The aroma of good, freshly brewed tea filled the kitchen. It was quite fragrant, a rather strong and distinct mint.
Starlight breathed in deeply, giving a satisfied sigh. “Lovely, just lovely,” she smiled, setting down the teapot on the tea tray. Arrayed around it was a selection of interesting teacups, a plate of assorted cookies, creamer, sugar, honey, five different varieties of milk, teaspoons—just about everything you could reasonably need for a nice cup of tea, really. Or two. Or more likely, the entire pot of tea.
Today, she was hard at work preparing for her guest. A very special guest at that, somepony who she had once been best friends with. Somepony named Sunburst. And, ignoring the period of time they’d both agreed not to talk about without a damned good reason, they were friends once more. She’d invited him over for tea today, hoping to make good use of his very limited vacation time. He’d been rather busy of late, what with all his duties up north. And how better to spend your vacation time than by relaxing and catching up with an old friend?
“Starlight, you keep it up, and today is going to be perfect!” Starlight muttered to herself cheerily as she took the tray into the sitting room.
In a few moments, Sunburst would be here, meeting their appointed time of exactly 15:00. He’d always been the punctual sort. And, she’d remembered his favourite tea! Peppermint, nice and strong. It was an acquired taste, one of those hold-overs from the long study sessions that the two had once shared, so engrossed by their books that they’d lost track of time and taken the tea bags out just a few minutes too late. Starlight liked thinking about the good old days, made her feel—
Thump thump thump thump! Her head shot up at the sound of a hoof knocking on the front door. She trotted over happily, a bit of spring creeping into her step. “Just a moment, I’ll be right there,” she called out. Then, she took a passing glance at the large grandfather clock, which had just begun to ring the hour. 15:00 on the dot.
Was she nervous? Yeah, she was. Very nervous. Once, she might’ve tried to hide that, but she had become wiser under Twilight’s tutelage. And even the wisest of beings would become nervous. She felt hadn’t spent enough time with Sunburst recently, and she was slightly worried that she might put him off, somehow. The two of them had come a long way in mending their lost friendship, but there was still a bit of a rift. Not an insurmountable rift, of course, though its existence did bother her more than she’d ever admit casually.
At this point, worrying was just going to ruin their time together. So, Starlight took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and tentatively opened the door.
“Hey Sunburst,” she greeted him. “Right on time, just like always.”
“Well, you know me, I hate being late.” Sunburst smiled, but it went away just a bit too quickly for Starlight’s liking. She made a mental note of that for later, citing an odd gut feeling. Her guess? Hard to say. For now, she chalked it up to his own nervousness. He’d always been a bit of a wreck in that department, despite his deep reserves of knowledge.
Solution? Try and put him at ease. Starlight decided to simply fake confidence until she felt confident.
“What are you waiting for, come on in!” Starlight gave him a goofy smile, gesturing inside.
With his characteristic nervousness, Sunburst stepped inside, wiping his hooves on the doormat. He took a curious sniff as he set his saddlebags down by the door. “Do I smell peppermint?” he asked.
“It is, because that’s what I made,” Starlight said with a chuckle. She brought him into the sitting room, pulling out the tea bags and levitating them to the nearest trash can, which was in the next room over. “I remembered that it was your favourite, after all. Which cup would you like? I-I don’t have a matching set, makes Twilight nutty; when I first moved here I spent a while looking for a set but it was just about impossible. So, I settled for ones that were… nice.”
“I like this one,” he shrugged, indicating one with droopy, dark blue flowers. “It's, well, um… nice, I suppose.”
“What do you take in your tea these days? You used to like it plain, but I couldn’t remember if when you sat in on the board meeting during your last visit you’d had sugar or cream in your tea. So I put out everything!” she rambled, letting a bit of her nerves slip as she poured their tea. For herself, she chose a cup that had a bundle of rather vibrant flowers, ones that seemed to burst like stars. They were that same vivid, light blue that filled the skies above the seas. The flowers reminded her of somepony special, in a way.
Sunburst nodded sheepishly as he sat down on the couch. “Yep, I still like it plain. And that wasn’t, ah, tea, at the board meeting.”
“I can’t believe you’d do that, Sunburst,” Starlight said, shaking her head with mock disgust and disapproval, seating herself in her favourite chair. It was the rounded one, white and blue stripes with that nice home-made cushion that had been a moving-in gift from the Apples. “Coffee? What self-respecting scholar drinks coffee?”
“It’s actually one of my more recent vices. Picked it up while I was up north. Some days I couldn’t just keep my eyes open without a cup of it. Neither can Cadance or Shining Armour,” he replied with a hesitant smile.
“I can imagine,” chuckled Starlight. She thought back to all the times she’d been roped into helping out with the Cake twins as part of one of Pinkie’s many, many schemes. Not the malicious kind of schemes, of course, but the kind where Pinkie was planning some sort of party underneath somepony else’s nose. Those foals were ‘a hoof-full of headache plus 20 pounds of trouble’, to borrow an old Apple family expression.
“Well, whatever you’re imagining, just… triple it!” Sunburst exclaimed, a look of absolute exasperation on his face. “Flurry Heart, a-aside from being a statistical anomaly, has incredibly powerful magic! And, well, since foals aren’t exactly great at controlling their magic surges…”
Starlight nodded solemnly, rubbing her forehead as she remembered those many headaches. “Don’t worry, I get the picture.”
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Both of them jumped in their seats, startled by the sudden knocking of a firm hoof at the front door. Sunburst, mid sip, just barely avoided spilling tea all over himself. “Mmpfff— did you invite somepony else over?”
Starlight, already up on her hooves, tossed the tea towel at Sunburst. “Uhh, no?” she frowned, sifting through her well-crafted plans for the day. “I don’t… think so. Just a moment.” With a concerned frown, she made her way to the door. Who could it be? She wracked her brain, trying to think. No, from what she could remember, she had rescheduled as much as possible to keep today as open as she could. So who could possibly be at the door? A delivery of some kind? A visitor, perhaps?
Only one way for her to find out. Starlight pulled open the door.
“Ah, greetings!”
“Oh? H-hello,” she replied, more than a little astounded. Before her was a familiar grey stallion, wearing that ratty old brown cloak of his. The burlap one which was probably about as old as he was. As in, well over 1000 years old. She smiled, trying to appear genial. “It’s, uhm, been a while, Stygian.”
“Likewise! Starlight, you… did receive my letter, yes?” he asked.
Starlight frowned. She had not received any letters from him or anypony else. Unless… unless it had gotten lost in that massive pile of paperwork that was still sitting on her desk at the school.
Her reaction told Stygian all he needed to know. “I see. Well, if you are not sufficiently prepared, I can return in the morning before I catch my train.”
“No, no, you can come in! You’re here now and that’s what matters.” Starlight put on a reassuring smile for him, but internally she was panicking. Why was he here? What did he want? What was in that letter? Where was that letter?
“Ah, thank you Starlight. I must assume then, that you are not aware of why I’m here.” Stygian said thoughtfully, wiping his hooves before stepping through the door. He looked around the entry room, taking note of how everything linked together.
“Erm, no.”
Stygian gave her a small smile. “Well, Twilight offered to lend me use of her library, which I’m told is rather substantial. And, as she is out of town for the time being, you are the one in charge of said library. Thusly, I am here.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Twilight always likes nurturing young minds. I— not that you’re young, uh, you’re at least a thousand years older than me,” Starlight sputtered, trying to find something, anything to pivot to. “Do you like peppermint tea?”
“I do indeed.” Stygian nodded.
“Good! I just made a fresh pot. Oh, by the way, you’re not my only visitor. Sunburst is here too,” she replied, gesturing towards the sitting room
“Sunburst? Is he the orange one?”
Around the corner, Sunburst peeked his head out. “Y-yes, uh, I’m orange. I’m the orange one. Sunburst.” he said awkwardly. The last time the two of them had met hadn’t exactly been… pleasant.
Stygian blinked. “You’re… yes, you’re the one who broke the spell, correct? Starswirl’s spell?”
“G-guilty as charged!” he smiled.
“Guilty? Are you a criminal of some sort?” Stygian asked with a frown.
“No, he’s not, at least not that I know of,” Starlight chuckled. “I’m pretty sure he’s never committed any crimes, at least nothing more serious than petty thievery. Right?”
Tellingly, Sunburst said nothing, he merely looked away awkwardly. Starlight chose to interpret that as remorse, rather than guilt.
“Oooo-kay then. Let’s sit down, shall we?” she suggested, standing in front of her favourite chair.
Stygian nodded, picking the only remaining seat, which was on the far end of the couch from Sunburst, and selected a cup at random. Starlight wordlessly poured him a cup of tea, leaving enough for him to put in a splash of milk or cream or whatever. To his credit, he added nothing, breathing deeply to enjoy the minty scent, before setting the teacup down on the side table.
“I didn’t know you were coming, Stygian,” Sunburst commented. He seemed a little uncomfortable. But why?
She needed to know more, but it would be impolite for Starlight to pry so quickly. If she did that, it might just make things worse. Then their day would become much, much messier.
“Ah, I sent a letter well in advance, though I fear it did not arrive as anticipated. I hope I’m not intruding on anything,” apologised Stygian.
“Oh, nonsense! You’re not intruding, you’re a guest. An unexpected one, yeah, but I’m flexible like that.” Starlight did her best to stay calm, but inside she was significantly stressed out. Her well planned evening was falling apart, and she was this close to tempting fate by asking if things could get any worse.
“Excellent! As soon as we finish tea, I intend to browse the library. I’ve been searching for a particular volume, and Twilight mentioned that she herself was a collector of rare books. Based on the description I gave, she thought that the volume might be among her collection, though… uh… without her… organisation scheme close at hoof, she couldn’t give me a more accurate reference.” Stygian explained. His eyes darted around, not meeting Sunburst’s nor her own. Starlight’s trained and experienced mind highlighted his hesitation. It was not unexpected for somepony to grasp for the right words to describe something, but that did not seem to be the case here.
Oh yes, he was almost certainly hiding something. Twilight’s ‘organisation scheme’ was not unique to her. In fact, it was the same, standard scheme that all libraries in Equestria used, by agreement. The shelves were divided by subject, and then alphabetically by the author’s name.
Regardless of her doubts, Starlight waved him off reassuringly. “Of course, I can give you a point in the right—”
Just then, a letter poofed into existence right above the coffee table. It fell, narrowly avoiding one of the many pitchers on the tray, the corner poking into the jelly centre of a cookie. Strangely, the air around it smelled of… smoke?
She plucked the letter from the table and opened it, noting how the paper had slight charing along the edges.
Dear Starlight,
I need help.
Love,
The Great and Powerful Trixie
“Trixie, you moron…” Starlight muttered under her breath. “I don’t have the time for this.”
“Is something burning?” asked Stygian.
“I, uh, think it’s the letter,” Sunburst replied.
Moments later, another letter poofed into existence, this one looking far more charred. One corner had been entirely eaten away by flames. Starlight immediately opened it.
Dear Starlight,
You didn’t want me to bother you, but this is an actual emergency, I was staying late to make my smoke bombs, those six troublemakers wanted to help, and then they set their changeling on fire. I don’t know if it’s actually hurting her, I can’t tell. It’s green, she’s screaming and running around, and I don’t know what to do about it.
Love,
The Great and Powerful Trixie
P.S.
There might be some other stuff too, I’m not sure, I can’t understand the yak
“Motherf—” Starlight clamped her mouth down tight, cutting off her own curse. She’d promised Twilight that she was going to swear less. Unfortunately, Trixie was not making it any easier. No matter how hard Starlight tried, Trixie had a way of eking out more, and more swears.
“Those burn marks are a little worrying,” Sunburst commented.
“Indeed, perhaps it’s an emergency?” said Stygian.
With a sigh, Starlight nodded. It was mostly one of disappointment. “Emergency at the school. Trixie wants me.”
She did not have time before another letter appeared. This one was barely a scrap, with a few words scratched onto it.
Starlight,
Please don’t tell Sunburst
-Love,Trixie
Starlight groaned and rested her face in her hoof. Whatever was going on there, it was a mess. A gosh diddly-darned mess.
“Do… do you need me to go with you?” Sunburst asked, concerned.
“No, no,” she immediately responded. “You stay here and enjoy yourself, this shouldn’t take long. Besides, you’ve been in the library, if Stygian needs help, you can help him. I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?”
Not wanting to waste any more time, she teleported away in a flash of her trademark turquoise magic, leaving the two nerds alone in her sitting room.
2 - Judging Books by their Covers
For a few moments, the two of them sat in stunned silence, processing what had just happened. Then, the silence became awkwardly long.
Sunburst glanced at Stygian, and Stygian glanced back at him. What could he bloody-well say? ‘Sorry about almost banishing you to Limbo’? ‘Hey, glad to see you’re not doing the whole evil thing again’? He ran over all the things he could possibly say in his mind, and they all sounded dumb. Or insensitive. Or egotistical. Perhaps a more passive approach was required.
“So…” Sunburst began, “You like, uh, tea?”
“I do enjoy tea, yes.” Stygian replied.
The silence, momentarily broken, continued to grow as if nothing had happened. Not knowing what to say, he took a tentative sip of his tea. Still hot.
“Thank you.”
Sunburst frowned and looked at Stygian. “What?”
“I never properly thanked everypony for helping to save me. From the shadows. You included,” Stygian said.
“Oh,” Sunburst was about to smile, but something stopped him. “I-it was nothing, really. I… I didn’t even do the hard part.”
Stygian looked at his tea, giving it a careful sip, thinking as he savoured the peppermint. “And yet, you contributed. From what I gathered, you were instrumental in translating Starswirl’s journal. Your talents in comprehending and understanding made reversing the spell that held us all trapped in Limbo possible.”
“If you’re going to thank anypony, thank Starlight. She stuck up for you at every turn. I… I got a little caught up in Starswirl’s plan,” Sunburst admitted, looking away awkwardly.
“I don’t blame you. Starswirl always knew how to get his way. Even when he wasn’t right,” Stygian sighed. “Besides, if you’d borne witness to what I’d done, you may not have reconsidered.”
'“Ah,” said Sunburst. He had no idea how to even begin responding. Maybe if he were somepony else, somepony more confident, he wouldn’t have any trouble with this sort of thing. Though to be fair, confidence came with experience, and he wasn’t going to get experience by feeling sorry for himself.
He’d already wasted most of his childhood feeling that way.
Once again, it was Stygian who was brave enough to break the silence. “I must admit, I’m, er, not very experienced with ‘small talk’. It confuses me, somewhat.”
“Well, what about it confuses you?” Sunburst asked politely. Clarification never hurt.
“Everything, really,” Stygian sighed. “It’s only ever mentioned in passing, rarely defined, and most ponies seem to have a much more intrinsic understanding of it, which I lack. Perhaps”
“At its core, small talk is exactly what it implies. Speaking about the little things, about unimportant but interesting stuff that’s been going on. For most ponies it’s stuff like — I dunno, news about their family.” Sunburst shrugged, trying to think of any other way he could describe it.
“Oh! Like recent births, marriages, accomplishments, celebrations? Something… similar to gossip?”
Sunburst cocked his head side to side, an uncertain look on his face. “Well, you’re not wrong, but gossip has the connotation of it being about details that most ponies prefer to be kept quiet. Small talk is about little things that should be shared, but aren’t of great importance overall. It sorta helps keep ponies in tune with the other ponies in their lives”
“Yes, that does make a little more sense. Thank you.” Stygian nodded graciously.
And just like that, the atmosphere of the room felt… a little warmer. More welcoming, less awkward. Despite his quiet and unassuming demeanor and somewhat formal and archaic word choices, Stygian seemed like he was alright. Sunburst gave his tea a sip, and finding that it had cooled enough, downed the rest of his cup before pouring himself another.
“You said you were here to borrow a book?” he asked.
Stygian paused mid sip, swallowing what little tea he’d gotten. “Indeed I am. I’ve been studying, you see. A lot happens in a thousand years… I need to, uh, catch up. So to speak.” He looked away, his thoughts filling with old memories.
“It must be a big shock for you, waking up and being greeted by a world that’s so different from the one you left,” Sunburst mused.
“A tremendous shock, I…” Stygian trailed off, shutting his eyes. Like he was trying to hold something back, yet desperately wanted to let it out.
Sunburst gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I can help with that. I might only be the third most qualified pony to help you with searching the library, but when the most qualified of all is the Princess of Friendship herself? Well, that’s not too bad for a shut-in nerd like me.”
“A shut-in… nerd?”
“Right, right, away for a thousand years — it’s one of many disparaging modern term for a scholar. Like ‘egghead’, or ‘four-eyes’,” Sunburst explained. “I actually got called four-eyes a lot.”
Stygian nodded in understanding, a small smile showing on his face. “Ahhh, then we have a lot in common. Except for your spectacles, of course. We scholarly types must work together, yes?”
Sunburst drank the last of his tea with a chuckle before standing up and having a good stretch, going up on the tips of his hooves. His joints cracked as he let out a satisfied groan. “Mmhmm, you’re right about that, Stygian. Shall we?”
“We shall,” he replied.
Conveniently, the library was just a few doors down. Sunburst lead the way, opening the fancy glass doors. Dust motes drifted lazily through the bright rays of sunshine cast through the high windows, filling the room with a pleasant glow.
As always, the rows of books were neatly arranged and tightly packed. None were in poor condition, none were dusty or covered in spiderwebs, and no spot on the shelves was empty. The shelves themselves stretched around every free inch of space on the room’s outside wall, threatening to spider up around the ceiling supports. Though, despite the condition of the books themselves, the ladders used to access the higher shelves were… rather haphazardly strewn about, with little regard for how one might actually use them.
It seemed that telekinetic magic rendered library ladders somewhat redundant.
“Impressive… if I only had the time…” Stygian said under his breath, looking around the library in awe.
“Like you said, we’ve got until your train tomorrow. That should be plenty of time, and since you know what you’re looking for, this should be a piece of cake,” said Sunburst.
“Ah, mm, that’s… part of the problem,” Stygian grimaced, before looking away sheepishly. “I… don’t actually know what I’m looking for. Not exactly.”
Sunburst halted, looking over his shoulder at Stygian. “I thought Twilight gave you a reference?”
“Well… uh… based on the description, she said that it may be in her collection. N-not that I have a clear picture of wha-what it looks like, just an idea of the contents,” Stygian said, his tongue tumbling over the words, he spoke so hurriedly. With a weak smile, he trotted over to the nearest shelf, hopelessly scanning the spines to identify the books.
“Oh.” Sunburst went silent. He wasn’t sure what Stygian meant, and his words seemed almost contradictory, but he was willing to help regardless. Besides, he didn’t want to needlessly pressure Stygian, who was probably a little frazzled by modern Equestria.
Stygian selected a textbook, looking at the title for a moment before scanning through the pages. Deciding that it was not what he was looking for, he set it aside. “I… just wish that I had more time to enjoy this treasure trove for what it is, not to flip through it in search of something that may not even be there.”
“You aren’t planning to search the entire library on your own, are you? In one night? You’d need at least a hoof or two. Good thing I’m here,” Sunburst commented.
“You’d consider doing that for me, even for one whom you barely know?” Stygian asked, hesitantly.
“Of course! I’m not exactly busy tonight, and maybe when Starlight gets back she can help, too.”
With a nod, Stygian turned back to the shelves, scanning for something. Anything. A lead. A vague reference. He sighed, knowing how futile it was. He didn’t have the faintest idea of where to start looking next. Sunburst glanced over at him. He could tell that Stygian was avoiding something. Some topic that was hard for him to articulate. “I fear… I fear that this is a fruitless endeavour. Too much to search, too little time. Perhaps it would be better if we gave up,” Stygian sighed.
“Hey, it doesn’t hurt to try. I want to help, but you need to be upfront about what you’re looking for. Besides, we’re both accomplished scholars. We’ll make short work of this,” Sunburst said as he walked over to Stygian’s side. Unsure of what else he could do, he carefully put his hoof on Stygian’s shoulder as a show of support.
Stygian looked at the hoof, his demeanor changing. Looking away, he breathed a sigh of contemplation. “Thank you, Sunburst. It feels like it’s been a long, long time since anypony did something for me out of the kindness of their heart, and not some other obligation.”
“I mean, you seem like an alright stallion. There’s no real reason for me to not help you. Like I said, I’m not doing anything else tonight,” Sunburst shrugged.
“…I’m looking for some sort of historical text. Genealogy, local history, census records, likely something that relates to the founding of Ponyville,” Stygian finally said.
“Genealogy and census records…? Those are more likely to be kept in the town hall records room than anywhere else. Definitely not in here,” Sunburst replied with a frown.
“When I spoke with Twilight on the matter, she mentioned one or more volumes that covered local history within her collection. Assuming that he’s… mentioned in it, then I could have a solid starting point for searching the census records.”
Sunburst could tell that Stygian was still holding back, but it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. Whether from shame, or regret, he couldn’t tell, but withheld nonetheless. For now, he decided to search, and let Stygian come forward with it on his own terms.
With practiced ease, Sunburst took volume after volume from the shelf, scanning the title, synopsis, and even skimming a few pages here and there. Sometimes the title was non-indicative, like Greengrass’s Musings on the Common Pony’s Lot, whatever THAT was supposed to be about. Really, it seemed more like a memoir of the so-called Greengrass’s life, with all its ups and downs. Other books, like The Unofficial History of Celestia’s Reign and Her Many Misfortunes, were a little more clear-cut. In her long reign, Celestia had indeed made many mistakes, but a quick flip through the more interesting sections proved the book to be unreasonably mean-spirited in the analysis of some relatively recent events, mostly the ones that involved six particular individuals plus Spike.
Yet even with those detours to sate his own curiosity, Sunburst was able to make quick work of his section. The books were piled up around him, which he’d divided into four piles. One was completely unrelated and unhelpful books, such as Greengrass’s musings. The second contained books that covered more general historical topics, overviews of specific periods, such as the Unofficial History of Celestia’s Reign. The third were more specific books that covered a single topic or event. The fourth, final, and least substantial contained the books that Sunburst believed were promising. They dealt with Ponyville and local history, and in this section there had been only three of them.
“You… how did you work so fast?” Stygian asked. There was a note of despair in his voice.
Sunburst looked over at him. The piles that he’d begun around his hooves were much smaller, comparatively; barely a dozen books all-told. Stygian had barely begun to make a dent in the section that he was working on. “Oh, well… practice, I suppose. I’ve always been good with books.”
“So have I,” Stygian smiled. It was the barest of smiles, mouth curling up at the corners, his heart filled with that happiness you only experienced when meeting somepony who reminded you of yourself. “Or at least I was good with books. Look at this, I’ve been trying for at least five minutes and I haven’t even begun to make sense of most of these words,” he said, showing Sunburst the page he was trying to read. It had a picture of a droopy blue flower amongst thin swords which seemed to be its leaves.
Scilla Empirica, also known as the Empire Squill, Sapphire Star, or Wood Squill, is much smaller than other members of the Scilla family, and native to the southerly regions of the Crystal Empire. Despite its size, it is quite robust and hardy, with three to five brilliantly blue, droopy flowers per bulb. It grows well in climates with colder winters, often beginning to send up its shoots before the snows have fully melted. It can bloom through frost, maturing within the first few weeks of spring.
“Hmm… that looks like the same flower that’s on my teacup… this is a floricultural reference guide. What are you looking in here, for?” Sunburst asked curiously.
“Botany? Botany… floriculture… the study of flowers?” Stygian questioned.
Sunburst nodded. “That’s right, usually something like this is a good guide for beginners looking to cultivate a flower garden. Though… not to insult your reading comprehension skills, but this doesn’t seem quite like it’s what we’re looking for.”
“I confess, I was drawn in by the illustrations,” Stygian sighed, brushing the page with his hoof. “Look at them — so life-like. What artist made these? And how did they have time for so many? Every single page has one just as impressive, with no loss of detail.”
“…What?” Caught off-guard by the apparent gap in Stygian’s knowledge, Sunburst sputtered for a moment. “Oh! Oh. Yeah, those aren’t, well, illustrations. Those are pictures. Photographs.”
Stygian frowned, before understanding dawned on his face. “Photographs… photo-graphs! Of course, drawn first with light, then transferred to inks, or something to that effect. But even so, the rest of this is still difficult — the reading, I mean. I don’t recognise a lot of these words. Sure, some are recognisable — if corrupted — but it’s still all so… different.”
“That’s quite possibly because they are foreign. Loan words, taken from the extant ponish languages over the years. And often, the agreed spelling of certain words is a little… rocky, depending on the time period. Only in the past hundred years or so has most spelling been standardised,” Sunburst explained.
“Perfect,” Stygian scowled. “Time has already taken everything else from me, so why not this? Why not my only worldly escape?” He turned away angrily, his horn taking on a paradoxically dark glow.
“Wha-what are you talking about?” Sunburst asked.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
“Is this to be my penance? My punishment? Everything has been stripped away… all I have is the darkness. The Shadow.”
“But we banished the Pony of Shadows. We rescued you, remember? The shadow is gone” Sunburst said, trying to jog his memory.
Stygian glanced at him before shutting his eyes. “Not all of it,” he sighed. Just barely noticeable, a wisp of liquid shadow began to leak from his eyes, flowing down his face. It reminded Sunburst of ink, spilled across a parchment.
Sunburst raised a tentative hoof, reaching for Stygian. “Look, we don’t have to do this right now. We can take a while and relax, get your mind off whatever has you upset. These books aren’t going anywhere.”
“No. This is all I have left. We keep looking,” Stygian said, his tone shaky and uncertain. He breathed in deeply, the darkness receding back into him.
Not wanting to make things worse, yet still needing to help, Sunburst trotted over to the shelf with a look of concern. “Let’s see — that one looks promising!” Sunburst spotted an older style book simply titled The History of Ponyville. It seemed to be a reprint, intended to be as authentic to the original as possible. The letters were stenciled in a plain, white text on a brown cover, which had made it blend in with the books nearest to it. “Are we looking for a phrase? A family? An address?”
“All I have to go on is a name. Glorious Morning. She emigrated from Hollow Shades when Ponyville was founded. I wanted to track down her descendants… if there are even any left,” answered Stygian, his voice cracking slightly. He desperately wanted to let out his frustrations, but he knew that it wouldn’t change a damn thing. Emotion was weakness. Emotion fed the shadows inside him.
Better to have none, and save everypony the trouble.
“Glorious Morning… Glorious Morning…” Sunburst whispered to himself. He flipped back and forth, page by page, scanning for the name. “Hmmm… aha!”
“Did you find her?”
“Yes,” Sunburst nodded. “She was a member of the first Ponyville city council, served for 15 years, and retired to become a shopkeeper. Three children. Dawn Fog, Night Rain, and Evening Sun. If we head to town hall, we could use the archived censuses to track down their descendants—”
“At this point, I’m not sure why I even care,” Stygian said, shaking his head slowly as he rubbed his eyes. “I shouldn’t care. It was a foolish idea, and I’m all the more a fool to try and follow it any further. He’s dead. He died nine hundred and sixty three years ago. Tracking down one or two of his descendants won’t change a damn thing."
“You’re not talking about Glorious Morning, are you?” Sunburst asked cautiously.
Stygian glared at Sunburst. “She lived barely a hundred years ago, I was in limbo for a thousand. How could I possibly have known her, hmm?” he snapped. The cracks were showing again. He knew that he had to shut up and be quiet, but… he didn’t want to. “She was a few hundred years too late to have ever had a chance at knowing me! Every single pony I knew is dead! They’ve been dead for a thousand years, Sunburst! A THOUSAND YEARS!”
Sunburst just sat there. Silent. Watching. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after a moment. He didn’t know what to say.
“I put all my faith into a single, illogical hope! Hope that somehow, one of his descendants would be able to give me closure, but none of them would even have the faintest clue of who he was, let alone who I am!” Stygian’s rage, anger, and frustration all flared up at once. The darkness flowed out of him, surrounded him, rising up like smoke.
And yet, Sunburst still said nothing. Because nothing he could say would change what had happened. And yet, he felt he had to say something.
“SAY SOMETHING!” Stygian yelled. “Tell me that I’m an moron! Tell me that I’m weak! Tell me all those secret thoughts about me that you never share! Tell me what I really am! I don’t even care what you say, JUST SAY SOMETHING!”
Shutting his eyes with a deep sigh, Sunburst took a step closer. He swallowed nervously. In his heart, he knew what he really had to say, but he didn’t know how to.
So, he said it as plainly as he possibly could.
“I’m sorry.”
Stygian went quiet. “You’re sorry? But you haven’t done anything wrong. Not like I have.”
“I’m sorry that you feel that way about yourself,” Sunburst said. “But you’re not a moron. And you’re not weak. At least… I don’t think so.” He looked into Stygian’s eyes, through the shadows that clouded them.
“But… how can I be anything except stupid and weak? I stole the artifacts, I let anger cloud my judgement, I let the Shadow take hold of me. There’s nopony to blame for my troubles except myself. I am the cause of my own troubles,” Stygian sighed.
Sunburst gave him a small, reassuring smile. “It doesn’t matter how smart or strong you are, you can still make mistakes. Everypony makes mistakes. It’s part of how life works. All you have to do is get back on your hooves, dust yourself off, and keep going along the road. Wherever it takes you.”
“Even a mistake that costs me everything I once loved? A mistake that almost destroys the entire world?”
“Yes, even a mistake like that,” Sunburst nodded somberly. “Mistakes like that… you usually don’t know that they’re mistakes when you’re making them. I know that there’s a few times where — not really knowing what would happen — I did something catastrophic.”
“Really? You? But you’re so… well, uh, nice,” said Stygian.
“When I was eight years old, I got my cutiemark. I got it by saving Starlight from a stack of falling books with my magic. When my parents found out it was related to magic, they sent me away to Canterlot, to attend Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But Starlight, she was my best friend. And I… I was her only friend. After that, she resented cutie marks for taking me away from her. For leaving her alone. Friendless. She honed her own magical talents, dedicated her life to ending the ‘tyranny of the cutie mark’. After Twilight and the others stopped her life’s work, she spent months planning her revenge,” Sunburst explained. “Her revenge almost destroyed Equestria. And Twilight… she witnessed alternate timelines where Starlight’s meddling did.”
“But that was Starlight’s mistake, not yours,” Stygian tried to point out.
Sunburst looked into his eyes. “Was it? I probably could have said something. Told my parents I didn’t want to go. Wrote letters to her. Visit her when I came home on holidays. But, I didn’t do any of that. In fact, she barely crossed my mind. I got caught up in being the new local celebrity, in going away to a big city with a castle. There, I found other friends. But she didn’t find any new friends. She was left alone. Because of me. Even if she decided to do all of those things on her own, my actions and associated lack of action played a pivotal hoof in what she did; in who she became. It wasn’t my fault, not entirely, but I will always have to shoulder some of the blame.”
“I see,” Stygian sighed. “I suppose we aren’t that different from one another, then.”
“Yeah. Bookworms who’ve made mistakes. Big ones that cost a lot.” Sunburst half-smiled at Stygian.
“Indeed,” Stygian agreed.
The pale yellow glow of Sunburst’s magic surrounded the carefully stacked and sorted books, and with a little effort he began returning them to their rightful places. He did this silently at first, focused on his task. Stygian watched him, noting how deft Sunburst was at this.
“What was his name?”
Stygian blinked, taken off-guard by the question. “Name?”
“The name of your friend. The one you were researching. He was a friend, right?” Sunburst asked, trying to be polite.
“His name is — erm, was — Lucent,” Stygian nodded somberly. “And he was a very dear friend of mine. Very dear.”
“Was he… well, special?” Sunburst gave Stygian a half-smile, saying everything that his words alone could not.
With a deep, melancholic sigh, Stygian simply said “Yes.” He didn’t want to say any more, because if he did…
And yet, that was all Sunburst needed to hear. He nodded slowly in understanding as he returned the last book to its place. Well, second last book. He had set aside the book on Ponyville history, in case Stygian wanted to borrow it.
“Do you want to sit down for a while? We’ve still got all night.” Sunburst gestured towards the corner of the library, where there was a reading lamp perched on a small coffee table, with two cozy lounge chairs on either side.
Stygian was unable to reply. Instead, he nodded and sat down in one of the chairs. He swallowed, trying to get rid of that tight feeling in his throat. He wanted to cry. He wouldn’t let himself. Emotion would just feed the Shadow, making it stronger. That’s what had happened before, a thousand years ago, and the idea of the Shadow once again overtaking him was absolutely terrifying. He would do whatever he needed to do to avoid it, and all he could think of doing was suppressing his feelings whenever they came out
So… how was Sunburst so effortlessly bringing out Stygian’s emotions? Did he have some ulterior motive? Was it nothing more than blind curiosity?
He wasn’t quite sure. However, something about him just made Stygian feel, well, comfortable. He liked listening to what he had to say. And what he had to say also had merit.
“Stygian?”
“Yes?”
Sunburst sat down in the chair beside him. “Why don’t you tell me a bit about Lucent?”
“He was funny, and kind, and understanding. He liked to read. A lot. I loved being around him. We were the best of friends, ever since we were foals,” Stygian rambled, doing his best not to let his voice crack.
“What did you like to do together?” Sunburst asked softly.
“We worked in the Grand Archive together. The old cistern under Hollow Shades? That’s all that remains of our work, it was once part of the Grand Archive’s basement,” Stygian said, a small smile creeping onto his face as he let himself remember. “Oh, he loved that library. Day in, day out, we catalogued the collected works under Master Willowblossom, the curator. Nopony worked as hard, as long, or as… passionately as Lucent. And I was right there beside him, trying to measure up. I never quite felt that I did, but he was always happy to have my help.”
“That sounds like it was a lovely life,” Sunburst sighed happily. His words carried a hint of longing.
Stygian nodded blissfully. “It was. One day we found ourselves in a quiet corner and… he told me how he thought about me,” his voice faltered as he felt tears begin to well up. “He said— he said that he loved me. And I realised that… that I loved him, too.” He rubbed his eyes, feeling the tears beginning to well up. That day had been the happiest of his life. That day his best friend had become his first, and only coltfriend. Stygian didn’t want to cry.
Not right here. Not right now.
“Did he… did he know? About you becoming the Pony of Shadows?”
Damnatio.
The silence stretched out. Uncomfortably so. Every beat of his heart drove a nail deeper into his soul. “He…” Stygian began, but his throat was too choked up for him to continue. The tears… he couldn’t hold them back anymore. They streamed down his face “I went to him after the Pillars cast me out. He’d heard. He didn’t want anything to do with me. I… I snapped at him, threatened… and afraid — I’d been rejected by everypony I ever cared about. That day… I… I embraced the d-darkness. The Shadow. Because I thought I had nothing left.”
Stygian buried his face in his hooves. He’d made a mistake. It had cost him everything. He was just a weakling. A pathetic, scrawny runt who’d spent too long with his nose stuck in the books. He couldn’t cast strong magic, he couldn’t fight, he couldn’t even pull a cart. All he was good for was reading, and even that was gone.
And worst of all, he had nopony. The only ones who tolerated him were merely kind, misguided souls who pitied him. They offered him help so they could perhaps ease their own conscience of Stygian’s misery. He wasn’t worth their time, he wasn’t worth anything. Not after the things he’d done.
He was a sorry mess, now. Between sobs, he tried to spit out the last part. His greatest shame, his biggest regret.
“I didn’t even get t-to say goodbye.” Stygian shut his eyes and turned away, bracing himself for the inevitable. Now, he’d be cast out like the weakling he was. Just like he deserved.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, he felt hooves wrap around him, patting his back. A head rested on his shoulder, their cheeks pressed together. What was he..?
He opened his eyes.
It was. He was being hugged. By Sunburst. Without thinking, Stygian immediately did what he wanted most. What he needed most.
He hugged him back.
“I’m sorry for you. I-i can’t imagine what it’s like,” Sunburst whispered, his voice scraggly and weak. It seemed that he, too, was holding back tears. “For you, I mean. I don’t think I’d be doing half as well as you are, right now.”
Stygian gave a great, heaving sigh. “Th-thank you,” he said quietly. It had been a long time since anypony had given him a hug. A proper hug, offering comfort and support, with no strings attached. It was… nice.
The two of them embraced for what felt like forever. Stygian needed it. Sunburst was willing to give him as long as he needed.
“I’m sorry,” Stygian finally muttered. “You don’t need all of this. You don’t need me laying all of my worries and woes onto you. You don’t need to bother with me. I’m not worth it.”
“No. Right now, you need a friend. Somepony with a shoulder to cry on, a shoulder to lean on. I’m not Lucent, never have been, never will be. But I’ll do my best to be here for you anyways, okay?”
As Sunburst spoke, Stygian could feel his voice resonating in his chest. It was this low, distant vibration, but to him in that moment, it felt like the comforting presence of a purring cat. Stygian liked cats. They kept the mice out of the library, and liked to cuddle against him whilst he studied. “It feels like I’m beginning to wear the words thin, but thank you. A thousand times, thank you,” he said, a tearful smile on his face.
“Hey, it’s like Twilight always says: everypony needs a friend.”
When Stygian eventually ended their embrace, he’d stopped crying. His face was still wet with tears, so Sunburst took the hem of his cloak and wiped them away.
“Then you’ll be the first friend I’ve made in, well… about a thousand years, I suppose,” Stygian said with a small smile. He gave Sunburst a pat of thanks.
“Seems about time for it, I guess,” Sunburst smiled in agreement. “But what now? I don’t imagine you have very much planned.”
Stygian sighed, shaking his head. “I do not. This was my final, and only loose end. At first, I thought that if I found his descendants, I’d have some closure. But now? I realise that it will not change a thing. It will not reverse what I did. I made a mistake, the greatest one in my entire life, and Lucent moved on. Without me. And so I find myself here, in a land as strange to me as one that might be found thousands upon thousands of miles away.”
“Well, what have you been doing since we, erm, banished the shadows?” Sunburst asked politely.
“Very little. Adapting has been difficult, as you likely surmised. Twilight has done what she can to assist me in settling in, even arranged an apartment in Canterlot, but none of it feels — how can I say it — feels right?” Stygian answered, twirling his hoof absentmindedly as he tried to find a better word.
“As in morally right, or right for you?”
“Mostly the second. There’s too much to take in, and I feel as if making progress in Canterlot is hopeless,” Stygian grimaced. “I’d been doing my best to hide my… difficulties, with comprehending the written word. Twilight noticed right away, of course, and started work on amending Starswirl’s language spell. Are you familiar with the original?”
“Of course, given enough samples of a language’s spoken word, it imparts a reasonable understanding of the language to the caster,” Sunburst said, reciting from memory. He had actually studied the spell once, as part of a school project.
“Then you also should remember that it does nothing for written word. Until that is either amended, or I learn how to read a language I can barely comprehend unaided, my only real talent is null and void.” Stygian shrugged, mulling over things in his head for a moment. “And, while I appreciate Twilight’s kindness, I would much rather be able to provide for myself. I don’t presume to abuse another’s charity.”
“And so you decided to occupy your time with your research project,”
Stygian nodded somberly. “Correct. Twilight, while industrious, has been taking on a lot of responsibilities, and I have no reason to add to them. I am no stranger to life on the road, and so I lived as I had once before. Town to town, trying to track down what little I could of the past. I made sure to keep Twilight updated on my whereabouts in the case of emergency, as well as asking for advice. She was kind enough to respond to my letters in the old writing — though to be completely honest her prose was somewhat stilted.”
“Ah. So what, you go back to Canterlot for now?” asked Sunburst.
“I’m afraid so, unless I manage to decide on an alternative,” Stygian said. “It will be difficult, but at the moment it’s all I have.”
“Canterlot’s not too bad, if you ask me. Spent my teen years there, going to the magic school. Lots of good food, the view is gorgeous, plenty of social activities if you cared to go to them, superb public gardens, and as long as you don’t mind brushing flanks with the occasional snob, you can keep an ear out for politics. I could give you a list of places to check out, when there’s time,” Sunburst rambled happily.
“I would appreciate that greatly, assuming it were in a language I could read,” Stygian chuckled.
Sunburst snorted. “Good point, will that be Classical Pegasilian, Old Konik, or Old Prench?”
“Pegasilian, of course. It was the Equestrian language of highest refinement, after all. The Prench were from the lowlands, and I think the nobles — er, what did you call them? Snobs? — They would most likely turn up their noses at hearing the lowland dialects,” Stygian said with a smirk.
“Now, why did you have to pick the language I’m least proficient in, hmm? I’d have to go back home to get my reference materials,” replied Sunburst. He shook his head in mock disapproval. “And the ride up north is a long one, I’ll tell you that.”
“I thought you lived here, in Ponyville?”
“I’d honestly love to, but it’s just too far to travel for work. I’m the Crystaller for Princess Flurry Heart, up north? Some days, that means ceremony, and magic. Others? I’m essentially a glorified foalsitter.” Sunburst rubbed the back of his neck, remembering the time he’d been ambushed by the foal, wielding a wooden chair. He still had no idea what had prompted it.
“Crystaller… up north… you live in the Crystal Empire?” Stygian asked curiously.
“Yes, it’s much nicer these days without King Sombra around,” Sunburst said, following it with a small laugh.
Stygian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Interesting… I’d caught wind of trouble in the north in the days before I was… before I turned. That’s why I wanted to be able to fight alongside the Pillars, as from all accounts Sombra was a formidable opponent. He was dealt with by Twilight and Company, I presume?”
“It’s actually very interesting! Sombra was defeated, yes, but this was in part due to a gambit by Luna and Celestia. They defeated him at every turn, and had him on the ropes not long after your banishment, but as a final vengeance he placed a powerful curse on the Crystal Empire tied to his life force. So, in an attempt to gather their strength to break that curse without outright killing him, the sisters cast a spell to send both him and the Empire forward in time.” Sunburst explained it all proudly, having spent many hours collecting testimony and cross-referencing archived writings.
“Ah, so they borrowed some of Starswirl’s methods. He was always a fan of shunting our problems elsewhere, to be more properly dealt with at a later date.”
“Sounds more likely than not, though in an interview I did with Celestia and Luna, they said that the whole ordeal was more accidental than anything else. Calling it a ‘gambit’ is just an editorial decision that a lot of historians have taken to adding to their books. Started with The Unofficial History, then spread through the academic world.” Sunburst did his best to clarify his point, and gave a small smile when Stygian nodded in understanding.
Stygian was about to make a remark when the two of them were distracted by a sudden commotion from outside. Raised voices, one worn and ragged, the other shaky yet strong. A few moments later, the library doors swung open to reveal Starlight, followed by Trixie, who was singed and weary. A pale green flame mouldered in her mane.
“There you two are! I teleported us to the sitting room, but the tea was cold and you weren’t there,” Starlight greeted them. “Told you I wouldn’t take long, huh?” She sniffed the air, noticing Trixie’s little mane fire. Carefully, she patted it out with her hoof.
Sunburst glanced at the clock on the wall above the door. He’d gotten here at around 3 PM, and now it was… almost 7:30! As if to signal him, his belly rumbled. He’d gone and missed his supper. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but considering the circumstances, Stygian would have likely missed his supper, too. Starlight had probably missed her dinner too, but her eating habits had always been eclectic. Trixie? He didn’t know her well enough to be able to tell. He didn’t even know if she ate, period. “Not long at all,” he mused sarcastically.
“Okay, yeah, it was a lot longer than I thought it’d be,” Starlight admitted. “If I hadn’t been busy trying to figure out how to put out a certain changeling who’d somehow transformed herself into a fire, I’d have remembered to tell you two that you could leave whenever. I’ve been a, uh, ‘prisoner of hospitality’ before, and it’s a little…”
“Uncomfortable?” Stygian supplied.
“Yeah, that!”
“The Great and Powerful… Ter-t-trrrixie… needs a… a uh… warm and soothing bath…” Trixie muttered as she trudged out of the library and towards the bathroom.
“Make sure to take the umbrella out of the tub first! It was in there drying from the other day!” Starlight called out from the library door to her. Trixie gave a noncommittal grunt of acknowledgement in return.
“Well, it’s too bad we couldn’t spend more time together,” Sunburst said.
“And please accept my apologies for arriving unannounced,” Stygian added.
“We’ve always got some other time, Sunburst. And Stygian, you don’t need to worry, there’s nothing wrong with unexpected visitors. I just wish Twilight were home to properly help you with your research,” Starlight shrugged, a little disappointed but still very much resigned to tonight’s events.
Stygian chuckled and smiled. “He was more than enough help. I’m not sure that Twilight would have been able to do much better,” he said, giving a satisfied nod as he looked to his newly made friend. “Sunburst, you are remarkably good company. I would… enjoy getting to know you better.”
Sunburst frowned for a moment. Something had occurred to him, a connection that he’d almost made once before in passing. “Stygian, you said earlier that you didn’t feel quite right, being in Canterlot?”
“No, Canterlot is too modern. Everything there is strange to my eyes, and that little which I find familiar serves only to distance the city from me even further,” Stygian recounted.
“Canterlot? Too modern? It’s the oldest continually inhabited city in all of Equestria,” Starlight pointed out.
“Ah, but you forget, Starlight,” Stygian said. “Canterlot was founded after the end of the First Diarchy. That is to say, it was founded during my time in Limbo. Its entire history and culture is unknown to me.”
“Right, that’s actually a good point,” Starlight conceded.
“Now, why did you ask?” Stygian addressed Sunburst curiously.
Sunburst met Stygian’s gaze for a moment before quickly looking away. “Well, I realised that there’s probably one place that isn’t too modern or foreign to you. Like we were talking about earlier, the Crystal Empire also got sent a thousand years forward—”
“And you’re suggesting that I come visit you?” Stygian asked curiously.
“Uh, yes actually! I’ve got a spare room that I could clean out; I’ve, err, never used it for much more than storage, really, but there’s a… bed in there! Somewhere… I think,” Sunburst said. By the end of his sentence, he was almost muttering. Starlight, having known him all her life, recognised that he was nervous, grasping for the right words. But why…?
“I’d always wanted to visit the Crystal Empire,” Stygian breathed deeply, shutting his eyes for a moment as he thought back to the old days. “Even before I gathered the Pillars. Perhaps I will take you up on that offer, someday soon.”
Starlight blinked. Was that what she thought it was? If there was one thing she had picked up a greater understanding of, it was relationships. And given that these two hadn’t been able to look at each other for more than a moment when she’d left them… then things had mellowed between them while she’d been away. They seemed to have become more comfortable around each other.
“Ah, good. Just, uh, make sure you send some letters in advance? I might end up forgetting to clean the spare room,” Sunburst chuckled sheepishly.
“I will! I just… need the address,” Stygian said.
“Right! Just a moment.” He quickly scribbled it out on a scrap of paper, which he floated over to Stygian.
What… exactly was going on? Starlight couldn’t help wondering to herself, but she conceded that nothing she came up with on her own would compare to reality. So, she merely exchanged pleasantries with the two of them as they quickly made excuses to leave. They left, going in opposite directions, glancing back at each other when they thought nobody was looking. At one point, she thought she saw one of them blushing.
As she went back inside to wait for Trixie to finish her bath, Starlight tried to analyze what little she’d observed. Considering what little there was to go on, any conclusions would be a statistical longshot, but one possibility stood out to her:
They’d accidentally become friends.
With their shared histories and childhood, Starlight could read Sunburst like a book, and she knew very well how cliched it was that the book nerd could be read like a book. There were secrets and details about him that he’d never dared to share with anypony except her. One of which involved his, well, romantic aspirations:
Sunburst liked mares. He also liked stallions. He’d been very sure of this as a young colt, and one of the many things that the two of them had bonded over had been a mutual crush on one of their classmates.
As for Stygian? He was utterly incomprehensible to her. If there was anything there, she couldn’t tell for certain. However, she couldn’t deny the possibility…
She couldn’t deny that she wanted Sunburst to be happy, and that she wished the best for redeemed foes like Stygian. If the two of them were to—
Was she? Was she really going to ship those two?
Ignoring the uncomfortable possibility of becoming a toxic matchmaker who forced her real friends into relationships they weren’t prepared for… maybe. They’d be cute together, sure, but there was no sense in trying to force things. If they fancied each other, then they fancied each other, and it was their business.
Oh, who was she kidding.
She shipped it. She hella shipped it.
Those two were gonna kiss some day, and then she’d be the one to say ‘I called it!’
