//------------------------------// // LI: Persied // Story: Memoirs of a Magic Earth Pony // by The Lunar Samurai //------------------------------// Cold, that’s what I felt when I finally woke from my slumber. As I cracked my eyes and stretched my once still body, I slowly began to recall what had happened as I was falling asleep. Amethyst had drawn close to me… even the thought of her presence made me feel a bit warmer, but suddenly that warmth vanished to the frigid wastes once more. For as I began to take in my surroundings, I realized that the book was no longer beneath my face, the embers of the fire had long since faded, and Amethyst was no longer at my side. It’s funny, in a morbid kind of way, how I had grown so fond of her over such a short time. And now that she was gone, or at least appeared to be to my semi-conscious mind, I began to worry. Not for my own sake, but for hers. However, as I rose from my side and stretched my legs, a familiar voice rang through the darkness. “I didn’t wake you, did I?” Amethyst asked as she looked behind her shoulder at me. She sat before the massive panes of glass, her form a silhouette against the violet sky. “Hmm? No… or at least, I don’t think so,” I stammered as I walked to her side. “What are you doing anyway?” “Just looking.” I stepped to her side and stared out the window before us. The moon had long since set and the black expanse before us was scattered in tiny specks of light above the patches of clouds far below. I had never given stars much thought, but I couldn’t help but try and see what Amethyst was marveling at. My focus would drift between the expanse before us and then to her resolute gaze as she peered through the glass. “Do you see that?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she peered closer to the glass. “See what?” “That band of stars over there. Do you know what that is?” “I…” I paused for a moment and focused on the stars instead of her. It took me a moment to see what she was talking about, but soon I could see a thick scattering of stars from the horizon that swept over our head. “I think I can. What is it?” “That’s our galaxy. Every star you see, it’s all part of it.” I let her quiet words sink into my mind. The more I looked, the more stars I saw. As I peered further still, I began to understand why Amethyst was so drawn to them. There was something magical about those points in the sky. I couldn’t help but look to her once more. Tearing my attention from the sky was difficult, but as my eyes adjusted to her I could see a familiar wonder in her own. No matter how many times she looked to the sky, she would get lost in its wonder. “What are they though…” “We… well… we don’t really know. But I have a guess…” She lifted a small book before her and flipped through its weathered pages. “There was an ancient astronomer long ago that thought our own Sun was a star as well. If he’s right…” she looked to the band of stars once more. “Could you imagine…” “Imagine what?” “How small we are… Every point of light out there, you can’t even count them all.” We sat in silence as we let the wonder of the galaxy overwhelm us. I’m not sure how long we gazed, but I will never forget those quiet moments of pure awe staring out at the sky. It engulfed the world, always watching down on our actions yet never intervening with our lives. “See up there?” Amethyst whispered as she pointed to a star far above the horizon. “It’s lined up with the axis of our planet and ponies have been using it to navigate for years. Just with a few little tools they were able to travel all across the world.” She shook her head. “I still don’t know how they did it.” “Amethyst?” “Hmm?” “Why do you like the stars so much?” She was silent for a moment. “You know, I’m not really sure. I guess it all started when I was a filly and my mom bought me a telescope. It sat unused for months until, one night as I was falling asleep, I saw a shooting star out of my window. “I thought it was a bug or something at first, but a few minutes later, another one flew across the sky.” Amethyst looked to the floor and smiled. “And then I stayed up all night watching the meteor shower.” She chuckled a bit as her eyes drifted shut. “My mom was so mad when she found me peering into my telescope the next morning. I think I had a test, but nothing was going to get in the way of me watching the stars.” “A few months later and I got my hooves on a star chart, and then…” She looked to the sky once more. “I’ve never stopped since.” As if to punctuate her sentence, a star shot across the sky. I know she saw it, but then she asked the most peculiar of questions. “What’s today?” “What?” “Starswirl,” she said as she turned to me. “Do you know what today’s date is?” “I uhh… No?” It had been months since I had kept track of days, they all just melded together at this point. “Why?” Without another word, Amethyst broke into a gallop as she raced to the calendar on the wall. “Yes!” she shouted as she raced back to my side. “I can’t believe it! It’s tonight!” “What are you talking about?” I asked, clearly shaken from her sudden surge of energy. “The Persied meteor shower! It’s tonight!” “So?” “Starswirl,” she grabbed my hoof and brought her intent gaze to my own. “Have you never seen a meteor shower?” “I’ve seen a few shooting stars before…” Her eyes widened as she looked to me and then snapped her attention to the window. I could feel her hoof trembling ever so slightly. “Are you okay?” “I’m great!” she exclaimed as she turned to me once more. There was something about her eyes, the way she stared at me, something electric was in the air. “Umm, Amethyst?” By now her grin was almost impossibly large. “It’s tonight.” “So I’ve gathered.” “So why aren’t you looking?” She asked as she gestured toward the sky. I turned to look at the sky once more, expecting to see more of the same wondrous stars, but as I turned I saw a small streak fly through the sky. A few seconds later and another one followed. I’m not sure I can do the sight justice, but I can say that those few streaks of light kept both of us riveted on the sky as hundreds more rained from the heavens. Staring at the sky for such a long time was a beautiful experience, but I suppose Amethyst had other interested instead of the heavens. If I had paid more attention to her instead of the stars, I would have probably seen her next move coming. As I sat unaware, she leaned into my cheek and planted a light kiss. As you can expect, I nearly fell over from the unexpected sensation. I looked to her, my eyes wide as I tried to figure out what she was doing. All she could do was snicker at my ridiculous behavior and now, looking back on it, I suppose that’s all I can do as well. “Are you always going to freak out when I kiss you?” she asked with a wry smile. My eyes narrowed. “It depends on how many times you plan on doing it.” Make no mistake, I was enamored with her, but she was something I couldn’t ever really understand. She leaned closer, and before I could voice my protest, she placed her lips on mine. The sparks flew once more, and suddenly the meteor shower to my left seemed just a bit less impressive than before. As she drew away, I took in the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. We both looked at each other for a moment, our efforts to contain our laughter failing by the second. “I plan to do it a lot,” she said before bursting into laughter and throwing her forelegs around me. We remained in that position, resting on each other as the stars fell across the sky through the night. I cannot possibly describe how I felt, but if I had to sum it up in a single word, it would be “Bliss.”