//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Under a Moonlit Sky // by My Little Rainstorm //------------------------------// Spike followed the bouncing filly, occasionally calling out to tell her where to turn. As they walked, he took in certain aspects of her appearance. She wore her mane in a ponytail. From the back, it looked like waterfalls of silver and light blue were cascading from the back of her head. Her coat was a dark blue, gradually growing lighter closer to her hooves. What caught his attention, however, was not her mane or her coat. It was her wings. Pegasis wings normally grew faster than the rest of the body when foals hit the age of 10, but her wings still looked small, despite the fact that she was obviously at least 12. Spike stared at her wings for a few more minutes before he realized. They looked just like Scootaloo’s. “Spike. Spike? Hey! Little Dragon?” Spike shook himself out of his thoughts. He looked at Stardust. She was staring at him and standing completely still. Spike felt a momentary rush of panic. Had she seen him staring? Was she upset? Would she tell Luna she didn’t want to stay after all? Oh, what would Twilight say if he scared off Luna’s student? This was the first time Luna EVER asked Twilight to do something and he might have blown it already. He fought to keep a smile on his face as thoughts clouded up his mind. “Yeah?” “Which way now?” Spike sighed in relief. She hadn’t noticed. He pointed down a corridor and started walking. Stardust fell in beside him, oddly calm. Just moments ago she had looked like Pinkie Pie with all her excitement. “Spike? Do you think Twilight will like me?” Spike shot her a surprised look. “Of course. Why wouldn’t she?” “Well, when we first got here… she didn’t look very happy” “Oh, that? That wasn’t you. Well, not completely. She was just worried about Princess Celestia visiting. She has this odd idea that she has to do crazy things and impress the Princess. It’s almost like she thinks if Celestia sees a speck of dust anywhere, she will send Twilight back to magic kindergarten.” Stardust shuddered, a movement Spike did not miss. He looked thoughtfully at her before pointing at a door. “Here we are. LIbrary Bedroom #4” he put a claw beside his mouth and, in a stage whisper, said, “there are 9 of them.” Stardust giggled and Spike pushed the door open. He flipped the light on and waited. A slow grin grew on Stardust’s face. She walked to the center of the room and slowly rotated. Three of the four walls were covered from floor to ceiling with bookcases all crammed with books. Against the last wall was a simple wardrobe with a full-length mirror beside it. Along the same wall, there were four different desks. Between the desks were sets of draws, each carefully labeled. There were drawers for quills, paper, drawing supplies, paint, bookmarks, experiment plans, even a drawer labeled ‘chocolate’. Scattered around the room were giant bean bags and soft carpets. As if as an afterthought, a small bed had been shoved in a corner. Spike watched her run around the room, opening every drawer and reading every book spine. He could have sworn he saw her eyes take the shape of books when she reached the section on magic for beginners. “I take it you like it? Do you want to stay and put your things away or would you rather explore Ponyville? I know a very nice ice cream shop” Stardust bounded over to Spike. “Thank you thank you thank you. This is amazing. So many books….” her mouth dropped open as her eyes drank in the books. She shook her head violently. “Hehe… sorry. Actually, could you introduce me to some ponies? I heard Luna talk about some fillies called the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ and they sound really awesome. Can I meet them?” Spike shrugged. “I don’t see why not. C’mon. I’ll show you their clubhouse.” (meanwhile, downstairs in the library) “Twilight. Twilight calm down. It’s ok. Just breath. Like Cadence taught you. Can you do that?” Twilight continued to randomly teleport around the room, shoving books onto shelves then eeping as a page bent. Celestia sighed. She waited for Twilight to come in range and with a flash of magic, she grabbed the blindfold from Luna. Luna watched as, with the speed of lighting, Celestia tied Twilight to a chair and wrapped the blindfold around her eyes. Twilight, shocked that her teacher would do this, sat in the chair, waiting for Celestia to talk. “Twilight, I know you are worried, I know we surprised you, but you don’t have to be afraid. Nothing is wrong. Now, care to tell us what is worrying you?” Twilight slumped in the chair. Luna looked over at Celestia worriedly. A soft sniffling came from Twilight. Celestia plopped down and started stroking her student’s hair. “I.. I didn’t want to disappoint you. This is the first thing Luna has ever asked me to do and it is already falling apart. I didn’t plan in enough time to reorganize the library and was only halfway through it when you arrived, Pinkie was supposed to bring over cupcakes but she got sick yesterday and the Cakes were too busy to fill in for her. Rarity promised to make a new set of bedding just for Stardust, but she got a massive order for dresses and didn’t tell me. She thought she could get everything done and still have time to sew the sheets. Spike has been trying so hard to help, but he’s still so young and his idea of a perfect bedroom is a dungeon from Ogres and Oubliettes. Everything was supposed to be perfect and - and… and it’s all falling apart” at this point, Twilight burst into tears and flung her unbound wings around Celestia. “Twilight, it’s fine. Nothing is perfect. All that matters is you tried. We shouldn’t have dropped this on you so fast. I’m sorry. It’s just, Luna and I-” she stopped as Twilight teleported out of the chair and perched atop a bookcase, staring down at the princesses. “I completely forgot about Princess Luna. If I mess this up, she’ll never trust me again! And if she doesn’t trust me, you won’t trust me. If you don’t trust me, you might decide I’m a danger to Equestria. Then you and Luna will banish me to the moon. I’m too young to be banished!” Luna sighed. It looked like it would be up to her to calm Twilight down. She walked over to the bookcase and peered up at Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle. Dost thou truly believe that we would banish you to the moon for a few misplaced books? Did thou truly believe that we would leave our student with you if we were not confident in your abilities? You defeated Sombra, Discord, even Nightmare Moon. You saved the Tree of Harmony, you face the Everfree Forest every day. You and your friends care for the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the fillies who have an entire disaster relief fund being paid monthly to Ponyville. Art thou saying that we are mistaken? Art thou so weak and timid that you cannot care for one small pegasus filly? Truly, Twilight. We thought better of you.” With a stomp of her hooves, Luna turned and left the library, the door slamming behind her. After a few moments, the door opened and Celestia walked out. She looked at Luna with a small frown. “Was that really necessary?” Luna shrugged. “It served its purpose. Considering you are not smoking, it calmed her down.” “I suppose. Just, warn me next time. She has agreed to care for Stardust and apologizes for her behavior. When I left she was alphabetizing the library. We should go. We don’t want to be late.” “But… I wanted to say goodbye to Stardust…” “Luna, she will be fine. Besides, you asked Spike to keep an eye on her the first few days. Just send him a letter if it’s that urgent”. Luna sighed. Celestia was right, she was worrying over nothing, but she couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. With a shake of her head, she teleported out of the library. She would be back in a few weeks. Stardust was surrounded by 6 of the most powerful ponies after her sister and her. What could possibly go wrong?