The Star

Dear Diary,

Tomorrow is my first day of school. Though I’m excited about seeing all my friends there, I’m really worried about something. How will all the fillies and colts who I don’t know react when they see me? I look so different. Will they want to be with me, or will they think I’m repulsive? I almost don’t wanna go tomorrow…

Crystal Star placed her diamond-shaped bookmark in her diary and closed it, setting the book in a drawer in her bedside table, and then closing it. It was true. The light pink dragon-filly was very worried about the next day. There had been multiple times throughout her life where she found herself being stared at, and she hated it. Every time a stranger glanced at her unusual form, it made her very depressed. She rarely talked about it with her parents, however, as she already knew that she was who she was, and that her appearance, no matter how different, could not be changed. She often tried to be proud of her unique self, but in the end, reality would always set in. She was different.

Crystal Star did have quite a few friends, however, the best of which were the sons and daughters of her parents’ long time friends. Four of them were fillies, including Apple Blossom, Robin, Confetti, and Cloud Dancer, all of whom were the daughters of Applejack & Caramel, Fluttershy & Big Macintosh, Pinkie Pie & Cheese Sandwich, and Rainbow Dash & Soarin, respectively. She also had four friends who were colts, consisting of Apple Cinnamon, Apple Blossom’s twin, Jonagold, Robin’s twin, Thunderhead, Cloud Dancer’s twin, and Prince Shooting Star, the son of Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry. All of her friends were within a year of each other in terms of age.

Her best friend, however, lived right at home, and was the only other dragon-pony in existence. Six years earlier, when Crystal Star was only four, her father had made another wish on Solar Desire, and eleven months later, Spike and Rarity welcomed their first-born son, and after a series of unusual, yet comical, fire-laden sneezes from the newborn dragon-foal, they fittingly named him Fireball. Today, he was five years old, and Crystal Star herself was ten.

Two of Crystal's friends had younger siblings, too. Confetti had a younger brother named Streamer, and Prince Shooting Star had a younger sister named Princess Lightburst. They were both Fireball’s age. Fireball himself was green like his father’s scales, but had the same color mane and back scales as his big sister. However, he did not have a horn like Crystal Star, and sometimes joked with her about being jealous.

The young dragon-filly was drawn out of her bed at the smell of freshly-baked vegetable quiche, one of her favorite dishes. She quickly ran down the stairs at the prospect of another delicious dinner, and once she stepped onto the main level, she almost crashed right into her mother, who was headed in her direction. They both stopped and looked at each other, smiling. “Oh, there you are, Crystal,” Rarity began, “I was just about to tell you that dinner was ready.”

“Thanks, mom,” Crystal Star replied, “But who can miss the smell of that quiche?”

Rarity chuckled. “Haha…right you are, darling. Come,” she finished, beckoning her daughter toward the kitchen with a hoof. Soon, they were both in there, and Spike and Fireball were already seating themselves, the big dragon already serving up slices of his culinary creation.

As the family began to eat, Crystal Star looked a bit sad, not eating as fast as she normally would when her father would cook this dish. Spike was the first to break the silence. “So, Crystal,” he began, “Are you excited about school tomorrow?” He hoped that she would be excited about school, and that her slight frown would go away.

Unfortunately, it didn’t, and the dragon-filly looked up at her parents and said, “Not really.”

“What?” Rarity said, slightly shocked, “How could you not be happy about going to school? I mean, yes, summer’s over, but what is there not to love about school?”

Crystal Star sighed before finally telling her parents her concern. “Well, I’m gonna go there and be the only dragon-filly. I’m so different from everypony else. I-I don’t wanna be bullied.”

“What makes you think you’ll get bullied?” Spike asked, “You’re very smart, you’re very kind, I don’t see why other ponies would want to bully you for being different.”

“Yeah, Crystal!” Fireball exclaimed, raising his front legs, “You rock!”

“Fireball!” Rarity said, sternly, giving her son a slightly displeased expression, “Do NOT scream at the dinner table.”

“Yes, mommy…” the dragon-colt replied, almost in a whisper, as he took another bite of quiche.

“Thank you, honey,” Rarity finished, “Now, where were we, Crystal?”

“I…I…I just don’t know,” Crystal Star continued, “Frankly, I’d rather stay home.”

“Well, darling, I can tell you that that’s not going to happen, I’m afraid,” Rarity replied. Crystal Star just sighed.

“May I be excused?” the dragon-filly asked just as she cleaned her plate.

Rarity and Spike glanced at each other, surprised that their daughter wanted to leave the table, which she had never done before. They gave each other a soft smile, then turned to Crystal Star as Spike said, “Yes you may, Crystal.”

“Thanks,” she replied, softly. She then slowly walked into the front room and slowly ascended the stairs.

…

Later that night, the pink dragon-filly was lying in her bed, wide awake. Before she was left alone for the night, she had spoken with her parents more about her fears, and it had taken very long, as she had almost never spoken with her parents about the topic. Even after many reassuring statements from Spike and Rarity, her worries still lingered. These worries had been with her most of her life, and she hated it. Thankfully, it was her friends that kept her going. They accepted her for WHO she was, rather than WHAT she was, and she desperately hoped all the new fillies and colts she would meet the following day would do the same.

Suddenly, Crystal Star’s bright green eyes went wide as she got an idea. She remembered one day that she had asked her parents where babies came from, and they told her that all they had to do was wish on a certain star, also explaining to her that that was how they had her brother. “All I have to do is make a wish on that star and then I won’t have to worry about being bullied tomorrow!” she thought to herself. She immediately got out of her bed and ran toward her window, looking up at the night sky. Unfortunately, the sky was completely overcast, and no stars were visible. “That’s okay,” she thought, “I can just sit here and wait for the clouds to clear up.” And that’s what she did. The dragon-filly continuously stared up at the clouds, which, to her, were almost invisible, given that there wasn’t a whole lot of light reflecting off of them.

Eventually, sleep was trying to get the better of her. Crystal Star tried keeping her eyes open wide, repeatedly shaking her head in an attempt to rid her body of the desire to sleep. However, the feeling was too much for her small body to fight off, and soon, her eyes slowly closed, head resting against the windowsill as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

…

A cardinal sitting next to the window woke the young dragon-filly with its beautiful, musical tweets. Crystal Star opened her eyes to see daylight, and she soon grew very worried. “Oh no,” she said to herself, “I-I fell asleep. Now things aren’t gonna go well at school.”

Just then, she heard her bedroom door opening. It was her mother. “Crystal, darling, it’s time for you to head to school!”

Crystal Star immediately considered faking an illness in order to avoid going, but she knew that had very little chance of working. Defeated, the dragon-filly walked toward her mother and said, “Okay…” She exited her room, and soon, after having a well-balanced breakfast cooked by her father, she gave her parents and brother a farewell, exchanging hugs and kisses with all three of them. She then began the seemingly long walk to school.

Once she got to Ponyville’s schoolhouse, she just stood there, looking up at the bright red building, hoping that somehow, some way, she didn’t have to go inside. “Crystal!” came a familiar voice. The dragon-filly turned to her right, and there was her friend, Confetti, eagerly bouncing toward her. The earth pony filly was just as rambunctious and excitable as her parents, clearly shown through her excitement of starting school. Confetti was a rather interesting filly, as her white coat sported random small patches of pink and yellow fur, somehow resembling…well, confetti. Her mane was poofy and curly like both her parents’, and it was a bright pink with an equally-as-pink bow near the top.

“Hey, Confetti!” Crystal Star said to her friend, happy to see her. She was then taken aback by a very strong hug implemented by the rowdy filly, who was squeezing her a bit too tight.

“Isn’t this exciting?” Confetti continued, releasing her friend, only to start bouncing on all fours again, “It’s our first day of school! Who knows what awesome things we’re gonna do?”

“Uhhh…I’m actually, well, not looking forward to this,” Crystal Star replied.

The earth pony stopped bouncing. “Why not?” she asked.

“Well, look at me. Look at how different I am. How do you think all the others we haven’t met yet will feel?”

“Oh, come on, Crystal!” the earth pony filly said in a tone that was meant to encourage, “I don’t see why they’d do that! I mean, look at ME! I’m also different!”

“Yeah, but you just have colorful and bright patches of fur. Your father’s not a dragon.”

“Well, you’re right about that, but you shouldn’t feel bad about how you look. Personally, I think it’s really cool that you’re half dragon, half pony!”

Crystal smiled. “Thanks. But like I said, what about the new fillies and colts?”

“I don’t think you have to worry, Crystal,” Confetti said as she wrapped a foreleg around her friend’s neck, “Even if you DO get a little down because of the new kids, you can always talk to me or the others about it,” she finished, trying to keep her friend optimistic, as Pinkie Pie always did.

Crystal let out a sigh before saying, “Okay.” The two friends then walked inside.

…

“Welcome to Ponyville Elementary, everyone!” Miss Cheerilee said to her new students. Though it had been more than thirty years since she had started teaching, the magenta earth pony knew that she would be doing this for the rest of her life, and she loved it. Plus, she didn’t look one bit old, despite being fifty. “I’m your teacher, Miss Cheerilee. Let’s begin by having each of you come up to the front one by one and telling us about yourselves! Would anyone like to volunteer?”

“I would! I would!” Confetti exclaimed, waving her hoof frantically.

“Okay, okay,” Cheerilee replied, chuckling, “Come on up here!”

As the others eventually went up and introduced themselves one by one, Crystal Star couldn’t help but grow more and more nervous. She knew she would have to go up there at some point, whether she wanted to or not. She was seated right next to all of her best friends, but this class was rather large, and the fillies and colts she didn’t know couldn’t help but glance at her from time to time. It reminded her of most of her life, being stared at by ponies who had never seen a dragon/pony hybrid before. She immediately assumed that she was going to be disliked and or bullied.

“You, right there in the back!” Miss Cheerilee said, pointing at Crystal Star. The dragon-filly tensed up, knowing that her moment of total humiliation was near. As she got down from her seat, she looked to her left and found all the unfamiliar students staring at her. It made her very uncomfortable. At the same time, she could see all her best friends to the right of her, all smiling at her.

Crystal Star soon made it to the front of the classroom, turning around to find everypony looking straight at her. She gulped, took a deep breath and said, “Ummm…Hi. I’m Crystal Star, and…well, as you’ve probably noticed, I’m…half dragon, half pony.” Her speech had a few slight gaps, all due to her immense anxiety. “I live at the Carousel Boutique…with my mom, dad, and little brother. I’m…really into fashion, just like my mom, and…that’s pretty much it.”

There wasn’t an immediate response, but the dragon-filly soon noticed a hoof being raised by a male classmate she did not know by name. “Yes?” she said to the colt.

“What’s it like being half dragon?” he asked.

“Ummm…I guess you could say it’s…well, interesting.” She then noticed an unfamiliar filly raising her hoof. “Yes?” she asked, motioning to her classmate.

“Can you breathe fire?” the filly asked.

This caused Crystal’s eyes to widen slightly. She hadn’t expected to be asked that question. She had figured all this time that she would be judged by how she looked, but what she was hearing was anything but that. “Actually, yes! I can!” She then took another deep breath, then blew a long stream of flames out of her mouth, but not long enough to reach the ceiling.

“Wow! Cool!” exclaimed another random colt. Crystal Star was then given a round of applause for her act. For the first time that day, she felt genuinely happy, smiling widely as she trotted back to her desk.

As she climbed back into her seat, the dragon-filly heard a whisper from her right. “See, I told you not to worry!” Confetti said, quietly. Crystal only smiled.

Throughout the rest of the day, especially at recess, everypony wanted to know more and more about Crystal Star, and she was happy to tell them all about her. With each word that left her mouth, a large amount of anxiety went out with it, and soon, she no longer felt that she had to worry about being judged or bullied about being different. She also realized that she didn’t even have to make a wish on Solar Desire the previous night. On this day, all she made was friends, not enemies. Crystal Star finally felt that a life of silent judgment was coming to an end, as her new classmates displayed their friendship in the best way they possibly could.

THE END