“So Starfall,” Annie spoke up after a few seconds of walking (or flying in some cases) in silence, “you haven’t met Hot Head before, have you?”
Trying to dispel awkwardness completely, huh? Starburst thought.
Between Starfall, the former felon, and Hot Head, Prism’s arch-rival, others had been glancing at one or the other, everypony trying to think of a way to start a conversation in the big group that wouldn’t cause any discord.
Speaking of discord, the son of Discord was the only one who seemed to be more amused than uncomfortable by this situation. Well, he and Nidra, but she practically never takes things seriously, Starburst amended as she looked at Illusion thoughtfully. She had hoped that he wouldn’t want to prank anypony, or at least that Claire could rein him in.
That’s what we need right now, a prank, she thought. If he would start, then Starfall would as well, and that would end in… What was that thing Mom said Candy’s mom had with Epic Parody’s father? Starburst wondered. A… rap battle? No, that doesn’t sound right…
As she tried to recall, Starfall replied to Annie: “No, I don’t believe I had the pleasure.” He then leaned to Starburst and asked in a whisper. “Hot Head is that reddish pegasus, right?”
She rolled her eyes and nodded.
In a raised voice Starfall continued. “Or displeasure. You know, ‘cause when I met most of you guys, you all attacked me for no reason-”
“‘No reason’?” Starburst interrupted him, raising an eyebrow.
Starfall blinked twice. “Hm.... I want to say… nooo?” Starburst just sighed in annoyance. “So, Hot Head, you don’t usually hang around with them?” he said, turning to the flying pegasus.
“Not all of them, at least,” the pegasus admitted. “Especially since I moved to Canterlot with Lucky and Amber. But Whirlwind invited me, so here I am,” he added, nodding at the flying beside him purple mare.
“Who are Lucky and Amber?”
Hot Head opened mouth to reply, but Prism beat him to it. “Amber is his mom.”
“Shut it!” the other pegasus hissed, turning to him sharply.
“And he has the hots for her,” Prism continued, smirking.
Hot Head growled and charged at him, but before he could fly into him, a big bubble appeared in mid-air and he bounced off it. As he regained his composure and shook his head, light flashed and Starfall was standing on top of the bubble.
“Alright, you’ve got my attention,” he said as the bubble fell on the ground before the group, and began to roll forward, with Starfall standing on his hind legs, with one forehoof behind his back and other waving as he added: “Please elaborate.”
“Amber, Lucky, Hot Head and I were together in an orphanage,” Annie replied before either of the two pegasi could. “I was adopted by my mom, but they stayed, and when Amber became old enough to live by herself, she became their legal guardian and took them with her.”
“Huh, sweet,” Starfall commented, continuing to calmly walk on hind legs on his bubble. He looked back at Hot Head, then at Prism, before turning back to Annie. “So he has the hots for-”
Hot Head dashed forward to hover before him. “No I don’t,” he said deadpanning, ignoring several snorts of laughter.
“Why, is she ugly?” Starfall asked, blinking eyes curiously.
Hot Head cringed and looked at him in shock. “No she- I-I mean…” he shook his head and glared at Starfall. “What would happen if I burst this bubble?” he asked threateningly.
Starfall clicked his tongue and shook his head in disappointment. “No different than Damsel,” he muttered, loud enough for everypony to hear. “It would explode in a very violent manner, inflicting heavy damage on you, silly!”
“... I think I’m not gonna like you after all,” Hot Head finally said.
Prism snorted. “Join the club.”
“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Starfall exclaimed happily. “I’ll be your Lightning Rod of Hate!” he added, flailing his forelegs in the air as if he was shocked by electricity current, before he and the bubble disappeared.
“Done?” Starburst asked him as he appeared next to her.
Starfall grinned. “Yay, I helped!” he exclaimed happily, before sticking his tongue playfully: “I wouldn’t want them to concentrate on their petty quarrels when they have me to focus on.”
Starburst deadpanned. Either my coltfriend is so self-absorbed that he’d prefer if others would concentrate their hate on him instead of each other, or he is so beneficent and self-destructive that he’d do that all out of genuine concern. I think I should be concerned with both options.
Claire cleared her throat and called out. “That was… noble of you, Starfall. We certainly wouldn’t want any fights during this trip, right boys?” she asked, looking at the two pegasi colts and raising an eyebrow.
“I’m a bit surprised you hadn’t heard about Hot Head, actually,” Whirlwind told Starfall while Prism and Hot Head frowned and nodded reluctantly to Claire. “He won the Cloudsdale Best Young Flier's competition, three years running. He’d even beaten both me and Prism,” she added, glancing at Prism.
“Sorry, spent most of the last four years abroad I’m afraid,” Starfall replied, shrugging.
“Really?” Claire asked with interest. “But hadn’t you said that back in the Castle of Royal Pony sisters that you lived in Manehattan? I believe ‘I’ve blasted thugs and gangsters in the slums of Manehattan left and right’ was how you’ve phrased it.”
“After I escaped that circus owner I was somewhere near Roam in the Zebra Nation,” Starfall explained. “The passenger ship I snuck aboard sailed to Manehattan, so I stayed there. But I got bored of singing ‘Equestriano’ over and over again, and decided to leave. That was shortly before that whole whale accident,” he added, turning to Starburst.
Starburst opened her mouth… and then closed it. I’m going to let them have this one, she decided, and turned to look at her friends. As she had expected, they all looked confused. After a heartbeat, they began to glance at each other, hoping somepony would know how to respond.
Illusion raised his paw. “I’ll handle this,” he said, nodding seriously. He snapped with his fingers in his outstretched paw, and his head disappeared… and appeared right before Starfall. Starburst cringed and backed away in surprise, but her coltfriend hadn't even flinched. “One; did you say ‘circus owner’?” Illusion’s head asked as it flew backwards in the air, as his headless body continued to walk.
Sweet Celestia... did you think I wasn’t becoming insane because of my coltfriend quickly enough and decided to send your son to hurry it up?
“I did mention that I was forced to perform for the profit of others back at that barn three days ago, right?” Starfall replied calmly, as if he wasn’t talking with a floating head. “To make a long story short, after my mom was murdered I was foalnapped by a sick bastard who owned a circus and had a control glyph burned on my cutie mark. I was then his slave for about four years, until I found a way to burn off the glyph, along with my cutie mark and a considerable amount of my coat, allowing me to trap that monster in his worst nightmare and leave him to the mercy of his other slaves.”
Starburst sighed. “You know,” she started while others tried to process this slightly more detailed tale of his past that they just heard, “it would really help if you’d stop saying this so nonchalantly.”
“There are worse ways of doing that,” Starfall countered, shrugging. “I could have laughed maniacally and used it as a part of my evil monologue. This way at least, everypony will see that I am coping and won’t break down crying, which I hate. Which is why I certainly hope that big green guy will hug his marefriend!” he called out to T.
Starburst turned to look at T and Annie just in time to see T wrapping his wing around a welling up Annie. “What?” she asked, sensing that others were looking at her. “It’s very sad.”
“Anthea is right,” Claire said, turning to Starfall. “We can understand that you wouldn’t want us to dwell on this subject for too long, dear, but you shouldn’t be angry about Annie or anypony else crying.”
“I’m not angry, I just hate seeing ponies cry,” Starfall explained and rolled his eyes. “Seriously, when I see a pony cry, I have an almost physical need to make them laugh. And while I enjoy making others laugh, I would prefer it if I were to make a pony feel better after something other than my past. Can we just agree that it was all sad and move on?”
“What exactly happened to the murderer of your mother?”
Starburst eyes went wide as she heard her cousin’s question. She turned to him and tried to think of something to say, while at the same time trying to recall how much he knew. I think Lance only knows that Starfall’s mom had been killed by Ripper the Jackal, she thought, panicking, but before should say anything, Starfall replied: “I lost control of myself and killed him with dark magic.”
Now Starburst turned to look at Starfall in disbelief.
“So my cousin is dating a murderer,” she heard Valiant say as she tried to think of a way to chasten Starfall and salvage this situation.
However, hearing him say that made her turn her attention back to Valiant, angry retort at the back of her tongue, and was pleased to notice that several others - Claire, Annie, T, Candy and June - were also dismayed at his words, but just as she was about to explode at her cousin, she was yet again cut by Starfall.
“At least she’s dating somepony.”
Everypony’s jaw dropped.
“Unlike some others,” Starfall continued calmly, as if they were talking about weather. When Starburst looked at him, though, she noticed that he was smiling in the corner of his lips. She also heard several of her friends snort in laughter, and saw Illusion’s head snicker. “But if you are determined to get back to the subject… Part of the reason why I hadn’t come to authorities and let myself get captured was because I felt guilty afterwards,” he added, frowning at Valiant. “Your cousin had already convinced me to stop feeling guilty, and I was officially pardoned for all my past crimes, so I don’t see why you should be concerned. Especially since Princess Twilight put a spell on my dream charm, making me unable to use dark magic,” Starfall said, lifting the hoof with the zebra beads and wiggling it. “So,” he continued, turning to Illusion’s head, “was there a ‘two’?”
Illusion’s head blinked, then shook as he resumed his earlier train of thoughts. “Two: what did you mean about singing ‘Equestriano’?”
“And what do you sing when guards are throwing spears around you?” Starfall asked, blinking. When Illusion, baffled, failed to respond, the unicorn closed his eyes: “♪Don't you try and catch me, Don't you try and catch me, No! No! No! No!♪” he sung, swinging his head and tail in tune with the rhythm. “♪I'm living on the edge of, Living on the edge of the law, law, law, law!♪”
Well, I suppose it’s admirable that he isn’t trying to suck up to my family, Starburst noted, seeing Valiant’s frown.
Illusion, who managed to recover, said: “Okay then. And third; what was that about a whale?”
Starburst rolled her eyes as her coltfriend replied: “A whale swallowed me. I’ve mentioned that to Star on our date,” he added as everypony deadpanned, not believing him.
Illusion, on the other hoof brightened. “Speaking of which, how did your date go?”
Oh great, he’s no better than Claire and the rest, Starburst thought. She was about to growl in annoyance, but she noticed that Starfall was smirking.
“Starburst hadn’t said much, huh?” he asked, then winked at her. “I don’t see why I should, then.”
Illusion’s floating head pouting. “Oh, c’mon, tell us!”
“Well…” Starfall said slowly, grinning. “I suppose I could say… that as far as first dates go, I’ve totally beaten all of you dudes,” he finished, sticking out his tongue. “Now, could you please put yourself back together?” Starfall said, after which he began to glance around the the forest around the path. “I’m having enough trouble sensing chaos magic with you just walking, I don’t need you levitating your head around.”
“Oh?” Illusion asked, tilting his floating head. “Wait, you can really do that?”
Starfall sighed and looked at Starburst. “Why do ponies not believe what I say?” he asked, pouting. She just chuckled in response. “Yeah, I can do that,” he said, turning back to Illusion’s head. “And in case my stalker manages to track me down earlier than usual, I would like to know that in advance, so if you wouldn’t mind…?”
Illusion frowned, and his head disappeared. “Wait, is that stalker of yours a draconequus?” he asked as from beside Claire, his body once again whole.
Starburst looked at him with wide eyes, then quickly back at her coltfriend. “Um, duh?” Starfall said, raising an eyebrow. “How the hell did you think she managed to take my eyeballs?”
She stopped. “Wait, that really happened?!”
“Nopony believes me,” Starfall sighed, but Starburst had no longer thought it to be funny.
“You could have mentioned earlier that your stalker is a draconequus,” she said, frowning. What would happen if she would come to Ponyville? “Is she dangerous?”
She noticed her friends had stopped as well. Starburst wondered briefly how amusing this exchange must be for them, before she focused back on Starfall.
“Eris? Hm… as far as I know, she never seriously harmed a pony.”
“So you don’t consider taking your eyeballs as something serious?” Annie asked.
Starfall shrugged. “She gave them back. I mean, granted, at first she put the left eye in right eye socket, and right in left-”
“That’s not how eyes work,” Starburst told him, deadpanning.
“You argue logic with a draconequus.”
“Ugh…” she groaned, not wanting to argue. “Why is she stalking you anyway?”
“Dunno. She acts as if she has a crush on me, but-”
That was it.
“She has WHAT?!” Starburst exploded, flaring her wings in anger and making Starfall flinch.
“Ooooh, now this is interesting,” she heard Candy exclaim, but one glare shut her and all the giggles from others.
“- but I honestly don’t know if she is just kidding around,” Starfall continued once he recovered, as if she hadn’t interrupted him. “It might have been funnier for her due to my problems with being touched.”
Starburst calmed down a bit. Why did I get so angry? “Okay, but-”
She stopped as she noticed two ponies chuckling. Both her and Starfall - along with everypony else - looked at Prism and Hot Head. “Wait, seriously?” Prism asked, smirking. “You don’t like ponies touching you?”
Claire growled quietly. “Prism dear, that’s not nice.”
“Hot Head, don’t make me tell Amber on you,” Annie said at the same time.
Starfall, on the other hoof, merely tilted his head. Starburst knew what he was going to say a heartbeat before he did: “Well, getting raped for four years does that to you.”
Starburst winced. “You really should stop saying things so casually,” she whispered to Starfall as her friends all stared at him.
But Starfall just blinked, confused. “Wait, what did they all think when I told them that I was abused back at the barn?” he asked, looking around at her friends. “Geez, and you guys were surprised I called you ‘sheltered’.”
“Ugh, forget about this,” Starburst said, ignoring her friends. “What about this… Eris?”
To her irritation, Starfall just shrugged. “It usually takes her a month or more before she tracks me down, so we have nothing to worry about. And even if she was to appear much sooner, like today, I would know it in long advance. Even with Mister Floating Head here,” he added.
“And what happens when she does get here?” Starburst asked, frowning.
“I can handle her. I always get the best of her. I mean, granted, she used her chaos magic to play a few pranks on me, but they weren’t life-threatening or anything.” Apparently assuming that this talk was over, Starfall turned then to her friends. “You guys are over it?”
Starburst was really annoyed by how he was nonchalant about this, but she didn’t want to argue in front of the rest. She just shook her head, made a mental note to discuss this later, and turned back.
They resumed walking, although Starburst noticed that there was this air of unease around the rest. It wasn’t surprising, given her own reaction back in the cave. Claire was first try and disperse the atmosphere. “So, um, Starfall dear,” she started, a bit awkwardly, “how did you manage to… cope with that?”
“Oh, easily,” Starfall replied, “I put that behind me.”
Starburst facehooved as everypony cringed while her coltfriend utter an evil laugh.
For their camping spot, they had chosen a meadow on the edge of Whitetail Woods, the most flat terrain right next to the riverbank, to be specific. Everypony - minus Starfall - knew this place, having visited it at some point while camping with somepony. Either with their families, or with friends. Starburst herself had been here last time with Candy, Annie, T, and Prism.
There’s a bit more of us now, she noted as they reached the place. She unstrapped her saddlebags and let her tent and sleeping bags to fall on the ground, like everypony else, and stretched. Good thing this place is spacious enough for all our tents.
“Boy, it’s getting late,” Candy exclaimed, looking at the evening sky. “We should start getting the campfire ready before it gets dark. Who’s going to go gather wood?”
“Hang on,” Illusion said, raising his paw and flickering his fingers. A light flashed, and their tent very quickly began putting up itself. After a few seconds, it was already standing. “Claire and I can go get it,” he added as Claire threw their sleeping bags inside.
“We will be back once we collect enough wood,” Claire said as the two headed into the forest.
“I’ll bet Illusion knows where she can find some wood,” Annie said as soon as the two were out of earshot.
“Oh, grow up, Annie,” June told her disapprovingly, as she started to unpack her tent. “Ya really ough t’ start actin’ more mature- oh no!”
“What, what is it?” Valiant asked.
June took the cover of her ten into her hooves and turned to show him. “My tent! It has holes all over it!”
She was right. The material had many holes and it, and it had ripped in several places. Starburst trotted over to get a closer look, wondering what could have caused such damage. Some kind of clothes moth? she wondered.
“Wow, talk about bad luck,” Candy, who sat down beside June, commented. “But don’t worry; I’m sure Prince Valiant will gladly let you sleep in his.”
Starburst deadpanned. Oh, Candy, you didn’t.
“Since, you know, he is the only one with a spare room in his tent as he isn’t here with a date,” Candy added, probably wanting to show that she hadn’t meant anything lecherous.
Yeah, right, Starburst thought, barely stopping herself from facehoofing. She turned around, grabbed her things, and began to walk further away, spotting a good spot earlier nearer river, as she didn't want to see more of that scene.
But she still heard it.
“Sure, I won’t have problems sharing,” her cousin replied courteously. “If you don’t have any problem with that, of course,” he added, probably now turning to June.
“Y-yeah, of course, Ah have nothin’ ‘gainst it. Sorry for botherin’ ya.”
“No, really-”
“So your cousin and Big Red aren’t a couple?” Starfall, trotting beside her, asked her, drowning out their conversation.
“No, they’re not.” But not for long, if Candy’s plan works. “Didn’t you make a joke earlier about him being single?” she asked, putting her bags down.
“Yeah, but after seeing them talk during our breaks on the trek here made me wonder if I missed with that joke,” he explained. “They seem really close.”
Starburst thought back. As it took them so long to get here, they’ve made several breaks to eat small meals and rest. She recalled that Valiant and June sat next to each other and talked, but she hadn’t paid much attention.
“Well, they’ve known each other for a long time, and they’ve been pen pals for years,” she replied evasively.
She looked down at the bag with the tent, getting ready to set it up, as Starfall talked: “I’d say they’d make a cute couple, but then again I’m a half-crazy, emotionally scarred bastard demon spawn with social issues, so I might be wrong.”
Starburst turned to him sharply. “Could you stop talking like this?” she asked in whisper, angry. “So… calmly, as if it’s nothing?”
Starfall’s eyes widened in surprise at her rage, but then he smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I know how this might seem, but it’s my coping mechanism. I will try to tune it down, I promise.”
She sighed. “I know I shouldn’t be angry about something like this…” she started as she reached to the bag with the tent.
“Wait, let me do it,” Starfall interrupted her. She looked back at him as his horn started to glow. “It only seems fair, as you dragged it all the way here.”
Starburst shrugged. “It was a good substitute for my usual workout, trotting with all this weight, ” she said, but she let him start to assemble the tent with his magic. She also decided to abandon that argument from earlier. Although he could not call himself a bastard demon spawn at least, she thought, even though almost immediately she mentally facehoofed. But then he would say that at least the bastard is true, and maybe the other as well. “Dad told me that during the military training, recruits have to run with all saddlebags filled with bricks and other stuff.”
“I figured,” Starfall replied, not stopping his work. He bent down to drive the nail with his hooves and guide the pole into it. “That’s why I didn’t ask if you need help. Must have seemed like a terrible coltfriend to your friends, huh?”
“No, not really. They know I would refuse the offer, so they had probably guessed you must know me at least that well.” She tilted her head, watching his work. “You know, you are really good at this for somepony who supposedly sleeps on trees and rooftops most of the time.”
“Being in a circus for four years gives you plenty of occasions to learn how to set up a tent,” Starfall said. “Of course, those were bigger, but the general method is the same.”
Starburst had to admit that he had a point. She glanced around at her friends, who were doing the same thing Starfall was, some better and some worse. Annie and T, who were setting up their tent closest to them - Starburst was surprised to realize that under those conditions, she actually preferred to have Annie for a neighbour rather than her cousin - were taking more time than others. Starburst recalled that T’s old tent accidentally got damaged, and this was a new one, so it wasn’t surprising that he wasn’t used to it. She was about to go offer to help them, but then she noticed that Starfall had now finished theirs and entered inside.
“Okay, it’s done,” he called out. Starburst entered after him. “I was worried I hadn’t driven those nails hard enough,” he explained as he moved around, testing the tent’s walls.
“You did a great job,” she told him, impressed. However, she quickly grow serious, wanting to take advantage of this privacy. “Star, this Eris… are you sure she’s not dangerous?”
Starfall frowned. “Are you still on about that?”
“Star,” she said, frowning as well.
He sighed. “Well, she is a draconequus, so it’s a given that she’s dangerous. But unlike Mister Floating Head’s father, she never tried to take over a kingdom.”
I better not tell him that I used to be more afraid of Celestia than of Discord.
“She’s also much less powerful,” Starfall continued. “Her magic can only affect the small area surrounding her. Maybe it has something to do with age? I think she’s somewhere around our age, or at least much younger than Discord. I mean, if she was thousands of years old, having a crush on a teenage colt would border on pedophilia.”
“Funny,” Starburst commented without humor. “So what would happen if she’d come to Ponyville?”
“Seeing how there’s an alicorn Princess living here, and there are two more in Canterlot along with Spirit of Chaos, I think she’d figure out that causing too much damage would get her into trouble. Eris would probably just come to us, say hi, talk, annoy us-”
Oh great, because there’s not enough of that going on.
“- and once she would learn that I am dating you, she would probably try to prank both of us.”
“What do you mean by ‘prank’?” she asked, worried. “I don’t want to have my eyes removed or something.”
Much to her irritation, Starfall chuckled. “It didn’t hurt. Also knowing her, she would do something… fitting.”
“‘Fitting’?”
I really don’t like the sound of that…
“That time she took my eyes, she asked me first if my eyes had ever seen somepony more beautiful. To get some peace of mind, I said yes.” He spread his forehooves and shrugged. “In retrospect, I should have seen that coming, really.”
“Where did you even meet her?” Starburst asked, feeling even more irritated now.
“I was looking for a place to sleep in Zebrricania Valley’s ruins. She was living there, and had used her chaos magic to animate several statues and treat her like the princess of the place. That’s how we first met. Well,” he added, “for my timeline.”
Starburst blinked. “Your what?”
“She said that she had went back in time to meet me earlier, to surprise me,” Starfall replied. “Apparently for her timeline, we first met in Maretonia…”
Starburst grunted and rubbed her temples. “You two seem similar.”
“Well, that’s… wait,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Are you… jealous?”
“What?! No I…” she started, but then she paused.
Was she jealous? I have been more angry since he brought up that this Eris maybe has crush on him… she admitted.
She was about to say that he maybe was right, but then she noticed that Starfall was chuckling. “S-stop laughing!” she demanded, stomping.
“Sorry, but just the thought that there is something to be jealous about is funny,” Starfall explained, sticking his tongue out. “I never felt attracted to Eris… well, I was a bit when going through puberty,” he admitted, slightly blushing. “And what she was doing at the time with her body wasn’t helping… but trying to imagine her touching me anywhere made me quickly lose interest. You are the only one I have no problem touching me,” he reminded her, trotting closer. “Not to mention that you are much more beautiful, and how much fun we have hanging out.”
Starburst blushed, feeling much warmer suddenly. “Oh…” she managed to mumble. “Thanks.”
“Stop worrying about Eris,” Starfall continued, stopping right in front of her. “Whatever she’ll do when she’d get here, it won’t be anything you can’t handle. You’ve beaten me, remember?”
“Vividly,” Starburst purred before Starfall kissed her.
She didn’t intend for this kiss to be too long, not with her friends right outside of the tent, but as she was about to pull out, Starfall hoof gently embraced her and made its way to her ear. She moaned as he scratched it, melting in his embrace and spread her wings-
“Guys?”
Starburst and Starfall jumped away from each other and looked, startled, at tent’s opening, where Annie’s head was peeking in.
“Before you start going down on each other, can you give us a hoof?”
“A-annie!” Starburst stammered. “We were just kissing!”
“Oh, so you were?” Annie replied, raising an eyebrow. “Couldn’t tell, too dark for me to even see your coat’s general colors. But seriously, can you come help? T got a bit stuck, and others still hadn’t finished.”
Starburst sighed. “Fine.”
“Kinda like you, since I interrupted you-” Annie began, but she stopped as she heard quick movement and jumped away to dodge the sleeping bag that Starburst threw at her.