Amethyst Gardens Introduction
Amethyst Gardens is about Starhoppers past, and also starts off the inter linking stories in Pony Paradise. All of the stories come to a final outcome. But the outcome will not become clear until later notice in one of the other linking stories . . . . To learn more about my unique and new Ponies in this story go to the My Unique Ponies and Friends of Pony Paradise. Thank you. * * * * * * * * * * * * High in the clouds, Star Castle is in the bright starlight, shimmering and sparkling. The full moon in the summer's night sky looks down upon the home of the Sparkle Ponies, not aware what will happen in the very few days that will follow...
Inside the Royal Palace, Amethyst Gardens is the only place where the beautiful sky could be seen. Of course, it's a skylight, but you can still see the stars twinkling.
Princess Planethopper is sitting below the skylight, gazing fondly at the stars. She thinks of her visit Gwenavere, and her newborn son Baby Gwendamere.
Planethopper doesn't notice when her sister, Princess Starhopper, comes in.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asks Planethopper.
Planethopper jumps with a yelp. "Ack!" She calms down, and whispers, "I was just thinking about how nice it would be, to go out there, and run around and skip and jump and play."
"You know there is absolutely no way of getting out of here. It's impossible."
Planethopper's expression is a blank stare out the skylight, and she says, "That's true, but life finds a way, you know . . ."
"Starhopper rolls her eyes in exasperation. Come on, we have to go to sleep. It's nearly midnight."
Coming out of her reverie, Planethopper replies with a simple bob of her head. She stands up, and starts to walk out of the garden of sparkling purple glow. Starhopper follows her, down the winding corridor, to their room next to Queen Angelina's bedroom.
Inside their cramped quarters that was never meant for two young adult Ponies, the pink night light they have had since they were Babies glowed warmly to greet them. They then settled down on their bedpads, and went to sleep. * * * * * * * * * * * * A scuffling at the door wakes Gwenavere from her dream. It had been a very lovely dream, about the world below her. She was flying about in the clouds, above the green hills and valleys of Ponyland.
Gwenavere gets up from her pad on the floor. Gwendamere lies under the blanket, just a small lump. Only one thing made him different from her. He had no symbol, or any markings of any kind.
She is very poor, with only her pad, blanket, and her small room on the South side could be said as hers. When Gwendamere grows, there will be hardly any space for the two of them.
Before she reaches the door, it opens, and in trots in Planethopper.
"What are you doing here? You will be caught for sure," Gwenavere whispers hoarsely.
"He he! It's so early, nobody will know. Besides, I wanted to get here before we have to go to the East side. Apparently, a riot broke out, Ponies want to be able to leave the castle, and live in the world down below us," Planethopper pauses, "Frankly, I couldn't agree with them any less."
Gwenavere sighs and says, "I would have to agree with them too, because I was one of the protesters."
Planethopper's jaw drops open in amazement.
"I can not and will not take being shut up in the small confines of this castle any longer. I must find some better place to raise little Gwendamere. Some place, where he can run free, and play in the fields with other boys too. I know I can escape, because I am a Pegasus. But the others are unable to. I plan on leaving. Today."
Planethopper is still surprised. "How do you plan on doing that?"
"The riot yesterday was planned. When the Queen and her guards get to the East side, I will be making my escape on the West side," she replies.
"Shoot! I gotta go Gwenavere. But I'll be back. I want to go with you," Planethopper exclaims.
"WAAHH!" Gwendamere screams under the blanket.
Gwenavere looks down at the lump, and when she turns back to Planethopper, she had already left. * * * * * * * * * * * * Planethopper had just settled down on her bedpad when Mother came into their room.
"Come on girls. Time to get up. We must hurry over to the East side. We don't want more protests, now do we?" Queen Angelina said waking her daughters.
Starhopper groans. "Mom, it's too early! Let us sleep some more. It's Saturday. No tutors today. Me and Hoppy can visit Gwenavere on Saturdays."
Planethopper hated keeping things from her sister. But she would have to. And she didn't like it one bit.
The Queen's smile faded. "You will get up now, or you will not see your friend for the rest of the
month!" she orders sternly.
They both then get up quickly to go eat breakfast in the Gardens. They ate in silence.
Right before the Royal Family had to leave the palace, Planethopper cries, "Oh no! I'll be right back Mother. I forgot my necklace."
Queen Angelina sighs. "Fine, but be quick about it!"
Planethopper runs off, and Starhopper says, "She's been acting strange lately."
The Queen frowns, and says, "Yes, I noticed. It's probably just a phase though." * * * * * * * * * * * * Planethopper bursts into the room panting. She bites a pencil, and scrawls a note onto a piece of stationary. She flips her blanket over her head, and quietly moves down the corridor to the Gardens.
In the courtyard, she ducks behind the huge chunk of amethyst to the right of her. On the floor, she nudges aside purple silk flowers with her horn, uncovering a trapdoor. She jumps down, and bites the ring to pull the door down above her.
Inside the passageway, she trots until she's at the end of the tunnel. There, the door to the
streets awaits her. * * * * * * * * * * * * "Are you sure you must go Gwenavere?" asks her friend Sunspot.
"I have to Sunny. Gwendamere can not grow up in this place," Gwenavere says with a sigh.
She picks Gwendamere up by biting the blanket he's wrapped up in.
A loud banging then comes at the door.
"Who in Star Castle -?" Sunspot cries as the door slams open.
In trots what seems to be a purple Sparkle with a blanket over her upper body.
"Good! You haven't left yet. I was worried I'd miss you!" the Pony cries, flinging off the blanket.
It lands on Sunspot, and with a yelp she trips over it and falls SMACK! on the floor. "Princess Planethopper, is that you?" she asks in bewilderment.
"Yes it's me. Gwenavere! Let me come with you. You can carry me, I'm not fully grown yet!" Planethopper exclaims.
"I can't! I have to carry my pad and Gwendamere too!" she replies.
"You can too! I'll carry Gwendamere, and who cares about the pad! The grassy hills are different from stone. We have to hurry, they will be looking for me!" Planethopper retorts, and with that she snatches Gwendamere and runs out the door.
"Wait!" Gwenavere cries galloping after her friend.
They reach the outer West wall, and a group of Sparkles are waiting to see Gwenavere off.
"Fine, Hoppy!" Get on! Gwenavere gives in.
The group is astonished to see the Princess, and they start shouting. More Sparkles come running, including Starhopper, with guardponies close behind.
"I'm a gettin, I'm a gettin!" Planethopper shrieks, scrambling on to Gwenavere's back.
"Stop Hoppy! Stop! Please!" Starhopper yells after her fleeing sister.
"Goodbye Starhopper! I go on to a better place!" is all Planethopper says.
Suddenly Gwendamere starts to topple down! He had wriggled his way out from under Planethopper!
"No! My baby!" Gwenavere cries.
A Sparkle jumps up and catches the bundle.
"We have to go back! I can not leave without my baby!" Gwenavere sobs.
"No! We can't stop now! Planethopper yells.
Down below, Starhopper calls out to one of the onlookers and the Sparkle who caught the baby boy. "You! Pegasus! And you the one with the Baby! Give him to me! Let me on your back, Pegasus, so we can go after those two!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" she yells.
They take off, and are over the wall just as the Queen hurries onto the scene.
"Where are my daughters?" she demands.
The onlookers just shake their heads. * * * * * * * * * * * * The aerial chase was drawing closer to an end, when Starhopper falls off of the Peg's back.
"Aahh!" she bellows.
But Gwendamere was still with the Peg. She had offered to hold him for a while.
Gwenavere and Planethopper fly on, below the clouds, and out of sight while Starhopper plummets to the ground.
She free falls, and she starts to see land, and Pony occupied areas. She picks a small village, and uses her Unicorn magic to land safely near the village.
She appears in the middle of a field. Around her are trees, small bungalows, and a brook that connects to a river.
"Wow!" she gasps in astonishment.
"Who are you?" a voice calls from behind.
Starhopper whirls around, and a human girl, and a white Earth Pony with pink hair and a pink circular burst as her symbol, face her.
"Uh, hi. I'm Starhopper, a Sparkle Pony. Ah, who are you?" she asks timidly.
"My name is Megan. And this is Sundance. Where did you come from?" Megan answers.
"Ah, I came from - from Star Castle. Home of all the Sparkles. I am the daughter of - "she
pauses, "Daughter of Sunlight, Sparkle - in - waiting to Queen Angelina and the royal family,"
Starhopper lies.
"Oh neat! A queen! Confetti and Gusty never told us about a queen!" Sundance exclaims.
Starhopper is puzzled. Some Ponies had already escaped? Before Gwenavere and Hoppy?
"Shh, Sundance. We don't want Confetti to over hear us talking about Gusty. Poor thing, left
behind a daughter . . . " Megan chided.
"There are Sparkles here? How could that be?" Starhopper asks.
"Oh, well, we uh, never asked," Sundance replies.
"Could I talk to Confetti? Please?" Starhopper pleads.
"Perhaps later. First we need to find you a place to stay," Megan says with a smile.
"Oh no! I must get home. Mother will be worried about me!" Starhopper says, and with her Unicorn
magic, she is gone. * * * * * * * * * * * *
"No! No, my girls are gone!" Queen Angelina wails. She is now practically throwing a fit.
"Your Majesty!" a voice says.
The Queen looks up, and it's the Peg that took Starhopper and the small Baby Gwendamere after the two other Ponies. She did not have Starhopper with her, and the Baby is crawling on the flagstone ground.
"Where is my daughter?" she demands.
The Peg gulps. "I - I have the m-most distressing n-news Your Majesty. She, um, ah, fell...I tired to catch her! I did! But I could not, or the little one would have fallen too! She, ah, disappeared....."
Just then Starhopper appears right in front of the Queen!
"Mother! The world below! It so wonderful! I just came back from there! There are trees and flowers and grass and streams and mountains and an ocean! And I met a human girl! And she was a good human, not like one of those nasty witches! There are Sparkles too!" Starhopper cries in excitement.
The look on Queen Angelina's face is not a happy one. "Don't you realize that there are two more down there girl?" she hisses.
"That's why I came back. I wish to adopt a daughter of my own, and raise her and search for Hoppy down there! Please Mother!" She kneels down next to the Queen. "I will visit often. Please."
The Queen sighs. "Go, my daughter. Leave me. Go adopt a daughter, and leave me."
Starhopper gets up to leave, but she pauses. "Wait. Who will take care of Gwendamere?"
"I will make sure he's taken care of. Just go," the Queen answers monotonously.
Starhopper then leaves, going off in search of adopting a Baby Sparkle, the first one to be raised in the real world as a Princess of Star Castle. * * * * * * * * * * * * Once Starhopper and Baby North Star, an orange Baby with bright pink hair, were ready to leave, Starhopper used her magic to get them to the world below.
They arrived in the field, and they were not alone. A white Rainbow Earth Pony with rainbow colored hair was playing with a very tiny Baby Sparkle Pony. The Baby was yellow, with dark pinkish hair, and a ringed hot air balloon as her symbol.
"Hello! Hello there!" Starhopper calls out.
The white Pony looks up. Its jaw drops open. As Starhopper approaches, she lets North Star roll off of her back.
"Are you who I think you are?" The Pony asks, who is obviously a he.
"Well, if you mean Princess Starhopper, then yes," she answers. "You must be Confetti, and Baby Gusty."
"Well, at first I really thought you were Angelina. You sure know lots about me. What are you doing here? I thought only Gusty and Dreamer here had escaped from Star Castle," he says with a far off look.
"Well that is a very long story. One that I do not wish to be public knowledge."
Confetti at first looks like he doesn't understand. Then his face lights up. With a quirk of his eyebrow, he says, "Ah. Aha, I understand."
Starhopper smiles. "This is my new home now." The End
But this is not the end! It's just the beginning... Be watching for more exciting adventures in the clouds! And stories from other lands of Ponyland!
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