Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Today is the big day!!" Shooting Star thought. "We're going to a whole other PLANET!! And we're gonna perform!!"

Shooting Star Cookie's band had been packing up a whole day early, much to their dismay. He wanted to get there early, as being late, to him, was like a sin. To him, it showed you didn't really care about the other person or their time. Everyone was packing at their own pace, while Shooting Star was darting around, making sure everything was in pristine condition. This caused Moonpie Cookie to laugh.

"Hon, it's fine! You don't have to worry about every little thing! We're gonna be fine, even if everything isn't pristine and shiny!" he smiled softly at his lover's antics. This caused Lime Gummy Cookie to roll his eyes.

"Yes, it's quite annoying. We will be FINE. It isn't like the whole-ass leader of the planet is gonna be there." He scoffed. This caused Shooting Star to freeze for a moment. And then resume, now even more frantic. Moonpie sighed, shooting a glare at Lime Gummy.

"Now, now, n-no need to fight!" Strawberry Melody urged. "W-We're gonna be f-fine!" She smiled nervously.

"Fine isn't enough!!" Shooting Star thought. He continued to meticulously make sure everything was in perfect condition, just in case the leader of the planet WAS at their performance.

While Shooting Star was double-no, wait, at this point it was the sixth time-checking everything, the other band members talked amongst one another, Lime Gummy Cookie sneaking away with Moonpie Cookie's teleportation bracelet. Nobody noticed, it wasn't too big.

A few hours or so later, the band was finally(FINALLY.) ready to set out for the planet. They got their bags, their equipment-all of it-together, ready to teleport down. "Ready guys?!"

The other bandmates nodded, Lime Gummy Cookie having a wide grin on his face.

"Wow! You actually look excited! That's great, Lime!!" Shooting Star cheered.

"Mhm! I think we should send Moonpie down first, make sure that everything's okay down there, y'know?" Lime Gummy suggested. 

"Why don't we all go down at the same time...?" Moonpie suggested. Shooting Star smiled at him softly. Both had good points.

"We'll send him down first, then go soon after. If he doesn't teleport back immediately, everything's alright." Shooting Star said confidently. "Don't worry, Moony! After this, we can go get those burgers ya really like!"

"...I'd like that." Moonpie smiled softly.

The band agreed, Moonpie teleporting down first.

...

...

...

...

Or so everyone thought. Everyone else teleported down, not seeing Moonpie anywhere. "Huh? Where did he...?" Strawberry Melody asked, confused.

"Moony?" Shooting Star called out. He looked around, not finding the other cookie anywhere. "MOONY?!" He called out, slightly more worried.

"Maybe he bailed." Lime Gummy shrugged. Then the band heard their comms crackle to life, a gasping voice heard on the other end.

"H...elp...!!" Shooting Star recognized that voice anywhere and his blood ran cold. It...It was him. It was Moonpie.

"MOONY?! WH-WHERE ARE YOU?!?" Shooting Star asked, panicking, heart beeping wildly.

"C...an...can't...brea...the..." Shooting Star's heart sank. No, no, no, their sixth dating anniversary was literally JUST THIS WEEK, this COULDN'T be happening. "w...anna...go....h...ome..."

Shooting Star's heart was going at an all-time high and he fell to one knee, trying to fight through the pain. "Love...!!" He whimpered.

"Moonpie, what happened?!" Strawberry Melody asked frantically.

"Yeah, dude, where are you?! Did you ever reach the fucking planet?!" Aurora Sherbet Cookie asked a little more aggressively than they meant to.

"N...o..." He wheezed.

"Well, teleport down here, dumbass!!!" Aurora snapped.

"Short...cir...cuited..." he wheezed again.

"WELL, WHERE ARE YOU?!?" Aurora demanded.

"red...pla...net..." he coughed.

Red planet. That was...that was Planet Sorbitol. That was TWO SOLAR SYSTEMS OVER.

They wouldn't get there in time. "LOVE, PLEASE HOLD ON!!!" Shooting Star cried out through tears.

"s...o...ti...red...and...cold..." he chuckled dryly.

"LOVE, PLEASE DON'T FALL ASLEEP, W-WE'LL BE THERE SOON, JUST PLEASE DON'T FALL ASLEEP!!" Shooting Star cried, the group slowly gaining the attention of cookies passing by.

"what do you think is going on?" "do you think something's wrong?" "I thought there were six of them?" "should we get Xylitol Nova Cookie?"

Shooting Star Cookie had now started hyperventilating. His heart hurt, his whole BODY hurt, he COULDN'T DO THIS.

"is that one in pain?" "I think he is!!" "someone go get Xylitol Nova Cookie!!"

Shooting Star's vision started to blur. "...love...?" Shooting Star perked up. He was still talking...! "can...can we...still go get those burgers...later...?" he asked.

"LOOK, ONE OF OUR BAND MEMBERS SOMEHOW GOT TELEPORTED OUTSIDE OF YOUR PLANET'S ORBIT, CAN'T YOU GO OUT AND FUCKING SAVE HIM?! BECAUSE WE SURE AS HELL CAN'T REACH HIM, AND WE DON'T WANT HIM TO DIE!!!" Aurora Sherbet snapped.

"yes...! w-we can get those burgers...!" Shooting Star said desperately.

"FUCKING HELL!! HAVE A NICE FUCKING DAY!!" Aurora Sherbet growled, disconnecting from the comm-link with Sorbitol Nova Cookie.

"S-Starry, c-calm down...! Y-You know your heart can't handle too much stress o-or excitement...!" Strawberry Melody worried.

"MY BOYFRIEND OF SIX YEARS IS IN SPACE AND I CAN'T FUCKING HELP HIM, SORRY IF I'M A LITTLE STRESSED!!" Shooting Star snapped.

"his heart can't handle too much stress?" "or excitement?" "he's on his way!"

The band kept talking to Moonpie until all but Shooting Star gave up on him. "Hon, please...! Stay awake...!" He begged desperately. All he was met with was crackling silence. Shooting Star fell silent, finally falling to both knees, a blank stare on his face.

that was it.

he was...he was gone.

after six years...he was gone...

The pain had finally caught up to Shooting Star, and he blacked out. He'd lost the one he'd loved for six years, and he still had to put on a show tomorrow. 

This was gonna be a fucking miracle for him to pull off.

"-kay, get him onto the gurney, we'll get him to our medical facilities as fast as possible." "yes, sir, Xylitol Nova Cookie, sir."

Chapter Text

"Can...we still go get those....burgers...later...?" The words echoed in Shooting Star Cookie's mind as he slept. Those were the last words his beloved told him. They tore away at him like wild cakehounds on meat. He wished he did something more, wished he had just made sure Moonpie's bracelet was callibrated properly, THAT HE JUST FUCKING TRIED HARDER. He tossed and turned in his sleep, reliving the one memory he wished he never had to-well...one of them, anyways.

He jolted upright, looking around and assessing his surroundings. He sighed. "Hello, sir! I'm just here to make sure your heart has stabilized and you're okay to send back out!" A cookie said softly.

Shooting Star nodded blankly. He didn't care if it was stable or not. He didn't really have any reason to. "I heard what happened to cause your heart to destabilize-horrible business, that." She frowned.

Shooting Star nodded, mind elsewhere. Now he not only had lost his partner of six years almost, he also had MORE bills to pay off alongside having to pay his mom back $2190000. He was fucked. This concert wasn't gonna raise NEARLY enough. He shook his head. How selfish of him. Why was he thinking of himself when Moonpie just DIED?

"If you're worried about the hospital bills, you don't, we understand it was an emergency!" The medic cookie smiled.

"No, you deserve to be paid for your efforts." Shooting Star rebutted.

"It's no trouble, dear," She pulled out an x-ray of some sorts. "Shirt off really quick."

Shooting Star hesitantly removed his shirt, showcasing a macabre splash of burn scars across his body and top surgery scars. "Here ya go, ma'am..."

She quickly scanned, checking over everything, making sure everything checked out. "Okayyy...looks like you're a-okayy..." She hummed.

"Great, can I go now? Not to sound ungrateful, but I don't much care for medical facilities." Shooting Star sighed.

"Still gonna need to run a few last-minute checks, make sure you're alright, I'm afraid." The medic sighed.

"okay...just...do it fast, okay?" Shooting Star begged.

The medic nodded, applying some form of burn cream to his scars. "And, uh, what burns caused these ones, dear?" She asked, pointing at the top surgery scars.

"Gender changing ones." He joked.

She nodded, leaving them alone.

About half an hour later, she was finished and left Shooting Star to get some extra rest. When asked why he couldn't go somewhere else, she simply waved him off, saying "Your room is already being set up for you, it's gonna take a bit!"

This confused him, but he shrugged it off.

As he laid in bed, Shooting Star tried to focus on anything except the medical room he was in.

He looked out the glass window of his room, spotting Xylitol Nova Cookie out and about, helping the researchers. At some point the leader looked in his direction, perked up slightly, smiled, and waved at him. This startled Shooting Star a little bit. He seemed to laugh at his reaction.

After a bit, Shooting Star waved back. The leader smiled wider before turning his attention back to the-quite frankly VERY TINY COMPARED TO HIM-researchers.

Shooting Star sighed, left alone with his thoughts again. He hated feeling like this. He hated that he was so negligent as to allow his PARTNER OF SIX YEARS to get TELEPORTED OUT INTO OPEN FUCKING SPACE. What would happen to Shooting Star now? Would he wander through life aimlessly? Alone and afraid, aside from his bandmates? He was SO SURE that Moonpie was the one for him, that he was his true love, his endgame, SO WHY DID HE LET HIM DIE?! 

Why was he frozen in place?! Why didn't he go after Moonpie?! Did he not love him as much as he thought?! Was he a bad person all along?! Did he not reciprocate as much as he thought?! Was he tired of him?! Did he want him to die?! Was he too selfish to save him?! Was he too selfish to risk his life to save his lover?!

What was wrong with him?!

Then his eyes widened. The thoughts returned. He should have died in that explosion. His father should have survived. HE should have died. His heart should have rusted away by now. He should be nothing but crumbs by now. So why didn't he do that?

Was he too cowardly to do that too? Too...selfish? Why not do it? Why not throw himself into space? Why shouldn't he do that? Aurora Sherbet Cookie could take the leader role of the band and it'd be like nothing happened. Nobody would notice, nobody would care. 

Then he heard the door open. "Starryyyy!!!" Strawberry Melody cried, rushing over to the bed, hugging him tightly.

"We thought you were dead, asshole." Aurora Sherbet Cookie scowled.

Shooting Star sighed, all previous thoughts in his head now gone. His support system was here, so he still had reasons to keep going. He smiled wearily. He was gonna be okay...It's just been a long and exhausting day...

"Next time, don't get your heart rate up so high!!" Aurora sighed.

"I know, I know!" Shooting Star said, holding his hands up.

"YOU BETTER!!" Aurora snapped.

The group of people broke out laughing, glad that Shooting Star was okay.

Lime Gummy Cookie groaned, rolling his eyes, still standing outside the room. "Why do THEY get to give HIM attention? Why do THEY get to go in first?" He grumbled. Whenever people walked by, Lime Gummy made sure to look as friendly as possible. He didn't need anyone to sniff him out so soon.

Not when he was so close. This was the closest he's ever been to getting to Shooting Star Cookie. WHY WERE PEOPLE STILL GETTING IN HIS WAY?

He could always...no...no, that would be too big, too loud. He'd have to plan further.

He'd have to plan more carefully. After all, if he fucked up here, he fucked up forever without any way out. And he didn't want that.