"FLY"

Velvet smiled at the memory. “He never did like his picture being taken.”

NIght Light and Cadence had begun to pick up the empty pizza boxes at this point. A strange silence surrounded Twilight and Shining as they remained seated and shocked. Shining was overcome by his emotions. The idea that his father was not a unicorn, but in fact an earth pony, had rocked his simple understanding of his small world. Not only was his true father an earth pony; he was also a scientist. That was more of Twilight’s field, so he felt even more alienated from this parent that he never got the chance to know.

Twilight paid careful attention to detail. The fact that an earth pony had somehow harnessed the power to teleport, without unicorn magic, was simply inspired. But, she knew that this technology was not a widespread luxury. She was confused as to why such technology had even been censored. Then it struck Twilight. This Shining Star was no longer around. Something must have happened to him. Maybe it was a competitor who did it, or maybe something went wrong with the machine. Twilight had to know the truth. Her brother needed to know the truth now.

“Mom, what happened to Shining Star?” Twilight asked.

Velvet’s eyes grew in horror until she forced them shut to do away with the memory. “It’s complicated.”

Shining stared at his mother. There was a twitch of anger, but also a deep feeling of shame for that anger. Seeing how torn up his mother was, he couldn’t dare to show his anger. “What was he like?”

“Star?” Velvet looked to Night Light for comfort. He saw her gesture and quickly made his way to her side. Melting into the embrace of her husband, she recollected herself. “He was amazing. He was brave, smart, and he was dedicated to his family. He was a lot like you are, son.”

Night Light found himself smiling at the memory of his friend. “Shining, believe me when I say this. I couldn’t be prouder of the stallion you’ve become. Every moment that looked you as you grew, I saw your father staring back at me. It made me all the more proud to raise the son of my dearest friend.”

Shining felt a surge of gratitude towards Night Light. “You both loved him. I can tell.”

“And, he would have loved you all the same if he were still here.” Velvet released a much overdue sigh. “I neglected to tell you about your father because I didn’t know if you’d ever be ready to handle what happened. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”

“If only he had more time.” Night Light shook his head. “Who knows what he could have accomplished. He mind have even found a way to fix his condition.”

Velvet saw the look of discomfort on Twilight’s face. She knew her daughter must have felt offended by that remark. Night Light didn’t mean it that way, but it was almost a wish that Twilight was never born. “He had his time. It was his choice in the end.” Much to Velvet’s comfort, Twilight’s expression had softened. Though, twilight’s new perplexed look was not comforting either.

“What do you mean when you say ‘it was his choice’?” Twilight asked.

Velvet immediately regretted her poor choice in words. “He asked to be destroyed. It had changed him so much, it was hard to tell if there was anything left of him.”

Shining remembered his mother’s strange response to what was merely a common house fly. “What was it?”

When Velvet couldn’t bring herself to say it, Night Light stepped in. “The fly.”

“The fly?” Twilight raised a brow. “How could a fly have brought Shining Star to want to destroy himself?”

Velvet felt herself struggling to find her words. “Night, please bring me the book.”

There was immediate protest in Night Light’s voice. “No, you promised we would never let it see the light of day again!”

“Night Light!” Velvet turned on her husband. Her sudden stance forced him to draw back. “That book belongs to Star’s son. It belongs to Shining Armor. He has every right to it, and you know it. If anything, he can keep it safer than us.”

“What is this book?” Cadence dared to chime in as she sauntered up to her husband’s side.

Velvet looked to Shining. “I kept your father’s work. He’s long since destroyed his prototype’s early journals, but I managed to save this one. It has everything you could need to know. He wrote everything. He wrote about the science, and he would write about us.” Velvet covered her mouth to stifle her crying. Fresh tears escaped her eyes. “You were only a baby then.”

Night Light soon returned with a heavy look on his face. His magic enveloped an old book that was tattered by time, and yet, its bindings held firm. “Here. Here’s the thing that stole my friend from me.” Night Light let the book fall from his magic and slam on the table. Storming out of the room he made only one final remark, “Good riddance.”

Cadence and Twilight looked nervously at Night Light and back to Velvet. Velvet simply grabbed the book with her magic. “Give him time.” She cracked open the book to its first few pages and silently scanned through to about halfway through the book. “I remember now. Everything started in the spring. We had just moved into our new home. It was were the old printing press used to be.”