//------------------------------//
// Chapter Six 
// Story: Falling For Our Stars 
// by bobdat 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Six

The train home was a lonely one. I’d fallen asleep before I saw Rarity come back from the dance, and I got up and left for the station before she woke up. I knew that putting it off would only make things worse, and Fly told me so a number of times, but I just couldn’t face her. She was like my fallen heroine, and I didn’t want her to see me.

I wanted to talk to someone, and by someone I mean Fly, but she was at home with her parents a long way away. I certainly wasn’t going to talk to my parents; I love them and everything, but I didn’t think they’d be very accepting of my new-found feelings. In fact, I was suddenly afraid of admitting my feelings to myself, which was probably the only reason that I managed to keep them to myself. I played the piano a lot and got much better at it, mainly because playing the piano kept my mind off things.

I’d seen girl-girl couples at Buckingham before, of course. There were always a few; they usually wandered around the corridors with their tails entwined and looked blissful. The school didn’t formally comment on such relationships but they seemed permitted. In a school of so many fillies, it made sense that there would sometimes be romances.
“Maybe she, you know, doesn’t swing that way,” Fly had told me. And she was right, much as I hated to say it. I couldn’t just expect Rarity to be interested in me, especially if I was stupid and foalish enough to think she might be giving me signs. She was just being my friend and I’d ruined all of that with some flight of fancy. And to make everything worse, I’d kissed her, and I couldn’t undo that.

Even though I was dreading seeing Rarity again, I couldn’t help but count down the hours until I’d be back at Buckingham. Sitting around in the living room with my parents, looking at magazines and trying to pretend I knew what they were talking about, was nice ‘family time’, but I missed my friends. And of course, Hearth’s Warming Eve was the best time of the year to be with friends.
“Do you want to come present shopping with me?” Mum asked me one morning when I was lounging around wondering about doing some piano practice, “You should get some fresh air.”
I took one look at the frosty trees outside and shook my head. “I think I might do some baking if you’re going to be out.”
“Make sure you wash everything up afterwards.”

Once my mum had gone out into the cold, I pulled on an ancient jumper which was super soft and warm, then got to work in the kitchen, making mince pies and using up all of the ingredients my mum probably wanted to use for something else. I ran out of mincemeat eventually and had to make a number of tiny pies, before putting them all into the oven and collapsing onto a chair with a magazine and some Hearth’s Warming carols playing.
“Hi sweetie,” Dad said as he stepped into the room, “Something smells nice.”
“Not for another fifteen minutes it doesn’t,” I replied in a warning tone.
“That’s okay, I wouldn’t want to spoil dinner.”

He hung around, peering over my shoulder at the magazine.
“Can I help you?” I asked, shutting the glossy pages and turning to look at him.
He smiled. “I’m just wondering about what you think we should do for the holidays. You know that Grandma has moved into her new house, so we could go and visit her, or we could stay here, or book a last minute trip somewhere else.”
I shrugged. “I’ll go along with whatever you and Mum want to do,” I told him. “Where is Grandma’s new house? I’ve forgotten.”
“It’s in Weston-super-Mare, which is about four hours away by train.”

Four hours on a train didn’t really fill me with glee. “Maybe we could stay at home?” I suggested.
Dad laughed a little. “I’ll talk to Mum. But it might be worth remembering that Weston-super-Mare is just a few minutes away from Plymhoof.”
“Why would I want to go to Plymhoof?” I replied, confused. I was trying to remember whether there was a stage show there, or maybe a fashion show, or some good shopping. Or maybe it was just something stupid to do with piano.
Dad knitted his brows. “Isn’t that where Fly lives?”

The prospect of a trip to see Fly did raise my spirits a bit, even if it meant enduring Grandma for a week. But first we had Hearth’s Warming Eve to look forward to, which meant all of the usual festivities and a visit from my cousins, who came every year. They arrived two days before, while I was out shopping for presents.

I was weighed down with saddlebags full of presents and cards when I opened the door, hoping to just drag myself up the stairs and collapse on my bed, but a filly much smaller than myself came charging at me.
“Cat!” she yelled, latching onto my leg and refusing to let go. “What did you buy?”
I tried to push her away without overbalancing. “Hello Sprinkles, and no, I’m not telling you.”
Her eyes widened in happiness. “Is it presents?”
“Maybe. But you won’t get any if you don’t let go of me.”
She sprang away and dashed back into the living room, practically dragging me with her. “Daddy! Look who it is!”

Resigned to my fate, I put my saddlebags down by the door before stepping into the room. I waved a hoof at my Uncle Stars, who waved back.
“Well hello Cat. How is my favourite niece?” he asked, scratching at his ultra-short manecut.
“I’m okay thanks Uncle Stars. Where’s Auntie Shells?” I asked, noticing her absence.
“She’s really not very well at the moment, so she decided to stay at home. Didn’t want to infect you all and ruin Hearth’s Warming Eve,” he explained.
“She could have come all the same, you know we don’t mind,” Mum said, sipping at a cup of herbal tea. “Better to get these winter illnesses out of the way.”

“I’ve put Sprinkle’s stuff in your room, if that’s okay Cat,” Dad told me, resting his hooves on the side of the armchair. “Can you go up and make up the camp bed? Sorry to be a pain.”
“No problem. Is Twinkle here? I haven’t seen him.”
“Upstairs. Go and tell him to come down and stop hiding away,” Uncle Stars said, sighing and shaking his head. “It’s that difficult teenage phase.”
I shrugged and picked up my saddlebags.

I’d always felt a little bit bad for Twinkle. He’d been cursed with a bit of a girly name, and he’d never really taken to it. I dragged the heavy bags up the stairs and dropped them off in my room, making a mental note to sort out Sprinkle’s things before I went back downstairs, but I knocked on the door of the spare bedroom first. I didn’t get to see Twinkle every often.
“Yeah?” a colt’s voice grunted.
“It’s me, Cat. Can I come in?”
“I suppose.”

Definitely a difficult phase, I thought as I stepped into the room. He was reading a book, which he put down to look at me.
“Hi Cat. I suppose my dad has told you to come and get me,” he said wearily. “Tell him I’ll be down in five minutes.”
“Okay. How are you? I haven’t seen you since this time last year,” I asked, trying to make conversation. When we’d been younger, Twinkle and I had always got along really well when our families met, but he’d gone a bit shy over the past couple of years.
“I’m fine,” he said abruptly, his eyes straying back to his book.
I left him to it. I’d try to get more out of him later, and anyway, I had to set up a bed for my youngest cousin.

Twinkle didn’t really say anything all throughout dinner, and then disappeared again to go and read his book as soon as we were finished.
“Cat, tell me. Will he ever grow out of this?” Uncle Stars asked me with a smile as we washed the dishes. “I’m sure you went through a similar phase when you were his age.”
My dad chuckled. “Oh yes. She only ever spoke to us to tell us to be quiet and stop annoying her.”
I blushed and focused on the bowl I was wiping dry.
“I did wonder about sending him to that all-colts school. I thought it would toughen him up a bit.”
“We were afraid to send Cat to a mixed school. She was so delicate back then,” Mum said, making me blush even more. “I think we made the right choice though.”
“Twinkle will come round,” Dad added, winking at me. “Cat did.”

We didn’t see Twinkle for the rest of the night, so I ended up playing Monopony on a team with Sprinkle. She was a bit too young to understand the rules, so I just indulged her by buying all of the colourful properties and trying to collect the orange bits. Orange was her favourite colour.
“Hah, you rolled a seven, so you’ll land on my Hayfair with three houses. Let’s see... five hundred bits,” Mum said triumphantly to Uncle Stars.
“Five hundred? No way, I want to check that,” he replied. They’d been getting more and more competitive all through the game, and Mum had brutally bankrupted Dad without mercy about halfway through. Dad had decided to join her team as an ‘advisor’, although he spent most of his time working the bank.

Mum and Uncle Stars were brother and sister, which is where the rivalry came from. I wasn’t entirely sure how Sprinkle and I had managed to hang on all the way through the game so far, but we always seemed to get lucky with the dice and jump over the expensive areas.
“Five hundred bits right now or you lose!” Mum demanded, holding out her hoof.
“Okay okay, just let me liquefy some assets,” Uncle Stars said, turning over cards and receiving bundles of cash from Dad. “Here we go. Five hundred. You know, you really should have gone into business or something. Bankrupting your own husband... heart of ice.”
Mum just shrugged and added the cash to her growing pile. “I only like taking from family members. You’re just too easy.”

It was our turn, so I let Sprinkles roll the dice again. We jumped over the hotel district and landed nicely on a safe spot.
“That was a close one,” Sprinkles said, giggling and sitting on my lap heavily, knocking the wind out of me.
“Careful Sprinkles,” Uncle Stars warned. “We don’t want to squish Cat.”
I just gasped in response. shifting Sprinkles so she wasn’t crushing quite so many of my ribs.
“Does anyone want any more crisps?” Dad asked, handing around the bowl. Sprinkled jumped up, giving me momentary relief, before landing on me again and starting to munch her hoofful of crisps.

“Hah! That’s Oxmare Street with a hotel! Now you’ll pay, hahahahah!” Uncle Stars said happily, rubbing his hooves together at the sight of Mum’s marker landing on the hotel. “I’ll be taking all of those bits.”
Mum scowled and shifted a whole pile of bits across the table to him, giving him a withering look. Uncle Stars wasn’t bothered though, and he laughed happily to himself when he saw his new riches.
“Daddy, shouldn’t you be nice to your sister? You’re always telling Twinkle to be nice to me,” Sprinkles said, examining on of her favourite orange bits.
Mum laughed. “Exactly Stars, you should be nice to me.”
“Colts only have to be nice to fillies who are pretty,” Uncle Stars replied, getting more evil looks from Mum.

Sprinkles was all hyped up on sugar and excitement (Uncle Stars defeated Mum in a thriller after Sprinkles and I got wiped out in one turn) and took ages to fall asleep that night, keeping me up with her fidgeting. She was much bigger than she’d been when I saw her last year. I wondered if Rarity was feeling the same about Sweetie Belle, who I’d heard so much about but never actually met. At least Sprinkles was past the crying stage, otherwise there was no way I’d let her sleep in my room. But thinking about Rarity made my insides hurt, so I tried to think about presents and fell asleep.

Hearth’s Warming Eve was always exciting, but even more so when there was an excitable filly around. She was bounding everywhere, and getting under everypony’s feet, but nopony really minded. Well, except for when I was trying to make more mince pies and she stormed in like a hurricane, knocking nearly everything over before disappearing, covered in flour.
“When is the show?” she asked me for the fifth time that morning., peering over my shoulder as I mixed up the pastry.
“I told you, it’s at seven o’clock. If you don’t calm down a little and have a rest, you’ll fall asleep during it.”
“No! It’s too exciting to fall asleep. I want to know about Commander Thunderhead!”
I paused, trying to work out who she meant, but she galloped off before I could reply.

Twinkle finally got up just before lunch, and he only just managed to pick his way through a leafy sandwich.
“Your turn to help wash the dishes,” Uncle Star said to him. “Cat did it yesterday.”
“Oh no, that’s okay,” I said, “I don’t mind. I never have to do them while I’m at school.”
“No no, you deserve a rest after babysitting Sprinkles all day.”
Well, I wasn’t going to refuse that offer, so I went into the living room and sank into an armchair. It was only half an hour until we needed to leave for the theatre, but Sprinkles seemed to have fallen asleep upstairs and it was nice to have a break.

It was tradition for ponies in Britannia to get dressed up for the show; Rarity said it was a bit like her Grand Galloping Gala, which she’d always had an ambition to go to. It only took me a few minutes to get into my smart dress and brush my mane. Not that it made my mane look any better.
“Come on Sprinkles, time to go,” I said, shaking the filly awake. “You need to get your dress.”
She jumped up like a rocket and nearly headbutted me in the jaw. “Let’s go, let’s go!” she said, hopping up and down on the spot while I fetched her bright pink dress out of her suitcase.

“Have either of you seen Twinkles?” Uncle Star asked as we came downstairs.
I shook my head, but Sprinkles beat me to speaking. “He’s still in his room. Shall I go and get him?” She didn’t wait for a reply before dashing back up the stairs.
Dad looked at me. “You look lovely, Cat,” he said, brushing a wrinkle out of my dress. “If this is what you look like at those school dances, I feel sorry for all those colts.”
I blushed. “Thanks Dad.”

Sprinkles managed to drag Twinkle downstairs. He looked a bit disheveled, with his tie on crooked. Uncle Stars straightened him out and I thought he looked rather dashing, even if it was in an awkward-teenager kind of way.
“Right then, let’s go. Have you got the tickets, dear?” Dad asked Mum.
Mum rolled her eyes. “Of course. Now hurry up, we don’t want to miss the carriage.”
We were all bundled out into the darkness, and I wished I’d brought a thicker jacket. It was very cold, but not likely to snow. No chance of the magical white Hearth’s Warming.

“Cat, who is your favourite character?” Sprinkles asked me, tugging on the sleeve of my dress as we sat in the carriage. “Mine is Chancellor Puddinghead. She’s funny.”
“Hmm. I like Chancellor Puddinghead too, but I think I have to pick Princess Platinum as my favourite.”
“But she’s boooring.”
“No she’s not! She’s very important-”
“Booooooring! Most boring pony in the entire world.”
Uncle Stars chuckled to himself. He was probably just glad he didn’t have to deal with her this time. I shot him a glare, but he just stuck his tongue out at me.
“Maybe you’re the most boring pony in the entire world!” I told the little filly, who looked suitably shocked.
“That can’t be true, because Chocolate Smiles at school told me I was very interesting after I told her a story I made up,” Sprinkles declared, sounding pleased with herself.

We had seats somewhere in the middle of the audience, so we squeezed past a few disgruntled ponies before finally getting to our seats.
“Now Sprinkles, you need to remember to be very quiet all the way through the show,” Uncle Stars told her. She was sat between the two of us, her eyes taking in the giant town hall and the ornate stage at the front, curtains closed ready for the performance to begin shortly.
“Okay Daddy.”
“Good girl.”

The version of the Hearth’s Warming Tale traditionally told in Britannia differed from that told in Equestria. The Equestrian tale was about the founding of Equestria, but ours focused on the defence of Britannia against the scary-looking snow wolves of the south. They weren’t really scary in the play, just ponies dressed up in fluffy white costumes, but some of the drawings of snow wolves in books were pretty intimidating. Britannia, dressed in her elegant red robes and with her magnificent helmet flashing under the bright stage lights, was the star, drawing upon earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi alike to chase away the terrible threat and unite Britannia into one kingdom. Of course, the reason the snow wolves invaded was because Chancellor Puddinghead, Commander Hurricane and Princess Platinum couldn’t be nice to each other.

“When I grow up, I want to be just like Britannia,” Sprinkles told me in the interval, “She’s the best pony in the whole play. And she gets a cool helmet.”
I giggled into my hooves and caught Twinkle’s eye. He seemed to be enjoying himself, but when I noticed his smile, he turned it into an instant scowl and folded his hooves. I wondered if the general sulkiness was just an act he was putting on, but Sprinkles grabbed my attention again.
“Look, look! They’re selling ice cream!” she yelled into my ear.
“Go and ask your dad for some money,” I suggested. I hadn’t brought any.

I regretted telling her to, because she ended up licking the tub clean and getting her muzzle all covered in sticky. And then she kept nose-bumping me and getting it all over my coat.
“Stop squirming,” I told her, using my magic to wipe her face with a stray tissue, “It’ll be over in a minute.”
Sprinkles didn’t appreciate it though, and refused to talk to me for the next two minutes, but then the show started and she was clutching my hooves again.
“And so Britannia was in a terrible position, and the snow wolves were creeping closer...” the narrator announced as the lights dimmed.

As the carriage rumbled back towards home, I hoped that the epic battle at the end wasn’t going to give Sprinkles nightmares. I was tired enough as it was. But those wolves had been quite vicious, especially in the way they’d been dragging ponies off-stage.
“What did you think, Twinkle?” Uncle Stars asked, nudging his son.
“It was okay,” the colt replied, shrugging his shoulders.
“I’m sure I saw you smiling,” the stallion continued.
Twinkle just grunted in reply, and Uncle Stars rolled his eyes.

Sprinkles was far too excited to go to sleep that night, and we just let her bounce around the living room until she finally crashed on the sofa. Twinkle was in his room, as usual.
“When you go to bed, take this for Sprinkles,” Mum told me, handing me a bag containing small presents. “It should keep her occupied in the morning.”
I had no plans to go anywhere, but the looks on my parents’ faces suggested they were expecting me to go to bed immediately. “What, can’t I stay up a bit longer?”
“Well, the present pony won’t come if you’re not asleep,” Dad teased me.
“Come on, I’m not tired and I can’t make any noise in my room because of Sprinkles,” I complained, folding my hooves in annoyance.

“Well, we were going to have some Hearth’s Warming whisky, and you’re still a bit young,” Dad admitted, pointing to the empty glasses he’d brought through from the kitchen. “Sorry love.”
“I’m old enough! It’s only one glass.”
Uncle Stars seemed convinced, and Dad was about to get up and get me a glass when Mum intervened. “No way. You’re still a filly, so you’re not allowed any.” Her eyes looked set, and I knew I wasn’t going to win.
“Fine. See you in the morning,” I said, huffing as I dragged myself to my hooves and picked up Sprinkles’ presents.

To my surprise, Sprinkles had woken up again, so I hurriedly hid the bag behind my legs as I pushed open my bedroom door.
“Hi Cat. Are you going to bed already?” she asked me.
“Sadly. I’m not allowed to stay downstairs,” I explained, stuffing the bag down the side of my bed. “How come you’re still up?”
She giggled. “I’m too excited to sleep. The present pony is coming!” she exclaimed.
“Sshh. You have to be quiet, or you’ll scare her away,” I said. “Come on, it’s bedtime.”

She settled down and fell asleep sometime between me brushing my teeth and making sure that my blanket was just so. I hoped she wasn’t going to be too much of a hoofful in the morning, although it was a bit of a long shot. Young fillies and Hearth’s Warming Day mixed to make some kind of explosive reaction.
With the time difference, I thought, it would be about time for the Equestrian version of the Hearth’s Warming play to be performed. Rarity had said she was going to the Ponyville version with her parents, and I imagined her sitting next to Sweetie Belle and watching excitedly as the curtain rose and the play began, all of the ponies talking in those strange accents about the founding of Equestria. I somehow missed her more than ever.

I was woken at half past five with a jolt, which turned out to be Sprinkles bouncing on my bed.
“Cat, Cat, wake up! It’s time for presents,” she squealed, her eyes fixed on the bag I hadn’t hidden well enough.
I just groaned and checked the time. “You can open them at six, okay? Let me get a bit more sleep.”
“No, Cat! Wake up! I need my presents noooooow!”
Anything to make her be quiet. I pulled out the bag and passed it to her, hearing a squeak of happiness as she leapt off my bed and onto hers, pulling presents out with her weak magic.

By six I was wide awake, wrapped in a dressing gown and watching Sprinkles pushing some princess dolls around on the carpet. My parents would be sleeping in until at least eight, and I somehow felt cheated that I was basically giving them a free babysitting service. A plan entered my mind.
“Do you want to go and visit your uncle and aunt?” I asked my cousin, who nodded enthusiastically.

I wasn’t really in my parents’ good books after that, but after I offered to help cook the dinner my mum started to soften. I’d eventually left Sprinkles with her brother, who was reading his book and entertaining her by helping push the plastic princesses around without much interest. He was doing a good job of hiding it, but I could tell he was excited to open his presents.
“Cat, can you keep an eye on the potatoes and make sure they don’t boil over. I put them in a bit late so you need to keep them on a high heat,” Mum told me, bustling around.

I stirred the vegetables, letting the steam curl upwards past my face, then switched on the radio so I didn’t have to listen to the saucepan bubbling.
“...and next up on this frosty Hearth’s Warming Day is that winter classic, the lively It’s Snowing Again (Where Are The Pegasi) by that star of stage and screen, Sapphire Shores!”
As the music came on, Mum danced her way past, turning up the volume and giggling like a filly. “Come on Cat, let’s dance.”

***

The season’s snow arrived on the day we planned to leave for Grandma’s house in Weston-super-Mare. Mum was fussing over it, but she would have fussed whatever the weather.
“Don’t worry dear, it’s not very deep, and it’ll be lighter near the coast,” Dad reassured her, “and we’ve got everything, I’ve triple-checked.”
We got to the train station on time and managed to load our suitcases without any problem. I had a saddlebag filled with January fashion magazines (including the Sapphire Shores special edition of Ponypolitan) so the four hour trip didn’t really faze me.
“I’ll sit behind you,” I told my parents, grabbing the pair of empty seats so I could stretch out. “I’ll be fine.”

I was looking forward to seeing Fly and getting to catch up after the first part of the holiday. It was a bit saddening to think that over half of our holiday was already gone, and in a week I would be back in lessons at Buckingham. And I’d have to face Rarity again, which made my insides feel like they were made out of a mixture of lead and ice. I really needed to talk to Fly about it. But first, I needed to check and see which accessories were going to be popular this next month.
“Faux ears, again? What the Celestia?”

“Oh Cat, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you!” Grandma said happily, fussing over me and giving my horrible mane a critical look. “Are you going to get a manecut before you go back to school?”
A manecut wasn’t actually a bad idea.
“Hi Grandma,” I replied, ducking under her flailing hugs and dragging my suitcase to the foot of the stairs. “Which room is mine?”
“First on the left, dear.”

I was already planning my escape to Fly’s house before I was even back down the stairs. Grandma was nice, but she was just a bit... overbearing. Nothing was ever perfect. I suppose it was why Dad was the exact opposite.
“Cat, why don’t you do your tail differently?” she asked as soon as I was back. “It’s nice like that, but these modern fashions are so flimsy.”
“I quite like it,” I lied. I took a seat and curled my tail up behind me, examining the many split ends and wondering which side of the family I’d inherited my terrible hair from.

“So, tomorrow I think we’ll go for a nice walk around the town, and I can show you some of the places to go,” Grandma informed us, stretching her legs out so that her knees clicked.
“I’m going to go and visit one of my friends overnight tomorrow,” I said to her, tracing little circles on the arm of the chair with the tip of my hoof. “I’ll get the bus or something, if you can point me in the right direction.”
“Is this a friend from school?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yes. Her name’s Fly.”
“Oh, well that’s okay then,” she said, “I’m sure we can show you to the bus station.”

The next morning was freezing cold, but Grandma insisted on the walk, so we trudged around the town in the slushy snow, freezing our hooves off. I’d bundled up in as many layers as I could, but my ears were numb after five minutes and I’d lost all feeling in my legs.
“This is the pier,” we were told. “I haven’t been on it yet but I’m waiting for the weather to improve.”
The breeze coming off the sea was too cold for words, and I sheltered behind my dad and privately wished I could go somewhere warm and indoors. The bus station was the next stop on our tour, and it looked as miserable as I felt.

At least I knew where I was going that afternoon as I headed for the buses marked ‘Plymhoof’. Fly didn’t actually know I was coming, so if she turned out to be on holiday I’d just have to get the next bus back. At least I knew her address.
“Does this go to Plymhoof?” I asked the driver before giving him any bits. He looked bored and nodded, so I paid for a ticket and picked one of the many empty seats. Buses weren’t anything like as nice as trains, and I had to shift an empty bottle of... something before sitting down.

The train took forever, but when it did finally pull into Plymhoof bus station, a big surprise was waiting for me.
“Fly? How did you know I was coming?” I asked as we hugged, her big green wings wrapping around me.
She laughed. “Your Dad phoned and said you were on the way.” She picked up one of my saddlebags and started to lead the way back to her house.
“How did he know your house number?” I asked, still incredulous that my best friend had been waiting for me.
“Probably found it in the directory,” she said, and laughed again.

“I’ve missed you. We’ve got so much to catch up on,” I said to her, noticing that she’d had a manecut and it was styled differently.
She nodded, folding her wings carefully around the bag. “Did you see about faux ears coming back into fashion?”
“I know! How ridiculous is that.”
“I’m glad I kept mine, now. I think Rarity might have thrown hers out. She’ll be kicking herself.”
“Unless there’s some other hot fashion in Equestria that she’s going to bring across with her.” I giggled.
“Miri will be pleased though. She did love having pink ears.”
We both laughed and I suddenly felt happier than I had for the entire holiday.