Rules of Engagement
“Called it.”
Starburst ignored her coltfriend’s remark and focused on her cousin. “Lance!” she called out, trying her best to appear dignified and not totally embarrassed by their current situation. “What is the meaning of this?!” Starburst asked as she trotted towards him, pointing with her wing at the guards surrounding them.
As she did so, she noticed that the sky was shimmering with purple magic. Mom’s Anti-Teleport Field… Starburst realized, wondering if this could get any worse. She must have placed wards around Ponyville to activate it after alerting Lance and the guard.
Valiant, who’d been glaring at Starfall, turned to her. Starburst felt relieved to see that he, too, was at least a bit embarrassed by this. “Sorry, Star, but we’ve got orders to escort you and him,” he glared again at Starfall, “to your parents.”
“Oh sweet Celestia…” Starburst murmured, facehoofing. “You cannot seriously be saying that my parents mobilized,” she paused to quickly count the ponies around them, “over half of the royal guards stationed in Ponyville because I went on a date!”
“No. They mobilized every royal guard stationed in Ponyville because a former felon took you away after they’d learned that nopony knew where you went,” Valiant replied calmly. “Your parents wanted to talk with both of you, and since he has a track record of being... hard to get a hold of, they wanted to make sure he would stick around for a while.” Starburst’s cousin once again turned to look at Starfall. “Princess Twilight had hoped that you will both come willingly, but I have no problem with forcing you to come.”
Starburst was taken aback by her cousin’s statement, but before she could react in any way, she heard Starfall’s reply to Valiant. And he replied in the way that best suited his personality.
He snorted with laughter.
Way to help ease the situation, Starburst thought, watching as Valiant and the guards tensed.
“Oh, that’s cute,” Starfall grinned, as if he wasn’t surrounded... and wasn’t unable to use magic. “To think that you can ‘force me to come’ anywhere. Are we on ‘Equestria’s Funniest Home Videos’?” he asked, looking around mockingly. “I mean, somepony is obviously playing a joke on somepony here. Probably-”
“Star!” Starburst snapped at him, as her cousin stomped the ground angrily. She shot Starfall an angry look, making him roll his eyes and pretend to zip his mouth shut. Starburst turned to Valiant, wondering if this situation could get any more embarrassing. “We’re coming, Lance; I wanted to talk with Mom and Dad anyway. You can dismiss the guards.”
“I can’t do that, Star. Your parents’ orders,” he added.
Starburst sighed. “Fine, lead on or whatever.”
With a last glare at Starfall, Valiant straightened and told the guards: “Form a ring around Princess Starburst and the unicorn. And keep an eye on him.” he added as they began moving; Valiant leading as they headed towards Starburst’s family’s mansion.
“Are your parents always this overprotective?” Starfall asked her as they walked, ignoring the guards as well as Valiant’s hostility.
“Can you blame them?” Starburst asked instead of replying. Truth be told, she couldn’t recall them ever reacting in this way to anything. And that included all those things her mom and her friends had to face before she was born. “After how you - the colt who hospitalized my dad - took me out on a date by vanishing right before their eyes? Still,” she admitted, “I hadn’t expected them to react this badly.”
Valiant must have heard her, because he looked back. “It would have probably gone better if you had told somepony where exactly where you were going. Aunt and Uncle had asked all your friends where he could have taken you, and-”
“Aunt and Uncle?” Starfall interrupted him, tilting his head in confusion.
“That’s my cousin, Valiant Heart-” she started to introduce him, but Starfall cut her off.
“Then why did you call him ‘Lance’?”
“Um… it’s his nickname. I’ll explain later,” she quickly added, noticing the unicorn’s interest. She didn’t want to go into that now, she was enough embarrassed at it was. “Anyway, he’s the Prince of the Crystal Empire and-”
But Starfall cut her off again. “‘Prince’? I thought that by an obligatory rule all the alicorns are ‘princesses’.”
Her jaw dropped. The “procession” had stopped, with all the guards staring at Starfall or at Valiant. Some - as Starburst noticed after a second - had snorted in amusement.
But her cousin wasn’t amused. Valiant, whose reaction was slowed down by obvious shock caused by the comment, turned his head back slowly. “I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything but petty insults from a pony whose father was most likely King Sombra,” he said, glaring at Starfall.
Starburst frowned. She’d never expected herself to grow angry at Valiant, but now he had gone too far with his comment. She opened her mouth to tell him so, but before she could utter a single word, Starfall had a ready reply.
“And I suppose I shouldn’t expect anything smart from the son of a pony who couldn’t tell the difference between his fiancé and a changeling.”
This time, everyponies’ jaws dropped, not just Starburst’s. She was so stunned by Starfall’s remark that it didn’t even cross her mind that she should get offended almost as much as Valiant for what he had said about her uncle.
Valiant, who was also stunned, quickly recovered. His face twisted into an angry scowl. “Alright, listen you little-” he began, trotting angrily towards Starfall, who took a step back.
“Lance-” Starburst started, taking a step to stand between the two, but then both she and Valiant fell silent.
Starfall’s eyes were glowing with dark magic.
Starburst's mind became stuporous. She suddenly had flashback of what happened over a week ago; how she saw her unconscious father being held by Starfall’s dark magic. Was he going to do the same now to her cousin?
No, she quickly realized. She remembered how he took a step back a split second ago. Starfall just got scared when Valiant practically charged at him. And knowing Starfall as well as she did, Starburst realized that he must have been really uncomfortable to begin with. Having been running away from (or playing pranks on) every figure of authority for a few years couldn’t make the situation of being surrounded by a bunch of guards easy for him. Not to mention that he couldn’t use his normal magic due to teleporting them from so far away. Dark magic, however, was another thing; it was fueled by fear, in this case Starfall’s. He could still use it, and now it was his only form of defense in things went south.
Of course, Valiant did not know any of that. To him, he was just seeing the colt he already didn’t really like before he learned that he was taking her out on a date (Not that it’s any of his business! Starburst thought, suddenly angry at the realization what could be behind her cousin’s rather cold attitude towards Starfall) becoming a splitting image of his kingdom’s worst nightmare.
“I would be very well within my right to put you in shackles,” he hissed angrily, looking down at Starfall.
Starfall’s glowing eyes narrowed. “And it would be very well within my ability to-”
“Enough!” Starburst cut him off, jumping between the two and pushing them away from each other. “Both of you, calm down! Lance, stop antagonizing my coltfriend!” she told her cousin, ignoring the look he was giving her. Starburst turned then to the unicorn: “Star, my family got enough reason as it is to not like you, stop provoking my cousin! And… turn that off!” she added awkwardly.
Starfall, who was looking at her calmly with those eerie green glowing eyes with red irised that were burning with purple smokes, tilted his head. “Turn off wha- oh!” he exclaimed . He grinned awkwardly and scratched his head as his eyes returned to normal. “Sorry.”
She deadpanned at him before turning back to her cousin, who was still eyeing Starfall. “Star, I don’t think-”
But Starburst had enough. She spread her wings, causing Valiant to take a step back in surprise. “Lance, you interrupted the end of our date, you’re leading us to my parents like some criminals, and you just threatened my coltfriend with shackles! I really don’t care at the moment what you think!”
Despite being really angry, both for all the things she just said, as well as for being upset at having to shout at her cousin like that, Starburst felt a strange satisfaction at the sight of Valiant completely stunned expression. It took him several seconds to recover, during which Starburst continued to glare. That is, until she realized that she could hear chuckling from behind her.
She swiftly turned back, but Starfall was looking to the side with straight face. Starburst frowned, but looked again back to Valiant. Who by then had turned around.
Unfortunately, Starfall’s Teleportation Spell had placed them not too far from Starburst’s family’s home. Because of that, she wasn’t given much time to plan or prepare herself for the talk with her parents… or to think about what had just happened.
I yelled at Lance, she thought over and over as they walked. I defended a pony I know little longer than a week from him. I called Starfall my coltfriend. Publicly!
She wondered which of those was the strangest…
Beside her, Starfall stayed silent. Starburst wasn’t sure if he hasn’t spoken because he knew she needed to think, or if he was planning an escape plan just in case… or if he was ashamed he was ready to use dark magic on another member of her family. Probably all above.
I will have to talk with him later… assuming I won’t be grounded for life.
She felt a tight knot at the stomach at the thought. Would they go that far? Starburst tried to think back, to remember what were the most harsh punishments she ever received and what she did to deserve them. Nothing was comparing to her current situation.
For all I know, they could be the kind of parents that don’t like the idea of their daughter dating a colt, period. Let alone a former felon.
Starburst would never, ever, say it out loud, but she almost wished she had actually went on a date with somepony else before, so she could have some benchmark to this situation. As it was, all she could vaguely guess where how much in trouble she was in for leaving Ponyville without noticing them. And for lying to them.
On the bright side, if they do ground me, I won’t have to go on that camping trip, Starburst thought, as the mansion came to view. She sighed. This cannot end well…
Some of those thoughts must have reflected on her face, because soon she felt Starfall top her on her shoulder. “So, thinking about blaming this all on me?” he asked, smirking. “Cause if it helps...”
Rolling her eyes, she asked: “How exactly should I blame this on you?”
“Dark magic?” Starfall hinted. “I’m pretty sure if I can make ponies live their worst nightmares, I could probably control their minds as well.”
“I just got you cleared of all charges, I am not going to make something up and start a new count for you.”
“True, but I can still get away from here,” he pointed out. “You live here. And since I won’t ever be captured again...”
She wanted to snort and tell him that if she would say that he mind controlled her into dating him, then her mother would personally chase him down. As clever and skilled as he was, Starfall was still no match for an alicorn princess. That one time he outsmarted her was a fluke. However, she decided to appreciate his good intention, and instead of all that, she merely sighed.
“Well, thanks for the offer, but I’m not lying. Nor will I let you take all the blame. Besides,” she added, “I’m sure my parents will be reasonable…”
“Aunt, Uncle?” Valiant said as he entered the living room, Starburst and Starfall right behind him. “I’ve brought them.”
“Thank you, Valiant.”
Starburst gulped nervously as she heard her mother’s calm response. Praying that they weren’t about to walk into their doom, she and Starfall trotted around Valiant.
Both Twilight and Flash Sentry were sitting on one of the coaches. Starburst noticed that they’d rearranged the furniture a bit; instead of both coaches facing the TV, they were now facing each other, with a small table between them. On the table, there was a tea pot with four teacups, and some sugar cubes on a small plate.
And her parents… her parents were looking at them.
Okay, don’t panic… Starburst began, but before she could finish that train of thought, something happened that completely threw her off.
Her mom was smiling.
“Hello, Starfall, it’s a pleasure to see you,” she said.
For some reason, Starburst had this foreboding sense that things were actually going to be worse than she had feared.
Starfall must had thought the same, as he replied with a careful: “Um, hi.”
“Starburst,” her father said, turning to her, “your mother and I wanted to talk with both of you. Could you and your date sit down?”
Starburst's eyes grew wide. Even though her father had a more stern expression, he too seemed far more calm about this than she had expected. “Um... sure.”
Princess Luna, I want to wake up!
“Are you certain you will be okay with him?” Valiant asked her parents, glaring at Starfall.
“Still not trusting me?” Starfall said before Twilight or Flash could reply, returning to his carefree attitude. “And I thought we bonded over insulting our respective folks,” he pouted sitting down and spinning something on his hoof… something that resembled Valiant’s helmet.
Starburst turned sharply to look at her cousin, who was indeed without his helmet, and was now touching his head with surprise. When did he-
“When did you… how…” Valiant also wondered, but outloud. In next second, though, he scowled: “Give that back!”
Starburst facehoofed as her cousin grabbed the helmet with his magic and walked out of the room. Once she heard the door close, she glared at Starfall. “It’s stronger than me,” he explained, shrugging.
Suppressing a sigh, she trotted over to the couch and sat down, Starfall following.
“Star, stop making a face as if you two were about to be hanged,” her mother chastised her, although she appeared to be amused. Twilight lit her horn and the teapot raised into air. “We just wanted to talk with you, that’s all. How much sugar do you use?” she asked Starfall as she poured them tea.
“Um… one will be enough,” Starfall replied, obviously still confused about what was going on as much as Starburst. “So… would this be an awkward moment to say that I am sorry about using dark magic against you,” he said to Starburst’s dad, quickly adding: “Sir?”
She facehoofed again. “This whole thing is awkward,” she hissed.
“Probably,” her father replied to Starfall’s question. “Although the sentiment has been noted.”
“Right,” Twilight said as she finished making a tea. “Now, as your father said, we wanted to talk with both of you. We apologize about the way you’ve been… invited here, but we weren’t sure if you would willingly come,” she finished, the last part directed to Starfall.
“Invited implies choice, Your Majesty,” Starfall replied, almost casually.
Starburst tilted her head, but it was her father who voiced the realization she just had. “How many ways of escape do you see?”
The blue unicorn looked around the living room. “Um… six? Well, two involve flipping this table, so I am not sure if they should count...”
“Six?” Twilight repeated, surprised. Starburst watched as her mother looked around the room, wondering if this situation could become any more surreal. When finally Twilight’s eyes rested on the table, she raised an eyebrow. “How exactly-”
“Honey?” Flash interrupted her.
“Right, sorry, more important matters now,” Twilight said, slightly embarrassed. She cleared her throat and focused back on them. “Now, how about we get the easiest question out of the way? Why weren’t you anywhere around Ponyville?”
Starburst glanced at Starfall, who shrugged. “Um… Starfall took me to a secluded island on the Aquestric Ocean.”
Now it was her parents turn to exchange glances, and Starburst finally noticed some worry on their faces. “Secluded island you say?” Flash Sentry asked.
“Yes, I wanted to take her on our first date somewhere special,” Starfall replied.
“Somewhere special…” Flash muttered, glancing at Twilight.
Starburst’s mother appeared now to be even more embarrassed than earlier. “Right… um, Starburst, I hope you won’t take this as an invasion of privacy, but, after you two disappeared, we went to your room-”
The pegasus frowned; it was indeed an invasion of privacy. “Why-” she started.
“- and in your drawer we found a package of condoms-”
Starburst’s brain went dead.
… oh no…
“-so you can understand that we have good reasons about being worried-”
… oh no, oh no, oh no…
“- especially since you hadn’t taken them with you-”
“NO!” Starburst exclaimed finally, only now finding her voice. She threw her hooves into the air, waving them frantically as she raced to explain: “Those were Annie’s! She gave them to me after I told her I was going on a date! You know how she is! This was a stupid joke! We haven’t done anything!”
“Oh, thank goodness!” both of her parents exclaimed, sighing with relief, holding their chests and leaning back on their couch.
Starburst covered herself with her wings; she did not want to look at anypony right now.
“You have no idea how relieved we are.”
“Yes, you are way too young for things like that.”
That’s it, Starburst decided, I’m murdering Annie tomorrow.
“Can we… please… pretend that this conversation never happened?” Starburst pleaded from behind her wings.
“Way ahead of you.”
Taken aback, Starburst opened her wings and glared at Starfall. Her coltfriend was sitting comfortable on the couch, drinking his tea. Noticing her look, he shrugged. “With how messed up I am in the head, I can easily have my consciousness deny that this happened.”
“Lucky you,” she murmured, massaging her temples. If she were twenty one, she would have considered starting to drink to try and see if she could erase that from her memory.
Her mother cleared her throat, gaining her attention. “I’m sure you meant that comment to be amusing, Starfall, but it’s actually one of the reasons that I had originally hoped to talk with you. I’m not sure if Starburst had mentioned this to you, but I asked her to see if she could convince you to come here.” Twilight turned to her daugher and, as if with pretense, added: “Why she did not tell me then that you two were going on a date-”
Starburst, who did not want to feel guilty on top of being more embarrassed than she could ever remember, quickly interrupted her. “That’s because I wanted to avoid anything like this!” She spread her forelegs to emphasize her point.
“Sounds reasonable,” her father said. Twilight, who didn’t look convinced, looked at him. “What? I would have also preferred to avoid this.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Starfall,” she said, her voice becoming much gentler, “Starburst told me about your mother. I am so sorry.”
Starfall shrugged. “Thank you. I’m coping.”
The alicorn princess looked as if she wanted to talk a bit more about Trixie, but she must have guessed by Starfall’s tone of voice that he didn’t. “Starburst also told me that your life hadn’t been easy for the next few years, although she refused to go into any details.”
“I suppose one could say that.”
Understatement of the freaking millennium.
“I must admit, considering all that, it’s amazing how…” Twilight trailed off, probably searching for the right word.
“How I am not completely insane?” Starfall hinted.
Twilight nodded. “Have you thought about seeing some counseling?”
“No, thank you,” Starfall replied almost immediately. “My head is about the single part of me that wasn’t abused, I don’t want any shrinks poking around it.”
Starburst suppressed the need to either cringe or facehoof as her mother’s eyes grew wide. Trust it to him to say this so casually, she sighed mentally as Twilight quickly recovered.
“I… really think you should consider seeing some help,” she tried again. “You might think you are fine, but you don’t know what else your trauma could have caused.”
“‘What else’?” Starfall repeated, echoing Starburst.
Twilight nodded. “Yes. While I don’t think this is the only reason behind it, there’s something I had noticed during your show yesterday. Namely; your magic is way too advanced than it should be for a unicorn your age.”
Starburst exchanged a look with Starfall, who was as confused as she was; “Is that’s so?”
“Yes. Even if your special talent would have been learning - which I don’t think it is,” Twilight added, glancing at his right, undamaged flank, “- you shouldn’t be able to use so many advanced spells as you do. Teleportation, illusion, manipulations of light, water and fire… I suppose we could count your ability to control fire as something caused by your dragon heritage, but the others…” Twilight trailed off. “Mental trauma can have a powerful effect on a unicorn’s magic. It can cause a unicorn to become unable to use magic, lead to discovering new types of magic, like, for instance, dark magic. However, I don’t think it alone could have caused you to become so… multi-talented. Could you-”
“I was enslaved, had a Control Glyph burned on my flank, and was forced to perform in a circus for about four years,” Starfall quickly replied, interrupting her. Ignoring the stares Starburst’s parents were giving him, he continued. “The more things I learned to do, the more I had to eat. Which still wasn’t much.”
“Holy…” Starburst’s dad started. He stopped and massaged his temple. “May I ask: why, in any point since you apparently started dating our daughter, had it never crossed your mind to report any of this?”
Starfall shrugged. “Because the last time I saw the owner of that circus, he was trapped in his worst nightmare, and seeing how the rest of the circus’ ‘staff’, whom I freed, weren’t exactly taken with him… Besides, the circus performed mostly in the Zebra Nation.”
Before Starburst could decide whether or not telling her parents about that was a good idea on Starfall’s part, she noticed her mother’s thoughtful expression. “So, aside from severe mental trauma, you’ve also had to grow in order to gain food...” she mused. “In other words, a life and death situation… plus, you’ve had a Control Glyph placed on you when you were how old?”
“Six,” Starfall replied. “Well, more like six and half if you want to be specific…”
He trailed off seeing Twilight’s sickened expression. “What kind of monster…” she muttered. “A Control Glyph causes a great strain on a developing body and mind. That’s why even those of the Zebra Tribes which condone placing Control Glyphs on others forbid using them on foals. I suppose this can explain how your magic is so developed,” Twilight added. “Although really, it’s a miracle that it hadn’t have negative effects on your body.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” Starfall said.
“However,” Twilight said, crushing Starburst’s hopes that this would finally end. “there’s something even more important we have to discuss. Your dark magic.”
“Ah, the big black elephant in the room,” Starfall sighed. “What about it? I already said I am sorry about what happened, and I know I have problems with sounding sincere while apologizing.”
“It’s not about that,” Flash Sentry interrupted him. “I already knew that you used dark magic back then because you were very afraid.”
“Not very afraid…” Starfall muttered under his breath, but Starburst paid him no attention, instead curious about something else.
“Speaking of, Dad, how come you could tell?”
“There was this unicorn that found King Sombra’s notes in the Crystal Empire about twenty years ago,” Flash replied. “I was part of the team that was sent after him, so I had some experience with dark magic. As we had you surrounded,” he continued, turning to Starfall, “when you conjured those chains, I realized that they were created by fear. And given how well you could control them and how strong they were, and knowing that none of my comrades were easy to scare, I know that they had to be formed from your own fear.”
Starburst was impressed; she had no idea that her father had previously fought with a pony that could use dark magic.
“Your control over it is impressive,” Twilight spoke up, “however, as I’m sure you’ve heard, dark magic is very corrupting to the user. The more it’s used, the greater the risk that it would affect a pony’s mind, making them use it more often, and since it is powered by fear, that pony could start harming other ponies...”
“Mom,” Starburst interrupted her, feeling she needed to defend her coltfriend, “Starfall wouldn’t-”
“I am not saying that he will start doing anything like that,” her mother quickly assured her. “However, it doesn’t change the fact that ponies might over time start feel uncomfortable around him, or even fear him. And seeing how, I assume, you plan to stick around Ponyville, this might be problematic.”
“This is not at all related to me dating your daughter?” Starfall asked, raising an eyebrow.
Starburst facehoofed. “Great way to bring that up again…”
“Actually, no,” Twilight replied, making both her and Starfall stare at her with surprise. “Whomever Starburst wants to date, it’s her business. I admit, I’m a bit surprised, but not dismayed.”
“Not even about the ‘I can use dark magic’ part?” the unicorn asked.
“I can use dark magic,” Twilight replied, shrugging.
Starfall opened his mouth, then closed it. It appeared that it had never crossed his mind that an alicorn princess can know how to use dark magic. He quickly shrugged it off, though.
“So, about making ponies more comfortable… what exactly do you want to do about it, Princess?”
“Considering you must think of dark magic as your last line of defense, you might not like this, but… I think it would be best if you could no longer use it.”
Well, this plan will go well… Starburst thought, knowing that Starfall will not like this.
“How?” Starfall asked, his voice neutral.
“I’ve noticed that you never take off your dream charm,” Twilight continued. “I wanted to cast a spell on it that would prevent you from using dark magic as long as you wear it. That way, if you were in some real danger, you could take it off and save yourself.”
“Sure, let’s do this.”
Starburst was almost certain that she had misheard him. She scratched her ear and looked at him, causing him to sigh seeing that.
“I am a bit paranoid, but if that’s the only way for others to be comfortable around me, I guess there’s no choice,” he said, shrugging. “Besides, unless there will always be an Anti-Teleportation Field around Ponyville-”
“Oh, this reminds me,” Twilight interrupted him, frowning. “I understand that you two are now dating, but I would prefer if you would remove your Polestar mark from Starburst.”
Starburst sighed. “That’s not how he got me out this morning,” she said, recalling that she had also thought about it earlier. “I inserted my magic into him, so he’s now a Polestar mark for me, and used this…” she trailed off, trying to remember how Starfall had explained it to her. “... this… magic wimey thingy…”
“Magic what?” Twilight repeated, tilting her head. “Magic wimey?”
Blushing, Starburst opened her mouth to explain, but then Starfall said, waving his hoof: “I have no idea where she picks this stuff up.”
She swatted him with her wing for that, causing the unicorn to chuckle. Her mother, in the meantime, tried to decipher what she had meant. “So…” Twilight said slowly, making them stop. “You reversed the polarity of the spell’s arcane flow?”
“Um…” Starfall mumbled, glancing at Starburst. If he had hoped that she understood any of that, she had to disappoint him. “Sure?”
“Hm…” Twilight mused. “Well, since removing Starburst’s magic from your body would be rather invasive, I guess there’s no helping it... but please don’t abuse it. Now, getting back to the issue with dark magic, can you give me that charm? I will cast the spell quickly.”
Starfall nodded, took of the beads he wore on his forehoof and passed them to her. Starburst’s mom closed her eyes, concentrating, and soon they levitated in the air as she cast a spell on it, making it shine brightly.
“Now,” Twilight said as she returned it to him, “since this spell is designed to stop you from using your own fear as magic, it can cause some short-lived side effects, like headache or nausea. If they last until tomorrow, please come back to me with it.”
“Okay,” Starfall shrugged nonchalantly, putting the charm back on his hoof, making Starburst wonder if he actually listened. The next second, though, he groaned and reached for his head.
“Headache?” Starburst asked.
“Kinda,” he replied, shaking his head. “It’s more like a quiet drumming in my head… But it’s nothing compared to how I had to sleep in a train cart.”
“Still, if that persists, please come to me,” Twilight asked, frowning slightly. “Okay then, I think that’s all… Flash, do you want to add something?”
“Yeah, don’t do anything that would make me want to kill you while in my house,” Flash told Starfall, although his calm face didn’t exactly match his words.
Too late for that, Starburst thought, thinking back to the previous morning.
“While we’re at it,” Twilight said, “may I ask where exactly are you staying, Starfall?”
“I usually sleep on trees or rooftops,” Starfall replied. “Although recently I’ve been fixing up those ruins in the forest. I mean, since nopony is using it…”
“Wait, are you talking about the Castle of the Royal Sisters?” Twilight asked, frowning.
“You call it the Castle of the Royal Sisters, I call it the Fortress of Starfallitude.”
His comment made both Starburst and Twilight stare at him, while Flash Sentry snorted with laughter. Twilight then glanced sharply at her husband. “What? It’s funny.”
Starburst watched her mom sigh, worried that she was going to have some objections to her coltfriend’s apparent current residency, but she merely shook her head. “Well, nopony is using it… anyway, it was a pleasure talking with you, Starfall. You are free to go. Starburst, after you see your coltfriend to the door, please come back here, I have something else to tell you.”
“What do you think your mom wants to talk about with you?” Starfall asked as they trotted through the hallways.
“I have no idea,” Starburst sighed. “I just hope it’s nothing embarrassing, I had enough of that.”
“Yeah. Not exactly how I imagined the end of our date. So… we’re still going on that camping trip?”
“Yes. If you still want to, that is,” she quickly added. “My cousin will be there, and although I will try to talk with him-”
Starfall chuckled, interrupting her. “Starburst, I can deal with your cousin. In fact, it would probably be better if you would not interfere; I would hate if you would argue with your family because of me.”
“So what, you want me to just stand on the sidelines if you two are on each other throats?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I’m not a fighter, so unless your cousin attacks me, that won’t happen,” Starfall assured her. “And he doesn’t exactly look like the type.”
Starburst, although reluctantly, nodded in agreement. She still didn’t like it, and made a mental note to talk with Valiant tomorrow. “How’s your head?” she asked, changing the subject.
“It’s good. Seriously, that drumming noise isn’t very loud; it resembles very loud heartbeat more than anything else.”
They had finally reached the door. “I’m surprised you’ve agreed to that,” Starburst said, opening them.
“It’s not like I like using the dark magic,” he replied, shrugging. “But you saw how I reacted when your cousin came closer to me; I acted on instinct. I think it will be better if I have this to stop me,” Starfall added, lifting this hoof with the beads.
Starburst briefly glanced at it. “Yeah… so, it’s been a really fun day,” she started, turning to Starfall, but a pair of lips interrupted her. “Didn’t you hear my dad?” Starburst asked a few seconds laters. smirking.
“Nope, that drumming was too loud,” he replied, sticking his tongue. “So, at what time-”
“Nine,” she quickly said. “We’re gathering at the road leading to Winsome Falls… besides, you can just teleport to me.”
“True,” he chuckled. “See you tomorrow,” Starfall said, turning to exit and walking away.
Despite how traumatic the last half an hour was, Starburst smiled as she watched him go.
Starburst noticed that something was amiss when she walked back to the living room. “Where’s Dad?” she asked, sitting before her mom.
“Oh, he wouldn’t want to hear this,” Twilight told her. “So,” she smirked, “tell me about your date.”
Starburst’s jaw dropped. “M-mom!”
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Clearly these two will have to settle their differences in the most brutal, over-the-top fashion imaginable...
...
Rap Battle!
twilight must have thought starburst was going to get some love.
if you know what i mean
So... when can we expect a wedding and a foal? I call 5 years from now
this looks a little grammatically incorrect, to me anyway. I would suggest you turn "liked" to 'like' in this sentence.
I noticed a few other errors like saying "no much for an alicorn" I'm pretty sure you meant to say 'no match for an alicorn', it's always a good idea to look over your work before hitting the submit button.
That moment when things turn out better than you thought.
Oh, and that bit with the condoms made me chuckle quite a bit.
Awesome chapter. It was nice to see Starbust stand up for Starfall and I got to say that Starfall and Valiant's interaction was intense, especially with how they insulted their fathers. The dinner with Twilight and Flash was funny, as I really liked the part where those two were awkward around Starburst due to the condoms and the way Starfall made Fash laugh with a bad pun, much to Twilight's annoyance. The ending if the chapter was funny as Twilight will make Starburst uncomfortable by revealing how her date went. This chapter was well worth the wait.
I'm surprised Discord hasn't shown up to embarrass everyone-pony,
Wow. Annie's not even in this chapter, and she still manages to mortify us all. That's talent right there.
Ah the ending!
lol. That was great.
“Oh, he wouldn’t want to hear this,” Twilight told her. “So,” she smirked, “tell me about your date.”
Starburst’s jaw dropped. “M-mom!”
5647625 As to who all those others are take a look at Kilala's gallery
5648304
I think story-wise he's still going through a mid-life crisis or something right now. Think that was explained in the first story early on. Something about driving out of this dimension on a motorcycle or something like that.
So Flash and Starfall have a similar sense of humor. That's a good thing... I think. Looking forward to the camping trip!
5648682 Must have forgot.
This was an awesome and great chapter. I loved the little throw down between Lance and Star. I can't wait to see if this will happen again during the camping trip. Good luck with the next chapter. Thanks for the update.
I'm concerned that he's hearing drums. That's not a good sign.
OMG! Who's the father! I can't stand the suspense of not knowing!
You totally need to make a chapter dedicated to Starburst telling her mom about the date.
5648017 A rap battle? You know what? EXCELENT IDEA.
5648304 We will have Ilusion to do that.
Well, thank goodness that the discuss between Starburst, her coltfriend, and her parents was a pleasant and peaceable one.
(gasp)
(Gasp!)
(GASP!)
So...many...DW references.
Congratulations. You pass the official test of the Doctor Whooves Fanfiction Association. Welcome. Here is your screwdriver and TARDIS key. Would you like a Jelly Baby, or perhaps some Jammy Dodgers? Would you like a cup of tea? We have hourglass decals if you would like, and mouth-held screwdrivers. Please, enjoy your stay on the S.S. Ditzy Doo.
5648413
That's because Annie's a badass.
Uh oh. Taptaptaptap, taptaptaptap, taptaptaptap.
5650310 Your youtube video isn't there. Did you type it in right?
I saw this update yesterday. I went through a whole day of work and remembered this on my way home.
SO. FLIPPIN. WORTH IT!!!!!!
Fun conversation once they got to Starburst's parents. Non-permanently sealing away Starfall's dark magic is a really good plan.
I just realized something. Flash said that about 20 years early he and a team went after a unicorn who had found King Sombra's notes. He didn't really say what happened to that unicorn. So, there's a chance that the unicorn Flash went after is Starfall's father!
Oh, and you should include something like this when they're on their camping trip:
5650878
I'm not entirely sure. That happens with a lot of people. Sometimes the page url is required, and other times the video's url is required. I just copied the link from the one you use to share with people, since that normally works, but I guess it didn't. The website's been doing that even before the update.
5650844
Exactly, my good friend Kirito!
*inner Doctor Who fanexplosion imminent*
Great chapter, as always!
How insane is Starfall? Is he like Jack Nicholson Joker insane or more as Heath Ledger Joker insane?
5655789 I think its a bit more Ledger. He's mental, but it doesn't get in the way of his basic logic and actions, more supplement's them.
5654835
And the joke just keeps on going. And going, and going.
dddd dddd dddd dddd dddd dddd
5661392 if he starts calling him self "The Master Trickster" I'm done
Fun chapter!
All of the doctor who references.
You still havent't finished this story?.
~Azalea
If
So what exactly did happen to Trixie?
I see you just released a chapter of Rebirth of the Damned, so does that mean you're now writing this next chapter or will it be something else?
5728361 According to my unofficial schedule (which I already had to slightly modify), the next chapter will be for Project Eclipse, then Rebirth of the Damned, THEN Stars in the Making, then Rebirth, then FoE - Infinite Potential, then Stars, then Rebirth, and over and over.
Well, that went fairly well for a first date. Now I can't wait for the shenanigans that are sure to ensue during this camping trip.
Is it odd that I hear Scott Menville's Robin whenever Starfall speaks & hear Tara Strong's Raven when Starburst speaks?
I really like the idea that Flash and Fall would become huge bros, and Twilight and Burst would just roll their eyes at their significant others like, 'Colts....'
Beautiful! Love it! Hoping for a quick update :)
This story is so freaking AWESOME!!!!
How violent can Starfall get when he is in wacky mode?
The Fortress of Starfallitude is a much better name.
5652808 omfg that's adorable
Great chapter!