The days passed on by slowly for little Star Shadow as she waited in anticipation for her day t come. Her birthday, that is. It was coming, less than a week away now. She was so happy she could barely contain it. She bounced with joy with every step she took. All throughout the castle the ponies could hear her laughing and playing. They also heard her questions. Yes, being so young Star Shadow was oh so very curious about what she was getting for presents this year. She had gotten many great gifts in the past, and she had loved them all.
“But what am I getting this year? Huh, Mom?” She pleaded with Luna, her eyes wide and lips pursed in a face that would have made almost any mother give in. However, Luna was not any mother.
“Well, if you want to know that badly,” Luna replied as she walked with Star. “Then I guess I will just have to do this.”
Luna's horn flashed with a magical light for a second before a small box materialized in front of her. She floated it down to Star who could barely contain her smile. Her legs shook with excitement, and she nearly jumped up to get to the box that was almost within her hooves. Luna released the box and only a second had passed before the little one had already shredded the outer layer of wrapping paper. She stared down at the plain box sitting in front of her. Slowly she reached out, her mind flashing through ideas of what it could be. A crown of her own? A pet bird? A new Daring Do book to read? A Power Ponies action figure? So many ideas! She pulled the lid off the box and she froze where she was.
“Uh, Mom,” She said weakly as she stared into the box. “There's nothing in here. It's empty.”
“Look at the lid again, Star,” Luna said plainly. Star's smile faded and she did as Luna said. She lifted the box lid up again so she could see it clearly. At first she had thought it was just a plain box. Simply white in color. Nothing special about it. Until the white started to move. She watched as another color began to appear, bleeding through the white and shifting before her eyes. Star watched as this color shifted into words.
“The Answer Box,” She read as the words appeared, “Question: What am I getting for my birthday? Answers within.”
“Satisfied?” Luna asked.
“I don't get it,” Star said, obviously puzzled at the message the box was meant to send.
“The box holds all the answers you're going to get from me on the question you asked,” Luna explained. “Now do you understand?”
“So the box holds the answers?” Star said. “But the box is empty, so there are no answers? Does this mean you aren't going to tell me what I'm getting this year?”
“Very good, Star,” Luna said with smile. “Now run along. I believe your father had something he wanted to talk to you about.”
“Ooh, ooh! Maybe I can some answers out of him,” Star said as she sprang to her hooves.
“Oh, I doubt that,” Luna chuckled as she walked away. “Where do you think I got the box from?”
===
Star walked along the castle corridors. She had grown up here, lived here all her life, and still she got lost from time to time. The castle was a big place and she was a little pony. And now she was supposed to go and find her father, Spike the dragon, and she had no idea where to start looking. Her mother had neglected to give her that small detail before sending her off. And so, Star's only choice was to start with all the places he normally was. First stop, his office.
Spike had an office set up away from the chambers he shared with Luna. She had her own desk set up in the rooms, but Spike preferred his office to be elsewhere. He said it made it easier to separate his work from his family. A point Luna understood, and so he had his office. It was a few floors up and on another side of the castle. Star had only been there a few times, and not in couple months. Still she remembered the way quite clearly. The first time she was there she had to sneak in to surprise Spike on his birthday. She almost made it but he spotted her first. The walk there was uneventful. She just moved along, saying hello to the occasional castle staff pony she saw. When she got there the only thing she saw were two guard ponies standing outside the door to the office.
“Hey, guys,” Star said. She approached the big, muscled, and very serious looking guards. “Have either of you guys seen my dad today? You know, big guy, dragon, real tall, purple scales? He's kinda hard to miss. I'm trying to find him.”
The only visible response she got was the guard ponies moving their eyes to look at her. That was the only acknowledgment she was getting and she got the impression that they were just acknowledging her presence, not her question.
“Seriously, nothing?” She asked, half serious about the need to find Spike and half about them not laughing at all. Not even a smile. “Guess I will go and ask somepony else.” She sighed as he walked off.
Feeling a little bit discouraged, Star moved on to one of Spike's other favorite places. Other than Luna's side. She was already there and she didn't Spike at all. No, this time she was heading off to the throne room. Spike's experiences over the years made him well versed in matters of security, both breaking through it and building it up. Celestia valued this in him very much and often had him talk to ponies that came to her with questions regarding these matters. Spike often spent at least a few hours a day with her in the throne room addressing these questions. From Spike's office it was only a short travel down to the throne room. It didn't even take Star ten minutes.
“Hiya, Auntie,” She beamed as she came into the throne room.
“. . . And I assure you, this matter will be looked into. I will have my very best looking into it,” Celestia said, addressing the ponies in front of her still. “These bandits will be dealt with. You have my word.”
Three ponies stood before Celestia. They bowed their heads in thanks and smiled happily as they walked out of the castle doors. Two guards closed the large doors behind them. They went back to standing tall and very still after that.
“Hello there, Star Shadow,” Celestia said. “What bring you here today? Don't you have school?”
“No, it's Saturday, Auntie Tia,” Star answered.
“Oh, it is isn't it?” Celestia faked some obliviousness. She shared a small laugh with Star and got off her throne to see her. “So, little one, what did you need?”
“I'm trying to find my dad,” Star replied. “I already checked his office, but he wasn't there. At least, I don't think he was. The ponies by the door don't talk very much.”
“Hmm. Trying to find Spike,” Celestia pondered the concept for a moment. “Well, he isn't here. Have you checked the dining hall? You know how your dad likes to eat those gems.”
“That's true, but it's not lunch time yet,” Star replied.
“Oh, of course it's not,” Celestia said back, “What was I thinking?”
“I don't know,” Star said, “Do you have any other ideas where I can look for him?”
“Hmm, let me think,” Celestia replied. She thought about it for a moment and eventually had to concede that she didn't have any idea where Spike could be. It was a big castle after all. But she wasn't going to tell Star that. Instead, she was going to the next best thing.
“Guards,” She raised her voice just enough to get the attention of all the guards in the throne room. One by one, all of their heads turned to face her. Something that the young Star Shadow found to be really cool. “Do any of you happen to know the whereabouts of Spike the dragon? His daughter seeks to find him.”
Murmurs and whispers started traveling among the guards present. Their voiced got louder as they talked more and more guards had to talk to guards farther away. It would seem that they all wanted to be part of the conversation and yet none of them wanted to move from their position at the same time. The whole scene kind of reminded Celestia of a class room for some reason. After several moments and small discussion later the guards talk died down and one of stepped forward.
He stepped barely out of his position, just enough to let them know he was the speaker. “Spike the dragon was last seen heading down the southeast stairwell leading to a largely unused section of the castle, Your Highness,” He reported in a very official tone of voice. “He never spoke to any of the guards of his intentions or exact destination.”
“Thank you very much,” Celestia said with a kind nod. The guard stepped back into place and resumed his duty of being very still and quiet. The room fell back into its natural silent state and Star found it to very odd all of the sudden.
“Come on then,” Celestia said. “Let's go find you father.”
Celestia started walking a bit ahead of Star and she jumped up to race after her. They walked together for a while. The time was filled with Star going on and on about her birthday. She tried to pry even the smallest bit of information out of Celestia, but all she got was cryptic answers and riddles or nothing at all. She was even more stubborn than Luna was. Celestia couldn't help but snicker a bit when Star told her about the answer box. She remembered when Spike first gave it to Luna all those years ago.
“So where are we going?” Star asked after a while. “And when will we get there?”
“We are going to a part of the castle that not many ponies go too, young one,” Celestia replied. “We will be there in just a few moments.”
“Why don't ponies come down here? Is it dangerous or something?”
“No, little one, it's not dangerous. It's just that this part of the castle is mainly used for storage. We store a lot of things, but only about one a month does a pony come down here to check on everything and make sure it is still there.”
“Whoa,” Star said as the two of them passed by the tenth door in that corridor. The door was slightly open and she peeked inside. She saw a very large room full of nothing but large boxes and crates. “It's somepony's job to go through and just look at stuff. Sounds boring.”
“It very well may be,” Celestia said. “But it is an important job nonetheless.”
“How important could it be just look at stuff?”
“Well, Star, think of it this way,” Celestia explained. “We store all manner of things here, from antique tomes much to fragile to have in any library to magical charms with to much power to have them out. If either one of those items got out and fell into the wrong hooves, it could end very badly for the ponies involved. Do you understant?”
“I think so,” Star honestly replied as she thought about it. “I don't know much about magic yet, though.”
“Then it's time you learned, isn't it?”
Celestia, for the first time in well over a hundred years, physically jumped. The sudden voice caught off guard in every possible way, and Star would swear her horn carved a nice line in the ceiling. Celestia took the next few seconds to catch her breath.
“Oh my,” She said between breaths, “Spike, why must you do that?”
“Sorry, Celestia,” Spike said, trying to hide the smile he had from successfully scaring the almighty Celestia.
“Daddy!” Star exclaimed as she ran up to him. He dropped to one knee and took her in his arms, picking her up and twirling around a few times.
“I was just about to come and get you, my little Star,” Spike said as he stopped twirling around. “Your timing is great.”
“Is that so?” Celestia asked. “Might I inquire as to what it is you're doing down here, Spike?”
“Of course,” Spike replied. “Come on in.”
Spike turned around and pushed open the door he had just emerged from. He carried Star on through and Celestia followed behind them. She walked through and saw a sight that she was definitely not expecting. Even though she wasn't down here much at all she still knew the general design of her castle, and this was not it. Not at all.
The whole entire room was covered in crystal. The castle may have been built upon crystal caverns, but it was not meant to be made of crystals. That was Cadance's palace. Celestia stared, wide eyed at the crystal faceted walls that lined the room. Spike let Star down and she ran around the room having fun watching her reflection in the crystals.
“Spike,” Celestia said, “What have you done to my castle?”
“It's just a layer of crystal,” Spike said in an attempt to reassure her. He wasn't sure if it worked. “Look, Celestia, Star is my daughter. The daughter of a dragon is one thing, but when that dragon is me it opens up a whole new list of worries. Among them is. . . “
“Dragon magic,” Celestia finished for him.
“Exactly,” Spike said. “When I was first being taught, it was in a made up of these very same crystals. They absorb excess magical energy. It's perfect for teach Star Shadow magic.”
“But Spike, she is a pony,” Celestia stated. “Can she even do dragon magic?”
“She has dragon blood,” Spike answered. “And some part of her spirit is that of a dragon. I would rather know now than worry later.”
“Yes,” Celestia agreed. “Better safe than sorry and all that.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“You're quite welcome, Spike. And to be completely honest, even if she can only do a fraction of what you could that would still make her one of the most dangerous ponies in Equestria,” Celestia lowered her voice to barely above a whisper when saying that last part.”
“I am well aware of that,” Spike whispered back.
“Hey, what are you talking about?” Star asked suddenly.
“You, of course,” Spike quickly replied. “Your birthday is coming up and I wanted to show this to you.”
“You mean you're going to tell me what I am getting for my birthday,” She said in disbelief. “All Momma gave me was the answer box, and Auntie Tia wouldn't say anything either.”
“That just means they are doing their jobs,” Spike said. “As for your birthday: Starting that day we are going to be coming down here, and I am going to teach you magic. It's going to be a lot of work, but how does that sound?”
“AWESOME!!” Star shouted joyfully, but then she had a thought. “But Dad, I am gonna be taught at school how to use magic.”
“Pony magic, my dear Star Shadow,” Spike said, “When we are in this room, I am going to teach you about dragon magic.”
“Whoa,” Star said. “I have the best Dad ever!”
“I agree,” Spike said. “Now go run along and play. You still have a few days before your birthday. Enjoy them while you can.”
Star Shadow wasted absolutely no time. She couldn't wait to go and find some pony to tell. She was smiling wide as she raced through the halls of the castle. All throughout the castle her laughter could be heard, and her happy smile was passed on to every pony that saw it.
The next days that passed were all a blur to her. She just went through the motions of the days like she always did. She did some reading in the library. The librarian was always happy to see her and they talked about books for a bit. Star even asked about any books on dragon magic, but the librarian told her they didn't have any. She wasn't surprised. She knew that Spike probably had them all locked away somewhere.
Star went to school when the new week began. She was so excited about her upcoming birthday it was all she could talk about. She told any and every pony that would listen about her dad, Spike the dragon, and how he was going to teach her all about dragon magic as soon as she turned ten years old.
Celestia's ascension of the sun had just barely begun, and already Star was wide awake. She was barely able to sleep at all the night before, her every waking moment filled with such anticipation and excitement for the coming day. The beginning of the day held little meaning for her.
Star went through her usual morning routine as fast as any pony possibly could. She hoped that maybe if she did everything else faster the day itself would move faster and her party would get here sooner. She quickly showered and had barely dried off before she set about brushing her teeth. She spat her toothbrush out hastily and left the bathroom. Smiles and giggles filled her chambers as she gathered around all the homework she needed for school. All the while daydreaming all about the different possibilities of the gifts she would be getting.
“I can't wait for today,” She said gleefully as she raced out the door.
School for that day went by just as quickly as she had hoped it would. Star was hardly even able to pay attention to the teachers all day. She was too focused on the party. She had seen the staff of the castle bustling about more than usual today. They all had an extra something about them, something that was making them work harder than ever. Star wasn't surprised.
“Are you ready, Star Shadow?”
“Huh, wha?” Star mumbled as her mind slowly came back around to join the rest of her classmates in this reality. “Sorry, I didn't hear you. What did you say?”
“Jeez, Starry, back to Equestria please. Do I need to wave my hoof in front of your face?”
Star Shadow couldn't help but smile at this pony. And why wouldn't she? This was her best friend in the whole wide world of Equestria. Starlight Charmer is her name. That was actually the very thing that first lead them to becoming friends, their names.
A long time ago, when Star Shadow first started school most ponies who were around her treated her one of two ways, neither of them particularly good. On one hoof some ponies would be nice to her, really nice. Too nice. She was the daughter of a Princess of Equestria and because of that ponies often thought they could gain favor with Luna through her. They were wrong.
On the other hoof was the opposite reaction. The other ponies treated her with sheer disdain and resentment. They looked down on her for simply being born with a Princess for a mom and Spike as a dad. They automatically assumed she would just have the obvious rich, spoiled brat lifestyle and treated her as such. And yet even through all this, Star Shadow found there was a actually a third group. Well, mainly one pony.
“Hey there,” Starlight said, extending a hoof to help Star Shadow up. She had tripped with her school project in her hooves. Unfortunately, it had broken into pieces when it hit the floor. Star Shadow stared at the shattered pieces of her project, and her confidence. Some tears welled up in her eyes and she started to cry in the hallway of the school.
“Hey there,” Starlight repeated. She brought her hoof down and lowered her head to match the height of the pouting Star Shadow. “What's your name?”
Star Shadow looked up at the strange pony standing in front of her. A Unicorn, with bright blue eyes and a shimmering white coat that had an eerie beauty to it. Her flank was blank, but she didn't seem to mind at all. “ . . . Shadow.”
“Shadow?” Starlight said the name again, testing it out on her tongue. “What kinda name is just Shadow?”
“It's Star Shadow,” She said as she wiped the tear drops from her cheeks.
“Really?!” Starlight exploded in excitement. She spun on her hooves real quick before coming back to face to confused little filly. “My name is Starlight Charmer. Star and Starlight, what are the odds of that? That's so cool!”
“I guess,” Star Shadow unenthusiastically uttered as she slowly gathered the remains of her former school project.
“Hey, hey. You wanna be friends?” Starlight asked abruptly.
“No thanks,” Star said quickly, “I have to get this mess to class and explain it.” With that said, Star picked up the last remnant of her broken project and left poor, young Starlight standing there with no idea what just happened.
A few moments later, in the classroom Star walked in with all the broken pieces. All the eyes in the room immediately shifted their focus to her and the mess she had with her. She could not stop herself from shaking under the gaze of all her fellow students. She just hoped that her shaking wasn't visible.
“What's this mess?” The teacher asked, prodding the pile of pieces with his pencil. Star opened her mouth to speak, but never got the chance to utter even a single word. The classroom door swung open dramatically and Starlight came rushing in.
“Hey, teach. Like my project?” She asked as she set her own bags on a nearby desk.
“I don't see your project, miss. . .?”
“Starlight Charmer,” She announced proudly in front of the entire class. “And my project is right there in front of you.”
Star's head swiveled around quickly and she just stared at this pony. This strange pony just claimed that her shattered, broken mess of a project was her own. And she was smiling, too. The teacher looked down at the mess and simply swept it off the desk with one sweep of his leg. He let out a heavy sigh and looked at Star Shadow.
“And you, Miss? Where is your project?”
Star looked at him quickly and then back at Starlight. It was insane, this situation she was in. She didn't have any idea of what to do. What was she supposed to do now, with no project to claim as her own and no reason to not have one with her now. She narrowed her eyes to glare at this pony, Starlight. She was ruining everything. Had she even thought about this, the effect of her actions?
“Oh, I got that,” Starlight said, rushing back to the desk with her bags on it. She pulled out a small object and handed it over to the teacher. He didn't seem amused or impressed in the slightest. “What, I found it outside after mine broke into a couple million pieces. It's hers. See, it even has her name on it.”
Sure enough, when both the teacher and Star looked down to where Starlight was pointing they saw a single word. 'Star' was clearly written in ink on the edge of the project. Star did notice one thing off, though. The spot right next to her name. It was very dark, unusually dark. And the teacher saw it too.
“What is that dark patch, there, young Miss?” He asked.
“Her last name,” Starlight replied quickly. “Shadow. Her name is Star Shadow. Dark spot, shadow, get it?”
Once again the teacher did not seem amused in the slightest, but he did turn his attention away from Starlight and toward Star herself. “Anything to say, Miss Shadow?”
Star was stunned for a moment. She just stared at the project before her, and then she looked back at Starlight. She was still smiling. “I know it's a little small,” Star said, “But it does have everything you requested in it.”
“Very well,” The teacher said. “As for you, Miss Charmer, given your obvious commitment to your project and the unfortunate instance that occurred I will give you one extra day to put something together. Now, to your seats.”
“Thanks, teach,” Starlight said. And that was how they met. If they hadn't have had such similar names that day would have gone much differently.
Star just smiled at this pony talking to her. “Only if you want to lose it, Charmer.”
“Oh good, you're back,” Charmer joked, “That zombie you had filling in was an absolutely terrible actress.”
“Shut up,” Star said playfully, “Is there something you wanted, or can I get back to my daydreaming now?”
“Well, your daydreaming took up the entire day,” Charmer said. “Time to leave. School's out.”
If she hadn't have seen it, she probably wouldn't have believed it. If you asked her about it she would have told you that she witnessed a filly unicorn mare who had no magical training whatsoever. . . teleport. Serioulsy, one second she was there and the next Star was gone. Faster than the blink of an eye she was gone. Once again, Starlight Charmer was left standing there by herself wondering what had just happened.
“Hey, slowpoke! You coming?” Charmer turned around to see Star at the door all ready to leave. Together they raced to the castle. The time had finally come. The birthday party.