A Sky Full of Stars-a FalmouthVerse Side Story

by The Blue EM2

Of Steel and Starry Skies

As Sarah opened the door, two people stepped in. One of them was a man with brownish hair and greyish eyes, and was quite well built (though still smaller than one might stereotypically associate with the military, which his bag and haircut would indicate). He was dressed rather casually, suggesting he was on leave or at least temporarily off duty for whatever reason. He grinned. "Fancy seeing the artist here!" he said. "How's arranging the works of Rivera going?"

"Afternoon, Curtis," Argyle replied. "That's not really the era I'm looking at, admittedly. I'm more into the New York scene of the early 1910s as studying that is simpler than seeking out murals on walls." He paused. "But I can see I'm boring you."

"Never was the art type," Curtis admitted. "But we do have some pretty neat aviation paintings in the officer's mess at Lakenheath if ever you want to take a look."

"Thank you," Argyle said.

As Curtis stepped aside, another figure, a woman, stepped forward. She was a rather slight woman, with lightish pink skin and purple hair, yellowy eyes, and some partial braidwork at the point her hair left her scalp. Unlike the other man she was currently dressed in a boilersuit, indicating she was doing something complex and mechanical, and she carried a toolbox in one hand. She popped it down and walked over to Argyle.

"Hey Argyle!" she said, pulling him into a hug. "How's my little brother?"

"Doing fine, thanks," Argyle replied. His face looked confused. "Veronica, did you do something different with your hair?"

"I'm trialling some new dye for a friend. That's why I've got streaks of orange and red in it today," Veronica replied, by now having broken the hug. "Not so sure it works though. When the test's done I'm going back to purple."

Argyle sat down on a step. "So, what are you guys up to whilst I photograph my way across Europe?"

Curtis took something out and handed it to his little brother. "Seems my combat days are over," he said. "I've been detached to head up some sort of new unit, something about warbirds. Looks like I'll be flying old planes from now on."

"Hopefully you'll be a little safer," Argyle said.

"With nobody shooting at me that's basically guaranteed!" Curtis replied.

Curtis filtered through to talk to Brad and Sarah, leaving Argyle and Veronica alone. "So," Argyle asked, "how has the world been treating you?"

Veronica smiled. "My job's pretty steady, but I hardly imagine you want to listen to me drone on about accounting. I've been volunteering at a local heritage outfit to help them fix stuff. I'm on my way there now, actually, so if you want you can come join me if you'd like."

Argyle smiled. "That sounds fun. I'm not needed back in Bristol for a few days, so I could stay the night and help out for as long as you need."

Veronica smiled. "Then what are we waiting for? I'll just let them know where we're going."

---

Moor Road Workshop rang to the sound of machinery and people hard at work. Tools were machining equipment, and people were moving parts about and doing important maintenance work. Argyle was not a qualified engineer, although by virtue of being a railway enthusiast had a working knowledge of how all this stuff worked. At that moment in time he was busy delivering mugs of tea to people who needed refreshment from the hard work.

"So, you're Argyle, eh?" said one of them. "Nice to meet you at last. Veronica's mentioned you a few times."

"Nice to meet you too, sir," Argyle replied, placing a teacup down on a rolling tray behind them. "Careful- it's hot. Wouldn't want you to get splashed, after all."

"Of course," the man replied. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"I'm studying for a doctorate in art history," Argyle replied. "I'm considering academia for a career."

"Lovely to hear," said a woman. "We come from all walks of life. I'm a systems engineer for my day job, but spend several evening a week helping out here. If ever you find yourself up here again, know that you're always welcome to come in and help out."

Argyle nodded. "Thank you."

"Argyle?! I've got something to show you!"

"Got it!" Argyle said. "On my way." He got up and walked past several lines of engines. The workshop was mostly filled with old saddle tanks and diesel shunters in varying states of repair, all being worked on in preparation for returning to running order. Some had faces but others did not, so Argyle didn't really know what entirely was going on there.

He stopped where Veronica was, and saw something unlike the other engines stored there.

The locomotive had a tender, and very long frames containing eight driving wheels and a set of leading wheels. Two, to be precise. Safe to say, it was far bigger than anything else in the workshop.

Veronica looked over, and smiled. "Glad you made it! This is the engine I'm working on."

Argyle looked at it in surprise. "It's bigger than the others," he admitted. "And what's SDJR?" He pointed to the lettering on the tender, which was painted dark blue.

"The engine's here on a contract overhaul, as it's home railway doesn't have enough space right now to handle that level of work. The tender markings mean Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, a line that existed in the south of England. When we've finished work on it, we'll test it on the running line up to Park Halt, then send it back to the home line."

As Argyle handed a cup of tea to a worker, he found this all quite inspiring. As noted he was no professional engineer himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to learn the basics.

Someday, he would find or acquire an engine of his own and restore it to working order. Or at least that was a pipe dream. No point in planning that far ahead.

---

A few days later, Goldie was looking out of the window of her apartment, when she thought of something. Argyle had told her he lived alone, which must have been quite lonely at times. So, she had an idea. Picking up her phone, she quickly fired off a text to him. Fancy doing something tonight? I know of a restaurant that I think you'd like.

A response came back a little bit later. Sounds great. I'll need to collect my telescope though.

After getting herself ready for the evening, Goldie met Argyle outside the Wandering Dwarf tavern and restaurant. Things went pretty well, all things considered, with the pair sharing a nice meal and good conversation. Argyle even covered the bill, which caught Goldie by surprise.

"I'd have been happy to split the bill," she said.

Argyle smiled. "Seeing as you paid for my food in Dresden, it's only fair I return the favour."

Later on, the pair decamped to a hill somewhere outside the city (which they reached with the help of one of Argyle's friends who owned a pickup truck). Once set up, Argyle positioned himself behind the lense and adjusted the settings.

"And that up there is the North Star," he said to himself. "Navigate that way and you've got the Plough."

"Plough?" Goldie asked.

"Big Dipper in the United States," Argyle clarified. He smiled as he looked up. "And we're in luck. See that chain of light running across the sky?"

"The one right there?" Goldie asked.

"That one indeed," Argyle replied. "You're looking at the Milky Way, our own galaxy. Just one of thousands of galaxies out there in the universe stretching outwards into infinity. Certainly makes you think. Thousands of planets, thousands of stars, thousands of galaxies, an infinite stretch of space beckoning to us as we look backwards in time. And yet here we are, looking upon it all. Certainly makes you think, doesn't it?"

"I've never seen the stars so clearly before," Goldie said. "Back in Rhode Island the light pollution was pretty bad, so seeing stars was very hard."

"We're a fair way from Bristol here," Argyle said. "I've been hoping when I get a permanent home, it'll be somewhere near the sea. That way on a clear night I could look out to the skies and stargaze without light from cities."

"It's certainly stunning," Goldie smiled. "Thank you for introducing me to all this."

Argyle smiled. "You're one of the few people I know who hasn't made fun of me for my hobbies. I know I'm a bit eccentric and a bit of a dork, but you understand me for who I am. I'm glad to have you as a friend."

"And you appreciate me for who I am," Goldie replied. "So, likewise, I'm glad to have you as a friend."

Of course, neither of them had any clue that, in time, the friendship would blossom into something so much more.

Author's Note:

Well, more backstory and more characters connected to the Starshines! Although we know a fair bit about Sunny and Argyle, the show hasn't really delved into the story of his family, so I decided to introduce his two older siblings as characters.

Curtis is Argyle's older brother. His name is derived from Curtiss-Wright, an aircraft manufacturer best known for making the Hawk range of fighter aircraft.

The other character is Veronica. As many of you will recall, the introduction of Sunny's mother in Written in the Starscouts caused a massive stir in the fandom. Personally, I wasn't hugely happy with the fact such an important bit of lore was revealed in a five minute episode (and the fact the character doesn't really have a defined personality or even a name really didn't help). Of course, incorporating the character into my own writing without producing an enormous continuity snarl would not be an easy job, and given that Thomlight had given me permission to use one of his characters in my work it would be an insult to him to stop using Goldie (a character who predates Written in the Starscouts by at least two years). As a result, the solution was to recast the character as Argyle's sister rather than his wife.

Her appearance in the story is a tweaked version of the character model from Tell your Tale, as the jewellery has been removed and the mane adjusted to better suit a human form. Additionally, I made the decision to make the orange and yellow streaks temporary additions as, in my opinion, the mane looks ridiculous with them in. The name Veronica was also selected to differentiate her from the pony shown in TYT, whom the fanbase has taken to calling Stella.

Curtis' outfit is based on the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a branch of the RAF that operates vintage aircraft as a flying memorial to the fallen of the Battle of Britain. The flight is a common sight at commemorative events and airshows, usually consisting of two fighters and an Avro Lancaster as a command and control aircraft.

The Middleton Railway is the oldest continually operating railway in the world, having opened in 1758 to service numerous coal mines around Leeds. The line was also the location of the first viable freight locomotive, built in 1812, and today is a thriving heritage operation dedicated to preserving industrial heritage of northern England. Brookes No. 1 (the basis for the character of Brookes in my own writing) is based here, and regularly runs on steaming days.

Comments

[shining paladin]

the polish 303 squadron made its mark during the Battle of Britain unfortunately history was not kind to them they gave us their blood and this is how they were repaid with no home to return to it's the greatest betrayal and injustice in history

[shining paladin]

awesome chapter mate keep it up can't wait for the next chapter

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

As always. Stellar job!

I really like the direction you took with Veronica on here! And Curtis sounds like an amazing guy!

And that ending bit with Argyle and Goldie star gazing gave me vibes to Doc and Clara doing it in Back to the Future Part III

What engine was Veronica working on exactly?

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

"Lovely to hear," said a woman. "We come from all walks of life. I'm a systems engineer for my day job, but spend several evening a week helping out here. If ever you find yourself up here again, know that you're always welcome to come in and help out."

several evenings a week*

"Big Dipper in the United States," Argyle clarified. He smiled as he looked up. "And we're in luck. See that chain of light running across the sky?"

Huh.

The other character is Veronica. As many of you will recall, the introduction of Sunny's mother in Written in the Starscouts caused a massive stir in the fandom. Personally, I wasn't hugely happy with the fact such an important bit of lore was revealed in a five minute episode (and the fact the character doesn't really have a defined personality or even a name really didn't help). Of course, incorporating the character into my own writing without producing an enormous continuity snarl would not be an easy job, and given that Thomlight had given me permission to use one of his characters in my work it would be an insult to him to stop using Goldie (a character who predates Written in the Starscouts by at least two years). As a result, the solution was to recast the character as Argyle's sister rather than his wife.

I feel the same regarding the show not telling us her name or even any lore to answer questions we have. Thx Hasbro.

[The Blue EM2]

11963513
Hurricane pilots, if I recall correctly.

[The Blue EM2]

11963515
Glad you liked.

[The Blue EM2]

11963576
Good pun, given that part of the chapter is about stargazing and the ongoing astral theme in the character's names.

Considering how little TYT gives us to work with regarding a certain pony, developing a concrete character for Veronica was a priority; as you know one-note characters don't really appeal to me. However, I did think it fitting to keep the thirst for knowledge aspect of her character; a family trait, it seems.

I'll admit I haven't seen that film. I took inspiration from an episode of Dr. Who, where a character goes stargazing with her grandfather (played by the late, great Bernard Cribbins).

That's setup for a future story, so it shall be a secret.

[The Blue EM2]

11963611
1. That's a dialect.

2. Argyle does need to translate somewhat, given Goldie would have learned the American names.

3. Likewise. It would have made far more sense to introduce her in Make your Mark, or better yet have her be there from the beginning.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11963644
True there.

I am no fan of 1 dimension characters either. In fact, I'm currently working on 3 new OCs but I'm trying to work out what else fits to them other the main thing.

Oh really? I would've thought you has check it out for Serria No. 3

Nice. I look forward to it.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

11963645
agreed, though personally, I prefer Goldie over her seeing you've done so much with her since the beginning.

[The Blue EM2]

11963648
I found myself doing the same with my original TTTE characters; giving Charles some depth, for example.

I know that scene, but I still need to get round to it.

Yup. I shall notify you when that happens.

[The Blue EM2]

11963655
Thanks. It's been such great fun to develop her as a character; going from a somewhat one-dimensional figure to a fully fleshed individual with agency and personality.

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

11963660
I once had a bad habit of making 1 Dimension characters in the past, or sometimes someone told me to do it. But now, all new characters must have a 3 Dimension to them. And some of those 1 Dimension characters I made have been put into storage until further notice.

Sure, and I'm making an HO model of that engine with its configuration in the movie too.

Good, good.

[The Blue EM2]

11963691
I've shuffled a lot of my characters around until I'm satisfied with them.