Stardust isn't a normal pony, she's an alicorn. But not just any alicorn filly, she was born from earth ponies. And a long line of them too. But something isn't right. Her wings aren't growing properly.
Stardust Sky is an alicorn filly born from two earth pony parents, who have many earth ponies in their family trees. She's excelling in magic, and acts like a normal filly; except for the fact that something isn't right. Her wings aren't growing properly. Actually, they don't appear to be growing at all.
I wrote this as my NaNoWriMo way back in 2017 (I think). The story was also written to prove that not all princesses/alicorns have to be perfect!
Warning: this is REALLY old and Very Bad. If you want more quality, go look at my primary fic, Twizzle, the central story of the primary universe in the TwizzleVerse . All themes are mild, and there isn't much of each in there.
Twilight is only mentioned later on, although her involvement is important to the plot. Celestia also comes in later.
It was an unusually brisk summer night, which typically only happened before strange events in this world of Equestria. The date was June, the 28th to be exact. The two ponies rushed to the Glimmerville Hospital, as Moonflower, a cerulean blue earth pony mare with a purple and light blue mane and tail, with a crescent moon with a hibiscus in it for a Cutie Mark, and Proud Sky, a navy blue earth pony stallion, with a short dark blue mane and tail, and three white stars for a Cutie Mark, were soon to be parents. Immediately inside, Moonflower Sky got rushed onto a stretcher, and into a room. Once Proud Sky arrived at her room after checking in, the baby foal had already been born. But something appeared to be wrong, all the nurses and doctors were in a state of panic. Moonflower was very concerned for her new foal. Murmurs of “What do we do?” and “How is this possible?” flooded the hospital.
“All right, everypony! What’s wrong with my foal!” Proud Sky shouted with a puzzled, yet stern voice. The hospital went silent. Finally the head nurse spoke up.
“She’s an- alicorn….” Moonflower and Proud Sky gasped.
“But how? Our family ancestry only consists of earth ponies on both sides! This isn’t possible! Are you sure this is our foal?” Moonflower questioned.
“I’m positive, Moonflower. This is indeed your filly. If you want more proof, you can ask the doctor, or even check if wings or a horn showed up on an ultrasound.” Moonflower sighed, and looked at the beautiful foal in her arms.
“No, I believe you. She’s adorable.” Moonflower took her hoof, and stroked the filly’s smooth pale purple and cerulean mane to the side of her face. She had pale pink fur, a shimmering pale pink horn, delicate, soft, tiny wings, and a happy, yet sleepy smile.
“What should we name her?” Proud Sky questioned to Moonflower.
“Hmm… I like, Stardust, because her horn glimmers like it is softly glazed in stardust, and it took quite a miracle of a star for an alicorn to be born. Yes. Perfect. Stardust Sky.” The two parents exchanged proud, smiling looks, and Moonflower looked back at the nurse.
“Please document that her name is officially Stardust Sky.” Moonflower said with a regal tone of voice. Moonflower gave Stardust a kiss on her forehead, and handed her to the unicorn nurse, who carried her off in her horn aura.
“Now honey, you’re probably exhausted, why don’t you go to sleep. We can take her home tomorrow, since we both need our rest, and so does she. Goodnight.” They exchanged a kiss, and Proud Sky walked towards the reclining chair, reclined, and drifted off into a semi-restless sleep, along with Moonflower.
Moonflower was working in the kitchen, when Stardust came trotting down the tan carpeted stairs, with a concerned look on her face.
“Mommy, when are my wings gonna grow? I wanna fly like the other pegasuseseses!” Moonflower suddenly looked worried, and trotted over to her filly.
“I wasn’t going to say anything until you were a bit older, but I noticed your wings weren’t growing too. I’ve been talking to Daddy about taking you to a doctor, but I just thought you were a little too young, and wanted you to have your fun. I think it’s time now to see a doctor, because we’re no pegasus OR alicorn experts. But y’know what they will say?” Stardust shook her head.
Stardust was nervous, but her parents reminded her that this was just a checkup for her wings. Once inside the doctor’s office, Stardust hopped onto the bed, while the pony couple sat in chairs off to the side. After a few minutes, an aqua colored pegasus pony with a pastel purple and white mane in a messy bun, teal eyes, and a medical cross with a wing on it for a cutie mark walked into the room with a warming smile graced upon her face.
“Hi, I’m Doctor Breeze, and this must be Stardust. When I heard we were getting an alicorn patient, I was pretty shocked, so shocked, that I almost knocked over my bowl of cereal! And, super excited to meet you, of course!” Doctor Breeze walked over to a clipboard, sat in her swivel chair, and turned back to Stardust.
“It says here that you are having some troubles with your wings?”
“Yeah. I wanna fly like the other pegasi, but my wings are too small!” Stardust spread her tiny wings, showing no more than five or six feathers on each.
“Before I take a close look at your wings, stand up really tall for me. Hmm, your posture and build is definitely that of an alicorn, and your horn is more elongated than unicorn fillies your age.”
“I have no idea what those words mean!”
Moonflower then chimed in, “It means you look like an alicorn when you stand, and your horn is longer than normal unicorn fillies.”
“Ohhh.”
“Let me see your wings again, Stardust.” Stardust re-opened her wings.
“Yes, it appears they are the same size, maaaaayyybe a little smaller than pegasus wings for your age. I have no idea what that means for alicorns, unfortunately. I’m no alicorn doctor, just a pegasus specialist, and a normal ponyatricion. Sorry, Stardust. But all I can say is, you should get checked out by an alicorn doctor, or somepony who knows a bit more about alicorns. Otherwise, you seem in good health!” Stardust hopped down, and the two ponies stood up. “Thanks anyway for your opinion.” said Proud Sky, as the couple walked away while Stardust ran ahead and grabbed a lollipop.
“Wait! I just remembered something! Alicorns age at a slower rate than normal ponies, and also happen to get their cutie marks at older ages than normal, too. I hope this helps.”
“It does, thanks Ocean!”
“But Mommy, her name wasn’t Ocean, it was Doctor Breeze!”
“Her first name is Ocean, her last name is Breeze. So she’s Doctor Ocean Breeze.”
“Oh, I get it! But she didn’t know how to help my wings, does that mean we have to find an alicorn doctor?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so, Star.”
“aww..Oh well! More wowwipops for me!” Stardust skipped ahead, while Moonflower playfully rolled her eyes at Proud Sky, as they ran to catch up with her.
Stardust and her family hopped on a train to Canterlot to see the alicorn doctor. Once they arrived, they got off, and trotted (and skipped) towards the office.
“Wow, Mommy, Canterlot is beautiful!” Stardust said as she took in the sights of the beautiful city of Canterlot.
“Isn’t it? I wish we could stay longer, but we’re going just for this doctor, and maybe lunch.” The ponies made their way to the doctor’s office, but it wasn’t a Ponyatrician because there haven’t been any young alicorns in Equestria until now. The waiting room was colorless, with nothing but chairs, a window, 2 doors, and a reception window. This colorless environment was very unsettling for Stardust, not at all like the colorful, playful waiting room for Doctor Breeze. She started hugging Moonflower, and she assured her filly once again, that this was just a checkup for her wings, and Stardust calmed down.
A gray unicorn with a pastel green straight mane, and an emotionless face walked out, and said, “Stardust Sky?” She seemed cranky, but Stardust was hoping she wasn’t the doctor.
They walked into the cold doctor’s office, which smelled like cleaning products and rubbing alcohol. This, of course, didn’t help Stardust’s nerves. Luckily, since there were no other patients, and the office only opens if an alicorn needs them, the doctor entered right as the cranky nurse left. The doctor was a darker purple-maroon colored unicorn, with a dark blue mane and tail, streaked with a pale green. Her mane was semi-straight, and a bit of it drooped over her ear. Her cutie mark was a white unicorn horn with wings on it, and a blue stethoscope behind it. Her bright, emerald green eyes, and happy grin made Stardust feel calmer.
“Hello, young alicorn! When I found out that there was a new alicorn filly in Equestria yesterday, I was thrilled! I probably would’ve found out about you sooner though, hmm…. Are you from around here?
“We’re from Glimmerville, a small town accessible to Canterlot and Ponyville by train, although the train ride to Canterlot is definitely a longer one.” Moonflower said to the doctor.
“Ah, I see. I’m Doctor Berry Mint, but you can call me Doctor Berry, Doctor Mint, or Berry. Anything works! So, it says here that you are having some issues with your wings?”
“Yeah! They’re too small, Doctor Bewwy! Do you know how to fix them?” Stardust was no longer nervous, since Doctor Berry was very pleasant. Stardust spread her tiny wings once again for Doctor Berry.
Doctor Berry examined her wings. “Hmm, I see…. Yes. They are small for an alicorn filly your age. Were they smaller when she was born?” Doctor Berry turned to Moonflower and Proud Sky.
“A little, but not much,” Proud Sky admitted.
“Okay. From what I have gathered about your family history, and from what I know about alicorns, it could go either way, honestly. With such a long history of earth ponies, and not even one alicorn or pegasus, it could be a mutation from so many earth ponies. Although, that wouldn’t explain how these wings and horn showed up in the first place…. My other theory is that it was a birth defect that waited one or two years to develop. That’s how your wings grew a little, but never got a chance to be any bigger. I saw that your other doctor already told you about the aging of alicorns. I will continue my research on more possibilities of her case, and if I find anything, I will report back to you. I hope this information helps,” Doctor Berry explained.
“Yes, it does, thanks,”Moonflower said as they exited the office.
“Mommy? Are there any wowwipops here? Because I was hopin’ for more wowwipops!” Stardust stated, hopeful.
“Let me ask.” Moonflower walked up to the reception desk. “Excuse me, but my daughter would like to know if you have any lollipops.”
“Sure, what color would you like, little filly?”
“I wanna blue one or a red one!” Stardust said as she joyfully hopped. The pony gave Stardust a red lollipop using her magic, and Stardust used hers to pick it up. So once again, Stardust skipped off with her lollipop, and her parents trailed behind her. It was astounding that she already knew how to do a levitation spell at such a young age. It was probably due to the higher concentration of magic because she is an alicorn. Moonflower had paid attention to this ever since she was four, and was secretly filling out applications for a magic school in Glimmerville, called The Mini-Mare’s School for Magic and Spells. Stardust had not even considered school yet, but she figured that with everything else in her mind, it was new, exciting, and fun. Little did she know, that one day she would grow to be more quiet and calm. But for now, she’s just focusing on the present, and to her, she only sees fun.
Stardust was eating her special breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, a breakfast only devoured on special occasions, and this one was no exception. Today was Stardust’s first day of school, and she was insisting on wearing her “lucky tutu”, a beaded bracelet, her large pastel blue hair bow, and- well, she didn’t know what else yet, because she felt that the outfit was missing something. It wasn’t makeup, because after all, she is only 6. She was hoping that she would figure it out in time, though. All she wanted was to make a good first impression on her fellow classmates. She had calmed down a little bit, but still got a little hyper from time to time, like today.
Stardust hopped out of her chair, and ran into the living room, where she saw Moonflower and Proud Sky sitting on the couch, with a box in front of them on the coffee table. Stardust got on the couch, and sat next to Moonflower. “Hi, Mommy, hi Daddy,” Stardust said.
Moonflower glanced at the box and back at Stardust. “Aren’t you wondering what’s in this pretty box?” Moonflower asked. “Yeah! Open it! :gasp: Is it for me?” Stardust asked.
“Think of it as a first day of school present. I thought you needed a little something extra for your first day.” Moonflower explained. She then grabbed it in her mouth by the bow, and dropped it in front of Stardust. The gift was in a small, cube, box, with white wrapping paper printed with doodle-hearts in pastel colors, and a pink ribbon wrapping around it, meeting at a neat bow on top. Stardust picked it up using her magic, carefully took off the bow, and tore into the paper. She took the lid off of the brown box, and dug through the pink tissue paper. Inside, was a black velvet jewelry box, like the kind engagement rings came in. She opened the case, and neatly inside, resting on a white satin pillow, was a intricately decorated pink heart locket. Stardust gasped in excitement, and in awe of the beauty of the necklace. The locket was encrusted with rhinestones, and covered in swirly patterning. The sterling silver had been nicely painted pink. Stardust opened the locket, where there was space to put two heart-shaped pictures.
“But that’s not all,” Moonflower explained. From behind her, she pulled out an envelope addressed to Stardust. Stardust opened the envelope, and inside was a heart-shaped picture of her, Moonflower, and Proud Sky; the perfect size to place in the locket. Stardust re-opened the locket box, and the locket, and gently placed the picture into the clamps to hold it in place. There was still room for one other picture, though.
“What am I supposed to put in the other side?” Stardust questioned.
“Whatever you’d like. You can put another picture, you can glue a special bead or button, or a tuft of fur from Bluey even, whatever you want. Or, you can wait until you make a friend, and maybe you can put a picture of them in there,” Proud Sky suggested.
“That’s a good idea! All of them are! I can put a tuft of Bluey in there, then put a picture of my new friend on top!” Stardust added as she took out the locket, and placed it around her neck.
“Oh! It’s time to go, Stardust!” Proud Sky said, as he stood up from the couch. Moonflower and Stardust quickly followed, and left the house.
Once they arrived at the school, there were already young unicorn fillies and colts, all dressed up with their colorful saddlebags, walking into the large, cement-block school. It was a light gray building, with a large sign in the front that read, “THE MINI-MARE’S SCHOOL FOR MAGIC AND SPELLS”
“If there are colts here too, why is it called Mini- mare’s school?” Stardust inquired.
“It was once a fillies only school, but later on, included both fillies and colts.” Moonflower explained.
The family soon approached the front entrance to the school, where there were young ponies passing through the doors. Stardust already had her paper that told her what teacher she had, and what number locker she had. There weren’t any locks of any sort, after all, these ponies were still young. Stardust gave each of her parents a great, big hug, and an “I love you” goodbye. Both ponies had started tearing up at the sight of her first day of school. They took a front-of-school-first-day-picture, gave one more hug, and Stardust entered the building. She trotted towards a big, wooden, tan door that read, “Ms. Stars”, with stars of many colors taped around on the door.
“Her name is just like mine! Ms. Stars, Stardust!” Stardust used her magic to open the door, and trotted until she saw a desk at the very front, not quite center, but one seat to the left of the center desk, which had a name tag taped over the top part of the desk. It read “Stardust Sky” in pretty hoofwriting, so that too made Stardust happy. She took off her saddlebag, and placed it under her chair, just like it stated on the whiteboard. There was a large, wooden desk off to Stardust’s left, and the door to her right. The room had just about finished filling with unicorn fillies and colts, and there was a grown mare rushing around the room, with a few sparkles here and there, as she perfected the ideal classroom. Stardust was rather excited, as everything seemed so perfect, and seemed to work out so well. Then, she heard a bell ring. Not like an average “ding” of a bell, like a more musical, almost electrical, happy, kind of a sound. Stardust considered it more of a higher pitched “mwrooooaaaaahhhhhhh” or even a “Meeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhh” than a “ting-a-ring-ring-ring”. The students grew quieter, as they shuffled in their chairs to impress the teacher. A lavender-pink-magenta colored unicorn, trotted to the front of the room. She was pretty, with a mint-grass-green mane and tail, and a green apple with a pencil in front for a cutie mark. The colors all blended smoothly together.
“Hello, everypony! I’m Ms. Stars, and I am going to be your teacher this year! I am very approachable, and willing to help you at any time you need, just don’t hesitate to ask!” Ms. Stars said with a smile. She was very happy, and very kind; perfect for Stardust. Stardust raised her hoof.
“Yes?”
“My name’s Stardust, and you’re Ms. Stars, so our names are so similar!”
“Hi, Stardust, great to meet you! I noticed that too when I was writing out your name tags! Oh, that reminds me, can anypony tell me what’s especially special about Stardust here?”
The students looked at Stardust for a moment, and examined her. Then, many raised their hooves.
Ms. Stars pointed to a sky blue unicorn filly, with pastel green hair, and wide, green eyes. “Yes? What’s your name?”
“I’m Sunshine Fields, or Sunshine, or Sunny, or Sun, or- well you get the point! :giggle: She has tiny wings, AND a horn, which means she’s an alicorn! And she’s the tallest here. And she doesn’t have a cutie mark. Like me!” Sunshine talked very fast, and was obviously also excited for school.
“That’s right, Sunshine! Stardust is an alicorn, which means she has both wings like a pegasus, and a horn like a unicorn. She’s great with magic, but still is figuring out how to fly. One day though, I believe she will be flying in Cloudsdale with the pegasi!” Ms. Stars explained.
The class started chattering about how cool it was to have an alicorn in their class, as they all examined Stardust’s wings and horn. Even her mane was silkier, and more flowy compared to the other fillies. Her mane was also getting long, and started to get a curl to it at the end. Her parents always referred to her as a “diamond”.
“Okay, class! Time to go outside, and find your lockers! Your back-to-school purple paper should say what number locker you have, and can be easily opened with a typical door-movement spell. Does anypony not have their purple paper?” Ms. Stars asked the class. Three students raised their hooves; a colt who has his back hooves up on his desk, a smaller filly, with larger eyes, and a worried look on her face, and a discombobulated colt, who look exhausted, and not at all ready for school. Ms, Stars glares at the smirking colt with his hooves up.
“Get your hooves off the desk! And what’s your name?” Ms. Stars didn’t seem happy with him.
“Rusty Bolt. But I go by Bolt.” He was obviously trying to seem ‘cool’, but Stardust already didn’t like him. He was a tan-brown unicorn colt, with dark blue spiky hair, with darker brown streaks, and a yellow lightning bolt, with an actual bolt at the top for a cutie mark. He didn’t like it though, as it was just “a joke of his name”. He often shot lightning bolts at other ponies from his horn as a prank, but it was also a bit of a magical talent.
“Well, Bolt, can you please take your hooves off of the desk? You don’t want to get in trouble on your first day,” Ms. Stars sighs. “Anyway, I can get you your locker number, and the office can get you a new purple paper later.” Ms. Stars turns to the scared filly. “And what is your name, sweetie?”
“B-Bubblegum Rose…” The terrified unicorn filly had larger-than-average bright blue eyes, although she was slightly shorter than average, long, thick-but-smooth light pink hair, and a pastel blue body. Her cutie mark was a red rose within a bubble, showing her talent of making stronger bubbles; strong enough to hold ponies; with her magic. She also sent them as mail, and made it so they popped at their destination. “ W-We never got one in the mail…” By now, the unicorn had huddled into a ball in her seat, quivering.
“It’s okay, sweetie. I will give you your locker number, and the office can get you a new purple paper if you’d like.” Ms. Stars said with an alternately pleasant voice, showing how caring she is, but that she can be strict if need be. She then turned to the final colt who was missing his paper. He had messy, teal hair, with magenta streaks. His coat was a scruffly mid-spectrum shade of purple; not pastel, but also not dark. The perfect balance. Although that appeared to be the only balanced thing about him. He also was a blank-flank like Stardust, meaning that he had no cutie mark. He also had bags under his eyes, slightly bloodshot eyes, and some of his hair stuck up. He was clearly half asleep, and Stardust wasn’t sure whether to feel bad for him or not like him yet.
“How about you?” Ms. Stars asked. The colt was zoning into the corner of the room. She used her magic to flash a few sparkles in front of his face to interrupt his zoning. He blinked, and rubbed his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Ms. Stars! I didn’t sleep well last night, and I only got 3 hours of sleep, and I lost my purple paper, because I put it on my coffee table and my dog, Potatoe-with-an-E-at-the-end ate it when I wasn’t looking, and-” He was cut off by Ms. Stars. He spoke very swiftly.
“Calm down, it’s okay. You haven’t even told me your name yet.” Ms. Stars also has a calm, gentle side to her, also great for Stardust.
“I’m Night Comet. Sorry if I talk fast sometimes, it just kinda happens when I’m nervous.” Night said, sweating from an adrenaline rush.
“Take a deep breath. Can you please repeat what you said slower, Night?”
Night took a deep breath, then slowly, and calmly said, “ I didn’t sleep well last night, and I only got 3 hours of sleep. I lost my purple paper because I left it on the coffee table, and my dog, Potatoe, spelled Potato with an ‘e’ at the end, managed to get to it, and eat it, when I wasn’t looking. My parents made me spend my own money on school supplies, and I ran out of money, so I don’t have any pencils or pens.” Night had started to tear up from sadness and pure exhaustion.
“I’m sorry.” He used his magic to grab a tissue, wiped his eyes, and looked up, large eyed, at Ms. Stars.
Stardust knew now to feel bad for the colt. And she did feel bad for him. She wanted to help.
Ms. Stars walked over to his desk, closer to the back of the room. “Your locker number is Locker 12. Do you want to go to the nurse to take a nap? I can catch you up later if you’d like.” She put her hoof over his shoulder.
“That’d be great, thanks.” He nodded his head, and by now, he was even blinking slowly. It became obvious that his brain was starting to shut off.
“Do you know where it is?” The colt shook his head.
“When you leave, turn left, down the hall, and to the right. You can’t miss it. And even if you get lost, the school is small, and somepony can help you. Let me write you a pass.” The colt gave a tired smile, as Ms. Stars walked to her desk, scribbled something on a notepad with her magic, and tore off the piece of paper. She gave it to the colt as he walked slowly up to the front of the room. Once he left the room, Ms. Stars continued with instruction.
“Okay, Bolt, your locker number is 17, and Bubblegum, you have 15. Now, everypony, let’s all go into the hallway, and put our saddlebags away, and if you have any locker decorations, now is the perfect time to put them up!” She opened the door, and the class of unicorns (and alicorn) ventured outside, looked at their papers, and found their lockers.
Stardust looked at hers. “Locker 14.” she said to herself, as she trotted to her new locker. The lockers were all navy blue, although some had paint chipping to reveal silver spots of metal underneath. Stardust’s looked perfectly painted, with a small plaque that read ‘41’ at the top of the door. She opened the locker, and placed her saddlebag on the hook. “Hmm…” she thought to herself as she thought that the gray-silver interior seemed too bland for her tastes. She magically created a string of lights, covered with magical fire-retardant glitter that shone in the light. She put up magical wallpaper that was light blue, with pink polka-dots. She also made one of those electric disco balls, and placed it at the very top. “Perfect.” she thought.
“Wow! Your locker looks so pretty! I wish I had locker decorations! You’re the alicorn, uh, Stardust, is it?” Bubblegum Rose asked. Her locker was directly right of Stardust’s.
“Yes, Bubblegum, right?”
“Yeah, but you can call me Bubbles, or Bubbly. That’s what my future friends will call me!” Bubblegum and Stardust giggled.
“What’s so funny, silly fillies?” The two turned around, and to Stardust’s left, was Sunshine Fields. She had locker 13.
“Bubblegum is just being funny. You’re Sun….-something, right? Sorry, bad with names!” Stardust giggled.
“Yeah, I’m Sunshine, but you can call me Sunny, or Sun, or-whatever!” Sunshine’s face lit up with excitement. “Ooh, coolio lockerio!” Sunshine hopped.
“Thanks.” Stardust closed her locker. Let’s go back inside,” The three fillies walked back into their new classroom, and sat in their seats. Sunshine sat to the far right in the front row. Bubblegum sat in the middle of the second row, Bolt was in the back of the far left row, and Night was in the back of Sunshine’s row. There were other students as well, such as Cloudy Bow, a blue filly with white, puffy hair, who sat behind Stardust, a darker purple filly with lime green wavy hair, named Royal Reef, and a white filly, with pale tan straight hair, named Cream Puff. Her fur was also slightly fluffier than the average pony.
“Okay, class! Now, it’s time for math! Let’s all count to ten, if you remember from preschool! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!” Ms. Stars seemed excited, but the students didn’t understand what was so exciting about counting to ten.
“Boring…” Bolt muttered under his breath.
“What was that, Bolt?” Ms. Stars asked.
“”Erm, I just said that math was… like… Exploring! Exploring new numbers!” Bolt said nervously.
“That’s what I thought. Okay, everypony! I am going to pass out paper, and you are going to draw whatever comes to your head! And if you’re not sure, draw what you are feeling, or something in the room.” Ms. Stars magically placed papers on everypony’s desks. Stardust took out her colored pencils, and drew a sun in the corner of the page, along with a rainbow, and herself underneath. She then proceeded to draw Sunshine and Bubblegum on either side of her, then Ms. Stars, and she drew Night from memory; frazzled hair and all. He had still not returned, after forty-five minutes. He was pretty exhausted, after all. He might sleep another five minutes, he might sleep for the whole day. Stardust was unsure. She drew grass, some trees, clouds, and a sky. She signed her name at the bottom, and presented it to Ms. Stars.
“I’m done, Ms. Stars!” Stardust used her magic to hold it up in front of Ms. Stars.
“Wow, Stardust, this is beautiful! You’ll get to take it home at the end of the day,” Ms. Stars joyfully responded.
Bolt was drawing a picture of Ms. Stars- drawn as an oval with stick legs, fangs, and angry eyes. He wrote, ‘Ms. Stars is Evil- more like Ms. Scars-for-life’ He folded it up, and threw it in the trash. Unfortunately for Bolt, Ms. Stars saw a paper being thrown in the trash, and she picked it up with her magic. She walked over to Bolt’s desk.
“Not liking your art? It can’t possibly be bad, all art in my opinion has potential!” Ms. Stars unfolded the paper, and when she saw it, she gasped. She immediately became mad. “Hmm, trying to hide something, Rusty?”
“Don’t call me Rusty,” He was getting grumpy. “That’s not my name.” he muttered.
“It’s your full name, Bolt. If I use it, that means you’re in trouble. You know that, right? Do I have to call your parents on the first day of school, and tell them about your behavior?” Ms. Stars said sternly.
“No, Ms. Sca- I mean, Ms, Stars.”
“Good, but one more bad choice, or I will call home.” Like a flip of a coin, Ms. Stars happily trotted away to check on the other students. She trotted over to Bubblegum’s desk, where Bubblegum was drawing an adorable bunny. She seemed to have quite the talent for drawing. She seemed “in the zone” so Ms. Stars decided not to interrupt her. Sunshine was drawing Stardust’s pastel blue bow. It looked pretty good, considering it was drawn by a 5 year old.
“Okay, class! Time to put your drawings in your lockers to take them home! If you don’t want them, however, I will hang them up here, or keep them in my drawer if you’d like. Everyone can go to their lockers, Bolt, stay here, please.” The class rushed out with their papers in their auras or in their mouths. There were a few students who stayed behind, and formed a line at Ms. Stars’ desk. Ms. Stars placed the still-crumpled drawing from Bolt in her special drawer marked “Show to Parents”. She placed it in the folder that read, “Bolt, Rusty”, and it would remain there until Parent-Teacher Conferences. She turned around, and saw Cream Puff, the first filly in line. She held up a cute doodle of Ms. Stars in front of the board.
“I made it for you, Ms. Stars! Do you like it?” Cream Puff asked joyfully.
“It’s beautiful,” Ms. Stars was struggling with her name.
“Cream Puff!”
“Cream Puff! Yes! It’s beautiful, Cream Puff.” Ms. Stars placed the picture on her bulletin board next to her desk. Cream Puff trotted away to her seat, and Royal Reef trotted up, and presented her paper. On it, there was- well, it was blank, except for a single black dot in the center. “You said to draw what came to our heads, and my head was empty. So I drew a dot. Is it good enough, Ms. Stars?” She asked.
“It’s- nice, but it needs something. What do you like, um…”
“Royal Reef, but you can call me Royal. I like caterpillars. And butterflies.” She hopped as if she were flying.
“Turn this dot into a caterpillar with butterfly wings, then report back to me!” Ms. Stars suggested.
“That’s great! Thanks, Ms. Stars!” Royal trotted away. It was almost lunch and recess, and the students re-entered the room. Night had still not returned after now an hour and a half.
“Alright, students! It’s almost lunch, so you can draw another picture or do whatever you want until the bell rings. Bolt- be mindful, please.” Suddenly, a less-frazzled Night Comet entered the room. He looked more put together, and more awake, now that he had rested.
“Sorry I took so long, Ms. Stars. I was tired.”
“It’s okay, Night. Everypony has those days. Take your seat, it’s almost lunch. The bell will ring any sec-” Ms. Stars got interrupted as the bell for lunch rang. The students rushed out of their seats.
“Hold on, students! If you brought a lunch, please get one from your locker, and head out to the playground. When you hear the whistle blow, meet me in a line, and I will walk you into the cafeteria. If you didn’t bring a lunch, that’s okay, you get to buy one in the cafeteria. Have fun!” The students continued out the door, except for Night, who stayed behind to talk to Ms. Stars.
“I don’t have any money with me for lunch. My parents didn’t pack me one, and I don’t even have a lunchbox. They didn’t give me money, either. I guess that wasn’t thought through very well by us.”
“Oh, Night, I’m sorry. Tell the cafeteria, they can give you something to eat for free. They’re really nice, and wouldn’t let anypony go without a lunch. I promise. Now go outside, have some fun!” Night nodded, and ran outside to join with the rest of the grade. Stardust was running up the stairs, across the jumpy bridge, up the ladder, around the spiral staircase, and down the long swirly slide. Even a ladder higher than the slide, was a lookout with a telescope, where Sunshine was. Bubblegum was swinging on the swing, using her magic to lift her higher as needed.
“Prince Night the Unicorn Colt is entering thy playground of playgroundiness! Princess Stardust! Come up here, while I greet your guest!” Sunshine stated, then climbed down the ladder, down the swirly slide, and over to Night.
“The Princess Stardust shall see you now, Prince Night!” Sunshine playfully said, as she curtsied to Night. Night was confused, but continued up the stairs to the slide tower.
“Night! You look better, how do you feel?” Stardust asked.
“I feel better, thanks Stardust. What’s Sunshine doin’?” “I dunno. Bein’ Sunshine I guess. Wanna go down the slide?”
“Sure. Fillies first,” Night said as he gestured for her to go down. She slid down, and gave him a signal showing that it was clear for him to slide. Once he reached the bottom, the whistle blew, and the class lined up behind Ms. Stars. They followed her inside, and into a large, bustling room full of tables. Unicorns went into the lunch line with empty trays, and out with full trays of food. Stardust sat at a table with Bubblegum and Sunshine, who both packed lunches as well. About 5 minutes later, Night emerged from the lunch line with a sandwich and a bottle of water on his tray. He stopped, and looked around for a place to sit, which was hard when he didn’t really know anypony. Finally, Stardust shouted Night’s name, and gestured for him to sit with them at their table. He walked over, and sat down.
“Hi, Night. How are you doing? I’m sorry you had a bad dream. I really hate nightmares. By the way, Potatoe is a very cute name for a dog,” Bubblegum said softly.
“I’m okay, it’s fine. Everypony has bad dreams every once in awhile. I hate nightmares, too. Anyway, yeah, Potatoe is adorable, and he lives up to his name. He’s so lazy.” Night explains. The girls giggle at the thought of the loafy pup. Night smiled. What he thought was going to be the worst first day of school, soon became one of the best. He didn’t mind socializing with the girls, to him, anypony who he can get along with is enough to make him happy. And he got along great with them. Over the year, the team of Stardust Sky, Night Comet, Sunshine Fields, and Bubblegum Rose would be unstoppable.
Chapter 5- After School Excitement- Age 6 and 5 mo.
Stardust ran towards her awaiting parents out of the front doors of the school, and gave them a hug. Proud took her saddlebag, and placed it over his back.
“How was your first day?” Mooflower asked.
“It was so much fun!! It was awesome!! I met so many nice ponies, and I decorated my locker with my magic! And my teacher, Ms. Stars, is SO nice! Well, except when she has to be mean to the mean colt, Bolt. Then she’s mean. But just to him. Otherwise, she’s SO SO NICE!!” Stardust spoke very fast, and jumped on those last two “so”s.
“I’m glad. Was Bolt ever mean to you?” Proud asked.
“Nah, he just kinda ignores me.” Stardust said, now skipping ahead.
“Well, if he, or anypony else ever bothers you, just show them the kindness in your heart!” Proud responds.
“Okie! Come on, I have a picture of me, my teacher, and my friends to show you!”
Once they got home, Stardust sat on the couch, and gestured for her parents to join her. They sat down, and Stardust levitated her saddlebag over to herself, opened it, and took out a neatly folded white piece of paper. She unfolded it, showing many colors drawn in crayon on it. There was Stardust, with Ms. Stars on the right of her, then Sunshine. On Stardust’s side, stood Bubblegum, then Night. Behind them, was the school. They stood on grass, with the blue sky and clouds above them, and a quarter-sun in the corner of the page, with sun rays beaming off of it. Stardust pointed to each of the ponies.
“That’s me, that’s my teacher, Ms. Stars, That’s one of my friends, Sunshine Fields, that’s Bubblegum Rose, my other friend, and Night Comet, my other-other friend.” She gasped. “How are they all gonna fit in my necklace!?!”
“We can take this picture, photocopy it, make it smaller, and put in in your locket!” Proud explained.
“Cool!” Stardust jumped up onto her hooves and flittered. That was all she could do with her wings, though.
“What do you say, we go get some first day of school ice cream?” Moonflower offered.
“Sure! That sounds great!” Stardust flittered once more.
“But first-” Moonflower added.
“Aww…”
“But first, can you try teleportation? First, use this pencil, and move it from the table, onto the floor,” Moonflower grabbed a pencil out of Stardust’s backpack, and placed it on the coffee table. Stardust stepped back, and focused her magic to the pencil. It started to glow, and wiggled a bit. Then, it stopped. Stardust was breathing heavy.
“You can do it, don’t lose hope!” Moonflower encouraged. Stardust continued. The pencil glowed once more, and poof; it was beside the table, on the floor. Stardust didn’t realize it had moved, so she was still straining to move it.
“Um, Stardust? You can stop, now.” Moonflower said. Stardust opened her eyes, and got back into a normal standing position. She looked on the table, but did not see the pencil. Then, she looked on the floor, and there was the pencil.
“I did it! Woo! I feel like I can teleport myself now!” Her horn started to glow, sparks flying from the tip, and poof; Stardust disappeared from the room. Then, they heard excited screeches coming from upstairs. They turned to see a very happy Stardust running down the steps, and at the final steps, she hopped and flitted to the ground.
“This is the best day ever! Maybe I can teleport us all to the ice cream shop! I’m feelin’ magical!” Stardust exclaimed.
“Maybe you should give your magic a rest?” Moonflower suggested.
“But this is so much more fun! Come on!”
“Alright, it is her ‘best day ever’,” Moonflower said as she and Proud Sky stood up off the couch. Stardust’s horn glowed once more, sparks flying, and then, poof, there the family was in the local ice cream shop. Stardust was admittedly dizzy from not being used to using that much magic at once, even though it wasn’t much. All she previously knew how to do, was make stuff appear, open doors, levitate; the simple things. After a few seconds, she was better, and ready to get ice cream. She got a chocolate ice cream cone with brownie bites in it, Moonflower got a strawberry-vanilla-mint swirl, and Proud Sky got peanut butter and chocolate, with peanut butter cups and brownie bites inside. This is what Stardust called, ‘the best day ever.’
Stardust woke up the next morning, with just as much excitement as the last. She was excited to see her new friends again, and show them and Ms. Stars her newly-learned teleportation spells. She was already ahead of her class in basic levitation and appearances. She trotted over to her dresser, and grabbed the jewelry box on top of it. It was a small, cardboard, metallic pink chest, with multi-colored rhinestones on it. Inside, there was a small cushion, on top laid a rainbow crystal, which shimmered in the light, and cast rainbows across the room. Stardust had received this for her 6th birthday, and it was quite the treasure. She typically kept it safe in the box. Also in the box, was her new locket, with the tuft of Bluey’s fur, and the picture of Moonflower and Proud. She took out the crystal, and turned it in the light a bit, then placed it back inside. She then took out the locket, and placed it around her neck. She close the box, and put it back atop her dresser. She then turned off the light. And trotted downstairs for breakfast. She sat at the dining table with Moonflower, as Proud was already at work. There was a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream; her special occasion breakfast.
“Hi, Mommy. What’s my special breakfast doing here? It’s the second day of school!” Stardust was confused. What had she done to deserve such a breakfast?
“Well, yesterday, you learned teleportation faster than I think any unicorn would be able to do, and I think that’s pretty worthy of a special breakfast,” Moonflower explained. “So, tell be about your class, and your friends,”
“Okay! Well, first off, my teacher is Ms. Stars, which is awesome, because I’m Stardust, so we both have ‘star’ in our names. Then there’s this annoying colt, Rusty Bolt, who gets cranky when you call him Rusty instead of Bolt. He drew a mean picture of Ms. Stars, and got in trouble. He also didn’t have his purple paper, and had his back hooves up on the desk. Then, there’s Sunshine Fields, one of my friends. She has a lot of energy like me, and is pretty funny, too. She loves to play fun games, and she’s a good artist. She is so nice, and she can be really silly at times, which is awesome. Next is Bubblegum Rose, she’s also my friend. She’s a little shy, but that’s okay, because she’s sooo nice. She’s also smaller than me and Sunshine, but that doesn’t stop her from following her dreams. Her hair is also really long. Last but not least, there’s Night Comet, and he’s also my friend. He also forgot his purple paper, and so did Bubblegum. Bubblegum didn’t have hers because she never got one in the mail. Night didn’t have his because he left it out on his table and his dog, Potatoe with an ‘e’, ate it. He also didn’t get any sleep because he had a nightmare, so his mane and his coat were all frazzly. He also looked tired. So he went to the nurse and slept all morning, then we all played at recess and talked at lunch! We also had a fun afternoon, too. We read books, wrote sentences about ourselves, and even played with some cool toys!” Stardust explained. She loved talking about school, and it filled her with even more excitement to go to school that day. Once she finished her breakfast, she had an idea.
“Ooh! I have an idea! How about we teleport to school, so we don’t have to walk that far? You saw how safe it was, I can teleport us both! Or I can hug you first, then teleport myself, so you don’t even have to move! Yeah, that’ll work! And I’ll be at school early! It’s perfect!” Stardust cheered. Moonflower agreed with a simple “okay”, and they walked into the middle of the room. The two exchanged hugs, and she teleported off to school. Once she reappeared at school, she was a little dizzy, then she fixed herself, and trotted into the building.
Chapter 7- Every School Has Their Mean Girls- Age 6 and 5 mo.
Stardust took her seat, after putting her saddlebag away, and having a mini locker dance party with Sunshine, Bubblegum, and Night. The strange sounding bell rang once more, and Ms. Stars trotted to the front of the room.
“Happy second day of school, everypony!” Ms. Stars cheered. The students replied with a joyful “yay” or “woo”, except for Bolt, who gave a more quiet, sarcastic cheer. Ms. Stars noticed, but ignored him. She still kept her eye on him, eying him every now and then, making sure he was behaving properly. Before class, Stardust had told Ms. Stars about her teleportation.
“Stardust, can you please show everypony what you learned yesterday?” Stardust happily trotted up to the front of the room, as Ms. Stars stepped back. Stardust assumed her position, and her horn started to glow, just as before. Less sparks emerged now, as she was starting to get used to her teleportation. Then poof- she disappeared. Murmurs of “Whoa, that was cool!” and “Where’d she go?” and “I wanna do that!” filled the room. Then, Stardust reentered through the front door, once everypony was done being in awe, so they could notice her reappearance. The students, and Ms. Stars cheered at Stardust’s new trick, although Bolt was grumped at the fact that “the alicorn was showing off” in his mind.
“Later this year, I’m going to teach the rest of you how to do that! Actually, I can teach it to you tomorrow, if you’d like! Thanks for showing us, Stardust!” The class cheered at the thought of being able to do that only the next day!
Stardust walked out to recess with Night, Bubblegum, and Sunshine, where there was already other students in the grade playing outside.
“What adventure do you wanna go on today?” Sunshine asked.
“I dunno, I wanna see what other ponies we can meet, outside our class!” Stardust suggested.
“Sure, that sounds fun!” Sunshine replied, Bubblegum was still shy, and Night was unsure. Stardust could tell that not everypony was on board.
“Come on, guys! How bad could it be? Who knows? Our future Bestest Friend Forever and Ever could be in this very playground! Imagine how awesome this could be!” Stardust encouraged.
“Okay, for you, Stardust. I do need to get over my shyness anyway.” Bubblegum agreed.
“Yeah, if Bubble’s doin’ it, I will do. For Stardust?” Night asked.
“For Stardust!” Bubblegum confirmed. The four friends trotted up to the bridge, where there were three unicorn fillies. The one in the middle was a hot magenta pink unicorn, with a sky blue wavy mane, with a purple streak in it. Her tail was the same, having a matching purple streak. She wore a purple tutu, and had sparkling crystal earrings. Her cutie mark of a purple crystal heart, with blue lightning surrounding it, was hidden under her tutu. The pony to her left, was a lavender purple unicorn with royal blue curly hair. She wore a sky blue flowing skirt, which covered her cutie mark of a rainbow, composed of sparkles, which correlated with the colors. The final pony, to the right of the pink unicorn, was a sky blue unicorn, with pastel pink flowy hair. She was wearing a pink sparkly tutu, which trailed sparkles when she walked. Her cutie mark of a pastel pink flower, with a purple gemstone in the center, was also hidden behind her tutu. Stardust, Sunshine, Bubblegum, and Night stopped in front of them. Noticing her newfound company, the unicorn in the center turned around.
“Hi, I’m Stardust.” Stardust said, as she waved her hoof.
“Oh, right, the alicorn. Hey girls! Look, it’s the alicorn!” She had a ‘mean girl’ kind of a voice. The other two beautiful unicorn fillies joined their friend. “I’m Crystal Gem.” The lavender unicorn with blue hair stepped forward.
“I’m Lavender Seas. It’s an honor to meet royalty.”
“I’m not a princess. Just an alicorn.” Stardust corrected. The sky blue filly with pink hair stepped forward.
“And I’m Pastel Bloom.”
“What’s your name again? Stardust? Ha! That sounds like they took the prettiest star, and crushed it into dust!” Crystal Gem gave out a maniacal kind of laugh. The other two followed.
“Hey, that’s not a nice thing to say to my friend! I like her name!” Sunshine defended.
“What’s your name?” Crystal asked.
“Sunshine.”
“Well, Sunshine, don’t shine too bright or you might blind us with your brightness!” Crystal teased. Lavender and Pastel laughed; almost forcefully.
“That was m-mean t-too!” Bubblegum forced.
“And how about you? What’s your name?”
“B-Bubblegum…” She started to tear up. Stardust had stepped back. Pastel stepped up.
“Eww, I hate bubblegum. It’s so sticky and gross!” Pastel said in Bubblegum’s face. Bubblegum had started to cry.
“Stop being mean to my friends!” Stardust responded. Crystal stepped up to Stardust.
“If you’re an alicorn, where are your wings? I mean, your name should be Grounddust, since you can’t even fly to a CLOUD!” The three manically laughed. Stardust was starting to tear up now, along with Sunshine, who was hugging her, and Bubblegum, who was sobbing and quivering in a ball, in the corner of the platform behind them. Night, who had been comforting Bubblegum, finally stepped up to defend his friends.
“I’ve had enough of this, you three! Stop being mean to them, and just go hang out on your own. I personally think you’ve made the wrong choice, picking on an alicorn, because one day, she will have powerful magic none of you could dream of, and she will be a princess, so she can get you kicked out of Equestria, or put in some serious trouble if you three don’t watch out! Do not underestimate her ever again!” Night didn’t even realize how defensive he had gotten of the girls, and especially Stardust. By now, she had walked himself and Crystal all the way to the top of the slide tower., with the rest of the ponies still behind. Some ponies had gathered to watch this go about at the bottom.
“Hmmph. Come on, girls. Stop wasting your time with these lame blank-flanks.” Crystal said as she went down the swirly slide. Her entourage of the two unicorns followed.
“Hey! Me and Bubblegum aren’t blank flanks!” Sunshine shouted back to them. Night ran back to where the girls were huddled together, crying.
“You three okay? They were bad, weren’t they. Now we know. Stay away from those high-class, meanies.” He helped them all up, and they wiped their tears.
“Yeah, we’re fine. We can’t let what some mean girls said bring us down. Even if what they said about me not being able to even reach a cloud is true….” Stardust said, as she started to tear up again. Night wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Don’t listen to her! One day, you will fly, I know it. Just because you can’t now, doesn’t mean you never will. And none of what she said was true, she was just trying to bring you down, because you were so happy, and getting so much positive attention from us.” Night smiled. Stardust smiled back, and hugged him. She proceeded to hug Sunshine and Bubblegum. Then, the whistle blew, and they lined up, just like the day before, and proceeded into the cafeteria. Stardust was lucky to have found such great friends, and to have such strong bonds with them, especially since it was only the second day she ever knew them. After lunch, the four agreed to go up to Ms. Stars, and relay to her what had happened at recess.
After lunch, the four friends walked up to Ms. Stars, ready to tell her what had happened at recess.
“Ms. Stars? Can we please talk to you about something that happened today?” Stardust asked.
“Sure, you may speak to me about anything. What’s going on?” Ms. Stars responded. Stardust took a deep breath.
“There were these three fillies at recess...and they weren’t very nice..” It was hard for Stardust to say what had happened.
“They weren’t in our class, though. But they kept saying super-mean things to us, and especially Stardust. But then, Night stepped up, and was awesome! We were all crying in the back, huddled up, hopeless, and then, WHAM! He defended us, and said that one day, Stardust would be a princess, and she would get them in trouble! And then they just- left. But they said some pretty awful things to us..” Sunshine admitted. Night stepped forward.
“They said to Stardust that her name sounded like “they took the prettiest star and crushed it into dust”, and “They should call you Grounddust, because you can’t even reach a cloud”” Night imitated in a funny voice. Ms. Stars listened intently, and looked concerned. “They also picked on Sunshine and Bubblegum. They said to Sunshine “not to shine too bright, or you might blind us with your brightness”, and to Bubblegum, “Ew, I hate bubblegum, it’s so sticky and gross”. Was what I said back wrong, Ms. Stars?” Night explained. He mocked the fillies in such a funny voice, that it made the other girls giggle behind them.
“No, Night. You did the right thing, defending your friends. I think that’s a very brave thing, since bullies can be scary. Do you four happen to know their names?” Ms. Stars asked. Bubblegum stepped up, as she has a great memory, like Night does.
“The ‘leader’ was named Crystal Gem, then there was Pastel Bloom, and Lavender Seas, who actually didn’t say anything mean. She said that it was “an honor to meet royalty”. I think she might be nice, she just wants to fit in.” Bubblegum explained.
“Okay, I will tell the principal, and their teachers what happened, and I will also call your parents and tell them, so you guys don’t have that pressure, okay? Anything else? Come here.” Ms. Stars gave the group a great big hug.
“No, that’s all. Thanks for helping us, Ms. Stars.” Stardust added.
“No, thank YOU, for coming to see me. It’s hard to admit the truth about bullies, but unfortunately, every school has them. I’m very proud of you all, especially you, Night. You stood up for your friends, even though it was hard. You all did the right thing.” Ms. Stars said. The four smiled, thanked her again, and walked back to their desks.
WITHIN THE NEXT THREE YEARS OF AGE The three bullies were gotten into trouble with the school. Stardust, Night, Sunshine, and Bubblegum remained friends through the years. Bolt changed his ways after 2 years, and is now reformed. The four graduated the Mini-Mare’s School for Spells, all with high grades. Stardust still doesn’t have a cutie mark, and neither does Night. Bubblegum conquered her fears, and became a stronger individual, and is considering applying for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Stardust is also less self conscious about her wings, which are still small, showing no signs of growing. Stardust finished basic school time requirements.
Stardust was sitting on the couch watching TV, when Moonflower checked the mail. She ran through the door, and Stardust turned to face her.
“Stardust, there’s something here for you. It looks fancy.” She gasps. “It says it’s from Princess Celestia herself! These typically say, ‘From the Council of Princess Celestia’, meaning it’s not directly from her, but our princess of the sun took her time to write to you! This is amazing!” Moonflower was getting very excited, and she didn’t even know what the letter was about. Stardust took it with her magic from Moonflower’s hoof, and carefully opened the wax seal with Celestia’s sun cutie mark embossed on it, and opened the gold-paper lined envelope. Stardust read it aloud. It read,
Dearest Stardust Sky,
It has recently come to my attention from my doctor, and your former school that you are but an ordinary unicorn. You are an alicorn, and a special one, indeed. I have heard great things about your magical abilities, and I have done some research to see if I can find the root of your alicornhood from your ancestry. I believe I have found a document with some relevance, and recall a certain event in time, where the connection is made. I also would like to see if you would qualify to enter my school for gifted unicorns. Your grades have shown that you are definitely capable of great things. I invite you and your family to meet me in my castle in Canterlot to address these matters. I have great faith in you.
Yours Truly, Princess Celestia
Stardust and Moonflower’s jaws had dropped in shock of what had just been read.
“I have been noticed by Princess Celestia herself, invited to her castle and her school, and I might finally get one of my questions answered?” Stardust paused. “THIS IS AMAZING! I can’t believe this!” Stardust jumped off the couch with excitement. Moonflower was still in shock of what amazing achievements her daughter had accomplished, let alone that she was an alicorn. Finally, Moonflower spoke.
“Stardust, this is wonderful! I have to go call Dad. When does it say we have to meet her in Canterlot?” Stardust looked over the letter, and she immediately grew concerned.
“It says December 12th… That’s tomorrow! Mom, we’ve gotta pack!” Stardust said, worried if they would make it to Canterlot. Moonflower trotted to the phone, and called Proud Sky, telling him to take off of work for the next few days, and to come home and prepare. She also told him what Celestia said, and how proud she was of Stardust. Stardust ran upstairs to pack. She took her pastel blue tail bow and the matching head bow out for the next day, along with her special locket, which still had the picture of her family, along with her friends on top of a tuft of Bluey’s fur. She would put Bluey in there tomorrow. She packed a cute, flowy, magenta skirt, and another purple one. She also packed a blue headband that matched her bow. She zipped her bag, and put it downstairs. She was so excited, but also pretty nervous to impress Equestria’s highest level princess. That night, she was almost too excited to sleep, but she grabbed her book, Daring Do, and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue, and continued until she grew tired, and she put the book away, and drifted off to sleep.
The three ponies hopped on the train, and left on the 3 hour train ride to Canterlot at 10:00 A.M.. An attendant on the train trotted by, with a cart full of treats. Stardust got a cotton candy, and started munching at the sugary, fluffy goodness. After she ate about one quarter of the tub, she put it in her bag for later. She didn't want too much of a sugar rush. Or a sugar crash. Once they arrived in Canterlot, they grabbed a map, and found their way to Canterlot Castle. The doors were locked, as a safety precaution to protect the princess. Moonflower rang the purple doorbell, and a few moments later, a member of the royal guard appeared at the door.
“You must be Stardust, and her family. Celestia is expecting you. Come with me.” The family followed the white unicorn guard, taking in the beauty of the castle. They trotted up to Celestia, who was standing at the top of a stairwell. She walked down the stairs, as her magical, long hair literally flowed in place, and sparkled. The princess was breathtaking. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase.
“Stardust, a pleasure to finally meet you. Welcome to Canterlot. I have called you three here to discuss this young alicorn’s magical abilities and family history. Would you please follow me to the Celestial Meeting Room?” They nodded, still in awe of her beauty. They followed her to an office-like room, with an elegant wood table, a large throne-like chair, with three smaller editions at the other end. Stardust sat in the middle seat, with her family accompanying her on either side. Celestia sat in her seat. Once they were settled, two guards trotted in, and Celestia spoke.
“The guards can bring your bags to your room for you.” The guards grabbed the bags with their magic, and teleported it with their auras. They swiftly exited the room, and Celestia shifted her focus back on Stardust.
“May we take a look at your family tree?” Celestia asked.
“Sure..” Stardust replied. A scroll teleported, and fell onto the large, wooden table. Celestia opened the clasp with her magic, and gently unrolled it with her hooves. She pointed to the pony at the bottom trunk of the tree. Stardust and her family gasped. That pony, was none other, than Princess Twilight Sparkle. Stardust was befuddled.
“Wha- but- how?!? She’s only three years older than me!” Stardust was getting frustrated.
“Maybe once you hear why, then everything will click. When Twilight was my student apprentice at my school, she came to my office wanting to learn a new spell. As you probably already know, Twilight has a passion for learning and magic. I was so involved in trying to find one that could stump my highest-scoring student, that I didn’t even realize what spell exactly that I had chosen. It was a time twister spell. Once she got the scroll, she immediately got to work attempting it. Believe it or not, it almost worked! But I couldn’t bear to see the filly who was like a daughter to me struggle like that. So, I gave her a boost. It was one of the worst mistakes I had ever made. She went plummeting into an alter dimension, where she was the same age as she is now, and she was an alicorn. I watched this all unfold through a magical one-way window. She met a powerful unicorn stallion, got married and had foals. The stallion had made it so that both foals were earth ponies. Then, he betrayed her, and used his magic to beam her back here, and prevent her from ever knowing. When I tried to tell her what happened a year later, I felt a disabling shock, caused by his spell. Twilight was still imprinted in that world, however, and since the worlds were so closely connected in time and space, they eventually merged, which made it possible for you to be an alicorn. The alicorn gene had been passed down for generations, leaving a 0.01 percent chance of being a unicorn, pegasus, or alicorn. You have that gene.” Celestia explained. Stardust and her family were stunned.
“And my tiny wings?”
“Since there were so many earth ponies, and such a small percentage of alicorn genes, that caused a mutation in the gene, making your wings the way they are. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, it does. I’m so glad that I finally understand this!” Stardust felt so relieved. Her life finally made sense to her. Her excitement made her parents feel better, too.
“Now about that application, your grades in magic, and all-around grades qualify for my school, but every student must pass the entry magic exam. Even Twilight had to, and if it wasn’t for Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom, she wouldn’t have.
“Really? The element of magic almost didn’t pass her magic exam?” Stardust asked.
“Yes, and it has changed since then. It’s more strategy and logic based, aside from only testing a unicorn’s raw ability.” Princess Celestia added. “Are you ready to go to our testing facility?” Celestia asked.
“Yeah, I’m ready for anything!” Stardust enthusiastically said. What she didn’t know, was that she was going to face dreaded monsters, and she would have to be always on her hooves. She and her family followed Princess Celestia into a large, warehouse-like room, which was like a giant oval room. It was all white, even the floors, almost like projector screens.
“Welcome to TOASTS, the Testing of all Students SPACER Simulation. The walls are giant screens, and magical simulations occur throughout, testing your smarts, quick-thinking, problem solving, and most of all, magical ability. We will watch from behind a one-way window, where your end doubles as a screen, so you will not be able to see us. There is an intercom, so if necessary, I can help you. After all of the simulations are complete, I will come back in, and you will perform your best spell. From there, I will be able to determine whether or not you qualify to enter into my school. As I said, your grades already qualify. Any questions?”
“Nope!”
“Then are you ready to begin?” Princess Celestia asked. Stardust took a deep breath.
“Yes, Princess Celestia. I am ready to start.” Stardust answered.
“I wish you the best of luck, Stardust.” Celestia said, escorting her parents to the hidden viewing area. A few moments later, Princess Celestia came on the intercom.
“I am going to start the first simulation now,” she announced. The floor and walls glowed for a second, and then, there was sand beneath Stardust’s hooves. She appeared to be in a desert environment, and the boundaries of the room seemed to disappear. The room grew warmer, and a slight breeze blew through her mane. It was actually quite pleasant. But that pleasant feeling didn’t last long, for behind her was a raging manticore. The lion-like beast with a scorpion tail, and bat-like wings roared at Stardust.
“AAAAHHH!!” She screamed. Stardust ran, as the manticore chased her. Suddenly, THUD! Stardust had hit her head on the wall.
“owww… I forgot there were boundaries…” Stardust murmured. She had managed to get cornered in an oval room. She leaned against the wall, scared about what to do next. Then, she heard the intercom go on.
“Stardust! Use your magic!” Celestia advised.
“Oh yeah.” Stardust said in a moment of realization. The manticore roared again. Stardust charged her horn, and out shot a laser; and hit the manticore right in the nose. Now he was mad. She ran the other way, and shot another laser at his head. A perfect hit! He fell to the ground, and the room glowed again, taking everything from the simulation with it. Then, trees shot from the ground. A rainforest environment surrounded the alicorn. The room became a little cooler, but a bit more humid. But before Stardust could catch her breath, a giant drop of liquid covered Stardust, leaving her soaked.
“Now what?” she complained. She used a drying spell, and she was soon dry. Over in the viewing area, Celestia wrote down Stardust’s progress, and put a star next to the drying spell. Back over to Stardust, she was bathed in shadow, and she looked up. There, was an Orthros, a two-headed, giant, brown dog, gnarling its ferocious teeth at her. She ran. Again. This time, she ran in circles to avoid hitting another wall, and maybe to get the Orthros dizzy. She thought about what she could do.
“What would the mighty heroes do?
Twilight- use the magic of friendship against it. I have none of my friends here, so that won’t work.
Applejack- lasso it. I don’t have rope, nor know how to twirl a lasso, let alone get it around that beast.
Rarity- accessorize it???- nah.
Rainbow Dash- punch it. That would just make him madder!
Pinkie Pie- Use her party cannon, and confuse it. I can’t Pinkie Pie! Nopony can replicate her physics!
Fluttershy- she would tame him! Of course!” Stardust turned around and used her magic to create a two giant squeaky balls, one for each head.- it was just a giant, two-headed puppy, after all. She tossed it around, then threw it across the room. The Orthros smiled, and leaped after it. He rolled over on his back, and batted it around in his paws. Then, he, and the rest of the environment faded again. Then, she teleported to the center of the room, and clouds formed under her hooves.
“Great. Just a reminder that I can’t go to Cloudsdale.” She sarcastically thought. In front of her, was a cloud pedestal, and what appeared to be a cloud nest atop it. She tilted her head in wonder, and walked over to it. Inside, lay a small, orange, yellow, and red egg. She gently put her off up to it. It felt very warm to the touch, and seemed to enjoy her soothing hoof. She lightly tapped it. No response. She then remembered how Princess Twilight Sparkle had to hatch Spike the Dragon out of his egg for her entrance exam. She leaned back, and with a sharp sting, plucked one of her five feathers from her tiny wing. She floated it in front of her, and concentrated her magic onto it. The feather grew, and gained blue spots along with it. She wrapped the feather around the egg, and the feather started to glow. Brighter and brighter it glowed, as the egg started to glow, as well. Soon, it became blinding, as her horn was glowing brightly, too. Celestia took note. Once the room dimmed, Stardust opened her eyes, and looked in the nest. There, was the feather, lying there, slightly singed. Stardust began to worry about the egg. Had she hurt it? The egg was broken in two, with smaller pieces broken around it. Then, a small, fluffy, orange head popped out of the larger half. Stardust gave a sigh of relief. It looked at her, with it’s icy blue eyes. Shocking, because Stardust had just figured out what it was; a phoenix. A fiery phoenix, with icy blue eyes. It blinked back at her, and gave a small chirp. Stardust thought that it was adorable. Then, the room started to glow once more. Stardust began to panic- where had the small bird gone?
“Celestia! NO! IT WAS SO CUTE!” Stardust cried. Celestia came over the intercom again.
“I simply put it in a nursery, for when you attend my school,” Celestia replied.
“Wait, WHAT?!? I’m going to Celestia’s school!!!! WOOO!” Stardust cheered.
“But wait, Stardust. You still have yet to show me your best spell,” Celestia added.
“I know,” Stardust responded. Soon after, Celestia entered the room.
“Hello, Stardust. I am very impressed with your skill, and you have left me and your parents astounded. You already qualify for my school, but you still need to complete the test like everypony else. I would like you to demonstrate your best spell that you can perform, unless that marvelous egg-hatching spell was the spell. As I said, you already qualify, and no matter what spell you do, your qualifications will not go away. Just try your best, focus, and good luck! I will stand back to give you your space.” Celestia explained. She stepped back a few paces, and Stardust closed her eyes to concentrate. Once again, her horn began to glow. A light pink, sparkling, glowing aura started to streak around her. Magical hibiscus flowers surrounded her, as the pink enveloped her, and started to glow stronger. The flowers went to the middle of the glowing orb, with Stardust’s hair waving through, They spun around her, faster and faster, brighter and brighter, until it became so blinding, even the princess of the sun had to shield her eyes. After a few moments, the room dimmed, and sparkles fell to the floor, and Stardust, still glowing, hair frazzled, slowly drifted to the floor, and layed there for a minute, waiting for the magic rush to die down. Her flank was still glowing dimly as she opened her eyes, and slowly got up. Celestia pointed to her flank. There, was not just a cutie mark, but something that Celestia only thought was a legend; the cutie spread. Upon seeing the marvelous achievement, she immediately regained her strength, and skipped around, very excited at her new cutie spread. Over in the observation room, Stardust’s parents were cheering. This was the family’s best day ever. They ran downstairs, and banged on the locked (for concentration purposes) door. Celestia opened it with her magic, and in ran Moonflower and the proudest of Proud Sky. They both had massive grins spread across their faces, and were both so unbelievably proud of Stardust’s accomplishments in just one day. Stardust two was cheerfully smiling. They hugged their beaming daugher, still with a slight glow of magic, and ruffled hair. Celestia trotted closer to them.
“Congratulations, Stardust Sky. This makes two amazing ponies who got their cutie marks-err, cutie mark, and spread during their entrance exam! The legends are true, when a pony has more magic than they are capable of expressing, their cutie mark becomes a cutie spread. Since you can’t express your pegasus and weather magic by being in the sky, and pushing clouds, that magic concentrated into the creation of your Cutie Spread.” Celestia explained. Her cutie spread was a flower, with vines and smaller flowers and stars coming from the vines. It spread down her leg, and across her side, rather than with normal ponies.
Stardust was in her room, frantically packing almost everything she owned into bags and suitcases, when Moonflower trotted in with an envelope in her mouth. She dropped it into her hoof so she could speak. “Stardust? I know you’re busy, but Princess Celestia sent you a letter, it’s probably information about your residence or whatever,” Moonflower said. Stardust floated the letter over to her, and opened the purple wax seal with Celestia’s cutie mark. She pulled out the letter, and read it aloud.
“My Dearest Stardust,
Enclosed is your room key, which opens the door when you use your magic to hold it up to the door, and use the spell, which is also enclosed. I will send one of my staff to meet you at the train station and escort you to your dorm. Once you are settled in, please teleport to my office in the school. I have a spell that I think will bring to you much pleasure. I can’t wait to see you again!
Yours Truly,
Headmistress Princess Celestia”
“Wow, this is amazing! I can’t wait to see what spell she has for me! I am going to miss you guys, though. But I can always MuzzleTime you on my piePad.” Stardust pulls out a smaller, but rather thick envelope, which says, “Celestial House, Room 248- Alicorn Suite”. She opens the envelope, and pulls out a plastic room key, with Celestia’s cutie mark, with a yellow thinner plastic between the thick silver casing with the cutie mark light. Stardust also pulled out a small note from inside of the small, bubble wrap lined envelope. It read, “This key only opens your door, and your locker, with only your magic, and had to be hoof-packed, so that only your magic would touch it. In order to activate it, use the spell on the back of this card to imprint you inside this key. Once activated, only I can deactivate it, and it can sense when somepony else is holding it, and the key saves it, so if this ever gets stolen, we can figure out who stole it.”
“That’s cool,” Stardust commented. She flipped over the letter, and performed the spell. The cutie mark glowed rainbow colors, then a pale pink like Stardust’s aura. After a few moments, the key turned off.
“I guess it’s set now,” Stardust said, having the event feel anticlimactic. She repacked both envelopes, and placed it in a small pocket in her main carry-on. She continued on with her packing, and Moonflower left the room. An hour and a half later, Stardust walked out, holding all of her bags with her magic. She put them by the door, then walked over to the couch, and flopped onto it from being completely worn out. She grabbed the TV remote, and put on My Little Bunny: Cuddles are Magic- her favorite show, even though it was made for little fillies. She put on the episode where Ditzy Doodles the yellow winged bunny, with gray hair, and a gray puffy tail destroyed the Rainbow House, which was in the center of Bunnytown. Ditzy Doodles also had one ear up, and one ear down, and wonky eyes. Stardust thought she had seen a pony like her once when she visited Ponyville, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on who it was. Moonflower trotted over to the couch right when the silly bunny said, “I really don’t know what happened” and sat next to Stardust, for some snuggles before she had to leave the next day. They cuddled on the couch and watched My Little Bunny until Proud came home from work. Last year, the three had visited BunnyCon in Baltimare, and Stardust loved every second of it. She even packed some My Little Bunny toys in her bag, along with a few posters for her room, since her room was individual, and she wasn’t going to have a roommate. When Proud walked in, he put down his stuff, got out of his work clothes, and joined Stardust on the couch as Moonflower got up to prepare a special dinner, which would end with a visit to Stardust’s favorite ice cream parlor, via teleportation.
“Hi, Dad,” Stardust said, without even looking away from the TV.
“Hey, Stardust. We got you a little going away present.” Proud Sky said, as he gestured for his wife to come over. Stardust paused the TV, and turned to him. He picked up a medium-sized wrapped box, and placed it in front of Stardust. It had pink, shiny wrapping paper, and was wrapped in a neat purple bow. Stardust undid the bow, and lifted the lid of the box. She unfolded purple velvet, which was covering some pink tissue paper, along with some silver and gold star confetti. She took out the tissue paper, and gasped at what was inside. A golden tiara lay on a pillow made from the same velvet as before. It appeared to be gold plated, and was very shiny. The tiara had a rose gold starflower* at the top, with a pink gem at the center. Vines grew from the bloom, with rose gold, and silver stars and flowers scattered about, along with more light pink, purple, and blue gems. Stardust levitated it, and examined it in awe.
“Wow….It’s-stunning….Is this real gold? What type of crystals are these? It’s all so shiny! I- uh-It’s- Thank you so much!” Stardust was at a loss for words.
“It’s gold plated, custom-made, and the crystals are amethyst, aquamarine, and pink diamond. Designed by us, based on your cutie spread, funded by Princess Celestia, and crafted by the same unicorn who makes the tiaras for all the princesses in Equestria. You are most certainly welcome. We just figured that since Celestia calls you a princess, that any princess needs a tiara. Especially if you are going to be addressed as such. I’m so glad you like it!” Moonflower said joyfully. Stardust levitated the tiara onto her head, and it looked stunning. The two parents started to tear up. Stardust walked into her bathroom, and looked in the mirror. She did look like a princess now, regal, and beautiful. She placed it into the padded purple velvet pouch that was in the box, and neatly packed it in her suitcase, so it was surrounded by clothing, stuffed animals, and would have Bluey on top of it, which she would put in the following morning, so she could sleep with him that night. After dinner, she teleported her family over to the ice cream parlor with ease, unlike her first time, where she got dizzy, and tired. They got their usual favorite flavors, and ate their ice cream, talking, and laughing, until Stardust teleported them home when they were done. Soon after, they got ready for bed, and went into bed. Stardust had to get to her train at eight A.M. in order to get to Canterlot by noon, meaning that she had to wake up at around six, if she wanted to spend time with her family. Proud was taking off, so that he could take his daughter to the train station, and comfort his wife.
Stardust grabbed Bluey, her blanket, and her pillow, and packed them into one last bag. She put on her locket, and a flowy, blue skirt. She contemplated whether she wanted to wear her tiara or not, but she decided not to, because she didn’t want too much attention drawn to herself. She had so much nervous energy; from both excitement, sadness, and nerves. She swiftly brought her bag to the front of the house, and sat on the couch. She wasn’t sitting for very long though, when Moonflower called Stardust into the dining room. When she got there, Moonflower and Proud Sky were sitting at the table, with an empty seat. At the empty seat, was a plate with chocolate chip pancakes, with strawberries and generous amounts of both vanilla and chocolate whipped cream, and a small scoop of chocolate ice cream on top.
“It’s no protein-filled healthy breakfast, but we figured you could sleep on the train. A very special breakfast for a very special day, made for a very special girl.” Moonflower said to Stardust. Stardust took her seat, and though she wasn’t hungry due to nerves, once she took the first bite, she felt hungry enough to eat a large chunk of her meal. After breakfast, she decided to have the family speedwalk to the train station, rather than teleport, so that they could spend more time together. Once they finally arrived at the train station with Stardust’s many bags, she turned to her parents.
“Whelp, here we are,” Stardust said awkwardly. “ I guess this is goodbye..” She wrapped her arms around the two crying ponies, both of which were trying to hide their sadness with their pride for their daughter.
“Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad. I’ll miss you guys so much. Love you,” She gave them a big squeeze, and a kiss for each. They had smiles on their faces, although tears were running down their faces.
“We love you dearly, and are both so proud of you, Stardust. We’ll miss you too. Bye, sweetie!” Moonflower said, as Stardust picked up her bags, and started to walk aboard the train that had just appeared.
“Bye! Love you both so much!” Stardust said, as she boarded the train. Her parents couldn’t speak, so they just waved goodbye. She walked to the back of the train and took a deep, calming breath, realizing that she had left her parents. She put most of her bags into the bag storage room, keeping her main carry-on. She walked back into the main section, as she heard the final boarding call. She ran to her seat, and looked out of the window. Moonflower and Proud Sky were looking for her window.
“Bye! Love you!” She shouted out of the open window, waving her hoof. They ran over to her window, and grasped her hoof once more in response.
“Bye, Sweetie. Love you, and we’ll miss you! But don’t worry about us, just be the best Stardust that you can be!” Moonflower encouraged. Proud Sky said his goodbyes, and the train started to pull away. Stardust waved her hoof as the train pulled away from the station, as her parents ran to catch up with it, until they reached the end of the station. Once the train had left, The two hugged each other, and sadly walked home. Once Stardust was sure that she had left, she slumped back into her comfy, almost couch-like bench, and used her magic to close the window. She grabbed her bag, and placed it next to her. She opened it, and took out her piePad. She checked her Instascroll, and posted a picture of her new tiara that she had taken earlier. A unicorn soon came down with a cart of snacks, food, refreshments, and other goods. Once the pony reached Stardust, the alicorn soon folded her wings even tighter against her body, sat up straight, and leaned against the chair, so that she wouldn’t be discovered.
“Hello, would you like anything? We have snacks, drinks, breakfast, blankets, and pillows!” She smiled. Stardust stared for a second, processing all of her many options. She wasn’t hungry, but decided to get a protein bar for later. She also got a blanket, since she could feel a sugar crash coming on sooner rather than later. With so much time, taking a nap wasn’t a bad idea, also considering how early she had woken up. It was also a bit chilly on the train, with Stardust near an air vent.
“May I please have one of those chocolate peanut butter oat bars, and a blanket?” Stardust asked.
“Sure,” The unicorn said, as she grabbed Stardust’s bar, along with a folded blanket in plastic packaging. Stardust grabbed it with her magic. “Anything else?” she asked.
“No thanks, I’m good,” Stardust responded.
“That’ll be 11 bits,” Stardust handed her bits, and the pony moved on to the next customer. Stardust put the bar in her bag, and opened the blanket, placing the plastic bag, and cardboard in her bag. She unfolded the blanket, and she layed on the seat. Stardust placed the blanket over herself, and rested her head on her fluffy front legs. She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.
Stardust awoke to the sound of hooves, and realized that she had arrived in Canterlot. She swiftly got up, and shoved the blanket in her bag. She ran to the back of the car, where the bags were stored. She grabbed all of her many bags, and hopped off the train. She saw a light blue unicorn, with beautifully wavy purple hair, pastel purple and yellow striped socks on her back hooves, wide, sweet eyes, and a purple quill over a science beaker with bubbling pink fluid inside for a cutie mark holding a sign that read “Princess Stardust Sky”. Stardust trotted over to her.
“Hi, I’m Stardust Sky, but I’m only an alicorn, not a princess,” Stardust corrected.
“Hello, Stardust. Great to meet you. Headmistress Princess Celestia said to write Princess Stardust Sky on the poster, so I guess that makes you a princess,” The unicorn explained. Stardust giggled, and they started walking.
“I’m Sparkler Berry, Princess Celestia’s advisor. But since I’m also a science teacher, and will probably be yours, you can call me Miss Berry, or Miss Sparkler,” Sparkler said. They walked up to a beautiful golden and purple chariot, with two pegasus guards pulling it.
“This is a CanterChariot! Y’know, the kind Princess Celestia herself rides in!” Stardust was in awe of her treatment. Sparkler opened the door, and out rolled a red carpet.
“After you,” Sparkler bowed. Stardust boarded the CanterChariot, and sat on the white faux leather seat. She looked at a cupholder, surprised that a chariot made for flying had cupholders. In one cupholder, was a bottle of chilled water, and in the other was a container of fancy, lightly salted, assorted nuts. Stardust was hungry, since it was noon, and she hadn’t eaten since her sugary breakfast earlier. Sparkler sat next to Stardust on the bench, and closed the door once the red carpet and finished rolling up. The guards got back into their pulling mechanism, and took flight. Stardust grabbed the assorted nuts, and started munching.
“Mmm, these are really good!” Stardust said.
“Yeah, the assorted nuts were always my favorite,” Sparkler added. “What dorm are you in, and what room? We’re almost there, we need to let the guard know where they’re going,”
“Celestial House, the Alicorn Suite,” Stardust replied.
“Ahh, room 248, the best residence on campus. You’re gonna love it.” She turned to the guards. “248, Celestial, The Alicorn Suite!” Sparkler shouted against the soft breeze. Once they arrived, Sparkler gave Stardust a hug, and wished her luck on her first day in Celestial. Stardust hopped off, and walked upstairs to her room. She took out her key, and held it up to the pad on the door. She performed the spell, then the sun-shaped light on the keycard turned green, and so did a light on the door pad. Stardust turned the door handle, and pushed open the door, The room smelled clean, like a nice hotel. It had a round, large, canopy bed, with pink tulle drapes, and perfectly fluffed pillows. Across from the bed, was a dresser, with a large flat screen above it. She walked into the living room area, with a curved purple couch, a fluffy purple rug, a glass coffee table, and a flat screen on the wall, above a TV stand. Beside the living room, was a small, but convenient kitchen, with everything Stardust needed to eat for a month in one fridge! Then, after looking out of the large, glass windows overseeing Canterlot, she walked into her bathroom, inside of the bedroom. It was well-lit, with a large mirror, white marble countertop, glass sink, a beautiful faux ceramic tub that if filled all the way to the top, Stardust could drown in it, and a large, raining shower. The suite was lovely, and Stardust felt that she didn’t need such great treatment, although she rather enjoyed it. She opened her suitcase, pulled out Bluey, and set him on her bed. She grabbed her pillow and blanket, and put those in place as well. She took the purple velvet pouch out, and carefully took out the tiara, and the pillow. She placed them on her nightstand, along with a few My Little Bunny toys. She put away her clothes, and brushed her mane and tail. She was still hungry, since some nuts weren’t enough to hold her over for very long. She took out her protein bar, and ate half of it. Once she was done prepping herself, she decided to put on her tiara for Princess Celestia, and grabbed her small saddlebag, to hold the tiara pouch, and her room key. Once she was sure that she was ready, she teleported to the door directly outside of Headmistress Princess Celestia’s office. She took a deep breath, opened the door, and trotted in. Celestia looked up from her desk, smiled, and stood up.
“Princess Stardust Sky, a pleasure to see you again. I see you have received me and your parents’ goodbye and welcome gift?” Celestia walked up to Stardust with a scroll.
“Yes, it’s beautiful, I love it. You said you had a spell for me?” Stardust asked. She was eager to find out what spell Celestia had in store for her.
“The spell I have for you is an effort in collaboration with Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight’s student, and her friend, and former student of mine, Sunburst. I took the spell you performed during your entrance exam, along with my alicorn spell that I used on Princess Twilight and altered them, mixing them together with their help. I think we have come up with a spell that can change the anatomy of your wings, and make them grow. Remember when your feather grew to the size of an alicorn feather, and and had blue speckles and blue at the tip? The spell should make your feathers grow, and make your wings change, hopefully making your wings like Princess Twilight’s, and ultimately, functional. The one downside is, that it takes an immense amount of magic. Just performing the spell as it was seemed to drain you of energy, and I don’t want you to lose your magic by straining it too much. So, even though helping Twilight with her spell was a bad idea, I know this will be for the better. You will do as much as you feel comfortable with, and I will contribute the rest of the power needed to successfully perform the spell. Are you ready to begin?” Princess Celestia asked. She handed Stardust the scroll, and she read it through, and made sure she understood it.
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” Stardust said willingly, as she placed her saddlebag and tiara off to the side. She took one final look at the spell, then closed her eyes to concentrate. Her horn started to glow. A glowing orb started to surround her, as wind blew her hair. Her wings began to tingle, her feathers growing longer, and gaining pale blue faded tips. Then, the tingling got worse, and turned into a small pain. She started to moan from tingling, pain, and magic usage, her eyes tightly shut. Celestia knew that it was time to help her. Celestia’s horn lit up, the yellow magic of Celestia mixing with Stardust’s pink. The glowing grew brighter, and Stardust let the princess take over more control. The light became blinding, with Stardust in much pain from the growing and shaping of muscle and bone, and new feathers growing and forming. Celestia hoped the spell would work, and that her student was okay. The orb shifted into the shape of a starflower, and it lowered to the floor. It glowed once more, then dimmed, and went away, revealing Stardust, laying on the floor. Celestia trotted over to her.
“Stardust? Are you okay?!? Did the spell work? How do you feel?” Celestia asked, as she kneeled down to help her student. Stardust opened her eyes, and slowly stood up.
“I’m fine, my wings just hurt, and I feel pretty worn out from the spell. I don’t know if it worked,” Stardust said. Celestia was relieved that she was okay.
“Here, let me help you with the pain,” Princess Celestia replied. Her horn lit up, and her magic surrounded Stardust’s folded wings. After a small tingling sensation, the pain went away, and soothed Stardust. She now had the strength to open her wings. Stardust gracefully opened her wings, revealing wide, beautiful, pale pink wings with light blue at the tips. They were amazing. Better than even Stardust could have ever dreamed. Her dream had finally came true, and with the help of some flying lessons, she would soon be soaring free. She closed her wings, placed her tiara back on her head, and fixed her hair, as it was pretty windblown.
“THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER! Better than the day you told me about Twilight being related to me! Better than that same day when I got my cutie spread! I can’t believe it, Celestia, but you have managed to make my dreams come true, and for that, I thank you! You are my favorite princess!” Stardust joyfully cheered and skipped around Headmistress Princess Celestia. Celestia felt great that she had made her student happy. Stardust suddenly stopped skipping when she got a rush of dizziness and exhaustion. She felt as if she could hardly stand. Celestia levitated her, so she could rest her muscles.
“Don’t worry, I have you. It’s only a side effect of doing such a powerful spell, and having my magic pressure on you. It drains your energy, but as long as you keep your magic and body at rest, you’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about,” Celestia said soothingly. “I will teleport you to your room, so you can rest for the rest of the day. By tomorrow, you should be okay. You still have a few days until school officially starts, and this spell is why I wanted you sooner. I wanted you to get your wings fixed, regain your energy, and start basic flying lessons, so you can be the only one flying down the halls,” Celestia added. Stardust smiled, and softly nodded her head. She blinked slowly, obviously still drained.
“See you tomorrow, Stardust,” Celestia said before teleporting both Stardust and her saddlebag back to her room. Stardust landed softly onto her bed, her saddlebag landing next to it, and her tiara moving back onto its pillow. Stardust got under her blanket, cuddled Bluey, and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 13- Soaring, Strong Friendships- Age 8 and 4 mo. (16 in Pony Years)
When Stardust woke up the next morning, she had almost forgotten what had happened the day before, until she saw that her wings were wrapped around herself, a feat that she thought she would never in a million years be able to do. She sat up, and stretched her hooves. Her wings stretched along with them. She closed her wings, then prepared for her day. She put on her tiara, grabbed her saddlebag, and teleported to Headmistress Princess Celestia’s office.
“Good morning, Stardust. I see you’re feeling better,”
“Yeah, I feel so much better after resting in bed yesterday. I just came here to see where I need to go for flight classes,” Stardust responded. Celestia walked over to the door.
“Well, before you go, I thought you might need some support,” Celestia opened the door, and three unicorns walked in with smiling faces. Stardust gasped, and ran over to hug them.
“Night! Bubblegum! Sunshine! Oh, how great it is to see you three! I haven’t seen you in what feels like forever! Oh, and Night! You got your cutie mark!” Night’s cutie mark was a white star, with a pale pink star in the center. The three ponies looked the same as before, just taller, and more grown up.
“Stardust! It did feel like forever! WHOA! When Headmistress Princess Celestia said you were an alicorn now, she wasn’t kidding! Well, you were always an alicorn, just now you can fly,” Sunshine said ecstatically. Stardust giggled. The three hadn’t changed a bit.
“The flight training place is 43 Scholar Row. It’s not far, I recommend you walk, so you four can catch up,” Celestia added.
“Thanks, Headmistress Princess Celestia,” Stardust said as they walked out of her office. Stardust teleported them to the front of the school, and they began walking to the flight lessons.
“So, how’d you get your cutie mark Night?” Stardust asked.
“Well, I did a spell that turned a star temporarily pink, and it shined like the moon. Then, this appeared. I made it, hoping you would see it, and find me…” Night said. Stardust gasped.
“I was wondering what that bright pink light in the sky that night was! It was you? Wow! That’s amazing!” Stardust said as she hugged him. Night felt soothed, and comfy against her soft fluff and feathers. In that moment, Stardust felt a connection; something that she hadn’t felt before. She had just realized something that would change the course of her life forever- She liked Night. Stardust blushed, and her eyes went small the moment she realized it. She blinked it away, and decided to go with it, knowing that he liked her too. They had always cared for each other, and Stardust being an alicorn never was a problem, and never had any influence on anything. Soon they arrived at the flight lessons. A blue pegasus stallion with orange hair awaited Stardust.
“You must be Princess Stardust. Princess Celestia told me about you, she’s the one that scheduled the lessons,” He bowed, and Stardust felt awkward. Her friends playfully bowed as well. They stood back up, and continued.
“So you want to learn the basics of flying? It’s pretty simple to get off the ground. Princess Twilight learned quickly, so I have faith in you, princess. Celestia told me about how your wings came to be like this, so I know what you went through. Let’s begin.” Stardust’s friends stood back. “First, open your wings. I think that’s pretty obvious though, haha. Flap up. Fast down. Thrust up. Thrust down. Faster now, you’ve got it! Thrust up, thrust down. Up, down, up down, up down up down up down! There you go!” Stardust had started hovering, even though she was a little floppy. Large wings were still very new to her. She flew a bit higher with the teacher’s direction, and she evened out her flapping.
“Okay, Princess, now try flying forward. Just lean forward slightly, and move your wings. Don’t stop flapping, unless you’re going too fast, want to glide, land, or slow down. Keep your hooves closer to your body, that’s it, good, now gently lean forward. There you go, good! Turning is simple, too. Just angle your body to the direction you want to turn, while going forward. Try a right turn. Careful, now, don’t flip over. Good, keep turning, nice! Stay steady there, you’re doing great. Try a left turn now, don’t lean too much. Good, keep steady. Nice! Now to land, simply flap slower, and lower your hooves. Slower and lower, slower and lower. Good, great job, Princess!” Stardust carefully landed. “Now try doing the same things without me,” Stardust was up for the challenge, and she thrust off of the ground, and spread her wings. She flapped, and turned with ease, flying faster than before. She teleported in mid air towards her friends, and accidentally came bounding towards them.
“Look out!” Stardust said, as she spread her wings like a parachute, and braced her hooves for a rough landing. She crashed into the grass, and knocked her friends into a pile.
“Whoops, looks like I still need some practice on the whole magic-wing-hoof coordination…” Stardust giggled. Her friends joined in.
“Well, I’ll see you on Tuesday for your next lesson. Bye, your majesty,” He bowed.
“I’m not actually a- Just, Stardust is fine, thanks. Bye!” Stardust said as they trotted away. Stardust decided to walk, instead of hover, so she could talk to her friends. Stardust’s eyes met with Night’s. He seemed… handsomer than she last knew him. And Stardust...seemed prettier grown up, especially with her tiara and wings. They both blushed when they realized what was happening. They both acted awkward for the rest of the walk back to campus. Sunshine and Bubblegum figured out what was happening, and they giggled at the cuteness of NightDust. Stardust knew that the three had been thinking about applying for Celestia’s school, so once they got back, she decided to finally speak.
“I’m going back to my room, where are you guys staying? Or are you going back to Glimmerville already?” Stardust asked.
“We’re staying here. All of us. We’re going here too, we all got in! I’m in Lunar, room 347.” Sunshine said. Stardust grew even happier.
“I’m in Lunar, too. Room 328.” Bubblegum added.
“I’m in Celestial, room 254,” Night added. Stardust’s face glowed.
“I’m in Celestial, the Alicorn Suite, room 248! You’re only a few doors down from me!” Stardust beamed. “Can’t wait to see you guys in class! See ya!” Stardust said as she and Night walked teleported outside of Stardust’s room.
“Mind if I come by later? For...dinner maybe?” Night nervously asked.
“Of course you can, I would love if you joined me,” Stardust replied.
“So…..it’s settled then?” Night asked.
“It’s a date,” Stardust said, as she walked into her room. Once the door closed, she cheered in delight. She was having dinner with her fillyhood friend who she also happened to secretly love. And he loved her too.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN- Romance with NightDust- Age 8 and 4 mo. (16 in pony years)
Stardust put on a long, flowy, purple skirt, with a sparkling waistband, her locket, and her tiara, and laid on her bed. She was MuzzleTiming Moonflower and Proud Sky on her piePad until Night came over, since she was still early. This is their conversation:
Stardust: Hi, guys! Moonflower: Hi, sweetie! How were your first two days there? What spell did Celestia want to show you? Stardust: They were great! Headmistress Princess Celestia wanted to show me a spell that would make my feathers and wings form and grow, and she helped me cast it. :she opens her wings: Both parents: Wow! We’re so proud of you, honey! Can you fly yet? Stardust: I just had some starter lessons today, so a little. Just the basics, flying, turning, landing, that kind of thing. And, guess who else is going here? Proud Sky: Who? Stardust: Night Comet, Bubblegum Rose, and Sunshine Fields! I’m so happy! Moonflower: That’s great! May I ask why you are dressed so nice, when you are just laying in bed? Stardust: Well, let’s just say I like Night more than I thought I did…. He’s coming over for dinner any minute. We’re both still weird about it. Moonflower: That’s so cute! Aww, honey, look, her first date… Stardust: It’s not really a date, he just lives a few doors down, and he wanted to come over to my room for dinner. But I am excited. I really do like him, as a friend, and as a special somepony.
Stardust hears a knock at her door.
“Gotta go, he’s here. Bye!” Stardust said, as she hung up, and trotted over to the door. She opened the door to see Night, wearing a bowtie, and holding a starflower in his aura.
“Hi, Stardust. I noticed your cutie mark was a flower, so I did some research, and here. I used my magic to get you a starflower, the kind of flower that’s in the center of your cutie….”
“Spread. Cutie Spread. Thanks, it’s beautiful! I’ll have to put this in a glass or something, come on in,” Stardust said as she led Night inside, got a glass, and filled it with water. She placed it in the center of her round, wooden, dining room table, and gestured for Night to sit down.
“Wow, this is a nice room. Mine’s way smaller,” Night commented.
“It’s the Alicorn Suite, since I’m Celestia’s “little princess”...” Stardust sighed. “I just don’t need all of the royal attention. I want to be treated like a normal pony,” Stardust admitted.
“Well, in my opinion, you are no normal pony. You are Princess Stardust Sky, and you are the sweetest, strongest, kindest mare I’ve ever met, and I’ve always cared for you, and looked out for you, never because you were an alicorn. At times, I would even forget that you had both wings and a horn! I guess I care about you more than I thought I did before…” Night added. For the rest of the time, they ate, laughed, talked, and had fun.
“This was really nice, Night. We need to do this again. Promise not to tell Sunshine and Bubblegum that we’re...y’know…..together?” Stardust asked.
“I promise. You have to promise too, Star!”
“Okay, I promise. See you tomorrow?”
“See you tomorrow,” Night said. “Wait, one more thing.”
“What?” Night kissed her cheek.
“Bye,” Night said as he walked away. Stardust stood with the open door in shock. She blushed with wide eyes.
“B-Bye…” Stardust said into the air. She closed the door, and walked back inside.
“Something tells me, that I’m gonna like magic school,”