//------------------------------// // Gotta Go // Story: On Wings Of Black And White // by DreadAngel1711 //------------------------------// The loud sounds of banging and stomping stirred Starburst from her sleep. The unicorn groaned as she rubbed her eyes, flopping out of bed with a deep breath, she looked around as the banging continued. Her horn glowed with magical energy, if this was some kind of thief, they certainly weren’t being very stealthy. Just as she rounded the corner into the hall, something large and heavy tripped over her, forcing both of them to the ground. Starburst immediately looked to whatever had just crashed into her, seeing Mysteeri desperately scrambling to her feet. “Mirror.” Was all the witch said. The way she moved, clinging onto whatever she could as she forced herself upright, Starburst didn’t need to ask twice as she dashed back into her room and brought out a small mirror in her magic, hovering it over to Mysteeri. The witch took a good look at herself in the mirror, letting out a sigh of relief “Oh thank god…” She sighed. “Uh, Mysteeri?” Starburst asked “What’s wrong?” Mysteeri looked away from the mirror and simply gestured down with her eyes. Starburst tilted her head, eyes slowly creeping down Mysteeri’s body until she saw her legs “OH MY CELESTIA!” She shrieked, scrambling backward “What happened to your legs!?” “That’s what I wanna know! And that’s not the only thing!” She showed her back to Starburst, revealing the small wings and tuft of a tail she was now sporting. Starburst couldn’t move. She just stared with her mouth agape at the sight of her transformed friend and the more she stared, the more questions blasted through her mind. How did this happen? Was there a fix? Was it permanent? Could she even go back to her home now? Was she going to fully turn into a pegasus? “I…I need to sit down.” Starburst said weakly, eyes fixed wide open as she shambled downstairs, Mysteeri silently following her with the wall as a support the whole way. They sat in the same chairs in front of the fireplace. Mysteeri grunted as her wings pressed against the back of the chair, pushing herself further forward. She stared at her legs in silence, the feeling of stiffness in them, the fact they were frozen in place with no way to bend them, it made her skin crawl…even running a hand over them, nothing felt right. “We need to see Twilight.” Starburst said with an almost monotone voice “If anyone knows what’s going on, it’s her.” Mysteeri sighed and nodded “Yeah,” She cracked an ever so smile smirk “She’s probably even expecting that she’ll have to get involved with us again today.” Starburst chuckled “Hmhm, yeah.” She looked the witch up and down once more “Can you still transform?” Mysteeri briefly flashed that same purple light…only for nothing to change. The witch was still there in her full form. Her expression turned sour as she flashed once more. Still nothing. She hissed out an angered “Shit…” under her breath. “At least I still have the spell.” Starburst hopped out of her chair “Breakfast can wait, come on.” Her horn illuminated with its usual vibrant glow, covering Mysteeri in a shimmering light. The witch returned back to the same somewhat glimmering state she was in upon first sneaking into the village with Starburst “It should hold long enough to get into Twilight’s castle this time.” “I should hope so.” Mysteeri replied as they stepped out of the door “Last thing we need is someone seeing me, especially with these…things.” She inspected the faint outline of her legs once more “Ugh…” “With how early it is, we likely won’t run into many ponies.” Starburst began walking ahead, Mysteeri following right behind her. What Starburst said held true, the only ponies they encountered in the waking hours of the day were a few younger ponies back from a night of partying and a small handful of very early birds. Other than that, the cold dew of the morning air was still fresh in the streets of the village. Mysteeri fell victim to numerous trips and stumbles throughout the walk; Starburst’s yelps echoed into the cold air as each fall forced the invisible witch to grab onto her unicorn companion in a last-ditch effort to right herself. She scowled at what she could make out of her new legs, muttering a strongly worded insult toward them under her breath. The pair soon arrived at the foot of a huge, crystal tree that nested a purple and gold castle in its branches. Before them stood a large gold a set of gold step that lead up to a matching door with a pair of purple hearts adorning it. Mysteeri huffed and crossed her arms at the sight of it all. “Talk about gaudy,” she quipped “there’s a line when it comes to this stuff and whatever the hell this is has crossed it twice over.” Starburst looked to the shimmering outline of the witch, then to the castle. She shrugged. Mysteeri had a point, the castle of friendship was a bit over the top, but considering what built it, it made sense “Well, c’mon, Twilight ain’t gonna know we’re here if we just stand around.” She walked up the stairs, Mysteeri gripping tightly onto the railing as she followed. The banging of Starburst’s knocking echoed throughout the castle halls… And there was silence. Mysteeri crossed her arms once more, being surrounded by another shimmer of light as she returned to the visible spectrum. Starburst scanned the environment as Mysteeri reappeared. Still nopony around to see her. The door, however, still remained closed. “She doesn’t normally take this long…” Just as Starburst sent her hoof toward the door again, it was pulled open by a small purple dragon “Spike!” Starburst grinned upon seeing him “Is Twilight in?” The young dragon yawned before answering “Yeah – you need to see her?” Mysteeri stepped into view. To Spike, it was like staring at a giant, his pupils shrinking at the sight of the woman “J-Jeez…is that a friend of yours?” He asked Starburst. “Yep!” Starburst nodded “Spike, this is Mysteeri. Mysteeri, this is Spike.” She gestured between the two. Mysteeri cracked another small smile “Hey.” “Um…hey.” Spike gently waved “I’ll go let Twilight know you guys are here.” He dashed off back down the hall, Starburst pushing the still open door further back to allow herself and Mysteeri entrance. The witch hummed once more at the sight of the insides of the castle. “Much bigger than I expected, I’ll say that.” She said as she looked around at the cool, crystal blue interior. “Even I don’t know how this works.” Starburst said, squinting as she, too, observed the room they were in “Did she remodel?” They were soon alerted to the sound of approaching hooves, Twilight trotting up to them with her trademark smile on her face “Hi, girls!” She beamed. “Bet you weren’t expecting to see us so early, huh?” Starburst joked. Twilight shook her head “Any hour is fine to help out my friends. So, what do you-“ She froze when she laid eyes upon Mysteeri, immediately drawn to the transformed legs she was now sporting “Oh my.” “Yeah,” Starburst rubbed one hoof against the other leg “That’s what we came to see you about.” Mysteeri turned around to show her newly acquired wings and tail “And the legs aren’t the only part.” Twilight sighed and dropped her head “I hate it when what I say when I panic is right.” She raised it back up “Come on, you two, I think I know what’s going on.” She lead Mysteeri and Starburst back through the castle and into an expansive library “I’m going to have to run some tests on you first to ensure what I think is happening is…actually happening.” Twilight explained “But it’s going to take a while. Are you OK with that?” “Hey, Starburst.” Mysteeri shifted her gaze from one unicorn to the other “Go find Gael.” “…Why?” Starburst questioned. “If I’m going to be in here for a while, then you not going out to find the rest of the Elements is going to waste time, we have, what, three days until closest approach?” Mysteeri glanced out of one of the large windows that filled the walls. “…That’s true.” Starburst nodded “But, are you sure? What if something only you can handle happens?” Mysteeri smirked and bent down as best she could in her current condition “I doubt that would happen if you’re around, yeah? C’mon, you’re all about strong magic, right? You got this.” She patted Starburst on the back, then approached Twilight “Yeah, we’re good.” Twilight smiled at that oddly warm display from someone who always looked so angry “Alright, please sit down in…” she scanned the room briefly “That chair!” She pointed to an old, rickety rocking chair. Mysteeri responded with a raised eyebrow “Oh, right, probably not the best choice for those legs…try that one!” She moved her hoof from pointing to the rocking chair to a larger, much softer looking chair. Mysteeri threw herself into the chair, spotting Starburst walking about behind Twilight, flipping through numerous books before putting them back with an annoyed expression “Yo, Starburst, you alright?” “Hm?” Starburst looked over to the witch “Y-yeah. I’m just looking for the spell that lets you walk on clouds. Can’t get to Gael otherwise.” “Oh!” Twilight lit up her horn, levitating a blue book with numerous different traits of each race of pony upon its cover “Here you are, Starburst, it’s on page 132!” Starburst gave her old friend a warm smile in return “Thank you, Twilight.” She took the book over to a nearby table, flipping it open. “So, any idea when these…happened?” Twilight asked as she pushed a few tables closer to Mysteeri. “Overnight is all I know.” Mysteeri shrugged “Didn’t feel anything at all. I just…woke up and there they were.” “I think I know why you’re changing.” Twilight said, observing Mysteeri’s wings “Remember when we first met?” Mysteeri nodded “Yeah, you freaked out about something happening to people not of this world.” “Right.” Twilight replied, “You haven’t got any head pain, have you?” Mysteeri didn’t answer, reaching up to her forehead area and feeling around. Nothing felt out of the ordinary, so she just shrugged. Twilight continued as she continued to gather things from around the room, putting down numerous blank books, pencils and many other things atop the tables “At least it doesn’t look like there’ll suddenly be another alicorn around.” “Alright, I think I’ve got it!” Starburst piped up from the back, closing the book “Gael probably knows Rainbow Crash, so I’ll start with her today.” “Awesome!” Twilight smiled “I’ll get Spike to take you to Cloudsdale. Spike!” The young dragon came barrelling into the library at a moment’s notice. Mysteeri whistled at his speed. As the dragon came running over to Twilight, he tripped on one of the books Twilight had left strewn about in her hurry to assemble the desks, spinning over himself before crashing into the side of Mysteeri’s chair. The witch chuckled at the sight, reaching down and gently pulling him free from the faceplant. “Ugh…” The dragon groaned, hand on his head as he staggered back. His head turned to a blur as he shook it, then looked to Twilight “What do you need, Twilight?” “Could you take Starburst to Cloudsdale in the balloon, please?” Twilight gestured to her friend “I’d take her myself, but I have some things that…require my attention.” “Can do!” Spike playfully saluted his alicorn sister figure, turning to Sunburst and bowing “This way, my fair lady.” He ended with a chuckle. Sunburst waved to the other two as she followed Spike, running a free hoof through her ragged morning mane. “So…you don’t mind if I take a feather from you, do you?” “…What?” The skies above Equestria, 45 minutes later “Sure does take a while to get there, huh?” Starburst thought aloud, staring down at the landscape below “The view is to die for, though.” “Yeah, heh,” Spike said “No matter how many times we go up here, it never gets old.” He joined Starburst in looking to the horizon “So, your friend, what was up with her?” Starburst put her head in her hoof, shrugging “Really, neither of us know. She would scratch at one spot on her back a lot, but I thought that was just her. Never saw any traces she was growing wings, or a tail. The legs just…happened.” “Wow.” Spike blinked “Never heard of someone turning into a pegasus before. At least not in that matter.” Starburst cocked her head “Not in that manner?” “Yeah.” Spike nodded “Twilight has friends from another world, too. When they came through ours, they were all turned into ponies instantly. Perhaps the mirror caused that and the fact your friend didn’t come through it make it a slow process?” Starburst hummed at the thought. In truth she didn’t have a clue about whatever friends, other world or mirror Spike was talking about, but the theory on the sudden yet incomplete transformation…that may hold some weight behind it. The lofty city of Cloudsdale crept ever closer, not long now. The balloon finally touched down on the fluffy clouds of the city. As Spike opened the door, a glow of magic slide from Starburst’s horn down onto her hooves, first gently placing one upon the clouds. She didn’t fall through. With a sight of relief, Starburst hopped out of the basket and onto the clouds “Oooh, it’s all fluffy!” She grinned, bouncing on the clouds like a trampoline, each bounce releasing small puffs of the poofy white floor into the air “Shame I can’t normally walk on it, this would make amazing bedding!” “I best be heading back to the castle, Twilight need me for her…” A bead of sweat rolled down Spike’s head “experiments…when do you want me to come get you?” “Hmm…” Starburst hummed “Well, I’m only here to see Gael and Rainbow Crash.” “Rainbow Crash?” Spike mouthed. “So, unless Gael somehow flies me back, around lunch should be good!” Starburst said “I can hold this spell all day if I want, it’s pretty simple.” “Alright, well, enjoy yourself!” Spike waved as he closed the door, blasting a puff of green smoke into the balloon, which gently took off and took to the winds. “Cute little guy.” Starburst commented, turning around to the large expanse of the cloudy city “Alright, I’m sure finding Gael shouldn’t be too hard.” Finding Gael was hard. Starburst only realised that fact upon the revelation that, to this day, she didn’t even have the foggiest idea of where Gael lived beyond just “Cloudsdale.” Finding the rainbow pegasus bore no fruit, either. You’d think someone like her would be blasting all over the sky leaving sonic booms in her wake, but there neither hide nor hair of the mare. A unicorn standing on clouds certainly got a few odd looks from the residents of Cloudsdale until they noticed the glow of magic at her feet, Starburst felt her coat stand on end as each one looked at her. She’d never entirely felt out of place around others, but this time, something felt…different. And it wasn’t just the fact she was a unicorn standing on clouds. They were seeing something else in her, something she couldn’t pin down. Starburst looked to the distant weather factory, its pipes jutting out amid the skies “No, Gael wouldn’t be there.” Starburst thought “He hates places like that.” “Well now, who else would I expect to see besides you?” Gael’s voice came from above her, large gusts of wings blowing Starburst’s mane around. Looking up, Starburst saw her long time friend hovering above her, his large wings sending out the incredible gusts “I hear people talking about a purple unicorn in town and it takes me this long to find you? Awful good at blending in for where you are.” “Hm, you just have bad eyes.” Starburst frowned, turning her head away. She then opened one eye to see Gael still smiling down at her “…I was looking all over for you.” “I guess we were just running in circles after a while. I was sunbathing on my roof and there were these old ladies talking incredibly loud about you.” Gael dropped down to the floor, landing neatly beside the unicorn “Made sure not to look at the comet too much this time.” Starburst playfully punched Gael in the forearm “Eavesdropper.” The two of them began to walk through the streets as Gael rolled his eyes “C’mon, you should have heard them, how could I not listen in?” “We met because you were eavesdropping on a conversation I was in!” Starburst protested “You’ve got big wings, not big ears!” Gael let out a hearty laugh, to which Starburst herself rolled her eyes “Anyway, haha…” Gael said once his laughter died down “What are you doing in Cloudsdale?” “I need to find that rainbow pegasus, the one who has the element of loyalty.” Starburst said, she and Gael stopping their walk beside a tree-like cloud “Unfortunately I haven’t seen any trace of her.” “And where have you been looking?” Gael questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, you know…places where pegasi would live.” Starburst spoke slowly as she looked around, still hoping for any chance of spotting the pegasus she was searching for. Gael shook his head and tutted, gesturing for Starburst to follow him. He lead the unicorn through the outskirts of Cloudsdale, weaving through a few small walkways and above a river of rainbows until they came to a collection of clouds positioned like platforms, all leading to a large, liquid rainbow adorned house further down “That’s where you wanna go. Why didn’t your escort just take you straight there?” Starburst shrugged “It was really early, to be fair, but I guess my insistence on Cloudsdale made Spike assume I knew something he didn’t.” Gael ruffled Starburst’s mane in response, the mare responding with an annoyed grunt as she cleaned it back up “If the pony you’re looking for is anywhere, she’ll definitely be there.” He gestured to the cloudy building down below “You got a tether spell?” “Tether spell?” Starburst asked “Why?” “So I don’t have to lift you myself.” “Wha- hey!” Starburst pouted, getting another hearty laugh from Gael. She sighed at her friend, giving him an annoyed but still entertained look “Yeah, yeah, I have a tether spell.” Her horn lit up once more, a chain looking like it was forged out of a pink night sky appearing in the air between them “There, that should hold long enough to get us there.” “Well hold on tight!” Gael blasted off into the sky, Starburst letting out a shriek as the magical chain pulled her along with him, swinging her around through the air as Gael swooped through the skies, laughing to himself the whole way to the building below. With a thought, Starburst whisked the chain away as Gael came to a stop in the air. Poor timing on her part, she was flung further through the air and clean through an open window. An unseen voice yelped out as Starburst hurtled through the window, followed by a loud crash, a few bangs and a vibrant pink explosion blasting out of the opening. Gael gently touched down on the windowsill, being met with Starburst embedded into the cloud wall, books strewn everywhere with a rainbow-maned pegasus out cold on the floor. There was also a turtle flipped upside down, dazed and just as confused as everyone else. “Warn me next time…” Starburst groaned as she wrenched her head free from the wall, yanking her legs out before hitting the floor with a soft WHUMP. The pegasus she had crashed into groaned as she opened her eyes “Ow…ow ow ow…” She winced as she stood up, hoof on her head. Her eyes then landed on the turtle that was wobbling about on its shell “Oh my gosh, Tank!” She dashed over, helping the turtle upright “There ya go, bud.” “None of this explains the explosion.” Gael commented, getting the pegasus’ attention. “Wh-who are you guys!?” She yelled, now noticing Starburst staggering about in the corner “And what’s with flinging a ballistic pony at me!?” “I-It was an honest mistake; I broke my tether spell right when Gael stopped!” Starburst spluttered out, giving Gael a glare to which the pegasus just frowned while nodding. “Gael?” The pegasus looked to the other one “Oh, I know you. Help me clear this up, then.” She said, picking up a book and returning it to the shelf. Starburst glanced to the slowly fading outline of her in the wall before levitating a few books up, Gael hopping off the windowsill himself. “So, um, are you…Rainbow Crash?” Starburst asked as she placed the books back, the pegasus giving her a brief, annoyed look before noticing the horn upon her head. She shook her head “Nope, you’re thinking of Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria!” She put a hoof to her chest as she spoke. “Oh. Gael, I think we got the wrong pony, then.” Starburst looked to her pegasus companion, who just slammed his head into the wall in response. “No, no, there’s no Rainbow Crash.” Rainbow Dash said, her voice betraying the smile on her face “I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt with this, though,” She dropped the irritated voice and shook her head “It isn’t every day a unicorn comes flying through your window.” She sighed as she placed the last book back in position on the shelf “Except that one time Twilight did…” Starburst breathed a sigh of relief “Oh, thank you, Miss Dash.” “Rainbow Dash is fine.” The pegasus replied. “Rainbow Dash – right, OK…” Starburst cleared her throat “My name is Starburst Nova. And this is my friend, Gael Force.” Gael had already been distracted by the turtle from earlier, who had walked up to him and was just…staring. He gave Rainbow Dash a brief smile before turning his attention back to the turtle. “…Right.” Starburst frowned “Well, anyway, we came to see you because we need your help.” “Heh, must be really dangerous if you need my help.” Rainbow Dash scoffed “What is it? Renegade Changelings? A huge mob waiting for me?” “It’s a comet.” “Well that’s boring.” Rainbow Dash’s proud look vanished in an instant “How am I supposed to handle a comet?” Starburst shook her head once more “Not on your own. I have another friend who…couldn’t make it here today, but she and I have been talking to the rest of the holders of the elements of harmony about some black creatures that have been showing up since the arrival of Hungaar.” That clearly caught Rainbow Dash’s attention, the pegasus tilting her head at the mention of the creatures. “What me and my friend plan to do is get all the elements together, make a focusing lens for the magic of the elements and purify…whatever the source of the creatures is!” Starburst spoke, with magical yet poorly drawn illustrations of prior events appearing around here “Like the drawings?” Rainbow Dash hummed, rubbing a hoof against her chin “Riiiight…well, tell ya what. I’ll help ya.” “Re-“ “On one condition!” Rainbow Dash interrupted “You help me deal with some pesky…stuff that’s been appearing below my place.” Starburst looked to Gael once more, who took a moment to notice he was being observed. He looked away from his staring contest with the turtle and nodded “Uh, ah, yeah, we can help out. Well, I can, I dunno about what Starburst can do.” “Jerk.” Starburst rolled her eyes, then turned back to Rainbow Dash “Sure, we’ll help.” “Awesome.” Rainbow Dash grinned “C’mon, I’ll show you what’s going on. And we can leave through the door.” Gael and Starburst exchanged another glance, the unicorn gesturing for the turtle-enamoured pegasus to follow. Rainbow Dash lead them through the house and into the front yard, toward a small cloud that hovered by “Here, Starburst, hop on this. Gael, you push.” Gael spread his wings and took to the air, Rainbow Dash whistling at the wingspan. Starburst hopped onto the smaller cloud, Gael pushing it down below the house as Rainbow Dash lead them “So, what are we dealing with?” Starburst asked. “Weird…stuff.” Rainbow Dush replied “It’s all black and looks like oil.” “All black and looks like oil?” Starburst repeated, a determined frown forming on her face “Sounds like the comet creatures alright. They’re stalking the rest of the elements, too.” “Really?” Rainbow Dash looked to the unicorn “You’ll have to tell me more about them when we clean this mess up, then.” She pointed to the large dripping mass of pitch black that infested the bottom of her house “This is the problem child.” “Well, it’s taken physical form, so we can hurt it.” Starburst’s horn began to glow again, surrounded by a storm of sparkles “That is, if this prototype spell doesn’t work and we need to get violent!” She fired the magic at the middle of the dripping ooze. It responded in an instant, dropping off the bottom of the cloud and reforming into a giant orb. A single huge crimson eye opened in the middle of it, shining a red light down onto the trio of ponies with a low hum. Gael instinctively let out a single hard and firm word. “Fuck.”