Starlight

Chapter 4- "Feeling" magic

Sorry it's been a while. For this chapter, I won't use Jacob. Just trying something new. Thanks for reading! (And sorry for the choppy intro.)

The letter and the torn piece fit perfectly! The edges glowed, and as it faded, the paper was completely mended. Starlight's pocket also glowed, or well, the necklace inside it. Starlight quickly pulled it out to find it also mended. "Oh my goodness!" Starlight exclaimed. "It's-it's but that's not possible! How did it fix itself?" "Magic!" Sunny said with excitement. "But, from where?" A small piece of paper materialized, and floated down to the table. "Oo, maybe that will tell us." Sunny said excitedly. Starlight picked up the paper with shaking hands and read, "Princesses Starlight, the poem will show you the way. With love, Queen Luna." Sunny looked confused, then perked up. "Oh right, the song was a poem. Wasn't the first part about mountains in the sky?" "Yes, but I don't know what it means. Mountains don't exactly touch the sky... Wait, the Sky Mountain Range!" 

Starlight ran to her shelf and pulled down a thick brown book, Geography of Galactia and Beyond, the Complete Guide. Then she set it down on the table. She flipped through the worn pages a bit till she came to a page labeled, The Sky Mountain Range. Below the label was written, "The Sky Mountain Range separates Galactia from our neighboring kingdom, Rhonia. Traveling over these mountains guarantees death, and must be avoided by taking the southern road. The tallest mountain in this range is mount Hervan, which has been mined for copper." Sunny also read the section. "So we're supposed to go to the Sky Mountain Range?" "I think so, but it's a long ways away." Starlight replied as she pulled down a map from her shelf and spread it out on the floor. "We're here." she stated, pointing towards the bottom of the map, near a structure marked Galactia Castle. "And the Sky Mountains are up here." she said while pointing to the very top of the map. Sunny looked over. "I don't know much about maps, but that looks pretty far. It looks like we'll have to go through lots of other stuff before we even get to the mountain." Starlight was pacing down the length of the room by then. "Think, think, if you're embarking on an extensively long quest, what's the first step?" "Hmm. Maybe you should tell your parents? They might be interested." Starlight abruptly stopped. Of course! "Good idea, I'll do that!" 

Meanwhile, in Galactia Castle; "My throne is the wrong shade of gold. I told you to order the reupholstering for it yesterday! YESTERDAY NICK! " Celestia yelled from her white and gold throne. Behind her, the sun illuminated a stained glass portrait of herself. The clean white walls stood behind numerous gold decorations, most of which depicted the sun. Gold plated french doors sat heavily behind a boy. He was about 14, and stood shaking in a white and gold uniform. "I did, but they had other orders so they told me to wait." the boy, Nick, said while wringing his hands. Celestia rolled her eyes, and said, "I take you in as an orphan, give you a job, and you don't even bother to listen to me? You're even more worthless than your-" Celestia stiffened.

 "Queen Celestia? Are-are you alright?" Celestia's lips suddenly curled into a sinister smile. "Magic! Oh yes. There was magic, I just felt it! You know who has magic?" "You?" "No! Well, yes, but that's not who I meant you blithering dimwit. Luna!" "I thought you forbid me from speaking her nam-"Not anymore! Forget about the reupholstery. I have a way you can prove your worth to me." Nick was concerned where this was going. "Obviously, Luna is dead now, but someone tapped into her magic. Now dimwit, who would Luna give magic to?" "The Lost Princess?" Whenever Celestia got on about the Lost Princess or Luna, Nick usually expected Celestia to start screaming at him. But this was different. "Exactly! And who have I been searching for for the past 13 years to exact my revenge upon?" "The lost Princess?" "Yes! Now to find her." 

Celestia created a sort of magic screen. First, it showed a garden, then Betty's bakery, as she pulled a pie out of the oven. Next, Starlight was reaching on her shelf. "It's her!" Nick ran over to look. Could Celestia really sense magic this precisely? And this quickly? "That necklace was Luna's." Celestia said while pointing to Starlight's moon necklace. "I've found the Lost Princess at last!" Nick felt like running fat, far away from this insanity. Instead, knowing that wouldn't do him any good, he asked, "How are you going to, you know, exact your revenge upon her?" "Me?! I have to polish my rings. Finding her is your job. Then you will bring her back to me." Nick blanched. He was going on some wild goose chase, just because Celestia "felt" some magic?! Celestia snapped her fingers and a pair of gold handcuffs appeared. Then, she tossed them to Nick, barely missing his face as he ducked, so they fell to the floor with a clank. Nick hurriedly picked them up. "And just in case I want to contact you, use this." Celestia tossed him a gold compact mirror. "When I want you, it will glow, then you will open it immediately. If you have important news for me, open it, and I might get to you if I want." Nick blinked in shock at the little round mirror in his hand. "If I'm right, the magic came from somewhere over there." she said while pointing to the right. Nick checked his compass, which showed she was pointing east. "You will leave as soon as possible. Take a horse." "Now?" "Yes! Now GO!" Nick heaved open the doors and sprinted out into the hallway. "Better pack now." he thought as he ran through the halls to his room. 

Or well, it wasn't exactly a room. Once he opened the door, it revealed a closet, with a pile of blankets in the back, a trunk to the left, and to the right, a small table with a lamp placed on top. Nick opened the trunk and pulled out a leather backpack. He stuffed in extra clothes with some random items he might need, then went to the kitchen to grab food. Afterwards, he sprinted into the stables to ride his favorite horse, a light gray mare named Misty. As he rode along the cobblestone streets past all the fancy houses, his pocket glowed. He slowed down to open it. Celestia appeared on the mirror. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I'm, uh, heading east, to a bakery, to find the Lost Princess. Like you asked." Internally, he wanted to roll his eyes at how silly that sounded. "Why are you going so slow! You should be there by now. It's already been like 4 minutes. Hurry up!" "Yes Queen Celestia." Nick said as he urged Misty to go faster. "What did I want to tell you? Oh yes. The peasant with the pie was working at Betty's bakery. Well, that's what the door says. Go find it!" Nick nodded as Celestia faded back into the mirror. He slipped it back into his pocket. At least he had a name for the bakery now.

 "How am I going to find Betty's Bakery? It could be anywhere!" Misty tilted her head toward a man on the street. Oh right. "Sir?" Nick asked as he slowed Misty to the same pace as the man. "Yes?" he asked gruffly. "Do you know where Betty's Bakery is?" The man pointed down the street, "Down a ways to the right." "Thank you!" Nick said as he flicked the reigns. After passing a few small houses and shops, he came to his destination. At first he was confused why the man had lead him to such a strange house, but when he saw "Betty's Bakery" painted on the window, he realized he was at the correct place. He dismounted Misty and walked to the front of the Bakery. Starlight was right behind the glass door! She was talking to someone, so he went around to the side and found an open window. Thankfully, a row of tulips were growing on the sill, so he was able to hide a bit. He kneeled down to peek through the stalks.