Starburst in Wonderland

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.