Cultivating Crossroads

by ArgyleAxolotl

Rating: teen
Tags: Drama, Original Character, Starlight Glimmer, Profanity, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 16498

Starlight Glimmer has saved the world enough times that her past is largely forgotten. However, villainy is a prerequisite for reformation. Cotton Crater will never forget what she did.

Cotton Crater has to be a good filly.  It’s just her and her mom now, and the world has been burning down around them for a while. Ms. Starlight Glimmer says that they can fix it if they work really hard. She’s very smart, and very good with magic and ponies. That's probably why her mom has started clinging to every word she says. If they just follow directions, everything is going to get much better. Starlight Glimmer said so.

Published 2020-06-17 05:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2020-07-01 04:56:45 UTC

Chapter 1- Cogeris

To say the Sire’s Hollow community center was in chaos would be putting it lightly. The air buzzed with the rushed words of excited fillies, screams of joy, and happy giggling. No foal had totally fled the large round table yet, but a few had started to crawl away under it to play their own games. The light pouring in the windows began to fade as the sun set, causing their leader to tap a hoof impatiently.

Cotton Crater did not join in the fun. The pink unicorn sat very still in her folding chair. Good fillies respected authority, and she was supposed to be listening. She didn’t move, she didn’t talk, and she didn’t cause any problems. She only did exactly what she had been told.

“If you can hear me stomp once!” Mrs. Mossy Stone’s voice called out with the finesse of a mare that’d been doing this for years. Cotton responded immediately. Next to her, her best friend Astral Glow jumped at the noise.

“If you can hear me stomp twice!” She saw Summer Breeze quickly pop back up into her chair. The pegasus was grinning so wide you’d think she’d been riding a roller coaster, and not just trying to balance a chair on it’s back legs.

“If you can hear me stomp three times!” Finally, the room was silent.

The Filly Scout leader smiled down at them. “Thank you, ladies. Now we’re almost out of time for tonight’s meeting, and we still need to vote! Remember, we only have enough time left in the season to earn one more badge before our big end of year camping trip!” The green Earth Pony paused to pass out paper and pencils. “I want you all to rank the choices from your favorite to your least favorite on that piece of paper. We’ll…”

“But Mrs. Mossy Stone! What if none of the choices are good enough to vote for? These are all just a waste of my time,” an orange Earth Pony interrupted.

“Peach Blossom.” The leader said firmly. “Please don’t interrupt me. We’ll go around the table and give everypony a turn to say one last thing, but then we all have to vote,” She took out an oatmeal container that was practically encrusted in purple glitter and dolphin stickers. The word oatmeal had been crossed out and “Ballots” was now written in shaky letters. “Remember, a Filly Scout is considerate and caring. So we are all going to present our arguments with that in mind.”

“Stone Pillar!” The chubby gray filly squeaked and looked up at their scout leader in fear. “You have been very quiet today. You can go first!”

“Um… Well…” The filly squirmed nervously in her seat. Cotton shot her an encouraging smile. She didn’t really know Pillar, but she knew she was supposed to be kind. The Filly Scout law said to be a sister to every filly, so she smiled. Pillar took a deep breath. “Well I really like snacks…”

Peach Blossom’s giggles were quickly silenced by Mrs. Mossy’s disapproving glare.

“Well I like snacks… and if we pick the next level cooking badge… Well the Simple Meals badge will have the most snacks.” Stone Pillar finished shakily. Cotton gave Pillar the same polite nod of approval that Mrs. Mossy had given herself a thousand times.

“It’s time we earned the Local Citizen badge!” Astral Glow confidently declared beside her. “This is our fifth year in Filly Scouts, and we still haven’t earned one single badge about government! These badges are Filly Scout staples! We can’t continue to ignore the entire aspect of scouting!”

Cotton chose her words more carefully. She wanted to maintain a smooth composure. “Local Citizen is nice, but it has a lot of listening and not a lot of doing. Simple Meals has lots of doing, but we just earned the last cooking badge a few months ago. I think we should learn Painting because we haven’t done any art this year.”

“Astral’s badge has a happy swan on it! It’s the cutest,” Summer Breeze almost shouted.

Out of the corner of her eye, Cotton saw Astral light her horn to write on her ballot. She narrowed her eyes at her own pencil. Tuning out the other fillies in her troop, she looked inside her wellspring and reached for her magic. She imagined the end of a ball of nice yarn, warm and fuzzy to the touch, and pulled. Her horn glowed red, and slowly the pencil began to float.

“Well unlike some ponies here, I have my priorities straight.” Peach Blossom’s commanding voice was so sour you could almost taste it. Cotton’s magic flickered out and she dropped the pencil.

“Across Equestria school funding has been systematically cut for such frivolous distractions as art, in favor of more practical learning. We shouldn’t bother wasting our time on such pointless activities like painting, which isn’t even valued by the Princess,” Peach asserted. “Local Citizen would also be a complete waste of intellectual energy when there isn’t an ongoing election. Whose debates would we participate in?” She stomped a hoof for emphasis. “As for Simple Meals, studies show that obesity among Equestrian foals is at an all time high. Instead of contributing to a national crisis, we should work to actively combat its negative effects. An abundance of snacks isn’t exactly a positive quality. Your arguments are not based in logic, and are as vapid as you are.”

“Ladies. Let’s all remember, considerate and caring,” their leader chastised.

“Yes Mrs. Mossy Stone,” squeaky voices sing-songed back.

“Now we were supposed to end five minutes ago, so let’s all hurry up! Your parents are waiting!”

Cotton frowned. Picking up her pencil in her teeth she quickly scribbled down her choices, and shoved her paper in the cardboard tube. She followed Astral Glow over to their saddlebags in the corner, and began to buckle her own around her barrel.

“Oh! I just can’t believe summer is almost here! I’m so excited for school to end,” Summer Breeze squealed. She glided over to the two unicorns with about the same amount of grace as caffeinated goose. “No more boring homework! Just swimming! And hoofball in the park! And the ice cream cart! And summer camps! And…”

“Summer Breeze,” A masculine voice called. “It’s time to go.”

“I’ve got to go! I’ll see you both at school tomorrow!” She wrapped both fillies in a big hug. “Coming Dad!”

Astral Glow giggled. “I don’t think Summer would ever stop and land if she could get away with it. Are you ready?”

“Yep!” Cotton smiled. She turned around to wave to their leader. “Bye Mrs. Mossy Stone!”

“Bye girls! You two be extra careful walking home for me okay?”

“We will,” they answered together. Shutting the door behind them, they stepped out onto the dirt road alone.

“I agree with Summer. No pony can help but be excited for school to end! I can hardly wait,” Cotton said

“Well don’t get too excited,” Astral Glow warned. “We still have to take our Standardized Equestrian Progress Assessments.”

Cotton groaned. “S.E.P.A.s somehow always manage to be both boring and stressful. They’re just awful. I hope the pony who invented standardized tests is locked up in Tartarus.”

“Well seeing as she is raising the moon right now, I’d say she’s probably fine.”

Cotton rolled her eyes. “You know, Summer Breeze forgot the most exciting part of break though.”

“What’s that?”

“The Summer Sun Celebration! It’s the best holiday, obviously.”

“Obviously?” Astral Glow snorted. “Obviously the Summer Sun Celebration isn’t better than Hearths Warming. There are no presents!”

“Well yes, instead her royal highness just magically commands all adults to cancel bedtime for a party. She’s the princess so they have to listen, and we get to hang out all night long.” Cotton bumped her playfully on the shoulder. “This year is the one thousandth one too, so you know it will be special.”

“The Princess? Singular? So the great Cotton Crater doesn’t recognize the sovereignty of her majesty Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”

“You mean the princess of cooties? Who needs her!”

“That’s not what you said last week,” Astral teased.

They both laughed. Astral Glow lit her horn and levitated two fig cookies out of her bags. Her field floated one over to Cotton as a peace offering. She graciously accepted the treat with her teeth.

“You’ve gotten so much better at magic,” Cotton said, chewing. “I saw you can even field write now! How did you get so good so quickly?”

“Well, there’s two parts.” Astral said thoughtfully. “On the one hoof, I think my Mom was really scared that I’d be super far behind everypony else, because she’s not a unicorn. So, she got me a bunch of books and workbooks to practice with. I’ve been practicing pretty much non-stop since she got them.” They stopped walking, now in front of Astral Glow’s mailbox, waiting to finish the story.

“But on the other hoof, all those helpful books say magic just happens at different speeds for all foals. You kind of grow into it, and nobody is growing at the exact same speed. So maybe the workbooks don’t really matter at all, and I’m just growing super early. I don’t know,” Astral finished.

“That is tricky. I guess I don’t really know how we could tell if they did or not. You should try and teach me!” Cotton looked up at the darkening sky. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow!”

She started trotting down the road home, and Astral called after her. “Bye Cotton!”

Quilted Comfort was finding it difficult to cope. She thought she’d figured out her destiny when she got her cutie mark, but everything was wrong. She’d never planned to live on only her income. She’d never planned on becoming a single mother. She’d never planned on doing everything alone. She’d thought she’d known her future, but this wasn’t how things were supposed to be. This wasn’t how her life was supposed to go, and she was oh so very alone.

The unicorn smiled a fake smile. “Mrs. Sell, let me get your hat,” she said. She levitated over the awful gaudy mess. She didn’t want to have her boss and his wife over to dinner, but she didn’t want to lose her house more. Ponies who pretended were the ponies who were promoted.

“Oh Darling, this was lovely,” the older mare said. She carefully settled the supposed garment over blue and white dreads. “You must start calling me Carole. Any lady who has witnessed me consume that much wine deserves as much. We should do this more often, shouldn’t we Tough?”

“Yes,” the mustached stallion answered. “This was very productive. I trust you’ll be able to pick up the Corduroy account?”

Sweet victory, it was almost worth all the stress “Of course, sir,” Quilted smiled. She started to walk them to the door. “I’ll start first thing in the morning.”

“And the rolls darling!” Carole said, gesturing wildly. “Those rolls were so flakey. You must give me the recipe. I don’t know how you do it!”

“Well the vegetable shortening I use…”

“A young mare like you chasing down a career while raising a foal all by herself, and you still have time for rolls. Lovely buttery rolls. Such things were unheard of when I was filly, it was always one parent at work and one parent at home. A breadwinner and a bread baker. That’s how we did it, and that’s how I had time for the tutoring, the cleaning, and all the little things like rolls that tend to get left behind by mares like you.”

“Carole. It’s late,” Tough Sell said simply. The mare’s words rubbed salt into an open wound. Quilted knew her savings were running out.

They were interrupted when the front door opened, and a familiar small pink form stepped though.

“Oh, and this must be little Ms. Cotton Crater herself!” Carole roughly mussed the filly’s mane. “Why, don’t you have such a pretty red mane! It’s just like your mummy’s isn’t cutiepie!”

“Thank you,” Cotton answered cautiously. She started to close the door behind her but Quilted reached out to hold it open. This was too much. It needed to end.

“What are you doing coming home so late now?” Carole teased.

“Uh, I had a..”

“Your mummy must think you're awfully responsible to let you walk home all by yourself in the dark. Especially after what happened to your father. I know I’d certainly never let my foals do anything of the sorts when they were your age,” She said, finally passing through the door. “Goodnight then!”

“Ms. Comfort.” Tough Sell said, giving her an apologetic look. “The Corduroy account?”

“Yes,” Quilted sighed. “The Corduroy account. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She shut the door behind him, then turned around to give her daughter a big hug.

“Mom!” the smaller unicorn whined.

“Yes Cotton?”

“You're squishing me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I could make up for it with, say, leftover pudding?”

“Pudding!”

The white mare let go, and both unicorns moved to wash their hooves. She reached out with her magenta magic, pulling two bowls out of the fridge and setting them on the table. Her daughter pulled two spoons from a kitchen drawer.

“How did your Filly Scout meeting go?” Quilted asked.

“Remember how last week we all voted on what badge to do next?” the little unicorn said.

“I do. Did you get the one you wanted?”

“Well, not my first choice, but my second. We’re starting Local Citizen, which is okay. It’s the one Astral and Summer wanted.”

“That sounds like it could be fun.” The mare smiled. As far she was aware, those two girls were both fine friends. She was grateful for some normalcy.

“Yes, but tonight we were supposed to make posters about what we thought it meant to be an active citizen, and we had to work in pairs. Summer and Astral got to work together, but Ms. Mossy made me go with Peach Blossom,” she said glumly.

“Was it difficult to work together?” She imagined she knew the answer.

Her daughter nodded. “Ms. Mossy said it’s good to practice talking out our differences, but Peach Blossom is too much. She isn’t a good listener. She just made everything about the princess, and the princess is cool I guess, but I think if you’re an active citizen you work to start changes. If you just only ever listen to the princess, and you don’t do stuff, then you’re not really active.”

“That’s very insightful.” Not a day went by that she wasn’t grateful to have such a thoughtful foal.

“It’s just that working with Peach is hard.”

“Think of it this way. Ms. Mossy wanted you to practice solving your problems by talking. You got to practice with Peach Blossom, who isn’t your favorite, but isn’t a supervillain. If your poster wasn't perfect it wasn’t the end of the world. So, if you can make your mistakes now by learning to solve Peach’s poster, you’ll have it down perfectly when you have to save Equestria.”

“I guess,” was Cotton’s tired response. Quilted considered this a victory in parenting. Take that snooty boss’s wife.

“Now it’s time to wash up and get ready for bed. I’m going to start cleaning up, and I’ll be there to braid your mane in a minute.” she said.

“Yes mom,” Cotton said. That Carole mare had no idea what she was talking about. No sober pony would ever dare to imply she was a bad mother.

Cotton sat in the shade of a large tree, and stared daggers into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She looked inside her wellspring for that fuzzy piece of yarn and pulled. This time the sandwich got nearly six inches in the air before spinning out of control and crashing to the ground.

“I think that was higher than last time,” Astral Glow reassured her. It was hard to take the blue unicorn seriously when her own field was so much stronger.

“You just make it look so easy,” Cotton sighed.

“Hey! They say Cloudsdale wasn’t built in a day, but one cloud at a time,” Summer Breeze said. She chewed on her own sandwich with the ferocity of a timberwolf. “Maybe if you rip it into teeny tiny little shreds, you can get the little bits one at a time.”

Cotton looked down at her lunch disheartened. Her stomach growled. That didn’t exactly sound appetizing.

“Or you could eat your sandwich the regular way before lunch ends. Then you can practice with your grapes. They’re much lighter,” Astral added.

“Yeah,” Summer said, spitting food everywhere.

“Gross,” Astral said. She floated over napkins to share. “How do you think you did on your math S.E.P.A?”

“Ugh! Don’t get me started!” The Pegasus groaned and held a hoof to her head. “It’s too long! You know they know it’s too long too. That’s why they make it in sections, but then they don’t make the section breaks long enough! And who thought those little paper seals would be a good idea? How are you supposed to open them with your hooves?”

“Those are almost impossible,” Cotton agreed. She couldn’t wait until she could write with her field. Tests had to be easier when you didn’t have to take them with your teeth.

“Right! Then all the questions actually have so many parts. So, you think you just have to do question two, but then question two actually has parts A-H! You have to be crazy to come up with a sick trick like that,” Summer Breeze said.

“What did you think of the math though? You know, the actual content,” Astral said.

“There was so much measurement conversion!” Summer practically wailed. “I think we only had maybe one lesson on that total. It’s not fair that they made so much of the test about something we talked about once!”

“Um, actually the measurement conversions unit was part of chapter seven, and we covered it for a week in November,” Peach Blossom said. She strutted over. “That test was too easy. My baby brother could have done it with his eyes closed, and he isn’t even potty trained.” She beamed at Summer Breeze, causing the teal pegasus to shrink..

Astral practically growled at the Earth Pony. “What do you want Peach Blossom?”

The orange filly sat down. “I read that before they invented elastics, ponies of the past used fiber chords to tie up their manes. Experts say they would actually sew their styles up on top of their heads, because they didn’t have bobby pins. Astral, we all see that yellow disaster zone you pretend is socially acceptable. You’d be the perfect subject for me to test it out on.”

“I like my mane,” Astral Glow bit back.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! I’d be doing you favor honey! You just sit still, and I’ll do my best to make you presentable! No personal protective equipment required for either of us!” The Earth Pony pulled a blunt wooden needle out of her bags. Summer Breeze began to hover nervously.

“Peach Blossom. You aren’t being very kind, and we don’t appreciate it.” Cotton Crater said bravely. She put a hoof protectively over Astral Glow.

“Not being kind?” Peach Blossom gasped in surprise.. “I’m doing her favor. That’s practically the definition of kindness. You just don't know what you’re talking about. Do you want me to explain it to you?”.

“What you did is interrupt our lunch to insult both my friends. Please leave us alone,” Cotton said evenly.

“Fine bitch,” Peach spat. “I’ll go find somepony who recognizes and appreciates my wisdom. Let me know when you get your head out of your flank!”

“She actually said that to you?” Lemon Glow paused her ironing to roll her eyes. “How dare she!”

“That’s what I thought,” Quilted Comfort said.

Both mares were on the balcony of Lemon Glow’s apartment updating Filly Scout uniforms. The yellow Earth pony stood, cutting fabric fuse and ironing down insignia. The white unicorn lay on the floor, sewing the badges and patches down permanently with a needle held in her field. On the ground a story below them their daughters played in the grass.

“You know I’m glad Astral enjoys Filly Scouts, but if she took it less seriously it would be a lot less work for me,” Lemon said. She ripped another piece of fuse with her teeth and spat. “Nasty stuff.”

“It’s the darned patches that get you! The fifth-year badges are all circles. I can sew a circle. Circles are great! Then look at the back of this vest!” Quilted levitated the offending garment up for her friend to see. “Who thought it would be a good idea to make this year’s fundraising achievements flamingo shaped? What could possibly be more difficult to sew on than flamingo shaped? Just put the freaking flamingo in a circle!”

Both mares giggled. Lemon asked, “Mossy Stone has been talking about parent volunteers for the camping trip. Do you think you are going to go?”

Quilted paused, watching her daughter playing by a large mud puddle with her friend. They danced dolls around its edges. Cotton positioned her stuffed pelican by mouth, while Astral bombarded it with a field full of little plastic characters from Hayburger. “No,” she sighed. “I can’t take the time off work.”

“Me neither.” The yellow mare unplugged the iron and joined her on the cushion. “ I know that one of the twins’ parents is going, but I think that’s it.”

“One of the many benefits of owning your own business I suppose,” She said.

“I think that I might not let Astral Glow go this year.”

Quilted was surprised. “After we took turns lugging all those boxes of muffins around town? They worked so hard to raise the money to go. You’ve changed your mind?”

“She’s been having a lot of troubles with that filly Peach Blossom. Not just at school, but at Filly Scouts too. From what I’ve heard the girl has been giving both our kids a real hard time.” The yellow mare leaned her head on the railing tired.

“Did something new happen? All Cotton has told me is that they disagree a lot, and she comes across as condescending.”

“That’s all it was, but then this week Astral says she called her a bitch. I’m worried that if I send her on the trip it could get out of hoof. I can’t go with her, but think it’ll get worse before it gets better.”

Quilted wrapped a hoof around her in a side hug. They had been through everything together. “Have you mentioned any of this to Mossy?”

“Not yet,” Lemon said. “ I figured I’d see her at this month’s field trip, if I didn’t just run into her in town first. I don’t think I have time to make a special trip.”

They thought in silence. Below them their daughters ran around in circles, dolls in tow. She imagined they were playing some game of their own creation.

“Astral Glow’s field strength has really sprung out of nowhere,” Quilted said.

“She really is growing up. Cotton Crater is too.”

She smiled. “I bet one of the foals in their year will get their cutie mark any day now. Once they start, they usually all start obsessing until they all get theirs.”

Lemon frowned looking at the sponge on her own flank with contempt. “That’s certainly how I was. Remember when we dug up and stole a sapling from Mr. Gardener’s backyard. I was convinced my mark had to be for lemons, but it then is turned out we stole an orange tree!”

“We still managed to nab a whole tree! That has to count for something!” They both laughed.

“We make a good team,” Lemon sighed.

“You mean as partners in crime?”

“No, as friends. I can’t imagine having Astral Glow alone. You and Moony were there for me then, and you're still here now. Helping me sew a Celestia damned Filly Scout vest of all things!”

“It goes both ways Lemon.” How many nights had they sat here crying together? “ I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Fibers most unreal,

Power clarify,

Pick apart this mess,

Changing by the by,

The gin within the heart,

Glamour amplify,

Searching through the field,

Changing by the by.

“B! U-D-D-Y! Get in line it's buddy time,” Mossy Stone sang.

Quilted Comfort galloped up to town hall. Her red and black mane streamed wildly behind her. She nodded to the Filly Scout leader, and quickly joined Lemon Glow at the back of the line.

Lemon whispered, “Did you fall asleep again?” It was hard enough for Mossy to keep this many foals focussed without having them try to eavesdrop on their conversation..

“Just for a few moments, but I was in the shower,” she panted. “The drying off is what did me in.”

Mossy Stone shouted, “All right everypony let’s go!” The group climbed up the steps and into the lobby. It was a crowded fit. Sire’s Hollow was a small town after all.

“Good Morning Ladies! My name is Starlight Glimmer, and I’m an intern here at town hall,” the pink unicorn introduced herself. “Since you're all learning about government, Mayor Favor asked me to give you a tour today.”

“Here,” Lemon whispered. She passed over a metal water bottle. “Drink this.”

Quilted grabbed it with her field and took a big swig of what tasted like battery acid. “Blah! Have you finally been reduced to poisoning me?” She quipped.

“It’s iced coffee and Neon Eagle,” she said. She shook her own container as they walked. “I’ve been up since four in the morning,” she sing-songed somewhat madly.

Quilted nodded and took another sip. She understood. “I had to mend Cotton’s saddlebags before school. Put me off too. I don’t know how you’ve done it all these years.”

“Now bright young fillies like yourselves might just find the superintendent of schools to be the most important pony here. She manages all three of the schools in Sire’s Hollow, and makes important rules about things like how long everypony needs to eat lunch and what time school ends,” Starlight continued.

They moved through the building largely uninterested. “That mare is definitely familiar, but I can’t think of how I know her,” Lemon whispered.

She studied the neat purple and teal mane. “I think she’s Firelight’s daughter,” Quilted answered.

“Woah, you’re right! Higher education has made her so much less…”

“Emo?”

“Definitely,”

“In the parks department city planners make decisions about things like the new hoofball field that is being put in behind Barnyard Bargains,” Starlight continued

Quilted turned her attention back to her friend. “How did the interview go?”

“Another miss,” the yellow mare said sadly.

That was disappointing. Lemon Glow had been working so hard for so long. “Too bad, you’ll just have to get the next one,” she said.

“At least this time I got to talk to a pony. I swear I send in one hundred applications for every one response I get. It’s recruiting Tartarus!”

“Now I’m sure you all have a lot of questions. Who would like to go first?” Starlight asked.

“Um! Can I tell you something? One time Mom and I went shopping for a birthday present for my dad, even though it was like way early, and…”

“Excuse me Summer Breeze, but is this a question or a story?” Mossy Stone asked gently.

“Oh, I guess it is a story! Nevermind.”

“I have a question.” Astral Glow asked, “Why do we have a city council when Mayor Favor is the mayor?”

“Great question. In Sire’s hollow we use the solar strong mayor system. Ponies elect the mayor, and the mayor appoints a city council to work for them. Ponies don’t vote for the council members directly, and the mayor can replace the council whenever they want.”

Peach Blossom asked, “Is it true that if the mayor is an idiot I can kick him out whenever I want?”

“Sort of,” Starlight said. She looked a little concerned by the filly’s attitude. “ If the town is unhappy with the mayor, they can call a special election . But, at least forty percent of the town has to sign a petition that they want an election. No one pony can do it alone.”

Quilted looked at Lemon Glow with surprise as she raised her hoof.

“How did you get your cutie mark?”

“I’m glad you asked that. My cutie mark isn’t for politics, but I’m still working here. I‘m in charge of me, not my cutie mark. We get cutie marks for talents, not for destinies. Neither it nor anypony else can tell me what to do,” Starlight said with authority. Lemon glow stared at the sponge on her own flank.

“Alright Filly Scouts! It’s time to go, so let’s all give Ms. Glimmer a big thank you.” Mossy Stone said.

“Thank you!” The group chorused. They all moved outside.

“Cotton! You and Astral can say goodbye to your friends, but then we have to get going.” Quilted called after the pink filly.

“Actually, before you two leave, I wanted to give you these.” Starlight Glimmer said levitating two turquoise invitations.

“A book club?” Quilted looked at the paper’s elaborate glittering border.

“We have fun little get togethers, talk about the books, our lives, eat snacks. You should join us.”

“Thank you! That sounds great,” Lemon smiled.

“It could be nice to go with your friend.”

Quilted looked at Lemon skeptically.

“Thank you Starlight, but I’d have to get Cotton a sitter, and on a weeknight it’d be an ordeal.”

“You could try to get out of the house more.”

“So bring her! Other parents bring their foals. It would be fun!”

“We’ll see you there,” Lemon Glow said, hoof bumping Starlight.

“It could be fun.”

Cotton saw only the hula hoop in front of her. The smooth pink plastic was all that mattered. She reached inside her wellspring, and looked for the warm thread of her magic. She found it, and pulled. She visualized the strand winding itself around the hoop. Then she fizzled.

She sighed and lay back on the cool grass. Summer Breeze laughed as she flew through the hoops Astral spun in the air. She was disappointed, both her friends had grown into their magic before her. Was there something wrong with her? She wanted to cry, but she knew better. A good filly wouldn’t make a scene like that. Worrying everypony over something with her magic, well it wasn’t what a good filly would do.

“Everypony! I have a splendid announcement!” Peach Blossom commanded the attention of the schoolyard. Only a small portion stopped to listen, but that didn’t matter to the orange filly. She wore a pink and white cloak that matched her mane. The garment was amazingly pristine for surviving half a school day.

“I’ve gotten my cutie mark!” She said, dramatically removing her cloak. The first one in their grade to get their mark? Everypony gasped and gathered around to see. “And you’re all invited to my cuteceñera!”

Everypony cheered, and she started passing out invitations. Including moving over to Cotton and her friends. Summer Breeze skeptically took a paper.

The Pegasus asked, “What is it? Your mark I mean.” It wasn't shaped like anything Cotton had seen before.

“Why, it’s a rose curve of course! It’s a kind of graph in math where a sin wave is plotted in polar coordinates. I wouldn’t expect somepony like you to know that of course, we can’t all be the in math S.E.P.A.’s 90th percentile after all,” she smirked. Summer wilted under her gaze. “But you should still come to my party of course. It’ll be just as spectacular as me.”

Astral growled, “I scored in the 98th percentile. Am I invited, Peach?” She looked like a tiger ready to pounce.

Surprise flickered across her face briefly, but with a flick of her mane she regained composure. “Yes. More guests means more presents. It’s in my best interest to have as many guests as possible. That’s simple math I’m sure anypony who scored that high would know. Are you sure there wasn’t a mistake?”

“Are you sure there wasn’t a mistake? You’re all bark and no bite. The numbers say I’m smarter than you, but you’re the one who's gotten a magical destiny in math burned into her flank, “ Astral Glow spat. “You think you're so smart, and so special. How does it feel for your life to be a joke?” That was the meanest she had ever seen Astral be, but she didn’t say anything.

Cotton looked into Peach’s eyes and saw something snap. They burned with a gaze so hot with rage it could give Celestia a sunburn. On shaking hooves Peach shouted.

“What do you think you know about marks! Your mom’s destiny is literal garbage!”.

Astral physically stepped back in shock. Cotton didn’t know what to do.

“She’s the sun forsaken garbage mare! It says so right on her flank! She eats stuff too you know! She’s an earth pony! She tosses all that garbage with her bucking mouth! Tasting the literal rot of the town! And she bucking loves it!”

Tears started streaming down the blue unicorn’s face. She shrunk under Summer’s wing to hide. This was painful.

“She loves eating trash so bucking much it’s her destiny! Is that what you eat too you weak ass bitch! Mommy bring you home a nice big plate of shit covered diapers to snack on!” The Earth Pony spat in her face. “You know that's why she keeps you around! You’re her little garbage baby!”

Cotton couldn’t take it anymore. She was supposed to be a good filly, but didn’t that include being a good friend? Her best friend was being hurt right in front of her eyes. She had to do something! She had to protect her friend, so she calmly walked up to the Peach, and punched her in the face.

It wasn’t enough. Her horn sparked, her eyes glowed, and she surged. She floated up a few inches off the ground. Peach Blossom was engulfed in the red glow of her magic. She levitated her up and up, higher and higher into the air. Then slammed her into the ground hard.

Everypony screamed.

It had been a long time since Quilted had sat on the hard metal benches outside the headmare’s office. Her coat stuck uncomfortably to her skin. Whether the sweat was a result of the mad run over here, the hot summer day, or the stress only Celestia knew.

On one side her daughter said nothing. On her other side Astral Glow wept softly. She stared through the small rectangle of safety glass to the office where Peach Blossom’s father stood. The small orange filly was curled up on his back. She was badly bruised but not broken. He shrieked words she couldn’t make out at the school ponies who had let this happen to his little girl. They were supposed to protect her. They were supposed to protect her from her own daughter.

Her little Cotton had hurt that filly. She could hardly believe it, but she had admitted it herself. Normally her daughter was so well behaved. She considered it a gift from the sun, but she had beat that little girl into the ground.

She ran a hoof through the filly’s black and red mane. Cotton Crater didn’t react, continuing to stare at the wall. They hadn’t had a fight in a long time. How had things gotten so out of hoof?

Suddenly the front door burst open. A yellow mare ran in huffing and puffing like she’d just run a marathon.

“Lemon Glow,” Quilted said surprised. Her friend was still in uniform, and her yellow mane was stuck to her head with sweat.

“I’ve brought backup,” she said. Stepping aside she revealed a familiar pink unicorn mare.

“She could help you.”

“Starlight Glimmer? What…”

“She's smart, with connections, and she’s on my side,” Lemon interrupted. “She’s on our side Quilted”

The pink mare nodded, straightening up a file folder she levitated in front of her.

“Thank you, but we hardly know you?”

“Don’t worry, I’m always here to help a friend,” she said. Lemon and her entered the office, closing the door behind them.

“She could help you”

“She could be your friend”

“You could be more open to Starlight Glimmer”

Chapter 2- Fiducia Compelus

Cotton sat solemnly on a cushion on the floor of her room. She squeezed her stuffed pelican tightly to her chest. Her mother braided her mane silently. They did this every night before bed, but this wasn’t like every other night. She had done something terrible, and this dreadful silence was suffocating.

She wished she would just melt away through the floorboards and escape this mess she’d made. She forced herself not to cry. When she’d been called to the principal’s office her mom had dropped everything. She’d charged over from work in panic to find that Cotton had been bad. She’d put her mom through so much unnecessary stress. It wasn’t helpful, and she didn’t want to hurt her. She would make herself be as strong as her mom and control her emotions.

“You know I’m disappointed Cotton.” Quilted said.

A sad “Yes” was all the filly could manage. Any more words than that would break her facade, and there were no excuses to be given.

“After school you and Astral Glow are to go straight to town hall for your community service. You’re very lucky they didn’t just suspend you for the rest of the school year.”

“Yes.” She didn’t know what they would have done if she’d been suspended. Ms. Starlight Glimmer had rescued them. It was a huge favor from a mare who she’d only met once. She would have to work as hard as she could to repay her.

“You have to write Peach Blossom an apology letter.”

“Yes.” The bruises she’d left had shown the whole neighborhood how untrustworthy and bad she was. She didn’t care if the bully never forgave her, but an apology might convince the other ponies to.

“You’ll have to mail it to her because you are grounded from Filly Scouts.”

“Yes,” she nearly choked. That was tougher.

“You’re not going on the camping trip either.”

“But I’ve been getting ready for months! We had to sell so many muffins!” She had started to crack.

“You should have thought of that before you beat up a filly in your troop!”

She had no excuse to give. The Filly Scout Law said to be a sister to every Filly Scout. She had broken that bond.

Her mom tied off her braid and levitated her and Pelican into bed. The white mare leaned down to stare into her in the eyes.

“I love you Cotton, but you hurt that filly. You can’t do that. If a situation escalates like that, you leave. You turn, and you run away as fast as you can. You leave. Okay?”

“Okay.” She was supposed to be better than this.

“I love you,” her mom said, kissing her forehead goodnight.

“I love you too” she answered back.

She clung to Pelican as the door closed on the dark empty room. She finally let her tears roll down her face to soak into her fur. She wanted to be good. She wanted to protect her friend. She didn’t want to be a bad filly. She didn’t want to hurt her mom. She didn’t want to make things worse. Why did everything have to change? She cried silently.

She wished he could just come home.

Quilted Comfort sat at her desk and re-read the same paragraph of the same project proposal for what was at least the third time. She absentmindedly stirred a tupperware of quinoa salad with a softly glowing fork. This was technically her lunch break, but that didn’t seem to matter here anymore. Her “In” pile towered ominously. She didn’t personally care about embroidery floss sponsorship deals, but she cared about her mortgage.

“Your life balance could be better.”

She thought about that. When was the last time that she had reached the bottom of this pile?. Workplace culture always demanded she give more. She pushed herself everyday, and what had the results been? Her workload had grown to follow her home and invaded what little family time she could scrape together. Was there enough family time left? Had her daughter’s unusual outburst been her lashing out for attention? These doubts swam through her mind like fish trapped in an aquarium that was too small. It was all so exhausting.

“You could take a break. Maybe you could read a book to clear your head.”

She opened her saddlebags and pulled out a crinkled turquoise invitation. It’s intricate swirling decorations stuck out in the cold and empty office. The large analog clock ticked ominously above her. When was the last time she’d had any time to herself? She sold it away for money, she sweated it away into maintaining her home, and the sad remainder was poured into Cotton. The vicious cycle was draining her dry.

“You could make it to the library. You could get the book Starlight wanted to share with her friend.”

That was true, it was only a short walk to the Library. Sire’s Hollow was a small town after all. She levitated on her saddlebags and moved to the door. Nopony would notice if she stepped out for a short walk. It would only be a few minutes.

“You could get the book Starlight wants you to read. It could be nice to repay a friend.”

Yes, that was why this was important. Starlight Glimmer had shown her kindness and returning that kindness was the right thing to do. She had only met the young mare briefly but she had still jumped into action to help them. The dusty dirt road dirtied her fetlocks as she passed under the hot summer sun.

“You could try the book club.”

Yes, she could try. All she had to do was try. Trying wouldn’t be hard, and if she didn’t like it she would go home. The bell on the library door jingled at her arrival. She moved to the classical literature section on the far side of the building. Following in alphabetical order, she pulled out a surprisingly crisp book stashed between dusty old tomes. It’s cover had a bold illustration of a broken plow. Broken Reflections by Golden Ivy.

“This could be good for you.”

Cotton levitated her paintbrush with only a slight shake. It was no longer so difficult a feat that it required every ounce of her concentration, but it wasn’t easy either. Astral Glow worked beside her. The blue unicorn’s fur was speckled with globs of wet paint.

The long afternoons they had spent working for Ms. Starlight Glimmer had been boring. It was clear why these simple small projects had been neglected for so long. She asked her friend, “How much do we have left?”

“Just the benches. We’ve weeded the butterfly garden, washed town hall’s carts, painted the park fences, and now the hoofball shed,” Astral answered. “I’m guessing only a day or two more.”

“We’ll be done before school ends this week. That’s great!” She thought summer break was short enough as it was without being grounded. Not to mention that the time away was an opportunity for the gossip to move on.

“No! It’s not great! This whole debacle is unjust! She attacked me, and you defended me. We got in trouble, and she didn’t. There isn’t anything great about it.”

Cotton wasn’t sure why things had worked out this way, but she was sure her friend was hurting. They spent some time painting in silence. Two fields, one red and one yellow, worked together without words.

“Her mark isn’t for trash you know.”

She didn’t interrupt. A good filly was a good friend, and a good friend knew how to listen.

“It’s for restoration. She got it for uncovering and restoring an ancient Earth Pony medallion. The sponge is for ‘washing away time and returning things to their former glory’. It’s not just for trash,”

Cotton put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. Ms. Lemon Glow had always been kind to her. She’d watched her countless times, and been there for every birthday and holiday she could remember. She had always been there for her, and Cotton would always defend her.

“I have a plan,” Astral said.

“A plan for what?”

“To prove it to everypony, and stop them from laughing. You’ve seen the way some ponies act around her. It’s only gotten worse since Peach Blossom. Everypony is talking about it again, and it hurts,” she said. “You’re grounded from the camping trip too right?”

“Yeah,” Cotton said sadly. She’d worked so hard to pay for that trip.

“We need to have our own mini camp out. We can set up the tent behind your house and have a campfire.”

“How will that help?”

“It’s better that I don’t tell you. If you don’t know the plan, then they can’t trick you into telling it to them. Starlight Glimmer said it's called planned ignorance.”

“Ms. Starlight Glimmer?” Cotton was surprised. “When have you been hanging out with her?”

“My mom and I started going to her book club. I haven’t talked to her very much, but she’s told me the truth about a lot of things nopony else will,” she said. “Just trust me. We have to convince them to let us have a camp out, and we need to get Summer Breeze to come too. I can get everything else ready, but I need you to do this.

Astral Glow stared at her with a pleading look of hope, but she didn’t need to. Astral was the smartest filly she knew, and she trusted her friend completely.

“Okay. We’ve got this.”

Quilted Comfort hesitated on the front stoop of an unfamiliar home and reread her invitation for the one thousandth time. She’d spent so much time thinking about what this could be like, that it was strange to actually be here. The white unicorn carefully raised a hoof to knock on the big wooden door in front of her.

“Quilted Comfort! I’m glad you could make it,” the pink mare answered cheerily. She bent down to look Cotton in the eyes. “And Cotton Crater! We’ve met before, but my name is Starlight Glimmer.” She offered the filly a hoof bump and led them inside to the kitchen. “Your friend Astral Glow is out in the backyard. There’s also a colt named Fleeting who is a bit younger than you, but I’m sure Astral can introduce you. If you go through the kitchen door right there you can join them. We’ll be in the living room if you need anything” she said.

“I also have a very important mission for an honest and trustworthy Filly Scout like you.” Starlight crossed her right foreleg across her chest in the Filly scout signal. Her daughter snapped to attention and copied the mare. “There is a box of grape popsicles in the freezer. In about forty five minutes I need somepony to get down three, open them, and share them with the other foals. Do you think you can handle it?”

“Yes ma’am!” The Cotton saluted.

“Then get out there cadette,” Starlight said. Quilted couldn’t help but giggle as her daughter rushed out the door.

“It seems like you may have done that before, Starlight,” Quilted chuckled. “Do you work with foals a lot at town hall?”

“Not particularly,” she said. “I just always remember to try and be the friend I needed when I was that age.” She motioned for her to follow her into the living room. “Oh, please excuse the mess.” Starlight carefully levitated a stack of heavy tomes out of the way .“My father is in the middle of a project on the history of the Summer Sun Celebration. His research has a tendency to spread out like this”

“Not at all! I of all ponies understand a little paperwork takeover. My own kitchen table is currently covered in reports that followed me home,” she reassured. She looked around at the many photographs and maps that decorated the walls. “ Your place is lovely.”

She led her into a plush living room where a large couch, an overstuffed chair, and a handful of bean bags were centered around a coffee table. Starlight settled in the chair, and Quilted opted for a beanbag next to Lemon Glow.

“You of course know Lemon Glow, but have you met Sugar Belle?” Starlight pointed a hoof at a pink unicorn with a poofy purple mane. She looked to be even a few years younger than Starlight. “She’s a baker downtown. She shared this recipe for raspberry scones with me.” She levitated a treat over. “Please, you must try one!”

Quilted politely took it with her own magic and bit into the treat. Something was just a bit off about the texture, but the sugar seemed to dance on her tongue. It was absolutely delicious.

“Well, I’m only an apprentice,” the mare deflected the compliment, ”I still have a lot of learning to do. Starlight Glimmer made those ones all by herself.”

“Starlight knows how to bake”

“You probably also recognize Night Glider from Barnyard Bargains” Starlight said gesturing to a navy Pegasus.

“Nice to meet you,” the pony smiled. “My pronouns are they, their, theirs. I’m sure we’ve chatted before, but never without me bagging your groceries. Ponies are usually more aware of the candy and magazines than they are of me. I get it though, it’s not exactly a mo’ mentos occasion!”

Sugar Belle snorted. “That was terrible!” Night Glider only smiled and took another scone. “You know, Night and I are best friends from back in school,”

“That’s the same as Quilted and me,” Lemon Glow said, pouring herself a glass of water.

“Though, I imagine our graduation is much farther behind us than is polite to mention,” Quilted said, eliciting quiet laughter from all six ponies.

“Last but not least, this is Capital Chance,”

“Starlight knows a lot of ponies.”

The large stallion nodded politely. “I’m in construction. Met Starlight here through the permit office. Something told me I had to join her book club. How do you know Ms. Glimmer?” Capital asked.

“She gave a tour to our daughters’ Filly Scout troop.” Lemon Glow answered cheerily.

“Oh you have foals too Ms. Comfort? My son Fleeting just finished up his first year of school. Is your daughter the same age as Lemon’s?” He asked.

“Yes. The two are practically inseparable. They’ve known each other their whole lives,” Quilted answered.

“Yeah, I wonder where they picked that up from,” Lemon said, rolling her eyes. Everypony chuckled.

“Was everypony able to get a copy of Broken Reflections all right?” Starlight asked. All heads nodded. “Good. I ordered extra from the inter-library loan, but you never can tell with these old systems. I’m glad my favor was able to pull us through.”

“Starlight understands bureaucracy”

“So what did everypony think of the leading mare?” Starlight asked.

“I thought she was very smart to clone herself with the mirror pool. It certainly seemed like it was a good plan to rescue Marebella” Lemon Glow said.

“It was definitely brave, but I don’t about smart. She didn’t know if it would work, but she tried it anyway. That’s bravery,” Night Glider said. “Though obviously her mirror clone kills her, so it didn’t exactly work out well.

“I liked that she stuck to her principles. Even when Marebella tried to convince her that she was the villain in the story instead of Marebella herself. She didn’t waver,” Quilted added.

“Did you like the ending?” Starlight asked.

“It was justified. Her cutie mark had doomed her from the start.” Lemon Glow said.

“What do you mean by that?” Quilted asked.

“Marebella’s cutie mark was too pure for the world she lived in. When she drowned herself she was fulfilling her destiny of optimism by removing herself from the crushing doom,” Lemon Glow said.

“You don’t think she should have tried to fight her mark?” Capital asked.

“Fight her cutie mark?” Quilted asked.

“Yeah. I assume both Lemon and I do it everyday. You didn’t think the orbiting moon on my flank meant cashier did you?” Night Glider laughed.

“Night Glider is right. We should all strive to be braver than Marebella. Other species don’t let cutie marks control them, so why should we? We are all ponies first. Neither it my cutie mark nor Equestria can tell me what to do” Starlight asserted.

“Starlight knows a lot about ponies”

“You could spend more time with Starlight”

Cotton sat on the floor of the living room. A rainbow of colored pencils was strewn about her. She quietly observed her mother writing at the kitchen table. Astral was depending on her, and a good filly was helpful. She lit her horn, cleaned up her work, and walked over to the kitchen table.

“Mom?”

The white unicorn hummed something vaguely positive, but didn’t look up. Cotton pulled up a chair and waited. A good filly was respectful, and wouldn’t interrupt. After a few minutes, her mom looked up and stopped.

“Oh Cotton,” she said, surprised “What is it?”

“I’ve got something really super important, but you have to come to the couch. I’ve prepared a presentation.”

“You’ve prepared a presentation?” the mare giggled. She ruffled Cotton’s mane. “You’re quite the little business-mare”

“Thank you,” she said. They moved to the living area and Cotton levitated up her first page. It was a picture of lots of ponies around a campfire dramatically crossed out in red.

“The situation is that I’m not supposed to go on the camping trip, but I learned my lesson and promise to be really good. So the proposed solution is that I get to have a sleepover in the backyard with my friends instead.” She replaced the picture with one of a big sad face.

“I am sorry I hurt Peach Blossom, and I will never do it again. She was mean to Astral, but I shouldn’t have hurt her. I was supposed to protect my friend by getting us away, and I was wrong to escalate things. I’m sorry.” She held up a picture of a pony sweeping.

“I’ve tried to prove I am sorry. I’ve done everything you asked me to, including lots of work for Ms. Starlight at town hall. I know I can’t go on the trip because Peach Blossom is going, but can I please have a sleepover in the backyard?” She held up a picture of three ponies around a tent.

“I was looking forward to the trip all year. I really wanted to go, and did lots of fundraising to pay for it. If I could just have two friends over, we could make a tarp tent and sleep outside. You wouldn’t have to help us with a fire, we could just have popsicles instead. We could play flashlight tag, catch fireflies, and you wouldn’t have to do anything. I just want to ask Astral Glow and Summer Breeze, so we won’t even be loud or anything!” She stared at her moms with eyes as big as the mare in the moon.

“Please?” she pleaded. The mare paused with a glassy vacant look in her eye. Then snapped back to reality and giggled again like nothing had happened..

“You have been paying attention! You only missed the summary. All my presentations have a summary near the start, but there is no doubt you're my daughter. Though the long black and red mane usually gives that away first.” she laughed. Cotton stuck out her bottom lip.

“Alright, you can put that face away. You can ask Astral and Summer if they want to come over on Friday after the last day of school.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She hugged her mom tightly. This would be perfect.

Quilted Comfort read through her grocery list one more time. Going to so many stores was tiresome, but economical. Rice, beans, lentils, and other dry goods were always cheaper at Barnyard Bargains. Her flyer said that they had a buy one get one deal at the fruit stand. If she walked out to the flower shop she had a coupon for daisies. She hated wasting so much time, and her hooves hurt, but they had been a two income family when she signed the mortgage.

She was so tired. Tired of working late every night, desperately trying to get promoted. Tired of staying up late to do all the cooking, cleaning, maintenance, and budgeting. She was tired of doing everything herself. She was tired of being alone.

“Starlight knows a lot of ponies.”

“They could be your friends.”

“Starlight could be your friend.”

That was right, she was making friends now. She shifted her heavy saddlebags to a more comfortable spot on her back. She missed when they had friends. She used to think their little star parties were boring. Now she missed leaning against him on the picnic blanket listening as some pony lectured on about light pollution. Now those ponies hurt to look at. All she could do was guess how much they had known.

She crashed face first into pink. Her saddlebags spilling out and under metal post drop boxes.

“Sorry!” Quilted apologized.

“It’s fine. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never crashed trying to read while walking.” Starlight Glimmer smiled.

“Yeah,” Quilted mumbled somewhat dazed. She lit her horn to gather her things.

“Oh let me get that for you,” Starlight interjected. The pink mare lit her own corona and ripped the blue metal mailbox clean out of the concrete. She held them floating as she levitated, dusted, and returned the groceries all at once. Then she liquified the cement, replaced the blue boxes, and re-hardened the concrete pad.

“Wow,” was all Quilted managed to say.

“Starlight could be the most powerful unicorn in town.”

“Thank you” the mare smiled. She looked at Quilted’s sale flyer. “Did you see if the strawberries look good this week?”

“No. Earth Pony magic or not, It’s just too late in the season. The only thing that they’re good for at this point is jam,” she answered.

“That’s too bad. Well I’ll see you soon?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’ll see Tuesday,” Quilted said. They parted ways.

“You could be more alike than you thought.”

“I think she’s asleep,” Summer Breeze whispered. Cotton poked her head up above the window sill to see. Her mom was at the kitchen table snoring.

“Good. Now we can start,” Astral Glow said. She led them back over to their sleeping bags. Cotton fidgeted uncomfortably. Good fillies respected authority.

“Peach Blossom lied to everypony. We have to help my mom prove she doesn’t eat trash.” Astral said. “Being a garbage collector is just her job. She has to use her mouth because she’s an Earth Pony. She doesn’t eat garbage. Her cutie mark is for restoration. We just have to find something for her to restore.”

“How do we do that?” Summer asked.

Astral levitated a page out of her pillow case. It’s edges were rough where it had been torn out of a book. In its center was an illustration of an oval shaped silver gemstone on a black ribbon.

“It’s a void medallion,” Astral said. “I got this from a book in Ms. Starlight’s Dad’s library. It says Lord Void lived in Sire’s Hollow a really long time ago and had these made for his guard during the civil war. They were enchanted to steal all your fear so his soldiers wouldn’t be afraid to fight other equestrians. If we get one for my mom she can restore it!”

“Did you steal that?” Cotton hesitantly asked.

“Of course not,” Astral said “Starlight and I just borrowed it.” Cotton wasn’t so sure that was true.

“That was so long ago though. Haven’t they already found all the metalons?” Cotton asked. She was worried about where this was going.

“It’s medallions, not metalons, and that’s why this is perfect. They’re super old, but Lord Void made hundreds of them. There were enough for a whole army, so there has to be at least one left!” she answered. “The book says he made his final stand along the stream. If we follow it away from town we’ll find a void medallion for sure!”

“It’s a treasure hunt!” Summer Breeze squealed. The small teal pegasus flipped in the air. “Let’s go right now!”

“Wait!” Cotton interrupted. “We can’t just leave!”

“Why not?” Summer asked.

“We’re supposed to stay in the yard. We can’t sneak away,” Cotton said.

“Yes we can,” Astral said. “Peach Blossom isn’t supposed to be a tribalist bitch, but she is anyway. We have to do this. Don’t you care about my mom?”

“Of course I want to help your mom! It’s just, are you sure this plan is the right plan? If our parents find out we’ll be in so much trouble.” Cotton worried.

“My mom is in trouble right now! I’m going to help her,” Astral said. “If you were a good friend you’d follow me.” She stomped off. Summer Breeze shrugged at Cotton and flew after Astral.

A good filly followed directions, but a good filly was also loyal to her friends. Her directions were to stay in the backyard, and to look after her friends. What was she supposed to do when she couldn’t do both?

Astral Glow was one of the only things she had left. It was dangerous on the fringe of the settled zone. Celestia only knew what could be waiting for them out there in the darkness. She couldn’t let anything bad happen to Astral Glow. If she couldn’t make her friends stay where it was safe, she had to look out for them where they were going.

“Wait for me!”

Willow tall and strong,

Wary justified,

Open up your heart,

On friends you should rely,

Airing out the chaff,

Rooted deep inside,

Whip away the doubt,

On friends you should rely,

Quilted pounded on the front door of one of the town’s few two-story buildings. She shouted, “Help! Help! Officer open up!”

A sleepy Earth Pony opened the door. “Yes miss,” he mumbled. She wished the town was big enough to have a twenty-four hour police station, let alone a proper royal guard outpost. Instead there was only a small apartment on the upper floor where one of the newer officers lived.

“Officer, my daughter is missing! She was having a sleepover in the backyard with her friends, and now they're gone! You have to help me find them!”

The stallion let out a long sigh. “Ma’am, a missing pony report can only be filed after the pony has been missing for twenty-four hours.”

“She’s just a filly! You have to come quickly!”

“The policy is to wait twenty-four hours. She’s probably just playing a prank with her friends, just ignore her ma’am.”

“Don’t stand there and ma-am me! Find my daughter!”

“Police policy is to wait twenty-four hours. Now go back to bed,” he started to close the door.

“You’re supposed to serve and protect! Is that what you call this bullshit! My daughter’s life is in danger!”

“Police policy ma’am.”

“Do your bucking job!”

The door slammed shut.

“Eat a dick ass wipe!”

“Starlight Glimmer might be the most powerful pony in town.”

“Starlight Glimmer knew how to help you last time.”

“Starlight Glimmer could help you now.”

“You know you need to find Starlight Glimmer.”

The white unicorn ran.

Two sets of hooves and one pair of wings carried three fillies through the night. The unicorns splashed from rock to rock. The pegasus glided just above the water’s surface. While her friends searched for a void medallion, Cotton’s eyes constantly checked their surroundings. She knew first hoof what monsters lived in the dark.

Gradually, backyards turned into farmland. That farmland turned into forest, and the mare in the moon became the only other pony around for what seemed like miles.

“Astral, this is boring,” Summer whined.

“We can’t stop now. We’re so close,” Astral said. Cotton’s eyes never left the surrounding darkness.

“But, you don’t, like, know that. Not for real. I’m…”

“Get down!” Cotton snapped. She leapt at Astral, shoving her roughly into a bush. In front of them the stream pooled into a small pond. Perched on a branch above the water was a six foot tall black bird. It’s pure white eyes glinted in the moonlight.

“What is that?” Summer whispered. They didn’t answer her. Cotton saw it had hunched shoulders like a vulture, but vultures weren’t that tall or fat.

“Look,” Astral pointed to the water below the bird. There was a pile of something silver below the surface.

“Are those the thingies?” Summer asked. The blue unicorn went to step out of hiding, but Cotton put a hoof on her chest blocking her.

“Wait. Look!” A raccoon quietly slipped into the water on the opposite bank. It swam towards the glimmering treasure. Cotton held her breath. When the animal was directly below it, the bird moved.

It’s long beak suddenly lunged down and impaled the raccoon. Blood dripped down as the mammal screamed. The bird flicked it off and up into the air like an egret, then caught it again up where the beak met face. The critter shriveled up like a raisin as all the blood was sucked out of it. The empty furry husk was then tossed away, and the bird resumed waiting.

Cotton and Astral both teared up at the horrific site. Summer barfed into the stream. The retching noise reverberated around the clearing. Empty white eyes turned to stare directly into the pegasus. It smiled an empty wicked grin.

With a flash the bird was gone, and in its place was a white pegasus stallion. He had no cutie mark, and no eyes.

“Hello little pony. Lose something?” He asked in an empty voice. He took off towards them.

“RUN!” Cotton yelled. Summer let out a guttural scream and took off. Astral froze at the sight of the fake stallion moving towards her.

“Doesn’t pony want a shiny? I can help you. Come here!” the monster called.

“No!” Cotton cried. She quickly turned around and ran back behind Astral. Using both her hooves and her magic she physically shoved her friend into action.

The sky darkened around them. Thick black clouds moved in to hide the sky. Electricity crackled across the stallion’s wings and he transformed back into the black bird.

“On your left!” Cotton screamed as lightning struck where her friend had been just moments before. Sweat dripped off Cotton’s nose but she couldn’t stop. The wind roared in her ears as branches began to come down around her.

The world flashed blue in front of her as Astral caught a stick moments before it smacked her in the face. That was it. Astral redirected the branch to smack the fat bird in the head. Cotton reached for her own magic and flung rocks blindly behind her.

Rain started to pour down. The ground became slippery with mud. The stream roared full of white water. The two little unicorns ran faster than they had ever run in their lives. Thunder boomed around them shaking the forest. The fat bird cackled behind them, firmly centered in the eye of the enchanted storm.

They were almost back to town. They just had to make it a little farther. Her horn blazed as she desperately flung anything she could grab behind her. She didn’t dare turn her head to look. In front of her, Astral slipped.

The little blue unicorn skidded hard. Her magic weak, Cotton shoved her friend with her whole body. The other unicorn latched on and pulled her into a roll as a sharp beak stabbed into the ground where they had both been standing.

Thunder boomed as the bird struggled to pull itself out of the muck. The fillies scrambled to find footing in the pouring rain. It’s giant wings crawled with lightning and it lunged towards them again.

The small body of Summer Breeze shot down through the cloud cover. She intercepted the lightning arcing towards them and redirected it back at the monster with her wings, stunning it.

The two unicorns cheered but wasted no time helping each other up. They finally burst through the tree line into the farm field at the edge of town. Summer and the bird followed behind them.

Cotton continued to scream as lights in homes began to blink on. The rain began to stop as Summer flew counterclockwise around him. She was unwinding the storm!

“Take that you big bully!” Astral cried as she threw a fence picket at him with her field. It proved to be too much for the burnt out filly though, as she then collapsed in pain. The bird saw, and turning away from Summer, rushed in for the kill.

“No!” Cotton cried. She pushed her horn into a double corona and tried to levitate the massive bird itself.

Then the world exploded green.

Ms. Starlight Glimmer teleported right in front of her. The mare’s magic seized the monster in a sparkling bubble, silencing it as it thrashed against its prison. The air began to warm. Ms. Glimmer’s horn sparked, and she lit the bird on fire.

“Stay away from here!” She commanded, and she teleported the creature away.

“Are you girls okay?” She asked.

“Mom! Dad!” Summer called as her parents flew over the horizon. She crashed into them with a hug.

Cotton saw her own mother and Lemon Glow galloping over the horizon. She ran to her own mother crying and was met with open forelegs.

“I’m sorry!” She sobbed into white fur. “I’m so sorry mom! I, I just, I wanted to, I’m sorry!”

“I’m here Cotton,” She hushed. A gentle hoof ran through her mane. “I’ve got you! You’re okay! You’re okay.”

“It’s all my fault.” Astral Glow said solemnly. “This was my plan. I was angry and I pushed them both to follow me into danger. This is my fault.”

Starlight Glimmer stood off to the side while all four ponies cried. They were all interrupted by a loud squeal from Summer Breeze.

“I got my cutie mark!”

Quilted Comfort lay in bed hugging her daughter close to her chest. After that ordeal, she didn’t plan on letting her go or sleeping anytime soon.

“Mom, are you still awake?” Cotton Crater squeaked out of the darkness. Quilted hummed an affirmative.

“How did you and Ms. Starlight Glimmer find us?”

“When I banged down her door she jumped straight into action. She teleported everyone together, and then we saw the wild storm. It wasn’t on the weather schedule, so she guessed it was an Impundulu and teleported us close. She was right, and was able to locate the monster.”

“That was lucky.”

“It was.”

“Why would you go to Ms. Starlight Glimmer to help though? Isn’t she just a book pony?”

“She could be the most powerful pony in the world!”

“Starlight knows about everything!”

“She could solve any problem you have!”

“Starlight knows all the answers!”

“Something inside me just told me I needed her.”

Chapter 3- Beacon

Quilted Comfort watched her daughter like a hawk. They walked together towards the community center. It hurt her to let her out of her sight, but she only got a handful of sick days. She had to trust that she would be safe at day-camp.

She broke the silence with a question. “Did you remember your hat?”

“Yes Mom. It’s in my saddlebags,” the little unicorn answered. Well, at the very least she could count on her being safe from the sun. It was not much of a relief.

The early morning air was quiet. The soft clopping of their hooves on the road was nothing compared to the pounding of her heart. She wished she didn’t need these camps. This week the Parks Department was hosting, next the Fillies and Colts club, and then the Egrets Society. All of these ponies were perfectly trustworthy foal-care providers who were capable of watching Cotton. She just had to trust that Cotton was going to listen to them.

“I need you to be on your best behavior. First you beat up Peach Blossom. Then you ran away, putting you and your friends in danger. This isn’t like you. I know it’s hard, but you need to turn this around. You know better.”

“I know,” the filly sulked.

“Do you? You could have been killed out there. You almost were killed out there. The world is already tough enough as it is. You don’t need to make it any harder,” she said. “We’re supposed to stick together. We’re a team, and I need to know what's happening in your life. We’re family.”

“Okay.” The filly said sadly.

The bigger unicorn stopped and leaned down for a hug.

“We’re okay Cotton, we can do this. I love you. You know that right?” She brushed the filly’s red and black mane out of her eyes. “I’ll go to work, and you go to day-camp. We do what we need to do, and before we know it it’ll be the Summer Sun Celebration. You love the Summer Sun Celebration!”

“Yeah,” she said, a bit more excited.

“We’ll stay up all night. We’ll eat way too much junk food. Then we’ll watch Celestia raise the sun. We just have to do the things we’re supposed to until then. Then it’ll be great.” She hoped for both of them that it was true.

“Promise?” Two big eyes stared up at her, glistening with tears.

Her heart melted. “Yeah, I promise.”

Cotton lay on the cool tile floor of the community center. She absent-mindedly worked on a themed coloring page of Princess Celestia. Astral Glow walked over and lay beside her.

The blue unicorn whispered. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” She whispered back. “Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Astral lit her horn and started rummaging through the bin of colored pencils. “I’ve had some nightmares, but it’s gotten much better.”

She nodded and accepted a purple one with her field. “Me too.”

The blue filly rolled over and stared up at the popcorn ceiling. “My mom says we should remember that we won. The bad guy is gone, and we’re not.”

The bad guy was gone? They were the ones who snuck out in the middle of the night. Cotton had known what the honest choice was, but she’d chosen Astral over following the rules. By trying to be a good friend she’d disrespected her Filly Scout promise. That wasn’t exactly good.

“Is your mom okay? We never got the medallion,” she frowned. They’d almost died out there and still hadn’t accomplished anything.

“She told me it probably wouldn’t have helped anyway. Her mark is still her mark, her job is still her job, and mean ponies are still mean. She said it takes more than one trick to change the culture of the herd,” Astral sighed.

“Everypony should know better. She’s lived here forever. FOR-EV-ER!” She banged a hoof on the floor. “That’s not fair.”

“No. It isn’t.”

They just sat there with each other, comfortable together in a moment of silent thought. Cotton tried to hold her field writing inside the lines of the page. She wished Ms. Lemon Glow could have a mark that made her happy.

“How grounded are you?” Astral asked.

“I’m not allowed to go anywhere by myself anymore,” Cotton answered. “ I have to stay where my mom can see me, unless I’m at day-camp.”

“Same.” The blue unicorn rolled her eyes. “We might as well be cuffed together.”

“My mom says we can still go to the Summer Sun Celebration though,” she smiled. “Are you going to get to come?”

“We’re still going.” She boredly blew a bit of yellow mane out of her face. “We’ll definitely see you there.”

“You, Summer, and I should all meet up and get funnel cake together. It will be nice.”

“You don’t know?” Astral rolled over to stare at her. “Summer Breeze moved.”

“What?” Her magic blinked out, dropping all her art supplies to the ground in shock.

“She got her cutie mark in storm busting, so her parents took her to audition for the Cloudsdale school for gifted pegasi. She got in. She busted that magic all by herself, so I’m not really surprised.” Her eyebrows knit with concern. “Why didn’t anypony tell you?”

“But it’s break! School doesn’t start back for more than a month," she said. One of the counselors hushed her from across the room.

“The gifted school does summer flight camps. She got a spot in one of those and moved into her dorm early,” Astral whispered.

“So she’s just gone?” She couldn’t believe her friend would just leave her like that.

“I guess so.” Astral shrugged, but her eyes suggested that she was hurt too.

“She didn’t even say goodbye," she sniffled.

“Nope.” Astral tried to put a comforting hoof on her back.

“She didn’t have a cuteceñera!” A few tears rolled down her face.

“Nope! She just flew away!” Astral shouted exasperated. The counselor from before hushed them again, more forcefully this time.

Her friend's anger was frightening. “Astral,” she said timidly.

“I thought she was our friend, but clearly I was wrong. She got her cutie mark and just left. She thinks she’s so much better than us with her new mark and fancy school. Too good to say goodbye to us trashy small town blank flank losers.” The filly started crying.

“Astral!” Cotton hugged her tightly.

“She just left us behind without saying goodbye,” Astral sputtered.

“She did,” she said. How could she think that was okay?

“Don’t leave me Cotton.”

“Never! We’ll always stick together. We’re a team. We’re family.”

The quilt they were using as a picnic blanket was old and faded, but it was still soft. Quilted Comfort was just happy to get to sit down. It was only a little after midnight, but they had already been running around the Summer Sun Celebration for hours. She watched as Cotton and Astral went through the inflatable obstacle course in front of her for what had to be at least the tenth time. How they still had that much energy was a mystery she didn’t think she’d ever solve.

A yellow hoof passed her a paper cup, which she gratefully took with her magic. Did anypony actually know how a lemon shake-up was supposed to be different than lemonade? She certainly couldn’t tell the difference. Who it was that gave the drink to her was kind of silly though.

“Thanks Lemon,” she giggled.

“Yeah, yeah.” The Earth Pony rolled her eyes. “You’re welcome.”

She took a sip of the icy beverage. “How are you holding up?”

The mare sat down with her own cup. “Tonight? I’m tired. In general? It’s weird.”

“Weird how?” she asked.

“Nopony cares. Three fillies almost died to a bloodsucking monster bird, but nopony is even talking about it. Remember when I went on that blind date with that stallion who wore his mane in a bun? Stellar Flare talked about that for four weeks straight. So why is everypony just pretending everything is fine now?” She shook her mane out of her face. “It’s weird.”

It was weird. “Maybe they’re scared?”

“They should be scared! Three children almost died, but only one in this town reacting is Starlight Glimmer. Not the mayor, not the police, but freaking Firelight’s daughter.” The Earth Pony shook with anger. “Why isn’t anypony doing anything?”

“What are we supposed to do?” she asked sadly. “I’ve been watching Cotton. She goes to camp, and she goes next to me. No more Filly Scout meetings and no more walking places by herself. All I can do is make her stay where I can protect her.”

“The town should protect her! You’re not a royal guard. You can’t be expected to be responsible for monster attacks. That’s why we appoint ponies to deal with this shit. An officer or a guard should have been there and saved them that night. The mayor should be working to make sure it never happens again. But here we are and nopony is even talking about it. It’s just you, me, and Starlight Glimmer. How bucked up is that?”

“Starlight Glimmer could make change”

Quilted Comfort hugged her friend.

“This started when they beat up that filly for saying something about me being an Earth Pony. Every year we have Hearth's Warming and pretend that we ended all our tribalist ideas before Equestria was founded. But centuries later here we are, complacent. She’s even a freaking Earth Pony herself, we’re just that screwed up.” Lemon paused and took a long drink. “Then, a literal monster comes to drink our children’s blood. You cannot get more straightforward evil than that. Yet here we are doing nothing. The world is falling apart around us, but nopony can be bothered to even watch!”

“Well, I’m still here for you,” she said. “Starlight Glimmer’s here for you too. All the ponies we’ve met at our book club, I bet they care too. So, maybe we’re just a few friends, but we’ll get through this together.”

Cotton carefully climbed the steps of the ladder while her mother held it steady with her magic. Going up on the roof had always been special. When she was little, she had thought that the enchantments on the shingles gave them wellsprings, and was very concerned that they were alive. She used to apologize for stepping on them, and would make her dad thank the roof for carrying both them and his telescope. Of course she knew better now.

Her mom floated up the end of the hose. They weren’t going to do any fireworks themselves this year, but that didn’t mean their neighbors weren’t participating. Cotton lit her own horn and spread out their quilt. It might have been a little mucky and have a few grass stains, but it was still more comfortable than the scratchy surface under their hooves. Both unicorns were hot and sweaty from the summer weather, but they were tired enough that it didn’t matter. They snuggled up together facing east.

Cotton yawned. Shortly the fireworks began to go up from the hoofball field. They watched the stunning display without talking. There were flickering green ones, gold ones with long dripping tails, and big pink and gold bursts. They all thundered through the sky with breathtaking majesty.

Cotton’s eyelids began to droop, and they waited for Princess Celestia to raise the sun.

The fireworks ended, but the grand finale didn’t come. They kept waiting.

She yawned again. The ponies must have messed up the timing. She sleepy thought about how disappointed they must have been. It was too bad.

Eventually, her eyes closed. Cotton drifted off to sleep.

Quilted Comfort squinted at the horizon. This was pretty weird. She didn’t know what time it was, but the fireworks had never been this early before. She looked up to see if the moon had moved at all. It hadn’t budged, but it did look smooth for some reason. Why couldn’t she see any craters?

She didn’t see the point in sitting around waiting any longer. Cotton had been asleep for a while now anyways. She carefully levitated the sleeping filly down to the ground. It took a lot of effort. The smaller unicorn wasn’t as small anymore, and was much heavier than she used to be. She took a moment to rest and wiped the sweat of her brow. Then she climbed down herself, lifted her daughter onto her back, and drudged inside.

The clock on the stove said 7:08am, but that just couldn’t be right. She checked the weather schedule on the fridge. Sunrise was supposed to be more than forty minutes ago. She snapped awake. Something was very wrong.

“Starlight knows a lot of ponies”

“Starlight knows about everything”

“Starlight knew how to save you last time.”

She needed to find Starlight Glimmer. She wanted to run, to gallop. She shifted the foal on her back. She wouldn’t let Cotton out of her sight. Not again. Carefully, she walked towards town.

Starlight Glimmer’s small home was in chaos. The house was fully illuminated against the dark night sky. The sight was almost comforting. A familiar navy pegasus rushed over to her.

“Quilted Comfort! I was just going to check on you! Are you and Cotton okay?”

“Night Glider!” She was relieved to see a familiar face. “ We’re fine. What’s happening?”

“Firelight and the rest of the historical society think this whole thing is Nightmare Moon,” Night Glider said.

“Nightmare moon?” Quilted’s eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Like Nightmare Night Nightmare Moon?”

“Firelight says the legend is based on a real pony from the civil war. Apparently they were important enough to be personally banished by Celestia. Some books claim she’d come back 1,000 years after banishment for revenge. Turns out that anniversary was yesterday.”

“Nightmare Moon isn’t real,” Quilted balked. “That’s insane!”

“Not so much when you consider the bucking sun is missing.”

She shifted Cotton on her back.

“Sorry.” Night Glider blushed. “Come on, everypony else is inside.”

“Everypony else?”

“All of the book club, and a couple new faces. Turns out nopony cares about y’all’s incident with the monster bird untill they have to face their own monster.” Night Glider shuddered. “Now they want the most powerful unicorn in town to protect them too.”

The living room was crowded. Six ponies were already crammed into the small sitting area. They sat on both furniture and the floor, while older ponies breezed through with cardboard boxes. Starlight Glimmer stood near Sugar Belle where they were talking to unfamiliar white Earth Pony.

“Quilted!” Lemon Glow hugged her. “Thank goodness!”

“We’re fine, just frightened.” she said. “Where’s Astral Glow?”

“Asleep with the other foals over there.” Lemon gestured to a pile of beanbags and pillows under the kitchen island. The filly slept under a softly glowing blanket alongside Capital Chance’s colt son and an unfamiliar filly.

“Here, take this.” The Earth Pony passed her a black and white fleece blanket. Like the one on Astral, it was also glowing. “Starlight enchanted them with a sleep charm and some basic protective wards.” The yellow mare gulped. “They can’t panic if they’re asleep.”

She levitated Cotton down onto a cushion, but then hesitated. Was this a good idea? If they were in danger the foals wouldn’t be able to run.

“Starlight knows what she’s doing.”

That was right. She should listen to Starlight Glimmer. Quilted tucked the fleece in around her daughter.

She walked over to the rest of the group and found a spot on the rug. Night Glider and Lemon Glow settled down beside her.

“Quilted!” Sugar Belle passed her a cup of coffee. The younger mare was shaking. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Quilted Comfort,” Starlight Glimmer turned to look at her. “Are you and your daughter okay?”

“We’re fine, just frightened,” she said. “What’s going on?”

“Everypony. Everypony can I have your attention please?” Starlight asked politely. All eyes turned to her. “Now that we know all our friends are safe, we need a plan.” She lit her horn and teleported in a black marker. Her field ripped the decorations off the wall behind her. Without looking she wrote ‘What we know’.

“I’ll start with the obvious. One, the sun didn’t come up this morning.” The marker copied that down.

“Two, nopony is hurt,” Sugar Belle whimpered. “That we know of.”

“Three, the historical society thinks this is part of an attack by Nightmare Moon, who is real,” Starlight moved on.

“They think Sire’s Hollow will be attacked?” Sugar Belle squeaked. “But we’re so small!”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to hit bigger cities first?” an unfamiliar mare asked. “Our town isn’t even big enough for a public pool.”

“It was an important battleground in the civil war, but that was 1,000 years ago,” Lemon Glow thought aloud.

“Exactly,” Starlight said. “We don’t know what information the Nightmare has. She might think we’re still the duchy stronghold from the past, or she might know we’ve become a small farm town. We don’t know what she knows.”

There was a poignant pause in conversation while they all carefully considered this. Quilted looked around the room at the faces of fear and sorrow that surrounded her. Even Capitol chance looked like he was going to throw up.

“Five, if the sun doesn’t come up, we will eventually die.” Quilted said. Starlight solemnly added it to the list.

“Freezing. Starvation. Without photosynthesis, we might even run out of oxygen,” Capital Chance said. Everypony instinctively touched a hoof to their necks. A few tears fell softly.

“So we know the end goal,” Starlight said, starting a new column. “Restore the sun. Option 1, Princess Celestia does it.”

“But we don’t know what happened to her. She might be blocked by Nightmare Moon’s dark magic, imprisoned, or dead,” a white stallion said.

“That’s true,” Starlight said, “and two of those scenarios are theoretically solvable.”

“Option 2, Nightmare Moon does it.” Night Glider said. “Maybe she can be convinced not to end the world.”

“You can’t rule the dead,” Sugar Belle whispered. Everypony shuddered. This time Capitol did throw up.

“Option 3, unicorns do it,” Starlight said, ignoring him.

“The unicorns haven’t raised the sun since ancient times,” Lemon Glow said. “How many fields would it take to equal an alicorn?”

“We know the council of the sun was only five grand mages, but they were the most powerful ponies of their age. If we enchant a magic circle in crystal and platinum, I’m estimating around 150 regular ponies,” said Starlight. “We’ll need more if the Nightmare is blocking it with a spell.”

“Option 4, Princess Cadence does it,” Lemon Glow said.

“She’s just a fledgling alicorn, is that even possible?” Quilted asked.

Nopony answered. Nopony knew.

Starlight took her own drink of coffee. “Can anypony think of anything else?”

Silence filled the room.

“Then it’s time to take action.” Starlight’s horn blazed in a shining cone of pure blue light. The mare stood up. “There is only one choice that isn’t alicorn dependent, we have to raise the sun ourselves. This is what we’re going to do.”

“Night Glider, you and the other pegasi fly west to Rockwood. Tell them what’s happening and get all their unicorns to meet us halfway at Cattail Pond. The two towns together might have enough unicorn power.” Night Glider saluted.

“Capital Chance, go tell Mayor Favor what’s happening. You're tougher than him in every way. Don’t let him try to push you around.” The stallion smiled nervously.

“Everypony else, we meet back here in an hour and a half. Tell everypony. We need food, water, blankets, and platinum. If you have an enchanted electronic device like a toaster, grab it. Bring it to me and we're going to harvest it’s platinum. If you have a cart, bring that too. We need to carry the foals, elderly, and ourselves as we take turns sleeping.” Quilted instinctively looked over towards Cotton.

“We can do this everypony. Our ancestors cycled the sun and moon for eons before the first alicorn ascended. With only the primitive technology of the distant past, they accomplished the feat through teamwork alone. We have every advantage. We are our ancestors' wildest dreams. We will do this, and we’ll do it together!”

“YOU BELIEVE IN STARLIGHT GLIMMER”

“I believe in Starlight Glimmer," Quilted muttered under her breath.

The pink mare smiled. “I’ll see you in an hour and a half.

Somepony whispered in her ear. “Cotton, you need to get up now.”

She slowly cracked open her eyes. The stars twinkled overhead.

“What time is it?” She groaned groggily. She looked around, they were outside. She yawned. “Where are we?”

“Where out by Cattail Pond. I need your help. Princess Celestia still hasn’t raised the sun yet, so we’re all going to do it ourselves.”

“What?” That didn’t make any sense. Princess Celestia was the alicorn of the sun. She'd controlled the sun forever.

“I’ve got a very important job for you. Do you see Starlight Glimmer?”

The mare’s horn was blazing in a shining cone of light. She had marked out a huge circle on the ground and was carefully weaving in and enchanting bits of platinum and gemstones.

“Yeah,” she said confused.

“We need to get the platinum out of our stuff and give it to her.” She levitated over two screwdrivers. “So I need you to take these and start taking things apart. When you’ve got it open give it to me. Starlight Glimmer needs me to get the platinum out for her, okay?” She passed Cotton her sewing machine.

“You want me to break your sewing machine?” Cotton let out another yawn. “But you never let me touch your sewing machine. You told me that the only thing we have that’s more expensive is our house. I’m supposed to break it?”

“Yes. I believe in Starlight Glimmer,” she said robotically.

Cotton frowned. Not fully awake, she started to work. She took apart the toaster, the hairdryer, the coffee maker, and all the other enchanted electronics from their home. Why hadn’t the sun come up? Why was everypony acting like this? This whole thing didn’t make much sense.

Everywhere she looked she saw ponies sitting on the ground just like them. Ponies huddled close to their loved ones. They were methodically breaking all their enchanted electronics just like them. Young and old both sweated fear. A few Pegasi were up above working on the weather, nervously clearing clouds from in front of the moon. Starlight a Glimmer was working in the center of it all, staring down at the massive magic circle.

“This is weird,” she said.

Her mom didn’t look up from her work, and carefully extracted another crystal. “You think this is weird?” she asked.

“Normally the sun comes up at the end of the fireworks, and then everypony has the day off to do summer things. Ponies go to the pool, they eat ice cream, they blow bubbles. Everypony here is either crying or about to cry.” She looked over to where she saw Astral and Lemon collecting platinum. “Princess Celestia is an alicorn. She practically invented being a good pony, so we don’t have to cry. The good pony always wins, that’s why we know they’re good.”

“Oh Cotton,” her mom sniffled. They were interrupted by the sound of hooves and wagons.

“It’s Rockwood!” Somepony shouted. The air was filled with cheers as a crowd of ponies came rushing down the road towards them.

“They came!” Her mother smiled with tears in her eyes.

Cotton was confused, but she didn’t say anything. Everypony looked so scared. Good fillies were considerate and caring. She wouldn’t add to her mother’s burden.

The minutes passed by slowly. Cotton unscrewed panel after panel until all they ran out of enchanted objects.

“Here.” Her mom levitated her a sandwich. “We both need to eat something before its time.”

They sat on the ground with their lunchbox. Peanut butter sandwiches, grapes, and graham crackers. It was just like what she took to school. Eating this food was so normal, but nothing about this day was normal.

“Look!” Night Glider shouted. “Look at the sky!”

“The sun is rising!”

“It’s back! Sweet Celestia, the sun is back!”

“We’re saved!”

“The Princess did it!”

“Praise the alicorns!”

Cotton looked at her mom. The white unicorn laughed and cried. She scooped Cotton up to her chest in a hug. Tears streamed into her fur as her mother spun her round and around dancing for joy.

All around them ponies celebrated. Lemon Glow hugged Astral. Capital Chance kissed his wife. Sugar Belle and Night Glider danced with joy. Ponies everywhere embraced their friends and family, and celebrated the new dawn.

In the center of it all stood Ms. Starlight Glimmer. The young mare stood proudly and gazed up at the sky with her horn still blazing. Cotton could feel the power radiating off her. She didn't hug anypony. The shining unicorn stood all alone.

A power shining bright,

the fibers organize,

scraping back and forth,

the voices harmonize,

straighten out the herd,

a beacon’s shining skies,

bring together hope,

the voices harmonize,

Cotton Crater lay in the grass and sobbed. She'd only sobbed like this once before. Her mother stroked her mane with a hoof, but it didn’t matter. Good fillies didn’t throw tantrums like this, but she hadn’t been very good lately. She still wanted to be good, but her world was crashing down around her. It had been for a while now, and everything was wrong.

“It isn’t fair!” Her sobs shook through her whole body.

“It isn’t,” her mother said.

“She just takes everything! It isn’t fair!” Good fillies didn’t make a scene, but she didn’t care who saw her.

“She took the moon! She took the princesses! She took the Summer Sun Celebration! She’s a thief!” She could feel the grass staining her coat, but that didn’t matter. She couldn’t hold it together.

“Thief’s are supposed to be punished! The good guys are supposed to catch the bad guys and take them to jail! Why wouldn’t they do that? Why would she go to jail?” Her mother didn’t answer.

“No, the bad guy gets everything! Instead of jail they gave her a makeover! They made her Princess of the night and now we all have to bow to her! She gets a crown, and a throne, and a spot on the flag! It’s not fair!”

“But that wasn't enough, so she stole his name too! She’s not Princess Luna, she’s the Nightmare! She’s Nightmare Moon! My Daddy is Lunar! She can’t be Luna! My Daddy is Lunar! She can’t have it!” Cotton screamed in anger.

“Lunar Crater is my Daddy! Just because he’s gone to the shadowplanes doesn’t mean she can steal his name! She’s a bad pony! The bad pony doesn’t get to win! It’s not fair!”