Chapter 2: Fillyhood

(7 years later)

"Blue Star! Come back! Thou Knoweth thou are not to wonder in the everfree forest! Blue Star!" Sargent Shadow Shield called in vain for the foal's return. Ever since she had turned 5, the young princess was the most curious thing in equestria. This lead her into trouble on more than one occasion and continued to do so. Today she was particularly bored so she decided to sneak out and explore.

She hadn't gotten far when she heard a flapping and whining and some kind of odd hissing.

"Huh? Twas surely a strange sound. Even for the forest of everfree. I must seeketh it out." with a determined air, the young princess followed the odd sound.

Soon enough she found a flutterfox, struggling with some coma weeds. It let out one final yelp before the gasses from the weeds caused it to pass out. Blue Star knew she had to do something. This poor creature didn't deserve to die. Her heart crystal sparkled, and she seemed to get an instinct to know what to do. She let out a loud scream. Any scream attracts attention, but the scream of a siren is different. It carried all the way to the castle and into luna's dream. She heard her daughter's call and started awake. She teleported herself to the edge of the everfree forest. Then to the scene that awaited her. It shocked her to the very core. Her daughter was ferociously fighting against 5 coma weeds to defend a flutterfox. Luna sprang into action.

"NONE SHALL DARE TO ATTACK MY DAUGHTER!" she screamed eyes aflame with anger. The weeds hissed in response, sickly blue mist flooding from their mouths. Luna acted fast. "FLY BLUE STAR! FLY THYSELF TO SAFETY!"as she called this she began to blast the weeds with her magic. But the weeds were used to being attacked with magic and avoided luna's blasts with terrifying ease.

"Fie! I can but help thee mother!" Blue Star replied. However she did fly above the seen to make sure she wouldn't get hurt. She began to sing. It was incredibly beautiful to all who heard it, all except for the weeds. They thrashed and tore around, as if being attacked with some deadly weapon. Luna stared at the seen with eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Soon enough the weeds were so tangled within each other that they were no longer a threat. Only then did Blue Star stop her song. Luna wasn't sure to be mad or rejoice. Her daughter had just defeated coma weeds with her voice! Yet at the same time, she had disobeyed. Again. Blue Star looked sheepish as she flew down to meet her mother. "Greetings mother." she said without looking at her. Luna tilted Blue Star's head up with her hoof.

"Thou art forgiven my dear. Thyn great deed hath surely saved the life of this poor flutterfox."

"The flutterfox!"Blue Star exclaimed. "Mustn't we tend to it?"

"Of course my dear." and with that the pair of princesses trotted twards the still-unconscious flutterfox. Even though she new about it Luna was always impressed when she saw her daughter perform a healing spell effortlessly. A sparkling blue aura glowed around the flutterfox as Blue Star's heartcrystal shined bright. This time however, Luna noticed that the aura seemed...different somehow. Her suspicions were soon confirmed when the flutterfox opened it's eyes and uttered

"Huh? Wha? What happened? How am I still alive?"

"THOU CAN SPEAK!?" Blue Star was astonished, as was Luna. but not as much as you would think. She had heard tales of a strange kind of magic that could make animals able to communicate. However it was very complex and the fact that Blue Star could do it at nearly 7 years of age….

"I...I can now. Aperentally."

"Blue Star, your healing spell must have brought this ability about. I thought i had noticed something different in the spell thou used. I just couldn't put my hoof opon it." Luna said this half to herself and half to the young filly and flutterfox present.

"I now must return to canterlot. Blue Star, thou should take this flutterfox to the cave and tend to her. I shall send sargent Shadow Shield a dream telling him of these events."

"As thou wish, mother. Fare thee well." Blue Star called as she watched her mother fly away.

"Now, as for you." Blue Star was very curious. She had never seen a real flutterfox before. She was just as beautiful as the stories told. Legend said that once opon a time. All foxes were wingless. But one day one special fox saved the life of a butterfly from the deadly web of a poisonous spider. As soon as the pair was free from the danger at hoof, the butterfly revealed her true form. She was a powerful unicorn mage, known to many as mistmane. She was very grateful to the fox, so she granted her the wings of a butterfly. Proclaiming that the foxes descendants would forever be blessed, not only with the power of flight, but kindness would forever flow through their veins. And from that day forth, they were known as the flutterfoxes.

"What are thou going to do to me?" asked the little flutterfox, shaking in fear. The flutterfoxes also tended to be timid.

"I only wish to help thou gain back thy strength." Blue Star responded kindly. "Come."

"Very well" said the flutterfox, still timid but following nonetheless. Blue Star hummed a song as they walked back to the cave. It was meant to help calm the traumatised flutterfox, and it did so.

"What's your name?" Blue Star asked, pausing in her song. attempting to make some kind of conversation.

"I don't have one." came the shy response.

"Well thou shalt need one." Blue Star stated decisively. She scanned the flutterfoxes features. The blue-purple wings with little sparkles like stars. The blue-black fur, the splotches of pink and purple like nebulas in a distant galaxy, the glowing blue eyes. She could only think of one name to fit such a creature.

"Midnight Beauty!" she exclaimed with excitement.

"I like that name." said the flutterfox, flapping her wings a little and making them shimmer. Soon they arrived at the cave. Midnight Beauty marveled at the wonders of the cave. She smelled one of the flowers and moments later, sneezed hard. Blue Star laughed.

"The flowers are a bit too strong to smell in such close vicinity." she said between giggles. Midnight Beauty huffed, but she wasn't really offended. She settled down on the bed. She sighed with contentment.

"I like you." Blue Star said decisively.

"Thanks be to you." Midnight Beauty responded "I enjoy your company as well."

"Yay!" Blue Star exclaimed jumping around the room. Midnight Beauty's smile grew.

Once she had calmed down, Blue Star asked "can I keep you? I have been wanting a friend" Midnight beauty was a bit taken aback. She had been a free soul her whole life. Going where she wanted, helping others when she could, doing what she needed to to survive. She had loved this lifestyle, but she had been so lonely. A life as the princess's pet would certainly put an end to that, but was is it worth giving up her other life? The princess had been so kind to her, she had saved her life for pony's sake! But still.

"I-I" she stuttered as she struggled to decide.

"Tell you what." the princess interrupted "thou shall stay with me for a fortnight. If thou art pleased with the experience, then thou shalt stay forevermore. If however not, then thou shalt be free once more, and set on thy way. Deal?" this sounded reasonable to Midnight Beauty so she agreed. And Blue Star promised that she would not use her voice to sway her final decision.

(2 Weeks Later)

"Art thou sure of this mother? I mean, I don't even have my cutie mark yet. What assistance could I possibly be in bringing forth thy night?"

"Have faith my dear. We trust thou shalt be able to do much more than thou expects. Have no fear." Luna wasn't sure what was going to happen, but as it always happened, the cutie mark magic called her to do something, so she followed it's request. Just as everypony does when naming their new faol. A thought had struck her as of late; Blue Star's talent was obviously her voice but she had only been vocalizing so far in her song spells. Would adding incantations magnify her power even more? They were about to find out.

"On my mark." Luna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed and her wings spread as they steadily moved upwards. The moon began to show her face over the mountain peaks and the sun was fully set.

"Now" luna whispered, still concentrating hard. Blue Star took her own calming breath before she began the song. She had never heard it before, had never practiced it, but somehow she knew every line and every note, and she performed them perfectly.

In the quiet lovely evening

when the moon has come again,

When the crickets start their singing

I'll be calling thou again,

As the night has brought it's blessing

now the light is past its prime,

now tis finally time for resting

Now my stars tis the time

Show thyself to the masses

Show thyself to the land

Hear my call and quickly answer

For my stars thou art so grand

Thou shall complete luna's landscape

Thou shalt bring wonder and bliss

As the darkness drapes the nightscape,

Thou shalt bring beauty to it

now my song shall set thou racing

As my summons nears their end

And the path thou soon shalt end

Come back home hearts thou shall mend

Come return to thy places

Come return to thy domain

Hear my call and quickly answer

I will wait for thou again

(softly)

In the quiet lovely evening

When the moon has come again,

When the crickets start their singing

I'll be calling thou again.

As Blue Star finished her song, she kept her eyes closed, nervas beyond words. She desperately wanted her song to have worked, but what if it haddn't? What if….?

"Blue Star?" a familiar voice asked.

"I'm too nervous to look!" she squeaked. Luna just chuckled. Without a word she pulled her daughter into a warm hug. Then she used her magic to remove Blue Star's hooves from her eyes.

"Thou need have no fear. Look. " she pointed up. The sky was more thick with stars then it had ever been. They shot across the sky in brilliant displays of wonder. The tails of which were rainbow like an aurora. Thousands of bright stars were visible. It was truly one of the most beautiful nights since Equestria's beginning. But before Blue Star could take it all in, she found herself floating and glowing off the ground. She shut her eyes tight. Then she felt herself gently placed back on the ground. She was tingly. All over. Especially on her.. She gawked. Her cutie mark had appeared. Two blue stars overlapping with a heart music note. Blue Star looked at luna, then back at her new mark, then back at luna, then back at her mark. All the while her mouth wide open. Luna laughed wholeheartedly as Blue Star got over her shock and started dancing around her shouting

"YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!"

(Meanwhile at the Changeling Hive)

Queen Elytra shook with anticipation as she watched the cracked egg cradled in her hoofs. It's surface a glowing green with dark markings. Only one egg like this one was lain every 1000 years. This egg would hatch to become the next queen of the hive. If it survived at all. If it didn't the hive would die. Changeling queens are immortal but they can only lay queen eggs in their first 5000 years, and this was the queen's last chance! She waited and watched….waited and watched… the crack grew. Queen Elytra held her breath. Her heart beat fast. This is it. The egg shell fell apart revealing, a baby changeling queen.

"Please be alive! Please be alive!" the queen's mind screamed. And then, all in a moment, her world became entirely relief and joy. All in the moment the baby changeling opened her eyes and looked at her mother. She was a healthy newborn queen. "Welcome to the hive, princess chrysalis. With thou at last arrived, Equestria doesn't stand a chance. Soon their love will be feeding us for generations!"

To Be Continued...