Book 2 The Light: by the flickering light

by Penelope Anne Ink

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: The Movie, Adventure, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 11780

Starry learns to deal with some of her stress...

Starry's happiness that she made it back home was short lived once she found out that she had lost most of her customers. Edgy was just an unsuspecting victim.

Published 2018-01-09 00:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2018-01-09 00:40:05 UTC

Chapter One

Starry spent a few days in a blur. She filled the few orders that did come in and did a few odd jobs around town. But she would come home feeling exhausted and would just lay there in bed until Rochester or Jane would scamper in to tell her about their day.

She couldn’t understand squirrel talk. But the thought still mattered.

Cass and Bee occasionally stopped by, as always. Although, Cass had been acting a bit unusual compared to her normal self. Starry once woke up in the middle of the night thinking Rochester was combing through her kitchen, only to be met with an apologetic Cass holding a box of Starry’s favorite cookies. Starry was more shocked that Cass was up than that she was stealing food. Cass normally sleeps like a log at night on cue.

She told a few of the ponies about her trip when they would stop by, but most of them really didn’t care. They were more fixated on their daily lives than on what was out there.

Mainly she cried. It was frustrating. She lost one of her main sources of income. She lost her spot in the show to nopony knows who. Edgy didn’t seem to be coming back any time soon. And she felt like nopony in town really cared about her adventure.

About a week in to her return to Ponyville, Starry was at the back of her house attempting to try to cheer herself up with some gardening. With her magic, she lifted up her garden hose by the metal knob and turned on the water. As she could hear the water slowly come through the hose she had the sudden urge to dump the water on her head. She wanted to see if it would jolt her out of her misery. She whipped the hose up above her head just as the water burst out.

Whoosh!

It felt miserable. The jolt caused her to release her grip on the hose and it launched into the air and sprayed all over her fence and onto the pet of the stallion next door. The goose squawked in shock and gave her a menacing look before angrily squawking again and flying off into the opposite corner of his yard. Agatha wasn’t the friendliest goose, and they had had run ins before.

“Hey, Em! Haven’t seen you out here since before the Friendship Festival! How’ve you been?” a cheery voice called out from the other side of the fence.

It was Postage Stamp, one of the mailponies of Ponyville who usually did the emergency telegrams whenever Post Haste was too busy, which didn’t happen too often, but often enough. It meant he had to work at all random hours of the day, but he always seemed really relaxed and cheery when he was at home. He also liked to do woodcarvings and would share some of his work with Starry. Today, he was sitting on his back porch pondering a new set of wings he was carving into a light brown block of wood.

“I’ve been fine,” Starry said with her head hung. She wouldn’t even look his direction. She had a hold of the hose again and finished up watering the few herbs that grew around her windowsills and tree before heading back indoors.

The next day, Starry woke up to a knock on her front door. She didn’t even bother even fully waking up but rolled out of bed with a thump onto the floor and then nearly crawled down the stairs as she headed to the front door.

Postage Stamp was outside holding a box all wrapped up with a bow on it.

“Ta da! I thought you might like something extra for your garden. Open it!”

Starry levitated it from his hooves with a sigh and slowly took off the bow and the wrapping. She was happy for a present, but she couldn’t manage enough energy to show it.

Inside was a miniature wooden version of Rochester and Jane. It was about half their size, and inside Jane’s arms were some small lumps Starry couldn’t make out for a second. But then Starry’s eyes managed to widen in surprise. It was a small litter of baby squirrels. She looked back up at Postage Stamp and he was starting to look nervous.

“Ah, I know Jane doesn’t quite look it yet, but I can tell she’s expecting. I asked Mane Goodall about it to make sure I knew the signs.”

Starry couldn’t believe it. Her little boy was already having a family! But, again, she felt crushed that she wasn’t the one to know of it first. And now both Postage Stamp and the vet knew of it before she did.

She let Postage Stamp stay for a little longer. He told her about the new series of carvings he was working on. And she nodded and found things to do around the kitchen while he talked. But she was only half paying attention. She mentioned a few of the things she saw on her journey, and Postage Stamp was curious about the different animals and almost didn’t believe the star spider story. But she had reached the point that even she wasn’t as thrilled about it as she had been.

When he left, she crawled back up into bed and didn’t leave for the rest of the day.

The next two weeks she began running low on things to do. She hadn’t had anything new come in for a while and she stopped doing her normal chores around the house. It seemed like she was just going to wither away in her room until she decided she was just going to leave.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Edgy came into town much the same way he always did. Though he did get his uniform tailored at his last stop so that it looked brand new and was almost unrecognizable from the Storm King uniform it used to be, he still looked intimidating at first glance. His dark uniform and his scars were still totally strange in a world filled with bright colors and smooth shapes.

It was only three weeks since he had left Ponyville and it still amazed him how all the ponies could be so caught up in their small lives when there was so much out there that could attack them at any moment. It seemed to him that most of Equestria knew the Elements would protect them from any major problem, even problems they wouldn’t even think of, like getting turned into trees.

He wondered how Starry was doing. It had killed him to have to spend so long away, especially once he first realized what it was like to have a real friend. He still felt loneliness, but he had hope now, and it made it a bit easier. Still, it would be nice to finally come back to someone he felt he could count on to be there.

He didn’t even make it to the forge when he saw Cass zipping around the streets looking for someone.

She spotted him and then zipped off before he could ask what was going on. It didn’t seem too unusual to him, though. From what he knew of her, she was quick to action just like Rainbow Dash was reported to be. She always had somewhere to fly off to.

He continued his way toward the forge, but it didn’t seem to be open. In fact, from the shutter that constantly swung, he could see inside and noticed the dust that had built up. It was as if it hadn’t been worked in in days. Metal scraps were strewn about her work bench and the floor, like the leftovers from a demolition site. The ashes in the fire pit looked as chill as snow.

It didn’t take him too long to trot over to her house to find it similarly empty. Her front door was jammed but after a brief chant he was able to use his power to unstick it and enter. He didn’t want to accidentally break her door.

This place looked deserted as well. Dirty dishes were piled up in the kitchen. Her room looked unlived in.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know where Cass and Bee lived, and now he wished he had followed Cass when he saw her earlier. But Ponyville was a small town. And he knew that if he just kept walking he’d eventually bump into her.

He tried to make it appear like he knew where he was going, without making it obvious he was looking for somepony. He walked by Town Hall, and even went by Twilight’s castle, before he had to duck behind some bushes as two unicorns, one purple and the other blue, walked past. He didn’t want to look too suspicious.

When he finally reached the part of town with more restaurants in it, he was both tired and hungry, and he felt a bit anxious to know what happened to Starry.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wonder long.

At the front of the nearest hayburger joint, Starry sat at a table piled high with what seemed like everything from the menu. Cass and Bee were both nearby watching with the most excited faces. A brown and grey earth pony was watching by with a list in his hooves.

“Now, fillies and gentlecolts, we have a new wanna be champion in our midst! The pony that claims that she can eat every single thing off our menu within two hours, and the pony that wants to claim her spot on the Wall of the Greats!”

Here, he pointed to a wall with a few pictures of ponies on it. Some looked a bit sick, and some looked a bit proud of themselves. One picture had two ponies fighting over each other but laughing all the while. It looked like an orange earth pony and a blue pegasus.

Starry didn’t seem too interested in the Wall or the ponies gathering around to witness the spectacle. She had a determined look on her face but also a look in her eye that seemed hard to decipher.

Edgy decided to watch for himself.

It didn’t take two hours to empty that table. In two flashes, Cass and Bee had swooped in and taken off with two hooffuls each of food. And Starry herself made a dramatic flash like a magician would as they make their way off stage.

And just like that Edgy lost sight of her again. He wasn’t going to stick around and see what the angry moderator pony was going to do, so he managed to squeeze himself back through the crowd and start his search all over again.

He was just about to turn the corner when he saw a few hay fries scattered on the ground.

“That was awesome! I doubt we’ll be allowed to eat there again, but still pretty awesome.”

It sounded like Bee’s voice.

He continued following the hay fry trail to see the band of miscreants huddled in a makeshift camp. It was almost admirable the way they were able to hide one in a town where there were so many open areas and ponies walking freely everywhere.

Starry and Cass were both in giggling fits and were drinking some fizzy sodas.

They stopped talking when he walked up. Starry looked up at him and just had a brief moment of surprise flit across her face, before she turned around in a huff. Bee saw it and looked amused.

“So you finally managed to make it back? We thought you were dead!” Bee said before laughing again.

Starry seemed to brighten a bit and laughed along.

“He probably did die, but after he got there he decided to wake up one morning and leave.”

Edgy couldn’t believe Starry would say that. She still said it like it was a joke but he had the feeling that there was a lot of underlying bitterness in there.

The three hooligans huddled together for a second before announcing that they were going to play a game of ding dong ditch.

Cass and Bee chose Starry to knock on the door, and Edgy was free to do whatever.

Starry trotted up to one door, making sure that nopony was watching, and knocked. She hadn’t expected the pony of the house to be close enough to the door and she nearly jumped when the door started opening before she could take one hoof off the door step.

Chapter Two

Cass and Bee flew off, but not too far away that they wouldn’t be able to see what would happen next. The pony that opened the door was an elderly mare with quite a few wrinkles and could hardly seem to walk on her own. Her coat was a light purple and her hair was a slightly darker shade of it. Her mane and tail were both tied up in buns, and her cutie mark was a doily with a pair of angel wings worked into the design.

Starry took a step back.

“Granny Angel? How are you?” Starry said, a little shaken.

“I’m doing just fine, dearie. I’m so glad you came to see me. Sorry I haven’t been able to order any more wheels from you lately. It’s been a bit hard to make ends meet of late.”

Starry hesitated in nodding in agreement and was going to turn back when the old mare dragged her inside.

“And who is your nice friend out here?” the old mare raised a feeble hoof toward Edgy. He had been following close enough behind that he was able to hear the conversation between the two ponies, but in the moment he didn’t realize he was perfectly out in the open for all to see.

Starry realized Edgy was still following her and laughed a bit nervously. “Oh, that’s the edgiest pony you’ll ever meet!”

The old mare laughed until she had to cough a bit to clear her throat.

“Well, he’s welcome to come in, too. I baked some muffins I think you both will enjoy.”

And with that, they both trotted into the house.

The house had doilies everywhere. It seemed like the throws on the couches and the rugs on the floors looked like massive doilies. There were also portraits all over the walls from floor to ceiling in every room. Images of small fillies and colts and not so small fillies and colts, all smiling and putting a hoof around an increasingly older and older Granny Angel.

“I wasn’t expecting company so I didn’t make more than a dozen. I hope that’ll be enough.”

“Oh, no I don’t need all that much, ma’am,” Starry quickly said.

“Not after how much you managed to eat at the hayburger, huh?” Edgy whispered toward Starry. She pretended not to hear.

The two sat down at a small table in the kitchen. There were fewer pictures in there, but it didn’t feel any different from the rest of the house. There were a few recipes hung up in frames as well, and a few piles of cook books on the countertop.

Starry and Edgy both took a muffin each to munch and the old mare rattled off on some stories from her days when she worked with the young ponies. Not every pony in Ponyville went to the schoolhouse. Some ponies were sent off to private education, or a school in Canterlot, but a few ponies got the chance to be taken care of by Granny Angel.

“I remember when Light Bulb’s family came through Ponyville. He was always so helpful around the house. I don’t think I’ve gone through my cellar since he last helped me out with the lamps down there.”

“I can probably fix it, Granny Angel...” Starry began.

“Oh, and Cozy Rest was always one of my favorites. I can’t believe she runs her own bed and breakfast now,” the old mare said and started dozing off.

Edgy and Starry didn’t want to wait around for her to just fall asleep, so they hastily said their goodbyes and headed out the door.

Cass and Bee were nowhere to be found, so Edgy finally turned to Starry and asked, “So what the hay is going on?”

Starry just stared forward and began trotting off back toward the camp she and her friends had been living in. “Well maybe if you were here you’d know.”

Edgy wasn’t used to her showing an attitude. He wasn’t sure how to deal with it. Starry could be a bit strong willed, but she wasn’t usually this harsh.

He still had a few bits in his bag and was able to pay for a few days at the inn. He had hoped he could stay in one of Starry’s spare guest rooms, or even one of Cass or Bee’s if it came to it. The inn was a bright and cheery place, which wasn’t exactly to his taste but still felt welcoming. However, he would have rather stayed with ponies he knew rather than a bunch of strangers.

Going up to the third floor of the inn, he pushed open a door and plopped himself on the bed. His journey had been eventful and his return to Ponyville and Starry hadn’t gone exactly to plan. The extra unplanned walk had drained some of his energy.

With a short chant toward his scars, he conjured up a small shadowy pony to start unpacking his things for him while he tried to rest his eyes.

He wasn’t sure if he could necessarily trust Cass and Bee to tell him what was going on. He was stuck on a border of whether he thought they were responsible or irresponsible. They seemed to always know what they were doing, but they were nothing like Starry, who was much more particular and a lot less bold.

The next two days, Starry still wasn’t at home or anywhere else that he could find, and nopony seemed to know where she was.

It was at the end of these two days that he ran into a welcome familiar face in the marketplace.

“Well, hello! It’s that nice young stallion that I met a few days ago, isn’t it? Edgy, right?”

He looked to see Granny Angel over at the asparagus stall just finishing up a purchase. Giving her a brief nod, he was going to walk away when she called out to him again.

“I would like it ever so much if you would like to help me carry my groceries. My legs aren’t what they used to be.” She hobbled a bit as if to emphasize her point.

Edgy was already worn out from his frustration over Starry, but the old mare seemed to be the only friendly face around town anymore for him. He agreed and walked around with her as she continued her shopping.

“I used to have this one young filly, Rosy Cheeks. Oh, she was the sweetest thing! Her smile always brightened up my day. I had a few fillies and colts at the time and they all said the same thing. I think she went on to be an actress.”

It seemed to Edgy that she was never going to stop reminiscing about her past children as she spouted off one name after another on their way past each stall and toward her home.

“I dislike being in retirement so much,” Granny Angel said with a sigh. “I miss having young ones like you around.”

Edgy was afraid she was going to go into another round of memories just as she was stepping into her house when he thought he saw Starry down the street. She took one look his direction before teleporting away.

With a curt goodbye, he started walking off toward where Starry was last seen. It was already late in the evening and he was not going to waste another day before he got to the bottom of why his friend was acting so unlike herself. He made sure nopony was watching before he chanted to his scars and brought up two shadowy minipones. They both saluted him before taking off to find where Starry had disappeared to. It couldn’t have been very far, he knew her abilities well enough by now to know she wasn’t very capable with spells over ponies, even over herself. His minipones would be able to track her down without being seen in the oncoming darkness of the end of day.

However, there was a pair of eyes that observed the glow on his hoof and equally lit up themselves.

Chapter Three

It didn’t take long before the minipones returned and whispered Starry’s whereabouts into Edgy’s ear. He returned them to the darkness and started casually walking over to where Starry was supposed to be. He was a little apprehensive and a little cross at her, but it was a little hard to hold in his curiosity as to why she was acting so weird.

He found her dozing off on a park bench with no Cass or Bee in sight. He could tell she was deep asleep and hesitated about waking her.

He didn’t have to worry about making that decision though.

He instantly whipped up the shadows to surround him when he heard a noise off to his left. There was a rustle in the leaves of the nearby bushes and a small squirrel hopped out and made leaps toward the bench. Edgy could see the squirrel was holding a small bag in his mouth, and as he came up to Starry he placed it on the ground next to her and gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder.

Starry woke up and looked down at the ground before giving Rochester a sleepy smile and taking the bag up with her magic.

Rochester chirped back at her before he leapt back off into the bushes.

Edgy had remained hidden in the darkness so that neither could see him, but he decided it was now or never to confront her.

He was just about to lower the darkness around him when he saw what Starry pulled out of the bag. There was a note, or maybe a photo. He couldn’t see what was on the other side of it, but whatever it was that Starry saw, it made her smile. She curled back up and he thought maybe he could see what was on one corner of it.

Just as he was about to whisk the shadows away there was another sound coming from the bushes. This time, it was just the rustle of the wind, but he felt a little apprehensive.

Again, he was just about to walk out to Starry when a pony grabbed his right hoof and started dragging him away. He muffled his own startled yelp but Starry heard it and looked his direction. She didn’t see him, though, because just as suddenly he was thrown behind the fountain statue and remained there until she turned back away.

He looked at his kidnapper but all he saw was a cloaked figure.

“Shhh,” the cloaked figure turned toward him before dragging him off in the direction of the back alleys of Ponyville and away from Starry and the park bench.

Out of curiosity he let the pony drag him away. They got to a neighborhood that seemed familiar to him but he couldn’t quite name it, but when they went to enter the cloaked figure’s home, he remembered.

Granny Angel?

The old pony took off her cloak and set it aside on one of the nearby sofas.

“Yes, and I know who you are, Edgy,” she went off toward the kitchen and began pouring tea as he sat down at the table.

“I know those impressive scars are more than what they seem.”

Edgy nearly dropped the tea cup she had offered him.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you have a lot of abilities that other ponies don’t know about. And a lot of burdens.”

She sighed and looked up at a picture that Edgy hadn’t seen the last time he came in there with Starry. The picture showed a young filly Granny Angel with what looked like a sweet green colt. She seemed tired and worn in the picture.

“Neither of us could have the family and home we thought we wanted, but I think we both managed to find our own way, all the same.”

Edgy looked away.

“Starry needs your help. Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on with her lately. She feels like she’s lost her purpose, the one that’s kept her going for a long time,” Granny Angel said and looked directly into Edgy’s eyes.

“If you can convince her to stop by and see me, it’d be much appreciated.”

With a smile, Granny Angel turned back toward her own tea cup as she sat across from Edgy.

It seemed like Granny Angel was done, and even though Edgy was a little apprehensive as to how much Granny Angel might know about his powers, he took off.

Chapter Four

Finding Starry still resting on the park bench, he put on a smirk and said, “so the hoodlum is finally taking a break. Haven’t you ever heard that there’s no rest for the wicked?”

“Well I think you’d know that better than anypony,” Starry remarked without looking up.

Edgy wasn’t going to be defeated so easily, especially not with the past few days of grief he had to put up with. So he went and grabbed Starry and tossed her horizontally over his shoulder like a sack of flour, leaving her to sulk as he carried her all the way back into Ponyville.

Knocking on Granny Angel’s door, he bounced her off onto the welcome mat and she brushed herself off with a huff and a “Why in Equestria would you visit somepony’s house in the middle of the night?” before the door behind her opened.

“My! this is a surprise. One of my favorites came back to visit me again for the second time in a month!”

Starry could only halfheartedly smile back, but she let Granny Angel walk her in and Edgy let himself in too before shutting the door behind them.

Granny Angel sat herself down on one side of a sofa while letting Starry take the other side. Edgy didn’t want to sit on any of the doilies on the furniture and stood awkwardly in the large doorway.

“I know you offered to help me earlier, darling, so I thought I would let you know about a party I’m putting on for some of my old friends,” Granny Angel began.

“It isn’t anything big, but if you helped I’d really appreciate it.”

Starry bit her lip and looked like she wanted to think about it for a minute, but she said, “Of course, Granny Angel, what did you want me to do?”

It didn’t take too long before Edgy felt that he was miserably underfoot.

Granny Angel had Starry fix the lightbulb in the basement so they could pull up some old preserves and soon Granny Angel had the kitchen filled with the smell of fruit and bread. Starry was then directed upstairs to fix a rusty door hinge. And before long, Starry had even gone into the attic and pulled up some spare metal parts that she was constructing into a centerpiece display.

Granny Angel had given her some pointers on how she wanted it to look, so Starry took notes and drew a rough sketch of it.

It looked like a pony riding a bicycle, which wasn’t totally unheard of but wasn’t normal.

Starry thought it’d be fun to make though, especially since she had plans for it to move on its own and for the pony to be able to do a flip off the bicycle and back into its seat.

She had spent all morning working on it in the living room before she finally came back into the kitchen to see how Granny Angel was doing.

The sight that met her made her start laughing until tears streamed down her face.

Granny Angel had needed some help with her baking. Edgy agreed to help, but Granny Angel insisted he wear her spare apron. It was purple with a flowery design and had a pink front pocket and a pink frill around the edges. But it was also hard to tell because it was already covered in flour dust, Edgy included. A large patch of flour had somehow found a way to cover his muzzle in a spot that reminded Starry of the spotted pattern on cows.

Edgy noticed Starry walked in and cringed a bit before taking the apron off with feigned dignity and setting it on the counter.

But both were in better spirits all the same.

Granny Angel told them both she was finished with everything and told them they could both go home, but not before seeing Starry’s newest creation.

With a little bit of pride, Starry made them both sit on the doilied sofa as she started up her machine. There was a small switch on the side of the track that she flipped with her magic aura. Soon, the bicycle started rolling along the oval track with a smiling pony rolling along on it. Most of it was just a flat wire sculpture with a few exceptions. The pony’s legs were attached in another layer that rotated as if it was moving the bicycle pedals. The pony’s arms were also on joints that could spin, and the wheels were held up by a thin but firm triangle of wires that sped it around the track.

At one point, the track was made out of a reverse magnet, and it launched the pony into the air as much as the wires holding its hooves onto the handlebars would allow, before the bicycle and pony rolled safely toward the beginning of the loop again.

Granny Angel applauded and even Edgy clapped twice, before saying a proper unicorn would probably be able to do that whole show with just their magic alone.

But Starry didn’t care. Especially not when Granny Angel came over to hug her.

“I have one last request, Starry dear,” Granny Angel said. She pulled out a folded slip of paper from one of her apron pockets and held it out to Starry.

“There’s one special guest I want to invite to my party. He’s a mean old thing, but if you can get him it’d be much appreciated. If not, I’ll have to go and grab a hold of him myself. The directions are all on the paper. I want to start the party off by tomorrow evening so, whether you can get him or not, don’t forget to come by! I’ll be waiting for you.”

Chapter Five

Edgy had agreed to go with Starry, but he wasn’t sure how much he’d enjoy it.

Sometime earlier on, he had made sure to get Starry to hand him over the directions so that he could lead the way. She didn’t seem too eager to have him accompany her in the first place.

The directions were to a place not too far out of Ponyville. On the other side of the Everfree Forest there was a short cliff that ran along toward the old castle of the two sisters. Most ponies knew to stay away from the Everfree Forest, though the Elements and one peculiar zebra have been able to go in and out frequently.

Starry hadn’t spoken a word since they left Granny Angel and all she was doing was looking at her hooves rather than at him.

To Starry, she felt she needed to explain to him everything that was going on while he was gone, but she didn’t want to give an explanation if he wasn’t going to give his own.

Still, if only to make things less awkward and to ease some of her anxiety for the forest...

“So,” Starry began.

Edgy turned to give her one look before pulling out a muffin from his backpack and turning back around to start munching on it.

“I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk.”

Edgy munched louder.

“I was just mad because I lost my job, and you were gone, and you didn’t tell me anything.”

Edgy swallowed what was left of the muffin and pulled out another.

He had told her all he had wanted to say about where he was going before he left.

He hadn’t thought about her job, but he remembered that it had seemed abandoned. It wasn’t really his concern, though. Really, nopony in Equestria ever had an issue with losing their job. You just get back to work.

He remembered what Granny Angel said. Starry had wrapped herself up in her work so much it probably was a shock to her. But still.

“I mean, I guess I still had some orders to take care of, but it won’t be enough. And I felt miserable. And...”

Edgy held up a hoof.

“It’s fine,” he said.

He pointed a hoof up toward their left and they could see a sheer cliff face that rose maybe half a mile in the air. From their angle they could see somewhat of a cave on a level plain near the top.

“We’re here, anyway. If you have the energy to run your mouth you can pick up your hooves and get up to that cave.”

It took them the whole afternoon to climb up to the top with a bit of the rope that Edgy had kept in his backpack. Both of them were already tired out, from how much Granny Angel had made them do and the walk over here, and climbing was a bit difficult for Starry.

The cave was really a mud hut situated next to a copse of trees. A small fire had gone out in front of it and Edgy and Starry could see a few tools and some equipment hung up neatly along a wall.

They weren’t standing around long when a gruff and stout green pony walked up from the other side of the hut. He had seen them walk up and spit out the axe he was carrying in his mouth.

“What business do you two have here?”

Starry worked up a bit of courage and grabbed an invitation that Granny Angel had supplied with her note.

“We’ve actually come to invite you to a party.”

The earth pony looked at Starry up and down and then looked at Edgy, who was staring back at him in curiosity. Starry even managed to keep a smile on her face to try to brighten the mood.

“No.”

Chapter Six

And with that, they were both kicked off and landed with an unpleasant jerk onto the ground below. Both of them were a little winded but they could see that each other was fine.

Edgy leapt up and started saying something angrily that Starry pretended not to hear. She was going to just give up on trying that route but Edgy was already equipping himself for another climb. Starry shook her head and went to nurse some of her scratches.

He was already going up the cliff side twice as fast as they had done previously.

“But Edgy!” Starry whined from her spot at the bottom of the cliff.

“Do we really have to? I mean I really can’t do this right now.”

Edgy didn’t give a glance back. He continued the determined look on his face and kept climbing up. All the ropes and other equipment seemingly cluttered but perfectly situated to keep him steady.

Starry just rolled her eyes. It was pointless. He couldn’t hear her, and if he could, he would pretend that he didn’t.

She looked around at the bushes nearby. She had noticed some sort of berries on them but she couldn’t identify what they were.

They were a brilliant brownish red color with a lacy design in brown all around it. They grew like cherries, either one by itself or in pairs. The bush itself looked ordinary.

She looked back at Edgy. He was still on his mission to get to the top of the cliff.

There was an oppressive stillness in the forest around them. There wasn’t the sound of a bird or a squirrel. There were no insects either, but Starry hadn’t really noticed that. If she could find some animal that would eat the berries she would feel a little safer about eating them herself.

Still, she hadn’t eaten since they left the old mare’s house and Edgy was already nearing the top with his own supply sacks.

Starry started impatiently tapping her hoof on the ground before she finally gave in to her hunger and popped one in her mouth.

It tasted bitter and cold.

She spat it out but it left a numb feeling where it had been on her tongue.

Edgy had just made it to the top of the cliff when he looked down to where he had left Starry. It looked like she had fallen asleep down there. With a shake of his head, he continued toward the cave. If either of them should be sleeping, it’d be him, since he hadn’t slept at all the night before.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Starry didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but the next thing she knew, there were unwelcome bright lights and shouts. Vigorously turning her head away she found herself crashing onto the ground.

It took a few seconds before she was able to get up and see what was going on around her.

It seemed like too many smiling faces and too many staring eyes.

She was surrounded by mainly red, green, and yellow colored ponies. Five of them were holding a stretcher that she had apparently been laying on. They began to set it down as soon as she proved that she could stand and even walk on her own.

Edgy was nowhere in sight.

“Where am I?” Starry asked them.

One of the mares giggled.

“Huh?” Starry said, but the other ponies went off into giggle fits, too, and not a single one would answer any of her questions.

They let her roam freely though, so she started wandering around trying to figure out where this place was situated from where she and Edgy had been. The cliff that she and Edgy had been on was nowhere in sight. It seemed like houses and houses surrounded by trees and then open plains as far as her eyes could see.

She asked a few where Edgy could be but she didn’t get a response to that either.

The town itself was a mess. There were no evenly spaced streets and the houses were similar to Ponyville but not quite. They sprawled around and lumped together. They had thatched roofs and had vines growing all over them. Some were one story and some were two, but they were mainly one story huts. She could see picnic tables set out in one of the main squares. Covering a few of them were dozens of pies, all ready to cool.

After about an hour of asking around and trying to get any clues about where she was at, she was going to snap and just race off in one direction. Any direction. Just away.

She grabbed a few pies that were sitting out on one of the main picnic tables and stuffed it into a nearby sack and actually started heading off in one of the directions.

She didn’t have to look behind her but she knew she was being watched by dozens of overly smiling faces. She braced herself and continued going, but it wasn’t long before she noticed that a few of the landmarks that she had picked out in the distance weren’t getting any closer or further away. She knew she was moving forward, but it seemed like she was staying still.

Turning around, the town seemed just a few feet away but she had been walking for at least an hour.

She had heard of things like this, though it was more like the feeling you get walking through a desert than something real. It was like a dream that wouldn’t let you run away.

Chapter Seven

With a sigh, Starry turned back toward the village.

She had no idea what was going on but she started worrying about the time. Looking up, it seemed like the sky was just bright. She couldn’t see where the sun was. It seemed to her that it should have been close to the evening, but it was as bright as midday.

The ponies around her were still all smiling and wide eyed. They walked around aimlessly like they didn’t have a care in the world. The pies were still cooling on the table. She remembered the ones she had stolen and picked one up out of her bag.

Sniffing it, she dumped half of it on the ground while holding the other half in with her hoof. The only metal she could find nearby other than the pie tin itself was her necklace and the mercury inside it, and she wasn’t going to use that to cut open the pie.

Taking a good look at it she took one glance back at the mindless ponies before taking a nibble.

It tasted bitter and cold.

She spat it out.

She had the faintest memory that she tasted that sometime before she found herself here. It was then that she noticed that in some of the windowsills of the pony huts there were tiny berry bushes with the same berries growing on them.

Shaking her head, she dumped the rest of the pie on the ground.

A few of the ponies had seen her dump the pie but none of them made a motion toward her or changed the expression on their faces.

She was frustrated. But it seemed like there was nothing she could do. In spite of herself, her horn started glowing. A few ponies noticed it and their mouths shut. Starry was almost terrified at what it was going to do. Remembering the star spiders, she frantically tried to run back toward the outskirts of the town even though she knew it wouldn’t take her very far.

Suddenly, sparks started flying off her horn and a burst of what seemed like lightning shot out from it and into the sky.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Edgy had made it back to the top of the cliff. The old stout pony had started a fire for the night and was beginning to cook some fish he had caught. The pony actually seemed like a pony Edgy would admire if they had met on other terms. This pony was able to survive out here in the wilderness alone. The only issue Edgy would have was the lack of action and adventure. Too quiet.

But Granny Angel, the pony who knew his secret for some reason, had asked them to get this guy to her party. And he was not going to give up even though Starry seemed to.

Edgy walked up to the stout pony’s fire and sat across from him. The flames from the fire licked up between them and they could see each other’s faces clearly above the steam and shadow. The stout pony glanced at him before turning back to the fish.

“Want some fish?”

“I prefer spaghetti.”

The stout pony waited a bit. Nothing but silence.

“So you’re back. Without your friend?”

“Seems so. At least I have one. You can have some too if you join the party.”

The stout one looked curiously back at Edgy.

“I’d much rather stay out here. I have the stars and the Timberwolves for company.”

“Really? A bunch of distant lights and piles of bark are enough for you? No wonder ponies let you live out here alone.”

“I’m not going. So get your flank down there back into that silly town or I’ll knock you back down there myself.”

“If you want a fight I can take you on. Though, broken bones might ruin your enjoyment of the party.”

The stout pony sighed and continued looking straight at Edgy. Edgy stared back. He had already faced one battle of wills and let himself fall to needing outside help. But this time he was going to do it himself. If this pony thought he wasn’t going to budge, he better think again.

“Why would you be invited to this anyway? What am I even doing here?” Edgy started mumbling. He turned away from the stout pony for a second to look around. He got up to start leaving.

The stout pony couldn’t help himself.

“Wait. Just wait. Just sit back down.”

Edgy shot him a mock look of surprise.

The stout pony started twiddling with the freshly cooked fish before taking a bite.

“I have a very good reason why I don’t want to go to the party,” he said. He took a look at the cold eyes of the fish in front of him and had to set it down in an effort to try to compose himself.

As he started mumbling something, Edgy found himself a seat next to the fire again. If he had to listen to two confessions today he was going to at least sit comfortably this time and rest his hooves.

“Granny Angel and I used to be married.”

Edgy looked hard at the pony. He did look a bit familiar. Edgy couldn’t remember exactly how the pony looked that he had seen in the portrait last night. He wasn’t paying too close attention to the pony beside Granny.

The stout pony started describing how he and Granny had met. How they tried to have a family but couldn’t. And how they had fought until he had had to leave.

Edgy made himself appear disinterested during the whole confession. It wasn’t his sort of thing to bother with other ponies’ backstories and issues. He would have rather had to fight off a Timberwolf or some giant bat.

Suddenly, like the universe had heard his silent plea, a giant Timberwolf crashed into the clearing and gave off a loud howl that sent a shiver through both Edgy and the stout pony. Edgy was on his hooves in no time. He sent a kick at the Timberwolf and it howled in pain before charging at Edgy again. The stout pony went to duck for cover in his hut, but the Timberwolf noticed and shifted its direction. Edgy raced to try to cut him off, and sent another kick at the Timberwolf that shattered it to pieces. He took the wood chunks to feed the fire and told the stout pony to stop shivering in his hiding spot...

“Are you okay there?”

Edgy realized he had dozed off. The stout pony was still sitting across from him. No Timberwolf. Still no giant bat. Maybe if he dozed off again?

The stout pony shook him awake so hard that Edgy couldn’t fall back asleep and he had to listen to the confession all over again because the stout pony didn’t believe Edgy had heard a thing.

Still, by the end, the stout pony agreed to make the trip over in the morning. He was tired of living alone and wanted to know how Granny Angel was doing. So Edgy got up and started walking back toward the edge of the cliff and the stout pony waved him off.

Edgy peered down, and thought he could just make out the shape of Starry, still lying down on the ground below. It hadn’t been too long of a time that he was up there, but he wasn’t expecting her to nap so long.

It didn’t take him long to half throw himself off and half climb down the cliff side.

“Sleeping on the jo-” he placed one hoof on her shoulder to nudge her awake when he felt it.

Starry felt cold. Ice cold.

Chapter Eight

The streak of lightning traveled miles up and just barely hit the source of light before bouncing back. The energy crashed into one of the tables and sent flaming pies flying all over the place.

More of the ponies lost their smiles and started reacting to Starry’s actions now. They had to, their houses would have caught on fire. A few of the pies landed on the closest houses and their thatched roofs started smoking before a small group of ponies ran for water buckets and dumped them on the beginning flames.

In their frenzy they sloshed a trail of water through the streets.

A few gave her a stern look and one looked like he was going to attack her when another pony shook her head and calmed him down.

Starry couldn’t understand what they could possibly be thinking.

Maybe they aren’t allowed to hurt me?

She thought she’d try something. She walked up a little hesitantly to a nearby pony. The pony was trying to pick up what was left of the table that Starry blew up. Starry reached out a hoof and tapped on her shoulder.

No response.

Taking a deep breath, Starry pulled back her hoof.

Slap!

The pony reeled backwards and a few of the other ponies gasped in shock, but nopony came up to help the pony and the pony, a little woozy, stood back up and continued to pick up what was left of the table.

Starry was surprised nopony did anything to her after that. But she was more concerned about the pony she hurt.

“I am so sorry! I just, I don’t know what to do or anything!” Starry had started directing her plea toward that pony, but started just desperately looking around at all the other ponies around her.

“Then don’t worry about it.”

Starry turned around and saw a little filly standing behind her wearing pigtails and a flowy dress.

“Have you tried everything that you could?” the filly asked her and looked straight into Starry’s eyes.

“Well,” Starry looked off to the side and started rubbing one hoof with the other, “I think so. I mean, I asked and I tried to run off and I even tried to see if there was some barrier I could break. I just don’t know.”

The small filly grinned a little.

“Then don’t worry.”

Starry stopped for a second. She couldn’t tell if the filly in front of her was trying to trick her into something or not, but she knew there must be more to her.

“I need to find my friend,” Starry decided to say. At least this one pony was reacting to her, maybe she could figure out something about this place through her.

“Are you sure you need to?”

“...Yee-es?”

“Around here, nopony needs to do anything,” the filly brightened up even more. “We don’t need or want anything at all. Why don’t you join us for our picnic?”

Starry looked up and saw that a few of the townsponies had packed up some baskets with the pies and were heading their direction with the same smiles on their faces.

“Thanks for the invitation but I don’t really have time for this.”

“What’s time?” the filly asked and tilted her head a bit. She asked it like Starry was the filly that was talking nonsense.

Starry thought she would have to explain it but decided she didn’t want to waste the time on that either. She didn’t know where she was, but if the light above was any indication, there probably wasn’t such a thing as time where she currently was. If that was the case, even if she did explain to them what time was, it wouldn’t really make sense.

“Well what are you?” Starry asked the filly.

“I’m a pony,” the filly said, straight faced. And Starry wanted to facehoof. She wanted to be a little snippy at the filly by asking that but at the same time she hoped she’d gain something. She had thought maybe they weren’t real ponies, or maybe they would identify themselves by their town or she’d get the filly’s name or something. But of course the filly would say that. Stupid.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Edgy didn’t want to have to climb the cliff side for the third time that day, so he did his best to shout up to the top for help in the hope that the stout pony would hear him. For a minute, he didn’t hear a response or see any movement at the top. So he called again. His voice was going hoarse but he didn’t know what else to do.

A second later, he could see the stout pony scuttling down the best he could down the cliff side by some rocks that Edgy hadn’t noticed. And sooner than Edgy could imagine, the stout pony was down beside him.

He took one look at Starry and then pointed out the berry bushes nearby.

“Don’t worry too much. Your friend is alright. Those weird berries are ludibacas. They don’t taste too good, but they don’t kill you.”

Edgy went back to check Starry’s pulse but the cold started creeping into his own hoof.

“They actually transport your soul into a pocket dimension.” the stout pony continued.

Edgy didn’t feel all that much better knowing her soul was missing.

“Well, what do we do then?” he demanded.

“There isn’t anything we can do. Her soul can’t come back until she’s worked out whatever has been bothering her the most. That’s how they work.”

Edgy put one hoof to his face for a second before turning back toward Starry’s lifeless body. He thought back to her talk when they trotted out here. It can’t take too long to work through that, right? She pretty much apologized already.

“And what happens if she doesn’t figure it out?” he asked the stout pony.

The stout pony looked back at him and shrugged.

“That, I don’t know. Every pony I’ve ever seen eat it has come out just fine, so I wouldn’t worry too much about her. I never actually ate one myself, but I’ve heard other ponies talk about it plenty enough, and it didn’t seem like any had a problem with it.”

[Botanist's Note: The ludibaca, or "berry of learning/games,"-results may vary. Consult a doctor if allergies develop or memory loss occurs.]

Chapter Nine

“Where are we then?”

“In a town.”

“What’s this place called?”

“Never named it.”

“Who are you?”

“Who are you?” the filly asked back at Starry. Starry didn’t see any harm in telling the filly, it wasn’t like she had any other options right now.

“I’m Starry. I’m a unicorn. From Ponyville. And I’m lost,” Starry said, pausing after each phrase to think what would be the most important point.

“Well you can’t be ‘Starry’ and ‘lost.’”

Starry couldn’t believe the filly would pull a joke like that, but then again, the filly seemed to take things at their simplest value.

“Well I -”

“Which are you then?”

Starry took a step back.

“My name is Starry, but currently I’m lost.”

“What makes you think you’re lost?”

“I’m not where I’m supposed to be.”

“Why do you think that?”

Starry couldn’t take it anymore.

“Look, I really need to get out of here. I was walking with my friend, Edgy, to find some old pony and I got separated. I...I can’t remember what happened. But I need to get back there. I don’t care what you say.”

Starry slumped over onto the ground. She called Edgy her friend, but she remembered how poorly she treated him. She had snapped at him and avoided him, and he hadn’t done anything but leave Ponyville, which wasn’t his home to begin with. I really am stupid.

“I need to go back home, for one thing. But I also want to make things up to him. I also need to actually go home. I’ve been living on the streets for a week! What was I thinking? And I missed out on Jane giving birth and that’s a long story in itself. And I’ve just been a mess being all full of myself!”

The little filly started smiling, a kind smile this time.

“Then you are definitely where you’re supposed to be.”

The bright light up above started overpowering everything and Starry watched as the colors and shapes around her began fading away into the empty whiteness. She felt like her eyes were blurring and feeling groggy and she felt like she was being held under water.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Edgy had been sitting beside Starry. It was already morning and he hadn’t slept at all for the second night in a row. The stout pony waited a few feet away and managed to fall asleep standing up next to the cliff.

Edgy was sitting about a foot away from Starry, but he could still feel the ice cold of her lifeless body. He wasn’t sure whether it was really coming from her or just his imagination getting to him. He found it hard to look her direction, unsure of whether she’d really come back or not.

Suddenly, he heard a loud gasp and some coughs coming from her direction and turned to see Starry beginning to stir. She acted like she had just resurfaced from nearly drowning and was somehow drowsy but she seemed fine.

Edgy hopped up and ran over and almost hugged her, but at the last second decided against it and gave her a light tap on the head instead. Starry seemed a bit confused until he added, “didn’t anyone tell you not to eat strange plants?”

Starry looked back at the bush she had eaten from and then looked back at Edgy with a shrug. She still felt a little out of focus and numb. But she could also feel her limbs beginning to regain feeling as she slowly wobbled back onto her legs and noticed the stout pony still sleeping behind Edgy.

“How,” she coughed, “did you manage to convince him to come?”

“With my charming personality, obviously,” Edgy winked back at Starry.

Starry found herself beginning to laugh.

“I just wanted to apologize, really apologize for being a jerk to you earlier,” she began. “I just missed you.”

“So you decided to avoid me?”

“...Just take the apology, Edgy.”

“Fair enough.”

They managed to wake up the stout pony and the three decided to hurry back to Ponyville. Starry slowed them down a bit because every step she took felt like a thousand pin pricks. It reminded her of a fairy tale she once read while she was at the orphanage.

Edgy led the way but kept watching to make sure the other two didn’t fall behind. The stout pony occasionally had to keep Starry from stumbling over. But, by the time they made it to Ponyville, Starry had regained most of her feeling in her limbs and could act normal, though her head still felt a bit blurry.

Edgy made his way back to the inn to finally sleep, only after the stout pony and Starry both agreed they’d stay around Ponyville until the party and not give him the slip.

The stout pony was only too happy to have somepony to talk to while they whiled away the time. He decided to show her some of his old haunts and even where he used to live, which had long since been torn down and rebuilt into another one of Filthy Rich’s shops. The stout pony still didn’t tell her why he was there at all, but he did explain to her a bit about the berries, though by the end of his explanation she had already completely forgot what that world was like.

Chapter Ten

The time of the party came near and they woke up Edgy before trotting back to Granny Angel’s house. It was lit up with all sorts of festive candles and lanterns and they could hear gentle music coming toward them from her backyard.

The stout pony hesitated for a second in front of the other two as they came up to the door. He wanted to knock on it himself and face her. Starry still didn’t know what exactly was going on, but she could tell he and Granny must have had some sort of argument for him to be this nervous.

With a light tap, he struck up the courage to knock on the door, and then knocked once more a little more confidently.

Granny Angel must have been nearby, because she opened the door almost right away after the second knock. The two finally stood face to face at the doorway and looked straight into each other’s eyes. But no sooner had they recognized each other than they both reached out to give each other a hug and had a good cry.

They begin shuffling back into the house and Granny Angel motioned for Edgy and Starry to come in as well and they did.

The house was decorated in its usual doilies but there was an atmosphere of celebration the further in they went. The kitchen was still stocked up to the brim with pastries and it looked like Granny Angel was still making more. The rest of the house used just lamplight, which was bright enough for the old ponies but had a more welcome dimness to the glaring overhead lights. The back porch door was open to a yard with a freshly swept path and a fountain gurgling merrily.

Edgy and Starry couldn’t believe how nice the backyard looked as they turned to see some tables set up with fancy tea sets and Starry felt her heart leap as she saw her creation at a prominent spot on a table by itself. Granny Angel noticed their gazes and explained, “I had a few of my young ones come by while you two were out.” As if on cue, Cass and Bee swung out of one of the trees with a flourish.

Starry reached out to give them both a hug before the four settled in at one of the tables. Granny Angel and the stout pony were still talking indoors, too far for them to hear, but it seemed like they were getting along. It didn’t take long before a few other old ponies showed up.

Starry didn’t recognize any, but she and the other three did their best to help them to their seats and make sure they were all settled in and comfortable.

Some younger ponies swung by, all children that Granny Angel had taught years before and who lived close enough to join in on an unexpected gathering.

A few chats started buzzing around as everybody who remembered each other began to catch up and others decided to join in based on some common topic, Granny Angel being an obvious common one but sometimes the talk turned to current events.

“Did you hear? They say Tempest Shadow was seen heading to Ponyville. Somepony told me she probably wants to meet with Twilight Sparkle.”

Starry had been going back over her creation at the time, making sure that nothing had fallen out of place and that the mechanism on the inside was still functioning, so she didn’t notice as Edgy’s ears perked up at the mention of Tempest.

He hadn’t realized she was still around, and if she were to find him here...

He looked up at Starry as she peered over her work. He still didn’t want to risk her finding out about his powers. And even with both he and Tempest “reformed,” their last encounter was extremely unpleasant. It wasn’t a meeting he was looking forward to, although he felt he could probably take her on if she decided to fight.

Still, looking around at the fun going on around him, maybe he could worry about it another day.

Everypony cheered as Granny Angel and the stout pony came out carrying platters of food. There was more than just pastry, and to Edgy’s surprise, they had even made a few bowls of spaghetti.

He wanted to launch himself at it right away but was able to stop himself until he saw the stout pony nod in his direction.

The spaghetti bowl was unable to defend itself.

Starry didn’t eat too much. She took one look at some pies at the end of their table and decided she wasn’t very hungry. Plus, she was still a bit nervous about her creation two tables over. Some of the ponies had gotten rowdy, all thanks to Cass and Bee, and were messing around near it. Starry felt like her soul was going to leave her body just worrying about them possibly jostling it or tipping the table.

But it survived. And by the end of the evening, as a few of the ponies lit up some of the torches set up around the yard, Starry was ready to show off her creation.

It wasn’t a lot of ponies. It was just a project of one morning. But Starry trotted up to the back of the table and took a deep breath before flipping the switch.

Everypony couldn’t help but say how cute it was as they watched the metal pony start rolling and a few ponies gasped as it leapt into the air. It isn’t as majestic as a firework show in Canterlot, but, and then she had a thought. Before she could talk herself out of it she sent out a few fireworks into the air high above Granny Angel’s house and Ponyville itself.

Ponies halfway across town could see the lights. From his bedroom window, Postage Stamp could see the fireworks and his eyes lit up. Starry’s herself again, he thought, before he curled back up to sleep.

And while it was a bit loud from where they were at, everypony in the backyard was pleased with the unexpected extra treat.

And while Starry was pleased with seeing their admiration, she could only focus on the table with her friends.

Epilogue

Starry had a dream that night.

She was falling with nothing but open air all around her. She looked up but only saw the wide expanse of dark sky, looking as if it would draw her in. And she almost thought she was falling up as the dark sky grew bigger and bigger the further she got from it.

She didn’t want to turn over to see where she was falling to. But she struggled to turn over anyway. Whatever was ahead, she wanted to face it head on.

Below her was just more darkness, like a repeat of the dark sky above. She began to panic.

In a loud snap, she wasn’t falling anymore. She was on the ground in the Everfree Forest.

A Timberwolf howled off in the distance and she could see the moon shining above her. As she watched, the moon started looking like it was swimming in blood. The red light shone down below onto her and she felt a rush of energy.

It felt like she was once again being taken out of her body. She could watch as her body was lifted into the air and suddenly, a blue lace appeared at the base of her tail and her mane, weaving in a spiral from her body toward the opposite tips. Her eyes turned a brilliant blue and a blue aura appeared at her horn instead of its normal bright green.

The other Starry turned her head up to the sky and so Starry turned to see what she was looking at. A large meteorite was blazing through the sky and looked like it was coming straight at her.

The meteorite suddenly turned into a pony. It was Cass, falling toward her like she was trying to crash through her swinging shutter again. And then it became Postage Stamp, clutching on to his carving utensils and a wooden block.

Starry was about to bolt toward it when it all went black again.

She thought she heard voices and could feel some shadowy forms brush up against her. But everything was too dark.

All of a sudden there was a loud snap.

She woke up.

With one look outside she could see that it was still way too early to be awake. She didn’t want to get up, but, after tossing and turning for a few minutes, she gave up all hope of sleeping.

Outside her window, she knew Rochester and his family were still fast asleep. Jane had screeched at her for a few minutes when she finally came home from the party, because the fireworks had woken up the babies just when Jane had gotten them into bed. Rochester could only look at Starry apologetically. He was way too exhausted himself.

She could see one lamp shining through a window at Postage Stamp’s house. He worked late at night sometimes.

Starry didn’t want to look into the mirror. Her mane was trailing down her face again and she didn’t feel like putting in the energy to comb it back into place. For the most part, she could get her mane to stick in Rarity’s style, but every now and then it had to be readjusted.

She thought she heard a noise downstairs.

Cass.

She knew Cass was combing through her pantry again. Starry began to wonder just how much of her food Cass probably took while Starry was living on the streets. She scrunched up her muzzle. It wasn’t a fond memory. She had just wandered around the park for an entire day and didn’t make it back home before dark. At that point, she had just decided to live on the street for a while. And thankfully, Cass and Bee were there for her for half of that time. But it was still silly.

Edgy was still back at the inn. He had said he’d stay a while, though he wasn’t sure for how long. But Starry already decided that whatever he decides to do, she wasn’t going to be snippy about it again.

After she paced one or two more times, she began to yawn and crawled back into bed.

I’ll worry about it in the morning.

To be continued.