Flowers. Many ponies underestimated their power. Indeed, most looked to them as little more than a cheap gift or snack. Need an easy way to show your interest in somepony, or have no time to plan an elaborate date? Buy some pretty flowers. The worst part was that most ponies also had no idea about the meanings associated with the different types of flowers going into their gift.
Wispwillow, even with a florist as a stepmother, was such a pony. That is to say, she generally didn't know these things by heart and usually didn't try to. However, she liked to think that she made up for her ignorance by making sure she knew everything going into her bouquet when she had need of one.
This was her first relationship in a while that had lasted long enough for her to had real use for such a thing, but still.
As she hummed to herself, happily cantering through Canterlot's lamp-lit streets with a bounce in her step, she again went over the flowers in the bouquet she was carrying. The asters represented commitment; the yellow carnations, cheer and happiness; the vibrant pink azaleas, abundance. At the last minute she had added some amaryllis to remind the recipient just how enchanted Wisp was by her beauty.
It probably wasn't the most creative bundle of flowers, but Glory Lily had assured her stepdaughter that it would make a wonderful gift. And she would know, right?
The flowers weren't even the real surprise, though. For all her marefriend would know, it was just another ordinary day in Canterlot.
Well, with the sun dipping below the horizon, it was nighttime now. Wisp could very well have given her gift earlier, as she probably would have done if it were anything else. However, her beloved had been going on about it for quite some time (and, knowing her, chances were she had done so very deliberately). Just about a quarter of their time together thus far, actually. And, seeing just how much her pegasus had been hoping for this, Wisp felt reason to believe that Shooting Star would be exceptionally... happy with her.
She wished she could have gotten her horn on it sooner, but there was nothing anypony could have done about that. She was well off, sure, but she didn't exactly have the income of a noble, and she had refused to let her parents pitch in. And she could have given it around Hearth's Warming, but a date altogether just as special was coming up. This being the case, Wisp felt the slightest bit self-conscious traipsing through the high-class residential district. Normally she didn't care, but tonight in particular, there was a lot on her mind. The large, extravagant buildings and mansions surrounding her seemed to be looming particularly high today.
Well, none of that matters now, the unicorn thought to herself with a grin as she bounced up the steps of a significantly smaller building and rapped a few times on its tall, mahogany doors. With its elegant arches and flying buttresses and whatnot, it fit in perfectly with the larger homes in the area, but her special somepony's lineage and fledgling acting career could only afford so much.
It was a very successful fledgling career, though. With her distinguished features and expressive wings, Shooting Star was quite the rising star in the acting scene. Her name was "Shooting Star" for a reason, after all. Sometimes Wisp had to wonder how she had ended up with such a beautiful mare.
More pressing, though, was the fact that she still hadn't answered the door. Obviously she could be out for one reason or another, but around this time of night the pegasus usually preferred to sit down with a good book. That, or she was playing that very particular game they both enjoyed. It was hard to tell, sometimes, but Wisp still giggled at the thought.
Either way, Shooting Star always answered the door before the second knock, and it had been almost a minute now. She'd have to chance it.
Wisp looked to her left, then her right. Then she looked overhead in case a thestral guard happened to be flying by. She would worry more about appearing suspicious, but really, a pretty young mare with a bouquet of flowers sneaking into somepony's home? She'd look more suspicious if she weren't nervous to be seen.
Satisfied that there were no guards or anypony else around to see her, she extended a second telekinetic field into the door's lock mechanism, still holding her precious flowers beside her. Considering her familiarity with this particular lock, the deed was quickly done, and she pushed her way inside.
Gently levitating the door shut behind her, the first thing Wisp noticed was that the lights were on. She found herself a little disappointed; her love definitely wasn't waiting on her. She always turned the lights off when she was playing.
When she fully realized that Star not waiting on her meant that she wasn't home, she was even more disappointed.
Oh well... Might as well make myself at home until she gets back. I wonder if she has any more of those gingerbread treats in the fridge...
Returning to the front room a few minutes later happily munching on such a treat, Wisp's hooves clopped along the immaculate stone floor. She had always thought the place was a bit cold and hard. So many hard surfaces, so few softer things to soak up sound. She never had been crazy about the way her voice or hooves echoed throughout the place.
As that thought left her mind, Wisp looked back to the door and idly wondered if Shooting Star had even made it home to check her mail. She hadn't paid any attention to the door side mailbox on her way in...
She decided to do her mare a favor and check. A proper gentlemare wouldn't dare look through her significant other's mail, and a lady like Star definitely wouldn't stand for it. But, of course, there was nothing with bringing the mail inside, and she would make it a point not to look too closely at the contents, assuming anything was there.
She approached the door and glanced down at the trash bin sitting to the side. Star often would start opening her mail as soon as she was inside the door, and kept this bin in the corner so she could readily dispose of the resulting trash. And, at this angle, Wisp could see a glimpse of something white inside.
No. It's improper to look through a pony's mail without permission, opened or not. Star would kill me...
And yet she found herself extending a magical field toward it. She fought with herself a moment, but in the end she levitated the object out of the trash. Curse my curiosity...
Unsurprisingly, it was an envelope she was holding. She turned it over in her magic, noting the letters "SS" written across the back (twenty bits what that stood for). On the flip side, the mouth of the envelope had been cleanly opened, and inside it lay a folded piece of paper—Star really could be such a perfectionist.
A voice in the back of her head whispered that she shouldn't read it, but she was already past the point of no return. She pulled the paper out and unfolded it, beholding a scarce few words written with rather elegant penmanship.
"Little Comet,
Meet me at the waterfall. Usual spot.
-CM"
"...No."
Wisp tried to deny it, to fight down the panic growing in her breast, but she felt the floor fall beneath her anyway. She could have, would have done anything to quell the dread inside she was feeling. She would have tried to believe just about anything. But there was one thing in that letter that she couldn't deny.
Somepony was inviting her Shooting Star to one of the waterfalls, which were known as some of the most romantic places in Canterlot if you could find somewhere to sit, And chances were, she dared suspect, that it was their waterfall. Where they had first...
...Okay, technically, being a pegasus, Star could easily go to any of the other waterfalls in or around Canterlot. But Wisp didn't know if this other pony could fly or not. What she did know was that somepony was trying to take her shining Star away from her.
We'll bucking see about that.
Trying to distract herself from the dread in her gut with the anger now blossoming her chest, she picked up her flowers from where she had reverently left them on the couch and shot out the door.
—————————
Wisp galloped up the mountainside just to the east of Canterlot proper. An average unicorn would likely have tired out by now, sprinting from the heart of Canterlot out to the city gates, around the walls and up a mountain. But she was built for this. Even before her cross-training she had always made sure to keep in shape.
The adrenaline helped, too.
Of course, she internally facehoofed as she reached the top of the slope, training and adrenaline wouldn't help her ascend the rock face up here. Star always carried her up there. She looked to up where the water came cascading down the weathered rock, thinking of what could be going on up there.
Dammit, if only I could teleport...
Teleportation was known as one of the more difficult and desirable spells to master. It wasn't all that hard, but especially in this case, figuring out how to manipulate the flow of magic to properly execute the spell was difficult. The concept was pretty tricky, too. Wormholes and all that junk.
With both flying and teleportation unavailable to her, Wisp frantically looked around, trying to see if there were anything lying around she could use to get herself up there. But no, there were just trees. And some rocks.
Well... There's another slope. A much steeper one. It'd be a little tricky to climb with these hooves, but... At this angle from the nook up there, if I levitated myself...
This wouldn't be nearly as tricky as teleporting, but self-levitation was still one of the more awkward things one could do with their magic. Having to magically "touch" one's own horn like that made it rather difficult for a unicorn to get very far unless the unicorn got lots of practice, but the distance Wisp would have to jump was only about... well, ten meters, but a height advantage and momentum would take care of the rest.
Already scrambling up toward the top of the hill, Wisp cursed the uselessness of her own hooves. Being a unicorn it was irrelevant to her most of the time, but at a time she just wished ponies had some kind of appendages with which to grab onto things, like a griffin's claws. She was able to prop herself up against the trees to help herself along, but something like that would be real bloody helpful right now.
Part of her knew she didn't actually care right now, though—she liked her hooves. Anything to keep away the other thoughts, thoughts of why she was climbing a cliff in the first place.
Once she made it to the top, she turned around and braced herself. If she were to mess this up, the fall wouldn't be pretty. That big rock at the bottom would definitely have some choice words... But she wouldn't mess up. She was Wispwillow, and she was going to see her marefriend.
Just in case, though, she grabbed hold of the bouquet with her mouth. Best to focus on just levitating one thing rather than two for this.
And so she galloped a small ways back down the slope, wrapped herself in her magic, and jumped while there was still a height advantage to speak of. It was... a funny sensation, flying near-weightlessly in the air. Not even a pegasus would quite get to experience this.
She would have been fine if she'd looked down, but now that she was almost there, the thought never occurred to her. As soon as I get there, I'm gonna give this CM a whopping big piece of my mind...
She landed a little roughly as she dropped the field and landed in the large hidden nook she had been to so many times before (and silently returned the flowers to her magical grip). The roar of the waterfall running next to her was loud as ever, drowning out her more miscellaneous thoughts and focusing her on the matter at hoof.
There was little else of note here, just a bunch of cluttered trees blocking the view. Just up ahead, though...
There she was, in all her glory. Shooting Star was a regal, jet black pegasus with large, beautiful wings and alluring yellow eyes that glowed bright as the sun. Her mane and tail were two-toned, mainly an enchanting snow-white with a streak of silver, and flowed in elegant curves that beautifully accented her gorgeous physique. Her cutie mark added a small splash of color to her largely monochrome palette, a yellow star with twin blue streaks trailing behind. She was also wearing her choker, a simple white accessory with a sparkling black gemstone in the front. As Star herself liked to say, a little accessorizing could really complete a picture, and Wisp had always thought she looked stunning in it.
She felt a familiar lump form in her chest. Every time she laid eyes on Shooting Star, she was struck by how amazing she was, and how lucky she herself was to count herself in a relationship with such a mare.
The pony she finally noticed sitting beside her, though... This other pony was a thestral (colloquially known as a batpony) with a faded grey coat, the leathery membranes of her folded wings a darker grey. The mare wore her black mane and tail wavy and long, mane in a ponytail, and her slitted orange eyes reminded Wisp of urine passed after having too much junk food. And then there were the fangs. Wisp wondered just what Star might get out of those.
She certainly wasn't impressed. As if this pony had a chance with—
Wait. The way she's looking at her... What?
"CM" was looking straight down at Star's flank. And Star seemed well aware of it, the way she was... giggling...
Her gasp must have been pretty loud, because in the open grove they were sitting in, just next to the base of the waterfall, the two ponies had immediately turned to look right at her.
"...Wisp?"
She froze. She had thought she knew what she was doing, but she knew nothing. Actually seeing it with her own eyes... Cracks were forming in her swelling heart.
Star looked from Wisp to the flowers. Wisp saw the surprise register on her face, and then saw it change into something else. Was it guilt? Regret?
...Pity?
"Star..."
She couldn't breathe, and she still couldn't move, but she felt the shaking spreading from her belly to the tips of her legs and tail. This has to be a dream... Please, let me wake up now.
The batpony frowned and leaned closer to whisper something in Star's ear. Wisp was sure it was something like "That's her?" because the pegasus nodded, the look of whatever-it-was still on her face.
She swallowed the jagged rock in her throat. What was she supposed to do?
"I didn't mean for you to see this..."
Didn't mean for... Didn't mean for—!
"W-what do you mean?"
The painfully beautiful pegasus gave a prim sigh. "Tell me, what does this look like to you?"
That smooth, velvet voice had never been supposed to say such a thing. Never... It wasn't right.
"B-but... It's our anniversary tomorrow..."
Star sighed again, louder this time, and looked away. Almost like she was the one hurt by this.
The thestral didn't look too thrilled, either, but Wisp hardly cared how that tramp felt.
"I know," she said.
Wisp's denial and trepidation was slowly giving way to cold indignation. Incredible as she was, Star didn't get to act hurt when she was the one doing this to her.
"Of course you know. How long has this been going on?"
How could she have the gall to look so downtrodden? She saw it in her lover's face. The way her silvery eyebrows pressed together slightly, the way her wings sagged just so and how she looked just off to the side, away from the unicorn's pleading, judging gaze.
"Three months..."
With that, Wisp felt like she'd been hit by a train. She was breathless again, but still had to ask...
"Don't tell me... Let me guess. You were so excited about the airship cruise because you... already knew you'd be going."
A solemn nod. Wings drooping ever so slightly lower.
CM was leaning against Star now, presumably to offer support. And it infuriated her.
"And that was because... This mare... had already given you an invite."
"Yes."
The bouquet of flowers dropped to the ground.
So there it was. This thestral, this... bat from Tartarus must have been a noble like Star, from a family of even greater repute, and had wooed her with a pair of tickets or something to that effect. Or maybe it went back further than that, but it didn't matter anymore.
Her brow twitched. Her face twisted into a grimace, and for a moment she thought she might fall on her plot. She didn't, but the dizziness remained for a time.
"So that's it. You've been cheating on me."
The words hung in the air like the stink of rotting fish.
"And I bet you thought tomorrow would be a BRILLIANT time to let me down without my ever knowing."
"...Yes."
Lava was pouring through her veins. She had never thought this would happen, it wasn't fair, it wasn't right. But it was true.
"I'm sorry, Wisp."
She really did almost fall on her plot this time. She was having a jolly good laugh.
"Hahahaha... Sorry? You're sorry? Well then, I suppose everything's fine. No big deal. It's not like you've shattered my heart or anything, haha, nooo..."
At that, the pegasus finally looked back at her, with a touch of indignance. "Please don't do this. I wasn't going to tell you so I could spare your feelings."
"Spare my feelings? If you wanted to do that, you should never have done it in the first place. Or AT LEAST broken up with me to save me the trouble."
"You know what I mean. And... I tried to."
Oh. Really?
"You did?"
"Yes. But..."
"But what?"
An uneasy silence. It was almost as if Star was feeling uncomfortable.
"But what, Star? Just say it."
"...But I couldn't. You wouldn't let me. Or at least... I couldn't bring myself to."
Wisp's eyebrow found that interesting. "And why was that?"
The gorgeous mare closed her eyes, looking like she was fighting the urge to turn away. "Because I still... care for you."
Alright, plot. You win. Plot, meet ground. Ground, plot. Go nuts.
So on top of all this, she wasn't going to play the cold bitch routine? She was pretty good at that when she wanted to be, and Wisp almost thought that would have been preferable. Maybe it wouldn't have been easier on her heart, but it would have made things simpler.
"You were always just so passionate. I needed some space, but I could never get enough. Crescent and I were just friends at first, but—"
"Stop. I don't need to hear anymore. I don't care."
"Crescent Moon" reached for Star's hoof and held it in her own.
The contact before had been one thing, but now the bitch was touching her hoof.
"Get your hooves off of her."
The mare frowned, apparently not inclined to obey. "No. You'd do the same in my position."
The pony's voice sounded coarse in comparison Star's or her own, but Wisp could detect some of that high-class upbringing in there somewhere. Not that it mattered.
"Your position? And just what exactly is your position?" She shouted.
"Wisp, don't. None of this is her fault."
"If it's not hers, then whose is it?"
"Mine. And yours."
...Had she heard that right?
"You're saying this is... my fault?"
Star shook her head. "In part, yes. I made a mistake, but you get like this every time things don't go your way."
Twitch.
"You get angry, you throw a fit. You start yelling and you make rash decisions. How is anypony supposed to deal with you when you're like this?"
How did ponies deal with her?
They... They left her. Abandoned her. Nopony wanted to be around the unicorn filly who started shouting just because she lost a game of checkers.
"Sh-shut up..."
"This is why I couldn't break up with you, Wisp. You make it impossible to—"
"I said SHUT UP!"
Why had Star back pedaled away when she stood up and shouted that? Why had Crescent Moon put herself between them like some kind of shield?
"W... Why are you looking at me like that?"
The other ponies said nothing. Crescent Moon, this tramp of a thestral, and Shooting Star, who she had given her heart and body and everything else.
That's right. This is where we made love the first time. She... She's sitting right there! And before I got here, they were going to...
Previous question forgotten, Wisp asked, "...What were you doing when I got here?"
That caught Star by surprise, but Crescent was more focused on staring her down. "Wisp, I don't think—"
"What were you doing?!"
"What do you THINK we were doing?!"
As soon as she said it, Star's eyes widened with regret. When looked around and realized just where she was sitting, her ears fell back, too.
It didn't matter. Finally, now, the tears had come. Wisp was crying, sniffling, and sobbing as she accepted that it was all over. All too quickly she found herself nursing a headache. They had been ready to do it right there, the special spot they had shared so many times. She had wasted all that money, and more importantly, all that time and effort on a mare who no longer loved her. She cared, she had said, but that didn't mean they could ever be together again...
Through her tears, she saw the batpony's stance shift. She, who had caused all this.
Maybe Star was right. Maybe she had been too clingy. Maybe she had some anger issues.
Maybe she was destined to be alone...
But if it weren't for this bitch, maybe they could have worked it out. In her own blind ignorance, maybe it would have been difficult for Star to get the point across, but at least there'd have been a chance for things to work out if THIS pony hadn't fucked it all up.
The bat from Tartarus said something. Not cruel, but stern.
"I think you should go."
"Lulu, don't—"
...Lulu.
Lulu.
A pet name. Like the one Star had used for her.
Wispy...
"Lulu? You call her Lulu?!"
Her darling "Lulu" backed up a step as her own face froze up.
The bitch spoke again. "We don't want any trouble, Wispwillow. Just go."
"IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU, I WOULDN'T HAVE TO GO!" she screamed.
She wasn't sure what happened next. The thief had made a sudden movement, or something. All Wisp knew was that suddenly the mare's face was in flames.
Time froze. Her brain stopped. She could see everything in perfect detail; Crescent Moon's face from her neck to the left side of her muzzle was on fire. Her cat-like eyes had already dilated and widened in shock, as had Star's, who somehow looked even more horrified.
Time increased to a crawl. The mare began to rear up on her hind legs and flap her wings like a madmare, which unfortunately only fanned the flames.
The very purple flames... which matched Wisp's cutie mark all too perfectly.
Star was frozen in shock, but to her credit, she was quick to jump to her... marefriend's aid and began patting the flames down with her own feathered wings.
Those beautiful, beautiful wings...
As her perception of time returned to normal, Wisp knew she couldn't be here. She couldn't stay here. She had to run, to get away. She had done something terrible, and there was no way either of them would ever be able to forgive her.
She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to run far enough. But she ran.
At least, that was the plan, but with a flash of fuchsia light, she found herself suddenly standing somewhere in the city streets.
What...?
Her moment of surprise didn't last. It didn't matter. She still had to run.
And she couldn't show her face at home right now. There was no way she could bear to be with her family right now. She could go HOME home, but Wisp feared what she might do if left to stew alone in her apartment. Which left only one other option.
Her best friend's place.
—————————
Twinkleshine thought of herself as a relatively simple, down-to-earth unicorn. She didn't put on airs, she had an honest work ethic, and she liked her water with a slice of lemon.
Even so, she had a guilty pleasure: romance novels, written in varying amounts of "detail." Again, Twinkleshine liked to think she was pretty down-to-earth and levelheaded, but when it came to romance, she had to admit that she was... well, a romantic. Especially in her reading time, she liked to sometimes fantasize about some gallant stallion or another sweeping her off her hooves.
She sighed wistfully as she turned a page of the book in front if her, idly thinking that whatever pony to do that would hopefully compliment her light coat and curly pink mane nicely.
Her fantasizing was interrupted by a hard, fervent knock at her door. She didn't even bother with the cliche of wondering "Now who could that be?" and set the book aside. Her moment was ruined, and whoever it was really wanted her attention. She just hoped they had a good reason for being so loud.
She announced to the visitor that she would be right there as she was pulling herself off of her couch. She could almost have felt a second knock coming beforehoof.
Twinkleshine trotted up to the door and, naturally, pulled it open with a light blue flash of her horn. She wasn't nearly the magical powerhouse as some ponies she knew, but she at least could easily manipulate things with her magic.
Speaking of which, it turned out that now she was looking up at just such a pony. "Wisp? Weren't you going to see Shooting Star? And... Woah, what's wrong?*
Wispwillow was a mess. Her white and pink mane was even messier than usual, and even looked a little... singed, in places? Her eyes were bloodshot to Tartarus, either side of her muzzle was soaked with tears, and her entire face wore an unsettling mask of panic and despair.
"T-Twinkleshine, I—I can't..."
"Hush, just come inside. We can talk about it."
Wisp did as she was told, and little else. She just stood there, sobbing, so her friend closed the door behind her and guided her over to the white faux-leather couch in front of the fireplace. Her tears probably wouldn't be very good for the upholstery, but what were friends for?
Now that she was in a safe place, Wisp seemed lost, with no will of her own. Twinkleshine sat next to her on the couch and held her close, letting her cry it out.
Something about this rubbed the smaller unicorn the wrong way. Wisp often got angry, sometimes sad, but it wasn't exactly often that she showed up sobbing her heart out. Obviously, something must have happened with her marefriend, something bad. But was that it?
She had to wait a while before she could hope to get her question answered. It took a good ten minutes rubbing the stricken mare's back and just holding her for the wailing to really die down, and another ten before she could breathe something resembling normally. The more time passed, the more concerned Twinkleshine became.
Holding Wisp's shoulders in her hooves, she gently pulled away and looked her in the eyes. Or, at least, she tried to. The other mare seemed unable or unwilling to meet her gaze. "Alright, Wisp. Tell me what's wrong. What could get you this shaken up?"
To Twinkleshine's surprise, her tear-soaked face suddenly looked unbearably guilty. The mare looked away and, seeing an opportunity, asked a question of her own.
"Heh... Reading another one of those trashy romance novels, Twink? You know that's not how relationships really work."
The lighter mare frowned. "They're not all trashy, and you're not going to change the subject before we even start talking. Now, tell me what happened."
Wisp sighed, shuffling around in her seat. "Fine. I..." She stopped a moment as she swallowed a hard lump in her throat. "So I went to see Star. She wasn't home, so I waited around a minute. There was this letter in the trash, and... It said to go to the waterfall. It was THE waterfall, Twink. I climbed up there, jumped over, and..." The dark mare choked on fresh tears, and tried to shake them off. It didn't work.
"She was cheating on me, Twink. For three months, maybe more."
Twinkleshine's eyes widened, though she had been suspecting as much ever since she had come inside.
"And she was there, Twink. The mare was there. They were about to DO it right where we always did..."
Okay, that definitely made things worse. Seeing such undeniable proof right in front of her might help explain the mess. She knew she would be less than pleased in that situation...
"We fought. I yelled at her. She said these things... That I was part of the problem, that I always get that way when I don't get what I want. But that's not it, Twink! I... Luna's moon, I..." She finally looked Twinkleshine in the face.
"I set her on fire, Twinkleshine! I set that slut of a batpony on fire! During the fight I got this ache in my horn, and then when I screamed at her... Suddenly her face was on fire! I didn't mean to, it just happened, and I..."
Now Wisp was hugging herself, desperate for consolation. "If the Corps hears about this... If they learn I fucked up that bad... It's over. I'll never get in. Ever." She clenched her eyes shut against the downpour. "I set a pony on fire..."
Twinkleshine pulled her gaping mouth shut. Wisp was known for her temper. It even wore on her sometimes—especially her—but this... This was on a whole new level.
What could she say? Wisp was right. If the Magi Corps got wind of this, she would never have a chance of getting accepted. If they'd been leery of her hot head before...
"What am I gonna do, Twink? I don't know what to do..."
She pulled her closest friend into another hug. Really, what else could she do?
"I'm sorry. I don't know..."
A few minutes more passed, and again the room was relatively quiet. Wisp was no less happy, but at least she had calmed down.
Which meant little old Twinkleshine had an opportunity to ask some questions. "So, when Star said you were part of the problem, what did she mean?"
Wisp sniffed. "She said that we both had something to do with it. Basically that she was weak, and I was too... clingy..." She shook her head. "And she said that even if she had tried to break up with me when she started losing interest or whatever, I'd have gotten mad and wouldn't have let her."
She had a good scoff at that. "Good on her for not putting all the blame on you, but if she wanted out, she could have gotten out. Even if you didn't take it well, she could just leave and stop talking to you."
If the criticism helped at all, it didn't show, but that was no surprise. Twinkleshine was wise enough to know that speaking ill of someone you cared about, even an ex, didn't really help or change anything. Then again, this was Wisp she was talking about.
Not to mention she knew Wisp wouldn't have made it that easy to get away.
"So, this batpony... Who was she?"
Wisp drew back a little at that question. Understandably uncomfortable, one might say. "I don't know anything about her. Just that she was rich enough to buy the aircruise tickets before I could even think about getting them. Or maybe she'd already been invited and only had to get one. I don't know."
"I see. And..." Twinkleshine paused for a rather awkward few moments, trying to figure out the best way to put this.
"And the fire was put out... Right?"
The larger unicorn nodded. Then her eyebrows furrowed as she prepared to append the implicit yes. "I didn't see it put out, really. Star was putting it out with her wings when I teleported away."
Well, that was a relief... She had been afraid to consider that somepony might have died. Not the most pleasant of thoughts.
"...Wait, what? You teleported?"
Her friend was quick to clarify. "I still haven't figured that one out. I guess in the heat of the moment, when I needed to just get away... I guess the stress made up the difference. You know how it is."
She did know how it was. Foals often had wild outbursts of magic in which they performed fears they normally would be unable to, and the principle was similar for a grown unicorn who became particularly emotional. Still, teleportation... Wisp had always wanted to learn that spell. At any other time, Twinkleshine may have joked that she could say she's actually done it now, but this was obviously not the time. She didn't have anything else she could say, so she just nodded and took a minute to think about everything else for a minute, nuzzling her friend all the while. Wisp didn't seem like she was going to be making any conversation herself.
Eventually, though, she did think of something. But she knew Wisp wouldn't like it.
"She... Well, you know, she was right, Wisp."
And just like that, the room seemed to go colder. Which was saying something, because there was still a fire going only a few meters away.
"What do you mean?"
"I just mean she had a point. I did try telling you a while back that seeing her so often might have been a bit much, and you... you really don't take it well when things don't work out how you'd like them to."
She didn't have to wonder when Wisp's back had gone stiff like that. She expected as much, but even in her sensitive state she hadn't gone and exploded yet. Maybe she would listen to reason this time...
"So you're saying that I could have prevented this? That I might still be with her if I weren't such an idiot?"
"Wisp, no, I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying that you have a—That maybe there are some things about yourself you can work on. You know, for the future. You should at least try to see this as a learning experience."
Her downtrodden friend was wearing a decidedly sour look right now. "That won't bring Star back."
And then she was getting up off the couch and walking over to the door. "Thanks for being there for me, but maybe I shouldn't have come."
"Wh—Huh?"
She was already standing halfway outside.
"Wisp, don't."
"Sorry, Twink... I really am an idiot."
She tried to stop her, to reach out and keep her from leaving, but even if she had made it off the couch in time, there was nothing she could do to stop Wisp when she set her mind on something. Wisp was stronger than her in every way, and stubborn as a mule. Sometimes Twinkleshine hated herself for her impotence.
"You're right," she said to the back of her door. "You really are an idiot."
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Wisp was standing over her bed, making sure everything was in order. She had packed little more than a few books (mostly spellbooks), some personal effects, and a sandwich, but it would do. No need to take all her things with her. It'd make the house lonelier for them if she emptied her room, plus she'd have this safe place to come back to if anything else happened. She had always taken more care of this room than her apartment, anyway.
Wisp told herself that, and she reasoned that it was true. But she couldn't convincingly deny that she felt too afraid to come back, at least for a while.
"You're sure?"
She sighed. "Yes, mom. I'm sorry. If I come across Star or that thestral, I don't think I could handle it. And I'm sure they told the Guard, so things are probably working up the vine already. I just... don't feel safe here."
Snowbreeze's melancholy smile told her she understood. She always did.
Wisp looked over at her mother. Her blue-tinted, frost-white coat and feathers and her snowy hair gave her the look of an angel, Wisp had always thought. She liked to think it was where she got the white of her own mane.
She did know, however, that it was was where she had gotten her own ice-blue eyes. Or gladly pretended to. Pony genetics could be funny that way.
"Sorry, mom... I don't want to leave, but I can't stay, either."
"I understand. Once you set yourself on something, a raging manticore couldn't change your mind."
Wisp smiled. "Shut up."
She knew it wasn't just a joke, but she liked to think it was.
"Now, enough moping. Come say goodbye to your mother and sister."
With that, her mother left her to join the rest of the family and get ready to send her off.
Wisp sighed.
And then she did as she was told.
Snowbreeze was standing with her wife and other daughter near the door. Oh, how it hurt to see them all sending her off like this. She belonged here.
Glory Lily, with her lime green complexion and red, accented-yellow mane, looked something like she had swallowed a lemon wedge. She knew very well that her horn-picked flowers had nothing to do with what happened, but being intimately involved with the heartfelt would-be gift hit her a little harder. Knowing the facts didn't help her feel any better.
Tiger Lily, though... She was putting on a brave face, but it was all too apparent that the last thing she wanted was to see her big sister leave, let alone with no idea when she'd return. The strain showed easily through her blue-white coat, and her one eye not hidden by the fringe of her brilliant, two-toned orange mane was practically begging her not to go.
But her biological mother... The way Snowbreeze stood there with her kind, understanding smile... That was almost worse. She understood how she was feeling, knew that she was running away, but just smiled and let her go, even though it may have hurt her the most.
Her mother deserved better than that. They all did.
But it had been almost a week, and she couldn't take it anymore. At this moment she wanted nothing more than to erase this ugly picture, to put them all at ease. But she had to go.
She had to start over.