Star Gazer skipped down the stairs of the schoolhouse, merrily humming to herself. Foals and fillies rushed past her, laughing and talking amicably with their friends. None of them even spared her a glance, but that was okay. She was lost in her head anyway. She always was. Her father called her a dreamer. He said she always had her head up in the clouds. She didn’t quite understand what that meant. She was a unicorn, not a pegasus. She couldn’t have her head stuck in the clouds. Unless…
What if there was a way for a unicorn to touch the clouds. Without a spell or a hot air balloon. To fly like a pegasus. Maybe like a device a unicorn could strap onto their backs. Or…maybe they could float, like she did in her dreams at night. Maybe…
“Star?” A voice behind her asked, making her skid to a stop.
However, Star Gazer stopped mid-skip and she tripped over her own hooves, falling the rest of the way down the stairs. She grunted as she tumbled, making a pink earth pony gasp in worry. The earth pony rushed down the stairs, not hesitating to help Star to her hooves. Star had slowly become more clumsy lately, but that was no big deal. She had big dreams anyway. A little clumsiness didn't matter to her.
“Oh dear…are you okay, Star? I didn't mean to startle…are you hurt?” Cheerilee asked frantically, quickly checking her over. More so than if any other student fell.
Star Gazer used her small purple ombre tail to hide her flank. Not because it was blank, but because she could already feel a bruise forming there. Bruises formed so easily on her nowadays it seemed.
“I’m fine, Miss Cheerilee. Don’t worry,” Star Gazer assured with a giant smile that was fully genuine. “I’m not hurt or anything.”
Cheerilee narrowed her eyes, clearly not believing the little filly. Star kept her smile on her face, every bit of it genuine. After a moment of silence, Cheerilee finally answered. “I just wanted to remind you that you need to go straight to the hospital. No dilly dallying and no getting distracted. You hear me? Your father will be waiting for you there.”
“Yes, I know.” The young unicorn filly said, waving a hoof. “See you tomorrow, Miss Cheerilee!”
The young filly skipped away, humming merrily to herself once again. But, for the second time, she was stopped. But instead of a voice, she bumped into something hard and warm. She was knocked off her hooves as she heard a voice that wasn’t her own grunt.
Star rubbed her head before looking up briefly at the thing she ran into. Sitting on the ground, huffing in frustration, was a pink earth pony with a purple and white mane and blue eyes. Star tilted her head. She didn’t recognize thi…yes, she did! This was the fourth day in a row she saw this earth pony filly. Admittedly, Star wanted to say hello and make the filly feel welcome but…she had to admit she was a little distracted most of the time and had…other things to worry about.
When the filly looked up, she glared at Star, but there was no…hmm…Star didn’t know what to call it. It just didn't feel genuine.
“Watch where you’re going, blank flank freak!” The pink filly snarled.
Confused, Star looked down at the pink filly’s flank and saw that she, too, was a blank flank. She tilted her head in confusion. “But…you’re a blank flank…”
“Yeah, but I’m gonna get my cutie mark soon. And it’s gonna be way better than yours,” the pink filly bragged snidely, her nose scrunched up.
Star Gazer blinked before her eyes widened, completely oblivious to the pink filly’s tone as she gasped. “You really think you will? What do you think it’ll be? Something silver, I know that much. Silver would go great with your complexion. I’m no fashion designer, but it would look so pretty on you. Oh, and your eyes are so pretty. I love that shade of blue. They remind me of the ocean,” Star gasped again. “Have you ever seen the ocean before? Ooh…I can just imagine what it looks like. I bet the water reflects the night sky. Ooh, and I bet the sparkles on its surface look like stars when the sun shines on it. And…”
The pink filly was silent, staring at Star with bewilderment, as Star rambled on about what she believed the sea would look like. The filly could feel herself growing annoyed, especially since this weird blank flank wasn't even giving her a chance to speak. Which was…so rude.
"Uh, you haven't seen the sea?" The pink filly asked with a little bit of disgust.
"Of course I have!" Star said excitedly. "I see it most nights. But I also like to visit the constellations and a sea of moonlight and…"
The pink filly scoffed. "You can't visit the constellations. I should know. I'm Diamond Tiara, daughter of Spoiled and Filthy Rich, the richest ponies in town. If it could be done, I'd be able to do it."
"Ooh, that's a pretty name. I'm Star Gazer. And I visit them almost every night. I go to sleep, and I wake up in the most beautiful places."
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, scoffing. This mare was an idiot. "That's not real. It's a dream. Dreams aren't real."
"Of course they're real!" Star exclaimed with a smile.
"No. They're not. They're make believe." Diamond said firmly, crossing her hooves.
"My mommy always said, in all of our make believe, there's some reality."
"Well, your mom was wrong. My mother on the other hoof is always right." Diamond paused before looking away and admitting. "Besides, I've never had dreams like that."
"You've never seen the ocean? Or the moon? Or…" Star Gazer trailed off when she saw the look on Diamond's face.
When Diamond realized Star was silent, she quickly sobered up, looking at Star snidely, but there was no real oomph to it. "Of course I've seen the ocean. My parents and I took a trip on a luxurious airship and went to the Equestrian Sea for a whole two weeks. Though, it's no surprise you haven't. You look poor." Diamond gave Star a look over, full of judgement.
Star Gazer gasped. "I know! We can have a sleepover! Then you can dream too!"
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow, speechless. Finally, she was able to make her mouth form words. "You...want to have a sleepover...to teach me how to dream?"
Star nodded. "Yep. Well, it's not really dreaming since we don't sleep. It's really fun. What do you think?"
Diamond was silent for a moment, biting her lower lip. She had to admit, she was curious about what this filly was offering. Something about her was drawing her, Diamond had to admit. There was something irrefutable about this filly, she just didn't know what. But she was interested. If there was a way to escape her old life...
"Fine. But I'm not going to your poor house. If we're gonna do this, it's gonna be at my house." Diamond said, raising her nose in the air. "Five o'clock sharp. Don't be late." And with that, Diamond stood up and walked away, her nose still in the air.
Star Gazer shrugged before skipping off down the road. She followed it, humming a tune to herself. She followed the road that lead through Ponyville, ponies watching her with concerned expressions as she passed by. That was when she noticed the time on Ponyville's brown clock tower and gasped as she realized she was running late. She gasped, running the rest of the way through town in hopes that she wasn't too late....
Star Gazer ran through the doors of Ponyville General, panting heavily as she skidded to a stop just inside the lobby. She dropped her head, hoping to catch her breath as exhaustion over took her. She collapsed to her knees, suddenly feeling dizzy and light headed.
"Star!" A familiar voice called out to her. She suddenly felt the warm glow of unicorn magic engulf her and lift her up onto a pony's back. "Star, gosh dang it. What did I tell you about wandering? Now look at yourself. You had to rush over here and you've worn yourself out."
Star Gazer waited so she could finally catch her breath before answering. "I'm...sorry...Daddy. I didn't wander. I made a new friend."
The stallion sighed and even though Star Gazer's eyes were closed, she could feel her father shaking his head. "Star...dang it. What did I tell you. I even had Cheerilee remind you."
"Don't get distracted, I know. But it's not my fault, Daddy. I ran into the pony and she's new to school so I had to say hi and then I realized that she never dreamed like I have before and..."
Star trailed off when they got closer to the room and Star felt her father tense. She knew this wasn't easy for her father and she had to be strong for him. Sure, he tried his best to be strong for her, but if he found out just how hard this was for her too, it'd make this that much harder. So she had to be strong for him, no matter how hard it was for her.
"Hey, don't worry about me, Daddy. I'm okay."
"I'll always worry about you, my shooting star. That's a given."
And with that, the two ponies entered the room, father and daughter.
Diamond paced the length of her room. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. It was just some silly filly. A blank flank poor filly at that. But something she said, something that made her pause. And since her father and mother were out of town for the night, it was perfect. She didn't believe it, but if there was any chance of escape, she'd happily take it. She'd do anything for an escape.
Suddenly, Diamond heard the doorbell ring, making her stop in her pacing. Her head lifted and she stood there in nervous trepidation. She swallowed and took a deep breath, becoming the ponysona she created for herself. Even though her hooves shook, she presented herself in a calm and collected manner.
She put her normal scowl back on and walked downstairs, opening the door and finding a light purple coated unicorn filly with a dark purple ombre tail. She had a pair of saddlebags over her back and a wide smile on her face. Diamond scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Well well well, it appears the circus has arrived."
It was a weak insult and she knew it. But she was too nervous to think of something better. Something inside told her this was gonna fail and she just wanted to get it over with. She tried her best not to get her hopes up, but at this point, it felt inevitable. A part of her, even just a small part, hoped this would succeed. Anything that would make living with her snobby, stuck up parents easier.
"Oh! I've always wanted to go to the circus. I hear it's so fun!" Star Gazer said with a big bright smile.
Diamond Tiara took a frustrated breath. While she genuinely did start to like this filly...a tiny bit...this filly did frustrate her from time to time. Including now. Was she really this socially dense? Or did she just choose to ignore it? Diamond prayed it was the second.
Without a word, only a huff, she led Star Gazer upstairs to her room where Star stopped, staring in shock at the room before her. There was so much...pink. Light pink, granted...but still...pink. A pink canopy bed with silver lights. Light pink and silver curtains. And a balcony?! Pink rug, silver dresser. Star had never seen a room like this before.
"Whoa, D...your room is amazing..." Star muttered.
"Diamond," Diamond quickly corrected. I'm not your friend. You don't get to 'nickname' me," Diamond sat on her rump and made air quotes with her hooves. Diamond stood back up and stared at the unicorn filly with a bored expression. "So, you're gonna teach me how to dream or whatever?"
Star frowned, but quickly brightened up when she realized she was about to do her favorite thing in the world, and being able to do it with a friend this time. She glanced around the room when she saw the double glass doors that led out to the balcony. She smiled before rushing over and opening them, gesturing for Diamond to follow. Diamond hesitated, biting her lower lip. She wasn't such a fan of going out onto the balcony. Other ponies may see her and she didn't want to be seen with this filly. Ponies talked. That's just what they did. It was as though gossiping was in their genes. It was a normal part of society. And if they talked, it was bound to get to her parents and she'd be in big trouble.
But, with a heavy sigh, Diamond followed anyway. When she did, Star turned to her. "Whenever I feel sad or frightened, I always turn to the sky. I have my own star up there."
Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow. "You. Have a star," Diamond pointed up to the night sky "Up there."
"Sure do! If you want, I can take you..." Star asked, trailing off.
Diamond didn't believe a word this filly said and wanted to see the proof for herself. "Yeah. I'd like to see this proof you have."
Star closed her eyes and was surprised to see a silver magical aura light her horn, however nothing happened. Diamond scoffed. A failed spell. Of course. She knew this thing would fail. However, suddenly, she saw the filly step on the railing and Diamond's heart stopped. What was this filly doing? Was she gonna...no...
Suddenly, Star stepped off and...didn't plummet? In fact, she just...disappeared. Diamond's eyes widened in disbelief when Star popped her head out. "You comin'?"
Diamond swallowed, hesitating slightly before thinking, what the heck. If she plummeted, she plummeted. She softly stepped up onto the balcony railing. With another deep breath, she stepped off...and her eyes widened at what she saw. There was a ship...a boat...flying in the sky. And it wasn't an air boat. It had masts and sails and stuff. A wooden water ship. This...how was any of this possible. She was just a filly. With filly magic. Not...how?!
"How...what..." Diamond turned to Star with accusation in her eyes. "What kind of trickery is this?!"
Star shrugged. "It's not trickery. At least, I don't think it is. I usually take this ship to fly away on a sea of moonlight. And we can navigate the stars to bring us back and..."
"You mean going up into the night sky...you were serious?!" Diamond said, her eyes wide. "Are you crazy?! We can't survive up there!"
Star looked at Diamond a bit confused. "I do it all the time."
And with that, the ship sailed off into the night sky. Diamond hit the deck, low key beginning to panic. She did not think this lesson would involve going into space. This was...this was a mistake. A big, catastrophic, mistake. However, the further they went, the more she realized that she was a-okay.
Diamond stood up, her eyes wide. This was....this was beautiful. The beautiful purple night sky was filled with beautiful white blazing balls of light. Like a lantern filled sky. The clouds they avoided were see-through, like they'd fall apart at any moment. Her mouth dropped open as she continued to look up and saw the big bright moon in the sky. The light shone down on them, as though they were gliding on a sea of moonlight. Diamond looked down and saw that Ponyville was nowhere to be seen. Just a sky full of lanterns and the big moon in the sky that seemed to be getting bigger.
"What is this place?" Diamond asked. It didn't feel right calling it the night sky. This place felt like a whole new world.
"I don't know. I just know that every wish is like a command here. A place we'll never grow old. I like to call it Neverland. Because this is a place where bad things never hap..."
Suddenly, everything disappeared and grew dark. Diamond couldn't see anything. Suddenly, she felt something hard below her, hard and cold. Diamond opened her eyes to see a golden railing in front of her. Slowly, rubbing her head, she sat up to find herself on her balcony, right where the two of them started.
She looked around and saw Star Gazer on the ground, passed out cold. Diamond hesitated for only a brief moment before walking up to her and sitting down next to the filly. She budged Star with her hoof. "Uh...blank flank. Wake up. What happened? Why are we back here?"
However, Star Gazer stayed still, not moving except for her shallow breathing. She budged the filly again, shaking her until Star's eyes slowly opened. There were bags under Star Gazer's eyes and she looked weak. But Diamond ignored that, though she wondered if it was because of what she did for the two of them. But Diamond swallowed back the guilt. She wanted answers.
"Uh. What was that? what happened? Why are we here? Where is this Neverl..." Diamond's eyes widened as she realized something. As she remembered the way Star's horn glowed. "It is all make believe, isn't it? I knew it!"
Star struggled to sit up, but collapsed on the ground again. "Through...all...my make believe..." Star started weakly. "There's some...reality..."
"Excuse me?" Diamond asked, wondering if she was being played for a fool.
"There's more to you...in your reflection, Diamond..." Star yawned, her eyes closing again. "All...that you...hope for...is...for someone to love you...unconditionally."
Diamond blinked, her eyes wide, before she narrowed them, scowling deeply. "You don't know me at all. And how dare you think you do. I'm Diamond Tiara. I have the love of everypony here. I'm the richest pony in Ponyville. I have everything I want. Don't pretend you know me!"
Star was silent for a bit, before her heavy eyes closed again. She took a deep breath, exhausted from the spell, before opening her eyes and looking right at Diamond Tiara again. "D....I know you're scared to admit it but..."
"Scared? You really think I'm scared. Ha! You got jokes!"
"Diamond..." Star Gazer closed her eyes and her horn lit up again.
Suddenly, a bright light shone, blinding Diamond Tiara. The bright light slowly faded and slowly, Diamond lowered her hoof to see Star Gazer looking behind her. She turned around to see two ponies she didn't think she'd see tonight. Two ponies she hoped to not see tonight. Two ponies she dreaded to see.
"M-Mother..." Diamond's heart stopped as she remembered who was behind her now. "Mother, I-I can explain. It's not what it looks like--"
"Ooh...Diamond. Is this one of your friends?" Spoiled Rich asked, a small smile on her face.
Diamond stared at her mother, slack jawed and speechless. "Huh?"
"It is so nice that you're making friends, sweetie. That's all we wanted for you, my dear," Diamond's father, Filthy Rich, continued, standing next to his wife.
"It...it is?" Diamond asked, standing up. She didn't believe what she was hearing. Were...were her parents seriously being supportive.
"We are so sorry, Diamond. For putting so much pressure on you," Spoiled continued. "That was not our intention. We just wanted the best for you. From now on, we'll be better parents. For you."
Tears filled Diamond's eyes as she crept across the balcony and went to hug both of her smiling parents. But as soon as she wrapped her hooves around them, all her hooves touched was empty air. Confused, Diamond went to touch her mother's cheek, but her hoof went right through it. Diamond's heart stopped as she realized one thing. A realization that made her chest physically ache. One that made her feel like a hole was ripped through her heart. One that made her want to collapse to the ground.
This wasn't real.
In an instant, she turned to Star Gazer with fire in her eyes. "What the hay is this?!" She yelled as she tried to hold back tears.
Star Gazer softly closed her eyes and the aura of her horn faded, the remnants of her parents blowing away like dust in the wind. Seeing this...Diamond could no longer hold her tears. They streamed down her cheeks as it truly hit her how not real it truly was. How it truly was nothing but a dream.
Diamond quickly wiped away her tears, her mind a mess of emotions. "Go," she muttered dangerously, her voice seething.
"But--" Star started, standing on shaky hooves.
"I said GO!" Diamond yelled, her back still towards Star.
"Diamond..."
"GO YOU PSYCHOPATHIC FREAK!" Diamond screamed, turning to face Star, who had a hurt look on her face. "And I never wanna see you at school again or so help me Celestia I will ruin you!"
Star swallowed the lump in her throat, but couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face. She quickly swiped at them before running back into Diamond's room. She grabbed her saddlebag and bolted down the stairs and out of the house.
Diamond collapsed on the ground and watched as the little unicorn filly ran into town. Diamond put her face in her hooves and sobbed there on the balcony floor, her entire body shaking from the force of them, before she finally passed out from exhaustion. As she cried, a silver tiara appeared on her flank…
"Hey, Di…you said you needed our help?" An orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and stunted wings asked as she and two other fillies walked up to the pink filly in the park.
"About time. Where were you three?" Diamond Tiara asked as she turned around to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders approach her.
"Sorry, Tiara. It ain't our job to drop everythin' for you when ya need us," Apple Bloom responded.
"Whatever," Diamond muttered with a scoff, but there was no real force behind it.
"Is everything okay, Diamond?" A white unicorn filly asked with a voice filled with concern.
"Of course everything is okay. Why wouldn't it be?" Diamond quickly said. When the three other fillies raised an eyebrow, she sighed, dropping her head with a heavy sigh. "Okay. Truth is…I really need your help. I can't do this alone."
The three fillies looked at each other before turning to the desperate filly. "Just tell us what ya need help with…"
The four fillies walked through town, three of them listening with rapt attention to the story Diamond was telling. She kept her head down, not wanting to see the look on their faces when they heard the ugly truth about her. Just how bad a pony she truly was.
It was an easy thing to sweep under the rug. It wasn't like Star had any other friends. When she left the class, the other classmates barely noticed. But Diamond did. And she felt incredibly guilty. So guilty that she didn't even tell Silver Spoon. She didn't want to see the look on her best friend's face if she found out.
But ever since the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped her to become the pony she wanted to be, she couldn't just pretend this didn't happen. Not anymore. She needed to fix her mistake. She needed to mend this bond. Star was nothing but a friend to her, no matter how shortly of a time it was. She deserved better than what Diamond gave her.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Let me get this straight. You told a filly to not go to school anymore and she didn't?" Scootaloo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That seems a bit extreme…" Apple Bloom continued, her face scrunched in thought.
"Especially after she showed you a fantastical dream like that," Sweetie Belle finished.
"I know. I get it. I'm a monster. A horrible pony that you shouldn't be friends with." Diamond turned away, her head hanging.
The three Crusaders were silent for a bit, looking at each other as though in silent debate. After a moment of silence, the turned back to the pink filly with compassion in their eyes.
"Look, we're not gonna lie to you. What you did was bad, really really bad," Scootaloo started.
"But ya changed. Ya saw the error of yer ways and yer tryna fix things. That's worth somethin', ain't it?"
"And she's bound to see that. She saw the good in you once. I'm sure she'll do so again." Sweetie Belle finished.
The four fillies were standing in front of a normal, run of the mill cottage in Ponyville, the four of them standing on the doorstep, Diamond in front of the three Crusaders. Diamond swallowed, trying to bury her emotions before reminding herself that she wasn't that filly anymore, though it was still instinct.
Diamond raised a hoof before turning to her three friends. "And if she doesn't?"
The three of them were silent for a moment before Sweetie Belle answered. "Then you continue to be the best pony you can be and hope that one day, she does."
"We're proud of ya, Tiara. This takes a lot of courage. It ain't easy makin' amends, but you've got this. We believe in ya."
Diamond nodded, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, but still she hesitated. She was scared to do this. Absolutely terrified. And she wasn't sure if she could.
But she took a deep breath anyway, raised her hoof again, and knocked…
Author's Note
This story is dedicated to my best friend. This wouldn't be possible without you because it was you being there for me that brought back my inspiration. Thank you for loving me for who I am and sticking by my side when times got....really rough. And most importantly, you showed me it's important to dream and helped me come up with dreams of my own. Happy Birthday, man. May your year be better than the last one and may all your dreams come true.
