//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12- Destiny - Age 8 and 4 mo. 
// Story: Project Stardust 
// by Starry Wisp 
//------------------------------//


Stardust grabbed Bluey, her blanket, and her pillow, and packed them into one last bag. She put on her locket, and a flowy, blue skirt. She contemplated whether she wanted to wear her tiara or not, but she decided not to, because she didn’t want too much attention drawn to herself. She had so much nervous energy; from both excitement, sadness, and nerves. She swiftly brought her bag to the front of the house, and sat on the couch. She wasn’t sitting for very long though, when Moonflower called Stardust into the dining room. When she got there, Moonflower and Proud Sky were sitting at the table, with an empty seat. At the empty seat, was a plate with chocolate chip pancakes, with strawberries and generous amounts of both vanilla and chocolate whipped cream, and a small scoop of chocolate ice cream on top. 


“It’s no protein-filled healthy breakfast, but we figured you could sleep on the train. A very special breakfast for a very special day, made for a very special girl.” Moonflower said to Stardust. Stardust took her seat, and though she wasn’t hungry due to nerves, once she took the first bite, she felt hungry enough to eat a large chunk of her meal. After breakfast, she decided to have the family speedwalk to the train station, rather than teleport, so that they could spend more time together. Once they finally arrived at the train station with Stardust’s many bags, she turned to her parents. 


“Whelp, here we are,” Stardust said awkwardly. “ I guess this is goodbye..” She wrapped her arms around the two crying ponies, both of which were trying to hide their sadness with their pride for their daughter. 


“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I’ll miss you guys so much. Love you,” She gave them a big squeeze, and a kiss for each. They had smiles on their faces, although tears were running down their faces. 


“We love you dearly, and are both so proud of you, Stardust. We’ll miss you too. Bye, sweetie!” Moonflower said, as Stardust picked up her bags, and started to walk aboard the train that had just appeared.




“Bye! Love you both so much!” Stardust said, as she boarded the train. Her parents couldn’t speak, so they just waved goodbye. She walked to the back of the train and took a deep, calming breath, realizing that she had left her parents. She put most of her bags into the bag storage room, keeping her main carry-on. She walked back into the main section, as she heard the final boarding call. She ran to her seat, and looked out of the window. Moonflower and Proud Sky were looking for her window. 


“Bye! Love you!” She shouted out of the open window, waving her hoof. They ran over to her window, and grasped her hoof once more in response.

“Bye, Sweetie. Love you, and we’ll miss you! But don’t worry about us, just be the best Stardust that you can be!” Moonflower encouraged. Proud Sky said his goodbyes, and the train started to pull away. Stardust waved her hoof as the train pulled away from the station, as her parents ran to catch up with it, until they reached the end of the station. Once the train had left, The two hugged each other, and sadly walked home. Once Stardust was sure that she had left, she slumped back into her comfy, almost couch-like bench, and used her magic to close the window. She grabbed her bag, and placed it next to her. She opened it, and took out her piePad. She checked her Instascroll, and posted a picture of her new tiara that she had taken earlier. A unicorn soon came down with a cart of snacks, food, refreshments, and other goods. Once the pony reached Stardust, the alicorn soon folded her wings even tighter against her body, sat up straight, and leaned against the chair, so that she wouldn’t be discovered. 


“Hello, would you like anything? We have snacks, drinks, breakfast, blankets, and pillows!” She smiled. Stardust stared for a second, processing all of her many options. She wasn’t hungry, but decided to get a protein bar for later. She also got a blanket, since she could feel a sugar crash coming on sooner rather than later. With so much time, taking a nap wasn’t a bad idea, also considering how early she had woken up. It was also a bit chilly on the train, with Stardust near an air vent. 


“May I please have one of those chocolate peanut butter oat bars, and a blanket?” Stardust asked.


“Sure,” The unicorn said, as she grabbed Stardust’s bar, along with a folded blanket in plastic packaging. Stardust grabbed it with her magic. “Anything else?” she asked.


“No thanks, I’m good,” Stardust responded. 


“That’ll be 11 bits,” Stardust handed her bits, and the pony moved on to the next customer. Stardust put the bar in her bag, and opened the blanket, placing the plastic bag, and cardboard in her bag. She unfolded the blanket, and she layed on the seat. Stardust placed the blanket over herself, and rested her head on her fluffy front legs. She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep. 





Stardust awoke to the sound of hooves, and realized that she had arrived in Canterlot. She swiftly got up, and shoved the blanket in her bag. She ran to the back of the car, where the bags were stored. She grabbed all of her many bags, and hopped off the train. She saw a light blue unicorn, with beautifully wavy purple hair, pastel purple and yellow striped socks on her back hooves, wide, sweet eyes, and a purple quill over a science beaker with bubbling pink fluid inside for a cutie mark holding a sign that read “Princess Stardust Sky”. Stardust trotted over to her.


“Hi, I’m Stardust Sky, but I’m only an alicorn, not a princess,” Stardust corrected.


“Hello, Stardust. Great to meet you. Headmistress Princess Celestia said to write Princess Stardust Sky on the poster, so I guess that makes you a princess,” The unicorn explained. Stardust giggled, and they started walking. 


“I’m Sparkler Berry, Princess Celestia’s advisor. But since I’m also a science teacher, and will probably be yours, you can call me Miss Berry, or Miss Sparkler,” Sparkler said. They walked up to a beautiful golden and purple chariot, with two pegasus guards pulling it. 


“This is a CanterChariot! Y’know, the kind Princess Celestia herself rides in!” Stardust was in awe of her treatment. Sparkler opened the door, and out rolled a red carpet.


“After you,” Sparkler bowed. Stardust boarded the CanterChariot, and sat on the white faux leather seat. She looked at a cupholder, surprised that a chariot made for flying had cupholders. In one cupholder, was a bottle of chilled water, and in the other was a container of fancy, lightly salted, assorted nuts. Stardust was hungry, since it was noon, and she hadn’t eaten since her sugary breakfast earlier. Sparkler sat next to Stardust on the bench, and closed the door once the red carpet and finished rolling up. The guards got back into their pulling mechanism, and took flight. Stardust grabbed the assorted nuts, and started munching.


“Mmm, these are really good!” Stardust said. 

“Yeah, the assorted nuts were always my favorite,” Sparkler added. “What dorm are you in, and what room? We’re almost there, we need to let the guard know where they’re going,” 


“Celestial House, the Alicorn Suite,” Stardust replied.


“Ahh, room 248, the best residence on campus. You’re gonna love it.” She turned to the guards. “248, Celestial, The Alicorn Suite!” Sparkler shouted against the soft breeze. Once they arrived, Sparkler gave Stardust a hug, and wished her luck on her first day in Celestial. Stardust hopped off, and walked upstairs to her room. She took out her key, and held it up to the pad on the door. She performed the spell, then the sun-shaped light on the keycard turned green, and so did a light on the door pad. Stardust turned the door handle, and pushed open the door, The room smelled clean, like a nice hotel. It had a round, large, canopy bed, with pink tulle drapes, and perfectly fluffed pillows. Across from the bed, was a dresser, with a large flat screen above it. She walked into the living room area, with a curved purple couch, a fluffy purple rug, a glass coffee table, and a flat screen on the wall, above a TV stand. Beside the living room, was a small, but convenient kitchen, with everything Stardust needed to eat for a month in one fridge! Then, after looking out of the large, glass windows overseeing Canterlot, she walked into her bathroom, inside of the bedroom. It was well-lit, with a large mirror, white marble countertop,  glass sink, a beautiful faux ceramic tub that if filled all the way to the top, Stardust could drown in it, and a large, raining shower. The suite was lovely, and Stardust felt that she didn’t need such great treatment, although she rather enjoyed it. She opened her suitcase, pulled out Bluey, and set him on her bed. She grabbed her pillow and blanket, and put those in place as well. She took the purple velvet pouch out, and carefully took out the tiara, and the pillow. She placed them on her nightstand, along with a few My Little Bunny toys. She put away her clothes, and brushed her mane and tail. She was still hungry, since some nuts weren’t enough to hold her over for very long. She took out her protein bar, and ate half of it. Once she was done prepping herself, she decided to put on her tiara for Princess Celestia, and grabbed her small saddlebag, to hold the tiara pouch, and her room key. Once she was sure that she was ready, she teleported to the door directly outside of Headmistress Princess Celestia’s office. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and trotted in. Celestia looked up from her desk, smiled, and stood up.


“Princess Stardust Sky, a pleasure to see you again. I see you have received me and your parents’ goodbye and welcome gift?” Celestia walked up to Stardust with a scroll. 


“Yes, it’s beautiful, I love it. You said you had a spell for me?” Stardust asked. She was eager to find out what spell Celestia had in store for her.


“The spell I have for you is an effort in collaboration with Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight’s student, and her friend, and former student of mine, Sunburst. I took the spell you performed during your entrance exam, along with my alicorn spell that I used on Princess Twilight and altered them, mixing them together with their help. I think we have come up with a spell that can change the anatomy of your wings, and make them grow. Remember when your feather grew to the size of an alicorn feather, and and had blue speckles and blue at the tip? The spell should make your feathers grow, and make your wings change, hopefully making your wings like Princess Twilight’s, and ultimately, functional. The one downside is, that it takes an immense amount of magic. Just performing the spell as it was seemed to drain you of energy, and I don’t want you to lose your magic by straining it too much. So, even though helping Twilight with her spell was a bad idea, I know this will be for the better. You will do as much as you feel comfortable with, and I will contribute the rest of the power needed to successfully perform the spell. Are you ready to begin?” Princess Celestia asked. She handed Stardust the scroll, and she read it through, and made sure she understood it. 


“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Stardust said willingly, as she placed her saddlebag and tiara off to the side.  She took one final look at the spell, then closed her eyes to concentrate. Her horn started to glow. A glowing orb started to surround her, as wind blew her hair. Her wings began to tingle, her feathers growing longer, and gaining pale blue faded tips. Then, the tingling got worse, and turned into a small pain. She started to moan from tingling, pain, and magic usage, her eyes tightly shut. Celestia knew that it was time to help her. Celestia’s horn lit up, the yellow magic of Celestia mixing with Stardust’s pink. The glowing grew brighter, and Stardust let the princess take over more control. The light became blinding, with Stardust in much pain from the growing and shaping of muscle and bone, and new feathers growing and forming. Celestia hoped the spell would work, and that her student was okay. The orb shifted into the shape of a starflower, and it lowered to the floor. It glowed once more, then dimmed, and went away, revealing Stardust, laying on the floor. Celestia trotted over to her.


“Stardust? Are you okay?!? Did the spell work? How do you feel?” Celestia asked, as she kneeled down to help her student. Stardust opened her eyes, and slowly stood up.


“I’m fine, my wings just hurt, and I feel pretty worn out from the spell. I don’t know if it worked,” Stardust said. Celestia was relieved that she was okay. 


“Here, let me help you with the pain,” Princess Celestia replied. Her horn lit up, and her magic surrounded Stardust’s folded wings. After a small tingling sensation, the pain went away, and soothed Stardust. She now had the strength to open her wings. Stardust gracefully opened her wings, revealing wide, beautiful, pale pink wings with light blue at the tips. They were amazing. Better than even Stardust could have ever dreamed. Her dream had finally came true, and with the help of some flying lessons, she would soon be soaring free. She closed her wings, placed her tiara back on her head, and fixed her hair, as it was pretty windblown. 


“THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! Better than the day you told me about Twilight being related to me! Better than that same day when I got my cutie spread! I can’t believe it, Celestia, but you have managed to make my dreams come true, and for that, I thank you! You are my favorite princess!” Stardust joyfully cheered and skipped around Headmistress Princess Celestia. Celestia felt great that she had made her student happy. Stardust suddenly stopped skipping when she got a rush of dizziness and exhaustion. She felt as if she could hardly stand. Celestia levitated her, so she could rest her muscles. 


“Don’t worry, I have you. It’s only a side effect of doing such a powerful spell, and having my magic pressure on you. It drains your energy, but as long as you keep your magic and body at rest, you’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about,” Celestia said soothingly. “I will teleport you to your room, so you can rest for the rest of the day. By tomorrow, you should be okay. You still have a few days until school officially starts, and this spell is why I wanted you sooner. I wanted you to get your wings fixed, regain your energy, and start basic flying lessons, so you can be the only one flying down the halls,” Celestia added. Stardust smiled, and softly nodded her head. She blinked slowly, obviously still drained. 


“See you tomorrow, Stardust,” Celestia said before teleporting both Stardust and her saddlebag back to her room. Stardust landed softly onto her bed, her saddlebag landing next to it, and her tiara moving back onto its pillow. Stardust got under her blanket, cuddled Bluey, and drifted off to sleep.