Hi everyone! I'm PrimroseRaspberry, and welcome to my newest fanfic!
This story is basically a rewrite of the "Dora The Explorer" internet game, Dora The Mummy Surgery. It inspired me to write this fanfic because there were two questions the game never answered: why exactly did the pharaoh plant that curse on Dora? And how did the game's player gain access to the enchanted book at the end? I really wondered about the answers to these questions, so I figured, why not write a fanfiction story about the game? Eventually I wound up including characters from the Star Darlings in the story too, because I personally really love that show; plus I kind of wanted to give Piper and her mysterious intuition some time in the spotlight. I mean, there are so many moments in the books where this part of her personality ends up ultimately saving the day, and each time I came across one of those scenes, it was just such a pleasure to read! :D
Anyways, I hope you enjoy my story. However, before I begin, I must say this: for those of you who don't exactly care for Dora because of her so-called "dumbness," please don't leave any reviews that are meant to insult her or any of her friends in any way. I am aware that people (authors and readers alike) on this site have done that in previous Dora fanfics, and I don't want the same to happen here. Because personally, I like Dora The Explorer, and I would prefer for people to not insult her in any way. Any negative comments like that will not be tolerated. Just letting you know. You can post reviews for this story of course; just not any that are intended to disrespect any of the characters.
Disclaimer: While I enjoy both shows very much, I don't own "Star Darlings" or "Dora The Explorer." All credit goes to their respective authors and creators on Disney and Nickelodeon.
Chapter 1
Piper sprung out from under the covers of her bed, screaming louder than she'd ever screamed before. For a moment she frantically glanced around her dorm room, forgetting where she was. She remembered she was in her room after a few starsecs as usual, but that didn't make her feel any calmer.
Vega yawned and sleepily lifted up her head, resting it on her hand. "Another nightmare?"
Despite still feeling rattled, Piper sighed, guilty that she'd woken up her roommate. She nodded, and Vega asked, "Do you want me to get your dream journal? I know you like writing down what happens when you're dreaming…"
"No," said Piper. "That isn't necessary. The nightmare I just had was the same one from last starnight. The one about the mummy curse."
"That one again?" Vega inquired, worried. "That's the fifth time this starweek, Piper."
"I know. This can't be a good sign. Whoever that poor Wishling is, the repeating nightmare must mean she really is in danger…or at least will be."
Vega lay down on her back, moaning sleepily. Piper had always believed that dreams and nightmares had particular meanings to them; important meanings. Normally her roommate didn't exactly agree on this, but even she knew that having the same nightmare five times in a row wasn't normal. This strange nightmare Piper had been having lately about a monkey watching a young Wishling girl being transformed into a mummy by a strange boy with no pupils in his eyes—it had to mean something. Vega doubted it was some kind of vision of the future though; Piper (who began treating the nightmare as a vision ever since the third time she experienced it) had said the boy who cursed the girl was also a Wishling, but Wishlings didn't have magical powers or eyes without pupils! At least as far as she was concerned, seeing as she only thought this because that was what she was learning at Starling Academy. Still, each time they discussed that part of the nightmare, Piper had always been convinced that regardless of what their school said, the boy in her dream was still a Wishling.
Piper slid out of her bed and headed for the door. Vega noticed and got nervous. "Where are you going?"
"This nightmare has to be constantly returning for a reason, Vega," her roommate insisted. "It's an omen, it has to be! And we must prevent the Wishling from being cursed for real, even if it means travelling to Wishworld in the middle of the starnight."
Now Vega was wide awake. "We can't go to Wishworld now! We're only supposed to go there when we're assigned to complete a Wish Mission!"
"The nightmare's events took place during the starday," said Piper. "When exactly, I'm not sure. But if we leave now, we'll have more time to find the Wishling and stop the boy from harming her."
Vega sighed and got out of bed as well. They weren't supposed to sneak out of school—not to mention Starland, which went for any moment in the starday—in the middle of the starnight, but it didn't seem like they had much of a choice. Besides; despite the unlikelihood of a Wishling with no pupils in his eyes being the one to activate that mummy curse, there was still a strong possibility that something strange was going on. Nightmares didn't normally repeat this many times in a row, and now that she thought about it, Piper had actually been right about her dreams foreshadowing future events (more or less, anyway) in the past. She'd even dreamt that she would be chosen for her first Wish Mission starweeks ago, and then the next starday, she was. Maybe one part of the nightmare was too unlikely to be true, but considering everything else, this was definitely one of those occasions where Vega had no choice but to just trust her roommate and go along with her theories—no matter how drastic they could become.
The two of them then began packing their things, not even bothering to change out of their pyjamas. They were going to Wishworld after all, so they would need to use their Star Zaps to change their outfits into Wishling clothes. They did, however, slip their Power Crystals into their pockets and put on their Wish Pendants—just in case they would need protection against that magical Wishling boy. If he was a Wishling, that is; they would find that out for sure once they got to the right place.
Once they were ready, Vega and Piper opened their door and slipped out of their dorm room. After making sure they closed the door very quietly so they wouldn't wake the other second year students—including their friends Astra and Clover—the duo exited the Little Dipper Dorm and used the Cosmic Transporter to get to the Wishworld Observation Deck. They then headed to its highest level.
"Oh, starf," said Vega, once they arrived. "How are we supposed to acquire a shooting star so we can get to Wishworld?"
Piper thought hard, looking around for ideas. The star wranglers weren't here, and they didn't leave their wish energy lassos alone on the deck anymore—not since the last time they'd done that had allowed Clover to sneak to Wishworld, even if she'd done it because it had been time for her Wish Mission. The two Starlings would have to find a way to summon a shooting star without their help. But how could they do that? Sighing, Piper distractedly let her gaze wander downward, towards her nightgown, where her Power Crystal was stored. Wait…her Power Crystal!
Without any second thoughts, Piper pulled it into view and held it out in front of her, toward an incoming shooting star. Vega did the same with her own Power Crystal, and the two girls concentrated on the shooting star and their crystals with all their might. A few starsecs later, two streams of energy—one light blue and one turquoise—flew out of the crystals and wrapped themselves around the shooting star, keeping it in place for a moment and then bringing it towards them. Once it was in front of them, Vega and Piper climbed inside of it before deactivating their Power Crystals, releasing their grip on the shooting star and sending it flying. They were now officially on their way to Wishworld.
Not wasting a starsec, Vega and Piper put away their Power Crystals and took out their Star Zaps, which they used to access their Wishworld Outfit Selectors. This along with pure concentration allowed them to change their appearances slightly and make themselves look more like Wishlings. After that, they recited the magic words, allowing the sparkles to fly off of their skin and hair: "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
Their Wishling transformations now complete, the two girls began to enter Wishworld's atmosphere. In a few starsecs, they arrived at their destination and landed on their feet, startled when they sank down in the ground a bit. It was entirely covered in sand, with a few awkwardly-shaped spiky plants growing in it nearby. They were in a desert!
Vega quickly wrapped her arms around her chest, shaking. They'd learned from one of their classes that deserts were the hottest places in all of Wishworld; at least during the daytime. At night (which was right now), since the deserts' heat came from the sun, it disappeared until the sun came back up, leaving the hot sand-filled areas very very cold. Why in Starland had Vega decided to replace her pyjamas with a white T-shirt and a sleeveless dress?! Sure, she'd also selected some boots and tights, but still. They weren't exactly the kind of boots and tights people wore when it was below zero degrees!
Piper, who had also chosen the wrong outfit for this kind of situation, was even colder than her friend. Luckily, she managed to take a few deep breaths to calm herself, allowing her to access her Wishworld Outfit Selector again and magically change into much warmer clothing. An instant wave of relief came over Piper, and she scooted over to Vega to help her do the same.
Once they were both in coats, warmer boots, pants, and mittens, Vega and Piper were able to observe the desert they were in a lot more easily. There were a lot of those prickly plants here, although they were spread out all over the desert, so some of them were easy to see while others were more far away and harder to spot. Apart from them and the sand, there really wasn't anything here…except that faint silhouette in the distance; what was it?
"We should head for that…giant shadow over there," Piper decided. "Then we will warm up more and figure out how we will find the Wishling girl."
"Sounds good," said Vega. The two stood up, held hands, and began making their way towards the silhouette.
As they walked, Piper's gaze wandered toward the dark sky above them, and she gasped. She could see a bright and gentle stream of energy flowing out of the strange silhouette, through the sky, and into outer space! Was that…a newly made wish morphing into a Wish Orb? If so, then that meant there could be a Wisher near that silhouette—one who had just made a positive wish! And because of her mummy curse nightmares, Piper had a feeling she already knew who the Wisher was. It could only be one of two Wishlings…
Curious by Piper's gasp, Vega looked where she was looking and also saw the extraordinary sight. "Let's hurry," she said, and they did.
THUMP!
Lady Stella awoke to an unexpected sensation: a small and apparently round object falling onto her stomach. It wasn't very heavy, thankfully; in fact, she could feel it ever so slightly levitate once it came into contact with her.
She sat up to see what had fallen onto her bed and gasped. It was a Wish Orb…but what was it doing here? The cottages belonging to her and the rest of the Starling Academy staff were hidden away from campus, only accessible through a secret door built on a tree trunk. The door could only be opened via hand scanner, which only Starlings could activate. Besides, all Wish Orbs were supposed to go to the Wish House, which was definitely not in the faculty neighbourhood. There had only been two occasions where an orb went off course, and both of those orbs had been taken care of before Lady Stella even found out they'd gone someplace else in Starland—one by Astra, and the other by Sage, Scarlet, Vega, Leona, and Libby.
The Wish Orb, a pinkish-lavender sphere with a backpack-shaped light in the middle, flew towards her, until it was just barely touching the tip of her nose. Now that was unusual too; normally Wish Orbs were more…calm. This one, for some reason, seemed more impatient, almost as if it had an urgent message to give.
Lady Stella gently took the orb into her hands and observed it very closely. She could immediately tell that it was ready to have its wish granted…but then again, even those kinds of orbs had never made it into the faculty cottage area. Clearly, it had gone into her house for a reason, and she needed to figure out what that reason was. Somehow, the headmistress of Starling Academy doubted this Wish Orb was only here to announce its wish was ready for granting. There was something else it was trying to tell her.
As if sensing her confusion, the Wish Orb flew out of Lady Stella's hands and circled around her head three times. "Alright," she said, "slow down! What else are you trying to say?"
The Wish Orb stopped in front of her face and then got very close to her eyes; so close that she could see two Wishling children inside of it. This didn't surprise Lady Stella—sometimes when Wish Orbs were ready to have their wishes granted, you could see live footage of the orb's Wisher inside of it if you looked close enough. The footages never showed any clues as to what the wish was exactly, but they always showed what the Wisher was doing right at that moment. And this Wish Orb was currently displaying a young Wishling boy—a monkey, to Lady Stella's astonishment—sadly sitting on his knees, looking down at a human Wishling girl lying in front of him, on her back. The girl seemed to be about six or seven Wishworld years old, but the abnormal wrinkles on her arms and legs and her even more peculiar cheeks, which each had a curvy scar in the middle, made her look so much older. She didn't look too well either; her eyes were runny, she was very sweaty, and her body was limp and wouldn't move. She was thankfully awake, but her expression made it clear that all hope seemed to have been completely drained out of her.
It was obvious that the monkey was this orb's Wisher, as strange as it was. And for once, the wish itself was obvious too. But if the monkey's greatest desire was for the girl to be healthy again, then why had the orb come to Starland as a Positive Wish Orb, rather than an Impossible Wish Orb—the kind that was beyond any Wishling's control? Something else wasn't right either: Lady Stella had heard of many Wishworld illnesses and diseases, but the one affecting this monkey's friend was too out of the ordinary to have possibly come from that planet. No Starling had seen anything like it since Vega's near-fatal encounter with Lady Rancora, when a dangerously huge amount of negative energy was sent into her system and only her Power Crystal had been able to revive her. Yet that villain couldn't be behind this—the Star Darlings had defeated her, and some of the Wishling girl's symptoms weren't among the scary ones that Vega had experienced.
Lady Stella slid out of bed and headed outside. Something strange was going on in Wishworld, and she needed to investigate. With any luck, she'd be able to set things straight and return to Starland before the rest of the staff—or the Star Darlings—even woke up.
It took a long time because the large amount of sand slowed them down, but eventually, Vega and Piper arrived at the giant silhouette. Or, to be precise, the humongous gold pyramid it turned out to be. It was very majestic, and now that they were standing right in front of it, the Starlings could see two identical pyramids standing next to it. However, there were no Wishlings in sight, much to their confusion.
"There has to be someone here," said Vega. "Positive wishes always come straight from a Wisher's heart. If this was where the Wish Orb was formed, someone has to be nearby."
Piper studied the pyramid and slowly stepped forward. "I'll see if I can use my intuition to sense their presence," she decided.
Vega nodded eagerly. Sensing the presence of others was a special ability Piper had mysteriously developed at some point back in Starland, during one of her meditation sessions. With this ability, as long as she stayed calm and focused on the task at hand, she could sense where someone else was, even if there were obstacles blocking their way. The last time Piper had used this ability, she had been able to find Tessa, Cassie, and Scarlet's location after those three had gotten trapped inside an underground room in the Star Caves, allowing the rest of the team to rescue them. If it worked then, it was sure to work here too.
Taking a deep breath, Piper closed her eyes and fell silent, swaying dreamily as she focused. "Yes," she said after a while, "I can sense someone's presence. Two Wishlings, I assume…they are inside this pyramid. One of them must be the one who made the wish we saw."
"Then there must be a way we can get inside the pyramid. Let's look around and see if we can find one."
Piper agreed, so she and Vega wandered around the pyramid, searching for a way inside of it. They eventually found something on the pyramid's right side: a tunnel leading inside the structure, about five star-inches above the ground. Piper used her levitation abilities to get herself and Vega inside of it.
"Moons and stars," gasped the Starlings. The passage they'd entered was very old, and very fascinating. The walls were made of light brown stone, decorated by lit torches. The floor, also made of stone but a lot more rough than the walls, was sturdy, but looked like bits of it were starting to chip off and rust away. Unfortunately, whoever had made the wish they'd seen was nowhere in sight.
"Star gr…I mean, hello?" Vega called. When she got no answer, she turned to Piper in confusion. "The Wisher couldn't have left since the last time you checked if they were here…could they?"
Piper closed her eyes for a moment. "No, both Wishlings are still here. They're just further down. We will have to explore the pyramid's passages until we find them."
Not wanting them to get lost, Vega took out her Star Zap and instructed, "Take us to the Wisher that's in this pyramid."
Directions instantly appeared on the Star Zap's screen, telling the Starlings to go straight and turn right. They obeyed, and then the screen read, Go straight until you reach the third room on the left. They followed these instructions as well, until they got to the room in question. Then the Star Zap read, Arrival at destination.
Vega's eyes widened, and she held Piper's hand. Slowly, they peeked into the room they'd been led to and froze. Unlike the pyramid's passages, this room's walls were a darker shade of brown and made of smooth bricks. There were lit torches in here too, but these ones looked newer than the ones in the passages. Sitting on his knees on the floor, looking very sad, was a light blue monkey with a lavender face and a few strands of hair sticking upward. The edge of his tail was yellow along with his stomach, and he was wearing a pair of red boots. One glance at Piper, and Vega knew—this was the monkey from her nightmare.
Lying on the floor in front of the monkey was an even more astonishing sight: a Wishling girl with short brown hair, brown eyes, a pink T-shirt, orange shorts, a lavender backpack on her back, and white shoes. She looked like she was maybe 6 Wishworld years old, but had wrinkles on her arms and legs and a curvy scar on each of her cheeks, all of which were highly unusual. She also had runny eyes, a lot of sweat coming down her forehead, and a drained facial expression. Piper studied her for a bit before whispering to Vega, "That's the Wishling who was transformed into a mummy. The paper must have been removed from her body before we arrived."
"I did that," said the monkey. "I thought it might help—"
"You can talk?!" Vega and Piper interrupted, both in shock and in unison. They'd already known they wouldn't be in for anything ordinary, but…a talking animal? That kind of thing didn't even happen on Starland!
"Of course I can talk," the monkey told them, a little confused by the girls' reaction. "A lot of things here can talk. Even objects."
Vega nodded, still startled. "Well, yeah, but…usually only humans can talk and have their own personalities at the same time."
"That's what I meant," said the monkey. He pulled something out of the Wishling girl's backpack (which she didn't react to, much to the Star Darlings' concern) and held it up. It turned out to be a rolled-up scroll of paper; the one Wishworld substance that always fascinated Starlings, since there was no paper on Starland due to all reading and learning material being wish energy-based or digital. But unlike all the papers the girls had encountered on their Wish Missions, this one had a human-like face and, once he saw them, grinned and said, "Hi everyone! I'm the Map!"
"Hello, Map," greeted Piper. She was startled again at first, but then was able to calm herself after realizing that while they were different from what she and Vega were used to, neither the map nor the monkey meant any harm.
"I guess it's just different where we come from," said Vega, now feeling calmer as well. The monkey nodded, but then his gaze went back toward the Wishling girl, and his sadness returned.
"What is your name?" Piper asked him.
"I'm Boots," said the monkey. He gestured towards the girl and added, "And that's my best friend, Dora."
"Dora?" Vega exclaimed. "What a coincidence! We have a friend back at home, and her name is Adora!"
Piper nodded. "Their names sound very similar. How funny!"
"Yeah," said Boots, though he didn't smile with them. With a sigh, he explained, "Dora and I were exploring these pyramids together, and then the pharaoh of Egypt came and…and…" Tears welled up in his eyes, and his voice trailed off.
"He turned Dora into a mummy," finished Map. "It affected Backpack too, but it didn't work on me. I think it's because the pharaoh didn't know I was there."
"Backpack?" Piper asked.
Map gestured toward the lavender backpack Dora was wearing, and sure enough, the Starlings heard muffled moaning noises coming from it. That backpack had a mind of its own too.
"But how come Boots wasn't affected by the spell?" inquired Vega.
"He was never hit by the spell at all," explained Map. "I don't know why, but the pharaoh only wanted to turn Dora into a mummy."
Piper bent down next to Dora and waved to try and get her attention, but the girl didn't respond. The Starling sighed, murmuring, "We should have brought Adora with us. She could have healed her."
"What?" Boots asked.
"Piper!" Vega hissed in annoyance. Wishlings weren't supposed to know about Starland, even if they were Wishers the Star Darlings had come to help! You never knew if a selfish Wishling would be nearby to learn of Wish Granters and their jobs and then cause Starland to be overrun with negative wishes…
"It's alright, Vega," said Piper. "We can trust these Wishlings. Besides, we'll just end up erasing their memories later anyway. Or not. Can we do that with animals like this one?"
Map stared at them in confusion. "Um…what are you talking about?"
Vega sighed, realizing Piper's point. She then told Boots and Map all about herself and her roommate; Starland, the Star Darlings, their job, and most importantly, Piper's repetitive nightmare that had apparently come true. She even—reluctantly—admitted that, usually after a Star Darling completed a mission on Wishworld, she hugged her Wisher and erased their memories (along with the memories of all other Wishlings involved in the mission) of her involvement in their wish coming true.
"The memory-erasing spell does not work on Wishling animals though," added Piper. "Our friend Tessa discovered this when she erased her Wishling friends' memories, but only the human friends were affected."
"Oh," said Boots. He sniffled. "Do you have the power to save Dora?"
"No," admitted Piper. "I can alter her mood and make her feel serene, but that is all. The only way to free her is if we find this 'pharaoh of Egypt' and tell him to reverse the spell."
Vega looked around. "Where is he, anyway?"
"I don't know!" Boots sobbed. "I was so scared of him that I didn't do anything to stop him! I just let him cast that spell on Dora, and then I let him escape! I was just so scared…"
Piper remembered the fresh Wish Orb she'd seen earlier, and she felt her spine tingle, as Wish Granters usually did when realizing information that had to do with their Wisher's wish. "You wish you had more courage to stand up for your best friend, don't you?"
Boots nodded, looking very ashamed. "It's not the first time I just let someone bad win. I do it a lot…Dora just got lucky and stayed safe every time. Until now…"
Vega bent down and put her arm around him. "It's okay. We're going to find that pharaoh. We just have to find out where he went."
Piper nodded and started to activate her Star Zap, when Map said, "I can tell you where to find the pharaoh! You just have to say 'Map.'"
Vega frowned, confused. "Uh…map?"
"Louder," said Boots.
"MAP!" Piper hollered as loud as she could, causing Boots and Map to nearly get swept off the floor by a sudden wind. Realizing what happened, Piper apologized to them.
"It's okay," said Map. "I always kind of ask for that. It helps make the moment more fun." Then, seeing Vega's awkward smile, he cleared his throat and leapt out of Boots's hand. Music suddenly began to play in the background, startling the Starlings.
"Where is that coming from?" Vega exclaimed.
"The Fiesta Trio must be here," said Boots, smiling for the first time since the girls' arrival. As if on cue, three talking Wishling insects with different instruments entered the room, taking Piper by starprise. She guessed they were the trio Boots was talking about.
A map of Egypt appeared behind Map as he remained in midair, singing, "If there's a place you gotta go, I'm the one you need to know. I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map. If there's a place you gotta get, I can get you there I bet. I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map, I'm the Map."
"He's the Map, he's the Map, he's the Map, he's the Map," sang the Fiesta Trio.
"I'm the Map, I'm the Map. I'm the Map, I'm the Map. I'm the Map, I'm the Map. I'm the Map!" Map concluded. Then he got down to business—something he was clearly very passionate about, as the Starlings now realized.
"We need to get to the pharaoh," confirmed Map. "Well, I know how to get to the pharaoh! He lives at the Ancient Egyptian Palace. Do you see the palace?"
"Yes," said Piper, examining the map of Egypt. "It is in the middle of a grand site, but there are a few things we'll need to get past first."
Map smiled. "Right! First, you go through a forest of very spiky plants, called cactuses. Then you have to go over these big sand dunes. And that's how you get to the Ancient Egyptian Palace. Remember. Cactuses, dunes, palace. Say it with me. Cactuses, dunes, palace. Cactuses, dunes, palace. Cactuses, dunes, palace!" And with that, the map of Egypt vanished, and Map himself jumped back inside Dora's backpack. As for the Fiesta Trio, they had already left—presumably while Map had been explaining the directions.
"I guess we don't need our Star Zaps for directions then," decided Vega, smiling. Clearly, this Map was not only helpful, but also very fun to work with. Even with a villain to stop and two victims to free from a mummy curse, she couldn't help smiling at the way he did his job!
Piper nodded and, very carefully, lifted Dora over her shoulder, taking her backpack with her. As she did, Vega could see that the backpack did indeed have a face, which actually looked very similar to Map's. At least, apart from the runny eyes and cheek scars, which were undoubtedly only there because Backpack had been affected by the mummy curse too.
"Alright," declared Piper, "let's go find the cactuses."
"Yeah!" Boots agreed. He led the way out of the pyramid, and after Vega used her Star Zap to provide some warm clothes for him (for it was still a freezing cold night in the desert), they along with Piper began hiking through the sand, searching for their first stop: the cactus forest.
And that's everything…for now! Will Piper, Vega, and their new friends succeed in finding the pharaoh and rescuing his victims? And what's in store for Lady Stella while all this is happening? Find out in Chapter 2, which is coming soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the story's first chapter, and please feel free to express your thoughts (as long as they're kind) through the reviews. :)