Stargazing

by explodingdagger

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 5671

Star Dreamer has known Twilight Sparkle for years, but are they more than just friends?

Star Dreamer and Twilight Sparkle never used to be kind of ponies to have friends, but they've always had each other. As adults, they find that their friendship is the most important thing to happen to either of them.

Published 2012-03-05 01:34:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-20 22:37:29 UTC

Reading

Chapter 1 - Reading

I moved to Canterlot a few months after my mother had died. I would say I missed her, but to be honest I didn’t really remember her much. She was always away on some business trip or other. I can’t say the same for my father though. I remember wanting to burst into his office every time I heard him crying through the walls, to tell him that he still had me, and feeling a crippling sense of worthlessness when I realised I had no idea how. I’ve never been very good with sentimentality.

Ironically, the loss of my father’s greatest source of happiness meant the boom of his greatest source of pride – his business. Turned out my mother wasn’t as good at being an executive as she was at being a wife. Soon enough, my father had garnered enough money to secure a deposit on a house in the heart of Equestria.

Honestly, I couldn’t care less. I was only a colt, and the status as a Canterlot resident was wasted on me. My father was torn between excitement and sorrow. Everypony (that is, everypony in his business) told him that this was a fantastic opportunity and that it was time to get over his wife. If I saw any of them today, you’d have to try hard to stop me from tearing them to shreds. Even if I couldn’t really remember my mother, I knew that she meant a lot to my father and our old home had a lot of sentimental value. The fact that, if we moved, the house would be knocked down and the land would be sold off, just made matters worse.

However, the prospects of success and wealth beckoned, and 2 weeks later, we found ourselves in the bustling city of Canterlot.

And that’s where I met her.

The first day of school was exciting for me. I’d always enjoyed learning. When my father found me leafing through his old astronomy textbook, he was certainly surprised. What surprised him even more was me asking if he had any more books like this. Learning felt more like a hobby than a chore to me, and my old school had been fun, so I was certainly looking forward to this one.

Still, I was apprehensive. While school was great learning asset, what about the social aspects? It wasn’t that I didn’t want friends, more that I didn’t know how to get them. I’d always had my nose too far into a book to develop any social skills. That, and nopony seemed to get along with me. My old town wasn’t exactly the friendliest of places, and most ponies in the town were more interested in sports than books. Being academically oriented didn’t exactly help me to fit in.

Most days I would just visit the library or gaze at the stars rather than socialising. I’d always liked to watch the stars. It gave me a serene feeling, like nothing else mattered. There was just me, a telescope and the night sky. It’s part of what made reading so enjoyable, since most of the books I read were on astronomy and science-fiction. Still, I always felt a lingering sense of social pressure at the back of my head, telling me I was wasting my time and I should go and make some friends rather than be cooped up in my bedroom all day.

In the end, I decided to put that at the back of my mind. I enjoyed learning, and I didn’t want myself to worry about the baggage that might come with it. I wandered into the classroom with the rest of the fillies and colts and took a seat.

The collection of foals was eclectic to say the least. There were ponies of all races and colours, manes of all shapes and sizes and personalities of all kinds. One even had his cutie mark. However, there was one filly who caught my eye. She had a purple coat and a dark blue mane and tail, both with streaks of pink and purple running through them. Multicoloured manes weren’t common, but that wasn’t what caught my eye.

She had her head buried in a book.

That certainly wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t know much about the area, but from what I’d gathered, reading wasn’t exactly popular among foals. Curiosity got the best of me and, trying my best to appear idle, I carefully leaned toward her desk, trying to catch a glimpse of the title. I edged closer and closer, until finally my goal was within reach. Mod-

“You know, you could just ask.”

The voice took me off-guard. Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I turned to see the filly looking at me, raising a quizzical eyebrow.

“Sorry, I just… I didn’t want to be… invasive,” I replied nervously.

She rolled her eyes, and levitated the book over to my desk. “Here.”

I suppressed a gasp when I read the name. Modern Spellcasting. On one of my daily visits to the library in my old town, I had absent-mindedly pulled this book of the shelves, and was met with a barrage of confusing words and complex diagrams. I asked the librarian, and she told me it was an advanced magic guide, one that laid the foundations for unicorn magic for centuries to come. It was the kind of book that would be used to train gifted magicians, and certainly not the kind that I’d expect to be read by a foal, although it did explain how she was already able to use magic at such a young age.

Before I could contemplate the situation any more, the filly had already levitated the book back to her desk.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get back to my book.”

Minutes passed and the surprise still hadn’t subsided. Scratching my head nervously, I decided to try and alleviate the awkward tension.

“So… you’re interested in magic?”

She nodded half-heartedly, still fixing her eyes upon the book. She seemed very apathetic towards me, although I can’t say I blamed her. I would’ve acted the same way if I’d been in her situation.

“I’m studying,” she said. “One day I want to attend Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns”

“I see… it’s just that, uh… that’s a very advanced text you’re reading.”

“Thank you.” She smiled proudly. “I need to work as hard as I can if I want to study magic, and if this is what it takes, I’m ready and willing.”

“Well, it’s certainly admirable.”

“So, you’re a new student here?” she asked, still mostly concentrated on her book. I knew she was just making small talk to try and appease me, but I answered nonetheless.

“Yes, I just moved here from Hoofington. If you don’t mind me asking, how is the school?”

She pondered the thought for a while. “Well, I’ve always enjoyed it, although not everypony does. I suppose it’s just because I like finding out new things. Most don’t.”

“Well, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one.”

“Oh?” Her ears perked up. “You enjoy learning too?”

I nodded. “I’ve been reading my Dad’s old astronomy books since before I even went to school.”

She was certainly interested now. “An astronomer, how fascinating! Have you read the Astronomical Astronomer’s Almanac to All Things Astronomy?”

“Have I?” I replied excitedly. “I know that book like the back of my hoof! I always keep a copy on me.”

It was true. It was the first book my father had given to me when I asked for other astronomy books I could read. He was by no means an astronomer, but he’d taken up stargazing as a hobby when he was younger, and it seemed I had taken after him.

I pulled the heavy tome out of my saddlebag and plopped it on the desk. The filly’s eyes lit up, gaping at the book.

“Is this a first edition copy?” she asked inquisitively.

“Yep. My Dad bought it from an antique bookstore decades ago.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you could even get this anymore.”

I turned to see her fidgeting with her hooves.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s just… can I borrow it?”

I was caught off guard again. “Um…”

“It’s just that my parents told me this copy has information about the correlations between astronomy and magic, and I’m sure it would be useful for my studies. I’ve been trying to get a hold of this copy for years but I’ve never been able to find it. Please?”

“That’s fine, I gue-“

Before I could even finish the sentence, she was levitating the book over to her desk and clapping her hooves together, beaming.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” she said, grinning. “I’ll be sure to get it back to you as soon as possible.”

I smiled warmly, even feeling my cheeks redden a little. I didn’t get gratitude a lot, so this was a nice change.

“Oh, I forgot ask, what’s your name?”

Once again, the filly had caught me off guard. I really needed to get more used to conversation.

“Star Dreamer. And yours?”

“Twilight Sparkle.”

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at any "published" creative writing, and I think it went quite well. I realise there isn't much content in this chapter, but I'm using it to build a premise. I'm trying to make this relationship as realistic as possible rather than jump into romance straight away. I'm not even sure if this will even turn into proper romance, there are thousands of ways I could take this story. Hopefully I'll be uploading these on a semi-regular basis, so stay tuned for more.

Friendship

Chapter 2 - Friendship

"Can you pass the salt?"

"Dad, you know you can just use magic.”

“You know why I won’t.”

“Dad, I know you don’t like it, but she’s gon-”

“Just do it,” he growled.

I sighed, silently passing him the shaker. I suppose I should explain. My mother had been brought up an earth pony through and through, and felt embarrassed and helpless that she couldn’t manage some of the things my father could with magic. When she passed away, my father felt guilty whenever he used his horn, to the point where he stopped using it altogether. It’d been 5 months since she passed away, and I was hoping that he would’ve improved, but nothing had changed. Sometimes I could hear him crying, but when I tried to talk to him he hid it away. Sometimes he didn’t even bother hiding it.

On top of that, there was his job. Canterlot had tired him out. Since we moved here, business had been at its peak, and he had to rush to keep up. Every day he was at another meeting or talking to another client. It wasn’t good for his health, especially in his state, but he kept working regardless. He tried to hide it, but I knew he was tired.

I hated seeing him like that. I hated not being able to even begin to comprehend what this was like for him, and how he must’ve been feeling. I hated that he couldn’t tell me. But I couldn’t do a thing. I knew that well enough. I hated it, too.

And every night we would sit at a lonely table in a lonely dining room, both silently aware that there was another chair, unoccupied. But we’d pass it off with meaningless small talk. “How was your day? How’s school? Have you met any friends?” I tried my best to answer them, tiptoeing around the elephant in the room even though I didn’t want to. Annoyingly enough, I did want to talk about my personal life, because after meeting a friend, I actually had something to talk about.

Twilight didn’t seem like the kind of pony to get close to someone at first. Even when she wanted to talk she seemed detached, more interested in the topic at hand than the pony she was talking to. The bulk of our conversations were on academic subjects, and even then we didn’t talk all that much. She would ask about a star cluster or the name of a constellation and I’d reply as best I could, trying my best not to fumble my words. The rest of the time she would remain deep in a book, shutting out the rest of the world. Despite her aloofness, I could still admire that about her. While I would spend my time worrying about what I should do and where my life was taking me, she didn’t care. She knew what she wanted to do and wasn’t going to let anything stop her.

As time went on, I grew to enjoy my time with her more and more. She opened up, so to speak. She was infinitely curious, unendingly fascinated by the world around her, and made it her duty to learn something new each day. Even when doing something as passive as walking down the street, she would eye anything she could see, wanting to know what it was, what it did, where it came from. If she had anything, it was an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Any free time she had, she spent scouring a book for an interesting fact, a new spell, anything she could get her hooves on. She would talk about anything and everything from the anatomy of an alicorn to the proper method of spellcasting. Our conversations were a little one-sided, but honestly I didn’t mind. I’ve never been a good communicator, so the role of listener fitted me.

Eventually, we settled into a routine. Each day after school, we would stay outside in a quiet corner of the playground (our teacher always kept it open for the students after hours), away from the rest of the foals chatting or playing on swings, and we would read for hours on end, occasionally striking up a conversation while we did so. We didn’t talk all that much, but we didn’t need to. We were happy with what we were doing.

The best days were the ones where she showed me her magic. Twilight was talented beyond her years, the definition of precociousness, and getting to see a young filly be able to perform such feats was a treat. Plus, it was here that she let her playful, creative side show. She would levitate stones, tie strings together, bend the shapes of twigs. One time she even managed to make a bush talk. Despite her obvious skill, she was always far too humble for her own good, never asking for recognition or appraisal. I think I even saw her blush a few times. She would say, “I’m only ever as good as the books,” which I guess made sense. It made me want to go out and learn as much as she did.

So I did. Or, at least tried to. Luckily, our school library had a vast collection of books, which Twilight helped me sift through. Each night, I’d come home with a saddlebag full of astronomy textbooks, encyclopedias and star charts. My Dad got a little suspicious when I said my saddlebag was so stuffed for research, but he passed it off as nothing. I poured my time into my studies, and when night came I’d gaze up at the sky for hours. I was still nowhere near Twilight’s standards, but it was a start. She seemed happy that I was studying harder, too.

Although, I didn’t get to say any of this that night, because before I small talk even began, there was a knock on the door. I went to answer, to be greeted by Twilight clad in a wizard cape and hat.

“Come with me," she said with a wink. "We’re going on an adventure!”

Author's Note: *sigh*

So, after a whole month of schoolwork, other dedications, missed deadlines, writer's block, multiple rewrites and a big hunk of self-deprecation, I've finally got this chapter in a semi-satisfying state, and with only a measly 1000+ words to show for it. It would benefit from extra editing, better segues between sections and a little more content but I really just want to get this out before the time difference between chapters goes any more over a month. At least I like the ending a lot. Hopefully I'll be able to get chapters out more regularly. Many apologies for the long wait.

Adventure!

Chapter 3 - Adventure!

“Are you sure you don’t have any costumes you can wear?”

“Yep.”

Twilight sighed, sagging onto the wall, the brim of her oversized wizard hat just drooping over eyes. “Well that’s no good. How can we go on a quest if we don’t have the right armour!”

“Twilight, have you been playing those role-playing games again?”

“Maybe...”

“You do know they're fictional, right?”

“Oh, but they're fascinating! For example, in one campaign, and my character is an griffon paladin by the way, our party was being attacked by a group of zebra bandits, but it turns out, one of them was a actually a powerful mage in disguise, and together we vanqui-”

“Twilight.”

“Huh?”

“You’re rambling.”

“Oh...” she chuckled nervously. “Sorry.”

“Anyway, if we’re supposed to be wearing proper armour, why do you only have wizard robes?”

Twilight scoffed. “These archmage robes are resistant to fire magic, thank you very much.”

“I very much doubt somepony will be using fire magic on us.”

“Hmph. We’ll see who’s laughing when a fire demon comes and burns you to a crisp.”

“Twilight? Fictional, remember?”

Twilight waved that suggestion off. “You have no sense of fun. The point is, you’ll need some protection. You can borrow my hat for now," she said, levitating one half of her wizard ensemble onto my head.

“Thank you. I guess.” I sighed, resigning myself to Twilight’s roleplaying antics.

“So anyway,” I said. “What’s this 'quest' about?”

“Well, we’ve been spending most of our time in the playground so far, correct?” she said, taking a stance like an army general, in spite of her wizardly exterior. I nodded passively. “Well, the King has written to me regarding the playground’s destruction, and it seems we have no other choice but to find a new place.”

“So by 'King' you mean our teacher and by 'destruction' you mean closing after hours, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well... why?”

“It was attacked by the ruthless armies of ‘Part-time Job’, from the far-off land of ‘Other Commitments’. He tried to fight back, but alas, it was impossible.” She feigned a melodramatic death and collapsed upon the bed, a forlorn expression on her face.

“You’re really not doing a very good job of these metaphors.”

Twilight pouted. “Hey, at least I’m trying. You, sir,” she said, pointing accusingly at me. “Are not doing me any favours.”

“Oh, alright,” I sighed, deciding that indulging her was the only viable course of action. “So then, ‘archmage’, where shall we go on this quest.”

Twilight leaped up off the bed and grabbed a large scroll out of her saddle bag, unrolling it to reveal a crumpled but surprisingly detailed map of Canterlot. Around our school there was a large pencilled-on circle, with a crudely-drawn red line marking out a pathway through the area.

“I’ve mapped out the most efficient route for us to take,” she barked, returning to a commanding turn of voice. “We’ll survey various locations within a mile radius of the school and see which one is the most appropriate for us."

Chuckling, I said, “And here I thought you were being spontaneous.”

“You should know me better by now,” she said, more confidently than self-deprecatingly.

“I guess,” I said, sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time.

A stern expression on her face, she said, “Now, this is an important mission, and I won’t lie, it may be dangerous, but-”

“Twili-?”

“No interruptions! We must succeed, to prevent ourselves from not having a place to read!”

“But-”

“Silence, peon!” she commanded. “My word is final!”

I let a few seconds pass before chirping up again. “Can I say something now?”

“Oh, fine...” Twilight groaned, dissatisfied but thankfully a lot calmer than before.

“Thank you. Now, are you sure about this? I mean, can’t we just choose a place we already know?”

“Well, I thought it over and I think the best course of action is to look at all of our options before deciding. Who knows, there could be somewhere perfect that we just haven’t found yet. Agreed?”

Sighing one final time, I gave in. “I guess." I was skeptical, but if there was anything I knew about Twilight, it was that she was very rarely wrong. "So should we head on out?”

“Yes!" she shouted, pointing a wooden staff that she seemed to have procured from thin air towards the window, to the dim boulevard of Canterlot . "Onward!”

“How about here?”

“No, this is the place where all the other foals go after school,” Twilight said, scowling. “And you know what they’re like.”

“Here?”

“No, there’s not going to be enough space to practise magic in.”

“Here?”

“Don’t you want to be able to see the stars?”

“Good point. How about this place?”

“Star, that’s a bar.”

“Oh... yeah...”

“Well that’s no good!” she exclaimed, kicking a nearby stone. “We’re almost at the end of the path and we still haven’t found a good place!”

“Hmm...” I mused, glancing over the map. “How about this place?”

Twilight leaned in to look. “Hoofburg Hill?” she asked, looking into the distance to see a small hill surrounded by a wooden fence and populated by a few tall trees. “Maybe, let’s see.”

“Well, I guess we should turn back,” she said.

“Huh? Why?”

“Look.” she exclaimed, pointing to a worn down sign hanging off the fence. The words “Keep Out” were barely discernible from what looked like centuries of wear and tear. However, looking around, it didn’t seem to have any security, and nopony was even around. In fact, the decrepit gate was just hanging off its hinges, and the prize was very inviting. The hill had everything we were looking for - it was a large open space, it was isolated and it was quiet.

“Do you see anypony stopping us?”

“Well... no, but-”

“Well there we go. It’s settled,” I decided, beginning to trot inside.

“Wait! You can’t go in! What if somepony sees us?”

“It’s almost night time, and this is the most secluded part of Canterlot. Besides do you see anypony around?"

“No, but still!”

“Now who’s the one without a sense of fun,” I chided.

“We’re not going up that hill.”

“Correction - you’re not going to that hill. I’m perfectly fine with it,” I said nonchalantly, trotting on ahead. Twilight’s face scrunched up into various contorted expressions and opened she her mouth to speak several times, before resorting to just jump and tackle me to the ground.

“We. Can’t. Go!”

“Lighten up, Twilight," I said, lifting myself up off the ground, adjusting my (her) wizard hat and dusting myself off. "Nopony’s going to see us.”

“Maybe. But they might! What if there are ponies just around the corner? What if they report us to the landlord?”

“Look at the state of this place. Do you really think there’s still a landlord?”

“There might still be! And if there is, we... we could be sent to prison! That would be a serious inconvenience to my education!”

“Twilight, they don’t send foals to prison.”

“Yes, but what if... what if they... tell our teacher and we get expelled from school?!”

“Twilight, there’s nopony here! And even if there was, they probably would tell anypony!”

“You don’t know that! Oh, this is so unsafe! And-”

“Twilight.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this! We-”

“Twilight!”

"What?!" she groaned.

“Couldn't you use your magic to get us in secretly?”

She pondered the thought for a while.

“Maybe if you know an invisibility spell or something?”

“Hmm... I don’t know an invisibility spell but I have been studying teleportation recently. I mean, it’s a little complex, but come to think of it, I have been dying to try it,” she said. "I still don't think this is right, but since I want to do this anyway, we can try."

“Well let’s do it," I said. I failed to see how teleportation would be less conspicuous than just walking in, but as long as it meant that we could get in without me having to drag Twilight kicking in screaming, it was fine by me.

“Alright, hold on...”

She scrunched up her face in concentration, even grunting a little, as the tip of her horn started illuminating. Slowly but surely, it started glowing brighter and brighter, until the aura almost encircled both of our heads. I was awestruck at first, but my feelings of awe turned to apprehension as I realised how badly this could go wrong.

“Twilight, wai-”

BANG!

Too late. Dazed, I collapsed onto the ground. I felt a strange breeziness on my scalp and a searing sensation all over my body. As my senses returned to me, I saw Twilight bouncing around in a circle gleefully.

“It worked! I can’t believe it worked! Yesyesyesyesyesye-”

“Ugh...”

Twilight turned to see my battered, burnt body on the ground and a chunk of my mane seared off of my head. The look of pride was washed off her face, replaced with anxiety. Gasping, she ran towards me.

“Star! Are you alright?”

“I... I think so...”

Grasping my left hoof, she pulled me up. I stumbled a little, almost falling over, before steadying myself.

“But... your mane!”

“It’s OK, it’ll grow back.”

Twilight looked unconvinced, as if she didn’t trust that hair could regrow, but she accepted it and lay down on the grass, clearly as exhausted as I was, if not more.

“I’m surprised you actually managed to pull that off.”

“Well, it wasn’t perfect,” she said, pointing at the bare patch on my scalp.

I waved her off. “That’s not important. The important thing is that you actually managed to teleport both of us in here!”

“Well... thanks,” she murmured, her cheeks flushing.

Sighing, pleasantly this time rather than frustratedly, I lay down next to her. We were in a small clearing surrounded by a few trees that just about formed a circle. The grass beneath us was thick, long and wet, and littered with even wetter dead leaves and pine needles, fallen from the surrounding trees. We had settled down underneath a towering oak tree, probably two stories tall. I don’t know why, but the place felt welcoming. It felt right. Twilight was right after all for bringing us here.

"So, what do you think of this place?" I asked.

She sighed. "Well, I guess you were right. Nopony is here. And it is very nice. And it does fit all our needs. And it is pretty much perfect."

"So..."

"Well... OK, we can stay."

"Thank goodness," I groaned.

"Was I really that bad?"

"Yep," I chuckled.

"Sorry about that."

"So, I’m guessing this is our new place?”

“It seems so,” she replied, smiling at that thought. “Our place. Hmm.”

We just lay there for another few minutes, contemplating that thought. This was our place. Well, it didn’t belong to us, but it was abandoned to the point where it might as well be. Nopony else would come here. It’d be just us two. It was ours.

“Star?”

“Mhm?”

“We’re best friends, aren’t we?”

I stopped and thought about that for second. Yes, she was my friend. My only friend. And thinking about it more, I realised that we really were best friends. Sure, we didn’t speak much, but did that matter? We enjoyed each other’s company, and really, that’s all friends are. And above all, I liked her. I liked her a lot.

“I guess we are.”

“Well... can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” I said apprehensively.

“Do... do you think I’m too smart?”

Now, having a stunted social development, I’m not too informed on status quo and so I don’t know how appropriate this was at the time, but at that question I burst out in a fit of laughter. Twilight looked at me with a concerned face for several seconds before I calmed myself down enough to reply.

“Do I think you’re too smart? Twilight, being too smart is a good thing. I wish I was as clever as you. Why would you be concerned about being too smart?”

“I... I don’t know. I’ve just been feeling guilty. Especially since we met. You were so impressed by me, and, well... I got a bit arrogant. I showed off. Then you started studying a lot more, and for a time I was happy about it. But then I got thinking, and I thought that I’d, I don’t know, forced you into it, like I made you feel that you had to be on my level, all because I was being too proud. I don't really know, I’m rambling now, but... I just felt badly about it.”

“Twilight, listen. You’re remarkably talented. For Celestia’s sake, you can perform a teleportation spell before you’ve even got your cutie mark. You deserve to feel proud. You didn’t force me into studying harder, I wanted to, and you inspired me. That’s a good thing. You have a bright future ahead of you and, well, I want the same. I should being thanking you.”

“You... you really mean it?”

“Absolutely.”

She smiled.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you so studious?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s a long story,” she said. “You know that Princess Celestia raises the sun at the Summer Sun Celebration?”

I nodded.

“Well, I’d always wanted to go, and a few years ago it was being held in Canterlot on the castle grounds, and my parents decided to let me go on my own. Just going into the castle grounds was humbling enough, but when Princess Celestia actually raised the sun, it was the most amazing, most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen.

“I was inspired. I didn’t care that we weren’t really meant to even use our horns until another couple of years. The very next day, I went to the library and checked out what must have been 20 books on magic, magic history, the spellcasting method, proper care and treatment of unicorn horns, anything that would be useful.

“It didn’t work at first though, and as much as I tried, my horn wouldn’t do anything. I was just about ready to give up, when I tried one last time, and it worked! Sure, all I could do was turn a page, but it was a fantastic start. From then on, I decided to commit. I spent the majority of my free time studying magic. And that’s how I got here.”

I was silent for another few seconds. “Huh,” I said bluntly.

“And what about you?” she asked, poking me gently. “What got you interested in astronomy?”

“Oh, well I don’t have as grand and great a story as you do. When I was younger I was wandering through the house and I came across my Dad’s old astronomy textbooks. I got to reading and it was interesting. I asked him if he had any more and, well, that’s about it, really.”

“Hmm...” she murmured, closing her eyes and letting the wind blow through her mane, while it blew through my lack of it. She looked ridiculous in that wizard costume of hers, but it made her all the more wonderful, a kind of ridiculous only Twilight could be. I lay there with her silently for what could’ve been hours, staring into the star-littered sky as the sun fell below the horizon. I looked at the stars every night, but on this night, they appeared brighter and more beautiful than ever before, sparkling in the vast, dark expanse of the night sky.

“I can see why you like the stars so much.”

“Hmm?” I turned my head to see Twilight sitting up, staring up into the sky. I murmured in agreement, lying back down again. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

She chuckled and said, “You know, two ponies alone under moonlight would generally be considered romantic.”

“Well then I guess we’re a couple,” I laughed.

“I guess we are,” she replied.

In light of the awkward tension raised by that remark, we stayed silent until it was time to leave.

“So... I’ll see you tomorrow?” she said.

“You bet,” I said eagerly. “Oh, and I almost forgot. Here."

I took off my borrowed wizard hat and handed it to her. She seemed deep in thought for a while before smiling and saying, "Keep it. My first gift to you, seeing as we're an official couple now."

"Really?" I asked. She nodded. "Gee, I... I don't know what to say. Thanks, Twilight. Not just for the hat, for everything, for tonight, for being my friend. Thank you."

She blushed a little. “You’re welcome. And thanks for being my friend too."

And with that, we parted ways and I headed on home.

Author's Note: Anticlimactic ending, I know, but I couldn't think of something better. So I may be using this fic as an excuse to make Twilight a D&D player and a (terrible) LARPer, despite never taking part in either of those activities myself. I was originally going to split this into two chapters, but I decided against it, mainly because the next chapter would've been very short and I've set myself a minimum of 1000 words for each chapter. Hopefully the change in mood isn't too striking. I'd like to thank you guys for the positive feedback and words of encouragement you've given me. I know I don't really reply to comments but I want you guys to know that it is very much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed this chapter too.