• Published 3rd Jan 2020
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Renaming Starlight's Village - Brass Polish



The Cutie Mark Crusaders move to Starlight’s Village with Big Macintosh, where many ponies are still struggling to reconnect with their cutie marks.

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19. Practice Round

Author's Note:

Lightning Dust arrives, sure that she will soon rediscover what her mark means, but it seems she must re-rediscover it instead.

“Have you been here all night?!”

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all woke with a start just outside the mouth of the Cave.

“Oh, hi Sugar Belle,” said Apple Bloom with a stretch and a yawn. “We were waiting for… somepony.”

All three of the CMCs swore their cutie marks had glowed and vibrated, calling them to a mission.

“Maybe it was a false alarm,” grunted Scootaloo, giving her neck a bit of a crack.

“Or whoever was called to the Village is just being a no-show,” suggested Sweetie Belle, rubbing her eyes.

As her vision cleared, she saw the silhouette of a pegasus in the sky flying towards them.

“Oh! Maybe not,” she said, pointing.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo leapt to their hooves with excitement.

“I guess our next customer was just slow,” grinned Apple Bloom.

The pegasus came nearer and nearer to the Cave mouth.

Scootaloo blinked. “I’d never have guessed Lightning Dust would be slow.”

*****

Lightning Dust landed. “So, you’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders I’ve heard so much about.”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo nodded. “And you’re the Wonderbolt exile I’ve heard so much about.”

“Yep. And I’m ready for a new life,” said Lightning Dust.

She glanced at Sugar Belle.

“Who’s this?”

“I’m Sugar Belle. And I’m going to be giving these fillies breakfast before they can help you. They’ve been out here all…”

“Hey, there’s somepony else coming!” exclaimed Apple Bloom.

Everyone looked. In the distance, making his way towards the Village with a slight stagger, was a unicorn stallion. He stopped when he saw the small crowd outside the Cave, then quickly trotted up towards them.

“Looks like we’ve got more than one straggler,” said Sweetie Belle before she could stop herself.

Lightning Dust said nothing.

*****

None of them recognised the unicorn stallion; a dark blue complexion with a cutie mark resembling a bent tube.

“You ponies live in that Village over there?” he asked.

They do, I don’t,” said Lightning Dust quickly.

“We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” bubbled Apple Bloom. “And this is my brother’s wife, Sugar Belle.”

The stranger gave a brief smile and nod, then said “So I take it you know… Party Favour?”

Apple Bloom took a second look at the bent tube cutie mark.

“You’re Bend Twist!” she exclaimed.

“Keep it down!” hissed Bend Twist. “Look, it wasn’t an easy decision… I’ve been pondering it ever since I got a letter from Party Favour in July… but I’ve decided I want to make peace with my brother. But I’m… I’m…”

He kept repeating “I’m” as though trying to decide what he was.

“Scared,” he settled on. “He ruined my life. I’m scared that I’ll fly into a rage at him. Despite everything he did to me, I don’t… want to hurt him.”

*****

The Crusaders and Sugar Belle did their best to reassure Bend Twist that he was doing the right thing - Lightning Dust didn’t contribute much; she was a little annoyed that her desire for a new life was taking a back seat - and to make him feel welcome as they started to head towards the Village. But by the time they reached the Road, Bend Twist was crumpled up on the ground. There were several Villagers about, and most of them had seen Bend collapse. Luckily, Party Favour wasn’t among them, and Bend Twist managed to stop shaking when Sugar Belle told him this.

“Maybe you’re not ready to reconcile,” Sugar Belle suggested.

“No. I want to,” insisted Bend Twist. But he was unable to stand or look up.

“Let’s just go to the Hostel,” said Apple Bloom. “You can relax there and maybe soon, you’ll work up the courage you need.”

Bend Twist smiled and started to stand.

“We can get Lightning Dust settled there too,” added Scootaloo.

“Okay,” said Lightning. “Uh, who runs that Hostel?”

A pause.

“Nopony yet,” said Sweetie. “I guess it’s fend-for-yourself staying there.”

*****

Lightning Dust wanted to zip straight to the Hostel the moment Scootaloo pointed out where it was, but Bend Twist asked for them all to surround him as they walked to it. Clearly, he wanted to be obscured as he walked down the Road, lest Party Favour should see him. So she trotted along with the rest of them down the Road, past the Treehouse, and into the Hostel; they made it all the way there without giving Bend Twist shellshock.

“I call this room!” barked Lightning Dust, darting towards her chosen bed.

Apple Bloom watched her lie down, looked at Bend Twist, whose stiff frightened body was being helped into a chair by Sugar Belle, and said to her fellow Crusaders “Which one of them should take priority? Lightning Dust was called by the Grid, but Party Favour’s been hoping to make up with his brother forever, and Bend Twist is a bundle of nerves.”

In the end, they decided Bend Twist needed more of their attention. Scootaloo broke this news to Lightning Dust after she’d woken up from an impromptu nap.

Lightning sighed. “I guess there’s no rush. I’ve got literally nothing going on in my life now that I’ve had to stop aiming for a career with the Wonderbolts.”

Scootaloo was sure they’d have no trouble helping Lightning Dust anyway; she knew just the pony to talk to about being a fast pegasus and having nothing to do with the Wonderbolts.

*****

That evening, Lightning Dust offered to do a grocery run. After she left, the Crusaders sat with Bend Twist by the fireplace.

“So how have things been going with you?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Crummy,” muttered Bend Twist. “Punch in, punch out, grab a wrench, drip some glue, grab a towel… boring… unfulfilling… that brother of mine took away my life and…!”

“How do you think Party Favour’s life was after he grew up?!” spluttered Apple Bloom. “He was full of guilt, he felt undeserving of a cutie mark he thought you ought to have gotten, and he ran off and joined a cult!”

Bend Twist sighed. “I know in my heart he didn’t mean to curse me to a dull life. And I’m aware that he was part of a cult that stripped ponies of their individuality…”

He jumped at the sound of the Hostel door opening.

“It’s just Lightning Dust,” said Sweetie Belle. “Wow, that was fast.”

“Did you go out of town too?” asked Scootaloo as Lightning Dust set the loaded grocery bags on the dining room table.

“Yeah, I know a little grocery store in Manehattan,” said Lightning Dust.

*****

In the morning, Lightning Dust intended to sleep in for as long as he felt like. But from the sounds and smells she was picking up in her sleepy haze, Bend Twist was either not much of a cook or was letting his nerves get the better of him and was going about making breakfast haphazardly. So she crawled out of bed and pitched in, leaping from task to task with ease.

“Thanks, Lightning,” said Bend Twist as he sat in the chair by the fireplace and ate grilled cheese sandwiches. “These are really good.”

Lightning Dust saw Bend look out of a window the moment he stopped speaking, plainly trying to see if Party Favour was out and about. Party Favour was nowhere in sight, but they did see the Cutie Mark Crusaders talking to Night Glider.

*****

“Why’d they kick her out?” Night Glider asked.

“She kept trying to push her limits, and she abused her Lead Pony powers to get Rainbow Dash to do as she said,” said Scootaloo. “She ended up causing a lot of mayhem.”

Night Glider stared at the sky and thought for a moment.

“Okay, sure,” she said at last. “I’ll have a talk with her.”

So they turned towards the Hostel. They found the door was open. They entered.

“Oh, good,” said Bend Twist, still in his chair. “Could you close the door please?”

Night Glider did so. “So you’re Party Favour’s brother.”

Bend nodded.

“Where’s Lightning Dust,” Night Glider asked.

“She went to fetch some kindling,” said Bend Twist, pointing to the empty fireplace and small firewood pile in a corner of the room.

“Oh wow, I didn’t even see her leave,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Me neither,” said Apple Bloom and Scootaloo together.

*****

The door opened and in came Lightning Dust carrying lots of logs.

“Would you please stop leaving the door open?” groaned Bend Twist.

Night Glider was about to shut the door, but hesitated.

“I’m no expert on cutie mark problems or anything,” she said in an undertone to the Crusaders, “but maybe Lightning doesn’t need me to talk to her. Maybe she’s already found something else to do with her life.”

They looked to see Lightning Dust had already rebuilt the firewood pile and was now getting lunch started.

“Who wants lasagna?” she asked the room at large.

The Crusaders thought Night Glider had a point; perhaps Lightning Dust would settle in and run the Village Hostel, given the ease with which she was keeping house.

“Not for me, thanks,” Night Glider smiled. “I’m having lunch with… his brother. Don’t worry,” she said quickly, turning to the frightened figure in the chair by the fire, “I won’t mention you.”

Bend Twist smiled his appreciation.

*****

A few days went by, and after a number of talks and questions, the best Bend Twist could do by now was sit by the window looking out at the Villagers as they went about their business. Whenever he saw Party Favour out in the Street, he’d stare longingly at him. But a sudden movement or slight turn of the head from Party Favour, and Bend Twist would either duck or move away from the window. Lightning Dust on the other hoof was managing well with the upkeep of the Hostel. She’d already mastered grocery runs and cooking, and found no trouble with cleaning the floors and bed sheets. And it wasn’t just Bend Twist she could take care of; whenever the Crusaders or other Villagers who’d been told that Party Favour’s brother was there came to visit, Lightning Dust was always able to provide snacks, and when Double Diamond decided he wanted a nap after lunch, he paid a compliment to Lightning afterwards on the state of the bed.

*****

“I think I might stay there,” Lightning Dust said to the Crusaders one morning as Professor Glomgold was leading his Secondary school class out of the Schoolhouse for a field trip.

And as she zipped back to the Hostel, the Crusaders’ cutie marks started glowing and vibrating.

“Great,” smiled Apple Bloom. “Mission accomplished.”

And feeling pleased with themselves, they carried on following Professor Glomgold as he took his class on a field trip to the ski slopes in the mountains outside the Village. But as they made their way, the Crusaders found their cutie marks wouldn’t stop glowing and vibrating.

“Looks like we’ve already got another mission,” said Sweetie Belle.

So the CMCs turned around and headed back to the Village; they didn’t bother to say anything to the Professor.

*****

As the Crusaders re-entered the Village, they saw something fly out of the Hostel chimney.

“A cutie mark!” exclaimed Apple Bloom.

“Is it…” Scootaloo glanced around the Street, “Bend Twists?”

“It’s Lightning’s,” Sweetie Belle gaped.

No sooner had she spoken when Lightning Dust burst out through the Hostel door.

“My cutie mark came off!” she cried, not seeing where she was going in her panic.

Sweetie Belle lit her horn and grabbed Lightning Dust by her tail, just in time to prevent her from crashing into the Tree at the End of the Road.

Lightning Dust gave her head a shake and gaped at Sweetie. “Whoa! You stopped me dead! And you’re so young!”

“It’s nothing really,” said Sweetie Belle, releasing Lightning from her magical grip. “I just have a power over ponies who don’t understand their cutie marks.”

“But I do understand it now,” insisted Lightning Dust.

Scootaloo pointed towards the Cave. “Your mark’s saying otherwise.”

*****

Lightning and the Crusaders watched the white lightning bolt with three gold stars float through the sky towards the Cave.

“It just split? Oh, that’s a relief,” sighed Lightning Dust, seeing that she still had her cutie mark.

“Why the panic?” asked Apple Bloom. “This must’ve happened the last time you were called to…”

Apple Bloom trailed off, beginning to comprehend.

“The Grid didn’t call you here in the first place, did it?”

What Grid?” asked Lightning Dust.

The Crusaders led Lighting to the Cave, and this time, they entered it. Lighting Dust stared intently at her cutie mark chasing Evensong’s around the Maze.

“So… you only heard about us and the Village, and decided to come here to try and get away from letting go of your ambitions and start a new life,” said Sweetie Belle.

Lightning Dust bowed her head. “I never knew ponies had to be summoned here. I just thought anypony doubting their cutie marks could come here.”

“Well you’ve been summoned now,” said Scootaloo. “Now that you’ve veered away from your ambition.”

*****

“But I had to abandon my ambition!” snapped Lightning Dust, her voice echoing around the Cave. “Becoming a Wonderbolt isn’t an option anymore! I’ve been miserable since I got kicked out of the Academy! I made the decision to up sticks and leave my worthless life and start fresh! Now this Grid thing tells me I’m supposed to be a bitter lowlife?! Thanks, Grid! Thanks a feathering bunch!”

“No, no, you don’t have to try to become a Wonderbolt to adhere to your mark!” said Sweetie hastily.

Lightning wasn’t listening. “I guess I’ll just go back to striving for an impossible goal now!”

Night Glider’s fast, but she knows she doesn’t need to be a Wonderbolt either!” shouted Scootaloo, trying desperately to get Lightning’s attention. “You can talk to her!”

“Or maybe you want me to be a villain to make my dreams a reality, just like Evensong!” Lightning Dust spat at the Grid, pointing to Evensong’s cutie mark.

“The Grid doesn’t want you to do bad things!” Apple Bloom loudly insisted. “Please, Lightning, just calm down and we’ll help you!”

“If you so insist on me trying to get into the Wonderbolts,” Lightning Dust continued to yell at the Grid, “I’ll just kidnap Spitfire and take her place as Captain! Just like Evensong Glisten kidnaped the Queens and tried to remove their sun and moon powers and stick it to her fanatic parents! How do you like that, huh Grid?!”

*****

“Oh!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. “I never checked up on Day Star and Selenic!”

She raced out of the Cave. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, realising they hadn’t really followed up on Evensong’s parents, wanted to follow her, but were also concerned with the ranting frustrated pegasus before them.

“Does this stupid thing even have any idea what my life’s been like since the Academy?!”

The remaining Crusaders stopped trying to interrupt her.

“I hit rock bottom, and I’m supposed to stay there?! Why can’t I be the Hostel Keeper?! I’m good at it! Everypony says so! ...Even though it’s not very challenging.”

Lightning Dust finally stopped shouting. She sat down on the Cave floor, tears welling up in her eyes. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were glad they stayed; they stepped forward and put a hoof on her shoulder each.

“Thanks for putting up with my stupid venting,” Lightning Dust sniffed after a few minutes.

“It’s not stupid,” insisted Scootaloo. “Sorry we thought we were on to a good thing with you. We just thought Bend Twist needed more of our attention. Now that the Grid’s told us otherwise, we’ll help you readjust your life and your goals.”

*****

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was relieved to find that Day Star and Selenic were faring well despite the looming threat of their magically gifted daughter coming to attack them.

“Soarin gave us these,” Day Star said, holding half of Marble’s changeling-throne bracelet.

Selenic showed Sweetie the other half she was carrying.

“Still, I’m sorry I never checked up on you after Evensong escaped,” said Sweetie Belle. “I just got all caught up in creating the Cutie Mark Grid. I should have made sure you two were safe.”

Sweetie began to feel a little overwhelmed; there was a frightened Bend Twist in the Village Hostel, a spluttering Lightning Dust in the Cave, and now there were some pretty vulnerable unicorns in this cottage.

*****

“So the Hostel Keeper thing didn’t pan out?” asked Night Glider when Scootaloo and Apple Bloom had brought Lightning Dust back to the Village. “That’s too bad.”

Lightning Dust was still a little teary-eyed, but perked up a little as she shook Night Glider’s hoof.

“They tell me you never wanted to join the Wonderbolts,” she said.

“That’s right. But I’ll admit, sometimes I did try to find ways to put my speed to good use,” said Night Glider. “For a while, I tried out for the Royal Guard. They’re always looking for fast pegasi...”

Lightning Dust frowned.

“You’ve tried that too, haven’t you?” asked Night Glider.

“Yeah. About a month after I got kicked outta the Academy,” sighed Lightning Dust, showing signs of breaking down again. “I didn’t get kicked out of the training program. I just didn’t pass all the qualifying tests. I aced the dodging test, but that’s it.”

“Dodging test?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, it’s where the pegasus tries to avoid getting snared by a unicorn’s magic,” said Lightning. “If you can fly fast enough, you should be a match for any unicorn trying to subdue you with spells.”

*****

Sweetie Belle rejoined the group at that moment.

“Did you just say you got a passing grade in dodging unicorn spells?” she asked Lightning.

“Yeah. None of the unicorn soldiers could get a hold of me,” grinned Lightning Dust, perking up again. “I was just a blur to them in that courtyard. I even managed to grab one of their helmets. Got full marks. But… every other examination…”

“Perfect!” exclaimed Sweetie. “I’ve got the perfect role for you here!”

She told the group her concerns over the vulnerable Day Star and Selenic in their cottage.

“They may have changeling-throne bracelets, but they might not be fast enough to get them on Evensong’s horn if she comes and gives them a surprise attack. But you could be,” she said to Lightning. “You’re fast enough to…”

She trailed off.

“Oh, but… I caught you with my magic pretty easily, didn’t I? Maybe I was too hasty.”

Lightning Dust shot into the air. “How about now?!”

*****

Sweetie Belle watched as Lightning Dust zig-zagged through the air.

“Come on! Try and stop me!” she called to Sweetie. “See if I’m any match for Evensong Gisten’s magic!”

Sweetie Belle lit her horn and tried to follow Lightning Dust’s progress. It was trickier than before; Lightning wasn’t flying in a straight line this time. She cast a spell to snag Lightning’s tail. It held, but it didn’t stop her dead. It only slowed her down for a few seconds before stopping her in midair.

“Try again!” Lightning called.

Sweetie released Lightning’s tail, watched her zoom around the sky above the Village, and relit her horn. Her second spell missed. She cast a third. It held, but not for long. Lightning pumped her wings vigorously and managed to break free. At the moment she shot away from Sweetie Belle’s magical grasp, her cutie mark glowed and vibrated; the Crusaders’ marks did likewise. Sweetie Belle went on trying to catch Lightning Dust with magic, but now she could barely even see the green streak as it pinballed through the sky. Minutes went by, and then Lightning Dust came in for a landing looking happier than she’d seemed all throughout her time in the Village.

“Thanks, Crusaders,” she smiled. “This is just the kind of challenge I like.”

*****

So Lightning Dust did take up residence in Starlight’s Village, but not as the Hostel Keeper. That role went to Day Star and Selenic; they moved into the Hostel to cook and clean for the visiting and long-term (Bend Twist) tennants. Lightning moved into their cottage to be on the alert for Evensong Glisten should she return to town and try to ambush her parents.