You know the life of Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor, but what about the life of the unwanted sister of the two? This is the story of Starry Night, the lost, forgotten, and unwanted sibling of Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight Velvet and Night Light are the proud parents of two spectacular unicorns! (One of them now an alicorn princess!) But what if there was something more to their life? Something dark.
What if the torturous, but victorious feeling of discrimination could segregate even the most joyous of families? Starry Night was born on a cold day in the middle of winter. She seemed to be perfect! Beautiful, wavy mane, beautiful blue eyes, the sweetest smile. Twilight's family is put between a rock and a hard place as they discover that their newest family member is not a unicorn, but an earth pony. A simple earth pony in the family of gifted unicorns would not do! With that, they decided to drop Starry Night on the steps of an orphanage, and never speak her name once more. Bur soon, Starry Night learns about the power of friendship as her sister does, and she soon realizes that friendship, is more important than your past.
“What a gorgeous sight you are,” Twilight Velvet cooed, her voice trailing ever so slightly as she whispered to the newborn filly.
A freshly knitted, wool quilt filled with ruffles and spiraled designs stood its place ever so importantly underneath Twilight Velvet and her newborn, keeping the fresh mother’s underbelly warm. This new foal was brought to this earth no more than three hours prior to this very moment. Neither the foal’s mother or father had gotten a good sight of her yet. Her birthing was so intense that every pony at the scene was targeted at pulling the poor, breach filly out of Twilight Velvet. The little filly made the smallest of a sound, and her mother smiled and nuzzled her gingerly with her snout.
“I just haven’t gotten a clue of what to call such a beauty that is you!” Twilight Velvet pulled her nose away from her baby and laughed sympathetically.
The newborn giggled ever so slightly as well, and for the first time, she opened her fragile, winsome eyes. Twilight Velvet’s mouth hung open slightly, and she made the smallest bit of sound that came from deep within her throat. The eyes, the sweet filly’s eyes; they were the deepest shade of blue that she had ever seen. In those elegant eyes, she could just barely see the reflection of the stars. Twilight Velvet glanced behind her: where a vast window stood, its curtains drawn so you could see up, up, up to the heavens. Just before the heavens, though, there were the stars, the very stars that reflected off the filly’s eyes.
“I think I’ve come up with an idea. How about the name: Starry Night? Isn’t that just a wonderful name!” Twilight Velvet smiled, and scanned the features of the newly named filly. Identical to her mother and sister, a line of hair covered most of her forehead, the ends of it cut perfectly straight across. Tangles and curls fell loosely over Starry Night’s shoulders in an array of beautiful colors. A majority of Starry Night’s mane was a light blue, this magnificent color was surrounded by twirls and smudges of purple and white. The colors mixed so perfectly Twilight Velvet couldn’t help but laugh and laugh silently.
Twilight Velvet had been home from the hospital for a while now, but she had almost completely forgotten that she wasn’t alone as she was at the hospital. Twilight Velvet snapped her head up, wide eyed; excited and nervous at the same time. She had a sudden flashback of herself in the middle grades: standing wide eyed, legs a jell-oey substance; readying to share a presentation with her class.
This was the exact same thing!
Showing Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor their brand new baby sister.
The family room was dim, so the baby’s delicate eyes wouldn’t burn, but the light of the stars and the few wax candles that were crackling at each corner of the wool blanket gave Twilight Velvet enough light to see where the stairs were. Twilight Sparkle, who was no more than three, and Shining Armor who was just about seven, were told to stay in their rooms upstairs until told otherwise. Twilight Velvet was going to make them wait until tomorrow to see their new sibling, but she decided against that. She wanted them both to be there for the big reveal; the revealing of Starry Night’s horn.
She took a deep breath, and called their names.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Night Light, the newborn’s father, ran as fast as he could with a bag of new library books in his magical grasp. He hadn’t seen his child yet, for he was “much too busy” picking out books at the local library such as, “Why is My Filly Crying?” and “How To: Teach Your Little Unicorn Spectacular Magic.”
His breathing was heavy and deep, trying as hard as he could to reach his home without having a heart attack. It was raining; hard, and running wasn’t particularly Night Light’s passion, in fact, he hasn’t ran this fast since the third grade on field day!
He dodged a small house on the side of the pavement, and slid harshly around a tight curve, nearly dropping his bag of books. He could finally see his home. ‘Soon,’ he thought, grinning, ‘Soon, I will meet my baby, and I’ll teach her how to use only the greatest magic in all of Equestria!’ With that, Night Light sped up the pace and didn’t stop until he reached his doorstep. His heart was pounding, from the running, and his new found excitement. He giggled happily, readying himself to see his newborn. He had been waiting for this very moment all day.
He slowly opened the door and he dropped his jaw in horror, and his bag of books fell to the floor.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Twilight Velvet had pulled back Starry Night’s thick mane for everyone to see. Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor were huddled around their sister, opposite of the door. Twilight Velvet’s eyes shrunk, and she nearly let a tear fall to the ground. Now, Night Light was standing, pale, in the doorway with eyes as wide as baseballs.
“Where is her horn, mommy?” Twilight Sparkle asked. But Twilight Velvet was speechless. She opened her mouth as if she was going to respond, but then clamped it shut again. Shining Armor’s face was scared. He knew that his father needed- wanted another unicorn foal, and when something this spectacular goes wrong, Shining Armor knew his father would have a meltdown.
Night Light’s face went from shocked, to complete anger. He charged at Starry Night, which was still being cradled by her mother, making Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor coward away, and Twilight Velvet cringe. Tears now ran down her red cheeks.
“No! I absolutely will! Get this- this atrocity out of my house this instant!” He yelled in Twilight Velvet’s face. This frightened the baby, which made her start to cry.
“No! I won’t! This is our baby we are talking about! Unicorn or not, she is our child and we will love her, just the way she is! So what if you can’t teach her magic? I’m sure she will grow up to be one of the smartest ponies in Equestria!” Twilight Velvet fought back, smiling a little at the end. She was attempting to make him see reason.
Night Light’s face glowed red, and it seemed as if he were about to scream again, that is until a petite voice piped in from below.
“Dad, give her a chance,” little Twilight Sparkle squeaked, tugging on her father’s hoof. He looked down at her. “Please!?” She squealed, eyes desperate.
He sighed. “Alright. Anything for you, Sweet Pea,” he laughed, picking Twilight Sparkle up with his two front hooves and spinning her around. “I suppose I could give her a shot.” Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief. Twilight Sparkle shot him a smug glance.
Though on the outside, Night Light was showing acceptance, on the inside he was still nastily pondering on how an earth pony would do in the presence of a unicorn's home.
Five years passed, Twilight was now eight and practicing an abundance of magic she had never attempted before. Shining Armor was twelve, and he was away at the official ‘Young Celestial Guard’s Summer Camp.’
As for Starry Night, she hadn’t even thought about picking up a book and reading it. Books brought no interest to her.
“Starry Night, why don’t you come inside and read a book with me?” Twilight Velvet softly asked, smiling. It was nearly ten at night, much too late for a small filly to be up, but Starry Night was nowhere near tired.
She looked over at her mother, which was standing patiently in the doorway of her house, still smiling. Starry Night was in the middle of her front lawn, and she had been out there ever since the sky grew dark. “No thanks, Mama. I think I’m going to stay out here for a little while longer!” Starry Night called back. She pronounced all of her ‘S’s’ like a ‘Th’ due to a small gap between her two front teeth. This caused Night Light to despise her even more, but Twilight Velvet always stood up for her child saying, ‘You can’t be perfect without your flaws!’
“Oh, but I think you’re going to like this book!” Twilight Velvet sang, taking a few steps into the grass. “It’s a book I picked out at the library today just for you! It’s about the night sky, and the stars!” Starry Night’s mother cooed, sounding much more interested than she really was.
“Wow, really!?” Starry Night shouted excitedly, almost instantaneously running up to the doorway. “Thanks, Mama!”
Twilight Velvet followed Starry Night into the house and onto the couch. The book her mother explained to her was sitting on a small table in front of the couch. Twilight Velvet lifted the book and set it down between her and Starry Night with her magic. Starry Night grinned over at her father, who was sitting in an armchair across from them reading the newspaper. He grunted and flipped the page, murmuring quietly to himself.
Starry Night ignored this and opened the book enthusiastically. She gasped and stared as if in a trance at the first page of the book. Both of the pages were filled with the night sky, and every star on it was labeled with its proper name. Twilight Velvet looked over at her and smiled. “I knew you would like it,” she said. “Would you like me to read it to you?” She asked, still looking at Starry Night. Starry Night didn’t know that there were words on the page, she just saw the stars and some squiggly lines underneath it all. She thought that that was supposed to be water. “Yes please!” Starry Night replied, putting her hooves in her lap. Twilight Velvet began.
“As you look up at the night sky, what do you see?
Millions and millions of stars that twinkle every night.
Do you ever wonder what their names are?”
“Yes!” Starry Night interrupted happily, nearly bouncing up and down with excitement. Twilight Velvet giggled.
“Can you tell me what this word is, Starry Night?” She asked, putting her hoof down on a random word on the page. Starry Night looked, but she still didn’t see any words, only squiggly water lines. The word was ‘ever,’ but Starry Night couldn’t make out any of the letters. She could see some of the words on the page, like ‘Stars,’ and ‘Night,’ but even they had mixed around letters that didn’t make since. Instead of seeing the word ‘What,’ Starry Night saw: Wbo7. None of it made a lick of sense to the poor filly.
“Um, is it the word ‘water?’” Starry Night guessed, looking up at her mother. She sighed.
“What was it?” Night Light chimed in, not looking up from the newspaper. “It was ‘Ever’,” Twilight Velvet sighed again, closing her eyes. Night Light laughed.
“She can’t even read!” He hissed, turning another page. “Starry Night, why don’t you head up to bed, we can finish the book tomorrow,” Twilight Velvet said quietly.
“Okay,” She replied, hopping off the couch and onto the stairs.
She climbed each stair with some struggle, but she soon made it up to the second floor. She could hear her parents arguing. She dropped her head and ran to her room. Normally she would have to share a room with Twilight Sparkle, but with Shining Armor away, Twilight got to sleep in his room and Starry Night got Twilight’s room all to herself. She leaped up on her bed and began to cry.
“Why am I so dumb?” She sobbed, talking to herself to try and drown out the booming voices of her arguing parents. She heard, “She can’t be our child, there is no way!” From her father. Then an, “Of course she is, and I love her!” from her mother.
Starry Night buried herself in her blankets and slowly went into a restless sleep.
**********************
She woke with a start. She felt as if she were flowing down a river; swimming. No, not swimming...she was being carried. Being carried by her sobbing mother. Starry Night felt her mother’s magical aura around her. It felt like an assuring hug. They were outside, Starry Night and her mother, and it seemed like she was running from some pony. Twilight Velvet was running at full speed with her eyes clamped shut, tears running down her face. Starry Night, who was bobbing up and down in her mother’s magical grasp, still hadn’t wiped all the sleep from her eyes, and couldn’t tell if this was a dream, or if this was really happening.
“Where are we going, Mama?” Starry Night asked, this was a test to see if this was a dream or not. Twilight Velvet opened her bloodshot eyes and stared at her foal. “Nowhere, baby, it’s going to be alright!”
She had answered her rationally, and Starry Night could feel the wind weaving through her mane. This was real, and it scared her.
After minutes of running, Twilight Velvet skidded to a halt in front of a tall, dark building. It was still night, so the whole scene was scarier to Starry Night than her mother intended it to be. Twilight Velvet dropped Starry Night carefully and hesitated before knocking three times on the wooden door of the building. This scared Starry Night, and caused her to run behind her mother’s left front hoof. An old mare opened the door and stepped outside. Starry Night could hear the laughs (and cries) of other fillies inside. The old mare smiled at Twilight Velvet. “Hello, Mrs. Velvet, what a wonderful surprise!” The old mare smiled happily. Twilight Velvet smiled sadly. “Mrs. Peach, I must ask of you a favor,” She said desperately. Mrs. Peach’s smile increased. “Oh, do you wish to read to our dear children again?” She asked. Mrs. Peach was in fact a peach color, and you could see blonde streaks through her graying mane. You could see wrinkled around her lips as she smiled. “It’s not a favor of that sort, no,” She replied. She lifted up her left hoof, revealing the scared, confused Starry Night from her hiding place.
Mrs. Peach’s smile faded. “Oh,” She whispered.
“Oh dear.”
“Is she going to take me, Mama?” Starry Night asked, tears welling up in her eyes. Twilight Velvet felt tears run down her cheeks, as well. “You won’t...you won’t have to stay here...for, for long, my dear. Soon, you can come...come home again,” Twilight Velvet managed to say behind through thick tears.
“Don’t leave me, Mama!” Starry Night shrieked, wrapping her hooves around her mother’s muzzle. “Mrs. Peach is going to take good care of you, Starry Night, I promise!” Twilight Velvet sobbed, trying to force a smile.
Mrs. Peach put a hoof on Starry Night’s shoulder and began to pull her away from her mother. “Be brave for me, my sweet baby! And remember, don’t be afraid to make mistakes, you can’t be perfect without your flaws!” Twilight Velvet cried as Mrs. Peach slowly dragged the sobbing filly into the building. Starry Night could scream out one last, “Mama!” before Mrs. Peach closed the door behind them.
Twilight Velvet stood, eyes twinkling with fresh tears, behind the barrier that separated her from her child. She could still hear Starry Night screaming ‘Mama.’ She lifted a hoof, trying to keep it together. But she couldn’t. She lifter her head to the stars and screamed as loud as she could so every pony could share her suffering. Tears flooded from her eyes. “You’ve hurt me,” Twilight Velvet said into the night, “Are you happy now?” With that, she ran away. She didn’t know where she was running, just...away.
There is nothing harder than plainly giving up something you love, and watching it happen.
Bright lights reminded Starry Night of when her mother read to her by the fireplace. Tears still streamed down her face, leaving a trail of sadness behind, but the comforting hoof of Mrs. Peach atop her shoulder left her feeling safe inside. The tall, strange building was lit up by several colorful lights, and the room that Starry Night had walked into was overflowing with ponies; small or big, boy or girl. There weren’t just unicorns, oh no! Ponies of each type peppered the room. Filly pegasi flew around the room, in a playful game of tag, and small earth ponies like Starry Night played hopscotch in the far left corner of the large room. A humongous staircase spiraled up in the center of the room, the baluster and handrail were strewn with golden lights. Two humongous candle holders, both of them gold; decorated with white floral designs, stood at each end of the stairs newel. Both of them held a beautiful candle that flickered with a magnificent flame. The room’s wallpaper matched the candle holders, and large, beautiful ceiling fans patterned the ceiling. For the first time in a long time, Starry Night forgot about all of her fears, and just took time to soak in the beautiful place she was in. She hadn’t noticed Mrs. Peach smiling down at her.
“What is the place?” Starry Night whispered in awe, taking a few steps forward. She wiped the last of her tears with her hoof and looked back at Mrs. Peach. “This is called an orphanage, sweetie,” Mrs. Peach said sweetly, in her thick English accent. “What does that mean?” Starry Night asked, tilting her head.
“It means...well...it is the home for the homeless, really. But, you can call it your dream home!” Mrs. Peach explained to the best of her ability. Starry Night nodded, and she realized, she began to feel safe when Mrs. Peach was around. It was almost like she was her new mother. Almost.
“Will my Mama ever come to get me?” Starry Night asked. Mrs. Peach began to walk forward, she walked passed Starry Night, and she had the feeling that she was supposed to follow.
“Of course she will, darling. In time, sweetie, in time.” As Mrs. Peach went further into the room, Starry Night followed, that is, until she was stopped by an obnoxious foal Pegasus.
“Say, I haven’t seen you around here, before, are you new?” He asked in a loud, nasally voice. Prior to his small talk with Starry Night, he had been playing tag with the other pegasi, so he was now exhausted, and breathing heavy. He was still flying though, barely hovering in front of Starry Night, and this impressed her.
“Yeah, I’m Starry Night,” She replied, getting incredibly embarrassed about her speech impediment. She tried as hard as she could to cover up her front teeth as she spoke, but that didn’t stop the inquisitive Pegasus from looking inside her mouth.
“You kind of talk funny, and your teeth are weird! But that’s okay! We’re all different here, nice to meet you, Starry Night!” He smiled, and put out a hoof. He had a white fur coat, just like Starry Night, and his mane was bright green, Starry Night had a liking of this color.
Just before she could shake his hoof, Mrs. peach chimed in from ahead of them.
“Nosy Parker, stop pestering our newest member!” She snapped. “Yes, Mrs. Peach,” He replied. Nosy Parker gave Starry Night a wink, and he flew off. “Where are we going, Mrs. Peach?” Starry Night asked, glancing around at the other ponies in the room. They had began to walk again, side by side.
“Well, I thought that I would show you around, so you would know where you would be staying. I’ve already thought of the perfect bunk for you!” Mrs. Peach sang with excitement. Starry Night shared her enthusiasm. She was no longer scared, after all, Mrs. Peach told her that her mother would be coming in time, and she believed her. She felt as if she were at a vacation, in a five star hotel. She didn’t really understand the concept of an orphanage, she was only a child.
Mrs. Peach stopped and pointed to a vast glass window. Starry Night peered inside. There, were dozens of rows of sleeping foals in individual cribs. These foals were not Starry Night’s age, they were newborns!
“Our first floor is where we keep the newborn foals. And, as you can plainly see, this is where the children play before bed. We let them stay up much later than usual tonight, I was feeling generous!” Mrs. Peach winked at Starry Night, who was still gazing at the foals on the other side of the glass.
“They’re cute, aren’t they?” Commented Mrs. Peach, walking up beside her. Although, Starry Night had her eyes fixed on one foal in particular. An orange filly with the prettiest colored mane she had ever seen. It was almost purple, with a dash of pink mixed in. No words could describe the color.
“What’s that one’s name?” Starry Night asked, pointing at the foal.
“Hm? Oh, her name is Scootaloo.” “She’s beautiful!” Starry Night said, pushing her nose against the glass. “Scootaloo, when you’re older, I promise we will be the bestest friends ever!” Starry Night smiled, and looked back at Mrs. Peach.
The orphanage was three stories tall, and Starry Night was shown all of it. The cafeteria, the gymnasium, the restrooms, the playground, it had everything! She was shown the second floor, which was the colt’s bunks, then she was shown the third and final floor, which were the fillies rooms.
“This is where you will be sleeping,” Mrs. Peach said, and she gestured to a door with the number 306 on the front. Excitedly, Starry Night opened the door and saw that two other foals were there already. “And these are your roommates, Cherry berry, and Shoeshine!” Both of them waved excitedly.
“Is she new here? Is she going to be our bunk-mate?!” Cherry Berry yelled, running up to Starry Night, then Mrs. Peach.
Mrs. peach nodded, giggled, then stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
“Oh my Celestia, what is your name, your mane is gorgeous, dude!” Cherry Berry yelled in a squeaky voice, stroking Starry night’s mane.
“Thanks, and I’m Starry Night!” She said, paying no mind to her lisp.
“Awesome, dude! I’m Cherry Berry, and that...that thing over there is Shoeshine!” They both giggled.
“We’re glad you’re here, Starry. We’ve been waiting for so long for another roommate,” Shoeshine added calmly. Starry Night grinned, and she went and sat by Shoeshine, who was in the middle of the room.
“Let me see that cutie mark, girl!” Cherry Berry yelled, walking over towards them. Starry Night’s face got red, and she looked back at her flank, which was, shamefully blank. She looked at her roommate’s flanks, seeing two magnificent cutie marks which made Starry Night jealous.
A pair of cherries were placed on Cherry Berry’s flank. She noticed Starry Night looking and said, “I can make smoothies better than anyone her at the orphanage!” She bragged, posing smugly.
“And I can assure you, I can clean anything and everything that comes my way! Once, I cleaned the whole third floor in two hours! It was spotless!” Shoeshine chimed in, smiling.
“What is your special talent, Starry?” She added.
“Um...I don’t..have a special talent yet,” She replied, ducking her head down.
“Well that’s just fine! You’ll get your cutie mark soon!” Cherry Berry said, patting Starry Night on the back. She yawned.
“You know, I’m getting mighty tired,” Shoeshine said, climbing up onto the bottom bunk of the bed. “I think I’m going to hit the hay. We’ll get to know each other more tomorrow, it’s going to be great! Come into bed with me, Starry. You don’t want to be on top with Cherry Berry!”
Starry Night smiled, nodded, and climbed into bed as well. Cherry Berry gave Shoeshine a dirty look, but climbed the ladder to the top bunk all the same.
“Tomorrow is going to be so fun!” Shoeshine whispered as she drifted off to sleep. Starry Night was excited, but not to meet her bunk-mates further, but to see little Scootaloo.
“Wake up, Starry Night, it’s time for breakfast!” Shoeshine sang with a large smile. Starry Night’s eyes slowly cracked open from a restless slumber, seeing a much too enthusiastic Shoeshine atop of her.
“Well come on, sleepy head! Cherry Berry is already down in the cafeteria!” She said in a squeaky voice. Starry Night, not wanting to, rolled slowly out of bed and down to the cafeteria for breakfast.
“So how old are you, Starry? Both Cherry Berry and I are twelve!” Shoeshine asked during breakfast (which was a huge pile of flapjacks drowning in sweet syrup. Starry Night didn’t even make a dent in the humongous pile of food!).
“Oh...I’m twelve, too. I think, I’m not really sure,” She lied while also trying not to lie completely. If she told them her real age, which was actually eight, she was afraid that they wouldn’t like her as much. They both nodded.
“A little small for your age,” Cherry Berry said, “But some fillies are like that, I suppose.” Cherry Berry took a bite of her pancakes, and with her mouth full, she pointed over to the glass window Starry Night had seen earlier.
“You know, Starry, a little bird told me that you had a liking for little Scootaloo,” Cherry Berry stated, she swallowed and continued, “Is that right?”
“It seems like he knows things before they come out of some pony’s mouth!” Cherry Berry nodded and looked back at Starry Night.
“Yeah...she’s just...different, that’s all,” Starry replied, “That’s why I like her!”
“I don’t see anything special about her, really,” Shoeshine muttered, stuffing her mouth with another bite of flapjacks. Cherry Berry shrugged.
“You could go over there and hold her, you know,” she said, nudging Starry Night. “Shoeshine and I do it tons of times! We just sneak into their room and hide for a bit,”
“Me? Hold Scootaloo? No way! I’m too much of a klutz. With my luck, I’ll drop her or something!” Starry Night protested, though she was tempted. Cherry Berry wasn’t going to tolerate that, though.
“Absolutely not! If you want to hold Scootaloo then go on ahead! Come on, I’ll show you. After breakfast, we have a fifteen minute break to do whatever we want. We’ll go then!” Cherry Berry said.
“Are we allowed to?” Starry Night asked.
“Eh, we’ll be fine! As long as we go behind Mrs. Peach’s back, it’ll be alright!” Cherry Berry assured with believable certainty. Although, she wasn’t too certain that they wouldn’t get caught sneaking in. Her and Shoeshine had been lucky not to.
Breakfast ended soon after the two foals had finished their conversation. Cherry Berry was ready, Starry Night...she was not as enthusiastic about sneaking in.
“Come on, Mrs. Peach is over there lecturing some pony, now is our chance to see Scootaloo!” Cherry Berry whispered. The two had been playing cards until the right time came. They were obviously close to the newborn foal’s nursery. Starry Night looked at the door. There was a lock on the handle.
“Do you know the combination?” Starry Night asked as she and Cherry Berry sprang from their prior places and shot towards the door.
“Certainly,” Cherry Berry replied. Cherry Berry had to stand on her two hind legs to reach the lock and twist the combination. She fumbled with the handle a few times, then it opened without a sound.
“The combo is ‘8862.’ I’m not sure why, but I’ve seen Mrs. Peach do it millions of times! Now come on, before some pony sees!” Cherry Berry explained. She held the door for Starry Night, who tumbled in, then joined her inside the nursery, making sure she shut the door.
The two fillies were just small enough to fit under the small gap of wall before the huge window began. They were lucky, for, if they had been any taller, they would be in seeing range.
“Do you remember which crib she was in?” Cherry Berry whispered, raising a hoof.
“She was in the front row, I remember…” Starry Night whispered back. She looked up. They couldn’t see the fillies in the cribs, they were too high up, but dangling from each one was the tip of a small tail. All Starry Night had to do was search for that beautiful raspberry color.
The first crib held a foal with an orange tail, the next, a blue tail, the third, a tail that matched what they were looking for. It was Scootaloo.
“Cherry Berry, I found her!” Starry Night whispered excitedly.
“Good job!” Cherry Berry congratulated as she walked over to the crib, “Now, get on top of my shoulders so you can reach her!” Starry Night obeyed and climbed on top of her friend. After doing so, she could see her future peer, laying there like a perfect angel.
An angel she was, too. Starry Night gingerly scooped the sleeping foal up into her front hooves and climbed off of Cherry Berry’s shoulders (Which required assistance from her) when she realized that the small foal she held in her arms was a beautiful pegasus. Starry Night gasped.
“Look, she’s opening her eyes!” Cherry Berry pointed out. She was right, the small filly’s eyes were fluttering open, and as it happened, Starry Night’s heart melted.
Her prepossessing eyes gleamed similar to that of her mane. Her orange fur felt like satin against Starry Night’s arms and hooves. She could feel the foal’s wings flutter softly from underneath her. She wished that the moment would never end. That is, until Scootaloo began to cry.
“Hush! Shush! Please stop crying!” Starry Night yelped. ‘What did I do wrong!?’ She asked herself. Starry Night was about to ask Cherry Berry for guidance, but found that she was now hidden under one of the cribs, a hoof to her mouth. Starry Night was about to ask why she was doing so, when she heard a demanding voice.
“Put that foal down, this instant! What are you doing in here, Miss. Starry Night?!” Mrs. Peach’s stern voice rang aloud from behind the scared filly.
Starry Night found that no words would escape her mouth at the moment. Mrs. Peach grabbed Scootaloo and put her back into her crib. “You are not allowed in here! Do you understand?!” Mrs. Peach asked. Before Starry could answer, Mrs. Peach grabbed her by the ear and pulled her out of the room, murmuring something about punishment. ‘She didn’t see Cherry Berry?’ Starry Night asked herself, devastated. She knew that her friend felt bad, and was desperate to apologize because as Starry was being led from the room, she could see Cherry Berry catch the door before it closed and sneaked out. She looked directly at Starry and mouthed the words, ‘I’m sorry.’
Starry Night smiled back, even though she was being dragged away by an angry mare. She didn’t care about that. She didn’t care that all of the other foal’s eyes were on her at the moment. She didn’t even care that she had been sent to an orphanage! She had just gotten to hold, and look into the eyes of Scootaloo, the filly in which she was desperate to be friends with. Even though it had just been for a moment, it was the best moment of her life. She had just met Scootaloo for the very first time, and Starry Night was not going to let it be her last!
