“We made it!”
I gasped and nearly jumped for joy as we crested the hill we’d been climbing and saw where we were. The others came up beside me—carefully avoiding each others’ gazes, as they’d been giving each other the silent treatment—and we all took a moment of silent relief that our trek was nearly done.
We’d just gotten our first glimpse of Ponyville in weeks, and it was a truly welcome sight.
Well, it was for me, at least. The others seemed somewhat less enthused.
“That’s it?” Starlight asked. “You’re seriously telling me a Princess lives in this backwater little hovel?”
As we traveled, I’d told Starlight some of what I knew of the world, and though she still seemed suspicious of my tale, she listened to it all intently. She was probably running her thoughts at full-speed trying to find holes in the things I said, but she hadn’t found any so far if she was.
“Well, she’s not a Princess yet,” I said.
“And she never will be,” Trixie said, “not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Trixie, come on,” I said. “You realize how that sounds, right?”
Trixie shot me an exaggeratedly insulted look. “Really, do you have no faith in me?”
“It did kind of sound like you wanted to take her out,” Starlight said.
“I would never!” Trixie huffed. “I simply meant that the position would be going to the rightful pony—me.”
“We’ll see,” I said. I waved them along, and we resumed our trek, aiming to skirt around the edge of Ponyville and to our true goal, the Everfree Forest. “Twilight had to do some wild stuff to become a Princess.”
“And even if you did manage it, they would never let you rule,” Starlight added. “They’d have to change the whole terminology.”
Trixie’s face went red, but I cut in quickly before she could escalate things further. “Seriously, you two,” I said, “can’t you at least try to get along?We’re the Elements of Harmony, remember? We’re supposed to be friends! There’s no way Starlight will be able to use one if you two hate each other.”
“Tell that to her, not to me,” Trixie said. “I’ve done nothing but defend myself.”
“Oh, please. I’m not going to blind myself to the facts in front of my face just to appease some prissy little magician who—”
I groaned. I really needed to learn to stop trying to mediate between them. I just needed to tune them out and get to the castle.
…
“—some wannabe cult leader who—”
…
“—great and powerful pain in everypony’s—”
…
“—least I have friends, unlike—”
“ENOUGH!” I shouted and stomped my hoof. The Element wrapped around my leg made a loud clang, and it brought the other two to a halt as they turned to stare at me. “I’m done! I can’t listen to any more of this. You can tell Nightmare Moon that she can come and get me once she’s gotten you two far away from each other.”
With that, and one final glare to the both of them, I turned and stomped into Ponyville. The last thing I heard before I got out of earshot was a very faint, “You see what you did now?”
I didn’t have anywhere specific to go. I just walked aimlessly, cooling my head, glancing absentmindedly at the shops and markets I passed by without really seeing anything. I was too frustrated, too sick of hearing other ponies speak, and all I could really think to do was just walk and walk until my head was clear of thoughts.
I was doing a decent job at it, too, until I was interrupted.
“Oh, hello, Starfall!”
I jumped at the sound of somepony suddenly addressing me. I turned to see Rarity, a pleasant smile on her face. Beside her was Spike, carrying a heavy basket of fabrics that looked like they’d just been purchased, and based on the quantity, it looked like she may well have purchased some pony’s entire stock. Spike, seeing that Rarity had stopped, set the basket down with a sigh of relief and waved at me.
“Oh, hi, Rarity,” I said. “And hi to you, too, Spike. What are you two up to?”
“Oh, just some light afternoon shopping,” Rarity said, “you know how it is. You really never know what you may find, and today I saw these lovely textiles that I simply had to have. I do generally order my materials from elsewhere, but some company in a big metropolis can never quite capture the rugged earnestness of hoof-crafted, small town products. Hmm, speaking of which…” She leaned to the side and looked me over briefly. “Starfall, dearie, would you like to come model for me? I’ve had a wonderful idea for a whole new line of suits for the less… Femininely inclined mares out there, and—oh, not that I’m making any assumptions about you, of course, but I do think you would look positively handsome in a good suit. I was going to petition Rainbow Dash to model, and I’m sure I still will, but it would be quite nice to have somepony a tidbit more average. Rainbow Dash is just such an outlier, so lean and lanky, and oh, don’t even get me started on Applejack.”
“Psst… Rarity,” Spike whispered, tapping her gently on the side.
“Hm? What is it, Spikey?”
“You need to actually let her talk if you want her to answer your question, you know,” Spike told her.
“Oh!” A light blush tinged Rarity’s cheeks, and she chuckled softly. “Do pardon me, I can get awfully carried away sometimes.”
“No, it’s no problem,” I said. Listening to her had actually helped to clear my head quite a bit, so I was able to give her a genuine smile, which seemed to put her at ease. “As far as modeling, umm, I suppose I could give it a try sometime? I’ve never done it before, though, so I can’t really promise anything.”
“Oh, nonsense, you’ll be perfect. Come, come, let me show you to the boutique!”
“Wh—Right now?” Rarity was suddenly beside me, pushing me gently down the road that apparently led to her home.
“Well, I see no reason why not, unless you had other plans? I certainly couldn’t take you from anypony else,” Rarity said, “but dawdling gets us nowhere in life!”
“I mean, I guess I don’t have other plans, but…” I searched and searched for excuses, but couldn’t find anything plausible.
Before I knew it, Rarity had ushered me into her home, made me tea, and pulled out box after box of supplies and materials. She had me up on her stage in a flash, and started swirling measuring tapes and needles and strips of fabric all through the air around us as she prepared.
As I stood there, getting progressively dizzier, Spike suddenly spoke up from nearby. “Oh, I just thought of something! Rarity, would you mind if I went and got Twilight?”
Rarity gave him an appraising look. “Whatever for? Not that I’m ever not thrilled to see her, it just seems an odd thought to have.”
“Well, she’s been wanting to talk to Starfall for a while now,” Spike explained. “Something about a zebra? I didn’t really get it, but she made it sound important.”
I tensed up. There were very few things I could think of that Twilight would want to talk to me about, and even less that involved a zebra. Could it be that she—OW!
I yelped, and Rarity tsked at me as she pulled back the needle she’s accidentally pricked me with. “Now, Starfall, you really must be more still. I wouldn’t want to hurt you!” She put the needle away, along with her other supplies, and briefly hopped off the stage. “As for your suggestion, Spike, it sounds like a wonderful idea. You go and fetch her, and I’ll prepare some more tea. Perhaps even some snacks. Starfall, do you like—”
I heard Rarity talking to me, but I could only nod numbly in reply. I was too busy freaking out about what Twilight could possibly want to talk about.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
First!
Well at least they won't be able to falsely accuse zecora. I found twilight behavior horrible. She didn't even ask for help from her teacher who probably would have straighten them all out. And apple bloom wasn't gone that long turnings her into a meal would have taken a little while.
So did the Tree of Harmony just decide it wanted a challenge this time around?
This sucks. Starfall is most likely the element of kindness (or the equivalent) for how perfectly what's going on here reflects the time where Fluttershy became a model just because she couldn't say no.
She doesn't want to see Twilight but she's going to because of social anxiety, the same way she didn't want to model for Rarity but did anyway because of her social anxiety.
I'm not getting on Starfall's case about this, but I hope there comes a point in the story where she understands that this is an unhealthy mindset, and that she gets some character growth like Fluttershy did that gives her the strength to not get walked over anymore.
11247250
I believe it's actually because Twilight is very pushy about wanting to study the elements,
and because she broke her promise of letting her have Starlight's magic staff.
Should have made her do a Pinkie Promise
11247495
Yes Twilight was very pushy about trying to study Starfall. Yes, Rarity was pushy when she roped Starfall into modelling while directly insulting her. Yes, Trixie was being pushy when she convinced Starfall to mess up the timeline in the first place.
The fact remains that Starfall buckling under social pressure is not only a massive part of her character at this point, but the driving force behind the direction of much of the story, too. It's a terrible flaw to have as a person because even your friends start to learn to take advantage of you for it. Starfall doesn't really seem to be suffering so much from it yet but I really don't want to see it happen.
Got enough of that crap in my own life.
11247242
Sometimes you just crave the difficulty of Hard Mode.
11247876
Funny thing, I think that actually exists... as another name for a UV light (the sort used to make pee or other nasty liquids glow in the dark).
11248169
All communism, no capitalism.
The hilarity doesn't stop!
I just binged this in a single sitting. That was enthralling. And hilarious!
Twilight's asking about Zecora? Methinks she's seen through her lies (it was briefly assumed that Starfall lived with Zecora)
11248308
they are very much capitalist.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rainerzitelmann/2019/07/08/chinas-economic-success-proves-the-power-of-capitalism/?sh=4dfbeaab3b9d
it's not much different from the western democracy actually. capitalism is the financial ideology and used in the private sector, public sector mainly controlled by bureaucrats came from promotions and qualifications. at the very top, communism and democracy are used in policymaking, and future planning.
11250414
You have no clue as to what you are talking about. All the businesses in China are directly connected to its government in some manner, meaning there IS no "private sector".
As for the supposed "success" they're having... why is it that investors around the world are pulling out of there as fast as they can?
You're starting to sound like you're part of the 50 Cent Army (especially since your Engrish not so good), so I'll leave it here Mr. Wumao.