15 years later…
“Thanks for taking me for a night out in Manehatten, Rarity,” Starlight Glimmer said as the two unicorns strolled through the sprawling city’s lantern-lit streets. “I never really had a chance to do something like this before.”
“All the more reason to do it, darling. Everypony should experience it at least once.”
A unicorn stallion sat in the darkness of a nearby alleyway, a tattered rag draped over his shoulders. His thick, messy beard was mostly gray, clearly showing his age with only a few dark streaks remaining from his youth. His mane and tail were equally gray and tattered. He looked like he hadn’t had a bath or groomed himself in months. On the ground in front of him was a ceramic coffee mug. The old pony held up a sign drawn on cardboard. It read, “Broke and hungry. Anything will help.”
Raising a foreleg, Rarity winced at the site of the poor old soul. “Oh my. We must remember that this city isn’t all glitz and glam. Every rose has its thorns, as they say.”
Starlight bit her lip in sympathy, for she knew all too well what it was like to hit rock bottom, to lose everything that mattered to you. She also knew the value of having somepony to help you back up, no matter how far you might have fallen. Even if you’d once considered that somepony a bitter enemy. Acting on her gut in typical Starlight fashion, she grabbed her coin pouch with her magic.
“Here you go, sir,” Starlight said, dropping the little sack in front of him. The coins inside clinked when it hit the ground. “It must be hard, but I know you can find the strength to pick yourself back up again. I’ve been there once.”
Rarity regarded Starlight with a smile. “That was a grand thing to do, Starlight.”
“Your generosity must be rubbing off on me,” Starlight answered. “Besides, I live with a princess. Money’s not really an issue.” The two unicorns then turned from the alley and started back down the street.
The homeless stallion nodded towards them. “I thank you, stranger.”
Starlight froze at the familiarity in the stallion’s voice, her blood seeming to turn to ice. It couldn’t be…
She turned around, stepped closer to him and held her breath, for he bore the stench of a pony who hadn’t bathed in weeks. The air about him reeked of liquor, the two odors combining to form an entirely new monster. Starlight studied his face, trying to recognize it beneath his beard. It had aged considerably since the last time she saw it--it had been years--and the beard made it almost unrecognizable, but there was no doubt.
“D-Dad?” Starlight asked, trying to wrap her mind on the odds of seeing him here of all places. “Is that really you?”
The old pony looked up at her, sorrow gleaming in his brown eyes. He drooped his head again and shook it sadly. “I don’t have any kids.”
Starlight raised a forehoof awkwardly, studying the old unicorn closer. He looked so much like her father; his voice was a perfect match. “What are you talking about? It’s me, Starlight! You are my dad, aren’t you?”
“That fool I used to be, who betrayed his family and walked out on them? Yeah, he had a daughter.” The old pony took a closer look at Starlight. “Oh. You do look like that little Starlight from all those years ago. Like your mother.”
An array of emotions swirled within Starlight as she did her best to put aside the comparison to her mom. She was glad to see her father again. Still angry over what he’d done. Confused as to how he wound up in this situation, which even tempted a bit of pity.
“What happened to you?” Starlight asked once she’d found form for the words. “What about that rich mare you-
“Left you and your mother for?” Her dad hung his head, shaking it shame. “She kicked me to the curb years ago.”
Starlight fell silent for a moment, unable to form the right words. For so many years, she thought it would serve her dad right if he ever did wind up like this. But that was the old Starlight. Knowing the value of a second chance, the new Starlight almost felt sorry for him. He still had a lot to answer for, however. Even now Starlight had to admit that karma worked in funny ways.
“Then why didn’t you come back? You never came to see me again! You never wrote me one letter! Do you have any idea how much it broke Mom when you left? She became a totally different pony. Almost like a stranger.”
“How could I?!” her dad spat, finally raising his voice above the drunken slur. Tears began to run down his face. “How could I come back and look you and your mother in the face after what I did to you?! I’ve been a terrible husband and father, the worst in Equestria! I didn’t deserve to call a wonderful filly like you my daughter. Had I come back, I’d only have been a curse on you.”
Looking at him, Starlight felt the pity growing and sighed out her nose. Remorse. She knew it well. This had been eating Dad alive for years, with nopony to confide in about it. As she gazed upon him, she realized that there was a time she wasn’t so different, and felt the years between them lift. She didn’t see him as the bum who left her behind for an easy life, as she had for so long. She didn’t even see him as the drunken old wretch who sat in the alley. She saw him as she did years ago, as the loving father from her early childhood. The stallion who fed her, cradled her, tickled her, played with her and tried to teach her right from wrong. Like a good father.
Starlight searched within herself. All these years, she’d promised herself she’d really let her father have it if she ever saw him again. But she had been given forgiveness, more than she deserved. Now it was time for her to share it, to forgive somepony else.
Not knowing what else to do, Starlight stepped closer and threw her front legs around his neck. “I love you, Dad,” she whispered, tears escaping from her eyes.
The bewildered old unicorn didn’t return the hug. He only sat in silence for a moment before pushing Starlight away.
“Don’t,” he grumbled. “You’re a lot better off without a good-for-nothing old fool like me.”
“That's not true.” Starlight put her hoof over her father’s. "I needed you. I always have. And so did Mom. You meant everything to her! When you left, she just-” Starlight hesitated to think of the right word. “She was utterly broken.”
Dad hung his head in shame. ‘“Then how can you still love me, after everything I’ve done?”
“Because I forgive you,” Starlight said, lifting his chin up and looking into his tearful, puffy eyes. Again, her father pushed her hoof back down.
“I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”
“I didn’t deserve forgiveness, either,” Starlight answered. “But I was given it anyway.”
Dad looked to her for a moment, studying Starlight. He didn’t ask what she meant--nor did he have to. She could see the confusion on his face.
“If you knew about some of the things I’ve done,” the notion squeezed more warm tears from Starlight’s eyes. She sniffed, wiped her eyes and finished, “you’d be so ashamed of me.”
Her dad glanced around the area in disgust and ran a hoof through his wild mane. He stroked his messy beard, then looked his messy, stinky body over. “Starlight, look at me. See how I’ve been living? Do I look like I’m in any condition to be ashamed of anypony? Don’t waste any more time on this old fool. It’s too late for me.”
“We can be foolish at any age. After all I'd been through, I thought my life wasn't worth living but somepony showed me a better way. It’s never too late. Don't give up.”
The stallion’s eyes darted as he contemplated on her words, then he rose and, for the first time in years, he hugged his daughter. “I missed you so much, Starlight, but you’re not the little filly that I remember. You’ve grown into a lovely young mare.”
Tears ran down Starlight’s cheeks; she could no longer keep them held in as she rubbed her father’s back. “I missed you, too, Dad.”
The two held their hug for a while longer, only interrupted by a whimper, then a blowing nose from behind them. Starlight let her dad go and looked over her shoulder. Lost in her emotions, she’d forgotten about Rarity, who had a tissue stuffed against her nose; streaks of mascara running down her face.
“Oh, Starlight, that was-” Rarity stopped to blow again. “That was beautiful. Sir, we were just going to grab something to eat. I’d be delighted if you were to join us. My treat. Of course, as long as it won’t be too awkward for the two of you.”
Rarity and Dad both looked to Starlight, their eyes awaiting an answer. Starlight smiled and nodded. “Yeah, come on, Dad.”
Finally, Starlight saw her dad smile. “Well, now, it seems you’ve got quite a friend over there, Starlight. Not very many ponies have offered to treat me to a meal.”
“It would be my pleasure,” Rarity assured him, stepping closer. Then she cringed. “But we can’t have you looking like that, now can we? A simple spell and I’ll have you looking at least halfway respectable.” She took a couple more steps and immediately put her kerchief back to her nose. “And do something about that, er, distinctive musk.”
Rarity’s horn glittered with magic energy, which streaked towards Starlight’s dad and swirled around him. A brilliant burst of light lit the alley, forcing Starlight to shield her eyes. When the darkness took over once again, Dad’s mane appeared to have been groomed, now slicked back. His thick, unkempt beard was gone, showing the familiar, if aged, face that Starlight knew from so long ago. The overwhelming stench that had surrounded him vanished. In fact, Starlight thought she caught a faint whiff of cologne.
“There!” Rarity closed her eyes, holding her head high in pride. “Much better, yes?”
Dad ran his hoof through his hair again with an expression mild surprise. He put his hoof to his face and smiled. It had probably been a long time since he felt his own face. “Ha! That’s quite a horn you’ve got there, miss. But I’m afraid it hasn’t done much for my hunger. What say we get out of this drafty old alley and take you up on your offer? I could eat like a yak right now!”
“Let’s go!” Starlight said as the three turned away from the alley. “Dad, we’ve got so much to catch up on. Would you believe I live in a castle now?”
~fin