UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Second Intermission: Between Pages

Author's Foreword

   This intermission is OC heavy, and notably longer than the previous one. While I should encourage you to read it, I only thought it fair to warn, as I know many dislike OC ponies, or stories that focus on them.

   It was the middle of the day, but you could be forgiven for not being able to tell - this old tree-home had few windows to begin with, and they were all covered with heavy, dark fabric, to block out as much light as possible. Still, it was at least possible to see without too much trouble with what little daylight did filter in through the gaps and around the edges.

   The space was dominated by a well-practiced silence; Trixie sat quietly at the restored, but still old and worn writing desk to one side of the main area, the scratching of the quill she manipulated with her magic providing the only real noise. There was a substantial amount of scrapped parchment strewn about the floor behind and around her - whatever she was writing, it was evidently not coming out the way she wanted it to.

   After another apparently failed attempt, Trixie scrunches up her current sheet of parchment and tosses it over her shoulder with a frustrated growl. It was the most noise she'd made thus far, and even it was held quiet as quiet as possible. The reason for this excessive consideration was obvious enough, even if its source - the ever self-important Trixie - was surprising; in the old, worn bed upon the raised bedroom deck beyond the main area, Nightsky lay asleep, somehow managing to look sad even then.

   One had to imagine a pony that, by their own explanation, was somehow weakened by the sun and most active at night, would logically sleep during the day. Still, it seemed somehow at odds with the notion of letting somepony else stay with you - to be asleep most of the time they're awake, and awake most of the time they're asleep.

   Trixie had not found this arrangement easy early on - while she would never admit how grateful she was to have found somewhere to stay with no expectation of compensation, she had had to learn more consideration in the first couple of weeks than she remembered showing other ponies for many years before.

   The experience had been, to use a word Trixie found distasteful to just think of - humbling. And yet Trixie could not have quantified it as fulfilling, for all she had managed to learn of the strange pegasus over the many months was what they were willing to say only when asked, or what Trixie had learned simply by observing her. She was not cruel, she did not treat Trixie badly, nor did she say mean or unpleasant things to her - in fact, she said very little of anything without substantial prodding.

   It had only been in the last few weeks that Trixie had begun to realize how empty her life had really been, that this strange pegasus who had little to say and even less to share emotionally, was the best friend she could remember having in many years. Her interactions with the strange pegasus had helped Trixie self-improve her interactions with other ponies, but it was only ever going to go so far with her personality.

   It was for this realization and new-found desire to improve her social skills that Trixie had decided it was finally time to move on, and try to make a fresh start in a new town. She had worked out a new routine for her act that wouldn't offend other ponies - she hoped - and didn't rely on having her long-since destroyed caravan. With a little preparation and planning, her new routine could be performed anywhere with a stage.

   The ironic thing that stuck in Trixie's mind was that the strange pegasus had told her this was her best course of action at the very start, and at least once more since, but she still found herself languishing over how to actually tell Nightsky she was going to do it - that she was finally leaving.

   Part of her expected the strange pegasus not to care, to take it in the same apathetic yet somehow still depressive way she seemed to just about everything else. Another part of her expected Nightsky to be upset or angry. Some part of her actually hoped she was upset about it, if only to prove Trixie's presence mattered.

   Still, another part of her seemed to know exactly what the strange pegasus would say - "this isn't about me, it's about you. Stop fretting over what I'll think or how I'll react and just do it already", or something to that effect, with an accent and dialect Trixie found hard to take seriously.

   Suddenly Trixie began to wonder if she should even leave a letter for the pegasus in the first place. Should she wake her up to tell her and forgo consideration in circumstances like this? Perhaps any notice at all was unnecessary? Did Nightsky go to sleep each day not actually expecting Trixie to still be there when she woke up? Trixie found herself only more confused the more she tried to reason it out.

   And then, finally, Trixie found herself wondering why it even troubled her so much. In a moment of weakness, a couple of months in, she had made an ill-advised attempted move on the pegasus, and learned Nightsky was, somehow, even more complicated in that respect. She had known ever since there was no possibility of such a thing happening, and that didn't bother her. Why should this?

   "Oh...enough of this already" Trixie submits in frustration, not trying to keep her voice down. She walks away from the writing desk into the main area proper and turns her head up toward the bedroom deck, "Nightsky! Trixie wishes to speak to you. Wake up".

   When Trixie's response is nothing but silence for a few long moments, she furrows her brow and raises her voice, "T-...Trixie has decided it is time for Trixie to leave" she blue unicorn continues, trying to hold the conviction in her tone, though her nerves were essentially dancing on her brain.

   The cobalt pegasus still doesn't say anything, she just sticks a hoof up in the air high enough to be seen and gestures it about - it didn't actually look like a wave of any sort, just some random gesture of acknowledgment that she'd heard the blue unicorn. Trixie is left speechless at this at first, but her cheeks quickly flush red, and she jumps onto her hind legs, "that's it!? Trixie tells you she's leaving and THAT is your response!?".

   A barely audible sigh issues from under the disheveled covers of the old bed, before Nightsky finally sits up, the covers sliding off her head enough for it to actually be visible. She seems to immediately become discomforted by even the marginal amount of sunlight that was getting in, though none of it was even touching her.

   Trixie doesn't take this well, immediately growing in frustration. "Oh I'm SO sorry to wake you up in the middle of the day" she snorts sarcastically, "I just thought it might be nice to actually get SOME kind of response to me LEAVING", she'd dropped her constant use of the third person, one wondered if this was some kind of subconscious measure to the severity of her mental state, "I only spent the last THREE HOURS agonizing over a letter to leave for you. I've only left myself with little time to collect my mended costume before my train leaves going out of my mind trying to word this right! By all means, be busy trying to sleep!".

   "Y'need twenty minutes after ya wake up ta get t'speaking a language anypony c'n understand..." Nightsky finally responds, slowly and tiredly, "...an' you expect me ta wake up'n three seconds?". Trixie spent the next awkward few moments removing her hoof from her mouth, before lowering her gaze to the floor, "...sorry". The blue unicorn takes a deep breath, and relaxes back down onto all four hooves again.

   "I've decided it's time for me to leave" Trixie paraphrases her earlier attempt, straining to keep her third-person speech in check this time, "I'm going to make a fresh start, in a new town. Hopefully, not let my ego ruin my chances of making friends, for once".

   "Ah get it. Y'hit yer head again" Nightsky finally returns after a long moment, in what sounded suspiciously like a joke. Trixie flusters and very nearly yells back again, but stops herself as she realizes this, and her expression softens, "what? No depressive reply? Did you finally run out of them?".

   The cobalt pegasus gives a lazy shake of her head, followed by a deep yawn, "too tired. Yer jus' gonna have t'live without one". Trixie gives a shake of her head with a small laugh, but can't help but lower her head - and tone - again afterward, "I'm going to miss you, know you. I know you won't miss me...but I do hope you remember me, at least".

   Nightsky gives a lazy shrug of her shoulders in return, gesturing toward the door with a hoof, "y'should really git goin' y'know. Y'might miss that train of yers". Trixie couldn't help but feel dejected by the strange pegasus' luck of sentiment - but she also couldn't claim it actually surprised her - so she gives a simple nod of her head, and turns toward to the door, levitating her suitcase to follow her.

   She pauses just before opening it, taking a moment to glance back past her shoulder at the cobalt pegasus, who was had already buried herself back under the covers of her bed, "you...you are going to be okay on your own...right?". For a second time, a hoof simply appears above the covers and gives a random acknowledging gesture in response. This time, Trixie was actually kind of comforted by the consistency of the gesture, and finally makes her way out the door.

   "So...you're not going to come after me with the makeup and stuff again today, right?"

   Rarity couldn't help but giggle softly at Rainbow Dash's nervous concern, or appreciate how attentively she was watching her brush out her mane, despite how hard it was for her to stay still without napping most days. They had moved to the unicorn's bedroom since their slight misunderstanding earlier, the flowers Dash had brought now sat in a vase by the mirror Rarity was using.

   "Darling, I don't do that sort of thing every day" Rarity reports to the restless pegasus in the background of her mirror, "nor do I imagine you would hang around long if I did. I realize your mane is unlikely to even see a brush more than a few times a year".

   Rainbow Dash actually seems a little disgruntled by this, "h-hey...I'm not that bad" she protests, reaching a hoof back to toy with her mane, "it's just...I don't really see the point messing with it. It gets blown around so much when I fly anyway...". Rarity gives a small shake of her head, looking at the cyan pegasus through the mirror's reflection, "only because you fly so fast, dear. Look at Fluttershy, her mane is never effected by her flying".

   "...but I LIKE flying fast..." Dash retorts, seeming almost perturbed she has to point it out. Rarity gives a light sigh, stopping her fastidious brushing to actually turn around and face the pegasus, "yes, dear. I know. But you don't need to fly so fast all the time. If you toned it down even just a little, you could do something with your mane and almost never ruin it".

   The cyan pegasus seems to need a few moments to actually process what the unicorn had just said to her - not because it required any specific thought, but in disbelief she'd actually said it. "...you're..joking, right?" Dash finally respond with a furrowed brow, "you can't seriously not know me better than that by now".

   Rarity rolls her eyes at this, taking a defensive tone, "honestly Dash, must you be so dramatic? I was simply suggesting you could stand to slow down a bit for the sake of your appearance, once in a while". The cyan pegasus suddenly narrows her eyes, and her tone lowers, "oh..so you're saying there's something wrong with my appearance, huh?".

   The white unicorn finds herself blinking vacantly once or twice as she processes this, "wh-...? Darling, that isn't what I said...", though Dash put up an aggressive front, Rarity could tell she wasn't actually angry, but hurt, and she softens her tone, "oh Dash, please. That wasn't what I meant..."

   Seeing the tears forming in the corners of Rainbow Dash's eyes, Rarity promptly discarded her brush with no concern for where it landed, standing up onto her hind legs and sweeping the pegasus up into a tight embrace against herself. The cyan pegasus quickly hides her face in the unicorn's coat and holds onto her tightly, hiding her weak sniffling as Rarity lowers her nose to whisper to her softly, "you are pretty just the way you are, darling".

   After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash gently pushes herself back from Rarity, bringing a hoof up to quickly wipe her eyes, "hey uh...would...would you mind if I left for a while?". The unicorn is at first visibly worried by this, but she bites her lip and considers it for a moment, "you need some time to think?".

   Dash nods softly, her face awash with apology, "it's not your fault or anything...I just...need to think things over, you know?". Rarity takes a clearing breath and submits a gentle nod in return, "I understand, dear. You take your time. I'll be here when you're ready".

   The cyan pegasus gentle kiss on the unicorn's lips, and then with none of the enthusiasm Rarity was accustomed to, she opens the window and flies away, with no speed or purpose. It was only in that moment she began to wonder if she was actually doing more harm than good.

   She was given no quarter for these thoughts however, as within moments of Dash's departure, she once again heard the jingle of the front-door bell. Rarity summons up whatever of  her grace and composure she can, lifting her head and taking a confident stride to carry her back out to the shop floor.

   "Welcome to the Carousel Boutique" she announces, as closely to her usual mix of pride and grace as she can hold up at the moment, but pauses with at least some ease as she recognizes Trixie, "oh, hello darling". She activates her magic and lifts the stage magician's restored costume from a nearby mannequin, drawing it across to the blue unicorn, "the garment is ready if you'd like to inspect it".

   Trixie strained trying to hide her mixed emotions over the day so far - it was plain to see, but Rarity had the consideration to say nothing, and for that Trixie found herself grateful. "I'm sure it's perfect, I doubt you do less" Trixie responds, with awkward effort, but genuine intention as she assumes levitation of the garment from Rarity and lowers it from her eyesight, "we didn't agree on a price before, though. How much do I owe you for this?".

   Rarity doesn't even seem to consider the question, simply presenting a polite smile, "oh, the repairs were very simple dear, and took me no time at all. Lets just call this one a 'mending fences gift', shall we?". This time Trixie is the one who nearly falls off her front-hooves onto her face, though she quickly regains what awkward composure she can, "o-oh...than-", she takes a pacing breath to steady herself, "thank you, Miss Rarity".

   Rarity was compelled to offer a comforting laugh, but thought better of it, seeing Trixie's difficulty to adjust to proper social interaction, and settles instead for simply holding her smile, "you are quite welcome, Trixie dear". The blue unicorn couldn't help but feel there was more she should say, but possessing of no idea what to, she settles for an as-yet weak and unfamiliar smile in turn, and takes her leave of the shop.

   In the skies over Ponyville, the weather pegasi worked furiously to construct an impromptu rainstorm for the night. The sun had been particularly more intense than normal lately, making the days hotter and drier than expected, and thrown the weather schedule out of whack. Everypony respected Princess Celestia too much to ask why, knowing it implied she was making a mistake, so it was much easier to just work around it.

   Clipboard in hand, Rainbow Dash hovered in an upright posture nearby, watching the pegasi work. Or at least, looking in their general direction - mentally she looked a thousand miles away, her brow furrowed lightly in complex thought. To an observant little bird following the events of the day, the cause would be obvious - but to the weather pegasi working with little direction or coordination, they just hoped it meant they were doing their job right.

   Far below them, and far beyond their concern, there is a stirring in the older, abandoned part of town. Draped under a heavy, hooded cloak, a figure emerges from the old tree-home, laden with two heavy saddlebags but nothing else. Rainbow Dash's attention was so diverted from the task at hand that she notices this, and virtually jumping at the distraction, promptly flies down to investigate.

   Not one generally taken to shyness, Dash lands just in front of the cloaked pony and immediately bends over at an odd angle to try and see under the hood, promptly recognizing the pony beneath. "Hey! It's you! ..." she pauses awkwardly, suddenly realizing she didn't actually remember Nightsky's name.

   The larger pegasus is predictably unfazed by this, glancing out at Dash vacantly from under her hood, with the one eye that wasn't covered by her mane, "ye-uh...?". The cyan pegasus lifts a hoof to rub the back of her neck, feeling slightly guilty, but trying to put up a front, "I didn't realize you lived in Ponyville. I haven't seen you around since...well, that night".

   She glances upward momentarily with a spark of thought, then gestures out her hoof, "oh, hey...sorry about that by the way. I just got carried away". Nightsky continues her one-eye blank stare for a long few, rather awkward moments, before finally giving a visible shrug of her shoulders, "awright".

   Another long, awkward silence sets in - Dash was quickly getting the impression this hadn't been a good idea, the larger pegasus either didn't like her, or didn't want to talk, it was difficult to work out which. As it draws on she grows nervous, and despite having a perfectly good reason to excuse herself from the situation, begins wondering how to change it instead.

   "So..." Rainbow Dash begins again, glancing around aimlessly as she looks for something to say, as though the words would be hanging in mid-air somewhere, "...you live in Ponyville, huh?". Nightsky turns her head partway back toward the tree home, then returns to facing Dash, "...Ah jus' decided to move, actually".

   "Oh..." the cyan pegasus returns, lifting the wrong hoof to rub her neck and nearly clotting herself with the clipboard she was still carrying, which she promptly tries to disguise by holding it behind it her head, "that kinda sucks. I mean, I don't really know you or anything, but you seem okay".

   She hadn't really noticed it, but Rainbow Dash was effectively blocking the larger pegasus from being able to move away - she couldn't use her awkwardly sized wings under the cloak, and Dash had expertly positioned herself in the only opening between the letterbox and the protruding over-sized root of the tree on either side of the door.

   "Ah might not...move outa Ponyville completely..." Nightsky finally responds, though she seemed curiously less convinced of herself for once, "jus'...to a differen' part...maybe". Dash gives a slow, idle nod to this, then gestures a hoof off in a direction the cobalt pegasus doesn't actually try to follow, "the sky over that way is pretty cool. I mean you know, in terms of position..I built my house over there".

   "Ah don' do the whole...cloud house thing" Nightsky returns with a slightly relaxed tone, lifting a hoof and giving it a shake to emphasize the heavy cloak over her form, "don' do well in the sun...cloudwall don' block it so well". It was only at this point it actually occurred to Dash how strange the cloak thing was in the first place, her thoughts clearly being far from organized.

   "Oh, yeah...I wondered about the cloak" the cyan pegasus returns, bending the truth a little for the sake of making conversation, though she did seem to be genuinely curious, "what DOES the sun do to you anyway? Sunburn easy? You have a dark coat though..."

   Nightsky seems slightly perturbed by the question, though it was difficult to tell exactly with so little of her actually visible. "Ah wouln' know how to explain it" she offers as her only stipulation to the point, though to herself she wonders why'm ah still talkin' to this one? Yer slippin' girl, fin' a way out

   "Anyway..." Nightsky begins again, before the cyan pegasus can question her any further, "ah should get goin'...can' be out in the sun too long, even covered". Rainbow Dash didn't really understand, but she decided at this point it was probably better to cut her losses - this conversation had gone anything but well. "Oh, that's cool" she returns casually, looking back up toward the sky, "I should probably make sure these guys don't mess things up anyw-...", she trails off, realizing the larger pegasus had already found a way around her and set off the other way, "...uh...bye?".

   She hadn't made it all that far through it yet, but by taking the least traveled streets and back alleys of Ponyville, Nightsky had at least managed to avoid the majority of the town's population so far, and no one had tried to talk to her - to her rather palpable relief. One had to wonder why she was even traveling by day at all, since it seemed to be about the last thing she should logically be doing.

   The cobalt pegasus doesn't recognize or acknowledge the unfamiliar buzzing sound rocketing up behind her, and is even less prepared when the tiny pegasus-prepelled scooter it was coming from and the little red wagon carrying another two fillies it was pulling nearly takes her legs out from under her.

   "Zecora!" one of the fillies yells back, a moment before the bizarre vehicle recklessly turns around up the street and comes racing back, to narrowly avoid crashing her when the attempted skid-stop results in it flipping over and all three fillies landing in a heap a couple of feet from her hooves.

   Applebloom promptly springs out of the pile and bounces in place happily, "Zecora! Zecora! I din' expect to see ya today!". Still rubbing her head from the crash, Sweetie Bell glances up into the hood at the confounded pegasus, then looks over to her friend through one eye, "uhh...maybe because that's not Zecora?".

   Applebloom finally stops bouncing to take a skeptical glance up into the hood herself, then promptly springs backward toward her friends defensively, "hey! Who are you!? Why are you dressed like Zecora!?". Scootaloo dusts herself off, then clops her friend on the head with a hoof, "Applebloom, Zecora's not the only pony in Equestria who wears a cloak".

   "Zecora's not even a pony" Sweetie Bell chimes in from the side, "she's a zebra". "Ah know that!" Applebloom protests indignantly, pushing Scootaloo over playfully and waving a hoof at Sweetie Bell, "y'all gettin' too big fer yer hooves. Ah was jus' surprised is all".

   Nightsky takes the opportunity to excuse herself from the chaos while the fillies are preoccupied to continue making her way up the street, somehow now even less convinced it was good for health to be out during the day. There was something particularly unsettling about the young for her, memories she didn't like to recall.

   Today, it seemed, was just not her day. "Who are y'all anyway?" Applebloom inquires curiously, having somehow taken a seat on the cobalt pegasus' back without her noticing. "Applebloom, that's not polite!" Sweetie Bell protests from the side, riding along in the cart behind the scooter, which Scootaloo was now flitting along beside her, "you can't just jump on somepony's back you don't know".

   "Aw she don' mind" Applebloom retorts, gesturing over her generally with her forehooves, "lookit her, she's huge! Prolly don' even notice me up here". Sweetie Bell tries to argue the point further, but she's spoke over by Scootaloo, "hey she has a point though. You don't even know who she is. What if she's unfriendly? Did you thinka that before you jumped up there?".

   Applebloom huffs at them, but jumps down anyway, trotting along beside with her nose turned up, "all folks'a Ponyville are friendly". Sweetie Bell chimes in once again cheerfully, "yeah, don't judge a book by its pages". Scootaloo furrows her brow at this in confusion, "wait...isn't it 'cover'?".

   "WOAH!" the other two crusader's attention is drawn by Applebloom's exclamation, but they can't see her anywhere, "Scootaloo, you gotta see this! Her wings are huge!". Nightsky suddenly realizes where the little fillie is and almost freaks out, "wh-..g-..git out from under there!". Applebloom promptly appears from underneath the cobalt pegasus' cloak and resumes trotting alongside, oblivious to the horrified look on Sweetie Bell's face.

   "So wat's yer name anyways?" Applebloom inquires curiously, "I don' recognize yer face or anythin' under there". Sweetie Bell looked like she was about to die of embarrassment at this point, while Scootaloo was trying not to laugh. The large pegasus was clearly, and quite uncharacteristically, flustered at this point, but tries to stay civil, "...uh...mah name's Nightsky" .

   "I'm Applebloom!" the yellow fillie reports cheerfully, bouncing into the cart now and waving Sweetie Bell around a little by the shoulders, "this here's Sweetie Bell, an' that's Scootaloo. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders". Nightsky turns her head partway across to the trio, "lookin' fer yer Cutie Marks t'gether huh?". All three crusaders seemed a little surprised the pegasus picked it up without any of the normal explanation, though only Applebloom speaks to it, "yeah thas' right! How'd ya guess?".

   Nightsky cocks her head slightly, seeming a bit surprised by the question, "name's kinda self-explanatory ain' it?". Applebloom and Sweetie Bell turn to each other at this and remark in unison, "that's what we thought!". "Hey, guys" Scootaloo speaks back to them, grabbing their attention, "if we don't hurry we'll never get back to the club-house before the rain starts".

   Applebloom and Sweetie Bell both seem to have a simultaneous shell-shocked recollection of the last time they let Scootaloo drive them along in the wet...and promptly begin to wave to Nightsky. "We should really get going! It was nice to meet you!" Sweetie Bell reports, politely but a little frantically, while Applebloom points ahead with a hoof, "les' go!". And with that, the strange little vehicle rockets off down the street into the distance.

   Nightsky submits a slow shake of her head with a low chuckle under her breath as the crusaders disappear into the distance, musing to herself Okay...ah guess they were kinda cute. Wait...what? she gives a firmer shake of her head and furrows her brow, ah'm loosin' it...focus girl...been out'n the sun too long...git to the old castle, no more distractions

   As the day drew on, the stifling heat under her heavy cloak and the weight of her saddlebags, and the sheer patience she'd had to muster along the way had drained Nightsky greatly. Her pace had been slow to say the least, but she was finally nearing the edge of Ponyville, the border into the Everfree Forest not far away now.

   She doesn't notice the other pegasus flying up behind her, at least until she came to a curiously upside-down, half-upright position in front of her, while hovering backwards. "Mail!" Derpy announces casually, fishing around in the mailbag hanging awkwardly toward the ground from around her shoulders, until finally coming up with a royal-seal adorned letter, and offering forward.

   Nightsky stares at it for a moment - without stopping - then gives a slow shake of her head, "send it back darlin'. Ah'm not interested". Derpy gives a wall-eyed frown at this, waving the letter in the other pegasus' face, "but it's from Princess Luna. You should at least read it".

   The cobalt pegasus sighs weakly at this, lifting her head enough to give Derpy a one-eyed frown, "darlin' you know I don' want to deal with that. Can' y'just loose it somewhere?". The grey-blue pegasus promptly places her hooves on her hips and furrows her brow indignantly, "I can't do that. Delivering the mail is a sacred oath. Every letter is special and should be treated as if it were you own".

   Nightsky sighs again, lowering her head, "ah know...I shouln' have suggested it". Derpy's expression softens a bit at this, reaching a hoof down to lightly rub the top of the cobalt pegasus' head, "hey, it's okay. But you know you should really at least read it".

   The grey-blue pegasus doesn't wait for Nightsky to respond, simply flipping over to hover right and moving to her side, putting the letter into one of her saddlebags, "there, no more arguing". The cobalt pegasus rolls her visible eye as Derpy hovers back in front of her, "awright, fine. Now git outa here before some foal gits the idea we're friends".

   Derpy chuckles at this, giving a mock salute, "alright, 'Sky. I've kept your secret this long, I guess", and with that she waves and flies off back in the direction of Ponyville proper, leaving Nightsky to the remainder of her journey. The Everfree Forest's edge was drawing near enough now to see hints of the activity within beyond the tree-line, but a large field and one last property still lay between it and the pegasus.

   Nightsky recognized it as belonging to the shy yellow pegasus she'd encountered days ago, but for once this actually gives her pause to breathe a sigh of relief, at least that one's quiet. If she came runnin' out to talk ah'd eat these damn bags

   She pauses again at the thought of her saddlebags, particularly the letter now being carried in one that she wished didn't exist, prompting her to sigh and lower head again with a furrowed brow in troubled thought. Maybe ah should have at least sen' a "no" to th' las' one...probably only sen' another thinkin' ah didn' get the first. The cobalt pegasus turns her eyes off to the side, how do y'even say "no" to an invitation from a Princess? Surely y'gotta give some kinda explanation. An' probably a convincin' apology. Neither 'em things ah'm good at

   The cobalt pegasus opens her eyes wider with a touch of surprise as a sudden smell snaps her out of her train of thought. It was familiar but very out of place; her eyes quickly scan around for an explanation, and she promptly finds it - in the field some distance from the nearby cottage, a patch of the over-dried grass had caught fire under the summer sun. It was small yet, but Nightsky knew once a proper wind hit it, that would change - fast. More importantly, she noticed the breeze was currently moving in the direction of the cottage to begin with.

   "Aw hay..." the pegasus huffs, quickly turning her eyes up to the sky and scanning around it, "ah'm gonna pay for this one...dang it". She promptly rears up onto her hind legs and unfastens her saddlebags, letting them fall to the ground as she awkwardly fights off her heavy cloak to get her wings out.

   The instant the sunlight hits her exposed form, Nightsky is virtually thrown back down onto all four hooves, almost straining to stay upright even there at first. She furrows her brow and pushes her wings out, then begins a short run forward to leap into the air, giving an angled strike of her wings to launch herself into the air.

   The cobalt pegasus wasted as little time as she could, soaring off to the first patch of heavy cloud she could find, where she quickly kicks a large enough chunk free and grabs it with her forehooves, dragging it back through the sky to the infant grass-fire.

   She quickly positions the cloud over it, taking a moment for breeze-drift, then bangs on top of it several times with a hoof, bringing forth a quick but heavy downpour of the water inside it, which washes over the budding grass-fire and puts it out. "Th..there..." she announces with notable effort, still holding onto the cloud, though now clearly to support herself as she breathes heavily, "jus...jus gotta..."

   It was too late - before she can finish her sentence, there is an odd sound like a large match being struck. A large mass of purple-streaked black, almost smoke-like mass rolls up off her body, which within the effect had immediately shrunk to the size of a regular pegasus, and she goes limp, falling out of the sky and hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

   Breathing heavily and straining, and clearly hurt from the fall, Nightsky fights her way back up onto her hooves, starting to walk toward the nearby treeline. Along the way she is halted to wince and nearly loose her balance as she finds one of her front legs no longer willing to support her, but she presses forward on the remaining three.

   It takes her a few difficult moments, but the cobalt pegasus finally breaks the treeline and enters the outer-forest. The canopy formed by the trees blocked out a lot of the sunlight, which seemed to substantially ease the unusual burden on Nightsky, but it seemed the damage had already been done.

   She tries to hobble her way deeper into the forest, where the tree-cover was thicker, but her body protests the strain, and refuses to handle the obstacles with any efficiency. There is another strange "puff" of the mass off her body, which grows a bit smaller still as a result - her wings change from their larger design to simply a little over-sized variants of normal pegasus wings.

   Her muscles had gotten smaller and her body weaker, but it also gotten substantially lighter. Summoning up the leftover excess strength from her larger form, she hops off the ground and flits her wings rapidly, managing to travel a good distance further into the forest until the burden of the sunlight eased to a nearly tolerable level.

   Unfortunately, this was also as far as her body was willing to take her; her wings give out and she crashes to the ground, skidding a small ways along it to come to rest near the foot of a large tree. It was the densest shadow she could that she had any hope of reaching, so she drags herself the last little bit there and sits back against it, dropping her head.

"I'm afraid it's permanent"

Princess Celestia...?

"She flew too close to the moon. I don't even know how she had the strength to go so high"

"Will she survive?"

...moma...?

"She will. The lunar energy has caused her no harm. But the sun will burn it away, and the results will be unpredictable. It is best she is kept out of the sun from now on"

"Out of the sun? How will she live a normal life?"

Popa...? Whas' goin' on...?

"It will be hard, but there are many jobs that must be done at night. She will not be wanting of a place in Equestria. I promise you"

That's not true...ah never had a place...

"Can you hear me, little one?"

Ye-uh...

"Did you hear her calling to you? Is that why you did it?"

Y...ye-uh...

"She sleeps now, inside a terrible nightmare. I've had to make sure you can't hear her anymore, so you don't hurt yourself again. But she will return one day. You can meet her then. I promise"

But...but she's mah only friend...

"No, little one. You can make other friends. You just have to try"

W-...who's that...singing...?

   Nightsky's eyes open slowly, and with more than a bit of difficulty. It was dark, but of the sort she appreciated; it was late in the day, after sunset. Though the dreadful sensation the sunlight brought with it was gone, as her consciousness rose, the ache through most of her body did as well.

   Her eyes began to focus enough to begin making out her surroundings - a peaceful little cottage, simple but homely. It had largely been adapted for the accommodation of small animals, but the only dominant smell was of some delicate wild flower, and layered beneath that some kind of pleasant smelling soup.

   With a strain of effort, the cobalt pegasus eases her good front-leg out of the neatly tucked blankets of the makeshift bed, then uses her stronger back-legs to slide them down, before rolling over toward the edge. As she rolls onto her side, she freezes in place and cringes to a strong bolt of pain from that side, but she pushes herself over further until she gets out of the bed onto her hooves.

   Her balance immediately tries to betray her, but Nightsky seemed to have more than a bit of stubbornness to her, and she refutes the issue, quickly steadying herself. She noticed now the gentle, harmonic singing wasn't in her head; it was coming from nearby, though it was a bit muffled, suggesting it was coming from outside.

   Whether she intended to locate the source or not, outside happened to be where she wanted to be anyway, so the cobalt pegasus glances around to get her bearings - the front door was easy enough to find, and it wasn't particularly far away either, so with a fair bit less conviction than she might have liked, Nightsky hobbles her way to it, and carefully pushes it open to get through.

   Almost the instant the cool night air hit her directly, she felt her strength begin to muster - she hobbles further out into the front yard, turning in the precise direction of the steadily rising moon without even having to think about where it would be. Her body's reaction to its light was immediate and profound - within mere moments under its care, her form had increased in proportion and feature to that of a regular pegasus around the age the elements, and her wing design smoothly changed to their previous larger configuration, though curiously one noticed, she didn't return to her measurably larger original size overall.

   Her bandages had now becoming uncomfortably tight in places, and began to rip and tear in places under strain as she moved off - walking normally now with little apparent difficulty as she slowly circles the cottage to find its back garden. It was here Nightsky found the source of the soothing melody - Fluttershy sat peacefully in the night air amidst the small garden singing to her flowers.

   The yellow pegasus slowly trails off from her singing as she notices the other presence nearby, though to one's surprise she isn't startled at all, simply turning her to give a light smile, "good morning". Nightsky glances upward with a mildly puzzled at the choice of words - though they were quite fitting from her perspective - she finally returns her gaze to the other pegasus, "g'mornin'..."

   "I see you're already recovering. That's good" Fluttershy observes politely, apparently unfazed by the impromptu physical changes in her patient, "will you be back to normal soon?". The cobalt mare was more than a bit puzzled by the yellow one's apparent knowledge, but returns a small shake of her head, "ah am back to normal right now. Healin' will take a bit longer, though".

   Fluttershy cocks her head lightly at this, taking a curious glance, "shouldn't you be larger? I remember you being bigger than me". The yellow pegasus had, at the very least, obviously worked out who Nightsky was on her own, though how she'd learned what she seemed to know still baffled Nightsky.

   "Oh, right..." the cobalt pegasus glances off to the side in thought, "that don' happen so fast. Buildup ah guess". Though she presented a civil tone, she was internally conflicted about the idea of this other pegasus knowing so much of her nature, much less how she learned about it.

   Fluttershy observes this and takes a thoughtful look, "don't worry. Princess Celestia dropped by to explain everything, so I could look after you". Nightsky lowers her eyes to the ground at this, her tone seeming to follow it, "right...makes sense", though she didn't say anything, the cobalt pegasus suddenly realized why her mind had gone back so far in her sleep.

   "You certainly are an interesting pony" Fluttershy reports thoughtfully, presenting another gentle smile, "complicated, but interesting". Nightsky seemed calmed somewhat by this, turning her gaze back to Fluttershy - she appreciated being called "complicated", at least to the extent it wasn't the familiar alternative, "a freak".

   "years later...I learned there was a balance to it" Nightsky speaks up, awkwardly, but more openly, "if ah let my body time to adjust...it'll stay like this durin' the day an' ah'm almost fine...", she lowers her head again, "but ah git so set in mah ways avoidin' folks...always goin' round at night...ah git overloaded with it...an' then ah have a bad reaction to the sun..."

   Fluttershy nods softly, "so that's what happened". She takes to the air briefly, flitting along in her easy, gentle way past the cobalt pegasus, and gestures toward the front of the cottage, "you must be hungry. Why don't you come back inside? I made extra in case you woke up earlier".

   "Ah...ah should really go look fer mah bags..." Nightsky replies, as she turns back to face the yellow pegasus' new position, but she raises her head to look up at her "but...after ah find 'em...ah'd like that". Fluttershy presents a soft smile in turn, "I already found them for you. I brought them inside, but I didn't open them, honest".

   As she was trying to be reassuring, the yellow pegasus doesn't mention the part where they were so heavy she'd gotten frustrated trying to move them, and kicked them a few times...of course, it was awfully unlikely Fluttershy's idea of a frustration kick actually did any damage anyway.

   A short time later, Fluttershy sat opposite Nightsky at her dining table. It wasn't particularly large, but then the yellow pegasus wasn't known for hosting large gatherings. Besides the pleasant wild flowers in a vase that had been moved to the side and the table-cloth which looked home-made, albeit very skillfully so, a bowl of that soup the cobalt pegasus could smell earlier sat in front of either of them.

   Being as it was still at ideal temperature without having been over-boiled or obviously reheated, it seemed more likely that rather than making extra, Fluttershy had actually put off eating dinner until she thought the other pegasus might wake up. Not wanting to seem rude...and feeling the expectant look from the yellow pegasus going strait through to the back of her head at this point, Nightsky dips her head and carefully gives the soup a sip.

   It was evidently made of a careful balance of vegetables and herbs that were the least likely to trigger an allergy or offend a picky palette. Nghtsky couldn't help but imagine an awful lot of effort had to go into making such a careful recipe - though in truth, it was simply that Fluttershy had very mild tastes to begin with.

   "This is real nice" Nightsky reports with a slightly awkward, but friendly smile, swearing she could almost feel the relief coming back off the yellow pegasus at this response. "Ah'm not real used to proper food, if ah'm honest" she furthers, pausing to take another, larger, but still polite sip of the soup, "ah ten' eat mostly carrots 'n apples, oatmeal, 'n bread, ah guess".

   Fluttershy takes a polite sip of her own soup, then regards this information with some momentary thought, taking some mild curiosity, "not much of a cook?". Nightsky gives a small shake of her head, "naw, ah can cook. Ah jus'..." she trails off, turning her eyes to the side as she realizes how the next part is going to sound, "...ah jus'...don' take of mahself so well".

   The yellow pegasus takes a thoughtful look at this, giving a soft nod of her head, "to be honest, I already figured that out. Sometimes I actually wonder if my own house would even be this extravagant if I didn't take of the animals". Extravagant? Nightsky ponders to herself as she glances around the cottage - as nice and homely as it was, that would be one of the last words anyone could sensibly use to describe it.

   Fluttershy giggle softly, getting the impression she knew exactly what the other pegasus was thinking, "I know, you can't see how that describes my house at all. It's just, I have very simple tastes, and more than a few of the things in here are for the animals, or things I only got because my friends said I should".

   "We're more alike than you probably realize" Fluttershy continues, though she hesitates a little to make the comparison out of consideration, "I avoid other ponies a lot too. You probably noticed...I'm quite shy. Timid, even. It's generally easier for me to avoid ponies, rather than try to talk to them".

   It was only now the yellow pegasus noticed Nightsky wore a furrowed brow and a distant look, her head turned to the side uneasily. "Oh no...is something wrong? Is it the soup?" she quickly picks up her bowl and sniffs it, getting some on her nose in the process.

   "Somethin's wrong..." Nightsky eventually replies, turning her head back to face Fluttershy in confusion, "can' you hear that thumpin'?".

Author's Commentary

   I almost feel like I should apologize for how OC heavy this was. I don't regret writing it by any means, but I do hope the reader doesn't get the impression I put too much importance on my own little pony creation. This was something of an anomaly for me. But now I move on to part 3 of the main story. There is a great deal of coffee in my future.