Finding Starlight.
Finding Starlight…
Hm, actually, you had no idea where she was, and you only had one last charge for the day. Dammit, it doesn’t seem to matter how conservative you are with your magic, you always seem to use your charges so damn early. You decide to hold onto this one as you begin your search for Starlight. Not like there was anything else to do until later, so time wasn’t really of the essence.
The school? Nope, it was mostly empty, there were a few things related to the holidays going on, but since classes were closed until the end of the holidays, Starlight really had no reason to be here.
The castle? No, you didn’t even bother searching there, she wasn’t there earlier.
The stadium? Didn’t seem so, if she was here, she’d be out somewhere in the middle doing something. Sadly, she was not.
Maybe she was out somewhere looking for gifts to buy? Hmm, if she was, she didn’t seem to be in any place a mare like her would be.
You knew Trixie had taken her wagon behind the castle to practice her upcoming ‘Hearthwarming show’ away from prying eyes. Not exactly what you’d say was the most private spot, but there was the possibility that if Starlight wasn’t there, Trixie might know where she is...
“Saddle Arabia” Trixie told you.
Wut?! “She’s in Saddle Arabia?! When, why?! She didn’t tell me!”
Trixie rolled her eyes at you as she adjusted a few of her props from within the wagon. Damn, it was cramped in here. “You know, she told me you’d react like that. She also told me to tell you that not all life revolves around you and she can do what she pleases.”
…Dammit. “S-so I’ve been told. So, what then? Do you at least know why she’s there?”
“Of course I know. She told me to keep it a secret from everypony, as she seems to believe she’s creating the ‘next big evolution to kite flying.’” Trixie rolled her eyes at the thought. “Honestly, Anon, I’m with you on this one. Kites work just fine, and she could be here with me assisting me with my act instead of going on another fruitless venture like with that silly flying machine.”
The flying machine? Evolution? Oh god, what was Starlight working on now? Didn’t she remember what happened with the jet? You had to figure out what she was working on so you could protect her from herself. “So, what is it then? C’mon, Trixie, you can tell me. It sounds like human tech, and as you know, I’m a human... Or was. Erm, who knows, maybe I can bring Starlight back if it turns out she’s making something dangerous.”
Trixie, without hesitation, uses her magic to pull out the set of blueprints you had given Starlight long before. Trixie sifts through them and pulls out a very particular one. “I don’t even see a reason to keeping it a secret from you. Here, she’s working on this ‘drone’ thing. She thinks it’d be fun to fly one of these around. Silly, isn’t it? It doesn’t look like it’d be fun to me.”
Okay, welp, if this is what it was, then it was nothing to worry about. Still, you needed her here, you needed to talk to her. This Winter Krumb thing has become way too important now that you know others are suspicious of it. “Yeah, so… Yeah, okay. So then, why is she in Saddle Arabia? I know Rainbow Dash’s pet, Tank, can fly around with that little propeller. So I can’t imagine she’d need anything from Saddle Arabia to get this to work.”
“This here.” Trixie brings her hoof to the camera portion of the drone. “Apparently, there is a fortune-telling unicorn in Saddle Arabia with crystal balls that allow sight through sight. Of course, being as great and powerful as I am, I already know it’s just a performative magic-based artifact that allows one to see long distances in any direction as long as other magical lenses exist to peer through them. Literally foal’s play, if you ask me. But apparently it is perfect to use as the camera piece of this drone.”
Huh, that’s actually pretty clever. If you understood Trixie correctly, then Starlight wants to be able to control the drone from further distances by using some sort of magical sight like a live camera feed. Dammit, you almost felt bad you had to pull her away. But this was far more important. “Yeah, well, either way, you’re about to get your wish, Trixie. I gotta bring her back to Ponyville for something important.”
“Great!” Trixie said with a cheer. “So you figured out how to get to her without being redirected back to Twilight’s castle?”
“Yea-wait, what do you mean redirected?” Huh? When was that a thing?
Trixie’s cheer quickly left her as she slumped forward. “Oh, I see…” Trixie then sighed, annoyed with you. “Typical, just typical. I guess you didn’t know about that either. Well, just to let you know, she’s been practicing her magic with me for quite some time. Now, I’m not going to say she’s that much better than I am, but I will say she’s been working on some crazy spells. She can even repel chaos magic now. Spells like stopping your father’s very physical being from encroaching upon areas of her choosing, or even reflecting lesser chaos magic that are similar to some of our own, like teleportation.” Trixie suddenly let out a loud frustrated groan. “This really is your fault! You know that, right?! What if she doesn’t make it back in time for my show?!” Trixie suddenly pointed at you angrily “If she doesn’t, Anon, you’re gonna be sorry!”
“Hey!” you shouted. “Don’t blame me for this! Maybe if you were a better friend to her, she would have taken you along, did you think about that?!”
“Y-yes!... After you just mentioned it! But then that means you’re not as good a friend because she didn’t even tell you about it! So how about that?!” Trixie shouted back, pointing at you, tears coming down her cheek.
…Fuck, that actually hurt. Dammit, Trixie, Dammit! That’s one hell of a sharp point. “Ngh, E-erm… Okay, um…” You began to calm down, and sighed, knowing she was probably right. But only probably, it is possible that Starlight just wanted to do this alone and make it all a surprise like the jet. “I’m sorry, Trixie, can we just sorta chill about all this? Look, I’m sure she’ll be back in time for your show, okay? Starlight never lets me down, and I’m sure she never lets you down, right?”
Trixie nodded pathetically as she wiped her tears.
“Then everything is gonna be okay. I bet when she brings the drone back, she’ll let you use it as part of the act so you could really razzle dazzle your audience.” You said with a little more enthusiasm.
“S-she might. A-and, you’ll be there too, right?” Trixie said, looking at you with sad fluttery eyes.
Wah?! “Erm, I… Sure… I don’t see why not.” That was sudden. Then again, Trixie could use some extra heads. Yeah, you didn’t mind checking her show out.
“And, and, you’ll make sure to let everypony know that you, the hero colt, found my show the most amazing thing ever?” Trixie asked, her eyes fluttering even more.
Oh, welp, there it was, typical Trixie. Whatever, it made you smile, you couldn’t blame her when she asked in such an endearing way. “Sure.”
Trixie suddenly then burst out into a bombastic pose. “Then it’s settled! This Hearthwarming, Trixie will put on her most amazing show, EVER! It will be beyond great, with the most powerful magic ever seen!”
“Yeah! There you go! Woo!” You cheered.
“And with Starlight eventually at Trixie’s side, Trixie will even use inferior human tech to win over the hearts of ponies everywhere! It’ll be colossal, stupendous, and… What is that?” Trixie suddenly calmed down as she pointed towards you.
“What is what?” You asked, looking around.
“That thing attached to your leg.” Trixie said, pointing at what looked like a fish hook.
“Huh? Oh, that’s ju-” Suddenly your eyes widened “No! No! NO!” You shouted as you tried to remove the hook, but the moment you gave it a tug, you suddenly went flying through the window of the wagon and found yourself being dragged across the snow and slamming on the sides of Twilight’s castle before being thrust through the doors and eventually hanging at the end of a fishing pole yet again inside the main cutie map chamber.
“See, Twilight? He’s safe and sound, he’s not in danger whatsoever.” Discord said as he happily pointed at you as you hung from the hook.
“T-that’s not what I asked, Discord. I asked you if you could ask Anon to come to the castle so I can speak to him about Spike! Not just bring him here, especially like that!” Twilight shouted, clearly frustrated with Discord.
“Oh… Well, I suppose this still accomplishes your wishes, now doesn’t it?” Discord then turned to you with a smirk as his talon pointed towards Twilight. “Anon, would it be alright if you spoke to Twilight about boring things?”
You just gave Discord furious eyes as you hung from his hook. “Co-dec! CODEC! We both have one! Why didn’t you use it instead of just literally dragging me in here!?”
Discord merely scoffed and waved his paw at you. “Pfft, colts these days. So stuck on their technology that they eventually become mindless zomponies, enslaved by their machines. I’m doing things the smart way, for what strengthens the bond between father and son more than fishing?”
“I realllllllllly hate you right now, you know that?” You said with a low growl.
“Egh, looks like he really does need some friendship lessons from you, Twilight. Alright, alright, I can see he’s going to be taking his anger out on me for no reason whatsoever. So…” Discord plucks you from his hook and suddenly plonks you onto a scale and murmurs to himself “Too small to cook anyway”. He then picks you up, plonks you to the ground, and pets your head. “Yes, just… Do whatever it is this is all about. I have Hearthwarming gifts to hunt, and this is just taking up more of my valuable time. Ciao.” Discord said with a wave as he suddenly blinked away in a flash of light.
Twilight rolled her eyes about the whole situation and approached you to make sure you were alright. “Are you okay, Anon?”
“Mngh… Yeah, this is just how he’s typically always going to be, ugh.” You gave a rub to your head until it suddenly hit you that you were in front of Twilight, who was apparently wanting you for something. “Wait, Twilight? He brought me here to see you? What happened, what do you need?”
“Well, since you’re here, I wanted to talk to you about this whole situation with Spike and Chrysalis. I’ve been thinking more and more about it, and while I think it is a wonderful idea, Spike’s thoughts on the whole thing are kind of hard to ignore.” Twilight said to you.
“No kidding, I already got it all sorted with him though.” You told her.
“I could tell by the half-eaten Celestia statue. Which, by the way, I almost thought was actually her. You couldn’t have made it look a little less like her?” Twilight asked as she looked back on the gem statue, obviously looking irked by its visage.
You shrugged, but an image of Twilight freaking out thinking Spike was eating her was pretty damn hilarious in your head. “You know how it is with chaos magic. What happens happens. Just be glad it isn’t actually her. But yeah, if you know I got it all sorted, then why do you need to see me?”
“Welllll, I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday mostly. Fluttershy made it sound too good to be true, and I wanted to know if Chrysalis was being sincere about how she felt.” Twilight said, her wording, at least to you, seeming a little shifty.
“You mean you want to make sure Spike isn’t going to be abused, right? I mean, that’s fine, I get it, I understand why you’d be worried about that. Twilight, I can assure you everything is going to be fine. Chrysalis actually really enjoyed Aunt Fluttershy’s company, they got along pretty good, and you have no idea how good it was she discovered Bob Ross because that made things a whole lot easier.” Like, seriously, Fluttershy bonding over the car and Bob Ross was a major factor in all of this.
“Is that the painting human Fluttershy talked about? I have to admit, the way she explained that whole thing got me really curious. I looked through every book I have and there was nothing about the sound of painting sounding so soothing. I even looked for any chapters on that ASMR thing you mentioned to them and I found nothing. I don’t even think anything in the Canterlot archives would have any information on it.” Twilight explained.
Wha? “You’re that curious about it? What got you so interested?”
“Well, considering it seemed to be something that Fluttershy was able to bond with her with, it makes it seem like this Bob Ross human has the innate ability to bring ponies together with some sort of ‘human magic’. I know you said humans don’t have magic, but this kind of phenomena requires research. Hm, it wouldn’t trouble you to maaaaaaaybe use one of your charges for a copy of this Bob Ross show? Please?” Twilight asked, giving you shimmering pleading eyes.
“Uhm, kinda can’t today. I only have one charge left and I need to use it to get me and Spike to Chrysalis’s. But, uh, I mean, I sorta need to really need to hold on to as many charges as I can for… Uh, Hearthwarming too. Yeah, so… I can give it to you as a gift if you'd like.” You certainly could. But you couldn’t be wasting your charges after today. You had to discipline yourself, in case this Winter Krumb thing held any water.
“Right, sorry. I didn’t mean to sound pushy. It just sounds so fascinating. Ahrm, but right, right, Spike. Look, I’m going to trust you, Anon. I fully trust you to make this work, and to make sure Spike comes back safe and sound.” Twilight says, recoiling from the feeling she was pressing you too hard.
“You can count on me, Twilight. Uhm, so, does this mean you’re also okay with Chrysalis coming to the castle for O&O sessions? Y’know, if this whole thing works out?” You ask.
“Anon, I’m the Princess of Friendship. If Chrysalis is a friend, then I am more than happy to let her inside the castle. Because, well, it is a castle of friendship. Where friendship should be allowed to flourish. Does that make any sense?” Twilight asked.
Yes, but the overuse of the word ‘friendship’ was going to give you an aneurism. “Yeah. But then, what about your brother?”
Twilight grimaced at those words. “Ergh, ummmm. Well, I know he wouldn’t like it if he finds out. But I also can’t hide it from him either. I could tell him right now, see what he thinks.”
“Twilight, the moment he gets a letter about Chrysalis being in the castle, he’s gonna hop the first train over here and come at her with an axe, or sword, or something. I dunno, I just know it’d be bad.” You explain to her. “Are you sure we should even tell him?”
“We have to tell him. But… maybe not right now then. If Chrysalis does come to the castle, we can see how it all works out, and if it goes well, then I can send him a letter. If he knows she’d been here for a while and is doing just fine, that should calm him down.” Twilight surmised.
“...Or he will come at her with an axe, or sword, or something.” You repeat. But then you gave it some thought. Shining Armor finding out at all would be a major disaster, for sure, but it also wasn’t something you could hide forever. “What if I spoke to him during Hearthwarming? He can’t get too mad on the most important day of the year.”
“You? Anon, first of all, I don’t think it should be you, he is my brother after all. And two, that is not something to do on Hearthwarming. It’s a day of love, family, and friendship. Not a day for him to want to bring an axe, or sword, or something.” Twilight explains, not confident in your abilities to speak to Shining about such a subject. “Just like I’m trusting you with Spike, I want you to trust me with this. Friendship is about working together, Anon. And the same promise you made to me? Well, I make the same promise to you about him.”
Mngh… Fine, it was clear she wasn’t going to budge on this. And if he did come at her, you’d be ready with your own magic. “Alright, alright, okay. And trust me, I intend on keeping my promise. I’ll jump in the way of Chrysalis’s magic myself if she shoots something at Spike.”
Twilight gasped. “You think she’d do that?!”
NGH! “N-no! May-NO! Look, Chrysalis is actually not too hard to make angry if you know what you’re doing. Just gotta humor her some and everything will be fine. It won’t be a problem. I mean, it worked out for Applebloom, remember?”
Twilight sighed in relief. “Okay, right, you had me worried there for a second.”
…Yeah, like… What could possibly go wrong?