Starlight awoke with a jolt. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and quickly scanned her surroundings. Comfy pillow? Check. Lavish, if not somewhat scratchy, blanket? Check. She rubbed her hind hooves together as her mind continued to whir. Her eyes drifted upwards. Support beams and a few cobwebs. Alright, she thought to herself. Trixie’s wagon. This made sense. She rolled to her left, stretched her hoof out and caught… nothing. Okay, then. Trixie’s wagon but no Trixie.
Starlight tried her best in her sleep-addled state to put the pieces together. What had woken her up? Why had her eyes shot open in alarm just a few moments ago? Why was she alone in Trixie’s wagon?
-bump-
Starlight felt herself rise for a moment then descend back onto the fluffy mattress. An earthquake? she wondered. No, we hardly ever get those here. She scrunched up her face and held her head in her hooves as she tried to think.
-thunk-
One of Trixie’s many tomes of magic tricks had fallen on her head from the overhead shelf. She let out a muffled yelp of surprise as she realized what was happening. The wagon was moving! Her face contorted into an expression equal parts triumph and concern. Realizing the book was still resting on her face, she shoved it aside and sat up. She briefly imagined the wagon racing down a steep hill towards a cliff, with a swirling vortex of water below. Full of hungry alligators, no doubt. She gave a short screech and bolted out of bed to the wagon’s window.
*****
Trixie trotted along at a brisk pace, leaning into the wagon straps just enough to make good time, but not so much that she would start to sweat. Trixie abhorred sweat. Yuck.
“Trixiiiiieeeee!”
Trixie’s ears perked up and she swiveled her head around to see Starlight’s head poking out of the wagon’s window. Trixie raised one hoof in a good-natured wave.
“Good morning, Starlight,” she called back.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?? You scared me half to death!”
Trixie raised her eyebrows and turned her head back to the road.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is giving her Great and Powerful marefriend a wagon ride.”
Starlight smiled at this but wasn’t ready to let Trixie off so easily.
“Well you could have told me!” she shot back, though her tone was now more playful than before.
“Hmph,” uttered Trixie, sticking her nose in the air. “Where's the surprise in that? Today will be a fun day and Trixie thought a surprise wagon ride would be a good start.” The blue unicorn looked over her shoulder and winked.
Starlight let out a sigh but couldn’t deny the smile that was spreading across her face. Day trips with Trixie were always fun. She levitated out the window and planted her bottom firmly on the wagon’s roof. Her horn glowed as she took hold of the magician pulling the wagon and plopped her down beside her. Without missing a beat, she used her magic to take control of the wagon’s wheels. The wagon trundled along at the same pace and Starlight nudged Trixie, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“Trixie hates it when you do that. It is very emasculating.”
“You’re a girl.”
Trixie shot Starlight a withering glance.
“Details, details.”
The two sat in silence for a moment then burst out laughing.
*****
“I still would have appreciated some sort of warning, Trixie,” said Starlight. “Maybe a note on your pillow or something.”
Trixie smirked at this.
“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, not the Boring and Predictable Trixie,” said the magician. “I thought you would have realized that by now.”
“Yes, well,” said Starlight, almost in a whisper, “sometimes it’s nice waking up and seeing your marefriend beside you.” Starlight leaned over and rested her chin on Trixie’s shoulder.
Trixie blushed at this and pulled the brim of her hat down a little farther.
“Trixie will make sure not to deny you this, tomorrow, then.”
Starlight chuckled a little. They sat for a moment enjoying each other’s company and the breeze flowing through their manes. The sun had risen high enough in the sky to warm their coats and the birds had begun their orchestral singing. Starlight sighed a content sigh, put a hoof around Trixie, and drew her in close.
“So what’s the plan, Trix? Where is this road taking us?”
Trixie leaned against Starlight and delighted in her friend’s warmth. She rested a hoof on Starlight’s leg and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m not entirely sure,” said Trixie. “Out of Ponyville at least. We can follow it until we find someplace special to spend the day.”
Starlight nodded in approval. Trixie usually had a place in mind when they set out on these excursions, but this would still be fun. The wagon thumped along the road for some time as Ponyville retreated further and further behind them. Starlight's sleepiness began to return. The wagon’s swaying, combined with the clean, country air, began to work its magic. Starlight started to drift in and out of sleep.
“Goodness, Starlight, you just woke up and you’re already napping?” inquired Trixie in a mocking tone. She grasped for purchase as the wagon’s progress stuttered to a halt. “You know you can’t move the wagon if you’re sleeping, right?”
“But it’s so nice out,” whined Starlight in a half-grumble. “The sun’s so warm, the wind is just right. This is perfect nap weather.”
Trixie rolled her eyes and hopped down from the roof.
“Very well, Madam. Trixie shall play the part of your chauffeur today,” she said, dryly. Though she wouldn’t say it out loud, Trixie secretly relished the idea of pulling Starlight along while she snoozed in comfort. Starlight, no doubt aware of this, gave Trixie a quick “Mhmm” in a sing-song voice.
Trixie began to step into the wagon’s straps when a thought hit her. Leaving the towing gear on the ground, she quietly tip-toed into the wagon and stepped out a moment later with a blanket in her hoof. Using her magic, she levitated the blanket and set it down upon Starlight. Starlight fussed for a moment as she got comfortable, and then breathed a happy sigh. Trixie smiled and propped herself up against the wagon with her front hooves.
“Don’t ever say I don’t adore you,” she whispered with a grin.
Starlight smiled.
“Love you, too, Trix.”
Trixie walked back to the front of the wagon and stepped into the straps. With a quiet grunt and some pulling, the wagon was in motion again. She hummed a happy tune to herself as the miles slipped away and Starlight was lulled to sleep.
*****
Starlight stretched and yawned as she awoke, happy that the wagon was stationary this time. She inhaled the cool air and realized that it was almost dusk. Clearly she had underestimated the soothing rock of the wagon. The sun had begun its downward journey in the sky; yellow and orange beams hovered lazily near the horizon. Starlight noticed her marefriend sitting on her haunches beside her, watching the beginnings of a beautiful sunset.
“Sorry, Trixie, I didn’t mean to sleep all day. You should have got me up,” said Starlight, groggily.
“You look so pretty when you’re sleeping,” she replied, without turning. “Trixie didn’t want to wake you.”
Starlight sat up and noticed the melancholy on her friend’s face. Trixie seemed distracted; there was worry in her eyes. Starlight bumped Trixie with her shoulder.
“We should probably get a fire going, huh?” ventured Starlight.
This seemed to jolt Trixie out of her trance and she turned to Starlight, embarrassed.
“Y-You’re right,” she stammered. “It’ll be dark soon.”
Starlight smiled and began to lower herself from the roof when she felt Trixie grab her hoof. Starlight looked back. Trixie blushed a deep red and opened her mouth for a moment, only to close it again. The two sat in silence, looking at one another. Finally Trixie swallowed and said:
“Can… can you maybe stay up here with me for a little longer?”
Starlight nodded and sidled up beside her.
“Sure can,” she said, “but what’s the matter?”
Trixie exhaled and looked at the descending sun.
“This is going to sound really silly, but…”
“Try me,” replied Starlight.
“This,” Trixie motioned to the two of them sitting, “us… I’ve seen this in a dream before.” Trixie was quiet for a moment. “A very important dream.”
“Well, it’s nice to know that somepony dreams about me,” said Starlight, with a wink.
“No, it’s not like that. I mean, it is, but it’s more than that, too.” Trixie paused, searching for the right words. “You remember I told you about the rock farm I used to work at? Well it was probably the most miserable time of my life. But there was one thing that helped me get through it. Every so often I’d have a beautiful dream in my sleep. And it was the same each time. I would be sitting on top of my wagon watching the sunset… and there’d be a beautiful pony beside me to enjoy it with.” Trixie swallowed nervously before continuing. “The strange thing is that the pony beside me… looked a lot like you. The same mane, same coat, same everything. But this was long before I ever met you. I don’t know what to make of it.” Trixie slouched a little in embarrassment. “It sounds crazy right?”
“It does sound a little strange,” replied Starlight. “But I believe you.”
Trixie looked up in surprise.
“This world we live in,” continued Starlight, “is magical in more ways than one. If you saw me in your dreams before we ever met, I believe you. It’s sweet and flattering,” she added with a smile.
Trixie nodded in relief. “Strange or not, it helped me through some very hard times. I remember staring up at the ceiling in my wagon, thinking about that pony, you, for hours sometimes. Like if I could just get out of this rut I’d find you.” Trixie grasped Starlight’s hoof. “I’m so glad I finally did.” There was a pregnant pause, and then Trixie continued, almost mumbling: “So this is… a dream come true.” Trixie blushed hard and looked away.
Starlight guided Trixie’s mouth to hers before using her magic to wrap her blanket around them. They sat that way, breathing and feeling in time with each other, as the seconds turned into minutes. Eventually the nighttime bugs began to buzz, and the birds finished their final songs as the sun dipped out of sight.
*****
Trixie poured a glass of water over what remained of their fire. The coals steamed and sputtered as their red glow was extinguished.
“I’m going to get the bed ready now, we should probably turn in,” called Starlight from within the wagon.
Trixie nodded to herself and walked toward the warm glow emanating from the wagon’s back door. The moon was shining and an owl hooted nearby. Trixie stopped for a moment at the stairs and peered inside. Trixie could see Starlight fluffing their pillows in the lamplight and smiled. It wasn’t a conventional home, but it was hers. Cramped? Neigh, it was cozy. Dusty and cluttered? Trixie preferred the term “rustic.” Starlight seemed to like it, and that was what mattered now. Her marefriend waved her in with a grin as she hopped underneath the sheets of the wagon’s bed. Trixie returned her smile and walked up the stairway, closing the door behind her. She blew out the lamp and carefully stepped toward the mattress, being careful not to knock anything over. She slipped into bed and nuzzled Starlight.
“You know,” wondered Starlight, aloud, “I actually prefer this to the drab rooms in Twilight’s castle. They’re so… blah. Too much space, if that makes sense. If your voice echoes in the hallways then your house is too big.”
A smirk of triumph creeped across Trixie’s face at the thought that she had managed to impress her marefriend and one-up Twilight at the same time.
“Well, you’re welcome to move in with me if you ever get tired of that boring old castle,” replied Trixie, half-jokingly.
“Not a bad idea,” said Starlight as she snuggled in close.
Though Starlight couldn’t see it in the dark, Trixie’s face had turned a deep crimson.
“Today was fun,” said Starlight, oblivious to her marefriend’s furious blushing. “Sorry I slept through most of it, though.”
“That’s okay. I’m glad we got to watch the sunset together.”
Starlight nodded in agreement and pressed her face against Trixie’s chest. She looked up; Trixie’s eyes were barely visible in the dark.
“I love you, Trixie.”
Trixie answered her with a kiss, and the sounds of the crickets carried the two off to sleep.
*****
Trixie slammed awake in a cold sweat. She gasped for breath as she sat up and felt around for Starlight. Blinking hard, she saw Starlight’s murky outline under the sheets materialize in the dark. Trixie breathed a sigh of relief. She laid back down and cuddled her. Starlight stirred and turned over.
“Everything okay, Trixie?” she asked, eyes still closed and half-asleep.
Trixie was silent for a moment.
“I just had a bad dream, that’s all.”
The fog of sleep that was clouding Starlight’s thoughts quickly dissipated. Her eyes popped open and she propped herself up, a look of concern on her face.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Trixie took a moment to breathe, unsure what to say. Normally she’d brush it off, but something inside was compelling her to speak. She managed a nod.
“It was about the rock farm.”
Starlight drew Trixie close, motioning for her to continue. Trixie hesitated, then pressed on.
“Well, I’ve never really told you much about it… except that it was terrible. Everypony hated me from the get-go. My reputation preceded me, I guess. I tried to get a job doing anything else but no one would take me. Stage magic was out of the question. The crowds would either laugh or scowl at me… And I guess I deserved it. The owners of the rock farm despised me, but I suppose they realized my reputation didn’t matter when it came to picking rocks.” Trixie paused her halting speech for a moment to gather her thoughts, then continued.
“It was back-breaking, menial labour that paid next to nothing. And when the day was done I’d hide away from the others and cry. But when the other workers weren’t picking on me, I’d watch them. They’d sit around the fire with their eyes glazed over. The foreman was mean, which made them mean.” Trixie sighed. “I think you have to hate yourself to work a job like that for very long.” Trixie began to sob.
“But the worst thing is that I can’t really blame them. I had terrible thoughts too when I was there. I wished for terrible things. I was just like them.”
Starlight reached a hoof up and held Trixie’s head to her own.
“You can’t put all this on yourself, Trixie. Maybe they treated you the way they did because of the circumstances, but that still doesn’t make it right.”
“But then what does that make me?” returned Trixie, burying her face in Starlight’s chest. “Am I a bad pony? Do I deserve to be happy? I can sympathize with my past self. I know that what I did to Twilight and Ponyville was wrong, but I can see why I did it. I remember the hurt so well, how it gnawed at me, and how it festered when I was at the farm. A part of me regrets my actions, but another part doesn’t. And I’m scared of what that might mean.”
Starlight slowly ran her hoof through her marefriend’s mane to calm her.
“Nopony’s perfect, Trixie. You and I know that all too well. But I’m positive that every pony deserves some kind of happiness in their life.” Starlight continued to hold Trixie close until her sobs subsided. Trixie’s breathing returned to normal and she continued in a weak voice.
“Recently I’ve been dreaming that I’m back at the farm. And the workers are picking on me, and I’m all alone again. And sometimes I wonder if that’s what I deserve. There’s this kernel inside me yelling that I don’t deserve you, that this life I’m living now, here, with you, will disappear.”
Silence descended between the two for a few minutes while they mulled over what had been said.
“I won’t disappear, Trixie,” said Starlight with a firmness that the blue unicorn was not used to hearing from her. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
*****
The two unicorns made their way to the top of Trixie’s wagon and laid down on their backs. The star-speckled sky spread out before them in a breathtaking panorama. Trixie scooched in beside Starlight. Starlight was the first to speak.
“When I was running my village, I think I knew deep down that what I was doing was wrong. I could feel that I had changed, that something inside me had broken. And I’d use that to justify the horrid things I did to my villagers. The world had made me that way, so why not play the part, right?”
The light of the moon shimmered in Starlight’s eyes and Trixie marvelled at her marefriend’s beauty. The crisp air made Trixie shiver a little and she pressed her cheek against Starlight’s side, squeezing her tight as she continued to speak.
“But when I was at my lowest, I would sneak up to the rooftop late at night and look up at the stars.” Starlight gestured to the sky with her hoof. “The stars don’t change. No matter what nastiness had transpired during the day, the stars would always be in the same place. They were like an anchor for me. They were the same stars I had looked at as a filly – a connection to a time when I was still a good pony. As long as they were there… it meant that I could still go back to the pony I was before.”
Trixie looked up and saw tears rolling down Starlight’s cheeks. Trixie wanted desperately to scream out to her that she was good, to console her and make her feel loved, but she could sense that Starlight had more to say. So she held her tongue and squeezed her friend a little tighter.
“But now when I look up at them, I feel this profound alienation. Just utter loneliness. They never change, so how does any of this matter? Nothing that happens down here affects them.” Starlight closed her eyes. “It’s like we’re all just specks of dust being arbitrarily blown around. I need to know that my actions had some sort of purpose.”
A moment passed, then Trixie replied quietly:
“Well… they brought you to me, right?”
Starlight lay in silence, trying to keep her emotions from overflowing.
“You’re the one thing in my life that’s gone right,” she said in a barely audible whisper.
The air seemed to stand still around them; even the wildlife had become hushed and quiet.
“Maybe we are just dust,” replied Trixie. “Maybe that’s what everypony is: just dust swirling around. But each bit of dust has its own beautiful story, full of happiness and hurt. And I think that’s the important part.”
Starlight allowed that thought to settle in her mind before nodding. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned on her side to face Trixie.
“I don’t know if I deserve you either. But I know that I want you in my life, and I know that you make me happy. So I’ll hold on to you and that feeling as long as I can.”
Trixie’s lips quivered and her eyes shone with a happiness she hadn’t felt in ages. She clung to Starlight as a sailor would a rock in the middle of a stormy sea.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you, too,” replied Starlight.
Starlight’s horn glowed and the two drifted off the roof, through the door, and back into the wagon. Nothing more needed to be said as they settled in under the sheets. They smiled and nuzzled each other as sparks from their horns cast shadows amidst the wagon's rafters. After a few short minutes they fell into a deep sleep.
Author's Note
I was talking to a friend about how great Starlight and Trixie are together when I realized that I had never tried writing a story about them.
So here it is! I hope you enjoyed it. 
This is probably the most dialogue-heavy story I've ever written so I apologize if some parts seemed awkward.
If you did like it, please leave a quick comment. It means more to me than you'd think.
Also, I often latch on to pieces of music while writing to help establish the tone I'm aiming for. For this story I was listening to:
Mishima / Closing - Philip Glass
-Scraps- Alone - Tre
