It had been a month since that day, since then, Star had been trying to get used to not wearing his hood, which did not gauge a good reaction with the town, when he tried it first, a few ponies ran screaming from him screaming something about an "undead unicorn!" or "unicorn ghost!"
After a lot of explanation and some prodding and convincing from his friends, he tried again and received a much better reaction, apparently six mares who were angry at a town was convincing enough for them not to run screaming from him.
Besides getting used to not wearing his hood, he had gotten a lot of orders for Quills and Sofas since then; he had sold sofas to Caramel, Noteworthy, Mayor Mare, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and Bon-Bon. He himself had also bought a sofa to go along with his house which was now painted a light yellow thanks to Rarity. It was also full of furniture and he had a kitchen full of food and ingredients to make food.
He had given up on trying to figure out who he was during that time because he was so busy, besides what happened to him, there was an incident with Applebloom and a bunch of Cutiemarks, he didn't actually hear the whole story for that. Rainbow Dash had gotten a new tortoise pet that Star thought was Rainbow's perfect opposite. The most recent development in ponyville was the mysterious Mare Do Well, which Star never found out who she was, but he had a feeling that it was one of their friends.
Now though, he was helping prepare for Twilight's birthday party, he wasn't actually going to help or participate in the event, but they all argued with him until he conceded and agreed to participate. They were just setting up a few decorations when Twilight burst through the door, she had received a letter from Rarity.
Twilight explained that apparently Opal, Rarity's cat, had gotten sick and she was staying in Canterlot until she was better and unfortunately couldn't make her way back to Ponyville. She was immensely disappointed, until Pinkie suggested "I know! We can bring the party to Canterlot so that we can be with Rarity!"
"That sounds like it would be fun!" Twilight agreed
"How far away is Canterlot anyway?" Star asked
"It is about an hour from here on pegasus drawn carriage, but if we just walk or run the whole way it will take a few hours" she explained "We can go over tomorrow to have the party"
"Sounds good to me" Star agreed
"Then it's settled! I will load the party cannon!" Pinkie yelled rushing out the door of the library
"Did she just say…. Party cannon?" Star asked with a worried tone
"It is a cannon that shoots out party decorations and in Pinkie's words it is for "partying on the go!"" Twilight explained
"Should I be worried?" Star asked
"Nah, she usually does things that are much weirder than that" Rainbow answered
"Alright then, I guess I will go and get Twilight's birthday present from me ready" Star said walking away
"Ya got Twilight a birthday present?" Applejack asked
Star turned to her "Yes, is that a bad thing?"
"No, ah'm just surprised ya thought to get her a present" Applejack admitted
"Hey! I am not a thoughtless pony all of the time! Just most of it" Star said jokingly
"Ah didn't think ya were, it just surprised me that ya would think ta get her a present" Applejack said
"Why? She is my friend" Star said walking out the door
The rest of the ponies sat in the room stunned, Star had shown two new emotions, he was being thoughtful and he also seemed genuinely happy, also, up until then none of them had heard him use the word "friend" to describe them, he usually used the word "acquaintance" or something like that, but never friend, until now.
"What's gotten in ta him lately?" Applejack asked no one in particular "He used ta be an almost emotionless pony, but lately, he's been changin"
"Maybe it has something to do with his remembering his past?" Rainbow suggested
"Or he just felt like being nice" Twilight suggested
"Why don't we just ask him?" Pinkie asked the rest of the group
"I agree, we could just ask him why he is acting differently" Fluttershy agreed
"Is it really a big enough change to bring up?" Spike asked
"Yes" Twilight answered "up until now, he has been kind of refined and emotionless, but occasionally showing a sense of humor, now he is just acting differently"
Star had found something for Twilight's birthday that he knew that she would love, in his spare time, he had been deciphering the spell book and he had deciphered about ten out of the hundred pages so far, including the multiple teleportation spell.
Along with the multiple teleportation spell, it also included a spell on locating certain types of plants, a tracking spell that can be placed on items and living creatures, a spell to see in the dark, a stunning spell, and a few others. He knew how much she loved learning the multiple teleportation spell, but he didn't know if she would ever let him live down his horrible failures that were recorded in the book, like stunning himself, Luna, and even Princess Celestia once, or how his night vision spell had made the iris's of his eyes rainbow colored and he could only see in green
There were many more that he was sure he would be mocked for by Twilight and the rest of his friends, but it would be funny so he decided that the gift would be good.
The next day he was awoken a very tired Rainbow Dash, accompanied by two very excited ponies, Pinkie and Twilight, Fluttershy who was doing what she does best, sit back and smile, and Applejack who seemed indifferent on the whole matter "Are you ready to PARTAY!" Pinkie said excitedly
"Not right now, maybe later" he said closing the door on them, then using a new trick he had taught himself, he used the amulet to silently teleport behind them and started to walk away and said "It's later, are you coming or what?"
They were all taken by surprise at this "Wait, what? Where did you come from? I thought only Pinkie could do stuff like that!" Rainbow said looking more awake now than she did earlier
"I can't tell you, it's a secret. Now are you girls coming or what?" Star asked them
They all kept a short distance from Star to talk in peace "Ah told ya, he is actin different, more emotional" Applejack said
"I like this Star, he surprised me! And it is really hard to surprise me!" Pinkie said in excitement
"I agree with Pinkie, this new attitude adjustment is an improvement" Twilight commented
"Thank you for noticing" Star said from behind them, they hadn't noticed that they had passed and were in front of Star now
Applejack, Rainbow and Twilight jumped in surprise and Fluttershy hid in her mane "Will ya stop doin that?" Applejack asked annoyed
"You passed me, not the other way around" Star answered
"Why are you acting so… different?" Rainbow asked
"I have no idea, I am just really happy lately, I guess that since I didn't know who I was, I was kind of emotionally dead, but now, I am happy, because I know that who I was wasn't a horrible pony!" Star said happily
"That makes sense" Twilight agreed
They walked in mostly silence for the rest of the walk there, it took them a few hours but they finally reached Canterlot and while walking through town Star got strange looks, but nopony said anything about him or paid him more than a passing glance "I like it here, nopony stares at me like I'm a freak" Star commented
They soon arrived at the castle and then at the tower that Rarity was staying at, when they opened the door and saw Rarity, the other five ponies all yelled "SURPRISE!" and Rarity fainted
After a few minutes she finally gained consciousness "w-w-what are you all doing here?" she stuttered
"When we heard that you couldn't make it back to Ponyville for my birthday, we decided to bring the party here so that you could enjoy my birthday with us" Twilight explained
"That is too kind of you, but I need to take care of poor Opal" she explained
"How is the poor dear anyway?" Fluttershy asked in concern
"I will be right back" she said closing the door on her friends
When she came back out, they saw Opal, she was shivering and looked like she had been sweating a lot, she was resting on Rarity's bed where Fluttershy immediately flew over and hugged her "Poor dear, she must be very sick"
Twilight approached a mannequin with a dress on it, the dress was yellow with a pink bow on the front going around the neck "Is this my dress?" Twilight asked
"Yes" Rarity said hesitantly
"It's so simple, so practical, so… me! It's the perfect dress for my party!" Twilight said hugging Rarity
"*sigh* you don't know how glad I am to hear you say that" Rarity said in relief
"Why would you be worried? I love all of your dresses" Twilight reassured her
"Oh, no reason, I thought you might not like it because it was too simple" Rarity said hastily
"It is perfect" Twilight confirmed
"I wish so much that I could go out with you all, but I have to take care of Opal" Rarity said again in disdain
"I will watch her" Star offered
"Are you sure Star? We could just stay here instead of go out and have a party" Twilight offered
"No, I would feel bad if you had to miss your party because of a sick cat, I will take care of her" Star said turning down her offer
"Thank you very much" Twilight said hugging Star
Rarity not looking too thrilled said "Alright then girls, let's get going"
They all left and Star was left to his own devices and a sick cat, who started to shake back and forth until her coat poofed back to its usual state "You aren't sick?" Star said curiously
"Meow" was his only answer from Opal as she started to lick her paws
"Why was Rarity trying to make you look sick?" Star asked Opal which he knew still wouldn't be able to give an answer, Star decided to ask Rarity about this later.
Star spent the next few hours reading through and trying to decipher more spells in the spell book, he had taken to never leaving home without the spell book, Starswirls journal, and the still title less book that he had yet to decipher anything from.
After finally deciphering another page in the book he was interrupted by Opal, who was rubbing her back at his hooves hoping for attention. She had been doing this almost constantly since he had gotten there. Star sighed and reached over and scratched the spot behind her ears which made Opal purr in satisfaction.
Reading through the page that he had recently deciphered he learned of a new spell, the ability to walk on walls and the ceiling, how this would come in handy, he did not know, but he still thought that it was pretty cool so he spent some time trying to get the amulet to put the spell on him.
After a few tries and failures, he succeeded, just in time for the other six ponies to arrive back from their party. Star sat on the roof looking down on them all and waited to gauge a reaction, the ceiling was really high up, as they were in a tower.
"Where did Star go?" Rarity asked "I must thank him for watching Opal"
Opal walked out from where she had been hiding and stared at the group "She is all better now!" Fluttershy squeaked
"She was never actually sick" Rarity admitted
"Oh" Fluttershy blushed and hid her face in her mane
"That still doesn't answer, where did Star go?" Rainbow Dash asked
"Hi girls!" Star nearly shouted from the ceiling
They all jumped and looked up at him "HOW ARE YOU STANDING ON THE CEILING!" Twilight shouted in surprise
"Star! Ponies don't walk on the roof, get back on the floor silly" Pinkie Pie scolded
"Star, stop acting acting like Pinkie Pie, we only need one of her" Rainbow told him
"These are just new spells I have been trying out, I teleported this morning and now I am trying a newly deciphered spell out of the book" he explained
"This is strange, would you mind getting on the floor so that we can speak properly?" Rarity asked
"Sure" Star answered walking down the wall and back to the floor, where Opal rushed over to him and rubbed her back against his hooves again "what is with this cat, she constantly wants my attention"
Everypony but Fluttershy stared in shock "Opal doesn't like anypony, she usually just ignores most ponies or hisses at them" Rarity said
"I am not most ponies" Star pointed out once again scratching behind Opals ears
"Most of the animals that I take care of like him too" Fluttershy explained "I don't know why, but animals just like him"
"It might be because he has such a calming aura" Twilight offered
"Calming aura?" Star asked curiously
"Some ponies just have a calming aura, when you are around them you feel less stressed, as if nothing is as urgent as you thought it might be" Twilight explained
"I never really thought about it like that" Rarity commented
"Is that why Fluttershy took to him so quickly? She is usually impossibly shy around everypony" Rainbow asked
"We are getting off track! I still need to give Twilight her birthday present!" Star interrupted
"I am curious as to what you would get her" Rarity asked
"It's kind of obvious" Star said taking out the spell book "It's Starswirls spell book, I have deciphered about ten more pages, eleven if you include the multiple teleportation spell, I thought you would like to learn the spells and get a good laugh out of my failures"
"Thank you!" Twilight said happily taking the book before her expression changed to one of confusion "failures?"
"Starswirl had me as a test subject to try out his spells, he wrote down exactly what happened during each one, and let me save you the trouble, the most ridiculous one is when I used a stunning spell I ended up stunning myself and both of the princesses" he explained
They all looked shocked "What?" Twilight asked incredulously "You stunned both Princess Celestia and Luna?"
"Yes, and I would prefer that you not bring it up until we find out more about who I was" Star said hopefully
"My lips are sealed" Twilight said using a zipping motion across her lips
"I want you all to Pinkie swear" Star said
They all did the recited and did the gestures of a Pinkie swear "Thank you" he said letting out a sigh "I don't know about you ponies, but I am going to head back to Ponyville now, see you all later"
Before he could leave Twilight stopped him "You are planning on leaving in the middle of the night? I was planning on us all having a slumber party here because we can't leave until morning"
"As much fun as it would be to be the only colt in an all mare party" he paused "I would rather just head back to Ponyville, besides, I love the night time, it is peaceful"
"What is this? Star thinks that it would be awkward? That is a new emotion for him!" Rarity said impressed
"He was also thoughtful to get me a gift, and he seemed genuinely happy this morning" Twilight explained
"Three new emotions in one day? Our little Star is growing up" she said wiping her eye in fake sadness
"I resent that, I am over a thousand years older than all of you, I am not your "Little Star"" he responded defensively
"Now he is offended! That's four!" Pinkie said excitedly
"I am going now before this gets any more out of hoof" Star said once again walking towards the door
He left and enjoyed the darkness along the way, before he left the castle grounds, he was stopped by Princess Luna "What? You are going to be here and leave without even saying hi?" she said in a much more modern way of speaking
"Sorry, I hadn't thought about it, we were here for Twilight's birthday" Star explained
"We who?" Luna asked looking around
"I came here with our other friends" Star answered
"Why are you leaving and not being accompanied by them?" she asked
"I didn't want to stay at an all mare slumber party, and I enjoy walking during the night time anyway, it's peaceful" he said happily
"Any leads as to who you actually are?" she asked getting right to the point
"I figured out who I am pretty much, about half way I guess" he said after thinking about it for a minute
"And who exactly are you?" Luna asked
"You knew me before actually, something happened to me over a thousand years ago and it turns out I am Starswirl the bearded's secret apprentice and son" he answered
Luna just sat in shock, she eventually said "I don't remember many things before being banished to the moon, but I do remember Starswirl, he was a good pony, I don't remember you though"
"Really? Apparently I once stunned you with a stunning spell and I once teleported you and a rabbit on accident" Star explained
"I remember nothing of this, it will come to me eventually, I guess we will have to wait, I will send you a letter when I figure it out" she said walking back to the castle
Star shrugged and made his way out of the castle grounds and walked through the nightlife of Ponyville, there weren't many ponies around but there were groups of friends out enjoying their nights. Star made his way through the town before he was stopped by a group of ponies who looked, tipsy would be the correct word "Hey you, what you tryin to hide with that cloak?" said a grey pony with a blue mane
"My face" Star answered honestly
"What were ya in some kinda accident?" he pushed
"Yes" Star answered deciding to be as honest as possible so that they would lose interest
"Well, why don ya take it off fer us ta see?" he asked in a slurred tone
"Sure" Star said taking off his hood and looking at their shocked faces
"G-g-g-g-ghost!" the grey pony yelled as he bolted away in the opposite direction of Star
"Ghost!" the other ponies chanted in agreement as they followed the first pony
Star put his hood on and was starting to walk away when a pony opened a door from nearby "You okay out there? I heard screaming"
Star looked at the pony and saw that he was wearing a white, folded looking hat, he was a tan pony with a brown mane and green eyes "Everything is fine, just a bunch of delinquents trying to bother me so I scared them off"
"How?" the pony said approaching star
"I showed them my disfigured face" Star answered
"Disfigured?" the other pony asked
"I will show you" Star said pulling off his hood again
The other pony's eyes stared in shock then he finally spoke up "I think it only scared them because of your bright white coat and broken horn, it makes you look like a ghost"
"That makes sense, by the way, my name is Midnight Star, but you can call me Star" Star said holding his hoof out for the other pony
"My name's Joe, I own pony Joe's Donut shop" the tan pony answered taking Star's hoof "Don't think I've seen you around here before, are you new in town?"
"I came here for a friend's birthday" Star responded
"Who is this friend of yours? I might know them" Joe asked
"It is Twilight Sparkle" Star answered
"Haven't seen her in a couple of months, not since she, her friends, and Princess Celestia came here the night of the Grand Galloping Gala" Joe said reminiscently "Any friend of Twilight is a friend of mine, can I offer you a donut?"
"No thank you, I was just on my way out of town, thank you though. It was nice meeting you Joe" Star waved and made his way back to the gate.
After a few hours of silence and peace he finally saw Ponyville in the distance, he got to his home and fell asleep, not noticing the letter that popped into existence right in front of him.