//------------------------------//
// Chapter 171 
// Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 1) 
// by CrazedLaughter 
//------------------------------//

"Well, here we are...So Anon, you mentioned you got to use your horn for the whole day. Does that mean you had unlimited power during that time?" Starlight was curious, maybe a little too much. But she couldn't not be curious, not about the horn that got away. Like Twilight, she also had knowledge of magical spells and artifacts that most other ponies wouldn't know. But unlike Twilight, Starlight had the uncanny ability to master magics that any other pony would never be able to understand within their own lifetime.

You nod "Yep, it was weird and neat. I could do practically anything I wanted. I could fly, make objects and even near living illusions, I could even warp some of the reality around me. It was pretty darn cool...I guess you could say..." You give her a shit eating grin "That I could have brought Equestria to its knees, and made everypony equal in everything"

Starlight glares at you, her eyes half cocked "...that's a bad joke"

ergh...

You tap your hooves on the table nervously "S-sorry...I thought it'd be funny..."

You peer over to Lyra, she seemed confused. Yeah......that wasn't a good joke. Funny, that usually works on her. You never got called out like that. At least she didn't get too offended.

Right..ok, try again. "Well...ummm. Yeah, the horn..right. Anyway, yeah..that's what it can do. Actually, I do have something that will make you laugh."

"Will it?" Starlight was already put in a sour mood by that reminder. But she didn't want to be, she was internally trying to pep herself up from it.

"Yeah, It's gotta do with Twilight."

Starlight didn't know what to say to that. She didn't know what you were getting at. so she just gazed at you, silently, waiting for you to finish.

But to you....that seemed to just insult her more......hopefully, she'd laugh at this. "....erm...well"
You tapped your hooves on the table, and took a breath.

"I made her think this illusion of Celestia was an evil clown, she freaked out.and then nearly had a heart attack when I made Celestia's head explode. It was, er, funny, right?"

At first, Starlight didn't react. But you could see her mouth curling into a smile, and she began to vibrate. Then she burst into laughter, falling forward on the table. "HAHAHAHAHA, REALLY?! A-ANDHAHAHA...MNNHAHAHAHAH." Starlight couldn't stop, she wanted to ask why Twilight couldn't even figure out an obvious illusion. But she was overtaken by the hilarity of it all.

"...that's not very funny, that's actually kind of mean" Lyra didn't seemed too pleased. And she was even surprised by that. She looked at you with a look of disappointment. "And I can't believe that came from you. You really did that?"

...fuck! FUCK! WHYYYY!? You didn't think Lyra would find that offensive. what the shit?!
"Well, it was Nightmare Night you see. I wanted to give Twilight a fright. That's how that rhyme goes right? Nightmare Night, what a fright?"

Lyra now seemed confused with herself. It was a terrible prank yeah...but....scaring others is kind of a thing of Nightmare Night. "I...well. You're right, but don't you think that's overdoing it?"

"I don't think so, have you even ever even met Twilight before?" Starlight asks Lyra

"Yeah, I used to know her back in Canterlot...but...barely. She'd usually be stuck in her books. We've never really talked. That's why I kind of wanted to ask her a lot of questions when she..."

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!" You scream out suddenly

Lyra and Starlight stop, and stare at you again.

you chuckle nervously "My hoof again..."

Starlight was now getting suspicious "...is there something going on? How could you stub your hoof when you're sitting down"

Shit… "Well I..."

"Hey, is everypony ok? What was that yell?" Oh...thank...god....Sugar Belle finally came out, she seemed pretty sweaty, she must have been cooking all day.....but why? Whatever, didn't matter, she came out right when you needed her.

However, before you could say a thing. Sugar Belle saw Starlight, and beamed a happy little smile at her. Stopping Starlight's thoughts dead. "Starlight, hey! You came out of the shack. Did you manage to finish your plans? We haven't seen you in awhile, we were getting worried"

Starlight now became meek as she turned her head to look at the busy sugar horse. "You were? Really? Why?" Even though you told her they you’re all worried, she still wanted to know for herself from Sugar Belle. "I was in the shed, it wasn't like I went anywhere"

Sugar Belle wiped her brow and stepped closer to the table, taking a seat. "True but, we didn't see you once you went in there. If you had gotten sick or if you had a problem we wouldn't have known. I know you said you'd do the most work on the project but we don't want you to do it all by yourself, that's why we're here. We're a community Starlight, we all have to do our share, no matter what."

Starlight cringed, then looked down in shame. She didn't fully realize she was actually worrying and hurting her newly gained friends by hiding herself. She thought it was actually better that way....seemed it wasn't afterall. "But you don't, I should be the one to do the most work. I'm the one who forced you all into that life. I know you've forgiven me, but I know I don't deserve it. Not until I can do something for all of you."

"Starlight, you already have. Your teachings had a lot of good in it, it's just...everything else was bad. You came back asking for forgiveness and we gave it to you because we believe in you. And we still want to trust you. But we also do things differently now, and that means you shouldn't be doing this work all by yourself. We're all here for you. So..."

Sugar Belle gave her a hard look, with a gentle smile to it. "Are you going to let us help you? Or do I have to chain you to this leg? Because I'm not going to let you go back to that shed alone, and I could use some extra help getting my goods ready to ship"

"....Sugar Belle" Starlight started to tear up, and the moment she did, Sugar Belle gave her a boop on the nose

"Don't even start, it's too early in the day for tears." Sugar Belle gave her an adorable smile

"...You're right, actually. I do have some blueprints for the town center that we could all gather and have a look over. Decide which one is the best to go with"

"You have multiple plans already? You really did work hard, hehe. I'd be happy to look over them, as would the rest of the town I bet. Oh, how rude of me. Hello again Anon, and erm...."

Lyra was actually enjoying this, she was happy to see this all unfolding in front of her that it made her nearly forget about the nightmare night thing. "I'm Lyra! Anon's friend, just came to pal around and visit and try some of your food, I heard it's prettttyyy good"

"I hope so, been getting back into practice and I'm ready to see how it sells on the open market. Ohhh! Anon, do you know if Princess Twilight got my letter yet"

Immediately your pupils shrink as your ears droop, you could feel a painful lump in your stomach.

"....Twilight?...you sent a letter to Twilight?...about what?" Starlight asked

"Oh about everything, you coming back and the town being better for it. I thought she'd like to know in case she got worried " Sugar Belle said with ignorant glee

"Really...." Starlight shifted her eyes at you and Lyra

"Yup, she's telling the truth. That's why we're here actually. We came to see you before Twilight could. It was Anon's idea really" Lyra also said...ignorantly

Starlight seemed remarkably calm, but her speech was stilted "I see...Miss Lyra, can you order for us all? I want to talk to Anon alone for a little bit and catch up, if he doesn't mind of course"

"Yes! Awesome! Can I get a menu?" Lyra asks

"Sure! We have a growing selection everyday, let me just go back inside and get one for you" Sugar Belle says with a smile as she goes back inside.

oooohhhhhh...fuck. Maybe you should have told her outright. But things were going so well, and there was no sign of Twilight, everything seemed fine.
"mmnnn...ok, Well erm. I don't mind..Let me just...get up"

You get off your chair, and try to keep your nerves in check.

Starlight got up, and smiled at Lyra "Don't wait up for us ok? We might be awhile" Starlight twitched at the final word, but it went unnoticed by Lyra.

"Ok! I'll try to make some bigger orders to give you two more time. Have fun!"

Starlight doesn't answer back to that, and instead leads you down behind one of the houses within the straight line town.

You followed, if only because shit would get worse if you didn't. ogh, you should have been honest with her. But you didn't want that to be the first thing you said, you didn't want to worry her.

Starlight doesn't even turn to face you as she speaks in a calm yet angry tone. "Anon, why didn't you tell me Twilight was on her way here? Why did you lie about stubbing your hoof?"

ergh
"Because, we apparently managed to get ahead of her. And...I was going to tell you, but, I didn't expect to see you, Well, I dunno how to put this but, alone still. I just wanted to talk to you as a friend and try to keep Twilight at bay until the time was right. That's also why I lied, I didn't want you to get upset, I'd rather Twilight had just minded her own business."

"So you didn't want her to see me at all?

"Nope,the moment she found out I even had anything to do with it she actually blamed my Dad first."

Starlight let out a sarcastic and angry chuckle as she turned around to face you "Ohhhh, let me guess. She thinks this is all a ruse and that I'm trying to take control of the town. That's it, isn't it?"

...it wasn't...sorta.....that direct
"Well, kinda. She wanted to make sure nothing was wrong."

”Of course...OF COURSE!" Starlight was angry, and started to pace "Miss Perfect Princess has to make sure everything is running her way. Yes, Ok..I did that too. But I don't do that anymore, and let me tell you, after spying on her for so long. She's probably worse! Did you know she was so into herself that she ruined an old friend of her's life?"

Was she referring to Moondancer?
"Do you mean her friend in Canterlot?"

"Ohhh yeah, basically left her to rot and never even went to check up on her. I actually felt bad for her, the poor thing got abandoned because she felt her studies we're more important than a friend. And then she tries to force herself back into her life. It was pathetic really...but of course, because this seems to be a trend with her. Everything seemed to work out in the end for some reason, all because that pink friend of hers showed up. Do you understand Anon? She couldn't even fix that problem by herself. She had to drag in a pony that had NOTHING to do with it! I don't even see how she can be the Princess of Friendship after doing something like that. Pinkie, was that her name? She seemed to at least care about everypony she knew. She even kept in contact with Twilight's other friends she had forgotten. How do you like that?"

oh man, she was really ranting.
"Yeah, I thought about that too when I found out. Starlight, look. I'm sorry. I really am, I should have said something. I just wanted to try to make your day brighter since you seemed pretty down. And when she gets here, I'll have your side. One hundred percent, you can trust me"

"Can I? You'd really stand up against a Princess just to defend me? I know you also have a lot of friends in Ponyville, you are the "Hero Colt" afterall. What if the worst happens and she decides to become overly self righteous?"

You stop to think. and think you did. Fluttershy was on your side, and Discord would be on your side if it was against Twilight. DT would, the others might think heavily on it. Lyra and Bonbon? hopefully. Maybe even Rarity could see the logic in it. At the very least, Celestia should. And if she did, you'd have a major advantage. Hell, she had to. She knew the secret before her.

You look to Starlight with determination.
"Then whatever, I'll still defend you. Look, I have my own chip about Twilight.You know she tried to seal me up. And considering it would have been a permanent affair. Noooo, I don't care if I even turned out wrong. You're more of my friend than Twilight would ever be. And I only knew you for a night and a train ride.You can count on me...I promise"

Starlight was still angry, and worried about Twilight's arrival. She looked down upon you for a mere moment. Enough to make you feel as if she was judging you. It...kinda hurt. But you brought it on yourself. Then she sighed "I believe you...considering you have one of Equestria's biggest villains in your basement, it's kind of hard not to. You're trying to reform her, right?"

You nod, and begin to calm down. thank goodness… "Yeah, it's hard. She's malicious at times, and teases me as much as my Dad. But sometimes we see eye to eye, and even have friendly moments every now and again. Only you...me...Dad........and...." You cringe.....but you didn't want to lie, and Starlight was so far back here. That maybe telling her this detail wouldn't be bad. "Princess Celestia know about it"

Starlight's eye widen to that last mention "Princess Celestia? You can't be serious. She would never allow it."

Ergh...she would if she had more than one reason to trust you and put a faith in you that would be utterly destroyed if you ever fucked up.
"It's true, and it's pretty much why now Chrysalis is my sole responsibility. I've pretty much doomed myself to a heavy punishment if Chrysalis ever escaped and wreaked havoc. I accept it though, I think if I do everything right. It shouldn't have to come to that."

No, the only thing you had to worry about is when and even if Discord intends to let her out as your "sister". It hasn't happened yet. But you had to be ready, Knowing Discord, he'd let her out at the WORST possible time.

After hearing that, Starlight let her anger she had on you slip away. That was a pretty heavy responsibility. Especially with the subject matter. She now became afraid for you, you were the friend that fixed her, and now she's hearing that you pretty much doomed yourself "Anon, are you insane? Why would you even do that? That's too big a risk."

You knew that. You probably bit off more than what you could chew. But everything happened so fast, and you thought since you were stuck with her. You should at least try. Learn more about her, level with her, compromise, be her friend. Celestia getting involved was really just a stroke of bad luck.
"I know, but I'm the only one willing to give her a chance. I gotta at least try. It's not that bad really, we sat down and watched a film the other day. And she even admitted to being my friend. So..y'know...so far so good."

Starlight let out a worried grumble, she thought you were being an idiot. But, she couldn't think like that. Technically she was once as power hungry as any other villain. And you were the one who gave her a chance, even after she slugged you a few times.

"No wonder you're the "Hero Colt". I really hope you know what you're doing. Because that is some serious deep water you've gotten yourself in, do you even realize how utterly stupid and reckless it is to associate yourself with somepony like her? She's evil, Anon,and she has no just reason for it. I know you're smart for your age, but you lack experience. You can't take something like this on and expect nothing but good results, it doesn't work that way"

You knew she was right, and you knew how deep you were in.
"I know, I know all of that. But Dad isn't going to do it, and nopony, especially Twilight is going to give her a chance to become good. I'm really the only one."

you actually wish you were in some story, and was the mary sue. It'd make things easier because it would mean Chrysalis would respect you. And you'd no doubt succeed. But that wasn't the reality. The odds were stacked against you and it was only going to get worse.

"...You really have a good heart Anon, even though you're being utterly ridiculous in taking on that kind of responsibility." Starlight relaxed herself, and looked up to the sky "So....when exactly is she going to get here?"

You look up with her "I don't know, if she's flying here then I think it could take awhile. I don't know how slow she is, but I can't even see her in the horizon, so we probably still have time to at least eat."

"Then let's go eat, and act as if this never happened. If Twilight has something to say to me, fine.Little miss perfect is in for a rude awakening if she tries to shove one of her morals down my throat. Also..." Starlight uses her magic to slide you over to her, she gives you a gentle hug.

"Relax, No matter what Twilight says, I'm not just going to up and make some evil petty revenge plan like going back in time and making sure she never gets her Cutie Mark..or something like that. I'm above that. I have friends, you...the townsponies. I don't want to abandon that because she decided to be a moron. And if she wants a fight? Well, I do have a few new spells I developed that could use a test run. If I could take her down, we wouldn't have to worry about anypony else ever attacking the town."

You return the hug...boy she was soft. But her attitude wasn't. You really hoped it didn't resort to fighting. It wouldn't look good for her. Though, it looking bad on Twilight you internally admitted you didn't give a shit about. But you didn’t want Starlight going evil again.
"I just hope everything works out, that's all. I think we should just try to show her how wrong she is."

"That'd be easy if she wasn't stubborn. But I guess. But I'm not above a fight. I'm pretty sure I could beat her."

...come on noooo "Well, let's just focus on eating right now, huh? I'm famished. And I'd really like to just try to have a pleasant day with you before she shows up."

"You know? I'd like that a lot too, with you and your friend.Especially since Twilight wouldn't be able to say anything when she sees I can be just as if not moreso friendlier than her. Yeah, that'll be fine. Come on, let's go see what your friend ordered us. She said she'd make a big order, and after being in that shed for so long. I could really use something to eat. Big time..."

Now Starlight was itching for a fight. You had to hope this could be resolved peacefully, with Twilight being buttblasted being a plus.

You both head back to Sugar Belle's ready to eat whatever Lyra ordered.

And what an order. The table was filled with food. Oats mixed with various flowers and veggies, muffins, and a banana split right in the middle of the table, with enough bananas,whipped cream, ice cream, and cherries to feed the three of you, along with three soda drinks as well....oh baby....you really hope this wouldn't cost you.

Sugar Belle waited at the side as Lyra was already digging into the main course. But...there's no way Sugar Belle could have made it that fast. What was going on?

"W-wow, Sugar Belle. How did you make all this so fast?" Starlight is the first to ask.

"Oh, I didn't. I already had it ready. These were some of the things I was going to ship out. But then after miss Lyra made her order. I thought that maybe a little taste testing was in order. I don't want to ship anything that doesn't taste that good so consider this on the house, for the sake of testing." Sugar Belle smiled with a little giggle "Just don't eat too fast now, or you'll get a tummy ache"

Ohhhh man. You sit down almost immediately. This was a fucking spread.

"But you worked hard on this. and..." Starlight sits down and tastes the oats. It was...fantastic. "...you could have tasted all of this yourself. I can't eat this.." Starlight wasn't expecting Sugar Belle to go out of her way give up what she was going to ship. In fact, she still had intended to pay for the goods she'd think Lyra was going to order. And now? She refused to eat, it was too much.

"Starlight, I already set it out. It's too late to put it back now."

Starlight looked over the food, Lyra had stopped eating, and you hadn't even begun yet. You and Lyra were looking at Starlight. For you, you would say something if she began to lose her confidence again.

"There's got to be a way, how did you preserve all this before?" Starlight asked

"Well, that's a trade secret Starlight. soooooo, I guess you're just going to have to eat it. Please? I'm worried that you haven't eaten at all since you went into the shed. You look very hungry..." Sugar Belle's happy and giving demeanor was starting to crack, it was hurting her to see Starlight so resistant. "You don't need to eat all of it. Just eat what you like. But just don't decide not to eat at all. Or...or..." Sugar Belle gives her a stern look "Or I'll feed you myself, how about that?"

Starlight cringed hard, she felt awful again.

Damn...she was more sensitive about this kind of thing than you thought. You wondered how badly she was affected by her own actions.

"It's not going to hurt you to eat a little Starlight. I said it was free, go on. Pretty please? With sugar on top?" Sugar Belle looked into Starlight's eyes with big adorable softness.

Starlight said nothing, she just looked nervous, she looked down at the food. lowered her head, and started munching reluctantly.

"So....what do you think?" Sugar Belle smiled at her

"It's....good. It's really good actually. Whatever you put in these oats, it's really tasty. I..." Starlight looked back up to Sugar Belle, who had a wide happy smile on her face. Starlight shifted her eyes left and right, she realized she really was pretty hungry. "..I...can eat as much as I want?"

Sugar Belle nods "You all can. Seeee? It's really good huh?"

"It...is. I..." Starlight was looking nervous again

"Just say thank you Starlight, trust me. You'll feel a lot better" You try to give her some advice. You didn't want to eat until she did.

"I certainly am thankful, this food is so gooood! I love it!" Lyra went back to feeding her face.

Starlight looked to Sugar Belle, and smiled, just a tiny cute little smile, and finally let it out "Thank you..."

"You're welcome....now dig in! I'm just going to go back and get everything ready. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Sugar Belle gave a cute little wink before going back to her work.

You stared at her for a moment before she stepped back in....ehhh..you dunno, her equalization look was pretty damn cute too.

"...How're you feeling Starlight?" You ask

"I don't know. I don't know why I'm having trouble with everypony else still. I should be doing better than this..Maybe it's just because I know Twilight is coming."

"Well you know what you need to do then?" Lyra looks up, some of her food coming off her face.

Starlight wasn't expecting Lyra to mention anything about it, it catches her offguard "W-what?" She says in a low meek voice, almost like Fluttershy would.

"You need to sit back, look around, think about what you have, and then take a deep breath. Because you have a lot. Good friends, Good food, and a nice town to live in. I know you don't really like Princess Twilight, and I know Anon kinda doesn't either. But she isn't here. so, why worry about it? Why worry about your friends the way you are when they aren't worried? They just seem to want you to be happy Starlight. So, be happy. Nopony is going to let anything bad happen to you ok?"

You had just spoke to Starlight before, and it didn't seem to do much good for her mood. But, maybe it wasn't you she had to hear it from. Hearing it from Sugar Belle, and now Lyra. That seemed to have finally done it. "...you're right....you're all right" Starlight stomped her hooves on the table and lifted her head up high. "Sure, I did a lot of bad things! From enslaving the entire town to wanting to take over Equestria! But that's not me anymore! I'm not the Starlight Glimmer that made everypony suffer for her selfish ambition! I'm Starlight Glimmer, THE Starlight Glimmer who wants to be friends with everypony and strive to help the town flourish and be there for anypony who might need my help! Because if you...!" She points to you "Can help me, then why can't I help others?! That was originally my plan anyway, to save ponies from their cutie marks...well now I'm just going to help them, with whatever problem they might have! I won't hide anymore! I..I..." Starlight notices she's really yelling for nothing, with you and Lyra just staring at her, Lyra chewing her food as Starlight spoke loudly.

Starlight calmly sat down, a little nervous and cleared her throat "O-ok, I think everypony gets it...In fact...I'm going to prove it right now!" She pulled out a little more courage for her next action.

she was? How? "Really?"

"I want to see this! Go Starlight! Wooo!" Lyra cheered her on, at first you thought it was odd. the whole thing really...but hell, fuck it, you decided to cheer her on too.

Starlight almost genuinely thought there was a certain power in the cheers. She looked back, and called out for Sugar Belle "Sugar Belle! Can you come here please?" She called out in such a way that she was sure she would be heard.

Sugar Belle steps out, she looks worried already, especially seeing that the food was still there. "Starlight? What's the matter? Is everything ok?"

"It is..I just wanted to.." Starlight gets up from her seat and gives Sugar Belle a hug "I just wanted to let you know everything would be ok."