Chapter Two - Burden of Thoughts
Chapter Two - Burden of Thoughts
The next morning, Rarity had gotten up early.
Very early.
In fact, even though she tried, she couldn't sleep a wink, tossing and turning around on her bed in order to try and find some semblance of comfort.
But for naught.
Thoughts of that pink puffball weighed heavily on her consciousness, and she often found herself questioning and sorting out the many possible prospects of possible reasons he didn't accept having a new cloak tailored for him (and only for him) and also of those that could explain why he decided to run from them.
She worried about him so, and, though she had no idea of his capability or of any abilities he might have had, still wished him well and was anxious about his safety as well as to hear any intel Rainbow Dash may have managed to gather about his welfare, general whereabouts, actions, et cetera, if any.
Said pegasus had to turn in late last night, for reasons Rarity implicitly understood to be darkness, therefore lack of light, the bumps that turned out in such darkness, and possibly an overall lack of understanding of the creature she was trying to track down.
If Rainbow couldn't see through darkness but the pink puffball could, then that could spell trouble for her; that is, according to Twilight.
Personally, she couldn't wrap her mind around the image of such a cute puffball who may prove capable, or even immoral enough, to injure or maim or maybe even kill a pony, or, rather, pegasus like Rainbow Dash.
Personally, she would go searching all night if she had to, but because the puffball was still an unknown she couldn't run the risk—because what if he was capable or immoral enough?
And also, she had a shop to which she had to tend, so she couldn't while away her work day.
But, that was what she had done, for entirely different reasons.
For all the passion she had beautifying ponies and sewing designer clothes—by her own design, mind you—for her customers, she found she couldn't focus on such and that her mind kept drifting off onto a burden of thoughts known as the pink puffball, and had to close down shop for the day and turn in early.
However could she achieve perfection by her customers' standards when she couldn't stop her mind from drifting off elsewhere?
Half surprisingly and half not surprisingly, she found with dismay that the same burden of thoughts that plagued her during work didn't stop eating at her even as she tried to sleep, after hours of attempting. And here she was now, wide awake on a still dark morning and lying supine on her bed.
After a while of just lying there, she decided it wouldn't do to stay there with the now ruined hopes that she would actually drift off into deep, peaceful sleep. The light gray unicorn sighed.
Once again, you have failed me, hope...
Rarity begrudgingly rolled out of bed, regretting it when she dropped onto her back on the cool, hard, wooden floor instead of upon her hooves. In a strange, small part of her mind, she hoped the impact would be enough to knock her into a deep sleep—a different kind, but sleep nonetheless.
It didn't.
...Curse you, hope...
The pain shook her like soft electricity, and she rolled over onto her hooves after she felt the ache go away. Rarity stumbled up, her legs slightly wobbly, and walked right past her sleeping cat, Opalescence. She didn't want to deal with her right now, preferring to let her pet sleep till the time they both normally wake up, and in the recesses of her mind envied Opal's lack of turmoil.
She opened the door quietly with her magic, and down the stairs to her darkened workspace she stumbled. The burden of thoughts wouldn't leave her alone, even as she shut on the lights, which dazzled her and her weary mind.
That was when she realized she could do something with her free time, something that related to that pink puffball...
Rarity galloped over to her easel, activating her magic to lift an already-inked feather pen over to its canvas.
...something like the very thing the puffball rejected.
Like a deliberate, careful madpony, the fashionista started her design of the black cloak. It was a bit hard because she wasn't used to designing for alien non-ponies, but she liked challenges.
It would be simple.
She drew some more.
It would billow.
She drew billowy components.
It would have pockets! inside pockets! I'm almost certain he would like pockets.
She marked where they would be.
A hood, perhaps? ...hm, maybe later.
She marked the hood for later.
And Rarity drew, and drew, and drew.
When she pulled her quill pen away from the canvas, she smiled at the results; she had to admit, she did pretty well from memory, despite having only met him once and having never done designs for a round, ball-shaped "pony" before. Rarity's smile faded, feeling a little bad that she had to design it extremely simple merely because she didn't know his preferences, but that wasn't her fault.
The light gray unicorn then realized she hadn't any puffball mannequins, and decided to take it upon herself to make one and slipped on her red sewing glasses. That and actually making the cloak would prove difficult, but, again, she liked challenges.
Rarity searched the Carousel Boutique for materials from which to craft the mannequin and once she acquired them all began her recreation of the puffball on a trophy stand she found lying around that was serendipitously big enough to stand underneath the mannequin.
This required meticulous attention to detail; she couldn't excuse or neglect to see a single mistake or miscalculation or any of the other mis- words pertaining to this recreation, or else the proportions would be thrown off and the cloak wouldn't fit him, whether because it's too big or too small!
If it did end up too big for him, she wouldn't mind taking it in, but she'd rather get it right the very first time; besides, she didn't know how many materials she had left to craft yet another mannequin if she messed up on this one.
Using the best image she had of him from memory, she crafted the feet and placed them however inches away from each other they were supposed to be and in the position identical to that in her image. And then Rarity began crafted the body/head(?), which caused her many complications.
Most importantly, it was a circle, or sphere since it was three-dimensional, and they were just as difficult as you can imagine, if you were trying for perfection.
Which she was.
She wanted it perfect for him.
After she perfected the details as seen fit according to the picture from her memory, the light gray unicorn used her magic to set the spherical body onto the grooves of the crafted feet which had been carefully and lightly brushed with a strong adhesive. Rarity took the time to craft the stubby hands while she with her magic held the sphere down onto the "shoe-feet" to allow the adhesive to dry and the three parts to adhere properly.
His hands were the easiest so far, now that she's gotten the hard part done; the only problem was how and where she could place the hands in a way that would facilitate the making of the cloak. A small piece of her mind told her to give up, but immediately she shook it off with clenched teeth and almost mad eyes in both senses of the word and trudged on.
After having seen how tacky that current black cloak he was wearing was, not to mention tattered and bloody now that she thought about it, she felt obligated to fulfill any needs the puffball might have lacked and so yearned for, so giving up for her own meager needs and desires would prove her selfish, and Rarity does not give up simply because "it was too hard to accomplish", and she scoffed.
…Wait... I-DEE-AH! and she, grinning, ended up having to pick up a chisel and carefully carve grooves below his face and toward the center for his hands, and then brush adhesive in the grooves and use her magic to lift the crafted stubby hands onto the grooves, holding it there for them to adhere.
She only hoped—
Rarity instantly stopped that train-wreck before it could happen, and sighed with relief. After hope had failed her three times, she couldn't see how it would help her beyond that.
So the light gray unicorn waited until the adhesive hardened, and, when it did, used her magic to levitate the puffball mannequin in its entirety and then lift the brush over to the trophy stand, neatly applying adhesive to the imprints of the shoe-feet, and then moved the brush and replaced the mannequin.
She pressed it down on the stand, letting the adhesive properly adhere before she could smile and call the puffball mannequin finished. Rarity was so proud, staring at the magnificent perfect likeness of her remembered image of him. A little glimmer of light shone through the Carousel Boutique's eastern windows; dawn was now breaking, and Princess Celestia was raising the Sun. And then Rarity cleaned up, putting things back where they belonged and moving the puffball mannequin by the easel.
The light gray unicorn thought about opening the boutique and at least accept some customers for the day, but the burden of thoughts returned to nag at her, and she decided against it, choosing to focus on the cloak that she could now make with the completion of the mannequin. Besides, no event for which a pony needed to pretty up was happening today or in the next few days, so she considered it a well-earned vocation. Rarity then smiled, summoning black material to her side.
Do not fret, dearest puffball. You shall want no more! Rarity shall make you a new cloak, and it shall scream your perfection!
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had gotten up a little while after the break of dawn, bursting through the door of her floating home and toward the ruins of the star cruiser, clearing the sky of clouds as she went. She figured the puffball might've returned to that spot, and so flew more quietly and more slowly the closer she got.
When she went scouting for him yesterday, she had no such luck in finding him and thus in reporting his whereabouts, and she had to begrudgingly make her return (read: "get the hay out of Everfree Forest before nightfall and return home late last night").
So the pegasus decided to make up for such failings by resuming the search the moment the Princess of the Day started raising the Sun over the eastern horizon.
Rainbow Dash landed far off from the crater, and cantered toward one of the bushes she and her friends had hidden behind. She peeked out, careful not to make any noise in case he was there, but, much to her mixed relief and consternation, he wasn't.
And the star cruiser was still there.
As she stared at the cruiser, an idea came to her, and she moved from behind the bush and crept to the broken ground, slid down the crater, and raised her forelegs to place them on the hull of the cruiser. Rainbow Dash looked around inside, seeing all kinds of colorful buttons whose function she had no idea but were intriguing nonetheless on its control panel. She, flapping her wings, then hovered over to the comfy-looking chair and stared all around it, looking for evidence that could point to whether he returned.
The sky blue pegasus didn't find any evidence or pieces of evidence, but a little blue box sitting tucked in the corner caught her eye. Curious, she cocked up her cerise eye, dropped down gently onto the chair, which was comfy, and reached down to grab it with her forehoof. For a moment, she questioned the mechanics that enabled her to pick up objects with only a hoof, and then wondered why the hay she thought that!
She pushed the thought aside, lifting the object close within her sight line and inspecting it closely. Rainbow Dash's tail swished with excitement, and she opened the case, her widening cerise eyes beholding a gold star. The pegasus had no idea what it was,—beyond a "gold star", obviously!—and something told her that it was extremely fragile in this state, so she immediately closed the case.
The discovery of this case and its treasure, the golden star, was an incredible first addition to her intel!
Although, that meant...
Rainbow turned to look in the direction that pink puffball had gone, saddened that she'd have to return to Ponyville to report to Twilight Sparkle at the Golden Oak Library about this new information and finding.
She wanted more than anything to actually find the puffball, not bits of information she found along the way!
She often wondered why she allowed this to stop her from doing just that, but the "funeral" remark rose to her mind to serve as a reminder of the reason she couldn't.
And those red eyes, however dull they were, certainly weren't there for nothing...!
So maybe...
She looked at the blue case again.
...maybe, this gold star could help shed light on things...
And then, with a burst of speed, Rainbow Dash twirled up into the sky and shot across it back to Ponyville, getting rid of any clouds she saw on her way.
Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle helped her purple dragon assistant, Spike, with re-shelving the books and cleaning up the library, both humming cheerful tunes. She operated her magic to send all books Spike stacked in alphabetical order into the appropriate space as well as to dust off the books and to sweep away the aforementioned dust off the floor.
The unicorn had sent a letter detailing her and her friends' encounter with the pink puffball to Celestia yesterday, but had yet to receive a response. The lavender mare couldn't help becoming a bit concerned, because she had always received quick responses.
Always.
She feared something may have happened, and she faltered in her magic, the books, duster and broom almost dropping--Spike noticed, bright green draconic eyes widening with concern—but her rational side stepped in and provided a good reason, a reason so good it nearly vaporized her worries:
Celestia is a princess.
This and yesterday may have been busy days for her, so she was unable to reply as quickly as she may have wanted...
"Twilight, what's wrong?" her dragon assistant asked, walking up to her with a pile of assorted books. He set them down in front of her, and Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, gazing at Spike sadly. "Oh... is this about your letter to Celestia?" he guessed, and guessed correctly he did.
The unicorn nodded and sighed, sending the books into the E shelf and setting aside the broom and duster against the podium where she often read.
"It's just... Princess Celestia's always been quick," she said, looking out a nearby window at the Sun. "Prompt," added Twilight with a flourish of her hoof, and Spike began to stack more books starting with the letter F. She then sighed as her horn glowed a brilliant magenta, picking up the duster and levitating it over to the books, dusting them off, "She's never been this late with her reply."
Her dusting grew more erratic as she worried more and more, sending up a cloud of dust into Spike's face, who had unfortunately walked into it as he brought more books toward the stack. He coughed, unimpressed and even a little irritated, and sneezed as more of the offending particles went up his nose, the force of the sneezes causing him to drop his books.
"Uh... heh heh," Twilight chuckled nervously, her tail swishing guiltily, levitating the duster to hide it behind her back, even though she knew it was pointless, "sorry, Spike..."
She had a thought to dust off the purple dragon's amusing face, but didn't because she feared it might make it worse. Spike sourly mumbled something about these kinds of things always happening to him as he cleaned the dust off his face with a damp rag; he sighed, "It's okay, Twilight," waving a dismissive hand.
His dismissive attitude seemed only to send her deeper into worry as she lowered her head, ears flattening against her skull, and he stammered remorsefully.
"Um... well, I understand, Twilight," the baby dragon stepped over the books, making his way over to her, "but have you ever thought that the Princess might be conducting her own research?" the unicorn pursed her lips in thought, as the dragon continued, "I mean, it's a strange thing that happened! an alien crash-landing here..." he realized and revised it, "although that's not particularly new, but the alien is!" his excitement made her smile, but that excitement soon wore off, his countenance growing sadder, and he grumbled, "Why couldn't I have been there to meet 'im...?" more a statement than a question.
The lavender unicorn's smile turned bittersweet as she addressed his last piece first, placing a comforting forehoof on his shoulder, "Oh, don't worry, Spike. I'm sure you'll get a chance to see him."
His face lit up, and her smile grew and lost the bitterness before she, replacing her hoof on the wooden floor and activating her magic to restack the books she'd accidentally caused Spike to drop, continued, "And you're right. Perhaps she is conducting her own research before she gets back to me, because this is entirely new to her!"
Twilight was about to go on a delightful little tirade, when suddenly the entrance was broken through by a multi-colored streak, surprising both Twilight Sparkle and Spike as they moved to dodge it. Unfortunately, the books weren't invulnerable against the huge burst of wind, and were ultimately blown off the shelves, collapsing to the floor, ruining Twilight's and Spike's re-shelving technique and preventing near success, and the former stared with blank, wide eyes, not even registering or maybe even wanting to register the fact that it had already happened; the latter showed inactivity, pupils the size of a pea, but eventually dropped to his knees and screamed, at the top of his lungs and toward the heavens, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!" and the scream eventually dissolved into sobs.
In the center of it all, Rainbow Dash chuckled sheepishly, her ears drooping, "Erm... sorry 'bout that," although she stifled her true laughter which resulted from seeing Twilight Sparkle's face and Spike's thespian antics. The unicorn eventually recovered with a shake of her head, snorting in irritance at Rainbow Dash's entrance, and activated her magic to resort the books and comfort Spike, and, as she did, turned her bitter attention to Rainbow Dash, "This better be good, Rainbow."
"Oh, believe me!" the athletic pegasus exclaimed, snickering with excitement as she flicked something out of her mane with her tail toward Twilight, who, a bit taken aback, caught it with her magic, "it's good, Twi! better than good, in fact!"
The light grayish mulberry horned mare saw that it was a box, and opened it with her already-working magic, having put aside her frustration at having had her and Spike's hard work undone. She gasped as her widening eyes beheld a golden star whose resultant brilliance dazzled her, and the purple dragon gasped as well when he came up behind Twilight to see what bedazzled her and Rainbow so much.
"I found that in that star cruiser that puffball creature crash-landed in!" the hovering pegasus dramatically pointed in that direction, a proud smile on her face.
Smiling for a bit, "So," Twilight began, her eyes still trained on the star, "what do you think it is, exactly?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged, "I dunno! I hoped you knew!", growing more concerned that the most knowledgeable pony of her friends didn't know anything about this; she continued as Twilight levitated it over to the podium, "But I get the feelin' that that star is fragile, so... in those little scientify things you do—!"
"Experiments?" dryly corrected Twilight with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah! experiments, whatever! just be careful with it!"
Twilight sighed as the last of the sorted books flew into the overarching bookcases and the star's home was safely placed on the podium.
She'd study it more later.
Rainbow Dash stuck around, carefully flying up to the top shelf, and skimmed the titles of the many books, hoping to catch sight of a book that had something to do with creatures outside of this very planet; Twilight and Spike watched this play out with interest.
And then, trying to make more conversation, Rainbow said, "So, about that letter..." and Twilight then drooped, much to Spike's consternation, "did the Princess ever get back to ya?"
After a few seconds of silence, the multi-colored tail swished with a bit of impatience and she twisted around to take in the lavender mare's countenance, the irritance and impatience dissolving into worry as Twilight shook her head and Spike looked dejected even while trying to comfort the librarian.
"What?!" Rainbow Dash spluttered, taken aback. She flew back down to properly look Twilight in the eye, incredulity taking over her whole expression, "Whaddya mean? hasn't she always—?" a nod from Twilight affirmed her inquiry, and she pursed her lips, "But... how? why?"
"We assume Princess Celestia's doing her own research," Spike piped up, speaking for the depressed town librarian, who nodded in confirmation.
Rainbow stared for a few moments more before a scoff escaped her throat; she crossed her arms and put on a pout, "Is that all?" and then she cocked up an eyebrow at Twilight and Spike, the former of whom grew indignant and agitated at the sky blue pegasus mare's dismissive attitude and the latter of whom could feel the heat of anger radiate from the librarian and thus tried even harder to comfort her; the pegasus continued, "You had me thinkin' the Princess was in danger!"
Princess Celestia's most faithful student cringed and then with a shaky breath shoved down her anger and frustration, much to Spike's relief for he wiped the sweat off his forehead and put away the fan he was using to cool off both him and Twilight, and said, "That's the problem, though! What Spike and I agreed upon was only an assumption based on what we know her highness is likely to do. We don't know what's truly happening over there,"—Rainbow Dash uncrossed her forelegs and dropped her pout as she absorbed each and every word she said—"but she could very well be in danger..." Twilight noted full-blown horror and concern on Rainbow's face just then and possibly on her own, so not wanting to leave it at that, she added, perky, "or very busy with her duties as a Princess of Equestria. Take your pick—they're still all assumptions no matter how you slice 'em."
"Hm... I'd take research and busyness over danger any day of the week!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash with a strong flourish of her forehoof.
Twilight smirked, and then walked over to the podium to stare long and hard at the specimen Rainbow had given her to examine; a strip of light flitted across the golden star as if it reacted to her, and, she, levitating a feather pen over to the easel, jotted down her observation. Spike picked up the broom and began sweeping up the dust that had gathered on the floor as a result of Rainbow's entrance, humming to himself; when he got near Twilight, she, without looking, picked up one of her hind legs to allow the broom to pass underneath it and repeated the process with her other three legs. The purple dragon expressed his gratitude and the lavender unicorn returned with the usual phrase to acknowledge it.
Rainbow Dash frowned a bit. Twilight's acting a bit too nice to Spike... nicer than usual.
She let this thought simmer, slight suspicion crossing her face at the implication, but shook her head of it.
No... nothin' suspicious 'bout that! it's a nice change of pace, after all! and then Rainbow smiled.
"Welp, I'm gonna go scoutin' for more clues!" she floated her way to the door, "See ya, and good luck!"
Spike waved vigorously while Twilight waved half-heartedly, and then the pegasus flew out the door. Rainbow Dash, though she said she was going to scout for more about the pink puffball, decided it wouldn't hurt anything to stop by Rarity’s and see how she was handling all this and to report to the fashionista with the one piece of intel she gathered from revisiting the star cruiser, and headed to the Carousel Boutique.
The athletic pegasus felt obligated to do this, since Rarity seemed to be hit a lot harder than any of them, even Fluttershy, by the extraterrestrial puff running away; she was much too quiet and slouchy.
And Rarity never slouches over!
Rainbow was now at the door of this blue, purple, and white carousel-styled building, noting with dismay and concern the "Closed" sign on the door.
Huh... that's weird... she never closes her shop unless she's out, and I haven't seen her around the town square today...
She lifted a hoof, a bit hesitant to knock in case Rarity happened to be busy, but decided to go along with it, seeing it as the better alternative than just rushing in and startling Rarity, both of which would grant the mares undesired results—mainly the one in which her shop would be ruined. Rainbow Dash heard a Trans-Atlantic accent cry out with shock and automatically hoped that her mere knocking didn't cause Rarity to ruin her workspace.
"Oh!" her voice came out so muffled Rainbow had to prick an ear to hear more effectively, "hang on! I'm coming!"
The pegasus mare cocked up an eyebrow; she'd only knocked twice. Her eyes widened instantly when the door opened; let's just say Rarity's seen better days...
"Oh, hello, Rainbow," the unicorn smiled, brushing through her usually well-coifed mane with her hoof and gazing questioningly at the pegasus with tired, crusty eyes, "what brings you here?"
Rainbow Dash, concern worming into her face, stared into Rarity's moderate azure gaze and asked, "Is there anything up, Rares?"
"Uh, no! nothing is 'up', as you say," she chuckled hastily, waving a hoof as if to dismiss the question. "Just working on a project that kept me up nearly all night, is all! haha!" the unicorn half-lied, hoping Rainbow didn't pick up on it. "Now, what brings you here? if I may ask again."
The pegasus raised an eyebrow and poked out her lip; she had indeed picked up on the half-lie, but decided to get on with the intel she had found about the pink puffball earlier, explaining with the appropriate gestures everything to an increasingly-interested Rarity.
"A...golden star?" Rarity's eyes widened as her now small mouth formed those words and her quivering hoof moved up to grace her chin, "found in the corner of that star ship...?" Rainbow nodded, though she knew she didn't need to. A quick silence befell them, and the fashionista's gaze was cast askance in deep thought. Until... "Erm... this marks an important discovery..." she looked back at the pegasus, who tried to remain stoic all the while, and, hoof held out to her now, asked, "can I see it?"
The pegasus with the multi-colored, mussy mane jolted out of her thoughts, one of which wondered why Rarity wasn't as excited as she'd expected her to be, and shrugged, "I'm sorry. I left it with Twilight for further examination..." Rarity sighed drearily, looking, dare she say, even more downcast than she had been, so Rainbow added, "but I promise you I'll get the gold star to ya afterwards, and then you'll have all the info on it you'll need!"
The beautiful unicorn mare seemed to grow happier with each word of her promise, and soon that moderate azure gaze was back onto Rainbow Dash's grinning face, this time with a grateful smile, and she resumed aimlessly brushing through her mane with her hoof.
Unbeknownst to them, a pink Earth pony had stuck her head out of a nearby hay bale with an impossible smile on her muzzle.
"Did you say something about a gold star?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, startling both Rarity and Rainbow out of their wits, and bounced out of the hay bale, shaking the strings of hay out of her poofy mane and tail, much to Rarity's displeasure. The pink Earth pony of happiness and of smiles pronked the remaining distance to them, "Ooh! can I see! can I see!?"
Rarity sighed loudly, directing the athletic pegasus's and party pony's now concerned attention over to her, and said, "I'm afraid you won't find the golden star here, darling. Why don't you go see Twilight?"
The excitement drowned out her concern for Rarity, and she pronked even higher, "Ooh! Okie-dokie, Loki! See ya, Rarity!" and then bounced her way over to Golden Oaks Library, singing to herself, but then suddenly stopped, a thought cutting through her mind. Rainbow Dash and Rarity stared at her with concern, exchanging worried glances, until suddenly the pegasus's vision was filled with big, light cerulean eyes, and Rainbow jerked back with a yelp, and Rarity seemed to zone out, still brushing through her slightly chaotic mane with her hoof.
"Wait!" began Pinkie Pie, "does this gold star have anything to do with that pink puffball?"
"Uh...yeah," Rainbow answered awkwardly, looking everywhere but the intrusive, smiling pink pony, "yeah, it does!"
Pinkie Pie squealed, hopping up onto her haunches all giggly, "So, there's more intel on Kirby, huh? I've been waiting!"
"Erm..." Rarity piped up, her crusty eyes losing that misty, glassy look, "is that his name? Kirby?"
"And if so," the pegasus raised an eyebrow, gazing questioningly at the giddy warper of reality, "how the hay do you know?"
"Mm-hmm," nodded Pinkie, still with that lopsided grin, and then she just stared at Rainbow, a serious expression on her face; the two ponies grew disconcerted, especially the pegasus mare. Silence reigned for a full minute of glances exchanged and of fixated stares before... "If I tell you, Dashie, your mind will be blown. No mere mortal can grasp my logic."
The pegasus and unicorn blinked multiple times with shock, and Pinkie Pie continued to stare at them, and then the former two burst into mumbles of acquiescence, among them were a "I'll buy that for a dollar!" from Rainbow and a "Oh, yes, of course! your logic is difficult to understand already!" from Rarity.
The pink party pony then adopted a large smile, which quickly dropped into a concerned frown, "Did you find him? is he okay?"
Rainbow Dash frowned as well, "No, I didn't find 'im just yet. The golden star is the only intel I've got so far."
"Oh..." slouched Pinkie Pie, her lips wobbly as if she were about to cry.
The pegasus jerked up her head, her eyes widening, in alarm and confusion. Okay, what is goin' on here? Twilight hadn't reprimanded Spike; Rarity isn't neat, and Pinkie Pie isn't happy!
Rarity tilted her head at Rainbow, who appeared to be in her own thoughts, and sighed; she really wanted to get back to her project, but didn't want to be rude, so she made herself comfortable and sat down. Pinkie Pie looked up at the clear sky, wishing the pink puffball well, and sighed. The more the pegasus ran that same thought through her head, the more it made sense, and she jerked with a revelation, Pinkie Pie did predict that this was gonna majorly change our lives...
She glanced at the now sitting and thus slouchy Rarity, Maybe she's burdened with thoughts centered around that pink puff and thus neglected to take care of herself..., and then at Pinkie Pie, and who wouldn't be sad when told by a pegasus, whose very volunteered duty was to spot the puffball and to report his actions and whereabouts or bring back intel, that she hadn't found him yet and thus doesn't know if he's okay? She pursed her lips, Man, was that a mouthful or what?! ...but she usually bounces right back...
"But... don't worry, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow consoled the pink Earth pony, placing a forehoof on her shoulder, and Pinkie looked at her sadly. "I'm not through looking for clues yet!"
The pegasus of loyalty was then unexpectedly hugged, and she stiffened like dry cardboard, all the while the pony of laughter shot "Thank you!" after "Thank you!" after "Thank you!" into the air. And then, with a "Bye! I'll go see how Twilight's doing now!", Pinkie launched backwards off of her and hit the ground pronking to the Golden Oak Library.
Rainbow Dash, after the event was behind her, couldn't help but smile, and then she turned back to the white unicorn mare, her now flapping wings propelling herself into the air.
"Alright," she huffed, flicking her tail, "I should be going now!" if she wasn't mistaken, she could've sworn she'd seen Rarity sigh and grin with relief; Rainbow tilted her head, "Now, are you sure you're alright?"
"Oh, don't mind me!" the unicorn dismissively waved a hoof, chuckling, and she stood up, "I'm fine. I mean, I wouldn't want you to put off your search for intelligence for little ol' me!" she batted her eyes, smiling sheepishly, "Besides, I'd love to hear more about Kirby, and I absolutely must get back to my project!" ...Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow and poked out her lip; Rarity smiled, surely fake but she didn't have the energy for a real smile, "You understand, don't you?"
"Uh, yeah... okay," she resigned, and then flew off; she soon paused and said, "So, see ya later, Rares?"
A door slamming answered her question, and she cringed before she pulled a deadpan expression and officially flew off.
"La la la la-la laa!" Pinkie Pie sung and continued singing as she neared the large tree house, waving to the various townsponies she'd seen filing out of their homes to some destination she didn't care to know right now. The one thing on her mind was Kirby; where he was, what he was doing, whether or not he was okay—and she hoped to Celestia he was—and why he didn't smile!
Her pronking slowed to a canter and her singing grew subdued, her head bowing, and then that slowed to a walk, and her singing stopped completely.
Oh... I know why he didn't smile... it was because I irritated him so much...
Pinkie Pie found herself at the library's door, and she stared at it, plopping herself down and pouting.
But... besides that... maybe there's something else troubling him?—he didn't smile at Fluttershy...
She sighed and lifted a hoof, stared at it, and then knocked on the door; she heard Spike announce that he was on his way, and quickly turned her frown upside-down, however fake it may have been, and righted herself, straightening her back and holding her head up high like a sunflower. The door opened, revealing a then confused and concerned purple dragon, and he looked at her, blinking twice, "Pinkie Pie?"
The pink Earth pony nodded and then tilted her head, growing a bit confused herself—she had no idea what was wrong, and decided to ask, "What's wrong?"
"Oh..." he shook his head, a claw at his temple, and chuckled, "nothin's wrong! It's just... you usually barrel through the door..."
"Oh! I get it! but... I don't throw a barrel through the door or turn into one and rush through the door. That'd be silly!" she smiled, bouncing in place; Spike groaned and facepalmed.
She completely missed what I meant...
"But I’d decided to actually knock this time!" Pinkie Pie continued, having missed his facial expression as well, "so I wouldn't mess anything up!"
Well... Spike looked at her, bringing his claw from his face, almost ashamed at himself for that condescension, maybe she didn't miss what I meant...
"Anyway, I came to see that golden star Rainbow Dash said she left here earlier today! I want answers too! you know?" she stopped bouncing and stopped smiling, and just stared at the absent-minded Spike. Pinkie raised her eyebrows, and then queried, "Can I come in now?"
The purple dragon snapped out of his thoughts with a jerk, "Oh, heh heh... sorry!", and stepped aside to let the pink pony through. As Spike closed the door, Pinkie Pie focused her attention on the middle, where Twilight Sparkle was looking through a telescope at a specimen she knew was the golden star, and walked there, curiously eyeing the star which gleamed in a possible reaction to her. Twilight didn't even seem to notice her; she was right behind her!
But the unicorn did seem to notice the resultant gleam from some unknown cause, and she raised an eyebrow at this.
"Huh...that's strange," she stopped looking through the telescope and started looking at the star with a naked eye. "I'm the only one here by it..."
Twilight kept staring at it inquisitively, and then she caught sight of a fleeting reflection of hot pink poofy hair and of joyful light cerulean eyes staring right at her...!
She jerked back, almost thinking her friend, the bearer of Laughter, was trapped in there, but then felt something, or, rather, someone behind her. That's when the unicorn realized that Pinkie Pie had been standing behind her for an unknown period of time, unusually quiet for some reason.
The unicorn looked over at her shoulder at Pinkie, activating her magic to levitate a quill pen to jot down on the canvas of notes the star's reaction to the pink pony, before she smiled and said, "Hi there, Pinkie Pie. I assume you're here to see the golden star Rainbow Dash had given to me?"
"Yeppers!" she nodded, the light in her eyes and her smile almost saddening for a moment; Twilight narrowed her eyes in confusion and concern but kept it to herself for now. Pinkie Pie continued, "Rainbow Dash and I are absolutely, positively sure that you will figure this all out!"
Twilight blushed modestly and chuckled, "Well, I wouldn't know about that, Pinkie..."
“Oh, don’t be a silly filly, Twily!” the pink pony cheerily retorted, with Spike chuckling in the background at her rhyme, and smiled more, hopping in place lightly, “you’re the smartest McSmartypants pony I know! I mean, who else has a vast collection of books and knowledge as their main job?” she somehow twisted around to see all the books stored in their bookcases to emphasize her point.
Twilight, a small smile appearing on her muzzle, only blushed more, giving a good-natured yet flattered roll of her eyes, and then activated her magic on the golden star to show that she was changing the subject—Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, quieted and ceased hopping in place, now paying full attention to the star which was floating via rich magenta magic over to her face.
"Ooh..." the pink pony murmured, her eyes widening as the star shimmered once more. She got up on her haunches and slowly clasped it with both hooves; the unicorn mare bit her lip, the prospect of Pinkie Pie somehow breaking it on accident looming in her brain, and warned, "Be careful, Pinkie. Rainbow Dash said it's fragile."
Pinkie Pie looked at Twilight and nodded, visibly putting more effort into holding it carefully but not lightly enough to drop it, sweat dripping down her face. The pink pony narrowed her eyes at the star as she carefully tilted it up, then to the left, then to her other left.
Twilight simply watched, shoving down her impatient impulses and anxious thoughts, however hard it may have been; she, however, was prepared to catch the star with her magic should Pinkie Pie accidentally drop it. The Earth mare's eyes widened for a split second; she had a fleeting idea of what this star could be, but decided, for the sake of the plot, to feign ignorance.
"So," Pinkie began, as Twilight activated her magic on the star to take it off of her hooves, "what do you make of this 'golden star'?"
The light grayish mulberry unicorn bit her lip again as she tried to answer the pink party pony's question, chewing on her lip as she replaced the star in question in place underneath the telescope and examined her scientific notes on the easel sitting nearby, "Well..."
Pinkie Pie's face lit up with this simple word "well"; she was starting to despair, having flattened her ears against her skull, since she had started to infer from that tense silence that Twilight Sparkle, the smartest pony in Ponyville, didn't know anything about that star that could help. Pinkie Pie's tail flicked with eager impatience, and she gently raised herself onto her haunches and gingerly set and folded her forelegs on the busy podium, much to Twilight Sparkle's expected but involatile(?) chagrin.
"I found that this star sparkles whenever somepony is nearby..." the unicorn began, staring alternatively anxiously from Pinkie to the star, making sure Pinkie Pie didn't cause an accidental mishap. Pinkie noticed and raised an eyebrow at Twilight the next time those moderate violet eyes graced her presence, retorting "Well? I hear a 'but' coming," and Twilight blushed apologetically.
"Sorry..." the lavender unicorn got off her case, even though the thought wouldn't leave her alone, and mainly put her focus on the notes she had been writing and further explained, "but it's a lot more complicated than that."
I had a thought it would be... the pink pony sneered to herself, slightly seething that Twilight wouldn't tell her everything in one go, but this sense of non-happiness scared her, so she stuffed it in the box she had but no one talked about.
"So, the 'complicated' bit is that it only shimmers for wielders of the Elements since that's what you observed...?" she guessed monotonously and wearing a deadpan expression, with Twilight Sparkle soon reacting with shock—her eyes growing wide and her mouth hanging open.
Let's just say that if Twilight were drinking water or apple cider, it would've been spewed out by now.
And Spike would be the unsuspecting victim.
As per always. (cue five-minute montage of Spike getting soda spewed upon him...)
Speaking of the purple dragon, he had finished sweeping up the main floor of the Library and had come up beside Pinkie Pie with a bowl of what he would call "delicious gems" and what I would call "rock candy" to see more into this "golden star" Twilight Sparkle had marked for examination. Spike snatched up a few colorful gems with his tongue as his green draconic eyes remained fixated on this one specimen the light grayish mulberry unicorn couldn't figure out, as he heard via her earlier musings.
"...How?" Twilight could only splutter, as her eyes went from her gathered notes to the pink pony tapping rhythms on her podium.
Pinkie Pie giggled, "...did I figure it out...?"
The unicorn only nodded as she activated her magic, swirls of magenta surrounding her feather pen. Spike crunched on some more of his gathered gems as he watched the two, mainly Pinkie, explain how she arrived to that conclusion.
Which was... really simple, if you ask me... the purple dragon scoffed gently.
"It sparkled for Rainbow Dash, didn't it?" the pink pony smirked, her forelegs still folded upon the podium.
"Yes, but..." a disgruntled Twilight tried to inject.
"And it glowed for me and you, right?" at this point, Pinkie seemed proud of herself, as she pointed with her hoof to herself and to Twilight.
The unicorn rolled her eyes subtly as she sighed, "Yes... but those were only three Elements—"
"Exactly!" interjected Pinkie Pie, and dumbfounding Twilight. The pink pony shoved her foreleg around the unicorn's neck, which had had been craned in confusion toward the easel as her widened, blank eyes studied her notes, bringing her closer and away from her canvas of notes, "Who says it won't shimmer for all seven of us?!"
"Wait..." Spike raised an eyebrow, holding up a confused claw as Twilight then freed herself from Pinkie's grip; he continued, "...seven...?"
Pinkie deflated a bit, her eyes widening, and then she looked to Twilight, who was looking at her like she'd grown a second head. The glimmer of the Sun only shimmered through the eastern windows of the Golden Oak Library, signaling that it was time for the day to be wrapped up and for everypony to return to their homes.
"Uh... did I say 'seven'?" the pink pony chuckled, tapping the podium and glancing at the golden star which shimmered again in her presence. "I meant 'six'. All 'six' of us..." she then smiled sheepishly yet knowingly.
Twilight and Spike exchanged glances, before they both shrugged as the former jotted down this new information on her easel of notes, and then began to talk amongst themselves.
Pinkie Pie then went to stare at the golden star, walking over to that spot around the podium and folding her forelegs on the bank of the table. She grinned as big as the Cheshire Cat's grin as she continued to gaze at the "unknown" star. Pinkie's grin grew larger when the star glowed one more time for her, and her light cerulean eyes widened as an "insane" pony's would.
Oh! I just know it! You are our seventh... she smirked, and even chuckled a bit as she leaned more onto the table and dreamily held up her head with her hoof.
Meanwhile, Princess Celestia, in her castle overlooking Ponyville, mused over that one letter sent by her prodigy-in-training. She had stood on the balcony to transfer her diurnal rule to Luna, her younger royal sister, who in turn completed the rise of the Moon, symbolizing all that was night and dreamy.
The two sisters then talked, or at least tried to talk, since Celestia often found herself talking about this pink puffball the Mane Six had encountered and were now trying to find.
So, while Luna understood and dismissed their conversation to go back to her quarters flanked by the Royal Guard, Celestia simply nodded with a small smile and retired to the Library once more to see what she may dig up concerning the puffball's landing on and roaming of Equestria.
Much to Twilight's and Spike's assumption, they had been correct; the Princess of the Sun was indeed conducting her own research.
Only problem with that theory—Celestia had also been watching them...
All seven of them.
Like Pinkie Pie, Princess Celestia, who now sat on a futon and was summoning to her side all kinds of books that could help her, knew this puffball was the key to all their problems.
And solutions.
She knew he was, ultimately, the ultimate weapon against some big, terrifying enemy she could not even bear to imagine.
Celestia sighed as she closed the current book, seeing that it yielded no answers. She could only hope that the poor puffball hadn't gone through so much pain that it killed his soul.
For she knew...
Celestia wistfully looked up through the large eastern windows at the sky.
Oh, Kirby... please stay safe...
Fin
May 19, 2014
11:42p
[Stinger]
Meanwhile, the aforementioned pink puffball sat underneath a canopy with Applejack's picnic basket, two apple cores sitting by his side. He was looking pensively at the starry sky through one sliver of an aperture in the closely-knit trees. Offhand, a half-eaten apple held tightly within his stubby paw, Kirby wondered why he was so easily accepted, and why was that white horned pony, of all things, so adamant about his cloak? The puffball sighed as he took another bite out of the juicy apple—its bushel so graciously given to him—and he chewed softly, his thoughtful, half-open dark and dull red eyes sparkling in the moonlight and his black, tattered cloak swaying in the wind that had been nearly vicious earlier in the day.
What he didn't know was that Luna, the Princess of the Night, was keeping an eye on him, making sure he was safe and sound...
{Chapter End]
Today, I'm giving you half a chapter. 
This chapter is FAR from done; so don't be disappointed. 
In fact, be happy, because you get to see my progress. 
EDIT May 13, 2014: Oh, wow... I just read through this and a sentence was missing.. I fixed that right then and there, hopefully... 
EDIT May 17, 2014: I added to the scene!
Now you'll have an extra few sentences to read! 
I'm still not done with the chapter itself; as a matter of fact, I just wrote the added scene at around eleven o'clock this morning. 
So, there you go, be sure to comment if you like it; comment if you don't!
And explain why!
So many people go by -- *bringing this to my blog*
EDIT May 19, 2014: The chapter is done!
You may now rejoice!
See yall next chapter!!
Stats
Page generated in 0.021 seconds
Total duration
866 users online
557,468 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
THERE SHOULD BE MORE HAPPY FLUTTERSHY EMOTES!!
Ahem... okay! =3 Here's the second chapter, everyone!
Well, most of it anyway..
Told ya this story wasn't gonna end soon.
I just need to wrap up this chapter in particular and I'll have that up maybe sooner than later.
I've not gotten my 3DS yet!
But I shan't despair! I shall get it soon, for MY name is VampireFluttershyTails~!
Maybe I'll add music to this later, hm?
EDIT (May 13, 2014): Ya know, I appreciate the faves and the watches!
but, um... 
would ya, ya know, review...? 
I love that!
....please?
You got to be kidding me, let me just read a little bit more.
4386226
Pinkie Pie is the type of Reality Warper who -- Pinkie cuts in: NEVER REVEALS HER SECRETS!!! 
Oh, thank you.
NOT THAT THE OTHERS AREN'T FUN TO WRITE TOO!! I didn't mean that at all! 
Yeah,
-Pinkie Pie pokes me.-
*snaps out of my stupor*
*replies to you*
Oh, I made a mistake ("you're" instead of your")!
I'll fix that!
And I'm glad I portrayed Pinkie Pie perfectly; she was the most fun to write!
And the reason I let this chapter get out on the field is because I wanted you to
squirm in your suspenseread what I had going; I'll finish it as soon as I get out all the knots with the previous chapters and with my fellow gamers on Aeria Games.So, yeah.
Yeah, Kirby... he's been through so much, hasn't he? makes ya wanna hug 'im, eh?
And what was with the other reply?
I don't see it anymore...
4386212 Um... why all the harsh words?
I know I probably overdid it with Applejack's accent and I'll fix it to "critter", okay.
And I'm certainly NOT colorblind and second of all, I didn't really write this story with you all in mind, okay?!
I used the color-descriptions when I thought I needed to use it.
Doesn't matter whether you know what I'm talking about; somepony else could read this and not know what the hay I'm talking about!
No offense, if you took any offense, but your tone with me sure did seem like you took offense with the story above all.
P.S. Kirby's eyes are red for reasons you won't understand until later in the story, and I realize you're trying to help, but please be constructive and respectful/reasonable next time. Okay.
Now, um... who wants treats for those who found the video game references (Portal) in the previous chapter?
Um...
...I hope I didn't scare everyone away....
Because if I did, then this is SO not my day...
LE GASP!!
I UPDATED CHAPTER TWO!! 
It shouldn't be long until this chapter is wrapped up and done, and I'll be working on Chapter Four. 
WHOOHOOO!!!
You guys should be happy!
Spoiler Alert: the perspective starts with Fluttershy! XDOn my own time of course.
Don't wanna wind up in a psych ward again because I *coughcough*was confused*slskldklakhf*on what frequency in which I started....*lost in transmission*WRITING!So, there we go.
Let the reviews (be reasonable and respectful!) commence.
IT IS FINISHED, EVERYPONY!!
Rejoice!
I hope you liked the appearance of
Now, for Chapter Three, for which I have the notes ready and finished.
You'll expect the first part of that chapter, mmm... tomorrow..
Ta ta, for now.
4415825 Forgot to mention, read and review. (like you need to be told that)
And also, I'll add music to the chapters later on. Gonna be so fun!
This is just trial and error; I haven't figured out the works with this chapter yet, but... hopefully it'll line up with what I have in terms of the plotline.
Feel free to pm or review. I won't bite.
Alright, ta ta for now!
*realizes all of that should be in the blog, and chuckles sheepishly*
Oh, well..
Is Kirby going to be a Seventh Element of Harmony or something, or does the warp star sparkle around him because he is the owner?
4417133 Oooh, you are very close...
(*snickers*) 
At least not yet. 
With that first guess, you are... AWESOMELY CORRECT!!
But don't tell anybody you know...
Also, the warp star is glowing around other people other than him, because he's not in the picture with them.
But, yeah, he is one of them, yeah.
*is surprised they figured it out so quickly*
HAS MY COVER BEEN BLOWN?!?!
P.S. Of course the warp star is his; Rainbow Dash found it in his Star Cruiser, yeah?
4417597
NO,
I know that the Warp Star is Kirby's, I was just asking if the reason that it sparkled was because he's its owner and not something else like him being a Seventh Element or something.
4418164 I suspect you didn't read ALL of my reply to you...
But that's for you to figure out, as a reader of this fine piece of material. 
but please read my whole reply 
Yes, Kirby's warp star is reacting to Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle.
It could mean he's one of them, like Pinkie Pie and Celestia seem to think... or something else entirely...
Your next question probably will pertain as to what particular Element I marked him to be.
It's good that you ask me questions; it really is,
before you go off on a tangent about something that I already addressed.It would've avoided this whole thing, not that I don't like getting reviews.. I do.
Just... yeah... you get the picture.
Right, sonicfan21?
I somehow hope this is no Twilight love Spike hint.
Did Luna and Celestia know about him? I have not that much against it, but it is a bit silly that they always seems to know about everything, it have to give at least on thing they don´t know.
Well maybe i just understand it wrong, english is not my main language.
4421027
Isn't that exciting?! 
)
Oh, that's awesome Texus!!
I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Nope, it wasn't a love hint between Twilight and Spike. It was just Twilight being nice.
Well, it's sorta like a unknownity (unknown entity) right now. Luna knows he's in the Everfree Forest; Kirby doesn't know this (that he's being watched or the name of his location), at this time, however.
Princess Celestia's, however, been watching all seven of the characters (the Mane Six and Kirby) through some method I didn't really get into though I probably should... (Hint: she has a Crystal Ball)
(August 28, 2014: Oh, I just had a Fridge Brilliance yesterday! She sees through the Sun she rules over.
Princess Celestia.... hm.. yeah, she knows about Kirby.. I mean who wouldn't, right?
But she doesn't know anything about him "personally", if you will; hence why she's in the Castle Library attempting to look things up about him.
Added some horizontal bars and some more details to the stinger.
(EDIT: Added a musical video too. Credited to DJ Young Monster Beatz =3)
I should be working on the scenes surrounding that one scene in Chapter Three (that you can't yet see because it's 250 something under 1000 words), but I decided to add a few details to this chapter.
Keep the reviews coming. Don't be shy now.
4421793 Well ok thx for get me the correct information. Sometimes i don´t get it right away, probably because it is not my main language. And yeah i love this fanfic somehow allready.^^
4423190 Oh, that's awesome you love the story!
I hope you keep loving the story, and ask me questions too.
I like answering questions.
Alright, I have to get off now.
It's been fun!
Maybe you could PM me later on or such.
(Should've told you this before, but your English is pretty good. Soon enough, you'll be able to understand events at a mastery rivaling, or perhaps surpassing that of, the English speakers themselves!)
May the Force always be with you.
Came back to edit a sentence.
The "the unicorn's neck, which had had been craned in confusion" used to be this:
.
Reason: There may be confusion as to whether it was Pinkie Pie who was "craned in confusion toward the easel..."
But the true reason is that I had beef about it.
Welp, I just went to ArcaneAaron / Akuago220 about my story.
Hopefully something good comes from that.
Welp, I'll just need to adjust my paperwork on this chapter and I'll be good to go.
I hope...
Came back to change "horned unicorn" to "horned pony" in that very last section. =3
due to... trouble... 
I shall document these changes! for ME!! 
)
I also wanted to document such changes in my handwritten version of the story, half of which is missing...
Hopefully I will get to Scene 3 of Chapter Three tomorrow. Maybe start on it for a change, but for right now I'm just adding to GoogleDOCs what I added here.
(I should be in bed right now though... and tomorrow is another day, but no!
Ta ta for now.
(I nearly tried to kill something when I read that)