Chapter 64: Bitter and Elite 1

Raven Inkwell was many things.

Secretary to the most important Pony in the world, Last in line to the throne in cases of emergency, and also way too tired to deal with the hectic situations of Canterlot Castle.

But one more thing that Raven Inkwell is, is Bearer of Bad News.

It was a morning just like any other, she was looking at the papers stacked on her desk when a certain letter caught her attention.

After she read the contents of the letter, she sprang from her chair and ran to her bookshelf, opening the hidden passageway behind it, and started to crawl between the walls of the castle.

Her friend needed to read this.

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On top of one of the spires in the guest district of the Castle, where guests of the highest honor may stay, Princess Celestia walked the pony of the hour to her personally created room.

"Here? I get to stay here?" The guest in question, a white Unicorn with Purple hair asked as she looked at the expensive interior of the room, at the Ponyquin readied for her use, at the soft silk and velvet of the bed-sheets, and at the large window overlooking the City of Canterlot far below.

The Guest in question was none other than Rarity, The Element of Generosity.

Celestia smiled at the little Unicorn, "Twilight Sparkle said you were coming to Canterlot for a visit and asked if I might accommodate you," She told her.

"Thank you so much Princess," Rarity told the princess as she looked around the room, a small white Cat jumped onto the bed and pawed at the blanket before laying down to sleep.

"You are very welcome," Celestia told Rarity.

"No really," Rarity ran up to the princess, "This is so nice of you,"

"It's nothing, Really," Celestia told Rarity with a smile.

"Oh but it isn't nothing," Rarity told her, "It's everything, I- I just don't know what to say but Thank you, Thankyou!" She quickly lowered herself to the floor and started kissing the Princesses hooves.

"Thank you," She said after a kiss, "Thank you!" She kissed again, Celestia started looking around uncomfortably, "Thank you thank you thank you!" Rarity kept kissing Celestia's hooves.

"You are very welco-" Celestia tried to say, hoping Rarity would stop kissing her feet, only for the Element of Generosity to jump into her face.

"Thank you!"

And luckily, Celestia's rescuer came, his legs buckling under the weight of the burden on his shoulders, yet he carried on walking.

"Your luggage, Mademoiselle," An Intern servant wearing a Bellhop uniform told Rarity as a small mountain of luggage and cases rested on his back.

Celestia, taking this moment of reprieve for what it was, told Rarity that she'll leave her to get settled as she walked out the door and away from the awfully thankful Element of Generosity.

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"Is she in here? No," Raven Inkwell was a mare on a mission, She walked through the hidden walls of the castle, her eyes searching for a certain Unicorn who needed to read the contents of the letter as soon as possible.

"Is she in here? No," Raven Inkwell was starting to worry that she already missed her.

"Starlight, No! The entire point of long-range artillery is to act as a supporting fire to protect the soldiers in the field, They aren't supposed to be moving," Raven paused as the voice of her Coworker and not-at-all-hidden crush rang out from the Library.

"Of course she'll be in the library..." Raven whispered to herself before she turned around a corner and started walking to the Library.

Stopping behind the hidden entrance to the Library, Raven looked inside, her eyes switching with that of a painting on the wall.

On a table in the middle, she could see Prince Blueblood create a sort of miniature battlefield, where tiny ponies wearing old-fashioned military suits were shooting at each other as small explosions rained down around them.

"But wouldn't the cannons hit your own soldiers?" And there she was! The Unicorn Raven was looking for.

"You don't aim at your own soldiers Starlight, you aim at the enemy as they're running at your soldiers, and you aim at the enemy artillery. You think Napoleon shot his own men on purpose?" Blueblood turned to Starlight and asked her.

"You know I don't understand all these references you bring up, Right?" Starlight told Blueblood as she crossed her arms and leaned on the chair she was sitting on.

Raven decided she's seen enough, and slipped the letter into a crack beneath the paining, slowly pushing it into the Library.

"Psst, A Letter," She whispered before she ducked, hoping the two Unicorn's didn't see her.

"Did you say something Starlight?" Blueblood asked.

"Nothing, I though you said something, Trying to seem all mysterious and such," She replied.

"Me? Why would I whisper to you? we're an empty room," Blueblood gave Starlight a look.

"Don't look at me like that! If it wasn't you who whispered, who was it?!" Starlight got on her hooves and pointed a leg into Blueblood's chest.

"Probably Raven," He answered nonchalantly, grabbing Starlight's leg and pushing it away.

"Raven?" Starlight asked and started looking around before she noticed a paper envelope on the floor beneath a painting.

"Yeah, You know how she uses the hidden paths to walk around?" Blueblood asked as Starlight walked up to the envelope.

Starlight saw the envelope addressed to her and opened it, ignoring her boss as he kept talking to himself about hidden passageways or whatever else he had on his mind at the moment. Probably more Prench soldiers battling by blowing each other up.

Starlight Read the letter and then she froze, the paper slipping from her grasp as it slowly floated down to the floor.

"I need to go." She whispered quietly, taking a step away from the letter and turning to the door of the library.

"Starlight, what's going on?" Blueblood asked her as he stood up seeing his bodyguard walking away quickly.

"I- I don't have time to speak, I need to leave," Starlight's horn glowed Aquamarine and the door opened as she kept walking, "I'll be back tomorrow, tell Celestia not to kill me! I need to leave." Starlight started running, her hooves taking her down the hallway, pushing aside several servants as she kept moving, not bothering to slow down.

"What the..." Blueblood turned his head to look at the envelope she dropped before he stood to look at it.

"Wait!" he paused as a white Earth Pony fell from a hidden door on the ceiling, landing in front of him.

"Raven," Blueblood nodded his head in greeting, not bothering to point out how she just fell from the ceiling and tried to walk around her.

"You can't," Raven said as she moved to block Blueblood's path, "It's private for Starlight Glimmer!" Raven seemed distressed Blueblood noted as she kept blocking his way.

"Whatever it is, was important enough to cause Starlight to leave her duty. We both know she's not allowed to do so without prior contacting the princess or a good cause, It's a part of her Probation agreement." Blueblood told Raven as he kept slowly walking around her, The secretary keeping up with him to always remain between him and the letter.

"As Secretary of Equestria," Raven said as she looked into Blueblood's eyes, causing him to freeze as she used her authority, "I am classifying this matter as an urgent enough matter for Starlight Glimmer to be exempt from punishment for her actions in the matter,"

Blueblood looked into Raven Inkwell's eyes, before nodding his head at her and turning around.

"If you're using your spot like that, this must be more important than I thought," He told her as the two locked eyes, before he smiled down at her, "Good for you standing up for your friends like that," He gave her a pat on the shoulder before he turned around to leave.

Before he paused and turned his head back to look at her.

"Is Friday two weeks from now a good day? I know it's close to Hearth's Warming Eve, but I can still get a reservation for us, there's this wonderful place in Neigh-York that I think will be a good place," He asked her.

Raven blinked at him in confusion, "What?"

Blueblood looked at her confused, "For our date? You know, the one I promised you during Nightmare Night?"

Raven blinked again before the memory of that night appeared in her mind, and her entire head flushed a bright red.

"Oh Yeah..."

"If you have a better suggestion, feel free to update me whenever possible," He told her before lifting his hoof next to his head and shaking it a bit, whispering "Call me," At her before he finally took his leave.

Leaving Raven Inkwell as a red steaming mess, alone in the library.

She started touching her face, feeling how hot she got, as her eyes started wandering about the library before a book caught her attention.

"Prince of Pleasure" Was written on the title, and Raven bit her lip as she took the book and slithered back into the hidden passageways of the castle.

She had some cooling down to do.

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As soon as the flying carriage touched down in Sire's Hollow, Starlight was already out the door.

She ran past building from her childhood and even more building that were built while she was away.

She ran past the small park she used to play at, and the local library she remembered spending most of her time with her only friend at the time in.

Her brow furrowed as she thought about Him but she quickly ignored it and threw Him out of her mind as she spotted the building she was looking for.

Running past a small, knee-high fence around the garden of common flowers, Starlight threw the door to the building open and cried out.

"MOM!" Her eyes looked around, her ears hearing hoofs clopping on the floor towards her, revealing her father, Firelight, as he looked in her direction with a sunken face and tired eyes.

"Chipmunk..." Firelight whispered as he looked at Starlight, before rushing forward and pulling her into a bone-breaking hug.

"Dad! I got the letter," Starlight said quickly, grabbing her father and pulling him away from her, "She's going to be fine, right?" Starlight asked as she looked into her father's eyes.

Firelight couldn't give her an answer, he just cried silently, tears rolling down his purple coat as he looked at his daughter.

Starlight started shaking her head at how her father was acting, "No! I need to see her!" She yelled and stormed past her Dad, entering her parents' room and seeing the Pale Turquoise mare lying on the bed, her cheeks almost white as snow and skin thin as paper.

"Mom! Everything's going to be okay," Starlight rushed to the side of the bed, her body lowering as she rested her head on the mattress, looking up at her sleeping mother.

"I can pull some strings, I'll get Raven to give you the best Doctors and professionals in Equestria, Raven's a new friend of mine, I'm sure you'd love to meet her, She's timid but also incredibly professional, but not too much, you know how Secretary's can get right?" Starlight talked with her mother.

Outside the room, Firelight was lying on the floor, his face ruined with snot and tears as he silently cried.

"And Blueblood, you remember him, right? He might be a prick at times, but he has a heart of gold, I'm sure he could get someone to help us out here," Starlight kept talking, her voice growing shaky as she continued.

"And Shining Armor! He's not the smartest, but his heart's in the right place! He can make sure nothing will bother you while we wait for your recovery hick because he's the captain of the guard," Starlight's voice started to crack as she felt her eyes grow wet, but she kept talking.

"Then there's Cadance, I'm sure she can help, She's an Alicorn, a real honest-to-goodness Alicorn, She'd help you in a heartbeat if she could, just say the word and I'll tell her," Starlight told her mother.

"C'mon, Mom, Just say the word hick so I can help you," Tears started dropping from her eyes as she looked up at her sleeping mother.

"Please hick Let me help you!" Starlight cried at her mother's unmoving body on the body, "I left you for years! I made you worried for who knows how long! So, please! Please just say the word and LET ME HELP YOU!" Starlight cried loudly, bawling her eyes out as she lay on the floor of her parent's bedroom.

"Please... Just say the word..."

But Starlight didn't receive an answer.

Starshine Campfire - Rest In Peace