Chapter 40: Up the mountain Lays the Dragon Lair...
//Just got a new phone as an early birthday present literally three hours before I post this chapter and my sickness reduced itself to mostly a lot of snot and a bit of coughing, so I hope to be able to pick up the pace but I don't promise anything XD For now a chapter every three days seems to work for my tighter schedule though so I don't expect It to change If I don't make a bunch of advanced chapters beforehand.
Anyway, hope you still like the story and like always...ENJOY!
//
The trek up the mountain was actually not as problematic as it was depicted in the show.
With Starfall helping Fluttershy in facing her fear of Dragons (Floating her up the mountain...) they didn't have to split up, and any possible landslide had been prevented before it happened. While Starfall couldn't remember the exact reason for the landslide in the show, it was a simple thing for him to prevent sounds from escaping their surroundings or have a barrier spell ready to stop anything that could endanger their safety.
They soon found themselves right in front of the large cave that housed the snoring dragon.
"Finally! Were here!" Exclaimed Rarity.
"Cool! This is the Dragon Lair right?! So are we going to fight it now?" Asked an excited Rainbow Dash as she performed a few boxing moves in the air.
"I think we should first Try to speak to it. I'm sure we can convince him to leave if we just play our cards right. Fluttershy I hope I can count on you to help in that regard." Said Twilight looking at the yellow Pegasus that was now standing normally a few meters from Starfall.
She opened her eyes terrified.
"Me?!... g-going into that dark scarry c-cave?!" She said with a trembling voice.
She was about to deny, clearly too much terrified to be facing a full grown dragon but a hoof on her shoulder distracted her from her thoughts. At first she wanted to jump in fright from the unexpected touch but when she saw that it was Starfall who approached her, she quickly calmed down.
"You don't need to worry Fluttershy. I'll be there with you all the way. The dragon won't be able to hurt even a single hair of your beautiful mane." He said and the formerly terrified Pegasus suddenly became embarrassed, her cheeks reddening visibly even under the yellow coat of her body.
"Hey! If you three are going in then I also want to be included!" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash indignantly.
"Yup! We won't leave you to the mercy of a giant dragon without making sure that you'll be safe sugarcube!" Added Applejack looking at Fluttershy with a warm gaze.
"You girls..." Fluttershy looked at everyone with a warm feeling spreading through her chest, her previous worries completely evaporated...
"Honestly Darling! Do you think we wouldn't be there for you? I assure you that there's no way for us to fail this mission if we work together and I'm sure you'll do just fine." Said Rarity reassuring.
"Ok let's go! It's going to be fun!" Finally said Pinkie Pie and with those final words the group descended into the dark lair.
//Two hours Later//
"That was honestly quite... underwhelming." Muttered Rainbow Dash as she and Starfall followed behind the other five mares while going back through the forest.
"What do you mean?" He asked already having an idea of what she ment.
"I'm mean, really?! Fluttershy asked him to leave and he actually did?! He's a dragon for Celestia's sake! A hill sized dragon! I expected at least a bit of a fight like with Nightmare M|oon and he went away just like that?!" Exclaimed Rainbow with a pout and Starfall couldn't help but laugh at the unsatisfied expression of the thrill avid Mare.
"Hahaha! There's not always going to be a fight Rainbow. Sometimes a simple conversation can assuage even the most problematic situations." He said with amusement and the pretty, colorful Mare huffed in annoyance.
"Look at it this way Dashie. This time we might have taken care of everything with only a few words, but next time who knows, we might need to fight an army of evil bugs or a giant world destroying cow-thing. You never know, Haha!" He said brightening the expression of the gloomy Pegasus.
"Yeah! That would be awesome!" She exclaimed already excited with the prospect of saving Equestria from another world ending threat.
Starfall laughed at the classic Rainbow Dash and the duo continued to chat, soon enough joining the others who were currently praising Fluttershy for doing such a good job with the dragon.
"Ah...I just pointed out that he was hurting others and..."Fluttershy tried to explain embarrassed from all the praises she received.
"But you did a great job Fluttershy! You stood up to that Dragon and didn't let him disobey you. You were really brave!" Starfall said further embarrassing the shy Pegasus.
Before long the ponies returned to the town, and Twilight send Princess Celestia a letter stating that the dragon has been dealt with successfully.
Of course the day couldn't end without Pinkie throwing a celebratory party...
"I love this world..." Muttered Starfall with a smile on his face.
___________
Starfall stood in front of his workbench, an ontourage of notes scattered floating around him, ready to move closer whenever he so needed.
His eyes glowed with a purple shine as the pound of clay right in front of him continuously changed shape to emulate the magical intent he send into it.
It was one of his many different ideas he had of how to recognize and catalogue different magical runes of the magical language. Recognizing the symbols in a formless spell during the casting.
It was actually the same method that helped him to figure out the overall number of existing symbols, before he subjected them to the famous magical equation created by Starswirl The Bearded, confirming that the number was actually correct.
Starswirl was really the Einstein of Equestria and it was not surprising that most ponies knew about that equation even though most of them didn't understand any of it. It was like with Einstein's E=mc² after all...
But let's not dwell to much on the intricacies of magical studies and let's focus back on Starfall.
A quill rapidly scribbled a note on yet another paper as Starfall continued on his work and the same process continued for a few more hours as a number of magical measuring instruments joined the equation.
The doors of the study opened as a purple unicorn walked into the chamber and sighed seeing her coltfriend surrounded in a literal tornado of notes. She knew that he was almost done with his magical dictionary, but seeing as he forgot to eat dinner and that she couldn't really blame him having done the same during many of her prolonged study sessions, left her peculiarly frustrated...
She shook her head and levitated a tray of Dandelion salad onto the table In the corner, before spelling it to scream *FOOD* repeatedly with an ever increasing loudness...
She wondered how long It is gonna be before he notices...
___________
Starfall arranged all his notes in an orderly manner and put them in the correct drawers in his personified drawer unit. Then he removed the clay blob and placed it in a box before cleaning the table from any lingering dirt.
He munched on a Dandelion from the salad that he found screaming in the corner over an hour and a half ago. Twilight's idea for sure...
His eyes landed on the raised part of the worktable where a thick book full of notes and symbols laid opened on its last page.
He couldn't help but smile excitedly as he saw the last and most recent entry...
| №7777 - ₹¥
Designation - Glyph Control
Type - Rune
Description - Glyph Control Rune is a variation of the basic Control Rune [№6942:0] that shows an improved compatibility with magic requiring an increased amount of Glyph ranked Magical Symbols.
It shows different properties to the standard Control Rune as depicted in the list bellow and...
.
.
...|
It was done! It was finally done! His life's work! It was finished before he even turned twenty! Now he only needed to eliminate any errors and see whether he needed correct the layout of the runes in any way so that the indexing was easier to accomplish. A few more little touches and it should be ready for publication!
Starfall closed the book and caressed it fondly with his hoof. It was a proof. A proof that he made something significant. That he wasn't a failure...
His mind went back to the past, to before he was even born in Equestria. He remembered his time on earth, that uncertainty of what would the future bring, all those times when he wondered whether he even had any purpose in life and ended up with nothing...
Looking at this book Starfall couldn't help but feel amazing. This feeling of accomplishment. Of the fact that he did something amazing and worthwhile...He loved it...
He decided that he wanted to share his happiness with Twilight immediately.
Starfall quickly secured the workshop and came out of the basement ready to tackle Twilight and ride her lovely flanks like never before but he was stopped by the sight of two ponies he didn't expect to see today.
"Applejack? Rarity? What brings you here today?" He asked seeing the two mares standing there in the middle of the library completely drenched.
"Ah..Howdy there Starfall. Ya see. We were just helpin' out with the preparations for the upcoming storm and as ya might see, we got a little caught up in the middle of it. Haha..." Applejack laughed awkwardly with a wry grin.
"I called them to come inside as soon as I saw them running from the rain. You won't mind them staying for tonight, right Love?" Asked Twilight as she emerged from the room in the back carrying with herself a pair of towels.
She handed them to the two wet, shivering mares who thanked her profusely.
"Of course not Twily. Make yourself at home girls. I'll go and prepare the guest room." He said smiling at the girls.
"Thank you very much Darling." Rarity thanked him but Starfall jut shook his head.
"You have nothing to thank me for Rarity. This is what friends are for after all." He said winking at her and making her blush.
"Speaking about friends...What do you girls say we make it into a slumber party?" Asked Twilight, and the girls couldn't help but smile excitedly as their gazes lingered over onto starfall for a second or two.
"Seems like we won't be needing the guest bedroom after all Starfall." Twilight joked.
"Haha! As you wish Twily." He laughed eager to see how this night was going to turn out.
He felt as if this setup was familiar. Rarity, Applejack, storm and a slumber party at Twilight's, but he couldn't tell why...Then suddenly a memory flashed before his eyes, a brief entry in his journal of an episode just like this..but weren't they supposed to be arguing with eachother?
He looked at the three girls who were already forming plans for the night in an excited whisper...'Huh...I guess that's much better than the alternative. This is one of those butterfly effects that I completely approve of...' He thought as a smile grew on his face.
This was going to be a very fun night...
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