Chapter 1- A Royal Morning
The sun washed over my face, waking my up from a sound sleep. “Ugh, fine. I'll get up.” I mumbled and rolled out of bet, my feet hitting the ground. I yawned and stretched. “Hopefully, Celestia doesn't have us do much today...” I thought as I moved to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
Oh yeah. I'm Starlight, prince of Equestria and brother to Celestia and Luna. I'm a human alicorn. I hadn't always looked like me, but I had been cursed to stay in this form when I was young. But that's another story...
In the bathroom, I splashed some water on my face, trying to wake myself up. “Man, that was a rough night...” I stared at the six cutie marks on my left hand and sighed, rubbing the hand. “Stupid nightmares...”
You're probably wondering why I have six cutie marks on my hand. Well, it turns out that I have a rare magical ability called the Cutie Stamp. It copies that ponies cutie mark and creates a copy on the one with the ability. After that, it can be used to cast strange and interesting magic based on that cutie mark. For example, whenever I used Rainbow Dash's cutie mark, I gained incredible speed. I'm sure there's other perks, but I haven't found them all. So far, I have all of the Elements of Harmony's cutie marks.
On my right hand I had a star on my hand, surrounded by a sun and a moon, trails of light surrounding it. That was when I had Cutie Stamped my sisters at my coronation. That had been a hell of a day.
I sighed and raised my head from the sink, looking at myself in the mirror. I inspected my blue eyes, seeing small bags under my eyes. “Man, I might need to take a nap later.” I ran a hand through my brown hair. “Wonder if I could dye it with magic?”
I stepped back and shrugged, pleased with myself. Done with being in the bathroom, I left it and walked back into my room. “Alright, time to get out there.”
I ran a comb through my hair really fast and ruffled my wings, making sure they weren't sprained. I had slept wrong on them one night and wasn't able to fly for half a week. “Hmm, they feel fine to me. Rainbow'll probably tell me if they're messed up.”
I held my right hand out, concentrating. After about a second, a dark blue sword materialized in my hand. I closed my hand over it and smiled. This was my weapon Stormtide. I wasn't sure just how I had received this sword, but it hadn't failed me yet. I was glad to have it. De-summoning the sword, I slipped into a green shirt and a pair of jeans. “Alright, let's go see what today's gonna bring.” I said, leaving my room.
. . .
When I reached the dining room, I saw Celestia sitting down eating. “Hey Celestia.” I said, walking over and giving her a quick hug. “Where's Luna?”
“You just missed her.” Celestia said. “She's going to lay down for a little while.”
“Oh.” I sat next to my sister. “So what's on the plan for today?”
Celestia thought for a moment. “I have to attend some meeting later today, but I didn't have much planned. Weren't you going to visit Ponyville today?”
“Yeah, but not until I finished anything that I needed to do.” I said.
“Hmmm.” My sister sat for a minute longer. “Well, I'm going to say now that you should be alright for the day. If I really need you, I can send a letter through Spike.
“That's cool with me.” I stood up, extending my wings.
Celestia looked at me. “You aren't going to eat?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I woke up last night and chowed. I'll be alright until lunch.”
“Alright.” I gave Celestia a hug. “Let me know if you decide to stay in Ponyville for a few days.”
“You got it.” I said. I walked over to one of the windows, opened it, and jumped out, extending my wings to catch the air and fly towards Ponyville.
. . .
The flight wasn't very eventful, but I did tend to stay rather high in the air, above the clouds so I wouldn't be easily seen. I had been regularly visiting Ponyville after the incident with Gilda, but ponies still freaked out when I came by. Sure, I might be royal, but I don't wanna act it all the time.
I flew up a little higher. My lungs couldn't handle the altitude as well as pegasi, being human lungs, so Twilight and I had spent a few weeks trying to work on a spell that would help with that. We decided on a spell that would draw air towards me and create a sort of barrier so that I'd have enough to breathe. It was a rough spell, but it worked for now.
As I flew, I saw Cloudsdale in the distance. “Wait, I think Rainbow works today.” I remembered. “If I wanna see her now, guess I could swing by and say hi.” I banked to the right and continued on.
It took a little more time, but I finally reached the floating city. I touched down and walked around, staring in awe at the place.
I was in the central city of Cloudsdale, seeing large skyscrapers and buildings. There were quite the few ponies mingling and walking or flying around the area. I had landed on the sidewalk, and I moved into a more enclosed corner so that I could think for a moment.
“Great. Rainbow never told me where her job was...” I grumbled. I glanced around for a while and my eyes lit up as I say my friend Derpy flying towards the west. “She can help! Plus, it's been a bit since we've talked.” In a flash, I extended my wings and flew after her.
Derpy might be ditzy at times, but that mare could fly. I didn't catch up to her until we were just about at her work. “Derpy!” I called out.
She turned around and broke into a big smile. “Starlight!” She tackled me in a hug.
“Oof!” I grunted, then returned the hug. “How are you?”
“I'm doing great!” She replied. “What about you? I haven't seen you for months, even when delivering mail.”
I shrugged. “After that incident with Gilda, I've been really busy. Have to get to know the rules and customs of Equestria, ya know.”
Derpy stuck her tongue out. “That sounds really boring.”
“Some days can be.” I said, playfully nudging her. “Hey, do you know where Rainbow's work is?
“Yeah. It's about a half a mile behind us.” She said. “Although, she isn't working today.”
“Really?” I asked. “How are you sure?”
“I asked her when she would be free so we could hang out. She said today.” Derpy said. “I can change it if you wanted to be with her. I know that it's been a while since you've seen her.”
I shook my head. “No, Derpy. I'm not gonna do that. I'll go visit her for a little bit, then I'll go visit everyone else in town.” I smirked. “After I spend a few minutes telling everypony to relax.”
“Well you're royalty now, Star.” Derpy said. “Even if you don't wanna, you still have to play the part.” I nodded. “Sorry, but I gotta run! See you later!” In an instant, Derpy flew away.
I smiled and turned towards the distance. It was time to go visit my marefriend.
