Starlight's Daydream

by Bronyxy

1 A Friend in Need

The spring day was one of the most beautiful Equestria had to offer. The trees were covered in fresh new growth and the meadows were bursting with an abundance of new life; flowers in a breathtaking array of vibrant reds, pinks, oranges, yellows and blues. The sky was a brilliant azure with a few nap clouds dotted around; not enough to be intrusive, but just about enough for a particular cyan pegasus to pick and choose her perfect spot, depending upon how the fancy took her.

Under the shade of a blossoming oak tree, a primrose pony sang a little song, her forehoof angled in front of her, acting as a perch for a bright red songbird at her eye level. The bird warbled and trilled along in tune with the pony, much to her delight and a number of woodland animals gathered as an impromptu audience.

At a respectful distance in the shadow of a bluff stood a figure whose very presence would have been cause for concern at the highest levels only a short time ago. The flame maned unicorn who had once been Princess Celestia’s pupil, until she had turned her back on both her mentor and Equestria itself to become human, had since embraced friendship and returned a changed pony. Now she listened happily as snatches of song wafted delicately on the merest whiff of breeze that rippled over the meadow between them.

As she looked around, she took in the overwhelming beauty of the scene and the innocent joy being shared by her friend, causing her to reflect on what had driven her to rebel against such an idyllic life in the first place. Sure, she had ruled Canterlot High School by fear, but what had it gotten her? It certainly hadn’t won her any friends until Twilight Sparkle had taken her on.

Gentle hoofsteps caught her attention and snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned her head to see who had come to join her.
“Hello Sunset” said a lilac unicorn tossing her purple and light blue streaked mane away from her face and moving up close to give her friend a nuzzle, “A bit for your thoughts?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t understand” she replied dismissively, then looked at Starlight, whose eyes dropped a little sadly. She was the seventh pony in the group of friends here in Equestria and although unquestionably accepted as one of them, would forever feel herself to be an outsider.
“Or maybe you would” she continued, watching as Starlight raised her face again, her eyes sparkling with renewed expectation.
“I was just thinking about my past” she confided, feeling her teeth grit as the words left her.
“Well, if anypony can understand your desire to become completely awful and totally dominate a group of other ponies, then I don’t think you have to look too much further” quipped Starlight awkwardly, “No offence …”
“None taken” replied Sunset, showing her friend a wry smile, “I’m used to it.”

“You know” reflected the fiery looking pony, “Next to Twilight, you’re the one I know best in Ponyville.”
“But I thought you knew all of her friends too?”
“Only their human counterparts. It still weirds me out to see that they have exactly the same personalities either side of the portal. Poor Flash though, he started crushing on ‘other world Twilight’ thinking she was our Princess Twilight!”
“I heard” replied Starlight, “From what I’ve been told, he’s quite a catch.”
An awkward pause descended, and Sunset began to wish she hadn’t mentioned Flash, as something had clearly jarred in her friend’s consciousness.
“How’s Trixie?” she asked, fumbling for safer ground. She had heard the rumours, and the body language she had seen between the two left little room for doubt.

“Oh Sunset!” cried her friend, leaning her muzzle gently on hers, “I have to tell somepony and yet I can’t talk to those I know best …”
Sunset turned and gave her friend a reassuring hug with her foreleg, “It’s OK, you can talk to me if you like.”
“She … she’s gone off on tour again” sobbed the lilac pony, now unable to hold her friend’s gaze as her tears splashed forlornly on the ground.
“Yes, but she’s done that before” clarified Sunset, “Right?”
“Not like this” she wept sadly, “This time it’s … it’s …”
“It’s OK” comforted Sunset, not wanting to hear her friend’s anguish as she spilled out the last few inevitable words. Once upon a time she had been happy to see others in tears, even plotted and schemed to make sure it had happened; now it just cut her open and reminded her how bad she had once been, especially when it was one of her friends. She drew Starlight close, feeling her friend’s body shake with the sobs of tears that had been waiting for an opportunity to be released, and squeezed her close as she looked over her to the carefree sight of pony and songbird singing happily together in the shade of a tree.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that” sniffled Starlight, wiping the last tear stains from her eyes.
“Not a problem; it’s what friends are for” reassured Sunset, giving her another hug for good luck before releasing her hold.
“Thank you” whispered Starlight appreciatively, looking up into Sunset’s aquamarine eyes, somehow conveying a deepness of meaning that caught her by surprise; not so much the words, but the power of the emotion, like she was trying desperately to reach out.

Startled, like a rabbit caught in oncoming headlights, she did not want to snub Starlight while she was clearly in such need, but equally this was not a situation she had envisaged and she cast around for something, anything to act as a distraction. As time froze, she alighted on the only thing she could think of and her mouth engaged before her mind had caught up. It was not what she had meant to say.

“I’ve heard there’s a new restaurant recently opened in town, what do you say we give it a try tonight?” asked Sunset.

Starlight’s eyes glistened as she reached just close enough to give Sunset an affectionate peck on the cheek; a kiss of the purest gossamer.

It was an action that delivered such a torrent of raw emotion that it caught Sunset off guard and her pupils shrank under its deceptive intensity.

Starlight edged her muzzle back to her ear and whispered a barely audible “thank you” before pulling away.

The act of unexpected intimacy lasted for little more than a second, maybe two at most, but its impact lingered as Starlight turned and headed back towards the Castle of Friendship with a flicker of renewed hope in her heart.

Sunset hadn’t intended to ask Starlight on a date; it had just happened all by itself. She bit her lip and tried to work out what had just happened. Once again, time seemed to stop, and she replayed in her mind’s eye exactly how she had put herself in this position. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Starlight; quite the opposite in fact, especially given the similarity of their pasts, but it suddenly struck her that she knew very little about the pony Starlight had become since.

Also, her previous dating history made her pretty certain she was into guys, and she was fairly sure that preference translated into stallions in this world, although she hadn’t yet got around to testing that particular theory.

“It’s not a date” he told herself, “Just two friends going out for a quiet meal together …”
The more she repeated this, the more she worried she became that this wasn’t how Starlight had taken it. She couldn’t go back now and say there had been a misunderstanding; this would only deflate her friend once more and make her feel rejected, doubly rejected in fact, given the news that Trixie had split up with her. No, she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t run away through the portal either because there was so much toing and froing through it, that word would spread and quickly discredit her amongst her friends in both worlds.

Suddenly the name of the new restaurant sprang into her mind; ‘The Wild Thyme’, which was pronounced The Wild Time; and it wasn’t just a restaurant, but had developed more of a reputation as a night club. She also recalled Twilight having told her about it when it had first opened, and their sharing a joke about how it definitely wasn’t their sort of thing, principally because it catered exclusively for the tastes of the more outgoing dating couples. No wonder Starlight had acted the way she had; she clearly believed Sunset was hitting on her, and in a big way.

She settled down onto the grass and wrapped both forelegs over her muzzle so that the loud groan she made wouldn’t disturb the primrose pegasus and the red songbird still oblivious to her presence.

It had started off as such a simple and uncomplicated day …