I will have Every Dreams in this one
Dreams DO come true
Written by Sparknanator and Southpawfighter614, based on the MLP Universe.
Damian had reached a dead end in his life. His family had all but forgotten him; his friends barely spoke to him at all, if he could consider them friends. The only solace he found was in a show he stumbled upon by accident. The show had brought him unending happiness whenever a new episode had come out, but the series had finally ended. Now he felt he had nothing to live for. Damian was sitting on the very topmost point of the 10 story parking structure, caressing a little pink pony with blue wings and hair. The pony was named Princess Celestia in the show. Celestia was forever the symbol of wisdom and courage. He silently wished to himself “I wish Celestia were my mother, she’d understand. She always understands” Still grasping the pink pony, he let himself fall of the structure.
Damian had woken up with a sharp gasp and jolted from a prone position. The last thing he remembered was the night sky melding into the asphalt below the parking structure, and a sudden blackness. Now he was laying on an ornate plush carpet, red in color. Around him were stone walls, with scenes of his life playing. He was learning to ride a bike on the screen directly right of him. On the left, his sixteenth birthday party, which had only happened a day or two ago. A voice floated in from a door, and out of the door walked something he could only describe as an Angel. He (or she) was clad in a white robe of Roman style, a crown of green adorning its head. The voice sounded omnipotent, though it was clearly uttered by the Angel.
“Welcome, Damian, to your memories.” It said. “I’m the embodiment of your soul. Your time was not due yet, but once you’re dead, I have no choice in the matter. Here I can offer you a new life, if you so choose, to be reborn, and start over. To make a better life for yourself. Obviously, your life previously must have been horrid, in order to take it upon yourself to end it.”
The Angel helped a confused Damian to his feet. “You’re saying I’ve been given the chance to be reborn?” Damian asked quizzically. “As in a whole new lease on life, wherever I please?” Damian feeling more invigorated now.
“Yes, you have, but only within reasonable boundaries. I can’t send you to hell or heaven just because you want to go there. Nor can I send you back to earth. Your body was far too damaged. If you like, I can give you the names of what dimensions exist. But you must earn your place in heaven or hell.”
Damian thought to himself for a moment. “So what dimensions exist?”
“Oh, several” The Angel said. “Mayhaps even a few you already know of” He said with a wink. “As a matter of fact, I recall one we are both VERY fond of, Inhabited by colorful ponies.
Damian stood there, flabbergasted. “You mean I can go to Equestria? As a fully fledged pony? family and all?” Damian asked excitedly.
“Of course you can. You just need to tell me what family you’d like to be birthed or adopted into. You also need a name” Said the Angel.
Damian suddenly realized his final wish was being granted. And he knew immediately what he was going to do.
“Angel, I’d like to be birthed into The Royal Family. My name will be Shooting Star and I want to be an Alicorn.
“So mote it be” and Damian was suddenly engulfed in a brilliant white light.
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Shooting Star woke up as a young colt, adorned with wings and a horn, just like his mother and Aunt. He shook the sleepiness from his head and stumbled out of bed. Today he would start visiting his Aunt Twilight. According to mommy and LuLu, she was a very dear friend and quite the respected pony. Since his mother and aunt always had royal duties to attend to, Twilight would start training him in using his magic. He would even live part-time with Twilight in her library. He looked at himself in the mirror and made sure he wasn’t too raggedy looking. After a satisfied huff, Star turned to his bedroom door. Star was very excited and could barely contain it as he galloped out of his room and down the main hall to the dining room and kitchens.
Skittering into the kitchen, Star nearly ran face-first into a dining room table. He trotted slowly up to the serving counter and shouted to the cooks, who he had become friends with. They served him a fresh stack of pancakes, heaped with warm butter and syrup, with a side of apple chunks. He ate hungrily, waiting for his personal guard to arrive.
A large Unicorn entered the dining room, a katana slung across his back. He was one of the biggest stallions Star had ever seen. He had a vivid red coat, a shade above crimson, with black stripes and Green-Blue eyes. He was not dressed in standard guard regalia, and preferred to just wear his blade around the castle. Star called him Shadowfoot for the black on his hooves. Even though Shadow was gruff, he was kind and strong, always looking out for Star when his family couldn’t.
“Have you finished breakfast, young prince?” Shadow asked in his gravelly voice. “We have much to prepare before your trip to ponyville this afternoon.”
“Yes Shadow, I’m finished.” Star said as Shadow levitated the now empty plate into the sink behind the counter.
“Very well, let’s go.” Shadow led the young prince out into the hallway and toward his mother’s chambers.
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Shooting Star trotted into his mother’s chambers, slightly apprehensive. He knew deep down once he left he would not be coming back home until he was grown. He would still get visits from Momma and Aunt Luna, but magic training required intensive amounts of studying, and it would be awfully inefficient to make the 8 hour trip between canterlot and ponyville every day. Star approached his mother, whom was sobbing slightly. He coughed lightly, garnering his mother’s attention.
Princess Celestia looked over to her young foal, realizing now he was in the room. She slipped off the bed slowly, dreading the next few minutes.
“My young prince” Celestia cooed, trying to lose the last bit of shakiness in her voice. “I’m glad you were up early enough to come see me before you left” She said as she nuzzled him. “I have a small gift for you.” She levitated a small black box toward him, opening the lid. Inside was a small pendant of a Shooting star, on a braided silver chain. It was a bright yellow gem, in the shape of a star with a tail.
“This pendant I had especially crafted for you, for I knew this day would eventually come, and I did not want you to forget your roots. You won’t be returning to me for some time, after you’ve grown up into an adult. Until then, take this keepsake and remember us.”
Shooting Star embraced his mother, nuzzling her affectionately. He walked over to Aunt Luna, also embracing her. A few stray tears were shed, as Star was escorted to the inner gate by the only family he’d ever known. Shadowfoot walked Star to the outer gate that led to the city and Star’s awaiting chariot.
“Young Prince, I’ve never enjoyed my time more in Her Majesty’s services, as much as when I was your personal guardian.” Shadow said solemnly. “You gave me purpose once again, As I was on the brink of retiring before you came into this world. You are a brave, young colt, and I’m sure with time you will grow strong, mentally and physically. I want you to have this.”
Shadow levitated a hand-drawn map to his young charge. “Should you ever get lost, this map will lead you back home safely. I hope you treasure it as much as I’ve treasured my time with you.”
Star sniffled a little as he accepted the gift from his first friend. He climbed into the royal chariot that was waiting for him, and with a heavy heart, waved goodbye to the first home he had known, and his first friend who shown him where kindness, compassion, and strength really came from.
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Twilight Sparkle awoke that morning to a painful-sounding belch uttered by her draconic assistant, Spike. She had just received a letter from Princess Celestia. In the letter, a detailed report was given about the Sun Princess’s son, Shooting Star. Celestia and Luna didn’t have time to teach him the ways of magic, so Twilight was charged with teaching Shooting Star everything she knew about magic. Twilight was also warned that at his young age, Star was still prone to uncontrollable bursts of magic, much like the same day Twilight had gotten her cutie mark. A package arrived shortly after, containing a small savings box of about 5000 bits, to serve as a buffer for food, lodging, and any materials they may need.
Twilight was now visibly flustered, scrambling to put together some semblance of a spare bedroom for her soon-to-be arrival. She hadn’t appreciated the lack of time to prepare, but she was good at cramming, whether it came to her studies, or a bedroom. After about an hour, Twilight had a freshly made bed and dresser for her new housemate, along with a picture of his mother, aunt, and guardian which she specifically requested from an old friend of hers in the castle. As she was putting the finishing touches on the hastily erected bedroom, she heard a knock on the door downstairs. Trotting downstairs after composing herself, she opened the door gently.
Standing outside the library door, Star knocked tentatively. It was answered by a purple unicorn with a pink stripe in her mane. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m very pleased to meet you, Shooting Star.” Star stood, shocked. How did she know his name?
“H…Hello, Miss Twilight…” Star said nervously. “I guess this is my new home for a while?” Star said, trotting nervously into the massive tree-like structure.
“Yes it is. I’ve already got your room ready for you. I’ll bring your bags inside while you go get settled.” Twilight said, taking on a motherly tone. “Yes, Miss Twilight. Thank you” said Star as he ascended the stairs slowly, not wanting to go to the room right away, for when he did, he knew he would break down and cry. He already missed home dearly, and it was getting to him.
“Yes it is. I’ve already got your room ready for you. I’ll bring your bags inside while you go get settled.” Twilight said, taking on a motherly tone. “Yes, Miss Twilight. Thank you” said Star as he ascended the stairs slowly, not wanting to go to the room right away, for when he did, he knew he would break down and cry. He already missed home dearly, and it was getting to him. As Star laid down on his fresh bed, he noticed the picture on the dresser. He picked it up and clutched it close to his chest, and began to sob. He fell asleep still holding his picture.
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Twilight heard her young student sobbing in his room, and decided to let him have it out. She knew he would feel much better afterwards, and set to making dinner. Eventually, the sobs were replaced by gentle snores, and she decided to let him nap before dinner. As Twilight was finishing up cooking the meal, she heard the tapping of little hooves on wooden stairs, and saw her student enter the kitchen, mane slightly ruffled by sleep.
“Hi there, sleepycolt” Twilight said to Shooting Star, as he entered the kitchen. “I made some dinner if you’re hungry.” Star nodded to his teacher, and plopped down on the haystack chair he was provided. He ate slowly, picking at this and that. While it was silent, there was nothing really to be said. Star thanked Twilight for dinner and retreated back to his room. He wanted to enjoy the last little bit of alone time he would have before his magical training started tomorrow.
The next morning, Star was awoken rather early by a giddy Twilight. “Shooting Star, time to wake up, sleepycolt.” Twilight nudged him gently. He awoke, bleary eyed and slightly grumpy. Twilight was instantly reminded of Spike, and trotted off to wake him up. Star shook himself out from under his covers, and stretched, climbing out of the warm pocket that was his bed. He combed his mane quickly, and trotted downstairs to a waiting breakfast. Spike was sitting on another chair nearby.
“Good morning, Shooting Star” Spike greeted the new arrival warmly. Star plopped next to the tiny purple lizard, who wasn’t much older than him. They both ate hungrily. Now fully awake due to the hot meal they had just eaten. Spike hopped off of his stool to clean the dishes, while Shooting Star headed downstairs to the study, where Twilight was waiting for him.
A loud <bang> from upstairs startled both Twilight and Shooting Star. They jumped in almost perfect sync, as Pinkie Pie came barreling down the steps, nearly smashing into Twilight. It was then Pinkie noticed the new colt that had been present with Twilight in the study room. Pinkie gasped quite audibly, similar to when she had first met Twilight. Pinkie began babbling incoherently, right in Shooting Star’s face, their muzzles almost touching. Shooting Star was scared by this, and ran to hide behind Twilight.
Twilight stuffed a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth. “Pinkie, what could possibly be so important that you needed to break into my library, and proceed to scare me and my student?” Twilight asked sternly.
“Twilight, I heard you had a new colt move in and that he was Celestia’s son and that he was really sad and weepy so I decided to come see him and meet him and throw a ponyville party for him with cakes and cookies and cupcakes and muffins and all our friends” Pinkie said, in one continuous sentence, as was Pinkie’s habit.
Twilight gasped. She hadn’t realized that word traveled so quickly about her new arrival, but this wasn’t surprising considering it was Pinkie. Physics, the fourth wall, and even logic never applied to Pinkie Pie. She was “So random” as Rainbow Dash often said. Twilight pulled Pinkie off to the side, and told her that because Star was Celestia’s son, word must not get around, otherwise he could be in grave danger. Pinkie made the motions of a Pinkie promise, and literally flew out of the study as a poofy, pink blur. Star came out from behind the book he had been studying. Twilight had told him he had an important event to attend tomorrow, and gave him the rest of the evening to collect himself.
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As Shooting Star headed up to his room lethargically, he waved to Spike who was busy dusting some shelves off and reorganizing some books. Spike bid him goodnight, and Shooting Star flopped onto his bed, too tired to even get properly comfortable. He fell asleep quickly, into a vivid dream about cake. The dream quickly changed into something entirely different.
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The dream started sweetly, with Shooting Star climbing a cake mountain with Pinkie Pie in tow. Most of the dream was spent climbing the crumbly, tasty mountain, talking to several animated desserts as Shooting Star and Pinkie hiked along. Right before they reached the top, there was utter blackness, and Shooting Star felt cold all over, even though he was probably wrapped up in a nest of blankets. Shooting Star suddenly felt very scared, and kept screaming to himself “wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!!” But he did not wake. Instead he was dropped into a gray place, with tall buildings surrounding him, and strange machines that made a lot of noise and smoke.
There was rain, thunder, lightning, and Star was wrapped in a soaked cloth of some sort. He was walking on two legs. On two legs!? Since when did he have two legs? A name echoed in the confines of his subconscious. Demon, was it? or dark man? Wait…”Damian” it said to him slowly, placatingly. It was enchanting, and hauntingly familiar. Was that his name in this other world, this other body? Damian? He wasn’t sure what to make of this dream, but he was scared.
Star began to run, tripping and falling into mud puddles and garbage heaps. Things were being thrown at him. Rocks, cans, all manner of garbage. Star was crying, being chased by monsters, on two legs just the same as he. They were laughing at him and calling him names. He didn’t know why they were being so cruel to him. Star ran into a dark alleyway, rain beating down on him. The pale monsters caught up to him, and he got a good look at them.
The monsters were pale and tall. There were three of them. Two of them had dust colored manes, and the third one, the biggest, had a dark brown, mud colored mane. They stood on two legs, and did not have hooves on any of their limbs. They were wearing cloths, similar to what he was wearing. Also, he realized that they had no fur either. Whatever these were, they were certainly not ponies. And certainly not from Equestria, if his old story books had any truth within them. The monsters approached him, brandishing sticks and pipes.
Star acted on instinct, though he didn’t realize what kind of instinct he was acting upon. He picked up some sort of long, wooden object, with metal bits sticking out of it. He then charged the nearest monster, swinging his ill-suited weapon at its torso. The monster easily sidestepped him and hit him across his back with a grey pipe. Star felt the sharpest jolt of pain he had ever experienced, and he collapsed under the jolt. He felt the other monsters beating upon him, laughing and yelling, as if they enjoyed every second of his torture. With three final hits, they dropped their weapons on him, and left him for dead. Gasping for air, he collapsed in a final white light.
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Shooting Star jolted awake with a scream that was quite unlike him. Twilight and Spike barged into his room, Twilight activating a magically powered lamp on his bedstand. Twilight rushed to Star’s side, cradling him in her forehooves. He was sobbing loudly, and shaking. Star was also drenched in a cold sweat, even though the bedroom was pleasantly cool for being the middle of the summer.
Twilight was still holding Shooting Star, rocking him gently. She told Spike to make some warm tea and bring it up to the room, while she talked to Shooting Star. She asked him about his nightmare, and he recounted every last horrifying detail, erupting into fresh sobs every time a particularly painful piece came forth. As Twilight held Star gently, Spike had returned with the tea, and Shooting Star drank deeply, having cried himself nearly hoarse. Twilight waited until he fell asleep, and returned to bed herself. Twilight hoped that tomorrow’s festivities would take Star’s mind off of his horrifying dream.
Twilight dwelt upon Star’s nightmare for a few moments. From what Star had told her, it seemed like he had lived through the events, rather than dreamt them. She had heard of lucid dreaming, where the dream feels real while you sleep, but hadn’t yet come across a case where it woke the dreamer up with such vivid recollection. Twilight placed the dream to the back of her mind and dozed off. She had to help Pinkie with the party preparations, so she would need to be up early.
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The next day, Star woke up at about 10am, judging by the sunlight streaming through his curtains. He saw a note tacked to his lamp. The note read as follows:
“Shooting Star, today’s the day of Pinkie’s welcoming party for you. Please tidy yourself up and come downstairs when you’re ready. Signed, Twilight Sparkle.”
Shooting Star frowned and looked at himself in the mirror. Living at the castle required a certain amount of grooming which he never liked. Nonetheless, he ran a wide-toothed combed through his mane, checked himself in the mirror, and trotted downstairs to a waiting breakfast. After cleaning his plate, Twilight entered the library with a smile, telekinetically placing a midnight blue bowtie around Star’s neck. Star grumbled at this, but kept it on for Twilight’s sake. After that, Twilight and Star climbed into a waiting carriage, driven by none other than Spike himself.
The long walk to Sweet Apple Acres was not an easy one, so Twilight decided to rent a carriage for the day. Even though other young fillies and colts walked the same route, Twilight felt the young prince shouldn’t have had to. They arrived at Sweet Apple Acres at just about 11:30, and the party guests were filtering in as pairs or threes. All the faces were new to Shooting Star, except for Spike, Twilight, and Pinkie.
Twilight led Shooting Star to a lavishly decorated table, marked “Guests of Honor”. At this table were 7 chairs, and Twilight seated Shooting Star at the most lavish of the chairs. She then proceeded to introduce Shooting Star to her 5 best friends. First up was a yellow Pegasus with a butterfly cutie mark. She introduced herself as Fluttershy, rather shyly as her name implied. She seated herself at one of the chairs. Next, a rather pretty unicorn introduced herself as Rarity. She ran the Carousel Boutique, designing clothes for the rich and famous as well as the less privileged. She was a sparkling white color with three gems as a cutie mark and a purple mane. Spike’s eyes went all googly with little hearts in them every time he looked at Rarity, Star noted.
Third was a rather well built earth pony with three apples as her cutie mark. She had an orange coat and dirty blonde hair. She was the proprietor of the very farm they were at. She introduced herself as Applejack, giving Star a warm smile and rather vigorous hoofshake, leaving Star’s eyes spinning in their sockets. Lastly, a rather colorful Pegasus flew above the crowd and directly to their table. Introducing herself as Rainbow Dash, she went on about how she was the best young flier in Equestria, destined to become captain of the Wonderbolts. She filled the last chair at the table, and the group began to chat excitedly among themselves.
They were equally astonished that there was another Alicorn among the ponies of Equestria. The last anypony had seen of an Alicorn besides the princesses, was over a millennia ago, before Nightmare Moon’s exile. The ponies chatted amongst themselves about nothing in particular, which bored the horseshoes off of Shooting Star. After he’d had quite enough of the conversation he didn’t understand, he began to mingle among the other ponies. They were all adults, well most of them, so he didn’t get too much excitement from them.
Sitting alone in a corner were three young fillies. Shooting Star approached them, unsure of what he was going to say. Ultimately, he introduced himself and they happily introduced themselves. Their names were Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo was a brash orange Pegasus with tiny wings and purple hair. Her attitude reflected Rainbow Dash’s, albeit younger. Apple Bloom was a slightly chunky Earth pony with red hair that was related to Applejack. Even her voice reflected her older sister’s. Sweetie Belle was a white unicorn with a pink stripe in her blue-purple mane, related to none other than Rarity, the boutique owner. They called themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, revealing their blank hindquarters.
Shooting Star sat and chatted for a good long while with the young fillies, and found that they had many interesting stories to tell about their adventures in seeking their cutie marks. He found that some of the stories were outright ridiculous, and they all laughed about them. The party went on around him, occasionally a new pony would introduce themselves to him, but he barely remembered their name a few seconds afterwards. It’s not that he was particularly mean or ungrateful, but he was still young and couldn’t hold very many thoughts at once. As the long night drew on, Star felt himself getting sleepier and sleepier. Taking leave of his new friends, he made his way to the Honored table, and asked Twilight if they were ready to go home.
Twilight garnered everypony’s attention with a purple flash, and announced the party to be a complete success, as well as over. Seeing other ponies out the barn doors, Twilight bid each of them goodnight, and thanked them for coming. After the cleanup was finished, Twilight levitated a barely awake Shooting Star into their waiting carriage. The trip home was quiet and uneventful, and Star somehow managed to stay partly awake.
As Twilight and her protégé disembarked the carriage, Star wandered into the treehouse, barely able to keep his eyes open. Twilight wasn’t watching him as she was busy. Twilight barely had time to lock up before she heard a loud thunk of skull on wood. Whipping around, she noticed that there was a crying Alicorn Prince on her floor, before there was a brilliant flash of cobalt blue light and a resounding explosion that blew all the windows out of the treehouse. After the magical aura disappeared, Twilight looked around at her now exploded main room. Books littered the floor, some damaged, some just cast about as if they were thrown. Twilight looked on in amazement. She knew Alicorns had immeasurable power, even at a young age, but she had never seen a magical discharge this powerful, even from herself as a young filly.
Shooting Star woke up in a daze, bandages on his head, in his own bed. He had remembered leaving the party and getting back home, but not much after that. He stumbled downstairs dizzily, supporting himself on the sturdy oak rails. He walked blearily into the kitchen, surprising Twilight and Spike. Just then he noticed the library was all but destroyed, as if an explosion occurred within the sturdy oak building. Frightened, Star ran to Twilight, asking her what had happened.
Twilight explained to Shooting Star that he had caused a magical discharge, by being so tired and bumping his head on one of the tables that dotted the library. The resulting explosion had damaged and scattered some books, and broke some windows. Twilight saw the hurt on her nephew’s face. She immediately comforted him, saying that it wasn’t his fault, and that even young unicorns can have astounding magical discharges. His was only so powerful because he was an Alicorn.
Holding back tears, Shooting Star offered to help clean up the library along with Spike, while Twilight was repairing the shattered windows. Twilight though this was an excellent idea and gave Shooting Star permission to help. During that time, he and Spike bonded little by little, goofing around here or there when Twilight wasn’t watching. By time the work was all done, it was leaning towards late afternoon, leaving little time for Star’s studies. Twilight decided that Shooting Star and Spike should play together for the rest of the evening, while she caught up on studies of her own. To this end, Spike and Shooting Star sat down for a game of checkers, placing candies and sweets up as bets for who would win the game.
Spike enjoyed playing with Shooting Star. It was nice to have somepony to be a kid with, even if he was royalty. Spike often was bored or frustrated with the tasks he was often assigned by Twilight or Rarity, and it was good to just enjoy a game or two with a friend. The Cutie Mark Crusaders rarely came around, unless looking for new cutie mark shenanigans. And the other fillies and colts from Cheerilee’s class never stopped by the library unless on some sort of school trip. So it was always Spike, Twilight, and Shooting Star.
Twilight visibly saw an improvement in Star’s demeanor and mannerisms when he was free to play around. He smiled more, grumbled less, and was more prone to study harder if he was given frequent rests. He still had several years ahead of him before he would really need his magic, so Twilight saw no harm in his innocent games. Magic did require intensive study. Too much studying impeded the process for everypony except Twilight, who enjoyed studying. Twilight made it a point to give Star a few breaks a day to get some fresh air or play a game, and his attitude began to stay positive as time passed. He would even ask to write to his mother occasionally if Spike weren’t available to play right away. In this respect, he felt closer to his mother. His first letter went along these lines:
“Hi mom. It’s me, Shooting Star. For the first few days I was living in Ponyville, I was very sad and scared. But after I had gotten to know other ponies thanks to Pinkie Pie and Aunt Twilight, I felt much happier. I also made some new friends with these three fillies that go to school here. I want to go to school just like them someday. I also play games with Spike. He wins a lot, but sometimes I win. Then I get a bellyache from all the candy I win. Just today, My new friends came by and asked if I wanted to go crusading with them and Aunt Twilight let me as long as I was home before dark. She takes very good care of me. Thank you for sending me here, mommy. I need to go to bed now because I have to get up early for studies.
Love, your Shooting Star”
Star held the pendant he had received from his mother close to his heart. He asked Spike to send the letter for him, and with a burp, it went up in green flames. Spike explained how his dragon flames worked. His letter wasn’t really burned up, it was just magically fixed after it was sent.
After a few weeks had passed, Star had gotten his very first visit from both Aunt Luna and his mother. He was overjoyed that day, tears streaming down his muzzle as he was hugged both by Luna and Celestia. They talked all day about everything Star had learned. He even showed his mom that he could lift and move things with his magic, dumping a glass of water over Spike’s head, accidentally (though it really wasn’t). His mom even played some games with him, as did Aunt Luna, and eventually they were all laughing and playing and having fun. Aunt Twilight even got pelted with a fluffy pillow thrown by Celestia herself.
As night drew near, Aunt Luna had to do her job and raise the moon, and Celestia was tuckered out from the events of the day. With bittersweet smiles, The colt and his family parted ways, but not until they shared a dinner and a huge hug. After he watched his mom leave, Shooting Star finally realized how tired he was, and dozed off on the couch in front of the fireplace. Twilight couldn’t bear to disturb him, so she pulled a terrycloth blanket over him and Spike, as they had both fallen asleep relatively quickly. With a bemused smile, Twilight collected up the pillow that had been thrown at her, and trotted lazily to her room. Burying herself in a nest of blankets, she also fell asleep rather quickly. Tomorrow was Sunday, so it was going to be a relatively quiet and easy day. She made it a point to at least give her boys a day off from their duties, and Sunday was that day. She would even allow herself to sleep in, but not too much.
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Twilight awoke the next morning to the rays of the sun beating upon her muzzle. She looked at the clock and said to herself “oh horseapples! I should go and wake up Spike and Star! Twilight walked down the stairs to see Spike and Star in an epic game of checkers. She giggled to herself and said “good morning, boys”
“Good morning, Twilight” Spike said
“Good morning Aunt Twilight!” Star said with a smile on his face.
“Oh! before I forget, Star you have a doctor’s appointment.”
Star's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. When he heard this, a little fear in his voice made itself known.
“ D…Do I have to go?” Star said, nervously.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a check up and to get your stitches removed. You don’t need to be afraid” Twilight said with a reassuring smile on her face. “So, I need you to take a bath. We have to leave in thirty minutes.” Twilight said matter-of-factly.
Shooting Star sighed. “ok..” he muttered, and trotted to the bathroom.
Twilight walked to the doctor’s office with her nephew. When they arrived, Star looked up at Twilight and said “Aunt Twilight, do I really have to go?” still fearful. Twilight looked at him and said “yes” in a firm tone.
“Don’t worry; it’s just a checkup. Nothing bad will happen.” Twilight said, attempting to reassure the young colt once again.
After they entered the clinic and signed in, Twilight filled out all the annoying forms. About ten minutes later, they heard Star’s name being called.
“Shooting Star, Doctor Whooves will see you now.” A white nurse with a pink mane and tail approached the duo. She escorted them to their room.
Shooting Star and Twilight walked into the examination room. Star looked around the color filled room. The doctor walked in shortly after the two sat down.
“Well first of all, we are going to need some blood work, Ms.Twilight. Then we will need a physical. Afterwards, those stitches will come out.”
At the sound of “bloodwork”, Star’s eyes grew even bigger than before. Star tried to run, but before he could Twilight grasped him in her magic. “You’re not going anywhere. Nopony is going to hurt you.” Twilight said in a motherly tone.
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After a frightening half hour in the Doctor’s office, Shooting Star and Twilight emerged from the sanitary-looking clinic, Star happily toting a huge peppermint lollipop. Twilight followed a few steps behind, organizing his outpatient records for future reference. As Twilight and Star trotted down the main street of Ponyville, Star got to thinking about his guardian from his palace life. He missed his friend dearly, and Star hoped every day that his mother or his guardian would come visit him. As they approached the library, there was a Unicorn waiting patiently outside of the door. Twilight asked Shooting Star to wait behind her as they approached.
Shadow had hoped he found the same library that his young friend had come to live at. Shadow noticed a very angry looking unicorn approaching him, and almost regretted not carrying his beloved blade with him. Shadow put on his best “indifferent” face as she approached. Other unicorns were not to be trifled with; especially judging by the stories Shadow had heard about this particular purple mare.
Twilight approached the large red unicorn adorned with black stripes. She’d never seen this particular pony around, and he didn’t look like he belonged here in Ponyville. She asked of him “Who are you, and what do you want with my library? Are you lost?” His green eyes seemed to stare deep into her soul as she waited for an answer.
Shadow did not have time to answer her question, as he was then hit with a full force tackle-hug from his young friend, whom he now noticed had been standing behind Twilight. Laughing, he embraced the young colt warmly. “Well well, Shooting Star, your strength has grown, but not your size.” Shadow laughed as he hiked up the young colt onto his back. He wasn’t allowed such frivolities in front of the princesses and their court, so he allowed himself this minor show of affection.
Twilight blinked twice, a dumbfounded look on her face. Shooting Star was shy at best, even around other young ponies, but here it seemed like he had known this scary-looking unicorn since he was a foal. The red unicorn bowed gently, introducing himself.
“My name is Shadowfoot, Miss Sparkle. I was Shooting Star’s personal guardian back at the castle.” Rising from his polite bow, Shadowfoot finally managed to get out what he had been trying to say for the past few minutes. “I’ve so graciously been given leave of the castle for the next couple days. So I figured, why not see what all the fuss is about here in Ponyville? The town’s been all over the papers back home. But mostly, I wanted to visit Star.” He finished, smiling.
“I’m sorry Mr. Shadowfoot. I was unaware of your impact on Star’s life. I saw you in the photo, but he hasn’t told me anything about you. Would you like to come in and sit for a while?” Twilight asked, attempting to finish on a polite tone.
“I’d be honored to, Miss Sparkle.” He said sagely. Shadow followed Twilight into her treehouse, Shooting Star riding high on his back. The door shut behind him with a soft thunk, and Star hopped off of Shadow’s back to go find Spike. He wanted revenge on Spike for winning their last game. And who better to win in front of, than Shadow?
As Twilight and Shadow settled into uneasy conversation in Star’s absence, she did not want to hear the question that had came rather shortly after sitting down. “Miss Sparkle, I happened to notice a small cut on Star’s forehead. Have you any clues to how that came to be?” Shadow asked, rather seriously. Twilight swallowed hard before finally answering.
“Well, to cut a long story short, he bumped his head on the table we’re sitting at. He hit the corner, so it opened up quite widely. I immediately took him to the hospital and had him stitched up. He just got the stitches pulled out today.” Twilight tried to force a reassuring smile, but failed. Something about Shadow’s steely gaze would not allow her to hide the magical
eruption from him.
“There was something rather strange that happened, before I managed to get him stitched up.” Twilight said uneasily. “A few moments after Star bopped his head, he had a magical eruption. Most young unicorns are prone to them, as you and I both know, but this one was quite powerful. It devastated my library. It shattered all the windows, and threw books everywhere. Some of my books were even partially burnt.” Twilight finished flatly, levitating a slightly scorched book in her magical kinesis. “I knew grown Alicorns were beyond powerful, but a young alicorn carrying around a loose cannon that powerful is frightening, at minimum.”
“Hmm.” Shadow grunted, affirming his suspicions that an accident had occurred. “Well, as long as it was nothing serious, I have nothing to worry about.” Shadow said lightly, offering a smile. “But perhaps you should look into finding ways for him to control his magic, instead of teaching him new things all the time. With control comes power.” Shadow levitated a pen and pencil, having a pretend swordfight between the two. “With control, I learned to do this with something 100 times as heavy and 10 times as long as these writing utensils”
Twilight stared hard at Shadow “What do you think I’ve been trying to do? Star’s still young yet and he can only concentrate for so long before he gets bored.”
“I understand this, Miss Twilight. Please keep trying hard for his sake as well as yours.” Shadow said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just then, Shooting Star came skittering down the stairs, Checkerboard in tow. “First to the table gets first move!” Star yelled as Spike jogged along behind him. Plopping the checkerboard onto the tea table, Star levitated the little black and red pieces into their places on the board. As he had soundly beaten Spike to the table, first move was his. Star made his move, but did not see Spike waiting on the other end of the board. Instead, Spike was stopped dead in his tracks, staring down a
Unicorn that may possibly have been bigger than Big Macintosh. Walking slowly to the unicorn, Spike asked him who he was. Shadow then proceeded to introduce himself in a much simpler fashion than he had introduced himself to Twilight. Satisfied with Shadow’s answer, Spike sat and made his move.
While the adults were talking, Spike and Shooting Star engaged once more in an epic checkers war. Making satisfying –clack- noises with each move, the two went move for move, while the adults watched on in moderate amusement. Shadow was impressed at Star’s skill in this simple game. He could tell that Star would grow to be quite a smart young ruler of
equestria, if that’s what Star planned to do. Shadow decided to take a crack at the checkerboard, and was soundly beaten by both Spike and Star. But he kind of enjoyed cutting loose and acting like a colt again. Dropping every bit of his formal decorum, Shadow stayed engaged in activity and conversation with all those who were assembled, but had to take leave of Twilight and Star, as it was getting late and Star needed his sleep. Bidding a farewell to Twilight, Shooting Star, and Spike in turn, Shadow made his way to the library door, bowing his way out as was custom in most canterlot homes.
Shutting the door behind Shadow with a wave, Twilight rounded on the boys, levitating both of them. “Time for baths and bed, gentlecolt and gentledrake.” She said in a playfully menacing tone. After the boys had settled down, Twilight cleaned up the small mess that was left from tea and the boys’ game. She then retreated to her favorite couch in front of the fireplace, levitated a book onto a pillow, and proceeded to read. She wanted to do some research on alicorn magic before she turned in for the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason sat there reading a book, while “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” was on. He heard the phone ringing. Answering it, the voice on the other line was audibly sullen.
"Hello, is this Jason?" The deep, gruff voice inquired.
“This is he. May I ask who is speaking?” Jason retorted.
“My name is Detective Largo. I’m with the Johnson City police. I regret to inform you that your friend Damian has killed himself."
"What? That’s impossible. I talked to him a few weeks ago"
"Once again, I am sorry for your loss, but he left you a note and some things. If you don’t mind, can you pick them up today?"
"Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in about ten minutes" Jason replied flatly, clicking the receiver onto its stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ten minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Here you go. I am so sorry for your loss.” Detective Largo said, placing a box onto the table in front of Jason.
“I said its fine. Where is that note he left me?” Jason demanded sternly.
“Here, sir,” Replied the Detective, passing the young man a hastily scribbled upon piece of paper. The note read as follows:
‘Dear Jason,
I’m sorry you have to find out that I ended it all, but I couldn’t take it anymore. My family had forgotten about me, and I couldn’t find a reason go on living. This is my final note to you my friend. You’re not just my best friend. You are also my brother.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason was thinking to himself one day, while sitting in his bedroom, looking at a photo album.
“It has been about three weeks since Damian killed himself. I don’t know what to do. In a way I want to leave this world behind. Maybe go to Equestria, but in a way I don’t think it would ever happen.
Suddenly, a white light enters Jason’s room. It looks like an angel.
“Jason I heard your prayers and wishes, so if you want, you and Damian can be reunited. You can go to Equestria and become Shadowfoot.”
“Shadowfoot? My ponysona? But he’s just a nonexistent pony. How could he even exist in equestria?” Jason inquired.
“Damian will not have any memories. You will be his guardian at Canterlot Castle and you will basically raise him, but later in life. In his life he will start to have memories of you, but they will be scant and confusing. He has become his Ponysona, Shooting Star.”
Jason’s eyes grew at the sound of being reunited with his friend who was like a brother to him
"Yes, do it. I want to leave now."
The angel smiled at him and said “You will have all of your memories. So don’t be shocked if Damian doesn’t know who you are.”
“I won’t" Jason promised, eager to be reunited with his friend.
A bright white light engulfed Jason and he was taken to Equestria. Standing in front of Princess Celestia she spoke to him.
Shadowfoot, do you want to stay and be the personal guardian for my soon to be child?
“y...yes.” Jason said, astounded that he was standing in front of the very ruler of Equestria. “But have you thought of a name?”
Celestia smiled and said “Shooting Star.”
Shadowfoot stared in shock. “Yes, I will do this.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed, as it tends to. Days turned to months, and this particular month, A certain baby alicorn was to be born. Waiting outside of the medical wing of the castle, Shadow paced back and forth, wearing a pattern into the plush carpets underhoof. In his time in Equestria so far, Shadow was designated as on honorary royal guard, and as such, would accompany the princesses as was fit. This particular day, he had been studying alongside Princess Celestia when she went into labor with the young foal she carried.
Shadow quickly rounded up some guards, and they proceeded to the medical wing. The Royal Guards that had trailed Shadow had to return to their posts, so he was left as moral support for the mother to be, as well as Princess Luna. He wanted to see the young foal as soon as possible. Even though he wasn’t the father for the youngling, he was going to take his job as guardian very seriously. He let his best friend go once, he wasn’t about to let it happen again. After a few intensive hours, Young Shooting Star was brought into the land of equestrian, and Shadow’s job truly began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the initial few weeks Celestia was allowed to tend to her foal, her royal duties would not allow her to spend very much time with him. When Celestia or Luna weren’t around, Shadow was there for the young colt. He started teaching him all he knew about magic, But Shadow was also a new arrival to equestria, and in turn didn’t know much. What Shadow did know, was the difference between right and wrong, and being a true gentlecolt, the same way Shadow had been in his past life as Jason. As the years passed, Shooting Star grew quite quickly, reaching the same size that most young colts and fillies took years to do, within weeks. Shadow had assumed it was because of the longevity of Alicorns is why they grew so quickly.
One fateful day, though, Shadow had reached his limit of teaching Shooting Star. Shadow and Celestia both knew that he would have to learn from somepony else. Celestia believed that there was no better teacher than Miss Twilight Sparkle, her personal protégé. With heavy hearts, Shadow and Celestia sent young Star away to live with Miss Sparkle. Shadow sent star away with a very valuable gift. It was an enchanted map that would safely lead Star home, should he ever get lost and not have any assistance. Shadow didn’t like sending Star away, especially since he had grown so attached to the young colt. But Celestia was his mother, and Shadow had no right to be any part of that decision. He was just a guardian, nothing more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Night After Shadow’s Visit to Ponville~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow dropped his saddlebags unceremoniously on his bed. He proceeded to the dining hall to meet up with the Princesses. They had specifically asked Shadow to report back to them. It had been several weeks since they visited Star themselves, and were eager to know how far he’d come in his social and magical growth. Shadow had reported back with more than pleasing news. After Princess Luna took leave of her sibling to perform her nightly duties, Shadow was stopped by Celestia on his way out of the dining hall. Wondering what she could possibly want, he obliged her.
“Shadow, can we talk, privately for a moment?” the tone in her voice not fitting a question, but a demand.
“Certainly, princess. What might you need of a humble servant such as myself?” Shadow inquired.
“I know your secret, Shadow. A full grown unicorn does not simply appear in my kingdom, with not the faintest clue of rudimentary magic.” She said sternly. “Are you a changeling spy, or something close to that, Jason?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason sat there reading a book, while “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” was on. He heard the phone ringing. Answering it, the voice on the other line was audibly sullen.
"Hello, is this Jason?" The deep, gruff voice inquired.
“This is he. May I ask who is speaking?” Jason retorted.
“My name is Detective Largo. I’m with the Johnson City police. I regret to inform you that your friend Damian has killed himself."
"What? That’s impossible. I talked to him a few weeks ago"
"Once again, I am sorry for your loss, but he left you a note and some things. If you don’t mind, can you pick them up today?"
"Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in about ten minutes" Jason replied flatly, clicking the receiver onto its stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ten minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Here you go. I am so sorry for your loss.” Detective Largo said, placing a box onto the table in front of Jason.
“I said its fine. Where is that note he left me?” Jason demanded sternly.
“Here, sir,” Replied the Detective, passing the young man a hastily scribbled upon piece of paper. The note read as follows:
‘Dear Jason,
I’m sorry you have to find out that I ended it all, but I couldn’t take it anymore. My family had forgotten about me, and I couldn’t find a reason go on living. This is my final note to you my friend. You’re not just my best friend. You are also my brother.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason was thinking to himself one day, while sitting in his bedroom, looking at a photo album.
“It has been about three weeks since Damian killed himself. I don’t know what to do. In a way I want to leave this world behind. Maybe go to Equestria, but in a way I don’t think it would ever happen.
Suddenly, a white light enters Jason’s room. It looks like an angel.
“Jason I heard your prayers and wishes, so if you want, you and Damian can be reunited. You can go to Equestria and become Shadowfoot.”
“Shadowfoot? My ponysona? But he’s just a nonexistent pony. How could he even exist in equestria?” Jason inquired.
“Damian will not have any memories. You will be his guardian at Canterlot Castle and you will basically raise him, but later in life. In his life he will start to have memories of you, but they will be scant and confusing. He has become his Ponysona, Shooting Star.”
Jason’s eyes grew at the sound of being reunited with his friend who was like a brother to him
"Yes, do it. I want to leave now."
The angel smiled at him and said “You will have all of your memories. So don’t be shocked if Damian doesn’t know who you are.”
“I won’t" Jason promised, eager to be reunited with his friend.
A bright white light engulfed Jason and he was taken to Equestria. Standing in front of Princess Celestia she spoke to him.
Shadowfoot, do you want to stay and be the personal guardian for my soon to be child?
“y...yes.” Jason said, astounded that he was standing in front of the very ruler of Equestria. “But have you thought of a name?”
Celestia smiled and said “Shooting Star.”
Shadowfoot stared in shock. “Yes, I will do this.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed, as it tends to. Days turned to months, and this particular month, A certain baby alicorn was to be born. Waiting outside of the medical wing of the castle, Shadow paced back and forth, wearing a pattern into the plush carpets underhoof. In his time in Equestria so far, Shadow was designated as on honorary royal guard, and as such, would accompany the princesses as was fit. This particular day, he had been studying alongside Princess Celestia when she went into labor with the young foal she carried.
Shadow quickly rounded up some guards, and they proceeded to the medical wing. The Royal Guards that had trailed Shadow had to return to their posts, so he was left as moral support for the mother to be, as well as Princess Luna. He wanted to see the young foal as soon as possible. Even though he wasn’t the father for the youngling, he was going to take his job as guardian very seriously. He let his best friend go once, he wasn’t about to let it happen again. After a few intensive hours, Young Shooting Star was brought into the land of equestrian, and Shadow’s job truly began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the initial few weeks Celestia was allowed to tend to her foal, her royal duties would not allow her to spend very much time with him. When Celestia or Luna weren’t around, Shadow was there for the young colt. He started teaching him all he knew about magic, But Shadow was also a new arrival to equestria, and in turn didn’t know much. What Shadow did know, was the difference between right and wrong, and being a true gentlecolt, the same way Shadow had been in his past life as Jason. As the years passed, Shooting Star grew quite quickly, reaching the same size that most young colts and fillies took years to do, within weeks. Shadow had assumed it was because of the longevity of Alicorns is why they grew so quickly.
One fateful day, though, Shadow had reached his limit of teaching Shooting Star. Shadow and Celestia both knew that he would have to learn from somepony else. Celestia believed that there was no better teacher than Miss Twilight Sparkle, her personal protégé. With heavy hearts, Shadow and Celestia sent young Star away to live with Miss Sparkle. Shadow sent star away with a very valuable gift. It was an enchanted map that would safely lead Star home, should he ever get lost and not have any assistance. Shadow didn’t like sending Star away, especially since he had grown so attached to the young colt. But Celestia was his mother, and Shadow had no right to be any part of that decision. He was just a guardian, nothing more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Night After Shadow’s Visit to Ponville~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow dropped his saddlebags unceremoniously on his bed. He proceeded to the dining hall to meet up with the Princesses. They had specifically asked Shadow to report back to them. It had been several weeks since they visited Star themselves, and were eager to know how far he’d come in his social and magical growth. Shadow had reported back with more than pleasing news. After Princess Luna took leave of her sibling to perform her nightly duties, Shadow was stopped by Celestia on his way out of the dining hall. Wondering what she could possibly want, he obliged her.
“Shadow, can we talk, privately for a moment?” the tone in her voice not fitting a question, but a demand.
“Certainly, princess. What might you need of a humble servant such as myself?” Shadow inquired.
“I know your secret, Shadow. A full grown unicorn does not simply appear in my kingdom, with not the faintest clue of rudimentary magic.” She said sternly. “Are you a changeling spy, or something close to that, Jason?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason sat there reading a book, while “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” was on. He heard the phone ringing. Answering it, the voice on the other line was audibly sullen.
"Hello, is this Jason?" The deep, gruff voice inquired.
“This is he. May I ask who is speaking?” Jason retorted.
“My name is Detective Largo. I’m with the Johnson City police. I regret to inform you that your friend Damian has killed himself."
"What? That’s impossible. I talked to him a few weeks ago"
"Once again, I am sorry for your loss, but he left you a note and some things. If you don’t mind, can you pick them up today?"
"Yeah, sure. I’ll be there in about ten minutes" Jason replied flatly, clicking the receiver onto its stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ten minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Here you go. I am so sorry for your loss.” Detective Largo said, placing a box onto the table in front of Jason.
“I said its fine. Where is that note he left me?” Jason demanded sternly.
“Here, sir,” Replied the Detective, passing the young man a hastily scribbled upon piece of paper. The note read as follows:
‘Dear Jason,
I’m sorry you have to find out that I ended it all, but I couldn’t take it anymore. My family had forgotten about me, and I couldn’t find a reason go on living. This is my final note to you my friend. You’re not just my best friend. You are also my brother.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason was thinking to himself one day, while sitting in his bedroom, looking at a photo album.
“It has been about three weeks since Damian killed himself. I don’t know what to do. In a way I want to leave this world behind. Maybe go to Equestria, but in a way I don’t think it would ever happen.
Suddenly, a white light enters Jason’s room. It looks like an angel.
“Jason I heard your prayers and wishes, so if you want, you and Damian can be reunited. You can go to Equestria and become Shadowfoot.”
“Shadowfoot? My ponysona? But he’s just a nonexistent pony. How could he even exist in equestria?” Jason inquired.
“Damian will not have any memories. You will be his guardian at Canterlot Castle and you will basically raise him, but later in life. In his life he will start to have memories of you, but they will be scant and confusing. He has become his Ponysona, Shooting Star.”
Jason’s eyes grew at the sound of being reunited with his friend who was like a brother to him
"Yes, do it. I want to leave now."
The angel smiled at him and said “You will have all of your memories. So don’t be shocked if Damian doesn’t know who you are.”
“I won’t" Jason promised, eager to be reunited with his friend.
A bright white light engulfed Jason and he was taken to Equestria. Standing in front of Princess Celestia she spoke to him.
Shadowfoot, do you want to stay and be the personal guardian for my soon to be child?
“y...yes.” Jason said, astounded that he was standing in front of the very ruler of Equestria. “But have you thought of a name?”
Celestia smiled and said “Shooting Star.”
Shadowfoot stared in shock. “Yes, I will do this.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time passed, as it tends to. Days turned to months, and this particular month, A certain baby alicorn was to be born. Waiting outside of the medical wing of the castle, Shadow paced back and forth, wearing a pattern into the plush carpets underhoof. In his time in Equestria so far, Shadow was designated as on honorary royal guard, and as such, would accompany the princesses as was fit. This particular day, he had been studying alongside Princess Celestia when she went into labor with the young foal she carried.
Shadow quickly rounded up some guards, and they proceeded to the medical wing. The Royal Guards that had trailed Shadow had to return to their posts, so he was left as moral support for the mother to be, as well as Princess Luna. He wanted to see the young foal as soon as possible. Even though he wasn’t the father for the youngling, he was going to take his job as guardian very seriously. He let his best friend go once, he wasn’t about to let it happen again. After a few intensive hours, Young Shooting Star was brought into the land of equestrian, and Shadow’s job truly began.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the initial few weeks Celestia was allowed to tend to her foal, her royal duties would not allow her to spend very much time with him. When Celestia or Luna weren’t around, Shadow was there for the young colt. He started teaching him all he knew about magic, But Shadow was also a new arrival to equestria, and in turn didn’t know much. What Shadow did know, was the difference between right and wrong, and being a true gentlecolt, the same way Shadow had been in his past life as Jason. As the years passed, Shooting Star grew quite quickly, reaching the same size that most young colts and fillies took years to do, within weeks. Shadow had assumed it was because of the longevity of Alicorns is why they grew so quickly.
One fateful day, though, Shadow had reached his limit of teaching Shooting Star. Shadow and Celestia both knew that he would have to learn from somepony else. Celestia believed that there was no better teacher than Miss Twilight Sparkle, her personal protégé. With heavy hearts, Shadow and Celestia sent young Star away to live with Miss Sparkle. Shadow sent star away with a very valuable gift. It was an enchanted map that would safely lead Star home, should he ever get lost and not have any assistance. Shadow didn’t like sending Star away, especially since he had grown so attached to the young colt. But Celestia was his mother, and Shadow had no right to be any part of that decision. He was just a guardian, nothing more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Night After Shadow’s Visit to Ponville~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow dropped his saddlebags unceremoniously on his bed. He proceeded to the dining hall to meet up with the Princesses. They had specifically asked Shadow to report back to them. It had been several weeks since they visited Star themselves, and were eager to know how far he’d come in his social and magical growth. Shadow had reported back with more than pleasing news. After Princess Luna took leave of her sibling to perform her nightly duties, Shadow was stopped by Celestia on his way out of the dining hall. Wondering what she could possibly want, he obliged her.
“Shadow, can we talk, privately for a moment?” the tone in her voice not fitting a question, but a demand.
“Certainly, princess. What might you need of a humble servant such as myself?” Shadow inquired.
“I know your secret, Shadow. A full grown unicorn does not simply appear in my kingdom, with not the faintest clue of rudimentary magic.” She said sternly. “Are you a changeling spy, or something close to that, Jason?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow stared at Celestia in disbelief. How did she know his human name? The Angel never told him that the ponies would know who he was. He would have appeared to be a drifter.
“What did you call me, highness?” Shadow asked again, wanting to verify he hadn’t gone bananas.
“Jason.” Celestia replied curtly. “That was your human name, was it not?”
“Yes it was, princess. But how did you know? I was under the impression I appeared to be a drifter. Just a background pony if you will. The being who brought me here, he told me I would start over with all of my memories intact, but no pony else would know me.” Shadow said, voice dropping slightly.
“Shadow Foot, you give me less credit than should be given. I am an all powerful goddess, am I not?” Celestia said, allowing herself a small chuckle. “I knew since day one who you were and how you came to be; what interests me, my servant, is why you were so adamant to be my son’s protector, when I have so many other qualified guards ponies at my disposal.” She gestured around the room with her wing, pointing at 5 guards stationed about. They nodded to her in turn, and then resumed their stoic forward glance, every bit as serious as ever.
“Well, princess, it’s a bit of a confusing and long story.” Shadow said. “You see, your son and I were actually very close friends in our past lives. “ Shadow said. “He committed suicide after a particularly tumultuous period in his life. He has no memory of who he was or where he came from. As far as he knows, he’s only your son. As far as I can tell, he may not ever recover his previous memories, but I could be wrong. I didn’t think actually coming to equestria was possible, but here we are…” Shadow said, trailing off.
“Your story is a strange one, but I sense no guilt in your voice. You must be telling the truth, or a very good liar. But regardless, I gave you the guardianship of my son for the very reason you just told me. Who better to watch over him than someone who already knows him so well?” Celestia said, chuckling again.
“On my home dimension, there are far stranger things than a unicorn who utterly fails at magic.” Shadow said, his tone lightening considerably.
“Quite.” Celestia said, ending the rather uncomfortable conversation quite suddenly. As if mailed with perfect timing, a letter appeared in a puff of green smoke, no doubt sent via Spike belch. That always unsettled Shadow, even as a human.
“Speaking of my son…” Celestia trailed off, perusing the freshly mailed letter. After a few tense moments, Celestia spoke again. “Shadow, I believe my son has started having nightmares. Does this seem like anything a perfectly normal young colt should dream about?” Celestia asked Shadow, levitating the letter to him. As Shadow read the letter, a look of recognition crossed his features.
“I remember this very well, princess.” Shadow said. “This was the same day I met Damian. He was chased from school by a bunch of asscolts.” Shadow frowned, remembering every last detail. “I followed them to an alleyway. They were shouting cruel names at Damian for no other reason than he was different. He’d only just started coming to my school and hadn’t made any friends yet.”
Shadow introverted, trying to remember. “I followed them, but stayed out of view. They left him for dead in the alleyway. I kicked all their asses the next day, after taking Damian to the hospital for his wounds. They messed him up real bad, broken ribs being the biggest problem. I left them in even worse condition.” Shadow finished his speech, a sadistic smile crossing his muzzle.
“Needless to say, me and Damian became close friends, and they never messed with him again.”
Celestia blinked in amazement. Did she entrust her son to some psychopath? “You didn’t kill them did you?” Celestia asked, her voice raising slightly.
Celestia seemed to double in size when Shadow looked at her again. Regretting he had gone into such detail, he decided to clarify.
“No, I didn’t kill them. I’m not a murderer. I’m just very overprotective of others, especially when those being defended weren’t given a chance to fight back. It was three versus one. Imagine Twilight trying to fight off Discord or Nightmare Moon on her own, with no friends or elements to back her up.”
Celestia imagined what Equestria would have been like if left to Discord and Nightmare Moon. She didn’t like the odds. “Seems justified” Celestia said. “But how are you here? You explained my son, but not yourself.”
“Well, I just wished to be reunited with Damian, for there were things left unsaid that I really needed to let loose. I personally felt a little guilty for his death because in a note he left me, he said he felt alone and forgotten. If I had just been there more often, or called or visited, he might still be a human as well as me.”
“So, whatever benevolent force brought you here, must have felt that you owed Damian something, otherwise why bring two strangers across dimensions and across time, to then be reunited?” Celestia summed up.
“I’m just as confused as you are highness.” Shadow said. “Trust me, I have no clue why the ‘benevolent force’ as you put it felt it was a good idea to send me here, but I swear on all equestrian glory I will protect your son from anything and everything in his path, if it means laying my life down for him. I only regret he had to leave the castle because I reached my teaching limits.”
“Twilight is my best student from the academy, as I’m sure you know. She will not let him down if it means letting me down. She is beyond gifted in the ways of magic. If any pony can teach him all there is to know, it is she.”
“What do I do now, princess?” Shadow asked. “I have no bits to my name, and the bits I did have, I earned by doing cheap magic for young foals. I’d dearly like to visit Star more often, but a train ticket is not bought on desire alone.”
“I can do two things for you, if you’re willing to earn it.” Celestia said, a sly smile crossing her muzzle.
Shadow didn’t like where this conversation was going, if fanfics from earth taught him anything. Nervously, he bit at Celestia’s tantalizing bait.
“What would you have me do, Princess?” Shadow asked. He secretly hoped it may have been some carnal favors more suited to a mature rated fanfic.
“Simple, really. I provide you a wage and a home in ponyville, you send me reports every couple of days on Star’s progress in all things. Be they social, educational, or otherwise. I can’t very well go to ponyville as often as I’d like, but I can certainly have eyes and ears everywhere. Whatever you feel is relevant for me to know, you tell me.” She finished. “You didn’t think I would ask you for such strange favors as you were undoubtedly thinking of?” She said, laughing. “Although, you are an attractive young stallion…” She said, smiling scandalously.
Shadow realized in that moment that a red-coated pony could certainly blush. That had to have been the giveaway. “Princess! Of course not!” Shadow said, trying to defend himself, and ultimately failing. “It’s just that, you know, I’ve read and seen some things…”
“It’s settled then, you’re officially spying on my son for me.” Celestia said, writing out a letter quickly and levitating a small bag that undoubtedly contained some bits, judging by the jingle noises emanating from it. “Simply deliver this to the town hall, and you’re address will be given to you. You got lucky on this one. It’s not very far from town, right down the path from a yellow Pegasus named Fluttershy. Once she warms up to you, I’m sure she’ll show you around, if Pinkie doesn’t find you first.” Celestia laughed cryptically. Reports every two days, Mr. Shadowfoot, or I may be forced to go princess molestia on you.”
“Yes, princess” Shadow said, unsure if he should obey or not. Next thing he knew, he was on the train back to ponyville and his new life.
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Shadow arrived at Ponyville town hall a long eight hours later. He hoped they were still open. It was quite late in the afternoon, and if equestria was anything like earth, most official government buildings closed at 5pm. Thankfully, the Princess had taken this into account, and the title deed to Shadow’s new cottage was in his hooves not even an hour after he got off the train. “Guess I won’t be sleeping in the CMC clubhouse tonight” Shadow thought to himself as he magicked his door open. That was a lot harder than it looked. The cottage was dark inside, and with some fumbling, he found a lamp. Clicking it on, he was pleased to find that the home was modestly furnished, with a single bedroom, much like his earth apartment. He decided to write a letter to the princess to be sent in the morning mail, and after that was done, he settled into bed.
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Twilight had been pondering something lately. Star’s horrible dreams had been getting worse, and more vivid. Concerned about this, she decided to consult the princess as usual. She told Star that she would be going to Canterlot within the next couple days, and Star wanted to go with her, but she would have none of it. Much to Star’s dismay, he was to go stay with Fluttershy during Twilight’s absence. After twilight finished packing Star’s bags, they began the long trek to Fluttershy’s cottage.
Star arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. It was his first time away from the library for more than a few hours, and he was nervous. But he eventually got used to being around Fluttershy and her animals, and found that many of the animals liked to play. Star’s thought he would definitely have fun while he was staying with Auntie Shy. Little did he know he was also in for a huge surprise. While he was outside playing with a family of squirrels, a certain red unicorn approached Fluttershy’s cottage. Before Shadow could make it through Fluttershy’s gate, he was tackled by Shooting Star.
Star hadn’t expected to see Shadow so soon, but he found out much to his glee, that Shadow only lived right down the road. Walking with Shadow to Fluttershy’s door, Star barged straight in, not giving Shadow a chance to knock. Fluttershy was startled by the sudden amount of traffic in her home, as she was having tea with Twilight also. After introductions were made, Twilight offered to escort Shadow to ponyville before she left for Canterlot. As they departed, Star went back outside to play with the squirrels while Fluttershy prepared supper.
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Twilight and Shadow discussed Star’s dreams as they walked, Shadow being very careful not to reveal too much information. Shadow realized, seemingly out of nowhere, that Twilight was fairly good at interpreting dreams, and if she were asking for Celestia’s help, she must have been quite worried. Shadow and Twilight parted ways at the center of town, Shadow making his way to the marketplace for something to eat, and Twilight fixing for her departure by train.
Meanwhile, Star had just sat down to supper with Auntie Shy. The two ate happily while Angel Bunny ate in a corner by himself, upset that his spot as Fluttershy’s primary concern had been taken by a young pony. After supper, Shooting star had become quite tired, and Fluttershy settled him into bed while singing him a lullaby he had not heard before. Before he could think, he was fast asleep. Fluttershy sighed with relief as she prepared herself for bed. Angel Bunny was still scowling in a corner, and didn’t even look at Fluttershy for the rest of the night.
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The following morning, Twilight had woke bright and early. It was relieving for her to be back in her old room at Canterlot palace. Being here, she could have access to some of the best books on dream interpretation, and have easy access to the Princesses, should she need their assistance. After setting up an appointment for that afternoon with Celestia, she delved into some books she had borrowed from the archives. The appointment wasn’t really necessary, but Twilight could use the time to get a jumpstart on her research, so she could in turn find out what questions she needed to ask Celestia. Poring over one of her books, Twilight got engrossed in her Research and nearly lost track of time.
Twilight had found the questions she needed answers for, and finally met Princess Celestia in her study, after the day’s royal duties had been completed. After pleasantries were passed about, the pair got down to brass tacks. Twilight vocalized her worries about Star’s dreams, and Celestia shared the same fears. Even though Celestia knew exactly what was happening, she did not know how. She also couldn’t reveal too much to Twilight, for it may have earned her scorn if she knew Shadow was practically spying on her.
The pair talked at length about what Star’s dreams could have meant, but there was nothing conclusive to draw upon. At least not that Twilight knew of. Celestia was worried about how she would deal with questions Star may have concerning his nightmares. Ever the figure of poise and confidence, Celestia elected to cross that bridge if it came to it. She secretly hoped there was a way to block those old memories from resurfacing, but that was a domain not even Discord dared to mess with.
Twilight knew Princess Celestia better than she knew herself sometimes, and she could tell that something deep below the surface was eating at Celestia’s conscience. Twilight hated seeing her mentor so distracted, and inquired as to the cause. Celestia told her the bare minimum she could about Shadow’s origins, as Twilight listened in disbelief. Celestia swore Twilight to secrecy, and implored Twilight to maintain an ignorant façade, treating Shadow as she would any other pony.
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Star turned out to be enjoying his time staying with Fluttershy, and his filly friends from his party had come by to play. They chased each other all day, playing tag or catch, and chasing Fluttershy’s chickens around. Though Fluttershy didn’t care much for joining in their rough play, She kind of enjoyed watching the young fillies and colt play together, reminding her of a litter of kittens or puppies playing. Eventually, they tired themselves out, and Applejack came by to escort the three fillies to their respective homes, since Sweet Apple Acres was the last stop on the path through town.
Star had another fun day with Fluttershy and his friends, and Auntie Shy had even taught him a little bit about flying. He was really tired when his friends went home, and immediately fell asleep on Fluttershy’s couch.
Star awoke the next morning and went to visit Shadow while Fluttershy cleaned up her yard. After he made sure all his bags were packed, he trekked down the path to his friend’s house. Shadow greeted Star warmly, just as he finished sending his first report to Princess Celestia. Shadow then obliged Star in a game of checkers. Even as a Human, Shadow was never good at that game. After being beat three times in a row, Shadow decided to show Star some basic hoof-to-hoof combat. Jason was raised to fight, so he believed you were never too young to learn to properly defend yourself.
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As Twilight was packing her bags and getting ready to depart Canterlot, she wondered how Star was holding up with Fluttershy and his friends. She was concerned, but in an amused way. Fluttershy could barely handle the Cutie Mark Crusaders on her lonesome, much less a hyperactive Shooting Star on top of it all. But Fluttershy had an Ace in the Hole, so to speak. The Stare. She’d seen it used on several of her animals, and suspected it was magical in nature. But with Shadow living just down the path, it couldn’t be all that bad. Smiling to herself, she boarded the train and set out for home.
Shadow and Shooting Star were waiting for Twilight at the Station. Apparently, Fluttershy had an urgent appointment that afternoon, and requested of Shadow to keep an eye on Star. Greeting him warmly, Twilight hugged Star. Shadow offered to help carry some of her bags for her, and the three of them set back off in the direction of the library. After letting the bags drop gently onto Twilight’s couch, Shadow took his leave. Then he went to hunt down Spike who was still at Rarity’s boutique. By now, Star had grown enough to go most places nearby on his own.
While Star was absent, Twilight looked over some of the articles she’d copied from the Royal Archives. There was next to no useful information she could find. The only thing even close to what she was looking for was about flashbacks from a past life. Twilight couldn’t understand how Star could even have a past life, he was only just brought into the world almost a year ago, but he did grow exponentially. She also had suspicions about Shadow. He was a nice enough pony, but he seemed unable to use most forms of advanced magic, resorting mostly to levitation spells, which most unicorns learned well
before they were close to Shadow’s age. She decided she would test him at a later date.
Just then, Star and Spike barged in through the library door, startling Twilight and scattering papers about the floor. Grabbing them both up in a magical field, she inquired as to exactly why they charged into her library like a herd of cattle. With sheepish grins, they explained they were playing speed tag. Twilight instructed the both of them to clean up the mess
they made, while she proceeded to archive the research she had come across in canterlot. After all was said and done, they went out to eat for once. This surprised both boys, as they were used to Spike being the cook of the library.
While they were out to dinner, they were joined by Pinkie Pie, who seemed to appear from under the table they were sitting at. As the patrons chatted amongst themselves, the sun began it’s slow descent, making way for Luna’s moon. It was a balmy summer night, and Twilight let the boys play outside for longer than usual, since she needed to focus on this Dream Interpretation of hers.
After a little while, the boys came in on their own accord, and since it was getting late, Twilight sent them off to bed. In the back of her head, Twilight had a feeling Shadow knew more than he was letting on, and she would have to get the truth out of him one way or another, otherwise she might never solve this mystery.
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“A dark, windy night. A full moon glowers down upon an alien landscape, familiar yet not. A young man with dark hair and clothes is walking through a forest, the place was very unfamiliar to him. Shadowy figures stopped the young man in his tracks. He looked around worriedly for any sight of his campfire. He knew he should not have wandered off, but his parents were fighting again over some stupid food issue that could have been easily resolved.
He heard snarls and howls reverberating through the woods. His breaths came, shallow and ragged, for fear had gripped his chest and held it in an icy grip. He began to run. The thrill of the hunt incited the hairy beasts that had been following him. Yellow eyes, dripping fangs, they smelled of rot and decay. He was running for what seemed like an eternity. Then he saw a light in the distance. He ran toward it, hoping for salvation. He tripped just out of range of the light’s heavenly beams. Rolling onto his back after being briefly stunned, the last thing he remembered seeing were yellow eyes, and hearing gunshots.
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Shooting Star awoke, screaming as if he had been stabbed with a red hot blade. Then, before Twilight or Spike could reach him, he had another magical eruption, this time blowing the meager furniture in his room to little wooden splinters. Twilight barely had time to erect a barrier in front of her and Spike, wood chunks bouncing off of the purple dome of magic. After the bright light had faded, Twilight entered the room cautiously, maintaining her glance between the floor and Star’s quivering body. She instructed Spike to immediately send for help. As she levitated Star gently, she carried him down to the couch in the living room, setting him down as gently as possible. Applejack and Rarity had been the only two Spike could rouse from slumber.
While Rarity tended to the destroyed bedroom with the aid of Spike, Applejack helped Twilight with Shooting Star. He had awoken fully now, shivering and sweating. As Applejack soothed Star, Twilight sent a letter to the Princess, informing her of how bad the past half hour had gone. Celestia replied that she would be setting off for Ponyville as soon as the sun had risen. Twilight then proceeded to question Star about his Nightmare, and after a couple hours, she had gotten a rough idea
of how it went. Documenting this, she put Star upstairs in her room. It wouldn’t be the first time she shared her bed with another pony. She also sent a letter to Shadow, requesting his presence at his earliest convenience. Now she knew for sure something was screwy, because night terrors weren’t usually followed by a magical explosion. Whatever was happening to Star, it would eventually rip him apart possibly, both physically and mentally, especially if he couldn’t control his magic or his nightmares.
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The next morning dawned brightly, but the glorious weather was overshadowed by the grim faces assembled in Twilight’s library. Celestia had arrived nearly with the sun itself, and Shadow had followed shortly after. Twilight was also awake, but still groggy, for she had next to no sleep the previous night, fearing for Star’s safety. Shooting Star was excited to see both his mother and Shadow, but had a feeling this was not a casual visit. Star was seated at a round table, the three adults seated there as well. Twilight knew she would have to get this discussion started with if she expected to get anywhere.
“Shadow, how exactly did you come to equestria?” Twilight asked him, in a serious, flat tone.
Trying for a nervous smile, he replied as he was supposed to. “I came into this world just as any other pony does.” He said, a sheepish grin coming across his muzzle.
Twilight was not amused. “Then why does a fully grown unicorn have only rudimentary magic at his disposal? I’ve never seen you teleport, or levitate anything heavier than my bags from the train. And you even had the light ones.”
“I suppose I just never learned the spell to teleport. I was born into an earth pony family.” He tried again, falling back on the backstory he had made up for himself as a human. “never needed to teleport.”
“If that’s the truth, what region are you from? I’ve seen every map of equestria, even the ones I’m not supposed to see.” Twilight fixed him with a cocky smile, realizing she had probably trapped him.
At this, Shadow flatlined. “I think perhaps the Princess could explain that.” Shadow said, hanging his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Twilight now bid Spike to take Star to Sugarcube corner and order some cupcakes. This was to get Star out of earshot. She then rounded on her mentor, after they left. With the most earnest look she could muster, she proceeded to question the princess. “With all due respect, princess, I need to know how Shadow got here and why. Even a pony younger than him knows somewhat more magic. They usually develop certain spells out of necessity, like Rarity’s gem-finding spell. You must know something I don’t.”
“Very well, Twilight. I knew I couldn’t hide it forever, though I tried my hardest. Shadow is not from equestria, or even this planet. He’s a human from the planet Earth. This is why he has no real magical skill, or even has a place to call a home. He’s here due to certain circumstances. As you know, Alicorns rarely reproduce. This is why I was quite taken aback when I realized I hadn’t put on weight through eating copious amounts of food. Though I do enjoy cake here and there, I would never let myself get that out of hand.” The princess scoffed. “Star technically does not have a father. Imagine my shock
when I found out he had been reborn here in equestria, also coming from Earth. Mr. Shadow Foot explained that very fact to me. Shadow, if you would.” Celestia pleaded, wanting to take the focus off of herself. She felt like a little foal who had messed up quite badly, and she didn’t like it, but Twilight had every reason to be ticked off.
“Well, Shadow?” Twilight asked in an open-ended sort of way. “What do you know about Shooting Star?”
Hating the fact that he had been spotlighted, Shadow prepared himself for the no doubt long and confusing speech that was going to follow. “Well, the pony you see before you, is a pony version of my human self. Shooting Star was also a human in his past life, and my best friend. He killed himself and was offered to be reborn in any dimension he chose, and I suppose he
chose equestria. It wasn’t his time to die, so he was given a second chance, and for some reason, I was offered to come along for the ride, so to speak. My real name is Jason, and I used to be a construction worker’s apprentice before I came here. I guess I was given enough magic to fit in, but I’m still trying to learn more. I honestly can’t say why Star’s having so much trouble, but I’m here to protect him, just as I used to back home on Earth.”
Celestia chimed in, unasked. “I personally assigned Shadow to be Star’s guardian. He’s also acting as a liaison between Star and myself. You’re busy with your friendship reports, so I asked Shadow to send me reports on Star’s progress and growth. I really don’t have the time to come visit him like I want to, but at least with Shadow’s help, I can feel that I know something about my son.”
Twilight, though she knew the entire truth now, still felt something was missing. “Then I guess these night terrors Star’s been having, have been memories from his past life? Stressful, traumatizing memories?” Twilight asked, feeling slightly confused.
“That’s about the idea of it” Shadow said. “I still have all of my memories, but Star isn’t supposed to. He’s supposed to live and breathe equestrian like all of you.”
“And we haven’t figured out how to block them, either. I’m sure you’re even having trouble, Twilight,” Celestia chipped in. “Star came to live with you because your talent is magic. If anyone can block his memories or help him control his magic, it’s you.” Celestia finished, matter-of-factly.
Appreciating the praise, but still unsatisfied, Twilight was drawing a blank. She didn’t know what else could possibly be
explained.
“So what do we tell Star?” Twilight asked, unwillingly breaching the question that she had left to ask.
“We tell him nothing, until he asks one of us himself. Once he does that, he’ll be ready for the answer.” Celestia said flatly. “I can imagine he’s still very scared and unsure of what questions to ask.” Now it was Celestia’s turn to take control of the discussion. The best we can do is try and let him come to us. But for now, let him enjoy being young” Celestia finished, a
note of finality inherent in her voice. “I think it’s high time I got back to the palace before everypony wonders where I’ve gone. “I’ll expect a letter from both of you before the day’s out” as she shot Shadow a malicious wink. Twilight was about to ask what the wink was for when Shadow cut her off.
“Don’t ask, don’t tell.” He grumbled. “I’m gonna go see Star and Spike. They’ll be on their way back shortly.” Shadow managed a friendly grin as he left.
Yet, after all had been revealed, Twilight felt no closer to her answers. She swore she would drive herself to drink one day.
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Spike and Star worked their way back to the library, greeting passing ponies with friendly smiles and waves. Pinkie decided to join them for the walk back home, since she had several cookbooks she needed to return to Twilight. Babysitting for the cakes had taught her much about responsibility, and returning books was one way to develop a better sense of it.
As the three new arrivals to the library entered, Twilight fixed the boys with her best “Im fine” smile. She was pleased to see that Pinkie had also returned several cookbooks she borrowed, still in good condition. Twilight was proud of her bubbly friend for being so careful and responsible with her books. She was also quite hungry, and was elated that the boys had thought of her and brought her a pair of her favorite muffins. Twilight munched happily at a floating muffin, while she made record of the books Pinkie returned. Twilight, after eating, had instructed Spike to work on the library’s main sitting room while she and Star went to their studies. Twilight needed to look more into the apparent angels that could give new life, and
Star needed to practice his magical control badly.
As the residents of the library went about their daily routines, nothing more was said about the events of the previous night. Surprisingly enough, Rarity had come by and offered to redecorate Star’s room for him, since it wasn’t his fault that it had been wrecked. Trailing her were Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, hoping they could help. Scoots had a doctor’s appointment, so she couldn’t come.
Rarity had magically painted Star’s room a soothing midnight blue, with dark purple curtains, trimmed with gold threads. She felt these were very soothing colors and would help ease the young colt as he slept. She also repaired his picture of his mother and aunt, with that strange red unicorn she sometimes saw around town. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom dusted up the leftover wood and glass bits carefully, singing their CMC song. After the work was said and done, Twilight and star had
just come back from the study for a lunch break. The fillies, young colt, grown mares, and young dragon sat down at the same massive round table from the earlier discussion, Spike serving up salads and sandwiches to those assembled. After lunch was finished, the young ones played while Rarity and Twilight cleaned up.
After a little while, Rarity, Sweetie, and Bloom all said their goodbyes, Spike got back to his dusting, and Twilight retreated to the study once again with Star.
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Twilight only had one choice as far as controlling Star’s magic. Magic was an unruly thing, even with older unicorns. Twilight noticed that his magical explosions often occurred when he was distracted, such as when he hit his head. If his focus were intensified, his magic would be less likely to explode out of him.
“This is an easy little trick that I used as a filly.” Twilight instructed Star. “All you have to do is move a ball up a small ramp, using only your magic.”
As his times got faster, she would use heavier objects. It started with a small plastic ball, up to a solid metal sphere the size of a grapefruit. As long as Star couldn’t levitate the final sphere freely, his magic was still unstable. Once he could manipulate the sphere, freely, it was time for even larger objects to be used. Of course, he would need to learn other types of spells if he was supposed to be king of equestria one day, but that time was still a long, long way off. Magic was all about willpower, Twilight felt.
Star liked the idea of the new game Aunt Twilight had taught him, and happily attacked the goal with all he had in him. Twilight would reward him somehow every time he moved on to a new object. Even Spike earned himself an allowance every week, which is how he often ended up with stomachaches every Sunday. Star couldn’t wait to earn his first reward, so within
the first day, he had already moved on from the plastic ball to a small wooden ball that was about the same size, but denser, and therefore, heavier.
After the lessons were done for the day, Spike and Star decided to go back to Sugarcube corner for a second round of sweets. Trotting back to the library with their purchases, they gorged themselves until they were both sick.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next morning, Spike and Star both woke up with horrible toothaches. After a brief examination by not-a-dentist Twilight, she found they each had cavities in the back of their jaws. Twilight promptly scheduled dentist appointments for the three of them, which were to be held the next day.
Twilight tried her best to reassure the boys they were going to be fine, but they were both jumpier than jackrabbits. Then after they refused to settle down, she threatened them with the might of the Fluttershy and her adorable ocean blue eyes, a.k.a The Stare. They decided they’d much rather face a dentist than a ticked off Fluttershy. The boys heard the whine of some sort of machine, and their fears returned. But they squashed them immediately.
The previous patient had come out of the Dentist’s office with a dreamy look upon his muzzle, almost as if he we’re ready to laugh at the slightest provocation. If a pony could be that happy about having his mouth examined, it couldn’t be that bad.
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After their dentists’ visit, the boys felt positively giddy for no good reason. They had been put in the chair and worked on, and they couldn’t help but be amazed at how clean their teeth were. Spike’s fangs were now as white as Rarity’s coat, as were Star’s. They’d also been given more sweets, which was pretty awesome. All in all, it wasn’t a bad visit.
That night, Twilight and Shadow sat in their respective homes, scratching out their letters, though there was nothing they could really write about. Still, they managed.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
Star’s magical control has increased by quite a bit, after he started messing with the ramp-and-ball mechanism that Miss Sparkle used as a filly. He’s been working at it with full focus for the past two days, and he’s moved on to a small steel ball, not much bigger than one of the little gumdrops that decorate some of the cupcakes at Sugarcube corner, though it is quite weighty. He also has made several friends, who he makes a point to go see at least once a day if he can get away
from Miss Twilight. Methinks he has grown an especially soft spot for one Sweetiebelle, little sister to Miss Rarity, and a talented young singer. I personally believe that is her special talent, although she doesn’t quite realize it yet. Things are going well with Star, as I hoped they would. I’ll continue tracking his progress on your behalf, Highness.
Signed; Shadow, Ponyville Liasion.”
Shadow finished his letter with a satisfied sigh, grateful that he had once again spared himself from the possible wrath of the Princess. Folding the letter carefully and dropping it into his mailbox for the lovable mailmare that came by in the early morning.
Twilight’s letter went along like so:
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I learned today that sometimes even the best of friends can be rivals. Such is the Case of Rainbow Dash and Applejack. But regardless of their abilities, they still are willing to go hoof-over-hoof to help each other out when it’s needed. I quite enjoy watching their rivalry, and find it funny at times. I haven’t found any new information on how or why Star is having such problems with night terrors and magical bursts, but his progress with the ramp and ball mechanism is quite impressive. I hope it helps him as much as it helped me.
Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle
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Shortly after joining the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Star was invited to his first CMC meeting at their clubhouse outside of Sweet Apple Acres. After they brainstormed for a while, they couldn’t really think of anything to try. So the CMC decided to just play at the clubhouse until Applejack came for them. She usually made sure they all got home safe since they were still her responsibility as long as they were on the farm. Right before they left for the night, Shooting Star had asked Sweetie Belle to talk to him, away from the other crusaders. While the other crusaders were cleaning up their mess, Sweetie and Star went to the picnic table under the tree.
“Sweetie Belle, I’m happy you decided to talk to me without the other two. Sometimes they can get really excited over nothing.” Shooting Star began, unsure of how he was going to ask what he wanted to ask.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, and I have a lot of fun every time we play together. But I don’t always get to see you, which makes me sad. I thought maybe we could you know, play more, together, without the girls?” Star asked, fully aware of how silly his question sounded.
Sweetie fixed Star with a look that very much mirrored her sister’s when something confused her. “Shooting Star, are you asking me out on a date?” Sweetie asked, half smiling, half laughing. “Why, that’s the most roundabout way you could have asked. But I’m glad you did, because I think I like you too.”
Sweetie had called his bluff, and very skillfully. “Uhm, yeah…” he coughed, trying to hide the goofiest grin ever. “Will you go with me to sugarcube corner or the donut shop sometime?” Star asked, bolstered by Sweetie’s acceptance of his crush. They heard a rustling in the tree above them, and when they looked , nothing was there but a few falling leaves.
“I’d love to.” She said, flashing him a coy grin and flipping her tail in his face as she left. He followed quickly after her, eager to be in her presence. This whole love thing was new to them both, but they had to learn somehow, right?
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Shadow was in the tree above the picnic table, hunting for one of Fluttershy’s birds who had flown off in fear. Fluttershy was incredibly worried and quickly enlisted Shadow’s help. She had a dreadful fear of heights and couldn’t bear to climb or fly very high for very long. Funny fear for a Pegasus to have, Shadow thought to himself as he was wandering about inside the tree. He heard voices below him, which sounded quite familiar. Poking his head out between the boughs, he
eavesdropped on a conversation between Shooting Star and Sweetie Belle. It was rare to see one crusader without the others, and Shadow’s curiosity got the best of him. He was surprised at what he heard and found it kind of cute. Star had just asked Sweetie Belle out, which also confirmed Shadow’s suspicions he’d had for a while now. Damian had been similarly shy in his past life, Shadow noted
Shadow then nearly fell out of the tree, and managed to barely pull his head back in before Star and Sweetie looked his way. Gripping onto the tree branch for dear life, he waited in silence until he could no longer hear hoofsteps.
Then, there was a flash of blue against the tree branches. The bird Shadow had been looking for was on the branch just above him. Reaching out with a hoof, he made a grab for the bird and failed. Losing all control of his body, Shadow fell out of the tree with a painful –whump- sound, and landed on his flank, feeling quite dizzy. His eyes were spinning in their sockets.
When he looked forward, he saw two very confused crusaders staring at him, Applebloom wearing a dumbfounded look, Scootaloo was on the verge of laughing at the grown unicorn. Seeing a unicorn fall out of a tree was quite hilarious, apparently, as Scootaloo lost all control of her laughter at the sight of his spinning eyes.
Shadow sat up, and proceeded to run in the opposite direction, forgetting all about the stupid bird he was chasing. He just realized he embarrassed himself in front of a pair of children, who would probably not let him live it down. Better the CMC than Applejack or Rarity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since the other CMC had yet to notice they left, Star and Sweetie took this time to go on their little date. Star decided he wanted to take Sweetie to The Ice Cream Shoppe, since Pinkie would undoubtedly make a fuss about the two young ponies being together without the other CMC. After picking up his bits bag from home, Star met Sweetie outside the library, and they headed off towards their destination.
Orange Sherbet built the old Ice Cream Shoppe from the ground up several years ago. It was now frequented often by many
denizens of Ponyville, young and old alike. This particular day had been pretty slow for the humble shop owner, and he was about to close up shop early when a pair of young ponies, probably no older than 8 or 9, walked into his door. Fixing them with the most earnest smile he could muster, he spoke to the pair.
“What can I get you kids today” Sherbet announced happily, greeting the young pair.
“Uh, I don’t know.” Star said, reading over the brightly colored menu. “Sweetie, what would you like?” Star turned to his not-yet-marefriend.
“I’ll have vanilla with a lot of raspberry and blackberry syrup, with lots of sprinkles!” Sweetie announced happily, bouncing around a little.
“Give me chocolate ice cream with strawberry syrup and cherry chunks. And lots of chocolate sprinkles” Star announced happily after making his decision. While their Ice Cream was being prepared, Star and Sweetie sat down at the counter.
“Did you hear that weird noise in the tree, Sweetie?” Star asked, the memory suddenly popping back into his mind.
“Yeah I did, but when we looked there was nothing there, remember?”
“True, but I couldn’t help but feel like we were being watched. By what, I’ll never know.” Star said, making small circles on the counter with a hoof.
“You’re just imagining things, Star. It was probably just a squirrel or bird or something. Who could possibly want to spy on a pair of innocent kids? Some tree creeper or something? I’ve never heard of such weird ponies. Maybe it was squirrel ninjas.” Sweetie said, a hint of a laugh in her voice.
“You’re probably right, Sweetie” Star said, as their porcelain bowls clanked onto the table, being served by the owner himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow was now calm, after having run off the adrenaline that was pumping through his veins in the aftermath of being laughed at by Scootaloo and falling out of the tree. He decided he would hunt for the bird later. As he walked back to his cottage, he noticed his letter was still in his mailbox, unsent.
“Luna save me….”
Then a Familiar voice rang in his head, omnipotent.
“I might join her” which was then followed by maniacal laughter.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight awoke the next morning knowing the fact that she needed to pack her, Spike, and Shooting Star's bags because they were going to Canterlot today. Not to mention Shadow was going to be there with them. When she went to check her mail, she found about five letters at the front door that were to Princess Celestia from Shadow.
“Oh, horseapples! Spike wake up, I need you to send these to Princess Celestia now!” Twilight yelled, sprinting up the library stairs. “And after you do that, I’ll pack our bags for Canterlot.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few hours later Star woke up and Twilight was shocked that he didn’t wake up screaming like a banshee.
“Well I guess Rarity was right. Those colors are soothing.” She then heard the toilet flush and Star’s bedroom door shut.
“Wow, just like Spike.” She muttered to herself. A few moments later she heard gentle snores coming from his room. She looked at the clock and realized it was 3:00am.
“Well I do have a lot to do, so he will be fine or maybe not. I’m just going to have to wait and see.” 4:30 rolled around and Twilight heard Star screaming his head off. Twilight rushed to his side, picking him up in her forehooves, rocking him back and forth.
“It’s ok, nopony will hurt you.” Seeing his horn was starting to glow, Twilight continued trying to console him. “Star, it’s ok, we’re going to see your mom today.” Star started to perk up and his horn’s light died down, and he started to smile.
Twilight sang a lullaby that Fluttershy would sing to him when he stayed with her. After Star had finally fallen asleep, she laid him back down gently. Twilight noticed the necklace in his dresser ,sitting next to the picture of his mother. Twilight tiphooved out of his room and said to herself “Wow that was a lot easier than normal. This one might not have been as bad but still it almost caused a magical discharge.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The whole train ride to Canterlot, Shooting Star couldn’t help but be hyper and jumping around. Twilight smiled at him and said “Now calm down Star. You don’t want to get hurt. Star heard her and turned to look, and fell and scraped his knee. Twilight quickly ran to his side and picked him up asking “Are you ok?” as she pulled out a first aid kit Fluttershy made for her. She pulled out some disinfectant and a band-aid, sprayed his scrape and bandaged it. A few minutes later they arrived at Canterlot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The trio arrived at the Castle and were welcomed by no other then Celestia herself. Star ran up to her and jumped into her arms and said “mommy I missed you!” Celestia smiled and said “I missed you too, my little Star.” She returned the hug and threw him up on her back, knowing that she hadn’t given him a ponyback ride in a long time. Star smiled and said “I love you mommy.” Celestia said I love you too, my little Star.” Now let’s get something to eat. The cooks have made all your
favorites, and also I have a surprise for you when you take a nap, Star.”
“Really?! I can’t wait!” Star said with a smile that would make Pinkie jealous.
“Let’s go eat” Celestia said, nosing towards the dining areas.
“OK, mommy. Aunt Twilight, are you coming?” Star asked.
Twilight responded softly “No. I need to go get something for me, you and Shadow to do today.”As she trotted off in the opposite direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Mommy,” Star said, the fear in his voice making itself known. “I had a bad dream last night.”
“What was it about, my little star?” She said, with concern in her motherly tone.
“Well, I had a dream that you and Aunt Twilight and Aunt Lulu left me and never came back.” Star started to tear up a little, but Celestia picked him up and wiped the tears forming in his eyes.
“Now, you know that we would never leave you. We all love you. Your Aunt Twilight and Aunt Lulu love you and your
mommy loves you and don’t you forget that.” She smiled at him, cradling him in her arms.
The cooks then brought out Vegetable stew and Strawberry flavored water. Celestia looked at her son and said “for dessert we will have your favorite carrot cake.” Star’s eyes got wide at the sound of his favorite cake. Celestia saw her son’s smile
and kissed him on the forehead. After they ate, Star yawned loudly, so Celestia levitated him onto her back and walked him into his old bedroom. Star said “I love you mommy” which was muffled by a yawn.
“I love you too, my little Star” Celestia said as she laid him down on his bed a covered him in his blankets. She smiled and walked out of his room and saw Luna waiting for her. Celestia said “so, did you get the Star cooled off and shaped right?
“Yes sister, I did.” Luna replied nonchalantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Shadow! over here!” Twilight shouted. Shadow saw her and greeted her is his classic gentlecolty fashion.
“Miss Twilight, what are we getting tickets for anyway?” Shadow asked. He was only told to meet Twilight here, not why or for what.
“It’s a magic show. I remember you said something about Star liking magic shows in his past life.” Twilight said matter-of-factly.
“So who is the magician we will be seeing?” Shadow pressed on, not liking being out of the loop.
Twilight sighed. He really was a tenacious pony. She found that she kind of liked it. “Well, it’s somepony that came to ponyville a year or two ago.”
“Well, Miss.Twilight, who is it?” He pressed harder. “I have a feeling you are stalling and are trying to hide something.” Shadow was also quite good at reading other ponies. Scary.
Twilight let out another sigh. “The Great and Powerful Trixie” Twilight said, almost ashamed. Not even ten seconds after she said that, a guard approached the duo.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie wants to talk to you both.” He said sternly. They followed him to her and entered her
room.
“Twilight Sparkle,” Trixie said, greeting the other mare haughtily. “Why are you trying to get tickets to see The Great and Powerful Trixie when you humiliated her in ponyville?”
“Trixie, I’m getting tickets for Princess Celestia’s son. And before you ask, this is his personal guardian from Canterlot
Castle.”
Trixie pondered for a moment at what she just heard. “There is something else I need to tell you, Twilight Sparkle. I am sorry.”
Twilight went into a temporary state of shock. “Did I hea-“ before she could finish, Trixie cut her off. “Yes, you heard me right. I am sorry. To show this, take these.” Trixie levitated front row tickets and backstage passes to Twilight and Shadow. “I want to meet Celestia’s foal personally, after the show.” Trixie finished, leading Twilight and Shadow back out to the hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star woke up a few hours later with a big yawn. A note was attached to his lamp. “Come to my room when you wake up.
Love mommy and Aunt LuLu”
Star read the note and stretched, then hopped off his bed. He used his magic to lift his hair brush, tidying up his mane and tail. When he walked out of his room, he ran into a Royal Guard. He started to tear up, and the guard turned around. “Oh, Prince Star, are you ok?” Star nodded his head and said “yes, sir.” He then walked to his mother’s chambers and
knocked on the door. Celestia came and opened the door, greeting him warmly.
“Hello, sleepycolt. Did you have a good nap?” Celestia asked her son, the feature of grogginess still on his face.
“yes mommy” Star said with a smile. When he saw Luna, he ran to her and gave her a big hug and shouted “Aunt LuLu!”
“Hello Star, sweetheart. I missed you too. We have a surprise for you.” Luna levitated a box and opened it. Shooting Star’s
eyes got wide as he saw it. A white dwarf pendant that wasn’t too bright or too dim, on a golden chain. His smile got even bigger when they put it on him. Celestia said it looked great on him. They then walked out of her room and into the garden to a nice outdoor lunch.
A few hours later, Twilight and Shadow got back to the castle with the tickets.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the time came to leave, Twilight went and got Shooting Star and Shadow. They walked to the theatre where Trixie's show was being held and showed their passes to a Ticket taker. The nice pony led the trio to their seats, and they sat just as the show began.
There was a drumroll and the theater went totally black. Star scrunched closer to Shadow, and didn’t move until the curtains finally opened. There were brilliant flashes of green, red, and yellow sparks emanating from a lone blue unicorn mare on stage. She was dressed in a midnight blue cape and hat, adorned with silver and gold stars. Fear soon gave way to
astonishment, as Star’s eyes grew wider and wider with each passing trick. He saw lights and shapes, made entirely out of magical essence. Trixie then followed her light show with the recount of her “Ursa Major” battle. That always kept the spectators awed, whether they believed her or not.
Trixie then pulled her top hat off of her head, and Angel Bunny popped out, looking rather angry. “Wrong bunny, folks!” Trixie said, shoving Angel back down into the headgear. Trixie then levitated several odds and ends, juggling them in the air.
“For my final trick, I need a volunteer! You, young colt in the front row! How would you like to assist the great and powerful Trixie?” She smiled at Star, as the lights focused on him. Star looked at Twilight and Shadow respectively, and they bade him to go on stage. He trotted up slowly and nervously, focusing on the wood planks under his hooves.
“Now, what’s your name, little one?” Trixie asked Star. “Shooting Star, ma’am” He said, remembering the manners Miss Rarity had drilled into his head. “Well Shooting Star, thank you for helping me. Just hold still while I wave my magic wand.” She began waving circles around his head and a box appeared under him. The box closed above his head and there was a puff of blue and white smoke. Shocked, Twilight stood up and was fixing to charge the stage when Shadow held her back.
Star appeared in his old seat, between the two of them, slightly ruffled, but fine nonetheless. Star clapped and yelled louder than anypony else. Twilight relaxed, disgruntled, but happy that Star was safe and that he enjoyed himself. Something then occurred to Twilight that hadn’t before. Trixie really was good at magic, so maybe she could give Star some advice. It was a stretch, but what could it hurt to ask?
After most of the assembled audience had cleared the sitting room, Twilight approached the backstage door, and after producing their VIP badges to the on-duty guard, he waved them through. When Trixie wasn’t in her garish magician’s outfit, she seemed much more approachable. Twilight introduced Shooting Star to Trixie more formally now.
“Trixie, this is Shooting Star, Princess Celestia’s young colt.” Star nervously stood as Trixie approached him, unsure of
what she was going to do. She turned out to be nice, nothing like what she used to be when Twilight first met her in ponyville. Trixie eagerly answered all of Star’s questions, and even showed him some of the tricks she didn’t always use in her show. Two of them involved turning Twilight’s horn into a flower (appearance-wise, anyway), and Shadow’s stripes yellow. Star
laughed raucously at this, much to Twilight and Shadow’s dismay. After Twilight had gotten over her initial embarrassment, she got down to the task at hand.
Twilight spoke privately to Trixie as Star and Shadow played catch with a small object. “Trixie, I know this is a strange request, but perhaps could you give young Star here some advice on controlling his magic? He’s still young yet, obviously, and I’m using all the tricks I know, but a fresh opinion wouldn’t hurt.”
“Trixie is willing to accept your request, if you are willing to accept Trixie’s friendship".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**************************Ready, Begin************************************************
Twilight stood there, mouth agape.
“Well, Twilight Sparkle, will you accept Trixie’s friendship?”
“yes...yes I will.” Twilight said, offering a hoof. After they shook, Trixie was instructing star on some o the finer points of using
magic, and Twilight noticed he was getting sleepy.
“Trixie, I think we better go. I think Star is getting tired.” Twilight said, pulling Trixie’s attention away from the young colt.
“Very Well, Twilight Sparkle. You can take leave of the Great and Powerful Trixie.”
“Thank you for your help, Trixie. Maybe we will see you in ponyville sometime.” Twilight said as She and Shadow left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Twilight, Star can barely stand, we should probably carry him the rest of the way to your parents’ house. I’ll take him the rest of the way.” Shadow said, gently lifting the young colt in his red magic aura.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Twilight said, stifling a yawn.
“Looks like you could use a nap too, Miss Twilight.” Shadow said, chuckling.
“Shush!” Twilight hissed, embarrassed. Come to think of it, she’d barely slept more than a couple hours on the train. With Star’s nightmare and the ensuing chaos of calming him down and getting him back to sleep, then packing for the trip to canterlot, she’d had next to no sleep the night before.
Shadow was accustomed to being up all night, so he was unfazed. Probably a side effect from his Earth job. As the trio walked through the dusky streets of canterlot, they came to a modest home, not too big or small, painted purple and blue. Twilight immediately seemed to be filled with energy. They had finally arrived at her parents’ home.
Twilight knocked quietly on her parents’ front door. Her father, Night Shade, answered.
“Twily, how nice to see you dear.” He said, greeting her with a smile and a hug. Just then, he noticed the strapping young stallion standing next to her, and a wide grin spread across his muzzle. “And who’s this young lad? Your coltfriend? And a foal! How lovely!” Night Shade said, greeting Shadow.
“He’s NOT my coltfriend, daddy.” Twilight said, flustered and blushing. “and that’s NOT my foal. I’m babysitting him for a friend. May we come in?”
“Certainly dear, certainly.” It is getting rather dark out, innit?” He said as he allowed the trio to pass the threshold.
Twilight was greeted by several staring faces. Namely, her mother Twilight Velvet, her big brother, Shining Armor, and his newlywed wife, Princess Cadence.
Each of the looks plastered across their faces were as different as night and day, for they heard the commotion that Night Shade had made at the door.
Shining Armor was staring down Shadow, with an expression somewhere between cold analytics and shock. It was the same
stare Shadow had often gotten from other humans when he was dating their sisters or other close friends and relatives.
Cadence was looking back and forth between Twilight, Shadow, and the sleeping Star, wondering why they were toting around Celestia’s foal at this time of night. She decided to ask Twilight about it later, in private.
Twilight Velvet was beaming at her daughter, happy that she had finally found a coltfriend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Before things could go any further, Twilight explained that Shadow was not her coltfriend, and the foal was not hers, just as she explained to her father moments previously. After that had settled, they were invited to have some tea and cake. Twilight took Star up to her old bedroom, and nestled him into her bed, then trotted back downstairs.
Shadow and Shining Armor were adamantly talking about swords and their history, as Cadence and Twilight Velvet
were going on about some book they had recently just read. Night Shade was sitting at the table also, poring over the evening edition of the Canterlot Daily Newspaper, reading some article about the results of some “Young Stallions” contest last month. For all intenst anr purposes, it was a pretty typical, cliché type of setting. Twilight set down next to her mother, and poured herself some tea, listening to her mother and Cadence.
Twilight and Shadow explained they were in town, taking Star to see Trixie’s magic show at the theater. “I decided it may be a good time to visit since I don’t get out here all that often, what with my studies on friendship and magic. Shadow just came along because he was bored.”
“No, I came along to help you make sure you got tickets for the show because Trixie used to hate you. Also,the donuts
here are the best.” Shadow said, upset that Twilight made him sound like some sort of pathetic tag-along. He then went back to his cookies and conversation with Shining Armor.
Twilight Velvet giggled. “You two sound like me and Night Shade before we got married.” Twilight Sparkle heard this and blushed quite profusely, thanking Celestia shadow didn’t see it. He was just like Spike and would pick on her about it. Then she might be forced to hit him with something heavy. Like a book, or that stone statue on the library table back home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Armor, how about some swordplay drills while dusk is still on our side?” Shadow asked the young guard.
“You sure you wanna take me on, Shadow?” Shining Armor said, a smile creeping across his muzzle.
“Challenge accepted.” Shadow followed Shining armor into the backyard, Armor levitating two crude wooden swords.
“Challenger first.” Armor said, flicking the wooden sword Shadow’s way. Shadow caught it midair in his red aura, surprising himself and Shining.
“You’re quick, but let see how much quicker you can get!” Armor lunged at Shadow, going for a thrust that was easily deflected by Shadow. The two went back and forth, exchanging hits, which attracted a small crowd. They saw this and decided to make a show out of it, especially for the young colts that were present.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Twilight, Velvet, and Cadence were talking at the table about nothing in particular.
“Twilight, may I speak to you privately?” Cadence asked Twilight, motioning towards the front room.
“Sure, Princess- I mean, Cadence.” Twilight knew better than to be formal with Cadence.
They went out to the sitting room, Leaving Velvet and Night Shade to the kitchen. Cadence sat across the room from Twilight.
“Twilight, why do you have Prince Star with you and that strange young stallion? Why is he not home with Aunt Celestia and Luna? Are they OK?” Cadence began, quickly regaining her rambling string of questions.
“Cadence, the Princesses are fine. I’ve been given a very important task, along with Shadow, the ‘strange young stallion’ as you put it. Shadow is Star’s personal guardian, and I’m training Star to better control his magical powers. He’s scary strong, Cadence.” Twilight said, a hint of worry in her voice. “I hope I can help him before it’s too late. It wouldn’t surprise me if his magic ripped him apart.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great, Twilight. No one’s better at magic than you. You were gifted since you were little. Since I can remember, anyway.” Cadence said, reassuring Twilight.
“I suppose you’re right, Cadence.” Twilight said, smiling slightly.
…<Codename: Princesa L’amore Cadenza
…<run: trollmode.exe…
…<Welcome, Princess Cadence – Troll Mode Activate.>
“Why is Shadow not your coltfriend, again?” Cadence asked her, a smile creeping along her muzzle. She’d been waiting all night to pick on Twilight about Shadow.
“What? why would you ask me that?” Twilight said, getting flustered again.
“Cuz I wanna know, Twinklebutt” Cadence said, poking Twilight in her ribs. “He’s obviously a strong, attractive, well built stallion. I’m sure many of the mares back home want him, too. But you can easily make him yours if you learn how to work your feminine charms on him. He doesn’t seem to be very smart. OR if he is, he hides it well. Why not ask him on a date?” Cadence finished, a sly smile plastered across her muzzle.
“Because he doesn’t read, isn’t very smart, and even though he’s polite, that will only get him so far.” Twilight said with a huff.
“How do you know he’s not smart? Or doesn’t read? Have you ever talked to the stallion without getting into a topic about Star or some smartypants gobbledygook?” Cadence asked her, pressing harder at her buttons.
“Well no, not really. He keeps to himself mostly. He helps Fluttershy and Applejack out a lot, too. So he’s always busy. I don’t even think-“
Cadence cut her off with a tsk-tsk noise. “Twilight, you have a lot to learn about being a young mare. You see him helping Fluttershy and Applejack a lot, so perhaps he’s trying to make moves on them? And how many days do you have left here in canterlot? One, maybe two? Now’s your chance to get to know him better. Just leave Shooting Star here for the night. Armor
and I will protect him with our lives. And you couldn’t possibly wake a sleeping colt could you? That’s just mean.” Cadence said, satisfied she made her point.
“I suppose you’re right, but I have no bits on me. I bought round trip tickets.” Cadence levitated a small bag in front of
her.
“This should cover one or two hotel rooms, supper, and after-dinner drinks.” Cadence said, the shy smile creeping back to her muzzle. “Now you have no excuses.”
Twilight frowned and accepted the jingling bag. “You win this time, Cadence.” Groaning, Twilight left the sitting room, with a very pleased-looking Princess Cadence following her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow and Shining Armor had ‘fought’ their way to exhaustion. They were sweaty, dirty, and covered in who knows what. But they didn’t care. They were having too much fun trying to gain the upper hand on one another. Shining Armor had a feeling Shadow couldn’t use very much magic, as he mostly relied on holding his sword in his mouth, but he was amazingly agile for a stallion his size. He must have had some previous training or had been born to fight, either way, Shining Armor
could use more ponies like him.
The two new friends were cleaning up as best they could in the flowing-water pond that was erected in the backyard. Taking deep draughts of the crisp, clear water, they were discussing what had just transpired.
“Armor, I had no idea magic could be used so deftly, especially levitating things. I can barely manage that myself.”
“All it is, is practice, Shadow” Shining Armor said, after Shadow extricated his head from the pond, water streaming down his muzzle.
“I didn’t get a lot of practice.” Shadow said sheepishly, once again nearly being called out on being a former human.”I was born on a farm way to the east, to earth pony parents. We all know pony genetics are weird.” Shadow said, avoiding directly answering why he stunk at magic.
“I suppose that’s true” Shining Armor said. “Weren’t there other unicorns back home you could learn from? I’m sure you weren’t the only one.”
Now Shadow was worried. He hadn’t thought his being here in equestria would be so difficult.
“No, I wasn’t. But nopony could ever really teach me. I was a late bloomer.”
“That explains why you rely mostly on physical prowess.” Shining Armor said, matter-of-factly.
Now he was caught. Shadow really hoped Armor didn’t notice that, but he did.
“Shadow, where in Celestia’s name are you?” Twilight yelled from the back door.
“Saved by Twilight” Shadow thought to himself as he trotted off, giving Shining Armor a farewell salute.
“Over here, Miss Sparkle.” Shadow trotted up to her, noticing she seemed nervous about something. “What do you need? Is it time to go?”
Twilight mumbled incoherently. “What was that, Miss Twilight? I didn’t quite understand.”
“Would you like to go on a da- I mean, go out to eat?” Twilight said, a hint of despair in her voice.
“Sure, let me go get Star.” Shadow said, trotting towards the humble house.
“NO! I mean, let him sleep.” Twilight said, composing herself.
“You mean a date?” Shadow said, half-assed, as if he didn’t believe what he heard.
“NO, it’s not a date, you big red dummy. We’re just a pair of friends, going out to eat, and getting to know each other a little bit. Not a date.” Twilight refused to admit she was going on a date.
“Yeah, I guess not a date then.” Shadow said jokingly. “Even though it sounds like one.”
At this, Twilight decided to give him a swift kick towards his stallionhood.
With a squeak and groan, Shadow simply said “not a date” His eyes going temporarily in either direction of his muzzle.
“Let’s go, you big red baby.” Twilight said, laughing to herself. Shadow walked behind her, out of range of her rear hooves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they arrived at the modest café that Twilight always ate at, Shadow’s stallionhood had mostly recovered. They had sat at a table near the back of the café, this area was lit only with candles on the tables, and on the walls. After they ordered, awkward silence had set in.
“So, Shadow, do you read at all?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, a little bit, at least back on earth anyway. Lots of books about science and the history of foreign countries. I also like thriller and mystery books.”
“Really? Science? I love science!” Twilight said, visibly excited. “What’s your favorite science subject?”
“I really like archeology and geology, and stuff about unknown species.” Shadow said, unsure of how he should react to Twilight.
“Fascinating! I love all types of science!” Twilight said, relaxing a little bit now that they shared some common ground.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was late and Night Shade had retreated to bed with Twilight velvet in tow. Cadence and Shining Armor were in the living room, listening to the latest DJ mixes from Manehatten. A ponyvillian DJ had been featured that night, and went by the name of DJ Pon-3. The DJ was incredibly good at her music, especially something called “dubstep”, which the pair enjoyed. So far, Shooting Star was sleeping soundly, while the newlyweds cuddled on the couch. They’d been given the guest room for the night, but weren’t tired yet. They were discussing Shadow and Twilight, and how cute they’d be together.
“I’d really like to have Shadow join my guards. A unicorn with that much physical prowess is hard to come by. Most of them couldn’t even get close to me while I was training with them. But Shadow was going hit for hit. I actually enjoyed myself, honey.” Shining Armor said excitedly. “Do you think he’d accept an invitation?” Armor questioned.
“I couldn’t say for sure, love. He seems like a very respectful, upstanding pony. He’s perfect for Twilight.” Cadence snickered. “You should have seen how embarrassed she got when I asked her about him” A whimsical look played across her face.
“Really now? Close to the time I found her playing in mom’s gala clothes?” Shining Armor laughed. He remembered little Twilight running around the house while their parents were out, singing at the top of her lungs “at the gala, the gala” It took him forever to repair and clean that dress. But she was so cute, he couldn’t resist letting her play.
“So, do you know where those two went off to? They’ve been gone for a while. I thought they were going to dinner and coming right back. It’s unlike Twilight to waste time like this.” Shining armor commented nonchalantly.
Cadence smiled to herself. She really knew what was going on and wasn’t going to tell him if she could help it. “I’m sure the restaurant is just busy. It is a Saturday night after all. And most of the young ponies from the colleges are probably out and about.”
“I suppose your right. I hope they get back soon. Canterlot isn’t as safe at night as you’d think.” Shining Armor chimed in, a note of seriousness in his voice.
“They’re fine, you big worrypony.” Cadence cuddled up to Armor and nuxxled him, then gave him a quick kiss. “Shadow is a strong pony, like you said. I doubt he would let Twilight get hurt.”
Just then, they heard screaming and crying coming from Twilight’s room. Remebering Star was sleeping in that room, the pair charged up the steps, just as the parents were coming out of their bedroom. They all ran to Twilight’s room, flicking open the door with three distinct bursts of magic. Star wasa rolling around and crying in Twilight’s bed, a visible grimace of fear and pain on his face.
{{
Damian found himself walking around his hometown. It was a dark night, with no moon to be found. He walked across an intersection in the road, when a car came speeding from around the corner, clipping him. The last thing he felt was a bump, and then immense, blinding pain in his right leg. When he looked at it, the shin bone was sticking out, in all its white and red glory. He was alone in the intersection, with no cell phone or contact of any sort. Even the car that had hit him was gone. He was too thirsty to yell, so he scooted inch by inch out of the road and next to a garbage can, lifting himself up. Hopping on one leg and nearly falling several times, he finally found a 2x4 piece of wood, and used it to prop himself up. Biting down hard on his shirt, he moved foot by foot up two blocks to a hospital, where he was checked in and got his leg splinted up the next morning. Only Jason came to visit him, and only Jason took him home. His parents pretended to care, but he knew they didn’t. He was never wanted in the first place. So he spent the next 8 weeks in his room, cooping himself up like some rabid dog. It was this time in his life that he had found My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”
}}
Star woke up, still crying. He was surrounded by strange ponies, except for cousin Cadence. He immediately ran to her, burying himself in her arms as she picked him up and held him.
“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Star.” Cadence said. “You’re ok, it was only a nightmare. All a bad dream. There there, you’re ok little one.” She cuddled him closer, lying down on Twilight’s bed with him. He buried himself next to her, in the blankets, still sobbing.
“Cousin Cadence, I was so scared” He mumbled, half asleep. “There was a big metal monster, and it hit something that was walking. It was dark and I couldn’t see the thing’s face. It wasn’t a pony. But it was hurt, crying and screaming, And I wanted to help him feel better, So I cried with him. I think he was aved by other things like him” Star finished, his eyes still red, but much more calm now. “Cousin Cadence, can you stay up here with me? I’m still scared.”
“Sure I can, baby cousin. I’d love to.” Cadence pulled blankets over them both, holding Star. “go to sleep, little one.”
The rest of the family had left the room, closing Twilight’s door as they left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow and Twilight had a wonderful night. While they waited for their meals, they talked about all sorts of subjects. Twilight was surprised that Shadow knew so much about history, and even though there was no way to get to Earth she
enjoyed hearing about it. She learned that Shadow used to build houses for other people, as a charity project. He was a genuinely kind soul, which explained why he fit in so well in equestrian life.
Shadow was surprised he was on equal footing with Twilight. She really was a smart pony, but somewhat introverted, like
himself. He enjoyed her company, which was always a bonus. They ate and conversed, and then set off for one of the nicer taverns here in Canterlot. They had a couple rounds, and Shadow found out what exactly was so special about cider here in equestria.
They drank just enough to feel good, and made their way to a hotel not far from Twilight’s old home. Being the gentlecolt he was, Shadow rented a room down the hall from Twilight, after making sure she didn’t fall asleep in the lobby. Shadow then proceeded to his room, and passed out not long after laying down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back at the small house, the assembled family members were sitting in the living room, wondering about Star’s extremely vivid nightmare. Cadence explained what she had been told by Star, but nopony could make heads or tails of it. Twilight and
Shadow had not come back that night, which also made the atmosphere a bit tense. While it had been established that there wasn’t room for them, they were supposed to report back before going to their hotel, for safety reasons of course.
Cadence explained to her in-laws about the young colt that had been left in Twilight’s room. They understood completely and had decided they would love to have him come stay again. While Star was sleeping soundly once again,
those assembled retreated to their respective rooms, happy that Star was finally alright.
The next morning, Twilight and Shadow returned to the domicile. They were told about Star’s dream, and Twilight once again made a document for reference. It would be really difficult for her to explain to the other four ponies, so she was ecstatic that they did not ask.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight went to her old bedroom and saw Shooting Star sleeping, sucking his tip of his wing and she smiled. She walked over to him and shook him lightly “Star, sweetie, time to wake up. We need to go back to the castle and say goodbye to your mommy.”
“ok” Star said groggily. He hopped out of the bed, stood up and shook a little. Twilight smiled at her nephew.
“Oh, before we go, my mother and father cooked breakfast and Cadence helped cook some of your favorites” Twilight told him. Star’s mood brightened immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So Cadence, does Star drink milk or water with his breakfast?” Velvet addressed her daughter in law
“Hmm, I don’t know. Usually milk last I knew” Cadence replied over her shoulder.
“Ok” Twilight Velvet said.
“Oh, did I tell you all about one of the times when Shooting Star was a foal? He crawled into Aunt Celestia's room with this little stuffed bunny he carried everywhere…but he went in there wanting a late night snack, It was so cute.” Cadence continued as she set out plates.
“Well, Aunt Celestia wasn’t in there. She was helping Aunt Luna, so I was sleeping there. Star climbed into the bed and woke me up. His face was so adorable, I couldn’t help but smile. I said “Well hello there, what are you doing out of bed?” He smiled and said “can I have a snack?” I smiled and placed him onto my back, took him down to the kitchen, where he ate a whole six muffins.” Cadence laughed remembering the little colt’s seemingly endless appetite.
“aww, that sounds adorable.” Twilight velvet said “Speaking of adorable, there’s the little dear now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star walked down the stairs, and went into the kitchen with Twilight behind him.
“Well, good morning sleepyhead. Did you sleep ok?” Twilight velvet asked the little one.
“Yes ma’am.” He replied, still remembering his manners.
He walked to a chair, and attempted to climb into it. Cadence picked him up in her magic and sat him down, much to his chagrin. “I’m a big colt now, I can do it, cousin Cadence.” Star said, frowning.
“There you go, baby cousin” she said as she ruffled his hair.
Star smiled at a plate of eggs about the size of his head. A smile crept across his muzzle and a glass of milk was put in front of him. A fork shortly followed, but Cadence wasn’t sure if he could use magic just yet. Star looked at the fork, focusing, and lifted it. Cadence was shocked. Most young colts his age could barely manage any type of magic.
As everypony sat down to eat, Star was eating his eggs. Cadence noticed he had some of it on his face, and everypony else looked at Star and couldn’t help but giggle.
Star looked back and said “what’s going on?”
After everyone ate, Cadence came over with a napkin and wiped Star’s face off. He glared at her.
“Oh, calm down silly. Now let’s fix that mane and tail” He tried to run, but failed. Cadence had a brush and held him down with her hooves while her magic used the brush to fix his unkempt appearance.
“Now you look like a proper young prince.” She said, smiling at her handiwork and giggling at Star’s disgruntled face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After breakfast was over, Twilight, Velvet, and Cadence cleaned up the leftover mess, while Star and Shining Armor played out back. After all was said and done, Twilight bade her family goodbye, and trotted off towards the hotel, to gather up Shadow. From there, they would have a final meeting with Celestia before going home.
With Shadow in tow, Twilight made her way toward the place gardens, where it would be most likely to find the Princess at this time of day. Sure enough, they found her in the gardens, having afternoon tea with Luna. While Star played in the gardens with Luna, Twilight and Shadow recounted everything on Star’s progress, and told her about his nightmare the night before. Satisfied that she had been filled in, Celestia enjoyed a few minutes with her son, before the train to ponyville left.
On the ride home, Star slept most of the trip away, occasionally tossing and turning, or grumbling. But at least he was having normal dreams for once. Twilight was watching over him, and Shadow decided to make himself scarce. He’d had quite enough of the whole “social” thing for now, so he was in a dining car sipping at a cup of tea, a special brew he grew himself.
Twilight was deep in thought when Shadow finally returned to their car. He plopped down in a seat across from her, avoiding sitting on Star. There wasn’t much discussion to be had, so the ride went by pretty silently. Shadow couldn’t help but wonder what had Twilight so preoccupied, but he knew better than to ask cause she wouldn’t tell him.
When the trio finally got home, they took to their respective domiciles, a groggy Star following Twilight to the library, and Shadow making his way to his house. He didn’t need to write the Princess tonight, so he decided to go do more research on his magical powers. He knew he wouldn’t be nearly as good as a purebred unicorn, but hopefully he could learn something besides levitating things.
*************************************************************************************
Twilight entered her library and was greeted by a happy Spike. He didn’t get to go to canterlot this time because Twilight didn’t have enough money, so he stayed behind with Rarity, which he didn’t horribly mind. Spike hugged Twilight and then Star, who was instantly awakened when he saw his favorite playmate. It was too late to go see Sweetie, so that would
have to wait.
After Star and Spike had played for a while, they took themselves to bed, which was surprising to Twilight. This just gave her time to think of more experiments for Star to work on. He was progressing pretty rapidly at the ball game, so it was time for new material.
After she’d gotten her fill of research, Twilight took herself to bed. Tomorrow was going to be an intense day of studying for the two days that Star was slacking on while he was in canterlot. She gave up trying to solve his night terrors, so she was putting all her focus into magical control.
*************************************************************************************
Eventually, weeks turned into months, and into a year, finally. Twilight was beside herself with glee. Today was Star’s birthday, and also a milestone, for he had spent the entire year studying under Twilight, making new friends, and most of all, spending time with Sweetie. Twilight smiled to herself as she walked into sugarcube corner, where Pinkie was taking orders at the front counter.
“Good afternoon, Pinkie.” Twilight greeted the puffy-maned pony at the counter. “Today’s a very special day.”
“I know I know I know!” said Pinkie, beginning to bounce around. “Today’s Shooting Star’s ‘happy living in ponyville for one year with all your friends and sweetie belle’ day. Can you believe he’s been living with us for a whole year? that’s like, 400 days!” Pinkie chattered excitedly.
“365 days.” Twilight corrected Pinkie, laughing. “And that means we need some really special cupcakes and muffins and stuff. We’re holding the party at Applejack’s again, so there’s room for dancing and things” Twilight went on. “You’re in charge of the party as usual, Pinkie. Make sure to make it the next-best night ever.” Twilight said happily, placing her order list on the counter.
“Okie dokie lokie, Twi!” Pinkie said, rushing to the back of the store to begin preparing her mixes for all the sweets.
Twilight left the excited pink mare to her baking, while she went to go arrange the barn with Applejack.
*************************************************************************************
Shadow had been asked to meet Twilight and Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, so they could decorate the barn for Star’s birthday / one year in ponyville party. He trotted happily up to Applejack, striking up a conversation with her while they waited for Twilight. He’d improved his grasp of magic quite a bit over the past year, and could now levitate and teleport
freely, though he still got exhausted pretty quickly.
Twilight walked up the main path of the farm that led to the big brown barn. The supplies were already delivered earlier that morning, so they just had to be put up. After discussing momentarily with Shadow and AJ how the decorations were
supposed to look, they all knew their respective duties and got straight to them. They’d finished early with the surprising help of Big Mac, so the four had time for Idle chatter while Star and Spike were on their way, with Rarity, Pinkie, Dash, and Fluttershy. Sweetie Belle also came along.
Star had no idea what was going on. All he knew was he was going to Sweet Apple Acres for something that involved a lot of ponies he knew. He didn’t even know that he’d been living in ponyville for a year so far. By now he had grown almost 6 inches, standing slightly taller than Spike. His wings hadn’t grown in yet, and they wouldn’t for a while, but he could easily
move them if he tried. He didn’t attempt flying yet. Last time he did, he ended up with a face full of pond water. He was
happily chatting with Sweetie, while Spike was talking to Rarity. Dash and Shy were busy arguing over who was the best
wonderbolt.
When the assembled ponies trotted up and into the barn, it was fully dark. Then there was a purple flash, and Star couldn’t believe what he saw. There were two huge buffet tables, fully decked out with sweets, cakes, muffins, cookies, anything you could imagine. Above the two tables was a huge purple and blue banner that said “Happy Birthday Shooting Star!” in silvery-
white letters. Many of the ponies assembled were friends of his from school, or other ponies that Twilight knew. Star wasn’t very good with names, but he knew every pony by their faces.
Then, the music started, and with that, the party went into full swing. Ponies were dancing, laughing, and conversing with one another, or playing random games that Pinkie invented on the spot. For once, Star was enjoying being surrounded by ponies. He and Sweetie were even able to find a table to themselves.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
About half an hour into the party, Star suddenly felt very ill. He hadn’t eaten or drank very much of anything yet, but he usually wasn’t bothered by that. He could barely focus on the conversation at hand, and slipped in and out, before finally collapsing in a shaking, writhing heap of fur. The last thing he remembered hearing was Sweetie’s voice yelling for somepony to help him.
}}}}}}}}}}}}}
It was a brilliant summer day. A lone human was sitting on a lakeshore, a fishing pole in one hand, and a cold can of soda in the other. As he stared at nothing in particular, the human heard a sound in the woods behind him. He froze. So far as he knew, nobody knew he was here. He hadn’t even told Jason. And he usually told him everything, much to Jason’s chagrin. EVERYTHING. Even things that he didn’t want to hear. But what was your best friend for? Gripping his fishing pole tighter, he
lifted himself slowly off of the log, when there was a rush and a crackle of splintering twigs and crushing leaves. He didn’t turn around fast enough, and found himself nearly airborne, heading towards the ice-cold lake.
KER-SPLASH!!
Surfacing, the human saw another human cackling like a madman on the shoreline. Standing nearly 6 feet tall and 275 pounds was Jason.
“Ey, Damian, how’s that water taste ya shite? You know you ain’t allowed to go fishing in my prized spot without me, punk!
“Who said this was your spot, you overgrown human-bear crossbreed? I should come up there and kick you straight in yer
nutz!” the human called Damian retorted.
“I’d rather look like a grizzly bear than a scrawny little beanpole.” Jason sneered back.
Just then, there was a splash behind Damian. Turning around, he saw a huge something coming straight towards him. He swam quickly towards the shore, which seemed a hell of a lot farther away than before. The whatever it was grabbed onto
Damian’s leg, and pulled him under. Jason saw this and knew he wasn’t fucking around.
Jason took a header into the pond himself, swimming out to and pulling Damian to the surface, He pulled his pocket knife from his belt, and stabbed the huge, toothed fish in its left eye socket, effectively making it release Damian. Carrying them both back to shore, Jason examined Damian’s leg.
Pieces of skin had been ripped out, and the puncture holes were deep. If Damian had struggled anymore, he might have lost some muscle pieces. Then the pain hit Damian, and he gripped onto Jason’s arm, hard leaving nail marks. Wrapping up Damian’s leg in his T-shirt, Jason rushed him out to the nearest hospital. The result had been Damian getting several dozen stitches in his lower leg, and being stuck in a wheelchair for a week.
{{{
Star woke up surrounded by all sorts of ponies, wondering if the young colt was ok. Thankfully, he hadn’t lapsed into a magical fit. He was helped up by Twilight, and asked to talk to her in a separate room. He detailed the memory to her, and
told her how he’d managed to hear names in the memory. Shadow’s human name came up, which thoroughly shocked Twilight. So Shadow wasn’t lying about being human in his past life. She would definitely need to interrogate Shadow again.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After Star relaxed, he returned to his party. He wasn’t about to let his nightmares get the best of him tonight. The party went on for what seemed like hours, and all the food had actually been eaten. It was a Saturday night, so Star and almost
everypony else had nowhere special to be, so they kept going until ponies left on their own accord. Even Pinkie had tired herself out, so they were going to come back the next day to clean up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the party was done and over with, AppleJack hollered for Twilight.
“ Twi, y'all need ta come over here fer this.” Applejack said, a little on the quiet side of her normal indoor voice.
“ yes AJ, wha-” Twilight was cut off from her sentence. She saw Shooting Star and Sweetie Belle, cuddled next to each other, fast asleep. She looked next to them and saw Apple Bloom and Spike sleeping also. Scootaloo fell asleep on Rainbow
Dash's back.
“Hey girls, I’m gonna take Scoots to my place to sleep for the night. You don’t think the orphanage will mind do you?” Dash asked nopony in particular.
“ Naw, Rainbow. Ah don’t think they will if you explain.” Applejack answered.
Well, see you girls later, and Twi, don’t cha worry ‘bout takin’ Star or Sweetie home. ah’ll let them stay here fer the night.”
“Thanks, AJ.” Twilight said. “oh, by the way-“ Before Twilight could finish, Applejack finished her sentence for her. “I know, keep a eye on Star for his dreams.”
“Thanks again” A few seconds after their dialogue was finished, Star was grumbling something, so they sat and watched him for a moment or two, before Twilight finally left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian was sitting in the tent, wondering where the fuck Jason was.
“I’m hungry as hell…” He grumbled to himself. Knowing that human-bear crossbreed, he probably ate the whole store.”
Damian chuckled. “Really, where is he?” he decided check out the my little pony fansite to see if any new stories had been posted. A few minutes after Damian opened up his laptop, Jason jumped out of nowhere, and caught a hit to the jaw.
“Ok, ow, I deserved that for the pond thing, Fluttershy.”
“I’m not that timid, and I’m not that skinny, either. I’m glad we did this. I haven’t been camping, well, ever.”
“Wait, this is your first time camping?” Jason asked.
“Well, if you don’t count the time my dad threw me out of my window. Yo, Jason, toss me a beer.”
“You sure you’re old enough to drink?” Jason couldn’t say with a straight face, knowing for fact Damian was only 15 at the time.
“Just shut the hell up and give me a drink.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Star and Sweetie woke up next to each other and blushed. Applejack walked in a few seconds later.
“Well, mornin’ you two.” She chuckled.
Sweetie Belle stood up and stretched. “Good morning, AJ.”
Star stood up and stretched his legs and wings, following up with a similar greeting. Sweetie never stopped being amazed that she was a prince’s Marefriend.
Star shook a little after stretching. “I’ll walk you to the Boutique, Sweetie.” They started walking. Sweetie brought something
up.
“Star, what are your nightmares about, can you tell me?”
I don’t really know, they’re just really scary. who knows?” Just then, they noticed something off about the boutique.
“Hey, why is somepony in the boutique. Miss Rarity isn’t there yet.” Star said.
“I don’t know, Star. But one of them is holding a picture of you.”
“Sweetie, stay out here. I’m gonna use some attack spells if they try anything, alright?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star rushed into Rarity's store and looked at the intruders. “Oh, hello, are you one of Aunt Rarity’s customers?”
“Umm, yes, we are. By any chance is your name Shooting Star?” one of the strangers asked him.
“Y..y..yes sir.” Star stammered.
“Good. Then you’re coming with us.”
“No, leave me alone!” Star's horn glowed as a fireball was shot at the intruders. They looked at him and fear set in.
“That wasn’t very nice.”
Next thing, Star was knocked out, and all Sweetie Belle could do was run to Twilight’s library
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweetie Belle got to the library and started beating on the door, screaming.
“Twilight, open up please! hurry and open up!” On the verge of tears now, Twilight opened the door, a little agitated, and
saw SweetieBelle.
“Sweetie Belle, what’s wrong? Come in.”
Sweetie walked in, telling Twilight all that happened. Twilight was baffled that Star knew spells like the ones Sweetie was describing.
Ok, I'll write a letter to the princess. Go into my room and sleep. Star will be fine, he is a tough little colt.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The strange Pegasus Stallion looked at his wife. “Do you think we are doing a good thing here? The unicorn looked at her husband.
“Yes I do, Death Glare.” she laughed at the name he chose for himself.
“Yea whatever, Dark Heart. Knowing Damian as well as we do, he is weak.”
“That’s true. why the Angel of Darkness let us do this, I’ll never know.”
Star was waking up in the burlap sack they put him in. Kicking about, he was trying to get out.
Death looked at it derisively. “If you don’t quit struggling Damian, we might just have to knock you out again.
“Who is Damian? Star asked.
“Don’t play stupid.” Dark said, giving the bag a swift kick to what she hoped was his head. “I hope this BlueBlood guy doesn’t screw us over.
“I don’t think he will.” Death Gaze intoned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everypony gathered up at town hall to hear the urgent news Twilight Sparkle had been going on about.
“Everypony, the worst has happened. Shooting Star has been Foalnapped. Shadow Foot and I will go to canterlot and look for him. The rest of you, I need your help searching ponyville. Split up into five teams and canvas the village. Sweetie
Belle has told me he was foalnapped by a unicorn and Pegasus pair. They obviously will not be familiar with ponyville or its residents, so any strange ponies you see, you must not make a scene and instead send word to canterlot. I’ll personally reward Star’s saviors.” With that, Twilight took leave of those assembled with an angry and worried Shadow Foot tailing her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Star woke up, hearing a familiar voice. He was listening to it, then the voice came into his room. “Cousin Blueblood!” Star tried to run and give him a hug. All Star got was a kick, and fell onto his flank. Blueblood looked at him with the coldest stare Star had ever seen.
“If you’re wondering why you’re here, It’s definitely not for a family reunion.” Blueblood sneered. “I had you foalnapped. You’re a threat to my ascent to power. Don’t try to use magic. I’ve sealed your horn, so that you have about as much power
as a newborn unicorn.” Blueblood snickered.
Star was scared by this. “w..what are you going to do to me?” Star received a slap and was told to shut up. “Nothing. If Aunt Celestia gives me what I want, that is.” Blueblood said before leaving Star in darkness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight and Shadow arrived in Canterlot a few hours later.
“I’m going to go and check Blueblood’s house. I need you to inform Cadence and tell her to use the tracking spell on him.” She started off towards Blueblood’s and Shadow stood there, wondering what Twilight meant by “last time”.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little after Blueblood’s “visit”, Star was able to break the seal by some miracle. Star heard some commotion in the next room, and thought he heard his mother’s voice.
There was a knock on the front door. Blueblood answered, expecting the strange pair from the foalnapping. Instead, he was
greeted by a very angry Twilight, followed by Cadence, Shadow, and Celestia. Blueblood was far from feeling safe, staring down his angry Aunt and Sister. He looked up at the Alicorns, and fully realized how screwed he was.
Celestia looked at him, with a gaze so fierce, he previously thought was impossible from his normally gentle aunt.
“Prince Blueblood, I am very disappointed in you right now.” Celestia began, her voice dripping with the venom of malice. “I thought you learned from the last time, when you tried to foalnap ME.”
Shadow was still confused. He didn’t think it was actually possible to kidnap a Princess, much less an Alicorn.
“I will explain later.” Celestia reassured Shadow, noticing the look of pure dumbness upon his muzzle. “Now Blueblood, where is my son? Celestia Stepped up to Blueblood, dwarfing him in both size and her shadow. “If you do not tell me in 5 seconds, I will not hesitate to skin you alive.”
Celestia heard crying from the next room and told Twilight and Shadow to hold off Blueblood. Opening the door gently, she stepped in the room and saw Shooting Star, crying in the corner.
“Shh, quiet now….you’re ok.” She cooed to him, approaching slowly so she wouldn’t frighten him any more than he already was. “Mommy's here and she will punish Blueblood for what he did to you…Come here, baby colt.”
Star ran to her as fast as his little legs could take him. Star jumped into is mother’s arms, crying, telling her everything. “Cadence.” she called for her niece. A few seconds later, Cadence appeared. “Be a dear, and take Star back to the Castle. Escort him to his room, and make sure he’s ok. I will take care of Blueblood.” She said the evil prince’s name with such disgust it was palpable. Cadence did as she was bidden, Twilight flanking her.
##########################################################################################################################################################################
Celestia rounded on Blueblood, and he backed up into a wall. He knew he was definitely screwed now. With a sinister smile, Celestia began to speak in her most commanding tone, usually reserved for nobles who didn’t show her proper respect
during official business.
“This reminds me of the time Luna turned me into a filly, and you tried to foalnap me.”
“But…“ she cut blueblood off before he could even start talking.
“No. You are not allowed to explain yourself at this time. I’m so thoroughly disgusted with you, your punishment is to be
turned into a colt for 1 year.
“wait, Aunt Celestia!” before he could say anything else, a white light engulfed him. After 3 minutes there was a white colt on the floor, waking up. Shadow looked at him, flabbergasted, making a mental note to not piss Celestia off.
Blueblood was whimpering on the floor now. True to her word, he was indeed a little colt, not much older than Star.
“Maybe now, you will learn how to properly treat your friends and family, royalty or not. If you do not change your ways, I’ll restore the spell until you do change. You can start by apologizing to your cousin in front of the entire Royal Court.”
Shadow couldn’t help but gawk at the now bawling Prince.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As everypony stood there in the Royal Court wondering what was going on, Princess Celestia came out of nowhere a few minutes later.
She said, “Everypony please quiet now. As you all know, Blueblood has been complicated and I know that nopony here likes him. However, he tried to foalnap Prince Shooting Star and has something he would like to say.”
A few minutes later, a white colt that looked no older than Shooting Star walked out and said, hesitantly, “”Umm…I would like to say I am sorry to prince shooting star for foalnapping him and putting a seal on his horn. I hope he will forgive me and I also hope that I will be able to start to change soon.”
Princess Celestia looked at a guard. “Take him back to his nursery!” she commended, causing everypony to laugh from the news. Cadence and Star walked to Celestia, followed by Star jumping into her arms saying, “I love you mommy and thank you!”
Celestia smiled and said, “You are very welcome my little Star.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead and addressed the group. “Now, let’s go and get some dinner.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia placed Star in a chair and the cooks brought out daffodil sandwiches. These cooks asked, where Blueblood was, so Celestia said, “Take his food up to his room.”
The cooks agreed, and subsequently left. Celestia then looked at Star and asked, “What did the ponies that took you to
Blueblood look like?”
Star was afraid by the memory, but managed to say, “One was a pitch black pegasus with an eye with a skull in it for his cutie mark and the other was a grey unicorn with a heart with some black stuff on it for her cutie mark.” However, afterwards, Star was eating his sandwich, losing the desire to talk about it anymore. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Blueblood sat in the vibrant, colorful room that Celestia provided for him, he noticed it looked like it was for a little foal. To make matters worse, he subsequently looked in a mirror and it reminded him about what she did to him. He knew how long this year would be and he was hoping that she wouldn’t embarrass him anymore, because he was trapped as a colt, Star’s
age. A few minutes later, a cook brought a sandwich and some water in, cooing, “I brought you some dinner.”
She realized the condescending way she was talking to him and apologized, saying it was out of habit with Star. After she
left, Blueblood sat there trying to use his magic to lift the sandwich, but all his horn did was light up like a sparkler and proved useless. Blueblood finally broke down in tears and crawled into bed, sobbing, and he eventually cried himself to sleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia was walking back to her room and heard crying coming from Blueblood’s room. She thought about entering and comforting him but decided against it, knowing that he needed to learn a lesson. Nighttime was approaching and considering she was tired herself she almost forgot about Star sleeping on her back. She took him to his old room and laid him down, tucked him in, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Subsequently, she walked back to her room and drifted off herself.
Unfortunately, a few hours later, she heard knocking on her door waking her up with a jolt. The knocking persisted, and it sounded like little hooves, so she walked over to the door and opened it gently.
The door concealed a crying Shooting Star so she looked at him and asked, “What’s wrong, my little star?” with concern in her motherly voice. Star while sniffling and holding back tears, said, “I had a bad dream!”
In response, Celestia picked Star up. “It’s ok, Star. Mommy is here, so please tell me what it was about.”
Star, while still stifling tears, said, “It was about Blueblood. He was treating me horribly and began hurting me.”
However, his tears came out, so Celestia was cradled him and wiped his tears away. “It’s OK my little star. He won’t hurt you ever again.”
“C…can I sleep in here tonight?”
“Yes, my little star.”
After that, Celestia went to her bed, still cradling him, and gently laid him down. Then, she got in her bed and placed her
wing on him. Star then proceeded to put the tip of his wing in his mouth and began suckling on it contently. Celestia simply smiled at him and they both fell asleep shortly. However, after a few hours, Celestia’s alarm clock went off.
She turned it off and said, “The sun can wait five more minutes. I just want to spend that time with my son in peaceful sleep.”
Subsequently, Luna knocked on the door and walked in stating her big sister needed to raise the sun. With a sigh, Celestia
got out of bed and obliged to her sister’s request. Star put the blankets over his head when Celestia walked over to him and shook him lightly, saying, “Wake up sweetheart. Let’s go and get some breakfast.” Star yawned, but got up shortly afterwards. Then, Celestia said, “Luna, please go wake up Blueblood.” So, Luna obliged while the royal mother and son walked down to devour a delicious breakfast.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Luna arrived at Blueblood’s room she opened his door and shook him. While shaking him, she shouted, “Wake up, Blueblood!”
He groaned, but he did wake up, not wanting to anger his aunt Luna. He jumped out of the bed and shook a little knowing that he was most likely going to eat in his room. With this, he went to the little desk and sat down, but Luna looked at him and
asked, “What are you doing, Blueblood?”
With another groan, Blueblood said, “Waiting for my breakfast. What does it look like?”
Luna scowled at him and said, “You are going to eat in the dining hall with the rest of us. Now, follow me.”
This scared Blueblood, because he knew Star’s personal guard would most likely beat his flank to the Everfree Forest and back, but he still obeyed Luna. They trotted down to the main dining room, but as they entered, Shadow jumped over the table trying to beat the crap out of him. However, Cadence, being the kind soul she was, held him in her magic. She didn’t
care if he was an evil colt ever or that he was an abysmal brother, he was a 5 year old colt and she refused to let a little colt get hurt under any circumstances. Shadow gave her a nasty glare, but right after that Shooting Star and Celestia walked in. The instant Star saw Blueblood he hid behind his mother quivering in fear, but Celestia reassured him by saying, “Don’t worry, mommy won’t let him touch you. I assure you if he tries anything I will take him around Canterlot and tell everypony
about what he did to you and Canterlot royalty.”
This calmed down Star, but he still sat as far away from Blueblood as possible. He was definitely still afraid of him, especially considering he still possessed the head bump from the kick Blueblood gave him. Star ate his breakfast after everypony was finished, and when he was done, Celestia put star on her back and walked him to the bathroom to give him a nice hot
steamy bath. She put him in the tub, pulled out some vanilla scented shampoo and put it in her right hoof. She gently applied it into his head, and Star didn’t mind his mother was giving a bath even considering Celestia personally washed his mane and tail. Afterwards, she washed his coat she let him sit in the tub and relax for a small amount of time. When Star was finished, she used her magic to levitate him, along with a big fluffy towel, which she used to dry him off. Finally, Celestia ran
a comb through his mane saying that she wanted him to attend a garden party with her. He was nervous by this even though it was in 3 hours, but she looked at him and said, “There’s no need to worry. Why don’t you go and spend some time with your aunt Lulu while i has a talk with Blueblood?” Star was still concerned, but he calmly nodded, and went to see Luna.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia walked into Blueblood’s room while he sat there on his bed reading a book. As the door became ajar, Blueblood looked up and saw Celestia. He was panicked, but before he could hide, she said, “Blueblood, as you know your punishment
is a colt for one year. However, I feel like our relationship has been heavily wrecked by…these events, so I want to spend some time with you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna and Star walked down to the gardens to have some tea talking when Star asked…a rather controversial question. “Aunt Lulu, where do babies come from?” he asked, causing Luna to spit her tea out.
She responded hesitantly. “I think…your mother will tell you when you’re older, Star.”
With that, Luna reached her destination, and was finally able sit down, soaking in the luminous sun. Then, Luna looked at
her nephew and said, “So…I understand that you have a little filly friend back in Ponyville.”
Subsequently, Star’s face sported a shade of vermillion. “Wh…where did you hear that?” he asked, both afraid and embarrassed.
Luna smiled. “A little shadow told me.” The shade became a full blown color, so Luna added, “You don’t need to be embarrassed. I am a goddess and your aunt. I can guarantee that nopony will make fun of you about that without
consequences.”
Her reassuring statements failed to mitigate his fears, as Star’s face was still scarlet, so he asked, “Aunt Lulu, what is mommy going to do with blueblood?”
Luna sighed dejectedly. “I’m not sure, but I hope she doesn’t go easy on him. Let’s get some lunch before you leave. I’m sure you’re hungry.”
Star nodded, so the two trotted down to the dining room. However, when they arrived, they noticed Blueblood at the table with a big red mark on his face, muttering obscenities. Star heard a few, so Luna was forced to explain Blueblood’s language shouldn’t be repeated by Star under any circumstances.
“What a day!” Luna mumbled under her breath with a heavy sigh, after lunch concluded. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the train ride back to Ponyville, Shadow shouted, “Why is Cadence so overprotective of little foals?! Why wouldn’t she let me beat the crap out of Blueblood?! He’s just a stupid traitor, no matter how old he is!!”
Twilight simply replied, “Cadence has and always will protect little foals. She’s too kind not to.”
After a while, Star yawned, so Twilight picked him up and put him in his seat.
When shadow saw this, he said, “It looks like you’ll be a great mother.”
Twilight thanked him and after about thirty minutes they arrived at Ponyville. Once there Twilight simply shook Star making him hop up, and walk out of the train towards the library. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once at the library, Twilight performed a magical scan on Star. Afterwards, she showed him a book with stronger, more advanced spells, which Star practiced. After that, Star asked twilight for permission to see Sweetie Belle, which Twilight
granted. Subsequently, Shadow walked in and started talking to Twilight. After a few words, he said, “Twilight, I was wondering would you like to go out to dinner with me.”
After some consideration, Twilight said, “Sure. I just need to call Fluttershy so that she can foalsit Star.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After a little while, Star arrived at Carousel Boutique and knocked on the door. Rarity opened the door and said, “Ah, star, darling! I’m so glad you’re OK! I was worried, so please come in. I think Sweetie Belle is in her room sleeping but I will make you a snack.”
So, after about ten minutes Rarity created a nice platter of brownies for Star, placing it in front of him. However, after she sat
them down, Sweetie Belle came in the kitchen. She ran to Star and gave him a great hug.
She said, “I was worried, Star! I’m glad you’re OK!”
With a wink, Star responded, “I’m an alicorn, Sweetie Belle! I don’t go down that easy! No need to worry about me!”
With that, the plate of brownies was eaten clean by Star, Sweetie Belle, and Rarity. Afterwards, Star told everything that
happened. When Star concluded, Rarity said, “It serves that ruffian Blueblood right! I’m so glad you’re alright, darling!”
Suddenly, Twilight called Star. “Star, could you stay at Rarity’s? Both Fluttershy and I are having dates.” she asked, and Star complied with her request.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Around 8 PM, Twilight and Shadow, her date, were dining at Ponyville’s fanciest restaurant. They talked, and during their conversation, Twilight asked, “Why did Damian kill himself?”
Shadow sighed dejectedly, but he sucked it up and said, “In short, his parents were abusive. He felt like nobody cared about
him anymore, so…he ended his suffering.
Twilight was in shock. “I really wanted ask Celestia is why he’s such a mama’s boy but…I can understand why now.”
Shadow laughed. “Star and I are living the dream that any brony would kill for!”
Twilight scratched her head. “What the heck is a brony?”
Shadow continued to laugh, “First off, both of us are bronies. Second, a brony is a male that watches the show My Little Pony. It’s hard to explain but…that’s kind of the idea.”
Afterwards, shadow paid the bill and they left.
Twilight said, “I don’t think Rarity will mind keeping star for the night. How about we spend the night together?”
“Sure. Lead the way, Twilight.”
With a kiss, the pair walked over to the library, and ended the night together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity went into Sweetie Belle’s room to tell her and Star to go to sleep but when she arrived, they were already asleep,
cuddling and content. She out the blanket over them, gave them each a peck, and went to her own room, and fell asleep almost immediately after her head hit the pillow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Twilight woke up, saw that Shadow had left, and went down the stairs. Looking out the window on the stair wall, she saw AJ teaching Star firework magic while Ditzy watched. Although Star’s magic had gotten considerably weaker since Blueblood put the seal on his horn he never stopped, even after a recommendation from Celestia about resting from magic.
During one spell, he said, “I’m going to perfect these spells for you, Sweetie Belle. I’m going to impress you, and nopony will
stop me!”
Unfortunately, by this point, he had already attempted about ten spells, and was reaching his limit. Sure enough, when Star attempted the spell, his horn began discharging magic at an alarming rate, forcing AJ and Twilight to scamper away from the scene. About thirty seconds later, an explosion with a two yard radius occurred, ruining half of Twilight’s library. Even worse,
Twilight, out of panic, ran back to Star.
Star was there…but he was unconscious, and was sustaining second-degree burns across his entire body. When Twilight initially arrived, she knew to check his pulse, which was constant, but she was still in a panic.
“AJ! I need a phone!” she yelled, and AJ tossed her one.
“Hello? Ponyville Hospital? This is Twilight Sparkle. There’s been an accident by my library, and I need an ambulance, now! We’re going to rush to towards the hospital, so look out for us please! We’ll explain the injury once we find you. Please…hurry!” Twilight tearfully said, the melancholy accentuated by constant choking and voice cracks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the call, Twilight and AJ trotted swiftly towards the hospital, with Twilight carrying Star in her hooves. After about two minutes, the two saw the ambulance, and began waving as if their hooves were on fire. Sure enough, the ambulance stopped, and once they saw Star, an alicorn prince of all ponies, was injured, they cranked into high gear, and got Star to
the hospital as fast as they could.
Once at the hospital, they put Star on a stretcher, and got him to a high-quality hospital room, where Twilight explained what had happened.
The doctor, named Doctor Ate, was a tall stallion with a brown body, a white mane, and very professional looking white framed glasses, and he assessed the situation.
“Yes, Star appears to have experienced Magical Discharge. Symptoms of this include second-degree burns and passing out, but it certainly isn’t the worst thing to happen to him.”
“Oh, thank you! I don’t know what would have happened if anything terrible happened to Star!” Twilight said, with relief in her voice.
However, right after Twilight’s fears were calmed, they were about to be escalated to a greater level than ever before.
A loud beeping noise sounded, and Doctor Ate yelled, “Oh no! There’s a huge abnormality in the electrocardiogram! We have to use the defibrillator before he flat lines!”
“What? No! Not now, please! Let him live! Let him live!!!” Twilight screamed, almost drowning in a pool of her tears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hospital was in full-on panic mode from the worsening condition of their latest patient.
“Is the defibrillator ready?” Doctor Ate asked with a quavering voice.
The nurse responded relatively calmly considering the situation. “The paddles are ready, sir.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. Clear!”
With that, a loud electrical noise sounded, as the paddles were slammed down on Star’s chest.
The nurse smiled. “Doctor! The EKG is back to normal. Star should wake up soon!”
Both the doctor and Twilight gave a sigh of relief.
The doctor then patted Twilight on the shoulder, and Twilight hugged the doctor with tears in her lavender eyes.
“Thank you so much! I...don’t know what I would have done without Star!” she said, choking with almost every word that she spoke.
“No problem. It is my job, after all. Star should wake up in about an hour. You can stay until then.”
With that, the doctor left, leaving Twilight to keep an eye on Star. Fortunately, no more abnormalities occurred, and the hour passed, though rather sluggishly from her perspective.
After an hour, the sounds of gentle breathing filled the air. Shooting Star was finally slipping into consciousness. When Star opened his eyes, he saw a crying Twilight, which filled him with immense panic. He needed to know what was going on.
He muttered, in a tiny, shaking voice, “Twilight, what’s going on?! Wh…where am I?”
“Please calm down, Star. You’re in the hospital.”
Star gasped, and tears began to flow from his eyes, like a waterfall. “What?! What happened to me, Twilight? Please…tell me!”
Twilight wanted to cry, but she took a deep breath, and held her tears in. “You had a bad magical discharge. You have second-degree burns so you need to rest up here for about a week.”
Star continued to cry. “You mean I won’t get to see mommy and Lulu for a week?! That’s terrible!”
“Please don’t cry, Star. I called mommy and Lulu for you, so they should be arriving very shortly.”
The shift in mood was drastic. Star’s once hopeless face became one of jubilance once he heard the great news. “Great! They’ll…be coming soon, right Twilight?”
“Soon? How about now?”
“MOMMY!” Star screamed, wanting to get up and hug her, but was stopped by the immense pain of the burns.
“Star, please! You need rest!” Twilight yelled, lifting Star back into his bed.
Celestia finally walked to the room, avoiding all of the attention she received, and said, “Twilight! Star! It’s good to see both of you alive and well!”
“You too!” Twilight and Star responded simultaneously.
“Ah, Twilight and Star! It seems the fun has been doubled!” Luna added.
Star welcomed all of the ponies in the room, before a surprise visitor’s voice sounded in the hallway.
“Star? Are you in there?”
“Sweetie Belle?” Star asked, trying to hide a blush.
Sure enough, the pony who entered was indeed Sweetie Belle. “Star! It’s you! I’m so glad you made it out of that in one piece!” Sweetie Belle shouted, giving the alicorn a big hug.
“Oww! Sweetie Belle, I’m sorry, but I have burns. Please don’t hug me.”
This sentence made Sweetie Belle change her approach.
“OK, how about this?” Sweetie asked, giving Star a big kiss on the lips.
Take the reddest tomato from a field, and Star’s face would have a deeper shade of red than that.
After about ten seconds, Sweetie Belle removed her lips. At that moment, two more visitors arrived.
“Whoa! Ditzy, look at Star’s face!” AJ said, shocked.
“Wow!” Ditzy responded, in awe over the whole scene.
“I…Sweetie…what…why…holy…kiss…wow!” Star stuttered, his face still absurdly red.
“What did you think of that, Star?” Sweetie asked, looking amused.
Star took a deep breath, and took about thirty seconds to let the scene sink in. Then, he gave a calm smile and said, with confidence, “That was the best thing to ever happen to me. Thank you, Sweetie Belle!”
Sweetie gave him the cutest smile she could muster. “No problem! Want to do it again?”
“Sure!” and with that, another kiss began.
AJ looked at them and asked, “So...when’s the wedding?”
That made Star and Sweetie Belle blush. “W...w...what are you talking about?” Star stammered.
“Oh, nothing, AJ is just being silly!” Ditzy said with a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A week had passed since Star’s accident, and he was back on his feet.
When he was being released from the hospital, his mother was there, and said “Now Star, please just take a break from magic, and try learning how to fly a little now, OK? I have to go. I love you.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead, and left.
On the walk back home Twilight asked “Star, what kind of spell were you trying to do?”
“I..I..I was trying to move the stars into the shape of Sweetie's face...”
Twilight was in shock after hearing this. “Now Star, you might be an alicorn, but you're not that strong at magic!”
“I know, but I love her!” Star said with a little shame in his voice.
“Star, there’s nothing to be ashamed of!” Twilight said, looking a little worried.
After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the library Star let out a big yawn so he went up to his room and laid down to take a nap.
Twilight went to start making dinner with Spike. “So why are you looking so worried, Twi’?”
“Oh Spike, you wouldn’t understand it...”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian woke up in a daze in the hospital with stitches.
Just then, he saw Jason and asked, “Why am I in the hospital?”
Jason replied. “You had an appendectomy.”
All Damian could say was, “This sucks! When am I getting out?”
Right after that a doctor came in, and said “Today, my good friend, and you will be going home with you new legal guardian.”
Damian looked around and said “Well, where are they?”
Jason put a hand on his shoulder, and calmly stated, “You're looking at him.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight began to say “You’ll understand when you get older.”, but was interrupted by a terrified scream coming from upstairs. She then bolted up the stairs to Star’s room to find herself blinded by a powerful flash and the sound of shrieking as she opens the door.
As she came out of her daze, she stumbled onto her hooves and shook her head.
She looked at the bed and she saw Star pushing himself against the bedstand, crying and looking terrified at what seemed to be a bundle of blankets on the floor... “What’s wrong Star?” she asked, while looking around the room.
“STOP, TWI’! DON’T GO NEAR IT!!” Star yelled as she walked over to him. She neared the bundle on the floor, and she stopped on her next step and looked at the bundle on the floor, which started to move, during which it eked out a tiny whimper...
After she had ‘blinked’ Star over to the door, Twilight pulled the blankets off with her magic to see
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight opened the sheets only to see a pitch-black alicorn with a glittery, flowing mane that was midnight blue. There were also light blue stripes plastered on her head, her chest, and her hoofs.
“Who the hay is this and why...does she look like Luna?” Twilight asked, very confused about the whole situation. “Star, do you know?”
With a hoof to his chin, Star responded, “I’m...not sure. I think I remember seeing the filly drop from a portal above this room, but that’s about it.”
Twilight facehoofed, then sighed loudly. “Great. What the hoof are we going to do with her!”
Star shrugged. “I guess we have to look after her. We have enough ponies here, right Twilight? I think she’ll fit in well here, since she’s an alicorn, so we should be fine!”
“I like your optimism, Star, but I really don’t know...oh no...” Twilight said, her voice trailing off at the end.
“Are you OK,Aunt Twilight?”
“Sweet Celestia, I think i know who this! It’s...Nightmare Moon!” Twilight shouted, convulsing in fear.
Twilight looked at the filly even closer causing her to cower.
“What the heck? This is NOT scientifically possible! If this is Nightmare Moon, then...why isn’t she attacking me?” Twilight asked.
Finally, the filly spoke. “W..W...Where is my mommy, Luna?” she asked, rather hesitantly.
Twilight and Star both gasped loudly.
Then, they yelled, concurrently, “What?!” scaring the filly Nightmare Moon.
Then, she began to cry, causing Twilight to groan.
“Darn it! Star, please write a letter to Luna! I’ll try to calm her down!” Twilight commanded.
“I’m on it,Aunt Twilight!” Star said, trotting out of his room to write a letter to Aunt Lulu.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna sat there in her royal court, attempting to tune out the dumb things her subjects were saying , but she ended up failing.
However, after a few minutes, she mumbled, “My sister has a son now. Hmm, I wonder what i would be like to have a daughter or son of my own.”
Right after her statement, a midnight blue puff of smoke appeared infront of her. After it dissipated, what remained was the letter from her nephew. So, she opened it and began to read it repeatedly, allowing all of the astonishing details to fill her mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(The letter went like this)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Aunt Lulu,
I don't know how to say this, but we found a filly in my room that we think is your daughter. So, me and Aunt Twilight were wondering, do you want to pick her up or do you want us to bring her up there to you? I think you should pick her up, as she is crying, begging to go back to you. Aunt Twilight is kind of afraid of her for reasons I don’t know because she won't tell me. She says I’m too young to understand why.
Love, your nephew,
Shooting Star
PS: Tell mommy I said hello.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~After a few scans of the letter, Luna decided to rush to Celestia’s room and knock on the door. The door opened, and Celestia was revealed, but she looked enraged for some reason.
Even with that, Luna shouted, “Big sis, you have to read this letter!” while handing the letter over.
Celestia read it and took a few minutes to take the information in, obviously in shock.
However, she finally said, “Well! Luna, tell her that tomorrow we will have a chariot bring her, Twilight, and Star up to our royal headquarters so we can see if Star is telling the truth. It’s rather hard to believe, because didn't even know you had a filly until now, but we will see, right sister?”
Luna responded, by saying, “Yeah. I didn't know i had a foal either, but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow before jumping to conclusions.”
Finally, Luna took some paper and a quill and wrote to Twilight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After what seemed like a perpetual amount of time, she got the filly calm and asleep. Subsequently, she received the letter from Luna, and as she read the letter, she murmured, “How is this possible? The only way this could make any sense is if Shooting Star opened a paradox and made a portal from an alternate universe...oh no!”
When Twilight realized this, she trotted down the stairs at a brisk pace, dropping the letter as she did so, to confront Star.
Once she saw him lying on a couch, she said, “Star, when you were moving the stars did you use a spell?”
This caused Star’s eyes to well up with tears as he said, “N...no Twilight! Wh...why would you think that?”
Twilight became very concerned. “What's wrong Star?”
Star’s whimpers burst into full-scale sobs. “My mommy is going to banish me to the moon for this, I just know it!!! I...I...I just wanted to impress Sweetie Belle! I really did!!! I’m so sorry!”
Twilight gave Star a hug. “Don't worry, she won't do that. She’s your loving mother. The worst thing she could do is to give you a stern talk. There’s no way she would not banish you to the moon. Also, if you want, you can sleep in my bed tonight.”
Star was still sniffling. “I...guess so, but I just wanted to impress Sweetie Belle! That’s it!”
“Star, listen. Sweetie Belle cares about you for your personality, not just your skills. You don’t need to shift the stars just to get her to love you. She already does, Star. Trust me.”
“Thank you, Twilight! I love you!”
With that, the two finally went to bed, feeling content through a swarm of obstacles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Star woke up only to see that Twilight wasn't in her bed. Confused, he walked to the living room where he saw her with some royal guards holding the sleeping Nightmare Moon.
“Good morning Twilight!” Star said, happy that everything seemed to be going well.
“Good morning Star. Ready to eat breakfast and go to canterlot to see your mother?”
“Sure! Let’s eat!”
With that, the two ate a fulfilling breakfast, and Star pointed out that it was nice to have somepony younger than him. It made him feel...older, if it were.
Full of food and energy, the three headed to Celestia’s room through a chariot.
During the ride, Star yelled, “Wow! This is awesome! I can see all of Ponyville from here!” earning a soft laugh from Twilight.
Finally, they arrived, and Celestia and Luna were both there to greet them warmly.
Twilight presented the filly to Luna, who said, “I can’t believe I have my own daughter! I’d even say that she’s cuter than your son, Celestia!” earning a fierce glare from the mother and son.
Still, happiness filled the air like oxygen, and the scene of Luna with a filly was very heartwarming.
With that, Celestia said, “I think that with this filly, we can bond even closer. The magic of friendship truly knows no bounds, even in this castle!”
After that, the filly started to wake up. As she slowly opened her eyes she noticed she was being held by luna, causing her to laugh joyously.
Celestia then looked at Star and Twilight and said, Let's give these two some time to themselves.”
After a nod from both of them, the three left the room and entered the castle.
Unfortunately, right after they entered, Celestia tapped Star on the shoulder and said, “We need to talk.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia looked at Star sternly causing him to convulse in fear.
Then, she asked, “Shooting Star, when you were moving the stars around, did you use a spell? After all, that’s the only reason explaining why Nightmare Moon is here.”
Afterwards, Star completely broke down, and cried on Celestia’s leg for about five minutes, apologizing at least a hundred times.
Then, he managed to choke out, “Mommy, please don’t be mad with me!!! I just wanted to do it to impress Sweetie Belle!! I love her, mommy! I really, really do! I want to be with her! I want to care for her! I want...her to love me back! Please believe me! That’s the only reason why I attempted that spell!!”
Celestia was completely shocked. How could an alicorn love a simple unicorn that much? Nonetheless, she found it quite touching that her son would go to such measures to impress some little filly, and eventually gave Star a huge hug.
She followed by saying, in a warm, compassionate voice, “My little Star, I’m so glad you have found a special somepony. But, you have to know that attempting magic that you can’t accomplish very well isn’t going to impress her. What will impress her is your personality and your devotion for her. If you show that to her, she will definitely love you back. You don’t need to go to such extremes. It will only harm you, and all of us. Do you understand, Star?”
Star’s tears began to reduce in magnitude, and he was eventually able to say, “Yes mommy! Thank you for understanding! I love you!! But...you’re not going to banish me to the moon are you?”
Celestia became confused. “Huh? Wherever did you get that idea from, Star?”
“Aunt Lulu told me, mommy.”
“Thank you. I’ll...talk with her later. But, anyway, let’s continue with this day, OK?”
“Sure!!” Star yelled passionately. He was so happy that everything seemed to be going right for him, and he knew he could get Sweetie Belle to love him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shooting Star,Twilight, and Princess Celestia took a royal chariot back to Ponyville library. It was late, so Star was getting tired when they reached their destination. Twilight levitated the young prince into her back, and walked in the library. When they arrived in Star’s room, Twilight put him on his bed. Finally, she pulled a blanket over him and gave him a kiss goodnight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Shooting Star had woken up groggy as ever, however, today was different, considering it was the day he would proclaim his love for Sweetie Belle. He had been learning alot from his friend Shadow Foot and thought about asking him what his dreams were about, but decided against it.
He walked to the kitchen and saw Twilight making pancakes. When he sat down at the table he said, “Twilight, do you know any spells I could use to give Sweetie Belle wings so she can fly with me? I am better in flying now, and also a spell so she can walk on clouds.”
Twilight simply smiled at him and said, “Well as a matter fact, I do!” levitating a spell book in front of him. He studied both spells very thoroughly before taking a deep breath and walking out the front door.
Twilight already knew what he was going to do. The purple mare was curious and started to mumble, “Hmm. Me and Shadow have been going out for a few months now. I wonder why he is being so secretive? I know Fluttershy and Big Mac are getting married here soon, Oh well, maybe...” but her speech was interrupted when the door slammed, allowing Twilight think more of the dating advice in private.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow Foot was at Fine Cuts Jeweler when he saw it: The perfect engagement ring. He looked at Mister Cut and said, “I will take that one, my good sir. And if you could engrave something in it for me, that would be even better.”
Fine Cut looked to Shadow, it was always this; a new found love to a maid and wait to be engagement, and said, “Well Shadow, I will be more than happy to engrave something in this ring for you. Just say the words.”
Shadow nodded. “I want it to say; Twilight, the mare I will love with all of my life, and forever this ring is the key to my heart.”
Fine Cut’s eyes looked like they were about to come straight out of his sockets. This would mark his longest engravement. Usually he would say this was more than he could handle, but he was reminded that this young love filled colt was in the royal guard, which changed his actions dramatically. He sighed. “Well, this should take be a few seconds. I’ll be right back.”
Fine Cut left and came back in about two minutes with the ring in a box, breathing a hefty sigh of relief. He handed it to Shadow who just looked at him and thanked him. Hopefully, he would not think I have change the text to; To my real love, Twilight. The jeweler just had to pray Shadow wouldn’t notice;unlikely, but worthy of prayer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Shooting Star got to the boutique, he walked in and saw Sweetie Belle sitting on the couch, looking beautiful as ever.
He sighed, attempting to hide the blush on his face and asked, “Sweetie Belle, would you like to fly? I can make it happen!”
With a giggle at Star’s dramatic actions, Sweetie merely looked at him with her big emerald eyes and shouted, “Yes! Let’s go, Star!”
Star nodded, and focused on her as his horn began to glow. After a puff of blue magic, Sweetie now had the most beautiful wings he had ever seen. Star was simply transfixed; the most beautiful mare he had ever met possessing wings like those? It was truly a scene he would remember for the rest of his life.
Almost at a loss of words, Star looked at Sweetie and said, “You are so beautiful, Sweetie Belle. I could think of no other pony I’d rather fly with. Now, let’s fly!”
The young couple began to flap their tiny wings until they took flight.
Once in the air, Sweetie Belle looked at Star and asked, “Star, why do you love me so much? I’m...just a unicorn.”
Subsequently, Star stopped in midair and kissed Sweetie Belle compassionately, and said, “First off, you’re the kindest, most beautiful, most talented mare I’ve ever met. Honestly, now, you’re all that matters to me. I don’t care that you're a “just a unicorn”. I don’t care that I’m an alicorn. I don’t even care that I’m Celestia’s son! You’re the one I care about the most and I
would do anything for you. Heck, I would even accept banishment to the moon for you. Sweetie Belle, you may be a unicorn, but to me, you’re an alicorn. Please, don’t degrade yourself with the title of unicorn. You deserve so much more than that! I love you, Sweetie Belle, and that’s never, ever going to change!”
Sweetie Belle was shocked at Stars outburst and openly put a hoof to her mouth before saying, while attempting to choke back tears, “Thank you, Star! I’m...so thankful to have met you!”
Finally, the two met lips once again, and embraced each other as if they were the only two ponies in the world.
Finally, once the kiss broke, Star said, “Thank you, Sweetie Belle. So, do you see any clouds?”
Sweetie Belle said, “Found one!” pointing towards a very high cloud.
“That’s perfect, Sweetie Belle!”
Finally, once the young couple landed on the cloud, Star asked, “Would you like to continue, Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie Belle smiled, allowing Star to gaze into her luminous pools of emerald, and said, “Sure thing, lover colt! I love you, Star!”
Star smiled, still stifling a blush. “I love you too, Sweetie Belle!” and the two proceeded to lock lips more as time seemed to be nothing more than a speck of dust to their love.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shadow and Twilight were walking to a restaurant when Shadow said, “Twilight, I have a gift for you.”
Subsequently, he pulled a book out for her, causing Twilight to give a grand smile and say, “Oooh, a book! Is it the latest installment of Daring Do?”
“Please, just open it, Twilight.”
However, once she opened the present, and then the book, much to her surprise, the book revealed a gold ring with a lengthy engravement.
She gasped, and when she turned to Shadow he was on his knee saying, “Twilight Sparkle, will you marry me?”
Twilight’s eyes transformed into saucers, and she proceeded to jump around yelling, “Yes, yes, yes, yes,yes, yes, yes!”
Shadow softly laughed as he waited for his future bride to calm down.
Fortunately, about a minute later, she did, so he said, “I’m really glad you’re so excited! I can hardly wait for our wedding either! But, until then I’ll leave you with this.”
With that, he kissed her on the lips, and the kiss eventually became very passionate, as the two embraced each other.
Once they finished, Twilight said, still in shock, “I can’t believe this! I’m finally getting married! Oh, don’t worry, Shadow, I’ll read up on weddings until I’m completely prepared! I won’t let you down! Good night!”
Shadow merely smiled, and said, “Good night, Twilight!” and with that, the future bride and groom returned to their shelters.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Shadowfoot stood there with Star, the best colt, at his side he looked down at the colt and said, “Wow. Who would have guessed that I’m marrying Twilight, huh?”
Star responded with a light chuckle and a smile, when suddenly, the tune, “Here comes the Bride” began to play. Twilight knew that was her cue to started walking down the aisle, and so she did in a radiant white wedding dress. standing in front of Shadow with a smile. Subsequently, Celestia came out and began the sacred ceremony.
She began by proclaiming, in a warm voice, “Dearly beloved mares and gentle colts; we are gathered here today for the union of Shadowfoot and Twilight Sparkle. An interesting match to be certain, but the power of their love is evident and perpetual. With that said, Shadowfoot do you take Twilight Sparkle to love and to hold in wealth or for poverty; in sickness and health and in good or bad times?
Shadow gazed into Twilight’s lavender eyes and said, “I do.”
Subsequently, with a smile, Celestia continued. “Twilight Sparkle, do you take Shadowfoot to love and to hold for in wealth or in poverty; in sickness and health and in good or bad times?
Almost unable to contain her excitement, Twilight said, ”I do!”
Celestia nodded, then delivered the words to seal the deal, “I now pronounce you mare and colt!”
With that, the two delivered a passionate kiss, and applause rang from the audience, accompanied by a few shouts from Star, who was extremely happy for his best friend.
The bride and groom then sluggishly walked down the hall, soaking in all of the excitement that was pungent in the air, and Star followed behind him shortly, eager to partake in the reception.
Unfortunately, his eagerness disappeared quickly, as the reception was plagued with eloquent food that Star couldn’t eat, non-modern music, and the overall length made Star feel like he was about to fall into a boredom stupor, and highly contributed to the overall vapid celebration.
Still, Star was incredibly delighted for his best friend, and couldn’t wait to spend more time with Twilight, considering she was already another one of his best friends.
So, Star ended up sticking it out for most of the reception, and went to bed a content colt.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Star went over to Twilight’s library, only to find it deserted, with an angry baby dragon muttering obscenities about the cleaning he was doing. Star became confused, and consulted his mother about the situation.
Celestia responded. “Star, Shadowfoot and Twilight are on what’s called a honeymoon, or a vacation right after a wedding. Right now, they’re at Trottingham, and they will be there for about a week.”
Star was distraught. “A week?! I won’t be able to talk with Twilight and Shadow for a week?! That’s not fair, mommy! I know how busy you are!”
Celestia began gently stroking his back in an attempt to calm him down, and it worked pretty well, especially when she added, “Look at it this way. You can spend more time with Sweetie Belle, right?”
With that, Star’s mood shifted faster than parasprite reproduction. “That’s right! Thanks, mommy! I’ll be sure to spend time with her!”
Afterwards, he left, leaving mother and son content.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star became reinvigorated with the idea of seeing Sweetie Belle again, and rushed to the Carousel Boutique with a spring in his step.
He knocked on the door, and Rarity turned it ajar, giving Star the cue to say, “Rarity, is Sweetie Belle here?”
Rarity sighed. “She’s at school, darling. Shouldn’t you be there as well? It is a Monday...”
Star gasped. “Shoot! I completely forgot! Thanks, Rarity!”
Rarity sweatdropped, and waved her hoof as if she was in a trance. “Don’t...mention it, darling...”
Star began a mad flight to school, but even then, he was an hour late. Fortunately, he didn’t cause too much of a ruckus, and ms.cheerilee merely continued with the lesson after he arrived.
Four more uneventful days took place, and finally on Saturday, Star was able to go to the Carousel Boutique to spend some time with Sweetie Belle.
Star thought it would be a good idea if he was to see her before Shadow and Twilight return from their honeymoon on Sunday, because he would be expected, and would probably oblige to spending more time with them instead of Sweetie.
With that, he attempted knocking on the door once more, but this time, Rarity announced that Sweetie Belle was in her boutique, much to the ecstasy of Star. In fact, he was so excited, he simply ran about the house before Rarity even acknowledged where the filly even was! This led to a decently humorous scene of Star rushing about the boutique, but still, he was careful to avoid knocking fragile objects onto the ground. Sure enough, after about two minutes, Star found Sweetie resting in her room, very content and peaceful.
It was amazing. Every time he believed he had seen the filly at her most beautiful, she continued to exceed his expectations. The luminous gleam of a sunbeam was cast over Sweetie’s petite body, her mane was still perfectly brushed, and her lips curved into an adorable smile as she breathed in a manner that could only be described as impossibly cute.
Star found himself transfixed by the beauty before him, and he simply stood for about a half an hour in a deep, deep trance, unable to keep his eyes off of his true love.
Finally, when Star was about to leave, he heard Sweetie Belle emit an adorable yawn, indicating that she had awoken from her slumber. Star knew he should have taken off running, but found himself unable to eliminate his mental consciousness from his trance.
Therefore, when Sweetie Belle got up, Star quickly made his way to her vision, and when he did, she said, while stifling yawns, “Star? Is...that you? What...are you doing here?”
Star began to panic, but he managed to come up with an excuse quickly. “I...heard you yawn, and I came right up to talk with you after your nap!”
Sweetie Belle became very confused. “Huh? Do...I yawn that loudly? I never snore...”
Star was still anxious, but continued weaving his lie. “No, I was right by the stairs at the time, so I was able to hear you clearly. If you yawned loudly, wouldn’t Rarity come as well?”
“I...guess you’re right, Star. So...did you come here for a reason?”
Star quickly became even more nervous, but attempted to hide his blush to the best of his ability, and said, “Well...I have a reservation for a very fancy restaurant in Canterlot. I...realized that we haven’t had an actual date yet, so...would you like to start one today?”
Sweetie gasped. “I’d...yes! That sounds great!”
At the last word, Sweetie Belle’s voice cracked, which was another aspect that Star loved about her.
Still, almost nothing compared to what was about to come.
Sweetie Belle jumped into Star’s arms, and gave him a huge kiss. This kiss seemed to hold more passion than any of their others, and showed that the two truly loved each other.
Star concluded by respectfully getting off of Sweetie Belle, platonically of course, and saying, “Great! So...I’ll see you at 8 PM? I’ll arrive at the boutique and provide transportation, OK?”
Sweetie Belle mustered a grand smile, and shouted, “Sounds great! See you then, Star!”
Still stifling a blush, Star calmly walked out of the boutique attempting to hide his excitement until he arrived back in Twilight’s library, which he managed to accomplish with reasonable success.
Of course, even there, he still had to shake his head repeatedly to fully escape from his trance, but once he succeeded, he pondered about how to proceed with this date. After all, he was young, and it was his first, so naturally, he was concerned.
Fortunately, Shadowfoot had given him some fantastic dating advice, such as “keep the compliments steady” and “stay relaxed, and you’ll be fine.” To add, he also knew where a suit that fit him was, and considering it was fairly snug, he put it on without feeling too uncomfortable.
Shadow told him that a good first date begins with the colt giving flowers to the filly, so he decided to oblige by that tradition, and went to the local gardening shop. He greeted the gardener, Roseluck, and entered the door drawing a little attention, since he was careful to attempt to avoid detection whenever possible. With that, he asked the shopkeeper for a bouquet of white lilies, feeling that they would mesh well with Sweetie, paid her, and left without another word.
With that, Star walked home, and decided to write a letter to his mother to convey his happiness, which went like this.
Dear Mommy,
I finally did it! Sweetie Belle and I are finally going on a date! I am nervous, because it’s my first date...but I feel confident I can pull it off. Still, if you have any advice, I’d love to hear it. Well, that’s about it, since the rest of the week was uneventful. Bye!
Love,
Shooting Star
When he concluded, he got Spike to send the letter, and about one hour before his date, Celestia sent a letter back to him. This one said,
Dear Shooting Star,
I’m very proud of you. I’m certain that your date will go smoothly. Please, just do your best to relax and act natural. Simply think that this is merely a conversation between you two, and ignore the event. Believe me, the more relaxed you are, the better the date will be, considering I know that you have a great personality. Remember, you don’t need to go to extremes to impress her.
Love,
Mommy
Star couldn’t stop smiling and read the letter over and over just to know how much Celestia cared for him. To be honest, the letter was the spark that allowed Star to calm down and walk to the Boutique in a calm and collected fashion. Once he arrived, Sweetie Belle was waiting...in an absolutely beautiful dress. Really, why was he even remotely surprised at this point?
He held out the flowers and said, “Here, Sweetie Belle. I brought these for you.”
Sweetie Belle gasped. “They’re lovely, Star! Wow, I love lilies! Thanks!”
Star blushed. “Thanks, Sweetie Belle. Are you ready?”
She nodded. “You bet! Let’s go!”
With that, Star and Sweetie walked to the restaurant hoof-in-hoof, and they were able to talk about their lives without the need for nervousness. You wouldn’t even think this was their first date! Star told Sweetie about his tribulations as a future prince, and Sweetie Belle told him about her life at the boutique, even mentioning that she was wearing the dress she had as a flower girl in the famous Canterlot Wedding.
With that, they arrived at the restauraunt in about thirty minutes, and they sat down and took their orders, continuing to chat about their lives.
However, the serenity of the date was about to change with eight fateful words from Sweetie, which were, “Star, I have to use the filly’s room.”
Star nodded. “Of course, Sweetie. Take your time.”
Subsequently, Sweetie rose, but a few minutes later, Star heard a panicked pony yell, “Fire!”
Star gasped, and then quickly rose to see if he was telling the truth. He was. The entire restaurant was engulfed in a blazing conflagration, and Star knew that Sweetie Belle was in a lot of trouble.
He yelled, “Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle! I’m going to save you!!!” and flew into the filly’s room, ignoring the fact that he was entering the wrong bathroom only to hear Sweetie Belle screaming in sheer pain. So, he picked her up through the intense flames, and somehow managed to carry her back to the Boutique without too much physical harm to himself. Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle wasn’t quite so lucky. She had been inflicted with third-degree burns, and fell into a stupor during the flight, despite Star’s meticulous attempts to avoid any further damage.
Upon performing CPR, Star quickly discovered he couldn’t resuscitate her, so he called the ambulance. They arrived quickly, and placed Sweetie on a stretcher, but Star wasn’t sure that even they could bring her back. Sweetie was literally covered in blackened, shriveled skin, and he realized her heartbeat was very uneven, so clearly, she was in critical condition. Star knew what he had to do. With a heroic nod, he followed the ambulance in hot pursuit, determined to save the life of the filly he loved, at absolutely any cost.
When Sweetie Belle was carried out into the hospital, Star continued to stay hot on her trail, so make sure her condition didn’t worsen. When they finally placed Sweetie Belle in a critical condition room, Doctor Ate arrived, and assured Star that he would have Sweetie Belle.
Still pessimistic, Star mumbled, “I hope so...”
When Sweetie was hooked on the electrocardiogram, they quickly discovered she was suffering from ventricular fibrillation, so they hooked up the defibrillator quickly. Two shocks stopped the fibrillation, but they had to work quickly to debride the burns. Unfortunately, during this process, she went into cardiac arrest three times, but when they were halfway finished with the debridement, an enormous cardiac arrest occurred. They used the defibrillator ten times, but after that...Sweetie Belle flatlined. With that, the doctors sighed, hanged their heads, and Doctor Ate said, “I’m very, very sorry, Shooting Star. Sweetie Belle...is dead.”
Suddenly, something in Shooting Star snapped, and he said, determination evident in his voice, “Stand back. I’ll bring her back to life.”
He walked up to Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle, I know this spell is forbidden, and I probably shouldn’t use it, but I promise I would do absolutely anything for you, and I need you to live!!!”
A brilliant light shined from Star’s horn, as he created a pillar of light that literally pierced the heavens. The sheer force of the spell threw the doctors against the wall like ragdolls as their jaws fell to the floor in awe. It was an ethereal scene, and it really seemed as if Star had unleashed the power of a god. Finally, it concluded...but nothing seemed to change.
But...there was something different with Sweetie Belle. She...had wings!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Star began to wake up, he gazed at his own Sleeping Beauty, Sweetie Belle. It didn’t seem as if the spell had taken effect, since she was still a unicorn and he was by her side, which were the conditions before the spell.Before he could ponder why that was Sweetie Belle opened her eyes and emitted an adorable yawn, her voice cracking slightly as she did this.
When her eyes found Star, she gave him an adorable smile and said, “Hi, Star. I take it you slept well?”
Star just smiled and nodded in response, attempting to hide a blush. Subsequently, Rarity walked into the room.
At first, she smiled at the adorable scene playing out in front of her, but after a few seconds, she was able to speak her mind. “Well, good morning, Star. Good morning, Sweetie Belle. Did you two sleep well?”
They nodded in unison. Star looked at Sweetie and asked, “So I thought after that fire you would still be in the hospital, right?” Sweetie and Rarity looked at him, perplexed.
Rarity just said “Star, darling, there was never a fire after Twilight and Shadow left for their honeymoon almost a week ago!”
Star gave Rarity a bewildered gaze, but quickly came to the conclusion that his subconscious was merely messing with him. With a nod, he proceeded to jump out of the bed and walk down to the kitchen with Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Honestly, he was just relieved that Sweetie Belle was fine. That’s all that mattered to him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AJ & Ditzy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AJ and Ditzy were snuggling on the couch. Sparkler had Dinky, and Carrot Top was out doing...Celestia knows what. AJ looked at Ditzy with a smile, and, knowing how much he loved the mare, he asked, in a quizzical fashion, “So Ditzy, why have you stayed with me?”
Ditzy looked at him in shock, and said, with a laugh, “It's because I love you...you damn fool.”
AJ gave Ditzy a huge smile, and they continued to relax, while listening to some tracks by DJ Pon-3.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight and Shadow had just returned from their honeymoon, and once they turned the library door ajar, they saw Star and Spike competing in an epic game of checkers. They were so focused, they didn’t even see them come through the front door! Finally, after a few minutes, Twilight giggled at them making them notice her. Subsequently, they got up, ran to her, and bombarded her with hugs. She continued giggling at them as they did so, flattered that they both loved her.
At this, Shadow sighed, rolled his eyes, and said, sarcastically, “What, no love for me? That’s just mean...”
Of course, as soon as he finished his statement, Star and Spike immediately ran to him and started hugging him, just as they did to Twilight.
After the hugging concluded, Twilight concurrently asked, “Who wants lunch?” happily.
Everypony in the room responded with a swift, “I do!”
Twilight just rolled her eyes, and said, “Guys...I’m only married to Shadow!”
Everypony laughed at her joke, and then, with a smile, she went into the kitchen, and started making sandwiches. Growing impatient, Star and Spike went back to their game of checkers. After a while, Spike had figured out Star’s strategy, and countered it, by thinking like Star who would be. Shocked that he had lost, Star got up and started stretching his wings. Just then, Twilight brought in the delicacies.
She sat them down on the table, and said, grinning evilly at Star, “So, I understand you went on a date with Sweetie Belle, hmm?”
Star was shocked, and asked Twilight with fear in his eyes, “H...how did you know that?”
She laughed, covering her mouth with her hoof.“Oh, your mother and Aunt Luna told me.”
This shocked Star more then anything. Still, he recovered quickly, and they all ate lunch. When lunch concluded, Star let out a little yawn, indicating he was tired. He walked into his room, and lied down, for a nice refreshing nap.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Voice Box & Rarity~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rarity walked back into her bedroom, and saw that Voice Box was still sleeping. She shook him a little, and when he didn’t respond, she said, in a sing-song voice, “Voice, wake up~!”
He just squinted at her for a second, and said “No mommy... just five more minutes. I don't want to go to school”. With that, he fell back to sleep.
Rarity rolled her eyes, and gave him an evil smirk. “If you don’t get up, I will give Sweetie Belle a lot of sweets and let her in here.”
Subsequently, Voice turned to Rarity with fear in his eyes. “You wouldn’t... would you?”
She continued smiling. “Well, I might but, come on. You have been sleeping all day!”
With that, Voice Box shot up out of the bed. He proceeded to start getting ready to face the day he had ahead of him, even though he knew that the only good part would be waking up to see Rarity’s face. That was, most likely, going to be the highlight of his whole day, just like any other day. When he got out of bed, he just shook himself a bit, to help wake him up, because he knew that he had to be at work before the boss got there. That way, he could keep his current job, and not have to be a model for Rarity, again. That was the worst damn week of his life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Celestia,Luna & Little Moon~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celestia, Luna and the newest edition to the Canterlot Royal Family, Little Moon sat at the royal court listening to the absurd, stupid, and downright pathetic things that were being said by their subjects.
Eventually, Little Moon looked at Luna, unable to handle the crap being said in the court, and said, “Mother when can we leave? This is boring me to death!”
Luna chuckled at her daughter’s impatience and said, “I think a little recess from the court could be nice. Big sis, are you coming?”
Celestia rolled her eyes at her sister and followed her outside of the court.
Once out, Celestia looked at Moon and asked, “So, what did you learn today?”
“Well Auntie, I learned how stupid the other ponies can be about their problems! How do you sit and do this everyday and night?”
In response, the two royal sisters couldn’t help but laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian stood there ready to fight as the three jackasses who jumped him last time. As fate would have it, were about to kick his ass again! They gazed at him with murder in their eyes. However, this time, Damian took a passive approach.
He said, “Come on we can settle this without violence, right? Let’s just talk this out...ugh!”
Well, shit! Turns out, one of the three drew a gun and shot Damian directly in the stomach. all he heard before everything faded into black was someone shouting his name.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shooting Star awoke with a noisy scream, but he calming down quickly, realizing it was only a dream. Rubbing his eyes, he jumped out of the bed and walked down the stairs. When he reached the main floor, he saw Twilight and Shadow on the couch cuddling and kissing together.
Once Star saw them, he groaned, rolled his eyes, and said, “Jeez, get a room! I thought this would be over after you got married!”
The two merely laughed and gave him a wrapped present. Once he got it, Shadow said, “Well, go on and open it! I think you might like it!”
Star opened the gift to see it was a book of advanced spells. In response, he almost jumped out of his skin from sheer bliss and jumped into Shadow and Twilight’s hooves.
Shadow and Twilight as tight as he could they smiled at him and hugged him back hoping the nightmares would finally leave Star alone. After a while, the hug broke, and they all smiled warmly.
With that, Twilight looked at Star and asked, “So, what should we have for dinner?”
Star shrugged, so Shadow made some stew. After one delicious dinner, they all sat down for a little family time looking at pictures from Shadow and Twilight’s honeymoon, which they loved.
However, Star suddenly thought about something that had been bothering him somewhat. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, all have their cutie marks...and he doesn’t. He decided it was time to take action, at long last. With a nod, Star looked at Twilight and asked, “Hey Twilight! Can I go out for a flight while its not too dark out?”
Twilight pondered this question, placing her hoof on her chin to deliver the full effect, and finally said, in a motherly tone, “Yes you may. However, I want you back after ponyryans belt is in the sky. Understood?”
Star nodded excitedly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With that, he flew out the door so swiftly, most other ponies would have probably assumed there was a comet flying over Ponyville. After all, Star was quick for his age, his top speed even faster than Rainbow Dash’s when she isn’t in a Sonic Rainboom. As his speed rose, a mach cone sluggishly started to form around his cranium. His diminutive wings continued to flap like crazy until he finally broke the cone. The instant he did, a cacophonous boom sounded, and with that, he flew among the stars leaving a trail of star dust behind him.
Concurrently, he thought, “Hey, I’m fast and good at making shooting stars! Wow, I’m really enjoying this.”
As if the cosmos heard his call, a white flash appeared on his flank revealing his Shooting Star cutie mark the instant he finished his thought. That mark stood for speed and his celestial object he controlled, the ability to create shooting stars. Subsequently, Star flew back home with excitement on his face, and once he made it to the library, he proudly showed his cutie mark to Twilight and Shadow. They couldn’t have been happier for him, and with that, Star went to bed, in the happiest mood of his life.
The instant Star closed the door, Shadow said, “Wow, that’s amazing. Heh, I guess dreams really do come true.”
Well after i get the second part done it will be in this