Starlight

Chapter 10- Celestia's Pile of Dust

After not posting for ages, and my most recent chapter being microscopic, I hope this last chapter of 1699 words will help make up for it. Happy reading!

After leaving Tree Town, they continued along the dirt road for two days, till at last they reached the Sky Mountain Range. They had stopped near the stream to fill up on water and take a break. Misty lapped up water from the stream while Moon flew to Starlight's shoulder. As she filled her waterskin (Medieval water bottle) next to Misty, she voiced her thoughts to Sunny, "So, what do you think of Nick? He hasn't left yet. And I'm starting to wonder if Celestia's "business" doesn't include following us. And speaking of Celestia, she sure sounds like someone who "rules the sun". And we were supposed to be wary of whoever that is. Well, according to my poem. But at the same time, he saved us from your wolf pack. Ach! The more I think about it, the more confusing he gets!" Starlight felt like hitting something really hard with Harry (her hammer). Why was he so frustrating? Sunny piped up. "Well, he may be kind of weird when he talks to his mirror, but I believe he'd-" Starlight's attention snapped to Sunny. "He does what?"

Meanwhile, Nick hid behind a tree, listening in. Starlight's rant just kept getting worse. Oh no. He didn't know she- His warming mirror interrupted his thoughts. He walked out of earshot, then opened it, "Yes?" "Ugh, have you seriously not caught on? I was beginning to hope you would outgrow being an idiot. Anyway, where was I? Oh right, WHY IS IT TAKING SO LONG?" Nick cringed. "W-We're at a mountain?" "NICHOLAS! That's not an explanation! GO! NOW!" With a shaky nod, he closed the mirror to see Starlight staring at him. Ooops.

Starlight and Moon simultaneously cocked their heads. "Nick, what are you doing?" "Jusy, uh, fixing my, er, hair." he said as he ran a hand through his tangled blonde hair. Man, he really should have brought a comb. "Umm, okay... Well, I was going to take a look around the mountain. Are you staying here?" "Naw, I'll come. Not much to do here anyway." He picked up Misty's reigns as Starlight placed her waterskin in Misty's saddlebags. Soon, they were off to explore the foot of the mountain.  As they followed a vague path, a sheer wall of gray rock abruptly appeared. They were finally at the foundation of a mountain high.

As the trail hugged the rock, Sunny frowned at it. Nick, who had jogged ahead, called, "The trail ends up here!" Starlight ran to catch up. Sure enough, their vague trail through the forest turned at a large evergreen tree straight towards the gray rock. Starlight ran her hand along the rough surface. "This is it? More rock?" Nick was internally panicking. There had to be something they missed. And if they didn't find it, Celestia was going to be mad. Very mad. He turned back to the wall. Then he saw it. A crack. It was so thin, easily missed, but it reminded him of something. The cracks on his door from Celestia punching it. There was actually a hole in his door because of it. But they spider webbed out from that hole to tiny cracks like these. Then he saw another, pointing in the same direction. Down. Now that he knew what to look for, he noticed even more, all still pointing. He crouched down and discovered more and more cracks, each larger than the last. A bushy weed blocked his discoveries, so he yanked it out of the ground. Using a small rock, he scraped away some dirt from the wall. Now the cracks were coming up from the dirt to meet the ones coming down. In the center of all these cracks was a perfectly smooth area. He rubbed his thumb over it. Where had he seen that shape before? "Wow Nick, here you fail me yet again." Celestia's voice bounced around in his head. 

No! He was going to figure this out, and prove Celestia wrong about him. He would make her proud. He just had to think. The shape looked like a mini version of one of those delicious looking croissants in Betty's Bakery, the place he first met Starlight and Sunny. He looked over at them. Starlight was frantically pacing the length of the path with Moon still perched on her shoulder, muttering to herself, while Sunny looked concerned. Then the light caught Starlight's necklace. Of course! It was the exact shape and size as the pendant. Also, hadn't Celestia mentioned something about the necklace being Luna's? "Starlight, I think I found something!" Starlight walked over, looking hopeful. "What is it?" Nick pointed to the wall. "Do you see these cracks?" Starlight nodded. "Well, they lead down farther, to this spot here. And it looks just like your necklace!" She unclasped the necklace and held it over the spot. "You're right! Same size too..." A line from her poem popped into her head.

Use the Moon to dive down.

She gently pushed the pendant to the rock face, and heard a faint click. She gently tried to take her necklace back, but the silver chain pulled taught. Oh no! Now her necklace was stuck. "Uhh, Nick? It's not coming out..." Just as she finished her sentence, the little opal moon began to glow, brighter and brighter. Then the light, as if it was liquid, flowed through the cracks. Sunny ran over and tried to touch the pale blue light. "Ooo, shiny!" Then a chunk of rock disintegrated, then another if the light was burning them away! Chunk after chunk disappeared until they reached the necklace, which Starlight was finally able to pull out. As the dust settled, it revealed a huge cave made of gray stone. In the center of the cave was a pedestal with a deep purple crown. A opal carved into a moon was set into the middle.

Starlight could hardly believe it! She walked towards the crown, and was about to touch its faintly glowing surface, when Nick grabbed it first. Starlight reeled back in shock. What had just happened? In a flash of fire, Celestia appeared at the opposite end of the cave, her black dress flowing around her. Nick shrank back in terror while Moon hid herself in Starlight's hair. "Hello Starlight, I've been waiting for this day." She turned to Nick. "Now hand me the crown." But Nick hesitated. Was this what he really wanted? For Celestia to reign as a tyrant? She'd never shown him many kindnesses. But Starlight had given him a dry place to sleep, and trusted him. At least until now. He felt the energy from the crown thrum through his fingers. Then he made his decision. He walked over to Starlight and placed the crown where it belonged. On her head. "NOOOOOO!!!!" Celestia yelled as she ran towards Nick, fire already blazing from her hands. Nick closed his eyes and braced himself for the end. He hoped he'd at least have a quick death. Maybe Misty would miss him. But nothing happened. Nick opened his eyes to see Starlight holding her hammer out in front of her, and had somehow created a shimmering shield, blocking Celestia. Wow! But as the fire blazed against it, the transparent shield began to crack.

She had just used magic, real magic! But she could tell it was failing. Quickly, what to do, what to do! Then her mother's poem popped into her head yet again:

For the Sun and the Moon cannot be one

Take heed of this warning for it rings true

Otherwise harm may find you

When she had first read the poem, she had thought it meant it couldn't be day and night at the same time. Hence Sun and Moon. But now she was wondering if it was the Sun and Moon crown. If they collided, would this harm come about? Celestia was literally about to MURDER them all, and she was out of any other ideas. "Alright!" Starlight yelled. Celestia ended her fiery torrent with a smile. Starlight stood, and the shield faded. "You win." Nick, Moon, and Sunny looked quite bewildered as Starlight took off the crown, and handed it to Celestia, her eyes hungry for the power it contained. "Thank you for coming to your senses, I really do appreciate it. Now, I can finally have my REVENGE!!!"

But as soon as she placed the crown on top of her crown, a bright flash of light almost blinded them! When it faded, all that remained of Queen Celestia was the two crowns (now on the pedestal), and a small pile of dust where Celestia had once stood. As Starlight and Sunny walked over to the crowns, Nick bent down to look at what was left of Celestia. Surprisingly, he didn't feel much loss for her. But as he looked closer, something sparkled. He blew at the dust, effectively creating a small dust storm. Once it settled, he saw a small gold ring. Even though Celestia wasn't exactly the, er, ideal parental figure, she was the only one he had ever known. So he gingerly picked up the ring and slid it in his pocket.

When he looked up, Sunny and Starlight both had the crowns on. Sunny twirled her finger in a circle, creating a little ring of fire. "Ooo!" she marveled. Starlight stepped out of the cave into the sunlight. Sunny and Nick followed. "Ready to see the night?" she asked excitedly. Sunny nodded. Starlight took a deep breath. As Sunny set the Sun on the west horizon, Starlight's crown glowed, and the Moon rose, bringing an ink black sky and the stars with it. Starlight's eyes widened. The sky was so beautiful! The full moon glowed brightly in the inky sky, while each sparkling star shone brightly. The gentle moonlight softened the colors of the forested landscape and reflected off Moon's white feathers. "Group hug!" Sunny shouted. Sunny wrapped her arm around Starlight and both girls looked over at Nick. Starlight playfully pulled Nick over into their hug by the sleeve of his jacket. "You too!" After everything, they had finally fulfilled their quest, and had brought back the night to the kingdom of Galactia. 

Wow, I can hardly believe Starlight is over! Squeeeee, so happy! I had SO much fun writing this, and reading all zee comments, lol, I'm laughing just thinking about it! And thank you reader for, you know, reading! 😁 Well, I'll write up a quick epilogue hopefully either today or tomorrow, so see ya then!