//------------------------------// // Silverstream gets invited // Story: Silverstream gets kidnapped // by Alank2 //------------------------------// Silverstream woke up with a start, unsure what interrupted her sleep. Until she heard two voices arguing outside her door. “I heard nothing of it! I will need Council’s permission to agree to any prisoner transfer.” “It’s a matter of military intelligence. Are you denying the Ursa Legion the right to gather intelligence about our enemies?” “I, with all due respect…” “You are now showing disrespect to me. And need I remind you that I am to replace my grandfather on the council soon? Do you truly want me to be your enemy?” Silverstream winced, hearing this cold, unwavering voice. She really didn’t want to deal with more of the insane, crazy and evil ponies that lived in this place. She would rather go back to sleep. Part of her hoped the guard will stop whoever that is from taking her. She was just tired. “Of course not, sir, but…” “You will hand me the prisoner, and tell no one of it, unless it’s a member of the Council who counteracts my order. Am I understood? Now open the door.” It seems her wish is going to be be unfulfilled, and she will have to go with whoever that is. The door opened, showing a thestral stallion with light-brown skin and even lighter mane. He was looking at her intensively, but she couldn’t read him at all. He reminded her of some politicians she saw at home – basically unreadable. “Put chains on her, but make them loose enough so she can walk." He ordered the guards, turning away from her. “I will take it from here.” She didn’t resist as she was put in chains again, and led through the dark corridors. The thestral didn’t say a thing, and she wasn’t in mood for talking anyway. Besides, she had a suspicion this was another round of questioning, and she will have too much time to talk. He led her to a surprisingly dark room. She had a feeling that they weren’t alone in here, but this feeling was all she could get as there were barely any blue torches in here, and even those that remained gave very weak light. To her surprise, her guide left her just standing in the room, and disappeared in the darkness. After what felt like a full minute of silence, she decided to talk first. “Hello? Anyone here?” “Is this some kind of a joke? This hippogriff is supposed to be one of the defenders of Equestria? Please tell me we have the wrong prisoner.” She heard a voice, but it was weird. Like someone was speaking through water. She couldn’t guess neither the gender nor age of this person, or even where they were in the room. “She’s too young to even join the Legion, for Nightmare’s sake!” “Maybe, but think about it; if she is so young, and yet so powerful, how strong will she be when she grows up?” Another voice, this time sounding like the speaker was at the end of a long tunnel, spoke in her defense. “This is a waste of our time. If this is the strongest argument you can present, the Council will just laugh at us, and they will be right. I see nothing worth our attention. This meeting is over.” There was a sound like multiple ponies getting up. “Excuse me, but I’m right here! Hello? This is very rude what you just did, talking about me like I wasn’t even here. And I have a name, it’s Silverstream! What’s yours?” She couldn’t take this anymore. This place was not only full of evil ponies, but now also rude ones. Oh, how she wished Rarity was here, she would not tolerate such behavior. There was a moment of silence, and the sound of somepony sitting down. “So, you speak. Our names are not important. We are here, because we were told you can be important to Chiropterra… but now I see nothing of sorts. Soon, the Nightmare will be summoned, and…” “Nope. Not gonna happen.” She interrupted whoever that was. The rude person seemed surprised by this, and she used this occasion to continue. “I already spoke with Luna, and she’s not going to change into Nightmare to you. Like, you did make her angry, but she is really not going to just snap into super-dark-pony that you want her to be.” “Lies. Our Goddess protects our land from impostor’s sight.” The voice declared. “You know, I could argue with you, but I feel you’re not going to believe me anyway. So how about you call to her in your sleep? She will answer, I’m sure of it. But be careful, you kinda annoyed her with all of this weird ritual stuff, and worshiping her, and she really hates when ponies treat her as a goddess and you treated her corrupted self as goddess which is like, she hated is double? Sorry, I rambled again, but the thing is, she’s not happy with you.” “The impostor always hated us. It is no difference.” “What? No, she didn’t! She tried to find you when she came back, but thought you were all dead! She is really sorry she left you, and missed you a lot. You know, now that I think about it, I think this is why she put so much work into thestrals rights in Equestria and all that, they must have reminded her of you.” There was a sound, like multiple ponies moving on their chairs. “But it was Celestia’s work, and only when it became a problem to her!” “Well, I’m really not the best person at politics, you’d better ask Starlight Glimmer, but I think it was all Luna. I remember she also made sure there was a thestral student at the School of Friendship, too!” “We are getting off track.” The voice said, clearly trying to bring everyone to order, not that anyone else spoke. “What did Luna tell you?” “Aside from what I just said? She got really, really mad, and kinda wanted to invade you right now with all the United Alliance?” Silverstream could basically hear the tense silence that suddenly filled the room. “But don’t worry, I told her not to! I said there are good ponies here, and I can try to help you instead! So there will be no invasion!” Hopefully, she added in her mind. She really hoped her aunt wasn’t already on her way with the Seaquestrian Armada. “You… stopped Luna from invading us.” The voice said flatly. “We captured you, and your sailor friends, in order to kill you and enslave them, and then you stopped Luna from invading us. Are you insane, or so naïve that you may as well be?” “That’s not very nice! I just didn’t want war. Do you? I never saw a war, to be honest, but I heard it’s a scary thing. Creatures dying, cities ruined, all that. Do you want it to happen? I hope not, but I don’t know anymore… people here seem to be different then I imagined.” She answered honestly. She tried to push through her exhaustion, fear, and all other things. Maybe she still had a chance to help these people. “We… don’t want war. But if what you said is true, it is inevitable that it will happen.” The voice said again. “If you die, Equestria and Hippogriffia will not forgive us. They will attack, and there will be war. And now that Luna can see us, we cannot hide anymore. We must prepare for the worst.” “Oh. So, maybe we can do something else? Like, me not dying, and war not happening? Luna and Queen Novo aren’t vengeful or anything, they can forgive you! And I know we can be friends.” “Friends. How can you still believe it, after talking with Warmaster Eclipse and Commander Light? They will never be your friends. They don’t even see you as a person.” “I… don’t know.” She admitted. “I am just a student, not a master of friendship. But, I think some ponies just don’t want to be friends. You can try to help them, but they have to want it, deep inside, or it will never work. Both sides need to be open to friendship, that’s how it works. Right, Lightning Strike?” Silence was the only answer. Silverstream sighed. “You know about the sailors being captured and supposed to be enslaved, and you said to the guards that they were all killed. I don’t think you’re the Rude Voice, the one that speaks through water, you may be the Other Voice that speaks from the tunnel, but you are probably here.” There was a silence, and the first voice answered, although not speaking to her. “I thought the changeling was supposed to be the smart one, not her.” “Why is everypony dismissing us?” Silverstream answered, irritated, instead of whoever that voice was asking. “I am not as book smart as Ocellus is, she is really, really smart. None of us are like her. But we are just different, not better or worse. She knows all the stuff from the books, can read people better than any of us, can shapeshift, and is our best friend. But she has trouble talking to anyone, and has assertiveness of her favorite rock, which is none. That’s why we are friends, to help each other. Like when Lightning Strike saved the sailors, and I made him smile.” There was a small commotion in the room, before she heard a voice she hoped to hear. “Anyone ever told you that your big mouth is going to get you in trouble, young lady?” “Oh yes!” She said with enthusiasm. “Many times, by my parents, my aunt, my friends, teachers, even Princesses Twilight and Luna! And it got me in trouble many times, but it also helped me make friends to get out of these troubles!” There were sudden breaths taken as Lightning Strike revealed his presence, but he ignored them and came closer to her, removing the chains. She stretched, and gave him a surprise hug before he tried to slip back into the darkness. “And no need for this ‘young lady’ stuff, we were already on the first name basis, remember?” He awkwardly patted her on the back. “You do realize it’s a secret society, with hundreds of years of tradition, and spells to hide out identities?” “Yep! And I don’t care!” She answered happily. “You are my friend, I promised you I will help you to not be afraid, and I will do just that! How about your friends, any of them can stop hiding? I can help!” The first voice cleared their throat. “This is an unexpected interruption. We will need to convene on a different time to ensure…” “Oh stop, it, Lucent Eclipse.” There were sudden shouts of surprise. “Seriously, is anyone here truly surprised? What does all this charade gave us right now?” “Deniability, I would say.” The first voice, no longer filtered, said with a little bitterness. “There can be spies and infiltrators here, you know.” “Well, the doors are behind me, I see no one rush to the exit, and besides, we already discussed it before she came here, and this whole conversation only confirmed it. It’s over. Equestria and Mount Aris know where we are, our plan to bring back Nightmare was foiled years ago and will never work, and we stand no chance to defend ourselves if our enemies come to know of us. Any of you want to explain to families of those we captured and enslaved that we did it for the next year or so, for no reason aside from our pride, instead of taking the option standing before us?” “And what this option would be?” More gasps, as another person – a stallion, judging by voice - spoke up without hiding his voice. “Yes, it’s me, Carrot Stick. Now, we still don’t have a single place on the council, the Moon cult will jump on us the moment we say anything they don’t like, military and navy are split at best and under Council in more realistic take. What are we going to do?” “Talk.” Lucent said. Warmaster Eternal Eclipse was old. In fact, he knew that he was unfit to any Legion duty, and only stayed Warmaster because his impartiality helped smooth out the tension in the council after the great fiasco years ago. Truth be told, Chiropterra was not the powerful country most citizens thought it was. Its technology was primitive, resources horribly sparse, and with lack of trade they had no option of fixing any of those problems. The slave work system they were based on was acceptable solution hundreds of years ago, when Zebrica was still in shambles after that meteorite hit decimated their rulers and caused so much internal strife, few ponies, zebras and hippogriffs missing here and there were unnoticeable. But nowadays, they lacked targets for raids. North of them, Mount Aris was back as a regional superpower, and the neighboring Warzena was under its protection. In the west, there was only vast ocean. South, the raids required ships to go through Green Bay, and with Maregypt and Kingdom of Abyssinia getting richer through their growing exports, naval patrols were becoming reality. Even griffons from distant Wingbardy, who had a small colony there, starting sending their ships on patrols as part of some international anti-piracy program. This only left east, the country of Tobuck. However, there was limited amount of raids Chiropterra could try to make on just one, small country, before someone notices. And the current ruler of Tobuck was already getting suspicious. While their economy was going to collapse soon, the Council was on the verge of jumping to each other’s throats well before that would happen. They only barely made it all these hundreds of years without any civil war that would be visible from outside – and of course, all knowledge of internal strife and hidden civil wars was erased and classified. The State had to appear strong. In fact, barely anything of the ‘Thousand-Year Chiropterra’ was true. And he was aware of this, painfully aware, and it hurt him to see his beloved country fall into disarray, with knowledge that he will die soon, and his country won’t last much longer. However, all of that were issues that were heavy on the heart, but far from sudden. What was sudden was his grandson, one who already run his Legion for him and was set to replace him on the council, coming to his office with absurdly ludicrous ideas. And with a hippogriff with him! A child, nonetheless! And worse, a reformer was standing next to them. The world was even worse than he thought. Why, oh why did he had to live so long only to have this humiliation happen to him in the last months of his life? “Are you insane? Lucent, I thought you to be a worthy successor to me, and now this. How could you join these, these reformer heretics? Harmonists, communists, who know what else! You broke your grandfather’s heart.” “Grandfather, with all due respect, you told me yourself you don’t have any heart left. It’s dead and gone, and you live just thanks to your frustration at the other members of the Council, remember?” Lucent Eclipse said, with a slight, sad smile. “I know about all of it. I know about secret documents, civil wars we had, and how our slave raids are no longer possible. I know, just like you do, that even if Council won’t tear itself apart soon, Chiropterra won’t survive. Either if we reveal ourselves to the world, risking retaliation for all the horrible things we did to them, or we hide and soon become the primitive outcasts everyone thinks we are, if we don't kill each other in a civil war.” Eternal Eclipse looked at his grandson with displeasure. Not because he was wrong, but because he really disliked what he heard. On the other hoof, his reputation for being able to keep calm and look at everything in the most objective way was well deserved. So he didn’t immediately called guards on them for treason. He was, however, still unhappy. “And you have a better way than any of the above?” “Yes. We reveal our presence to Equestria and Mount Aris, and with the help of someone who can protect us from their full wrath, request help. We release all the slaves that we captured and agree to create a neutral and fair commission that will punish everyone responsible, and only them, for anything they did to our neighbors. And we will ensure that those who are put on trial will be treated fairly.” “I see. You must have lost your mind.” Eternal Eclipse’s voice had no bite, however. He was already analyzing the offer. It would lead to the loss of most of the government and scientists, for sure, and the military and navy would be definitely gone… not that they had much. Despite Legion’s boasting about how military is powerful and ready for anything, it was but a mere shadow of what it once was, consumed by internal strife, lack of resources and countless military juntas forcing severe limitations on the army to stop it’s habit of overthrowing the government all the time. But in theory, if Equestria proved to be weak and merciful, Chiropterra could live, protected by United Alliance. Cult of Nightmare Moon would be gone… to be honest, Eternal Eclipse didn’t care much for them. Good riddance, frothing fanatics. And he was already too old to be put on trial, and his grandson could end up in charge, protecting anyone he had left and wanted to protect… maybe there was something to it. However, there were still multiple issues. “You would need to find someone Equestria and Mount Aris respect to ensure we won’t simply be razed to the ground by them. And we would need to coordinate military action. We have information, and they have forces, but if we don’t cooperate the Moon cult will rise up, and if they succeed even for a short time the rest of the Council will join them.” “I have an idea who can solve all these issues. Silverstream?” She stepped closer, looking at the old thestral. Gone was the powerful leader, ignoring her a nuisance and waste of time. Instead, in front of her was an old man, feeling his entire world slipping by his fingers. “Luna can now contact everyone in Chiropterra through dreams. She can help with any coordination, orders, and do anything else you may need.” Silverstream said, still feeling a little nervous. “And I promise I will do everything I can to ensure you are treated justly. You did a lot of evil, but you did it out of fear. Many will not understand, and things like these are not so easily forgiven. But in time, these scars will heal.” “You? But you are just a child. How can you promise anything like that?” “If not for her, we wouldn’t be here now.” His grandson simply said. “We would be slowly falling apart and dying, or being invaded. There is more to her than meets the eye, grandpa.” “Grandpa, hm. You haven’t called me that in a while, since we had that argument.” The old thestral turned to the young hippogriff. “You, young one. Come closer. Look me in the eye, and tell me, what do you think?” She did so, and looked at him. She was no Ocellus, but she did not need to be to know what she saw. “I feel sorry for you. I really do.” And she did, despite all he did. “And if I order you to the sacrificial chamber right away, arrest all these reformists and get ready for war?” He asked. “I will be afraid.” She swallowed. “Very afraid, to be honest. For me, my friends, for all who would die in a war. And for you. You are so afraid, it hurts to see you like this. All of you.” There was a moment of silence, as the Warmaster of Chiropterra, one of the oldest thestrals alive, looked at the young hippogriff who brought change into his country. He was always proud of his ability to read everyone, even the frothing fanatics and emotionless, sociopathic scientists. And he looked at the young girl before him, and chuckled. “Young lady, I think me and you could have been best friends, if I was younger. Or worst enemies. Hard to say. They say opposites attract, for better or worse.” “I feel we are more similar then you think.” She said slowly, unusually slow for her. “I look at you, all of you, and it feels like we, hippogriffs, could be you. Maybe not as evil, or maybe more, I don’t know. Fear is a horrible thing. I knew it since I was little, before Storm King was gone. I don’t know where I would be, if not for my friends. Maybe still at the bottom of the ocean, scared of anyone living in the world above.” “On the other hoof, we are nothing alike. I was never so idealistic and sentimental.” Eternal Eclipse lied. No one in the room believed him. But they had decency to allow the old stallion have this small lie. This night, and on many others this week, there were serious talks in the dream world. Overthrowing a theocratic government without spilling rivers of blood was not easy. Of course, having a Warmaster and multiple important ponies in power on the side of attackers made it much, much easier. Silverstream was found to be ‘an important source of intelligence’ and held ‘in custody’, away from Moon cult fanatics, for that time. She took part in all of these talks. Her aunt was on the verge on ordering Luna to not allow her there – these were serious talks, with adults only – but she did not, seeing how somehow Silverstream become a sort-of ambassador for the Chiropterra. Queen Novo was in fact as proud as Luna was, but she hid it better. Luna was just happy to see her long-lost followers ready to at least try to return to her. Or at least, most of them. Sadly, some violence would be unavoidable. It saddened Silverstream a lot, but she knew there was no way around it. Many of these ponies were too fanatical for now, and the last thing anyone wanted was them escaping and fighting guerilla warfare for years to come. Chiropterra needed peace and a way to recover, not bloody war. That’s why, in the next week, many temples found themselves suddenly abandoned, fanatics separated from more rational creatures and temporarily imprisoned by combined forces of Chiropterra, Equestria and Mount Aris. Legion barracks were encircled quietly, and the soldiers given a chance to surrender. Some took some, some did not. Turned out the amount of soldiers with doubts was much higher then anyone expected; as the knowledge of Nightmare's Moon defeat years ago spread, the state religion lost most of it's charm. The former slaves - vastly outnumbering the army - were happy to join in disarming and arresting the fanatics and criminals. They had to be stopped before going too far, but Luna managed to convince them to not turn it into a massacre and let everyone have a fair trial. Queen Novo also made it clear that they were not there to spill rivers of blood, even if these creatures were slavers they still deserved fair trial. During all this time, Luna was working hard to help. She appeared in the dreams of many, priests, soldiers, government officials. And some of them were eager to help. After the fiasco of Luna being returned to her senses few years ago, instead of returning the ‘glorious thousand years Lunar Empire’, many Chiropterrans lost any faith in their religion. They couldn’t show it because of fears of persecution, but given the chance, they were quick to abandoned the belief in Nightmare Moon. Which is why, in the greatest temple to the Nightmare Moon, Lunar Hail was currently in the middle of a fiery sermon, trying to build up the morale of her fanatical believers. She was unaware of what was happening in the wider Chiropterra, but she knew that there were doubts in her Church. And so, she decided to make sure these doubts will not spread. “And so, Nightmare said, ‘for my sister had all the attention she wants, but lends none of it to me!’. And these are the words that we need to remember, for the way of Solarists is always treason. All they promise is for nothing, for they will take away all that is yours, and leave with nothing but an empty worship!” She noticed a newcomer, late to the ceremony, slip through the door; she will have to take care of that pony’s punishment later, for now she continued. “For she, in her infinite wisdom and power, granted us Her most sacred mission, to secure Her worship for the millennia to come!” “I do not believe I have ever said that in my entire life.” There was a commotion, and most of those attending the ceremony moved away from the newest arrival, a pony in light-blue cloak, who continued. “Ignoring the mistakes I made in the past, I never sent you here. That is a lie. I riled you up, corrupted you, and used you for my hopeless war, but never imagined you staying in this place for a thousand years, waiting for me.” “Who are you to dare speak for our Goddess!” Lunar Hail was frothing at the mouth. “Guards! Take this heretic! We will burn her at stake for her heresy, so she can feel the light and heat she so cherishes killing her!” “I do not think so.” Luna said, throwing off the cloak. The temple guards were lifted in the air in her telepathic grasp, where they remained, unable to move. “I am Luna, Princess of the Night, and I order you all to stand down. Your church is now closed.” “You!” Lunar Hail looked at her in fury, only, to surprise of others, to start maniacally laughing moments later. “What a foalish mistake you made! You have no power here, in the darkness! Nightmare Moon rules these lands, not you, impostor, and you can do nothing here! Your have no power here!” Luna looked at her flatly, then at the guards – still flying in the air – and back at the head of Moon cult. She sighed, and closed her eyes. With a loud sound of breaking stone, the figures of Nightmare Moon were shattered. Stained glass fell from windows in tiny pieces, and the mighty altar to Nightmare Moon was broken in half. Lunar Hail screamed in fear, and all others, except Luna, did the same, pepper but stone fragments. Although Luna made sure not to accidentally cut them with the falling glass, and the small stone fragments were not dangerous. “I will not repeat myself. Stand down. The temple is surrounded, and I know from your dreams that not many of you want to fight me. Nightmare is gone, forever. She no longer exists inside me, banished not by Elements, but by friendship and love that lit the darkness inside me.” “Attack!” Lunar Hail tried to shout, but it came out as a loud whimpering. Few members of the church charged Luna, only to be lifted harmlessly in the air as others were. “Treason! Heresy! Goddess will punish all of you!” Luna sighed, as the Chiropterran Ursa Legion, mixed with hippogriff forces, entered the church, arresting those who still resisted. Those who did not were taken as well, but only temporarily, and the temple was soon emptied. Luna stood in the empty temple dedicated to the darkness inside her, with her eyes closed. She could not feel it inside her. The darkness she once felt was gone. Instead, inside her was a gentle light of Moon and stars… and the Sun, as well, for she and her sister reconciled and rekindled their old love. And she stood there for a long time, basking in the light she could feel inside her. There was no fury, no anger, no fear anymore. The darkness was simply not there. Finally, Luna let the light out, and it shattered the darkness. The massive, gothic cathedral was torn in half. The roof fell off, and the walls gave way to the rising sun, its rays reaching the dark temple for the first time in almost a thousand years. Luna smiled in the sunlight. “Hello, sister.” The Council chambers were almost empty now. Lunar Hail was arrested, alongside many other members of the council including Emerald Light. Eternal Eclipse abdicated, and Lucent Eclipse took absolute power over Chiropterra… for the next two minutes or so. “Don’t be scared, friend. They know you, and you met them in your dreams! Trust me, it will be alright.” Silverstream smiled, trying to lighten up the serious atmosphere within the chamber. “And you too, Lightning Strike.” “I still do not understand why I am here. I am not high ranking enough for this.” The thestral said in a resigned protest. “Isn’t it obvious? I want both my friends to be with me, right now!” They both groaned half-heartedly, already used to her unending happiness. “You know, now that I think about, we were both lucky I was the one who captured you. If it was someone less open-minded, we wouldn’t be here, and things would turn very ugly fast.” “Of course! I could never achieve it by myself, only together we made it happen! That’s how friendship works!” Both therstrals in the room just shook their heads with slight smiles. Their discussion was stopped by the ornamental door to the chamber opening. Princess Luna and Queen Novo entered it slowly, taking in the richly-decorated room. Princess managed to not show her internal grimacing at the Nightmare-moon inspired inscriptions and decorations, while the Queen was more focusing on a teenage hippogriff in the room. When they reached Lucent Eclipse, he bowed to them. “I surrender to you, as we agreed before. Chiropterra is now yours, as the victorious side of this conflict. Do with it as you wish, but I beg for your grace and forgiveness, as you have shown it until know; let it continue, for we are at your mercy now.” “Please stand up, Lucent Eclipse. We are not gods to be bowed to, and there was no war. It was just strayed children, coming home.” Luna answered. Both side exchanged few more ceremonial necessities, before Silvestream asked, quietly, “Is it done? Is it over?” She didn’t wait for the answer. Instead, she jumped on both Luna and Queen Novo, giving them a desperate hug and crying. “I’m sorry but this, it was so bad, so horrible, and scary, I tried my best but now I really just want to go home, please! You can ground me and be mad, just, please, can I go home now?” Queen Novo’s face softened, and she returned the hug alongside Luna. “You are not grounded, Silverstream. Last time it didn’t make you any less good at defeating ancient evil empires, what makes you think it will work now? I am so proud of you.” When asked, she would deny any tears in her eyes in that moment. Silverstream cried, letting out all the stress, all the tension, all the fear she felt for the past weeks. She really, really wanted to go home, and lock herself in her room. To her surprise, she felt someone else hugging her. Lightning Strike, awkward and unused to hugs, did it regardless. And suddenly, all of it was worth it to Silverstream in this moment. In the meantime, in the crystal castle, Twilight’s friends looked at her with disbelief as she finished telling them what she learned from Luna. “Jus’ to make sure I heard ya correctly… instead of a summer break to rest from th’ school craziness and map callin’ us all the time, we have to go over th’ sea, to help save a Nightmare Moon cult from their neighbors taking revenge for hundreds of years of raids to capture slaves.” Applejack summed up. Twilight slowly nodded her head. “In a hot jungle, in a country that can’t even promise running water, let alone any other luxuries.” Rarity added. Twilight nodded again. “And we will be spending most times in caves, without any way for me to really stretch my wings.” Rainbow whined. “And they hunted all the nice animals to extinction there, and only have big carnivorous pony-eaitng crabs, and other predators.” Fluttershy sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Which she was. “And not only do they have no tradition of parties, they have no party supplies available, only what I can bring myself! For the entire country!” Pinkie Pie shouted. Twilight could only nod. “And they have a non-functional government that fell apart, also full of ancient conspiracies and crazy cults, and need my political experience in a way that almost guarantees someone will hate me enough to try to kidnap slash assassinate me. And because it’s so dangerous, I can’t even bring Trixie with me.” Starlight tried to keep her absolute disappointment down. She failed. Trixie will definitely not be happy to hear this. Twilight could only nod, and add: “And they hate all ponies from Equestria, call us ‘Solarists’ and were taught their entire lives to despise us. That sums it up perfectly.” There was a moment of silence. “Twilight, I love our students as much as anypony else here, but after this summer break…” “… they are so getting extra homework for that when we’re back!”