Starlight's Kingdom

The wind carried sand into the air as the sun began to set . The trio of unicorns—Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie—had been trotting all day, and they still didn’t find any place to stay the night. Although they had Trixie’s carriage, but the carriage wouldn’t be safe in a wide open area.

They were in a place that seemed like a desert, as the ground was nothing but sand, but there were bushes and trees here and there. Still, nowhere safe to hide the carriage. They had taken the train, but it had stopped at a dead end where they had to continue on hooves. They did use teleportation a few times to cover long distances, but still found nothing, and they didn’t want to accidentally teleport into a dangerous area. Plus, Starlight could only teleport everyone so many times before getting tired.

“Are you sure you’re not holding that map upside down, Starlight?” Trixie commented, panting.

“Uh, I think we would’ve ended up in the Crystal Empire in that case,” Sunburst replied.

“Please, bear with me, I think we’re getting close,” Starlight said, inspecting the map once more.

“This is the umpteenth time you’ve said that!” Trixie groaned, gaining a sigh from Starlight.

“So, Starlight,” Sunburst started, trotting up to the unicorn in name. “Why didn’t you go with Twilight and her friends?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Starlight replied flatly.

“Not for me, I guess.”

“It’s a friendship summit.”

“So?”

“I don’t belong there, Sunburst. The ponies and griffins attending are leaders. I’m no leader, and I don’t think I should be one.”

“I thought you got over that. You know you have the abilities of a leader inside you,” Trixie said.

“I’m not sure,” Starlight sighed.

“Even though you’re not a leader, you’re the student of the Princess of Friendship,” Sunburst added.

“But that’s just it!” Starlight raised her voice slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean yes, I am Twilight’s student, but then what? Where am I going next? Will I stay a student forever?” Starlight gave a sigh before continuing. “I guess a part of why I went on this journey was because I felt that my purpose was to help whoever called for me.”

“Of course you’ll stay a student forever,” Sunburst said, and Starlight raised an eyebrow at him before he continued his statement. “We are all like that. No matter who you become, even if you become a teacher, you’ll never stop learning. And regarding where you’re going next, that’s yours to decide. Life will give you opportunities, and it’s up to you whether to take them or not.”

Starlight let the words sink in, admiring Sunburst’s thoughtfulness. “Well, that was actually deep. Thanks.”

“Princess Cadance told me that speech once, so don’t thank me,” Sunburst chuckled.

“I did suspect that it wasn’t your creation!” Starlight giggled, giving the crystaller a bump on the shoulder.

A moment later, everyone froze in their place as a blood-curdling howl sounded in the air.

“What...was...THAT?!” Trixie exclaimed, shivering.

“The sun is setting. We must hurry, or we won’t be able to escape whatever made that sound!” Starlight replied. She and the other two tied Trixie’s carriage to their saddles and took off forward.

Another howl sounded, this time closer.

“I think I can see something,” Starlight said, narrowing her eyes at the horizon. She could make out a green field.

“Finally!” Trixie exclaimed.

The trio galloped faster and faster, but when the supposedly green field became visible, they found themselves facing a high cliff, and it was too late for them to stop the carriage. They tumbled over the edge and began falling to their doom, but before hitting the ground, Starlight lit her horn, levitating herself, Sunburst, Trixie and the carriage, landing them on the ground safely.

“That was a close one,” Starlight panted.

“Look out!” Trixie shouted as a boulder fell from the cliff and towards them. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and created a giant magic shield, and the boulder bounced off it and fell to the ground beside the trio.

“I-I didn’t know you could do that!” Starlight said in utter shock.

“Neither did I!” Trixie admitted, scratching her head in confusion. “I have no idea how I did it. Something must be wrong with my magic...or perhaps something is right with it.”

“Could we please discuss magic power levels later?” Sunburst said, pointing at the cliff they just fell from. A gargantuan, silver-coated wolf stood there. His torso was wide and muscular and he briefly stood on his hind legs to howling.

“Run!” Starlight ordered, as if the others needed to hear that to run.

The three unicorns galloped away from the cliff, and they could hear the wolf chasing them. The ground underneath their hooves got greener as they progressed, and they soon ran into a wall of trees. After two minutes of running, the wolf’s sound vanished, but they kept running until they were out of the thick cover of trees. By that time, the sun had set and the moon was rising.

The trio stopped, gasping for air. After calming down, they started to observe the environment around them. The land they were in was so weird and full with strange habitants. Small creatures flew around, but it was obvious they weren’t bugs or butterflies. Spots of the ground were covered in grass and flowers, while others were empty and sandy like a desert. The small circles of pure water contrasted with the mud holes. Red clouds hovered high above, but holes in them allowed the beholder to take a glimpse at the night sky.

Everything there had something to contrast with it.

“Now...that’s an interesting improvement,” Sunburst commented, inspecting one of the flowers. “I’ve never seen something like this before.

“I thought Ponyville was the weirdest place I’ve ever visited,” Trixie said, staring around her in awe. “I take it back now.”

“Are you an angel?”

Starlight flinched at the squeaky voice that called from beside her. She searched for the source to find a small, breezie-like creature. Its white, six-limbed body looked like the one of a butterfly, but the head resembled that of a pony. It had two antennae like an insect, but the wings were three white feathers on each side of the back.

“Um, I was going to ask you the same thing!” Starlight stuttered, trying to both be gentle and not sound freaked out.

“My name is Harvest. I’m a Flutterbreeze,” the creature replied, staring dreamily at Starlight.

Soon, a blue Flutterbreeze came and pushed Harvest on the side.

“Dude, are you blind?!” the blue Flutterbreeze said with a harsh voice. “You call that one an angel? You have no taste! Look at the blue one. That is some real angel-ness!” He placed an upper limb on Harvest’s back and leaned against it, flashing a toothy grin at Trixie. “Name’s Brick, sweetie!”

“That's it! You’re so annoying!” Harvest pushed Brick off him, glaring fiercely. “You just had to ruin my moment, didn’t you?”

As the two Flutterbreezes fought, Sunburst felt something tickling his left ear. Before he could stop it, a purple female Flutterbreeze jumped from behind his ear and stood on his nose, lying on her stomach and resting her head on her upper limbs.

“Between me and you, you’re my favorite one,” the Flutterbreeze said, winking at Sunburst.

“Okay okay! That’s enough!” Starlight exclaimed, making Harvest and Brick stop fighting. She then proceeded to push the female Flutterbreeze off Sunburst’s nose, shooting her a frown. “You guys can discuss your romantic life later. We are here on a mission.”

“Look, it’s a deer,” Trixie interrupted, pointing to her left. A brown adult deer stood a few meters away from the group of unicorns and Flutterbreezes. He was taller than normal ponies, almost as tall as Luna, his big antlers adding a few inches to his height.Trixie waved at him silently, not expecting any reply from the wild critter.

“Hi there,” the deer replied with a soft voice, startling the trio of unicorns.

“You can talk?!” Starlight asked, stunned.

“Yeah. Why not?” the deer trotted up to the group, offering his hoof. “My name is Scott Free. We don’t see many unicorns around her.”

“I’m Starlight Glimmer, and this is Trixie and Sunburst.” Starlight shook Scott’s hoof, pointing at her friends as she mentioned their names.

“Nice to meet...wait a second, did you just say ‘Starlight Glimmer’?!” Scott asked, utter shock clear on his face.

“I...guess I did?” Starlight answered, raising an eyebrow.

“I can’t believe this. It’s actually happening!” Scott shook his head, smiling slightly. “Look, whatever happens, don’t tell the witches that your last name is ‘Glimmer’, okay?”

“Witches?” Starlight gave him a glance that showed just how confused she was.

“Witches aren’t so far fetched in a place like this. I mean, look at those...tiny dragons...with bug-like wings,” Sunburst said, pointing at a big flower in front of him. Standing there was a green dragon the size of a butterfly, its body slim and its wings transparent. “Until somepony says otherwise, I’m gonna call these guys ‘Dragon Butteflies’.”

Starlight was about to comment, but she was quickly interrupted with the return of the howling.

“Does this guy never give up?!” Sunburst said, ready to run at any second.

“You guys are followed by an Amarok?” Scott inquired. “The only ponies who can help you with that are the witches… even if you can’t control your magic here, they can. They’ll know what to do. “

“Aren’t you running, too?” Starlight asked, struggling against Trixie, who was pulling on her foreleg.

“The Amarok doesn’t eat deers. It’s main foods are ponies...and vegetables, so don’t worry about me. Leave the carriage for me and I’ll catch up with you soon,” as Scott finished his sentence, the huge wolf emerged from the trees.

Starlight, Sunburst and Trixie quickly galloped for their lives, even though Starlight had a strong urge to stay and question the existence of a huge wolf that lived on eating vegetables.

“Bye,” Harvest sighed dreamily, waving goodbye to Starlight. But soon, Brick came in to ruin his mood.

“Your standards suck,” Brick whispered, making Harvest’s face redden in anger.

“You suck!” Harvest exclaimed, lunging at Brick and resuming the fight Starlight had stopped.

“This is why I prefer ponies,” the female Flutterbreeze muttered as she watched the fight with a deadpan expression, folding two upper limbs across her chest.

Soon, the trio of unicorns drew closer to an old, huge mansion. Had they not been followed by a wolf, Starlight would’ve stopped for a second to talk with a reformed Changeling they saw on their way to the mansion.

Could this place get any weirder? Starlight thought.

A sand-yellow unicorn mare stepped out of the mansion. She blew her wavy orange mane out of her view, adjusting her medieval green dress, which matched with her green eyes. She groaned when she saw three unicorns running from a huge wolf, but she proceeded to help them anyway.

“This is one of the times when I wish Fluttershy was around!” Starlight shouted.

“I hope that mare can help us,” Trixie said, pointing towards the mansion ahead of them.

The mare lit her horn, and her eyes gained a ruby undertone. She charged forward, passing by the three running unicorns, then conjured an aura shield that exploded outwards violently, throwing the wolf off balance and into the ground. The wolf was about to stand up and retaliate, but the mare acted quickly.

“Return to where you came from, now!” the mare bellowed with an echoing voice, her eyes crimson. “Or else, I shall deal with you violently.”

The air felt heavy, and even Starlight and the others felt uneasy. The Amarok dropped its ears and took a few steps back, and it looked as if it was about to cry. After creating a safe distance between it and the wrathful mare, it sprinted away

When the wolf was gone, the mare turned around, a friendly smile on her face as if a switch was turned, her eyes green again.

“Welcome!” the mare beamed.

No, that brings back memories! Starlight thought, facehoofing.

“I see you had the unfortunate opportunity to meet the Amarok. Good thing only an Amarok followed you. I know you’re probably exhausted now, but may I ask what brings you here?” the mare asked as if nothing had happened.

“I’m Starlight G...yeah, Starlight, and those are Trixie and Sunburst,” Starlight replied, remembering Scott’s advice in the last moment. “We were, um, just passing by.”

“Really?” the mare raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, we’re nothing but a group of adventurers!” Sunburst played along with Starlight’s lie, faking a smile.

“We traveled so long,” Trixie added, wiping sweat off her forehead for a dramatic effect. “We were looking for somewhere to stay the night. Would you be so kind to let us stay here? Just for one night.”

Starlight flashed a frown at Trixie, for she didn’t know if one night would be enough for them to find out what’s wrong with this place and fix it.

After a few uncomfortable seconds of inspecting, the mare finally spoke, “Of course! You’re welcome in our haven.”

“‘Our’?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, I’m sorry, let us introduce ourselves.” The mare turned around and called, “Girls! Come out here, please.”

Quickly, two young unicorn mares trotted out of the mansion. One of them had a grey coat and a blue mane, her deep blue eyes hiding behind glasses. The other was orange-coated with a dark-brown mane, her eyes brown. They both wore medieval clothes like their mother.

“My name is Shoreline Whisper,” the mare said, before pointing at her grey daughter. “And those are my daughters: Cloudy Night and Cinnamon Rolls,” she finished her sentence by pointing at her orange-coated daughter.

“We’re glad to have you as guests!” the two daughters said in unison, a spooky grin on their faces.

This is going to be a long night, Sunburst thought, gulping.