//------------------------------//
// Blue 
// Story: Interstella 
// by Rust 
//------------------------------//


B
L
U
E







All is peaceful in the house.

Stella reclines on a small, cushy chair in her daughter's room, a storybook tablet long fallen dormant on her lap.  She watches Galaxy as she sleeps, blankly taking in the gentle rise and fall of the blankets or the occasional kick as the filly dreams.  The door is open a crack, flickering light painting a thin streak across the floor from the holopone left playing out in the living room.  Stella's tufted ears twitch.  She can hear the soft opening and closing of the front door even from halfway across the house.

Shuffling, scuffling, something moderately heavy settling on the floor.  Deep breaths, slightly hitching.  Light, but solid hoofsteps.  Her husband is home.

A thick, feathery wing nudges the bedroom door open wider, his shadow cushioning the sudden intrusion of light.  He doesn't see his wife sitting in the darkened corner at first, creeping across the room to bend over Galaxy.

Blue gently adjusts the blankets, murmuring so slow even Stella can't hear it.  When he's finished, he gives the filly a kiss of the forehead, before backing away a few steps and sitting down on the floor.

For a while, both parents contemplate the sleeping form of their child, one unaware of the other.

Stella wonders what she'll say.  She'd been thinking about it all day since she got home from the park.  Now, hours later, she finds she is still at as much of a loss of words as before.  But something needs to be said.  This isn't the sort of thing you let lie.

She chirps.  All noctunri can do it, a small pulse of noise barely discernible to the equine ear.  Her vision pulses a little, the darkened room clarifying for a small instant.  She notes Blue's sudden twitch.  Despite herself, she feels proud of him.  It took years for him to be able to pick it up.  Her husband peers around in the darkness for a second, spotting her in the corner.  She can see the reflection of her eyes in his, dimly glowing as they were wont to do.  Blue jerks his head to the door.

She gets the message.  Rising, she follows him out into the hallway, shutting Galaxy's door behind her.

Blue is waiting for her in the kitchen, nursing a small cup of cider.  He greets her with a hug, and she leans against his strong chest for a moment, gently swaying.

"How was your day?" he finally asks.

"I..." she begins.  How to tell him?  "We went to the city park.  Galaxy showed me her new game, we played all day.  Got some ice cream on the way home, too.  Little star is all tuckered out."

He looks like he's about to say something, but chews on it.

Stella fills the void before she can stop herself.  "It happened again, Blue."

Her husband blinks, starts.  "You had another attack?"  He steps back to peer at her, intent.  "Are you all right now?  I thought the medicine was working..."

She shivers at the loss of his touch.  "It... it was.  Or maybe it still is.  This wasn't nearly as bad as the first time.  I didn't pass out out or anything, and there was none of that freaky dark puke this time..."

"But it happened again."

"Yeah."

"We need to go back to the hospital."  Blue ran a hoof through his short mane.  He looks away.  "There's got to be something they have that will work."

Stella can't answer him.  It isn't in her heart to deny her husband a ray of hope.  Maybe she might even start believing in a miracle, too.  So she simply sighs and leans back against the counter, watching him nurse the cider by the light of the holopone.

...Huh.    

She could have sworn she'd set the 'pone on sleep mode.

The projector is emitting a simple envelope, glowing softly enough for Blue not to be perturbed, but for her eyes it might as well be a flashlight.  "Who in the world is sending messages this late at night?" she mutters.  Blue takes notice as well, and makes for the machine.

"Dunno.  But it can wait for tomorrow.  Need to get hold of the hospi--"

Stella watches as his ears shoot straight, eyes widen.  The mug of cider falls to the floor, bouncing gently away on the rug.  "Hun?"  Stella asks.  "What is it?  Something important?"

Blue merely reaches out and takes the hologram off the emitter.  He turns it around so she can see.  It's a crest, and a familiar one.

The Evening Star sparkles in stark relief against the whiteness of the envelope.  

"It's from Lady Twilight," Blue manages to whisper.

All Stella can squeak out is a breath.

"Oh."