Stella was positively brimming with excitement, after all, today was her day off, as well as the weekend. As such, she decided to take a warm shower to start the day. As the soothing water cascaded across her body, she thought about the last three weeks. The most noteworthy was her date with Rize, which while not the most exciting was still something she enjoyed, quite a bit if she was honest. Additionally, she’d done more than her fair share of drawing, studying star charts, and reading books for psychology and business class. Though along with the pleasant memories, her time working for Princess Luna, as well as dealing with Brighteyes, weighed on her mind more than a bit.
Brighteyes had been acting very weirdly since Stella met her. Granted, she always thought that a pony who spent that much time in her books wouldn’t have any time to be weird. However, this pony had proven her wrong, as among her unique excentricities included waiting for Stella to get home before she went to bed, sprinkling salt in front of her door, and keeping garlic in the fridge. And as a result of these little quirks, Brighteyes was becoming one very sleep deprived pony.
These thoughts persisted, even as steam rushed out of the bathroom along with Stella herself. She went to grab a snack and saw Brighteyes sleeping on the couch, an open comic book resting on her belly about what looked like zombies. Strewn about the couch were two more comics, one about Vam-ponies and the other was about Werewolves. The sight of the comics made Stella roll her eyes, having always thought of such things as rather, cheesy for lack of a better term, made more silly by the idea of Brighteyes using the comics to actually scare herself awake... Curious though, she picked up the one about Vam-ponies and started to read it.
The comic was alright, talking about a blonde, teenage pony fighting Vamp-ponies with her friends. Its plots were a little on the silly side but seemed harmless enough. Quickly putting it down, she could hear her roommate breathing in the peaceful slumber, though the bags under her eyes were a painful reminder of her sleep deprivation.
“I’d better do something soon. I don’t know how many more of these sleepless nights she’ll be able to handle.”
Her eyes drifted back to the comics, covered in images of monsters and blood. “Whatever her problem is, these comics aren’t helping her at all. Maybe I can get some insight if I find whoever gave these to her.”
Her task set, she grabbed her saddle bag and put in some drawing supplies, a hoof-full of bits, and her necklace before heading out the door, making sure to close it quietly to avoid waking her roommate.
--00-00-00--
As she made her way out into the street, Stella was met greeted by a beautiful, sunlit sky, that shone all across Canterlot. Though she didn’t have much time to admire it, flying over to the local comic book store to find out what her roommate had been up to for the last three weeks. Upon entree, she was met with the sights of numerous comics, action figures, and posters. Throughout the store there were ponies reading comics, playing tabletop games, and some ponies just hanging casually chatting. If she were more interested in comics she’d have considered visiting in the future.
She began she started looking around the store, noting it might be a place where Rize would like to hang out in the future. Eventually, her eyes landed on the horror section and she made her way over to see if she could find any of the comics like what Bright had. As Stella picked up a comic a voice called out to her.
“Hey there! So, you like horror stories?”
Stella turned around to see a mint green Unicorn stallion, with a short messy mane, smiling casually at her.
Stella laughed and shook her head. “Not really, I’m just not a huge fan of scary stories, sorry. It’s just that my roommate started reading them a little while ago and she’s been scaring herself pretty badly,” replied Stella. “By the way, my name’s Stella, Stella Eventide. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Dawn Trotter, and it’s nice to meet you as well. By chance are you talking about an Earth Pony named Brighteyes?” The Unicorn replied back.
“As a matter of fact yes, I’m her roommate. I take it you showed her these comics?” She asked in a stoic tone, Dawn’s heart had practically stopped in place for a moment before he composed himself.
“Well, yes I did. Sorry about that, but she’d been so focused on her school books I figured she could use a little escapism. Didn’t mean to scare her.”
A quick look in his eyes and his tone told Stella all she needed. “I understand, sorry if I was coming across a little harshly, I’m just worried about her is all.”
Dawn nodded, his posture relaxing once it was clear he wasn’t provoking any ire from Stella. “Well, I’m actually meeting Brighteyes in a little bit. Don’t know if she mentioned it but we have a date planned. I can talk to her if you want, see what I can do to help?”
“I’d really appreciate that, thanks.”
“Happy to help.” Dawn’s eyes drifted to a nearby clock, widening at the sight of the position of the hands. “Sorry, but I’m gonna need to cut this short. I’ve gotta get some studying in before I see Brighteyes. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to talk to her.” In flash, he was out the door.
Stella waved goodbye as he left, she decided to walk around the store looking at some Power Pony comics. However, she found herself drawn to some X-pony comics, in particular, one called 'X-24.' Once she had a copy in hand she promptly planted herself on a nearby couch to read it and quickly found herself completely immersed in the story.
To her surprise, unlike the horror comics she’d seen earlier, this story felt far more fleshed out and well written. She especially enjoyed how the main character Silver Wind, or her code name of X-24, was written. However, before she could get really into the tale, she noticed the time and quickly opted to buy the comic for later. c. After Stella put her new comic in her saddlebag, she left to go hang out with Ruby.
After a short stint of walking from the Comic Shop, Stella met up with Ruby at the Canterlot Day Spa, finding her friend waiting outside the doors. Ruby was quick to run up to Stella when she saw her, hugging her once she got close, which Stella reciprocated. As the two headed inside, Stella felt a slight sense of discomfort, generally have no interest in going to a spa. However, it was Ruby’s birthday, so she was going to give it a try for her friend’s shake that. This thought helped carry her through the doors and towards the front desk the Spa.
“So, Stella, I must say, it took me a while to figure out that you were in your Pegasus form,” Ruby admitted rubbing the back of her head. Stella smiled to herself, realizing that her friend knows her as a Bat Pony and not a Pegasus.
"Yea, I will go back to my Noc-pony form once we are done with our massages, I didn't want deal with the sun," said Stella giving her wing a good stretch. "So what are we getting?"
“Well, first we’ll be getting some massages, then some time in the bathhouse, and finally some hoofacures. I know you don’t like doing this kind of thing, but I think after some time you’ll actually find it to be pretty fun,” said Ruby as she waited to talk to the pony at the front desk.
--00-00-00--
Still, in the house, Brighteyes awoke with a start, quickly rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she grabbed the nearby glass of water and quickly downed her medicine. A single glance at her clock let her know Dawn Trotter would be over soon. With a quick hop off the couch, she walked to the bathroom to wash up, the warm water helping to melt away her remaining exhaustion. As she was in the process of exiting the shower, she could hear knocking at the front door.
“Be right there, Dawn!” Brighteyes called out. As she went to the door to let him in, she quickly realized that her roommate was nowhere to be found. Panic started to grow in her chest as she ran to the door to let her friend in.
“Hey there! How goes it?” asked Dawn Trotter, though was quick to notice sweat was starting to form on her brow and her breathing at a higher rate. “Uh, you doing okay?”
“Oh me, I’m just fine. It’s just my roommate is gone, before I could wake up before her and she strangely didn’t drink my blood this morning. Honestly, I’m mostly surprised I’m still alive,” she replied with a squeak as her friend tried to process what he’d just heard.
“Oh, you mean Stella. Funny thing, I just saw her at the comic book store. Not sure about the blood-sucking since she didn’t look like a Vam-pony. Honestly, she seemed pretty nice to me.” Dawn said with a grin.
“Really? Well, she is pretty…during the day at least. Hey, you shouldn't be looking at other mares!"
“Brighteyes, joking aside she’s worried about you. I know you two don’t get along very well, but you ever consider just asking her if she is a vam-pony? Pretty sure she’d tell you if you just ask.” Dawn Trotter said to his worried friend. “Now let’s go eat some breakfast, a little time out should do you some good.” Brighteyes gave him a hug and the two of them walked off to go eat while enjoying the warmth of the sun.
The two of them found a breakfast place that specialized in pancakes. They walked, being almost overtaken by the smell of waffles, pancakes, and fruit as they sat down at a nearby table.
“Say, Dawn, even though you scared me out of my wits, thanks for showing me those comic books. They’ve been a nice change of pace,” Brighteyes said moving closer to him.
Dawn Trotter just smiled at her. “Well, you are very welcome, though you might wanna mention that to Stella, she kind of scared me a little about introducing them to you. Might wanna mention you enjoy them.”
“Noted.”
“On the subject of interests, do you enjoy dubstep by any chance?” asked Dawn.
“Sorry but no, I’m more into classical music. Why?” asked Brighteyes wanting to know where this could end up. “This have anything to do with why you’re taking two kinds of music theory classes?”
“Kind of, I have a hard time picking just one music genre. I play classical because it’s very beautiful to listen to, and I create dubstep because I can remix it to create how I feel at that moment in time. They both have something to offer and so I want to explore them both.” he explained. “So, why do you dislike Dubstep?”
“Honestly, I guess it just sounds like loud noise to me,” Brighteyes spoke truthfully as she put her menu down. “I know you told me that you sometimes mix the two and that sounds cool, maybe it’ll even change my mind. Though at the moment, I just don’t find it to be that good.” A waiter walked over to take their orders, with Dawn ordering some blueberry pancakes, while Brighteyes got herself red velvet ones. The waiter left, and the two of them continued to talk about music, comic heroes, as well as the psychology of others.
--00-00-00-
Stella and Ruby walked back to Stella’s apartment, planning to hang out a little bit more, though made sure to go into Stella's room so Brighteyes wouldn’t freak out. If she was being honest, Ruby was a bit excited at the prospect as she’d never been in Stella’s room before, so she was having fun putting her nose into whatever Stella would let her.
“You know, for a maid, your room is kind of messy,” Ruby laughed at the sight of clothes, bits of trash, and even food crumbs scattered all over the floor. Stella rolled her eyes.
“You’re one to talk, your room looks like the aftermath from one of Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainbooms,” Stella laughed back.
“So, when are you telling your roommate the truth?” asked Ruby, looking at a picture of Stella’s family. Stella pawed at the floor for a little while before answering the question.
“Today, when she comes back home. I know you talked to her last time you were over, so I want to make sure she doesn’t run away this time. Do you mind staying till then?”
“No problem. I know Brighteyes is a little weird and you two don’t get along very well, so I’m glad you are trying to make things a bit easier for you both.”
The sound of two ponies could be heard at the door as it quickly opened. Brighteyes and Dawn Trotter walked in, talking about how Stella was worried about her. Ruby quickly went out to meet with the two of them while Stella put on a hoodie. When Ruby called out to Stella she came out in her Noc-pony form, taking the hood off when she was ready. Brighteyes saw Stella and was a little scared until it was explained why she looked like a Bat-pony.
“This is just who I am, and I hope you can live with a Noc-pony,” Stella said to her roommate, who looked confused for a moment.
“So you don't drink blood?” She asked looking nervous.
“Nope, just all that fruit juice you can find in the fridge,” Stella replied with a friendly smile.
“So you're a bat-pony?”
“Well, she's a Noc-pony. Other ponies would call her a bat-pony, but she is just the night version of a Pegasus,” explained Ruby.
“So Noc-pony stands for Nocturnal pony?” Asked Dawn Trotter. Ruby nodded her head.
“Well, I’m glad you told me. To be honest, I’m glad the world is how I remember it, vam-pony free. If it wasn’t for my special somepony telling me how you cared for me, I may not have trusted you enough to give you a chance to explain things to me,” Brighteyes replied with a smile.
The four of them talked a little bit before Stella left to take a nap before her astronomy class that night. Ruby left shortly after that, and Dawn Trotter and Brighteyes went into her room to hang out.