Dazzling Homecoming

by FourShadow

Chapter 7: Out and About

The sun began to rise over Ponyville again, beginning another glorious day. After the opening of presents, the Dazzlings continued to have fun with Trixie and her friends. Playing some games, telling some stories, even enjoying the sweet deliciousness of cake. Eventually everyone went back home, and the Sirens got their beds set up and slept through the night.

The morning light crept its way into her room, and Adagio's eyes slowly opened. She stretched on the bed like a cat, arching her lower back up into the air. She smacked her lips, ready to begin a new day. Crawling out of the bed, she pushed the door open with her snout, and waddled into the hallway. The smell of fresh food was calling to her, enticing her to follow. With a tongue out, she waddled down the hallway to follow the visible steam.

She pushed the doors open to the kitchen, finding the Princess of Friendship working on making breakfast over the stove.

"Good morning, Princess." Adagio greeted. Her head turned to the dog who barked at her. "And hello to you too, Fluffernutter."

"Morning Adagio," Princess Trixie greeted back. "How do you feel?"

"Much better than yesterday, thank you," Adagio stretched and arched her back up like a cat waking up. "Say, where are Sonata and Aria? I checked their rooms, they aren't there."

"Oh Sonata left early, she said she wanted to go to Canterlot and attend Fancy Pant's soiree, so Vinyl left with her. And Aria is hanging out with Octavia and Amethyst over at Amethyst's fitness studio. I thought since maybe it's just us here right now, I'd make us breakfast!"

"Aww, Princess, that's so sweet of you," Adagio smiled. "You shouldn't have."

"It's no problem," the princess smiled back.

Adagio perched herself on a stool and the princess pushed a plate of fresh pancakes covered in syrup.

"Mmm, pancakes," Adagio's mouth watered at the smell. She took a bite out of a pancake, enjoying the sweet mixture of flavors that danced on her tongue.

"Sooo... are you sure you're okay with your sisters being out? They said it would be fine--"

"--Did they accompany any of your friends?"

"... Yeah," Princess Trixie said.

"Then I'm sure it'll be fine. Those two are strong mature adults, I'm positive they won't do anything stupid. ... I hope."

---

Turns out Vinyl and Sonata were on their way to the soiree, but before they even went that way, Sonata wanted Vinyl's company to go somewhere else first...

It was only the second time that she had gone down this trail, and yet it already felt eerily familiar to Sonata. As she waddled down the path to Starswirl’s hidden cabin, Vinyl just behind her, the youngest Siren couldn’t help the sense of dread and anxiety pooling in her stomach.

“Are you all right?” Vinyl asked softly. The musician could clearly sense that she was troubled.

“I… I hope so,” Sonata answered, looking down at the ground for a moment. “I just can’t get it out of my head, what happened the last time I was this way. I never saw someone so miserable…”

“You don’t have to do this, if you really don’t want to,” Vinyl offered, gently placing a forehoof around Sonata’s neck, giving her a careful hug. “Nopony would ever blame you for not wanting to come back after what happened last time.” However, her words held little comfort, and Sonata just shook her head.

“No. I – I think I need to do this.” She lifted her gaze up, and could see, through the tree branches, the cabin just ahead. “I don’t want to leave this unfinished.”

Vinyl seemed a bit dubious, but the classy unicorn didn’t press the matter further, and in a minute they were just outside the hideaway of the once-great Starswirl the Bearded.

Sonata raised a hoof to knock on the door, but then froze, remembering every awful thing that she’d seen when she’d gone inside it before. The wizard who’d tossed her and her sisters into another world like trash – a miserable, broken old mess of a pony. The awful story he’d told, the shame and the guilt in how he had been. And Adagio’s awful, awful rage, how she’d attacked the old stallion… possibly even to kill him…

“Sonata?” she heard Vinyl ask, worried.

The blue-scaled Siren let out a shaky breath, and then she worked to compose herself. You can do this, girl. You have to! “I’m all right,” she said, and she gently rapped on the door – it swung open, unlocked, and after a moment’s waiting, Sonata and Vinyl carefully stepped inside.

Vinyl suppressed a gasp of horror when she saw the state of the cabin’s interior. “Oh sweet Luna! He was living like this!?” she stared in horror at the wretched state of the place.

“I don’t think he was really living…” Sonata whispered softly, looking for a moment at the table, still upended with its contents scattered all over the floor, courtesy of Adagio’s earlier rage against the wizard.

Speaking of…

“Where is he?” Vinyl asked. She carefully lit up her horn, and shone a gentle light around the cabin, looking for some sign of Starswirl. She nearly screamed when she found it – in the form of a huddled shape sprawled on the rug near the back of the cabin.

“Mister Starswirl!” Sonata rushed over, horrified, as she placed her hooves on the old stallion’s body and tried to shake him, “Don’t be dead, please don’t be dead!”

The old pony suddenly groaned, feebly, reluctantly opening his eyes – they were bleary, bloodshot and unfocused. Sonata caught a strong whiff of cider on his breath, before Starswirl’s eyes closed again, and he fell back into a drunken slumber. Vinyl trotted over, delicately sidestepping more than a couple empty tankards on the floor that she’d missed in her earlier panic. She was looking at Starswirl with a kind of dazed horror on her face. “Oh my goodness,” she said timidly, “I didn’t know he was in this bad a state…”

Sonata looked at the old pony in her forehooves, and she felt another stab of sorrow. Her gaze moved to the bed on one side of the cabin.

“I’m going to put him to bed,” she said, in a quiet voice.

“Very good.” Vinyl sniffed as she lit up her horn again, and picked up the cider barrel in her magic, “I am going to pour this out, maybe it’ll keep him from drinking himself to death in the next few days.”

Sonata nodded, as she awkwardly waddled across the floor, and tried to gently lay Starswirl down on his bed. It was hard work, his legs splayed out as she set him down and he nearly rolled onto the floor before she could catch him. Starswirl moaned something in his sleep, coughed, let out a noise that sounded awfully like a whimper, and then was quiet again.

The Siren looked down at him, and she suddenly wanted to cry. He just seemed so… broken. An empty shell of what he’d once been.

She, like her sisters, had been angry at the wizard who had banished them – maybe not as angry as Aria, who would sometimes like to voice how much she wanted to hurt him… and definitely not as angry as Adagio, who’d bottled up that anger for so long until she’d nearly exploded in sheer rage.

But now, looking down at the wretched old pony, as she carefully tucked a blanket over him, Sonata Dusk knew that she could never bring herself to be angry at Starswirl again. Not like her sisters had been. There was just no point in it… he was half dead already, drowning in shame and guilt.

The door opened, and Vinyl carefully walked inside. She came to stand by Sonata and looked down at the unconscious Starswirl with sorrow. “Do you want to go now?” the musician whispered, “I don’t think he’ll wake up anytime soon.”

“I don’t know…” Sonata answered. “I just…” she sniffed, and then felt a tear run down her snout. “I just wish I could do something for him…”

Vinyl gave her a reassuring hug, and the two of them slowly turned towards the door. Sonata cast one look back at the wretched cabin, at the dusty floor and surfaces, the overturned table, the scattered books and paper—

And suddenly, it came to her.

”That’s it!”

Vinyl shushes her, startled by her sudden exclamation. “Sorry,” Sonata whispered in apology, “But I think I have an idea!”

“You do?” Vinyl Scratch questioned, feeling concerned.

“Yeah. I do.” Sonata nodded, a serious look on her face, “But it’s gonna take a bit of work, okay?”

“What is it then?”

“Listen closely…”

---

Sometime later after a quick hearty breakfast, the princess and Adagio were outside around the back of the castle. The two of them were going through several boxes and items of some of Trixie's magic gear.

"So is there any magic tricks you know my counterpart is good at? Maybe she can just practice with those," Princess Trixie said, her wings fluttering a bit as she threw stuff out of several bins.

Adagio was trying her hardest to dodge everything that came flying at her. "Well, agh! I don't--whoa! I don't know!" A metallic pan slammed her in the face. "OW!"

"Sorry! Oooh, how about this one?" Trixie asked, her horn levitating a pan. "It's a dove pan! You show everyone that it's an ordinary pan..." she lifted it up, conveying it. "But what people don't know is when you set it down and lift it again..."

Lifting the top up again spawned a small white dove which was cooing in place, wiggling as it finally got free. Adagio's eyes sparkled in wonder. And just like that, the bird flew away from the pan which made Adagio frown.

"Aww..."

"Don't worry, that always happens," Trixie grinned.

"But anyways, I suppose I could ask her about that. Maybe she can start with that. ... Assuming we can trap a bird."

"Hey Trixie!"

Down a path they could see Vinyl Scratch, trotting along like she usually did. And beside her was Sonata Dusk, rolling down the hill like a silly cat, enjoying the feeling of the grass all against her fish body.

"Hai Dagi!" Sonata said in a cheery voice, rolling around on the hill of grass.

"I take it the soiree event in Canterlot was enjoyable?"

"Yes!" Sonata grinned. "Though everyone kept wondering what kind of pony I was. I kept saying I'm a seapony, but they were sooo confused. Though it wasn't fun trying to wash the hot stuff out of my fins, or the soap in my mouth," she cringed.

Adagio tilted her head and Sonata groaned. "I thought the soap was candy. And the hot cheese did not taste like hot cheese at all..."

"I'm starting to think you're not really the fancy type, Sonata," Vinyl said, observantly.

"But it was fun though!" Sonata squeed. "Fancy Pants was so nice!"

Vinyl smiled with an affirming nod at that statement.

"No thanks to Jet Set or Upper Crust," Vinyl scowled. "Just because someone's not fancy they treat them as if they're nothing. My understanding for Octavia leaving there continues to grow. Anyways, Sonata I hope you had fun, I need to get going. I have to teach a student at 12."

"Okay Vinyl! Thanks for coming with me!"

Vinyl smiled and waved. "Oh it's no problem at all Sonata."

"See you later Vinyl!"

The violinist went on her merry way, galloping down the road.

"Well I am glad you had fun at the party, Sonata."

"Mmmhmm!" The youngest pulled herself up. "So, should we get going? I mean today is Thursday. Today's the last day for the Friendship Games and since we already have the cure for the Rainbooms' sisters, we should get going! Come on, I wanna see their faces light up when we finally undo it!"

Adagio froze. "Oh... right. Well, I don't know, I mean... what if we... stayed?"

Sonata frowned. "Stay?"

"I mean for a few more hours, at least til we get some lunch!" Adagio caught herself.

Trixie's ear twitched and she looked at Adagio, unsure. Sonata was equally unsure.

"Well... I guess so. But what else can we even do around here?"

The princess locked up the lid with an over the top amount of chains that would have made it impossible to pull apart, and faced the two Sirens.

"You know, if you want, we can go wander around Ponyville for a bit. Maybe I can show you the Castle of the Two Sisters?" Trixie asked.

"The what of the what?" Sonata said, confused.

The princess giggled. "I'll show you. Come on, follow me!"

"Wait, where's Aria?"

---

Let's get physical, physical!
I wanna get physical!
Let's get into physical
let me hear your body talk!

Amethyst was leading Aria throughout the workout lessons in her fitness studio, all the while listening to some poppy song from a mare who called herself Olivia Hooften Brawn.

"There you go, stretch that tail!" Amethyst said, not breaking a sweat.

Aria was trying to do the pony equivalent of a sit-up, and while she was doing mostly fine, it was a bit obvious she was struggling. Mostly because she didn't think she'd be doing it in a body without any legs.

"This would be better if I was a human!"

"No pain, no gain!" Amethyst called out. "One more push, come on!"

Aria struggled and grunted, until finally she made one more push to sit right up.

"And we are done!"

And Aria collapsed onto her back like she was ready to be cut up by a sushi chef.

"Can I die now?"

Amethyst pulled herself up and stretched her legs. "Come on, Blaze. Working out isn't that bad."

"I don't mind working out, heck, I do it every day! But when you haven't been a fish for so long, you kinda forget some things," Aria whined.

"Hey, come on. How about a video game?"

Aria raised her head. "Video game?"

"Yeah. I got some arcade cabinets, wanna see what I got?"

Aria immediately threw herself straight back up. "Sure, yeah!"

Amethyst squeaked with a grin, and led her around back. She opened up a door, leading her through a small storage room for some workout equipment; a few mats and weights stacked on some shelves. And opening yet another door, it led them inside a garage looking place. The lights were turned on, and the entire place was lit up. Dozens of arcade cabinets were inside, lined up against the walls, some even facing back to back in the middle of the room. A small workbench in the corner with tools and spare parts, sitting next to a machine that looked like it was in need of repair.

"Whoa. You know when you said you had some arcade cabinets, I assumed like three or four."

"Nope! I am the pony that everypony goes to when they need an arcade machine. There's an arcade further in Ponyville, and every once in a while there's a machine or two that either breaks down or is need of repair. So they'll come see me, I'll patch up the machine that's broken, all the while the replacement cabinet takes it's place til it's fixed. And as another additional plus, for me that is, it means whenever I want to, I can play these games whenever I want!"

"That's pretty cool," Aria grinned. "Any particular favorites?"

"Hmm, hard to say. I like almost all of them! Though if I had to pick my personal favorites..." Amethyst looked at the machines near her. "Pac-Pone, Centipede, Menasor, Goat King, and Scorponok!"

Aria tilted her head. "Scorponok?"

"Oh, somepony modeled this game after the legend of Scorpan and the centaurs," Amethyst said, nonchalantly.

Aria's eyes shrunk. "Well then..."

"Say uh, actually... does my 'hoo-man' counterpart play any games?" Amethyst asked.

Aria forgot about the disturbing recollection and smiled back at her pony friend. "Are you kidding me? If she was here, she would be having a blast. That girl is a master at arcade games, all the classics from the 80s. So if you're talking about games from say... 20 to 30 years ago, you bet your flank she does!"

"Yes! That's awesome!"

Aria chuckled. "Yeah..."

Amethyst clopped her hooves to the door, and pulled the door open. Some light was finally allowed inside the room. Which meant that the machines were available for rent! Unfortunately Adagio, Sonata, and Trixie all came right at that moment.

"Aria, there's a place we got to show you."

"Aww come on, I haven't even started!" Aria whined.

"Aria, come on. We can play games later, let's go look around," Adagio said.

Aria rolled her eyes and whined some more. "Whhhyyyyy??? Ugh, save Centipede for me, please?"

"You bet!" Amethyst grinned.

Aria waddled out of the garage and followed right behind the others. Amethyst waved at them, and then turned her gaze to a cabinet and flipped it on, inserting a coin into the slot.

Ponyville was relatively calm today, just like most of it's days (aside from a few magic based incidents that caused terror). Most of them were just wandering around, minding their own business. A few of them waved hi at Princess Trixie as they walked, making only a little bit of small talk.

"So what should we do today? I know we have to go home eventually, but I'm still eager to look around. I want to do some things before we go home," Adagio said.

"Maybe do some karaoke?" Sonata asked. "Now that the ponies here don't pitchforks or machine guns at us, I think we can sing to them again!"

"I honestly want to see the big castle that the two princesses fought in. Apparently that place is still standing," Aria said with a grin. "Any place that's had a big battle in there is good enough for me."

"... You're too violent. It makes you scary," Sonata shivered.

"I'm not violent, Sonata. I just have issues," Aria bantered.

"Understatement of the century," Adagio deadpanned. "But alright, so maybe we should--doh!"

Adagio felt somepony bump into her, somepony small. Wiggling her head around, she looked back to see who it was. It was a small yellow filly with cherry red hair, with a little bow in the back of her head.

"Oh, sorry little one, I didn't see you there," Adagio apologized.

"No, I'm sorry, I... wait." The filly stood back up confused. "I don't think I ever seen you before."

"Oh she's new in town, Apple Bloom. She's an old friend," Princess Trixie explained. Trying to explain strange creatures was a difficult task to some parts of Equestria, but she knew just the words to cover for her and her sisters.

"Oh. But I can't say I ever seen anypony like this before," she tilted her head.

"Apple Bloom, come on now," a country-accented voice called. "What'd I tell ya about judgin' ponies by their looks?"

"It's fine. I know Equestria hasn't seen typical creatures like us," Adagio shrugged off.

Sonata's eyes sparkled. "Oh hey, it's--"

Aria moved her hoof up and covered Sonata's mouth to shut her up. "Not, somepony... we know," Aria corrected. Sonata pouted.

"You are?" Adagio asked without hesitation.

"I'm Applejack. Nice to meet ya," the farmer smiled, shaking her hoof.

"Pleasure's all mine. Adagio Dazzle," the siren greeted. "Judging by the hat, the accent, and little bits of mud, I'm going to take a wild guess and say you're an apple farmer."

"Why yes I am!"

"I thought so. Well, still very nice to meet you. These are my sisters Aria and Sonata."

"Nice to meet ya!" Apple Bloom greeted.

"And nice to meet you, little one," Adagio politely greeted back.

"Where you headed off, Applejack?"

"I'm meetin' up with Rarity and Sweetie Belle over at the Sisterhooves Social this afternoon," Applejack explained. "Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo should be down there as well."

The three sirens exchanged glances, quietly nodding to one another.

"Ah okay. Well you girls have fun, okay?"

"Oh we will! See y'all later, and enjoy Ponyville!" Applejack waved, trotting off with Apple Bloom. Their hooves galloped across the asphalt, while the quartet watched them leave.

"So that's Apple Bloom..." Aria said, watching her trot away with Applejack. "Nice kid."

"Indeed. It'll be even nicer when we free their human counterparts from eternal slumber though," Adagio said.

"Come on, follow me!"

---

The Sirens flew with Princess Trixie high into the air, going above the Everfree forest, straight for the remnants of the castle. The wind brushed past their fins and their ears, and the three of them soaked it all in.

"Ahhh... feel that wind in your fins. The freedom in the skies, you will never get a chance like this on Earth."

A bug flew into Aria's mouth midair, making her cough hard. "Blegh! Agh! Oh no, that's gross, blegh!"

Sonata laughed hysterically, even pointing a hoof at her older sister's misery. "Hahahaha! You actually ate one! Now we're even!"

"Shut up and die, Sonata!" Aria yelled.

Adagio rolled her eyes, but chuckled with a smile. Same old shenanigans as ever. Since she had been taking care of them, she had to constantly keep them apart from trying to kill each other. But it was a statistic that she knew was going to happen either way, so she just stayed calm and knew the fight was eventually going to die.

"We're here!"

Princess Trixie gracefully landed on all fours, while the Sirens stayed hovering closeby. In front of them was the ruins of an ancient castle; Only one tower was remaining, plants and vegetation was spreading over some of the walls, some flags and banners were hanging with some torn strands. Bricks and stone were loose from the walls, decaying from the years of resting.

"Welcome to the Castle of the Two Sisters!"

"Whoahoho. So you mean this is the place that Daybreaker was born in? Wicked," Aria grinned.

"Thank goodness it's been left alone. A piece of history like this shouldn't have anypony tearing it down," Adagio stated.

Aria shot into the air like a rocket and immediately began flying over the ruins. Princess Trixie just shrugged and walked inside, pushing the doors open with Adagio and Sonata behind her.

"So not only is this place that Daybreaker was born and freed in, but it's the place where... um... what was it again?"

"We found out that we were the bearers for the Elements Of Harmony," Princess Trixie explained.

"Yeah, yeah, that!"

Adagio perched like a cat, her tail swishing side to side as she looked around. "This is fascinating... oh if only I could take a picture to send back to our friends at CHS..."

"This is so cool!" Aria grinned, hovering above the castle grounds. And she swooped by her older sister in a flash, blowing some dust and leaves past her, making her cough and wheeze.

"Ohhhh..." Sonata said in awe, looking all around her. The siren's head twisted and turned as she gazed up at the ceiling, looking at a few gaping holes. Moving her head back down and turning around, she found herself standing face to face with an angry gray pony. "Dah, oh!" Sonata yelped. In front of her was a statue of a unicorn who had an angry glare, ready to make the jump as she stood on her hind legs. Aria saw her chance and slowly crept up on Sonata, touching her shoulder and making Sonata squeal like a pig. "DOH!"

Aria snickered, but Sonata didn't find it funny. "Don't do that!" Sonata whined, slapping Aria's shoulder.

"Relax. It's just a statue," Aria shook her head.

"Yeah well I was almost turned into a statue. Stupid cockatrice, I was just trying to be friendly..." Sonata pouted.

"Who even is that?" Aria asked.

"That... is the one who brought back Daybreaker," Princess Trixie answered.

Aria blinked. "Wait, this is her? Is she... is she in that thing?"

"She's petrified," Princess Trixie explained. "After Daybreaker was freed, she tried to gain control of Daybreaker, but didn't think of the fact that Daybreaker only wanted herself in charge and not her. So she petrified her where she stood."

Aria gulped. "Well... dang. Is she even alive?"

"She still is. But Princess Celestia and Luna found this to be a better punishment than the suggestions from before; which was to send her straight to the moon." The Sirens looked at her, fearfully. "She was upset! ... A lot more than you imagined."

Aria stood in front of the statue with no expression, taking another sip of the soda. She moved her head to the left, still keeping her eyes on the petrified pony. And then to the right, still looking at it. She childishly stuck her tongue out and made a mocking roar noise.

"Can't do anything about it, can you?" Aria snickered. "You know, be thankful you're not stuck on the moon. It's awfully lonely up there..."

"Can we leave? I don't wanna look at it anymore, it's scary," Sonata whimpered.

"Oh relax, it's a statue," Aria rolled her eyes. "Baby."

"Buzzkill."

"Girls!" Adagio barked. "Princess, perhaps we should go back to Ponyville for lunch?"

"That's fine with me. Come on, follow me," the Princess nodded, leading the way.

---

Starswirl woke up slowly and unwillingly, his head aching like Rockhoof had been using it for a kickball. The wizard grimaced as he shifted in bed, trying to ignore the hangover. But as he turned over, he suddenly heard – and felt – the crumple of parchment. Someone had stuffed a roll of parchment into his beard, and it was pushing uncomfortably against his chest.

“What in…”

He tried to sit up quickly, wincing as he got an eyeful of the morning sunlight through a window – and then, a moment later, gaped in realization: for the cabin was clean. The floor had been swept, the upended table put back in its original place, the bookshelves had been dusted… even the damaged floorboards from the previous day had been crudely – if effectively – repaired with a simple sticking spell to lock them back into place!

“Who?”

Starswirl could only gape, utterly baffled. Mistmane on her occasional visits had offered her “critique” of his messy cabin, and Somnambula had said even less on the subject, but he couldn’t imagine either of them, no matter how exasperated they might have been, sneaking in and cleaning up everything!

His gaze shifted, and he carefully removed the rolled-up parchment from the depths of his beard, snorting to himself as he did so. The cheek of the pony responsible! And then he opened the scroll, and his irritation vanished to be replaced by utter shock as he began to read.

Dear Starswirl,

I am Sonata Dusk. I am the blue siren you met yesterday, and before you ask, my hand-writing is awful so I asked my friend Vinyl to write for me.

I don't know if you're going to read this or just set it on fire, but if you do, I want you to stop beating yourself up over this. I didn't like being thrown into a parallel dimension either, but it somehow became one of the most awesome things I've ever been through, for realzies. My sisters and I have a home now, we have friends, we have money, we're in a good place now. But I know you're not. I still think you banishing us was wrong, and I understand why you did it. But all of this happened over a thousand years ago. If I can move on, I think you can too. Let go of your mistakes, and focus on the present. I know my friend Vinyl who's still writing this letter wants you to not stay holed up in here. I do too.

I just hope you'll listen to me by the time you wake up from your drunkness. And lay off the cider, alcohol is never the solution; it makes you do some bad things. You would not want to know how bad it is when Dagi gets drunk; she's a lunatic! Where was I? Oh yeah! Vinyl and I also helped restock some food in your cabin, you look starved. Maybe have a taco sometime, just to have a bite. Go see some ponies, start anew.

I hope this helps,

Ever yours,

Sonata Dusk. A forgiving Siren.

Starswirl finally put the letter down. He’d read it once, twice, and again until he wasn’t really reading the words on the parchment, but he just couldn’t look away. But finally he did, and let the scroll flutter to the ground, and he sat down heavily on the bed once more.

She forgave him. It didn’t seem real. She forgave him.

He repeated the words out loud, to see if they sounded any truer, more tangible that way. He couldn’t tell. Starswirl closed his eyes, feeling his chest heaving, with an indescribable rush of emotion. It wasn’t just grief, or shame, or even relief, but something like all three at once, and more. He buried his face in his hooves, wanting to cry, but no tears would come. It was like he’d finally cried until he finally couldn’t.

How long he sat like that, he did not know. But finally, after what felt like an eternity, he found himself looking up again, sitting up fully, as he suddenly realized that his stomach was growling – and that he, Starswirl the Bearded, was starving. Unbidden, part of the letter came back to him. The Siren advising him to eat a taco sometime, whatever that was. But even though he didn’t know, he found himself craving one.

It was the strangest thing. He had barely eaten for so long, hadn’t really wanted to, and yet, suddenly, he couldn’t stop thinking about food. Goblets of sparkling fruit juice, sweet rolls, dozens of other tasty and mouthwatering foods, some of which he’d nearly forgotten completely!

…Hay, even a simple daisy sandwich would be good too. Though the thought of cider and other alcohol made his head throb. Perhaps he’d stay away from the drinks for a while.

“Hmph,” Starswirl grunted to himself, as he clambered out of bed, a bit unsteadily, and made his way over to the pantry to see what he could scrounge up. There wasn’t much, but there was more than he’d thought, seems as if his food supplies had been restocked; brushing aside an odd prickle of guilt, he began to put together a simple, if delicious-looking, plate of sandwiches.

He was just about to start eating, when he suddenly noticed the bright glow of the noon sun, shining through the small windows of the cabin. Starswirl stared at the light for a long moment, noticing for the first time in what felt like an eternity, the trees outside. Green and lush and full of life, swaying in the breeze…

Starswirl watched for a moment, and then he glanced to the door of the cabin. When was the last time he’d been outside, anyway? The thought made him feel oddly nervous, but as he looked back to his sandwiches, the thought of eating outside, in the warm sun, seemed like a good idea.

And so he took his plate, and a simple bottle of juice, with him, as he tentatively crossed the cabin to the door. Again he felt that strange nervousness as he put his hoof to the door, but, after a moment of hesitation, the wizard made himself open it and step out into the light. He hissed as the bright outside nearly blinded him and he nearly dropped his food, but he caught it at the last second, and when his sight had adjusted, he shut the door behind him. Starswirl the Bearded looked around, at the open nature that was on every side of him. He squinted up at the sky, the blue color and the cheerful white clouds and the bright yellow sun.

And he took his first, cautious steps back into the outdoors. Finding a nice spot under a nearby tree (that was still close to the cabin) Starswirl slowly sat down and settled in to eat his lunch. And for the first time in a very, very, very time, he began to feel somewhat better. It was a start. The very first, hopeful step on the long and hard path to a far-away recovery. But more would follow. For now, Starswirl was simply content to eat, and sit in the grass, watch the clouds, and feel a little bit alive once again.

Author's Note:

I forgot to mention this, but I like to give a massive shoutout to Scholarly-Cimmerian for the amazing help on handling the Starswirl scenes, really appreciated it.

I could not have gotten this done without him so thank you very much for that

Hope ya'll enjoyed!

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

The music really added a lot of punch to that concluding scene. Excellent choice, Four.

Solid work all around. You had a nice mix of sweet and slice-of-life stuff, and then some good continuation of the drama from earlier on too. And maybe even something of a new beginning for Starswirl too?

[sonicfan05]

Another great chapter!

Of course it was Sonata who have the heart to forgive Starswirl. While he wasn't completely moved on from his mistakes, but it's a start at least.

[Ri2]

Who was the pony who released Day Breaker?