Amareican Glimmer

by Mocha Star

Fading Power

Turning off the main road, Alex drove slightly faster following Amy’s directions. Starlight lifted her phone and spun it while letting it orbit her head while she giggled giddily until they stopped at a small park near the river. He’d never really noticed how overgrown the river area was and how it could be that there could be a small tent city between the edge of the brush and trees and the river bank, hidden from sight.

Playing with her magic, the mare slightly lifted Amy from her seat and created a small cloud that dissipated almost immediately in the back seat of the car, raising the humidity to the point the back windows fogged slightly. Stopping the car in a park's parking lot, Alex barely had time to unlock the doors before Starlight was in action.

Starlight hopped from the car after opening the door with her magic and pocketed the phone and stylus. She began to lift herself off the ground when her horn glowed brightly for a second, then fizzled out and her joyous mood went with it. Her eyes seemed to sink in again, her coat dulled slightly, and her energy returned to what it was before. “What… what happened?”

Alex and Amy got out of the car and shrugged. “I don’t know, but maybe you used all the magic during the ride here.”

“Touch me again!” Starlight demanded and rushed to Alex, pressing her side to his leg and using her weak magic to pull at his fingers. He touched her head and her eyes widened, but nothing happened. “Shake my hoof!” She commanded and he knelt down to shake her hoof again, with no change. “Fuck!” Starlight screamed and her horn gave out some weak sparkles as she aimed it at a nearby tree.

“Glimmy,” Amy started, “maybe it was just a fluke. A random chance that-”

Starlight snapped at her friend. “No! He touched me and I got my magic back. I’ve heard of it happening before, but I’ve never experienced it. We have to recreate the event, we have to! I could feel everything like I was back home, I could sense myself in ways I had forgotten about. There has to be an answer in him, and I’m going to figure it out, even if it takes me the rest of my life.”

Alex stood and took a step back from the nearly crazed unicorn. “Um, maybe I should just get your information and catch up with you later, Amy.”

“I don’t have a phone, only Starlight does, through that government phone program.”

Starlight took her phone out and barely caught it as it slipped from her magical grip. She swiped and tapped with the stylus, then Alex’s phone buzzed in his pocket. “I messaged you, you have my number now, so we can stay in touch. Whatever happens don’t hurt yourself, okay? I can’t experiment with…” she gasped and her already large eyes widened. “Humans do have magic! That has to be it. But, not all of them…” she began pacing in a circle and muttering to herself.

Alex and Amy went to the trunk and got their bags and watched Starlight work through stuff for almost a minute before Alex began walking to the light woods that began to the banks of the river. “Well, Amy, can I see where you live?”

Amy nodded and hurried to Starlight. “C’mon, we’re home and you can think in your tent.”

Starlight stopped pacing and nodded before trotting ahead of the two deeper into the brush and trees. Alex followed Amy’s lead once Starlight had left them in the proverbial dust. “So, does she do this often, or is it only because of me?”

Amy shrugged. “I’ve never seen her with so much energy, so I think it’s only because of you. I just hope you don’t let her down, she’s been through so much over the past year. She hasn’t said it, but I think I can trust you not to mention it, right?”

“Mention what?”

Amy shook her head. “She had sex with a human once. She told me that it was only because she was in the worst throes of her time of the year and some random asshole took advantage of her. She’s vague on the details and I’m not going to ask.”

“I’m not encouraging you to ask, I’d just like to know who it was so I can find them and… I dunno, put the word out that they’re scum, maybe.” Alex looked askance at Amy, who was giving him another approving smile.

“You’re a good guy, aren’t you?”

“I try to be, but even I fall short sometimes,” he said calmly as they stepped over a log. “How deep does this go?”

“We’re almost there. We have a camp set up with some other guys just inside the foliage enough to stay hidden from prying eyes, not that we’re doing anything bad… but the cops like to harass us when they find us; if they come looking, that is.”

“Sounds rough, too rough. Hopefully by next week you’ll have a home and a friend you can count on,” Alex said. He saw the top of a short tent with a unicorn in front of it a few seconds after he stopped speaking and then made a direct line to Starlight. “So, this is casa Glimmy?”

Starlight frowned. “You don’t get to call me that, not yet, anyway. You’re a mystery I have to solve to get home. To get all of us home.”

“Now, wait a second, there.” Alex stepped back as Amy walked past him and to her tent that was facing opposite Starlight’s. “A lot of ponies have started lives here on earth. Some have families, a lot more have foals that are growing up only understanding life here. You can’t seriously take every single pony back without their say so, can you?”

Starlight opened her mouth to rebut his claim, then she closed her mouth and frowned, looking down. Alex noticed a very clear area around her tent that wasn’t packed down. He figured she’d eaten it, but didn’t dwell on the thought long. Starlight sighed. “You’re right, but if I can go home, I’m not going to wait for some census or vote to happen. I’ll go home and get ready to take anyone with me that wants to come, too, when I come back. Twilight and Discord can surely make a portal that’ll allow us to transverse the space between our realities, after all.”

“Right,” Alex said, stepping back towards Amy, who was going into her tent with all the dollar store supplies the two had purchased. “So, can I see what you’re hoarding in there, or should I just,” he asked Amy as he motioned with his thumb over his shoulder.

“You can peek, but that’s all. It’s mostly stuff we need to survive. We can’t have too much if we get evicted and have to move down the river some, after all.” Amy said and stepped out of her tent, arms free. She rubbed her forearm while Alex peeked inside. There were two sleeping bags and a small blow up mattress for bedding, a couple battery powered light sources, and a closed suitcase.

“Living the dream,” he said quietly. He pulled out of the tent and rubbed his arm where Amy had punched him. “Ouch, but I deserved that.”

“Wanna see mine?” Starlight asked. Alex nodded and waited for Starlight to unzip the doorway before he moved to look in. He yelped as he was shoved from behind into the tent.

“Starlight!”

“Just wait out there, Amy,” Starlight shouted as she hopped in and zipped the flap half closed. She turned on Alex and moved until her muzzle was too close to his nose. “I will figure out what happened with or without your help, so don’t get in my way or try to hide, because I’ll find you, even if you gallop away into the wind. Do I make myself clear?!”

Alex noticed she had actually walked onto him and was pressing her forehooves into his belly. He nodded. “Y-yeah, I was gonna help you, regardless. You didn’t need to threaten me.”

Starlight glared at him, then hopped back and pointed to the flap. “Get out, human.”

Alex glanced around but didn’t see anything of note besides a sleeping bag and a small suitcase with some fabric hanging out of it. He got up and moved to the door and opened it. “I hope we can be friends.”

Starlight’s upper lip twitched as she pointed again with a forehoof, but didn’t say anything. He left and nearly bumped into Amy. “I’m sorry about her, I think getting her magic back for a few minutes did something to her.”

“I can imagine it being like being thrown into their world and suddenly getting a phone signal after a few years. Hope can be a great and terrible thing.” Alex said as he looked at the pink mare in the tent. All he could see was her cutie mark and tail, but he didn’t want anything to do with her at the moment.

“You’re really philosophical, you know that?”

“Kinda, I just say what comes to me most of the time. But, I’ve gotta get home and make a couple calls, so…” he started to walk back towards his car.

“Will we really hear from you again?” Amy asked as he walked away.

“I’m a man of my word, you can trust me. I’ll get in touch once I know something, even if it’s nothing.”

---

It had been a long two days, but Alex finally picked up his phone and smiled as he typed in Starlight’s number. It rang three times before she picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey, this is Alex, remember me?” He foolishly asked.

“Yeah, that’s what came up when you called,” Starlight snarked.

“Yeah, um, so, I talked to people and they need to meet you as soon as possible; they can get you an apartment by the end of the week, if not sooner, because you’re homeless living out in the wilds. My landlord is still against it, but once he changes a couple things in the apartment, you’ll be ready to move in.

“His hands are tied on this so he can’t legally say no, and we’re pushing for him to install a pony friendly toilet, which humans can use, too, but-”

“I know how the toilets work,” Starlight interrupted. “Can we… see the apartment? Or, do we have to meet the people first.”

“You have to meet the people first and answer some questions, then they’ll get you a key to the place. The only thing holding up the process right now is you,” Alex said with a little smile in his voice.

Starlight’s line went quiet for almost a minute before Amy’s voice came in the background. The females talked animatedly for a little bit, then Starlight spoke again. “Okay, where do we have to go? We’ll get there as soon as possible.”

“Do you want a ride? I can pick you up and take you right there.”

There was more excited talking before Amy’s voice clearly came across as a sharp ‘yes’ before Starlight hushed her. “Yes, that would be appreciated. Would you come by in about ten minutes so we can freshen up as much as we can?”

“Make it half an hour,” Amy’s voice came across the speaker.

“Half an hour it is,” Alex said. “Don’t make me wait,” he joked and hung up. He was grinning and began to mentally prepare himself for anything that might happen over the next couple hours. He knew that the county was great at helping people, now he would see how they handled ponies in the same boat he was in no more than a couple years prior.

“Maybe by the end of the day I’ll have new neighbors,” Alex said to himself as he slipped on some comfortable shoes. He grabbed a shopping bag and slipped some apples in, then some water bottles, finally he tied it closed and set it on his table before returning to his couch. Setting an alarm on his phone, he planned to take a twenty minute nap, but was too excited.

Finally, after putzing around for twenty minutes the alarm went off and he grabbed his bag, made his way to his car, and went to pick up the girls. They climbed into the car and Starlight stared out of the window as they drove. “So, is it far?” Amy asked, now wearing some makeup, a nicer pair of pants, and a comfortable looking shirt.

“No, only about a mile, but I’m bad at describing places without landmarks, and I don’t know how much you know about the area… so I’m just driving you to save time, I guess.”

“Well, thank you for this, Alex,” Amy said. Starlight rolled her eyes when the woman bumped her forearm against his, knowing physical contact was a sign of affection between humans.

“You’re welcome,” Alex replied. “Anything for a potential friend.”

“After this, if we get the apartment, I’ll be your best friend.”

Alex chuckled. “I could use one of those, but I promise nothing but friendship in return. Consider me one of the girls, if you want.”

Starlight giggled for the first time that day. “But, you’re a man. You can’t be one of the girls.”

“Why not? The only difference between us, really, isn’t worth mentioning, but I could use a couple platonic girlfriends to hang with.” The females were quiet as they contemplated his position, but before they could comment he pulled into a parking lot in front of a nice looking single story building. “Here we are. You’re meeting with Shalamar, a nice woman that’ll be helping you get the apartment.”

“What kind of name is that?” Amy asked.

“Hers. C’mon, let’s not keep her waiting since she cleared her schedule to meet you. She’s new on the job and she’s never helped a pony before, regardless of how much she’s wanted to. I’ll lead you in and you can take it from there. I don’t need to be a part of your application process.”

They all entered the building and Alex went to the reception desk to check them in. A little girl wearing a hijab stopped playing and stared at Starlight until the girl’s mother began talking to her in arabic. The girl nodded every so often and went back to playing in the corner, glancing at the pony every time she could without her mother noticing.

“Okay, I’ll be in the car listening to music. Give me a call when you’re done, okay?”

“Alex… thank you for trying,” Starlight said and then moved close to him. He knelt down and gave her a hug.

Her horn sparked and glowed a little and she smiled. She giggled and crossed her eyes to look up at her horn, then let it die. “Friendship is magic, I guess.”

“So, you admit we’re friends?”

Starlight shrugged. "We'll see, but I wouldn't put money on us being besties anytime soon."

"I'll take what I can get," Alex said with a smile.

Comments

[HumanSVD]

Oophf, Starlight on earth with little magic? This will be interesting. Hopefully, she will learn to cope.

[Mocha Star]

11570769
It gets deeper in the next couple chapters. Thanks for reading!

[Olden Bronie]

So it is true…Friendship is the magic that binds us and joins us together. I like how this is going!

[Mocha Star]

11570833
Too a point. It has to go both ways. Starlight isn't known for her accepting nature.

[uis]

Starlight Glimmare

Upd: thanks for downvote, that was very smart of you.