Chapter 38
– Obstacles –
The door to Trail’s home burst open and Tala shook herself, causing leaves and sticks to fall all over the floor in front of the door.
“Ah, that feels so much better.” Tala said, moving towards the couch.
“I’m glad you’re so relieved sister, having made a mess of the house within a few seconds.” Zala said, giving her sister a disapproving look.
“Oh go brush your mane for something. I’ve earned some down time, being in the forest all day.” Tala said, laying down on the couch.
Zala groaned, “You are quite insufferable when you want to be, Sister.”
“But you love me anyway. Hey Comet! Come down here and say hi to your favorite Aunt.” Tala yelled out towards the stairs.
No sound came from upstairs. Tala raised an eyebrow in confusion.
“Kiddo, you up there?” Tala asked, flying up the stairs.
Tala arrived at Comet’s room and found no sign of the filly. She was supposed to be home before they got back from the forest. She knows better than to be out late.
Tala went back downstairs and looked around the living room and the kitchen for a note or any kind of clue of where her niece might be.
“Tala, what’s wrong?” Zala asked, dodging the griffin as she came into the kitchen.
“Comet’s not in her room. There’s no note either.” Tala said, sounding worried.
“That’s odd. She’s usually so punctual. She’s never broken curfew.” Zala said.
“I’m going out to find her.” Tala said, moving to the door.
“Sister! Wait for me!” Zala said, trying to catch up.
Trail exited Sugarcube Corner, holding a box in his magic, “Thank you again Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I really appreciate this.” The married couple smiled at him.
“No trouble at all Trail. It reminds me of the time I brought a cake to my first date with Chiffon. I was so captivated by her beauty I dropped it.” Mr. Cake said.
“Oh hush you!” Mrs. Cake blushed.
Trail chuckled and left the couple to their memories. He hoped he could have fond memories like that with Starlight. Though he would try not to drop the cake. She was beautiful though…
“Hey Trail.” A voice called out to him.
He looked to the source and found Vinyl Scratch walking his way.
“Hey Vinyl, what’s up?” Trail asked.
“You didn’t run into Starlight did you?” She asked.
“No, she was supposed to meet me at my house. Why do you ask?” Trail asked curiously.
“I saw her run through here about an hour ago, she looked pretty upset.” Vinyl said.
“What? Was she hurt? Did she say anything?” Trail said frantically.
“She didn’t look hurt, not physically. But she looked like somepony slapped her across the face, figuratively.” Vinyl explained.
“Which way did she go?” Trail asked.
Vinyl pointed in the direction Starlight had run to, the path leading away from town.
Trail put a hoof to his chin, “Well, that’s not the way to my home. And it’s in the opposite direction of the castle. Trixie is out of town. So the only other friend in that direction would be…”
A lightbulb went off in his head and he immediately started running towards his new destination.
Loud sobs and wails filled the cavern that Starlight lay in. The bed covered by the canopy wasn’t exactly soft but she didn’t care. The serene sounds of the waterfall didn’t soothe her despair, the sobs only continued. The owner of this home sat next to the bed, allowing her guest to let it all out. Starlight had arrived at her home almost an hour ago, and she hadn’t gotten a word out of her.
As the sobs began to die down, Starlight rubbed her eyes and sniffled, “I’m sorry for putting this on you Maud. Especially out of the blue. I didn’t interrupt anything did I?”
Maud simply handed her a handkerchief, allowing the mare to blow her nose.
“You don’t need to apologize. Boulder and I were just contemplating the meaning of rocks.” Maud said plainly.
Starlight finished blowing her nose and levitated the handkerchief away. She laid her head on Maud’s pillow, which was the softest thing on the bed. Her heart still ached and she couldn’t get the image of Trail and Trixie out of her head.
“Now, can you tell me what happened?” Maud said.
Starlight choked out another short sob before taking a breath, “I think Trail is cheating on me.”
Maud’s eye went wide, just a little bit, enough for somepony to notice the difference.
“That can’t be right. He’s crazy about you.” Maud said, her voice slightly different from her usual monotone.
“But I saw him kissing Trixie in the town square! He had his hooves all over her!” Starlight wailed before slamming her head into the pillow.
Maud didn’t say anything, her expression going back to that blank look for several minutes as Starlight wailed on her bed. This didn’t make any sense to her. She had always seen Trail as a respectable stallion.
A knock at her door pulled her out of her thoughts. She walked to the front door and opened it, revealing the very stallion that had been the topic of discussion. He looked like he had run a marathon, covered in sweat and out of breath.
“Maud, is Starlight here?” Trail said, gasping for air.
“She is.” Maud said plainly.
“Oh thank the Princesses.” Trail said, trying to move into the house.
But as he moved forward, he was stopped by Maud’s foreleg blocking his path. He had bumped into it and she didn’t even budge.
“Maud, what’s wrong?” Trail asked.
Maud stared at him, eyes seeming to bore into his very soul. It was unnerving. Out of nowhere, Boulder appeared in her other hoof.
“Where were you earlier today?” Maud asked.
“What? I was out in the forest with my sisters. We were checking for signs of another basilisk. Why?” Trail said.
Maud continued to stare into Trail’s eyes, seeming to be looking for something. After about a minute of staring, she looked at her pet rock.
“What do you think, Boulder?” Maud asked the rock.
Boulder sat there in her hoof, making no sound or movement at all. Yet after a few seconds, Maud nodded and looked back at Trail.
“Follow me, and stay behind.” Maud said.
Maud turned to walk back into the house, and as much as Trail wanted to rush ahead of her, he had a feeling he should listen to her. As they moved towards the entrance to the main chamber, Maud stopped him.
“Stay here until I call you.” Maud said.
The look she was giving him seemed to be her usual blank stare, but there was something behind it. Like she was trying to be stern without showing it on her face. And it was very effective. Trail did not move.
Maud returned to Starlight’s side, “Starlight.”
Starlight pulled her head out of the tear soaked pillow, “What?”
“Somepony is here to see you.” Maud said.
“I don’t want to see anypony.” Starlight said, burying her head back into the pillow.
Maud stood there, unmoving, “This pony is someone you need to talk to.”
Starlight groaned, “Fine…”
Maud looked back towards Trail and gestured for him to approach. Trail tentatively walked towards his marefriend, seeing her in a state he’s never seen her before. She looked so vulnerable, so distraught.
“Starlight.” Trail said softly.
The moment his voice reached her ear, Starlight’s horn glowed bright and the other pillow on Maud’s bed soon met Trail’s face. He grunted and fell back, surprised by the blow. Before he could ask what was the reason for the attack, he was bombarded with another hit to the head. And another, and another.
“Starlight! Ow! What are you doing?” Trail asked between pillow strikes.
“You show your face after what you did!” Starlight screeched.
Trail held up his forelegs to try and deflect the pillow, “What I did? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you try to play dumb! I saw you!” Starlight shouted.
Maud had seen enough and put her foreleg on top of the pillow. Starlight pulled at the pillow with her magic but Maud was too strong. Starlight gave up on the pillow and looked for anything else she could throw at the stallion. But everything had been moved away from her. When did Maud have time to do that!?
“Starlight, please. I don’t understand.” Trail said.
“Drop the act! I know about you and Trixie!” Starlight shouted, her attention fully on Trail now.
Trail looked at her with confusion, “Me and Trixie? What are you talking about?”
“I saw you in the square!” Starlight screamed.
“In the square? But Starlight I’ve-” Trail said before being cut off.
“I don’t want to hear your lies! How could you do this to me?” Starlight continued to shout.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Trail shouted back.
Starlight grew more angry and as she looked around again, she found a little box by Trail’s leg. He must have brought it with him. Without even thinking she picked up the box in her magic and threw it at him. He took the box right to the face, making him recoil as the contents of the box soon fell onto the floor.
Starlight looked down to pick up whatever had fallen from the box to throw at him again, but as her magic took hold of it. She stopped. She slowly floated the remains of what was inside to her face for a closer look.
It was a cake, a simple buttercream white cake, with frosting that matched her colors. And while the cake had been smashed from the bottom, the writing on the top was intact. And the words on it almost made Starlight break into tears again.
Welcome to the Family, My Starlight Glimmer
Her magic failed and the cake dropped to the ground, splatting into pieces on the floor of the cavern. What was going on? Why would he have that? Why would he write those words on that cake if he was-?
She couldn’t finish the thought, she couldn’t think at all. What was happening? She didn’t understand. What was happening? She held her head in distress, unable to process the situation.
Trail moved closer, “Starlight. What happened in the square?”
She sobbed and looked up at him, tears in her eyes.
“I saw you kissing Trixie.” Starlight said.
Trail’s eyes widened with shock, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“Starlight. I couldn’t ever do that to you.” Trail said, tears flowing down his face.
“But I saw it. You said-” Starlight started to say.
The door to Maud’s home burst open, Tala and Zala coming into the chamber. If Maud was mad about her door, no one could tell.
“Sisters, what are you two doing here?” Trail asked.
“We were looking for you in town, that DJ pony told us which way you were going. Just had to follow your hoofprints.” Zala said.
“No time for that! Comet is- wait, what’s up with you two?” Tala asked, seeing them both crying.
Both ponies wiped the tears away and spoke in unison, “What about Comet?”
Both of them looked at each other and then looked away blushing.
“She’s not at home, and we couldn’t find her in town. She’s missing.” Tala said.
“Missing? Did you check the school?” Starlight asked.
“Well, no. I kinda panicked when she wasn’t at the store.” Tala said, rubbing the back of her head.
“I tried to calm you, but you just kept flying. Honestly sister, I am worried as well but you must think rationally.” Zala said, scolding the griffin.
Tala blushed in embarrassment, but quickly regained her focus, “Come on, we can check the school.”
Trail and Starlight got up at the same time and spoke together yet again, “I’ll come too.”
Both looked at each other with red faces, but Starlight immediately moved towards the door, away from Trail. Trail’s heart froze at this gesture, she seemed scared of him. He couldn’t understand any of this. He shook his head to take those thoughts out of his mind, he needed to find Comet, then he could get to the bottom of this.
Starlight led the way out of the cavern, followed by Tala, Zala, Trail and Maud.
The entrance to the school was still open, with students going in and out, minding their business and spending their free time however they wished.
Starlight, Trail, Zala, Tala and Maud all entered the school and immediately started looking around for their filly. Comet was nowhere to be seen. But as Starlight scanned the crowd, she spotted Silverstream and Smoulder. She immediately ran over to them.
“Girls, have you seen Comet?” She asked them.
The two students jumped in surprise as their teacher stood before them.
“Miss Starlight? Uh yeah, Comet went into town with Ocellus hours ago.” Smoulder said.
“She’s not in town. She’s not at home either. Has Ocellus come back?” Starlight asked.
“Actually, now that you mention, Ocellus should have been back by now. Wonder what’s keeping them?” Silverstream said.
Tala landed next to them, “Where is my niece?”
Smoulder and Silverstream gulped in fear as the griffin stared them down.
“Sister! They are just children, calm yourself!” Zala said, getting between Tala and the girls.
Tala deflated a little and turned around to grumble to herself. Zala turned to the children with a more calm and caring look on her face.
“Children, Comet is missing. We cannot find her. Do you have any idea where she might be?” Zala asked.
“Well, if she’s not in town, not at her house, then I don’t know. She’s not at the school, we just came from our room and we passed all our usual hangouts. Besides, Comet said she had something important for the sur-” Silverstream started to explain before she was silenced by Smoulder with a claw over her beak.
“Then where could she be?” Trail asked.
“Where could who be?” A new voice said.
Everyone turned to see that Princess Twilight had found them. She had all of her friends behind her as well.
“Princess Twilight, Comet is missing.” Trail said.
“What? That’s horrible. When did you last see her?” Twilight asked.
“We saw her leave with Ocellus hours ago to go into town.” Smoulder said.
“Twilight, did you see her while you were in town earlier?” Starlight asked.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, “In town earlier? I’ve been in the school all day working on lesson plans.”
Starlight looked shocked, “But I saw you in town when we-”
She stopped and thought about it. Something was off about Twilight when she bumped into her. And it was Twilight who pointed out Trail and Trixie. But Twilight was here at the school the whole time. Then Trail’s words back at the cavern came to her mind.
She turned to Zala and Tala, “Was Trail with you two all day?”
Both sisters looked confused, “Yes, we’ve been in the forest all day. Why?”
Starlight kept trying to piece everything in her head. Nothing was adding up. She started to hyperventilate.
“Woah, hey Starlight! Calm down, deep breaths.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to pat Starlight on the back.
“Whatever is the matter darling?” Rarity asked.
“I don’t know, nothing is making sense. Ponies are in two places at once, acting weird and not like themselves. I’m so confused.” Starlight said, holding her head.
Trail came and tried to hug her, making her tense for a moment. She slowly started to calm down, just a little.
“Is somepony playing a mean prank for something?” Applejack asked.
“Something sure is fishy around here.” Pinkie Pie said.
“What do we do now?” Fluttershy asked.
“We need to get to the bottom of this. Smoulder, Silverstream, you two stay here just in case Ocellus and Comet come back. Everyone else, let’s head out and go look for them.” Twilight stated.
“But we’ve looked all over town Princess. Where else could they be?” Zala asked.
“What about the Everfree Forest? Comet knows it pretty well. Maybe they went out there?” Silverstream asked.
“That’s a good place to start as any. We’ll need all of us to cover the forest. Come on everyone.” Twilight said, gesturing to the door of the school.
All the teachers, aunts, Trail and Starlight left the school and raced towards the forest.
“Hold on sweetheart, I’ll find ya.’” Trail stated in his mind.