//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6 
// Story: Starting Off 
// by Basmati 
//------------------------------//

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique - how may I - oh!" Rarity recognised the unicorn standing in front of her. "It's Adara, isn't it? How are you? Are you enjoying it here?"

"Oh, yes. I'm having so much fun here. This is the best after-birthday day ever!" Adara said, smiling that the elegant white unicorn.

"Good. Anyway, how can I help you?"

"Well, I was just wondering if-" Adara started.

"Hey Adara!"

Adara turned and saw Sophie standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Sophie!" Adara galloped at full speed towards her friend, and pounced on her.

Sophie was thrown off her guard, and was surpised at her friend's behaviour. "Dara, what's wrong?"

"We had no idea where you were! Twilight had been sick with worry - I'll be surprised if she hasn't lifted up the library to search for you under it!" 

Sophie raised a hoof to her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Spike wanted to go and see Rarity and I thought that I should come and see Liz."

Adara put an arm around her friend's shoulders and reassured her.

"Come on - I better take you home," she said, walking towards the door of the shop.

"Yeah. I'll just go and get Spike."

The blue unicorn called for the dragon, who, of course, was unwilling to go. Eventually, after ten minutes of asking, pleading and threatening to tell Twilight, the two unicorns managed to persuade him to leave.

"Adara?" Sophie said.

Adara looked towards her friend and said, "What's up?"

"I was just wondering...I mean, are we ever going to get back home?"

Adara stopped - she had been thinking about this question all day. She had no idea if time when differently in Equestria - a year here might be a second back in her world. She hoped that her parents weren't missing her, but she also hoped that they were. She didn't want to be gone for ten years, come back, and realise it had only been ten seconds there and they didn't know she was gone.

"I really don't know, Soph. But the sooner we defeat that...thing, the sooner we can go home, I expect."

Sophie nodded, and followed her friend in the direction of Ponyville library - their home for the meantime, and hopefully not forever.

***
The group walked through the library door, and immediately Sophie was covered with a purple unicorn, who was mumbling "Thank Celestia you're alright!"

"Whoa! Twilight, it's ok. I told you she was fine," Adara said, gently pulling the unicorn off her friend. During all of this, Spike stood behind Twilight, laughing at the mare's reaction.

"Spike!" she shouted finally, noticing him. "Why did you take Sophie away, without even leaving a note behind, explaining where you were?!"

"Err...sorry Twilight. I must've forgotten," the dragon said, digging his foot into the floor of the library.

Twilight sighed - she knew couldn't blame Spike for everything. He was a baby dragon after all. "That's ok, Spike. Just next time, try to remember."

Adara drew Twilight's attention, and took her into another room.

"Adara, are you ok? Is everything alright?" 

"Twilight, I'm fine. It's just...my friends do keep asking the same question - when-"

"When are you going to be able to go home." Twilight sighed. "I thought that you may be asked that question by your friends, considering that they know of your knowledge of our land. But I can honestly tell you that I have no idea."

"I thought so, but we should start preparing our...powers, right?"

Twilight smiled. "You still can't believe that you're special, do you?"

"No," Adara admitted, shaking her head. "I am not special. I am a normal girl who isn't popular, who isn't funny, who isn't cool, who isn't smart, who isn't fashionable - I am not special. It must not be me. Simple as that."

"You can't think like that!" Twilight shouted at her. Adara looked up in surprise. "You were taken from world, brought to ours, for a special purpose. You were chosen out of billions! How can you know that and still say that you are not special?"

Adara stared at Twilight. She was right. Out of over 7 billion  people, only eight were chosen to come here, and Adara was one of them.

"You're right," she finally realised. "I was being stupid - I'm sorry." 

"Don't worry - I know exactly how you feel. You'll get used to it."

"I hope so."





Next story: The Sky is Always Green in Cloudsdale