//------------------------------// // 3.1 The Start of Something New // Story: Unforgiven Memories // by Hidden Brony //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did. Recurring Memories Chapter One: The Start of Something New “Dad! What are you doing?” Star shouted. “Star, go upstairs,” I said. “But Dad—” she started. “Now, Star. That’s an order.” I didn’t even look at my daughter as she sighed and meandered upstairs. I shifted my attention back on my visitor, letting up on his throat just enough to let him speak. “I don’t know how or why you’re here, Starswirl, but you stay the fuck away.” “This is the welcome I get after a thousand years?” he asked. “We were more than brothers.” “Which is what made your betrayal hurt even more,” I growled. “Streak, I had no choice!” he argued. “I needed to—” “I don’t give a fuck!” I shouted. “Keep your fucking excuses to yourself. The only reason I haven’t killed you yet is because Star would frown upon me.” “Star?” he asked. “My daughter. The one your changeling friends threatened weeks ago,” I said. “They what?” he shouted, confirming my suspicions. “What the hell?” “Because she’s sick and tired of me killing every fucking thing between me and where I want to go, I’ll let you live,” I continued. “Don’t take this as mercy or forgiveness. If I see you again, I will turn your fucking skull concave.” “Streak—” he started again. “No,” I growled. “Don’t fucking try and reason with me. Just leave.” I dropped to the ground, letting him go—against my better judgement. He looked at me with sad eyes. “Streak, just let me—” he started for a third time. “You are directly responsible for the deaths of at least two thousand ponies,” I said. “I am only letting you go once so I can have some semblance of a normal life for my daughter. So if you would kindly fuck off?” He sighed, walking to the door as it opened. Rarity walked in quickly. "I hear something about you about to kill somepony?" she said. "I'm not. And he was just leaving." He opened his mouth to say something. "Now." "Alright," he sighed, walking through the doorway. He stuck a hoof in the door as I closed it. "You have a beautiful daughter," he said. "If you ever come near her again, there will be nothing left for them to identify you with," I growled, shoving his hoof out of the way and slamming the door. I sighed as I rubbed my temples. Starswirl. Somehow he was still alive, and he was talking with my daughter. Rarity looked at me with worry. "Who was that?" she asked. "Starswirl the Bearded," I groaned. "He died a thousand years ago." "So did you," she reminded me. "I guess that's why Star was worried you were going to kill him." "I wanted to. So bad," I said. "I would have been perfectly happy to kick his face in right then." "Why didn't you?" she asked. "Star," I said. "She just wants a normal life and for me to be less violent, and having your father arrested for murder isn't all that normal or peaceful." "You let the stallion that murdered your friends live because you didn't want to upset your daughter?" Rarity asked. "Streak, you're a better pony than I am." I scoffed, thinking of what I did to Aurora. "Then you must be a horrible pony, Rarity. I know I am." "Don't be too hard on yourself," she said. "Nothing you did was not for the good of the many." That's bullshit, but whatever. "Sure," I said. “We’ll go with that.” Rarity just sighed and shook her head. “You need to stop being hypercritical of yourself. Forgive yourself once in a while.” “I’ll forgive myself when I have done something worth forgiving,” I said. “I need to talk with Twilight, no matter how much she may think differently.” “Streak, you—” she started. “Could you make sure Star isn’t too mad at me?” I asked, ignoring her. “I would do it myself, but I need to talk with Twilight.” “FIne,” she sighed, frowning. “Thank you, Rarity,” I said softly. As soon as I walked out of my house, a mare was waiting expectantly right outside. She was a light purple, a softer hue than Twilight, and had a spiky ice-blue mane that almost seemed to shine in the light. “We need to talk,” she said. “I’m afraid I’m unaware of who you are,” I said politely. “I’m Cloud Chaser,” she said. “I’m one of Rainbow’s friends. I think.” “I’m heading to the library, we can talk while we walk,” I said as I started walking, caring not whether she fell into step or not. She did, to my utmost unsurprise. “Look, I’ve been avoiding Rainbow since you guys got back,” she opened. “Not to be rude, but this seems like something you should be talking with her about,” I said. “You’re her coltfriend,” she said. “I am,” I said. “So you can talk to her for me,” she said. “Nope,” I said. “What?” she exclaimed. “But–but—” “First, tell me what’s wrong,” I said. “I can’t promise more than an ear to listen, but I might be able to help.” “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath. “When she attacked Twilight, I tried to stop her.” “I can’t see that having worked well,” I commented. “It didn’t,” she said. “I got smacked across the face.” “Ouch,” I said, wincing. Rainbow had a mean right hook. “You okay?” “Physically, yes,” she answered. “Mentally? I don’t know. I’ve never seen her lash out in anger before.” “What was she thinking at the moment?” I asked. “That makes a world of a difference.” “She said something about being mad. Mad at Twilight for abandoning you, mad at you for leaving, and mad at her dad for being an asshole when she was a filly,” she listed. “She said something about Twilight being her outlet.” “And there you go,” I said. “Nothing anypony could have said or done was getting between her and Twilight.” “Why not?” Chaser asked as they turned a corner. “How much do you know of her past?” I asked. “Nothing pre-Cloudsdale,” she replied. “Talk to her,” I suggested. “See if you can get her to open up. If she does, then you will understand. If she doesn’t, then it is not my place to do it for her.” “She talked to you about her past?” Chaser asked me, obviously skeptical. “I won’t pretend to know every detail,” I said, “but I like to think that I have the big picture. I know the important details, at least.” “How did you do it?” she asked. “How did you get her to open up?” “By not giving her a choice,” I said as we walked up to the library. “Now I hate to cut our conversation short, but we have arrived at our destination.” “So we have,” she said. “I’ll think on what you have said.” “Do more than think,” I said, pushing open the door. I stepped up to her and tapped her on the forehead with a hoof. “Act.” “Hello?” a young and very male voice called out from inside the library. “I’m not trying to be rude, but could you close the door?” I nodded at the mare as I turned and walked into the library. “Sorry, Spike.” “Oh,” he said. “You. Twilight’s out.” I arched an eyebrow at his greeting. “ ‘You’?” I asked. “I thought you said you weren’t trying to be rude.” He sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to be, but something that you did hurt Twilight.” “I can guarantee it was accidental,” I said. “I would never hurt her.” He groaned, "I know, I know. Something you did hurt her on some level, though." "We can figure it out later. For now we have more pressing matters," I said. "Like what?" He asked. "I can't think of anything more important." "Starswirl's back, and he's working with changelings," I said. "Luna needs to be informed, and I had hoped to talk with Twilight." “Why would you need to talk to Twilight?” he asked me. “Because she’s been avoiding me,” I said. “I’m worried about her.” “She’s just hurt,” Spike reiterated. “By. . . something. I don’t really know. I do know that when you and Rainbow returned, she cried for a few nights.” I groaned. Great. "When she gets back, tell her I want to talk to her." A devious look passed over his face. "Sure. Twilight! Someone's here to see you!" "Be right down!" I heard an unmistakably Twilight voice call out. "I thought you said she wasn't here," I said, arching an eyebrow. "She's avoiding you, remember?" he asked me. "I have standing orders to tell you she's out." The sound of hooves clopping at the top of the staircase drew my attention. I saw a bedraggled Twilight staring, eyes wide in horror. "Hello, Twilight," I said. "How are you feeling?" "Uh, good?" she asked more than said. "What are you doing here?" "I had a visit from our friendly neighborhood Starswirl, and ran out of excuses to not confront you," I said. “Confront me? About what?” she asked, playing dumb. “Twilight, you’re too smart to play dumb,” I said. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.” She sighed. “Fine, I’ve been avoiding you and Rainbow.” “I understand avoiding Rainbow,” I interrupted. “She tried to kill you in a fit of rage a month ago. What I don’t understand is your avoidance of me. I thought we were friends, and I swear whatever I did that changed that was not on purpose.” She shook her head, walking down the stairs to stand in front of me. “It’s nothing like that,” she said as she got into position. “No?” I asked. “Then what? Throw me a bone, here.” “It’s. . . no, I can’t say,” Twilight blushed and started to walk back upstairs. Streak whipped a hoof forward to catch her tail before she could get away. “Twilight,” I said, frowning. She sighed. “Fine. I don’t like it at all, though.” “Noted. Now wha—” That’s as far as I got before I was silenced by a pair of lips pressing over my own. I’m pretty sure my brain broke at that moment, because next thing I knew, I was sitting on my ass and Twilight was beet red. “I can’t say I predicted that,” I finally said after a long pause. “I can’t say I did, either,” Spike spoke up from his position next to the two of us, reminding us of his existence. “Spike!” Twilight squeaked. With a flash, she vanished. The two of us were silent for the next minute, before I spoke up, "Mares, man." "I know, right?" Spike concurred. "Welp, have fun with your new issue. I'll get that letter fired off soon as possible." "Thanks," I said. "I'm going to head home, if Twilight wants to find me." "I'll be sure to tell her you said no hanky panky," Spike said with a smirk. "Right now that's reserved for a sexy, sexy pegasus," I said with a massive grin. "If she wants in, it goes through Rainbow." "Wait, you're seriously okay with having a threesome if Rainbow is?" Spike asked. "Have you ever tried to stop Rainbow after she makes up her mind?" I asked. "At that point, it wouldn't really matter what I think." "You have a valid point," he said. "Well, have fun, uh. . . having fun." "You are far too young to make that joke," I said, shaking my head. "I'm out." "Dude, I'm sixteen!" Spike said as I walked out the front doors. A short walk later, I was back home. Rarity was still over, and she was in the entry room with Star and Sweetie. "Got the letter off to Luna," I said. "Won't be long before it's widely known that Starswirl is back." "Why didn't you kill him?" Star asked, tilting her head slightly. I arched an eyebrow. "Was I supposed to?" "No, but it surprised me that you didn't," she replied. "It surprised all of us, darling," Rarity said. "With how extreme you can get, and all." "You don't know the half of it," I muttered, thinking about Aurora. That got me some odd looks, but I ignored them. "He's not my problem anymore, as long as he stays away from my home and my family." "You still didn't answer Star's question," Sweetie spoke up from her position next to my daughter. "Because she wouldn't have wanted me to," I said, "and because murder, no matter how justified, is not the start of a normal life." Rarity gave a huff as she tilted her nose upwards. "I told you that was why, but you didn't believe me, did you?" Sweetie hung her head. "Sorry, Rarity." Star reached a hoof over and pushed the other filly's head up into position. "Don't be hard on yourself, Sweetie. I didn't believe her either, if you recall." I piped up, "I'm going to head into town, if nobody needs me." When all three indicated that I wasn't needed, I turned around and walked into town. If I was going to live in this town, it was high time that I made some connections.