Unforeseen Consequences - The mystery of Starlight Glimmer

>All in all, the party went pretty good, once you re-entered the hall, Cherrywood basically never left your side, and the fact that she seemed to get along super well with your mom was a huge bonus.
>But alas, everything has to come to an end, and after a few hours of fun, the party had to end too. All of your friends from Ponyville had to return by train to their home town, Discord and Eris poofed away, your moms had some royal work left to do.
>And so on and so on, after your moms asked some of the castle staff to clean the party and bring the few gifts that they brought to your room, you decide…to not actually go to your room.
>It wasn’t night time, in fact, the sun was just starting to set, maybe you didn’t have enough time to go to Canterlot, but you bet that you could have a little stroll around the gardens.
>But that was tooo boooring… so what you did was to teleport all around the hallways to avoid being detected by the guards, reached your room and took the necklace that your mom Luna gave to you before the chaos carnival and the coat that mom Celestia just gifted you today.
>Aaaaand, you teleport all over the place until you reach the frontal gate, where you teleport once more into a set of bushes that were located right in front of the outer wall.
>Heh, no one saw you, no one suspected a thing… thank god for the incredibly lame security of the castle… sheesh, Moonlight really needs to put the guards on check.
>But for this time, their negligence played in your favor, you were going to chill out for a moment in Canterlot…on your own…and enjoy a little cup of coffee…or tea…or maybe some doughnuts…nah mate, how about some chilli dogs, you haven’t had those since you were a human.
>Now that you remember, you haven’t eat tacos in at least a year or two now, Tijuana kinda traumatized you with that dish… and speaking of traumas, frickin’ gypsies man, those jerks where all over Rome, ruining your vacations completely.
>And speaking of ruining moments, now that you remember, you haven’t thought that much about that other Anon, which you have concluded in multiple occasions that he must be the king of jerks, and… and… you got derailed…
>Maybe it would be better if you get your flank moving before you spent the entire afternoon making pointless ramblings and freeze to death…
>And so, you make your way through the snow covered streets of Canterlot, enjoying yourself with the sights of the city and it’s ponies who were…
>Well, yeah, if there was one thing that you and your mom Celestia agreed 100% was that the elite ponies were a bunch of jerks.
>It felt a little like going back to Paris, the city was populated almost in its entirety by pricks, but man, wasn’t the buildings, museums and other historical places some of the best stuff that you have seen ever.
>And Canterlot actually rivaled Paris in beauty, heck, you would say that it surpassed it in some aspects, even more now since the snow gave the equestrian capital a certain whimsical atmosphere that was quite hard to put into words.
>The deeper you went into the city, the darker the sky started to get, you could see some stars shining, ponies in uniforms starting to light up the street lanterns…and you actually didn’t know where to go…
>So you could either A: get lost in the city, looking for a place not filled with these pompous jerks or B: Go to that nice little joint that had a sign which read “Sky Dreamers Café”
>And yeaaah…you had a history of getting kidnapped too, so maybe getting more adventurous wasn’t the best idea… even if it sounded fun…but no! You can’t risk yourself like that…but maybe…
>You slap your head before you get derailed once more, deciding to enter the Café, that as it turned out, it was on a basement.
>Regardless of that, the place itself was actually pretty cozy, everything was made of old wood, shelves with jars of coffee and boxes of tea were displayed behind the large counter.
>Portraits with landscapes, family photos, memories of old adventures and mementos of treasured moments were placed alongside the walls.
>From the ceiling a series of banners with the equestrian, Canterlot and wonderbolts flags were being hanged.
>Despite all of the little trinkets and decorations placed in the café, the place was quite small, not much larger than your classroom.
>Circular wooden tables with two or three chairs each were placed among the café. On top of each table rested small pots of sugar and honey.
>You decided to take seat at a table that you thought was a perfect spot to go unnoticed: On the farthest spot from the door, and in a corner.
>”Aren’t ya a little too young to be here on yer own?” An old looking gryphon asks you the moment that you sit.
>You shake your head and wave your hoof in a dismissive manner, picking up the menu that also was on the table with your magic
“Nope, I’m super mature and capable of doing everything on my own, now; could you please give me a cup of black coffee?”
>”Nah, that ain’t happening kiddo...” The gryphon shakes her head and takes away the menu from you
“Hey! I’m not just a kid! I’m more intelligent and mature than a normal kid! And I have money too, you see…”
>You reach to your saddlebag and…and…AWWW COME ON! HOW DID YOU FORGET YOUR FRICKIN’ SADDLEBAG!
>”And ya don’t have a single bit with ya…” The gryphon shakes her head and grabs you by your hoof “We ain’t charity kiddo, and even if ya did have a bag with a buncha bits, I wouldn’t take it because yer are too young to hang around this late, so why don’t ya tell me where yer parents are and-“
>”Madame, I understand your concern, but I will have to ask zat you release ze colt in zis very instant…” That voice…that accent… HOW DID SHE KNOW THAT YOU WERE HERE?!
>The gryphon raises an eyebrow, but nonetheless comply with the order that Aegia gave ”And who yer supposed to be?”
>Aegia takes a seat at the table, looking at you with some annoyance “You will have to excuse moi for my manners, Madame, but zat is not of your concern, ze only zing zat you need to know is zat ze colt comes wiz me, and zat I would like a cup of black tea, no sugar, no milk…”
>The white Pegasus throws a bag of bits on the table “As for ze colt…” Aegia takes a menu from a nearby table and gives it a glance “I zink zat a glass of your best milk would be fine…”
“Awww, but I wanted coffee, come on, just for this time, can I have a cup of that? Pleeeeasseeee?”
>But Aegia shakes her head “Non, ze coffee zat zey serve here is too strong for somepony of your age. It will be a glass of milk and zat is, understand?”  The glare that Aegia gave to you…it sent a chill down your spine.
>You give a military salute to your friend and nod frantically
“Yes Ma’am! I understand Ma’am!”
>”Good, I zink zat would be it…” Aegia speaks to the gryphon, who shrugs and jolts down the order on a little notepad.
>”I will be back in a moment with yer stuff…” The gryphon rudely says before going back to the counter.
>Once Aegia is sure that the gryphon was gone, Aegia rests her hooves on the table and rolls her eyes ”Of all ze cafes in Canterlot, you decided to come to zis dumpster.”
“Well, I don’t know Canterlot that much, you can’t blame from not knowing where the cool stuff is and… hold on, hold on…let’s backtrack, how in the world did you know that I was here?”
>Aegia raises an eyebrow and gives you a little smirk before going back to her usual emotionless expression “I zought zat you were more intelligent zan zat, Mon Petit…” The white Pegasus chuckles “You didn’t care about covering your tracks, teleporting all over ze castle, and wandering around like a tourist, I have to say zat you are ze easiest target zat I’ve had to follow so far”
>Oh…so you weren’t as stealthy as you thought…but
“Wait a moment, I thought that you, Moonlight, RD and mom Luna were going to go to a bar or something, why did you come here instead of…well… literally anyone else?!”
>”Zere are protocols, Mon Petit, and you know zem very well. A member of royalty like yourself can’t go around wizout a body guard.” A little smile appears on Aegia’s face when she said that part
>But why? Why would…WAIT
“Did you say body guard? Does that mean that-“
>”Aaaah, took you long enough to figure zat one out…” Aegia nods and lets out a chuckle “Oui, ze application was approved zis morning, I’m officially your bodyguard now, well…” the white Pegasus rolls her eyes “Second bodyguard, General Moonlight is still ze main one”
“But that’s still awesome! Man, now THAT is what I call good news!”
>”Oui, and ze best part is zat ze pay is much higher zan ze secret service…” Aegia grabs the bag of bits and gives it a little glance “I zought zat you wouldn’t mind if you pay for our little celebration…”
“Well, I would love too, but I didn’t brought any money with me, soooo, what do you say if you take the shot this time, and I do it next time, I promise that…waaaaaaaiiiit…. I know that bag, and I know those bits!”
>”You have gotten a little slow for your own sake, Mon Petit…” Aegia replies with a playful tone “You know zis bag because I took it from your room, I never zought zat your mozers would give you zis much of an allowance, but I’m not making any complain, zis will be more zan enough to pay for ze bill, especially since you picked such an expensive café”
“Awwwww! I was saving that money to buy a dragon figurine that I saw on the Canterlot market! It came with a knight set with catapults and all that cool stuff! It’s not fair!”
>But Aegia just shrugs “Life isn’t fair, Mon Petit-“
>”Here ya go…” The old gryphon puts the cup of coffee, the glass of milk and some napkins on the table “What yer ordered, will ya want anything more?”
>”Oui…” Aegia nods “Bring ze colt a piece of apple pie, I will want some of ze cheese cake zat you serve, and I expect it to be good”
>”Whatever, ya better leave a good tip…” The gryphon jolts down the new order before going back behind the table once more
>Once Aegia makes sure that no one was listening, she turns to you and leans on the table, speaking in a lower volume ”Now, I know zat you aren’t dumb, Mon Petit, but before our ozer guest arrives, I want to tell you about ze ozer zing zat I found in zat mess zat you call room”
>Aegia threw a small box on the table wrapped in a simple but cute gift paper. And you knew what that box was, you knew where it came from…
>You look to the gift and then to Aegia who was now resting on her chair, her eyes piercing into yours
“This is one of the gifts from my party…the gift that Twilight gave to me…it even says on the card “From Twilight to Anon” Why did you bring it here?”
>But Aegia just replies with a cold ”Open it…” as she brings the gift closer to you.
>You open it, taking away the wrapping very slowly, and it was…
“A book?”
>It was a thick one at that, titled “The art of forgiving by Twinkle Letter”. You also notice that a letter came with the book too.
>You didn’t wait for Aegia’s instructions, you opened the letter and read its contents which were as follows.
>”Dear Anon. When I started writing this letter, I thought that it would be easy, just a nice and polite welcome and apology for not visiting you or your family in so long. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how difficult it was to ask for your forgiveness. But wait, I suppose that even when I’m trying to convey my feelings of regret, I should not forget the proper etiquette that should be in a letter.
>”So, let me start by writing, Hi Anon! I hope that everything has been going well for you. There I wrote it, now while I do hope that you have been doing more than just fine, I should first apologize that I will be a little selfish and base this letter about my personal feelings”
>You take a pause and look to Aegia who just motions you to continue reading
>”First of all, I have to admit that the fact that I haven’t paid too much attention to you has kept me a little uneasy, I don’t mean that in a sense that you might be doing something wrong or that your behavior has been poor, everything that I have heard points otherwise”
>”But rather in the sense that I consider us family, you see Anon, I have always looked at your mother as if she was like family to me, so I hope that the son of my tutor, my mentor, friend, and family, may look at me in the same way as I look at his mother“
>”At this point you might have seen the title of the book, maybe you even read a few pages before even opening my letter, and I know that the gift I sent to you might pale in comparison to others, but the subject matter I think, is important for the both of us.”
>”For me, because I have to learn to forgive myself for not acting like the friend that I should have been, for not being the mentor that I wish I could have been for you just like your mother was for me.”
>”And for you, because I want this book to symbolize the fact that I’m want to say I’m sorry, and because I believe that there’s something that you can improve too, because you see Anon, I also believe that there’s a certain somepony that you should forgive too.”
>” I’m not saying that this is an act that you should do right away, but considering what your special talent entails, I believe that even after everything that Starlight Glimmer tried to do to you, you should consider to forgive her.”
>”I know how hard it is for you to even consider that possibility, and how cynical I may seem for even daring to suggest such thing. But I do wish for us to get along better, to be friends, to be like family, so, if it’s not too much to ask, I would like to request a meeting, just the two of us”
>”Please Anon, let us talk about this subject matter in a neutral zone, you chose the place and I will happily attend to it, waiting for you answer, no matter what it might be, I just wish for us to be friends. With love, Twilight Sparkle”
>The barrage of emotions that this letter made you feel was…overwhelming to say the least. You could tell how much regret Twilight felt over what you thought was simply a natural occurrence of life.
>After all, life sometimes gets in the way, preventing you from seeing friends and family, sometimes as work, sometimes as a weird alien with god-like powers.
>But the fact that she saw you as family, that she was feeling awful that you and her never really became close, not even as casual friends, really seemed to affect her…and that made you feel…sad
>You liked Twilight, she was beautiful, she was smart, she was kind. During your first days in Equestria you always wished to be with her…then you kinda forgot her.
>You want to see Twilight now, probably more now than ever but then…but then she mentioned Starlight.
>That pony who took the suffering of your mothers and transformed it into nothing more than a tool to brainwash you, and then had the audacity to try and blast you three times…and she might have succeeded if it wasn’t for Aegia, Moonlight and…Discord.
>But… harmony does mean to forgive, not to forget, but to forgive…what if-
>”Don’t zink too much about it” Aegia snaps you back into reality…and you notice that your apple pie was on the table “Just go zere and talk wiz ze Princess just like she requested…”
“Yeah, I guess that you are right, it’s just that…WAIT!”
>That wasn’t right, that wasn’t right a single bit
“How did you know what the letter said?”
>”What do you mean, Mon Petit?” Aegia asks with a smirk on her face
“Telling me to do what the letter said and talk with Twilight, I never mentioned that the letter had anything like that, in fact, I didn’t mention the letter. I’m not dumb you know? Your attitude and what you said, makes me think that you already knew what I just read”
>Aegia takes a sip of her tea, but makes a disgusted face, leaving the cup on the table “Seriously Mon Petit, ze ponies of Canterlot don’t understand how to make good drinks, one day I will take you to Prance so you can learn what good tea tastes like…”
“Aegia, please, don’t dodge the question”
>The white Pegasus rolls her eyes and chuckles “I have worked many moons at ze secret service, I know how to open packages wizout anypony ever knowing zat zey where open, and before you get mad, as I said, zere are protocols, and one of zose is to check any gift zat a member of royalty gets, zat way, we can know zat ze princesses actually gets a gift and not somezing else”
>You raise an eyebrow and look at Aegia with some… annoyance
“Did you do the same with my other gifts?”
>Aegia nods “Oui, ze young sisters of ze elements of harmony gifted you a razer rare and expensive collection of ze power ponies’ cards. My favorite one was ze gift zat ze element of honesty gave to you, a razer cute hat, too bad zat you can’t use it because of how zis winter turned out to be”
 >You shake your head and sigh
“I understand why you did it…I don’t like it…I don’t like it a single bit…but okay…so, before I get derailed with something else, tell me Aegia, what do you think? Should I talk with Twilight? Should I forgive Starlight?”
>Aegia nods “Oui, you should talk wiz ze Princess of Friendship, it makes nopony good if you two aren’t on good terms, but as for forgiving zat ozer mare…”
>Aegia sighs, and looks at you directly in the eye “Listen Mon Petit, you will listen to everyzing zat ze Princess has to say, but you will listen wiz skepticism, you are going to tell her zat you will zink about it and zen, you will report everyzing zat mare said to me and me only, is zat clear?”
>You narrow your eyes at Aegia, now there was something seriously suspicious about that
“And why? You know that I was going to be skeptic about whatever Twilight had to say in regards of Starlight, no matter if she sent a letter or not. How you said everything sounds as if you were planning something, and if I’m right, then that means that you want that info for that plan…”
>Aegia gives you a little smirk “Aaaah, so you can be sharp, good, good, I like zat. It means zat you can be fit to be an actual prince. As for your question, oui, I have been keeping an eye on zat Starlight Glimmer ever since she got sent to prison…”
>You take a sip of your glass of milk… eugh … this thing tasted worse than Mexican water…nope… you don’t want to spend another week and a half trapped in your bathroom
“Okay, I will tell you every single detail of my conversation with Twilight, IF, you tell me everything piece of information that you have gathered about Starlight”
>”Aaaah! So you can negotiate too! Zat is even better!” Aegia claps her hooves “Too bad zat you worded yourself in ze wrong way, you had to ask about everyzing zat I know about Starlight AND Twilight”
>Oh, that’s right, Twilight was heavily involved with Starlight, you couldn’t discard her…dang
>Aegia lets out a small giggle and rests on her chair “But I will tell you anyways, just try to avoid zose rookie mistakes, trust me, zey can end up costing you more zan some info.”
>You don’t say anything, just gulp and nod
>”I have to admit zat I don’t know as much as I would like to. Just zat Princess Twilight visits Starlight twice per week, and zat zey have become quite close, but just zat, after all, Glimmer is at a maximum security prison” The white Pegasus sighs “And ze secret service hasn’t been of much help eizer, since zis also requires keeping tabs on a Princess, and zat is not somezing zat zose cowards likes to do that much…”
“Maybe not the service, but what about-“
>”Your mozers?” Aegia asks with a playful smile
>You nod
>”Zey are no fools, in fact, I have been able to do what little I have achieved zanks to Princess Celestia, as for ze Princess of ze Night…”
>The white Pegasus takes a bite of her cake, but just like with the tea, she makes a disgusted face and leaves it be “Ugh, what is wrong wiz zis place?! Never mind, as I was saying in regards of ze younger Princess, I don’t know much, just zat just like me, ze General of ze Night Guard is handling personally a secret investigation on Starlight Glimmer”
“And have you talked with Moonlight? Because I find hard to believe that my mothers would keep that kind of secrets from each other”
>Aegia gives you a reassuring smile ”And they aren’t, ze General and moi are actually going to talk about zis subject tomorrow morning, so you don’t have to worry about your dear mozers going on each ozers backs”
“Thanks the heavens…hmmm…okay, so we’ll have to wait until hearing what Moonlight has to say, but what about Twilight? Do you have any info about her and Starlight?”
>Aegia shakes her head and sighs “Non, ze details about ze conversations zat ze Princess of Friendship has wiz Starlight Glimmer is somezing zat I don’t know. Luckily I have my own resources, so I have been able to at least keep an eye on ze Princess of Friendship ”
“Everything about this feels strange… And tell me Aegia, because this is very important, how reliable is your source?”
>Aegia smiles at this and nods ”I like your sharpness more and more Mon Petit, you see zanks to Princess Celestia, I have been able to get a contact in Ponyville, a veteran agent from an agency zat was disbanded long ago, she’s retired, but she’s still loyal and willing to do anyzing for ze Princess”
“Well…that sounds reliable enough…what has this agent told you?”
>”Zat Twilight’s relationship wiz Starlight has started to put in jeopardy her friendship wiz ze rest of ze elements of harmony” Aegia could tell your immediate reaction of surprise and giggles “Aaaah! Seems like I impressed you wiz zat bit of news, Mon Petit!”
“How could expect me to not get surprised by that?! B-But don’t keep me in suspense!”
>”I’m afraid zat ze details are vague, zat agent isn’t too close to any of ze elements or ze Princess…” Aegia says with a frown “But she has confirmed zat most of zem has grown more and more distant to ze Princess, even ze ones zat initially backed her on reforming Glimmer, especially ze element of laughter”
>Aegia stretches herself a little and gives you a sultry smile “Now, zat is everyzing zat I know so far, but I’m even wiz zis scarce information, zere are some logical deductions to be made, I have mine, but I want you to impress me, Mon Petit, so I’m going to ask what do you zink about zis whole situation?”
>You take a deep breath and place your hooves on the table, resting your head on them. Even with this little information, it was a lot to take in.
>You really need to stay focused, to not get derailed and start thinking about stupid stuff like that one time where you almost failed an exam because you kept imagining how awesome it would be to…
>You shake your head…No, no, no! FOCUS! You close your eyes and take a deep breathe…okay….you take another breathe…you can do this…
>After some minutes of heavy thinking, you open your eyes and rest on the table, looking at Aegia directly in the eye
“Well, as you said, we can deduce some scenarios based on the information and evidence that we have. First of all, it would be stupid from us to label our worries as mere paranoia, there must be something fishy going on if Moonlight is personally handling an investigation on Starlight, and even more when Twilight’s friends are distancing from her, now...”
>You take a bite of your slice of apple pie…ewwww! This tasted horrible!
“We aren’t paying for this, right?”
>”I’m definitely not, but you are.” Aegia replies with a smirk
“Awwwww… well, moving on… we could put that distancing if it was just Rarity, RD and Applejack, but your source said that Pinkie Pie was also starting to distance herself from Twilight, and everything seems to point that her conversations with Starlight are to blame, then again, Starlight is super intelligent and has a silver tongue, so I doubt that it was the actual conversations but more like…”
>”Her attitude” Aegia interrupts you with a cheerful tone “oui, zat is a brilliant deduction, Mon Petit! Ze element of laughter profile does says zat she’s very empazetic, so it makes more sense zat she sensed somezing wrong wiz Glimmer razer zan somezing zat she said”
 “Wait, I’m not finished yet…”
>Aegia was surprised by your response, but nonetheless, she smiles and nods ”Oh? Zen go on, I’m already impressed but I can get impressed even furzer…”
“Now, this isn’t a deduction but a guess… as the princess of friendship, Twilight must be desperate that she’s losing her friends just because she wants to reform what she thinks is a pony in dire need of friendship. So that letter can be an honest attempt for us to become closer, but that last request…”
>”Oui…” Aegia nods, smiling proudly “Zat last request changes everyzing once we consider how ze Princess of Friendship is faring, right Mon Petit?”
>You slowly nod…
 “Given her current situation… hmmm… I don’t really want this to be true… I-I really don’t, trust me, I really like Twilight, a-and I do want for us to be closer friends because I think that she’s cool a-and all that, but… but….”
>”Go on, Mon Petit…” Aegia’s smile was growing wider and wider “You are almost zere…”
“We can’t really trust that her intentions are that… well… how do I put it? Uhhm… ehhh… well, let’s just say, that this ain’t looking completely honest… it feels… it feels as if she’s just doing this to gain my support on her cause”
>”And why ze Princess of Friendship would want your support, Mon Petit?” Dang, Aegia knew the answer… but she wanted to hear it from your lips
“Because the whole reason that Starlight is on jail, and one of the main motives that made her friends to go against the idea of reforming her…is me… if the pony who Starlight attacked forgives her, there won’t be a reasonable argument to be against her reformation”
>Aegia nods proudly, her emotionless expression gone in favor of a big smile “Now, one last zing, and zis is very important: given ze information zat we have, what should we do next?”
“Well…hmmmm…”
>You take another set of breathes and some minutes to think about it… but you actually didn’t know…
“Ummm…I-I don’t know…C-Can’t we just…you know? Wait and see? D-Don’t take me wrong, this is worrying b-but-“
>Aegia shakes her head and sighs “You were so close, but…” the white Pegasus shrugs “Ozer zan your ze cowardly tone of zat last statement, you were magnifique”
“H-Hey!”
>Aegia holds her right front hoof in the air, making you shut up “Oui, ze manner in which you said our plan of action was terrible, but you are right. Oui, Mon Petit, we have to wait for more information to arrive, zat is, for our agent in Ponyville to find more about ze situation wiz ze Princess and for me to talk wiz ze General, now…”
>Aegia stretches herself and yawns “Let go back to ze castle, it is getting late, you have school tomorrow, and ze element of loyalty is paying for ze drinks tonight”
“School?! Are you crazy?! After everything that you have told me? I-I can’t go back just like that! We need to-“
>”Wait and see…” Aegia interrupts you, giving you that scary as heck glare “Do not forget Mon Petit, zat everyzing zat I have told you is off-record, and zat you still have responsibilities, you don’t want to disappoint those lovely fillies from your classroom, right?”
“Waaaait…”
>You narrow your eyes at Aegia
“How did you know that I’m running for school president?”
>”I didn’t…” Aegia giggles “But you just told me, and zat is an even better reason for you to go to bed. Now, let’s go back to ze castle, relax a little, and zen you go back to sleep, because now you have a new order: You are going to win zat election, is zat clear, Mon Petit?” That glare…oh man…
>You gulp and give Aegia a military salute
“Yes, Ma’am Aegia! As clear as water Ma’am Aegia! I will do my best and only my best to win the election, Ma’am Aegia!”
>”Good…” Aegia chuckles to herself “Zat is what I wanted to hear, I hate ponies who complain about everyzing…”