Nothing happened. They waited for minutes and still nothing happened. The amulet still glowed very brightly but nothing was happening "Maybe it's broken" Pinkie suggested
"No, I'm just doing it wrong" Star said stubbornly
"Just move you stupid rock!" he mentally shouted
Suddenly the rock slid out of place and revealed a door that was just as wide and tall as the cavern itself. Star walked towards the door and pushed, but it didn't budge, he pushed harder, and it still didn't budge "I can't open it" Star announced
"I will open it" Twilight announced as her horn shined bright purple
It was a very strange sight, the door got surrounded by the purple aura of Twilights horn but it just kind of, slipped off of the door. It was literally slipping off of the door like somepony slipping in some mud. It literally couldn't get a hold of the door.
Frustrated Twilight condensed her magic and sent it flying in a clumpy shape of a rock at the door. It just bounced off of the door "What is wrong with this door!" she shouted running at the door hitting it and landing on Star
"Let me try, ah'll get it open" Applejack said walking over to the door. She turned her tail to the door reared her legs and bucked at the door, but it sent her flying onto Star
"Alright, let me try" Rainbow said flying out the cave entrance
She got as far away as possible then flew back into the cave entrance and right into the door but she bounced off and landed on Star also
"I know!" Pinkie yelled as she popped out of nowhere wearing a yellow hardhat with safety goggles, she was carrying a jack hammer which she put against the door and started to hit it but she also landed on Star
"Please stop hitting the door! It's just going to keep punishing me for you girls hitting it!" he said under the four ponies "now will you please get off of me, the door isn't going to move"
"Stupid door! If you weren't protected by magic I would chop you into firewood!" Rainbow yelled shaking her hoof furiously at the door
"At least we know where the door is" Star said sighing "let's head back to Ponyville"
They left the cave and followed the trail back from where they came from. "Star? I was just wondering, why it bothers you so much that you were Starswirl the bearded's apprentice?" Twilight asked
"It isn't that I am his apprentice that bothers me" Star said trying to drop the matter
"Then what bothered you so much? You can tell us we are your friends" Twilight persisted
"Friends. I am still not used to that word" Star thought "*sigh* alright I will tell you why it bothers me so much. Do you know how long ago Starswirl the bearded lived?"
"Over a thousand years ago, why" Twilight answered
"That means that I lived over a thousand years ago too, correct?" Star asked
"Yes, where are you going with this?" Twilight asked
He hesitated "That means that all of my friends and family, my life itself, is gone" Star said in a depressed tone "My entire life before now was taken from me by something for some reason and I can only assume it was because of Discord"
"That is horrible!" Fluttershy interrupted "I am so sorry for you"
"THAT is why I avoided you all for a week, because I didn't want to have to think about THAT again" Star said not turning back to look at any of them "and don't feel bad about it, it wasn't any of your faults and there was nothing any of you could have done about it
Star didn't talk anymore after that, mostly because the other six ponies were staying a little farther away than usual and whispering, occasionally gesturing towards Star. When they finally got to the edge of the Everfree forest where Stars house was he turned to them "Thank you all for helping me look for that, I will try to find a way to open it"
Star started to walk towards his house before he was stopped "Star, wait" Twilight said walking forward "I just want you to know that if you need any help for anything don't be afraid to ask us" she put her hoof on his shoulder "I will be trying to find a way to open that door so don't worry I will find something, drop by later and we can talk more about it"
Twilight walked away before he was approached by Applejack "Why don't ya stop by Sweet Apple acres sometime, ah could use an extra pair a hooves since Macintosh's accident" she then walked away
Rainbow Dash followed suite "We need to hang some time, I still need to show you all of my awesome tricks!" she said bolting into the air
He was then was approached by Pinkie Pie "Come by next time you need a treat, want another dance lesson or need help with a party!"
Fluttershy slowly trotted over to Star and her face turning bright red she hugged him "If you ever need to talk to me about any problems, just come by, that is if you would want to…." Fluttershy quickly let go and hurried on her way back to her cottage
Lastly Rarity approached him "Feel free to drop by Carousel Boutique any time, make it sometime soon, I have something I need to discuss with you"
Star was left speechless "What was that all about?" he shook his head "these ponies are very strange" then a smile grew on his face “Though that isn’t such a bad thing”
They had been searching for some hours so the sun was a little past the top of the sky. Star decided that he was going to spend the rest of the day working on his house.
After a trip to the hardware store and lots of reinforcing he had finally built up the walls of his room, the bathroom, and half of the kitchen. He would have finished the kitchen or more but he was tired of the tedious work and it was late so he gave up and decided to get some sleep because he hadn't had much sleep the night before.
The next day he woke a little after the sun had risen. He lay in the grass and enjoyed the peace of almost nopony being awake.
He decided that for today he was going to go to Sweet Apple acres and help Applejack because he had nothing productive planned that day.
After asking a few ponies in town he found out that Sweet Apple acres was just outside of town. Walking the direction that he had been pointed he soon found himself at Sweet Apple acres. The farm was enormous; it had acres upon acres of trees "How many ponies do they have working on these fields?"
He approached the small house just past the gates and saw Applejack walking out of the building "Hey Applejack! I came because you said you could use an extra hoof!"
"Ah didn't think anypony woke as early as ah did!" Applejack said in surprise
"I went to bed early last night, it was an emotionally tiring day" Star admitted
"Alright then, let's get started. Ah will show ya the ropes of apple buckin" Applejack motioned for him to follow as she walked towards a cart filled with buckets "we pull this out into the group of trees we're buckin an we catch the apples in the buckets" she explained "usually ah wait an have Macintosh help me pull this thing, but you're here so go ahead an hitch yerself onto it"
They pulled the cart into the trees until they came upon some trees with apples in them "Alright, first ya have ta walk over to the tree ya plan on buckin" she walked over to one of the trees and set a few buckets around the tree "then ya turn yer back on it" she once again followed her own instructions "then ya rear up yer legs and kick at the tree, but don't try too hard or ya will throw out yer legs" she said bucking the tree. With a satisfactory shake the tree dropped all of its contents into the buckets
"Wow! You have really strong legs!" Star exclaimed
"Well, Ah've been doin this since ah was just a little filly" Applejack explained "now you try"
Following in her example Star walked over to a tree, put down some buckets just as she had, turned his back on the tree, reared his legs and bucked. A few apples fell into the buckets but not near as many as had fallen into Applejacks buckets "I guess that my legs are still weak from misuse" Star guessed "I haven't really worked them out since I regained use of them"
"Well then, ya will just have ta work on the farm with me some more an git some muscle on them chicken legs!" Applejack said jokingly
"Hey! I don't have chicken legs! You can't even tell, you can't see my legs" Star said defiantly
"Sure," Applejack rolled her eyes "why don't ya start off on just pullin the cart and carrying the buckets 'till ya can buck more than a few apples outta the trees"
For the next few hours Applejack and Star worked on the trees until Star was sweaty and exhausted and Applejack had barely broken a sweat "Alright now, that's enough fer yer first day, let's get this last cart full to the farm"
The entire time Star had not once complained and it made Applejack curious "Ya haven't said anythin 'bout how exhausted ya are, ah can't tell from lookin at ya 'cause of that cloak, are ya exhausted or do ya have more endurance than ah pegged ya?"
Star looked over at Applejack "I am as exhausted as I can ever remember being" he said simply
"How exhausted’s that?" Applejack said taking the bait
"So exhausted that if I stop moving my legs I don't think they will ever move again, ever" Star said jokingly
Applejack laughed at this "Why don't ya come in for a glass of apple juice and some apples? It's the least ah owe ya fer yer help"
"That sounds nice" Star admitted
They walked into the house and saw Applebloom and Big Macintosh sitting down and eating at the table in the kitchen
"Howdy Star, ah was wonderin who was helpin Applejack this mornin" Macintosh commented
"Hello mister Star" Applebloom chimed in before continuing to devour an apple strudel
"I came over because you are too strong for your own good and Applejack still needs help around the orchard" Star joked
This earned him an annoyed look from two out of the three apples in the room
"Ah am not too strong for mah own good!" Macintosh said defiantly
"Ah didn't NEED yer help, it was just appreciated!" Applejack also said in a defiant tone
"If you say so" Star said not giving them a reaction and only making them feel more defensive
"Alright, heres yer apple juice" Applejack said handing him a glass of apple juice and two apples
Star took them gratefully swallowed both the apples whole and drank the apple juice in one gulp "Ya seem like ya haven't had anythin ta drink or eat in years" Macintosh commented
"I was just exhausted because I haven't been working out my muscles since I regained use of them" Star answered
"What do ya mean since you regained use of 'em?" Applebloom asked
"I was injured and staying with Zecora, remember?" Star asked her
"Oh yeah" she said in realization before turning to Applejack "can ah go out and play with mah friends?"
"Sure Applebloom" Applejack responded
"We are going to get our ventriloquist Cutiemarks today!" she exclaimed running out the door
"Those kids an their adventures" Applejack commented shaking her head
"This was nice Applejack, but I am going to get going now, I will see you later!" Star said waving and leaving the apple residence
Star left thinking of something to do that day and eventually decided that he was going to try and decode the book, he had an idea.
As he walked through town almost every pony he passed by gave him an excited look, a wave and a smile. Walking farther into town he saw that a lot of ponies were decorating the buildings in darker colors, bats, ghosts, and dark shapes of a pony "What is all this?" he thought scrunching his eyebrows
He soon arrived at the library to see Twilight, true to her word, buried in a pile of books and reading furiously, she didn't even notice Spike let Star into the library "Hey Spike, long time no see. I haven't seen you in about a week, besides Twilight's mental breakdown, what is new?" Star asked
"Nothing really, besides that tomorrow is Nightmare night!" he said excitedly
"What is that?" Star questioned
"It is something that ponies celebrate to commemorate the day that Nightmare moon was banished to the moon, even though it is a few weeks off, it is still fun to go around and get candy from ponies" Spike explained "the whole point of Nightmare night is to have fun, scare ponies, and dress up as some sort of creature for free candy"
"As fun as that sounds, I think I will not be attending this event" Star answered
"Why not? It's fun" Spike said temptingly
"No thank you, I dress up every day so that I don't look like a monster, I'm not going to stop for free candy" Star said half jokingly
Spike simply gave him a questioning look before dropping the matter "Alright then"
"So Twilight, I just came by to pick up the book" Star said walking towards the pile of books
"Oh, yeah here it is" Twilight levitated it to Star without looking up from her book
"Alright I guess I will see you later" Star acknowledged that she would prefer to keep reading than have company
Walking back through town he saw that the ponies were still decorating and still every pony he passed by looked at him excitedly and waved at him with a smile "What is wrong with these ponies? Did I do something wrong?" he decided to ask one of his "friends" later "I'm still not used to that word" he thought shaking his head
He soon arrived at his home, where he sat down to read the book when he realized that he hadn't finished the kitchen wall. He set down the book and spent the next hour working on and finishing the kitchen wall. After finishing that he still had to work on the main room. He spent another hour putting what was left of the wood until he had run out.
He was about to go out and spend the last of his bits on some more wood when Derpy flew over to him "I have another letter for you Mister Star"
"Thank you Derpy" he said to her as she flew off
Star opened the letter to see his almost weekly letter from Davenport
Hey kid, orders for this week are a delivery of quills for Ms. Cherilee, Twilight Sparkle and the big yearly delivery to Barnyard Bargains today. If there is no trouble with the Barnyard bargains deal then I will give you 10% of what we make on it. Also, don't worry about Twilight or Cherilee paying for their quills, I already have a deal worked out with Princess Celestia to pay for Twilight and the town pays for Cherilees quills. Then either today or tomorrow a pony named Junebug is coming by to buy a sofa so you get a short week this week unless something else comes up
Davenport
"Guess I will have to wait to get working on the main room" Star said to himself leaving and forgetting completely about the book
As soon as he arrived at the store there was a pony waiting around with two carts "Hey, what took ya so long?" he asked, he was a tan pony with a brown mane.
"I just got the note, I guess you are here to help with the delivery to Barnyard Bargains?" Star asked holding out his hoof "my name is Midnight Star, but you can just call me Star"
"That's why I'm here" the brown pony confirmed taking Star's hoof and shaking it "my name is Caramel"
"Give me one second and I will start loading up the quills" Star said opening the door
He walked into the store and into the back room to the room he once thought was full of empty crates but later learned that they were full of quills, 1,000 quills per crate to be exact, Barnyard bargains had ordered 8 crates. How ponies went through that many quills he would never know.
With the help of Caramel, he eventually loaded the crates up 4 to each cart "How do ponies use this many quills?" Caramel asked incredulously
"I have no idea" Star answered with a shrug
They pulled the carts to a part of town Star had never been to, this part of town appeared to be a market because it was full of stores.
They walked until they came upon a store that was larger than all of the rest and it said in bold letters at the top "BARNYARD BARGAINS" "I guess this is the place" Star commented
"Yep, let's take these around back to the loading dock" Caramel said walking around the store
At the back of the store there was a large wooden door that he assumed was where they were taking the crates of quills.
Standing right in front of the door was a light brown pony with a black mane "There you are, it took you ponies long enough" he commented
"I came as soon as I got the letter, sorry for the delay" Star apologized holding his hoof out "I'm Midnight Star, pleasure to meet you"
Staring at it for a second before taking it the light brown pony responded "I'm Filthy Rich, pleasure to meet you"
"So, what should we do with these quills?" Star questioned
"Just put them in the storage room" he said gesturing to the door behind him
"Alright" Star said pulling the cart over to the door
It took him and Caramel 10 minutes to unload the crates. When they were finished Filthy Rich walked over to Star with a huge pouch "Here you are"
"How many bits are in this?" Star asked in surprise
"Four thousand bits" Filthy Rich said proudly
"How do you make a profit then?" Star asked
"I get the two quills for one bit and I bought eight thousand quills. Then I sell them in my store for one bit per quill" he explained
"That is pretty smart" Star admitted
"Thanks" Filthy rich said proudly "now Caramel, get to work on refilling the quills in the store"
"Alright, it was nice meeting you Star" he said walking inside the store
"It was nice meeting you both, but I have more deliveries to take care of so goodbye" Star said leaving
When he arrived back at the store he started counting out 100 quills for both Cherilee and Twilight each. When he finished he put the quills for Twilight in a box labeled "100 quills!" and did the same for Cherilee's
He then walked to the library and gave the box of quills to Twilight "I needed these, I just used my last one a few hours ago" she said
Then Star went to the school and delivered the other hundred quills to Cherilee then walked back to the shop to find that it was time for him to close down the shop, so he locked the door and went on his way.
He soon arrived at his home, exhausted and spent from his day of labor. He lay down to sleep in his newly bought bed, but he couldn't sleep. His mind kept wandering back to the book so he decided to test his theory on how to translate the book.
He walked over to the book and looked down at it again still not understanding what it said. He brought out the amulet, he didn't know what he expected but he held the amulet above the book and suddenly it shined bright green just as it had when he opened the entrance.
He stared at the cover of the book and it's strange symbols and thought "Amulet, you worked once so far, so translate this book!" and surprisingly enough the strange symbols started to change into readable words. The cover read "The Spell Test Book" and at the bottom it read "Written in experience by Starswirl and apprentice"
Star opened the book and began to read.