6 - Prime Time
Chapter 6: Prime Time
Twilight shrugged on the coat and opened the door. Quickly, she dodged the hoof just as it were about to crash into the wooden portal. Not expecting the lack of resistance, Lady Lily overshot and almost collapsed on the floor beside Twilight.
The noblemare shot Twilight a seething glare that could have melted steel.
“How dare— Wait, who are you?”
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted when Star Swirl popped up beside her.
“Clover!” he exclaimed, pushing his way to the front. “And you better be thankful to her, she changed my mind.”
Lady Lily looked like she had a lot to say about the sudden turnaround. She looked like she had a dozen questions about Twilight, but she visibly stifled them. Evidently there was something more important to her than her curiosity.
“Star Swirl,” she said with a mite more deference than moments ago. “I require your assistance.”
Though he had told Twilight he had resolved to help her, his reluctant stance underscored his apprehension. Lady Lily hurried on, perhaps in fear of losing his support once again.
“It’s our family,” she began.
Star Swirl rolled his eyes.
“Oh here we go again,” he muttered. He made to turn around, but Twilight’s hoof shot out, blocking Star Swirl’s retreat.
“Let’s hear her out,” Twilight said, fixing him with a stare. “Don’t judge too quickly.”
Lady Lily glanced at Twilight briefly, giving her a shallow nod in gratitude.
“Please Star Swirl, there’s trouble in the family, it’s about Aurum.”
“The wimpy unapt?” Star Swirl raised an eyebrow.
Lady Lily frowned. “You shouldn’t talk about my brother like that.”
Twilight blinked. “I fail to see what the problem is.”
The noblemare gestured to one of her guards. A severe looking stallion withdrew a laced handkerchief from a recess in his breastplate and placed it on her outstretched hoof. Lady Lily dabbed at her forehead lightly and sighed dramatically.
“Well you see Aurum is the heir to our estate…” Lady Lily trailed off, glancing meaningfully at Star Swirl. Twilight glanced between them.
“And that’s a problem because…?” Twilight prompted, feeling more and more confused by the moment.
“Have you been living under a rock?” Lady Lily sniffed. “The estate cannot be inherited by me.”
Twilight shrugged. “Why not?”
Lady Lily’s nostrils flared. She pressed her lips so tight together, Twilight was afraid they’d just fall off altogether. She looked like she wanted to say a lot of choice words, but instead she took a deep breath and addressed Twilight directly for the first time in the conversation.
“Because, ignorant one, I am not a direct descendent.”
Twilight frowned. “But you said you were siblings—“
“—Half-siblings,” she muttered, looking away. “Half.”
It took a few moments for the implications to sink in for Twilight, but when they did, she had to consciously school her features. A quick glance, Star Swirl’s way confirmed that he already knew this fact. Twilight gulped, hoping that the sound wasn’t audible.
Star Swirl frowned. “Are you suggesting that I somehow make your brother worthy of being a successor?” His face darkened. “I don’t see how this requires my specific help.”
Lady Lily gaped at Star Swirl. “Surely you know something,” she spluttered. “You’re a Court magician! I saw you performing for the Court!”
Star Swirl sighed, suddenly, he looked much older than he was. “That was some time ago. I don’t want to be caught up in the same trappings again. I came out here to be left alone with some peace and solitude. Somewhere away from the castle.” He pursed his lips as his brows drew together in thought. “There are other Court magicians you can rely on, why don’t you ask them?”
Lady Lily bit her lip. “I can’t.”
“What?”
“I can’t,” she repeated. “I– I just can’t.”
“Star Swirl,” Twilight said gently. “Step back a bit.”
Though venting a snort, Star Swirl reluctantly stepped back and gave Twilight a cautious nod.
Twilight addressed Lady Lily gently.
“Why don’t you tell me about it?” Twilight spoke in a low voice.
The unicorn bit her lip again. “It’s complicated. I can’t take control of the estate.”
Twilight nodded. “Why don’t you explain it best you can and we’ll see if we can help you out?”
Lady Lily glanced around herself and then confided in Twilight, her mouth scant inches from her ears.
“I’m… I’m not pure of blood.”
Twilight blinked at Lady Lily. “What?”
The mare flushed a deep red. “I’m part-Earth, okay? Now can you see?”
Twilight frowned. “I… Wait, let me speak to Star Swirl.”
Star Swirl was looking into the distance with a brooding expression. As Twilight neared, he turned around and appraised her for a moment before addressing her.
“So? What did she say?”
Twilight hesitated. “She said that she wasn’t of pure blood.”
Star Swirl grunted, his eyebrows drawing close and coupled together with a fearsome frown. Twilight waited patiently as the unicorn paced around a few steps.
“Alright,” he said finally. “I will help her.”
Twilight smiled.
“That’s great. Are you going to teach her brother?”
Star Swirl chuckled. “Him? No a chance. Our dear Lady Lily will be the successor.”
Twilight watched the interesting double-take as Lady Lily nodded, only to stare at Star Swirl with her mouth open. Twilight burned the image to her mind, she had a feeling that it would be something good to laugh at later on.
“No, wait, I’ve told you the reason why I cannot succeed the estate!” she cried.
Star Swirl shook his head impatiently.
“Don’t care,” he replied, then he turned to Twilight.
“So, does that satisfy you?” he said.
If Star Swirl was surprised by the genial nod that Twilight gave back to him, he didn’t show it.
“Alright,” he said. “That settles it. Let’s go to your estate, and we’ll begin immediately.”
“Wha— No! You must teach Paddy!”
Star Swirl raised an eyebrow. “There’s no ‘must’ with me. Be grateful I’m helping you at all!” Star Swirl shouldered past the confused guards, leaving Lady Lily spluttering by herself. She watched as Twilight gave her a cross between a bow and a nod, then she followed Star Swirl.
Twilight grinned, as she set out in Star Swirl’s hoof steps.
This is great, she thought. I think this will work out.
“Hey, can somepony tell me where we’re going?” Star Swirl called back.
Then again with Star Swirl, maybe not.
————
On the way to Lady Lily’s estate, Twilight picked up her pace to walk side-by-side to Star Swirl.
“How far is it to her estate?”
Star Swirl pursed his lips, then pointed behind himself. “Lady Lily tells me it is somewhere between the capital and Lookout ridge. That puts us about a half a day away.” He shrugged. “Pretty close on hoof.”
Twilight gaped at the nonchalant unicorn. Half a day?! He said it so casually!
“That’s… that’s twelve hours! How are we supposed to trot that far?!” Twilight bit her lip. “Can’t we just teleport?”
Star Swirl frowned at her.
“What’s a ‘teleport’?”
Twilight started guiltily. “Uhh…” Should she reveal that piece of knowledge? What would be the effect of that on the timeline? She shook her head. “Never mind,” she said. “It’s… something from where I came from.” She groaned, thinking about all the conveniences she was used to in modern Equestria. “Let’s get going,” she muttered, going into a light canter. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can get back to my saddlebags.” The bags would be ruined, no doubt, and they were new ones! At least the Stitch In Time would protect its contents, it was designed to hold back a temporal singularity at the very least. Otherwise, its contents would be beyond dangerous…
————
Pegasi swarmed the area, thrashing the foliage with hoof-held spears and combing the area with keen eyes.
“C-Commander Hurricane!”
The stoutly built mare turned her head slowly to greet her subordinate. Though not lacking in physical prowess, this soldier was lacking in attitude and mental fortitude.
“What is it, Private Pansy?”
At the Commander’s growl, Private Pansy nervously shifted on her hooves, a fact that Hurricane found detestable.
Pansy forged ahead, knowing that the Commander disliked hesitation even more.
“W-We’ve found something in the mud pool.”
The Commander finally noticed that Pansy was covered head to hoof with mud. They were all grimy with the recent raid on the earth settlements, so the extra layer of mud barely registered among all the filth. She nodded approvingly though, grit built character, and you can never have too much of that.
“Show me,” Hurricane ordered imperiously.
Pansy dragged forward an unrecognisable lump. At first she thought that Pansy had brought forth some useless pile of junk, but upon closer inspection there was a splotch of out-of-place purple among the brown. Reaching forward, Hurricane wiped the mud away to reveal an unfamiliar crest. A twelve-pointed magenta star surrounded by five other six-pointed stars.
“Saddlebags,” Hurricane rumbled. She quickly flipped over the covers to reveal the contents of the bag. “Books, writing implements, a scholar, huh? What’s this—“ With an ear-splitting crack and a loud retort, Hurricane whiplashed her hoof from the bag and yelled a few curse words that shouldn’t bear repeating.
“Unicorn magic,” Hurricane hissed through clenched teeth. “I’ll bet my wings on it.”
Pansy glanced around, as if expecting unicorns to leap from the bushes themselves.
“Shall we dispose of it, ma’am?”
Commander Hurricane waved a dismissive hoof.
“No,” she growled. “This must be an important artefact if the unicorns went to such lengths to protect it. Wrap it up in its own saddlecloth and clean it out. We’re taking it back home.”
Pansy hesitated, afraid to touch the bag that had made the tough Commander swear so rudely. She stared at the bag as if it were going to leap at her and devour her alive.
“Now, Private!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
1,017 users online
171,249 hits today, 2,205,040 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.®
Wait why would they check in the mud pool?
6206974 It's not mentioned here, but the filly alerted the pegasi to the 'monster' in the mud pool. Makes sense to check the pool and the surroundings. I should have probably mentioned that explicitly, but I was in a rush.
Yay! A wild update appears! Thanks
Stitch In Time. I see what you did there.
Great chapter can't wait fore more
So a bunch of meat heads found Twilight's saddlebags and decided to poke at the shiny thing? Great. Just great.
I would be interested in pre-reading for you if you have the stuff in a google doc i can work with or something like that?
6208746 Thanks! I can give you access if you send me a PM with your google email!
i like the little detail of making Hurricane a female, not that i have read a lot of histories similar to this but whatevs
i just found this recently and i'm lovin' it
insta fav btw
I like it, please can we have s'more?
Oh I see where this is going... very Clever