//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: An Appointment With Starlight // Story: Twilight's Second Life // by deadpansnarker //------------------------------// “Knock, knock!” Silverstream helpfully filled in the sound effects, as she rapped on ‘Nurse’ Starlight’s office door. “We have a patient for you!” A grunt of surprise and the sound of something falling down could be heard from inside, and the small party (minus a still-pensive Twilight)  looked at each other with worry, as if reevaluating whether this was a good idea or not. The occupant inside to her credit seemed to recover quickly though, and opened up less than a minute later brandishing a wide grin. It was Starlight alright, with her brushed manestyle looking like it did during her time in ‘Our Town’, instead of her more recent revamp after settling in Ponyville. She held a mug of something steaming in her hoof, and to blink momentarily in surprise at having such a large group visit her so early. “Oh look, the gangs all here!!” Starlight chortled nervously, with the same unflappable confidence of a nerd trying to hang with the Cool Kids. “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods today? Has Ms Chrysalis been shouting at Yona to lose weight again? I keep telling her that most of it is natural yak muscle, but she never listens…” “For once, no it isn’t. And don’t worry, we know the Principal’s just jealous because all the holes in her body make her much lighter than any other adult her size.” Gallus smirked at his joke, and the others in the group (sans Twilight) chuckled quietly, as if the consequences for being overheard would be dire indeed. “No, we fear our friend Twilight’s anxious egghead is about to crack. Or at least, fry itself into an indigestible messy omelette.” “W-What was that, Gallus? You know I can’t get my head around some of your more… unique expressions.” Starlight looked confused at the griffon’s analogy, before adding in a more whispered tone. “Also, I’ve warned you before about insulting our ‘Beloved’ Leader. I-I mean, you have to learn to bite your tongue, like I do. Repeatedly.” “Yona get confused by some of what friend Gallus say too, but what she think he means is: Pony’s brain is broken.” The buoyant yak thought she’d got it all figured out, and pointed at Twilight’s head with an assured hoof. “Twilight going on about non-existent creatures, calling college by wrong name, saying she some kind of Princess…” “Yeah, that’s how it is, Doc. She’s lost her marbles, maybe for good this time. Can you help her? Preferably, before the big test later. Not that the two are connected in any way...” Smoulder discovered her aptitude for empathy as she shrugged her shoulders at Twilight’s plight. “Smoulder!! I’m surprised at you! We do not describe individuals with complex mental health issues in such a derogatory manner! So, please leave the diagnosis to me!” Starlight frowned at Smoulder’s less-than politically correct language, before levitating a pair of super-size spectacles on her eyes which almost encompassed her entire face. “I believe that this meeting should be conducted in an oasis of calm, free from the distractions of outside influences. Otherwise, my proven methods might not be effective in deriving the root cause of this alleged psychosis.” “E-Er… come again?” Now it was the paid professional who wasn’t making a whole lot of sense, and Ocellus wasn’t afraid to ask in repeating her confusing words. “It means… I’m going to talk to Miss Sparkle on her own if it’s all the same to you five, and no listening at the door like before. I’ve recently enchanted the frame so I’m instantly notified if you try that trick again. You hear me?” Starlight suddenly stepped forward to take a contemplative Twilight by the hoof and guide her inside. “I’ll send her straight back to class when I’m finished. Please notify Professor Pie that her Misery class is going to be absent one pupil today. Thank you for bringing her here, and goodbye for now.” The door was unceremoniously slammed in the quintet’s faces then, amid varying reactions to what they’d just heard and the threat that’d just been imposed. “So anyway, shall we chance it and find out what’s going on with Twi?” Gallus was all for eavesdropping, regardless of any purported dangers. “No way! Yona go back to lesson now. Want no trouble. Just follow rules without question, and everything fine. Like college motto says.” The yak turned around and shuffled off in the opposite direction. “I’m not saying I’m not interested, but if my parents ever found out… it’s not worth the risk. They might send me back to the sea forever!” Silverstream couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from her dear friends, and followed Yona away. “Yeah, I’m gonna agree with those two. One more black mark on my record, and the Principal will really let me have it. I’m beginning to think she doesn’t like me…” Ocellus shivered at the prospect, before joining her other two pals in retreat. “Gee, what a bunch of yellow-bellies. At least you and me are made of stronger stuff right, Smoulder? S-Smoulder?” If there was anycreature Gallus thought he could rely on, it was the almost equally abrasive dragon. But in a complete break from the norm, Smoulder was also among those drifting away from Nurse Starlight’s room: in fact, she was near the front of the queue.  “Sorry, Gallus. In case you haven’t noticed, I have kind of a ‘yellow belly’ too. Plus, if Dragon Lord Garble found out I did something like this, I’d end up imprisoned in disgrace inside the same hellhole as Ember. And I don’t even want to think about that. If you’ve got any sense, you’ll come with us. You know how close King Guto and the Principal are…” Oo-er, I never thought about that… Gallus let out an audible gulp, but if asked later, he’d simply claim it was gas caused by the cheap food there. “I-I guess you have a point. It’s not like this is the first time Twi’s been there for the same problem, and they just about managed to fix her before. Also, just because the nurse has just been through a messy breakup, it doesn’t mean she’ll be any less good at doing her job…” “Wait. Yona not know this news.” The yak was abruptly stopped in her tracks by the news, and her other friends followed suit with looks of consternation and concern. “You don’t? It’s been all over Griffonstone. I suppose compared to other species, griffons are much more likely to be gossip-mongers. Especially when it comes to others suffering. This is why I’m gonna get top marks in Professor Pie’s class today! Anyway, it all started when Sunburst, her ‘special somepony’, announced he was in love with elite showmare Trixie. Who was also Miss Glimmer’s best friend! But wait, you haven’t heard the best part…”  And as Gallus kept the others rapt with attention on the journey to the classroom with a stirring tale of broken hearts and betrayal, the same darkened figure that Yona thought she’d spotted earlier swept in from the shadows to listen in at the nurse’s door without hesitation. After all, no measly amateurish enchantment was going to stop them from fulfilling their mission.