My Little Pony
Chains of stars
Chpt 1 Shooting Stars
The thousand stars above you
May bring feelings of isolation
You believe you can’t reach such brilliance
But one day you’ll realize
the stars you were seeking
shine deep inside you
Clouded by the fear from the shadows of this world
It tries to steal you away into it’s arms
but you belong in mine.
Once again we find the Star Tree glittering and glowing with brilliance as it does at every years end; preparing until the moment is perfect for the flowers it nourished all year long to fruit and greet the New Year in a way that could only be described as truly magical. Bellow thousands of equines, some local and some from far away, celebrate in glee and in anticipation for the giant, vibrant tree above them to show it’s true brilliance. Together, ponies, zebras, deer, griffons and many other colorful species party the minutes away with hot apple cider to warm their bodies and the company of such a ray of friends to warm their hearts. Surely, among these thousands of joyful equines many stories could be told, however, the story we are to tell takes place away from this wondrous town decorated in beautifully, festive lights and streamers of countless hues.
Instead we venture only a short distance away from the city boarder in a place where rocky islands float in air seemly suspended in place and rise high above the ground. Upon them many trees and plants flourish under the moonlight the star splattered sky showered down upon them this evening. Here, away from the eyes of the festive a single, young pegasus with fur the color of an earthy Topaz could be found gliding from island to island with wings built larger than most. From here her brilliant blood, ruby eyes could clearly see the majesty of the Star tree as if it were a picture taken for a postcard. However, what stood before her wasn’t just a still image but a wondrously mystically view of what awaited her only a few moments from now.Of course, even if it meant having the best possible seat for the event soon to come loneliness wasn’t something she enjoyed. If it weren’t for a very specific reason that drove her to here she’d be in town with those who celebrated in hoards, sipping hot cider until the sun rose.
“A-almost there…”
She says, thoroughly out of breath as the icy, frosty air pricked her wings and lungs like hundreds of tiny needles. Her breath formed white puffs in the thin air around her as her heavy pants escaped her muzzle but she refused to give in for her destination lied only a few more islands away. The highest peak is what she strives for and while the trip to reach it was difficult in her mind every second on struggle was worth it. Flapping her sore, stiff wings she heaved her body up higher and higher. As she did her cobalt colored mane flew with the breeze that dared to fight her. In her mind she chanted to herself the words some pony else would often yell to her as her wings flapped harder and harder.
“You can… you…can… You can! Don’t give up Cherry! You Can!”
With one, final flap she lifted herself high enough to barely reach the island’s edge and the moment her hooves touched solid earth she collapses onto her side with heavy pants releasing from her muzzle. At last she had reached where she desired, a sigh of relief escaping her once she managed to control her breathing in this light, thin air.
“You’d think… that climbing up here every year… would become easier…”
Only a moment was allowed for her to relax as, from the brightly lit town, the loud cheers of overjoyed equines roared with the start of the final seconds of the year approaching. United their countdown could easily be heard even from the highest island of the Pegasus Paris. Determined, the mare named Cherry stood back up shakily and slowly limped her way over to the edge closest to where the tree stood. While her lungs was still recovering from her strain she still mouthed along with the countdown with her delicate, excitement filled eyes remained glued to the tree. If only she weren’t all alone then this moment would only be that much better but those who once shared these moments among side her are now gone, one forever. In her mind she convinced herself that even, if not here physically, they were here in spirit. However it seemed that, even if her mind was convinced, her heart wasn’t so easily swayed. If only some pony would be here now beside her then her heart could marvel at the scene along with her eyes.
“Ten…. nine….”
The entire world seemed to hold it’s breath as it always does at the start of this wondrous event. From where she stood she could clearly see stars sparkle on the tree in a ray of colors as the tree itself began to glow so gloriously like the moon above it. Those stars forming around it began to stir and fly around the tree leaving trails of sparkles as they swirl from the top to the bottom and vice versa. The best way to describe it like watching someone dance around a perfect, white diamond in an enchanting waltz that enticed it’s onlookers to become glued to the scene as if they were trapped in a trance. Those dancers swirl around leave a trail of sparkling, colorful silk veils; keeping those watching to continue to do so. Yes, a brilliant scene to witness indeed and everybody did. Not one equine dared to pry their eyes away from the glorious performance gifted to them. Soon, those dancers too seeped into the tree thus causing the aurora to radiant more intensely.
“Eight…. seven…. six…..five”
Every second brought forth a more beautiful glow from the tree as the rainbow hues began to absorb into it’s blank, white, canvas like glow and paint a perfect aurora upon it. All that remained colorless was the flowers dotting the tree that now began to swell and transform into fruit.
“Four….. three…..two”
Cracks formed upon the fruit as the aurora that wrapped the tree began to absorb into them. It seemed they stuffed themselves with the glow, gorging themselves as they grew larger and larger. Every pony, now at the edge of their seats cried in sheer joy as the time finally came.
“ONE!”
The fruit explodes like tiny, colorful fireworks of every color imaginable to the mind and unleashed the aurora once only upon the tree’s surface upon the sky. Every fruit popping only brought more and more color to the world around it. No pony spoke for a long moment as even those who had seen this scene for many, long years were without the voice to express their amazement. Cherry was the same as her wings stood straight and her eyes absorbed every second of this truly perfect performance. The gleeful cheering only erupted as small sparkles began to rain down from the aurora over head to the earth bellow. All with wings took to the sky in order to bathe in the magical sparkles given to them by this aurora. The rest jumped and stomped in sheer excitement as they too were showered with them. Cherry, being doused in the magical rain felt her strength return to her all at once as it revived her. Overjoyed she took to the sky, spinning and galloping and swimming in the endless stream of sparkles. On her skin it felt tingly and refreshing like a nice, warm shower after a very long day. Nothing could destroy her happiness in that moment, well, almost nothing. Distracted in her glee she turned to the island she once sat on and exclaimed,
“Isn’t it wonderful Blue!”
However, she realized the moment she finished speaking that the Blue she spoke of was not there. Everyone in town had a pony or equine to share this wonderfully mystical moment with but all she had was the thin air filled with sparkles around her. Slowly, she floats down to the island, looking around as if hoping he was here only to know the one she seeker was miles away.
“Oh…. yeah… I forgot….”
For a moment all Cherry could do was look down at her hooves, her smile melting into a frown with her emotions finally reaching her mind. Realizing that at last her mind could never override her heart. All she could bring herself to do now is move over to the edge of the cliff facing the tree and sink down into the cold grass covered in sparkle residue. With the show over the tree returned to it's normal state with only a light shimmer around it from the magical aurora it itself created. With the surge of magic and excitement gone all the tree was left to do was sit and slowly regrow it's flowers for the end of next year like it always does. Not like Cherry paid it much mind anyways. On such a festive day it would be a shame to be all alone since a party of one isn't much of a party, is it. Her sadness could barely be contained as, alone, her thoughts began to stir into a pit causing her to begin to tear up slightly. The sounds of the joyful hoards in town seemed to haunt her, teasing her like a hunter playing with it's prey and she took the role of the mouse.
"Why... Do I feel so bad?... I've been alone before so... Why does it hurt now?..."
Desperate to remain at least normal she wipes away her tears with her hooves only to clear away the clutter holding back the river. She shivers, continuously wiping her tears away only to unleash more and more to take their place. Soon, even her mouth failed to hide her distraught as whimpers escaped through her lips. Once her whimpers began to vocalize themselves the floodgates burst and her true pain exploded within her. She buries her face into her arms in a futile attempt to hide away her sobs but if it weren't for her location there would be no way to hide her pain.
"I.... Don't want to... Be alone...."
Everyone, including Cherry believed the tree had given it's all but as the sparkles began to filter out and the aurora began to fade and return the stage back to the moon everyone who wasn't drunk or distracted noticed the sparkles on the tree hadn't gone away. Instead, many could see the stars, five in all, that had been dancing around the tree during the countdown had once again emerged and now revolved slowly around the tree like the planets around the sun. The tree itself seemed to glow in a slight, white light that pulsed over and over softly. Of course, Cherry had not noticed pass her distraught but, as the tree pulsed and caught the attention of more and more equines Cherry began to control herself, sitting up. Her eyes still blurred by the tears she wiped away she had yet to notice the faint glow or the stars. If anything she seemed to regain her smile as she spoke motivational words to herself to lift her spirits.
"Don't cry Cherry.... Yeah Blue's out of town for now but... He'll be back in a few days.."
Gleefully she taps her hooves together as the sad thoughts clouding her mind and heart only minutes ago seemed to make way for the joyful ones.
"And that'll be near the time the Cloud Skaters show will be in town! I'll go with Blue to that! We'll eat popcorn and talk to Miss Lightning Stream after the show ohhh! He's gonna love it!"
Even if it was herself it seemed the words she spoke lifted her sunken spirits sky high where they belonged. Just envisioning what awaited her and her brother in the passing days seem to bring her joy. Unknown to her however, as she worked her optimistic magic on herself one of the stars, colored in bright gold, stopped it's rotation and begun to pulse brightly. Soon it was so bright there was no way Cherry could ignore it. As she turns her face back towards the tree the star stops pulsing and shoots straight towards her like a bullet leaving behind a golen streak in it's path. All it took was a maximum of a second for it to reach her so there was not a moment allowed for her to think let alone completely react to it. All she could do was to glue her eyes shut and throw it her hooves to try and deflect it.
But as it reached her slightly saturated hooves it just phased right through them and flew onto her chest. Still thoroughly shocked it took Cherry a moment to process that the star hadn't caused her any pain. In fact it had the same, tingly, warm feeling the sparkles from the aurora had but much more pronounced. It felt all fuzzy inside her chest with her skin shivering from the tingling surging through her. Once she managed to open her eyes she was shocked to find her entire body glowing in a magical, golden light that made her fur stand up on end. As she tried to comprehend what had only just occurred the other stars followed the golden one's lead and all shot out in several different directions and vanish off in the distance. Even without it's stars the tree still pulsed a white light, seemly calling out to something. Without any warning at all the tree released a loud, wailing sound as the pulsing lights began to collect into an orb on top of said tree. Cherry, hearing the horrible wailing even from where she was covered her ears to shield them from the awful noise. It lasted only seconds but it felt like forever as she couldn't help but think those wails sounded like ponies screaming in agony. Once it stopped she looked away from her own, still glowing body directly at the tree as it finally stopped pulsing. Above it a large ball of light hovered until, in a flash of blinding light, it flared and shot a beam up to the sky that created another aurora but, unlike the last one, appeared to be only a white fog that lingered only for a few moments before fading away starting from the tree outward.
Confused, shocked and mind boggled Cherry's eyes remained glued to the sky was the aurora can and vanished seemly without explaination. Even as the glow around her body faded away her shock left her and the collective town speechless.
"w-wha?...."
It seemed that everything was normal again as if everything that had just occured was just in Cherry's imagination. Even the tree fell silent from the sudden event. Several moments passed by without a single sound in a haunting manner until that lingering silence was broken by the sound of shimmering from behind her. Startled she jumps and turns all a single motion in order to see what the sound was. To her surprise there was nothing, or so she thought, as she cautiously moves around and scans the area with every one of her senses. Twitching, her ears could still clearly hear the sound get closer and closer to her but her eyes couldn't see what her ears heard until she her mind thought of someplace she was missing. She looked up to the sky spottingsomething that made her gasp. It seemed to be a ball of light, somewhat like a star, slowly falling down from the sky. As it passed by the island on it's decent she gallops over the edge of the island closest to where the light had passed. Watching it she notice it start to melt away and reveal that there was something inside of it
From where is was she could see it was going to fall into a nearly, frozen river that ran through the valley bellow these islands. Her first instinct was to glide down after it and grab it before it plunged into it's icy bath but, like any pony would, she hesistated. After all, she had no idea what exactly that glowing mass was or even if it was safe to touch. Logically it would have been best to just leave it be but, once the glow melted away, logic was thrown to the wind. Without the radiant glow inside Cherry gasped in shock to find that inside that star like mass was a stallion unicorn seemly no older than her. There was no thought process after that as she jumps after him with her wings folded in a manner similar to an arrow in order to slice through. Folding, jerking and flowing with the air Cherry's crimson colored scarf flew right off her neck as she let gravity pull her down closer and closer to the stallion without care for what awaited her if she refused to slow her rapidly decent that only went faster and faster the more arrow like she made herself.
Unknown to the determined pegasus as she dove to catch him the stallion's sapphire shaded eyes peered open slight as he started to become reactive. Vision blurred all he could see was a dark, bird like figure quickly approaching him but he was still to dazed and to weak to clearly react. Seeing her he thought,
"An.... Angel?..."
As Cherry approaches him she wraps her two front arms around his chest just under his front arms in order to have a solid grasp on him. But upon doing so she realized that there was no way she could pull back up with his extra weight, at least not with the distance she had. Preparing for impact her eyes close shut. It all happened so quickly the moment the frigid river water completely surrounded her body it felt like her lungs had been violently punched forcing out all the air out of them. Sure the air was cold but this water was painfully so with it feeling like tiny knives coated in salt slicing away at her skin all over her body. Desperate for air she flapped her wings in order to force her head back up to the surface so she could breath and escape the agonizing feeling assaulting her skin. But with her wings now saturated in the chilly torturous water they began to cramp, refusing to move to her will. Panic began to set in as the river carried her and the stallion she held away but she refused to let that panic consume her.
"L-land... I have to g-get him to land!"
Glancing down at the stallion she made sure to keep his head above the water even if her own kept sinking down. Thinking as fast as she could she forced her tensed body to do what her mind wanted even if every movement was excruciating. Using her wings like paddles and her back legs as a ground she lunges herself towards the river bank bit by bit. Soon, after forcing her wings to flap what appeared to her as the thousandth time she removes one of her arms away from the stallion so she could grab the bank. Summoning all of her strength she lifts and drags the stallion onto shore, shoving him completely out of the water before using both of her arms just to lift herself half way out. Feeling her lungs begin to constrict breathing became harder and harder making her vision begin to blur and warp. Slowly she crawls out from the water, dragging herself with her shaky arm until she felt the stabbing on her flanks stop.
Thoroughly numbed from her ice bath her skin couldn't even feel the grass under her. All she could feel was a sense of relief overcome her.
"ahh.... Haven't felt pain like that since... Hnn.." she cringes as her back legs began to cramp now," Like this since I popped my wing out of socket and broke my arm hehehe...."
She looks at the stallion, her expression turning to worry as he still appeared to be unconscious. Lightly she shakes him in order to rouse him.
"H-hey, you okay? Common, wake up!"
Her voice, now a bit raspy from her restricted breathing, seemed to not even earn a twitch as he remained motionless. Panic begun to rise it's ugly head again as she feared the worse. Maybe he had breathed in some water when they fell in or maybe his body was in shock.
Either way she wasn't going to stop trying to awaken him. Still sore she struggled to drag herself closer to him so she could press her ear on his chest. Thankfully, even if it was faint, she could hear a heart beat but she realized he wasn't breathing. Usually a pony would press their hooves on one's chest to try and stimulate breathing but Cherry could barely lift her hoof let alone sitting up to press down on his chest so it was time to put option two into action. Pushing him onto his back Cherry dragged herself over him and moved his muzzle so his windpipe was straight. With a heavy blush she opens his mouth and lowers her head.
While that happened fireworks flew out from the town as the festive spirit returned to it, filling the sky in vibrant colors as it did every new year. Blissfully unaware of what happened or what everything meant or who had arose from that encore tree performance they continued their party as if it never happened.
Breath after breath Cherry didn't care what this looked like, she only wanted to save him no matter what. But with every breath the hope of saving him too left her until, suddenly, he finally coughed. Water flew out of his lungs as he gasped for air. Overwhelmed by relief and joy Cherry's eyes lit up like the fireworks exploding above them and tears welled up. Laying partly on him she could feel him breathing and although he had yet to rouse just the breathing was enough to ensure he had a shot.
"Silly.... Scarring me like that.... D-don't worry... You'll be okay..." softly she touches the side of his face with her hoof to comfort him even if he wasn't wake. "I'll make sure.... Of it..."
Adrenaline now gone from the passing of the stressful situation Cherry began to feel very ill and dizzy from the strain. Her entire body cried nearly in unison as the true extent of the damage she endured finally came forth. The world seemed to spin like a top, making her brain feel like mush. Giving in to the damage and strain Cherry laid her head down to conserve any strength she had left as she slowly blacked out. The last thing she remembered was feeling someone place their hoof in her back and hearing someone speak. Her head was to muddled to recognize the tone but by what it said she knew it came from the stallion she saved.
"What a..... Beautiful Angel...."
