Starburst in Wonderland

Chapters

CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
Chapter 11
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 12

The door closed behind Starburst with a click leaving the young princess to take in her new surroundings. She was now standing in a large garden laden with hedges and numerous beautiful flower beds. There was even a large water fountain in the midst of the garden and a maze made out of hedges. “It’s a whole lot like the Canterlot Gardens,” Starburst thought out loud. Sure enough her eyes fell upon an enormous castle which seemed larger than the Canterlot Castle itself. All and all the young princess was absolutely astonished by her surroundings. Starburst trotted forward keeping her eyes fixed on the castle when she suddenly came across tall rose trees laden with red roses. “I wonder if these roses could talk?” the young princess asked herself stopping next to a rose tree. She hovered off the ground to take a closer look at the roses. There was something about these roses that did not seem right to Starburst. They were red, yes, but there were few rose petals that seemed to have a deeper shade of red than others. As far as Starburst knew whatever color flowers were the petals would be uniform in color. Starburst then hovered over to another rose tree and discovered that the edges of a few of the roses seemed white in color. She glanced over to another rose tree and to her surprise she saw three ponies at the tree. However, these were not ordinary ponies. They had the heads, tails and hooves of pony stallions but they had torsos made of playing cards. Starburst’s jaw dropped as she beheld these strange looking pony/playing card hybrids. She landed on the ground and slowly trotted towards the group of three pony/playing cards. The group of pony/playing card hybrids was made up of an earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn. The earth pony/playing card had a 3 of clubs on its torso. The pegasus/playing card had a 5 of clubs on his torso and the unicorn/playing card had a seven of clubs on its torso. The three pony/playing cards had buckets of red paint lying nearby by and the earth pony/playing card was standing upon a step ladder painting white roses red while holding his paintbrush in his mouth. The pegasus/playing card held his paintbrush in one hoof while hovering off the ground and the unicorn/playing card held his paintbrush with his magical horn. As Starburst examined the three ponies further she realized they wearing the type of golden helmets she saw on the members of The Royal Guard. There was no doubt in the young princess’s mind that they were royal guards of some kind. They were busily and hurriedly painting the white rose petals with red paint as Starburst approached him. “Excuse me,” began Starburst timidly. The three guards let out startled yelps and dropped their paintbrushes. When they realized it was simply Starburst they all let out relieved sighs. “It’s only a little filly,” said the earth pony/playing card. Starburst let out a soft growl at being referred to as a little filly once again. “Anyway,” she continued calmly “were you painting all of these white roses red?”

“Of course,” said the pegasus/playing card. “You see, we were ordered to plant red roses but we ended up planting white roses by mistake.”

“So we’re trying to make up for it by painting the roses red,” explained the unicorn/playing card.

“That’s silly,” said Starburst through chuckles.

“If the Queen were to find out our mistake,” the earth pony/playing explained further with a nervous tone “She’d have our heads cut off.”

“Oh, no!” said Starburst putting a hoof to her mouth.

“We’re just about finished with this tree,” said the unicorn/playing card. “But we have five more trees left.”

“Then maybe I should help you,” said Starburst.

She picked up a paintbrush and hovered to a tree laden with plain white roses. The three guards/playing card hurried over to her side and they all started carefully painting the rose petals with the red paint. “This queen,” began Starburst “she wouldn’t happen to be The Queen of Hearts, would she?”

“She certainly is, little filly,” said the earth pony/playing card as he held the paintbrush in his mouth. “Personally I think she overcompensates by acting all tough due the fact that she’s quite young.”

“Everything has to be absolutely perfect for her,” said the pegasus/playing card. “Any infraction, no matter how slight, off goes your head.”

“But for some reason, the King of Hearts grants pardons to those who were ordered executed,” explained the unicorn/playing card.

“If you ask me, this King of Hearts character would make a better ruler than the Queen,” said Starburst with a scoff.

Suddenly there was the thunderous sound of trumpets echoing throughout the garden which startled Starburst. “It’s the Queen!” exclaimed the earth pony/playing card. “It’s the Queen!”

“The Queen of Hearts?” said Starburst turning around to the direction of the massive castle. The three ponies/playing cards spun around and stood at attention. To Starburst’s surprise there were hordes of playing cards that had the heads, tails and hooves of male stallions of different races assembling across the field. They had the bodies that represented diamonds, hearts, clubs and spades of different numbers. The pony/playing card hybrids were marching in straight lines and forming different companies and battalions. There were also normal looking ponies who were dressed in elegant clothing that Starburst surmised were dukes and duchesses based on experience. There was also long line of pony/playing cards that were aces of clubs, spades, diamonds and hearts that were marching and behind them was what Starburst surmised was a young mare dressed in a gorgeous gown. The gown was in shades of black, red, yellow and blue adored with hearts of different sizes. Upon the mare’s head was a golden crown adored with red heart-shaped diamonds and the edges of her gown were lifted off the ground by unicorn/playing card hybrids. All while the mare had her eyes closed with her chin upturned. Behind the mare was a young stallion dressed in gorgeous clothing that was the same colors of the young mare’s gown. His clothing was also adored with hearts and upon his head was a massive golden crown ingrained with diamond hearts. Starburst’s jaw almost dropped to the ground when she noticed that the young stallion and mare bore strong resemblances to Fletcher and Claire Rarity. Claire Rarity, called Claire by most who knew her, was the only daughter and eldest child of Spike the Dragon and Rarity and the older sister of Turquoise. Claire was the first pony/dragon hybrid born in Equestria and basically the only adult amongst Starburst and her friends. Claire had a talent to mold and shape gems and diamonds into elegant jewelry that can be worn by mares. Claire was also able to make accessories for her mother’s fashion lines. After taking note of her daughter’s talents Rarity had an additional building built next to the Carousel Boutique that served as Claire’s jewelry store. One of the few traits Claire inherited from her mother was unicorn abilities as evident with the two horns above Claire’s head which helped her levitate objects like a unicorn. Her unicorn-like abilities enabled her to breathe fire which also helped her to mold her gems and jewelry. Claire displayed lady-like mannerisms due to being around her mother constantly; however, Claire also seemed to inherit Spike’s dragon instincts. She had quite the temper and would roar and growl over anything that made her upset. One time Claire burned off a good bit of Prism Bolt’s mane after he performed a tasteless prank on her. Even though Claire was older than her brother Turquoise, Turquoise far surpassed his sister in height. At the corner of Starburst’s eye a purple object moved like a blur and stopped a few feet away from Claire and Fletcher. When the object stopped Starburst discovered that it was Nightlight/Rabbit who was now dressed in red clothing adorned with white hearts. “Presenting Her Majesty, Her Excellency, Her Most Royal Highness, The Queen of Hearts!” announced Nightlight/Rabbit. The dukes and duchesses made a courteous round of applause. Fletcher rushed over to the little rabbit and whispered something in his ear. “And The King,” deadpanned Nightlight/Rabbit which also made the dukes and duchesses give a round of applause.

“Of course,” Starburst deadpanned to herself. “Of course The Queen of Hearts is Claire. It should’ve been obvious. Does that mean Fletcher is The King of Hearts? How? Are Fletcher and Claire husband and wife or something?” Starburst felt a tinge of jealously seeing her coltfriend next to Claire. Fletcher was eighteen years old and the age of consent. But as far as Starburst was concerned Claire was far too old for him. As hard as she tried to remind herself that it was not the real Fletcher and Claire, she was tempted to fly over to the Queen and beat her to a bloody pulp. The real Claire was already in a relationship with Prince Illusion, the son of Princess Celesta and Discord. How was she married to Fletcher in this world? Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke?

Slowly Claire/Queen of Hearts and Fletcher/King of Hearts trotted past the playing cards making their way to Starburst’s position. “Bow! Bow!” said the earth pony/playing card nudging Starburst. Starburst looked around frantically and bowed her head. Technically speaking, Starburst was a princess and of a higher status than Claire. The fact that Starburst was the one who had to bow to Claire/Queen of Hearts was absolutely ridiculous to the young princess. Claire/Queen of Hearts opened her eyes and she noticed the rose tree behind Starburst and the three pony/playing cards. Claire/Queen of Hearts furrowed her eyebrows and stomped towards the rose tree. She trembled with rage when she noticed that the white roses were dripping with wet red paint. One rose was even half painted. “Who’s been painting my roses red?” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts. She then used her magic and uprooted the entire rose tree. “WHO’S BEEN PAINTING MY ROSES RED!?!” she roared shaking the levitated rose tree over her head.

“It was Five, Your Majesty!” said the earth pony/playing shakily.

“No, it was Seven, Your Majesty!” said the pegasus/playing in an equally nervous fashion.

“No, it was Three, Your Majesty!” said the unicorn/playing card pointing a shaking hoof at the earth pony/playing card.

“You dare defile my Royal Bed?” said Claire/Queen of Hearts stomping toward Starburst and the three pony/playing cards.

“Your Majesty, please!” begged the pony/playing cards.

“SILENCE!” shouted Claire/Queen of Hearts. “OFF WITH YOUR HEADS!”

With those words the ponies/ace playing cards started dragging away the three ponies/playing cards. Starburst could do nothing but helplessly look on in horror. Suddenly Fletcher/King of Hearts ran over to one of the ponies/ace playing cards and whispered in his ear. The pony/ace playing card then ordered the three ponies/playing cards released and the three ponies/playing cards ran away frantically. “Uh, Claire…” began Starburst.

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?!” bellowed Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“I…I mean, Your Majesty,” Starburst said shakily with a bow.

“WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE!?!” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts with a loud voice. Fletcher/King of Hearts ran over to Claire/Queen of Hearts’ side and examined Starburst carefully. “Why, she’s a little filly, darling,” said Fletcher/King of Hearts.

“I’m not a filly,” said Starburst glaring at Fletcher/King of Hearts. “I’m seventeen!”

“KEEP THAT ATTITUDE OF YOURS IN CHECK, LITTLE FILLY!” shouted Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“My poor ears!” Starburst thought silently.

“STAND UP STRAIGHT!” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts. With those words Starburst straightened herself. “LOOK UP AND DON’T SLOUCH!” ordered Claire/Queen of Hearts. Starburst followed the orders to the letter and shook slightly. “Now,” began Claire/Queen of Hearts in a softer, kinder tone “What’s your name, little filly?”

“Starburst Sparkle Sentry,” answered Starburst nervously.

“WHEN YOU ADDRESS ME, SAY “YES, YOUR MAJESTY”!” shouted Claire/Queen of Hearts angrily.

“YES, YOUR MAJESTY!” repeated Starburst in a loud tone trying to conceal her nervousness.

Claire/Queen of Hearts let out a chuckle and ruffled Starburst’s mane with a hoof which made Starburst growl softly. “Now,” began Claire/Queen of Hearts kindly “What brings you to my lovely kingdom, little filly?”

“Well, I was following him, Your Majesty,” said Starburst gesturing to Nightlight/Rabbit. “Now I’m trying to find my way back home, Your Majesty.”

“YOUR WAY!?!” shouted Claire/Queen of Hearts. “IN THIS KINGDOM ALL WAYS ARE MY WAYS!”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Starburst with a nervously. “Can I ask you a question, Your Majesty?”

“I’LL ASK THE QUESTIONS!” bellowed Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Starburst softly.

“Do you play croquet?” said Claire/Queen of Hearts sweetly while batting her eyelashes.

“Sometimes, Your Majesty,” said Starburst timidly. “Mrs. Rarity taught me.”

“THEN LET THE GAMES BEGIN!” announced Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“She’s gonna lose her voice if she keeps screaming like that,” Starburst thought silently.

All the guard/playing cards started shuffling around exactly the way Starburst had seen ponies shuffle real playing cards. They all then stood at attention and started forming like arches. Claire/Queen of Hearts trotted over to a type of golf club bag and to Starburst’s surprise Claire/Queen of Hearts levitated a flamingo. Nightlight/Rabbit hopped at Claire/Queen of Heart’s side carrying what appeared to be balls on a huge pillow upon first glance. Nightlight/Rabbit then placed one ball on the ground when it began to move slightly. Starburst screwed her eyes and to her surprise the ball straightened out. When Starburst adjusted her vision she realized that the ball was actually a small hedgehog. “They’re playing croquet using flamingos as mallets and hedgehogs as balls?” Starburst thought to herself. “If Ms. Fluttershy saw this she’d have a nervous breakdown.” Claire/Queen of Hearts shook the flamingo with her magic and the flamingo became straight as a pin. She then trotted over to the hedgehog with flamingo in tow and placed the flamingo’s head near the hedgehog. The hedgehog curled up in a ball and Claire/Queen of Hearts made a mighty swing with her flamingo/croquet mallet. She missed completely and the hedgehog looked up expressing what Starburst could have sworn was a look of nervousness. The hedgehog then curled up into a ball and began rolling across the ground making its way towards the arches that the guards/ace cards made. The hedgehog rolled under each arch until it finally made its way to the other side of the court. The dukes, duchesses and all the guards/playing cards present made a mighty cheer. “But she didn’t even hit the ball!” Starburst thought silently.

“How are you enjoying the game so far?” said a familiar young female voice. Starburst yelped at the sound of the voice and turned sharply to her right. “Over here, little filly,” said the female voice. Starburst screwed her eyes and barely made out what appeared to be a smiling mouth hovering over a banister. “Who are you?” demanded Starburst.

“Come on, little filly,” said the hovering mouth. “Don’t act like you don’t know. We both met back in the woods, remember?” Starburst titled her head in confusion. Slowly a light peach body began to form over the mouth and before her eyes sat Annie/Cheshire Cat. Starburst’s jaw almost dropped to the ground when she clearly recognized the mischievous looking cat that bore a strong resemblance to her blind unicorn friend that was adopted by Ms. Fluttershy. “Hey, you’re that cat!” said a beaming Starburst.

“I knew you’d recognized me,” said Annie/Cheshire Cat with a friendly smile. “I told you you’d meet me here. But I asked you a question, little filly. What do you think of the game?”

“Pretty silly, if you ask me,” said Starburst as she refocused on Claire/Queen of Hearts continuing to try and hit the balls made of hedgehogs. “They’re using flamingos for croquet mallets and hedgehogs for the balls. The Queen can’t even play croquet to save her life and it looks like this whole thing was fixed to make her win.”

“That’s what happens when you give a young mare too much power,” said Annie/Cheshire Cat with a shrug. “Between you and me, what do you think of the Queen?”

“She gets me on my nerves!” replied Starburst turning to the blind cat. “How could she possibly run a kingdom screaming the way she does? She reminds me so much of this changeling that my mother told me about named Chrysalis. Chrysalis was queen of the changelings until the changelings were reformed and toppled her from the throne. Chrysalis then conspired with a centaur named Tirek and a little filly named Cozy Glow to try to take over Equestria. They all failed of course and got turned into stone as punishment. This so-called Queen of Hearts makes Chrysalis look like a saint. But if you really want me honest opinion, the Queen of Hearts is nothing but an absolute b…”

“An absolute what?” growled a female voice behind Starburst. Starburst spun around to find Claire/Queen of Hearts standing behind her giving the most deathly of glares. “WELL!?!” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“I-I-I meant to say that the Queen of Hearts is an absolute noble monarch?” stammered Starburst.

“All those present should be focusing on me while I play!” said Claire/Queen of Hearts sternly. “Who are you talking to?” Starburst glanced over nervously to Annie/Cheshire Cat who simply gave a warm, friendly smile. “What is this vile creature doing here?” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts. “FETCH ME THE EXECUTIONER!” Just then a pony dressed in all black wearing a black hood over its head and carrying a massive axe across its back hurriedly ran to Claire/Queen of Hearts’ side. Starburst surmised that it had to be a stallion due to the pony’s size. “OFF WITH ITS HEAD!” ordered Claire/Queen of Hearts pointing to Annie/Cheshire Cat.

“NO!” screamed a desperate Starburst. Without hesitation the executioner stood on his hind hooves raising his massive axe over his head with his front hooves. He then brought it down towards Annie/Cheshire Cat and Starburst immediately shut her eyes to prevent herself from witnessing the gory scene. Instead of a loud thud and the cutting of flesh Starburst heard silence. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” she heard a familiar young stallion say. “But I can’t carry out my duties right now.” Starburst opened one eye and to her surprise she saw the executioner had his hood removed revealing the familiar face of Epic Parody. Starburst recognized this young earth pony stallion. Epic Parody was the son of a fellow party planner named Cheese Sandwich who Cotton Candy’s mother Pinkie Pie once came across. As much as Starburst was relieved to see another familiar face she quickly reminded herself that the executioner was not the real Epic Parody who Cotton Candy was currently dating. “What do you mean you can’t carry out your duties?” inquired Claire/Queen of Hearts.

“Well, I can’t cut off a head if there’s no body to cut it from,” replied Epic Parody/Executioner pointing to Annie/Cheshire Cat. Starburst glanced over to Annie/Cheshire Cat and sure enough the peach cat’s head was floating in mid-air but the rest of her body was gone. Claire/Queen of Hearts let out a growl while Annie/Cheshire Cat simply let out a chuckle. Just then Annie/Cheshire Cat’s body reappeared and she was a complete cat. “There!” said Claire/Queen of Hearts pointing at Annie/Cheshire Cat. “It has a body. OFF WITH ITS HEAD!” Epic Parody/Executioner raised his axe over his head once more as Starburst looked on with horror. Suddenly Epic Parody/Executioner stopped his axe a few inches away from Annie/Cheshire Cat. “I’m very sorry, Your Majesty,” said Epic Parody/Executioner shaking his head sadly. “But I’m afraid I can’t carry out my duties right now.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts with a loud voice.

“I can’t cut off a head if there’s no head to cut off,” said Epic Parody/Executioner pointing to Annie/Cheshire Cat. When Starburst looked at Annie/Cheshire Cat the young princess discovered that the cat now had no head attached to its body. It could not have been beheaded otherwise Starburst would have seen blood splattered all over the area. Starburst then heard a laugh from the headless body of Annie/Cheshire Cat. Suddenly Annie/Cheshire Cat’s body slowly vanished out of sight much to the surprise of Starburst and all those present. “Now how am I supposed to cut off a head if there’s no head or body around?” said a baffled Epic Parody/Executioner.

Claire/Queen of Hearts let out a frustrated grunt. “YOU!” she screamed pointing at Starburst.

“Me?” said Starburst in a shaking voice.

“Your turn to play croquet,” said Claire/Queen of Hearts calmly. She then pointed over to the golf bag containing the other flamingos.

Starburst flew over to the golf bag keeping her nervous eyes fixed on Claire/Queen of Hearts. Starburst took out one flamingo by its legs when suddenly the flamingo started flapping its wings flying upwards. Starburst gritted her teeth and held on tight as the flamingo flew a few feet off the ground with the young princess in tow. Starburst then started to flap her own wings and with all of her strength she pulled down the flamingo to the ground. A hedgehog then rolled at Starburst hooves and curled into a ball. “How am I even supposed to hit this thing?” Starburst thought silently as she held unto the flamingo’s skinny legs. She tried to make a swing at the hedgehog but the flamingo stood firmly on the ground. Starburst glared at the flamingo that simply picked its feathers with its curved beak. Starburst then climbed unto its back when suddenly it began to squawk and flap its wings wildly. Those present started to laugh at the young princess’s pathetic attempt at using the flamingo as a croquet mallet. The flamingo once again started to hover off the ground but Starburst flapped her own massive wings and held on tight to its neck. Suddenly both Starburst and the flamingo began rolling across the ground. The royal guards/playing cards, the dukes and the duchesses erupted in laughter much to the annoyance of the young princess. Both Starburst and the flamingo rolled across the grass until Starburst ended up on top of the flamingo. The flamingo kicked its webby feet into Starburst’s torso which tickled her. Starburst began giggling uncontrollably as the flamingo continued to tickle her in the tummy. Starburst then grabbed the flamingo by its neck and brought it close so that they were now looking at each other eye to eye. Meanwhile Claire/Queen of Hearts looked on tapping her front hoof impatiently. “Knock it off!” Starburst said to the flamingo through gritted teeth. “You want us to both lose our heads?” To Starburst’s shock and horror the flamingo nonchalantly nodded its head. “Well, I don’t!” she whispered. Starburst planted her hooves to the ground holding onto the flamingo’s head and aimed it at the hedgehog that was still curled into a ball. “Please forgive me, Ms. Fluttershy,” Starburst thought silently. With the flamingo’s head she swung at the hedgehog hitting it. The hedgehog then rolled across the field heading towards the royal guard/playing card arches. One arch jumped out of the hedgehog’s way followed by three more royal guard/playing cards. Some royal guards/playing cards lay flat on the ground while one simply moved his flank out of the way allowing the hedgehog to roll against a rose tree. The royal guards/playing cards, the dukes and the duchesses once again erupted in laughter. Even Claire/Queen of Hearts cracked a smile. Fletcher/King of Hearts simply shook his head sadly. “Hey, that’s cheating!” protested Starburst.

“Just accept that not everyone can play croquet, child,” said Claire/Queen of Hearts smugly. “And that includes you.” As Claire passed by Starburst the young princess sat on her haunches, folded her front hooves and glared at the queen.

Claire/Queen of Hearts made her way to a hedgehog with a haughty smile while levitating a flamingo. Unbeknownst to Claire/Queen of Hearts, Annie/Cheshire Cat appeared and sat on her back. Starburst perked up with wide eyes as Annie/Cheshire Cat rode on Claire/Queen of Heart’s back. “The Queen’s got a point, you know,” said Annie/Cheshire Cat with a smile. “And you said she can’t play to save her life.”

“Oh, shut up!” said Starburst glaring at Annie/Cheshire Cat.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY!?!” shouted Claire/Queen of Hearts spinning around to face Starburst with a glare.

“Uh…uh…,” stammered Starburst nervously.

“WELL!?!” demanded Claire/Queen of Hearts. Starburst seemed stumped for words when suddenly Annie/Cheshire Cat disappeared and then reappeared on top of Claire/Queen of Hearts’ head. “Look, it’s the cat!” said Starburst pointing her hoof.

“What cat?” said a confused Claire/Queen of Hearts looking in all directions.

“There on your head!” said Starburst pointing at a smiling Annie/Cheshire Cat.

“My head?” said a horrified Claire/Queen of Hearts. She then reached for her head with one hoof but Annie/Cheshire Cat disappeared and reappeared on Claire/Queen of Hearts’ right shoulder. “Look, she’s on your shoulder!” said Starburst pointing a hoof. Claire/Queen of Hearts then turned sharply to both her shoulders, but by then Annie/Cheshire Cat had disappeared again. Claire/Queen of Hearts glared at Starburst and let out a deep growl while plumes of black smoke seemed to rise from the edges of her mouth. “Well, she was there,” said Starburst in a trembling voice. Claire/Queen of Hearts let out a huff and trotted back to the hedgehog ball with her flamingo in tow. As Starburst looked on Annie/Cheshire Cat reappeared and reclined on Claire/Queen of Hearts’ back. “Look, the cat’s back again!” said Starburst pointing her hoof. As Claire/Queen of Hearts spun around Annie/Cheshire Cat disappeared. Claire/Queen of Hearts looked in all directions seeing no sign of Annie/Cheshire Cat. She then glared at Starburst who looked back with a sheepish smile. “I’m warning you, child,” growled Claire/Queen of Hearts as she stomped towards Starburst while shaking her flamingo at the young princess. “IF I LOSE MY TEMPER, YOU LOSE YOUR HEAD!!!” Starburst staggered backwards and fell on her haunches. A trickle of sweat then ran down the side of her head as Claire/Queen of Hearts stomped towards the hedgehog. Just then Annie/Cheshire Cat reappeared and stood on Claire/Queen of Hearts’ flank. “How about we make this game a little more interesting, huh, little filly?” said Annie/Cheshire Cat with a mischievous grin. Claire/Queen of Hearts’ aimed her flamingo at the hedgehog and as she went to make a hit Annie/Cheshire Cat grabbed unto the flamingo’s neck. Starburst looked on with wide eyes as Annie/Cheshire Cat hooked the flamingo’s beak under Claire/Queen of Hearts’ dress. Soon Annie/Cheshire Cat disappeared again. Claire/Queen of Hearts made a swing with the flamingo when suddenly she flipped in mid-air. Starburst and everyone present looked on in horror as Claire/Queen of Hearts landed on the ground flat on her face. “Protect the Queen!” ordered a frantic Fletcher/King of Hearts. “Protect the Queen!” All the royal guards/playing cards ran to Claire/Queen of Hearts’ side and threw themselves on her in protective fashion. “SOMEONE’S HEAD IS GOING TO ROLL FOR THIS!!!” said Claire/Queen of Hearts in a muffled scream. Starburst looked around frantically and then took off into the air. Suddenly a few pegasai royal guards/playing cards grabbed unto Starburst and slammed her to the ground. Claire/Queen of Hearts broke free of the royal guards/playing cards and sprung from the pile that formed over her. She then landed right in front of Starburst giving her a deathly glare. “YOURS!!!” bellowed Claire/Queen of Hearts pointing a stern hoof at the helpless Starburst. “OFF…!”

“Please, reconsider, darling,” said Fletcher/King of Hearts cutting off Claire/Queen of Hearts as he ran to her side. “We should probably have a trial first.”

“A trial?” said Claire/Queen of Hearts glaring at Fletcher/King of Hearts.

“Yes,” stammered Fletcher/King of Hearts. “Just a little trial.”

“Fine!” said Claire/Queen of Hearts with a huff. She then turned to all those present in the courtyard. “LET THE TRIAL BEGIN!” announced Claire/Queen of Hearts. The pegasai royal guards/playing cards rose off the ground with Starburst in tow. They then shackled her hooves and wings with thick chains and escorted her to the massive castle. As horrified as Starburst was over her impending doom she was thankful that Fletcher/King of Hearts may have bought her more time to perhaps think of a way to escape her predicament.

CHAPTER 1

Above the town of Ponyville was plastered with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see with Princess Celestia’s sun there within the midst. It was the first day of the first week of summer where it was scheduled to be sunny for those seven days. Three weeks before rain hammered down on Ponyville nonstop and when it was determined that the rain replenished the ground with enough nutrients, Ponyville’s citizens were guaranteed that no rain would threaten their plans for the outdoors that entire week. This was good news for Princess Starburst, the daughter of The Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle and Royal Guard member Flash Sentry. For three weeks Starburst was unable to work out at Ponyville’s apple farm Sweet Apple Acres due to the scheduled rainy weather. She resorted instead to working out indoors at her home The Friendship Castle. This was such an inconvenience because there was simply not enough room for the tiny pegasus to practice her flying. So when Starburst got the news that the pegasai were scheduled to clear the skies over Ponyville, the princess was more than ecstatic. This meant that she could do her flying at Sweet Apple Acres as part of her daily training for a spot in the Royal Guard. Being inspired by her father, her Uncle Shining Armor and her older cousin Valiant Heart, Starburst made it her life’s mission to get into the Royal Guards. The obstacles she faced to this goal were the naysayers like her mother, a few members of her mother’s Friendship Council and a handful of others who said Starburst should settle for a delicate position as a Princess of Equestria. They cited her small size and her large and rather cumbersome wings as the reason why she should not put “unnecessary strain on herself”. Starburst would fire back saying that Twilight, The Friendship Council, Flash Sentry and the Equestrian Princesses always put “strain” on themselves defending Equestria from many foes over the years. Twilight would then counter that times had changed and that a Princess should focus more on maintaining peace. Internally Starburst knew that the peace Equestria was presently experiencing would not last and a Princess like herself should personally be ready to defend it if need be. In some ways, Starburst proved her point when her friend Dove, daughter of magician Trixie Lulamoon, was corrupted by traces of the Alicorn Amulet that was passed through Trixie’s genes while Trixie was pregnant. While trying to subdue Dove, Starburst received a gnarly scar across her left cheek. Dove was freed from the Amulet’s corruption but Starburst would remain with her scar. Twilight wanted to remove the scar with magic, but Starburst insisted on keeping the scar as a badge of honor.

At Sweet Apple Acres which was owned by Twilight’s friend Applejack, Starburst found a suitable training ground due to how rather primitive the apple farm was. Such primitiveness was ideal because Royals Guards had to learn how to adapt to harsh terrain like jungles and hills. Sweet Apple Acres’ many apple trees were a good simulation of a forested area for Starburst. Applejack did not mind Starburst training at the farm due to how close Applejack and Twilight were and how helpful Starburst was on the farm. Unfortunately, Starburst would constantly overwork herself to the point of exhaustion causing her to pass out. This would throw those around her into panic only for Starburst to regain consciousness a few hours later. These fainting spells was another reason Starburst’s mother cited to discourage her daughter from pursuing a place in The Royal Guard. But as usual, Starburst would not listen.

It was the first day of the week when Starburst returned to Sweet Apple Acres. She would not go there alone though. With her was a young earth pony stallion from Norhay named Fletcher whom she had been dating for three months. Fletcher was also seeking to be in the Royal Guard so Starburst convinced him that Sweet Apple Acres was the best place to train. That day was the first time Fletcher had visited the apple farm. “You’re gonna love training here, Fletcher,” said Starburst as she and the earth stallion made their way towards the apple farm. “I could tell you, I got my cardio up in three weeks already.”

“And how long have you been training here?” asked Fletcher.

“Since I was ten,” replied the pegasus mare.

Fletcher looked at Starburst with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. “Ten?” he said.

“Yup,” said Starburst proudly.

“Og jeg ble først involvert i fotball da jeg var fjorten. (And I only got involved in soccer when I was fourteen)” said Fletcher in his native tongue.

“Jeg visste ikke at fotball fortsatt var en ting. (I didn’t know soccer was still a thing.)” said Starburst in Fletcher’s native tongue. She then froze and her eyes widened in horror when she realized that she may have taken a slight towards the favorite sport of Fletcher’s home country. She then turned to Fletcher and gave him a sheepish smile. “No offense,” she said in Ponish.

“None taken,” said Fletcher assuredly. “I understand soccer isn’t very popular on this side of Equestria.”

Starburst and Fletcher arrived at the entrance where they found Applejack, her son Gold Delicious and her sister Apple Bloom bucking apples from the trees. A few yards away they could barely make out three fillies rushing out of a small tree house. They were Apple Bloom’s daughter Api Apple, Sweetie Belle’s daughter Pixel Bit and Scootaloo’s daughter Echo. Knowing the three Starburst was certain that they were following their mothers’ hoof steps and doing some cutiemark crusading. Api was the undisputed leader and she together with Pixel and Echo would often get in trouble due to harebrained ideas from Api on how they could get their cutiemarks. Also at Sweet Apple Acres was a large plot of cherry trees. This cherry plot was tended by Red June who was the daughter of Applejack’s older brother Big McIntosh and teacher Mrs. Cheerilee. When Red June first got her cutiemark she was worried that the rest of the Apple Family would shun her since her special talent was in cherries rather than apples. To her surprise the Apples loved her just the way she was and did everything to help her nurture her special talent. As Starburst and Fletcher arrived at the center of the farm they immediately caught the eye of Applejack. Applejack deserted the apple tree she was attending to and galloped towards the teen ponies. Applejack’s actions caught the attention of Gold Delicious who unlatched the cart of apples he was carrying to meet Starburst and Fletcher. Api, who openly idolized Starburst, noticed the movements of her aunt and older cousin. She then rushed towards the area catching the attention of Echo and Pixel who followed her movements. “Yer here, Starburst,” said Applejack as she met up with the young pegasus.

“Yeah, I’m so glad to be back, Mrs. Applejack,” said Starburst. “Those weather schedules could be so unfair sometimes.”

“Ah bet yer jus’ dyin’ ta get some workout done, right?” said Gold Delicious who stood next to his mother.

“You have no idea,” said Starburst.

Applejack then glanced over to Fletcher. “Who’s this young fella?” she said raising an eyebrow. Starburst looked at Fletcher and then stammered as she remembered herself. “Oh, yeah,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Mrs. Applejack, Del, this is Fletcher. We’ve been dating and he’s training for the Royal Guard too. Fletcher, this is my mother’s friend Applejack. She’s on the Friendship Council. And this is Mrs. Applejack’s son, Gold Delicious.”

“Howdy!” said Del offering a hoof.

Fletcher looked at Del with confusion. ““Howdy?” ” said Fletcher.

“That means “How do you do?”” explained Starburst. “It’s supposed to be the short way of saying it.”

“Oh!” replied Fletcher. The earth stallion then offered his own hoof to Del. “Hyggelig å møte deg,” said Fletcher in his native language.

“Uhhhh…” said Del in confusion.

“He just said “Nice to meet you”,” said Starburst.

“Okay,” said Del as he and Fletcher shook hooves. “Ah thought it was some Prench you were talkin’ like Dove.”

“Oh, you met Dove too?” said Fletcher with a smile. “Such a lovely lady.” Starburst looked at Fletcher with shock and a tiny bit of anger. Fletcher glanced over to Starburst and noticed her glare. “Not as lovely as you, though,” Fletcher said with a nervous smile.

“Anyway,” Starburst began after calming herself. “Dove’s from Prance. Fletcher’s from Norhay.”

“Norhay?” asked Applejack in confusion. “Where in the wild, wild of Equestria is that?”

“That’s in the most northern part of Equestria,” explained Starburst. “Winters are a lot colder there.”

Just then Api, Echo and Pixel Bit arrived and surrounded Starburst and Fletcher. “Hey, you’re Fletcher!” said Api as she bounced excitedly.

“He’s a lot cuter up close,” said Echo batting her eyelids seductively.

“How long have you and Star been dating?” asked Pixel with a wide smile.

“Did you take Starburst to a fancy restaurant yet?” said Api.

“You have really strong looking muscles”, said Echo ogling Fletcher’s body. “Do you work out?”

“When are you two getting married?” interjected Api which elicited a blush from Starburst.

“My aunt can make the best dress for Starburst,” said Pixel making Starburst blush even more. “My mom’s the best singer in all of Equestria. She can sing at the wedding.”

“If it doesn’t work between you two, I can tell you where to find me,” said Echo trotting up closer to Fletcher with a smile, much to Fletcher’s discomfort.

Starburst stared daggers at the three fillies. Their intrusive questioning was really working the princess’s nerve. Starburst was sorely tempted to take each and every one the fillies and give them a good spanking. “API!” said a mare in a sharp voice with a Southern drawl. Starburst turned to the source of the voice and saw Apple Bloom stomping towards the three fillies with a stern face. “If you got time ta be nosey, you got time ta do yer chores!” Apple Bloom said to her daughter.

“But Mom!” whined Api.

“But nothin’!” said Apple Bloom cutting off Api. “You were supposed ta clean that barn fer weeks now! Get yer flank down there! Pixel an’ Echo can help ya!”

“We can?” said Pixel nervously.

“GIT!” snapped Apple Bloom. Api and Pixel galloped towards the barn while Echo flew behind them. Silently, Starburst was grateful for Apple Bloom’s intervention because Starburst was certain that she might do something to embarrass herself in front of Fletcher and the whole Apple Family. Apple Bloom approached Starburst and Fletcher with a friendly smile. “Sorry ‘bout that,” she said. “That filly sticks her nose in places worse than flies on bad apples. Ah take it yer back ta get some workout done, right, Star?”

“Yup,” said Starburst with a smile.

“An’ this fine young fella’s joinin’ her,” said Applejack pointing to Fletcher with a smile.

“His name’s Fletcher from Norhay,” said Gold Delicious.

“Yeah, Ah’ve been hearin’ all ‘bout ya,” said Apple Bloom smiling widely as she shook Fletcher’s hoof.

“From Api no doubt,” Starburst growled under her breath.

“Why don’tcha show Fletcher around, Del?” said Applejack.

“Sure thing, Ma,” assured Gold Delicious. “Right this way, Fletcher.”

“Okay,” replied Fletcher with some trepidation.

Starburst watched as Fletcher followed after Gold Delicious. “If ya ask me, he’s a fine catch,” said Apple Bloom. Starburst’s eyes went wide and she blushed furiously. She turned sharply to the Apple Sisters who were smiling from ear to ear with Apple Bloom’s smile being wider. Starburst’s eyes started shifting. “Was Del talking about me?” inquired Starburst. “Because I made pretty clear that I don’t like him that way…”

“No!” insisted Apple Bloom. “I’m talkin’ ‘bout Fletcher! Ya did real good bagin’ that colt.”

“Yeah,” said Starburst rubbing behind her head with a goofy grin. “Mom and Dad said the same thing.”

“So…ya got yer wedding plans down yet?” said Apple Bloom with a sly smile.

“WHAT!?!” exclaimed Starburst, her blush returning.

“Come on, now,” said Apple Bloom trotting closer to the little pegasus. “You two been goin’ steady fer months an’ y’all ain’t never talked ‘bout gettin’ hitched? Or maybe ya’ll went the other route.”

“MRS. APPLE BLOOM!” groaned a horrified Starburst. “It’s too soon for us to be talking about marriage and if I ever got knocked up I could kiss the Royal Guard goodbye. Plus, Mom and Dad would kill me!”

“Apple Bloom, knock it off!” scolded Applejack as she gave her younger sister a reproachful look. Apple Bloom simply laughed in return. “You get ta yer workout now, little filly,” said Applejack giving Starburst a calm smile. “Take all the time in ya need with that boy an’ if y’all ever get hitched it’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened.” Starburst slowly trotted away with her blush still plastered on her face. “I’m not a little filly,” she growled under her breath. “I’m seventeen”.

Starburst spent her day picking up on time lost due to her absence from Sweet Apple Acres by helping harvest apples, cherries and hauling large bales of hay. By mid-day the princess devoted her time with Fletcher with both youths engaging in cardio exercise galloping laps all around the apple farm. The last part of the day involved Starburst doing flying exercises which was how she typically finished her exercise at Sweet Apple Acres. Here she soared high in the skies in an effort to test the limits of how far she can reach the atmosphere. She later made shapes out of the clouds and when that was over she decided to test her speed. In the years she was training at the apple farm and from observing her father and Uncle Shining, Starburst knew that The Royal Guard valued speed along with physical strength and perseverance. As Starburst flew above the apple trees she began rapidly flapping her wings in a way she saw Rainbow Dash do to enhance her speed. The more Starburst flapped her wings the faster she moved. This went on for about five minutes until world around her became a huge blur. A wide smile appeared on the little pegasus’s face as she began to push her wings for them to reach their absolute limit. It would not be long before Starburst was a yellow streak across the sky reminiscent of the multicolored streak Rainbow Dash often created when flying at high speed. Starburst buzzed a few apple trees causing apples to fall off their branches, but she was not finished. Starburst gritted her teeth and pushed her wings even harder until she could actually feel her wings burning. Suddenly she flew across the sky faster than the speed of light creating a sonic boom. Though not as big or as strong as the Sonic Rainboom made famous by Rainbow Dash, the sonic boom created by Starburst was strong enough to bend a few trees on Sweet Apple Acres and was heard in various parts of Ponyville. Starburst’s sonic boom took her across the grassy fields next to the apple trees until she was hovering inches above the ground. She extended her hooves and she skidded across the ground. She came to a stop and let out a huge breath. She was drenched in sweat but she felt as if she could still keep going. She looked over her shoulder seeing a huge skid mark behind her. She then looked upwards and her eyes widened seeing the clouds in parted in various directions. It was obvious to her that her sonic boom was responsible for the new positions the clouds took. Starburst smiled and nodded with satisfaction. “I really got my cardio up this time,” she said out loud. “The most important thing is that I didn’t pass out again. How’s that for an accomplishment? Now, I think I could use a break.”

Starburst started to make her way towards the house when suddenly she heard what sounded like soft galloping behind her. “Goodness gracious, I’m late!” said the panicked voice of a colt. Starburst immediately recognized the voice belonging to her little brother Nightlight. While Starburst was born a pegasus, Nightlight was born a unicorn colt. In addition to inheriting Princess Twilight’s unicorn traits, Nightlight also inherited his mother’s thirst for all knowledge and her proficiency in magic. Though Starburst and Nightlight were siblings, their relationship was typical of most siblings. Starburst and Nightlight would have their fights, both verbal and physical with Starburst always being the first to lash out. Starburst was certain that Nightlight was rushing to the apple farm to join Api, Pixel and Echo in cutiemark crusading. Though Api and Nightlight would constantly butt heads, Starburst knew the main reason Nightlight would engage with the three fillies was to be close to Pixel in whom he had a huge crush on as much he would not admit it. Starburst at that moment took it upon herself to inform her brother that the Cutiemark Crusaders would not be doing any cutiemark crusading because they were busy cleaning the barn. She turned around to face Nightlight, but instead of a purple unicorn colt with dark blue hair, she saw a rabbit with purple fur and dark blue hair on top of its head. The rabbit was also wearing a fancy coat and carrying a pocket watch in one of its front paws. Starburst stared at the rabbit in confusion. Upon first glance the rabbit closely resembled her little brother. She then thought it was ridiculous because rabbits could not talk. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” exclaimed the familiar voice of Nightlight. “The Queen will have my head for sure!”

Starburst’s eyes widened in horror. For a moment she swore that Nightlight’s voice came from that purple rabbit. “Nightlight?” said Starburst. She started flying towards the purple rabbit who was a far distance away hopping towards the Everfree Forest. “Oh, my ears and whiskers!” continued the purple rabbit in Nightlight’s voice. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!” There was absolutely no doubt in Starburst’s mind that Nightlight possibly turned into a rabbit. How was this possible, though? Was Nightlight messing around with magic spells? Did Discord the Lord of Chaos turn Nightlight into a rabbit? If it was the latter nothing would stop Princess Twilight from literally tearing Discord limb from limb which would not be impossible since she was an alicorn. “Nightlight, what happened to you?” Starburst called out as she continued to run after Nightlight/Rabbit who ran further and further into the Evfree Forest at a speed Starburst struggled to keep up with. Usually Nightlight would have difficulty keeping up with Starburst’s speed, not the other way around. “I’m late! I’m late! I’m late for an important date!” said Nightlight/Rabbit ignoring Starburst. “No time to say “Hello! Goodbye!” I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!”

“What’re are you talking about?” Starburst called out. “Late for what?”

“I’m long overdue!” continued Nightlight/Rabbit. “I’m really in a stew! No time to say “Goodbye! Hello!” I’m late! I’m late! I’m late!”

Starburst was hot on Nightlight/Rabbit’s tail all throughout The Everfree until they were inches away from a massive tree. Beneath that tree was a rabbit hole and Nightlight/Rabbit dived right into it. Starburst came at a screeching stop near the rabbit hole. She peered into the hole in nervousness. “Nightlight?” Starburst called out, her voice echoing in the hole. “Are you in there?” Starburst then took in her surroundings. Though she judged herself a brave pony, The Everfree Forest was one of the few places in Equestria that horrified her. The stories told by her mother and most of the elders around her was enough to convince her that this forest was no place for anyone to spend their free time in, pony or otherwise. The only time Starburst ever voluntarily entered the Everfree was when she accompanied Princess Twilight to pay a visit to Zecora, a resident zebra who made the forest her home. Together with not understanding how the zebra spoke in rhymes so flawlessly, Starburst also could not understand why anyone in their right mind would live in the Everfree Forest given all the mystical and terrifying creatures who lived there. Starburst knew it was imperative to find her brother not only to get him back into a pony but to avoid being possibly turned into stone by a cockatrice. The rabbit hole was too small for a pony, even a small mare Starburst’s size. She got on her stomach and started squeezing herself through the hole. The further she crawled in the darker it became. Starburst internally cursed the fact that she was not a unicorn with a horn to illuminate the hole. Soon it became so dark she could no longer see in front of her. All she do was feel the ground beneath her. The pegasus crawled further and further ahead when suddenly she could no longer feel the ground beneath her. She then let out a horrified scream when she started to fall down the hole.

CHAPTER 2

Starburst’s screams echoed as she fell deeper and deeper down the hole. Upon instinct her giant wings started flapping halting her fall. Starburst stopped screaming the moment she started hovering. She looked down and noticed a faint light bouncing off the walls of the hole. She then looked upwards seeing nothing but darkness. “There’s no point of going back,” the tiny pegasus thought out loud. Soon Starburst started to hover downwards until she arrived in the area that was illuminating with lights. There she found a bright lamp imbedded in the wall of the hole and tall bookshelves stacked with books that were floating in mid-air. “Mom might love it here,” Starburst said to herself. As she continued to hover downwards she saw even more lamps together with tables and geographical maps all floating in mid-air which very much reminded the young princess of the study that Princess Twilight had at The Friendship Castle. Starburst then came across a floating open pantry which contained a large glass jar marked “Orange Marmalade”. Starburst loved orange marmalade and decided to treat herself to sample. To her disappointment the jar was empty. Now all the tiny pegasus had as company was an empty orange marmalade jar. A frustrated Starburst held the jar above her head ready to throw it down with force. However, she remembered how angry her mother was when Starburst accidently knocked down a glass jar when she was eight years old. There Princess Twilight gave Starburst a long lecture on the dangers of broken glass so from that day forward Starburst made a vow to herself to never to be so reckless when it came to glass. As she held onto the glass jar she glanced downwards finding a floating shelf containing plates and other dishes much to her relief. Gently Starburst laid the glass jar on the last shelf. She then examined her new surroundings finding paintings on the walls, floating globes and even floating wooden models of ships. “At this rate I might fall right through Equestria,” Starburst thought out loud. “Seriously, if Nightlight did the interior decorating of this place how did he managed to get all the way up here?” Starburst stared down the path with a furrowed eyebrow. With every ground she covered light would spread across along the tunnel-like path revealing floating furniture and more academic instruments. “Nightlight!” Starburst called out. “Are you down there?” She began to ponder on how long it would take until she eventually made it to the bottom. Either it was a very long hole or Starburst was hovering slower than she intended. Suddenly she thought if this hole was this deep then when she landed at the bottom she was bound to meet the mangled corpse of her brother. Panic started to grip her. “Sweet Celestia, no!” she thought out loud. She then began to flap her massive wings and started to pick up the pace passing all the maps and the furniture that floated around. Finally she found bottom of the hole and started to frantically look around for Nightlight or at least what was left of him. She stared intently at the floor finding no blood and no body parts. After breathing a sigh of relief she found herself within a type of corridor. “Did Nightlight landed on his feet?” Starburst thought. “That was a pretty long drop from what I could see. I know cats always land on their feet, but I don’t know about rabbits doing that. Even cats can’t land on their feet from so high up. Nightlight definitely couldn’t have used magic because he can’t use hovering spells. Plus, I doubt he could do any kind of magic now that he’s a rabbit.” Slowly, the princess started to trot down the corridor.

After what seemed like twenty minutes Starburst turned a corner finding what appeared to be a dead end. There was no kind of doors so Starburst began to wonder if Nightlight survived the fall how was he able to get out of the area he was now in. “Nightlight, are you in here?” Starburst called out. As she looked around worry started to take hold of her. “If I don’t find Nightlight I’ll never forgive myself,” Starburst thought out loud. “Mom and everypony else are gonna be so devastated. What kind of princess would I be? What kind of big sister would I be?” She began to think back to the times when she and Nightlight fell out with one incident leading to blows being traded between themselves. Soon worry gave way to guilt. As Starburst pondered these things her eyes met a small curtain at the edge of the room. Though the princess was smaller than most mares this particular curtain was much smaller than she was. She then pulled back the curtain finding an elegant looking door which was even smaller than the curtain. She determined that the door must be fifteen inches high which was still too small for her. “I could probably only fit my head,” Starburst thought out loud. She then reached forth her hoof and gave the doorknob a twist. “Ow!” a voice suddenly exclaimed. The sudden sound of a pony’s voice made Starburst jump slightly. She looked around the dimly lit hall finding no one. Starburst twisted the doorknob again. “Hey, stop!” said a male voice. A voice Starburst suddenly recognized. There was no denying that the familiar voice was coming from the doorknob. Upon careful examination of the doorknob Starburst realized that the doorknob and the keyhole was actually the face of her older cousin. “Valiant Heart?!” exclaimed the princess. Prince Valiant Heart was the only son born to Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. He was also the younger brother of Princess Flurry Heart and the first stallion in Equestria to become an alicorn. He squeezed his eyes shut as he wriggled his nose which was actually the golden doorknob. “You gave me quite a turn there, little filly,” said Valiant Heart. “Get it? Doorknob? Turn?” Valiant Heart/Doorknob laughed at his pun much to the slight annoyance of Starburst. “What happened to you, Lance?” asked Starburst using the nickname most creatures gave her second oldest cousin. “How come you’re a doorknob?”

“Well, I don’t know if you have the time,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob casually. “But it all started at the factory where they melt certain metals until they become the shape…”

“Never mind that!” said a frantic Starburst cutting him off. “Have you seen Nighty?”

“Nighty” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob with a look of confusion. “It’s a little too early for bed, don’t you think?”

“No, Nightlight.”

“Nightlight? Well, if you want a nightlight there’s this department store…”

“No! Nightlight, your cousin! My brother!”

“Cousin? I don’t have any cousins. Just me and my lonesome.”

Starburst facehoofed and let out a loud growl. “Look, this is gonna sound crazy, but Nightlight turned into a rabbit somehow,” explained the pegasus. “I was following him through The Everfree Forest until I came down that hole. And I bet he went right through this door. It looks big enough for a rabbit.” Starburst reached again for the doorknob which was Valiant Heart/Doorknob’s nose. “Sorry, little filly,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob turning away his doorknob/nose. “You’re way too big to get in.”

“But I gotta find Nightlight!” insisted Starburst.

“Anyone who wants to get through me must be at the right size, something you clearly aren’t,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob. “You know it and I know it.”

“I don’t have time for this! I need to find Nighty and get back home!”

“Sorry, I can’t help you get back home. But maybe what’s on the table could help.” Valiant Heart/Doorknob motioned over to an area behind Starburst.

“Table?” said the confused pegasus. She turned around to find a glass table with a huge glass bottle on its surface. “I didn’t remember seeing that table there when I first came here,” said Starburst cocking her head.

“Don’t just stand there,” urged Valiant Heart/Doorknob. “Go over already.”

Starburst picked herself off the floor and slowly trotted over the table. She examined the glass bottle carefully seeing that it was filled to the brim with a clear liquid and the words “DRINK ME” were engrained on the bottle itself. Starburst picked up the bottle with one hoof and unscrewed the seal with another hoof. She stared at the liquid for a moment with trepidation. She began to wonder if she was about to drink poison. Then again, she knew her cousin would never encourage her to drink something unsafe. Slowly, Starburst put the bottle to her mouth and took a sip. Suddenly her eyes widened with delight. “It tastes like cherry tart,” said Starburst smacking her mouth. Unbeknownst to the princess she shrank an inch. She then took another sip and a broad smile appeared on her face. “Now it tastes like custard,” said Starburst. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Mrs. Pinkie Pie came up with a new dessert.” As she said this she shrank another inch. Soon the tiny princess took a gulp. “Let’s see,” she said as she tried to detect another flavor. “Grape, apple, raspberry. Hay? Dandelions? Hey! Is that watermelon?” As she is pondering this she shrank all the way down until she was smaller than the bottle. The bottle landed safely upwards while Starbursts tumbled backwards with a yelp. She looked upwards seeing the glass table now towered over her. “Curiouser and curiouser!” said an astonished Starburst. She then began patting herself all over. A smile formed on her face because she knew right then that she was at the right size to get through the door. Immediately Starburst flew towards the door but to her shock she realized that the once tiny door now surpassed her in size. She estimated that she at least had the strength to turn the doorknob. “Okay, Lance,” began the princess. “I’m now at the right height. At least I think am. Now can you let me through?”

“Yeah…I don’t think so,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob with a goofy grin. Starburst wore a look of outrage. Valiant Heart was known to be a tease on occasion, but this was overdoing it. “Why the heck not?” she said. “I shrunk to the right size!”

“Yes, I could see that,” Valiant Heart/Doorknob said. “You certainly shrunk more than was required. But the thing is I’m locked.”

Valiant Heart/Doorknob let out a laugh eliciting a low growl from Starburst. “And you didn’t think to tell me that from the start?” demanded the princess angrily.

“Hey, if you could find something to get you to the right size, I’m pretty sure you could find a key at the same table,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob seemingly unaware of the pregasus’s angry facial expression. Starburst quickly spun around turning her focus on the glass table. In the blink of an eye she flew towards the midst of the legs where the glass bottle still stood. She looked up and sure enough she saw a key that laid at the top of the table. With her tiny size Starburst thought flying to the top would be too arduous. “I probably need the exercise,” Starburst said out loud with an exasperated sigh. She then started flying upwards to the top of the table until she finally arrived meeting the golden key. She stared at the key which was approximately six feet in length and was rather thick. Casually she walked over to it and proceeded to lift it up with her forehooves finding it too hard to lift. She dropped it and started to catch her breath. She made another effort only managing to lift one end of the key about a few inches off the table’s surface. She then dropped the key and started to gasp for air like there’s no tomorrow. “Note to self, need extra strength training,” she thought out loud. She refocused on the key feeling a sense of frustration welling up inside of her. She bucked the key with her hind hooves and flew off the table. She hovered downward sulking the more distance she made. “Lance, that key is too big and too heavy!” Starburst called out. As she hovered to the floor she noticed a box at one of the table’s legs. Confusion settled inside of the pegasus because she was quite sure that the only object present was that tall glass bottle. She landed on her hooves and walked over to the box. Slowly she opened the box finding a large cake covered in icing with the words EAT ME written on the surface. “If drinking something is gonna cause me to shrink, then eating something might cause me to get big enough to carry that key,” said Starburst thinking out loud. She took a piece of the cake and ate it. She then waited a bit for any kind of results. Starburst looked up to the table seeing the large key not once experiencing any change in her physical appearance. “Maybe if I ate a bigger piece,” Starburst said to herself. Soon she broke off a huge piece of the cake and shoved it in her mouth. She felt as if the muscles in her face were getting a workout due to how long it took for her to finish the cake. After swallowing the cake she folded her forehooves and waiting for some indication that her size had increase at least a little. After a while Starburst realized that she had not even grown past an inch of the table legs much to her frustration. She let out a growl and glanced down at the cake which was now a half of cake. She picked up the last piece of pastry with both hooves and put it to her mouth. She reasoned that she needed to finish the whole delicacy if she was to experience any kind of change. However, she was reluctant to greedily consume the rather large remnant of the cake. “If I want any chance of making it into the Royal Guard, I can’t be a big, fat slob,” Starburst thought out loud. “But I’m pretty sure that I might’ve inherited at least some of Mom’s alicorn genes. Alicorns have high metabolism. I mean, look at Princess Celestia. She eats cake for dessert every day and she never lost her figure even after having Illusion.”

With those words Starburst wolfed down what remained of the vanilla cake. Her face became covered in crumbs and icing with every bite she took. Soon there was no more cake left in Starburst’s hooves. She then began to wipe her face and lick cake off her hooves. Suddenly before she had a chance to react Starburst grew into a giant size reaching all the way to the ceiling with very little room for her head. There was also a lack of room for her hooves and her abnormally large wings. Starburst’s face was a few inches from the door in full view of Valiant Heart/Doorknob. The pegasus struggled to make herself comfortable as she looked at her cousin in horror. “Lance, what happened?” Starburst said. “I ate some cake and now I’m freakishly big!”

“Yup, gobbling that cake sure went a long way!” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob through hysterical laughs. As he laughed the frustration within Starburst began to overwhelm her. So much so it gave way to a deep pain within. “Come on, Lance,” pleaded Starburst. “It’s not funny!” As she pleaded with her cousin Starburst could have sworn that she started to feel tears welling in her eyes. Soon she remembered the times when she would observe her mother on the verge of tears whenever Equestria was in crisis. Whenever that happened Princess Twilight would fight back the tears and put on a brave face because if Princess Twilight became an emotional wreck how else would the citizens of Equestria have a sense of hope that they would see a crisis through? Seeing this from her mother Starburst promised herself that she would never show any kind of emotion at least not in public. Starburst let out a grunt and put on a stern expression in the face of Valiant Heart/Doorknob’s laughs. She started to look around and saw the glass bottle marked DRINK ME. She squinted her eyes seeing that there was still some liquid left. She started to ease her body along the hallway until her face was inches away from the bottle. Starburst then clenched the bottle between her teeth and titled her head backwards allowing the liquid to fall down her throat. In the blink of an eye Starburst shrank down again. This time she was tinier that the first time she shrunk. Her face wore an expression of satisfaction as she flew back to the door. “Oh, you shrunk back,” said an astonished Valiant Heart/Doorknob. “See the wonders using your brain can do?”

“Yes,” said Starburst with a mischievous grin. “And speaking of using your brain, I found a really smart way to get through.” With those words Starburst plucked a feather from her massive wings and started to tickle Valiant Heart/Doorknob’s nose or doorknob. “Hey, what are you doing?” he said as he wriggled the doorknob that was meant to be his nose. Starburst ignored him and continued to tickle his doorknob. Suddenly Valiant Heart/Doorknob was brought to the verge of sneezing. As this happened Starburst flew right through the keyhole that was meant to be his mouth. She disappeared to the other side of the door when Valiant Heart/Doorknob let out a huge sneeze.

CHAPTER 3

Starburst flew straight through the keyhole that represented Valiant Heart/Doorknob’s mouth like a cannon. However, instead of a lush exterior she found herself diving head first in what appeared to be a vast ocean. She made it about three feet below when she began swimming back towards the surface. She sprang out the ocean and hovered in the air, sputtering and hacking out the bitter salt water. She then shook herself trying to get dry. As she was drying herself she noticed a wide variety of animals swimming below. Half were four legged creatures and the other half were flying creatures. They were all just as big or bigger than her in size. What she did not understood was why the flying creatures did not fly above the surface like she did. Instead they paddled their feet along surface the way she observed ducks doing in the spring after Winter Wrap Up. As a matter of fact, there were also ducks among the flying creatures who were paddling in the sea, along with ducklings. There was also a lorry, an owl, some doves and an eaglet. The one bird that stood above all the rest was a Dodo. It came as a great shock to Starburst. To the best of her knowledge, thanks to a few titbits given to her by her mother Princess Twilight, Dodo birds were extinct for about three hundred years before the time of Celestia and Luna. Unless this particular Dodo was some form of phoenix, how was it possible for it to be in existence in her line of vision? As Starburst pondered this, a huge wave crashed on top of her before she had time to notice it beforehand. She fought to stay above the surface as the rushing waters carried her all the way to the beach. She floated towards the sands sputtering and coughing out sea water. She then sat on her hunches annoyed at the fact that she was once again drenched after just barely being able to shake off some sea water. Starburst shook herself again only managing to get half dry. She looked around aimlessly and up a couple feet she found the animals that were swimming in the ocean were now gathered near a tall rock. Slowly Starburst trotted towards the crowd of animals who were all drenched with sea water and looked as if they were listening attentively to someone standing in the midst. As Starburst trotted closer and closer she could see that it was actually The Dodo that was standing in the midst of the animals. The Dodo spoke in a young, masculine voice, a voice that sounded familiar to Starburst. Starburst got closer and saw that the Dodo had a light shade of purple feathers and a darker shade of purple hair on top of its head. Its appearance looked awfully familiar, bearing a close resemblance to a friend whom Starburst was introduced to by her friend Anthea.

“Gusty the Great whose cause was favoured by the morality leader of the pegasai,” said the Dodo. “was soon submitted to by all pegasai who wanted leaders and had gotten so used to being conquered and usurped. Starswirl the Bearded and Mistmane…”

“Lucky Star?” exclaimed Starburst cutting off the Dodo.

“Don’t interrupt!” scolded a frog. “He’s trying to help us get dry.”

“Ahem!” said the Dodo/Lucky Star in an annoyed expression. “Starswirl the Bearded and Mistmane, declared for Gusty the Great. Even the patriotic morality leader for the unicorns found it advisable…”

“Found what?” asked a duck in a young feminine voice.

“Found “it”,” said the Dodo/Lucky Star turning to the duck. “Surely you know what “it” means, right?”

“I know what “it” means when I find a thing,” replied the duck. “It’s usually a frog or a worm. The question is what did the morality leader for the unicorns find?”

“If this boring history lesson is supposed to help us get dry, I’ll get one bad cold before the day’s over,” Starburst thought as she started to shiver. As the Dodo/Lucky Star pondered an answer to the duck’s question his eyes meet Starburst’s eyes. “Oh, we have a new guest,” he said pointing out to her. Starburst trotted towards the Dodo/Lucky Star who towered over her. She always knew Lucky Star to be quite a towering unicorn stallion, but his new appearance as a now extinct bird baffled her. “Listen to me, Lucky,” began Starburst. “have you seen my brother?”

“Your brother?” said a confused Dodo/Lucky Star.

“I don’t know if you met him, but his name is Nightlight. The thing is he’s now a rabbit…”

“I’m a rabbit,” interrupted a brown rabbit in a male voice. “and I’m definitely not your brother.”

“He’s a purple rabbit,” said Starburst glaring at the rabbit. She then refocused on the Dodo/Lucky Star. “He’s wearing this fancy suit and he was talking about being late for something,” Starburst continued. “Have you seen him around here?”

“I’ve seen a lot of rabbits,” said the Dodo/Lucky Star. “but not a purple one wearing a suit.”

“You’ve gotta help me find him, Lucky!” begged Starburst.

“We’ll be glad to help you find your brother,” assured the Dodo/Lucky Star. “But we can’t do that if we’re all soaking wet now, can we?”

The Dodo/Lucky Star turned to all the animals that were gathered around him and puffed out his feathery chest. “This meeting is adjourned for the immediate adoption of more energetic remedies,” he announced.

“Stop confusing us!” said an eaglet in a whiny feminine voice. “I don’t know what those fancy words mean and I don’t think you do either.”

“What I mean is the best way to get us dry is a caucus race,” responded The Dodo/Lucky Star.

“A caucus race?” repeated Starburst in a tone that reflected both confusion and annoyance. Annoyance over the fact that instead of trying to help her find Nightlight like they promised, The Dodo/Lucky Star and the other animals were choosing to indulge in nonsense. The Dodo/Lucky Star then flew on top of the tall rock. “Gather around everyone,” he announced. “The exact shape doesn’t matter.” The animals then started to make their way towards the rock pushing Starburst to the front. “Hey!” Starburst exclaimed as she was pushed next the rock. They all gathered around the rock in a circle. Soon the animals started to run around the rock. The eaglet that stood behind Starburst poked her with its beak which prompted Starburst to join this peculiar race. Instead of running Starburst flew around the rock in a circular motion like the other animals. She could not tell if she was in the lead or dead last. She and the other animals pretty much raced in unison at the exact same speed. As they raced Starburst internally grumbled over the sheer absurdity of it all. How long did they need to do this nonsense? As much as she loved a good workout, this was all complete insanity to the young princess. After what seemed to be ten or twenty minutes of running The Dodo/Lucky Star announced “The race is over!” The other animals immediately stopped running and in Starburst’s case she stopped flying. They all sank to the sands and panted heavily. Starburst examined herself and discovered that she was almost completely dry. She then looked over to the other animals and they also looked completely dry. She began to think that maybe there was no absurdity to this at all. Maybe The Dodo/Lucky Star had the right idea to help them get dry. “Who’s won?” asked some of the animals as they all gathered around The Dodo/Lucky Star. This was a question The Dodo/Lucky Star seemed to have trouble answering because he sat down putting a talon to his forehead. Starburst meanwhile was growing ever more impatient. They were supposed to be helping her find Nightlight but instead they were deliberately engaging in even more insanity. “What the heck’s wrong with these creatures?” she thought to herself. “And how in the heck is Lucky Star a dodo? Did Mr. Discord have something to do with this? I know Mr. Discord could have a temper now and then, but what did Lucky do to piss him off?” After a while The Dodo/Lucky Star stood straight up and puffed out his chest. “Everyone has won and all must get prizes,” he announced.

“But who’ll give out the prizes?” asked the animals.

“Why, she of course,” replied The Dodo/Lucky Star as he pointed to Starburst who stood at the back of the group.

“Me?” said a confused Starburst. Soon all the animals started to gather around the princess who looked at them with trepidation. “Prizes! Prizes!” they said excitedly.

“Seriously?” said Starburst incredulously. “I thought you were gonna help me find my brother?”

“Prizes! Prizes!” they shouted like children.

“Fine!” said the little pegasus with a groan. Starburst searched in her possessions pulling out a small aluminium box. She opened it finding dozens of watermelon candies that she was planning on eating after her workout at the farm. Thankfully, sea water did not get in the box. Anything watermelon related was her favourite and she was not sure that she wanted to part with these treats. “If this would get you to help me find my brother, so be it,” said Starburst. She trotted amongst the animals giving them one candy each. There was not one animal that did not get a watermelon candy. Soon the aluminium box was empty leaving no treats for Starburst. She began to sulk as she saw the animals happily enjoying their treats. “But she must have a prize herself,” said the duck seemingly taking note of Starburst’s sulky expression.

“But of course,” said The Dodo/Lucky Star as he walked towards Starburst. “Do you have anything else there, little filly?”

““Little filly”?” said the princess with confusion. “I’m seventeen years old.”

“Well, have you anything else there?” continued The Dodo/Lucky Star not noticing Starburst’s annoyed expression. “You’ve won the race too, so you have to a get prize.”

Starburst looked at her belongings and pulled out a long pink ribbon. Her mother gave her that ribbon when she was a foal to tie up her massive wings as a way to prevent Starburst from tripping over her wings whenever she trotted. Starburst now wore that ribbon to keep her bangs from covering her eyes during her workouts. “All I have is my ribbon,” she said reluctantly. Suddenly the eaglet flew and snatched the ribbon out of Starburst’s hoof. “Hey!” exclaimed Starburst. The eaglet carried over the ribbon to The Dodo/Lucky Star who examined it under close scrutiny. “We humbly bestow to you this elegant ribbon,” announced The Dodo/Lucky Star with a bow. The crowd let out a loud cheer as The Dodo/Lucky Star extended his talon that possessed the pink ribbon, much to Starburst’s confusion. However, she was not questioning it because she was more than happy to get back her precious ribbon. She took the ribbon and gave The Dodo/Lucky Star a curtly bow. “Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way,” began Starburst as she put away her ribbon. “are you gonna help me find my brother?”

“But you promised to tell us why mice hate cats and dogs!” whined a young duckling.

“Ah, yes!” said The Dodo/Lucky Star. “I almost forgot.” He then sat down on the sands as the animals gathered around him in a circle. They all sat as The Dodo/Lucky Star cleared his throat. Starburst meanwhile was so baffled over the fact that The Dodo/Lucky Star and the animals seemingly reneged on their agreement to help her find Nightlight that she started to stutter. “It’s such a long, sad tale,” The Dodo/Lucky Star began with a mournful expression.

“Aren’t you guys gonna help me or what?” demanded Starburst.

“Fury said to the mouse,” continued The Dodo/Lucky Star apparently ignoring Starburst. “That he met in the house “Let’s both go to the law. I will prosecute you. Come, I’ll take no denial…””

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” exclaimed Starburst as she hovered over the group.

“It’s rude to interrupt when one someone’s talking, little filly,” said the eaglet unaware of the princess’s angry expression.

Starburst glared at the eaglet who spent all its on focus on The Dodo/Lucky Star’s story. “I’M SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD!” she screamed. “JUST BECAUSE I MIGHT BE SMALLER THAN MOST MARES THAT DOESN’T MEAN I’M A CHILD!”

“Pay close attention that filly, dear,” said a crab in a feminine voice to a smaller crab. “Let her be a lesson to never lose your temper.”

Starburst let out a grunt. “Want the job done, you gotta do it yourself!” she growled as she stomped away from the animals who were continuing to listen to The Dodo/Lucky Star’s boring story. As Starburst trotted away she could see in a distance a forest. “That has to be where Nightlight ran off to,” she thought to herself. Soon she took to the air and flew straight towards the forest.

CHAPTER 4

Starburst flew through the forest searching for any sign of the Rabbit/Nightlight. She called out his name getting no response. She then spotted a shape that looked quite purple upon first glance like her brother and a sense of relief came over her. Starburst flew to the forest floor where the shape was located only to discover that it was actually a rock, much to her utter disappointment and frustration. “Horse feathers!” she exclaimed and gave the rock a mighty kick with one of her hind hoofs. She then held onto her hoof and let out a pained yell. Soon she started to limp away slightly and called out to Nightlight within the deep forest getting no response except for the echoes of her own voice. Unbeknownst to Starburst two figures were shadowing her movements. She stopped dead in her tracks when she sensed that she was being followed. She spun around seeing no one standing behind her. She then continued on her way with the figures continuing to shadow her movements in the bushes. Starburst looked straight at their position and at that exact moment the two figures flew upwards rustling the leaves in the trees above. Nervousness then took hold of Starburst. “Nightlight?” she said in a shaky voice. She slowly started to walk backwards keeping her eyes fixed on the area where she heard the rustling leaves. As she backed away the two figures landed behind her. Starburst bumped into the figures and she let out a yelp. She then spun around and found two young male pegasai with one seeming to be older and taller than the second. The first pegasus stallion had a dark blue coat, a multi-coloured mane and a gnarly scar above his nose while the younger pegasus stallion had a white coat with a dark blue mane on top of his head. They were both dressed exactly alike; yellow coats, white shirts, giant blue bow ties and small hats on top of their heads that had flags sticking out of them. Both young pegasai were taller than Starburst and her eyes widened when she recognized them all too well. They were both brothers and the sons of one of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s friends Rainbow Dash. “Prism Bolt? Icy Storm?” she said cocking her head in confusion. Prism Bolt and Icy Storm looked at her as if she was a weird creature. They then looked at each other with confused looks. Soon they both burst out laughing much to Starburst’s confusion. “Cute, isn’t she?” said Icy Storm catching her breath.

“Read our collars, little filly,” said Prism pointing to his collar. “See if you can figure out our names.”

Starburst let out a soft growl at Prism calling her “little filly”. She screwed her eyes at the fine print on their collars. “Tweedle Dee,” she said reading Prism’s collar. She then turned to Icy Storm. “Tweedle Dum?” she said reading Icy’s collar. “What kind of weird names are those?”

Prism Bolt/Tweedle Dee and Icy Storm/Tweedle Dum started to do weird dances for a few moments and then stopped. “That’s the name our mother gave us,” said Prism Bolt/Tweedle Dum. “Such a swell gal.”

“No, your mother named you guys Prism Bolt and Icy Storm,” said Starburst.

Both brothers let out a hearty laugh. “Fillies, am I right?” said Icy Storm/Tweedle Dum gesturing to Starburst. “Always letting their wild imaginations get the better of them.”

“I’m three years older than you, Icy!” said the princess with a huff.

“Since she’s young we should teach her some lessons in manners,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“I’m not that young,” said an irritated Starburst. “I’m gonna be eighteen next year!”

“The first lesson in manners is how to greet someone,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum. “It goes like this.”

Prism/Tweedle Dee and Icy/Tweedle Dum flew towards Starburst and grabbed both of her front hooves. They then started to dance around in a circle leaving Starburst evermore confused. “How do you do? And shake hooves! Shake hooves! Shake Hooves!” sang the brothers as they twirled around with Starburst in tow. “How do you? And shake hooves! State your name and business.” The brothers then sat on a nearby log in unison. “That’s manners,” they said in unison.

“State my name?” said a confused Starburst. “Come on, guys. You know who I am. I’m Starburst. My mom’s Princess Twilight.”

“Oh, her mom’s a princess,” said an astonished Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“To me the Queen of Hearts doesn’t have kids,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.

“The Queen of Hearts?” said Starburst with a cocked eyebrow.

“Surely you know who the Queen of Hearts is?” said Prism/Tweedle Dee. “She’s the all-powerful ruler of this land.”

“Yup, she’s got quite the temper,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum. “You get out of line and off goes your head.”

Prism/Tweedle Dee let out gasp. “If your mom’s a princess,” he began “then you’re probably The Queen of Heart’s granddaughter!”

“No, my grandmother’s Twilight Velvet,” said Starburst growing irritated. “You two should know that better than anyone. You guys met her already!”

“It seems to me that The Queen of Hearts has done a lot worse than ordering executions,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum shaking his head sadly. “This little filly doesn’t even know her own royal bloodline.”

“Maybe The Queen of Hearts did some weird brain experiments on this filly,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee looking at Starburst with a hoof on his chin.

“WOULD YOU QUIT CALLING ME A FILLY!” said the princess stomping her hoof. She then let out a sigh. “Look, I don’t have time for this,” she said in a more relaxed tone. “I gotta go find…”

“But we’ve just met,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“How about we play a game?” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.

In the blink of an eye the brothers dashed into the nearby forest. They then reappeared behind the trees. Astoundingly, the brothers appeared in multiple numbers as if they were clones which made Starburst’s jaw almost fall to the ground. “Wanna play hide and go seek?” asked Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“I, uh…” began Starburst. She was cut off when the brothers returned to the same spot they were standing previously as singular ponies. However, they seemed to be stuck together almost as conjoined twins. “Wanna play button, button?” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.

“Button, Button,” said the brothers in unison. “Who’s got the button?”

“Look, guys…” said Starburst in mid-sentence. The brothers suddenly detached from each other becoming their singular selves once more. “Hey, you look like the rowdy type, especially with that gnarly scar on your face,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee pointing to the scar on Starburst’s cheek which made the princess blush slightly.

“Maybe she wants to see us rumble,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum. The brothers then started shadowboxing one another.

“GUYS!” snapped Starburst. She then let out a sigh. “Look, I really need you to help me,” she said in a calm tone.

“Why?” asked Prism/Tweedle Dee in a playful manner.

“I’m looking for my brother Nightlight,” replied Starburst.

“Why?” asked Icy/Tweedle Dum in an equally playful manner.

“Well, this is gonna sound crazy, but he turned into a rabbit and I’m trying to find him so that my mother could turn him back into a pony. Plus, I’m curious as to why everyone seem to be acting so weird today.”

The brothers’ eyes widened and they looked at each other in horror. “Hear that?” said Icy/Tweedle Dum. “The little filly’s curious.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” went Prism/Tweedle Dee as he shook his head sadly. “The oysters were curious too.”

“Poor things,” said the brothers in unison as they wore sad expressions on their faces. Starburst froze in shock. She had already seen a lot of crazy things and became worried about what would happen to her if she was not too careful in this bizarre world. “What happened to the oysters?” she asked.

“Oh, you wouldn’t be interested,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee closing his eyes and turning up his nose.

“You need to look for your brother, after all,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum also closing his eyes and turning up his nose. The brothers then started to walk away leaving behind a confused Starburst. The princess then started to fly after them. “Wait, what happened to the oysters?” she said hovering in front of the brothers who seemingly payed no attention to her.

“Oh, no,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee not looking at her. “You need look for your brother.”

“We don’t wanna bore you to death with the story,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum also not looking at Starburst.

“Well, I guess I could spare a few minutes,” said Starburst.

“Goody!” exclaimed the brothers. They grabbed Starburst by both front hooves and sat her down on a nearby tree trunk. They then stood in front of her and did a little dance. “This is the story of “Walrus and the Carpenter”,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee in dramatic fashion.

“Or “The Curious Oysters”,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum in equally dramatic fashion.

“The sun was shining on the sea,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“Shining with all his might: He did his very best to make

The billows smooth and bright—

And this was odd, because it was

The middle of the night.”

“The moon was getting angry,” added Icy/Tweedle Dum.
“Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done --
“It’s very rude of him,” she said,
“To come and spoil the fun!”

“The sea was wet as wet could be,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
“The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky.”

“The Walrus and the Carpenter were trotting close at hoof,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.

“They said “If all of this was cleared away it would be very good.””

“If seven maids with seven mops swept it for half a year,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
“Do you suppose,” the Walrus said,
“That they could get it clear?”
“I doubt it,” said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.”

“O Oysters, come and walk with us! “The Walrus did beseech,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.
“A pleasant trot, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hoof to each.”

Four Oysters followed them,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
And yet another four;
And quick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more --
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.”

The Walrus and the Carpenter walked on a mile or so,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low.”

“The time has come,” the Walrus said,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
“To talk of many things:
Of shoes— and ships— and sealing-wax --
Of cabbages—and kings --
And why the sea is boiling hot --
And whether pigs have wings.”

“But wait a bit,” the Oysters cried,” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.
“Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!”
“No hurry!” said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.”

“A loaf of bread,” the Walrus said,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
“Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed --
Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.”

“It was so kind of you to come!” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.
“And you are very nice!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf --
I’ve had to ask you twice!”

“It seems a shame,” the Walrus said,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.
“To play them such a trick,
After we’ve brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!”
The Carpenter said nothing but
“The butter’s spread too thick!”

“O Oysters,” said the Carpenter.” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.
“You’ve had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?
But answers came there none --
And that was scarcely odd, because…”

“They’d eaten every one,” said the brothers in unison. “The end!”

Starburst’s eyes widened in amazement. “Well, I never thought I’d say this,” she began. “but that was a pretty good story. A little depressing, though.”

“We’re glad you love it!” said Prism/Tweedle Dee excitedly.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” said Starburst. “Are we gonna look for Nightlight?”

“What’s the hurry?” said Icy/Tweedle Dum. “Since you liked our story, we should have more fun!”

“You look like the racing type,” said Prism/Tweedle Dee. “Let’s have a race, little filly!”

“But…” said Starburst. Before she could finish Prism/Tweedle Dee and Icy/Tweedle Dum both crouched in a type of racing position. “Ready!” said Prism/Tweedle Dee.

“Set!” said Icy/Tweedle Dum.

“Go!” they finished in unison. In the blink of an eye both brothers took off into the sky leaving behind a shocked and outraged Starburst. “Guys?” she said. “SERIOUSLY!?!” Starburst then hovered above the trees and flew in the opposite direction. “What’s wrong with everypony today?” she said to herself. She then looked over her shoulder. “AND I’M NOT A LITTLE FILLY!” She screamed. Starburst grumbled as she flew away continuing her search for her brother.

CHAPTER 5

Starburst flew above the trees looking in all directions and calling out to Nightlight. “Lucky Star is a Dodo bird plus Prism and Icy are these clowns?” Starburst thought out loud. “I know adults have their moods, but Mr. Discord is way past the age to have a midlife crisis. Seriously, when the heck is he gonna grow up? Maybe this was some crazy idea Mom, Princess Celestia and all of our moms came up with to punish all of us for something. Why Nightlight though? He’s more of a goody four hooves than Echo and Mrs. Fluttershy.” As Starburst looked aimlessly among the trees she perked up when her ears picked up the familiar voice of a young colt. “Oh, my ears and whiskers!” said the distant voice. “I’ll be late for sure!” Starburst screwed her eyes and barely made out a figure hopping across the forest floor near a clearing. Starburst zoomed towards the figure and landed in front of the purple rabbit that was none other than her little brother. “There you are!” said Starburst with a mixture of relief and annoyance. “Do you know how much trouble I went through trying to…”

“Mary Ann, what’re you doing out here?” said Nightlight/Rabbit cutting off Starburst. “You’re supposed to be attending to my house!”

“Attending to your house?” said Starburst with a baffled expression. “You’re too young to have your own house. Now come on. We’re going home!”

“Why are you lingering out here, Mary Ann?” scolded Nightlight/Rabbit. “You have to help me get ready to meet The Duchess.”

“Mary Ann? I’m not Mary Ann. I’m Starburst, your sister!”

“Come on, Mary Ann. I can’t keep The Duchess waiting.”

Nightlight/Rabbit grabbed Starburst by one front hoof and hurried across the clearing with a confused Starburst in tow. “Where are we going?” demanded Starburst as she struggled to keep up with Nightlight/Rabbit’s pace. “And why the heck to do you keep calling me Mary Ann?” They both arrived at a cosy looking house that had a rather affluent flair to it. On the doorframe was gold plate with the words “M.RABBIT” engraved on it. “M. RABBIT”?” said Starburst in confusion as she read the engraving.

“What are you waiting for, Mary Ann?” snapped Nightlight/Rabbit. “You have to get my gloves and fan! They’re upstairs! I can’t meet The Duchess looking a mess!”

“You can’t boss me around,” said Starburst glaring at Nightlight/Rabbit. “I’m older than you!”

“Quit, jabbering, Mary Ann!” scolded Nightlight/Rabbit. “If I’m late The Duchess will report me to The Queen of Hearts and The Queen of Hearts will have my head.”

Starburst perked up at the mention of the same queen that Prism/Tweedle Dee and Icy/Tweedle Dum mentioned in the forest. “The Queen of Hearts?” said Starburst.

“Go, Mary Ann!” scolded Nightlight/Rabbit as he nudged her through the door.

“Fine!” growled Starburst as she stomped into the house. “The only reason I’m not gonna deck you is because I went through enough trouble trying to find you. As soon as I find these gloves and this fan, we’re going straight home!” Starburst looked around the living room finding herself in awe at the luxurious furniture and other items. She then started smacking her dry lips. “Ever since I came here I didn’t drink any water, especially after swimming in that ocean,” she thought out loud. “Nightlight should have a kitchen somewhere.” Sure enough, the young princess found a kitchen with a refrigerator at its corner. She opened the refrigerator finding a wide variety of foods fit for a rabbit’s diet which included vegetables. There were even some treats like cakes and sweet dairy products. In the refrigerator door Starburst found a tall glass bottle which she assumed was clean, fresh water. She opened the cap, put the bottle to her lips and indeed it tasted like ordinary water. She drank until the bottle was empty and placed the bottle on a nearby counter. She then made her way towards a staircase and at the top of the staircase was a white door. She flapped her wings and hovered towards the top of the staircase. Unbeknownst to Starburst she slowly started to grow in size. When she walked through the door she grew past the doorframe. Her eyes fell on a small desk where she found a pair of white kid gloves and a rather large black fan. “There they are,” she said. Before she could reach for them she realized to her horror that she was growing even larger to the point where her head was slowly reaching for the ceiling. “Oh, bucking Tartarus!” she exclaimed. “Not again!” She crouched down so that her head would not crash through the ceiling. However, despite her efforts to make herself smaller she was growing larger and larger. She reached for a nearby opened window and put her front hoof through until it grew large enough for it to touch the ground outside. As she continued to expand in size she heard the small patter of footsteps up the staircase outside. “Mary Ann!” called the familiar voice of Nightlight/Rabbit. “What’s taking so long? Did you find my gloves and fan?” At the corner of her eye she could see Nightlight/Rabbit entering the room through the opened door. As he entered her ever growing hind hoof pushed him outside down the staircase and through the front door. Nightlight/Rabbit tumbled across the ground outside and he looked up to find Starburst over several feet tall with her limbs sticking out in two places. “Nightlight, help me!” cried Starburst in a panicked voice. By now Starburst stopped growing and shifted uncomfortably in the cramped room. “A monster!” cried Nightlight/Rabbit running around like a headless chicken. “Help! A monster’s in my house!”

As Nightlight/Rabbit ran around screaming hysterically, Starburst tried to shift around in the room in an effort to make herself more comfortable but this proved futile. It certainly did not help that she already had larger than normal pegasus wings which made her predicament even more unbearable. “Starburst, you klutz!” she thought out loud. “Why did I have to drink so much of that? The last time I drank something it made me smaller but that stuff made me bigger. Why did I drink the whole thing?” She slowly started to sob and she could have sworn that she was starting to feel tears well in her eyes. “No, Starburst!” she suddenly said. “Crying won’t help! Come on, you’re a big girl! What kind of princess cries in the face of danger?” As she is thinking all this she could hear Nightlight/Rabbit continuing to scream hysterically while his feet pattered across the ground as he ran around the house. She moved closer towards another opened window and hissed in pain as her massive wings rubbed against the ceiling. She reached close enough to see Nightlight/Rabbit hopping around and screaming that there was a monster inside the house. Just then another creature walked into her line of vision and approached Nightlight/Rabbit. From what Starburst could tell, this creature was a lizard but its physical appearance differed from that of a normal lizard. Instead of the typical green skin this lizard had reddish looking skin and on top of his head was dark red hair. The sight of this lizard triggered something in Starburst’s mind. The lizard bore somewhat of a strong resemblance to a pegasus stallion that she met while hanging out with Anthea. This stallion grew up in the same orphanage Anthea grew up in and was currently living in Ponyville with two other friends that Anthea grew up with at the orphanage. This pegasus stallion’s name Hot Head. Despite the name Starburst found Hot Head to be a rather cool colt even if he may be a little rough around the edges. He was an extremely competitive flier which caused a rivalry with Prism Bolt who happened to be just as competitive. If this particular lizard was supposed to be Hot Head, Starburst was at a lost as to why he was now a lizard. What was even more peculiar was that the lizard version of Hot Head was carrying a ladder and a long broom. “Bill! Bill!” screamed Nightlight/Rabbit hysterically as the lizard version of Hot Head walked on his hind legs towards him. “You have to help me!”

“Bill?” Starburst thought in confusion.

“I’m right on time to clean your chimney, sir,” said Hot Head/Bill. He said it in the familiar voice that Starburst recognized as Hot Head.

“Bill, look!” shouted Nightlight/Rabbit. “What’s that sticking out of my window?”

“It looks like hoof!” said an astonished Hot Head/Bill.

“A hoof?” said a confused Nightlight/Rabbit. “Whoever saw a hoof that size?”

“Nightlight, Hot Head, help me!” shouted Starburst.

“Look!” said Hot Head/Bill seemingly ignoring Starburst. “There’s another hoof sticking through the front door.”

“Well those things have no business being in my house,” said an annoyed Nightlight/Rabbit. “Get rid of them!”

“Me?” said Hot Head/Bill looking at Nightlight/Rabbit with horror.

“Just go!” scolded Nightlight/Rabbit.

Hot Head/Bill let out a loud gulp and walked towards the house with his ladder in tow. He walked out of Starburst’s line of vision but Starburst could hear the clank of his wooden ladder against the house. Her ears then picked up the sound of Hot Head/Bill climbing up the ladder until he made it high enough for her to see him through the window. As Hot Head/Bill climbed near the window he peered in and saw the giant eyes of Starburst. “Hot Head, help me!” called out Starburst in desperation. Hot Head/Bill let out a panicked scream and lost his balance falling off the ladder. Momentarily, Starburst was worried that he might have hurt himself badly in such a fall. She then heard the pattering of running feet and the panicked screams of the familiar voice of Hot Head which gave her assurance that Hot Head was unscathed in his fall. “A monster!” screamed Hot Head/Bill. “There’s a monster in the house!”

“I know that,” responded Nightlight/Rabbit. “Get rid of it!”

“But that thing is huge!”

“Come on, you guys,” called out Starburst. “I’m not a monster! It’s me, Starburst!” Suddenly Starburst heard multiple footsteps outside the house. She shifted again towards the window where her left hoof was sticking out and winced as her massive wings rubbed against the ceiling again. Through that window she barely made out the sight of a crowd of animals varying in species gathering outside. “Mother, what’s that?” said a young voice.

“It’s a ginormous beast!” exclaimed a female voice. “Hide the children!”

“Oh, dear me!” said the voice of Nightlight/Rabbit. “I’ll be late! Bill, get rid of that monster this instant! I don’t want it in my house when I get back!” With those words Starburst heard the footsteps of her brother hopping away. “No, Nightlight!” Starburst called out. “Don’t leave me!”

“Yeah, Bill!” said the excited young female voice of one animal. “Slay the beast!”

“You’re already a top notch racer, Bill,” said a male voice. “You’ve beaten two rabbits in a lot of races. If you slay the monster you’ll be a legend!”

“Slay the monster! Slay the monster!” chanted a chorus of voices.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” said Hot Head/Bill in a shaky voice.

Starburst barely picked up the sounds of Hot Head/Bill climbing up the ladder. Through the opened window she saw him climb past the window and then heard footsteps along the roof. Starburst then heard movement in the chimney which was in the living room. “Is he seriously trying to climb down the chimney?” she thought. As Hot Head/Bill made his way down the chimney, clouds of ash and dust started to hover in the room through the opened door. Starburst took a whiff and after a few moments of trying to hold it in, she made a mighty sneeze. Hot Head/Bill screamed as the sneeze sent him flying up the chimney and into the air. “There goes Bill!” said the chorus of voices nonchalantly. Starburst’s heart skipped a beat as she heard Hot Head/Bill’s screams becoming distant as he flew up in the air and slowly growing louder as he fell back down. She then heard the ruffling of leaves outside the house and multiple footsteps running a few meters away. “Sweet Celestia!” Starburst thought as she broke into a cold sweat.

“Everyone, help Bill!” said a female voice.

“Hot Head, are you alright?” called out Starburst. “I’m so sorry! Please be okay!”

“Look, he’s coming to!” said a young male voice.

“Are you alright, Bill?” said an older male voice.

“I’ll tell you one thing, that’s no ordinary monster,” said Hot Head/Bill rather calmly much to Starburst’s relief as this assured her that he was not hurt. “I was on my way down the chimney and before I knew it I’m shooting straight into the sky like a rocket!”

“Well, what are you gonna do now?” said another female voice. “That monster’s taking up the whole house.”

“What the heck’s wrong with them?” thought Starburst. “Can’t they at least try to take the roof off? I’d be out of this house by now!”

“There’s only one way to get rid of that monster,” said Hot Head/Bill. “Burn the house down.”

“What?” said a baffled Starburst.

“Yeah, burn the house down!” said the chorus of voices.

“No, don’t do that!” called out Starburst. “I’m still in here!”

“Burn the house! Burn the house!” chanted some younger voices.

Starburst heard a single pair of footsteps pounding across the ground at high speed. She screwed her eyes as she looked out the window in front of her and saw Hot Head/Bill carrying what seemed to be dry branches and leaves. “He’s not kidding!” Starburst thought out loud. “He’s seriously gonna set the house on fire with me stuck inside!”

“Torch the house!” said a female voice. “Kill the monster!”

“Torch the house!” repeated a male voice. “Kill the monster!”

“Torch the house! Kill the monster!” chanted some young voices.

As the crowd of voices continued to chant the same words Starburst heard what sounded like matches being struck. Her nostrils then picked up the undeniable scent of smoke. “Hot Head, no!” screamed a panicky Starburst. “Please! Don’t set me on fire!”

“Torch the house! Kill the monster!” chanted the crowd seemingly oblivious to Starburst’s pleas. They then started to throw stones through the window at Starburst hitting her square in the face. “Hey, stop that!” shouted an angry Starburst.

“Torch the house! Kill the monster!” chanted the crowd as they continued to throw stones at her. While she was being struck by the stones she realized that they did not actually hurt. Once the stones fell to the floor Starburst noticed that they were turning into small sponge cakes. Her eyes widened when she came up with an idea. “If drinking water made me grow freakishly big,” she thought. “eating one of these cakes would make me turn back to normal size!” Starburst then turned her head to the direction of the crowd as they continued to chant their murderous decree and throw stones at her. Sure enough two stones flew straight at her turning into two delicious cakes the moment they landed in her giant mouth. She chewed them quickly and made a huge gulp. Soon Starburst began to gradually shrink giving her hooves and wings much needed relief. However, Starburst shrank down to almost the size of an ant. Despite this Starburst thought it was better than being unbearably big. She then zoomed out of the room and down the stairs making her way to the front door. She arrived outside and found Hot Head/Bill who was now a giant by comparison trying to start a fire with a pile of leaves and branches. To Starburst’s surprise the pile of branches and leaves was not being consumed by a large fire. Instead there were just small embers. Hot Head/Bill lit a match only succeeding in burning one single leaf that did not ignite a large fire. “Out of matches,” he grumbled. He then turned to the crowd who was throwing stones at the room where Starburst was stuck in and continuing to clamor for the monster’s death. “Does anyone know how to rub two sticks together?” he asked. Tiny Starburst felt a growing rage within her. She then flew up to Hot Head/Bill’s face and with one front hoof she punched him in the eye. Hot Head/Bill yelped in pain and held his right eye, yet he did not see Starburst who hovered in front of him. “That’s for trying to set me on fire!” she screamed. Hot Head/Bill did not seem to hear her. Instead he looked around aimlessly wondering what could have stung him in the eye. “As if I don’t have enough trouble with monsters,” he said nonchalantly. “Now I have to deal with bugs.”

Starburst groaned in frustration and flew away making her way into some nearby bushes.

CHAPTER 6

Tiny Starburst flew among the grass both traumatized and seething over what happened earlier. “Anthea’s gonna get an earful from me when I get out of here,” she grumbled to herself. “Hot Head’s a horrible friend. What’s happened to everyone? Nightlight’s a rabbit, Lucky Star’s a dodo and Hot Head’s a lizard? Though, Hot Head might be a chameleon because of his colour. The only normal looking ponies I’ve seen so far are Prism Bolt and Icy Storm.” Starburst then took a look at herself. “How do I get back to my normal size?” she thought out loud. “If I could almost be barbequed in giant size, who knows what could happen to me in this size.” As Starburst was busy examining her tiny size, she sensed something flying past her. She immediately looked up to find a group of butterflies flying around. Starburst was always fond of butterflies, her fondness starting when she was about five years old during the times when Mrs. Fluttershy was her foal sitter. Mrs. Fluttershy would take Starburst out in the yard and they would both watch as butterflies made their migration during the spring. A smile came across Starburst’s face as she watched numbers and numbers of giant butterflies fly past her. She then became confused when she noticed something peculiar about the butterflies. These large butterflies had wings that looked like slices of bread with butter spread on them. “Those are some strange looking butterflies,” she thought out loud.

“Actually those are bread and butterflies, little filly,” said a female voice. Starburst yelped at the sound of the voice. She looked around finding no one but flowers. Slowly she hovered between the flowers. As she flew it began to register that the voice she heard sounded awfully familiar. She deduced that it was the voice of a member of the Apple Family who just happened to be the sole cherry harvester at Sweet Apple Acres. “Red June?” Starburst called out. “Red June, is that you?” All Starburst got in response was silence. She then glanced towards the rows of beautiful flowers. She began to wonder if perhaps the voice came from these flowers. “That’s ridiculous,” she said out loud shaking her head. “Flowers can’t talk.”

“We can talk if there’s someone worth talking to,” said a different female voice. Starburst let out another yelp at the sudden sound of the voice. “Who said that?” demanded the princess.

“We did, little filly,” said the familiar voice of Red June. Starburst let out a startled cry when she heard Red June right behind her. She spun around and standing behind her was a tiger lily. This tiger lily had red petals and towered over the tiny pegasus. The tiger lily bent down and Starburst’s jaw fell when she realized that it had the face of Red June herself. “Red June!” exclaimed Starburst. “You’re a…flower?”

“Why, yes,” said Red June/Tiger Lily. “I’m a Tiger lily to be exact, little filly.”

“Not you too,” groaned Starburst. “I’m not a filly, I’m seventeen!”

“I’ve never seen a seventeen before,” said a female voice behind Starburst. Starburst yelped and spun around to find a tall pink daisy, a lily and a rose. Their heads bent down revealing the faces of three mares Starburst recognized all too well. They were the mares who ran a flower store that sold all types of flowers. Their names were Daisy, Roseluck and Lily. Starburst would see these mares when she walked through the Ponyville market running their flower business and always getting overdramatic if one flower was bent or missing a petal. “Mrs. Daisy? Mrs. Roseluck? Mrs. Lily?” said Starburst in confusion.

“Have you ever heard of a flower called Seventeen?” said Daisy/Daisy Flower.

“Never!” said an astonished Roseluck/Rose.

“She’s probably a mutated freak of nature!” exclaimed Lily/Lily Flower as she held her face with leaves for front hooves. “The horror!”

“I think she’s pretty,” said a young filly’s voice. Starburst blushed at the compliment and found a small dandelion bud with the face of a little filly amongst a bed of dandelions looking at her with wide eyes and a smile. “She’s the most beautiful Seventeen Flower I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, not all flowers are the same,” said Red June/Tiger Lily. “She’s a unique flower and should be treated with respect.”

“I’m not a flower, Red June,” said Starburst. “I’m a pony just like you.”

“I’m not a pony,” replied Red June/Tiger Lily as she looked at Starburst in confusion. “I’m a flower just like everyone here.”

“But how?” said Starburst. “Earlier today you were an earth pony harvesting your cherries.”

“Cherries,” said Red June/Tiger Lily putting a leaf to her chin. “Yes, I’ll admit I do like cherries. In fact there’s a cherry tree not too far from here that protects all of us flowers from danger.”

“It barks like a dog,” said a Tulip that had the face of a mare. “That’s why the branches of cherry trees are called boughs.”

“But how is this possible?” said Starburst addressing all of them. “How could flowers have faces and talk?”

“Feel the ground and you’ll know why,” said Red June/Tiger Lily.

Starburst looked at Red June/Tiger Lily with furrowed eyebrows. The tiny pegasus then landed on the ground and spread her front hooves along the rich looking soil. “The ground’s pretty hard,” said Starburst. “What exactly am I supposed to feel?”

“In most gardens the beds are too soft,” said Red June/Tiger Lily. “That way the flowers are always asleep.”

“To me the way flowers sleep is when they close up at night,” said Starburst. “But I’m still confused as to how you flowers can talk so perfectly.”

“If she was a flower, she’d know the answer by now,” said Daisy/Daisy Flower scornfully.

“Well, I’m not a flower,” said Starburst growing irritated. “It should be obvious!”

“Aha! I knew it!” said Lily/Lily Flower pointing an accusatory leaf at Starburst.

“She was never a flower to start with,” said Roseluck/Rose looking at Starburst with dread. “The horror!”

“Now, ladies!” scolded Red June/Tiger Lily. “Don’t be rude!” Red June/Tiger Lily then bent lower to look at Starburst right in the eye. “Why don’t you tell all of us exactly what type of flower you are?” said Red June/Tiger Lily. “You should at least tell us what species of plant you are so it would clear up all the confusion.”

“Come on, Red June,” insisted Starburst. “I’m not a flower and I’m not a plant. You know me! I’m Starburst! Princess Starburst! I’m the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle, The Princess of Friendship!”

“Your mother’s a princess?” said Red June/Tiger Lily in confusion.

“Yes!” said an exasperated Starburst.

“Then her mother’s related to The Queen of Hearts,” said a Violet. “That means this flower’s The Queen of Heart’s granddaughter.”

“Then she’s come to take our heads off!” said Daisy/Daisy Flower turning pale. “The horror!”

“I’m not The Queen of Heart’s granddaughter!” said Starburst glaring at the Violet. “Who the heck is The Queen of Hearts anyway?”

“Let’s not change the subject,” said an Orchid. “We should really be asking ourselves how a flower could walk around like that. Not to mention with those scrawny stems she has.”

“And look at her petals,” said a Buttercup passing her leaves along Starburst’s coat making Starburst tremble with rage.

“Plus she has no fragrance,” said a group of Sunflowers scornfully.

“I AM NOT A FLOWER!” shouted Starburst as her face turned beet red.

“I knew it!” said the Violet. “She’s nothing but a disgusting Conyza Canadensis.”

“Oh no!” cried a group of White Roses.

Starburst stared at the Violet confused at the fancy word she used. “I’m a what?” said Starburst.

“To put it bluntly,” began the Tulip “a weed!”

“The horror!” said Daisy/Daisy Flower, Lily/Lily Flower, Roseluck/Rose in unison. They all then flopped to the ground in what could be described as a faint.

“I’m not a weed!” said a fuming Starburst.

“Well, of course she’d deny it!” said a Dandelion scornfully.

“Everyone, please!” begged Red June/Tiger Lily trying to diffuse the situation. The flowers started to shove Starburst away. They all heckled the young princess as she began to fly away. Starburst flew among another group of violets who swatted her causing her to fall amongst some carnation buds. “Go!” said the carnation buds in unison. “We don’t want weeds in our garden!” The carnation buds pushed Starburst off causing her to tumble across the ground. Starburst struggled to her hooves and stared daggers at the flowers who continued to heckle her. “You know, ponies eat flowers!” she called out shaking a front hoof. “If I was my right size I’d bite all your heads off!” Without warning two white tulips dunked water on Starburst causing her to float away down a path far away from the flowers. She stopped among some tall grass, hacking and sputtering out water. Starburst then rose off the ground and shook off water. “Mr. Big Macintosh and Mrs. Cheerilee are gonna hear about this,” she growled as she stomped away.

CHAPTER 7

Starburst flew among tall grass and random leaves still fuming from her encounter from the flowers/ponies. Silently she wondered if she would ever be her right size again and if she was to encounter even more peculiar things since she was apparently on punishment. As she thinks all of this she caught the scent of smoke. Starburst looked ahead and saw smoke billowing above the grass. Soon a sense of dread took hold of the young princess. “Good grief!” Starburst thought out loud. “Hot Head probably set the house on fire and the fire’s probably spreading. I knew things would’ve gotten worse when I’m this size!” Starburst flew above the grass expecting to find the horrible sight of a great, raging fire. Instead she saw nothing but grass for miles. She began to feel a sense of relief when suddenly her eye caught a small plume of smoke coming from a small clearing within the grass. Curiosity then took hold of the small pegasus and she flew towards the plume of smoke. When she arrived at the clearing she found a rather large mushroom and upon the mushroom was a caterpillar, or what seemed to be a caterpillar upon first glance. Starburst flew closer and discovered that the caterpillar was actually brown in colour. It had several legs and strangely enough it had an earth pony stallion’s head. Upon the stallion’s head was dark brown hair with a yellow streak in it. Even stranger was that this earth pony/caterpillar was smoking a hookah, the type of device she once saw a local using when she took a trip with Princess Twilight to Saddle Arabia. The strangest thing of all was that the earth pony/caterpillar bore a striking resemblance to one of Starburst’s friends. “Gold Delicious?” exclaimed Starburst as she hovered in front of the earth pony/caterpillar. Gold Delicious/Caterpillar took the hookah out of his mouth and looked at the princess with lazy eyes. “Who…are…you?” he said a slow, lazy tone. Starburst felt her skin crawl as she started to take in Gold Delicious/Caterpillar’s physical appearance. She was instantly reminded of that disturbing movie she was once had the displeasure of watching when she was only thirteen years old. “Pony Centipede” was a body horror film she once watched as a dare from Prism Bolt and as a result she couldn’t sleep for days. As if to add insult to injury, curiosity got the better of Starburst and she watched two other sequels to that movie called “Pony Centipede: Full Sequence” and “Pony Centipede: Final Sequence”, each movie being more disturbing than the next. Gold Delicious/Caterpillar’s appearance reminded her too much of those disgusting films. “What happened to you, Del?” said Starburst as Gold Delicious/Caterpillar nonchalantly smoked his hookah.

“Who…are…you?” repeated Gold Delicious/Caterpillar in the same lazy tone.

“Come on, Del” said Starburst. “I’m Starburst. You know…”

“No…ah don’t…know,” replied Gold Delicious/Caterpillar.

“I’m daughter of Princess Twilight, your mom’s best friend,” insisted Starburst.

“Your mama’s a princess?” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar. “Who…are…you?”

Starburst opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she began to consider Gold Delicious/Caterpillar’s question. Ever since she arrived in that strange world everyone seemed to not recognize her. She began to wonder if she was even a pony anymore. “Well, I don’t really know anymore,” said Starburst. “Ever since I fell down that hole chasing my brother I’ve been changing a lot.”

“Explain yerself,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar not looking at Starburst.

“I can’t explain it myself,” said Starburst scratching her head. “Because I’m not myself, you see.”

“No, ah don’t…see,” replied Gold Delicious/Caterpillar.

Starburst grunted softly. It was clear to the young princess that this conversation was going nowhere. Bit by bit she started to question her own sanity. “I don’t how else to put it,” she said. “This place, everyone who lives here, you, it’s all just crazy to me.”

“You?” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar looking at her as if she was a strange creature. “Who…are…you?”

Starburst felt something boiling inside of her. The caterpillar that had the face of Gold Delicious was really starting to try her patience. Suddenly a mischievous smile appeared on her face when she had a sneaky idea. “Well, why you don’t tell me…who…you are first,” said Starburst mimicking Gold Delicious/Caterpillar’s lazy speaking pattern.

“Why?” asked Gold Delicious/Caterpillar nonchalantly puffing away from his hookah.

“OH, FORGET IT!” shouted Starburst. She then flew away from Gold Delicious. “I’m getting out of here one way or another even if I have to tear this place apart!” she exclaimed.

“Wait!” Gold Delicious/Caterpillar called out. “Ah got somethin’ important ta tell ya!”

By now Starburst reached a good distance when Gold Delicious/Caterpillar called out to her. A part of her was saying that she should not even entertain him any further but curiosity overrode her better judgement. In a huff Starburst flew back to Gold Delicious/Caterpillar and hovered in front of him. “WHAT!?!” she growled.

“Keep…yer temper,” replied Gold Delicious/Caterpillar in his familiar slow tone puffing away on his hookah.

“That’s it?” said Starburst incredulously.

“EEhnope,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar in a way that Starburst thought sounded awfully similar to Gold Delicious’ uncle Big Mac. “So, ya think ya changed, don’tcha?”

“I don’t think I’ve changed,” said Starburst as she took a seat on a nearby mushroom. “I know I’ve changed. I can’t seem to stay the same size for two minutes and I don’t remember things the way they were.”

“Can’t remember what things?” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar not looking at her. Starburst put her hoof on her chin. Her eyes widened when she had an epiphany. “I could remember one thing,” she said with a smile. “There was this poem you and I made up when we were kids. Or maybe I should say I taught Gold Delicious the poem when I was only ten.” Starburst then started to laugh a bit. “It was a joke we were having when Mrs. Applejack was freaking out when she started to get grey hair,” Starburst said through chuckles. “It went something like:

“You are old, Mother Applejack,” said the young colt;

“And your hair is very white.

But you always buck your head against the apple tree.

At your age, is that even right?”

“In mah youth,” said Mother Applejack to her son,

“Ah was afraid it might hurt the brain.

Now Ah’m pretty sure Ah ain’t got none

An’ Ah’ll do it again and again.”

“You are old, Mother Applejack,” said the young colt.

“And you’ve never gotten fat.

But you do back flips across the floor.

Tell me, what’s the reason for that?”

“In mah youth,” said Mother Applejack.

“Ah kept all mah hooves very supple.

Because of this here ointment Ah use, one bit a box.

“Allow me ta sell ya a couple.”

“You are old, Mother Applejack,” said the young colt.

“And your jaws are too weak for carrots.

But you can still eat hay, celery and apples.

Tell me how you manage to do it?”

“In mah youth,” said Mother Applejack.

“Ah argued with the Ponyville town council

‘Bout all mah strife.

It gave mah jaw a lotta strength

An’ lasted me all mah life.”

“You are old, Mother Applejack,” said the young colt.

And your eyes are as steady as ever.

But you balance an eel on the tip of your nose.

What made you so awfully clever?”

“Ah’ve answered three questions,” said Mother Applejack.

“An’ that’s enough!

Don’t give yerself airs!

Do ya think Ah’m gonna listen to that kinda stuff?

Now git or Ah’m gonna buck ya down the stairs!””

Starburst howled in laughter as she mimicked Mrs. Applejack’s southern drawl. Meanwhile Gold Delicious/Caterpillar did not look at her or even cracked a smile. He simply puffed away nonchalantly on his hookah. Starburst noticed this and stopped laughing. She momentarily worried that he might have offended him. “Ehhnope,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar. “It ain’t said right.”

“Well, that’s how I remember it,” said Starburst timidly.

“It’s wrong from the start,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar. There was then silence between the two for a couple moments. “So,” began Gold Delicious/Caterpillar as he turned to look at Starburst “what size ya wanna be?”

“I don’t care,” said Starburst. “I can’t stand changing so much, you know.”

“No, Ah don’t…know,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar turning away from Starburst.

“Not this again!” Starburst thought silently. “Look, I wanna be a little bigger,” she desperately said to Gold Delicious/Caterpillar as she hovered over him. “It really sucks to be only three inches tall.”

“Whatchoo talkin’ ‘bout?” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar as he turned to Starburst with anger etched on his face. “Bein’ three inches tall is fine an’ dandy!” As if to emphasize Gold Delicious/Caterpillar stood up straight and showed that he was exactly three inches.

“Okay, okay!” said Starburst putting up her hooves to calm down Gold Delicious. “Snowflake much?” she thought silently. Starburst then returned to her seat on the nearby mushroom. “Sorry, I’m just not used to being smaller than I already am,” said Starburst.

“You’ll get used to it in time,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar calmly as he turned away from Starburst and puffed on his hookah. “Ah could give ya some advice,” he added. With those words Gold Delicious/Caterpillar took the hookah out of his mouth and let out a yawn. Slowly he started to crawl off his large mushroom leaving Starburst to look on in confusion. “One side makes you larger,” said Gold Delicious/Caterpillar “an’ one side makes you small.” A baffled Starburst looked on as he crawled further and further away. “What the hay are you talking about?” She called out throwing up her hooves. “One side of what?”

“The mushroom,” Gold Delicious/Caterpillar called out not looking at her.

Starburst was all alone. By now Gold Delicious/Caterpillar was long gone having disappeared in the tall grass. She looked at the mushroom that she sat on. “One side of the mushroom?” Starburst thought out loud. “It can’t be this one he’s talking about.” The young princess then turned her attention to the larger mushroom Gold Delicious sat on. It was flat at the top and was rather pink in color as opposed to the small and dull looking dome shaped one she sat on. She flew over to the pink mushroom and examined it closely. She then broke off one large piece from one side and broke off a large piece on the other side. She landed on the ground and looked at the two pieces intensely. “One side makes you larger,” said Starburst “and one side makes you small.” She put one to her mouth but stopped before it could touch her taste buds. “Mom warned me that some mushrooms are poisonous,” said Starburst with trepidation. She then looked at the mushroom piece with nervous eyes. Soon a strange calm washed over her. “Then again, I’m pretty sure Gold Delicious wouldn’t intentionally have me poisoned,” she added with a shrug. With those words Starburst took a small nibble on the mushroom just to be sure. As the mushroom went down her throat she stood still for a few moments. Suddenly her torso and legs shrunk to a tinnier size causing her jaw to hit the ground. Starburst let out a startled scream as her jaw was now flat on the ground. She was beside herself with panic. “Great! As if being three inches wasn’t bad enough!” she exclaimed. The two pieces laid next to her head and Starburst watched them with anger on her face. “Is this Del’s idea of a sick joke?” she thought out loud. She moved her head a few inches with great effort until she was facing the pieces of mushrooms directly. “Okay, the other side is supposed to make me larger,” said Starburst. “Celestia only knows the crazy things it could do to my body. But desperate times call for desperate measures!” The young princess opened her mouth to take a bite but realized that she could barely open her jaw due to the fact that her head lay flat on the ground like a coin. She stopped trying to open her mouth and grunted in frustration. She then thought maybe she should try licking the mushroom instead of eating it. She stuck out her tongue and licked it. Soon she could feel her torso and hooves growing again. Starburst felt a sense of relief as she slowly began to grow in size again. Suddenly her neck grew extremely long in a flash. It grew and grew and grew until her head was now high above the nearest tree. “What the absolute heck?” exclaimed Starburst as she examined her abnormally long neck. “Did I turn into a giraffe or something?” Starburst could feel her hooves pounding on the ground but she could not see them. She started to move her head and discovered that her neck was very flexible. With every movement of her head her neck went in all directions almost like a snake. “If I could just get out of this Celestia forsaken tree,” grunted Starburst. “Maybe I could reach down for those crazy mushrooms.”

As Starburst started to move her head downwards a large pigeon sprang up from trees and started beating her with its wings. “Get off of me, you stinking bag of feathers!” screamed Starburst as she moved her head trying to get away from the pigeon.

“Snake! Snake!” said the pigeon in a feminine voice. Starburst stopped moving her head when she realized that the pigeon sounded awfully familiar. She stared at the pigeon that was now hovering in front of her and discovered that it was no ordinary pigeon. The pigeon had cream feathers and what appeared to be amber colored hair on top of its head. Stranger still this pigeon had a beauty mark next to her left eye. The pigeon’s physical appearance bore strong resemblance to another pony Starburst met while hanging out with her friend Anthea. This pony mare’s name was Amber Lily and she was another friend who Anthea grew up with at the orphanage. Amber Lily’s father was an earth pony and her mother was a crystal pony from the Crystal Empire, the same Crystal Empire that Starburst was born in. Amber Lily was also a nurse who was living in Ponyville with Anthea’s other friends from the orphanage Lucky Star and Hot Head. Starburst came across Amber Lily on more than one occasion and found her very pretty and quite fun. However, Amber Lily’s habit of over partying and making romantic passes with everypony she saw made Starburst quite uneasy. One time, Amber even made a romantic pass at Starburst. “Amber?” said Starburst as she stared at the pigeon in confusion. “Amber Lily?”

“Be gone, snake!” exclaimed Amber Lily/Pigeon.

“I’m not a snake!” said Starburst.

“I’ve tried everything to get away from them, but nothing seems to work!” continued Amber Lily/Pigeon who sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

“What the hay are you talking about?” said Starburst tilting her head in confusion.

“I’ve tried the roots of trees,” continued Amber Lily/Pigeon seemingly paying no attention to Starburst. “I’ve tried hedges. I’ve tried riverbanks. I’ve tried cliffs. But those snakes! There’s just no getting away from them!” With those words Starburst was immediately reminded of another habit Amber Lily had. Everyone Amber Lily met either at a party, at lunch or even the hospital staff, Amber would often take them home with her doing who knew what. Starburst shuddered at the very thought. “I already have enough trouble hatching the eggs,” Amber Lily/Pigeon went on. “But I must be on the lookout for snakes night and day! I haven’t slept a wink in three weeks!”

“I know exactly how you feel,” said Starburst sympathetically. “When my mom was pregnant with my brother she’d get super grumpy and she barely got any sleep at all.”

“And just when I’ve taken the highest tree in the woods,” said Amber Lily/Pigeon raising her voice. “a snake just had to come wriggling out of the sky!”

“But I’m not a snake!” insisted Starburst. “I’m…I’m…”

“Well, what are you?” said Amber Lily/Pigeon sternly as she stared down Starburst with her beautiful green eyes. “I could see you’re trying to make something up!”

“I’m…a pony,” replied Starburst even though in the back of her mind she doubted her own answer. “At least I was when I woke up this morning.”

“Yeah right!” said Amber Lily/Pigeon glaring at Starburst. “I’ve seen a lot of ponies in my day, but none with a neck long like yours. No! No! You’re a snake! I bet you’re gonna tell me that you’ve never tasted an egg!”

“Of course I don’t eat eggs!” said Starburst. “Even if I do, I wouldn’t wanna eat your eggs!”

“Well, why am I wasting my time with you?” said Amber Lily/Pigeon in a calmer tone. “I’m an expecting mother and I have children to bring into the world.” With those words Amber Lily/Pigeon flew back into the tree and sat on a nest of blue eggs. “Amber, wait!” Starburst called out. By now Amber Lily/Pigeon seemingly paid no attention to her. Starburst let out a huff and tried to get her head out of the tree. She winced as the branches scratched against her long neck. After a few moments of pawing the ground Starburst was finally free from the tree. Starburst could see trees as far as the eye could see. She then looked down and saw how far her hooves were. “Great! I think I lost the mushrooms!” said a frustrated Starburst. She walked backwards keeping her eyes fixed on the ground. She started to barely make out two pink dots and concluded that they were the mushrooms. “If I could just reach them,” grunted Starburst. Her hooves continued to move backwards and simultaneously she bent her neck trying to reach the mushrooms. Her head was now inches away from the mushrooms and she stopped to look at them. “What if I take a bite from two?” Starburst thought. “Maybe it would do something about this freakishly long neck of mine.” She took a small nibble from both mushrooms and waited impatiently. After what seemed like a long minute her neck shrunk back to normal size and her torso together with her hooves expanded to the size they were before her encounter at Nightlight/Rabbit’s house. Starburst patted herself all over and looked down seeing that she towered over the flowers and grass. She then let out a huge sigh of relief. Starburst’s eyes then fell on the two small mushrooms. She picked them up and stared at them for a few moments. “Maybe I should keep them,” she thought out loud. “I might need them just in case in case I get the crazy idea to gobble down something else in this freaky place.” Starburst then put away the mushrooms and started to fly away. She looked over her shoulder spotting Amber Lily/Pigeon sitting in the tall the tree in her nest. Starburst then shuddered. “I do not wanna know who the father is,” Starburst said as she flew away.

CHAPTER 8

Starburst flew aimlessly amongst the trees still patting herself all over, especially her neck. She was still uncertain whether she was at her normal size or some other variation of it. She also began to wonder if her sanity was slowly slipping away. “Before I get out of this crazy place I’m pretty sure that I’m gonna have the mother of all aneurysms,” Starburst thought out loud. As she is thinking all of this her eyes caught an elegant looking white house up in a distance. She then landed on the ground and trotted towards the house when she spotted a figure flying towards the entrance. Starburst hid behind a tree as the figure landed near the entrance and knocked on the front door with a fore hoof. Starburst was close enough to realize that the figure was none other than a grey pegasus filly who was the daughter of Scootaloo and Rumble, Echo. However, Echo was dressed in attire that was usually worn by hoofcolts with a powered wig on top of her head. In Echo’s mouth was a white envelope. As Starburst started to make her way towards Echo the front door suddenly opened and out trotted the white unicorn filly who was the daughter of Sweetie Belle and Button Mash, Pixel Bit. Pixel Bit was also dressed in hoofcolt attire and had a powered wig on top of her head. “For The Duchess, an invitation from The Queen to play croquet,” said Echo in a posh manner. Pixel Bit then took the envelope with her magic.

“The Duchess?” thought Starburst silently.

“From The Queen, an invitation for The Duchess to play croquet,” said Pixel Bit in a manner that was equally posh. Pixel Bit and Echo then gave each other curtly bows. Suddenly their powdered wigs got tangled with each other’s and they both struggled to detach their wigs. Starburst who witnessed the whole thing stifled a laugh. After untangling their wigs Echo staggered backwards a bit and then flew away. After Echo took her leave Pixel sat on the steps and looked aimlessly in the opposite direction. “Nightlight said that he was gonna visit some duchess,” Starburst thought silently. “Maybe this is where he was talking about.” Starburst then flew towards the entrance and landed next to Pixel who was still looking aimlessly in the sky. Starburst stared at Pixel intensely and tried to compare her size with the unicorn filly. A sense of relief came over Starburst when she realized that she was taller than Pixel as usual. “Hey, Pixel,” said Starburst. “Have you seen Nightlight around here?”

“Nightlight?” said Pixel who kept her eyes at the skies. “Is that supposed to be night and day mixed in one?”

“No!” said Starburst slightly annoyed. “Nightlight, my brother. The egghead one. He’s always doing some brainy stuff and putting moves on you.”

“Nope,” said Pixel not looking at Starburst. “I haven’t got the slightest clue what you’re talking about, little filly.”

Starburst went agape. “Little filly?” said Starburst turning red in the face. “I’m literally older than you by seven years!” Pixel seemingly paid no attention to the fuming princess. Pixel instead kept her eyes on the skies. “What the hay are you even looking at?” said Starburst moving closer to the unicorn filly. Pixel continued to keep her eyes on the skies much to Starburst’s confusion. Starburst then looked in the same direction seeing nothing but a clear blue sky and the sun. She then let out a frustrated grunt. “Maybe Nightlight’s in here with this Duchess lady,” said Starburst as she made her way to the front door. Starburst stared at the door for a few moments. She then made a loud knock on the door. “It’s no use knocking, little filly,” Pixel suddenly said still keeping her eyes on the skies. “For two reasons. One, I’m on the same side of the door as you are. Two, there’s a really loud racket inside, so nopony could possibly hear you.”

Starburst stared at the unicorn filly with an annoyed glare. Starburst then placed her ear against the door and sure enough there were the muffled sounds of crashing, sneezing and what sounded like the cries of a foal. Starburst stepped backwards and looked at the door in shock. “If I can’t knock then who’s gonna open the door for me?” she said turning to Pixel.

“There might be some sense in you knocking if we had the door between us,” said Pixel keeping her eyes in the same direction. “If you were inside, you could knock and I could let you out.”

“Well, how am I supposed to get in?” said Starburst.

“I’ll sit here till tomorrow,” said Pixel seemingly paying no heed to Starburst. Suddenly Starburst heard the door unlocking and turned to see it crack open. Starburst let out a yelp as a large plate flew out of the door and barely missed Pixel breaking into pieces a few meters away from her. “Or maybe the next day,” said Pixel as if nothing happened. Starburst looked at Pixel then back at the door with trepidation. Meanwhile the muffled noises continued to radiate from the inside of the house. “How am I supposed to get in that crazy place,” Starburst asked.

“Are you supposed to get in at all?” said Pixel not looking at her. “That’s the first question, you know.”

“Sweet Celestia!” said Starburst holding her head with both her front hooves. “Before the day’s over I’m gonna end up in a straitjacket and a padded room!”

“I’ll sit here on and off for days and days,” said Pixel seemingly in a dream state.

“WELL, WHAT THE HAY AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?!” screamed an annoyed Starburst.

“Whatever you want,” said Pixel calmly. The unicorn filly then reclined against a nearby railing and whistled nonchalantly. Starburst let out a loud groan and stomped towards the front door. “If she’d lay off the video games once in a while, she’d had more smarts!” muttered Starburst. “Not a nice thing to say, but it’s true!”

Starburst twisted the doorknob and pushed the door wide open. Her eyes widened in shock when she discovered the floor littered with broken dishes and glass bottles. There was also thick smoke lingering in the air which made her hack and cough. “If Pixel’s the butler, she definitely doesn’t do a good job with the cleaning,” said Starburst between coughs. As she moved further and further down the hallway her ears picked up the sounds of breaking dishes, pots and pans falling, sneezing and the blood curdling cries of a foal which made Starburst nervous. She momentarily began to wonder if she might come across the horrible sights of a torture chamber, the types she read about when she came across the crass fanfiction she read revolving around Mrs. Rainbow Dash, Mrs. Pinkie Pie and cupcakes. Starburst then shook the disturbing images from her head and moved further down the hallway. At the corner of her eye she saw a mirror hanging against the wall. Starburst stopped before the mirror and examined herself closely to see if there were any kinds of physical change. Her neck was still the normal size, so was the rest of her body. She could see that she was still a pegasus. She then flared her wings and saw that they were still as massive as she could remember. Most importantly Starburst saw that she was still her seventeen year old self complete with the scar across the left side of her cheek. However, she was still confused as to why everyone kept calling her a little filly. She had not aged backwards as far as she could see. After examining herself she made her way to the noises which seemed to be coming from a large door. Reluctantly Starburst opened the door to find a large kitchen that had huge plumes of black smoke lingering in the air. At one corner of the kitchen was large caldron of what appeared to be soup. At the caldron was a young purple female pegasus with a light blue mane stirring away at the soup and putting large amounts of black pepper in it. The black pepper was enough to make Starburst sneeze compulsively. Starburst then caught herself when she recognized the pegasus as Prism Bolt’s former fillyfriend. “Whirlwind?” said Starburst. The princess then turned her attention to the opposite corner of the kitchen where she found a young unicorn mare seated on a chair filing away on her front hooves. Simultaneously the young unicorn mare was also roughly pushing a foal stroller with her magic. The unicorn mare was wearing a large headdress and an elegant dress. As she was filing on her hooves she would let out these loud, hoarse sneezes. From the foal stroller there was the loud cries of a foal that was also sneezing. Upon further examination Starburst realized that the young unicorn mare was one she also recognized. The unicorn mare was a top notch supermodel named Crème de la Crème who was the only daughter of Canterlot aristocrat Fancy Pants and legendary supermodel Fleur dis Lis. Crème de la Crème, called Crème for short, was often seen at Sweet Apple Acres with Gold Delicious trying to learn, according to Crème, to be a “normal pony.” Crème often had the reputation to be a bit ditzy which got Starburst on her nerves. However, Crème was never snobby and she was always nice to everyone. “Crème de la Crème?” said Starburst in confusion as she trotted over to the unicorn mare. Crème seemed to pay no attention to the young pegasus. Instead she gave a loud sneeze which made Starburst jump back slightly. “Whirlwind, don’t you think you’re putting too much pepper in that soup?” said Starburst with a sneeze. Whirlwind seemingly ignored Starburst keeping her focus on the soup. Starburst examined Crème’s attire and realized it was the type she noticed every duchess wearing whenever they visited either Princess Twilight or every other princess of Equestria. “By any chance, are you the Duchess, Crème?” asked Starburst reluctantly.

“Of course I’m the Duchess,” said Crème/Duchess hoarsely. “PIG!” Crème/Duchess said “Pig” so sharply and loudly it made Starburst jump a few meters upwards. When she caught herself Starburst realized that Crème/Duchess was directing the epithet to the foal who was wailing the whole time. The foal screamed so loudly Starburst could not hear herself think. “To me you were always a high maintenance super model,” said Starburst. “I didn’t know you were a duchess.”

“You don’t know much and that’s a fact!” sneered Crème/Duchess.

“Excuse you?” exclaimed Starburst as she glared at Crème/Duchess.

Suddenly Whirlwind took her attention away from the cauldron of soup and started throwing pans, plates, saucers and other kitchen utensils at the direction of Starburst, Crème/Duchess and the crying foal. Starburst yelped as she ducked, dodged and sidestepped every projectile that flew at her. The projectiles narrowly missed Crème/Duchess with one plate touching the tip of her headdress. One frying pan landed right next the foal stroller narrowly missing the foal. “What the hay’s wrong with you, Whirlwind?” said Starburst staring daggers at Whirlwind. Whirlwind seemingly ignored Starburst and turned her attention back to the cauldron of soup. The foal started to scream even louder which made Starburst deathly afraid that a projectile might have hit the poor child. She looked inside the stroller to find a foal that appeared to be an infant earth filly that was white with brown spots, dark brown eyes and a mane of red hair. Starburst’s jaw almost fell to the ground when she realized that the crying foal bore a strong resemblance to Api Apple, the daughter of Apple Bloom and Pipsqueak. “Api, you’re a baby?” stammered Starburst. “But how?”

“She’s my baby!” growled Crème/Duchess who continued to file her hooves and roughly push the baby stroller.

“No, she’s Mr. Pipsqueak and Mrs. Apple Bloom’s baby!” said Starburst turning to Crème/Duchess. Starburst then shook her head when she caught herself. “I mean, she’s Mr. Pipsqueak and Mrs. Apple Bloom’s daughter!” said Starburst correcting herself. “How is Api even a baby anyway?” Crème/Duchess made no response and continued to file her hooves while simultaneously pushing the foal stroller. Starburst tried her best to ignore the insanity of Api being a baby and focus on why she was even in this kitchen of horrors. “Crème, listen to me,” said Starburst over baby Api’s wailing. “Have you seen Nightlight? I don’t know if you’ve met him, but he’s my brother. He’s a unicorn colt but now he’s a purple rabbit.” Crème/Duchess seemingly paid no attention to Starburst focusing all of her attention on filing her hooves much to Starburst’s frustration. “Nightlight said that he was coming to visit you and that you’re associated with the Queen of Hearts,” continued Starburst. “Have you seen Nightlight or not?” Instead of answering Starburst, Crème/Duchess levitated a foal bottle and placed it in baby Api’s mouth which seemed to quiet the little foal. “ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME!?!” screamed a frustrated Starburst. Crème/Duchess never once even looked at Starburst. Instead Crème/Duchess started to levitate baby Api upwards and downwards with her magic which caused the poor foal to start wailing again. “Crème, stop it!” exclaimed a horrified Starburst. “You’ll hurt her!”

“If everyone minded their own business,” began Crème/Duchess. “Equestria would turn around a great deal faster than it does!”

With that statement, Starburst came up with a sneaky idea. She attempted to test Crème’s intelligence to see if the unicorn mare was as ditzy as she remembered so she would buy time to perhaps save baby Api. “Hey, Crème,” began Starburst. “Did you know that Princess Celestia manages the sun by twelve hours? Princess Luna also takes twelve hours to maintain the moon. That helps Equestria turn on its axis.”

“Speaking of axes,” responded Crème/Duchess. “CHOP OFF HER HEAD!” Starburst’s eyes widened in horror and she turned sharply to Whirlwind expecting her to come at her with either an axe or a cleaver. However, Whirlwind was still stirring away at the soup pouring huge amounts of black pepper in between stirs which made Starburst sneeze. Starburst then focused on the huge plumes of black smoke that cascaded over the kitchen. The princess hacked and coughed as her vision was slightly hindered by the smoke. Baby Api’s wails then snapped Starburst back to reality and she was dumbfounded as to how the unhealthy environment did not seem to bother Crème/Duchess. “Crème, why are you just sitting here?” coughed Starburst. “All this smoke and pepper is dangerous for Api and even you!”

“The only way to calm a crying foal is to sing a lullaby,” said Crème/Duchess seemingly paying no attention to Starburst. Crème/Duchess then levitated Baby Api towards her and she gave the wailing foal a deathly glare as she started to sing in a hoarse voice:

“Speak roughly to your little foal

And beat her when she sneezes!

She only does it to annoy

Because she knows it teases!”

“Wow! Wow! Wow!” added Whirlwind and Baby Api. Starburst looked on in horror as Crème/Duchess began tossing Baby Api up and down in the air. Baby Api screamed even louder with every toss. “CRÈME, STOP IT!” screamed Starburst in horror. Crème/Duchess seemingly ignored Starburst as she continued to toss Baby Api in the air with her magic and started screaming her twisted lullaby:

“I SPEAK SEVERELY TO MY FOAL!

I BEAT HER WHEN SHE SNEEZES!

SO SHE CAN THOROUGLY ENJOY!

THE PEPPER WHEN SHE PLEASES!”

“WOW! WOW! WOW!” added Whirlwind and Baby Api.

“CRÈME, CUT IT OUT!” screamed Starburst over Baby Api’s screams. “YOU’RE GONNA KILL HER!”

“Here, you can take care of her if you want!” said Crème/Duchess nonchalantly. She then casually tossed Baby Api towards Starburst. Immediately Starburst flew towards the wailing foal and caught her with her front hooves. “I’m off to play croquet with the Queen,” continued Crème/Duchess nonchalantly. She then dismounted from her chair and walked out of the kitchen closing the door behind her. At that same exact moment Whirlwind took a huge plate and flung it in Crème/Duchess’s direction. The plate then smashed into pieces against the doorframe. Starburst looked on in disgust and horror. She then refocused Baby Api’s loud crying. “You mares are crazy, both of you!” growled Starburst. Whirlwind payed no attention to Starburst, instead flinging a frying pan in her direction. Starburst ducked with Baby Api in tow as the frying pan bounced against the wall behind her. Starburst let out a grunt and started to make her way towards the door. “I’m calling Foal Protective Services on this place!” she said looking at Whirlwind over her shoulder.

Starburst flew out of the house carrying the crying Baby Api in her fore hooves. When she arrived outside she expected to see either Pixel still gazing at the sky or Crème/Duchess being carried away in a carriage. Instead there was no one around except for Starburst and the wailing Baby Api. Starburst flew into the forest so that she could get Baby Api out of the sun shushing the crying foal with every ground she covered. “It’s okay,” said Starburst gently rocking the wailing foal. “You’re out of that bad house. The bad mares aren’t gonna hurt you anymore.” Starburst landed behind a large tree that provided shade for her and Baby Api. She then sat on her haunches and gently rocked and shushed the crying foal in her front hooves. After a while Baby Api stopped crying and started to softly coo much to Starburst’s relief. “If I didn’t get her out of there she’d die for sure,” Starburst thought out loud. She then looked at Baby Api who now smiled with a toothless smile. Starburst then returned the gesture. “Aw, you’re just as cute as I remember,” she said. “But how did you become a baby again?” Baby Api then let out a giggle. “If Nightlight saw you he’d have a field day coming up with all kinds of ways to make fun of you,” said Starburst. “Speaking of which, we need to find Nightlight. When I find him we’re all going home and hopefully Mom and the Princesses would turn you two back to normal.” Starburst started to fly away down a path with Baby Api in tow making sure not to fly too roughly to upset the foal. While she was flying Baby Api started to compulsively giggle giving the princess the assurance that the foal was comfortable to be in her presence. Baby Api’s giggling soon gave way to what Starburst could have sworn was snorting. Starburst stopped and looked into the giggling foal’s face. “If I didn’t know any better,” began Starburst. “I’d say you’re turning into a pig.” Baby Api simply looked at the princess with her adorable eyes and gave a mixture of giggles and snorts. As Starburst continued to stare at Baby Api’s face she could clearly see that the foal’s nose was slowly turning upwards like that of a pig. Soon Baby Api’s eyes became even smaller and her ears got longer and pointier. Baby Api’s small red tail then got curly and its colour matched the colour of her white and brown coat. Starburst watched in horror as Baby Api’s giggles gave way to squealing. What Starburst now held in her hooves was no longer an earth pony filly but a white and brown piglet. Starburst let out a horrified scream and released the piglet from her hooves. Api/Piglet landed gently on its hooves and ran away into the forest. Starburst stayed hovering in the air with wide eyes and a slackened jaw as she racked her brain trying to process what had just happened. She then shook her head and flew after Api/Piglet. “Api, come back here!” Starburst called out as she desperately tried to keep up with the piglet’s speed that outmatched hers.

CHAPTER 9

Starburst flew frantically through the forest looking for Baby Api that was now a white and brown piglet. “I’ve seen it all,” she thought out loud. “Nightlight’s a rabbit. Lucky Star’s a Dodo. Prism and Icy are these clowns with the most ridiculous names I’ve ever heard. Hot Head’s a Lizard. Red June’s a flower. Del’s a caterpillar now Api’s a baby that turned into a pig. Could this day get any crazier?” She looked around in all directions even flying above the canopies calling out to Baby Api. It all seemed to be in vain because she could find absolutely no sign of the piglet. Starburst landed on her hooves and trotted aimlessly on a path with a look of defeat on her face. She looked to her left then to her right. She let out a sad sigh. “Now where do I go?” she thought out loud.

“That depends where you wanna get to,” said a young feminine voice. Starburst let out a startled yelp and looked around. Starburst recognized the voice. It belonged to none other than one of her friends, Anthea. Anthea, called Annie for short, was a young unicorn mare that grew up in the orphanage with Amber Lily, Hot Head and Lucky Star. When Annie was about ten years old she was adopted by Mrs. Fluttershy. Annie was also blind but her magic enabled her to see blotches of colors. Annie caught the attention of Princess Twilight when Annie was able to put a manticore to sleep with her magic. Princess Twilight took Annie under her wing and started teaching her lessons to develop her magic skills. Annie’s magic lessons with Princess Twilight made Starburst quite jealous because she thought her mother favored Annie above her own daughter. Despite this Starburst still considered Annie a good friend. “Annie?” Starburst called out. “Annie, is that you?” The young princess’s eyes darted all over seeing no sign of the blind unicorn mare. She then began to scowl. “Who the hay said that?” she growled.

“I did,” replied the familiar feminine voice. Starburst yelped again. This time the voice sounded much closer. Starburst literally started to look up and down the forest path. “Up here, little filly,” said the feminine voice. Starburst eyes fell on a small tree. Carefully she scanned the tree from its roots to its branches where she found a small cat. Upon further examination Starburst discovered that the cat had peach fur and green hair that was tied into a braid. There was no doubt in Starburst’s mind that this cat was almost a mirror image of Anthea because Antenna also had peach fur and a light green mane that was tied into a braid which prevented her mane from obscuring her already poor vision. Starburst trotted closer to the cat and noticed that the cat also had blue clouded eyes that were very similar to Athena's blue clouded eyes which indicated that the unicorn mare was indeed blind. As much as Starburst wanted to believe that the cat was indeed Annie, the young princess was in that world long enough to know that the cat was not Annie. “Who are you?” asked Starburst with furrowed eyebrows.

“I’m a Cheshire Cat,” replied the cat in Anthea’s voice. “and I belong to the Duchess.”

“You mean you belong to that poor excuse for a mother?” said Starburst pointing in the direction of the house.

“Well, I don’t believe she was ever cut out for motherhood,” said Athena/Cheshire Cat.

The young princess stared down Athena/Cheshire Cat who simply smiled. Athena/Cheshire Cat’s smile was awfully similar to the warm, friendly smile she knew Annie to give. But in the back of her mind she knew that the grinning cat was not Annie. Despite this Starburst could not help but consider Athena/Cheshire Cat to be quite cute for a cat. Starburst’s eyes then locked with Athena/Cheshire Cat’s clouded eyes. “Can you see me?” asked Starburst.

“All I can see is one yellow blur,” replied Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “Everything else is blotches of green, grey and brown.”

“She’s blind just like Annie,” Starburst thought silently. “But she’s not Annie.”

“Now, you were looking for a place to go, right?” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “Where do you wanna go?”

“I don’t care where,” replied Starburst.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you trot,” said the grinning cat.

“It does matter as long as I could get somewhere,” said Starburst.

“Well, you’re sure to do that,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “If you trot or fly long enough.”

There was then a short pause between the young princess and the smiling cat. “Look, Annie,” began Starburst. She then shook her head. “Sorry, I mean…,” continued the princess.

“Who’s Annie,” asked a confused Anthea/Cheshire Cat.

“Never mind,” said Starburst. “You just remind me of a friend of mine. Does anyone live in this forest?”

“But of course,” replied Anthea/Cheshire Cat. The smiling cat then waved her right paw. “In this direction,” she began “lives a Hatter.” Anthea/Cheshire Cat started to wave her left paw. “And in this direction,” she said “lives a March Hare. You can visit any of them if you like. They’re both mad.” Starburst shuddered slightly at the thought. She already had her fair share of crazy visits, more than she bargained for. “Mad?” asked the young princess. “As in crazy? If they’re mad I’d rather not meet any of them.”

“Oh, you can’t help that,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “We’re all mad here. I’m mad and you’re mad.”

“What do you mean I’m mad?” said Starburst glaring at Anthea/Cheshire Cat.

“You have to be,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “Because you certainly wouldn’t be in this place.”

“You definitely have a point there,” muttered Starburst. Starburst then hovered in front of the ever smiling peach cat. “Why do you say you’re mad?” she asked.

“You see,” began Anthea/Cheshire Cat “a dog growls when it’s angry and wags its tail when it’s happy. Now, I growl when I’m happy and I wag my tail when I’m angry. Therefore, I’m mad.”

“I don’t think you’re mad,” said Starburst. “Mrs. Rarity, my mom’s friend, has two cats. A male black and white tuxedo cat and a female orange spotted cat. She had a white female cat before named Opalescence, but Opalescence is no longer with us. These cats wag their tails when they’re angry but growl when they’re happy. But I don’t really think they growl. It’s more like they’re purring. That’s normal for cats in general, so you’re not mad.”

“If you say so,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “Have you ever played croquet?”

“I played it once or twice,” said Starburst. “Mrs. Rarity taught me how to play croquet.”

“Then meet me at the Queen of Hearts’ castle,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. “We can play loads of croquet there.”

“The Queen of Hearts’ Castle?” said Starburst perking up at the mention of the Queen of Hearts.

Before Starburst had a chance to react Anthea/Cheshire Cat suddenly vanished. Starburst yelped at the strange phenomenon. She looked around in all directions for the smiling peach cat. She then let out a frustrated grunt and started to fly down the path. “By the bye,” said the voice of Anthea/Cheshire. “What happened to the foal? I forgot to ask.” Starburst let out a startled yelp and looked around. She glanced to her left and found Anthea/Cheshire Cat lying on the branch of another tree. “The foal?” said Starburst. “Oh, I was looking for her around here. The crazy thing is she turned into a pig.”

“I thought that would’ve happened,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat nonchalantly. With those words she vanished again startling Starburst. The young princess stared at the spot where the smiling cat once laid expecting her to reappear. After what seemed like eternity Starburst shook her head in disgust and continued down the path. “Did you say “pig” or “fig”?” said the voice of Anthea/Cheshire Cat suddenly. Starburst let out another startled yelp and held her chest with one hoof. She then looked around and sure enough Anthea/Cheshire Cat was seated in another tree at her right. Starburst glared at the smiling peach cat, but Anthea/Cheshire Cat did not seem to notice. “I said pig!” said an annoyed Starburst. “Would you stop disappearing and reappearing like that? You’re gonna give me a heart attack!”

“How rude of me,” said Anthea/Cheshire Cat. Slowly the smiling cat’s tail started to disappear. Soon the rest of her body seemingly disintegrated leaving behind only her warm smile. “Remember, meet me at the Queen of Hearts’ castle to play croquet,” said the smiling mouth of Anthea/Cheshire Cat. With those words Anthea/Cheshire Cat’s smiling mouth slowly disappeared. Starburst stared at the spot agape. After a couple of moments Starburst turned around and flew down the path. She looked around in all directions expecting the smiling peach cat to reappear in another tree. She then gave up looking for Anthea/Cheshire Cat and continued on her way. “Mr. Discord probably taught Annie some of his freaky chaos magic,” the young princess thought out loud. Starburst then shook her head. “Come on, Starburst,” she said. “That wasn’t Annie. You should know that by now.”

CHAPTER 10

Starburst trotted slowly through the forest looking around aimlessly. All that she had encountered after falling down the accursed hole was literally making her head spin, so much so that the young princess started to wonder if she was slowly dying. “Maybe I should try finding my way back home,” Starburst thought out loud. “All the folks I’ve encountered aren’t my friends and they don’t even recognize me. I wonder if these mushrooms have something to do with all this. Or maybe it’s that breakfast Mom insisted I eat before I went to work out. She made it herself and she’s not really that good of a cook. She leaves that for the cooks at the castle.” Starburst then lifted her head up high. “Is this because I didn’t go to the Canterlot Library with you yesterday like you asked me to, Mom?” she called out. “You’ve got a twisted way of getting payback, you know!” Her voice echoed throughout the forest which made her shudder a bit. She then relaxed and looked among the trees hoping to possibly find the Cheshire Cat that bore a strong resemblance to Anthea. She shook her head considering the idea ridiculous. “She said to meet her at the castle of The Queen of Hearts,” Starburst thought out loud. “If I can’t find a way out of this crazy place how am I supposed to even meet The Queen of Hearts? If I do meet this Queen of Hearts I’m gonna twist her hoof until she gets me the heck out of here!”

Starburst glanced towards another pathway that led down a bushy area. Up in a distance was a cottage that had hay for a roof. The funny thing was the roof had the shape of rabbit ears. “I wonder if this is another place Nightlight owns?” the young princess thought out loud. “That’s not Nightlight, Starburst. You should know that by now.” Starburst then flew over to the house and stopped at the entrance. As She stared at the house, her ears picked up what sounded like muffled music coming from behind the house. Starburst then opened the gate and slowly made her way to the back of the house. When she arrived at the back of the house there was a long table in the midst of the yard laden with tea pots, tea cups, saucers and a wide variety of cakes and pastries. At the far side of the yard was a huge radio playing music. The table had multiple chairs and seated at the table was a young grey earth pony mare with a bouncy pink mane with white streaks in it. She was dressed in a baggy looking yellow tuxedo top complete with a large blue bowtie. She was also wearing a green top hat that seemed too big for her. Strapped unto the hat was a white piece of cardboard with a number 10/6 scrawled on it. Seated next to the young earth pony mare was a small light pink hare with pink hair on top of its head. The light pink hare was dressed in a red tuxedo top complete with a large bowtie that was a lighter shade of red. Both the young earth pony mare and light pink mare were both bouncing to the music and drinking tea. When Starburst took a hard look at both the earth pony mare and the light pink hare she could not help but think that they bore a strong resemblance to her friend Cotton Candy and Cotton Candy’s younger sister Sugar Rush. Both were the daughters of another of Princess Twilight’s friends Pinkie Pie. Starburst took a seat at the head of the table keeping her eyes fixed on the apparitions that looked like Cotton Candy and Sugar Rush. “So Cotton Candy’s having a crazy tea party with one of her little sisters?” Starburst thought silently. “I guess it makes sense if they were the real Cotton Candy and Sugar Rush. Where’s Cloudy Skies though?”

The young earth pony mare and the light pink hare stopped sipping from their tea cups and turned their attention to Starburst. They then rushed towards the young princess with looks of horror on their faces. “Sorry, no room!” said the young earth pony mare in a voice that was similar to Cotton Candy’s.

“No room! No room!” said the light pink hare in a little filly’s voice that was similar to Sugar Rush’s.

“What are you two talking about?” said a confused Starburst. “This is a long table and there are lots of chairs. That’s a lot of room if you ask me.” Both the young earth pony mare and light pink hare grabbed Starburst by both of her fore hooves and made her stand up.

“It’s very rude to sit when you’re not invited,” said the light pink hare sternly.

“I’ll say,” said the young earth pony mare crossing her fore hooves glaring at Starburst. “It’s very, very, very rude!”

“Very rude indeed,” said the muffled voice of a little filly. Starburst perked up when she recognized the voice. “Cloudy Skies, is that you?” said Starburst looking around in all directions. The young earth pony mare and the light pink hare looked at Starburst in confusion. “Something seems to be wrong with the little filly,” said the light pink hare gesturing to the young princess.

“Very, very, very wrong indeed,” said the young earth pony mare with a look of concern.

“I’m not a little filly!” snapped Starburst. “I’m seventeen! Who are you two anyway?”

“Why, I’m the Mad Hatter!” said the young earth pony mare with a broad smile.

“And I’m the March Hare!” announced the light pink hare.

“The Mad Hatter and the March Hare?” thought Starburst silently. “These are probably the ones that cat version of Annie was talking about. But they look and sound an awful lot like Cotton Candy and Sugar Rush. How is Sugar Rush a hare though?”

“The little filly’s probably new around these parts,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy to The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“You’re new in town?” asked The March Hare/Sugar Rush bouncing excitedly.

“I guess you can say that,” said Starburst with discomfort.

“Then you must have a cup of tea!” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy excitedly.

“Yes, not every day we get visitors,” said a beaming March Hare/Sugar Rush as both she and The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy sat Starburst on a nearby chair. “You must have a cup of tea!”

The March Hare/Sugar Rush poured out a cup of tea and handed it over to Starburst. The young princess looked at the cup of tea in confusion and graciously took it. “Thanks?” she said. “So you two are having a tea party?”

“Oh, it’s not a tea party,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“We’re having an Un-Birthday Party!” announced The March Hare/Sugar Rush throwing up her forelegs.

“An Un-Birthday Party?” said Starburst cocking an eyebrow.

“You mean to tell me you’ve never heard of an Un-Birthday?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“Well, as you can obviously see, I’m not from around here,” said Starburst with an annoyed glare.

“In that case,” began The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy “allow us to enlighten you!” The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush took Starburst by both hooves and escorted her to another chair leaving the young princess unable to have a sip of the tea that was offered to her. After Starburst took her seat on the new chair, both The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and March Hare/Sugar Rush cleared their throats. “You see,” began The March Hare/Sugar Rush. “There are 365 days in a year.”

“I know that!” said an annoyed Starburst.

“But one of those days is a birthday!” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “That leaves 364 days in the year!”

“Which means there are 364 un-birthdays!” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush excitedly.

“That means, today’s probably my un-birthday,” said Starburst tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“That’s right!” exclaimed both The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush. They then took Starburst by her fore hooves and escorted her to another chair, much to the young princess’s irritation. When Starburst took her seat on this new chair The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy removed her large top hat revealing a large three-layer cake covered in icing on top of her head. “For the Un-Birthday girl!” she announced.

“For me?” said a confused Starburst.

“Of course,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush. “It’s your Un-Birthday!”

The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy took the large birthday cake and placed it front of Starburst. “Make a wish and blow out the candle!” said an excited Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she stuck what appeared to be a single tall candle on top of the cake. She lit the candle and Starburst stared at the cake for a few moments. Starburst could not help but consider the whole situation even more absurd than what she has been going through since falling down that rabbit hole. The young princess blew at the candle, but instead of going out the candle started hissing. Suddenly the cake started to vibrate causing Starburst to be overwhelmed with nervousness. Starburst yelped as the cake shot up into the sky like a rocket and burst into a beautiful shower of colorful sparks. When young princess’s vision readjusted she could see a small figure floating down from the sky. Upon further observation Starburst discovered that the figure was actually a mouse. However, this was no ordinary mouse. The mouse was dark blue in color with light blue hair that looked like bangs. The mouse also looked as if it was sleepy. “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,” began the mouse in a sleepy little filly’s voice. “How I wonder where you’re at. Up above the clouds you fly, like an alicorn in the sky.” The dark blue mouse floated gently into a tea pot right in front of Starburst. The young princess’s eyes then went wide when she realized the mouse bore a strong resemblance to another one of Cotton Candy’s little sisters Cloudy Skies, the last of Pinkie Pie’s daughters and Sugar Rush’s fraternal twin. “Cloudy Skies?” said Starburst as she peered into the tea pot.

“That’s the Door Mouse,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy bouncing in front of Starburst.

“Oh, right,” thought Starburst silently. “I forgot. They might look like Cotton Candy, Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies, but it’s not them.”

“Would you like another cup of tea, little filly?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush offering Starburst a cup of tea on a saucer.

“I didn’t even have my first cup of tea!” said Starburst throwing up her fore hooves in frustration.

“Something seems to be troubling you,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she nonchalantly sipped from her cup of tea.

“Gee, I wonder what gave it away?” muttered an annoyed Starburst as she crossed her fore hooves.

“Why don’t you tell all of us what’s the matter?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“Start from the beginning,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy pouring out another cup of tea for herself. “And when you reach to the end, stop!”

Starburst let out a heavy sigh. “Alright,” she began. “This morning I was working out at a farm that belongs to one of my mom’s friends. Then I started to follow this rabbit who I thought was my brother.”

“Strange,” said a confused March Hare/Sugar Rush as she sipped from her cup of tea. “Why would you think that a rabbit’s your brother?”

“Well, he sounded like my brother,” explained Starburst. “He talked in this kind of whiny way Nightlight usually talks.”

“Who’s Nightlight?” said a confused Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“He’s my little brother,” said Starburst.

“Very interesting,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she poured out another cup of tea for herself.

“It’s very clear the little filly’s got some issues,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” demanded Starburst as she glared at The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“If you were right in the head you certainly wouldn’t assume that this Nightlight was a rabbit,” explained The March Hare/Sugar nonchalantly.

“Are you saying I’m crazy?” said Starburst as she angrily stomped towards The March Hare/Sugar Rush who casually sipped from her cup of tea.

“Clean cup!” announced The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“Clean cup! Clean cup!” announced The March Hare/Sugar Rush. They then grabbed Starburst by her fore hooves once again and escorted her to another chair. “Would you like another cup of tea, little filly?” asked The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she poured out a cup for Starburst.

“You already offered me two cups of tea,” said an annoyed Starburst. “You never even let me take one sip!”

“You were telling us a story, little filly,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she poured out another cup for herself. “Don’t stop. It was getting so good!”

“Sweet Celestia!” groaned a frustrated Starburst. “You all really are crazy!”

“Who said we were crazy?” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she nonchalantly sipped from her tea.

“Some cat I was talking to in the forest,” said Starburst glaring at The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“CAT!?!” shrieked The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies popping out of the tea pot.

The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies started running around wildly across the table knocking over tea pots and tea cups in the process. The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush in turn started chasing after The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies. Starburst looked on in horror as they all ran around in circles causing an even bigger mess. The March Hare/Sugar Rush grabbed The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies by the tail and The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy grabbed The March Hare/Sugar Rush by her own tail. The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies was still running around shrieking hysterically despite The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush holding onto her. “Get the jam!” ordered a frantic March Hare/Sugar Rush turning to Starburst. “Get the jam!” Starburst’s eyes darted all over until she found a jar of jam a few feet away from her left. She grabbed the jar and rushed towards the group. “Put it on her nose!” ordered an equally frantic Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “Put it on her nose!” A confused Starburst unscrewed the jar’s cover and dipped her front hoof into the jar. She then put some jam onto The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies’ nose which seemed to calm mouse. Soon The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies fell fast asleep and The March Hare/Sugar Rush gently placed her in an empty tea pot. After covering the tea pot both The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush started glaring at Starburst who in turn gave a sheepish look. “My goodness!” growled a stern Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “Those are the things that upset me!”

“You see all the trouble you’ve caused?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she gave Starburst a stern look.

“I’m sorry,” said Starburst giving a pleading look. “I didn’t think…”

“That’s the point,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush cutting off Starburst. “If you don’t think you shouldn’t talk!”

“Clean cup!” announced The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “Clean cup! Move down!”

“But I haven’t even…” began an annoyed Starburst. Before she could finish The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush grabbed Starburst by her front hooves and escorted her near the end of the table. They both placed the young princess on the chair and Starburst trembled all in an effort to contain her rage. “Now, little filly,” began The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she poured herself a cup of tea. “You were saying?”

“Who exactly directed you to our humble abode?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she poured herself a cup of tea.

“Well,” began Starburst. “I was trotting through the forest when I met a you-know-what.”

“I do?” said an excited Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy perking up.

“Who do we know?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush bouncing excitedly.

Starburst glared at them both. She was up to her neck with their shenanigans but she was worried about the end results of mentioning the feline version of Anthea. “I was trotting through the forest when I met a C-A-T,” said Starburst with extreme caution.

“Tea?” exclaimed The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy excitedly. The March Hare/Sugar Rush then took a tea cup and to Starburst’s amazement The March Hare/Sugar Rush actually cut the tea cup in half with a butter knife with ease. “A half a cup for the little filly,” announced The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she passed the sliced cup to The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy then poured out tea into the sliced cup and amazingly the tea stayed within the cup without spilling over. “Would you care for some tea, little filly?” asked The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she offered the sliced cup of tea to Starburst.

“But I haven’t even taken any tea since coming to this crazy place!” said an annoyed Starburst pounding her hoof on the table.

“Well, if you don’t care for tea then you should at least make polite conversation,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she nonchalantly sipped from her cup of tea.

“WHAT THE HAY’S WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU!?!” screamed a frustrated Starburst.

“I have an idea,” said The March Hare/Sugar seemingly not noticing Starburst’s angry expression. “Let’s change the subject.”

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” asked The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she nonchalantly sipped from her cup of tea.

“WHAT!?!” exclaimed Starburst as she incredulously looked at her two hosts.

“It’s a riddle,” said an excited March Hare/Sugar Rush. “Surely you know what a riddle is, don’t you, little filly?”

Starburst’s grinded her teeth and her face turned bright red. Her hosts were trying her very last nerve and she was tempted to buck each of them in the face. She then let out a heavy sigh, placed her front hoof on her chest and inhaled. She removed her hoof from her chest and exhaled. Her Auntie Cadence taught her those actions whenever Starburst felt her temper flaring up. For a moment her anger seemed to subside. “Okay,” began Starburst calmly. She then put her hoof to her chin as she pondered the riddle. “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” Starburst thought out loud.

“Excuse me?” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy looking at Starburst in confusion.

“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” explained Starburst.

“Why is a what?!” exclaimed The Matter/Cotton Candy in horror. The earth pony mare then dropped her cup of tea and she held onto The March Hare/Sugar Rush who also had a look of horror in a tight embrace. “Careful,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush in a trembling voice. “The little filly’s stark raven mad!”

“But I was only trying to answer your dumb riddle!” exclaimed Starburst, her anger flaring up again.

“Calm down, little filly,” said a nervous Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she and the March Hare started to slowly back away.

“How about a nice cup of tea?” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush with a nervous smile as she offered a cup of tea to Starburst.

“I DON’T WANT YOUR GOSHDARN TEA!” screamed an enraged Starburst pounding the table. “I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP!” With those words Starburst started to stomp away. Before she could even leave the backyard The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy rushed in front of her bouncing excitedly. “Well, if you knew Time as well as I do,” began The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy “then you wouldn’t be wasting it.”

“What the hay are you babbling about now?” growled Starburst.

“She means that you’ve never spoken to Time,” said a beaming March Hare/Sugar Rush as she sat on a nearby chair sipping from a cup of tea. The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy took Starburst by the hoof and escorted her back to the table where she sat the princess on a chair. “Now, if you only kept on good terms with Time,” began The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy “Time would do almost anything you like with the clock.” The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy then sat next to Starburst and poured a cup of tea for herself. “Let’s just say it was eight in the morning just in time to start lessons,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy after she sipped from her cup of tea. “You’d only have to whisper a hint to Time and ‘round goes the clock in the twinkling of an eye! Twelve o’clock! Time for lunch!”

“I wish it was lunch,” Starburst heard The March Hare/Sugar Rush mutter.

“Now there was a great concert organized by the Queen of Hearts,” continued The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“The Queen of Hearts?” repeated Starburst perking up with wide eyes.

“It’s not polite to interrupt, little filly,” said The March/Sugar Rush giving Starburst a reproachful look.

“I’m seventeen!” growled Starburst.

“At the concert I had to sing,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy as she took another sip from her tea. “Before I could even sing the first verse The Queen of Hearts screamed “You’re killing time! Off with your head!””

“That sounds terrible,” said Starburst with a hint of concern in her voice.

“And ever since then,” continued The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy “Time won’t do a thing I ask. Now it’s always six o’clock.”

“Six o’clock?” repeated Starburst putting a hoof to her chin. “That’s tea time.”

“Exactly!” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush. “It’s tea time all the time!”

“That probably explains all this tea stuff around here,” said Starburst gesturing to all the teapots and tea cups on the table.

“Maybe the little filly’s not as naïve as we thought,” said the sleepy muffled voice of The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies which made Starburst tremble with rage once more.

Starburst let out a sigh. “Look,” she began calmly “Can you tell me where I could find The Queen of Hearts? Maybe this lady is responsible for all of this and maybe she could get me back home.”

“You hear that?” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy turning to the March Hare/Sugar Rush. “The little filly wants to meet The Queen of Hearts!”

“You can take me to her?” asked Starburst with wide eyes.

“Sure we can, little filly,” assured The March Hare/Sugar Rush. “Just give us two days and we can take you to her castle in no time.”

“Two days?!” exclaimed an incredulous Starburst. “Why two days?”

“Anyone who wants to visit The Queen of Hearts has to bring her tons of gifts,” explained The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “Trust me, she’s extremely high maintenance.”

“Anyone who dares visit her without gifts to give, it’s off with your head,” added The March Hare/Sugar Rush with a look of horror.

“I’ve been reminding you two all week about going gift shopping for The Queen of Hearts,” said The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies rising from her teapot. “But does anyone ever listen to me? No.” The Door Mouse then yawned and sunk back into her teapot.

“Goodness gracious!” exclaimed The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “We shouldn’t be lingering out here. We need to get the shopping chop, chop!”

“It’s just like you were saying about Time,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush frantically. “You have to be on good terms with Time.” With those words both The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush ran into the house leaving behind a baffled Starburst. The young princess stammered trying to get some words out until finally letting out a frustrated grunt. She then turned around and flew off the property.

Chapter 11

Starburst flew over the forest seeing nothing but miles and miles of trees. She then let out a frustrated grunt and descended upon the forest floor. She stomped down the forest path wearing a deep frown. “Mom doesn’t drink,” the young princess thought out loud. “So how the hay did she come up with such a sadistic way to teach me some lesson?” Unbeknownst to Starburst she made her way into a deep section of the forest yet she did not seem to care. “What did Mom tell you about trying to straighten me out, Mr. Discord?” Starburst called out. “She said leave the parenting to her!” Starburst’s last sentence echoed throughout the dark forest. Fear took hold of the young princess as she took in her surroundings. As scary as The Everfree Forest was, Starburst found this particular forest more horrifying that the Everfree. Her pace got slower and her eyes darted in all directions. “Did Dad come up with this idea to punish me?” Starburst thought out loud. Starburst then shook her head. “No way,” she said with a smile. “Me and Dad are tight. Mom’s the one always trying to set me straight in some really weird way.” Suddenly Starburst heard rustling in the bushes behind her. The young princess turned sharply to the direction of the sounds but found nothing but heavy vegetation. Keeping her eyes fixed on the area she continued to trot slowly through the forest. A feeling of sadness slowly began to wash over Starburst as she was suddenly reminded of that one time when her father Flash Sentry was really crossed with her. “Is this all because of that time I took your sword without asking and I broke it trying to take care of some prisoners at Tartarus, Dad?” she called out. “I’m sorry! I was only training!”

Starburst took another pathway which seemed to lead her in an even darker part of the forest where she heard all sorts of forest animals. Starburst considered herself a tough pony but her present environment slowly drained whatever bravery she had left. She trembled with every step she took all the while being hit with unpleasant memories. She began to think about the time when her brother Nightlight was watching her dance in her room. She got so mad that she shoved him hard out of her room which made Nightlight slam against the wall in the hallway. There was also that time when she did not share her pie with a few of her friends. Though she would not admit it, Starburst felt really bad telling Princess Twilight that Mrs. Zecora was nothing but a weird old zebra, something Princess Twilight had no qualms of relaying to the friendly zebra magician who lived in the Everfree. The one memory that seemed to sting the most was when Starburst accused Princess Twilight of loving Anthea more because Starburst was jealous of all the private magic lessons Princess Twilight was giving to Anthea. “Why don’t I ever think before I talk?” said Starburst through sniffles. She then exhaled deeply. “No, Starburst!” she then said sternly. “No time for crying!” After a few moments of trotting Starburst could feel the pain welling up inside her. “Why did I have to follow that rabbit down that darn hole?” she said sadly. “That’s the problem with me. I always jump into things without thinking first.”

Starburst arrived in a small clearing where she found a log. She sat on the log and began to ponder on all the things in her past that got the disapproval of those around her. “Those lessons you teach me aren’t lame like I said, Mom,” said Starburst looking around. “I know you teach me those things because they might be useful for me if I wanna get into the Royal Guard. I should be more appreciative of those lessons. Between your duties as The Princess of Friendship and those magic lessons you teach Annie, that’s one of the few times you ever spend with me. I didn’t mean to ditch you when you took that whole day off last month so we could spend the day together. You were willing to put aside the affairs of Equestria just for me for one entire day and I blew it!” The more the young princess thought about her situation with her mother the angrier she became with herself. It was an anger that led to even more sadness. She felt tears flowing down her cheeks and by reflex she wiped them away only for more tears to flow. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Auntie Cadence, Flurry, you all tell me that I shouldn’t be too hard on Mom because out of all the Princesses of Equestria she’s the one that probably takes her responsibilities the most serious,” continued Starburst as she tried in vain to stop the tears from flowing. “And all I did was threw it back in your faces. Mrs. Applejack and all the other members of Mom’s Friendship Council tell me the same thing, even you Mr. Discord. But stupid me just won’t listen!” After a while Starburst stopped trying to wipe away the tears and allowed them to freely flow down her cheeks. “How could I take orders in the Royal Guard if I won’t even listen to my family and friends?” she said through sniffles. “I’m such a crummy friend and a crummy niece and daughter.” Starburst trembled with grief as she sobbed uncontrollably. “Maybe I should stay in this place,” she said between sobs. “Equestria deserves a better princess.” Starburst then buried her face into her front hooves letting out all of her pent up emotions on that log.

As the little pegasus sobbed on the log, suddenly there was the sound of squealing that echoed in the dark forest. Starburst stopped sobbing and perked up when she heard the squeals approaching closer and closer. They were familiar sounding squeals. Starburst quickly wiped away her tears and looked towards the sound of the squeals. She screwed her eyes and could see movement within the area. Almost in a blur a familiar looking white piglet with brown spots and a mop of red hair ran past her. Starburst was instantly reminded of the fact that she was supposed to be looking for Baby Api Apple who apparently turned into a pig. Starburst hovered off the ground to chase after Api/Piglet when another figure moved past her. It was large with green wings and its entire body was covered with white armor. The figure also was wearing a giant looking helmet that covered its entire face. Soon it began to sink in that this large figure was actually chasing after the defenseless piglet. A feeling of outrage took hold of Starburst and she flew after the large figure. “Hey, stop you!” yelled Starburst. The large figure seemingly paid no attention to Starburst and continued to chase after the piglet. Starburst quickened her pace and caught up with the large figure dressed in white armor. She stopped right in front of the large figure halting its advance. “STOP!” screamed Starburst spreading her hooves and massive wings in front of the figure. “Why are you chasing that piglet? She’s small and defenseless!”

“I’m just trying to slay the dragon,” said the figure in a young masculine voice. “That’s what a knight’s supposed to do.” Starburst eyes blinked rapidly when she recognized the figure’s voice. The figure then landed on the ground and took off its helmet. To Starburst’s surprise the figure was revealed to be Turquoise another one of her friends. Turquoise Blitz or “T” as he was called by friends, was the son of Spike the Dragon, Starburst’s godfather and Rarity, a member of Princess Twilight’s Friendship Council. Turquoise was half pony, half dragon due to his father being a dragon and his mother being a unicorn pony. Turquoise was also the second pony/dragon hybrid born in Equestria after his older sister Claire. Where Claire inherited her mother’s unicorn abilities, Turquoise inherited his father’s wings. Turquoise also surpassed his older sister in height. To everyone who knew Turquoise, the young pony/dragon hybrid was an absolute gentlecolt never once raising his voice or getting into physical altercations with anyone the way most dragons seemed to. However, the only time Turquoise got aggressive was whenever he was hungry. Turquoise was also the coltfriend of Anthea, both sharing a bond that seemed unbreakable. “Turquoise?” said a confused Starburst.

“Excuse me?” said an equally confused Turquoise.

“Never mind,” said Starburst shaking her head. “Who are you and why you were chasing that piglet?”

“I’m the White Knight,” said Turquoise/White Knight proudly spreading his wings. “And I’m off to slay that dragon.”

“That’s not a dragon,” said Starburst pointing in the direction where Api/Piglet ran off to. “She’s just a little piglet. And besides, aren’t you a dragon?”

“You’re probably new around here, little filly,” replied Turquoise/White Knight. “But I’m The Queen of Heart’s most elite guard and it’s my duty to defend her kingdom against dragons and all kinds of enemies.”

“The Queen of Hearts?” said Starburst widening her eyes. “You mean you know this queen personally?”

“Yeah,” answered Turquoise/White Knight enthusiastically. “Say, are you a princess who needs rescuing?”

“Well…I am a princess,” said Starburst reluctantly. “But I don’t need rescuing.”

“Oh, darn!” said a frustrated Turquoise/White Knight stomping his hoof in the ground. “Well, I guess I should be off to slay dragons and defend the kingdom from all enemies foreign and domestic.” Turquoise/White Knight spread his wings getting ready to take off. Before he could do that, however, Starburst flew up to meet him at eye level. “No, wait!” she said desperately. “I mean, I do need rescuing. I’m trying to find my way out of this forest.”

“That’s great!” said an excited Turquoise/White Knight. “Just follow me.”

“You mean you’ll help me?” asked a confused Starburst. “Really?”

“Sure I would,” said Turquoise/White Knight. “It’s also my duty as The White Knight to help all those in distress.”

“Oh, thank you so much,” said Starburst with a grateful smile. “This means a lot!”

“Don’t mention it,” said Turquoise/White Knight with a friendly smile. With those words Turquoise/White Knight trotted down a dark path in the forest. Starburst stayed behind with nervousness etched on her face. She then swallowed hard and followed after Turquoise/White Knight.

Starburst stuck close to Turquoise/White Knight as they both trotted deeper and deeper into the dark forest. Starburst’s eyes darted all over as the sounds of forest creatures reverberated throughout the area. Cold sweat ran down Starburst’s face as she shadowed Turquoise/White Knight’s movements. The young princess glanced over to Turquoise/White Knight and saw that he still had the same happy, hyper-enthusiastic smile on his face. As much as he reminded Starburst a lot of the Turquoise Blitz she knew, she had this nagging feeling in the back of her mind that Turquoise/White Knight would steer her wrong like so many of the occupants of this now strange new world. “You know, where I come from we have to deal with a lot of dangerous threats,” said Starburst breaking the silence. “What’s the worst that you have to put up with?”

“Lots of things,” replied Turquoise/White Knight. “The worst we ever came across is the Jabberwocky.”

“Who the hay is the Jabberwocky?” said Starburst giving Turquoise/White Knight a confused look.

“He’s this ugly looking dragon who comes around trying to challenge us to a fight every three years,” explained Turquoise/White Knight. “No one really has the courage to fight him so we give him half of our gold just to leave us alone.”

“Well, aren’t you the most elite guard?” asked Starburst. “Why don’t you fight him?”

“I do,” insisted Turquoise/White Knight. “Whenever he gets too close I use this.” Turquoise/White Knight stopped and pressed a button on his gauntlet. A large powderpuff connected to a type of lever came out from his bulky armor and gently patted Starburst on her nose. Starburst spitted out a few furs that got on her tongue as the powderpuff extended back into Turquoise/White Knight’s armor. “One time the Jabberwocky got really berserk,” Turquoise/White Knight continued “so I used my secret weapon.” He tapped the button on his gauntlet again and a flag popped up from behind his back. The flag read “I GIVE UP”. “You mean you just surrender?” said an incredulous Starburst.

“Now, how did my secret get out?” said Turquoise/White Knight with a scowl.

“No wonder this Jabberwocky keeps taking all of your gold,” said Starburst scornfully. “You won’t even fight him.”

“I know,” said Turquoise/White Knight sadly. “The only reason The Queen of Hearts made me her elite guard was because of a compromise we made.”

“A compromise?” said Starburst tilting her head.

“You see, I’m her little brother,” explained Turquoise/White Knight. “I was my parents’ favorite because I was always taller than my sister which made her jealous. My parents actually made me first in line to the throne because they thought my kindness and level-headed nature would make me a great king. My sister was outraged because since she was the oldest she had a right to be first in line to the throne. After a long discussion we eventually agreed that she would be queen while I get no royal title.”

“That’s horrible!” said Starburst sympathetically. “You’re a prince so you have a title too.”

“The Queen of Hearts thought me being a prince would threaten her rule,” explained Turquoise/White Knight. “When the Jabberwocky started appearing she made me her White Knight just like that. The powderpuff and my secret weapon was all her idea.”

“Well, if you don’t wanna be a Knight why don’t you resign or something?”

“I’m one of the few members of the kingdom who could keep her in check. If you step out of line with her, off goes your head. None of the subjects have the courage to stand up to The Queen of Hearts and they look up to me to be their mouthpiece. I feel like I owe it to them, you know.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Starburst sadly. She then leaned up against a tree and started to bang her head slightly. “Why do I always have to be such a jerk?” she said with knock of her head.

“Is something wrong?” asked Turquoise/White Knight out of concern.

“I didn’t mean to imply that you’re weak,” said Starburst turning to him. “I always have this habit of putting my hoof in my mouth. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty small for my age. Everyone sees me and they assume that I’m helpless and weak and they go the extra mile trying to cuddle me. I always feel I have to prove that I’m not helpless but in the process I always say and do the wrong things at the wrong time. My mom always tries to give me good advice but half of the time I don’t listen to her.”

Starburst took a seat on a large rock and let out a huff. Turquoise/White Knight trotted over her and sat right next her. “You know, if creatures wanna help you, you shouldn’t feel like they’re patronizing you,” he said.

“I know,” Starburst said with a sigh. “I can’t seem to help it. I’m trying to get into the Royal Guard but I often pass out whenever I train too hard. My parents and all of her friends tell me that I shouldn’t train for the Guard because I’m small. My mom flat-out said the fact that I pass out simply working out is a good enough reason why I shouldn’t be a Royal Guard.”

“You know your mom only says that to protect you, right?” said Turquoise/White Knight.

“I guess,” said Starburst shrugging her shoulders.

“If you wanna be in the Royal Guard you’ll have to work with your fellow guards,” Turquoise/White Knight continued. “Protecting a kingdom is a team effort. Something you can’t do on your own. There’s no shame if someone wants to have your back.”

“Yeah, you’re absolutely right,” said Starburst nodding your head. “What about you? You can’t be an effective knight if you don’t have the right weapons.”

“The Queen of Hearts won’t give me the weapons I need,” said Turquoise/White Knight sadly. “She finds some sick enjoyment seeing me fall flat on my face whenever the Kingdom faces a threat.”

“Then it’s time you start growing a backbone,” said Starburst furrowing her eyebrows. “Tell her if she doesn’t give you the right weapons, then you and the rest of the guards will step down. Try forming some sort of alliance with a few guards who are just as sick as you of the Queen’s crap because there’s power in numbers like you said.”

“You don’t think we tried that before?” said Turquoise/White Knight with a scowl. “The Queen of Hearts ordered our executions the last time we stood up to her. The only reason we didn’t lose our heads is because The King of Hearts pardoned us behind her back.”

Starburst jumped slightly at Turquoise/White Knight’s last sentence. “There’s a King of Hearts?” said the princess with wide eyes.

“Of course,” said Turquoise/White Knight. “Behind every queen there’s her husband, the King. The King of Hearts is a saint compared to the Queen. Most of the times whenever The Queen of Hearts orders policies that most of the Kingdom might suffer from, The King of Hearts discreetly order those policies null and void.”

Starburst began to ponder on Turquoise/White Knight’s words. She thought her best chance of getting out of that crazy world would not be through the Queen of Hearts but through her husband. “Tell you what,” Starburst began. “When you get back to the Kingdom, see how many guards who you can form alliance with because if you ask me, The King of Hearts would be a better ruler than this Queen of Hearts.”

“We should overthrow the Queen?” said Turquoise/White Knight with an expression of shock.

“Hey, far be it from me to tell anyone to commit treason,” said Starburst assuredly. “But as long as the Queen of Hearts is on the throne you all will never have a chance against the Jabberwocky.

“Yeah,” said Turquoise/White Knight nodding his head. “You’re right.” He then stood up from the rock, puffed out his chest and spread his mighty wings. “The Jabberwocky has pushed us around too long, Your Majesty,” Turquoise/White Knight said to no one in particular. “Give us the means we need to do our job or kiss the throne goodbye!”

“Yeah!” said Starburst pumping her hoof. “But make sure you throw her in the dungeon or banish her because if you execute her you’re no better than she is.”

“Got it,” said Turquoise/White Knight with a smile. “And remember, don’t feel like you’re being patronized because everyone around you tries to help you. Everyone needs friends, parents, relatives or even teachers in their lives because one pony can’t do everything on their own.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Starburst giving a broad smile.

“Since you gave me such good advice,” began Turquoise/White Knight “I think it’s only fair that I tell you how to find your way back home.”

“You’d do that for me?” said Starburst enthusiastically.

“Of course,” assured Turquoise/White Knight. “I am The White Knight after all.”

“So, where do I go?”

“There’s a tree with pink flowers. In the tree’s trunk there’s a door. Open the door and you’ll find your way back.”

With those words Turquoise/White Knight put on back his helmet and spread his massive wings. “Hope you find your way back home, little filly,” he said with his voice slightly muffled by his helmet. “I’m off to form an alliance against the Queen.” Starburst opened her mouth to ask a question. But before she had a chance Turquoise/White Knight flew off into the forest at high speed. “Hey, wait!” Starburst called out trying to fly after him. “Where do I find this tree?” Starburst flew all throughout the forest but she found no sign of Turquoise/White Knight. The young princess then landed on the forest floor and let out a sad sigh. “He gave me a hint,” Starburst thought out loud. “Now I have to follow through on his advice.” Starburst began trotting slowly through the forest looking for any sign of the tree with flowers. After what seemed like thirty minutes Starburst’s eyes fell upon a tree in a small clearing. She flew over to the tree and looked at the tree up and down. She saw that the tree had pink flowers like Turquoise/White Knight said. “If these flowers talk, I’m gonna freak out,” Starburst thought out loud. She examined the tree further and sure enough she discovered that it had a door. She twisted against the doorknob and much to her relief it was not locked. She then cracked the door open and slowly walked in closing the door behind her.

CHAPTER 13

Starburst sat in a massive courtroom within the castle with her hooves and wings shackled with thick, heavy chains. Among the spectators were the dukes and duchesses while the royal guard ponies/playing cards stood at attention all along the corners of the hall. Starburst looked around nervously and hopelessly until her eyes fell upon the jury box. To her surprise the jury was mostly made up of the animals she encountered when she first entered the strange world. Among the jury were the two hoofcolts that looked like Echo and Pixel Bit. To Starburst’s surprise she also recognized Bill the Lizard who bore a strong resemblance to Hot Head, Anthea’s friend at the orphanage. From Starburst’s understanding, Bill/Hothead was to serve as the jury forestallion, or in this case the forelizard. Her eyes met Bill/Hot Head’s eyes and he looked at her with utter contempt. Starburst looked back at Bill/Hot Head nervously and wondered if he was still angry at her for kicking him out of the chimney when she was abnormally big and for punching him in the eye when she shrunk abnormally small. Starburst’s eyes then fell upon Nightlight/Rabbit. She found out that the purple rabbit would serve as “Head Bailiff” and his responsibility was to ensure the security within the court. Starburst momentarily wondered how Nightlight/Rabbit could possibly ensure security when she did not know him to be the combative type. Starburst then quickly reminded herself that it was not the real Nightlight. She then looked over to her right and at the desk there was a female griffon with white feathers, light grey fur and wearing a type of business suit and a creature who they called “The Mock Turtle”. Starburst recognized the griffon. The female griffon’s name was Genevieve. Genevieve’s father was Gallus, a griffon and a former student at Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship and her mother was Gabby, a griffon who was friends with Spike, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. The Mock Turtle, to Starburst’s surprise, was not a turtle at all. Instead, he was a male dragon whom Starburst was familiar with. The young dragon who had a turtle’s shell and who was also wearing a business suit was Soot. Soot was a former resident of Princess Ember’s Dragon Kingdom who now resided in Canterlot. Despite the thuggish sounding name, Soot was rather sophisticated and dignified in how he carried about himself. From what Starburst heard, Genevieve and Soot/Mock Turtle were to serve as prosecutors for this crazy trial. Starburst then looked around and realized that she was seated at an empty table. “All rise!” announced Nightlight/Rabbit. At those words all the spectators, the prosecutors and jurors rose from their seats. However, Starburst remained in her seat partly because her shackles were quite heavy. At the corner her eye she saw a royal guard/playing card march towards her. She turned towards him and sunk in her chair when she saw the stern expression he had. “You’re supposed to rise, peasant!” he said through gritted teeth.

“Peasant?” said Starburst giving him a stern look. “I’m a princess!”

“A princess?” said the royal guard/playing card with a skeptical expression. “Never heard of you. Rise!”

The royal guard/playing poked Starburst slightly in the shoulder with his heart-shaped spear. Starburst flinched and glared at him. She then slowly rose from her chair straining with her shackles. Just then The Queen of Hearts/Claire slowly trotted in being flanked by a handful of guards on all sides. She wore a long black robe that was usually worn by judges. Behind her was The King of Hearts/Fletcher still wearing his royal garments. The Queen of Hearts/Claire then took her seat in an elevated chair at an elevated desk. “Presenting the presiding judge, The Most Honorable, Her Majesty, Her Excellency, Her Most Royal Highness, The Queen of Hearts!” announced Nightlight/Rabbit. The King of Hearts/Fletcher then tapped Nightlight/Rabbit on the shoulder. Nightlight/Rabbit then gave an exasperated look. “And The King,” he deadpanned.

After The Queen of Hearts/Claire took her seat all the spectators took their seats. “Are all sides ready?” asked The Queen of Hearts/Claire sternly.

“The prosecution is ready, Your Highness,” replied Genevieve.

“Great,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire with a wicked grin. “Now, it’s time for the sentence.”

“Wait!” protested Starburst as she sprang to her hooves. “Shouldn’t we have the trial first?”

“SENTENCE FIRST!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“But you have to have the trial and then let the jury deliberate for a verdict first,” said Starburst as she struggled to stay on her hooves with her shackles.

“SENTENCE FIRST!” screamed The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she pounded her front hooves on her desk.

“But I don’t even know what I’m being put on trial for!” protested Starburst. “You can’t just sentence me! That’s not the way it works!”

“IN THIS KINGDOM ALL WAYS ARE…!” began The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Your ways,” interrupted Starburst in a tone that was equally nervous and defeated. “Yes, Your Majesty.” Slowly Starburst sunk in her chair, her heart racing a mile a minute over an inevitable sentence. The Queen of Hearts/Claire let out an evil chuckle. “The condemned is hereby sentenced to death!” she announced. A look of absolute horror appeared on Starburst’s face. “Now,” began The Queen of Hearts/Claire “OFF WITH HER…!”

“Please consider, Dear,” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher cutting her off. “We haven’t heard both sides plead their cases yet. Let them present their cases and call their witnesses.”

“Fine!” groaned The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“That’s a dear,” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher with a smile. He then kissed The Queen of Hearts/Claire on her forehead which elicited a smile from her. As much as Starburst was thankful that The King of Hearts/Fletcher bought her more time she was sorely tempted to fly towards The Queen of Hearts/Claire and pound her face in for getting too cuddly with her coltfriend even though it was not real Fletcher. The only thing that was preventing Starburst from committing aggravated assault was her shackles. “The prosecution will now present their opening statements!” announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Genevieve. The female griffon stood in the midst of the court while glaring at Starburst. “Your Highness, distinguished guests, members of the jury,” began Genevieve. “The case we present today will plainly show that the defendant seated before you maliciously and with forethought enticed our beloved queen into a game of croquet.”

“I didn’t entice her,” protested Starburst. “She was the one who asked me to play!”

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she pounded a gavel.

“The defendant then began to engage in teasing, tormenting and annoying Her Royal Highness,” continued Genevieve. “But that’s not the worst of the defendant’s crimes. The defendant proceeded to assault our beloved queen thus causing Her Highness to lose her temper!”

“It wasn’t me!” said Starburst cutting off Genevieve. “I swear!”

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” demanded The Queen of Hearts as she pounded her gavel. She then glared at Starburst. “I’m warning you, little filly!” The Queen of Hearts/Claire said. “YOU’RE A HAIR’S BREADTH AWAY FROM LOSING YOUR HEAD!”

“I’m not a little filly!” said Starburst glaring at The Queen of Heart/Claire. “I’M SEVENTEEN, FOR CELESTIA’S SAKE!”

“THAT’S IT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “OFF WITH HER…!”

“Calm down, Dear,” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher cutting her off. “The prosecution hasn’t presented their case yet. Let them convince the jury and you can prove that the death penalty is warranted.”

The Queen of Hearts/Claire did not say a word. All she did was huff and lean against her desk. The Royal Guard/playing guard then stomped towards Starburst giving her a deathly glare. “I’d keep that trap of yours shut if I were you, little filly!” he said sternly as he pointed his spear at Starburst’s neck. A trickle of sweat then ran down the young pegsus’s head and she swallowed hard. Genevieve then cleared her throat loudly. “If the defendant’s gnarly scar is anything to go by,” she continued as she pointed at Starburst while walking over to the jury box “You will all see that she’s nothing but an out-of-control juvenile delinquent bent on being a menace to our kingdom!” The young griffon’s words made Starburst tremble with anger. She tried so hard to convince herself that it was not the real Genevieve, but Starburst looked at her with rage and betrayal over having her name dragged through the mud. “Splendid opening statements,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire with a smile. “The prosecution may now summon their first witness.”

“The prosecution summons The Dodo to the stand, Your Highness,” announced The Mock Turtle/Soot.

“The Dodo?” Starburst said to herself with a look of surprise. The twin doors of the court opened behind the spectators revealing the purple Dodo bird that bore a strong physical resemblance to Anthea’s friend Lucky Star. He confidently walked towards the witness bench and took his seat while Starburst looked on with a hanging jaw. “Witness, state your name and occupation for the record,” said The Mock Turtle/Soot.

“I’m just the Dodo,” said Dodo/Lucky Star nonchalantly. “I don’t really have an occupation by the queen’s orders because according to her I’m extinct so no one will ever acknowledge me.”

“That’s pretty harsh,” Starburst thought silently.

“Do you recognize the defendant seated before you?” said The Mock Turtle/Soot pointing to Starburst.

“Yup,” said Dodo/Lucky Star with a beaming expression. He then began waving at Starburst. “Nice to see you again, little filly,” said Dodo/Lucky Star. “Did you find your little brother?” Instead of returning the gesture Starburst simply glared at Dodo/Lucky Star. “You seem to be quite familiar with her, witness,” said The Mock Turtle/Soot with a cocked eye. “When did you first meet her?”

“At the beach where me and my friends were trying to dry off,” explained Dodo/Lucky Star.

“How would you describe the defendant’s demeanor?” asked The Mock Turtle/Soot.

“She seemed rather frantic and panicky if not annoyed for some reason,” said Dodo/Lucky Star with a shrug. “At first, she started calling me Lucky Star. It sounded like a compliment like she thought I was super lucky or something. After that she started asking me if I’ve seen her brother. Nightlight, was it?”

“Interesting,” said The Mock Turtle/Soot nodding slowly. “Did she give any kind of description of this “Nightlight”?”

“She said that he was a purple rabbit?” said Dodo/Lucky Star looking upwards.

“Sounds to me that the defendant is describing him,” said The Mock Turtle/Soot pointing Nightlight/Rabbit.

“Now that I’ve seen him up close,” began Dodo/Lucky Star “she might have been talking about him. Why would she think he’s her brother though?”

“I see,” said The Mock Turtle/Soot with a sly smile. “No further questions, Your Majesty.”

“Witness, you may leave the stand,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Dodo/Lucky Star. He then vacated his seat and walked down the aisle. “Trust me, little filly,” Dodo/Lucky Star called out to Starburst “The Queen could get someone to help you. Not that I think you’re crazy.” With those words the strange bird version of Lucky Star exited through the doors.

“Will that be all?” asked The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she glared at the members of the prosecution.

“The prosecution now summons The Duchess, Your Majesty,” announced Genevieve.

Starburst’s eyes widened at the announcement. She looked at the massive twin doors as they opened revealing Crème de la Crème who was referred to as The Duchess. As The Duchess/Crème made her way to the witness box she levitated a mirror and a few other makeup utensils with her unicorn magic. When she took her seat, she was still busy looking in the mirror as she sorted out her mane and whatever she deemed out of place. “Witness, state your name and occupation for the record,” said Genevieve.

“You may simply call me The Duchess,” said The Duchess/Crème not looking at Genevieve. Instead, Duchess/Crème was still focused on her mirror.

“Are you familiar with the defendant?” said Genevieve pointing to Starburst.

The Duchess/Crème looked away from her mirror and focused on Starburst. She gave her a blank stare for a few moments while Starburst gave The Duchess/Crème a look of nervousness. The Duchess/Crème then looked back into her mirror. “Yes, she barged into my home babbling some nonsense calling me “Crème”,” she said not looking at Genevieve.

“She barged into your home, you say,” said Genevieve. She then threw a stern look at Starburst who sunk into her seat. “She wouldn’t happen to take anything of value, would she?” said Genevieve still staring Starburst down.

“As a matter of fact, she did!” said The Duchess/Crème looking up at Genevieve. The Duchess/Crème then turned sharply to Starburst staring daggers at the young princess. “She foalnapped my foal!” said The Duchess/Crème pointing a stern hoof at Starburst. “I went to get ready to see The Queen and I couldn’t find my loving daughter for half of the day!”

“I didn’t foalnapped her foal!” protested Starburst. She then shook her head when she caught herself. “I mean, I didn’t foalnapped anyone!” said Starburst desperately. “She threw the foal at me and told me to take care of her! Then she started singing about beating that foal!” Starburst then looked towards the jury box. To her surprise she saw Whirlwind among the jurors. “She was there!” said Starburst gesturing to Whirlwind. “She was throwing plates and stuff making the place dangerous!” Whirlwind stared at Starburst as if the young princess was beyond insane.

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she banged her gavel.

“I see,” said Genevieve glaring at Starburst. “No further questions, Your Majesty.”

“Witness, you may leave the stand,” The Queen of Hearts/Claire calmly and sweetly. The Duchess/Crème gracefully left her seat and started to make her way down the aisle keeping her eyes glued to her mirror. Starburst looked at The Duchess/Crème with absolute rage when the squeals of a piglet reverberated in the court. Starburst perked up and turned towards the doors. To her surprise the piglet version of Api Apple rushed through the doors and galloped towards The Duchess/Crème. “See?” said Starburst jumping to her hooves pointing at the piglet version of Api. “I didn’t foalnap her. She’s right there! In fact, she ran away from me!”

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” thundered The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she glared at Starburst and banged her gavel. The Duchess/Crème levitated the little piglet and gently laid her upon her back as she started to make her way to the door. As Starburst looked on the piglet transformed back into a white, brown spotted earth pony filly which bore a strong resemblance to Api. The foal version of Api turned to Starburst, pointed a little hoof at her and started giggling uncontrollably. Baby Api’s giggles echoed throughout the courtroom as she and The Duchess/Crème finally exited through the large doors. Starburst looked on trembling with rage. “And to think that I risked my neck trying to save her,” she thought silently.

“Your Majesty,” Genevieve began “in light of the new revelations, the prosecution recommends that along with the other charges levelled against her, the defendant also be charged with foalnapping.”

“Splendid recommendation,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “The defendant is hereby given an additional charge: foanlnapping in the first degree.” Starburst’s eyes widened and her heart was beating out of her chest. “Now it’s time for the jury to deliberate,” announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“No, wait!” protested Starburst as she sprang to her hooves. “You can’t do this! This is not the way you conduct a court!”

“IN THIS KINGDOM ALL WAYS ARE…!” began The Queen of Hearts/Claire in a thunderous voice.

“NO!” screamed Starburst cutting off The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “The jury can’t deliberate! You didn’t even give me a chance to prove my innocence! I don’t even have a lawyer!”

“GUARDS, RESTRAIN THE DEFENDANT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire. At those words five guards/playing cards started marching towards Starburst, one of them armed with what appeared to be a type of gag made from fabric. “I’m already restrained with these stupid chains!” said Starburst as she started to shift sideways the closer the guards/playing cards came towards her. “I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LEGAL REPRESENTATION!” the young pegasus screamed.

“Please consider, my dear,” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher as he turned to The Queen of Hearts/Claire “legally speaking, the defendant does have a right to plead her case. We should give her a chance to explain herself and that includes appointing a lawyer for her.” The Queen of Hearts/Claire stared daggers at The King of Hearts/Fletcher and growled. She then held up a hoof and the guards/playing cards stopped a few inches away from Starburst. “The defendant is hereby appointed an attorney free of charge,” announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire in a defeated tone. The guards/playing guards started to back away from Starburst and the young Pegasus let out a huge sigh of relief. She momentarily began to wonder if the iteration of Fletcher was as fake as she was initially led to believe.

Her ears then picked up the cracking of the large wooden doors and she turned over to area seeing the doors swing wide open revealing someone that made her eyes go wide. Trotting into the court was a young unicorn mare with a white coat, a short mane made of light and dark blue hair and dressed in a business suit. A huge smile came across Starburst’s face when the familiar looking unicorn mare took her seat next to her. This unicorn mare, at first glance, was none other than Dove. Dove was the daughter of travelling magician Trixie Lulamoon who called herself “The Great and Powerful Trixie”. Before Dove was born Trixie took up residence in Prance where she met Dove’s father, a Prench pegasus. When Dove was born Trixie and Dove’s father would be married for the next sixteen years and Trixie picked up the Prench language. It was also during this time when Dove started to have trouble developing her unicorn skills, oftentimes accidentally hurling objects like projectiles and in some cases accidentally setting fires to areas of the house. Dove started to resent her unicorn heritage and would often run into the nearby forest where she would ram her horn into a tree until it broke. When Dove was sixteen the marriage between her father and Trixie fell apart and they would eventually divorce a year later. Trixie took Dove back to Ponyville and she got reacquainted with an old friend Starlight Glimmer, the headmare of Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship. Both Starlight Glimmer and Princess Twilight became aware of Dove’s issues with her unicorn magic and tried to help her to develop her abilities the best way possible. For a while Dove slowly began to master her unicorn magic soon developing her love of doing magic tricks just like her mother. Dove established her own title: “Dove the Extraordinary”. As “Dove the Extraordinary” Dove began doing her own magic shows infusing actual doves in her acts. During her lessons with Princess Twilight, Dove and Starburst became close friends with both referring to each other as the sister they each never had. Starburst made it easy for Dove to pick up the Ponish language while Dove made it easy for Starburst to pick up Prench. All their friendly conversations would be a mixture of both Prench and Ponish.

Dove gracefully took her seat next to Starburst and turned to the young pegasus. “Good morning, little filly,” said Dove in her adorable Prench accent.

“DOVE!” exclaimed Starburst. She wanted to throw her hooves around Dove, but her shackles made it impossible. “C'est si bon de vous revoir! (It’s so good to see you again!)” said Starburst in Prench.

“I’m sorry,” said Dove with a confused expression. “What in the world are you saying?”

Starburst’s heart sank. She soon reminded herself that she was in the wrong world. “Oh, sorry,” said Starburst sadly. “You just remind me of someone I know.”

“Anyway,” began Dove after clearing her throat. “The court has appointed me to be your attorney.”

“How long have you been a defense attorney?” asked Starburst.

“Only last night!” replied Dove/Defense Attorney in an excited manner that Starburst found reminiscent of Pinkie Pie. “Passed the bar with flying colors!”

Starburst looked at the young unicorn mare with absolute horror. She then momentarily thought that perhaps The Queen of Hearts/Claire rigged this situation in a way that would make it easier for Starburst to get a conviction. “You mean to tell me you’ve never defended anyone before?” said Starburst incredulously. “How are you so sure that you’re gonna get me off?”

“Well, if I wasn’t ready surely law school would’ve said so,” said Dove seemingly unaware of the shocked expression on the young pegasus’s face. “Now, to have any chance of getting an acquittal, you must summarize your whereabouts on the day in question. I doubt that Her Highness will give us enough time to build a case, so to the best of your ability try to sum up all the day’s events as short and sweet as you can.”

Starburst let out a heavy, exasperated sigh. Surely, she did not want to go over all the madness she had been through. “Well, first I fell down a rabbit hole trying to follow him,” explained Starburst gesturing to the Rabbit/Nightlight.

“I see,” said Dove/Defense Attorney nodding her head and looking at Starburst as if the young pegasus was strange.

“After that I came across a group of idiots calling themselves Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum,” continued Starburst. “That rabbit then dragged me into his house to look for his gloves or whatever and that’s where I drank some water, and I grew freakishly big. I was able to shrink down to a tiny size after a group of animals started throwing cake at me. I got lost in some grass where I came across some talking flowers and I was able to get back to my normal size after eating some mushrooms. I went into a house where the Duchess lived but she was treating her foal really horrible and started singing about beating her foal. The Duchess threw the foal at me and that foal turned into a pig. I lost the pig and met this talking cat who sent me to a house where the Mad Hatter and the March Hare lives. And then after that I met this stallion called the White Knight who told me how to find this place. And that’s how I ended up here.”

“Okay,” said Dove/Defense Attorney continuing to nod her head while displaying a worried expression.

“Does the defense council wish to make an opening statement?” snapped The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “Or do they wish to carry on idle chatter with that brat of a filly?”

Starburst turned sharply to The Queen of Hearts/Claire giving the queen a deathly glare. “I do wish to make an opening statement, Your Highness,” said Dove/Defense Attorney. Dove/Defense Attorney then rose from her seat, trotted to the front of the court and cleared her throat. “Your Highnesses, distinguished guests, members of the jury,” she began. “You’ve brought my client in this trial as one who has absolutely no regard for the law or those in authority. But I plan to show you that she doesn’t deserve to be treated as a common criminal.”

“Thank you very much,” Starburst thought silently after letting out a relieved sigh.

“In my short conversation with my client it’s very clear to me that she’s not all there mentally,” continued Dove/Defense Attorney.

“WHAT!?!” screamed a baffled Starburst jumping to her hooves. The Royal Guards/Playing Cards then rushed to her side pointing their spears at her.

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” shouted The Queen of Hearts/Claire banging her gavel.

“The case I intend to present today will plainly show the court that my client should be referred to the most highly skilled psychiatrists and psychologists that our kingdom has to offer,” Dove/Defense Attorney continued further. “If anything, she should at least be given probation. My client is rather young. Fillies her age tend to get into situations that cause unintended consequences for those around them. We should all be understanding. You know how we were when we were preteens.”

“That’s your case?” said Starburst glaring at her defense attorney. “And I’m not a preteen! I’M SEVENTEEN!”

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire as she banged her gavel. “The defense council will control their client, or I will!”

Dove/Defense Attorney rushed to Starburst and started glaring at her. “Calm down!” scolded Dove/Defense Attorney. “Do you want to ruin our case?”

“You call that a case?” said Starburst through gritted teeth. “Basically, telling everyone that I’m crazy?”

“Not crazy,” assured Dove/Defense Attorney putting up her hoof. “The technical term is legally insane.”

“THAT’S THE SAME THING!” screamed an incredulous Starburst.

“Look,” began Dove/Defense Attorney giving her client a stern look “if I could convince Her Majesty that you didn’t mean for her to lose her temper because you had a momentary mental lapse, she and the prosecution wouldn’t have anything against you. The jury would declare that you didn’t know right from wrong and from there you could stay at one of our mental hospitals with your head still intact.”

Starburst began to stutter. It was just too much for the young pegasus. She then became lost in thought. Slowly she started to consider Dove/Defense Attorney’s case eventually concluding that perhaps an insanity defense could help her escape the death penalty. “These creatures are already so dumb,” she thought silently while nodding her head. “If I do get sent to the loony bin I could bust out and find my way back home. I hope Mom and the others aren’t starting to get worried about me.”

“Does the defense wish to bring forth any witnesses?” barked an impatient Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“I do, Your Majesty,” replied Dove/Defense Attorney calmly. She then rose to her hooves and puffed out her chest. “The defense calls the March Hare to the stand,” announced Dove/Defense Attorney. Starburst’s eyes widened at Dove/Defense Attorney’s announcement. At that very moment the large wooden doors to the court cracked open revealing The March Hare/Sugar Rush. She hopped towards the witness box and took her seat. As she took her seat, she reached into her coat and pulled out a tea pot and cup. She poured herself some tea and casually took a sip. “Witness, please state your name and occupation for the record,” said Dove/Defense Attorney.

“The March Hare, party organizing extraordinaire,” said an excited March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“Kinda like Mrs. Pinkie Pie,” Starburst thought silently.

“Could you explain to the court your whereabouts for the day?” asked Dove/Defense Attorney.

“Just home with The Mad Hatter and Door Mouse enjoying tea,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“And what do you know about the crime that my client is being accused of?” said Dove/Defense Attorney moving closer to The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“Nothing whatsoever,” said The March Hare/Defense Attorney casually.

“Nothing whatsoever?” repeated Dove/Defense Attorney with astonishment.

“NOTHING WHATSOVER!” The March Hare/Sugar Rush shouted.

“That’s the most important information!” said a beaming Dove/Defense Attorney turning to the court.

“That is the most important information!” said an astonished Queen of Hearts/Claire. She then turned to the stenographer. “WRITE THAT DOWN!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire. At that the stenographer quickly started typing away.

“No further questions, Your Majesty,” announced Dove/Defense Attorney. She then took her seat as Starburst gave her a baffled look. “She didn’t help our case!” said Starburst glaring Dove/Defense Attorney.

“Just sit back and let me work my magic,” assured Dove/Defense Attorney.

“The Dove I know is a much better magician than you!” Starburst thought silently.

“THE PROSECUTION WILL BEGAN THEIR CROSS-EXAMINATION!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Scream louder, will you?” thought Starburst as she glared at The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “I wanna see you lose your voice!”

The Mock Turtle/Soot walked towards the witness box as The March Hare/Sugar Rush continued to casually sip tea. “Witness,” began The Mock Turtle/Soot “you say you have no knowledge of the crimes that the defendant’s being charged with. But you are familiar with the defendant, correct?”

“I am,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“How exactly did you meet the defendant?” continued The Mock Turtle/Soot. “Did you invite her to your house? Did you meet her on the streets, or did she just enter your house without permission?”

“I could remember her trotting into our yard,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush as she stopped sipping her tea and looked up to the ceiling.

“Wouldn’t you agree that a random stranger simply trotting onto another stranger’s property is unbecoming of someone if they really respected boundaries?”

“Maybe,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush with a shrug.

“So, you do agree that barging into someone’s premises without permission is unlawful?”

“At least she didn’t steal anything.”

“Be that as it may, you are aware that entering a house that isn’t yours is against the law, right?”

“Of course I know entering someone’s house without permission is against the law,” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush giving The Mock Turtle/Soot an incredulous look. “I’m not a filly, you know.”

“Yes, you are!” Starburst mentally screamed. The Mock Turtle/Soot let out a mischievous chuckle. “Nothing further, Your Majesty,” he announced.

“Witness, you may leave the stand,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire. At those words The March Hare/Sugar Rush placed her teacup and tray upon the witness box and exited the witness box making her way out of the court.

The moment The March Hare/Sugar Rush exited the courtroom Genevieve marched towards the front. “Your Majesty,” she began “in light of new revelations, the prosecution recommends that along with the other charges that the defendant also be charged with breaking and entering.”

“And I completely agree,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire looking at Genevieve with a mischievous grin.

“WHAT!?!” shouted a baffled Starburst.

“THE DEFENDANT IS HEREBY CHARGED WITH BREAKING AND ENTERING!” announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” screamed Starburst as she struggled to her feet.

“ORDER IN COURT!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire pounding her gavel. “The defense council will control the witness or it’s OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!”

A look of horror appeared on Dove/Defense Attorney’s face. She then put both front hooves on Starburst’s shoulders and yanked her down on her seat. “See what you’ve done?” said Dove/Defense Attorney glaring at Starburst. “Now my head is on the line! Calm yourself down, for crying out loud!” Starburst could only respond with a growl. “Does the defense have further witnesses?” demanded The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“I do, Your Majesty,” said Dove/Defense Attorney. The unicorn mare walked to the front of the court with a look of confidence. “The defense calls The Door Mouse to the stand,” announced Dove/Defense Attorney. Starburst’s eyes went wide, and she struggled to her hooves. She then opened her mouth to protest but before she could get a word out, Dove/Defense Attorney shot a glare at her. Starburst closed her mouth and slowly sank to her chair. As much as she wanted to state that Dove/Defense Attorney’s choice of witness would absolutely sink what case they had, Starburst did not want Dove/Defense Attorney’s head to be on the chopping block. The courtroom doors opened revealing The March Hare/Sugar Rush once again. This time she was hopping on her hind legs carrying a large teapot. Once she arrived at the witness box, she carefully laid the teapot on the chair. Dove/Defense Attorney then trotted over to the witness box and cleared her throat. “Witness,” she began “state your…”

“SHHH!” went The March Hare/Sugar Rush putting an index paw to her mouth.

“Oh!” said Dove/Defense Attorney catching herself. She cleared her throat once again. “Witness,” she repeated in a whisper “state your name and occupation for the record.” To everyone’s surprise all the unicorn mare got in response was soft snoring.

“Is the witness sleeping?” inquired a confused Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“SHHH!” went Dove/Defense Attorney and The March Hare/Sugar Rush glaring at The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Sorry,” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire with a sheepish look.

“Witness, what do you know about the crimes my client has been charged with?” continued Dove/Defense Attorney softly.

“Twinkle, twinkle, little bat,” slurred the Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies as she slowly rose from the teapot with sleepy eyes. “How I wonder where you’re at. Up above the skies you fly. Like an alicorn in the sky.” With those last words Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies slowly sank back into the teapot and began snoring. “That’s the most important piece of evidence the court has heard today,” said a beaming Dove/Defense Attorney.

“That is the most important piece of evidence the court has heard today,” said an astonished Queen of Hearts/Claire. She then turned to the stenographer with a glare. “WRITE THAT DOWN!” she demanded. At that the stenographer hastily started typing. “The prosecution will begin their cross-examination,” announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Your Majesty,” began Genevieve “in light of the current situation, the prosecution has decided that we cannot properly conduct a cross-examination if the witness is in no condition to answer our questions.”

Starburst’s eyes went wide at that announcement. A tiny sense of relief washed over her at that exact moment. “Well then,” began a baffled Queen of Hearts/Claire “The witness may leave the stand.” At those words The March Hare/Sugar Rush gently took the teapot containing the sleeping Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies and made her way among the spectators. Dove/Defense Attorney then trotted over to her. “See?” she began with a smile. “Just put your faith in me and the prosecution and Queen will have nothing against you.”

“Maybe, just maybe I owe her an apology,” Starburst thought silently.

“Any other witnesses?” asked The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” replied Dove/Defense Attorney. She once again made her way to the front of the courtroom. “The defense calls The Mad Hatter to the stand,” announced Dove/Defense Attorney. As she made her way back to her seat Starburst stared at her with wide eyes. “Do you know them or something?” asked Starburst.

“Of course!” said an excited Dove/Defense Attorney. “I visit The Mad Hatter, The March Hare and Door Mouse every weekend. They throw the best parties.”

“How in the hay is that supposed to help our case?” demanded an incredulous Starburst.

“Just sit back and watch,” assured Dove/Defense Attorney.

““Sit back and watch” she says,” grumbled Starburst.

The doors to the court opened and in stepped The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. She hopped as she made her way to the witness stand in a manner Starburst also found reminiscent of Mrs. Pinkie Pie. As The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy took her seat Dove/Defense Attorney trotted to the witness stand and cleared her throat. “Witness, please state your name and occupation,”

“The Mad Hatter, Party Extraordinaire and Tea Aficionado!” said an excited Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“A lot like The March Hare,” said Dove/Defense Attorney with a giggle. “Have you witnessed this alleged crime my client is accused of?”

“Of course not,” replied The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. She then reached into her big top hat and pulled out a tea pot and teacup. To Starburst’s astonishment The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy sprayed the teapot like a spay gun spraying tea into the teacup. The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy then sipped from her teacup. “I was getting ready to visit The Queen,” she continued. “Before that I was celebrating my Un-Birthday.” Her eyes then went wide as she let out a huge gasp. “That reminds me,” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy with a broad smile gesturing to the spectators “today is everyone’s Un-Birthday!”

“Really?” said an excited Dove/Defence Attorney. “Then that means today’s also my Un-Birthday!”

“It is!” replied a beaming Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

“That means today’s also your Un-Birthday, my dear!” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher turning to The Queen of Hearts/Claire with a wide smile.

“It is?” said an ecstatic Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“It is!” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and March Hare/Sugar Rush in unison.

The spectators and royal guards let out a mighty cheer and out of nowhere confetti started to rain all over the courtroom. “Oh no!” groaned an exasperated Starburst. “Somepony chop off my head already.” The Queen of Hearts/Claire dismounted from her desk and took a seat at the prosecution’s desk as The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush wheeled in a massive, triple layer cake laden with icing and multiple birthday candles. The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush then laid the cake in front of an excited Queen of Hearts/Claire. “Now, blow the candles out, Your Majesty!” urged a beaming Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. Without hesitation The Queen of Hearts/Claire blew the candles out in one blow and the birthday cake exploded like a firecracker. When the smoke cleared, lying before The Queen of Hearts/Claire was a large gift box complete with a large bow. She tore off the wrapping and removed the lid. The Queen of Hearts/Claire let out a huge gasp when she discovered the gift box’s contents. Using her magic, she levitated a large, luxurious hat from out of the gift box. “What I’ve always wanted!” exclaimed The Queen of Hearts/Claire with a huge smile. She removed her crown and placed her birthday gift on top of her head. She then trotted to the front of the court with her hat and struck a pose. Once again, the entire courtroom cheered. Starburst meanwhile just shook her head in disgust. As Starburst looked on, she noticed that The Queen of Heart/Claire’s hat was starting to change shape. To Starburst’s surprise the hat completely transformed into the feline version of Anthea. The Cheshire Cat/Anthea then turned to Starburst, gave a warm smile and waved a paw. “Look, it’s The Cheshire Cat!” exclaimed Starburst pointing with her shackled hoof. “She’s right on top of your head!”

A look of horror appeared on The Queen of Heart/Claire’s face. “A cat?” she said. The Queen of Heart/Claire reached for her head and at that exact moment The Cheshire Cat/Anthea vanished into thin air. “CAT!?!” shrieked The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies as she shot out of her tea pot. She then began frantically running all over the courtroom, between furniture, between the hooves of the spectators and Royal Guards/Playing Cards. “Grab her!” exclaimed The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. She then made a mighty leap and grabbed onto The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies’ tail. The March Hare/Sugar Rush in turn grabbed onto The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy’s tail and they were both dragged all over the courtroom. “Get the jam!” said The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy frantically.

“I left it home!” said an equally frantic March Hare/Sugar Rush.

“You left it home!?!” exclaimed an incredulous Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy.

In the chaos The Queen of Hearts/Claire was suddenly tangled in the drapes that once adorned the prosecutor’s bench. For his part, The King of Hearts/Fletcher pulled out a huge wooden mallet and tried to smash The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies, missing with every strike he made. With every ground The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies covered, The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and March Hare/Sugar Rush collided into furniture, spectators, jurors and Royal Guards/Playing Cards leaving everyone in crumpled messes. All Starburst could do was look on in horror. The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies, Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and March Hare/Sugar Rush then made their way towards The Queen of Hearts/Claire who was still trying to get out of the heavy drapes that cascaded over her. All three ran over her with The King of Hearts/Fletcher hot on their tails. At that very moment The King of Hearts/Fletcher made a mighty swing of his mallet hitting The Queen of Hearts/Claire right on top of her head.

Suddenly the courtroom went dead silent. They all looked at the drapes in mounting horror. Everyone, including Starburst, began to wonder if The Queen of Hearts/Claire was knocked out cold or worse, dead. Slowly, she sat up under the drapes. “SOMEONE’S HEAD IS GOING TO ROLL FOR THIS!!!” thundered the voice of The Queen of Hearts/Claire. All the courtroom’s occupants started to engage in terrified chatter. For her part, Starburst started to break out in a cold sweat. In a panic her eyes darted all over. A sense of calm then took over her when she suddenly remembered that she still had those two pieces of pink mushrooms that helped her regain her normal size. With some effort she reached for the mushrooms in her possession quickly shoved them into her mouth. At that exact same moment, the drapes that covered The Queen of Hearts/Claire caught fire. The drapes completely burned off revealing The Queen of Hearts/Claire breathing blue fire which was reminiscent of Spike the Dragon breathing green fire. Her entire face was as red as a cherry. She then gave Starburst the deathliest of glares and pointed a claw at her that trembled with rage. “YOURS!!!” bellowed The Queen of Hearts/Claire. As Starburst stared in horror at The Queen of Hearts/Claire, the little pegasus started to grow at a rapid rate faster than the eye could blink with her shackles breaking off her hooves and wings, thus freeing her. “OFF WITH…!” began The Queen of Hearts/Claire. However, before she could finish Starburst had grown to a massive size towering over everyone in the courtroom. Starburst looked at herself all over and a broad smile appeared on her face. “For once I actually like being freakishly big!” said Starburst with a cocky grin.

Starburst took one step towards The Queen of Hearts/Claire causing the entire courtroom to tremble as if an earthquake had struck. The Queen of Hearts/Claire looked at the giant-sized pegasus mare in absolute horror. “GUARDS, AFTER HER!!!” ordered The Queen of Hearts/Claire in a loud, yet trembling voice. A handful of Royal Guards/Playing Cards rushed towards Starburst’s giant hooves and started poking her with their spears. Instead of piercing her flesh, the tips of their spears broke upon impact. To Starburst it felt as if she was being poked by cotton swabs. “I’m not scared of you,” she said in a cocky manner. “You’re just a bunch of worthless playing cards!” Starburst then took a deep breath and made a mighty blow at the Royal Guards/Playing Cards sending them flying across the courtroom as if they were caught in a mighty hurricane. “Now,” began Starburst turning her attention to a now helpless Queen of Hearts/Claire. Starburst flared her massive wings, which were now in her giant form a hundred times its normal size causing the above windows to smash open. At that exact moment the entire courtroom gasped in horror and The Queen of Hearts/Claire dropped to her haunches trembling like a leaf. “You were saying?” continued Starburst staring down The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“I…I…I…” stuttered The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“Yeah, not so tough now, are you?” taunted Starburst.

“Rule 42,” announced The King of Hearts/Fletcher in a trembling voice while reading from a scroll. “All spectators a mile high must leave the court immediately!”

“A mile high?” said Starburst in feigned surprise. “I was hoping I was a hundred miles high. And besides, I’m not going anywhere!” Starburst made a mighty stomp with her hoof causing the entire courtroom to quake throwing everyone off their balance. “All of you can do so much better than her for a royal,” said Starburst pointing at The Queen of Hearts/Claire while addressing the entire courtroom. “All she does is piss and moan and abuse the justice system,” continued Starburst. “Where I come from royals don’t act like divas and treat their subjects as if they’re a waste of space. Well, expect for one mare I know. But for the most part, where I come from, royals rule with grace, patience, kindness and understanding. We don’t order executions over silliness. In fact, we don’t even have a death penalty. We listen to others when it’s necessary, especially if those we have to listen to don’t think the same way we do. We even take entire days off to spend time with our families.” Starburst then remembered the time when she rejected her mother’s offer to spend the day with her. “Even if those in our family might blow us off,” she said sadly. “The point is,” Starburst continued firmly “the royals in my world would do a much better job than this hag!” There was a collective gasp that reverberated throughout the courtroom at the utterance of the word “hag”. “Yeah, I said it!” said a smug Starburst. “Your so-called “Queen” is a HAG! And there’s nothing she could do to stop me from saying that to her face!” Starburst bowed her head and gave The Queen of Hearts/Claire a menacing glance making The Queen of Hearts/Claire move backwards on her haunches and let out a frightened whimper. “There’s somepony I know who would make a much better ruler than her,” continued Starburst addressing the court “and that’s the White Knight!”

“Him!” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire under her breath.

“Your so-called queen does him dirty by deliberately not giving him what he needs to do his job to protect your kingdom,” continued Starburst. “Aren’t you all tired of giving away half of your gold to the Jabberwocky?” The spectators, The Royal Guards/Playing Cards, members of the jury and even the prosecutors started to chatter among themselves. Starburst felt a tinge of satisfaction over the fact that she may have gotten everyone to consider what she’s saying. “If I were you, I’d banish her, throw her in the dungeon or banish her then throw her in a dungeon in the place I banish her to!” said Starburst with a wicked grin. “After that, I’d make The White Knight your king.”

“Yeah! Yeah!” a few spectators clamored.

“I’ve got a few other things I wanna say,” continued Starburst. She then turned to The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy, March Hare/Sugar Rush and Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies who, by now, had calmed down. “It’s not six o’clock all time and all the time is NOT teatime!” said Starburst with a stern tone. “There’s more to life than tea! Pick up a book or something!” The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy, March Hare/Sugar Rush and Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies gave each other horrified looks and started muttering among themselves. Starburst turned her attention to Dove/Defense Attorney who trembled like a leaf. “There’s a reason why no one likes court appointed lawyers,” said Starburst as she glared at the unicorn mare. “You’re the type of lawyer who puts forward the worst cases and a lot of clients get convicted because of you, a poor excuse for a lawyer!” Starburst then shot a glare at Genevieve and The Mock Turtle/Soot who clutched onto each other. “You two are everything that’s wrong with the justice system!” she said pointing a stern hoof at the two prosecutors. “Over-zealous prosecutors like you don’t care about justice or uncovering the truth. You over-charge and present superficial and circumstantial evidence. You’d do anything and everything to get a conviction just so you could pat yourselves on the back and kiss up to sleaze-bag media types, pundit-types and self-righteous losers who still live in their parents’ basements!” Starburst turned her attention to The King of Hearts/Fletcher who trembled at his desk. “The fact that you’d marry the likes of her,” she began while gesturing to The Queen of Hearts/Claire “shows me that you’re absolutely nothing like the brave, charming, intelligent Fletcher I know! He’d never have such poor judgement when choosing his ladies!”

“Who’s Fletcher?” said The King of Hearts/Fletcher softly.

“WHICH BRINGS ME BACK TO YOU!” thundered Starburst as she turned sharply to The Queen of Hearts/Claire who now had her back against the base of her desk. Starburst made another stomp with her hoof which elicited terrified shrieks from all those present. “Your Majesty!” said Starburst sarcastically with a mocking bow. “Give me a bucking break!” she continued scornfully. “You’re not only a hag, you’re also a loud-mouthed, pompous, moody, annoying, irritating…”

As Starburst pointed her hoof calling The Queen of Hearts/Claire every insult she could think of, unbeknownst to Starburst, she started to shrink in size. “Snooty, snobby, immature, pushy,” continued Starburst as she shrunk with every insult she laid on the Queen of Hearts/Claire “dumb, stupid, idiotic, big, fat, giant pain in the…” Before she got to the end of her sentence Starburst realized she shrank back to her normal size, much to her horror. The little pegasus looked around finding nothing but deathly glares from all those present, especially from the Queen of Hearts/Claire. “…Flank?” said a nervous Starburst in a soft voice.

The Queen of Hearts/Claire rose to her hooves and stomped towards Starburst with a wicked chuckle. The Queen of Hearts/Claire now towered over Starburst who sank to her haunches. “Would you mind repeating that, little filly?” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

“I…I…I…” said Starburst softly as she sweated bullets. Suddenly The Cheshire Cat/Anthea reappeared on top of the Queen of Hearts/Claire’s head. The Queen of Hearts/Claire was completely unaware of the presence of the feline version of the blind unicorn mare. Starburst watched The Cheshire Cat/Anthea who casually liked her paws. “I believe she said that you’re a hag and a loud-mouthed, pompous, moody, annoying, irritating, snooty, snobby, immature, pushy, dumb, stupid, idiotic, big, fat, giant pain in the flank,” said The Cheshire Cat/Anthea with her warm smile. Starburst’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates as the feline version of Anthea repeated the insults verbatim. The Cheshire Cat/Anthea then vanished into thin air. Dove/Defense Attorney wore a disappointed expression as she rose to her hooves. “Your Majesty,” she began as she glared at Starburst “I can no longer represent this client. I can see with my own two eyes that she is beyond rehabilitation. The Defense rests.” Starburst turned sharply to Dove/Defense Attorney with a look of betrayal and horror. "Your Majesty," began Genevieve as she rose to her feet while glaring at Starburst "in light of what just unfolded, the prosecution recommends that along with the other charges she already faces, that the defendant be charged with destruction of property, making terrorist threats, disorderly conduct, contempt of court, reckless endangerment, verbal violence..."

"Aw, come on!" groaned Starburst as she gave Genevieve an incredulous look. ""Verbal violence"? Seriously?"

"And most seriously, treason!" continued Genevieve ignoring Starburst.

"THE DEFENDANT IS HEREBY CHARGED WITH ALL OF THE ADDITIONAL CHARGES!!!" roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire regaining her bravado.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," replied Genevieve with a wicked grin. "The Prosecution rests."

"NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE JURY TO DELIBERATE!" announced The Queen of Hearts/Claire.

"Your Majesty, we don't need to deliberate," announced Bill/Hot Heat as he rose from his seat in the jury box. "We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of all charges!” Starburst’s jaw almost hit the ground at Bill/Hot Head’s announcement. To add insult to injury, the entire court erupted in cheers and applause. “Excellent!” said The Queen of Hearts/Claire grinning from ear to ear. Slowly, Starburst started to back away as The Queen of Hearts/Claire advanced towards her. “Now the sentence can be carried out!” announced The Queen of Hearts/Clarie, her face contorting into an expression of rage. Starburst’s eyes darted all over until they fell up on King of Hearts/Fletcher. She looked at him desperately, hoping that he would object, find some sort of loophole to further the trial, perhaps appoint a new defense attorney for Starburst that was not biased or was influenced somehow from The Queen of Hearts/Claire. Instead, all Starburst received from The King of Hearts/Fletcher was a reproachful look mixed with utter contempt. It had only been one day, and Starburst quickly became familiarized with the consequences of the smallest infraction. The thought of impending death took hold of Starburst like a vice grip and tears began to well in her eyes. “THE CONDEMNED IS HERBY SENTENCE TO DEATH!” thundered The Queen of Hearts/Claire. At those words the entire courtroom once again erupted in cheers and applause. Starburst looked around seeing nothing but applauding spectators and Playing Card/Royal Guards. Something within her hoped that she might see at least one dissenting face. None was to be found. In fact, among the applauding and cheering crowd was Dove/Defense Attorney and The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy, The March Hare/Sugar Rush and The Door Mouse/Cloudy Skies. Now,” began The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!!” With those words The Queen of Hearts/Clarie produced a massive battle axe that hovered above her head and brought it down at Starburst. Starburst let out a terrified scream and narrowly dodged the axe that effortlessly sliced a desk in half. Starburst then took to the air making her way towards the broken windows above. “AFTER HER!!!” commanded The Queen of Hearts/Claire turning to the Playing Cards/Royal Guards. The pegasus Playing Cards/Royal Guards flew after Starburst while the spectators, The Prosecution, members of the jury, Dove/Defense Attorney, Nightlight/Rabbit, The King of Hearts/Fletcher and the other Playing Cards/Royal Guards ran after The Queen of Hearts/Claire who joined the chase after Starburst. “By order of The Queen,” announced The King of Hearts/Fletcher “the condemned is sentenced to death! OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!”

“We’re through, Fletcher!” shouted Starburst looking over her shoulder. “You hear me? WE’RE FINISHED!!!”

Starburst flew straight through the window with the pegasus Playing Cards/Royal Guards hot on her tail. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes went wide when she saw the pegasus Playing Cards/Royal Guards gaining on her. Starburst looked downwards and saw The Queen of Hearts/Claire and the rest of crowd running across the courtyard shadowing Starburst’s movements. Starburst threw a glance over her shoulder once again and saw one of the pegasus Playing Cards/Royal Guard reaching his hoof to grab her. A look of horror appeared on Starburst’s face, soon she picked up her speed. She then did loop-de-loops in the sky all around the pegasus Playing Cards/Royal Guards that chased after her throwing her pursuers off course. Starburst soared into a maze-like hedge right into the line of vision of The Queen of Hearts/Claire and the entire courtroom that chased after Starburst on hoof. “THERE SHE IS!!!” thundered The Queen of Hearts/Claire pointing an extended claw at Starburst. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!” The Queen of Hearts/Claire and her fellow pursuers picked up their speed as they galloped towards Starburst. Starburst flew in all directions of the maze with The Queen of Hearts/Claire and the massive crowd of pursuers hot on her tail. Starburst then made loop-de-loops between the crowd causing the crowd to crash into each other and fall to the ground. Starbursts felt a tinge of satisfaction seeing The Queen of Hearts/Claire and the other pursuers lying on the ground in crumpled messes. Unfortunately, Starburst was so preoccupied with the scene that she did not see the long line of Playing Cards/Guards that she was heading into. She crashed into the Playing Cards/Royal Guards causing them to turn into a type of slide. Starburst was then sent tumbling down the slide until she ended up at the base. To her surprise she found herself back on the same beach flying around the same rock where she met The Dodo/Lucky Star and the other animals. They were all going around in a circle around the rock. As Starburst ran around the rock with the animals, she saw The Queen of Hearts/Claire, Tweedle Dee/Prism Bolt and Tweedle Dum/Icy Storm and the crowd of pursuers also running around the rock. Starburst broke away from the runners and soared over the ground. “DON’T LET HER GET AWAY!!!” roared The Queen of Hearts/Claire breaking away from the runners. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!”

As Starburst soared above the ground the ground faded away and reappeared as a large table laden with teapots and saucers. While Starburst gawked at the strange phenomenon, she felt a tug at both of her front hooves. To her surprise she was being stopped by both The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush who held on both of her front hooves. “Oh, we have a new guest!” piped The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy. “Care for a cup of tea, little filly?”

“Let me go!” growled Starburst through gritted teeth. “I don’t have time for this!”

“Oh, but we insist!” said The March Hare/Sugar Rush excitedly. “You must have a cup of tea!”

Starburst yanked away from the grips of The Mad Hatter/Cotton Candy and The March Hare/Sugar Rush and was sent flying straight into a giant cup of tea. As Starburst fell into the cup of tea, she discovered that she was in a deep ocean and quickly swam towards the surface. She sprang above the surface and shook herself off. “THERE SHE IS!!!” screamed the thunderous voice of The Queen of Hearts/Claire. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!” Starburst turned sharply to her left and saw The Queen of Hearts/Claire floating in a teacup towards Starburst’s direction still levitating her massive battle axe. In almost the blink of an eye Starburst took off again in the opposite direction above the sea. As Starburst flew, she bumped into something floating on the surface of the sea. When she adjusted her vision, her eyes went wide when she discovered that a familiar character was floating right in front of her. It was none other than The Caterpillar/Gold Delicious sitting on top of his pink mushroom and casually smoking his hookah. Starburst was both shocked and happy to see him. “Mr. Caterpillar, you gotta help me!” pleaded Starburst frantically. “The Queen’s trying to chop off my head!” The Caterpillar/Gold Delicious slowly turned to the frantic pegaus mare looking at her with lazy eyes and a nonchalant expression. “Who...are...you?” said The Caterpillar/Gold Delicious lazily. With every word that left his mouth huge clouds of smoke from the hookah clouded Starburst’s vision causing her to violently hack and cough. Slowly the clouds of smoke dissipated and Starburst found herself floating in a type of black, void dimension. She looked over her shoulder and found a door floating in the distance. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!!!” screamed the distant cry of The Queen of Hearts/Claire. Starburst perked up and absolute terror took hold of her. She then began flying towards the door. However, the closer Starburst got to the door, the further the door seemed to be floating away. She let out a loud grunt sprang towards the door eventually holding onto the doorknob. She began to turn the doorknob but to her horror, the door would not open. She softly began to sob with every turn she made of the doorknob. “Ow!” went a muffled male voice. Starburst let out a yelp at the sudden sound. She looked around for the source slowly beginning to realize that the sound came from right in front of her. She looked down and sure enough there was the familiar face of her older cousin Valiant Heart whose face was of the doorknob. “You gave me quite a turn there,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob nonchalantly. He then recognized Starburst and a glare appeared on his face. “Well, well, well,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob with a reproachful look. “If it isn’t the nose tickler?”

“Look, I’m sorry for tickling your nose,” said a frantic Starburst through pants. “But you gotta let through! The Queen of Hearts is trying to cut off my head!”

“Sorry,” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob turning away. “Still locked, you know.”

“Please!” pleaded Starburst. “Let me through!”

“But you’re already through,” assured Valiant Heart/Doorknob with a smile.

“WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?!” screamed an incredulous Starburst.

“Don’t believe me?” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob never losing his smile. “See for yourself.”

Valiant Heart/Doorknob then opened his mouth/keyhole wide enough for Starburst to peek through. The young pegasus peeked through the keyhole. To her absolute astonishment, she saw herself on the far end of the other side of the door. The other Starburst was lying flat on her face on the ground at a place that was undoubtedly Sweet Apple Acres. “Hey, that’s me!” said Starburst still gawking at the other version of herself. “I’m asleep at Sweet Apple Acres!” A small sense of relief began to wash over Starburst. “If I’m asleep over there,” she continued with a broad smile “then this is all a dream!” An exasperated expression then appeared on Starburst’s face as she slumped her shoulders. “It also means I passed out again,” groaned Starburst.

“I wouldn’t dwell too much on it if I were you, little filly” said Valiant Heart/Doorknob casually. He then motioned to the back of Starburst. Starburst turned around and her eyes went wide when she saw The Queen of Hearts/Claire and the huge crowd of the familiar characters inching closer and closer towards her direction. Starburst quickly turned her attention back to the keyhole. “STARBURST!” said Starburst screaming through Valiant Heart’s/Doorknob’s mouth/keyhole. “WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP, STARBURST!!! PLEASE, WAKE UP!!! WAKE UP, STARBURST!!!” As Starburst continued to scream at the other version of herself, her view began blurring and her voice slowly began to get quieter. Soon, everything went black and dead silent.

CHAPTER 14

“Starburst!” said a muffled voice. “Starburst! Starburst! Starburst!”

“Starburst!” repeated a muffled chorus of voices. “Starburst! Starburst! Starburst!”

Everything was black and Starburst could not see. The only senses the young pegasus had were her sense of touch and her sense of hearing. She felt her back against something prickly yet soft and she could hear muffled voices of multiple ponies calling out to her. She also sensed someone close to her face. Slowly, Starburst began to open her eyes, yet all she saw were blurred images of figures hovering above her. “Starburst!” said the clear voice of a young male close to her. “Starburst, are you alright?”

“Look, she’s opening her eyes!” said the clear voice of a colt.

“Starburst!” said a chorus of fillies. “Starburst!”

“Starburst!” said a young stallion in a southern drawl.

Starburst eyes fluttered open, and her vision adjusted. Soon the world around the young pegasus became crystal clear. Standing over Starburst were Fletcher, Gold Delicious, Red June, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Api Apple, Echo and Pixel Bit. They all looked at Starburst with horror and concern. Starburst’s eyes widened and she quickly sat on her haunches. She looked around and saw the familiar apple trees that towered above. She also recognized the sole plot of cherry trees at one far end and the large farmhouse at another end. There was absolutely no doubt at all in Starburst’s mind that she was back at Sweet Apple Acres. “Starburst are you alright?” asked Fletcher with a mixture of concern and relief.

“What did your mama tell you ‘bout workin’ yourself half to death, sugar cube?” said an exasperated Applejack. “If ya didn’t come to Twilight would never forgive me fer lettin’ ya do that again!”

“Why didn’t you tell me that this thing happens when she overworks herself?” said Fletcher turning to Applejack.

“Mom’s not the only one who tells her not to overdo it,” said the familiar voice of a colt. “Dad tells her the same thing too.”

Starburst's eyes went wide again and she turned sharply to the source of the voice. Standing at her right was her young brother, Nightlight. This time he was no longer a purple rabbit with a tuff of dark blue hair. He was the young unicorn colt she was familiar with. “NIGHTLIGHT!” exclaimed Starburst. She then grabbed Nightlight with both of her front hooves and gave him a massive hug. “Oh, thank Celestia!” said Starburst with a broad smile as she continued to hug her brother. “You’re not a rabbit anymore!”

“Can’t breathe!” Nightlight choked as Starburst smothered him with her chest. “Can’t breathe!”

“A rabbit?” said a confused Apple Bloom. “Nightlight wasn’t no rabbit.”

Starburst released Nightlight and looked all over. “Wait, Claire isn’t around, is she?” said Starburst nervously. “She was chasing me with a couple of others trying to cut off my head with an axe!”

“Claire ain’t here, girl,” assured Gold Delicious. “An’ she ain’t tryin’ cut off yer head. She’s in Canterlot with Mrs. Rarity helpin’ her out with a new fashion line.”

“Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you passed out again?” inquired Red June. Starburst let out a huge sigh and rubbed her head with one hoof. “Boy, I had the weirdest dream,” she said. “It was so gosh darn real. You were there and you were there, and you were there, and you were there!” Starburst pointed her hoof at Nightlight, Fletcher, Gold Delicious and Red June respectfully. “Nightlight, you were a rabbit,” added Starburst excitedly. “Del, you were a caterpillar smoking a hookah!”

“A hookah?” said a confused Gold Delicious.

“That’s the kind of thing stallions smoke from in places like Saddle Arabia,” explained Red June.

“June, you were a talking flower,” continued Starburst. “And Lance was a talking doorknob.”

“What?” said an incredulous Red June through chuckles.

“Oh! Oh! Were we in the dream too?” said Api bouncing excitedly.

“Yeah!” said Starburst with a smile. “Echo, Pixel, you two were holfcolts.”

“Hoofcolts?” repeated a confused Echo.

“It’s another word for servant or butler,” explained Red June.

“And Api, you were a baby, then you turned into a pig,” said Starburst with a chuckle.

Echo and Pixel burst out laughing while Api’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. “Api a baby and a pig?” deadpanned Nightlight. He then turned to the brown spotted earth pony filly and looked at her up and down. “You’re only now noticing that?” he added scornfully.

“Sleep with one eye open!” Api growled as she glared at Nightlight.

“Annie was a cat,” continued Starburst. “Amber Lily was a pigeon. Lucky Star was a dodo bird, Hot Head was a lizard named Bill, Prism and Icy were these dudes calling themselves “Tweedle Dee” and “Tweedle Dum”, Epic Parody was an executioner, Crème de la Crème was a duchess, Dove was a lawyer, Sugar Rush was a hare, Cloudy Skies was a mouse and Cotton Candy was this mare called The Mad Hatter.”

“That is a weird dream,” said Applejack scratching her head.

“Turquoise was a knight dressed in white armor,” continued Starburst. “And Fletcher, you were a king!”

“I was a king?” repeated a beaming Fletcher.

“Yeah,” said Starburst. “And you were married to Claire who was a queen.”

“OOOHHH!!!” said Api, Echo and Pixel in unison. Fletcher’s face then faltered.

“Claire was constantly ordering ponies’ heads to come off,” continued Starburst. “That’s why I asked if she was around.”

“Well, Ah think the little filly needs ta get some rest back at the house,” said Gold Delicious.

“Please don’t call me a little filly,” groaned Starburst. “I had enough ponies calling me a little filly in that dream. I’m seventeen, for crying out loud!”

“Sorry,” said Gold Delicious.

“Well, you’ll always be a little filly in mah eyes,” said Apple Bloom with a smile which elicited a grumble from Starburst.

“Let’s go,” said Fletcher offering a hoof to Starburst.

“It’s okay,” assured Starburst. “I can trot.”

Everyone around Starburst made space as she shakily stood on her hooves. She took about three steps when suddenly she started to fall forward. When it looked as if she was about to face plant in the ground again, Fletcher suddenly caught her by the chest. “I think it’s best I carry you, Starburst,” said Fletcher.

“I don’t like being carried, Fletcher,” groaned Starburst.

Gold Delicious then grabbed Starburst by her tail with his teeth and gently placed her on Fletcher’s back. “You worked yerself half ta death again, Star,” said Gold Delicious. “You need the help.”

“He ain’t lyin’, sugar cube,” said Applejack. “Don’t be too proud if somepony wants ta help ya. Ah made the same mistake not takin’ help an’ got Ponyville in bad shape.”

Starburst was about to open her mouth to protest. But then she was reminded of her dream and thought better than to not take the help they were all offering. Furthermore, Fletcher’s soft coat made the young pegasus extra comfortable. She snuggled herself on Fletcher’s back as they both made their way to the house. Echo looked on in bitterness and jealousy. Meanwhile, Api and Pixel looked on with wide eyes and broad smiles. They then started to loudly vocalize the wedding march song. Starburst eyes went wide and her cheeks flushed bright red at the sound of the fillies’ rendition of the wedding march. She thought she was about to die from embarrassment right there and then. “Alright, girls,” deadpanned Nightlight with a reproachful look. “Let’s not get nosey. We have to finish cleaning that barn.” Nightlight then levitated Api, Echo and Pixel with his unicorn magic and trotted away in the opposite direction with all three fillies in tow. “Oh, Nighty,” said Pixel in a flirtatious manner batting her eyelashes. “You’re so forward.” Nightlight’s eyes widened and he blushed. Starburst chuckled and shook her head as she lay on Fletcher’s back. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Gold Delicious and Red June dispersed and returned to their various responsibilities on the farm. “So, in your dream I was king and I was married to Claire?” said Fletcher, breaking the silence.

“I think it was more like you were only there to make her look good,” replied Starburst.

“Claire is a pretty lady, I won’t lie,” said Fletcher. “But she could be scary sometimes.”

“Yeah, she has that effect on all stallions,” said Starburst. “Prism and Illusion should know.”

There was silence between the two once more. “Why didn’t you tell me that you would have fainting spells if you work out too hard?” said Fletcher with concern in his voice.

“I knew you would try to stop me from training all together,” said Starburst quite sternly.

“Perhaps,” Fletcher conceded. “But I would at least be given a heads up on what to expect. I would've given you some advice on better techniques so you wouldn’t pass out so easily when you work out. Stopping you from working your way to The Royal Guard is the last thing I want to do. But what if you didn’t come to just now? Then all that training would’ve been for naught.”

“You’re right,” said Starburst slowly nodding her head. “I’m sorry for not telling you about my situation.”

“Tomorrow if you’re well enough, I’ll show you a few techniques my father taught me on how to get your endurance up so you wouldn’t be prone to passing out,” said Fletcher. Starburst narrowed her eyes as she pondered Fletcher’s words. “You know what?” she said. “Let’s take the day off tomorrow.” Fletcher stopped dead in his tracks and a look of shock appeared on his face. In the few months they have been together, skipping a day of exercise was completely out of character for Starburst. “Are you sure?” asked Fletcher gaping at Starburst.

“If that dream taught me anything,” began Starburst with a smile “I should be taking things one day at a time. As much as I wanna be in the Guard, I don’t wanna neglect the ones I love. How about we spend a day with your sister? When was the last time you visited her during her dance class?”

“Well,” began Fletcher “maybe you’re right. Mom always told me I should spend more time with my brother and sister.”

“By the way,” continued Starburst “me, my brother, my parents, my uncle, my aunt, my cousins and my grandparents are going on a cruise next month. Maybe you should come with us and bring your family with you. Our parents could get to know each other better.”

A broad smile formed on Fletcher’s face. “That would be great,” he said. “Mom always wanted to go on one of those cruises. When we get in the house and you’re well rested, I’ll make you your favorite: a watermelon smoothie.”

“Tusen takk, Fletcher. (Thank you so much, Fletcher)” said Starburst in Fletcher’s native language with a warm smile.

“Gleden er min, prinsesse. (The pleasure’s all mine, Princess)” replied Fletcher with a smile.

As the young couple made their way to the house, little did they know that were being watched. Their actions were being salivated through a large mirror on a wall by three young royals and those royals were laughing.

At the Canterlot Castle in Equestria’s capital Canterlot, all the events at Sweet Apple Acres were presented on a vanity mirror in one of the castle’s quarters. Within the quarters were Princess Flurry Heart, Prince Illusion and Princess Nidra. Princess Flurry Heart was Starburst’s oldest cousin and the first alicorn born in Equestria to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Prince Illusion was the only son of Princess Celestia and Discord the Lord of Chaos. If Illusion inherited his mother’s good looks, he most definitely inherited his father’s mismatched physical attributes and chaotic nature, including chaotic powers. Princess Nidra was the daughter of Princess Luna and batpony Guard Supernova and was the first bat alicorn born in Equestria. All three young royals were seated on a large bed and they were guffawing at what they saw on the mirror. “There’s definitely a chaotic side to you, Flurry,” said Illusion trying to catch his breath. “Are you sure we aren’t related?”

“Don’t look at me,” said Flurry turning to Illusion. “All I said was that I wanted for Starburst to have a little dream and you two took over the reins.”

“But why make us create a dream with an “Alice in Wonderland” flair to it?” asked Nidra.

“If you couldn’t tell, my baby cousin has a tendency not to lighten up,” replied Flurry. “Nice touch with making Starburst fall into a deep sleep, Nidra. I knew Starburst would work herself half to death again. Your timing was perfect.”

“Anthea isn’t the only who can make creatures fall asleep,” said Nidra puffing her chest proudly.

Flurry looked back at the mirror that was now showing the reflections of her, Illusion and Nidra. A sad look then appeared on the alicorn’s face. “Do you think we might’ve taken it too far?” she said turning to Illusion and Nidra. “We made Starburst cry.”

“But she eventually stopped crying, didn’t she?” said Illusion nonchalantly.

“But you created a scenario where Claire was chasing Star with an axe,” said Flurry. “Star’s probably traumatized.”

“You read the book,” said Nidra. “You should know how the story plays out, so don’t complain.”

Flurry let out a huff. “We could’ve been more gentle and not make her cry,” said Flurry.

“You’ve seen with your own two eyes how tenacious your baby cousin is,” assured Illusion. “Was there ever any doubt that she would hold her own?”

“And besides,” continued Nidra “if Starburst kept that smart mouth of hers in check, maybe she wouldn’t have had her little brush with death.”

“What are you talking about?” said Flurry glaring at the bat alicorn.

““Where I come from royals don’t act like divas and treat their subjects as if they’re a waste of space,”” said Nidra mimicking Starburst with anger on her face. ““Well, expect for one mare I know.” Who else could she have been talking about?”

“Starburst is not exactly far off in her assessment of you, dear cousin,” said Illusion with a smirk.

“And if I could make another complaint,” continued Nidra giving Illusion a side glance with crossed-eyes “why did you insist that the blind, stallion stealing commoner should be The Cheshire Cat? Why should she have been in this dream at all?”

“Annie didn’t steal Turquoise,” said Flurry with a reproachful look. “They’re both in love with each other, so get that through your thick skull. And the reason why I thought Annie would be a good fit for The Cheshire Cat is because I always imagined her to be a cute kitty especially with those adorable clouded eyes of hers. It was also cute to have Annie’s friends from the orphanage as the Dodo, the pigeon and Bill the Lizard. Seeing Nightlight as The Rabbit and Api as a foal again was simply adorbs. Prism and Icy make a funny Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and it was simply a no-brainer to have Cotton Candy as The Mad Hatter and her sisters as the March Hare and the Door Mouse.”

“What’s the deal with your baby brother as the Doorknob?” inquired Illusion.

“I love Valiant Heart,” began Flurry with a sigh “but sometimes I wish he uses his brain more.”

“I see what you did there,” said Nidra with a chuckle.

“Besides, didn’t I give you two a chance to contribute?” said Flurry.

“Ah, yes,” said Illusion with a smile. “Let’s all agree that making Claire The Queen of Hearts was absolutely genius on my part. She's so sexy when she’s angry. Rawr!”

“Of course you’d say that,” said Flurry cocking an eyebrow. “You got her on her nerves on more than one occasion.”

“I say it was absolutely genius for me to make Turquoise The White Knight,” said Nidra with a seductive look. “His white armor gives me such a hormone rush!”

“Didn’t you feel the least bit jealous seeing Fletcher at your fillyfriend’s side as the King of Hearts?” said Flurry to Illusion.

“Well, it took a lot of effort for me to remind myself that it’s only a dream,” said Illusion with gritted teeth while glaring at Nidra.

“I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to have fun at your expense, dear cousin,” said Nidra with a smirk.

There was then dead silence between the three young royals. Their eyes darted around the quarters which made the situation even more awkward. “So,” began Flurry “the day’s still young. Our parents are busy with their royal duties while we have nothing to do. Any ideas on how to make the day more interesting?”

Nidra perked up and dismounted the bed. Slowly she trotted over to the mirror and touched it with one hoof. With her hoof she swiped several images of different locations in Equestria until she found one image of Prism Bolt. Prism Bolt was fast asleep on a cloud, a habit he seemed to inherit from his mother. An evil grin then formed on Nidra’s face. “Prism Bolt needs to learn to appreciate what’s in front of him and not force me to break up with him and cause self-inflicted heartbreak,” said Nidra. “A terrifying nightmare inspired by H.P. Hoofcraft would do wonders on Prism’s outlook on life.”