The ‘Ship’ in ‘Shipping’

by Elkia Deerling

Chapter five: the obsessive ship, a.k.a. the mass ship

The first rays of a new day seeped through the porthole of Starlight Glimmer’s cabin. She was snoring peacefully, as there was no unicorn talking in her sleep with her this time. But as soon as the rays touched down on her face, she yawned loudly, and opened one eye.

Then the other eye shot open. She jumped on top of her bed. Her horn shimmered. She readied a battle spell in reflex, and aimed her horn at the intruder.

The stallion didn’t move a muscle. He stood there frozen, a smile plastered on his face and a plate of food in his hoof. Dressed in a blue and gold uniform, he looked like a crewmember.

‘What are you doing in my cabin?!’ Starlight called, holding her breath and keeping her horn straight.

‘Good morning, Starlight Glimmer,’ the stallion said. He closed his eyes and made his smile extra wide. ‘I made you breakfast.’

Slowly, the picture started to come together. Starlight relaxed a little bit—a tiny little bit. ‘That’s strange. I didn’t order any.’

‘I know,’ the stallion said with a chuckle. ‘It’s not much of an order, more of a… gift. A surprise gift.’

‘A… gift?’

He nodded. ‘I hope it tastes good. I’m actually not a cook, more of a watchpony. But the cook owed me a favor, so… here it is!’

Starlight’s horn went out. ‘You, eh, shouldn’t have.’

‘Of course I should.’ He stepped closer and put the plate of sandwiches on the bed. ‘Breakfast in bed is one of the best things there is. Besides you, of course.’

A frown. Did she hear that correctly? Starlight forced a smile. ‘It’s very nice of you, but I was actually planning on having breakfast with my friends.’

‘Oh…’ The stallion’s smile wavered just a tiny bit, but then returned stronger than ever before. ‘But you can have breakfast with me too, you know?’

‘Huh?’

The stallion stepped closer, put a hoof on the bed. ‘Yes, I can be your friend. Your best friend. Your bestest friend, maybe even your… lover.’

‘What?!’ Starlight jumped off the bed, so that it separated her from this strange stallion. ‘I don’t know you!’

‘That doesn’t matter. You can get to know me.’

‘That’s not how it works. Also, that’s the oldest pickup line in the book.’

But the stallion was undaunted. When he noticed Starlight shuffling to the right, he shuffled to the left. ‘That too, doesn’t matter. Love doesn’t have to be original; it has to be true. Look, I don’t know you that well either, but I do know that you are the most beautiful mare I have ever seen. That’s all that matters.’

Starlight sighed. She didn’t want to be rude, but she did want to end this delusional fantasy. ‘Okay, okay. I know the crewmembers are supposed to be friendly to the passengers, but you’re taking this a little too far.’

‘There’s no such things as going too far in love, and if I do go too far, we’ll just have to reset our boundaries,’ he said, looking with a dreamy and utterly sappy stare at Starlight.

‘There is no “we,” there is no “love.”’

The stallion smiled slyly. ‘You’re denying, that means you’re totally into me.’

Shaking her head wildly, Starlight said, ‘No!’

‘The more denial, the more love,’ he said, his voice as dreamy as his eyes. He bent forward.

Starlight’s eyes flashed left and right like a cornered animal. This was madness! How was she going to end this madness without breaking a heart or hurting the stallion’s feelings? She wasn’t good with things like this. Or actually, she had never even encountered a thing like this. Closing her eyes for a second, she thought. ‘I greatly appreciate your service, but now I don’t want you here anymore. How long have you been in here anyway?’

‘Long enough to notice how cute you are when you sleep.’ Suddenly he hopped on the bed and crawled closer, lips pouted.

That was the limit. ‘Okay, that’s it. Out you go!’ Starlight called. She enveloped the pony in a field of magical energy, opened the door, and floated him outside. With a click, the door locked. Letting out a sigh, she fell down on her bed, reflecting on the craziness. Of course she hadn’t wanted to use magic or force or both, but he was just so—

She remembered something. Getting up, Starlight walked to the door, hoping the stallion was still there. When she opened, he was there sitting on the ground like a dog waiting for his owner. ‘Sorry,’ Starlight said, dropped two Bits in his lap, and retreated again. Never forget to tip, fillies and gentlecolts!

The stallion picked up the coins, slowly, as if they were holy relics. Then he smelled them, rubbed them against his cheeks, and finally put them in his shirt pocket. ‘I will cherish these forever.’

Only when Starlight heard the sound of hoofsteps fading away did she dare to move again. As quickly as she could, she slipped out of her pajamas. She wanted to be with her friends. A quick peek through the crack of the door revealed an empty hallway. She sighed and walked away, her step just a bit quicker than that of a cruise passenger having a good time. A few staircases and hallways later, she reached the breakfast restaurant where they had all agreed to meet up. Everypony was there and they smiled at her. Yet their smiles disappeared when they noticed her worried face. ‘Boy, am I glad to see you guys,’ Starlight said, grabbing a chair and sitting down.

Of course they instantly asked what was the matter. Starlight explained.

‘Hm… that’s rather odd,’ Twilight said, making her all-too-familiar thinking gesture.

‘Of course not,’ said Rainbow Dash. ‘Love is the most beautiful thing there is. You have to cherish it.’

Starlight frowned. ‘That’s easy for you to say, you have a 100% not-creepy coltfriend. You should have seen how fast that stallion went, and how far.’

‘Soarin and I went fast.’ Dash grinned and rubbed her hooves together. ‘And far…’

‘I have to agree with Rainbow Dash. Seize your chance before he’s gone forever,’ Rarity said, and stared through the window at the endless sea, far into the distance, as if Swing Step would be somewhere on the horizon, dancing to jazz.

‘Maybe there’s a reason why, just as with Flam and I,’ Applejack offered.

‘Yes, you are a pretty mare,’ Pinkie added.

Fluttershy winced. Did Pinkie mean anything by that? Was she in love with Starlight now? Her mind inflated the remark, and a pang of jealousy sizzled in her heart.

Shaking her head, Starlight said, ‘I don’t think so, it was just too random. You should have been there. Or… actually rather not. I wouldn’t want that to happen to any of you.’

‘Aww, don’t worry too much about that. Everyone knows love can drive a pony crazy,’ Pinkie said, reaching out and patting Starlight on the head from across the table. ‘We’ve got something super-fun planned this afternoon that will definitely clear your mind from all this madness.’

They let Starlight Glimmer guess exactly what this amazing activity was all through breakfast. When they were done eating, they paid a quick visit to Flam at the first aid post. He said he was doing better, especially now that Applejack visited him. After a quick kiss they were off again.

You would think everypony had enough of water after the near-sinking of the ship, but that expectation proved to be incorrect. The swimming pool was packed with ponies, splashing carelessly and freely around in the warm water as if nothing had happened yesterday. Well, they were still on vacation, after all. The swimming pool aboard the S.S. Ocean’s Embrace was so popular, because it had the tallest waterslide in Equestria. But there were other facilities to enjoy as well, like steam rooms, a terrace with comfy deckchairs underneath heat lamps, a juice bar, and of course a broad, handsome lifeguard who looked with interest at all the pretty mares through his sunglasses. When Twilight and her friends arrived, he looked extra interested.

Very soon everypony found their places. Pinkie somersaulted into the water, followed by Rainbow Dash making a nosedive, followed by Applejack just doing a graceless cannonball. They splashed water onto each other, did swimming contests, and tossed a beachball here and there. “Super-fun,” as Pinkie would say.

Twilight, Starlight, Fluttershy, and Rarity draped their blankets over the deckchairs and installed themselves. Enjoying the comfortable warmth of the heat lamps, they looked at the three ponies in the water and laughed. I would have done the exact same thing. A little later, conversation started.

‘For a moment I was afraid this crazy love train—or love ship, actually—would keep us apart. But now that the opposite is true, I’m glad we’re all together once again,’ Twilight said, giving Fluttershy a glance while she spoke.

Fluttershy smiled awkwardly. ‘Yes, I know I acted a little strange, disappearing all of a sudden, and I’m terribly sorry for that. After the disaster, I realized I should stick with you girls. I know you would never judge me.’

‘Of course not, darling,’ Rarity said, and winked at Fluttershy.

But actually, the other reason was that Fluttershy had managed to gather some courage in her alone time, and was ready to try expressing her slumbering love to Pinkie again. When the right moment arrived, of course.

Suddenly, a waitress in a flowered T-shirt and matching skirt arrived and placed a glass on a table next to Starlight Glimmer. ‘Your drink, Miss Glimmer,’ she said.

‘But I didn’t order any,’ Starlight muttered, looking surprised from the glass to the mare, and feeling a déjà vu moment coming up.

‘It’s a complimentary drink… from me.’ The mare giggled and fluttered her eyelashes.

Starlight was starting to feel very uncomfortable. ‘So… do my friends get one too?’

‘Of course not.’

‘Then why just me?’

‘My, because you’re Starlight Glimmer, of course,’ the mare said, scooting closer to her, slowly, as if nopony would notice.

‘That’s not really a reason.’

The mare nodded resolutely. ‘It certainly is. I love you. We all love you!’

Rainbow Dash saved her. ‘Hey Starlight! Are you joining us or what?’ she shouted from the pool.

In a split second, Starlight jumped off her chair and was off towards the pool. She didn’t actually feel like swimming, but she felt even less like madness. ‘Coming!’

She jumped into the water and swum together with the rest of her friends, threw some beachballs, had fun. But her aim was constantly off and her catches were always too slow, as she kept her eyes trained on the terrace. The mare, however, was nowhere to be seen. Good. After a while, some ponies spanned a net between two poles and marked off a field with buoys to create a makeshift volleyball course, right in the middle of the swimming pool. Of course Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie, and Starlight joined in. They enjoyed themselves and were even winning the friendly competition, despite Starlight clearly not being at the top of her game. She kept staring at the other players, mares and stallions alike, paying extra attention whether or not they were staring or paying extra attention to her. She swore she could see some longing gazes here and there, some dreamy eyes, some cheeky winks or challenging smiles. But that could also be her imagination, or her old paranoia from her dictatorial times.

‘Hey, Starlight, are you feeling ok?’ Pinkie said. She knew a frown when she saw one.

‘You should have practiced more, haha!’ Rainbow Dash teased.

Starlight had trouble focusing on her friends. ‘Yes… I know. I think I’m just… bored or so. Can we do something else?’

‘Of course! We should go for the waterslide,’ Applejack said. ‘Looks mighty impressive.’

‘What?! Have you seen that line?’ Rainbow Dash said with a pained groan. ‘It will take hours. I hate waiting.’

Applejack poked her. ‘Don’t be such a party pooper. I’m sure the ride will be worth it, and besides, we have the best source of entertainment to distract us.’ She glanced at Pinkie.

‘Who? The floating toys? The competition swimmers? The swimming dogs?’ Pinkie guessed.

‘No you, you silly apple,’ Applejack said, then nudged her head. ‘Let’s go!’

The line was indeed endless. It went from the top of the ladder all the way down, then spiraled at least three times around the construction itself, around the entire swimming pool, up until the terrace. After a clearly audible sigh coming from Rainbow Dash, the ponies joined.

They couldn’t believe how slow it went. After ten minutes, they advanced only one hoofstep. Rainbow Dash transformed into a groaning sighing machine with wings. Even Applejack wore a frown on her face, probably regretting her decision. Pinkie saw it all, and knew she was needed now more than ever.

But just when Pinkie was about to crack the first joke, somepony, a stallion in swim shorts, joined the back of the line, threw a glance at the ponies, glanced again with his sunglasses off, and tapped Starlight on the shoulder. ‘Sorry, but are you Starlight Glimmer?’

‘Eh… yes?’

The stallion put his hooves to his muzzle and shouted, ‘EVERYPONY, STARLIGHT GLIMMER IS HERE, AT THE BACK OF THE LINE!’

Instantly, every head in the line turned around, every gaze was aimed at Starlight. A buzz of mumbling went through the waiting ponies, then, as one, they stepped aside like a parting sea. A path opened up in front of her, but she was unsure whether or not to go.

The stallion saw her hesitation, grabbed her shoulders tenderly, rubbed them a bit, and then gave her a push. ‘Go! You deserve it, you deserve everything in the wide world of Equestria!’

Starlight made some hesitant steps towards the ladder. For a moment she mused about this surreal situation, silently comparing it with everything that had happened before. When she looked back, she saw how the path closed behind her. ‘What about my friends?’

‘They are not you,’ a mare said.

She reached the top of the ladder. All the way to the back, she could spot the flabbergasted faces of her friends. Her brow arched. ‘Why don’t you let them go through too?’

‘Because we only want you, Starlight,’ somepony said. ‘Starlight! Starlight! Starlight!’

And the rest of the ponies—even those not waiting in line—chanted along. ‘STARLIGHT! STARLIGHT! STARLIGHT!’

But Starlight was not that easily defeated. ‘Oh no! If they are not going, I’m not going!’ she shouted above the chant.

An unamused growling went through the line. Slowly, reluctantly, it parted again. Rainbow, Pinkie, and AJ trotted through it quickly, as if they were afraid it would close and squash them if they weren’t quick enough.

‘Well that was… weird,’ Rainbow commented.

‘Let’s just do the slide and then go somewhere else,’ Starlight said. ‘It seems the virus of insanity has spread here too.’

‘Not my fault,’ Pinkie said. ‘My insanity is 100% not-contagious.’

Applejack chuckled. ‘We know that, Pinks.’

Wanting to make up for the strange experience, Starlight let her friends go first. Applejack zipped through the tube, made some turns and twists, and then landed with a somersault into the water. Dash did the same, but flapped her wings at the end and did some loopings before she broke the surface. Pinkie was even more special, as she slid backwards, but bounced over the surface of the water like a flat stone when she reached the end. Starlight just went through and plunged unceremoniously into the pool.

The moment she emerged, a deafening applause made the water ripple. It sounded as if she had just done a marvelous and utterly artful jump at a competition. That was the last drop. As quickly as she could, she paddled to the edge and hoisted herself up. While she was busy rubbing the water out of her eyes, she felt a towel being thrown over her shoulders. Tender hooves started drying her coat. ‘Thanks Twilight, I can always count on you.’

‘You can call me whatever you prefer, and you are very welcome,’ a heavy voice said. Not Twilight’s, unless she had transformed herself into a stallion. Starlight’s head snapped around. The lifeguard didn’t stop rubbing.

With a yelp, Starlight Glimmer cast a quick force spell to push the lifeguard aside, then bolted. Her friends saw what was happening, and galloped after her, not even taking the effort of rolling up their towels. Once they caught up with her, it took a lot of effort to ease Starlight’s mind again. While they talked they walked, as far away from the pool as possible, they reached the bow of the ship. With a pensive sigh, Starlight put her hooves on the railing and looked out over the Celestial Sea. Her friends did the same.

The view did wonders to clear Starlight’s mind. There was water as far as the eye could see, with tiny ripples on the surface, always in motion. A light breeze caressed their ears, blowing Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack dry. A few seagulls rode it, looking proud to be flying next to such a gargantuan steel fish. Down below, there were even some dolphins jumping out of the water in front of the ship, occasionally making that funny sound dolphins always make. The sun stood high on the horizon, casting a magical glow over the mass of water like a shiny, polished coin. It gave Rarity an idea.

‘Say, we’re close to the mall, so why not go shopping? I always find that really relaxing,’ she said.

‘Yup, until you peek into your empty wallet at the end of the day,’ Applejack joked.

Rarity gave her a disdainful stare, accompanied by a snort, and then quickly turned her attention to Starlight again. ‘What do you think? Is it a grand idea or not?’

‘Eh… I don’t know.’

‘Oh please, Starlight. I’m sure not everypony on the ship has gone completely crazy,’ Rarity said.

Despite not really being in the mood to see or interact with other ponies, watching the longing sparkle in Rarity’s eyes made her give in. ‘Okay then. But let’s stick close together. Maybe I can hide behind you all.’

‘That’s the spirit!’ Rarity called, and turned around, already thinking about what goodies she absolutely didn’t need but wanted anyway.

The S.S. Ocean’s Embrace had a shopping mall onboard, so that ponies could spend even more money on this already extraordinarily expensive cruise. But the shops were all duty-free, so of course everypony fell for the trick and bought themselves many new things. There were mostly clothing boutiques in all shapes, sizes, and price-ranges. The mall hadn’t been flooded during the “disaster,” so all the shops were open, doing good business with the countless shop-crazy ponies.

Twilight and her friends walked over the promenade, enjoying the modern architecture of glass bathed in sunlight. Trying her best to stay as inconspicuous as she could, Starlight walked in the middle. Maybe her chances of staying invisible would have increased if she wore a long trench coat and black-rimmed glasses with a mustached nose, but that idea didn’t enter her mind. Maybe one of the shops sold those items, but truth was that Starlight wasn’t that interested in buying anything. With her dictatorial past, she didn’t really possess such a materialistic mindset. In the end, however, she did find something nice for herself, a knitted purple sweater with pink stripes—probably the most girly one there was. With a content smile, she took it to the counter, where a bored-looking salesmare was reading a newspaper. Yet, when she saw who was approaching, she quickly tossed away the newspaper and painted a smile on her face, as if seeing Starlight made her day. It did, in fact.

‘This one, please,’ Starlight said, draping the sweater on the counter.

‘Excellent choice, Starlight,’ the salesmare said. ‘I wouldn’t have expected anything else from a pony like you. That would be fifty-nine Bits, please.’

Starlight tilted her head. ‘Really? I thought the price was different on the tag.’

The salesmare let out a loud giggle. ‘Yes, but that’s the price for ordinary ponies.’

Starlight didn’t like where this was going. ‘What do you mean?’ she said suspiciously.

‘Why, it’s Starlight Saturday, of course!’ The salesmare reached behind the counter to reveal a poster. It was colored blatantly bright purple, indigo and pink, with Starlight’s head in the middle. She looked as confused on the photo as in real life. Written in bold letters were two words: Starlight Saturday. ‘You get twenty percent discount,’ the mare explained.

Starlight’s mouth opened wide in a gasp of shock, dread, and surprise.

Twilight, standing behind Starlight, took a peek at the poster as well, and shared Starlight’s bafflement. ‘Eh… it’s not even Saturday. It’s Wednesday.’

‘Hihi, I know, but otherwise it wouldn’t be such a pretty alliteration,’ the mare answered.

‘Oh no! Oh no, no, no!’ Starlight said, taking small steps back. She rubbed her forehead as if she had caught a fever. ‘This is too much, too much!’

The mare nodded. ‘Okay, what about forty percent discount?’

Leaving the sweater for what it was, Starlight galloped out of the boutique as quickly as she could, receiving many strange stares from the other ponies in line.

‘Fifty percent, maybe?!’ the mare shouted after her. But Starlight was long gone.

Her friends found her sitting against the glass railing, staring far into the distance with bloodshot eyes. ‘What is wrong with these ponies,’ she mumbled, more to herself than to her friends. ‘Or… what’s wrong with me?’

Twilight crouched next to her and threw a hoof around her shoulders. ‘I don’t know, Starlight, but I honestly think it has nothing to do with you at all. Strange things are happening aboard this ship, things that are too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.

‘Yes, it’s so strange,’ Starlight muttered.

‘I feel like I’m close to finding out, though. Your suitor in your cabin, your admirers at the swimming pool, and now this discount day in honor of you…’ She patted Starlight’s back. ‘I have the feeling something is very wrong, and I also think the explanation is more simple than we think. But what…’ She closed her eyes for a moment. Wrinkles appeared in her face. ‘The answer is on the tip of my tongue. I just can’t reach it.’

Rarity joined in on the conversation. ‘I’m terribly sorry for my suggestion. Apparently shopping wasn’t such a great idea after all.’

‘It’s ok, Rarity,’ Starlight said, doing her best to look kind of relaxed. ‘If you’re having fun, then I’m having fun.’ She got up. ‘Let’s continue our hunt for goodies.’

But Rarity wasn’t at peace with that. She got an idea. ‘Why not go window shopping instead? Then we can all enjoy ourselves without actually interacting with others. Who knew that salesponies could get that annoying?’

After a shake of the head, Starlight smiled a small smile. ‘Alright. I’ll give this another chance. Let’s go.’

And so the ponies continued their shopping spree, which wasn’t much of a shopping spree anymore. Knowing that they weren’t going to buy anything now, they moved on to the strangest, most alternative, most exclusive, and, above all, most expensive shops there were. They had a lot of fun laughing at the ridiculous price tags attached to “designer” products. A purse worth five hundred Bits? Hilarious! A pair of horseshoes made entirely out of silver? Laughable! A pair of sunglasses looking so fragile they might break if you put them on? (Worth a thousand Bits, by the way.) Ridiculous! Very soon they were hunting for the most expensive item sold on the ship, just for laughs. After browsing some more, they found it.

In a jewelry shop all the way at the end of the promenade, a gorgeous pearl necklace shimmered in the display. The Treasure of the Deeps, it was called. The pearls were whiter than the snowiest iceberg. The silver of the necklace was as pure as a shy lover’s first kiss. The golden beads were as shiny as the scales of a fish. Etcetera, etcetera.

Both Starlight’s, as well as Rarity’s face was glued to the glass of the display, gazing in awe at the marvelous piece of art in front of them. The others soon joined and shared the same expression. Twilight looked at the price tag, and nearly choked. ‘That’s probably enough money to buy the entire ship!’

‘Eeyup,’ Applejack said. ‘That’s probably enough money to buy an orchard of golden apples.

‘That’s probably enough money to buy a pair of sport shoes with golden laces,’ Rainbow Dash said. ‘One pair for every week, I mean.’

Unfortunately they couldn’t gaze at it for long. The curtain was moved aside, revealing a pair of hooves. Carefully, the Treasure of the Deeps got removed from its pedestal, and then disappeared.

Rarity pouted her lips, her eyes still gazing through the glass. ‘The most beautiful things are also the first things to disappear,’ she mused, ‘no matter how good they can dance…’

‘What? Pearls don’t dance,’ Pinkie said, completely misunderstanding her comment. ‘Maybe the oysters who grow the pearls do, but I have never seen that in my life.’

The ponies were just about to move along, when a stallion, pure white and wearing a tuxedo as sharp as the ship’s bow appeared. He stopped.

‘Oh, hello there,’ Pinkie said.

But the stallion ignored Pinkie, aiming his gaze instead at—yes, you guessed it—Starlight Glimmer. He extended his hoof, presenting a white box. ‘I saw you staring with longing at the Treasure of the Deeps, so I wanted you to have this.’

Starlight felt something brood inside her gut. ‘What is it?’ she asked with a toneless voice.

‘The Treasure of the Deeps, of course,’ the stallion replied, bowing down and offering the box to Starlight as if he were proposing to her. ‘I know they are not as shiny as your beautiful eyes, but I still think they would look great on a mare of stature like you.’

Starlight’s eyes became as round as the pearls. Her horn shimmered. Old reflexes took over. She growled and enveloped the entire stallion—box included—in her magic, shoving him back inside the jeweler—a little too far, perhaps. He slammed into a rack of rings, sending gold raining over the floor and rolling everywhere.

A small smile curled on Starlight’s lips. It felt familiar, but frightened her at the same time. Suddenly a large blush appeared on her cheeks, and she looked around if anypony had noticed her actions. She stepped forwards towards the entrance of the jeweler, intending to apologize, but changed her mind. With large steps, she marched away from the scene of her crime.

Her friends had trouble keeping up. They were speechless. Except Pinkie, of course. She was never speechless. ‘You know, I would have taken the pearls,’ she said, smiling a good-natured smile free of any judgement. ‘Do you know how many balloons you could buy with that amount of money? Probably every single balloon in the entire world of Equestria.’

Starlight sighed. Nopony could ever stay angry or sad for long with Pinkie right next to him or her. ‘It wasn’t about the pearls, it was about the stallion. It was the exact same thing as with the one in my cabin. Random gifts, perks, attention, acts of friendship or even love… It just jars me to the core.’

‘I understand what you mean, this is not normal,’ Twilight Sparkle said.

They reached some kind of square, with wooden benches here and there, next to giant palm trees planted in equally giant flower pots. Starlight sat down on one of the benches; her friends did the same. Pinkie Spotted something opposite of them, and hop, skip, jumped towards it. ‘Hey look, a bulletin board with activities.’

‘I honestly don’t feel like doing anything anymore,’ Starlight said. ‘I think I’ll just lock myself up in my cabin and read something until we reach Trottingham.’

Pinkie squinted and read the activity calendar. ‘But then you’ll miss… this movie here.’ She looked more closely. ‘Oh, I know this movie! It’s got everything a mare could ever want. There’s action, adventure, romance, and drama. It’s about a ship which hits an iceberg and sinks, super exciting. It’s called… Gigantic.’

‘Eh… I think we’ve had enough thrill after the actual almost-sinking of this here ship,’ Applejack said, making a face.

Realizing her mistake, Pinkie said, ‘Oops, you’re right. I guess the cinema room will be empty when they show that one.’

The board sparked Rainbow Dash’s interest, and she zipped towards it, scanning the activities. ‘Hey, this looks fun! Indoor laser tag.’

‘Do you even know what that is?’ Rarity asked.

‘Nah, but it sounds cool.’

Rarity rolled her eyes. ‘Naturally.’

Fluttershy took a glance too. ‘Hey, we could go to a spa together and relax. What do you think?’

‘But we just came from the pool,’ Rainbow Dash said. ‘And I left my towel there.’ Then she realized what she should have said instead. ‘Eh, I mean, spas are for sissy ladies, not for die-hard athletes like me. No offence, Fluttershy.’

‘None taken. You have a point,’ Fluttershy said. ‘Hey, I have an idea. Why don’t we let Starlight choose?’

After a quick nod, Pinkie jumped behind Starlight and pushed her gently, guiding her towards the bulletin board. ‘I don’t think I am in the mood for activities—’ she began, but abruptly cut off when she noticed a large poster pinned right in the middle of the board. It showed a bright red kite. Above it was written: Wednesday Kite Flight Fight Night.

‘Hm…’ Starlight said, scrutinizing the poster. ‘Look, everyone, it’s a kiting competition, this evening. Winner takes the prize: the Princess’s Pride.’

‘What’s that?’ Rarity asked.

Starlight was trembling with excitement. ‘Oh, nothing, only the biggest kite ever made!’

‘Oh! How big is it?’ Pinkie asked, trembling along.

‘It’s so big it will carry you straight into the air and make you fly like a pegasus,’ Starlight said. ‘If you don’t know how to fly it…’

‘And you know how to fly it?’ Rainbow Dash guessed.

Starlight rubbed her hooves together and smiled a longing smile. ‘I do, and I want it.’

‘That’s great!’ Twilight said. ‘I think all of us have flown kites when we were small, right?’ After everypony nodded, she continued. ‘Then we will all participate. It will be fun! Casual, free, laid-back fun.’

‘Yes…’ Starlight said. ‘It will be fun and fruitful. It’s just a shame this ship doesn’t have any sails. Could have made one giant kite out of the canvas.’

Everypony let out a laugh, not realizing Starlight was very serious.

They spent the rest of the afternoon gathering fabric, wood, string, neon paint, and strings of light to make their own kites. With a little help from their personal kite-expert Starlight Glimmer, they had functional—and pretty—fighting kites in no time. There was supposed to be an award for aesthetics as well, so they made them as pretty and colorful as they could.

When evening fell, the biggest deck there was got transformed into a battle arena. There was enough space to let the participants take off their kites, and of course, enough space for a jury to oversee the competition. A throng of ponies gathered together with their crafted creations. After a quick welcome from the announcer, and an even quicker introduction of the jury members, the fight was on. Everypony ran across the deck, their reels raised above their heads. In a matter of seconds, the air was filled with colorful kites. Of course the kites themselves were hard to see, but the lights strapped to them were not. It looked as if somepony had launched a firework show, but instead of disappearing, the colors stayed in the air, moving around to the left and to the right, up and down, diagonally and straight. They moved in every direction imaginable. The sky showed more colors than the Las Pegasus strip.

But the beauty betrayed the ferocity. The goal of the game was to slice the enemy’s line with your own kite. Everypony knew that. Everypony knew the stakes too. Of course, the slowest and most inexperienced kite flyers went down first. The sound of snapping lines was a symphony of defeat. Disappointed and sad ponies hurried towards their creations to reclaim them, then trudged away.

Twilight went down first, overthinking things, as always. She was followed by Fluttershy, who was way too nice for the others, and didn’t want to cut any lines for fear of hurting somepony’s feelings. Next up was Rarity, who was too focused on making the most beautiful maneuvers instead of attacking her opponents. After her came Applejack, who was used to flying kites for fun, instead of in competitions. Rainbow Dash threw her reel to the ground in anger, as her line got cut too. But that was her own fault, as she was way too cocky and risky. These competitions are about grace and subtlety, two things Rainbow would never understand. Pinkie Pie didn’t take this competition serious in the first place, and just tried to make the craziest, weirdest, most unorthodox spins and rolls, which cost her the finale place. Of course, she didn’t mind. She had fun, and that was what mattered most to her.

But Starlight knew there was more at stake. She was on fire, literally. Her kite, sporting orange and red neon lights, flashed through the sky like a living dragon flame. PLINK, PLOINK, PLINK, PLOINK, resounded, as she defeated opponent after opponent, slicing through their lines like a fiery scissor. She had participated in many kiting competitions before, so she knew how to play this game. Strangely enough, she had the feeling this went a little too easy. It was as if every kite she neared veered away from her, exposing its weak spot in the process. But she was too caught up in the moment, filled up with the rush of adrenaline every top athlete knew very well, to actually notice that. She just went for the kill, every single time. No mercy.

Very soon a ring of ponies formed around her, with her friends at the front. Only Starlight herself and two others remained. The fight intensified. All three ponies frowned in utter concentration, jerking their hooves this way and that, sharpening their turns and quickening their strikes. It was but a matter of minutes before a winner would reveal him or herself.

PLOINK!

Starlight’s tense face instantly changed at hearing that sound. With tears in her eyes, she watched her kite catching the wind, then flutter far away and disappear into the dark sea. She had lost.

She threw a glance at the stallion who had beaten her. ‘Nice one,’ she said, admitting her defeat in a sporty way. The stallion, however, wasn’t attacking his remaining opponent right away. He kept his kite out of reach, and turned his head to Starlight, eyes almost as teary as hers. ‘I’m so sorry, Starlight Glimmer, I… I didn’t mean to…’

‘It’s a competition. You are better than me. I lost, that’s all,’ Starlight said with a lump in her throat. ‘But I can handle it.’

‘No, no it’s more than that,’ the stallion said with a shaky voice. ‘I made a terrible mistake, but I can make it up to you.’ Suddenly he jammed his reel into Starlight’s hooves. ‘Here, take my kite. It would make me very happy.’

‘What?!’ Starlight looked from the reel to the kite in the air. It looked sturdy and built with love. ‘But… this is your kite.’

‘Doesn’t matter. I just want to see you win.’

‘Why?’

‘Because,’ the stallion answered.

Starlight wondered what the hay was happening here. ‘But the number is different, when the jury notices it, they will know I’m cheating.’

The stallion shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about the jury, they will cooperate.’

‘How can you be sure?’

‘Because you’re Starlight Glimmer.’

Starlight Glimmer could feel something coming up, something crazy and insane and strange and familiar, but didn’t have time to think. Her opponent opened the attack. He made a quick dive, aiming the leading edge of his kite towards Starlight’s line. But Starlight was quicker. After a shake of the head, she countered with an arch to the left. Starlight bit her lip as she let her kite sail through the air like a pegasus in mid-flight. Spots of light aimed into the sky, illuminating the last two contestants brightly. They continued to dogfight for a very long minute, swooping closer, then back, then closer again.

The fight didn’t seem to end. Thanks to the spotlights, however, Starlight noticed her enemy’s weak spot. It was just a tiny handicap, but she spotted it anyway with her experienced eyes. Apparently, the right wing of her opponent’s kite was an inch shorter than the left. Being the ruthless pony she was, Starlight immediately exploited that weakness. She made a looping, pretending to retreat, but then moved in for a direct hit. The other kite couldn’t turn sharply enough to avoid the strike, and paid for it dearly. With a loud, PLINK, the line snapped. The kite fluttered soundlessly away into oblivion.

‘I… I won,’ Starlight whispered. ‘I won,’ she said. ‘I WON!’ she shouted.

A chorus of cheers erupted from the spectators. Hooves and hats got thrown into the air. Applause resounded, hooves stomped upon the deck.

But as Starlight reeled in the kite, she also realized it was not hers. Her conscience started speaking to her. She had cheated. When she presented the kite in her hooves to the jury, she held her breath.

The jury member glanced at the number, frowned, but then relaxed an eyeblink later. ‘Kite number twenty-five, Azure Waves—I mean, Starlight Glimmer—has won the Wednesday Kite Flight Fight Night kiting competition. Congratulations!’ And she sealed her judgement by offering Starlight a hoofshake.

Starlight knew that couldn’t be right, but was too caught up in the moment to actually feel bad about this unfair victory. She was about to feel a lot worse.

Like a stampede, the ponies in the crowd rushed towards her. ‘STARLIGHT, STARLIGHT, STARLIGHT!’ they yelled. When they reached her, dozens of hooves grabbed her and carried her high into the air. ‘We love you, Starlight,’ one stallion called.

‘Eh… thanks, I just… did my best,’ Starlight said with an awkward smile. She didn’t like this at all.

‘We want to be with you forever,’ a mare said, smiling maniacally.

‘Now that is maybe a little extreme,’ Starlight said.

‘Have my kite, have my kiss, have my babies,’ one stallion said, foaming at the mouth.

When Starlight glanced around, she noticed many ponies—both mares and stallions—foaming at the mouths. This wasn’t good. Suddenly the hooves let her fall right into the middle of the sea of admirers. She felt hooves stroking her hide, patting her head, and rubbing her tenderly. She felt hooves pulling at her mane, at her tail. In a fit of panic, she tried to spot her friends. No sign of them anywhere. Her panic ignited her old reflexes. Without even thinking, she summoned a forcefield of blue magic, expanded it like a bubble around her. It pushed aside the crowd, creating some space. And a way out. Starlight took a deep breath, and bolted through the gap.

She just wanted to get out of this crazy mob, not even interested in the grand prize anymore. Unfortunately, she couldn’t escape everypony on the ship for long. After a brief moment of confusion, the crowd followed her immediately, rushing towards her like mad shoppers on black Friday.

The chase went on. Starlight galloped as fast as she could, not daring to look over her shoulder. But there was only so far she could go. Suddenly, nothing but water appeared in front of her. She had reached the bow of the ship. A dead end.

Already she could hear the madness behind her. When she looked back, she watched the crowd of ponies close in hoofstep by hoofstep from both directions. Smiles were on their faces, big, happy smiles. There was nowhere to go.

The steel railing poked into her back. She clambered over it and retreated further. Spreading her hooves, she had to keep her balance on the tip of the bowsprit. Far below her, the dark sea parted before the ship’s bow, which cut through it like a knife. In front of her, a throng of insanity gathered at the railing. Starlight didn’t know which danger she preferred. For a moment she expected some ponies to walk the bowsprit too, but that went too far, apparently.

‘Be careful, Starlight Glimmer! We don’t want you to get hurt!’ some random pony shouted.

Starlight shook her head, almost lost her balance. The crowd gasped. But she didn’t fall. ‘What do you all want from me? I don’t want anything from you. Just leave me alone!’

‘That’s just it, we want you!’ a stallion shouted, wiping the foam off his muzzle to make himself understood.

‘But I don’t want you all. I don’t want anypony. I don’t want love. Hay, I can barely accept the friendship of my friends in my heart. I…’ She sighed, which didn’t make a sound, as the breeze blew it away. ‘I’m having trouble accepting my past crimes. They haunt me every day, both when I’m awake and when I’m sleeping. How can I be ready for relationships or love if I can barely even love myself?’

‘But we are!’ said a mare, her hooves planted firmly on the railing, squeezing it.

‘Yes, we’re ready. We can help you to get ready too. We can make you ready.’ Somepony else added.

Taking a moment to watch their faces, Starlight saw the exact same bewitched expression on all of them. She realized she was never going to get through to them. Not even one of Flim or Flam’s scams could get her out of here.

Then, one of the ponies said something that made the hairs on the back of her neck tingle and a shiver run through her very soul. ‘Starlight, be our leader! Rule us in the name of love!’

With a painful shiver, Starlight shrunk, wrapped her front hooves around the hair-thin bowsprit. Memories invaded her mind from the dark vault of her subconscious she tried so hard to keep closed every single day. She could barely speak. What could she say? ‘But… all of you…’

‘Don’t worry, Starlight,’ somepony said, whom she couldn’t spot. ‘We all love you equally much.’

Love you equally much… Equally much… Equally… Equally… Equally…

Those words opened the vault, let everything stream out. Starlight could physically feel something rumbling in her head, spreading like an ink stain through her entire body, until it reached her heart. The buzzing feeling gave her strength, an old, familiar strength.

Suddenly, she frowned a frown so heavy it could put any villain to shame. With a jump, she stood upright. Starlight walked across the bowsprit, step by step, until she reached the railing. With a powerful, graceful jump, she took her place above everypony else, and scanned the crowd. Her head was raised proudly. Her eyes had obtained a terrifying glow. Her hide was grey and dull.

The crowd bent forwards; the ponies held their breaths. They had noticed the change.

This felt familiar, as if she were about to give one of her loyalty propaganda speeches to her horde of brainwashed subjects. Everything was the same as in the past, including that haunted look of blind obedience in everypony’s eyes. She took a deep breath. Her voice was official, radiating strength and authority with every word.

‘The time for timidity has ended.’

A silence. Nopony dared to cough or even scratch their manes.

Starlight cleared her throat. ‘My second reign has come. This ship will belong to me, and you all will belong to me with it. Right now your behavior is not to my liking, but there are many ways to… alter that.’

A rustle of confused whispers went through the crowd. After a few seconds, somepony dared to speak up. ‘Does that mean you love us?’

A dark smile curled on Starlight’s lips. ‘Let’s just say that I will love you all equally much back.’

Before the ponies had time to guess what she meant, Starlight came in action. Summoning her old magics, she let her horn flare up with a frightening light. She captured the entire group in her field of magic, then shoved it aside like discarded toys. When her hooves touched down on the boards of the bow again, she put her first decree into practice.

‘Let’s get organized,’ she mumbled, waving her horn. The group got separated and sorted. Mares with mares, stallions with stallions. Then she looked at an empty space and concentrated. A second later, two cages with bars made of pure, sizzling magic appeared on the deck. With a flick of the head, Starlight crammed the stallions in one, and the mares in another. It was a bit of a hustle to close the doors, but with a little pushing and pressing, she got it done. Breathing heavily, Starlight looked at her handiwork. ‘Do you still think I’m beautiful? Do you still want to be with me? Do you still love me NOW?!’

Everypony tried desperately to lie or hang in a comfortable position, but that was impossible. The front ones stared with eyes full of dread at the great dictator. They had realized their mistakes.

‘THIS is the real Starlight Glimmer!’ Starlight shouted at the top of her lungs. ‘If you want me, you get her too.’

The sound of hoofsteps coming from the right interrupted her. Had she forgotten somepony? When she looked, she saw her friends nearing. ‘What do you want?’

‘Starlight, what are you doing?!’ Twilight called. She stopped with her friends some distance away, assessing the situation in her mind. Her eyes flashed from the moaning ponies in the cages to the purple and pink dictator.

‘I’m ending this madness,’ Starlight hissed, ‘I’m solving this situation with magic, like I always do, and bend it to my will.’

‘But not like this,’ Applejack said.

‘Yes like this. It is the only way. These ponies have given me no choice.’

Rarity stepped forwards carefully. ‘Look, darling. I get angry or annoyed sometimes too, but what you have done right now is a little… extreme.’

‘The language of extremes is the only language these ponies understand,’ Starlight said with a snort. Sparkles of magic sizzled out of her nostrils. ‘It is the language everypony understands. Clear, simple, no-nonsense, powerful.’

‘But locking ponies up in cages is no fun,’ Pinkie said.

‘Poor dears,’ Fluttershy whispered.

‘Yes, just look at them.’ Rainbow Dash gestured with her hoof.

Starlight looked at the two piles of misery in the cages. Her expression didn’t soften. If anything, it only hardened like a seashell.

Suddenly, a familiar face appeared through the bars. Rainbow Dash let out a cry in surprise and shouted, ‘Soarin!’

‘Dashie!’ Soarin shouted back, grabbing the bars of the cage. ‘Help me!’

Rainbow Dash readied herself, and frowned almost as darkly as Starlight. ‘Now you’ve gone too far.’

Starlight narrowed her eyes. Her horn glimmered dangerously bright. When Rainbow Dash shot towards her like a runner after the starting shot, she launched a bolt of magic. Dash veered around it, but had to slow down as another one was inbound. Starlight fired shot after shot, lighting up the sky with a deadly searchlight of magical energy. The caged ponies watched, holding their breaths.

Her friends came into action. They tried to get closer, but bumped their noses against an invisible wall Starlight quickly conjured. Placing their horns against it, Rarity and Twilight focused and managed to shatter it. In the meantime Applejack readied her lasso. She swung the noose into the air and then threw it at Starlight. With a quick teleportation, Starlight sidestepped it. Applejack looked defeated at the motionless rope, yet, the move hadn’t been useless. It gave Twilight an idea. When she saw Rainbow Dash distract Starlight with another aerial attack, she closed her eyes, disappeared in a flash, and reappeared above Starlight. With a WHOMP! she fell right on top of her. Before Starlight could recover or teleport away, she played her trump card. Her glowing horn touched down on Starlight’s.

Twilight used the exact same memory spell she had used to help her friends remember who they were, on the very day she battled that truly evil but highly clever mastermind Discord. Starlight Glimmer stopped struggling and froze. Everypony froze.

Slowly, Starlight’s regular color flowed back to her head. When she spoke, her voice was completely different. ‘I… I am so sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ Twilight said. She continued her spell until Starlight looked like normal again. ‘This wasn’t you.’

Rubbing her head, Starlight sat up straight. ‘Except that it was me. I have never felt more me than ever.’

‘Then your feelings are lying to you, and you shouldn’t listen to them,’ Applejack said. She and the rest approached, and stood around her. Rainbow Dash’s murderous glances softened when she noticed the despair and regret in Starlight’s eyes.

A tear appeared. ‘Maybe… maybe I’m still evil. After that terrible mistake back in the village…’

Twilight wiped away her tear, and then embraced her. ‘Yes, you have made a big mistake in the past, but you have learned from that mistake. You are better now, and you definitely wouldn’t hurt anypony ever again.’

‘So how about releasing all of these poor souls?’ Rarity said, nudging her head towards the cages.

Without a word, Starlight let the spell slip. Two mountains of ponies spread out on the deck. ‘Can you ever forgive me?’ Starlight whispered.

‘Of course we can,’ Fluttershy said. ‘But I’m not too sure about the passengers…’

But whether or not the passengers forgave her was neither clear nor important. As soon as they were freed, they galloped away as quickly as they could, leaving only a cloud of dust behind. Only Soarin went the opposite direction, and took his place besides Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her. Then all of Starlight’s friends joined in on the hug, which lasted a good five minutes. When the moment of sappiness finally ended, they all got up and let out a collective sigh.

‘Glad this madness is over,’ Twilight said, sighing extra hard. ‘Finally, the chaos has ended.’

She couldn’t have picked a better word to describe this piece of art. But unfortunately, it did bring her to an idea. Her eyes flashed around, as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. The solution came to her in one word. There was always a name attached to the term “chaos” like a chord attached to a melody.

Twilight looked around, searching. Then she took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and screamed, ‘DISCORD!’

Oops, busted!

Comments

[Diamond Sparkle]

LOL, Discord outdid himself this time.

[Ri2]

Dammit, Discord!

[Starsong Shine]

T-that was Discord?.......
All t-this was Discord?.....
Wait!... that mean all the ship was fake?......
Celestiadamnit! I knew it!
Actually, I did knew it but Sssshhhh

[Elkia Deerling]

9461180
Indeed it was. Is your mind blown? Then my work here is done, haha! I hope I didn't make you too confused and messed up your whole vision on reality. Thank you for reading, Starsong Shine, your comment made my day. (Also, nice OC! )