Summoned to Canterlot by Royal command to attend Princess Celestia's School for Unicorns, Starjumper Astra is determined to get through the year of study without the secret of exactly what he is being exposed.
He has good reason to keep it a secret. The product of a forbidden marriage of unicorn and thestral, Starjumper is the only living Lykan in the entire world, a pony that is unicorn by day and thestral by night. The thestrals of the Nightlands call him The Cursed One, and there is nothing in the world they want more than to see him dead. If that isn't bad enough, pony folklore has a very dim view of Lykans, labelling them as bloodthirsty, savage monsters, so Starjumper's life is ruled by the secrets that he must keep. Secrets that keep him apart from other ponies, living a life of enforced solitude, a life ruled by the clock that warns him when sunrise and sunset are coming.
All he wants is to be left alone. All he wants is to study magic in peace, get through his year in Canterlot, and then move on. But a quiet, peaceful, uneventful life isn't easy in Canterlot when he finds himself tutoring the rich daughter of the socialite Fancy Pants for living money, who just happens to be a once in a generation magical prodigy with a few secrets of her own. He also runs afoul of one of the most powerful unicorn socialites in Canterlot, that holds a burning prejudice against his half-thestral heritage.
And if all that still wasn't bad enough, he also just happens to be the subject of an ancient prophecy that says that he's one of three ponies that are destined to save Equestria.
Or destroy it.
So far so good, few spelling mistakes, but a good read none the less
My advice, take a moment and read the chapter yourself before you post it to the site. Good luck, and may this be an excellent journey!! 
This is amazing.
I'll be watching...
...Well... ...Then...
Dun dun duuuuuun
How can i say anything that dosent spoil this for other readers?
Oh, i know. This book is AMAZING.
There. No spoilers. :3
Merry Christmas, and Happy holidays.
All i want for christmas is a new chapter!
:3
Just wondering will there be cameo appearances of the mane 6 and where is spike? Given the rough time jump by using fancy pants and fleur de lis as summer dawns parents they all should be still around.
You lost me off the bat with Princess Twilight raising the sun as especially making Starlight one.
Yes!! New chapter!
Summer dawn is a good fit for him.
Is the night queen the one that he fights in the prophecy?
Hoooleeee crap.
Very nice!!
Another great chapter. I realy live their interactions.
Where is the next button? ;~;
Ha.
I actually hate North Star.
Summer Dawn mentions that teleporting includes a
This is giving me the impression that the 'otherspace' is a desert. Idk why, that's just what it makes me think.
This story is one of the few hidden gems on this site.
I love how this is playing out. And to prevent spoilers, I hope lord petty gets ruined while the tool is not.
Awwww frikifrek.
I guess things could have been worse tho.
Ooooohhhhhh noooooooo....
Aww buck, I can't believe you've done this.
Now Starjumper's going to have to touch the rock.
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Nothing is ever that straightforward, you know. ;)
8658549 You're right, he's going to have to firmly grasp it and beat the horn with it.
Well. Then.
Is Discord about? I don't remember. If so, Equestria has nothing to fear.
Also, Sombra?!
Awwwwwww... Frick.
Loving it m8 i just want more!!
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I had thought that Moonblade was the night queen there for a bit. It has been resolved now. xD
oh good god, that is precious.
Can I do a rage review of this?
Suddenly, the empty air slammed open like a door, with only a brilliant white glow visible through it. A pale grey earth pony with a red and white mane stuck his head through it, turned to look at Starjumper, and yelled "Oh, shut up!" before closing the gateway again.
All in all, amazing chapter! I'm really excited to see what comes next!
Ill have you know, i drop whatever im reading to read these new chapters. :)
This story has really grown on me. I was hesitant to read it due to the description making it sound like something else, but I'm glad I gave it a try. The story is well paced, with interesting characters and a lot of good world building, as well as mechanics exploration of stuff. That gives it a kind of life missing from many other stories, and I treasure the slice of life bits, both serious and not.
I really feel for all the Thestrals that weren't part of the attack that were banished. It's not like the entire Nightguard was part of this, though the ease that they betrayed their duties was rather depressing. Wonder what Luna must feel about that.
Dangit, I was going to make a really obscure reference relating to this, but now I've forgotten the name of the item I was going to reference.
All in all, amazing chapter!
I love all the mechanics and teaching/learning/studying of magic in this story. It certainly doesn't seem, on the surface, to be part of the main adventure that this story's premise proclaims, which is why I'm fascinated by it. I wonder if you'll tie it all together in the overarching story, or if it's just slice of life stuff to be the delicious filling between major events in the story. It just seems to me that if the story focused so much on the teaching aspect, some of the minor points of trivia would end up having a significant role later on in events in the story, somehow.
And it keeps getting better.
I want to know who caused that fire.
I'm curious what will become of Canterlot. If Celestia will allow the nobles and their games she tolerates to remain now that it risked the ponies most important to her.
*edit* Or the fact that Donut Joe's went out of business for catering to Starjumper and not turning him away.
Well! Much has happened, and I want more.
And it keeps on coming.
And the worst part. I am not sure how this story will go after their travel to the Nightlands.
I really love this story, I truly do, but the way the princesses pulled under the rug the fact they manipulated the mind of Starjumper (and the fact he takes it for granted and doesn't question it), and they really downplayed the fire as "I'm really dissapointed in them and they're really sorry, here have a quest and forget about it" puts me right in the edge of my suspension of disbelief, and in my will to keep with the story too to be honest.
You showed us that Starjumper is (or was, apparently) very inquisitive with everything and specially with the underhanded ways of the princesses, and when they basically tell him they mind-raped him "because his sanity" he's like "Oh, ok, seems legit" and they leave it as it is? Add the fact that Starjumper and Summer Dawn seem to have a case of the idiot ball and eat up everything the princesses say as fact, don't point hooves to who was probably responible of the fire just because, and then they seem all buddy-buddy with Moonshade because "in the end, she was a swell gal" for some reason. Hey, the fact that she tried to show Starjumper the ways of Vlad Tepes isn't relevant anymore.
For a guy who was pretty much a loner who didn't trust in anyone (and seeing what happened in Canterlot for a good damn reason) it's pretty unveliebable how he can change so much in so little time, and how everyone falls in line exactly as the princesses wanted. Really makes you think...
I'll see where this is going for time being, but I don't think I can take another of these without getting of this ride.
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I think you are losing sight of what is important to Starjumper. He was considering leaving the city anyway and was told of more important threats to his family. Ultimately, succeeding would not only save his family but restore their good standing in the Nightlands, something that had been bothering him a great deal. And end the threat to not only him but his family and friends ever after. Plus, he has to control his temper lest the possession repeat, and he is being compensated for all that was lost. He is used to being attacked anyway.
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You have a good point, but truth is that while its convenient for him it doesn't excuse anything at all and blaming on him that "well he needs to control his temper" isn't sitting well with me either, and "it's getting compensated"... how so? Getting to do the work of royalty who just cares about a prohecy because they don't know how to do their job? This last point it's more of a personal view than the others to be honest with you, since I don't believe in destinies of any sort and I kinda like to see characters with strong personalities like Starjumper fight against the prophecy or whatever.
Still, I see many stories in which the main character is victim on something heinous acts and they're downplayed exactly as you say, with "it's being compensated" or "it's used to that". That doesn't make it better or excusable, as I said before.
"No worries, everypony! Instead of being punished for being the murderous mob we are we will get a slap on the wrist and told to not do it again, and the victim is being moved away, so we got what we wanted anyways because the victim wanted to go away before that. Anypony wants to go to the 'specist" club and shacke our hooves on a job well done?" >The feeling I get with so many stories, including this one.
Everything boils down to how I'm perceiving things and it's a personal opinion, I know, but I feel like I should post these thoughts on stories I think they're worth being concerned about.
We're going on an adventure!! :D
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Well, you were arguing how the character should have reacted, and that is what I was replying to. I firmly agree that parties getting a slap on the wrist when they were responsible for damages, both emotional and physical, is disgusting. But the protagonist isn't outraged at all by this, because he expected it from the beginning, and it's important to keep that in mind that he expected the worst from ponies and save for a select few, they didn't disappoint.
Honestly, I expect apologies and token efforts to include him and those who stood with him, else I will have no respect for the ponies of Canterlot in general, and Celestia for tolerating it. Hearing they were aghast from a third party isn't enough, but the story has more important things to go into right now. I hope to see a proper reckoning later.
Besides, the thing with the waitress really left a bad taste in my mouth and I'd like to see that addressed, one way or the other.
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There will definitely be a reckoning. As you said, the last chapter was more to lay the plot for the next section of the story.
From Starjumper's point of view, what happened really hasn't hit him yet. He had much more important things to think about, so it's a disconnected fact that he's only considered from an abstract point of view. The immediacy of preparing for the upcoming mission has faded, and that will give him time to reflect on what he's agreed to do and what implications it will have with both the ponies of Equestria and the thestrals of the Nighlands. He hasn't forgotten that the thestrals have wanted to kill him his entire life, nor has he forgotten how he was treated by Canterlot. He's just had much more important things on his mind than his personal life, and if you haven't noticed, one of Starjumper's character strengths is the ability to focus on the task at hand (hoof) through both mental and physical distractions.
When he SEES the ruins of his old apartment, it's going to put things in a much more personal perspective for him.
Starjumper hasn't left Canterlot yet, and so long as he's there, what happened to him and his house is going to play a very big role in the next chapter.
Pretty good story so far. Just a bit of a wall of text here and there bit a good read nonetheless.
Next chapter's gonna be delayed. Hope to have it out late next week.
IRL + finishing another project + hyperextended elbow thanks to my stupid cat getting under my feet while I was going down the stairs = what little time I've had to write lately has been honestly painful.
OMG, literally one of the best written(as in grammar) and best thought out stories I have seen on this website!
Keep up the most totally awesome work!
I'll be starting on the next chapter tomorrow.
I expect it to be done sometime the middle of next week.
Every new chapter is a delight.
I like this kind of romance. :)
Just an update:
I won't have much time to work on this for a couple of weeks or so, thanks to a new work project.
That's the life of a freelancer. Stretches of nothing followed up by mad activity to beat a deadline.
When I finish this project, I'll have time to write again. Until then, time to stock up on coffee.
It looks like I'll be able to get back to working on this story next week.
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I personally think that many of the sections seem to act more like filler than actual story plot. These include many of the teaching sessions, the repeated brooding (I feel the same impact could be had without repeating it as many times as is done, though this is a minor issue), and some of the slice of life sections. They make it hard to focus or know when a section will come up that is more important to the plot.
While (for example) the teaching sections were somewhat useful at the beginning, later on these sections could be replaced by much smaller scenes that just summarize the results, such as through Summer Dawn saying how close she was to learning a new spell, or showing the results to her friends, rather than actually showing each lesson (including the one with Summer's parents). This is somewhat done, but it could have been done for a lot more sections, and would make the story a lot cleaner and more coherent.
If knowledge of how the magic works is truly necessary, the study lessons could be relegated to a blog post, answers in the comments sections, or in the authors notes.
The plot sections are well done, but it feels simply scattered into a study lesson or anxiety brooding story, and not the main focus. I'm not sure if this was your intent, and you never wanted the adventure/plot part of the story to be the main focus, but it does seem to take only a tertiary role in the story so far, at least to me.
Again, this is just my opinion, and I do like the plot parts of the story. I just think you could be making the story even better.
About halfway done with the next chapter, and with luck, I'll be able to post it sometime this weekend. Client wanted a second draft with some revisions, but that only took a few days. Revisions are usually cake, since you've already done 90% of the work.