that bad if you have Luna as a mother?”
That seemed to not just go into the limits of personal, but brought back one of the only memories she had of her parents. She always wanted to believe they just abandoned her, but she knew what the truth was. The CMC watched as she broke into tears, and an angry expression crossed her face. Scootaloo didn’t just managed to bring up something horrible, but the very way she said - about it not being that bad - absolutely disgusted Stardust. This was the anyone saw what happened if you pushed it too far, and certainly wasn’t the last.
“Not that bad?” Stardust asked, her voice completely different from the timid tone it had before. “NOT THAT BAD? Is that what you see my past as. I suppose someone like you would understand what I have been through. You never lost your parents didn’t you?” Scootaloo was shocked at those words. “Is that a surprise to you. Why else do you think Luna adopted me, or picked me of the streets in my case? Why do I not trust unicorns? I’ll tell you why. Due to them, my parents didn’t just abandon me. They’re gone, forever, and no one will ever see them again.”
Author's Note
So I'm going to fully admit, I don't like the whole "people who run orphanages are bad" kind of thing. That's the entire reason Stardust didn't start the story in one, because it's one of those cliches I hate to see. I was actually a little histant to write this story because of that, but was able to avoid it so I was good in that area. Anyway, leave a like and comment for the story if you enjoy it. Also, follow if you want to keep up to date with the story. We are about to hit the true beginning of the stories plot, that's right, we are just about to get into the plot. Prepare yourself, it's about whole lot different.
Scootaloo looked on, staring at the enraged Stardust in front of her. To say that she was in shock was an understatement. How could she have known what really happened to Stardust’s parents. It was definitely a different answer than what she expected, and one she never wanted to hear again. No wonder she got ticked off at the statement she had made.
“I was out playing with my sister that day,” Stardust said, having calmed down a little. “She was the only one I was really close to, and even then I don’t remember as much. Not even her name comes to my mind. I do remember that we were closer then I was with my parents. That day, she suddenly disappeared without a trace and left me alone in the streets. I thought she went back to our house so I went there. However, that was completely wrong. When I got there I saw two unicorns exiting the building I had once lived in. When I went inside, well, you can guess what I saw.”
“You had a sister?” Apple Bloom asked,
“Yes,” Stardust replied. “But as I said I don’t remember her name. However, I do know that she is alive out there somewhere, and I hope to see her someday.”
“Of course you will,” Scootaloo said, trying to right her wrongs. “You’re the daughter of princess Luna. If anything Pinkie Pie will end up throwing a party and you will meet her there. If not, then news get out to her eventually. I promise.”
Stardust looked at Scootaloo, the pegasus had a huge smile on her face. It was incredible, to see somepony try and smile the sadness away, while inside she new that she had been doing the same thing for two years. Scootaloo was right though, she new that she would see her sister again in the future. She felt like the name was right on the tip of her tongue as well… Son-something. She had no idea what it was other than those first three words. She would have continued if she hadn’t heard the door open from behind her to see an orange earth pony with a hat stand behind her.
“You alright sugarcube?” The pony said
Stardust looked at the the pony standing behind her and then to the CMC. Knowing that they didn’t mean to hurt her this much, she did like Scootaloo and put a smile on her face. She sniffed a little as she wiped away the tears on her face.
“Yep,” She replied “Just some sad memories, that’s all. Besides, I’ve face much worse.”
Apple Bloom ran over to give the earth pony a hug. “I didn’t expect to see you here sis,” Apple Bloom turned back to Stardust to introduce her sister. “Stardust, this is Applejack, my sister. Applejack, this is princess Luna’s daughter Stardust.”
Not very surprisingly, Applejack took the news of Stardust as a bit of shock. Either the CMC and Luna both manage to out maneuver Pinkie Pie, or she hasn’t yet received the news. That being said, out maneuvering Pinkie Pie is like trying to teach an earth pony alicorn magic, it’s impossible.
“Well I’ll be,” Applejack said. “Nice to meet you Stardust. You sure are lucky to have a mother like Luna. When did you join the family?”
“Um, sis?” Applejack looked down to the scared filly at her side “Might now may not be the best of times to ask questions like that.”
Seeming to get it, Applejack quickly took back what she said before it got bad. Whatever must have happened, it must have really ticked the poor pegasus off (I mean, we all know what happen but just go with it). That being said, Applejack still had no go clue as to exactly what happened.
“So… Um” She said, hoping to phrase it the write way “What happened that made you all so scared?”
“Princess, please listen to me,” One of Celestia's royal executives said, trying to convince her. “I don’t it’s right to have a pegasus in the royal family. It seems wrong.”
This one thing Celestia didn’t want to go through right now. She had already done the adoption stuff necessary in Canterlot for Stardust and Luna and now she was getting the same old “royal family” speech from her castles staff. There was a lot of ponies in the castle who seemed kind of skeptical about it at first, but most of them didn’t really mind. This one, however, seemed determined to make the princess change her mind. However, once Celestia makes a decision, she won’t go back from it. Besides, It was about time she did something to this specific member.
“Listen,” She said “You have judged every action I have taken in the past three years. I understand that Equestria has been more dangerous than ever since the battle with Tirek and that my citizens expect a lot out of us right now, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon Stardust because of royal blood.”
“That’s not what I meant,” The executive replied in defense “I just mean that having her taking over the throne might not be a good idea. I have no problem with her staying but the fact is she will become the heir to the throne when you and Luna pass. If it wasn’t for that, I would totally be okay with it.”
“Stardust isn’t taking over the throne,” Celestia explained “If she shows the ability to rule, then yes, she will be the heir. However, it’s too early to say that and I don’t think it’s a good idea to put pressure like that onto her. She doesn’t know a lot, and until she can show that she has the ability to rule Equestria the throne will go to Twilight.”
Of course, it wasn’t as simple as that, it never was. Even then she new that arguing that Twilight will take over is hopeless, even though it did manage to shut up the pony next to her. Twilight had already set up shop as the princess of friendship in ponyville and it was almost certain that the next heir wouldn’t be her because of her position. This meant that no matter what happened, Stardust was going to have to take over when Celestia and Luna passed.
As Celestia walked to the throne room, one of the royal guards came running up to her. “Your highness,” Flash Sentry, a guard she was somewhat familiar with ran up to her in urgency “I have a letter requesting your assistance at the Crystal Empire."
Celestia took the letter and opened it, wondering what was so important. She nodded to Flash, telling him he is dismissed and read the continents of the letter.
“Get my carriage ready,” Celestia commanded, “I need to get there immediately."
“Ah see,” Stardust had explained the story to Applejack, who patiently listened to the pegasus as she tried not to cry “It must have been tough, me and Apple Bloom don’t have our parents either. Granny Smith over there has taken care of us for as long as I can remember.”
In the time Stardust took explaining the day, she, the CMC, and Applejack had all arrived at sweet apple acres. Stardust looked to where Applejack was pointing to see an elderly green earth pony sleeping on a rocking chair. Looking around a little more, Stardust was surprised at the sheer size of the farm. Rows of apple trees surrounded it with cherry blossoms almost at full bloom.
“Where are the apples?” Stardust wondered. She saw apple trees, but they had no apples on them.
“They're not ready yet,” Applejack explain “Wait until fall, that’s when the apples will appear.”
Applejack waved to a red stallion working the fields as they passed by. Apple Bloom had explained that that's her brother Big Macintosh. They went inside the house and Applejack went into the kitchen to grab a snake for the four fillies that had followed her. A few minutes later, Applejack came back with some apple pie slices.
Luckily, Stardust wasn’t the only one stuffing her face with food, as Apple Bloom had chowed in almost the same way she has. She had to admit, despite what had gone on earlier in the day, Ponyville was much more fitting to her then Canterlot had been. Not that she didn’t want to live in the castle, it was just more comfortable being around in public. Her life was really starting to turn around in the matter of a few hours.
Not long after they had finished eating, Applejack heard the door open. “Ah’ll get it,” Applejack turned to the living room. A few seconds later she responded “Stardust, Luna’s here.”
Stardust jumped out from her seat and ran to the door. When Luna came into her sight, she jumped at her mother giving her a hug in the process. After a couple seconds, Stardust dropped down.
“Having fun,” Stardust nodded “Well you can come back later, I have somepony I need you to me.”
“Twilight I’m guessing,” Applejack guessed.
Luna nodded “That’s where she will be stay during the school week,” Luna explained “I’ve already signed her up for school here in Ponyville and Twilight's the last stop where making before I head back to Canterlot. Applejack, you wouldn’t mind if Stardust stayed tonight to get a feeling for life here in Ponyville, right?”
“Sure thing,” Applejack replied. “Not like it can get any messier over here then it already has.”
Luna and Applejack said goodbye and she and Stardust started on their way to Twilight's place. “Is Twilight’s place anything like the castle at home?” Stardust asked.
Luna giggled a little before responding “You’ll be surprised.”
Author's Note
I never actually mentioned when this takes place huh? In that case, I'll say it right now. This story takes place three years after the show ends and will change depending on what things happen in the show. This means that characters like Apple Bloom are a few years older then they were in the show, they're not in high school, but rather in middle school if you ask me (do they actually mention how old she is?). Anyways, like, comment, and follow if you like this story. So you next chapter!
It wasn’t that surprising at all. The castle that Stardust had seen on the way to Ponyville now stood in front of her. She was in awe at the shape of it, never seeing anything like it before. It looked like something out of a painting to her, in fact she wanted to start thinking it was all a dream. It wasn’t, this day couldn’t have been any more real, the bath water reminded her of that. She shivered a little at the memory of the bath earlier that day, and quickly put it at the back of her mind.
Luna knocked on the door to see if Twilight was home. After a minute or two, the door opened to a purple dragon. From what Stardust could tell, the dragon must have been in its teens. This was the first time she had ever seen one before, and quickly took a step back, not sure exactly what he was to begin with.
“Oh, princess Luna,” The dragon said, it’s voice told Stardust that it was kind, and she stepped forward. “I didn’t know you were going to be here so soon. If I did I would have prepared a little quicker,” He looked to Stardust “This must be the pegasus you messaged me and Twilight about about. Stardust correct.”
Stardust nodded in response, not really sure what else to do at the moment. Her idea of Twilight being a dragon was no longer possible, if the words were true. Not knowing what to say, she looked up at Luna for an answer. Seeing Stardust’s confusion, Luna explained.
“This is Spike,” As Luna introduced him he gave a wave to Stardust. “He’s Twilight’s assistant, my sister was there when she hatched him.”
“What?” Stardust’s body froze in fear.
“It’s not like that,” Spike explained, seeing exactly where it was going. “It’s a magic thing, she used a spell to make me hatch quickly… or I think that's correct,” Realizing he was getting of topic, he quickly changed the subject “Come on in, I’ll show you to where Twilight is.”
Following what the dragon had said, Stardust followed him inside. Her amazement at the castle was even greater than it was on the outside. How the heck did somepony make this? Stardust didn’t want to know, but the question still intrigued her. The crystal walls shined, showing absolutely no sign of age. There seemed to have been a dozen rooms lining the hallways of the castle. Stardust wondered how many of them had actually been opened. She felt a little guilty for saying it, but something inside her said that this was more beautiful then Canterlot castle.
“Cool huh?” Spike said, seeing Stardust’s utter amazement.
“This is unreal,” She said looking at the many doors that she had passed by “How do you not get lost in here? Do you carry a map or something?”
“It was a little confusing at first,” Spike admitted. “But once you learn what door is what it’s not that bad. It took Twilight one whole day to memorize the layout, and me even longer just to learn where the kitchen is. We got it down now though, so we’ll help you out the best we can with that,” Soon after finishing they arrived at a single door at the end of the hallway. “This is it.”
Stardust opened the door to find a giant circular room standing in front of her. In the middle was a giant map surrounded by six chairs each with their own design on it. Looking up she saw a giant tree root chandelier (I’m pretty sure I’m getting that wrong) that easily scaled the entire ceiling. Then Stardust noticed two figures talking in the middle of the room. One was a light purple unicorn with a dark purple mane and a blue streak going through it, while the other one was a purple alicorn with even an even darker purple mane color and a pink streak going through it.
“Princess Luna,” The alicorn got up and walked over to the princess “It’s been a while. A whole year if I’m remember correctly.”
“Pretty much,” Luna responded. She turned Stardust to introduce her “Stardust, this is princess Twilight Sparkle. You’ll be staying with her during school weeks.”
So this was Twilight Sparkle. Stardust didn’t expect the pony to be an alicorn, but she realized that she should have known as soon as she saw the castle. Twilight smiled at the young pegasus, she surely was lucky. Not everyday somepony with no home is brought into the royal family. She wondered how the staff at Canterlot thought about all this.
“Nice to meet you Stardust,” Twilight greeted “As Luna said I’m Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight.”
“It’s nice to meet you to,” The shock of everything today made Stardust stutter a little as she spoke. She looked over to the unicorn that was patiently waiting in one of the chairs “Who is that?”
The unicorn got up as she saw Stardust look at her. As she got closer, Stardust started to back up, giving a fair amount of space between the two. A little bit of discomfort grew in Stardust as the unicorn got closer. She could tell that the princess was a little confused by her reaction, every time one stepped forward the other seemed to step back.
“Um Twilight,” The unicorn looked to the princess, looking as if she had done something wrong. “Hasn’t everypony forgotten about the whole incident?”
“I don’t think she even knows what you’re talking about,” Stardust could barely make out what Twilight had said. “This is Starlight Glimmer, my student. We met in a very interesting way three years ago, and I’ve been helping her learn friendship ever since. She’s a nice pony, don’t worry.”
Stardust looked at Starlight, she felt a little uncomfortable around her. However, she knew that she would somehow have to get over that uncomfortable. Forcibly, Stardust slowly walked towards her. Something in her head told her to stop, but she tried the best she could. Twilight looked at the pegasus’ as she forcibly moved forward. Something must have traumatized her to have acted that way, then she thought about Luna being her mother. She knew the situation Stardust was in from the letter that had been sent, what happen to her parents must have been affecting her right now.
However, in that Twilight saw something else. It wasn’t that visible, but she could see a weird force surrounding Stardust as she made her way to Starlight. The closer she got, the more it appeared and Stardust started to lose muscle in her legs. It was as if this power was scared of unicorns itself, it was a power far beyond fear. As soon as the other could clearly see what was going, they jumped in to help.
“Stardust, stop,” Luna shouted.
As soon as Stardust heard this she froze. She looked at Luna and saw a face of confusion appear. Stardust looked at herself, seeing the strange aura that had surrounded her. She got scared, not knowing exactly what was going on. She took a step back and saw it fade a little. Questions filled her head, not sure why this was happening in the first place.
“All I was going to do is try and shake hooves and greet Starlight,” She started to freak out as she spoke. “What is this? Is there something wrong with me?”
“Calm down Stardust,” Twilight said. She saw Starlight step forward and knew what was going to happen if she tried to help “Starlight, stay away from her. You’ll make this worse. Get out of the room before this fully takes effect.”
Starlight opened her mouth to object, but stopped herself realizing it was hopeless to try. She had no idea what was going on, but Twilight and Luna did. The best she could do was follow their orders and not interfere. She went to the very edge of the room and then to the door that Luna and Stardust had entered through, not wanting to make it worse. As soon as she left, the aura faded, and Stardust stood there, too scared to move.
“I… I...,” Stardust didn’t know what to say.
In the matter of a few hours, her life had turned from a dump to royalty, literally. Now, she was starting to judge everything she had ever known, her life on the streets, the name of her sister, her name being something she thought up, but strangest of all, the death of her parents. She had no idea why, but she felt as if none of it was true… was it. No, she was sure she had a sister still alive somewhere, but something about the name she had before seemed off. It was almost as if the sister was standing right in front of her, but that wasn’t possible, right?
“What’s going on?” She asked Luna, and as she did, she saw her mother start to cry. “Luna, are you okay.”
“Yes,” Luna answer, she hadn’t realized she was crying. “It’s just… I figured that what Starswirl had told us all those years ago was wrong. Yet here you are, standing right before me.”
Celestia stared at the crystal heart, looking at the strange glow it was giving off. The letter she had received stated that this was happening, but she couldn’t believe it herself. Along with her was Cadance, Shining Armor, and their daughter Flurry Heart. They greeted her as she arrived and accompanied her on the way to the castle. When she got there, she saw that the crystal heart was glowing a light blue color. The light was almost blinded Celestia when she first saw it.
“So,” Celestia said with a deep thought “What you said, it was correct.”
“I heard the story from our mother when I was young,” Shining Armor said, “This means that the third sister isn’t just a legend. We saw this happen a few months ago, but it didn’t grow this bright then. Until last night we thought it was just a coincidence, that is when it grew it’s brightest.”
“The night that Stardust and Luna meet,” Celestia said. “Starswirl was correct after all.”
“What story?” Flurry Heart asked. Out of everyone here, she was the only one that didn’t know the story.
“It’s more like a forgotten legend,” Celestia explained “Most ponies don’t remember it anymore. Would you like to hear it?”
Flurry Heart was excited. “Yes, please tell me.”
“Let’s head inside,” Celestia said, “Then I’ll tell you.”
They headed inside and to the library where Celestia looked up and down for the right book. After a few minutes, she found it. The Legend of the Third Sister, the story Shining Armor had mention earlier. It wasn’t a legend, not anymore. It was becoming real, and it started as soon as Stardust and Luna meet. Celestia sat down on a chair with the book levitating in front of her. More than a thousand years have past since that day, and it was something that had faded from her memory. Now, it was all coming back to her, and it reminded her of how Luna had reacted to it.
“Long ago,” Celestia began “Before the banishing of Nightmare Moon, there lived three alicorns. These alicorns had great magical powers that no other pony could have imagined, and they were seen as the royalty of the land. One had the power to raise the sun at dawn, while another had the power to bring the moon at night, but the third had a power unbelievable to any other. Her talent was limitless.”
“What do you mean?” Flurry Heart asked, not fully understanding. Her parents shushed her so Celestia could continue on.
“The alicorn’s talent,” Celestia continued “Was talent itself, as her cutie mark showed by an infinity sign it had on it. The alicorn spent her time helping those in need around Equestria. She was loved by many, and her sisters loved her for what she did, but as time went on her talent became her own curse.
“In time, she learned the talent of many pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies with her cutie mark, but in time it had reached its limit. Soon, the young alicorns power started to grow out of control, putting the land of Equestria in danger. She never wanted to endanger anyone, and asked her sisters for help. Not wanting to see there sister go through so much pain, they asked for help from a great unicorn wizard
“When the unicorn saw the dangerous power that the alicorn held, he knew exactly what was going on. The alicorns body didn’t have the ability to harness all the magic she had gain over the years, and the only thing he could do was rewrite the destiny of Equestria itself. Using magic, he changed the alicorn into a pegasus, so she no longer had the power to us her talent. With this her cutie mark faded away, but the magic still inside of her tortured her body. To help her, the unicorn place the pegasus into a sleep, and used her magic to form the tree of harmony, which protects us now from the danger that the everfree presents.
“As time went on, Equestria forgot about the young pegasus, and she faded from the memories of all the countries citizens. However, to this day, her sisters still await her return, hoping to one day see there sister again.”
“Wow,” Flurry Heart was amazed by the story, never having heard of it before. “Is it real?”
“Yes,” Celestia said “In fact, not only is that story true, but what the unicorn said was true.”
“You mean she’s back,” Cadance was shocked. “You know who she is?”
“What!” Stardust yelled, unable to believe what she had just heard. “You mean I’m that alicorn,” Luna nodded, having told Stardust they same story that Celestia had told Flurry Heart. She was so confused, “Then what about the memories of my mom and dad dieing? Why don’t remember it? What does this have to do with that strange aura from earlier?”
Luna could understand Stardust's questions, it was hard to believe it was her to begin with. Luna remembered what Starswirl had told her before he cast the spells, and tried to remember everything he had said. After she had the answers to Stardust’s questions, she started explaining.
“Let's begin with the one easiest to understand,” Luna said. “The reason that strange aura appeared was because the tree of harmony feeds off the magic you had in you. Due to your body being drained of all the magic you had when you were an alicorn, the presence of magic is foreign to you. To be more exact, unicorn magic is foreign to you, which is why you aren’t effected by my or Twilight. It also only happens when a unicorn has a great magical potential which is probably why Rarity didn’t hurt you either.”
“As for the memories you had,” Twilight continued off of what Luna said “I don’t think they were fake as much as they were dreams you had while you slept. You slept for so long that dreams started to feel like they were real, and you started to forget about everything when you were an alicorn. In other words, you kind of brainwashed yourself with sleep.”
Stardust tried to process all of this, but it still didn’t seem believable. Her, an alicorn? It felt so fake. Yet, there was something in her that wanted her to believe in what they were so saying. How could it be real? Nothing was beginning to make sense, yet it felt like as soon as she started to walk towards Starlight things seem to be… different.
“So, what exactly was that aura?” Stardust asked, it truly was the strangest thing right now and the thing she had the most questions about.
“What exactly do you want to know?” Twilight questioned back, not knowing what Stardust meant.
“When Starlight got further, I felt something about me change,” Stardust explained. “Twilight, like you said, my memories started to feel like a dream more than reality. Why is that the case?”
“I’m not sure,” Twilight replied, sad she didn’t have the answer to such an important question. “I have a theory however. Maybe your bodies trying to replenish the magic you lost when you were turned from an alicorn to a pegasus. It’s a little far fetch, but maybe your fear isn’t a fear of unicorns but of the uncertainty it will not be able to hold the magic you once had. However, I have a better theory that maybe it’s trying to reverse the spell that turned you into a pegasus in the first place because it changed your destiny and caused you to lose your cutie mark.”
“So not only did the tree of harmony take the magic I gained from my cutie mark, but that of what I had as an alicorn as well,” Stardust said, trying to understand what Twilight had said to begin with.
“There’s something that wasn’t mentioned in the story I told you,” Luna said “The unicorn that I mentioned, Starswirl the Bearded, said that the tree of harmony would someday die, and it can’t be changed. In other words, Equestria is about to enter a much more dangerous era then it had before.”
“Wait,” Twilight said in realization “If the tree dies, then the elements will as well.”
“Elements?” Stardust was confused, this is the first time she had really wondered what they were, thinking that they were just the name of a group before.
“When the tree of harmony was created,” Luna explained “Six magical artifacts were created to support the life of the tree. These artifacts are called the elements of harmony, and have been used to banish many evils that appeared after you started sleeping. They are connected to the tree of harmony and need it to exist.”
As soon as she said that last sentence, she realized something. Twilight is right, if the tree goes, then the element of harmony will as well. It’s not that the tree of harmony takes magic as a food, it was magic itself made from the many talents of the world. If the cycle is cut, then it will start to wither away, and because the elements have been supporting the tree for sometime, then they don’t have the ability to save it. However, the magic will still be where the tree is since it’s owner isn’t there to collect it, meaning that Stardust might be able to collect it.
That was dangerous though, in her current form, Stardust wouldn’t be able to hold that amount of magic. If she tried to absorb it, there was a possibility it could kill her, putting Equestria at great risk. She had to figure out a way to turn Stardust back into an alicorn without such great risk. She got an idea.
“Twilight,” Luna said, a smirk appearing on her face. “Would you mind calling Starlight Glimmer in here, I want to try something.”
After sometime, Luna had everything set up just like she wanted. She had informed both Stardust and Starlight exactly what she wanted to try. If what Twilight had said was correct, then it’s possible that aura wasn’t trying to hurt Stardust, but rather trying to collect the magic Starlight had. When Stardust had tried to greet Starlight earlier, she said that she felt herself change a little. Of course there was a few questions asked.
“I understand that this is for the fate of Equestria,” Starlight said, not quite sure about the whole thing. “And I understand that this use to happen all the time with Stardust if the story is true, but wouldn’t that turn me into a earth pony? I have nothing against earth ponies, I just don’t want to lose the ability to lose magic.”
“Don’t worry,” Luna reassured her “If it’s anything like how her cutie mark was back then, all it should do is copy your talent to her. If this is correct, then that should not only change Stardust back into an alicorn, but start her on the way to being able to take the magic that the tree of harmony and the elements of harmony have. Not only that, but Stardust’s transformation from alicorn and pegasus realized some new talents that hadn’t been seen previously. If she is having that aura around her that must mean that some of it can be copied from you.”
“How do you know this?” Stardust asked curiously,
“How do you think I learned this?” Luna asked rhetorically “We’re sisters, I've seen you do this more time then you think.”
“And you think this works the same way?”
“Yes.”
Knowing that they would get nowhere just talking, Stardust and Starlight made their ways to opposite sides of the room. Stardust looked at Starlight as she turned around at the other side of the room. Luna and Twilight stood to the side, they were only to take action if something went or seemed wrong. Stardust’s legs once again tightened as she Locked eyes with Starlight. Ignoring the feeling in her legs, Stardust straightened up and walked forward.
At first, Stardust felt fine. She easily moved forward the first few feet as Luna watched from the sidelines. When Stardust got halfway, she felt it happen. Her body said to turn away, but she ignored what it said and kept moving forward. After a little bit, the others saw the aura start to appear again. It was faint at first, but with every step she took made a glow more and more. Only a foot away from Starlight, Stardust’s legs started to go numb. The aura had grown so visible, that Stardust could easily see it around her. She felt herself breathing hard, but still didn’t give in.
When she was only one inch away, her entire body stopped moving. She was still awake, but she couldn’t move a single bone in her body except for your head. Looking around, the aura started to seem spiritual, as if it was from another world. Luna recognized this, if it was indeed the same as it was back then, all she had to do now was close her eyes and concentrate on the unicorn in front of her.
Stardust closed her eyes, following the instructions that Luna had told her. While she didn’t see what happened next the others did. The aura attached itself to Starlight as if transferring for one body to another. As it went on, Stardust started to glow. It wasn’t the glow that occurred when getting a cutie mark, or similar to when Twilight became an alicorn. This was a dark red glow, the glow Luna was used to seeing. Starlight giggled as the aura covered her.
“It tickles a little,” Starlight admitted, trying to hold it in.
After a few seconds, the aura moved away from Starlights body and back to Stardust. Once it had all gathered back into Stardust, she was surprised to see her muscles loosen and fell to the floor with a thud. Luna quickly ran over to her sister as she got up.
“Did it work?” Stardust asked, not knowing what had just happened. “Am I an alicorn again?”
“Yes and No,” Luna admitted. “You aren’t an alicorn, but your cutie mark seemed to have reappeared.”
Stardust looked at her flank to confirm what Luna had said. Indeed it was true, she saw an infinity symbol on each side. If that was true, then what Luna had said was true. She was so confused. What was real? What wasn’t? She no longer had a clue.
She turned to Luna for an answer. “Luna, does this mean-”
“Yes,” she replied, already knowing what Stardust was going to say “we're sisters.”
“Do you remember anything about who I was.”
Luna looked away, a little ashamed at her answer. “The only thing I remember is that we were really close, and that it drove me mad that no one else cared for me when you went away.”
Twilight was shocked. If Luna was going where Twilight thought the princess was, then there was more to Nightmare Moons story then she thought. Was Stardust really the closest pony she had back then. She knew it wouldn't be right if Stardust learned about that. Then again, was it good for her to learn about her past fully?
“Stardust, Starlight,” Twilight called to them “I need to talk with Luna in private, would you mind leaving the room for a moment.”
Seeing the concerned face Twilight had, they nodded and left the room. When they had both left the room, Twilight let out a sigh.
“Twilight, are you okay?”
“What are we going to do Luna?” Twilight ask Luna. “You know what's going to happen if she gets a hold of that power right now. She might become an alicorn again in the future, but what are we going to do about the tree of harmony?”
Luna was shocked at this questioned. “What do you think? Stardust will be able to-”
“Absorb all that energy,” Twilight finished for her “honestly Luna, I thought her disappearing the first time was hard enough for you. Don't you want your sister to have more of a life then that?”
Luna hadn't thought about that. If Stardust didn't have the ability to hold that magic when the time came, then the sleep spell would have to be cast again. Stardust talent didn't see much of a talent like it us to be, but seeing it's now, it was more like a curse. Luna looked down, ashamed that she hadn't thought about that.
“I do,” Luna replied “but what about Equestria? If we don't do something about the danger will be worse than before. Stardust is our only hope of carrying that magic, and even if it disappears after it's used by magic overload we need her to save Equestria. Do you have a plan.”
“Not fully,” Twilight admitted “I'll need time to research and see if there is a way to increase her magic capacity, or see if I can transfer it into some other item to use,” she walked up to Luna and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Listen, you help her regain her memories, teach her, and make sure she's ready when she becomes an alicorn again. Leave everything else to me."
Twilight made her way to the door. As she reached it, she turned back around. Looking Luna straight in the eyes, she said one final thing.
“And if I fail to do this, then you are going to have to decide what's more important to you. Your younger sister, or Equestria.”
And with that, Twilight left the room, leaving the princess alone to make her choice.
Author's Note
This actually got finished a lot sooner then expected. I know a lot of you aren't happy about Stardust seeming like an overpower alicorn, but I assure you that we won't see her alicorn form until much later and that she will NEVER become that OP. Also, did any of you see the influence from Lullaby for a Princess in this chapter? Please comment if you see it. Also, like and follow to show me how much you like my work, it helps me stay motivated.
“Luna?” Stardust’s voice brought Luna back to reality. “Are you okay?”
Luna was not sure how to answer. Since Twilight had spoken to her earlier, she had been almost completely silent. What option was she to chose, to let Equestria be put in danger for her sister’s safety or put Stardust in danger for the rest of Equestria. Either way she answered would be selfish, but which was the most selfish was what she had to find out.
“Stardust,” Luna said, addressing her sister “If you had to choose between putting your family in danger, or letting the thing that has kept you safe for so many years get destroyed, which would you choose?”
“That’s what Twilight was talking to you about?” Luna nodded in response “Well I guess you would have to go with what is more dear to you. Sure your safety would be put in danger but at least-,” Stardust stopped when she realized what Luna was truly asking her. “Oh, that’s what she asked.”
Luna’s guilt was growing heavier and heavier. The choice seemed so simple, but every time she wanted to go with one option the consequences of it would come into her mind. If she put Stardust in danger, Equestria may be safe but that very decision 1000 years ago drove her to become Nightmare Moon. If she went with the other then she would still have Stardust but the Everfree forest would prove to be more of a threat than before. Both options scared her, but to now but it on the very pony that this would effect the most, she felt sorry for her.
“Well, I don’t remember much about how ruling because of the time I spent sleeping,” Stardust acknowledged “But just because we lose the tree of harmony doesn’t mean we lose Equestria as well… right? If that’s the case, and I have my memories back by that time, then can’t I help Equestria readjust to that time? Also, that time is probably far in the future. Why worry about something that won’t happen for some time still.”
Luna didn’t respond, but she didn’t have to in order for Stardust to see the small smile go across her face. At this time, the amnesiac little sister she hadn’t seen in more than a millennium was acting more grown up than her. Than again, sometimes adults acted more like kids than kids themselves. That wasn’t unusual for Stardust, Luna remembered. It seemed like she had started to gain more back then she imagined. The Stardust Luna had met last night was quieter and kept to herself more, but this Stardust seemed to know the situation and seemed to understand things better than before. Heck, she didn’t even understand what the word formal meant beforehand.
“You’re right,” Luna replied finally, “It’s better to not worry about the tree right now and focus on getting your memory back. Besides, I don’t think things can get weirder than it already has.”
“Yep,” Stardust happily agreed “Nothing can be stranger than what has already happened. I mean, how could have thought I was the sister of a princess?”
There are sometimes when you know what is going to happen, and then there are the times when you’re stupid enough to believe that something won’t happen. This is one of the later, and Luna couldn’t believe she was so foolish to think that this would go unnoticed. Luna and Stardust just stood there at the entrance to Sweet Apple Acres, staring at the many balloons hanging on the arch in front of them.
Stardust, not realizing what was going on, stepped forward to see what was going on. Before she even had time to think, she was grabbed by something and hulled into the farm. She could see ponies everywhere, completely shocking her from the calm manner that she saw earlier. It seemed as if someone was having some sort of party, but who?
“Surprise,” A pink earth pony jumped in front of Stardust, causing her to kick once again. However, this time she missed and the pony appeared in front of her acting as if nothing ever happened “Nice to meet you. My names Pinkie Pie, you must be that new pony from earlier right?” Not knowing how to respond, Stardust simply nodded. “Sorry that I never told you about this, but surprise parties are much more fun than regular parties don’t you agree?”
“Pinkie,” Stardust looked over to see Applejack approach them. “Don’t bother Stardust here, she’s Luna’s daughter and it wouldn’t be nice to put something so new-”
“Sister actually,” Stardust interrupted, getting a strange look from Applejack.
“Did you hit your head against a something?” Applejack asked, not believing Stardust for a second.
Stardust wanted to hit herself after that one. No way any of the ponies here would believe her if she told them what happened. The only ponies who saw the events at the castle were Luna, Twilight, Starlight, and her. No way these ponies knew what she was talking about and probably saw it as a joke.
“It’s true,” Pinkie and Applejack turned around to see Luna listening behind them. “I’ll explain it to you later, but I can assure you that what Stardust here is saying is actually quite true. Not even I knew until a few hours ago.”
Applejack just stared, not exactly sure how to respond to this. Stardust giggled a little at Applejack's complete loss of words. Pinkie, however, was not so shocked.
“I knew it,” Pinkie addressed “You two do seem like sisters.”
Looking around, Stardust had to ask “Is this party for me?”
“Sure is,” Applejack said “Whenever there's a new pony that Pinkie here doesn’t know she throws a party for them. Why don’t you hang out, it will be good for you to get to know the ponies in town if you’re going to be here.”
Stardust agreed, it would be better to make some friends so she can fit in a little more. Besides, wasn’t it a princesses job to know what the citizens want? It would help to know what ponies wanted. Also, making friends would help in the future when she needs help with some other things.
Stardust excused herself from the conversation and looked around. It wasn’t long before her eyes locked on to someone from earlier. There, sitting alone was that yellow pegasus from earlier. If Stardust remembered correctly, her name was Dandelion, which was kind of a sad name when you stop to think about it. Being named after a weed, it made her wonder if Dandelion was bullied a bunch because of it. Either way, Stardust walked over to her.
“Excuse me,” Dandelion looked up, showing her lime green eyes as Stardust greeted her. “Mind if I sit with you?”
“No, not at all,” The pegasus replied. Stardust took a seat as she introduced herself. “Sorry I never introduced myself earlier, I was on a rush to get somewhere. The names Dandelion.”
“Stardust,” The two pegasus introduced themselves, shaking hooves.
“So,” Dandelion said, starting up the conversation. “I’m guessing you’re new here in town?”
“Sort of,” Stardust tried her best to explain to Dandelion exactly what had happened the past few days. When she mentioned that her sister is Luna, the smile that had been on Dandelion’s face shrunk as if she had said something wrong. “Is everything okay?”
Realizing what she was doing Dandelion shook her head and put on a smile. “Sorry, drifted off a little bit.”
Stardust new that wasn’t what happened, she could see clearly that Dandelion was listening to the entire thing. Not only that, but even if those memories of hers were all just dreams, she could tell a real smile from a fake one. It was forced because she didn’t want Stardust to see that. Once again that feeling of curiosity came across Stardust. Dandelion was definitely an interest pony.
“Did you sleep well?” Dandelion caught Stardust off guard with the question. “I could never imagine what it would be like sleeping for so long, forgetting who you are and everything you ever knew.”
Stardust had to think about this for a minute “It was okay… I guess,” She finally replied, the newer Stardust showing more when she thought about it. “My dreams were normal really. Had a family, friends, and everything else you expect somepony to have,” She held back a tear as she remembered something from it. “Sometimes I wish those dreams were true. In fact, it seemed like it was, because in the end I lost something dear to me.”
“Your family,” Dandelion said, “I’m sorry it had to end up that way, but look at where you are now. Your as awake as can be, and you managed to find your family again. Your lucky.”
“I guess I am,” Stardust agreed, “Thank you for this Dandelion, I need it,”
“No problem,” Dandelion gave her a sympathetic smile before getting up. “You’ll be going to school here right?” Stardust nodded “I’m starting this year as well, maybe we'll see each other then?”
“Sure.”
“Alright then,” Dandelion turned to leave, but turned around to say a little more “Thank you, for being the first pony I feel like I can trust here. It means a lot to me,” And with that, she left.
Not much really happened after Dandelion left. Stardust kept to herself most of the time and tried to stay out of Pinkies sight (which she found hard to do). When the time came, Applejack called Stardust and Apple Bloom in for bed. The party had ended a few minutes before and Luna, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie cleaned it up while Stardust and Applebloom got ready for bed.
When it was done, Luna came in to say goodnight to Stardust, but saw that she was already asleep in bed. For a pony who had slept for over 1000 years, she was amazed at just how fast her sister fell to sleep. Luna decided it was best to just give her a kiss before walking out of the room and bumping into Applejack.
“I want to thank you for letting my sister sleep here tonight,” Luna said, “I have a lot of things I need to do, and now that I know who Stardust really is, it’s going to be a bit tougher than I thought to teach her.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Applejack replied “We’re friends, and if we're going to get your sisters memories back, then you’re going to need all the help you can get.”
The word memories seemed to hurt Luna a little bit. She wanted Stardust to know who she once was, sure, but what about events she never saw happen. Tirek, Discord, even newer events like the wedding between Shining Armor and Cadance, were they things Stardust should learn about? However, there was one event she never wanted Stardust to hear. It was something that she caused, and Luna would rather have forgotten.
“Applejack,” Luna looked at her with a worried face. “Promise me that no matter what, you’ll never tell my sister about-”
“Do you think I would do something like that?” Applejack asked, already knowing what Luna was going to say. “I know that it would devastate her if she new about Nightmare Moon. I have a sister, and there are certain things even I keep from her for her own safety. Just because I’m the element of honesty doesn’t mean I’ll blurt out every secret I’ve been told to keep. There are times when honesty is right but there are also times when it is wrong, learning that is just one of the many things I’ve had to learn over the past few years.”
“I know,” Luna said, “It’s just… I don’t know who to trust. I never thought she would lose her memories during all that time,” She paused, remembering something Stardust had said to her “The night I meet her, she told me her parents abandoned her, but it wasn’t her parents. The ones who abandoned her all those years ago was me and Celestia. So much might have been avoidable if we took a different path, if we did something differently, and I don’t her to feel responsible for what happened. She was the only one I was close to back then, and I don’t want her to feel bad about a dumb decision her sisters made for her,”
Applejack looked away, seeing the way Luna felt about Stardust. “She wasn’t the only one close to you back then,” Luna looked at Applejack, confused. “Twilight has told me how much Celestia regretted sending you to the moon. “So much might have been avoidable if we took a different path” that sounds like Celestia when I talked with her about you.”
Luna was shocked, she had never heard this before. Over the past three years many things have happened in the elements of harmony. Applejack and Celestia had become really close friends, Starlight happen to become Twilight’s pupil (of course we all knew that already), and Rainbow Dash has taken over for Spitfire as the leader of the Wonderbolts after she retired due to an injury to her wing two years ago. Of course, no pony could argue that the biggest change was that Fluttershy has apparently been dating Discord for at least five months. The fact that Celestia hadn’t told her about something so simple as this conversation she had with Applejack was a surprise.
“I never knew she felt that bad about it,” Luna said “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“The same reason you don’t want me to tell Stardust about Nightmare Moon,” Applejack explain. “Because I promised I wouldn’t tell you about it because she thought it would make you feel responsible for something you had no control over. The only reason I’m telling you this now is because I wanted you to know how Celestia feels about you and that somepony did care about you back then.”
After a little time, Luna responded, “Thank you, Applejack.”
“No problem,” Applejack said, “Just don’t tell Celestia about this, okay?”
Luna nodded her head in response, understanding that it wasn’t something Celestia wanted her to know in the first place. See how dark is was getting, Luna started toward the door, wanting to get home in time to start her night duty.
“I have to go,” Luna said, turning around. “Just make one more promise to me, don’t do anything to wipe that smile off of Stardust’s face. I never want to see her as sad as she was the night we reunited.”
“Don’t worry,” Appejack said, making a X across her body “I’ll make sure she is as happy as can be.”
Author's Note
I feel like I could have ended this better, but this is what had to go with in the end. Other then that, I really don't have much I can say other then MY GOD THE SHIP IS REAL. Sorry... just like, comment, and follow if you like this, I'm gonna go think about what I just did. (Not that I have any regrets, I just never thought I would put shipping into this fanfic)
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The past, the present, and the uncertain future.
“Stardust,” Luna opened the door to see her sister still asleep, “School starts today, time to get up,”
One week has past since the day Stardust learned about Luna and Celestia being her sisters, and so far things have been very interesting. Celestia hasn’t yet addressed Equestria about the young pegasus, as fear that many of it’s citizens would protest and revolt against it since it is a city with more than half its population unicorns. She decided it would be best to wait until Stardust regains her state as alicorn. Luna has spent a significant amount of time over the weeks trying to teach manners to the her amnesiac sister, slightly wishing she would have regained some after that day in Ponyville. Overall, I guess it would be better to say it was more boring than it was interesting.
That being said, today was the first day of school for her, or rather her first day after over 1000 years of absence. Stardust was excited, not because of the new experience she was about to have, but because she was going to see Dandelion again. Being the first full on friend that Stardust could say she made, she was excited to see her again. She also wanted to help Dandelion, as it seemed she was rather lonely considering what she had said about Stardust being the first pony she could trust.
Getting up out of bed, Stardust rushed to the door, only to be stopped by Luna. The princess had to do this if she was going to get her sister to brush her teeth and everything. It’s not the hatred of the bathroom Stardust had after all, it was her fear of water that had stayed with her even after learning the past she remembered was all a dream. After a few minutes Stardust came out of the bathroom, the smile she usually had was a mix between anger and fear. It was one of the few times Luna could do nothing about it, but if it is what it would take to get her ready, she wouldn’t do anything about it.
“Ready,” Stardust said, looking at Luna for approval.
Having heard the commotion that had gone on in the bathroom, Luna didn’t have to ask if she forgot something. Moving aside, Stardust rushed out of the room and down the hallway, greeting the guards and servants as she passed by them. As she arrived in the dining room, she looked to see that Celestia was already there, much to her amazement. Stardust has been trying to get there before her, and even when Luna had to wake her up an hour or two early so they could get to Ponyville on time she still couldn’t beat the princess.
“Come on,” Stardust said amazed, “The sun isn’t even up yet, how did you get here before me?”
Celestia giggled a little, finding it funny to see the young pegasus so worked up about something like that. “I wanted to see you off,” She explained “This is your first day of school, do you think I’d let you go without saying goodbye?”
To Stardust, that was a fair enough reason, but she had to admit that it was kind of weird. As far as she knew both of her sisters were over 1000 years old while she was only around 7 years old. Even if she did know about the whole Nightmare Moon thing she felt like Luna and Celestia where incredibly old to be her sisters, but she knew the reason why. The sleep spell she was but under must have kept her from aging somehow. Not that she knew how magic worked, but it made sense to her.
Luna entered the room as the food did, sitting down next to Stardust. Stardust almost started shoving her face when the chef put the food down, but stopped when she remembered what she was told. Luna sat there, amazed at how far Stardust has come in just one week. She definitely still had some bad habits from her sleep, but most of the big ones had been fix, except for her fear of water, which Luna didn’t feel like trying.
“Sense you will be Ponyville most of the time,” Luna said, explaining to Stardust what the weekdays were going to be like. “I have asked some friends who live in the area to help you with certain things. While you will be learning a lot of things at school, I have asked Twilight to help explain things I haven’t had the chance to go over, and when the time comes she will also help you with magic. I also have asked a professional to teach you how to fly since you don’t know how,”
“A professional?” Stardust asked, a little confused about the title “Don’t all pegasus have the same amount of talent to fly,”
“Not exactly,” Luna replied, thinking of a certain mail pony “What I mean is that they have a specialty in that section,”
“Huh,”
“Also,” Celestia said “Remember what we said about the whole sister thing?”
“I know,” Stardust rolled her eyes as she repeated what the had told her “Until I’m an alicorn again I am to say that I’m your adopted daughter. You told this to me a hundred times,”
While she didn’t exactly enjoy lying about her relation to the princesses, there was a good reason for it. Most ponies wouldn’t believe her if she said that they were her sister, being a pegasus at the moment and since she for the longest time believed that she was someone else it made sense to stick with the disguess for right now. There was a few ponies who knew, mostly the elements of harmony (how has Pinkie kept this a secret I don’t knows), the servants at the castle, spike, the CMC, and Dandelion unknown to Luna. That being said, Stardust doesn’t think it would be that big of a problem since it was only one pony.
They finished breakfast and left the table as some of the servants (though Stardust called them janitors for some reason) picked up for them. They headed to the train station where Luna explain that Twilight would be waiting for her when she got off. Celestia grabbed a ticket (for free, of course) and handed it to Stardust. As the train arrived, Stardust waited for everyone to get off before getting on herself, finding that she had the car all to herself. She looked back to Luna and Celestia, waving to them as the train started, and before she knew it she was off to Ponyville.
Twilight and Spike waited patiently at the train station for Stardust, who would be arriving any minute if the times were right. Twilight looked at the railroad in the direction of Canterlot, running in place as she waited. Spike could tell a million things were going through her head, and at least 99% of them were just the part of her that constantly worried. Spike couldn’t do anything about it except just sit there, as he once saw her go completely crazy from him speaking up about her weekly letter to Celestia.
Finally, after a few more minutes seeing her pacing around going “what if this happened to her, what if that happened instead” Spike couldn’t take it. He had to at least try, besides this was a completely different situation then that one a few years ago.
“Twilight calm down,” Spike requested, his voice showing signs of annoyance “We’ve been here for less than half an hour and you’re already acting crazy. Stardust is okay, the train will arrive on time, you don’t need to freak out,”
“It’s not like that Spike,” Twilight acted like she hadn’t heard a thing, still nervously walking in place. “This is Luna’s sister we’re talking about, if something happened who knows what Luna would do to me,”
Spike didn’t have to try again to get Twilight to calm down, as the blaring sound of the train could be heard in the distance. The two watch as the train came into view and stopped in front of them. The door opened and Twilight and Spike watched as Stardust got off the train, being the only passenger, with a bag filled with things Luna told her to bring.
“See,” Spike said, pointing at Stardust as she put down the bag which seemed to be very heavy for her “She’s fine. Will you stop worrying now?”
All Twilight did was give Spike a glare before looking back at Stardust. “Hello Stardust,” She greeted. “Need some help carrying that bag,”
“Yeah,” Stardust managed to say through the heavy breathing she was doing, showing how much it weighed her down. “I didn’t expect it to be that heavy,”
Twilight easily lifted the bag with her magic and handed to Spike, who easily carried it. Stardust felt a little guilt for having him carry it for her, but compared to her it seemed to effortlessly carry it as they made their way to the castle. Stardust looked behind her to see the sun rising in the hill, amazed at the wonderful mix of colors that it gave off. To know one day she would hold a power like that, it was hard to believe. Then again, what had she learned one week ago that anyone would be able to believe. She heard Twilight give of a purposeful cough and looked back to see her waiting for them. Not wanting to stall, she ran up to Twilight, a question on her mind.
“Hey miss Twilight,” She said
“Just Twilight,” Twilight corrected her, “Miss is too formal for my liking, that goes for Princess as well,”
“Oh,” Stardust blushed a little from embarrassment, “Sorry, I was just wondering if you have heard of a pegasus by the name of Rainbow Dash before. I heard she was going to be teaching me how to fly,”
Twilight stopped at the mention of that name. Stardust and Spike looked back to see her looking up at the clouds. It’s been two years since she heard full name Rainbow Dash, as most ponies knew her as “The Great Rainbow” due to her incredible skills as a stunt flier. If that wasn’t enough, it has been three years since they have actually talked together, and there were things Twilight had long since forgotten that she wanted to say. To hear someone say the name Rainbow Dash, it had become a long lost memory of hers.
“Rainbow Dash,” She whispered “How long has it been since the day Spitfire retired? Am I finally going to see you again?”
Stardust looked on in confusion, not having any clue what she was talking about. Looking for an answer, she turned to Spike.
“Rainbow Dash is an old friend,” Spike explained “We haven’t seen her for three years. She had to take over as the captain of the Wonderbolts after their former captain, Spitfire, retired due to a bad wing injury. I just hope you’re prepared to meet her,”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because last we saw her she had the ego the size of Celestia’s castle,” Spike joked, remembering how Rainbow reacted when she heard the news about taking. “I doubt anything has changed really. She’s pretty famous actually,”
“When’s your first lesson?” Stardust and Spike looked up to see Twilight standing only one inch away from her face. If it had been any other pony, Stardust would have kicked them, but that probably wasn’t the best thing to do to a princess.
“Tomorrow,” Stardust answered, understanding exactly why Twilight wanted to see her.
Twilight jumped around with excitement. “This is perfect,” She said excitedly “Maybe I can get the girls together to greet her. This is amazing,” Twilight stopped as she saw the sunrise start to die away and realized that ponies were going to be waking up soon. “We better get moving, or else we won’t have time to drop off your stuff at the castle,”
As they made their way to Twilight’s castle, she reflect on the day she lost truly talked with Rainbow Dash. The day before she went off, and told Twilight the hard truth.
3 Years ago
“What do you mean I won’t be able to talk with you again?” Twilight yelled, not understanding what Rainbow Dash had said. She remembered it so well, Rainbow Dash seemed so excited at first, but when Rainbow Dash said she wouldn’t be able to stay as the element of loyalty, no one could believe.
“Listen, I don’t want this to happen either,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “But the problem is that I’m going to be taking on huge responsibility with this new job. Twilight, I know you want to believe that Spitfire is just in the hospital for a short time, but you heard what the doctor said. It isn’t her wing that was really broken, that hit she took broke her wing bone where it connects with the rest of her body,”
Twilight couldn’t face this, she knew the answer, yet she still asked. “They can fix it… Can’t they?”
Rainbow Dash looked down, her wings and ears dropped as she answered. “No,” was her response. “The spot it was broken made it so they couldn’t do anything without damaging her spine. In other words, she’s never flying again,”
Twilight just stood their in fear. This couldn’t be happening to her, it couldn’t be.Yet no matter what she said, she new the truth. She stood there as Rainbow Dash walked past her, unable to say anything to Twilight in her current state. She walked to the door before turning around.
“I’m sorry,” Was all she could say, before closing the door, and leaving Twilight alone.
Present Day
Since then, thing seemed to grow more and more distant between her and the other elements of harmony. Applejack had to take on more farming responsibilities as Granny Smith got older. Rarity had to make constant trips to Manehattan because of her success as a dressmaker and Twilight found that she spent more time traveling every year. Fluttershy was with Discord of course, which was more understandable to her. The only one who really stayed the same was Pinkie Pie, but being as crazy as she is Twilight had to wonder if she could change all that much.
Now, she had a chance. A chance to make things right and to see her friends again after so long. Of course Twilight had to admit some of it was her fault, as she had become more isolated from the others after Rainbow Dash left. That was in the past, however, and now she had the opportunity to get them all together again. Even if it was only for a day, it was Twilight needed to make her feel better.
Twilight looked at Stardust, who walked in front of her at the moment. She had no idea how much of an impact she was making on Twilight’s life right now. She managed to bring Rainbow Dash back without any knowledge of how much Twilight had missed her. The time of the old elements of harmony have past, but she knew that Stardust was linked to them, and had the power to do things she doesn’t even know. It was time for new elements of harmony to come together, for a new group of friends to be made and take control. All of Equestria relied on her, and Twilight was going to make sure that her gift doesn’t go to waste.
Author's Note
I don't have anything interesting to say so just like, comment, and follow to show me how much you care for the story. See you whenever I put the next chapter up.
Attention: The follow chapter is going to be from the view of a new character, just so you are aware.
“Oh no, I’m going to be late,”
Blue Moon isn’t what you would call intelligent for a unicorn, but you wouldn’t call him stupid either. He was smart, but compared to the rest of his family and other unicorns who had such incredible magic potential, he was kind of an outcast. He always felt like a bit of a let down when others compared him to his sister, Sonnet. He hated the comparison, but the sad thing was that it was true.
Of course, he knew the reason others in his family were so disappointed in him. He had luck (if his four-leaf clover cutie mark didn’t say enough), he was smart enough to get himself at least honors during the school year, but that wasn’t what made a unicorn. The thing that his parents always got on to him about was his inability to use magic. Blue Moon couldn’t learn magic for some strange reason, and he seemed to be hated by most of his family for that reason. The only one who really seemed to love him was Sonnet, and even then she lived in Manehattan so he didn’t get to see her a lot.
Blue Moon wasn’t exactly having the best of mornings. He slept in on the first day of school, a bad start if there ever was any. However, he didn’t want to miss the arrival of Luna’s new daughter who would be attending. He always wanted to see a member of the royal family, and even if it was just an adopted daughter it would be better than nothing. He rushed ahead, seeing the school bell ringing in the distance. Seeing how everyone had already inside he quickly rushed to the door and swung it open.
“Blue Moon, just on time,” Cheerilee, the teacher at his school, greeted. “We were just about to introduce our new student,”
Blue Moon sighed in relief, glad it hadn’t been one of those instance where the reverse side of his cutie mark had shown. The thing with Blue Moon was that his luck was both a gift and a curse in many ways. His luck was just as incredible as his bad luck, causing him to call his bad luck “The Blue Moon effect”. In other words, the better luck you have, the worse luck you will have in the near future. If things like thunderstorms come during a wonderful trip to the beach, Blue Moon or any of his classmates would blame it on the Blue Moon effect.
“Take a seat next to Applebloom right there,” Cheerilee requested.
Not bothering to argue, Blue Moon took his seat. Applebloom looked at him and gave of a small smile.
“Anyways,” Everyone looked to the front of the room as Cheerilee spoke. “As I’m sure you are all aware, we have a very special new classmate joining us this year. Stardust, would please stand up and introduced yourself,”
Everyone watched as a light blue pegasus with messy black and dark blue hair stood and went to the front of the room. That was her? She looked so… normal. Everyone looked in awe as Stardust went to the front of the room, but none of them were as stunned as Blue Moon. He had imagined she would look a little more like… royalty. He couldn’t believe it, at least he didn’t until he saw her cutie mark.
Not many ponies these days no the story of the Three Sisters, but Blue Moon sure did. He loved old tales like that, anything with the label “fantasy” was right in his ally. Of course, he had managed to grab a very special book one day from princess Twilight, that was the Legend of the Three Sisters. Her coat color, the fact that she was a pegasus, and most importantly, that cutie mark on her flank in the shape of an infinity sign. When did this happen? How come no one had mentioned it.
“Um… Moon?” Blue Moon awoken from his shock at the sound of Apple Bloom's voice. “You do know that she is way out of your leagues right?”
“What?” Blue Moon hadn’t realized it, but he was blushing hard while looking Stardust. He shook his head before responding. “It’s nothing, really. I didn’t even know I was blushing?”
“Yeah right,” Apple Bloom said teasingly “If everyone wasn’t staring so much at Stardust, the entire class would have noticed you. Oh, how the course of true love never did run smooth,”
Blue Moon giggled a little. “Did you just-”
“No I didn’t,” Apple Bloom tried to defend herself
“I’m pretty sure you did,”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”
“That’s the fifth time in the last week,”
“I’ve been reading a lot, okay,”
“Ahem,” Cheerilee said, having over heard that last little part of their conversation. “Anyway’s this is Stardust, she will be spending school days down here in Ponyville. As she is the daughter of princess Luna, you make sure she feels welcome, okay?” She turned to Stardust “Why don’t you sit with Dandelion in the back,”
Stardust nodded and started her way to the back where Dandelion sat. However, to add to Blue Moons torture, she passed by him and gave him a small smile. It didn’t take much for Blue Moon to realize exactly what was going on, she was teasing him. She had seen him blushing, and now probably thought of him as silly or cute. He didn’t need that, she was way to old for him. She seemed young, but she was over one thousand years old, and he felt a little uncertain about that.
“Anyway’s” Cheerilee said as Stardust took her seat. “Let’s begin class,”
When the bell rang, Blue Moon let out a big sigh. It wasn’t the best first day of school he could have hoped for, but at least he didn’t have any homework to do tonight. However, the day wasn’t done making up for his earlier luck, as he ran to the door before anyone else. That was, everyone except for Dandelion, who pushed him to the side and quickly ran outside, causing him to fall straight on his face. It was official, this has been the worst series of bad luck he ever had.
“You should have waited,” Apple Bloom said, struggling to control her laughter.
“Um…” The two looked to see Stardust talking to them. “What the heck just happened?”
“Dandelion is like that,” Apple Bloom explain for Blue Moon, who has completely frozen in place. “One minutes she is having a friendly conversation with you, the next thing you know she is gone flying faster than the The Great Rainbow,”
“The great who?”
Everyone looked at Stardust in shock, again. Not because she was the princess's “daughter” but rather because she didn’t know the name Apple Bloom had just spoken. She looked around for a moment, seeing everyone staring at her. Thinking about it, she realized a connection in the name.
“Oh you mean Rainbow Dash,” She said confident. Everyone sighed, realizing that she knew Rainbow Dash by her real name. She walked over to Blue Moon, and he got less and less comfortable as time went on. “Hello, I was just wondering if you would like to walk to town with me,”
“Uh…” He looked at Apple Bloom or rather where Apple Bloom had been. She ditched him, as soon as Stardust asked ashed she was gone. Seeing no way out of it, he just said the easiest answer available to him. “Sure,”
No crap , He thought in his mind, the wrong word coming out of his mouth I meant to say no. How did I mess up, I’m not ready for this. I didn’t want this to happen, never.
“Great,” Stardust said, not realizing just how much yelling Blue Moon was going on in his head. “Let’s go,”
She walked past him, and Blue Moon, having no options left, followed. He had never thought this would happen, she knew he like her, didn’t she. He was not ready to be in a relationship, of course, he had no idea what Stardust was saying in her mind right now.
Whelp She thought, as she and Blue Moon started walking away I really hope I don’t mess this up, I don’t think he gets I like him. I don’t even think he knows he blushed. I don’t know why I feel this way, but this is what Dandelion told me to do, so just go with it.
Manehattan, one hour earlier
Sonnet sat as she waited for her editor to arrive. He was once again late, and this book needed to be ready in a week. She hated just how many time he ended up late, and she was going to fire him if he didn’t arrive soon enough.
Sonnet was a writer as well as Blue Moon’s sister. She was rising to stardom having moved to Manehattan four years ago to pursue her dreams. She had a gift at writing murder mysteries, and it has been what she’s become known for. This was the second book she would be releasing, and as it is she spent a lot of time on it. Even her own sister read said she read it, as she had received a letter from Blue Moon one month after her first one came out and had posted it to her wall. She looked at it, reading it’s contents once again in her mind.
“Dear Sonnet,
I started reading your first book, Shadow Games, yesterday. It’s amazing, doctor Magni is a really cool character. Where did you get the idea of an earth pony who can feel the pain of murder victims from? It’s so cool, I can’t stress it enough. His assistant remind me a lot of you, able to getting everything down to the small shred of paper when it comes detail, hotheaded, and really impatient. It feels like you wrote the story off of a real event. I’m only a few chapters in but I’m absolutely stunned by how amazing you are at writing. I heard that princess Twilight has become a big of your work as well. Keep up the good work, can’t wait to see what happens next!
From your younger brother
Blue Moon”
She giggled a little, always find it funny who he described the characters. “If only he knew,” She stopped as she said it, realizing what that would mean. “NO! WHAT AM I THINKING? THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA,”
She hit herself on the head, not believing what she had said. She certainly cared for her brother more than anyone else in the family, if he learned what really happened in her life, she might get the temptation to jump from the roof. If there was one problem that ran in the family, was that each member of it was in one way or another awkwardly different. Blue Moon was a unicorn but ended up being more like an earth pony. Sonnet? She got a worse thing to deal with, low temper and little sanity. One of the few times she could even keep that sanity was when she was at home, and even then she seemed completely insane to most ponies.
Seeing the thoughts in her head, Sonnet shook her head to the point of dizziness. “For Celestia’s sake stay normal,” She said to herself, starting to pace back and forth, unknown that Mailmare Derpy Whooves had just entered. “You think about things like that, ponies are going to know your a Moon, and that’s the reason you left Ponyville to began with. Stay calm, and keep you insanity for when you are working with-”
She turned to see Derpy, Oh crap Was the only thought she had.
“You’re a Moon?” Derpy asked, slowly backing away. She put a letter down and hid in the corner.
Being a “Moon” is like being a changeling to most ponies, they're scared of you because of… past mistakes. The best way to sum it up is that her being related to her parent immediately marked her as a bad pony, or to be more specific, a pony who has absolutely no regard for anyone else, cares about no one but themselves, is usually completely insane, and has a close relationship with the princesses courthouse, and not in a good way. Blue Moon and Sonnet (to an extent) were the rare exception. Blue Moon can’t use magic and absolutely hates their parents (of who they even refuse to call their mom and dad) to the very deepest part of his heart, and Sonnet got out of Ponyville as soon as she could, not wanting to see them again.
“Even in jail I wish you two would burn,” Sonnet mumbled in anger, not caring about how she talked about her parents. She turned to Derpy to explain, but realized she had long since left. “If only,”
Deciding to open the letter, Sonnet looked down as yet another letter fell underneath it. Both mailed to her, thankfully, so she wouldn’t have to endure the pain of chasing Derpy down. She opened up the letter she already picked up. While she could have used magic, it reminded her to much of her parents, and preferred only to do it when she was writing since it was a pain writing with hooves. As she lifted the first letter she read the contents out loud.
“Miss Sonnet Moon” She didn’t even get past the title before groaning. Whoever this pony was, they knew her, and she already didn’t like that.
“I know that probably wasn’t the best way to phrase it but I was hoping we could help each other out. I’m having a little trouble fitting in as a changeling in Ponyville, and so far I don’t know who I can trust. I was hoping if you could help me break out a little more,”
D”
Sonnet put it down, deciding to see what the drop letter was. However, she didn’t even have to seeing the initial H. A. and the location the letter was mail from. She looked it over quickly before going back to the other letter.
“A changeling in Ponyville,” She read again. It was the same location as the one on the mail by H. A. and since she now HAD to go there, she saw no reason why she couldn’t help this changeling out. It’s not that she completely believed the letter, but it was worth checking if she was going to be their.
However, that’s not why she was excited to go. She looked back to her new book, and then grabbed a blank piece of paper. Quickly writing it down, she attached it to the book, grabbed enough bits for a ride to Ponyville, and slammed the door behinder. All that was left was the book and piece of paper with the big words that simply spelled out “You’re fired”.
Author's Note
I'll admit, this was kind of a surprise chapter, but it felt right to leave it on this note before going off on vacation for two weeks. So now I add two new OC's to my list of many OC's that I have created (most will never see the light of day) Blue Moon and Sonnet, two characters I have been waiting SO LONG to introduce because they were the first MLP OC's (Yes, that means before Stardust and Dandelion). Believe it or not, I came up on with Sonnet after reading Shakespeares Sonnet 18 and Blue Moon was created soon after that based on my... somewhat wide range of luck. Anyway's like, comment, and follow to help keep me motivated for the future and to show your support for the story. However, I want to know something interesting from you all these next two weeks. I mentioned how there are going to be new element barers in this fic because of what was explained back in the last chapter. So, out of all the OC's I've introduced as well as ponies you would expect to see in Stardust's class, who do you think would take an element of harmony? Stardust might be the easy one, but I feel like the others may be a little trickier. Hope to here from you all in the comments about that and see you next chapter!
It was mostly quiet on the way back to Ponyville, something that had ended up making both Stardust and Blue Moon very tense. Each of them trying to figure out something to talk about, never having ended up in a situation like this. It was weirder Stardust, of course, having no memories little knowledge of current Equestria, and no idea how love worked in the first place. That being said, Blue Moon was just trying to keep things normal, because he had honestly no idea how he was in love with her to begin with.
It’s like Apple Bloom Said He thought, trying to keep his cool. She’s the sister of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia who had been sleeping for who knows how long. Just remember that there is no way you can make this worse than it already is.
“So you’re the sister of Princess Luna and Celestia?” Blue Moon said accidentally
Stardust stopped at looked at Blue Moon with a shocked expression. He knew, somehow he knew. Didn’t Luna say that most ponies don’t remember the story? Out of all the things she expected, that was differently not one of them. Of course she also had no idea how much Blue Moon was screaming inside his head at that moment.
“How did you know?” Stardust asked, only to cause a bigger mess in Blue Moons mind.
“I…,” He tried to say, not exactly sure how to respond. “Read it in a book that Princess Twilight gave me… Then almost got hit by a ladder,”
He heard her laugh as he recounted his experience with his effect that day. If he hadn’t moved a hoof, he would have been pancaked between a ladder and the very book he had just taken out. Looking back, he also had to admit it was a little funny. Library book that is really rare equals almost getting hit by a ladder, who knew.
“Well you’re right,” Stardust answered to Blue Moons earlier question. “I couldn’t believe it at the time, and even after living a week in the castle it’s hard to grab ahold of,”
“Wait,” Blue Moon said, reading between her words, “Are you telling me you have amnesia?”
“Not exactly,” Stardust admitted, putting a small frown on her face from the memory “I was asleep for so long my old memories got replaced by events in my dreams. Until a week ago I thought I was a pony who had lost their family and live on the streets of Canterlot,” She smiled and turned to ask Blue Moon her own question. “You have no idea what to really talk about do you?”
Blue Moon nodded. “Honestly I had no idea I was blushing at you earlier until Apple Bloom pointed it out to me,”
“Same,” Blue Moon looked at Stardust as she admitted to why she had asked him. “When I went to go sit down with Dandelion, I felt a little weird as I walked past you. Dandelion told me it was love and that I should ask you to walk to Ponyville with me, see how it works out,”
Blue Moon got curious at the mention of this. He had never really taken Dandelion as the type of pony who would know about love. Considering her habits of running off randomly, it seemed kind of strange to learn something like this about her all the sudden. He stopped walking as he heard a branch break in one of the nearby bushes
He tilted his head as he thought to himself I wonder
“Something wrong?” Stardust asked, having seen Blue Moon stop in his tracks.
“Stardust,” Blue Moon said, “Do you know what a Changeling is?”
“No,” Stardust answered, confused at why he was asking. It wasn't something she had heard in class. “Why are you asking?”
Blue Moon smiled as he crouched down like a cat “Because you’re about to find out,”
Without another word, Blue Moon leaped forward into one of the nearby bushes. Stardust watched for a second before hearing a yelp come from where Blue Moon had jumped to. Rushing forward, she parted the brush to see exactly what it was. Right there, was Blue Moon holding onto the mane of Dandelion. She looked in shock, not understanding what was going on.
“What the heck are you doing?” Stardust asked completely baffled by Blue Moons actions.
“Showing you what a Changeling is,” Blue Moon responded, tugging on Dandelions mane to make sure he heard a firm grip.
Stardust looked at the current situation. From her point of view, Blue Moon had just tackled an innocent unicorn, claiming that they were something else. As far as she could tell, the one who was doing wrong here is Blue Moon. From Blue Moons perspective, she was showing Stardust exactly what was going on, but was being misunderstood.
“Can one of you please just explain to me what is going on right now,” Stardust yelled in confusion.
“You heard the princess,” Blue Moon said, happy with his work. “Fess up,”
“Blue Moon, I was dericting that more towards yo-”
“It’s okay Stardust,” Dandelion said, interrupting her friends words. “Blue here's right, I got a lot I need to explain,”
Before Stardust could asked Dandelion anything, she was engulfed in a green flame. Stardust watched in fear, feeling the same kind of confusion she had when she first learned about her dream memories. When the flames died down, Stardust looked to see something that wasn't a pegasus, or very much a full on pony. Sitting their was a black creature with a horn and wings, yet they were different. It was as if they were made out of completely different material then the rest of her body, having the same silky blue color and look to it as the mane and tail. It didn't take long for Stardust to realize who it was.
“Dandelion?” She asked, as the creature she assumed was her friend turned away in shame.
“Yes,” It said, answering Stardust’s question. “This is what I really am Stardust, a changeling. An insect that feeds off the love of ponies like you and Blue Moon here. Sorry about this,”
Stardust just stood there, somewhere between confusion and shock in terms of emotions. Why did she say the word insect like it was something to be angry about? Why had Dandelion kept this from her? Was it really something that she really did not want anyone to know? She had so many questions, and an even bigger loss of words.
“Since Stardust is stuck in space,” Blue Moon said, still a bit hurt at Dandelion’s stalking. “I guess I’ll have to ask. What is it the Queen Chrysalis wants here in Ponyville?”
This seemed to tick Dandelion rather off. It was mostly the name Blue Moon had mentioned. Chrysalis, just hearing it made her blood boil, and her tone of voice changed significantly.
“I have nothing to do with that stupid Queen thank you very much,” Dandelion said in rage at Blue Moons question. “I'm exiled. I didn't do something she ordered because I didn't want to hurt princess Twilight and I got exiled because of it. As far as I care, Chrysalis can go ahead and burn in Tartarus, anything to teach her a lesson,”
“Whose Chrysalis?” Stardust asked, finally able to recover from her shock.
“The leader of the Changelings,” Blue Moon summed up. “Let's just say they aren't on good terms with the rest of Equestria. One year ago she tried to kill Twilight to get back at her and the princess for stop an invasion she tried five years ago. To say the least, Changeling aren't trusted around here,”
“They would have succeeded to,” Dandelion said, trying to clear things about for her yet again. “If I hadn't sold them out to Twilight before it happened,”
One year ago
“Why are you telling me this?” Twilight asked to the odd changeling in front of her. “Isn't Changeling loyalty completely acceptant of its ruler,”
“I’m not most Changelings,” The Changeling said. “I was suppose to kill you myself but didn't think that revenge would be the right coarse of action. Most Changeling act like mindless slaves, but I woke up after seeing the events at the Canterlot wedding four years ago. I realized exactly what she was having us do. I guess you could say I went rogue,”
Twilight didn't have to question it. She could tell that the Changeling, no matter how weird it felt to her, was telling the truth. It was something she had never seen out of Changeling, or at least all that often. She knew that sending the Changeling away without a home, as she had been told it doesn't have one, wouldn't be right. In this case there was only one possible gift she could give the Changeling.
“Thank you,” Twilight said, happy to have the information she was given. “How would you like to have a home here in Ponyville, since you don't have one that is?”
The Changelings mouth feel open, not knowing exactly what to say. A home? Here in Ponyville? She was getting the dream that Chrysalis wanted so badly by defying her, she was being accepted. Nothing could have made her happier, an emotion that most Changeling never understood.
“Really!” She asked, getting a nod from Twilight in response. Excited she started jumping for joy. “Yes, oh yes. That would be great, not having to worry about where to go and stay. To be able to just sit and relax among the ponies here in town. Nothing would make me happier,”
“Glad to here it,” Twilight said, happy to see the changeling so happy. “Just wondering, do you have a name?”
“Not really,” The Changeling admitted, “Most of the time we just use the name of the pony we desigues ourselves as, but not a name that we could really call our own,”
“Is there any name that you can think of that ponies could use as an actual name?” Twilight asked.
After thinking for a second, the Changeling responded. “Dandelion,”
Twilight looked at Dandelion, “Okay then,” She said, smiling “Welcome to Ponyville Dandelion,”
“Wait,” Blue Moon said, shocked by what Dandelion had just said. “Are you say thing that your name is actually fake?”
“Not fake,” Dandelion corrected “I had no name in the first place, so Dandelion had become my name. Also, how is that the part you are confused about and not the fact that a changeling SPOKE TO THE PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP!”
“Because I remember two things,” Blue Moon said, “One, Chrysalis was the one who stormed into Ponyville and got beaten by Princess Twilight, meaning she would have known it was coming in the first place. Two, that was the time you arrived in town, so I can't argue that it isn't true,”
“There is still one thing that confuses me,” Stardust said, still not getting one part. “How does a Changeling feed on love?”
“Why do you think I was hiding in the bushes,” Dandelion said, addressing the current situation she was in. “It’s a kind of magic. Love is powerful and the different kinds of love there is fills you up more. Friendship isn't as filling as somepony having a full on crush or so. I guess you could say that I was helping myself out as well as helping you two get together,”
“That does make me wonder something,” Blue Moon said curious, “If love is like food, then what is actual food to something like you,”
“The same reason you hate tomatoes,” Dandelion said, trying to compare. “Because to me it taste awful and doesn't fill me up at all,” She tried her hardest not to look at Stardust, feeling guilty. “You probably hate me don't you?”
“Nope,”
Dandelion looked at her, surprised at the young princess answer. “What?”
“I said I don't hate you,” Stardust said showing that she understood her friend, “I understand it's hard because you’re something that most ponies see as an enemy, but I don't. Besides, I was never there, why hate you if I was never there in the first place?”
“Stardust,” Blue Moon said, not exactly getting it. “She still did things that many ponies would hate, even if you weren't there isn't it a good idea to do something about this,”
“You heard her,” Stardust replied, “Twilight knows her, and she's a princess. I don’t think we have to worry if the princess trusts her. Besides, she's my friend,”
or it’s a scam Blue Moon thought to himself, not fully trusting Dandelion “Let's just head back to town,”
“You coming Dandelion?” Stardust said offering a hoof.
“No thanks, I’d rather walk by myself,” Dandelion watched as the her friend and Blue Moon left before sighing. “If only it was that easy to be excepted,”
Stardust She thought about her friend as she got up and started walking into the woods behind her Such a naive pony, but at the same time, her words seem so powerful. I understand she wants to help me She stopped, turning around to the road behind her. But how she help when it's already set in stone.
Author's Note
I'm back, and ready to write once again. Washington D.C. was fun but it felt kind of strange not writing for so long. Luckly, I'm back, and I'll be trying to write like crazy to make up for the two weeks I miss (in other words expect two more chapters this week) so expect me to be writing like crazy. Also, I have a new story idea and want to know if any of you would mind pre-reading it when I feel ready. That being said, Like, Comment, follow, all the basic stuff for the same reason I have stated in the past. Also, it's a long shot but lets see if we could try and get this on TV tropes at some point. It may be a while till it actually happens but lets see if we can do it at some point. With that done, see you all soon.
What is it Queen Chrysalis wants here in Ponyville?
Dandelion couldn’t blame Blue Moon for not trusting her, it was a response she expected most Changelings would probably get. She in many ways expected both of them to hate her after their discovery. She was half right, Blue Moon definitely didn’t seem to trust her. Then again, she was half wrong as well.
Why hate you if I was never there in the first place?
“Stardust,” She said to herself. “You have no idea what my life has been like. I was betrayed by my own kind, I was part of a horrible event of history on the wrong side of the playing field. Those two things alone can’t be undone, but yet you still want to help me try?”
It was then she remembered the last words she had ever heard as a member of Chrysalis’ hive. The reason she hid her true self, the reason she had almost no friends, the reason she was where she was right know.
A Changeling like you is a worthless thing if you can’t accept such a simple task. You have no meaning to exist here among your kind, and most importantly, to me. I gave you a chance of redemption, but you refuse. I never want to see you among the hive ever again. You are from now on till the day you die, exiled.
Dandelion, while she felt proud of what she did to earn her new residence in Ponyville, still took those words as true. It was the reason everyone else looked at her in a weird way whenever she came into town. She couldn’t feel like she was important at all, no matter what her friendship with Stardust meant.
Then again, why did she keep going when it seemed like she had no reason to. Since she bumped into Stardust on that day one week ago, she felt different. To Dandelion, Stardust was like her in many ways. However, she still felt the same way, and couldn’t bring herself to forget what she was once a part of.
“Useless,”
Same time
“This is wonderful,” The red mare said, squishing Sonnet in a giant hug. “I can’t believe that I’m going to spend time with my amazing cousin for a few days. Even if it is work, I happy to be here in help,”
This particular red mare was a unicorn, just like Sonnet. She had blood red eyes as well to match, standing out amongst her exuberant nature. Her coat was covered by a shiny golden jacket with a hood hiding her mane. What little part of her mane did show was dark blue, having the same curly nature as her tail. In truth, she stood out very much from the others on the train, especially next to Sonnets grey coat.
“Calm down Solitaire,” Sonnet requested, shoving her cousin of her. “You are already drawing a lot of unnecessary attention. Remember, you’re getting freedom for helping me and Anchor with this job. You don’t want to go back, do you?”
“Well that’s a stupid question,” Solitaire said, sitting down “Anything to get me out of the slimy old dungeon. Besides, you said you would need an expert gambler didn’t you,”
Solitaire, like most of Sonnets family, was in many ways a criminal. Her talent, as unfortunate as it is, was gambling. Gambling was illegal in Equestria, at least outside of Las Pegasus (yes, I know it’s not suppose to be Vegas, but just go with it since it’s an alternate universe) and she had been caught in the act. She was found guilty and put in jail for her act, but Sonnet bought her her freedom as long as she helped with something.
“Can you please keep it down,” An earth pony sitting to Sonnets left had said. “We really don’t want to draw too much attention,”
“You’re absolutely sure Changelings are in Ponyville Heart,” Sonnet asked, to the earth pony.
The earth pony she was talking to was her first real friend in Manehattan, as well as partner in crime, or rather in stopping crime. In many ways you could say Sonnet’s books were just as real as Daring Do, who she had the pleasure of meeting during an earlier assignment. The story of her first book was the first case she had ever worked on with Heart Anchor, and it was what got her started in Manehattan. Most of the time they took on cases themselves that had come up in the news, but this was a special assignment from princess Twilight.
“Well, except for Dandelion,” Heart addressed, “It’s going to be hard to tell, but with the secret we’ve been intrusted with, Chrysalis will definitely be their for her revenge,”
“What secret?” Solitaire asked
“Princess Twilight has informed me that Celestia and Luna’s long lost sister has been found,” Heart explained. “We know that Twilight has an acquaintance named Dandelion, a changeling who had turned her back on Chrysalis a year ago. We have heard to thank for Twilight being alive,”
So there really was a Changeling in Ponyville. However, there was one thing that Heart Anchor had said that confused her.
“What do you mean by revenge?” Sonnet asked,
“We know that the royal family and the changeling don’t get along all that well,” Heart stated “and considering that the young princess has amnesia, it makes her an easy target for Chrysalis. They know Chrysalis will attack when she learns, and we have to find a way to get her into the open,”
“How do they know Chrysalis will attack?” Solitaire asked.
“That’s your job,” Heart answered. “The princess has informed me of a strange griffon that had come to town not long after they found the princess. His name is Graf, and according to Twilight, he leaves every night to go to the Everfree. He’s also a big gambler,”
“I see,” Solitaire face lit up at the realization of her job “I’m suppose to make him talk by gambling him into a corner,”
Heart nodded in response, confirming what Solitaire expected. Solitaire rarely lost, and has never been beaten when the stakes are high. She was the one pony in Sonnets family besides Blue Moon that she loved. Solitaire had actually manage to save her life on one occasion, and she later bailed her out after the guards tried to take her. She gave up almost everything she had to save Solitaire back then, and it was probably going to happen again.
“I see it,” Solitaire exclaimed, looking out the window. “I see Ponyville in the distance,”
It wasn’t hard to make out Ponyville when it had a giant crystal castle towering over it. They were still a long ways away, but knowing it was there brought some relief to Sonnet. This was the first time she would be back in Ponyville after three years.
Has it really been that long She thought to herself, unable to believe how fast it has gone.
“Blue Moon will be happy to see you,” Heart Anchor addressed “I honestly can’t believe you had to leave her behind when you left three years ago,”
“I had no choice in the matter,” Sonnet replied, feeling heartbroken about leaving her brother. “I exchanged my residence for Solitaires safety all those years ago,”
“And then she ends up captured one year ago anyway,”
“That doesn’t matter,” Sonnet said, trying to move away from the topic. “What does is keeping the young princess safe, right?”
It felt… weird… being back in Ponyville for Sonnet. When they had arrived, the sun had sunken into the horizon and the moon was just beginning to rise. Heart Anchor and Solitaire were going to sleep at the castle, while Sonnet would be spending her first night at home in three years. Everything felt new, even though she had seen it all before. She enjoyed Manehattan more than she did Ponyville because of her experience, but felt great to be back over so many years. Sonnet got permission to head home and say hello to Stardust, while Heart and Solitaire headed to the castle.
They knocked on the door and waited for Spike to answer. When he did, he showed them to where Twilight was currently residing. He opened the door to the meeting hall where she and two other ponies currently resided. It didn’t take long to recognize the other two as Rarity and Applejack, who Twilight had invited over to help as well.
“I trust you had a good trip?” Twilight said, watching as the two new arrivers took seats on opposite ends of the table. Solitaire took what was once Pinkie Pie’s seat while Heart Anchor took Rainbows.
“Boring, but that was expected,” Heart Anchor replied, yawning afterward.
“Excuse me Twi but what is somepony like she doing here,” Applejack said in suspicion, pointing at Solitaire.
“It was their request for agreeing to help me,” Twilight assured her friends “She’ll behave herself, right?”
Solitaire nodded in response, and Applejack decided it was best not to argue with Twilight. This was the first time in years that the meeting room has been this full, bringing back memories of friends who had left them. Rainbow Dash was the main reason it broke down, but they all knew that it was only a matter of time until the old element bearers went their seperate ways, no matter how sad it was.
“It seems like just yesterday was the first time we stepped inside this room,” Rarity said, looking back on everything that has happened. “To think we almost never see each other again is a weird feeling, especially when we were the best of friends,”
“Times change,” Heart Anchor stated, his voice full of emotion. “And as it does, the ponies change as well. We look ahead, never looking back on the past, and forget about the things we hold most dear. However, nothing stays separate forever, and the changes that come may bring great rejoice to all. When one time passes, a great era will began for the nation we call our own,” Everyone looking, stunned silent by Heart anchors words. “A pony we have all forgotten had once said those words, a pony we now deem to protect with our hearts. That time of rejoice is upon us, even if it seems hard to understand. This is just the start of a reunion among old friends, and a joining of new ones as well,”
As Heart Anchor ended his speech, the room fell silent. His words spoke volumes to them all, a power like the one she had felt in Stardust, yet considering at who he was saying spoke those words, it wasn’t that surprising. Still, to only know of Stardust’s existence for a day and find words she had spoken many years ago was incredible.
“How do you know Stardust said that?” Twilight asked, curious.
“It’s one of the few things about that time left in the Manehattan archives,” Heart Anchor explained. “And it was the words she spoke before she went to sleep for so long. She new about this time of change, and that time of change was when she would wake up. However that was the only thing about her I found,”
“That… was amazing,” Solitaire said, getting excited. “Oh to hear words like that make me so happy. Maybe these times of Change will bring things ponies wanted most to the world, such as the friendship between once feuding countries, and for ponies cutie mark to not be bound by the-”
“Gambling is still illegal,” Twilight said, seeing where Solitaire was going, who stuck her tongue out to the princess.
“Ah have to agree with ya a little,” Applejack said “It would be nice to not have to worry about things like war anymore,”
“Especially when it could lead to nuclear devastation,”
“Especially when it could,” Applejack stopped as she realized what she was say. “What?!”
“Nothing,” Solitaire said quickly.
Without another warning, the heard the door slam open behind them. Everyone looked as a pegasus entered the room in a blue and yellow uniform. Twilight’s eyes widened when she realized who it was.
“Sorry I’m late everypony,” The pegasus said, “Hey, the stallion on the other end of the table, THAT’S MY SEAT,”
Twilight’s eyes widened with joy. “Rainbow Dash,”
Author's Note
It was hard trying to find a way to fit Solitaire or Heart Anchor into the story, but I somehow have managed to do it. However, can we just... get the fanmade Rainbow Dash final boss music... please?
Okay, I'm good. Anyway's, like, comment, and follow to show your support for the story. I will see you guy's next time.
“Hey everypony,” Rainbow Dash waved, walking over to the table, “Nice to see you all again,”
Everyone watched as Heart Anchor moved over and Rainbow Dash took her seat at the table. Most of the old element bearers saw each other at least every once in awhile, but Rainbow Dash seemed to have completely disappeared from the group. Not that she could be blamed for that, having to take over for Spitfire was a hard task and she barely got anytime to relax. That being said, their was one among the group that hadn’t forgiven her.
“Ya sure have a lot of guts showing back up here,” Applejack said, finally able to get her anger out. “What happened to being the Element of Loyalty, huh? Going and abandoning your friends for a job, is that what loyalty is to you?”
“Calm down Applejack,” Twilight said, seeing what was happening. “Celestia wanted Rainbow Dash here because she felt Rainbow would be the best pony to teach Stardust how to fly,”
“But Twi,”
“Applejack dear,” Rarity said, seeing her friend’s anger. “How about we save this for a more appropriate time, preferably one where we aren’t discussing the safety of a princess,”
Applejack opened her mouth, but quickly took back what she was going to say. Twilight sighed, glad Rarity managed to get her to be quite. Twilight didn’t want her friends fighting, especially when this was the first time they’ve seen each other for a while. She was just glad it stopped as soon as it started.
“Anyways,” Heart Anchor said, getting everypony’s attention “Now that we are all here it’s time we started discussing our plan to keep Chrysalis away from our new princess,”
“There aren’t a lot of things we honestly do know,” Twilight said, continuing off of Heart Anchor “Unless we know when Chrysalis is going to strike we can’t do anything to stop her, which is why we need to know what they’re planning,”
“I’m guessing that’s what you want me to find out,” Solitaire said, leaning forward.
“Correct,” Twilight acknowledge, “As you may already know a griffon by the name of Graf has been spending the week in town. I’ve heard that he may have had an old connection to Chrysalis and helped her with the wedding incident many years ago. He also has a liking for anything made out of gold and has been gambling himself a life's worth of bits in underground societies. You are to find out what you can from gambling him, anything else you win is yours,”
While Twilight hated to say it, she knew how Gamblers thought. They wouldn’t do anything unless it had a price tag on it, and Solitaire seemed no different. If she was to get this pony to help her she would have to let them play their way.
“Put a thousand bits in it for me and we have ourselves a deal,” Solitaire said, not happy with simply just self earnings.
“Okay, but nothing more,” Twilight said, “and you get it after this is all done, got it,”
“Princess,” Solitaire said, “If a pony can end up trapped in another's subconscious, then I think I know when to not push my luck with an alicorn,”
“Okay, I got two questions,” Rainbow said, not getting a single word Solitaire just said “One, how did you come up with that relation? And two, what does that have to do with alicorns?”
“First of all,” Solitaire replied, “It was part of a story that I’ve read, and second of all, because I think it does,”
After a few seconds of silence, Twilight continued. “Anyways, our next job is to find a way to get everypony during that time to be in the same place. I can cast a spell to detect Changelings, but it would be easier and less exhausting if we could gather a large crowd in the same place,”
“How about a play,” Applejack asked, “If we could get enough ponies together, we could do a play here in ponyville. The only problems are finding a pony to direct it as well as a play that might catch ponies interest,”
“Sonnet could do that,” Heart Anchor addressed “She’s an author after all, she would be the perfect pony to direct a play,”
“And I think I may have the perfect play for us to do,” Twilight said, getting up from her seat. “I’ll be right back, I have a copy in the library,”
She left the room, leaving everyone else to themselves for the time. With Twilight gone, things got eerily quiet. Everyone looked at each other, waiting for someone to speak. Seeing how things were, Applejack had a question she decided needed answering.
“So, miss Solitaire,” Solitaire turned her attention to Applejack, who was busy trying to find the right words to use. After a few seconds, she finally managed to ask. “How does a pony like you get the liberty of working with a pony like Heart Anchor?”
“That’s simple,” Solitaire rolled her eyes, unable to believe what she was having to explain. “The only one that can bail you out of an Equestrian jail, even with the princesses approval, is a family member. I just so happen to Sonnet’s first cousin, and she was able to get me out of jail,”
“What does Sonnet have to do with any of this?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Isn’t she a writer of that murder mystery book Shadow Games or whatever it’s called,”
“She is,” Heart Anchor acknowledge, deciding it best not to deny anything to her future partners. “But what if I told you that the events in that book is actually real?”
“Really?” Rarity’s eyes widen with shock as Heart Anchor gave a nod. “My stars, then Magni must be based off of you,”
“Come on Rarity, there’s no way it could be him,” Applejack said, not believing Rarity “No way he could be that stallion even if they shared the same spotlight. That was a unicorn, Heart Anchor here is a earth pony. It’s not like Heart Anchor here came feel the pain of the dead... right?”
Heart Anchor’s head dropped, while no one around him could hear it, he had certainly heard the scream of a pony. It wasn’t an unusual thing for him to hear, not anymore. Sometimes he had enjoyed the companies of the spirits around him, but other times he felt like he was forever haunted by ghost that came to him to pass the news of death and of their final message to their loved ones.
“I don’t feel pain,” Anchor said, his voice growing a bit of a haunting tone. “But I can hear it. The death of everypony in Equestria, the sadness they feel for not being able to tell someone something, and the spirit of those who could not pass easily to the next world. Some have waited centuries, even millennia, before finally getting their wish, but sometimes their wish makes it so they will never leave, because they must protect something that will never die. I’ve cried for every lost soul, helped many find peace in life, and helped others find those they wish to protect,”
“Except for one,” A voice around him spoke in corrected, coughing afterwards.
“Except for one,” He repeated, but to everypony else it seemed like the first time he said it.
Invisible to everypony except Heart Anchor, a pony swiftly floated by his head and next to Rainbow Dash. She knew the pony, not through memory in life, but because of a very different cause. Despite feeling happiness for the pony, she also felt a lot of disgust for them.
“Is this really what I’ve become,” The pony said, poking at Rainbow Dash’s belly. “A giant machine of muscle and bone. You know, even I got a break more than you do. I mean seriously, you,” She coughed a little as she continued to speak “look as if your work is all the life you had. Oh, and you think you’re so special with your sonic “Rainboom”, well I would like to see you try three of those simultaneously with a soft body like mine was. What, thought you were the only one who could do it, well how did you think they found out it was even possible in the first place? That’s right I did it before you, but it was forgotten, just like me, just like Stardust, and just like Diminshia, and for some reason I’M the only one who is dead,”
The spirit pony reared around, and swung a kick at Rainbow Dash, who was actually flung from her chair by the impact. Everyone looked on in confusion as Rainbow strangely went up into the air and fell back down. It felt, haunting, especially considering what Heart Anchor had told them. As Rainbow got up from impact, she looked around, unable to see what had hit her square in the chin.
“What the hay just happened?” Rainbow responded as she got back in her chair, not realizing that the spirit pony was mocking her in front of her face.
“I,” Heart Anchor said, not getting the spirits sudden anger towards Rainbow Dash. “Just saw a spirit kick you in complete and utter rage… and she is currently sitting on the table right in front of you sticking her tongue out. In other words, I have no idea what the heck just happened,”
“Rain. Bow. Dash,” The spirit said, spelling out Rainbows name slowly. “I will tell you that from now till the end of your life I will haunt your dreams, and then I will have MY body back, you GOT THAT,”
Everyone went silent as they heard the doors open behind them and Twilight came in the cover of a book. Walking over to the table, sitting down, and placing a small book down in front of them.
“This is the play I was thinking of,” Twilight said “Sunset gave it to me during a visit two months ago, said it was written by a famous play writer in her world,”
Solitaire took the book into her hooves and looked at the cover. It was called A Midsummer Night’s Dream by a human called William Shakespeare. Given that this is the first piece of human work ever brought over to Equestria, it was something entirely different for the ponies.
“It’s a love story,” Twilight explained “But the way it plays out makes it worth watching, and I’m not one for love stories,”
“Really,” Solitaire threw the book across the table, hitting Rainbow in the process. “I would like something less kissy and flirty and more funny and over the top,”
“This is the princess's choice,” Heart Anchor remind Solitaire, “And as such we should follow what the princess thinks is best. Besides, this human play intrigues me. I’m on board with it,”
Solitaire was outvoted by the other ponies in the room, and admitted defeat. The spirit pony looked at the book, which Rainbow Dash had decided to skim through as well. She found human names weird, Lysander, Peter, Hermia, most of them didn't make since.
“Anyways, onto the most important matter of all,” Twilight levitated the book away from Rainbow Dash in order to get her attention. “Regaining Stardust’s memories, which I will be leaving in the hands of Heart Anchor and Rainbow Dash while I go to Canterlot to report our plan to Celestial, and Applejack and Rarity help Sonnet with the play,”
“Sure thing,” Applejack agreed, having no objections.
“I’ll start working on costumes as soon as I get caught up on Stardust dress,” Said Rarity excited.
“Why am I helping with Stardust’s memories?” Rainbow said confused.
“Because Heart Anchor said you might be able to help in that area,” Twilight answered, “Not to mention you will be teaching her how to fly,”
“Another thing,” Applejack said, “Why didn’t Celestia and Luna come here, aren’t they her sister?”
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck, “Well, they're trying to figure out how to break the news to Equestria about Stardust being their sister. I think you can get exactly where they are going with that,”
“Excuse me princess,” Heart Anchor stood up as he spoke, “Might I request that we add one more pony, or changeling, to this plan of ours,”
Everyone looked at Heart Anchor with confusion. A changeling? Nobody knew that Dandelion was one except for Twilight, Heart Anchor, Solitaire, Sonnet, and Stardust (Blue Moon wishes to stay in the denial area). Heart Anchor had a reason for bringing her up in their plan, however.
“Changeling,” Applejack said, completely baffled by Heart Anchors idea. “You’re kidding me right?”
Twilight looked at Heart Anchor, curious as to why he had asked that, “What do you think Dandelion could do to help us,”
Applejack looked at Twilight with surprise. There had been a changeling around her this entire time? And she didn’t notice? It made sense why Twilight had rejected the idea of an anti-changeling barrier around ponyville a few months ago, which Applejack had backed up.
“We need to know if there are changeling around before the date of the attack,” Heart Anchor. “Surely someone who had turned their backs on the hive would be willing to help us in our endeavor to stop Queen Chrysalis, especially since Sonnet will already be helping her with some self-esteem problems. A changeling can easily pick out one of their own from a real pony, it would help us get a good idea on how to deal them apart,”
“And how do you know we can trust this changeling?” Applejack asked.
“Because I wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t for her,” Twilight addressed, leaving Applejack silent. “And I agree with Heart Anchor, it would be nice to have somepony on the inside. Besides, I know that besides her discomfort around ponies, she has a great amount of hatred towards Chrysalis. Let Sonnet know tomorrow, okay?”
Heart Anchor nodded, and Solitaire yawned, showing how late it has gotten. They decided it was best to call it a day and everyone made their way out of the room, except for Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who wished to talk together. Before he was able to leave the room, Heart Anchor was stopped by the spirit.
“You going to stay with Rainbow Dash?” The spirit nodded in response to Heart’s question. “Just make sure you don’t mess with her to much,”
“Don’t worry,” The spirit rolled her eyes. “Like I’d do anything to hurt myself that badly,”
With a smile on his face, Heart Anchor left the room, leaving Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and the spirit to themselves. The spirit decided to take a seat where Fluttershy use to sit, and watched as Twilight got up.
“Would you mind joining me on the terrace?” She asked, happy to be able to speak with Rainbow once again.
Rainbow nodded their head, and the made their way to the terrace located outside of Twilight’s room. They use to do this all the time, chatting with each other until one of the (usually Twilight) fell asleep on the railings. Being there again gave of a mystical vibe that both ponies didn’t understand.
The night sky was as beautiful as ever, it was one of the things Twilight enjoyed about the small town. It was the reason she spent her time in the library at Canterlot, because anywhere else it was impossible to see the stars in the sky. Being there also made her realize something bigger about the love between Luna and Stardust. It made her wonder if that little pegasus was the reason the Stars looked so beautiful in the sky.
“Sure has been a long time,” Rainbow said, looking into the town.
“Yeah,”
Rainbow Dash looked down, feeling ashamed of having ever left this place. “I wish I could stay here forever,”
Forever, those words gave Twilight a perspective of what her future was like. She would see the death of all her friends, wouldn’t she? She didn’t want to, and she didn’t want Rainbow to live forever. What is their to enjoy about life if you have all the time in the world to do it? Sometimes she considered becoming an alicorn the worse thing that ever happened to her, even with all that has happened because of it.
“Forever, may be a bit too bold of a term,” Twilight said, seeing her friend. “Honestly, I’m glad you will be able to pass into the afterlife. You’ll have the pleasure of doing something I may never see,”
“If only,” The spirit said, rolling her eyes.
“Are you saying you wish you could die?” Rainbow said, shocked. “Why would you want to?”
“Because I don’t want to see all my friends go in front of me,” Twilight explained “Rainbow, alicorns live much longer than other pony races do. It’s fair to say I might live forever, and see Equestria die before my very eyes, but the possibilities of me dieing before that, it’s something I just can’t put my hooves on. I don’t want to see you or anyone else die old while I’m still young, it just doesn’t make any since,”
“Twilight,” Rainbow said, “If that’s the way you think, then shouldn’t you do everything you want to before that time is over? If you care about us, then spend the time to show us,”
“Rainbow Dash,”
“Yeah,”
“If you had the opportunity to stay, would you have taken it?”
Rainbow Dash looked in confusion. “Of course I would, why do you-”
Before she could finish, Twilight took the opportunity to kiss Rainbow Dash straight on the nose. Rainbow turned bright red, not knowing what had just happened, and Twilight looked at her friend, a little ashamed she hadn’t done that years ago. The spirit behind them gave a much different response. She wanted to feel like she was going to throw up, not sure at exactly what Rainbow was doing.
“Did a princess just kiss her,” She spoke out loud, “Sweet Celestia she just kissed her, or would she be kissing me? I doesn’t matter, I don’t approve,”
While the spirit was busy trying to get over what she had just witnessed, Rainbow Dash was trying to figure out what Twilight had just done. Was there something on her nose? She wiped her muzzle, much to Twilight's amusement. It took her a few more minutes to figure out exactly what had happened, but when she did, her head turned completely red.
“Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, “Did you just kiss me?”
“Yep,” Twilight replied, showing no regrets at what she had just done. “If you want me to show how much I care, I think it’s time I told that I had love you. Even if one of us die long before the other, I needed to make sure you knew how I felt,”
Rainbow looked for words, unable to describe what had just happened. How long has Twilight felt this way? Her emotions ranged from scared to happy to completely confused.
“I… I don’t know what to say,” Rainbow stuttered.
“How about dinner tomorrow night,” Twilight said, “I know you won’t be staying in Ponyville for that long, but could you at least make me that one request,”
“Oh, um,” Rainbow searched forwards, unable to say much. “Sure,”
“Thank you,” Twilight said, heading back inside, “You should get some sleep, you have a big day tomorrow,”
Rainbow, not sure of what to do, simply did what the princess requested, and headed to her room, the spirit following behind her. As they left the room, the spirit took the time alone in the hallway to set her own plan into action, diving into Rainbows body. This time, Rainbow could actually feel what was going on. As she felt the spirit mess with her brain, her body started growing heavy, as if she was about to fall asleep.
She was suddenly jolted back, watching as her own body started to move away from her. After taking a few steps, her body stopped and turned around, facing towards her.
“You made that way too easy to do,” The spirit said, taking the chance to stretch out in Rainbow body. “I’m surprised I didn’t try this beforehand,”
“What?” Rainbow looked down, seeing the floor through her hooves. Her entire body was transparent, “What did you do to me?”
“Isn’t it obvious,” The spirit said, “I took your body, and now you are a ghost. Man you are slow,”
“Who are you?” Rainbow asked, not sure of what to say.
“Well my name is Phoenix Flower,” The spirit introduced herself. “But if you want to know more, I’m you from the past,”
Author's Note
And now another OC joins the fray. Wow, we're around eleven chapters in now and we still haven't met every character, I kind of expected that but still. Anyway's, I just going to address something that will be happening in a month. Summer vacation is coming and while I hate to say it, I will be slowing down from June to April on updates. Usually I'm able to get chapters out for fan fics in a week or so, but due to me not having access to the library (since that's where I get off the bus) over vacation I will be restricted to writing on my Ipad, which means things will take longer to write. Sorry but that's the way it's going to be an a month, just warning you all.
Like, comment, and follow to show your love for this story. With that, I'll see you all when I upload next.
Rainbow stared at the pony who had taken control of her body. Phoenix Flower, as she called herself, claimed to be Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t possible, nothing about it was possible. She heard about restless spirits before, but what made this one believe they were one in the same? She was about to question Phoenix, only for her to predict Rainbows question.
“Don’t believe me?” Phoenix asked, seeing Rainbows disbelief “Then tell me the name of your parents,”
Rainbow tried to say the name, but she didn’t remember it. She tried to remember it a few more times before finally giving up. What was Phoenix trying to prove to her by saying that? It wasn’t like she would have known them either.
“I thought so,” Pheonix said mockingly “Don’t worry about that, neither you or me have any to begin with,”
“And how is that possible?” Rainbow asked demandingly. “How could either of us be born without-”
“I was made by a pony who wanted a friend to stay with them through the ages,” Phoenix explained. “The pony you see now was once just a stone statue in the gardens of Canterlot castle. I wasn’t made for any purpose other than to show off the spectacle of the royal family. I kind of have memories of that time. Then one of the three alicorns sisters asked for a friend, and said that the ponies that occupy their kingdom see her as royalty and nothing more. When she saw the statues in the royal garden, she used her power to create two ponies. One of them was me,”
Rainbow still didn’t get what this had to do with her. There was so many things she didn’t believe that this pony was saying. Of course, something about this stuck out to her, the fact that she knew about Stardust. Was she a friend of Stardust who couldn’t rest? It was hard to believe, but considering what Heart Anchor had said, maybe that part was true. She still didn’t believe most of what this pony was saying.
“What does that have to do with me and you being the same?” Rainbow continued to ask.
“My life force is made of magic from when Stardust first made me,” Phoenix said, “The reason my name is Phoenix is because of that. You see, when I die, my body doesn’t stop living. As long as Stardust lives, whether she is a alicorn or not, I will be reborn to stay by her side as a friend. The reason I am able to inhabit your body is because it is the same one I had 1000 years ago, but reformed from the last time I died,”
Rainbow didn’t know what to say anymore. She still had trouble believing Phoenix, but something told her that there was some truth in her words. She hasn’t seen a spirit do this to a pony before, so maybe she was right. That being said, she didn’t want to think she was just some thousand year old statue brought to life by magical powers of a pony she didn’t even know. There was so much stuff hard to believe in it.
“I still don’t fully believe you,” Rainbow addressed, “And can I please have my body back?”
“Why do you need it?” Phoenix asked, “Because you have a date with a princess? Because you need to train Stardust to fly? Oh please, I can do that second thing just as good as you can. Why do you think you were assigned by the princesses to train her? They knew that I had been with Heart Anchor for a long time but didn’t need me to be have a body until she woke up,”
“Phoenix,” The two arguing pegasi looked to see Heart Anchor coming down the hallway. “Allow Rainbow to continue to use her body. You two can share it and we both know it,” Phoenix was about to reply when Heart Anchor yelled, “ALLOW RAINBOW DASH ROOM IN HER BODY,”
Shaking in fear (which was something Pheonix hadn’t done in a long time) she nodded her head and walked up to Rainbow. As she did Rainbow felt her field of vision change to see herself once again looking through her eyes. She let out a long sigh of relief before she unknowingly slapped herself in the face.
“What the,” Rainbow looked in shock at her hoof not knowing what had just happened.
“I’m still here remember,” Phoenix said, the voice of Rainbow shifting to sound like the other pony in her body. “We may have to live in the same body but I am going to tell you right now that I hate your guts,”
Rainbow realized exactly what was happening. Since they both had to share the same body, they also had to work together in order to do anything like move, walk, and fly. This meant that Phoenix could do anything she wished to do to Rainbow by simple using her body. Heart Anchor was trying his best not to laugh at the two’s misfortune.
“Why do you hate me?” Rainbow asked, feeling like she was going crazy.
“Let’s see,” Phoenix said, raising a hoof as she thought. “You live for your work, you abandoned your friends, your ego is ten times too big, you are dating a princess, the list goes on and on really,”
“That’s your ego to,”
“Does it feel like I care. Does. It. Feel. Like. I. Care,”
Heart Anchors fell down laughing, this is exactly as good as he thought it would be. While he knew in his heart (don’t say anything about his name okay) that Phoenix was going to ultimately mess with Rainbow and her career, friends, etc. He couldn’t help but laugh at the two ponies trying to get along. If ponies thought Pinkie Pie was crazy, they were about to think she is sane.
“Okay, I think we may need to think of a system here,” Rainbow addressed, not wanting anything bad to happen. “Who here is going to control what?”
“Simple,” Phoenix said “You get to talk, I get to walk,”
“But doesn’t that mean you can hit me,”
“That’s kinda the point,”
“What about Twilight and the others,”
“Oh, Twilight already knew about this. Man she is going to feel stupid once she realized what she has done,” Phoenix took the opportunity to turn Rainbow’s head toward Heart Anchor. “Hey Heart, what sounds cooler, Phoenix Dash or Rainbow Flower,”
“Phoenix Dash if you ask me,”
“You hear that Rainbow,” Phoenix looked up at the ceiling, “Since we are one in the same now, everypony you meet will have to call you Phoenix Dash, got it?”
Rainbow started thinking about writing a letter to the Wonderbolts telling them that she might have to take a vacation, a very long vacation.
Luna had promised to spend time with Stardust during her night watch, going into her dreams and chatting. It was the only time they would have to chat during weekdays and it made Luna feel better having a pony to talk to that didn’t respond like she was royalty. She had expected a lot of the things that Stardust had say tonight: friends, school, the possible chance of a romantic relation. She had expected all of it until Stardust brought up her incident with Dandelion earlier that day.
“She seemed kind of depressed when I found out,” Stardust explained. “I invited her to walk to ponyville with us but she simply smiled and said no. I can tell when a smile was fake, but I had seen the same thing when I met her a week ago to. Something was bothering her, that's for sure,”
Luna wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. Part of her wanted to say to never talk with Dandelion again, but a bigger part of her said that this changeling meant no harm. She had never seen a normal changeling express emotions before. The fact that she stayed that way even after revealing who she really is, or the fact that she revealed herself at all, was an incredible thing. Luna knew that Chrysalis was going to Stardust, but she didn’t think Dandelion had anything to do with it, at least right now.
“Stardust,” Luna said, shifting away from the current day’s events “Do you want to know what the past has been like over the past few years? I just thought you would want to know since you don’t remember anything,”
“Not really,” Stardust said “Sure, it is nice to know about the past, but why remember something that you had nothing to do with? I mean, there might be certain events that I might want to know about if it has to do with something going on now, but other than that not really,”
Stardust smiled, reminding Luna about the innocence her younger sister held now. She didn’t remember any clear events about her Stardust a thousand years ago, but she knew that Stardust was happier now than she had ever been all those years ago. In truth, the only thing she really remembered was Phoenix, who Stardust had created and was one of only two friends the pony ever had back then. It really brought to mind if it was a good thing or not for Stardust to regain her memories. Of course the answer had already been made, but it still bothered her from what Twilight had said to her when they had first found out Stardust’s past.
“What’s your day been like?” Stardust asked.
“It’s been rather boring honestly,” Luna said, “It’s fun keeping up my royal act and everything but it just not the same when everypony around you is bowing in respect and acting like you are the ruler of the world,”
“Oh,” Stardust replied, “I didn’t think it would have been that bad being a princess. I mean, I knew that it wasn’t all glamour and show after the week I spent with you and Celestia before coming here but still. Besides I thought everypony saw Celestia as the ruler of the world and everything,”
Luna did like it when Celestia was taking care of things, but she had been spending some time helping Flurry Heart over in the Crystal kingdom since Sunburst was away and the young crystaling was such a handfull. She felt kind of sorry for her sister, having not realized what her normal day had always been like.
“Technically they do,” Luna agreed “But they also think the same thing about me to,”
Luna and Stardust looked to see a door appear in front of them, confusing Stardust at exactly what was going on. Luna sighed, sad that they weren’t able to talk for as long as she wanted to. In the end, duty called and she was stuck having to deal with nightmares whenever they appeared.
“Sorry Stardust,” Luna apologized “I have work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow night,”
“Okay,” Stardust said in reply. “Bye,”
Author's Note
This will probably be my last upload before summer vacation, and I'm don't think I will have another chapter up during that time. Sorry about that, but I will be continuing to write over vacation to get as many chapters done ahead of time as possible. Like usually I want you to like and comment and that stuff to show me your love for this story and I will most likely see you after summer vacation.
The sun had finally risen up and the second day of school for Stardust has begun. That’s not the only thing, today the Equestria Princess Protection Group (as Twilight has decided to call it) puts their plan into action. Twilight had awoken to see that the sun was already creeping its way up into the sky. Yesterday was an early day for her, and this was definitely more her pace to wake up without a loss of sleep.
Chrysalis may have been the main thing the group was formed for, but Twilight knew that she wasn’t the only one who was going to after the young princess. This was the day where she would see some of them crawl out of the shadows and into the light, if they hadn’t already. In the week between her first meeting with Stardust, she had learned that there are many ponies who might try to take advantage of the young princess.
“I hope breakfast has already been made,” Twilight said, looking out to see the light of the sun going through her window. “I’m feeling a little hungry,”
She headed out of her room and towards the dining hall, which she had made to feel like a more normal house. With how fancy everything was, and the fact that there was usually only her and spike, she felt it unnecessary to have such a fancy place dining hall. It was still the same crystal color as the rest of the castle, but wasn’t overly glamorous.
She walked in to see Stardust already sitting down, looking at Twilight with a smile on her face. Twilight sat down next to the young princess as Spike brought in some eggs for them. He set down few more for the others who weren’t here yet. Stardust didn’t know that Heart Anchor and Solitaire was here, and Twilight had asked to keep the plan a secret from the pegasus so she didn’t worry.
“Hey Twilight,” Stardust said to the princess.
“Yeah,” Twilight responded, raising a cup of water to her face.
“I don’t want to bother you, and I don’t if you would be able to help me but…” Stardust waited a minute before continuing, “As a princess, do you have any tips for dating?”
Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, spitting the water she had sipped over at Spike. Stardust looked on, not knowing what the heck had just happened. Was a simple question so hard to answer? Even for a pony of Twilight's status. She had planned on asking Luna last night but was interrupted by the strange door that had appeared.
Twilight looked at Stardust, who waited patiently for an answer to her question. What was she to say, she had only asked Rainbow last night… oh, wait. She moved her eggs away from her as she banged her head on the table. She had completely forgotten about Phoenix and Rainbow being the same pony. In other word, she was dating a pony with two separate minds. Hopefully that was solved before long, because it would be rather weird eating with Rainbow while her body was been double occupied. She had to wonder how well the pegasus was handling the situation.
Her question was answered when she saw a sleepy Rainbow Dash walk into the room, looking as if she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. It was pretty obvious that it wasn’t Rainbow currently driving the body, as she would have not been so sleepy. She looked at the body of her familiar friend, guessing it was Phoenix Flower currently in control while Rainbow’s mind got some rest. She received a wink from the pony, confirming her suspicions.
“Well, Rainbow Dash this is Stardust,” She said, keeping an act on up “Stardust, this will be your flying mentor here in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, captain of the Wonderbolts, the greatest flying team in Equestria,”
“Wow,” Stardust said, amazed. Twilight sighed as she managed to draw the pony away from her earlier question. “Are you really that good,”
Phoenix punched her stomach, hoping her practice the night before was good enough. “Well of course,” She said, doing an exact replication of Rainbow Dash’s voice without any problem. “I mean, I’m only leader of the Wonderbolts because of an accident a few years ago, but I’m still really good,”
I swear to Celestia Phoenix thought to herself When Rainbow wakes up I’m going to make sure she gets a couple more hits than usual. Her voice is so annoying.
In truth, Rainbow was still in her bed up stairs. Phoenix had taken her body while she was asleep in order to learn Rainbow’s voice, which wasn’t hard since she was the same pony but a thousand years older. She had also done a memory run to learn about anything she might need to know. What most ponies would have seen as unbelievable Phoenix was disappointed over. Her entire reason for being alive was to be friends with Stardust, and seeing Rainbow abandon her friends, doing pranks, and other things made her wonder how this was the element of loyalty.
“Hey Rainbow Dash,” Spike said, also falling for the impression. “It’s been a long time,”
“I know,” Phoenix replied, not even giving Spike a clue about who she was. “It sure is nice to be back, you have no idea how much I’ve missed being here,”
Twilight was amazed at just how well Phoenix was managing to hold up the act. It didn’t surprise her that much that Phoenix was able to mimic Rainbow, but seeing how she knew Phoenix hated her friends guts, she was surprised she even bothered to act at all. Twilight looked up at the clock on the wall to see that it was getting somewhat late into the morning. Stardust had already finished up her breakfast and Twilight could wait till later since she was going to bring her to school.
“Time to go Stardust,” Twilight said, getting up and walking over to the princess. “Don’t want to be late, right?”
Stardust nodded her head and jumped out of her chair. As the two ponies walk out of the room Phoenix felt upset. She knew that Stardust didn’t remember her, but it was as if she was an entirely different pony then the one she remembered. I didn’t feel right, Stardust being that happy, even if Phoenix was happy about that herself. Phoenix sighed and walked over to the window, she never really took the time to notice how much Equestria has changed. It was so much happier, so much brighter.
As she looked out the window, something made her feel uneasy. One pony, who she couldn’t make out from how high up she was, seemed to just be sitting there in the middle of the streets of Ponyville. It was like they were a statue, but yet she somehow could tell the pony was still alive. She watched it for a while, finally seeing it move as Stardust and Twilight made there way outside. She watched as it followed them, her eyes widening when she realized what was going on.
Oh no
“Uh, Rainbow Dash,” Spike said, not knowing what was going on. “Is something wrong,”
Phoenix quickly ran out of the room and made her way outside the castle. After a couple of minutes, she finally reached the door and flung it open. Looking around, she didn’t see any of Stardust, Twilight, or that strange pony around. She took to the air, not realizing the attention she was bringing to herself. Getting high enough to see the town, she managed to spot Twilight and Stardust walking out of town. She didn’t see the pony she had seen earlier, but knew that it they had been hiding.
“This isn’t good,” Phoenix said making her way slowly on back to the ground, looking to see that everypony was watching. Right, Rainbow Dash is famous. That’s going to make this hard isn’t it.
“Please think this through next time,” Phoenix turned around to see Sonnet walk up to her. “You're bringing a lot of unnecessary attention,”
Phoenix looked back where she had been heading, knowing that it wouldn’t be worth heading anywhere in this body without attracting attention. Sonnet found it easy to figure out that it was Phoenix and not Rainbow Dash, but no one else except her, the princess, the real Rainbow Dash, and Heart Anchor even knew she was here. Seeing how things would end up, Phoenix turned around heading back to the castle.
“Don’t let that mare or anyone she’s controlling touch Stardust, got it,” Phoenix whispered before she ran off, the crowd of ponies following her.
“Don’t worry,” Sonnet replied “Heart Anchor told me what happened all those years ago. Diminshia is all mine,”
Dandelion made her way through the forest on her way to the main road. She had already taken on her normal disguess, and was one she wasn’t ready to give on up. Stardust and Blue Moon hopefully kept quiet about their incident yesterday, and she didn’t want to deal with something like that again. As long as they didn’t say anything, she should be fine.
As she made her way to the road, she ducked as she saw two ponies coming down the road. She didn’t bother to peak, not taking any chances of it being Stardust, especially since there was two of them. She waited patiently for the two ponies to go away before looking out again. When she looked again, she saw the two ponies pass her, and finding that they were princess Twilight and Stardust walking to school. She sighed as she realized it was just them.
That’s when she saw another pony come from the left side of the forest into the road, finding it was Applejack. She took a look at Applejack, wondering why she was there, and why she was hiding as well. Something about this wasn’t right, she knew it. She looked around to see if she could find anything strange. She did, just barely out of view she saw the shadow of a pony behind a tree, using some sort of strange magic. They weren’t a unicorn, they were just a normal earth pony, but something gave her a bad feeling about what was going on. As she discarded her disguise to use a spell she had learn to since controlled magical essence, which any used spell - no matter how advance - gave off. As she cast it, she clearly saw a trail of essence being given off by the pony, which was connected directly to Applejack.
Not caring if she was seen in her true form, she burst out of her cover and towards the pony that was using the spell. Before she reached them, she was tackled by somepony she hadn’t noticed. When she saw the yellow tip of Blue Moon’s mane, she quickly shook him off.
“What the hey are you doing?” Blue Moon said angry “Were you trying to do something to-”
Dandelion tackled him behind a tree and covered his muzzle as the strange pony looked in there direction. Blue Moon tried to struggle free but all his attempts to failed as Dandelion wrapped her hind legs around his arms. She felt terrible for doing it, but he wasn’t going to stay silent otherwise. Dandelion watched as the pony casting the spell looked behind her and got blasted by a spell, shattering what must have been some sort of illusion as it was disappeared. Looking back at the road, she watched as Applejack fell unconscious to the ground.
“I know you two are there,” Blue Moon heard the sound of his sister's voice say. “You can come on out,”
Dandelion let Blue Moon go, who quickly caught his breath. “Thanks,” He said furious at the changeling.
“Your welcome,” Dandelion said in an equally furious tone as the two walked out of there hiding place.
The two look at the older mare as she walked up to them. Sonnet glanced at Applejacks body in the road, not knowing whether or not she was still alive. She was glad she got there when she did, considering how these two were acting.
“Sorry Sonnet,” Blue Moon said, looking at Dandelion suspiciously. “I thought Dandelion was stalking Stardust so-”
“Go to school Blue Moon,” Sonnet said, her voice cold as ice. Without a second thought, Blue Moon ran off, know better then to make her sister angry. “Dandelion if I’m right?” The changeling nodded in response. “Get Applejack to the hospital, she needs immediate treatment. I’ll explain to the teacher why you aren’t there okay,”
“What’s going on?” Dandelion asked confused.
“Come to the castle tonight and I’ll explain everything, just go,” Sonnet said, pointing at Applejack’s limp body in the road.
Without another word, Dandelion changed back into her disguise and rushed to Applejack’s side, picking her up and running in the opposite direction of the school. Sonnet gave a sigh, unable to believe what has already happened. She had expect this pony to show up, but didn’t believe what it meant she had to do. Luckily, he had changed a lot since then.
“Alright Discord,” Sonnet said to herself as she made her way back into the forest. “Let's see what you have to say about all of this,”
Author's Note
So, this is where the story is going to take a giant turn towards the alternate universe side... and I mean a REALLY BIG turn. Also, in case you are wondering why I am still uploading even after saying that I won't be uploading a lot during the summer time, I'm going to try and upload as much as possible over the summer. That being said, it will most likely be limited to one chapter every two or three weeks, and I will be primarily working on this... and something else fun that I don't yet want to announce since I still haven't gotten my stupid COVER ART for it yet. I will give you a hint as to what it is though, it is a pretty big community in the MLP fandom, one that tends to get a good amount of hate. Okay, if you guys can't guess it from that... then you probably are like me and didn't want to read an insane amount of words because you know you might never finish it (I read the original, but have yet to fully finish it) no hard feelings. That being said like, comment, and follow because well... I think you get why by this point. Well, until whenever I upload next, I will see you guys later.
Luna had felt it last night, and so did Celestia. That being said, they didn’t think Stardust had felt it at all. Giving how much magic withdrawal she had gone through from being part of the Tree of Harmony, they doubt she couldn’t tell what magic felt like, something everypony could do, even Earth Ponies. She probably couldn’t even see what had happened with Starlight one week ago, given how she didn’t stop moving even after it appeared. That didn’t stop most others by realizing something. Somepony was tampering with harmony, or more specifically, the former bearers of them.
Even after giving the Elements of Harmony back to the Tree of Harmony, they had stayed connected to those that had once used them. If anything happened to one of the element bearers, every unicorn, pegasi, and earth pony would be able to feel, all except for the oblivious Stardust. It was for that reason Celestia had called all the princesses together for a meeting. Twilight arrived around mid-day, after dropping of Stardust at school. Rainbow, or Phoenix, or whoever the heck was using the body at the time, was going to pick them up and practice flying.
Flying lessons were serving a secondary purpose as well, which Twilight had only mentioned to Heart Anchor and (while she couldn’t see them) Phoenix Flower. It was they were going to use to try and place together Stardust’s memories. That’s why it was so important to have Phoenix Flower in Rainbow Dash's body, because she could trigger memories of their friendship together. Considering how that was one of Stardust’s only friends, it shouldn’t be that difficult, especially since the seen Phoenix was going to bring up only two ponies were there for.
Twilight walked inside the castle and was greeted by Celestia, who had been her mentor for so long. Celestia looked at her former student, unable to believe how much she had grown. Celestia always found it kind of funny how she almost never saw Twilight after the alicorn, or unicorn at the time had become the bearer of the Element of Magic. That happened six years ago, and it seemed since then they just never really had time to chat, at least informally.
They took seats in a meeting room, waiting for Luna and Cadance to show up. Luna showed up not much later, but it took Cadance an hour to arrive after that. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” She apologized “Things have been kind of crazy the past few days,’
“It’s fine,” Celestia said in a calm manner before turning more serious “Now that we are here, it’s time we talked about something we know happened last night,”
“You’re talking about one of my friends I presume?” Twilight asked, getting nods from the princesses. “It’s true, I did feel something strange last night, not long after the meeting broke up. It was as if I felt something in me broke, but other than that I don’t get exactly what happened,”
“I felt it not long after my dream chat with Stardust last night,” Luna said, explaining her side of it. “And it felt very much the same as what Twilight had described,”
“You don’t think it was Chrysalis, right?” Cadance asked.
“I don’t think so,” Twilight replied. “I think it might have been somepony else, but I don’t know who. All I can confirm is that Rainbow Dash wasn’t the one affect. That’s for sure,”
Luna thought about it for a moment, who would have done something like this? She didn’t know anyone in ponyville that might cause something like this. It had to be somepony who didn’t live in the region, but had something against the elements of harmony, or maybe Stardust. She realized something, her mouth hanging open as she remembered something. The other princesses looked at her in confusion, not knowing what was going on.
“Is something wrong Luna?” Celestia asked, seeing the terror in her sister’s eyes.
“Diminshia,” She whispered. Celestia’s eyes widened as she heard the name, realizing what Luna had.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked, not knowing what was going on.
“Yes Twilight,” Celestia said scared. “Something is very, very wrong,”
Sonnet looked at the small cottage in front of her, not believing what she was seeing. This is where Discord, the embodiment of Chaos, was living. Part of her thought she once standing in front of the wrong house, but considering this is what Heart Anchor had told her, she wasn’t going to argue with it. Taking a long sigh, she knocked on the door, waiting for Discord to open it. Instead she got a pony who she almost mistook for Dandelion while she was disguised, but realized it wasn’t when she saw the long pink hair.
“H-hello there,” The pony said, almost whispering “Can I um… help you?”
“Sorry,” Sonnet apologized “I don’t know if you happen to know where I can find someone named Discord?”
“Oo, really,” Sonnet froze up, slowly moving her head to see Discord standing right behind her. “I didn’t expect to see a writer like you miss Crescent Moon. Oh sorry, I forgot, you go by Sonnet now, right?”
Sonnets eye twitched at the mention of the name. It was a reminder of what her family was, and was something most ponies have long since forgotten. It was a bit of a switch to her, and it was something almost never pulled.
“Did you,” She said her left eye twitching rapidly “Just call me Crescent?”
The pony with pink hair moved up to Sonnets side, putting her hoof around the writers back. “It’s okay, Discord is just like that sometimes,” She said. “Um… My names Fluttershy. You’re Sonnet?”
As Fluttershy spoke, Sonnet became less tense. She let out another sigh as she finally calmed down, her eye not twitching. It was good that they had only seen it that far, or else it wouldn’t have been as pretty.
“Thank you,” Sonnet said, “Discord, I was hoping to chat with you about a certain pony. A pony named Diminshia to be more exact,”
Discord looked at her curiously. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in some time,” He said curiously “Would you mind telling me why you would want to chat about her,”
“Because you have a history with her,” Sonnet explained, “A history that might have just killed another pony, and is endangering another,”
“You mean that no good selfish princess Stardust is back?” Discord asked “I didn’t think I would live to see the day,”
“Selfish?” Sonnet asked confused. She hadn’t met the princess yet but didn’t imagine that was discription she would get. “How exactly was Stardust selfish?”
“Oh well I’m sure she doesn’t act that way now,” Discord replied “Probably has memory loss or something like that, but she wouldn’t have been in the mess she was in if she wasn’t so power hungry. That’s the problem with her cutie mark honestly, you want to say I did anything I say I actually helped her?”
“And how would that be?” Sonnet asked
“Um… You want to come on in?” Fluttershy invited “You would have a place to sit while you… talk, I guess,”
“It’s okay Fluttershy,” Sonnet replied, “We shouldn’t trouble you that much. Besides, it wouldn’t be right to make you give up your house when we don’t live there as well,”
“Actually,” Fluttershy said, “Discord and I have been living together for a few months now,”
Sonnet looked at Fluttershy confused. “What?” She asked.
“Oh don’t tell me you haven’t heard,” Discord said, “Me and Fluttershy have been dating for sometime. Don’t tell me you never knew,”
Sonnets eye once again started twitching, this time out of disbelief more than anger. How was that even possible? These two seemed like polar opposites yet somehow are dating? She just couldn’t believe it. Then again, this was Discord she was talking to, who knew what a normal day was like to him.
Gotta feel sorry for there kids Sonnet said, thinking of the possible future If they even can have kids. How they hey does something like this even work?
Shaking the thought from her mind, Sonnet got back on topic. “Well I guess since that’s the case it wouldn’t be that much of a problem,”
Sonnet came inside not believing what she was seeing around her. Other than the fact that the house looked completely normal (Celestia knows she wouldn’t get over it) the were also animals running around without any care. She did know who Fluttershy was - even though they never met - and what she did for a living, but this was chaos… oh, right. Guess there was something Discord and Fluttershy had at least in common, that didn’t changed the fact about how this relationship should have never worked. Fluttershy went to get some tea while Discord and Sonnet sat down in the living room, being careful to not squish any animals under her hooves.
“So exactly what about Stardust’s cutie mark made her so selfish?” Sonnet asked curiously.
“Honestly she isn’t a very selfish pony,” Discord admitted “But you probably know what her cutie mark allows her to do right? It allows her to take the talents of other ponies and use them for herself. That would make her powerful, but that’s the problem with power I guess. You become too powerful you start acting selfishly, and that was the true problem when it came to Stardust. She wanted so much power that she almost killed herself doing it, guess you can say I did her a favor when I met her friend,”
“You met Diminshia?” Sonnet asked
“Her name isn’t actually Diminshia,” Discord explained “In truth her name is Clockwork, but she changed it sometime after I met with her. I honestly believe she took the name just because it sounded cool,”
“What happened when you met her? Is that who she is able to control other ponies?” Sonnet continued questioning Discord.
“Well yes, that is the reason she is able to do some rather peculiar things,” Discord said “I did it so she could help Stardust I guess you could say. Getting her out of the picture would have made it easier for me take over. You should have seen the look on her face when I gave her those powers, she was completely amazed I had even helped her,” Discord fell back on his chair laughing as he remembered what had happened.
“Getting her out of the picture,” Sonnet thought about that for a moment before turning her attention back to Discord “If what you are saying is true, then you would be going against what the legend says, right?”
Discord stopped laughing and sat back down. “Do you think the princesses would have known about what really happened if they weren’t even there?” Discord asked rhetorically “The only ones that were actually there at the time was Stardust, Phoenix, and Clockworks. In truth, Celestia simply made up most of what happened in the fairy tale to try and explain to Equestria what happened. Clockworks was the one who had turned Stardust into a pegasus and do you want to know why, because the Stardust couldn’t control her powers anymore and killed Phoenix. That’s when Clockworks took on the name Diminshia, and she was the one who told me what happened,”
Sonnet’s face filled with shock, hearing the words the Discord was saying. The big thing that bothered her was that he was most likely speaking the truth. He was trapped for one thousand years as a statue and because of that still had the best memories of what had happened all those years ago. He could be lying, but something told her he was speaking the truth. If that was the case, then what would happen if Stardust became an alicorn again, would history repeat itself.
“If that’s true,” Sonnet said, “Then the reason Diminshia is after Stardust is because she is afraid of what might happen to Equestria, she wants to stop her friend from doing any harm,”
Discord nodded. “Honestly I don’t know the overall state of Clockworks’ chaotic power, but the if you are trying to keep her away from Stardust your biggest concern is the way she plans to deal with it. If she finds out Stardust is an alicorn she will probably try to kill her,”
Sonnet got up quickly and rushed to the door. “Sorry but I have to leave,” She said with worry. “There’s somepony I need to talk to,”
Author's Note
I honestly didn't think I would get this chapter up tonight but I somehow managed to do it. I feel like the chapters beginning was a bit rough but the rest of it was exactly what I was hoping for. For those wondering, yes, Diminshia (or clockworks) is going to be the main villain of this story mainly because she has the biggest reason to want Stardust dead. Well like, comment, and follow because of you know what and I'll see you all later
As school closed out for a second day, Stardust got up out of her seat and made her way to the door. Blue Moon said his sister was in town for the first time in around four years and wanted to spend time with her for the first time in a while. She ended up having to walk home by herself today because of that, which she was okay with honestly. She enjoyed the company of others, but the feeling solitude seemed to be a familiar thing to her.
Her mind kept on wondering to Dandelion, who hadn’t shown up today for some strange reason. Was it because of what she had learned yesterday? Or did something else happen. Considering Dandelion was the first friend she had really made, it made her scared of what might of happened. She could shake the thought of something terrible happening to Dandelion from her head.
“Come on Stardust,” She said to herself. “Everything’s okay, you're just overreacting. Everything is going to be fine,”
She wanted to believe it so badly, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that somepony was watching her. Maybe walking home alone wasn’t a good idea after all. After a couple more minutes, she completely stopped. It wasn’t just a feeling she had, somepony was watching her. She looked around, trying to figure out where they were hiding, but couldn’t seem to put her hoof on location.
“I-I,” Stardust stuttered as she grew more concerned “I know you’re there. W-what do you want with me? I didn’t do anything, I swear,”
“Maybe,” She heard a voice say from behind her. No, it was above her… or was it below her? It seemed to be coming from every direction. “Or maybe you just forgot about it. You did, didn’t you my old friend,”
The voice seemed familiar, but it seemed different than how she was remembering it. She started shaking in fear as she looked anxiously around for the place the voice was coming from. Something in her clicked, something that told her that she knew this pony. That couldn’t be right, everyone she knew should be dead… right?
“W-who are you?” Stardust managed to ask. “What do you want with me?”
“Should I tell you?” The voice asked themselves, “No, I won’t tell you anything. It’s too risky, the quicker this is over with, the better,”
Stardust looked up, not knowing what to expect. What was going on? What was happening? Her question was answered when she saw something rise from the trees above. She looked around to see several ponies look at her. No, they weren’t ponies, they were just magic made into the shape of a pony. Their eyes were completely white and had a strange multi-colored shell to them. She recognized this, she had seen this same exact thing happen once before. Something in her mind clicked as she realized who it was.
“Clockwords,” Stardust said, knowing what was going to happen. “What are you doing? I thought we were friends… Why do you want to kill me?”
“Shut up!” The giant mass of duplicates yelled at her, carrying the voice of her friend. “You think I’m going to fall for that? I know it was a memory you just regained, it doesn’t mean anything,”
Without another warning Stardust watched as the duplicates changed shape into needles and launched themselves at her. Stardust tried running away as fast as she can, only for one of the needles to slice into her leg. She fell to the ground crying and yelling in pain, she had no idea why this was happening. All she had remembered was her friend’s name and that she was mad at something that happened. She looked to as the horde of needles closed in, she braced herself for what was to come and closed her eyes.
It never came. She opened her eyes to see herself traveling fast through the forest by a pegasus. She looked to see who it was and realized it was Rainbow Dash, or at least that’s what she saw. She looked behind Rainbow to see them getting farther and farther away from the needles which couldn’t navigate the maze of trees as they hit tree after tree before turning into a cloud of dust and disappearing. When they had successfully shaken them all off, Rainbow went up into a nearby tree branch and placed the Stardust down.
Stardust looked at her leg, expecting to see blood. Instead, Stardust looked on in confusion to see her leg was completely hollow. No bones, no muscles, instead she watched as small particles of her leg feel down onto the branch under her. Her body wasn’t made of normal blood cells and tissue like everypony else, it was made of… dust. She looked confused at her body, not knowing what was going on.
“Stardust,” The princess looked in shock as she heard another familiar voice coming from Rainbow. “Are you okay?”
Yet another thing clicked in Stardust’s head. “Phoenix,” She said, looking at her old friend. “Is that you?,”
The two stopped when they saw Stardust’s body start lighting up. Stardust fell down as her body was hammered in pain. Phoenix, rushed to her friend to comfort her, only for her hooves to grow right through the pegasuses body. Stardust felt herself getting dizzy before finally falling out of the tree and falling to the ground. Phoenix jumped down from the tree in fear, not knowing what was going on.
“Stardust,” She said as she reached for her friends body, only to pass right through it. “Stardust what’s happening to you?”
Her friend didn’t respond, and before she knew it, she started feeling strange. She looked at her body to see her body glow as well, but differently from how Stardust was. She had never seen this happen before, what was happening? She tried moving away, but found herself unable to move. A few seconds later, she collapsed on to the ground as well, unconscious.
Stardust opened her eyes, her eyes wide with fear as she looked around to see fire enclosing her in every direction. She looked at her body to see nothing but white light making up her entire body except for the pupils of her eyes, which were normal. She worryingly searched around her in panic, finding herself able to move around in this ball of fire.
It's time
She looked around herself for the owner of the voice, to see ponies circling her each with strange markings going across theirs bodies and of different colors. Stardust looked at each of them as they started to close in on her.
The darkest hour is coming
She found herself unable to move anymore as four ponies completely barred her ability to move. She looked at them not knowing what was going on, or what was going to happen to her. What were they talking about, what is the darkest hour they mentioned. She looked at her leg that had been hurt by Clockworks to find that it was still hollow like before.
You, the pony made of Stars
Stardust looked up to see the pony glowing red right in front of her. She took a step back, only to back into a similar pony only glowing black instead. They all seemed to be just like her as their pupils were the only thing about them that seemed to a different color on their bodies.
Rise up to Equestria and protect it.
She felt her entire body glow even brighter as they stopped talking and she found herself unable to see a thing. Something came to her mind and she spoke not knowing what she was saying.
“I am the light,” She said “Made by my own will. Formed from love and hope, strengthened by passion and talent,”
Then, once again, she fell unconscious as a strange power took ahold of her body.
Canterlot castle, not long before hand
The princesses meeting was interrupted by what sounded like thunder outside. Twilight looked outside the window expecting to see a thunderstorm, but instead saw something else. In front of her, heading straight for Canterlot castle, was a giant fireball. She gasped in fear as she slowly started stepping back, before finally breaking into a run to the door.
“We got to get out of her,” She said scared “There’s a fireball heading straight towards us,”
Celestia looked outside to see what Twilight had seen, nodded to the other two princesses before they all ran out of the door. As they made their way down the hallway, they heard another boom in the distance as they rushed away from the room. When they got outside, they looked up to see that another Fireball was in front of them, only a few feet away. They all watched as it quickly started closing in the distance, bracing themselves for their death. It didn’t come, just like it had with Stardust.
Celestia looked up to see something blocking the fireball. A pony glowing bright green stood between them and the death as the easily reflected it back out of space. Celestia and Luna had no idea what was going on, in all their lives they had never seen anything like this. With one fireball out of the way, the alicorns watched as it did the same with many other fireballs closing in on Canterlot, doing the same thing to each one. They were stunned, at what was happening.
In a matter of seconds, all the fireballs had disappeared from the sky. The princesses watched as the pony that saved them floated over to them and onto the ground. The light that had surrounded them faded away to reveal a pegasus under it with a long dark green mane that reminded Twilight off Fluttershy’s just more curly at the end of it. They had a strange streak of light green hair going across there face in the shape of what looked skeleton. He had no cutie mark, but somehow his mane flowed just like Luna and Celestia’s, which was strange considering they weren’t even an alicorn.
“Your majesty,” The pony said in a calming tone. “I am Hollow, an Estrail from the invisible continent in the western ocean,” The pony named Hollow kneeled down in respect. “I am here to look after the daughter of the stars, the one who will stop the end of Equestria,” He turned his attention to Celestia and Luna “And your younger sister. We are sorry to have never shown ourselves until now, but I am here as a representative for our king, who will be arriving to speak with you in a few days time,”
“The invisible continent?” Twilight asked confused. “Why is it invisible? What’s an Estrail?”
“All will be answer in time,” Hollow replied just as calmly as before. “However, I can answer that last question now. An Estrail isn’t a particular kind of pony, as they can be pegasi, earth pony, unicorn, and even alicorn, but there are certain conditions that need to be fulfilled in order for that to happen. First of all, they are born in a different way, meaning that no Estrail is ever normally born but rather made,”
“And how does that apply to you?” Celestia asked curiously.
Hollow sighed as he raised a hoof up to see it had some kind of blade attached to it. “I usually don’t show ponies this,” He said as he raised the hoof up to his face and somehow managed to get it all the way to the back of his neck. “You want to know why my name is Hollow? This is why,” He said as he ripped off what they had thought was his face,
They looked away as he ripped it off, only looking when they saw him still standing, but his normal pony face was gone to reveal a bunch of bones holding together in the shape of his skull. They didn't seem to be from the same pony, or at least hadn’t stayed in one piece, as multiple lines showed that the bones had been broken into smaller pieces. He somehow then managed to easily slip back on the face that they had seen earlier to see it somehow reattach itself to his body.
“As you could see,” He continued completely unfazed by the look of shock and disbelief on all four of the princesses face. “My entire body is made up of different bones from different animals and ponies. Due to what my fellow of Estrails have managed to figure out, it was caused by a magical disruption somehow and I was born from it. There are many other forms, rapid evolution, transformation, the only way you won’t expect a Estrail to be born is through normal reproduction,”
“Second of all, the pony must have a special ability or power that is not connected to their talent. That being said, when this condition is fulfilled and that pony becomes an Estrail, they lose their cutie mark,” Hollow turned to show the princess his lack of cutie mark “Or never had one in my case. As for my special ability, I am able to reform my body if badly damaged in a small amount of time as well as twist my body in otherwise impossible ways,”
“Incredible,” Twilight said, her eyes beaming at all the new knowledge she had. “To think that there are ponies like that in the world and we never even knew about them. Is the fact you're an Estrail the reason you were somehow able to deflect that fireball?”
“I’ll answer that latter,” Hollow replied “My colleagues should be arriving at the castle gates in a few minutes, I would request that you allow them inside as we have much to discuss,”
Celestia nodded, she was just as curious as Twilight was about this pony and these so called “Estrails”. She wondered what kind of ponies they were, and who they had managed to keep themselves completely separate from Equestria for so long. The invisible continent part definitely help explain it, but exactly why did they exist at all. Maybe so sort of magic phenomenon that she was never aware of, but she would have felt it if that was the case. She wondered how this pony had managed to stay so calm with how he was.
Hollow was a mystery of his own, he was so calm and somehow managed to deflect something that wasn’t even a solid object. It was clear that this pony was more powerful than any of them, even as a pegasus. That being said, the fact that he could live with only a skeleton and could twist his body so strangely creeped them out. In Celestia and Luna’s thousand years as Equestria’s rulers, they have never been so puzzled by a pony this much in their lives.
Wait till that stupid executive hears about this Celestia thought to herself.
Author's Note
Wow, two chapters uploaded on the same day (for two different stories obviously) that's a new thing for me. I was honestly a little worried about putting this chapter up because of the introduction of the Estrails and I honestly don't know if I would be offending or not with it, but I decided that in the end it's best to just upload this. Also, I can't believe I have had almost 200 views on this already, that's crazy for me. Also, in case you guys don't know I have a new story up on here called Fallout Equestria: False Guilt that I have been having a blast working on along with this so check that out when you get the chance. Like, Comment, Follow and I will see you all next time.
Phoenix Flower and Aqua Marine
Ponyville Forest
Slowly, Stardust regained after the strange dream she had. What had happened? She looked down to her leg, which had seemed to repair itself in the time she was asleep. Did she just imagine it all? No, she was sure of what she had seen then, her leg was hollow on the inside. Everyday that past brought more and more questions, and very little answers to them, and this wasn’t helping that at all.
Remembering that Phoenix was there as well, she looked to her right to see Phoenix asleep on the ground… in her own body. Laying next to her was Rainbow Dash’s body, who she had beforehand been controlling. Did a similar thing happen to Phoenix? It sure seemed like it. The body she saw Phoenix in now reminded her of what it was like all those years ago, a orange pegasus with a red mane and tale. Despite that something about the body was different, she didn’t have her cutie mark. Stardust remembered her having a glowing feather as her cutie mark, but she didn’t have it anymore.
Curious, she looked at her flank to see if something had changed, and indeed it had. She to, had no cutie mark, and considering she had one before falling asleep, she realized what she had seen was not a dream, but rather some sort of vision. Why did it take away her cutie mark? Was it stolen? No, that was a scary thought to think of, considering a cutie mark is attached to a pony's body. So, was her destiny or talent changed?
Stardust looked behind her as she heard Phoenix groaning as she woke up. Phoenix shook the sleep from her head as she looked to see Stardust still in front of her. She didn’t realizing that she was in a separate body, which was yet another thing that puzzled Stardust. She had remembered Phoenix dieing, not how, but she remembered it. How was she alive now?
“Stardust,” Phoenix said sleepily “Are you okay?”
Stardust looked herself over before turning back to her friend. “Yep,” She answered. “How about you?”
“I’ve been better,” Phoenix replied, tears starting to roll down her face. She quickly rushed over to her friend and gave them a big hug. “I was so worried though. You started disappearing, and fell from the tree unconscious. Next thing I know, I’m glowing and end up unconscious as well. I thought you were dieing or something because of that-” She was cut off as Stardust’s body turned transparent and Phoenix came tumbling through her. As she exited her friends transparent body, Stardust once again became solid. That wasn’t all, as Phoenix came skidding to a halt, her hooves somehow gave off sparks and she left a trail of burnt grass behind her. “Wound you had,”
Both ponies stood for a few second stunned at what just happened. Was what they had just witnessed real? Phoenix finally looked at herself, realizing that she had her old body back, but with one slight difference. Instead of her coat being made of normal pony hair, it was instead covered by feathers. Usually a pegasi only has feathers on their wings, but she had at all across her body. In other words, not only did she get her old body back, but she was now literally a phoenix in a pony’s body.
“Stardust,” She said turning to her friend. “By any chance did you put something in those pancakes this morning,”
“I don’t think so,” Stardust said not sure of what was going on. “And I don’t think this was a hallucination,”
“So we really-”
“Just fell through each other?” Stardust said finishing her friends question. “Yep,”
Phoenix took time to think about it for a few second before getting up and turning to Stardust. “At least I’m still a pony,” She said, “But something tells me this isn’t the same body I saved you in,”
Stardust did turned to her friend. “And how did you figure that out,”
“Well for one this body is softer and not super bulky,” She said happily. “But mainly because I see Rainbows body laying down behind you,”
Stardust and Phoenix walked over to Rainbow’s body. Stardust figured out how Phoenix had managed to take over the body, remembering Phoenix’s talent. That being said, Rainbow wasn’t currently in her body, meaning that it was just laying there flat on the ground probably somewhat decayed at this point. Phoenix tried to unhook herself from her current body, only to find that she couldn’t. She had just been given a new body, she had been brought back to life, meaning she couldn’t leave her body. Not that she really cared, she prefered her old body over Rainbow’s anyway. Besides, this new flame thing she had was really cool.
“What should we do with it?” Stardust asked Phoenix. “Should we bring it back?”
Phoenix looked at her friend and smiled. Stardust knew that expression, it was the expression that could mean one of two things: “Phoenix doesn’t care”, or “Phoenix is going to mess with somepony”. “Nah,” She replied, taking the second option “She’s been sleeping all day like a log, this will make her regret that. Besides, I don’t like her very much,”
Phoenix had alway been a troublemaker, ever since Stardust first brought her to life all those years ago. It seemed like no matter what the consequences would be, Phoenix would alway be there to mess things up. There was one particular incident Stardust’s remembers dealing with Celestia, a bucket of blue and black paint, and a crescent moon tattoo. Stardust remember waking up that day not knowing where Celestia was, and thinking Luna had gained a few inches in height overnight. That being said, there was nothing she could do. when Phoenix made up her mind, there was no changing it.
“So,” Stardust said, “You're a bird pony now, if the feathers are anything to go off of,”
Bird pony? Is that really what Stardust was going with? Phoenix lifted a hoof to her face in disbelief. “Please don’t start calling me that,” Phoenix requested “Besides, if I’m a bird pony, doesn’t that make you a planeswalker?”
“No,” Stardust said “But I guess I can see your point, you had to admit that was kind of cool though. My body turned into gas, I didn’t become a ghost if you think about it, but how many ponies do you know can turn there body into an entirely different state?”
“Guess that’s true,” Phoenix said, “And I agree with the cool thing, I can literally create sparks with my body now. I wonder if I could survive a fire,”
Stardust watched as Phoenix rubbed one of her hoofs against her new feathers, giving off sparks as she did. This gave Stardust an idea. “Hey Phoenix, try rubbing your wings against your body really fast,”
Seeing what Stardust was saying, Phoenix did as she said. She started off kind of slow to get the feel for it, rubbing her wings against her feathery body as it easily created sparks. After getting use to it, she started speeding up, giving off more and more sparks as she did. Eventually, she sped up enough where she actually managed to set the tips of her wings on fire. It didn’t hurt at all, confirming that her body was now fire resistant. She watched as it quickly spread across her body, not even feeling the heat she was giving off doing it. Not long after, she to spread the flames across her entire body. She let her wings rest as the two friends watched her body with amazement as it continued to burn bright.
“This is amazing,” Phoenix shouted excitedly.
After a couple seconds, the fire around her died out, showing that it hadn’t damaged her body at all. How did this happen? They honestly didn’t care, they were somehow able to do normally impossible things for pegasi, or even unicorns, and somehow not get killed by it at all. Phoenix thought of something, maybe Stardust’s body wasn’t empty like they had thought.
“Hey Stardust,” Phoenix turned her attention to her friend. “What I’m about to do may seem really stupid, but I want to see if I’m correct. Can you figure out how you managed to turn your body into gas?”
Stardust thought about it, before shrugging. “I don’t really know, it just happened. I don’t know how to replicate it,”
Phoenix sighed in disappointment, sad that it wasn’t as simple for Stardust as it was for her. “Guess we need to figure that out then,” Phoenix said “But we should probably be getting back to Ponyville. Everyone must be worried sick about us,”
“Everyone?” Stardust said, not knowing that there was others staying at the castle. Twilight had left for Canterlot afterwards and considering that she hadn’t really seen Starlight that much, the word “Everyone” seemed a bit odd.
“Oh, right,” Phoenix said in realization “I’ll explain on the way there,”
Ponyville, half an hour earlier
Everyone looked at the strange pony walking through the streets, they hadn’t seen anything like her before. Not that the mare honestly cared, it was a response she was expecting considering this was the first time any of these ponies had seen an Estrail before, and probably one of the few times in history that they would show themselves. She was on direct order from the head of the aquatic research department back at home to be their representative in Ponyville. They didn’t need as many as they did in Canterlot sense it was a much town, which was something quite new to her. This trip was the time she had ever set a hoof outside the Estrail city, at least from what memory she had.
She knew why she was getting all those looks of course. While most of her body was normal - being a earth pony body structure with a blue coat with a messy, curly green mane - her more unnatural features showed like an alicorn in a horde of earth ponies. Her coat wasn’t made of scales instead of normal hair, had visible gills, and a shark-like tail instead of a normal one. She was just as much a fish as she was a pony, just a bit more carnivores.
The Estrails that had found her swimming in the ocean a day after she somehow mysteriously changed from a shark to her current form. When she ended up having to make a name for herself, she was completely stumped. At the time, she didn’t know the language, and honestly had no idea of what was going on to begin with. To many Estrails, life is good, but Aqua Marine sometimes felt like becoming who she is now ruined everything.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t enjoy being part-pony, being one had it’s advantages. She felt smarter, that was one thing, but the biggest thing was that she was able to so many incredible things she had never even thought of before. Every new thing she learn excited her, and every new game she played she enjoyed. Even if it was harder for her to speak the language, she still enjoyed life like it was now.
“This must be the place,” She said, stopping in front of the giant crystal castle. “Really does stick out like a sore fin,” She took a deep breath before knocking on the door of the castle.
When the door opened, she was greeted Dandelion, who had been waiting for Sonnet to return. Aqua took one look at the pegasus, and realized that the pony in front of her was in disguise. Aqua took a note to keep an eye on the pegasus to make sure they didn’t do anything fishy (and no, that was not intentional) .
“Um, hello,” Dandelion greeted, not exactly sure about what to think of this pony. “I’m guessing you are the pony that we were messaged about?”
“So they have already arrived at Canterlot huh,” Aqua said to herself swinging her gigantic tail back and forth, Dandelion watching it in curiosity. “Well that should make things easier. I was hoping to speak with Twilight Sparkle or Stardust, whichever one is home at the moment,”
“Sorry,” Dandelion apologized “I should have probably mentioned that Twilight is the one who sent the letter. As for Stardust, she should have been here some time ago,”
“To be expected,” Aqua said to herself. “Mind if I come in?”
“Not at all,” Dandelion said, watching as the amphibious pony made her way inside.
When Dandelion saw the tail coming towards her face, she was forced to duck in order to avoid being hit. Compared to Dandelion, who was actually a year older than Aqua Marine, the shark-pony was giant. It was mostly do to how big she was before becoming a pony, but it still was amazing to see such a big pony among them.
“So why are you hiding yourself behind that form?” Aqua asked Dandelion, scaring the Changeling out of her disguises. Aqua turned around to see Dandelion be replaced by a Changeling and began snarling at her. She may not have ever been to Equestria, but she had learned from books about what Changelings were and what they did.
“Heh,” Dandelion laughed awkwardly “Hi?”
A few minutes later
Heart Anchor walked into the entrance hall hearing the sounds of what must of been fight. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw Dandelion cowering as a Changeling behind a coach, as Aqua flung a vase at her to try and scare her off. Even though he saw how strange Aqua looked, he seemed to handle it like it was nothing. It wasn’t the strangest thing that he had ever seen, and simply figured that she was the “Estrail” that Twilight had mentioned.
“I see you two are getting along well,” He said, drawing Aqua’s attention away from Dandelion. “Don’t worry about the fact she’s a Changeling, she doesn’t have the guts to hurt a fly,”
“Thanks a lot,” Dandelion said, angry at Heart Anchor. “But I never meant to hurt you, I simply wore the body because they wouldn’t accept me otherwise,”
Aqua looked at Dandelion before looking back at Heart Anchor. She walked away from Dandelion and over to Heart Anchor with a angry look in her eyes, yet he still remain unfazed. Aqua looked him over before smiling, happy at what she was seeing.
“You’ve obviously seen your fair share action,” Aqua said impressed. “Most ponies so far have been either afraid of me or unsure of what to think,” She raised her hoof to greet Heart Anchor. “Aqua Marine,”
“You can call me Anchor,” Heart said introduced himself “I’m a detective from Manehattan, I see you’ve already met Dandelion over there,” He pointed at the Changeling, who gave a nervous wave to the Estrail. “I’m here to help keep princess Stardust safe along with my assistant Sonnet, who is currently out searching for them,”
Aqua looked at the two before looking back confused “It’s only three of you right now?”
“Four actually,” Heart Anchor corrected “Solitaire, a cousin of Sonnet who has agreed to help us in our assignment is up in her room preparing for something later on,”
Deciding to not argue about what Heart Anchor meant by match, Aqua decided to ask something else. “Well if you guys are doing this I assume you have a plan, I would like to hear since I have been sent here to help out in anything needed,”
“Very well then,” Heart Anchor nodded his head “Dandelion, keep an eye on the door for Sonnet or Stardust. Miss Aqua, if you would follow me please,”
Aqua nodded in agreement and followed Heart Anchor down the hall.
Author's Note
I'm so happy right now with reaching over 200 views. It took a while sure but it feels absolutely fantastic about it. Seriously, you guys have no idea how excited I am to have reached this milestone. In the story. It may not seem like much to those of you who are use to reading stories with over a thousand view but seriously, on this site getting a hundred views for the first time is like getting a video on YouTube with a thousand views for the first time, and two hundred is no different. Keep up your work in supporting this story with comments, likes, and follow as well to stay updated. Let's go for the three hundred mark everyone!
Dandelion sat near the wall of the castle, still catching her breath from her experience with Aqua earlier. She didn’t know how the Estrail had managed to see through her disguise, but it was something she didn’t want to deal with again. It was not fun, especially considering how Aqua had taken it, not even a normal pony would act like that. Then again, considering how she was somewhat shark-like (she got a good glimpse at Aqua’s teeth) it probably had to do with that.
Dandelion heard her stomach rumble, having not been able to feed since yesterday with Blue Moon and Stardust. Even then, she barely got anything because of how awkward the two were acting, and the fact that she had been caught mid act. It was the big thing Dandelion hated about being a Changeling, she could eat food if she wanted to, but it was nowhere near as filling as love to her.
She looked to her right as the door opened and Sonnet walked into the castle exhausted. “Did you find them?” Dandelion asked “I heard from Heart Anchor that Stardust was missing,”
“I didn’t find them,” Sonnet said, Dandelions ears folded back in worry “But I don’t think there in any immediate danger, at least I hope not,”
“Oh,” Dandelion said sad “Also, Applejack’s okay. Turns out she is really tired, probably due to that spell she had on her. She should be out tomorrow at best,”
“Good,” Sonnet sighed in relief. “Thank you for doing that. I’m guessing you already know who I am, and I’m going to guess your Dandelion,”
Dandelion looked in shock, she had never said her name, not even in her letter. Guess someone else must have told her… probably Blue Moon for all she knew. The two seemed so different, Blue Moon was always so excited, no matter how big or small something was, and was also pretty gullible and stubborn. Sonnet seemed so relaxed, even when she saw Dandelion as a Changeling she didn’t hesitate, or even gave a look of disgust.
The two looked as Solitaire walk on into the room with a briefcase held in her magic. “Good afternoon Sonnet,” She said cheerfully “Bet you had a pretty interesting day,”
Sonnet let out another sigh, “Hello Solitaire,” She said monotone, clearly showing that she didn’t want to deal with her cousin right now.
“What have you been doing all morning?” Dandelion asked the gambler “And what’s with the briefcase?”
“Oh it’s just a couple bits I’m going to be needing for tonight,” Solitaire replied, not caring that Dandelion was there “Oh boy, Graf is going to go crazy when he sees all this. No pony can refuse all of this,”
Sonnet looked at the briefcase, knowing that it was more than a few bits. “I’m sorry to ask but how many to you is a few bits?”
“Ten thousand,”
“TEN THOUSAND!” Sonnet and Dandelion both looked at the gambler in surprise, wondering where she got all those bits.
“Just a small amount considering what I usually gamble for,” Solitaire said, before finally realizing Dandelion was there. “I didn’t know we had a new member among us, or is this the Dandelion that mister Anchor mentioned last night?”
Dandelion nodded in response, giving a small wave to Solitaire. She realized this must have been the Solitaire that Heart Anchor had mentioned earlier. Again, she was somehow related to Sonnet? Sure, they may be cousins, but it was still a surprise at how different the two looked. Sonnet looked like she may have popped straight out of an old detective story, while Solitaire looked as if she was some spoiled noble.
Solitaire made her way to the door, only stopping to talk to Sonnet “I’ll be out the rest of the day,” She said before handing Twilight’s copy of A Midsummer Nights Dream to Sonnet “Heart Anchor told me to give you this, we’re going to be performing it whenever Chrysalis is going to strike. If we have time of course,” Sonnet to the book in her hand and examined it. “Also, if you see a big earth pony with a shark tail inside the castle, feel free to say hi for me,”
Sonnet was about to ask Solitaire what she meant before the pony closed the door. She turned Dandelion, whose stomach once again rumbled with hunger. Dandelion laughed nervously as she sat down once again. Sonnet took a seat on the somewhat battered couch, which she decided to not question about, and looked at the play. She found it interesting how it was written, reminding her of old Equestrian writing, but the name William Shakespeare told her that whoever did this wasn’t a pony. She took some notes and changed a few things to make it more Equestrian as well as took notes on the characters. She would have to find ponies to play the parts, and she assumed the best place to start would be to find who would play the lead roles.
“Hey Dandelion,” She asked in curiosity “You know anyone who would be able to play lovers, or are in love at all?”
Dandelion though about the question for a second before responding. “Well your brother and Stardust had kind of started dating. It’s only been a day, but I think they could play it if things go well,”
“Thanks,” Sonnet said, So my brother has finally fallen victim to love huh?
She wrote down Stardust and Blue Moon’s names next to Lysander and Hermia, seeing how they were the two who seemed to be star crossed lovers. She never really enjoyed love stories, but if she was picked to direct it (without her approval sadly) then she would have to get over that. She looked at some of the other characters before thinking to herself who would fit what parts. She looked to the character named Robin Goodfellow, and simply wrote down Phoenix, knowing that she wouldn’t hesitate to play the part of a mischief maker. At the moment, those were the only roles she could honestly think up. With that, she decided to open it up and read some of it.
They heard a knock on the door not long after and Dandelion opened it. When she did, she was greeted by Stardust and Phoenix Flower, who Sonnet didn’t recognize in her new body. Dandelion simply just rushed into Stardust and gave the princess a big hug.
“Oh thank goodness you're okay,” Dandelion said crying “I was worried that something happened to you,”
“Sorry Dandelion,” She apologized, “Me and Phoenix here had a bit of an interesting set of events in the woods not long earlier,”
Sonnets eyes widened in shock as she heard Stardust say the name Phoenix to the pony next to her. “Phoenix,” She said surprised, “What the… how are you alive? Is that Rainbow’s body?”
“Hey Sonnet,” Phoenix said in response as he walked inside. “I would honestly like to explain what happened but… it’s a little complicate, but this is an entirely different body, don’t worry,”
Sonnet’s shock turned to anger as she heard that last part. “Then would you mind telling me where Rainbow Dash's body is?”
“In the middle of the woods,” She said, not caring about the anger building in Sonnets body, her eye twitching furiously. “Don’t worry, we ran into Rainbow on the way here, I told her what I told you and she rushed off to get it. You should have seen the look on her face when I told her that,” She looked to see Sonnets ears start twitching uncontrollably as well, not getting the signs that were being spelled out for her. “Kind of like that,” She said, before realizing, “Oh no,”
Phoenix quickly flew off down the hallway, hoping to get as far away from Sonnet as possible. She knew one thing, once Sonnet’s ears started twitching, there was no way to avoid what was coming. She saw happened to ponies who get on Sonnets bad side, and it was never pretty.
“Excuse me you two,” Sonnet said looking down psychotically, scaring the two. “I have a little business I need to take care of,”
She slowly made her way down the hallway, Stardust and Dandelion looking on in terror. What had the two of them just witnessed? Dandelion had thought that the rising author would be a bit more… normal compared to everyone else that has showed their face as part of the group so far. Guess that was proven wrong, and in a very easy way.
“Well then,” She said, recovering from the initial shock “That was definitely something… interesting,”
“Yeah,”
“I see,” Aqua said, having just heard the plan from Heart Anchor “It certainly an interesting plan, but what exactly do you intend to do once you have Chrysalis out of her diguess? And what about Diminshia?”
Heat Anchor looked at the Estrail surprised. “You know about her?”
“Well duh,” Aqua responded, acting like Heart Anchor was saying something stupid. “She’s an Estrail to. All three of them are Estrails, Phoenix Flower and Stardust just haven’t found out that thing yet,”
The two were interrupted by the sound of screaming coming from the hallway and watched as Phoenix burst into the room. She ran up to Heart Anchor, heart pounding as she looked down the hallway. Aqua immediately knew who it was from the essence surrounding her body, but Heart Anchor had no idea who she was.
“Heart Anchor you got to help,” Phoenix said scared looking at the hallway once last time.
“Who are you?” Heart Anchor said baffled.
“It’s Phoenix Flower,” She told the pony. “Seriously though you got to help, Sonnet has gone into her crazy psycho mode and I don’t know what to do,”
The surprise factor wore off as he heard the name Sonnet, his face now showing signs of worry. She had done it, she had managed to tick Sonnet off so much that she went psychotic. This wasn’t the first time it had happened, in fact it constantly happened whenever Sonnet’s real first name was spoken. Heart Anchor remembered the pain he was in after making that mistake, and remembered how much worse it was to other ponies who had been past villains of the duo. You wanted to live, do NOT anger Sonnet, which was a considerably hard thing to do.
“Oh Phoenix,” The three ponies in the room turned to see Sonnet walk into the room, still speaking like a complete maniac. Aqua looked in a terrified manor at the writer, who was giving off a terrifying aura. “Don’t run away, I only want to play around a little. Come on Phoenix, play with me, before you die a sad sad death,”
“I already died once,” Phoenix said hiding behind the cutie map, “I would rather stay alive this time,”
Aqua a bag down that she had hanged up on her chair and frantically searched for something in it. Luckily for her, Sonnet was moving very slow, a slight side effect of being in this mode. She pulled out an old looking piece of paper and the two normal ponies in the room looked at her in wonder.
“Pray to Solstice this works,” She said closing her eyes.
Her mane started flowing as she did, and she lifted a hoof up a little bit before mumbling something no one could understand. Suddenly, the others looked in wonder as Aqua turn completely blue and was glowing incredibly bright, causing them all to look away. Aqua opened her eyes to and started draining energy out of Sonnet. Heart Anchor managed to look up to see a strange glow from Sonnet go to Aqua, who seemed to store it in the piece of paper she held.
After a couple of seconds, the glow stopped and Sonnet collapsed to the floor exhausted. Dandelion and Stardust then came in to see everyone okay, and Sonnet sleep happily with a smile on her face. Aqua took a few deep breaths as Phoenix came up into view to the others.
“How did you do that,” Phoenix said amazed.
“I used magic of course,” Aqua said, not realizing that having the look of an earth pony didn’t back up what she had just said.
Ignoring the looks of shock on everyone's face she turned to Stardust and got up off her seat. Stardust watched as the colossal pony came up to her, easily towering over the princess. Despite this, she for some reason wasn't scared of this pony. Why? What was it that didn't scare her, it would surely scare anypony else.
“Princess Stardust,” Aqua said sitting down in order to talk more directly to Stardust. “You’ve seen it haven’t you. You saw what your body is truly made out of,”
“How did you know?” Stardust asked looking at the pony who was now laying down, their heads looking straight into each other's eyes.
“I can see that our blood line runs through you stronger than it had before,” Aqua explain. “I am Aqua Marine, an Estrail sent here by King Solstice to teach you magic and protect you from harm. I’m just like you, I was not born through normal means, or created in a normal way. Just like Phoenix Flower, I was once something different, a shark swimming in the ocean. One day, I woke up in this body you see me in now and learned about who I really am. You however, are even more special,”
“And how's that?”
“You were born from our fair sun in the sky just like my king,”Aqua replied. “You are just as much the sister of Celestia and Luna as you are the daughter of King Solstice. You two share the same origin of birth,”
“What?” Stardust looked at her confused
“Maybe I should explain a few things,” She took a deep breath before going back and taking a seat at the table. “Might as well get comfy, this might take a little bit to explain,”
Author's Note
Yet another day when I've uploaded this on the same day as Fallout Equestria: False Guilt. Expect this to slow down a little bit in terms of updating for the coming weeks for a number of reasons to numerous to explain. Still, I will try to upload as frequently as possible so hope for the best at that. Like, comment, follow, and check out my other stories. With all that aside, I'll see you guys later.
Celestia watched as what was before a mostly empty conference room turn into a much more lively place as three new ponies sat down. One of them was Hollow who still creep out Celestia to no end. It felt uncomfortable thinking that she was sitting next to a living zombie in many ways, but she really was when it came to this pony. She knew that the idea of Estrails now was that they weren't suppose to be natural, but that didn’t keep her from feeling uncertain about the pony.
Not that the other two weren’t any weirder, especially the one known as Jinx. She looked overly dressed up in a colorful outfit on the outside with a mask and glowing white eyes, but that’s all she was. She was literally a pile of living clothes with the strange ability to give a day's worth of bad luck to anyone she touches again. For that reason she kept herself distant from the others and sat at least three seats away from both Celestia and Twilight.
The other one, Fang, was thankfully much more natural. She had a fur wolf coat instead of a normal pony coat. He was still a pony, but much like Aqua in Ponyville, he was once an entirely different animal (take a guess at what), but was thankfully more excepting at first to his change. It wasn’t that bad of a change for him, even if his craving for meat was out of place here.
“We are so sorry we didn’t send a letter ahead of time,” Jink said, her British sounding voice muffled due to the mask (which is strange considering there's nothing behind it). “But we honestly didn’t expect to find her majesty so soon. We knew that she was not on the Estrail continent but to think this entire time that she had been the daughter of a princess already. Well, I think you can imagine the face on our king when he found,”
The idea of a king was not something Celestia had heard in a long time. Sure, there was Shining Armor but he was the captain of the guards and not a full on King. It was crazy to think that their was a non-female ruler out there, especially considering that about eighty percent of Equestria's population is female.
“Speaking of your king why could he not attend this meeting?” Celestia asked. “It surely doesn't set a good example if he isn’t able to attend,”
“Trust me your highness he would've come if he so could,” Hollow said, his calm and collected manner somewhat haunting them all. “I can’t say exactly why but know that if our king really wishes he could make himse-”
“For goodness sake Hollow, please,” Fang said cutting of his colleague. “If you're not going to tell it to them straight then I will,” Fang looked at the princesses as we continued. “In truth, no Estrail has ever been able to directly meet King Solstice. He is as hot as a sun, and that’s completely literal,”
Celestia looked to Twilight for advice, but at the moment the princess was in a complete state of shock. The young alicorn was amazed by the ponies around her, having of course never seen them before, as well as just how unique they were. Fang saw this next to him and felt increasingly uncomfortable about the princess. In many ways he thought she was wanting to experiment on her.
“Um… Princesses,” He said slowly trying to inch away from Twilight. “You have a little advice on dealing with this here?”
Luna hadn’t been paying much attention, at the moment she was just really concerned about Stardust and how she was doing. These Estrails had referred to her as the “Child of the Sun” and she wasn’t so sure about why they were calling her that. Celestia seemed to notice this and nudged her sister, bringing her back to reality.
“Stardust is okay,” Celestia said trying to calm down Luna. “I think we can trust these Estrails, and besides she has Sonnet and the others with her,”
“I know,” Luna said looking at the ground. “I’m just so concerned about her. I don’t think it’s about Estrails, it just not being able to see her that much. I know she's my sister but I want her to be treated normally and not like loyalty,”
“If you want I can turn you into a normal pegasus?” Jinx proposed, having overheard the princesses discussion. “If you really are that worried about miss Stardust we Estrails have the magic talent to do it,”
Twilight shot forward towards Jinx in surprise, Fang holding her back to keep her from touching the masked pony. “What’s Estrail magic like? How does it work? Can normal ponies use it too?”
“Don’t ever think about trying Estrail magic,” Hollow said. “Our bodies are able to contain much more magic than a normal pony. Even those who take the form of an Earth Pony has the ability to use magic, of course it’s only equal to that of a normal unicorn. Estrail magic is far more advance and tends to break rules of normal physics or such,”
“Aren’t most spells like that forbidden?” Luna asked concerned.
“Only because of how taxing it would be on a normal Unicorn,” Fang said holding down Twilight with a hoof. “It could devastate a normal body and even has the possibility to kill you. Earth Pony Estrails like me can’t do spells that advance because of that reason. However, Hollow here is able to do spells that alicorns can do since Estrail pegasi have the same level of magic in them, and while you can’t tell it Jinx here is actually suppose to be a unicorn,”
“That came as a shock to me honestly,” Jinx said. “But I guess because of the mask it’s really impossible to tell,”
“So is Stardust stuck as an pegasus then for the rest of her life?” Luna said nervously.
“Oh heck no” Jinx replied, emphasizing it with her hoof. “Just because she was one when she unlocked her “inner power” I guess you can say doesn’t mean that she is stuck that way for the rest of her life. She was the first and only naturally born alicorn after all,”
“That not true actually,” Twilight corrected, surprising all of the Estrails. “Sure she may be the first naturally born alicorn, even though the way of birth that you described isn’t natural at all, but the second one arrived three years ago.”
“Really?” Cadance nodded in response to Fangs misbelief. “It was only a matter of time but still, I’m surprised it took this long for it to happen,”
“And Jinx,” Hollow spoke up, having been quiet for most of the time “I would highly advise against performing any of your… Experiments on these ponies. We have no idea if they can handle the magic you possess. Also, saying that falling to the ground as a flaming ball of gas and taking the shape of pony is not something you would really call natural,”
“Yeah I guess that’s true,” Jinx agreed, sounding sad under that expressionless mask. “Still, more than a thousand year and not a single alicorn born until so recently. Seriously how have you two not gotten at all lucky in those years?”
Luna and Celestia felt very uncomfortable answering that question, Jinx was obviously one who didn’t care about the ponies status in society. She asked anything she wanted, and she always expected an answer. The princesses had been warned about this by Hollow. The last pony who didn’t answer her almost got incinerated by the crazy pony. Jinx was definitely the one that scared the princesses the most.
“We always thought it was against the royal code,” Celestia said, looking for a way out.
“You are the royal code,” Twilight said, not realizing that she turning against her former mentor. Celestia gave a stern look at her former apprentice, feeling infuriated and betrayed. Twilight saw the look on Celestia’s face, and it was one she was not familiar with seeing. Realizing what she had done, Twilight lifted herself from her seat. “I… Think I should go,” Celestia nodded as Twilight finished speak. With that the young princess left the room.
Fang look took his gaze off of her to see the eyes of his companion staring at him. He knew what they were telling him even without word, and he realized that this might just be his chance to get to Ponyville. That wasn’t his full destination, but it was the closest he would be able to get to the Everfree Forest. He slowly got up out of his seat and look to the princesses, Celestia had relaxed a bit after Twilight left the room.
“Excuse me princesses but have something I have to attend to elsewhere,” He said as formally as possible, something Jinx wish she was able to roll her eyes at. “I won’t be returning, or even be in the castle for that matter so don’t bother with saving me a room,” Before Celestia or Luna could respond, Fang had left with the door still open.
The two sister didn’t know what was so important to the Estrail and turn to Hollow for answers. “Do you the reason he just left?”
Hollow looked at the three remaining alicorns. “His past,”
Author's Note
After eighteen chapters I think that I have finally introduced every main character in the story. It took some time, but it was completely worth it for the sake of smooth story telling. Now then, on a completely unrelated note, how many of you here know this song.
[youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xR8pFWdCwt0]
In case your wondering why, it's mainly because the lyrics reminded me of Stardust and the kind of pony she is. Heck if I was able to I would make this her theme song it works so well for her. Let me know what you think about it. Also, like and follow and check out the two other stories I'm currently working on if you haven't yet (yes, I haven't given up on Equestrian Despair, I just haven't been in the right mind set for it, which is necessary when you work on a crossover fic)
As Solitaire stepped inside the bar, she was surprised by the nice and warm atmosphere that the place gave off. The outside of these places always seemed to look so dull and boring to her, yet the inside alway shocked her. Before her she saw ponies having the time of their lives. Some playing darts, some having a nice meal, and tucked away in the corner a small group of unnoticed ponies played a nice little game of poker.
Among the ponies was a griffin, the exact griffin that Twilight had told Solitaire would be here. He wasn’t unique in anyway, just your normal unfriendly griffin gambling his life away for who knows what cost. Solitaire studied him to see if anything was off, but instead it was the pony he was playing against that was cheating. She look and watched as a pitch black unicorn stallion with a white mane somehow change his deuce of spades into an ace of spades without giving off any aura from his horn.
It was a trick that she had picked up on as well from her time. In truth, a pony's body is in itself a magic conductor. The main problem is that certain species could only carry so much magic within them, and Earth ponies didn’t have any spare since all there's was focused into their hooves. Pegasi could use it to some degree with the ability to change the weather and fly, but once again it was the Unicorns who were the most talented in this area.
The reason the horn glowed was because it carried any extra magic essence in it. When using magic, it reacted by glowing. However, any professional gambler would or magician would know that it was actually possible to transfer that magic to other areas of the body. Anypony well trained in magic would know that since all magic in the horn is extra, it can be moved in transferred. That is why things such as beams were possible.
This was something Solitaire was sure Twilight Sparkle wasn’t taught, as it could be dangerous doing it. When Solitaire was taught how to do this by her father, she had many cases where it would go out of control and she had hurt herself. It wasn’t something taught at schools, just an old trick past down from Unicorn families.
She walked over, briefcase held in magic watching as it unfolded. She went right up to the unicorns side as he did. There was only four ponies and one griffin left at the table. The Unicorn didn’t pay much attention to Solitaire at first, but once she started leaning over the chair he was getting more and more uncomfortable.
“That’s a dirty little trick you just played there,” She whispered into his ear. “You want to think about changing it back before I tell the dealer what you're doing,”
Solitaire wasn’t one for cheating, she preferred to leave it all up to chance and play. The cheating Unicorn looked behind him to see her staring at him, and seeing that Solitaire wasn’t joking looked back and rushingly changed his ace back to a deuce. Looking at the cards he held in his hand, she saw that the other was a king of hearts. She looked at the board and had seen exactly why he had done what he did. Currently on the board was all spades, ten to jack, if he had an ace he would have had a straight.
“I fold,” The cheating unicorn said. “I’ll take my earning and leave if you don’t mind,” The others at the table nodded and went back to there game. The cheating Unicorn got up and walked up to Solitaires side. “Thanks a lot,” Solitaire heard the anger in his voice but didn’t flinch, a skill she had picked up from spending time with Sonnet.
“What ya want lady,” Solitaire turned back to see the griffin looking at her. “If you want to join you just saw there’s a seat open, name your price and we can restart and deal you in,”
“Will honestly I’m looking for a griffin name Graf, you him,” Solitaire replied, acting like she had nothing to do with their friend leaving.
“Yeah, why?” The griffin responded.
“I heard you're really good, that’s all,” Solitaire continued talking as if she knew nothing about why she was really there. “Name’s Solitaire,”
Graf looked at her unsure. “Yeah I’m good, but what’s a pony that’s suppose to be in jail doing at this little pub in Ponyville. Hoping to avoid the guards?”
“Family payed bail,” That was the first truth she had said to Graf this entire time. “You be surprised about what being related to a rising author does,”
“That’s right,” Graf said with a smile. “Sonnet - or should I be more correct in saying Crescent - Moon”
Phoenix looked behind her to see Sonnet’s ear twitch. Even this far away she can hear it Phoenix stared at Sonnet’s unconscious body in wonder. No surprise it’s so hard to keep her sane
“Yep that’s her,” Solitaire said, a big smile on her face. “Good old psychotic moon mare as I like to call her. Don’t tell her I called her okay,”
“Never plan on meeting here,” Graf said. “Anyways you hear to play or not,”
“Yep, and I plan on play full on bits. However, if you lose or forfeit mister Graf, I want something a little more… Juicy if you would” She looked at him eye to eye as she said it with a nice, calm, relaxed smile.
Graf looked at her curious “What do you mean exactly?”
“Oh come on, of all the Griffins in the world to know you are the only one,” Solitaire said. “A little birdy princess told me that you might know something about a little invasion a queen is planning. Now for all I know this could just be mindless ramble from a law breaking princess, but I want to know for certain,”
Graf looked at her, and Solitaire made out some discomfort in his eyes. Two of the other ponies, both Earth Ponies, went away from the table. The only three left at the table was a white Pegasus with a yellow mane, Graf, and Solitaire. “And what would I win off of you,”
“Funny you should ask,” She dropped the briefcase on the table. “Now, I don’t know how greedy you Griffins are but this should be enough,”
She opened it up and watched as Graf’s jaw hit the table. Before him was thousands of sparkling bits “How much-”
“Ten thousand bits if I’m correct,” Solitaire answered the question she already knew was coming. “I spent the entire day counting this to make sure it was the exact right amount of bits. I know you won’t play for anything under quintuple digits so I didn’t want to rob you out of a single bit,”
The pony next to him put a hoof on his shoulder and Graf looked to see her shaking her head. Solitaire just managed to catch what they were saying to each other.
“Don’t worry Blue Jay,” She heard Graf whisper into the ponies ear. “Even if I lose I won’t let anything happen to you. Besides this is the princesses she’s here for, it would be right,”
“You know what will happen when she finds out,” The Pegasus named Blue Jay whispered back. Solitaire had to pay a lot more attention to what she was saying, her voice was much softer and quieter than his. “She’ll kill us both, just say you can’t play,”
Solitaire look around the bar a little more as she heard those words. She hadn’t noticed it earlier, but there were multiple ponies staring at her. She’s a clever girl, I’ll give her that Solitaire look on with a smile, she hadn’t even realized that she was being watched. Still, she doesn’t know how hard it is for a gambler, much less a Griffin, to turn down an offer like this. She turned back to Blue Jay and Graf. Clearly there is something more going on here.
“As I said don’t worry,” Graf whispered back, “I’ll do anything to keep you free. Even if they catch me I’ll make sure they never catch you,”
There's one thing you gotta love about Griffins Solitaire put in almost invisible smile on her face. They’re loyal to the very end. Guess it must be an instinct or at least something along those lines.
“Well I’m willing to play for your prize,” Graf said as Solitaire’s ears turn to catch the sound of shifting hooves behind her. It was clear there was more than just ponies and Griffins in the bar “Of course I plan on winning even if I only have one turn to win,”
“You sure you want to make that bet,” Solitaire replied with a smug grin on her face. “You gotta be stupidly courageous to try something like that,”
“Try me,” Graf said, rolling his eyes. “Anyways since we seem to be the only two at the table this should be interesting. Besides, I’m not losing anything that major here,” hopefully
Solitaire looked behind her as she heard a pony get out of there seat. She watched as a drunk unicorn walked to the door. “I need a nap,” He said to himself as he wobbled toward the door, “Yeah… that’s a good idea. Take nap, destroy the world later,” She kept watching as he exit, her muscles becoming less tense as she saw this.
“Everything okay,” Graf said, pulling Solitaires attention back to the game in front of her.
“Yeah,” She said, not showing any signs discomfort. She watched as Graf order both of them some cider. The bartender dropping everything he was doing to take care of it, and a feeling of suspicion grew at this motion. Something tells me this will be more than just a simply game of poker. This entire bar is a hostile location.
Author's Note
Like, comment, follow, and check out my other stories as well for more.
Graf motioned for the dealer to start the game, both him and Solitaire grabbing chips equal to the amount they were playing. Solitaire had managed to convince Graf into playing on a more equal playing field, five hundred bits in chips each. Sure, she could probably wipe the floor with him in one turn and would make it easier to get the info she needed. Of course, she needed to make fully sure that no matter what happened none of the “ponies” around her tried to stop her in any way.
She knew one thing already, there was going to be something wrong with their drinks. Solitaire knew foul play like the back of her hoof. Over the years she’s had countless games were the pony she has played against was cheating, and they still never won. Cheaters never prosper, those are words she learned to live by in a business full of them.
That bartender acted too quickly when Graf had requested two drinks. He was right in the middle of something at the time, the pony he had been taking the order for outrage and left without so much as a word. Any good bartender knew that this was unacceptable, she had been at way too many places like this to know that wasn’t right. It was very clear to her that, wherever the real one was, he wouldn’t probably be showing up tonight. Still, she had to focus on the game in front of her, that was important as well.
The cards had already been dealt out by the dealer, and Solitaire knew that she couldn’t spend her entire time focusing on a single sketchy bartender. She looked at them, not showing anything on her face as she put them back down. She noted in the back of her head the cards she had: two of diamonds and an ace of hearts. Not the best hand she could have hoped for, but she could manage with it. She had already put five bits out because of the small blind, and because she didn’t want to start the game with a fold she put in five more. She had already paid some, might as well keep it up. Graf, having the big blind, had no choice but to check, and knocked on the table to show it.
She watched as the flop happened in front of her, a card would be put off to the side and three more would put down in the middle of the table face up. She knew the odds she had and made a system for how the cards would play. If the cards played in her favor with a good flop, she would raise and try to obtain an early lead of Graf. If they somewhat worked for her then she would only call or check depending on the situation, folding if Graf raised it to high. If it didn’t, as much as she hated to admit it, she would fold. That has never happened before, and she never planned on letting it happen.
The three cards were placed down on the table with gentle hooves. Solitaire looked on, not showing the slight approval of the flop that had taken place. This flop had consisted of a deuce of spades, a seven of clubs, and a jack of diamonds. Definitely not the best flop she had ever seen, but considering she had a pair it was still worth some risk. It was a pair of deuces, which really didn’t make her feel comfortable, but she didn’t show it. Instead she merely knocking on the table to show she was checking. Graf did the same, obviously both of them had wished for a better flop.
Solitaire wasn’t much for bluffing, but if things got serious she may have to in order to make Graf second guess his action. It wasn’t something she really wanted this game to come down to. A good game of poker to her was a game where your biggest ally was lady luck and you folded and played when you needed to. Bluffing was usually easy to see from what Solitaire had found, they would usually raise the chips to extremely high rates, something that was stupid in itself. If she was to raise, she would need a good enough hand in order to make it through, and even then it was risky. Still better than calling all the time though, she hated that.
The turn flipped over and this time she was met with a seven of hearts. This was more promising to her, two pairs. Now was the time to go ahead and bet, which she proudly did raising the chips up to ten bits. It was still a low ranking hand but it was at least more promising than before. Graf had called to her, putting in the same number of chips. Clearly he wasn’t taking any risk at the moment, something that surprised her. His whispering showed that Twilight was correct, but he seemed to not care about whether or not Chrysallis succeeded.
She was distracted as the river was played, hearing the sound of voices in the door leading into the back area. One sounded normal, probably the bartender for what she knew, but the other sounded… distorted. It was like a short ranged echo, or at least that was the best simile she could come up with. It seemed discomforting listening to it, but she couldn’t make out the words over some drunk hooligan singing “Winter Wrap up” absurdly bad in the background. It was like listening to wedding music, she couldn’t stand it.
She just barely heard a “ahem” come from Graf, and Solitaire looked to see he had raised to ten bits like she had before. She looked at the river card, seeing it was a five of clubs. This was not one of her best hands, calling only cemented that. She placed her cards down on the table face up, Graf doing the same. He had a king of clubs and a three of spades. She had won the round, but only because of the pair of sevens on the board.
This is definitely going to be an interesting game Solitaire used her magic through her hoof, something she prefered to do rather than use her horn, and brought the sixty bits over to her side. Don’t know why he played that, even with the sevens in the center it was a bad hand. However, she wasn’t complaining, every bit he lost brought her closer to victory.
The dealer took the cards and Solitaire watched as the “bartender” came out with two bottles of hard cider. Graf was too busy reassuring the Pegasus named Blue Jay to notice a weird green color in the drink. She wasn’t going to let a drink be the end of her, and Graf as well. She took the drinks and the bartender disappeared back into the kitchen.
While Graf was still distracted, she concentrated her magic into her hooves, which contained the cups of cider. Her hooves glowed faintly, the magic balanced between them to avoid any spell backfire. She watched as the cider boiled, and the green tint it had faded away. It was a rather simply spell, used to destroy any venom and poison within a pony's body. That being said, it also worked on things other than a pony’s, as the poison in the drinks vanished leaving only pure cider.
She was correct, there was changelings all around her. She looked at the bartender to see him taking a pony’s order, acting like nothing ever happened. This wasn’t the first time someone had tried to poison her, but she hoped it was the last. All the ponies that had been staring at her seemed to know she was suspicious of them. No doubt they would try even more disparate actions to try and stop her. She had to be prepared for every situation they would probably throw at her.
Luna guide me She said to herself, closing her eyes as if she was praying. I want to help your sister so much, please don’t let me down now.
“Your drink arrived Graf,” Solitaire yelled from across the table, sliding one of the cups of cider over to him.
He caught It right before it would have fallen of the table, and lifted it to his beak. Solitaire watched him carefully, not wanting to take any chances that all the poison had been evaporated. Graf put down the cup, and after a couple of seconds Solitaire was confident enough to drink some of her own.
Using her magic, which was still mainly contained in her hooves, she guided the cup to her muzzle and started drinking. She had to admit, if the changeling disguised as the bartender meant to kill them, at least the taste of the drink would have been delightful. That being said, she had no intention of dying tonight, and hopefully no intention of Graf dying as well.
The dealer passed out the next hand to the two, this time Solitaire on the big blind and Graf on the small blind. Solitaires hand wasn’t great, but she saw it as better than her previous one. She was already set up with a pair, two threes in the suits of hearts and spades. With Graf putting down five bits in chips, Solitaire simply check. It was still not certain that she would win, a pair of three's was in no way a great hand.
She watched the flop with disappointment, see a underwhelming group of cards. Five of diamonds, jack of hearts, and a seven of clubs. It was not a good group of cards, small growl of anger escaped Solitaire’s mouth. She didn’t bother to hide it, Graf probably already had a better hand then her. She didn’t need to waste any more money if she was going to end up losing, and decided to fold.
This night might be longer than I want with cards like this Solitaire said to herself. I just hope I survive.
Author's Note
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“Tell me Fang,” Twilight asked with the wolf Estrail as they flew in Luna’s carriage back to Ponyville. “Why are you so persistent on going to Ponyville, I figured that you would want to learn more about Equestria like Jinx and Hollow.”
The princess was more than surprised when Fang asked her if he could come to Ponyville with her. She wasn’t one to refuse his offer, as he seemed like a nice enough pony. She couldn’t help but notice just how much thicker his fur was compared to hers, or really any other pony she knew. Other than timberwolves, she had never seen a wolf before, and she assumed this was probably one of the few times she would ever see one.
“I have personal reasons,” Fang told the princess of friendship. “I once lived in the Everfree forest, I don’t need to learn about Equestria like those two idiots do. Besides, I wouldn’t be here if it was for Aqua Marine and Clockworks. Not every Estrail coming to Equestria is on king Solace’s side. In fact, very few are anymore.”
“Why is that?” Twilight asked. “And who is this Aqua Marine and Clockworks pony you mention?”
“King Solace has been acting rather… strangely,” Fang replied. “He’s been acting weird lately and no one really knows why. As for the other two, it’s a little hard to explain but… we are deserting our homes, each for different reasons. Aqua is abandoning because she doesn’t want to know what Solace will do with Stardust. Clockworks… is here to keep Stardust from becoming an alicorn again. I don’t agree with her methods, but she is right in trying to stop it.”
Twilight tilt her head. “But an alicorn is what she really is? If she doesn’t become one then she won’t be able to take the energy from the tree of Harmony or replenish it.”
“You aren’t thinking about are you?” Fang asked her rhetorically. “First of all, she’s an Estrail and they don’t have a talent. Her talent was that she’s able to absorb and use the talents of others, but now that she doesn’t have it she won’t be able to absorb that energy without feedback. That feedback, considering the amount of magic she had, was only obtainable for her because she had infinite talent. Even as an Estrail alicorn she will have less power, and you know what the feedback will do.”
Twilight thought about what the magic he was talking about could do to her. The amount of raw talent magic that was in the tree of harmony was greater than anywhere else in Equestria. With that thought she realized exactly what absorbing that energy would mean.
“If she had high enough feedback from a single cast spell, or even gaining this level of magic she would…” The princess’ eyes widen in absolute horror “Kill herself!”
“A pony can only absorb so much magic before they fall into a coma,” Fang said casually. “We Estrail’s are no strange to absorbing magic, as it is the only way our Equine bodies actually exist. As such we are more prone magical backfire, something that Jinx is really familiar with.”
Twilight just stood there, silently thinking about what this would mean. She didn’t know about how Luna was going to take this. The idea that possibly saving Equestria from a darker age would kill her long lost sister. Twilight couldn’t even began to think of how the princess would feel about such a thing.
“And if it fails, you’ll have to choose what’s more important. Equestria, or your sister.”
It seemed so right to say something like that before, but now Luna would have to choose between killing her sister or putting the country in harm's way. To Twilight it seemed obvious, family is more important than a threat they don’t even know is real, but she wasn’t the one making the choice.
“Do not worry princess,” Fang put a hoof on the ponies back in a reassuring manner. “As long as miss Stardust is in the company of Aqua and I, she is safe. We will not let the young princess perish.”
Twilight tried her hardest to hold back the tears he was feeling. “And what about Clockworks?”
Fang hesitated to answer at first, not sure of whether telling the princess was the right idea or not. He knew he couldn’t completely ignore what Twilight asked him, and did his best to avoid a direct answer.
“She… is probably not the best ally considering the Stardust’s past.”
Aqua was surprised at how well Stardust had taken the news of her heritage and birth. She had expect more denial from the young pegasus, but she had proven to be rather accepting of the facts. It was the news of her father's strange actions that she hadn’t taken well, but her her reaction was only worry for the other Estrails. Since then two hours have past and most of the ponies had either gone home or headed off to bed. Blue Moon had carried his sister home, and despite his age seemed to carry her with close to no issues. With that she had found herself talking with Phoenix, who was telling the Shark Estrail about Stardust. They were walking down the castle corridor when Phoenix told Aqua about how she was created.
“I’m rather surprised she had all that power and yet only now became an Estrail,” Aqua said. “The power to turn a statue into a living being is rather advanced magic, even for a pegasus Estrail such as herself. For that power to bring back the memory of you, I can only imagine the joy that must have brought you.”
“Yeah, I was so sad when I saw her this morning,” Phoenix said. “I was in Rainbow’s body, sure, but she didn’t seem like the same troublemaker I remember her as. Then again, she still seems like a different pony even after remembering. She seems so defenseless, so alone.”
“Which is why Stardust needs you by her side,” Aqua put a hoof around Phoenix’s neck only for the Estrail to jump back at the sound of sizzling. Aqua immediately realized what she had done, considering her skin always seemed to be damp, even if she hasn’t been in the water in days. “Sorry about that. Forgot about your body being made out of phoenix feathers.”
“I’ll live,” Phoenix said, rubbing the spot where the Shark Estrail’s hoof had been “I’ve died once before, and nothing will ever compare to the pain I felt back then. Still stings like salt in a wound, guess I know what kind of shark you are.”
“I’m pretty sure all shark’s, or at least the majority are salt water,” She said, not entirely sure she was current. “That’s not what is important right now though, what is important is the fact that you stand by her side not as a guardian but a friend. A guardian can only save somepony from physical strain, a friend can heal any injury both physically and mentally.”
“Why in her mother's name would I ever stray from her side?” Phoenix said in a shocked manner. “Why the heck would I ever leave Stardust alone, I never did even wheeeen-” Phoenix made out the shadow of a pony, or pegasus, down the hallway. She didn’t even have to think without knowing who it was. “Oh no… sorry Aqua, gotta run.”
“Wait wha-”
Before Aqua could finish what she was saying, Phoenix flew away in a streak of fire. All that she had left behind was a trail of scorched ground, which Aqua immediately started cleaning up. She used magic to slowly but successfully make the burn marks go away in front of her, slowly moving down the hall as she worked. She was interrupted by a tap of the shoulder.
“Excuse me,” She turned around to see the unhappy face of Rainbow Dash behind her, who Phoenix had only explained to her was her true souls current form. “By any chance have you seen a pegasus? Covered in feathers, was once a ghost, goes by the name of Phoenix Flower.”
“Oh yeah,” Aqua nodded and pointed down the way Phoenix went, not realizing the reason she was being asked this question. “She is down that way, just follow the scorch-” Before she could finish Rainbow Dash zipped down the hallway at the same speed Phoenix Flower had. “-marks.”
In the Everfree forest, the zebra shaman known as Zecora stirred her cauldron. However, the potion she was making tonight was different then other nights, for she had a strange guest. A pony whose body seemed to have no true fur color. Both the mane and fur color were the same mix of different lines of color from blue to brown, red to pink, orange to purple, and white to black. The lines of color of across her body moved strangely, and the pony remained an enigma to the shaman.
“I hate to ask such a question,” Zecora said to the pony. “But why have you asked me to make such a potion?”
“I’m afraid I can’t answer that,” The strange earth pony asked as she took off her clock, revealing the rocky grey eyes underneath. “Just know that this, Zecora, is my only way to save Equestria with the other Estrails arrived.”
Zecora, having seen it was better to not question this pony didn’t pursue any farther. The earth pony, known as Clockworks, was indeed an Estrail, but she wasn’t like the others. She knew what would happen if she went through her plan, and she planned to help her and one other pony live through it. She look to the moon, a frown upon her face.
“I’m sorry Luna,” She whispered to herself “This is my duty. I must make sure she doesn’t meet the king.”
Zecora was listening, finding this new information rather unassuring. Still, she wasn’t going to get on Clockworks bad side. She saw what the pony could do to a Timberwolf, and she didn’t want to know what Clockworks could to do a pony.
All she could do was hope. Hope that whatever Clockworks was planning was better than it sounded.
Author's Note
For the longest time I had no idea what the hell to do with this series, but in the past two weeks that has changed. So yeah, welcome back to the Life of Stardust to all of you who thought it was dead. For those of you just joining, I hope you have a great time. It's so nice to start writing this story again, and I hope you enjoy. So please like, comment, and do whatever other stuff you do to show your love. Also, check out my other stories (except for Equestrian Despair, lost faith in the story honestly) if you like. With that, welcome back to The Life of Stardust.
