Chrysalis Wins
Ch.49 “A thought, Chase, and a Show.” Part 1
Twilight Sparkle groggily cracked her eyes open when the morning light broke across the horizon. The dew that built up overnight left her a little wet, fortunately she wore a large cloak that blocked the worst of it. Eager to warm herself, she stood up and gave her body a good shake. A pair of saddle bags rested on her sides, luckily the contents had remained dry when she checked.
The ragged unicorn stepped out from the bush where she had hid, and onto the roadside. Tired bags hung under her eyes, her sleep had not been good, and her rations meager. The next town was still a day away or so by hoof, and she planned to avoid all obvious methods of travel. Which meant a lot of cross country.
Changelings could be anywhere, and everywhere. They likely rifled through her contacts, and placed eyes at the major junctions, rail ways, or roadsides with traps set up. Atleast that is what she assumed, if they were competent at their jobs.
“I hope you girls are doing better…”
She absentmindedly spoke. Ever since the Trixie shenanigans, and the split that caused, she had been thinking of where to go and how to get in contact with her friends again. The changelings had descended on Ponyville, and they could have been recaptured for all she knew. Twilight didn’t want to give up hope though… She just, couldn’t go home for now. There had to be something she could do. Who did she know outside of Ponyville and Canterlot that could help her with this?
She stamped and snorted in frustration as depressive thoughts threatened to overtake her. She wouldn’t let them though. Sure, things looked bad, but she had pulled out of things that had looked just as bad before, she and her friends that is…
She hung her head low, and slowly walked off to the side of the road, and kept her profile inconspicuous. Several hours passed by after that, and she stopped at one point to rest and eat some of what she packed in her saddle bags.
It was uneventful until she heard casual hoof falls approach her. She turned from the daisy sandwich in her purple aura, to look up at this stranger.
The unknown mare stopped close enough they could both get a good view of each other. She had a white coat, and a red mane that had streaks of grey with dark highlights about the fringes, which showed she approached middle age. Her cutie mark was a corkscrew… Twilight’s purple eyes met the other ponies golden ones.
“Can I help you?”
“That is kind to offer, but it looks like you’re the one that needs some help. Are you lost?”
“I’m fine, I’m just on my way to… Filly Delphia! Ya…”
“With no companions? That’s a long way to walk.”
“I uh, just felt like taking my time and seeing the country.”
“Really? Forgive me for noticing, but your saddle bags appear to be full of more books than country striding supplies.”
“… I like to read, besides why so many questions?”
“Seeing a wet ragged soul on the side of the road gave me concern.”
“Well there’s nothing to be concerned about here, In fact I’ll be on my way. Thanks for your worries, bye!”
Twilight stood up, and started to trot away, before she made it more than a few steps the other mare called out to her.
“Why so skittish Twilight?”
That made the purple mare stop dead in her tracks, and her left eye twitched. When she looked back the white mare returned her apprehensive stare with a raised eyebrow. Twilight kept her distance as she spoke slowly.
“I don’t think we’ve met before…”
“No we haven’t, though I looked forward to an opportunity sometime. Celestia does speak so highly of you.”
“Huh?”
“Oh yes, such a bright student, and quite accomplished for one so young. The letters are quite colorful.”
“Wha? No wait, Celestia writes you personal letters? About me?”
“Sure, my friend is quite proud of you, though my opportunities to visit have been relatively limited. Tia is often so busy, as you should know miss Sparkle. And I like to keep things slow and quiet myself.”
“Um, who are you then? I never remember the princess mentioning you before.”
“Forgive me, I’m Shy.”
“Just Shy?”
“Yes, just Shy. How about you come to my place and get cleaned up and properly fed. What on earth are you mucking about on the roadside for anyway?”
“Thanks kind of you Shy, but I’d rather not stop at anyone place too long.”
“Please, I insist. Besides I’d like you to regale me with the current happenings.”
The purple unicorn felt torn, inbetween her desire to stay anonymous and out of sight, and whether or not to trust this stranger, who claimed to know princess Celestia personally.
“Come along, it’s not far.”
With that Shy rounded on her hooves and trotted off to the nearby woods. Hesitantly Twilight decided to follow along and picked up pace behind her
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The walk wasn’t long and they approached a cozy little homestead on a spacious property surrounded by gardens. The closest neighbors were off in the distance, which made it an overall quiet place.
Shy opened up the main door with her magic as soon as both of them hit the finely crafted porch. The alabaster wood work of the home was capped off with crystal finishing, for an unusual sparkle.
Twilight paused at the door mat, where she tried to wipe her hooves down. They had gotten a bit muddy on her venture so far and she didn’t want to rudely trudge into Shy’s home.
“Don’t worry about it, Roamer and Sail keep the place tidy. If want to clean up first, the bathroom is on the right, I’ll go make us something meanwhile.”
Shy headed off to the kitchen as Twilight took a few tentative steps in. The inside was nicely furnished and had an unusual feel about it too. The large bookshelves that lined the walls caught her attention rather quickly, but she felt embarrassed about her dirty state and decided to clean up before she peered at the titles.
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Twilight seriously considered if Shy’s thing for crystals went a bit too far. Everything in the bathroom sparkled, and the towels on the wall were made of the strangest material. Does crystal cloth even have absorbent properties?
One shower later…
Strangely enough it seemed to, the material even felt warm for some reason. As soon as she was all squeaky clean she roamed back out to the living room, eager to take a look at some of those books.
Many of them appeared to be very old, and strangely enough, some of them had crystal book jackets and a strange sort of paper. Material noted, she started to look at some of the titles.
Starswirl, a personal journal. Her eyes opened fairly wide at that. Starswirl had his own wide wing in the Canterlot libraries, but she didn’t remember him having a personal memoir published.
Celestia, a purview before ascension. Twilight’s jaw dropped, she didn’t think her mentor had written anything about that. Let alone the book looked ancient, yet still in pristine condition. Her pupils swelled up and she threatened to have a heart attack. What was a book like that doing in Shy’s personal collection!
“I wasn’t sure what you liked so I prep- oh, found something you like on the shelves?”
Shy entered the living room with a tray of dishes, drinks, and confections. She paused when she noticed Twilight’s shocked expression. A small smile spread over her thin lips.
“I heard you were a bit of a history buff, so we might have a thing or two to talk about if you like.”
“How did you-”
“Aquire those books? Well, my friendship with Tia goes a ways back. While it may be fun to brush up on the past, I’d like you to hear what circumstances led up to you being dirty on the road side. Tia hardly described you as a vagabond.”
“Well you see…”