The Story of Starberry Sparkle

Oh Celestia, more rain, were the words that echoed in the young unicorn mare's mind. She brushed dirt and mud off her white coat and out of her red-and-gray mane. She took shelter under a tree, looking out over the hills as she rested her back against its hard, woody stump. She rested her hooves behind her back as she gazed out over the hills. Bringing her hoof up to clear her mane, she looked down at her scarred hoof. With a sigh, she looked around for something to cover it with. Eventually she picked up a leaf and placed it on the bleeding scar.

For thirty minutes she tried to wait out the pounding rain pouring down on the land around her. Then forty. Then fifty. She cursed silently to herself as each minute passed. Then, with a sigh and a mumble, she cleared her mane of any bark that might have caught onto it and decided to come out from under its leafy dome.

With no protection the young mare dragged her hooves behind her. It was bad enough falling into a pit, and now rain. Wiping blood from her coat and shaking it onto the ground, she looked for any form of shelter. She'd been on this journey for weeks now. But she was the outlaw: Starberry Sparkle, wanted for theft. It wasn't her fault her siblings were...

Ack! She was thinking about it again. Shaking her head she cleared her mind.

Looking over the rolling hills, she glanced at the bustling city of Fillydelphia. She swore though she was far away, she could get there. But what would they think? Had the word spread from her small, strange village to there? She didn't want to risk being caught. But then again..

Stopping all thought, something gleaming caught her eye. To her left, there was a calm, quiet plain and a cave. It looked almost welcoming as she stared down the path. It, like every other thing around her, was pounded by rain, but it was her only option if she wanted to escape being caught in the city.

"Fair enough," she murmured to herself. She walked down the path with a quicker stride in her step. When she was under the cave, she breathed a sigh of relief. She wringed out her hood and spent a bit of time picking leaves and bits of dried blood from her mane. The cave was cozy enough to spend the night. It was warmer than outside, and.. quiet.

Thinking she'd found a place to stay, she took some moss from the wet walls. She began to place them in a mound, a comfortable one at that. She found some twigs to hold it up and twined some grass together to make a blanket to cover herself.

Starberry drowsily rubbed her eyes and lay onto the bed of moss. She used the carefully twined grass blanket to keep herself warm. "Finally, some sleep," she said to herself. She'd been needing rest for a long time now. She took one last glance around the quiet cave. It was so quiet.. Almost too quiet.

Her eyes were about to flutter closed. She pulled the blanket closer to her face, but just as she was about to go to sleep for the night, she heard a noise.

Krrraakk...

Her eyes flew open. Though extremely tired, she swore she heard some hoovesteps and a twig break. She lifted her head curiously, but the sound was gone, except for water dripping from the ceiling.

She suspiciously started to rest her head back down to the pillow of moss. It must have been her imagination, because as a few more minutes went on she didn't hear it again. Her eyes were slowly closing back together when...

"Not so fast, pony."

She sprang up from the mossy bed. There wasn't something, but someone! Its whispery, bloodthirsty tone echoed through the cave. She swiftly turned and started galloping toward the exit. The sound of buzzing wings stopped her as about twenty equine-like figures flying in the air blocked the exit. With more careful observation, she saw there were holes in their legs.

"My comrades... When you are ready...

Feed."