The Star in My Eye

Chapter Five

Oh Dear

A streetlamp flickered, hardly contrasting the ghetto environment with the half-dead bulb.  The darkened sidewalk, cracked in a multitude of places, laid covered in garbage.  The cityscape blocked all licks of a breeze, the humid stench of exhaust and dingy alleyways filling the air.  The litter peppering the concrete moved for only the worn sneakers kicking it out of the way as they carried their owner across the walk.  The figure continued down the street, his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and his head bowed beneath the fabric of his hood.  He turned off the road to face a warehouse, and he ducked under a gap in one of the doors.  Immediately he was swept off to the side as a click sounded and the barrel of a glock was pressed against his head.  Despite the aggressive nature of the action, his adrenaline failed to reach his veins as he raised his hands.

"It's just me."

The thick arms lowered the weapon and released him, allowing him to step away from the nameless figure before shoving the gun in it's jeans' pocket.  It lowered it's hood, exposing it's complete appearance.  A tall African-American man hardly above drinking age stood next to the warehouse door in a black hoodie and baggy jeans.  His strong-jawed face held concern, not an uncommon thing coming from Devonte.

"What's the problem, holmes?"

The shorter silhouette reached up and lowered his hood as well, exposing light skin, thick long black hair, and brown eyes.  Vincent Houlse slid his hands back into his red hoodie.

"I got something to show you."

Vincent's hand cupped in his pockets, and he slowly drew out something that made Devonte's breath catch.  Caught in an unruly wad of starry blue hair was a bundled up, tiny dark blue pony.  She sat up, shook her mane back into place, and looked around.

"So, Vincent," she piped up cheerfully.

"Where are we?"

Vinnie grinned.

"Luna, I'd like you to meet Devonte."

Her attention turned to Vincent's friend, and she smiled.

My jaw dropped, and I handed the controller back to Zane.

"I'll be right back."

Leaving Lyra on the couch, I walked into my room and booted my tablet back up.  With 'mlp appearances' in the search bar, the browser came up with a grand total of "about 383,000 results".  I cycled through the links until something serious entered the screen, from Facebook.  I clicked it and logged in, and somebody that I actually knew, a 14 year old nerdy-ish guy named Jordan from an acting class I took last year, had posted on the public feed:

I don't know how to explain this.  Anybody else have ponies spawning in their rooms?

Under 'said post was an iPhone photo of a tiny Fluttershy hiding under what I assumed was Jordan's bedspread.  My skeleton felt like it had solidified into a rigid frame, restricting my body from moving at all.  I blinked, my dry eyes beginning to water, and looked down at the time it was posted.

A few minutes ago.

Finally, I rose out of my bed and walked back into the living room with my tablet in hand.

"Lyra."

She swiveled around, and Bon Bon and Zane's attention turned back to me as well.

"You wish came true."

She frowned and stood up.

"What?"

I swallowed, and let the grin that was balling up inside me since I read Jordan's post spread.

"You said you were lonely.  A friend of mine says Fluttershy's here, and if I'm not mistaken," I continued, gesturing to the PlayStation.

"N1GHTMAR3_M00N is Luna."

Her expression shifted from confusion, to surprise, to a wide smile.

"Really?  Where are they?"

My grin dropped, and I looked away from her a second.

"Well, I mean, Fluttershy's miles away, and I don't know about Luna." I said, regaining eye contact.

Her brows rose, and she nodded her approval of the situation.

"Sweetness.  Is there a chance that we might be able to see them sometime?"

I blinked.

"Maybe Flutters, but like I said, I don't know where Luna is."

"Cool."

She turned back around, and a second later I notice she had a sly grin.

"Man, I sure do wish I had my guitar."

My brow cocked.

"You have a guitar?"

She looked at me again.

"Yeah.  Why, do I not look like a guitarist to you?"

I blinked again.

"I just thought you played the lyre alone."

Her brow cocked.

"Is it a crime to have multiple talents?"

"Dunno.  Is it?"

"That's usually a sign of illness."

"Indeed."

"What are you talking about?" Zane cut in.

"Cutie pox," I replied without thinking.

Lyra's eyes widened.

"How do you know about cutie pox?"

Wrong turn.

"Uuuh..."

Avoid MLP, avoid MLP, avoid MLP...

"We have it here."

Zane facepalmed, and shut off the PlayStation.  Lyra's expression remained somewhat stunned.

"Really?  I haven't seen a cutie mark on anybody here."

"... It... appears on us in the form of... jewelry."

I briefly disappeared in my room to back myself up, returning with a heavy copper ring I bought from a skating rink a year and a half ago.  On it was depicted a manga-styled skull with headphones on and crossed drumsticks behind it.

"This is mine."

Lyra's eyes became impossibly large, and Bon Bon came up behind her to see what my cutie mark was.

"Cooool."

Oh, thank God I don't have any pony merch yet.

"What's yours?" Lyra asked, turning to Zane.

He gave them a blank expression, before making a first attempt at acting.

"It's... embarrassing," he said, turning away.

Bravo, Zane.  Whew.