Starlight

Chapter 3: Star Secrets

     “GRASS MARKS!” Money Bags yelled. If that wasn't one of the most recognizably annoying voices I have ever heard in my life. My eyes opened, hearing several poundings on the door. Star was completely asleep, still in my arms.

     “Oh shit!” I yelled. Swearing wasn’t a habit of mine. Some moments just specifically called for it. I sat up, and tried to get off the couch without waking Star up. Quickly, I rushed to the door and opened it to see Money Bags slamming a paper in my face. “Ow!”

     “What the hay is this?” he yelled, showing me the paper. I moved the paper from my face, grabbing it and reading it out loud.

     “Grass Marks, AWOL and In Chaotic Love.” I stopped. Immediately, my eyes looked for the author. It was precisely who I thought… “An article written by Golden Dusk…” I read.

     “Mind explaining yourself?”

     “I… uh… well…” I had no words. What was I supposed to say? That I found a mare at the site of the crash and took her into my house and had sex with her? Yeah, that story won’t get me fired!

     “I haven’t seen a story about a shooting star on my desk yet! And you haven’t even reported back since you left almost twenty-four hours ago!” he yelled.

     “Y- yes sir. I’ll get to work on your story right now and have it on your desk before lunch.” I said. I’d have to bust my flank to get this done.

     “Do you even know what time it is? It’s the afternoon, Marks!” I looked at my watch on my front hoof which I always kept there.

     “What?” I said, surprised. I was almost ready to slap my boss. He was lying. It was nearly nine in the morning! I looked back up at him to see him laughing.

     “I thought that’d throw you off!” he said, chuckling. “But I seriously want a report on my desk my noon.” he said, turning his smiling face instantly into one of serious anger.

     “Yes sir!” I said, shutting the door quickly in his face so I could get to work. This was going to be a long day. Turning around, I saw Star sitting up, her mane looking like a mess. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her. “Good morning, Star.” I said to her. She rubbed her eyes, her legs crossed, and looked curiously at me.

     “What happened?” she asked. I wanted to keep my frustration a mystery.

     “Just have to do some work for the boss.” I said. “I have to get this report done before noon.” She yawned, just barely keeping her eyes fixed on me.

     “Okay.” Star replied. I walked over to her, kissing her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

     “Mind if I ask you some questions?” I asked, taking out my notepad and pencil.

     “Sure.” she said, still waking up. I cleared my throat, trying to get back into the reporter state of mind and trying to forget our current relationship.

     “What is your name?”

     “Star Chaser.”

     “What is your job?”

     “I talk to the stars.” This was news to me.

     “Where are you from?”

     “The Star Nest.”

     “The what?” I asked. It wasn’t going to be reported. I just wanted to know. She didn’t reply. She just looked up where the stars would have been and started to nod off again. “Star?”

     “Hm?” she said, falling asleep again. I couldn’t help but shake my head. I just let her sleep. Besides, I needed to look deep into Equestrian Mythology. For that, I needed a trip to the Cloudsdale Library.

     Before leaving, I picked up a small bag with a strap that went across my body. I also put a tray in front of the couch with tea and eggs for when Star wakes up, along with a note explaining that I’m going to the library. I also stopped to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead before leaving.

     “Okay,” I started, talking to myself, “time to do some investigating.” I left the house and took flight, flying with speed towards the library. It wasn’t a long trek by any means. When I got to the two story building, I opened the door, hearing a small bell go off. The environment was to be expected. Quiet and calm. The librarians were running around, returning books and keeping everything organized as possible. One of the librarians walked up to me as I looked around the room, observing the paintings and organized sections.

     “Pardon me.” the librarian said. “Are you looking for anything specific?”

     “Actually, yes.” I said, showing her my reporters’ badge. “I’m looking for the section on Equestrian Mythology.”

     “Any particular book?”

     “Something regarding the home of the stars.” Immediately, she started walking away. I followed the turquoise mare with a silver mane over to a section of books that was lined up with the other sections.

     “No… no…” she said, sifting through the many books. I think she knew exactly what I was looking for. This is why I loved libraries. If you needed something, they typically made your life that much easier. “Ah! Here we are.” she said, pulling a book out of the astrological shelf of the mythology section.

     “Thank you.” I said, reaching for the book and grabbing it. She nodded at me and started to walk away. I didn’t know if she was just brushing me off or if being a librarian actually took a lot of work even on slow days. Either way, it was irrelevant to me. I walked over to a small table, placing the book down and sifting through the table of contents of the book labeled, Beyond Our Reach. I moved my hoof down the table of contents, making an invisible line across any section that didn’t sound like the spot I was looking for. Eventually, on the third page, my hoof came to a stop at a certain section. Star Ponies is what it said. Page 202. Quickly, I flipped through the pages to get to that spot and began to read the small excerpts.

     “Star Ponies are a mystic and rare breed of ponies not native to Equestria. Although not much in known about their race, the first known Star Pony appeared in Canterlot during the Discord Era and was locked away for a small period of time before it died. According to ancient texts found after Princess Celestia and Princess Luna defeated Discord, the Star Pony died three days after it landed, where it ran out of what they called, “Star Energy” which is to them what oxygen is to everypony else in their native land they called “The Star Nest.” Without having any confirmed sights of Star Ponies, the Royal Canterlot Library has labeled their existence as a myth.”

     I stopped reading and slammed the book closed, putting a hoof on my mouth. Star is dying. This is more important to me than my news article. At the same time, this was a perfect opportunity for me. Quickly, I went over to the typewriters in the back of the library and began typing my article. The title was Starlight.

     On my way home after having the article printed out, I bolted into Money Bags’ office, threw the paper on his desk, and ran out before he could even speak to me. His opinions were not my concern. My concern was doing everything I could to keep Star alive. This was my highest priority.

     Finally, I made my way home and shut the door. I checked my watch to find out it was just barely 12:00pm. I made it just before noon. Looking around the house, Star was still laying down, but the tea and eggs were gone. I ran over to her and sat next to her, stroking her mane with my hoof until she opened her eyes and looked at me, groaning with exhaustion.

     “Star?” I asked, trying to get her attention.

     “What is it?” she asked, dazed. I said nothing more. With hesitation and for the first time in my life, I took off my Wing-Shaped charm that my mother gave me. I looked at Star and held her head up, putting the charm around her. Her eyes opened as if she were awake and looked at the necklace I put on her. “Why?” she asked.

     “I love you, Star. I’ll find a way to protect you.” I replied as I hugged her. She hugged me back and I think she then realized that I knew who she was; what she was.

     “I love you…” she replied sincerely and softly.

     “There’s somepony I’d like you to meet.” I said.

     “Who?”

     “Just trust me. We’re going to go visit her.”

     “Okay.” she said, smiling. I think she trusted me. I hoped she trusted me. It took us a small time to get everything together. We left the house together, hoof in hoof.

     “Hey Star?” I asked, closing the door.

     “Yeah?”

     “Let’s race!” I said, smiling and watching her expression light up as she folded her hooves and gave me a “challenge accepted” look. Without any further word, she blasted off into the star, faster than I’ve seen before. I flew after her until I caught up and pointed towards a building outside the Cloudsdale Stadium. She nodded at me, keeping a serious face and dashed off. She was faster than anypony I’ve ever seen. Well, except for a few of the Wonderbolts.

     In a literal sense, she was like a shooting star. She moved in an arch, heading straight down towards the building I mentioned earlier. I tried catching up, going as fast as I could, but the mare was just too fast for me. She was in front of the building before I knew it, and it took me a minute to catch up.

     When I landed, she was on the ground. At first I panicked.

     “Star!” I yelled, leaning down in front of her. The door nearby opened to reveal an orange mare with a fire-like smooth mane. Quickly, the mare ran up to Star as well until Star opened one eye.

     “Gotcha!” she said. The tear I was trying to hold back turned to a laugh of relief and I looked over at the mare, who Star saw and immediately felt shy.

     “Hello. You’re Star Chaser, right?” the mare said.

     “Y- You know my name?” Star asked.

     “Of course I do. How could I forget the mare that did so well with us when we performed yesterday?” Spitfire replied. Star’s expression lit up with enjoyment as she hugged Spitfire. “What’re you two doing here?”

     “It’s… difficult to explain. I just wanted her to meet her idol.” I said to her, smiling.

     “Not a problem. Any fan of Grass Marks is a friend of mine.” Spitfire said. Spitfire and I knew each other for a while. After a lot of interviews, I think I grew on her as her favorite reporter with how much I respected her personal life. I looked back at Star, who was happy and shaking her bottom hooves with uncontainable joy.

     “Spitfire!” Star said. She repeated saying Spitfire’s name multiple times. I don’t think she’s ever been so giddy in the time I’ve seen her. She eventually loosened the hug on Spitfire, and afterwards Spitfire invited us inside. It was a big home. One worthy of such a seasoned flyer. This was my first time being in Spitfire’s home. From what I could see, she had the life. Very elegant furniture but also a lot of personality to it with random things scattered along the floors of her house. We came to her living room and each sat down, letting the silence take over before I decided to say something.

     “Do fans come by to visit you often, Spitfire?” I asked.

     “Yeah, but it’s cool. I like seeing everypony as much as they like to see me.” Spitfire replied. It was nice having an actual conversation with somepony of importance that didn’t involve me taking notes on every word they say. Spitfire picked up a small magazine with herself on the cover and handed it to Star. “Here, Star. Keep this.”

     Star looked at the magazine. She read the cover and looked inside, zoning out into her own little world as Spitfire and I talked with each other about random things. How our jobs were going, what was next for us, how we both hate who we work for. Typical topics. I’ve reported on Spitfire before, but this is the first time I’ve ever really spoken casually to her.

     Every now and then, I’d look back over at Star, whose eyes were moving back and forth on the magazine pages, completely engaged in her reading. However, as time went by, she fell asleep again. She just collapsed on the couch. Spitfire and I rushed over to her. Her heart was still beating, but something just seemed wrong. She didn’t doze off. She just fell unconscious.

     We agreed she needed to get to the hospital. I put Star on my back and left the house, flying over to the hospital, thinking only about what could go wrong. Spitfire had already blasted ahead of me. By the time I arrived to the hospital, the doors were already open and other pegasi were rushing over to get Star. They were dressed in white coats and other doctor-type accessories with them. They came out carrying what looked like a white cloth stretched along with two wooden rods on each end. They grabbed Star Chaser off my back and put her down on her back on the cloth, rushing inside with Spitfire watching them head to an emergency room. I was about to go after them to make sure she was alright, but one of the doctors stopped me.

     “I’m sorry, sir, but you’ll have to stay out here.” she said, preventing me from moving forward any more.

     “Take care of her.” I said. That’s where I left that conversation. I went over to the wall near the entrance to the hospital and sat down next to Spitfire along a row of seats.

     “When did you meet her?” Spitfire asked, not even so much as looking at me.

     “Yesterday.” I said plain as that. She let out a small chuckle, looking down. “Why?”

     “She’s a Star Pony, isn’t she?” Spitfire said. It caught me by surprise as I looked at her, seeing her blank expression as she stared at the floor.

     “How’d you know?”

     “She’s not the first, you know.” Spitfire said. I felt like there was more to this story. “Ponies don’t just randomly pass out from exhaustion. Only one other I’ve met was like that.”

     “Who?”

     “His name was Glimmer Sprite. Like Star, he was blue.” A single tear crossed Spitfire’s eye as she recollected the memories, but she held anything else back, taking a deep breath.

     “What happened to him?”

     “I never told anypony of him. He was my friend and when we met, there was just something—“

     “Unnatural. Appealing. Attractive.” I said, finishing her sentence. She smiled and let out a hefty sigh.

     “Yeah.”

     “What happened to him?” I questioned.

     “Three days later…” Spitfire started. I already knew where this was going. I stopped her, putting a reassuring hoof on her back.

     “It’s alright. You don’t have to say any more.” I looked down, the only thing I was able to do was pray that Star Chaser would be alright.

     “Glimmer Sprite left. He didn’t die.” Spitfire said after a moment of silence.

     “How? They die without their energy…”

     “They’re different, Grass Marks. They can withstand our planet’s atmosphere and fly to the stars themselves.”

     “How can Star Chaser make it to the stars if she’s stuck here?” I asked, noticing that the third and final day was coming up sooner than I anticipated.

     “Sneak her out. Get past the hospital security, get Star Chaser, and get her out of here.” Spitfire said, keeping a hushed voice.

     “What?” I couldn’t believe what I heard. She wanted me to break into the hospital and steal a patient.

     “That’s the only way she will survive. She’ll die without the energy and I doubt any doctor will believe your Star Pony theory.” Spitfire explained. It all made sense to me, but stealing a patient from a hospital would get me in a lot of trouble.

     “Why did you bring her here if you knew she was a Star Pony?”

     “I didn’t know for sure.” she started, sitting up straight. “Better safe than sorry, right?” I nodded. I tapped my hoof against the floor for maybe ten minutes of nothing but complete silence. Not a word was spoken between Spitfire and I until one of the doctors came up to us, staring us down.

     “What’s the news?” I asked, my heart pounding against my chest.

     “It appears she’s in some sort of coma. We’re still running tests to find out why.” I looked at Spitfire, who nodded her head at me. Star was in the final stages of her death. “Visiting hours are over. You’ll have to come back in the morning.”

     “Okay. Thank you.” I wasn’t going to fight it. Spitfire and I walked out of the hospital, feeling as if we were both carrying weights on us. Neither of us wanted to leave. We wanted to stay by Star’s side.

     “Grass.” Spitfire said, looking at me seriously as the doors to the hospital close behind us.

     “Yeah?” I replied, the cold wind pressing against me and my nose starting to tingle from the smell of the cold air against the warm air inside the hospital.

     “How far are you willing to go for Star Chaser?”

     “I would give my own life for her to stay alive.” I glared seriously at Spitfire, wanting her to know for a fact that I was serious. She looked at me for a moment and then smiled.

     “Meet me back here tonight at midnight. Wear all black.” Spitfire said as she began to fly into the air. I nodded at her, watching her fly away. This was it. All or nothing to save Star Chaser.