The Starlight Broadcast

by ponyfhtagn

Pt.1 - Chapter 20

Rarity’s parents had insisted on seeing her off at the train station. This proved to be a little problematic to the mission. Rarity had left the house with her family and then Spike had slipped out the backdoor and made for the station in a roundabout way. He used his Scootaloo disguise because it was the least recognisable around Ponyville, and hopefully nopony would try to talk to him and thus delay him.

“Oh hey. Spike,” a pony called.

Spike skidded to a halt. Ah, the best laid plans…

“Oh hi, Cherry Berry,” Spike said. “Sorry. In a bit of a rush.”

“Oh, right,” Cherry Berry relented, trotting over to him. “I just wanted to say thanks for convincing me to talk to Zecora. I tried out her cloud-walking potion and I had the best day just hanging out with the weather team. Everpony thought it was super cool.”

“Great to hear,” Spike said, inching away from her.

“Yeah. Wow. I can’t believe I used to be scared of Zecora. I mean, living in the forest is kinda spooky. But she was pretty awesome once I got to talk to her.”

“Yep. You never know, right?” Spike took a few more steps away.

“Oh. Wait up.” Cherry Berry reached into her saddlebags. “Zecora asked if I could give you this. I almost forgot. Here.”

Cherry Berry brought out a little potion of orange liquid and held it out to Spike.

“She said it was for bad dreams or something,” Cherry Berry said. “A problem you guys talked about. Bummer, right? Bad dreams are the worst.”

Spike blinked at the potion. Would it work?

“Right,” Spike said sadly. “But, um, I really need to go and I don’t have anywhere to hold a potion right now.” He lifted a forehoof in a half-shrug. “Gotta walk somehow.”

“No prob,” Cherry Berry said. “You’re a pegasus, right? Just tuck it under your wing.”

Spike looked down at the little orange wings that weren’t really there and yet had been feeling more and more real of late. How would this work? Would this work? Just think about—

The left wing twitched and fluttered.

“Here ya go then,” Cherry Berry said, lifting the wing and tucking the potion safely into place. “Better hurry to your thing, then. See ya ‘round, maybe.”

Spike looked away from the wing and tried not to dwell on it. “Right,” he said, shuffling back. “See you.” Then he took off towards the train station.

When Spike arrived the train was just giving its final toot-toot before closing the doors. He saw Rarity’s parents waving from the platform. Little Sweetie Belle was curled up in a pram, gumming at her own hoof and making baby noises. She suddenly sneezed—her horn gave a flash of magic—and a nearby suitcase sprung open, flinging clothes all over the platform. Spike laughed and decided not to approach the little firecracker. He slipped into a train car further down the line just as somepony came to shut the door.

“Whoa there. Just in time, eh?” the pony said.

Spike nodded. “Yeah. Busy day. Have you seen my friend? She’s a white unicorn filly with dark purple mane and pink saddlebags and a diamond-pattern suitcase.”

“Uhhh… Yeah, five cars that way I think I saw her.”

“Thanks!” Spike hurried along.

It only took a few minutes of searching for the two to find each other again.

“There you are!” Rarity accused. “I was so worried, I didn’t see you. And then I was looking around the train but I didn’t know which you to be looking for.”

“Sorry,” Spike said.

He crawled under a seat where nopony could see and changed back into the green and purple colt before coming back out. As he stood up the little potion of orange liquid dropped to the ground.

“What’s this?” Rarity asked, grabbing it up with her magic.

“Ummmm…” Spike stared at it. “It’s from Zecora. It’s to… um… She thinks it… that it might help Rainbow Dash recover from Starburst Sickness.”

Spike wished he could cram the words back in as soon as he’d said them.

“Oh. What a good idea. Let me keep this safe.” Rarity tucked the potion into one of her saddlebags.

Spike tried not to wince. What had he been thinking? After how he’d treated Rarity for keeping her cutiemark disinterest a secret from him and how he’d been upset with her for using him and sweet talking him. He’d have to tell her the truth about the armband sooner or later. Spike looked around the train car. But now was clearly not the time. Maybe later tonight, depending on how the day went.

“Spike?” Rarity was saying.

Spike snapped back to attention. “Huh?”

She was holding up a piece of paper to him with her magic. “I said here’s your ticket. Pay attention.”

“Right. Ticket.” Spike took the paper with his mouth and set it down on the seat.

“We’re running out of gems,” Rarity said, sitting down beside him. “Mother and Father insisted on giving me some money, in case I wanted to do a little tourist shopping. But we’re going to have to watch our budget. Are we really staying with Twilight’s parents or are we—”

“No,” Spike said. “No, probably not. A hotel would be better.”

“Ooo,” Rarity cooed. “I want wait to see what Canterlot hotels are like.”

In the end she was rather disappointed.

The splendour of the city as the train pulled up; the shining spires and gold-trimmed dome roofs; the fancy unicorn locals in their fancy attire—it was all better than Rarity had ever imagined.

Their hotel, however…

Rarity winced at the thread-bare carpet and sun-faded curtains.

“Well…” Spike said. “At least it’s not dirty. Just a bit old and shabby.”

“Ooohhh,” Rarity moaned. “I had no idea that everything in Canterlot would be so expensive. And we can’t possibly afford room service.”

“I don’t think this place has room service,” Spike said, wheeling Rarity’s suitcase into the room. “You take the bed. I’ll just sleep on the floor.”

“On the floor? What nonsense,” Rarity said. “I thought maybe you would sleep curled at the end of the bed, like a cat.”

“Nah,” Spike said. “Dragons can sleep just about anywhere. In caves, on rocks, on hoards of treasure, you name it.”

“If you can sleep anywhere then I insist you sleep on something comfortable,” Rarity said. “I’ll give you one of the pillows at least.”

Rarity walked over to the single bed and prodded it with a hoof. It creaked and the mattress was lumpy.

“You know…” she mused. “The floor might not be such a bad idea.”

“Heh,” Spike chuckled, setting down the suitcase.

Rarity flung it open and rummaged around. “What do you think I should wear? I do want to make a good impression here.”

Spike blushed and shrugged. “M-maybe your manehatten dress? I think it looks nice.”

“Hmm. No, I was thinking I’d showcase something of my own design.” Rarity brought out a trendy purple jacket and black neckerchief. “What do you think Spike? Does this work?”

“You make everything work,” Spike was saying.

“Spike, take this seriously.”

He straightened up at once. “Looks good!”

“Thankyou.” Rarity slipped into the jacket and tied off the neckerchief. Then she turned to face Spike. “Now. When was the last time I powered your disguise thing? Let me see it.”

“Ah! N-no, it’s fine,” Spike said.

“Well I know it’s been lasting longer, but honestly, I must have been days. And you’ve been using it so much lately. We wouldn’t want it to run out of charge while we’re wandering around Canterlot. Now come here.”

Spike sighed. “Okay, but do it quick. I want to go find Twilight as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” Rarity said. “Show me the—”

“Just do it like this,” Spike said. “Come on. Left arm. Let’s go.”

Rarity huffed. She lowered her horn and sent a beam of pale blue magic at where she knew the armband was, even if she couldn’t see it. It was an awkward angle to see by, what with her head bent forward, but she thought she could make out the shape of the thing, silhouetted in ghostly blue. There was that familiar armband shape but it seemed to be surrounded by more… stuff. Roots or branches or something.

“That’ll do,” Spike cut her off, stepping away.

Rarity hit the brakes on her magic. “Spike! Don’t walk away when I’m doing that! I could have hit you, or the floor or something. Unshaped magic can have strange effects on things.”

“Sorry,” Spike said, struggling to open the room door with his hooves.

Rarity glared at him as she helped him get the thing open.

“Thanks,” Spike said, hurrying out into the hall. “Come on then!”

Rarity strapped on her saddlebags and stepped out after him, shutting the door behind them. He was definitely keeping something for her. But now was not the time. She would have to confront him sooner or later though. Tonight then. Depending on how the day went. That sorted, Rarity cheerfully flipped her mane, dusted down her jacket and trotted after him.

Rarity just stood there awestruck when Spike showed her to Twilight’s house. It was huge! Four stories tall with a tower on top, and so very shiny. It had lovely gold-trim rooftops and ornate balconies and large shimmering windows and even sweetly fragrant rosebushes out the front.

“You used to live here?” Rarity exclaimed. “This has got the be one of the most extravagant mansions in Canterlot!”

Spike blinked at her. He snorted a laugh. “What? No way. All the fancy houses have things like swimming pools and large grounds and, like, private museums and stuff.” He smirked and pointed a hoof at Twilight’s house. “Nah. This is just a family home for Twilight’s parents to raise kids. It’s just got the necessities. Plus a library for Twilight. Oh, and Shining Armor’s training room. Oh, and an office for Twilight’s mum.” Spike thought about it. “And an entertainment room. And I guess the dining room’s pretty big. Aaaaand I seem to recall we got a swimming pool later on.”

Rarity glared at him. “You grew up here but you moved to Ponyville to live in a tree?”

Spike shook his head. “No. First Twilight became Celestia’s apprentice and the two of us moved into an observatory tower near the Palace. Then we moved to Ponyville and lived in a tree. Well, until Twilight got her own castle.”

Rarity glared harder.

Spike shrugged. “What?”

“Honestly, Spike. You’ve been living my dream life and you gave it up for a tree.”

“Y’know that tree meant a lot to me,” Spike said, flattening his ears.

“Okay, okay,” Rarity backed off.

He sighed. “Sorry. I’m just… nervous. I don’t know what’s happened to her. I don’t even technically exist here.”

“You exist enough for me,” Rarity said. “And you exist enough to march up those marble steps and knock on that solid oak door.”

“Alright. Rub it in,” Spike said, doing as he was told.

“When my doorknocker is painted with gold leaf you can be short with me about it all you want,” Rarity said.

Spike raised a shaky hoof and rapped at the door.

They waited.

Spike tried again a little louder. He stepped back from the house and squinted up at the windows.

“I don’t know…” he said. “The way some of these curtains are closed makes me think that nopony’s home. I mean, the study curtains should be open at least.”

“What could they be doing on the weekend?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know,” Spike said. “This is kind of the early part of my life, right here. I don’t remember what everypony’s schedule was. Twilight would normally be studying if she were home. So would her mum, I think. Shining Armor would usually be in his training room, unless he was out training with the royal guard or, y’know, out on a date with Cadence.”

Spike lowered his head and thought about it. “If he’s by himself, though… I remember that Shining Armor always had this favourite place he’d go for lunch. Especially if he had been out training all morning.”

Rarity grabbed at Spike’s foreleg with the watch. “Well it’s almost lunch time now. Why don’t we go see if we can find him? I’m sure he knows where Twilight is.”

Spike seemed to visibly shrink. “Yeah… Okay…”

“Spike?” Rarity prodded him in the shoulder.

“Welllll… Shining Armor at this age was always kind of intimidating for me, growing up,” Spike admitted quietly. “He was big and active and insecure and he’d sometimes pull pranks on me. The kind he’d never try on Twilight.”

“So you’re saying his was your rough older brother,” Rarity summarised.

Spike thought about it. “I guess.”

“Well you’re bigger now. What’s there to be worried about?”

“Probably nothing,” Spike said, and started walking. “It’s just bringing up a lot of old memories.” He shuddered. “Buckets of ice water, mostly.”

Shining Armor’s favourite place to get lunch, as it turned out, was an out-of-the-way grill house not too far from the palace perimeter. The place served grilled vegetables so that Shining Armor could feel like a big strong guard-in-training. But the grill house also served sugary drinks disguised as fitness shakes. The Energy Bolt was mostly icecream and chocolate milk, for example.

Shining Armor’s inability to reconcile his tough and disciplined guard life with his natural affinity for sweets and silk sheets was perhaps the leading causes of insecurity in the young stallion’s life right now. This lead to long hours in his training room at home and, in the other time line, occasionally taking it out on Spike.

Rarity and Spike could smell the grill house before they even turned the corner; and when they reached the door they were almost trampled by a rather muscular mare on her way out. Inside, however, they found a fair mix of tough types looking for protein and those who just enjoyed a good grilled eggplant.

“Are we allowed in here?” Rarity whispered to Spike.

“There’s no age restriction,” Spike said. “And it’s not exclusive or anything.”

“Well I certainly feel out of place.”

Spike scanned the tables and booths and quickly spotted Shining Armor at the counter, sitting on a stool and sipping at a ‘fitness shake.’ Actually, he seemed to have had quite a few.

“There,” Spike pointed.

Rarity looked and saw him. Her eyes sparkled.

Spike waved a hoof in front of her face. “Rarity? Hey.”

She blinked and shook her head. “Oh. Yes?”

Spike frowned in puzzlement. “Uhh… this way.”

The two of them walked up to the counter and clambered up onto stools.

“Have we got money for lunch?” Spike whispered to Rarity.

She looked in her saddlebag and then looked at the prices on the chalkboards overhead. “Yes. This place is quite reasonable, actually. Although their shakes are a bit expensive. What exactly is a Power Zap?”

Next to them Shining Armor heaved a huge sigh. “Power Zap. That sounds really good right about now.” He waved somepony over and ordered one.

“Yikes,” Spike said, looking at the three other empty shake cups. “You’ve had a few.”

Shining Armor snorted and took a bite of his grilled carrots. He hadn’t really touched it and it was no longer steaming with heat.

“Two plate of grilled pumpkin,” Rarity ordered, passing over some of the gold bits her parents had given her.

Spike cleared his throat to speak. “Uh. Rough day?” Spike asked Shining Armor.

The stallion shrugged and pushed his food around with his fork. The magic he used to levitate it was the same colour as Twilight’s magic. Spike was perplexed by how strange it felt to be here, talking with a spectre from his own childhood. It made him feel nostalgic but also wildly uncomfortable; mostly because this was… different. Not right, somehow.

“So, um… enjoying those carrots?” Spike prompted.

Rarity winced. “Spike, let me,” she whispered.

“Oh. Okay.” Spike leaned back so Rarity could talk.

“Wow. You look really strong. And that’s a lot of fitness shakes. Are you a personal trainer or something?”

Shining Armor seemed to perk up a little. “Uh. Thanks, kid. But actually, if you must know, I’m in training to be a royal guard.”

“Oh wow,” Rarity cooed. “That must be such hard work.”

“I get up at dawn, then I have training. Have breakfast, training. Learn about royal guard history, more training. And that’s before lunch,” he said. He took a more confident bite of his food. “After lunch I have to get back to the palace for more training. It’s a hard life but somepony’s got to do it. The mares and stallions who protect this city deserve the upmost respect, I say.”

“Oh absolutely,” Rarity said.

A pony of staff came back with Shining’s milkshake and the grilled pumpkin. Rarity was still talking so Spike just got stuck into his meal.

“I get to do a few shifts,” Shining Armor was bragging. “The other guards give me a hard time some times but I can deal.”

“They shouldn’t be mean to you,” Rarity said.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Shining said. “It’s just hazing. They put smelly cheese in my locker, or make me clean all the uniforms, or mess with the temperature in the showers, or throw buckets of ice water at me. No big deal.”

Spike choked on a piece of pumpkin and began coughing.

“Oh, there, there.” Rarity gave Spike a pat on the back.

“Take it easy there, little guy,” Shining Armor was saying.

“I’m good,” Spike winced.

Rarity decided to cut to the chase. “Oh, he’s just upset because we’ve been looking for our friend Twilight Sparkle and can’t—”

This time it was Shining Armor who choked on his food. He coughed. “T-Twilight?” He coughed again. “Did you say Twilight?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes. Do you know her?”

Real sly, Spike though, keeping his head down.

Shining Armor took a long drink from his Power Zap shake. Probably just to wash the carrots down. Not ‘cause he needed it or anything.

“Something wrong?” Rarity asked.

He set his shake down and took a deep breath, suddenly very shifty and quiet. “Uhh… Yeah, I know her. She’s, uh… She’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure?” Rarity said. “Because she hasn’t been home in a while.”

“No, no,” Shining assured her. “She’s just studying really hard. Uh… at school. They let you do that if you’re as clever as Twilight, hah. She’s just, uh, sleeping in the library and reading up on super smart, uh, magic stuff.”

“Oh, well maybe we’ll go visit her then,” Rarity said.

“You can’t!” Shining said suddenly. “Uhh… because… it’s the weekend! Yeah. And it’s closed. Except for extra curricular students. Like Twilight.” He took a big long sip from his shake and seemed to be mentally scolding himself.

“I’m sure they’d let us in,” Rarity said.

“Nope.” Shining Armor shook his head. “Students and teachers only.”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said. “We’ve come from out-of-town, all this way just to see her. Perhaps if you talked to the school, what with being such a big important royal guard—”

“In training,” Shining Armor corrected her. “Oh, look at the time.” He glanced at his bare foreleg. “I should be getting back or they’ll put glitter in my helmet again. Gotta go!”

And with that he grabbed his shake and hurried out the main doors.

Rarity watched him go with stars in her eyes. “Isn’t he dreamy?”

Spike almost choked again. “Seriously?”

Rarity blushed and shook her head. “No. Of course not. Shadow Spade stays focused on the task at hand. And I detect that he was clearly hiding something.”

“Yeah,” Spike said. “And not just something ‘family’ related. I know Shining Armor and that right there was his ‘Canterlot Official Secrets’ reaction.”

“Good heavens,” Rarity said, turning to face him. “What do you think has happened to her?”

Spike’s ears dropped and he huffed a sigh. “I don’t know. But I’m starting to think Shining was on the right track with all those milkshakes.”

“Milkshakes?” Rarity questioned.

“Uh—Fitness Shakes,” Spike covered.

“Hmm,” Rarity mused on the situation. “We could go and investigate further at Twilight’s school. Do you think he was telling the truth about any of that?”

“Well I know it’s closed on the weekends,” Spike said, “but they do allow students in to use the library for study. Yeah.”

“Twilight might be there,” Rarity offered. “And if she’s not I’m sure maybe one of the teachers knows what’s happened to her. Or maybe her friends.”

“Yeah,” Spike said, ears perking up again. “You know, it’s good to know that Twilight did get into the Gifted school after all. I just… can’t imagine what’s happened to her since then.”

Rarity gave him another pat on the back; gently this time. Then she frowned. “That’s strange. You don’t feel so, um, magicky right now. Why, this almost feels like a normal pony coat.”

Spike quickly flinched away from her.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

Rarity glared. “We are going to talk about this tonight,” she warned him.

Spike nodded slowly. “…okay.”

Rarity turned at last to her plate of grilled pumpkin. “As for now; let’s eat and then we’ll figure out how to get into that school.”