A Star Pony Tale

by BlondeSky

Castle of the Sky

Chapter 25

Castle of the Sky

"I believe that you have at least heard of the Queen?" Sail began.

"Yes, but she was lost long ago. She's still out there somewhere, waiting to be found." Astro answered confidently.

"Is that all that you've heard?" she questioned.

"Well, um, yeah." she told her as her confidence wavered.

"Then please allow me to tell you a story."

"O-okay."

"Once upon a time many years ago a young mare saw great suffering in her world. There was hatred and contempt, starvation, disease, and war. Back before the three tribes of ponies came together the world was not the peaceful one that we know today. She however had found a place where there were no such warring ponies, only endless space full of a beautiful peace. So, one day she thought that she might try and create a new world full of ponies with no tainted thoughts passed on to them for each other's differences. One day she brought with her a group of orphaned foals to her new found plain. There they could grow with no knowledge of the lower world's upsetting state. She continued to work to bring more and more foals to her new found plain and eventually there grew to be so many there that it started to form its own self sufficient world.

"She continued to watch in awe and pride as her new found world continued to blossom and the foals grew into strong adults and prospered. They held no contempt for each other and only great love. Their world continued to develop as they formed families and created an economy of bartering and business. Their society began to revolve for the most part about honest effort and a love for their work. While their society did not require a leader to function and they never did decide upon one it was undeniable that each and every citizen of that colony loved that mare who had helped them to prosper and grow. She however wanted none of their appreciation and simply wanted them to continue to grow and learn for themselves. She retreated from them and had her own mansion constructed far off from their colony where she might live in peace for the rest of her days. While she remained at her own home in solitude her story spread fluently through the colony so that there was nopony there that didn't know her name and her story. Among them she became known as a royal.

"The colony continued to grow and prosper for decades, maybe it was even centuries as her story continued to spread. The ponies even started to change to become more like we are now. But as with everything no peace lasts forever. One day their great society was attacked by horrible monsters. Terrible animals roared out of the Night Field and stormed their great nation. There was panic and chaos as their pacifistic society was not prepared to deal with such a threat. But then from the silent mansion came their queen. None knew how she survived for that long, but she had. They said that she ran through those great crystalline doors clothed in full golden battle armor with great jewels adorning it. There was even a glorious golden crown atop her head.

"She came to their settlement and fought of every last beast that had berated them. She did not stop until every single one had fled and even then she chased them further. From this mission however she never returned. They vowed that one day they would find her and restore her to her rightful place as their queen. After all it seemed that age was no problem for her so who is to say that she still isn't out there. But in honor of her valiant acts the ponies there started a guard in her name. For every second various ponies would be out there looking for any monsters that might try to attack their city. On the surface these guard formations became known as constellations. To this very day the guard still acts in her name and her ponies still search to find their lost queen."

"So that's what happened to her then and that's how the star ponies came to be?" she asked in awe.

"If this is what happened then how is The Wish Division here today?" Sail questioned.

"I don't know." she admitted.

"That was the story that was told on the Astral Plain. There is a slightly different one that's told to the ponies here." Sail informed her.

"Is that the second part?" she asked.

"Yes, it is." she answered.

"Then continue please." she said wanting to hear more.

"The story starts in much the same way. A mare who saw no hope for the world's future decided to create her own. She moved orphaned foals to the plain that she had discovered and they prospered and changed. They told her story far and wide as they developed their society. She retreated to her far off mansion where she remained as they continued forward to make the world that she had wished to create. But this is where the story changes. The first change is when it speaks of their society. It describes it quite differently from our story. This is what it had to say.

"As their society grew and became self-sufficient a pattern became eminent. They all worked hard for one another and that became their society's cornerstone. Nopony ever found themselves needing for anything as they second they could want for something it was supplied to them by their caring companions. But of course eventually as the decades, or maybe even centuries, passed the entire populace began to ache for something more. They began to ache deeply for that long lost home that they'd come from. They knew of the destruction that their colony had been born from, but they had hopes that maybe the surface had grown to become better. If not they could at least offer their help in improving it. And so one day they resolved to attempt to return to the world from whence they'd came.

"Their journey began smoothly, but it wasn't long before it went downhill. Horrible beasts came out of the field and marauded them and they weren't prepared to fight back, but their queen, clothed in shining golden armor, came to their rescue. She fought of all of the terrible monsters allowing them just enough time to get away to the surface world. Once down they all found that the surface world had seemed to have found its peace and they were happy that they had returned to their home. She however never followed after them. They all were distraught to think that she might've given her life for their sakes.

"They quickly sent a search party up to the plain to look for her. After all she had survived all of those years in solitude, maybe she survived her fight the beasts that had attacked them. The search party flew across the plain searching for her, but never succeeded in finding her. Still, they continued to send out these search parties every night not willing to give up in their pursuit of their queen. These search parties soon became known by the surface world as shooting stars and have continued to this very day. The Queen however was never found."

"So which one's right then?" she asked confused.

"That is for you to decide for yourself." Sail answered simply.

"But which one do you think is right?" she queried curious

"I don't believe either story is completely true as tales tend to bend over the years and this one has had many centuries to do so. However I do not wish to taint your opinions with my own. That is not why I told you those stories, or at least not the whole reason anyways." she said.

"Then why'd you tell them to me?" she inquired in confusion.

"Because, that is where the lullaby came from. The Queen's great mansion became known as the Castle of the Sky by her ponies. That is the title of the lullaby." she informed her.

"Castle of the Sky?" she said wondering if that was the title.

"Yes." she confirmed.

"But why is that significant?" she questioned.

"You would've been too young when you came down to have heard that story, but I was older when I found myself lost. I had already heard the story and was terrified that one of those beasts might find me there. It wasn't long before I began to see sinister things that weren't truly there. I needed shelter for myself. And then one day I found it. I saw a great crystalline building on the horizon and ran to it hoping beyond hope that it would not be a mirage. You could not imagine my joy when I found it to not be one. That building was so great that it could've been nothing short of a palace. In my mind it couldn't have been anything short of the castle that was told of in the legends.

"I stayed there in that wondrous place for several days, but my stay wasn't going to last forever. The place was surprisingly empty of almost everything. If it had something to offer to me then it was well hidden. All of its giant corridors, vast halls, and great rooms were completely barren. That meant that there was nothing in the way of sustenance for myself. One day while I was out looking for food I became lost and couldn't find my way back to the place. And so I wandered for days to weeks and who knows it might've even been months trying to find it again. It soon started to all feel like a long lost dream. The colony, the legends, and the palace were nothing but figments of my imagination that I had created to fill the empty spaces in my memory.

"Then I was found. One day a pony dropped out of the sky above me and took me back to civilization. While it may have been the wrong one it was still society. Still I wondered if all of my life before that had been just a dream. I wondered if I had really just sprung from the night field like they all seemed to think and had simply been wandering that blasted field my whole life. But then I heard that legend. One night when I was unable to sleep a pony here told me of the queen to try and help me to find rest. I then remembered of the legend that I had heard prior and the castle I had stayed in. I didn't see how I could possibly dream up something that was real before I knew it was real. I started to hum that lullaby to myself wherever I went to remind myself that my life hadn't been a dream. Soon it just became a comforting noise that was forever in the background." she explained solemnly.

"And now that the colony has opened its borders you know that your life really was true!" she added hopefully.

"Yes." she agreed, "Now I can know for certain that my previous home most certainly does exist. And I must say that concrete proof was a relief as opposed to a hope from a lullaby, but now you know of its significance to me. This is what you wished to hear yes?"

"Yes, it was. Thanks for telling me." she responded gratefully.

"Of course." she replied with a respectful nod, "I always intended to tell you eventually, but I thought it was best that you approach me first. I did not wish to burden you with any information that you didn't wish to have in the first place. Ignorance is bliss as some ponies say. Either way that you believe it is time that I leave you to finish whatever school work that you have and go to sleep. Feel free to ask any questions that you have and I will do my best to give unbiased answers. Now however I will go. You will be up for me in the morning yes?" she asked remembering that morning.

"Oh, um, yes ma'am. I promise." she said slightly embarrassed.

"Good. Then I will leave you to whatever it is you need to do." Sail finished before exiting the room.