An unexpected turn

by starlight-stream-mlp

1 The reveal

It was not long ago when Starlight got his cutie mark. At times he would wonder when it would be finally time for him. Then, one warm spring day, luck was his friend. His family went for a picnic. Walking southwards from their home, they reached a beautiful valley with a turquoise coloured lake. A warm breeze was striving upon their heads, playing with some freshly grown leaves. Starlight’s parents settled and enjoyed the sun while he explored the area. There were some creatures coming out from the near woods, who behaved very tame and curious. Also, another one walked up to Starlight, feeling hurt from his foreleg. A frown appeared on the young colt’s face. He lowered to the creature’s level. It looked like a wolf and a cat. Starlight then carefully observed its leg. In concern, he searched around spotting for a remedy. He remembered a plant with fuzzy leaves that often was used to heal wounds. Luckily these leaves were easy to find. He took some of them and needed to chew them to a mushy texture - the leaves were very sour and bitter, so it was difficult to make a mash out of them. He gently put it on the creature’s leg and bandaged it with some bigger leaves. The creature then looked up to Starlights face. As it came closer, it closed its eyes, touching Starlight’s forehead while doing so. The small pony lit up and pushed out a light embrace. After the light was gone, he was astonished but happy and grateful. Suddenly so, the creature he helped turned into a deer. He couldn’t process it at first, but it appeared to have white fur, glowing antlers, and very long ears. The hooves were made out of pure gold and its eyes reflected the very soul of Starlight. Mesmerized by the view he did not notice, that all the creatures gathered around the deer. The noise surrounding them was very subtle at first but soon emerged into hundreds and thousands of whispers in all kind of languages. Some fragments of the pool of whispers ran into Starlights ears. It sounded like a thank you. Starlight did not move one bit. The sight in front of him nearly froze him to stone. The deer and all the creatures bowed down before him while the whispers continued. Subconsciously Starlight followed. His heartbeat was hardly noticeable, instead, he heard another one's heart. He then realized, that it was the Deer’s heart, that he heard. The deer was about to leave. The only thing left for Him was to blink one time.

Suddenly all went white. The next thing Starlight saw, was grass waving in the breeze of air flowing around and over him. After a moment the stallion stepped up and looked around. No creatures, no birds, no Squirrels, or foxes were in sight. Scratching his head he turned around, seeing his parents enjoying the sun. Looking down his flank he noticed a cutie mark shaped like a hoof in bondages. With an o formed mouth, Starlight ran towards his parents. The closer he came the more his o-shaped mouth turned into a beam of pure joy. His Parents obviously were the first ones to hear the great news.

After getting his cutie mark, Starlight was the happiest pony in Equestria. The joy of being 'mature' and finally finding out about his destiny was like a remedy somepony gave him, to heal all of his deep and hurtful wounds carried throughout his life. He cared even more about other ponies, who had a bad time like him. It was, even more, his need to give others the kind of love and comfort, which he never got from anypony besides his family. The past taught him a valuable lesson. Since he wants to execute these lessons as well as possible, Starlight always overcompensated on it being right. He also mastered to heal others emotional and physical wounds. The surprising consequence; he gets treated better than his past self. He still was the same pony though - shy, kind and a non-judgemental listener.

----------------------- -----------------------

Life got pretty simple in Ponyville, yet he was needed by so many ponies; the responsibility of helping them was keeping him away from one of his wishes; to explore the world. Sure it is sometimes better to do what you are destined for, but change happens all the time.

The days made way for nights. They unveiled one treat, he could relish greatly - it was the night sky. The stars were so beautifully aligned every night. And even if a single star would fall down to the earth, he was one of the ponies, who had the ability to throw it up into the air again. Starlight always loved to look at the sky. Every time a star winked, he did the same, because one of the still uncounted amounts of stars was his Grandfather Moonshine. Moonshine was also his first fallen star, which got thrown back into the sky. Starlight thought very often about Moonshine since they met. He thought about the things Moonshine said and how he acted over and over again. He tried to guess what Moonshine was talking about back then, but once an answer got found, two others appeared. After weeks of thinking, Starlight got a little bit frustrated with it, so he tried asking his parents about Moonshine; unfortunately, after such a question got on the subject, they changed it, or simply didn't reply. The questions still in his mind his disappointment grew until a point was reached, where he accepted the situation he was in. Nearly getting into a state of madness would not help. While sitting on his bed, he secretly kept pounding on it. There was still something missing; something more to find out about Moonshine, a puzzle piece, that needed to be unveiled. Moonshine just kept sticking in his mind. Why did he appear at that time? Was that his way of guiding me? Why do my parents refuse to talk about him? Do they feel betrayed, hurt, or even terrified of him? Does that maybe have to do with that creature I helped? *sigh* I guess I won’t find out very soon.

So much thinking made tired. So tired, that Starlight fell into his soft bed to sleep.

---------------- -----------------

Another day began; another chance to help ponies. Luck on the other hoof was not his companion. As the daylight met his eyelids, Starlight opened them to realize, that he was already late for Work. Darnit! He muttered. Not again. When do I learn to set my alarm for Celestia's sake? Finally, he pushed his Daring Doo Blanket out of the way and got up. LIke in a washing street, he took the toothbrush, applied some toothpaste on it and cleaned his teeth, while walking downstairs. Once in the kitchen, he spits the oral liquid into the next sink. Carefully cleaning the brush, he looked in the mirror above the sink to find a strange zombie-like creature staring back at him. *sigh* Well then. Starlight turned up the cold water tap knob and held his head into the stream. The cold water instantly lets Starlight awake. While a shiver ran over his entire body, he turned the knob shut. Before leaving through the door, the stallion took a towel right next to it and rubbed his face dry.

The Place where he helped others - his practice - was not very far away from home. There was always so much going on in front of the entrance. Countless ponies, gryphons, and dragons kept buzzing around. All of them had so busy days. Nearly automagically the crowd managed to walk around without causing any accidents or bumping into one another. All the other houses were pretty close together, sometimes built in a circle around a tree, or a statue. In front of the practice, a big acorn tree stood pride and filled to the brim with leaves. A small stall also stood right in front of the entrance on the other side of the circular Street. The tree was right next to it. The stall’s sweet smell quickly gathered a little crowd around to get one of those tasty treats. That or the cool shade of the tree would do the trick. Nearly every hour a small helicopter flew over the town, causing a noise to be heard. The helicopter nearly seemed more reliable than the clock hanging over the practice entrance.

His first patients were the kind of daily appearances he had to deal with. Some had just plain headache, others were dizzy and again others just felt sore on all sorts of places. He anyway didn’t mind it though. Normally those patients were easy to handle, which in return decreased the waiting time for impatient patients. As always Starlight stepped into the waiting room to already see some patients, thirsty for some help. His assistant and best friend Starfall Dawn awaited Starlight with a wide grin.

>>How was your Breakfast Starlight?<<, she cheered. >>Normally you are always punctual. Did you get caught up in traffic?<<

>>No no. I just simply forgot to set my alarm for today. My Breakfast? Which breakfast? << He replied.

As she remembered, that Starlight wasn’t in his office yet, she playfully motioned a head palm, >>Oh, right! Silly me.<< She proclaimed before chuckling. >>The breakfast is in your office. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy this day.<< Bouncing up and down she nearly fell off her chair.

Finally, he got to sit in his office. >>Sheesh. Such a strange day. First the missing alarm, then my assistant and her breakfast. Guess what might also happen soon, is that I miss my Head if it wouldn’t be on my body. I am really grateful sometimes when she reminds me of certain things though.<< Munching on one of the sandwiches, that Starfall provided, he checked his Mail. After having eaten the delicate meal, Starlight waved for the first patient to come in...

>>Midday time. Finally some rest for me.<< He stretched his hooves before getting out of the practice into some fresh air. He wandered down a specific route. The route was very familiar for Starlight - it was the route he ran, after one of the worst harassments he ever had to experience. - It was back when he was a little school filly. These three bullies treated him like a piece of trash. With smashed feelings, he ran out of town while crying. His body unharmed, yet his feelings still fuzzed up, he reached a forest. - The same forest was in vision. At the end of it, a rock peaked out of the grass nearby an old tree. The Rock was there, a long time ago. Starlight remembered it being there vaguely. The tree stood very close to the Everfree forest, which was one of the oldest parts of Equestria. The only visible border to it was a little fence connected between the rock and the tree. Some Birds sang their Songs and some Crickets chirped all over the place. Looking on the Rock, something was written on it, "This is a memorial for the first fallen star and the pony who was kind and strong enough, to throw it up into the sky again. We are thankful for what you have done.” The text got graved in by a sculptor after Mare Mare heard what had happened. It was important for him to go there once a day for two reasons – He was thankful for the good acts of the other ponies after they heard what happened, and to suck up the magic which this place seemed to spread out. - It is still hard to describe, what had happened when he was there. That invisible force pulled Starlight towards this place like there was something,… or someone. He could always say that it is the forest, that is doing these kinds of things to him, but that would be a lie. This thing felt more powerful than magic, scarier than Timberwolves, or chimaeras and yet so invisible, so unnoticeable.

He got there, sat down in front of the rock and put one of his hooves on it. Every time doing so, a warm feeling built up in his belly. The energy was streaming from the rock through his hoof into his belly. The longer he touched it, the warmer it got, yet never really hot. It felt like an embrace of pure love and acceptance, unlike anything of any creature in this world. That rock and its abilities were a secret for Starlight. Nopony else knew about its existence. It is nearly a wonder itself, that nopony, even by accident, found out about its abilities. For them, it just seemed like any other normal rock. I wonder if maud already knows about this rock. At a specific point, he pulled the hoof back and felt in peace and harmony. During the time Starlight touched the rock, it nearly seemed, like he got into a type of trance. Knowing that he could stay there as long as he wanted, he knew, on some days work was a bit more important. - He kept a good balance out of working and rest. On the other hoof, he just enjoyed what he did so much, that he ignores the signs of exhaustion. Unfortunately, Starlight saw too many ponies do the same thing and collapse because they were working all the time. They truly seemed to get harmed by their jobs, maybe just like him. Telling them over and over again to reduce the stress and the amount of work, he tried to reach them, but they didn’t listen, took the remedies like junkies and continued working. It felt like the remedies were their personal drugs, to compensate their stressful life. He will keep trying to reach their minds, that’s for sure and he knew it would be hard, knowing that he as well needs to learn to stop working at times. Working 24/7 would never be a good idea. - Back awoken, a flexure into the direction of the rock was made. This way, Starlight thanked for the magical time and warm feeling. Every now and then he kept thinking about what happened on that rode. The thought at first left a heartbreaking feeling, yet what happened there prepared him for his later life.

Suddenly, a hiss caught his attention. Sweat started to run down his coat as he looked around in stress and fear. That was not the kind of noise, you normally hear from the Everfree Forest. Moreover, it sounded like a scream of an old ghost, trying to talk to you. It nearly felt like something else is present in that empty area. What was that? Was that a ghost? Did the rock try to talk to me? Where is this sound coming from? I can't spot it! He started walking home but was all the tenser than before. His ears still perking at any sound he heard, Starlight went back to the small village. Fortunate enough, he relaxed the farther away he got. Well, that certainly was one of the weirdest things I have seen in a longer time. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean anything. Coming near his practice, a load of patients was facing him. They all needed help. He took a deep breath and stepped into his house.

After helping one patient at a time, the last one, a pony with splitting personality, was waving from outside. He knew Shatter Speach already. Good enough to be his friend. They had a little chat, Shatter told him what was wrong and Starlight gave Shatter his daily remedies. Before Shatter stood up in order to leave, another noise was heard. No, it couldn’t be. Please make this Stop. Starlight thought. Suddenly a half transparent “Something” got into Shatter’s body and misused him as a medium.