Starlight's Story

Starlight's Story: Missing Jewels

 "Now what do we do?" I asked.

"Well..." Nat-mo said, getting up and clopping to the center of the clearing. "Did you read anything about how to control dreams?"

"I read that I could interact with the pony creating the dream, but I think they have control over it, I can just rid it of darkness or fear if necessary?" I replied, confused by her answer.

"Perfect." She said, lowering her horn as is it lit up and her magic engulfed the landscape. I looked down as the ground around me started to shake.

"N-nat-mo?" I asked, as she picked up her head and pointed her horn to the skies, causing the landscape to shift, the floor underneath me turning to wood as walls and shelves grew from the ground and became filled with scrolls and books. Her magic faded to reveal the Library. "Woah, why the library?"

"It's a place I'm quite fond of. Oops, I forgot about you." Nat-mo taunted, launching a beam of magic at me. I gasped and jumped, using my wings to jump higher than the average height.

"What do you mean you forgot about me?" I cried, dodging another beam of energy.

"You need flight training!" She replied. "I've been practicing magic since I was old enough to comprehend equine script, but you've only just learned to fly. And after analyzing how you saved me from the shadow thing, I figured that your dream-ish abilities are controlled by your wings, and you need some serious practice."

"S-shouldn't I go to flight school for that?" I asked, before squeaking in surprise as I narrowly avoided another energy beam.

"That would be more ideal, but we're a bit short on time." She replied, launching three energy beams.

"This seems kind of dangerous!" I squealed, flying haphazardly to avoid them.

"Oh, don't worry, it won't hurt." She replied, smiling up at me.

"Well thats good to know." I replied as I roughly landed, sliding across the floor.

"Your landings need some work, but other than that your flying is perfect!" Nat-mo cheered, helping me up. "The way you move in the air is very impressive," Nat-mo explained. "it's almost as if you've flown before."

"But I flew for my first time just a few hours ago." I replied.

"Are you sure?" She asked. I was stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"How long have you lived in Pony Ville?" She asked, walking over to a shelf set apart from the other books.

"As long as I can remember...why?" I asked.

"Since you were a foal?" She asked.

"I..." I stopped, not able to summon any memories, like there was a wall blocking me from their view. "I don't know...I can't...remember...anything before Pony Ville, but my family traveled for business...the Jewels I mean..."

"No they didn't." Nat-mo whispered from the bookshelf.

"What do you mean?" I started. "They-"

"The Jewels don't exist!" She said. "Come look at this!" I quickly clopped over to see what she was looking at. "These books document all of the ponies who take up residence in Pony Ville. On each entry it keeps up with when they enter on what day, where they live and when they leave. There's one book for each letter of the alphabet and I've read through the whole book on the letter 'J' and the family name 'Jewel' isn't in here. I've also looked though the birth documents and there's no foals with 'Jewel' as their last name. Nor is there a listed foal with the name Starlight..." I could feel my heart slamming against my chest.

"What...then...who am I?" I whispered.

"What made you say 'Dreamer' when Miss Cheerilee asked you your name in class?" She asked, as she flipped through another book.

"I don't know, it came to me in a sort of rush..." I replied. "almost like-"

"You had remembered it out of nowhere?" Nat-mo finished.

"Yeah...how did you know?" I asked.

"I've done research on Phycology and how the mind works, and as a result I've also run into some spells that effect the consciousness." She explained. "Most of them were healing, but there were a few that could cause damage, including one that can sort of brainwash you, hiding away previous memories, but still allowing you to make new ones."

"But who would do that to me?" I asked, sitting and looking to the ground. "And why?"

"I suspect the Queen had something to do with it," Nat-mo said, putting a hoof on my shoulder, "I bet she forced someone to do that long ago to prevent us from meeting, had we met sooner, this mess would've been avoided all together." At this she sunk to the floor along side me. "What are we doing?"

"Hmm?" I asked, turning to her.

"We're just a couple of phillies." She sighed, putting her head in her hooves. "We're only ten and we're looking to take down the ancient spirits of fear and corruption. We're psychotic."

"No, we're brave." I countered. "We're not two random ponies acting out in rebellion, we're two ponies that are choosing to restore what's right, for those who don't have the same opportunity. We could run from our troubles, but we're facing them instead. And you need to be crazy to do that."

"Yups." She replied, looking up. I followed her gaze to see the library start to fade as the sky started to adopt a magenta hue.

"So what's the plan?" I asked.

"I'll fill my saddle bag with all the materials I think we'll need and teleport to your house as soon as I wake up. If I don't show up by the time the sun is free of the horizon, then try to get to the library."

"Okay." I said, as we were left on a landscape where clouds stretched on for eternity and a view of the moon being shunned by the sun as the stars fled its deafening gaze, my energy starting to drain away as they left.

"Ready?" Nat-mo asked as the sun peeked over the horizon and the clouds started to dissipate.

"As ready as we'll ever be." I replied, as Nat-mo's spirit faded and I was consumed by the blinding sun, and I was burned from Dreamworld for the first, and hopefully not the last, time.