A new creature moves to Ponyville and Twilight thinks its a good idea to send Starlight to say hello as a friendship lesson. What ensues is all Twilights fault.
Twilight Sparkle has been known to make up random friendship lessons on the spot for Starlight Glimmer. Unlucky for Starlight, when reports of a new creature was spotted setting up shop in Ponyville, Twilight just couldn't resist and sent Starlight to greet this new creature as impromptu friendship lesson.
Can Starlight handle meeting this newcomer, or will she forever be destined to fail?
On a side note, why can't anypony open the doors of Twilight's castle?
"So thats why I believe that you should be the one to great this new creature and welcome her to Ponyville!" Twilight Sparkle explained happily to a very cross Starlight Glimmer.
Starlight had just woken up and was making herself a cup of coffee, when Twilight had burst down the kitchen door and dragged Starlight in to the library for an "Important Friendship Lesson". Of course it had taken Twilight the better part of an hour to actually get down to telling Starlight what the lesson was aboutn explaining that a new creature had just moved into town and was setting up shop in one of the empty stores.
According to the report sent by Pinkie Pie, the newcomer had moved in durring the night and very few ponies had actually seen what type of creature it was. From what Pinkie could guess, and from what she could find out from those who caught glimpses of the newcomer, was that it was no known creature anyone had seen before. When asked what it looked like, Pinkie claimed the creature had eight legs and had eyes as black as night, but Twilight wrote that off as Pinkie just being Pinkie and overreacting at the sight of a new friend.
Twilight continued to rant about the importance of making the right impression and that is was dire to make the newcomer feel welcome, while Starlight sighed tried her best to focus on her friend. Starlight gazed off into space and wished that Twilight would stop talking so she could get a nice cup of coffee before it got cold, when she realized that Twilight had asked a question. Trying to pretend like she was paying attention, she hastily responded.
"Uhh-yes?" She stammered nervously. Twilight beemed at her response, and pushed her student towards the entrance of the castle with her magic. Starlight desperately tried to struggle away and escape, but Twilight's magic would not relent its grip.
"Great! Now I know you may be nervous about meeting a new race for the first time, but think of all the research we can gain from this! You'd be going down in history! Oh! Just think of the report we can write to Celestia!" Twilight rammbled as she drug her confused student out the door and dropped her roughly on the castle steps. "Now the creature moved into the old sewing shop Rarity used to own before she bought the Carousel Boutique. Its right on Hoofington Lane just off of the Town Square. Good luck!" And with that, Twilight teleported inside the castle and slammed the doors shut.
Starlight sat on the crystal staircase, confusion etched into her face. She tentatively tried to open the large crystal doors of the castle and scowled.
The doors refused to budge.
She pushed harder with her hooves.
Still nothing.
Stomping her hooves in frustration, Starlight focused all of her magical energy, the air around her began to vibrate as powerful magic began to permeate the air.
"OOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNN!" Starlight screamed at the door, throwing a large ball of magic at it. Unfortunately for Starlight, due to the reflective nature of the crystal the doors were made of, her magic was simply reflected back at her.
Yelping in surprise, Starlight dove out of the way and the ball of magic flew into the unsuspecting town of Ponyville. In a stoke of luck, a few worker ponies happened to be moving a large mirror right in the path of the magical ball of destruction it barrled down on the unaware ponies. Thankfully the magic was reflected up and away from the unsuspecting town, disappearing into the sky. Starlight peeked up from where she had landed and sighed both in relief and frustration. Resigning herself to the inevitable, Starlight trudged into town in search of the newcomer.
It was going to be one of those days.
A few minutes later, Starlight stood outside the shop that Twilight said the newcomer had moved into. From the outside, the little shop seemed pretty normal. Velvet red curtains covered the windows and showed a small display of books of various types. The metal sign hanging over the door read, The Spider's Web, and had a delicately crafted metal spider hanging from it reading a book. An open sign was on the door and the smell of freshly brewed coffee tempted Starlight to open the oak door. With a gentle tap of her hoof, she opened the door and stepped into a very cozy looking lounge. A few beanbag chairs sat in various corners of the room and a few books laid out on a few tables. Another velvet red curtain covered what Starlight could only assume led to the rest of the shop. Several large bookcases sat close to the walls and held a wide variety of books, ranging from brand new books on poetry to advanced spell books worn with age. A small table sat next to the door drew Starlight's attention and on it was the holy grail of morning ponies, a pot of freshly brewed coffee.
Sighing happily, Starlight levitated one of the mugs next to the steaming pot and poured herself a cup. Sighing in pure bliss, she took a long slow drink. Grinning happily, Starlight took notice of a small silver bell next to the pot of coffee. A silver sign above it read, Ring for Assistance. With a light push with her magic, the bell gave off a loud, yet present ring that seemed to fill the entire room. From behind the curtain in the back of the room a feminine voice called out, "One moment, please!"
Starlight could hear the sound of movement behind the curtain as whatever was behind it made its way to the front of the shop. As the sound moved closer, Starlight started to notice something quite...odd about the room. Almost invisible to the well trained eye unless somepony was actively looking for it, Starlight could see what apeared to be spiderwebs strung about the room as if preparing for a Nightmare Mare Night party. Starlight inspected one of the webs that was attached to to one of the empty cups on the table next to her, and was about to poke it with a hoof, when a slight cough behind her made her spin around in surprise. What Starlight saw before her made her body freeze with fear as the blood rushed from her face.
Before her stood a creature from her worst nightmares. It had the upper body of what Starlight could only assume was a Minotaur except it had no horns and six soulless black eyes that seemed to bore into Starlight's own. Its bottom half was of a spider's, eight long spindly black legs that tapered off into sharp points, its abdomen was equally black and Starlightcould see a blood red hourglass adorned on its body. When it oppened its mouth to speak, Starlight could see two sharp fangs, glinting in the rooms light.
"Umm miss? Are you all right?" The thing asked, its many eyes squinting at Starlight.
With it spoke, Starlight was snapped out of her paralysis as she let out a short scream, before her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted and fell to the floor with a limp thump. A single thought raced through Starlight's mind before she faded into nothingness.
Starlight looked up from the desk she was sitting at and looked around quizzically. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she went back to reading her book.
BZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZ
Starlight looked up again and glared around her bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place and nothing could possibly be making that, odd noise. Still seeing nothing out of place, she went back to her book.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"Nope, its nothing." Starlight said to herself. "Its absolutely nothing."
BZZZZZZZZZ
Starlight glared at the pages of her book, refusing to look up.
BZZZ-
Suddenly the noise stopped. Starlight looked up and sighed in relief. Just as she was about to get back to reading, everything began to shake. Starlight was thrown to the floor as the crystal walls around her began to crack and shake loose. Yelping in surprise, Starlight dove out of the way as chunks of the ceiling crashed into and through the floor. Starlight scrambled to her hooves and dove for the door, doing her best to shield herself with magic. As she neared the door a very hefty volume of the Space Galactic Volume IV smacked her between the eyes and the world went dark.
"Oh dear me are you ok? Heeelllooooo?
Starlight groaned and slowly blinked her eyes. A blurry purple shape wobbled over her worriedly.
"T-Twilight? What happened?" Starlight said as she rubbed her eyes.
"Twilight?" Said the purple blob. "Who's Twilight?"
Suddenly Starlight's memories came rushing back and she sat up quickly and looked around wildly, looking for the thing. She was in a small room that was mostly empty besides from a few small bookcases and a bed she was currently sitting next to. Not seeing anything else, Starlight shook her head and rubbed her head.
"Get a grip Starlight. You just hit your head when you fell off the bed. You are not hearing voices and you defiantly are not going crazy!" She said to herself in a cheery voice. "Nope, not crazy at all."
"Well I can say for sure, you are defiantly not crazy!" Said a voice from over her head. Starlight gave a small shriek and jumped to her hooves, her horn charging with dangerous energy.
"Show yourself!" Starlight shouted, getting ready to blast anything to Tartarus.
"Whoa! Hold the magic there doll face! " A small orb of purple light floated down to eye level and Starlight took a step back in surprise. "What?" The orb said. "Do I got something on my face?" The orb suddenly gasped. "Did I sleep in the glitter jar again? Uhhhg I hate it when I sleep fly. I always end up in the strangest places! One sec, let me just use a bit of magic..." The purple orb began to glow with a bright white light and a tinkling music medley slowly filled the room. With a pop of music, the light and music faded revealing a small winged creature.
It was about three inches tall and its skin was a deep tan. It wore a simple white dress that clasped at the shoulders with two small gold hooks. The creature's hair was electric shock green and flowed freely around its body, drifting lazily as its butterfly like wings flapped softly. Out of all of this however, Starlight was more focused on its eyes. Its irises, instead of typical eye colors, were a kaleidoscope of colors that seemed to shift and change the more Starlight stared into them. "Ah there we go! Now I look absolutely dazzling don't I!" The creature winked, but Starlight couldn't help but notice that it still had glitter stuck in its hair and wings.
What she saw before her shattered Starlight's concentration and her horn fizzled out as she stared at the small creature before her, an expression of awe and shock on her face. "What...are you??" she asked slowly. The creature giggled and twirled in the air before her.
"What, you never seen a Pixie before?" Starlight shook her head then stopped, realization flashing in her eyes.
"Wait...your a Pixie? Like one of the mythical creatures from the olden times? That kind of Pixie?" Starlight gasped, her jaw dropping in awe, again. "Your race mysteriously disappeared thousands of years ago, just after the foundation of Equestria! How-how are you.." Starlight was cut off as the Pixie before her began to laugh.
"Bwhahahahaha!" the Pixie flopped on her back in the air and kicked her legs in laughter. "Oh you ponies are sooo funny! Of course we still exist! We just moved, silly!" She fluttered up to Starlight and booped her nose. "So I'm Iris! What's your name!"
Starlight shook her head, pushing aside her questions for now. "I'm Starlight, Starlight Glimmer. Nice to meet you Iris." The Pixie laughed and she flew up and landed on Starlight's horn. "So if your kind moved away, why are you here in Ponyville?" The Pixie gave a small laugh and flew around Starlight's head a few times.
"Weell its a bit of a long story, but to ease you the trouble of my deep and conflicted back story, I moved here with my mistress! She rescued me a while back and well I've stuck with her ever since." Iris sighed, a dreamy expression on her face.
"Wait...is your mistress..." Starlight began to stammer, memories resurfacing of long spidery legs and dripping fangs flashed through her mind and she wobbled on her hooves.
"Yes, I believe you've met her. Her appearance tends to...cause others to be afraid of her at times. Arachne tend to be feared by most, except for those who live in the forests where I'm from. Creatures of magic tend to stick together." Starlight looked at Iris curiously.
"Where are you two from, by the way?" Starlight asked Iris. "You said your from a forest, are you from the Everfree? It's defiantly big enough."
"Oh no, that forest is way to scary. No I'm from the Emerald Forest, its beyond the Badlands, near the ocean."
Starlight nodded to herself. "That makes sense, the Emerald Forests are rumored to be full of magic. From what I read about the forest, all sorts of mythical creatures live there like the tree spirits, The Dryads, Deer, and a variety of plants." Iris nodded in agreement, a small smirk forming on her face.
"Yeah, your mostly right except for one small, itsy bitsy thing." Iris struck a dramatic pose in front of Starlight, her tiny hands in the air. "None of them are mythical. All of them are 100% real." She dropped the pose and looked at Starlight with a serious expression. "All humor aside, my mistress is not used to living among ponies and well...your reaction wasn't exactly...helpful."
Starlight sighed. "Yeah, I know. Its just...I'm not a big fan of spiders." She slumped against the bed in defeat and hid her head between her hooves. "I'm terrible and making good first impressions. I always manage to mess things up."
"Don't be like that Starlight. You were fine when talking to me and I think your pretty great!" Iris grabbed Starlight's horn and tugged. "Now if anything my mistress is nothing but kind and you seem like a pony who can overcome any challenge. So get up, channel your inner strength, and overcome your fear!"
Starlight sighed and got up from the floor. She closed her eyes and nodded and Iris let out a squee of joy!
"Ok." Starlight said, her eyes opening, a determined look in her eyes. "Lets got make friends with a spider."
This was going to be harder than she originally thought.
Starlight and Iris had found the Arachne in her room and when Iris attempted to open it, they found it was barricaded with a ridiculous amount of webbing. Iris had tried to talk to her mistress through the door, but the Arachne refused to come out. After a few minutes of coaxing, Iris flung her small hands up in defeat and shot Starlight an exasperated look.
“Well I am out of ideas.” Iris said as she landed on Starlight’s horn. “I have never seen her like this before, usually she’s really collected about this sort of thing.” Starlight just furrowed her brow at the door before her. Suddenly, Starlight’s head jerked up, knocking Iris from her horn. She stared at the door harder, an idea forming in her head as she prepared to cast a spell.
“Tell me, is her room magic proof?” Starlight asked the pixie.
“Um...no?” Iris said, confused by the question. “Why do yo-” She began, but cut herself off as she saw the manic look in Starlights eye. Iris’s eyes widened further when she felt the hallway suddenly fill with intense magic and she stared at Starlight, panic in her eyes.
“OOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!” Starlight screamed at the door and cast her spell. A beam of bright red magic struck the door, causing it to rattle and shake violently, the wood beginning to smoke. Soon the whole building was shaking from the force of the spell as windows and doors all around the building open and closed with reckless abandon. The beam from Starlight’s horn soon ended and she fell to the ground, having exhausted most of her magic on the spell. She looked up expectantly at the door in front of her and she groaned in frustration. The door remained closed, though it was slightly smoking.
Iris flew over to the smoking door and gave it a light tap. With a creak, the door fell forward revealing a very shocked Arachne. “Wha...how?” The Arachne sputtered in shock. Starlight gave her a tried grin.
“Take that door.” Starlight said before she passed out.
A few hours later, Starlight awoke and found herself in the same bed she awoke from earlier. She sat up groggily and saw the Arachne sitting in the corner, reading a book. Noticing that she was awake, the Arachne quickly closed the book and tried to leave, but the door slammed closed and locked. She looked back and saw Starlight smiling sheepishly.
“Look, I’m sorry for my outburst earlier today.” Starlight rubbed a hoof through her mane and sighed. “I’m just not a big fan of spiders and well your appearance took me by surprise and…” She trailed off and buried her face in her hooves. “I screwed this one up didn’t I?” Starlight’s ears twitched as she heard the sound of multiple legs moving towards her and she jumped slightly as she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
“Kali Azizia.”
Starlight looked up confused and saw the Arachne smiling down at her. “W-What?”
“That’s my name. Kali Aziza.” She said, as she offered out her hand. Starlight stretched out a hoof and shook Kali’s hand.
“Starlight Glimmer.”
They stared at each other awkwardly for a few minutes when Iris’s suddenly appeared in front of them in a flash of confetti and the smell of vanilla.
“Yay! My friends are now besties!” Iris did a twirl in the air and flew around the two. Starlight and Kali both look at each other and laughed.
“I guess we are then” Starlight said, grinning at Kali and the Arachne grinned back.
"That we are!" Said Kali happily. "That we are."
“So it was a pleasure meeting you Kali and thank you again for helping me back to the castle.” Starlight said from Kali’s back as the Arachne had offered to carry Starlight home as she was still to weak to move. It was dark by the time they left Kali’s shop so the streets were clear of ponies, though Starlight could see fearful eyes peer out of shuttered windows.
“It’s no problem Starlight, after all what are friends for?” Kali said smiling. Starlight smiled back at her and looked up at the starry night above. A few minutes later, they found themselves at the entrance of the Crystal Castle and Starlight hopped off Kali’s back.
“Are you fine with walking back by yourself?” Starlight asked her friend. “I’m not sure how a random pony will react when they see you moving around at night.” Kali just shrugged.
“Eh, I’ll be fine. The mayor is supposed to introduce me to the rest of the citizens of Ponyville later tomorrow at the end of the town meeting, so I’m not to worried about being found out.” Starlight nodded in agreement.
“Well you have a safe trip back, see you tomorrow at the town meeting!” Starlight said as she waved. Kali waved back as she walked away. Starlight smiled to herself as she turned and made her way up the steps to the front door. She placed a hoof on it to open it and she paused, feeling that the door was vibrating. Suddenly, realization dawned on her face as she back up quickly. “Oh no..” She began but was cut off as the crystal doors exploded. Starlight couldn’t help but smile as she dogged out of the way of the exploding doors.
