The Starlight Broadcast

by ponyfhtagn

Pt.1 - Chapter 22

Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was a large dark-purple building, with three towers and all the extravagance to be expected of Canterlot architecture. There was very little traffic around the school as it was, indeed, not operating over the weekend. Spike and Rarity loitered across the way from it where they hid behind some bushes and watched and waited.

“What exactly are we waiting for?” Rarity asked at last.

Spike suddenly pointed. “Something like that.”

A little unicorn student walked up to the building, knocked on the door and was ushered inside by a teacher. A few more students started to arrive then, returning from lunch, so the teacher-on-duty just stood there with the door open for them.

“This is going to be difficult,” Rarity said.

“I have an idea, though,” Spike said. “It’s a bit mean. See that filly over there?”

Rarity peered down the street and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Can you, uh… do a spell or something? Delay her, just for a few minutes.”

Rarity took a deep breath. “Oooookay. Here goes.”

She lowered her horn and sent a subtle wave of pale blue sparkles drifting through the air. The filly in question had her head in a book as she walked, so she didn’t even see the spell coming. Next thing she knew there was a terrible rip and all her books fell out of her saddlebags and sprawled on the ground.

“Nice one,” Spike said.

In a flash he had changed his form to copy that of the distressed unicorn filly. He now had a pale yellow coat, purple eyes and a red and purple mane.

“Oo, I love that manestyle,” Rarity said to him.

He shrugged. “It’s one of the popular styles in Canterlot right now. Even Twilight has it. Now remember—my name is Moon Dancer and you’re here to help me carry books.”

“Got it,” Rarity said. “Let’s go inside.”

“Right,” Spike said. Then hesitated.

Rarity walked back to him. “Spike, what’s wrong?”

He was watching the real Moon Dancer struggling to pick up her books after Rarity’s spell had ripped through her overburdened saddlebags.

“No…” Spike sighed, changing back into his green and purple guise. “I’ve got a different idea.”

Moon Dancer stacked all the books on the ground and took off her ruined saddlebags with a groan.

“Typical,” she said. “And I don’t study mending spells until next week. I knew I should have read ahead.”

“Ex-excuse us,” Rarity said.

Moon Dancer looked up at the white unicorn and the green earth pony.

“You’re excused.”

“Ah-haha,” Rarity managed. “Oh. No, I was just noticing you’ve torn your saddlebags. I think I might have something for that.”

“Okay.” Moon Dancer held up the torn bags.

Rarity blinked. “Oh. No, not a spell, dear. I have an emergency sewing kit.”

“We can help you carry your books if you like,” Spike said.

“And I can patch that up if we have somewhere to sit,” Rarity said.

Moon Dancer conceded. “Seems reasonable. Come on.”

The two unicorns hefted as many books as they could carry with their magic. Spike carried the rest on his back and then the three of them walked up the steps to the school.

“Hello Professor Melody,” Moon Dancer addressed the teacher by the door.

“Hold on,” the teacher said. “This is a school, not a social club.”

He was eyeing Rarity and Spike and seemed rather unimpressed with what he saw. The professor himself was a very sophisticated looked grey unicorn with shiny black mane and stern purple eyes, wearing a green jacket over a white shirt and black bowtie.

Rarity in turn looked unimpressed with that jacket. A black coat would suit him so much better.

“Oh,” Moon Dancer realised. “It’s alright. They’re helping me carry my books. They’ll be leaving right after. I have too much studying to do, anyway.”

“Very well,” Professor Melody relented, eyeing the torn saddlebags. “Maybe try to leave some of the books in the library this time, Miss Dancer.”

“Yes Professor Melody,” she said, walking on.

And just like that they had made it inside the Gifted Unicorn school.

Moon Dancer made straight for the library. “Just over here, please,” Moon Dancer said, approaching a desk.

It was a lot smaller than the Canterlot Public Library and the Canterlot Palace Library. But then this library was honed to perfection with only the books and scrolls that would be relevant for those gifted fillies and colts who attended the school. All that said, it was still a really big library. It took up almost the entire middle tower of the building, housing multiple levels of bookshelves with ladders and landings in place to access higher volumes.

Spike and the two unicorns set all the books down on the desk as indicated. There were a few other students spaced out around the tower; reading or writing notes or collecting a stack of books to take home for the night.

“Wow,” Rarity said, looking around. “You ponies sure love to read.”

“Do you always state the obvious like that?” Moon Dancer asked.

Rarity just sat down with the torn saddle bags and got to work using the true-to-her-words ‘emergency sewing kit’ she had been keeping in her own saddlebags.

Moon Dancer looked at Spike. “You can help me shelve these books,” she said. “I’m done reading them. Then if you’re still here you can help me find the books I need for this afternoon.”

“Wow,” Spike said. “You and Twilight always had so much in common—” before he could cover his big mouth with a hoof.

“Me and Twilight?” Moon Dancer repeated.

Spike gathered some of the books onto his back. “Uhh… Where do you want me to shelve these?”

Moon Dancer eyed him and Rarity suspiciously.

Rarity, of course, was ‘in the zone’ now, sewing and smiling to herself.

“Over here…” Moon Dancer said, walking away.

Spike followed her to the first shelf and managed to return three books before she spoke again.

“So how do you know Twilight?” Moon Dancer asked. “She didn’t strike me as the type of pony who had many friends.”

Spike glanced over at the pale filly. Was she… jealous?

“Did she tell you about me?” Moon Dancer went on, still maintaining her monotone. “What did she say?”

“Uhhh…” Spike pushed another book into place. “Well, she’s pretty sure you’re the only other student who has a hope of challenging her. You must be pretty clever.”

Moon Dancer didn’t flinch at the compliment. “Yes. I know. But does she…” Moon Dancer hesitates. “Does she like me?”

Spike ran out of books so he turned back to get more. “Yeah. I think so.”

Then he remembered what Moon Dancer had become in the future when she thought Twilight had rejected her friendship and abandoned her.

“Yes,” Spike affirmed at once. “Yes. Twilight may not always show it, but of all the ponies here she certainly appreciates your company the most.”

Moon Dancer seemed a little stunned. A smile played at her mouth but she composed herself quickly.

“Those books next,” she said.

Spike gathered the next set of texts onto his back and followed Moon Dancer to the appropriate shelf.

“So who are you anyway?” Moon Dancer asked, taking a book from the stack.

“Oh. I didn’t introduce myself,” he said. “My name is Spike and that’s my friend Rarity over there. We’re from Ponyville.”

“Ponyville,” Moon Dancer repeated, shelving another book. “I assume you know Twilight via correspondence then.”

“Yeah. Something like that,” Spike said, helping out. “But, uh, her letters just stopped one day and we were wondering—”

Moon Dancer accidentally bumped a book against the shelf. She corrected herself and slid the book gently back into order.

“Everypony keeps doing that,” Spike complained. “Any time we mention Twilight.”

Moon Dancer looked around and then back at Spike. “I don’t know what’s happened to her,” she said quietly. “Only officially.”

“Officially?” Spike said.

Moon Dancer nodded. “Officially she’s been feeling stressed and has been taken out of school to recover for a while.”

“And unofficially?” Spike prompted.

“I’m not supposed to know,” Moon Dancer said. “But unofficially I may have overheard some teachers having a private chat a while back.”

“Go on,” Spike said.

“Let’s get more books first,” Moon Dancer said.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Right. What was I thinking.”

They went to collect the third and final stack, but Moon Dancer paused upon noticing something.

“Oh,” she said. “It’s Twilight’s book. She leant it to me.”

Moon Dancer lifted a copy of the first Daring Do book of the series. Spike recognised it at once and curiously wondered how many books were even out at this time. Three? Four? It was still early days.

Moon Dancer flipped through the book and shut it again. “I don’t really like adventure stories.” She held the book out to Spike. “Would you return it to her if you see her? She said I could keep it but I don’t think it’s for me.”

“Oh,” Spike said, taking the book. “Um… Yeah. Okay, sure.”

He slipped it into one of Rarity’s saddlebags, open on the desk. Then he and Moon Dancer gathered up rest of the library books and went from shelf to shelf, putting them away, since they were all on different topics this time.

“I know three things,” Moon Dancer said, speaking quietly again. “One – Twilight checked out Warhock’s The Living Spell shortly before she disappeared. That book has now been pulled from the library.”

“What’s it about?” Spike asked.

“Learning how to read magic,” Moon Dancer said matter-o-factly. “Two – The entrance exam for this school used to involve a dragon egg.”

Spike tensed.

“The students would be given the egg as their first test and told to try and hatch the dragon,” Moon Dancer went on. “This of course, we are told later, is a trick question. No student would really be able to hatch the egg. It’s just to see how we respond to impossible situations.”

Spike’s pony ears drooped. “The… The dragon egg is just a joke?”

Moon Dancer shrugged a shoulder. “If you want to see it that way,” she said. “Three—”

Spike had to forcibly pull this thoughts from that new piece of information. It was too much to think about right now and yet he couldn’t look away. Was his existence a mistake? Was he an accidental burden to Twilight and her family? Was he a joke? No, he couldn’t do this right now. He had to find out what had happened to Twilight. Spike rallied his focus to return to task.

“Sorry, what?” Spike said.

Moon Dancer glared at him. “I will repeat myself. Three,” she said. “Since Twilight’s disappearance the school board has been ordered to remove the dragon egg test from the entrance exam. The order, as near as I could discern, came straight from Princess Celestia.”

While Spike processed all of that, Moon Dancer placed the last book on the shelf.

“I suppose it’s no coincidence that my saddlebags spontaneously ripped,” she said.

Spike snapped to attention. “Uh—”

“Don’t try it.”

He winced. “No, it’s not. Me and Rarity were trying to find Twilight, or anypony who might know where she’s gone.”

Moon Dancer nodded. “Thankyou for your honestly,” she said.

Spike couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

“But that’s all I have,” Moon Dancer said, walking back to where Rarity sat. “I do hope you find her, though. And I hope you’ll let me know of any further developments.”

“Right,” Spike agreed. “She’s your friend too.”

“All done!” Rarity cheerfully exclaimed.

She held up the mended saddlebags, good as new.

“What’s this?” Moon Dancer asked, pointing at the buckle-down flaps. Rarity’s thread had twice stitched the image of a crescent moon and some stars.

“Oh,” Rarity said. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself. I was admiring your cutiemark and I felt compelled to personalise these just a tad. Oh, I shouldn’t have. I just get carried away. Sorry, I’ll unstitch these.”

“No, it’s…” Moon Dancer took the saddlebags back. “It’s nice. Thankyou.”

They smiled at each other.

And then library silence was shattered by the sudden chime of breaking glass.

Everypony looked to the high ceilings. Windows were smashing inwards as strange hissing things flew into the tower and swooped down to terrorise the students below.

“What’s happening?” Rarity cried. “Is this normal for your school?”

“No it’s definitely not,” Moon Dancer said.

“Protect the books!” somepony cried.

Spike looked wildly around. The things had strange dripping colourful lumpy bodies with batlike wings and they appeared to be spitting some kind of hissing and fizzing liquid.

“What in Equestria are those?” Rarity exclaimed.

“I don’t know,” Moon Dancer said over the shrieks and hisses. “But—Everypony! Protect the books!”

Spike and Rarity watched as fillies and colts rushed around conjuring basic shields to try and keep the projectile liquids off their precious library collection.

One of the lumpy-bat-things flew close by and Rarity conjured a half-dome of blue light around her and Spike. The creature vomited its hissing liquid all over the shield before taking off to terrorise somepony else.

Rarity smugly shut down her shield and watched the thing go. “Wait. Was that… a flying cake?”

Spike bent down and sniffed at the spilled liquid on the carpet. “And is this… apple cider?”

“Nooo!” a student wailed from the other side of the room. “Not Quilland Ink’s Compendium!”

Spike and Rarity turned to see the poor colt wailing over a cider-soaked grey book.

Moon Dancer rushed to his side. “It’s okay. It’s a common book of poems. We can replace it,” she said. “Somepony go get the teacher!” she called. “The rest of you—protect the books!”

The cry went up around the room. “The books!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get it.”

“Think about it this way,” Spike said. “These ponies feel the way about books as you feel about designer outfits.”

Rarity gasped in alarm. “Those poor ponies! We must protect the books! Come on, Spike.”

Rarity spotted a student who was desperately trying to protect a mountain of papers and journals on her desk.

“Please!” the student wailed. “My homework.”

Her purple-pink shield was flickering out and drops of cider were leaking through.

“You leave that poor filly’s hard work alone!”

Rarity bounded up beside her and brought her own magic to bear against the attacking cake-bat. It opened it’s layers and vomited a torrent of apple cider at them but Rarity’s blue shield held fast.

Then a blast of brilliant gold magic lanced right through the monster and splattered it to bits. Shields went up accordingly as the horrid creature burst open with a wet fizzing pop.

“Yeahahahh!” cheered the excitable mint-green unicorn who had been responsible for the lance. “You okay, Twinkleshine?”

The homework-coddling student suddenly pointed. “Lyra! Look out!”

Lyra ducked just in time to avoid a swooping charge from another cake-bat. “Oh no you don’t! Get back here!” And she charged after it.

“Uhh, Rarity,” Spike was saying.

Rarity turned to see the splattered chunks of cidery cake were squirming along the floor and reforming themselves back into a misshapen bat-winged abomination.

“Ew-heww-hewww,” Rarity said. “They’re so disgusting.”

“What are they?” Spike was asking.

“I don’t know,” Moon Dancer said, holding one back with her shield. “But they could only have been made with powerful magic.”

“Why would anypony do this?” a student demanded.

Another student screamed. “There are too many! Help!”

Rarity was at his side in a flash, raising her shield against the two cake-bats and then slapping them aside with it like bugs to a windshield.

She dropped her spell and panted. “This is hard work.”

“I wish I could help,” Spike was saying.

Rarity looked at him. “Maybe you can.”

She reached into her saddlebags and brought out many, many squares of cloth. “I also keep an emergency collection of fabric samples.”

“Of course you do,” Spike sighed. “You’re Rarity.”

“I can’t sew fast enough, though.” Then she called around the room. “Does anypony know a mending spell for fabric?”

“We haven’t studied those yet!” somepony called.

“Why do you need that?” another complained.

But the colt Rarity had been defending just went straight to a nearby shelf and brought out a book.

“Here,” he said, opening it for her. “This has the spell.”

“I can’t learn that fast,” Rarity said.

“I believe in you,” Spike told her.

“That doesn’t make it true!” she shot back.

Another cake-bat flew at them. Rarity raised a shield just as Lyra leapt up and blasted the monster from the air. Hiss-splat!

“That’s not helping!” another student scolded.

“What?” Lyra said. “I flunked shields, alright? And this is more fun.”

“But you’re making a mess!”

“Ugh. Fine,” Lyra groaned.

“I’ll hold them off,” the helpful colt said, raising a shield of yellow light. “You read that spell.”

“Okay…” Rarity hunkered down with the book and put her hooves over her ears.

Spike found himself staring at the colt who was shielding them. Something about that colt was nagging at him. Then at last Spike thought he recognised him—the orange unicorn with the white socks.

“Sunburst?” Spike whispered.

Rarity snapped the book closed. “Okay. Here goes.”

She lit her horn and gathered together the fabric squares. They came together like bricks in a wall, each sample mending into the next until she had a very large square of colourful patchwork cloth.

Rarity released it and heaved an exhaustive sigh. “I…” she huffed. “I did it.”

“I knew you could!” Spike cheered.

Cake-bats thudded against the shield nearby.

“Uhh… did what exactly?” Spike asked.

“Grab a corner and come with me,” she said, taking her own section of the sheet. “Clear the way, please.”

“Lyra!” Sunburst called.

“You got it!” Lyra cried.

She sprang forward and conjured a weirdly shaped shield of golden light to swat the bats away. It was not a round shield, or a square shield, or a shield-shaped-shield. It was a curious shape that Spike could only compare to his own dexterous claws, or the digits of other non-hoofed creatures.

“Let’s go,” Rarity said, passing Sunburst a corner of fabric. “We’re going to gather all those nasty things up and put a stop to this.”

Sunburst nodded and dropped his shield. “Got it.”

Rarity used her magic to lift her corner high into the air while Spike ran along the ground, holding his corner in his mouth. Sunburst held the third corner and called Moon Dancer over to take the fourth.

“Lyra!” Moon Dancer called. “Swat those things over here!”

“Let me give you a hand!” Lyra laughed as she smacked cake-bats out of the air, but nopony got the joke.

“Everypony!” a student called, and soon there were shields and lances flying everywhere.

Spike ran this way, Sunburst ran that way, and Rarity and Moon Dance directed the up-high corners of the sheet until all the cake-bats had been gathered together and trapped in the folds of the large piece of fabric.

Rarity and Moon Dancer brought the squirming, soaking bundle down to the floor and tied it off with a strict and sturdy knot. The students all cheered and rushed over to celebrate.

“Sunburst, waytago with that book!” one pony said.

“Moon Dancer, you were so brave,” said another student.

“Lyra, what the heck? I can see why you flunked shields,” said a blue filly with blue and white mane.

“Hey! Shut up, Minuette. It worked, didn’t it?” Lyra pointed out.

“Rarity…” Moon Dancer said.

The students all stopped to look at her.

Rarity smiled and laughed. “Why are you all staring? Do I have something on my jacket?”

Spike gasped. “No… Rarity it’s—”

Rarity looked down at the strange tingling sensation and gazed in amazement at the little picture proudly glowing on her flank.

It reminded Spike of one of the diamonds from her classic mark—eight lines radiating from a circle in a diamond shape. Only this was no complete diamond. Just the lines, coloured dark purple like her mane, and each line tipped with an arrow.

“It’s your cutiemark!” Lyra exclaimed. “Whoa-hoa! Nice going!”

“She got her cutiemark?” Minuette gasped.

“What does it mean?” another student asked.

Ponies all crowded in around her and Spike found himself bustled away to the edge of the group. He stumbled back until he bumped into tall legs and looked up to find Professor Melody looking down at him.

“Ahhh…” Spike side-stepped out of the way. “Sorry.”

The students all went gradually quiet as they became aware of the adult in the room.

“Hey Professor,” Lyra said, stepping up. “You’ll never believe what happened.”

“I don’t need to,” he said. “I saw the whole conclusion.” Then he glanced at the wriggling bundle of soaked cloth. “I don’t know what those things were or why they came here but I must say—you students handled yourselves remarkably well.” He looked back to the group. “Especially you. Rarity, was it?”

Rarity blinked and blushed. “Oh, well. I’m not actually a student.”

“No,” the teacher said. “I remember you came in with Moon Dancer.”

“Right. We were just leaving,” Rarity said.

Professor Melody put up a hoof. “Rarity, you’ve shown remarkable skill, courage and organisation today. As well as an ability to both learn and perform spells. You helped those who needed it, and I must say you have excellent taste in fabrics. I’d wager that all of these things are reflected in your new cutiemark.” He paused as if in thought. “Rarity, how would you like to apply for entry to our fine school?”

The students all gasped and crowded around her.

“That’d be awesome!”

“Will you?”

“Say you will!”

“We could be best friends!”

Rarity chuckled and blushed. “Oh, well… I don’t know. I live in Ponyville, you see.”

“You can move here!” said Sunburst. “I did. You can stay in the dormitory with me.”

“And me!” chimed another student.

“Me too! I’m from Fillydelphia.”

“Well, I don’t know…” Rarity said.

She looked out over the gaggle of excited young unicorns and met eyes with Spike, standing beside the teacher.

Spike forced a smile and nodded his agreement.

“Let’s do it,” Rarity affirmed.

The students cheered and before Spike knew what was happening Rarity had been whisked away to start the paperwork with the teacher.

“What just happened?” Spike was left to wonder.

“You should be happy for her,” Sunburst said. “She’s going to do great things here, just like all the other students.”

Spike looked at him just as the irony sank in. “Hey… Do you ever miss your home and your, um… friends?”

Sunburst looked distant for a moment. “Yeah. Sometimes.”

Spike’s ears drooped. “Yeah?”

Sunburst shook his head. “But I’m going to work hard and make them all very proud of me. I—” He hesitated. “They want me to succeed here. And I want them to be proud of me.”

Spike looked at the closing library doors. “…yeah.”

Silence hung for a moment.

“Hey!” Lyra called, jabbing the squirming bundle with her hoof. “What are we supposed to do with this mess?”

Students exchanged looks.

“I guess we go find a guard or something,” Minuette said.

Lyra poked the bundle again. “I’m gonna name it Steve.”