Bright lights reminded Starry Night of when her mother read to her by the fireplace. Tears still streamed down her face, leaving a trail of sadness behind, but the comforting hoof of Mrs. Peach atop her shoulder left her feeling safe inside.
The tall, strange building was lit up by several colorful lights, and the room that Starry Night had walked into was overflowing with ponies; small or big, boy or girl. There weren’t just unicorns, oh no! Ponies of each type peppered the room. Filly pegasi flew around the room, in a playful game of tag, and small earth ponies like Starry Night played hopscotch in the far left corner of the large room. A humongous staircase spiraled up in the center of the room, the baluster and handrail were strewn with golden lights. Two humongous candle holders, both of them gold; decorated with white floral designs, stood at each end of the stairs newel. Both of them held a beautiful candle that flickered with a magnificent flame.
The room’s wallpaper matched the candle holders, and large, beautiful ceiling fans patterned the ceiling. For the first time in a long time, Starry Night forgot about all of her fears, and just took time to soak in the beautiful place she was in. She hadn’t noticed Mrs. Peach smiling down at her.
“What is the place?” Starry Night whispered in awe, taking a few steps forward. She wiped the last of her tears with her hoof and looked back at Mrs. Peach.
“This is called an orphanage, sweetie,” Mrs. Peach said sweetly, in her thick English accent.
“What does that mean?” Starry Night asked, tilting her head.
“It means...well...it is the home for the homeless, really. But, you can call it your dream home!” Mrs. Peach explained to the best of her ability.
Starry Night nodded, and she realized, she began to feel safe when Mrs. Peach was around. It was almost like she was her new mother. Almost.
“Will my Mama ever come to get me?” Starry Night asked. Mrs. Peach began to walk forward, she walked passed Starry Night, and she had the feeling that she was supposed to follow.
“Of course she will, darling. In time, sweetie, in time.” As Mrs. Peach went further into the room, Starry Night followed, that is, until she was stopped by an obnoxious foal Pegasus.
“Say, I haven’t seen you around here, before, are you new?” He asked in a loud, nasally voice. Prior to his small talk with Starry Night, he had been playing tag with the other pegasi, so he was now exhausted, and breathing heavy. He was still flying though, barely hovering in front of Starry Night, and this impressed her.
“Yeah, I’m Starry Night,” She replied, getting incredibly embarrassed about her speech impediment. She tried as hard as she could to cover up her front teeth as she spoke, but that didn’t stop the inquisitive Pegasus from looking inside her mouth.
“You kind of talk funny, and your teeth are weird! But that’s okay! We’re all different here, nice to meet you, Starry Night!” He smiled, and put out a hoof.
He had a white fur coat, just like Starry Night, and his mane was bright green, Starry Night had a liking of this color.
Just before she could shake his hoof, Mrs. peach chimed in from ahead of them.
“Nosy Parker, stop pestering our newest member!” She snapped.
“Yes, Mrs. Peach,” He replied. Nosy Parker gave Starry Night a wink, and he flew off.
“Where are we going, Mrs. Peach?” Starry Night asked, glancing around at the other ponies in the room. They had began to walk again, side by side.
“Well, I thought that I would show you around, so you would know where you would be staying. I’ve already thought of the perfect bunk for you!” Mrs. Peach sang with excitement. Starry Night shared her enthusiasm. She was no longer scared, after all, Mrs. Peach told her that her mother would be coming in time, and she believed her. She felt as if she were at a vacation, in a five star hotel. She didn’t really understand the concept of an orphanage, she was only a child.
Mrs. Peach stopped and pointed to a vast glass window. Starry Night peered inside. There, were dozens of rows of sleeping foals in individual cribs. These foals were not Starry Night’s age, they were newborns!
“Our first floor is where we keep the newborn foals. And, as you can plainly see, this is where the children play before bed. We let them stay up much later than usual tonight, I was feeling generous!” Mrs. Peach winked at Starry Night, who was still gazing at the foals on the other side of the glass.
“They’re cute, aren’t they?” Commented Mrs. Peach, walking up beside her. Although, Starry Night had her eyes fixed on one foal in particular. An orange filly with the prettiest colored mane she had ever seen. It was almost purple, with a dash of pink mixed in. No words could describe the color.
“What’s that one’s name?” Starry Night asked, pointing at the foal.
“Hm? Oh, her name is Scootaloo.”
“She’s beautiful!” Starry Night said, pushing her nose against the glass. “Scootaloo, when you’re older, I promise we will be the bestest friends ever!” Starry Night smiled, and looked back at Mrs. Peach.
The orphanage was three stories tall, and Starry Night was shown all of it. The cafeteria, the gymnasium, the restrooms, the playground, it had everything! She was shown the second floor, which was the colt’s bunks, then she was shown the third and final floor, which were the fillies rooms.
“This is where you will be sleeping,” Mrs. Peach said, and she gestured to a door with the number 306 on the front.
Excitedly, Starry Night opened the door and saw that two other foals were there already.
“And these are your roommates, Cherry berry, and Shoeshine!” Both of them waved excitedly.
“Is she new here? Is she going to be our bunk-mate?!” Cherry Berry yelled, running up to Starry Night, then Mrs. Peach.
Mrs. peach nodded, giggled, then stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
“Oh my Celestia, what is your name, your mane is gorgeous, dude!” Cherry Berry yelled in a squeaky voice, stroking Starry night’s mane.
“Thanks, and I’m Starry Night!” She said, paying no mind to her lisp.
“Awesome, dude! I’m Cherry Berry, and that...that thing over there is Shoeshine!” They both giggled.
“We’re glad you’re here, Starry. We’ve been waiting for so long for another roommate,” Shoeshine added calmly. Starry Night grinned, and she went and sat by Shoeshine, who was in the middle of the room.
“Let me see that cutie mark, girl!” Cherry Berry yelled, walking over towards them.
Starry Night’s face got red, and she looked back at her flank, which was, shamefully blank. She looked at her roommate’s flanks, seeing two magnificent cutie marks which made Starry Night jealous.
A pair of cherries were placed on Cherry Berry’s flank. She noticed Starry Night looking and said, “I can make smoothies better than anyone her at the orphanage!” She bragged, posing smugly.
“And I can assure you, I can clean anything and everything that comes my way! Once, I cleaned the whole third floor in two hours! It was spotless!” Shoeshine chimed in, smiling.
“What is your special talent, Starry?” She added.
“Um...I don’t..have a special talent yet,” She replied, ducking her head down.
“Well that’s just fine! You’ll get your cutie mark soon!” Cherry Berry said, patting Starry Night on the back. She yawned.
“You know, I’m getting mighty tired,” Shoeshine said, climbing up onto the bottom bunk of the bed. “I think I’m going to hit the hay. We’ll get to know each other more tomorrow, it’s going to be great! Come into bed with me, Starry. You don’t want to be on top with Cherry Berry!”
Starry Night smiled, nodded, and climbed into bed as well. Cherry Berry gave Shoeshine a dirty look, but climbed the ladder to the top bunk all the same.
“Tomorrow is going to be so fun!” Shoeshine whispered as she drifted off to sleep. Starry Night was excited, but not to meet her bunk-mates further, but to see little Scootaloo.