//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: When the Star Fell // Story: Star Fall // by xXElite AlicornXx //------------------------------// Part One: Star Fall Everypony gathered about the hill in Ponyville, quietly shifting about with baited breath and thriving interest at the spectacle that would soon be viewable to them. While others had their eyes on the sky, vigilantly searching with passionate anxiousness, others stood around in small groups and chattered with one another. "Uh, Twahlaght?" Applejack approached a very-anxious Twilight who was busy looking into the telescope and then at a paper pad she had brought with her - back and forth, back and forth, her furrowed eyes flickered between her tools. Applejack tried again. "Twah?" "Yes, Applejack?" Twilight asked, glancing back down at the pad in her hoof with a petulant frown, seemingly double-checking her numbers (and not liking her results), if anypony who looked her way had to guess. "Ah was just wonderin' about th' shootin' stars... They gonna be around anytime soon?" "Well, they should be here in just about—” "HEY! TWILIGHT! ARE WE GUNNA SEE THE SHOOTING STARS YET?!" Pinkie suddenly appeared between Applejack and Twilight, shouting in untold glee right into Twilight's face. Twilight's pupils dilated in surprised shock for a moment, before she shook herself out of both the temporary trance and the ringing in her ears; where her friend just originated from, she decided to ponder over later. An irritated edge began seeping into her tone. "Pinkie!" "Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie said, batting her eyelids. Twilight sighed, losing her annoyance just as quickly as it had come. "Couldn't you just ask me, normally?" She adjusted her telescope which had turned a few degrees to the left with the sudden appearance of the pink mare. "Besides, Applejack has already asked.” She motioned towards said Applejack, who was still shaking off the last drudges of the auditory beating she had been briefly put through. “And as I was about to say—” "Huh? What do you mean, Twilight?" Pinkie interrupted, tilting her head to an almost-unnatural angle. "That was normal. It was my normal very-anxious tired-of-waiting-around-outside voice.” Twilight exhaled and then smiled a little. "Well, I guess it's my fault. Maybe I shouldn't have asked you all out here so early...” Shaking her head, Twilight turned and began peering back down at her pad of notes. “Anyways, we have at least a few more minutes before the shooting stars, so if everypony wants to go—” "Twilight! Look!" Pinkie cried, pointing a hoof. "Huh?" Twilight turned as a chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ began to fill the air. "Oooh, wow! Look at that!" A pony in the crowd said, directing everyponies’ attention. Within the group of shooting white stars, there was an entire spectrum of colors highlighting random meteorites as they plummeted through the air. "Oh my!" "Wow!" "Check that out!” The hill was stark-still and void of sound, now - save for the occasionally-whispered coo of admiration. And while the processions were enamored to the point of paralysis by the fairly-rare sight, Spike walked up beside Twilight, gently bumping her with an elbow. "Hey, Twilight." "Hey, Spike," Twilight said, averting her attention from the display of stars for a fraction of a second through a nuzzle before returning her focus to the shower. She and he were quiet for a minute before Twilight spoke. "Ya know something, Spike?" "What?" "The best and most beautiful scenes are always found in nature. And since moving to Ponyville, it's only ever gotten better." "Heh. Yeah," Spike said. "You can say that again, Twi - and I totally agree with you.... But..." "But what, Spike?" Twilight asked, her voice edged with concern. "I think it's only really ever gotten better because - it's not just the view or anything - but because of our friends; now we can share these moments with them. And when I think about that sometimes, I just... I dunno, feel really happy about it." Twilight smiled affectionately down at the little dragon. "I could not have said it better myself." She pulled him close to her with a foreleg and the both of them turned their eyes to the sky. Twilight wondered when was the last time she actually did something like this... When was the last time she ever watched the stars when it wasn't for some kind of experiment or study? With Spike... with her friends... like this? "Spikey-wikey! Can we please have more tea?" Rarity called. "Huh? Oh! Be right there!" Spike gently removed Twilight's hoof. "Be right back, Twi." "Sure thing, Spike." Twilight saw him off with a smile, and turned her eyes back to the sky... ~ ~ ~ ~ Not long after that did everypony begin to move away from the crest of the hill. Others stayed to chat amicably with one another, while others laid out something to lie down on, the remaining night festivities now focusing more on a nice star-lit dinner than actual stargazing. Twilight saw all of this and watched as her friends all began to group and pack up. "C'mon Twi, let's head back to your place," Rainbow Dash said as she flew overhead of the rest of them. "Uh, yeah... coming..." Twilight mumbled just loud enough to hear, turning her head back to the sky. I was sure it was supposed to go at least a few seconds longer... "Twilight; you comin'?" Applejack called from somewhere behind her. "Y... yeah," Twilight said after a moment or so. Perhaps she was wrong? She had an uneasy feeling starting to rise from the depths of her fetlocks. "Let me pack up my telescope; I'll see you girls in a bit." "Well, don't stay out too long, dear," Rarity called back. "I'll go help... normally I would, Rarity, but... you all at the tree house!" Twilight heard Spike somewhere behind her -addressing her friends, no doubt. But she wasn't really listening - not to them, anyways. Her eyes were glued to the sky. She was sure her calculations were correct. To a ‘T’, at that. So... why weren’t they there? Just then, she saw a few more shooting stars fly past, stirring up a bit of noise from a few of those who had stayed behind. 'I knew it!’ Twilight thought, her eyes following the stars across the sky. She then turned her head and saw another... a distinct one that seemed to be a bit slower than the others and was steadily heading across... No... it wasn't really going across the sky... was it? Twilight tilted her head at it; its angle seemed to indicate it would reach the earth. Twilight raised a hoof as if to walk over the top of the hill, her eyes fixed on the star... Down, down, down, it came. The arch of its tail bending more and more and more until... it seemed to be falling - almost as if it were just deliberately falling. Although... it's path... it wasn't straight in its path. Somehow, Twilight knew this wasn't any ordinary shooting star - if it even was a that - what she also knew, was that it was falling very, very close to Ponyville. Her eyes followed the space debris until it seemed to disappear in the direction of the Everfree... a small burst of light caused Twilight's eyes to widen, and a low gasp escaped her mouth. All was still for just a few moments before Twilight came back to reality as Spike called out to her. "Twilight! Twilight!" He panted as he reached her side. "Sorry about that, Twi; I got a bit distracted by the girls..." "Hmm...?" Spike furrowed his brow in confusion at the dull look of thought on Twilight’s face as she stared out blankly. In curiosity, he even waved his claw about her face. Nothing. Concerned, he began to speak. "I said—” "Oh!” As if not realizing she had been standing there motionless, Twilight trotted over to her telescope and took a quick glance into it. “No, no, it's alright, Spike. I said I'd pack up, anyways..." She set her hoof onto the telescope in an attempt to break it down, only her mind was certainly not where her hoof was. Her hoof smoothly slid off, and she stumbled as a result. "Uh... Twilight?" Spike said. "Yes, Spike?" Twilight turned her face to him, oblivious to that little blunder. "Uh..." Spike was a bit creeped out by the way Twilight was looking at him. Her gaze seemed blank and mindless, as though she wasn't even focusing on her current surroundings. "I guess you’re a bit carried away by the stars, huh?" Spike continued, "But, you’re not going to use your telescope...? That's kinda strange." "Is it?" Twilight asked, turning her eyes to the sky, once more, sweeping it for any signs of another falling star. "Um... Twilight?" Spike said, poking her just a little. "Oh! Spike!" Twilight was unamused. "Sorry," Spike said, shifting his carry nervously. "You're not paying attention." "Oh..." Twilight saw that Spike was all packed and ready to go, the telescope tucked under his right arm securely. She noticed a part of it had full potential of being marked up, against the ground. "Here, let me help with that." With a gentle glow from her horn, Twilight levitated her telescope just above head-level. "We'll just keep it like this," she said. "Alright then." Spike said. They turned to go. For just a moment, Twilight turned her head back to the patch of sky which was clearly seen from atop the hill. She glanced towards the direction of the Everfree, anxiety was lingering within her. She knew what she thought she had seen... but did she truly believe it? And if she would tell her friends... would they believe it? * * * * * Part Two: Vision of the Sky "Ahhhhh...." Twilight yawned, smacking her lips as she slowly removed herself from bed. She ran a hoof over her face and then stretched, yawning once more. She then carelessly teleported herself to the lower floor and headed towards the restroom. Later on, she was eating breakfast with Spike. "Good morning, Spike," Twilight said, embracing her little dragon friend. "Good morning, Twilight—” Spike gave a brief yawn of his own. “—I got breakfast all ready for you." "Thank you Spike," Twilight said, settling down to eat. Spike sat before her. "No problem." "..." Spike frowned, watching as his friend was once again off in her own little space, lost in thought. "Uh, yeah... no problem, Twilight?" Spike repeated, rubbing the back of his head in worry and awkwardness. "...." "Uh, Twilight?.... Hello? Anypony home?" Spike snapped his claw before Twilight's face. "Hmm... oh!” Spike’s worry doubled at the delayed response. “Sorry, Spike - what did you say?" Twilight asked. "Don't worry about it," Spike said, rising from where he sat. It was still morning; perhaps Twilight was just a little groggy, Spike thought. "I'm not very hungry right now, so.... you go on ahead and eat. I'll be elsewhere... cleaning, I guess." "Right. You do that," Twilight said, giving an assuring, yet suspicious grin. Spike raised an eyebrow, but left - regardless - leaving Twilight in thought. She pushed her food back and sat with her head on her hooves... She began to think about what had taken place the evening before. What had it meant - what did it mean now? Was it all an illusion, or did she really see that star fall? Or was it even a star, in the first place..? Her eyelids closed and she was immediately back on the hill. She could see the stars as clear as ever, now... may be ever clearer. She saw the shooting stars, her friends - everypony! But now... these feelings... something was different. Something was there, but she just couldn't put her hooves on it. "That's right..." Twilight thought. "Expectancy..." That was what to call the feeling: expectancy. The whole atmosphere had changed, dramatically, from last night... Everypony's eyes were on the sky, yes, but... there were more like... more than just looking, they were... expecting. There were no "oohs" or "ahhs" as those particular shooting stars passed overhead. There was hardly a stir from the crowd, at that... just... anxiety. Everypony seemed to be anxiously waiting... for something... something to happen— that's when it hit Twilight! This is what she was feeling, last night. She was expecting something to come, but never really knew it... She turned and looked at the expressions on the faces of everypony in her imagination. They were blank and unreadable. But still, she knew everypony was expecting something. Just then, there was a great bright light behind Twilight. A small gasp escaped her lips as she turned to see what was emitting the bright light. Twilight raised a foreleg, in an attempt to lessen the effects of the brightness of the heavenly glow. But now the light was before her - the star was actually right in front of her! She squinted her eyes as the bright light hovered, before her, for just a few seconds longer... "Don't look, everypony!" Twilight heard her own voice, but couldn't quite tell that it was hers, for her mouth did not move. But as if startled, the light quivered and then shot off in the direction of the Everfree. "W - wait!" Twilight extended a hoof towards the direction of the light, the star. Suddenly, all around her was darkness; nopony was around - not her friends, not anypony else, not even Spike... "Twilight!" Not even... Spike.... "Spike..." Twilight heard herself, that time, but wasn't really sure where her mind was. "Twilight!" She thought her own name as if trying to pull herself out of the mind-paralyzing trance. "Twilight!" No... that wasn't it. Somepony... somepony was calling her... "WAH - AH!" Twilight's reality came back to her like a smack in the face. Spike would never admit in a million years that the smack came from him as he watched her fall back and out of her chair, ending up on the floor. "Ohhh..." She rubbed her head - shook it so that her eyes would stop spinning in their sockets. "Huh....?" "Twilight, are you alright?" It was Spike. Of course it was Spike. "Yeah I... I think so," Twilight said, sitting down on her rump. Spike sighed. "Alright Twi. It's about time you told me what's going on." "Oh, well..." Twilight chuckled, nervously. "It's - uh - kinda hard to explain.” Spike raised an eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest. "Yeah?" "Uh... yeah." With trepidation, Twilight rose to all fours. "But even if I did tell you...." "What? Is it that you were so intrigued by the stars, last night, that now you can't even get them out of your head? They were so mystically wondrous that you're continuously seeing them, everywhere?" Spike paused, but before Twilight could say anything, he continued. "Or, is it something else? Maybe you just didn't get a good night's sleep..." It sounded like more of an conclusion than a question to Twilight. "Uh... Actually Spike... You're right." Twilight headed towards the actual 'library" section of her house. "Wait... I am?” Spike asked. "Yes," Twilight said. "I mean - it's something like what you said... I just can't get the stars out of my head... what happened, I... I just can't let it go." "Oh." Twilight stopped, abruptly, and turned to see that her assistant had grabbed a broom and began to sweep as if without a care in the world. "What do you mean ‘oh’?" Don't you think that's a little blunt?" "Nah." Spike continued sweeping. "But Spike—!" "Helloohhh - ooooh!" "Huh?!" Twilight turned towards the door, just as Pinkie Pie burst in, practically cartwheeling through in her usual peppy zeal. "Pinkie—!" "Heya, Twah." Applejack trailed in, behind an exstatic Pinkie Pie. Like a gust to a flame, Twilight’s irritation was snuffed out, leaving an atmosphere of confusion. "Oh, hello girls..." Twilight said, stretching her neck to look beyond them to see if anypony else was coming in. "Do’ 'worry. It's just us, Twalaght," Applejack reassured. "Oh, well... that's fine, I suppose," With a smile, she looked to her two friends. "How can I help you girls?" Applejack winced, almost imperceptibly. "Uh, you see... Actually—” "What are you talking about, silly?! WE came here to help YOU!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing around Twilight - suddenly ending up in her face. "What do you mean? Twilight asked, raising a brow. "Don't ask us, silly - ask him." Pinkie Pie motioned beyond Twilight. Twilight turned, eyes locking onto Spike. His back was turned to her, but as soon as her eyes fell on him, he stilled. His lack of response caused Twilight turn back towards Pinkie Pie and Applejack. "I don’t underst—" "Come ON, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie said, thrusting her face back at Twilight as soon as she could. "We all know you've finally lost it." "What?!" Twilight’s eyes narrowed and she immediately turned back to Spike. "Spike! What did you tell them?! And when?! And how long ago?!" "Now hold on there, sugarcube," Applejack said, gently touching Twilight's flank. "Whatever Spike told us, well... Ah don't think he meant it that way..." Applejack glared back at Pinkie Pie who, in turn, only shrugged. "I still don't understand." Applejack just sighed. "It's alraght. Ah think that once ah’ve done m' work today, an' when Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash an' Rarity aren't busy; we can all talk.” After a brief pause, she added, “You know you can tell us an'thang, right Twah?" Applejack asked. "Yes, I know..." Twilight replied, smiling just a bit. "I guess we can talk later." "Alright then, sugar," Applejack said, turning to go with Pinkie Pie in tow. "I best be gettin' about m' work, then." With a wave from the two friends, the door was closed and the library’s atmosphere returned to its former state. * * * * * Part Three: An Investigation "Alright, so what exactly did you tell them?" Twilight inquired, as her hooves clopped, gently, over the soft grass. After her two friends had left, Twilight decided on a walk around the outskirts of town would help her rampant thoughts. Subsequently, she dragged Spike along with her. "Oh, well, uh - it's not what you think," Spike stuttered, nervously. "I'm listening," Twilight said, trotting onward. Spike inhaled deeply. "Well... alrightsoIdidn'treallyknowwhatwaswrongImeanyouwereallytiredlikeandIhadnoideawhattodoandwasworriedaboutyouand—” Taking an enormous gasp of air as if he was preparing to belch fire, he nearly began his onslaught of hurried explanation before Twilight gently, but firmly, closed his mouth.. "Wait, wait, wait - stop!” Twilight gave herself a moment or so to process what she had heard. “You said you were worried about something? I mean, me - you were worried about me, you said? Why?" "Because, Twilight, you weren't acting like yourself!" Spike said once his mouth was promptly returned to him. "I mean, you slept last night, like a log even! I saw you! So why would you be all in outer-space or something in the morning?!" His voice quieted. "You were always so amazed about the stars, but this was.... different..." "But, Spike..." Twilight replied, matching his tone, "I... you seemed so calm this morning, though..." "I know, but..." Spike let his voice trail off again, and this time he wasn't looking at Twilight. "Oh, Spike. There's no need to worry - I can assure you; I'm fine..." Twilight stopped to nuzzle Spike like she always had. She was surprised when suddenly, out of the blue, Spike latched onto her muzzle and held a claw over her lips. “Shh... I hear something..." "Hmm?! Mwhup?" Twilight said, attempting to speak. "Oh, sorry!" Spike let her muzzle go. "Spike!" she growled, another random bout of irritation overcoming her. "I said I was sorry Twi—” "Shh! Wait... I hear something.." Twilight said, raising her head and looking about. What she heard was small, soft, but seemed to be some kind of melody to it. "That's what I said,” Spike grunted, his voice harsh but hushed. For he, too, could hear the melody slowly wafting in from beyond a wall of underbrush. He nor Twilight had realized just how far they had gotten, but it was no doubt they were somewhere in the Everfree. Both he and Twilight crept up into the bushes before them, ones which looked out over a clearing. The small clearing was dotted with small spots of sunlight, with larger patches in other places. One such patch fell over a strange-looking figure which seemed to be sitting in the middle of the clearing. It took only a moment to confirm that it was the one emitting the melodic sound. Looking closer, they both could see that the figure was accompanied by a variety of birds which seemed to fly away from it, just to come back again. "Twilight," Spike whispered. "What is that thing?" "I'm not sure Spike," Twilight whispered back. "I... I can't really see it..." Spike didn't answer. Instead, he made some kind of half-inaudible, weird sound, that seemed to rise from the back of his throat. Startled, Twilight looked down at her dragon-assistant. "Spike?" She said. His eyes were large and he was staring, his expression unreadable. "So... beautiful..." Spike was practically gurgling in his own drool, now. "What?! Seriously, Spike?!" Twilight said, raising her front hooves in emphasis of disbelief. Just then, she gasped, clamping them both over her mouth, as she squatted low to the ground. She felt a stir in the clearing, beyond the bushes she and Spike hid themselves behind. "Sp - Spike," she muttered. "D-don't panic.. we can just go out there and see what it is. If it's not any sort of threat, then we can - Spike!?!" Spike was carelessly stumbling out into the open clearing. Before she knew what she was doing, Twilight dashed out after him, screaming his name and instinctively raising a barrier, incase the unknown figure was hostile. "Spike - wait - Spike!" In an instant, the whole clearing was illuminated with light, except “seeing” was still an option; anyone and anything could easily see - or rather, they could see a whole lot better! Although, to any onlooker beyond the clearing's natural bounds, there was nothing there to be seen. As Twilight ran towards Spike, she felt like she was moving very slowly. The pure, white light was two walls that flanked her, like a corridor of sorts, and the figure in the middle of the clearing was at the "end" of the corridor. Twilight Sparkle... the figure said. Twilight stopped, abruptly and almost fell over in shock. "Y - you know my name..!" That, I do. The creature said, slowly rising from where it sat. The creature rose to reveal its full and whole figure; tall and slender. The creature seemed to have long hair which was only able to be seen on its head and it had what looked to be radiant, glowing eyes, a short nose, a mouth, and two weird-looking ear-things. It had long skinny things which hung at its sides, tipped with a flat part that had skinnier things protruding from it, as if it was a fleshy blunt mimicry of Spike’s claws. The body looked like it was adorned in clothing - a dress perhaps - and the hair on its head flowed seemingly in an ethereal breeze. "Wh - what... what are you?" Twilight exclaimed, eyes wide. I am your star, Twilight. The one you have have been searching for.