//------------------------------// // Premonition // Story: Shooting Star // by Comet Burst //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle grinned brightly as her mentor stepped out of the chariot to the many "Oooh's" and cheers coming from the other ponies. Twilight stepped closer and Princess Celestia grinned at her star student. "Greetings, Twilight." She said in her regal voice "And hello to you all as well, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy." They all bowed and said hello as Princess Celestia walked to the building. The mayor was standing at the building and babbling on,about what an honor it was for her to come when Princess Celestia simply chuckled and said "It's my pleasure to be back." She walked up to the top of the stairs leading to the building and turned to face the throng of ponies. "Citizens of Ponyville!" She began in the traditional Canterlot voice, which was much more mellow than her sisters. "This year is a special year for Ponyville. Every five years at the Sun Raising festival, the great race known as the Daybreak Dash is run. Competitors in this race are chosen from their hometown to race the sun to Canterlot, heralding the beginning of a new year. This year is the one hundredth running of this race and, to honor tradition, one pegasus and one earth pony from Ponyville will compete this year!" A large cheer came from the sea of ponies and Twilight smiled. She was always happy to hear her mentor getting cheered on as Princess Celestia continued. "To help ponies decide, a smaller race will be held for the pegasus and earth ponies to compete in, which I will preside over personally. These races are open to any pony of those kind and will be held in two weeks. The winners will be decided by you all, so cheer on your favorite pony!" She concluded her small speech, listening and feeling the roar of the ponies. She smiled broadly to them and turned around. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Comet stood still and tilted his head. He had heard of this race, but never thought of competing in it. Ponies who normally ran the Daybreak Dash trained for it almost everyday. At least, those in Fillydelphia and Canterlot. His attention was broken as Princess Celestia turned back over to the purple unicorn she obviously knew along with the other five. Rainbow Dash was clearly excited, flapping her wings at an astounding rate, not to mention her smile that was wide enough to be seen from where Comet was. The package on his back shifted as a pony walked by and Comet started. "Ack!" He said in a shocked voice "What am I doing here?!" He turned and ran off hurriedly in a tiring attempt to track down Lemon Dreams. It took him nearly two hours to find her, but Comet finished the job with a bright smile. With his deliveries complete, he headed back to the Carousel Boutique to collect his payment while hoping to find out how his employer knew Princess Celestia. Much to his surprise, Comet found the white unicorn at her shop. Apparently having a personal audience with the royalty of Equestria was no big deal to her. Instead, her eyes got as wide as dinner plates when he told her they were all delivered. "My, aren't you a fast one!" Rarity exclaimed in a overpolished voice. "Well, it is certainly a great relief knowing you are up to my demanding needs. How would you like to be my permanent deliverypony?" Comet smiled and said "It would be my pleasure." He gave a bow of the head and Rarity, whose name he had drilled into his head, gave a rather large laugh and said "Dear me, its not everyday a gentlepony comes along! Here's your payment and tomorrow I will have more stuff for you to deliver. She pulled out a small brown bag with her magic and Comet took it with great thanks. As he trotted back to his apartment, Comet saw a large group of ponies gathering at an odd tree evidently made to look like a house. "What a strange place." He mused to himself as he kept on walking. Usually he would go investigate, but his mind wandered to the race that Princess Celestia had mentioned earlier in the day. While Comet never considered himself to be a race pony, he father had tried to make him one. When he was younger, Comet endured long sessions of running practice under his father's supervision, always reminding him that he came from a direct line of race ponies. "Your grandfather several generations past always raced, and no son of mine will break that tradition." He always gruffed to Comet. Comet's career as a racer never took off, mostly because Comet never liked his father's obsession with the sport. While Comet did enjoy running and his cutie mark was these to it, he started his own courier business instead. At first it was to pet himself from his father's dreams, but he grew to like it because his running skills were put to good use. It seemed to be the perfect job, but this race was nagging at him. He could theoretically run this big race and win it. ------------------------------------------- Deep inside a dark cave, water dripped slowly from the wicked stalactites hanging like icicles. Underneath, a black pool of water slowly rippled with each drop, steadily becoming agitated. A fell wind blew from a mysterious direction, giving the air an unnatural chill. At the pool, an odd bright light began to form below the surface. It glowed a faint indigo, slowly becoming brighter and coming to the surface. It stopped just shy of the surface, hanging in open water. Within the swirling light, an object began to form. Indistinct at first, it slowly morphed into a circle, then an oval, then an eye shape. The eye was closed, but a terrible noise carried on the wind. It sounded like a mare screaming. The eye opened up to show a neon yellow iris around a pitch black cornea. Slowly, black tendrils snaked their way out of the pool, creeping up into the dark ceiling. The entity was reaching out for them. The rage of five hundred years was driving it to find them. It had to find them, the pegasus and earth pony.