Starburst in Wonderland

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.”