Starcatcher January DTAE!

Name: Dapple Bay
Nickname: Bay
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Born: January 7th, on an extremely foggy day
Occupation: None (See "Extended Information" for more on this)
Personality: Outgoing, optimistic, disorganized, kind to a fault, athletic, sarcastic, adventurous, a perfectionist, and an overachiever.  She can also be super annoying when she points out every last little detail in things.
Likes: Snow, flying, warm updrafts that she can ride, ice cream, donuts, stars, meteor showers, the moon, sleeping, reading, lame jokes, and puns.
Dislikes: Sprinkles, hot weather, thorns and sharp plants, rain, pecan pie, jump scares, when her little brother is annoying, and being grounded (so she can't go into the forest).
Favourite Color: Pastel blue
Least Favorite Color: Orange
Favorite Pasttime: Curling up in the snug little cave she calls home and watching the stars
Extended Information: Dapple Bay is a pretty adventurous Starcatcher.  She started her life growing up in a family of four-- herself, her parents, and her little brother (Eucalyptus, AKA Euca).  She was always the one who'd be out exploring when her family went on trips.  She'd often get lost.  The day she found her star was magical but very dangerous for her. Her family had been out for the day and had left her home alone at 15, deeming her responsible enough to take care of herself.
~~~
"Bye!"  Dapple Bay called.  "Have fun Euca!  You'll be soaring high in no time!"
"Take care!" Her departing family members called simultaneously back to her.  Her little brother, Eucalyptus, was going on a five-day trip to learn how to fly and then travel around with his new ability.  Bay watched as her parents disappeared on the horizon, little Euca in his mother's arms.  The moment they faded completely from her sight, a huge grin spread upon Bay's face, and rather than waltz back inside the house, she made a mad dash for Lightbright Woods, the forest that stood nearby her home.
Lightbright Woods was notorious for harboring fallen stars during rare occasions of the year.  Bay was well aware of this, and often ventured there to see if she could finally find her own starry companion.  She'd been dying for one ever since the day she turned 7, and she was now 15 years old.  Tonight was a meteor shower, and Bay had been hoping to try her luck in the woods tonight, as perhaps some stars would come crashing to the earth alongside the space rocks.  Bay spread her wings and flapped them to propel her forward, her excitement increasing by the minute as the sun started to go down.
Lightbright Woods was extremely dense with foliage.  Dangerous plants lived inside, and there was rarely a time when you wouldn't come across a sharp thicket of thorns.  Bay slowed down when she came to the treeline, stopping to look up at the tall trees.
"Tonight's the night," Bay muttered to herself.  "I just know it!"
With that, the Starcatcher mare started forward into the woods, weaving her way through the cluttered plant life with practiced ease.  She was careful not to lose her way, drawing a path behind her with her tightly-closed budded tail.  She doubted that any wind would filter through the trees and whisk her path away.
Bay explored the forest for hours without any success.  The meteor shower hadn't started yet, so she still had hope.  It was set to begin any moment now, and she strained her eyes to try and look through the canopy, but it was too thick.  Frustrated, Bay spread her wings and flapped them heavily, making her way to the top of the dense layer of trees.  She suddenly shrieked as she felt her tail get tangled in something.  Something sharp.  She continued to flap her wings heavily, but she wouldn't rise into the sky any more.  Casting a quick glance behind her, she noticed her tail hair caught in an especially thick clump of inky-colored thorns.  Aware that she would miss the meteor shower and her chance to get a star if she wasted another minute, she grit her teeth and flapped as hard as she could.  A loud *rrrrriiiiipppp!* sounded behind her, and she cried in pain as her dusty white tail tore in half.  She lurched forwards slightly at the sudden release and soared high into the sky, white hairs trailing behind her.  She flapped her wings to keep her aloft while taking a moment to recover.  Only the bright lights flashing in her peripheral vision told her to pay attention.
Bay gasped as she looked above her to see hundreds of colorful meteors blaze across the sky.  The meteor shower was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.  Beautiful colors like red, blue, yellow, orange, and green all appeared before her eyes, and she opened them in wonder.  She had been staring for a full two minutes before she heard a loud roaring nearing her.  The sky got brighter for a moment and she quickly dodged to the side as a blue streak of light sped past her, crashing hard inside Lightbright Woods.  Bay snapped out of her reverie and automatically dove towards the spot where the light had crashed.  Ignoring the pain in her tail, she brought her wings close to her sides before quickly opening them to parachute her landing.
Bay found herself in a beautiful clearing, a small circular pool glittering before her. Willow trees surrounded the water, their leave dangling over the pristine surface.  Her breath caught for a moment as she reveled at the beautiful sight.  A small whimper snapped her to attention, and she noticed a small, dull, pulsating form near the other end of the pool.  Galloping over, she gasped when she realized she was looking at a fallen star.  She turned it over gently with her hoof, the slight warmth coming from it rushing through her body electrically.  She immediately felt a strange bond to the creature, and without her consent, her tail blossomed and arced itself over to the fallen form.  It embraced it gently and closed itself up, protecting the injured life it now held inside of it.
Suddenly back to her senses, it took Bay a moment to realize what had just happened.  Her eyes widened and a look of incredulity formed on her face.
"I've got a star." She muttered to herself.  A smile quickly spread from ear to ear.  "I've got a star! Woo hoo!"
Bay jumped around excitedly until she realized it might be disturbing the injured creature inside her tail.  She stopped abruptly, and as she did so, another thought occurred to her.  She was horribly lost.  She looked around her at the beautiful pool once more.  
"Where exactly am I?" She thought to herself.  She was about to take flight when she realized that if her tail hit the trees, she could damage the star she now held even more.  Conflicted, she bit her lip while she thought.  She had no clue where her trail was, so all she could do was walk.  She turned tail and strolled away from the pool, the magical place disappearing behind her.
Bay kept her tail arced close to her face so that she could see it at all times.  She felt a small pinch near her tailbone when she suddenly remembered what had happened to her tail hair.  She tried her best to ignore it and trotted on, focused on finding a way home.
Somehow, she came to the edge of the woods and looked to her right, seeing that she was barely a hundred feet or so from the path to her house.  Relieved, she headed onto the path and arrived at her home not long after.  Getting in the house, she flopped on her bed and immediately fell asleep.

Bay woke up to a cringing pain in her tail.  She shrieked slightly and looked behind her to see that the half of her tail that was still there was now tipped in a sickly black color.  She grimaced and sniffed it only to rear back in disgust.  Her tail smelled foul!  She had no clue what was going on, but she went about her day normally, taking care to not injure the star she now harbored, before it was nighttime once more.  
The Starcatcher mare jolted awake the next morning, a loud whimper escaping her mouth.  She automatically looked towards her tail again to see that it was more black than the previous morning, and it hurt considerably more.  She also noticed that she felt a warmth in her bud, and she brought it close to her face, jumping a little at the pain the movement caused her.  Suddenly, her tail began to open, a bright blue light emanating from the inside.  She realized that her star must've been fully healed!  Her eyes widened and she found herself face to face with a blinking blue lifeform.
"Aaah!" It's high little voice shrieked, Bay's tail jumping away from her face.
"Aaah!" Bay replied, surprised by the little scream.
Bay cleared her throat for a moment and took a deep breath, the confused little star looking up at her curiously.
"Hello," Bay started.  "I'm Dapple Bay.  But you can call me Bay."
"Hi," the little star replied hesitantly.  It paused for a moment before looking at her concernedly.  "Are you okay?"
Bay cocked her head.  "Why yes, of course!  I'm more than okay, actually.  Now that you're here, I'm great!"
"Oh," the star said.  "Because you seem to be in a lot of pain.  I sense it."
Bay gave a start when she realized that the star sensed the pain she was feeling in her tail.  "Yeah, I'm a little hurt, but nothing I won't survive," she explained.
The star looked skeptical.  "Are you sure?  I sense poison."
Bay looked confused.  "Poison?"
"Yeah, in your tail.  It feels like... Taint Thorn poison."
"Taint Thorn?" Bay echoed, confused.
"Yeah.  It's a deadly plant that when touched transfers a deadly poison into the one who touched it.  Did you get caught in black thorns recently?"
Bay flashed back to when her tail fur got caught in those inky-looking thorns in Lightbright Woods.  Her eyes widened.  "Yes!  In Lightbright Woods!"
The star looked troubled.  "We've got to remove the poison," it muttered.
"How?" Bay asked frantically.  The black tips on her tail seemed to grow towards the base of the hair by the minute.
"I can remove it with my magic.  But... you won't like it." The star said.
"Just do it!" Bay replied, beginning to freak out.  She didn't want to poison to reach her veins.  It hurt enough as it was resting in her tail.
The star frowned and closed its eyes, glowing brightly and scrunching up its little face.  Bay felt nearly immediate relief as the pain started to drain away, and a smile spread across her face as it vanished completely.
Bay opened her eyes that she had not realized she closed and sighed with relief.  The little star was looking guiltily at her.  "Thank you," Bay said.  "Now I've just got to hope my tail will grow back to it's normal size before mom and dad and-- WOAH!"  The Starcatcher turned around and widened her eyes, shocked to see that her tail hair was completely gone.  "What happened to my tail?!"  She turned to the star resting on her tail leaves, her eyes ablaze.
"Well, that's the thing..." the little star said. "The poison was so close to your body that I had to remove your tail all-together."
Bay's eye twitched.  "How long will it take to grow back?"
The star paused.  "It won't."
The mare's jaw dropped.  "What?!"
"You see, if your tail were to grow back, the poison would return.  It had already settled itself into your deepest roots.  It we had waited a moment more, you would've been in dire trouble.  I had to remove any remains of your tail permanently in order to keep the poison from regenerating itself where it was." The star explained.  "It was too far in," she elaborated.
Bay held her breath before letting it out in a huge sigh.  "Thanks for saving me." 
The star immediately looked relieved.  "I'm glad you're not mad."
Bay narrowed her eyes.  "I never said I wasn't mad, but I guess the fact that you saved my life makes up for it a little bit," she winked.  "Just don't go removing my mane or anything, okay?  I guess I'll have to do without tail hair from now on.  It's not like I needed it that much anyways," she laughed slightly.  "Anyways, you never told me your name."
The star smiled.  "I'm... Lyra."
"Lyra," Bay rolled the name around on her tongue.  "I think I'm gonna call you Ly."
"But that sounds like lie!" Lyra complained.
Bay giggled.  "I know.  Don't go removing my tail and lying next time!"
"I didn't lie!" Lyra protested.  "I just didn't... tell you the full truth, is all."
"That's lying!"
Lyra frowned.  "Fine, fine, I guess it is.  But don't call me Ly!"
Bay laughed.  

"Alright, Ly."

~~~

Dapple Bay's family had returned a few days later overjoyed at the fact that she had found and healed a fallen star.  Euca had been successful in flying and had wanted to fly around with Bay immediately.  When Bay explained to her family that she had lost her tail and would not grow back, they were upset at first, but later they were happy that she was alright and grateful that her star had saved her.
Now, Bay lives with Lyra in Lightbright Woods in a cave near the clearing she discovered at 15.  She often goes home and takes Euca into the woods with her, so her little brother can possibly find a fallen star.  And now at 18 years old, Bay hasn't ever lost her way in the dense forest with Lyra by her side.


(I wasn't sure if I needed this or not because I saw a lot of people had star info too soooo ;o; )

Name: Lyra
Nickname: Ly (though she is greatly opposed to it
Gender: Female
Likes: Knock-knock jokes, puns, riddles, Lightbright Woods, pranks, nighttime, and being around little Euca
Dislikes: Those who spoil jokes and riddles, day time, taunting, her nickname
Favorite color: Pastel blue (this she has in common with Bay)
Least favorite color: Yellow
Personality: Adventurous, curious, happy, most of the time means well, eager, easily frustrated.  Lyra is a little bit of a drama queen, and likes to find loopholes to common situations.

Star Catchers are a closed species belonging to April-Cakes
Credit to LillithCrescent for the design!