Book 2 The Light: by the flickering light

by Penelope Anne Ink

Chapter Seven

With a sigh, Starry turned back toward the village.

She had no idea what was going on but she started worrying about the time. Looking up, it seemed like the sky was just bright. She couldn’t see where the sun was. It seemed to her that it should have been close to the evening, but it was as bright as midday.

The ponies around her were still all smiling and wide eyed. They walked around aimlessly like they didn’t have a care in the world. The pies were still cooling on the table. She remembered the ones she had stolen and picked one up out of her bag.

Sniffing it, she dumped half of it on the ground while holding the other half in with her hoof. The only metal she could find nearby other than the pie tin itself was her necklace and the mercury inside it, and she wasn’t going to use that to cut open the pie.

Taking a good look at it she took one glance back at the mindless ponies before taking a nibble.

It tasted bitter and cold.

She spat it out.

She had the faintest memory that she tasted that sometime before she found herself here. It was then that she noticed that in some of the windowsills of the pony huts there were tiny berry bushes with the same berries growing on them.

Shaking her head, she dumped the rest of the pie on the ground.

A few of the ponies had seen her dump the pie but none of them made a motion toward her or changed the expression on their faces.

She was frustrated. But it seemed like there was nothing she could do. In spite of herself, her horn started glowing. A few ponies noticed it and their mouths shut. Starry was almost terrified at what it was going to do. Remembering the star spiders, she frantically tried to run back toward the outskirts of the town even though she knew it wouldn’t take her very far.

Suddenly, sparks started flying off her horn and a burst of what seemed like lightning shot out from it and into the sky.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Edgy had made it back to the top of the cliff. The old stout pony had started a fire for the night and was beginning to cook some fish he had caught. The pony actually seemed like a pony Edgy would admire if they had met on other terms. This pony was able to survive out here in the wilderness alone. The only issue Edgy would have was the lack of action and adventure. Too quiet.

But Granny Angel, the pony who knew his secret for some reason, had asked them to get this guy to her party. And he was not going to give up even though Starry seemed to.

Edgy walked up to the stout pony’s fire and sat across from him. The flames from the fire licked up between them and they could see each other’s faces clearly above the steam and shadow. The stout pony glanced at him before turning back to the fish.

“Want some fish?”

“I prefer spaghetti.”

The stout pony waited a bit. Nothing but silence.

“So you’re back. Without your friend?”

“Seems so. At least I have one. You can have some too if you join the party.”

The stout one looked curiously back at Edgy.

“I’d much rather stay out here. I have the stars and the Timberwolves for company.”

“Really? A bunch of distant lights and piles of bark are enough for you? No wonder ponies let you live out here alone.”

“I’m not going. So get your flank down there back into that silly town or I’ll knock you back down there myself.”

“If you want a fight I can take you on. Though, broken bones might ruin your enjoyment of the party.”

The stout pony sighed and continued looking straight at Edgy. Edgy stared back. He had already faced one battle of wills and let himself fall to needing outside help. But this time he was going to do it himself. If this pony thought he wasn’t going to budge, he better think again.

“Why would you be invited to this anyway? What am I even doing here?” Edgy started mumbling. He turned away from the stout pony for a second to look around. He got up to start leaving.

The stout pony couldn’t help himself.

“Wait. Just wait. Just sit back down.”

Edgy shot him a mock look of surprise.

The stout pony started twiddling with the freshly cooked fish before taking a bite.

“I have a very good reason why I don’t want to go to the party,” he said. He took a look at the cold eyes of the fish in front of him and had to set it down in an effort to try to compose himself.

As he started mumbling something, Edgy found himself a seat next to the fire again. If he had to listen to two confessions today he was going to at least sit comfortably this time and rest his hooves.

“Granny Angel and I used to be married.”

Edgy looked hard at the pony. He did look a bit familiar. Edgy couldn’t remember exactly how the pony looked that he had seen in the portrait last night. He wasn’t paying too close attention to the pony beside Granny.

The stout pony started describing how he and Granny had met. How they tried to have a family but couldn’t. And how they had fought until he had had to leave.

Edgy made himself appear disinterested during the whole confession. It wasn’t his sort of thing to bother with other ponies’ backstories and issues. He would have rather had to fight off a Timberwolf or some giant bat.

Suddenly, like the universe had heard his silent plea, a giant Timberwolf crashed into the clearing and gave off a loud howl that sent a shiver through both Edgy and the stout pony. Edgy was on his hooves in no time. He sent a kick at the Timberwolf and it howled in pain before charging at Edgy again. The stout pony went to duck for cover in his hut, but the Timberwolf noticed and shifted its direction. Edgy raced to try to cut him off, and sent another kick at the Timberwolf that shattered it to pieces. He took the wood chunks to feed the fire and told the stout pony to stop shivering in his hiding spot...

“Are you okay there?”

Edgy realized he had dozed off. The stout pony was still sitting across from him. No Timberwolf. Still no giant bat. Maybe if he dozed off again?

The stout pony shook him awake so hard that Edgy couldn’t fall back asleep and he had to listen to the confession all over again because the stout pony didn’t believe Edgy had heard a thing.

Still, by the end, the stout pony agreed to make the trip over in the morning. He was tired of living alone and wanted to know how Granny Angel was doing. So Edgy got up and started walking back toward the edge of the cliff and the stout pony waved him off.

Edgy peered down, and thought he could just make out the shape of Starry, still lying down on the ground below. It hadn’t been too long of a time that he was up there, but he wasn’t expecting her to nap so long.

It didn’t take him long to half throw himself off and half climb down the cliff side.

“Sleeping on the jo-” he placed one hoof on her shoulder to nudge her awake when he felt it.

Starry felt cold. Ice cold.