//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Magic on the Friendship Express // Story: Time Lord: The Story of Polaris // by Thrawn1800 //------------------------------// Chapter 6 “And you are sure this is the best thing to do?” asked Celestia. Luna and I’d spent the past fifteen minutes explaining what had happened. Celestia was a good audience. She didn’t ask unnecessary questions. She was surprised, however, to hear what had happened to me. She’d asked to look me over. I’d let her, and she, like the Doctor, hadn’t found anything wrong. After we’d finished, I’d made my suggestion. “I’m certain.” I said. “We need to find out what caused that storm. No natural storm has ever hit Everfree with so much force. At least, not that I know of.” Luna nodded in agreement. “Sister, we need to uncover the source. If it happened once, it could happen again.” She gazed down at us, then answered. “Very well, I will allow you to go.” “But,” she added, cutting short our excitement, “you should not go alone. I want you to take Starswirl with you.” “Who now?” I asked, before Luna could speak. “A friend of Luna’s. Now, you should go get ready. I will arrange for you to take the nine o’clock train.” “Yes sister.” said Luna. “Thank you, Celestia.” I added. She nodded and smiled benevolently as we left. I closed the doors behind us, and we proceeded through the castle. As far as I could tell, the castle wasn’t really that old, though I was sure it had been around for a good stretch. The greyish stones soaked up all the light in the place, so there were torches lit, even in the middle of the day. When Luna had brought me here, I was a bit overwhelmed at the size of the place. Several tall towers ascended into the air above it, and a small creek flowed in front of it. We walked past several stained glass windows, bright and colorful, helping the torches counteract the dark stones. They apparently depicted scenes from Equestria’s past. I wasn’t sure what any of them meant, though. One did depict Luna and Celestia. It showed them circling the sun and the moon. I noticed how little emphasis was placed on the stars and moon. I guess that the day-loving ponies of Equestria would favor the sun. In the courtyard, several guards were at their stations. They were different colors, but I noticed that quite a few were pegasi. I remembered reading about the pony tribes, and I knew the pegasi had been the best warriors. While the original pegasus city was lost, the city of Cloudsdale was said to be even more amazing. Being a unicorn, I could never visit, which irritated me. I decided I was going to figure out a way to go. But I put the thought aside for now and looked over at Luna, concerned. She hadn’t said anything since we’d left the throne room. “Luna?” I asked. “Are you alright?” “Hmm?” she looked up. “Oh, yes. I was just wondering what caused the storm.” “Well, hopefully we'll know soon. That is why we’re going to the Crystal Empire, after all.” “Yes.” We continued out through the gate, and crossed the stream. Around us, ponies were going about their everyday business. They all said “Princess” when they passed by, dipping their heads in acknowledgement to Luna. I stayed silent, just walking beside her. Every time I opened my mouth to greet anypony, they’d just turn their noses and walk off. It made my ear twitch in annoyance, but I knew that many of the ponies who occupied the city were the so called ‘elite’ of Equestria. “Sorry.” said Luna, after the fifth pony. “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” I paused, then said “is it my mane?” She looked at me. “No, it looks great.” “But not as sophisticated as theirs?” She smiled, and we continued onward. After a minute I asked, “Where is Starswirl meeting us?” “At the train station.” “You have trains?” “Of course, why?” “Nothing.” I was more confused than ever. Trains and indoor plumbing, but no electricity. I guess it didn’t matter, but it was weird. ___________________________________________ It took us several hours to get what we would need. We went to the train station and waited for a long time. “Where is he?” I asked, growing impatient. “I don't know.” said Luna. “The train leaves soon. He needs to be here.” “Who ya lookin’ for!?” a voice shouted from behind me. I jumped. Behind me was a gray stallion with a crazy white mane, and a broad smile. His bright violet eyes crackled with energy. “Looking for me?” he said. I managed to stutter out an eloquent line of gibberish. “Starswirl!” said Luna. “You made it! Quick, on the train before it leaves.” She dragged both of us into the train car, and closed the door behind us. The inside pastel tan, with accents of green, red, and pink. This car was lined with seats. “The sleeper car is this way.” Luna said, walking through the door to the left. Starswirl somehow popped up next to me out of nowhere, grinning. “So, what’s your name?” he asked, talking quickly. “P-Polaris.” I said, taking a step away from him. “I… I take it you’re-“ “Starswirl?” he said, inexplicably ending up on my other side. “That would be me! Why're you going?” “What?” “Why're you going with Luna?” “Well, it was my idea to go.” “Yes, but are you going with her, or are you going with her?” “What?!” “Nothing!” he said, bouncing away. I stared after him, shocked. This was Starswirl? I followed Luna into the sleeper car. The door furthest from me on the right was open. I walked down to it and looked in. Luna was in there, waiting. “This is ours.” she declared. “Which bunk do you want?” “I… I don’t care.” I said, not wanting to choose before her. “Which one do you want?” “Oh, okay then.” she looked around, then pointed to the top bunk on the right. “I think I’ll take this one.” “Okay.” I said. I looked around to, and selected the one across from her. Pointing, I said, “I’ll take that one.” “Okay then.” she said. “Where's Starswirl?” Naturally, he chose this moment to pop up next to me again. “Hiya!” he said. “Which one is mine?” “Whichever one of the bottom bunks you want.” I said. “Darn! I like the top bunks.” I glanced at him, then lowered my head. “You can have mine, I don’t really care.” “Really? Thanks!” he started to move forward, then froze. “Uh... which one is it?” I pointed. “Thanks!” he said, then jumped up onto the bunk with a giant leap. He turned over and crashed immediately. While he snored comically, Luna laughed quietly and we left the room. “Is he always that way?” I asked. “Usually,” she said, “But I also think he had some sugar before he got here.” “Oh.” The train jerked forward unexpectedly, which caused us to stumble, and our lips met. I pulled back, blushing violently. “L-looks like we’re on our way.” I said, nervously. “Do you want to get something to eat?” “Sure.” We walked through the train cars, not passing anypony else. It looked like Celestia had given us our own train. In the dining car, we started to serve ourselves. “Salt block?” asked Luna. “No!” I shouted, panicking. “No salt!” “What?” she asked. “Uh... bad, well, weird experience. Just… no salt. Please?” “Okay.” she said. We sat down, and started to eat. The food was good, it seemed more flavorful than anything I remembered… oops. I teared up a little as my memory failed me, again. “What is it?” Luna asked, concerned. “Just… just my memory.” I said. “Oh.” After a minute of silence, she asked, “What… what happened?” “What do you mean?” “Why did you get so upset about the salt?” “Oh.” I blushed. I motioned for her to come closer. “Well, you see, when I was travelling with the Doctor…” ___________________________________________ It took me nearly an hour to explain, by the end of which she was blushing too. “Sorry I pried.” she said. “I do understand. Nopony can really control themselves if they have that much salt. I know you didn't... didn't mean anything by what you did. It is a little funny though.” She cracked a smile. “The thing is… I… I think he… liked it. Because he... he did it back.” She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe.” We sat in silence, thinking, and I turned to the window. Outside, the forest was passing by us in a green and brown blur. “Luna, about earlier…” I started. “What I wanted to say… in the hospital. Luna, I think… well…” “Yes?” she said, leaning forward, expectantly. I struggled with the words. “I guess I… I l-” At this precise moment, Starswirl banged the door to the dining car open. “What is there to eat!?” he asked flamboyantly, “I am starving!” He walked over and started serving himself. I blushed and shrunk back in my seat. He made his way over to our table and sat down. “How are you?” I asked tentatively. I hoped he had been on a sugar high. I’m not sure I could stand him being that way for the entire journey. “Better, thanks.” he said. He seemed calmer than earlier, but still energetic. He started to eat. After a few bites, he looked up at me. “Luna says you helped her with her magic.” he said, conversationally. “Yes, I did.” I said. “Do you think you could help me with something?” he asked. He didn’t seem nearly as nervous as Luna had been when she’d asked me. “What?” “I have been working on my spell-work, and I thought we could take a crack at it together.” “Oh, cool.” I paused. “What exactly did you have in mind?” “Oh, just some basic magic. I just thought maybe you could help me multi-task. Luna told me about what you did with the fountain.” “She… she did?” I was surprised, and a little embarrassed. “Yep.” I looked him over. “Okay.” “Thanks!” He immediately recommenced with the demolishment of his meal. I looked down at my plate. I didn’t really feel hungry anymore. I got up and took my plate over to the counter, and left it there. I returned to the table and sat down. “Well, where do you want to start?” I asked. “What, now?” he asked. “Yes, now. When did you expect?” “Okay.” I levitated an empty plate and several forks over from the counter, all one at a time. Then, I lifted them all into the air at once, and started the forks spinning around the plate. I set it all down and had him try it. He got it pretty quickly, and I didn’t have to repeat very much. After that, I used the color-change spell on several plates at once, changing them all different colors. He did it… with mixed results. “Ah!” I ducked as a plate flew at my head. Luna and I had taken cover behind an upended table. Unfortunately for us, the plates were learning to get around this minor difficulty. “What did I do wrong!?” yelled Starswirl, joining us behind the table. “I don’t know!” I shouted back. “Can’t you stop it?” He lit up his horn for a second, but the only result was the plates’ attacks intensifying. “That didn't work!” he shouted as he dodged another multi-colored plate. “Let me try!” Still avoiding the flying plates, I jumped out from behind the table and cast a spell that I hoped would destroy the spell Starswirl had cast. I managed to get the plates to slow down a bit, but they still flew around at dangerous speeds. I ran back behind the table. “Tell me exactly what you did!” I yelled. He explained what he’d done. I face-hoofed. “You do not EVER make a small spell last that long! Or this happens!” I pointed frantically around at the multicolored plates rocketing around the train car. “Sorry!” Now that I knew what he’d done, I was easily able to diffuse the spell-bound plates. I sat in a chair, panting. Starswirl had managed to put a very strong spell on them. The horrible thing about the spell he’d created, was that it took a lot more energy to stop it than it took to start it. Luna brought me a glass of water, which I gladly accepted. After I’d managed to calm my breathing down, I looked over at Starswirl. He was poking at the ground with a hoof, occasionally glancing back over at me. “It’s not your fault.” I said. “How is it not?” he asked, skeptical. “Who taught you to use magic?” “L-Luna helped.” That made sense. “Well, maybe I can help.” I looked him up and down appraisingly. “Would you like me to?” “Yes, please.” “Okay then. We can do that tomorrow. But right now, I’m going to bed. Good night.” They said “good night” as I dragged myself off of the chair and walked back to the sleeper car. I got into one of the lower bunks without thinking, and slipped into sleep immediately. ___________________________________________ I was there again. The house was now just a burnt skeleton. A dead, blackened ruin, ash-covered and decrepit. I sat there looking, tears running down my face. Waves of sadness rolled over me, twisting my sorrows in my chest like a knife. Above, stars shone, twinkling down on me, their light drowned by the distant glow of the city. A bright moon shone behind me, casting my shadow far in front of me. I stared into it, it was so unfamiliar, but I couldn’t remember what was. I didn’t know. Behind me, the moonlight intensified briefly, and then I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I turned my head slightly, looking behind me. Luna stood next to me, her face sad. She sat, and I returned my gaze to the house. Before long, I finally broke down. I hugged her, and sobbed into her shoulder. She hugged me back, wrapping her wings around me, holding me close to her. She didn’t say anything, we just stayed there. Time lost all meaning as we stayed, locked in an embrace. ___________________________________________ I woke to find that the real Luna was holding me as closely as she had been in my dream, her soft wings wrapped around me. Both of us were still crying. I pulled back and gazed into her blue eyes, and she looked back. I could see myself reflected in them. My reflection was stranger than my shadow, and that hurt worse than anything. When she did let me go, I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear away the clouds in my vision. “Thank you.” I whispered. She nodded. I could tell she still blamed herself, despite what I’d told her. We got up and left the compartment and walked to the dining car. I wasn’t at all hungry, but Luna convinced me to eat a light breakfast. I let my thoughts wander aimlessly as I slowly ate. At some point, Starswirl came in. “Morning!” he said. I just nodded, staring into space. He sat down next to me. “What d'you want to do today?” “Hmm?” “We will not reach the Crystal Empire for another two days, so what do you plan on doing?” “I don’t really know.” I was telling the truth. I’d brought a book, but that wasn’t really much, and to be honest, I didn’t feel like reading at the moment. “Any ideas?” I asked. Starswirl thought on this. “Well, we could work with magic some more.” I looked over at him. He seemed pretty excited about the idea. He must have enjoyed yesterday, despite the prismatic madness. I thought about it, but I couldn’t see the harm. “Fine.” I said. “But can we please try to avoid a repeat of yesterday?” Starswirl smiled sheepishly. “Yeah.” After we’d finished eating- it took Starswirl a long time, he continually kept getting more food- we got to work. He wasn’t that bad, but he kept getting overexcited, which made his magic erratic. At least he managed not to set fire to anything (cough cough). He also managed not to repeat his mistake from last night. He was willing to learn from his mistakes, and I learned a thing or two as well, it wasn’t at all one sided. I grew to like him. He was a bit hyperactive, but he was very friendly. At some point, Luna left, saying she “needed more sleep”. Once we’d finished, I went back to the sleeper car, while Starswirl attacked another plate of food. I laid on my bunk and pulled out the magic book Luna had given me. I read that for several hours, learning everything I could. The book was fascinating, containing spells of all kinds. I tried a few of them, and they went alright. A memory kept trying to surface, and I struggled with it, but all I got from it was a headache. I knew it had something to do with magic, and it irritated me to not be able to remember. After several minutes, the only thing I got out of it was the letter H. Whoop-de-doo. I eventually laid down to sleep, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to return to the burnt house. Unfortunately, my body had other ideas. ___________________________________________ I must have dozed off at some point, because I opened my eyes, and it was morning. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, lighting up the compartment. Dust motes streamed in the golden shafts created by the window panes. I stretched in the sunlight, and pulled myself off of my bed. I picked up the magic book, and looked inside. We wouldn’t be arriving in the Crystal Empire until the next day. I decided I’d try something a bit more difficult… how about teleportation. I read through the pages, memorizing the information. It was a ridiculously easy piece of magic, but it required a good deal of energy. I chose my destination, the dining car. It didn’t matter that we were moving, the spell made that irrelevant. I cast the spell, and in a flash of light, I materialized in the dining car. “Yes!” I shouted “HA!” Luna and Starswirl were at a table, eating. They were now both staring at me, jaws hanging loose. I ignored them, and proceeded to bounce around their table, laughing maniacally, shouting “Yesyesyesyesyes! Ha ha ha!” Starswirl was the first to get over his shock. He shouted “Cool!” Luna unfroze. “Look.” she said, pointing at my flank. “What?” I asked, turning to look. On my flank, a cutie mark had appeared. It was a blue six-pointed star, with a white four-pointed star inside. “What does that mean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Well,” said Starswirl, “six-points like that usually have to do with magic. I have no idea what the four-point is though.” “So… my special talent is… what? Magic?” “Looks like it!” he said, grinning. “Luna said you were good, but I did not think you were that good!” “Cool!” I said. I sat down next to them, then levitated a plate and some food through the air, bringing it to rest in front of me. “Show off.” said Starswirl. I realized then that he was a blank-flank. “Oh, sorry.” I said. “I didn’t mean anything…” “I know.” he said. “I’m pretty old to not have one, but if you found yours, I guess that means I can find mine.” ___________________________________________ Luna’s Point of View ___________________________________________ One moment, Polaris was in front of us, grinning like Starswirl when he was on a sugar high. The next, his eyes rolled upward and he collapsed. I rushed around the table to him. He was... asleep? “What happened?” I asked. “Has he ever teleported?” asked Starswirl. “No. Why?” He glanced over at me, then started trying to lift Polaris. While he struggled, he said “Teleportation is easy, but it can take a lot out of you. And the first time… the first time is always the worst.” “So that is why-” I started. “-he collapsed.” he finished for me. “Help me get him into his bunk so he can sleep it off.” I helped him lift Polaris, and we half-carried him back to the sleeper car. We laid him on his bunk, and I tucked him in. His sleeping face looked peaceful, unlike the other night. I’d found him while I’d been walking through the sleeping minds of my subjects. It hurt to see him in so much pain. I’d tried to comfort him, but I was still concerned. And despite what Celestia and Polaris said, it still felt like my fault. I brushed a wild strand of his mane off of his face, then turned to leave. Starswirl was watching us attentively. He smiled at me, but I could see the glint of sadness in his eyes. He looked away and nodded, still smiling, but now it was a sad smile. I followed him out of the compartment, leaving Polaris to sleep. ___________________________________________ Polaris’s Point of View ___________________________________________ I opened my eyes and groaned. My body was sore. I was on my bunk, somehow. I wondered how I’d gotten there. “What happened?” I asked. “You passed out.” said Luna. She was sitting beside me. “Why?” I pushed myself upright, my muscles protesting slightly. “You've never teleported before, right?” “Yes. And?” I asked, perplexed. Then it hit me. “I’ve never teleported before.” The funny thing about teleport spells, is that the first time you do it, it’s a lot harder than any other time. Oh ha ha ha, I’m soooo amused. “How long was I out?” I asked. “The rest of the day and the entire night. We should reach the Crystal Empire in an hour.” “That long?” She nodded, and helped me out of my bunk. It took me a second to get my balance, then we walked to the dining car. After I’d eaten (Luna and Starswirl had already done so), we went to the passenger car to wait. After several minutes, the trees had given away to rolling green hills, and then I saw it, the Crystal Empire. The most notable feature was the castle, with its spire towering above everything in sight. The houses and shops radiated outward from the castle, the roads in a snowflake pattern. Everything sparkled and shined in the sunlight, the crystal that made up the place dazzling. The train came to a stop at the station, and we stood. We walked to the doors, which Starswirl opened. We exited the train, and turned towards the stairs down from the platform. Waiting for us was a charcoal grey stallion with a black mane. He smiled happily and waved us over. “Welcome to the Crystal Empire!” he declared. “I'm Sombra.”