Daughter of the Night

by Word Wizard

Chapter 4

Daughter of the Night

Chapter Four

Introductions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Starlight!” Twilight called, entering her bedroom. Sunlight seeped under the curtains, slowly illuminating the dark room. Aside the bed, in a small wooden cot the small form of Starlight lay, curled in a little ball and fast asleep.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!” Twilight said playfully, “I already let you sleep in.”

“Wha-” Starlight groaned, her eyes fluttering open. “Hello Twilight.”

“Good morning!” Twilight said cheerfully, opening the curtains with one swish of magic. Light poured in, engulfing everything in a cheerful aurora of daytime. Starlight squinted her eyes against the bright light.

“Big day today,” Twilight said, kneeling by Starlight’s low bed. “We get to go out.”

“Out!” Starlight jumped with excitement. Out was the subject of her fantasies ever since… well… yesterday. “When?” she asked eagerly, smiling widely at Twilight.

“Oh Starlight!” Twilight laughed, “In just a few moments. You wouldn’t want to miss breakfast, would you?”

“Oh, I suppose not,” Starlight said thoughtfully, “but right after breakfast?”

“Of course!” Twilight stood up and trotted to the door. “Oh yes,” she turned around, “I got you a present!”

“A present?” Starlight asked, hopping out of bed. “What kind of present?”

“If I tell you it would ruin the surprise,” Twilight said tauntingly, “but… I suppose you are going to find out anyhow. It’s a necklace!”

“Wow! Wait,” Starlight paused, “what’s a necklace?”

“A necklace,” Twilight explained, drawing a small wad of silver metal from her mane, “Is a pretty thing you wear around your neck.”

Starlight watched the hovering wad of metal float closer, and start to unwind into a chain. Slowly it produced to ends, creating a simple ornamented chain of metal. She cringed as the icy cold metal touched her warm skin, but waited patiently while the latch was done in the back.

“There!” Twilight exclaimed, looking at the squirming Starlight. “Don’t worry, it’ll warm up.”

“Okay,” she replied, doubting the validity of even Twilights words on the matter.

“Have a look,” Twilight said, engulfing a small mirror in magic and levitating it over in front of the filly. “Isn’t it pretty?”

Starlight looked at her own reflection curiously, and mighty admired the silver chain around her neck. In the very front of her neck, a pale aqua diamond hung, encrusted in silver. It was carved in the shape of a heart, and it shone pale blue light upon the ground before it. Starlight gasped.

“It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed, stepping back and looking at the pale blue glow on the floor. The diamond seemed to pulse, to pulse with light and energy, very slightly but noticeably if one looked carefully. “Thank you so much!”

Twilight laughed a little as Starlight hugged her legs, burying her face in Twilight’s lavender coat. She bent down and put a hoof around Starlight, returning the filly’s embrace.

There they remained, buried in the warmth of the other, until Starlight broke out of the heartwarming hug.

“So, where’s breakfast?”

A light breeze swept through Starlight’s dark purple mane, ruffling it ever so slightly. She stood in front of the library, looking over the green field that was the front lawn. The grass felt soft and inviting on her hooves, and the sunshine spread radiant warmth from the light blue sky.

Clouds dotted the never ending sky, slowly lumbering their puffy white forms across the horizon. Starlight stood stock still, taking in everything. In front of her, a small dandelion burst into full bloom, shining vibrant yellow colors from the center of its small green cocoon.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Twilight said, closing the door to the library behind her. A lock clicked into place with a small glow of purple magic. On the door, a sign flipped over revealing the words:

Out on business. Please come back soon!

“I’m taking the afternoon off so I can show you around,” Twilight said cheerfully, standing next to the amazed Starlight.

“It’s… wonderful,” Starlight finally stammered. The colors were bright and vibrant, and the sunshine was warm and inviting. It was more than she had ever imagined.

“Yes, it certainly is,” Twilight smiled. She remembered being taken aback with wonder in the same way when she was a little filly, but the amazement for books quickly overtook any that she had garnered for nature. But she always loved reading outdoors. It seemed to be a fair compromise between the two parts of herself.

“Come on!” Twilight exclaimed, looking down at Starlight with a twinkle in her eye. “Let’s show you around Ponyville.”

“Okay!” Starlight said boisterously, bouncing into the air with excitment.

“I agreed to meet Rarity this afternoon,” Twilight said, trotting down the lane with Starlight following close behind. “I’m sure she’ll love you.”

“Who’s Rarity?” Starlight asked quizzically, picking up speed so as to trot alongside Twilight.

“One of my friends,” Twilight said happily. “She loves to sew all sorts of things. In fact, that’s why we’re going to her boutique. One of my saddlebags got torn so she promised to mend it for me.”

“Oh,” Starlight said, craning her neck to gaze at a butterfly fluttering across the road.

“Rarity has a little sister, Sweetie Belle, who’s about your age,” Twilight lied (it wasn’t exactly lying, as they were at about the same developmental age.) “She’s probably in school, but maybe we could come back this evening. I’m sure you’d like her.”

“Me too!” Starlight exclaimed, looking at the dirt road in fascination. The dust thrown by their hooves completely enraptured Starlight in amazement. It was just so… dirty.

“There it is!” Twilight said, pointing towards a cylindrical building in the distance. It was purple with two layers, and every ornate curtain and decoration you could imagine. Starlight’s eyes practically popped out of her head when she saw it.

“It’s really… neat,” she said finally. Twilight chuckled.

“That’s Rarity!” she said, “Always going for the neatest and most fashionable things around.”

They aproached the boutique rapidly, chatting about grass and various other ‘outdoorsy’ things while they walked. The sun cast a long black shadow from behind the boutique, shielding them from the intrinsically hot rays as they approached the ornately decorated doors.

Twilight stepped forward and rapped a couple times with her hoof, motioning the hesitent Starlight to join her on the doorstep. Starlight slowly hopped up onto the small slab of granite that served as a doorstep for the boutique.

“Coming!” Rarity’s voice called from inside, followed by hurried hoofsteps.

The purple door swung open to reveal Rarity standing in the doorway holding a needle and thread.

“Ah, Twilight darling!” she exclaimed. “Do come in, you wouldn’t want to catch cold out there!”

“It’s late spring, Rarity,” Twilight said with a smile as she stepped inside.

“Ah yes, but even so,” Rarity replied, “you would like a cup of tea, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course,” Twilight said, “Rarity, I’d like you to meet-”

“I’ll set the water boiling at once!” Rarity cut her off, trotting towards the kitchen. Twilight stopped and rolled her eyes. She looked down at Starlight, only to discover the filly wasn’t at her side.

“Starlight?” she inquired softly. The little black and blue filly slowly stepped out from behind Twilight, looking somewhat sheepish.

“Yes?” Starlight squeaked.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight smiled warmly, “I just need to talk with Rarity for a few minutes. Why don’t you look around the shop for a little while?”

“That sounds great!” Starlight exclaimed, dashing to a nearby mannequin and staring at the intricate dress it wore in wonder. Twilight chuckled and walked into the kitchen, leaving Starlight to look around the boutique.

Starlight wandered around, gawking at the spectacular fashion products on display. Sparkling dresses, sequined saddlebags, whimsical hat… all dressed upon fantastical-looking mannequins. The stark white plaster body hiding beneath layer after layer of beautiful clothing.

Starlight walked slowly, looking at each display individually as she made a circle around the room. After passing a particularly whimsical display, showcasing Rarity’s spectacular hatmaking abilities, she saw something that stopped the young filly dead in her tracks. Herself.

There was no doubt about it. There, in the shiny glass window an identical Starlight stared at her, wide-eyed and shocked. Starlight quickly leaped to one side, eying the gold encrusted window with deep suspicion. One thing about the window puzzled her though: it didn’t seem to looking into anything.

It was simply a window on wheels, a window that showed whatever was happening in the room in a different room… or perhaps the same one? Starlight’s head reeled just thinking about it.

Anyway, she thought, it can’t do any harm to look again.

And so she did. And there the other Starlight stood, gazing into the glass. Starlight looked at herself, and moved a little. The other Starlight moved as well. She jumped, and so did the other Starlight.

“That is me!” she cried, “Amazing!”

After realizing exactly what the window on wheels was for, she thoroughly enjoyed it. She made funny faces at herself, and tried to see what her back looked like… all very worthy endeavors of a filly encountering her first mirror.

I bet I could look just like a princess with this necklace and these wings, Starlight pondered. She closed her eyes, spread her wings, and put her chin up. And then opened her eyes... and gasped in terror.

There she was in the mirror… a unicorn. Her wings had vanished from sight.

-----------

“So Rarity,” Twilight said, stepping into the kitchen. “I have something to tell you.”

It sounded more commanding than she meant it to, as though the words had run off with her emotion and crafted it into their own, darker concoction. Twilight realized this as soon as the naughty words left her mouth, and began to regret using them.

“Oh, of course dear,” Rarity hummed, setting a kettle on to boil. “It does sound important.”

“Well…” Twilight trailed off uncertainly. “In a way… Yes, it is.”

“Even the most important things look better over a steaming cup of hot tea,” Rarity stated, pouring the frothing brown liquid into two cups. The teakettle lowered back onto the table and the light blue glow of Rarity’s magic vanished, and promptly began to lift the teacups.

“So what was it you wanted to tell me, dear?” Rarity said, setting the cups down upon two coasters on her dining table and taking a seat herself. Twilight followed her in and took her place at the other side of the table, lifting her teacup daintily with a purple aura of magic.

“You know about Luna… and all that,” Twilight asked, clumsily trying to sip off the uppermost layer of tea. She ended up sucking at air, and looked down, very surprised and embarrassed, to find her tea a whole half an inch above her mouth. Rarity payed the circus no heed and daintily sipped on her glass as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Of course, nasty business. Do continue,” Rarity said, her pure blue eyes looking over the teacup.

“Right, well,” Twilight stammered, sipping on her tea for more time to think.

"Don't worry, dear," Rarity said, sipping her tea once more. "You can spit it out. It's among friends."

"Right..." Twilight's eyes darted nervously around the room as sweat beaded up on her forehead. Her mind was awhirl with explinations; none of which satisfied her. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. It was perfect!

"I have a niece in town for the month!" Twilight sighed, relieved. Rarity gave her a quizzical glance over her tea.

"What does that have to do with Luna?" Rarity asked, giving Twilight a slightly worried look.

"Oh, well," Twilight stammered. "Her parents have been VERY busy, as they do work for the crown and all."

"Who are her parents?" Rarity inquired, curiousity winning over her common sense. Twilight bit her lip and got a crazed look in her eyes.

"Shining Armor and Princess Cadence!" she blurted, surprised at even her own words. Rarity relaxed a little.

"How come we didn't know about it?" she asked, downing her tea in one sudden gulp. Interest in Twilight's story drowned any manners she had adhered to earlier in the meal. Her cup clinked onto the table as the magical aura dropped it upon the hardwood.

"Oh well," Twilight rubbed the back of her neck nervously. Her mind was so focused on the unfolding alibi that her concentration faltered, leaving the teacup in midair... and descending rapidly. Rarity gasped theatrically and enveloped the rouge porcelain in the blue aura of her magic, lifting it up and out of harms way.

“Sorry!” Twilight said hurriedly. “I just wasn’t thinking. I won’t-”

Rarity put a hoof to her lips and smiled. “If it did break, dear, I have far to many of those. Although, I do hate to see one go. But, do continue.”

“Well, Shining Armor didn’t tell me he was getting married until the invitation,” Twilight chuckled, “I suppose he’s simply too far away. He didn’t tell me he was a father either… until I got my first foalsitting job as an aunt.”

“That’s is rather funny-” Rarity began to ponder, but was cut off by a sharp crash. It came from the main room… The room in which Starlight was wandering.

----------

Starlight was aghast. Those little dark blue feathers, her wings, were gone. She looked a simple unicorn in the mirror now. She liked those wings. They were HERS.

Rarity’s shop was just as warm and comforting as it was when Starlight entered, just as curious and full of surprises, but it seemed to have taken on a feeling of foreboding deep in the filly’s heart. It stole her wings. Obviously.

“Shop?” Starlight stammered, looking around the room nervously. No response came, but she continued. “What did you do with my wings?”

Nothing.

The mannequins sat on their pegs, expressionless. Starlight got the strangest feeling they were watching her. Watching her every move. And yet, they never moved. At all.

“I know you’re there,” Starlight said, shakily. “Where are my wings?”

Slowly, she began to back out of the room, her eyes darting around the boutique as she went. Then all of a sudden she hit something, something heavy, and toppled over backwards along with it, screaming in surprise.

Her head jerked upwards to see what she had hit, and were greeted with a smiling mannequin’s face. It seemed to be jeering at her from under its bright yellow sunhat. Its smile seemed evil, small and threatening.

“Gaa!” Starlight shouted, leaping up from the floor. But little did she notice, her necklace had fallen off in the excitement, and was now lying under the toppled mannequin. Its bright blue diamond glinted in the torchlight, but it was covered by a plaster foot.

“Dearie me!” Rarity exclaimed, rushing into the room. Twilight was close behind, and hurried to Starlight.

“Are you okay?” she asked, wrapping a hoof around the shaken filly.

“Th- th- the thing, it took my wings!” Starlight stammered, shaking violently. “It tried to bite me!”

“What makes you think it did that?” Twilight asked, glancing at Rarity. Rarity was shaking her head at the toppled mannequin, and starting to set things right with her magic.

“I couldn’t see my wings!” Starlight exclaimed. “In that!” she waved a hoof at the mirror.

Twilight smiled.

“We can talk more about that when we get back to the library,” Twilight said, looking at Rarity. “Right now, I think you should come have tea with us.”

“Okay,” Starlight replied shakily, getting to her wobbly hooves.

Twilight trotted over to Rarity, watching her straighten the last pin on the plaster mannequin. Starlight wobbled over there as well, slowly starting to get over the shock. She looked up at Rarity with big, sorrowful eyes.

“I’m really sorry,” she sobbed. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Don’t worry dear,” Rarity smiled. “I put everything back to where it was. It’s not your fault. These things happen all… the… time…” Rarity trailed off, looking at Starlight’s flank. There, little deep blue feathers formed tiny pegasus wings. She back up at Starlight’s little stub of a horn, and back at the wings.

“I see you got your mother’s wings!” she exclaimed, finally. Twilight gulped.

“I don’t think everypony should know,” she said firmly, remembering Luna’s advice.

Keep her hidden, keep her safe.

Those words still echoed in her mind, and the young librarian wasn’t about to not heed them. It seemed to her that if everypony knew Starlight was an alicorn, it would be a surefire way of finding her. And if there really was somepony, or something, looking for her, then it wouldn’t be good at all.

“Of course,” Rarity looked at the small feathers once more and smiled. “I suppose it wouldn’t do to let everypony get jealous of those fine wings.”

“Yes,” Twilight agreed, and then noticed something. “Starlight, where’s your necklace?”

“What?” Starlight looked down at her neck, and saw it bare and empty. “It was there a second ago…”

“It must have fallen off,” Twilight began looking about the room, and spotted a glinting blue shimmer from a dark corner behind a mannequin stand. She smiled and picked it up in her deep purple magic, lifting over to Starlight and doing the clasp around her neck. Instantly, the wings vanished from sight.

“There,” Twilight exclaimed, satisfied with her work. Rarity stared at the azure diamond, dazzled by its seemingly magical radiance. Starlight took that moment to size up Rarity in her mind.

To Starlight, the unicorn seemed quite nice, quite wealthy, and quite talented in the area of hat making. Although, her cutie mark did seemed odd for her profession. Diamonds? For hat (and dress) making? Starlight was willing to dismiss that oddity in favor for the fashionista's complexly styled mane. It was a far more interesting cut than Twilight’s simple flat, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may studious mane.

All in all, Rarity seemed quite polite. Excruciatingly polite, even. But Starlight admired that. It must take an awful lot of practice to get that good at being polite; and, she figured, it must come in handy in sticky situations.

“Where did you get that?” Rarity asked, admiring the diamond. Starlight was wondering the same thing about the diamonds of Rarity’s flank, but she didn’t say anything. It was odd though.

“Sterling Silver in Trottingham made it,” Twilight explained nonchalauntly, “supposed to be the most enchantable necklace in Equestria.”

“I see,” Rarity took one last glance at it and turned to the kitchen. “Well, don’t just stand there! The tea’s getting cold!”

-----------

Tea. A strange substance made from brewing leaves of fragrent plants in boiling hot water. Discovered, by accident, by a rather clumsy chef who had a tendency to drink strange things (passed away after the incident with cleaning supplies). It was now a drink of the rich, the classy, and those who wished they were either of those things.

It was considered dainty, elegant. The drink of the elite. Starlight had come to the conclusion, however, that it was the drink of bitter ickiness.

Twilight and Rarity chatted and sipped their tea, but Starlight simply sat back in her seat and stared at the vile liquid with a revolted expression. How on Equestria could anypony drink this… sour, leafy drink? It seemed like it was a biology project gone amuck, and then put in an ornate glass and served to ‘classy’ ponies.

Classy ponies, Starlight deduced, were therefore completely devoid of either common sense or tastebuds. Or both.

“Come on, it’s good,” Twilight urged, sipping her own tea and crafting the cheesiest look of pleasure on her face that she could. Starlight poked the mug carefully with her hoof, but quickly drew it back.

“No,” she stated. “I don’t know how you drink leaves boiled in water. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Perhaps we should have showed her how to make it AFTER she tried it,” Rarity whispered to Twilight. Twilight nodded, but continued her unrelenting efforts to make the obstinate filly try the tea.

“Here,” Twilight said, levitating a small silver cup over from the middle of the table and setting it next to Starlight’s tea. “This is sugar. Sugar is good. A spoonful of it makes tea much tastier.”

“Just as my aunt used to say!” Rarity said happily. “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!”

Twilight took a small silver spoon in her magic and dipped it into the silver goblet, drawing it back out heaped with white powder. This she poured into the tea, and stirred it round with the spoon a few times before taking it out. Then, she pushed the suspicious looking liquid towards a skeptical Starlight.

“Go on!” Twilight urged, lifting the cup in her purple magic and holding it to Starlight’s lips. The filly looked at the sweet smelling brown liquid. Looked good enough.

*SLURRRRP*

“Good?” Twilight asked, smiling. Starlight nodded and grabbed the cup in her hooves, pouring the rest of the tea down her rapturous gullet.

“Very!” she exclaimed, setting the crockery down and licking her lips. Twilight and Rarity looked at each other and giggled. Starlight looked between them with eager eyes. “So what are we going to talk about?”

“Well,” Rarity pondered, “Twilight said she would show you around Ponyville, and I suppose I don’t have anything else to do so I could tag along.”

“That sounds great, Rarity,” Twilight smiled, “how are my saddlebags coming along, anyhow?”

“Oh, they’re all done, dear,” Rarity replied, “and you don’t need to thank me.”

“Thanks a lot, you’re a saviour,” Twilight said, ignoring Rarity’s request. “Are you sure you don’t want any payment? It really meant a lot to me.”

“No, no,” Rarity smiled, “generosity is my element, after all. Anything for a dear friend.”

“What’s an element?” Starlight asked innocently. Twilight and Rarity looked at the filly and grinned.

“I know what your bedtime story’s going to be!” Twilight exclaimed. Starlight looked straight at the happily smiling mare.

“Okay, but what’s an element?” she asked, “And why is it generous?”

“There are six elements, and Twilight and her friends wield them together to perform powerful feats of magic and protect Equestria,” Rarity explained, “I am the element of generosity, and Twilight is the element of magic and- Well, you’ll meet them soon enough.”

“Yes, in fact I have a little errand with Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, “I promised I’d help her put up decorations for a party tomorrow.”

“Ah yes,” Rarity reminisced, “Mrs. Cake’s half-birthday-and-five-hours party. It does sound like fun, although the reason does seem a little far-fetched.”

“Yeah,” Starlight agreed, “It sounds like she’ll make up anything to make to make a reason for a party.”

“You got that one right!” Twilight laughed, “We really need to enroll you in the school, you’re staying a few weeks and you’re quite a smart little filly. I’m sure you’ll like the schoolhouse, in fact, let’s stop by after we visit Pinkie.”

“Okay,” Starlight nodded. “But what about the other… three elements?”

“Oh, they’ll come over to the library this evening. I’ll mail some invitations.”

“Okay.”

“Alright,” Twilight glanced at Rarity’s clock. It was ornately decorated with silver and gold (or at least, brass and nickel) carvings of cats and balls of string. Amid the metallic chaos, a mother cat’s tongue acted as the hands, washing the kittens once every hour.

“We better be leaving,” Twilight said, standing up. “Thanks for the tea Rarity!”

“Don’t mention it,” Rarity smiled, “I’ll be over this evening.”

“Alright,” Twilight nodded, and then started to trot out the door. “Come on, Starlight!”

Starlight jumped off her chair and began to walk out of the dining room, but stopped. She looked back at Rarity, and said, rather softly, “Thank you.” And began to walk out again, but stopped once more, threw a curious look over her shoulder, and trotted outside behind Twilight.

-------------

Pinkie had been waiting for Mrs. Cake’s Half-birthday-and-five-hours party for quite a while, so she was understandably excited when the day for preparing finally rolled around. Sugarcube Corner, she decided, was going to see the best party yet!

Although she always said that. And it was probably going to be just the same old thing, yet another hollow promise.

“Hey! You! Stop making fun of my vows! I know what you're playing at, mister narrator in the sky!”

You do?

“Yeah, I do!” Pinkie shouted, “And don’t you forget it.”

And how are you even talking to me?

“Hey! Watch it! I’m Pinkamena Diane Pie, remember?” Pinkie cried, staring… me straight in the face. Fine. You win. “Good!”

Can we please get back to the story?

“Sure,” Pinkie smiled and bounced towards her work, but then threw… me, apparently, a cold glare over her shoulder. Anyhow…

It would be a fantastical party, one that Ponyville would not long forget. Ages would pass by, and Mrs. Cake’s half-birthday-and-five-hours party would stand out, forever blazing among Equestria’s many accomplishments. It would inspire foals-

“Don’t over do it!”

RIght. Now. Let’s try that again.

-----------

It was noontime and the sun was high in the sky when Twilight trotted up to Sugarcube Corner and rapped on the door. Starlight walked behind her, looking all around Ponyville with wide eyes of interest. It was such a bustling town!

A few moments after knocking on the door, Starlight got the distinct feeling that the air pressure around the bakery was rising by an order of magnitude, and she began to fear for the saftey of reality itself, and started to back away from the door. The door seemed to bend outward, as if a strange pressure was bulging from the inside; even Twilight flinched.

*POW!*

“Hey Twilight!” Pinkie shouted as she exploded out of Sugarcube Corner, boisterously bowling Twilight over and onto the ground, holding her pink body aloft as she looked down at the surprised librarian. “That’s great you could come!”

“Yeah,” Twilight said weakly, picking herself up dusting herself off. “Pinkie, I’d like you to meet-” Twilight froze. Where was that filly?

“Who?” Pinkie asked, looking up from digging through a box of party supplies. A triangular hat was already on her head. It was a bilious6 purple. The kind of purple that makes anything it is sitting exponentially uglier. Twilight cringed at the thought of having to wear one, much less go to a party full of them.

“Starlight!” Twilight called, for lack of anything better to say. Pinkie cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes.

“Are you hiding somepony from me?” she asked suspiciously. “Because I don’t like being sneaked around with…”

“There you are!” Twilight exclaimed, rushing over to Starlight, who was walking slowly out of the bushes. In Twilight’s mind, she was relieved she didn’t lose the royal daughter that had been entrusted to her care. But deeper inside of her, something else seemed to relax. Something that was worried about Starlight’s disappearence for more than just princess Luna’s instructions. Something Twilight couldn’t put a hoof on, no matter how hard she tried.

“I was just surprised,” Starlight said, sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight smiled, and whispered softly in the filly’s ear. “I was just as surprised as you when I first met Pinkie. You get used to it-”

“Hey! What did I say about sneaking?!” Pinkie demanded, inexplicably lowering her head between the two. Twilight recoiled from surprise, and Starlight was frozen in pure terror as she looked at Pinkie’s hooves. They were floating on air.

“Wha-” she started, staring at the suspended hooves in bewilderment. But then, just as soon as they were in the air, they thumped to the ground, and Pinkie began to stare at Starlight shrewdly. Starlight stared back, but the sheer ridiculousness of the situation tied her brain in knots and gave her a headache.

“Oooh! Shiny!” Pinkie oggled, staring at the azure diamond around Starlight’s neck with intense admiration. “Oh, and I think we didn’t get introduced,” Pinkie giggled, holding out her hoof. Starlight took it cautiously. You never could be too careful, after all. “I’m Pinkie Pie, and you’re Starlight Crescent! But I bet you already knew that though,” Pinkie winked. “We’re going to be great friends!”

“Yeah… I guess…” Starlight stuttered. “But how did you know my name?”

“I know many things, young filly,” Pinkie said in a deep, condescending voice, “such as… Cupcakes taste good, care to try one?”

“Um, sure,” Starlight said uncertainly, preparing to let go on any idea of logic. As if to confirm that thought, Pinkie reached behind her back and pulled out a cupcake tray of the most perfect, most picturesque, and most delicious looking cupcakes. Starlight’s mouth began to water. They looked beautiful.

“Here, try one!” Pinkie offered, holding tray in front of Starlight with an obliging smile. “We’ve got cherry, and cherry, and cherry, and… more cherry!”

“Oh, thanks,” Starlight replied, reaching for one with her hoof. She stopped, however, when one of the cupcakes floated gently off the tray and weaved its way through the air and stopped in front of Twilight.

Levitation, Starlight thought, staring at the floating cupcake, I wonder if I could do that.

Slowly, she lowered her hoof and closed her eyes. A little spark of magical power flew from her horn as it flickered to life, drifting through the air, and lightly singeing one of Pinkie’s cupcakes. Starlight’s face contorted with concentration, the only sound she could hear was that of her own heartbeat and her own horn.

The cupcake that Starlight had been reaching for, the one with a lightly browned spot on the icing flickered a little. A soft white magical aura began to form about its delicious surface, it seemed to be encased in moonlight, in pure nighttime energy. Then, amidst the confused stares of Twilight and the bemused ones of Pinkie, Starlight gave the final push.

“THERE SHE BLOWS!” Pinkie shouted, gesturing excitedly towards a disappearing black speck in the sky. Starlight relaxed, realizing her grip on the cake had slipped away, as its rapid ascent had taken place. Slowly, she looked up at the sky, and then at the tray.

“I only wanted it to go up a little bit,” Starlight mumbled, and turned to face a severe look from Twilight. Pinkie was sitting on the ground now, looking through a pair of binoculars at the sky… assumedly at a tiny black dot.

“I’m sorry,” Starlight apologized to Twilight, “I won’t do it again.”

“It’s burning up in the atmosphere!” Pinkie shouted from behind her binoculars. Twilight sighed and gave Starlight a pat on the mane.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, “I would have done the same thing at your age. In fact, I did.”

“Woah! It’s entering SPACE!” Pinkie cried, staring intently through her binoculars, “I’m gonna need something more powerful.”

“Thanks,” Starlight said, “I won’t do it again until you’ve taught me.”

“WOW!” Pinkie shouted, looking through a very large telescope suddenly placed on the lawn outside of Sugarcube Corner. “It’s going into orbit!”

“Yes, I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it very fast,” Twilight chuckled. From behind the telescope, Pinkie gasped.

“It’s not just in orbit, but its orbiting its orbit!” she cried, “This is amazingly-superduper-awesomely cool!”

“What?” Twilight said, staring at Pinkie with a slightly annoyed and confused look. Pinkie looked up from her work, staring back at Twilight with a wide grin on her face. “You can not orbit your orbit, it’s impossible.”

“Sure you can, silly,” Pinkie rolled her eyes, “have a look.”

Twilight bore an annoyed expression when she walked over to the telescope and put her eye up to the viewing lens. She looked in for a few minutes, and then stood up and shook her head.

“I don’t see anything,” she said. Pinkie cocked her head to one side and dashed over to the viewing lens and gazed in. Slowly she shook her head and stood back.

“You made me lose my cupcake!” she said accusingly, glaring at Twilight and Starlight. “Now I have to go get it.”

“What?”

“I have to go get it,” Pinkie sighed and climbed into a large pink rocketship that suddenly appeared next to her. “Be back in a few hours.”

“I’ll never understand her,” Twilight sighed as the rocket shot off the ground in a flurry of flames and smoke. Starlight nodded in agreement. “Anyhow, let’s go visit the schoolhouse, they should be finishing school for the day soon.”

“Okay,” Starlight said, doggedly trotting after Twilight down Mainstreet and on to a small dirt path that wound a short way to a red barn. That’s the school house? Starlight thought, That’s odd.

--------------------

“Alright class!” Cheerily cried as the last bell of the day rang, “Have a good afternoon.”

“You too, Mrs. Cheerily,” the class chirped. Everypony was glad the school day was over, and as such everyone wanted to get out of the door as soon as possible. In record time, books flashed into saddlebags, saddlebags clipped onto bodies, and bodies bolted outside and into the beautiful sunshine.

Twilight and Starlight trotted up the hill just as a barrage of students hurtled down it, leading to quite a bit of confusion and dust. Happy shouts and cries filled the air as the schoolfoals galloped down the road, but Twilight stood stock still and let the storm peter out.

Eventually, the class had left and the road was clear. Starlight had clutched on to one of Twilight’s legs in terror, but now relaxed and let go, shaking herself free of both dust and terror that had amassed during the swarm. Twilight shook her head and muttered, “Foals,” under her breath.

“Anyhow,” Twilight said, slightly more cheerfully, “let’s go see if Cheerily takes temporary students.”

“Those,” Starlight gasped, waving a hoof at the disappearing cloud of dust in the distance, “are my classmates?”

“Yes,” Twilight said, and then added, “But they’re quite nice once you get to know them.”

Starlight wasn’t too sure about this, but let the question ride. She followed Twilight up the road and into the barn… or schoolhouse… or both.

Cheerily was sitting at her desk, looking over papers from the day’s studying when the two walked in. She looked up almost instantly, a warm and friendly smile on her face.

“Hello!” she said cheerfully, “It is nice to see you Twilight. What brings you up here?”

“Hi Cheerily,” Twilight replied in a somewhat nervous tone. “Do you take temporary students?”

“I sure do, why?” the teacher inquired, and then saw a purple tale disappear behind Twilight’s legs.

“My niece, Starlight, is in town for a few weeks and I was hoping you could take her on as a student,” Twilight said politely, the tail disappearing on the other side of her legs this time.

“If she’s willing to do a little extra work to catch up, sure,” Cheerily nodded. “How old is she?”

“Three da- I mean, three years,” Twilight said, and then looked behind her. “Come on out,” she whispered. Almost immediately, Starlight poked her head out from behind Twilight, unsure of exactly what was going on, and somewhat scared.

“Why hello there!” Cheerily said in a warm tone, looking at Starlight with her smiling face. Starlight liked her instantly, although, this incessantly cheerful demeanor COULD get sickening at times. But right now wasn’t one of those times, and Starlight quite liked it.

“Hi,” she said happily. Twilight smiled. This was the happiest she had ever talked in a long while.

“So you’ll be joining us on Monday then, will you?” Cheerily said joyfully, “We always welcome new friends.”

“That’s good,” Starlight smiled, “Because I’m coming whether you welcome me or not.”

“That’s settled then,” Cheerily laughed. Starlight had a tongue-in-cheek way with words that was so clever, and when coupled with her cuteness one couldn’t help laughing.

“Alright, see you then,” Twilight said, grabbing Starlight’s hoof. “We better be going.”

“Bye!” Cheerily cried, “See you Monday!”

---------------

Twilight hummed to herself as she set the water on to boil. She had taken extra care this time to make sure the fire wasn’t too hot, and she didn’t have anything else going on at the same time. It had amazed Twilight how she had managed to burn water; but with the black scum scrubbed off, she tried once more to make tea.

The library was silent, naught but a few cricket’s chirps disturbing the air. Starlight was fast asleep upstairs, fatigued from her afternoon of learning and befriending. The candles were lit and the lanterns placed; a warm glow radiated about the library.

Everything was as it should be: tidy, orderly, and generally pleasant. Spike was taking a nap, being quick to the realization that it was unnecessary to fix the stairs. Twilight took this moment to catch her breath and take in the tranquil state of affairs.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Twilight stopped mid breath. Nopony called in the evenings, certainly not on the weekends. Hmm, she thought, Who could it be?

She began to walk towards the door, but a sharp squealing came from the kitchen. “Just a minute!” Twilight shouted, remembering the burnt water. “Hold on!”

She walked back into the kitchen and lifted the boiling tea pot off the stove, setting it on a wooden cutting board. “There,” Twilight said, half accusingly at the pot, “don’t you do anything clever like burn, okay?”

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!*

Twilight began walking back towards the door, thinking of who it could be at this time of night. There was a jiggling noise, like somepony was trying the locked door from outside; Twilight began to reach for the door handle.

“GAA!” she screamed, leaping back in surprise. The door was thrown open by a strange magic, just barely missing Twilight’s nose in the process. “What-”

She stopped. In the doorway, a sinister, cloaked unicorn stood. He smiled, in an insane kind of way, and stepped forward. Twilight began to inch towards the kitchen, unsteadily looking at the strange figure.

“Miss Sparkle,” the figure said in a rasping voice. “How is your evening?”

“How do you know who I am?” Twilight said, continuing to back away from the advancing figure.

“We know an awful lot about Celestia’s prize pupil,” Aurora said, throwing back the brown hood and revealing his yellow and red mane. “I would be more concerned about what you know about us.”

“Who are you?” Twilight stepped against a wall, sweating in fear. Aurora continued to advance as he spoke.

“That answers my question very nicely, thank you,” Aurora said in mock politeness. “I do think you would find it wise to follow my instructions… without protest.”

“No,” Twilight’s horn glowed as she picked up the steaming pot of boiling hot water in her ethereal glow. “I’m not doing anything you say.”

“You haven’t even heard what we want yet!” Aurora chuckled. “Please, do come with me. I think you would find it intelligent. We know you have plenty of intelligence.”

“No!” Twilight shouted, her horn glowing brighter. The kettle flew into the room from the kitchen, surrounded in the purple aurora. The magic faded away and let the kettle continue on its own momentum, speeding towards Aurora Burst.

He whirled around to face it, and, with a flash of his horn, sent it hurtling in the other direction. Twilight took this moment to strike with a spell of her own,sending Aurora to the other wall in one, swift barrage of energy. He collapsed to the ground in defeat.

“Very good, Miss Sparkle,” he said pathetically, “Very good. But if only you were slightly smarter… Spoon!”

Twilight whirled around, facing the kitchen door. It bursted in, splintering into tiny pieces of wood and glass. A gray stallion charged in, and shifted his course towards the librarian. Twilight’s horn glowed as she poured energy into the air, crafting a barrier.

*WHAM*

Sparkling Spoon hit the purple wall with a crunch, crumpling to the ground. The barrier exploded into a cloud of purple sparks, dissipating rapidly. Aurora was back on his hooves in a flash, with a glowing horn. He laughed as he let loose a yellow bolt, hurtling towards Twilight.

She turned around to face it, but not in time. Twilight hit the floor with a thud, watching the world fade away around her. Before her senses were completely overtaken, she heard Aurora say three words. They were slow and deliberate, as though praying to an unseen power… or simply talking to himself.

“Celestia… Will… Die…”

Comments

[Xaerouzle]

Still no dissapointment from this story, cant wait for the next cliffhanger ;)

[joeyjumper94]

“Celestia… Will… Die…”

Did Aurora forget about Discord

[MidnightRain]

ya got pinkie's randomness right!AWESOME!

[TheOneAJ]

Welcome back

[Word Wizard]

3824304
Why thank you. I find writing her extremely entertaining

[MidnightRain]

3825150 hi.i really hope the next chapter is ready soon.ITS SO COOL!!!(also cuz waiting makes me sad.)

[Word Wizard]

3833281
I realized that part of the story was shit long after I wrote it. It's a problem, I know. Right now, I just try to save it with good writing

But, everything you say is completely valid. I have fixed my idea of Celestia's character after marathoning a bunch of episodes involving her and studying her demeanor. In future, I hope to perform better. But as it is, I can't let the 20 likes down, now can I?