Queen Haven’s first address after being made ruler of all Equestria included everything one would expect. From thanking those who’d voted for the monarchy option to reassuring those who hadn’t. However, it was the news of Opaline’s looming threat that took everypony by surprise. Nonetheless, Queen Haven did her best to be informative and reassuring.
However, in the hours afterwards Pipp found the social media feeds had gone crazy. She sat in the living area furiously typing away on her laptop doing her best to quell any rumours and miss information she saw. She desperately wanted to give her fans good news but slowly came to realise that was actually in short supply. All she had left was the video she’d shot in the Canterlot Library, but it was far from ready to release.
As she typed, she was also doing her best to keep a watchful eye on Sparky as he napped on one of the nearby chairs. A blanket was pulled over him whilst he hugged his favourite cuddly crab toy. This was because Hitch had been true to his word, after seeing Sparky and speaking with Grandmare Figgy he’d made his way to the Station. However, he’d been gone the rest of the afternoon, seemingly the address had the town's ponies coming to see him.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen Misty was busy chopping ingredients whilst Sunset stirred the contents of a pan that sat on the stove boiling away.
“Are you sure this will work Sunset?” Misty asked unsurely. “It doesn’t seem very magical.”
“Healing magics aren’t always best achieved through spells,” Sunset advised. “Often, it’s nature itself that provides the best cures. Mixed together in the right way, many of Equestria’s plants can be quite magical.”
“Oh, okay,” Misty grinned as she gestured to the pile of ingredients. “Is this enough?”
“Should be,” Sunset smiled. “We just need to wait until Izzy gets back with the book and the other ingredients before we add it.”
As if on cue, Izzy and Zipp suddenly came through the door.
“We’re here!” Izzy announced. “I can’t believe that some of these plants are going to heal Starlight.”
“I just hope the flight to Bridlewood, and back was worth it,” Zipp sighed.
“Did you get a look at the tree?” Pipp shouted. “Please tell me it’s a Together Tree like the others.”
“It’s not the same,” Zipp sighed as Pipp entered the kitchen. “The two we grew have such vibrant coloured leaves and flowers; they look special. The Wishing Tree just has the same ordinary foliage as any other tree, just like I thought.”
“So, do we need to grow one for the Unicorns?” Pipp asked.
“Don’t know yet,” Zipp admitted. “I need to spend some more time going through everything.”
“Sorry for pulling you away from your work Zipp,” Izzy sighed. “We just really needed the ingredients.”
“And we need that book, Izzy,” Sunset smiled. “Let’s get Starlight back on her hoofs, I hate how long we’ve left her in limbo.”
“Oh, sure here you go,” Izzy replied as she bought not only the book but a basket of ingredients. “Isn’t it so convenient that it not only has the oil we need for burns but also the healing water too?”
“Yes, very,” Sunset sighed. “Izzy, did you say there was a pestle and mortar, we’ll need one to squeeze out the oils from the flowers.”
“Oh, yeah, I think there was one somewhere,” Izzy replied looking puzzled. “It’s a shame Sunny’s not here to help. She’ll know exactly where it is. Has she come down yet?”
“No not yet,” Misty sighed. “I hope she does soon though.”
“She will do when she’s ready,” Sunset replied. “Let’s focus on this for now.”
“Okay sure,” Izzy sighed as she proceeded to spend the next five minutes looking in cupboards.
Sometime later, Starlight heard a knock on her door. Before she could reply, Sunset poked her head in and smiled. “Oh, good your awake.”
“Kind of hard to sleep with all the noise downstairs,” Starlight smirked. “Where have you all been?”
“Canterlot,” Sunset replied as she walked in, levitating some books. “What’s left of it anyway.”
Behind her, Izzy and Misty followed. Izzy levitated a bowl of liquid and Misty a set of fresh dressings on a try.
“I see you found some books then?” Starlight guessed.
“Yep,” Izzy smiled. “You’ll be feeling better in no time.”
“We wish you could have seen Canterlot,” Misty sighed. “It was amazing.”
“The throne room is still there,” Sunset advised. “The public library is completely preserved as well, not sure how given the climate.”
“Good to hear,” Starlight smiled before wincing as Izzy carefully started removing her old dressings.
“Yeah, keep still,” Sunset advised. “I’ll try to take the edge off.”
It took some time but eventually Izzy and Misty had successfully removed Starlight’s dressings. Applied the healing balm they’d created, and reapplied new dressings that had first been soaked in the same balm. They headed back to the kitchen to make more balm for when the dressings needed to be reapplied. Excited that they were making a difference.
“Feel better?” Sunset asked as she sat down.
“Defiantly, I already feel more comfortable,” Starlight sighed. “So, find any other useful books?”
“Certainly,” Sunset smiled. “But first, you need to see this one.”
She turned the first book so Starlight could see the cover, she gasped as she recognised it.
“The Scrapbook of Memories,” she gasped. “H…how? Does it work?”
“Yep,” Sunset smiled. “I don’t know how given magic was removed from Equestria but it’s still working.”
She opened it carefully and flipped through the first few pages, Starlight grinned with pride.
“Looks bigger than I remember,” Starlight smiled. “Twilight said she wanted to add more to it.”
“I think she has,” Sunset sighed.
Starlight frowned but her expression softened at seeing Sunset’s concerned expression. “Seen something you shouldn’t have?”
“Sort of,” Sunset admitted. “When I returned and saw Princess Celestia again. Twilight added a message after it that took me by surprise.”
“Well, at least it wasn’t something you don’t remember,” Starlight winked. “You still need to add some to it yourself.”
“I want to,” Sunset confirmed. “Even before seeing it here.”
“We maybe ought not to dig too far into it,” Starlight smiled. “Leave that to Sunny.”
“Agreed,” Sunset smiled. “Out of interest, have you written any books?”
“No,” Starlight said with an inquisitive look. “Are you saying I should?”
“Do you know anypony named Zecora or Sunburst?” Sunset asked with a smirk.
“Well, Zecora lives in the Everfree forest and Sunburst is my Vice Headstallion and has been my friend since we were fowls,” Starlight replied. “Why? Have they written books?”
“You could say that,” Sunset replied.
She placed the Scrapbook down to one side and then turned the next one for Starlight to see.
“Zecora’s Compendium of Natures Greatest Remedies, wow so Zecora wrote a book?” Starlight smiled. “I did mention that she ought to actually.”
“It’s got the remedies that we’ve used just now,” Sunset smiled.
“Ha, I might have known,” Starlight grinned. “Zecora still helping ponies in the distant future. Who would have thought after how she was treated when she first came to Ponyville? Oh, that’s it, I’ve got to get onto her more about writing a book or two, maybe even help her.”
“Now, this one will be very useful,” Sunset said as she moved to the next book. “But I don’t think you should read too much of it.”
“Why?” Starlight asked as she read the cover. “Glimburst’s Anthology of Mystical Curios, Vol II. Who’s Glimburst? I don’t know anypony named Glimburst.”
“Oh, but you do know a Sunburst,” Sunset winked.
“So, we… Oh,” Starlight replied as the penny dropped. “Actually, he’s told me on a few occasions that he’d like help writing a spell book. He said he couldn’t decide which spells to include.”
“Yeah, spoilers,” Sunset replied. “Looks like there’s a series of them, all with spells that could be useful for us to keep track of Opaline. Trouble is, I think I’ll need help casting them, a few are a tiny bit beyond my level now.”
“And pain relief spells aren’t?” Starlight replied with a frown. “Those are quite advanced.”
“Not when you sneaked into a restricted area to get one,” Sunset confessed. “What? I wasn’t a model student back then and had a monster migraine.”
Starlight started laughing but it soon changed to a grunt of pain.
“Okay, I think you’re overdoing it now,” Sunset sighed. “Hopefully a few days and you’ll be back on your hoofs.”
“I know I’m going to sleep better now,” Starlight admitted. “I’m a lot more comfortable. Thanks, Sunset,”
“Don’t thank me,” Sunset replied. “Thank everypony, they all helped.”
“I will do,” Starlight replied before drifting off to sleep.
Sunset smiled before quietly excusing herself.