Chapter 3: Ponyville, has some colorful individuals
Star Well and Screwball reached Ponyville at sundown. Both were exhausted from the long journey so Star decided that it was probably best that they got some sleep since all the shops had closed and he didn't want to disturb the student of Princess Celestia so late in the evening. They got rooms at the local inn called Sleep Tight. He made plans with Screwball to wake up at sunrise for the next day. They went to their respective rooms and Star stated unpacking for his stay in Ponyville.
That night, sleep came easy for Star. Even with the afternoon's events running through his head and the excitement for tomorrow's events, he found that that he was far too tired to think clearly. Besides, sleeping in an actual bed was a thought that was all too comforting.
After waking up the mare from her coma like sleep, Star Well and Screwball enjoyed the breakfast, courtesy of the inn, and discussed their plans for the day. "O.K. I made a checklist of all the things we need to accomplish on this trip. We have a lot of ground to cover so it's probably best we split up for the day." he could see a frown start to grow on the Screwball's face when he interjected "Don't worry, this trip is also about having fun too. That's why I think you should go and get familiar with the place so you can find what we can do later. It could also do you some good to see if you can remember or recognize landmarks and other ponies."
Star reached into his pouch and pulled out a small bag and gave it to Screwball. "Here's a couple bits for when you get hungry, all I would like you to do today is place an order for Zap Apple Jam at the apple farm for the end of the week. Just don't go spending it all at once. We'll meet back up here dusk, O.K.?" Screwball smiled and headed out the door. "I hope we both find what we are looking for."
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Screwball flew out the door with Star Well's words heavy on her mind. 'Maybe I should tell him...' No, she rejected the idea as quickly as it came, he would run away just like the others. The very mention of Discord frightened ponies away and if he found that she was Discords creation... She threw the thoughts away as they swarmed her head. It was bad to focus on such negative thoughts. He wouldn't hate her for what she was, besides she was no longer connected to Discord, The Elements blast had freed her from her creator, it stabilized her chaotic existence and made her whole. She was a whole new breed of pony, a chaos pony. She found, like all ponies, she had a connection to magic, but hers was unique, her magic was wild. She suddenly had knowledge and would say things she didn't fully understand and she could do things that no earth pony could do.
Discord had created her out of boredom and discarded her just as quickly. After the blast, she found she could actually think. No longer was she a mindless puppet, she had been made real. The moments after of her rebirth were a blur, the earliest thing she could fully remember is when she finally got tired and found an open window with a bed to sleep on. From there, she met Star and for the first time, she felt happy.
Just then, Screwball noticed a cyan blue mare with a rainbow mane sleeping on a cloud above Ponyville. A devilish grin came upon Screwballs face as a perfect idea went through her head. Oooh, she was going to have fun.
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"Ouuuch..." As soon as Star left the inn, a grey, cross-eyed pegasus crashed into him knocking onto his side.
"Huh. Usually that hurts more when I hit the ground" the mare to turned her head to the side, somehow not noticing she had just landed on somepony.
"Ditzy!!" shouted a brown stallion has he rushed to the scene "I think it would be probably best if you got off the lad." he had a curious accent that Star had never heard before, though he was more worried about the surprisingly heavy pegasus that sat on top of him at the moment.
"Oh!!! Oops, Sorry..." The mare finally lifted herself off Star looking especially apologetic.
"Please forgive my assistant, she has a problem with her eyesight every now and then but she's a good pony" The brown Stallion helped Star stand up as he regained his posture.
"It's alright, it's not the first time I have been flown into..." Star Well shook the dust off him and stated "No harm, no foul. Is she alright?"
"Don't worry, I'm fine" grinned the Mare as her eyes corrected themselves. "My name's Ditzy Doo. What's yours?"
"I'm Star Well."
"Oh my gosh! Doctor isn't that-"
"Ssshhhh, Ditzy. We don't want to cause any damage again."
"Damage, what?-"
"Sorry to be so rude but we best be off, lots of things to do and all that. See you later Star Well." The brown stallion started galloping away grabbing Ditzy by the hoof as Star Well was left confounded.
"What just happened?"
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Screwball crept quietly in the air as she got closer to the sleeping mare. Trying to hold back a giggle, Screwy lifted up her hat and pulled out an unusual item. She did her best to cover her ears as she pushed the button on top.
BLERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sound of the blow horn almost caused Rainbow Dash to fall off her cloud. Dash looked around for the cause of whatever had caused her nearly to go deaf but found nopony in sight. Confused and a little paranoid, Dash reluctantly laid back down on her cloud and kept one eye open looking at her surroundings.
BLEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sound startled her again as it came from behind her. Dash furiously looked again at where the sound came from but found empty sky again. "That's impossible. There's nowhere to hide except...!" Dash dissipated her cloud with a kick to reveal a mare with the guiltiest grin on her face holding the blow horn. "Oh, it is ON!!!" shouted Dash pulled back her imaginary sleeves.
"Tag, your it" The chaotic pony quickly tagged Dash and sped off in the most erratic flight pattern ever seen in the sky's of Ponyville. Dash responded by grinding her teeth as she set off to catch the crazed mare.
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"Excuse me, does a mare by the name of Lyra Heartstrings live here?" Star had finally reached his second stop after the incident with the cross-eyed mare. He finished visiting the town hall for a little history and decided to meet the acclaimed human expert before he went to meet Twilight Sparkle. The house that she lived in though was identical to all the other houses on the street and he had knocked on two doors before a house owner finally told him where to go.
"Well hello there, yes Lyra lives here with me. By the way, my name is Bon-Bon. Feel free to call me up if you change your mind."
"What? I am afraid I don't underst-"
"Lyra, a hot stallion at the door calling for your name."
"Miss, I'm afraid you misunderstand..." Bon-Bon apparently was could not hear Star as she dragged him into the house while continuing to call for Lyra.
"Tell him I'm not here at the moment!!" shouted a voice that seemed to be coming from bathroom.
"Lyra, don't blow another one off. Ponies will start thinking you're a fillyfooler if this keeps up!"
"I don't care!!!" shouted Lyra, her voice getting more frustrated.
"Maybe I should come at a different time-"
"Oh, nonsense. I can get her out." she let out a very audible sigh and then shouted "IF YOU DON'T COME OUT RIGHT NOW, I AM GOING TO THROW THAT HUNK OF METAL YOU CALL AN 'ENGINE' RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW!!!"
"You WOULDN'T" Lyra gasped
"Try me." After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, the door to the bathroom opened slowly to reveal a mint green mare with the most fantastic of beards. 'The mares in this town are crazy' thought Star.
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"By Celestia, she's good." Dash had been chasing the mare for a good 30 minutes and had yet to get close enough to catch her. Dash knew she was much faster in a straight-away but nothing the mare did seemed straight least of all her flying. Every time Dash started to catch up, the mare would suddenly switch directions, losing no speed in the process. This made Dash get more and more frustrated. She vowed to catch this mare and give her what's coming.
The two flew through the streets startling pony after pony, things kept getting trickier as they flew to a more crowded area. What infuriated Rainbow Dash even more was the look of pure joy and excitement on pastel violet mare as she flew through down the streets.
A rope suddenly then landed and tightened around both Dash and Screwball, and with a yank, caused both mares to a stop and become grounded.
"What in tarnation is goin' on here!?!
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After Bon-Bon had stopped laughing, Lyra finally allowed told Star how she had obtained her ridiculous facial hair. "I was trying to do the Anthropromorphic Spell again and I was so close, but something went wrong and I started becoming turning into transforming into a male instead of a female. I panicked and stop the spell, but now I can't seem to get rid of this. Even when I cut it, it grows right back as fast as it came"
"Let me have a look. It's my job to solve arcane problems" He admittedly found the beard amusing, but was proud that he managed to keep it in. As he started his scanning spell to detect the formula of the spell, he noticed how nervous the mare was. In an effort to make her feel less awkward he started to engage her in small talk. "The Anthropromorphic Spell huh, that's one of the most complicated spells in existence. I'm surprised that you would know that spell."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the mare snapped.
'Great, I managed to get her angry. I have such a way with mares' he thought. "I didn't mean anything by it, it just that spell is usually kept under surveillance because of the things that can go easily wrong. Starswirl himself got his namesake because of a side effect from the spell."
"You think I am going to have this beard forever like Starswirl?" 'Way to go, now you made her worried.
"If you weren't obsessing about humans all the time and go out once and a while, this probably would of happened." stated Bon-Bon as she started to off. "If you two need me, I'll be in the kitchen."
Star decided to change the subject quickly before Bon-Bon words set in. "I read your thesis on human society and their use of hands. I found it quite fascinating."
"Really?" Lyra's ears perked up.
"Really. I am surprised how much was learned from the fossilized remains. I do find it hard to believe though the claims of things they could do without magic, like flying or even going into space."
"It's true! They really could do those things!" The two discussed the theories on human society for a couple of minutes until his scanning spell was complete. He was thankful for that the problem was only a persistent remnant of the spell and he quickly dispelled it and watched as the beard fell off all at once.
...
Lyra continued to thank him as got ready to leave. "Isn't there anything I could do for you?"
"Don't worry about it. It was a simple remnant, anypony could have gotten rid of it once they knew what they were looking for."
Star Well started to head out the door when Lyra stopped him and asked "Would you at least promise to visit me again sometime."
"Sure, no problem." Star smiled then headed out the door. Now it was time he dealt with what brought him here in the first place. 'Next stop, Ponyville's library.'
She-Who-Stalked-Silently walked into the throne room to see the Queen as she sat upon her golden throne. She bowed before the monarch in respect of her power that she possessed and for the fear her oppressive presense placed on the room.
"Rise mercenary, no need for such formalities, not for what we are about to discuss." She-Who-Stalked-Silently rose from her feet to face the entity on the throne. The Queen seemed bored as she spoke. "I have heard all about you. They say you took out an entire squadron of Roaches before any of them noticed your presense. They say you earned your name when you slew the general of the Fire Ants army.
"The stories exaggerate your majesty, the squad was missing 2 members already."She-Who-Stalked-Silently smiled as she remembered the incident. It felt good when her enemies were helpless before her, not knowing when or where she would strike.
"That is good to hear. I have a mission for you." The Queen raised one hand and a steward rushed toward She-Who-Stalked-Silently with a scroll in hand. "All the information you'll need is in that scroll. I trust that you can obtain your targets without killing them?"
"It shouldn't be a problem."
"Good. I need all six alive. I also trust you know what happens to those who fail me."