The Fate of Orion

It was early morning in Ponyville. The sun had barely risen and Twilight Sparkle, Librarian of Ponyville library was still trying to wake up Spike. “Oh c'mon already Spike and wake up. It's already eight!”

The baby dragon merely rolled over in his sleep and mumbled something about rubies.

Twilight sighed and gently facehoofed.  “Darn it Spike, wake up already,” she said as she used her magic to take his blanket away from him.

In response, Spike only curled into a little ball and started snoring again. It would be quite cute really, if he didn't sound like a power sander on a rotten oak tree.

Twilight sighed again and dropped the blanket on the bed and went downstairs to open the library for any new readers. Okay, so maybe expecting someone to be waiting outside the library for me to open up is a bit of wishful thinking, but hey! It could still happen one day! She thought to herself as she happily trotted over to the front door to unlock it.

Peering through the window and looking outside, her eyes bulged in shock. What looked like two Pegasi from the Night Guard were standing on the front lawn. They appeared to be scanning the area as if checking for possible problems to whatever mission they were on.

Trying to regain her composure quickly, Twilight ducked back into the library proper and started muttering to herself. “No problem, not a problem. I haven't done anything wrong. They're just here to deliver a message, that's all! A message. It's no problem!”  Her mane had begun to frizz up.

Spike came down the stairs yawning.  “Why do we always have to get up this early Twilight... I need more sle-”

There was knocking on the door. It was still polite knocking but this knock had a slight edge to it. Almost like the owner of the knock was going to stop being polite if it didn't get answered.

Spike glanced at Twilight and sighed. “I'll get the door and see what they want if you're just gonna have fits about it,” he said and promptly opened the door. “Can I help you?” He asked the Unicorn stallion now standing on the other side. He had a pale brown coat and blond mane, Might want to call it a mane. streaked with red and didn't look at all surprised that a baby dragon had answered the door.

He coughed once before speaking “Yes, I suppose you can help. You would be Spike right? Miss Twilight Sparkle's assistant?”  He didn't even let Spike answer. “Good. My name is Bronze Star. I have a message to deliver for Miss Twilight Sparkle from Princess Luna.“

Spike turned to look at twilight who was hurriedly patting down her mane in order to not look like she had just freaked out. “Twilight? You heard right?”

Twilight coughed and stepped forward. “Of course I heard what he said.” She blinked at the Unicorn in front of her and then glanced out the open door, spotting the two Pegasi attaching themselves to a sleek black and silver chariot that rested on the side of the road outside. “Your ride? If Princess Luna wants to send me a message she could always get Princess Celestia to send it via dragonmail. I wonder why she sent you in person.”

The stallion chuckled and levitated out a letter with Luna's seal on it. “You'd better read the letter.”

Twilight shrugged and took the letter from Bronze. Examining the seal, she noted that unlike the seal that Celestia used, a bright gold clasp and red insignia, this one was a glistening silver clasp around a navy blue insignia. Appropriate for the Princess of the Night.

Spike closed the door as soon as Bronze had stepped inside. Twilight, taking this as a cue to begin, snapped open the seal and unrolled the scroll. The words written on it were extremely ornate and written with considerable flourish. She cleared her throat and began to read out loud for the benefit of her number one assistant:

“To our dear subject, Twilight Sparkle,

I wish joyous tidings upon thee and hope this letter finds thee well. At the time of this missive's delivery thou should be in the presence of one Bronze Star. A Unicorn of considerable talent, We have adopted him as our personal student. There is much to be learned about magic in many forms.  We have convinced our beloved sister to allow her student and ours to work together in this endeavour.

We would have thee tutor our student in the magic of friendship and in turn, We hope that the two of you shall work together to bring about new orders of magic that Equestria has yet to see.

We bid thee well,

Luna,

Princess of the Night,

Sovereign of the Shadows,

Keeper of Dreams”

The stallion turned and smiled at Twilight. “Good morning Miss Twilight Sparkle. My name is Bronze Star.” He bowed with a slightly theatrical flourish. “I am in your care.”

Twilight rolled up the letter. “Princess Luna has a student as well.”

Bronze stood up from the bow and gave Twilight a funny look. “Uh, yes. That would be the ca-”

The stallion was interrupted by Twilight grabbing his forehooves in hers and filling the air with a barrage of words. It sounded very much like somepony saying very quickly: “oh-my-gosh-oh-my-gosh-this-is-going-to-be-awesome-I-get-someone-to-research-with-and-take-notes-and-work-together-with-and...”

Spike sighed and pushed his way in between the two Unicorns. “Twilight. Let him breathe would ya? Heck, I think you might need to stop for a second to breathe too.”

Twilight stopped and stood back a little, still hyperventilating. “But Spike! Didn't you hear the letter? The Princesses want us to invent new magic! That's something that hasn't happened since the days of Starswirl the Bearded! New magic! I can hardly believe it!”

Spike sighed. “I'll go get some coffee started.” He looked nervously at the newcomer.  “I guess you're gonna be staying here for a bit aren't you? Well... if that's the case I guess I better go set up the guest bed for you. Oh, and how do you like your coffee?”

Bronze Star chuckled again, “I've never actually had coffee before.  All the Princesses have at the palace is tea.  I must admit, it's a tad bland for my tastes.  I think I will give coffee a try today. One must always be willing to experiment with new things.”

Bronze turned to look at Twilight, “I read most of the reports you sent the Princess and I think I have the gist of your research so far. Friendship is such an interesting subject. It makes me wish I could have spent more time with it myself.”

Twilight blinked.  “Wait... you uh... don't have any friends?”

Bronze sighed and shook his head. “I think I would like to consider Princess Luna to be a friend but well... she can be distant.  It's hard to know for sure.”

With a smile, Twilight gestured for Bronze to sit down. “You seem like such a wonderful pony. If you're Princess Luna's student, then why would you not be her friend? She only seems to take the time for those she cares about even after all that time she spent acclimatizing to modern times.”

The stallion smiled ruefully. “Oh yes, acclimatizing indeed.  She still writes like it's a thousand years ago.  Not to mention the fact that she still uses all of her titles whenever she can.  Oh dear, and let's not forget about her habit of using her 'Royal Canterlot Voice' when you're standing right in front of her.”

Twilight giggled as Spike came out of the kitchen with a tray loaded down with breakfast goodies and coffee. “I guess you had a rough time with her then. What's it like learning under the Princess of the Night anyways?”  She asked as she took the first sip of her coffee.

Bronze Star shuddered. “She snores.”  He said as he took a sip of his coffee.  “Hmmm... I think I like this.”

Twilight gave Bronze a blank stare. “... What?”

The stallion sighed and put down his cup. “The coffee?  Oh, the snoring.  Don't ask, it's not really important. Oh!  That reminds me. I need to send a letter to Princess Luna to let her know that I've arrived safely. She said she'd stay awake until she got my letter. Er, may I ask if you could write the letter for me Spike? It might make it easier since my writing is not up to the Princess' standard.”

Spike pulled out a parchment and a quill. “Sure thing. I guess you need me to send it too huh? It'll go through Princess Celestia first, but it's faster then regular mail.”

Bronze Star smiled gently and shook his head. “No I shouldn't need help sending it to my mentor. She taught me an interesting spell before I left Canterlot.  It should let me send messages without too much fuss or bother on Princess Celestia's part.  In fact, the spell even has a sort of delay on it.  The messages should wait until she is awake to deliver them.  In this case it should arrive immediately, but for all of my future letters it should wait until she wakens for her nightly duties.” He cleared his throat and started to dictate:

“Dear Princess Luna,

I have arrived safely at the Ponyville library and have met with Miss Twilight Sparkle. I have made arrangements with her and we should get along just fine. Thank you for staying awake until you heard back from me, and I wish you a good night.

Your student, Bronze Star.”

Spike finished the last period and blew warmed air on it until it was dry; a trick he picked up from years of doing it for Twilight. He rolled up the scroll and held it out for Bronze Star to deal with. “So what's this trick you learned from the Princess? It sounds like something that Twilight might want to learn.”

Twilight was leaning close, hoping to discover some new form of magic she hadn't learned yet.

With a laugh, Bronze levitated the scroll and opened it, scanning the words to make sure nothing was incorrect in his correspondence. Happy with the result he re-rolled the scroll and grinned. “It took me a few tries to get this right, Miss Sparkle. You might have as much trouble as I did with it.” His horn's glow suddenly increased in intensity as the scroll itself lit on fire with Princess Luna's signature blue flames and vanished in a small cloud of slightly acrid smoke.

Twilight blinked. “Artificial dragonmail? Wow, that sort of magic is horribly complicated! I haven't been able to replicate Spike's fire even after years of trying. Princess Luna wasn't kidding when she said you were talented. Oooh, you're gonna have to show me how you did that! I really can't wait to impress Princess Celestia with that spell!”

The stallion smiled at Twilight. “I would be delighted to show you the spell, but I am a little tired from the journey and from being awake so late in the day. Would it be possible for me to rest for a bit first?”

Twilight hesitated with an odd expression on her face. “Er... late in the day... oh! I see, you studied with Princess Luna, so you must spend most of your days asleep like she does. Yes, of course you can rest.  By the way, I should let you know that if you'll be living here, you'll probably have to get used to a less nocturnal schedule.”

Bronze nodded, while stifling a yawn. “Of course, Miss Sparkle. It may take me a few days to get used to sleeping at night though.”

The mare sighed. “You'll also have to get used to just calling me Twilight. I'm not very formal around my friends you know. Anyways. Our guest room is in the basement I'm afraid. Not very bright but very comfortable and it has good privacy. That's no trouble is it?”

The stallion nodded. “  That would be fine, thank you. I think I can handle sleeping in a basement Miss.... er, Twilight. And thank you for everything.”

Twilight inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Not many ponies liked sleeping in the basement for some reason or another. “Spike, would you please go and show him where he'll be staying for now? You might have to move a few things too while you're at it.”

Spike gave a mock salute and lead the way. Bronze Star followed, looking around the library as he did.

Twilight sighed and finished her coffee.  “I guess we're in for some interesting times around here. New magic... I can hardly believe it.”