"Wake up sleepyhead!" Sunny calls, effectively waking Nick. She set a metal bowl of spaghetti and carrot soup next to him. He wasn't sure how they cooked spaghetti in a forest, but he was too hungry to care. After eating, he remembered his task, finding the crown. Looking around, he spotted Starlight working on her scooter's wheels. "So Starlight, if I remember right, you were looking for something. You've come quite a long way, where are you headed?" Starlight looked up from her project. He could tell the gears were turning in her head as she thought through her response. "Actually, I was wondering the same thing about you. First, you show up under my window, and then, you're right behind me on a road which I haven't seen a single other soul. I hate to be so accusatory, especially of someone I barely know, but where are you headed? It appears you're following us."
Nick started to sweat. He already knew Celestia's plan was ludicrous, but now that he was living it, he wasn't sure what to do. He decided to avoid the question. "I work for Celestia, so I can't tell you about what I'm doing. Sorry about that." Nick tried a smile. Starlight nodded. "Well, if you don't wish to tell us where you're headed, I don't believe we should either." As Starlight turned back to her scooter, he realized there was a tent behind her, a real one! And a fire. Most of his food was destroyed in the downpour, and his tent obviously didn't work. He had to find some way to stay with them, at least until he could buy more supplies at the next town. "Well, since we'll be staying on this road for a while, how about we stick together, at least for now?" Starlight glanced at Sunny, then nodded. "Alright." Soon, it was time to sleep. Starlight took one look at Nick's tarp, and told him to sleep in the tent. After limping to the tent, he laid down in a cleared space to the left, and fell asleep almost instantly.
Where was he? Oh right, in Starlight's tent. Everyone was still asleep, why was he awake? Then he felt warmth from the glowing mirror, and pulled it out. "Yes?" he whispered. "So, what are you doing? I hope it's good news this time." Nick nodded. "I'm traveling with Starlight now." "WITH HER?! Why are you even near Luna's evil daughter? And I was just starting to have a little hope for you idiot." He gritted his teeth. Celestia always assumed the worst about him. And well, pretty much everyone else too. "Well, I thought it would be easier to find the location of the crown first if I was with Starlight, instead of behind her." He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier dimwit? Whatever, just hurry up about it, I'm getting impatient." Then the mirror went dark. Eventually, Nick fell back asleep.
The next morning, they set out early, with Nick and Sunny on Misty, while Starlight stayed on her scooter. Nick's foot was significantly better, but he couldn't say the same for his white boot. Multiple rips blemished the originally perfect white leather. As they rode along, Nick spotted a piece of paper tacked to a tree, and stopped. "Huh." Starlight pulled closer. At the top, "WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE" was written in dark ink. Below was a sketch of a girl with long curly hair, and a man with a scar running from the middle of his forehead, to his temple. Under the sketch was written: Mysterious THIEVING DUO known as: "The slipperiest THUGS in all of Galactia." REWARD: 1,000 GOLD coins. (Larger or alternate REWARD can EASILY be negotiated.) PRETTY PLEASE (with a cart load of cherries on top) FIND THEM, we're very very VERY desperate!
Sunny pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Hmm. I'm getting a... feeling about those people." she pointed to the poster. After a few minutes, they rounded a bend in the road to see a pair of horses, side by side, walking towards them. The horse to the left was a chestnut, and laden with multiple bags, crates, and other items, strapped on haphazardly. The rider wore a dark cloak, but the hood was off, letting loose her cascade of red curls. To the right side, a midnight black horse carried a taller rider, who also wore a dark cloak. A scar ran over his face. This one looked to the first, who nodded. Now they were quite close to each other, so they both stopped. Nick immediately recognized them from the wanted poster, but hoped for the best. With all that stuff on the chestnut horse, maybe they already had enough loot.
"Would you mind letting us past?" Nick asked. "I'm afraid we can't do that." the man replied. The girl rolled her eyes. "Let me put it plainly for you." she stated sweetly. "We would like your... valuables. You can either give them to us nicely, or we can do this the difficult way." The three of them were too shocked to answer. She smiled. "I was hoping you would choose: difficult." She said, while she pulled out a pair of swords. As she jumped down from her horse, Sunny noticed a crate, labeled "Beef Jerky" strapped down loosely. Then she had an idea. A very, very dangerous idea. Placing her foot on top of the saddle as leverage, she leapt into the air, snatched the crate, and landed in a sprint towards the forest.
A mixture of surprise, betrayal, and fear crossed Starlight's face, till she settled into panic. "Okay, so, two armed robbers are after us. They're both wanted all over Galactia for their excellence in theft. The only person who knows how to use a real weapon just deserted us. What do we do?" "Ummm..." Nick had no idea either. The female thief jumped down swiftly from her horse, and took a swing at Starlight. Luckily, her hammer was able to block it in time. "Harry says NO!" she yelled. Next, the scarred man unsheathed a sword and urged his horse towards Nick. Just as he was taking a swing at Nick's head, something made a loud "Clang!".
Nick looked up to see that Starlight's hammer had ricocheted off the man's sword, and was now lying on the ground. Even though the scarred man's sword was dented, he raised it high for a final blow, but a howl suspended him. Then another rang out, and another. And they sounded close. Just as the man decided to continue with his original plan, a pack of wolves burst through the trees, paws flying across the dirt. But instead of attacking Starlight and Nick, they immediately targeted the robbers, snapping at their legs and chasing them back down the road.
"What was that?" Nick asked, concern and surprise lacing his voice. Starlight turned to see Sunny petting one of the wolves as Sunny looked up. "Oh, that! Well, I was thinking: Those wolves were really hungry back there. So when I saw the beef jerky on the back of that creepy girl's horse, I thought the wolves would like it. So I brought it into the forest. First I met Lovota, because she was a scout, and then she took me to the leaders of the pack, Xylia and Conri. When when they thanked me for my "generosity" (which was all to kind of them), Conri insisted he owed me a favor. So then, I asked if he would lead the wolves to help you guys, and he was all, "Anything to help our newfound ally." And then they came here."
Nick and Starlight's jaws went slack. Starlight was the first to recover. "You talked with wolves? That doesn't make any sense. Wolves don't talk or-or" Then she grabbed her journal out of her scooter and began to furiously write down notes. "There has to be a logical explanation for this..." she muttered. As the first wolf came back, it growled something to Sunny. "Oh, Mavka says there's a town up ahead, that's good news. Ready to go?" Nick was still staring at the wolf Sunny was petting and back to his torn up boot. "Uhhh, sure."
As the rest of the wolves came back and disappeared in the forest, Sunny waved goodbye. "Have fun Chann! Don't forget to use the comb I gave you Dacianna, it should make your fur shine! Your howl was beautiful Ashina, keep it up! Oh, Adoff, I almost forgot! Starlight didn't mean to hurt you with her hammer, sorry about that. And Fridolf-" Nick gently pulled her away. "You know, maybe we should get going Sunny, or you'll be saying goodbye all day!" He said as he gestured to the large number of wolves left. "Well, okay, I guess you're right." Sunny sighed, and climbed back onto Misty. "Wait!" Starlight called as she ran behind a cluster of trees.
Wow Moonlight1472, don't you usually come up with plain Jane names like Betty, Jack, and Nick?
Yes, yes I do. (I'm working on that.) All the wolf names were given to me by Enjolras_IRL_18 , thank you so much! I don't know how this chapter would have ended without you. Well, I'll be back in Chapter 9, bye! 😉
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Starlight
FantasyStarlight is a young, brilliant inventor. She lives in the kingdom of Galactia, where there is no night. But after learning more about her mysterious parents, she realizes she must embark on a journey to bring back the night, which hasn't been seen...
