On a corner of Manehattan, not so far from the one Diamond Tiara was staying at, work on Spellshock, the next big Bridleway play of the season, was running into the night. Everypony was either trotting from the stage and back, sorting out issues with the cast, or had left work already. Ponies came and left in shifts, knowing every second that what they did was critical. Tomorrow night had to be a success, or else--
Mosely Orange didn’t even let himself consider that possibility as he looked out at the town, steadily falling into sunset. It was simply a given--that script had been perfectly calibrated to hit all the right notes and all the right trends, and with him in charge of it all, there was no way it could fail. And yet somehow, he couldn’t help but find himself wishing that his nerves could be chalked up to those simple, albeit amateurish, fears.
Before him was a letter, its paper selected from his best stationery and its contents marked with his trademark politesse. In truth, ponies had been wondering about his sincerity far before that rumor was a blip in anypony’s eye, and he’d deal with that story about the filly the same way he always had. Deny it with a smile, and try not to think about just how much closer they got to unraveling the truth every time. Thankfully, those whisperings had been successfully quarantined, and only the ponies on his set knew--and only a few of them at that, even.
Spoiled Rich had been a much, much more difficult pony to crack. Thankfully, Mosely had managed to silence the conversation before it could reach the papers, as usual. But as much as he would’ve liked to seal the business deal with Barnyard Bargains, things were getting too complex, even for him.
Sure, he’d navigated through the traditional list of suitors before ending up with his dear divorced wife, and he tended to know what he was up against when it came to rich mares. But he was acutely aware that this particular one was his equal in every way, which meant that she could manipulate ponies against him as easily as he could against her. There was, after all, a reason he never got involved with truly bad ponies, or at least, why he tried to limit himself to the relatively harmless ones. And yet, months ago, when the two of them had continued their liaison and when Mosely had seen another mare on the side, the stinging feeling he had now wasn’t there. Out of all the terrible ponies in Equestria, he’d actually managed to have at least some feelings of attraction towards Spoiled.
Ponies like them could make a dynasty together, and that was what the Oranges were all about. If he would have had a chance like this ten years ago, or even ten months ago, he would’ve taken it without question. But as he struggled through the letter, two reasons for rejecting Spoiled’s advances came into his mind.
One: he swore he saw her foal running out of the Statue of Livery that fateful day. She’d been the one advantage Spoiled had over all his other potential suitors, the heir he so desperately wanted, but he’d barely seen her throughout the entire trip. Never with Spoiled herself, come to think of it. Molding foals into the next entrepreneurs of Equestria took time, and it seemed all too likely that the mare was shirking her responsibilities. In fact, if he didn’t know better, he’d almost say she’d abandoned a perfectly fine foal on the spot and looked at her with nothing but shame.
But while that could be a valid excuse to tell Spoiled, he knew that there were too many bleeding-heart Manehattanites out there who’d take him for a hypocrite the minute they found the letter and learned his secret. Only the wealthy could really understand, after all. Getting rid of a filly like Diamond Tiara, who had breeding and potential like nopony could realize, was the worst waste anypony could imagine. Comparing something like that to getting rid of Babs Seed was practically an insult.
Yet he knew there was something that could spite Spoiled even more, that could play up his own reputation for everything it was worth while hers plummeted. Any opposition to it would land straight in the papers, and by the time the Rich mare had a chance to rat him out, nopony would believe her, anyway. She’d just be another decaying lunatic, and every plan he ever had would come back into place.
If only it didn’t go against everything he’d ever known.
Mosely thought for a brief moment about how his own family would think, knowing that he was so close to throwing away a potentially advantageous partnership for something so small and selfish. For somepony who’d never really been more than a pawn in the first place. But then, he decided that he knew better. As long as he could say that Spoiled had convinced him into everything, he could keep the alliance and then some.
Because Spoiled had never been anypony other than somepony in the right place at the right time, whose luck could unravel just as quickly.
Because there was somepony else who deserved to take her place and become far greater.
After endless seconds of poring over the dregs of drafts, Mosely picked up the nearest pen and decided he knew exactly what to say.
“I’m in love with Coco Pommel.”
****
Meanwhile, Diamond Tiara curled her hind legs onto her stomach, the feeling of dread finally beginning to overtake her. Coco’s family had already started making plans for the next day, and as soon as they did, Diamond was struck with a revelation that should have came to her days before. If her mother truly cared about her--or, rather, if she truly pretended to care--she’d likely send her henchponies across town within hours in search of her. Whatever punishment Spoiled had meant to inflict on her had gone on long enough, and she was probably starting to realize that if Diamond wasn’t found soon, Filthy would start getting suspicious.
She was just about to open her mouth to warn them when she heard the cab hit a bump in the road, presumably due to a particularly large piece of gravel. On any other occasion, the noise wouldn’t have caused her any trouble, but the place the hastily created family was heading to was mostly devoid of sound, which contributed to the jarring effect. Or, at least, that was what Diamond liked to think.
It was most certainly not because the carriage was heading towards a dark forest, and not because she had a slew of bad experiences with cabs this week. It was just a hugely unexpected surprise, no different from the feeling she got when somepony sneaked up on her.
In any case, Bambi and Babs didn’t seem to notice, but Diamond could still feel Coco slightly brushing her fur. As much as she hated to admit it, since doing so would be admitting to the fear in the first place, she actually didn’t mind Coco’s comforting touch. The mare didn’t say much else, but she gave a knowing glance to her fellow passenger, her eyes practically glowing with the surrounding starlight.
As terrible a shock as the gravel road was, Coco’s appearance tonight was one surprise Diamond could actually get behind. Apparently, she’d made such a big show of the Statue of Livery scandal that Mosely had actually decided to give her some space, even though it was the night before the play. Whatever spectacle she’d put on at work earlier, Diamond couldn’t help but think it had to have been one of Coco’s most assertive moments yet.
If she keeps going on like this, Diamond Tiara thought to herself, maybe she can free herself from that miserable stallion.
Even as Babs pestered her with more requests about the Reformation Society, Diamond didn’t see her shifting feelings about Mosely as anything unnatural, really. It was simply a matter of other ponies knowing less than she did, a feeling that she wanted to avoid more than anything once she got back to Ponyville. And besides, even if Babs knew, her feelings towards Mosely, her mother, and herself were really too complicated--she’d kept herself from thinking it for nearly a day, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about how connected the three of them were.
If my mother approves of a stallion who does bad things, and only approves of me when I do bad things, what does that say about myself?
Just as she was about to wallow in the reformed self-pity she always told herself she’d never wallow in, the cab came to a sudden stop, causing her to let out a tiny yelp of frustration. That, at least, was only a bit less pathetic than what she was about to do, she told herself.
“You sure this is the place?” Babs asked, more to Coco than the cabbie who’d driven them there. “I dunno what I’m supposed to be seein’, but it sure seems like a whole lot of nothing.”
Sure enough, the area before them was little more than a simple clearing with little more than plain grass and mossy stones, where there wasn’t even a single cloverleaf to be found. It was a nice, peaceful space, especially considering the fact that it was barely a half hour away from a city that never slept, but not even Ponyville forests were quite like this one. Diamond listened for animal sounds and was faced with complete, unbridled silence.
Maybe there were places scarier than the Everfree, after all.
As soon as Babs asked that, however, Coco soon nodded as quickly as she could.
“You said I got to pick the place this time,” she replied teasingly. “And this is where my parents and I used to go on nights like this. I figured it’s someplace Diamond ought to see before she leaves...and that it’ll calm me down before opening night, at least.”
Coco chuckled nervously just after saying this, and Diamond could only wish her nerves were due to simple stagepony jitters. If Spoiled didn’t come running out for her tomorrow, Diamond decided, she had half a mind to tell a particular stallion to stay away from Coco for good. She was just a filly, but hey, she figured she might as well use the leverage she had as Rich family heir for something.
In the distance, both Babs and Bambi were still giving Coco quizzical looks, and the mare soon perked up as she took the whole place in.
“Anyway, I’m surprised this place is still here. I guess the city can grow as much as it likes, but ponies have still gotta have a place to see stars.”
Sure enough, as everypony raised their heads to look, Diamond could see that the stars were really that much brighter here. Maybe even brighter than they were in Ponyville, she supposed. Still, the whole idea that Manehattanites had to go a half hour away from the city just to see the night sky was mind-bogglingly odd to her.
From the looks of it, they weren’t going to be doing any professional stargazing, not like the kind Cheerilee had taught her about, at least. The cab had been completely bare when the four of them left it, and to her knowledge, Coco hadn’t packed any telescopes or star maps for the journey. For that matter, nopony’d brought any camping supplies either, which convinced Diamond that maybe, just maybe, Coco hadn’t gone off the deep end and decided to cut herself off from society the night before her major production. That, at least, was more than encouraging, especially considering the fact that this was the first time the family had been together since she first arrived in Manehattan.
She could only hope that, after she left, they’d get many more moments like this. With Coco showing everypony around, Bambi taking everything in, and Babs being her usual self, still slightly confused about everything.
“Aren’t there observatories in Manehattan?” Babs asked as she gazed around the area. “Ones that don’t take you forever to get to?”
“Ah, but can you really see them like this out there?” Coco replied. “You can get your fancy telescopes in the city and look up close, but if you just want to look at the sky from where you stand, you’d be hard pressed to do it. Plus, last time I checked, those observatories aren’t free.”
She gave a tiny nervous chuckle as she said this, and Diamond couldn’t help but wonder how much of her knockoff artist instincts were still in her. Sometimes, watching Coco could be a lot like watching a pony who didn’t realize they’d won the lottery. But, then again, Diamond supposed she’d won it in more ways than one.
She was quickly interrupted by these thoughts, however, as Coco started to settle in. She guided the rest of the ponies towards a small fire pit, and all of them sat in front of it as if a fire was really burning in front of them. If it would’ve been any other night, Diamond probably would’ve cursed them for forgetting to bring supplies, but the easy spring wind was just warm enough to keep her satisfied. This wasn’t the sort of place her family would ever willingly take her to, but she was still almost instantly attracted by it. By the silence, and by the warmth that came with being with some of her newest and most cherished friends.
“Now, you’re going to have to forgive me,” began Coco, “since I’m not an expert in this sort of thing. There’s a reason I’m not a scientist. But what I do know is that light has a sort of balance in Equestria. It knows where it’s needed, and when it’s not. Since ponies can’t replicate it, and since we don’t really want to, Celestia’s sun touches every inch of every city. But Luna’s stars are just a bit fussier.
“The more ponies live someplace, the harder it is to see them. The scholars who study this sort of thing say it’s because we create artificial lights that dim them out, like all the fancy displays in Manehattan. They may seem small, but if you put them together, you can block out the stars themselves. Kind of like ponies, in a way.”
Diamond had enough experience with that, considering the way just three Crusaders had put her on the right path. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder if that was entirely right. It’d only taken three to point her to goodness, but it’d only taken one to get her away from that to begin with. So did that make her mother some extremely bright searchlight that blinded everypony she touched, or did it make her a black hole any attempt at light that hit her path?
Diamond Tiara simply shook her head. Even she had to think she was overthinking this way too much. After explaining the situation to Babs, the brown filly gave her a tiny pat on the shoulders, something Diamond couldn’t have even imagined her doing before the trip. But, as the two started to move closer to one another, Coco suddenly continued her speech.
“That was what I believed up until Princess Luna returned to Equestria, but now, I think it’s a little bit different. The princess was always somepony who wanted to be in the spotlight, even when she was blocked out. So the more ponies she was around, the more distant she got. She assumed they were there to look at the artificial lights, so she only wanted them to pay attention to her. Nightmare Moon wanted to remove the sun, but I feel like she might have wanted to remove the stars, too. Only once in a while, and only in some places, so ponies would remember her and realize what they did wrong without being forced into it. Maybe someday soon, Princess Luna will learn that having more ponies around would give her strength, and that she wouldn’t have to feel alone in the world. Or maybe it isn’t something she can control, and the stars will still mask themselves in our city. But that makes this place all the more important.”
A gentle wind flew past the fire pit, and everypony gazed at the sky in silent awe. Even Diamond, who’d often taken such simple things for granted.
That feeling, however, was shattered just about as soon as Bambi cuffed Coco’s leg and started laughing.
“Wow,” she playfully whispered, “when did you start getting so deep?”
“Hey, I can think from time to time, even if I’m not a reporter!” Coco replied, just as teasingly. “I figured it’d be something that all of us needed to hear. Especially this next part.”
Warming up her voice yet again, she continued, “We don’t really think of the false lights as doing anything good or bad as long as they’re there. But when they begin to outshine the stars, scientists call it ‘light pollution.’ So if we think of ourselves as stars, and everypony else as lights, we can see that it can be good to surround ourselves with light, so we can absorb it and become better ponies. At the same time, there are ponies who might try to outshine our star or change it somehow. You may not be able to cut them out of your life completely, but you can make sure your star keeps shining.”
She gave a tiny nod to Diamond, winking as if she knew everything that would happen the next day, and turned to Babs, giving her space to tell her own stories and insights. And throughout the night, it went on all across the fire pit.
Yet somehow, the speech Coco had made still struck her, even as the cab left for the night. Diamond wasn’t sure how much of it Bambi and Babs really caught, if they really knew that part of it had been a cry for help, a revelation to how much Mosely had changed her, but the message resonated all the same. In the moonlight, Diamond swore she could see Coco reclaiming her former glow, at least a little. Urging Diamond herself, however silently, not to make the same mistake.
The filly stared at the sky one last time before reentering the starless city and vowed that no matter what happened when she had to leave for good, she wouldn’t forget these moments.
Her star had been clouded before, but she’d make sure it shone forever.