“You still haven't come up with a name for your Starling yet? Really?”
Jay closes his eyes and sighs. He and his three friends, along with their Starlings, have just gotten out of the school premises. “No, I haven't yet.”
“Wow Jay. It's been, like, three days since the Starlings...” Zap says, staring at his friend in disbelief. A smile then appears on his muzzle. “Oh, hey! I know! Why don't—”
“He'll come up with a name,” Blue cuts in. “Eventually.”
“Yeah? How long will that be?”
Jay sighs. “Guys, it's fine.” He gives them a small smile as his Starling lands on his back. “Tomorrow's the weekend, so I'll have enough time to think of one.”
“And it's not like the world depends on Jay giving his Starling a name anyway,” Gamma says. He stops and his friends follow suit. “Well, I'll be seeing you guys.”
“Bye,” the three stallions say in unison as the black-coated stallion walks down a different path, heading to his home.
The trio continue on their way, talking about various topics, but they eventually split ways, heading to their homes, except for Jay and his Starling who are heading to the marketplace.
“We're going to that market place your mom told us about, right?” his Starling asks, floating beside him. “To buy stuff?”
“Mhmm,” Jay says with a small smile, briefly remembering his disbelief that his mother easily got used to having her own Starling. She even taught it how to cook and do some household chores. “Mothers are weird...” he mutters under his breath.
Crossing a small bridge, his ears twitch to the sound of mixed and excited voices from the lower street below. Stopping, he looks over and sees a group of ponies—middle schoolers, he's guessing—shouting and cheering excitedly, and circled around two Starlings.
Two battling Starlings.
“The wind here is really nice,” he hears his Starling say, but he didn't pay it any mind.
One of the Starling floats back near the cheering crowd, and immediately zooms forward, about to tackle the other one.
“Dodge it!” one of the ponies yells.
But the attacker somehow anticipates where the other's about to go. It tackles the Starling hard, shoving the yelping creature to the ground.
Jay winces and leans back as the crowd below erupts in cheers.
“What's wrong?”
Jay jumps in surprise, suddenly remembering that he has a Starling, and it may have seen the battle below, too. “Nothing,” he says immediately and continues on his way, his curious Starling floating after him.
He has heard about ponies around his age making their Starlings fight, oftentimes in school. He even catching a few glimpses of them as he heads home after school.
“...That was the first time I've clearly seen one...” he mutters under his breath.
Reaching the marketplace, Jay turns and sees his Starling looking in awe at the various shops and stalls and the many colorful ponies walking around.
He frowns. “...Makes me wonder why they let them hurt each other.” He sighs, his ears drooping. “Or maybe I'm just boring like that. He shakes his head and puts on a small smile. “Let's go.”
“—so I believe these Starlings don't require to consume food in order to survive,” Blue finishes his explanation to his friends. He adjusts his glasses. “It also makes me believe that they really only rely on the bond they have with us ponies to survive.”
“Yeah,” Gamma says with a nod. “Even us changelings can't survive with just love alone. I don't know about the others, but I sometimes get sick of having just love all the time.” He shrugs before taking another bite from his apple.
“I still can't believe Jay haven't named his Starling yet!” Zap groans, lying his upper body on his desk.
“Eh,” Jay shrugs, smiling a small smile at his Starling who is floating by the open window, looking outside.
“It's almost a week now. You keep this up, you'll have no choice but to call her Anon or NoName. Brr...”
“At least he's not into those ‘Startles,’” Gamma says before taking another bite.
Blue nods his head. “I agree.” He shakes his head, his gaze falling on his Starling sitting on his desk, reading an opened book lying in front of it.
“You guys are so boring sometimes,” Zap groans again. “Sometimes I wonder why I'm best friends with you guys.”
“Sometimes I ask the same question,” Blue says.
Gamma rolls his eyes. “Well, some of us don't like violence, Zap.” He points at the window. “We already have a yearly crisis, and the Mane Six can barely even stop those!”
“Your kind included?”
Gamma glares at Zap. “Mother made the wrong choice. I'm just glad she finally made the right one.”
“That was a low blow, Zap,” Jay says.
“Eh,” the stallion shrugs. “You guys know I don't mean to offend.”
Gamma sighs. “Unfortunately.”
“So...these Startles,” Jay says. He blinks. “Am I even saying it right?”
“Yes, you are,” Zap replies as he rises from his desk. “When Starlings and battles love each other very much—”
“Skip the lovely details, I beg you,” Blue says before sighing a quiet sigh.
Zap frowns. “...fine. When the two loves each other very much, they name their lovechild Startles.” He blinks. “Man, you guys can even make my stories sound boring.”
Gamma rolls his eyes. “Aliens and ponies. Here's to hoping nopony actually reads anything you write.”
Zap waves a hoof at him. “So anyway, Startles are actually quite fun. They're like a test of how strong the bond you have with your Starling.”
Jay blinks. “That sounded like a video game I used to play when I was little.”
“But only better, and more real!” Zap adds with a big smile.
Jay shakes his head. “I'm not sure I want to be part of that.”
Zap shrugs. “Eh, suit yourself.”
“And while I do not like participating in these...Startles,” Blue says, a hoof on his chin. “I can see a good reason why other ponies do it.”
“Having fun watching violence?” Gamma asks.
Blue shakes his head. “No.” He stares at his friends. “I believe you are all aware of the violent creatures roaming around Equestria, yes?”
Gamma blinks. “Oh. That.”
Jay tilts his head to the side. “The Wild Beasts?”
Blue nods his head. “An unknown unicorn wanted power beyond imagination to defeat Princess Twilight. From what I've gathered, this unicorn harnessed the negative mana energies in Tartarus.
“Princess Twilight and her friends managed to defeat the unicorn, but in their weakened state, the unicorn was no longer able to hold that much power, and they accidentally unleashed it.
“To this very day, the princesses are unable to remove all of those negative energy. Normal creatures who get in touch with them of those energy turn into Wild Beasts, an evil and irreversible transformation that will attack anything they see.”
“So what you're saying is...” Gamma says, “...that us having Starlings is a blessing in disguise, that we should use them to defend ourselves if ever a Wild Beast suddenly attacks us?” He glares at the blue stallion. “Is that what you're saying?”
Blue nods his head. “...Unfortunately, not all of us are blesses with flight, magic, or transformation.”
Gamma huffs. “Whatever. That's why there are protection gems bordering every town and city, to repel Wild Beasts.” He shrugs. “As long as we stay inside, then no harm will happen to us.” He smiles at Jay. “Right?”
Jay blinks at him. He nods rapidly. “Er...right.”
“See?” Gamma turns to Blue. “Even Jay agrees!”
As his friends continue their debate, Jay turns and looks at his Starling floating by the window, enjoying the feeling of the cool breeze caressing its small, alien body.