Out of the Darkness

by SergeantShenanigans

Ch 7: Confrontation

"Star! Are you alright?" Fluttershy gasped as he fell onto the floor unconscious "Twilight what happened to him?"

"I don't know," Twilight responded not knowing what had just happened "I will go and ask Zecora if this has happened before you and Spike keep an eye on him"

Twilight left before Fluttershy could object "I don't know who he is but I am going to get to the bottom of this." When Twilight had scanned Star she detected Discords magic hiding something in Stars subconscious which she suspected was his memory.

Her theory was that Discord had created this creature and turned it into a unicorn, which is why he said "technically a unicorn" because he thought that she would be able to check if he was lying, this creature was going to try and get close to her and her friends and try to destroy their friendship then free Discord.

Of course, she could be wrong, that's why she didn't just tell him right out, "I'm going to have to ask the others to help me keep an eye on him and watch for anything suspicious" she decided

Back at the tree house

Fluttershy was concerned about what had happened to her new friend, one moment he was fine the next he was on the floor unconscious "What could have possibly made him pass out?" she wondered

She spent the next few minutes examining the book that he had been holding right before he had passed out seeing as she found nothing unusual she gave up and went to check on Star who she and Spike had moved onto Twilights bed.

Star had been unconscious for two hours before he finally awoke. He lifted his head and scanned his surroundings, he appeared to still be in the library but he was now in a bed. He got up from the bed and walked down the stairs where Fluttershy, Twilight and Spike were having a discussion he was going to just walk in and greet them before he heard Fluttershy say "Twilight, I am surprised at you! How could you think such a thing you don't even know him." Stopping to listen he decided he wanted to know what they were talking about.

"That's just it Fluttershy, I don't know him and he had traces of Discords magic in his subconscious and it was hiding something, we can't be too careful." Twilight said seriously

"So what do you plan on doing to find out?" Fluttershy asked still cautious about the whole idea

"Well I think that if he is going to try anything to ruin our friendship he will have to be around us and our friends, so I think we should all spend time with him and watch to see if he tries anything. Worst case scenario he really is being controlled by Discord. Best case scenario we make a new friend." Twilight said trying to convince Fluttershy that nothing would go wrong.

"Well, alright, but I don't think that he will be able to spend much time with us while his leg is healing." Fluttershy finally gave in and decided to agree to the idea

It was then that Star decided to interject "While I feel hurt that you think I could have something to do with this "Discord" character, I don't disagree with you, and you're just trying to protect your friends. Also don't worry about my leg getting in the way it is healed I just need to get this cast off." He had feared this since he heard that he had arrived at the same time as Discord.

His sudden interjection surprised them "How much of that did you hear?" Twilight asked worried that her plan had been ruined

"Enough to know your suspicions about me being controlled by Discord and your plan on keeping an eye on me" Star answered honestly

Twilight sighed in relief, he hadn't heard her saying her suspicions about him being "technically a unicorn" or how she thought that he was trying to "destroy their friendship"

"Well it's settled then, tomorrow we will introduce you to our friends and discuss the situation with them" Twilight said happily that she would get answers to the questions that had been plaguing her mind since she heard of the strange pony appearing when Discord had.

"Now that that's out of the way, what happened? Why did you suddenly lose consciousness?" Fluttershy asked finally deciding to speak after recovering from the shock of having Star listen in on their conversation

Trying to remember what he had seen. The images ran through his mind sending a sudden jolt of pain to his head. In response he held his hooves to the sides of his head "I remembered something from my past then I just blacked out."

"What did you remember?" Twilight inquired

"There were three things actually; well they are more of images than full memories. Firstly I saw a beautiful white castle in the middle of a forest, secondly I saw a strange looking cave and lastly I saw Princess Celestia looking at me and smiling" Star recounted

"Princess Celestia was in your memory? I will have to ask her about it when we sort out the whole "influenced by Discord" thing" Twilight decided

"Well this has been nice, it was nice to meet you Twilight but I think it is about time that I leave" he concluded

"Really? Don't you still need help with your memory?" Twilight asked curious as to why he wanted to leave so soon

"Yes I do I will come by another time and read through these and try to jog my memory," he paused then continued "before I go, do you know anywhere in town I can get a job? I would prefer not to impose on Zecoras hospitality any longer seeing as I am healed and able to move around again"

Twilight thought about it for a moment "Well you could try Quills and Sofas or one of the local markets, I would suggest Sugarcube Corner or Sweet Apple acres but considering our "situation" I would prefer if you weren't around my friends too much on a regular basis" she said carefully trying not to offend him

"Thanks I will check them out, see you later" he said and was about to leave when Fluttershy decided to speak up

"Star, you don't know where those places are but I will show you if you want me to that is" she asked in her usual shy and quiet tone

"I would appreciate that, let's start with Quills and Sofas first" he said gesturing towards the door

After a short walk through town they arrived at the store. On the inside the store was split into two sections, one half had sofas and the other had quills and to his surprise over on the quills side there were some board games and specialized dice. Among the board games he saw Marenopoly, Stairs and Slides, and Sugarland.

Walking up to the counter he saw an earth pony wearing a blue vest, he had a brown coat and mane he was reading a book and not paying attention to the two ponies who had just walked into his store "Excuse me, sir I was wondering if you were hiring" Star asked although he doubted that he would be hired looking like he did.

Looking up from his book the pony answered "Well you are the first pony who has ever walked in here and wanted a job or ever actually been interested in working in a store that only sells quills and sofas so sure I'll hire ya. You start on Wednesday be here at one so I can go on break and you can close down shop at nine" he said closing his book "by the way I'm Davenport nice to meet you" he extended his hoof

"Nice to meet you Mister Davenport my name is Midnight Star" Star said taking Davenports hoof in a hoofshake "So what exactly will I be doing here?"

"Well you will sit here and wait until someone comes in looking for some quills or a sofa or on the rare occasion someone comes in for a board game or some dice" he said indicating towards the board games

"Alright thanks see you tomorrow Mister Davenport" Star said waving goodbye to him as both he and Fluttershy left the store

"That went really well you didn't even have any requirements to meet to get the job" Fluttershy said happily

"Yeah that was lucky that no one was ever interested in working there, I wonder why?" he asked more to himself than Fluttershy

Leaving the question unanswered they walked until they reached Fluttershys cottage "I guess this is where we part ways, see you tomorrow Fluttershy" Star said waving as he walked away

"Alright see you tomorrow Star" Fluttershy replied before walking into her cottage and closing the door

The walk back to Zecoras hut was uneventful and when he arrived he was unsurprised that Zecora wasn't there, she usually didn't get back until late at night and the sun was just currently setting. Deciding that he might as well get some rest he took off his leg cast and set it on the table beside the bed, laid down and fell asleep.

The next morning when Star woke he was surprised that Zecora was awake and brewing something in her cauldron. He slowly got up looked out the window to see that it was noon then looked over to Zecora "Wow this is the first time you have been here this late in a week, why the sudden change?"

"Of these herbs I've found enough, though finding them was very tough" She said happily

"So I guess that means you are testing them now?" he asked looking at the brew in the cauldron

"Yes it is true a new herb is in this brew" she began stirring the brew again

"So what does it do?" Star asked wondering how she could tell

"Of what it does I cannot tell, I can only hope it ends well" She said adding a strange looking purple flower into the brew

The liquid changed from a dark red into a light blue and Zecora sighed in relief "This one did not explode like the last, I am surprised you didn't wake from the blast" she smiled

"Now how do you test it?" Star asked staring at the liquid

"Of this I am not sure, we must wait until it matures" she said with a shrug

As they waited for the mixture to "mature" they talked about what had happened the past few days for both of them because they hadn't actually talked besides their conversation the day before. Zecora told Star about 3 new types of herbs that she discovered that she had yet to name and where she found them. Then Star told Zecora about what happened to him the day before, leaving out Twilight's conspiracies and just saying that she wanted to introduce Star to her friends.

Zecora took in the information for a second then started to walk towards her room "When I discovered you, you were not all I found, I also found a saddle bag next to you on the ground" She reemerged from her room carrying an old dark brown saddlebag.

Looking at it curiously Star took the bag and began to examine it "I have not taken anything or opened it for fear that it may cause you to throw a fit" Zecora said watching Star examine the bag

"Thank you for respecting my privacy" Star said starting to open the bag

Inside the bag he found a medium sized pouch, a book and a scroll. He decided to inspect the pouch first when he opened it he found a bag full of platinum-looking coins. After counting them he found that he had 500 of the small platinum coins, he put the pouch back into the saddlebag.

He was about to read the scroll when a knock came at the door "One moment" he said deciding to answer the door because Zecora had gone back to experimenting with her new herbs

When he opened the door he was greeted by Fluttershy and Twilight "Hey Star we're here to…." Fluttershy suddenly paused staring at Zecora "What is she doing?"

"She is testing new herbs that she finds in the forest." Star said as if this were a normal thing.

"Can we leave before something blows up?" Fluttershy asked in a concerned tone as she saw the liquid start to bubble

"Sure, just let me get my saddlebag" he said walking over to the bag and putting it over his head "I am going to go with Fluttershy and Twilight to meet their friends today and discuss the whole "Discord" situation I will be back later" he walked to the door and before he closed it exclaimed "Don't blow anything up!"

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Twilight decided to speak up "When did you get a saddlebag?"

"Oh, Zecora just gave it to me apparently I had this with me when she found me" Star answered

"What was inside it? Is there anything inside to help with your memory?" she asked

"Well, there was a pouch, a book, and a scroll" he said recounting what the bag contained

"What was in the pouch, what was the book, and what did the scroll say?" Twilight asked wanting to know about the strange items

"I only opened the pouch, let me check" he opened the saddlebag and looked inside "I guess I forgot to grab the book and the scroll because I only have the pouch in here" Star said looking at the pouch

"It can't be helped we will just see what they were later" Twilight said she may have wanted answers but her friends deserved answers first "what is in the pouch?" she asked gesturing to the saddlebag

"About 500 coins why?" Star asked wondering what the coins were

"500 bits! That's a lot to just be carrying around!" Twilight said surprised that somepony would just be walking around with 500 bits

"Maybe he was on his way to buy something important when he lost his memory?" said Fluttershy who had been quiet up until just then

"Could've been but we won't find out until I read that book and scroll" Star said as they finally walked into town "where are we meeting your friends?" Star asked as the thought came to his mind

"We are going to meet them at Sugarcube Corner because Pinkie Pie is working right now" Twilight responded

They walked in silence for the next few minutes until they came up to a building that looked like a gingerbread house with a cupcake on top.

"Here we are" Twilight said as they walked in the door

The inside was just like the outside, decorated to look like a gingerbread house. There were a few ponies inside the building eating and chatting amongst themselves. They walked over to where a rainbow maned cyan coated pegasus, an orange earth pony wearing a Stetson, and a white unicorn were sitting.

They all simultaneously looked over at the ponies approaching them "What took you guys so long" questioned the rainbow maned pegasus

"We had to walk from the Everfree forest" Twilight said looking at the pegasus

"You guys were still slow, I would have been there and back In ten seconds flat!" the rainbow maned pegasus exclaimed

Turning her attention from the rainbow maned pony Twilight said "Hello Applejack, Rarity" she said motioning her head towards each one as she greeted them.

"Howdy Twilight, Fluttershy" Applejack said mimicking what Twilight had just done

"Hello girls" Rarity responded looking at Twilight then Fluttershy

"Hello" was Fluttershys only response

"Now that that is done with who is this guy?" The rainbow maned pegasus said gesturing towards Star

"His name is Midnight Star, he is the reason I asked you all to meet us here Rainbow" Twilight responded

"My name is Rarity and what is that dreadful thing you are wearing!" Rarity responded gesturing to his torn cloak "That is simply horrible, how could you stand wearing such a thing!"

"Now don't you listen to her, it looks fine" the orange earth pony extended her hoof and shook Stars hoof "by the way ma names Applejack pleased to make yer acquaintance

"I don't think I should have to introduce myself, everyone knows who I am. I am only THE best flyer in all of Equestria!" the rainbow pegasus said bragging

Twilight rolled her eyes "That is Rainbow Dash"

"Nice to meet you all" Star said sitting down "So who else are we waiting for?"

A pink earth pony appeared out of nowhere yelling "oooh oooh pick me pick me I know this one!"

Twilight looked over at the pony "That is Pinkie Pie and she is the one we were waiting for"

"Awwwwww! I didn't get to answer the question!" Pinkie Pie said with a pout

"It is nice to meet you too Pinkie Pie my name is Midnight Star" he responded

"Nice to meet you too Star" she said immediately bouncing into the air "Wait a second! I haven't seen you around town before which means you are new in town! I will have to throw you a party! Oh and it will be the bestest party you have ever been to there will be cake and games a-"

"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight interrupted "We have discuss why Star is here"

Pinkie Pie sat down, none of them knowing what to do they all just stared at Star

The silence had gone on for a full minute before Applejack decided to speak up "Alright now what are we here to talk about?" she said finally looking away from a very nervous Star

"Star here is the pony I was telling you about yesterday, the one who appeared at the same time as-" Twilight stopped talking when Rainbow suddenly tackled Star to the ground

"We know you are working for Discord and sorry to break it to you pal but he is gone now, that's right we sent his flank back to his stony prison!" Rainbow said glaring at star who she was holding down

"I don't actually work for Discord" he said nervously "at least I hope I don't, that is what we are here to talk about"

Rainbow was about to barrage him with questions and accusations when Twilight interrupted "Rainbow get off him and I will explain why we are actually here!"

Still glaring at him Rainbow got off of him and sat back down "Alright but I don't trust him"

"Anyway as I was saying, he is the pony who appeared when Discord did Zecora has been taking care of his injuries up until yesterday. We might not be able to trust him because there is a trace of Discords magic blocking something in his subconscious, but he doesn't actually remember anything he literally doesn't even know who he is."

Applejack decided to point out the obvious "Then how does he know his name's Midnight Star?"

"Zecora was kind enough to name me" Star answered

"Well that was nice of 'er to do that" Applejack said content with the answer "go on Twilight"

"We can't completely trust him yet because Discords magic may influence him but we can keep an eye on him while he tries to regain his memories." Twilight said summing up what he was here for.

"So, you want us to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't do anything evil or mean?" Rainbow questioned

"That's right" Twilight confirmed

Once again they all sat in silence staring at Star for a reason he didn't understand. After about 2 more minutes of awkward silence Rainbow spoke up "Alright I'm just going to ask the obvious question here, why the heck is he wearing that cloak?"

Star was surprised at the question "That is why they have been staring at me for 2 minutes? I thought they were planning on how to destroy me if I happened to be under Discords influence. I wear this cloak so that ponies can't see what I look like" Star answered relieved that that was all that they were thinking

"Why don't you want ponies to see what you look like?" Rainbow pressed the question further

Star had feared this moment would come, he knew one of them was likely to ask the question he just didn't know how to answer it "Well….. it's complicated"

"What do you mean complicated?" Rainbow asked dissatisfied with his last answer

"I just don't really like to talk about it" Star said hoping that she would drop the question

"What, are you horribly disfigured or something?" Rainbow asked jokingly

That comment hurt him "It has been nice meeting you all but I think it's about time I leave" he said sounding like she had physically struck him. He stood up and walked towards the door just to be stopped by Fluttershy "Rainbow! That was mean! He obviously didn't want to talk about it so why did you keep asking him!" Fluttershy scolded Rainbow

"I was just joking!" Rainbow added defending herself

"It is alright Fluttershy, she was just asking the question you have all been wondering. I just felt hurt because she is more right than she thinks" he said sitting back down reluctantly

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" Rainbow said sounding like she really regretted her actions

"Alright how are we going to be keeping an eye on Star?" Rarity asked hoping to change the subject

Twilight jumped at the change of subject "I thought we could just spend time with him individually and show him around ponyville" Twilight explained

"Sounds fine to me except I won't be able to between 1 and 9 for a few days" Star answered

They all looked at him questioningly before Fluttershy decided to answer "Oh yeah I forgot you got a job at Quills and Sofas"

"How much bits do ya make at the job?" Applejack asked being the business pony she was

"I don't know. Actually, how much is a bit worth anyway?" he asked

"Let me explain it to you this way" Applejack said taking out a couple of bits "For two bits you could buy an apple or for 4 bits you could buy an apple pie" she said gesturing to the gold bits on the table "I don't exactly know how to explain it better 'n that because we learned as fillies in school" Applejack put the bits away

"Wait a sec, that is what a bit looks like?" Star was suddenly confused

"Yeah, what did ya think one looked like?" Applejack was curious

Taking the pouch out of his saddlebag he opened it up and pulled out a couple of the platinum coins "I thought that these were bits"

Twilight gasped at the sight "Those are platinum bits!"

Rarity gasped also but the rest of them looked at Twilight questioningly hoping that she would explain

"A platinum bit is worth at least one hundred bits each!" she said in a very surprised tone

"One hundred bits!" they all said incredulously

"How many of them things did you say you had in there?" Applejack inquired

"About 500" Star said wondering why this was so surprising

"That means that those coins are worth 50,000 bits!" Pinkie Pie yelled wondering how one pony could have so much money

"I-I-Is that a lot?" Star asked still not completely understanding the value of a bit

"A lot? Only famous and successful business ponies have that kind of money!" Rarity yelled in surprise

"Well we know one thing. Whoever Star was he must have come from a wealthy family or been very wealthy, so that narrows down our search" Fluttershy said deciding to try and change subjects again

Returning the bits to his pouch and to his saddlebag Star turned back to the others "With this in mind I really think I should go and take a look at that letter and book now, it was really nice meeting you all, see you all another day!" he left before anyone else could say anything

Once again the questions ran through his head. "Who am I? What am I doing here? Why do I have this money?" The only way to find out was to read the book and letter.

He arrived at the hut and trotted inside just to see that Zecora had already gone to bed "I guess she hasn't had that much sleep lately" he guessed. He ran over to the book and letter that he had left on the table, they were just as he had left them.

He walked over to the book first, looking at the front he couldn't read the title it just looked like a few strange symbols and runes "Strange" he thought opening the book. The inside was filled with the same type of symbols that were on the front "I will have to ask Twilight about these symbols tomorrow" he decided

He opened the scroll and on the top it said To my student, "I guess that I either had an apprentice of some sort or I was apprenticing in something." He looked farther down the scroll and saw that he could actually read it.

To my student,

I am sorry for what happened yesterday, I may have over reacted about it but I stand by what I say.

I decided to go through with it, if it succeeded then you will not have to read this letter and this will not matter.

But if you are reading this then that means things went wrong, I left you the book and a pouch with 500 platinum in it, use it wisely.

I just wanted to let you know that these years we spent together were the best in my life, I also wanted to let you know that you were my best student and also my best friend.

It was nice knowing you while I did.

Your Mentor/Friend

M.S

This letter left Star with a million questions floating around in his head "Who is M.S? Is it Midnight Star? No it couldn't be Midnight Star, that was just a name that was made up for him. What was the book and what was in it?"

He sat for what felt like hours trying to come up with an answer but he just couldn't so resigning he decided to get some rest for tomorrow, he started work at the Quills and Sofas store.

Comments

[-Brutus]

Good chapter, it reveals little more about him.