//------------------------------// // Starlight's Quest // Story: Starlight's Quest // by Furryart //------------------------------// Starlight read a book with a candle shinning upon it. After reading one page, Starlight closed the book and walked outside of the cave. Her golden mane blew in the wind as she looked upon the kingdom. She remembered when she lived in Equestria as a filly; she always played in the fields with her friends. “How I miss Equestria,” she whispered to herself. When Starlight was a teenager she moved to this kingdom that was far from Equestria. The kingdom’s name is “Octopia”. But they were one of Equestria’s allies. Starlight heard a voice calling her from the opening of the cave. It was her sister Stardust. Stardust had a blue mane and an red coat. Her cutie mark was a dozen stars because her talent was studying the stars. “Wow, what beautiful stars tonight,” Stardust said. Starlight rolled eyes smiling. “I know you like them, Stardust,” Starlight said. “Anyway, it’s time to go to bed,” Stardust commanded, “so come on, Starlight.” They walked inside the cave to a pair of poor-looking made beds. Since they had no money, they couldn’t afford a place to live in Octopia. “Good-night Stardust,” Starlight yawned. Stardust gave her a wink and laid her head on the pillow. Starlight looked up at the cave ceiling trying to sleep, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t because of her bed or her dinner she had, it was the book. The book was none other than the dairy of King Woodweaver. His dairy held his darkest secrets during his’ rule over Octopia. Starlight grabbed the book and started to read. She couldn’t keep her eyes off of the magical story of King Woodweaver as he did wonderful things. His’ diary fascinated Starlight so much that she decided to write a diary of her own. She wrote about her journey through the woods and through town. But she always told herself that none of her stories were as adventures as King Woodenweaver’s stories were. The words in the book were “Long ago in a valley far from Equestria, stood me a young foal. I was playing soccer with my best friend, Featherwing. Featherwing is a peagus that is fantastic at flying. We both got our cutie marks; mine was a basket because I was very good at weaving, Featherwing’s was a feather with little bolts around it. ‘Hey Woodweaver, do you want to go somewhere with me?’ my friend ask with a happy smile on her face.” Starlight saw sunlight enter the cave. It was time for her to get up and set on her own journey. Stardust got up and went straight outside. The sun looked beautiful as it peaked over the mountains. Starlight picked up her diary and wrote in it “Hello, today I am setting off for the lost tower of Hollowwhisper. The sun rise is so beautiful this morning. I cannot wait till we read out of the old book of Hollowwhisper. She is such a fantastic pony.” Starlight closed her diary and ran out of the cave and off she went toward the old tower. The old tower stood high above the trees. As Starlight entered the door, the stones on top seemed like they were about to crumble. Luckily they didn’t or Starlight would have probably never been able to see the light of day again. She could have been stuck in the cave healing for what it seemed like forever. Starlight and Stardust took easy steps as they walked up the wooden stairs. They knew one drop could have led to a few hooves being broken, or worse, death. Once they got to the room where the book laid on the book holder, Starlight flipped open the pages and started to read. Starlight’s cutie mark was a book with a star-like picture on it with sparkles surrounding. Her cutie mark was meant to say that her talent was reading books about ponies that lived long ago. She loved legends and tales of ponies who lived long ago. “It says here that Hollowwhisper had tried a spell that was supposed to make her have wings, but it made her have a black mane instead,” Starlight said. Stardust walked right next to her and read the section she got it from. Clear enough, it was printed on the book. Stardust turned the page and started to read a section. “Oh Stardust, look here,” Starlight said pointing to a paragraph. Stardust read the paragraph trying to find out what her sister had found. “I see it,” Stardust gasped, “it says that Hollowwhisper had climbed a mountain for forty days without stopping.” Starlight nodded her head, and then turned the pages once more. The two sisters read through almost half of the book when they had suddenly heard a strange noise. “Uh Starlight, we need to get out of here,” Stardust suggested. They ran down the stairs and into the woods. Then suddenly, they heard a loud crumble. “Oh dear Celestia!” Starlight screamed. She broke out into tears as her sister tried to comfort her. “It’s ok Starlight, we’ll find somewhere else to learn history, I promise,” Stardust reassured her. Starlight calmed down after a few sobs. The sisters moved on through the forest to find another place to tour around. Then suddenly, they saw an old castle. “What in the name of Equestria is that place?” Starlight asked in shock. She couldn’t stop staring at the magnificent castle. She rushed straight inside the gate and headed for the castle doors. She opened them and walked inside, what she found inside surprised her. She saw a big flag with King Woodweaver and Queen Featherwing on it. “Stardust, that’s Woodweaver and Featherwing,” Starlight said pointing to the flag. “They were such close friends that they fell in love when they were teenagers,” Stardust said, “they got married when they came of age.” Starlight started to wonder if Stardust had been reading King Woodweaver’s diary. She just shrugged off and kept on walking through the castle. The two sisters decided to stay in a room of the abandoned castle for the night. When they went to bed, Starlight continued to read Woodweaver’s diary. She just had to find out when he started to have feelings for Featherwing. Starlight read, “As we walked through town, Featherwing started to get curious. She looked at the ponies that were sitting on the side of the street. They were the poorest ponies in the kingdom. Featherwing walked over to a family of them and gave the family her beard. I smiled as she gave me a smile. Them we heard clopping coming from behind us. It was the king’s soldiers coming through the town. They carried plates in their mouths that had all kinds of goodies. They gave the goodies to the poor ponies sitting on the street. Luckily the king was generous enough to give the ponies food. King Swirlspoon was very kind and generous. He fought off an evil dragon that was trying to burn his kingdom. ‘Well I got to head home see ya later Woodweaver,’ Featherwing said, waving her hoof. I dashed on home myself. My mom was probably waiting for me so I could eat my supper. She was making her famous soup when I walked in. My mom and dad own a soup market with tons of world famous soups that they created. They always gave it to the poor ponies for free. ‘Hello sweetie, here’s some of my famous chicken soup,’ my mom said cheerfully. I gave her a smile and started to slurp the soup down. It tasted amazing like always. While I was almost finish slurp down my last spoonful of soup, a guard of King Swirlspoon knocked on the door. ‘Hello, what is it you need good sir?’ my mom asked. The guard stepped in and pointed at me. I stood up and walked over to him. ‘King Swirlspoon has summoned you young foal,’ the guard said. My mom put things in my sack and put on my back before I headed to the castle. As I left my sister, my dad, and mom waved goodbye. I knew I had a long journey ahead of me.” Starlight closed the book and opened her diary. She wrote about what happened to her today. After she was done she drifted off into a deep sleep. The next morning, the sisters decided to explore the castle after breakfast. Starlight went to a room that looked like a bedroom. It was a small bedroom with a small bed. It had dolls and toys scattered on the floor. It must have been the bedroom of Woodweaver’s and Featherwing’s daughter. Starlight saw a little book sitting in the middle of the carpet. She opened it and started to read. Starlight read, “Mommy and daddy have been hiding something from me. I don’t know what it is but I am going to find out. Don’t worry, I’ll find out soon. Jewelheart out.” Starlight stared in shock at Jewelheart’s diary. She picked it up and put it in her pack with Woodweaver’s diary. “I’ll find out what secret he was hiding from his’ daughter soon,” Starlight whispered to herself. She entered another room that looked like a party room. “This must be the ball room where held dances and parties,” Starlight said. “Wow, what a huge room,” Stardust said staring in amazement. Starlight walked over to a flipping over table. The curtains were ripped and the streamers were scattered around the floor. “Some kind of robbery happened here,” Stardust said looking at the mess in shock. “This must have been the death of King Woodweaver and Queen Featherwing,” Starlight said. It was indeed in fact the place where King Woodweaver died. It happened like this as it said in the book, “My wife and I had decided to plan a big party, and I can’t wait for it. Today I am going to send out invitations. I’ll write tomorrow.” That was the last thing he wrote before his death. “How do we find out how he died?” Stardust said. Starlight brought out of her sack Jewelheart’s diary. “His daughter survived and wrote what happened while he was at the party,” Starlight said. She opened the book and started to read. She read, “Daddy and mommy had plan a party and I mostly spent my time near the desert table. I really liked the chocolate cake, it was tasty. The next event that happened next was really scary. Someone broke through the big window and threw the table on my mom and dad. They were bleeding a lot and they lost so much blood. They died in their bed and were buried in the garden. I can’t write anymore I’m crying so much.” Starlight closed the book. The two sisters couldn’t move they were in so much shock. “That is horrible,” Stardust said breaking the silence. “It is,” Starlight replied, “if they hadn’t died, they would have been ruling Octopia right now.” The sun suddenly set down between the mountains. The two sisters feel asleep crying in ballroom right there. But what the two sisters didn’t see on the page was “I changed my name to Starlight and went on with my sister Stardust.” That’s right, Starlight is Jewelheart. Starlight woke up by a strange sound and then she looked at the page. She saw what was written on it and started to feel sick inside. She woke up Stardust and showed her the page. “You mean we are the heirs to the throne of Octopia?!” Stardust asked in shock. Starlight just gave a simple nod. “Well then,” Stardust said getting up, “we better head to castle and tell the guards since nobody is ruling now.” They ran out of the castle and head for the main village. “This place is huge,” Starlight said in amazement. She could stop staring at all the stands and buildings. They towered over the city like the trees did in the forest. Except, these were not trees but house and buildings of all sorts. King Woodweaver had seen these buildings, but they were all made out of wood. Starlight couldn’t wait to explore the town; she thought it was amazing. As Stardust entered a store, Starlight snuck away to another place to explore. She went straight for the food market to get answers about any weird legends. Luckily, there was a mare with a cloak over her and looked very secretive. Starlight walked over to her slowly as if something was telling her this was a mistake. “Hello ma’am,” Starlight greeted. “Hello young one,” the mare asked, “do you want to hear one of my old tales?” Starlight beamed at the sound of that. “Of course, I love old tales,” Starlight replied, trying to stay as calm as she could. The mare looked at her as if she was looking into her soul. “My name is Midnighttale,” she said, “today I have to story tell that is about a pony and a breezy.” Starlight was almost going to jump out and scream, but she controlled herself and stayed seated. “A pony named Laughingloon was traveling through the forest one day. Now, this pony made every pony in Octopia laugh. Well, one day he saw a breezy out in the woods. He became good friends with the breezy. One day, he decided he would turn himself into a breezy. He did and he was roommates with his friend till the very end.” Starlight stared in amazement. The mare’s tale was supposed to teach a lesson, but it really didn’t seem clear. “What is the lesson of that story?” Starlight asked. The mare looked down at her and pulled the top of the cloak off her head. “The lesson was do not be your friends, be yourself,” she replied in a serious tone. Starlight didn’t see the lesson in the story. Then suddenly, it came to her why the mare told the tale. The mare must have noticed her sister and her reading together. She must have seen the way her sister was trying to be Starlight, but she shouldn’t have. She tells Starlight so Starlight can tell Stardust. It was a very good lesson for Stardust indeed. “Stardust,” Starlight said to her sister, “I met this mare and she taught me lesson to tell you about ‘Don’t be your friends be yourself,’ she said.” Stardust stared in shock at her sister. She had no idea what was going on at the moment. “Nice lesson Starlight,” Stardust said. Stardust turned back to what she was doing and ignored her sister. “Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you’ve been acting,” Starlight said. Stardust bit her bottom lip and tried to concentrate. She was trying to choose a saddle bag, but she couldn’t concentrate after what her sister had said. “Please talk to me Stardust,” Starlight said. “Your right,” Stardust sobbed, “I always tried to be you but I can’t!” Stardust ran out the store sobbing. Starlight ran straight after Stardust. “Please stop sister!” Starlight commanded. Stardust stopped and continued to cry softly. “It just I always wanted to be smart like you because I don’t know anything,” Stardust sniffed. Starlight hugged her sister. “You are great just the way you are Stardust,” Starlight said. When all the tears came out of her, Stardust started to smile. The two sisters continued to walk through the town. They decide to stay somewhere for the night, for they knew they would never make it to the castle on time. Starlight and Stardust found a little cottage in the woods just outside the town. They decided that they would stay here for the night if they could. Starlight gave a little knock on the door. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a young mare. “What do you want girls?” the mare asked. “It’s getting late and we need somewhere to stay,” Starlight replied. The mare let them in with a smile on her face. “Thank you, ma’am,” Starlight said walking inside. The mare led them to the dining room to sit down. Food was everywhere on the table. “You must be hungry,” the mare said, “please eat.” They started to eat. “Excuse me,” Starlight asked before eating a spoonful of food, “do you know about King Woodweaver?” The mare put down her teacup and grabbed a book from her bookshelf. On the front cover it said “the legend of King Woodweaver. “This might tell us more about his death then his’ daughter had written,” Starlight pointed out. “It is true,” the mare said agreeing, “I read her diary and she really didn’t explain it very well as this book does.” Starlight opened the book and flipped to the chapter called “King Woodweaver’s Death”. It said “King Woodweaver and Queen Featherwing were holding a party for the whole village. While King Woodweaver was talking to his’ best friend Appleplanter, a thief named Darktombstone was planning out Woodweaver’s death. On the day of the party, Darktombstone slam the doors open and jumped on King Woodweaver. He killed Woodweaver a few seconds after. Nobody knows why Darktombstone murdered King Woodweaver, but it said that he hated him because King Woodweaver ordered horrible deaths to criminals. Darktombstone was seized and put in prison for life. He died of old age.” Starlight stared at the book in shock. She never thought she would get as far as to know the murder’s name of King Woodweaver. Since she was the daughter of King Woodweaver, she felt guilty that she hadn’t explained more accurate. “May we tell you something?” Stardust asked the mare. The mare smiled and nodded her head. “We are the daughters of King Woodweaver,” Starlight confessed. The mare stared in amazement. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you kidding?” she asked. Starlight shook her head. The mare gave the two sisters gave them a look. “I believe you,” she finally said with a smile. “Thank you,” Starlight said. “Your welcome,” she said, “anyway my name is Diamondshine.” “My name is Starlight and this is my sister named Stardust,” Starlight said, “but you know my real name is Jewelheart.” “And her name is Lunashine,” Diamondshine pointed out. Stardust’s eyes sparkled at her actual name. “That sounds like a beautiful name,” Stardust said. Diamondshine smiled and opened the book. She pointed at a paragraph. Stardust read, “King Woodweaver was married to Featherwing and had two daughters named Jewelheart and Lunashine.” Stardust smiled at the thought of her name. “We need help to get to the castle quickly tomorrow,” Starlight said. “I have an idea,” Diamondshine replied, “I have carriage that can get us to the castle really fast.” Starlight smiled. “Well we better get to bed,” Diamondshine said, “I’ll show you your rooms.” “Ok,” Starlight yawned, “I’m really tried.” Diamondshine showed the two sisters to the rooms. “Thank you Diamondshine,” Starlight said. Diamondshine just smiled and then closed the door. Starlight grabbed her book and started to read. She read, “When the guard and I got to the gates of the castle, I kind of tripped getting out of the carriage. I couldn’t wait to hear what the king had to say. When we entered the castle, I was in shock in a good way. The castle was really huge and very beautiful. We entered through two large doors to the king’s throne room. He sat on the throne, waiting for me to come closer. I didn’t even walk because I was so excited. ‘Yes King Swirlspoon?’ I asked. He stared at me in shock. Now looking back at it, my behavior was not the best. ‘Woodweaver,’ the king said, ‘I need to tell you something very important.’ I was little jumpy, I couldn’t even sit down. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked. I nodded my head very fast. He just giggled at me. ‘I need you to take rule when I pass,’ he said. My heart sank right there. He accepted me to be a good ruler? ‘Why I am I chosen to rule over the kingdom?’ I asked. ‘Well you see,’ he said, ‘I have no children and I really would like you to rule.’ Of course, I had no choice. When I turned eighteen, I was crowned king. The king had passed away two weeks before I was crowned. I was king, ruler of Octopia.” Starlight closed the diary and fell asleep. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow. Starlight tried to stay comfortable in the wooden carriage. But it was pointless. Not even the blankets helped because they were so scratchy. “Diamondshine,” I asked, “can I stretch my legs?” She stopped the carriage and let me out. I walked around for a while, knowing that she was going back to discomfort in a few minutes. Once they got to the castle, Starlight got out of the carriage quickly. She ran straight inside the castle and busted through the door. “I have something to confess!” Starlight yelled standing on the throne. The guards stopped in their tracks to hear her. “I am Jewelheart,” Starlight said. The crowd gasped and looked at Starlight amazed. “You mean you are the daughter of King Woodweaver?” one of the guards asked. She nodded and another gasp came out of the crowd. When they thought about for a moment, the crowd suddenly bowed in front of Starlight. “Princess Jewelheart,” the guard called. Starlight walked toward him. He put the crown on me and I turned to look at the crowd. “Everypony, Queen Jewelheart!” the guard said. “And my sister, Lunashine,” Queen Jewelheart said. Stardust came through the door. The guard also put a crown on her head. “Princess Lunashine,” he said. Lunashine’s eyes sparkled. The two sisters were finally where they were meant to be. After the party, Jewelheart went inside a secret passage she found. She walked down the hall, looking behind her contently. When she got to the end of the hall, she found a portrait. It was a painting of King Woodweaver, Queen Featherwing, Princess Jewelheart, and Princess Lunashine. Jewelheart smiled. She saw a book next to the portrait. Jewelheart opened it and found these words, “Dear my daughter Jewelheart, I have written a diary throughout my life, now I give you one that is in better condition than that one you have. I give you a better diary to write in when you rule this kingdom. Your father, King Woodweaver” Jewelheart started to write in the diary. She started from when she was a filly to now.