Strange Bedfellows

Back in the village, Rarity was hard at work, diligently taking down everything Glow Star said verbatim—the old pony had told her that writing properly was going to make it far too difficult for anypony else to read the text. The mare’s life, despite her harsh words about it, was actually rather interesting for Rarity.

“Born in older time,” she said. “Much older. Nopony know how to speak like this—talk by grunts and signs, except for Elder.” She chuckled. “Funny, watch us talk back then. Elder was good stallion.” She nodded. “His name Firelight. We call him Pop, since fire pop when you listen to it.” Rarity paused to look up from her work.

“Glow Star,” she said, “I thought you said that Shetlands knew how to speak, somewhat. Why didn’t they know back then?”

Star shook her head. “I get to that, unicorn.” She turned to look out the window. “Firelight wary of ponies. Ones like you. He not hate them, but he think they out to steal our secrets, take from us.” She chuckled. “Not know what word you ponies use, but he right when I not believe him.”

Rarity saw a pang of hurt cross Star’s face and frowned. “The word is ‘irony’, darling.”

“Right, irony. But using my words wrong. He not right always.” She nodded towards Rarity. “He not right about ponies like you.” Her gaze darkened. “Right about ponies like Trixie.”

Rarity wanted to follow up, but let Star continue. “Anyway.” She cleared her throat, burying her dark expression. “When young, no more than your age, Firelight go to fight griffons that attack our village.” She snorted. “He right about them most times, too.” She sighed. “He not come back. Well, he come back, not how we wanted.

“They dump his body in front of us as warning. Tell us we not as strong as them, never will be. His horn gone. Griffon chief, cruel bird, name of Seth.” She snorted derisively. “Never understand how they name. Choose foolish names, expect others to think them great.

“Any case, there we were. No Elder. No direction. I step up, being village’s only unicorn, and say I now Elder. Ponies angry, not ready for new Elder so soon. Tell them I understand, but village need leader. Ponies not know how to run themselves, most times.”

Rarity chimed in. “Well, to be fair, Glow Star, the ponies of Ponyville often run themselves perfectly well!” She smiled. “Especially since Twilight Sparkle arrived. She helped us wrap up winter, plan for Hearth’s Warming Eve—she’s been a perfect help to the mayor ever since Celestia sent her. And of course, a dear friend to Applejack and myself.”

Star sighed. “You talk of Twilight Sparkle much, make me think she good pony, powerful, too. Know none of this myself. Elder learn not to trust hearsay.” Rarity was stung a little, but nodded.

“Go on, now,” Star said. “So I become Elder. Learn much, perhaps learn it too fast, like drinking cold water too fast. Many lessons learned. Much magic—old arts of Shetland unicorns. Firelight secretive pony, not leave much—spells and life story. None else. So make do with what he leave.

“It not much. Three bolt spells, two spells on plant growth—which no use anyway—and account of spell he use when he go off, fight griffons, written before he go.” She frowned. “Look good, but he not say how cast it. Creates big explosion, but hurts user bad. But not important now. Weather turn harsh, we not know why. Not know how talk to Princess and ask for help.”

“But Glow Star,” Rarity said, “I thought that you didn’t agree with changing the weather to suit your own needs? Wouldn’t contacting the Princess with a cry for help break your principals?”

Star nodded sullenly. “Yes. But get weak. Scared. Not been Elder long then. You understand that no will perfect. No will perfect. No, stupidity break through every pony sometime. It only matter of when. Happen to Earthfruit when he attacked by Timberwolves.” She snorted. “Should have run. Should have come back. But he stay, he fight. Nearly leave us defenseless.” She chuckled, the sound full of bitterness. “I have to make Blink defender, in that case. Celestia help us all it come to that.

“But yes, bad weather. Floods, storms break trees in half, fires start even with wet wood—nothing make sense. Send out defender of that time, mare named Tuber, to look, find out what go on. Stupid. She leave village with ten ponies to look, all strong and smartest we have.” She glared. “They not know river swollen from rain, leaves cover water. Rain makes river rise, makes Tuber slip—she swallowed by water.

“Then lightning starts. Rain so thick, without Tuber, these ponies not know how survive. Usually not concern, even before my time, so we only teach defender, who give out knowledge. One climb tree, hit by lightning. Almost like lightning target him. Tree falls, crushes others. Some escape, others not.” Star sighed.

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth in horror. “Oh my!” she cried. “That must have been horrible, Glow Star!”

Star nodded slowly. “Yes,” she said, “but we move on. Dwell on things forever, end up going crazy. Move on too fast, seem cruel. Dwell just long enough.” She shook her head. “Finally take matters into own hooves. Leave all ponies in village and set out to find source of storms.

“Travel hard, conditions harsh and terrible. But go forward, know that safety of village up to me.” She looked at the ground. “Find things not want to find. Broken trees, broken rocks—broken Tuber. See her on shore of swamp, washed up, no breath. Then I see—well, explain swamp first. Swamp large, big island in center—animals sun there on good days.” Her expression turned grim. “What I see there, no animal.

“Pegasus. Never see one before, but Firelight share them with me during teachings. Not tell me much, but enough—easy to tell this pegasus one causing bad weather. Causing death. But he look familiar to me. I think hard and long, watch him. Then it come to me—I see ponies like him.” She chuckled. “They visit before. Give something.”

“How were they distinct, Glow Star?” Rarity asked. She gasped. “They weren’t like Trixie, were they?”

Glow Star broke into a fit of laughter, shaking her head. “That stupid, unicorn. Real stupid. No, know him by ticking legs. Eye swirling around in his head, other eye so normal.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Ticking legs? Swirling eyes?” It was her turn to smile with amusement. “Glow Star, now who’s being silly?”

The older unicorn shook her head seriously. “Not silly, unicorn. Tell you exactly what I see.” She tapped a bookcase with her hoof. “You write it.” Feeling the gravity of the statement, Rarity went back to writing. “Now, call out to pegasus, know he is one causing misery. Ask him what he doing, why he doing it.

“He answer me back in your speech—but different. That how I know he more than odd. Not from any place I know. Anyway, he tell me that he know what my village do, that we do things not good. Ask him what he mean—he fly, make circles around swamp. Not know what do now—see water rise from swamp.”

Rarity blinked. “But that’s not possible! We have a small reservoir back in Ponyville, probably a quarter of the size of any of your swamps around here, and it took every pegasus we could muster to raise the water from there to Cloudsdale!”

Glow Star put a hoof to her temple and sighed. “You talk about things, know nothing of much. Tell more.”

Despite being a little sore about the old unicorn’s tone, Rarity explained the process of lifting water from a city or village to Cloudsdale, and how Rainbow Dash had had so much trouble even getting the water there in the first place.

Glow Star nodded. “That exactly what this pegasus do. But this swamp, way you talk about your lake-thing, much smaller than that. Water fresher there than other places—we use it for drinking when rain not come often enough. It save this village more than once.”

Rarity shook her head. “But Glow Star, that isn’t the point. There isn’t a pegasus alive—not even Rainbow Dash—who could possibly have the wing power necessary to lift a body of water into the air single-hoofedly. It’s just too hard a task.”

Glow Star smiled and sighed wistfully. “Well, it happen, unicorn. I tell you this pegasus not natural. Ticking legs, remember?” She ran a hoof along her thick hair. “In any case, he not get the water far. Just enough to splash it onto me. Then he laugh and tell me that my kind even less natural than him. That nothing we do make any sense. That we all talk stupidly.

“I ask him where he get off saying things like that, that I never even seen him before, aside from trading, and he tell me that he watch our village, watch my ponies go about their work, listen to us talk. He decide that we not allowed to exist anymore. Talk about a new bunch of ponies, come from beneath the sea, to take Equestria from Celestia. I say he full of hot air, throw a rock at him. It miss, of course.”

Rarity held up a hoof. “Wait, Glow Star, is this the betrayer you spoke about? If it is, well—that doesn’t make any sense. You never even had any contact with him!”

Glow Star shook her head. “No, unicorn. He not betray us. He just crazy. Betrayer was an earth pony, like your friend. That story short—we teach him secrets of our tribe, allow him to see us grow and harvest, and he turn on us, try to burn our village to the ground so nopony else could have our knowledge but him—he wanted to be known as best farmer ever. Forgot about monsters in woods.” She chuckled. “We never find him.

“Back to pegasus. He get cocky, fly near me as I pick up another rock, so confident in his speed he ‘know’ that I would miss.” A small grin crawled across her face. “I not. Hit him in leg, hear awful sound like foals screaming. He scream, I cover ears and fall back, sparks flying everywhere from his leg. Once I get good look, I see that rock break his ticking leg. See entire thing come apart right in front of me while he try to pull rock out, screaming loud.

“When he finally get it loose, nothing work in that leg anymore. No more ticks, no more sparks, no more anything. He upset.” She grinned. “Tell me that I doom my village. I ask him what he mean, but he not answer, just leave.” She snorted. “Never hear from him again. Empty threats.”

Rarity opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off when a pony burst through the doorway and into the room, clearly out of breath.

“Star!” she cried, shaking her head back and forth, “Earthfruit, Blink!”

Rarity gasped. “Applejack was with them! Is she alright?”

The pony nodded.

Star’s expression darkened considerably. “What do it this time? Flying monsters again? Timberwolves?”

The pony shrugged hopelessly. “Help!”

The pony rushed from the building and Star followed, turning to Rarity. “You with me,” she said, “not waste any time. You know how to heal ponies?” When Rarity shook her head, Star made an exasperated noise. “Watch close,” she said, “maybe learn something.”

Blood pounded in Rarity’s ears as they rushed through the village, Star throwing orders this way and that to prepare defenses, get help to Earthfruit and Blink, and to keep eyes on the woods in case a follow-up attack came suddenly. All Rarity could think about was Applejack—even if she’d only suffered minor injuries, the thought of her being hurt at all made Rarity’s heart race. She wasn’t going to admit it outright, but she was growing more and more attached to Applejack—being away from her hadn’t been easy, even for a few hours.

As Rarity and Star reached the wounded group, Rarity couldn’t help but feel that Applejack felt the same way, considering the way her eyes lit up at the sight of her.

“Rarity!” the earth pony cried. “Boy am I ever glad to see you!” She trotted over before anypony could stop her, Rarity doing the same, and the pair embraced. Rarity smiled and sighed happily, feeling safe and secure.

“I missed you, Applejack,” Rarity said, pulling back to leg’s length. “Are you quite alright? I was worried when I heard you’d been attacked.”

Applejack chuckled. “Worried about me? Come on, Rarity, you know I’m tougher than that! Takes more than a little manticore to stop me.” The second she said that, the air around them grew completely still.

“Manticore?” Star was the first to break the silence. “A manticore attack you?” Her eyes narrowed dangerously, turning back to look at Earthfruit and Blink. “This true?”

Blink nodded. “Yes, Star,” he said, “hate to tell you it, but while we were out, just walking the normal path, Applejack heard a bird whistling a tune she recognized—supposed to warn of a manticore attack, I believe—and before the big guy or I could react, the monster was on top of us—it was quite a fright.”

Star bopped Blink on the head. “Still talk too much,” she said with a sigh. “But I get it. Manticore. Song. This not good news. You know what it means, Blink.”

The smaller pony looked down and away, his thick hair covering his eyes. “Yes, Star, I know. The attacks are escalating. I’m sorry that I didn’t run back to tell anypony, but it was a manticore. I was worried dragging it back to the village would cause more destruction.”

Star nodded. “Smart. Manticore hurt many ponies. This way it just hurt three.” She turned to Applejack and Rarity. “You know? Things not good.”

Applejack nodded. “I got most of the story, Star. Your village has been getting attacked by all kinds of different monsters and critters, and it’s starting to get to the point where y’all can’t defend yourselves anymore, so you gotta find out why this stuff is happening to y’all.”

“Good.” Star smiled. “There more than that, but you know most, and now Rarity too.” She turned and bent down, horn lighting up as she touched it to Earthfruit’s nasty shoulder wound. Immediately, the redness around the hole began to lighten, the edges becoming less ragged and the steady flow of blood staunching. Rarity’s eyes widened with amazement, which didn’t escape Star’s notice.

“That what my magic does—help ponies. Cannot make hole disappear—still must heal on its own—but it help.” She turned to Blink, an apologetic look on her face. “I sorry, Blink. My magic still cannot help your pieces.”

Blink shrugged. “It’s fine, Star, really. I can just wait for it to set itself back into place, and I’ll be fine.”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about, Blink? What pieces?”

The small pony shook his head. “Now’s not the time to discuss that, sorry to say. There are much bigger concerns on the table. Like defending ourselves.”

Star shook her head grimly. “No,” she said, “no longer worry about defense. Not worry about stopping attacks anymore.” She bared her teeth aggressively. “Attacks hurt my villagers, hurt my crops. Hurt my friends. No more waiting, no more planning.” She turned to Blink with a smirk. “Now we put plan into action.”

Blink hesitated, but nodded. “Alright,” he said, “I guess I can agree. If we sit on our haunches forever and wait for the attacks to stop, we’re going to be worn down to nothing and wiped out eventually, which is exactly what they want.”

Star nodded, turning to Rarity and Applejack, who’d been mostly confused thus far. “Rarity, Applejack,” she said. “It been only one day. Not know each other at all. We give you guide and help you leave this place, get you on way to Ponyville—know where the road to it starts.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Nothing doing, Glow Star,” she said. “I can’t speak for Rarity, but I’m staying. Y’all need help with this plan of yours, if it’s gonna work, and doubly so if y’all don’t even know who’s attacking.”

Star narrowed her eyes. “Applejack,” she said, “this our problem. Not ask you to help.”

Rarity shook her head. “I have to agree with Applejack on this one, Star.” She smiled. “Good ponies like Applejack and myself cannot simply sit by and watch you charge into this blind.” Her smile turned sheepish. “And, if we help you, do you think you could teach me more magic? I know I’ve yet to learn any from you, but considering how absolutely insane getting back has been already, anything you can teach me will help.”

Glow Star paused, looking at the pair in disbelief, then smiled. “Yes,” she said. “You come back to my house with me. I teach you two spells today, as thanks, and then we sleep. Tomorrow we plan.” She turned back to Earthfruit and Blink. “And you two rest. Not exert yourselves with injuries.” She waves her hooves and everypony cleared out, save Rarity and Applejack. She grinned at them.

“I know you two care about each other. I give you some time to talk. Meet me in house when you ready.” With that, she walked away.

Rarity blushed as Star’s tail disappeared behind a house, looking over at Applejack. “Are you sure you’re alright, dear?” she asked. “It wouldn’t do if you were hurt more than you said you were.”

Applejack smiled softly, giving Rarity a playful shove. “Shucks, Rarity, I’m fine. Especially now that you’re around.”

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “Hush up, Applejack,” she said, hugging her. “I’m too happy to see you to call you out on being corny, but consider this a warning.” Her voice dropped. “I am very happy to see you again, AJ.”

The earth pony blushed deeply, then smiled, hugging Rarity tightly. “You too, Rarity.”

Just then, the sound of something crashing through the undergrowth caught their attention, and they pulled apart, both at the ready. Their eyes widened in shock at the sight of a rather large griffon stumbling towards them before going beak-first into the dirt, patches of red discoloring his feathers.

Faust.