//------------------------------// // 15 – Home // Story: Applied Starlight // by Unknownlight //------------------------------// Her walk brought her to the top of a grassy hill, a place that would probably have been fairly active in the daytime. At night, though, it was very peaceful. She lay down and stared up at the night sky. A few specks of stars were starting to form around the moon, but the majority of stars still existed in the skyglass below, leaving the night curiously void of their presence. This is it. This is life. … Is it worth it? “Of course it is, silly filly!” a shrill and happy voice exclaimed, interrupting her thoughts. “Stop trying to be all brooding and deep. Cheer up! I have a present for you!” She twisted her head around and saw Pinkie Pie, bouncing her way up the grassy hill without a care in the world. With a final leap, the party pony landed before her and stared down at her with bright, piercing blue eyes. With a slight groan of effort (hey, maybe she was finally starting to get tired!) she lifted herself up off the grass. The feeling of Pinkie looking down at her was uncomfortable; she would rather they be on equal footing. “Hello, Pinkie. You… have a present for me?” Pinkie grinned. “Yup! Close your eyes!” Sure, why not? She closed them. “Now, open them!” Uh, what? That was fast. She opened them, and saw two sandwiches and a couple slices of apple pie right under her nose, being held there by a beaming Pinkie. “This is for you! You’ve earned it!” She stared. “But… how did you make the pie? I thought you needed apples. You said you didn’t have any.” “I lied,” Pinkie said cheerfully. She continued to stare. Pinkie sat down beside her. “Now, I know what you’re thinking,” she said like a mother lecturing a child. “You’re thinking about throwing a fuss because I lied and because my meddling was what caused you to recreate all our friends. But I told you from the very beginning that I was sending you on a wild goose chase. You didn’t have to go along, but you did! That says something, doesn’t it?” She stared. Pinkie widened her grin. “Now, eat up! We’re gonna have a picnic! I know it’s nighttime, but who says you can’t have a picnic at night? Certainly not me!” Without further ado, Pinkie picked up her sandwich and immediately chowed down on it, tiny specs of bread crumbs cartoonishly flying from her mouth in all directions. With a little more hesitation than her pink friend, she levitated the plate and picked up her sandwich in her magic. She took a small bite out of the corner. Oh wow! This is good! “Like it?” Pinkie said with a knowing smile. “Mmmhmm!” she said mid-bite—a much larger bite than her first one. Pinkie giggled. “I knew you would. You haven’t had real food in so long. It feels good, doesn’t it?” She wrapped a leg around the hungry pony. “Y’know what I think, Twily? I think the reason you made us is because you need us.” She swallowed her bite. “Excuse me?” “Like, since you made ponies to talk to, you’ve been so much happier! Even if you haven’t noticed it.” Pinkie squeezed her reassuringly. “You’re going to be living here a while, right? How do you like it so far?” She paused and thought for a moment. About her home, about the town, about the ponies who called her “friend”. She could be friends with these ponies. She would like that. “It’s nice,” she said. She meant it. “Heehee, glad you like it!” She thought for a moment. “Pinkie, why even ask? Is there somewhere else I could go instead? Can I leave here?” Pinkie squeezed her again. Harder this time. “Don’t worry, it’s much better here. We’ll have fun. I’m gonna make it so fun here you’ll never ever want to go back there again!” “Oh. Thanks, Pinkie.” Good to know there was someone looking out for her. “We’ll help you,” Pinkie continued, quietly, unnaturally. “All of us. You need to escape from Starshine’s imperfect world. We will aid in your escape.” A overbearing sense of peace came with those simple words. Peace, contentment, acceptance… …No, no, wait. Stop! This isn’t right! I know it; I can feel it! Something isn’t right here. She’s trying to keep me from something! You are! You all are! I said, she felt peace, contentment, and acceptance. But I don’t! This is wrong! I have to— She suddenly forgot about all her worries. But— She suddenly forgot about all her worries. … She smiled and leaned closer into Pinkie. That was odd, for a moment it was almost as if she didn’t trust one of her best friends. How silly! She wrapped a leg around Pinkie’s shoulders the same way her friend was doing with her. “One four three,” Pinkie suddenly blurted out, looking surprised by the words that had come out of her mouth. She looked curiously at Pinkie. “Sorry?” Pinkie didn’t respond immediately; her eyes wandered over the landscape, wide in realization of some enigmatic fact of the universe. She blinked, shook her head, then looked back with a friendly smile on her face. “I said ‘I love you’, silly.” “Oh. I love you too, I guess.” They sat in silence for a while, sitting on the grassy hill that overlooked the town. Her home. With her friends. She relaxed, letting all the tension out of her body. Yes, this was good. She would be happy here. “By the way, Twilight. You’re not a ‘superposition’ or whatever it is,” Pinkie admonished. “At least, not anymore. Your name is Twilight. You may have been someone else before, sure, but now you’re you, pure and whole. You really need to stop it with this ‘she’ thing.” “Okay,” said Twilight.