//------------------------------// // Chapter 29: Stargazing // Story: Rising Sun // by Jet Howitzer //------------------------------// “He’s gone?” Mrs. Pie looks to her firstborn daughter, tears already flowing down her face. Pinkie just nods once more, and embraces her mother. You enter the room, and look at Clyde’s body. You walk up next to it, and you feel a tear come to your eye. “I want to hate you for what you did to Pinkie. I want to make you feel the pain she feels whenever she’s sad.” You hear Pinkie enter the room, followed by her mother. “I want to show you how wrong you were about her. But I can’t. Not because you’re dead, but because I can’t hurt you. You did so much wrong to this beautiful mare, but at the same time you made the world a better place by bringing her into it. For your sake, Clyde, I hope you made peace with your daughter.” You turn from Clyde, and you slowly exit the room. Neither mother, nor daughter, stops you. You head outside, and you sit on the porch. Celestia above, I hope Clyde made peace with Pinkie. The sun is dipping beneath the horizon, and you just take the time to appreciate the beauty of the world. For just a moment you can forget that you’re on Equestria, and imagine you are instead on Earth. The sun burns a brilliant red, casting a pink light across the sky. Everything is peaceful, and you are able to relax. With an agonizing slowness you watch the sun sink till it is half obscured by the horizon. You hear the sounds of hooves on wood, but you don’t turn to look. “It’s beautiful.” The pony next to you remains standing, but you don’t mind. “Sunset has always been special to me. The day is a time to appreciate the beauty of the land. The trees, the mountains, the land around us is all bathed in the glow of Celestia’s sun during the day. But at night? At night we are blessed with the beauty of the sky.” You stop for a moment, and just watch the sun’s inexorable crawl past the horizon. With a certain finality you watch as the sun finally disappears past the horizon. You slowly raise your gaze to the sky above. “But this part is always the best. Luna’s moon, and stars. Always cast upon the canvas of the sky with such beauty.” The sky fades, gradually, from pink to red, and finally to a deep blue. The stars begin to appear, winking into existence in clusters, and bursts. You are captivated by the growing star field, and after just a few minutes the sky is filled with countless stars. Then you watch the moonrise. “It will never be as bright as the sun, but the moon holds a beauty that the sun can never hope to match.” You just continue looking up at the night sky, appreciating its beauty. As you look to the sky you spot a shooting star making its way across the night sky. You hear a small gasp come from behind, but you pay it no mind. “Something like that is why the night sky is worth watching. Dimensionless depths and infinite variety.” Just a moment later, and you spot another couple of shooting stars. Mere seconds later and there are hundreds of shooting stars streaking across the night sky. “It was a night like this that I finally came to realize just how strongly I felt for Rachel. That astronomy trip will always be special to me.” But, with those words you remember Rachel’s death as well. “But it wasn’t made to last.” A mirthless laugh escapes your lips. “Just when I finally earned her heart, she died. Not all at once, mind you, but soon enough for it to hurt the worst.” You figure that Pinkie is the pony who came out, but you don’t bother to check. No matter who it is they are being a wonderful listener. Besides, it feels good to get this off your chest. “Rachel died, and left me alone. I promised her I’d be there, but I couldn’t keep that promise. Now, a few years later, and I find her again. Not in any way I could’ve predicted, but by the same token I never expected to see her again.” You lean your head in your hooves, and you heave a deep sigh. “I found her in Rainbow Dash. She has changed so much, but at the same time I can’t help but see so much of Rachel in her. But what she said to me hurt. She wasn’t sorry that she died. She left me, after I had finally confessed to her my feelings, she died. “I suppose that I can’t blame her entirely. She was right, after all. This new life offers her so much more that she could have ever gotten on Earth.” You raise your head from your hooves, and you return your gaze to the sky. “And, to make things better, I have not one, not two, but six mares after my heart. How am I supposed to make all of them happy? Whoever I choose will be happy, that’s a certainty, but what about the other five?” Another sardonic laugh escapes you. “And to think, I used to want attention like this. To be able to just pick and choose the women I wanted to be with.” You feel a hoof on your shoulder, and you are glad for the comfort. “I killed a man, because I was asked to. I stood aside, and watched my grandmother, and my best friend, die. I’m truly, a terrible human. But now? I had those very six mares come to rescue me from the prison of my mind. I fought against a Zephite to save the lives of three little fillies. And now I’ve promised to help Pinkie with her emotional problems.” You stand up, and take a few steps from the small wooden porch. “Life can’t be happy all the time, I just wish that the sad moments I live through didn’t have to be so hard.” A voice that is neither Pinkie, nor Roxy, sounds out. “The challenges rise to the level of the pony facing them. Anything less, and you would never even know it was a hardship.” You turn around, and see Princess Luna standing there, with both Pinkie, and Roxy, behind her. “Oh my.” You feel a blush rise to your face. Despite the fact that you had been speaking candidly the whole time, now being faced with who you were talking to makes it seem awkward. “So, I was talking to you the whole time?” “Yes, Storm. From the sunset till now.” She gives a small smile, though. “I must go now, but it was a pleasure to listen to you.” With barely a whisper she teleports away, leaving you with Pinkie and Roxy. You walk back to the house, and the three of you head inside. After a nearly silent dinner the three of you retire to the living room. “Storm, we have a guest room that you can use. Pinkamena, you can stay in your old bedroom.” Both you and Pinkie nod, and soon after Pinkie stands up. “I’m going to bed now. I feel much more tired than normal.” Both you and Roxy wish Pinkie a good night, and that leaves just you and Roxy in the room. You don’t feel terribly tired, but you also don’t know what to say to Roxy. This mare’s husband just died, and then she heard me go on about my life problems. What the hell can I say to break the tension? “Thank you.” You look to her, and she has tears running down her face. “I know that Clyde is pig-headed, and that he is incredibly hard to deal with, but I love him. For years I tried to get him to write to our daughters, but he never did. It wasn’t until that letter that Pinkamena received that Clyde finally wrote her. I didn’t expect you, though. Your arrival here changed what I expected would happen.” “I just did what was right. I couldn’t, and still can’t, bear the thought of Pinkie being so unhappy. I don’t know why, but it seems wrong.” “And so you did what you did. I expect that my husband was his usual gruff self with Pinkamena, even when he was apologizing. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that because of you I have my daughter back. And now, hopefully, Pinkamena will speak with her sisters, and they will all come to forgive Clyde for what he did to them.” “Things like this always work out in the stories, why not real life too?” “Things like this shouldn’t happen in real life. A father should not be able to cause so much pain in his children. A father should be there for his daughters to support them, not try to rule their lives.” “What’s done is done, Mrs. Pie.” You slowly stand from the couch, and you head to the hallway. Just before you get there, Mrs. Pie stands and approaches you. She gives you a big hug, and you feel her tears get in your mane. “Thank you so much, Storm. You’ve given me more than I could have hoped to get.” The hug lingers for a moment, and then she pushed you back. Tears in her eyes, but a smile on her lips, she finished what she had to say to you. “Now get to bed. You’ve got quite a bit ahead of you, and you’ll need your rest.” You turn, and head into the hallway. Just before she’s out of sight she speaks to you for the last time that evening. “Never take the safe route in your life. If you are afraid of anything happening, than nothing will ever happen.” A thought crosses your mind, but you let it pass, and you head to the guest bedroom. It’s not spacious by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s comfortable enough. You sit on the bed, and just take some time to arrange your thoughts. After a few minutes you finally crawl under the sheets, ready to get some rest. You feel a peace come over you, and yet you can’t seem to fall asleep. A knock comes from your door, and you sit up in bed. You fumble for the lamp next to the bed, and you turn it on. “Come in,” you say. The door opens, and Pinkie comes into the room. She looks at the bed, hesitantly, and you motion for her to come over. She does, and she quickly crawls under the bed sheets. “You sure this is a good idea, Pinkie? What if your mother comes in?” “Then we’ll just have to explain, won’t we?” You can’t see her face, but you can hear the smile in her voice. You recline, and you wrap a hoof around Pinkie, and she pulls closer to you. “I didn’t want to be alone…” “I won’t be going anywhere Pinkie. I don’t intend to leave you, or anypony, for a long time.”