Growing Up Glimmer

Chapters

First Impressions
Advanced Musical Theatre
Tomorrow
Flying at Night
The Starlight Review
Blank Flank
Starlight by Starlight
You Gotta Fight for Your Right (to Party)
Glummer Glimmer
Can't Go Home Again
Awkward Conversations on the Canterlot Express
Families That Eat Together

First Impressions

“Starlight, honey, language!”

Firelight’s admonishment was enough to make Starlight flinch, snapping her out of her daze, just in time to see her new roommate giggling as she extended a white forehoof and introduced herself.

“Midnight. If you’re Starlight, you must be my new roomie!”

Starlight shook the outstretched hoof while Midnight glanced over her shoulder at Firelight.

“Or is it ‘Glimmykins’?”

Firelight enthusiastically waved as Starlight responded, “Yep, Starlight, is me! That’s who I am!” She glanced at Firelight and grumbled, “Definitely not Glimmykins.”

Midnight’s face scrunched up as she suppressed more giggling. “Nicknames aside, need any help getting unpacked? I’m sure that your dad...”

“Firelight! It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Same here. I’m sure that he’d like to check out the parents’ orientation they’re running at the student union.”

“Oh, hey, that sounds like a great idea! Starlight, I’ll be right back to help you finish unpacking.” Firelight moved closer to Starlight and loudly whispered, “You know, a roommate’s a great opportunity to make a friend!”

Midnight’s scrunched expression became almost pained as she turned to cover her face. Starlight could hear her quiet laughter as Firelight spoke.

Starlight pushed her father out the door as she quickly stammered, “Ok, yep, dad, I’ll see you later!” She slammed the door behind him, ignoring his protests.

As Starlight turned to Midnight, her eyes darted around the room.

Dammit, no place to hide, Starlight thought.

“No place to hide?”

Midnight was looking quizzically at Starlight.

“Did I say that out loud?”

Midnight beamed. “Sure did! Seriously, though, don’t worry about it. That was nothing compared to what my parents did earlier.”

“Worse than ‘Glimmykins’?”

Midnight threw herself to the floor, feigning tears. “‘Oh, how can I say goodbye to my precious Midnight Star?’”

Starlight chuckled, replying, “Ok, that is pretty bad. Thanks, though. My dad is pretty embarrassing when he’s around.”

“Yeah, I get it. Don’t worry, he won’t be back for a good while.”

“How long is that orientation?”

“Oh, there is no orientation. There isn’t even a student union, but I figure it’ll take your dad an hour to figure that part out.”

“If he goes anywhere near the history building, you can probably bump that up to three hours.”

“Good thing it’s called Union Hall, then.”

“You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

Midnight opened the door and wrapped Starlight’s bags in a white aura, carrying them inside before replying, “Maybe. There is a Union Hall on campus, but I have no idea what they do there.”

They started unpacking. Starlight put away her clothes, a melange of hats and scarves. Midnight, digging through one of Starlight’s other bags, commented, “That is a lot of black hats. And scarves–”

“It’s not all black: see, this one’s really dark purple!”

Glancing up at her own hair, Midnight conceded, “I’ll allow it on technicality.” She pulled a skull out of the bag she was unpacking. “Is this thing real?”

“No,” Starlight sheepishly replied, taking the skull from Midnight’s aura. She paused before putting the skull on her nightstand. “His name is Benny.”

“Benny?”

“Well, he’s a dire rabbit skull. The name just sort of came naturally.”

“You’re an interesting gal, aren’t you, Glimmer?”

“Haha, yeah…”

An hour later, and they’d finished unpacking. Starlight excused herself to take a shower. As she lathered up, her thoughts wandered to her roommate.

Alright, that could have gone better.

I’m sure she doesn’t think I’m a total loser.

Since when do I get embarrassed about wearing all black?

Oh, Celestia, my hair!

Starlight had noticed the water streaming from her mane was jet black, and tugged at her mane with her magic to look at it. The cheap dye she’d used in the morning was very soluble in water.

“Well, yeah, that would be the case, wouldn’t it?”

“Is everything ok in there? You’ve been talking to no one for a while.” Midnight’s voice echoed from somewhere outside the bathroom.

“Oh, just singing to myself!” Starlight muttered to herself, “I gotta work on this thinking out loud thing.”

“I knew that wasn’t your natural color,” remarked Midnight as Starlight returned. “It looks much better this way.”

“Thanks,” said Starlight, following it up with a self-conscious chuckle.

For the first time, Starlight was able to take a good look at Midnight’s side of the room. Myriad posters and photos lined the walls: a guide to the constellations, Midnight with her parents, book release flyers for numerous sci-fi franchises, awards, and the like. One award caught Starlight’s attention.

“The Junior Astronomers Club… you discovered a constellation?”

“Yep! The official name is something like MID2HD001, but I just call it ‘Middy.’ It’s how I got this baby,” Midnight said as she pointed to the mark on her flank: at a passing glance, it had looked like a bunch of white dots, but a closer look revealed an array of small starbursts; a field of stars. “That’s what my friends call me too.”

“MID2HD001?”

Midnight smiled at the quip. “If you put that much effort into saying my name, I can’t even be mad.”

“Alright, then: Middy it is. Are you in the astronomy program then?”

“Yeah. You?”

“Magic, in the, uh, honors program.”

“Oh, an honors gal, huh?” Midnight gestured towards Starlight’s nightstand, where Benny lay. “I had you pegged as a vet student. How’d you end up in magic?”

Starlight’s face fell flat. “It’s a long story.”

Midnight moved near the door. “Well, we’ve got plenty of time; the whole year, in fact. In the meantime, want to hit the dining halls? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

Starlight winced. “Oh, no, I should probably wait for my dad to get back–”

The door burst open, throwing Midnight into Starlight and knocking them both to the ground. The two were struggling to detangle themselves as Firelight trotted in, his face buried in a pamphlet.

“Couldn’t find the orientation or the student union building, Starlight, but I did find this pamphlet on the history of the university! Did you know that the magic department was founded 400 years ago by an earth pony named Jebediah Cornflake as an agricultural magic school, and that it was only 100 years ago that the departments split into what they are now? Sweetie?”

Firelight lowered the pamphlet, finally noticing the two mares sprawled on the ground.

“Oh! I should have knocked! I’ll just get out of your–”

“Nope, dad, we were just leaving!”

A bright flash forced Firelight to cover his eyes. When the light faded, all that remained of Starlight and Midnight was a scorch mark on the floor.

An explosion of blue-green magic heralded Starlight and Midnight's arrival at the front of their dorm building. Midnight's eyes spun, whirlpools of green and black, as she tried to stand up. With Starlight's magic supporting her, Midnight was able to stay upright.

"Ugh… what just happened? My horn itches..."

Starlight laughed nervously. "Teleportation?"

"Oh. Isn't that, like… really hard?"

“Nah, it’s easy, you just gotta picture where you’re going and I’ll tell you all about it when we get to the cafe ok let’s get going now!” Starlight was half supporting and half pushing Midnight as her speech accelerated beyond comprehension.

Midnight closed her eyes and shook her head before continuing, though her confusion remained. “Cafe… right. I think it’s this way?”

The two walked silently while Midnight gathered herself and Starlight wondered how hard it would be to erase Midnight's memory of the last few hours. Midnight was the first to speak.

"What just happened?"

"Well, my dad knocked you on top of me, and he thought we were making out or something, and then I teleported us here to get away?"

Midnight cocked an eyebrow and gave Starlight a long look. "Right… are you ok now?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

Midnight slowed as she put a hoof on Starlight's shoulder, her voice softening. "Not really. With the dad stuff, I totally get it. And I hope I didn't make a bad first impression with all the teasing; it's just how I get to know new ponies."

"Really?"

"Really. If you don't like it, I can stop. We have to get along for the next year at least, and it'd be nice to be friends."

A small smile grew on Starlight’s face. “I’d like that.”

"Good! Now you gotta answer my question from earlier: how did you teleport both of us that far?"

"Cookies."

"Cookies?"

"Yep, cookies. My parents always caught me when I tried to sneak cookies from the kitchen. I knew that teleportation was a thing, and I wanted to use it to sneak by them, but I was just a filly; I couldn’t do it. So I read through my dad’s copy of Applied Spatial Theory in Magic, and after a few weeks of practice, I could teleport!”

“And you stole the cookies?”

“Nope. I teleported right in front of them, in the living room.”

Midnight guffawed. “Seriously? Do you just have terrible luck or something?”

Starlight rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Maybe.”

“But you were a filly when you learned to teleport? Are you some kind of genius or something? I can’t do that now!”

“I… guess I had some help,” Starlight said, adding a nervous chuckle.

"Oh?"

Starlight opened her mouth to reply, but no words came.

"Don't want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"That's ok. We're almost to the dining hall, anyways." Midnight gestured towards a nearby squat building. Ponies carrying plates of food and talking with friends could be seen through its predominantly glass exterior. A sign above the main entrance to the hall read "Spoiled Rotten Memorial Hall."

Starlight looked at the sign, then looked toward Midnight, who merely shrugged before walking through the entrance doors.

Starlight and Midnight dined and made small talk, primarily centered around the mediocrity of the cafeteria fare. When they returned to the dorm, Starlight noticed an envelope on her nightstand bearing her dad's signature.

As Midnight began settling into bed, Starlight began reading. First, there was a small note written on stationery Starlight recognized as her dad's.

Hey, sugar bear,

I had to leave for the train to get back to Sires Hollow in time for work. Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you or Midnight; I hope you two get along and become friends.

I'll miss you a lot. Please write me and your mom occasionally. See you in a few months for Hearth's Warming!

Love,

Dad

Starlight wiped a tear from her eye before moving to the second paper in the envelope. The hornwriting was as messy as her own. It looked like her mom's.

Heya, kiddo. Sorry I wasn't able to come see you off to college; I left this letter with your dad in case I couldn't get back in time.

I'm so proud of you. You're the most talented sorceress I've ever seen, and I've seen some crazy stuff all over Equestria. You're gonna kick flank at whatever school you go to. I'll swing by once I get back home; hope you're not too cool to spend time with your mom!

I've included a little something from my travels that's kept me going when things got rough.

Good luck, Starlight.

Love,

Aurora Glimmer

Starlight shook the envelope and a small locket fell out. It was worn and tarnished, some areas where gold leaf gave way to a brass core, and the chain was thin, eaten away by time and years of travel. Starlight opened the pendant with a bit of magical manipulation. Inside was a picture, faded by time, of a young filly with twin pigtails, Starlight herself, flanked by her parents, free of the wear and tear of the time since past. The opposite inside face of the pendant was tarnished save for one freshly polished section: an engraving of Starlight's cutie mark.

Starlight closed the locket and put it away in her nightstand drawer, then hopped into bed.

"Night, Starlight!"

"Night."

Advanced Musical Theatre

"Why do we even have to take this class?", Starlight wondered aloud. She was sitting in a large auditorium, surrounded by at least a thousand other ponies, facing a stage. The stage looked huge, even from Starlight’s position in the balcony seating. A podium lay in the center.

Suddenly, the auditorium went dark, prompting confused mutters from the crowd and causing several ponies still in the aisles to trip. A spotlight drew all eyes to the podium, as unfamiliar show tune music echoed from…

Starlight looked around the dim auditorium, and though it was hard to see, she was certain there were no speakers, no audio system. A yellowish pony walked into the spotlight and began singing about musical theater. A ripple spread from the podium, as students began singing along. Starlight sighed as the ripple reached her, and begrudgingly sang along.

Starlight trudged through the rest of her first day of classes, saying hi to Midnight in the one lecture they shared the first day of the week, a combined astronomy/astrology lecture. Other than that, however, she didn’t recognize anyone in any of her classes. At the end of her last lecture, she started for her dorm.

I guess it was too much to expect to see Sunburst. Knowing him, he probably graduated early!

Her face fell, in step with her heart, as her pace slowed.

It was stupid to come here with some vain notion that "I'd be able to find him" and "we'll be friends again!" What was I gonna say, "Hey, remember me? We were friends as foals and then you got your cutie mark and left without even saying goodbye and it hurt so much that I never made a single other friend?!"

Starlight was quietly sobbing. She lifted her eyes to look around, and saw that several ponies were staring at her, and many others seemed to be looking every which way except in her direction. A pink unicorn mare with purple hair and a cupcake mark on her flank approached her and offered a kerchief from her saddlebag.

"Are you ok? I was walking behind you after you left the magic lecture, and I couldn't help overhearing you muttering."

Starlight winced at the mention of muttering. "Oh, I'm fine, just… read a really sad story, is all!"

The mare started dabbing at Starlight's eyes, "I understand. Are you headed to the first-year dorms? I could use some company if you want to walk with me."

Starlight replied with a small nod. The mare tucked away the kerchief before introducing herself.

"I'm Sugar Belle, in the agricultural school. You're Starlight, right? You answered so many of the professor's questions in lecture I think everyone knew your name by the end. It was really cool!"

Starlight's face, puffy from tears, perked up slightly at the compliment. She sheepishly smiled. "Thanks."

"Where are you from?"

"Sires Hollow."

"Where's that?"

"Over the mountain range, to the west. There's a bunch of old frontier towns on the way."

"Ha, I know what those are like. I grew up in Fair Valley Village. It's a few days journey by train."

"Well, I can't say I've ever heard of it."

Sugar Belle giggled. "Nopony around here has. Only a few dozen ponies live there, and it's mostly old ponies, farmers, and old farmers. I entered a baking competition to get a scholarship here just so I could see more of Equestria than fields of corn."

"I guess you got your cutie mark in baking, then?"

"Yeah! I've been selling pies in the county farmer's market ever since I was a filly. I can make a mean apple cinnamon pie."

Starlight's stomach growled; she had been so lost trying to find the lecture halls that she'd skipped lunch. Sugar Belle's ears perked up.

"Wanna stop by Saltlick Cafe?”

“That’d be nice.”

True to her name, Sugar Belle ordered a couple of decadent-looking cupcakes, while Starlight ordered a wilted but cheap prepackaged alfalfa salad. After they took their seats and started eating, Sugar Belle asked her question.

“So, is Sunburst ‘the one that got away?’”

Starlight nearly choked on her salad, and spent the next several moments coughing. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Sugar Belle playfully took a bite of her cupcake. “Maaaaaybe.”

“I guess you’re not entirely wrong. We only knew each other when we were foals. I haven’t seen him in a long time, and I had this hope that he’d be here because he went to Celestia’s magic school and I thought I might run into him, and… this is really dumb, isn’t it?”

Sugar Belle’s expression softened. “Sounds like your friendship meant a lot to you.”

“It did. It does, really.”

“You know you can always go to the registrar’s office and check if he’s enrolled here, right? I don’t think they can tell you anything else, but… at least you’d know.”

Starlight’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea!”

Sugar Belle cocked her eyebrow and broadened her smile. “And even if he’s not here, you’ve got at least one friend here! I’m gonna need to steal notes for Dr. Drop’s class from somepony after all.”

“Yeah, sure. It’ll be nice to have someone to study with.”

“So, you want to go to the registrar right now? I’d be happy to go with you.”

“I… uh…”

“Or not! We can just head back to the dorms.”

“Let’s do that.”

Starlight and Sugar Belle finished eating, then walked back to the residential halls towards the edge of campus, comparing notes on their first days as they went. As they reached a courtyard outside one of the larger dorms, Sugar Belle stopped and turned to Starlight.

“This is my stop. What building are you in?”

“Far Gallop, room 105.”

“I’m here in Solar Hall, room 463. Feel free to drop by if you want to hang out sometime. If you’re lucky, I’ll have a pie going!”

“Will do.”

Sugar Belle walked inside, waving as she traversed the large double-doored entrance. Starlight waved back, then continued on her way.

“Yeah, no, I’m coming with you.”

“What? No, I don’t need anypony coming with me.”

Midnight furrowed her brow. “Starlight, you said you started crying in the middle of campus just thinking about this Starburst guy–”

“Sunburst.”

“Him. Look, what are you gonna do if it turns out he is here?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“And if he isn’t?”

“I…” Starlight started breathing more rapidly, her pupils narrowing. Her voice jumped an octave. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, look at me. Breathe.” Midnight placed a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder and locked her eyes with Starlight’s. “What color are my eyes?”

Starlight’s darting gaze locked onto Midnight’s. “Uh… green.”

“My hair?”

“Black?”

Midnight’s face scrunched up, but she bit her tongue. “What kind of black?”

“Like a really dark blue or something what are these questions”

“Hush. Is it a pretty color?”

“Sure?”

“Thanks! What about my muzzle?”

Starlight sighed. “White. Ok, I see what you’re doing now.”

Midnight gave a toothy grin. “Is it working?”

“Yeah. It is. Thanks.”

“So, have you changed your mind about me coming with you?”

Starlight’s smile was uncertain, but she ultimately relented. “Okay. We should probably get going if we’re going to get there; Sugar Belle said they close the office at 7, and it’s–”

“6:30. We should run!” Midnight bolted out the door, bumping the frame in her haste.

Once Starlight caught up to Midnight, who had seemingly forgotten her ability to teleport, the two teleported to the center of campus. Though Sugar Belle mentioned the registrar’s office closing time, she had neglected to mention the office’s location. After several minutes of frantically interrogating passers-by, the two disappeared with a pop, appearing in front of one of the older buildings on campus. A nearby sundial showed the time as 6:40; Starlight and Midnight’s gaits relaxed as they walked toward the building.

Midnight glanced at the sign above the door, which read Union Hall.

“So that’s what Union Hall is.”

It took another few minutes to find the registrar’s office. Though signs led Midnight and Starlight to a corridor on Union Hall’s top floor, what lay there was an array of identical unlabeled wooden doors. They ran up and down the corridor. Midnight knocked on doors, asking for directions to the office, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Starlight teleported into each room, finding herself enveloped in darkness more than once as she jumped into empty offices and storage room.

Eventually, Starlight teleported into a room where several ponies sat behind a service counter.

“Is this the registrar’s office?”

A pony wearing glasses and a turtleneck sweater responded. “Yes. What do you need?”

“I want to check if somepony is enrolled.”

“Name?”

“Sunburst. Male, unicorn, he’d be eighteen years old.”

“One moment.”

Starlight bit her lip and started cantering in place. She heard a voice shout from the other room, “What in the– who knocked over all the registration cards?!”

Starlight grimaced, whispering “sorry” to the absent pony’s chair. After what felt like an eternity, the pony returned.

“There is no pony called ‘Sunburst’ enrolled at this school.”

“What? He must have been here at some point!”

“If he was, I couldn’t tell you. The school’s policy on student privacy is very clear: I can only tell you if he is currently enrolled or not,” the pony recited, her eyes moving towards the clock hanging on the wall. “If that’s all, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave. The office is closing now.”

Starlight walked listlessly out the office door, where Midnight was waiting. When she saw Starlight, Midnight frowned, then pulled Starlight into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Starlight."

"I just thought… I don't know anymore."

"Come on, let's go home."

This time there were no tears. Starlight's head hung low, her body leaning against Midnight's as they walked through the now quiet campus. After some shuffling, Midnight found a gait that allowed her to walk while comfortably supporting Starlight.

"Thanks for coming with me."

"It's what friends do."

Starlight giggled, slightly drunk on fatigue. "Why would you want to be friends with a total stress case?"

"You're stressed out because you miss your friend, right? I might not know you that well, but you can't be that bad."

Starlight was quiet for a while, her eyes closed, as she allowed Midnight to guide her back to the dorms.

She mumbled, "Want to go fly a kite?"

Midnight looked hurt. "What? I thought you were happy I–"

"No, no, I mean like an actual kite. I brought a couple of my favorites with me from home. There's at least an hour of sunlight left, too."

"You have more than one kite?"

"It's relaxing! Please don't say it's weird." Starlight nervously grinned.

"It's not weird, but given the whole 'too cool emo' vibe you had going on before orientation last week, it is a little surprising. I'm not saying no, though," Midnight explained.

Starlight's expression brightened. With that settled, she raised an eyebrow as she asked, "How did you know how to calm me down earlier?"

A small frown preceded Midnight's response. "My little brother, Dusty Wing, used to have really, really bad nightmares. Sometimes he'd wake up thinking he was still in them, and asking him questions about what was right in front of him calmed him down."

"Oh, that's…"

"It's ok. The doctors figured out an enchantment that basically cut him off from the dream realm, and he stopped having them. It's kind of messed up, but you can't really have nightmares if you never have any dreams."

Midnight looked towards the sky, where the August sun was slowly falling, allowing a full moon to shine. "Almost a thousand years ago, they say Princess Luna walked the dreams of ponies at night, rescuing them from their nightmares. Then, suddenly, she was gone! Poof! Like she was a dream, too."

"I remember hearing something like that when I was a foal. You think it's real?"

Midnight smiled at Starlight. "Wouldn't it be nice if it was? Anyways, that story is sort of how I ended up in the astronomy program here. It turns out there's some old academic papers establishing a link between the magic linking stars in the constellations and the magic of the dream realm. It'd be nice if I could figure out a way for Dusty to dream again."

"Wow, I–"

"Also, stars are neat! Did you know that there's–why are you laughing?"

Starlight cleared her throat, forcing her laughter to stop. "Nothing, I just–I didn't know it meant so much to you. It's kind of cool."

"Well, I've got a bunch of stars on my butt for a reason."

"Fair enough."

The two kept talking on the way to their room, where Starlight dug through her bags, plucked out a box kite kit, and put on her best "cool pony" voice.

"Let's go fly a kite."

By the time Starlight and Midnight reached a suitably open field in the residential hall section of campus, the sun had set almost entirely. The sky was clear but for a small group of clouds capping the mountain ridges near Canterlot. Starlight fidgeted excitedly as she put together her box kite kit, while Midnight looked on in confusion.

“I don’t get it. What’s so important about the clouds?”

“Ok, you see those smooth clouds over the ridge? Those are lenticular clouds; the longer section at the end shows which way the wind is blowing.”

The kite was fully assembled, and Starlight lifted the kite and reel into the air, allowing the wind to carry the kite high into the air.

“Why does the wind direction matter?”

“Because the longer end is on the opposite side of the mountain from us, which means…”

A strong gust of wind filled Midnight’s ears, rendering Starlight unintelligible. Starlight allowed the kite’s reel to spin in the gust, lifting its body high above the campus buildings. She glanced at Midnight, repeating herself. “Which means updrafts.”

“Did you learn about weather separately, or is this all for the kites?”

“I really like kites.”

“So… how’d you get into kites?” An hour had passed, and the sun was well below the horizon. A new moon lit the field and the kite. Midnight lay on the grass, resting on her back as she watched Starlight’s kite dancing in the wind.

Starlight paused, her focus slowly drifting from the kite as she answered, “I guess it was right after I got my cutie mark. One day a package showed up on our doorstep. Apparently, my dad had ordered kites that looked like each of our cutie marks. Then, I don’t know. It was fun, and I started making my own kites.”

“I guess your mark does kinda look like a kite, now that I look at it.” Midnight wriggled to look at Starlight’s mark. From her position on the ground, Starlight’s cutie mark appeared upside-down; from this angle, the mark looked like a diamond kite with aquamarine streamers. “Come to think of it, I don’t think you’ve told me how you got your mark. You’re studying magic, right?”

“Yeah. I guess you know about Sunburst already.” Starlight paused as a sudden gust threatened to tear the kite reel from her grasp. Once it was under control, she continued.

“After he left, I was desperate to get my cutie mark so I could catch up with him. No matter what I tried, it wasn’t coming, so I went to the town library and found all the books on the magic of cutie marks.

“I studied for moons, trying all sorts of complex spells to get something that would stick. Then one day, I tried a combination of some spells from a reference copy of Starswirl the Bearded’s Notes on Elementary Magic, Amethyst Glow’s Strings of Fate enchantment, and some Old Ponish hexes that I was pretty sure involved changing the properties of cutie marks.”

Midnight’s eyes shot open wide. “You hexed yourself?!”

“I was a foal! And I don’t think it changed much, regardless. The spells all combined together, I saw a bright flash, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in the Sires Hollow hospital. Apparently I was out for two days. My mom even came home to check on me!”

“Is she not around often?”

“She’s always off on some dumb adventure. Dad says he knew when they got married that mom would always be going off on adventures because ‘that was her destiny’”, Starlight mocked. “That’s why she wasn’t there when you and I met.”

“Oh.”

“Anyways… I was so sure that I’d gotten the spell right that I kept studying it. I had to teach myself a bunch of mathematics for mixing complex magic, which took like two more years because, as it turns out, complex math is really hard when the hardest thing you’ve done is long division.

“Then I was ready, and I cast the same combination of spells, with a bunch of tweaks. This time I could feel it, I could practically see the geometries of the spells meshing together and linking with me. I felt myself rise into the air, saw a flash of light, and–”

“You found a spell that gave you your cutie mark?!”

“–woke up in the hospital three days later. When I woke up, I saw that I had my cutie mark. I finally understood the basic magic behind cutie marks.”

“You gave yourself your own mark?!”

“Not exactly. I tried casting the spell on one of my classmates, and it turns out that the spell just messes with the magic in your body connected to your destiny until you black out. Got into a lot of trouble for that one,” said Starlight, rolling her eyes. “I had a good enough understanding of cutie mark magic to understand that’s all the spell was doing. I’m pretty sure that’s what triggered it.”

“Wait, Starlight, how old were you when this happened?”

“The second attempt happened when I was ten.”

Starlight didn’t notice the shocked expression on Midnight’s face. “How did you even cast something that complex when you were ten? I don’t think I could use that much magic in a day now!”

Starlight rubbed her neck, laughing sheepishly as she replied, “Yeah, I was… very upset with Sunburst and mom and dad at the time. My magic gets more powerful the stronger I’m feeling.”

“So don’t make you angry. Got it.” Midnight stood, walking over to stand beside Starlight. “My story involves less potential brain damage, but it’s pretty similar.. My mark appeared the moment I found Middy. Speaking of which, we should be able to see it now.”

Despite the moonlight, bright stars filled the skies above. Midnight gestured towards a swath of sky.

“That one.”

“It’s pretty. I think. To be honest, they all just look like stars to me.”

“It helps when you understand the magic connecting the stars.”

“You’d be the first pony I’ve met who understood any kind of magic like that, then. Sires Hollow didn’t have a lot of other unicorns specializing in magic. Once Sunburst left, I was the only one I knew.”

Midnight hesitantly asked, “So, Sunburst. He just left without saying goodbye? No letters, no… nothing?”

“No, I… I was so… I was angry, and proud, but I also wanted to surprise Sunburst by just showing up in his class. By the time I got my cutie mark, I was too embarrassed to send him anything. He never sent me anything either, and… here we are. I’m having breakdowns in the middle of campus, and he’s probably off doing big important wizard things.”

Starlight’s focus shifted as another gust pulled hard at the line. Midnight raised her hoof to her chin for a moment. “Mind if I try flying the kite?”

“Sure.”

Starlight offered the reel to Midnight, who played with the reel as she figured out how to command the kite. A few minutes later, a strong gust of wind swept through the field, and she strained to keep the reel in her magical grasp. As she fumbled with the kite, she stumbled hard into Starlight, losing her hold on the reel and sending Starlight to the ground.

“Starlight, you alright?!”

"Buhhh," came Starlight's response. Midnight helped her to her hooves as Starlight processed the last few moments. "I'm okay. You?"

"Yeah. Your kite, though…"

The box kite was still in their lines of sight, but rested neatly atop the spire capping the rotunda of the performing arts hall. Starlight's jaw dropped, her eyes narrowed, and when she attempted to speak, only small squeaks came out.

"Starlight, I am so sorry."

"My kite!"

"I know!"

Starlight waved a hoof in the air, shouting at the sky, "Does the universe just hate me today or something?!"

Midnight patted Starlight's shoulder. "Want to head back?”

“I want to get my kite!”

Midnight cocked an eyebrow. “Starlight, I’m pretty sure that’s the tallest building on campus, and from what I can tell, you can’t teleport that far.”

“But–”

“And even if you could do that, the wind is enough to knock me off my feet down here!”

“But… ugh, fine.” Starlight’s eyes looked toward the grass, her expression falling slack. As the wind continued to blast into her, she started shivering. “Fine, let’s go back to the dorm.”

Midnight patted Starlight’s shoulder with her hoof. “You can talk to someone in the staff about getting your kite down tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Starlight relented. “Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow

It was midday. Starlight had a lecture for another magic class, Introduction to Enchantments. She spotted Sugar Belle towards the rear of the auditorium. Up front, she spied Midnight, who waved her over. Starlight gave Sugar Belle an apologetic look and pointed towards the front before joining Midnight in the front row. Midnight spoke as Starlight sat down.

"So have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"A bunch of ponies have been talking about the 'awesome prank' somepony pulled on the performing arts center. Apparently, it’s so stuck even the staff pegasi can’t get it off."

"Are you kidding me? I just wanted to fly my kite. I knew I should have gone up there."

"Star, you would have fallen and you know it."

"Are you two talking about that thing on the performing arts center roof?" Starlight turned away from Midnight to see Sugar Belle sitting next to her. "Was that you?"

"Not on purpose! I was flying my kite, and then a gust of wind knocked Midnight over, and the next thing I know the kite's stuck on the spire."

"Oh, wow, you've been having the worst luck, haven't you?"

"That's what I've been saying," complained Starlight.

Sugar Belle’s expression was sympathetic. “Sounds like yesterday was rough all ‘round.”

“Trust me, I’d rather just pretend like yesterday didn’t happen.”

The lecture started and Starlight quickly grew bored. The lecture material was all about enchantment techniques and spells she already knew. Sugar Belle was studiously jotting down notes while Midnight’s expression drifted in and out of confusion.

Once class was over, Sugar Belle turned to Starlight and Midnight. “You two want to hang out? I’m meeting up with a friend for lunch; you can come with if you like.”

Starlight answered, “Yeah, sure.”

Midnight was already standing. “I’m in, too.”

“Heya, Sugar Belle! Who are those two?”

A blue pegasus with silver wind-swept hair waved, gliding over to them. Sugar Belle walked ahead to greet her.

“Hey, Night Glider. This is Starlight, and… uh, sorry, I just realized I never actually got your name,” she said with a chuckle.

“Midnight. I’m Starlight’s roommate.”

“So that’s how you two know each other. Makes sense.”

Night Glider interrupted before they could continue. “Let’s go grab some grub. The cafe’s gonna be packed if we don’t hurry.”

The group made their way through a throng of ponies outside of the cafeteria, many of whom were holding signs.

Vegan or bust!

Do YOU want to be milked? Stop cow exploitation NOW!

A litany of similar phrases appeared on the other signs, some also bearing rough marker drawings of cows or milk bottles with red X’s running through them. Starlight glanced at Midnight, who seemed just as confused.

Sugar Belle explained once they got to the door. “This isn’t the first protest here. They’ve been here every time Night Glider and I come for lunch.”

Night Glider continued, “This cafe doesn’t even serve milk; I checked. They serve some substitute called ‘mylk.’”

One of the protestors overheard Night Glider’s remark.

“We’re not protesting the cafe. This just happens to be the one part of campus where all the walkways converge, so a lot of ponies protest here.”

“Oh.”

The four ponies sat with their food in a corner of the cafe. Night Glider tore into a sandwich as she spoke.

“So, you’re both in Sugar’s magic lecture?”

Midnight replied, “Yeah, enchantments with Professor Love Likely.”

“Isn’t she famous?”

“Yeah, some sort of love potion thing.”

“Huh. Well, I know about Sugar Belle; what about you two? Are you both studying magic?”

“I’m in the astrology-slash-astronomy program.”

“Just magic for me.”

“One of those specialists, huh?”

“Haha, yeah, I guess.”

Sugar Belle eyes flashed as she spoke. “Oh, Night Glider, I’ve got some news! Starlight here is our spire prankster.”

Starlight spat the ‘mylk’ she was drinking on Sugar Belle’s face in surprise. “It wasn’t on purpose! I just wanted to fly my kite.”

“I need to stop surprising you.”

Night Glider eyes were wide. “What? Her?”

“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?”

“No offense, but you, uh, don’t really look the type. I’m not saying it’s the beanie, but… ok, no, it’s definitely the beanie.”

Starlight looked up at the one non-black beanie she owned resting on her mane. “Hey, I am just as hardcore as anypony else!”

“No, you’re not,” Night Glider replied, smirking as she crossed her hooves.

“Star, she’s kinda right.”

“Midnight!”

“Anyways, how in the hay did you land your kite on top of the spire? Some kind of spell?”

Midnight raised her hoof. “That one’s my bad. I asked Star to let me fly her kite and I kinda sorta lost my grip on it. And tackled her to the ground.”

Night Glider smirked. “Tackled her to the ground, eh?”

Starlight raised her hooves, quickly rebutting, “It was an accident, just an accident.”

Midnight laughed. “I think you and I are going to get along fine, Night Glider.”

“I try. Still, if you wanna be ‘hardcore,’ you should think about ditching the ‘accident’ part of the story.”

Starlight groaned.

Sugar Belle attempted to segue. “Hey, Starlight, did you get a chance to visit the registrar’s… oh.”

Starlight’s pushed away her food as her face met the table with a dull thud. Her mane moved slightly as a muffled “yep” reverberated through it. Night Glider whispered with Sugar Belle briefly, then looked at Starlight with a grimace.

“So… why do you want to find this guy so bad?”

Starlight looked up to reply, her voice unsure. “I want to be friends again?”

“Did he, like, talk to you at all after he left?”

“No.”

“Did he even say goodbye?”

“No…”

“Then why–”

“I don’t know," shouted Starlight. “I just thought ‘Hey, my special talent is magic and his special talent is magic we should totally still be friends!’”

She looked around. Several other ponies were staring at her. She shrank into her seat, speaking softly.

“Or something.”

Night Glider responded, “Wait, special talents? Did he leave because of a cutie mark?”

Starlight replied with a small nod.

Night Glider snorted. “Typical. Know when the last time I saw my dad was? Never. The dude up and left right after I was born to go make it big in Manehattan as an actor.” Her right hoof banged on the table as her voice hardened. “You ask me, you’re better off forgetting about him.”

Starlight looked shocked while Midnight gave Night Glider a sympathetic look. Sugar Belle lay her hoof on Night Glider’s shoulder, her expression mirroring Midnight’s. Night Glider's posture relaxed and the ponies staring at them gradually returned to their own conversations. Starlight broke the silence at the table.

"Maybe you're right."

Though still visibly incensed, Night Glider controlled her voice. "That whole special talents stuff is dumb anyways. You know what mine is? Flying at night. Besides the Guard or being a courier, there's no work in flying at night, and I have to compete with a bunch of ponies who were literally born to do whatever job I try to get."

Midnight asked, "What are you here to study, by the way?"

"Equestrian history. Figured if I was gonna have a hard time finding a job anyways, might as well study something I liked."

“Gotcha.”

Though the din of the cafeteria had returned, it was still noticeably quieter than when Starlight and her friends had walked in to get their lunch. They finished their lunch quickly and in relative silence, with only occasional breaks to make small talk, then left, carefully skirting around the protest near the entrance.

Sugar Belle and Night Glider broke off to go to their next classes, leaving Starlight and Midnight standing near an art piece on display in the middle of campus.

“You ok, Star?”

“I don’t think so, but it’s been so unrelenting that at this point I’ve reached a kind of peace. For now, anyways. Also, ‘Star?’ That’s new.”

“If you hadn’t noticed by now, I’m the nicknamey type. You ok with that?”

Starlight chuckled. “Yeah, I think I can work with that. Got any more classes?”

“Nope. I’m a free mare.”

“Well, I’ve got another lecture in a bit, so I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah. And Star? I know you’re disappointed about Sunburst, but… you’ve got us now. I’ve got your back, and I’m sure Sugar Belle does as well. Hay, even Night Glider sounds like she gets it, too.”

She pulled Starlight into a hug, surprising her, though she shook it off to return the hug.

“Thanks.”

Flying at Night

A few weeks had passed, and though murmurs about the kite on the performing arts spire continued to ripple throughout the campus, no one outside of Starlight’s friends seemed to have any idea who the perpetrator could be. Starlight and Midnight leisurely walked toward Solar Hall, talking along the way.

“Is it just going to be us, then?”

“No, Sugar Belle said Night Glider’d be there too.” Starlight quickly glanced at her hair as she mentioned the pegasus’s name: it was beaniless.

“Oh yeah! She was interesting, wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, I definitely didn’t expect to get roasted over my headwear choices.”

Midnight snorted. “Ah, lighten up, Star. I’ve teased you worse than that.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, but smiled regardless. “Fair. ”

Solar Hall stood out among the faux classical architecture of the surrounding dorms, a mixture of concrete, glass, and steel seven stories tall, towering above the smaller residence halls surrounding it. A thin, pyramidal glass spire tinged with gold and capped with a golden starburst topped the building, and shined brightly in the midday sun. As Midnight passed through the entrance, she read aloud the plaque which hung on the foyer wall.

"Constructed in honor of the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration." She added, "Seems a little weird to dedicate the building two years early."

"Probably just wanted to be sure it wouldn't be finished late."

The two walked the marble staircase in the center of the building, eventually making their way to Sugar Belle's room. A conversation carried through the door.

"Can we please not do the tournament? The frats always win those things."

"Oh, come on, Night Glider, it'll be fun! I'll make team cupcakes."

"What the hay is a 'team cupcake?'"

"It's a normal cupcake, but–"

Starlight knocked on the door. Sugar Belle's answered, her expression cheery as she beckoned the two inside. Starlight continued the conversation.

"So, 'team cupcakes?' What are we making a team for?"

Night Glider huffed. "Sugar Belle wants us to join some sports tournament."

"What sport?"

"Flydisc. It's a game with throwing discs. Only big rules are that unicorns can't use anything other than telekinesis and that pegasi have to remain within a leg length of the ground." Sugar Belle produced a pamphlet which Midnight took in her magical grasp. It was colorful, with photos of ponies of all colors and races in the middle of a game. The cover text mentioned an intramural tournament happening that same day. Starlight could make out a mountain of text underneath the section titled "Rules." Midnight hurriedly returned the pamphlet.

"What do you think? Wanna enter? We need a team of at least four ponies."

"Sure, why not? And Starlight's definitely in."

"What? No, I’ve never even–”

"Come on, you spend all your time cooped up in our room studying. This'll be fun!"

Starlight sighed. "Fine. I'm in if Midnight's in."

"Great! That just leaves…" added Sugar Belle. All eyes fell on Night Glider.

"Alright, fine! I'll join the stupid team."

The newly formed flydisc team arrived at the intramural sports fields at the outer edge of campus a few hours before sundown. Groups of ponies, some wearing matching uniforms, waited and talked by a table where a number of ponies were taking down team information.

Sugar Belle craned her neck, trying to see over the crowd. "Oh, looks like we need a name. Any ideas?"

"'We Don't Want To Be Here.'"

"Any good ideas?"

Starlight shrugged. "Don't look at me, I'm terrible at naming things."

"Why don't you come up with something?"

Sugar Belle thought for a moment, then offered, "How about… 'Creamy Surprise?'"

Night Glider's hoof met her forehead as Starlight stifled a laugh. While Starlight recovered, the pegasus looked around before asking, “Where did Midnight go?”

"Right here!"

Midnight returned to the team carrying several jerseys. Each bore a piece of tape with "The Kite Flyers" in neat hornwriting on the back.

“Alright, we’re all registered!”

Starlight’s brows raised at the sight of the jerseys. “You didn’t seriously put that down as our name, did you?”

Night Glider snorted, snarking, “Maybe we can put some of these ponies off their game if they think we capped the spire.”

Starlight deadpanned, “And you’re seriously not going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

Sugar Belle’s admonishment came with a smile. “I should be annoyed at you for picking without us… but that’s a pretty good name.”

The first round started soon after. The team was up against Kappa Alfalfa, who seemed to consist of nothing but earth ponies. No one scored in the first half. Between Starlight’s levitation, Night Glider’s ability to hover just barely within the reach of the opposing team, and Sugar Belle’s surprisingly high athleticism, they were able to prevent the Alf Squad from scoring, despite a clear experience gap.

However, their own score was also zero. While the Alf Squad had no real counter for their magic and flight, they had a major advantage: they knew the rules. The referee’s whistle rang harshly in the Kite Flyers’ ears.

“Offsides!”

“Illegal unicorn-to-pegasus slingshot pass!”

“No celebration dances!”

“Poor sportsponyship!”

“Excessive sportsponyship!”

At the break, Starlight was indignant. “How is anypony supposed to understand these rules?!”

Night Glider suggested, “Maybe we should read them.”

Midnight was watching the referee, who blew his whistle. “I don’t think we have time. We gotta get back in there.”

Thanks to a lucky between-the-hooves throw from Midnight and some fast footwork from Sugar Belle, the girls were able to score a single point in the second half. Despite their experience, Alf Squad hadn’t been able to overcome the Kite Flyers’ aerial advantage.

The following two games went similarly. Few teams had both unicorns and pegasi, and neither of the teams the Flyers played against did. They had, somehow, made it into the finals. Looking at their competition did nothing for their spirits, however.

“Are they wearing… protective padding?” asked Starlight.

Sugar Belle pulled out her copy of the rules pamphlet. The ponies on the cover were wearing similar equipment. “It must be pro equipment. I guess they take this game super seriously.”

“But this is a no-contact spo–”

A referee called out from the edge of the field. “Next up: Kite Flyers versus the Canterlot Cannibals! Game starts in five.”

Night Glider was hovering, her forelegs crossed. “The Canterlot Cannibals.”

At the other end of the field, the nearly set sun cast long shadows in front of the Kite Flyers’ padded opponents. Midnight covered her eyes from the sun, squinting at the opposing team.

“They’re wearing mouth guards… shaped like shark teeth?”

Starlight could see two of the team hovering in the air, and could just barely make out a horn topping the largest pony’s head. One of the ponies was walking over. “Looks like it. They’ve also got every type of pony.” She looked to Midnight. “Maybe we should save ourselves the embarrassment and give up now?”

Midnight didn’t respond, giving her only a sidelong glance. The lone earth pony from the Cannibals had apparently overheard.

“Good idea. Fine ladies such as yourselves shouldn’t tangle with us… on the field, at least.” He waggled his eyebrows, staring straight at Starlight. Starlight fought the urge to gag; Night Glider lost that same fight. “Just give up now and we’ll throw in an invite to one of our post-game parties.”

Starlight’s horn began to glow as her expression darkened when Night Glider called the team into a huddle.

“There’s no way we can give up now!”

Sugar Belle replied, “But how are we supposed to beat them? Maybe Starlight had the right–”

“No way. We’re going to destroy them. I want them to rue the day they picked a fight with me!”

“Midnight, what about you?”

Midnight was too busy laughing at Starlight’s outburst to reply. Night Glider reassured Sugar Belle, “Look, the sun’s almost completely down. By the time the second half starts, it’ll be dark. They might have experience, but nopony outflies me after dark. If the rest of you can keep doing what you’ve been doing the rest of the tournament, we can win this!”

“Wow. You really came around on this tournament, huh?”

“Oh, no, I still think it’s dumb. I’m just with Starlight on this one.” She turned to face the Cannibals’ side of the field. “Time to win this.”

Despite their determination, the Kite Flyers were dramatically outplayed in the first half. The padding Starlight had thought would be useless proved effective when the Cannibals' pegasi acted as a springboard to launch their earth pony friend towards the touchdown zone. While the game of keepaway the Flyers used in the previous three games still worked, the Cannibals were able to use the exact same strategy to maintain a forty point lead going into the halftime break.

“Seriously, how does the scoring system in this game work?” asked Midnight. Starlight consulted with Sugar Belle and her rules pamphlet for a while, then made an announcement.

“Ok, I think we’ve got this. We just have to score three more goals and one more touchdown, and we’ll win by three points.”

“I’m gonna pretend that made sense.”

Night Glider stared at the horizon. “Ok. I hope it’s dark enough now…”

Starlight’s voice was hesitant. “You sure you’ve got this?”

"Please. I actually get to use my talent for once." Night Glider stretched her wings. "They're going down."

The second half started similarly to the first, but the Cannibals, despite the experience lead, were unable to score.

The pegasi prepared the same trick they'd used in the first half to score, launching their friend. This time, however, Night Glider was ready. As the earth pony kicked off from his friends' shoulders, Night Glider darted forward, folding in her wings as she grabbed the flying disc between her teeth. Gravity brought her to the ground as she wrenched the disc out of the earth pony's mouth, but she didn't remain their long. She launched herself back into the air, her momentum carrying her forward as she threw herself into a tight spin, slipping between the pegasi before they could react.

Once she passed the pegasi, all that remained between her and the touchdown zone was the Cannibal's single unicorn. Starlight and Sugar Belle ran forward, fanning out towards the sides of the field and creating a wide V behind their agile friend.

The opposing unicorn was surprised; it seemed he had been expecting the second half to go the same as the first. He tried to pry the flying disc from Night Glider’s grip, but she threw it toward Starlight, who overpowered the unicorn’s telekinetic grasp. Starlight waited for the Cannibal defender to get close before sneaking the disc under his legs, tossing it to Sugar Belle who carried it into the endzone. The remainder of the Cannibals finally caught up as the referee blew his whistle, while the scorekeeper narrowed the gap between the teams.

The remainder of the second half was a bloodbath. The Kite Flyers, with their newfound advantage, dominated the field, taking the forty point gap they had at halftime and turning it into a forty point lead. When the referee blew the final whistle, the Cannibals spat out their mouthguards and started shouting, stomping the guards into the ground. The Flyers huddled on their side of the field.

"Night Glider, that was awesome!" said Starlight, throwing her forehooves in the air.

"Yeah! You did great for the girl who kept calling this tournament stupid."

Midnight came up to the group, but her attention was focused on the other team. She squinted, but didn't speak.

"Well, my talent never comes in handy for anything else." She added, with a smirk, "At least I can use it to win some stupid tournament."

“I knew it!”

The girls turned, all but Midnight surprised to see the earth pony who had attempted flirting at them earlier standing with a referee. His face was a mix of humiliation and anger.

“You heard them! Article X, Section 23, Subsection (a), Paragraph iv of the rules makes it very clear! No special talents.”

Night Glider was apoplectic with rage. “Are you motherfucking kidding me?!”

“Look! Her cutie mark! A moon and feathers. See?”

The referee rolled his eyes, sighing heavily before asking, “Young filly, mind telling me what your special talent is?” Night Glider’s jaw dropped.

“Seriously?!”

The referee gave the earth pony a sidelong glance. “We normally don’t ask because this is an intramural tournament and we’re usually pretty lax on the rules… because this is an intramural tournament… but the Cannibals insisted.”

“Fine! Yes! I’m a great flyer at night! That’s what you want to hear, isn’t it?”

The earth pony pumped his hoof and hollered in victory.

“Sorry. We’re gonna have to disqualify the Kite Flyers.”

“So ladies… about my offer from earlier?” The earth pony waggled his eyebrows at Night Glider.

“I still think you shoulda let me pound him.”

The Kite Flyers returned to Sugar Belle’s dorm. Sugar Belle tossed out the pamphlet as the girls swore to never play the game again.

All except Night Glider, who merely swore. Starlight had wrapped the pegasus in her aura as the team walked away from the field, stopping her from soundly thrashing the earth pony who had called in the refs. The unicorn refused to let her go until they returned to Solar Hall. Sugar Belle blocked the window to her room, while Midnight guarded the door. Starlight let Night Glider go free.

“You can relax, I’m not gonna jump out the window to beat the guy up,” she said, muttering the rest under her breath, “even if he deserves it.”

“Yeah, that was kind of a disaster.”

“It’s fine,” rebutted Midnight, “we know who really won that game.”

Sugar Belle walked out of the room, looking over her shoulder to add, “Well, I did hear a lot of booing when the referees announced the results.”

“Where are you going?”

“Oh! I put some cupcakes in the oven when we got back.”

“Sweet! Need some help icing those?”

“You just want to eat the leftover buttercream, don’t you?”

“No,” singsonged Midnight, following her out.

A loud and boisterous silence filled the air. Night Glider silently fumed while Starlight awkwardly fidgeted to the side. Several minutes passed before Starlight spoke.

“Hey… you doing ok?”

“I get to do something useful with the one thing I’m good at, and I don’t even get to keep that!”

“Ok, silly question.”

“And this stupid game! Thank Celestia my talent isn’t in flydisc, or I wouldn’t even be able to play it!”

Starlight scratched the back of her head, grimacing, but unable to think of anything to say.

“You know what the dumbest part is? This whole stupid obsession with cutie marks only started in the last millenium.”

“What?”

“Yeah. Yeah. Look up pre-Equestrian history sometime, you’ll see it. It’s fucking bullshit.” Night Glider pawed at the carpet, restraining herself from stomping on the floor.

“Wait, what do you–”

Starlight was interrupted by the return of Midnight and Sugar Belle, each carrying a tray of cupcakes coated in decadent-looking icing. The smell was overwhelmingly and delightfully sweet, rich with chocolate.

“Cupcake time!” said the two simultaneously.

“Finally.” Night Glider seemed to calm down as she bit into one of the fresh confections.

“Sounded like we were interrupting something?” asked Midnight as she sat by Starlight, eating her own cupcake. It was covered with substantially more icing than the others on the tray.

“No, nothing, I guess.” Starlight looked pensive. She slowly ate a cupcake as the conversation continued.

It was nearly morning when she and Midnight made it back to their dorm.

The Starlight Review

Two moons had passed since the start of the term, and Starlight and Midnight were studying in their room. Midnight was utterly lost.

“No, see, I still don’t get it.”

“Ok, you remember that lecture where Professor Likely said ‘to cast this enchantment, envision a white sandy beach kissed by cerulean waters?’”

“It was so weird I don’t think I could ever forget it.”

“Yeah. Completely ignore what she said, it’s totally irrelevant. What you need to do is picture this thing,” Starlight said, gesturing towards a drinking bird sitting motionless on Midnight’s desk before continuing, “dipping its beak into the cup, then moving back up, and so on. All you’re trying to do is… persuade it to do what it normally does, just without the Canternot cycle limitations.”

“Alright, I’ll give it another shot.” Midnight’s horn glowed as the drinking bird vibrated, her desk emitting a faint hum in return. Finally, the bird slowly tipped forward. Midnight’s and Starlight’s eyes moved back and forth as the bird continued dipping its beak into a cup in front of it.

“You did it!”

“I did it! I might actually pass this Celestia-forsaken exam tomorrow,” cheered Midnight.

“Middy, that’s awesome and–Dear Celestia, is it night already?! I told Night Glider I’d meet up with her at the library. Gotta go,” Starlight frantically shouted, disappearing with a zap.

She appeared in front of the main campus library with another zap, sending Night Glider into the air with a yelp. Starlight waited while she calmed down.

“Can’t you just walk up to me like everypony else? It was fine on Nightmare Night, but come on!”

Starlight rubbed the back of her neck. “Sorry, I just realized how late I was."

“So what’s this thing you wanted to show me?”

“C’mon, it’s in the reference section; I couldn’t check it out, but… remember after the flydisc tournament?”

“Yeah?”

Night Glider followed Starlight into the reference section of the library, a musty room filled to the top with ancient texts. Many lay behind glass casings, only accessible to researchers. Though a few haggard graduate students were strewn about the tiered balconies of the room, Starlight and Night Glider found themselves alone in the history subsection of the room, where Starlight levitated a cracked leather-bound book from the shelves and opened it to a bookmarked page. Night Glider’s eyes darted about the pages as Starlight explained.

“Remember how you were talking about pre-Equestrian views on cutie marks?”

“Not really? I just remember being really, really mad. Oh, and cupcakes.”

“Right, right, fair enough. Well, it turns out there was a group of ponies in the southern deserts of Equestria who called themselves the ‘Fraternal Society of Friendship.’ Their approach to fighting the windigo storms was to shed everything that made them different: their names, pegasi flight, earth pony strength, unicorn magic–”

“And their cutie marks,” interrupted Night Glider. Her hoof pointed at a sketch of one of the members of the society.

“Exactly. They covered their marks with large linen cloaks, slightly longer versions of the ones they normally wore to keep the sun away. But there’s more–keep reading.”

Night Glider turned the page, reading for a few minutes as Starlight watched. “They were able to drive the windigos off!”

“Yes!”

“Wait, is that a–”

“Flydisc? You bet.”

“You’re not telling me–”

“They invented the game. That’s why they had that rule about cutie marks!”

Night Glider sat down. “This is unbelievable.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I knew that the whole obsession we have today was relatively new, but this… it’s a total rejection.”

“I know! Could you imagine ponies doing that nowadays?” asked Starlight. She started laughing, adding, “They’d be run out of town!”

Night Glider said nothing but nodded. After exhausting the book’s contents related to the Society, Night Glider and Starlight started back toward the library entrance.

“When’d you get the new beanie? That color looks way better on you than all the black you were rocking at the start of the term,” commented Night Glider as she pointed at Starlight’s new pink, starburst-spangled beanie.

“Oh, yeah, haha, that. You can thank Midnight for that. She dragged me to one of the headwear stores downtown screaming ‘it’s for your own good!’”

Night Glider held a hoof up to her mouth, barely able to contain her laughter.

“Could you two please keep it down? We are trying to study here.”

Starlight and Night Glider turned their heads to see two unicorns, one wearing a turtleneck, her red mane tied up, and the other buried in a sea of books. Only her cutie mark was visible from where Starlight stood, a sea of white starbursts with a larger pink one in the middle. Before the red-maned mare could continue with her reprimand, Starlight and Night Glider rolled their eyes and continued out the nearby door.

After seeing Night Glider back to her dorm, Starlight walked back to hers. Midnight was standing outside the main entrance, and ran over to her as she approached.

“Ok, you’re here. Good. I have a very important question: do you have a doppelganger?”

“What? No. Also, what?”

“You didn’t tell me your mom looks exactly like an older version of you, Star.”

“My mom is here?!”

“I assumed it was your mom; I got freaked out and ran out here, then I kinda guessed from everything that happened the first time we met that this was how you’d react, so… I figured I’d wait outside to warn you.”

Starlight groaned. “Great. Fantastic. Let’s just get this over with.”

As Starlight and Midnight arrived at their room, Starlight could hear the shuffling of hooves. She opened the door, and but for the lack of a blue streak in her messy hair, a slightly darker coat, and light wrinkles under her eyes, the mare standing in their room looked exactly like Starlight.

“Starlight! There you are.”

“Hi, mom–oof!”

Starlight grunted as her mother wrapped her in a tight hug.

“Mom, I can’t breathe,” choked out Starlight.

“And this must be your roommate…”

“Midnight, I–”

Midnight was cut off mid-sentence as Starlight’s mother introduced herself.

“Aurora Glimmer, adventurer and explorer extraordinaire! I hope the kid here hasn’t been giving you too much trouble,” said Aurora with a laugh. Starlight wormed out of her mother’s hug, stepping back to stand beside Midnight.

“Mom. Please, just… what are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, the expedition through the far eastern reaches of the griffon lands ended early when our guide disappeared. Then we returned to Griffonstone, got into a few fights, and, to make a long story short, we got kicked out. We also met that adventure writer, what’s ‘er name, uh… oh, yeah, A.K. Yearling! Funny story, she got all flustered when I called out her name. Looked like she was being chased by some fans or something. Then there was–”

“No, mom, I meant what are you doing here?”

“Did you not get my letter?”

Starlight’s hoof met her face as she replied, “Right, that.”

“Did the locket make it? You’re not wearing it.”

“It did, but I’m not exactly the type of pony to wear jewelry. It’s in the nightstand.”

“But you loved wearing that spiked choker with the leather bracelets back in–”

Starlight covered Aurora’s mouth, glancing at Midnight, who slowly backed out of the room. Once she was gone, Starlight removed her hoof.

“Please, not in front of Midnight.”

“But you’ve never been embarrassed by that bef–oh. Ohoho…”

Starlight’s eyes darted back and forth between the door and her mother. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I’m sure it’s a coincidence that you’re not wearing a single black piece of clothing, too. And you’re blushing, too!”

“What?! I am not blushing,” denied Starlight as she laughed nervously. Her reflection in the room’s mirror revealed otherwise.

“Anyways, it would have been nice to get some more specific notice you were coming.”

Aurora’s teasing smile faded. “Starlight, there wasn’t any time. I came as soon as I was free, and I got here faster than any letter would have.”

Starlight’s blush gave way to open anger. “But there’s never any time. You’re always away! You seriously couldn’t have been here when I moved in?”

“I did the best I could! I don’t have much control over how long these expeditions go, you know that.”

“This is my job. I’m doing this to support our family!”

“Yeah, sure, and that’s why you’re never around. That’s why this is the first time I’ve seen you this year, huh?”

Both mares were shouting, their voices echoing through the corridor. Starlight continued.

“Maybe if you really cared about us, you’d have found a job that lets you see us more than once in a blue moon.”

“Starlight, I am doing what I was meant to do. Your dad gets that, why don’t you?” Aurora pointed to her flank, bearing a mark of an old parchment map.

“Because I didn’t get a choice!”

Aurora didn’t respond immediately, and for a moment, the only thing that could be heard in the room was heavy breathing as tears streamed down Starlight’s face.

“Maybe it’s for the best if I leave. I’ll see you at Hearth’s Warming.”

“Yeah, sure I will.”

“Goodbye, Starlight.”

A few minutes after Aurora left, Midnight appeared at the still open door to the room.

“Star? Are you ok?”

Starlight lay on her bed, facing the wall, quietly sobbing. Midnight walked over to her, her brow furrowed with worry.

“Alright, dumb question. Do you want to talk about it? I couldn’t help overhearing most of that.”

“How much did you hear?”

“Something about a letter, and everything after that.”

"At least she didn’t ruin that, then.”

“Ruin what?”

“Nothing. If you heard, then I don't think there's much to talk about. I never see my mom, and it's been that way so long as I can remember. She's never around because of that stupid job."

"Oh…"

Starlight rolled to look at Midnight, who gently hugged her with a foreleg.

"My dad always came home late from city hall. He's the mayor back home. I spent a lot of time at home alone."

"I'm sorry, Star."

"I just… want someone to stick around."

"I'm not going away any time soon, ok?"

Starlight smiled slightly. "Thanks, Middy. Appreciate it."

"So… a spiked choker, huh?"

"No."

"With black bracelets?"

"Nope, no, no."

"Please tell me there are pictures."

"I told my dad to destroy every last copy."

“So there are pictures, is what you're saying.”

“You will never. Ever. See them.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Midnight walked to her desk, where the dipping bird still moved. “What did Night Glider want at the library?”

Starlight relayed the story of the Society, excitedly waving her forelegs as she explained their way of life.

“... and that’s how they drove the windigos away from the deserts!”

“Woah. I wonder why they never mention that in the Hearth’s Warming Eve play.”

“I mean, it’d be a terrible story for foals. Could you imagine?”

“Ha; I guess you’re right.”

Starlight turned her eyes to the ceiling and her attention away from the conversation. After some time, Midnight wished Starlight good night and fell asleep.

Starlight, however, lay awake until the morning.

Blank Flank

Author's Note

Beginning of Part 2.

Blank Flank

“And you’re absolutely sure that nopony can see us?”

Starlight furrowed her brow. “I checked like five times! I’m sure.”

“Alright… do it.”

Starlight’s horn illuminated Night Glider’s flank as she levitated a makeup brush into place. With a few strokes of the brush, she was done.

“Ok. Have a look!”

Night Glider stretched her neck, craning to see her flank around her wing.

“Good job.”

Night Glider’s cutie mark was coated with a thin layer of concealer.

“I know! And it only took twenty tries,” exclaimed Starlight. She gestured to the small pile of concealer bottles on the floor of Night Glider’s dorm room. “So. What do you think?”

“I think I look pretty silly.”

“No, I think it looks... ok, it looks pretty silly.”

They giggled. Night Glider dug through the pile of concealer, picking out a light purple hue matching Starlight’s coat and picking up a brush in her mouth. “Nah iffs yorph turrf.”

Starlight turned and Night Glider began brushing over Starlight’s mark. Starlight struggled to contain her laughter.

“Hey, stop tickling me!”

Night Glider finished and spat out the brush before replying, “Well, maybe you should just use your magic next time.”

“Thanks for teaching me how to use that stuff." Starlight slowly circled in place as she stretched her neck to get a foot view of the blank spot where her cutie mark lay. How do you know how to use it? I don’t see you wearing makeup much.”

“No reason.”

"Huh." Suddenly, Starlight's eyes lit up. "Hey… why don't we try going for a walk like this?"

"What?"

"Come on! Imagine the looks on everyone's faces."

"No way. There is no way you're dragging me out there looking like this."

"You complain all the time about ponies telling you what to do because of your mark; wouldn't it be nice to see what happens when they can't see it?"

"But that's–"

There was a knock at the door; Sugar Belle sounded slightly muffled as she spoke. "Hey, Night Glider? There's somepony in the lobby who wants to talk to you."

Night Glider looked confused. "Did they say who they were?" She looked at Starlight, who shrugged.

"She said her name was Sharp Shield. Earth pony?"

"Oh, fuck." Night Glider slapped her forehead. "Hey, Sugar Belle, can you do me a favor and stall her?"

"Uh… okay, if you say so."

"Thanks, I owe you one."

"You'd better explain what's going on later." Starlight heard hoofsteps fade into the distance.

Night Glider returned her focus to Starlight. "Ok, new plan."

"What's the plan?"

"We're going with your plan. I'll be plucked if I'm gonna let my mom give me another lecture on joining the Guard."

Starlight looked shocked. "Your mom's in the Guard?"

Night Glider cocked her head to the side. "Did I never mention that?"

"No." Starlight put a hoof to Night Glider's chest to reassure her. "But trust me, I get mom stuff."

"Thanks." Night Glider opened her room's window. "I'll meet you outside."

Starlight stood for a few moments as her friend jumped out the window, then closed

Night Glider sighed. “You know, I was kind of hoping nopony would make a big deal about this.”

Starlight and Night Glider had moved from the dorms to the edge of campus. Though they’d seen few of their peers during the walk, the campus was lively. Ponies filled the pathways moving to and from their afternoon classes. Initially, no one noticed the markless mares, but Starlight soon noticed ponies furtively glancing at them. Groups whispered amongst themselves, while some ponies quietly snickered as they walked by.

Starlight glared at the hecklers, annoyed, while Night Glider quietly seethed.

“You alright, Night Glider?”

“Peachy.”

“Do you want to head back?”

“No. This is way less of a pain than dealing with my mom."

As the two continued to the center of campus, the whispers and derision continued. However, near the confluence of paths abutting the Saltlick cafe, Starlight and Night Glider could hear a change in the mood of the ponies who saw them.

The crowd of protesters in front of the cafe carried no signs that day. Starlight could hear indecipherable yelling, which died down as the mares approached. An earth pony left the crowd and called out to them.

“Hey, are you two here to join the protest?”

Starlight and Night Glider gave each other a long questioning glance. Night Glider shrugged.

Starlight bit. “What are you all protesting, exactly?”

“Like, we’re out protesting the system and stuff, y’know?”

Starlight’s expression bounced between confusion and skepticism as she replied, “Right; what about the system are you protesting?”

“Yeah, like, uh… Hey, Fancy Grass, what are we protesting again?”

A voice rang out from the crowd.

“Systemic oppression of the free pony!”

“Haha, that’s right!”

Starlight’s confusion gave way to ambivalence. “Oppression by who?”

“Society! Like, we’re tired of society telling us what to do and… like, yeah… right?”

“Got it.” She shrugged, then turned to Night Glider. “You wanna join in?”

“Sure, why not? We've come this far.” Night Glider pushed her way through the throng of protesters. “You trying to show me you’re hardcore?”

Starlight rolled her eyes before following Night Glider into the crowd. “Three moons later and you still aren’t letting that go, are you?”

Night Glider smiled and blew a raspberry at Starlight. From inside the crowd, all they could hear was vaguely anti-authoritarian chanting as the protest picked up into full swing.

A couple hours later, the protesters began to disperse. After most had left, the pony from earlier and another unfamiliar earth pony approached Starlight and her friend.

"So you two are the cutie markless chicks Limber Timber here was talking about. Nice. I am Fancy Grass."

Starlight shook the colt's outstretched hoof. "Are you the leader of this, uh… group?"

"Nah, brah, we don't, like, do, leaders and stuff, ch'yeah?"

"Okay…"

"So, like, are you two actually markless, or what?"

"Oh, no, no, we just, ah, put some makeup on to cover them up."

"Like as a protest thing, cool. Totally dig it."

"No, no, not as–" Starlight was interrupted as Night Glider jabbed the knee of her foreleg into Starlight's side. "I mean, yes, definitely." She was keenly aware of the stares of the ponies surrounding them.

"You two are a couple of cool dudes. We come out here to protest sometimes. You should join us next time, too."

"When will that be?" asked Night Glider.

Fancy Grass shrugged. "Dunno. These things just sorta, like… happen."

"Right…" Night Glider's confusion was transforming into frustration when Starlight interrupted.

"Night Glider, why don't we head back? I'm sure Sugar Belle's waiting for us."

"What? Oh, yeah, that thing at the place."

"Yeah, so anyways, we'll see you guys later?"

"Keep it real, dudettes."

The two waved to the earth ponies and walked back to the dorm. Starlight's step was light while Night Glider appeared deep in thought.

"Ok, weird personalities aside, wasn't that awesome? All those ponies and none of them thought it was weird we were covering up!"

"Hmm… I guess."

"What if we ran a protest? We could actually put effort into it and get more ponies to join us!" Starlight was beaming.

Night Glider, however, looked conflicted. "That sounds cool, but… I just wanted to try walking around without thinking about my mark for a little bit. I don't know about taking it that far."

Starlight waved her hoof dismissively. "Oh, that's okay, but think about it. We could make a real difference." she said, rubbing the bottom of her chin.

"You’re serious about this."

"Aren't you? Didn’t we literally only come here to escape your mom pressuring you into joining the Guard?"

"Avoiding my mom and running a protest aren’t the same thing. Just because we joined them today doesn't mean I want to get my name plastered all over campus!"

“Haven’t you been trying to get me to claim credit for the whole kite thing?”

“That’s just teasing! I wasn’t serious!” Night Glider threw her forehooves in the air. “And also that was you getting the credit, not me!”

“Hey!”

Starlight stopped after Night Glider turned to face her. "Starlight, look… I don't know that I want to make a big deal about this. Not in front of the whole campus. I was kind of hoping today was a one-time thing. But if you really insist, I'll think about it, okay?"

"Okay."

Starlight returned to her dorm after she and Night Glider saw each other off. Midnight called out to Starlight as she arrived.

"Hey, Star. You've been gone all day and… sweet Celestia, what happened to your cutie mark?"

Starlight looked at her flank, still covered with concealer. "Oh, whoops! I meant to wipe that off before coming back."

A quick dash to the showers, and Starlight's mark was visible again.

"Why was your cutie mark covered up?"

"Oh, I was hanging out with Night Glider–"

"Again? Wait, was this her idea?"

Starlight ignored the interruption. "–and we were talking that whole cutie-markless society I told you about, and I saw she had a bunch of bottles of makeup–"

"Right, so–"

"And so we bought some in my color–"

"So you went outside like that? How did everyone react?"

"There was a lot of pointing and whispering. We found a bunch of ponies who were cool with it, though!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Right outside the Saltlick Cafe. They thought we were covering up as a protest and asked us to join them!"

"Did you?" Midnight looked concerned.

"We did!" Starlight's voice reached higher and higher pitches. "I think I’m gonna try joining more! With a little organizing, maybe we could get ponies to actually pay attention to the… anti… authoritarian-and-societal-expectations… team."

"You are definitely going to need a catchier name."

"It's a working title."

"I just hope this goes like you want. A lot of ponies are happy with the status quo."

"Are you?"

Midnight shrugged. "I don't know. After getting to know you and Night Glider, I'm a lot less opposed to what you're saying than I probably would have been before we met."

"So would you join?"

"I'll think about it," Midnight said. Her voice turned playful as she added, "though, I hope this doesn't mean you'll be too busy to meet up at the observatory tomorrow."

"Oh, definitely not. I've been looking forward to that all week!"

"Great!" A grumbling stomach interrupted whatever Midnight meant to say next. She chuckled, asking "Want to grab some grub?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Wow."

It was the next day. Midnight's aura surrounded the day's student newspaper. Starlight leaned over her shoulder, reading the opinions and editorials section.

Midnight continued. “They did not like you.”

The paper was open to the op-ed section, containing a variety of takes from the students at Canterlot University.

BLANK FLANKS? AT MY UNIVERSITY? IT’S LIKELIER THAN YOU THINK

The editorial sharply criticized the “two ridiculous delinquents” who had covered their marks during the previous day’s protests. Later in the editorial, the writer complained about “ponies rejecting their Celestia-given destinies.”

Starlight was, in a word, upset. “Ponies had cutie marks for millennia before the Celestial era!”

“You really are spending too much time with Night Glider.”

Starlight grumbled. “Still a dumb point, though.”

Most of the other opinion pieces in the section concurred, though none reached the same level of invective.

“Yeah, yeah. Well, hey, look at this: not everyone hated it.”
Under the scathing screed was an editorial praising their efforts.

THE BRAVERY OF THE BLANK FLANK

“I think they thought it was a performance art thing, but, hey, they liked it!”

“They want us to do it again! I’ve got to show this to Night Glider.” Starlight grabbed the paper in her magic aura.

"Cool. When do you want–"

With a zap, Starlight had disappeared.

"–to meet up tonight…. I hate it when she does that."

Starlight arrived at Solar Hall with a pop, startling two ponies who had been snuggling under a tree in the courtyard. Night Glider lived on one of the top floors, with most of the other pegasi in the building.

Starlight knocked on the door to room 624. A few moments later, a groggy-looking Night Glider poked her head out, wincing at the natural light which radiated from the windowed exterior of the building.

“Whozat?”

“Hey! Woah, you, uh… you don’t look so good.”

“I was out late.” Night Glider shook her head, but the bleariness in her eyes remained. “What’s up?”

“Look!” Starlight held the paper up to Night Glider.

Night Glider beckoned Starlight inside, then took the paper.

“They’re closing the bagel place near campus?”

“Oh.” Starlight chuckled as she flipped the paper to the editorial section. “Wrong section, heh.”

Night Glider’s bleariness slowly faded as her eyes scanned the pages of the paper. She looked at Starlight, confused. “Wha?”

“See? Lots of ponies supported us.”

Night Glider held up the paper, pointing to the less flattering editorial. “Lots of ponies didn’t.”

"All we have to do is change their minds!"

Night Glider looked skeptical.

"Please? It won't be just us. I'll talk to Fancy Grass and his friends."

"Argh, fine! But only because I know you're terrible with that make up."

Starlight wrapped Night Glider in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Seriously, it took me forever to get that stuff off with how much you caked it on."

Starlight chuckled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Starlight by Starlight

Starlight sat quietly, scanning through a textbook by the faint light of her horn. She shivered as a cold night breeze swirled through the opening in the broad dome above her. A large telescope jutted out into the night sky, faintly illuminated by the stars. At the eyepiece of the telescope, the starlight reflected faintly off Midnight, casting a shadow of her form on the wall behind her.

Starlight's eyes wandered back and forth between her roommate and the book. Roommate, book, roommate, book, roommate, roommate…

She turned away from the telescope and started reading aloud, quietly, though the dome amplified and echoed her speech all the same.

Midnight flinched and looked over, but promptly returned to her work. The faint sound of pen on paper mingled softly with Starlight's murmuring. Eventually the writing stopped.

Starlight looked back over. She closed her textbook, stood, and walked to the platform where Midnight was working. Up close, and looking up at her from below, Midnight's coat faded into the night sky, her mark blending in with the stellar array behind her.

"Done studying?"

Starlight jumped, but recovered quickly. "Yeah. How's the stargazing going?"

"Great. Take a look!" Midnight floated her notes down to Starlight. The page was filled with lines connecting dots, the margins filled with incomprehensible jargon. "I think I've figured out what the magic connecting one of the star clusters in Middy represents."

"What does it represent?"

The next few minutes blurred in Starlight's mind as Midnight spoke at length of star magic, and how to interpret the lines of magic that connected the celestial bodies. Starlight nodded politely, only understanding a few vague references to lunar cycles.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's… really interesting!"

"What do you really think?"

"I didn't understand anything except for a few things about the moon."

"That's pretty much it. The magic has something to do with the moon." Midnight hopped down, then wrapped a foreleg around Starlight, guiding her toward the telescope. "You should try taking a look. Maybe you'll be able to make out Middy now with that spell Professor Gazer taught the class."

Starlight shrugged, then put her eyes up to the visor-like protrusion at the base of the scope. She had to squint slightly as the concentrated starlight blasted her eyes, but they soon adjusted. Starlight could hear the clicking of years turning, and saw the stars zoom in and out as Midnight made small adjustments to the scope.

"Alright, now cast the spell."

Starlight focused, the barely familiar magic coursing its way out her horn. After some struggling, she could see faint lines connect the stars in the sky.

"Woah."

"I know, right?"

"It's beautiful!"

Midnight giggled. Starlight pulled away to see her holding her hoof to her muzzle, as she continued, "I'll have to teach you some of the more advanced astronomy spells at some point. I knew all this stuff coming in."

"Must have been easier for you, huh?"

"Yeah. It all sort of clicked for me." Midnight gestured for Starlight to come to her, back farther from the sights. She gestured broadly to the skies. "It's… I mean…"

Starlight put a hoof on Midnight's shoulder. "I think I get it."

Midnight smiled. The two stood for a moment, gazing at the stars, before Midnight gave a small cough.

"I should probably get back to work, or I'll be here all night. Again."

"Right. Want me to hang around?"

"Sure."

Starlight woke with a start. Her face stuck to the pages of her textbook, peeling away as she stood up. A blanket slid off her, falling to the floor. The gentle rays of the morning sun washed the dome of the observatory in a sea of pink. As she approached observation platform, she could see Midnight slumped over onto the control panel for the scope, her eyes baggy, as soft snoring carried across the room.

Starlight nudged Midnight awake.

"Wuh?" Midnight rubbed her eyes, but the bags remained. "Oh. G'morning, Star."

"Morning. Did you stay up all night?"

"Yeah… but I got the stuff… star stuff…" Midnight started leaning forward before Starlight took her in her aura, helping her out of the chair. "Mmm. Thanks." She looked at the aura quizzically. “How much can you lift?”

Starlight levitated Midnight out of her chair to hover slightly above horn height.

"Ok, that answers that." Midnight struggled for a bit, wiggling in midair as she tried to orient herself before giving up. "Mind putting me down?"

Starlight gently set Midnight down. "Yeah, it's not all that comfortable."

Midnight yawned. "Tempting as it'd be to grab a nap on the way back, I think I'd get sick." She grabbed her saddlebag and set it down on her back, but when she tried to walk, she stumbled into Starlight.

“Need some help?”

“‘preciate it.”

Starlight supported Midnight as they left the observatory. The observatory was situated atop a ridge slightly up the mountain from the university, and the morning air combined with the mountain breeze made the air miserably cold. Although she had to support Midnight's weight while they walked, Starlight appreciated the extra warmth.

"So… do you–" Starlight started to ask a question, but a glance at her friend revealed that she was somehow sleeping while walking upright. As they walked, Midnight began muttering.

"No, no… that's not the butter, thaz Starlsz…"

Starlight fought the urge to laugh. Midnight muttered about various topics as they walked towards the dorms, occasionally muttering Starlight’s name. When they arrived back at their room, Starlight lifted Midnight into her bed and sliding the covers onto her before heading into the center of campus.

"Maybe I should have come up with a plan instead of just hoping they'd be here."

Starlight stood at the confluence of paths outside Saltlick Cafe. It was empty but for a few students going back and forth between morning classes. She looked around, but gave up on her search soon after. As she approached the cafe counter to buy herself a pity bottle of mylk, a flyer on the cafe’s bulletin board caught her eye.

"Sociology Seminar Series: Cutie Culture

"Join Prof. Bridle Wind and the rest of the sociology department as we present a seminar series on cutie marks and how they've influenced our culture."

The remainder of the flyer listed dates and names of guest speakers. Under the day’s date, a seminar titled “Technology and Fate: Understanding Technology-Related Marks” was listed. A glance at the clock revealed she had just enough time to make it. She bolted out the door, nearly knocking down a couple of ponies on her way out.

She arrived at the hall with minutes to spare. Despite her last-minute arrival, the lecture hall was only half full. The audience seemed to consist primarily of graduate students and members of faculty. The few undergraduates in the audience stood out as the only members of the audience that looked awake. Starlight took a seat at the rear of the hall as an orange-brown pegasus approached the podium at the front.

“Good morning! I’m Professor Bridle Wind, and I’d like to thank you all for coming to the tenth seminar in our series on cutie marks, especially those of you for whom attendance is not mandatory.”

A beat passed. Someone in the audience coughed. The graduate students who were awake shuffled in their seats awkwardly. Professor Wind gave a cough of his own before continuing.

“Today, we have a very special guest speaker: Doctor Hazy Days from the Manehattan Institute of Technology." He gestured to a middle-aged earth pony standing to the side of the hall, who came to the microphone. After a brief introduction, Doctor Days launched into his presentation.

It began with a long, dry analysis of the rates of acquisition of technologically-related cutie marks in various areas of Equestria. Large, modern cities like Manehattan had higher rates, apparently. Slide after slide went by, with charts upon charts flying across the projection screen, as Starlight's attention waned and waned.

Eventually, however, the presentation pivoted.

"We believe this data presents some interesting questions and avenues of research relating to 'destiny' as a quantifiable entity. Though research into cutie mark magic goes as far back as the time of Star Swirl the Bearded, only in the technological boom of the last century have we been able to witness the en masse acquisition of cutie marks depicting technologies invented after the birth of the marks' bearers.

"Take, for instance, the case of Carriage Rider." An image of a unicorn driving a sleek, sporty carriage slotted into the projector. "Magically-driven carriages have existed in some form for about thirty years, so a pony whose talent lies in driving such a carriage was bound to exist. But," said the doctor as a close-up of Carriage Rider's flank slid into place, "Carriage Rider is forty years old." On the projector screen was a cutie mark resembling a magic carriage.

"Of course, ponies get marks for inventing new things all the time, but despite his name, Mister Rider was not involved at all in the development of the carriage he earned his cutie mark driving.

"Looking at the current state of research into the magic of cutie marks thus presents a question. If we are able to predict the cutie mark a foal will receive, can we take a glimpse into the future? Alternatively, are cutie marks predominantly creations of circumstance? Both are exciting possibilities in the future of cutie mark research.

"And that's the end of my slides. Now, I'd like to open the floor for discussion. Does anypony have any questions?"

A unicorn sitting in the front row raised her hoof.

"How would we be able to tell the difference between destiny and circumstance?”

“This is a little outside of my expertise–you’d have to ask my colleagues in the magic department for a better explanation–but to my understanding, the difference is largely in whether or not a foal’s mark can be discerned or characterized before the circumstances under which they would receive their mark occur.”

“But even if you can’t tell in advance, isn’t destiny still destiny? It just means we can’t tell the future, right?”

“If cutie marks are influenced by circumstance, that raises a number of ethical questions surrounding allocation of educational funding, among other resources. Imagine the implications of your actions changing someone's fate!" Doctor Days coughed and lowered his voice before continuing. "Some of that obviously delves more into the realm of philosophy than science, but it is inarguably important to have as much context as possible for questions of societal importance."

Starlight interjected. "Wait, if your situation growing up affects what cutie mark you get, then what does that mean for ponies who get worse cutie marks?"

The mare who'd been talking with the speaker whipped around, searching for the new questioner. "What exactly is 'worse cutie marks' supposed to mean?"

"I mean, my talent is in magic; there's lots of career opportunities there, and I can do all sorts of fancy spells. Imagine that versus something like… a cutie mark for liking jelly. Where's the use in that?"

The audience murmured as the mare up front finally made eye contact.

"My best friend's cutie mark is a jar of jelly!"

"There's no work in liking jelly! He might enjoy jelly, but is he fulfilled by jelly?"

Professor Wind tried to step in. "Ladies, please–"

"Who are you to judge him? He's the sweetest colt I know, and just because he's not some fancy wizard doesn't mean he isn't happy!"

The ponies near Starlight were glaring at her. Professor Wind moved to the podium. "Everypony, please settle down. We'd like to move on to anyone else who might have questions."

The members of faculty were able to steer the conversation back to the core of the presentation after a pregnant silence. Once the seminar had ended, Starlight tried to leave quietly, avoiding the uneasy gazes of the ponies near her. However, Professor Wind was waiting in the hallway for her.

"Would you mind coming to my office, Ms…"

"Glimmer. Starlight, that is." Starlight's tongue twisted at the professor's sudden appearance. "Starlight Glimmer."

"Ms. Glimmer. Second floor, room 213. I'd like to talk to you briefly."

The professor glided back into the lecture hall while Starlight trudged her way up the stairs. Her heart sank as she saw the pony standing in front of the professor's office. The pale orange unicorn with whom she'd argued stood before Starlight, apoplectic with rage.

"You!" she spat. "You're that jerk who thinks she's so much better than everypony else."

"Hey, I don't think I'm better than everypony!"

"Coulda fooled me! Come to brag about your talent again?"

"That is not–"

"Just go away! The professor asked me to see him, and he'll probably be here soon. I'm sure you'd rather not be here for that anyways."

"He asked me to come see him, too."

"Ha! He probably invited me to watch him knock you down a peg."

"I did no such thing." The professor had appeared beside the two mares at some point during their screaming match. "Inky Quill, I'm not terribly happy with you either."

"What?"

"I've asked you not to draw the speakers into philosophical debates during the question period. I appreciate your enthusiasm, but this is not the forum for open debate!"

"Oh, come on!"

"Now both of you, in my office!"

The professor's office could be called, charitably, cozy. Starlight and Inky sat in two small armchairs facing the room's single window at the back. Bookshelves on the walls of the office pushed the two into the center of the room, forcing them to sit close. Professor Wind tried to squeeze past them, grunting and stretching, before he gave up and flew over to the other side of his desk. Starlight felt nervous as Professor Wind stared at her.

“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere before.”

“Me?”

“Wait, weren’t you protesting at The Confluence a few days ago?”

“Uh–”

“Yes! I remember there being a couple students without marks in the crowd.”

Inky’s jaw dropped. “That was you?!”

“Ah, haha… yes?” Starlight shrank into her chair.

Inky nervously clapped her hooves together. “You, uh… you don’t happen to read the student paper, do you?”

“What? Why?”

“No reason.”

Professor Wind tapped his hoof against his chin. A smile slowly crept onto his face.

"I have an idea. Inky, I know from your column in the student paper how passionate you are on the subject of cutie marks–”

This time, Starlight’s jaw dropped. “Wait, that was you?!”

Inky covered her face with her hooves.

“–and while I could bar you from returning to the seminar series, I’d hate to stomp on your interest in the subject matter.”

“What are you suggesting?” asked Inky.

“I’d like to set up a discussion group for students interested in the subject of cutie marks in Equestrian society, and I’d be happy to overlook any previous disruptions to the seminar series. You’d continue to be allowed to attend the seminars, and you’d have a place to debate about or discuss them afterwards.”

“And the alternative is?”

“You’d be barred from the seminar series.”

“Wait, not both of us, right?” Starlight’s voice had an edge. “I didn’t even–”

“I know this is your first time, and I'm planning to let you off with a warning, but I would strongly suggest you join as well. You're clearly passionate about the subject, and having a place to discuss it will make it easier not to…" His eyes searched the room for the words. "...derail the seminar.”

Starlight and Inky were speechless.

“So, do we have a deal?"

Inky gave a long sigh before replying. "Fine."

"Alright, I'll join. How would this work?" asked Starlight.

"Keep coming to the seminars. I'll find some space in the building–not my office, obviously–and we can talk about the seminar series or anything you'd like to share, if there's time."

Inky asked flatly, "Do we at least get credit for this?"

"It's too late in the semester for that, but I'd be happy to make it official next semester if you decide to continue."

"Fair enough."

"Starlight, any questions?"

"Nope."

"Then I think we're done here. I'll see you two next week!"

Professor Wind shooed them out the door, closing it quickly behind them. As they made for the exit, and to Starlight's chagrin, Inky was walking in the same direction.

Inky's eyes were glued to the floor. "So, you read my column in the paper, huh?"

"Yep."

"I hope you're not too upset." Inky tittered as she looked at Starlight sheepishly.

"Oh, no, of course not!"

Inky breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good, I–"

"I'm sure anypony would be happy getting called a delinquent just for trying to express themselves."

"Okay, so maybe I went a little over the top–"

"A little?!"

"Alright! I'm sorry!" Inky stopped and turned to face Starlight.

Starlight lifted a hoof to walk away, but stopped and turned. "You… are?"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with anything you're saying, but…" Inky was on the verge of tears. She took a deep breath before continuing. "I was mean, in that column. I… I–"

"Why, though? What did we do?"

Inky gulped. "I–it was my first time getting published as a member of the paper and I wanted to impress everypony and… there's…" Inky sputtered for a while, but couldn't bring herself to say anything more.

Starlight squinted at Inky. There was a long pause. Finally, Starlight sighed. "Fine." She turned to walk away.

Inky followed, quickly catching up with her. "I'm not going to stop writing the column, though, just to be clear. If you're going to push this weird stuff about cutie marks, I'm gonna push back."

"Whatever."

The two kept walking together. Starlight felt her blood boiling. She asked Inky, "Why are you following me now?"

"This is the only way out of this building other than the fire escape."

Starlight grunted.

"Relax, I'm not following you for a scoop or anything."

"You know what, Inky? I think I have a solution to our little situation."

"And what is that?"

Starlight's horn glowed and she disappeared with a pop. Inky's jaw dropped.

"Of course you can… why didn't you just do that earlier?!"

Starlight arrived outside of the sociology building. Suddenly, the combination of the efforts involved in repeated teleportation and a lack of sleep from her night at the observatory hit her. An intense bout of vertigo overcame her momentarily as she stumbled onto a nearby bench. In the minutes it took her to recover, she saw Inky walk out of the building. They made eye contact. Inky broke into a run.

Starlight got up from the bench. She could barely think as she put one hoof in front of the other, marching back to her dorm.

Midnight was still asleep. Starlight lay down in her own bed; she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

You Gotta Fight for Your Right (to Party)

It took a few days for Starlight to run into Fancy Grass's protest group again. Few ponies on campus paid enough attention to the protests to know which groups tended to argue for what causes, but a skunky smelling pony who claimed to have known Fancy Grass from high school told her when they'd appear. Starlight was reluctant to trust him, but following her one lead paid off the next day when she came upon a protest in the confluence.

Fancy Grass waved her over. "Oh, hey, you're that chick from last time!"

"Yep!"

"...I don't remember your name…"

"Starlight Glimmer."

"Right, right. You here to join in again?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you'd be willing to talk about running a slightly more… focused protest."

"Go on." Fancy Grass sat down as he listened.

Starlight described the presentation she'd seen the other day, focusing on the differences in distributions of cutie marks in different cities in Equestria.

"...so like… society changes what cutie mark you get?"

"Yeah, and if that's the case, shouldn't we fight to give everypony a chance to do something great?"

Fancy Grass nodded. "Hey, brah, you should come to our party this weekend and tell the others about this." He stood up. "They'd totally dig it."

"That's good, right?"

Fancy Grass nodded. "Plus, there's gonna be a keg. Limber Timber's got a hookup for the good stuff."

"Alright, sure, I'll come."

After she got the details on the party, Starlight joined in the protest. Like last time, there didn't seem to be any particular direction to the chanting. As Starlight looked around the Confluence, she spotted a familiar orange mane and coat. Inky Quill was talking to another pony, casting furtive glances into the throng of protestors, and writing in her notepad.

They made eye contact. They broke eye contact.

After a while, the protest petered out. Inky Quill walked over.

She put her notepad into her saddlebag as she approached. "I guess I can't be too surprised to see you here."

Starlight blew her mane away from her face. She frowned, and raised an eyebrow. "Writing another exposé?"

Inky rolled her eyes. "Shockingly, not everything I write is about you."

"What do you want?"

"Why are you hanging out with these…" Inky waved her hoof in the air. "...losers?"

Starlight scoffed. "Losers? At least they're fighting for something!"

"Fighting for what, exactly?"

"Well, hopefully, soon they'll be fighting for equality!"

"Uh huh. And you're gonna whip them into shape?"

"Yes! They invited me to speak at their…" Starlight looked away awkwardly. "Uh, their…"

"Their what?"

"Their…” Starlight stood tall, her nose held high. “... social gathering of like-minded individuals."

"I see. And will there be a keg at this 'social gathering?'"

Starlight blinked. "Uh… maybe."

Inky slapped her hoof against her forehead. "Look, Starlight, I know we didn't exactly get off on the best hoof, but you're smarter than this!"

"And how would you know?"

"It's more of a statement on the situation than you, and are you seriously arguing with me saying you're not a loser?” Inky stammered. “ Your argument was terrible the other day, but it was at least semi-coherent. If you're not gonna change your mind, at least ditch those guys before ponies get the wrong idea about you."

"Ugh! What makes you think you know anything about me?" Starlight stomped her hoof.

"You… argh! Alright, know what? Fine. Go have fun with the stoners, see how far that gets you." Inky started walking away. Over her shoulder, she yelled, "Don't say I didn't warn you!"

"Seriously, what is up with her?" Starlight gesticulated wildly as she lay in her bed.

Midnight was working at her desk, tinkering with a magical stone. "It sounds like she thinks you're wasting your time."

"But that's ridiculous! They're not losers, they're just… unfocused! I'm sure that if I talk to them, I can get them to tackle the real issues!"

“Uh-huh.” Midnight’s gaze was aimed intently at the stone as she manipulated it in her magic. "So… this party's gonna have a keg?"

Starlight cocked an eyebrow. "Why does everypony ask me that?"

"Hey, I just want to relax a bit!" Midnight looked up from her work. "And you probably shouldn't go to that party alone. I'm sure Fancy Grass and Limber Timber are perfectly nice, but there're some real nasty ponies out there."

"I'm not going to get drunk!"

"But you are going to drink?"

"Well, uh… it would be rude not to?"

Midnight stood and placed her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "And that is why I'm coming with you. If you're going to wake up with anypony after a night of debauchery, it's going to be with me." Her face scrunched as she scratched the back of her neck. "As in here, in our room. That sounded better in my head."

Starlight gently pushed off Midnight's hoof, giggling. "Alright, alright. I appreciate it, Middy."

Midnight returned to her work.

Starlight looked pensive. "Hey, Middy."

"Yeah?"

"Do you pull a lot of all-nighters at the observatory?"

"Oh, yeah. One of the professors is letting me do a project on Middy. The observatory here is amazing! It's got an enchanted lens so any astronomical spells are amplified and… you look concerned."

"Well, I helped you get back to the dorm last time; what do you normally do when I'm not there?"

"Oh, I, uh… just kinda conk out on the console?" Midnight nervously clapped her hooves.

"That doesn't seem ideal."

"I mean, what else am I going to do?"

"How about this: you let me know when you're going up there, and I can come get you in the morning."

"Star, you don't have to–"

Starlight put a hoof to her friend's shoulder. "Consider it returning the favor for the escort tonight."

Midnight smiled. "Thanks."

"I guess this is the place." Starlight and Midnight looked up at the large brick house before them. They could hear music coming from inside, an eclectic blend of electronica and ska, punctuated by shouts of "CHUG, CHUG, CHUG, CHUG."

Midnight gave Starlight a skeptical glance.

Starlight forced a grin. "Like I said, they just need a little… focus."

The inside of the house was crammed with ponies in varying states of intoxication. The music pulsed so strongly Starlight couldn't feel her own heart beating. She gulped. Her breathing quickened.More ponies. When did they all start pressing in? A pony she didn't recognize offered her a cup of… something. It smelled funny. She took the cup reflexively. This is definitely spiked, isn't it?

Starlight felt a hoof on her shoulder.

"Uh, Starlight, you're thinking out loud again." Midnight looked concerned. "Do you want to head back?" She took the cup from Starlight's aura, pouring it out a nearby window.

"No, no way… I'm fine." Starlight took a few deep breaths. "Come on, I need to find Fancy Grass."

The two pushed through the throng of dancing ponies. Midnight filled another cup straight from the keg and drank it as they searched.

Starlight was annoyed. "How many ponies can possibly be in this place?!"

After what felt like an hour, she spotted Fancy Grass and Limber Timber. They were perched on a balcony near the top of the staircase, looking over the dancers.

"Hey, there she is!" Fancy Grass was pointing at her. "Come over here! We were wondering when you'd make your appearance."

Starlight climbed the stairs, Midnight close behind her. Fancy Grass and several other ponies she recognized from the protests were gathered, most of them drinking or dancing.

Fancy Grass waved to the others. "Hey, everypony! This is the mare I was talking about. Her name is… uh…"

Starlight’s jaw dropped. "Seriously?!" She shook it off and looked at the others. "Starlight Glimmer. We've all met before, sorta."

"Right. She wanted to talk to us about doing more protests!"

A cheer came from the group.

Starlight raised her hoof, quieting the crowd. "Well, not just more protests. I had some ideas on how we could do better protests, like–"

A pony from the crowd interrupted her. "Oh, better slogans!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of protesting for something more specific."

“Like what?”

“Well… ahem.” She cleared her throat; every pony in the group had their eyes on her. “Oh, ha, wow, there sure are a lot of you!”

The ponies muttered amongst themselves, confused.

Starlight took a deep breath. “You can do this.”

“Look at all of us. We are all here because we have something we’re passionate about: something that makes us unique and special, right?

“But what about the ponies who aren’t here? What about the ponies who don’t get to explore who they really are?” Starlight stomped her hoof, punctuating her point. “What gives our society the right to pick and choose what our destinies are?”

The crowd started chattering in agreement, though many of the words were slurred. Someone in the crowd yelled, “Nothing!”

“Exactly! We’re told these marks on our flank represent our destiny, but what kind of destiny can be changed by your parents being young or poor?!”

“WHOOOOO!” A pony in the crowd cried out.

“...I’ll just pretend that was meant for me.” Starlight cleared her throat. “We need to fight for every foal to get the opportunity to do something great! We need to fight for a society of true equality! So, who's ready to make a difference?" Starlight shouted, puffing her chest out and standing tall. More cheers. After a few minutes of chatter, the group agreed to meet up after the next semester began.

As ponies returned to their debauchery, Limber Timber tapped Starlight's shoulder. "Good speech. But I think your friend might be in some trouble downstairs."

Starlight whirled around to look over the balcony: Midnight was talking to a very drunk stallion. Though she was smiling, Starlight could hear her losing her patience, even over the cacophony of the dance floor. She raced down the stairs.

"Hey, I'm just waiting for my friend."

The stallion opened his mouth to speak. The foul stench of cheap liquor hit Starlight, and she retched. The words coming out of the stallion's mouth were as indecipherable as they were vomit-inducing, slurred so heavily that Starlight wondered if he was speaking Old Ponish. "Yoush c'mon 'n' c'm t'me 'n' we c'n fsh ths naaatawy, b'by." He reached a hoof out to touch Midnight.

She batted it away. "I have no idea what you said." Finally, she spotted Starlight. "Oh, hey, there she is!" Midnight wrapped her forehoof around Starlight, pulling her in close. She whispered, "Please for the love of Celestia get me out of here. He's been following me ever since we split up!"

"Oh, yeah! Hey, Midnight, buddy, thanks for… uh… coming to pick me up!"

"Oh, you know it, Starlight. Let's leave now!"

The drunk pony said nothing. He blinked, slowly, each eye closing separately.

Starlight and Midnight walked past him. Starlight saw the stallion move towards them. Suddenly, Midnight raised her back legs and bucked the stallion in the face.

"He slapped my ass!"

A crowd began to form, but before anyone had figured out what happened, Starlight had pulled Midnight to her side. The two galloped out the house and into the night.

Midnight was panting. "Star, please… I don't think they're following us."

The two stopped in the middle of campus, near a fountain in the magical studies area of campus. Water spouted from the mouth of a statue of Celestia.

Starlight looked over the statue while Midnight caught her breath. "Who designed this?"

"Ok…" Midnight grunted as she sat on the rim of the fountain. "Never running that far while buzzed again."

Starlight scratch the back of her neck. "You seem pretty familiar with this... stuff."

"What stuff?"

"Drinking and parties."

Midnight waved her hoof dismissively. "Oh, I went to a few back in Vanhoover."

"There are parties outside college?"

Midnight was incredulous. She stammered at Starlight a few moments before responding. "Star, I know you weren't exactly Miss Popular back home, but…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Starlight raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Midnight stood up and the two continued their walk home. "Yeesh, that guy was drunk."

"What happened?"

"Oh, just your typical drunk attempt at flirting. Except he was so far gone I couldn't understand a word he was saying."

"Not into stallions who can't hold a conversation?"

"Not into stallions, but yeah, that second part, too."

"Oh." An awkward pause hung in the air.

Midnight stammered. "B-but I'd never make a move on a roommate! Don't worry, totally not going to happen. That'd be super awkward and…"

Starlight's eyes were glued to the path ahead of her. She said nothing.

"...and I'm going to shut up now. I'm sorry, I probably should have told you up front; I just didn't want things to be weird."

Starlight shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I was just… a little surprised, is all."

"We're still good?"

"Yeah." Starlight's expression was inscrutable.

"Good. Did you have any luck with the hippies?"

"They're not–never mind. Went pretty well. We're going to meet up again after winter break."

"Cool, cool."

The conversation didn't last long after that. They walked home across the empty campus to their dorm. They silently went to bed. For the second time in the semester, sleep didn't come to Starlight.

Glummer Glimmer

"You can't just call anything destiny and act like that solves anything!"

Starlight huffed. A little over a week had passed since the party, and she was attending the first group discussion for the cutie mark seminars. Despite Professor Wind's best efforts, however, Inky and Starlight were the only attendees.

Inky was incensed. "It's not anything! I'm saying that if some circumstances are necessary for a pony to get their cutie mark, then whatever those circumstances are, they're part of that pony's destiny."

"So, what? Nopony is responsible for what they do?" Starlight clapped her cheeks between her hooves, feigning indignation. "Oh, you can't blame me! It was always meant to be this way!"

"Of course ponies are responsible for what they do. I'm not saying nopony can make any choices, but you don't choose what you choose. Who you are chooses that, and who you are is part of your destiny."

"Ladies!" The mares snapped their gazes toward Professor Wind. "The topic of today's seminar was Cuteceñeras Across Equestria. Please. Please try to stay on topic."

"We are on topic!"

"Totally on topic."

Prof. Wind slapped his forehead. "And, of course, that's the first time I've ever heard you agree on anything."

Inky Quill sighed loudly. "Fine." She thought for a moment. "Well, I could talk about my cuteceñera."

"A fine topic."

"Back in Wisteria Hills, the elementary schools throw the parties once a moon. All the foals who get their marks in that mooh get to celebrate together."

Starlight tapped her chin with a hoof. "What if you don't get your mark in elementary school?"

Inky shrugged. "The middle schools don't do the parties. It's not like it's super common for a pony to get their marks that late."

"... I got mine that late."

Inky winced. "I didn't mean anything by that."

"Doesn't that kind of suck, though? You don't get to celebrate with your friends just because you didn't get your mark in time?"

"I mean, you could still have a party."

"Sure, but then you have to set it up, and if Wisteria Hills is anything like Sire's Hollow, you're already getting teased for not having your mark."

"It's not that bad. I'm sure your cuteceñera was plenty of fun."

Starlight cringed. "About that…" She chuckled nervously. "I didn't exactly have a lot of friends when I got my mark."

"Well, I'm sure you still had fun with them, right?"

Starlight rubbed the back of her neck, but said nothing.

Inky groaned.

Professor Wind spoke. "Perhaps you should tell us about your cuteceñera, Starlight."

"Well, I was in the hospital…"

"I'm shocked." Inky couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"And that's it. Dad had a piece of cake for me when I got out."

Professor Wind coughed awkwardly. "Well. I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"S'fine."

Inky glanced at the clock. The room was dead silent, save for the sound of the ticking second hand.

"Maybe we should call it a day."

Bridle Wind left Inky and Starlight to return to his office. Starlight looked out the windows in the corridor onto the courtyard below, as Inky looked everywhere she could except at Starlight.

"If you have something to say, you might as well say it." Starlight's voice was low and tired.

"You, uh… you alright?"

Starlight glared at her, her eyes burning, but she reeled herself back in just as quickly. She stared at the floor while she walked. "I'm… fine. I've just got something on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay." The two continued in silence as they descended the steps near the front of the building. "How'd the whole party thing go?"

"Went fine."

"Whip them into a frenzy?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you care?" Starlight's voice grew an edge.

Inky furrowed her brow. "Because you're clearly feeling off and I'm not a big enough jerk to kick you while you're down."

Starlight cocked an eyebrow. "You're really blunt, you know that?"

"I try."

"Uh-huh." Starlight and Inky walked out into the busy courtyard; it was midday, and students were moving back and forth between classes. "Well, like I said, the party went fine. We're meeting again next semester." Starlight puffed her chest out proudly.

"Ooh, fancy. How drunk did you have to get them?"

"They weren't drunk! Probably!"

Inky said nothing.

"... I'm pretty sure some of them were kind of sober."

"Sure, sure. What about you?"

"I was there on business."

"And…"

"So no drinking."

Inky giggled. "I guess I can't be too shocked."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You don't exactly strike me as the hardcore partier type."

"Why does everypony say that?!"

Inky burst into full-on laughter. "Have you met you?"

Starlight groaned.

"Sorry, I promise I'm not trying to be annoying." Inky took a few deep breaths, stifling her laughter. "If you don't want to talk, I'm not going to force you. But you should at least talk to your friends."

Starlight opened her mouth to protest, but gave only a noncommittal grumble in reply.

After Inky split off, Starlight made for the dorms. Inky's words echoed in her head as she knocked on Sugar Belle's door. The door opened to reveal Sugar Belle, Night Glider, and, to Starlight's surprise, Midnight.

"H-hey! Starlight! What's up?" Sugar Belle looked just as surprised as Starlight.

Night Glider lay on a beanbag chair, her wings and tail neatly folded in. "Hey, Starlight."

"Star!" Midnight stood up, her eyes wide.

"Hey!" Starlight chuckled nervously. "You're all here."

"Yeah, just hanging out, haha. Ha."

"Well… I... came to talk to Night Glider!"

Night Glider looked confused. "You came to Sugar Belle's room to talk to me?"

"Yes! Well, I mean, obviously I went to your room first, and you weren't there, and now I'm here, and you're here!"

"Uh–"

"So come on! I just need to talk to you real quick."

Night Glider grumbled as she took off from the beanbag. "Alright, fine."

The two walked down the hallway until Night Glider whipped around to face Starlight.

She was grumpy, though no more so than usual. "Ok, they probably can't hear us. Is there something you actually wanted to talk about?"

"What? What makes you say that, haha… ha."

"You're a horrible liar."

"I'm not lying!"

"If it makes you feel any better, Midnight is just as terrible at lying."

"Why would you bring that up?" Starlight wore a huge, toothy forced grin.

Night Glider cocked an eyebrow.

"Alright, fine. But I do actually have something to talk to you about."

"We're meeting with the protestors next semester?"

"Yes, how did you–"

"Midnight told us."

"Oh, uh…"

"She also mentioned that you've been avoiding her for the last week."

"I haven't been avoiding her!"

"So, you've been sneaking into the room around midnight to not avoid Midnight."

Starlight cringed. "She noticed?"

"Did… you think she wouldn't?"

"I was kinda hoping she wouldn't?" Starlight's voice shrank to a squeak.

"She's been worried sick thinking you don't want to be her friend anymore." Night Glider slapped her forehead. "And you're sneaking around like… is it that big a deal she didn't mention she liked mares?"

"That's not it…"

"If you're not upset about that, then wha–oh, you gotta be kidding me. You're into her, aren't you?"

Starlight nodded.

"This is so stupid." Night Glider shook Starlight by her shoulders. "Just talk to her already!"

"But… I don't…"

"I'm not saying to propose to her or anything, just fucking let her know you're not upset with her." Night Glider let Starlight go.

Starlight took a few deep breaths before sighing. "You're right. Thanks."

"Now, those protesters. We're gonna do something with them?"

"Yeah. Hopefully, we can whip them into shape and make some real changes."

"I've been meaning to ask: what exactly are we trying to accomplish?"

Starlight opened her mouth to respond, but closed it soon after. She thought for a moment. "Uh… I hadn't really thought that far." Looking back to Night Glider, she added, "Equality?"

"Equality, huh?" Night Glider sighed. "I already said I'd join in, so I'll be there, but I don't think we're going to get very far if we don't have an actual goal."

"Yeah, that's fair."

They returned to Sugar Belle's room. Midnight was pacing. Sugar Belle's eyes followed the dark blue mare around the room. She waved to Night Glider and Starlight as they returned. "She's been like this ever since Starlight showed up."

Midnight stiffened. "Hey, Star."

"Hey." Starlight coughed into her hoof. "So… wanna go for a walk?"

"Yeah."

Starlight and Midnight walked out of Solar Hall; the awkward silence between them lasted until they made it to the end of the courtyard.

"I… uh… are we ok?" Midnight's voice was filled with trepidation. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to hide–"

"I-it's ok, Middy." Starlight took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, too. I should have just talked to you from the beginning."

"Is that a no?"

"What? No way. Yes, I was surprised, but… you're my best friend, and–oof!" Starlight was interrupted by Midnight, who tackled her with a hug.

Midnight was crying. "Me, too. I mean, you, too. I mean–"

Starlight returned the hug, fighting back tears of her own. "I get it."

Midnight stepped back, wiping tears from her eyes. "Looks like I've got my study buddy back in time for finals."

Starlight giggled. "Yep. Come on, let's go home. It'll be nice not having to sneak in anymore.”

Can't Go Home Again

Finals week came and went; Midnight and Starlight spent most of the week hunkered in their room, venturing out only for food and to take exams.

Sugar Belle came by early in the week and dropped off a basket of muffins; it was empty within the hour. Later in the week, she joined them to study for their shared magic class.

Starlight didn't see Night Glider much, though Sugar Belle made sure the group at least saw each other occasionally at meals. Night Glider grumbled about her parents; her mother had returned to lecture her about her choice to study history.

At the end of it, Midnight followed Starlight to the train station.

She gave Starlight a tight hug. "I'll see you after the holidays. Write me! You got my address, right?"

Starlight produced a leaf of paper from her saddlebag. "Yup, right here. I promise, I'll write."

"Too bad Sire's Hollow is so far from Vanhoover. It would have been nice to visit."

"Yeah, I'd–"

"I need to see those pictures of you in that choker."

"I am going to find them and throw them in the fire when I get home."

"Aw, please? Just send me one!" Midnight pouted, looking at Starlight with exaggerated puppy dog eyes.

Starlight threw Midnight a skeptical look, but broke into giggling soon after. "I promise I'll think about it."

A tinny voice rang from the PA system. "The express train to Sire's Hollow will be departing in 10 minutes."

"That'll have to do."

"I'm home!"

Starlight's voice bounced around the house; no one else was home.

"Yeah, that figures."

Starlight went up to her room and grabbed her guitar. She remembered her favorite song from high school, a song off an unplugged punk rock album whose name she couldn't quite place. She sat on her bed, lifted the guitar onto her lap, and started to play.

Plink.

"No, that's not it…"

Plonk.

"Argh!"

On her third attempt, three of the strings on the guitar broke. They snapped across her fret hoof, the thinnest string leaving her with a small cut.

"Hrngh!"

The cut stung. Starlight went to wash her hoof in the bathroom sink, cursing under her breath.

"Heya, sweetie!"

Starlight screamed and jumped back from the sink, smacking against the tub and nearly falling in.

Firelight peeked in through the open door. "You're home!"

"Dad! When did you get here?" Starlight rubbed her hind leg where it had smacked against the tub.

"Right around the time you started playing on the guitar. Sounded a little different than I remember."

Starlight winced as she applied a bandage to her cut. "Yeah. Guess it's been a while since I played."

Firelight waited for her to finish, then pulled her into a tight hug. "I've missed you so much."

Starlight hesitated briefly, but returned the hug. It was warm. "Me too."

"We have so much catching up to do! Ever since I announced I wasn't going to run for reelection as mayor, I've had a lot of free time on my hooves!"

"You… have?"

"Come on, let me show you."

Firelight walked Starlight to his study. While the shelves of books and her father's desk looked familiar, a new display table sat to the side of the room.

"Is that a rusty horseshoe?"

"Not just any rusty horseshoe. This was the horseshoe that was thrown at the first mayor of Sire's Hollow hundreds of years ago!"

Starlight slapped her forehead. "Dad, where did you even find this thing?"

"At Pie Camp! Remember? They had that antique store I'd always wanted to visit, but never had the time."

"Right. Of course."

Firelight turned away from the horseshoe to face Starlight. "I have another surprise: I took the next couple of weeks off!"

"You did?"

"Yep."

"I don't remember you ever taking a day off in, like... ever."

"Well, when I told the deputy mayor you were coming home, she practically kicked me out of the office."

"Ah."

Firelight coughed. "I'm sorry I didn't do that more when you were here full-time, pumpkin. But I want to do what I can to make up for it now."

Starlight gave him a small smile. "Thanks."

"Just wait until your mother hears! Oh, the look on her face, it'll be priceless."

Starlight's smile disappeared. She gulped. "Mom's coming home?"

"Yes!" Firelight's enthusiasm disappeared when he caught the look on Starlight's face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. Did she say how long she'd be home for?"

"This time, I'm hoping, for good. I'm sure she'll tell you all about it when she gets here."

"Will she be home for Hearth's Warming?"

"Well, you know what your mother's work is like."

"Yeah."

Firelight's voice softened. "I heard you two fought when she visited you."

"...yeah."

Firelight opened his mouth, but cut himself off before saying anything.

Starlight tried to change the subject. "Hey, dad, do you have any idea what happened to Sunburst?"

Firelight thought for a moment. "Hmm… last I remember, he was at Celestia's School, but that was years ago. You'd have to talk to Stellar if you want to find out what he's doing now."

"Okay." Starlight made for the door. "I think I'll try asking her before it gets dark."

"Alright. Just come back soon; I'm gonna start making dinner."

"Got it."

Sire's Hollow was covered in a thick blanket of snow, courtesy of Cloudsdale, which floated gently above the village. Starlight, armed with earmuffs, a scarf, boots, and a vague recollection of where Sunburst's childhood home was, plodded through the snow.

A few streets later, Starlight took a deep breath and knocked on a door.

It opened. A blue pegasus peeked his head outside. "Who are you?"

Starlight stumbled back a few steps. "Oh, sorry, this must be the wrong place. I'm looking for Stellar Flare."

"Well, it used to be the right place. Bought it from her a couple years ago."

"Oh…"

"But I can give you her forwarding address."

Another door, another knock. Starlight was in a newer part of town, a neighborhood filled with small bungalows.

The door opened. "Starlight?"

"Mrs. Flare?"

Stellar Flare opened the door wide. "Starlight! It's been ages! It's good to see you."

"You too."

"What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if Sunburst was home."

Stellar's smile dropped for a fraction of a second. "Oh, no! He's far too busy to visit home. Far, far too busy."

"Oh, I guess he would be. Big important wizard things, right?"

"Of course!" There was a long pause before she spoke next. "Well, it's cold out! You should probably get home before it gets dark."

"Uh–"

"I'll let Sunburst know you came by."

"Thanks–”

The door slammed shut.

Starlight walked home, head hung low. It was night when she reached the town center. Carolers roamed, singing and reveling.

She saw several familiar faces among the revelers: old classmates who'd either stayed to work at home or were visiting for the holidays.

She couldn't remember any of their names.

Some of them saw her, too, and squinted briefly before shrugging and returning to their songs.

They couldn't remember hers, either.

Starlight shivered.

Firelight called out as Starlight returned home. "You're just in time for dinner!" As she came into the room, his face fell slightly. "What's wrong, Chipmunk Cheeks?"

"Mrs. Flare said Sunburst is busy off doing important wizard stuff."

"That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure, but I'm just… here! Doing normal school things!"

"What's wrong with that?"

"I… ugh.” Starlight tossed herself onto the couch in the living room. “UGH!” She threw her forehooves into the air.

Firelight came into the room, carrying a dish in his magic aura. Starlight could smell tomatoes and herbs, the air sitting warm and heavy on her tongue. “Well, do you want to talk about it over dinner? Your dad made his world-famous lasagna!”

“UGH!”

“I thought you liked my lasagna.”

Starlight sat up, sighing. “No, dad, I do, I’m just–”

“You’re frustrated.”

Starlight nodded. Firelight set the lasagna down with a clank as he wrapped Starlight in a hug.

“Dad, I…”

“It’s okay, sugarbun.” As he backed off, he lifted the lasagna to fill Starlight’s view. “Let’s eat!”

Later that night, as Starlight lay in bed, she started to speak, but caught herself. Midnight wasn't there.

She moved to her old desk and swept aside her diary to grab a piece of stationery. After liberally applying correction fluid to cover the skills adorning the paper, Starlight started writing.

Downstairs, she could hear the front door opening. She froze. She heard her mother's voice, muffled as it was through her bedroom floor.

"Firelight? Starlight? I'm home."

"Aurora, honey, you're home! Everything go alright?"

"Yeah, nothing I couldn't handle. Is Starlight home?"

Starlight tensed.

"She's upstairs; I think she's asleep."

"I'll say hi tomorrow, then."

Starlight heard the creak of the stairs. Every hair on her coat tensed as she heard hoofsteps move along the upstairs hallway. They stopped in front of her room.

Firelight spoke softly. "Starlight, you awake in there?"

Starlight tried to keep writing, but stopped. The scratch of the quill on paper was far louder than she expected. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes darted to the door.

Her father again. "She must be asleep."

More hoofsteps, but this time they grew quieter. Finally, she heard the master bedroom door open and close.

Starlight let out a long breath. She continued writing. Finally, with a flourish, she signed the paper and folded it, placing it into an envelope.

Slowly, Starlight opened the door to her room. She scanned the hallway for movement, then crept down the stairs, pleading with it not to creak. The front door was thankfully silent as she tenderly pushed it open. The streets were empty, something for which Starlight was grateful as she walked to the mailbox at the end of the street.

Her gratitude ended when she opened the front door again. Her mother stood at the entrance to the kitchen, a glass of water in her magical grasp.

"I thought you were asleep."

"Were you waiting here for me to come back?"

"No. Should I have been?"

"I was just sending some mail."

"Hmm." Aurora took a long drink from her glass. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Can it wait until tomorrow? I'm tired."

"I–" Aurora cut herself off. Her voice lowered, barely above a whisper now. "Yes, fine."

Starlight moved quickly up the stairs and back into her room. She watched the door, waiting. Eventually, she heard hoofsteps move past her door again.

Finally, sleep took her.

Awkward Conversations on the Canterlot Express

"But your natural mane color is so pretty! Why cover it up?", Firelight exclaimed, running his hoof through Starlight's mane, freshly dyed black. "I know you're going through a rebellious phase–"

"Dad! It is not a phase! This is who I am," Starlight interjected, pushing his hoof away. She grumbled, "not that you would know anything about that."

"Alright, alright, honey bun. I just worry about you sometimes; the first thing I heard of you wanting to dye your hair was when you showed up at the station with your mane already done. I want to know what's going on in your life."

"Then maybe you should have come home last night. To my going away dinner? The one you put together? Sound familiar?", Starlight replied, ice creeping into her voice.

"I'm sorry, Starlight, but there was an emergency at the mayor's office–"

"And they needed the mayor to deal with it. Yeah. I get it. That's what you say every time and every day when you come home late. When exactly was I supposed to tell you?"

Firelight sighed, rubbing his muzzle with a forehoof, moving to the bags under his eyes soon afterwards. "For what it's worth, pumpkin, I did try to leave as soon as I could. And I was able to convince them to hold the fort long enough for me to come with you to Canterlot. It's not every day you send your kiddo off to college!"

"Do you even remember where we're going?", deadpanned Starlight.

"Of course!", Firelight enthused. "My pumpkie-wumpkin didn't just get into any old college–", he paused, wrapping a foreleg around Starlight's shoulders and drawing her in for a tight hug. "You got into that honors program at the University of Canterlot for magic. I always knew you had it in you."

Firelight was beaming. Starlight, however, looked mortified, quickly looking around the train carriage. Once she was sure no-one she knew was around, she pushed her father away.

"Daaaaaaaad, you promised no more embarrassing me in public!" Starlight sighed and turned to look out the train window at the landscape whizzing by. "Besides, even if you're here, mom still didn't make it."

"Starlight, I'm sure if our letters had reached her, she'd have made it. You know how hard to reach she can be on her adventures."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I asked to be born to a mom too busy chasing her 'precious destiny' to spend time with her daughter." Starlight rolled her eyes, emphasizing her point with air quotes. "Or a dad, for that matter, so busy running the town I grew up in that he wasn't there to watch me grow up." She glared at Firelight.

Firelight closed his eyes and sighed. "I do wish I had been there for you more, Starlight, but your mother and I both have responsibilities outside the family! We've talked about this many, many, many times!"

"Arrrgh!" Starlight groaned. "Fine, whatever. Not like you'll even notice I'm gone."

"Well, that's not true. When you're gone, who's gonna play all that alternative music on their guitar for me?"

"Wait… you heard me playing?"

"The ceilings of our house aren't exactly soundproof, you know."

"You… heard the lyrics I wrote?"

"I thought they were nice! I could tell you put a lot of effort into them, and I thought it was so great that you found a creative outlet for your–" Firelight stopped, his mouth clamped shut between Starlight's hooves.

"No, no, Celestia, please, no, I will do anything, anything for you to forget everything you heard."

Firelight freed his mouth and continued. "I always wondered why you didn't get your cutie mark playing music with how great you sound!"

Starlight heard a few passengers snickering at that comment. She sank into the increasingly uncomfortable train seat, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

Firelight, seeing Starlight's plight, reined in his voice. "It'll probably make you happy to know that between your mother's adventures and my pension, I'm about ready to retire. I'll be stepping down at the next election, which means I'll have all the time in the world to spend with you when you're on breaks."

Starlight recovered from her bout of embarrassment and sat up. She allowed the barest hint of a smile to sneak onto her face. "Really? And what about mom?"

"No real changes on that front. You know her, she never felt right sitting in one place for very long. You're a lot like her that way, you know."

"Ugh. Fine. Can we just… not… for the rest of the ride? I'd like to meet my roommate with at least some of my dignity intact."

"Alright, chipmunk cheeks. Want to play Dragon Pit? I picked up an old classic at the antique shop: Dragon Pit: Travel Edition! You see, it's got these neat little trapdoors that magically mimic the trapdoors in the full game! And then there's the..."

Starlight's resigned annoyance turned to mild laughter as she gently interrupted her dad, grabbing the game's six-sided die with her magic, "Alrighty, but as you know, I've never lost a game of Dragon Pit to any of the other school ponies."

"You're on, pumpkin."

Despite the name, the express train to Canterlot from Sires Hollow wasn’t much faster than the normal line. The route wound through a mountain range, and only bypassed stops at a few old pioneer towns which were sparsely populated, containing at most a few farms and the occasional antique shop. Starlight had booked the trip before announcing to her father her intent to matriculate at UC, figuring it was the best chance she had of getting to Canterlot in less than a day’s journey.

“I’m just saying, Saddle Pass and Pie Camp were the backbone of the growth of Sires Hollow!”

“Yeah, like centuries ago! Now it’s just a bunch of dirt and rusty horseshoes. What would we have even seen there?”

Whatever Firelight had to say in response was drowned out by the sound of steam hissing as the train rolled to a stop. The announcer’s voice hissed from the carriage’s P.A. speakers.

“Canterlot Transit Terminal, end of the line.”

In the midst of their heated debate, neither of them had noticed the train entering the outskirts of the city. Firelight looked out the window, excitement and wonder painting his face. Starlight cringed as she watched her father.

“Come on, dad, let’s get off the train.”

Starlight wondered at how anyone could go on for quite as long as her dad went on about Canterlot history during the carriage ride from the station to the university dorms. Night had fallen by the time they reached her dorm room and, despite her protests, Starlight’s old blanket had somehow ended up wrapped around her head. They continued bickering as she opened the door to her new room, then turned around to face her father.

“I’m not cold, and even if I was, why, in Celestia’s name, would you be carrying around my old blanket? I’m an adult!”

“But you’ll always be my little sugar plum Glimmykins, Starlight.”

A small cough interrupted Starlight before she could respond. She turned around to see another unicorn mare sporting a dark-blue mane, darker hair, and a smirk on her white-muzzled face. Starlight gaped at her new roommate as several thoughts raced through her head. What ultimately came out was:

“Oh, fuck me.”

Families That Eat Together

Hey, Star!

Sunburst is too busy to see his family, huh? That's pretty lame; I wonder what he's doing where he can't even go home for Hearth's Warming.

Things are fine here. Mom got time off work, and Dad's been cooking up a storm since I got back. You'd think I came back from the dead the way they glomped me when I got home!

Dusty hasn't been doing so well, though. Dad said he's been having night terrors again; I guess something went wrong with the dream disconnection charm. They're gonna try to reapply it soon. I just wish I could do something to help, but all the classes on dream magic won't be until I'm at least a junior, and even then…

I wish you were here. I can't shake the feeling that you could come up with something.

That's probably just wishful thinking, though, isn't it?

Let me know how things go with your mom.

Sincerely,

Midnight

"You're going on another expedition?" Starlight spat out the mouthful of pancakes she'd been chewing on. "But Dad said…"

Firelight looked just as surprised as she did. "Honey, I thought you were staying home this time."

Aurora finished chewing her bite and swallowed before answering. "There's a lot of demand these days. Trade winds are blowing south, and the Manehattan Merchants Guild wants updated maps of the Badlands."

"But Hearth's Warming–"

"I'll have to miss it."

Starlight slammed her hoof on the table, but Firelight spoke before she could.

"Aurora, you promised me you'd be home for the holidays this year!" Firelight stood, his forehooves hammered the table.

"I can't help when the jobs come in!"

"How long have we been talking about retirement?!"

"I want to make sure we're financially ready!"

"We're perfectly ready as is! I've got my pension coming, and we've been saving ever since we got married. A few thousand bits isn't worth the risk!"

"What risk?" Aurora stood, and she and Firelight faced off at the side of the table. Their muzzles nearly touched as they argued. "I've been doing this for decades! I know how to handle myself."

"Every other trip you come home and tell long stories about fights you got into, and it's almost every other time you come back with a broken bone or bones. And you're going to the Badlands this time!"

"Look, they came to me because they need me for this expedition. No one else in Equestria has as much desert experience as I do!"

"Aurora, I need you here! And Starlight deserves to have us both be more present for her."

Starlight shrank in her chair.

"She's fine! She's off at college now, she can handle herself." Aurora waved dismissively at Starlight. "And it's not like I'm the only pony who's been gone."

Firelight winced, but he stood firm. "That's why I'm retiring. We… Starlight–" He stopped as his eyes met Starlight's.

Tears flowed freely down her face.

Firelight hugged her, glaring at Aurora. "We'll talk about this later."

Starlight saw tears in Aurora's eyes. Her mother left the room without another word.

"Are you ok?"

Starlight was silent, her eyes unfocused.

"I'm sorry, sugarbun. I-I'm… I'm sorry." Firelight stroked Starlight's hair as she silently sobbed into his shoulder.

Starlight lay in her bed. The midday sun peeked through the holes in the blackout curtains on the window, illuminating her desk. Midnight had replied to her letter, and the torn envelope and its contents were highlighted by the sunbeams. Starlight uttered silent thanks for Equestrian Post's same-day service.

Starlight turned a newly-filled envelope in her magic above her head, idly watching Midnight's address move in and out of view.

Shouting erupted downstairs. Starlight buried her head under her pillows, willing the sound to stop. When it didn't help, she looked at the envelope, then the door.

Then the window. Starlight cracked open her window, looking at the yard below. Too far to jump safely. Teleportation was safe, but noisy, and the last thing she wanted was to draw her parents' attention. She had an idea.

The window opened further. She stepped onto the windowsill, bracing herself on her hindlegs. All she had to do was levitate herself, and she could fly out of the house, her parents none the wiser.

"Alright, Starlight. You've lifted another pony before. What's so hard about lifting yourself?"

She cast her spell, and felt herself grow lighter as the world turned aquamarine. She leapt from the window and… plummeted. Thanks to her spell, Starlight couldn't feel the gravitational tug that would tell her where the ground was, and when she kicked from the window, she set herself into a spin, turning the world into a mess of white and blue. Fortunately, a hedge in the yard broke her fall, and though it took some doing, she disentangled herself from the hedge with only a few bumps and bruises.

A few families were on the streets, heading toward the town center. Starlight's childhood home was close enough to it for her to hear the last-minute shoppers and carolers in the town's plaza. The foals among the families were bouncing with excitement.

No one noticed her as she dropped her letter in the mailbox. Once she returned to the house, however, Starlight paced under her window. She experimented with levitating herself again. First, she tried a few inches, without jumping. Although she was able to maintain a hover, she wasn't able to move very much higher, as she lost her balance each time her hooves moved out of reach of the ground. Then Starlight had an idea.

She angled herself towards her window, then levitated a few inches in the air. Then, with a giant push, she flung herself into the air, passing through her open window and landing on her bed with an "oof!"

Her parents were still shouting. At least that meant they hadn't heard her.

The last few days before Hearth's Warming played out the same way. Starlight woke up and ate breakfast in a room where no one spoke to each other. She returned to her room and wrote to Midnight or read, interrupted occasionally by shouting from below.

Then, on the morning of Hearth's Warming Eve, Aurora left.

“I'll probably be back in a few moons.”

She and Firelight shared a long look. Then she turned to Starlight, slowly and awkwardly acknowledging her with a nod, before turning around and leaving. A glow from her horn, and the front door closed behind her.

She was gone.

Firelight patted Starlight's shoulder to reassure her, but his expression was unfocused. He left and went to his study, closing the door behind him.

Starlight stood at the door. She lost track of time, staring at the door. She wasn’t sure what she was waiting for.

Hearth's Warming was quiet. Firelight barely spoke; the only words Starlight heard from him were calling her down from her room for meals.

He shambled about the kitchen, staring at the pie he held in his magic. Starlight came up behind him and took hold of the pie, setting it on the counter. He nodded at the food, then walked past her. Starlight heard the door to his study shut a few moments later.

After she ate, she returned to her room. She went to her closet and dug through a pile of old junk, tossing old clothes and knick-knacks behind her.

She pulled back as a kite floated out of the pile in her magic. It was red and orange, with a similarly colored tail.

She walked downstairs, stopping at the hall to the study. She knocked.

"Come in." His voice was low and hoarse.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hi, sugarbun." Firelight sat at his desk, leading through a photo album.

"So I was digging through some old stuff, and look at what I found!" Starlight held up the kite.

Firelight blinked a few times, squinting at it. "Is that–"

"Yup." Starlight's voice was soft. "I was thinking we could go out and fly it. Together, I mean."

"Honey, I don't think–"

"Please, Dad."

"It's freezing outside, Starlight!"

"I know, but… I just want to…" Her head hung low. "I just want to do something normal."

Firelight sighed as he stood from his chair. He closed his eyes for a few moments, then smiled at Starlight, tousling her hair. "Alright. I guess we could both use some normal."

The park closest to Starlight's home was busy with families and foals playing with their new toys. Though Starlight had become accustomed to the hard winds in Canterlot, the lighter breezes keeping her father's old kite aloft made for a relaxing time.

Firelight stood beside her. "So have you been able to fly much at college?"

"Sometimes. There was kind of… remember that box kite I built over the summer?"

"The blue one?"

"Yeah. It kinda ended up on top of one of the buildings."

"Can't you get it–"

"It's stuck. Like really stuck, apparently. And I don't want to get in trouble for it."

"Ah, I see. Mind if I fly it for a bit?"

Starlight passed the kite to her father.

"I still remember the day I bought this kite. Aurora–" Firelight winced as he mentioned the name. "Your mother sent me home from the hospital so I'd stop bothering the nurses. You know that kite shop in the plaza?"

"Long Line Kites?"

"Yeah. I swear, they had one in the window that looked exactly like that purple starburst in your cutie mark. So I had them custom-make one for you and me."

"Huh."

The kite soared gracefully in the cold breeze.

"You… really had us worried there, Starlight. We didn't…" His voice broke. "We just couldn't understand what was going on. We were so worried we'd lose you."

"I… had no idea. I'm sorry, Dad."

"It's alright, pumpkin. We figured it out after that incident at school, which, oh me oh my, that was a mess." Firelight chuckled as Starlight covered her face in embarrassment. "I get the feeling the Stones never voted for me again after that!"

Starlight groaned.

Firelight cleared his throat. "I was so happy to see you get excited about flying kites. Part of me wondered if you might've got your cutie mark before you discovered your talent!"

They laughed. Starlight relaxed and sat next to her father, and they watched the kite dance.

Eventually, Starlight spoke. Her voice cracked with hesitation. "Hey, Dad… are things gonna be okay with you and Mom?"

Firelight's stance stiffened for a moment. He sighed, then took a long breath. "I don't know, Starlight. I hope so."

"Did I… was it..." The kite became blurry through a haze of tears.

Firelight wrapped a foreleg around her. "No. Not at all."

Starlight sniffled.

"Want a distraction?"

She nodded.

"How are things going with Midnight?"

"Good." Starlight wiped her face with her scarf. "She's great, and we have some classes together, so we get to study together a lot."

"You know, I didn't expect you to pounce on somepony the day you met them!"

"Dad! It's not–"

"It's just so unusual! You've always been my shy little silly filly."

"Dad! She's not–we're not–"

Firelight doubled over laughing.

"Ugh! Dad! You're the worst!"

"I know, but you're distracted, aren't you?"

Firelight was rewarded with a beanie to the face.

"You know it's not like that, don't you?" asked Starlight, flatly.

"Of course!"

Starlight groaned, rolling her eyes.

"But I'm happy things are going well." Firelight returned the beanie. "So what else has been going on?"

Starlight rubbed her foreleg. "I'm, uh… I started going to a sociology seminar."

"Oh? I wouldn't have thought you'd be interested in that."

"Well, it's about cutie marks."

"Neat!"

"Yeah. I met someone who doesn't like their special talent, and–"

"Really?"

"Yes, really, and I found some stories about this old group that sort of acted like they didn't have cutie marks or special talents. Nopony was better than anypony else."

"That sounds interesting."

"And the seminar series has speakers talking about cutie marks and their relationships to social dynamics, and–"

"You're interested in all that?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You always seemed so focused on magic."

"What's wrong with liking more than one thing?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little surprised is all. So you're going to these seminars…"

"And a discussion series. Technically. It's just me and a sophomore, right now."

"Only two students?"

Starlight sighed. She gestured to the kite, and Firelight allowed her to take the reel into her magic. "Yeah, the professor wanted to run a discussion thing, and I may have gotten into a tiny little… fight… with another student during the first seminar I went to."

"You what?!"

"Yeah, we kinda argued in front of everyone in the auditorium. Heh."

Firelight's jaw dropped.

"So the professor kinda forced us to join the discussion group if we wanted to keep going to the seminars."

"Wow."

“Well, okay, technically I was ‘strongly urged’ to attend.”

Firelight scratched his head.

"Oh, there was that one time we won a sports tournament."

"We?"

"Me, Midnight, Night Glider, and Sugar Belle–"

"Are those your friends?"

"Yeah. We all entered this intramural tournament and we won. Well, okay, we lost on a technicality, but we totally won."

"Sounds like a lot happened."

"Yep." Starlight looked from the kite to her father. Firelight was beaming at her. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Firelight looked back up at the kite. "It sounds like you’re having fun, sugarbun.”

“Please don't call me that in public, Dad."

The two returned home as the sun waned. Firelight made dinner while Starlight responded to the day's message from Midnight. After dinner, at Firelight's suggestion, they played a few board games. At the end of the night, they climbed the stairs to go to bed.

Firelight turned to Starlight before entering his room. "Starlight?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know… I'm gonna miss you when you go back to school, but I'm so happy you found friends and you’re doing well. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Goodnight, sweetie."

"Night.”

Author's Note

End of Part 1