Stars in the Sky

by Book_Wyrm

Of Mystics and Healers

Chapter 7

“How exactly are you going to find anything in that?” Shadow asked, pointing to the city. Vanhoover was a crazy city, filled with ponies. It wasn’t nearly as bad as Manehattan, but Shadow was from a tiny village in the country. She wasn’t too surprised to see him stare.

“Who we’re going to see will be pretty obvious," She told him. She walked over to the road, the other two following. They joined the groups of ponies traveling into the city, disguising themselves as part of the crowd. They avoided downtown, instead heading out towards the outer part of the city, and some of its poorer districts. The sprawl of homes spread out for miles. Shadow was looking around, trying to take in everything around him. So was Amethyst.

Starry sighed as they stopped to look at yet another statue. “I know tourism is a great cover, but we have places to be.”

“Where exactly are we going?” Shadow asked, tearing his eyes away from the fountain, where a rearing Princess Celestia spouted water from her mouth. Amethyst too, turned, looking curious.

“To visit an old friend,” she told him. She turned onto a quiet street, the other two following. Starry led them through empty alleyways and desolate parks. Eventually, they stopped at a house.

The house was a first glance dark and scary. It was dark gray, with a black shingled roof. It seemed to be leaning slightly towards the house across from it. An arch over the narrow street supported both houses. An eerie orange light seeped from the half-shuttered window. A creaking sign above the black door read, ‘The Witch’s Cauldron, Potions and Magic’, with a bubbling green potion below it.

“Your friend lives in there?” Amethyst asked, shaking a little.

“Yes. She rarely bothers to fix up the place. Said it made it more mystical. She's like that.”

Amethyst looked at her inquisitively.

In response, Starry simply pushed open the door, stepping inside. The orange light came from the numerous candles glowing with orange flames. The walls were draped with tapestries depicting scenes of magic. Transformation, alchemy, enchantment, illusion, each of the woven works portrayed unicorns working at different tasks.

“Mystic, are you home?” Starry called.

“Who is it?” A melodic, lilting voice asked from a side room. A unicorn poked her head out of a door. She was middle aged, with turquoise blue fur and an olive mane. Her face had light makeup, and a half-veil covered her kohl outlined eyes. She was holding up a candle, her light green aura enveloping its base. She looked at them, then gasped.

“Starry Sparks,” she squealed smiled. “Oh darling, it's been so long. I never thought to see you again.”

“Hi Mystic,” Starry said. The shorter mare looked up.

“what brings you to my humble shop?”

“We kinda need help.”

“We?”

“Oh right, I forgot.” Starry cleared her throat. “Mystic Melodies, this is Shadow Shield and Amethyst Mirror. Guys this is my old friend, Mystic.”

“I was but a young mare when we met,” Mystic told them. Then she looked back at Starry, “Does it have anything with you all over the wanted papers.”

“Actually, it does.” Starry looked at her friend, “Remember when we were in Baltimare and that Stallion tried to rob us, Gold Mine.”

“Yeah...?”

“Well, after we parted ways, he tried to rob me again, with a knife. I had to. Anyway, we need to know if there’s any healers around here willing to join in on an adventure.”

“I might know one or two,” Mystic said. “Starry, can we talk in private.”

“Sure,” Starry replied, allowing Mystic to lead her into the back room.

After the door was shut, Mystic turned to face her friend.

“So those two gaping country foals are your new traveling companions?” She asked.

“Yeah," Starry sighed.

“Do they know what you are?” she indicated Starry’s cloak

Starry shook her head. “Mystic, they don’t have your curiosity, guessing talent, or future telling.” Though Mystic’s magic was mostly the fraudulent work of a fortune teller, she occasionally had prophetic visions, making her more formidable than most of her line of work.

Mystic lifted her veil, revealing her lavender eyes. “Starry, I need to tell you something about the healer I'm taking you to.”

“Yes?”

“She’s not a pony.”

“So?”

“Starry, I know that you don’t care, but do they? How do your companions feel about non-ponies?” She nodded to the door behind them.

Starry looked closely at her friend. “They’re going to have to get used to them.” More and more creatures of a variety of species had been coming to Equestria. Many ponies complained about the influx of creatures, even the species that had lived on the continent for millennia before ponies came. Starry had found that Equestrians considered themselves superior over all other species. Knowing the might of the dragon armies, the grace of the hippogriffs, the magic of the kirin, the potions of the zebras, the power of the changelings, the ferocity of the griffons, the strength of the yaks, Starry couldn’t have agreed less. It was a similar attitude to that of her own people, who believed that since their magic was greater than any others, they should not care about the rest of the world. Starry hated this mindset. It was part of why she left to wander the world. But prejudice was everywhere.

Starry followed Mystic back out of the room, where Amethyst and Shadow were standing talking.

Amethyst was saying, “Oh, I’ve got lots of family. Six cousins, in Las Pegasus and Manehattan.”

“I used to have three sisters, and four cousins.” Shadow told her. “My oldest sister lives on Fillydelphia. She’s the only I have left now.”

Amethyst looked back at him silently, sorrow in her eyes.

“I’m sorry for you, but we have to get moving,” Starry commented, breaking the silence. She walked out the door, Mystic by her side. They traveled through the city. It was more crowded here. The quarter of the city they had entered was mostly foreigners. As ponies, they stood out, turning heads as they traveled. Starry was well accustomed to being the only one of her race around, but Amethyst and Shadow shrunk away from the looks.

After twenty minutes walking, they stopped at a house. It was blue, with a seashell painted of the door. Mystic turned around. Looking at Amethyst and Shadow, she announced, “The healer we are going to see is a hippogriff. I hope you’re okay with that.”

Both nodded, though Shadow looked a little apprehensive. He had never met a hippogriff, or any other species for that matter.

Mystic raised a hoof and knocked on the door. They waited as sounds of clattering objects came from inside. They heard something go thump, and a muffled “oof”. A few moments later, the door opened, and a head poked out. The hippogriff was light gray. She had long tousled purple hair. Stray hairs stuck up in different places. “Hi Mystic,” she cried, smiling.

“Hey Wave Dancer,” Mystic replied. Then Wave Dancer spotted the three ponies standing behind Mystic. Her eyes widened.

“Who are these?” she asked.

“This is my friend Starry Sparks, and her companions Shadow Shield and Amethyst Mirror.”

“The Starry Sparks,” Wave Dancer whispered. “The one who’s all over the news?”
“Whatever you heard, she’s not like that.”
“But...”

“I know who she killed, Dancer, and she did the world a favor.”

“If you say so, Mystic. But we should get inside.”

She ushered them into the house. It was ocean themed, waves and shells decorating every wall. Everywhere there were things. Books covered the floor, and various herbs hung from the ceiling. They passed a room where a bubbling cauldron simmered, surrounded by flowers. Wave Dancer popped into the room for a moment to give the potion a stir.

They entered a sitting room. There were a few chairs and a sofa, all blue. The low glass coffee table had wavelike legs. Starry sat in one of the chairs, Mystic in another, with Wave Dancer taking the third. Amethyst and Shadow plopped down on the couch.
“So, what do you want Mystic?” wave Dancer asked.

“Well,” Mystic told her, “You told me you wanted an adventure. Starry and her friends happen to be on one. Trust me, Starry’s journeys are always great, if you’re looking for excitement.”

“They want me to go on an adventure?” Wave Dancer stared at them incredulously.

“We’d love to have you.” Starry said.

“Yes,” Wave Dancer squealed, “Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!” Then she looked at Starry. “So, what are we doing?”

Starry sighed, “We’re off to stop an ancient villain from destroying Equestria.”

“Ooh, that sounds fun. Just give me a moment.” Wave Dancer shot upstairs, and five minutes later returned carrying a set of saddlebags, jammed pack with books and healing supplies.

“I’m ready to go, so what are we waiting for,” she called.
Starry sighed again.

---

Six mares stood, looking out at the great western city, and the glittering bay beyond. The one in the lead scanned the buildings. “Come on girls, let's go stop this villain.”

Author's Note:

10k words everyone. Wooo!

Book recommendations:
Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland
A Modern Witch by Debora Geary

Please Post your own recommendations in comments to have them added to next chapter's list.