Ch. 8: Search for the Star
The next morning, after everyone had breakfast, Sweetie Belle and Megan go out into the woods and look for the Star of Worlds. While they searched, Sweetie Belle is telling Megan about the recent events concerning herself, her sister, and her friends.
“So Thorne and Discord totaled your sister’s fashion line?” Megan asks while giggling.
“If totaled means wrecked, yes,” Sweetie Belle says, “What do you recommend for removing paintball stains?”
“Some good laundry and dish detergent along with cold water should do the trick. What were Thorne and Discord fighting about anyway?”
“My friend, Fluttershy. Thorne took her out two weeks ago, and that made Discord jealous. It caused a lot of bad blood between them. You would like Fluttershy, Megan. She cares for animals just like you and your family do. She keeps a lot of them at her cottage.”
“I bet.”
“So, are you sure this is where the Star of Worlds must be?” Sweetie Belle asks.
“I’m positive,” Megan replies, “I was practicing my guitar while figuring out lyrics to my song when I saw two things fall. One of them showed a gold shine as it fell here in the woods. I couldn’t get a good look at the other thing, but it fell far away from the shine.”
“The Star of Worlds must have gotten separated from that lizard when he fell here on earth yesterday. I hope he didn’t get it before we could.”
“Me too. We better hurry and find it before he does.”
While they were talking though, a squirrel was watching them from a tree without them even noticing. The squirrel scurries behind the tree it was on, and transforms into a certain villainous lizard: Jet. He was watching the two friends.
“It’s that unicorn! But what is that creature she is with?” he says, “No matter. They will lead me straight to the Star of Worlds, and when they find it, I’ll use it to take me to any part of Tambelon and personally hand it to Master Grogar.”
Using the trees and bushes as cover, the cunning reptile follows them in hopes of just grabbing it from them once they find it.
****
Sweetie Belle and Megan moved. They stop when they come to a nearby stream and looked around a moment. So far, there was nothing golden yet. At the moment, all they could see was the stream doing what a stream always did, a family of raccoons looking for food, and even a deer, which, after perking its ears up and Sweetie Belle and Megan nearby, ran away in fright.
“This place should be where the Star had fallen to,” Megan said.
The two friends look around to see if they could spot anything. They looked under rocks, inside of logs, in the water, holes in the ground, even in the trees. Sweetie Belle suddenly spots something shining inside of a knothole on a tree: the Star of Worlds.
“Megan! I found the Star!” she excitedly says, “It’s in that tree!”
“I’ll get it.”
With no time to waste, Megan climbs the tree. When she reached to where the glowing was coming from, she finds that Sweetie Belle was right. The Star of Worlds was here. She reaches into the knothole and grabs the Star by the string it was attached to. She holds it out to show Sweetie Belle she got what they were looking for, elating Sweetie Belle. Then, she climbs down and gives the Star to her unicorn friend, who uses her telekinesis to take it.
“Oh Thank you, Megan! Thank you!” Sweetie Belle happily says while hopping around, “With the Star of Worlds back, I can return home and see my friends and family again!
“I’ll make sure to keep that lizard guy from ever going back to Equestria too.”
When Sweetie Belle stopped hopping, she noticed that her throat all of a sudden felt dry. Why now of all times she didn’t know, but she needed a drink.
“Megan, I feel thirsty. Can you hold the Star until I get back from the stream?”
“Sure. But, in case that lizard comes here and changes into one of us, we need a password to recognize each other.”
“I know a good password.”
Sweetie Belle motions for Megan to come closer to hear the password. She whispers something into Megan’s ear, giving Megan a surprised look.
“Really?” Megan says with surprise.
“It’s something my friend Pinkie Pie would say,” Sweetie Belle tells her.
Sweetie Belle goes to the stream to get some water while Megan guards the Star by putting it around her neck and wearing it.
“I’ll be right back.” she says to Megan.
But what Sweetie Belle didn’t know was that Jet was observing Sweetie Belle as she headed for the stream. To him, the moment the two separated was the perfect opportunity to take the Star, and to enact a plan on how to get it. He changes into the young unicorn and trots over to Megan, composing himself of any grin save for a normal smile.
Megan notices what appeared to be her friend headed her way.
“Hey Sweetie Belle. Back from the stream so soon?” Megan says.
“Uh… yes,” a disguised Jet says, “I wasn’t that thirsty.”
“Great. Let’s go back to the ranch, you can return home from there’s since it’s the safest place to be.”
“Actually, Megan, I think I found the perfect spot to get me home.”
“Really, Sweetie Belle? Where?”
“Come on, I’ll show you.”
The lizard in pony’s clothing motions for Megan to follow him.
However, Megan felt a little hesitant. She didn’t know why, but there was something inside of her that was telling her something was wrong.
‘Something isn’t right,’ Megan thought, ‘What specific place could Sweetie Belle possibly think of to use the Star?’
Megan follows behind.
Two minutes later, Jet takes Megan over to a nearby pit that is twelve feet deep.
Megan looks down into the pit, noticing how deep and dark it was down there, and how dangerous it would be if someone fell in.
“You sure you want to get home in this pit, Sweetie Belle? This pit looks pretty deep, and that lizard you told me about could be hiding in there,” Megan tells her concerns.
“You’re right, Megan,” Jet says, “Why don’t you look inside and make sure he’s not in there?”
When Megan heard those words, she started to feel even more suspicious. The friend that she spent the night with last night was behaving differently than usual.
‘Could it be?’ she wonders.
To confirm what was going on, she decides to use the password.
“Sweetie Belle, I forgot the password we planned to use in case of emergencies. Do you remember what it is?” Megan says, hoping to trick the fake.
“Password?!” Jet panics, sweat suddenly coming off his forehead, “Uh…Equestria forever?”
“You’re not, Sweetie Belle!”
They suddenly hear Sweetie Belle calling out to Megan.
“Megan! Megan?” she cries as she appears from the bushes.
When Sweetie Belle appears, she is shocked to find who was with Megan.
Jet, while as Sweetie Belle, grabs her and spins her and himself around, mixing the two up.
“Megan, quick! You gotta give me the Star!” says one Sweetie Belle.
“Don’t listen to this phony! Give me the Star!”
Both unicorns then start talking at the same time, each of them wanting to have the star. But poor Megan didn’t know which one was which.
“I can’t!” Megan says, silencing the two, “I can’t Sweetie Belle! I don’t know which is the real you!”
The Sweetie Belle on the right thinks for a minute and remembers the password.
“PICKLE BARREL KUMQUAT!!!” she screams.
Megan’s mouth went agape. She now knew which was her real friend.
“Sweetie Belle, get behind me!” Megan says.
But before Sweetie Belle could even gallop, Jet’s tail transforms back to normal and grabs Sweetie Belle by the waist. When he did, he changed back into his real form, and right before anyone could blink. His sudden transformation frightened birds and squirrels from the trees and caused them to make haste.
The evil lizard cackles as he held Sweetie Belle captive, and Sweetie Belle struggles to get free.
“Well, well, well. It seems that I have scored some things in this worldly battle. I capture one creature that has come between me and my goal for the last time, and, I learn the name of the companion who dares to aid Equestria.” he says triumphantly.
“Let my friend go, you overgrown salamander!”
“Oh, but I don’t think I can,” he tells her, “Unless, we can make a trade.”
Realizing what Jet was about to offer Megan, Sweetie Belle bites down on Jet’s tail, causing him to let go of her with a scream and grab his tail because of the pain.
While he’s distracted, Sweetie Belle gets behind Megan.
Figuring out what just happened, Jet growls in frustration at what his captive just did.
“Well, that was rather abrupt. I suppose now you’re not going to give it to me then.”
“Tell your goat boss he has to pry it from my hands if he wants to take over Equestria,” Megan defiantly says to him.
“Disrespectful…whatever you are! Fine! I’ve been itching for a fight anyway!”
With that, Jet cracks his knuckles, preparing for a fight, while Megan got into a fighting stance to protect Sweetie Belle and the Star of Worlds.
But without warning, the Star suddenly glows bright yellow, making the three beings look on with awe.
“Sweetie Belle? What’s happening to the Star?”
“I don’t know!”
The Star suddenly opens a portal, and coming out of the portal are Twilight, Rarity, and Scorpan.
The three look around to see where they are.
“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle excitedly shouts as she runs up and hugs her.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity shouts with joy.
Sisters reunited, they run up and hug each other, glad to be back together again.