//------------------------------//
// The Beginning 
// Story: Trading a Rainbow for Black 
// by beckyyyyy 
//------------------------------//

It was Starburst's birthday. But to her, it was like any other day. 

Starburst woke up, stretched her body along with her orange wings, and brushed her short black-streaked hair. Looking at her abnormally- large mirror one last time, she then flew down the spiral crystal staircase. Because, really, why walk when you just. . .fly?

Trotting into the kitchen, she sat down at her place and greeted her mom, "Good morning, Mom."

Princess Twilight, the Princess of Friendship and also her Mom, turned her head to say, "Good morning to you, Birthday Girl. Happy Birthday! As promised, your blueberry pancakes are made just the way you like it."

Using her magic, she surrounded the heaping dish of breakfast goodies with a purple aura and made it drift to Starburst. 

Offering a rare smile toward Twilight, "Thanks, Mom." and with that, she happily dug in. When she was half-down, Nightlight wandered into the kitchen and sat down before giving a huggge yawn as his greeting.

Flash Sentry chuckled, "Well, good morning to you to, sleepy head."

Nightlight blearily wiped his eyes before mumbling, "Good morning, Mom and Dad. Happy Birthday, sis."

Starburst mumbled her food, "Thanks. Here's some breakfast for ya." With her hoof, she quickly split the remaining pancakes in half, giving some to her brother.

Nightlight smelled it and immediately, all traces of sleep disappeared, "BLUEBERRY PANCAKES!!!! YAY!"
Using his horn, he hoisted up the maple syrup and promptly drowned his pancakes in it. But before he could put it in his mouth, he heard somepony clearing their throat, as if to get his attention.

Twilight cleared her throat at him, "Nightlight? Shouldn't you be thanking your sister for sharing her birthday breakfast with you?" 

Nightlight lowered his fork, "Oh yeah. Thanks, Star!" and resumed his happy eating.

Twilight smiled at her youngest son and turned back to her daughter, "Star, I'm assuming you'll be out training again, right?"

Star, almost done with her pancakes, nodded.

Then, her mom turned back to the only other unicorn present in the room, "Then, Nightlight? Would you like to continue practicing the teleportation spell?"

Nightlight, already done with his food, nodded his head excitedly. He apparently inherited his mother's love to learn and try new things, in particular, new spells.

Star's heart felt a slight twang. Born as a pegasus only taking on her mother's black-stripped hair and violet eyes, she couldn't connect with her mother on a higher level like her unicorn brother. 

"Well, I'll be going. Thanks again for the breakfast, Mom!"

"You're welcome, Star. Have a wonderful day as the Birthday Girl."

Her father lowered his newspaper, "Don't get hurt, Star. Be back by 12 for lunch, OK?"
"Sure." With that, Star opened the doors that led into the castle and took off into the sky.

She then landed in her favorite training area: the spacious park in Canterlot. Finding a clearing where nopony would ever find her, she got into position for wing-ups.

Grunting at the intensity of wing-ups first thing in the morning, Star began her regular regiment of training. To become a Royal Guard Captain, the first step would being physically fit, and that, included wings.

"95...96...97...98...99 and...100."

Finishing her wing-ups, Star preened her wings. Moving feathers back into place, Star quickly shoved her hair that was plastered onto her forehead up into her usual short quip. When her clean-up was done, she flared open her wings and flew off to Ponyville where the rest of her friends ,along with her Mom's friends, made their residence. 

~10 Minutes Later~

Landing near Sugar Cube Corner, Starburst walked inside for a quick pick-me-up. Doing a intense workout during the weekends sure worked up her appetite. 

Usually it was Pinkie Pie who greeted her with her crazy, enthusiastic movements. But today, it seemed like it was Cotton Candy, her eldest mare, that was manning the counter.

Cotton Candy, with her dark coat, puffy grey-blue hair, bright eyes and smile, often got compliments that she was a lot like her mother. Candy was proud whenever someone noticed that. Smiles can make everything be alright in the long run. Smile at  the world, and the world will smile back at you.

"OH MY SWEET CUPCAKE GOD! STAR! HI HI HI! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT TODAY?! WE GOT RED VELVET, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES, ROOT BEER, SAPPHIRES (well, that's for Uncle Spike) CUPCAKES, AND- MMPH!"

Star had put her hoof over Candy's mouth before she could possibly wake the entire village. 

"Thanks. Uhm, how about the, uh, coffee milk tea cupcake and a huge glass of water?"

"SURE!" And Candy quickly zoomed into the kitchen that was adjourned to her hectic home to tell her mom the order. 

Though she was already on the second floor, Star could still hear Candy's voice as if she was still right in front of her.

"MOOOOM! STAR'S HERE AND-"

"OHHHHH, PARTY! I NEED BALLOONS! GUMMY, GET ME A PARTY HAT AND MY CONFETTI CANN-!"

"MOOOM, STAR NEEDS A COFFEE-MILK TEA CUPCAKE WITH WATER RIGHT NOW! WE CAN SHOVE CONFETTI DOWN THE CANNON LATER!"

"OKAY! By the way, DO YOU HAVE ANY COTTON CANDY SAVED?!"

"OF COURSE I DO!"

"OKAY!"

"MOM WHAT ABOUT STAR'S CUPCAKE! SHE STILL IS WAITING FOR THEM!" 

"I KNOW, I KNOW!"

Star shook her head in amusement, the Pie family, especially Candy and Pinkie Pie, never failed to make her smile. Their crazy antics and their energetic ways of greeting somepony (generally their entire personality) always had ways of making even the gloomiest pony smile.  

Soon, Candy made good on her promise and delivered her cupcake to the table. By that, it meant that Candy was wearing gravity shoes, was currently hanging upside-down with the cupcake right-side-up, and dropped the cupcake onto the cafe table. Fortunately, the cupcake only jiggled and didn't splat into a million cupcake goodness.

Candy giggled, "EAT UP, STAR!!!! CUPCAKES ARE GOOD FOR YOU! I DON'T KNOW WHY CUPCAKES AREN'T CONSIDERED TO BE PART OF THE HEALTHY-LIFESTYLE DIET."

Back upstairs, Pinkie Pie agreed with that, "I KNOW, RIGHT?! I KEEP ASKING THAT BUT MAYOR MARE KEPT REJECTING THAT IDEA! I'M TELLING YOU, MAYOR MARE IS GROWING OLD AND HER BRAIN IS DRIPPING SLOWLY OUTTA HER HEAD!"

Star chuckled back nervously, "...Right. Well, thanks for the cupcake and water. I'll be going now, don't want to be stuck in your mane the entire day."

"SEE YOU SOON, STAR!"

"See ya."



Star walked down the road, contemplating her previous situation: her Mom. She was so deep in the worrying that she didn't see Anthea and her coltfriend, T(urquoise), right in front of her until the very last minute when her nose bumped into Anthea's chest.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Annie. Didn't see ya there. (Hey, T. What's good, man? | A'ight.) You all right?"

"Mhm. It's okay."

Somehow, Annie could sense something nagging at her friend's mind.

"Star?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?" ,asked Anthea in a blunt tone.

"Oh, um- See it's my- ugh, never mind. It's my mom and it's my birthday as you know, but my mom and I. It's like we're on two different islands. We talk, you see, but we still haven't connected and our last mother-daughter thing was ages ago. So you can kinda see what's bugging my mind."

"Oh...I see. Well, how about a trade?"

T was startled, and asked in place of Star, "What kind of trade are you talking about?"
Star nodded in agreement with T, curious.

"I studied enough with your mom to know how to make my own spells. How about a day where you and I trade our wings and horn? That way you could learn some basic spells and connect with your mom at the same time."

Star was ecstatic the moment the moment Anthea said 'connect with your mom' and jumped around in such a way it would've made Pinkie AND Candy proud, "YES YES YES! YOU CAN DO IT?!"

Anthea giggled at the way her friend was acting, "Yes, of course. The thing is, it's my first time trying this out and I'm not sure what the side effects are."

Star didn't care, ''So? Just do it! . . .Please?"

Anthea didn't answer as she was concentrating her magical power needed for this spell. Her white unicorn horn started glowing with a light-green aura. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of light which cause the trio of friends to close their eyes momentarily. When it cleared up, Anthea was with a  white, pearly pair of wings while Star had a orange horn jutting out of head that was slightly glowing with a deep purple aura.

Star held her breath, then let it out slowly, "It...works. OMG, IT WORKS! THANK YOU, ANTHEA, THANK YOU!" then she rushed off to catch a train ride back to Canterlot, back to where her Mom was.

Turquoise smiled at the retreating of Star then back down at Anthea, whose feathery pair of newly-acquired wings was opening and closing in a rhythmic beat. But where Anthea was staring; her gaze held no indication of really seeing. It was then that Turquoise realized what was the consequences of this daylong spell. 

Anthea's 'sight' was connected to her horn. Without it, her eyes can no longer receive colors and Anthea would be left as a real blind pony. 

Without removing her icy, pale blue eyes from the last spot where she saw her color-filled blobby Ponyville, Anthea lifted a hoof into the air. It was trembling.

"T? Where are you?"