Starlight, Starbright, the Brightest Star I See Tonight

“It’s almost time for me to have dinner with Sunburst, anyway,” Starlight muttered as she brushed her mane and pressed a cold towel against her eyes to make them a bit less red.

It was a routine that they’d held to for years, and that Starlight looked forward to so much, but that Sunburst never seemed to enjoy as much as her.

“Is that all I’ve got?” she asked herself, opening one eye to look at herself in the mirror. “Putting my heart out there day after day, and just wasting my best friend’s time?”

She hesitated, grimacing.

“She is my best friend, right? Is that why I care so much? She’s my friend? Am I her best friend?”

Starlight looked away from the mirror, and then walked to the window where she took a moment to look down on the forest, breathing deep and fighting the tears.

Then the door chime sounded.

“Luna, I swear by the stars,” Starlight growled as she trotted to the door and opened it, instead revealing her double.

“Hey,” Bright said with a nervous smile.

She looked different. A bit taller, a bit thinner, her mane and tail cut rough and choppy instead of smooth and swooped, and her coloration was a few shades lighter.

Just enough had been changed to make it unlikely for somepony to mistake her for Starlight.

“What do you want?” Starlight asked, keeping her tone as calm as she could.

“Well, Luna chewed me out a bit for not being sensitive to your situation, and pointed out that you’re pretty much responsible for my creation, so I should get on your good side.”

“It’s fine,” Starlight said firmly, even if she didn’t feel fine.

She walked away from the door, leaving it open so that Bright could follow her into her apartment, which she did.

“So this entire place is a ship that sails the stars, huh?”

Starlight chuckled, though it felt hollow as she looked up through the skylight at the stars in the distance.

“Yes. Equestria sails the stars, two and a half million ponies in a technological marvel, soaring through space in search of a new home.”

“What happened to your planet?” Bright asked, untroubled by the sheer scale of the ship and the mission it was on.

“In the industrial age, the Wendigo crafted ponies into worker bees for chaos,” Starlight recited from the history books she’d learned from when she was young. “We gladly gave up our cutie marks to them for their benevolent rulership and a day-to-day existence until the Alicorn sisters, Celestia and Luna, defeated them. The First Revolution united under them, only to realize that the world was destroyed. Frozen and decaying before their eyes. They used Wendigo technology to build shelters and greenhouses, but with most of the other races of the planet dead, they were living in a tomb hostile to life. So, they dedicated their efforts to escaping their world, and its cursed magic.”

Bright listened, smiling a little bit as it was all explained.

“Luna seems pretty much the same as my Luna. Except that she’s a giant computer.”

“Luna and Celestia couldn’t leave their celestial bodies,” Starlight said, trying to keep her tone level even as her brow furrowed with annoyance. “So they stayed behind. I bet I could have Luna just download a historical database into your mind.”

“No thank you, I prefer you telling it. It’s more real that way,” Bright said casually. “So, you really don’t like your axioms being challenged. I get that. But–”

A chime interrupted her, and Celestia’s voice spoke.

“Starlight, you wanted me to remind you if you were ever about to be late to a dinner with Sunburst.”

“Thank you, Celestia,” Starlight said, taking the opportunity to go to the door. “Bright, feel free to hang out here. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

“Can I come with you?”

“No.”

Starlight closed the door and galloped to the lift, not wanting to give her doppelganger a chance to catch up to her as she descended to the ground floor and then made her way quickly to Cafe Del Sol.

Usually she was there well before Sunburst, but this time Sunburst was just being seated when she arrived.

“Sorry I’m late.”

Sunburst laughed and set her purse down so she could hug her.

“It’s fine. I get to be the name on the receipt for once,” Sunburst said fondly. “You look like you’ve been running! Are you alright?”

“Something at work kept me, Celestia had to remind me I was getting close to being late,” Starlight said with a pained smile, finally sitting down and dabbing at her forehead with a napkin.

“Any interesting projects I’m allowed to know about?” Sunburst asked, a sparkle in her eyes.

The intense focus struck Starlight, grabbing at her heart.

That was the admiration and curiosity that Starlight craved. She wanted someone to pay attention to her like that, but she had to wonder why it had taken her almost being late to bring it out.

But after a second of thought, Starlight realized she didn’t usually talk about her work. She thought it was too technical, or too specific to beinteresting to someone who worked with raw magic and the theory and emotions necessary to use it. She imagined it was as different from programming as flying was from swimming.

Starlight wasn’t sure what she could share about her current situation. She’d summoned a digital clone of an alternative version of herself, and was contemplating whether she was depressed or if her nature was simply to be isolated and subtly unhappy.

It surprised her to realize that she would be least comfortable admitting to the latter of the two.

“Equestria to Starlight?” Sunburst asked softly.

“Sorry, it’s kind of weird… if you don’t mind weird,” Starlight stammered as the waiter approached.

“Are you ready to order?” he asked with the same friendly smile he had almost every day.

“Right, my usual sandwich. Pumpernickel for the bread.”

He nodded to Starlight and looked to Sunburst.

“Could I have the leek soup with garlic bread?” she asked, as though there was a chance that she’d be told no.

That was one of the many things Starlight admired about her best friend, her shy nature that she still pushed through. Her kindness in every situation she could manage it. It was no wonder that she was a teacher, she felt.

“Absolutely, miss, I’ll have your waters out in a moment. Sparkling?”

“Yes please,” Sunburst agreed.

Then finally, the waiter was gone.

“So… I don’t mind weird,” Sunburst said, grinning. “I never have.”

“Right, right,” Starlight chuckled. “Well… I’ve created a sub-conscious in Luna, with her permission of course.”

“A new core?” Sunburst gasped. “Like Cadance?”

“No, no, not even close,” she said quickly. “Limited to a level of intellect and magical power on level with mine. She’s modeled… after a version of me. From another universe.”

“Can I meet her?”

Starlight paused, and looked at Sunburst with a slight smile.

Sunburst didn’t have any grim questions or doubts, she didn’t scold her about the ethics of the situation, she just had curiosity. Curiosity and fascination.