//------------------------------// // And the Beauty of its Calmness // Story: Midnight Sky // by Omegathyst //------------------------------// Within the town of Maretime Bay, a pizzeria with a green roof was brightly lit even as it was nearly midnight. Very few ponies were out and about to witness the door swing open as a white pegasus stormed out of the restaurant, her blue eyes blinking fast as she made her way as far from the building as possible. A much shorter pink pegasus ran after her, knowing she wasn’t going to catch up to the other pegasus. Stopping in her tracks and placing her hooves over her mouth, the pink pegasus screamed out to the other. “Zipp, wait!” the pink pegasus howled. “It was meant to be a cute little surprise, we thought that…since the four of us are already paired up…well-” “That you thought it was perfectly appropriate to set me up with a blind date without even asking?” Zipp whirled around, staring daggers at her sister. “Pipp, you couldn’t even be bothered with finding a decent stallion! We had nothing in common, it was so awkward!” “Z-Zipp, I thought you’d be happy…” Pipp’s lip quivered, and she flinched as Zipp’s wings opened wide as she shouted at her sister. “And you had the audacity to livestream it!” Zipp stomped her hoof. “I was just looking forward to a dinner outing with friends, and you had to ruin it by sticking your nose in my own business! Just go back to your coltfriend and the rest of our friends, I have nothing left to say to you.” Zipp soared up into the midnight sky, the itchy pain and fire of her roaring anger clashing with the calmness of the cold fall air. She felt like she could soar further up into the sky forever, until she flew up to touch the moon and fly back down. She never felt her wings getting sore, nor her mind shutting down mid-flight. Zipp even closed her eyes once she was high enough, knowing that she was too high up to collide with anypony. She reminded herself that all of her problems were on the ground, and she was too high up for any of them to touch her, to sting her mind with their embarrassing remarks…or worse yet, the look ponies would give when she said she was happiest alone. It was like they didn’t believe her, they had looked at her like she was a kicked puppy. Their faces brought back another surge of fire in her chest, how could they not believe her? If anything, she was the one having a hard time believing them. How could another pony bring the feeling that she so easily brought to herself by her own accomplishments, whether it was soaring higher than any pegasus in Maretime Bay, or solving another mystery that other ponies wouldn’t think twice about. All these memories were made by her and her alone! “Don’t you want to kiss somepony, to make love with one?” Izzy’s wide-eyed, innocent question rang in her mind with a tang of revulsion from her muzzle to the bottom of her hooves. The last thing she cared about doing was have somepony’s lips on her own! Why did ponies even do that? And why, for the love of Equestria, would she want somepony to touch her down there? She didn’t even feel the need for that, let alone the desire for it. She couldn’t understand the melting expression on Sunny’s face when Izzy kissed her cheek, or the deep staring Pipp and Hitch shared with one another. Especially since she tried long, long ago. Zipp finally stopped soaring up in the sky, opening her eyes and remembering another pegasus mare in Zephyr Heights. While kissing wasn’t something Zipp cared about, she wasn’t opposed to it. And while kissing that mare was all nice and dandy, the mare turned tail and ghosted her as soon as Zipp said she didn’t want sex anytime soon. She had heard more than enough ponies boasting about who’s dick got sucked by who and who hooked up with who, the overload of it was making Zipp’s stomach churn. Looking down, Zipp had noticed she had flown way past the clouds. And looking up? All Zipp could see was the full moon standing out in the pitch black sky, the stars surrounding her and twinkling at her in a way that didn’t demand anything of her besides to simply exist. Zipp pressed her hooves to her lips as she finally let tears slip down her face and onto said hooves. Her heart was more than fulfilled by her sister and their dearest friends, why did everypony think she wasn’t enough without it? Was…was there something wrong with her? At one point, Zipp had stopped flapping her wings, her mind spinning as she allowed herself to fall from the sky past the clouds. Several seconds of her frozen state passed before she realized she was diving towards the ground. Gasping and shrieking, Zipp flapped her wings just in time to avoid splatting on the sand. Staring at the sand just several tail-lengths below, Zipp hyperventilated as she slowly landed on the beach below and regained her normal breathing patterns. The pegasus stared at the crashing waves, coming from the water and slowly landing at her hooves. The water greeted her, cooling off her hooves without so much as asking a favor in return. And while the tears in Zipp’s eyes were renewed, she also felt her heart warming as she smiled for the first time since she left the restaurant. Pressing her hoof to the water, Zipp took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “At least with you and the stars, I don’t have to give anything back,” Zipp exhaled. “No sex, none of my energy…just my existence is enough for you.” The water responded by greeting her with the same gentle movements as before, and Zipp smiled brightly as an idea came to mind. Opening her wings and giving them several test stretches, Zipp took several steps back until her hindquarters were pressing against the cliffside. Then she broke out into a full-on sprint towards the water before spreading her wings and taking flight, flying over the ocean and its never-ending vastness, smiling and laughing at her expression reflected in the water. Izzy, you said I should make love to another pony? Well, today I made love to nature. I moved with the water and flew with the stars. And it’s better than any kiss that I’ve ever had.