“Wh-what?” Rainbow whispered in shock, Starswirl’s laughter having weakened the silencing spell.
“Yeah, what the hay?” Pinkie piped up, barely even bothering to keep her voice down. “One moment he’s all, like, you-are-in-serious-trouble, and now he’s laughing along with us? Well, except we’re whispering in terror at the moment, not laughing. But still, he’s laughing at it just like we all did, and that doesn’t make any sense!”
“Seriously, I thought he was going to give us all detention for a decade or something!” Flash exclaimed. “And now this? Of all the times I've seen him, he’s barely shown any emotion, let alone a crazy mood swing like this. One moment deathly angry, then hysteric mirth the next? What gives?”
“I’m still mad at you, y’know,” Starswirl said, having recovered from the hilarity of his former students. “I’ll admit that this introduction was a nice comedic piece, but that doesn’t negate my aggravation towards you for your various misdemeanors.”
“I’m glad I’ve been friends with Twilight as long as I have,” Rainbow said, “otherwise there’s no way I would have been able to understand that sentence.”
A simple glare from Starswirl was enough to get her to keep quiet. “As I was saying, I’m very upset with you all, and the ponies you pranked are not very happy with you either. I expect you to apologize to both Rockhoof and Somnambula for the way you treated them.
“And Rarity and Applejack?” Pinkie piped up.
“What about us?” an elegant voice spoke from behind them.
“Hey, what are you two doing here?” Pinkie asked, surprised by the arrival of Rarity and Applejack, standing together in the entrance.
“Twi wanted Rares an’ I to meet her about an idea she and the other princesses had,” Applejack explained, “some sort of friendship festival thing. She also wanted you, Rainbow, and Fluttershy to come along, but Fluttershy had a couple of injured animals to take care of, an’ the two of you are… what are you two doin’ anyway?”
“Getting in trouble for pranking you and Rarity,” Rainbow said with a groan, deciding that honesty would be best.
Rarity and Applejack both looked confused for a moment, before realizing exactly what had happened.
“My troubles levitating those sewing needles…”
“That unexplained bout of itching…”
“Yeah, that was us,” Pinkie admitted with a sigh. “Rainbow found this old book full of pranks that Celestia wrote and then we dragged in Discord and Flash Magnus and then Starswirl found us out and now we’re in trouble.”
“Celestia… and pranking,” Rarity was stunned. “I would have never on my own terms fitted those two words together in one sentence.”
“Rarity? Is that you?” a voice called from an adjacent room of the castle. Twilight’s head poked through the door just moments later. “There you… uh, what’s going on in here?” Her eyebrow raised at the sight before her.
“Long story,” Rainbow said, not wanting to have to explain everything again.
“Well…” Twilight was momentarily at a loss for words. “Anyway, I want you and you and you and you,” she pointed at Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack in turn, “to see me upstairs. I had an idea for a festival celebrating all the wonders of friendship, and I’m going to need your help.”
“Alrighty then,” Pinkie hopped to her hooves, having reclaimed most of her usual bounciness. Rainbow followed her friends as they approached Twilight.
“Twilight, if you could wait a moment,” Starswirl said suddenly.
“Yes, Starswirl?” Twilight asked, her face a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
“I need to… actually, never mind. You can talk to them. I’ll just stay with these two,” he gestured to Discord and Flash. “And after you’re finished with your discussion, could I have Rainbow and Pinkie back?”
“...of course,” Twilight said after a moment’s hesitation. “C’mon girls,” she beckoned to her little squad, and the five of them went back through the door and up a nearby flight of stairs, as Starswirl took the two remaining pranksters away for them to make their apologies.
*****
Galloping hoofsteps echoed throughout the castle’s hallways, the acoustics painting the illusion of many ponies running instead of just one. Pinkie and Rainbow ran/flew as fast as they could, trying to find the rest of their group after Twilight had finally finished talking to them.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going, Dashie?” Pinkie asked her friend, growing more concerned by the minute.
“They have to be around here somewhere. I just know it,” Rainbow said, keeping her eyes wide open and wary. “Wait, Pinkie- there they are! Backtrack!”
The two of them turned around as fast as they could and back towards a side hallway they had just passed. And with Rainbow’s aerial observation skills, she had spotted her targets on the other end.
“There you two are!” Discord called out from the other side of the corridor. He and Flash Magnus flew over to regroup… Starswirl still with them. Not wanting to make him suspicious, the two mares chose their words carefully.
“Hello Flash, Discord,” Pinkie said with a wave and a smile, albeit a bit forced.
“We know what you two are thinking, and you don’t need to be worried,” Flash said unexpectedly.
“Wait, huh? What?” Rainbow vocalized as best as she could.
“You’re worried about me still being here, aren’t you?” Starswirl asked, though his tone of voice and face clearly gave away that he already knew the answer.
Rainbow glanced over at Pinkie. Pinkie glanced over at Rainbow. Neither of them wanted to affirm Starswirl’s suspicions, but they had to, so they both slowly nodded.
“Well, you don’t need to worry,” Starswirl reassured. “I’m joining you.”
“WHAT?” The two girls blurted out simultaneously. Before either of them could start peppering the rest of their newly enlarged group, Discord gave them a look that plainly told them to be quiet. Especially since he had “Shut up and let us explain!” written on his forehead in bright red.
“Well, with all the times Celestia and Luna got him to fall for their ideas, it’s about time he gets them back, right?” Flash asked with a smug, sly look on his face.
“Uh… I guess so,” Rainbow said, her confusion clearing and slowly being replaced by excitement.
“So, which prank do you want to play on them?” Pinkie asked, smiling even brighter than she usually did.
“I was thinking one of their first ones, one that involved an invisible tripwire leading to a large bucket of ice water dumping on top of the pony unfortunate enough to walk into it,” Starswirl explained, a hint of nostalgia in his smile. “They came up with that one just days after I first taught Celestia how to cast an invisibility spell, and I fell for it seven more times in the next two months. In fact, it was what led me to create my counterspell for the invisibility spell in the first place, and now it’s regarded as one of my best works.”
“That is one of the awesomest things I’ve ever heard,” Pinkie declared, giggling.
“I second that,” Discord agreed with a smile, the pranking manual in his lion’s paw. “And from what the diagram here shows, it’s a rather simple system to rig up. This’ll be fun and easy!”
“How about we all collect the materials,” Flash said, pointing to himself, Rainbow, and Pinkie in turn, “you assemble the contraption,” he pointed at Discord, “and you cast the invisibility spell on the tripwire,” he gestured to Starswirl.
“That sounds good to me,” Rainbow said, “but we might not be able to do it today. We still need to come up with a location.”
“Fair point, Dashie, fair point,” Pinkie declared, putting on her best thoughtful face. “For now, maybe I could treat you all to my latest gourmet cupcake recipe?”
“If it involves hot sauce or earthworms, I’m out,” Rainbow immediately said.
“Um… should I even ask?” Flash asked nervously.
“No. Just no,” Pinkie replied with the most serious face she could muster. Then suddenly going back to her normal self, she added, “These new cupcakes are a mix of my chocolate cupcake and applesauce cake cupcake recipes, topped with whipped caramel frosting and grated almonds. Does that sound delicious or what?”
“That actually sounds really good,” Discord said, looking impressed. “I’m just going to pop us over to your place really quick-” and with a snap and a flash, the five were all over at Sugarcube Corner. “And no, Starswirl, you cannot research my magic. I don’t like being researched.”
Starswirl gaped at Discord. “How did you-”
“Lucky guess, based on what I’ve observed of Twilight’s behaviors and your connection to her,” Discord explained. “And where did Pinkie get to?”
“Probably just getting the cupcakes,” said Rainbow.
“Right you are, Dashie!” Pinkie exclaimed, zipping in at that exact moment, a tray with five cupcakes balanced precariously on her mane. She bowed her head, allowing the tray to slide onto the table with a slight thump. The pranksters then immediately reached for the mouthwatering treats, Pinkie intently watching her friend’s faces as they each took a bite. She sighed happily to herself as she watched their faces light up.
“Pinkie, this is amazing!” Rainbow exclaimed happily, after swallowing her first bite.
“Yeh, theesh are welly good!” Flash agreed through a mouthful of heaven.
“Manners, Flash,” Starswirl gently reminded him.
“Oh for pity’s sake Starswirl,” Discord muttered irritably. “Must you always be such a goody-four-shoes? Delicious cupcakes, by the way, Pinkie.”
“Why thank you!” Pinkie happily replied, then promptly tossed the rest of the tempting treat into her mouth, humming with contentment at having finally perfected this incredible invention.
“I’m just trying to be polite, Discord,” Starswirl said calmly, before taking another bite of his cupcake.
“Yes, but why can’t you, oh I don’t know, loosen up!” said Discord in a very impudent tone. “You’re always so emotionless and bland and businesslike and other stuff old age wizards are like!”
“I’m not actually quite as old as you think, Discord,” Starswirl replied as calmly as ever. “Especially given today’s life expectancies, which would put me as not even middle-aged yet.”
“I’m just gonna switch the topic here before we run the risk of talking about something morbid,” Rainbow said loudly, catching everypony’s attention. “And Starswirl isn’t being completely all that stuff you said, Discord. He agreed to run with this prank, after all.”
“Oh, I suppose,” Discord grumbled. Turning to face Starswirl, he asked, “Why even did you agree to this? Your agreement seemed just a tad rushed.”
“A somewhat strange thing for us to say given our squad of reformed villains and the general views of our fans, but a fairly valid point nonetheless,” Pinkie said with a shrug, licking off the last bit of caramel frosting on her cheek.
Flash gave Rainbow a confused look. Rainbow just sighed and shook her head, keeping eye contact with him. He got the message.
“So yeah, why did you agree to do this, Starswirl?” Discord asked suspiciously, leaning towards Starswirl until their eyeballs were nearly touching, as the draconequus attempted to imitate the intimidating stare of his animal-loving bestie.
“Because I thought it would be fun. Why else?” Starswirl asked with a smile. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces,” he said with a chuckle.
“So talking about pranking suddenly causes you to show a lot more emotion, whereas anything else causes you to clam up,” said Discord. “I’m confused. Why pranking? Seriously, why?”
“Maybe it’s not really the pranks,” Flash said, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Yeah, you’ve been awfully quiet so far,” Discord interrupted.
“As I was going to say,” Flash said loudly through clenched teeth. Then pausing to take a deep breath and prevent himself from attacking the mismatched being in front of him, he continued. “Maybe it’s not the pranks, but the ponies who created them.”
Pinkie, Discord, and Rainbow mulled over this idea, while Starswirl simply stood there; his face had suddenly returned to its expressionless standard. After a few moments, Rainbow broke the silence.
“So… something about Celestia and Luna?” she said tentatively.
Flash simply nodded, before turning to face Starswirl and speak to him directly. “I and the other Pillars have noticed-”
“The other Pillars and I,” Starswirl corrected him. It seemed to take a second before he fully realized what he had said. “Sorry. Teacher’s instinct.”
“Well, that’s exactly it,” Flash continued. “The other Pillars and I have noticed that your teaching career really left its mark on you.”
“When exactly was this?” Starswirl asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Just multiple random battles we fought in, especially the later ones,” Flash said with a small shrug. “Usually, it was just little things like correcting somepony’s grammar errors and stuff, but there were rare occasions where we saw… more than that… moments where we saw…”
Flash Magnus trailed off, staring off into space.
“He got more emotional when he was talking about them?” Pinkie spoke up suddenly.
Flash just stared at Pinkie. “You have to be a mind reader.”
“My thoughts exactly ever since I knew her,” Rainbow agreed.
“I’m not a mind reader,” Pinkie said. “And before any of you interrupt me, I’m looking at you specifically, Discord, let me explain.” She took a deep breath to prepare herself than began.
“While I was growing up on the rock farm, I was surrounded by nothing but different shades of grey and muted colors. And I lived with my older sister Maud, who is one of the most expressionless ponies in Equestria, as some of us know. Well, actually, it would only really be Dashie and maybe Discord. But anyways, I learned to be really observant. And I know I can be oblivious and naive most of the time, but I can delve deep when it counts. Having learned to read Maud’s facial expressions, I learned that she wasn’t emotionless, just largely expressionless. The difference is, she had a lot of emotion, and felt a lot of emotion, she just didn’t show much of it.”
Pinkie paused to look around at her audience. All of them were paying close attention to her.
“So after having lived with her for years, I became a face reader, not a mind reader. A face reader. Which means I can look at anypony and figure out the gist of their emotions, which I can combine with information gleaned from dialogue and surroundings to figure out what a pony is thinking about and how they feel about it when I really put my mind to it. And I’ve been watching your face for quite a while now. Days, even.” Here, Pinkie turned to directly face Starswirl.
“I saw how happy you were to find something from your ex-students’ childhoods, bringing back memories of the time when you were their teacher. Even though the pranks had initially annoyed you, you now look back on them fondly. That shows to me just how much you care about them. Yes, they drove you crazy, but you persisted in teaching them until the day… the day you left.”
She glanced over at Flash before continuing. “And all of the other Pillars noticed it too. How much you cared about them. How much you care, present tense. And you want to reconnect with them. You want to see the ponies they’ve grown up to be in your absence. But you’re afraid to.”
Starswirl stiffened at this last statement, his face giving away his discomfort at Pinkie’s accuracy, noticeable even to the others who weren’t professional face readers.
“You’re afraid that 11 centuries of separation is too much time for you to reach them again. You’re afraid that you’ll be rejected. And you’re upset because you see how much they’ve grown up, and you wish you could have been there, back when they still needed you.” Tears threatened to build up in the corners of Pinkie’s eyes, but she pushed them back.
“I can see how much pain you’re in, and how you try to hide it by acting all professional and uptight, to mask your own emotions. But now that there’s a chance you could reconnect, you want to grab this chance and make it work. But you’re still sad and afraid.”
Pinkie fell silent, blinking rapidly. Rainbow, Discord, and Flash just stood still, shocked by everything they had just heard. Slowly, they all turned to look at Starswirl.
The pain was clearly visible. Starswirl stared at the table, not meeting any of their eyes.
An uncomfortable silence filled the air, each individual silently daring the others to speak first, to move first, to do anything before they had to. At long last, or so it felt, Pinkie accepted the dare. She took a deep breath and walked around the table to where Starswirl was standing and did one of the things she knew how to do best.
That was, hugging him.
Pinkie threw both of her forehooves around Starswirl’s neck, making sure to pour as much strength and comfort into the hug as she could, without making it difficult for him to breathe. She carefully tucked her head in just under his, giving him a gentle nuzzle as she did so. She spoke no words, allowing her hug to carry all the communication she wanted to share.
All was still for a few moments, as Starswirl simply stood still from shock. Flash was then the next pony to accept the silent dare, giving a single flap of his wings to glide over next to his friends. He wrapped his un-armored forehoof around both of them and draped the opposite wing over Starswirl’s back. He gently placed his head on the back of Starswirl’s neck before adding verbalization to his communication.
“I think you’re in a harder place than the rest of us, honestly,” Flash whispered soothingly. “For the rest of the Pillars, we have a completely fresh start, with only memories of the past. However, you have actual ponies from your past here as well, but they have changed over the years. And that’s going to be difficult for you. But you don’t have to face it alone, and you don’t have to hide your emotions.”
By this time, Rainbow had added herself to the hug, wrapping both of her wings around all three of the initial ponies, and speaking a few choice words. “I may not be the best pony to help you through this, but I’ll at least listen if you need me to. I’ll always be here for you. That’s the least I can do to embody my Element, after all.”
Discord watched the growing hug, hesitating. He had never been a fan of mushy stuff. But seeing Rainbow Dash join, one of the toughest ponies he knew, finally convinced him to act. He hovered in the air, wrapping his whole body around the group and resting his head on top of Starswirl’s, just behind his horn. After a short pause, he made himself speak.
“Fluttershy was the one to reform me, but it was Celestia who gave her the assignment. Your students have grown up to be two of the most accepting ponies in Equestria, even able to befriend me, an outcast by nature. I am hopeful that they will be able to reconnect with you and help you adjust.” Discord sighed, relieved at having been able to speak his mind, a difficult task for the eccentrically chaotic creature. He didn’t consider himself good at encouragement, or affection of any sort. But at least I tried, he thought. It’s the least I can do.
Starswirl did not move, did not speak the entire time. He merely listened and felt, allowing their display of affection to wash over him and reach his heart.
After a half minute more of hugging, a half minute which inevitably felt longer to them, the pranksters disentangled themselves, as Pinkie checked Starswirl’s face again. She read much more happiness and peace than before, always a good sign. While there were still glints of sadness and fear in his eyes, they were accompanied by hope and love. And he was smiling now, a much more genuine smile than before, one that truly encompassed his eyes as well. Good.
“So…” Rainbow said, catching everypony’s attention, “if we're done with this completely unexpected moment of sappy stuff, can we get back to work?”
“Yes, please!” Discord shouted enthusiastically. “I can hardly wait to do something that doesn’t require emotional sensitivity and that leads to awesome facial expressions from the royal sisters!”
“Now calm down, Discord,” Starswirl admonished, but lightly. “We still have the problem of a good location.”
“I don’t think bringing this to Canterlot would be a good idea,” Pinkie said. “I don’t want to run the risk of embarrassing them in a public place.”
“There’s also the problem of timing,” Rainbow added, “since Luna’s essentially nocturnal, and Celestia’s usually pretty busy keeping the affairs of Equestria together.”
“Good point, Rainbow,” said Starswirl, somewhat dejectedly.
“Wait, I have an idea!” Flash exclaimed. “Why don’t we send them an anonymous letter telling them that we need to meet both of them at the castle ruins? We can tell them that we want to meet with them when they’re both free for about half an hour, without providing any other details. How does that sound?”
“Perfect!” Pinkie exclaimed with a single bounce. “Starswirl, do you think you could find me my paper and pencils? They’re somewhere in the back of my secret party planning cave.”
“Your what?” Starswirl asked, having not yet adjusted properly to the various oddities of The Pink One.
Pinkie skipped over to her cash register, pressed a secret button, and opened the entrance of the slide that led down to the cave. “Just teleport back here when you’ve found it. Sliding back up the slide is only possible if you’re me,” she instructed.
“Um… all right then,” Starswirl said, mildly hesitant as he made his way over to the slide and slid down, the entrance closing automatically behind him.
“So when he gets back, we need to write the letter and tell him about my hiding mechanism,” Discord started to say before being interrupted by Pinkie.
“No.”
Before anyone else could say a single word, she impossibly stretched out her forehooves around all of them and pulled them into a huddle.
“We aren’t going to tell Starswirl about the hiding mechanism,” she said in a relatively loud whisper.
“What? Why?” Rainbow asked, also trying to keep her voice down, else risk angering her friend.
Pinkie just smiled.
“Listen up everyone. I have an idea…”