> Startrix: The Ship They Never Saw Coming > by GhostCoffeeIDK > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Start > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day in Ponyville, the sun shone brightly on the horizon as Starlight woke up in Twilight's Kingdom. She walked downstairs and opened the door to the library and saw Twilight and Spike, checking off a new checklist. "Do we have everything Spike?" Asked Twilight as she looked at Spike with the checklist. "Check!" Spike said, checking off the whole checklist as Twilight gave a grin. Starlight walked into the center of the room and walked to Twilight. "What are you working on now Twilight?" Questioned Starlight as Twilight was pleased to tell her. "Spike and I are going to see the Princesses and we wanted to be ready." Twilight explained as she lifted her saddlebag with her pink aura. Spike bundled the checklist into his bag and walked with Twilight to the door. Twilight spun around and gave Starlight a checklist of things to do while she was gone. Starlight looked through the checklist and smiled at Twilight and waved a goodbye. "Bye Twilight!" Waved Starlight as she saw Twilight and Spike trot out the door. Starlight wondered why she couldn't go or if she could but she didn't ask. Starlight ignored that and looked at the first thing on the checklist, which was to clean the kitchen and she trotted over to the kitchen and started to follow the list. There was a bang on the door and Starlight walked over and saw a white coated pony with a perfect purple mane as she waited silently for an answer. Starlight opened the huge castle door soundly. Rarity grinned as she opened the door. "Finally! I have been waiting there forever!" "It was more like 4 minutes, Rarity." "Well to me it was forever!" Rarity walked in and sat on her throne as she took a deep breath. Rarity glanced at Starlight and gave the hugest grin ever. "I was working on my new clothing line and I needed a model for it and nopony will do it for me! Will you model my dresses for me Starlight?" Rarity questioned as she gave sad puppy dog eyes. "Of course Rarity, but can you help me with some of the chores that Twilight wanted me to do?" Starlight said, Rarity rolling her light diamond blue eyes and nodding a "yes". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The bright burning sun was about to set as Starlight wiped her forehead as she finished every chore on the checklist with Rarity's help. Rarity was grooming her coat as there was a knock on the huge door. Starlight answered the door and saw Twilight and Spike back from there meet with the Princesses as Twilight walked in. "Hey Twilight! How was the meeting with the Princesses?" Asked Starlight, hugging Twilight as she put down her saddlebag. "It was good and the Princesses said that you can start coming on Friendship Problems with us when you finish being my pupil." Announced Twilight proudly and she saw that Rarity was there. "Oh! Sorry darling, Starlight asked me to help her with some of the things on your checklist Twilight!" Explained Rarity as she walked over to her. Twilight understood everything as Rarity took Starlight over to the boutique to try on her new line. Twilight yawned as she read a book and Spike sat in his small throne and read a comic book. Spike looked at Twilight as she yawned and struggled to keep her eyes open as she feel into a deep, soothing slumber. Spike wrapped her up in a blanket and turned off the lights and went to bed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next bright and sunny morning, Twilight was organizing her books for book season, Twilight's made up season. Some very dusty books fell on top of Spike as he woke up coughing and throwing the books off of him. Spike looked up at Twilight, hovering over her bookshelves and getting them ready for organizing. "Is it already Book Season?" Spike asked, rubbing his huge green eyes and looking over at her. "Yes it is Spike!" Twilight answered, grinning happily as she knocked over every book on the shelf with her magic. Spike rolled his eyes and helped Twilight. Knock, knock. Twilight heard that and opened the door and saw a light cream pony with a flowing pink mane. She looked at Twilight timidly as Twilight let her in. "Hey Fluttershy, what brings you here this early?" Questioned Twilight, dusting one of her beloved books off. "Well, I wanted to tell you that. . . I'm moving pretty soon." Fluttershy explained as she hide her face in her hooves. Twilight and Spike stared at Fluttershy with a gasp and soon smiled in happiness. "I thought that you two would be sad, right?" Said Fluttershy as she looked at her friends. Twilight hugged Fluttershy and so did Spike as they both cried. Fluttershy never wanted to see her friends this sad before and she looked at them with a smile as a tear shed from her aqua blue-green eye. "I will miss you all so much!" She cried hugging them back tightly. Twilight let go and sniffed and gave Fluttershy the biggest smile and wiped her eyes. "We are so happy for you Fluttershy!" Spike nodded in agreement as he hugged Fluttershy. "Where are you moving to Flutters?" "Las Pegasus, I am staying with my parents until I actually find a place there." Explained Fluttershy as she smiled at her two best friends. "That's great Flutters! Moving to the big city, of Cloudsdale." Twilight said as she hugged her again for the last time. "I will see you both soon." Flutters said as she walked out the door and turned around. "And also, I saw Trixie making her way over here." Twilight and Spike gasped as they heard a knock on their door. > Chapter 1: Not Entertained > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight and Spike looked at the huge door and thought about opening it as Starlight came into the room as she opened the door with her magic and Trixie pranced in like she owned the place and removed her hat from her head. "It has been such a long day doing my magic tricks and all." Trixie bragged as she sat on Twilight's throne and sat down like it was all hers. Twilight gave a fiery glare at Trixie. "Trixie," mumbled Twilight as she glared at her evilly. Starlight smiled at the appearance of Trixie, as she hugged her. Twilight rolled her eyes as she put on a forced grin with Trixie and Starlight. Spike patted Twilight's back as she walked over to the two friends as she fixed some tea and gave them three cups of tea. "Oh! Hi Twilight Sparkle, me and Starlight have decided to go to the spa today and have a day together!" Trixie said as she wore her blue starry hat. Twilight glared at her as Trixe and Starlight walked in front of her and slammed the door shut. She sighed and sat down on her throne and put her head down. Spike sat in his throne next to Twilight and patted her back in comfort. "What's wrong Twi?" Asked Spike as he looked at her for an answer. Twilight looked up at him and sighed. "I still can't get over the fact that Starlight is friends with Trixie." Twilight confessed as she trotted over to her books and starting to clean them. Twilight always cleaned when she was sad, mad, or stressed and Spike helped her by cleaning the tall windows. Soon after that, Starlight and Trixie were in line to get into the steam room as they opened the door and saw Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. "Oh, hello darlings! We didn't expect you both to come here!" Rarity said as she scooted over to give a spot to Trixie and Starlight. Trixie was pleased to take a seat next to the three mares. Starlight gave a toothy nervous grin as she sat next Trixie. Applejack and Rainbow rolled their eyes at Trixie as they ignored her. "This is so nice right darlings! Just us mares hanging out together in the spa! Relaxing for once." Rarity said as she put a towel over her perfect pampered face. "Yeah right. . ." Applejack sighed as she scooted closer to Rainbow. Trixie tightened her robe as she sighed in relaxation and she put a nice smooth towel over her face neatly. Starlight looked at the ponies as they all sat together. A relaxed Rarity. An annoyed Applejack. A non-speaking Rainbow Dash. And a Trixie that didn't care about what Rainbow and A.J. were thinking. And her, looking at all the ponies bundled up in a steam room together. Starlight sighed with nervousness as she continued to stare at her friends. ~~~~~~~~ Back at the castle, Twilight finished stacking her books all in order as she looked at all the work she had just did and she saw Spike, tired from all the work as he fell asleep on the stairs like he use to do back at Golden Oaks Library. Twilight put a blanket over Spike gently and let him sleep there for the night as she saw Starlight come in from her spa day with Trixie. "Hey Starlight," said Twilight, trying to not to show her annoyance from being with Trixie all day and not doing any friendship lessons. Starlight sighed as she closed the door with her magic and she walked over to the kitchen. "Oh, hey Twilight, I kinda had a bad spa day with Trixie because Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow were there with us and it wasn't really a full day with her." Complained Starlight as she got some tea and sat down. "Well, it's always okay to have some friends join you. . . Right?" Twilight stated as she sat down with her and Starlight sighed. "Yeah, I guess your right Twilight. I just. . . Nevermind." Starlight ignored what she was about to say and trotted to her room. Twilight sipped her tea and sighed at how Starlight was acting and she walked over to the stairs. Forgetting Spike was there, she almost stepped on him completely. Twilight carried Spike with her magic to their bedroom and laid him down on his bed as he stayed there for the rest of the night. Twilight sighed and wrapped up in her warm blanket and soon feel asleep. > Chapter 2: Friendship Cottage > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The burning summer sun beamed down on Ponyville as Twilight and Rainbow flew to Fluttershy's parents house. The small cloud house was silent like always as Twilight soundly knocked on the door. A bright cream yellow mare with a curled pink mane with big blue glasses opened the door as she welcomed the two mares inside to see an aqua stallion with a bright pink mane and a bright blue sweater on. "Oh hello Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle! Are you here to Fluttershy?" Mr. Shy asked as he hugged Twilight and Rainbow in greeting. "Yeah, we are here to see-" "Girls!" Fluttershy yelled as she went into their arms. "We missed you Flutters!" Rainbow yelled as she hugged her back tightly. Fluttershy let go of the hug as she smiled at them. "I think I found my cottage is Las Pegasus!" Rainbow and Twilight exchanged glances. "That's great Flutters." Rainbow said. ~~~~~~~~~~~ They flew to Las Pegasus neighborhood and they came across a gray cottage with pink heart windows as Fluttershy opened the pink door with a pink heart. There was a big porch and the inside was huge. There was pink walls, pink floors, and pink. . . Everything! "Do you like it girls?" Fluttershy asked as she moved her hoof around to the house. The cottage was bigger than her old one and her animals were already settled in and having fun in their new cottage. "It's huge Fluttershy." Twilight said as she looked around and saw everything already in place. Rainbow plopped down on the pink couch and sighed. "Rainbow! I'm pretty sure Fluttershy doesn't want you laying on her new things!" Twilight said as she picked up Rainbow with her magic. Twilight put Rainbow Dash on the ground next to her and looked at Fluttershy. "Were sorry Fluttershy, we didn't mean to be so rude!" She mumbled, glaring at Rainbow at the last part. "Oh, it's okay girls, here my plan is to be a vet and help animals." Fluttershy purred as she called her animals. "I would love to help animals from all across Cloudsdale!" Twilight and Rainbow exchanged glances and realized something. Same old Fluttershy ~~~~~~~~~ Back in Ponyville, Starlight invited Trixie over and she knocked on Trixie's cart as she opened the door. Trixie whipped her hat on and sighed. "Hey Starlight, come in." She said as she let Starlight as she sat down. "I need to talk to you Trixie, it is important to me," said Starlight as Trixie sat down and waited for Starlight to say what she needed to say. "What is it Starlight?" Questioned Trixie as she sipped her hay drink. Starlight took a deep breath and looked at Trixie seriously. "Trixie, I-" Knock, knock. There was a knock at the cart door as Trixie got up. There was a pony, as Trixie nodded and turned back around to Starlight. "I have to go to my magic show Starlight, toodles!" She waved as she left Starlight in the cart in the dark. Starlight sighed and banged her hoof on her horn as she pranced around the cart and fell onto some stairs that lead underground. She fell down every stair and saw a secret shrine for. . . TWILIGHT!?! > Chapter 3: Down In The Dumps > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starlight looked around her, amazed at how many Twilight pictures she had. Even Twilight's deleted photos that Spike were always looking at. Starlight backed away as she heard a creek. The cart door was opening and Starlight realized it was Trixie. She raced up the stairs, charging to a safe hiding spot as Trixie opened the door. She hide inside the trash can with trash and hay drinks in there as she groaned. Trixie sighed as she went down the stairs and as she stopped, dead in her tracks. She came over to the trash and Starlight was buried under all of it as Trixie lifted the trash and dumped it outside. Starlight burst out the trash can as she caught her breath and hopped out and saw Trixie's window open. "Hmm, there must be a way to get underground to follow Trixie." Starlight said to herself as she dug a trail down to a window that was to Trixie's shrine, but she wasn't there. Starlight dug more deeper and found a blue starry door as she looked into the peek-hole and saw Trixie, taking off her hat and going into the bathroom. "Oh no, what am I doing watching Trixie take a shower!" Starlight whisper-shouted to herself as she opened the door quietly as the blue starry walls almost blinded her as Trixie shut the bathroom door. Starlight sighed as she looked at Trixie's bed, it was the same color as her hat and cape and so was everything else. She heard water running and realized Trixie was now fully in the shower. She looked in the dresser and saw Trixie's spell book and her. . . Phone? Starlight looked at it and didn't even know that ponies had this. . . Human thing. Twilight had told her about the human world through the mirror that she went to. She looked at it and heard the water turn off and heard hoofsteps. She hide under the bed as she saw Trixe's hooves walk around her rooms. Starlight felt something on her back which was Trixie sitting on the bed. She heard Trixie hop off the bed and go upstairs to her Twilight shrine. Starlight crawled out from under the bed and went back to the door and went back to the front of the cart. She went back into the trash as Trixie came out of the house and looked around and shrugged. The Trash pony picked up the trash and Starlight was thrown in. ~~~~~~~~~ She rolled down the trash as she sighed. "I'm down in the dumps now." Starlight said sadly. > Chapter 4: Trixie's Escape > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After moonlight was illuminating the cold ground of Ponyville, Starlight had successfully made her way back to Twilight's castle. Softly opening the door with her magic, she trotted to the small guest room that Twilight claimed to be her's. Hearing the subtle noise of hoofs clacking against the shimmering tile of the castle, Starlight's stomach knotted and she swiftly continued to sneak in her bed without anypony noticing the dainty uproar that she was causing. She draped her duvet over her and closed her light indigo eyes, only allowing her mind to drift away into the land of dreams. ~~~~~ "Starlight!" The roar of Twilight's howl instantly shot Starlight awake, making her yelp and lose her breath. Letting a sigh blow past her lips, she rose to her hooves after crawling out of her toasty bed. She opened her door and saw Spike frantically chase a creature down the castle halls, the creature was Winona. The small boisterous puppy lunged herself into Starlight's room and onto her bed, bouncing on it and barking excitedly. Starlight was speechless and watched Applejack's puppy wreck havoc upon her bed. Spike then caught Winona in his grasp and brought him back to Applejack, who was visiting for a Friendship Mission. Twilight sat in her throne in the main room with Applejack and Spike then brought back her beloved puppy. "Aw, thank ya, Spike!" Applejack chained Winona back to her leash and had complete control over her puppy once more. Starlight whipped the sleep from her dreary eyes and made her way into the main room. "Good morning, Starlight!" Twilight greeted, plastering the same smile on her face she always did. Starlight usually stood near the Friendship Map since she didn't have a throne herself and she would just get something to sit on. Memories of last night flooded her mind and she gawked when remembering Trixie's shrine for her mentor in friendship. Starlight excused herself from the table and headed into the kitchen where Spike was cleaning up a bit. Starlight sighed and settled in a chair at the table. "Hey, Spike," he then slid a plate of pancakes before her and she licked her lips. She quickly thanked Spike and ate her pancakes, while explaining to Spike about Trixie and her shrine. Spike was speechless. "... Is that t-true?" He was eating his pancakes as well and he was just as shocked as Starlight was when she discovered it. Starlight reluctantly nodded her head, confirming that it was true. "I can't believe it... I thought Trixie hated Twilight!" Spike got up and placed the dirty plates in the sink, cautiously washing them and Starlight stared down at the table. She just didn't know what to do about her friend liking Twilight that much to have a shrine for her! "Spike?" "Yeah? "Do you think I should tell Twilight?" "Of course not! Twilight is already having doubts about your friendship and that would give her more reasons to not be friends with her!" Spike had a point if Starlight informed her mentor about Trixie's shrine deep underground. "You're right, Spike, it will be our little secret for know..." Starlight trailed off and thought about not being friends with Trixie anymore, she imagines it would be painful to not have anyone understand her anymore and Trixie understood her perfectly. Starlight sighed and trotted back to the main room and saw Twilight overlooking her checklists and checking off the boxes beside each mission. She uncomfortably scooted into Spike's minuscule throne and giggled nervously. "Twilight, I was gonna hang out with Trixie, is that okay?" She shifted her hooves on the Friendship Map and explored each city in Equestria. Twilight nodded, humming a yes and Starlight's eyes illuminated. "Thank you, Twilight!" With that, Starlight was instantaneously out of the castle and to Trixie's cart. ~~~~~ Pounding on her door, Trixie answered and scanned Starlight before allowing her to enter. Starlight pushed her hooves where she fell down the staircase to the Twilight Shrine but it seemed harder now. "Um, Starlight... What are you doing?" Trixie removed her hat from her head and fixed her mane, staring down at Starlight as she tried to push down to find the button leading to the staircase. "I found your shrine, Trixie..." Starlight blurted out, feeling her cheeks flush and heat up when admitting to finding Trixie's shrine. Trixie's jaw dropped and she stuttered helplessly. "Oh, my Celestia!" Trixie pushed the purple button that was smothered with blue and yellow stars. She charged down the stairs, without knowing Starlight was frantically following her. Starlight plopped down to the bottom of the stairs, not seeing a trace of Trixie. Starlight placed her saddlebag near the stairs and sniffed the air, trying to find Trixie's familiar scent. She opened a small door and saw a small puppy, with bright blue eyes and a wagging tail. She stared around, perplexed, she couldn't even find Trixie. Starlight wondered around some more and found a note. The note read: Note to self, if anypony ever finds out about my Senpai's shrine, I will never be seen in Ponyville ever again! The puppy attacked Starlight in a frenzy of fur and paws, licking her and being excited about nothing. She ran back to the staircase, stuffing the note in her saddlebag and she was holding the small puppy in her hooves. She sighed, shivering when feeling a rush of cold air brush past her and saw the small window was open. She saw Trixie, racing her way out of Ponyville and she gasped, a pang of sadness when losing the love of her life. > Chapter 5: Zam The Puppy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After Starlight's shocking discovery, she tried as quick as she could to get Trixie back from vanishing into thin air like that and she took the small puppy along with her. She trotted up the stairs and opened the door, locking it for Trixie's privacy, and headed back to Twilight's castle. She pounded on the door in front of her, anxious when pondering about Trixie's disappearing when Twilight opened the door. Twilight smiled at Starlight and she raced past her, pushing aside her mentor and charged back to the guest room. "SPIKE!" Spike came through the door, frantically checking his surroundings for Starlight and to see why she was calling him. Starlight settled the puppy down and she gave him a grin, petting him. "I think I'll name you... The Great and Majestic Zam! After Trixie of course," Starlight then spun around and saw Spike, waiting for her to see him. "Spike! I told Trixie that I found her shrine and she ran away! And I found this note in her room," she pulled out the note with her magic and put it in Spike's claws and he read it. "Why did you tell her?" Spike asked, grasping the puppy and snuggling into Starlight's light purple sheets. Starlight then explained that she found Zam when searching for Trixie and that she told her because she wasn't thinking. Spike got up with Zam. "Then let's go find her! I'll tell Twilight-!" Starlight cut off Spike with pushing her muzzle to his nose, growling like an aggressive dog. "Don't you dare tell Twilight! Then she'll know about the shrine!" Starlight groaned. "Can we maybe tell someone trustworthy?" Spike suggested, petting Zam in the process. "We can tell the mane six!" ~~~~~ "That's ridiculous, darling!" "Calls for a party!" "I can't believe that Trixie would have a shrine for Twilight..." "Oh, my..." "Yes! An adventure!" Starlight and Spike had informed the mane six about Trixie and her shrine, along with her disappearance and they wanted to help no matter what. "Okay, we all can look for her but we can't tell Twilight about anything!" Starlight snapped, glancing at each multi-colored pony in sight, along with a certain purple dragon and a puppy. "Alright, everypony! Shall we head out?" Rarity pronounced, taking a hold of her saddlebag and leading everypony outside with Starlight and Spike. Zam charged through the castle and was caught by Applejack, fur being ruffled by the hard-working pony, about to set off on a remarkable journey. > Chapter 6: Memories & Butterflies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a long trek to find Trixie, the multi-colored ponies found their selfs in the Everfree Forest and being hopelessly lost. Applejack tightly held the map in her mouth as they walked along the terrifying path of the Everfree. The mane 5 couldn't help but remember their first journey together was through the Everfree Forest and gushed about their memories together, while Starlight stayed silent. "Oh! And remember when Pinkie sang that song to not be scared and laugh at our fears?" Rainbow played with one of darkly colored storm clouds, carefully taking advantage of it. "Of course, Rainbow!" Rarity laughed and they automatically continued to remember their times together. Starlight stopped the group once they had arrived at a brand new bridge that looked like it was only built a second ago. "Okay, everypony! Let's just do a quick check on everything..." Starlight gently nudged Spike and he pulled out a small checklist that had 2 more boxes to check. "Alright! Applejack, can I maybe see the map to see where we are?" Starlight inquired, watching as Applejack gave the map to Starlight, ignoring the slight amount of saliva on the top and bottom of it and nervously giggled. Applejack gave Starlight the map and spun around, seeing the Castle of the Two Sisters. She smiled and continued to trek to the castle. They entered the castle and admired the beauty of what use to be the old place where they found the elements. "I've read about this place before but... Did this use to be the place you found the elements?" Starlight got her answer once she saw two graceful alicorns approach them and smile at them in greeting. "Hello, Starlight, and of course the mane 5," Celestia let out. Starlight and the group continued to talk to the princesses until Starlight remembered what they came here for. "Um, Princess Celestia, did you happen to maybe Trixie appear in here?" Starlight inquired, hoping for a positive and good answer. Princess Celestia turned her gaze to her sister and Luna nodded her head in 'yes' and Celestia turned back to look at Starlight. "Yes, Luna can lead you there if you want..." "Celestia, what are you doing here?" Rainbow asked curiously. "We were just looking around at the memories that this place brings us," Celestia smiled at her sister and she smiled back in return. ~~~~~ Luna lead Starlight to the room that the mane 6 got trapped into a comic book world in and she saw Trixie, quietly reading the Journal of the Two Sisters. She gasped when seeing Starlight and tried to blew herself away with magic, but failed. "Trixie, I'm sorry for... Seeing your shrine and all, I brought you something," Starlight was hiding Zam the puppy in her saddlebag that was open for him to freely explore his surroundings of where Starlight walked. "Trickster!" Trixie squeaked, hugging the small puppy and Starlight watched as he attacked Trixie with a lick attack that Starlight used to and smiled. "Thank you, Starlight! And it's fine, I knew somepony would find it at some point and, did you tell Twilight?" Trixie's happiness faded when she asked Starlight about her shrine, seeing the worry cloud her eyes. "I didn't tell Twilight, but I told the mane 5..." Starlight looked around and expected that Trixie would leave her and no longer be her friend anymore. Trixie sighed and simply didn't care anymore, not unless Twilight found out, that would be a problem. "Thank you again, Starlight!" Trixie pulled Starlight into her embrace, feeling a warm sensation in her heart as Trixie hugged her, butterflies were having a party in her stomach and some of them must have flown up to her brain because she couldn't think straight while Trixie hugged her. She let go and continued to focus all her attention on "Trickster" who was Zam to her, and she wanted only one thing at that very moment. Please come back...