//------------------------------// // To Remember Me By // Story: A Star Pony Tale // by BlondeSky //------------------------------// Chapter 10 To Remember Me By When Astro awoke she felt well rested and much better than she had the previous morning. There was still some sorrow stuck inside her, but there was no avoiding that and it would probably remain for a good while for good reasons. Still, she found it easier to see past it that day. North had given her his blessing to go forth on the path that she had chosen and she felt better accepting her more deviant path. She might've no longer had him at her side, but she had others standing by her in his place. The previous day she had been able to see that these others did care at least. Her time with them however had been short so she couldn't be entirely sure of them, but she did feel confident for the most part that she could trust them. As she stood up from her rest and opened her eyes she found that it was much lighter than it was when she had awoken the previous days. I must've slept later today, she thought to herself. Instead of having just broken the horizon the sun was up in the sky, but still not at its apex. Her sleep had been so peaceful as opposed to previous days and thus she had managed to enjoy it for longer. It was a nice feeling of being well rested, but she wasn't about to tolerate drowsiness when there were things that needed to get done. She yawned slightly and stretched before considering the day's events and what needed to get done by sundown. She knew school was something that she couldn't skip and that would take up several hours on its own. That still left a good amount of time for her to get what she needed done and so she set about listing her tasks in her mind. 'I definitely need to try and find a bed of some kind. I'm still good on food but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some more. Shelter would be nice, but that's definitely the most difficult to obtain of the three. Then there's money and since this bag won't last forever I'm going to need a way to get more.' she thought to herself. It was really just the last two that worried her at that moment. It hadn't taken her long to learn that foals didn't have jobs there, the adults did and in turn supported the kids. She however didn't have an adult unless of course she were to count North, but she wasn't sure what all he would be able to do for her at that point. She gave a tired sigh as she put away her belongings just as the day before and hefted her bag onto her back. She could think about the more complicated questions after she had worked out the simpler ones. She started off to school wondering if that day would be any different from previous ones. The three days before had all been fairly uniform, to an extent. They weren't nearly as identical as the previous constantly repeating routine she had experienced. While each day had been different in its own right each one hadn't been the most exciting. What she really took joy in at school was the time that she could spend with her friends. Sometimes that meant talking when they weren't supposed to be, but it was fun all the same. She was glad that she had so many things to ponder over and think about with each new discovery she made. Her friends however were definitely what she pondered over the most. The two were so different from each other and yet they offered the same thing to her. It was strange to her how different that two ponies could be, but still share similarities when you got down to it. She trotted into the waiting area out front of the school and just as the day before she was early. Also the same as the day before Kara hadn't seemed to have arrived and her other friend was already there. She walked over to him and offered a genuine smile. The previous day had been an anomaly for her and she was determined to keep it that way. He returned the smile and hers widened slightly at the gesture. "Hello." she greeted him cheerily as she reached him. "Hey." he replied in turn happily. "Do you know where Kara is?" she asked curiously. A shadow of a frown crossed his face for just a moment and she almost thought she'd imagined it as he started talking. "Oh, she always shows up only just before they let us inside." he answered. "Got it." she responded with a nod. A slightly uncomfortable silence followed and to break it she asked him something she'd been wondering about. "So I was wondering what you think about cutie marks. I mean, I never really thought it was a big deal, but a lot of the others seem to think it is." she told him. At first he seemed to be confused by the question, but eventually answered it, "There's no denying it's a big deal, but I think that some ponies do kinda blow it outta proportion." She simply nodded in response. That was something that still confused her a bit. "What do you think about it?" he queried wondering why she'd asked the question. "I don't really know yet, I just don't get why some think it's this huge deal." she replied truthfully. "Well, it means-" he was cut off as their other friend came bounding into the conversation. "Hey guys!" she called running over and skidding to a stop in front of them, "Phew! Made it! Thought I was gonna be la-" at which point she was cut off by the bell signifying that they could enter the school. They all rushed hurriedly into the building as their conversation had to be put on hold. When they took their seats however it didn't pick back up as the teacher moved right into taking roll. This time when her name was called Astro experienced no hesitation and instead answered quickly and confidently to the call. It felt right somehow now that she had managed, to at least to a degree, to accept what it had cost to reach it. 'Farewell Astro,' he had said. That would be her name to all those who knew her from that point forward and even to him who had known her the best in her past. She had better learn to respond to it earlier than later especially considering that it was no longer truly just a pseudonym. Still, she already felt that it belonged to her and in her mind had already replaced it as her own. Just one more step towards truly joining the community that she already felt like a part of. For the whole day she felt much more at ease with her surroundings and her company. She was learning very quickly how to be a part of the environment and was enjoying the whole experience immensely despite the downsides that there were. It was a new kind of unity than that she had felt on the Astral Plain. As opposed to the uniformity and common purpose that linked her to the rest of her kind with this it was the empathy that they could feel for each other. They each were different from the next, but all of them still managed to connect and to her that was close to miraculous. It was something that didn't make sense in her mind, but she wasn't going to question due to how amazing she found it. She loved the sense of community she felt despite knowing that she should have been an outlier and could not truly be close to the average no matter what the others thought. That didn't, however, put any kind of a damper on how much she loved the environment and the love that she felt returned to her from it. Just as each day before when the day came to a close it was too soon. The three again bid their goodbyes to each other before Kara took off first to her waiting family. Astro, although having no deadline, left second after offering her own farewell. She had started to walk off, but stopped as she heard a shout. "Wait!" Spot called running over. She had halted and as he reached her he stood still as well. "Well, I just thought that necklace must mean a lot to you." he commented. She nodded in confirmation wondering why he was bringing it up. "And also the pony who gave it to you cause you keep it around." he added awkwardly. She nodded again still confused as to why this information was important. "And when you found out you would be moving it probably meant a lot that they thought to give you something." he continued looking slightly anxious. She gave another nod of affirmation trying to work out where this was headed. "And yesterday it was pretty clear that you miss this friend a lot cause you were so sad." he ventured meeting her eyes. She frowned nervously, but nodded again since it was the truth. "And it was really sad seeing you sad like that." he told her. She blushed and pulled back bashfully. He reached back into his saddlebags and pulled out a little ball cap. It was a deep purple color with a golden star embroidered on the front. "Well, you know you've got friends here too." he told her bashfully and handing her the cap, "And we care about you so… just like they gave you something to remember them by, this is something to remember me by if anything were ever to happen." he finished with a shy smile as she took it with her mouth slightly open in shock. An awkward silence fell for a moment after which he took off before she could say a thing. Of course she didn't have any clue what she would've said if he had waited.