//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Parties and Problems // Story: 100 years after the Nightmare // by Burning Wick //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Parties and Problems Music roared through the street as the party began in full swing. Ponies of every age filled the area outside Sugercube Corner as Coconut Pop went about the crowd greeting each one personally. Russet and the rest of the Apple family arrived with three wagons overloaded with their crop. An area in front of a stage was packed with dancing ponies as tunes played from a turntable on the raised platform. Spike, Morning Dawn and Starlight arrived with mixed reviews. “Mom, I’m going to head back to the library” Starlight stated feeling weak in the knees. “Starlight,” Dawn replied looking at her upset daughter, “What’s wrong?” Backing away, she the unicorn replied, “There are so many of them.” Spike stopped the retreating pony by stepping in her path. Looking down at her, he commented, “There are three times the ponies in Canterlot than here.” “Yeah,” Starlight began her counter argument, “But not all of them, let alone a third of them are in one place at the same time. I tend to take the back roads as well.” Crossing his arms, the dragon asked, “And why’s that?” This got both unicorns to paint worried faces on themselves. Interrupting them, Nurse Wide Heart came up and asked, “Dawn, did you just get here?” Silently thanking her for the distraction, Dawn replied, “Yeah, we just got back from the cemetery.” “Where’s Nyx?” the nurse asked. “Coco’s been looking for her to officially start the party.” Looking back, the unicorn answered, “I think she’s still at the statue.” Nether Spike or the two older mares notice Starlight slipping into the crowd. Hoping to stay incognito, she kept her head below the rest of crowd. Saying sorry whenever brushed by another pony, she found an empty gap in the crowd and sat down at a table. Sighing, she said to herself, “Now, I just need to make it to the library and no one will know.” “No one will know what, ma’am?” asked a stallion that she didn’t realize she was sitting next to. Jumping up off her seat she looked at Spectrum Storm who looking at her with a small tilt of his eyebrows. She studied his features before replying, “Nothing really important, I just don’t like large crowds.” Her eyes darted back and forth while the stallion looked out to the crowd. The two sat in silence, paying no attention to the other as the party continued without them. Without warning, Storm said without looking in her direction, “I don’t care for these kinds of crowds myself, ma’am. They remind me of my mother.” Startled at the broken silence, Starlight began to internally question this stallion. Who is this buck? Aside from Cloudsdale, where is he from? Who was his mother? Did Rainbow Dash have a daughter too? Before she could ask any of her questions, Iris appeared from the sky with a pair of juice boxes between her hooves. “Starlight,” she said seeing the unicorn as she touched down by the stallion, “I just saw your Mother-“ “Don’t tell her where I am,” the unicorn pleaded. “Ok,” Iris replied setting a juice box in front of Storm. Starlight was taken by surprise, “What? No attempts to refuse?” “You said not to tell her where you are,” Iris said taking the straw and poking into the other box still in her hoof, “and I was told by your mother to have you find her.” “Huh?” Starlight glared at the pegasus totally confused. Storm stepped in, “You were meant to find Morning Dawn, ma’am.” Dropping her head on to the table, she said, “Logic. I have none of it.” “So, you’re not going to find her?” Iris said removing the straw from the hole she had made in the box. Looking up, Starlight replied, “Are you crazy? She’ll probably go and show me off like some sort of trophy which is DUMB!” Iris listened carefully as Starlight continued her rant while taking a small green pellet and dropping it through the straw hole. “I have nothing that is worth showing off. ARGH! Mom, you’re a teacher! You should be able to put two and two together!” “Here,” Iris said pushing the juice box over to whining unicorn. “What’s this?” Starlight said looking at box. “I saw you put something in here.” “Don’t worry,” Iris softly said, “I just put a bit of herbs into it.” Looking at the drink then back at pegasus, she asked, “Are these ‘herbs’ going to make me have weird visions?” “Good heavens, no,” Iris replied as if she was insulted. “I would never do that. You just looked a bit tired, that’s all.” Starlight gave her a puzzled look. “It’s just a couple of plants that will re-energize you.” Storm piped in, “I can vouch for her, ma’am. I had some of her herbal drinks during my training.” The unicorn continued to look at the pegai as if she didn’t believe them. Iris gave up on trying to convince the reluctant mare and changed the topic, “So, what do you do?” “Well… I, ahhh,” Starlight stumbled slowly walking away from the table, “I’m a student in Canterlot.” “Oh, what do you study?” Iris said looking up at her with unblocked eyes. Starlight looked back and forth between the two pegai. Storm seemed oblivious to conversation as he stared off into the crowd of ponies while taking a sip of his juice. “Well… ahhh,” she started to lie, “… we study… Trees.” “When did Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns study trees?” a voice said with a southern tone, “‘Cause Ah would love to see yer reports on apple trees.” Starlight flung herself away from the speaker and went over the table. Looking back over she saw Autumn Gold standing near where she jumped from. Her saddle bags were filled with some big, juicy, red apples. “Autumn,” Iris said helping the unicorn back on her feet, “It isn’t nice to scare somepony like that.” “Pardon,” the farm mare said placing her hat on the table. She pointed at Starlight and said, “Ah was looking for her an-” “You’re not taking me to my mother!” Starlight protested. Displeased at the interruption, Autumn continued, “AND Ah overheard her saying she was studying trees.” She then sat down and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. “So would ya mind telling me what ya know about trees?” Starlight gave Autumn the most confused look she had and asked, “Did you really believe me?” “Nah,” Autumn replied before placing her writing tools back in her bags, “Ah just wanted to see how far ya go with the lie.” Starlight banged head again on the table and exclaimed, “Why can’t I read between the lines?!” “I can recommend you a really good eye doctor in town,” Iris commented. Starlight stared at her asking with a face that said, ‘Are you serious?’ “It was a phase, ma’am,” Storm said still looking out into the crowd. His posture had become rigid when the farmer appeared. Iris giggled at her mistake and turned her attention to Autumn. As the two talked, Starlight began to walk away. She was about to disappear back to the crowd when she thought, How did she know I went to Celestia’s School? Sitting back down she interrupted, “Excuse me? How did you know I where I went for school?” Autumn looked back at her, displeased to be interrupted again, replied, “Yer mother teaches there, right?” Slapping her head with a hoof, Starlight mumbled, “Of course it would be mother.” “What tha hay is wrong with ya and yer mother?” Autumn asked walking around the table. She placed a hoof on the depressed mare’s shoulder. Shrugging it off, Starlight looked up at those around her and said, “For countless years, my mother has been personally trying to train me so I can live up to the family name. Day after day during school, it’s ‘Try to lift that with magic,’ or ‘Turn that apple into a pear.’ Why won’t she just leave me alone and allow me to leave school?!” “Will ya quit it with the whining?” Autumn said stomping her hoof, “Yer sounding like a hound that’s lost his bone.” Starlight brought her head up and looked at the farmer, “If I’m the dog and my magic is the bone, then I haven’t lost anything. My magic just won’t-” she brought her hooves up and covered her mouth. Autumn’s eyes gave off a shine that made the unicorn gulp. “Yer magic just won’t, what?” she said giving her an evil grin. Starlight started to back away while replying, “Ahahaha… nothing.” With that she bolted away from the table and down a back alley. “Storm, stop her,” Autumn yelled as she ran after the unicorn. Storm who seemed out of it was gone before Iris could even get up and get her bags on. Dodging through the back alleys and around stalls, Starlight poured all of her energy into hooves. Glancing back, she saw Autumn jumping over a stall she just ran around. Okay she sure can get height on those jumps, she thought looking ahead, and at this rate she’ll catch me. At the end of the street she saw a ditch with some bushes on the other side of it. Maybe I can trick her with those- what the?! She slid to a stop as Spectrum Storm landed in front of her. His spread out wings and his intimidating eyes froze the mare in the spot where she sat. Autumn slowed her pace as the gap closed between them. “Golly, Storm, where did you get that speed of yours?” she asked panting. Looking away, the stallion replied, “Months of training, ma’am.” Folding his wings, he walked pass the unicorn and earth pony and went back to the party. Iris dropped down in front of him as Autumn walked around Starlight. “So what was that about yer magic?” she asked looking into the mare’s eyes. “Promise not to have him look at me like that again?” she requested, her knees shaking a bit hard. “Promise,” Autumn laughed while grabbing the unicorn and leading her back to the party, “but let’s get back to tha party. Ah heard Coco got the Cakes to make a really big cake for yer aunt.” Back at the table, the four of them sat around eating apples from Autumn’s bag as Starlight began building up courage to begin. “Well,” she started, “my magic is………no, my magic does…… no, my magic makes things explode.” She braced herself for the laughter she expected. Opening her eyes she saw that they (aside from Storm) looked confused rather than amused. “What? No laughs, no giggles, no nothing?” “Well,” Iris started, “There aren’t a lot of unicorns in town so we don’t know what happens when one loses their magic.” “But I didn’t lose it. It just won’t work right,” Starlight replied looking off into space. “Well, maybe a demonstration is needed,” Autumn asked. Looking around for something to protect herself, she asked, “Does anyone have a cup or something?” “Here you go,” a mare replied handing out a clear glass cup with her yellow hoof. Starlight looked up into Luminance’s purple eyes. “Oh no,” she said waving her hooves in front of her. “I’m already revealing my secret to three ponies already. I don’t need any more finding out.” “Finding what out?” the unicorn asked her friends across the table. “She has a problem with her magic,” Autumn said taking bit of her apple. This got a glare from the grey unicorn. “Oh, that is a secret worth keeping,” Luminance said before looking around. Once she was satisfied, she sat down on her haunches. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” she continued while making the proper motions in rhythm with the chant. Starlight looked around confused only to see that both Iris and Autumn making the same actions. “What’s going on?” Starlight asked looking from the mares. Luminance leaned close to her ear and whispered, “It’s called a Pinkie Pie promise. It’s a promise that one must keep.” “So what was with all that looking around,” the confused mare asked again. Autumn jumped in with a replied, “Remember what happen when yer ma mentioned Pinkie Pie yesterday?” Starlight thought back to the ride into town. Realizing what would of happen, she smacked her face down on the table. “Well, are you going to show us what you mean by problems with your magic?” Luminance said taking a seat next to her. Sighing, Starlight took a piece of the apple she was eating and placed the empty cup over it. She then focused her power into the apple slice. ******** Outside of town, Nyx was walking down the road. She stopped as a wave of magical energy passed by her. That is one strong source of magic, she thought to herself. Too strong in fact. If it isn’t channeled properly it will- As sudden as the wave of magic began, it ended. Deviate. She waited for the surge in magic to rise again. After minutes of waiting, she took off. ******* Back at the table, the group looked from Starlight to the contents in the cup. Inside was no longer the apple slice but apple sauce that plastered the whole inside of the cup. “Golly,” Autumn exclaimed, “and that’s just from levitating it.” “Not only levitating, but every spells I try has the same ending,” Starlight replied carefully turning the cup up with a hoof, “It just explodes.” “Well,” Luminance said using her magic to clean the glass, “That sure is one problem you have there.” Nyx came walking up to the group, causing the tension to shift greatly as she said, “Yes, and a problem that needs to be fixed.” “Aunt Nyx,” Starlight said cowering in the alicorn presence, “How much do you know?” “Plenty, my niece,” the alicorn said taking a seat next to her, “You do have the magical power to rival your grandmother but, you need to channel it properly.” “I have,” Starlight said harshly knowing where this going. “I’ve tried everything in the book. I’ve tried full force; I’ve held back; I did the balancing act. By Celestia’s horn, I even have done the pulsating method.” She pointed to the pile of applesauce, “All of it ends up the same way; that. Celestia doesn’t even know what’s the matter with me is.” “Strange,” Nyx said placing a hoof to her chin. “If the princess can’t even figure this problem out, then something must be really wrong.” “No duh,” Starlight sassed. Getting up the alicorn began to say, “I’ll go find your mother an-” “NYYYYXXXXX!” said a high pitched cried from the crowd. Everyone at the table looked around to see the brown coated mare leaping over the crowd. Coco made one final leap, hoping to cover the rest of the distance. She slipped up on the landing and went face first in the dirt and skid the rest of the way over. Before letting anyone help her up, she threw her weight to her flanks and up righted herself into a seated position. Patting herself on the head she said, “Oops, hehehe. Anyways Nyx come on over to the stage. I need you to official start the party.” “Coco, are you okay?” Nyx asked inspecting the mare. “Don’t worry, it happens all the time,” Coconut said waving a hoof. Autumn leaned up to Storm who became even more rigid since Nyx arrived, “A bit too much if ya asked me.” “We’ll talk later, Starlight,” Nyx said before taking flight over to the stage. Coco began to push her way back through the crowd leaving the rest alone at the table. The whole party fell silent as the black alicorn prepared her speech. Her horn glowed, making her voice loud enough to be heard from the other side of town, she began, “Citizens of Ponyville, it has been years since I have last seen this place. Most of you know me as Midnight Nyx, the protector of ponykind and the vigilant guard of the night. Some of you know me just as Nyx, the adopted filly of Twilight Sparkle. Only a few of those among you also know me by another name. I don’t want to speak of that name though, as it carries with it a horrible history that dates long before my birth 100 years ago. “But now is not the time to remember those painful memories of the past. Now is not the time to be holding grudges towards one another. Now is not the time to be sad. Now is the time to be happy. Now is the time for everypony to be merry. Now is the time that we all can celebrate on what we have done and what we will do in the future. Now is the time I share my birthday with all of you. I count you all as friends even if we had only known each other for a few minutes. I want to pass the teachings that I have learned about friendship to each one of you. For without friendship, our beloved Equestria would have been truly different. “So be merry as the music and games will go on throughout the night. So be joyful and let your worries be washed away with the soap that is friendship. Let us all be thankful for the harmony that is the string that binds us together becomes stronger each passing day. Be happy, my friends.” With that the crowd began to stomp in applause. Nyx nodded to the collected mass of ponies and began to walk away. Without warning a pie planted itself on the back of Nyx’s head. Everything was dead silent. Slowly she looked around while letting her magical mane clean the mess off of her. “Who threw that?” She said holding back all urges to laugh. A brown hoof shot out of the crowd as Coco cried out cheerfully, “It was me!” Nyx’s horn glowed as three pies appeared above the earth pony’s head and splatter on top of her. Nyx finally let her laughter lose as the prankster mare continued her mad giggling. After a bit the whole crowd was caught up in laughter and the music started up again. Nyx walked behind the stage as the laughter continued and sighed in relief, “That went better than expected.” “Nice speech if I do say so myself,” said a regal voice. Looking around, the black alicorn looked up and locked eyes with two more of her kind, Celestia and Luna. The Royal sisters wore their usually regalia of armor and jewels. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here you highnesses,” Nyx said bowing. Raising her hoof, telling Nyx to rise, Luna said, “I thought your brother Spike was going to inform you of our pending visit?” “You see, we kind of got into a fight last night,” the black alicorn commented. Celestia looked at her sister and back at Nyx, “We aren’t here for small talk right now, my friend. What we have to tell you is very important.” “Then let’s go to the library,” Nyx suggested unfolding her wings, “No one is there.” With that the three alicorns were gone. ******** Fighting through her laughs, Luminance said, “I must say, that was wonderful.” “Coco sure knows how to get everypony happy,” Autumn said reaching into her bags. Licking pie off her face, Coconut found her way through the crowd to them and sat right down. “Care to tell me why you did that to Nyx?” Iris asked. “It looked like she needed help proving her point,” Coco said trying to clean the pie from her hair. “Not where from I was sitting,” Starlight replied. “She was getting a round of applause after all.” Stopping what she was doing, she placed a hoof around the unicorn’s shoulder, “You don’t seem to be the type that can reach out to a crowd?” “Seeing how I never once took a public speaking course at school,” Starlight said shrugging off the hoof, “yeah, I’m not.” “Well,” the prankster mare commented, “you should drop by the store some day while you’re here in Ponyville and I’ll teach you.” “Ahh…” Starlight said staring to back away, “I think I will be leaving after tomorrow, soooo-” She was interrupted by the rest of the girls as they pleaded her to stay. She looked up at the quiet stallion, hoping if she made a break for it, she could get away. “Excuse me for saying this,” he said speaking up, “It’s up to her where she wants to go.” Starlight sighed in thanks at the stallion. “But, I can say from experience that Ponyville is a better place to stay than Canterlot.” “Argh,” Starlight said running off into the crowd. “I think we pushed a bit too hard,” Iris said picking up her saddle bags. Autumn place her book back into her bag and replied, “Ah think so too. Come on, Ah know where she’s a heading.” “Where are we going?” Coco asked cheerfully. “Most likely the library, ma’am” Storm said as the group left the table and followed the unicorn mare to the old tree house. ******* Starlight welcomed the sight of the giant tree as she picked up her pace. Glancing back once, she saw that no pony was following her and slowed down. “I think they finally let me go in peace,” she exclaimed. “Now time to relax from all these ponies.” Stopping at the door, she was about to push it open when she heard someone shout, “No, I won’t!” She lowered her hoof and bent down and went to nearest window. Peaking in, she saw three alicorns talking. One she knew was Nyx as her magical mane was furiously moving about. As for the other two she recognized as the Royal sisters. “Nyx, calm down,” Celestia said unaware of the eavesdropper. “How can I?” Nyx countered, “You want me to leave Fluttershy the moment she passes away.” Luna stepped in, “We know you have a tight connect to her, but once she gone, the seal will be broken and chaos will once again be released onto Equestria. My sister and I can’t fight him alone.” “And how is adding one more alicorn to the fight going to help?” Nyx asked stomping. “At the height of your power,” Celestia replied with a commanding voice, “You were able to defeat me and Luna in single combat. I personally hoped that you have restored much of that power over the years.” “I have,” the black alicorn stated. “But I’ve because enough discomfort within my family that leaving here right after a family friend’s death would cause too much pain among both them and Fluttershy’s family.” “Was it not you that promised to me a hundred years ago,” Celestia could barely keep her voice down, “that you would protect others for you can withstand what would harm others?” Nyx casted her eyes to the fireplace as the sun princess continued, “If you don’t help us overpower Discord, ponies will be hurt.” “Discord?” Starlight whispered her thoughts as the three alicorns stood in silence, “why does that name ring a bell?” “I don’t know,” replied a cheery voice in hushed tones, “Maybe you own money?” Whipping her head around, Starlight realized she was surrounded by her table buddies. “What are you doing here?” “Getting you to come back to the party, duh,” Coco answered. “Fine,” Nyx finally said causing the eavesdroppers to return to their spying, “But promise me one thing.” “We’ll try to,” Luna stated. “Make sure you find others who can wield the elements of harmony soon,” Nyx said looking up at the portrait of her mother, “In case I don’t make it there in time.” “You’re still bent on staying here?’ Celestia asked, “You could save a lot of trouble if you just come to Canterlot.” “You said earlier,” Nyx countered, “that Discord was defeated here in Ponyville. What makes you think he will still try to steal the elements from the vault again?” “I see your point,” Luna agreed, “He could go into hiding in the nearest town.” “You can’t seriously believe that could happen, sister?” the white alicorn questioned. Lune looked at her elder sister and replied, “We can’t be sure what Discord could do at this moment. The fiend is unpredictable. He could flee if all three of us are there to start with. Remember the last time we fought him?” “We were a lot younger then,” Celestia said thinking, “And yet we were able to withstand his attacks for a while before we had to use the elements.” “I can also fly faster than any of you can,” Nyx added. Celestia looked up and nodded, “So be it, we’ll have ponies start looking for those worthy enough to use the elements. But I can’t ensure that they will be able to use them.” Luna interrupted, “Remember what the elements did to you when they had that show pony as a stand in for Twilight?” Nyx could help but laugh as she remembered the prank she did on Trixie, “I remember. It was weaker because it also has something to do about the users’ friendship right?” “Correct,” Celestia replied, “Even if we can find those worthy enough, if they can’t become friends fast enough then the elements are just mere jewels with magical abilities.” Luna nodded before her eyes caught that of the six outside, “It seems that our talk is no longer private.” Both Celestia and Nyx looked over and saw as the last of Coco’s braided mane vanish around the window. Nyx walked over to the door and opened it see the five mares hiding against the wall still looking at the window. Storm, who was the only one standing away from the group, bowed as Celestia and Luna left. “Your highnesses,” his address of the royal sister caused the rest of them to move away from the wall and bow to the princess as well. “It seems we had quite the party listening in on our conversation,” Celestia chuckled. “Starlight,” Nyx said to her niece, “Why aren’t you at the party?” “Why aren’t you?” the mare restated. “It seems that you’re needed back at your birthday party,” Luna said opening her wings. “You’re not staying?” Coco asked as everypony stood up, “It would be really super if you did.” “I’m sure it would, my little pony,” Celestia replied. “But Luna and I have work in Canterlot to do. Farewell.” With that last word, both royal sisters took flight. Nyx watch as the two shrink out of sight before looking down at her niece, “How much did you and your friends hear?” “Hey, these guys aren’t my friends,” She started waving her hooves in front of herself. “They just tailed me.” “How much?” the alicorn asked again raising her voice. Starlight lowered her head in fear, “Something about Discord and the Elements of Harmony.” Nyx sighed, “I doubt you heard just that. No matter we’ll talk about this afterwards.” With that she walked back to the party. Autumn and the rest of the Ponyville ponies followed her leaving Starlight near the library door. Inching her way to the portal, she said to the group, “I think I’ll stay here and- HEY!” She looked at Autumn Gold and Coconut Pop who had stopped the rebel unicorn by biting on her tail. “Let go!” “Noa kan doo,” Autumn said with a mouth full of tail, “H’it h’is h’about ‘ime ya halk ta her ‘other.” Hoping to release some of the pull on her tail, she called out, “I can’t understand what you are trying to say?” Her plan worked as Autumn removed her grip in the tail and said, “Ah said, ‘No can do. It is about time ya talked to yer mother.’” All throughout Autumn’s clarification, Starlight managed to pull the prankster closer to the door. Catching on, Autumn bit back down and pulled. Realizing her plan failed, Starlight gave up and became dead weight to be dragged back. ******* “Fillies and gentlecolts!” Spike roared from the stage, “I want all the teams for the Tug-of-War tournament in front of me. It’s time to begin.” “Well, Storm,” Autumn said getting up from her seat with the rest, “May the best team.” The white pegasus stood and nodded in response before leading the way through the crowd. Starlight looked at Iris asking, “They aren’t on the same team?” It was Coco who answered, “Oh nonono. Storm is part of the weather team while Autumn has her family helping her out.” “I hope both teams make it to the finals,” Iris added. “Me too,” Coco jumped up onto her hooves, “I can’t wait to see their faces when they find out who they be going against afterwards.” “Going against afterwards?” Nyx asked lowering her tea cup, “Who are you implying?” Luminance whipped her gaze to the earth pony, “You didn’t tell her?” The prankster opened her mouth to say something before closing it again. She sat down and thought hard. After a bit of silent waiting she slapped her head with her hoof, “Nope, I forgot.” This got a dreadful sigh from both Iris and Luminance. “I take it this involves me,” the alicorn stated. “Well,” Iris said biting her lip, “We figured on having you go against the winning team.” “That was implying you wanted to,” Luminance added. Nyx thought hard about the offer. “Will I be-“ “Take your time Nyxie,” Coco interrupted while walking around to the alicorn. She slapped her hoof on her back, “You have till the final round to decide.” Nyx looked over her shoulder to see if the mare placed anything on her. Smiling at the lack of anything aside of her wings on her back, she replied, “I should have my decision by then.” Spike’s voice came booming from the other side of the party, “Alright everypony, we are ready for the tug-of-war tournament. Our eight teams will take turns pulling their opponents across this here line.” With his tail, the dragon dug up the earth in a solid straight line growing off the stage, “Game is called when all four hooves of the first pony in one of the teams are across. First up on the list is…” he flipped through his clipboard until he got to the desired page. “Well, it seems we have a family feud here today as the Apple family is up against the Cake family.” Among the cheers and jeers, Autumn Gold and her family stepped forward. The farm pony and her family took the length of rope in their mouths with her mother as the anchor and the twin brothers filling in the gap between the mares. The Cakes stepped out from the group looking ready to bring a good fight. The first three to grab the rope looked a bit small to pose any competition though the young colt with them was a bit stocky. As the cake’s anchor was none other than the family’s man of the house, Pound Cake Jr. The big pegasus stood over his family like a tower over a field. “Barry, Baldwin,” Russet said barely keeping her hold on the rope, “I’ve seen Pound pull two full wagons by himself at the same time so dig in and wait for ma signal.” The twins nodded before pushing their hoofs into the dirt, “Autumn ya do tha same.” “Aye, ma” she said before digging into the dirt. “Here are the rules,” Spike said pointing to the teams, “No wings, and no magic. We want the teams to play on even fields and I’ve seen how they can be used to win.” He got in return a trio of sighs. His green eyes scanned the crowd before locking on to three members of the weather team. Storm looked at the dragon with understanding eyes. “Ready?” Spike said returning to the two teams ready to begin. He raised his claw above his head. The Cakes grinned as they prepared for the match to start. With a sudden chop of the air, Spike shouted, “GO!” Right from the start, the Apples nearly loss as the overbearing strength of the Cakes nearly yanked Autumn over the line. The mare locked her knees with her hoofs down in the dirt while the rest of her family started to pull back. Russet shouted out through the rope, encouraging the twins to start pulling in unison with her. Once her last hoof was safely across and away from the line, Autumn started adding her strength to the pull. Pound Cake’s legs harden with determination as he planted his hooves into the ground, stopping their advance. He and his family leaned in before yanking the rope back. Autumn’s hooves lost their grip as she flew back to the line with her family. With another lock of her legs, Autumn stopped before her first hoof crossed the line. Grinning at the difference from the last yank, the farm mare shouted back at her family, giving them the urge to fight on. The two families continued this fight back and forth. Each time the Apples saved themselves from a yank, they increase the difference between them and the line while the Cakes inched closer and closer. With one final pull, the little Cake slipped and was pulled across the line. A shout went up from the crowd as the dragged out battle finally ended. Autumn spat out the rope and asked her mother, “I thought ya said there would be a signal?” Spitting out her end, the leader of the Apple family replied, “I thought so too, but that Pound Cake kept yanking us back before I could give it to ya.” “All right, right lets clear the field,” Spike said shooing the ponies away from the rope as his tail re-drew the line. Looking at his clipboard, the dragon returned to his booming voice, “Next up is the team called Double Trouble and the Town Office Crew!” ****** Back at their table, Iris clapped with Luminance and Coco as Starlight began to fidget in her seat. The alicorn saw this and looked at her niece and asked, “Do you have an ant crawling on your flank?” “Huh?” the unicorn replied. She looked up at the alicorn like she just spoke in another tongue. Cheers went up from the tug-of-war area as Spike announced the winner as Nyx pointed at Starlight’s rear and stated, “You’ve been moving about a lot in that little seat of yours.” “I have not,” she stated turning her nose up in the other direction. “Oooohhhh,” Luminance said looking at the mare, “Isn’t somepony showing off her Canterlot upbringing.” “Next thing you know,” Coco said adding onto the friendly teasing, “She’ll be addressing us with the Royal Canterlot Voice.” Starlight replied with a sarcastic ‘ha, ha.’ “Next up,” Spike voice roar above the crowd, “The Weather Patrol versus Team Beta.” The next few words were lowered and addressed the contenders of Team Beta, “Team Beta, really?” Iris didn’t care as she looked at her friends and asked, “Would anypony want some drinks?” Before anypony could reply she was off flying in wrong direction of the drink stand. Luminance and Coco watched her as Spike shouted to begin the match. The violet mare stopped in mid-air and watched the two teams put their combined weight into it. “Ahh, the poor little bird,” Luminance said looking up at her friend, “destined to sing your love song only to have the wind carry it away.” “Anyways,” Nyx interrupted getting back to the topic she started, “What’s the matter?” Starlight turned her head to face the alicorn but kept her eyes focus elsewhere, “Does it matter to you?” “I want to look out for everypony,” Nyx stated before lowering her head to the grey unicorn, “which includes my family.” Focusing her eyes to Nyx, Starlight interrupted, “I don’t see how this matters.” Reeling back it the sharpness in her voice, Nyx replied, “You’re wondering what I’m going to say to your mother.” “Was it that obvious?” Starlight sassed, “Or did you have to wait for thirty minutes before the pieces started to fit together.” “What is with you?!” Coco shouted at Starlight, bringing all eyes on her, “You two are family! Why are you being so mean to your aunt when she just wanted to know what wrong?” “Why should you care?” Starlight barked back. Coco’s eyes twitched, “Because you my friend an-” “We just met yesterday!” Starlight yelled standing up, “How does that make us friends!?” She slammed a hoof down on the table and stared at the earth pony. In the background, cheers went up as Spike announced the Weather Patrol as the winners. “Starlight!” Nyx shouted, “There is no reason for you to raise you voice to somepony who wants to help.” The unicorn looked at Nyx, “I don’t need her help!” With that she bolted away from the table. “Are you okay, Coco?” Luminance asked as Iris returned with five juice boxes. After a brief silence, the earth pony looked at her unicorn friend with a huge smile, “Never better.” Nyx was taken aback by the cheery expression on her face. “Where’s Starlight?” the pegasus asked as she placed the juice down on the table. “Probably the library again,” Nyx said taking a box in her magic. “Oh,” the mare sighed before continuing, “I guess she doesn’t want friends.” Shaking her head, Nyx replied, “No, I think she does. It’s just she doesn’t know how to be friendly yet.” Morning Dawn came running through the crowd with Wide Heart in tow. Speaking through her deep breaths she asked, “Where… is … Starlight?” “She just left,” Luminance said pointing toward the library. “Right after Autumn gave you her location,” Wide Heart said placing a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Sighing, Dawn turned back toward the crowd as Spike began calling for the teams for the next round. “If you see her again,” the unicorn started, “Bring her to me.” “What’s going on between you two?” Nyx asked hoping to get some answers to her family’s problem. “Starlight seems very defensive.” Sighing again, Dawn began, “You know what is wrong with her magic right?” Nyx nodded, “Well, between the doctors and the Princesses, Erebus and I have come up with many possible reasons why her magic is… flawed.” Nyx looked worried as her sister started to shake. “Well, all of the doctors in Canterlot think because she was a month late, she developed too much magic for her body to control. “Another theory and this one came from Celestia herself, is that since a unicorn family’s magic never stays the same through generations, Starlight is suffering because of two generations of highly magical attune unicorns.” Morning Dawn paused and took in a deep breath, “Erebus has a theory of his own and it gets him really upset about it.” Nyx comforted her sister with an embrace of her wing. Morning Dawn brushed a hoof across her eyes before continuing, “He has himself believing that he dropped her when she was little.” “Dawn, we talked about this,” Wide Heart attempted to cheer her up, “There is no way a blow to the head could affect one’s ability to use magic.” Morning Dawn looked at her nurse friend, “I know, but still what if…?” “Well, it is the most far-fetched theory out of them,” Nyx added hoping to be of some sort of comfort. “But what does this have to do with your relationship?” “Well,” Dawn started looking away, “Ever since she was allowed into Celestia’s school, I have been trying to help her. I even have been working with her at home.” “Could it be that you been trying to help too much?” Luminance asked with an upturn hoof. “What do you mean?” Dawn questioned. “Mother told me that when she was learning about dressmaking,” the yellow unicorn started, “Grandmother would give her time to practice on her own while offering some time to help.” Cheers went up from crowd as the round ended. Everyone at the table with-held the conversation as the Apple family came walking through the crowd with their heads down. “Sorry, ma,” Autumn said taking a set, “I’m just not strong enough to pull mah own weight.” Hitting the back of Autumn’s hat so it tipped over her eyes, Russet suggested, “Maybe ya should try to buck some apple tree before this year’s Applebuck season.” “I told ya to have Uncle Crab fill in for me,” Autumn stated fixing her hat. Sitting down next to her daughter, Russet replied, “Yer Uncle needs his strength to pull tha wagon later today, he can’t go and burn it all on a tournament that was just for fun.” “Getting back to the subject on hand,” Dawn said turning to the interior designer, “You’re saying I should let her practice on her own?” “Maybe not just practice on her own,” Luminance replied, “you should try letting her go on her own and let her make her own choices.” “Knowing her,” Dawn countered, “She’ll just stay at home and sleep. She doesn’t know any other places outside of Canterlot.” Nyx’s ears perked up as an idea formulated in her mind, “How about here in Ponyville? Spike and I will be here and I can help her with her magic.” “You’re willing to look out for her?” Dawn replied looking at her alicorn sister with hope in her eyes. “On my oath to protect others,” Nyx promised. Morning Dawn allowed tension to relax in her body. ********* “Fillies and Gentlecolts!” Spike roared over the crowd, “It’s time for the final round!” Cheers went up from the large crowd gathered. “With have Team Double Trouble with Double the Twins.” The mentioned team of two pairs of similar looking stallions stomped as their supporters cheered for them. “And on the other side of the rope, with have the Weather Patrol,” Spectrum Strom and three other pegasi stood proud. “I have a special note here from Coconut Pop,” he continued pulling out a note, “It says, ‘If she says yes, then the birthday girl will be challenging the winners.’” Spike stroked his chin scales as he completed on how to answer that. “Well, I’m not sure if it will be one-sided in favor her or the winning team.” This got some chuckles from the crowd, “Anyways, teams get ready!” Both teams took a hold of the rope and prepared for Spike’s claw to drop. When it did, the line went rigid as the first unicorn from the double twins attempted to yank the pegasi closer to them. As the anchor, Strom stood firm preventing his team from inching closer. The pegasus mare on point signaled with a flap of her left wing. The rest of the team responded with a similar motion. The earth ponies at the end of twin’s rope leaned in closer to the center with the front two unicorns. The lead mare of the pegasi opened her left wing carefully and lowered it to the ground making the pegasi team to pull back the slack. Right as Double Trouble threw all their strength in a pull, the lead mare’s wing stood up and the pegasi leaned into the pull. The two pairs of twins unprepared for the sudden slack tripped over their own hooves and fell down. The pegasi went back into pulling and cleanly dragged the lead stallion over the line on his back. “The Weather Patrol Wins!” Spike cried out over the shouts. While the rest of the team took to the sky to celebrate, Storm stood and let the waves of congratulations wash over him. “No fair they used wings!” one of the twin earth ponies stated. “As a means of communication, sir,” Storm replied. This seemed to be enough for the stallion as he backed down. “So now that we have our winners,” Spike attempted to calm the cheering ponies down, “Does Nyx want to face them?” “Ha,” said one of the weather patrol stallions, “We could probably beat her while she is using magic.” “Is that a challenge?” Spike questioned nervously. Storm tried to reason with his team but the outspoken stallion didn’t listen. “You bet it is!” he stated. A surge of magic pour out from behind the crowd as the black alicorn took flight. She came smashing down in front of the rope with her horn glowing in a dark aura. Looking up at her opponents with a smug grin, she replied, “Challenge accepted.” The entire team looked nervously as the magic could be felt leaking out of her. Shrugging, Spike lifted his claw and told the teams to get ready. Nyx bent down and took the rope into her muzzle. Strom watched as the alicorn fiddle with her gripping. Smiling, he looked at his team and replied, “We got this.” “Storm, are you blind?” the outspoken pegasus said regretting his decision, “Can you not feel the magic pouring out of her.” “It’s your fault we’re doing this, Sky Buck,” the mare pointed at him with a hoof. “How was I supposed to know she was going to accept?” he tried to defend himself. Storm broke the fight up by opening his wings between the arguing pair. “Uses those traps for pulling not talking,” he said looking stern. Both looked at their team captain and nodded in agreement. With both teams ready, Spike dropped his claw. The pegasi threw all the strength into pulling the alicorn across the line to little anvil as Nyx kept her hooves planted on the ground. With a flick of her head, the Weather Patrol where pulled forward a bit but with Storm at the end, the pegasi easily stopped their advance with only a little loss. They regained this ground and a bit more by pulling in unison. This struggle continued as Nyx slowly loss ground underneath the combine strength of the pegasus pullers. The confidence grew and grew as they replied each attempt Nyx made to gain ground was halted and returned with more losses. It only took time before the last of Nyx’s hooves came sliding across the ground. Cheers and shouts went out as the Weather Patrol was swarmed with celebration. Chuckling, Nyx walked up to the stage to let the true winners of this tournament get the glory that they won. Spike sat down next to her and asked, “Did you throw away the match?” With a shake of her head Nyx replied quietly, “No, I just didn’t use magic.” “You could have won easily if you did,” the dragon stated. “I know,” Nyx agreed with a nod, “But, It wouldn’t fair even if they allowed it.” Storm approached them as the rest of his team soaked up the glory as it poured from the populace of Ponyville. With a bow, the white pegasus said nobly, “Thank you, ma’am, for a honorable battle.” Reading the meanings in his words, Nyx bowed in return and congratulated him. The rainbow mane pegasus took off for the table where the rest of his friends waited. “Spike,” Nyx said loud enough to be heard only by the dragon, “we’re going to have a family meeting tonight.” “Oh?” Spike raised an eyebrow, “What is it going to be this time; a confession to the whole family, an ‘I’m so sorry’ speech?” Nyx dismissed the comments with flick of her magical mane, “No, I need to tell you all something and it will be safer to tell everyone at once.” “Whatever, Nyx,” Spike shrugged looking out to the party that went from the stage, “it’s your party.” ******** Late that night, Nyx, Morning Dawn and Spike came walking through the door. Even tried, they were surprised at the sight of Starlight still up. She was deep in thought as she stared at what appeared to be twenty full cups worth of apple sauce and orange juice. “I hope that isn’t all of my fruit you have there?” the dragon asked. Starlight bounced off her haunches and into four of the cups, spilling their contents. “Horse-apples,” she muttered before looking at her family, “I’ll clean this up right now.” Watching her daughter run into the kitchen, Morning Dawn commented on the scene, “I’ve never seen you up so late let alone using magic on your own free will.” “Yeah, well I’ve been trying different spells,” the mare said coming back out with a towel on her head. “Any success?” Nyx asked walking over to the table to look at the open books. Most of them where spell books with that covered simple tasks, but one book stood out. “Well…” Starlight said looking away. She slowly lowered a hoof to the floor as she thought hard before replying with a shy grin, “Yes.” Dawn was by her in seconds, probing with questions, “You did? When? What spell is it?” Pushing her mother away she summarized what happened, “I was reading a medical book when I heard a bird crying out in pain. At least I thought it was pain. It sounded differently than what birds normally chirped out. I went outside and saw this little sparrow outside the door with a broken wing. Looking around I saw an eagle flying away.” “You probably scared it away before it could finish the sparrow,” Spike commented while taking the towel away from her and began cleaning the mess himself. With an agreeing nod, Starlight continued, “Well I brought the bird back inside with the help of a book. By the looks of it, the little guy wouldn’t last much longer sooooo... I used a healing spelling on it.” “STARLIGHT WISH!” Dawn bellowed, “I thought I told you, no spells on living beings!” Both Nyx and Spike were taken back at the sudden out burst from their family member. “I know!” Starlight yelled retreating through he cups of applesauce, knocking over a few more, “But look! I saved it!” She reached a bookshelf and pointed. On top of it was a bird waking up from the noise. Its right wing was in a cast, preventing it from flying. Dawn eyes went wide and her mouth hung open. Spike stroke his chin scales before asking Nyx what was going on. The alicorn filled the dragon of Starlight’s problem. “If Starlight has a problem with magic,” he asked as the bird started chirping, “then how is she in Celestia’s school?” “I got a free walk through thanks to my family,” Starlight confessed, “they think just because I’m Twilight’s granddaughter, I’m just as good.” The sparrow hopped over to the edge of the bookshelf and looked down at the unicorn. “Anyways, after I healed most of damage, I went to Fluttershy.” “And I thought you wanted to stay in the library while you’re here?” Spike asked as Dawn stood in silence. The little sparrow hopped right into Starlight’s mane and began nuzzling itself into it. Slightly stun by the bird’s affection of her mane, the unicorn addressed her mother, “I remembered what you said about grandmother’s friends, mom. Plus I figure since that Wide Heart and Iris Drop are both nurses, Fluttershy might know what to do.” She looked up at the sparrow as it started to fall asleep again, “After she walked me through on how to fix the wing, this little guy followed me out of her room, “ She laughed a bit before continuing. “Fluttershy said that he likes me a lot for some reason. So, Iago came home with me.” “Iago?” Nyx asked while her eyes went through the out of place book. “I think that what species it is,” Starlight said carefully approaching the table, balancing the sparrow in her mane. Dawn started to jump around happily while saying, “This is so great. I’m so happy for you Starlight! Oh, please tell me you were successful with more than one spell.” Sighing, Starlight turned to her mother and said, “No, I haven’t. You see all these cups of applesauce and OJ here? This was after I saved Iago. My magic is still not working properly.” “But,” Spike said picking up the rest of the still standing cups, “you did have one spell successfully casted.” “That was just a dumb luck!” Starlight stated, “Next time I try that I could kill someone instead of saving them.” “Starlight, calm down,” Nyx said finally turning her gaze away from the book. After a bit of coaxing the unicorn finally calmed down. “So,” Spike said breaking the silence as he went for the kitchen, “Why are you studying magic now?” The young unicorn’s mother realized this too, “Yeah. Back in Canterlot you never wanted to lift a book off the shelf.” “Well, ummm…” the grey unicorn started. “Is it about what you overheard when you eavesdropped on my private conversation with the Princesses?” Nyx asked while looking down on the young mare. Starlight nodded with guilt as she replied, “Yeah. I got bored started looking through books and that Discord guy’s name came up.” Spike blasted out of the kitchen with a surprised shout, “DISCORD?!” Everypony was taken aback by the dragon’s outburst. He directed his attention to Nyx, “You talked to the princesses about Discord?!” “That is what I wanted to talk about,” Nyx said lifting the book in question from the table with her magic. “Discord is a spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Right now he is encased in stone in the Canterlot Gardens. But from what the Princesses told me, the seal is weak. It appears that they heard of Fluttershy’s condition and became worried about the seal.” “What does the seal have to do with Fluttershy?” Spike asked taking a seat at the table. “The seal was made by the Elements of Harmony,” Nyx stated looking at the book, “But the power of the seal depends on if the bearers and the seal loses strength as the elements are either exchanged or left unattended. As it is right now, Fluttershy is the only one left out of Twilight’s group still alive. And once she passes away…” “The seal loses all of its strength,” Starlight interrupted, her eyes was pointed downward while her head remained still to keep Iago from falling off. “That book talks about what happen when he was allowed to run free on Equestria that last few times. It was… horrible,” She shivered as the last word left her mouth. “With the seal running at zero power,” Spike said thinking hard, “Discord will be released once again. But if the Princesses know of his return, then they should be able to stop him before he causes too much damage.” “Celestia and Luna are…” Nyx started, “scared. They think they might not be able to stop Discord. So they asked me to help fight him.” “So you’ll be coming back to Canterlot with us?” Dawn asked. Shaking her head, Nyx replied, “No, I want to be with Fluttershy during her last moments with us.” “Are you kidding me?” Spike asked with a raise voice, “You are really going to stand there and watch Fluttershy just pass away and then leave again?” “Spike wai-” Nyx tried to reason. Slamming his claw on an open spellbook, Spike shouted back, “No! You listen here Nyx. I can understand why you never came back for Rarity and the others. I can barely get over why you weren’t for Twilight. But you aren’t going to pull ANYTHING with Fluttershy and her family. She does not get that kind of treatment, Nyx. Either you are going to stay for the WHOLE thing or you are going to leave with the others.” Nyx met the dragon gaze with her own while replying, “I’m not a filly anymore Spike. I have been taking care of myself for over the past 80 years. I can make choices for myself.” “The last time I remembering you making choices for yourself-” Spike said pointing a claw at his alicorn sister. Nyx stomped as she interrupted, “You leave that time out of this! I know what I’ve done and I have been trying to make up for it. But, I promised Celestia the day that I got my Cutie Mark, that I would protect everypony. And if Celestia and Luna fail to hold him off and I’m not there, then I don’t deserve it.” With that she turned around went for the door. “Aunt Nyx,” Starlight said chasing after the alicorn. Iago was chirping loudly as his sleep was interrupted once again. “Where are you going?” “Fluttershy’s,” Nyx replied, holding back tears, “I’m promised her a personal party to make up the one she missed.” With that the black alicorn disappeared into the night. Starlight walked back to the table and sat down. Letting her head fall into an open book, she watched as her little sparrow climb down her mane until he was looking at her in the eyes. “Starlight,” Dawn said walking up to her daughter, “Nyx and I have been talking and…” “I want to stay here,” Starlight interrupted, shocking her mother. “You mean it?” she asked. Looking up at her mother, the young mare nodded, “I need time away from Canterlot and Nyx needs someone with her right now.” Grinning at her mess of books, she added, “Plus, she can help me a bit with my magic.” Dawn’s eyes went wide as she replied, “Did you learn a mind-reading spell too because I was just thinking that myself?” Chuckling, Starlight shook her head.