//------------------------------// // Ch 5: A Night at Stellar's. // Story: Noctis Ascending // by LEN NARD //------------------------------// A week had passed since the first day of school... And it's not going well for Noctis. First grade was obviously a breeze for him. It would be quite embarrassing if wasn't. Classes weren’t really the problem. It was a bit silly of him to think about now, with all the things he had been doing for the past three years, but he was kind of hoping for a somewhat normal childhood this time. Or, at least, a normal school life. He's not a prince anymore, so he wanted to go and try to do the things that he wasn't able to before. Running around, playing, and being crazy. You know, typical kid stuff. There was just one problem. He hasn't made any friends... His usual friendship strategy didn't work. He didn't know why it failed! All he had to do was sit still and wait for someone to approach him and turn on the ol' Lucian charm. It was the perfect plan! A day turned into five, and the former prince found himself alone while everyone else paired up. It was weird, almost like they were avoiding him, or something. But, that can't be right. Noctis sighed. It seems that without his title as prince, people just wasn't interested with him and in the end, he was just an awkward boy who doesn't know how to make friends. It doesn't matter. He'll just have to try something else next week. He just wished that Stellar hadn't up and abandoned him to surround herself with filly friends. Speaking of Stellar... Noctis placed a toothbrush inside his saddle bag and exited the room. ... Time to fulfill that promise. "You ready to go for your slumber party?" Bright Night greeted from the living room. The colt couldn't help his grimace. "I prefer the term... Sleep Over." Noctis informed, approaching his dad. "One's more masculine than the other." The nerdy stallion chuckled at the colt's embarrassment. "If you say so." Bright Night pointed his muzzle at his son's bag. "Is that everything you need?" "Yeah." Noctis nodded. "Even if I forget something, I could always just go home and get it. It's not that far." "I guess you have a point..." The stallion agreed before his face turned into a serious expression. "Now, listen, son..." Bright Night started. "I know you and Stellar are close, but, no funny business, okay?" Noctis gave his old man an arch look. "You... Do know we're both six, right?" Bright Night returned with his own look. "With the two of you? I can't tell sometimes." The stallion pushed his glasses back up before continuing. "Honestly, I feel like I'm talking to teenagers, or something." He wasn't far from the truth. Noctis nervously laughed. "Well, we're obviously not, so... Are you going to give me the Talk right now?" The colt asked, trying to distract the stallion. "Because, if you think I'm old enough to know about that stuff, I should also be old enough for coffee." Bright Night sighed. "Look, just behave yourself there, okay?" The colt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I won't do anything that will get me slapped in the face." Stellar might. Noctis thought. Though, probably not to me... /-/ Stellar's ears perked up as she heard a knock on the door. "Yes! He's finally here!" She turned to her parents. "You guys will be cool, right?" "Of course, sweetie. We'll be cool." Iron Forger answered in a condescending tone, while Dinner Bell smiled innocently, kicking a barely hidden photo album deeper under the sofa. The young one narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I mean it!" Stellar warned. "Please, don't embarrass me. I don't want to scare him away." "Relax, we'll behave." The mother reassured, not sounding at all convincing. "Now, go answer the door." The mare shooed her daughter before continuing with a teasing smirk. "You don't want to keep your coltfriend waiting too long now, do we?" "Should you really call him that?" Stellar raised an eyebrow, challengingly. "You do realize that he's going to be sleeping in the same room as me, right?" "Hah! Do you honestly think that we're not going check on you, the entire night?" Iron asked rhetorically. "Whatever." The filly relented. "It doesn't matter. He's not my target tonight, anyway." This peaked the parents' attention. "What do you mean?" Stellar's mother asked. "I thought Noctis was the only one you invited." The filly smiled saccharinely. "Oh, you'll see~" Stellar said cryptically as another set of knocks emanated from the door. "Coming!" Stellar called out and she marched to the entrance, leaving her parents curious. /-/ "Took you long enough." Noctis sighed with relief as the door finally opened. "It's really uncomfortable, balancing these on my back." The colt gestured his head towards the large, rectangular, container with a smaller box above it. "They're for you." "Aww, you shouldn't have." Stellar batted her eyes at the colt. "Are you buttering me up? You're not planning something, are you?." Noctis only gave the redhead a flat stare. "They're my payment for the books." The colt then proceeded to give the white filly a quick hug and placed the box of chocolate kisses and the container of freshly baked lasagna, in front of her. And just so the filly wouldn't complain, he also added a pouch with the exact amount of bits that he owed the goddess, inside. That didn't stop her though. Stellar pouted, giving the colt a disappointed look. "When I said hugs, kisses and dinner, this wasn't what I meant." She signed. "I know that we're not official yet, but, to pull this one on me? Shameful, truly shameful..." "I'm only six years old," Noctis defended. "What do you want me to do? Reserve us a table at a restaurant and take you on an actual date?" "I won't allow it!" Cadance objected as she slowly descended from above; finally deciding to make herself known to the two before things could turn onto a more romantic direction. "Noctis is not allowed to date anyone yet, so back off." "Y-Yeah!" The duo turned their attention to the street and found Prism Show standing nearby. "You tell them, Cadance!" The blue filly cheered on as the pink pegasus landed beside her. Cadance grinned smugly at Stellar. The moment she learned about the sleep over, she knew that she's gonna have to crash it. If the thieving minx thought that she trusted her at all to be alone with her brother, then she was sorely mistaken! With Prism's help, they would ruin every sinister plan that the white filly has to get closer to Noctis. The pair of fillies we're so convinced that their surprise attack would work that their shock were doubled when Stellar beamed widely and tackled them into a crushing hug. "Cadance, you came!" Stellar exclaimed excitedly. "And you brought Prism with you! I have the cutest blue and pink pillows waiting for you in my room! Ooh, This is going to be the best slumber party, EVER!" the filly squealed, ignoring Noctis' protest of 'Sleep Over!'. What!? Cadance thought in shock. It doesn't make sense! Why was Stellar acting like she was expecting them? How!? She told Noctis and her parents that Prism and her were having a sleepover of their own, so why does her big brother looked like he wasn't surprised at all by their unannounced appearance, either? Unless... He was in on it too! Cadance's heart sank as cold realization dawned on her. The sleep over was a setup! Noctis was bait and they fell for it, and now they're trapped! Fear and regret filled pink one's heart as she asked herself; what was Stellar planning? What was she after? If she wanted Noctis to herself, then why was she so happy to see them? Cadance was scared. She doesn't like this; she doesn't like this at all... /-/ "Are you sure you're not interested with my daughter?" Iron Forger asked, eyeing the items that the young colt had brought for his little girl. "Because colts don't usually give this kind of gifts to fillies that are 'just their friend'." The stallion continued. They we're currently in the kitchen, dividing the lasagna and placing them on plates for everyone to share. "I'm just paying her back for the books she sent me." Noctis simply answered, unfazed. "She really helped me out, and wanted to let her know how I appreciate that." "That thing you're working on," The stallion started, inquisitively. "How is it going?" "Oh, still haven't made much progress. I'll just deal with it some more, later." The colt answered dismissively, still not delving anything specific. "Still not going to tell me anything about that project of yours, huh?" The stallion smiled knowingly. "Will I ever know what the genius inventor, Nocturnal Solstice, was working on for years?" Noctis rolled his eyes. Genius inventor? Ha! If only you knew the explosions I caused... "I'll show you someday, I promise." The colt answered. "It's just too early for now. I only had one breakthrough and kept struggling with the rest. Until an answer miraculously appears, I'm just going to enjoy being a kid for a while." "Geez," Iron started. "When you say it like that, it sounds like it's going to be a huge deal." The stallion chuckled amusedly. What could a six year old possibly do? He had seen the parts that the colt made and he's pretty sure that the young tinker was only building a small clock. "Trust me, Mr. Forger. My project will save the world one day!" Noctis proudly proclaimed in a 'joking' manner, and both of them laughed. Iron Forger gave the Colt a playful nudge. "Just don't forget about me when you become a big shot, okay?" "I'll send everypony, who's interested, to your shop." Noctis promised and gave the stallion a hoof bump. "So, what's up with those two?" The blacksmith gestured to the living room towards the group of fillies who were dragged by Dinner Bell into viewing Stellar's baby pictures. "Sorry about them," Noctis scratched the back of his head. "They kind of just invited themselves." "All according to Stellar's plan?" The stallion asked with an arched brow. Noctis opened his mouth to deny the claim, but only bowed and sighed. "Yeah," the colt admitted. "How did you figure it out?" "She said something about you, not being her target tonight." Oh dear... Noctis sighed. May God have mercy on them... Wait, never mind. /-/ Prism felt her hope slowly leaking out with each page turned from the album. At first she was excited to finally have some dirt on the enemy, but became disappointed as time went by. She was wondering why Stellar seemed so calm when her mother revealed the book of pictures to them, now she knew why. There was no embarrassing photos of the white filly anywhere! How!? It doesn't make sense! The blue filly gave the white one a sideways glance. After two years, she only grew prettier. How is this fair? Seriously! Is she a goddess or something!? Prism mentally shook her head. No, not a goddess; a witch! She's a witch! That's the only explanation! There's no way a mere filly could get that radiant! It wasn't fair! Her mother told her that mares worked hard and endured numerous discomfort to be beautiful; she knew that very well, especially now that she has a colt she was trying to impress, but in the end, all she was, was average. She sighed. Some fillies just had all the luck... "Hey girls! Having fun?" Iron Forger placed the tray of plates on the coffee table and started distributing food to everyone before taking a sit next to Noctis. "Yes!" Was Mrs. Bell's enthusiastic reply. "I was just about to show them that picture when Stellar played with the sprinklers!" In the picture, Stellar had her eyes closed and her mane was wet. One would think that, that would make and awful photo of a messy filly covered in mud, but somehow, the white filly managed to make it look good. Flicking her mane at just the right angle towards the sun that the resulting spray of droplets created a sparkling effect. Prism felt another chunk of her confidence dying. The photo looked like it belongs to a mane care ad! Prism's looks relies heavily on her mane and coat; no matter how hard she tries, there was just no way that she could look that good drenched with water! Another point to Stellar... Prism decided to drown her sorrow with food and took a bite at her lasagna, she couldn't help the noise she made as the cheesy morsel melted in her mouth. "Mmmm~" "I have to say, this tastes good!" Dinner Bell praised, taking another bite. "I came from a family of famous Canterlot chefs, so that should tell you something! Did your mother made this?" "She didn't, Mrs. Bell." Noctis blushed and bashfully scratched his head at the compliment. "I did." The moment that the words came out of the colt's lips, the Bell-Forger family suddenly froze and became deathly quiet. Iron looked worried while Stellar stared at her plate with a horrified look on her face as if she found out that lasagnas were made with meat in it. "Oh Noctis, you're such a kidder!" Dinner Bell nervously laughed in denial. "So, your father made it?" "No," Noctis tilted his head, puzzled by their strange reaction. "I baked this myself." That seems to be the last straw for Stellar as she clumsily placed her plate at the table before abruptly falling on her knees, her eyes wide with disbelief and her head hung in defeat. "No, it can't be..." The redhead shakily spoke. "The colt I liked made me food before I did!" "Shush honey, it's alright," Dinner Bell consoled her daughter, hugging her tightly. "Everything is going to be alright." "Mom, what should I do?" Stellar asked her mother, teary eyed. "Nana Bell is going to be so disappointed with me." "It's okay," The mare's expression became deadly serious. "No one has to know." Dinner Bell turned her gaze towards Noctis, full of malice. "Oh geez," Iron Forger face hoofed. "Now you've done it..." Noctis turned to the stallion curiously. "Huh?" "You!" The mother pointed an angry hoof at the colt. "How dare you, a man, set hoof at the mare's holy temple that is the kitchen and besmirch my daughter's honor!" "What!?" Noctis exclaimed in alarm, utterly confused. "What did I do!?" "It's a Bell thing, don't worry too much about it." The stallion sighed exasperated. "It's an old tradition where the Bell fillies would cook a meal to the special pony they liked as a rite of passage. Doing the reverse would 'bring shame to the family name'." Iron Forger rolled his eyes. "Not a big deal..." Dinner Bell looked at her husband with disbelief. "Not a big- Iron! How could you say that!?" The mare narrowed her eyes angrily. "Did you already forget what you did to me when we're just in elementary school?" "It was just a stupid sandwich!" Iron defended. "You forgot your lunch and I was being nice!" "It's not stupid!" The mare sniffed. "It was the greatest sandwich I've ever had in my entire life!" "Thank you! I really wanted to impress you!" Iron shouted, still. "I just still don't see what the problem is!" "The problem was, I felt like a failure for months, you jerk!" That was when Prism tuned them out. She couldn't believe how lucky she was! She was losing hope of ever finding some fault from the usually perfect filly when suddenly, like a miracle, Nocturnal brought her salvation in the form of baked spaghetti goodness. She decided, from now on, lasagna was her favorite food. She internally cackled. Stellar would never live this down! Maybe be she'll even bring the colt lunch come Monday just to add salt. She knew that was probably too mean to do to a depressed filly, but love is war, dammit! Prism was nopony special; she wasn't that pretty without her makeup and she doesn't have any impressive skills. She has to do everything she could just to have the slightest bit of chance at winning. "-I married you in the end didn't I?" Iron Forger argued on. "Not before you almost married that Sesame Biscuit chick!" Dinner Bell turned away from her husband and crossed her hooves with a harrumph. "I had to go on a grand quest all over Equestria to find ingredients just to recreate our childhood sandwich for you to realize that I'm your true love!" Prism sweat dropped. Geez, what did I miss? She turned to Cadance for answers only to find the filly with twinkle in her eyes, listening with rapt attention to the couple's bizarre love story. Noctis sent Stellar an inquisitive look. The filly goddess only shrugged as if to say she was as confused as he was and had nothing to do with that madness. "Um, can I say something?" Noctis raised a hoof. "I'm kind of curious about this Sesame Biscuit chick, mainly if she's still single and if she would be willing to bake biscuits for a colt forever. Haha..." The colt joked awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood... He went ignored. The stallion sighed an exhausted breath. He had to end this soon or he might be sent to sleep on the couch tonight. "Look honey, we're getting off topic here." Iron Forger reasoned submissively. "This is about our daughter, not us. All she have to do is make Noctis something on Hearts and Hooves day, just like you did, and her honor will be restored just like that." Prism and Cadance sent each other a conspiring glance and nodded meaningfully... Time to learn how to bake cookies. "Fine..." Dinner Bell relented. "You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, though." Darn it! Iron sighed and sent Noctis an irked glare, making it clear it was his fault. The colt at least had the decency to look apologetic. This is going to be a long night... An hour and a half after the lasagna fiasco, the foals found themselves inside Stellar's room, sitting in awkward silence. The room kind of reminded Noctis of a simpler and smaller version of Lunafreya's chamber. Almost everything was in color white. The sheets, the curtains, the floor tiles and even the walls were painted white. The bed was less fancy and more of what you'd expect a normal bed looked like. The only things with other colors were the study table and chair; the flat surface was also white but the metal legs and support we're black, and the lacey blue and pink pillows with the words 'Cutie Prism' and 'Kisses for Cadie' in stylized embroidery, written on the surface. It was kind of scary to think how long the white filly was planning for this. Enough time to embroider two pillows. A few more seconds had past and Noctis finally decided break the silence. "Stellar?" He was only met with more silence. "Are you still mad at me?" "......" Noctis turned his head towards the other fillies in the room. Cadance was reading something on an old magazine by a pony named Blake Charms. For a story about a colt and a dead filly, it was actually quite wholesome. It was written in the perspective of a colt named Sleepless Night as he wrote to, what she assumed was, his dead filly friend, Serenade, about his cutie mark adventure on a journal. She was really into it! Their relationship was very intriguing and she's learning new things about love! She wanted to know more. Prism noticed the colt's plea for help and she only smiled apologetically, expressing her desire to not get involved. With a sigh, Noctis returned to appeasing the pouting filly. "Look, I'll bake you some sesame biscuits tomorrow as an apology," he offered. "Does that sound good to you?" That earned him a plain white pillow to the face. "Yep, I deserve that." What was he thinking? Him baking things for her was the problem in the first place. Desperate times call for desperate measures. He might need the goddess' help later with his Spell-Crystal-weapon misalignment problem. And if Dinner Bell was any indication, the silent treatment could go on for months. That just won't do. "Please Bestie?" Noctis started, Stellar's ear flickered. He internally smirked. His father, the king, taught him that, the trick to manipulating people into giving you what you want was to speak their language. He put on the most exaggerated, shameless flirt, persona he could muster. "I'm sorry snow angel, you know I didn't mean to hurt ya. My life would be meaningless without you. Please come back to me, baby girl. Come on, doll face, you know I need ya." Stellar was about to crack! Noctis could see the filly shaking with mirth as she tried her hardest to hold in her laughter at his ridiculous Playboy accent. Just a little more. "Your pretty smile is only pretty when you're smiling..." "Pffft!" Air escaped the filly at the corny pickup line. Noctis' face lit up, hoping it was enough to finally get her back to normal. Sadly, Stellar managed to immediately compose herself. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me." The redhead huffed and crossed her hooves not unlike her mother. Noctis sagged. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any more lines to throw at her. He signed, he knew that he would regret what he's about to do. "Look, is there anything I can do for you to forgive me?" Stellar remained still for a few seconds before finally turning, the proposition was too good to pass up. "Anything?" Yep! So much regret. "Just, don't make me do anything too ridiculous, okay?" "Alright then..." Stellar stood up and sauntered towards him with half lidded eyes and an eerie smile. "All you have to do," she slowly and seductively ran a hoof on his arm. "Is cuddle me tonight." Cadance's reaction was immediate. "What!?" She dropped the magazine. This was more important. She wrapped her hooves on Noctis' other arm possessively. "No! He's only allowed to hug me!" "But you get to do this every night!" Stellar whined and wrapped her hooves on the other side as well. "Let me just borrow him for tonight, please?" "No!" Cadance stubbornly refused. "I won't let you have him! Never!" "But he owes me!" "He just made you lasagna! He didn't do anything wrong!" That was when Noctis decided to intervene. "Girls! please don't fight." He started, trying to diffuse the situation. "Can't you two just get along?" The arguing fillies looked at each other, nodded, and turned their attention back to him. "Alright then," Stellar began. "Why don't you pick between us?" "Yeah!" Cadance agreed. "Her or me?" Crap! He was hoping they would just share or something. That was the only outcome he could think of that wouldn't end with one of them hating him. Fortunately, he remembered another life lesson imparted to him by his father. King's always gets asked difficult questions regularly. The trick to answering them was to think outside the box but don't ignore what's inside it either. Sometimes, the answers were sitting right in front of you but your too busy outside the box to notice. If he chose his sister, then Stellar would be grumpy with him for a long time; if he chose the redhead, on the other hand, Cadance might cry and that would not end well for him either. Both were unwilling to compromise and share. But there was a fourth option. He almost missed it too! The answer was sitting right in front of him... Oh, the heck with it, I don't care anymore. "I choose..." /-/ Prism was frustrated. Watching the two filly cling to the colt's forelegs and brushing against his silky soft fur was torture for her! She wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him, wrap her hooves around his barrel and bury her face in his chest. But she had to hold herself back. No matter how much her heart aches with jealousy, she had to. It really hurts to admit, but there was just no place for her with him, physically and emotionally. To him, she was just his sister's friend. A stranger he occasionally sees and barely talked to with. So imagine her surprise when her name suddenly came up at the bickering. What? "What!?" Was the twin reaction of the once arguing fillies. "I said," Noctis repeated. "That I choose Prism." The colt dislodged himself from their hold and approached the blue filly. Prism could feel her heart about to burst out of her chest. He's coming this way! She was completely paralyzed with nervous panic as the colt she's been crushing on came closer and closer. Prism was about to hyperventilate, she realized. She felt her body starting to shake and her vision getting foggy. She's afraid that she's going to faint. When she finally felt the gentle embrace, however, all her worries suddenly washed away. Everything seemed right in the world as she came face to neck with the object of her affection. It felt as amazing as she dreamt it would be and more! So soft, so warm, and he smells so nice! It was heaven. She was about to reciprocate the hug, her hooves twitched, ready to snake around the colt, only to hesitate. Could she really? She felt like she was crossing a forbidden line. Was it really okay for her to do it? She could feel her old anxiety coming back. Was she good enough? Does she really deserve it? Prism internally shook her head. Perhaps not, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity! Like she said before, she wasn't anything special. All she was good for was being a pretty face, and when somepony came by that's more beautiful than her, she became nothing. With the competition, the possibility of her, never touching him ever again, was very real. She had to seize the moment while she still got the chance! And that's exactly what she did. She threw all her inhibitions in the air and latched herself to him like her life depended on it. She did it! She actually managed to do it! She felt so happy that she was about to cry. So why was everything slowly fading to black? Prism laughed bitterly inside. In the end, all the shock and excitement still got to her. In the end, she still wasn't strong enough. But the fight wasn't over for her yet. Now that she got a taste of his affection, there's no way she's going to give up! They're going to hug again, her and him. She's going to make sure it happens. One day, she'll discover the one thing she's really good at. When the time comes, she's going to do her hardest to be the best at it! Nocturnal was going to be so impressed with her that he just has to give her a hug! Maybe then, she'll be strong enough to hug back without psyching herself too much into fainting... And with that, she let her eyes fall and the world turned black. /-/ Huh, she must be tired. Noctis observed, oblivious to the filly's internal struggle. Deciding to take her lead, he closed his eyes and let their bodies fall on the futon mattress. "Hey! Wait a minute!" Cadance said, finally snapping back from the shock. "You can't do that!" Noctis huffed, eyes still closed. "I can and I did." "That's not fair!" Cadance puffed up her cheeks. "You're supposed to choose between Stellar and me!" "Yeah, and I choose neither of you." The best outcome for him required both the white and pink filly to be treated fairly. Sharing him in a hug doesn't seem to be an option for them, so he opted for the opposite instead and left them both equally hug less. Sure, they would still be upset, but not as much if he had chosen one over the other. "B-But, what about me?" Cadance whined, trying to get her brother to see reason. "I need cuddles! A-And what about making up with Stellar?" That tasted bitter in her mouth, but if he chose Stellar, then she would be left with Prism as her cuddle buddy, and the alternative would be... "You two can just go and hug yourselves," Noctis temporarily raised a hoof to wave at them in a shoo-ing motion. "I don't care anymore." That's the answer she was afraid to hear. She turned to Stellar, desperately hoping that the white filly would protest. "I'm okay with this!" Stellar beamed and pounced on the pink pegasus. Cadance cursed inside as she felt herself immediately relax, her body's automatic response to being wrapped in a hug, and to make matters worse, she liked the feel of Stellar's coat against her. It felt like being hugged by a cloud. She's a pegasus so she knew what she was talking about. Giving up, Cadance sighed and begrudgingly hugged back. "I hate you..." She whispered as she received a goodnight kiss on her temple. "I'm sad to hear that." Stellar whispered back with a soft smile, not at all sounding sad at the harsh confession. Cadance's irritation only worsened at that. "Why are you doing this?" She continued whispering. "What is this sleepover actually for? Why are you after my brother?" "Who said that I'm after him?" Stellar gave Cadance a look she couldn't recognize and it was making her nervous. "I-If you're not interested in him, then who are you after?" She gulped, she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer. "You." The white filly smirked. "I want to be closer to you." Cadance's eyes widen and her heart sank as nervousness replaced her rage. "Y-You have feelings for me!? Is that why you want to cuddle with me!?" She could feel her face heating up. "I'm not emotionally ready for this yet! Ask me again in ten years!" "Not like that, silly!" Stellar chuckled at the adorable reaction. "I just meant that, I wanted to be your friend." "Really?" Cadance was confused. That was her ulterior motive with all of this? That couldn't be right. Was it really that simple? "Hey, don't act so surprised." Stellar rolled her eyes at the pink filly's disbelieved face. "I just wanted more friends, is that so hard to believe?" Cadance felt conflicted. Wanting friends was something she could relate to. There was a reason why after three years, Prism was still her only friend. Being a pegasus, it was difficult for her to make friends with other foals; she was different... And that distresses them. Stellar was not a bad pony, she knew that. The white filly was nice, smart and energetic. She was an all-around friendly filly with a long mane that Cadance would just love to braid and style. Plus, unlike most foals, the redhead absolutely adores her brother. That alone should have given Stellar Sisters 4 Life status with her... So why does her heart kept insisting that she's an enemy? If she was any other filly, Cadance would have immediately jumped at the chance of being friends... But her heart had already decided. Cadance broke off from the hug and turned away. Stellar doesn't deserve to see the pink filly scowling at her. "I'm sorry," Cadance whispered softly. "But I don't think I could ever be friends with you..." she doesn't like Stellar, she hates her, so why does it hurt saying that? What else could she do, though? She has to be true to herself! Stellar and her... They just couldn't work out, not as long as she's after Noctis, because... Because... Cadance wanted him for herself. Cadance's body started trembling. Gosh, I'm such a weirdo... she thought dejectedly, suppressing her tears. I'm just his sister, I have no right to feel this way about them. I shouldn't feel this way at all! "It's okay." Cadance's eyes opened with surprise as Stellar, the filly she unfairly hates, hugged her comfortingly from behind. "It's okay," The white filly repeated. "I don't mind if you don't like me, I'll keep trying to befriend you regardless." That, for some reason, struck a chord within the pegasus. Those words sounded familiar... "Why are you so mean to me?... I just want to be friends." Cadance's eyes widen slightly with a faint gasp as she recalled where she heard those exact same words. That's right... Three years ago... she remembered a little filly crying under a tree because her idiot big brother wouldn't get out of bed. It has been a long time since, but the awful feeling was something she hasn't forgotten. The frustrated confusion of trying to figure out why the ponies she were befriending wouldn't like her back. She's being as nice as she could to them, but they just keep being mean to her for reasons she couldn't understand! Cadance would never go as far as bullying, but, in some way, wasn't that what she's doing to Stellar right now? The white filly hasn't done anything mean to her, in fact, she's actually quite nice, always greeting her with a hug and a huge smile as if she was actually happy that Cadance was alive, which couldn't be said with other foals. It wasn't as bad as before, nopony went out of their way to make fun of her yet, she suspected that they're scared of what her brother might do to them if they did, but she's not stupid, she knew that they're avoiding her, even her classmates in the Special Needs Class was wary of her. She kind of understand where they're coming from; as the name implies, the class was filled with ponies with special circumstances, mostly foals who has medical conditions and/or disabilities, it's only normal for them to be apprehensive with anything that has the potential to hurt them. The same excuse couldn't be applied to everypony else though. Cadance pouted. What's so scary about her anyway? She's pink for crying out loud! PINK! She sighed, realizing she's getting off topic. Again, Stellar's nice, she treats Cadance like a normal filly and expressed an actual desire to be friends with her. Wouldn't it be wrong of her to deny the redhead the chance? Doesn't she owe it to the nice filly, to give a friendship with her, a try? Cadance bit her lip. She can't believe she's actually considering it... But she has to face reality at some point. It was unreasonable of her to get in between Stellar and Noctis. Her big brother could be with whoever he wants, regardless of her feelings. Could she really do it though? Rise above her hate and... Love Stellar? Become her friend and bottle all her jealousy inside? It would be difficult, especially if the white filly keeps acting like a shameless slug! But, if she stopped flirting with Noctis, at least, not in front of her, then... Maybe? She needs more information... "Why?" Cadance asked, finally speaking after a few minutes of silence. "Why are you so nice to me?... Even though you know I don't like you." "Because you're Noctis' sister." "You want to use me to get closer to him, is that it?" Stellar snorted. "More like I'm using him to get closer to you; surely you've realized by now, and no offense, but I don't really need you to be close to him. Noctis and I are already close and I didn't use anypony to do that, I did it all just by naturally being me." Cadance resisted the urge to smack the white filly. She couldn't really see Stellar's face, but she was sure that she's wearing a stupidly smug grin. "Noctis is important to me," Stellar continued. "And you're important to him; that makes you precious to me as well, makes sense?" Cadance finally turned to face Stellar with an uncertain look. "Is... That it?" "I don't know what else you want me to say, Cadance. I like you and I want you to like me back." The white filly smiled softly. "Maybe I consciously wanted a sister close to my age and I'm projecting that to you? I don't really know, but if there's one thing I do know it's this," Stellar held the pegasus closer and rested her chin on top of the pink one's head. "I'll always like you no matter how much you push me away." Cadance mulled over what the redhead said. The white filly seems to be sincere. What should she do? What could she do? There's only one option isn't there? Doing the right thing... "... Alright then." Cadance relented, finally reciprocating the hug. "I guess I could try and put up with you for a while. Yawn. See where that takes us..." Her eyes suddenly felt tired for some reason, her eyes grew heavier until she eventually succumbed to sleep. After casting her sleep spell, the white one smiled and gave the sleeping filly another goodnight kiss. "Sweet dreams, my little pony." Stellar Bell closed her eyes... /-/ ... And, in the heavenly plane, Fausticorn's eyes opened. Floating in a starry space, she observed the projection of the entire universe in front of her. A bunch of spheres made up of different colored lights (parallel worlds) orbiting around a bigger sphere (Equestria, the original world). It seems that another alternate reality has popped up while she was gone. Humans huh? Interesting... Noctis might enjoy visiting it one day, though, she decided to ignore it for now, that's not really why she's there. No, she came for something a lot more important. She tapped the biggest sphere twice and the projection zoomed in to what's inside. More spheres, but with words underneath as labels and arranged neatly to fit a rectangular screen. She tapped the one labeled 'Strings of Fate' and her surrounding suddenly got filled with projections of differently colored threads. It looked like utter chaos at first glance, but that wasn't a problem for her. With her will, the strings moved until the one she wanted stopped in front of her. It was a pink one, thicker than most, but worryingly short. With a small swipe of her hoof, a small window slid into existence with label 'Commands' at the upper left corner. Inside we're little squares with familiar symbols, she tapped the one labeled 'Refresh' and the strings disappeared, replaced by dots moving lazily in a circle as the universal gesture of 'Loading...'. The Goddess smiled with relief when the strings returned. The pink thread, only a few inches before, was now in an almost infinite length! Crisis averted! But she knew she shouldn't celebrate too soon. She had a feeling that it wasn't over yet... ... And she was right. Another window popped up shortly after the reload, angrily blinking blue and red, indicating the urgency of it. She tapped the Alert Notification and her heart sank as the window closed and a string appeared in its place. She laughed bitterly. It was the Cause and Effect alert. With every action comes with an equal and opposite reaction. She meddled with and changed Cadance's destiny and now... The Goddess sighed, staring sadly the string. It was exactly the same size as the pink one's previous length. It's probably for the best... It could have been Noctis or Prism's thread that was cut off. It was pretty much the best outcome they could get. I just hope that Noctis won't be mad at me when he finds out... Deciding to return, her mortal eyes opened once more. "Noctis, you still up? We need to... Talk?" The white filly tilted her head, confusedly looking at the sight. In front of her was Prism, blushing and giggling in her sleep... Clutching a pillow. Stellar looked around her room, no sign of the colt. "Where did he go?" /-/ Noctis sighed as he gazed up at the starry sky. He found himself on a lounge chair at the backyard, mentally exhausted, yet, unable to find rest. He let out another tired breath. The night went pretty much as he expected, but at the same time, caught him completely off guard. That's Stellar for you. You see her coming, yet, still unpredictable... A cool night breeze blew and Noctis felt himself relax as he felt it gently on his skin. He couldn't help but be reminded of another goddess in disguise from his previous life. A certain black haired woman that's always been in his fiancé’s side. I wonder if Lunafreya ever had these problems. Gentiana and her seem to be friends. Did the princess ever got teased by her goddess? It's hard to imagine the two ribbing at each other like giggling teenagers. Gentiana carries herself with sophistication. A perfect example of a refined lady. And here, I got a shamelessly narcissistic flirt for a bestie... Noctis chuckled to himself. Stellar wasn't so bad once you learn to stop reacting to her advances in ways she finds amusing. Being flustered was the worst thing you could do if you want to be taken seriously with her. Ignoring her teasing is the way to go, but he sometimes let her have her fun. Playing along with her games was the least he could do after everything she had done for him. He wouldn't have made it this far with his Crystal stuff without her help. He's honestly considering taking her on little outings when they're a bit older; not dates, though. They'll be going as friends of course. He may not have lived long enough to vow 'till death do us part' but, it turns out, there are just things that even death can't erase, like a lifetime of feelings and memories. Besides, she'd probably want to invite Cadance along with them, maybe Prism too. Stellar seems to have decided that the pink one was a more fun target than him. Was it unfortunate? Yes. Will he do something about it?.... Pffft, Nah! Just a little revenge for when Cadance practically made him her personal dolly. Noctis closed his eyes and let his head rest backwards. The sleepover went well, at least, at the end of it. Stellar seems to have gotten what she wanted out of the night... ...so where was his uneasy feeling coming from? The colt sighed once more as his mind went back to the reason why he sneaked out of the room in the first place. He doesn't know what the problem was. There was just this feeling in his gut that's telling him something's off. He kept having these annoying sensation grating at the back of his mind that he couldn't place. Like something familiar that he should have recognized sooner, but didn't. And the weirdest part was that the cause of it seems to be coming from Prism! Ah, Prism Show. In hindsight, hugging her out of the blue like he did, probably wasn't the brightest idea. It makes him cringe at how it could have gone badly for him. The filly could have kicked him in the balls for touching her without permission! Luckily, she didn't. Though, he still should apologize to her in the morning, just to be safe. The last thing he needed was Prism thinking he was some kind of grabby pervert. Moving on... He just couldn't think of anything that might be wrong with the blue filly. She doesn't seem have body odor, (He probably shouldn't mention anything about him sniffing her sleeping body, like, ever! He'll be branded a creep for sure if he did! Or worse... Stellar might act jealous and insist that he should sniff her too!) She's comfortable enough to hug and she doesn't have wings that swat at him every few minutes, so what the heck's the problem? Noctis was so focused with his thoughts that he didn't notice when the backyard door slid open "THERE YOU ARE!" "Aah!" Noctis jumped on his seat. Clutching his loudly beating chest, he turned at the source of the voice. "Stellar? What the hell!" The filly huffed. Finding Noctis took longer than she wanted. The stupid colt wasn't in the bathroom, the living room or the kitchen. Stellar checked the shop too, but he wasn't there. She also went to her parents' room, just in case he decided to make move on her mom or something, but he was nowhere to be seen. The Goddess was beginning to think that he went home when she heard something outside. She sighed in relief when she finally saw his familiar ash gray mane poking from the back of lounge chair at her backyard. "You naughty colt! I was looking for you everywhere!" Noctis imagined, if ponies we're capable of it, her hooves would be on her hips right now. "For a second there, I honestly thought you ran away!" Stellar chastised some more. Noctis scratched his head. "Sorry." He apologized. "I just couldn't sleep and thought a bit of fresh air might help." "Fine, I'll forgive you..." Stellar replied, her frown turned into a mischievous smirk. "But only if you scootched over. I want to lay down too." "Why?" Noctis questioned. "There's, like, two other empty chairs here." He continued, gesturing a hoof towards the aforementioned chairs beside him. "Yes, I can see them too." Stellar deadpanned, ignoring his logic. "Now scoochie your toochie before I send you to the couch with my Daddy." Noctis moved, sighing in defeat. It wasn't worth risking it. Stellar sighed as she made herself comfortable. Completely relaxed with her body shamelessly pressed against his. Go figure. "You said you couldn't sleep." Stellar started. "Why? Is something wrong?" "Maybe. I don't know." Not seeing any reason to keep anything secret, the young king confessed. "There's just something... Off about Prism. It felt weird. I can't describe it." Stellar looked thoughtful for a moment before realization struck. She returned her gaze at the colt. "Did it felt like this?" Noctis didn't know what she was talking about at first. He was about to ask what, when he finally felt it. A constant pressure at the back of his head that's driving him nuts. "Yeah! You know what it is? And do you know how to get rid of it? It's so annoying!" "Yeah." Stellar replied, sounding a bit annoyed. "It's the sleep spell I've casted on her. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out yourself. Didn't you think it was a bit weird that she just dropped so suddenly?" Magic. Of course! It's so obvious now, in hindsight. Noctis felt a bit embarrassed for forgetting. It's been so long since the last time he sensed divine magic that he honestly forgot how it felt like. Now a question presents itself. "Why?" Noctis asked out loud. Why would Stellar randomly use her divine magic on the blue filly for no reason? Sure, at first, it actually sounds like something she would do, but, the serious shift in the goddess' expression confirms there's more to it than just a random whim. "Before I tell you anything," Stellar started. "I should probably mention that I've put everyone else to sleep as well." Noctis blinked at that. Now he's really curious. When the colt didn't say anything, Stellar continued. "Noctis, do you know why I asked you to get Cadance to have a slumber party with me?" Noctis resisted the urge to correct her in favor of answering. He shrugged. "I just assumed that you're just being your usual self and wanted to squeeze as much entertainment as you could out of the favor I promised you." The filly rolled her eyes. "Geez, I am glad that you have such a high opinion of me." She drawled. "Then again, it worked out for me. You played your part perfectly for this night." Her expression fell once again. "I can't think of a better way to do this, so I'm just going to go and say it." Stellar inhaled deeply. Here goes nothing! "Something is coming right to this town, and Cadence is going to die when it happens!" She exclaimed. Noctis' eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. That certainly took a turn. They were just talking about slumber parties a second ago and now she's telling him his sister is going to die soon? What the heck!? "Don't worry! I did something about it, so she'll be okay!" The goddess added frantically before the colt could freak out. Noctis relaxed, then she continued. "At least, for now..." She flinched as Noctis immediately un-relaxed. "It's more of a quick fix than an actual solution, to be honest. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but, Cadance's fate could change course a lot easier towards death than I could nudge her towards the path of life." Noctis struggled to keep his breathing calm, but his mind kept swirling with grim thoughts. "Is it the darkness... Is it because of me? Is it because I'm here?" Why else would a catastrophe hit their town specifically. Stellar tighten her hold on the distraught colt, trying to give comfort. "No, none of it is your fault. Something's going to happen regardless of whether you're here or not." The filly sighed, knowing her next words wouldn't help alleviate the colt's mood. "It just... Became deadlier with the introduction of daemon genes." "So, it's a yes and no, then." Noctis laughed a bitter laugh. It's like his previous life all over again. The pressure of knowing something is coming, pushing in all directions. "Hey, none of that now." Stellar said sternly at him. "If you're going to blame someone, it should be me. I'm the one who brought that accursed scourge in Equestria." "It's not your fault." Noctis breathe in and exhaled, letting all his negativity out with it. Blaming himself isn't going to help them fight whatever is coming. He should just concentrate on saving everyone. "Let's just agree it's the Darkness' fault and not ours." Stellar grinned. "Yeah! Buck the Darkness!" Noctis smiled, full of determination. "So, um, can tell me more about it?" "Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't really know much. All a can tell you is that Cadance seems to be, or was, the only, casualty; she would die either at the age of ten or fifteen years old, always; and lastly, I managed to change her destiny, but now, somepony else has to die in her place." Noctis was shocked by that. "Who?" He asked. The filly didn't answer for a few seconds speaking. "... I don't know." She lied. She knew exactly who's going to die. She knew them very well. And by the slight narrow of his eyes, Noctis might have suspected that she knew. Maybe she'll tell him in the future, but right now? She can't... She just... Can't. She's trying to justify it in her head that Noctis might do something reckless, like sacrificing himself, if she told him, but really, she's just a coward. He'll probably never going to learn who until it's too late. Stellar silently crossed her metaphorical fingers. Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask... "That's... Bad." Noctis said. "I can't speak for Cadance, but, I'm sure she wouldn't like the idea of someone trading their life for her." The colt paused for a bit, thinking carefully his next words. "Cadance isn't that special, is she? D-Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying that it's okay for her to die, or anything, but isn't it a bit unfair for a goddess to play favorites like that?" Again, don't be mistaken. Noctis love his sister very much and he would like nothing more than to keep her safe, but, he was a prince. A politician. He was trained to be logical and the importance of sacrifice was something that was hammered to his skull at a very young age. The random stranger that's going to die... They could be someone's father or someone's fiancé! The thought of leaving them to die because of his selfishness just doesn't seem right to him. Stellar sighed and she looked... Relieved, for some reason. "Yes, you're right, it isn't fair." She rested her head on his shoulder and continued. "But, it's very important that Cadance survive this. She's a lot more important to this than you and I combined, because if she dies, we all die. The village would be wiped out without her." Noctis was surprised once again. He sighed. Of course there's more... The goddess spoke once more. "I wasn't originally planning on telling you this, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. Cadance is a lot like you than you realize." Stellar shifted for a bit before continuing. "I guess you could say, it's her destiny to save the village. She have in her the potential to be one of the most powerful being in the world. Later, in a few years, Cadance is going to ascend." Noctis sighed. "Geez, when I thought my eyes couldn't get any wider, more surprises came." "And there's more." Stellar sent him an apologetic smile. "In the original timeline, where the Darkness doesn't exist in this realm, Cadance would have been just fine. Unfortunately for us, that is not the case. I'm afraid just ascension alone wouldn't be enough to save her. For her to be able to survive the incoming calamity, she needs to go further, to go beyond. She needs to tap into another power nopony has ever been able to before. Something called, the Daydream State..." "Daydream State?" Noctis asked. "Yes. Other than actual ascension, it's the closest a mortal could get to being a god. It gives you infinite amount of magic to do pretty much anything you could think of. It's a system I created so I could use my full power down here in the mortal realm, which works, well, kind of." Stellar coughed, looking anywhere but his eyes. "It have unfortunate side effect of... Causing your body to deconstruct itself atom by atom due to Mana overload. Or, to simply put, burning your body to ash." Noctis raised an eyebrow. He remembered her saying something like that when they first met. "And you want Cadance to do it... Why?" "Look, I don't know how, but the strings of fate said she could pull it off somehow. And the strings never lie. I can personally attest to that." "Well... Okay then. If you say so." Noctis nodded. If God herself said it's possible, then who was he to doubt? "What do you want me to do?" "For helping Cadance achieve cosmic epiphany, I'm going to do most of the work with that, but, I'm gonna need you for some of my schemes, I mean, 'Practical Training'. Her domain seems to be Love, so her continued survival relies on how much she understands Love and how little hatred she have in her heart. That's the reason for this night actually. To get her to stop hating my guts." "Did it work?" "Yes, a little. I got her to at least try to put up with me." Noctis snorted. "You know, she probably wouldn't hate as much if you hadn't rile her up every chance you get." "Oh please, she hated me the moment she saw us next to each other. No amount of playing nice could change that." Stellar returned with an eye roll. "She just LOVE her brother sooo much that she couldn't help but be JEALOUS." She continued with a sly hint in her voice, like she knows a joke that only she finds amusing. The filly rolled her eyes again as, even with the emphasis, the obvious hint just went over the colt's head. Ugh, boys... They became quite for a while before Noctis spoke. "Will I be ready?" He asked, though, more to himself than Stellar. "At the minimum of four years, will I have enough weapons? All I have right now is a tiny shovel and I still couldn't figure out what happened with my warp spell and-" Noctis jumped when something soft and wet landed on his cheek. Stellar giggled at his reaction to the kiss. "You worry too much." She said. "Just relax, I already have several ideas to fix that. I just waited to tell because I wanted to do them with you." Her smile fell a little when she saw the colt's disbelieving look, as if he honestly believed that she would just leave him to struggle on his own. "Noctis, I didn't save you so you could be my soldier. I saved you so you could be my friend. You're not alone in this. You and me, we're gonna kick some butt!" She finished with a dazzling grin. "So what do you say? I'm planning on going to Canterlot the weekend after next week, wanna come with me?" Now it's Noctis' turn to smirk teasingly. "What, like a date?" Stellar smacked him half-heartedly. "Weren't you listening! Cadance would deck me if she heard!" The two of them laughed and exchanged jabs for a few minutes and for a moment, it felt like he was with his friends again. After they calmed themselves a few minutes later, Noctis spoke. "I have to ask my parents first, but if it's okay, I guess I'll come with. They do say that Canterlot is the capital of magic. If I'm going to find a book on teleportation mechanics, it's certainly be there." "That's the spirit!" Stellar beamed. "I already have a couple of shops in mind." Noctis yawned. "Well, I guess it's bed time." The colt made a move to stand, but was stopped by the filly clinging to his arm. "Stellar?" She looked away, a faint blush visible on her face. "Can... Can we stay here, just a little longer? I want to hug you some more..." She said blush going deeper. "I guess I just missed you more than I realize." Noctis looked at her for a few seconds before smiling and letting out a mock sigh. "Yeah, I guess it's fine. Just don't blame me if I fall asleep." Stellar sighed contently as they made themselves comfortable once more. If only we could play like this forever... But I guess it just isn't meant to be. She thought melancholically, but then, a soft smile pulled at her lips. But there's still hope. Maybe Cadence and Noctis would be strong enough to save everyone. The future isn't set after all. She could only dream...