My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight, Starbright

Chapter 9

Fated Meeting

The Phoenix Zel hovered down from above and grabbed a apple with his claws. He had to be careful to make he didn’t alert the stall owner to it’s thievery, or get the attention of the guards.

Bass watched from on top of a roof, his eyes and mane being the only visible things over the side. “come on, come on, come on.” he whispered.

Zel looked up. The guards were busy beating up a lowly thief who stole a slice of meat from a butcher a few streets up and it drew quite a crowd, including the owner of the stall he was stealing from.

“Careful. Careful. Careful…”

Just 1 second more… careful… he latched on and grabbed it. Both Zel and Bass breathed a sigh of relief. Zel flapped his wings and flew away before the stall owner turned back to his stall. He felt something was missing but couldn’t figure what.

Zel flew to the top of the building Bass was on and passed the apple to Bass. “haha. Nice one, Zel.” he plopped it in his mouth and bit down, biting the entire thing in half. “now…” he tossed one of the halves to the bird. “we feast.” he bit into his and slowly chewed, as did the Phoenix.

A long carriage from the port 5 miles away rolled into town and stopped at the Equestrian version of a bus stop.

The doors opened and it’s passengers disembarked, including one pink oversized Unicorn. The sunlight hit her eyes, making her cover them until they adjusted. She removed her hoof to see the city before her.

“So this is Baltimare.” Starlight said. “nice place, if a bit on the dirty side.”

Starlight took a deep breath, snorting in the smoky air. She gagged and coughed like she was hacking a lung. “agh. Dang. smoky. *cough cough* hmm… not like Ponyville…” she coughed again and cleared her throat, causing a couple of ponies to look at her funny. She noticed them looking and thought they were natives. “Swallowed a fly.” she told them.

She finished hacking and headed for town, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

Bass chuckled as he strode on over the rooftops, hopping over the gaps with limited ease. He had the apple spinning in his front-right hoof.

“This is probably the best day I’ve ever had.” he chuckled. He took a bite out of it with a smile.

He hopped onto another rooftop and headed for the carriage stop. He was always eager to see the new arrivals, before the local police force got to them and took ever cent they have. They all appear to have come from a far off city, where they didn’t hear about Baltimare’s corrupt police force. He’s surprised that nobody has sent word to Celestia yet. Maybe that’s due to them controlling the mail.

He spotted a anomaly among the crowd, a over-sized pink Unicorn with a horn longer then normal. If he didn’t know better, he swears that she looks like a Alicorn, but without the wings. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. The police went to work to take every cent they owned.

“*sigh* if only I was a Unicorn or a Pegasus. Then I could do something about this.” he muttered to himself.

Starlight walked with the rest of the ponies towards the gate of town. They were cut off by a gate that lowered in front of them. She, along with everyone else, was confused.

The captain of the police force, a blue Unicorn, appeared in front of them. “welcome, weary travelers, to Baltimare.” he announced. The crowd was confused as to why he had to do this. “I am the mayor of this fair city as well as the captain of it’s police force.” he used his magic to summon up a bin. “please, for your safety and the safety of your possessions, place all your items in this bin. They will be safe and cared for during your stay. Thank you, and have a nice day.”

The police force put the crowd into a line that lead to the bin. Starlight was far back in the line and would take her a few minutes to get there. While in the line, a few questions entered Starlight’s head about this.

Why would they need to keep an eye on their stuff? Baltimare had a low crime rate thanks to the police force’s cold efficiency. It made no sense. And why would they put it into a bin in to the first place? Shouldn’t they be taking care of them personally? Something smelled wrong about this whole thing. She may be naïve but her gut was telling her not to trust them. And her gut was never wrong.

When it came time to put her stuff in the bin, she hesitated, not because she didn’t trust them, but because her saddlebags were the only things keeping her wings hidden.

“Saddlebags, please.” the cop in charge asked. Starlight didn’t comply. The cop got forceful. “Saddlebags, please!” she still didn’t comply. Her little act of defiance got Bass’ attention.

“Sir!’ the cop called out. The leader looked over and angrily frowned when he said the pink Unicorn resisting to follow protocol. He walked over and immediately looked to Starlight. “this Unicorn is refusing to hand her items over.”

“Sorry, but I don’t see a reason to do so when there is barely any crime in Baltimare.” Starlight said.

“just put the items in the bin.” the captain insinuated, holding it up to her face with his magic.

“not without a good reason.”

The captain and the cop glanced at each other and nodded. He set the bin down. “Well, guess we’re gonna have to force you.” he whistled sharply into the air. Suddenly, more cops appeared via magic. They were all Unicorns. “I won’t repeat myself. Hand over your items.”

Why is he so focused on her items? On everyone’s items? Just what is going on here? Before the cop leader can make a move, a pebble hit him in the head.

“HEY!” the captain and everyone else looked up to see a sky-blue Earth Pony standing there, bouncing a pebble in his hooves. “why don’t you tell them what’s really going on? Why you’re stealing their items so you can sell them for profit? And how you will steal ever bit they have?”

The crowd angrily looked to the captain, Starlight excluded. The captain nervously looked to his lieutenant. “deal with this.” he said before he disappeared.

The crowd angrily yelled at the cops, demanding their stuff back and a explanation. The cops response, however, was with violence as they used their magic to incapacitate them. Those not even involved were stuck by magic blasts and incapacitated as well with chains or cement.

Not wanting to get caught up in any of this, Starlight ran for the nearest alley. One of the cops noticed her running and went after her.

Bass saw the pink Unicorn run into the alley. Not wanting her to get caught by that cop, he ran along the rooftops after her.

Starlight ran as fast as she could, not wanting to get arrested for doing nothing, or to lose her possessions. The cop rounded the corner and fired a magic blast at her. It missed, hitting and encasing a rat in cement.

Starlight skidded, nearly hitting a garbage pail, and continued running. The cop wasn’t so lucky and crashed into it.

Starlight rounded one last corner to find herself face to face with a dead end. “Oh, sassafras.”

The cop ran into view and pointed his horn at her. “surrender!” he ordered. Starlight wasn’t eager to do so. She backed herself into a corner and gulped in fear.

A rope ladder suddenly came down in front of her. “Climb up! Quickly!” the blue pony from before said. Rather then take her chances with this cop, she quickly climbed up the ladder.

The cop ran over and climbed up after her. Starlight was better because she spent the better part of her childhood climbing all sorts of things. She quickly reached the top before the cop passed the first window.

The blue pony casually kicked the ladder off. It and the cop fell into a garbage tin. It closed on him. A grumbling moan came from it, which was music to the blue ponie’ ears.

“Take that, Coppa!” he said with a Brooklyn accent.

He turned and walked off with a smile on his face. Starlight looked down to see the lids trying to get off the dumpster. She looked back to the blue pony, who was a bit of a ways away.

“(I should thank him.)” she thought. Starlight ran after him, figuring that this guy was a nice pony. Plus, if what he said back there was true, then better him then the cops.

The captain reappeared back where they were gathering up everyone’s items. Everyone there was wrapped in chains or encased in cement. His lieutenant walked up to him to give his report.

“we captured everyone involved in the scuffle but that pink Unicorn is unaccounted for. It stands to reason that she escaped.”

The captain angrily looked at him, ready to hit him, but then he remembered what she looked like. “it doesn’t matter.” he said after calming down. “she’s a oversized Unicorn. She’ll be easy to find.” he turned and walked back to the city. “you know what to do with them.” he told his lieutenant.

He bowed to the captain and returned his attention to the prisoners.

Starlight sat on the edge of a building, not sure what to do here. The blue pony sat down next to her and offered her a cotton candy. “here. It’s blueberry.” he said.

Starlight used her magic to pull it over. “thanks.” she took a bite out of it. It did taste like Blueberry. “thanks, Mr…”

“call me Bass.” he wiped his mouth of the cotton. “Bass Clef. And you?”

Starlight was hesitant. She didn’t know this pony, and if he found out that she’s a run-away Alicorn, he might turn her in to Canterlot authority. Of course, she doubts that word made it this far. She left long before they found out so she had a head start. And, this pony didn’t seem like a bad man. He saved her from the police and all.

“Starlight. My name is Starlight.”

“Starlight, huh? That’s a nice name.” Bass sat back and bit into his candy.

The first question on Starlight’s mind is one I’m sure everyone is wondering. “those things you said back there to those cops. Was it all true?”

“every word.” he said, non-hesitant. “in the past few years, they grew corrupt, putting personal need above keeping the peace. And we haven’t been able to contact Canterlot to do something about it because they’re monitoring everything and if we mention anything about their corruption, they’re gonna get taken to prison.”

“that’s horrible!”

“yeah. It is.” he said in a somber tone. Starlight looked into his eyes. They were eyes filled with lament. He had to do something horrible.

“and thanks to them being all greedy, the city became one big slum with orphans all over the place. Me and my friends took them in.” he pointed to a tower in the south end. “see that bell tower? We live in there. It’s been broken for decades and nobodies tried to fix it. It’s the perfect hiding place.”

“oh. Well, that’s nice.” Starlight said.

They both took a bite of their treat and silence fell on them for a moment, at least until Bass asked, “So, what brings you to the armpit of Equestria?”

Armpit? Well, that’s pleasant. “well… actually… I’m passing though.”

“passing though?”

Starlight slowly nodded. “I… just learned that my father wasn’t my real father. I ran away from home to try and find him. Unfortunately, I don’t know where to start looking and I have no experience with the outside world.”

“you don’t?”

“no. my mom, who I think is my real mom, is overly protective. She made me stay to Ponyville and Canterlot. When she and ‘Dad’ left on a trip, they usually left me with friends or relatives.”

“well, your instants served you well here. You knew something was bad with the cops.”

Starlight lightly chuckled. “yeah. That’s one thing that has never steered me wrong.”

“Good. In this town, instants is what you’re gonna have to go with.” a pregnant pause hit them both. “do you know where to find your dad?”

Starlight shook her head. “no. I have no clue. But my gut told me to head north. Which is when we met.” she sighed as she fell back. “I have no clue where to start looking.”

Bass felt slightly sympathetic. He never knew his real dad. He left when he was 3 and he never saw him since. Just then, he remembered something that could prove useful. “hey. I got an idea.”

“An idea?” that got her attention. She sat up. “what idea?”

“I heard that a powerful sage, a Necromancer, lives far to the north, inside a castle in a field of green, which is weird considering that’s the arctic.” Starlight shrugged in agreement. “but… he’s never gone back on his word, or so I heard. He could help you find your dad.”

That news filled Starlight with hope. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.” she suddenly hugged him, surprising him and her. She quickly broke it with a blush. “un… sorry.”

“un…” Bass shook his head. “it’s okay.” he flipped back and spun up. “well, I think we should held for home. It’s gonna get dark soon and the cops are worse after dark.”

“okay.” Starlight agreed. She got up and followed him to the tower.

When Bass introduced Starlight to his friends, they were ecstatic to have someone new, and from Ponyville, no less. They’ve never been to Ponyville before and were eager to hear what it’s like. Starlight explained it as best she could but they loved it anyway. They want to leave Baltimare so much but they’re too broke to leave.

When Bass told them what Starlight’s plans are, they wished her good luck. They couldn’t leave to help her. Who would take care of the orphans? Starlight didn’t want their help. She had her destination and she doesn’t want to put them in harms way.

Besides… she just wants to be alone.

Night quickly fell onto Baltimare and everyone had gone to sleep. Starlight looked out at the city from the bell tower and sighed. She made it all this way here to find her father… and she feels horrible. She misses her friends and family so much, it hurts. She used her magic to pull out a picture from her saddlebags.

The picture was her as a foal with her mom, her ‘dad, and her newborn sister Goldie. It was the day she was brought home from the hospital, which Starlight considered the best day of her life. She had something she could connect too. She loved her friends, but she felt like they just liked her because they were afraid of her and her powers.

“Mom… Goldie…” she placed her left hoof on the picture. Tears fell onto the glass and slid down. “I miss you so much…” she silently cried. She didn’t want to wake the others up.

Bass, hearing her crying, looked up at her from her bed. He had a feeling that she was making a bad choice. She had a loving mother and a father who raised her, regardless of them not being blood. If only he had that blessing.

‘(someone is going to be passing though Baltimare pretty soon. Someone very important. Someone who some may consider to be a abomination. Protect her.)’

That voice echoed though his mind ever since that day. “(Someone very important? And the voice said her.)” Bass looked back up to her. “(is this Mare the one who that voice wants me to protect?)” he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes. “(what’s so special about her?)”