//------------------------------// // A Big Surprise // Story: Just A Unicorn In Equestria // by GoodVibeWolf //------------------------------// It was a beautiful, sunny day in Ponyville. Twilight and Starlight were having lunch with each other, as they often did on Saturdays. However, Starlight had been acting a little more quiet than usual. Twilight had caught on to this, and she had thought about asking Starlight what was wrong. She didn’t, though, because she thought she would come off as too direct, so she didn’t bring the topic up. After lunch, Twilight finally decided to ask Starlight if something was wrong. “Starlight, I couldn’t help but notice, but, you seemed a bit more quiet than usual during our lunch. Remember, you can always tell me if something’s bothering you,” she said compassionately. Starlight’s eyes widened a tad, then she glanced around the room, away from Twilight’s eyes. Twilight could also see a drop of sweat forming on the unicorn’s head. “Well, it’s, uh, well, I was just, uh…I was just thinking.” “About what?” Twilight asked. Starlight again got a nervous look on her face. She had neglected talking to Twilight about this for a while, but now, it was practically being forced out of her. So, she finally found the courage to speak up. “Okay, I’ll tell you,” she sighed, “I didn’t really want to talk about this, but I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind lately. So, I’ve been wondering about, uh, *gulp* my family.” “What do you mean?” Twilight asked with concern. “Like, who they are, I guess. What I haven’t told you, yet, is, I don’t have a family. I don’t even know who my own parents are.” Twilight stared expressionless for a few seconds. Then, her ears flopped and she frowned. “What? You…don’t….you don’t have a family? Like, you’re an orphan?” Starlight looked down as her ears flopped and her eyes closed. Then, she looked back up at Twilight with a compassionate smile. “I did have a family. For a couple years at least. I remember one day, Sunburst and his family came into the orphanage, and then Sunburst saw me. I looked at him, he looked at me, and then we just smiled at each other. We walked up to each other and started talking about magic and stuff. Then, his mom decided to adopt me, to mine and Sunburst’s delight. However, a couple years later, well, you know what happened. But then, shortly after that, Sunburst’s dad left his mom, and she couldn’t take care of me anymore, so she had no choice but to put me back into the orphanage. So yeah, it’s not like I never had a family. Trust me Twi, you don’t need to feel bad. I’ve nearly forgotten about that.” Twilight could tell that Starlight’s smile wasn’t completely genuine, so, she gave her friend a hug. Starlight hugged back with tears. “I guess I was just wondering, ‘who are my parents? Where did I come from?’ I hate to ask, but….” Twilight finished her sentence, “Do you want my help finding your family? Of course, I would love to help, but, it’s going to be hard. After all, there are millions of ponies in Equestria. I wouldn’t even know where to start!” Starlight sighed, “I know. It’s okay. I just appreciate you being so understanding.” “However, I didn’t say I would wouldn’t at least try. I can tell this is important to you, Starlight. And I’ll do anything to make you feel better,” Twilight said deep in thought. “Really?! Thank you so much, Twilight!” Starlight threw her hooves around the alicorn. Twilight just nodded and smiled. Then, she spoke, “So, I guess my first question would be, do you have any information about your family? Like, did the ponies at the orphanage tell you anything about them? About their looks? Race?” Starlight stood with her hoof under her chin, as if she was thinking, then responded, “No, nothing, actually. Other than that I was left at the door in a basket with a name tag on it. They said I was a couple weeks old when I was left there. I assume at least one of my parents was a unicorn. Obviously. But I don’t know much.” “Okay, then. Well, there is one other option we can take,” Twilight replied after a moment, “We could always give you a DNA test.” Starlight thought for a moment, then unenthusiastically said, “But how would we do that? We don’t have anything like that. Besides, what could we possibly find out? We would have to test many ponies. It might not be the best method.” Twilight sighed. She then suggested that they should just go to town and see if anyone had a secret daughter. It was not the most ideal method, but what else could they do? As the two mares walked out the door of the castle, they both saw a strange light in the sky. It appeared to be floating down towards them! What could it be? “Uh, Twilight, what is THAT??” Starlight asked with wonder. “I..I don’t know! But it’s getting closer. Ah! It’s crashing! WATCH OUT!!” Twilight and Starlight quickly hopped into a bush to avoid the falling object. However, when they looked out from the bush, they found something neither of them expected to see. The thing was no object. No. It was a..a pony! Bit not just any pony. An alicorn! The alicorn had large wings. It’s coat was light purple with green and blue stripes for a mane. What was it doing in Ponyville?! Twilight and Starlight stared at it in shock. The alicorn, about as tall as Twilight, stood there with a less impressed face. “W-w-w-what, I, w-who are y-you?” Twilight asked with her eyes wide. Starlight just kept staring with her mouth open. The mysterious alicorn blinked a couple of times before speaking. “Is this, Ponyville? The land of Equestria? Are you both inhabitants of this land?” Starlight finally snapped out of it. “Yes, w-we are. But, how do you have wings? Are you a new princess?!” Twilight instantly grinned widely at the thought of her mentor making a new alicorn princess. And she was so pretty, too! The alicorn formed a scowl on her face. “Princess? Of Equestria? Heavens no. I didn’t even know this place could have such royalty. I would never lower myself to such standards as to rule here. No, I come from a place more magical than here. Sky Kingdom. The home of the Unicorns.” Twilight and Starlight instantly had an offended look on their faces. How could she say such a thing? And this pony was clearly not a unicorn! “Excuse me, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked more seriously now. “I come for her,” the alicorn simply said as she pointed to Starlight.