Radiance of the Stars
Chapter 2:
From the Wings of Angels
The sweet scent of newly bloomed flowers, the cool and moist grass lightly dusted with morning’s dew, and the comforting embrace of dawn’s first rays. These were the first feelings to come by Star as she slowly arose from what must have been the deepest sleep of her life. Suddenly, she remembered with a start, Oh no! the Darkness! What happened? Star quickly jumped up, looking around franticly. She immediately regretted this decision as her head throbbed with an intense pain.
“Gah!” she hissed stumbling and threatened to fall as her overexerted legs screamed in protest to their rude awakening. Slowly lowering herself onto the moist grass once again Star tried to gain some semblance of what was going on and how to resolve this predicament. The last thing I remember was the Darkness closing in on me… What happened? And where did it go? Did something drive it off? Did it stop on its own? Also, how long have I been here? There certainly aren’t any clocks. I could have been out cold for days for all I know.
It was then that she noticed something that was a little… off with her surroundings. It was bright and sunny all around her, yet if she looked into the distance a dark haze seemed to abruptly start, and the light end about twenty yards away. What on earth? She wondered incredulously. Taking a deep breath, Star rose to her feet again, and trying to ignore the occasional stabs of pain, slowly trotted over to the wall of gloom. It was the strangest thing she had ever seen, it was as if two worlds that had thus far been separate were now intertwined in the most unbreakable knot. Yet despite this it also harnessed a certain level of beauty, like a black cloth of the purest silk draped across pristine new fallen snow.
Star couldn't help but be mesmerized by the curtain of shadow. She knew that it was evil but it was just so out of the ordinary, she couldn’t help but wonder about it. She found that by concentrating on a certain point, she could almost see through into the clouded shadow. It was like looking through clouded glass but it she could make out what she thought was a patch of trees at the bottom of her hill. “Hmm” she murmured “I wonder if…”
Tentatively, she picked up her hoof and began to reach out towards the darkness. When less than an inch separated her from the unknown, she stopped her hoof’s advance. It hung there, visibly shaking midair. Just then, she noticed how heavily she was breathing, breath coming in short, quick gasps, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Closing her eyes, she sank to the ground once again; she could feel tears rise to her eyes.
What was holding her back? Why was she so tentative? These questions, she asked herself as she lay in the still damp grass, warm tears creating a slender, delicate stream down her face. No, she knew the answer, deep down there was something within her that knew about the Darkness. It was a very primal feeling, an integral part of who she was, almost an instinct that prevented her from crossing the line and behind the curtain of black. On the other hand, however Star knew that she could not stay here forever, not while the other ponies are still in there, she thought. I need to find them, I need to find somepony!
Standing up again, Star glared into the ethereal black wall in front of her, doing her best to control her erratic breathing, and shivering limbs, Star wiped the last tears from her eyes and righted her shoulders. She stood there for a second, heart fluttering, and mind racing. But this was no time for hesitation; she knew if she did, she would never be able to do this again. Taking a long, deep breath, Star gritted her teeth and started to run towards the intimidating, immense, all consuming shadow. She closed her eyes and lowered her head and the darkness grew closer.
Five yards.
Two yards.
One yard.
One foot.
She continued without a hitch as her legs carried her directly into the shadows and… nothing.
Astonished by the complete lack of resistance, Star stumbled and found herself sliding down the hill. She couldn’t help but release a short scream as she tumbled further down. At the end of her fall, Star stretched her already sore muscles and slowly took in her new surroundings.
What she saw immediately put her in a state of disbelief; she stood in the same field that separated her from the city of Manehattan. However, it was simultaneously foreign. It was not nearly as dark as she had expected, the Sun could barely be made out as a dimly lit silhouette amidst the swirling mix of rust and ebony in the sky. The grass had a garish yellow green tint; the once majestic trees now seemed forlorn with branches drooping and leaves. Everything was coated in a gloomy shadow that almost seemed to smother the world like some huge oppressive blanket.
It was just then when Star started to shiver, shaking her head to clear her thoughts; it was just then that she noticed the drop in temperature. In her haven earlier, the sun was warm and welcoming and it was a very comfortable day, but here inside of the darkness however, it must have been at least 20 degrees colder. The air was almost visible as she could make out tendrils of grey fog rolling across the field.
This is all just too much. Star thought to herself. Sighing, she let her head droop and she looked down at her hooves. Was it only her imagination or did she seem to be…glowing. Indeed it was an aura, no more than a wisp of calm white light flowed across her body. Looking back’ Star noticed this and that the same light that had permeated her cutie mark was now present once again. What in Equestria is happening to me? Who ever heard of a glowing pony? Star mused to herself as she continued to admire the shining wings on her flank.
“Can’t get distracted” she said to no one in particular. Then, turning away, she turned her gaze to the distance, trying to make out where the city is. Or had been… she thought with a sudden realization. She had seen the Darkness tear buildings clean off the ground and who knows how high into the sky. No, those thoughts would have to wait until she was sure one way or another. The city just had to be there and she refused to let herself think otherwise. But if it was, why couldn’t she see it?
I-it has to be this fog. Star determined. I doubt even a Wonderbolt could see through this mess. she chuckled lightly to herself. And started off in the direction she thought that Manehattan was in. She walked at a good pace, through the gloomy, depressing landscape, no joyful birds were chirping, no colorful butterflies were lazily floating across the sky, and none of the woodland creatures frolicked played in the field.
After close to a half an hour of walking, Star found herself amidst a small grouping of trees. They seemed so lifeless, so dull, and just plain ugly. Leaves were an odd mix of brown and green, and branches almost seemed depressed, drooping, and sad. Looking upon the poor trees, Star couldn’t help but feel empathetic for them. Drawing upon her magic, Star cast a spell designed to revitalize plants. She had never used it on anything more than a houseplant but it was worth a shot she figured. Silver magic shone luminously from her horn, shortly followed by a “poof” as the energy ready to fulfill her will was released. For a second, it seemed as if her spell had worked! The trees branches started to rise, but no sooner did they rise did they once again fall. Deterred, Star lightly grumbled to herself and tried to think of another plan.
After trying several variations of different growing and healing spells, the trees refused to be revived from their gloomy state. Frustrated, Star kicked one of the trees, her sparkling hoof contacting squarely with the trunk of the tree, causing the leaves to rustle against each other. Scowling, she turned around and glared at the uncooperative tree, looking at its pathetic leaves, the sagging limbs, and down the trunk. She noted, however, that where she had just kicked the tree, there was a mark there in the shape of her hoof.
Didn’t think I was that strong. She thought with bemusement. Upon closer examination however, she saw that there was no indentation in the tree, but the mark did seem to be a lighter color. It was if the tree was covered in a layer of paint, and she had taken off a layer, leaving the true color to show through. Looking back at her hooves, Star recalled the aura that surrounded her and started to wonder to herself; Could the trees be covered in… in darkness? How would that even work? To test this theory, she reached out and dragged her front hoof down a section of the tree, and just like before, wherever she touched returned to the natural color of a tree trunk.
Star grinned, ecstatic at the discovery that she could perhaps return this tree to its former glory. This would take forever though, she certainly could not bother with rubbing the entire tree, and how would she reach the higher branches and leaves without wings. With a deep sigh, she began to ponder ways of reaching her goal.
Reaching out with magic, the picked up a stick and attempted to scrape at the tree, and see if it would have any effect. Unsurprisingly, nothing happened and the tree remained as it was. For a moment more she thought then suddenly, an idea popped into her head. If the stick couldn’t just clean the tree there must have been something else… She looked at her hooves, and then back to her cutie mark, the wings on her flank seeming to sparkle with a joyous energy.
Why not. She thought and slowly reached out with her magic towards the twinkling wings. Just as before, she could feel the presence of light, there, unexplainable, but it was there nonetheless. Her horn once again glowed silver as she gingerly tried to urge the light to do as she wished. Unlike the last time she had attempted this, it responded to her, forming a smooth line, barely visible thanks to the gloomy fog.
Laughing out loud, Star beamed, finally, something was turning out well! She quickly wove the light into several loops and a graceful bow. Amazing! The amount of light seemed limitless, endless, and wondrous!
Still grinning ear to ear, Star wrapped the light around the base of the tree, slowly coiling it around the trunk, not allowing a single inch to be missed by her cleansing. Finally, after five minutes of continuous effort, she had wrapped the entire tree in a shroud of light. Relaxing, she released her magic and allowed it to disperse into her dark surroundings.
There in front of her stood what seemed to be a completely new tree, leaves a bright green, branches tall and proud, with no sign of how it had ailed only moments before. Exhausted from the effort as she was, Star continued to smile, very contented with what she had accomplished.
By this time, the sun was already well into its descent and Star did not want to risk continuing to travel when it would get even darker soon. She decided that here would be as good a place to spend the night as any considering that darkness covered everything. However she did not fancy the idea of sleeping on the unhealthy looking grass; so harnessing the light from her cutie mark, she swept clear, a large area of land leaving healthy, green grass in its wake.
Looking around, she managed to find enough flowers and other plants to make an acceptable meal. After she had finished eating, Star found a comfortable enough spot under the tree she had purged and using magic, put together a makeshift bed. As she laid down, Star hoped that all would be well throughout what she felt would be the longest night of her life.