Author's Note

And I'm back! This chapter isn't that interesting but hopefully the next chapter is where the fun will start.
Also Applejack was on Starlight's back last chapter with the others, she just didn't have any lines.

Part 13: What Would You Do?

Things wrapped up rather quickly that evening. Twilight had signed the papers for them to be officially able to accept donations to help Starlight Glimmer. They weren't sure how effective this would be, and were talking about it on their way home, riding on Starlight's back.

"How many ponies do you actually think are actually going to donate gold bits just to hug a giant pony, anyway?" Rainbow Dash sneered while flying close to the others, "like seriously, talk about being a one-trick pony, am I right?"

"Hah, get it?!" Pinkie Pie giggled loudly, "because all you'l do is hug her, and she's a pony! Great one, Dashie!" Pinkie hugged herself while falling back laughing, her head resting on top of Starlight's back. Rainbow gave an unsure half-smile, as she wasn't sure if Pinkie Pie was being sarcastic or not.

"No need to be rude, Rainbow," Rarity snapped, "we're doing this to help Starlight, after all." The white unicorn casually began to adjust her beautifully styled purple hair and then gave an accusing look at Rainbow Dash above, "you ARE going to help her, right?"

"I didn't say I wasn't!" Rainbow retorted with her hooves crossed, "I just think that ponies are going to quickly get bored of it after a while. Like, I just think that you should think of something that's a little more... entertaining and awesome. Like me."

Applejack, who had been sitting quietly next to Rarity, raised an eyebrow. "Like you, huh? Yain't getting a little jelous or somethin', are ya?"

"What?!" Rainbow scoffed, "Me? Jelous? Never." Rainbow casually dived into a loop-de-loop as some exciting thoughts flew around her head, "I'm just saying, that if I were a two hundred foot tall pony, I'd use that extra height to pull off awesome stunts and amaze everypony in Equestria! Just imagine, the largest, fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, performing swift moves, roaring past mountains in seconds, racing all the way around Equestria and back without breaking a sweat! Nobody would be able to take their eyes off me! Now THAT, would be epic..."

"I think that would be rather wreckless, speeding around at that size, a pony like that could hurt somepony by just flapping their wings alone, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity criticized, and then began to speak rather elegantly, "A giant pony of that size should be more gentle... You know what would be absolutely divine? Just imagine, the largest dress in the entire world, tailored by the best fashionistas of Equestria, being worn by the most beautiful, stunning, tallest unicorn in all of equestria..." Rarity lay both hooves on her face in deep thought, losing herself a little, while Spike was nodding furiously in the background in silent agreement, "Rarity, the largest, most fashionable pony in Equestria, everypony would want to look up and be absolutely bedazzled by such a display!"

"...Beg pardon Rarity, but wouldn't it be a big ol' waste of bits just to make that dress? What are ye' gonna eat then? Fabric?" Applejack said snarkily, "Y'all ain't thinkin' about this practically." Applejack gently landed her hoof down on the pink fur below to get their attention. "Y'see now, if I were a darn tootin' 60-yard tall pony I'd make sure to be still helpin' out on my family's barn. Can you imagine how much apples Ah' could carry if I were towerin' like a Manehatten skyscraper? More than I can count, that's fer sure!"

"Oooh, ooh!" Pinkie Pie called excitedly, bouncing up and down in front of them, "Me next, me next!"

"Err..." Applejack responded in confusion, "This ain't a competition Pinkie, nopony's stopping ya from sayin-"

"Okay, okay" Pinkie Pie began, panting as if she were about to explode, "If I were a big big super big pink pony, I'd throw super big parties for other ponies... on my MANE!" Pinkie stopped, her arms spread out in a 'ta-da' pose in front of Rarity and Applejack, while Rainbow Dash planted her own face in her hoof in dismay. Rarity looked very confused, motioning with her hoof around as if to ask Pinikie to continue.

Pinkie shook her head. "What? Oh, that's all really. Wouldn't that be amazing???"

Applejack shrugged. "Honestly I expected you to say a lot more than just that."

Rainbow snorted with a slight smirk, "Hah, just Pinkie being Pinkie, I guess." She looked back and noticed Fluttershy laying down on Starlight's back, looking slightly worried, hiding behind Applejack. "Err, hey Fluttershy, what about you? What do you think about becoming a giant pony?"

Fluttershy shivered, "I think it'd be terrible.. what if I accidentally stepped on somepony? Or an animal! Oh dear.. I'd be ever so sad, I wouldn't want to frighten any of my friends either, nopony would want to talk to me! And- And then I would have to banish myself from Equestria and live in the ocean! It'd be ever so cold and even the animals wouldn't want to talk to me! Oh it'd be terrible..."

The others were quite surprised, and Rarity spoke up. "Er, Fluttershy dear, why don't we assume that none of those terrible things actually happen? I mean, with you being so gentle and careful and such."

"Oh-" Fluttershy said with a little smile, "Well, I suppose I'd be happy to make my animal friends feel safer at home, and it would be ever so wonderful to hug them all at the same time!" Fluttershy's adorable smile slowly raised higher and higher, appearing a little too happy as she continued, "and if any big bully threatens any of my friends or animals, I'll use my size to catch them... terrify them... and make them scream and beg for mercy..." Fluttershy slowly lost her focus and began staring at her hooves, mashing them together aggressively, "I'd make them wish they were banished to the moon when I'm done with those big bullies, I'd finally show them exactly what 'innocent little Fluttershy' can really do... ha-....haha...hahaha...ahaHAHAAHAha!" The other ponies watched silently as Fluttershy laughed slowly and maniacally while smashing her two hooves together. Only Luna could possibly know what was going through Fluttershy's head right now, and knowing it would probably rid any sane pony of a good night's sleep.

"Wow Fluttershy," Pinkie said grimly, "that's kind of dark. Is there anything you need to talk to us about?"

"What?" Fluttershy asked, snapping out of her little trance, and then blushed innocently with her hooves in front of her face, "oh, no, I'm fine." She turned her attention to Spike next to her to change the topic. "Uhm... what about you, Spike?"

Everypony focused on Spike for a response, but he simply lifted his head slowly and shrugged. "Oh, me?," he responded quietly, "Eh, been there, done that. I don't really want to think about it."

"Oh Spikey," Rarity said sympathetically, "I almost forgot about that, we're sorry to remind you about-"

"Oh!" Pinkie Pie interrupted, at the worst possible moment, "do you mean the time where Spike became suuuuper huge and started destroying ponyville because he got a little greedy and then the wonderbolts got involved and there was a loooot of property damage that we had to deal with afterwords?" She inhaled a large breath after speaking so quickly, "wowie! I sure wouldn't want to think about that if it happened to me!"

Spike gave an annoyed look at Pinkie, resting his face between his claws. "Yeah. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem, Spike!" Pinkie responded cheerfully, and then turned her head to look off into the distance, "hey, we're almost back to Ponyville! That was fast, and it isn't even bedtime yet! Isn't Starlight the awesome-est?" At this, Rainbow Dash crossed her arms indignantly while flapping her wings extra hard, and said nothing.

"Indeed," Rarity agreed,"It may not be as smooth as the train, but it's a lot faster."

"And snugglier," added Fluttershy, gently lowering her yellow hooves to rest on the pink warmness below her.

"Beats goin' by walk," Applejack laughed, and then became more serious and positive, "Starlight, I gotta say, you sure are usin' your strengths for good. Keep it up!"

Starlight, who had been quiet during the trip back to Ponyville, carefully looked back at her friends who were comfortably sitting on her back. "I suppose it's really just the right thing to do. I've caused quite a bit of trouble for you all before, I'm more than happy to repay the favor." She turned to look forwards again, noticing that Ponyville was only five more steps away from her, and it looked ever so small. Tiny little colored four-legged specks entered and exited their homes casually, some stopping and opening and closing their mouths in conversation, but Starlight was too far away to hear them. Her heart sank a little as she began to realize that she might never be able to walk into a village to talk with other ponies ever again, making her pause and frown with slight dissapointment. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a gentle flapping next to her right ear and noticed Twilight Sparkle slowly flying alongside her cheek.

"I can tell that you're upset about being extremely tall," whispered Twilight, "trust me, I really wish I could help you, but I'll do anything I can to make you feel at home."

"It's not just that," Starlight sighed quietly, "the others... They all seem to think that being giant is fun or something... I think you're the one who's right. It's really not." She looked solemnly over Ponyville, watching the ponies below hapilly conversing, little fillies playing freely together in the little spaces between the wooden houses, unaware of the giant pony covering the night sky above them. "I feel like I'm going to be left out. All of my friends, and even you, you're all going to have to go back to your homes tonight, and I'm going to have to sleep outside, alone, for the next seventeen years at best." Starlight looked down at the ground, which was disappointingly farther away from her face than she wanted it to be. "That's why I agreed to the hug-a-giantess idea," Starlight sighed lightly, withholding a little tear in her eye. "I'm going to be really lonely, Twilight."

Twilight hovered silently next to Starlight's face, unsure of what to say. She looked beside Starlight's massive head to see her friends loudly joking and discussing something about the feasibility of making giant cupcakes as they were resting on Starlight's back, unaware of their little conversation. She then turned back to Starlight and gave her a wise and gentle smile. "You've got some of the best friends in all of Equestria, Starlight, and it isn't just us six. We'll see to it to make sure that you don't feel left out. As the princess of friendship, I promise." Twilight patted Starlight's cheek reassuringly, making Starlight feel a lot better.

"Thanks, Twilight. I really appreciate that." Starlight replied, closing her right eye slightly as she felt Twilight's tiny hoof rub her cheek. "As much as I enjoy their positivity, I think you're the one who treated this the most maturely. I suppose that's only natural for the princess of friendship herself." Starlight winked at Twilight and then stopped at the perimeter of Ponyville's border, just beyond the little lake that surrounded the outer half of the village, which appeared even smaller at Starlight's height. She gently lowered herself to the ground, resting her heavy arms on the grass ever so quietly and twitching her tail forwards to cover her flank, acting like a curved ramp to the ground. It became dark, and the moon had just began to slowly rise up and shed some ambient blue light down on Equestria. Starlight could see Ponyville's grassy streets slowly become empty as it's residents began entering their homes for a good nights sleep. To her surprise, they weren't bothered by her presence at all.

Twilight looked away bashfully, turning to view the others, who were now taking turns to slide down Starlight's purple tail to the ground safely (except for Rainbow, who insisted on flying). "I wouldn't completely discredit my friends like that, Starlight," Twilight replied thoughtfully. "I did learn a lot from them, after all. I wouldn't be where I am today without them.” Twilight paused and looked up at the rising moon in the sky, and then turned back to Starlight. “I'll have to go home now, though. I'll make sure to be back here first thing in the morning to set up the fundraiser event - Come, Spike!"

As Twilight and Spike left for the Friendship Castle nearby, Starlight shifted her attention to look at her other cheerful friends below. "That was super-duper fun, Glimmy!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed loudly, "We should do that again sometime!" She bounced a few times in excitement, only to stop suddenly and let out a long, tired yawn. "Sheesh, I'm peeped. I wish I could stay and chat, but I got a bakery to maintain! See you all tomorrow, girls!"

"I must say that was rather enjoyable, well, minus the whole 'being-almost-attacked-by-the-royal-guard part," Rarity concluded, "but like Pinkie, I do have a business to run and a home to sleep in, as it's getting rather late." She tried to look up at Starlight's eyes, which were far too high up to see normally from below, so she decided to just look at Starlight's general direction before leaving, "Dreadfully sorry that we can't accompany you tonight, I understand that you're going through quite a lot. You're doing well, darling, just stay positive, and everything will be alright," And with a gentle little pat on the tip of Starlight's massive hoof, Rarity turned around and made her way towards Carousel Boutique.

"Mighty sorry that yer' goin’ through all this trouble, Starlight," Applejack said sympathetically as she passed in front of Starlight's gicantic face, "but like Rarity said, keep yer' chin up and you'l do okay. Though uh-" Applejack stopped for a moment to take in the sight of the absolutely staggering mass of pure pony that quietly lay in front of her, when it suddenly clicked, "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle, now I understand why Trixie done got that big load of apples a few nights ago!" the farmer exclaimed aloud, slapping her own knee, "you must have a big ol' appetite now, don'tcha? Well don't be shy to come over to Sweet Apple Acres for a big ol' bite, we've had a good crop this year and it'd be a shame for them extra apples to go to waste anways. Come visit now, y'hear?" Applejack laughed, standing on both hooves to pet Starlight's cheek comfortingly.

"Oh, yeah," Starlight replied slowly, blushing with embarrassment and tapping her massive hoof gently and nervously, "sorry about not being up-front about it, was kind of hiding my situation from Twilight and all that.. I'm glad to know that food won't be much of a problem now, you're too kind."

"Anythin' for a friend, Starlight, I'm just glad to have helped ya, even if I wasn't aware of how much at the time." Applejack politely raised her hat at Starlight and then adjusted it back on again, "See yah after the doodle-doo of the morning, Star! Have a good one."

Starlight waved as Applejack left, extremely thankful that food wasn't going to be a problem anymore. She then saw Rainbow Dash quickly flying close to her snout, landing between the bridge of her eyes, taking her by surprise. "R-Rainbow?"

"Hey, yeah, yeah," Rainbow began, "I don't really have much to say like the others, and I really want to get back home to get some sleep, but I don't want you to think that I don't care or anything."

Starlight smiled softly and began petting the tiny little blue pegasus with her hoof teasingly, as if she were petting a butterfly. "I understand, Dash. Thanks for the honesty, see ya." Rainbow Dash couldn't help but enjoy the little petting, but she made sure to not let anyone notice her big smile or how she raised her head to push playfully against Starlight's hoof above. After escaping Starlight's petting, Rainbow gave a friendly salute, and dashed off towards the sky quickly.

Starlight sighed, and was about to stand up when she suddenly saw a tiny blue pony pop into her vision at the corner of her eye. "Grrreetings, best friend of Trixie!" the little voice called, "Trixie has been napping in your mane and must admit, you are very comfy to rest on! However, Trixie must go ensure that her wagon is alright, as the stage in front of it was crushed by an ursa major, if you recall. Trixie was going to ask if you want to join and help, but Trixie remembers and understands that her poor friend Starlight has been put through enough trouble at the moment and deserves a peaceful night, so Trixie will do this task on her own!" Trixie climbed up Starlight's cheek and sat on top of her snout, "See? Trixie has become much more kind and understanding with the influence of her best friend Starlight!"

Starlight giggled a little, "Yes, I can see that, Trixie. I'm still glad that you helped me a lot during all this though, I'm very grateful." She then lowered her face to the ground and gently nudged Trixie off her snout onto the grass below safely. "Let me know if I can help when I wake up tomorrow, okay?"

"Trixie will make absolute sure that you-!" Trixie responded quickly, but soon caught herself and re-worded her sentence, "I mean... I will, thanks for the offer. See you tomorrow, Starlight. I hope you feel better." She bowed politely, and then turned around and ran quickly towards the other side of the village where they had set up the stage near the forest. It became obvious to Starlight that Trixie had been patiently and respectfully waiting to spend time with her before focusing on the aftermath of her wagon. The thought made Starlight respect Trixie a lot more.

Starlight sighed finally, lowering her head to the ground in the peaceful silence. "Well, I suppose this is going to have to be my sleeping spot now. I just hope it doesn't rain." Starlight told herself. She took a small glance at the sky, and then rested her shoulder onto the ground to try find a good sleeping position without potentially endangering any buildings around her in her sleep, in case she turned over unconsciously. As she twisted and turned, she heard a little 'eep-' near her ear and she froze.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt your nap," the timid, shy voice came.

Starlight blinked a few times, noticing a tiny spec of pink hair just visibly close to her left cheek, and upon further inspection she saw that Fluttershy was hugging the left side of her head. "Uh... Aren't you going home too?" Starlight asked.

Fluttershy shook her head slowly, "I don't need to be home tonight. Actually, I was wondering if I could, uhm... rest with you tonight. You're ever so comfortable, it's like nothing I've ever rested on..."

Starlight rolled her eyes and smiled gently, "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Sure, you can rest with me tonight. I'll make sure I won't turn over in my sleep - It's a very low maintenance spell I've been casting on myself every night that makes you stay still in bed without getting stiff joints - It was very useful for traveling unicorns sleeping near dangerous terrain and cliffs... except I guess I'm the dangerous terrain in this case."

Fluttershy gasped and pet Starlight's cheek sympathetically, "No, no, you're not dangerous terrain, you're a very good friend, and very thoughtful. Just because you're big doesn't mean you're bad - I'd say quite the opposite actually, but uhm... Maybe we should just rest, it's getting pretty late."

Starlight looked up, noticing the moon settling high into the sky above them. She wondered if she would ever be able to grab it if she stood up high enough - Nah, she thought to herself, don't be so silly. "You're right. Goodnight, Fluttershy, you can sleep, err- wherever makes you comfortable, I guess, just stay away from my mouth and you’ll be fine."

"Okay..." Fluttershy said. She carefully tiptoed along Starlight's head, as if it were it's own little mountain, and eventually found a snug spot behind Starlight's ear, making herself quite comfortable in the plentiful fur, using Starlight's massive ear like a cover, resting both little arms on top of it. "...Goodnight Starlight. Thanks for letting me sleep here."

"No problem Fluttershy," Starlight responded, "if anything, I should be thanking you for keeping me company, I thought I was going to be alone tonight."

"Celestia forbid that..." Fluttershy said drowsily, as the comfortableness of Starlight's ear proved too strong to resist, forcing her to slowly shut her eyes and quickly begin snoring ever so silently and peacefully behind Starlight's ear.

Starlight smiled, becoming equally sleepy on the grass. Her large body kept herself and Fluttershy warm despite the night being cold, and before she could count past five sheep, her eyelids slowly shut as she also fell asleep.