She wasn’t the type to drink (if anything, the liquor just made her drowsy instead of drunk and enhanced her already clumsy nature), but just for tonight, she allowed herself to "loosen up," like what most of her colleagues told her on occasion. So, there she was, at the far end of the bar table, browsing her email with her smartphone as she waited for her drink to be served.
Starlight thought about asking some of her friends from work to come along, but just thinking about the mindless chatter she would have to sit through and the countless drinks everyone would consume, taking advantage of the happy hour special, already made her feel exhausted. Besides, it's always nice to have some time alone, given the nature of her work. Human interaction in the classroom and inside the department office can be pretty tiring, too. Not that she hated people—she loved them; she just needed to recharge after a long day of lectures, reading papers, and writing reports she's sure her supervisor doesn't even bother reading. She rolled her eyes at the amount of work she did only to receive little recognition.
An ice-cold margarita is pushed in her direction. Starlight rewarded the bartender with a small smile and goes back to reading her emails, her phone's backlight illuminating her pale face. Her phone rang and a photo of a young lady flashed on the screen. It’s Sunset Shimmer, her daughter's babysitter for the late afternoon.
"Hello, Sunset," she greeted with little enthusiasm in her voice. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah," the young lady replied, "it’s just that little Luster Dawn wants to talk to you. Here she is."
She heard some shuffling from the other line, a tired smile painted on her lips as she anticipated hearing the cheery tone of her daughter.
"Hello, mommy," a soft, high-pitched voice chimed in her ear, "when are you coming home? You already missed dinner."
Starlight broke into a grin at the sound of Luster's voice. "Hey, sugarplum. Mommy will be home a little later than usual, okay? Don't worry about dinner; mommy already ate hers from the restaurant across the school," she answered her kid with an upbeat tone. "Did you give Miss Shimmer a hard time?"
"Nuh-huh! I've been a good girl like I promised!" Starlight pictured her daughter’s pouting face, scrunching cheeks, and nose crinkling. She held her chuckle.
"Yeah, you should keep your promise, after all, promises are supposed to be kept, right? Anyway, mommy is busy right now so I have to say goodbye or I'll be home even later."
"Okay," Luster agreed, defeat laced in her tone, and this made her heartache a little.
"Starlight," the voice belonged to Sunset Shimmer now, and in the background, she could hear her munching on something. Starlight secretly prayed she didn't touch her secret stash of chocolate with almonds in it. "Why are you still out? That's very unusual."
The young woman sighed and reached out for her cold drink. "Well, I'm...out for some drinks."
"Drinks? But I thought you didn't drink?"
"Yeah, I don't, but tonight is an exception, I guess?"
She heard Sunset Shimmer hum. "Bad day in the office, I'm guessing?"
Starlight shook her head. "Not really, but it's been a long day for me, I just want to take my mind off things, relax, unwind, you know?"
"Hm, well, alright then, but are you sure you're alright? I can go there and leave Luster to my girlfriend if you need a friend."
"There’s no need, I'm really fine, Sunset, thanks for the concern. I just need this time for myself, I'm sorry you have to extend your stay at my house."
Sunset Shimmer chuckled. "No sweat, Starlight! You know I love hanging out with Luster!"
Starlight’s smile this time is more genuine. She’s reminded of how lucky she is to have found Sunset Shimmer and her heart of gold; she made a mental note to pay her extra for her troubles. "Thank you, and maybe next time I'll take you on your offer, though don't count on it happening anytime soon. I'm pretty bad at drinking."
"Don’t worry Starlight, go ahead and have fun, I'll hang up now. I'll put Luster to bed in a little while and maybe watch a movie. Bye!" She didn’t even wait for her to say goodbye and the line was cut. Typical Sunset Shimmer. Starlight slipped her phone inside her bag and proceeded to drink her margarita.
A lot can happen in a year, Starlight knew from experience, which meant that a lot more could happen in six years: like getting her degree, working as a head researcher, shifting careers to teaching in the university, and then marriage.
Marriage was something she never thought would happen to her until she met him—the love of her life—while she was doing fieldwork. He is anything but congenial and eloquent, but he gets things done and he has this air around him that makes you feel he can be trusted with your life. He wasn't bad on the eyes either, which she thought is just a bonus among the other admirable characteristics that she found in him (even if things were pretty uphill between them the first few days they worked together).
His name is Sunburst. He was a research assistant when they met and still was a research assistant under Mi Amore Cadenza, or simply known as Cadance. Thinking about it now, she found it strange how she fell in love with this awkward man, and even stranger how this awkward man reciprocated her feelings. But she wasn’t in a position to be choosy, and it'd be a lie if she convinced herself that she wasn’t harboring any strong feelings for this guy, even to this day. They dated casually for three months, were an official couple for eight months, and before the year ended, he proposed to her quietly with a simple silver ring with a little emerald stone—no elaborate setups or even hidden cameras to document their engagement; just the ocean, the stars, and them.
It was hard to believe, but they were in love. Madly. A year after they sealed the deal, she gave birth to Luster Dawn, now 6. They were a happy family. Were.
Now 32, Starlight Glimmer is divorced, has full custody of their daughter, and is harried and stressed from all the work she needs to accomplish as an associate professor.
Where have the years gone? She often asked herself every time she was left on her own, especially in those cold, quiet nights in her bedroom (when it used to be their bedroom). Sometimes she can't sleep so she goes to the kitchen and drinks a cup of warm milk to get her sleepy, and sometimes she is overcome and overwhelmed by too many thoughts and feelings that she bursts into tears and cries herself to sleep. Where have the years gone?
She hasn't seen a trace of her estranged husband since they divorced. She doesn’t even know where he was or what he was doing, and this used to make her stomach churn and her chest hurt for quite some time until she got used to his absence. Luster seemed to be faring better than she did, though she noticed that she was a lot more detached than most of the kids her age. It's as if her daughter was forced to cope at her age, and detachment happened to be the most convenient defense mechanism for her. This made her stay up late at night, only to cry some more because Starlight felt guilty for everything. Maybe if she weren’t so caught up with her ambitions or maybe if she allowed Sunburst in every aspect of her life, perhaps Sunburst would still be with them, Luster would still be cheerful and innocent, and she wouldn't be spending most of her nights mulling about the past over and over again, weeping, and blaming herself in secret.
The young woman snickered and shook her head at the thought. There was no point in thinking of such things. Sunburst is gone. The family she dreamed of having is gone. The life that she's worked hard for might be gone if she doesn't get it together.
But tonight, Starlight allowed herself to just be and drink. Margarita tastes nice, after all. So much better than the red wine her ex-husband favored, to be honest. It doesn't smell nauseating, too.
Alright, he didn’t drink much at all, but when he did, he held his liquor much better than she ever could, something he liked to tease her about much to her annoyance; but look at her now, red cheeks, sleepy eyes, and a hazy mind.
"How ironic," she mumbled to herself as she wiped her lips with a napkin. She left her payment and a tip beside her empty glass and prepared to head home. She called the attention of the bartender and pointed to her bill before standing up from the stool to leave.
Feeling a little woozy ('It was just one freaking glass,' she berated herself), she accidentally tripped on one of the legs of a stool that wasn’t properly returned under the bar table, but she managed to reach out for something to stop her fall.
It's someone's hand, her mind registered, but there was something oddly familiar about it.
Starlight looked up, smile and apology at the ready, only to have her voice caught in her throat. Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief. Of all the people she ended up tripping in front of, it had to be her ex-husband.
The universe must be punishing her.