Butterscotch sat next to the window in her room, watching as the sun set over the horizon.  It was a beautiful view, just like she hoped, but it still wasn't the same as Ponyville.  A heavy sigh escaped her as she rested her head on the sill, and she wondered how her friends back home were doing.

Not home anymore, she reminded herself glumly.  Her ears fell as she watched the gold-tinted trees swaying in the autumn breeze.  The woods surrounding Mellow Grove were said to be some of the most beautiful and peaceful in all of Equestria; no where near as scary or exciting as the Everfree forest.  She wondered what her friends were doing at this time.  Ever since Cardinal Rose got his cutie mark in exploring, they had all started sneaking out at night to go on some crazy adventure, sometimes even in the infamous forest itself.  Here she knew absolutely nopony, and it didn't seem like anypony was interested in getting to know her.

There was a soft knock at the door, and Sugarcube slowly poked her head in.

"Hey there, Butter," she said softly.  "How was my baby's first day of school?"

"Mom, I'm not a baby," Butterscotch pouted.  "I'm in the third grade now."

"Oh, I know," Sugarcube smiled as she entered.  She set her saddlebags down next to the door as she trotted up to her daughter.  "And I couldn't be more proud of you.  I'm so sorry I couldn't be here earlier to listen about your day firsthoof.  Dad filled me in on all the details."  She pulled Butterscotch into a hug and nuzzled her mane.  "Are you going to be okay?"

Butterscotch nodded into her mother's chest.  "I miss my friends," she mumbled.

"I'm sure you do, Butter.  I'm sure you do."  Sugarcube rocked back and forth with her filly in her forelegs, humming an old tune.  It had always helped Butterscotch feel better whenever she was going through a rough time, even on some of her worst days.  "How's about we invite some of your old friends over for a housewarming party?  I'm sure they miss you as much as you miss them."

Butterscotch pulled away from her mother and looked to her with watery eyes.  "Really?  Do you think so?" she asked hopefully.

"I know so," Sugarcube smiled.  "Maybe you can show off some of your new friends and all sneak out for one of those adventures.  But don't worry, I won't tell Dad about it."  She laughed and ruffled Butterscotch's caramel mane, but her daughter's ears drooped back down.

"I don't have any friends here," she said sadly.

"Oh, don't be like that.  You've only been here for a short time.  I'm sure you'll make plenty of new friends.  You just have to open up to them, first," Sugarcube smiled.

"I don't wanna open up to any of them," Butterscotch pouted.  "Eveypony here is a bunch of jerks!"

"Language," her mother warned sternly.  She looked down and mumbled an apology.  Sugarcube sighed and pulled her in to another hug.  She stared out the window as she comforted her foal, and an idea struck her as the sun touched the tops of the hills.  She let go of her foal and knelt down so she was eye level with her.  "Hey, do you want to know a little secret?" she asked with a smile.

"A secret?" Butterscotch asked confused.

Sugarcube nodded.  "When you wish on a star, it'll grant you a wish.  I'm sure if you ask nicely enough, they'll help you make some new friends."

Butterscotch rolled her eyes.  "Come on, mom.  You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?  There's no way that works."

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Sugacube smiled.  "In fact, it's thanks to the stars that your father and I are together.  Don't tell him this, but when I was a filly, I had the biggest crush on him, but he never really noticed me.  I wished on a star for the courage to ask him to our school's gala, and he ask me first."  She sighed, reminiscing.  "Oh, it was a beautiful night.  Our first date, our first dance, our first kiss..."

"Ew, Mom!" Butterscotch groaned.

"You'll understand when you're older," Sugarcube laughed.  "But my point is, if I never wished on that star, your father might never have asked me to the dance, and I might not have been able to work up the courage to ask him to be my coltfriend after that."

"So, you really think it works?" Butterscotch asked.  "You really think that'll help?"

Sugarcube nodded.  "I do.  Let me show you how it works."  She grabbed Butterscotch's hoof and led her to the window.  "Now, you have to be sure you do it immediately after Celestia finishes setting the sun.  Then you look to the night sky and find the first star you see.  When you do, focus on it, close your eyes, and say this:  'Starlight Star bright, First star I see tonight.  I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight.'  After that, you tell it your wish, and it will twinkle once it hears you."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Sugarcube smiled.  "Now you don't have much time until the sunset ends, so you better get ready.  I'll leave so you can make your wish.  Goodnight, Butter.  I love you."  She kissed her on her head and made her way out of the room, picking up her bags on the way out.

"Night, Mom.  Love you, too!" Butterscotch called.  She watched excitedly as the sun slowly disappeared, and once it did she scanned the skies for her star.  As the seconds ticked by, she started to get antsy, accidentally mistaking specks on her window for stars.  She was beginning to worry that she was too late, but then the light of a star managed to peek into the night sky.  She stared at it, making sure it wasn't another piece of dust, and closed her eyes.  Oh, what was that rhyme Mom said?

"Um, Starlight Star bright, First star I see tonight.  I wish I may, I wish I might, Have the wish I wish tonight!"  She paused, unsure of what to say next.  "Uh, hi there, Mister Star.  I'm Butterscotch.  I haven't really done this before, but I was told you can help me with something.  You see, I just moved here, and I kinda don't have any friends.  So, if it's not too much to ask for, I guess I wish for a new friend, please."

She dared to open an eye and look up.  The star twinkled in the night sky, and she gasped in delight.  And when it flickered out, she stopped in shock.  Did she do something wrong?  Was the wish to much for the star to help her with?  Maybe she got the rhyme wrong.  Did she accidentally break the star?

The star came back to life, and Butterscotch sighed in relief.  Then she noticed it was getting bigger.  And bigger.  And bigger.  She watched in horror as it fell from the sky and crashed in the forest.  Its light was still shining, barely breaking through the trees.

"H-Hey!  Mom didn't say you were supposed to do that," Butterscotch protested.  "You have to get back up there!"

Butterscotch rushed to her saddlebags and threw her books out. She frantically searched the room and grabbed a flashlight, her red scarf, and the compass Cardinal had given her.  Throwing the saddlebag on her back, she stormed out of the room and galloped downstairs to the kitchen.

As she passed through the living room, a lime green stallion shifted on the couch.  Gum Drop's ears flicked to the sound of drawers and cabinets all but flying off their hinges.  He lifted his head and looked to the kitchen with unfocused eyes.  "Sugarcube?  Is that you?" he asked groggily.

A butterscotch and caramel colored smudge appeared in the doorway dividing the two rooms.  "Sorry, Dad," Butterscotch apologized.  "I didn't mean to wake you from your nap.  Do you know where the oven mitts are?"

"No you're fine, dear," he yawned.  "They should be in the drawer next to the oven."

"I already checked there."

"Did you check both sides?"

The blur disappeared and the sound of another drawer being open came from the kitchen.  "Thanks, Dad!" Butterscotch called out.

"No problem, Butter," Gum Drop smiled as he laid his head back down.  He rolled over in time to see Butterscotch's form dart out of the kitchen and to the front door.  "What did you need the oven mitts for?"

Butterscotch skidded to a halt at the door, turned around, and took in a deep breath.  "Well, I was having a rough day at my new school and nopony wanted to be my friend so I felt bad all day until Mom came home and she told me that if I wish on a star then I can make new friends kinda like she did so I made a wish and then the star fell out of the sky so now I gotta go find it and get it back up there so it can grant my wish."  She panted trying to get her breath back.  "And the oven mitts are in case the star is hot so I don't burn myself."

Gum Drop blinked, trying to register what Butterscotch had said.  Another yawn took over him, and he nodded his head.  "Okay, sweetie.  As long as Mom is fine with it," he said as he nuzzled his head back in his pillow.

"Thanks, Dad.  You're the best!"  Butterscotch kissed him on the cheek and then scampered out of the room.

"Love you, too, Butter," Gum Drop said groggily as the front door slammed shut.  Seconds ticked by before he suddenly shot up.  "Wait, what?"

He fell to the floor and searched wildly for his full moon spectacles.  When he finally found them, he threw them on, rushed to the door, and flung it open.  There wasn't a single soul out in the cul-de-sac.  The only hint of Butterscotch was a small oven mitt lying on the ground at the corner of their house.  Gum Drop trotted up to it and found a set of small hoofprints leading past the back yard and towards the neighboring woods.  There was an unnatural glow in the air behind the rows upon rows of trees, and Gum Drop's ears pinned to the sides of his head as he connected the dots.

Oh, buck me, he thought to himself.  This didn't look good.  "Sugarcube!" He called back to the house.  "We have a problem!"

><><><

"You are so sleeping on the couch for the rest of the night," Sugarcube growled as they raced through the trees.  The lantern attached to Gum Drop's harness bathed the area just enough for them to see where they were going.  Ahead of them, they could just barely make out the strange light Buttercup ran off to.  "Scratch that.  You're sleeping on it for the rest of the week!"

"Aw, come on," Gum Drop whined.  "I just finished setting up the store today."

"That store isn't bringing back my baby!" she screeched.  Gum Drop winced under the fire in Sugarcube's blue eyes.  "Are you even sure she went this way?"

"Definitely sure," Gum Drop affirmed.  He slid to a halt to catch his breath.  Sugarcube trotted in place next to him with an uncomfortable mix of motherly worry and wrath on her face.  "She told me she wished on a star, it fell down, and she wanted to bring it back to the sky."  Sugarcube gave him an incredulous look.  "I was working all day!" he defended himself.  "I'm tired!  I haven't slept well in over forty-eight hours.  I couldn't even think straight.  You never got on to me this much when she snuck out before!"

"That's because she wasn't ever alone in a place she's never been before!"  The light of the lantern colored her sugar brown coat orange, making her appear even angrier.  Gum Drop shrunk away from the flaming mare.  "Not to mention she talked to you before leaving out the front door!  So help me, if we loose Buttercup, too, I'm gonna. . .  I'm gonna. . ."

Gum Drop caught his wife before she collapsed to the ground.  "We can't loose her, Gummy," she cried into his shoulder.  "We just can't."

"Hey, were not going to loose anypony," he soothed, kissing her forehead.  "She can't be much further.  We're almost there.  This'll all be over before you know it."  Gum Drop helped her back on her hooves.  She sniffed and wiped away a few stray tears.  "Come on," he smiled reassuringly.  "Let's get our Butterscotch."  Sugarcube smiled and nodded, and they continued towards the now fading light.

Their hooves splashed mud everywhere as more and more puddles formed on the ground.  "I thought there weren't supposed to be any swamps here," Gum Drop pointed out as the ground suddenly disappeared beneath a shallow layer of water.

"There aren't," Sugarcube said.  "The real estate agent swore up and down that there were no swamps, no haunted castles, no unnatural plant growth or cloud movements, and no crazy beasts like the Everfree.  It must have rained recently."

"No, the pegasi have been out of rain water for days," Gum Drop shook his head.  "Said there was a problem all the way back at Cloudsdale."

"Well what else could have made so much water?"

They came to a sliding halt as an immense crater came into view.  The source of light was emanating from deep inside.  The silhouette of a small filly stood at the edge of he crater.

"I should've brought more oven mitts," Butterscotch thought out loud as she stared at the fading star.

"Butterscotch!"  Sugarcube tackled her daughter and held her tight.  "Don't you dare run off like that again, young mare.  You had me worried sick."

"Mom, I'm fine.  But you're crushing me," Butterscotch wheezed.  Her mother eased her grip as Gum Drop caught up.  "Why are you so worried?  I told Dad where I was going."

"Yes, and I'll deal with him later," she said, still holding her daughter in her arms.  "Let's get back home and away from this crater."

"Um, Sugar?  I don't think this is a crater," Gum Drop pointed out.  He examined a fish that was floundering on the soggy earth.  There were a few more scattered around doing the same thing.  "I think this was a lake."

"A lake?" Sugarcube echoed.  "But that doesn't make any sense.  What could have possibly moved all of this water?"  She stared worriedly at the dimming light.

"I'm telling you, it's the star I wished on!" Butterscotch explained.  She wrestled herself out of her mother's grip and slid down the muddied walls of the empty lake.  "We have to help put it back in the sky!" she called as she reached the bottom.

"Well, she's definitely your daughter," Gum Drop commented as he trotted up to the edge of the lake.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sugarcube demanded.

"We can't just leave her down there with a fallen star," Gum Drop answered.  "And she's going to have a hard time coming back up without us."  He held out a hoof.  "Come on; it'll be over before you know it."  She took his hoof, and together they slid down into the lake.

Butterscotch shielded her eyes as she drew closer and closer to the star, oven mitt in mouth.  She wasn't sure where to start picking it up at,  but as she got closer she thought she could see something.  "Oh my Celestia," she gasped, dropping the mitt.

Her parents caught up to her, and as they were about to pull her away, they saw the figure as well.  "There's no way," Sugarcube breathed.

The light of the star had nearly dimmed completely, revealing a glowing white pegasus flailing in the mud.  He was struggling to stand.  Each time he managed to get on all four hooves, it looked like he was struggling against a monstrous weight just to stand, and he would keep toppling over.  His wings flailed about as if he didn't know how to control them; extending and retracting and flapping spastically.  The family moved in closer to help, and one of the pegasus' brilliant orange eyes locked on to them.

Stay back! a voice shouted in their head.  An orange aura glowed around the muddied horn on his head, and a heavy wind pushed them back.

Gum Drop readjusted his glasses and held his family back with a hoof.  "Come on, let's get out of here."

"We can't just leave him like this," Butterscotch protested.  She ducked under her father's arm and trotted up to the fallen alicorn, stopping a few safe paces away.  "Are you alright, Mister?"

The alicorn managed to get back on his hooves again and locked his legs for support.  His wings hung extended by his side, and he was struggling to keep his head up.  The forelock of his shaggy, red-orange mane covered his eyes, and his horn glowed again.

I said, stay back! the voice repeated.  Another gust of wind rushed through the empty lake, but it only managed to rustle Butterscotch's mane.  The alicorn fell to his knees gasping, unable to get back up.

"Butterscotch, get away from there!" Sugarcube called worriedly.

Butterscotch? the mysterious voice echoed.  The alicorn managed to raise his head enough to meet the filly's eyes.

"Hi there," the foal greeted nervously.  "My name's Butterscotch.  Um, what brings you here?"

Stardust blinked and stared at her in confusion.  You wished for me, he answered.  He couldn't take it anymore, and as the world started to fade he collapsed from exhaustion.

Thanks for reading everypony!  (Jeez, it's weird to write that )

I hoped you enjoyed!  This is kinda like a "trailer" to the actual story.  It's a little rough around the edges right now, but I have a general idea of where I want to go with all of this.  I don't really know how to tag this yet.  I really want to watch out for all the cliches when working with an alicorn or put a new spin on them if I can.   That being said, any ideas or criticisms you guys might have are welcome.  I'm always wanting to improve.  And who knows?  Maybe if I get far enough with this and if everyone likes it enough, I'll actually post it.

See you around!

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