Far is the Star Called Sol

by Omnicron25

6 - Family Matters

In Scholar Quill's cottage, Astra was still in shock over what had happened. She had lost her wings and horn. She had never felt as powerless as she did right then, so alone. In the midst of this personal crisis though, she kept a stony expression as she stared out at the setting sun from a window. This is torture! Mother just wants me out of the way! Well, I'll study this 'Magic of Friendship' and gain my powers back! Then, I'll see how much she really loves me then! the now earth pony filly thought having to catch the sadistic smile that had begun to spread across her muzzle. To the moon with her! I do not need a mother!

"Um, Astra? Are you feeling well?" asked the concerned young voice of Shining Star behind her.

Ah yes, my happy-go-lucky good-for-nothing cousin. And he's supposed to be the son of Twilight Sparkle, Auntie's little pet. He's supposed to be my equal? Ha, I scoff at the thought. He won't even rise up to the power of his mother, let alone his pitiful father. He's just weak trash with the addition of annoying ponies to death. I show all these ponies one day how true power is supposed to be wielded! continued a bitter Astra in her mind before turning around with a depressed façade saying, "I'll be fine, cousin. Do not worry yourself over me."

The usually energetic colt put a hoof on her shoulder saying solemnly, "Your mind, it worries me, Astra. Bitterness is radiating from you like what father said one his old friends had. Please don't be bitter, Astra. I don't want to lose you like father lost his friend…"

The midnight blue filly instantly shifted away from the hoof. Of course! I forgot he and his weakling father were empaths! How foalish of me to forget that! Astra mentally scolded herself, but quickly calmed her thoughts and shielded her emotions growling, "Why can't I be bitter for a little while? I just lost everything I ever knew. Wouldn't you be a bit bitter if that happened to you, cousin?"

Scholar Quill approached the two young ponies with a disgusted expression saying, "A disease bitterness is, my little pony. Once it takes hold, it will not simply vanish. You should know better than anypony what bitterness can do to a pony. Your mother was once a vessel for the spirit of such bitterness." The elderly pony studied Astra's unfazed expression and continued as his usually quiet and reserved voice became filled with conviction and power would have made Adolf Hitler cry in shame. "Have you not read your own lore?! Night Mare Moon is not just a memory; it is a lesson to all of ponykind! The same can be said of former king of Atlas, Azure Mind! Once bitterness latches on to one's heart, it is neigh impossible to ever completely rid oneself of! Corrupt and twist you it will until you will not be even able recognize yourself in the very mirror you treasure so dear!" Then, he made a mirror image spell in front of Astra. Only to see herself as she appeared now but as an alicorn warped and darkened by the bitterness in her heart. "Must I continue?!"

Astra's mouth hung open slightly. The elderly pony's image had to be be trickery, but a small piece of her deep down knew it was true.

"What are you scared of the power bitterness possesses? Your mother was too, but she embraced me all the more. You are destined to fall just like her, but this time no Elements of Harmony will be around to save you. I will rule your heart, mind, and body!" her twisted mirror image suddenly said with a very smug tone and expression. Astra took an involuntary step back from the image with fear growing inside of her.

"What type of trickery is this?! Mirrors do not speak!"

Scholar and Shining exchanged a very concerned look. It was only a simple mirror spell that the elder had cast for emphasis, and they were hearing no other voices. The reflection they saw was only one of Astra's own frightened expression recoiling from her own refection like it was Night Mare Moon or even Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, himself. They could not see the miniature Night Mare Moon in the refection as the filly could.

"This is no trick young filly. Fight all you want, but eventually you will be mine."

The filly screamed in terror and slammed her hoof through the mirror spell dissipating it instantly. Then, she collapsed onto her haunches and shivered in fear staring blankly at the floor thinking, That old fart must have done something to the spell! T—that can't be real! It just can't!

Her cousin tried to approach her, but the midnight blue filly glared up at him with a accusing dagger-like stare making him stop in his tracks. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He simply closed it again before letting his ears droop, and he sat on his haunches staring down at the floor with a sad gaze.

"What did you see, Astra? What makes you hate me? What did I do wrong?" finally asked the maroon colt as almost a sob. All Shining ever wanted was to see everypony happy and laughing carefree, but now one of the ponies he idealized seemed to hate him for it. Like everypony born and raised in Ponyville, family and friends were the binding force of Shining's life. And that hateful, unsympathetic, and accusing stare that Astra was drilling into him with hurt him to his core. For the first time in many moons, he found not spark of happiness in the situation, and no hope to make one even to help a family member that seemed to need that spark the most. He felt like a failure.

Astra did not answer, nor could she even come up with one. She refused to take the blame herself and found no alternatives. So, her gaze shifted to the elder who promptly smacked her with a book he was holding with his magic and used his powerful voice to say, "Why your mother did what she has I know now! You know not sympathy nor humility! You are just like Azure after he lost his wife, only you have no excuse! Be light on how you tread for I see what you are becoming! That mirror spell was a simple mirror for I no longer have the power to do much more than the most simple of artes! Yet your reaction tells me how far you have fallen, my little pony! I know not what you saw, but your bitterness and hate will be the undoing of us all!"

Astral Plane looked upon the elder unicorn in shock. He had just made a physical reprimand against her? She could not believe it, and what was more was that she knew Scholar was not lying. He was having difficulty lifting the tome let alone be able to make an illusion spell. He was once one of the legendary Atlasi royal scholars and was now Celestia's royal adviser so his talents had never been in his magic to begin with, but rather his mind which was still as sharp as it had been back in his youth. It frightened her how the elder could see right through her so easily and said so without any hesitation.

"Apologize to Shining. He did nothing wrong, and you know so. You had no right to give him such a malignant stare."

That was when she felt it: a dark grip on her heart tightening. That spirit of bitterness was there already taking hold. I must fight it! I cannot let that thing win. Even if I must lower myself to being a mere commoner. I am not as weak as my mother! I will not submit! the filly thought in earnest as turned to meet Shining Star's sad and regret filled gaze. She almost looked away as she encountered for the first time how much damage she could inflict ponies with— even without words. The sight of the usually happy-go-lucky unicorn in such despair almost made her want to bolt and run from what she had done. Her resolve hardened and she put her hoof on his shoulder with regret in her own eyes now saying, "I—I—I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Shining. I was… I was being foalish and scared. I…"

The maroon colt jumped and hugged her with the same loony smile as ever babbling, "I'm so happy! I've never heard you apologize before! Well not a real apology, but anyway, you finally made one, Astra! See! See! You can do it! That's a great first step! Just follow your heart and have faith! That's what my dad always says! Oh! I have a great idea! We should have Pinkie throw a party for you! You'll meet lots of new friends!"

The sudden burst of energy completely broke the solemn mood, and— not for the first or last time— Astra wondered where all of this bound up energy inside her cousin came from. However, she also felt the dark grip release. She knew it was still there, and she knew that it would tighten gain. For now though, her priority was attempting to breathe in one of Shining's signature 'super hugs'. "Shining…! Can't…! Breathe!" she managed in short gasps.

Finally, Shining let go and began to hop in place, happy that he could help. He could no longer sense the overwhelming bitterness radiating from her as before, and even sensed a spark of relief, which was good enough for him. Being able to help a family member or friend in need was always a proud moment for Shining Star.

"Alright, my little ponies, probably be going you should. I do not want Shining's parents to worry over you two," stated the elder unicorn with a satisfied smile as he pulled down an old saddlebag from a high shelf, slipped the book in it while the two young ponies were distracted, and gave it to Astra. Then, he continued, "Here, I know you must not of carried a saddle-pack with you, young one. I do not see myself venturing anymore so you can have mine."

Astra studied at the old pair of saddle bags in slight disgust: it had an old musty odor, the straps were real leather, and the bags themselves were made of plain tan cloth that has been stained by age and use, certainly not something she would of caught herself dead with under normal circumstances. Not wishing to be rude, lest that thing returned, she simply asked, "How do you put one of these on?"

Even Shining gave her an incredulous look at the utterance of that question. "I'm sorry, what did you just say? I don't think I heard you right."

The former princess huffed in annoyance and repeated slowly, "How do you put one of these on?"

Shining approached her and magically took the bags. He placed them properly on her back and wrapped the old strap around her explaining how to do if from a first pony perspective as he continued on with the buckle at the bottom. He tightened it till it was secure, and she was not in actual discomfort— despite her complaints. Then, he finished with, "…That should do it. Now was that hard?"

"It makes my fur run funny," foalishly complained the midnight blue earth pony as she looked back at her now ruffled fur.

"Get moving you two. Someponies need to sleep you know," griped the old unicorn in turn with a smile before going to lay down on the cushion next to the fireplace.

"Alrighty then! Come on, Astra! I'm sure Mother and Father would love to see you again! I mean it has been three years!" chirped Shining as he trotted happily to the doorway with Astra following slowly in line before looking back over her withers and saying in a mildly happy tone, "Goodnight, Old Fart. We shall meet again."

Scholar Quill raised his head from his laying position on his cushion. "Meet we shall, Princess. You two have a wonderful night."

"Thanks, Mr. Quill!" shouted Shining through the doorway as Astra closed the door.

Astra looked around at the outside world noticing the moon was already starting to rise and most of the residence of Ponyville had already retired for the night. The streets were dark, but Astra did not mind. She found the night calming, comforting in a way one's own room was. She had spent many nights on her balcony stargazing and looking through her personal telescope. The night would always protect her. She stared up at the stars ahead of her, her only true friends.

"So what did you think of that last chapter, huh? I thought that was awesome how he took on that dragon like that, but the ethereal realm sounds scary right? Oh boy! I wish I could see what Earth is like!" rambled Shining loudly enough to break Astra from her trance.

"Be careful what you wish for, cousin. Even I would not condemn anypony to Earth. I would gladly accept a millennium in the moon over a year on Earth. Your mother and a few of the veteran guards have told me stories of it, and none of them have seemed even remotely nice. A few pleasant parts, yes, but all of them have so much suffering in them. Humans are so cruel to themselves and to others. I know it isn't all their fault, but they don't really have seemed to have tried to change either."

"Father said a lot has changed! They have spaceships and space colonies now, and they haven't had any real wars recently!" argued the maroon colt with his goofy smile

"Uh huh… Doesn't he only know that because he had to break the interdimensional law pact in an attempt to stop the really those Chinny humans invasion? Not very convincing in my opinion."

Shining Star turned to face her and started to walk backward with a thoughtful expression saying, "First of all, the name of the extremely violent human subset was the Chinese and they broke the law first which made it null-and-void. Honestly, you're a princess, don't you even study politics or law? Second, when Father appealed to the United Nations of Sol Supreme Council they made Chinese colony of TEIS-003281, the colony responsible which is fairly large on their standards with a population of three billion residence by the way, stop immediately and reprimanded every human involved very harshly. Some were even given the death sentence, whatever that means in their context. Third, this was all carried out in only a month human time, which considering they have a super federalized constitutional representative democracy and the shear distances involved usually within three astronomical units in range just for their own campaign. I would say they were certainly not wanting the event to happen to start with and certainly did not approve of it. In short, I think that is more than enough justification to say that humanity has changed."

If anything, Astra did have to admit Shining has his mother's annoying knack of compiling, processing, and lecturing information that would have made most of the teachers at the National University for the Intellectually Gifted or Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns salivate in desire. Quite a disgusting image actually, thought Astra with a slight stir of the stomach as she quickly rid herself of the image. Going back to gazing at the starry sky above, she simply answered, "I get it already Shining. You do not have to get super technical on me, and for the record: no, I have not yet started my studies on politics or law yet. I am still on history and advanced economics, thank you. Father said those two should give me a good neutral base to work with as I start going stomach deep in the manure that is law and order."

Shining winced at her harsh tone, though he had deserved it this time, and the image of Astra wading stomach deep in manure. "Oh, I had no idea law and politics were like manure. That sounds appalling! Now I know why Father avoids it as much as possible when he's at home."

"Why do you think my father tried his hardest just to be a general in the Southern Imperial Army?"

"Well look on the bright side! At least you won't be going though that malarkey here! We're about as far from politics as it gets here in Ponyville!" exclaimed the colt happily as he abruptly stopped which almost caused Astra to collide with him.

"Why did you halt?" asked Astra with a tinge of annoyance.

Shining raised a brow. "Why? We're here, silly filly!"

Oh great! Now even he is saying it! I don't mind when mother uses it, but this is getting ridiculous! I'll have to put a stop to that! groaned Astra inwardly as she followed Shining into the Ponyville Library. Despite how country it seemed, it was a GIANT tree after all, the shear amount of books in it, despite it not appearing nearly large enough on the outside, made Astra's jaw drop slightly. This was definitely not how she remembered it.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that you haven't seen it since it got the renovations last year!" chirped the colt as he started to point out the differences, "We now have a third floor which is where the bedrooms and the private study are, Mother and Father's old sleeping area had been converted into more shelving, the old guest room that was connected to the old sleeping area was knocked down to make room for more books, but other than that not much else has changed! Mother still has her laboratory in the basement, the balcony is still where it was, the bathrooms and kitchen are still in the first floor, and the balcony with the telescope is still open to the public! Father wanted the balcony to be a part of the 'master' bedroom, whatever that means, but Mother insisted that anypony should be able to use the telescope if they want to without having to ask."

Astra only nodded now slightly repulsed by the rural decor. She had to admit, a pony could only so much with a giant hollow tree, but some of the paint choices were not exactly to her liking. Too much lavender, not enough blue, but it was not as if she would be a permanent resident here… she hoped.

Her inspection of the library itself was interrupted by Shining suddenly bouncing around the circular staircase that lead around the outer wall of the library and had a slight stop at the second floor before continuing up to the third floor which made Astra feel as if they were climbing into the ceiling. The feeling unsettled her slightly and her slight tinge of nervousness started to turn to near paranoia.

Shining seemed to sense this and turned to her saying, "It's alright! I felt that way at first too! I used to sleep in the guest bedroom near Mother and Father so this was a new experience for all of us once it was finished!"

This comforted Astra slightly as she murmured, "Interesting," before asking, "Where will I be staying, cousin?"

Shining beamed and opened the first door as the reached a hallway at the top of the stairs to the left and said, "You know the guest room had a lot of left over materials that we ended up giving to Pinkie! It had a lot of dust too cause we almost never have any guests! Funny really cause this is supposed to be the embassy to the Southern Empire, but since it really only Father that makes the trips then it is almost never used! So, we figured that we'd let you use it! You should have seen Father's sneezing fits when we're cleaning this place out! We still make jokes about it! Like the time he was chewing bubble gum and…"

Astra immediately shoved her hoof in the colts mouth. She knew about that particular misadventure. Her own father made cracks about it quite frequently, and she did not want to listen to the particularly grotesque details again. Some of the conversations between the two middle-age stallions were disgusting enough by themselves, but adding nasal cavity mishappenings and the like were too much for her. "Please… refrain from saying such things in front of others. There is a reason you've never had a Hearts and Hooves Day partner, cousin."

The colt simply shrugged, and Astra pulled her hoof out thinking she needed to take a bath as soon as possible. She turned to the doorway and stepped through noting that there was actual carpet on the floor. It is royal purple… true and purple was not her favorite color in all of Equestria, but it was carpet! She had never felt carpet under her hooves before except the flat red carpets that covered the center of the Canterlot Castle hallways and leading up to the throne in the throne room. Carpet was mostly thought of as an overly posh, even to nobility and royalty, or a human thing, but Astra loved the feel of it on her hooves, especially the carpet as soft as this was.

"Yeah, I know its kinda odd to have carpet here, but Father insisted that all the bedrooms have carpet in them. I find it quite a pain to clean myself, but that's why we don't bring food or drinks up here either," complained Shining as he gestured to the rest of the room, "So what do you think?!"

This made Astra deviate from her fangasm over the carpet and inspect the rest of the room. She was not particularly enthused by the rural arrangements of: a simple light stained wooden dresser, a regular sized bed with lavender covers, a simple wooden side stand that was painted lavender, and an old varnished writing desk; but it all seemed functional and she would not be here long… she hoped. Quaint but cozy. Not bad at all, she thought.

"It's… er… nice in a… rustic way. I can't say I'm particularly fond of it. I am from Canterlot after all, but I accept it as is," admitted Astra trying to be as polite as possible without lying outright in fear the darkness would tighten again or giving away how much she actually liked the room… particularly the carpet.

"Oh good! I'd thought you'd vomit or something!" chirped Shining as he watched Astra roughly undo the buckle on her saddle bags which unceremoniously fell off next to the bed. "Come on! I want you to meet my father! I know you've met him before, but you've never really had a conversation with him before!"

Astra, deciding to ignore the vomiting comment, looked at him with a nervous smile, but just nodded meaning for him to lead the way. She was really not looking forward to seeing Mr. Sparkle. It was not as if he was a scary pony or that he was creepy. He was in fact her father's best friend, but Mr. Sparkle was also one of the few ponies who knew the true extent of the damage she caused in Canterlot three months ago. She did not know if she could face what she had done How she'd had used a puppeteering spell on the entire populous to cause a riot that nearly destroyed the entire mining district. She never meant for it to happen, but the situation went well beyond her control before she had even realized it. How the incident had landed her father in the hospital. How badly she had failed.

NO! she told herself, I will not break right now! They are empaths and they will pity me! I'll just have to wait till I am alone to feel sorry for myself. With that, she repressed the memories and emotions dealing with the entire incident and shut the door before turning to ask Shining, "So, what's it like to live in a library?"

"To me, this is just a home with a really big study! It just like any other pony's home really!" chirped Shining as he knocked on the door at the end of the hallway to be greeted with an older male voice with a slightly rustic accent.

"Come in! Just watch where you step!"

Shining opened the door carefully; his father was well known to make random water pail traps. Noting there was none, he bounced in around the books scattered in a catastrophic manner on the floor, some open, some in random piles, and some open in random piles. After about seven bounces, he pounced on the maroon stallion, who had been writing something on a scroll. "Hi Dad! Astra's here! Astra's here!"

"Erk! Shining! What have I told ya about 'bout jumpin' on me when I'm writing?!" playfully scolded the maroon stallion whose forest green mane and tail are in disarray from being so involved in his studies before the interruption. His cutie mark, though almost hidden by the blanket over him, was of a lit incandescent electric light bulb with four white sparkles around it. He pulled Shining off of him and under his right foreleg before giving his colt a playful nuggie. "Huh?! What'd I tell ya?!"

The laughing colt gave saying, "Let me put the quill down first!"

Astra was unsure what to think of the entire exchange. It was obvious that Mr. Sparkle had been doing serious research, but yet was not angry with his son for interrupting him so rudely. Astra had never been so close with her own mother and father, not to say they had not tried, but she could not fathom the joy the two family members were sharing.

Eventually, the laughing fit between the two maroon colored males died out and Astra made her way through the minefield of books so she could introduce herself properly. With the equivalent of a small curtsy, she spoke, "Um, nice to see you again, Mr. Sparkle. My father is doing well if you are wondering."

The stallion blinked in surprise. He had not sensed her get closer, course being as foggy as his mind was at the moment, the he was not confused by it. "It's good to see you again, Astra. I actually got a letter from him yesterday."

After the brief exchange, an awkward silence ensued, neither pony knowing what to say to the other. Mr. Sparkle was not particularly able to think very well at the moment; he had actually not been writing at all when the two young ponies entered, but rather staring at the same piece of paper he had been for the past five hours. Whereas Astra was simply too intimidated to say anything to her father's best friend fearing anything she said would be transcribed and sent to her mother and/or father.

"You know, you look a lot like how Celestia described what your mother looked like when she was your age though you definitely seem to have gotten Apollo's build."

Astra raised a brow. "Do you do that to everypony you meet?"

"Actually, Father is not feeling very well right now. That was probably the only thing he could think of saying," interrupted Shining with a concerned glance at his father noting the glazed over look his eyes had. "Have you been taking the medication, dad? I know you hate it, but you know it's just going to get worse if you don't."

Mr. Sparkle stood which made the blanket fall off to the side and said, "Yes, Shining, I'm just tired. You would not believe how much your mother yelled at me to get back to bed before she just brought me blanket and let me do some research. You know I can't stand staying in bed all day."

"I know, dad. I just wish you would be a bit more careful is all. Did you tell mom yet?"

Mr. Sparkle shook his head. "I figured telling her over dinner would be best."

Suddenly, Astra felt very out of place, but Mr. Sparkle seemed to notice this and turned to her explaining, "It has something to do with my line of work, it has nothing to do with you. Don't worry, Astra. Anyway, for the record, I did not approve of your mother's method of punishment, but something did need to be done. You do understand, right?"

Astra blinked in surprise. Despite Mr. Sparkle's seemingly foggy state of mind, he was able to make a seemingly monotone statement into the words that make her want to apologize for what she did all over again. Her ears laid back in guilt and she said, "Yes, Mr. Sparkle, I really am sorry for how it all ended, but I just don't understand what went wrong. I was only trying to help, giving the city a nudge if you will, but then it turned into that. I just…"

"That's why you're here, Astra. The study you're undertaking will help ya understand what you did wrong and will teach you valuable life lessons too. Making mistakes and learning from your mistakes is part of what being young is about. I do not blame you," explained Mr. Sparkle with a reassuring smile.

"Spoken like a true mentor, dear. Sometimes I wonder whether you're really sick or not," stated a mare's voice slyly from the doorway.

The group looked to the lavender mare standing in the doorway with smart cut dark purple hair that had a pink and violet stripe running down each and a wry smile on her muzzle. Shining immediately hopped over to her, clearing several large stacks of books, and hugged her exclaiming, "Good evening, mom! How was your day?!"

The mare laughed and hugged him back. "It was fine, thanks! Sometimes I wonder were you get all that energy from, Shining!"

Shining broke the embrace and started to put his father's reading material away in alphabetical order by author and subject. "I think dad said I have a variation of what humans would call ADHD, or attention-defecate hyperactivity disorder, which he said was a bunch of hay that bad parents use for poor parenting and make up for with medication. Ponies on the other hoof take it in stride, like Pinkie Pie for instance."

Twilight blinked at the quick and energetic lecture before rolling her eyes saying, "Yeah, and you have our egg-headedness too, but you use the curses far too freely."

"It's sure thrown me off-guard more than once," Astra commented with an amused tone and a small smile on her face. The warmth and close bond this family has is infectious it seems.

Twilight slowly walked up to Astra with a serious look in her purple eyes studying the filly for several moments before simply hugging her. "It's good to see you again, Astra. You should thank my husband. He made me promise not to lecture you on your first day here."

Astra politely returned the hug, though hesitantly, and quickly broke the embrace.

"Can I get a hug too?" teased Shining as he put up the last of the books.

"Don't push your luck, cousin," stated the filly in an annoyed tone before she turned to Mr. Sparkle and gave a nod of thanks.

Mr. Sparkle opened his mouth to say something, but Twilight spoke up cutting him off, "Well, everypony, the reason I came up here is to tell you that dinner is done, and it's time to come eat."

For Shining, not another word needed to be said as he yelled, "Oh boy! I'm starving!" and almost ran over Twilight in his haste to get to the kitchen.

Astra raised a brow. Maybe cousin is as uncomfortable in this situation as I am. He's just better at hiding it, the filly thought as she quietly followed the two adults to the kitchen as well. Once again, she felt like she did not fit in. What she would not give for some sort of Canterlot formality right now.

Once the entire group had entered the kitchen, Astra noticed that the family was in some sort of circle with an opening for her in it. Curiously she studied the family for a moment as they stared back expectantly at her before she finally asked, "I'm sorry. What are you doing?"

"We're about to start are daily thanking to Celestia and Luna for bringing us day and night and a few other things," stated Mr. Sparkle with a smile, "We know you are probably not accustomed to thanking your own mother and aunt for their sworn duties, but we wanted to offer you a spot as part of the family. You don't have to if you don't want to."

Astra politely gave small curtsy and said, "I'd be honored. Thank you." Then, she entered the gap thinking, Of all the strange ceremonies to have, this one I find quite likeable. The amount of respect they show towards Mother and Auntie is refreshing.

Astra mimicked the group as they bowed their heads in reverence and close their eyes. Then, Twilight spoke, "We would like to thank the Princesses for their hard work at keeping the harmony of Equestria safe and giving us the raising of the sun and moon; to the earth ponies, we thank for providing us the food we eat; to the pegasi, we thank for the wondrous weather Equestria possesses; and to the unicorns, we thank you for the gathering of knowledge and keeping that knowledge safe. We thank you and pray harmony continues for us all."

The small ceremony ended and the circle broke leaving Astra to stew on her thoughts for a moment while she waited on one of cushions at the table for the main dish, which was a delicious looking baked vegetable stew with candied daisies on top, to be put on the small circular wooden table.

I never participated in such a thanks before. It reminds me of an old ceremony that the royal house of each of the pony tribes used to say at the start of each day right after the vanquishing of Discord by Auntie and Mother. I wonder if it is a family tradition that has been passed down through the ages or something my cousin's family decided to revive. Either way, I think I should provide a modified version of this to Auntie since she is the ceremony scheduler. I think she would like it.

The rest of the dinner went on fairly normal, if you consider Astra starting defiantly at the stew and Shining's flamboyant energy normal, trading stories about the day and at several points even Astra laughed at some of the family antics.

It was not half way through dinner that Mr. Sparkle realized exactly why Astra was not eating and proceeded to show her how to hold the spoon with the fetlock of her foreleg. Manual dexterity was something that Astra had never had to use in her life, and this simple act was incredibly difficult for her at first. The first attempt to hold the spoon ended up with her dropping it on the floor. Mr. Sparkle picked it up, used a sanitizing spell on it, and put it back on the table saying, "Try again."

Astra did so and managed to pick it up firmly this time. However after several times almost spilling the bowl and multiple times just losing the contents of the spoon, she set it back down in despair. "I'll never be able to do this without magic."

"Yes, you can. You just need to have faith in yourself," said Mr. Sparkle as he got up and placed the spoon back in Astra's grasp without using his own magic. His voice soft but firm. "I was in a position very similar to yours once. I had to relearn everything, and I was not young when it happened either. I had to reteach myself after a lifetime of habits had ingrained themselves into my brain. If it wasn't for your father, I would have surely died. Now, try again. Never lose faith in yourself."

Astra's eyes widened in surprise. So many questions erupted in her mind, but she dared not ask any of them. I… How? How can this… southern commoner know anything about what it feels to lose everything?! The bitterness started to build again along with anger. She quickly hid it though and neither of the empaths seemed to notice. My father should of let you die. If it wasn't for you the humans would have never came and mother would be the sole power in Equestria which I would of inherited because Celestia would of never have been…

She caught herself horrified of what she was thinking. Oh in Celestia's name! Did I REALLY just think that?! I would never want another pony to die! Never! Why… Why the hay did I just think that?! No! Think about that later! There are empaths present. Calm yourself, they do not need to be concerned with me, she thought to herself as she took a deep breath and slowly used the spoon to get a bit stew before slowly bringing it to her mouth. She almost missed her mouth, but corrected herself at the last second and she successfully took her first manual spoonful of food.

"Yay! You did it, Astra! You did it!" cheered Shining. The irony of an eight year-old filly taking her first bite without magic and having to relearn how to eat completely lost to him.

The bridge of Astra's muzzle reddened in embarrassment as she swallowed her the spoonful of stew. She never thought before today that she would ever be embarrassed by eating, but today was full of surprises.

"Shining, let your cousin eat in peace!" scolded Twilight before giving a nod and a warm smile in Astra's direction.

Astra gave her a nod and smile in turn and continued with her second attempt which was also successful. She decided the stew was quite good, and wondered if she could give the recipe to the royal kitchen.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Sparkle asking, "So, how did the visit with Scholar go? I'm sure he had a few good stories to tell." He was already back on his cushion.

"Oh! Oh! He told us this really great story about the human that came to Equestria! His name was Jason Tiberius Nalick! I know you told me the story a billion times, but I just can't get over how amazing it is! I mean we only got to chapter five, but just how pony-like humans are— well besides their bipedal nature of course— is amazing! He's so cool! My favorite part so far is the part about the Ethereal Realm! Why isn't that in your version of the story dad? Anyway, one of these days I really want to know what Earth looks like for myself!"

Mr. Sparkle gave a slight chuckle as he shook his head. "Ah, you've always been so adventurous, Shine. I'm sorry I never took pictures when I was there, but I'll show you sometime on the memory viewer."

"But I want to go myself…" whined the colt.

"You know I can't do that, Shine, and please do not whine like that. It's very very unsettling," said Mr. Sparkle as he turned to Astra asking noticing that her bowl was empty, "So, how are you holding up? I know it must be hard on you. Would you like another serving?"

The midnight blue filly glanced up from the bowl seemingly jerking herself away from her thoughts. "Huh? Uh… I'm doing fine. Well, I'm still sane I would like to believe. I'm just having trouble adjusting. Uh… yeah, I would like another serving please." Her mind was obviously elsewhere though. Where exactly, no pony but her knew, and she was not about to admit she was thinking about how much she missed home.

Twilight filled up her bowl again and the filly continued to eat, the action was almost automatic now though still jerky and awkward. Then, Twilight turned to her husband. "So, Lumen, how was your day at the shop? I know you sneaked off down there earlier, against Nurse Redheart's orders by the way."

Lumen Sparkle sighed and scratched his neck with a maroon hoof before saying, "A lot of new orders came in yesterday and I couldn't just let Scootallo do all the repairs all by herself. I had to ask her to pull a thirteen hour day yesterday and today as it is. I'm the owner of the repair shop so I feel responsible for not putting too much stress on my employee when it should not be necessary."

Twilight raised a brow. "Why don't you hire more help? I know of a few ponies in the appliance repair sector that have been looking for work recently. Most of them live in Canterlot, and I know at least Furnace Welder would move down here if you offered him a job."

"Okay, first of all, Twilight, you know I would hire local first before looking elsewhere, but you know the reason I don't hire more already. I can't keep the shop open all the time when I have ambassadorial work to do too. I know I can trust Scoots, but I'm paranoid. You know how much work I put into that shop to get it running again," explained the maroon stallion with an edge.

Twilight was not deterred in the least. "So, you have an ambassadorial trip coming up," she stated with a huff.

Lumen raised a brow. "Did I say that?"

"You didn't have to. I found a two-day-old letter from Apollo himself asking you to meet him in Canterlot. When were you going to tell me? You know you're not well enough to go," explained the lavender unicorn with the hard gaze softening into one of concern.

"Twi, not now. We can discuss this later. I was actually going to inform you a few minutes ago, but I see that wasn't necessary," Lumen said in a sour tone.

"Alright then, dear, but you're not out of the reigns yet. You will tell me tonight," Twilight said sternly.

"Don't be angry at Dad, Mom," Shining interrupted with a defensive tone, "He's just going to establish a trade agreement and he only has to go because King Apollo is unable to."

The mention of her father's name jerked Astra's attention back to reality, and she realized that the only reason the sick Mr. Sparkle had to go on such a long journey to the southern empire was because of her. It's all my fault! I've hurt so many ponies! This was too much for her to take, and she bolted out of the front room with tears in her eyes. I don't deserve to be around such good ponies!

"What the hay?! Astra! Come back!" yelled Shining as he bolted upright and galloped after her. Twilight and Lumen gave each other with a concerned gaze before getting up and running after the filly as well.

Astra only got to the front door before Shining caught up to her pleading, "Astra! What'd I do wrong?! What did we do wrong?!"

"It's not you! It's me! I'm a horrible pony who doesn't deserve to be around such a nice group of ponies! I've done horrible things, and I don't even know why their wrong! I just know I hurt ponies! Leave me alone, cousin! I don't want you hurt too!" cried Astra as she reached to open the door only to find herself unable to move.

"Astra, running won't solve your problems. Trust me when I say this," said Mr. Sparkle sternly as he nodded to Twilight thankful she had put the immobilization spell on Astra. He certainly would not of been able to in his state.

"Let me go! I just hurt everypony around me! I don't deserve to be here!" cried Astra again only this time in desperate anger. She did not know why she wanted to flee so badly only that everything would be better if she did.

Astra's words had hit a nerve in the maroon stallion though. "Astral Plane, running solves absolutely nothing! It only makes wounds fester and become worse over time! I know because I did the same thing for twenty plus years of my life! I'm still not completely healed and I probably never will be, but at least I could learn from my mistakes and teach others how not to make them to start with!" bellowed Mr. Sparkle in a sudden fit of anger, "The first thing I will tell you is that running solves nothing, neither in the short or long run! GOT IT?!"

Lumen's outburst shocked everypony in the room into silence. The usually calm and collected unicorn now huffing in outrage with his usually neat mane and tail now a mess and his eyes with a spark of something that will frighten the most battle hardened elder dragons.

"Dad, you're not well… you should probably…"

"Not until I get an answer from her!" barked the infuriated stallion not taking his eyes off of Astra before demanding again, "GOT IT?!"

"Y—yes, M—Mr. Sparkle. I—I think…" Astra stammered before gathering courage in herself and stating, "Yes, Mr. Lumen Sparkle. I understand."

The anger immediately seemed to escape the maroon stallion and almost fell as if he had been hit with a gravity spell. Luckily a very concerned Shining was able to run over and keep him upright. "G—good. I'm glad. Just know if you ever need advice, you have me and Twi to turn to. I'm sure Fluttershy, Scholar, and the others can give you it too. Just know you're not the first to be in this position…"

"Come on, Dad. Let's get you back to bed," interrupted Shining sternly with a very concerned expression his muzzle as he gave his father a nudge toward the stairs.

Lumen glanced to his son weakly. "Oh, right. Alright."

Twilight and Astra only watched as Shining led his ill father back upstairs for a few moments before a sob escaped Astra again.

Twilight approached the filly and released the spell keeping her in place. "I'm sorry for him. The fevers have been really horrible. He didn't mean to yell at you," she said as she sat on her haunches next to the filly.

"I'm such a horrible pony. It's all my fault," sobbed Astra as she turned and began crying into Twilights chest. "He shouldn't have to…"

"Shush, shush… It'll be alright," said Twilight soothingly as she stroked Astra's mane with her hoof. The filly reminded Twilight a lot of herself when she was younger after her own incident. Even though Twilight had technically been the good pony of her incident, she had still blamed herself for what he did. Twilight's heart really went out to the poor filly.

Several moments go by and Twilight got an idea, there had been a song on Jason's old music player he had left behind that used to always make her feel better when she was sad. She wondered if it would do the same for Astra. The music player no longer worked of course, but Twilight still remembered most of the lyrics, so she decided to try to sing it to the poor filly:

"When your day is long and the night… The night is yours alone. When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on… Don't let yourself go. Everypony cries and everypony hurts sometimes…

…Hold on, hold on. Everypony hurts. You are not alone."

By the time Twilight got to the end of the song, she noticed that Astra was no longer crying, and looking down the lavender unicorn realized that the filly had fallen asleep leaning up against her. The sight brought a smile to Twilight as she picked up the sleeping filly with her telekinesis spell and took her upstairs.

As she got to the top of the stairway, Twilight saw a concerned Shining exit her and Lumen's bedroom. "I want to discuss something with you, Shine. Wait there, please."

The colt nodded slowly with a confused expression on his muzzle.

Twilight smiled a thank you as she opened the door and continued to carry the filly into placing Astra onto the bed after lifting up the covers with her magic as well. "Good night, Astra. May your mother give you happy dreams," whispered the mare as she tucked in the filly then left the room.

Shining Star perked back up some at his mother's return to the hallway. As the door made a final click as it latched, Twilight spoke up, "How is he doing? Even after all this time he still keeps a lot from me. I know he thinks it's for the best, but I wish your father would let his guard down every once in a while."

Shining nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Dad's doing fine. That last fit was bad, but he is recovering from the Horn's disease well. I really hope he does not intend to go through. He still has a ways to go until he should be even moving again. The fact he is functional right now is amazing."

Twilight giggled. "That's your father for you. He's an amazing stallion." Then her expression grows serious as she asked, "How is he emotionally though? I know all of this is hard on him."

Shining gave his mother a small smile. "He's actually doing better now that Astra's here, Mom. I think he was really worried about her before she got here. King Apollo is like a brother to him you know."

A wry smile formed on the lavender mare's muzzle as she said, "Yes, I know, Shine. And you know, Apollo prefers the title prince. I know he technically is a king, but both Luna and him agreed it was better that they do not take the titles."

"I know, but the technicality bugs me, Mom."

Twilight sighed thinking how much she used to be the same way, fretting over every small technicality, anomaly, and miscomputation. Then, an idea formed. He was a lot like her, and that meant he always knew more than he let on. So, she decided it was time for the colt to have his first adventure. "Shine, what would you say to a trip?"

"A trip? What kind of trip?" asked Shining with a gleam of excitement in his eyes, but that gleam was also tempered with caution. It could be one of his mother's elaborate lessons too.

She walked up to him and whispered for a few moments. Shining's eyes grew wide as he listened.

"You know Dad wouldn't approve of that!" huffed Shining with a determined smile on his muzzle.

His mother raised a brow. "Who said I was going to tell him? I'll just say Spike offered to help out, and I let him while you are going to visit Arty Workinstable over in Canterlot to pick up a package.

"Mom, are you sure this is a good idea? I could get in a lot of trouble for this," said Shining in a hushed tone.

A smirk formed on Twilight's muzzle. "Certainly. I'll pull a few strings. I'm sure Celestia will agree."

"Alright, Mom, I'm game!" sneered young unicorn in a hushed tone.

"Alright, colt. It's bedtime. Remember you have school tomorrow and you are in the early mornings now."

"Alright! Night, Mom!" chirped the maroon colt as he bounced to his room looking forward to the next level of schooling to test him and the adventure soon to come.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes with a smile as she headed to her own room thinking, That colt can be such a hoof-full.

Up in the sleeping high mountain capital of Canterlot, the two alicorn princesses were making their way down the stained glass windowed hallway that led to the older portion of the castle and the safe where the Elements of Harmony were kept. The torch illuminated hallway was always unusually cold, even to Luna who had spent a millennium in the moon. The midnight blue alicorn could not help but wonder what the purpose was of her sister to bring her here. Her answer seemed to be almost immediate as her white sister halted and stared up longingly at one particular scene depicted in one of the oldest stained glass windows.

"It seemth to be aged enough to be one of the first made after my banishment," the Princess of the Night noted flatly no hard feelings shown.

The Sun Princess glanced over her withers at her sibling with a nod. "Indeed. It was the first made after the depictions of Discord and Night Mare Moon's imprisonment. What do notice about it, sister?"

Luna looked up at the window. She was not in this particular part of the castle often because it reminded her of the atrocities she had committed in the millennium past, but this window had never garnered her interest even when she was here. The depictions of the first defeat of Discord, themselves, the sealing of Night Mare Moon, the dragon rebellion, and so many others the Princess of the Night had long since committed to memory, but this window she had never made sense of. It was of what seemed like an armored bipedal creature, almost human-like, with a foxlike tail and ears along with two massive ethereal wings sprouting from its back as the central figure. One made of crimson fire, and the other made of emerald wind. The eyes were the same colors, left crimson and right emerald respectively. In the bottom corners were feathers of the respective wing. The creature was holding up what seemed to be a golden sword that had multi-colored lightning striking it, but not harming the creature. The lightning branched out from the sword to smote several shadows of common creatures and another of the bipedal creature's kind that seemed to be a black shadow of the being itself. There was nothing in the lore about such creatures ever existing in Equestria, and it made Luna wonder whether these creatures were actually symbols for something else.

After several moments studying the bizarre art, Luna finally yielded asking, "What am I gazing upon, sister? I can make no sense of it."

"This is the story I wish to share with you sister. The creature with crimson and emerald wings is who gave me the courage to brave the millennium without you. If it was not for him, there would be no Equestria. There would be no life. I would of not had the will to rise the sun." The usually vibrant colors of dawn of the ethereal mane and tail of Celestia seemed to darken and the nonexistent wind seemed to stop letting her mane fall into her face and her tail droop onto the ground.

Luna was astonished by the sudden dark turn in her dear sister's mood. "Sister, what botherest you? Who was that creature?"

Celestia looked up at her sister, the colors seeming a bit brighter now. "I do not know his true name. He did not speak any pony tongue, but he did speak a variation of ancient dragon. We finally decided on Spirit Wing was as close to a translation as we could conjure. He identified himself as what translates from dragon as 'god', but he said that translation was inaccurate so he simply called himself an Aeon instead of trying to translate it properly."

"Fascinating, sister. What was his name untranslated?"

Celestia thought for a moment before replying, "Doeanaes Vuana Kudeloskezephana. I believe that was what I could understand, but…"

"Soul Winged Flight of the Ages," breathed Luna as the teachings of ancient dragon came out of cold storage. "Doeanaes meanest 'soul', Vuana meanest 'wing', and Kudeloskezphana meanest 'flight of the age'. Tis a powerful name, sister. Spirit Wing was probably his common name."

"That is only his title, and I am aware of what it means in ancient dragon, sister," said Celestia sadly with a hint of annoyance. "Like I tried to say though, that was only his title… His true name he breathed, but even I could never hear. However, he liked being called Spirit Wing. He said it made him feel more free."

Luna was about to say something else when Celestia turned announcing, "Now, I will need silence. These memories are old and will take concentration to remember."

Luna simply nodded and watched her sister intently as the white alicorn began her tale:

"It was two centuries after you were sealed away. I was feeling lonely and the sun had long since stopped giving me warmth with its rays. There had been several times I had no wish to raise it at all, but my loyalty to my subjects made me do it time after time. Eventually, I decided to let the unicorns take back up their rightful place as the controllers of the celestial bodies. However, to my horror, I found that the scrolls containing the ancient knowledge had been burned beyond use. So, I spent another decade in this manner, each day becoming more and more difficult. The winters became longer with each passing year and the sun seemed to become dimmer and dimmer. I was losing faith in myself.

It was the seventh day of summer in the year 212 of the current calendar when it became obvious that I no longer had the faith in myself to give my subjects warmth for the winter snow had lasted all that time. Even the various attempts to rid the ground of the snow failed because no rain came, only snow. It broke my heart to see all of my subjects suffer from famine and cold. I tried again, with renewed strength, but I was met with something else.

The dark figure in the window attacked me. He said that this world was too perfect to remain in such harmony. He said it had to be destroyed. He summoned the shadows of everything that made one. He called himself something that translates to… 'zero' in ancient dragon. He gave the shadows life and attacked my subjects. I had quickly lower the sun to avoid too much damage and I was forced to leave it down for a week for he could not control the night nor the shadows the moon creates. I attempted to use the Elements against him, but was met with him simply shrugging them off and then gravely injuring me.

The being called Zero was about to finish me off when a boom of strange loud thunder rang out and a bolt of prismatic colored lightning hit him from the clouds. Zero writhed in agony before fleeing in a burst of black flame. That was when my failing vision saw the Aeon called Spirit Wing for the first time. He was not in his armor, did not wear his sword, or had ethereal wings, but rather wore a worn cloth cloak, simple leather clothes, and a straw hat. His concerned glowing crimson and emerald eyes were the last things I saw before I lost consciousness.

I knew not how long he had taken care of me, but only that it was less than a day. Somehow he had healed me. The first thing I saw upon awakening was his concerned jet-black colored foxlike muzzle with his eyes staring worriedly still giving off their soft glow. When he first spoke I had no idea what he said. He seemed to go through several different languages until I decided to speak, but he could not understand me either. This back and forth went by for several minutes and at last I said hello in ancient dragon and a light sparked in his eyes. He said hello in turn though his accent was very evident and it was obvious from the first conversation that he was not extremely fluent in the language as I knew it. However, we were able to make introductions and exchange names.

A few hours passed and Spirit Wing started making a spell circle in the dirt. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me that he needed my help to stop his brother, Zero. He explained how he and Zero were the last of their kind from a dimension were their own world had been destroyed. He never mentioned how his world met its fate only that it was gone, and it drove his brother to insanity. His brother had destroyed two other worlds already and he was not about to let him do it again. Not to such a peace-loving and harmonious world. I asked what he wanted me to do, but he only asked me to step into the circle with the Elements on and raise the sun with all my heart. He would take care of the rest. When I asked why, he only told me to have faith in him. He said faith was the key to the whole spell.

I decided to give him my faith and did as he asked. At six-thirty sharp, I raised the sun for the first time in a week with all the faith, generosity, kindness, laughter, loyalty, love, honesty, and magic I had. That was when I saw it. Spirit's transformation into what he called later a true Aeon. His red, green, and black armor formed around him, his ethereal wings made of the very attributes of fire and wind themselves sprout from his back, his golden sword formed in his gauntleted paw, and a rainbow-like aura surrounded him. I have only describe my awe as close to that of when Jason first watched me raise the sun.

I watched Spirit Wing make something similar to the Element of Loyalty's sonic rainboom as he flew off into the light of the rising sun. But his brother was not about let his brother interfere. He materialized from a puff of black flame and attacked me only to be stopped by the spell circle. Obviously Spirit had anticipated this, but what Zero did next horrified me. He took his reformed shadow army and attacked the sun itself. I poured more energy into the brilliance of the star that gives us light and warmth. I could not let its light go out. It started to fade nonetheless and I almost lost hope. However, I heard Spirit Wing speak in my mind in perfect common tongue that I cannot fail for he believed I could not and so did my subjects.

I gave the sun one last pulse of energy that activated the Elements. Then, a rain of rainbow-colored lightning rained down from the heavens striking all the corrupted shadows and clearing the shadows away from the sun letting its light break though. Then, the last and largest bolt came down in what I can only describe as a sonic rainboom bolt and struck Zero himself. There was not even a cry as the wicked brother faded from existence. However, I never saw the other Aeon again either. From that day forth, I have never failed to believe in myself nor others."

After a few moments of silence, the midnight blue alicorn decided to speak, "There is something ye art not telling me, sister. Ye speakest as if Spirit Wing perished as well, but earlier in the story ye make a statement that maketh it clear he speaketh to you at a later date."

Celestia smiled. "I am glad you noticed, Luna. You are just as observant as you were when we were little fillies."

"Tis part of being protector of the night, sister. Now, for the answer to my inquiry?"

Celestia chuckled lightly. "Of course, you always were a bit impatient. Now, it is true I never saw either Aeon again, but that was because he gave up that form. Instead, when he fused his powers with mine, the sun's energy, and the Elements of Harmony, he was turned into a pegasus stallion. That sonic rainboom bolt was actually him surrounded with energy with his sword held out in front of him."

Luna gave her sister a coy smile. "Ah, fell for him, huh? And here I thought ye hast yet to find that 'special somepony' as this generation sayeth."

Celestia's muzzle reddened a bit as she looked away and her ears swiveled back. "Well, um…"

"Dear sister, ye dost not need to fear though ye hast my condolences. I am aware that once he becameth a pegasus he cannot be with us at this date."

Celestia's ears drooped slightly as she admitted, "I actually rejected him before I realized my feelings for him, but by the time I realized it, it was too late."

There is still yet more she is not a-telling me. All the scriptures sayeth sister was separated from the Elements after sending me away. Obviously, that is false. I must find out what truely happened. If for only the sake of my sister's heart, I will find the truth.thought Luna as she started to steer her sister toward the royal kitchen saying, "Nay, nay, sister. It was probably for the best outcome. Let us have some tea and those 'doughnut' pastries ye lik'st so well."

The white alicorn only nodded as she followed her sister, but the mention of doughnuts seemed to cheer her up a bit.

Song Note: The song Twilight sings in this chapter is a modified version of "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. and I do NOT own it.