Chapter 7
“So, Starfall, darling, what brings you all the way out to Ponyville?” Rarity asked amicably. “We aren’t much of a tourist trap out here, I must say.”
“Oh, you know,” I responded vaguely. “I was just sort of looking for a place to… Settle down, I guess, and Ponyville seemed, uh, relaxing?” My response came out sounding more like a question than an answer.
“Oh, yes, it’s very relaxing,” Fluttershy told me quietly.
“Super relaxing!” Pinkie added. “I mean, we’ve got Rainbow Dash, and she’s the best relaxer in the world!”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I bet.”
“I’ve got to say,” Twilight spoke up, “it’s nice to know I’m not the only new pony in town. Do you have a place to stay yet? If not, I’m sure one of us could find room for you until you do.”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” I assured her, “I’m pretty sure I’m all set on that.”
“Pretty sure?” Rarity asked. “Where are you staying, if you don’t mind me prying a little?”
“Uhh, well, I guess I’m staying in the Ever—” I cut myself off. I can’t tell them I’m staying in the old castle! “Near! I’m staying near the Everfree Forest.”
“Ohh, um, but aren’t you afraid?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m, uhh… Staying with somepony who knows the area,” I said, “so I’m not too worried.”
“Who lives way out there?” Twilight asked.
“Ooh, ooh, I think I know!” Pinkie bounced excitedly. “I bet you’re staying with Zecora, aren’t you? Ohh, I always thought she needed a roommate. She must get so lonely, way out in the woods like that!”
“Actually, um—”
“Who’s Zecora?” Twilight started talking at the same time as me, and my correction got completely drowned out.
“She’s a zebra who lives on the outskirts of town,” Rarity explained. “She acts as a… Caretaker, of sorts, for the Everfree. A bit of an odd duck, that one. Actually, I agree with Pinkie. A roommate will probably do her some good. Maybe she’ll start being less stubbornly independent.”
“But I—”
“Ooh, I’m just so excited to have another new pony in town,” Pinkie said before I could get a word in. “Just don’t stay cooped up in that hut all day! We’ll see you around, right? Right?”
“Uhh, maybe down the line,” I muttered awkwardly. “I was actually just getting ready for kind of a long trip, though.”
“Oh? Do tell,” Rarity said, her interest piqued. “What has you running off so soon?”
“I have to go find… Somepony I know,” I said. “That’s actually why I came over today, I was hoping I could find some maps in the library to help narrow down my search.”
Twilight gasped. “You wanted to use the library? You should’ve said so sooner!” She flew out of her seat, and suddenly she was zipping around the room, plucking books from shelves seemingly at random. “We’ve got everything you need. How much information do you have? Do you know a town? A region? A climate, maybe? Or maybe some history, if anypony famous ever went there, they probably—”
Off to my side, Rarity chuckled and stood up. “Well, I think it was about time we were off, anyway,” she said. “It was lovely meeting you, dear. Do stop by the boutique some time, I’ve got some scarves I think would look absolutely fabulous on you.”
“Uh, th-thanks,” I said awkwardly, not expecting the compliment.
“Now come along, you two,” she said, beckoning Pinkie and Fluttershy towards the door. “Let’s let these two get their work finished.”
“Aww, do we have to?” Pinkie complained, but she followed Rarity regardless. Spike insisted on walking Rarity home, so before long it was just me and Twilight left in the library.
A minute later, Twilight dropped a massive stack of tomes on the desk with a loud thud, then finally realized what had happened. “Where’d everypony go?” she asked.
“They said it was getting late,” I told her, “so they wanted to let you work.”
“Oh, geez, I totally scared them off, didn’t I?” Twilight huffed. “I really need to work on that.”
“I don’t think you scared them off,” I reassured her. “I think they just didn’t want to make you choose between them and your research, you know?”
Twilight sighed and slumped down into her chair. “I guess,” she said, though she didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Anyway, what are we looking for?”
I told Twilight what I knew about Starlight’s town, things like how big it was and the general region, and she immediately cut the stack of books in half. We spent the next few hours narrowing it down further, as she asked me more and more questions on things I hadn’t even thought to tell her. What style the homes were built in, for instance, or whether the ponies spoke with an accent, along with plenty of things I had no clue about, like if they had any local holidays.
“Got it!” Twilight suddenly shouted. I jolted upright, shaken out of a half-asleep stupor, and looked over at her. “This has to be it,” she said, and she slid a thin journal across the table towards me.
It seemed to be the travel log of a pony who’d lived centuries ago. They’d traveled all over the world, in Equestria and beyond, and on the page Twilight was showing me, they talked of a little hamlet they visited for some time. They spoke of how kind and welcoming the ponies there were, and how they felt like they’d truly stumbled across a hidden gem.
Partway through the entry, the pony had sketched a rough drawing of the place. There were even fewer houses than the town I knew, but they did look similar, and the mountains in the background felt remarkably close to what I knew.
It was a good shot, but it was the final few paragraphs that really cinched it for me.
Apparently, this pony was remarkably gifted at appraising and handling magical items. That was the main purpose of their journey—to find dangerous artifacts, and hide them away where nopony would ever find them. With the kindness the local ponies had shown, plus the difficulty of finding the town at all, they decided that it would be a perfect place to keep one of the items they’d found safe from the world.
There was a sketch of the item they’d hidden, too, and I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw it. I guess that stick Starlight found wasn’t so useless after all.
“Wow,” I said after I’d finished reading it, and looked up to see an excited grin on Twilight’s face. “Great work, this is definitely it.”
She clapped giddily. “I knew it. And there’s even a map at the back of the book.” I started to flip the pages, but Twilight suddenly snatched the journal away and pressed it against her chest. “However,” she said tauntingly, “I’m not so sure I should give you this information anymore.”
“What?” My mouth fell open in shock. “But why not?”
“Well, for one, you’ve obviously been lying to me all day,” she said, and I thought I could detect a hint of smugness in her voice at revealing that. “More importantly, though, I don’t just hand magical artifacts over to treasure hunters. This information is going straight to Princess Celestia! Who knows, maybe this could even help her track down Nightmare Moon after that disaster last night.”
“Wh- Treasure hunter?” It took me a moment to understand what she was getting at, and then my head fell into my hooves. “This isn’t about the staff, alright? There’s really a pony there that I need to find!”
“Oh, please. You expect me to believe you’re not hunting down magical artifacts when you’re wearing one?” She pointed accusingly at my gold-wrapped leg.
I blushed despite myself, and hid my leg below the table. “That’s different,” I told her, “and-and it’s not even magical! It’s just jewelry.”
Twilight scoffed. “That thing’s giving off so much magical energy it’s making my mane frizzy. Seriously, if you don’t start telling me the truth, I’ve got half a mind to go get this thing myself just to keep it out of your hooves!”
I winced and ground my teeth together. This was getting worse by the second. Why did I think this was a good idea? Any of it? At this rate, Twilight was gonna go get into a fight with Starlight years too early, and what were the odds she could win as she was now? There was no chance!
But… The truth? No, I couldn’t. Trixie and Nightmare Moon trusted me, as strange as it was to admit. I couldn’t just betray them like that. I had to think of something else.
Twilight was starting to look impatient. I was out of time to think.
“I… I… I can’t,” I finally said. “I can’t tell you the truth. I just… Can’t.”
“Well, then, I’m sorry, Starfall,” Twilight told me, “but I can’t let you go after the staff.”
“C’mon, Twilight, please,” I said. “It’s seriously not like that! Look, I can give you the staff, or leave it there, or whatever you want. I just need to get to that town!”
For a second, Twilight looked torn, but then she hardened up her face again and stared me down. “So, you’re really that adamant that you’re not a treasure hunter?”
“Yes!”
“Fine,” she said, “then prove it. Give me some collateral.”
“I… What?”
She pointed towards my hoof again. “That. I hold onto your ‘jewelry’ until you come back and hand over the staff to me.”
“But… It doesn’t come off,” I told her.
“Oh, come on.”
“No, seriously! Look, try yourself.” I held my hoof out towards her beseechingly.
She hesitates, but then curiosity gets the better of her, and she tries to pull my Element away from me. First she just grabs it with her hooves, but then she tries prying it off with magic, to no avail. It didn’t even budge.
“How strange…” Seemingly subconsciously, she floated a quill and parchment over to the table and started taking some notes. “I’ve never heard of a magical item binding to its user to this degree… Where did you say you got this?” It seemed her researcher mode was starting to fully override her skepticism.
“I… Can’t tell you that, either,” I said.
“You don’t seem to be able to tell me much.”
“Sorry…”
She poked and prodded at my leg like she was dissecting a frog, making me feel uncomfortably like a test subject. I put up with it, though, as I expected that not doing so would seal me out of getting that map forever.
Suddenly, something she did made rainbow sparks fly out of the Element, making us both jump back.
Twilight recovered quickly. “Rainbow…?” She muttered to herself and scribbled notes. “Peculiar. And it seems to… Yes, I see. So it just…”
“Uhh, Twilight?” I hazarded as she continued experimenting on my leg. “Is this going to take much longer?”
“Huh?” Twilight glanced up at me, and suddenly she became flustered. Red tinged her cheeks as she pushed herself upright and away from me. “Ah, yes, um, sorry about that. I got a little… Carried away. It’s just, I’ve never seen anything quite like that before. It’s fascinating. It’s a real shame it’s bonded to you so firmly, I’d love to run some experiments on it. Plus, with the power radiating from it… If I were able to harness that, I’d never have to fear Nightmare Moon again!”
I chuckled awkwardly. “Ah, yeah… Well, uh, I guess if it interests you that much, I could come over now and then and let you run some tests?”
Twilight brightened instantly. “Really!? You’d do that?”
“Well, as long as it’s safe,” I said. “But, uh… The book?”
“Huh? Oh! Oh…” Twilight’s face went through a whole range of emotions. She looked down at the journal, clearly conflicted. “You’ll bring me the staff?”
“If I can,” I said.
“And you’ll let me run tests?”
“I suppose.”
She bit her lip, thinking hard, before she finally huffed and thrust the journal quickly out towards me. “Fine. Take it. But don’t make me regret trusting you!”
I grabbed the book and nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! Thank you so much, Twilight.” With that, I stood up and walked to the door, muttering small ‘thank you’s the entire way. Twilight watched me leave with a bizarre mix of worry and curiosity on her face, and I couldn’t help but notice that her gaze flicked more than once towards the Element on my leg.
After saying goodbye and stepping outside, I took a deep breath and took a second to collect my thoughts. I had a map. I had a plan. Everything was working out.
So why did I feel like I’d somehow lost that encounter?
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Wait, didn't they believe Zecora to be a witch that curses ponies before they all learned she was just a regular forest hermit?
11191479
No one said this world was 100% accurate to the show
11191479
they definitely did
this is not twilight, it should be someone else with assertive tendency like applejack or rainbow dash.
twilight should contact princess celestia immediately upon noticing potential threats. season one twilight is a spineless bookworm who can overcome her fear because of her religious devotion to her sun goddess.
11163377
More Rosencrantz and Guildenstern shenanigans, methinks.
Curious encounter here. It raises some questions as to the relationship between all the ponies. Is Twilight friends with them or are they just acquaintances? Will Twilight be staying in Ponyville now that the celebration is over? Does she even know that Celestia is gone? What happened with her and the others in the Everfree?
Since we're seeing events through Starfall and we're only getting her side of things, it makes for some interesting gaps in knowledge.
I'll hold off on speculating on Zecora, even though it's a complete 180.
Twilight's reaction to Starfall's quest is peculiar. Looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
Until next time!
It's hoof over, ponies don't have hands.
11191479
It was always odd to me that Pinkie feared her. Pinkie is way to kind and optimistic. She would have befriended Zecora the first time they met.
11191774
What I find weird is after all the rumors they made about zecora suddenly just because they weren't stupid enough to get into poison joke they don't think she is an evil sorceress. And twilight needs to learn to keep her hooves to herself. She definitely needs to learn some manners.
11191616
Actually not spineless considering if the others hadn't insisted on coming she would have left them behind.
11191833
because it's about survival of her sun god emperor.
twilight only acts upon commands celestia.
times when she doesn't gave up full control to celestia are
1.feel like she will humiliated her(sprite incident)
2.go against celestia's safety and best interested(canterlot wedding, discord's reformation)
11191963
Technically she tried to with nightmare moon but spike insisted that she check on the preparations before getting into research. Celestia order was meet these ponies and check on preparations and go make some friends. She implied that nightmare moon was just a story. Then avoided telling her the whole truth of why she lied in the first place.
Trixie may need to learn to accept Twilight as a bearer of an Element because I don't think Twilight will just stay behind after this meeting. She saw right threw Starfall and is showing a bit of her lesson zero side I think.
The story is going to be quite different when they find Starlight Glimmer as well because the time needed to sway that community must have take a few years a least let alone form such a grand take over plot.
Calling Loyalty for Starfall BTW.
This is starting to get exciting, can't wait for the next chapter!
Because you agreed to have pre-lesson zero Twilight experiment on you. Also, because she's smart and might have some inkling that you're wearing an Element of Harmony. So you should be filled with dread.
11191479
Only Applejack thought that. Fluttershy was still a little scared of everyone back then, and Rainbow Dash thought Zecora was weird for digging random holes in the road. Meanwhile, Rarity was fainting over Zecora because her stripes were unfashionable and Pinkie was hyping up the 'evil enchantress' angle just like she hyped up Nightmare Night, presumably for the fun of it.
And notice that in this story, both Rarity and Pinkie know about Zecora and aren't treating her as a big deal.
____________________________
11191774
Pinkie wasn't scared of Zecora.
Watch the epispode again. She sings and dances about it, at one point she holds a flashlight up to her face like she's telling a ghost story, listen to the way she deliberately draws out how "eeeeevvvviillll" and "spooooOoOoOooky!" it all is...this is not serious business Pinkie Pie. If you watch closely, you'll even see that she goes back and forth a couple times between "oh, no! Evil scary enchantress!!!" to totally plain-faced unconcerned about it to smiling over the ridiculousness of it all.
She's playing it up for laughs. It's not until the poison joke happens that Pinkie starts acting serious.
11192003
as i stated in my observation in my previous post, twilight will go against celestia's order when it will do something detrimental to celestia herself.
nightmare moon's case is like what's happening in canterlot wedding. twilight confirmed that the threat exists and will stop at nothing until either the threat was neutralized or she was logically disproven.
in both cases, the very first thing she did after she confirmed the threat is trying to share information.