Ponyvillians try and accept Starlight. Emphasis on try.
After the whole debacle with the Eclipse Extravaganza, Ponyvillians have a hard time accepting that they have Starlight Glimmer of all ponies living in their town. Shenanigans ensue.
Starlight Glimmer, protegé of King Eclipse, was having a bit of trouble getting used to Ponyville. This was evident by the fact that she still felt a bit awkward whenever one of the townsfolk would call her name. She tried being more… personable… but, one cannot easily change the way they hold themselves in society. As the saying goes, “Old habits die hard.” Ponyvillians themselves were having trouble getting past that, but at least they were trying. The day started with Starlight trying some new exercises to control her anger. Let’s see how this works out…
My Little Pony, My Little Pony, Ah, Ah, Aaa~ah! My Little Pony! Friendship used to mean nothing to me, My Little Pony! But now with you around me, I start to see! Exuberant laughter, Tough through scrapes, True to our word, A kind gesture, A giving heart, Truest vision of art, And magic makes it all complete! My Little Pony! I’ll trust in my new friends!
A piercing yell echoed across the town. “ARGH!” ...It seems the exercises aren’t working. Go figure. “Why? Why isn’t this technique working?” We zoom in to Starlight’s new residence in Ponyville, which is only barely complete enough to be lived in. Some walls were still missing, so the majority of Ponyville could hear her, not that she cared at that moment. Some of her friends had other opinions, however.
“Calm down, Starlight. You’re letting the small things get to you again. How about we get your mind off things for a while, huh?”
Starlight turned to see that Berry was the one that spoke. She almost flipped her lid at her, but remembered that she shouldn’t do that to a friend. She tried to keep as much of her anger out of her voice as she could manage, which wasn’t all that much at the given moment. “And what would you guys suggest for that, hm?”
The group thought for a moment, and Thunder Blitz was the first to reply. “Let’s get to know each other a little better. After all, only some of us knew each other before the extravaganza.” She placed a hoof to her chest. “I think I should be going first, since I proposed the idea.” Thunder paused a bit, gathering her thoughts before continuing. “Before I met Crescendo, I was living in the Cloudsdale Orphanage. Back then, I was ostracized by my peers, being the only thestral foal in the city. But I soon found a friend in Crescendo, who brightened my sorry day. It was from then on that I strived to stick by her, no matter what.”
Somewhat touched by the heartfelt story, Starlight gave the idea some thought. She shrugged. Might as well, she supposed. She cleared her throat, and proceeded. “I know that all of you knew me by my reputation before all this. But allow me to answer a few questions you might have. I was ignored by my parents when I was young, and any friends I had back then left me in the dust when they obtained their Cutie Marks. I was bitter about this until I earned my Cutie Mark and became Eclipse’s student. After that, my parents started taking notice of me, though my former friends never got back with me. I still was pretty against friendship for the longest time, thinking it was why I had such pain.” She shook her head. “I know better now, thanks to all of you. Though I may get angry at some -relatively small- issues sometimes, just know that I’m trying to accept you in.”
Seeing that Starlight had opened up a bit, Crescendo Dream followed up with a little bit about herself. “My story isn’t all that spectacular, honestly. I was raised by parents who loved music, and in turn taught me the same.”
The others had all thought of something by now, and Cherry Cobbler decided to be the next to speak up. “Serenity knows me the best out of all of you- but even she doesn’t know this. I was a sickly child when I was younger, prone to being bedridden. My parents thought that I would never make it, as frail as I was. However, they found out what they were doing wrong- as they were regular Earth Ponies, they couldn’t have known the special dietary needs to keep a Crystal Pony healthy. Of course they fixed this oversight, just before I met Serenity. In fact.”
Letting go of the fact that Cherry had only told her this now, Serenity decided to continue with what she had planned on sharing. “Cherry knows me pretty well, but to the rest of you, I’m pretty much a stranger. As an only child, I was pretty spoiled in my youth by my parents. Before I met Cherry, I was sheltered, unallowed to interact with other children. But it was our chance meeting one day while I was out that got me to think more about others, instead of seeing them as inferior like I’d been raised to.”
Noticing the attention had shifted back to her, Berry collected herself before opening up. “I know most of you probably know of my reputation as a ‘party mare’, but what you probably don’t know is that I sample the drinks at parties to see if I can use them for inspiration for drinks at my bar. My sister Cheerilee thinks it’s just an excuse to party, but why not have fun while improving your work, right?”
While the group of friends were discussing that, Starlight smiled. Berry had been right. All she’d needed was a little distraction to calm down. Though she couldn’t help but wonder what Maestro would’ve added in to the conversation. As if on cue, a letter appeared in front of the group. They gathered around to read it.
"Dear girls,
“Sorry that I can't be there to share in person, but the life of an artist of my caliber is a demanding one, to be sure. I'll visit when I can.
“Your friend,
Maestro Spectrum"
Eye twitching, Starlight started to fume. The girls stepped back. This was going to be harder than they thought...
Starlight was still seeing red. However, Thunder tried to broach the subject. “Hey, at least he’s kept in touch, Star. He could’ve just ignored us outright. Just be glad he bothered to set aside time to send a letter at all.”
While Starlight reasoned that she had a point, she was still a bit mad. She needed something to take out this anger with. After all, bottling it up was probably unhealthy. She considered her options until she got an idea… and smirked widely. “I know how to get this venom out of my system…” She lit her horn, and tapped a button on one of the finished walls. She was glad that she insisted that this room be finished first. The wall separated into sections, and started to look like one of those carnival shooting galleries. The aesthetic was finished when cardboard targets popped up. She grinned as the glow of her horn intensified. “This ought to be good…”
She shot a few spells at the targets in quick succession, making sure to not fire anything that would damage the walls. Her friends were watching as she kept on attacking, noticing that her mood was starting to improve. After hitting all 20 of the targets, she let out a content sigh. “I do feel better after that. I’ll probably use it many times in the future, but whatever works, am I right?” She turned to her friends, feeling much better about herself. “So! What should we do today?”
They were still a bit stunned by how she dealt with her anger at the situation- though they weren’t against it, per se. It was a bit unconventional, but if it helped, it was worth it. Berry recovered the quickest from the shock, and suggested something to do while Starlight’s new house was being finished. “I know! My place has this fun-looking new invention from Neighpon called a ‘karaoke machine’. We should totally test it out!”
The others whispered amongst themselves, unsure what it was she was talking about. Crescendo decided to be the one to question what it was. “So, what is this… Karaoke machine, anyway?”
Berry only grinned wider. “Oh, I’m sure that you’ll like it the most, Crescendo.” She then started to lead them to her place, and the group followed along. “After all, aside from Maestro, you are the most musically inclined of us.”
At that, Crescendo hurried the group along to Berry’s house. “Now I just gotta see this thing!”
Once there, they entered to the lobby of the business portion of her home. In the back left corner there was a stage, and on it was a strange contraption. It looked like some sort of box with a screen on it, and it had a microphone attached to each side. Berry went onto the stage, and turned to the others. “Alright girls, allow me to demonstrate! First, there are a few buttons on the front. The arrows scroll through the songs on the machine. The Green button is for playing the selected song, and the red one is to stop it. The lyrics will appear on screen, and the words will light up when they’re supposed to be sung into the microphones. Each song is either intended to be a solo or a duet, and it will be listed as such.”
They seemed to get it, and most of them were a bit excited about it. Starlight was not, however. She didn’t like singing in front of others, it was embarrassing! Luckily for her, berry decided to be the one to go first, giving Starlight opportunity to peruse the bar. The song began, and Berry sung along to the tune- a pop piece that Starlight was indifferent to, thank goodness. However, Berry missed a few notes, getting a bit of a chuckle out of the girls- but Berry didn’t mind one bit. This perplexed Starlight a bit. Why would she be so comfortable with others laughing at her singing?
After Berry finished the song and got off the stage, Thunder and Serenity went onstage together. They picked a song they were unfamiliar with, one that Starlight could only guess at the genre of. The two made more mistakes than Berry had, but they were having fun with it. They didn’t mind messing up in front of everyone, and this puzzled Starlight greatly. They were missing a lot of notes, and yet they didn’t mind.
The two got off the stage, and Crescendo and Cherry went on stage together. They chose a song, and sung rather well- Crescendo didn’t miss a note, but Cherry did a few times. Despite this, the two worked well together in the song. Frankly, Starlight was surprised at this. Maybe they were okay being slightly off in front of their friends? This seemed like the only explanation that Starlight could think of.
As those two got off, attention turned to Starlight. At first, she was a bit oblivious to it. That was, until Berry went up to her. “Hey, you should go up there too!”
At this, Starlight choked a little on her drink. After a bit of a coughing fit, she responded. “Me? Oh, no. I’d rather not, really. I’m content with watching you guys do it.”
Thunder snorted in amusement. “Hey, you can’t be any worse than Serenity and me. We screwed up so hard!” At that, the group had a good-natured chuckle.
Starlight considered it for a moment, but again refused. “Really, that’s alright. I don’t like singing in front of others. It’s… embarrassing.”
Even so, they wouldn’t give up on it. Crescendo spoke up. “Come on, Star. Just this once, alright? We won’t bother you about it again if you do. So please, won’t you sing for us?”
Starlight felt awkward as they chanted “Just this once!” over and over. Surly it wouldn’t be so bad in front of a small group, right? After a bit of inner deliberation, she relented. “Alright! I’ll do it!” They cheered, and she went on stage. As she scrolled through the songs, she spoke. “Just… don’t laugh.” The girls nodded fervently, and Starlight finally settled on a song she recognized. Taking a deep breath, she pressed play on the machine, and went with it. She felt good. She toned it perfectly, and didn’t even miss a word. She didn’t even feel self-conscious about others watching her. As she looked on their stunned faces, she smiled a bit. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. She finished the song, and the girls cheered at her performance. They wanted an encore, but she refused. She was tired, and it was getting late. So, the girls went home after saying good night. Starlight looked up to her finished ceiling of her bedroom for a while as she lay in bed. She had never quite had such an experience before. She smiled. Maybe doing things she was uncomfortable with weren’t so bad as long as he had some friends to help her. Smiling at the thought, she drifted off to sleep.
Starlight woke early in the morning to the sound of the construction workers building her house. She grit her teeth, and got up. She knew it was silly of her to be mad at them for doing their job, but she just hoped it would be over soon enough. She decided to get some fresh air and try and clear her head. With nary a delay, she exited the noisy site, ensuring she brought her wallet along. Once the sound of construction was a decent ways away, she slowed her pace a bit. She did kind of regret her decision to have it built on one of the edges of town, but at least it wasn’t on the same end as the Apple’s farm- after all, she was certain that they wouldn’t take kindly to construction disturbing their work. She supposed that it was much the same reason that it was also far away from Fluttershy’s cottage- she’d rather not disturb many of those animals, thank you very much. Regardless, she got into town about 8 AM, which was impressive considering that she didn’t really like mornings all that much. Luckily she didn’t have to wait long for Applejack’s stall to open up- the fact that her own kitchen was unfinished and that she had unfortunately had a light dinner last night had the effect of a ravenous appetite. She walked up to the stall and set down eight bits on the counter. “I’ll take four. I need a bit of a pick-me-up this morning.”
Applejack took one look at her, and understood. “Bit of a rough night? Happens t’all ‘o us sometime.” She watched as Starlight took two apples from the basket. “My advice is t’ just press on and hope it gets better.”
Starlight had a non-committal answer ready, but decided against it. She instead opted to walk around town a bit to see if the fresh air might help her head. She finished her “breakfast” rather quickly, but it would hold her over until she could get something substantial later. Many of the ponies were still a bit wary of her, given her reputation. This aggravated Starlight, but she strove to not let it show. She just wandered aimlessly for a little while, really looking around at the town. It was rather small, but not as small as one might think. It was quaint, compared to some of the… rougher… places she had been, which was nice. She was drawn to Sugar Cube Corner, and drooled slightly. She didn’t eat sweets very often back in Canterlot, so it was rather tempting to blow a good portion of her money on some. She shook her head, fighting the allure of the sweets. She had better things to spend her money on, more important things. She walked away with purpose, taking care not to look back. For if she did, she likely would end up jangle-less.
Starlight sighed in relief when the store was out of sight, glad to have saved her wallet a painful bill. She walked on, a lighter mood in mind. That silliness of fighting her hankering for sweets had distracted her from her previous anger, allowing her to relax a bit. She hummed a little, content to have a reprieve for once. However, her good mood was ruined when she bumped into a familiar face. “Sunset! What are you doing here?”
The crowd went silent at the presence of this new face. Her eyes narrowed at Starlight. “Well. If it isn’t Glimmer. Eclipse’s favorite protége.” The level of venom in Sunset’s voice was palpable, and her anger was quite clear.
Starlight however, had more patience than the last time they’d butted heads. Or, at least she liked to believe she did. Keeping her cool, she addressed Sunset. “Listen, Sunset. You could’ve easily had that spot! If you had just set aside your obsession with figuring out that mirror, you-”
Sunset’s mane caught fire, and her hoof struck the ground, scorching it. “Shut it! You lousy, no-good cheat! You shouldn’t have ever garnered his attention! Your magic is far less powerful than mine, yet you get the special treatment! Why I oughta-!”
“STOP!” Starlight looked over her shoulder, seeing her friends come onto the scene. Berry. Cherry. Serenity. Thunder. Crescendo. The sight of the five of them at her side helped her calm down immensely, and she turned her attention to Sunset. She took a breath, and proceeded. “I know you have nothing but anger towards me, and that I wasn’t exactly the kindest to you. But… I would like to put that behind us. We can still both be Eclipse’s students. We don’t have to but heads anymore, Sunset. I have learned a lot thanks to these girls, as well as thanks to Maestro, who is elsewhere right now. I would like to make amends.” She then offered her hoof. “What do you say? Can we put this pointless feud behind us? I’ll even help you figure out that mirror, if you like. I don’t want us to be enemies, Sunset. Please.”
For a moment, it looked as if Sunset might accept, but she knocked the offered hoof away. “Never! You ruined everything! I was supposed to get this opportunity, not you. If it weren’t for you, I’d still be his best and only student!” She glared at the audience, causing them to flinch and back away. She started backing away, pointing around. “This is far from over. I’ll be back, and when I come back…” She glared right into Starlight’s eyes. “Not even your new friends will be able to help you. Mark. My. Words. You’ll regret ever getting your Cutie Mark.” Just as suddenly as she had found her way into town, she was gone just as quickly.
Starlight sighed. “She’s always been draining to deal with…” She shook her head, and looked to her friends. She was slightly worried at what Sunset had said, but she knew that no matter what, her friends would be with her. She decided to alert Maestro to this as well. She wrote a letter describing the situation, and sent it off. Sure, he might not be able to get away from his work, but at the very least he would give some advice. She decided not to dwell to much on it, and wait for the reply to come.
Things had calmed down since Sunset had left Ponyville, and the day was still rather young. It didn’t take much longer for Maestro’s response letter to arrive in a flash of his magic. Starlight opened it to read what he had to say.
“Dear Star,
“Your description of the events surrounding Sunset are concerning. She isn’t one to give up because of her character, as you have led me to understand in your letter. So, here is some advice to you: Don’t stoop to her level, and you’ll be fine. You need to be above her baiting. And while you described that you showed some resolve of such when our friends were at your side, such will not always be the case. Always believe that someday you can help her see how amazing friendship can be, even if it may take days, weeks, months, or even years. I’m sorry that I can’t be there in person, but I wish you the best of luck with her.
“Your Friend,
“Maestro Spectrum”
Starlight nodded silently. Maestro’s advice did make sense, given the situation. Starlight had to be careful with Sunset, given how much of a loose cannon she was right now. She turned to her friends that were within the area. “Alright girls, I know that we sent Sunset packing, but she’ll be back. We need to be ready for when she comes back. Are you with me?”
Each of her friends nodded, giving a different response. Berry giggled. “Sure as champagne!” Thunder snorted with confidence. “Do you even have to ask? Of course I am!” Crescendo nodded firmly. “Ready as always.” Cherry pawed at the ground a bit. “That Sunset needs a reality check, and who better to deliver it than us?” Serenity smiled gently. “We’ll continue to help you reach out to her, no matter what.”
Starlight nodded. “Alright girls. So, let’s talk strategy. What do we do when she shows her face next?”
Thunder twitched her wings a bit in agitation. “She’s likely to bring something into the town that she really shouldn’t mess with. I say that we make sure the townsponies are ready for evacuation, just in case.”
Cherry nodded slightly. “You make a good point, but there is more at play here. We need to help her see that her way of thinking is wrong, and open her heart to friendship.”
Crescendo lightly flapped her wings as she thought. “Easily said, harder to do. How are we going to get through to somebody that is that conceited?” She chuckled lightly at Starlight’s glare. “Uh, no offence?”
Starlight smiled and sighed as she shook her head. “Don’t worry, none taken. But, you girls did get through to me, so we can get through to her. No matter how long it might take.”
Berry tapped her chin a bit. “Well, she’s quite stubborn, that’s for sure. We’re gonna have to pull out all the stops to get her to listen. Though, we will first need her to consider the option that she may be wrong. We may need to show her exactly what her kind of thinking gets you. It’s the best shot that we could possibly have.”
Serenity shook her head. “I don’t know. That might be a bit too drastic. We need to approach this problem very carefully. Doing something like that might just make things a whole lot worse. We should try something quite a bit more sensible first. We need to diffuse whatever situation that she decides to toss at the town next, then approach her with a proposition about a mentoring program. The problem is, we have no clue when she might decide to strike Ponyville again.”
The girls continued to throw ideas around, unaware of the eyes watching from afar.
Sunset muttered in agitation to herself. “Grr. Confound that Starlight. She and her friends are just so irritating!” Her horn started to glow white hot as scorch marks started to appear on the ground.
It was at this point that a hooded figure made herself known. “You wish to harm the Heroes of Harmony? I can help.”
Sunset stared at the suspicious figure. “How do I know that I can trust you? No offence, but you look quite creepy.”
The figure giggled. “Oh, don’t worry about my feelings. I get that my constitution can be quite… unnerving.” She shook her head. “Regardless, I can help you get back at those Heroes of Harmony. I won’t ask for much in return, just a small favor later. Are you interested?”
Sunset contemplated that for a moment. This figure looked almost like some sort of old restitched doll, from what was visible underneath that cloak. She was offering help with Sunset’s issue for the guarantee of a “small favor” later. The offer was tempting, but… Sunset shook her head. “Maybe some other time. I can handle this on my own.”
The figure sighed as she shook her head. “I see. Oh well, them’s the breaks. If you really think that you can defeat them on your own, don’t let me stop you. I’ll see y’later…”
Sunset huffed as the figure left. As if she’d ever rely on somebody else to get what she needed. She could get back at Starlight herself, thank you very much. She went into the Everfree to find what she needed. Poison Joke? Sunset recalled that Starlight didn’t like reading all that much. A mischievous grin spread across her muzzle. It was a good thing that she’d brought a bag with her. She’d rather not risk touching the things herself. So with precision magic, she plucked a few from the ground. She’d no idea what the Joke would do to Starlight and her posse, but she didn’t care. She waited for night, and made her way back into town. She’d gathered information about where each of them’re staying, so it wasn’t long before she’d spread ground-up Joke upon all of them. She snickered as she ran off. “Oh, this’ll be good…”
When morning came, Starlight woke blearily. There wasn’t any construction today, which was odd. Nevertheless, it was a welcome change from yesterday. Starlight was feeling a bit strange, as if something wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t quite figure it out. She found her way to her bathroom so she could freshen up. She went through the motions of coming her mane, and then splashed her face to help her wake up. She looked into the mirror and froze. Starlight stared at her reflection with a mortified expression and screamed. Her slim figure was ...! Gone! How’d she become this pudgy overnight? Her thoughts raced at speeds unlike ever before as she tried to figure it out, but then it became clear who the culprit was. Her blood boiled as her anger rose and her eye twitched. She couldn’t stop herself from yelling at the top of her lungs. “SUUUUUUUNSEEEEEET!”
Across town, Berry Punch awoke blearily. Had there been some sort of sonic boom? She couldn’t be sure. She got up to make her favorite breakfast, but when she went for a taste… It was bland. Her eyes shot open wide. She took another taste, and it was just as bland. It a panic, she rummaged through the fridge. She took out all the food she could, and took a taste of each. Apples. Bland! Pears. Bland! Strawberries. Bland! Grapes. Bland! She crumpled to the floor, hyperventilating. Her sense of taste had never failed her before… and now, nothing had taste anymore. How could this’ve happened? “What’s happening to me…?”
Up in the clouds, Thunder woke up far more groggily than she ever had before. She felt so much more sluggish than she had before. Everything she did felt like it was at a painful crawl. Getting out of bed, she dragged herself slowly across the floor. For whatever reason, she felt she’d no energy for her usual speed. Something clearly was wrong, but she couldn’t seem to put her hoof on what. She shrugged, figuring that she’d worry about it later. “Meh, probably nothing…”
Elsewhere, Crescendo was panicking. No sound was coming out of her mouth. She’d noticed as soon as she yawned silently as she woke. She’d never thought that she’d go mute! How was she going to give interviews about her conducting now? She also noticed that Thunder was being much too quiet today… With a nod, she went to check on her.
Cherry had woken when she’d heard Starlight yelling. She sighed, and got out of bed. But when she looked down, she yelped. “My crystal sheen! IT’S GOOOONE!” Tears welled up as she collapsed on the floor. “How’ll everyone celebrate the first famous Crystal Pony chef if I don’t have my crystal sheen?”
Serenity had noticed something wrong when she started to smell herself as rotten. No matter what she did, the stench wouldn’t go away. With a nod, she decided to go to the agreed meeting place in a scenario like this… the town library.
Starlight could hardly believe that she‘d agreed to meet here, but that was nothing compared to what awaited her as her friends joined her. Berry came in first, not looking too different, aside from her constant crying. Crescendo dragged Thunder in soon after, with no words coming from Crescendo as Thunder seemed far too apathetic. When Cherry came in, Starlight noticed immediately Serenity’s distress about her crystal sheen being gone. Finally, Serenity came in smelling repugnant. Starlight growled. “I don’t know how she did it, but this has Sunset’s hooves all over it. This is all to get back at us!”
Thunder shrugged. “You sure…? I don’t see what’s wrong…”
Crescendo pointed to her mouth, an angry look on her face. Starlight levitated a piece of paper and pen over to her, and she wrote a single line down before showing it to the others. It read: “I’ve gone mute, and Thunder is apathetic. Starlight is overweight, Cherry’s lost her shine, Serenity reeks to high heaven, and Berry insists that everything tastes bland to her. What sort of magic could Sunset obtain to do this to us?”
Starlight shrugged with a sigh. “I don’t know. How Sunset did this is beyond me, but there has to be a cure.” She looked around the library with a grimace. “We have no choice. Maybe there’s a medical book here somewhere, or a book that describes what did this to us. We need to find it, so…” She looked around to her friends. “Split up and look for books that might help. I’ll… I’ll do so too. We need to kick this thing, somehow…” A nod was shared among them- though Thunder just shrugged. The girls separated to look through the library, combing through all the shelves. It wasn’t long before they returned to the center room, a few books in tow.
Crescendo wrote something on the paper, and held it so that the group could see. “One of these must have it, so we should all leaf through them until we find the right one.” A nod went through the group as five of them grabbed a book to read and Thunder sluggishly began to doze off.
Each of them rummaged through the books, until Starlight stumbled upon one with a peculiar title: Supernaturals: Antidotes that are Naturally Super. Shrugging, she figured that she might as well read it. She read carefully until she found a certain page. She turned to her friends, and smirked. “Hey, I think I found something!” She beckoned them over, and most of them came on their own. She pointed to the page confidence oozing. “A cure for Poison Joke. That’s gotta be what Sunset used on us.” She stood, keeping the book in her magic grasp. “Well, looks like we’re going back to the Everfree. That’s where all the ingredients are, so…” She had a firm look on her face. It’d take more than a flower to shake her, and Sunset would learn that soon enough.
Starlight and her friends stepped into the Everfree, and it was just as unnerving as last time. Berry pawed her left forehoof at the ground in irritation. “Alright. Let’s find these ingredients and get out of here. I don’t want to stay here any longer than we absolutely have to.” the others- aside from Thunder- nodded in agreement. They split into groups of two in order to find the ingredients that they would need. Thunder was dragged along by Crescendo, Berry had teamed up with Serenity, and Starlight went with Cherry.
Crescendo stumbled along through the Everfree, Thunder in tow behind her. The two of them were often at odds before this mess, but Crescendo couldn’t help but feel bad as she looked at what the Poison Joke had done to Thunder. She was proud of her speed and energy, and yet here she was, reduced to a shambling apathetic mess. Crescendo silently sighed as she helped Thunder along. This mess couldn’t end soon enough, for despite her misgivings… she really did miss Thunder’s usual energy. It was only a bit more of a walk before they came upon one of the ingredients. It was a rare glass flower, and they needed to harvest the pollen of it into a jar. Crescendo carefully set down the jar that she had been given back at the library to collect it. She then gently brushed the pollen of the flower into the jar so as to not accidentally break it. After she had collected as much as they needed, she capped off the jar and walked off while dragging Thunder all the while.
Berry and Serenity were looking high and low throughout the Everfree for the ingredient that they needed. They stumbled through the underbrush for a while until they came upon the ingredient that they were sent to look for- A large field containing a particular herb; the Horned White Star. Berry looked at the ground, and saw that the path was strewn about with thorny vines. She turned towards Serenity, and she gave a nod as she flapped her wings to lift off. She went over to the herb, and gently grasped the stem and pulled. The roots were loosed from the ground, and Serenity kept the herb between her front hooves as she flew back towards Berry. She set herself down as soon as she was clear from the vines, and they both walked off back to meet the others.
Starlight and Cherry had gone through the underbrush, looking carefully for the ingredient that they had decided to try and find. It took a considerable amount of time and energy, but they eventually did find the ingredient- or rather, the animal that it came from. It was a beast unlike what they had seen before, for it looked like a large long quadrupedal dragon with no wings. Though it was not like the dragons of the Dragon Lands, for its scales glowed a dim purple with bright white dots glowing at each joint, withe white lines connecting them. It was a Draco, and here it was resting before them. Starlight and Cherry looked between one another, considering how they should approach so as to not wake it. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors where Cherry’s rock that she found smashed Starlight’s magic scissors, Starlight sighed as she started to approach the Draco. She crept slowly closer, taking care not to make any loud noises. After a minute that felt like an eternity, Starlight got close to the Draco and inspected it for loose scales. After a bit of searching, she found a few loose ones on it. She steadied herself, carefully and slowly removing each one. Once she had obtained a few of them, she procured a plastic bag from her saddlebags and placed the scales in there and zipped the bag shut. She but the bag back in her saddlebags, and carefully made her way back to Cherry. Once there, the two of them went on their way back to the others.
The girls all got back to the entrance of the Everfree about the same time, each showing the ingredient that they had procured. Starlight grinned. “Alright. Now to ask the spa sisters to let us use their tub… Should go fine… I hope.” With that determination, they walked back into town, and caused a bit of fuss. Some immediately jumped to the conclusion that the zebra living in the Everfree had cursed them, But when the crowd saw The group bump into Sunset on her way out of town… Starlight was shocked at first, and anger flared up quickly after. She took a deep breath, and spoke with her. “Quite a stunt you pulled last night. I know it was you that used the Poison Joke on the six of us.” She saw that Sunset was about to interject, but Starlight sighed and continued. “I’ve got half a mind to yell at you, but I’m trying to reel in my temper. What you did wasn’t nice, and…” She saw Sunset attempt to leave, and she caused the crowd to bunch up and block Sunset off as she called out. "Sunset! I know that we've had our differences, but… I want to put that behind us. I believe that if you just give it a chance… we could be good friends."
Sunset snorted roughly. “Not on your life.” She refrained from looking Starlight in the eye. “You were always the favorite, even when I was allowed to study under Eclipse directly. I despise you, and that won’t ever change. Not now, nor in a million billion trillion years. Good bye, Starlight. If you’re lucky… You won’t see me ever again.” She chuckled. “Then again, your luck has always been rotten.” Without another word, she teleported away.
Starlight sighed deeply. Of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Sunset always was quite stubborn. She let it slide for now, jerking her head towards the spa. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Once they entered and explained the situation to the spa sisters, the two took them to a large tub in the back. Each ingredient was added in as specified- ground up Horned White Star roots stirred in, Draco scales placed gently along the bottom, and sprinkling of Glass Flower pollen along the surface. Once that was done, the water shimmered as the magic of the ingredients soaked in. After a minute of letting it sit, Starlight lowered herself in. In a sparse few seconds, the effects of the Poison Joke began to visibly fade. Taking the hint that it was actually working, Berry practically leaped in, Cherry went in next, then Crescendo pulled Thunder in with her, and Serenity lowered herself in last.
Starlight took a deep breath. "That feels immensely better. Sure, Sunset still rejected my offer, but... there's not much to be done about that now." She looked around at her friends, and gave a small chuckle. “Well, at least we know what to do if anyone else gets hit by Poison Joke. Let’s just hope that none of us ever do again.”
A concensical nod went through the girls as they let the mixture work its magic. After a few minutes, they got out of the spa bath. The first thing that happened was Berry chomping down on the fruit at the table. She shivered. “Ooh! I missed you…”
Thunder blinked, and shook herself dry. She approached the spa sisters. “Hey, d’ya got a gym in here?”
Crescendo cleared her throat, and went through a musical bar. “Do Ray Mi So La Ti Do!” She smiled. “Much better.” She chuckled at the sight of Thunder challenging the masseuse to a hoof-wrestle. “Well, she’s back to her old self.”
Cherry admired her crystal sheen in the mirror. “Oh, I hope that this never dulls again! I’ll take good care of you, I promise…”
Serenity took a whiff of the aromas. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Ah. As things should be.” She turned to look at Starlight weighing herself. “You back to normal?”
Starlight jumped off of the scale, a smile on her face. “The nightmare is over! I’m slim again!”
A cheer went out among them, and they exited the spa. They were going to pay the spa sisters- but they insisted that it was on the house, just this once. Once outside, the townsponies saw that the six were back to normal, and a cheer went out. Starlight grabbed her head after it went a bit too long, and the crowd died down. She took a breath of relief as she let go. It seemed that now she had a card to play if she wanted a bit of quiet. Thunder stretched. “Oof! How lathargic did that make me? Gotta get my reps in before I stiffen up to much.” She flapped her wings, and lifted off a bit. She frowned. “I didn’t fly during all that? Great. At least it won’t be too much effort to shape up after a day of lazing off.” Thunder flew off into the sky, probably to do a few drills.
Crescendo gave a flap of her own wings, and lifted off. “I best be off too. My choir needs their lesson today, after all.” She smiled. “I’ll be seeing all of you later!” She then flew off towards her house.
Serenity twitched her wings, and took a whiff of the air. “Mmh. The smell wafting off of my shop. I missed it.” She turned towards Starlight. “Feel free to stop by… I can get you a free sample, if you want to charm a certain guy…”
Starlight’s eyes widened, but she shook it off soon enough. “A-and just what do you think you are implying?”
A smirk rose upon Serenity’s face. “You’re blushing~!”
Starlight huffed angrily. “I am not! You can take your free sample elsewhere.”
With a final shrug, Serenity shook her head. “Your loss.” She then flew off towards her shop.
Berry looked at Starlight with a strange look. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I won’t judge.”
Starlight raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to judge.”
Berry shrugged. “If you say so. Guess if you’re proud to wind up a spinster some day…”
The eyebrow twitched. “Berry. I swear. If you are being serious? Friend or no, I will strangle you within an inch of your life.”
Berry gave a nervous chuckle and backed off. “C’mon, I was only joking! You’ll get a guy. Someday.” She ran off.
Starlight waived an angry hoof in the air. “YOU HAD BETTER RUN!”
Cherry cleared her throat. “Star. Calm down. You know they don’t mean to get a rise out of you. Just… breathe.”
Starlight huffed as she rolled her eyes. “I’m fine. They know that I wouldn’t really follow through. Sometimes I just need to vent vocally.”
Cherry blinked and then shrugged. “Whatever works for you, I suppose. As long as you don’t end up hurting somepony, how you handle your anger is your business.” She smiled. “Well, I’ll going. My bakery won’t run itself.” She ran off, waving. “See ya later, Star!”
Starlight waved back, then gave a sigh with a smile. “Heh. At least it’s over…” She walked back to her house to see that it was almost finished. But she saw something wrong. The wall’s color. Her temper rose. She barked out. “Who is responsible for this!?”
One of the construction ponies came up to her, and he raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Miss Glimmer?”
Starlight pointed a hoof at the outside wall. “It’s not supposed to be pink! It’s supposed to be teal! How can you mix those up!?”
The construction pony scratched his head. “Ah. We’ll fix that right away. Sorry for the mix-up.” He turned and walked back to his workers. “Alright, boys! Miss Glimmer says she doesn’t like the outside wall! Get me a lot white paint so we can blot out the pink, then get me the teal. Don’t screw this up!” His ponies saluted, and they went to work.
Starlight smiled. At least things were going her way now. She went inside her home, and saw that it was mostly done. The walls were the right color, and the floors were the right kind of wood. The stairs were carpeted lavender as she had specified, and the upstairs had many empty rooms. Sure, it was a bit much for a bachelorette, but it was hers. She made her way back downstairs, and went past the table into the master bedroom to sleep.