Out of the Darkness

by SergeantShenanigans

Ch 41: A Very Busy Day

It had been a week since Star had last met up with Davenport and Filthy Rich, and it had proved to be a relatively uneventful week.

Out of the little that happened, he did learn why he had been receiving so many letters from random ponies that knew nothing about him. Not only had everypony begun to exaggerate stories about him, varying from him "defeating" Razor Claw to how and why he was imprisoned by Discord. But they had begun asking the princesses why he was almost never seen in public.

Secondly, he learned that Razor Claw had actually left Equestria, and Yellowscale had taken her rightful place as the leader of her flight.

But as of that morning, after speaking to both Davenport and Filthy Rich, he began his quest to find three new employees for the new and improved "Quills and Sofas" furniture store.

The day before, he spent placing ads around town. But now, he sat patiently in his brand new office and began preparing for the interviews. He checked once more to make sure that he had a notepad and a quill to write down notes. It had only taken about 10 minutes before a few ponies began to show up wanting one of the newly available positions. After talking to the ponies and getting them to line up outside his new office, he called in the first interviewee.

First up was a light brown earth pony with a hardhat on her head and as her cutiemark.

"Nice to meet you Mister Star, I'm Hard Hat," She began, holding out her hoof.

"Likewise Miss Hat," Star greeted shaking the other pony's hoof, "but please just call me Star."

Hard Hat took a seat, "Alright Star, as long as you don't mind calling me Bash."

"Bash?"

She looked away and tried to hide a light blush, "It started as a bit of a joke while I was working construction and it stuck. Besides it's better than the usual nickname of either the first part of my name or the second. Hard sounds inappropriate and Hat just sounds stupid."

Star simply nodded, "Before we get started I have to ask which position you would like."

"Usually I let the stallion choose." she said, bursting into a fit of laughter.

Star waited for her to stop laughing before giving an awkward laugh, "Sorry I should have specified, which position would you like to apply for?"

"Oh, I would like to apply for the position of 'sit around and do nothing while still getting paid', but we both know that isn't an option. So I guess I'll settle for the delivery job."

Star nodded, writing down a few notes, "Now, I'm going to ask you a few basic questions, and I want you to answer them honestly. Firstly, have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Bash hesitated, "Uhhhhh... like what?"

"You know full well what I mean, don't try and dodge the question," Star said sternly.

She scowled and rolled her eyes, "Okay, there was this one time where I got charged for assault and public disturbance, but he had it coming!" Bash slammed her hoof onto the desk, "He always walks around like he's better than everypony else and he thinks he's too good to talk to anypony, only ever says two words! 'Eeyup' or 'Eenope'!"

"You got into a fight with Macintosh Apple?"

"Yeah, you know the guy?"

Star took a deep breath and resisted the urge to tell the mare off, 'Everypony has their own opinions, Big Mac can handle himself,' "Yes, I do know him, but that has nothing to do with this interview. Next, do you have any problem with gender or racial diversity in the work environment?"

"No offense to you sir, but I prefer to work with other earth ponies."

"But would you have a problem with working with a separate race of pony or even another species?"

Bash furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance, "Yes, I would have a problem with that. No offense to you sir, but unicorns and pegasi usually think that they're better than all of us hard working earth ponies."

Star wrote something else down onto his note pad, flipped through it, then looked back to the other pony, "How much weight are you able to pull, seeing as you want to be the delivery pony."

"I can pull about four hundred fifty pounds with a good wagon."

"Last question, where can I find you if I need to contact you?" Star asked.

"You can find me just down East Trot Boulevard, the first building on the right side after you pass Sugarcube Corner from the front."

Star flipped through his notes one last time, "Well I'll be sure to contact you to tell you if you've got the job or not."

Bash smiled gratefully and left. Just as the door closed behind her Star let out a huge sigh of relief, 'She's racist, doesn't seem to like most ponies, makes inappropriate jokes and got into a fight with one of my friends. She has two and I suspect more felonies on her record and can pull just above the average weight for an earth pony. I really hope that the rest of the interviews today turn out better.’

Unfortunately, they did not. In all, Star interviewed 26 different ponies. He interviewed 18 for the delivery pony job, 4 for the accountant and 4 for the salespony.

Out of all 26 ponies, only 9 qualified for the jobs and of the 9 he considered hiring 5 of them, yelling at 3 of them, and calling a therapist for 1 of them.

It was with a relieved sigh that Star locked up the store, officially ending the interviews. As he turned away from the building determined to go home, rest, and think over the ponies he had interviewed, a scroll with the very familiar capital "C" crest on it appeared in front of him. He picked it up, unfurled it, and read it.

Dear Starlight,

I have delayed this as long as I could possibly manage, but the time has come. Through much discussion it has been decided that on occasion in the future you have to help with some of the many royal duties Luna and I must participate in regularly. But before that happens, you must meet with some of my many royal advisors and political representatives. I have sent a chariot to pick you up, it should be there by the time that this letter arrives.

Love,
Princess Celestia
Mom

Sure enough, as he looked up from the scroll he found two royal guards attached to a chariot and giving him a blank look. He approached the ponies, "How did you get here so quickly?"

"It's our job," One of them responded.

Star thought this over for a moment before nodding, changing his appearance back to that of Starlight Sky, and getting into the chariot.

The ride itself was moderately uneventful, aside from a flock of geese running into the side of the chariot.

Sooner than he would have liked, Star arrived at the gate to Canterlot castle. Waiting outside for him was none other than Prince Blueblood.

"Howdy there cousin," Star greeted.

Blueblood immediately scowled at him, but with visible strain managed to turn his expression blank, "Starlight."

Star furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Victor?"

Blueblood cringed, "How dare you call me that!"

"I thought that we were calling each other by our first names...?"

Blueblood turned away from Star and began to walk towards the castle, "No we aren't, and we never will. Don't speak to me, I want this all to be over with as soon as possible,"

Star followed and cocked his head to the side, "Why?"

Blueblood stopped in place and turned to Star, "Because I don't like you," he said flatly.

"Why not?" Star asked stopping beside him.

"You didn't get it the last time we spoke? I marked you as my enemy. Enemies don't like each other."

Star comically began to search his body, "Mark? What does it look like? Is that where this freckle behind my leg came from?"

"It's not a physical mark!" Blueblood snapped.

"Then what kind of mark is it?" Star asked with a slight scowl.

Blueblood let out an exasperated sigh, "It's a social mark. As in I am now going to go out of my way and embarrass and demean you in public."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you're annoying, inconsiderate, and unintelligent! Almost more so than all of the ponies in this stupid city combined! You're a disgrace to the royal bloodline and don't deserve all of the respect you get from ponies!"

Star glanced over Blueblood's shoulder and smiled, "Checkmate."

Without giving Blueblood time to respond, he turned and entered the gate leading to the castle.

It took Blueblood a moment to understand what had just transpired. He glanced over his shoulder to find a small crowd of ponies who were listening intently to the entire conversation, including the part where he insulted their city and the inhabitants.

Insulting a few ponies wasn't much of a problem, but ponies tended to over exaggerate and spread rumors. This wouldn't be good for his image, especially after the Gala incident.

Deciding to try and get on his aunt's good side before things turned ugly, he quickly caught up to Star, "I'm going to get you back for that."

Star turned to him and quickly feigned innocence, "Get me back for what?"

"You made me rant in front of a group of ponies who're going to spread rumors!"

"I didn't make you do anything," Star pointed out.

"But you knew what was going to happen the entire time and didn't say anything!" Blueblood exclaimed.

"I didn't know what you were going to say, I thought that you were going to be really nice to me,"

"Nice! I'll-" Blueblood was cut off by an intentionally loud cough.

Both ponies looked to the source of the cough to find Princess Celestia standing in front of the castle door, "Is there a problem?" She asked.

Blueblood looked from Star to Celestia and back again nervously, "No, no problem here! My favorite cousin Star and I were just having a nice, friendly conversation."

She stared at Blueblood blankly for a moment before turning to Star with an amused smirk, "Is that true Star?"

Star draped his foreleg over Blueblood's shoulder, "Of course it is! Why would it be anything but a nice and friendly conversation with my favorite cousin here."

Blueblood gave a forced smile, "Exactly. I was just catching up and learning more about my cousin,"

Celestia smiled brightly, "That's good. Now, There are a few ponies I would like you to meet Star,"

The three ponies entered the castle and turned, walking down one of the castle's many hallways.

Soon, they reached Canterlot's courtyard, located just outside the ballroom. The courtyard was crowded with "Canterlot's finest".

Before he knew what was happening, Star was introduced to what seemed to be an endless stream of ponies, all of whom gave names and ranks that he was sure he would never remember.

After what seemed to be an eternity he was introduced to a pony that seemed genuinely pleased to meet him. He was a white coated unicorn with a blue mane and tail. He wore a black dress shirt with a purple bowtie, a monocle, and he had 3 crowns for a cutiemark.

"A fine pleasure it is to finally meet you, Prince Starlight. I've heard quite the tale about you," He said, shaking Star's hoof.

"I might say the same but you have me at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I don't know yours."

The unicorn chuckled slightly, "Ah yes, my apologies. My name is Fancypants, and this lovely mare next to me is Miss Fleur De Lis," he gestured to a white unicorn mare just to his left.

Her coat wasn't as white as Fancypants's and had a slight pink tint. She had a pink mane and tail, and she had three fleur de lis's as her cutiemark.

"So you're this Fancypants I keep hearing about?" Star asked.

"I would hope not to be presumptuous but I am the only Fancypants that I know of. Besides of course my late great grandfather, Sir Reginald Fancypants the third."

After a bit of idle chat, Star looked over and saw two ponies whispering to each other and occasionally glancing at him.

Confused by this, Star decided to find out what was so interesting, "So what have you been told about me? You said that you have heard quite the tale about me and I would like to know what ponies have been saying about my sudden arrival."

Fancypants put a hoof to his chin, "Well for starters, there's a rumor going around that you were the one who really defeated Discord this time around. Then there's that whole incident where you defeated that dragon who had been terrorizing Ponyville, though some ponies say that you were defeated but resurrected yourself after the dragon left. Then there's the most recent rumor of your apparent romance with your mother's protégé. I do have to ask though, how much of that is true, and how much is exaggeration?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I had nothing to do with the defeat of Discord. I didn't even hurt Razor Claw, I broke a leg trying to avoid him. I didn't get defeated I tricked him into thinking that I was dead. And there's nothing romantic going on between Twilight and I, we're just friends. But there's no point in telling that to anypony, because of your political position ponies will just think you're trying to cover something up and begin making even more convoluted assumptions."

"Fair enough. You seem to be getting the handle on the politics of Canterlot," Fancypants commented.

Star rolled his eyes, "I would hope so, if I'm going to be stuck with it, I might as well understand it."

The rest of the evening passed with other ponies showing up and Star being introduced to each. When the sun was starting to sink behind the horizon, everypony began to leave until all that were left was Star, Celestia, and Luna.

"Now that we have a moments peace," Celestia began, turning to Star, "how did you like meeting 'Canterlot's Finest'?"

Star let out a small laugh, "Honestly? I probably couldn't remember most of those ponies names if I tried."

"It takes a lot of practice, even Luna doesn't remember everypony's names all the time anymore."

A small blush grew on Luna's face, "Neither do you!" she exclaimed.

"Oh contraire dear sister, I could name anypony and everypony that I know and or have ever met in my entire life!"

"Prove it."

And she did. Celestia proceeded to name everypony she had ever met in her long life. By the time she finished the moon was nearing the middle of the sky, "And just this morning I met misses Aqua Spring's brand new daughter," She finished with a smug look, only to hear snoring coming from Luna.

"Is that really everypony that you've ever met?" Star asked.

"No it isn't, but don't tell Luna," she said with a wink. She then turned to her unconscious sibling and used her magic to lift Luna into the air, "I think it's about time I get a bit of shuteye, at least before it's time for me to raise the sun. Why don't you get some shut eye too? I'll have one of the guards help you to your room so you don't get lost again."

"I can find it just fine on my own," Star said defiantly.

Before Celestia could disprove him, he quickly made his way back into castle and began searching his way through the halls. Celestia simply shook her head and followed suit.

Star woke the next morning to find that both Celestia and Luna were out on royal business. Without any other reason to stay, Star made his way out of the castle and decided to take the long way back to Ponyville and enjoy a nice, peaceful, and quiet morning walk home.

His walk was nice, quiet and peaceful. For the first four minutes, that's when he tripped over something unseen in the road.

Star slowly got up with a groan, 'What did I trip on?'

He inspected around the area where he tripped and found the sharp corner of an unknown object protruding from the path.

After a few moments of digging, he discovered that it was a book. The title read "The History and Bloodline of Equestrian Royalty.".

Deciding to find out what this book contained, he opened it and began to read as he walked.

It was made from a strange rough material and looked to be as old as Equestria itself..

The book contained information on the entire royal bloodline all the way down to Celestia and Luna.

The most interesting part of the book was the page that contained the Royal Family Tree, listing all of the ponies in the royal bloodline, from the farthest back down to the most recent. At the bottom of the page resided his own picture and name.

Star stopped at a small scripture next to his image and read it over a moment, ‘Who wrote this book, and how did they get all of this information?’

A familiar voice from behind a nearby tree answered the question, “It’s a self expanding book,”

Star turned to face the voice, and his eyes widened in shock. Coming from around the tree was what looked to be a completely mirrored image of himself, save for his mane and eye color which were dark blue and yellow respectively. Star stumbled backwards slightly as he tried to form words.

The other alicorn flashed a toothy grin. "Hello, brother."

Comments

[Rhino]

Well, well, well, been a while since I've seen an update for this story. Good to have it back and I do so look forward to more.

[Astarea]

All this waiting for.. this? Oh well, close enough... I guess you had to get some stuff out of the way...

[High_Wind]

"Hello, brother."

memecrunch.com/meme/7A2E/oh-damn/image.png

[SergeantShenanigans]

1835018
I know, not very exciting as a 6 month wait, but it is leading into something much more exciting.

1835001>>1835294
Thanks, I'll try to update as soon as possible, but with my luck it will be sometime next year.

[IceFireWolf]

trying to get stories from you is like trying to get juice from a textbook

but good chapter!

[SergeantShenanigans]

1835678
It's worth it though, paper juice is tasty.

[Flamewarden]

Jesus an update its about damn time but sooo glad it finally came

[trigrbrony777]

Well, well, it's nice to see you back taz! Still, from this chapter alone, I hope you've got this journey thought up of already. Good chapter, nonetheless!

[SergeantShenanigans]

1839794
I've been working on this journey since like chapter 1, so I really hope I have it thought out.

And thanks

[Hiro0]

very good story cant wait to read more

[Astarea]

Bump.

[Risingsun896]

Poor zecora she can't excape raceim