Stellar

by RainbowFreakingPony

Chapter 2

Arriving at the schoolhouse early, nopony was there yet but the teacher, Cheerilee. She was outside, bringing in some supplies for today's lesson. Chimera almost knocked over the teacher in excitement, "Look at my new friend!! Her name is Stella and she comes from the forest!"

The teacher looked accustomed to her antics and turned to Stella and welcomed her. "Hello Stella! Are you going to be coming here for long?" Stella just responded, "I don't know. I'm staying with the Evergreens for now." The two fillies followed the teacher into the classroom. She set up her desk, and when she was done turned to the dynamic duo. "So class is supposed to start in another half hour, but I can answer any of your questions in the meantime."

Stella asked what questions she could think of, and Chim added her chipper comments and attempts at answering. Cheerilee patiently answered and corrected Chimera occasionally. Cheerilee took out a box and opened it for the girls. It had colored pencils in it and Chim's eyes widened in excitement. She bounded off to get paper, and brought it to the table to demonstrate how to draw. Stella experimentally pushed the pencils around with a hoof, and Chimera took one in her mouth. "Thee? Thith ith how oou dwaa." The pencil precariously bobbed around as she talked. She proceeded in making a drawing of herself, and proudly showed it to Stella. Stella made a wobbly drawing that could be interpreted as a horse or a mailbox. Cheerilee's keen eye saw, "Is that a drawing of me? How good!"

Stella smiled at the congratulations and the pencil fell out of her mouth. Students started arriving, and Sweetie Belle instantly noticed the newcomer. "Oh, who's this? Another blank-flank! Hey Scoots!" She ran off to get her friends.

Cheerilee answered Stella's unspoken question, "A blank flank is a pony who doesn't have a cutiemark yet..." by the look on Stella's face, she continued, "And a cutie mark is the symbol given to each and every pony when they find out what they want to do."

Three fillies came by the desks and declared themselves all at the same time, "We are the cutie mark crusaders! And we are here to help you get your cutie mark!"

The orange one said, "I'm Scootaloo."

The one with the white coat squealed, "I'm Sweetie Belle!"

The one with a sand-colored coat drawled, "I'm Applebloom!"

Sweetie Belle squeaked, "What's your name?"

Stella looked over whelmed. "I- I..."

Chimera practically lost it, "YAY! This is my friend Stella!" She looked like she would burst, "You're gunna help us find our cutiemarks?!"

Cheerilee stood up infront of class, "Alright, settle down now. Everypony take a seat." The class went silent. "Let me introduce our guest, Stella. She is staying with the Evergreen's. Be sure to say hi to her after class. Alright, today we are going to learn about the stars... Can anypony tell me what this group of stars is?" The new projector put up seven dots of white with lines connecting them. Cheerilee called on a pony with their hoof up. "That's the Big Dipper."

"Excellent." The teacher continued on, "This is only a small part of the bigger constellation. Does this next slide look familiar to any of you?" The slide popped up with multiple dots connected in the form of a four legged creature with a tail.

Snips and Snails blushed. Snips spoke up first, "That's Ursa Major."

Cheerilee chuckled, "And I'm sure you are able to tell us how she is."

Snails responded slowly, "Scary."
The slide switched and a group of stars lit up that looked like a capital Y. Stella raised a cautious hoof. Cheerilee seemed glad to call on her so soon. Stella's tentative voice rang out, "That's the constellation Tarus, the bull."

"Good. The bull constellation is known for strength, tenacity, and power. He is calm on his own, but do not bother him, because he would charge anypony. All these constellations are able to be seen by ponies if they look in the night sky, but also encountered in Equestria. I'm sure some of our classmates could tell you stories about that..." Snips and Snails shuffled their hooves uncomfortably. Stella's eyes lit up at the thought of seeing the Constellations on land, and not just from far away.

After class, Stella made towards Snips and Snails. They seemed in conversation, and she stood by awkwardly. She twiddled her hooves nervously for a while until they saw her. She started to ask about Ursa Major. They told the story about Trixie, and the caves. She had them elaborate on little details like what Ursa looked like up close. Turns out they lured the little one, Ursa Minor, and in the end it was returned to her mother bear.

"Where are the caves?" Stella finally asked.

"They are in the Everfree Forest, and there is a map to show you where to go." Snips added as an afterthought, "It's in Twilight's castle, so you could talk to her."

Stella had already learned that Twilight was the Princess in Ponyville from Chim's parents. They said it would be nice for Stella to meet the Princess, so Stella told the Crusaders. The Crusaders lead Chim and Stella to the Castle, but not before telling Chimera's parents they were off to find their cutie marks. Twilight wasn't hard to find, Sweetie Belle just took the group to Rarity. The two friends were having a spa day, and Rarity filled with joy to see Sweetie Belle following her cutie mark. The big group of fillies waited in the foyer of the spa. Aloe and Lotus Blossom weren't too busy, so they entertained the fillies with some mints. The Crusaders didn't miss a chance to see if either of their proteges were spa ponies. Lotus and Aloe took them to see the works. Stella put a beauty mask on Rarity and Chimera bounced repeatedly on Twilight's back. Twilight was lucky that Chim was light, and was used to caffeinated ponies' antics because of Pinkie Pie. No cutie marks appeared, so the crowd of ponies made their way to Twilight's castle.

"You said you wanted to see my map? It's more for, ynow, friendship quests." Twilight looked at Stella, "Do you know what a friendship quest is?" At Stella's shake of the head, Twilight elaborated. "Friendship is my element... Oh well, I'll tell you about the elements of harmony real quick. They keep all ponies in Equestria happy, and for those who fully embody the elements, they are able to be used for good. Me and my five friends, Rarity being one of them, show these elements. We make ponies happy and keep the peace, or harmony, among ponies and other beings alike. So this all-important friendship quest is us doing just that with help from the map. The map guides us and shows us where there is disharmony. Certain elements will be summoned to areas, so they can help out the ponies there. Everypony learns a lesson, and harmony is kept up."

"So what about cutie marks?" Stella asks.

"Cutie marks are what a pony is good at. I have a magic cutie mark, because I hatched Spike with magic alone. Rarity has dazzling gems because she can find gems for her dressmaking. And this goes for all ponies with a symbol on their flanks. I'm not sure how the map plays into this, but we would be happy to check it out. It's nice to see that the Crusaders are helping you two out. Also it's nice for me to see new ponies; I'm usually to busy to keep up." Something dawned on Twilight, "I know a certain somepony who would never be too busy for a new pony."

Seemingly on command, Pinkie Pie burst from nowhere. "SURPRISE!!!" Stella looked completely mortified and confused. Chim started jumping around, "Oh, a surprise party for you Stella! I LOVE SURPRISES!!" Confetti rained down and crowd of ponies seemed to materialize from the bushes and fill the streets. Stella rubbed her hooves on the sides of her temples as a strange mix of orchestra music and indescribable sounds filled the air. The culprit was a precariously balanced set of metal boxes. The inset round dishes vibrated and Stella could feel them in her skull and chest. After the pink crazy pony got distracted and left her sight, Stella retreated and Twilight lead her to the castle. The crusaders had to stay and convince Chimera not to go bouncing off. They met up with Twilight at the door of the castle.

Author's Note:

First picture created along with tamalesyatole's Ponyville Schoolhouse Background and General Zoi's Pony Creator
Second picture created along with SapphireSkies24's Twilight's Castle Background Vector and, of course, General Zoi's Pony Creator