Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Starflight didn't mind being blind. He was pretty used to it, at this point. The school construction had been rough for him, but he made it through after a few close calls and a broken talon. When Sunny had told him that he was going to be the librarian of the new school, he threw himself into her arms....or where he thought her arms were. Thank the moons she caught him.

Once the dragonets started applying and showing up, everyone had fallen into a steady rhythm that Starflight was okay with living for the rest of his life. There was something soft and serene, almost cozy about organizing the library every day, as young dragons pitter-pattered around, studying, reading, or even just lying around for a nap. The NightWing liked the sense of taking care of dragonets, even if it was just for a few minutes. When they were in the library, they were his.

Although he couldn't see it, he knew the library was gorgeous. The windows were taller than he could reach, which reflected the sun across his scales. He'd brush his talons across the vine that seemed to be growing from the ceiling. When the days were cold, he could hear the crackle of a fireplace nearby. He'd bumped into the grate many times, a thing that Fatespeaker put in place so he didn't stumble into a fire on accident.

Things were good. To the dragonets of destiny, Starflight was the least troubled, other than the fact that he was blind.

Or so they thought.

Starflight was being plagued from his mind outward, and it was attacking him when he was sleeping. Confusing nightmares that whispered complex scriptures that always had him waking up in cold sweats and shaking. There had been numerous nights where he had to be comforted back to sleep by his siblings, and his partner as well.

The dragonets of destiny had nightmares all the time, however, and nobody thought anything of it. Nobody had noticed, but after a while, he started getting more and more paranoid, and more and more sleep-deprived. He would hear whispers in the back of his mind when he was trying to rest. The star-speckled NightWing was so busy during the days that he could never really tell if it was his thoughts in exchange for others.

He had felt the worried glances of other dragons on him as he worked, so he knew he must have been slipping. He tried his hardest to act like nothing was happening. He hated bothering people or being a problem. It wasn't hard for him to tell who was there and when, since he recognized the patterns. This skill was very useful in a school setting, and he had really cracked down at hearing even the slightest sounds. He needed to know where everyone was at all times.

Starflight had learned that he had very sharp hearing, and he could almost hear down the halls and into the mess hall. It's like he could pinpoint all the vibrations and decode them into certain steps, voices, or even breathing patterns. When she had first arrived, he had talked to Tamarin, and she gave him a variety of tips for how to get around easier.

The NightWing's ears flicked back as he found a certain scroll, stamping the golden markings into a loaning scroll.

"Here, Coconut, dear." Starflight hummed, sliding The Missing Princess over the counter to the RainWing who took it and thanked him loudly before running off to sit at his table, which had...three dragons around it, as well as Starflight could tell.

He hummed to himself as he placed another loaner scroll into the correct slot: row 4, second column. He was left to his own devices most times, with a few of the academy admin coming to check on him every day. His siblings would switch who was coming to see him on different days. Speaking of which, someone should be coming in 3...2...1-

"Starflight! Your favorite sister is here!" Tsunami yelled throughout the library. Starflight felt some irritated energy waft off the dragonets that were studying, but the SeaWing paid no mind to them. He felt her cool wing slide under his.

"You know I don't have a favorite." Starflight chided, finding her talons to hold them.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." The bigger dragon sighed. She lowered her voice. "You doing okay? You've been coming into everyone's rooms a lot more recently."

The NightWing hummed quietly. "Just nightmares, you know how it goes."

"Do you need to borrow the Dreamvisitor for a while? It helps me when I have nightmares." His sister suggested.

"Oh, no. Using that always makes me super drained. I'll be okay." He hugged Tsunami tightly. They had gotten closer ever since the arena. Any anxiety that was deeply rooted in Starflight was gone. He knew she would never hurt him, even if her own life was depending on it.

"As long as you're okay." She whispered. She let go, turning away. "I'll let you get back to it. STUDY HARD, YOU NOSY DRAGONETS."

Starflight hadn't even taken into account that there could be young ears listening to his conversation. He smiled fondly as he remembered how he and his siblings used to spy on their guardians all the time. In fact, that was the only reason that Glory was still alive. He would go through everything he's been through again if it meant he saved her. He shook off the thought and turned back around, continuing to sort out his scrolls for the next day.

Soon enough, all of the dragonets had left for the evening, and Starflight was just about done cleaning up. He dusted down the front desk of the library quietly as he hummed a song that Kestrel had taught him. The NightWing had hung up a lot of paintings of his guardians with the help of his siblings, but it was of no use to him.

He picked up a small vase from the corner. Sunny had made it for him. She had told him that it was clay, and it was painted purple and teal. The SandWing had apparently colored it with some flowers she crushed up with water. He liked running his claws down it and tapping on it. It reminded him that he was loved.

Starflight brought the vase across the room, and back to the front desk. He had moved it when he was decorating but decided that he wanted the subtle reminder of Sunny closer to him. He was about halfway through the room when he heard it.

"Starflight~" A deep crackling voice dragged out through his mind.

A jolt of terror shot up the NightWing's back as he yelped dropping the vase. He felt the shards slice his talons open as they shattered onto the floor. He whipped around quickly, stepping on more sharp pieces of the vase. "Who said that?" He winced as another sharp pain jabbed into his scales. "Who's there?" He heard nothing but his own shaking voice bounce off the walls and the floor.

"Starflight?" The young dragon jumped towards the noise. His body melted in relief as he recognized the voice. Sunny poked her head through the door, gasping as her feet padded over to him. "Oh Starflight, you cut yourself. Are you okay? What happened?"

The NightWing took a shuddering breath, shaking his head. "Nothing. I'm okay. I just stumbled on myself." He didn't like lying to Sunn, but he didn't want to worry the poor girl. He also wasn't too sure what that was, and he didn't want to make a big deal over nothing. He lowered his head down. "I broke your vase."

She pressed a talon against his face. "That's okay. I'll make you a new one. I found some new colored flowers I wanted to color with anyway. Let's get you cleaned up."

Starflight felt the heat of her scales as she pulled him away from the broken vase, leading him out of the library as she shouted for Clay to clean up the mess. He found comfort in his sister taking care of him, but there was still a shudder in his brain. Was that voice real? There is something definitely wrong with him.

"Oh, there is nothing wrong with you at all, young NightWing. You are just what I need."

Chapter Text

Starflight found himself being terrified to sleep. He couldn’t put a talon on it, but he knew something awful would happen if he fell asleep. He had been paranoid all day. 

He was counting the dragonets in the library, as he always did. There were only two in here this evening. Kinkajou and Tamarin were reading a scroll about IceWings together, and Kinkajou softly sounded the words for Tamarin to hear. 

“ Starflight, ignoring me isn’t going to do any good ,” The voice he had been hearing rang throughout his head. 

He shook his head. Leave me alone! He thought fiercely. He had no time for delusional hallucinations. His brain did flips as he totaled how many books needed to be returned by the library by now. Nobody else kept track, so he would. 

I can assure you, I am not a delusional hallucination, as you call it. My name is Darkstalker. The voice was tentative and creepy, and Starflight would like it out of his head, thank you very much.

I don’t care what your name is, because you’re not re- He snapped his head up as a dragonet reached his counter. 

“Hello Moon,” he ignored his heart hammering in his chest. How did she sneak up on him without him realizing? “What can I do for you?” 

The dragonet was soft-spoken as if she was afraid of being in the room. “Sunny sent me to help you with something.”

The lightbulb went off in his brain. “Oh yes!” He turned around and started digging through shelves frantically. Where did he put it? 

He heard Moon shuffle from side to side. “Uhm, are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“Of course, I’m okay Moon. Why wouldn’t I be?” Starflight chirped at her, ripping a scroll free from the shelf it was in. Other than the fact that I have a voice in my head.  

“What?” Moon asked frantically. He turned his head in her direction, confused. What did she mean?

You’re going to feel very silly in a minute. Darkstalker, or whatever it was, laughed in his brain. 

“Uh, What did you need help with?” Moon said. Oh yeah, something is going on with her. His talons gripped the scroll he was holding tighter. I won’t be able to get her to talk though, I know it.

He set the scroll down and tried to act like the tension wasn’t heavy around them. He heard a whisper snake through his mind, sounding foggy. Please don’t let him hear me, not right now. I can handle him hearing me later, but not now. His brain flashed an alarm silently. That wasn’t Darkstalker, it was much different. It sounded like...

“So I have all of these scrolls that haven’t been returned yet, and I know who checked them out,” He started babbling, trying to ignore the feeling of panic in his gut. “I just need you to help me write down the scroll title and the dragon’s name. Then we can give it to Sunny and she’ll try to find the scrolls.” 

“Okay,” Moon said uneasily. “Doesn’t Fatespeaker normally help you with this? Not that I don’t want to help you or anything! I just thought-”

“I understand,” Starflight cut her off, patting her talon. “Yes, Fatespeaker normally helps me, but she had to go back to the NightWing village for a few days. So I asked Sunny if any students would be willing to help, and she sent you.” 

He heard the steps of two dragonets coming towards the counter from where they had previously been sitting. “We finished the scroll, Starflight.” A scroll bumped his talons as Kinkajou placed it on the counter for him. “Hey Moon! Tamarin and I are going to go bother Winter. Do you want to come with us?”

Moon hummed. “No thank you. I’m helping Starflight with something. I’ll come to find you after, okay?”

“Okay! See ya later!” Kinkajou led Tamarin out of the room. 

“Bye Moon,” Tamarin called out as they left. 

“Bye Tamarin!” Moon called back. 

Starflight hummed pleasantly. Tamarin is a very sweet dragon, I’m glad she’s found friends.  She was one of the dragons he had worried about. He wasn't sure if any dragons would tease her for being blind, but nobody seemed to be doing so yet, so he was glad she was finding her way around school. 

“Yeah, she’s great.” Moon agreed. 

They both froze. He could practically hear how hard the little NightWing’s heart was going. 

Finally. I was waiting for my two favorite mind-readers to find each other out. Darkstalker yammered at them. He sounded genuinely pleased as if he was actually excited about this. 

Mind reader? I am NOT a mind-reader. His head suddenly jolted with a stabbing pain. Wait, does Moon...

“Yes,” Moon sounded almost devastated to admit this. She grabbed his talon in hers. I can hear Darkstalker too. 

Darkstalker laughed. The three of us have a very fun future ahead. 

Chapter Text

Starflight felt steady pulses of fear throb through his talons. Although Moon had explained everything to him over and over again, he couldn’t wrap his head around Darkstalker. 

Moon thought that Starflight was a mindreader his whole life, but he knew this wasn’t the case. If I was, I would actually be useful . He shook the guilt off his scales as it if were a shower of raindrops. 

After the 3rd time, Staflight faked understanding so the dragonet would give him a moment to ponder everything. 

On one hand, it made him feel better to know he wasn’t going crazy. On the other talon, he was mind talking - or whatever it’s called - with an ancient dragon that’s been asleep for over 2,000 years. That sorta makes him feel crazier than just hallucinating a voice. 

He laid on the moss rug of his bedroom and tried to calm his racing thoughts down. He heard a knock on his door, making his head whip up. 

“Starflight?” Clay whispered, creaking the door open. “Can I come in?”

Starflight hummed. “Yeah, what’s up?”

He could feel the shy MudWing building up the courage to ask something that would probably be embarrassing. The door shut behind his brother, and he felt Clay slump down next to him, wrapping their tails together. 

Clay sighed. “Do you think Peril likes me?”

Starflight laughed out loud. “Hey! Why are you laughing at me? I’m serious!” Clay protested, knocking into the NightWing with his shoulder softly. 

He took a deep breath in. “Whooph! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was expecting something real serious.”

Clay poked him in the snout with his talon. “It is serious!”

Starflight snorted. “No offense Clay, but I think you’re the last dragon to figure this out. She’s liked you since she helped us escape the SkyWing palace.” 

“Oh. That long?” Clay asked. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” Starflight mumbled, laying his head back down. “That’s why she was reluctant to help us get Sunny. And to help us leave, for that matter. She didn’t want to lose the only dragon she’s ever loved.” 

The older dragon paused for a moment. “Huh..”

“Do you like her too?” Starflight asked, already knowing the answer. The way Clay looks at her, and the way their conversations are awkward yet somehow sickeningly sweet. Clay loved her too, he was sure of it, and being the only dragon in the world who wasn’t afraid to touch her, they were perfect for each other. 

“I- uhm,” Clay stammered. “I don’t know, she makes me feel all kinds of feelings and I don’t know how to talk to her sometimes, and-”

Starflight didn’t mean to fall asleep while Clay was talking to him about his love life. He really didn’t, but the way he was yammering was very soothing. Or Starflight was just exhausted after keeping himself awake for five days. 

As soon as he fell asleep, however, he was face to face with a huge dragon. He yelped and scrambled backward, not expecting to be able to see anything so clearly. Starflight could see when he was dreaming, as he could still imagine things. As time went on, however, he forgot small details about places and things, making them blurry or static in his mind. 

“Jeez,” The big NightWing said, and he immediately recognized the deep grumbling voice as Darkstalker. “How little do you sleep?” He tilted his head at Starflight. “I’ve been waiting for five days before you fell asleep.”

The smaller NightWing narrowed his eyes at Darkstalker, stating his distrust clearly. “I knew you would do something to be when I went to sleep.” 

“Mmm.” Darkstalker hummed at him, deep in thought. “I should have known. You’re very smart. That’s why I decided to help you.”

“Help me?” Starflight puzzled. What is this guy TALKING ABOUT? You fall asleep for 2,000 years and think you still know everything? I should be helping YOU.

Darkstalker looked at him, unimpressed. “I can hear you.”

Oops. My bad.

The big NightWing rolled his eyes. “ANYWAY. Speaking of help..” Suddenly, Moonwatcher was pulled into the dreamscape with them, and he finally got a look at one of his favorite students. 

She was smaller than he thought, with cool, smooth, shiny purplish-black scales that were imbued with hints of dark blue and green. She had a glittering silver scale on the outside corner of each of her dark green eyes, like a teardrop that was threatening to fall. They were bigger and shinier than Fatespeakers if he remembered properly. 

She glanced at him and smiled warmly. “Your eyes are pretty, Starflight.”

He was suddenly self-conscious, tucking his wings firmly to his sides. “Thank you. I imagined you to look quite different.” Catching the look on her face, he quickly kept talking. “Not that you look bad, of course.”

“Wow.” Darkstalker cut in. “You two are AKWARD.”

Starflight shot him a look, which made him laugh. “Man, you look exactly like Clearsight when you make that face.” 

“What do you want from me?” Starflight demanded, lashing his tail across the floor slightly. He had been watching Tsunami ever since the SeaWing palace, trying to be more like her. It wasn’t working out well, he found himself being a fool more than anything else. 

“To help you!” Darkstalker exclaimed. “I’ve decided to rewrite my past and become a better dragon through helping others. Starting with my fellow mindreaders. I’d be stuck in place without you two, now wouldn’t I?” 

Moonwatcher nodded slightly, but Starflight saw through his comedic diversion. “I’m not a mind reader.”

His student looked at him confused. “But you were born under three full moons, of course you are. We talked about this, remember?”

He flicked his tail in annoyance, crunching his face in concentration as he tried to explain his hostile attitude. “If I was a mind reader, I would know my whole life, wouldn’t I? I could have stopped so much during this war. Why would I let things happen the way they did?” 

Darkstalker jumped in to answer. “Sometimes, it takes NightWing powers some time to fully develop, and the same thing with animus powers!” He seemed almost excited to be explaining this to the two of them. “For example! My good old friend Listener! Well, not MY friend, Clearsight’s friend.” He yapped, expecting Starflight to know who these dragons were. Or to care, for that matter. “She didn’t get her MIND READING POWERS until she was 3 years old. That’s WAY longer. Most dragonets are born hearing thoughts, but they can develop them when they’re older.” 

Starflight thought about this for a moment. Moon grabbed his talon, making him look at her. “Maybe being around other mindreaders in close quarters made your power develop. Have you ever heard anything before?” 

He thought about the shivers and whispers he heard from the underground cave, making him bolt and hide under his siblings. His paranoia was always the cause of the teasing he received from Glory and Tsunami. It was why everyone thought he was a coward. Could it all be my powers? After all this time could I be a real NightWing after all?

Moon flinched, and he panicked as he remembered to try to fog his thoughts up from her. “You’ve always been a real NightWing. I’m sorry you’ve never felt like it either.” 

Although his brain screamed to believe Darkstalker, a sinking feeling in his gut told him to resist some more. “I don’t believe you.”

The older NightWing’s glance darkened for a moment before he put on a smile that almost looked pitying. He pats Starflight’s head. “Oh, my dear. You’ll see in due time.”

With that, Starflight was sucked back into his own body, jolting awake. He groaned as he clutched his head before he froze. He always wore a cloth tied around his face. It made no difference to him, but he was concerned that he would frighten his students with the scarring across both of his eyes. 

However, this morning, he saw a glimpse of light through the cloth. With shaking claws, he gingerly untied the wrap and yanked it off his eyes. He was instantly taken aback by how beautiful the cave was around him. He imagined something like the underground cave he grew up in, but this cave was decorated lovingly, and the colored glass caught the rays of the sun and splashed rainbows on the floor. 

Starflight looked down at his own talons, recognizing the familiar scales. Tears started filling his eyes and he cried out into the emptiness. “What did you DO to me?"

Chapter Text

He stared down at his shaking talons, too afraid to look at anything else. His heart pummeled in his chest as he heaved, and his mind screamed out for Darkstalker, telling him to fix what he’s done. Put his blindness back. Make him normal again. Anything but this. But alas, Darkstalker’s favorite pastime was to not be around when you needed him. 

Darkstalker, I swear if you were here we would have some choice words! His brain angrily thought. As his brain started to calm down for the first time in weeks, he could hear whispers of other people’s thoughts. They bounced around in his head excitedly, and he tried to shake them away with no avail. 

I wonder what we have to eat today. A dragonet’s voice seemed far away, echoing around his head like a raindrop. 

Where’s Clay? He could… Peril’s mind echoed before it was swallowed by fire. 

Voices filled his head, and he put his hands over his snout and shut his eyes tightly, reveling in the familiar feeling of not being able to see. He was scared of the unfamiliar, whether that was just paranoia’s fault, or an effect of the powers he didn’t know he had. 

All of the voices that rang around his head made him start to feel insane. He couldn’t live like this. He was so wrapped up in being able to see AND having mind reading powers that he wasnt sure he would be able to focus on anything again in his life. 

Nothing made sense to him anymore, and he hated it. He was always the smart one. He knew everything. Starflight knew how to handle almost every situation, even if he couldn’t do it himself. Even if he was a coward, he could help to get his siblings and himself out of every sticky situation they were in. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, and his breaths were getting heavier and heavier with each passing thought. 

If he was able to see again, maybe he could help everyone again. His brain angrily chased itself in circles until he heard a familiar voice in his head. 

Starflight, calm down. Everything is okay. Where are you? Moon’s voice echoed pleasantly in his head. 

Get me out of here! He yelled. I don’t want to hear your thoughts, I don’t want to hear anyone. 

Starflight, you’re spiraling. Darkstalker murmured, his voice soft. 

Yeah, and who’s fault is that? How did you fix my sight? The NightWing bitterly thought. 

Woah, you can see? Moon questioned. Her voice was clear like Darkstalker’s, but wobbly, as if she wasn’t used to projecting her thoughts so that other’s could hear. 

Starflight, I am incapable of using any magic. 

Like I believe that. What am I supposed to do? The smaller NightWing shakily got up, hissing at the pain in his head. All the voices around him were so loud and constant. He wished he could fall back asleep to escape the insanity. 

We have a lot of work to do. Darkstalker sighed. 

He could hear faint voices in a hallway beside him. 

“Come on, we’re looking for Starflight.” A familiar voice rang out. 

“Starflight, which one is that again? Ow! Don’t hit me! I’ve barely met any of your siblings, jeez.” A second voice yelped. 

“He’s the shy, nerdy one.” As the voice came closer, he finally recognized who it belonged to. 

“Glory!” He yelled, shakily walking towards the door frame. He creaked the door open anxiously. 

Starflight, don’t do anything wreckless. 

She still thinks you can’t see, remember. Moon’s calm voice irritated him in the moment, and he rolled his eyes and swung the door open fully. 

There was his oldest sister, standing proudly in the hallway, staring directly at him. A few feet behind her was Deathbringer, her bodyguard. They had talked maybe twice, and one of the times occurred while he was fighting him.

Glory will know what to do. Starflight convinced himself. 

He saw the disbelief on her face as she looked at him. “Starflight, your eyes.”

The NightWing leaned forward and yanked the emerald green dragon into his room, slamming the door shut behind them. 

“Hey!” Deathbringer yelled, bursting in. “You can’t just snatch up the RainWing queen!”

Starflight rolled his eyes and bared his teeth. “I don’t care if you’re in here to babysit Glory, just shut the door and stop talking!” He was in no mood to deal with Deathbringer’s nonsense. 

Woah. Okay Glory, you forgot to mention your shy brother was cute. And fiery. Deathbringer’s mind whispered at him. Starflight gave him a disgusted look before shaking his head and looking at Glory. 

“I can see.” He said bluntly. 

“Well, it surely looks like it.” Glory said, eyeing him suspiciously. “How?”

“I don’t know!” He yelped, throwing his talons up in anguish. “It’s been a long few days Glory, and it’s a really long story.”

His sister wrapped her tail around his and pulled him closer. “It’s okay. Tell me everything.”

I hope you know what you’re doing, firefly. 

Chapter Text

"Okay, let me get this straight,” Glory mumbled, her face knit in purple-orange waves of confusion. “You started hearing voices, but it turns out you actually have the NightWing powers that you were supposed to have all this time. Not to mention, the voice that you heard supposedly is a dragon trapped in a mountain, and he cured your blindness?” His sister stared at him in absolute disbelief, her scales turning a new color he wasn’t quite sure what it meant. 

Deathbringer snorted from behind him. “Makes sense to me.” The sarcasm was extremely clear in his voice, and Starflight wanted nothing more than to swipe him in the face with his claws.

Glory shot him a look. “We don’t need your input right now. Starflight is clearly going through something, and you making him feel crazy isn’t helping. He doesn’t make stuff like this up.”

Starflight had never felt so validated in his entire life. “Thank you, Glory.” He felt like he was going insane, and his sister believing him without a doubt made him feel so much better. 

She doesn’t really believe you. Darkstalker muttered. 

How would you know? Starflight challenged, bristling with anger. 

Listen to her mind. The older dragon persuaded. 

Starflight allowed himself to focus on her thoughts for just a moment. 

Well, he can see. That’s for sure. I can see him staring right at me, and his pupils are dilating in the light. I know he’s going through something, but he couldn’t possibly have powers. Morrowseer told us that those were all rumors, NightWing manipulation. Wasn’t he there for that? Could he be doing it for attention, or is something actually wrong with him? Maybe sleep deprivation? That definitely could cause hallucinations to occur. 

Starflight felt his heart shatter for a moment, before the anger in his head hit him like a ton of bricks. What the hell, Glory?

Told you. 

You’re not helping. What am I supposed to do now? The small NightWing looked at Glory for another moment, suddenly irritated and bitter by her presence. He straightened his back stiffly, and looked at her sadly. He needed her to leave before he pounced on her. 

“I don’t know, maybe I’m just tired.” He muttered. “I think I should get some rest.”

Glory glanced at him. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. You can go ahead. I know you came here to visit everyone else, too.” The NightWing said, hugging his sister and twining their tails together for a moment. 

“Well, alright.” The RainWing pulled back, and Deathbringer slipped out the door. As she approached the door herself, Glory looked back. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yeah!” Starflight faked a smile in her direction. “I’ll be alright, I promise.” 

With that, the emerald green dragon slipped out, and as soon as the door was closed, Starflight’s smile dropped. He paced his room back and forth. 

Why would she lie to my face? She didn’t believe me one bit! If you were just talking to her normally, you would have never known. 

If Glory is lying to you, just imagine who else could be. Darkstalker’s grumbling voice sounded soft and pitiful. You know I’d never lie to you, Starflight. 

How do I know that? The younger NIghtWIng sneered in his own thoughts. Not even my family is honest to me anymore. 

You can hear my thoughts. Darkstalker panned. You know my every opinion, trust me, I can’t hide anything from you. As for your family, Moon and I have that covered. We’ll be your family now. 

Huh? Oh yeah, of course! Moon’s thoughts sounded distracted and wobbly. During the scorching… What are we talking about? I’m in class right now. 

Starflight rolled his eyes. Focus on your classes, please. He crept towards his door, pressing his ear against the door and listening to see if anyone was in the hallway. When he found that nobody was there, he darted out of his room, walking down the hallway towards the library. 

He tried to dodge any dragons he knew, as he thought things would be hard to explain if he showed up being able to see magically. Ha, magically. He bitterly thought to himself. 

I’m glad you’re seeing humor in this, it is a good step towards acceptance. Darkstalker said in a formal, yet irritatingly all-knowing voice. 

If I hear another word from you, I don’t know what I’ll do. Starflight rolled his eyes. But I’ll do something, I swear. 

I don’t foresee you doing anything that will affect me, but nice try, Firefly. The older dragon muttered, even laughing at his attempts to threaten him. 

Don’t call me that. Starflight walked through the library door, looking around. Good. Nobody was here. He turned around and flipped the sign on the door around, just like he did every morning. This signaled to the rest of the school that the library was open for the day. 

He looked up, and finally saw his library for the first time. The entrance was a side corridor which was lined with hanging scrolls. He remembered picking out meaningful quotes for the scrolls to say, and he was pleased to find that they were actually what he had wanted. 

At the end of the hall, a room full of iridescent green sunlight shone through the leaves that covered the skylights. Glory and Kinkajou had used those to keep the weather out, but to let the light in. 

Scrolls were arranged all over the cave, in cubby holes on the walls, on racks, and in cylinders. Every corner had a spot to curl up and read in, different settings for every kind of dragon. In the center was his circular wooden desk, with a label that said “LIBRARIAN”. 

His heart swelled, and he felt tears start to gather in his eyes. He loved his library, and he wasn’t able to fully appreciate it until right now. 

See, good things happen when you let me help you. Darkstalker muttered. 

So you admit, you did this to me? He asked, curling his tail over his back talons. 

Oh no, I couldn’t have. My magic is in my scroll still. He mused. You must have done this yourself somehow. 

Starflight couldn’t help but not believe the older dragon, but he tried his best to keep that thought to himself. He sighed for a moment and thought about it anyway. Darkstalker would always find a way to know what he was thinking. 

Okay. I don’t like whatever you’ve done to me, and I don’t believe you when you say you haven’t done it. Starflight took a breath. But I’ll admit. This is nice. He had a sudden fond feeling for Darkstalker as he looked around at the library he worked so hard for. 

Chapter Text

Starflight had been avoiding Glory and Deathbringer for a few days now. Anytime he would see them, he would turn right on his heels and go the other way, praying they hadn’t seen him. He didn’t want to hear any more accusations of him lying in their minds.

His other siblings had yet to see him or say anything about his blindness, as they were too busy spending time with their sister. Starflight bitterly wondered who was taking care of the Rainforest while the Queen was here. He thought that Grandour could do it, but if she was willing to step in for a few days was all up to her. 

With all of their time wrapped up with Glory, it was easy for him to sneak around, softly listening for whispering in their brain that confirmed his suspicion: his siblings didn’t want him. 

He didn’t want to think this, but after Darkstalker had planted the seed into his mind, he couldn’t think of anything else. The older NightWing seemed to know how his siblings thought of him, even when they weren’t around. He gathered that this made sense, as he could hear everyone all the time, and Starflight himself could only hear who he was around when he was around them. Sometimes, he had to focus hard on a dragon to gather any sort of thought from them. 

Starflight seemed to have even less power than Moon, which he thought was odd. He was born under three moons, didn’t Darkstalker say that he was supposed to be all-powerful and awesome? 

He felt about as cool as a sea pickle at the moment. 

Starflight sat in his library, organizing his scrolls again for what felt like the millionth time. Now that he could see, there were so many more ways to put things, and he wanted to find the one that would work the most efficiently for the school. As dragonets came in and out, he heard their trickling thoughts of confusion. 

I thought he was going to be blind forever? 

Didn’t he used to have his cloth?

My mom said…

I knew he would get better. 

Maybe he wasn’t even blind in the first place. 

He didn’t know how to feel about the varying thoughts that would skim along the surface of the dragonet’s brains, and he was too insecure in himself to dig deeper into their thoughts for more than a moment. 

You are too afraid to use the powers that you have. Darkstalker whispered calmly into his ear. I can only imagine how difficult you’ll be when you discover the powers you don’t know you have. 

What do you mean, powers I don’t know about? The anxious NightWing called back into his own brain. What else could I possibly have? I already can read minds, and I assume I have prophetic powers as well. 

You’ll find out soon enough. I see that you have a few more days before you figure it out, at most. The dragon’s gravely voice made Starflight more nervous than anything, even though he could tell that the older dragon was trying his best to sound soft and loving. 

Stop talking to me like that. You’re not my dad. He thought about his actual dad, who was rotting away in prison because he turned out to be a terrible dragon. He often worried that he was going to turn out that way, and it kept him awake at night. 

He hid the fact that he missed him, and kept any thought of his father tucked away neatly, just how he did for everything he didn’t want to unpack at the moment. 

Starflight skimmed his brain for other powers he could possibly have. Moon had prophecy and mind-reading. The NightWing had always had nightmares of terrible things that could happen to him and his siblings, but he never thought they could be prophecies. He remembered waking up one night when he was very young, clammy and scared after a nightmare of Dune being torn to shreds by a huge, orange SkyWing. 

He thought it must have been a coincidence, or just fear filling his head. He ignored the fact that he wouldn’t have even learned who Queen Scarlet was for a year after the nightmare had occurred. 

The librarian dug around on a shelf, looking for anything that had to do with special abilities. He stopped as he stared at a specific scroll. 

There’s no way. He thought. I can’t be an-

An Animus? Darkstalker whispered into his mind. You never know. Have you even tried to test yourself? 

No, I haven’t. Starflight thought. He remembered very vividly his siblings standing in a circle, yelling at rocks to float, or to hit their guardians and come back to them. 

“Come on Starflight!” Sunny yelled, giggling. “Play with us!”

Starflight poked his nose out of the scroll he was reading, a disappointed sigh escaping from his snout. “Absolutely not. I’m trying to read about the feeding habits of Scavengers. It’s actually very interesting. Do you want me to read it to you?”

Sunny wrinkled her snout at him. “No thanks!” She ran out of the room to chase her siblings, yelling. “Rock! I order you to whack Clay in his big head!” 

Starflight shook his head and rubbed his temples with his talons, taking a shaky breath before reading again. He remembered thinking to himself, ‘we’re blessed that none of us have such horrible powers. I could only imagine the harm it would bring.’

He suddenly felt nervous. What if I am enchanted? Would things have gone differently? Would I have been able to stop the war from the beginning? Starflight thought of the endless possibilities he could have been the slightest bit less useless. Or would I have been tied down like Anenome, used by a Queen that I shouldn’t even be serving?

There’s only one way to find out. The bigger NightWing grumbled in his head. 

Starflight’s heart started beating irregularly out of fear. What would I even enchant? He thought for a moment before picking up an empty scroll that was on the shelf. 

He glanced around the room, making sure none of the dragonets would be looking at him, or listening to anything he was about to say. He ducked down behind the desk and whispered at the scroll. 

“Scroll, if I’m an animus, tell me hello.” His voice was shaking, and he thought he was going to lose his mind from how hard he was staring at the parchment. 

He felt a sickening feeling rush through his veins as ink started bleeding through the paper. 

Oh no. Starflight thought. 

Oh, yes. Finally. Darkstalker cheered. 

What’s going on now? Moon aske d. 

‘ Hello!’ Read the scroll in neat, cursive letters.