Book 2 The Light: by the flickering light

by Penelope Anne Ink

Chapter Two

Cass and Bee flew off, but not too far away that they wouldn’t be able to see what would happen next. The pony that opened the door was an elderly mare with quite a few wrinkles and could hardly seem to walk on her own. Her coat was a light purple and her hair was a slightly darker shade of it. Her mane and tail were both tied up in buns, and her cutie mark was a doily with a pair of angel wings worked into the design.

Starry took a step back.

“Granny Angel? How are you?” Starry said, a little shaken.

“I’m doing just fine, dearie. I’m so glad you came to see me. Sorry I haven’t been able to order any more wheels from you lately. It’s been a bit hard to make ends meet of late.”

Starry hesitated in nodding in agreement and was going to turn back when the old mare dragged her inside.

“And who is your nice friend out here?” the old mare raised a feeble hoof toward Edgy. He had been following close enough behind that he was able to hear the conversation between the two ponies, but in the moment he didn’t realize he was perfectly out in the open for all to see.

Starry realized Edgy was still following her and laughed a bit nervously. “Oh, that’s the edgiest pony you’ll ever meet!”

The old mare laughed until she had to cough a bit to clear her throat.

“Well, he’s welcome to come in, too. I baked some muffins I think you both will enjoy.”

And with that, they both trotted into the house.

The house had doilies everywhere. It seemed like the throws on the couches and the rugs on the floors looked like massive doilies. There were also portraits all over the walls from floor to ceiling in every room. Images of small fillies and colts and not so small fillies and colts, all smiling and putting a hoof around an increasingly older and older Granny Angel.

“I wasn’t expecting company so I didn’t make more than a dozen. I hope that’ll be enough.”

“Oh, no I don’t need all that much, ma’am,” Starry quickly said.

“Not after how much you managed to eat at the hayburger, huh?” Edgy whispered toward Starry. She pretended not to hear.

The two sat down at a small table in the kitchen. There were fewer pictures in there, but it didn’t feel any different from the rest of the house. There were a few recipes hung up in frames as well, and a few piles of cook books on the countertop.

Starry and Edgy both took a muffin each to munch and the old mare rattled off on some stories from her days when she worked with the young ponies. Not every pony in Ponyville went to the schoolhouse. Some ponies were sent off to private education, or a school in Canterlot, but a few ponies got the chance to be taken care of by Granny Angel.

“I remember when Light Bulb’s family came through Ponyville. He was always so helpful around the house. I don’t think I’ve gone through my cellar since he last helped me out with the lamps down there.”

“I can probably fix it, Granny Angel...” Starry began.

“Oh, and Cozy Rest was always one of my favorites. I can’t believe she runs her own bed and breakfast now,” the old mare said and started dozing off.

Edgy and Starry didn’t want to wait around for her to just fall asleep, so they hastily said their goodbyes and headed out the door.

Cass and Bee were nowhere to be found, so Edgy finally turned to Starry and asked, “So what the hay is going on?”

Starry just stared forward and began trotting off back toward the camp she and her friends had been living in. “Well maybe if you were here you’d know.”

Edgy wasn’t used to her showing an attitude. He wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Starry could be a bit strong willed, but she wasn’t usually this harsh.

He still had a few bits in his bag and was able to pay for a few days at the inn. He had hoped he could stay in one of Starry’s spare guest rooms, or even one of Cass or Bee’s if it came to it. The inn was a bright and cheery place, which wasn’t exactly to his taste but still felt welcoming. However, he would have rather stayed with ponies he knew rather than a bunch of strangers.

Going up to the third floor of the inn, he pushed open a door and plopped himself on the bed. His journey had been eventful and his return to Ponyville and Starry hadn’t gone exactly to plan. The extra unplanned walk had drained some of his energy.

With a short chant toward his scars, he conjured up a small shadowy pony to start unpacking his things for him while he tried to rest his eyes.

He wasn’t sure if he could necessarily trust Cass and Bee to tell him what was going on. He was stuck on a border of whether he thought they were responsible or irresponsible. They seemed to always know what they were doing, but they were nothing like Starry, who was much more particular and a lot less bold.

The next two days, Starry still wasn’t at home or anywhere else that he could find, and nopony seemed to know where she was.

It was at the end of these two days that he ran into a welcome familiar face in the marketplace.

“Well, hello! It’s that nice young stallion that I met a few days ago, isn’t it? Edgy, right?”

He looked to see Granny Angel over at the asparagus stall just finishing up a purchase. Giving her a brief nod, he was going to walk away when she called out to him again.

“I would like it ever so much if you would like to help me carry my groceries. My legs aren’t what they used to be.” She hobbled a bit as if to emphasize her point.

Edgy was already worn out from his frustration over Starry, but the old mare seemed to be the only friendly face around town anymore for him. He agreed and walked around with her as she continued her shopping.

“I used to have this one young filly, Rosy Cheeks. Oh, she was the sweetest thing! Her smile always brightened up my day. I had a few fillies and colts at the time and they all said the same thing. I think she went on to be an actress.”

It seemed to Edgy that she was never going to stop reminiscing about her past children as she spouted off one name after another on their way past each stall and toward her home.

“I dislike being in retirement so much,” Granny Angel said with a sigh. “I miss having young ones like you around.”

Edgy was afraid she was going to go into another round of memories just as she was stepping into her house when he thought he saw Starry down the street. She took one look his direction before teleporting away.

With a curt goodbye, he started walking off toward where Starry was last seen. It was already late in the evening and he was not going to waste another day before he got to the bottom of why his friend was acting so unlike herself. He made sure nopony was watching before he chanted to his scars and brought up two shadowy minipones. They both saluted him before taking off to find where Starry had disappeared to. It couldn’t have been very far, he knew her abilities well enough by now to know she wasn’t very capable with spells over ponies, even over herself. His minipones would be able to track her down without being seen in the oncoming darkness of the end of day.

However, there was a pair of eyes that observed the glow on his hoof and equally lit up themselves.