Star woke the next morning with a massive headache "I ate too many sweets last night" He thought, holding his hoof to his head and running over the events of the night before.
After 5 minutes of convincing himself he finally got out of his bed "We stayed up WAY too late last night!" Star thought in surprise
He walked over to the window to see how late he had slept in, just to see that the sun was still low in the sky "I haven't slept very long, I could go back to sleep…." He thought, the temptation to just turn around and go back to bed was overwhelming "No, I will regret it later when I want to sleep and can't" he resolved
He left and decided to go and get some breakfast from Sugarcube Corner. When he finally arrived there he saw a very happy and surprisingly not very tired looking Pinkie Pie behind the counter "Hey Star! Where have you been all day?" Pinkie asked
"What do you mean all day? It is still pretty early in the morning, I shouldn’t be awake yet though, we stayed up too late last night" Star said with a shake of his head
"I STILL haven't slept yet" Pinkie commented "Because if I did, I would be a real tired pants right now!"
"I know that feeling" Star admitted "Pinkie, I would like to order two blueberry muffins and a coffee"
"Sure! That will be five bits" she said cheerfully
Star reached into his saddlebag and took out his pouch of bits "Here you go" he said putting the bits on the counter
"And here you go" Pinkie said pulling two blueberry muffins out of nowhere and putting them on a plate with a mug of coffee that he hadn't noticed before
"Thank you Pinkie" Star said taking the muffins and the coffee
He soon found a place to sit because most ponies weren’t awake yet. He made short work of the muffins and enjoyed them. Then he slowly drank his coffee and contemplated what he would do with his day "What should I do today?” He thought idly chewing on one of his muffins “I could read up on some more Equestrian history and try to trigger another flashback" he contemplated briefly before shaking his head "No, I can do that later, I don't want to deal with the stress that these revelations bring right now.” He thought for a moment while he finished the last of his second muffin “I could help Applejack around the farm" he decided
Finishing his coffee he went on his way to the farm. When he arrived he saw a familiar rainbow maned pegasus and orange earth pony racing around the orchard, when they came to a stop in front of the farm they started to argue, curious, Star approached the duo.
"Hey girls, what is the problem?" Star asked
"Me and Applejack were having a race, I won and she won't admit it!" Rainbow claimed
"Ah won! Ya just don’t want yer precious pride damaged!" Applejack accused
"My precious pride? What about yours!" Rainbow countered
"Why don't you just race again? I will stand at the finish line and announce the winner" Star proposed
"Sounds fair ta me, as long as Rainbow doesn't use her wings this time" Applejack said huffily
"I don't need to use my wings to beat you!" Rainbow said defiantly
"So, where does the race start and finish?" Star asked ignoring the argument
"It starts and ends right here, we run 'round the apple orchard, first one back wins" Applejack explained
"Alright, here is the starting and finishing line" Star said dragging his hoof on the ground in a straight line in the dirt "Stand behind this line and start when I tell you"
Both Rainbow and Applejack complied "Ready?" he asked and received two nods "GO!" before the words even came out of his mouth they were off like rockets
He watched the race and was amazed by their speed, it was a blur of rainbow side by side with a blur of orange. First the orange was in front, then the rainbow was in front, then the orange, then the rainbow, and it kept up like that until they came into view. They were approaching the finish line extremely fast and Star kept his eyes on the line to see which passed first when the blurs passed the finish line.
Star was quickly approached by the two ponies "Who won" Rainbow demanded
"Yah, tell her how ah won" Applejack bragged
"You didn't win Applejack" Star said simply
"Hah, I knew I would wi-" Rainbow started
"You didn't win either Rainbow" Star interrupted
"WHAT!" they both shouted simultaneously
"You both crossed the starting line before I said go, it was an early start and you were both disqualified" Star explained
"Are you serious! It doesn't matter about being disqualified! We both started at the same time, now who passed the line first!" Rainbow shouted
"It was a tie" Star answered
"WHAT!" they both shouted again
"Yep, it was a tie" Star said simply
"Looks like neither of us win the bet" Rainbow said relieved
"Bet?" Star asked
"If ah won, she was gonna have ta work in the orchards with me today, if she won, ah was gonna have ta admit that she was the superior athlete between us" Applejack explained
"Well looks like neither of you won so the bet is off" Star said with mock disappointment
"For now" Rainbow said competitively
"Ah have ta get ta work on the orchard now, ah will see ya later Dash" Applejack said walking towards the orchards
"Alright, bye Star, bye Applejack" she said flying off in a flash of rainbow
Star caught up to Applejack "I was actually here to help you in the orchards today" Star explained "I have nothing to do today so I decided to do something productive"
"Well yer in luck, we always have work 'round here to do" she said happily
Star and Applejack spent the next few hours getting apples from the trees until eventually Star felt as exhausted as he had the last time he had helped with the apples. It was around noon when they headed back to the barn with the last baskets of apples "So Star, are ya as exhausted as ya were the last time ya helped?" Applejack asked
"Yes" he answered
"Ya really are outta shape" Applejack commented "Ah don't think most ponies would be this exhausted right now"
"I'm not most ponies" Star answered
"Fair enough" Applejack conceded with a shrug
They finally arrived back at the farm where they put away the baskets of apples "Well that was fun" Star said sarcastically
"If ya didn't think so ya wouldn't have come by to help" Applejack pointed out
"I guess so" Star admitted
"Why don't ya come in for some lunch, you've earned it" Applejack offered
"Sounds great" Star said happily
They walked into the apple house to see that nopony was there "Where is everypony?" Star asked
"Macintosh is in town deliverin some apples to ponies, Applebloom is still at school and Granny Smith is asleep right now" Applejack explained
They ate a lunch of apple tarts, apple fritters, and apple pie with a side of apple juice
"That was delicious" Star said rubbing his now full stomach
"There are two things that apples know how to do, that's hard labor, and cookin apples" Applejack said proudly
"Agreed" Star said happily "I better get going, I have to ask Twilight what she has found out from her relentless studying so far"
"I'll see ya later" Applejack said cheerfully
Star took his time walking to the library, he walked slowly and enjoyed the scenery. The lush green hills that he never grew tired of looking at, the blue cloudless sky, and the black smoke floating around from inside the orchard "Wait…… that's not right" Star tilting his head at the scene before bolting towards it in surprise
When he arrived he saw a small tree house that was on fire and three familiar fillies dragging a fire hose. Before he could react water started spraying from the hose whipping the fillies around in the air until they were thrown through the air leaving the fire hose going crazy and the tree house on fire.
Reacting quickly Star ran to the hose and slowly got control of it. He aimed the water blasting from it at the tree house and slowly, put out the fire. He turned the water off and was approached by three fillies "Thank you mister Star! You saved our tree house!" Sweetie belle said happily
"What were you doing anyway?" Star asked curiously
"Well….." Scootaloo said guiltily
"We were tryin to get our Cutiemarks in makin fireworks and that started the fire… then we tried to get our Cutiemarks as fire fighters by stoppin the fire…" Applebloom explained
They all excitedly looked at their flanks then lowered their heads and sighed "and it didn't work" Applebloom finished
"Well, there are about a million more things to try so don't get so down" Star explained "If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a Cutiemark"
"Really? That is so lame, you are way older than us and still don't have a Cutiemark!" Scootaloo commented
"Well then, you will just have to try harder not to end up like I did now won't you?" Star said encouragingly
"I know! We can be Cutiemark motivational speakers!" Sweetie belle chimed in
"Yeah!" Applebloom agreed
"Only if we get to try bungee jumping afterwards" Scootaloo answered
"Okay" Applebloom and Sweetie belle agreed
As they ran off Star started back on his path to the library. He arrived there after a short walk and walked inside to see what he saw almost every time he went to the library, there were books all over on the floor and a purple unicorn in the middle reading one of the many books "Hey Twilight, read anything interesting lately?" Star asked
Twilight looked up from the book she was reading "Nothing really relevant to our situation, I haven't read anything about magic repelling doors or spells" she admitted
"That's alright, I never told you about the multiple teleportation spell did I?" Star asked
"No, I would love to know how it works" Twilight asked hopefully
Star took the book out of his saddlebag "Alright, says here that you have to focus yourself as if you were going to teleport, but don't teleport. Next you put your magic around another pony as if you were going to levitate them, then while your magic is still around them teleport to a spot of your choosing and it should carry the other pony along with you" Star read
"Alright, let me try this" she said wrapping her aura around Star "we will be teleporting outside the library" she announced before the next thing he knew, he and Twilight were outside the library, just as she had said
"Good job Twilight!" Star congratulated her
"I don't know why I didn't think of this before!" she said happily but she sounded a little tired after it
"Let's head back inside" Star suggested holding the door open for her
They walked inside and Twilight went back to her spot in the books
"I have absolutely no idea where to go from here, the door wouldn't open and I have no other leads" Star admitted
"I had an idea, Why don't we go to the castle ruins and look around? I'm sure we might be able to find something that will help us"
"That sounds like a great idea, but I'm going to go alone" Star told her more than asked
"Why? It will be more dangerous with only one pony instead of two or more. In fact, why don't we ask the others if they want to too?" Twilight suggested
"No" Star said flatly "I appreciate the concern, but I really need to do this on my own"
"But you don't have to do this alone, you have friends who will help you" Twilight insisted
"It is fine, I really just need to do this on my own" Star pleaded
"Why? It will be dangerous and you will need somepony there to help you in case you get hurt" Twilight insisted again
"Why are you worrying so much?" Star countered
"I couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of my friends and I wasn't there to help it" she answered with a slightly sad tone
"It will be fine, I will be back later and we will talk about what I find. Alright?" Star asked trying to cheer her up
"Alright" she agreed with a smile
Star set off on his way to the castle ruins "I wonder why she was so concerned about my safety? Is it really that dangerous in the forest?" he wondered as he crossed the bridge and walked to his destination.
Inside the castle ruins were just as he remembered when he had been there with his friends, destroyed beyond repair and desolate of life. He walked along the hallway before he came upon a pedestal that looked as if it had once held something in it, it had 6 empty mini-pedestals on it, he decided that he would ask Twilight about it later.
He walked past this to the end of the hallway and opened a door that led to a familiar but destroyed looking courtyard. He looked around and saw broken wood and stone debris all around covering the walls and blocking off all other doors and entrances besides the one on the exact opposite side of him, the exact door he was looking for.
He opened this door and walked into the hallway that he had run along in his flashback. He searched every door along the way hoping to find the room he had been in when he had left in his flashback. He had searched about 10 rooms and found nothing interesting before he came upon the room that he had left during the flashback, if he was going to find anything useful, this was the best place to search.
The room looked like somepony had lived there at one point. First off, the room was completely intact, there was no sign that it had been unused for over a thousand years besides how dusty it was and all of the cobwebs. The room had a bed, a table with a candle, and a quill with parchment "I wonder who used to live here" He thought to himself while walking over to the parchment and read it
Dear Mother,
I believe that he is actually going to go through with it, you need to talk some sense into him. I have tried over the past few weeks to talk to him and convince him otherwise but he seems dead set on going through with it. Please, I beg you, talk to him, make him think otherwise.
Your son
Star
"Wait a sec. This is signed Star. My actual name is Star? That is oddly coincidental" he thought putting things together, it had to be him who wrote the note, he was trying to convince Starswirl not to do something and in this note he was asking his mother to convince him not to also. So he had to find out what it was that Starswirl was going to go through with.
Searching the rest of the room he found nothing else of interest. He exited the room once more with questions floating all around in his mind "What was Starswirl going to do? Who is my mother? What was my full name?" He shook his head trying to clear it "One step closer two steps back, I answer one question and raise three more" he thought ironically "I better head back to town then, I don't think I will find anything else that is useful here"
He walked out of the room and made his way out of the castle. Upon leaving he saw that he had been in the castle for hours as the sun was starting to set "I better get moving if I want to get back to town before dark" he decided before breaking out into a gallop towards the forest
He eventually made his way into town but it was eerily empty, even for it being night time "Where is everypony?" he thought walking to the library, he had promised Twilight that he would stop by afterwards
He walked into the library and saw that it was empty. Curiously he decided to go and ask Rarity if she knew where Twilight was. When he arrived at Carousel Boutique he found that it too was abandoned, so he decided to go to Sugarcube Corner to see if Pinkie knew where they had gone. When he walked into Sugarcube Corner he saw that it was completely empty besides Pinkie who was carrying a cake, who when seeing Star stopped in place and stared at him "Are you alright Pinkie? What is wrong?" Star asked
She immediately dropped the cake and bolted over to Star, pulling him into a bear hug "You are okay! I was so worried and after what happened to Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow I panicked!" she sobbed
"Wait, what happened to them?" Star asked worried
Pinkie looked at him then pulled him back into her killer bear hug "They went into the forest looking for you after you went exploring in the ruins, but they ran into a pair of Manticores and everything went wrong" Pinkie hesitated "they are all in the hospital, everypony is going to be fine, they only have a few cuts and bruises. We didn't know what happened to you, we thought you might have been hurt, or injured, or worse" Pinkie said before perking up and letting go of Star "I know! We need to go and tell them that you are okay!" before Star could respond he was dragged off by an excited Pinkie Pie
They arrived at the hospital pretty quickly and he was rushed inside. Inside they saw a waiting type room and a main desk where a nurse sat; she was an earth pony with a white coat and a bright pink mane. "May I help you?" she asked Star and Pinkie
"We are here to see my friends" Pinkie responded
"They are in room thirteen, you can go see them" she told them
Pinkie then rushed him to room thirteen where he saw Fluttershy, Spike, Rarity and Twilight talking quietly to each other and Rainbow complaining to Applejack. Once they saw Star the room went silent "…hi" Star said lowering his head and staring at the ground
They all just stared at him, as if not knowing what to say so Star continued "I am sorry for taking so long at the castle, but why did you come looking for me?" Star asked
"We were worried about you" Fluttershy answered
"Why were you worried about me? I told Twilight where I was going" Star asked
"Because you were gone for 7 hours" Twilight answered
"That's reasonable, but obviously not the main reason, now, why were you so worried" he pressed
"Because the Everfree is dangerous?" Fluttershy threw in confirming Star’s theory of them avoiding the real reason
"Of course it is dangerous, this whole incident is evidence of that, but it isn't if you stay on path and know where to avoid, which I do" Star answered "Now, why were you so worried"
"Why wouldn't we be worried, you're our friend" Applejack threw in
"That is a reason, but judging by Fluttershy's face and you avoiding eye contact with me means that that isn't the main reason" Star pointed out
"Fine!" Rainbow exclaimed "You want to know why we went looking for you? It's because we were worried you would do something stupid!"
"Stupid how?" Star asked still not understanding
"Remember when you were telling us why you were so depressed and that you lost your old life? We thought that you might find out what happened and do something stupid to get yourself hurt, which is why Twilight was so insistent on you having someone go with you, that is why we were all so insistent that you spend time with us after our trip to the Everfree. We didn't want you to do something stupid to yourself like hurt yourself or worse." Rainbow explained
Star stood still, taking in the information, a few moments passed by before he answered "That doesn't explain something"
"What doesn't it explain?" Rainbow asked
"That still doesn't explain why you all care so much about what happens to me, I know that we are friends, but you all seem so concerned about my wellbeing" Star questioned
"That is what friends do" Twilight explained "They worry about each other and help each other when they need help. They are there for each other"
"That only leaves one question, why did you think that I would hurt myself or worse?" Star asked "I have gone this far with how I look and not done anything, nothing short of me actually being Discord will make me hurt myself" he joked
"What do you mean by the way you look? Is it really that horrible?" Rainbow asked
Star let out a sigh "I've put you all through enough trouble, you deserve to know why I wear this cloak" he said as he reached up and took off his hood