My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship

by Danieru

78. Ghosts, Wizards & Witches - Part 1

In a small town in Equestria...

If there was one pony that could be described with the word mysterious, then it would be the Unicorn in the gray hood who kept traveling through Equestria...Summershine.

Traveling from one town to another, this pony didn't stop to gather any information that could help him to find a certain pony. At least that's what he told the Great and Powerful Trixie who he met a little while ago in another town. Who this pony was or why Summershine set out to find this pony was still unknown, just like the reason why he knows Star Twinkle and why he claims to be his best friend even though Star Twinkle said that he never had a friend before in his life before he met Twilight and the others. He had a chance to meet Star Twinkle back then when he helped to fight against Fade and the rest of the Outcasts but he decided to leave without them knowing that he was even there.

The reason for his actions, as well as his motives, were a complete mystery and no one can probably tell what he was about to do next.

But right now...It was fairly obvious what he was after, judging from how he was walking through the middle streets of a small town with sweat coming down from his face and his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"Water...Food..." he said while he walked like as if he was about to collapse any second. He slowly dragged his body behind him. "Why is it so hot now out of all days? I didn't even notice how I was out of food...and why did I have to lose my water bottle in a moment like this?" The stallion complained.

Of course, this behavior was not unnoticed by everypony around him but all they did was looking at him as if he was some kind of weirdo. Before he knew it, Summershine dropped face-first to the ground and prepared himself to dehydrate and starve at the spot. It was moments like this where he regret having to wander through Equestria without having any bits with him. He could have easily stolen something in this town but of course, he was not like that, something that he also started to regret right now.

After "resting" a little bit on the ground he eventually, decided to get up again, even though it was really exhausting to just do that. There were still things for him to do after all.

"Maybe I find a river if I leave town or something like that..." he said to himself to keep a positive attitude and ignore the situation that he was in now.

After getting up on his hooves again, however, Summershine noticed how there was a water bottle and some apples lying on the ground right next to his hooves. First, he thought he was starting to hallucinate but he was actually able to levitate the bottle off from the ground with his magic so it was most definitely real. Before he could ask himself where all this stuff came from, the answer came from somepony he just now noticed was standing next to him. "You look as if you could use some water," the Earth Pony stallion said with a grin on his face.

It was as if Princess Celestia heard Summershine's prayers and send somepony to save him in his time in need. Summershine started to have tears running down his face out of pure joy. "Thank you!" He said in a shaking voice before he opened the bottle to take a sip of this water.

The Earth Pony stallion began to laugh after seeing how Summershine almost drank the whole bottle in one go. "You are traveling through Equestria, right?" He asked with an amused look on his face.

Summershine stopped drinking for a moment. "How do you know?" He asked before he quickly returned to drink some water again and took a bite from one of the apples.

"I saw you before, In the last town that I visited. If I remember correctly, you were in a similar state back there as well," he said amused.

Summershine's eye twitched. "Wow...I'm really bad at this whole traveling thing..." he thought after pretty much getting confirmation that he should prepare himself a little more before leaves this town.

"I'm a traveling sales-pony so I'm always visiting other towns and cities. I know how hard it can be to be alone most of the time so I just felt like helping you out in your time in need," the stallion explained, still with this amused look on his face. "But please make sure to prepare yourself before you go out traveling around Equestria," he advised.

Summershine chuckled. "Yeah. I'll do that," he said while feeling a little embarrassed about the whole situation now.

The stallion sat right next to Summershine while he watched him eating the last apples and drinking the last drops from the water bottle. "Do you mind me asking why you are wandering from one town to another?" The stallion asked out of curiosity.

"I'm looking for somepony," Summershine briefly replied.

"A friend?" The stallion asked further. Summershine didn't answer and avoided eye contact after this question. The stallion noticed that and quickly backed off with the questions. "Hey, don't worry, you don't have to tell me! I was just curious,"

"No. Don't worry about it," Summershine assured before he got back on his hooves again, "Thanks for the water," he said before he bowed in gratitude in front of the stallion. "I need to be on my way again," he said before turned around and walked away again.

The stallion got back on his hooves as well. "I hope you find the pony that you are looking for!" He said as he said his farewell to Summershine.

"Yes...me too..." Summershine mumbled under his breath as he walked on the road of the town.

Summershine didn't feel like getting anypony involved with his search. Whenever he asked for information about the pony he was looking for, he would always keep it a secret who exactly this pony was. This might could have been a reason why he couldn't find the pony so far but he still wanted to keep it that way. He felt as if it was his problem so the only one who could deal with it was him.

"Now...where to go next? I didn't find out anything here. What's the closest town from here?" He mumbled to himself.

As he was almost out of town, he accidentally overheard a conversation that two stallions had nearby.

"Hey, did you hear? They spotted this ghost again!" An Earth Pony stallion mentioned.

"Oh, don't start with that again! Will you stop trying to convince me that you actually saw a ghost?" A Unicorn stallion replied who seemed to be heavily annoyed by his friend's words.

Summershine chuckled a little after hearing those two talking about ghosts. He was sure that they didn't exist and the simple thought that somepony saw one only amused him so he decided to continue on his way. But the next sentences quickly got his attention again and he stopped in his track.

"But I'm telling you! There is this Unicorn that keeps walking inside of this cave outside of town! But in the cave, there is only a dead-end! So where did it go? Through the wall of course!" The Earth Pony stallion said in a stressed tone.

"Yes but last time, you said that the Unicorn is supposed to have a red coat! And as far as I know, a ghost is supposed to be see-through or maybe white," The Unicorn replied annoyed. "You know...if they exist!"

"Well, his mane was white..." The Earth Pony stallion said in his defense.

"That's not the point! The point is...uh..." The Unicorn said before he stopped in mid-sentence as soon as he noticed how Summershine was standing in front of both of them all of the sudden. They both didn't know him so of course, his sudden appearance confused them. "Can we help you?" The Unicorn then asked out of confusion.

Summershine quickly cut to the point. "This Unicorn that you mentioned...where can I find it?" He asked in a serious tone.

"You are seriously believing what my friend is saying?" The Unicorn asked.

"See! I told you ghosts are real!" The Earth Pony stallion exclaimed.

Whatever the reason for Summershine was, the Unicorn quickly saw an opportunity. "What's that information worth for you?" He asked with a smug smile on his face.

But Summershine didn't have time for this and used his magic to drag the Unicorn close to his face while staring right into his eyes. "Where. Can I. Find. That. Unicorn?" Summershine asked in a very serious tone to indicate that he was not playing around when it came to that information.

Of course, the Unicorn couldn't free himself from Summershine's grip and looked over to his friend who was standing there and watched in shock. "Go! Tell him!" He said to him so that he could be freed again.

Even though the Earth Pony stallion first warned Summershine about the ghost, Summershine demanded to know where he could find this ghost once more and after getting an answer for that, the stallion quickly set out and left the town to get where this cave was...

"It better be him...It has to be him..." he said as he left the town with a determined expression on his face.

In the meantime...

The Star Swirl the Bearded Traveling Museum...

It was dedicated to the most important conjurer of the pre-classical era, Star Swirl the Bearded. Visiting a museum like that is without a doubt something that no fan of this pony would like to miss.

Only a little while ago, the museum was at Ponyville and Twilight was visiting it along with her sister in law, Princess Cadance who had the rare chance to visit Twilight. They originally planned to visit another traveling museum but as expected, Princess Cadance was too busy to attend this visit so Twilight asked Star Twinkle to join her instead. Knowing her, Star Twinkle figured that she already had so many things planned for her and Cadance to do on this trip and in order for her plans to not get ruined, Star Twinkle decided to join this trip. Either that or nopony else had the time or was interested in this museum.

The two of them were already arriving at the museum. This time, it was held in the small town of Appleloosa. Star Twinkle just remembered it like it was yesterday when he and his friends were helping out the ponies and the buffalo to get along in these parts of Equestria. There were actually a few buffalo wandering around the town, talking or working with ponies without a single sign of them being enemies before. This only meant that things were still looking good between the two races.

"Looks like as if everyone gets along," Twilight said as if she had read Star Twinkle's mind just now.

"Yep. I wonder if we run into Applejack's cousin Braeburn so that he can tell us how things are going..." Star Twinkle said as he walked beside Twilight.

"Maybe," Twilight replied.

Of course, they did not come here to deal with another problem that might or might not be present now. It didn't take long until they both arrived a the spot where the museum was held at. There were tents, shops and all kinds of banners scattered all over the place and many ponies were gathering there, some of them wearing a costume of Star Swirl the Bearded.

The exact same costume that Twilight was wearing right now...

"Now I see why you wanted to wear this costume again...you totally blend into this crowd!" Star Twinkle said as he looked around the place.

Twilight raised her head and smiled widely. "Not such a weird costume anymore, right?" She said, probably referring to how her costume was not even recognized the last time Star Twinkle saw her in it.

"I guess..." Star Twinkle said. It felt kinda weird. For some reason now, it felt as if he was not fitting in this place with all those bearded, hat and cape-wearing ponies. In fact, he was probably the one who stood out the most. Something that he would like to avoid actually. But he tried to not worry about it and just went along with what Twilight had planned.

"So, you said you have plans for this day?" Star Twinkle asked.

"Right!" Twilight replied before she used her magic to summon a scroll in front of her from which she read out loud shortly after. What followed was a detailed plan on where to go first or what tent to visit first. Of course, it all had to be in a specific order or else everything would be ruined. As Twilight ran down her list, it was always something like "The magical artifact that Star Swirl used for...". Star Twinkle was highly confused by just listening at all this and didn't even understand most of it but he kept nodding and smiling since Twilight seemed to have so much fun talking about all this stuff. Also, even if he would have asked any questions, he doubted that he would understand the answer.

"Everything clear?" Twilight then asked after she was finally done with what felt like an eternity long explanation.

"I wish..." Star Twinkle replied. He could honestly say that he had not a single clue about anything at this very moment.

Even though Star Twinkle tried his best to not show it, Twilight noticed that he must feel a little out of place and maybe even bothered by all this. "This is probably all really boring for you..." Twilight said with a frown on her face while she put away the scroll.

"No, no!" Star Twinkle said, trying to convince Twilight that it wasn't so bad for him. "I mean...yes this is probably not the first place where I wanted to be but...I'm here because I'm your friend and because I want you to have a good time so that's enough for me," he explained. He was surprised to hear something selfless like this coming out of his own mouth but it seemed to make Twilight feel happy again.

"Thank you, Star Twinkle. I knew that I could count on you," she said happily.

Sometimes friends need to do things for another friend just so that they can be happy. Sometimes they even need to do things that they normally wouldn't do, like this trip for example. Star Twinkle learned this lesson very early after he met Twilight and the others. Going on parties, helping out in Carousel Boutique, spending time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders so that they could find their Cutie Marks, traveling to all kinds of places for multiple reasons...all those things that Star Twinkle would have never done if he was still alone. There were times where he was sick of all these changes. There were times where he wished to return to his more predictable life. But he also liked spending time with all his new friends even if it meant to do all these new things.

And now he reached the point of saying that he liked this change in his life. Maybe while he will accompany Twilight, he will complain every now and then, like he usually does, but at the end of the day, he could look back and say that this day was fun because he could spend it with Twilight who was definitely having fun on this trip.

He wished that he had said all of this out loud. Twilight would have been really happy to hear that, he was sure of that. But there was still a museum to visit so they started to look at everything that they could find. "How about you lead the way?" Star Twinkle said. "You're the expert after all," he added, while cleverly hiding his unawareness of where to go.

He had no idea if it worked but Twilight agreed and led the way. "Right! Let's go!" She then said before she walked to the first tent with Star Twinkle right behind her.

A little later...

The two ponies walked around the museum for around an hour, looking at every piece that was presented for the visitors and inspecting every artifact. As a big fan of Star Swirl, Twilight had, of course, a story ready for every single object that she gladly shared with Star Twinkle. Some of them actually sounded pretty entertaining. But that was to be expected by one of the most popular ponies in Equestrian history. The stories definitely lived up to his name.

But after spending a while walking around town, the two decided to take a short break so that they could sit down and relax for a moment. It almost seemed as if Twilight was even more exhausted by all this because she was explaining so much to Star Twinkle. The stallion noticed that as well. "I guess, that's the curse that you get for having too much knowledge," he jokingly said.

Twilight chuckled embarrassed and rubbed her neck. "Maybe I got carried a little away by explaining a few things," she said while she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment.

"Let me guess...you got all this information from your books, right?" Star Twinkle asked.

Twilight nodded and explained. "Yep. I started to read books about Star Swirl all then way back when I was a student under Princess Celestia. I was interested in magic, as you already know, and the stories about his tales helped me to understand magic even better. Not to mention that they were also very interesting," she said as she literally remembered back the times when she was little. "I remembered Princess Celestia speaking about him from time to time. She met him in person, after all, one thousand years ago," she said as she looked up to the sky in nostalgia.

"So he is like an idol for you?" Star Twinkle asked.

"Well...out of my three favorite unicorns in history, he would be my favorite," Twilight replied with a smile on her face.

"Three? So there are more ponies like Star Swirl?" Star Twinkle asked.

Twilight explained. "The thing is, while I was a student under Princess Celestia, I obviously needed to know as much as possible when it came to magic. Princess Celestia ended up telling me stories about Unicorns who were pretty gifted in magic as well. Three of them became my favorites and Star Swirl is one of them,"

Now, Star Twinkle had to admit that he got a little curious. "And who are the other two?" He asked.

Twilight almost looked as if she wanted Star Twinkle to say this and got excited that she could explain some more and started with another pony that she admired. "The second Unicorn is none other than, Sun Swirl!" She said as if she expected Star Twinkle to jump in excitement.

But of course, he didn't. But after he heard the name, there was one thing that he noticed. "Sun Swirl? You mean like in Star Swirl?" He guessed.

"Yep," Twilight replied as if she was proud of Star Twinkle to notice. "It may be a coincidence because it has not been proved but some ponies assume that Sun Swirl is a far decedent of Star Swirl. He lived around a few hundred years ago and was said to be one of the most gifted ponies when it came to magic. It is said that his magic was so effective that his horn didn't even glow whenever he used a spell,"

Star Twinkle just assumed that the last information was a really impressive feat. Either that, or it was somepony who just pretended to use magic if his horn wasn't glowing. Twilight clearly enjoyed sharing all this information with him so he asked her to continue. "And the last one?"

Twilight seemed to hesitate to talk about the last one. "The last one is a little embarrassing to tell you..." she said with an embarrassed smile on her face.

"Why is that?" Star Twinkle asked confused.

"Because it's a fictional Unicorn," she briefly replied.

"Fictional?" Star Twinkle asked.

Despite her being a little embarrassed to tell the story, Twilight explained. "You know those kinds of stories that adults tell you just to scare you? If you don't behave or do something bad?" She asked to which Star Twinkle nodded in response. "Well, back then, when I went to Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, ponies who didn't behave would have to listen to a certain story about a certain Unicorn," she said in an overly dramatic tone as if she tried to build suspense. "The Witch of Equestria!"

"The...Witch of Equestria?" Star Twinkle asked confused.

Again, Twilight tried to build suspense and told the story in an overly dramatic voice. "It is said that if you don't behave and do bad things or don't listen to your parents, then the Witch of Equestria will come! She will come and take you away and raise you as her own child. And you don't want to be the child of the Evil Witch! Because when she is done with raising you...then she will use a spell to make you vanish and looks for another bad pony to raise as her own!" She said with a flashlight under her face to increase the dramatic effect.

But Star Twinkle was not affected by this "scary mood" one bit. "They tell you stories like that as a filly?" He then asked, feeling it rather extreme to tell a filly such a scary story.

Twilight seemed a little sad that her dramatic setup didn't work but she explained further. "Princess Celestia did. It is really hard to get into her school and if she felt like as if somepony was misbehaving then she would tell this story. You won't believe it but Princess Celestia can be a very strict teacher," she explained almost proudly as one of her students.

"Obviously, if she tells young fillies stories like that..." Star Twinkle thought. "But I still don't get why you are so interested in this Witch of Equestria..." he then asked.

"I think what fascinated me was that Princess Celestia claimed that even if fillies were taken away by the Witch, that not even she could do anything to save them," Twilight explained.

"Of course she would say that or else they would not have taken this story seriously..." Star Twinkle figured.

Twilight laughed a little after she heard this. "And I happen to be one of them. Just hearing Princess Celestia talking about what this witch was capable of was enough to get my attention. I mean, can you imagine how shocked I was as a filly to hear that there was a pony out there that was more powerful then Princess Celestia? Unfortunately, I could never find any information about this pony which only proves that it was only made up by Princess Celestia in order to scare us," she said in disappointment.

For a made-up story, it was rather scary. At least that's what Star Twinkle thought about it. Still, if it was only more reason for Twilight to improve her magic back in the day, then it certainly helped to hear it as a filly.

After they finished talking a bit more about this story, Star Twinkle's belly was growling a little which caused his to grin in embarrassment since it was loud enough so that literally everyone who was close enough could hear it. "Looks like I'm a little hungry..." he said.

Twilight chuckled. "I think there was a tent with some sweets that we walked past before," Twilight said which Star Twinkle remembered as well. "Let's go back and grab something to eat," she then suggested, much to Star Twinkle's relief who could use something to bite on. "We still have some time to spare after all," she assured.

They both walked back a little and were close to where the food tent was, that Twilight mentioned but on their way, they noticed how a bunch of ponies was running past them in excitement. Curious about why that was the case, Twilight asked one of the ponies that were walking past them.

"Didn't you hear!?" The pony that Twilight asked replied. "They decided to show the presentation of Star Swirl now!"

"What!?" Twilight exclaimed confused. "I thought that it was supposed to be in an hour!" She asked. She must have known what this pony was talking about, judging from her reaction. According to Twilight, it was a presentation that would cover some facts and stories and showcase some of the objects that he used in his adventures. Twilight also said that she was really looking forward to it and didn't want to miss it. She looked over to Star Twinkle and remembered that they were on the way to the completely other direction, which would mean that they would only lose more time if they continued. She was also aware that she couldn't just drag Star Twinkle with her, making him starve while he was watching this, at least one-hour long presentation.

Star Twinkle noticed how Twilight was slowly freaking out about all this. Not only did this change ruin her perfectly planned trip but she also didn't know if she should think about her friend or this presentation. She knew that a friend was way more important of course, but she was also really excited about this presentation and didn't want to miss it.

"Just go," Star Twinkle said out of the blue, much to Twilight's confusion. "You really want to see this presentation don't you?"

"I do...but I can't just leave you because of that..." she said, feeling bad that Star Twinkle even suggested something like that.

Star Twinkle smiled after hearing that. He really felt happy that Twilight was thinking about him first. "Twilight, don't worry about me. I'll go and grab something to eat and join you as soon as possible. Unlike this museum, you can see me every day so don't let this opportunity slip away," he said.

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. Star Twinkle nodded with a smile on his face, feeling not left alone at all as Twilight thought. Soon, Twilight also formed a smile on her face and hugged Star Twinkle. "You're the best friend a pony can ever have, Star Twinkle," she said before she turned around to join the herd of ponies who were running to where the presentation was held.

Star Twinkle completely understood how important this all was for Twilight so he was not holding a grudge against her for wanting to see this presentation. After all, he said before that he was there so that Twilight could have some fun and it was not as if he was missing anything since he would join Twilight after he got something to eat.

After a short while, Star Twinkle arrived at the tent that Twilight was talking about and scanned his eyes through what was there to offer. He quickly fell in love with a caramel apple sitting a little further in the back. Judging from some of the posters above the tent, they seem to be very popular at this museum so Star Twinkle thought about getting one. However, he decided to buy two, one for him and one for Twilight. "She probably is hungry too..." Star Twinkle figured.

Star Twinkle threw some bits on the table and the sales pony gave him the two apples. "You're lucky, those are the last two," he explained before he gave them to Star Twinkle.

Star Twinkle took both of them, one of them, he immediately stuck his teeth into out of hunger. "Thanks," he said before he left again. The apple was really sweet and, not to mention tasty. "Let's just hope Twilight likes this one as well..." he said, hoping that Twilight would appreciate it.

Then suddenly, a voice could be heard behind him. "What do you mean, there are no left!?" A female voice said in frustration.

Star Twinkle, turned around and wondered what this was about and turned around to see a mare, wearing a Star Swirl the Bearded costume and talking to the sale pony. "I'm sorry, miss but I just sold the last of them. Can I give you something else maybe?" The sales pony asked.

The mare was dropping her head on the table in frustration and sadness. "I was looking forward to one of those sweet caramel apples..." she said with a frown on her face and a shaking voice that sounded as if she was about to cry now. She then turned around and walked away in the opposite direction with her head looking at the ground while she was leaving.

Star Twinkle felt like that her reaction was a little too over-exaggerated at first but then he remembered Twilight a little while ago and he almost understood it. He looked at the one untouched caramel apple and then over to the mare. "Well, I didn't really say that I would bring something for Twilight so..." he said to himself so that he could find a reason to do something unusual nice. He walked over to the depressed mare and held the caramel apple right in front of her, causing her to stop and turn to the pony who was presenting it to her. "Here," Star Twinkle simply said.

Under her Star Swirl costume, which consisted of the hat, the cape, and the long beard, the mare had a white coat, a long white and almost silver colored mane and light green eyes who kept looking back and forth between the caramel apple and Star Twinkle. The mare didn't seem to understand what was happening now. "A caramel apple?" She asked confused as if she demanded an explanation.

"You wanted one didn't you?" Star Twinkle asked.

"But where did you get that from? I thought there were none left," the mare asked confused.

"Yeah because I bought the last two. This one was originally for a friend but you can have it," Star Twinkle said.

The mare reacted in surprise after hearing that. "But if it is for someone else, then I can't take it!" She said even though she still fixated her eyes on this apple, that Star Twinkle was holding in his hoof.

Star Twinkle wished that this mare would just take the caramel apple so that this awkward situation could end. "Do you want it now or not?" He said, giving her one last chance to decide now so that he could either give it to her or leave.

The mare felt a little pressured now but she gave a quick answer. "Yes!" She said before she revealed herself as a Unicorn and used her magic to levitate the apple towards her. Realizing that she may act a little too rash, she felt embarrassed. "Thanks..." she said in her embarrassment.

"No problem..." Star Twinkle simply said before he turned around again and walked away after this was dealt with.

"Wait!" The mare then said, causing Star Twinkle to stop and turn around again. "What do you want for this in return?" She asked.

"In return?" Star Twinkle asked confused. "I don't want anything in return for it," he replied.

"But...why would you give me this then? You don't simply give somepony something without expecting to get something back!" The mare said in an almost offended tone in her voice.

"I didn't give you this because I expected you to give me something in return," Star Twinkle explained after he saw how the mare did not seem to understand what he did. "I just saw that you really wanted this so I gave it to you. Is that so weird?" He asked after he literally asked himself this question as well. "See it as a present," he added.

"A present?" The mare asked confused. "For me?" She said as she looked at the caramel apple floating in front of her.

"Yeah. You never got a present before?" Star Twinkle asked after he saw the obvious confusion in the mare's face.

"No..." she replied. "Why would anyone give me a present after all..." she said while she was deeply in thought for some reason.

Something about the mare's expression seemed familiar to Star Twinkle. He saw it somewhere before. This sadness, this almost accepting sadness in her eyes. He knew that expression all too well but in order to make sure, he poked around a little and asked a very subtle question. "I'm sure your friends gave you a present before, right?"

The reaction that he got was pretty much what he expected. The mare looked away and had a hard time answering that question. "No. I don't have any friends after all," she simply replied.

It was just like Star Twinkle thought. That expression on her face was loneliness, something that Star Twinkle knew all too well. Whenever he looked in the mirror, he would tell himself that everything was alright, the way it is. But from the inside, he knew that he was lying to himself. This mare had the same exact expression on her face. She was in that accepting state where she probably thought that it was better that way or that friends were not that important. Of course, there was a chance that Star Twinkle was just stretching things and imagined all of this but he couldn't help but feel bad for her.

The mare noticed the look that Star Twinkle was giving her and put on a forced smile. "Don't look at me like that!" She said in embarrassment. "It's not like I need friends or anything. It's totally fine like this!" Star Twinkle knew that this was a lie. He just knew. But before he could think of anything to say to the mare, she quickly widened her eyes. "I know! I buy you something to eat as well!" She then suggested out of the blue. But Star Twinkle showed her his own caramel apple and signaled to her that he already was eating something. "Oh...yeah..." the mare replied after she realized that as well. "Darn..." She added as she was scratching her head in frustration now. She was taking this all really seriously. A little too serious for Star Twinkle's taste.

In fact, Star Twinkle felt like that this whole "returning the favor" thing dragged out for way too long now and aimed to talk the mare out of this idea now for good. "I know you just want to be nice or maybe you don't want to own anything to me but listen to me if I say that I don't really want anything in return. As far as I am concerned, we are even," he said which he claimed to be his last words about this matter.

Even if the mare didn't like it, this time, she seemed to understand. "...alright...if you say so..." she replied in an almost defeated tone.

Star Twinkle smiled and then walked away from her. He still had to meet up with Twilight after all. The mare also turned around and walked in the opposite direction. The expression on her face was a confused one but as soon as she took a bite off from the caramel apple, it was changed to a happy one. "Sweet!" She said in joy after tasting the caramel on the apple.

It was now that Star Twinkle figured that he didn't exactly know where this presentation, that Twilight spoke of, was so he spent a good time looking for her while walking across this museum. He didn't even realize before that the museum was all over the town. "Maybe the presentation is outside of town?" Star Twinkle guessed after he didn't know where else to look at. It also didn't make things easier that Twilight was wearing the exact same costume that almost everypony else was wearing in this town.

Another reason was that he maybe wasn't focusing enough to look for her because he couldn't help but to think about this one mare from before. He started to think that she was walking over this place with nopony else to accompany her and that she was bored to the core. Then Star Twinkle thought that he maybe wasn't reading the signals that she gave him properly. "Maybe she just wanted to return the favor so that she could spend time with me?" He began to think. Maybe that mare wanted to find friends and had problems with it, unlike Star Twinkle who didn't bother with it at all. He did notice that she didn't look too happy, everything she said and what she did was also indicating that she wanted to not be alone in this town.

"Should I have stayed with her? Should I have asked her to join me and Twilight? What would Twilight have done in this situation?" Star Twinkle asked himself. It really started to bother him so he decided to go back to now find this mare and ask her to join him and Twilight. Since she was wearing a Star Swirl costume, she was probably a big fan of him as well so Twilight would actually have somepony to talk to. Maybe they even would end up as friends, something that the mare would probably appreciate.

He was asking around town to where he could find the mare, something that he completely missed doing before with Twilight because he was still bothered a little. Star Twinkle's clues led him to the edge of the town where he managed to find the mare as she was about to leave the town now. Of course, she would leave the town early since she was probably bored to walk around the museum with nopony else, especially, after one pony who bothered to talk with her left as well. She was already far away from any building and slowly walked away but Star Twinkle luckily caught up to her.

"Wait!" Star Twinkle shouted.

This shout, caused the mare to jump a little before she turned around in surprise to see Star Twinkle approaching her. "You again?" She asked in her surprise.

Star Twinkle stopped in front of her. He didn't really know how he should explain why it was so important for him to change the mare's mind so he quickly cut to the point. "You want to accompany me and my friend while we visit this museum?"

"Huh?" The mare replied out of pure confusion.

"Well, you see..." Star Twinkle said as he scratched his chin. "I mean, you're here on your own right? Why not come with us? It could be fun!" He explained.

The mare only looked at Star Twinkle confused and shortly after gave a quick answer. "No," she said before she turned around and walked away.

Star Twinkle didn't know how to react to that. He already knew that this situation was pretty weird but seeing how there was a pony that could end up like him, completely alone and locked inside her home only made him more determined to prevent that. Even if that meant to say some things that she didn't want to hear.

"You said you didn't have any friends before..." He said, causing the mare to stop in her track. "It makes you sad, right?"

The mare turned her head towards Star Twinkle. "So what if am?" She replied with a sad tone in her voice. "What does that have to do with you?" She then asked.

"Well...I was alone too so I know how that must feel..." Star Twinkle explained as he spoke out of his heart without realizing it. "I always thought friends were nothing special and that I don't need any...but that was a lie that I told myself..."

The mare turned around with her eyebrows lowered in sadness. She noticed the honesty in Star Twinkle's voice. She decided to listen to what he had to say and didn't interrupted him.

"But then I found some ponies who accepted me and gave me friendship. And I was happy. I was really happy. So if I see you with this sad expression on your face when all I want to do is offering some happiness as well," Star Twinkle said with a smile on his face. "This probably is really weird for you to hear all those personal things from a stranger," he admitted while he rubbed his neck in embarrassment with a smile on his face. "My name is Star Twinkle," he then said, properly introducing himself to the mare now.

The mare actually smiled back and introduced herself as well. "I'm Graceful Palladium Magie,"

"Wow, that's a mouthful," Star Twinkle said.

"Just call me Grace then," the mare said with a smile on her face.

Star Twinkle then offered his hoof so that they could go back to Appleloosa and enjoy the museum again. From the looks of it, she finally seemed to warm up to him. He was glad that by simply offering his friendship, Grace seemed to give it a chance, instead of denying it. Still, Grace seemed still hesitant about all this and the simple act of touching Star Twinkle was hard for her but she soon started to move her hoof towards Star Twinkle's so that they could go.

A strong wind was then blowing from the right for a very short moment, barely strong enough to move the manes of the two ponies and of course, the hat and the beard from Grace who didn't seem to be bothered by it though.

...

That's when Star Twinkle saw it. something familiar that Star Twinkle didn't see in a while now. It was hidden under Grace's beard so he couldn't see it before. There was only a second but he was sure of what he saw. And it began to send shivers down on Star Twinkle's back.

Grace noticed how uncomfortable Star Twinkle felt out of a sudden. "Is something wrong?" She asked confused.

Star Twinkle didn't think about it and just straight out said what he just saw, out loud. Something that he shouldn't have done...

"...The Alicorn Amulet?..."

As soon as those words were spoken, Grace's eyes widened in shock. Her horn began to glow in a bright green light and released a magic shock wave just a second before their hooves touched. Star Twinkle was blown away from this shock wave and landed on his back a few meters away from Grace, who was now standing there with her head staring at the ground. "You know about the Alicorn Amulet?" She then asked in a very serious and angered tone that completely contrasted her previous way of speaking.

Star Twinkle stood back up on his hooves again and asked the only question that he had in his mind right now. "Where did you get that?" He asked confused.

Grace then took off her costume and threw it away, and revealed her white coat and her long white mane, as well as her Cutie Mark which consisted of a white heart with a magic aura behind it. "Too bad for you then...if you know about the Alicorn Amulet..." she said while she slowly moved her head up to look at Star Twinkle. As soon as her eyes met his, Star Twinkle began to get nervous. Her expression was now completely different. Her eyes were not filled with sadness anymore. Now there was only excitement. But not in a good way. It was like a wild animal that looked at its prey. Grace had a wide and sinister grin on her face that sent shivers down on Star Twinkle's spine. Shortly after her eyes began to glow in a green light again and she used her magic to cover herself with a thin layer of magic that made her levitate a little above the ground. "...then I have to make sure to take care of you..." she said followed by a maniac laugh which only further scared Star Twinkle.

Star Twinkle had no idea what was going on. Grace's character was completely different now. She was no longer the same pony that she was a few minutes ago. But the reason for that could be the influence of the Alicorn Amulet. He remembered all too well what Trixie was able to do while she was wearing that thing so Star Twinkle feared that whatever was about happen now, would not end well for him...

Meanwhile...

Summershine finally arrived at the place of which that two ponies spoke of. A cave that was quite far away from the town he was in before. He entered the cave and used his magic to lighten up the place a little so that he was able to see anything in there. As expected, he shortly arrived at a dead end with nowhere else to go. So far, one thing that those two ponies told him was true. Now there was only this ghost left.

"Hm...I wonder..." Summershine said as he scanned his eyes through the place, especially at the wall in front of him. While still using his magic to lighten the place, he noticed how his horn reacted to something. There were certain spots where he could feel some magic on the wall. "That's how it is," he figured before he stepped back a little from the wall.

What followed was Summershine concentrating on a certain spell. He closed his eyes and shot his magic at the wall in front of him. Shortly after, the whole wall was glowing for a while before it then completely vanished and revealed a passage. "A fake wall spell, huh? Now things are a little more suspicious..." he said before he continued further into the cave.

It was still very dark and most of all...quiet. He continued to walk further and further inside until he would reach an end at some point. But soon, he was greeted by somepony who was slowly walking towards him.

"Who is there?" A male voice asked.

As soon as Summershine heard that voice, he stopped in his track and his eyes widened up in surprise. "That voice..." he thought after he clearly recognized it. However, he had to make sure and waited until he had a clear sight of that pony that was walking towards him.

Soon, the pony walked closer to Summershine and revealed himself from inside the shadows so that Summershine could clearly see him now. It was a Unicorn stallion with a red coat, a white mane that had red stripes in it, and red eyes. The Cutie Mark on his flank was an open book. The pony looked at Summershine and waited for an explanation but Summershine was struck by shock after his realization.

"It is him!" He thought in shock before his expression turned into a more determined one. "I finally found him!...now I can finally put an end to this...to him..." he thought in determination as he prepared something under his cape.

Without the other stallion noticing it, Summershine was hiding a device under his cape. It was the same device that the Outcasts used. A weird device that you put on someone's horn to suppress their magic.

"If I get him with that...then I can finally put an end to all this..." Summershine thought before he prepared for his next action.

Whatever he was about to do next, he was determined to succeed. But the question was...what exactly was he about to do...and for what reason?

To be continued...

Author's Note:

I hope you didn't get too attached to Grace as a character unless you liked that transformation of her at the end...

And what are Summershine and that other pony up to?

And do you think that Twilight has fun with the presentation right now?

Well, let's wait for the next chapter to get some answers...

With that said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you consider leaving some kind of feedback ^^. I would also appreciate it if you follow me so that you can be up to date of every other story that I write (which are all connected to this one).

See you all in the next chapter.
Bye Bye ^^.

Reading Order:

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 1 + 2(Chapter 1 - 53)

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Diary of The Storm Wings

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 3(Chapter 54 - 65)

Equestria Girls - The Legend of Friendship

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship - Outcasts

My Little Pony - The Legend of Friendship Season 4(Chapter 66 - 91)

Comments

[SilverStarApple]

Hey, neat! Liked and followed.

[Danieru]

9012835
Thank you very much ^^.