Starlight Glimmer Makes Many Mistakes

by MagicS

Fun in the Forest

“I still really don’t like how you’re using this as an excuse to do whatever you want.”

“It’s fine Spike. Nothing bad will happen. And besides, we’ve got Twilight, Starswirl, Discord, the Elements of Harmony, and a whole bunch of other stuff to fix any problems. I think we’re stacked.”

“Twilight still wouldn’t be happy to hear about this.”

“Well then Spike,” Starlight put a hoof around his shoulders. “I’m just going to tell you what Trixie has told me many times: What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.”

Spike was unamused. He brushed off her hoof before retorting. “Starlight, you don’t need to tell me that. I’ve told myself that many times in the past. It still doesn’t make it good or something you should be proud of.”

“Meh.” The pony shrugged.

The two continued on in the Everfree with Starlight having officially given up on responsibility. It was now her time to do what she thought were good things and to fix mistakes or problems in the past. Or just do anything she thought was a good deed. So her heart was at least in the right place, if not her head. Oh and have fun while doing it. So maybe the heart wasn’t entirely in the right place either.

“So what now?” Spike asked her.

“Now we are going to make the Everfree a safer place for the ponies of Ponyville. How many times has some monster caused problems for that town anyways?” Starlight said. “We’re also going to make it safer to travel through in general.”

“Uh-huh.” Spike said, unconvinced. “And how are you going to do that? This place is magic and the Tree of Harmony is the only thing that really keeps it at bay.”

Starlight rubbed her chin, thinking for a bit. “Hm, that’s a good point Spike. Well for now we’ll focus on the monsters and dangerous creatures in here. I know a lot of ponies who’d be happy if we just got rid of the Timberwolves.”

“I’m glad that you’re at least not going to try messing with the Tree of Harmony.” Spike sighed in relief.

Starlight smirked as she looked back at him over her shoulder. “Not yet at least. Besides, from what Twilight told me about it it sounds like the Tree was mostly dormant until the girls all put their Elements back inside it. And even I don’t want to mess with something that important right now.”

“Good to hear.” Spike sarcastically quipped.

Starlight ignored him though and kept walking through the forest. “I’m kind of surprised we haven’t come across any horrible beasts yet though. Do they only show up when you don’t want them to?”

“Maybe they can just sense the crazy unicorn and are smart enough to stay away from her.”

“I’ll keep that theory open.”

Without Zecora around yet the two of them were the only ones in the Everfree Forest at this time, making it even more desolate than the forest they knew. Starlight was getting bored of being unable to find any Timberwolves to get rid of or even anything like an ursa minor or manticore to relocate somewhere farther away from civilization. Maybe she should’ve just gone to clear the eels out of Ghastly Gorge. Perhaps all the two of them needed though was a little more time, night was almost upon them and then the monsters in the Everfree should grow more bold. At least that’s what Starlight and Spike both naturally figured, Fluttershy would know for sure but she wasn’t here right now.

“Spike can you think of anything else to take care of here?” Starlight asked the dragon.

“No, so we should just go somewhere else and not screw around with anything.” He said.

“Not an option, Spike.” Starlight snappily replied.

The two fought their way through a thicket of vines while Starlight continued to look for… anything. Still dead set on improving the Everfree Forest. The muddy ground, twisted trees and roots, plants that crowded out their vision and space for moving all made this an annoying effort.

It was actually pretty welcome when they stepped out into a clearing and found themselves surrounded by Timberwolves.

The growling and rattling of the twigs, branches and logs that made up their bodies grew more intense as the beasts practically salivated (as impossible as that was) at the two intruders into their domain.

Starlight however was unafraid.

“Perfect! Just what I was looking for.” She said as her horn lit up.

A tremendous blast of magic later and the poor Timberwolves were obliterated. They never stood a chance.

“Uh, Starlight? Was that really okay?” Spike asked, a little dismayed at what had just happened despite his previous encounters with Timberwolves.

“They’re magical monsters Spike, not animals. I wouldn’t do something like that to a manticore or vampire fruit bats.” She replied simply.

“I still get the feeling Fluttershy would cry if she just saw that.” Spike said.

“Well… maybe. But what else can you do with them?” Starlight said.

“Leave them alone?” Spike’s answer was logical.

“Oh please, you yourself have told me about the danger they can pose to ponies from Ponyville. I just did everypony a great service here.” Starlight refused to be dissuaded.

Spike looked past the clearing to the huge hole in the foliage Starlight’s blast of magic made.

“Well could you at least keep it to below Discord levels when you do that again? I don’t think it’s good to blow up large parts of the forest like that.”

Starlight chuckled and blushed in embarrassment. “Ehehe, I guess I did get a little carried away.”

Now that at least some Timberwolves were taken care of Starlight was feeling pretty good. Maybe eventually if she really wanted to do some good she could figure out why the Everfree was the way it was in the first place and stop it from being such a danger at all. That kind of research may have been more of a Twilight thing but if Starlight was stuck back here long enough it might be something worth considering. For now it was time to go searching for more monsters, she had no idea how many Timberwolves lived here but at least she knew she could take care of them. Things like the Cockatrice if she stumbled across it or any Pukwudgies she’d just have to relocate to a more remote part of the forest instead of vaporizing them like the wolves.

“Maybe if you feel like traveling later you can go up north and deal with the Bug Bears.” Spike “suggested”.

Starlight snorted. “If I end up having the time maybe I will. Come on, let’s keep going and see if we can find more Timberwolves.”

It was the dead of night now and the familiar Mare in the Moon shined down on the two of them, ominous and nostalgic at the same time. If Starlight bothered to think about it it would’ve been a strong reminder to not mess with the past too much, lest something like the wasteland she saw with Twilight come about. However Starlight didn’t bother to think about it and kept up her carefree attitude. Spike on the other hoof couldn’t help but think of how Luna was up there and what Twilight would think in this situation.

Sighing deeply Spike was surprised to suddenly shiver, only then realizing how cold it had gotten in the forest.

“Are we gonna be out here much longer? Can we find somewhere to stay for the night?” Spike asked Starlight.

“There are probably still more Timberwolves to deal with, Spike. I’ve barely gotten anything done.” She replied.

“Well yeah, you’ve only been at this for a few hours, can’t you just vaporize more helpless Timberwolves tomorrow?” Spike snidely remarked.

Before Starlight could continue on with their banter a massive roar tore through the forest around them. Spike looked around in alarm while Starlight just raised an eyebrow, waiting for whatever made that noise to come leaping out and attack them.

She didn’t have to wait long. As expected it was a manticore, the strong beast flying out from the brush and roaring once again in Starlight’s face.

Starlight, to her credit, was being considerate of Fluttershy’s feelings and decided to attempt a more diplomatic approach at first.

“Hello there.” She waved at the manticore. “Would you mind going somewhere further away from Ponyville?”

Unfortunately Starlight was not the Element of Kindness and most certainly did not have her way with animals.

The manticore raised its paw and prepared to swipe at Starlight. Spike covered his eyes and turned away while Starlight just shrugged resignedly and lit up her horn. The brief blast of magic that came from her this time was hardly devastating like what she used to deal with the Timberwolves. Just a simple beam of kinetic energy that knocked back and dropped the manticore, making it whine in pain and surprise. Once it got its bearings back and returned to its feet it started to limp off, grumbling the whole way, not wanting to continue on with this strange pony that so easily thumped it.

“Just don’t cause any trouble for other ponies!” Starlight called after it as it disappeared into the dark forest. She then turned to Spike and shrugged again with a nonchalant look on her face. “Hey, I tried at least.”

“I guess.” Spike said. Better than nothing, he thought.

Briefly satisfied, Starlight again looked up at the night sky. “Hm. I guess you’re right that it is pretty late. There’s nowhere for us to stay out here though and I don’t think going back to Ponyville would be a good idea right now.”

“As long as we can find a spot where we don’t wake up to find ourselves being eaten by Timberwolves I’ll call that a win.” Spike said.

“Well if that’s your concern then I should take more time to make sure there aren’t any more Timberwolves.” Starlight grinned at him.

“No! No please.” Spike shook his claws.

“That’s what I thought.”

The two went through the forest for a bit longer looking for anything that would make good shelter or perhaps another cave. Zecora’s future hut was placed in a nice clearing but who knows what that looked like now. Starlight and Spike just unfortunately didn’t have a great enough knowledge of the Everfree Forest and they ended up walking around aimlessly for a time, both of them getting tired and annoyed that after such a stressful two days they now couldn’t even find a nice place to rest.

That was until Spike suddenly stopped, jaw-dropping.

“Starlight, hold on.” Spike smacked himself in the face and looked up at the moon. “Ugh, I feel so stupid.”

“What is it?” Starlight asked him.

“I know the perfect place for us to stay in here.”

Comments

[TheHardie-Boy]

Before reading: oh boy, this can’t end well

After reading: that went a lot better than I thought. Either way, something bad’s gonna happen

[Starlight Glimmer1]

I wonder what would happen if someone cut the entire forest down…

“Meh.” The pony shrugged.

I agree.

[The Shadow]

Nothing really to say about this chapter, other than my usual brand of insanity.

Starlight ignored him though and kept walking through the forest. “I’m kind of surprised we haven’t come across any horrible beasts yet though. Do they only show up when you don’t want them to?”

“Maybe they can just sense the crazy unicorn and are smart enough to stay away from her.”

[RoyalBardofCanterlot]

Loving Spike's snark.

[Maud of Sterner Stuff]

Little does Starlight realize that eliminating the Timberwolves would destroy the Zap Apple business, potentially further altering the timeline by causing Barnyard Bargains to shut down, Filthy Rich to move away, and Diamond Tiara to never be born. But hey, she gave em what for.

Can’t wait to see what happens next. Hopefully it’s nowhere near Sweet Apple Acres.

[MagicS]

10562605
You're really zooming through my stories fast now!

[Kowhaifan]

Starlight rubbed her chin, thinking for a bit. “Hm, that’s a good point Spike. Well for now we’ll focus on the monsters and dangerous creatures in here. I know a lot of ponies who’d be happy if we just got rid of the Timberwolves.”

No more zap apples );