Star's house

Star walked up the staircase to her apartment, "So, it's a little messy right now, but I'll clean it up. There are three bedrooms, so there's plenty of room." she said, opening the door.

Unfinished experiments dotted the floor, sitting in potential tripping zones. Star smiled awkwardly and rushed to pick them up. She moved them around, placing them up on shelves or in less hazardous areas.

"There. All clean! Er, sort of. Here, let me show you to your room." she said, strolling to a closed door. She opened it and stepped aside to let Paradise in. There was a fairly large bed in the center with two bedside tables, it looked a bit like a hotel room, only nicer.

"So there's a dresser, a closet, and a private bathroom." she explained, pointing the things out as she named them. "I'll, er, just leave you alone to get settled." she grinned and backed out of the room.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour!" she called, rushing to the kitchen.

To Paradise, who had been traveling rough for a while, the house seemed like a palace. Placing her book of reflections on the bedside table, and her stick propped up against the wall. Stretching, she looked around. A palace, it may be, but it was extremely messy.

Well, it was time to fix that.

"Okay," she replied, in a calm tone, then started packing up the scattered items around her, placing them in what seemed to be proper place. Cleanliness was next to godliness the saying went. Even though the saying was largely discredited, it was generally agreed that cleanliness was generally a good thing.

"I am going to need a broom," she told herself.

Star began cooking the most extravagant meal she could with the ingredients she had. So, they were having spaghetti. She stirred the pasta in boiling water and turned to her cutting board. She began slicing and dicing tomatoes and basil. She mixed the tomatoes into a sauce and added the basil.

"It's almost ready Paradise." she called, pouring the noodles into a large bowl and dousing them in red sauce.

She placed the bowl on the table, along with plates, glasses with water, and a plate of bread

Paradise was humming an old folk song to herself, humming for she could not remember the words as she swept up the really far too dusty floor. It was a tune that sung to her in the cradle in the hopes of putting the young foal to sleep. She could smell dinner, though she couldn't really identify what it actually was. The smell was...heavy? It was though it weighed down on the sinuses, causing the mouth to water.

It was probably somthing rather extravagant relative to what Paradise normally ate. The biscuit she ate before already seemed like too much luxury for one day. But she was a guest, and etiquette dictated that she was to eat whatever the host prepared.

Looking around, the room was finally clean. Paradise smiled widely at her efforts. All the scattered objects were unscattered, and the floor was finally clear. Maybe after dinner she could start to wipe down some of the furniture.

Star sat down in her chair and waited for Paradise to come out of the room. She served herself some of the pasta, and sipping her water as she waited.

The meal wasn't the most exciting meal Star had ever made, but it was the best she could do on short notice and with the groceries she had. She wondered if Paradise would like the spaghetti, Star wasn't sure if she'd ever had it before.

She shrugged and sniffed the dish, it smelled good, to her at least.

Paradise walked into the room and looked curiously at the meal.

"Forgive me, Friend Star, but did not we already have dinner at Friend Cloud's house? The biscuits?" She sat down. "But I of course am not going to refuse your kind hospitality."

She then put her forehooves together. "Thank you kindly to all those who have made this meal possible, from the seed grains to the fire that heated what we are about to partake in."

Carefully serving herself some of the noodles, she was surprised to see that it was to be consumed not with any soup she knew, but with a reddish, solid-like paste. It seemed even more luxurious than the biscuits of Friend Star.

"You didn't really need to go all out with the expenses on my account, Friend Star," Paradise smiled, as she started eating.

"Biscuits are a snack, not a meal." Star laughed, "And this isn't really that luxurious, just spaghetti." she finished with a smile that crinkled her eyes.

She ignored Paradise's prayer, not wanting to be rude. She grinned again, and twirled noodles onto her fork.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" she said, standing up quickly and going behind the counter. She picked up a bowl full of bread and placed it on the table.

"For extra sauce." she explained, taking a slice and smearing red-sauce on it.

"Even more?" Paradise asked weakly, still not fully believing that only two ponies were supposed to finish all of this. When she took her first bite, she jolted as her tastebuds were assaulted by a sensory overload. It was too much of every taste that Paradise knew about. She swallowed, then swiftly drank the water to wash it down.

Hiding behind a smile, she then reached for a slice of bread and started nibbling it in silence.

"You don't have to eat if you don't want to, I can save it for leftovers." Star smiled, eating another forkful of noodles. She took a sip of her water, laughing.

(oh gosh! sorry, short post. couldn't think of anything else....)

"Oh, leftovers?"

Paradise nibbled a bit more.

"Are there any poor ponies that we can give any food that we don't finish to? For I fear I will not be able to eat my fair share of this meal."

She ate a bit more of her noodles, now knowing how overly rich the taste was. She finished her small morsel quickly, then returned to nibbling her piece of bread.

"Is this what you normally eat?"

"Not normally no, and there's not really any poor ponies here in Ponyville. I'll just pack up what we don't eat and save it in the fridge. Why?" Star asked curiously.

Paradise puzzled her. Thought Star knew she wasn't accustomed to life in Equestria. Star laughed to herself, and finished her plate. She stood and took the dirty dishes to the kitchen, and set them down next to the sink.

"Oh."

All this food? Just for them? It felt wrong, somehow. Back in her shrine, any leftovers were then stored, and every other day they went out to give the food to the community. Usually  to those too old, too poor, or too sickly to feed themselves. Ponyville did seem like a place where the well off lived...

"Are poor ponies not allowed in the town borders, then? Do they live in the boundaries of Equestrian society?"

Paradise hoped this wasn't the case. The very thought of segregation by social strata sickened her. Even more if she had somehow ended up in some sort of 'rich pony haven'. She thought back to Friend Cloud and what she said about trying to get away from it all, and the strange crowd of ponies that acted like wild dogs, or desperate beggars.

Did Friend Cloud come here so that she didn't have to be with those of lower standing than her? She did say she was very important and Paradise didn't think that was a lie. The Shrine Maiden shifted uncomfortably, and ate the rest of her piece of bread. What about Friend Star? Did she decide to come here too, or was she just born here? The insistence that what she had was 'normal' seemed to suggest that she didn't have a point of contrast, so Paradise suspected the latter.

"Definitely not! Everypony is allowed in Ponyville. There just aren't really any poor ponies 'round here. Though I'm Canterlot there are a few beggars here and there. It's a bit sad. I try to help them, but I don't think I'm very helpful. More of an eager nuisance." Star laughed at her expense. Normally she wouldn't make such jokes, but Paradise's conversation made her a bit nervous.

She wasn't really sure what Paradise's deal was with poor ponies. I mean, they got along pretty well even in Canterlot. And there really weren't any in Ponyville, everypony her had a house or apartment, right?

"I apologise," Paradise said, sensing that she had made her host nervous, "It's just that when you have been surrounded by the crippled, poor and sick for so long, a place like Ponyville just seems too..." She tried to find the right words to describe the unease she felt ever since she had entered the town. "...clean, to not have something behind it." She gestured to herself, still unkempt, tattered and decidedly unclean. "I stuck out like something that doesn't really fit. Did you know that until you bumped into me, everypony in this place ignored me like I wasn't there?"

She realised after she said this that this might make Friend Star feel even more uneasy, but decided not to retract her statements. After all, it was always hard when somepony espoused a viewpoint that was completely different from what they considered normal.

"But maybe I'm being unfair. It's not only this town that has treated me this way."

"Oh. No it's fine. I'm sorry nopony's being nice." Star said, putting her dishes in the sink and beginning to wash them. 

"you done?" she asked to relieve the tension, pointing to Paradise's plate. She tilted her head, waiting for the answer while also rinsing the soap off of hers. She put the dish away in the drying rack, and moved onto her silverware and glass. Finishing, she walked over to Paradise's side of the table, waiting for her response.

(You know, you're not really giving me much to work with.)

"Oh? Yes, yes I am." Paradise picked up her plate and took it to the sink. Maybe she'll move on tomorrow. It didn't feel right to be in a place where nothing, it seemed, was wanted. The ponies of Ponyville would go on living their shallow lives, not going beyond their boundaries of comfort, thinking all was right in the world.

The Shrine Maiden had seen enough horror in her life to know otherwise.

"It's not that, it's just...you have so much here, whilst others have so little," she confessed, "It seems like I'm being wasteful just partaking in these luxuries whilst others have no dinner to speak of."

(I know! I'm sorry :'( *facehoofs* )

"Well the ponies in Ponyville have food, as far as I know. I'm usually holed up in here, so I don't get out much." Star shrugged.

"Are there many in need back in Neighpon?" she asked curiously. 

She took Paradise's dishes and washed them, quickly putting them in the drying rack. She smiled and walked to the couch, flopping down in the plushy softness.

"Well, electricity is a rarity, only for the rich," Paradise said, "And many don't have running water. Multitudes of families can be rendered starving by one bad season of harvest. And there are many veterans that still bear the scars of the civil war."

She waved a hoof noncomittably. "There are always ponies in need. It's just more obvious and easier to address when it is something Earthly, like food or disease. Ignorance and hatred....that's much harder to combat. But it must be fought, always."

Paradise then thought about what Star said. "Wait, just here? All alone? Just looking at the stars? Friend Star, you must know that it is a dangerous business, being isolated with Earthly pleasures. It is too tempting to start forgetting the value of others. Have you been outside this town?"

"Well, no. I don't live here. I actually live up in Canterlot. I just keep an apartment here for visiting, I like diversity." she replied with a smile. "And I stay inside during the day to work on my experiments and such. I go out at night to observe and study the stars though. 

Star shrugged, "Er, do you have electricity and running water?"

Paradise looked at her for several seconds. Then burst out laughing. She tried to supress it, but to no avail.

"Haha-you think-heehee-that I..." She took a deep calming breath. "I own nothing but my robes, my stick, and my book of reflections. Nothing else. No bits, no house, nothing but what I get from the kindness of others. That is part of my duty as a maiden of my faith."

She smiled. "So something like owning two houses, one in the capital, one in a place like this, is a sign of extreme wealth. Are you part of the royalty or something like that?"

Star raised an eyebrow, a bit confused by the outburst of laughing. 

"Oh, a maiden of your faith!" she said, understanding. "I'm not really rich per say, and definitely not part of royalty. My research is pretty well payed for though. And it's not all that expensive either." 

"And, what would your faith be?" she asked curiously, smiling.

"It's just called 'The Faith'," Paradise said, "I'm sure I talked about it at Friend Cloud's house. You know the story about the founder going into reflection and uniting the country to one faith? That's my faith. The Faith. The faith that good exists, and is achievable, even if everything else is false. Even if this entire world is just a dream, good exists. No matter how evil we may seem, we can be good."

"My way of life shows that even if a pony like me has next to nothing, all she needs is the knowledge to live, that's my book of reflections, and everything else would follow. One doesn't need a house, much less two, to live and be happy. One doesn't even need a single bit. I am, as I said in Friend Cloud's house, on pilgrimage to see the lands beyond my home, and to spread the word."

She looked at the roof. "Unfortunately, it seems you Equestrians take your great wealth far too much for granted. You say it's not too expensive to pay for all this, but a pony from my country could only dream of having a beautiful place to live, much less two. How can you say to me that you are not rich? Having enough food to serve to a guest and still having some to spare, having water and electricity..."

"Uh......" Star trailed off, unsure how to respond. She bit the inside of her mouth nervously, rolling Pardise's word over in her mind. She was at a loss for words, and her mouth hung open as if she were to speak, but couldn't. 

She didn't think she was rich, most ponies in Ponyville had enough food to spare for another day or two. And Star devoted quite a bit of her research to solving the world's problems, such as lack of resources. She stared at her hooves sitting in her lap, unable to speak. 

"Er..." she bit her lip to prevent her from saying more. She was afraid she would offend Pardise in some way

Paradise sighed. "It's not your fault. 'The easiest thing in the world is to become blinded by what you deem as ordinary.' My words may have been too harsh. Few ponies throw away the concept of wealth in their lives."

She turned to her designated lodging, paused, then turned back. "But though harsh, my words are true. You do not fully realise how lucky you are, even for an Equestrian. You are happy, but many are not. If that is all, I will retire. Thank you for the food, and goodnight."

She turned to her room.

Star bit her lip and was about to say something, but decided against. She stood up and yawned,

"Er, I think I will too. Sleep tight!" she smiled, walking to her bedroom. She tucked herself under the covers and squeezed her eyes shut, mulling over the happenings of the day.

She met a pony from Neighpon, then was crashed into by a Prima Ballerina from Canterlot, and they all went back to Cloud's house-where they found a crowd surrounding it. They pushed their way through and sat in her house till the crowd dispersed. Then Star invited Paradise to stay with her, and was promptly told off for not knowing her own luck and wealth. Of course, she didn't blame Paradise. They had been raised differently. S