MY LITTLE POINY EQUESTRIA GIRLS “Trixie’s Okay” Chapter Six
“Starlight Glimmer?” Both Sunset and I said in shocked unison.
Lit only by Sunset’s mobile phone, the girl on the bed in front of us looked exactly like the Starlight we had met months ago when she visited this world and our school. Sunset had gone back to Equestria and Starlight had tagged along with her for a while before eventually returning home. I had only met her briefly. She didn’t display any of the magic that the Mane Six (Seven), or had even ‘Ponied Up.’ Or none of what I had seen of her perform during my short trek through Equestria. As far as I knew, she was just another ordinary girl at school. She hung out with them, so she must be something special. I was still a bit sore and uppity back then… let’s face it I still am, but because of Sunset I’ve gotten better. I think I have. I hope.
With dark purple hair, and a light blue highlight, Starlight wore a denim vest over a green and orange shirt, and holey tights. Even in bed she had kept her shoes on, probably ready for any opportunity to escape. She sat up on the side of the bed and grabbed her backpack and for some reason the potted plant that had been on the end table.
“I’ll protect you Phyllis,” she said to no one.
Now fully awake, after having been disturbed by two new prisoners of her jail cell, Starlight narrowed her eyes at us.
“Do I know you?” She asked.
“Well, I hope so—” I began.
“Not now, Trixie,” Sunset interrupted me before I said something stupid, it was bound to happen.
“Who are you people?” Starlight asked with suspicion. Did she think we were one of Chrysalis’ drones? Had she sent others in here before to try and persuade Starlight, or had others been in here and just couldn’t handle it any longer and had given into the insect queen.
“This is Sunset, and I’m Trixie. I’ve been looking for—” Sunset interrupted me again.
“Your father sent us to find you,” It wasn’t a lie, and probably sounded better than what I would have said. Though, come on Sunset, give me a moment in the spot light.
“My dad sent you? He came out of his musky old library long enough to talk to people? He spends so much time in the past that he forgets there are people in the present. I told him I needed to get away and… Study.”
That wasn’t entirely true, at least from what her father had said. She wasn’t currently in school, and it was brake time for us, so what could she be up hear studying?
Starlight put the potted plant back on the end table, but pulled her pack in closer to her body for safety. Kind of like how Sunset protected her journal. Once she had begun using it to regularly communicate with Equestria and Princess Twilight, the journal had become very precious and was always with Sunset. Now this Starlight was holding onto her pack as if held something equally previous.
“I don’t know about that,” Sunset began, “but he did seem concerned about you. He said something happened a while back—”
“Hey, you look an awfully lot like someone I once knew,” Starlight narrowed her eyes as if she angrily studied Sunset’s face in the low light, “but she left us behind when she got a scholarship to university. She was, oh so smart, but didn’t think the rest of us might be as well. Be her EQUAL.”
Sunset looked shocked, and yet apologetic. She still felt guilty for what she had done, leaving the people who cared for her and to seek out greater knowledge and power on her own which led her to be here at our school and world. Had this Sunset done the same thing?
“Well, whoever you are;” Starlight seemed to ignore her own inquiry, as if who we were wasn’t all that important, “the two of you are now trapped in here with me. Now I don’t even have my privacy to do my work.”
“What work is that?” I asked out of curiosity. Maybe I could start up a friendly conversation.
“Oh no, I’m not letting anyone near it,” she held the pack even tighter and turned away from us, “Who knows what Chrysalis might do with it.”
“Do with what?” Sunset sounded very concerned.
Starlight leaned to the side and turned on the small lamp next to the bed, which allowed Sunset to turn off her phone’s light.
“So, do you two have some grand plan to get me out of here? I didn’t think so?” She obviously didn’t truest us. Starlight focused on looking for something inside her backpack.
What could we say to her. We hadn’t known she was trapped, or that there was a crazed woman outside that had the entire village terrified that they were forced to smile at everything. How were we to plan for that? Sunset maybe a hero with the rest of her friends, but I’m just a stage magician I’m no hero.
Starlight remained silent as she reached into her pack and pulled out a small note book and pencil. Putting them on the end table, she reached in once more and carefully took out a rolled-up piece of paper. It looked old, like parchment, the edges crinkled maybe even burned. It looked like something I might use in my stage act, claiming I had learned a great and power secret from ancient Egypt, or something like that.
She unrolled the scroll and began studying it, every so often marking something down in the note book. Probably doing her best to ignore us.
Sunset seemed intrigued by what we could see over Starlight’s shoulder. The writing on it, if you could call it writing, was something I had never seen before.
No, I was wrong, I had seen it before. There was a sign I had passed while in Ponyville written in similar text. Even the promotional banner for the other Trixie’s performance had used some of these characters. I could read them then, but not now, and yet…
These were similar characters, but on this old parchment some were far more ornate.
“That’s from Equestria,” I said to Sunset, more surprised that I knew than anything else, “It’s certainly not Latin.”
Sunset nodded in agreement.
“Ha, Latin would be easy,” Starlight responded without looked up at us, “I had to learn Latin for my early science courses. I have no idea what this is, and yet I feel like I should know. Some of the character patterns seem familiar to me. Every so often I make out what I think a character set means and yet it can’t be that simple.” Her voice trailed off in thought.
“May I take a look,” Sunset asked, “I won’t damage it. Promise.”
Starlight was suspicious, she repositioned herself so Sunset could get a better view, but wouldn’t let her touch it. Smart, if she thought we were working for Chrysalis. I might not know what this was, but our school had had multiple run ins with artifacts that had made their way over from Equestria. You can’t take the chance of it landing in the wrong hooves… hands. (I still can remember having hooves.)
“Take a look. The characters are recognizable, but I’ve only been able to read parts of it. Mostly the bottom half. It’s taken me weeks to work out what it’s saying, but don’t really have a clue what it means. There are patterns and what I think are equations. That’s why I came to the family cabin, so I won’t be distracted. I had hoped. But with Chrysalis here there has been very little peace and quiet. She really seems to hate me, but I don’t know why.”
Sunset knelt down to get a closer look at the scroll, with the same intensity I’ve seen in her before. Usually when studying and trying not to get annoyed by me. It wasn’t that long ago she would have terrified me, and the rest of the students, but now we get along most of the time. Until I do something stupid or upset one her friends. Especially the science nerd Twilight.
“How long has that Madam Chrysalis been here?” I asked, for conversation’s sake. I hate silences, and I especially hate it when people aren’t paying attention to me. Yeah, I know that’s bad, I’m a performer. I’m trying to improve.
“She apparently showed up just a few days before I arrived. In those short days, people I’ve known all my life seemed frightened and did whatever she wanted them to do. She seemed quite interested in me, but when I wouldn’t cow down to her she became angry and it wasn’t long before she tossed me in here. She seemed to have preconceived ideas about who I was, and apparently hatred for me as well. Once a day she would send someone in here to try and convince me to join the crowd. Then at night she comes in herself, threateningly. Talking as if I knew some great secret that could help her. Something about being set free. Sometimes I think she’s talking to herself, or someone else…”
“Have you heard the sound of insects buzzing when she gets angry,” I asked.
She looked at me as if wanting to agree, but held back.
“Hmm,” Sunset drew our attention back, “It’s written in Ponish. The top half in Ancient Ponish. At least a thousand years old, if I remember my studies correctly.”
“Ponish? What are talking about, there’s no such language.”
“Would you believe it’s the language of a land of magical ponies?” Why did I say that, I want her to be my friend and I’m sounding like a fool. Where is my Great and Powerful confidence?”
“Not now, Trixie,” Sunset said, “the second half is more modern. From what samples I’ve seen in my journal, I’d hazard to guess this is Starlight’s script.”
“My handwriting? I would never write on an artifact like this. I put my thoughts down in a note book.” She waved the note book at us, offended by the thought of not doing so.
“No, I mean Starlight’s script,” Sunset corrected her, “Where I come from, we don’t have hands to write with.”
“What now?”
I held my tongue; Sunset will be better at explaining these things than me. I hope.
“If I had this spell a year ago, I could have rebuilt the entire world with time travel.”
Okay, that’s not what I expected Sunset to say. She sounded like an insane villian. Well, she had turned us all into zombie slaves months ago, so I guess it’s not out of character for her.
“Thank Celestia I never got hold of this.”
Starlight just looked at her and then over to me. I could only shrug. “Starswhirl the Bearded’s original incantation was a simple time travel spell, though with limitation.” Sunset began to explain, pointing at the top area of the scroll, I don’t think it helped, Starlight began to role the scroll up to protect it. Smart move if you didn’t know anything about the good person Sunset had become over the last year.
“The other Starlight Glimmar apparently added to the spell.” Sunset wanted to indicate something on the parchment, but Starlight kept it away from her. “She is far more knowledgeable at this than I ever gave her credit for. This spell could actually alter the time lines. Now that I think about it, Princess Twilight once mentioned getting stuck in a time travel loop. This must have been what caused it.”
Curiosity got to Starlight and unrolled the scroll once more
“This was written by Starswhirl? He was one of DaVinci’s contemporaries. Part of it does look like complex mathematical equations like ones the great renaissance man had written. Mathematics of the universe, he described them—Hold on, you called this a spell, as in magic?”
“You’re right, the Starswhirl here was a great mathematician, engineer, writer, and artist. But the Starswhirl I know is what you would call a sorceress or wizard. I should ask Twilight to introduce me to him some time, he might be able to explain the portals.”
“Stay focused, Sunset.” I pulled on her arm. Though she was no longer ‘power hungry’, she still thirsted for knowledge. Her current private study she was working on, when not helping the others save the world or sing in the band, or doing school work, was learning more about the portals between our worlds. Also, why were there so many artifacts and creatures from Equestria in this world. Like the Dazzlings, that were actually three magical sirens. Thinking on all that I suddenly realized how blessed I was that she had shared some of her thoughts with me, even if I didn’t understand it all. Most of it.
“Sorry, yes, of course. From this world’s perspective, I suppose it would be very similar mathematics. Studying Calculous can be just as much a struggle as spell-craft for unicorns.”
“Unicorns?”
Starlight just stared at us. Certain now we were insane, or working for Chrysalis. Which mean we were a threat to her.
We were now in danger, and she’ll never become my best friend.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Read the earlier chapters here:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five