My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition

by SuperPinkBrony12

Chapter 139: An Invitation You Can't Decline

Several weeks had passed since the unfortunate spell combo disaster Starlight had unleashed, and Shining had reluctantly stayed behind in Ponyville to keep a closer eye on his student. As much as he longed to be with his wife and daughter, his responsibilities as a teacher had to come first and Starlight had proven to be a student that just couldn't be left to her own devices.

Luckily, Starlight had bounced back quickly from the set back. She still struggled to understand there were dos and don'ts when it came to magic, but restraint appeared to be slowly seeping its way into her vocabulary.

And so it was that on a peaceful mid Spring day, Starlight, Shining Armor, and Twilight, were all moving some boxes in the castle. Spike was helping too, but the boxes were quite heavy. "You know, not all of us have magic." He grumbled, struggling to keep his balance as he made his way down the stairs.

"Sorry about the load, Spike, but this had to be done sooner or later," Shining apologized. "Those books weren't going to sort themselves."

"I still can't believe you're letting me have my own bedroom now," Starlight commented to her teacher, as she set one of the boxes down carefully on the floor. "I thought I'd be stuck sharing the guest bedroom for years."

"Figured it was less expensive and less of a hassle to let you have your own room, instead of having to share one," Shining explained with a wink. "Besides, think of it as a treat. You're progressing quite well in your friendship studies, I daresay you've almost mastered the basics, almost."

Starlight blushed at the comment. "Well, I had an excellent teacher."

"Not sure if I'd say 'excellent', since I ended up doing most of the lesson plans until recently," Twilight ribbed. "And let's not forget the big mess you caused a few weeks back."

"I never knew we had so many spiders," Spike shivered. "Even Twilight's old study in Canterlot never had that problem. I couldn't sleep for weeks thinking about the possibility."

"Well you'll be happy to know the spiders were relocated," Shining told both Spike and Starlight. "Fluttershy found them more permanent homes. I didn't think they'd be willing to share their living space with a pony."

"Thanks again for doing all this for me," Starlight again commented, turning back to Shining. "It really means a lot to me that you would do this. For a time, it felt like I threw you a curve ball. That you didn't know what to do with me, and that you only took me on to keep me out of jail."

Shining shook his head. "Starlight, I'm surprised you'd think such a thing. I'll admit, taking you under my wing was a spur of the moment decision. But it wasn't like I never considered the possibility of having a pupil someday, it was something I'd contemplated since I got my wings. Once I got to know what made you tick, I knew I had to do something. Like I said when we began all of this 'If you're willing to learn, I'm willing to teach you.' And that hasn't changed. In fact, I would say you've come a long way from the troubled unicorn I first met back at that village."

Starlight smiled, and hugged Shining tightly. "You're way too kind! I don't know what I'd do without you, Twilight, and Spike! All of you believed in me when no one else would, and kept me on the straight and narrow despite my slip ups. I'm not sure I'd manage without your guidance and support."

"No need to sell yourself short, Starlight," Shining informed his pupil, ending the hug. "What matters most is your continued resolve to better yourself. That's something no one can do for you, you have to be the one to believe in yourself and believe that you can be better. As long as you think that, your future looks bright."

---

"Um, not that I mean to interrupt the moment but... something's coming!" Spike shouted, pointing out the nearby window. "And whatever it is, it's coming in fast!"

All three ponies rushed to the window, and saw a faint outline of some sort of flying figure fast approaching! "What is that?" Twilight wondered aloud. "Is it a bird?"

"Is it a parasprite?" Starlight pondered.

"Maybe it's a griffon or a dragon?" Shining considered.

"It's... it's..." Spike began, as the figure drew closer! But then he realized the figure's likely path and he dove for cover! "Incoming!" He shouted!

The figure swooped in through the window, hit one of the boxes, and tumbled into the wall on the opposite side of the room with a crash!

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" Twilight exclaimed, rushing over to the crash site.

The figure quickly got up, dazed but unharmed. It was now that all could see the identity of said figure. It was a familiar pegasus mare of medium build, with a grey coat, a blonde mane and tail, brilliant gold eyes which were wall eyed (derped, you might say), and a cutie mark depicting bubbles. She wore a red post mare's hat, but spoke not a word.

"Ah, the mailmare. Derpy was it?" Shining asked, identifying the pegasus by name. "This is a surprise. Usually I get my mail the old fashioned way, or v.i.a. dragon if it's super important."

"It is the best way to send letters!" Spike boasted.

Derpy spoke not a word, she simply dug into her mail sack and pulled out an envelope. When Shining tugged at it with his magic, Derpy refused to let go and simply shook her head. She did the same thing with Twilight, but allowed Starlight to take it without a fuss.

"For me?" Starlight concluded, examining the envelope. "Who could possibly be sending me a letter?"

"Maybe Sunburst or Trixie?" Spike asked.

"No, it couldn't be either of them, it doesn't have their seals or addresses," Starlight told Spike, before she carefully ripped open the envelope and read the letter to herself. When she had finished, her attitude changed from one of happiness to one of worry and her body language became tense. "It's the ponies from my old village, Double Diamond, Party Favor, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider."

"So, what's wrong with that?" Spike innocently inquired. "Are they mad with you for something?"

"Are they in danger?" Twilight wondered with concern.

"No, it's worse," Starlight said with a shake of her head and then gulped. "They've invited me to their annual Sunset Festival tomorrow."

Shining approached his student and put a hoof to her back. "Well, this is the perfect chance for them to get to know the new you. And I doubt they'd be so cruel as to invite you just to mock you. Plus, now you'll get to see just how far that old village has come since you left it."

Starlight wasn't so convinced. "I... need some time to think about it." She protested, and then dashed off before anyone could utter a syllable of protest.

Author's Note:

And so the next arc begins. Unlike the last two arcs covering show two parters, this one will go back up to twelve chapters.

I have big plans for the events of the two parter in this universe, but I'm not spoiling what they are. You'll just have to wait, see, and hear out my explanations. Expect a chapter a day for about the next week and a half.

Comments

[Comickook]

Thank you very much for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. Again, you do a good job mixing episode faithfulness with your own touches. I particularly liked Starlight's reason for eliminating both Sunburst and Trixie as the writers of the letter as well as Shiny's attempt at level-headed encouragement. Anyway, as I said before excellent job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places.

I will most assuredly be looking forward to more.

Oh, and Happy (Semi-) Early Valentine's Day.

[Yoshifan30]

"I never knew we had so many spiders," Spike shivered. "Even Twilight's old study in Canterlot never had that problem. I couldn't sleep for weeks thinking about the possibility."

I don't blame you I don't like spiders either 😰

[Yoshifan30]

All three ponies rushed to the window, and saw a faint outline of some sort of flying figure fast approaching! "What is that?" Twilight wondered aloud. "Is it a bird?"

That reference never gets old lol

[Yoshifan30]

"Ah, the mailmare. Derpy was it?" Shining asked, identifying the pegasus by name. "This is a surprise. Usually I get my mail the old fashioned way, or v.i.a. dragon if it's super important."

Omg it's derpy yay 😃😃

[Yoshifan30]

Oh boy starlight is Having some thoughts about the invitation from her old village