Chapter. 4 – Reunited in Canterlot
Ten years later.
It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear, the birds were chirping in the trees and the sun was warm and inviting. The air may have been perfumed by the scent of flowers, but it was over ruled by the rich, sweet smell of fresh pastries.
Canterlot was gleaming; the marble city was all the brighter on sunny days such as this. It was not forgiving, however, and to ponies that spent more time inside reading than going outside exploring, it was quite uncomfortable. It was a reason why Starlight was sitting inside and away from the large windows that made Donut Joe’s such an inviting place.
“So, where are these so called friends of yours? It’s just that I’ve never met them before and I’ve known you my whole life. You’d think I would have by now if they existed. The only time you leave Canterlot is for a few days around Hearths warming, and at most two weeks in the summer. But even then you’ve not done that for a couple of years now.” The voice belonged to a young purple dragon who was currently sitting beside his caretaker and best friend, Starlight Glimmer.
The mare in question has flourished during her time in Canterlot; gaining in confidence as her magic grew. She was now proud to be a researcher at the very university she once studied at; being offered the job along with guardianship of Spike the Dragon. That she had been all but raising said dragon from the start of her education help with this decision.
Currently the two of them were sitting in a horseshoe booth with a drink and, obviously, a donut in front of them. Spikes already had a few bites out of it, while Starlight’s remained untouched.
“They’ll be here; ye of little faith. They’ve probably just been held up at the museum.”
“Uh huh. Yeah, you have two friends who are giants and work as archaeologists exactly like Daring Do. Starlight, you can tell me I won’t judge; are you feeling ok? I mean you have been working really hard recently; maybe it’s time to have a vacation?”
“Oh, hush you; I’m fine really. I know it sounds a little weird, especially if the rumours are true about the next Daring Do novel, but they really are real. We grew up together in RC Orphanage until I got accepted into GUU.”
“Yeah, that I could believe; but what about all the rest of the stuff you’ve mentioned? Like how one of them is a crazy good self-taught Spell Crafter, or how the other one has a lifelong season ticket for every Wonderbolts show? You’re the one who keeps telling me exactly how dangerous Spell Crafting and Testing is, “he shuddered. “I really did not need to see those pictures of spells gone wrong, by the way.”
“Look, we’re both curious what your dragon fire can do; but without the proper theory and safety precautions, you could get seriously injured.” Starlight tried to interject in her defence.
But Spike ignored her as he continued on, “and yet this Twilight can do it with no problem; showing you several spells you can only just about manage. You do know the university rates you as one of their most powerful unicorns, right?”
Starlight rubbed her foreleg, “well yeah.”
“And then Rainbow; are you seriously telling me she has a life time season ticket for every Wonderbolts show? Those must be worth their weight in Platinum; heck I didn’t think they even existed until you told me your friend Rainbow has one.”
“Y-yeah, that story is a bit of a personal one. Typically the seat goes to our old orphanage; but if Rainbow ever does want to use it she’ll tell them far in advance. It’s how we got to see your first ever show, remember.”
Spike’s face morphed into a distant smile, “yeah it was incredible.”
Starlight nodded in agreement, “Winning my ticket through that school wide competition was tough; but again it was thanks to my friends and their uniqueness.”
The snort from Spike clearly hid a small laugh. “Yeah, its thanks to their apparent undetectable gems embedded in their chests that you had learnt so many obscure detection spells. So obscure that your teachers failed to protect the ticket from several of them, allowing you to find it first.”
Starlight shrugged, “it got me noticed.”
“Yeah, but are you really telling me that you can’t detect them with any of the spells you know? You must know every detection spell the GUU library has by now.” His face lit up, “hey maybe I could tell you stuff about them.”
“Oh?” Starlight raised an eyebrow at her charge, “and just how were you going to do that? Lick them?”
Spike had the decency to blush, at least a little. “H-hey, at least then you’d know something about the strange gems.”
“True, but I don’t know how it will help if I know they taste like strawberries or bananas.”
“Simple. I find other gems that taste similar and you can start comparing with them. Maybe do the more intense stuff on those so as not to accidently hurt your friends.”
Starlight blinked; that was not actually a half bad idea.
“Maybe next time; as it stands I have a new spell or two I’m hoping they’ll let me try first.” A wave of giddy energy surged through Starlight. “Oooh, it’ll be so good seeing them again; it’s been years!”
“Seriously, how come you don’t see them more often? And how come I haven’t ever met them before now? They really do sound like good ponies.”
“Life, unfortunately. They both doubled down in their studies to make sure their dreams weren’t squashed a second time. They also developed a small phobia of trains; for a few years they refused to get on one at all. Thankfully they grew out of that; or else they wouldn’t have been able to become their adventurous selves.
“As for you not meeting them until now; well the university wouldn’t let you leave initially. Then when they gave me full guardianship over you those two had already gone off to Marshall College to study Archaeology.”
Starlight’s eyes glanced over to the main door as her peripheral vision caught sight of something long and purple appeared above the door frame. That the background chatter of customers reduced significantly also tipped her off. “Well looks like they’re here at last.”
“Huh,” Spike turned around and saw two ponies walk in; both wearing sand coloured dusters that covered the full length of their bodies. The jackets were identical and reached past their tails; though one clearly had a set of holes for the very large sky blue wings of the pegasus. The purple unicorn had to keep her head lowered so that her long horn would not scrape the low ceiling.
“Wow, are those your friends? You weren’t joking about them being big.”
Starlight’s smile held a watery edge. “Yeah, that’s them.” she stood and waved to the two ponies who were clearly looking for her. It was the pegasus that caught sight of her first and nudged her unicorn companion. Not that it would have taken them that much longer to notice the two, they really could see over everypony in the building.
“Hey Starlight! How have you been!” Starlight had slipped out of the booth with the slightest of effort, quickly coming round to the front before latching onto her two dearest friends. She may have had to momentarily become bipedal to wrap her forelegs around their necks, but she got both of them in a single hug. Forehooves of purple and blue wrapped around her with ease, mimicking her gesture.
“I-I’ve been doing well thanks. The university has me very busy. Oh, but let me introduce you.” She managed to pull away before gesturing to the lone dragon still sitting in the booth. “Rainbow, Twilight this is Spike, my number one assistant; Spike these are my best friends in the whole world Rainbow and Twilight.”
“Hello Spike, nice to finally meet you; we used to hear stories about you all the time. Sorry Starlight for not seeing you in a few years, but it was a big break for me and Rainbow.”
“Not at all; after everything you did for me I can wait a year or two for the two of you.”
By now Starlight had shuffled back around the bench to her original seat next to Spike. The two other mares gave her a stare. “You chose these seats on purpose didn’t you?”
“No, no of course I didn’t, Rainbow.” Starlight feigned innocence and slight hurt. “These were the only ones available when we got here. Even now it looks like booths are the only seats available.” Sure enough every seat was taken other than a select few. “Besides,” Starlight added, clearly thinking of something cheeky. “How else can I help you two stop growing? It’s only going to get harder for you both if you go even further past the average earth pony stallion. Hmm, I’d guess by now you’re both breaching said stallions by about twenty five percent, give or take.”
“Ha Ha. Ha, now if you could convince my horn of that, then you’d actually have my thanks.” Twilight replied as she brought a hoof up and rubbed the back of her neck.
“I can’t believe you just worked it out.”
“Hey I’m curious. Just like those gems of yours in your chests; I’ve got a few more spells I want to use now. I’m sure I’ll get something this time.”
“Thanks but no thanks. I don’t feel like being a guinea pig this time round; maybe next time.” Twilight agreed with her sister at Starlight’s pouty silent request. She huffed in response and folded her forelegs together.
It was a slow and careful operation as the two squeezed themselves into and then around the bench. Twilight volunteered to go in first and to sit next to Starlight, with Rainbow following after; this way there was a quick way out if Starlight or Spike needed anything.
Knees were bashed, curses were spoken under breath; Starlight actually levitated the two drinks into the air to prevent any more spillage. The bench itself squeaked and groaned more than a few times before finally Twilight and Rainbow were fully seated and as comfortable as they could be. It was quite an amusing sight, and Spike had to refrain from giggling a few times; though he did notice that the two large ponies took extra care to keep their duster jackets in place.
“Say Spike,” he looked over to Starlight, and he could almost read exactly what she wanted him to do. “Sure Starlight, I can get their orders; what would you two like?”
“Before you even start, Twilight, this is the least I can do for you two. You could both order the entire menu and I’ll still be happy to do so.” Spike saw that this was clearly a topic that was brought up time and again; and judging by the sigh that came out of the purple unicorn’s mouth, she always lost. The slight sniggering that came from the sky blue pegasus also added credence to his reasoning.
It took nudges from both Starlight and Rainbow for Twilight to actually reveal her full order; it was as substantial as the pegasus she was sitting next to. He raised an eyebrow and had to actually write it down on a spare piece of parchment before heading towards the counter.
“It’s good to see I know you two so well. So is what I heard true? Did you two seriously venture into the Griffon Lands to retrieve the lost shield of Flash Magnus?”
“Wow, news travels fast; I don’t think it’s meant to be fully announced for another six months. They’re still combing over it for authenticity.” Rainbow responded with confusion.
“I know. They’ve confirmed that it is the right age for his clashes with the Griffons; and there are clear marks that can only come from their claws. I even think they found a few barbs that match his recorded DNA.”
“Wow you know more than we do.”
Starlight shrugged. “Well, it pays to be a part of the team examining the shield I suppose.”
“Wait,” Twilight cut in. “You got onto the team examining the shield? How did you manage that?”
“While I specialise more in ancient legends; I am still a known figure in carbon dating. They asked me to look at it to determine its age.
“So, are you here for long?”
“I’m back!” Before either of the two sisters could answer Starlight’s question the young dragon was back from his quest; laden with a tray in front of him, covered in over a dozen donuts and several drinks. “Man you two can eat. I suppose it’s not surprising though; considering, well yunno. I put it on your account Starlight, just like you asked me to do.”
“Thank you, Spike. I see you got yourself another one as well, or do you think one of my friends enjoys rock hard pieces of gem.” She had a raised eyebrow and looked at him accusingly; he grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. “I’ll just have to make sure you get some more exercise then; wouldn’t want you to get fat now, would we.”
“W-well how come they get so many then? I’m still growing too.”
Starlight smirked. “They have also been known to go for days with only the grass on the ground to eat. When I said they were archaeologists like Daring Do, I meant it. They choose to go to locations that are deemed too hazardous for ponykind; and with almost no supplies too.” She said the last part with a slight glare at her dare devil friends.
Rainbow shrugged, “It makes things more interesting; and you’d be surprised how heavy sufficient supplies actually are, even for us. Anyway to answer your question Starlight, we can be.”
“Mmm, we will be heading south into the Badlands for our next journey. Canterlot museum has a few artefacts of ancient ponies from the outer edges; they’ve commissioned us to delve deeper. They’ve supplied us with a few clues to locations that may prove fruitful, as well as areas to look out for; but really it sounds like we’re going to do a lot of leg work for ourselves.” Twilight sighed. “I’ll need to go over what they’ve given us and try to narrow things down a little; as it stands we could be wandering around the top third with all they’ve given us. Hmm, is everything alright, Spike isn’t it?”
Twilight had been using her magic to supply herself and Rainbow the sugary treats; and ever since her horn had lit up, Spike had been staring at it the whole time.
“OH, uhh n-nothing.” He sheepishly grabbed his second donut and started to nibble at it while looking away from all of them. Starlight just shrugged her shoulders when Twilight raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
The conversation continued on with general gossip, and stories of good times. But eventually cramp started to make itself known, and the friends needed to move.
Twilight smirked at Rainbow before she teleported herself out of the booth instantly and returned on all four hooves. “Bet you wish you could do that?”
“Yeah, about as much as you wish you could fly with wings.” Rainbow snarked back as she shuffled out of her confinement. With a lack of a sister next to her, there was more room to manoeuvre with. But the process was still fraught with cursing and sore knees.
Before long the small group was out of the store and Rainbow let out a sigh as she stretched all six of her limbs. “Aww, man it’s been ages since I’ve been stuck like that for so long.”
“Rainbow, be careful or you’ll be picked up for indecent exposure.”
“Oh come on Twi; it’s not like your enjoying lifting your head properly or anything.”
“True; and while horn size is a unicorn attraction point, it pales in comparison to a pegasi’s wing span.” Twilight’s face was as featureless as stone, but her eyes screamed mischief. Rainbow just rolled her eyes at her sisters antics.
“So where are you two staying tonight?”
“The museum has a set of barracks; we’ll be crashing there for our stay in Canterlot.”
“Yeah, it’s empty right now; so it’s like we have our very own hotel room in the heart of Canterlot. Well take care Starlight; let’s meet up tomorrow for breakfast or something?”
“Sure Rainbow. I’ll drop by the museum around eight. Take care guy’s.” The parting of the two groups was delayed with hugs goodbye but eventually it was just Spike and Starlight.
“Hey, Starlight?”
“Yes Spike?” It was a few minutes into their walk to the university; well Starlight was walking, Spike was on her back, apparently lost in thought.
“That unicorn, Twilight?” Starlight nodded, “I think I know her from somewhere. She feels familiar.”
Starlight blinked in confusion at the statement. Her mind went back to her childhood in search of answers. “As far as I’m aware she’s never been to the university more than once in her whole life. And I believe that was before you were born.”
Spike nodded but said nothing; his mind was focused on trying to remember a faraway past that could really only be felt.
“Need anything else?” A new day brought everyponies favourite pastime for the two sisters; work.
“No, these should do for now. If you could look through that one for anything relevant, it will be useful.” Twilight was deep in work mode and Rainbow knew the only way through it quickly, was to help in whatever way she could.
Both mares were sitting down in a private study room within Canterlot City Archives; a letter of reference from the director of the museum gave them access to tomes most ponies would never believe existed. They wore their, now trademarked, sandy coloured dusters; even in the confines of the room.
The four wooden chairs belonging to the room were off by the far wall, while the table set out in the middle was filled with over a dozen books along with quills, ink, and parchment. The two occupants were on either side of the rectangle and for ease and comfort both were sitting on the carpeted floor.
This morning’s breakfast with Starlight was a happy, tasty, distant memory. Spike had not joined them this time, but Starlight assured the two of them that they hadn’t offended him at all.
But then everypony had to return to the grind; Starlight had a paper she was working on and of course Twilight and Rainbow had their own work to do.
Rainbow read through her reference tome; scanning pages trying to find anything useful to their current project. The few sections that sounded promising were written down on a piece of paper that then acted like a book mark; Twilight would go over it again when she was ready.
Like this both parties got what they wanted out of all this research; Twilight’s planning was detailed and spanned a vast array of variables, and Rainbow got to skim through to the good parts.
They worked like this for the rest of the morning and into the early afternoon before they finally called it time for a break.
Rainbow looked over the battlefield, at the piles of books they had torn through; it always surprised her. Every time they worked like this it still amazed her how much they actually got done.
“So have you managed to reduce our search area?”
“I think so. I’ll need to cross reference a little more; and triple check those geological studies, but I think we can safely ignore the western areas entirely.”
“Wow really? That’s a big area to just remove.”
“It’s thanks to a few of the references you found actually; they helped me collaborate a few missing links, ruling places out. Sigh, there are a few more areas I would like to rule out; they really are in the middle of nowhere. But so far nothing’s preventing me from doing so.”
“So, currently, how long is this expedition going to take?”
“To explore it all? Rough guess before the research it was about three to four years, with what I’ve managed to figure out, more likely a year to a year and a half; and that’s if the ruins are cooperative.”
“Which they never are. Man, this is going to be another long one.”
“Hopefully not; the biggest problem is that the area is just so uncharted. The wilderness has expanded all over the lower areas of Equestria. No, the biggest annoyance is that we will need to take supplies with us this time. Reference materials at least, though I suspect water and rations as well.” Twilight commented as she focused on her magic. She had a baker’s dozen worth of papers that she was currently organising and sorting before finally placing them neatly into a waiting saddlebag.
“Aww man, that’s going to reduce our profits; those things are expensive. And heavy. Ish”
“Rainbow, we are not tight on funds. If fact, apart from giving to RC Orphanage, we have very little if any outgoing costs. We’re actually doing pretty well.”
“Pretty well’s not good enough. I want us to have a cloud mansion to retire in; preferably somewhere quiet, neither of us are fans of big cities.”
“You could probably build it now. Compacted cloud can’t be that expensive, it’s just water.”
“Pfff, it’s not the building costs; it’s the planning. As soon as they hear you want anything made with compacted cloud, suddenly everything else has shot up, like, five hundred percent.”
Twilight looked over to Rainbow in shock. “Oh, my, god. You have actually looked into this, haven’t you?”
“W-well, yeah. As much fun as it is travelling the world; I can’t see us doing this forever. We’re going to need a fool proof plan for the future, and I just want to be ready for it.”
Twilight walked over to the rainbow maned pagasus and embraced her in a big, overbearing hug. “Oh, Rainbow. I am so sorry; you have clearly been in my company for far too long.” Deliberately and methodically, Twilight used a forehoof to stroke her sisters mane repeatedly; much to her captives displeasure. “To think that you are actually worried for our futures and have already taken steps for a comfortable, nay, lavish retirement. Oh it does make me feel so conflicted.”
By now Rainbow was actually trying to get out of her sisters surprisingly strong grasp. “Ok, OK I GET IT. Geeze, clearly somepony has been around me too much; I don’t remember you ever being that sassy or sarcastic.”
Twilight laughed and hug Rainbow again, though this one was considerably more natural. “Oh, Rainbow; I think we’ve both done wonderful and horrible things to each other. Especially if you believe that you were the only one of us who has already got plans in the works for our futures.”
Rainbow smirked, “Never doubted you’d already have something going; it’s why I felt I needed to contribute something.
“Anyway, what’s the plan? Lunch?”
“Yup; after that, we’ll see. We will need to do a bit more research; but as you said to Starlight yesterday, there is not a real rush.”
The two left the Archive to find that the weather was turning; pegasi could be seen arranging clouds to block out the sun. From what Rainbow was able to figure out the rest of the day was going to be overcast, with light showers in the evening. Unless something drastic happened, or a wave of chaotic weather washed over from the Everfree Forest.
The slow trot around the marbled city was fascinating; statues of notable ponies through history were scattered all over. All three tribes were on display, but certainly the majority were unicorns. Passing a tour group, Twilight had to reframe from correcting the tour guide about King Blueblood the sixth.
Architecturally the city was impressive, mostly built in white marble and detailed in pale purples; it certainly was a testament to its origins. The newer areas of the city were built with more modern designs; it was almost possible to see when each section was built just by the design of the buildings. Something that Twilight would mention as they passed particularly interesting examples of this phenomenon; it was something that Rainbow was doing her best to subtly ignore.
But one thing both were trying they’re hardest to ignore were the stares of other ponies. Sure most of these city ponies seemed lost in their own worlds, or barely gave them a second look; others were not quite so generous however, and some just flat out gawked.
Twilight and Rainbow both knew they were very different compared to other ponies – that they called themselves sisters was clearly one of the subtler differences from the others – and had come to accept that about themselves. But that still didn’t mean they liked to be reminded of it so rudely.
So far no dining establishment was grabbing their attention; being travellers of the world they had subjected themselves to dishes from all over, experiencing everything from very good to the very bad. The unfortunate side effect of this was that they unfortunately found themselves, if not picky, then simply not sure what to have when it came to their home grown affair.
Everything they passed sounded fine, but nothing truly called out to them.
So they continued on; passing the exuberant central government building for all of Equestria. Rainbow said she could feel all the hot air they were spewing from where they stood; Twilight was sure she was only half joking.
Democratic voting was the way of the country, apparently; with the winner being the first pony past the post, as it were. There was a representative for each region of Equestria and they formed together into larger herds; with the largest herd running the country. Typically it was a fight between only two, but sometimes smaller herds joined together to give the large ones a run for their bit.
Then there was the old Castle of the Unicorn Kingdom; it was still used today, Equestria still had a monarch – a king at this moment in time, King Blueblood the eighth – but they were more a figure head and diplomat, rather than wielding any real political power. The true political power of Equestria came from the elected officials, officially anyway.
“This is not really working, is it?”
By now mid-afternoon was becoming a past memory and still they were wondering, trying to find something that they both wanted to eat. “No, not really.”
“Hey, you wanna go back to that all you can eat joint we saw and try and eat them out of food? I mean at this point we might as well combine both lunch and dinner together.”
“Meh, sure; though I’m getting a new book to read before we do. I want at least some entertainment while I drift in and out of a food coma.”
“Sure thing; I’ll come along, but I’m not getting a book though. Honestly I’m looking forward to a good long nap.”
With an actual goal finally worked out, the two ponies headed back towards the more commercial area of the city. It was nice being able to do this, to not have a destination or a set goal in mind. But both ponies could feel the itch to explore beginning to build once again. It was made worse as several not so subtle ponies loudly whispered about them as they passed by.
They may not have a fixed deadline, but both of them came to the same conclusion; they won’t still be in Canterlot in a week. Two at the most.