A Sailor´s Last Wish...
Did you ever ask yourself what makes stars shine?
I sure asked myself that question all my life.
You know it. I asked you, too.
A thousand times, at least.
Every time we stole away from home to meet at our special secret place, I would ask that very same question. And you, of course, would always answer it the same way; that they are nothing more than huge balls of gases, created and controlled by Princess Luna. Every time you would give that answer, just to tease me and let us discuss hundreds of possible theories, one more absurd than the last one.
Do you remember that time?
Do you remember that small clearing hidden in the depths of the Whitetail Woods?
How I miss the days, stargazing with you all night long. We would cuddle beside each other while pointing out the countless constellations, even coming up with our own ones when we knew them all by the heart - by the way: I honestly never found that 'Spike' you were coming up with - and make wishes on the shooting stars. I sure miss your warm body at my side now, your soft grey coat brushing against my own.
You would always ask what I had wished for. And I of course never told you, even if you´d tackle me to the ground and assault me with thousands of tickles. I think I can sense them still today. It makes me smile.
Eventually, I told you, though, whispering it into your eagerly twitching ears. Of course it was always the same, that all I could wish for I had with you. And we would always kiss after that and hug each other, lay down on the soft moss and strike through each other´s mane, our hooves steadily exploring each other, sometimes in ways our parents would have thrown their hooves up in horror at.
Crumbs, thinking about these wild times makes me miss you even more. I miss your luscious grey fur with the pale purple touch and that glitter-cutie mark I loved my hooves to wander through, miss your silky sweet smelling blonde mane I buried my face in at every chance I got to take a greedy breath. But the most I miss your shining eyes, these two golden orbs looking at the world with endless love, care and gentleness, never turning away if they spy somepony in need.
I recall once calling them an enticing pair off bright sparkling stars that enlightens all the universe. You remember that line? I used it on our very first date. It felt so cheap and embarrassing back then. When I asked you out, it was a miracle you accepted, even understood my question, a stuttered pile of letters one had to bring in the right order first to get their meaning. I still can´t tell you how happy I had been, and still am.
Though, we both didn´t dare to come alone on our date. Featherweight was my hired enforcement in courage for our small dinner, as Sweetie Belle had been yours. By the way, how are they? Haven´t seen them for a long time now. I´m surely excited to finally see their little foal. Sweetie had been still pregnant when I left...
And how is our sweet angel doing? Is she missing me very much? I am missing her desperately...
There is a clashing noise on the deck above me. And an agonized cry...but it isn´t the only one I heard yet. They are getting closer to my cabin, I haven´t much time anymore!
Forgive me my dear that my hoofwriting is such a horrible scrawl, but I have to hurry.
Our Captain was killed as soon as they attacked us. He was their first victim, stabbed by their sabers. They came at night. Silent and without any lights their ship snuck up. Pirates from a nearby island, possibly. When we saw their ship it was too late.
As if we ever had a chance...
Our ship is just a small recce and cargo vessel, a cute little brigantine by the name 'Ocean Breeze'. Of course you know that, after all you waved me good bye when we sailed. Most of us aren´t fighters, just salesponies and adventurers that defend their selves.
I hear another agonized scream.
Well, that at least try to defend their selves.
It pains me to hear their screams, but, for the Princesses´ sake, I can´t help them, even if I want to so much. I used to play and dress myself as a pirate in my younger days, but that always just had been a game! I am no fighter, don´t even know how to hold a weapon! This is reality! All these screams, all these awful cries of death I hear are real! It frightens me! Scares me!
But I will be brave. When they find me, I will be brave. And I know they´ll find me...
There´s a window here in this cabin. It´s just a small hold, filled with big wooden boxes and sundry other stuff, luckily also some paper, ink and a quill.
I look outside and see a bright starlit sky and a full moon in all its glory. Are you watching at it now, too? Have I ever told you that Luna always had been my favorite princess?
Sure I did, hundreds of times. And you always got jealous, asking yourself what it is I see in her.
And my answer was always the same:
That she is the creator and bringer of my favorite time of the day - the night. She created the stars and brings the moon, and that´s what I like her for.
But out of this starlit sky, you are the one star I wish upon nightly; praying your glory will fall from the heavens and land in my undeserving hooves.
Now that everything is coming to an end, I have to admit: That last poetic line that brought me tons of kisses and caresses throughout these years wasn´t mine, but a quote from a mare called 'Goodrich'. She´s a small author living in Canterlot, never met her or read something of her. Just found that quote in one of these gossip rags at the dentist. Funny you never read that one, you used to love gossip rags.
While I sit here and watch the night outside, waiting for the inevitable moment they´ll find me, I ask myself again that nagging question I bore with me all those years:
What makes stars shine?
Just now, I think they maybe are the gleaming remains of the gone ponies´ souls. Could this be possible? What if our soul leaves our body after we die and travels to the sky, where Princess Luna arranges them in combination with the other stars to create new and bigger constellations to the ponies´ remembrance? Maybe I am one of these stars now, too, looking down on you and waiting for the day we will be reunited in a constellation for all the world to see. Yeah, that would be romantic...
Oh, there is a shooting star! Did you see one, too? I did, and I already made a wish. If I tell you? Of course not! But...if I am dead now, does it even count? And what if...nah, I´ll stick to my principles! No way I´m foundering in my last moments in this world!
Chin up, chest out!
That´s the way I´ll face these abominable bastards! (Sorry for these expressions, but these are possibly my last minutes, some swearing should be allowed. Plus these scruffs killed this ship´s whole crew, all of them faithful ponies and loyal subjects of the Princesses on a peaceful mission to explore the lands behind the Southern Ocean.)
Now that I mention the crew: I can´t hear anything anymore.
It´s literally dead silent.
Are they gone? Did they forget to look into this room? A sigh of relief leaves me. Maybe I should go and see-
No, there´s a rattling on the doorknob of my cabin! I hear a male ruff voice from the other side, shouting something.
They found me!
The rattling intensifies, my heart beats furiously! Maybe...Maybe they can´t break the door and just give up. Maybe-
I jolt back when there´s a heavy thud on the door. They want to break it down with all their force! I hear the door hinges creak! They´ll give in!
So this is it, my end...
I´ll put this letter in a bottle and drop it out of the window. The current should carry it to the Southern Coast. If somepony is reading this, please send this letter to the address on its backside! Please do a dead pony this last favor!
Another loud thud. I can hear the wood complain and give in.
Goodbye, Dinky, my love, my one and all.
Say our daughter goodbye from me as well. And make sure to only tell her the good stories about me, you hear? And please forgive me one last time if you can´t read half of these hurriedly scribbled words!
May we see us again when we were turned to stars, adorning the nightly sky...
I love you with all my heart. In past, present and for all eternity.
Forever yours.
Pipsqueak
______________________________________________________________________
One last time the pair of eyes travelled over the letter´s last lines. With a heavy sigh of their owner, they went adrift, searching for something other to focus on, just to notice a wet veil blurring everything they saw.
The mare that owned this pair of golden eyes didn´t care. She didn´t want to dry her tears. The only thing she wanted to do at the moment was to stare into the night ahead, leaned against the windowsill of her chamber, and leave herself to her grief.
One month had passed since the grey mare had received the letter of her husband. One month since Dinky knew about her loved Pipsqueak´s death. The beach warden of White Horse Bay, a small seaport in the south of Equestria, found the bottle message, washed up at the white sandy beach and recalled the address written on the letter´s backside.
Dinky remembered the night she read the letter the first time. It had been a beautiful summer night, the full moon shimmering high in the sky, just like today and the day her gone sweetheart had written her this letter. Her eyes had been red after that night, her bed soaked with all the tears she shed for her lost husband. She had screamed in mental pain, didn´t want to believe what she read.
But the most painful moments were when her daughter asked about her father. 'Of course he will come back!' she always answered her with a guilty and aching heart. She couldn´t tell her the truth. Not yet...
'Of course your daddy loves you. He is thinking about you all the time. I am sure he misses you very much!'
Dinky shook her head to dismiss the thoughts that circled about her daughter and the inevitable moment when she one day had to tell her that her father would never come back again. A silent sob left her at the thought. She didn´t want to imagine her daughters face, filled with tears of sadness and pain, screaming that what she just heard was nothing but a lie. But it was a picture that once would become reality.
Eventually, Dinky dried her tears and looked up through the open window at the shining stars. If her Pip was really one of them now, watching them from above and brightening their way and the way of everypony with his light? It was a somewhat soothing thought, though it didn´t fill the black void that was ripped inside her heart.
And if he wasn´t a star? If his theory wasn´t the truth? Then what did make stars shine?
It was a somewhat sobering thought to know that she now never would find an answer to that question her loved one always had asked.
At least not together with him at her side...
She was thinking about his last wish. That last wish he made on that shooting star. Would it ever become true? Did it already become true? What was his last wish anyway? Whatever it was, now it would always be his very own last mystery.
Slowly, the thoughts emitting from her heavy heart and the nightingales´ comforting songs began to carry her to sleep. Her eyes were nearly closed when she noticed a small bright flash in the distant night sky. She frowned at the shooting star and considered her wish.
I wish...I wish I could see you one more time, wish I could hear you ask your question just one single more time...
With these thoughts, Dinky drifted off to sleep.
In her dreams, she was reunited with her husband, reliving their younger days. About how they met in school the first time, about how they snuck out of their rooms and stargaze at that secret clearing and how they finally started a family. She remembered their marriage, him in his perfectly-sitting black suit with the way too big red bowtie and her with that fancy white dress standing in front of Ponyville´s clock tower. Then, of course, there was the birth of their daughter, the sweetest little thing with his beige brown-spotted coat and her blonde mane and tail they had ever seen. And then, their move to White Horse Bay and Pipsqueak´s departure...
Just when the tears welled up again, something ripped her out of her dreams.
Groaning and with heavy eyelids Dinky rose to her hooves and perked her ears. She could swear...
Then she heard it again: A loud knock on the frontdoor of their cottage. She frowned, looking out of the window and still seeing the full moon high in the sky. A nearby clock on the wall told her that it was about half past eleven. Who would knock at her door at a time like this? An intruder? Unlikely, they preferred to stay silent.
She left her bedroom and crossed the dark foyer, hesitating in front of the entry door until another series of loud knocks shook it. If this continued, Dinky feared, it would awaken her daughter, so she responded to the knocking:
"W-Who is there?"
Silence followed a short time until a low muffled voice answered her:
"I am sorry for interrupting your sleep at a time like this, but...can you tell me something? It is kinda important to me."
She scowled even more.
"What can be so important that you are knocking on the ponies´ doors at midnight?"
"Well, I just wanted to ask...What makes stars shine?"
Dinky´s eyes shot open. This couldn´t be! This was impossible! Was it really...?
There was only one way to find out. In one swift motion she flung open the door to reveal the stranger outside. And found herself stuttering and trembling even more when her golden eyes locked with the dark reddish brown ones of her husband.
"Good evening, sweetie!" he beamed at her with a grin as wide that it reached from ear to ear and with a gaze filled with tons of accumulated love.
Dinky didn´t know what to say. She couldn´t even say if she was still dreaming or really awake. Everything at the stallion standing in front of her matched, the white coat with the brown spots, his ruffled dark brown mane, his compass cutie mark, even the trademark red kerchief around his neck!
"B-B-But...H-How can you...Y-You were...I mean, your letter, and..."
A soft hoof around her neck drowned any further stuttering and drew the confused mare into a big tender hug. She couldn´t believe it! Pipsqueak had returned, he really had! This wasn´t a dream! This was real, she knew it, she felt it! Everything! The tender hooves stroking her back with such comfort and care only a husband could give his true love. The warmth of his body pressed against her own. The tears of pure happiness streaming down her cheeks. And his soft lips massaging her own when she leaned up for a deep passionate kiss that was way too long overdue.
"But how can you be here? You were dead! That´s what you told in your letter!" Dinky asked between kisses. Eventually, they parted and stayed glued to each other in a deep loving gaze.
"Ill weeds grow apace." he told her in his soft debonair voice with a chuckle.
"B-But...You were gone for two whole months! I thought you were dead!" she shouted, pounding his chest with every word, the tears one more time starting to flow. "Can you imagine what I went through? All the depression and grief and sadness I felt? The feeling every time our daughter asked about you? I lost twenty pounds because I couldn´t eat anything! I even thought about killing myself!"
"I...I am sorry. I tried my best, but...Let´s just say my return was a little bit...bumpy. I´ll tell you later about every single detail, but now, let´s stay here for a bit longer. I am so happy to finally be back here with you!"
"Me too!" she muttered, squeezing him and nuzzling into his shoulder. "But please, never ever do this to me again! I can´t live without you! I love you!"
"As I love and can´t live without you..." he dearly responded, and husband and wife sealed their statements with another series of fervent kisses and embraces.
It lasted until from inside the cottage a door opened and another figure emerged. "Mommy, why is it so loud? I can´t sle-" Just like her mother, her eyes shot open when she noticed the broadly smiling Pipsqueak. "DADDY!" she shouted and caught him in a bear hug.
Pipsqueak laughed and nuzzled her and stroke through her mane. His joy to see his little filly again was endless.
While he was there, reunited with his family and cuddling with his daughter, his gaze wandered to the bright shining moon and the stars above.
"Thank you, my favorite Princess! For everything..." he muttered.
And for just one moment Pipsqueak could swear he saw her silhouette against the moon, smiling down and winking at him.
And in the end, there was only one question unanswered:
What did make stars shine?
Author's Note
You are the one star I wish upon nightly; praying your glory will fall from the heavens and land in my undeserving arms. - Richelle E. Goodrich
And where I read this? Of course! In a gossip rag at the dentist. ^^
