It was one o’clock in the after noon.
Every tick of the grandfather clock made the mare sitting in the living room more impatient. She was waiting for her mother to return to their small cottage. She daydreamed of going outside, enjoy the summer sun on her lavender fur, feel the breeze through her navy hair. Unfortunately, her mother forbid her to leave their village.
‘It’s a very dangerous world out there, Radiant’. That is what her mother would always tell her. ‘Too dangerous for a fragile unicorn like you. Horns like yours are very valuable, evil ponies will cut yours off and sell it. Promise you will never leave this village, Radiant Night. It's safe here. Promise me.’
And of course she would always promise her mother that she would never leave. Besides, where would she even go? She had no clue what the world looked like outside her little town. Everyday it was another story: Raiders cutting off unicorn horns, dragons skinning ponies, giant manticores and the list goes on. Then she would go on how if the kingdom’s rulers had treated their ponies more equally, the country wouldn’t have failed as it did. Her mother and the villagers always had praised equality.
Radiant Night sighed and scratched the back of her head. She picked herself up from the sofa and trotted upstairs to her room. She looked through her countless bookshelves and with her magic she picked up a book from one shelf on the far right and read the cover.
‘Astronomy for Professionals: Volume 5.’
She couldn’t even remember how many times she already had read this book. Radiant could recite the first three chapters by heart, and knew everything about the author. His name was Starburst, a unicorn which claimed to have studied the ways of magic and astronomy. She was immediately infatuated after only reading the cover. When she was a filly, she found the book in her mother’s bedroom. Radiant stole the book and hid it under her bed so she could read it when her mother wasn’t home. Radiant Night became obsessed with the starts, and would reread the book over and over again hoping to uncover something new she had missed after her last read. She begged for her mother, Starlight Glimmer, to bring home astronomy books since she wanted to know more about the topic. Every day when her mother left the house, she would sneak into her bed chamber and read her them for hours on end.
Often, Starlight would obey her daughters wishes and bring books talking about the stars. It filled up Radiant's gigantic bookshelf which after years of collecting, filled every bookshelf, every spare space, almost every nook and cranny in her room with books. Starlight even bought her a telescope for her birthday, so Radiant Night could even further develop her hobby. She would spend the majority of her evening in her room gazing at and studying the stars, taking notes. She hoped one day, she could publish her own book on astronomy. Even though she knew it would never happen, she filled notebooks upon notebooks on her fascination of the stars. Suddenly, Radiant Night was ripped from her thoughts when she heard hoof steps in the entrance of the shack.
“Darling, I’m home!” Starlight shouted. She dropped her saddlebags in the kitchen and started unpacking them.
Radiant Night galloped down the stairs and hugged her mom.
“Mother! You’re back! How was your day?” Radiant asked as she tightly hugged Starlight.
Her mother sighed. “Where do I start? Today was even worse than the last. I was lucky I wasn't attacked by those awful bandits. I managed to get all of our food for the week though! I even managed to get my hooves on cake! But I couldn’t get carrots... Or lettuce. Monday’s are always awful.”
Starlight posed dramatically on the counter. “But enough of me, how was your day?” Her mothers warm gaze fell onto Radiant.
“It was quiet... Double Diamond was busy and so was Sugar Belle, so I mostly spent the day reading... But I did make lunch for us! Today I made daisy sandwiches with apple cider. I was a little bored in the morning so I made it quite early, so the daisies probably aren’t as fresh as in the morning... But it’ll be fine I promise! I can-“
Starlight chuckled. “Radiant. It’ll be fine. Your talent for making meals is amazing, I'm sure it tastes absolutely delicious.” She winked.
Radiant laughed at her mother's remark. Starlight walked over to the counter and picked up the sandwich her daughter had made for her. While eating, she used her magic to put the foodstuffs into the pantry. Radiant helped her mother put everything away; they were silent while cleaning everything up and putting the groceries into the pantries. Radiant tried to break the silence, and as she was lifting the eggs into the cupboard above her, she spoke up.
"Well, why don't you get some rest mother, it's sounds like you've had quite a stressful day. Since the summer is about to start, the sky is supposed to be really clear tonight, and I want to set up my telescope, it's been lying in my closet for some time now."
Starlight nodded. "You're right honey. It was quite a crazy day today, and I should go to bed earlier this evening. You get your telescope up and I hope you have fun tonight, just be sure to be in bed by one o'clock in the morning by the latest." Her mother had a stern look.
"Sure thing. Let me know if you need anything, mother. I love you."
Starlight smiled. “I love you too.”
With that, Radiant Night made her way to her room to set up her things for the night. Even though it was still a couple of hours until sundown, she started early to make sure everything was set up properly. After the last ray of sunshine disappeared behind the horizon, Radiant made herself comfortable on her favorite velvet cushions and excitedly fidgeted with her telescope, eager to study the night sky.
