Today had been the best day of Starlight Glimmer's life.
She took part in a parade down the main street of the Crystal Empire. After that, she had been seated amongst the royalty and other guests in a private box to watch a Wonderbolt's performance, where they performed a special trick named the Galloping Glimmer in her honor. Then, in the Crystal Castle's banquet hall, she had been mentioned by name by Princess Cadence in a toast before eating her fill of the finest foods in the Empire. All to celebrate her role in the recovery of the Six Pillars, an achievement sure to leave her name in the pages of Equestria's history books for centuries.
And yet, here she was. In a bar four blocks from the Castle. Already on her third mug of cider. At two in the morning. With one thing on her mind: Why couldn't she be happy for herself?
Obviously, Starlight wasn't unhappy about what she had done. She knew she had done a good thing, and everypony told her so. But even this greatest accomplishment of her life wasn't what she really wanted. And while she had a feeling she wouldn't find any more happiness in this cider than in the last two, that didn't mean the mare wouldn't try.
"Starlight Glimmer?" a stallion's voice said.
Breaking out of her thoughts, Starlight saw that a pale blue pegasus was standing next to her table. "Uh, yeah," she said, thinking for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry, I don't recognize you."
"I'm Soarin," the stallion said. "I'm one of the Wonderbolts who performed at your ceremony today. But there's no need to apologize. I was in my flight suit, so I'm not surprised you don't recognize me without it."
"Oh, well, nice to meet you again."
The stallion glanced around at the mostly empty establishment. It was just Starlight in the corner booth and a mare at the bar talking with the waiter standing behind it. "If you don't mind me asking: What are you doing in a place like this? Shouldn't you be up at the Castle?"
Taking a sip of cider, Starlight asked, "You know my friends? The rest of the ponies that marched in the parade today?"
Soarin nodded.
"Well, they're all close. Like, closer than the closest friends you'll ever meet. But me? I'm a bit of a seventh wheel. And even with Sunburst, I can't get his attention for one conversation since six literal legends are here to occupy his time.
"So, when everypony else was having fun and nopony seemed to notice me, I snuck out here." Starlight gazed at the remaining cider in her mug, then quickly downed it before continuing, "But you're a celebrity so you probably don't know what I'm talking about."
"No, I get the feeling." Soarin sighed.
Starlight looked down at her empty drink and then up to the bar, noting the waiter who was smiling as he refilled the glass of the other mare. "And apparently the waiter doesn't care about me either. Why would I need more cider? He's got a much more interesting mare to talk to over there..."
Looking from Starlight to the bar, Soarin shouted, "Hey, waiter!" The waiter's ears perked up and he looked over at Soarin'. "Could we get a refill over here?" The waiter nodded and said a quick "excuse me" to the mare at the bar before he went behind it to get more cider.
"Thanks," said Starlight, a hint of a smile curling the edges of her lips.
"No problem."
In a moment, the stallion had arrived, holding a bottle of cider. With a quick light of his horn, he uncorked it, catching the cork in his free hoof as he began to fill Starlight's mug. "Sorry about that," he said to Starlight before turning to Soarin, "Do you want any?"
Soarin looked to Starlight and asked, "Is it okay if I join you?"
With a snort, Starlight said, "If this is how you wanna spend your evening, by all means." She gestured to the bench at the other side of the table.
Looking back at the waiter, Soarin nodded.
The waiter used his horn to pull a second mug from a stack behind the bar and set it on the table. As the waiter filled it with cider, Soarin' sat down. When the waiter had finished, Soarin' smiled and said, "Thanks." To which the waiter gave a quick "no problem" and went back over to talk with the mare at the bar. In the meantime, Starlight had consumed about half of her cider already.
After Starlight sat her mug down, her chin and lips were dripping slightly. Her lower face then lit up with magic. She used her horn to pull the stray cider off, collecting it into a small sphere in the air in front of her. Then she opened her mouth and threw the cider inside, swallowing it in one gulp.
"Nice trick."
Starlight gave a light laugh. "Hehe. Yeah. It's not very lady-like, though. Rarity had a fit the first time I did it in front of her."
"I can imagine," said Soarin. "She seems a bit... um..."
"Uptight?"
Soarin now gave his own laugh. "I was trying to think of a nicer way to say that."
The two sat in silence for a few moments. Soarin took a sip of his own cider. Starlight absentmindedly tapped her hoof at the handle of her mug.
Soarin then said, "So speaking of tricks, what did you think of the Galloping Glimmer?"
"Right. You guys named a trick after me." Starlight thought back on the trick. She couldn't quite remember the specifics of the choreography, but she remembered the ending. It ended with one pony in the center of three others closing her wings and falling. Then, just one of the three flew down and the pair locked hooves and spun around, pulling out of the dive at the last possible second. The amount of speed used in the dive caused sparks to materialize behind the diver. By pulling up at the last second, the sparks went past them and landed on the ground, dancing around as the pair returned skyward.
Starlight smiled. "It was beautiful."
Soarin smiled in return. "Awesome. I'd be sad if you didn't like it, because I was the one who drew it up."
"You did?" Starlight asked, eliciting a nod from Soarin. "But, why make a trick for me? Twilight and her friends were there, too. Why not make tricks for them?"
With a shrug, Soarin said, "Your part of the story was the one that really inspired me."
"Inspired you?"
"When Rainbow Dash told us about everything, I thought it was really cool that you didn't give up on Stygian. Even when everypony else in Equestria would have banished him right back to limbo, you were willing to fight for that slim chance that you could save him. That idea of never giving up or leaving anypony behind was what made me think of the trick."
Starlight's eyes went wide. "The ending. With that dive. That was supposed to be me saving Stygian?"
Soarin nodded. "Basically. I more wanted to capture the whole idea of rescuing somepony, but your story was the inspiration."
"Wow. Thank you..." Starlight stopped when she realized she couldn't remember this stallion's name. "Okay, sorry. What was your name again?"
"Soarin."
"Right." Starlight pounded her hoof a few times on the table. "Yes, yes, yes. Soarin. Thank you, Soarin. That..." Starlight blinked and suddenly it was as if she was seeing Soarin clearly for the first time that night. "That's pretty much the sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me."
Glancing his eyes left and right, Soarin coughed and took another drink. "It's, uh, it's nothin' really. We're the ones who get a great trick out of the deal."
"Well, it's not nothing to me." Starlight's horn lit up as she lifted her mug, turned it up, and drank down the rest of its contents. She then set it, bottom up, on the table.
Soarin eyed the mug in front of Starlight and then looked back at her face. "How many of those have you had?"
"Hehehe." Starlight giggled. "Oh, Soarin. Enough. Enough... Enough about me! What about you? Why is the amazing Soarin of the Wonderbolts here tonight?"
Biting his lip slightly, Soarin scratched at the back of his neck. "Pretty much the same reason as you, to tell you the truth. There's a mare who isn't paying me as much attention as I'd like."
"But you're a Wonderbolt," said Starlight. "That's like, one of the most exciting things ever. Just throw on your uniform and I'm sure at minimum she'll go to dinner with you."
"In other cases, you might be right. But other Wonderbolts aren't too impressed by the uniform. And this one is especially hard to impress, considering that she's also a national hero."
"Who--?" For a moment, Starlight's eyes squinted. Then they snapped back open. "Rainbow Dash?!" she shouted. "You have a thing for Rainbow Dash?"
Looking around to see that the mare and waiter at the bar had directed their gaze toward the pair's booth, Soarin put a hoof against the side of his face. "Maybe try saying that a bit louder. She might hear you all the way from the Castle."
Starlight blushed. "Sorry, sorry! I was just surprised. I don't have these sorts of conversations much. Honestly, basically never." She then chuckled. "But, I wouldn't worry about Rainbow hearing anything in her sleep. Her snoring could drown out a Sapphire Shores concert."
Soarin frowned. "It's not that loud..."
"Whoa, apparently love is blind and deaf!" Starlight laughed at her own joke, then she abruptly straightened up. "Oh, oh! Okay, you've gotta tell me: what is it about Rainbow Dash that you like? Is it her mane, how athletic she is, the sonic rainboom, what?"
The right side of his mouth curling into a strong grin, Soarin exhaled deeply. "That's all good, but it's..." He stared into his mug for a moment before starting again. "The first time I met her, she saved my life. Later on, she saved my career. She's proven her character over and over again. Sure, she can be prideful and has a bit of a big head, but ever since she joined the 'Bolts, she's always been a good flier and an even better friend." Soarin took another drink of cider. "The problem is, the more she is in my eyes, the farther away she feels. Where do you even start from there? 'Crash, I wanna buy you dinner and take you dancing because I think you're the most amazing mare I've ever met' sounds fake, but it's how I feel."
"Oh..." Starlight's face and tone had quickly transitioned from joking to serious. She said, "Well, I can tell you that doesn't sound fake at all. If Rainbow knew why you felt that way, I think she'd be thrilled." Bringing her forelimbs in close, Starlight made herself look quite small.
Soarin's gaze left Starlight and went to the table. He sighed and gently scratched at his chin with his hoof.
Not comfortable with the silence, Starlight lifted her drink once more, planting the butt of the tankard against her muzzle. "Oh right." She looked toward the bar and said, "I think I'm gonna get another cider."
"Don't you think you've had enough? You won't thank yourself tomorrow."
Starlight laughed. "Soarin, I haven't even thought about ten minutes from now! Tomorrow might never come for all we know."
As Starlight stood up, Soarin put a hoof on her forelimb, causing her to look back at him. "You don't wanna do anything you'll regret."
Her smile vanishing, Starlight looked to her mug, then to Soarin's hoof, then back at his face. "I don't need to worry about another regret. What's one more drop of water to an ocean?"
Soarin opened his mouth, fighting to find some words. "Eh, well..."
"Like I said, I'm getting another cider." Starlight's horn lit up as she lifted her mug and stepped out of the booth. As she walked, she kept her head held high, but Soarin could see that she was swaying slightly.
"Preening!" he shouted.
Starlight stopped and looked around. "What are you talking about?"
"It's like preening." Standing up, Soarin walked over to Starlight and held out one of his wings. "For a pegasus, we have to preen our feathers to make sure they're straight. You see how they all run together smoothly?" Starlight looked at his wing and nodded. "Well, you'd think that, for a Wonderbolt, preening wouldn't matter too much. We're strong fliers, so it shouldn't matter if we have a stray feather somewhere. What's one bad feather to a strong wing? But that's not right.
"When we're doing our routines, we need absolute precision. Everything counts more than before. When I was a colt, I didn't care about a few bad feathers. But today, even though I'm stronger and faster, I need to care about even slightly stray ones. I've gotta find every imperfection and take care of it, bit by bit, even if it takes all morning."
"So you're saying that, because I'm such a good pony, that makes fixing my mistakes even more important?"
Soarin nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Starlight asked, "And what makes you think I'm so good?"
Chuckling, Soarin said, "How could you not be? Look at what you did for Stygian. For Equestria. You're a hero to everypony."
Shaking violently, Starlight's magic fizzled out and her tankard fell to the floor. Her body followed soon after as she let her legs go limp and she began to sob on the floor. The single other patron and one waiter of the bar both stared at her. Soarin quickly leaned down, putting his head about level with Starlight's.
"What's wrong? What did I say?"
"It's not-- You don't get it! I was-- I was so bad! If you knew me, you'd-- you'd never call me a hero!"
Saying nothing, Soarin simply put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. Starlight flinched at the touch, her pastel coat wrinkling at her joints as she fought to make herself appear smaller. Her face distorted as she cringed. Her breath shuddered and her eyes closed for a time. Yet after this initial reaction, the stallion's touch began to relax her. When her eyes opened again, her face was much less contorted. Her breathing was almost normal.
"Excuse me," said the waiter, who had walked over to the pair. "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright. I'm okay. Can you...?" Starlight looked to her right and reached out a hoof, tapping on the mug that had fallen to the floor.
The waiter sighed. "Uh... no. Sorry. We've got a policy..."
"What? No, no. That's not why I fell. See." Starlight pulled away from Soarin and quickly pulled herself up. "I'm tota-- Whoa!" As soon as she was on four hooves, one of her legs shifted strangely and she staggered back into Soarin, who acted to hold her upright.
Shaking his head, the waiter said, "Please. Don't make me call a guardspony."
"That won't be necessary," said Soarin. "I can take her back to the Castle."
For a moment, the waiter glanced between the pair. "You two seem like you hardly know each other."
"It's fine," Starlight said. "He's a friend of a friend."
The waiter frowned.
"I'm already a guardspony," said Soarin, pulling out his Wonderbolts badge. "Celestia's guard, sure, but still."
Looking closely at the badge, the waiter nodded. "Alright." He then looked up at Soarin. "Just make sure she gets back okay. She's a very important pony."
Author's Note
For those wondering, this story takes place before the events of Season 8, right after the events of Season 7.
This night in the Crystal Empire was particularly quiet. After the day's festivities, just about every pony in the Empire was fast asleep. The lack of patronage in the bar was mirrored on the vacant streets. Every window in every one of the complex crystal homes was dark, and the only noise came from the gentle clip-clop of hooves on the crystal roads as Starlight and Soarin walked back to the Castle.
When the pair had gone about one block from the bar, Starlight said, "I'm so sorry about all this."
"Don't worry about it," said Soarin. "It's not much of a walk and it isn't like I had anything else going on tonight."
While she did nod, Starlight continued to look toward the ground. After a while longer she said, "Soarin, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"When I said that if you really knew me, you'd never call me a hero, you didn't say anything."
Looking down at the unicorn, Soarin saw her head was still drooped and her eyes were still fixed upon the road.
"Is it... is it because you believed me?"
"No." Soarin shook his head. "I just know what it feels like to think you're not good enough, so I know there aren't any words to say."
Starlight bit her lip. "Do you... Do you wanna talk about it?"
Chuckling, Soarin said, "I never wanna talk about it. Do you know how pathetic it sounds for a Wonderbolt to say that?"
"But you're not just a Wonderbolt," said Starlight. "You're a pony, too. And it's normal for a pony to feel... well... like you're just a pony."
Nodding, Soarin said. "Sure. But you're just a pony, too."
"Yeah. Believe me, I know." Starlight rolled her eyes. "I don't need any reminders of how pathetic I can be."
"That's not what I meant," said Soarin. "You're a pony. Nothing more, sure. But also nothing less."
Her ears pricking up, Starlight turned her head to look at Soarin, who was already looking at her. When she saw his eyes, she looked away. "I'm not so sure about that. And if you knew who you were really talking to, you wouldn't be so sure either."
At this, again, Soarin reach out with a hoof and held it to Starlight's shoulder. With a groan, Starlight stepped away and the pair both stopped.
"I'm serious, Soarin," said Starlight. "You have no idea who you're talking to. I don't deserve to be called a hero."
"You know she told us, right?" asked Soarin.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Who told who what?"
"Rainbow Dash told us about you. The whole story. That included your village."
With that, Starlight's eyes were now locked on Soarin's. "And you... So you... You knew and... But that trick! Why? I was a monster! Why would you base a trick on somepony so horrible?"
To which Soarin simply said, "I wouldn't."
Starlight stared at the stallion for a time. She then responded equally simply. "Thanks."
For a moment longer the pair stood in the night air before Soarin tilted his head in the direction of the Castle. Starlight walked back toward Soarin and the two continued onward.
"Now, sure, I shouldn't put Dash on a pedestal," said Soarin. "But you shouldn't leave yourself on the ground. You've done more than your fair share to prove to everyone you're not a monster." Soarin then looked back out at the darkened city around them. "We're all 'just ponies.' Nothing more, nothing less."
"I don't know. Sometimes it seems like being 'just ponies' is impossible." Starlight sighed. "A few weeks ago, I invited Sunburst to Ponyville. All I wanted was to reconnect with my best friend. But when he got there, he spent time with everypony except me.
"When we were young, Sunburst and I were just two foals having fun. When we practiced magic or played games, it was like all of Equestria disappeared and it was just the two of us. I know it wasn't really real, but it's how I felt. I wanted to feel that way again - to just be young and carefree playing a board game with my best friend. And I don't know if anypony else can ever understand why some stupid game meant so much to me."
"They don't have to," said Soarin. "That experience was meant for you."
Starlight shook her head. "That's a nice thought, but I know it's not true. Really meaningful things mean something to other ponies. Like, everypony gets how important my saving Stygan was."
"And that experience was meant for everypony else. Sometimes you can find something meaningful to everypony and sometimes just to you. It doesn't make it less meaningful."
Groaning, Starlight said, "That sounds like the sort of nonsense I used to tell to the ponies in my village."
Soarin frowned and for a while the pair made their way to the Castle in silence. Upon reaching the last block, however, Soarin's ears pricked up. He looked over at Starlight. "Did you know that there was a second air show that Cadence scheduled for tonight?"
"No."
"Well, it's totally different from the Wonderbolts. We do crazy stunts and fly fast and get crowds cheering. This air show... it goes slow. And I don't think I ever hear anypony cheering for it, but it's beautiful in its own way. It's got that different kind of meaning."
Rolling her eyes, Starlight said, "Sounds like you're just trying to be nice. If nopony's cheering, and I didn't even hear about it, then the show can't be that good."
Soarin stopped walking and Starlight did as well. Soarin then gestured skyward. When Starlight looked up, she gave a light gasp. The dark sky was being pierced by an array of green-blue lights, swirling about in thin bands and lightly flickering as they danced across the starlit heavens.
"They're called 'auroras,'" Soarin said. "They're made by the Empire's crystal magic."
The pair gazed up at the shimmering auroras for a time, mesmerized by the white bands slowly pulsing through the waves like crests on an ocean of color. The hypnotic movements were slow, but the changes being made were dramatic and breathtaking.
"They're amazing," Starlight said.
"Yeah. If you close your eyes, you can sometimes hear them, too."
Closing her eyes Starlight listened carefully. Against the light breeze, she could hear a faint crackling and hissing. It reminded her of the sound of a bonfire, but it sounded like it was coming from very far away. She perked her ears toward the heavens. For a few moments, she simply drank in the quiet sound from the sky.
Then, she heard something else. Another faint hissing that sounded like it was coming from very close by. She opened her eyes and looked up slightly at the source. It was the sound of Soarin breathing through his nostrils. His eyes were closed, a light smile on his face as he listened to the auroras. His breathing was rhythmic and gentle.
Taking a few steps, Starlight brought herself close to the stallion and leaned into his side, causing him to open his eyes and look down into hers.
"Thank you for showing me this," she said.
"It's nothing," Soarin shrugged. "They were already there. I just pointed them out."
Starlight smiled and looked back up, prompting Soarin to do likewise. For a little while longer the pair stood together, staring up at the many lights making their way through the sky.
Back at the castle, Soarin guided Starlight to her room. The halls were dark and again the two didn't encounter anypony else. Upon reaching Starlight's room, the pair entered quietly and Starlight shut the door behind them.
"Thank you," she said, turning to look at Soarin.
"Hey, it's nothing. At this point, I was just doin' my job." Soarin chuckled. "It's not like that bartender gave us much of a choice in the matter."
Starlight shook her head. "No, no, no. Not for taking me back here."
Soarin raised an eyebrow. "Then what for?"
"Well, I mean, yeah, that was part of it. But not the getting me here. Thank you for talking to me. For listening. For taking the time." Starlight took a step forward, putting herself only inches from Soarin. "Soarin, tonight was going to be miserable. That's what it was supposed to be, but you changed all that. You... you made it a night I won't regret."
As she looked into Soarin's emerald eyes, Starlight was acutely aware of her own breathing and heartbeat. Leaning forward, she closed her eyes and pushed herself up to match Soarin's height, leaning the bridge of her muzzle against his.
At this, Soarin closed his eyes and leaned back into her, gently rocking his head from side to side. For a time, the two stood together, gently nuzzling one another. And in the silence of the moment, their ears pricked up. From somewhere the two could hear a rumbling sound. The pair opened their eyes.
"Is that thunder?" Soarin asked.
Starlight looked around the room. She soon realized the sound was coming from the wall on the right. "No it's... Oh, Celestia!" she started to giggle. "It's Rainbow Dash!"
Soarin angled his head and, upon recognizing the sound of his teammate's snoring, began laughing. Starlight's light giggle intensified to match. Within a few seconds, though, Soarin started to hiss between laughs. "Haha--shhh!--haha--shhh--hahaha! We gotta be quiet!"
"No, we're good!" said Starlight at full volume. "She's like four or five rooms over! Hahaha! Her snoring is just that loud!"
It took a few seconds for the pair to calm down after that. Then Starlight, without really looking at Soarin, leaned back toward him. However, in those seconds, the smile on Soarin's face had been replaced by a frown and, instead of returning the act, Soarin breathed deeply, backed away, and turned his body to face away from Starlight.
Starlight watched Soarin stepping away with growing confusion. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's complicated." Soarin looked back at Starlight. "It's about Dash, not you. I just, I'm not ready to let go yet. I know you might feel like a seventh wheel, but with the way Dash talks, the two of you are definitely friends. If anything happened between you and me..." Soarin shook his head.
Starlight sighed and nodded. "No, I... I understand."
"You're an amazing mare. I just... I can't make this a night that I regret, you know?"
"Yeah." The mare suddenly smiled. "And I believe you."
"About what?"
"When you say I'm amazing. I think you mean it." Starlight let out a laugh, tears lightly forming at the bottom of her eyes. "I've heard ponies say that kinda thing to me so many times recently and I never believed any of them actually meant it. Or, at least, that they would've said it if they knew me. Like, if they found out who I really was, they would take it back."
Soarin smiled. "I'm not taking it back."
Falling backwards onto the bed, Starlight grabbed a pillow. She then turned so that her head faced Soarin and she hugged the pillow below her as she looked at him. "It doesn't have to be a date or anything, but I wanna see you again."
"Likewise."
"Really?"
Soarin nodded. "Honestly, you did as much for me tonight as you claim I did for you. I saw you as every bit as much of a hero as I see Dash, and I still think you are. But you're not that intimidating. You're a pony like me. And I'm hoping that, if I can just start seeing Dash that way, maybe I can tell her how I feel without believing I'm not good enough."
"I hope you can. Like I said, I can't imagine she wouldn't be happy to know somepony liked her. Especially with her ego." Starlight laughed slightly, a smile on her face.
"Fair enough," said Soarin as he smiled as well. Then, "Are you going to the breakfast tomorrow?"
"Let's sit together," said Starlight.
"Right on." Soarin nodded and then walked to the door. Upon opening it, he turned back.
"Have a good night, Soarin."
"Sleep well, Starlight."
At that, he left, closing the door, and she shifted herself to lie properly in her bed. And as Soarin strolled back to his room and Starlight began to stray into sleep, each savored the respective peace they felt. A peace that emanated from the peculiar, but still beautiful, shimmering light found in meeting as just ponies - nothing more, nothing less.
Author's Note
Although it probably doesn't show well, an indirect inspiration for this story was the song "Wonderbolt" by dBPony (feat. PrinceWhateverer). It's perhaps a bit outdated, but I'd prefer to call it a "classic." 
