Star Chaser Chronicles

Wings tucked, head down, hooves forward and a smile on her face, Star Chaser dived after the star. The jet of sparks and light was the fourth one tonight she'd chased down, truly living up to her name. As both star and pegasus raced towards the earth, Star Chaser steadily gained on the fiery rock until she held out a hoof and scooped up the glowing stone.

       “Got'chaaaaaaaa that's hot!” Swiftly, she stowed the fallen star into her special star back and pulled out of the dive, looping a few times, just for fun, and flapped off to find more.

        Star Chaser had spent many enjoyable years chasing down the stars that seemed to loose themselves from the fabric of the sky, but she never tired of the chase, nor of the wonderful beauty of the night sky. Looking at the moon, gauging how late it was, and that it might be time to head home for the night, Star Chaser closed her wings, letting herself drop a few dozen feet through the starlit sky, to open them as she twisted around, literally turning a one-eighty in the air.

        “Not bad.” A voice complemented. “I would have done it differently, but I like your style.”

        Looking around, Star Chaser saw another Pegasus flying, not too far from her. Star Chaser smiled, not too surprised to see another flier out. Every Pegasus knew that flying under the moon and stars on a summer night was treat, especially when the western wind blew. You could almost taste the exotic flavors of the ocean, a place that Star Chaser had dreamed of visiting for some time now.

        “Thank you.” Star Chaser nodded in appreciation. “Haven't seen you around here before.” And in deed Star Chaser hadn't ever seen a Pegasus like this one before. The stallion was yellow, almost glowing, with a flowing mane and tail that seemed to shimmer, like sparks and a cutie mark of a falling star.

        “I only come around here from time to time, when the weather is right.” He replied. “My name is Sky Sparks. What's yours?”

        “Star Chaser,” The white Pegasus replied. “It is a nice night.”

        “More than you know.” Sky Sparks replied. “Now, do you feel up to a little race?”

        Star Chaser never boasted on how fast she could go, distance fliers aren't known for their speed, but she could put some distance away with ease.

        “What an interesting idea.” She smiled. “To where were you thinking of racing too?”

        Sky Sparks pointed a hoof at a mountain peek ten miles away. “I know it's some distance, but with speed and a little endurance, it will be over before you know it.”

        Star Chaser nodded, keeping her true abilities to herself, for now. She'd let her wings do the talking.

        “Ready?” They both leveled off. “Set,” For a moment they hovered, both waiting in anticipation for the final word. “GO!”

         In a flash, both Pegasus beat their wings as hard as they could, cutting through the air like butter, hooves outstretched, heads down and wings beating a beat that would have made a drummer exhausted. Star Chaser glued her sight on the mountain, when something caught her eye.

         Just off to her left, a star was making it's rapid decent. For a moment, Star Chaser wondered what to do. True, she caught falling stars to keep them out of the hooves of the wrong ponies, but it wasn't something she'd been formally tasked with, not to mention, she was currently in a race, not matter how silly, and she did not like losing to any pony. On the other hoof, she knew guarding the fallen stars was much more important than a race.

         Angling herself slightly, she dived down at about forty-five degrees, mentally calculating where the star was going. If she'd been flying fast before, she was rocketing now, as she used both her wings and gravity to gather more speed.

         When she hit her mental mark, Star Chaser straightened out, zooming straight and then up so fast, she felt something she'd never felt before. It was a barrier of some kind. A barrier of air that she tore through, speeding onto a collision course with the earth bound star.

         In an expert twist, the Pegasus untied her star bag with her teeth, held it open with her hooves in time to catch the star, pulled it tight again and throwing on her back, tightening the strap that held it in place. The speed she was going was greater than any she'd achieved before, and she could see that Sky Sparks was still a few miles away from the mountain finish line.

         He must have not noticed me going after the star, Star Chaser thought, but now she was up so high, she thought she could see all the way to the Princess's castle in Canterlot. With a tight smile, she dove again, hitting that air barrier and ripping through it.

         The thrill of speed she felt, she would never be able to put into words, but it felt like nothing else before. In a short minute, she'd caught up to Sky Sparks, and a half a minute latter, she was landing on the mountain top, ready to drop.

         “By the Stars, I've never seen any Pegasus do that before!” Sky Sparks exclaimed in awe as he landed, huffing and puffing.

         “Then you clearly had never hear of Rainbow Dash.” Star Chaser laughed, laying down on the rough mountain top. “Or any of the Wonderbolts.”

         “Speed is one thing,” Sky Sparks disagreed. “But catching a falling star by intersecting it, and then using the height you gained to go super sonic, now THAT little filly, is impressive.”

         “Thanks.” Was all Star Chaser could reply. She was glad she had chosen to lay down, because she was dizzy now.

         “Well, I must be off.” Sky Sparks smiled. “I have another part of the world I need to be in, before morning.”

         Star Chaser blinked. “What? Where you going?”

         Sky Sparks smiled, and then Star Chaser saw something she didn't see before. A horn. A long golden horn on the top of Sky Sparks' head. Sky Sparks was no Pegasus, he was an Alicorn!

         “I doubt you see my sisters much, but tell them their little brother says hi.”

Star Chaser blinked, stunned at the simple statement. “Little brother?”

         Sky Sparks laughed. “I prefer it if ponies don't know much about me, but I'm Prince Bolide, the ruler of the fallen stars, and you, my dear Star Chaser, have my blessing in catching my fallen stars.”

         And with that, the Alicorn, Prince Bolide was gone.

         Star Chaser took it easy on her trip back home. She was tired, and had a lot to think about about. When she returned home, she put her star bag away, and was about to go to bed, when she spied something on her pillow.

         It was a small golden medallion on a silver chain. Peering closer at the medallion Star Chaser read: Star Chaser, Royal Star Catcher.