Falling For Our Stars

by bobdat

Special Chapter 2!

Special Chapter Two

The summer holidays always dragged. I felt envious of ponies like Cat, who were an only child and had all of their parents’ attention, or ponies like Rarity who had a cute little sister to play with. Unfortunately, I was the cute little sister, but since I wasn’t so cute any more my sisters had got bored of playing with me, preferring to make fun of me.
“Is your hair really still that colour, Miri?” Buttercup asked when I arrived at their house. My sisters were all grown up, and the three of them lived in a house in the city, far enough away from our parents so that they wouldn’t be supervised, but near enough that they could still go home to get food when they wanted. Sadly, my parents had booked a romantic cruise for a week and dumped me with my sisters, who weren’t all that pleased to have me hanging around.

Buttercup was the eldest and the smartest. She worked in a high-powered office job and made loads of money, but spent it on jewellery and spa treatments. She got through coltfriends like she got through diamond necklaces. Dandelion was the next oldest and always took after Buttercup. The two of them were always doing stuff together like double dates or coffee mornings. Dandelion hardly ever worked; officially she was an interior designer, but she usually just sponged off Buttercup and only actually did stuff when she had nothing else to do. The third oldest was Thistle, who was especially mean to me because she thought it would make the others like her more. She was actually a secretary but never admitted it, instead claiming she was a personal assistant to somepony famous. I didn’t think that the regional manager of a company tgar made glass was really very famous, but I never said so in case she took her revenge.

Buttercup and Dandelion usually acted as if I was a nuisance, and Thistle preferred to call me names. I did my best to be nice to them, but it was usually a waste of time. They let me have the spare bedroom for the week, but it came with a dire warning from Thistle that if I made any noise when she was asleep, she would lock me in there for the rest of the week without any food. I thought it was an empty threat, but she’d done worse in the past so I was always as quiet as a mouse when she was asleep. But the worst part about living with my sisters was that I couldn’t go out and see the local colts; everypony in the neighbourhood knew I was the little sister to Buttercup, Dandelion and Thistle, and so just asked me about them.

I should probably mention that all three of my older sisters are extremely beautiful. They could be models if they wanted, but they seem to consider it beneath them. Well, Buttercup considered it beneath her, and the other two copied her. I have been plagued my whole life by the fact that when I was with them, colts always just asked about them and wanted to know more about them. I’d never even had one coltfriend when they were around, only at home or at school, and I’d had to wait until they’d all left Buckingham before I could get coltfriends at school. Having three older sisters sucked, there was no other way of saying it. But things got worse when they suddenly announced that they were all having the day off work and we were going to the beach.

Unfortunately for me, having three glamorous sisters meant that they attracted extra attention when at the beach, leaving me to answer endless boring questions from colts who didn’t seem to realise they weren’t even in the same league.
“Buttercup?” I asked when she was cooking dinner. (She only cooked for herself; I was left to subsist on the scraps that were left.)
“What is it Miri?” she asked, sounding bored.
“Can I stay at home tomorrow? I don’t really feel like the beach.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to go to the beach?” she asked, not taking her eyes off the vegetables she was cutting.
“I’d just prefer to stay here.”

Buttercup promised to talk to the other two, but they were both negative. “Sorry Miri, they say that if you stay here, you’ll probably go through our stuff.” Her tone was disappointed, but her face was devoid of expression.
“I won’t!” I protested, but she wasn’t having any of it. Reluctantly I packed my swimming costume and a towel into my bag and went to bed, petulantly knocking on the wall with my hoof as soon as I was sure Thistle was asleep. She pounded back and made death threats, but I felt a little better.

The next day dawned hot and sunny, the hottest day of the year so far. We were going to get the train to the seaside, and I hung around by the front door for an hour before the other three finally managed to get up and make themselves look just right.
“Come on then Miri,” Dandelion said, rolling her eyes. “You don’t have to be so enthusiastic.”
I wanted to make a clever reply, but it would make the already boring train ride a little bit harder, so I said nothing and privately wished I didn’t have any sisters. At least the train didn’t take much longer than an hour, which was merciful because the hot weather was making it hot and sweaty on the crowded train. My sisters didn’t look flustered at all, of course.

‘Welcome to Whinney Bay’ the sign said when we alighted, and I followed the glamorous forms of my sisters through the crowds on the platform, wondering why I had been saddled with the picnic box when they all seemed capable of carrying more than just their towels. The three of them all walked with the latest designer sunglasses plastered onto their faces, backsides swaying, and I just hurried along behind them and wondered if I was ever going to be tall enough to walk at the same speed as they did. The beach was an easy walk away, and the sand under my hooves was a relief. I could finally just relax and ignore the presence of my sisters, and maybe if I got far enough from them I could even find a couple of nice-looking colts to spend the day with.

Once settled onto a nice open patch of the beach, I put up the windbreak and hid the picnic in the shade to keep it from getting hot. It was hot enough to go swimming, and the sea looked invitingly close.
“I’m going to go for a paddle,” I informed the other three, laying my towel out on the sand. “Can somepony keep an eye on my towel so it doesn’t disappear?” There was no response from the others, who were now laying out in the sun on their own towels. I shrugged and trotted down the beach, skirting around foals digging sandcastles until I reached the cooling waves, which lapped around my hooves in a refreshing way.

I considered going for a dip, since the hot sun would dry my coat in less than an hour, but the seawater did nothing for my mane and I didn’t need to look any worse in comparison to my sisters. I just paddled, keeping my hooves nice and wet and admiring the ponies who were bobbing further out, playing games with inflatable balls and giggling as the waves washed over them. I missed my friends from Buckingham, who would probably just plunge into the water with me. The very thought of my sisters plunging their perfect manestyles into anything was enough to make me snort with derision.

Once I’d had enough of feeling alone, I returned to the beach, wanting to dry off with my towel. I’d drifted along the beach a little, and I had a hard time finding my way back. I kept scanning the area I was sure we had laid out our towels in, but I couldn’t see my sisters anywhere. Eventually I cut my losses and walked up the beach, hoping that they were just hidden behind a bunch of ponies I could see in the middle of my vision. It became obvious as I approached that the group of ponies were actually a group of admirers who had appeared around my sisters. One of them, an obscenely muscled colt, was lying on my towel and chatting to Thistle.

“Excuse me, that’s my towel you’re lying on,” I said to him, tapping his shoulder. I could actually see the sweat dripping off his limbs and onto my towel.
“Really?” he said, not believing me but getting up anyway.
“Yeah really,” I replied, a little caustically, snatching up the towel and rubbing the worst of the water from my legs. Thistle glowered at me, so I stepped aside and let her muscled admirer lie back down on the sand. With all of the colts around, there was nowhere for me to sit, so I just laid my towel over the picnic box.
“Going for a walk,” I told Buttercup, deliberately interrupting her conversation. “Back later.”

My sisters were really annoying me, so I resolved to walk as far away from them as I could. I could see some white buildings just behind the sand dunes and surmised that they must be part of the town by the beach, which probably had shops and cafés to pass the afternoon in. Without a backward glance I headed for the water, planning to walk through the surf to keep cool. I sulked as I walked, muttering the occasional insult about my idiot sisters who were ruining my week. The sooner I had my own house to live in, the better. Then I would never have to see them and I could just pretend they didn’t exist.

Luckily, my mood lightened when I spotted a group of colts about my age playing a game of beach football. I made sure my mane was looking good and walked close to them, keeping my eyes firmly forwards and hoping I’d got their attention. Sure enough, as I passed, a trio came up to me, abandoning their less handsome friends to the game.
“Hi,” one of them said, and by his swagger I assumed he was the leader.
“Hi,” I replied sweetly, smiling and stopping.
He looked at me for a moment. “You’re the pony who came with those hot ponies over there? Can you introduce us?” he asked, a hoof pointing in the direction of my sisters. I just gave him an icy stare and stalked off without a word.

Now my day was definitely ruined. My chances of finding a nice colt who wasn’t interested in my sisters was zero, so I was going to be alone all day. Miserably, I headed for the buildings, wanting to get away from the beach and sit in the shade somewhere.
The town wasn’t particularly large, but the beachfront had a number of shops selling souvenirs, beach craft items and ice cream. I decided in favour of ice cream, and I joined the queue, counting my loose change to see if I had enough for one now, one later.

Somepony was taking photographs behind me, and I wondered what could possibly be interesting about a queue for ice cream. Looking up, I spotted a pony taking a photograph of the ponies behind me in the queue, and I almost decided against looking at them. But it wasn’t as if I had anything better to do, so I did.
“Oh my, it’s Quartz Shine,” I whispered under my breath, my eyes drawn to his famous face. Everypony knew Quartz Shine. He was a famous male model who appeared in magazines wearing the very latest styles. I knew Cat had a picture of him pinned up by her bed; I’d helped her cut it out of the magazine. He was... amazing.

And he was standing right behind me, posing with a small filly while her mother squealed and took their photo. Once they’d trotted away, Quartz Shine turned to look at the queue and spotted my frozen features staring back at him.
“Can I help you?” he asked in a friendly voice, and I dragged my eyes away from his face, blushing furiously.
“Oh, no, I just realised who you were,” I said, turning back away from him. “Sorry for bothering you.”
He just smiled at me, but while I was ordering my rum and raisin double scoop, I could feel him standing behind me.

“That’ll be three bits,” the pony behind the counter said, carefully handing me the ice cream.
“Let me get that,” Quartz Shine said, leaning over from behind me.
I blushed even more deeply. “Oh no, it’s okay...”
“I insist,” he said with a flourish, placing the bits on the counter. “And I’ll have the same.” As the ice cream pony disappeared with his scoop, Quartz Shine looked at me. “You look like you need somepony to talk to, and I just can’t walk away from another rum and raisin lover.”
There was something in his friendly smile that put me at ease, although I had to force myself not to stare at him. “Well, thank you very much Mr. Shine.”

“You can call me Quartz, everypony else seems to. What do I call you?” he asked, picking up his own ice cream and paying for it.
“Miri. It’s short for Miriam.”
“Miri is a nice name! I might remember that in case I have foals someday,” he winked, and we walked away from the ice cream pony. “So, Miri, what brings you to Whinney Bay all by yourself?”
“I’m actually here with my sisters,” I admitted. Quartz was heading for some unoccupied benches at the top of the beach, so I followed him.

“Sisters? Are they around somewhere?” he said, taking a seat.
“They’re further down the beach. I’m avoiding them,” I told him, licking the side of the cone to stop the ice cream from dripping onto my hoof.
“Avoiding them? There’s got to be a story there,” Quartz said, taking big bites out of his ice cream. “Are you going to tell me? I won’t tell anypony else, not even the magazines.”
“You could probably tell the magazines. Then I’d be famous,” I giggled. “Not as famous as you, of course...”
“Bit of a pain in the flank when you’re trying to have a quiet day at the beach,” he added. “Everypony wants a photograph. Now tell me, what’s wrong with your sisters?”

I filled him in on the story, still a little stunned that I was speaking to a real-life celebrity, and a fashion model at that. My sisters would wet themselves with jealousy if they knew what I was doing.
“So they’re just ignoring you and talking to these colts? Doesn’t sound very nice to me,” Quartz summed up, crunching his way through his cone while I still licked my upper scoop. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but if I did, I would try to be nice to them.”
“It’s because I’m the youngest, I think. They always look down on me.”
“Their loss. I bet they don’t like rum and raisin ice cream.”
I giggled again and blushed a little. “So,” I ventured, “Why are you here today?” I wasn’t sure about making conversation with such a famous pony.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking over at me as he finished the last morsel of his cone.
“Well, I would have thought that a pony like you would probably go to a big beach in a hot country,” I said, immediately feeling like an idiot and going red.
He just laughed kindly. “I was born here, my parents used to live in a house about ten minutes from here. I come back sometimes when it’s nice and warm for a day at the beach.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “I didn’t know you were from here.”
“Fashion magazines don’t usually ask questions like that,” he replied. “Although I think some ponies would probably find it more interesting than what I have for breakfast before a shoot.”

It didn’t take long until I had forgotten who I was talking to and let me mouth take over, blabbering on about school and my friends while he listened patiently.
“I’m probably boring you,” I eventually said, clapping a hoof over my mouth. “I talk quite a lot.”
“Oh, it’s not boring. It’s quite interesting,” he said, but I wasn’t sure if he meant it, or if he was just being nice. “Your friend Rarity sounds very interesting. When she becomes a famous designer, I’ll model something for her.”
“Really? You’d do that?” I asked, incredulous.
“Of course. New talent is the most exciting,” he told me. “I’m always modelling for different designers, I find that sticking with the same one too long means you just end up modelling the same clothes in different colours.”

Once my ice cream was gone, we had a discussion about which flavours were best. (I like mint but he hates it, and neither of us like chocolate, but we both think rum and raisin is the best.)
“I’m sorry if this is a bit rude,” he eventually said, and I suppressed a sigh. I didn’t want him to go but nopony famous wanted to spend an entire day talking to a random fan who went on and on about her school.
“But I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat? I’ll just end up eating alone otherwise, and having a conversation will probably deter those ponies who want a photo,” he asked, smiling. “I’ll pay for it, don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”

We ended up going to a quiet café that served sandwiches and salad. I was careful to pick a salad that wasn’t too expensive, and I just asked for water, but Quartz ordered three sandwiches and a jug of lemonade.
“When I’m doing a shoot, I have to eat specific foods to control my figure, so I drive my agent crackers by eating as much as I can when I’m having a day off,” he explained. “Once I’m retired, I’m going to get really fat and never exercise.”
“What is the secret to your diet? I always try to follow the ones in the magazines but they either don’t work or I crack and end up eating a whole packet of biscuits,” I admitted.
He laughed, loud enough to catch the attention of the waitress, who just smiled at him. He gave her a wave. “A whole packet? I wish... The secret is just to eat balanced meals three times a day. If you’re full from lunch until dinner, and then full from dinner until bed, you don’t feel the temptation to eat a whole packet of biscuits.”

“I only ate a whole packet once. I normally end up eating most of the packet before I feel too guilty to go on,” I told him.
“Can we swap lives? I’d love to just sit and eat biscuits all day,” he grinned, rubbing his hooves together as his three sandwiches arrived. “Help yourself to lemonade if you finish your water.”
I started on my salad, which looked quite small in comparison to his three plates. “So, do you have a fillyfriend?” I asked, the words escaping my lips before I realised. I blushed and stared into my salad as he blinked at me, caught off-guard.
“Er...”
“Oh, I’m not, you know, interested in you. Well, I think you’re really good-looking and fun to talk to and nice and stuff like that, so I am interested I suppose, but I’m not asking because of that, and I know that you’re not interested and that’s fine, I wasn’t expecting it, and I don’t want to make you feel awkward or anything.”

He held up a hoof to silence me. “Trust me, I’m used to blushing mares. No, I do not have a fillyfriend at the moment, and I am flattered that you think I’m nice and fun to talk to.”
I kept blushing and didn’t look up, just shovelling lettuce into my mouth to cover the awkward silence.
“Do you want to know something the magazines don’t know?” he asked, taking a big bite of sandwich. Of course, I couldn’t resist those words, so I looked up, my eyes wide.
“What?”
He leaned forward, looking left and right to make sure we wouldn’t be overheard, and I could feel my heart fluttering. “Well... I tell the magazines I don’t have a fillyfriend because I haven’t met the right pony yet, but in reality... I don’t date because I travel too much. I don’t think it would be much fun for anypony to have their coltfriend jetting off to all these locations at a moment’s notice.”

I nodded reverently, as if he had just imparted something holy. “That makes sense.”
“Anyway, enough gossip.” I felt my heart sink. “What about you? I want to hear more about these evil sisters.”
“They’re not evil,” I said, giggling. “Well, Thistle is a bit evil sometimes. They’re just mean.”
“Do you want some advice?” Quartz said, using a hoof to scoop up a slice of cheese that had slipped out of a sandwich. “About your sisters, I mean.”
“Really? What?” I asked, sipping my water and wishing I’d ordered lemonade.
He tapped his muzzle. “It’s got to stay our secret. I don’t normally give out advice, and if the magazines found out I had, they’d be signing me up for a Q and A column.”

“Of course! Magazines never interview me anyway,” I replied.
“I’m jealous,” he smiled. “Anyway, I think the reason that your sisters are still mean to you is because they’re a little bit threatened.”
“Threatened? But they’re all glamorous and pretty, and I’m just normal.”
He tapped his muzzle again, but this time I think it was because he was trying to get a bit of cheese out from his teeth. “Ah, but think about it. Your sisters are pretty, but none of them have a serious coltfriend. I think that’s because they’re probably not very interesting ponies.” He chewed a little. “Well, not as interesting as you. Anyway, if you’ve got the personality in the family, then they’ll be envious and won’t like you very much.”

“How do you know?” I found myself staring, my salad forgotten.
“It’s the same in fashion. Everyone values looks over everything else, but none of them ever seem to settle down and get married even if they’re the best-looking ponies in the world. But the photographers and the lighting people and even the designers always seem to be happier than the models are.”
“Are you happy?” I asked, before blushing again.
“Me? I suppose so. I think it’s because I keep my feet on the ground, which is what you have to do.”

I waited with bated breath for his advice, which had to wait until he’d had a long drink of lemonade.
“When your sisters are ignoring you, just think about your friends back at school. They like you for who you are, so if a few jealous ponies are mean, ignore them. You know you’re better than that. And if they say mean things, just smile. You know, think of it as your personal burden that’s making you stronger. If somepony insults you at school, you know you’ve had worse.”
It all made sense and I nodded. “That’s good advice.”
“I think so. It works for me.”

All good things come to an end, as the saying goes, and once we’d finished our late lunch, Quartz had to go.
“Sorry Miri. If I hang around too long, the agent will send out a search party. Probably the police.”
I giggled. “That’s okay. Thank you for the food.”
“No problem at all. Maybe it’ll stop you from eating those biscuits.”
That made me smile. “Wait... can I ask a favour?”
“Of course. Unless you want to become a model, because I don’t really have an influence with the talent agencies.”
“No, it’s not that. If I tell anypony I met you, they’ll never believe me.”
He chuckled, and I found myself staring again. “You want a photo?”
“But I don’t have a camera...”

He just winked. “Well, I’m doing an interview for Summer and Sensation tomorrow. Try to get your hooves on the next edition and I’ll see what I can do, Miri.”
I smiled and waved as he left, walking back into town. Just before he turned the corner, he looked back over his shoulder and waved back, then disappeared. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, setting behind the town and reflecting on the water, so I headed back to find my sisters. They would probably be anxious to get going before it started to get cold, or more likely, before they were the only ones left and looked a little bit uncool.

“Oh, there you are Miri. Ready to go?” Buttercup said without any emotion.
“Yeah, let me just get my towel,” I said, glad the picnic box was lighter, at least. Not that they’d left me anything.
“Where’ve you been? Swimming?” Dandelion asked, squinting at me and tilting her head.
I shook my head, one hoof pushing back my mane. “Nope. You’ll never guess what I’ve been doing.”
“We don’t have time for your games, Miri,” Thistle said, giving me a cold look as we headed back to the railway station. “You’ve probably just been digging a big hole or something.”
“Nope. I had lunch with Quartz Shine.”
“No you didn’t,” Buttercup said flatly. “If you’re trying to make us jealous, it’s stupid. Grow up.”
“I really did!” I protested, but the others just rolled their eyes. I pouted and ignored them all the way home, not letting them get to me.

***

I hate to admit it, but I scanned the magazine racks every day for the new edition of Summer and Sensation. The past month’s edition advertised a big interview with Quartz Shine, and they were true to their word when the new edition finally appeared, a big picture of Quartz on the cover. I bought it instantly and practically galloped home to read it, glad I was away from my sisters so they couldn’t make fun of my excitement.
Once safely in my room, I rifled through the pages until I found the interview. Adorned with huge glossy pictures of Quartz looking even more handsome than I remembered, the interview wasn’t actually very long and didn’t take me long to read.

S&S: What do you do to relax between shoots?
QS: I usually just relax in my apartment or read, but when it’s good weather, I like to go back to my hometown and have an ice cream.
S&S: An ice cream? Isn’t that bad for your figure?
QS: I suppose, but rum and raisin is just too nice to turn down!
S&S: Anything else you’d like to tell the readers of Summer and Sensation?
QS: Well, there is one thing, for a friend. Miri, get Rarity to contact me when she needs a model, and when you next eat a whole packet of biscuits, do it for me. Thank you for a great time yesterday.
S&S: With those cryptic words, Quartz shakes me warmly by the hoof and leaves, after checking that I’d spelt his friend’s name correctly.

I’d forgotten that Dandelion liked to read Summer and Sensation until I got a call that evening.
“Miri, I think you have some explaining to do.”