//------------------------------// // Capitulo Treinta // Story: Kick about! Los Lobos! // by Dirty Bit //------------------------------// Capitulo Treinta Book Smarts The sun rose across the horizon, signalling another morning in Ponyville. Sadly, it wasn't as peaceful as any morning with night guards positioned around certain areas of Ponyville. Despite the scenery, the townsfolk woke up feeling secure by the sentries Luna bestowed upon their home. In the sky, Rainbow Dash's home floated along Ponyville, and the cyan pegasus inside stirred from her slumber. She slumped out of her bed and proceeded to stretch her limbs as she let out a yawn. Rainbow Dash knew that she had to wake up early and carry out her duties as a weather pony, but she felt more energized when she remembered Starrk accepting her offer. With a smile on her face, she performed her morning stretches and then to go into the kitchen and prepared some coffee. While waiting, she snacked on a cupcake and thought to herself on how to approach today as far as where to catch the best nap after breezing through her work. Of course, now that she'll be employing a pegasus that happened to be faster than her - as much as she hated to admit - perhaps this could be much easier on her and her coworkers. When her coffee was finished, she took her sweet time and savored a cup, then proceeded with the rest of her morning routine before leaving her house. Gliding along the morning sky, she decided to pursue Starrk so she could formally introduce him to her coworkers. 'Alright, Starrk, where are you?' She thought to herself as she peered along the clouds. Even she knew that he enjoyed clouds more than the average bed. When she spotted his form resting on one of the clouds outside, she grinned to herself before flying towards him, descending onto his resting area. "Yo, Starrk. Wake up! You got weather duty today, remember?" Rainbow Dash said as she nudged Starrk's sleeping form. When she was rewarded with more snoring, she frowned "Seriously? Up and at 'em!" She huffed when she remembered how much of a hard sleeper the former espada is. Rainbow Dash perked up when she remembered what Derpy said to her a couple of days ago... "You gotta lay a wet one on him!" Rainbow Dash tried not to blush at the fact that it was Derpy's way of waking him up. She couldn't bear herself to just go out of her way and do that while Starrk was asleep. She stared down at the sleeping stallion with a wince before she grunted in frustration. "This stinks! It'll just feel weird to do it to him like this." She said to herself before she took a deep breath "But, he's gotta wake up somehow." Swallowing her pride, Rainbow Dash carefully leaned towards Starrk's face, slowly pursing her lips and dipping her eyelids... _____ "Sorry, Coyote Starrk, but I'm afraid this is where we must part for now." Celestia said as she relinquished her hold on Starrk, who was reluctant to do the same after growing used to the solar princess' warmth. "Figures. I guess I have to wake up from this dream, won't I?" Starrk asked as he rested his arms on his knees. Meanwhile, Celestia rose from the sands and looked down at Starrk with her hand held out. "Well, if you really enjoyed our time together in here, perhaps I can join you the next night?" Celestia asked "You seemed rather attached to me for the entirety of your slumber." She added playfully. Starrk scoffed lightly before taking the offered hand as he rose himelf. "Only because you're so warm. Is it because you control the sun?" Starrk asked. Celestia covered her mouth with a hand as she giggled. "I suppose you could say that. In the meantime, you should probably wake up. I have my own job to do, you know." She said matter-of-factly. "Yeah, I guess. It beats getting kissed in my sleep again..." Celestia blinked at Starrk's answer before he waved a dismissive hand "Nevermind. I might as well try and get into the habit of it, since I have a new job and all." "That's wonderful news." Celestia said with a smile "I suppose we mustn't keep each other too long now. Until next time, Coyote." Celestia said warmly before walking away, fading out of existence as a gale began to pick up, causing Starrk's garb to billow profusely as the sands around him shifted. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "Well...Time to wake up..." _____ Starrk murmured before he began to stir. He blearily cracked open his eyes and caught a blurry image of something blue slowly descending upon his face. When his gaze focused, he noticed what appeared to be Rainbow Dash's face descending upon him with her eyes shut and her lips puckered. Of course, one of her eyes opened when she heard murmuring, and the two pegasi froze in their positions with widened eyes. Neither Starrk nor Rainbow Dash said nothing, and the latter began to blush the more she lingered near the stallion's face. Thinking quickly, she pulled herself back to a proper sitting position and forced an expression of calm. "Cool, you're up. Was gonna stop by and take you with me to work today, since...you know...you kinda took my offer the other day." Rainbow Dash said. Lucky for her, Starrk managed to forget what could have been another rude awakening. "Oh yeah. I didn't oversleep, did I?" Starrk asked. "No, you're fine. I was just...well..." Rainbow Dash looked away and scratched the back of her head with a forehoof awkwardly 'Darn it!! Bad enough he had to wake up like this, but this is so embarrassing!' Before Starrk could pry more answers out of Rainbow Dash, a door was heard opening from below. They both looked down to see Derpy smiling up at the two and waving a hoof. "Morning, Starrky! Come inside for some breakfast." Her eyes rotated a little when she noticed Rainbow Dash and waved to her as well "Oh hey, Rainbow Dash!" "Hey, Derpy." Rainbow Dash waved back before facing Starrk "Okay, we're making good time, so I'll let you grab some food before we head out. Don't take too long, alright?" "Got it." Starrk replied as he descended from his favorite cloud and went inside the house. "You're free to join us, you know." Derpy offered up to Rainbow Dash, who shook her head. "No thanks, I just ate. I'll just wait here for Starrk." The cyan pegasus replied. After shrugging to the response, Derpy went inside her home and shut the door, leaving Rainbow Dash to wait patiently on Starrk's cloud. She couldn't help but feel like she should've been quicker with her actions. _____ In the Hooves household, only Derpy, Dinky, Lilynette, and Starrk were sitting at the dining room table, eating their own respective breakfasts; the fillies both had cereal while Derpy and Starrk had her own breakfast muffins. "I can't wait to go back to school today!" Dinky said happily "I'm glad everypony managed to rebuild Ponyville, too." She looked over at Lilynette, who was nibbling on a spoonful of cereal "How about you, Lilynette?" "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm doing fine." Lilynette said as she grabbed her glass of orange juice "If you're happy, then I'm happy; simple as that." She added as she sipped her glass. Dinky giggled before giving Lilynette a brief nuzzle, catching her off-guard. "You're so nice, sis." Dinky said cheerfully. "It's good to see you two bonding so well." Derpy chirped before shifting her head towards the hallway, her eyes rotating slightly "I wonder what's keeping Sparkler? She's never late for breakfast." "Maybe she's following Starrk's example and oversleeping." Lilynette said with a huff before looking over the hallway as well "I think I just might give her a wake-up call..." "Agh! That won't be necessary!" Derpy and Dinky chorused nervously. "M-Maybe Sparkler's just taking her time getting ready today?" Dinky added with a forced smile. Lilynette rolled her eyes before facing her food again. "Fine, I'll give her some more time, but she should at least be up by now, shouldn't she?" The red filly asked Derpy. "Of course. Wonder what's keeping her." Derpy said pensively before turning to Starrk "So, Starrky. Excited for your new job today?" "Not really excited. I have other stuff on my mind." Starrk said as he took another bite of his muffin. "Like what?" Lilynette asked "What could you possibly be thinking about other than wanting to take a nap?" "Dark magic." Silence hung in the dining room as the three ponies stared at Starrk after he finished his bite. He stared back at the many perplexed gazes as he set down his muffin. "Don't act so surprised. Even you folks know we're under watch because of all this dark magic business. There's not much I can do at the moment other than approach the problem my own way." Starrk said coolly. "How are you gonna do that, Mr. Starrk?" Dinky asked inquisitively. "I'm gonna go see Twilight the moment I earn myself a break. I'm sure she'll help me out a little with this whole ordeal." Starrk explained briefly. 'So that's why you left for bed so early last night...' Lilynette thought as she stared at Starrk "I doubt you'll have much luck seeking her out for help, since she's just as helpless as the rest of us, but you're free to do as you please." "Lily, that was kinda mean." Dinky said with a frown. "I'm just stating the obvious. Who in here could possibly weed out some shady coward waiting to strike us all while our backs are turned?" Lilynette asked rhetorically. "What are you fillies talking about now?" All eyes faced the hallway as Sparkler trotted out with her scarf from the other day. She was seen with a raised eyebrow towards the group as they all stared. "Sorry I'm late for breakfast. Was I late for a family meeting?" "Well, you kinda did miss breakfast, but good morning, Sparkler." Derpy said with a smile. "Morning, sis!" Dinky chimed in before going back to eat her breakfast. All Starrk could do was continue to stare at Sparkler in silence as he thought to himself. He couldn't shake off what had happened the other day with the timberwolf. This hadn't gone unnoticed by the amethyst unicorn as she directed her gaze at him. "Something wrong, Starrk? You're awfully quiet." "...It's nothing." Starrk said as he left his unfinished muffin on the table and proceeded to head for the front door "I'm going with Rainbow Dash now. I'll see you all later today." "But you didn't finish breakfast." Derpy pointed out. "I had my fill." Starrk replied as he looked back at the others "Have a nice day." He said before opening the door and leaving. Sparkler narrowed her eyes slightly at the gesture. 'He seemed rather intent with his eye contact. He couldn't possibly have known something, could he?' Sparkler decided to make her way towards a vacant seat at the dining room table "Well, that was rude of him." She said as she sat down with the others "One would think he'd spare enough time for the ones who took him in." "He is pretty active, isn't he?" Derpy said in amusement "This isn't like Starrky at all. Then again, I can't blame him. We're all a bit shaken up by all of this happening right now." She said before she finished her muffin. "I swear, once I see that coward, I'm gonna deck him hard!" Lilynette said, taking a good swing at the air, causing Dinky to flinch. "Well, we all have places to be, so I guess we should finish up." Derpy said as she got up from her seat and approached Sparkler, Dinky, and Lilynette, giving each of them a peck on the cheek "I better get going, so I'll see you kids later. Dinky and Lily, you two be sure to behave when Sparkler sends you to school." She said affectionately, then went to the front door and opened it up, looking outside to see some of the night guard patrolling the town both in the air and on the ground. The mailmare took a deep breath before she made her way to the post office, leaving Sparkler and the fillies behind. "I'll take care of your dishes for you before guiding you to school." Sparkler said as she got up. "Okay. Thanks, sis." Dinky said politely before she and Lilynette got up from their seats. "Wait a minute. Aren't you going to eat?" Lilynette asked in befuddlement. "I'm not hungry." Sparkler responded instantly as she grabbed the two bowls with her magic. They, along with Sparkler's horn, were covered in a red magic aura, instantly grabbing Dinky's attention. She watched her older sister take the bowls to the sink, cleaning them with a dish rag in silence. When she finished, Sparkler left the bowls in the sink and faced the two fillies. "Let's go. Neither of you can afford to be late." Sparkler said in a nearly dispassionate tone. While Lilynette nonchalantly complied and followed Sparkler out the door, Dinky found herself wondering why Sparkler's magic had suddenly changed color when she was familiar with her sister's previous magic aura. _____ Clouds were disappearing left and right in Ponyville's sky in certain areas. Some of the ponies on the ground, including the sentries, looked up in surprise at how quickly each cloud was disappearing. In a clear gap, Starrk blurred into existence with his eyes closed, opening them up to see his progress. He looked around to see that most of the clouds were cleared up. "Way to go, Starrk!" The former espada looked behind him to see Rainbow Dash fly towards him with an elated smile "You just took care of this morning's work in no time at all. Good thing you had time to memorize the map of which clouds to clear, huh?" "Yeah, it's fine." Starrk replied dryly before looking at the ground "Tell me, does this much work warrant a break?" "Sure does. You looking to nap already?" Rainbow Dash asked with a tilted head "If anything, you've been pretty tense when you left Derpy's house. What's bugging you?" "It's nothing." Starrk replied instantly. "The hay it is. What, is it because a few of our coworkers happen to be Cloudchaser, Flitter, and Blossomforth?" Rainbow Dash quipped sarcastically. Starrk sighed. "You didn't have to remind me about that...No, I'm just a little bothered about the situation." "With the dark magic? I don't blame you, but it is what it is." Rainbow Dash said "No reason to fret too much about it. You gotta keep your cool, like me." "I plan to." Starrk said as he spotted Twilight's library at a short distance before he blurred out with his Sonido, startling Rainbow Dash. "Hey!" The cyan pegasus noticed Starrk appearing into view at Twilight's home and decided to follow him there. She managed to land next to him before he could knock "The least you could do was just tell me you were gonna come here." "Sorry. I just wanted to make every second count." Starrk said as he shifted his head to face Rainbow Dash "Didn't think you'd wanna follow me here." "Hey, Twilight's a friend of mine; a bestie, too. Besides, there's no shame in hanging out since we're both on break." Rainbow Dash said with a shrug. "I wasn't exactly shooting for 'hanging out', but do as you please." Starrk said as he rapped at the door. Rainbow Dash snickered at his gesture, earning his attention "What is it?" "It's a library, dude. You don't exactly have to knock at the door." Rainbow Dash said after a couple of giggles. Starrk paused for a moment before he opened the door. He caught a glimpse of the interior and noticed many shelved books, as well as a wooden bust of a pony's head in the middle of the lobby. "Hello?" Rainbow Dash and Starrk looked up a flight of stairs to see Spike treading down and looking back at them. "Hey, Dash. Hey, Starrk. Anything I can help you with?" Spike asked. "Yes, actually." Starrk responded instantly "I need to see Twilight. Is she here?" "Wait a minute, you wanna see Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously "What for?" She asked, feeling slightly nervous. "I'm kinda curious, too. You looking to find a book to read?" Spike said as he looked up at Starrk, who shook his head. "I wanna see her personally to know more about dark magic. I'm not much for reading." Starrk explained briefly. He was unaware of Rainbow Dash's faint anxiety fading. "You came to the right place, if that's what you're looking for. Twi's up in her study right now. I can take you to her if you want, but I doubt you'd be able to grab her attention, since she's looking into it more than anypony." "That's Twilight for you." Rainbow Dash said with a smirk "Always ready to look for a solution to our problems." "Then I guess I can just extract whatever information she has and see if I can't use it to my own benefit somehow." Starrk looked down at Spike "Can you take me to her, please? I don't know how long my break's gonna last." He then felt a hoof on his back and looked over at Rainbow Dash. "Chill, Starrk. You've practically done a majority of today's work. Take it from somepony's who's been doing this for a few years: You've got plenty of time to spare." She reassured. "Alright, just follow me, then. It's just up the stairs and into the next room." Spike said as he began climbing the stairs with Starrk and Rainbow Dash following after him. A short trek lead them into another room on the next floor, where Twilight is seen sitting on a cushion at a desk next to a stack of books, diligently reading one in front of her. "She's been up here since she woke up." Spike said "Right now, she's trying to figure out a way to counter the dark magic." He crossed his arms with as he watched Twilight "Good luck trying to get her to notice you." "Allow me." Spike and Starrk turned to a smirking Rainbow Dash "AJ taught me how to do this a while back." She casually trotted up to an unattended desk, where three yellow inwells sat in a straight line. Extending a hoof, the cyan pegasus nudged the middle one out of place, eliciting a small scream of shock as they looked over at Twilight, who merely narrowed her eyes at the trio, Rainbow Dash especially. "You know I hate when you do that, right?" Twilight said to Rainbow Dash, who merely rolled her eyes. "It beats having to call to you every time with no response." The cyan pegasus shot back before tapping Starrk's chest "Starrk wanted to see you for some knowledge about dark magic." Twilight's expression instantly shifted to surprise. "Really?" She looked over at Starrk, whose stoic expression didn't falter "I never expected you to come to me like this on such short notice. What exactly do you want to know?" "Anything useful, so I can at least be more focused on our little problem. Normally, I don't enjoy fighting, but I can't just ignore something like this. It's pretty troublesome." Starrk held up a hoof "I'll even settle for a brief history lesson, so long as it helps." "Well, I suppose I could use a small break from my studies. I haven't picked up any useful counter spells for dark magic so we won't have to resort to violence if somepony were met with another attack." Twilight said as she bookmarked the page she was on and closed her book. She then turned around to face the trio while she sat on her cushion "In fact, there's not much to say about dark magic other than it being a dangerous practice for ponies everywhere. It revolves around negative emotions such as fear and hatred, and a unicorn possessing such feelings are capable of learning the dark arts for themselves." "Perhaps there's any famous culprits who could possibly be responsible?" Starrk asked, to which Twilight looked down with a grave expression. "Only one..." She said in a serious tone before facing Starrk again "It was a unicorn named King Sombra, an evil tyrant who ruled the Crystal Empire one thousand years ago. He was the only known unicorn who not only championed dark magic, but was unmatched in his power." "One thousand years? Is he still alive?" Starrk asked. "It's like this, Coyote: Sombra, back then, was so powerful that he even rivaled the princesses. Of course, they managed to defeat him and banished him into the frozen tundra, only for him to curse the empire with the same fate. After a millenium of frozen stasis, the Crystal Empire came back, although Sombra did as well." Twilight explained. "That's where my friends and I came in. I was tested by Princess Celestia with the task of liberating the empire with the help of my friends." She smiled over at Spike "Spike over there managed to get us all out of a crisis with Cadence's help." "Man, was that fight hairy." Spike shuddered "I still remember falling from the tower before I was caught." "What about Sombra? I wanna know if he's around or not." Starrk piped up inquisitively, to which Twilight looked away awkwardly. "You see, Coyote, after Spike and Cadence secured the Crystal Heart, the empire found its light again, although Sombra had perished, due to his magic rendering him susceptible to the heart's overwhelming power." Twilight finished her explanation "He's been deceased ever since." "I say he had that coming for a while for all he's done." Rainbow Dash said "I'm just glad that fight was over." "I see..." Starrk paused for a moment before asking another question "Who's this Cadence you speak of? I never seen her around here." "Oh! Right, you're not entirely familiar with Equestria." Twilight said before chuckling in embarrassment "Cadence is short for Mi Amore Cadenza. She's the princess of love, co-ruler of the Crystal Empire, my old foalsitter, and recently my sister-in-law." "Twilight's brother, Shining Armor, used to be the captain of Princess Celestia's royal guard." Spike said proudly "Him and Cadence just married a few months ago." Starrk nodded to himself from the added information. "Alright. As interesting as that was, I think I digressed too far from the current matter. Anything else I should know about as far as dark magic?" Starrk asked, hoping to draw his visit to a close. "I'm afraid that's all I have to tell you, Coyote. The rest of us are just as bothered about this as you. All we can hope to do is try to prepare for what comes next. Although, now that you're here..." Twilight said as she rose from her seat and trotted up to Starrk, smiling at him after stopping in front of him "Do you think you have enough time for me to study your power? I promise you it'll be worth your while." Starrk did recall Twilight mentioning the same request a few days ago. Considering the information glossed from Twilight, he chalked up his visit to the library to be nearly a waste, since there weren't much leads for him to act upon. Moreso, it would seem like she'd just beg him if he were to decline. "Fine. Just make sure you don't take too long, though. I have a job to do, after all." Starrk said, causing Twilight to grin ear-to-ear. "Great! Just follow me downstairs and we'll get started!" She said as she breezed past Starrk and Rainbow Dash and down the stairs. After she left, Rainbow Dash and Spike regarded Starrk with their own amused smirks. "Now you did it. Never thought I'd see Twilight this happy." Spike said as he waddled down the stairs "Hope you'll last with her." "Huh? What are you getting at?" Starrk asked as Spike descended the stairs. "What Spike's trying to say is that you'll have to kiss your break time goodbye." Rainbow Dash said as she followed Spike "Try not to fall asleep, okay?" She said jokingly as she went down the stairs. There was a moment of silence before Rainbow Dash zoomed back up, pointing a hoof at Starrk with a slightly panicked expression "But seriously, don't fall asleep." She then went back downstairs. Being the last pony to follow the others downstairs, Starrk was beginning to have second thoughts on being polite to his new friends as he contemplated on what he got himself into. To be continued...