Stellar

by RainbowFreakingPony

Chapter 3

Once in Twilight's castle, safe from the raucous ponyville parties, they entered the room that contained the map.

Everypony took a seat, and Spike came in from another room and took his own. When Twilight took her seat, the map sparkled on. "I will always be astounding at what this thing does. This is magic even I don't know how it works, and Starlight Glimmer can't explain it to me that well either." Twilight sighed and took a look at the three-dimensional map that spanned the whole table. "So the caverns are located here, but I do want to warn you they are dangerous. I was only able to tame an Ursa Minor, and return it to her mother. Nopony has ever defeated one; we are lucky to be here to tell the story as is."

Spike interjected, "That's because you're awesome Twilight!" She blushed in modesty. Stella looked like she wanted to say something. Twilight continued talking about her experiences with the Ursa, and Stella listened attentively.

"Do you think somepony could tame a constellation?" She finally got a word in. Twilight looked like she was about to refute that, but she paused. She thought about her friend Fluttershy taming the biggest beasts of Ponyville... No, all of Equestria. Something about this tentative and meager pony reminded Twilight about her friend. She smiled and told the young filly, "It sure isn't unheard of... I have a friend that can tame the most scary beasts and make them into timid and loving animals. That's her gift, and I'm sure there isn't any reason for it not to be your gift too."

Stella positively beamed at the idea. For a good part of what she can remember, she lived just to stare at the stars. She would look in awe at the massive expanse, and learn every little detail about it. When the sun came, she would continue to look up at the clouds, and wish to be able to peer into the massive dome that was her inspiration.

"Alright! That's where we will start." Scootaloo exclaimed. The crusaders seemed set on this being their first adventure. Twilight was about to argue that it would be extremely unsafe, but then she remembered the look on Stella's face when she was listening about these creatures. Perhaps... She thought to herself.

"I will come with you. I will keep you safe because I have dealt with these constellations before." The group all looked at Twilight, even Spike.

"Um, Princess Twilight?" Spike started.

"Call me Twilight, Spike."

"Aren't you busy with your duties?" He brought out the many checklists that Twilight made for herself. He scanned a few, and saw things that were due tomorrow. He lifted up the checklist and simply pointed to the unchecked box that was urgent. Twilight muttered to herself. Things when silent for a while while Twilight thought. Then, coming to a conclusion, she told them her plan.

"Yay!" Sweetie Belle celebrated after Twilight told the girls how she would join them on their trip. The ponies got to packing, considering this is the dangerous Everfree Forest, they had to be prepared. Chimera rounded up some candy to keep up the ponies' morale. Stella got together some saddlebags with help from Twilight. The crusaders all found useful stuff to put in the bags. Or at least what they thought might come in handy. Twilight made inventory of what they had and even though she questioned some of the more interesting items, they never knew what may come in use. With saddlebags loaded and at the door, they settled into the castle for the night. Each pony brought something to make the empty rooms more friendly. Stella had her doll and her friend Chimera. She couldn't ask for more. Late at night, Twilight was moving about the castle when she saw a pony in the observatory room. She slowly approached the figure, not wanting to startle. It looked like Stella, and her eyes were closed. Twilight looked up and she saw what had brought Stella into this room. The room had a glass dome, and that allowed the stars to be clearly visible. The milky way was stunning, and the Princess stayed transfixed for a bit. Coming to her senses, she brought out a blanket and laid it across the filly's curled up body. She would have had her doubts about this adventure, but something keeps telling her that this small mare will be able to connect with the stellar beings. Whether that be the mare's Fluttershy-like tendencies or her obvious admiration of the stars, Twilight has her confidence that this mare is meant to have a big impact on Equestria. Twilight is sure that this adventure isn't just about getting some blank flank's cutie mark. No, this adventure was about building bridges between the species of Equestria. If this frail mare could tame, and talk to these massive beings, that would be yet another species that will help out the ponies. This could be an ambassador for the ponies, representing how good harmony is.

"Hi." Stella caught the Princess staring at the stars. Twilight was jerked out of her thoughts. She met eyes with the pony, and studied the two different colored eyes.

"You're going to do great things, I feel." The Princess walked over and laid down with the silver mare, her coat glistening in the direct moonlight. Twilight didn't even notice this room before, it was always just something she passed without second thought. She never looked up, but this little mare taught her that there is more up there. The Princess of friendship learns a new thing every day. She leaned her head back. Thinking to herself again, Twilight was amused that she knew all the constellations just from books. She used to have a telescope, but it was as rarely used as her other trinkets. If it didn't pertain to studying, she didn't study it. For a while she looked into the endless space with a telescope, but patterns became obvious to Twilight, and its usefulness faded. She stopped studying it after she became familiar with the rotations. She can navigate by stars now, but she wants to know what this mare learns from the night sky.

"What is it that you see, out there?" Twilight whispered, and flicked her eyes toward her.

Stella was watching her the short while that Twilight was thinking. "I see my friends."

Twilight looked in bemusement, "They are... Nice?"

"Very..." Stella turned her head upwards again, "They've kept me company longer than I can remember."

A short while passed. Twilight had stars on her flank, but didn't consider the sky as something just to watch. No studying, time crawls by, the slight breeze drifts over her coat. She felt like her mind had just widened by taking a break and looking at the sky. Twilight thinks so much, but this wonder of a sky let her think without all the stress of the day, or impatience at herself. Her thoughts began to flow so smooth that it calmed her breathing down to almost nothing. She didn't feel her eyes shut, but rather continued to see the night sky revolve around her in her dreams. The slow, entrancing revolution of stars extended all the way around her. She was floating in the blackness, weightless. Her own body was slowly revolving the opposite way of the stars. They began to swirl around her, faster and closer. The stars gained a firefly quality, and followed eachother in long, beautiful trails. She stuck her hoof out and the trails parted and created endless off-shoots from her disruption. She couldn't believe how many stars she could see, and stayed there suspended in the dark. The stars got closer to her body, almost tickling her short furs. They spiraled downwards, and suddenly all flew into her cutie mark. A shining light emanated from her flank, and then all fell to black. She was jerked awake.

"GUAH!" Twilight woke up with a start, and the body next to her twitched awake too. It was morning, and the sun streamed in, almost touching the two laying prone in the observatory room. Stella turned to look at her, and Twilight's eyes cleared from sleep to see the two shiny globes. The lightning in one and the deep serenity in another. They blinked in unison and Stella made a small sound.

"Sorry." Twilight whispered, "I had a dream."

"Was it a nightmare?" Stella used the new word she learned from Cheerilee.

Twilight considered it for a second, "No, it was so beautiful, I didn't want it to end." She went on to explain in detail her dream. Twilight's massive vocabulary and elocution captured the dream perfectly, and Stella nodded. "I know what happened. It happened to me too."

Twilight looked inquisitively, so Stella kept going. "You met one of my friends. He is called the Milky Way." Twilight was stunned. She couldn't speak for a few seconds. When she tried to speak again, she stuttered herself out.

"The Milky Way is a lot to take in, but you let him in your dream when you fell asleep under here, watching him. He's this great big expanse that is very playful. He loves dancing around and dazzling all who see him." Stella was explaining with the biggest smile Twilight has seen. Well, that was an exaggeration. Pinkie Pie wins that title.

Twilight thought for a moment, "Have you met all of them? The constellations?"

Stella turned her body to face Twilight, "Yes. I met each one once. They told me all their names... I talked to Leo for the longest. He can be a little full of himself, but deep down he is really kind."

Author's Note:

First picture just cropped from Magister39's Twilight's Castle - Council Chamber
Second picture created along with LimeDreaming's Castle of Friendship (Part 1) and, y'now, General Zoi's Pony Creator