A world with 9 interconnected realms, 8 arbiters are chosen by the Cosmic Tree that connects them. They must unite to find harmony and prevent the coming of a prophecized tragedy.
Within a world of realms held by a wondrous tree known as the Cosmic Tree, Lune Star, a deceptive and studious young unicorn, desires to find her place in the world. One day, she is given an opportunity to unravel her destiny when she learns the existence of a Norn spirit. Never did she realize this would mark her beginning to an adventure that would decide the fate of her world.
The world began with a single seed. A life sparked within the infinite space.
The seed is said to have sprouted endless roots until it formed a tree. One so massive that it became the world itself known as the Cosmic Tree.
Within its many branches, the trees sprung new universes. Nine realms in total that housed unique biomes and natives to carve their stories.
Ponies started nearestthe peak of the Cosmic Tree. They thrived in a realm showered in the breathtaking glimmer of the Sun and Moon. The realm of light, Sollothus.
Despite the wonder of their homeland, ponies became curious about the world beyond their own. And thus, many set forth to descend the branches of the Cosmic Tree.
From their journey, ponies met the marvels of numerous realities and creatures wholly different from themselves. Enchanted by the realms, some settled in each as their new home.
After several generations within the realms, their bodies went through extravagant evolutions and melded in the worlds as new natives. Casting aside shimmering wings and light, ponies embodied the element of their respective realms:
Ogomund, the Realm of Flames.
Eklaria, the Realm of Seas.
Nimbus, the Realm of Skies.
Anidell, the Realm of Stone.
Iphelon, the Realm of Storms.
Ivitall, the Realm of Snow.
Athos, the Realm of Giants.
Mutebis, the Realm of Shadows.
Upon their conversation, the ruler of Sollothus sought to establish a bond between the realms. A unity amongst the eight realms to create everlasting peace amid the Cosmic Tree.
A grey mare strolled through the glittery cobblestones of Illuma, the capital of Sollothus. Infinite light showered her and the crowds, themselves garbed with the unyielding radiance so typical within the realm.
Ponies passed by her in a plaza. They donned lustrous garments of gold and silk. Ribbons big and small adorned their manes, dresses, and vests quite slim yet heavy from lavish ornaments.
Pure luminance was common in the Realm of Light. And it couldn’t annoy the grey mare more.
Its endless creep has been a bane to the mare’s existence for her whole life. Her home felt like staring into an overly burnished gem, disorientating to her eyes.
Its gaudiness never ceased to vex the mare. She despised her world the most for it. And the mare knew the world felt mutual towards her.
These natives who loved to flaunt their status with wasteful luxuries disgusted the mare. Was the blaring light around them not enough? Did they need to cast themselves in so many blinding lights wherever they went? They threatened to burn the mare’s eyes blind with their heaps of junk.
Well, if they were so amped to put on snazzy fineries, then they shouldn’t mind a few missing bits, she thought.
Within the plaza of glamorous merchants and pedestrians, a stocky mare was marked as the grey mare’s victim. Her cheeks and proportions were plump as a well-fed sow. She dressed in a fur coat and thick brocade on a sunny day. This mare was practically begging for someone to loosen her up.
The grey mare wore a sly grin as she melded with the crowd. With prismatic patterns of mares, griffons, and elks strolling the plaza, she found herself easy to blend in.
The crowd flowed like a river, and she rode it downstream until she drew near her target.
The grey mare glanced at the stocky mare’s purse, adorned in gold and silver. It was small, yet bulky. It must be flooded of delightful bits for her to strip away.
The grey mare harnessed her horn to cast a dual spell. One to quickly clear the color of her red magic and another to slither her magic into her left hoof.
Her magic stripped the color from her hoof, rendering it invisible.
The mare acted fast. She thrusted her hoof into the stocky mare’s purse, phasing inside like a phantom. She then retreated her hoof into her own purse, in-and-out just how she likes it.
As she converged into a different stream of pedestrians in the plaza, the grey mare smiled at the bulk of weight the gold and silver purse had lost. She happily patted her stuffed purse.
The mare continued to another part of the plaza, hoping to distance herself from her plundered victims. As she followed the flow of the crowd, she noted a figure skipping atop the roofs of shopping stands.
It was a squirrel. One with a leather purse strapped to its side.
When the squirrel drew near the grey mare, it descended from a roof and strode over the back of pedestrians until it settled on the mare’s.
“So, how much did you get?” The squirrel asked.
“I think a good morsel,” the mare answered. “Not enough for her to care, I bet. She would probably think she had spent them herself.”
The squirrel chuckled and took out a large nut coated in powdered honey. “You’re a shrewd one, Lune Star. I wouldn’t expect less from my little sis.” He took a large bite from the nut, chewing merrily in his now bloated cheeks.
“It’s not my fault they make themselves easy, Ratty,” Star said. “Maybe if they weren’t so distracted with their popularity, they’d be more mindful of their surroundings.”
Lune Star knew pickpocketing to be a despicable act. However, the art to its trickery had always fascinated her ever since she first witnessed it as a filly.
“And who knows,” Star continued. “Maybe I’ll get good enough to take from mom. That’d be a nice milestone in my growth, don’t you think?”
Ratty laughed. “You might be cunning, but nothing ever goes past a mare like her.”
“Are you sure you want to say that?” Star nodded at the nut within Ratty’s claws. “And will you stop eating that in the open. You know mom probably has the guards watching us.”
“Stop being such a worry-wart. We already have it covered, right?
Star gave her brother a flat look. “You don’t even see your contradiction, do you?”
Ratty had already finished through his third nut of powdered honey. He licked the powder stained on his claws like a popsicle. “It won’t matter since you’re going to replace it with another batch, right? You just have to make sure she doesn’t catch you in the act.”
“Hopefully, she won’t give me one of her body searches. She acts like she can’t trust me with anything.”
“You know how she is. She wants to bring the best out of us. Too bad for her yours happen to be partly the opposite of what she likes.”
“It’s not my fault I’m wired this way.”
Star continued to down a path of passing brickwork homes coated in glitter swarming like fireflies. With the light overabundant across the land, the darkness was something of rarity.
A dull arrangement in Star’s eyes.
However, a cry from a foal relinquished her boredom. She noted the desperation bleeding in its voice.
Star found a filly standing before a merchant’s stand full of toys, candies, and accessories. A young mare stood next to the filly and tried to pull the filly away. From the stand.
“But sis,” the filly cried. “I really want the teddy bear. Please, please, please, let me have it.”
Her sister frowned at her. “I’ve already told you that I can’t waste bits on it. We’re supposed to be picking up an order for our parents.”
“But sis, I want it!”
“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the mare apologized to the feigned smiling merchant. Star could tell the merchant took no pleasure from their presence. “We’ll get out of your way right this moment.”
The older sister summoned magic from her horn and enshrouded her sister in a blue aura. She walked off from the stall as she drifted the filly at her side.
“But Sis!” The filly cried. She looked back and saw the teddy bear shrinking from her sight. She let out a dejected sigh. Her head hung low, knowing she wouldn’t have the plush toy.
Star eyed at the fleeting filly. She expected more of a fight from her. Sollotheans can be quite demanding when they don’t have their way, especially from their foals. And yet here this filly was defying the norm.
Star curved a smile on her lips. “Well, aren’t you the humbled one.”
Star came upon the merchant and requested for the teddy bear. With her stolen bits, she purchased the plush toy along with a gift box to stuff it in.
“Ratty,” Star called her brother.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ratty said. “I know the drill here.” He grabbed the box and stuffed it in his purse. A string of mysterious writings lit a yellow glow on his purse as the box fell inside. Despite the box’s large size, it fit easily inside of his purse as if it was never there.
Ratty hopped off from Star and climbed through the constructs around the plaza. Star followed Ratty from the crowd. Because of their difference in size, Ratty could garner more distance in a thick crowd than her.
But there was no need to rush. Her path led to a single direction and eventually she found Ratty atop the back of the elder sister. He presented the box and the filly gleefully accepted it.
The filly would never know who blessed her with this generosity, and Star preferred it that way. The last thing she wanted was to be fawned over like the strutting folks of Illuma.
And so, it was left to Ratty to endure the filly’s loving hug.
They eventually regrouped at another part of the plaza to retain her anonymity from the sisters. Her brief generosity left a smile on her face, but it didn’t take long for the light to annoy her again.
Would there ever be a day she gets a break from the light?
“Oi, Star-filly!” Star perked at a gruff voice.
Star traced the sound to a hardwood stand on a side of the plaza. Its construct lacked the shine reflected across the Realm of Light. An array of rusty and ancient objects could be found shelved in its interior.
And before its counter stood an old grey griffon waving a claw composed of iron.
A vigor lit in Star’s step as she diverged from the crowd and greeted the griffon, “Morning Gilfred. How is my favorite old bird doing?”
The old griffon grinned. “Bout time you showed your face. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”
“Would’ve been the best thing she ever thought of,” Ratty grumbled behind Star’s neck.
“Oh please,” Star chuckled, waving her hoof dismissively. “You’re like one of the only few folks I can stand in this place. I might have enjoyed too much of my time off this morning. Usually my mom would train me so ragged on the field that I stay bedridden through the afternoon.”
“Your mother, eh?” Gilfred stroked his goatee. “Can’t help ya there. But you’re a smart filly. I’m sure you can figure something out.”
“Wow, is that all I get?” Star said, disappointed. “You’re not going to fear something that could help me from my cruel predicament?”
“Fraid not, filly.” Gilfred shook his head. “I don’t think there’s anything that could stop that beast you call your mother. Although, I could grant you something to stratify that curious mind of yours.”
Star assessed Gilfred’s collection of ancient artifacts stocked across his stand. His relics were neatly sorted in shelves and strings. They looked centuries old and stained of collected dust and rust. However, Star could find small traces of smooth surface
Star clapped her hooves. “Oh yes, I would love that.”
“Why not quit while your purse is heavy,” Ratty urged. They’re all just junk, anyway.”
“I assure you that none you see here are by no means junk,” Gilfred assured. “Especially the relic I offer exclusively to you, Star. You see, this particular thing I found sitting on the seabed of Eklaria.”
“For real?” Star gasped, intrigued. Ratty gave his sister a dirty look, to which she ignored. “But the seas of Eklaria are known to be at least over twelve kilometers deep. How did you manage such a feat?”
“It was on a day when I sailed the Realm of Seas with my younger brother,” Gilfred began in a dramatic tone. “The sea was as vast and eternal as the deserts of Ogomund. It was by chance when we happened upon a gaping hole in the sea. A hole that sunk so deep that it pierced straight into the underside of the ocean.”
“It made its own space within the ocean?” Star said, fascinated. “That has to be a repulsion function, but for it to stretch so far is unimaginable. You landed on a gold mine.”
“That I did.” Gilfred proudly nodded. “And traveling down that empty hole was quite a spectacle. However, with it buried so deep, it’s inevitable to get spooked. Had it turned off at any moment, I’d be another treasure for the sea.”
Ratty rolled his eyes. “Then why not hire Merponies to fetch it for you?” He suggested. “Pretty stupid for a land creature to dig something up from the bottom of the ocean.”
“Feh.” Gilfred smirked. “And let them take a piece of the wealth? No way. I don’t share unless it is I who is reaping all the benefits.”
“Then it’s not sharing!” Ratty retorted. “Star, can we please go now? I’m getting sick of this old coot.”
“Play nice, Ratty,” Star urged. Ratty grumbled to himself and averted his gaze elsewhere to munch on another powdered nut from his purse. Star shrugged. “So, how does it work?”
A sly grin laced on the old griffon. “Ah, a good question that is. I could tell you of all its secrets, but don’t you think its mystery is the true appeal? A tool this ancient and unique must hold a heck of secrets to the rune language and previous cultures that we have long forgotten. I’m sure you’re just itching to unravel all it has to give.”
“Aww, you know me so well. So, how long are you going to keep me waiting in anticipation? Let me see it.”
“Sure thing, Star-filly.” Gilfred sifted under his counter and withdrew a cube composed of obsidian. It was as big as Star’s hoof and blemished with yellow stains Star had recognized . Cosmic sap, a material integral to a language as old as the cosmos.
“What is she supposed to do with that?” Ratty questioned. “You can’t even read the words anymore.”
“I don’t expect a boorish mind like your own to understand the true value of this relic,” Gilfred argued. “You lack keen eyes like me and Star.”
“It is an interesting offer,” Star commented, rumbling through her purse with her magic.
“Star!” Ratty hopped in front of her. “Don’t tell me you’re really going to buy this junk. You know he’s just a scammer, right?”
Star arched an eyebrow. “Ratty, don’t say that about Gilfred. I’ve bought countless artifacts from him. I would know by now if I was being swindled.”
“Maybe if you stop putting him up on a pedestal! Do you honestly believe that some old bird went off on some random part of the ocean of Eklaria and just randomly came across a rune tool defying nature?”
“I’d also like to remind you that I went through a lot of trouble grabbing this thing out of the sea,” Gilfred said. “Descending the depths of the ocean like Eklaria is no simple task for an old griffon.”
“That’s your own fault,” Ratty argued. “And that’s if your little tale is even true.”
“I see,” Star said, rubbing her chin inquisitively. “So, how much for the cube?”
Ratty’s jaw fell. “Star! You shouldn’t do this. How can you trust this bird over me?”
“He’s an adventurer, Ratty,” Star answered. “Or have you forgotten that? No creature could come up with so many vivid experiences across the realms unless it had actually happened to them.”
Star whisked a dozen of bits from her purse. With her magic, she circled them into a stack before her. “Will this much do?” Star asked.
“Hold on!” a voice rang in Star’s ear as brown magic intervened with hers. It heaved the bits away from her and into the hoof of a silver stallion garnered in gold armor.
“Chipped Flint?” Star said. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” he asked back, his glance curbed in disapproval.
“C’mon, Chip,” Star huffed. “I just want a trinket to study. If I’m gonna be a slave to my mother’s agonizing sessions, then I at least deserve something for the trouble.”
“And would your mother approve of using your allowance to buy random items on the street?” Chip countered. “I don’t think she gave you bits for that purpose.”
“By the realms! Why are you such a goody-two-shoes? I liked you more when you listened to everything I said.”
“Well, unfortunately for you, I’m not as naive as I used to be. I’m no longer that artless colt you can manipulate at your leisure.”
Star rolled her eyes. “You say it like it’s a bad thing. You were having just as much fun as I was.”
“Also, you’re still a bit artless,” Ratty added. “Even as a guard to the capital, you’d still run to her beckon call. You’re not even compensated for all her trouble you throw yourself in. A typical shining armor.”
“Who else is she going to rely on to save her?” Chip argued, though a blush weighed his cheeks. “Somepony has to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself on her misadventures.”
“That’d be mom’s job,” Ratty said. “And she does a really good job.”
“For now,” Star grumbled.
“Excuse me!” Gilfred made his presence known. “We still have a matter of an exclusive offer to carry out.”
Chip narrowed his eyes at the obsidian cube and then onto the old griffon. “I know Star has a terrible tendency to manipulate others, but I still don’t like when others do that to her.” He reverted his gaze to Lune Star. “And you should learn to be more conservative with your bits. You know this would upset your mother.”
“Oh please,” Star scoffed. “I can easily make up the bits I’ve used.”
Chip gaped and then narrowed his eyes at the mare. “You got a lot of gall saying that in front of a Sollothean guard. I’m still on my shift, you know?”
Star shook her head. “Oh, Chip, when will you ever learn to stop being such a stiff? Learn to live a little.”
“I am,” Chip argued. “As a respectable guard of Sollothus. And as my close friend, I would hope for you to respect that.”
“Then I guess we’re at an impasse.” Star shrugged. “I want to buy the relic, but you don’t want me to spend my bits. If only there was some way to resolve this predicament?”
“Well,” Ratty spoke, staring at Chip’s purse strapped next to his armor. “If Chip is so against it, he could always buy it himself.”
“What?” Chip said, surprised by the suggestion. “Why would I do that?”
“Because you know what it means for me to study runes,” Star answered. “It’s one of the few passions I have in this world. And I would be mortified to be denied that passion. Is that what you want? For me to be sad?”
Chip panicked before the doleful face of Lune Star. “You’re not playing fair, Star,” Chip complained.
“Do I ever?”
Chip gritted his teeth. He wanted to stay strong before this temptress, but he knew she could see through him. She knew he was drawn to her happiness.
“Er… fine.” Chip sighed. He returned Star’s bits into her purse and withdrew his own. Gilfred smugly grinned as Chip surrendered a dozen of his hard-earned bits to the griffon.
“Will this do?” Chip asked, his tone dull.
Gilfred juggled the bits in his makeshift claw of iron and then shrugged. “Eh, why not.” He tossed the obsidian cube for Star to grab with her magic and store it in her purse.
Ratty shook his head in disappointment. “Always the chump, huh, Chip?”
“Oh, be quiet,” Chip grumbled. “You’re the one encouraging her behavior.” He sifted through his purse to count his remaining bits.
Before Chip could finish, Star pounced on him with a hug. “Thank you so much, Chip. Don’t worry. Since I like you, I’ll be sure to pay you back.”
Chip’s face burned red. His hooves shook at Star’s side, contemplating with his mind and desire whether to reciprocate the hug. “Oh, it's no trouble,” he said with a cracked voice.
“If you two are done,” Ratty said. “I’d like to get going. All this swindling today is making me hungry.”
As if you’ve done any, Star thought.
Chip raised a brow at Ratty. “Are you saying there were more?”
Star hurriedly pushed on Chip, prodding him to walk the plaza at her side. “You know, I think Yuki and Yori may be at the cafe around this time. How about we join them for a meal, my treat.”
Ratty climbed back atop Star’s back. “Well, we can’t say no to a free meal, right?”
“Why do you always have to act so cheap?” Chip asked. “You shouldn’t have your younger sister pay for your things.”
“What do you mean? It’s not her bits she’s paying with.”
“Hey, mom gave me her bits, so they’re good as mine,” Star argued. At least that’s what planned to go with.
Gilfred watched them disappear into the crowd as he shook his new bits in his claws. “That mare is out of his league,” he said. “Way too sly for a colt scout like him.”
The light of Sollothus beamed upon a luxurious cafe. Its outdoor tables brimmed with customers, they relished in the sight of the public garden planted with radiant florae across the street.
An umbrella propped on their table secured them from the heat of the sun. Although, the umbrella was enchanted with runes that radiated its shade to neon light for its guest.
They dined with class and etiquette. No matter where they went on their leisure, they would always be sure to preserve the look of their status. However, there was a rowdy bunch among this fine setting that couldn’t care less.
A pink mare raised from her seat at a table with a large cup in her hoof. A pale blue mare sat idly next to her with a small cup of hibiscus tea. If not for their distinct color, nobody may tell which were who off at first glance.
“Three, two, one,” the pink mare counted. “Go!”
All at once the pink mare and her friends, Star, Ratty, and Chip chugged their large cup of strawberry açaí. Each took large gulps from their drinks. A few splashes fell from Ratty’s, staining his brown fur a darkish pink.
Chip was the first to. Lay his cup on the table with a refreshing sigh. “Guess I’m the winner.”
Star and the pink mare were the next to finish their cup. Star gasped for air and then glowered at the victorious stallion.
“This is clearly not a fair match,” she complained. “Your body has a bigger build than all of us combined.”
Ratty dropped his cup, though half of his açaí remained in his cup. “Nuh—uh,” Ratty breathed. “You can’t make that excuse. You’re like five or six times my size.”
“Honestly,” Chip started, “did not imagine your treat to be drinking contests. At least the refreshment is good.”
“Did you know Dwarven ponies do this as a hobby?” the pink mare said. “They would start a merry crowd cheering the drinkers who can hold their head in the game. I’ve always wanted to try it myself.”
“Then you’re doing it all wrong, Yori,” the pale blue mare said. “A Dwarven drinking contest culturally involves the consumption of alcohol, not fruit drinks. And since none of you have had that poison in your life, I doubt any of you would last long.”
The pale blue mare took a sip from her small cup of hibiscus tea as she flipped the page of a book she was reading.
“I’d never agree to this if that was the case, Yuki,” Chip remarked. “I can’t be drinking on the job.”
“I find it odd that you would mark Star as a part of your job,” Yuki said with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s not that surprising. Keeping an eye on her protects the wallets of countless Sollotheans she would have gone through.”
Yori laughed. “Oh please. You can’t fool us. We know you just like to be around her.”
“I’m being serious!” Chip argued. Despite the firmness in his voice, the apple blush on his face worked against his stance. “Who else is going to stop her if I’m not around?”
“Not that you did, I expect,” Yuki said. “I presume she’s already pilfered a few of your bits already, hasn’t she?”
“Of course not,” Chip said. “The only bits she has taken are the ones I spent to buy her an odd cube she wanted to get.”
Yuki gave a disappointed glance at Chip. “She talked you into buying it, didn’t she?”
“I...” Chip started, but lost his train of thought. Or better yet, he didn’t have a clear refute. “She didn’t give me much of a choice!”
“You should know better than to feed into her bad behavior.” Yuki sighed.
“You guys want to see it?” Star asked, but did not bother to wait for a response. She gleefully withdrew the obsidian cube from her purse and laid it on the table for her friends to bear witness. She wore a smug grin at her friends’ marveled reactions. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Ooh,” Yori said, leaning over for a closer look. “It looks so ominous.”
“I guess so,” Star admitted. “But get this. The cube is mentioned capable of producing a towering force field so tall that it can plunge a hole into the sea of Eklaria.”
“According to Gilfred,” Chip added.
“Gilfred,” Yuki said. “You mean the scammer.”
“He’s not a scammer!” Star retorted. “Gilfred is an adventurer that’s been on many journeys across the realms. I won’t let you guys talk badly of him.”
“It’s better to not argue with her,” Ratty advised. “We’d be stuck here all day.”
Yori rubbed her hoof on the cube, noting the smeared sap. “It looks to be in pretty awful shape. I don’t think you will be taking this trinket for a spin anytime soon.”
“All I need to do is fix the markings,” Star said. “Then I can replicate it to make my own.”
Yuki shook her head dismissively. “If you plan to repair it, then you may want to hurry to the restoration lab before they close in a few hours.”
Star groaned in response. “I can’t take it there. They’ll have me wait months or even a few years before they put it back together.”
“Oh, I agree," Yuki concurred. "But unfortunately the restoration lab possesses the only known method to repair damaged rune tools. Scholars to this day are still looking for new headways to speed up the process, but all have so far come empty-hoofed.”
“Then I’ll just have to figure out my own way then,” Star concluded. “If you want something done right, then you have to do it yourself.”
“You missed my point, but I’m sure that doesn’t matter to you,” Yuki deadpanned.
“That’s the spirit,” Yori cheered. “I just know that beautiful, diabolical mind of yours will find a way.”
“Please don’t encourage her,” Chip said.
Yuki took another sip of her hibiscus tea before she spoke, “You know, I’ve been hearing an odd rumor going around Illuma.”
Star perked to this. “Hm? Like what?”
“Well, folks have been talking about a mysterious spirit in Sollothus that is can grant predictions of one’s future.”
“You mean like a Norn?” Chip wondered.
Yuki shrugged. “Possibly. Norn are the only breed known to have a close connection with the Cosmic Tree. A bond so close that it granted them the ability to peer years or even decades into the future.”
“Something as rare as that would definitely be guarded by the royalties of the eight realms,” Star argued. “Can’t say I’m surprised. I would think many would jump at the chance to know their fate.”
Me especially.
“I wouldn’t believe in strange tales like that,” Ratty said after munching on the last strawberries. “Either that rumor came from a jokester or a crazed looney.”
“Well, I sure hope it’s true,” Yori bubbled. “If I had the chance to meet the spirit, I’d like to know if sis and I’s time at Nimbus won’t be a waste of time.”
Star quirked a brow at the pink mare. “What are you talking about?”
“Yori!” Yuki glared at her sister.
“Oops.” Yori gasped before covering her mouth with both her hooves.
“You two are going to Nimbus?” Star asked, a frown now drawn on her face.
Yuki let out a sigh. “Yes Star, we are. We’ve received a grant from the Illuman Institute of Environment Studies to launch research of the clouds of Nimbus.” Yuki leaned her head closer to the middle of the table and began to whisper, “Though if I am being honest, I’m hoping to use most of that time add findings of the clouds in Yori and I’s development of a unique rune tool.”
“A rune tool?” Chip wondered. “For what purpose?”
“Why, to groom one's mane to flow infinitely like the wind.”
“Wait,” Ratty said, “did the institute let you go for that reason? That’s kind of odd.”
“What’s odd about wanting a flowing mane!?” Yori shouted with a volume to earn glares from bystanders. “Haven’t you ever wished for your mane to dance eternally wherever you went!?”
“I’m a squirrel?” Ratty reminded her.
“Anyways, our study for flowing manes will serve as a secondary task when we have time,” Yuki explained. “The season of the Albatross is coming to the Realm of Skies. The institute would like for us to make good records of its cloud formations.”
“You two are really going?” Star asked. “You’re going to leave me behind?”
Yori frowned at Star’s somber look. “I mean, we’d like to bring you with us, but you know how your mom is. She has a policy for keeping you in Sollothus.”
Chip sensed Star tensing up. Her bottled rage could never escape him. “Star,” he spoke warmly. “You know Hild only wishes to protect you. Sometimes love can push one to go too far at times. But, you shouldn’t hold that against her.”
Star did not bother to bat an eye at him. Of course, he would take her mother’s side. Her mother trained him ruthlessly to become a fine guard to survey her.
Star looked at Yuki and spoke to her in a sudden calm voice, “Yuki, can you tell me more about the spirit?”
Yuki took the last sip of her tea before she began, “Folks say that certain individuals have come across this spirit when they came in contact with the Cosmic roots. Those who met this spirit spoke of finding themselves in an unknown plane of existence where they would receive their prediction. And once it was received, they would wake back where they came from, cared for by concerned onlookers."
“Are you sure that’s true?” Chip asked. “It’s a bit unbelievable for folks to have randomly met a spirit that can read your future.”
“Well, of course, it’s not,” Ratty held. “When something sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is.”
“Then how about we test the merit of this rumor?” Star suggested, earning a wide glance from her friends. “Let’s find this spirit.”
“Whelp.” Ratty shrugged. “Can’t say I didn’t see that coming.”
“Just think about it. If it turns out the spirit actually exists, we can all get our own predictions for our future. I could finally get some answers of what life’s purpose is supposed to be.”
Star entered her home with utmost quiet. She honed her ears for any voice or movement resounding within the vicinity.
She heard nothing. Not a favorable predicament for Star. Regardless, pushed through a long hallway leading into the stairway to the second floor.
Pictures of Star and her family were framed on the clear white walls. An image of Star nestled in her mother’s alabaster coat. Another of Star and Ratty sleeping soundly in a crib together.
A record of her life was displayed through these walls. And yet none of it could hint her purpose in life.
When Star ascended to the second floor, she stopped and listened for any sound. She heard the sound of blowing wind and outside voices resounding inside the floor.
She entered a living room within the floor and immediately noted a bright light beaming upon the furnshing. It came from the balcony widely connected through a long glass door.
Where her mother, Lune Hild, chose to reside.
Hild lounged next to a small table on the wooden balcony. Two cups laid atop it. Star knew her mother to drink sweet tea throughout the day. A source of motivation her mother would call it.
Star found her mother to look sagely over the railing of the balcony. Star couldn’t fathom the point. All her mother would find were the roofs, streets, and the gaudy castle of their ruler within the distance.
And yet, Star found herself spellbound. The light of Sollothus radiated on their balcony, bringing a shimmer on her mother’s white coat. And with her umber mane dancing with the wind, Hild looked as majestic as a night sky.
But Star didn't come here for sightseeing. She moved cautiously through the living room, using their furnishings to hide behind.
Star needed to reach her mother’s room undetected. Only then could she safely drop off a replacement bag of nuts in Hild’s room. After that, she could retire to her room with a clear mind.
“Good, you’re back.”
Lune Star froze.
“Come over here.”
Star’s body tingled with a flurry of jolts. She was careful to still the sound of her steps, yet it failed to escape Hild’s ears.
Maybe her mother thought she heard her? If she were to play it off, she could get out scot-free.
Star took another careful step and jumped when her mother stomped loudly. “Don’t make me repeat myself, Star.”
The sharpness flummoxed Star. She was so careful not to make a sound. Were valkyries built to have ears like bats?
Regardless, it was obvious her escape was futile. Star relented to her mother’s demand and trudged by her side on the balcony.
Her mother radiated an aura of authority that scared Star from making any unnecessary movement. Star timorously looked up upon her mother’s calm and stoic face. It sent chills into Star’s spine. As one would expect from a valkyrie.
“I expect you to follow orders the first time I give them,” Hild said. The subtle fury in her voice made Star want to shrink.
“Y-yes, ma’am,” Star stuttered.
“What have you done today?” Hild asked.
“Oh uh, just been hanging around with Chip and the others,” Star said. “We had a dumb drinking contest at the cafe. N-not to worry, we didn’t have any alcohol.”
Hild gave no response. Her eyes lay blank before the city of Illuma, which only worked to unnerve Star. It was never a good thing when she was quiet mid-conversation.
“And what else?” Hild finally spoke.
“Else?” Star said. “Well, I went to the plaza to find something to buy. It’d be a lot nicer to browse through if everyone weren’t wearing shiny trinkets.”
Star could foresee her mother wondering if she embezzled from folks. But with a light purse, Star believed she was in the clear. She proudly spent her spoils on the dozen drinks at the cafe.
Hild narrowed her eyes on Star and then sighed. “And yet again you have the gall to be dishonest with me.”
“Huh? What do you mean? I haven’t lied since you called me here. A little unfair to presume me to be a liar, don’t you think?”
Star’s retort was rewarded with a heartful chop across the head from her mother. “Ow!” Star cried, consoling her now bruised head. “Why’d you do that?”
Hild glared her amber eyes upon her daughter. The ferocity of their glimmer was all it took to shake Star to the core. “Don’t think you can fool me. How many bits did you steal?”
“But all I said I was brow–” Star flinched when her mother’s eye twitched.
“If I have to go to your brother to get the truth, I will,” Hild said. “But you won’t like what happens next.”
Star didn’t like what was happening now. However, Star knew Ratty to be weak-willed. Especially with bribery of food.
There was no escape.
“Enough to fill half my purse,” Star confessed in a low voice. And as she expected, she received another of her mother’s loving chops. Star consoled her head again and cried, “But I told the truth as you wanted.”
“I’ve told you countless times to stop with your thievery,” Hild said angrily. “You know full well that it is a crime worth imprisonment.”
As Star flinched at her mother’s voice, Hild stopped her sight upon Star’s purse. Something about it gave Hild pause.
“Wait a minute,” Hild said. “You said enough to fill half your purse, but it looks light. You spent those stolen bits, didn’t you?”
“I… yes, ma’am.” Star immediately covered her head to protect the incoming chop. But it never came. Instead, Hild opened Star’s purse and took out the obsidian cube. “Hey, wait!”
“Is this what you wasted those innocent folk’s bits on?” Hild asked. “For another piece of old garbage? And possibly from that swindler Gilfred now doubt.”
“Gilfred is no swindler!” Star raised her voice and immediately cowered again when her mother sharpened her gaze. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Star hurriedly apologized.
“Star, when are you going to learn that you can’t continue this behavior? You know what it means to be a Sollothean, so get rid of those quirks.”
“What I know is that Sollotheans are a bunch of stiffs and too classy to the point of being gaudy,” Star argued. “I’m nothing like that.”
“What was that?” Hild inched her hoof near Star, prompting her daughter to jump near the railing.
“Okay, not everybody,” Star said. “I know that only goes for like a few… or most.”
Hild made her daughter flinch again when she slammed the obsidian cube on the table. A sharp pound resounded off the table as the two cups whirled about. Miraculously, the cups did not fall.
“Hey, go easy on that,” Star said. Her hoof instinctively reached for the cube, but another glare from her mother discouraged it nearing.
“I swear as your mother, I’m going to correct that impish soul of yours,” Hild promised.
“You won’t have to bother if you end up splitting my head open,” Star countered. “Sheesh, is this how you treat all of your recruits?”
“It’s called tough love,” her mother refuted. “And until you get your act together, there will be more to come.”
“Oh goody,” Star sarcastically said. “I’m so blessed to have such a loving mother who has no qualms with beating her daughter.”
Hild marked her daughter with another chop. Star scurried about the railing, cradling her poor head. “Make all the excuses you want,” Hild said. “But I won’t let you squander your potential.”
“Potential for what?” Star challenged, a rage now seething within her. “What potential could I possibly have if I don’t know what in the cosmos I am supposed to be doing with my life!?”
The ferocity on Hild’s face softened. “Star,” she said, her voice smooth. “I know this has troubled you for a long time. But you must understand not all answers come immediately. There’s always a journey to be had, and yours is not yet finished. As you continue to live and grow, I am certain all you hope to find will come. But you’ll never get close with petty thievery.”
“And how do you know that for certain?” Star asked. “Who’s to say that my brand even means something that you approve of.”
Hild blinked incredulously at her daughter’s response. Star was stunned how her mother froze. Hild gaped upon her as if Star had said something terribly wrong. Something that Hild never wanted to hear.
“But I think there’s a way to find an answer,” Star said, now nervously fumbling with her hooves. “Yuki told me about a rumor going around the city. Apparently, there’s a spirit lurking through the Cosmic roots, giving folks an insight of their future.”
“You’re not going,” Hild said. “And you should know not to believe baseless rumors.”
“But mom, this could be my chance! I have to know if it’s true or not.”
“You are going nowhere near any Cosmic root!” Hild declared. “I don’t care what any random creature has said. It’s for your own good.”
“But nobody has answers for me. How do you expect me to find one when I don’t know where to start? I’ve been running aimlessly for years looking for one!”
“That’s enough!” Hild stomped. “I don’t want to hear another word about the Cosmic roots. You’re not going near any unless I say so. Do I make myself clear?”
“… yes, ma’am.”
“Good, because you’re also grounded.”
“What!? Why?”
Hild nodded at the cube. “I don’t approve of you stealing others bits to buy frivolous toys for yourself. Now, I’m going to give it back to Gilfred and donate the bits you wasted to a good cause. And while I’m doing that, I want you to write ten-page essays of apology for the next seven days.”
“Ten pages!? Come on, mom! I did use some of them for good things as well. Like...um, I bought a teddy bear for a little foal. Oh, and I even treated my friends to some drinks.”
“With bits that weren’t even your own!”
“Okay, fine! But you don’t have to get rid of the cube. I wasn’t even the one who...”
“What? Are you finally done with your excuses?”
Star frowned. “...but, mom. I only took from a bunch of rich stooges. They’d probably think they had already spent the bits.”
“That’s enough out of you! Go to your rebook now and start the first essay!”
Star hung her head. She knew there was no escape. There never was.
Star trudged her way out of the balcony with a small sulk. “Pick it up!” Hild shouted, prompting her to dash down the stairs into her room.
When Star left, Hild let out a sigh. She grabbed the cube from the table and observed its blotched marking of runes. She frowned. “Where did I go wrong with her? Or is it just in her nature?”
A packed crowd of ponies, griffons, and elks gathered on the streets of Illuma as they applauded a carriage trekking between them.
A battalion of Sollothean guards marched by it, dressed in gleaming armors of gold. They moved in unison, a display of their coordination and discipline.
The shimmer of gold and silver embellished the wheels and body of the carriage. It dazzled with brightness so intense that it made Star briefly delirious, prompting her to defend her pained eyes.
A window of the carriage unveiled the source of the residents’ glee. Waving from within the comfort of the carriage sat Princess Gull Dawn. She was the Princess of Sollothus, an alicorn of light like her mother before her.
Lune Star was in no mood for her. She had better things to do than to gush over a spoiled princess. But, of course, it was never her decision to come.
Star let out a wide yawn. This was not the morning she wanted. She could do with being locked in her house, but be coerced to watch the Princess flaunt her prestige was tedious.
And of course, Hild would strike her with an affectionate chop for her yawn. Star quickly consoled her waking pain.
“Fix up that act,” Hild scolded. “This is an important occasion.”
“Are you sure about that?” Star snorted and cocked her head at the cheering crowd. “Cause all I see are folks pandering when they could do something more productive with their day.”
“What you call pandering is an encouragement towards our Princess. It is a reminder that we hold faith in her.”
“Well, could they dial it back?” Ratty complained as he rubbed his jittery ears. “All this noise is driving me nuts.”
The glossy carriage eventually made its way past Star.
The Sollothean guards noted Lune Hild and honored her with a salute. Hild reciprocated the gesture while Star could only spare a bored glance.
She now stood a few feet away from the Princess of Sollothus. Princess Dawn sat comfortably in her seat of white faux fur.
Folks regarded Princess Dawn as the uniter. The one would preserve peace throughout the realms as generations of her lineage had done.
Star knew the Princess was probably eating up the attention. No creature would flaunt her status more than the coveted savior of the realms. Well, presumed-to-be-savior, to be exact.
“Wonder where she’s been,” Ratty said. “I didn’t even know she left.”
“Princess Dawn is returning from Nimbus after a meeting with its ruler,” Hild answered.
“Nimbus,” Ratty said. “I’d really like to go there. I bet the clouds there feel better than silk.”
“Perhaps.” Hild responded. “Anyways, the meeting had involved a issue of a pair of criminals roaming about the Realm of Skies. They have grown to become problem for its residents.”
“I guess she helped catched them then,” Ratty said. “Shouldn’t expect less from the uniter of the eight realms.”
“On the contrary, reports have shown they are still on the loose. The Nimbussean military are struggling to capture them.”
“Then why is she back here?” Star asked. “Shouldn’t she be off rescuing realms from their problems as the uniter?”
“Watch your tongue, Star,” Hild warned. “You should understand the burden the Princess carries for the sake of the eight realms. As heir to the throne, she will bear the responsibility to preserve the bond between all realms. And it will be a difficult one to uphold because of the betrayal of Mutebis. Her burden is heavy.”
It was many years ago when the news of Mutebis’s betrayal appalled the realms. An act that befell an unknown tragedy of Queen Bertha, the Sollothean Queen.
“To this day,” Hild continued, “there is still an embedded mistrust between the realms because of that event. Our king has spent the years alleviating doubts and regain the trust that was lost. And soon, it will fall upon Princess Dawn to carry on that mission.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” Star grumbled. “It’s not like I play a part in her grand mission.”
“Whether or not you like it, it does. Her leadership will shape the fate of our realms. That is why she must know she has our support.”
Star felt a flickering fire inside her grow intense. She tried to bottle it the moment she laid eyes on the Princess, but of course, her mother would fuel the flames.
Her mother always placed the Princess on a pedestal. To Hild, Princess Dawn was like the most important thing in the cosmos. And, maybe she was.
But where did Star fit in her mother’s priorities?
“Then why not dump all your crummy tutors on her then!?” Star shouted. “Since she’s so important to you, why waste time with me!?”
Her shouting earned the attention of onlookers on the street. Star did not want them to look at her. Not like this.
Star gritted her teeth and made a run for it. She forced through the cheering crowd with headbutts and screams, wanting to leave the place as soon as possible.
“Star!” She heard the call of her mother. But Star did not want to look back. She wanted to be left alone.
She doubled her efforts to escape the crowded streets with her brother fastening tight across her neck. Her shoving earned the complaint of the residents. They demeaned her insults.
“Brat!”
“Nitwit!”
“Oaf!”
“You twat!”
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Star screamed from her thoughts. All of you are just a bunch sheeps. All of you blindly give the Princess love, but what has she ever done to deserve it! All she’s ever done is exist. I’ve done just as much!
Star managed to find an exit through the crowd. With her freedom, she continued to gallop, running from block to block in hopes of their cheer to dwindle.
Her wish soon came true when happened upon a bright alleyway. Not a soul in sight and neither a sound to annoy her.
At least until Ratty spoke, “Uh, you kay there? Things got awfully spicy there.”
Star sat and craned her forehead. “It’s nothing,” she lied.
“Oh sure. Shouting at mom and shoving through a crowd just screams of normalcy for you, doesn't it?”
Star stared at the cobblestone floor beneath her. And eventually her eyes drew to her brand. A mark meant to symbolize her purpose in life, yet tormented to shroud it from her.
No more.
“You know what,” Star said. “I don’t feel alright. But I’m going to do something about it.”
Ratty raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
Star smiled at her brother. “First, I’m going to need you to run some errands for me. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll finally get what I’ve always wanted.”
And just maybe it’ll be much better than their beloved Princess.
The bright night fell upon the realm of Sollothus. Despite a time meant for darkness, the light continued its supremacy. The shadows were fated to crawl within the furthest crevice, never to flourish in the realm.
Star stored as much darkness her room could spare. Her basement was its sanctuary from the everlasting light. However, a single beam of light would trespass through a small window.
Piles of shelves of tomes and relics littered her room. The pitch blackness gave the room an eerie aura found nowhere in the Realm of Light. A chamber that would frighten the hearts of Sollotheans.
Lune Star idled on her bed with stacks of books around her. She read through them to pass time, reliving stories across the realms.
Star wished to be like the protagonists. To venture into the unknown and experience a world unlike her own.
And her chance may come once she was given confirmation.
As if on cue, Star heard her small window slide open. She saw a figure descend into the darkness and hop onto her bed.
“You know,” Ratty began, crossing his arms. “I don’t like these errands you have me doing. Don’t you think I get enough from my job?”
Star closed the book and set it atop a stack. “Did you invite Yuki and Yori?”
“Yeah, they said they’re in. But Yuki would like a week of free drinks in compensation.”
“Good.” Star hopped from her bed, knocking a few of her books onto the floor. She then harnessed her magic to strap her purse onto her.
“So, do you like, have a plan on getting out of here?” Ratty asked. “Cause I don’t know if anything will fly through mom.”
“Then I’ll move like a ghost,” Star said. She pressed her hoof onto her black choker strapped to her neck. Her next words lit markings of golden light from its surface. “Thurisaz1, elhaz2, ansuz3.”
Her words echoed through the room with a soft cadence. When her incantation ended, the yellow light encroached upon her body and consumed her. The light lifted without a trace of Star in sight.
“Invisibility, huh?” Ratty said. “You changed the runes on your choker?”
“This is too important to let my mom mess with,” Star remarked. “There’s no way I’m going to pass on this chance.”
“Guess there’s no stopping you from trying. But if it doesn’t work out, don’t expect me to save you from the fall.” Ratty hopped from Star’s bed and climbed onto the small window. “By the way, mom is sulking in the study room.”
“Thanks. I’ll meet you outside.”
“You’re going to need luck to get out of here unnoticed,” Ratty said. “You better hope fortune is on your side.”
He exited through the window and disappeared from Star’s sight. She had considered it as an escape route. If she could somehow figure a way through, it could make her endeavor far simpler.
Unfortunately, she had nothing to alter her size, and terraforming the window might alert her mother.
If Star wanted to escape home, she would have to elude the eyes of the mightiest valkyrie in the realms. No big deal, right?
Star clapped her hooves to cheeks. “I got this,” she said. “You’ve been around her all your life. You know what makes her tick.”
Star made for her door and gently opened it. A narrow stairway led outside her basement and onto the first floor of her home.
Ratty mentioned Hild was in her study. The room began on the first floor and stretched wide and tall onto the second floor, next to Hild’s bedroom. In hindsight, Star should have snuck through there yesterday instead of passing through the balcony.
Regardless, Star had to pass through her study if she wished to get to the front door. Her mother was comfortable with the room’s absence of doors, making Star’s invisibility an integral part of her plan.
It fell upon Star to assure her mother’s ears did not find her.
Star stalled the lump in her throat and honed her ears for any movement above her. A moment of silence convinced her to proceed up the stairway.
She trod slowly, cautious for a single sound to arise. But nothing struck her ears and eventually she made her ascension.
Star now stood within a hallway where the front door laid many feet within her sight. A one straight path leading to her freedom. However, between her and the door was a piercing light that led into Hild’s study.
Star prowled through the low-light hallway, careful not to touch any furnishings set in her way. She stopped before the brimming light and peeked inside.
There she was.
Hild’s study was filled with long bookshelves across the walls. Tomes of ancient times, essays of regaled scholars, fictions of wondrous adventures.
Star became an avid reader in this room. Her mother welcomed Star to all its stories and knowledge as a foal. She gleefully fed Star answers to many of worldly curiosities.
But nowadays, Hild was prone to lock her into an oblivious mind.
Star found her mother sat before an ivory desk adorned with gold ornaments. A wave of anger seethe3d in Star when she noted the obsidian cube in Hild’s grasp. Her mother lamely observed its construction.
Settle down. You can’t let her see you.
“The things that fascinate my daughter baffles me,” Hild said. She opened a drawer in her desk and dropped the cube inside. “Just what do I have to do to make her understand?”
Nothing. I know what I want and refuse to let anyone stop me again.
Hild took a sip from a cup on her desk. Her eyes drifted to a burning fireplace in her study. Her face was sullen. “Doesn’t she understand that I’m trying to protect her?”
Protect me? From what? I’m just a normal mare that happens to be the daughter of a valkyrie. What could possibly be out there that you need to protect me from?
“I wonder what you would do, Queen Bertha?” Hild sighed. “I thought I would know how to be a mother after all these years. But there seems to always be something to learn.”
You always talk so fondly of her, yet you never share much about her with me. Why is that?
Hild sighed and rose from her desk. Star watched Hild dim the light of the room. Her mother disappeared into the second floor of the study as Star listened to her hoofsteps fade away.
This is my chance!
Star pressed forward through the hallway. Her hoof steps were slow and light, careful not to elicit a single sound.
But then she stopped.
The entrance to Hild’s study stood behind her. All she had to do was move onward and she would be out in the bright night.
But something inside her urged Star to look inside the room.
Her eyes laid upon her mother’s desk. It stood brightly in its lonesome. Nothing was there to deter Star from touching.
She then recalled the obsidian cube her mother had inside of it.
Star contemplated whether it was a good idea to take it back. Doing so would risk her exposure if Hild came back for it.
However, if the spirit could foresee fate, then perhaps it could peer into the secrets of the obsidian cube. Not only would she know of its history, but she would also validate Gilfred’s credibility as an adventurer.
I’ll put it back when I return. Besides, she’s already gone to bed.
Star took a breath and entered the study. The redolent of raspberry ravaged her snout.
Star remembered falling asleep to this scent. When Star was a filly, Hild would always read books to her. She would always demand to be read to in this room, finding the sparkling bookcase a fantastical setting to stir her imagination.
Hild’s voice would drift Star away into a dream of mysteries and adventures. It never ceased to charm Star as a filly. But now, Star yearned for the real thing.
Star snuck before Hild’s desk and noted the drawer where Hild placed the cube. There was a lock attached to it.
Great.
Star phased it inside the drawer. She rummaged through the drawer's contents, waiting for a sharp prick to alert her.
And when Star felt it, she knew she founded. Star gleefully grabbed the object and pulled out of the drawer.
Yes, got it!
And just as she celebrated, a bright light flashed in the room. Star was appalled to find her mother back in her study. Her magic had thankfully dissipated in time to hide herself and the cube, but any reckless movement would mean the end of her.
Star backed away slowly as her mother descended from the second floor. She hid behind a bookcase and watched Hild land before the desk.
Star’s body shivered. Her breathing was becoming ragged. She tried to hold them back, but she anxiety was getting the best of her.
As long as her mother did not check the drawer, Star would be safe.
Hild collected a cup from her desk. “Can’t leave you,” she said. Before she left the desk, her eyes looked upon the drawers. Whatever thought was going through Hild’s mind, it sputtered Star’s to panic.
Star clamped her mouth shut to contain her breath. She hoped and prayed that her mother wouldn’t look inside. Star couldn’t accept this be her end.
And to Star’s fortune, Hild turned away from the table and walked out of the room. She flicked the lights off and then disappeared from Star’s sight.
Star loosened her tensed body and collapsed onto the floor. That was a close call. Much too close for her liking.
After collective breaths, Star picked herself up and placed the cube inside her purse. She peeked her head out of the study and searched for a sound of her mother’s whereabouts.
Star heard the sound of a running faucet.
Their kitchen was connected further back in the hallway. Her mother was likely washing her cup. A moment Star would immediately capitalize on.
She used the sink to cloak her hastened steps to the front door. In small moments it took for her mother to clean the cup, Star had managed to be inches away from her exit.
Star waited a moment for Hild’s movement to pass. She needed Hild in her bedroom when she began the final phase of her escape.
She found her mother walking through the hallway. But why? Hild could have simply taken the stairs to the second floor.
Star’s confusion was inevitably cleared when Hild stopped before the stairway into the basement.
What are you doing! Star felt her heat tingle wildly within. If Hild went down, no decoy would ever go past her.
Star knew her mother to speak face-to-face to others. When Hild peel away the sheet on Star’s bed, her mother would know Star’s intention this night.
This would be the end for her.
Please, just go back. Don’t go, Star pleaded. She hoped for the whims of any mystical force, be it good or evil, to turn the tides of this predicament.
A yawn escaped Hild. She instinctively tried to cover it with a hoof. Hild then entered the study, and eventually her hoof steps faded away.
Star sighed in relief, but her mind rattled with annoyance. She wondered how much more of this must she endure until she got her way.
She stored the thought away and pressed onward to accomplish her escape. The door before her was her pressing issue.
Hild had enchanted it with an alarm and attached a bell to alert her of visitors. A firm interaction with the door would activate the alarm, and the bell was reactive to the slightest touch.
But Star planned a way through this.
Star withdrew a paper embroidered with cosmic sap. She glanced behind her before she pressed it onto the door and began her chant of the rune language, “Nauthiz4, Elhaz.”
Star hid its golden light within the press of her hoof. She had designed it to deactivate the rune attached to the door for a brief moment. Within that time, Star would coat her entire body to phase through the door.
The paper would wither upon completion, an insurance that her mother would never know of its existence. She had prepared two for her journey. One to get out of the house and another for her return.
Star waited for the runes to wither, a confirmation that its magic took its course. Everything would be smooth sailing from henceforth. She would be free to scour for the spirit and finally learn of her fate.
She then felt something odd. A creepy crawling feeling on the back of her neck that beckoned her turn around. That feeling was quick to scatter across her skin when she saw the pony before her.
Her mother.
It took colossal mental energy to steel her body not to flinch. There was no way she could see. Not as long as she held her invisibility and did not make a sound.
But none could stop her heart from pounding heavily within.
How long have you been there!? By the Cosmos, please tell me she didn’t hear me?
Star felt electricity sputtering throughout her veins when Hild reached for the door. Her hoof was a mere distance away from touching Star. And that would spell her doom.
But then Hild stopped. Her face contorted in contemplation. “What are you doing, Hild?” she asked herself. “Mother would be asleep at this time.”
Do you mean Grandma Ilda? Why’re you looking to talk to her at this hour? Just go back to bed!?
But Hild remained before the door. This was an unnerving predicament. If the paper withered, Star would have a small moment to make her escape. But that required a full coating of the phantom spell, which would no doubt reveal her to Hild.
The moment felt endless. Star felt a sharp pain pulsing in her head. She bit her lips to command her body to still itself. Star could not falter for a second.
She needed to get out of the house. She needed to find her answer.
Just please, let me go.
Hild frowned. She bore the same sullen face. “Tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll go tomorrow.” Hild finally headed back, disappearing up the stairway where she would rest in her bedroom.
When Star felt certain Hild had gone away, she heaved a hard breath. She had nearly suffocated from the tension.
Star wondered what in the Cosmos was going through her mother’s mind tonight. So many close calls, so many moments of Hild looking conflicted.
But when she felt the paper wither in her hoof, she pushed those thoughts away. She hurriedly coated her body in red and jumped through the door.
Finally, she was free.
Star rushed down the cobblestone road of colonial houses guarded with glossy gates. She galloped as fast as she could until she could no longer see her home within the distance.
She then leaned upon a nearby wall and rescinded the rune on her choker. She let out a ragged breath as her body became visible to the light.
“Dear Cosmos,” Star said. “Why did that have to be so hard?”
“There you are.” Ratty descended from a gate and approached her. “I can’t believe you actually pulled it off.”
“I won’t lie, I think I was really lucky tonight.”
“You have to be. Lady fortune must really be on your side.”
“I don’t think that was it. Mom looked pretty distracted…”
“Well, who cares about that?” Ratty shrugged. “Now that you’re out, how about we get this dumb little venture over with, huh?”
Star narrowed her crimson eyes at her brother. “Whatever.” As she stood back on her hooves, Ratty climbed atop her back. “You better had told Yuki and Yori of the right spot to meet up.”
“Hey, I do this for a living,” Ratty retorted. “Don’t go questioning my competence.”
“As long as we make it before the sun rises, things will go fine.” Star galloped through the bright night of Illuma.
Lune Star bustled through the midnight shimmer of Illuma. She felt freer under the moon, with roads thinned of creatures walking the streets.
However, Star had to be mindful of guards who all were trained by her mother. But that was foal’s play. If it took the keen eye of the mightiest Valkyrie to catch her, what could a normal Sollothean guard hope to accomplish? Especially with the use of her rune-inscribed choker that cloaked her presence.
“I got to ask,” Ratty whispered from atop Star’s back. “That invisibility trick is pretty useful. Why don’t you ever use it?”
“What good is invisibility in a packed crowd?” Star said. “I’d be bumping into so many folks I’d cause a scene. Plus, my magic would stand out like a giant fire.”
Star reached into an open space within an edge of Illuma. A giant wall stood proudly before her, wrapping around Illuma as its impenetrable fortress.
Star knew it possessed runes to fortify its sturdiness against any foes who dared to crush it. But destruction was not in Star’s plan.
And standing idly near the wall were Yuki and Yori. They wore a purse and a checker, no doubt enchanted with runes. After all, they developed the chokers together from a friendly project they shared.
“Thank goodness you two are here,” Star said when she deactivated her choker before them. “I was getting worried Ratty gave you the wrong spot.”
The twins yelped at Star’s sudden appearance. Yori then laughed with a snort. “That’s a good one. That really gave me a scare.”
Yuki clutched her pectoral and glared at Star. “Honestly, did you bring us out here simply to frighten us? I don’t care about your ploys, but I expect to never become one of your victims.”
Star apologized with a hug upon each of them. “No way. Tonight is more important than that. I promise I’ll buy you anything you like at the cafe after this.”
“And I expect so throughout the entire week,” Yuki added.
“I know, I know.”
“So, what devious plan do you have to get out of town?” Yori asked. Her eyes dazzled with curiosity.
“Yori and I could walk through the city gates with no problem,” Yuki said. “However, with Star, I doubt the guards would grant her the same freedom.”
“Which is why we’re not going through the entrance,” Star said.
Star knew the gates of Illuma to repel entrance to all those with ill intentions. A feat developed with the usage of runes.
Unfortunately for the guards, Star was familiar with those runes.
She knew them to switch between a series of seven sets of rune inscriptions weekly. And since Star had spent her entire life in Illuma, she knew exactly which of the seven they would use.
Star harnessed her magic to coat her and Ratty’s body. They became cloaked in darkness that flowed like black flames.
“Wow, Star,” Yori said, skipping about to observe them. “This one looks terrifying.”
“That spell is shadow permeation, right?” Yuki asked.
“That’s right,” Star confirmed. “I’ve fiddled around with it so much that I also learned how to share it with others.”
Yuki gave a painful glance. “You’re gonna slather that stuff on us, aren’t you?”
“Ooh, ooh!” Yori spoke, raising a hoof excitedly. “Me first, me first!”
A portion of Star’s dark flame shot upon Yori, glazing her body in darkness. She skipped about excitedly as if it was a new dress.
Yuki on the other hand, flinched when her turn arrived. Star did not provide her a chance to ready herself.
“I’ve set the potency of this spell to match the runes on the gates,” Star said. “We should be able to phase through with no trouble.”
“Should or can?” Yuki asked.
“Just watch me.” Star and Ratty were first to disappear into the low-light bricks of the gate. Inside, they found bundles of shooting specks of light.
The lights flew through Star. Just as she hoped, the light was incapable of reacting to her spell. They eventually exited the sparkling space and reached the other sides of the gate.
An expansive grassland laid within the outskirts of Illuma. A river flowed out of the city in the distance and stretched into a bright forest on the horizon.
As Star breathed in the air and took a moment to bask in her freedom. She felt certain she had made the right decision that night.
Yuki and Yori eventually phased through the gate and joined Star. “That was amazing!” Yori cheered. “I want to try that again.”
“No!” Yuki declared. She made a furious attempt to sweep the darkness off from her body. “Star, please get this stuff off of me now. It’s making my skin crawl.”
“Yeesh, Yuki,” Ratty said. “You really don’t like Star’s magic, do ya?”
Star complied with Yuki’s request and lifted her spell, snuffing the flame-like blackness from all parties. Yuki took a breath and rubbed her pale blue coat.
“I’m sorry, Star,” Yuki apologized. “But you know I don’t do well with magic drawn from wicked emotions.”
“It’s alright,” Star said. “You went along with it anyway, despite it bothering you. But how about we save this chat for later? We should leave now before anyone sees us.”
“Too late for that.” Star’s group perked to a voice close by them. Looking above them, they discovered Chipped Flint descending upon them with a wide rock serving as his platform.
The rock laid on the grass and was released from Chip’s magic. He hopped off from the rock and approached her surprised friends.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Star asked.
“Oh wow,” Yori said. “I’m surprised you found us. How did you know we were here?”
“I had a feeling Star would do something like this ever since Yuki shared her tale about the spirit,” Chip explained. “Let me guess, Hild banned you from going near a cosmic root, so you’re going to rebel against her command, right?”
“Did you stalk me and Yuki in order to find Star? I didn’t expect you for a stalker, Chip?”
“I was not stalking,” Chip denied. “It’s called a stakeout.”
“They’re pretty much the same, aren’t they?”
“This topic is pointless.” Chip fixed his sight upon Star. “Star, what are you doing coming out here? I figured you would try sneaking to a root within the city.”
“Don’t get in my way, Chip,” Star warned him. “Just be a good guard and let us through.”
“That would be against my job, Star. You know full well that Hild would not like you out here in the middle of the night.”
“Will you stop bringing up my mom? You’re supposed to be my friend. You should be on my side.”
Star and Chip shared a glare that left others unnerved. All except Ratty, that grew bored with this argument and went to his purse to snack on his nuts.
Yuki clapped her hoof to snap the two from their staredown. “How about we review our plans and then settle what to do next? Would that sound fair to you, Chip?”
“… fine, let’s hear it.” Chip said.
Star paused upon Yuki’s suggestion but relented her rage and began her explanation. “I knew interacting with the cosmic roots would be troublesome with the Sollothean guards surveying the area. It’d be hard to have a conversation with the spirit with too many eyes looming around. That’s why I had Ratty scout for an unsupervised Cosmic root this evening. “
“The Cosmic Tree is always growing new limbs,” Yuki said. “It’s bound to sprout somewhere new in realms.”
“Lucky for you guys,” Ratty said. “I have a canine smell for Cosmic roots.”
“And that’s why we’re here,” Star said.
Ratty pointed at a bright forest on the horizon. “There’s an odd-looking one in that forest. It’ll be a bit of a walk, but it shouldn’t take long for us to get there.”
“We go in and then get out,” Star said. “And if we’re quick enough, we won’t have to worry about any creature catching wind of our midnight trip.”
“Are you certain that’s a good idea?” Chip asked. “It only takes one creature to wonder where one of you went. And if any of your alibis do not check out, you know Hild will ask questions.”
“We’re already past the point of no return, Chip. I don’t care what principle or belief you have, but me and Ratty going there one way or another.”
“I’m only here because you need me,” Ratty mentioned.
Chip raised his hoof to make an argument but gritted his teeth. “Why do you always have to be so stubborn?”
“Oh c’mon, Chip,” Yori said, hopping over to Chip’s side to wrap a hoof around his neck. “Think of it this way, since Star is going to wander in the unknown wilderness of night, she’ll need a strong and confident shining armor to keep her safe. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Don’t make it sound so weird,” Chip retorted, averting from the pink mare to hide his reddened face. “But since I know there’s no stopping Star, then it’s for the best that ensure none of you are hurt.”
Star clapped her hooves. “Wonderful. Then let’s begin with our exploration.”
Fireflies and leaves rained across a luminous forest like cherry blossoms. The woods shimmered prism lights from the diverse life of bugs, critters, and plants inhabiting its forest.
Star’s group could hear clicking crickets and hooting of owls echoing from within distance. A spooked Ratty clutched onto Star’s neck, eyeing wildly through the clustered trees.
“Hey Chip,” Ratty called. His voice shook in desperation. “You better be keeping an eye on things. I don’t want anything swooping down on me.”
“Don’t worry, Ratty,” Chip assured. “I won’t allow any harm to come to you. So, do your part to lead us.”
Ratty provided direction from Star’s back as their friends followed through a bright dirt path. Star looked fondly at their surroundings.
“I remember coming here once for a camping trip with the Illuman filly scouts,” Star said. “I made it my mission to earn all the badges, hoping one of them would be the answer to my destiny.”
“Oh yeah,” Ratty responded. “I do remember that. You managed to get your hooves on all sixty that week. But then you go upset when none of them gave the spark you were looking for that dumped all of them in a river. Mom got really upset about that.”
“It would figure it would take a phenomenon like a spirit to answer a phenomenal question,” Star chuckled.
“So, what do you think it’ll say?” Yori asked. She suddenly came upon Star’s side, giving the two a slight surprise. “Think it’ll be something wild and grand?”
Star pondered about her destiny for the longest, yet she could never narrow her path. Her interests were broad because of her habits of trying everything. And so, her possibilities seemed endless.
“If we’re hoping to find something grand,” Yuki started, walking upon Star’s other side. “I would like to know how to become an alicorn.”
“You can’t become an alicorn, Yuki,” Chip said, joining her side. “Those of Princess Dawn’s kind are of noble blood. It’s not something to be obtained.”
“And what evidence do you have to make that claim? Can you truly believe that a race so majestic and powerful have shrunk into a single digit? No, there has to be a secret to it.”
“Why are we even talking about her?” Star asked.
“Oh, but think about it,” Yori said. “Wouldn’t like to just once fly freely in the sky like pegasi and griffons? We would see the world in a brand new way.”
“That’s not why I came here. What I want is answers about my brand.” Star gestured towards the tree brand on her hind.
Just as her interests were broad, so too was her mark. A brand that resembled the Cosmic Tree would symbolize all that came to be. A denotation far too massive to extrapolate from.
“It sure is a doozy, isn’t it?” Yori complimented. “I wish mine came with rainbows.”
“At least you have an idea what your brand means,” Star remarked.
Yori wore a brand of a sunflower on her hind. A design that was far too simple for pony so elated and whimsical.
Yori skipped in front of the others and presented her brand. “I can’t help that Mother Nature is my passion. There’s just so many wonders from life that wish to learn and preserve.” Yori then stood on her hind legs and spun about. “Just take this forest, for example. Its light from its countless inhabitants is a beauty you would only find in Sollothus.”
“I’d say it wears it on its sleeve,” Yuki said. “But how about we hasten our steps and get this over with? I don’t enjoy being stuck in the wilderness for too long.”
“How can you say that?” Yori asked. “Is winter the only time you care?”
Yuki wore a brand of a snowflake on her hind. A simple design that fitted Yuki in more ways than one.
Yuki pushed Yori’s face away with a hoof upon her snout. “Hardly,” Yuki refuted. “My passion lies with the conditioning of the climates. My research into the matters is the reason why we received a grant for Nimbus.”
“You like to study nature but don’t like to be in it,” Ratty concluded. “Kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“It makes perfect sense,” Yuki retorted. “I just prefer to study from the comfort of my laboratory.”
“You mean the laboratory owned by the city's institute?” Star said.
“Okay, I think this has taken a long tangent from our talk about alicorns,” Chip said.
“And what’s wrong with that? You should be more focused on keeping a lookout for my brother. I don’t pay my taxes for you squawk.”
Chip wore a brand of a sword and shield composed of stone. A mark meant of knighthood that painfully described Chipped Flint to a tea.
“I can do two things at once, Star. I’ve led countless escort missions in my job.”
“Oh yes,” Star snickered. “I’m sure many felt so safe under your watch. But I wonder how they would feel if they learned how much you yelped like a filly in your earlier days. I’m sure the gallant image of you would shatter if they saw pitiful you were in training.”
Chip glared at Star. “That only happened once and it was a long time ago. I’ve grown since then.”
“I’m sure my mother made sure of that. You must think of yourself as an apex guard now. Think you may become a Valkyrie as well?”
“If I was a mare, probably,” Chip boasted. “And I think I’d earn after saving you from so many of your shenanigans.”
“What shenanigans?” Star lost her impish smile.
“I mean the ones from all of your misadventures. It’s amazing how they always end up with property damage and hysteria among the public. You should count yourself lucky you are the daughter of the mightiest Valkyrie else you would have long been thrown in the dungeons.”
“Don’t get cocky with me.” Star pressed on Chip’s pectoral. “Don’t forget you used to call me big sis back in the day.”
Chip a coy grin. “Oh yeah. And what do you plan on doing about it?”
Their bickering stopped when they parked to the sound of crunch. They traced the sound to Yori, who held a bag of popcorn in her hooves. Yori is adept in fire magic, so popping a bag of popcorn was a simple task for her.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Yori said. “Please, continue.”
Star and Chip gave a flat gaze and then walked past her. “Boo,” Yori pouted. “You can’t stop now. It was getting good.”
“Then don’t kill the mood,” Yuki said as she head-butted her sister to move along.
They continued their journey through the forest, frequently sharing topics they would argue and laugh over about. Star walked ahead of the group with Ratty pointing out their path.
Chip made good on his word to survey their surroundings. As the only Sollothean guard amongst them, it was his sole duty to ensure their safety.
However, there were moments he let his guard slip. Every time his gaze passed Star, his eyes would stay fixed upon her longer than he should. He found himself spellbound in her crimson eyes that nearly forgot where he was.
“Checking her out, eh?” Chip widened his eyes at the sound of Yori in his ear.
“What?” He yelped. He jumped an inch from Yori, earning a laugh from the mare. “No, I’d never do something so crude.”
“Don’t worry, Chip,” Yori chuckled. “It’s alright. I know it’s natural for you stallions. So, when are you going to make your next move? Don’t you think this place is the perfect romantic setting for some kissing?”
Chip’s cheeks burned red like fire. “We did not come here for that. My only concern is to make sure none of you get hurt.”
“And also to get our prediction,” Yuki added. “Speaking of which, I’m rather curious about the merits of these rumors. I’d hate to walk through this forest for nothing.”
“It’s got to be real,” Yori said. “I want to know if the clouds in Nimbus are a valuable resource to grooming flowing manes.”
“Are you sure you want to ask that? Sometimes the best thing about an adventure is the journey, not the destination.”
“I just don’t want to waste the grant the Institute gave us. You know I don’t like the idea of playing with other creature’s bits.”
“How generous of you. And what of you, Chip?”
“Me?” Chip said. “I don’t know. Haven’t really thought about it either.”
“Oh please,” Yori said, rolling her eyes. “It’s so obvious what you’re going to ask.”
“I would have to agree,” Yuki concurred. “Even plain eyes could piece it together.”
The twins nodded towards Star at the front of the group. Chip gaped at the smirking twins before huffing his snout. “You know, I don’t have to put up with this treatment!”
The twins laughed at Chip’s embarrassment. And as they continued to sink further into the forest, a certain golden light brushed through the shrubs. More of that light shone from different parts of the parts, all trudging behind Star’s party within the distance.
Star’s group came upon a low river before their path. The water shimmered off from glowing stones settled underneath and shiny fishes leaping from its surfaces.
The river appeared to stretch far into the dense forest. There were no bridges or natural paths to cross over it. They would have to trudge through the water and be careful of fishes leaping around them.
“Why won’t they stop!?” Yuki complained. “Ugh, they feel so icky.”
“Those are glow fishes, Yuki,” Star said. “All they like to do is flaunt scales. Not much different from Sollotheans back home.”
“I think they’re pretty cute,” Yori commented.
“Pretty annoying, if you ask me,” Star remarked.
As they continued through the river, Yuki let out a yelp when a glow fish slapped upon her flank. She searched frantically for her assailant, ready to unleash her azure magic.
“Cool your jets, Yuki,” Ratty said. “It’s just a bunch of dumb fishes.”
Yuki gave a glare at him and then glanced at Chip, who stood spaces from her side. “Chip, won’t you be kind enough to help me out of here? You could lift me with your terra magic.”
“Nuh-uh,” Ratty retorted. “Chip is busy making sure none of these buzzards make a meal out of me.”
“Will the two of you calm down,” Chip said. “Yuki, we’re already halfway there. I know you can make it.”
“Geez Yuki,” Yori said. “If little fishes are all it takes to scare you, I’m worried how you'll act when we visit Eklaria one day.”
Star beamed her sight upon Yori. “Wait, you two are also planning to go to Eklaria behind my back?”
“Of course not!” Yuki denied. “I will not stand anywhere near a sea infested with krakens that can swallow me up.”
“You shouldn’t concern yourself about that,” Chip said. “Krakens are known to lie deep within the sea. The odds of meeting one near the surface level is rare.”
“And I have no intention of playing against those odds!”
“Say,” Ratty said, pulling Star’s mane to catch her attention. “Didn’t Gilfred happen upon that cube in Eklaria?”
“Of course,” Star said. “Weren’t you paying attention to his tale?”
“Oh, I love to see it at work,” Yori said. “With a hole stretching down into the sea, I could look around all its depths.”
“And probably run straight into a kraken in the process!” Yuki remarked.
“Hey Star,” Ratty called. “Why not try it here?”
Star raised her eyebrow. “What? You do realize the runes are messed up, right?”
Ratty leaned upon Star’s side to rummage through her purse. “Oh c’mon. If it’s able to punch a hole through an entire sea, then a little puddle like this river shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Hmm,” Yori tapped her chin. “You make a fair point there. I vote we try this.”
“Are you serious?” Star frowned at her pushy friends. But her brother’s theory did intrigue her. Just a bit… “Alright, fine. Give it to me.”
“Uh, no!” Yuki shouted. “You guys should be helping me out”–a glow fish suddenly leaped before Yuki, flinching her back with a yelp–“Eep!”
“Don’t be a party-pooper, Yuki,” Yori said.
Star looked upon the cube’s blemished sap. She couldn’t imagine this working as she would like. Not when she couldn’t read a single rune letter off from it.
And she would be right. When she laid the cube in the river, the cube did not react, nor did the flow of the river alter in any shape.
“I knew this wouldn’t work,” Star said.
Ratty shrugged. “Hm, guess it really is sham.”
“That’s a baseless assumption and you know it! There are countless reasons why it wouldn’t work. Firstly, Gilfred had probably deactivated the runes a long time ago when he found them. Also, there’s a pressing issue of the runes being smothered unclear!”
“Eh, all I’m hearing are excuses. You should just admit you’ve been swindled.”
“Or I should make you walk on your own feet. Maybe a good chase from some owls will teach you to humble yourself.”
“Don’t worry Star,” Yori said. “Maybe the spirit can tell you all about it.”
“Why do you think I brought it in the first place?” Star said. She hoisted the cube back into her purse and gave her brother a mean look before continuing through the river.
“Uh, Star,” Ratty said with a sheepish smile. “You were joking about the owls, right?… Right?”
They pressed onward through the river until they reached the other side. All were accounted for, except for Yuki who remained idle in the center of the river.
“Yuki, what’re you doing?” Yori called. “Did you find something neat?”
“I’ve found nothing of the sort!” Yuki retorted. “Please Chip, help just this once.”
Star nodded at Chip. “Just do it. We don’t have a lot of time to waste.”
Chip sighed and cast a spell as they levitated the glow stones beneath Yuki, lifting atop a stone clustered platform.
Yuki sighed relief and stuck her tongue upon the leaping glow fishes. As Chip reeled her to their side, Star noticed an odd flow within the river.
The water ridged a wavy line as if something were slithering beneath its surface. And that line extended across the river, encroaching Yuki from behind.
Star shone her horn in a red light that surprised her friends.
“Star, what’re you doing?” Yuki asked, taking a step back. “This better not be another one of your antics.”
Star shot a red beam near Yuki. Her shot stunned Yuki, who ducked in response.
However, the beam zoomed beneath Yuki and struck an auric root that slithered underneath the low water. Star’s spell charred the tip of the root as it recoiled back, retreating.
Chip and the twins gaped at the event that transpired. “Did that plant move just now?” Yori asked, sweeping her sights between Chip and Star.
Yuki peeked from her hooves and noted the retreating root. “Huh?” Yuki said. “I don’t recall there ever being any animated plants in this forest.”
“Yuki, look out!” Ratty alerted.
Tendrils of roots emerged from the low river surrounding Yuki’s bright platform. Before Yuki could summon her magic to defend herself, the roots had already rounded her hooves and body and pulled her back into the low river.
Yuki screamed as the tendrils worked to drag her back to their side. However, Chip thwarted its effort when large sharp stones suddenly emerged beneath it, cutting the roots apart.
Chip charged back into the river and hoisted Yuki behind him. Chip’s magic glistened gold around his horn.
The roots rounded the large stone and crept upon Chip and Yuki. Star and Yori rushed to their side, readying their magic to retaliate.
They stood at a standstill with idle roots, but eventually, the roots retracted away from them and disappeared into the forest.
When the sound of its shuffling in the forest subsided, Yori rocked her hoof at the forest. “That’s right!” she shouted. “You better run!”
Yuki groaned, noting her coat and mane drenched with freshwater. “I’m all wet now,” Yuki complained. She harnessed her magic to remove the torn roots wrapped around. “By the cosmos, my body must stink of putrid fishes.”
“You can worry about your hygiene later!” Ratty said. “Let’s get out of here already!”
A sudden pair of yellow roots emerged around Chip and constricted his hooves. He attempted to tear them off with his hooves, but its body proved too sturdy.
Star shot where the root sprouted from and tore it asunder. Chip immediately rushed away from his position and removed the remaining roots from his hooves.
“What’re you just standing for!” Ratty shouted. “Get moving!”
Everyone rushed out of the river and grouped back with Yori, who shot upon more roots that chased them. When Star looked back, she could now see dozens of them coming upon her group.
“Just how many are there?” Star asked.
“Stand back everyone,” Yuki said. “I think I have a solution for this.”
Yuki harnessed her magic of white upon her horn. Star could feel the air grow cold around as Yuki’s horn emitted a small orb of light as she shot upon the roots.
And when it eventually touched upon the encroaching roots, they instantaneously became encased in ice, stretching fast upon its lengths.
Yori clapped upon Yuki’s performance. “That was so cool, Yori!”
Yuki bowed at her sister. “Oh, I know. I didn’t learn ice magic for nothing.”
Chip cast a spell upon the ground that lifted a wall of land before a wide stretch of the river. “That might have bought a few a minute,” Chip said. “We need to go, now!”
They heeded Chip’s order, and the group fled further inside the forest. However, more of the auric roots ascended from the path they crossed, slowly trailing behind them.
Star and her friends bolted through the forest, hoping to distance themselves from the mysterious roots as much as possible. However, their scamper came to a halt when Yuki stopped to catch her breath.
As Yuki breathed raggedly, she noted a small wound on her side where the roots had coiled upon. A small speck of her blood seeped out from it.
Yori came to her sister with a spray and bandaged whisked from her purse. “I got you, sis.”
Yuki flinched when Yori sprayed upon her wound. Yori then bandaged her and she received a thank you from her sister.
And then, Yuki asked what was running through all of their minds, “Just what in the Cosmos did we just see?”
“I don’t know,” Ratty said. “I didn’t see those things when I came here in the evening.”
Chip approached Yuki with a canteen of water to drink from his purse. “Either it’s a mutation in the forest or an invasive species,” he suggested. “Regardless, I have doubts it will leave us alone. We find another way out of the forest before that happens.”
“What!?” Star cried. “You can’t be serious. We've been already gone so far. We can’t turn back now just because some plant wants to bother us.”
“Plants that have never been seen in this forest,” Chip added. “We have no idea what we’re dealing with. From their behavior, we can assume them to be aggressive. I have to report this to the officials and ban entry to this forest until this is resolved.”
Star glowered at Chip, but he held down his hooves. “Fine,” she said. “But while you’re busy playing the guard with the others, I’m getting my prediction.”
Star went off down the dirt path, but then Chip stepped in front of her. “Star, you know we can’t allow that. Are you really okay with dragging your friends into danger?”
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” Star questioned. “You’re a Sollothean guard, right? Then why not do some guarding?”
“Would it kill you to stop being so selfish? One of these days, it’ll get somebody hurt.”
“Alright you two,” Ratty said, hopping between the two. “Break it up. I say we settle this with a vote.”
“I like that idea,” Yori concurred. “Let democracy take its course.”
“Fine then,” Star said. “But just know whether or not you all decide to go back, I have no intention of heading back yet.”
“We can’t just leave you and Ratty alone with that thing,” Yuki said. “How are we certain you will come back unscathed?”
“Is that a hint of bravery I’m hearing?” Ratty asked with a cocky grin.
“Plants can I probably put up with, but putrid creates of the sea are whole other predicament.”
“You do realize only one of those are dangerous here, right?”
“Are we going to start the vote?” Yori asked.
A brief pause circulated between them as they shared a gaze at each other. Star was the first to disrupt the silence with a sigh and looked to Ratty. “Alright, go ahead,” she said.
“Okay,” Ratty said. “Who here wants to keep going for the spirit? Raise your hoof if you’re still up for it.”
Star was the first to raise hoof. Noting her conviction, the twins relented a vote on Star’s side. Chip frowned in response and submitted his vote to continue as well.
“Guess it’s unanimous then,” Ratty concluded. “Alright, then let’s keep it moving then.”
“Why are you always like this?” Chip asked.
“All my life I wondered what pursues I served in the Cosmos,” Star confessed. “None of you could possibly understand how it’s like to live so lost and aimless. And now, there’s rumor of a spirit that could finally give me direction.”
Star gave an intense gaze towards Chip. The resolute in her crimson eyes was obvious to him.
“This is too important to let slip away,” Star said. “And I won’t let you, mom, and anyone in the nine realms stop me from getting there.”
Chip frowned. “Too important, huh? I see. So, I guess you value the spirit more than your friends.”
Star frowned at Chip. “What?” His words shot a prick somewhere inside her.
“Fine then,” Chip continued. “If we’re going further, then I need all of you to stay close to me. I don’t want any moving a foot apart from each other.”
They heeded his demand and continued their path onward for the spirit.
However, that heavy feeling did not ease Star. But Star believed that once she was giving her rightful spoil from her journey, then it would all worth it. It just had to.
Star’s group journeyed through the luminous forest with vigilance. Surrounded by cluster trees, each of them eyed warily of lurking foes. They would not risk another sneak attack.
They eventually stopped upon a steep ravine that resounded the sound of crashing waters below. A bridge connected the two sides. Its condition was in excellent shape, almost as if someone had replaced it with new woods.
“How far are we from the Cosmic root now?” Chip asked Ratty.
“Very close,” Ratty answered.
Yori swiveled her head about but saw nothing worth her interest. “Is it across the bridge?” she asked.
“No, it’s actually under it.”
“Under?” Yuki questioned. The group looked into the ravine aside from the bridge and found a river roaring below. A many yards fall like that could cause severe injury to any careless traveler.
“You see that hole over there?” Ratty said. He pointed to a narrow opening within a wall on the opposite side of the ravine. “All we gotta do is hop in there and we’ll be right where the Cosmic root is.”
“Isn’t there a simpler path we could take?” Yuki asked.
“If there was, we'd be there right now.”
“Well, this is rather unorthodox,” Chip said. He lit his horn and summoned stones from the ravine walls to form a stairway down the ravine. He then installed the stairway with stone railings. “But I think this should do. Alright everyone, stay close to each other in an orderly line.”
“This is supposed to be an adventure,” Star said. “Not some tour.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Is my guarding not to your taste?”
Star chuckled. “Oh, so now you have jokes?” She strolled in front of Chip, taking the first step down the stairway.
The others lined behind her, descending into the ravine. Yuki, who was the last to enter, anxiously observed the construct of the bridge. “Hey, do we know this is safe?” Yuki asked. “It won’t break, will it?”
“Oh Yuki,” Yori laughed. “Don’t be such a scaredy-cat. You gotta learn to live a little.”
“I’ve been living every day of my life,” Yuki retorted. “I just hope this is not where it ends.”
Yuki inevitably relented and joined them. As they continued their descension, an enormous sound of a crack sputtered the group to a halt. “What was that!?” Yuki asked. “Chip, you better not be losing hold.”
“That wasn’t me,” Chip answered, scanning around the bridge for any anomalies.
Another crack reverberated near the group, and then another, inching closer before the group. The sound of cracks then subsided, leaving the roaring rivers to fill the air.
“Star,” Chip said, rounding in front of her. “Stay behind me.”
A yellow root emerged from the stoned stairway. It began small but soon came with bountiful tendrils before Star’s party.
“I had a feeling this would happen,” Yuki said. She harnessed her horn in blue light and shot a beam upon the tendril for roots. Her magic encased a few of its curls in ice, breaking off from the group and falling down to the bottom of the ravine.
The group retreated back from hordes of roots springing from their path. Chip raised a wall of stone to block the tendrils’ reach.
“What’re you backing up for?” Star questioned.
“We need to get back up to land,” Chip said. “We won’t be safe in this confined space.”
“But the hole is right there!” Star pointed at the narrow entrance, a few feet below them.
“Will you stop thinking about that and worry about our safety!?”
“I need to see that spirit, Chip! I won’t let some stupid plant stop me from getting what I deserve!” Star jumped past Chip and climbed the rocky wall that Chip made.
“Star, come back!” He called for Star, but the mare had her eyes on one thing.
On the other side of the rocky wall, Star found knots of roots already rounding the bridge. With a powerful kick, Star jumped over the roots and landed inches away from them. One, however, grabbed her hind hoof, but she charred it off her with a beam.
She made a run for the hole, but then an enormous collection of roots emerged beside the stairway and whipped down before destroying her path to the hole.
“Okay, Star,” Ratty said. “This is getting a bit too dangerous for my taste. Maybe we should make for a tactical retreat.”
Star gazed at the hole that was a few distances away. If she had a running start, she could probably…
“I’m going for it,” Star declared.
“Wait, what!?”
Star ran back a few feet. She took a breath and exhaled.
“Star, you’re thinking crazy right now,” Ratty said. “Those roots are definitely going to grab us.”
“Too bad for it, I have a trick up my sleeves,” Star said before galloping down the stairs. At the broken edge, she leaped with all her strength.
The large root rose before them intending to slap her into the unknown. However, Star had already predicted this.
Her horn turned pitch black, igniting black flames around her and Ratty. When the root eventually met with her, their body phased through it as if they were ghosts.
“Hah, I told you I–” Star had reached the hole, from a bit too high. Her black flames had dissipated before her head smacked upon the top of the hole. And then everything went black.
Star’s body stirred in something wet. She gradually fluttered her eyes open in a dark room. With a grown, she’s pushed her head off the ground, now drenched in water that flooded beneath her.
Her eyes peered easily through the darkness, noting the area to be a craggy passage. They possessed the ability of dark vision. No darkness could hinder her sight.
Star then rubbed her forehead, realizing a sharp pain in its region. She had to admit that her plan wasn’t exactly her best moment. But at least she’s here.
“Ugh, how long was I out?” Star groaned. “Hey Ratty, what happened? … Ratty?”
Star looked around at her dark surroundings but found Ratty nowhere in sight.
“Ratty!” She called for him again. “Hey, Ratty! Where’d you run off to!?”
Star noted the water flowing into a passage hidden by a turn. She surmised her brother might have pressed onward where the cosmic root might be.
Would have been nice to wake me first.
“Hey, wait up!” Star shouted. “You better not be trying to hog the spirit for yourself!”
Star traveled through the wavy passage, shimmying through narrow portions her slender form could not slip through. If Chip was here, he could have terraformed the area without the risks of collapsing the cave.
He’d probably give Star a whole speech about the safety protocol of traveling in a cave, but Star thought of it as a fair tradeoff. Plus, it’d be nice to have someone to complain to right now.
The water splashing upon Star’s hooves felt icky. She could feel touches of the dirt and random florae crawling and sticking upon her.
If Yuki was here, she’d probably freeze the entire water to protect her dainty hooves. It would certainly help save Star from the wall building on her hooves.
Yuki would also make quips and gossip about folks in the city. Star knew her to be a glutton for drama. But so was Star.
Star began to shiver from the cold air. If only Yori was around she could warm the place with a warm light of her magic. The passage seemed to grow cooler the deeper she trudged inside.
Even Yori’s optimism could do some help for Star. The playful spirit of Yori would rouse a warm glee in Star. It would certainly fit the weight burrowing more and more in Star.
If Star simply had Ratty prattling about on her back, that’d probably be enough for her.
It’s strange. Star never imagined feeling so empty in the darkness. Usually, she would feel at home, but all she hoped was to get through it to find Ratty.
Star then noticed a light in the distance. She galloped forth and reached an open room.
She discovered a ray of light that draped over a strange object. At the center stood a collection of thick beige roots that had sprung up against each other on a small hill of dirt. The thick roots lined against each other and then folded evenly at their tip. It was like Star was looking at a giant-sized chalice.
Enamored by its oddity, she approached it. Stepping onto the small hill, Star could see the smooth ridges of the roots carrying a small sparkling stream of yellow.
“It’s Cosmic sap,” Star recognized. “Then, this is the Cosmic root.”
All she had to do was touch it, and then she could meet the Norn spirit. Her hoof was mere inches away from finally receiving the answer she had yearned for all of her life.
But then the room shook wildly, teetering Star into the low waters. She quickly sprung her body out, spitting out sips that got into her mouth.
“Ugh…” Star perked to the sound of a groan. Looking about, she discovered Ratty’s body floating limply atop the water.
Star was so taken aback by Ratty’s limp body that she didn’t notice her body jerk into a gallop. She crouched onto the shallow water and cradled Ratty’s body into her hooves.
“Hey, Ratty,” Star called for him, but he didn’t respond. His eyes were calmly shut. “Hey, you alright?”
Star noted the condition of Ratty. His body was stained with bruises. His fur frazzled and drenched in murky water. It exuded a horrendous scent that made Star want to gag.
How long has he been like this? Did stream carry him all the way here? He didn’t drown himself, did he?
Star carried Ratty in her magic and rushed over to a hill within the center of the chamber. She laid his body on the lump of soil.
The sound of flowing water clouded her ears. She resolved to press her ears close to Ratty to listen for his breathing.
It was slow and small. Star wondered if he swallowed some of the thick water.
Star patted her hoof on his cheek. “Wake up, Ratty,” she urged. “This isn’t the place to be napping.” He didn’t respond, prompting Star to continue her patting. It gradually became rougher. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon! Please, wake up!”
Ratty’s claw jerked upward to block Star’s hoof. His face shivered and groaned until his eyes slowly peeled open before Star.
“Hm?” Ratty spoke weakly. He appeared confused and lost like a newborn. His sights teetered left and right until it fixed upon Star. “What the...What happened.’
Star surprised him when she pulled him for a hug. She buried his face into her dampened coat.
“Hold on,” Ratty protested. “Give me a minute to breathe why don’t ya? Yeesh, what did I do to deserve this?”
“You’re all banged up,” Star said. “And it happened because of me...”
Ratty pushed Star back enough for him to observe both of their appearances. “Hah,” Ratty chuckled. “Like you’re one to talk. Have you seen yourself? You look like someone threw you down a hill.”
“Like I care about that. You were barely breathing when I found you. I shouldn’t have dragged you here you like this.
Ratty rolled his eyes. “Oh relax, Star. You can clearly see I’m still alive.”
“But you wouldn’t be like this if I wasn’t in such a rush to come here.” Star lowered Ratty onto the small hill and sat next to him. She wore a frown. “Maybe Chip was right about me. I’m always causing trouble for every creature. Sometimes out of whim and also because of my lack of care. I just get so caught up in the things I want, that I never stop to consider the wellbeing of others.”
Ratty glanced at his sister and then sprawled onto his back. “Well, that’s not entirely true. Sure, you have a penchant for stirring trouble, but you always learn from those mistakes. It’s how you became a thief.”
“A pretty terrible thing to be good at, huh?”
“You’re mischievous. It’s just in your nature. But that alone doesn’t define you. There’s a good heart in you when it really counts. I don’t think I’ve met anyone that can be not only so selfish but also generous. It’s why I deal with so much of your shenanigans.”
Star chuckled. “Is this your way of cheering me up? I didn’t think that you take that big brother role so seriously.”
Ratty stretched out his limbs and yawned. “A real big brother will always have the back of their kin. So trust me, no matter what anyone or what you think of yourself, I’ll always see you as the bratty little sister I love.”
Star gave a small smile. “Who’re you calling bratty?”
A quake suddenly shook the world around them. The waters rumbled within the Cham led as rocks large and small came tumbling down.
Ratty and Star jumped to their hooves and feet. “This place looks like it’s about to come down!” Ratty shouted. “You might want to hurry to get that prediction.”
Star looked upon the chalices Cosmic root before her. She snuck from home and endangered her friends all for a small chance to know her purpose in life.
Her sight then shifted to the entrance she came from. She was certain it would lead back to the ravine where she left her friends. Friends who were probably worried sick about her and Ratty.
“Uh, Star,” Ratty called. “If you’re going to do anything, now would be the time.”
“We’re going back to the others,” Star declared. “I may not know my life purpose, but whatever it may be, I would like them to be a part of it.”
Ratty shrugged and hopped onto Star’s back. “Eh, sure, why not? Not like I banged myself up for nothing.”
“I’ll treat you to any nuts you like after this,” she promised.
Ratty widened his eyes. “Alright, but I’ll hold you to your word.”
Star rushed back into the rumbling water and came upon the exit of the chamber. However, when he drew close, the yellow roots emerged from the water and threaded the passage closed.
“Oh, you can’t be serious,” Star grumbled. She shot a red exam at the web of roots, charring but a few that were immediately replaced with new roots.
She shot a series of beams upon the roots, but the roots persisted to block her path. “Will you stop getting in my way!?” Star roared.
She harnessed her magic again, but her aura of red shaded in pitch blackness. Star unleashed a ghastly black beam at the roots, enveloping them in black flames.
The roots flung widely within the black fire and burrowed into the ground.
“Nice one,” Ratty commented with a thumbs up.
Star seized her opportunity and galloped into the entrance. “I’m coming guys!” Star shouted.
As Star and Ratty disappeared into the dark passage, the chaliced Cosmic root shined in the dark chamber. A tall lilac mare emerged from the root. Garbed in a blue kimono and flowing green mane, she smiled at the entrance where Star and Ratty escaped through.
The auric roots swarmed after Chipped Flint. The twins retreated atop the stoned stairway as Chip raised more rocks to deter the roots’ movement.
Yori dived back on the ground beside Yuki, who provided aid to Chip with arsenals of glaciating beams. Yuki groaned heavily after unleashing dozens of magic upon the unrelenting roots. No matter how much she froze to shards, their number never dwindled.
“I don’t understand,” Yuki said. “Why are they so upset with us?”
Yori assisted her sister with her fair share of beams. Her magic sparked many of the roots with fire as they blackened and fell off the stoned stairway. However, more roots came in its place.
“I don’t know.” Yori said. “Maybe it’s a territorial thing.”
Chip noted the twins back on ground. Though he held doubt their safety were assured, he held confidence their odds of survival were greater at their position.
Knowing that, his eyes laid fiercely upon the incoming roots.
“Get out of my way!” Chip roared. He used his magic to drop a wall to bury the roots. With them crushed underneath, Chip used the brief opening to leap atop one of his many walls. He leaped through the top of them eluding and ripping incoming roots with shooting pieces of rocks.
He eventually came upon the end where Lune Star leapt. The entrance to the Cosmic root laid below his sight.
“Hey, Chip!” Yori called. “Where are you going!?”
“Isn’t it obvious!?” Chip responded. A pack of roots raised from the edge of the stairway. Chip used his magic to rip pieces from the stairway to shoot swift pebbles that punctured the roots in many holes as it retreated down. “I’m going after Star and Ratty!”
“See that, Yuki.” Yori bumped her hoof onto Yuki. “I knew there was a shining armor in him.”
“Less bantering, more firing,” Yuki ordered.
Chip pulled blocks from the ravine wall to form long platforms to make his descent. As he leaped down closer to the entrance, Chip made frequent repurpose of his magic to fend off the endless tendrils of roots.
But he couldn’t keep this up forever. His constant use of terraformation and blasting rocks like a shotgun was quickly exhausting his tank of magic.
“Not yet,” Chip told himself. “Not until I know she’s safe.”
“Chip!” His ears perked to the voice of Lune Star. He found them looking below from the entrance hole.
Star!” Chip shouted. His horn lit bright and propelled the rocks beneath Star and Ratty upward. Their ascent was swift as it launched Star square into Chip’s grasp.
He grunted at the rough collision but absorbed her force.
“What are you doing?” Star asked. “You’re going to tucker yourself out like that.”
She stepped back from Chip and saw him fall on the platform. Chip panted heavily. “I think it’s... a bit late for that.”
Star came to his side and tried to pull him back to his hooves. However, his body was too heavy for the mare. “C’mon, this isn’t the time for this,” Star scolded. “We’re getting out of here.”
The auric roots began to swarm around their rocky platform. From every direction, the roots encroached upon them, ready to ensnare them in their grip.
“Star,” Chip breathed as he laid a hoof onto Star’s. “I still have enough magic to provide you cover back up the ravine. If you go now, I can clear most of your way.”
“That’s a stupid idea!” Star retorted. “There’s no way I’m leaving you behind.”
Chip smiled. “It’s okay, Star,” he assured. “If it means keeping you safe, then I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Star, I’m gonna need you to make up your mind again,” Ratty said. “We don’t have much time to think about this.” Ratty pointed at the roots trodding closer to them.
Star looked up where she noted the twins firing barrages of ice and flames upon the roots. Despite their bombardment of magic, they only tore small layers of the collective roots.
Star, Ratty, and Chip were on their own.
Star anxiously looked across her surroundings. She hoped to find something, anything she could use to escape their predicament.
But all she saw was the fierce river below and the predatory roots that limited their hope for escape every second. It seemed as if she had led her friends to their doom...
“No,” Star said with a cracked voice. “I’m not going to let it end this way. There’s still so much to live for. Ungh!”
Star yelped to a sharp pain that pricked her body. It felt as if something had stabbed into her very soul.
Her purse had suddenly rumbled and bursted yellow light. The obsidian cube shot out of her purse and fell inches away from her.
“Star!” Ratty called. “What’s wrong!? We don’t have time to dawdle!”
“What the...” Star gaped her eyes upon her fore hooves. She could see her veins. They shimmered chromatic light that emitted through her gray coat.
Star, Ratty, and Chip stared stunningly at the pulsing wave of light Star’s hooves released. It spread like a ripple across the ravine, blowing waves at the tempo of Star’s heartbeat.
When the light waves phased through the obsidian cube, it shook about and increased the intensity of its yellow light. The Cosmic sap on the cube slithered into one another until Star could piece together texts of rune.
“Laguz1, ehwaz2, jera3,” Star read the cube’s inscription. The cube then floated at the sound of Star’s voice and boomed a black flash that swallowed the entire ravine in an instant.
The flash disappeared as soon as it came, but left the roots ratted and squirming wildly. They slithered back into the ground they came from and disappeared, leaving behind the damaged stairway of rocks.
Star, Ratty, and Chip shared an astonished glance amongst each other. Ratty was the first to break the silence, hopping off from Star. “Uh, what just happened?”
“It worked...” Star uttered. She stretched a hoof underneath the cube as its yellow dissipated. When it fell into her clutch, Star noted the rainbow light had disappeared from her veins.
Star felt light-headed. She found herself close to teetering to the ground but was caught back into Chip’s grasp.
“I got you,” he said.
“Nice move, Chip!” Yori cheered from a distance.
Chip rolled his eyes before pushing Star back to give her space. “Are you going to be okay?” He asked. “I’ve never seen you do that before.”
Star rubbed her head. “Uh, yeah. I think I’ll live.”
Chip let out a relieved sigh. “Good.” And then he glared at the mare. “Do you realize how much danger you put yourself in!? I nearly thought we lost you!”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so reckless. My friends should have taken priority over my selfish goals. I don’t even know if the rumors were even true or not.” She let a sigh. “I’ve been a terrible friend.”
Chip eyed at her for a moment and then dropped the fury in his eyes. “As long as you understand, then it’s okay. We know how much this meant to you. Why else would we let you drag us all the way here?”
“Sometimes I think you guys are way too forgiving,” she admitted. “But I promise I’ll never abuse it again.”
“Nah, you probably will. But at least I know you’ll stick with us during the fall.”
“Say,” Ratty spoke. “Since those plants are gone now, we could still check if those predictions are true.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in it?” Chip asked.
“Course I don’t, “Ratty confirmed. “But it’s what Star wants.”
“Is that okay?” Star asked Chip.
Chip rubbed his chin, glancing toward the entrance hole below. “Well, you did manage to scare off the roots. And we’re already close by, so we might as well get what we came for.”
“Thank you, Chip.”
Star’s group entered a wet cavern that was littered with stones and dripping water. Their eyes traced upon the only ray of light found within its darkness that revealed the chaliced Cosmic root still remaining whole atop the small hill.
“Looks grander than I would imagine,” Yuki commented. “Normally, they don’t turn out like this.”
Yori rushed over to the Cosmic root and poked her hoof upon it. “Now this warrants a study of its own. Say, sis, you think we should place our research on this?”
“Okay Yori, what’s your problem?” Yuki asked. “Are you against going to Nimbus?”
“It’s not that. I just don’t know if we’ll find the answers that we’re looking for there. I’d hate it if it ends up being a waste of time for you.”
“It’s fine, Yori,” Yuki assured. “As long as we’re together, it will be well worth the time.”
“Aw,” Yori cooed and skipped to her sister for a hug. “That’s why you’re my favorite sis.”
“I’m the only sis you have,” Yuki reminded with a chuckle.
“Choosing to study this root would never work out,” Chip said. “You’d have to explain when and how you discovered it in the first place. But let’s not worry about that. We should get over with this now before the sun rises.”
“From what rumor says,” Star began, nearing the Cosmic root. “All we need to do is to be in contact with the root and the spirit should come to us.”
“And how long would that take?” Chip asked.
Yuki shrugged. “Who’s to say? I would assume whenever the spirit decides to show itself.”
“Wait!” Yori’s call earned her friends’ attention. She opened a pocket in her saddlebag and withdrew a camera. “We need to take a group picture to celebrate this.”
“A bit early to celebrate, don’t you think?” Yuki questioned. “We haven’t even met the spirit yet.”
“There’s also the matter of not leaving any evidence of us ever being here,” Chip added.
“I’m up for it,” Star answered to Yuki and Chip’s surprise. “What? I think we deserve a little celebration after what we went through.”
Chip raised his hoof to begin a retort, but was stopped by a tap from Yuki. “Let’s humor them,” Yuki suggested. “It’s not often we get to go out like this.”
Chip relented and gathered with his friends in front of the Cosmic root. Yuri pushed the camera a distance away from them with her magic and then counted down the flash. “Three...two...one... Cheese!”
The camera flashed upon the group in brief light. Yori happily whisked the camera into her hooves in a giddy chuckle. “I’m going to keep this as a lucky charm when we get to Nimbus.”
“You two better remember to write me letters,” Star advised. “I’m rather curious about those clouds as well.”
“Don’t worry,” Yuki assured her. “I’ll be sure to print a copy of our report for you .”
“Alright!” Yori cheered. “Let’s call in a spirit!”
They each gathered around the Cosmic root and placed their hooves and paw on it. They waited for the arrival of the Norn spirit, making small talks to pass the time. Minutes went by uneventfully.
“So,” Ratty said. “Am I supposed to be feeling something?”
“I don’t know,” Yuki said. “Maybe if we stay quiet, it may come out.”
“How about you, Star?” Chip asked. “Do you feel anything?”
He glanced upon Lune Star and noted that her eyes were closed. her face completely calm as if she was sound asleep.
Lune Star opened her eyes to a field of luscious lilac grass. The soft wind brushed across her coat and onto an endless field leading to an orange sky. Within the horizon, Star saw enormous mountains scaling high into the clouds.
It was like Star had fallen to a fantasy land of a fabled story. She questioned if it was all real, but her five senses negated the thought.
“How did I get here?” Star asked herself. She knew she was next to her friends mere moments ago. However, from where she stood, she couldn’t say she was in the luminous forest anymore.
Star a peculiar blur of colors within the distance. Curious, she traversed the field until she came upon a hill.
A tree one could only imagine in fiction stood atop it. She gaped upon the chromatic leaves rustling in its branches.
“It’s beautiful,” she commented.
“You have returned,” Star perked to the sound of a soft voice. When she blinked, she noted a mare that wasn’t there before.
A lilac mare garbed in a blue kimono. Resting atop a branch, the mare smiled down upon Star. “Welcome, young one,” the mare said. “My, you have grown so much.”
“Wha…” Star stood slack-jawed at the mysterious mare. Within a blink of an eye, she appeared within her sight. It defied logic in Star’s mind.
The mare descended from the branch and floated softly before Star. Star faltered back from the mare, astonished by the mare’s height. She stood twice of Star’s size.
And her emerald mane. They flowed endlessly even when the wind was no longer to dance with it.
Star could not draw a single word to draw. Her mind was wholly blown away.
The tall mare stifled a chuckle. “Please excuse me, young one. But I cannot help finding amusement from your reaction.”
“Oh,” Star muttered. Her face blushed averted from the mare for a moment. “Sorry about that. It’s just that… you’re so tall.”
“There is no need to apologize,” the mare assured. “I imagine your feeling is understandable to common eyes.”
“Thanks…” Star said. “Um, so, are all norns normally tall?”
“I am Mistmane,” the mare introduced herself with a bow. “And no, I am no norn.”
“Then you really are a spirit, right?”
“Let’s just that I am a wanderer from somewhere far, far away.”
How far are we talking here?
“And might I ask for your name?” Mistmane asked.
“I’m Lune Star,” Star answered with a bow of her. “My friends and I came here hoping you could give us answers. Supposedly, you can read into the future of others.”
“I suppose that is why you guessed me for a norn.” Star confirmed Mistmane’s claim with a nod. “Yes, I do possess the ability to glimpse into untold events of others. However, my existence within the Cosmic tree is for another purpose.”
“Another purpose?” Star repeated. “I don’t think I follow.”
Mistmane sat on her haunch and clapped her hooves together. The boom from her hooves made Star’s coat straighten. It was as if the sound resounded through her body.
Mistmane pulled her hooves apart, and between them floated eight seeds. Each held a respective color of red, white, blue, yellow, pale blue, brown, green, and black.
“Seeds?” Star said. “Why do they look like that?”
“These are no normal seeds,” Mistmane said. “They were birthed from the purest essence from the eight realms with the sole purpose of rivaling a powerful giant that threatens all realms.”
“Seeds and a powerful giant? Wait, are you telling me those are the cosmic seeds!?”
Mistmane smiled. “I’m happy to see the tale has not been forgotten over the eon.”
“That’s just supposed to be some folk tale, right? There’s not a single historical record ever mentioning they existed.”
“Perhaps so. An inevitable fate to those who left to time for centuries.”
“But what does that have to do with me?”
Mistmane clapped her hooves again. When they drew apart, the seeds were no longer there. “This powerful foe, a giant foe, Sutr, birthed from the scorching flames of Ogomund, will soon break from its seal. In the coming years, his rage will sear through the Cosmic tree and turn it to ash.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” Star gave a nervous grin. “You mean to tell me that the world is pretty much going to in a few years from now?”
“Without the aid of the Cosmic seed, the Cosmic tree is left helpless before this giant. Before that can happen, the seeds must awaken to worthy bearers.”
A thought perked in Star. One that drove her heart to beat rapidly. “Am I one of those bearers?”
“Perhaps so,” Mistmane said. “However, I would like your aid to find those individuals worthy of the Cosmic seed.”
Star raised an eyebrow. “You’re entrusting me to find bearers of mythical seeds to stop a giant spoken in legends? Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, I’ve spent my entire life sheltered in this realm.”
Mistmane approached Star. She was again astonished by Mistmane’s size, frozen still. Despite Star’s shock, Mistmane placed a hoof upon Star’s shoulder. “Lune Star,” she said. “You are the only one I can trust with this task.”
“But why? I came all the way here just to figure out what purpose I supposed to have in my life. I don’t even know what my brand is supposed to tell about myself.”
“Ah, your cutie mark.” Mistmane observed the mark on Star’s hip. “A symbol of the world you walk. I cannot fault you for your confusion.”
“…Cutie mark?”
“But I can say a mark such as yours requires a wide experience to understand its meaning.”
“Can’t you just tell me? It’s why I came here.”
Mistmane shook her head. “Your fate is something that cannot be told. There is far more to be gained from the journey than the destination.”
“What!?” Star glared at the mare. “Are you saying you won’t tell me my destiny!? But you have to! I put my friends through a lot of trouble to get here. And I’ve already spent so many years trying and failing to figure this out on my own! I can’t do this anymore!”
Though Star threw her heart out at the tall mare, Mistmane kept a knowing smile. “Your desire to know your fate is indeed powerful,” Mistmane said. “But don’t you think you have limited yourself by staying in the light for too long. You must see what else the world has to offer.”
“Isn’t that what I’m doing right now?”
“You have ventured into the bright woods seeking answers. However, this is only your beginning. By experiencing the world, only then will you come to fully comprehend your cutie mark.”
“You want me to…” Star spoke in a low voice. “But I can’t.”
“Star, it falls to you to make that decision. You are the only one that can where fate will take you.”
“It’s up to me?”
“With that in mind, what shall you do? Will you aid my search for the bearers?”
“I… I still don’t think I’m the best pony for the job. But say that I agree to this, where would I even start?”
“Follow wherever the wind takes you and you shall find what you seek.”
Star… Star!
A voice rippled the space around Star, pricking a pain upon her head. The meadow landscape blurred, its bountiful botany becoming hard to specify.
“It would seem it is time for us to part,” Mistmane said.
Star widened her eyes at this declaration and rushed to grab hold of the tall mare. “Wait, I still have questions. You can’t leave me!”
Mistmane brushed her hoof against Star’s cheek. Her endearing smile felt motherly to the desperate mare. “Do not fear, young one,” she assured Star. “As long as you follow your feeling, then we are bound by fate to find each other again. All I ask is for you to look into your desires and determine what you shall do to attain them. I have faith in you, young one.”
The tall mare glowed in bright light. Star had only blinked once against it and then found herself dawned upon by her friends. Her body laid next to the Cosmic root that she noted a portion unwounded from her hoof.
“It finally let go of her,” Star heard Yori. She lifted her body up, craning her head to a newfound pain.
“Hey Star,” she heard Ratty. “That plant had you speaking some odd drivel in your sleep. You doing, okay?”
Star looked upon the Cosmic root. She had no words to explain what she had experienced. “I think so.” She looked at her friends to watch her in concern. “Guys, I think I’m ready to go home.”
Star flickered her eyes open in her bedroom. The sun had risen upon the Realm of Light and infringed its sunrays into her small chamber of darkness.
She let out a groan and hopped off her bed. She stretched her hooves and gave a long yawn.
She immediately wanted to go back to bed.
Star’s long travel back from the forest left her fatigued. At the time she safely arrived in her bedroom, Star knew she likely slept for at least two hours.
But if she didn’t get up, Star knew her mother would make it so.
As Star grumbled to herself, she felt a sudden weight land on her back. She gaped on her backside and noted Ratty lounged atop her.
“I’m not a bed, you know,” Star remarked. She squinted at her drowsy brother.
“You had me play adventurer all night,” Ratty countered with a single eye open and then shut. “You owe me this.”
Ratty then wrapped himself like a kitten and fell back into his slumber. His soft breaths reminded Star of a sleeping newborn foal.
Star struggled through her morning rituals without dropping Ratty. She relied on a single hoof and her magic brushed her teeth, rinsed her face, and fixed her frazzled mane into twin tails.
After persevering through an unnecessarily tricky morning, Star entered the living room. She floated Ratty’s body atop a cushion of a couch. She smiled at Ratty’s sleeping form, kicking his feet about.
Star gave her brother a kiss on the forehead. “Thanks for sticking by me,” she whispered.
She planned to descend into the kitchen on the first floor. However, Star stopped when she noticed her mother standing on the balcony.
Lune Hild appeared to gaze longingly at the city. She appeared deep in thought.
Star recalled her mother’s expressions last night and frowned. She then took a breath and entered the balcony. “Hey, mom,” Star greeted. “You doing alright?”
Hild did not meet her daughter’s gaze. Her eyes fixed upon the bright city before them. “You’re not one to ask about my well-being,” Hild said. “Normally it is I who asks the questions.”
“Yeah, well…” Star began, but lost her vigor. She anxiously brushed her hoof on the floor. “Look, about yesterday–”
“I apologize,” Hild said. “It was never my intention to compare you to Princess Dawn. You might think because of my occupation I would hold royalty precedence above else. But that’s not true. No matter what, you and Ratty are the ones I hold most dear.”
Star felt a sudden warmth soothe through her body. It was so intoxicating that she nearly forgot to breathe. “Mom,” Star spoke. “Can you tell me why you became a valkyrie?”
Hild finally looked upon her daughter. Her face curved, confused. “That’s a rather random question to ask? Haven’t I already told you this story?”
“You did,” Star admitted. “But I just want to hear it again…”
Hild sighed. “I was a few years younger than you when a war sparked between the ponies of Eklaria and the Vanir. Because Sollothus served as the uniter of the eight realms, we were the first to respond to ponies’ aid. Queen Bertha’s mother had issued her valkyries to serve as reinforcement against the Vanir. Imagine everyone’s surprise when Queen Bertha enlisted herself to serve their cause.”
“You and Bertha were close friends. I can’t imagine you sitting idly when she jumped headfirst into danger.”
“I used to hate how selfless Queen Bertha could be. In all my life, I have yet to meet anyone as compassionate as her. She was vocal of her anger about the war and spoke often of intervening to establish peace. It should’ve dawned on all of us she was true to her words. And so, I joined the valkyries to aid her.”
“Grandpa and grandma weren’t ecstatic about that idea, weren’t they? They told me that they had long retired from their political duties and wanted to move the family into a more peaceful life.”
“I could never be satisfied with the cozy life they had set for me,” Hild said. “I knew that there was something more for me in the world. And when my best friend endangered herself on the battlefield, I knew I couldn’t stay silent anymore.”
“And so, you snuck from home and enlisted yourself in valkyries behind their back.” Star grinned at her mother. Hild averted her gaze from Star and tugged on her beret. “I never would have expected you for the rebellious type.”
“That wasn’t my proudest moment,” Hild admitted, furrowing at her daughter’s amusement. “And neither am I proud that seems the most relevant to you.”
“Everything about you is relevant to me,” Star remarked. “You went against the wishes of others for what you felt was right. That decision made a big difference for everyone across the realms. But there’s something about that I want to ask.”
“And that is?”
“What was that feeling that compelled you to go through with it? Did that make everything clear to you? Did it tell you everything you needed to know about yourself?”
Her mother chuckled. “Star, no creature ever knows their destiny until it happens. For me, it was disgust of war and my desire to protect those important to me. I can still remember the despair and hatred that erupted in Realm of Seas. Seeing all the horror motivated me to protect the light in everyone by ensuring the success of Queen Bertha’s goal.”
“Protecting the light, everyone,” Star repeated. She stared at the hardwood floor. A frown donned on her face. “Mom, I’m sorry I’ve been a brat. I’m sure you never imagined a daughter like me under your legacy.”
“Hush.” Hild surprised her daughter with a hug. She brushed Star’s mane gently and spoke in a soft voice, “I have never asked you to follow in my hoof steps nor to become anything grand. All I ever wanted is for you to be happy. Live out the life you desire, and I will be there to support you through the thick and thin. Do you think you can do that for me?”
Star hadn’t realized her face was drenched with tears. She chuckled. “You must not realize how selfish of a mare I can be.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I know. I raised you after all.”
“We got everything, right?” Star asked Ratty as he hopped off from her back. The two approached the chalice-like Cosmic root within the wet cave.
“Of course,” Ratty said. “Food, bits, some runes, and sweet, sweet nuts.”
“There better be more than just nuts,” Star warned, eyeing at her elder brother. “I’m not as crazy for nuts like you and mom.”
Ratty shrugged. “More for me then.”
Star joined Ratty before the Cosmic root. She watched her brother dig a hole under the root, revealing a starry space down below.
When Ratty climbed out of the hole, Star asked, “Is that it?”
“Yup,” Ratty confirmed. “Once we go through here, we’ll be out of Sollothus and out into the Cosmic Network. We can go to any realm you like from there.”
Star stared at the starry space below. She could feel her heartbeat hastening. Maybe a bit of nervousness swelled in her, but there was definitely a greater amount of excitement.
“So,” Ratty said. “Are you sure about this?”
“Despite how frustrating this place can be, I still love it,” Star said. “I have my friends and family that could give me all the flair I want. But there is still more about myself that I need to learn. And the only way I will find those answers is by going out into the world. I have to seek my destiny.”
Ratty patted his sister and gave a grin. “Well then, let’s not keep the world then.”
Star nodded and then took a breath. She knew once she dropped into this hole, there was no coming back. She would step into new territories and would see all it has to offer.
The time of her taking all those small steps is over. Instead, she’ll take big ones, starting by jumping in the hole seeing all the magic and wonder of the realms. All eight realms of magic.
Lune Star’s descent down the Cosmic root narrowed the further she dropped. The dirt hole her elder brother, Ratty, had dug was enclosing upon her. Thank the Cosmos she wasn’t claustrophobic, else this would be a nightmare. Though even this predicament didn’t strike fear into her…
“Hey,” Star called. “How much longer is this going to take? I feel like we’ve been at this for an hour now.”
Star heard a scratching noise resonate beneath her. However, because of how narrow her space was, she couldn’t look over herself to make out what lied below.
She then felt a warm fur touch her hoof as the scratching noise resounded louder before her. “Have patience, will ya?” Star recognized her brother’s voice. He drugged through the space around Star, giving her room to stretch out her hooves. “We should be close now.”
“We better be,” Star said as she crawled her body into a burrow Ratty made beside the downward path. Though their surroundings were pitch black, Star’s trusty dark vision revealed all to her. “I feel like I’m being dragged into another of mom’s training sessions.”
“I’d rather not think too much about her.” Ratty lounged onto Star’s belly and withdrew a nut from his purse to munch on. “I don’t want to think about the things she will do to us if she catches us.”
“Mom has to understand what I’m doing. Besides, I’ve been given an important mission by Mistmane. I can’t go disappointing an ancient spirit.”
“What about her makes her so ancient? You’ve only known for at least a few minutes. And I’ve never heard that name in my life.”
“Well, duh, she did say she came from another world.”
“And you don’t find any of that questionable?” Ratty raised his brow.
“We’re here now, so quit your complaining. What I’m more worried about is getting out of this stupid hole.”
After taking their break, Star and Ratty continued their descent under the chaliced Cosmic root. Ratty many times returned to Star’s side to claw her into some space, which gradually worked on both of their nerves. However, both were finally remedied of this annoyance when a bright light shone from beneath them.
Ratty was the first to fall into the light. Star followed inside with no hesitation. The wonders of what she may find ahead made her anxious yet ecstatic.
And so, she fell unceremoniously atop a large root. If her mother had seen Star, Hild would have made Star repeat her landing a hundred times until it was perfect.
However, those thoughts were immediately flushed away when her breath was taken by the sight before her.
The night sky shrouded the world around her. Billions of stars sprinkled within the distance. Many she had never seen at bright nights and constellations she had only read from textbooks.
But what astonished her more were the roots. Lengths of massive roots as long as highways sprouted all around Star like a dense jungle. A jungle suspended across the starry space.
Star stood slack-jawed. She has read about this place for most of her life, but to see it for herself shook her to her depths. Her senses only came back when Ratty patted her side.
“Welcome to the Cosmic Network,” Ratty said. “The place that connects every realm we have come to know.”
Star had read extensively about the Cosmic Network from her mother’s study. It was theorized to begin as a tiny sprout that grew over the millennium. All from its mysterious life that showed no limit to its power. Enough to create nine worlds from its own being.
Still, Star was shocked by the sheer size of the roots. Each was as tall as a three-story building, leading towards paths with no end in sight.
Star noted her brother giving her a buck grin. “So,” Ratty said. “What do you think? Worth the mile drop, right?”
Star rolled her eyes, but her smile gave Ratty the reaction he wanted. “Okay, I’ll admit that this has exceeded my expectations. Honestly, I didn’t expect this place to be this massive. Then again, it’s hard to imagine what to think from a tree that houses nine realms.”
Star walked before the edge of a root she stood upon and stared down into the depths of the Cosmic Network. The tower-sized roots continued their mazy highways beneath her, disappearing into a pitch blackness far below where she could only assume to lead to one place.
Mutebis.
Star sensed a strange eerie from the darkness below her. It was as if she could sense danger staring directly at her. Yet despite the ominous feeling she felt, she oddly found comfort in it.
“Hey Ratty,” Star said. “Where are the other realms? I’d figured they would’ve stood out in this place.”
“Not really,” Ratty responded. “With how these giant roots are bundled together, it’d be impossible to see all of them at once. If we want to find one, we’ll have to move out from the center.”
“That’s right,” Star realized. “Sollothus is set above all other realms. Most of them tend to stick out at the far ends of the Network.”
Star then looked above her and witnessed a pure white light radiating. She saw many of the Cosmic roots constricted upon the light like veins. This light was Sollothus. Her home.
“It’s kind of weird looking at it from the outside,” Star confessed.
“Move a distance away from it and we’ll get a clearer look at it. You’ll probably think of it as a giant bulb.”
“Maybe,” Star said as her eyes laid at the darkness below. “And maybe I’ll get a good look at Mutebis as well.”
“Yeah, no.” Ratty shook his head. “There’s no way we’re going down there. I’ve heard a horrific giant hound is guarding the entrance. I’m not going to become a dog toy.”
“Oh, that’s right. The entrance to Mutebis is guarded by a creature known as Garm. It’s astonishing that it only takes one oversized mutt to keep every creature away.”
“Not just that. The thickets into the entrance are infested with all sorts of nightmarish creatures. We’d be chowed down long before the mutt could get a bite.”
“It’s not that nightmarish if other ponies are living there,” Star countered.
“Then they’re obviously more frightening than the monsters. Look, we’re not going to Mutebis. So, pick somewhere else.”
“What’s this?” Star crooked a smile on her face. “Does Ratty have a fear of Mutebisseans? Oh, don’t you worry Ratty. I promise I won’t bite.”
“Are you going to pick a place or not?”
Star spared her brother of any further teasing. There would be much more to come while they’re exploring the numerous realms of the Cosmos.
But where should she go first?
When Star met Mistmane, the mysterious mare advised that Star should go wherever the wind took her. Such a cliche line could mean anything. She could have at least been considerate to recommend a place.
Star and Ratty ventured up a root and came atop its hill, where she laid her eyes upon a new world. Within the distance, Star saw a large sphere of cyan. A massive bulb of light with roots entrenched upon it like veins.
“That one is Nimbus, right?” Star asked.
“That’s right,” Ratty confirmed. “The realm of skies where the clouds are just as limitless as the sea in Eklaria.”
“Limitless, huh?” Star chuckled. “Did you get that from one of those epic stories?”
“Just take at the moment,” Ratty advised.
Star and Ratty sat atop the hill, looking across the thicket of roots and stars around them. She discovered crevices within the roots that revealed sparkling rivers inside.
Star jumped from the hilly root and slid down it until she came close to the crevice. Glitters of light flowed inside the root-like blood. In a way, that would be accurate.
“Hey,” Ratty called, sliding down to Star’s side. “Why’d you run off like that?”
“Look at this.” Star nodded toward the glittery light. “Don’t you know what this is?”
“Yeah, it’s the Cosmic sap everyone uses. You act like it’s your first time seeing it.”
“It’s my first time seeing where it comes from,” Star argued. “To think everyone leaves their realm to grab a fill of this in a plain spot like this. I’d figured it’d be somewhere more mystical.”
“How grand, did you read that from one of your books?”
“Ha-ha, very funny,” Star deadpanned. “But seriously, I didn’t think they would all be in the open like this.”
“It flows through all the roots, Star. You could pretty much exit an inch of your realm and grab some.”
“Maybe I should take some for the road. You never know when you need a new rune in your arsenal.”
“We’re good, Star.” Ratty hopped atop her back. “Our inventory will do just fine.”
“Where’s your sense of adventure? We should be grabbing anything that catches our eye.”
“We’re stocked up as it is. Maybe loosen up your bag before you start hoarding things.”
Star’s bag was bulk full of books, food, and rune tools she had enchanted in her past. She didn’t know what exactly to leave behind, finding all her belongings too valuable to leave behind. It might be a long time before she could see them all again.
“But enough about that,” Ratty said. “Where are we off to first?”
“I guess...Nimbus,” Star decided. “It’s standing right before us. Might as well start there.”
Ratty and Star ventured through the roots, jumping and hiking down massive roots to reach Nimbus. Nearing its emerald light, Star noted small bits of clouds floating around her.
The clouds were thin and did not impair Star’s sight too much. If she wanted, she could look back at the sphere that held Sollothus. Its clear white being felt as if Star was staring into a sunbeam.
“We’re really going to Nimbus,” Star said.
“The first thing we need to do is find some sky nuts,” Ratty suggested. “I’ve heard they have a juicy taste to them.”
Star couldn’t help but feel giddy. Her first adventure into the other realms was about to begin. She was going to experience a world she has only read from books. Meet new creatures far unlike herself. The possibilities were endless.
And most importantly, she would find a hint of her destiny.
Star and Ratty continued their path to Nimbus. As they neared the sphere of Nimbus, the two discussed an alternative route to get inside.
Every known entrance to every realm was guarded by their knights to verify those who entered them. One would need a passport to be given clearance, which Star has never been approved of. So of course, Star and Ratty would have to take a detour.
However, as they plotted their plan, Star couldn’t shake off a prickling feeling on her neck. At first, she thought it was her brother, but soon she began to think it was something else.
Star stopped and looked around at her surroundings. She noted a dark space within the white mist. It was strange, considering Sollothus was beaming its bright light from that direction.
“Why’d you stop?” Ratty asked. “We’re almost there.”
“We’re not alone,” Star whispered. “I think there’s someone over there.”
Star stared deep into the dark space and noticed something peculiar. The darkness had a texture to it. It looked like scales.
Star and Ratty then shook at the sound of growl echoing through the mist. The black space shifted and revealed red slit eyes shimmering towards Star and Ratty.
Small quakes shook from Star, stood as a large black figure climbed over the roots and landed before them. Its black wings spread wide to soften its landing. Its sets of sharp fangs bathed in black flames from the figure’s breath.
Without a doubt, a dark wyvern had appeared before them.
Star and Ratty gaped, aghast at the creature. They wondered why it was here. Why is something so grim lurking so close to the realm of light?
“You,” the dark wyvern spoke with a hoarse voice. “The pony. You bear the brand of the Cosmic Tree. You must be Lune Star.”
“Huh?” Star said, confused. “Oh, you must have confused me with someone else. I’m just your everyday pony heading to Nimbus. You see, I’m going to become a Nimbussean guard.”
Star feigned a warm, simple, hoping her story would convince the dark wyvern. However, his eyes arched in annoyance.
“Don’t try to lie to me,” the wyvern responded. “Your brand tells me everything I need to know about you.”
“...And what does it say about me, exactly?” Star asked, curious of what the wyvern was insinuating. All of her senses were screaming at her to run, but the fact that this random wyvern knew of her identity intrigued her. She has yet to etch her name anywhere across the realms, so it made her wonder how this wyvern knew of her.
Ratty straddled onto Star’s neck and whispered in her ear, “What are you doing? We need to book it now.”
Star looked back at the realm of Nimbus that laid miles from afar. Getting there would still take time, but if she were to take a shortcut through the roots…
Star noted a shift from the wyvern’s head. “Don’t try anything funny, “the wyvern warned.
Whatever secret this wyvern held, Star concluded she would have to get them on her terms. It wasn’t safe for her to be greedy at a time like this. Not if it meant putting Ratty and herself at risk.
“Why would I go anywhere?” Star responded to the wyvern. “You say you know about me, right/ That’s kind of why I’m out here. Please, can you tell me what you know?”
“You mean, you don’t know?” the wyvern asked, befuddled. “Fine then, allow me to tell you of your”—before the wyvern could begin his tale, Star immediately dashed into the thin mist of clouds towards Nimbus — “Hey!”
Ratty tightened his grip onto Star as she began to parkour through the branches. She ran across them like walls and jumped through narrow openings to skip through curvy paths.
Star was thankful for her training with her mother. Who knew all that torturous training on the field would work this much in her favor.
She took a large leap toward another giant root. However, when she was halfway to the other root, the wyvern flipped underneath her. Its large mass widened as it opened its toothy fangs to grab her.
Star’s horn lit a red light that converted into dark flames. It quickly consumed her and Ratty’s body, allowing themselves to phase through the wyvern.
When she came upon the giant root, she quickly dispelled her magic and fell unceremoniously atop it. However, she and Ratty preserved through the collision and continued their rush for Nimbus.
As Star continued to gallop, she couldn’t help but ask, “Do wyverns like that normally hang around here?”
“I don’t know?” Ratty admitted. “But I would’ve put in my resignation fast if that were the case.”
Star stopped before the edge of a root and discovered Nimbus beneath her. All they had to do now was work their way down and they would be home free. With this predicament, it would probably be safer to lure the wyvern to the Nimbussean guards to let the authorities handle it.
However, before Star could set her plan into motion, the wyvern came ascending before them. It breathes black flames at Star, surrounding her in a ring.
Star flinched in the intense heat.
“Don’t think you can get away from me,” the dark wyvern said. “I’m taking you with me.”
“Star,” Ratty cried. “If you have anything else up your sleeve, now would be a great time to draw it.”
As the wyvern neared them, Star desperately looked at her surroundings for an opening. Phasing through the flames with her phantom spell was possible, but it wouldn’t protect her from being burned by the heat. She could phase down the root, but who knows how long of a drop that would be.
So, the only thing she could do was create her own path.
Star quickly withdrew the obsidian cube from her saddlebag. Its form was clean and pristine as if it was freshly made. She then chanted its rune inscription, “Laguz, ehwaz, jera!”
Her voice echoed into the cube, and its yellow light shone brightly through the thin mist. And then came the cube’s flashing pulse that blinded the wyvern.
Its pulse dissipated the flames, allowing her a chance to escape. However, what she did not account for was the roots rattled wide in response to the obsidian cube.
The massive roots whipped about, knocking the wyvern away and tossing Star and Ratty off its form. Star and Ratty screamed as they fell onto the top of Nimbus.
The world around Star changed so fast. A mere moment ago she found herself surrounded by the nebula of space and tendrils of roots. And through the layer of Nimbus, Star drowned within a sea of thick clouds.
The clouds hampered her sight, blinding her like a thick mist. Her flailing hooves were hidden by its mass.
“Ratty!” Star called. She hoped to hear her brother’s voice to assure his safety. However, the turbulence of her fall muffled her hearing. She could barely even make out her own voice.
She also felt her coat dampen. She could taste pure water from the cloud splash upon her tongue as she screamed louder for Ratty.
But then she finally broke out of the clouds and descended upon a majestic sight.
Around her, Star she could see islands composed of clouds floating amongst the sky. Each inhabited ponds, lakes, waterfalls and vegetation. Atop the trees grew wispy tops that looked more like a giant cotton candy.
Star knew the realm of Nimbus to be a world of eternal skies—numerous floating islands and constant litters of clouds drifting across its space. The way its nature functioned was far unlike her own in Sollothus, the realm of light.
Star felt dazzled by the wondrous skies, however, she did not have time to ponder upon its allure. She would have no time to explore the mysteries of this realm if she couldn’t save herself first. Star searched her surroundings and finally discovered Ratty falling meters away from herself.
“Hey!” Star called to him. “Ratty!” She could see Ratty’s lip smoke, but the cutting air muffled any sound he sent her way. Star sifted through her purse and withdrew a lasso. She enchanted
words of runes as its inscriptions lit an auric glow. Star then threw it towards Ratty, wounding tight on his stomach. Star yanked on the lasso hard, pulling Ratty fast within her grasp.
“Got you!” Star declared.
“Look out below!” Ratty shouted and pointed at a lake beneath them.
The two were fast approaching the lake. At this rate, they might not be able to save themselves out of the water if they hit it.
Star quickly erected a barrier around them. It splashed roughly into the river, scaring off small critters—tortoise, rabbits,and frogs—lounging near the lake.
Star hoped for the buoyancy of the river to eventually raise them back to the surface, but instead her barrier sank and pierced through the bottom. Star and her brother found themselves continuing their descension from the sky.
“Oh, come on!” Star shouted.
Large body of water sprinkled beside them, coming from the gaping hole they left from the island above.
“Hit another island,” Ratty suggested. “Maybe next time we’ll stick.”
Star discovered another island below with a lake to absorb her fall. Star kicked the barrier to adjust it towards the lake.
When it crashed into the lake, Star and Ratty hoped this would be the end of their fall. However, the barrier pierced through the island.
To make matters worse, Star noted a large piece of barrier had chipped off from above. That and Ratty had mysteriously disappeared from her side. Star looked up at the island above and found Ratty gaping down at her from the flushing lake.
“Well, at least he’s safe,” Star said. She knew her brother to be a good swimmer, confident he would swim up to the surface fast enough before the lake could drain completely.
Star harnessed her horn that elicited a black glow. The dark glow spread across her body, giving her an eerie black aura that slithered like incense smoke.
Star planned to cast a phantom spell that would temporarily convert her body to a mist of darkness. She figured she could ride the air for a bit until she could land safely on the nearest island the winds would carry her to.
However, her plan was put in a bind when she discovered a waterfall encroaching beneath her. Star had already invested an abundance of her time in the spell. She wondered if she could cast in time before would strike the water.
There was no way she would let her journey come to an abrupt end like this. She had so much to explore across the realm, and many to learn about herself.
She debated whether to cancel her spell or erect another barrier to absorb her collision. Her mind rattled between her choices until she felt the butterflies swarming her belly come to an abrupt halt.
She realized she was suddenly sitting motionless upon the air.
“A bit early to be air diving, don’t you think?” a voice spoke to Star. And apparently it had also cradled her within its grasp.
Star gawked surprisingly at a yellow mare who held Star in her grasp. The mare beamed a smug grin at her damsel.
Star immediately noted lighting sparking from the feathers of the mare's wing.
An Iphelonian, Star deduced.
The Iphelonians are natives of the Iphelon realm. A world of lighting where storms and thunder were commonplace upon its plains.
“Who are you?” Star asked.
“Glad you asked,” the mare responded. “Folks call me Storm Drift. You’re looking at one of the best adventurers to have ever lived.”
Storm descended upon a thick cloud below and dropped Star atop it. Star was nervous about walking on the clouds, scared she might fall through it. However, texts have told her that the clouds of Nimbus held a unique thickness that could lift the average pony.
She sighed relieved when she hesitantly confirmed the texts were accurate.
“Thanks for helping me,” Star said. “This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I planned on coming to Nimbus.”
“I’m surprised I didn’t find you freaking out when I found you,” Storm said. “You must be a pretty brave mare.”
“Hey, uh, there’s actually someone else I’d like you to help.”
“Is that someone falling above us right this moment?”
Star blinked at Storm’s response and looked above. Descending from the skies, Star found Ratty screaming his heart out.
Star gave a flat gaze at her brother. “Yeah, could you help him?”
Storm cradled Star and Ratty to the ground of Nimbus. Star awed at the meadow before her, seeing rainbows and bits of clouds floating across the field.
Storm dropped the two on the ground, atop a hill where Star could get stared at the stretches of the field. Star and Ratty joined her side.
“You know,” Storm said. “It’s not often that ponies from Sollothus come here. I heard most of you like to keep to yourselves at home.”
“Well, this one would like to experience the world,” Star responded. “I’m not the kind who like to haul themselves in bright lights.”
Star knew the common Sollothean to be elusive about visiting other realms. Though they were curious about the world, the idea of visiting a land far unlike their own felt unkempt to them.
“Well, I don’t know any Sollothean that likes to go diving miles above the air,” Storm chuckled. “You must be a rarity among the bunch.”
“You think we’re dumb enough to do that on purpose?” Ratty questioned. “We were being chased by a dark wyvern.”
Storm quirked a brow. “Are you sure it was a dark wyvern? They usually live in Mutebis. Why would there be one lurking all the way up here?”
“I’d like to know that myself,” Star said. “But honestly, I prefer to never see it again.”
“Wyverns tend to stick around the realm they come from,” Storm explained. “Kind of find it hard to believe one would be here.”
“We aren’t lying,” Ratty argued. “Why else would we be up falling down the sky without a parachute?”
“Let’s forget about it for now,” Star said. “It’s already over and done with.”
Besides, Star was not in the mood to explain her case. The last thing she would want is to attract unnecessary attention to herself. She did run away from home after all.
“So, where are the two of you headed?” Storm asked.
“Um, not sure actually,” Star admitted. “I wasn’t completely set on Nimbus to be honest.”
“I told you we should’ve planned ahead of time,” Ratty complained.
“You can’t blame me for wanting to enjoy the moment. It’s my first time outside of Sollothus.”
“Well, if you're looking for a place to rest up, I can bring you back to my town,” Storm offered.
Star nodded. “That’s probably for the best. All that falling has taken the wind out of me.”
“Don’t do puns,” Ratty cringed. “It’s so unlike you.”
Storm guided the two through the cloudy meadow. They made banters about the clouds and of Storm’s adventures across the realms. Star hoped to have stories of her own in her near future.
