//------------------------------// // TCE: Trust // Story: Blooming Days // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// "I know it might feel like I'm putting a lot of pressure on you, Starlight," he pointed a hoof at the objective. It was a wooden target sitting on a bale of hay several meters away from us. "But I'm confident you can do this." Pressure!? "Fat chance," I scoffed under my breath. There was no pressure to be felt here, not over something so trivial. Doing things like this was easier for me than breathing. With a minimal amount of mana and a flick of my horn I hit the target in the distance with a blast of energy, no issues whatsoever. "Excellent work, Starlight!" he floated the round piece of wood over to us so he could take a closer look. I didn't need to see it. I'd done it hundreds of times before. "Another perfect hit!" I'd scored a bullseye, -- of course -- the red circle at the center of the wood charred from the impact of my projectile. I could do it a hundred times more, even if my hooves were tied behind my back and I was blindfolded. "That was way too easy, Silver," I sat down on my flank, crossing my forelegs in irritation. Even though he was clearly impressed, I was annoyed by the lack of a challenge. "I already told you a thousand times, this preschool stuff is pointless. When are you gonna give me something that's difficult?" He simply laughed in response to my frustrations, ruffling my mane with a hoof. He always did that, but he never came off like he was being condescending, just... happy. "You're still so young, Starlight," he pulled his hoof away right before I could swat it away myself. "Just trust the process, okay?" Whenever he flashed that goofy smile of his I couldn't help but simmer down. He always knew it would calm me down. It always did. "Fine, fine," with a defeated huff, I smiled back. "We'll keep doing it your way." For now... "Trust me, Starlight," he picked me up with a foreleg, nuzzling into me with another bout of laughter. "Eventually, fate has a way of pushing you to your limits. Before that time inevitably comes... I'll make sure you're ready. I promise." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Haven't dreamt about him in a long time... ... Wait... something's wrong. As soon as I opened my eyes I could sense something was off. I couldn't put my hoof on what specifically, but I felt... strange. My body or my magic... I couldn't be sure. Before I could ponder on the problem any further, Sun's gentle snoring grabbed my attention. Wait a second... The most intoxicating of scents filled my nostrils, causing a feeling of giddiness to rise in me. I took another deep breath, savoring the smell. Sunflowers. As my mind slowly began to fully clear of sleep I was able to comprehend just why my heart was racing. Why am I... I shot up to a sitting position, looking around frantically at my sleeping arrangement. I was in Sun's bed and I had no clue as to why. What... happened? I pressed a hoof against my forehead, a slight twinge of dizziness overtaking me due to the sudden quick motion I'd just undertaken. I couldn't remember what happened after fluffball had taken me to that shop to speak with Rarity. I was talking to Trixie at that cafe or whatever and then... Everything after that was missing from my memory, replaced by a thick darkness. Did they trick me? It was the most logical explanation, but sitting comfortably in Sun's bed told me it probably wasn't the correct one. If they were my enemies and conspiring against me, I'd have surely woken up someplace much worse. Or not at all... No, I'm pretty sure they were on the level. I was a decent judge of character. I'd have seen through their lies. At least, I'd like to think I would have. It had to have been something -- or somepony -- else. That all didn't really matter to me at the moment. How long have I been out? I had to find Shining Armor. After what fluffball and her friends had told me I knew I had to do something about it. I knew I wasn't just being paranoid. I have to find him. Further than that, I had no idea what I was going to do, but I had the ugliest feeling of relatability with the stallion and it had been eating away at me since I'd met him. The only thing I was sure of was that it meant bad things were going to happen if I didn't do anything about it. "Sh...Shiny..." The quiet whisper and slight rustling coming from Twilight's bed drew my attention. I was still mad at her, but... She's still my friend, I sighed quietly. I want to protect her... even if she doesn't want me to. Even if it was from her own flesh and blood. I looked up at the ceiling, the lack of sunlight noted. It was still early. Very early. I attempted to power my horn but a bout of nausea swelled in my belly. What in the- that's weird... I powered through the uncomfortable feeling but stopped my spell as soon as I felt a foreign barrier already around the room. It conflicted with my spell, forcing me to halt my efforts. I could fight it, -- could probably destroy it with little to no effort if I wanted -- but the mana coming from it felt... comforting. It was clearly a friendly protection spell. I couldn't detect any malice woven into its fabric. Unfortunately, in spite of its nature, its safeguards still meant I couldn't erect my own sound dampening fields around Sparkles and Sun. I'll just have to be especially quiet... or... Circumventing barriers was tricky work. Mostly, if one was trying to do something contrary to the original caster's wishes. Since I wasn't planning on doing anything like that, it would be as easy as pie to find a workaround. I cast a simple silencing spell within my own body. Whatever the barrier's purpose, it couldn't stop a spell of that nature. It couldn't be that powerful. There were no unicorns in the Empire that were that strong. Not to my knowledge, at least. As soon as my spell was complete I leapt out of bed, not making a sound as I did so. Too easy. Like always. I had to work quickly. Twilight's brother would probably be showing up to pick her up around the same time as yesterday. I didn't want that. I didn't want her to be around when I... spoke with him. Get to it, Starlight. I headed for the restroom to get ready for the day. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "My barrier blocks sound from outside the room too. You don't have to be so quiet out here. I thought you of all ponies would notice." I jumped, startled by the familiar voice coming from behind me. I'd just quietly closed the door to my room and was about to tip-toe away, but the stallion's booming comments forced me to spin around. "S-SUNBURST!?" I came face to face with the orange unicorn, a bright smile on his face and a frustrated glare on mine. "GEEZ! Maybe you could try not giving me a heart attack!?" I snapped at him, though my slight aggression didn't appear to sour his mood. "Apologies," he bowed his head. "I meant no harm and I didn't mean to scare you." "I'm not scared," I huffed, an embarrassed blush coming to my cheeks. "So it was you that put the barrier up?" I asked after catching my breath in an attempt to change the subject. "I didn't have time to thoroughly analyze it, but it's not the worst spell I've ever seen. I guess you're not completely useless. Color me surprised." "Thanks, beautiful," his smile grew at what he took as a compliment from me. Apparently, my barb hadn't hit as hard as I wanted it to. Probably, because it didn't contain as much vitriol as I'd intended. Pair that with a genuine smile on my face -- that I couldn't understand why I possessed -- and it was easy for him to take my aggression in stride. It's probably because he was trying to protect us. That had to have something to do with it... but there was something else too. I just wasn't as mad as I'd been the last time I'd seen him. And, yet again, I had no clue as to why that was true. "Still playing that silly game?" I asked, a frown on my face. "No games, Starlight," he shook his head. "I really do find you positively enthralling." "I-" I blushed again, forced to look away from his piercing gaze. "So what, you think I'm just some hot piece of tail for you to gawk at?" Even asking that question I lacked any sort of ferocity. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!? "You are hot, let's just get that out of the way," he chuckled. I glared at the stallion, though I was fighting myself not to smile just a little bit. "But no, not just that. You're impressive in a lot more ways than just your beauty, Starlight." "And how would you know anything about that?" I raised a curious eyebrow. "We barely met two days ago." "Princess Celestia and I chat quite often," he explained. "She speaks very highly of both your magical talent and your intellect... eeeeven if you can be a little overly aggressive." "Oh really?" I asked a little perturbed -- but more pleased -- by that answer. Still, I had to wrestle control of the conversation back. For some reason, I couldn't call to mind any of my usual tactics. My game was completely thrown off, so instead, I tried to take a different avenue. "Why do you talk to my mentor? Is that part of your Regice position?" "Regis," he corrected. "And I suppose you could say that's the reason. However, as one of her staunchest servants, I'm also held accountable by the Princess of the Sun as well." "Not Cantata?" I was a little confused. "To a lesser degree," he replied. "But the ruler of all of Equestria is a mite more powerful than the Queen of the Crystal Empire." ... Fair enough. "So is that why you're trying to protect us?" I flicked my head back towards the room. "Because Celestia is making you?" "Not exactly," he shook his head. "I think you might still be a bit behind on what's really going on. Once Sunset comes out too we can-" "Is that why you're waiting here?" I glanced over my shoulder at the door. "Sunny is still sleeping... and I have to go see somepony." "We really need to speak with each other," he stated firmly. "You, me, Sunset, Twilight... all four of us." "Sounds great," I stepped past him. "But maybe later. Like I said, I've got something really important I need to do right now and I can't spend the day pussyfooting around." "Starlight, I really think you sh-" The door to my room opened, cutting off Sunburst and causing me to freeze in my tracks. With a quiet click, it was closed. "Star..." I let out the breath I was holding in. Thank goodness. I turned around to find a disheveled looking Sun. It was easy to see she'd gotten ready in a hurry, her mane and tail slightly more messy than usual. Even like this, she looks good. Much more concerning than that though was that she looked like she might cry at any moment. "Sunny..." I sighed, disappointed in myself. "I didn't wake you up, did I?" "No," she shook her head, walking right by Sunburst and up to me. She threw her forelegs around me, hugging me tightly. "I'm so glad," she whispered. "Sun?" I whispered back, plunging my face into her mane and returning the embrace. The same smell of sunflowers from her bed, just amplified tenfold. It made my knees weak and my heart race. "What's going on? What's wrong?" She nuzzled into me before backing away. "We need to talk, Star," she wiped her tears away with a foreleg, determination replacing the sadness. "Things are... bad. " "Do you know what happened to me, Sun?" I had to ask. "How long was I out? Why was I in your bed?" "That's... part of the problem, Starlight," Sunburst commented from behind my friend. "You were only out for the night, but..." Only the night? Good to know. "The ones who poisoned you are the ones we have to deal with, Star," Sun finished for Sunburst. Poisoned? "If we don't deal with those... bugs things are going to get a whole lot worse," Sunburst was nearly growling. Bugs? I shook my head, forcing myself to focus."I... I have a... problem too," I looked between the two of them. "I..." My heart raced. I didn't want to say any more than that, didn't want to ask one of my friends that question again. Sparkles had already ripped out my heart and crushed it. If Sun feels the same way as her... I didn't want to think about the possibility of that being true. "I..." she glanced at Sunburst before turning back to me. "We can help, Star. We will help. Right, Sunburst?" "Of course," he moved to stand next to her. "We just need to know what's wrong, Starlight." I heard him, but I was focused on her. I licked my lips to calm myself, what I needed to do making me tremble. My mouth fell open for a second before I closed it, clenching my teeth tightly for a moment. ... "Sunset... do you trust me?" I nearly choked on the words, but in the end, I managed to get them out. "Yes. I do." ... S-Sun... She hadn't hesitated, not even for a second. I turned away, knowing for a fact I couldn't hold the tears in no matter how hard I tried. Thankfully, they gave me ample time to regain my composure. "It's... it's Shining Armor," I sighed, still a little worried she wouldn't believe me. So worried in fact, that I refused to face her. "Captain Armor?" Sunburst exhaled. Probably, in disbelief. "I know it might sound crazy, but... I know something is wrong with him." ... I finally turned to face them. I really didn't want to, but their silence was terrifying me. Her silence was terrifying me. There was an intense look of deliberation on her face. I had to convince her, but I wasn't sure how to do so. "He's-" "Just... one moment, Starlight," Sunburst cut me off, his horn igniting with energy. When he noticed me looking at him he lifted his head towards the guards standing a little ways down the hall at one of their posts. In a couple of seconds, we were surrounded by another one of his barriers. "Okay, you can go ahead." "A sound dampening field?" I surveyed his work. "Because of the guards?" "Do you think Shining Armor could be a changeling, Sunburst?" Sun finally spoke, looking at the stallion. Her face still had an edge to it, as if she was still greatly bothered by something. Apparently, I wasn't going to get an answer to my question. A... changeling? "Honestly?" he looked away from us. "I really don't think so." "Why?" she asked the question I was about to. "Maybe it's just because..." he rubbed his head with a hoof. "Maybe it's because I don't want it to be true. If Captain Armor has been replaced..." he looked at Sun with genuine fear in his eyes. "then this war might already be over." "Do you have such little faith in your friends?" Sun looked equal parts angry and hurt by his confession. "In yourself?" "You don't understand, Sunset," he chuckled weakly. "If Shining Armor is lost... then so is the rest of the guard. If that really is the case, it'll be the three of us, Twilight, and the Elements... against the entire changeling horde." A deranged smile came to his face. "There are millions of changelings, Sunset. They all have wings, they all can use magic, and their chitin is as strong as granite!." His tirade had been enough to silence Sun, but not me. I couldn't care less who or what I had to stand against. I would never back down from anypony if I could fight. "I'm not seeing the problem," I looked between the two of them, drawing their surprised gazes. "Don't worry, Sunburst. If you're scared," I grinned at the now flabbergasted unicorn. "you can sit this one out. It's much safer for cowards on the sidelines anyway." That barb managed to kindle a fire in him, one I hadn't seen in him before. It was most welcomed, especially if these "changelings" were as numerous and as dangerous as he seemed to believe. "You've got quite a way of motivating a pony, Starlight," he shook his head, his disbelief gone. "Can't look like a coward in front of the love of my life. Guess I have no choice but to prove you wrong then, huh?" he grinned. "Celestia hates a coward, Sunburst," I shrugged. "She's not the only one." "Fine, I'm in," he cracked his neck. "But first, we've gotta take this information to Queen Cantata. She's still the authority in the Empire after all." "What about the girls?" Sunset asked. "The possibility of Shining Armor being a changeling takes precedence," Sunburst declared. "Besides, we've still got time before they arrive at the palace." I wasn't sure who they were talking about, but if it was crucial info I'm sure they'd let me know. "And what about Twilight?" Sun asked me. "I'd rather we try to do this without making Twilight watch," I replied bluntly. It hadn't gone well yesterday. I was confident it wouldn't go well a second time. "She's gone through enough." "That... makes sense. Alright then," Sunset nodded. "I still have to talk to the queen and Cadenza about Chrysalis anyway." "Then it's settled," I smiled. It was such a relief. They believed me. But... "There's just one thing I need to know," I raised a hoof. "What's that, Starlight?" Sunburst asked. "What's a changeling?"