Chapter 0: How Did They Meet?
Twilight Sparkle was going on with her usual day, reading books, writing letters to Princess Celestia, and trying new spells. But even ponies like Twilight can get bored doing the same thing over and over again, and after a few weeks, she is left alone bored in her room with nothing else to do.
"That's it!" Twilight thought to herself. "I'm tired of sitting here and reading books every day! It's time for me to have some real fun of my own!". Twilight gets herself ready and leaves her library. She begins walking around Ponyville trying to find something else for her to do. It turns out that she's been doing the same thing for so long that she doesn't actually know what else she could do.
However, her search was cut short when she spots a tired looking pony in the distance. He was carrying a carriage full of books and with stuck in the middle of a giant crowd. He was wearing a dirty and ripped up scarf over his neck, which made him stand out from the cleaner looking ponies. Despite asking them all to move aside for him, the crowd just continued walking and pushing him around, ignoring his wishes to get past.
"Excuse me, sir, I need to get past." The pony asked people multiple times.
One pony bumps into him, causing his to drop all of his books.
"Um, excuse me. You bumped into me, so could you help me pick these up?" He asked sheepishly.
The pony looked at him with a scowl, causing him to recoil. "Nevermind. I got it." He says with a hint of cowardice.
After the rude pony passed him by, he begins picking up his books somberly.
Twilight is watching this happen with pity on her face. As the Princess of Friendship, it hurts her to see a fellow pony under her rule treated as if he was just an obstacle in people's way. "Hey. That isn't right. They have no right to treat him that way. Shame on them!" Twilight said in her thoughts. After deciding that she's seen enough, she runs over to help the pony.
Twilight walks up to him and politely says "Excuse me, sir. Do you need any help?"
The pony looks at who was in front of him, and upon seeing who it is, his eyes widen and he drops his books in surprise, looking at her with a wide-eyed stare of shock.
Twilight asked him "Uh... Are you okay?"
"I know you." The pony said quietly. "The Princess of Friendship. Twilight Sparkle, right?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"It's you! What are you doing talking to someone like me?" He asked.
Twilight reminded him "I saw that you dropped your books. I thought you needed help."
"Yeah. Some help would be nice." The pony nodded.
Twilight smiles and proceeds to help him pick up his books, which he wholeheartedly appreciated.
"Thank you, Princess." The pony said bowing.
Twilight immediately picks his head up. "No need to get so formal." She said to him. "No need to call me Princess. Just call me Twilight."
"Oh, okay. Thanks, Twilight."
The pony smiles at Twilight, and she can't help but to just smile back at him. Suddenly, the pony's look of happiness, turned into a look of panic and he franticly starts moving.
"Oh no!" The pony said franticly. "I'm late!"
Twilight watches in complete confusion as he dashes ahead of her, not even looking behind himself.
"Goodbye, I guess..." Twilight said confused.
He was there, and then gone in a flash. Though their interaction time was short-lived, a warm feeling washed over Twilight. She ultimately didn't find whatever she was looking for, but she did make another pony happier, which she felt good about. She assumes that it was just the magic of friendship that flows through her body. She decides that is was time for her to leave.
Meanwhile, with the pony Twilight helped earlier, he's making his way to his job. It turns out that it was his jobs to deliver books to a library. It doesn't make him much money, but it's an honest living. As he's rushing to the library, he's thinking about how he actually met Twilight earlier. It made him feel good about himself.
Once he finally arrives at the library, he's met with a very angry librarian giving a terrifying scowl. "You're late, Starblaze."
The pony, whose name is revealed to be Starblaze defends himself. "I know I'm late, but listen to this." He tries to explain himself. Only for the librarian to dismiss his claims.
"I don't care about your excuses." She said angrily. "Just try not to be late next time. As you know, you won't be receiving full pay."
Stargaze looks at the ground somberly.
After his shift at work, Starblaze walks himself home, the same way he does every night. He lives in a makeshift shack on the outskirts of town, as he never had enough money to buy an actual house in town, so he made this one with what he had. He didn't have any furniture except for a shoddy table, and no bed, with Starblaze mostly slept on the floor. Despite this he doesn't seem to complain about these circumstances.
However, when Starblaze returns home, he realizes that his shoddy cabin was knocked down. He looks in distress as he checks on his vandalized house. "Oh no! Not again!" He though to himself. As it is a shoddy cabin made out of a few logs, it falls down frequently. Right now, however, Starblaze doesn't have the patience or energy to rebuild it. "I guess I have to find a new place to sleep for the night..." Starblaze sighs to himself.
He goes into town and walks around for someplace to sleep. It was getting late and not many ponies were out at this time. After a few hours, he settled for sleeping in the middle of the town. He sits and sighs to himself and lays down to sleep, with only his tattered scarf as any kind of warmth.
Meanwhile, at the Castle of Friendship, Twilight has returned and decided that it was a good time to go to bed. As she enters her room, she approaches the window in order to close the curtains so she could sleep. However, as she goes to close the curtains, she notices someone outside. She was able to recognize him from the ripped up scarf, and she realizes that it was the pony she helped earlier. "It's him!" she said with a gasp. "What's he doing there? Does he even have a house?". Just like her interaction with him earlier, Twilight couldn't sleep seeing someone without a house suffer outside.
As Starblaze shivers in the night due to coldness, he hears someone calling for him in the distance. "Hey!"
He looks around for who is addressing him, and sees Twilight running towards him.
"Hey. I saw you from outside my window." Twilight said to him.
Starblaze looks at her shocked. "It's you again."
Twilight nods. "Yeah, it's me. Do you need any help?"
"A place to sleep for the night would be nice."
Twilight takes a quick glance at the castle. "How about you spend a night at my castle?"
Starblaze looks shocked. "You're serious?"
Twilight smiles at him and nods. "I am serious. You seem to be freezing."
"Thanks, Twilight." Starblaze says.
Twilight smiles and him and leads him into her castle.
When the both get in, Twilight shows Starblaze her room. "You could sleep in here."
"You'll let me sleep in your room?" Starblaze asked her.
Twilight nods. "Sure. It's just for the night."
"Thanks." He smiled at her.
However when Twilight got in her bed in order to sleep, Starblaze made himself comfortable on the floor of her room confusing her greatly.
Twilight asked him, "You're just going to sleep on the floor?"
"Oh, yeah." Starblaze answered. "I don't have a bed in my house, so I'm used to sleeping on the floor."
"That explains a lot..." Twilight thought to herself.
After Twilight turns off the light to sleep, she hears Starblaze speak to her. "Goodnight Twilight." He said.
"Goodnight." She said back to him, still not knowing his name. They both dozed off to sleep.
Tomorrow morning, Twilight wakes up. She yawns and stretches and tries to greet he friend. "Good mor..." She was trying to say before being cut off but seeing that he wasn't there. "What? Where did he go?" She thought. Upon looking around the room for him, she notices a note on her table.
The note was from Starblaze who was thanking Twilight for letting him spend time in her house. He signed his name at the bottom and that's when Twilight finally learns her new friend's name. "So his name is Starblaze." She thought to herself. He had to hurry to leave due to his job delivering books. Although he was gone without a trace, Twilight has a feeling that they would meet again in the near future.
In the magical land of Equestria, there is a small town called Ponyville. Ponyville is a national landmark in all of Equestria, due to it's beautiful landscapes, peaceful nature, and it being the hometown of multiple princesses. However, this isn't the story of a magical Princess, but yet, what it's like to be in the shoes of a pony that down on his luck. The story truly begins with a small makeshift wooden cabin by the Everfree Forest as we look into the life of another.
Our story begins with a pony living inside of the rusty, broken up shed. This is Starblaze, someone who hasn't had a lot of luck with his life. He only had a dirty mattress to sleep on, only a bedside drawer as furniture, and a fridge that's almost always empty. Despite his circumstances, he stays high on life and optimistic. He's never held it against anybody. His terrible life never had an effect on him.
Starblaze wakes up on his dirty mattress, stretches, and puts on the only piece of clothing he has: a tattered up scarf. He opens up his fridge and, as per usual, it was empty except for one apple. "Empty again?" Starblaze thought to himself. "I need to get myself some more food...". He took the apple out of his fridge and watched in disgust as it crumbled in his hoof.
"Ew!", he said recoiling. "How long was that in there for?!" Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to think about it as he had to leave in a hurry as his job as a delivery pony to a library. Starblaze sighs and loads his carriage full of books. He sets it upon his back. It used to be very heavy to him, but his experience carrying this kind on weight has set in on him. He carries the carriage of books on his back and starts walking through the town.
As he's walking through the town, all he can think about is his empty stomach. "I really need something to eat soon..." He groans to himself. Despite his hunger, he had no time to slow down, as his boss at the library accepts no lateness. If he shows up late, she cuts his pay. He's been late in the past before which explains his current lifestyle.
Meanwhile, in a castle in town, we have the Princess of Friendship, and the Element of Magic: Princess Twilight Sparkle. The princess enters her castle along with her assistant, and former enemy, Starlight Glimmer. As always, Starlight is helping Twilight carry a box of new books into her castle, soon to be put into the library.
"Thanks for helping me bring this new pack of books into the castle, Starlight... again..." Twilight spoke sheepishly.
Starlight laughs, "No need to thank me. I've done this probably a thousand times before." She continues, "You sure do love books, don't you?"
Twilight shrugs. "What can I say? There's just something about them that just brings me in." She says while holding a book, looking almost in a trance. Suddenly, she snaps out of it. "But enough about the books. Let's get these to the library!"
Twilight and Starlight make their way to the library to put the books away. When they get there, they drop the books in front of the shelf. As Twilight gets right to work putting the books away, Starlight takes this time to look around. While walking, she finds a strange piece of paper on the desk. "Huh? What's this?". Starlight goes up and picks up the piece of paper. "A note. Signed by somebody named Starblaze. Who's Starblaze?" she thought to herself.
Starlight calls Twilight from the desk. "Hey Twilight? What's this note over here?"
"Note?", Twilight says confused. She walks over to Starlight. They both begin reading the note.
"Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle... Thanks for letting me stay at your castle for the night. I probably was just a mild inconvenience for you, but it was a big help for me. Sorry to spend the night and leave, but I have a tight schedule. I don't have a lot of money, so I can't do much for you, but I hope this not means something. Sincerely, Starblaze. P.S. I hope you remember me after I leave this.
Twilight's eyes lighten up after reading it. "Starblaze!" she says with a combination of shock and happiness. "I remember now! Starblaze left this note!"
"Uh... Starblaze?" Starlight said, bewildered. "Who's Starblaze?"
Twilight instantly calmed down to answer her question. "He was someone I met a long time ago. He was a... strange pony. Constantly on the run, screaming "I'm late! I'm late!". It was kind of charming in a way..."
"Late for what?" Starlight asked.
Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. He dashed off afterwards. I never saw him after that day." She tucks the note inside of her Journal of Friendship. "Last time I saw him, he was trying to sleep outside in the cold."
Starlight recoiled in shock. "He was sleeping outside?!"
"Yeah." Twilight nodded. "So I let him inside. He insisted to sleep on the floor."
Starlight looked at the Princess with a look of shock, confusion, and disgust. "So you just let some random pony from outside sleep on your floor?"
"Alright, when you say it like that it sounds bad..." Twilight defended. "But he needed help."
Starlight facepalms. "So why didn't you just let him sleep in the many other rooms in the castle?"
Twilight has a embarrassed expression locked on her face. She could do nothing but laugh sheepishly. "I... haven't thought of it at the time...?" She says quietly.
"Well, where can I meet this guy?" Starlight says as she calms down.
"Now that I think about it..." Twilight responds, puzzled. "I have no clue. I was just walking down the street and he just showed up."
"So you let him sleep in your room, and you both went excatly how long without seeing each other?" Starlight asks bewildered.
Twilight thinks it over for a bit. "Precisely 3 months."
"Alright then." Starlight says with a sigh.
"That really was a good memory." Twilight says with a smile. "But let's get back to work."
As Twilight looks away, she can't help but think to herself. "I do wonder where Starblaze is, though."
We return to Starblaze as he walks up to the library he works at, with the librarian scowling at him yet again.
Starblaze puts on a nervous smile. "H-hey, Starshine. How are you..."
Starblaze is cut off by the librarian, Starshine. "I believe you mean Miss Starshine. You don't get to use my name when you're late with the deliveries everyday."
"Come on, big sis..." Starblaze says with a whiny voice. "It's harder than it looks. I haven't even eaten today."
Starshine sighs. "You're such a child." She says annoyed. "I'll get you something to eat."
"Yes!" Starblaze yells triumphantly.
Starshine adds in, "But don't expect any further payment."
Starshine responds by dropping his head.
After they walk inside, Starshine gifts her hungry brother a plate of toast, eggs, an apple on the side, and some orange juice.
"What are you doing leaving home without eating?" She says confused.
'If I didn't you wouldn't pay me at all." He says with spite. "Also because I'm not exactly as high on money as you are."
Starshine scoffs. "I'm not as wealthy as you think." She says. "I basically live in this dump. The only reason it's still standing is because the Princess comes here often."
Starshine's ears twitch. "You said the Princess?"
"Yes." She responds.
"Celestia, Luna, Cadence or Twilight?" Starblaze says quickly.
Starshine has to think it over. "If I'm not mistaken, it's probably Twilight Sparkle. Purple Alicorn with a golden crown."
"I know her!" Starblaze screams. "I've talked to her before!"
His sister could barely hold back her laugh. "Yeah, right. The day I believe that is the day pigs fly."
"That can be arranged." He responds smugly.
"Can it!" She commands.
Starblaze sighs. "Just, when does she come in?"
"Every day." Starshine responds. "She just came in today actually. She buys so many books that I'm able to keep this library up from her alone. Which is why you need to be on time."
Starblaze rolls his eyes as he begins eating.
Afterwards, he steps outside, with very little actual money. But he has a full stomach.
"Thanks, big sis!" He says enthusiastically.
"Whatever." Starshine says rolling her eyes. "Just get on."
"Alright!" He says. "Love you, big sis!"
Starshine grumbles beneath her breath. "Yeah, yeah, you too." She then slams the door.
As Starblaze starts walking away he thinks to himself. "Now I know that Twilight comes to my sister's library every day." He says in his mind. "Maybe I should visit her? I mean, I know where she lives. The Castle's not too hard to miss.. He didn't even know it, but Starblaze had already stumbled upon the Castle of Friendship. "Well I guess I have no choice now." He says out loud. He lifts his hoof and knocks on the door. And too his surprise, it wasn't Twilight, but a different Unicorn with violet and cyan hair.
"Who are you?" The Unicorn says.
Starblaze retaliates. "Who are you?"
"I'm Starlight Glimmer. The student of Princess Twilight Sparkle." She says.
Starblaze responds sheepishly. "Oh..."
"I'll ask again." Starlight says impatiently. "Who are you?"
"Okay, you might not believe me." He says. "But I'm a friend of Twili- I mean the Princess."
Starlight's eyes widen a big. But then she looks skeptical. "Where do you know Twilight from?"
"I ran into her on the road." He responds. "We didn't have time to talk. I was late for something. But we met up again later."
"Later?" Starlight asks.
"Yeah." He answers. "I slept on her floor. Though there were probably other rooms in the Castle. So that was kinda dumb of me."
Starlight still isn't convinced. "State your name."
"My name?" He says surprised. "My name is Starblaze Gemini. You probably know my sister. The Princess goes to her library every day."
As Starblaze continues to ramble, Starlight eyes him up and down. "This possibly can't be who she was talking about." She says to herself. "Alright. You can come in."
"Yes!" He says. "Thank you!"
As they walk through the Castle, Starlight attempts to make conversation. "So you said you slept on Twilight's floor." She says. "Do you even... have a house?"
"No..." He says sheepishly. "I just live in a messed up old cabin near the Everfree Forest."
"That explains a lot" Starlight says.
Starblaze could barely contain his excitement. He's finally going to see his friend again after 3 whole months. Though will she even remember him from back then?
