September 14th 2019
Friday
Sunny

When Starlight and Trixie stepped into the dining room, they were surprised to see only Celestia inside, naturally sitting before a full on feast she probably prepared (seriously, how did she do all of this?). It did however make talking about certain things easier, which was all well and good considering how serious she looked.

“Ms. Tia, are you okay?” Trixie asked, she and Starlight sitting next to her. Celestia gave a heavy sigh before speaking.

“Twilight confirmed it last night. It’s not both of them, but Pinkie Pie does in fact have a Dungeon.”

play song

Starlight tightened her fists over her lap. She was really worried that would be the case.

“Pinkie Pie has one, but not Rainbow Dash?” Trixie asked, folding her arms confused, “Okay, I am relieved to hear that, but still.”

“I don’t think my empathy is able to outright tell when someone has a Dungeon,” Starlight admitted, “It just helps me identify the emotions that lead to one.”

“Well, either way this means we need to start preparing,” Trixie said, “Ms. Tia, how long do you think it’ll take to find it?”

“That, is what has me concerned,” Celestia said, pouring herself a cup of tea, “Twilight said that the signal was weak, and she doesn’t have nearly enough information to track down her Dungeon. The only reason we found yours as quickly as we did was because I knew about the abuse.”

And even then, according to Twilight it took about a month to find. Did Pinkie Pie have that much time?

“For now, you two should keep getting ready,” Celestia said, taking her tea and rising from her chair, “I’m going to finish this and start heading to class. Until we find her Dungeon, try not to worry too much.”

“You want us to just go about our days?” Starlight asked, a bit shocked. Did Celestia really think they’d be able to relax knowing Pinkie Pie was in danger?

“For now, yes. Stressing isn’t going to help Pinkie Pie. Right now, you two are the only Persona Users I have active, so I need you to be in top form,” she turned to the girls and smiled warmly, “You should try to have some fun until then.”

“But…” Starlight looked down in frustration. This was worse than when it was Trixie’s Dungeon. Sure, it was frustrating that she couldn’t save her right away, but she was still entering her Dungeon actively. Here though, she knew her friend was suffering, and there wasn’t anything she could do to help.

Celestia must have sensed her turmoil, because she set her cup on the table, walked over to Starlight, knelt beside her, and took her hand gently squeezing it. It was a gesture she did for Celestia a few times, but having it done for her made Starlight think it was her mother doing that for a split second.

“Don’t fret, my child. Twilight and I will take care of everything,” Celestia said with a gentle, loving smile, one that for the first time Starlight began to recognize.

Mom…

“If there’s, anything I can do to help, please…” Starlight requested.

“We’ll let you know if we need help,” Celestia said, “Trixie, take care of Starlight, okay? You two are partners now, so you have to look out for one another.”

Trixie nodded smiling herself, “I will, Ms. Tia,” she said holding onto Starlight’s arm and leaning into her, “I’ll keep her smiling all the way into her Dungeon.”

Starlight couldn’t help but smile at Trixie. She really was becoming her closest friend.

“Then I’ll leave you to it,” Celestia rose up and kissed both Starlight and Trixie on the foreheads, “I’ll see you in homeroom.”

“See you, Ms. Tia,” Trixie said, Starlight just nodding to her wordlessly. As she walked out of the dining hall, Starlight’s mind wandered back to her thoughts from earlier. It had to just be the grief playing tricks on her mind, but for some reason Celestia kept making Starlight think of her mother.

Why did she have such an effect on her?

“So, why don’t we go do something today?” Trixie asked suddenly, rising up to make a plate of just about everything there, “The weather’s going to be nice all day, and it’s the weekend, so curfew is later today.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Starlight said, going to prepare a plate herself. She wasn’t sure she had an appetite, but then she remembered who made this food. Honestly, she’d probably go for seconds.

The two girls spent time discussing their plans while they ate breakfast, and then made their way to class.

Daytime

play song

Starlight was really happy she studied for that test, because it was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She wasn’t sure how well she did, but she expected to at least get around a B on it. Still though, Ms. Harshwhinny was expecting a lot from her students.

After School

play song

After classes ended, Starlight and Trixie went to the park. When they reached the bench next to the door to the Velvet Room, Starlight was a bit surprised she didn’t see Victor sitting there. She did see the door though, so he was probably inside with Igor.

“Hey, question,” Starlight asked Trixie when they reached the bench, “Do you see… anything unusual next to this bench? Like, a blue elevator door?”

To her credit, Trixie looked right at the door squinting her eyes a bit, but shook her head, “No, I don’t see anything here. I feel something, but I don’t see anything. Why? Is there something here?”

Starlight explained to Trixie a bit about the Velvet Room, and the people inside.

“That… sounds super terrifying, to be honest,” Trixie said, looking back at where the door stood, “Is it safe to be sitting here then?”

“They’re harmless for the most part,” Starlight said sitting down, “Besides, they were the ones who convinced me not to end my life.”

“Really?” Trixie asked tilting her head. Starlight told Trixie the full story about how she met them, and how when she signed the contract Igor gave her, the elevator started rising, “Huh… well, as terrifying as they sound, they don’t seem dangerous,” she then looked around a bit to make sure no one else was looking at them, and then stood before the door, “Um, Mr. Igor? Mr. Victor? If you can hear me in there, thank you for saving Starlight.”

Starlight couldn’t help but smile. She wondered if any of the other Tricksters told their partners about the Velvet Room.

Finally relaxed, Trixie sat down next to Starlight, clearly still trying to keep her distance from the door though, “You’re kind of spooky, but in a good way, you know? If we’d met when we were kids, you and I’d probably be best friends. Hey, did you have any friends when you were a kid?”

play song

“I… had one friend,” Starlight looked down sadly, “He and I were best friends for a while. He actually believed in magic too, and we were planning to become a witch and wizard duo.”

“So… what happened?”

“Know how when you grow up, you sometimes give up the things you were interested in as a kid? Well, as we got older, he seemed to be showing less and less interest in magic, focusing more on his studies. Eventually, this led to a really bad argument where he accused me of living in a fairy tale world.”

“Ooooooh, so one of you grew out of magic, and the other one continued to believe,” Trixie winced as she said that.

“I didn’t mind that he stopped believing,” Starlight closed her eyes and shed a few tears thinking about it, “But he said I was being juvenile because I still believed in magic. It hurt hearing that from him.”

Trixie pulled Starlight close to her and wrapped an arm around her.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I’d have probably benefited from having a friend like you in my life. I might not have given up my dream if I had someone reinforcing it like you,” she gave Starlight that genuinely loving smile that made her heart flutter, “I’m so happy you never stopped believing in magic, Starlight, and I know my Dad would have loved you.”

Starlight pulled Trixie into a loving embrace. Hearing her say those words touched her heart so much. Truth was, she did sometimes wonder if Sunburst was right. In a way, she dived head first into magic to prove it to him and herself that it was worth believing.

Which led to her Mother…

“Hey, can I ask you something about your past?” Starlight asked releasing Trixie.

“Sure, that’s only fair after all,” Trixie said.

“What got you interested in bondage?” Starlight asked, feeling a burst of courage for asking so outright.

“Going right for the tough questions, huh?” Trixie asked blushing ever so slightly, “So… it’s kind of embarrassing, but it actually started when I was a kid. Maybe about, seven I believe? Yeah, around then.”

“When you were a kid?” Starlight asked. She didn’t think it was that long ago.

“I forget what I was watching, but there was this show I really liked that came on when I was little. One of the episodes had the female main character get captured by the bad guys, and she was tied up with a bomb set to go off next to her. When I saw that, something inside of me got curious. I didn’t know why I felt the way I did, but it made me feel funny seeing her in that position. Normally she was a great fighter, and not someone who would be helpless. But in that moment, all of her power was taken away.”

Starlight thought back to when she actually did watch TV, because that sounded familiar to her. She vaguely remembered seeing a TV show with three teenagers who transformed into this kind of cool looking armor, and there was one episode that she remembered where something like that happened to the one girl in the group. Looking at it now, it was kind of frustrating that the girl got damseled so hard, but she remembered really enjoying that show, that episode in particular*.

“When I was by myself, I started experimenting a bit with bondage,” Trixie continued, “I’d wrap myself up with my bed sheets, or tie my wrists together with a jump rope, and I’d pretend to be helpless crying for help,” Trixie giggled softly in embarrassment, “It helped a bit, but since I could always escape on my own, I knew it was just pretend. That lasted till I was about 10, and my Mom caught me.”

“That had to be embarrassing,” Starlight said.

“Oh, it was,” Trixie nodded furiously, “What made it worse too, was that this was after Dad vanished, so Mom was becoming a lot more strict with me. She told me that I shouldn’t do things like that, and made me promise to stop.”

Starlight couldn’t hold in her sigh hearing that. It sounded like Trixie’s mother was a bit of an old fashioned prude.

“I never stopped being curious about it though. Actually, hearing Mom say it was wrong made me even more curious. So when I learned that this was something people actually did, and there was a word for it, I knew I had to experience it.”

Yeah, too bad the first actual experience she had was with an abusive asshole.

“I’ll admit something,” Trixie turned away from Starlight, hiding her eyes with her hat, “When Blueblood tied me up the first time and didn’t untie me, there was a small part of me that found that thrilling…”

“Like a fantasy come true?” Starlight asked.

“Y-yeah…” Trixie rubbed her arm, “When we were together at his place, he’d always tie me up. Most visits I was tied to his bed post, tied up on his bed, at one point he even tied me to a chair.”

Starlight wasn’t sure how she felt knowing that Blueblood tied her up so much. She also wasn’t sure how she felt noticing how aroused she was getting picturing this.

“I think that’s one of the reasons it was so hard to let him go,” Trixie admitted, “This is something most people still consider taboo, so it’s not like anyone else would be interested in doing that to me. And… as much as I hate saying this… being tied up like that was fun sometimes…” she gritted her teeth, and Starlight saw a stream of tears flow down her cheeks, “Naturally he always threw that right in my face! How aroused I was being what amounted to his prisoner! I hated it! I still do hate it!”

Starlight tightened her fists hearing this, and seeing Trixie in this state. For as jovial and playful she seemed around other people, Starlight knew the truth, and it saddened her to no end. This was the real Trixie.

“I’m sorry,” Starlight looked down somberly, “I didn’t realize bringing that up would upset you.”

“No, it’s fine,” Trixie said, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief she made appear out of nowhere, “I need to talk about this. You’re the only person I feel safe opening up to,” she turned to Starlight and smiled despite how watery her eyes still were, “Thank you for being there for me, Starlight.”

“You’re welcome,” Starlight said returning the smile, “And I’ll say it again, Blueblood was an asshole for how he took advantage of your kink.”

“That feels good to hear,” Trixie averted her eyes, “I do wonder if I’ll ever find someone who can give me that feeling, the right way. Or if there even is a right way?”

Starlight wanted to say “I would”, but refrained from doing so. One, she lacked the courage to say that, and too, she didn’t want to make Trixie feel uncomfortable.

“I’m sure there’s a right way,” Starlight stated, “The first step, I think, is to not be so ashamed of your sexual interests.

“I… I’ll get there eventually,” Trixie sighed, “I just wish I knew how to.”

Starlight simply pulled Trixie into a loving embrace, “I’ll be beside you helping you figure it out.”

Trixie returned the embrace, actually tightening it, “Thank you, Starlight. You really are the best thing to happen to me in years.”

Starlight felt just how much Trixie was beginning to trust her. She could tell their friendship had gotten significantly stronger.

Starlight and Trixie stayed in the park for a bit longer, simply enjoying the peace and quiet till it was time to return to the dorm. During the walk back, Trixie held onto Starlight’s hand the entire time.

end song

September 15th, 2019
Saturday
Partially Cloudy

Morning

Starlight went downstairs for breakfast, surprised to see Pinkie Pie sitting on the couch as if waiting for something. She looked really nervous.

“Hey Pinkie Pie,” Starlight said, startling Pinkie Pie a bit.

“H-hi Starlight,” Pinkie Pie said, clearly relieved that it was Starlight.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Starlight asked leaning on the couch next to Pinkie Pie.

“My agent,” Pinkie Pie said somberly, “She’s supposed to be coming to pick me up.”

“For that photo shoot?” Starlight asked, only getting a quick nod from the pink haired teen, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I… well Fleur signed me up for this. This is going to be good for my career.”

“That’s not what I asked,” Starlight pressed, “Is this something you want to do?”

Pinkie Pie glanced to the side, a somber and unsure expression on her face. Before she could answer, someone rang the doorbell. Starlight went over to answer it for Pinkie Pie, just in case it was who she thought it was.

play song

When she opened the door, she was greeted by a smart looking woman with extremely long pale pink hair, square framed red glasses with a beaded lanyard hanging off the rims, wearing a purple suit jacket, tight suit skirt, white shirt, black necktie, white gloves, dark sheer stockings, and dark purple high heels. She was quite stunning in her own right, but something about the air she gave off turned Starlight off immensely.

“Bonjour,” the woman said, voice elegant and her French accent apparent, “You must be one of Pinkamena’s roommates. A fan, I’m sure.”

“Yes, I’m her friend, Starlight Glimmer,” she held out her hand, trying to be friendly. The woman looked down at her hand pursing her lips, and then took Starlight’s hand with just a few fingers and her thumb, as if she were afraid she had germs or something.

“Fleur de Lis, Pinkamena’s godmother and agent. May I come in?” Fleur asked, still looking at Starlight with her nose pointed up.

Yep. That’s why she didn’t like this woman.

Starlight sighed and moved aside, ushering her in just as Trixie, Rainbow Dash, and Celestia stepped out of the kitchen.

“Oh, hello there, Ma’am,” Celestia said jovially walking up to Fleur and holding out her hand, “You must be Fleur. I’m Celestia, the headmistress of this dorm and Pinkie Pie’s homeroom teacher.”

Fleur looked Celestia up and down, lips pursed as if judging her, “I hope you do not dress so provocatively around my Pinkamena all the time, Celestia.”

“It’s… actually typical attire for me. It’s a garment from my place of origin, and well within school-”

Fleur snorted with an arrogant sneer, “So you let your students see you like this as well? I can see you’re a “wonderful” influence on my Pinkamena.”

Now it was Celestia who narrowed her eyes at Fleur. The only other time she saw that expression on Celestia was when she looked at Blueblood.

“Pinkamena, come ma chere,” Fleur said turning away from Celestia, “We don’t want to be late.”

“C-coming Fleur,” Pinkie Pie said demurely, standing up and walking over to everyone, “I’ll see you all on Monday.”

“Wait, you’re going to be out the entire weekend?” Rainbow Dash asked incredulous, “I thought this was going to just be for today!”

“Non, I extended it to go for two days,” Fleur explained, pushing her glasses up elegantly from the side, “We’ll need the extra day to bring out Pinkamena’s true beauty.”

Something about this did not feel right to Starlight. If she was reading the room correctly, no one else seemed to like this either.

“Allons-y, Pinkamena,” Fleur sighed walking toward the door. Pinkie Pie walked over to Celestia.

“Is… it okay if I’m a bit late for curfew on Sunday, Ms. Tia?”

“That’s perfectly fine, dear,” she embraced Pinkie Pie lovingly, “Stay safe, okay honey?”

“Pinkamena, viens,” Fleur said sternly. Pinkie Pie tensed visibly when she heard that.

“Yes, Fleur. I’m sorry,” Pinkie Pie released Celestia and ran over to the sign-out sheet.

“I would appreciate it if you weren’t so friendly with my Pinkamena, Mademoiselle Tia,” Fleur said sternly, “You’re her prof, not her mère.**”

“Your concerns have been noted, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell me how to do my job, Ms. Fleur,” Celestia said equally sternly.

“Hmph,” Fleur turned her nose to the air and elegantly walked out of the dorm, putting her hand on Pinkie Pie’s back and guiding her outside. As she left, Starlight saw a glimpse of Pinkie Pie in a dress and tiara similar to what she was wearing in her movie. She looked back at them, and actually was reaching out to them pleadingly.

That was her heart. Pinkie Pie didn’t actually want to leave with Fleur.

“Someone sure has a mile long stick up her ass,” Trixie said folding her arms.

“Hmm,” Celestia hummed to herself, pressing a finger to her lips thoughtfully, “I wonder…”

“Ms. Tia? Are you going to be okay?” Starlight asked the normally sunny and cheerful woman.

“I’ll be fine, honey, don’t worry. I need to meditate on this. Please eat without me,” with that, Celestia walked upstairs, probably to her room.

“She tells us to eat without her, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her eat with us,” Trixie sighed, turning to Rainbow Dash as she looked down seriously, “Hey, are you okay?”

“She didn’t even say bye to me,” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

“I’m sure she’s just stressed out,” Starlight said, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, and see what was going on in her heart.

That bitch is doing something to Pinkie Pie…!

She’s lucky I didn’t get my hands on her!

Starlight fought back the urge to flinch back. She did not expect to feel such violence from Rainbow Dash.

“I know she’s stressed,” Rainbow Dash pushed Starlight’s hand off her and walked upstairs to her room, “I just wish she’d tell me why…”

Starlight and Trixie both looked upstairs, equally tense at the moment.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Trixie asked.

“Pretty sure I am,” Starlight answered. She was definitely taking a trip to the Velvet Room today.

Daytime

play song

At around noon, Starlight made her way to the park so she could see Igor and Victor. She needed to get a few new Personas, and she also needed to see if there was anything she could do to lessen the time needed to find Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon.

They had offered guidance before. Surely they could help her again.

Also however, she just really liked being in that room. There was something soothing about that place, like it was the safest place in the entire world. The song she heard inside was beginning to grow on her too. She found herself humming it in a lot, and at one point even sang it a bit while she was in the shower. She was sure her singing voice was akin to nails on a chalkboard, but she was using the third floor shower, so it wasn’t like anyone could hear her.

This time, she saw Victor sitting on the bench, reading a newspaper as per usual. He smiled his usual kind/slightly lust filled smirk when she approached.

“Hello, Ms. Glimmer,” Victor said, rising from the bench and bowing to Starlight, “The Master had a feeling we’d be seeing you today.”

“Was it… okay that I told my friend about the Velvet Room?” Starlight asked nervously.

“No need to worry. The Master was quite pleased to hear your friend thank us. So far, you are one of the few Tricksters to share the Velvet Room with their companions at all. The Master and I both find you quite fascinating,” he looked her up and down and smirked, “Quite fascinating indeed.”

As usual, Starlight found herself blushing at his gaze. Oddly though, instead of wanting to cover up, she found herself wanting him to see more of her.

What was he doing to her?

Starlight shook it off and let Victor escort her to the door, which she promptly opened.

play song

“Welcome, to the Velvet Room,” Igor greeted with his usual creepy grin. Oddly Starlight was not disturbed by it in the slightest.

“I’d like to fuse a few Personas,” Starlight said, taking her seat in front of Igor.

“Splendid. I’m quite pleased you find our services useful,” Igor said, his pride visible on his face. She wondered how many made such use of his services. She have to make it a habit to come here at least before going into a new Dungeon.

First thing she did of course was register her current Personas, and check the prices to be able to get any of them back if she needed (really to ensure she could buy back Morgana if she fused with her). Once that was done, she got to work deciding what to fuse.

First two she fused together were Silky and Jack-O-Lantern. It always felt weird feeling the Personas pulled out of her and placed on the table. Almost like she was letting go of aspects of her personality to form new ones.

Well, in a way that was what she was doing.

The result of that fusion was a Persona shaped like a large turtle with a serpentine dragon at it’s tail. The name that came to her was “Genbu”, and it gave her a feeling of integration, almost like she were combining two aspects of her life into one.

Huh… that did get her thinking about things.

However, she didn’t hold onto Genbu, since she did promise herself she’d fuse Incubus as to not make Trixie uncomfortable. Fusing them together formed a Persona shaped like a tiny creature that almost looked like a child with purple hair and a huge smile that took up most of his face.

“My name’s Obariyon! I’ve got your back through the Dungeons!” he said cheerily. Suddenly thoughts of her team came to her, and how close they were despite being so early in their relationship. She then noticed energy entering the new Persona before it turned into a card and floated into her soul.

Was that how her friendships helped her? Did Obariyon get stronger because of her Fool Arcana Social Link?

Finally, she decided to try one more fusion, if for no other reason than to see what would happen. After promising Morgana she’d reunite with her immediately, she fused Morgana with Agathion. The result was quite surprising to Starlight.

The resulting Persona was a female with long blond hair, black devil’s wings and a black devil’s tail, wearing a black body suit that hugged her curves, black gloves, and black high heeled boots. Just looking at this new Persona made Starlight feel more in touch with herself somewhat, but also like on some level she could become everyone’s fantasy.

“My name’s Succubus,” the new Persona said smirking at Starlight, “You’re a real cutie. Stick with me, and I’ll turn you into a sexual goddess.”

The Persona vanished into a card and floated back into her soul. Oh yeah, she liked this feeling a lot.

Before she forgot, she bought back Morgana so she wouldn’t forget herself in the process. She sort of liked the way she felt now. However, just because she wasn’t sure when she’d be going into the Phase again, she bought back both Silky and Jack-O-Lantern so she’d relate to both Trixie and Diamond Tiara easier when she saw them later.

“Before you go,” Igor said adjusting his hands, “Was there something else Victor and I could assist you with in order to move forward?”

She did want to know if there was a means of helping Celestia and Twilight with their search. She explained the situation to Igor and Victor, and how badly she wanted to help them.

“This is quite troubling indeed,” Igor said thoughtfully, “Your concerns are not misguided, Miss Glimmer. Just as it was with the Magician, your friend’s life is in more danger than even she realizes.”

“So… she doesn’t have an entire month, does she?” Starlight asked, a bit afraid of the answer.

“No, she does not,” Igor shook his head, “Based on what you told me, she has maybe two weeks at best.”

Two weeks?! That wasn’t as bad as she thought, but it was also in a sense a bit worse. How quickly did this extend? Also, why did she have so little time?

“If I were to take a guess, it’s probably due to how long this has been going on, along with how much the issue weighs on her,” Victor said thoughtfully, “In the case of the Magician, she suffered for months, but the Empress caught wind of it early.”

So this wasn’t anything new. Come to think of it, didn’t Rainbow Dash mention seeing her having a nightmare? Maybe she could help them figure out what was going on, as long as she sat still long enough to listen.

“Perhaps the key to this is in Pinkie Pie’s own Akashic Record,” Igor suggested, “If her story has been cut short, then you simply need to figure out where her story is being told.”

Figure out where her story was being told? Wait, Twilight was able to search Trixie’s Akashic Record once she knew the name of her father. What if they did something similar here?

“However, simply finding the Akashic Record will not be enough to save this friend,” Igor said, “I’m afraid that as your team stands now, rescuing her would be impossible.”

“W-what do you mean impossible?” Starlight asked.

“I mean exactly what I said,” Igor adjusted his hands, “As it stands now, with your team as limited as it is, rescuing your friend is destined to fail. Worry not though, for you aren’t the only one who is looking into this issue. I see a chariot in your immediate path. Once you gain the aid of this chariot, the path will open to you.”

A chariot? He did keep referring to her friends by their Arcana. Perhaps he meant the Chariot Arcana?

Starlight thanked Igor and Victor for their aid, and chose to leave the Velvet Room for now. She needed to think about this for a bit.

end song

When Starlight stepped out of the Velvet Room, she sat down at the bench and folded her arms in deep thought. They didn’t understand enough about what was going on with Pinkie Pie to accurately find her Akashic Record, and anything she did have was just an assumption at best. She didn’t want to send Twilight in the opposite direction on a whim.

And then there was the issue of the Chariot. Even if they found Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon, if they didn’t have the Chariot’s help, apparently they weren’t going to succeed at all.

What did she know about the Chariot Arcana?

Momentum, self discipline, and determination. Those were the words that described it from what she read in the Akashic Records. She’d begun reading up on the Arcana when she first got her Channeling Ring, because she wanted to understand the significance to the Fool Arcana and her life, so of course she read up on the Fool’s Journey as a whole.

It seemed that the people in her life represented stops on her Fool’s Journey. Trixie was the Magician, Diamond Tiara was the Priestess, and Celestia was the Empress. So far she’d lucked out on finding them relatively in order, but now she had to probably search for the Chariot before she could even proceed forward. Still, something about those aspects did ring familiar to Starlight.

play song

A shout in front of her caught her attention. She looked ahead and saw someone wearing what looked like Japanese training attire: a white gi shirt, extremely baggy yellow pants, white socks, and sandals. In their hand was a long wooden training sword, and they had their extremely long pink hair tied into a high ponytail. They were in the process of training with their sword, using very professional looking techniques, almost like a real samurai.

It wasn’t until they turned around that Starlight recognized who it was. It was that one Japanese student! The one who helped her find Trixie that one time. Holy hell she looked terrifying right now. Her expression was fierce, almost like she was fighting an enemy that very moment, and her sword swings were fast, swift, and sharp. Clearly she’d been training for a long time, probably her entire life.

Starlight was torn between wanting to get to know her better, and running far away before she turned that sword on her. In the end, she settled for just watching from a distance.

The Japanese student/samurai apparently did a few more scary looking moves, and then readied her sword almost like how Starlight held her scythe before an All Out Attack. She then dashed forward almost too quickly for Starlight to see, swinging her wooden blade out and holding it forward. Still in the same position, she carefully did the motion of sheathing the sword, and then stood straight up bowing. She turned around to where her water bottle and towel was, and met eyes with Starlight.

A bit unnerved, but wanting to be friendly, Starlight waved to the pink haired student. Said student/samurai’s eyes lit up happily, and she waved to her before walking over to her.

“Student from before, hai? Searching for friend?”

Starlight nodded, “That’s right. Thanks to you I was able to find her, um… how do you say thank you… uh… ari… gato…?”

The older girl giggled in good nature, and then nodded, “Hai, hai. You know Japanese?”

“I’m sorry, but not really,” Starlight said a bit disappointed, “Sadly the most I’ve picked up is from watching a few anime here and there. That… doesn’t upset you, does it?”

The older girl shook her head, “You honest, and at least make attempt.”

Starlight relaxed hearing that. She seemed really nice. Maybe this was a good time to strike up a friendship with her.

“Do you want to sit for a bit?” Starlight asked moving aside and patting the space next to her. The older girl smiled and sat down next to Starlight, “I’m Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.”

“Glimmer-san…” the girl said taking in her name before lightly bowing, “Tokugawa Fluttershy.”

Realizing she gave her last name first, she was kind of shocked hearing such a powerful Japanese name, “Whoa… um, that’s really a cool name. Um, should I call you Tokugawa-san, or…”

“Fluttershy fine,” she said kindly, “Easier to remember student and teacher tell me.”

“Alright, then please, call me Starlight,” Starlight said. Fluttershy nodded with a soft smile. Starlight could tell she was friendly, but she felt something about her was very guarded for some reason. For a while the two of them just sat in silence together, but it didn’t feel awkward at all. In fact, Starlight felt kind of relaxed next to Fluttershy.

“Friend okay now?” Fluttershy asked after a second.

“Oh, yes. She’s okay now. At least, she’s getting better,” Starlight sighed, “Now there’s another friend I’m worried about.”

“Different friend hurt now?” Fluttershy asked tilting her head.

“Sort of. It’s complicated, but… I found out that I don’t have everything I need to help her, but I need to try and do something. Thing is, I don’t know if what I have is even enough to move forward, and in terms of the thing we’re missing…” Starlight caught herself, “Ah, I don’t want to bore you with my issues.”

Fluttershy shook her head smiling, and then looked up at the sky thoughtfully, “I say, take chance anyway.”

“Take a chance? You mean, even if I don’t have all of the information?” Starlight asked. Fluttershy nodded.

“Do nothing, nothing change. Do something, everything change,” Fluttershy said simply with a kind smile. Starlight couldn’t help but feel better after talking to her. She didn’t talk much, probably because she didn’t speak the language well, but what little she did say really hit home.

And she was right, after all. Even if she wasn’t sure of the information, or where the Chariot was, she could still do something, and that alone would make all the difference.

“Thank you, Tokugawa-san,” Starlight said bowing slightly. When Fluttershy tilted her head confused, she laughed, “I had to. For one, I try to accept other people’s culture as much as possible, and two,” she blushed a bit, “You have a really awesome name.”

That actually got Fluttershy to laugh, “Arigato, Starlight-san.”

“You’re still okay calling me Starlight?” Starlight asked, almost expecting her to use her last name.

“My culture you accept, so return favor,” Fluttershy said with a gentle smile. She then rose up from the bench and bowed to Starlight, “I go now. Um… have, great day…?” she said, clearly unsure of her words.

Starlight nodded with a pleasant smile, “You have a great day too, Tokugawa-san. Hope to see you at school.”

Fluttershy smiled again and started making her way up the path, apparently on her way home. She was probably one of the coolest people Starlight had ever met, but she could tell she was guarded about something. Considering how the Japanese were about formalities, touching her to feel her emotions would be difficult too.

Oh well. At least they talked finally.

It was starting to get late. Starlight decided to start heading back to the dorm herself.

end song

Evening

The dorm was quiet when Starlight got back. Celestia hadn’t left her meditation since morning, and Rainbow Dash had gone to the arcade more than likely to blow off some steam. Since Twilight wasn’t set to wake up for a bit, that meant it was just Starlight and Trixie. They sat in the living room, where Starlight told Trixie about what Igor suggested.

“That makes sense,” Trixie said when Starlight finished, “But I’m really concerned finding out we don’t even have what we need to rescue Pinkie Pie when we find her. I mean, will we even be able to extend the time she has left without this chariot?”

“I don’t know,” Starlight shrugged, “But we have to try something. If we do nothing, then nothing changes.”

Trixie sighed, “Yeah, I hear you,” Rainbow Dash walked in at that moment, still looking really tense, “Hey Dash.”

Rainbow Dash turned to them and nodded slightly, “Hey.”

“Feeling better?” Trixie asked with a hopeful smile.

“At the moment, not really,” Rainbow Dash admitted walking upstairs. Trixie sighed folding her arms.

“Geez, she’s worse than I was, and she’s not the one with a Dungeon,” Trixie pouted. That did bring up a question though. Why was Rainbow Dash so tense right now? Was she just that worried about Pinkie Pie? Or was there something else going on?

A bit after Rainbow Dash went into her room, they heard another door open, followed by Twilight trudging down the steps.

play song

“Good evening everyone,” Twilight yawned when she saw Starlight and Trixie.

“Hey. Isn’t this kind of early for you?” Trixie asked.

“This is common for me when I’m working on something,” Twilight explained, “I’m sure Ms. Tia already told you about Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon.”

“That she has one? Yeah, we heard,” Trixie said, “Starlight has an idea that might help narrow the search a bit.”

“Oh? Come with me into the kitchen while I make coffee. Tell me there,” Twilight said walking into the kitchen.

“Seeing someone have their morning coffee at 8 in the evening is way too surreal for me,” Trixie said, Starlight nodding in agreement.

They followed Twilight into the kitchen, where Starlight filled Twilight in on her idea of using keywords in the Akashic Records.

“Not a bad idea, being honest,” Twilight said thoughtfully, “As it stands right now, I’m sort of searching for a needle in a haystack, but this might narrow the search a bit. And Igor told you that she doesn’t have much time?”

“Two weeks, at best,” Starlight said.

“Mmmm, that’s not what I wanted to hear, honestly,” Twilight sighed, rising up to pour herself a cup of coffee once it finished brewing, “Being completely honest, with such a small time window, we’d need a pretty precise keyword to link up with Pinkie Pie’s dungeon.”

“Then search for anything pertaining to Fleur de Lis.”

They all looked at the door and saw Celestia walking in. She sat down looking completely exhausted.

“Ms. Tia, are you okay?” Twilight asked running over to her side.

“I spent the entire day meditating, but I realized what I think it was about Pinkie Pie’s agent I didn’t like,” Celestia explained.

“Besides the fact she’s a self-righteous know-it-all bitch?” Trixie asked.

“When I looked at her, she felt similar to how Blueblood felt concerning you, Trixie,” Celestia explained as Twilight poured her a cup of orange juice from the fridge, “And with the way she kept referring to Pinkie Pie as hers, I’m almost positive. It’s Fleur’s shadow that’s influencing Pinkie Pie,” Twilight set the glass of juice in front of Celestia as she finished, “Thank you, Twilight.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Tia,” Twilight said rubbing her back, “That will replenish your energy.”

Starlight pulled out her phone and began searching for Fleur de Lis on her phone, “That’s odd. She’s not bringing up anything on my phone.”

“So what, she’s just some nobody who’s mooching off of Pinkie Pie’s success?” Trixie asked, “Just when I didn’t think I could dislike that bitch any more than I already do.”

“Ms. Tia, would it be alright if I just brought my coffee upstairs? I want to get to work on this as soon as possible. According to Starlight, Pinkie Pie doesn’t have much time.”

“How much time does she have?” Celestia asked.

“Two weeks, according to Igor,” Trixie said, Starlight nodding in agreement.

“Damn,” Celestia swore, “Very well. Get to work, Twilight. Until we figure this out, make this your top priority.”

Twilight nodded, “Yes Ms. Tia. I won’t let you down.”

“As for the two of you,” Celestia said to Starlight and Trixie as Twilight went upstairs, “Throughout the week, I need you to gather as much information as you can concerning either Fleur de Lis, or Pinkie Pie herself. Even if it’s Fleur’s Shadow causing this, just one name will narrow the search but so much.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there are a couple of people with that name in the world,” Trixie sighed.

“Which is why we need to find more keywords that either tie her to Pinkie Pie, or words that can lead us directly to Pinkie Pie,” Celestia explained, “For now, get some rest. You’ve done a wonderful job today.”

“You should get some sleep too, Ms. Tia,” Starlight said, feeling a good deal more sensitive after saying that.

“Oh, thank you honey, but I’ll be alright. I just need to sit here for a bit, and then I’ll be fine,” Celestia assured. Starlight didn’t want her to push herself too hard, but she accepted that. She and Trixie said good night to her and went upstairs to their room.

end song

“Hey Starlight, why don’t we ask Diamond Tiara if she knows anything?” Trixie suggested, “She’s kind of a gossip in school, and this seems like something she’d know about.”

“Good idea,” Starlight said pulling out her phone and calling Diamond Tiara.

“Hello?”

“Diamond Tiara, it’s Starlight.”

“Oh Starlight! How are you? Feeling better since yesterday?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“Kind of. Are you doing anything tomorrow? I was hoping to ask you something, and figured we could make it a hang out day.”

“That sounds great, Starlight. I’ll be free after 12 tomorrow. Want to meet in South Street?”

“That sounds perfect,” Starlight said, “Thanks. See you then.”

“Bye~”

Starlight hung up and turned to Trixie, “I’ll be meeting up with Diamond Tiara at around 12 or so in South Street.”

“Alright sweet. While you do that, I’ll try to get some information from Rainbow Dash. She’s been acting really weird for a couple of days now, and I’m starting to get really worried.”

“Good luck, Trixie.”

“You too, Starlight.”

Their plan set, the two witches took their showers and spent the rest of the night relaxing before finally heading to bed.

Author's Note

*This isn't made up, nor is it a reference to Code Lyoko EG where this happened to Rarity. The show they're talking about was called VR Troopers, and the episode was called Caitlin's Little Helper or something like that. I remember, because that was my favorite episode for the same reasons as Trixie here.

**For those who don't know French, Fleur told Celestia here "You're her teacher, not her mother."

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