Stella Eventide: Wings on my Back

by Shepherd Sheild92

Prolog: Meet Stella

It was a cold night, the moon glimmered clearly over the tips of the Canterlot buildings. At this time of night, the busy city was all but silent, every sensible pony was tucked away in their bed dreaming happily of whatever it was those sensible ponies dream about. The only interruption to this peaceful night was the rare sight or sound that escaped the stealthy movements of batponies. If one knew where to look, and what to listen for, they would see and hear many of the nocturnal creatures going about their nightly business.

One such creature, teal in hue, could be seen gliding through the night, a smile on her face. Again, to any sensible pony, the already present chill combined with the speed of flight would likely warrant at least a scarf, if not a full jacket to break the wind, but batponies were born for this. As such, she rather enjoyed the cool breeze. It helped clear her head after a long night's work.

As she flew, the batpony would bank right, then left, and then right to glide between the peaks of structures. Once again, a sensible pony, on such a flight, would likely desire some form of torch or lantern to illuminate the buildings, to avoid surprises in the dark night, but a batpony would have no use for such devices. This one's golden, cat-like eyes hungrily devoured the scant light, making the cityscape before her appeared as clear as if the sun had paid no heed to the hour, and decided to position itself directly overhead.

As she flew through the seemingly bright night, hooves tucked beneath, ears folded back, and both sharp teeth peeking through her grin, she spotted her destination, and not a moment too soon. The flight from her work at the castle down to her apartment always seemed longer than it should have when all that was on her tired mind was her warm sheets and fluffy pillow. Being a maid was much harder than she had ever anticipated.

The creature flapped her wings hard to slow her descent and adjust her aim as she entered her home through its open bedroom window. Her hooves thudded dully on the carpet as she came to a halt just in front of the window. The teal addition to the room then closed the window and drew the heavy blinds she had added before rushing to her sheets, and diving in. Her world became a dark, warm cocoon; a loving embrace from the inanimate objects created solely for her comfort, and soon the world, which at this point consisted only of her comforting cocoon of manufactured love, faded to black.

--0-0-0--

A young Pegasus mare stepped gingerly down the cloud halls of her family's house. Her blond mane was clean and orderly, her light blue coat shone like crystal. Every step she took was precise, official, and despite her comparative youth, she gave off the sense that she was much more sophisticated than any pony would give her credit for. However, she was not stuck up, giving a genuine, heartfelt smile to every servant pony she passed.

She was raised to eventually be a respected, socially elite pony, and showed promise in the eyes of her parents. She approached her brother's door, and upon opening, found the room empty. After a moment of confusion, and thoughts such as, ‘He never wakes up before noon’, her waking mind caught up, and the realization struck. Daystar was in Manehattan, going to school.

She let a sigh escape her lips before going down to the living room area where she found her little sister showing off her new dress to her young friends. The proper mare decided to avoid the cringe-worthy scene and doubled back to the kitchen to grab some baked goods.

In the kitchen, she found three cook ponies making breakfast for themselves, as well as the family of the house. The intoxicating combination of muffins, waffles, and freshly baked bread filled her nose and painted her muzzle with a genuine smile. When the ponies working saw the young mare, they waved at her, which she returned in kind. As she walked further into the kitchen, she gradually relaxed more and more. She could be herself among them.

"The food smells amazing as always. Keep up the great work." She reached for a muffin, and continued, "I just wish the others in the house would give you more credit."

"Well, Daystar always treated us with respect," replied one of the kitchen staff.

"Yeah, I know he did." She paused, as memories of her older brother leaped unbidden into her mind's stage. She dismissed them with a shake of her head and changed the subject. "Say, have you seen Mother?"

"Yes. She left to go drop off some new uniforms for the Wonderbolts about an hour ago."

"Thank you, kindly." Stella bit into the muffin, the warm steam filling her nose. A powerful cascade of blueberry and oats exploded in her mouth as if she had really taken a bite. "Have a great rest of your morning!" she called out as she returned upstairs with her breakfast.

She had almost reached her room when her little sister caught a glimpse of her. Before she could escape, she heard the dreaded voice break the calm silence of the house.

"Hey, Stella! Can we go shopping this afternoon? I saw this dress at JC Filly that I can't wait to buy! Everypony's talking about it, and I need to be the first filly at school to have it!" She ended with a far too practiced and entirely unnecessary puppy dog pout. The older sister hated shopping with a passion.

Her mother and younger sister went at least once a week, if not more, for clothes, dresses, or other things, all of which were entirely too girly. She had to keep up appearances, though, even to her own family.
She swallowed what food was in her mouth before putting her socially-elite-pony mask back on. She turned around, and with, what appeared to be a genuine smile, said, "Sure, sounds like fun. Just let me eat breakfast real fast."

The younger filly lit up and exclaimed, "OK! I'll get some breakfast, too! I'll meet you at the door!" She then ran to the dining room to summon her own breakfast, and Stella let out the stress she was already feeling in anticipation for what the afternoon would hold in a pained sigh, then entered her room for a few more precious minutes to herself.

She knew it wouldn't be all bad, as much as she entertained the thoughts of contempt toward her younger sister, she still loved her and felt a pang of regret knowing she had lost the opportunity to be around her so often since she had left for school in Canterlot. These thoughts confused her, as they conflicted with her current reality, but began to make sense as her conscious brain took more and more control until she surfaced in her soft, warm bed, with the sun glaring in her face.

Comments

[Shepherd Sheild92]

in the works, working on alot of thinks but here is the prolog

[Starlight Nova]

I recognize Stella, but who's the other pony in the picture?

[Shepherd Sheild92]

7298672
7298672 Her name is Brighteyes

[Dragon of Shadows]

some form of torch

to be scientifically accurate torches only last about an hour so lanterns with oil would be better. aslo lanterns and torches only light up a few feet around them so they are basically useless for trying to see things in a distance. using moonlight and night vision would allow you to see much farther.

[TheOneAJ]

*It was a cold night, the moon glimmered clearly over the tips of the Canterlot buildings.

No one likes a, hows the weather intro. It easiest, sure, but it tell you nothing about the story you want readers to get invested in

[TheOneAJ]

Also, and sorry, saw this in be fluff dragons discord and said you wanted some writing advice, well, for a first chapter, it’s kind of boring. Most of what we need to know about our main characters is told rather than shown, and there dosnt seem to be any kind of conflict present for miles if I hadn’t read the discription.