Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.
I was at the train station waiting for the train to come by. My friends are heading off to Canterlot for Spring Break because they are doing some sort of festival with Celestia and Luna. I would go, but I'm staying back with Starlight because she's inviting some friends and I figured it would be better to hang out with them to expand my circle of friends. However, Twilight wasn't exactly the most happy about me staying behind. She said "Are you sure you want to stay behind? I really wish you could come with us. We could all have so much fun together." I smiled and said "I'm sure Twilight. I just think this is a perfect opportunity to hang out with some other friends." Twilight sighed and said "I know and I'm really happy that you are starting to expand your circle of friends besides just me and our friends. But it still makes me sad." I said "I understand, but sometimes, you need time to yourself without me involved. You should spend time with the friends you have been with since the very beginning. I only came into the picture about a half decade ago."
Twilight said "But you're just as important as the rest of us! I might have known my friends longer than I have known you, but that doesn't make you any less important." I said "I know it doesn't, but that's what makes you the Princess of Friendship. You have close relationships with a lot of ponies and it's important to evenly spend time with those ponies than it would be for just one particular group." Twilight sighed again and said "I see your point. But I don't want you to think that you have no importance within this group. You have made a huge difference in all of us. You have made a difference in me as well. There's nothing I rather have than that." I said "I understand and I don't think I'm less important. But I was only trying to make sure you don't miss an important point. *train comes* Well, I guess it's time for you guys to go off to Canterlot." The rest of Twilight's friends got on board the train and Twilight said to me "I'll miss you." I smiled and said "I will too. But I know you will return to me in a few days." Twilight smiled and gave me one last passionate kiss before I said "I will be fine. Go have fun with your friends. Tell Celestia and Luna I said hi." Twilight said "I will." and she boarded the train as well. The conductor made one last call before he headed inside and the train took off.
My friends waved at me out the window as the train sped off and I waved back at them before the train completely disappeared from sight. I turned around and flew back to the school to wrap up a couple of more things before the break. I still might be a little sad that I'm not with Twilight and the rest of my friends, but I promised Starlight that I would stay here for her planned event with Trixie, Sunburst, Maud, and Mudbriar. It doesn't surprise me that Starlight had to invite Trixie. They are best friends after all. I can't stand Trixie because she is the perfect representation of the entitlement generation back home which was basically my generation, the gen zers, and probably the millennials too. But to be fair, she is a fellow hero of Equestria as she was there when we defeated Chrysalis along with Starlight, Thorax, and Discord. That's really the only reason why I even associate with Trixie in the first place is because we were part of the group that stood up to Chrysalis and defeated her while getting the Changelings to repent from their sinful ways which was pretty cool. With that said though, that doesn't mean I have to like Trixie because I do NOT tolerate entitlement from ANYONE whatsoever, so she better be careful on what she does or else she'll pay the penalty.
I was flying by when I saw Starlight and Trixie having a picnic. Hmm. How lovely. Wait. I noticed something. It appears that it is a bracelet around Starlight's hoof. Oh no. I know this kind of thing. When that thing goes off, she disappears. Well, she is a student counselor. I could tell how annoyed Trixie was by that. Trixie did say to Starlight "Of course, I feel nothing but admiration for the work you do, but it is a little all-consuming." What makes you say that? "And I miss spending time with you." I don't. Starlight obviously didn't believe that and said "What are you talking about?" You know exactly what she is talking about. You're just trying to deny it. "We're spending time right now." Yeah, wait 5 seconds. Speaking of which, Starlight's bracelet went off and she disappeared again. Trixie growled profusely and I appeared next to her in my lion form. I said "Starlight saying that she is spending time with you, but really isn't? I know that feeling." Trixie looked over at me and squinted her eyes. She asked with skepticism "What are you doing here?" I said "To answer your question oh "great and powerful" Trixie, I was just coming from the train station to wish my beloved and her friends a good time in Canterlot. I might not be the biggest fan of you, but I specifically stayed here for a reason."
"In fact, you should be lucky that I actually stayed here to put up with you instead of being with Twilight and the rest of her friends right now, so I don't want to hear any lip. Got that?" Trixie sighed and said "Yes, "prince." You present a fair point." I said "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to wrap a few things up at the school before I join in on the party Maud and Mudbriar decided to host. See ya! Ha ha ha. HA HA HA!" I disappeared into my shadow form and took off to the school. I need to wrap up a few more things in my office before I can call it a holiday. It turns out this was the spring solstice or something. Back home, you had the spring and fall equinox and the summer and winter solstice. But here in Equestria, it is much different. Why would they even celebrate the changing of a season as a holiday? Next thing you know, everything will be closed on tax day. Weird ponies. I walked by Starlight's office and noticed that Trixie was trying to get her to close up shop for the day which is honestly kinda rude, but whatever. There was the one pony that kept trying to get in, but Trixie was having none of it and refused to let them in. When they tried a third time, Trixie only responded with a growl and an angry glare.
The pony didn't say anything and closed the door. I rolled my eyes and continued on. Once I was done, I headed out and went to get the things that I needed to prepare for this party. I checked back up on Starlight at the school and saw Trixie sitting in the office. So, I decided to entertain the thought and sit down on the other side of the couch. I said "Wild guess. Starlight is still doing this?" Trixie sighed and said "You would be correct. It makes me so MAD! It feels like that her students are more important than her FRIENDS!" I see. I said "I see. I know how that feels. But you know, life just gets busy these days especially before an "important" holiday. But then again, spending with friends is just as important. Man, that really is conflicting." Trixie said "Hmm. Not bad. I didn't think someone like you would actually bring up decent points." Of course you didn't. I rolled my eyes and said "Of course I do. I am many things. There are a lot of things that you don't know about me. I could tell you everything, but where's the fun in that?" Before Trixie could respond, Starlight appeared at her desk and Trixie gave the most creepy angry stare you could have ever seen. Starlight was confused and said "Trixie? What are you doing here?"
What does it look like she is doing? Trixie said with annoyance "It's the one place I knew I could find you." She ain't taking no crap today. Starlight said "I'm so sorry about today. I'm just so…" before Trixie said "I know. Obviously, your students are more important than your friends!" I don't think that way because I get that. But Trixie really doesn't. However, Starlight did make promises to Trixie and failed to deliver on them, so it would probably leave anyone ticked off. Starlight said trying to defend herself "That's not-" before there was knocking on the door and Starlight's bracelet went off. The door opened and it was Silverstream. AGAIN! Dang. At this point, I would be so infuriated that if she said "Do you have a minute?", I would be like "NO! GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" I know that might seem harsh, but anger can cause us to act irrational. Believe me. I've done it plenty of times. Anyway, Silverstream poked her head in the door and said "Starlight? Do you have a minute?" NO! GO AWAY! LEAVE US ALONE AND DON'T COME BACK EVER! Okay, maybe not that last part, but at least for the rest of the break. Sorry. Excuse me for my extremely heated anger.
Starlight looked at Trixie for a second before saying to Silverstream "Actually Silverstream, I don't. Besides, I need to lock up the school for the holiday and it's time YOU caught the train home." Okay then. That was a little aggressive, but sometimes you simply have to do that to get them to stop asking a million questions. "I'm sure a smart and capable student like you can figure out the solution to any problem over the break. But for now, the counselors office is CLOSED!" Well then. You sure did tell her. Silverstream had a heartbroken expression on her face and closed the door behind her. I have a feeling this is going to go really bad. Once Silverstream was gone, Starlight looked over at Trixie and said "I have a cake to bake." Okay then. You go ahead and do that. I'm going to get out of here and head off to that party that's in the secret cave where Maud now lives. After some time, we all were in the cave and the cake flung down onto the table. Okay then. That is a very interesting cake. I won't say anything. That cake sure is something. Sunburst put his hoof up to it and it pricked him like a cactus. He asked "Is this cake supposed to be so sharp?" Trixie obviously did not like that and growled at him like a dog. Sunburst got nervous and quickly corrected himself. "I mean, it looks really… delicious." Why do you have reluctance in your voice?
That is never a good sign. Trixie backed away and Mudbriar said "Technically? It's not symmetrical or aesthetically pleasing." Well, that was awfully blunt. Trixie was furious at him for saying something so blunt and was basically shaking in anger. I said "Okay, it's not the best cake. Big deal. The only thing that matters is the effort that was put into it and not how it's supposed to look." I heard Trixie whisper to Starlight "I had no idea he would actually defend me like that." Yeah well, that's not happening on a consistent basis. As much as I don't like you, I don't tolerate other ponies being rude about something you put effort into even though it doesn't look like it. So, that's why I did it. Maud said "I'm glad you brought it." Figures Maud would say that. "And everything else." Yeah, this definitely looks a lot better now with all these decorations. "I'm very excited. It's going to be the most perfect party ever." You sure don't sound like it. Sounds more like sarcasm to me than excitement. Trixie said "And with all of your students home for the holiday, I won't have to worry about you being summoned to your office in the middle of it." I rolled my eyes and grabbed some punch.
Starlight also grabbed some punch and nodded in agreement. "Nothing is going to take me away from this party." Your wish is my command! Nah, I'm kidding. Suddenly, I heard a male voice that said "Hello? Starlight? Starlight?" Wait a second. That's Terramar. Oh no. I feel something bad has happened. I flew up and said "Terramar? What are you doing here? I thought you would be home in Mount Aris for the holiday." Terramar said "I would normally, yes, but something has happened. Prince, do you know where Starlight is?" I said "Yeah, she's right below me. Why? " Starlight came over and said "Yeah, what exactly seems to be the trouble?" Terramar said "With the exception of the prince already knowing who I am, I am Terramar, Silverstream's brother. I have been looking all over for you. Silverstream is missing!" WHAT?! CRAP! I knew something bad was going to happen from this. DANG IT! Starlight gasped in horror and Trixie continued eating and staring. She doesn't give a heck, does she? How rude. She's probably all like "Oh, someone is missing? That sounds terrible. Oh well. Not my problem." Idiot. Starlight seemed confused and said "I don't understand." Seems pretty understandable to me, Starlight. "Silverstream didn't come home?" It appears so. That's what it sounds like to me.
Terramar shook his head no and said "I was supposed to meet her at the Mount Aris train station, but she never showed up!" Oh my. This sounds like one of those horror stories where you shoo someone annoying away and then that person is never heard from again. This is the kind of situation that we are in right now. Anyway, Sunburst said "It's a long way between Ponyville and Mount Aris." Gee, thanks for stating the obvious, Sunburst. Yeah, I think everyone here knows that. Don't need to tell it to everybody. "She could be anywhere." Yeah, it is a pretty large distance, so there are a lot of places to hide between here and there. Terramar said "Our parents are leading teams of hippogriffs and seaponies, searching the land and sea between here and our home. They sent me to check the school." Seems fair enough. Starlight said "But the school's closed. All the students are gone." Doesn't hurt to check though. Terramar asked "Are you sure? I know she had a big project due for Twilight." Oh yeah. I remember her telling me about that. She tells me a lot about what's happening at the school. "Do you think she might have stayed to finish it?" That is a very real possibility and might be the best assumption we can make right now.
Starlight said "She never told me about a project." I knew that, but she was asking for synonyms about water because her cousins were staying down below in the sea instead of coming up to land. That sounds nothing like a project. Trixie started being a smart-aleck and said "Well, to be fair, you closed your office the last time she came by." I rolled my eyes and said "That's only because you were complaining about Starlight putting her students before her friends. So, I hope you're happy." Trixie growled at me, but that did not phase me whatsoever. Instead, I snarled right back at her and she trembled in fear. Yeah that's right. You should be scared of me. Don't you ever mess with the most powerful creature in all of Equestria. I'll make sure you'll pay the penalty for it. Starlight wasn't happy and Terramar yelled at her "What kind of counselor turns away a student with a problem?!" Hold on Terramar. No one could really tell she had a problem. She never really specified that. So, it's not really our fault that we didn't pick that up. Trixie defended Starlight and said "A kind with too much on her plate." Yeah, and you weren't much help either Trixie. "Starlight has always gone out of her way for her students." I think I could tell.
"And I mean always." Why does that sound so terrible to you though? Starlight suddenly felt guilty and said "Except for when it matters. This is all my fault!" Oh dear. Now you're starting to sound like Twilight. You really need to stop blaming yourself for every mistake you make. Sure, some mistakes are downright stupid and are easily avoidable, but some, you just can't stop, no matter how smart or careful you are. Believe me. It's happened to me plenty of times. "You all go back to the party. Terramar and I will check the school." I said "I'm coming too. And before you ask me why, it's because we can cover more ground that way. I can easily use my magic to look at a computer generated 3-D diagram of the school and can easily locate any moving objects, so that will be a massive help." Starlight said "Now that I think about it, yeah it does. Okay, come on. Let's go. We will find your sister." I teleported us away and we made it to the school courtyard. "You check the grounds, and I'll look inside." I said "While you guys do that, I'll look at my diagram to see if there are any signs of Silverstream." They both nodded and went to their respective places.
I made sure no one was around and activated the spell. After having my eyes briefly go white and crimson red magic being blasted into the air, I was finally able to look at this computer generated diagram which did include infrared. That will detect heat and any moving object that is living will generate that. I tried looking, but I ultimately found nothing. I thought I saw a moving object though the school, but that was just Starlight. After looking one more time, I deactivated the spell. Both Starlight and Terramar came back in just the nick of time. Terramar said "She's not down here." I doubt she would be. Starlight said "I don't see her anywhere." Me neither. I said "I couldn't find anything on my diagram, but it did pick up something in her bedroom, so we might want to check there." I teleported us to her room and she wasn't in there. However, Terramar instantly recognized what I was talking about just a few seconds ago. Starlight did say "Well, she's not here." Well, duh. What do you expect? Of course she wouldn't. Terramar said "No she isn't. But look at this." Hmm. Terramar held up a book of a map of the Everfree Forest and there was a picture of a cockatrice on a sticky note. That seems awfully suspicious. Starlight asked with confusion "A Cockatrice?" Apparently so. Hmm. Who knew? Never really expected that.
But these days, anything is expected. Like my parents always said, expect the unexpected. Terramar asked "Could that be what her project was on?" Perhaps. It appears to be that way. There was also a paper map of the Everfree Forest on the wall and that got Terramar extremely worried. "You don't think she went into the Everfree Forest to find a Cockatrice by herself, do you?" Probably. Starlight said "I don't know, but I'm going to find out!" I hope so. A young hippogriff like her should not be in such a dangerous place this late at night. The Everfree Forest is quite dangerous for those who don't have a lot of magical power. For me, it's a cakewalk. But for others, it can be quite a challenge for them. Starlight teleported away, but obviously forgot me and Terramar. Good going Starlight. She realized her mistake and came back to fetch us. I teleported us back, but saw the rest of the gang coming, so I went into my shadow form and braced myself. Obviously, they went right through me unharmed, but crashed into Starlight and Terramar. I returned to my lion form and Starlight asked "What are you all doing here?" What does it look like they're doing, Starlight? Use your brain for once.
Sunburst said "We came to help." That is very nice of you. I mean it. I promise. No sarcasm whatsoever. I swear. Anyway, Trixie said "We couldn't let you handle this alone." I mean, I could easily tackle this myself, but help is very much appreciated anytime. Mudbriar had to be annoying and said "Technically? She wasn't alone." Everypony gave him annoyed stares and he quickly dropped it. "But we wanted to help anyway." That's better. Starlight said "Thanks. All of you. But the students are my responsibility." Eh, mostly. "I'm the one who didn't do my job when it actually mattered!" That's not entirely true. I raised an eyebrow at Trixie and she sighed. She said "I… might share a bit of the blame for pressuring you into leaving work early." Let's try 50%. That's a lot better. Starlight said "But I don't want to ruin your party." I said "It's fine. That's not what matters right now. We have a missing student out on the loose in possibly one of the most dangerous places that a young creature can ever go to." Maud said "We can still have a party." Really? How so? "A search party." … Really bruh? REALLY?! You just HAD to pull that one, didn't you?! Hardy har har. So funny. Yeah, move on please and get some new content, will ya? I would greatly appreciate that. Terramar said "Can we talk about all this later?" Yes we can.
"Prince Zachary is right. Silverstream might be in the Everfree Forest alone." The rest of them gasped in shock and Starlight said "We think she went in to do research on Cockatrices." Yeah, real smart. I said "That really doesn't exactly sound like the best idea considering how late at night it is and how dangerous a Cockatrice actually is." Sunburst agreed and said "He's right. The gaze of a Cockatrice is known to petrify any who dare cross its path. And the reptilian birds are illusive and solitary." I said "That is true. However, I seem to be the only creature that cannot be affected by the power of the Cockatrice. For some reason, my magic blocks out theirs that would normally turn anyone to stone and instead get them to back off." Sunburst said "Hmm. That seems interesting, but where would we even start?!" I honestly have no idea. Trixie said "I have a lot of experience telling ponies that I have experience with dangerous creatures of Everfree Forest." I said "Are you sure about that? Because I have been in that place a lot longer than you have and have successfully managed to defeat Timberwolves TWICE! Believe me, I spend a lot of time in that forest and I would have saw you there if what you are saying was true." Trixie rolled her eyes and said "Anyways, follow me!" She dashed off and we followed after her.
We came storming into the Everfree Forest determined to look for our missing subject and to take out our enemy with dominance and power so that it shall never wreak havoc ever again. We came to a stop because the path split in two and we had to make a decision. "The Great and Directionally Astoot Trixie says we go left." If you say so. We continued right down the path and followed Trixie. I have a bad feeling this is not going to go well. We stopped again and Trixie made us walk in the other direction. Oi vey. Make up your mind, Trixie. She stopped again and pointed a hoof in the air to see which direction the wind was blowing and pointed straight ahead. Terramar was scared a bit and snarled at any creatures that dared to growl at us. We went pacing back and forth in circles before Trixie decided to taste the dirt as if this is Season 5 Episode 11 "Party Pooped" where Pinkie tasted the sand at Dodge City after the train abruptly stopped because of sheep on the tracks. Eventually, we had returned to the same spot and I was annoyed at that because clearly, Trixie does not know where she is going and how to navigate this forest properly. Maud asked "Weren't we just here?" Yes, Maud. We were.
Thanks for stating the obvious. Starlight asked "Trixie, do you have any idea on how to find a Cockatrice?" Probably not. Trixie said "No, but you should when there's a dangerous creature in the forest I don't want to meet and this is how you meet them." Right okay. Whatever you say, Trixie. Sunburst said "We might need a more concrete plan." Yeah, I agree. Trixie huffed and said "Suit yourself." Whatever. I said "Well, if I remember from what I read from the book "Dangerous Creature of the Everfree Forest," Cockatrices are usually found in rocky terrain and abundant shade." Trixie said "Rocks and shade. Hmm. I can't imagine where we'll find that in a forest." I said "You know, I can always pull up an entire map of this forest and tell you exactly where they would be hiding at." Maud said "Rocks aren't the most hospitable environment for shade trees." That would make sense. Mudbriar said "Technically, Pine Trees like pinus cambria or pinus sylvestris can grow from narrow crevices or cracks in the rocky rises field." Gee. Thanks for the science lesson, Mudbriar. Now I'll have the different classifications of pine trees stuck in my head for the next few weeks and drive Twilight nuts with it. Maud said "You complete me." How "romantic." Yeah, next thing you know, Twilight will be saying that to me in the near future.
Starlight said "There's some pine trees over there!" Thanks Starlight for getting us out of that awkward situation because I do not need to see other ponies have their romantic moments right in front of me. I try not to do it out in public, but sometimes, I can't help myself. We looked over a cliff and there was a ton of Cockatrices wandering around and of course growling and hissing whenever they felt like it. Starlight said to Sunburst "I thought you said they were solitary!" They are, but this is the migration period that happens once a year. Sunburst said "They are, but this must be some kind of migration." You would be correct. Terramar said nervously "At least there's no sign of Silverstream." Yeah, good thing. Those reptile-like creatures are quite dangerous for someone like her. "I can't imagine getting caught in the middle of that flock." Yeah, it's not pretty. Trixie said "It's just lucky we're all over here and they're all over there." As soon as she said that, three Cockatrices started hissing at us and tried attacking us. Why did you say that?! Now, you all got us caught by these aggressive creatures and you basically sentenced us all to stone prison. Well, except for me.
But it would still have an emotional effect on me. We all looked at it and Mudbriar had to be annoying and say "Technically?" Trixie wasn't having any of it and said "Don't even say it!" Yeah. Now is not the time to be saying that kind of thing. Starlight said "Thank you. Don't look at them. Their gaze can turn you to stone." I said "Unless if you're me and have super powerful magic. But I would still advise caution regardless." Terramar asked nervously "So what do we do?" We fight. That's what we do. The Cockatrices hissed at us and finally charged right at us. Sunburst saw them and yelled "RUN!" Everyone started running away and I got some Cockatrices to follow me just to get away. I saw Sunburst screaming and hit right into a tree. A cockatrice was right about to get him, but I teleported in front of him and roared as loud as I could to get him to back off. The Cockatrice was terrified at my roar and quickly fled. Sunburst seemed surprised and said "Wow. I had no idea you could do that." I said "Well, I am known as the King of All Beasts for a reason. When I use my super loud roar plus my extremely angry looking death stare, I am quite terrifying. Even for a Cockatrice."
Starlight appeared and Sunburst got scared, so he blasted right towards her, but she managed to duck just in time. She said "Sunburst, it's me!" Sunburst realized his mistake and said "Starlight! I'm so sorry." Eh, it's understandable. "We have to get out of here." Right. You go do that, but I'm not leaving until I make sure everyone is safe. If anything were to happen to them, I would not forgive myself. Yeah, that includes Trixie. I don't like her, but I'll sacrifice myself anyways regardless of how I feel about her. Starlight said "I know. Hang on." and teleported away. I went to look for the others and saw Terramar and Trixie surrounded by those horrible creatures, so I decided to go ahead and save them. I heard Terramar say "The clucking is coming from everywhere!" Yeah, that's the kind of clucking you do NOT want to hear at all. I charged up my scepter and started blasting at the creatures. They turned towards me and started to hiss, but I was unfazed by them. I continued to push them back with the scepter's magic, and I saw Starlight successfully teleport them away without getting turned to stone. I saw Maud kicking stones at the Cockatrices and I decided to help her out a bit. I snuck up behind him and bit them in the back with my fangs. The Cockatrices screamed out in pain and immediately started chasing after me.
I got them to follow me so that would buy time for Starlight to successfully teleport Maud away and hopefully find Mudbriar. Thankfully, I saw Starlight and she quickly teleported Maud away from the Cockatrices. But, I have no idea where Mudbriar is. Unless… Nah. That's impossible. Starlight teleported over to me and said "Zachary! Come on! We have to get out of here!" I wasn't going to argue and I teleported us both out of there. When we made it back to the diverging path, I was shocked. Mudbriar had actually been turned to stone. Sunburst asked "Mudbriar's been turned to stone?!" Apparently so. Maud said "I didn't think I could love him anymore." Wait WHAT?! Okay. No comment on that. Trixie said frantically "We have to get out of here!" Not quite yet. Terramar said "But we haven't found Silverstream! We can't leave yet!" Obviously. After he said that, more hissing sounds were made and a group of Cockatrices came around the corner and headed straight for us. Dang it. How did they find us out here? I guess they are that smart. Starlight said "We can't say here. Come on!" Don't tell me twice. We quickly dashed out of there, but the Cockatrices were right on our tails. I blasted some magic at them, but even though that slowed them down a bit, they recovered quite quickly and continued to chase us.
We hid behind a bush and the Cockatrices flew right past us without even looking. Starlight looked in the bush and saw another Cockatrice hiding inside followed by two more that flew out along with the first one. We were on the run again and I tried to blast magic at them to get them to slow down, but even that was hardly working. We made it to the bridge right before the Castle of the Two Sisters and saw the Treehouse of Harmony radiating its brightness under the moonlit sky. "This way!" We quickly went across the bridge and headed right for the doors to the old castle. We went through the doors and I immediately shut them with my magic. I put up a shield around us so that the Cockatrices could not simply fly over the door and attack us. It was a bit large, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. Trixie was up against the door and said "Now what?!" We wait for them to go away. Sunburst said "Let's hope Silverstream found a good place to hide. There could be hundreds more Cockatrices on the way." True that. "If this really is a migration, it'll take a full lunar cycle to complete." Oh my. So that means it would take 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes to complete.
Basically almost the entire month of February when it's not a leap year for this chicken snake migration to be fully completed. Terramar said with panic "Oh, I have to get word back to our parents that Silverstream could be surrounded by those terrifying birds!" Yeah, they really are. Maud said "And as handsome as Mudbriar is right now, we should probably catch one of them to turn him back to normal." Yeah, because I can't stand looking at that forever. Starlight said with guilt "Ugh! This is all my fault!" How so? Please don't be like Twilight. "I'm never taking time off from my counseling duties again!" I would advise against that. It sounds quite extreme. Thankfully, Trixie agreed and said "That seems a little extreme." Definitely. At least we can agree on something. However, Starlight didn't seem to think so. She got angry and said "Really? If I hadn't galloped off to a holiday celebration, Silverstream would be safe with her family and you'd all be enjoying Maud's party!" To be fair, I am kinda used to this stuff. Now, I don't go looking for danger like Simba did in the Lion King, but I'd check Equestria's borders to make sure nothing fishy is going on. It's all part of being the Prince of Equestrian Defense. "Instead, my student is missing, we're surrounded by a flock of petrifying chicken snakes, and Maud's boyfriend was turned into a hunk of rock!"
While all of that is true, you are starting to sound like Twilight where she lists everything that has possibly gone wrong and blames herself for all of it. That is not healthy whatsoever. Maud said with some enthusiasm "You got the hunk part right." You're not helping. Starlight said "And to top it off, we have no idea if Silverstream even came to Everfree at all! But I have no idea where else to look!" Hmm. I may have an idea. I said "How about you try looking in that tree behind you?" Trixie said "I was wondering about that. Has that tree always been there?" Starlight turned around and said "Oh, that's the student's treehouse." Uh huh. There is more to it than that. "Apparently, it grew from the Tree of Harmony and…" That's when Starlight stopped her sentence and realized she should have looked there first instead of running from Cockatrices and wasting time. "Of course! That should have been the first place we looked!" Told ya. We ran towards the Tree and I noticed that Maud had to carry Mudbriar in by herself, so I just teleported him inside the Treehouse. She realized what happened and quickly followed the rest of us inside. We quickly found her, but then, a Cockatrice showed up and I was ready to attack.
I had about enough of these creatures and it was about time to do something about it so I can get rid of them for good once and for all. Starlight gasped and tried to tell Silverstream to look out. "Silverstream, look out!" The Cockatrice didn't like the new visitors and flew right toward us. Silverstream saw what happened and said "Counselor Starlight, no!" The Cockatrice hissed at us and was about ready to turn us to stone. Not if I have anything to say about it. I charged up my scepter and aimed it right at the Cockatrice. But before I could do anything, Silverstream quickly ended the situation. "Wait!" NO! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THESE CREATURES AND I SHALL DESTROY THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL! I noticed that the Cockatrice was on Silverstream's claw and I stopped the magic flow. She stroked its hairs a bit and it made some clucking noises. Silverstream explained to us what was going on. "This is Edith." Hmm. How ironic. "She's helping me with my project." I see. And I believe that was the Cockatrice if I remembered correctly. Starlight was a bit confused and said "I don't understand."
I think I understand where this is going, but I need some more context in order to fully figure out what is going on. Silverstream said "After you encouraged me to solve my own problem, I decided to get my project done before I left." Now that's quite smart. "That way, I could really focus on my family during my visit." Seems quite reasonable. "The school was closed, so I came here." Seems like a suitable place to do a project on. Terramar was still kind of upset and asked his sister "Why didn't you tell anyone?! Mom and Dad are worried sick!" Seems to make sense to me. Silverstream felt guilty and said "Oh no. I'm so sorry!" It's fine. I understand wanting to get your project done before you go home for the holiday. I've done it before. It's nothing new to me. "Once Edith offered to help, I guess I lost track of time." I get ya. Happens to me all the time. Even though I am no longer in school. "Cockatrices are really friendly if you know how to interact with them." I seem quite skeptical about that. I'll definitely tell you that Fluttershy would think those creatures are some of the most horrible things she has ever seen in her life. Sunburst was astonished and said "I can't believe you figured out how to trigger her nesting response." Yeah, I would have never figured that out. I would be too focused on trying to eliminate them rather than trying to interact with them.
"They are really fascinating creatures!" Yeah, real "fascinating" all right. Yeah, I don't think so. "Did you know they migrate to the Everfree Forest once a year?" Yes, I am quite aware of that. Thanks for stating the obvious, Silverstream. "Can you imagine what would happen if you stumbled on a whole flock of these?" Yeah, I can imagine because we were just running from them. And let me tell you, that was not fun at all. In fact, one of us got turned to stone because of it. Starlight said "I have a few ideas." We all stood back and it revealed Mudbriar in his stone statue form. Silverstream was completely surprised and even the Cockatrice wasn't expecting that. After seeing that though, Silverstream got Edith to go over and release Mudbriar from the stone prison he was in. Once he was free, we all went back to the cave and Silverstream said "I'm sorry you got turned to stone looking for me. But I'm glad Edith was able to turn you back." Yeah, he looks like he could care less if he was free or not. He still had that same monotone expression he always has.
Sunburst whispered to Trixie "How do you tell the difference?" Honestly, I have no clue whatsoever. Maud said "I have mixed feelings about it." Of course you do. Mudbriar said "Technically, I will always be a stick pony." Yes, we know. You do not need to tell us that. "But the experience has given me an even deeper appreciation for the density and permanence of rock." I think both Twilight and Discord would disagree with you on that, because that was not fun for either of them. Maud replied "Swoon." Yeah, I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, but whatever. Terramar said "Silverstream and I should get going, but I want to thank you for everything you did to help find her." No problem. Starlight looked down in shame and said "I just wish I hadn't abandoned her in the first place." You really didn't to be honest. Trixie must have thought the same thing and said "Starlight, you didn't abandon her." Exactly. Starlight didn't seem convinced by that and said "I must as well have." I wouldn't say that if I were you. "And even though everything turned out alright, things could have been a lot worse." They could have, but they didn't. I said "You can't expect yourself to be perfect all the time. You are going to mess up. That's just part of our nature. But what matters is that you tried to search for her along with the rest of us and didn't give up no matter how hard it was. You might fall down, but that's why you get back up again. Like I have always said, you might be down, but never out."
Sunburst agreed and said "He's right. You can't be expected to supervise your students every second of every day." Exactly. It would be useless. Starlight still didn't seem convinced and said "I'm not so sure." You should be though. Silverstream said "I like that you're always available, but it kinda makes it okay to come to you with stuff that isn't super important." Yeah, like asking for synonyms for the words hot and warm. Trixie said "Of course, being a school counselor is a big responsibility, but always being at work isn't fair to anypony." She has a point. "Especially me." I would retort something to roast her, but I see her point that she is trying to make here. Starlight asked Silverstream "Do you think if I had set times to see me, it might help you decide what you really need to talk about?" I think that might help. Silverstream said "To be honest, you really weren't very helpful with the other stuff anyway." Wow. I did not expect someone like her to take a jab like that. Impressive. Starlight said "Yeah- wait what?!" She was about to retort something nasty, but Trixie interrupted and said "Happy Spring Solstastic everypony!" Uh huh. "Who wants a piece of Mrs. Cake's-" before the knife bent itself into the frozen sharp object that was the chicken. Sunburst asked "Petrified dessert?" Yeah, pretty much.
Maud said "You had me at petrified." That makes no sense, but whatever. Trixie just laughed and so did the rest of us. After the party was over, we all went back to our places for the night and I went back to the castle. I headed to my personal quarters and looked out the window. I looked at Canterlot and smiled. I quietly said "Goodnight Twilight." and headed off to bed. But what happened next, I did not expect whatsoever. "Goodnight Zach." I guess our mental link can reach that far. Anyways, I yawned real loudly and quickly fell asleep. Man, am I tired. It has been a very long day. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better and Twilight will return soon.
AN: Another chapter complete! I know it seems like I'm only posting weekly instead of at least twice a week, but the schoolwork here lately has been piling up like crazy. It drives me nuts, but whatever. I do want to say though that I am completely outraged about the suspect in the Indianapolis FedEx mass shooting incident. I'm not mad at him about being obsessed with Applejack, I am furious that the media has basically threw the entire fanbase under the bus just for this one person being stupid. This was basically a ploy made by the mainstream media to hate on something they don't like. Apparently, I am a "right-wing" extremist now according to them. What they don't understand is that every fanbase has extremists and it's not just right wing. In fact, some fanbases are a lot worse than the MLP fanbase. What they do is just sick. Anyway, that's another issue for another day. Even though this is infuriating, it's not that surprising. The mainstream media has done this for years. What's annoying is that those fanbases that are worse, the media never bats an eye. But when it comes to people that are "right-wing" extremists, they have a massive problem with it because it would get in the way of their agenda. This is why I hardly trust anything on the internet nowadays because of how biased the media has become. This literally doesn't make any sense. How come when certain fanbases that are on the left do disgusting stuff and never bat an eye, but yet, when it comes to one of the more larger fanbases that have most people on the right, you suddenly have a problem with that? I have no clue. These days, it seems like the media is unstoppable. If you stand in their way, they'll do whatever it takes to get rid of you for good. What's even more annoying is that articles have said that even the FBI themselves out of all people said that the pony obsession and the shooting had no correlation with one another, but yet, they still treat the entire fanbase like we're just a bunch of idiots and scumbags. Heck, even one article said that "MLP" is a favorite among the Nazis. That is honestly just laughable because how stupid it sounds. Everything the show has ever taught us is completely contradictory to the ways of Nazis. I mean, really. What does a friendship based show that was made for seven year old girls have to do with white supremacy? That is honestly so stupid. I'm sorry for going on this rant, but it just makes me so flipping MAD that one of my favorite shows of all time is being dragged into a stupid political discussion simply because of what one mentally unstable person did to a FedEx building. It was obvious that said person really needed help. Heck, even his mother tried to help and look how that turned out. Now I'm going to hear all the liberals now be smart-alicks and try to use this as a reason to push for "gun reform laws." I won't talk about that, but I think you get my point. Okay I'm done now. Also, I did want to say that at the time this chapter is being posted, it is the 2 year anniversary of the 200th episode of the show. I thought it was cool, but if you don't, that's fine as well. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Next Chapter: The return of parents! After Scootaloo learns that her parents are coming home to Ponyville, she is super excited for their arrival. However, because of their job, they want Scootaloo to come with them. Obviously, the rest of the Crusaders don't want that and try to do everything to get them to change their mind. So, they go to Zachary for some help. Will he be able to convince Scootaloo's parents to get her to stay, or will they be stubborn and have Scootaloo say goodbye to Ponyville for good?
Until then, my fellow readers