— Chapter Forty-Five —
--- Accepting the Invitation ---
"Starlight Glimmer... I was here to help... even if I didn't do a very good job..."
Twilight had become very familiar with those words coming out of Spike’s mouth over the next twenty minutes or so. In that time, she had relived that painful discussion with Spike three more times. And each time that irritating phrase passed through his lips, all progress was lost on the front of making him aware of his magically blocked memories. Whatever spell had been used on Spike—as well as on Knox Onwud and who knew how many other ponies around town—was as clever as it was blunt. Part of its design seemed to be dedicated to keeping the victim entirely unaware of whatever memories the spell was meant to block, as well as keeping them from even knowing about the lock placed upon their memories in the first place. Though Twilight had managed to figure out that she could make Spike aware of the spell without it kicking in, as the enchantment only reset itself after the temporary return of the blocked-out memories. Thus, Twilight was able to at least have Spike aware of the situation that they'd be walking into, and how one of her primary objectives was to have the spell cast upon him undone. Explaining these things didn't get any easier with each passing iteration, but she at least became decent enough at it to keep Spike from panicking every time. At least there was one benefit to this whole mess.
Though figuring out that little loophole in Starlight's magic wasn't the only thing this repetition had taught Twilight. Just as she had intended, she used the temporary lapses in the spell to piece together a clearer picture about just what had happened on the night where Starlight and Spike had met one another. It only took her two of the three iterations to learn what she needed of what happened that night. Now, with this knowledge, she'd be able to gauge just how trustworthy this Starlight Glimmer person was. If she undid the spell and Spike was able to tell the same story he had told Twilight three times already, then maybe there'd be some merit in what the unicorn had to say. If she refused or implanted some fabricated lie into Spike's head, or tried anything else that was sketchy, then Twilight would have a very good excuse to teach that unicorn why it was a very bad idea to mess with her son.
With all of that out of the way, the time to meet back up with Rainbow Dash was at hoof. Twilight claimed her bags before they went on their way. The pegasus was found waiting for the two just outside the home, having decided to remain outside while Twilight and Spike finished up. As soon as she noticed them emerging, Dash was quick to ask if Twilight had gotten what she needed. And while Twilight was able to give her answer, she wasn't given much of a chance to elaborate on what it was she had learned before Dash proclaimed that it was time they got moving and began the trek towards the library, which gave Twilight and Spike little choice but to follow.
"So, who was at the door?" Twilight asked as the trio walked through Ponyville, with the glances and murmurs of the various citizens of Ponyville going ignored for the time being. It was an inconvenience that would be dealt later.
"Hm? Oh. It was just Pinkie." Dash's answer came on an air of distraction, the subject not being one that she was particularly focused on. "She heard you were outta the slammer, so she came by to check on you."
"What did you tell her?"
"That you were busy."
"Is that it?"
"Well, it took about fifteen minutes longer than it should have—because Pinkie Pie—but yeah, that's it..." Rainbow yawned loudly before suddenly perking up as she recalled an important detail from that headache of a conversation. "Oh, and she wants you to talk to Rarity at some point. I told her I'd tell you."
Of course she wants us to talk, Twilight sighed inwardly as the conversation was dropped, left behind as she continued towards the library with her two comrades. Thankfully enough the Golden Oak's library wasn't too far off from where Twilight lived, and it wasn't long before they arrived. Not much had changed since the last time Twilight had been here, the library stood as it always did on the outskirts of town, entirely untouched by the scandals surrounding it. The only hint that anything was amok here was the fact that a simple "closed" sign hung on the door, acting like the only thing keeping the masses from entering the crime scene. There were no barricades, no guards, nothing to suggest that anything serious was going on within these tree-made walls. It was just a closed library, nothing more.
"Okay, red flag number one," Rainbow Dash made her concerns known, glancing around the area with skeptical eyes. "I could have sworn I told someone to send some guards to cover this place."
"Maybe they're on break?" There was a nervous optimism to Spike's question as he joined in the search by peering around as well.
"Or maybe they just conveniently 'forgot' why they were here..." Twilight's insinuation wasn't lost anyone present, Spike giving a nervous gulp, and a wayward claw found its way to the cup the side of his head. With that possibility in mind, Twilight strode over to the door and placed a hoof upon the handle with the intention of opening the door just like she would on any other day. Not a single sliver of magic was used in the attempt, yet the door creaked open without so much as a struggle.
Though it wasn't as unfortified as one might think. as the wooden barrier was pushed out of the way, it passed through a thin tether of blue light. It only lasted a second before the door snapped the line in twain and erased the arcane effect from existence, though in the darkness of the library it wasn't exactly difficult to notice it. She instantly recognized the crude yet effective little security measure for what it was, a makeshift silent alarm. Many unicorns learned how to use such spells from a very early age. Usually the paranoid sort who didn't like the idea of their siblings or parents going into their bedrooms without permission—something Twilight herself was guilty of before her days at the Queen's prestigious academy.
"Red flag two, she left us a little magic tripwire," Twilight pushed the door all the way open, glaring into the dim library with a sense of single-minded determination drawn on her features. "She knows we're here."
Rainbow snickered at that. "Guess she's not a fan of being ambushed."
"I thought we were here to talk to her?" Spike asked as he followed the two mares into the odd building. "Why would we—?"
A question that likely would never get answered thanks to a loud flash of magical light towards the back of the room, catching the three off guard and putting them all on high alert. Starlight Glimmer haphazardly stumbled her way out of her own teleportation spell, still adorned by the overfilled bags and that silver watch that had almost become synonymous with her appearance. The mare's momentum didn't halt, and she ended up ramming herself into a bookshelf with a painful sounding "oof." A small cascade of loose books added insult to injury with a few extra knocks on her noggin.
"Ugh... note to self... don't mix alarms and teleport spells..." Starlight murmured to herself as she righted her balance and collected her bearings, straightening out her mane and clearing her throat. Then, with an overdramatic flip of her hair, she turned to face her three guests as if she hadn't just entered like a complete buffoon. "Hello, Twilight. I'm glad you got my—oh, good, you brought Rainbow Dash!" The mare's demeanor switched from cool and collected to pleasantly surprised once she caught sight of the pegasus.
"I actually needed to talk to her too, so that... saves us some... time..." Her sentence came to a slow stop as her gaze drifted over to Spike. She looked upon the long dragon with the kind of expression one would give to an oncoming train suddenly appearing in their bedroom. A potent cocktail of surprise and fear that left Starlight's jaw hanging there, slack. Before anyone could question her reaction, Starlight raised a hoof to point at Spike as her eyes darted back over to Twilight. "Wh-wh-what's he doing here?!"
Now, Twilight was already upset enough over the things this unicorn had been doing, but after that spontaneous appearance and that very exaggerated reaction, she couldn't help but punctuate her next sentence with a long and sharp inhale. "What's wrong? Did you wipe your own memory too?"
The sarcasm was as subtle as a brick to the face, and it wasn't lost on anyone. Starlight, in particular, was sent into what looked like some kind of panic attack. Her eyes darted back and forth in every direction as she processed the question presented to her, and likely several dozen more that she was asking herself. But it all came to a head in one moment of blatant realization, her eyes gently closing as her head shamefully fell. And very calmly, she answered Twilight's sarcastic quip with a query of her own.
"He freaks out if he hears someone say my name, doesn't he?"
"That's one way of putting it," Twilight bitterly confirmed, "Would you like to explain why that is?"
Falling into a seated position, Starlight buried her face within her forehooves and sighed loudly. "I panicked and used the wrong spell..."
"Did you say... the wrong spell?" That was all it took to set Twilight off. Yet despite the clear inferno in her eyes, she didn't do anything else to make her wrath known. Her voice was never raised and her horn was left dark. Screaming and violence weren't going to get them anywhere, especially since Starlight was the one responsible for this little meeting in the first place. She had been the one who wanted to talk, so she had at least earned some leeway in Twilight's mind. Not much though. "What do you mean, 'wrong' spell?"
"Hold on, how do you use the wrong spell?" It was now, in this moment of hesitation on Starlight's behalf, that Rainbow Dash chose to interject herself into the conversation and make her concerns known. "I'm not an expert on magic, but I feel like that's a pretty stupid mistake to make."
"Well, stupid mistakes are pretty easy to make when you're sleep-deprived and having continuous panic attacks," Starlight answered shamefully without a moment of hesitation. Slowly, she lifted her head back up, and a pair of tired-looking eyes were aimed at the noisy pegasus. "It's been a busy week for me. Sue me."
"Oh, you're gonna wish I took you to court if you don't start giving me some answers," Twilight's threat was delivered by a tone befitting the anger she was holding back right now, "For starters, what was the 'right' spell to use on my son?"
"A memory spell that actually works right," Starlight slowly stood back up, her head still lowered as if she were ashamed of what she had done. She stood there for a moment longer before allowing herself to breathe deeply. She turned her eyes back to the enraged alicorn. "My intention was to keep that... ‘incident’ as my little secret. I didn't need you getting sidetracked with a million questions about me... but I guess my efforts were in vain. It was inevitable..."
With the way that Starlight was carrying herself, she knew she'd been caught with her hoof in the cookie jar and was making no apparent attempts to hide that fact. Even now, Twilight could tell that there was sincerity in the unicorn's words. Though as sincere as it may have been, it didn't change the fact that Starlight had, in essence, put a curse on Spike. And Twilight was still quite infuriated by that fact.
"But now that that's out of the way," Starlight Glimmer continued with some semblance of confidence, "We have a lot to talk about and not a whole lot of time, so we—"
"Undo the spell you put on him first," Twilight interrupted, "I'm not listening to another word you say until I hear what he has to say about you."
This clearly caught Starlight by surprise, judging by the look on her face. But this wasn't an issue that Twilight was going to budge on, and there wasn't a single attempt by anyone present to try and get her to take back that promise. Starlight least of all. She simply strolled over to the nearby desk and deposited her saddlebags on it. She began to search through one of them with careful haste, making sure not to overlook a single detail.
"Tell you what, as a show of good faith, I'll do you one better," the unicorn explained as she withdrew one of the many books from within her pack, her horn flipping through the pages quickly while also returning the bags to her person. Once she found whatever it was she was looking for, she turned back to Twilight and levitated the open book towards her. "This should be capable of undoing any of the spells in the disciples' playbook... including the one I used on him..." A twinge of shame returned to her voice as she spoke that last part.
Twilight looked down to the page and skimmed over it. She was able to tell that this was a homebrewed spell, something custom-made to serve the purpose that Starlight claimed it to have. And to the unicorn's credit, Twilight couldn't see anything particularly wrong with it. With how the different components came together, it seemed to only react to other magical effects before canceling them out. Unless the alicorn was misreading something, this spell was literally incapable of causing harm to any living creature. If nothing else, it was safe.
With that in mind, Twilight offered the unicorn another cautious glance before walking back towards Spike. He had spent the majority of this conversation in confused silence, trying to piece together what was going on from what little information he had. He at least knew what Twilight was hoping to accomplish with the book that Starlight had just relinquished, so he set those questions to the side when he noticed Twilight drawing near. Neither of them was ready for what was about to be attempted, but they couldn't just leave it well alone at this point. Before casting the spell, Twilight gave one last stern glare to Starlight, an expression that spoke a thousand words. A silent warning of what was to come if this didn't work as promised. Starlight merely stood there in silence, waiting for the alicorn to conduct her business.
In an attempt to regain some of the focus, Rainbow Dash made herself known through the quick clearing of her throat. "So, you were saying something about needing to talk to me? Care to explain a bit of that?"
Flinching as if knocked out of some hypnotic trance, Starlight turned towards the pegasus. "Of course."
Twilight ceased paying attention to the two mares as they began their own discussion, choosing instead to focus on Spike. After taking the time to make sure he was ready for what was about to come, she lit up her horn and unleashed the enchantment upon him. A series of dancing lights slowly fell from her horn to flutter around Spike's cranium. His eyes became wide and dilated as if he were compelled to focus on them in a mindless haze. Twilight felt a surge of worry, but it was luckily a side effect that was quick to pass. Once the lights faded and his eyes returned to their normal state, Twilight gave him a few moments to get his bearings.
"Spike? Do you feel alright?"
Spike groaned, still woozy from the spell as the magic worked its way out of his system. "I... think so... but why does everything taste like sand?"
"It's probably just a side effect of the spell I just used."
The confusion on his face only intensified from there, but something in his head clicked into place and that expression began to wane. "Right... you used a spell... to undo another spell... ugh..." His eyes closed as he rubbed a claw over his forehead. If Twilight didn't know any better she'd say that Spike was experiencing his first hangover. "Was it supposed to make me feel like my head's swimming?"
"We're dealing with mind-altering magic, so this isn't exactly unexpected. Just try to stay calm and breathe, it should clear up soon..." Twilight spoke with confidence, but she'd be lying if she said that there wasn't at least some anxiety floating about in her head right now. Any mother would be a bit anxious about using some unknown spell on their child. "Let me know if it gets worse."
"I think it's starting to clear up..." Spike grumbled one last time before suddenly shaking the last of the delirium from his head. He sighed with relief as he once again opened his eyes. "Okay... I think I'm good."
"Alright then. Does the name 'Starlight Glimmer' sound familiar?"
"Yeah, she was in our house the other night." He spoke in a shockingly casual tone given the subject. But it only took a split second for him to realize what he just said, and Spike's eyes lit up with shock, and his body stiffened. "Oh! She was in our house! How did I forget?!"
"Because she made you forget. Remember?"
"Oh... right..." Spike sunk back into himself as he pondered over his freshly freed memories. "It's all coming back to me."
"Would you care to explain what happened?"
"Yeah... I'll do that..." Spike slowly nodded in response, taking one last second to overlook those memories again just so he wouldn't miss anything. "I remember... waking up in the middle of the night. I heard something, and my first thought was to go get you."
Twilight nodded approvingly, subtly acknowledging that he had taken the right course of action at that moment.
"That's when I heard her talking," he paused for a moment to peer around Twilight to get a good look at Starlight from across the room. She followed his gaze curiously. Whatever conversation was happening between her and Rainbow had caught Starlight's full attention, thus preventing her from eavesdropping on Spike and Twilight's discourse. "She was saying some really weird stuff, too."
"Stuff like what?"
"Something about a note she left... and then she went on about how you apparently did something without a plan? Something about you being smarter than that? I didn't get the full context on that..."
While Spike didn't fully understand the implications of that, it confirmed Twilight's suspicion that the "Answers in the Everfree" note had been left by Starlight. Though the comment on Twilight's intellect was something of a minor surprise here, it at least served as proof that Starlight did indeed know about her ahead of time. But Twilight didn't need to be worrying about that right now. She nodded. “Okay. What happened next?”
"After that... she started talking down about herself. That she should have expected you to go and look at the big ominous glowing thing in the woods... I'm not really sure what she meant by that, but that's about the time she noticed me." Spike slightly shuddered as he recalled how he'd been caught so easily. "But she didn't freak out like most ponies normally do... in fact, she was really calm about me being there... like she already knew about me."
Again, something that didn't surprise Twilight, considering that she had heard vague variations of this exact story earlier today. It didn't stop her from asking how Starlight could have known about Spike ahead of time, but those questions would be kept to herself until Spike's story was concluded.
"She said she wasn't there to cause trouble. You were asleep, and she said she was helping you get into bed. That you didn't want to wake up in the woods..." Spike stopped himself as he mused over his memories. After a few seconds, he looked to Twilight with a great deal of curiosity. "Did you go into the woods in the middle of the night?"
Twilight gulped. "... Yes."
"Why?"
"She left me a note... telling me there would be answers in the woods... I got a little too curious for my own good." The simple truth came flowing out of her like water from the tap. After everything that had happened between the two of them in the past few days, Twilight wouldn't even consider lying to Spike right now. "It... may have ended with me getting knocked out by a magical glowing rock."
Spike's head tilted at the absurdity of that explanation.
"We can talk more about it later. Could you keep going? It's important."
Spike narrowed his eyes slightly at that, silently tucking that piece of information away for later before he continued with his story. "Anyway, after she noticed me, she said she wasn't there to cause trouble. She was putting you in bed after you knocked yourself out in the woods—" a great emphasis was placed on those words, his intention being to try and make Twilight feel guilty about galavanting into the woods while he was asleep—"and that you'd be fine in the morning."
"Did she say or do anything to try and hurt you?"
Spike shook his head. "Nope. In fact, she said I'd never see her again if her plan went right..." Once again, he peered around Twilight to the other conversation in the room. "I guess her plan didn't go right."
"And that's when she wiped your memory?"
"Pretty much, yeah..." Uncertainty made itself known on Spike's face. "No... wait. There was one last thing. She told me to... take care of you for her... and then she wiped my memory."
The story Spike just told Twilight definitely matched up with the versions he had given her while that pesky memory block was still in place, that much was certain. Of course, there were still plenty of questions to be had about this mysterious mare who had managed to show up at every turn. And Spike's story still didn't provide any concrete answers on many of those fronts. Starlight Glimmer was still just as much of a conundrum as she had been before, a conundrum that Twilight couldn't help but try to unravel in her mind.
"It really does sound like she knows us..." Twilight murmured under her breath, rubbing the underside of her chin as she wondered. "The question now is how..."
"Maybe we met her before? While we were traveling?"
"That's the only way any of this makes sense... but why would she wipe our memories? It just makes her job harder... whatever her job even is..."
"Well, she called you here to talk, right? Why not just ask her?" Spike offered one last glance towards Starlight Glimmer, narrowing his eyes as if to learn something more about her. "She wouldn't have done that if she didn't want to explain anything, right?"
An excellent point indeed, one that Twilight agreed to with a firm nod. Standing back to her full height, her attention shifted back over to Starlight and Rainbow Dash. Whatever discussion they were having had ended while Twilight and Spike were busy with their own, the two mares were now busy digging through their respective saddlebags. Moving cautiously to keep Starlight from noticing, Twilight made her way over to Rainbow Dash in hopes of gaining some context.
"So, what did I miss?" She whispered to Rainbow, her eyes locked firmly on Starlight at the other end of the room.
"Glim-Glam and I came to a little agreement," Rainbow explained with significantly less subtlety, an act that momentarily drew Starlight's notice over to them. Her attention lasted only for a moment before she went back to digging through her own things. "How did things go on your end? Get the little guy's head un-scrambled?"
"Yeah, I did..." Twilight was admittedly still distracted by Starlight, watching her as if waiting for something to happen. Nothing ever did, Starlight simply kept fumbling through her bag, which only made Twilight more anxious. "The story he gave me matched what I got out of him earlier... so if nothing else, she gave me the right spell. What did you get out of her?"
"Not much. Said her info's on a need-to-know basis. She just needed me for that dusty old book you found." Dash gave a grin as she pulled out the very item she was looking for, the well-worn blue book bearing the Choir's Searăn name.
Twilight was appalled. "And you're just going to give it to her?"
"Nope, she wants me to give it to you." With a resounding plop, the book was hastily tossed down at Twilight's hooves. "And you're probably going to need these if she expects you to read it." Just as quickly as Dash threw the book onto the ground she whipped a wing at Twilight's face. And Twilight let out a shrill yelp as she stumbled backward from the cyan wing being unexpectedly thrust into her face. The feathers tickled at her nose unpleasantly, and some of them managed to slip into Twilight's agape mouth in the instant of her shout of surprise and tracing her tongue with the unpleasant flavor of feathers. Overall, it wasn't a fun time.
"What was that about?!" Twilight gagged and hacked to get the awfully bland taste out of her mouth before glaring at Rainbow, who was snickering like a child from her own antics.
"That's a good look for you, egghead," Dash grinned like a madmare and chuckled again, "You should wear glasses more often."
There was a moment of confusion on Twilight's behalf before she ideally reached up to touch her face with a hoof. Sure enough, a pair of glasses that hadn't been there before were sitting squarely on her face. There was no need to question how they had gotten there, Dash was the only possible culprit. But that didn't stop inquiries from being made.
"What're these for?"
"Old Black Hoof trick. Let's you read pretty much anything. Like that book, for example."
Twilight levitated the thickly framed glasses off of her face and examined the trinket. At a moment's glance, they looked like nothing more than an ordinary pair of glasses. But it didn't take very long for her to notice the series of sigils carved along the frame. There was a surprising amount of complexity to these glyphs, considering how small they were. These were clearly made by a master of the magical arts. Looking back up to Dash as if to check if she was serious or not, Twilight folded the spectacles up and gently tucked them into her saddlebags alongside the old tome. There were more important things to deal with.
Dash offered Twilight an approving nod before turning towards Starlight Glimmer, the smile on her face souring. "A trick that you somehow knew about. I'm guessing you're not gonna elaborate?"
"You could say my special talent is knowing things I shouldn't," Starlight's answer was as unhelpful as it was disinterested, the unicorn's focus centered on finding her half of the agreed-upon trade. Once she did, however, Twilight had to fight the urge to gasp as a familiar-looking wooden box was freed from the bag. "I think I've proved that well enough by now."
A wisp of blue magic served the purpose of delivering the case to Dash's possession, and Twilight could only wince in response as Dash lifted up the lid to gaze upon the contents. She instinctively craned her head back, making absolutely sure she didn't make eye contact with the mysterious stone in fear of another sudden onset case of magically induced narcolepsy, and was relieved when the lid was shut again without a repeat of that incident. With Rainbow Dash seemingly satisfied with her acquisition from that exchange, Twilight was free to steal her resolve once more and finally begin asking this mare some questions.
"Why did you have that?" Twilight's question was stern and cold, the alicorn's mind still working to try and figure out Starlight's angle in all of this.
"Why didn't either of you grab it the last time you were here?" Starlight spoke back in the same defeated tone that she had been carrying for most of this conversation. "I figured you'd at least realize how important it is, considering how it should have reacted to your travel amulet."
Once again caught off guard, Twilight could only stare with blank perplexion at the unicorn standing in front of her. Her memory of the events that led to her second dream walking session was hazy at best, but she remembered clearly enough that distinctive ringing sound that began emanating from her bag while it was happening. A ring that she had heard before in the Everfree Forest, the first time she'd been made to dream against her will. And the fact that Starlight somehow knew about that specific detail, among all other things, was harrowing init of itself. Just how closely was Twilight being watched?
"She even knows about that?" Spike meekly whimpered, matching his mother's current sense of anxiety towards this situation. "Why does she know about that?"
"Yeah, why do you know about that?" Twilight almost growled, slowly closing the gap between her and Starlight. "You brought me here to talk. So start talking." A long pause filled the space where words once lingered, Starlight gazing in an almost longing fashion at the alicorn whose eyes bore down upon her like the unrelenting desert sun. Twilight couldn't quite put a pin on whatever it was that was going through this pony's head, but as she looked into the unicorn's eyes she saw something that she didn't expect. There looked to be a great deal of pain hidden deep within those sapphire orbs, a pain that Starlight was clearly trying to hold back.
"Gladly... but like agent Dash said, the things I have to say are for your ears only." Starlight took one step forward, close enough for the two mares to touch, and held an upturned hoof towards Twilight. "I need you to come with me. There's a lot we need to do and we don't have a lot of time."
"Less than twelve hours, if she wasn't lying," Dash added, caught somewhere between her confident persona and a sense of legitimate concern. "I tried to get more out of her while you were busy, but she wouldn't budge. She's just as stubborn as you, maybe more."
Spike gulped, caught up on the time limit that had just been established. "Twelve hours until what?"
"The end of the world," Starlight answered without a second of hesitation. "That's why we need to go now, Twilight."
Almost recoiling from the casual way in which the stakes had been laid out, Twilight donned an expression of bewilderment as she glared at Starlight. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
“The end of the world,” Dash obliged in Starlight’s place, “Did she stutter? I told you that this was big.”
“No, but I feel like she should at least explain it a little better!”
“You’d know what’s at stake by now if I didn’t fudge everything up,” Starlight mumbled shamefully under her breath, just barely loud enough to be heard. She then cleared her throat and reasserted her more collected tone. “To make a long story short, the Choir has plans for our world. And they have almost everything they need to carry them out. Which is why you and I need to go now. I can explain more on the way.”
"And you're okay with all of this?" In disbelief, Twilight turned towards Rainbow Dash. "Me going on ahead to get all the answers?"
"Not really. But with your current situation, I trust that you won't be keeping too many secrets from me." Dash's reasoning was blunt, but it didn't come with any hint of malice. The pegasus was just stating the facts. "Besides, Glim-Glam did give me something to work with while you two are chatting. A list of ponies who may know a bit more about what's going on, if you catch my meaning."
With no resistance from Rainbow Dash to hold her back, Twilight's prime concern came back into play and her eyes darted over to Spike. The long dragon was sitting patiently where Twilight had left him, clearly distressed about this whole situation yet holding his tongue all the same. There were pros and cons to either leaving him with Rainbow Dash or insisting that Starlight allow him to tag along. The little guy had already been through so much today, it wasn't fair of Twilight to keep piling up anymore on top of the load he already had to deal with. But at the same time, it wasn't fair to leave him behind while she went off to go get her answers.
The alicorn sighed, she couldn't decide. So she'd leave the final decision up to her son. "Spike, are you going to be okay if I go?"
"I... don't think bringing me would be a good idea," the dragon meekly replied, seemingly in shock that he was being asked to weigh in on this subject. The long dragon was in way over his head when it came to this subject, and everyone in the room knew it well enough. "She might try something... better safe than sorry, right?"
A decent point, if ever there was one. This Starlight character was still mostly an enigma, after all, a few acts of help didn't absolve her of suspicion. It was entirely possible that this was all some sort of elaborate trap, even if Knox's outbursts last night served as some evidence that Starlight wasn't on his side. Spike was clearly uncomfortable around this unicorn. It was plain enough to see on his face, doubly so with how his eyes kept drifting over to Starlight before snapping back to Twilight. Seeing this, she couldn't blame him for wanting to stay far away from her, a sentiment that encouraged her to ask Rainbow to keep an eye on him for a while—or at least have her go ask Fluttershy to do so instead—and the pegasus agreed to the terms without much of a fuss.
With nothing else left, Twilight once more turned to face Starlight and her still offered hoof. The gesture was obvious enough to interpret, and with a deep breath of preparation, Twilight placed her own hoof atop Starlight's. After that, the familiar sensations and sounds of teleportation overtook Twilight's senses, and the blue light of Starlight's magic became all that she could see.
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Great job on this latest chapter. Took a while, admittedly, but was certainly quite well worth the wait. Absolutely adored the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Really liked Twilight's notes of the slight progress on the memory spell Starlight used on Spike before Twilight, Spike and Rainbow finally caught up to Starlight. I also felt for Twilight in trying to maintain the balance between Mama Bear and calm enough to keep the rash behavior to a minimum. Especially enjoyed the dialogue with Starlight (including with Spike actually getting his memories back).
Anyway, very certainly looking forward to more of this.
And Happy Easter to you too. :-D
Well. End of the world it is, then. Always is that, I suppose. Twelve hours? Not a lot of time. Especially since Starlight's clearly a time traveler of some sort. Still, progress. And she's been...reasonable.
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You are just everywhere, aren't you?
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You're one to talk. And I'm no Skeeter the Lurker, but there still are a few authors here that I follow that update....at all.
Wow, quite a few revelations on this chapter alone, well worth the wait!
Course now there's a clock running, no worries indeed!
Looking forward to the next chapter, keep up the great work!
Have a good day everyone
Knowing Starlight is no magical lightweight herself, part of me almost wants to see that happen, if just to see how it'd go down. I suspect that, after all, Starlight wouldn't make it that easy for Twilight.
Well, she's not an idiot, at least.
Nooooooo--I wanted to hear that conversation because...well, more pieces to the puzzle that is Starlight Glimmer, really.
I mean, sure, Rainbow sums up the jist of it later, but I'd still rather hear them from Starlight herself, if only for any of the hints in how she says it that Rainbow might've overlooked.
Congratulations! Your Twilight has evolved into Sci-Twi!
Nightmare Moon. So, you know, nothing too important or anything.
Still banking on Starlight being a time traveler...it just fits the facts as we know them entirely too well, y'know?
I guess this wasn't during the canon bunch of alternate timelines then. Probably a timeline initiated post FiM back to before the start.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw
A very good set-up chapter for the arc to follow, no doubt.
I like your characterization of Starlight here. We've gotten glimpses of it previously, and even here it's not fully expanded upon yet, but we see in some ways a pony where contrasts help make a whole. She's powerful, but also makes mistakes, even minor ones (frequently, it would seem); she's knowledgeable, but is still caught off-guard, especially when it concerns the behavior of others; she's independent, but knows she needs help and freely admits to it and seeks it out; she's brash and forward, but doesn't always think highly of herself or is egotistical. It's a good portrayal, especially considering we still know so very little about her.
I'll admit, I was expecting something abit more...significant with the chapter opening. The way the last chapter ended with a cliffhanger as to who it was at the door, I was expectin' some type of big reveal. Even if it was "just" Pinkie, maybe some dialogue or an emotional roller-coaster to go along with it. But it was barely mentioned. I almost feel as if your original intentions were for something to happen and then you scaled it back, maybe?
As always, I enjoyed the interactions between Spike and Twilight here. Their evolving relationship and their evolving understanding of what that means to them shows through even in how you write little gestures and dialogues between them, even in a chapter where it's not quite at the forefront as it is in other parts of the story.
Though I will say that Twilight just leaving Spike with Dash is a bit...weird? Where? In the library? Do they go back to Twilight's house? Fluttershy's? Does Dash take protective custody of Spike and take him to her house to play with Scootaloo whilst she guards them (a.k.a. naps on the couch)? No instructions to Dash on what to do is she doesn't return? Think Twilight could've given this just abit more thought. Then again, it does show her trust in Dash, and considering that Dash now knows Spike is her son, Dash should be quite moved by the sentiment (even if she'll act as if its a bother instead).
Aside from the typo in the chapter name (invitation), this was very nice. I do hope Twilight remembers that she's got an insta-teleport armor on standby, as it looks like she might need it in the not too far future.
Just caught up. My guess would be Starlight is a time traveler considering the watch and I think it was her talking to Selene in the dream of the past.
And my initial thought after that would be this is a semi cannon Starlight Glimmer traveling through timelines to help save the timelines she altered but I would also think that's probably wrong. Still think time travel is involved though.
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Pretty much where I've been from the start, but I'm thinking Starlight didn't plan this herself but rather future Twilight is the one behind all of it. Who else would know her movements and more accurately predict what Twilight would do than Twilight herself, as she lived though these events already?
Have to admit, found this by accident, bingeread through it in a single night. Rather love the worldbuilding here. I always disliked how canon basically sidestepped Twilight ignoring everything that comes with ascension, and I much prefer this take on it.
I get the sense Starlight is the one from canon, or at least she had experiences jumping through time like her canon-self. She knows far too much for there to be another reasonable explanation ...
Soo ahhh how often do new chapters come out is it a monthly thing or is there a schedule??
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They come out as I complete them. I try to be consistent, but I'm only human.
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Take your time
the only reason I asked was because I'm absolutely hooked on
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That's fair. Thank you for reading. :D
Well, im sad to say that i caught up withs story and eagerly waits for more