//------------------------------// // Starlight Part I // Story: Arktophobia // by Aeluna //------------------------------// Nothing. Starlight had been at it for hours now, working tirelessly. But, no matter how many books she tore through, she never once found any information of use on ursas. Not even a mention! Starlight huffed and slammed shut the cover of the last promising book she’d found. With a snort, she then grabbed it in her magic and hurled it towards the nearest wall with a scream; it slammed against the crystal with a thud and then fell to pieces, individual pages floating to the ground slowly. Starlight only groaned more. “Oh, great,” she hissed, pushing herself slowly off of her chair and dragging herself over to the pile of paper now littering the floor. With a grumble she began unenthusiastically dragging each page back to the cover, messily stuffing them all in. She then huffed once again and fell to the floor, sitting on her rump and dumping the sorry state of a book back carelessly on the shelf. It was probably the completely wrong section; by now she couldn’t have cared any less if she tried. Starlight turned her head slowly towards the massive stained-glass of the library’s biggest window, then traipsed over to it. She watched as the scattering of little ponies in the distance headed off to bed. Celestia had mostly lowered the sun by now, and only a few of its rays still warmed the sky. Soon it would be pitch black. And, whilst normally Starlight didn’t think either way of the night, today she was dreading it. “I hope Trixie has improved enough…” she whispered to nopony in particular. “Starlight? You’re still here?” The small, almost-masculine voice shocked Starlight from her thoughts. She yelped and spun around, horn sparking slightly in shock. But it was only Spike that stood before her. “Hey, hey, cool it!” he yelled, taking a few small steps back and holding up his claws in front of his face, as if surrendering. Starlight’s body slumped. “Sorry, Spike,” she said, hanging her head. “You shocked me.” Spike raised a brow and folded his arms. “No kidding. You alright?” Starlight shook her head slowly and hunched her back. “No,” was all she said. Spike scratched his neck slowly, a frown on his face. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Starlight didn’t answer. After a few seconds of silence, he then walked up to her side and placed his claws on her shoulders, smiling. “You know, if helps to talk about things sometimes. Let it out. It’s only gonna eat you up if you keep it all in. Don’t you remember that time when—“ Starlight raised her hooves and shook them in front of Spike quickly. “Yeah, that time when I literally bottled up my anger. Another thing I messed up at. Don’t think I need reminding, Spike.” “But I—” “Why do I mess everything up?” Starlight blurted, suddenly standing up stiffly. She narrowed her eyes and stomped her hooves. “Every time I try to help or be nice, I just end up causing devastation!” Spike snorted aggravatedly. A small puff of smoke blew out from his nostrils. “Don’t be like that, Starlight, you know it’s not true!” he said with a sigh, tapping his foot slowly on the floor. He eyed her with concern, a disgruntled frown on his lips. “Look, something’s bothering you. It’s obvious. Just tell me, yeah? We are friends, aren’t we?” Spike folded his claws behind his back, waiting quietly. After a few moments, Starlight relented. “I…” She stopped and fidgeted slightly. “So, you know this whole ‘furry little problem’ we’ve been having?” Spike shrugged. “The real problem, or the version that Twilight told Celestia and Luna?” “Not the rabbit invasion story, Spike. The ursa attacking Ponyville version.” Spike nodded. “The truth then. Great, I’ve had enough secrets. Dunno how Pinkie’s holding it all together.” He waited expectantly. Starlight merely stared back at him in equal silence. With a sigh, he raised a claw and twirled it in the air and said, “So, uh, what about it?” “Well, Trixie said that she’s had a run in with an ursa in the past,” Starlight said. Spike was quiet. “And, well, I think she really wants to make it up to the town for that time when she... uh...” “Enslaved everypony so that they did her every bidding?” Spike offered, his voice slow and dull. Starlight frowned. “I try not to use that word if I can help it,” she said, looking slightly away. Spike shrugged. “Right. So, um, are you going somewhere with this? Or just telling me about Trixie’s past? Because honestly, if that’s the case, I’m not interested. Trixie’s past brings up bad memories and all that.” Starlight nodded. “Yeah, there’s a point. Anyway, with our furry problem around and no solution as of yet, Trixie decided she should make it up to everypony. I think. Or she could be just showing off—who knows with her. But… well, she’s really happy with how her magic has improved. And don’t get me wrong, she has gotten tonnes better since I started teaching her, but…” Starlight hung her head. “Well, she asked if I’d agree to her going out to find the ursa. She wants to kill it. She reckons, after banishing one before, she should be more than capable of killing this one now a—why do you look so pale?” Spike’s eye twitched. “Starlight, that was an ursa minor Trixie was talking about.” Starlight’s face suddenly lost all colour. “Oh,” was all she managed to murmur. “This is… This one’s a major, isn’t it?” Spike cringed and nodded awkwardly. “But, that’s… That’s not all.” He took a deep breath in before he began to step away slowly, as one would from a snarling bear. He then swallowed and said, “Shedidn’tvanquishanursaitwasalljustalie!” To her credit, Starlight kept reasonably composed. Her breathing was steady and she stared, blinking slowly, directly at Spike. And then her ear twitched. Suddenly she made Dragon Lord Ember look huggable. She snarled just a single word. “What?”