The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Brought Into The Light

When Maple turned the lights on in their new house, it looked different already.

The first time Starlight had visited, it was early enough in the morning that the eastern sun reached in through the windows. Dim, but not dark, uninhabited but not uninviting, the house had been hibernating, almost as if it was a part of the landscape instead of a structure ponies had built. It was a memory preserved in time, the window light making everything look gray, almost like her Nightmare Modules, but closer to a weathered photograph. But the ponies of Sires Hollow had a mana well somewhere, and the moment the lights were connected, that visage shattered like a broken clock. The house came to life. A press of a switch, and a spell was lifted, rooms and hallways yanked into the present.

"Whew," Maple remarked, surveying her handiwork. "Much nicer in here now. Though we're going to need to dust and get furniture..."

Starlight stared at the walls as the shadows shifted and vanished, the house waking up and becoming a house once again. An overwhelming urge filled her to do something, but no ideas accompanied it to tell her what to do. Bare wood floors, bare walls, empty rooms without furniture, and a staircase to the second floor...

Fluffy sneezed violently. "Wah-CHOOO! Snrmph. 'Scuse me."

"Yeah, we need to dust," Amber agreed. "I'll go see what I can do."

"And I'll check out the kitchen!" Maple called, vanishing through a wide archway. "Start making a list of what we need. We'll probably have to ask Fishy or our new neighbors for help with things. For now, make sure all the lights are on and windows open. Let's let ponies know we're here!"

"Bananas, there's no furniture in this place!" Valey complained, strolling out from the living room. "Not even a measly coffee table!"

"If you want to solicit the neighbors to ask where we'd get some, be my guest," Maple invited. "Oh my, there's a lot of work here to do..."

Fluffy glanced at Starlight as the adults scurried about around them. "So what's it like, being back here? Other than dusty? I haven't been here in forever, I don't think."

Starlight shrugged. "There are... a lot of memories."

It was mostly true. There were, tucked into every surface and crack and imperfection, and she could almost see Memory Starlight again bouncing around and making herself not very useful but excited to feel like she was helping. But from the moment Maple flipped that switch, this house had lost its status as a perfectly-preserved shrine to them. It was no longer their altar or tomb, the infectious energy of her friends fully dedicated to making it a home once again. How had they made this much of a difference, only being at it for two minutes?

"I found a mop!" Amber screeched, rolling out of the study that was adjacent to the living room and waving a discarded rag proudly. "Someone must have forgotten to clear this out. Dust bunnies, here I come!"

"You... want to go upstairs?" Fluffy suggested. "That's where your old room was, right?"

It was also where she had her breakdown, Starlight mentally added. But now, instead of being bombarded from the outside by memories she didn't know what to do with, her pressure was from the inside, her heart full of two conflicting emotions. A goodbye was imminent. She wasn't losing one friend, she was losing all but one friend... and all because she had willed it. She wanted to shrink down, hide, wait out the time where she could second-guess herself and skip the dread and anticipation, feel as little as possible for as long as she could...

But all her friends were determined to savor their last moments together. If she was better at savoring and enjoying things, it would have been so tempting to pretend the future didn't exist and try to join in too. No matter what she did, it just felt like the future was her enemy, even though her friends were almost eager in racing toward it.

"Starlight?" Fluffy waved a hoof in front of her face. "You're zoning out..."

Starlight blinked back to reality. "Um, what? Sorry..."

"Upstairs!" Fluffy exclaimed. "Come on, let's go see your room! We can think about where you want your bed to go and everything!"

Starlight took a few steps for the staircase, Fluffy leading the way. "Why does it need to go anywhere different than where it was before?"

"Well, it doesn't need to." Fluffy shrugged, clumsily climbing while trying to look at Starlight over her shoulder. "But you don't get somepony to help you rearrange your room every day, so why not take advantage of it? I have a whole notebook filled with designs for my room. If you don't want to make something up, I should run home and get it! It's good for inspiration."

"I have a room on the ship," Starlight volunteered. "I guess it'll be different from that?" Her thoughts were too busy being tugged on by the impending goodbye, her friends' good cheer, and the house's memories to give serious consideration to Fluffy's suggestions. Where was she supposed to find the emotional capacity to care about how her room was set up?

...She'd probably care once she realized how much it did or didn't remind her of her past, she realized. Maybe this was important after all.

"Okay, how about this?" Fluffy crested the staircase, frowning at the empty former reading alcove and pushing open the door to Starlight's room. "We've got... hmm. This is a lot bigger than my room, and has the closet in a different place. How come you've got such a nice room? It would be a crime not to do something with this."

Compared to the cabins on the Immortal Dream, Starlight had to admit it was pretty spacious too. But she barely even used the space she was afforded there... "What should I put in it?" She remembered how it had looked before, with a bed and desk and storage trunk and bookshelves and every surface littered with decorations and things that weren't put away...

"Well, the bed is most important," Fluffy lectured, hovering around and inspecting the two windows. "You're going to be the saddest filly if you don't have one, and they're so useful for building other stuff off of! And then you need a place to store your stuff, and then you add whatever you want!" She floated in a circle, eyes distant and locked on her imagination, and suddenly she gasped. "What if you put up posters with pictures of all the places you've been to!? That would be so cool!"

"Umm..." Starlight tried to imagine that, and with a start she realized she wasn't sure they had pictures of the north. "I don't know if I have any..." Besides, there weren't that many places up there she wanted to remember. If there were, she'd have stayed there and called it a day.

Fluffy pouted. "Pictures of your friends?"

"I don't really know if posters are my thing," Starlight admitted. It felt like more of a Jamjars thing to do, and plastering the faces of her friends everywhere wouldn't do a whole lot to help her put the fact that they were gone out of her mind.

For a moment, Fluffy stared at her in consternation. "Am I misremembering? Because I thought you used to have a bunch. Oh well. Maybe I'm confusing you with somepony else. So posters aren't your thing. But what if we hung thin colored sheets along the walls to make it look like a rainbow cave, and covered the light so all the light is blue or pink or yellow? I did that for a few months, and it was the coziest. But my parents eventually made me take it down because they needed the sheets back or something, but Fishy likes you so you should have no trouble getting more."

Starlight had to admit, she couldn't envision that at all.

"Ugh," Fluffy pouted, seeing the look on her face. "Sorry, I need my room sketchbook. Do you think your friends will notice if I disappear for just a bit to get it? I can go out and come back in through the window..." She stretched her little pegasus wings. "Sound good?"

Starlight absently nodded, still too overwhelmed to process her new friend's requests. There was a tide of excitement from her friends below, a tide of dread for the next morning's farewell, and it took all her focus just to stay afloat in the conflicting swells and not get dragged away by either. "Okay," she invited, opening a window with her forehooves. "See you soon..."

Fluffy was gone before she could blink, and then Starlight and her thoughts were alone.

Valey shouted something noisily from below. Starlight decided to make her hooves do something and go see what it was.

When she reached the landing halfway down the stairs, the cause became apparent: neighbors had arrived. Meadow Rose, a mare she associated with spicy fragrances and every color between red and pink, stood in the foyer and stared around, taking in the lit hallway and occupied building with wonder and a faint hint of smugness.

"Always knew Fishy wouldn't leave us hanging with an empty shack for neighbors," she chuckled, bouncing her manicured mane. "Timber's going to be so sad he was working during this... Ha! Pleased to make all of your acquaintances!"

She offered a hoof, and Amber bumped it, leaving her blinking when it wasn't a shake. "Amber," Amber greeted. "So you live next door?"

"Not an ounce of formality." Rose shook her head with a smile. "And they say you have Starlight Glimmer, too? Certainly might liven things up around here. Everyone says the western edge of town is the quiet edge, and I say take a hike! Ha! Well met, Amber...?"

"Just Amber." Amber shook her head. "No second name. And it's Maple you really want to meet. I'm just a friend here to help with the moving."

"And housewarming!" Valey called, strolling past. "Nice mane, by the way."

"Thanks..." Rose touched her mane again appreciatively, making Starlight wonder what it was with some mares and their manes. Meadow Rose, Jamjars, Fluffy... Her mane was just a thing that got in the way when she didn't cut it often enough, and grew a teal stripe or two when she actually stopped to brush it. What would it feel like to spend a long time caring about her mane?

Rose leaned against a barren wall. "Indescribably nice to have some action around this place for a change. After Starlight's parents left, and especially after Fishy moved to the mayor's abode, you have no idea... Need a hoof with anything?" Her horn flickered with telekinesis. "I'm no power lifter, but I've got a good horn on my head."

Shinespark stuck her head around a corner, Amber's abandoned dusting rag now in her possession. "Ask Maple. We're waiting for Fishy to find out what food and furniture we have to work with..."

Rose immediately winced when she saw Shinespark's horn. Shinespark followed her gaze, and her ears self-consciously fell. "Old injury. It's not as bad as it looks."

"You're my new neighbor?" Maple interrupted, bustling out from the kitchen and saving everyone from an awkward continuation. "I'm Maple! I'm your new neighbor. Nice to meet you?"

She actually shook hooves this time, and Rose smirked gratefully in greeting. "Music to my ears. Can I fetch drinks? Looks like there will be a regular work party in here as soon as we get things to work with?"

"Glad to have you on board." Amber grinned and stretched. "Gerardo went off with Fishy to help look for things we can use... I'd say this will get kicked off properly any moment now."

Starlight watched the whole exchange from the landing, relatively unaccosted by Rose's presence. Neighbors who were friendly, but left her alone... How did that sound so appealing when what she really wanted was more friends?

It didn't matter. It was good enough. Her head might have been crammed to bursting, but she wasn't miserable. Maybe she could sit there and enjoy her friends' enjoyment just a little longer.

Comments

[Phoenix Kitten]

Starlight is the type to just quietly shut down when she's overwhelmed like this. When she has a moment to herself, she'll probably implode.
What Chrysalis said in the sword is correct "the world will not be ready for your freak out."

18.
26.

[Oberth Effect]

I get the feeling Starlight is struggling with something, but I just can't put my finger on it...

Now that I think about it, Starlight going to bed after the party and waking up in the middle of the night with a bad feeling would be a not-terrible place to end this story and start a sequel. 20-odd chapters might be a bit much for that though.

[alamais]

10085830
Nah, this fic ends as Gazelle busts in on the Crystal Empire storytelling party in the 'present', screams, "I finally found you!" and tries to eat Starlight. To be continued...

[KMCA]

10085899
I'm totally hoping that's the end. Chrysalis found Starlight several times but Gazelle took 20+ years.

[Oberth Effect]

10085899

That could be interesting. Lots of potential victims for Gazelle and Starlight might have a better handle on the Nightmare Module abilities.

“Starlight woke with a start. What was this feeling? It lingered at the edge of her mind, the faintest hint of dread, but she couldn’t quite put a hoof on —

‘Found you.’

Light flooded the room as Starlight lit her horn and leaped out of bed. It couldn’t be —!

‘I’ve come to claim what is rightfully mine.’”

<boss music starts>

[sploopy slooder]

starlight seems 1 semi-traumatic event away from a complete mental breakdown. the poor kid is ruined. shes gonna implode.