Chapter 23
Dwarfing
It was immediately apparent to Astro that Sail was upset. She stood at the edge of the school waiting patiently as always, but she had a sort of lost look in her eyes. As she got closer she could hear a telltale tune drifting through the air towards her. Sail didn't even turn to face her as she approached. She wondered if her approach had even been noticed. Her answer came as she simply turned and started walking the second that Astro reached her. She followed, as was expected, nervously and made no questioning statements. She had never seen Sail in such distress like that and thought it best not to push for any answers. The tense silence was filled only by the wafting melody repeating over and over.
As they teleported down to the base the atmosphere seemed to consist of nothing but tension. It wasn't just Sail who was on edge, it appeared that everypony was in a similar mood. "I will be in the sorting room. You may come once your schoolwork is done." she said simply before taking off for her destination and leaving her there in a stunned stillness. She walked solemnly off to her room unsure of what was going on and worried over it as well. What's happened, she asked herself. Clearly something terrible occurred while I was in school, she reasoned, everything was fine before I left. Her mind spun through the various possibilities, but very few came to mind. While she had been there everything had always been fairly happy. The place was dedicated to making wishes come true and that generally made for an optimistic and joyful environment.
She entered her room and shut the door behind her before moving over to sit on her bed. It had been such a good day with her new friends and getting to see her old ones again. What had been a joyful lightness in her heart had become a hardened weight. She had no homework so she was free to go to the sorting room immediately, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to be surrounded by the mass of upset ponies. Well it's either that or I can sit in here and stew, she thought to herself. I know that I'm definitely not going to stop wondering and if I go then I might at least be able to find out what's happened, she reasoned. With that she set her saddlebags down on her bed and headed for the sorting room.
When she arrived she was greeted by a scene that caused her to halt from her shock. As opposed to the usual group atmosphere of a circle of ponies discussing, and laughing as they worked she was met by a silent room full of ponies working in solitude. Each one filled out their envelopes without making a sound or moving from where they were. Every face displayed a grim expression, there were no smiles to be seen. Sail certainly wasn't an exception to that rule. In fact there were absolutely no ponies that broke the trend. The whole room felt at least twenty shades dimmer than its usual brightness. She could feel the weight of it bearing down on her as she walked forward to sit next to Sail.
She cringed as each one of her steps rang out in the unbearable silence. The ponies that were working tried not to notice this obvious entrance but it was difficult not to. They didn't look away from their work, but it was quite clear on their faces that they were disturbed by her arrival. As she reached Sail's desk she took her seat on the floor as quietly as she could. There was no chair there and she didn't wish to interrupt further so she kept her silence and simply sat on the floor beneath her. The quiet continued to reign over the area as she remained there doing nothing. She couldn't have said how many agonizing minutes it had been before Sail finally acknowledged her. She didn't speak out loud and shatter the silence, but instead she offered a telepathic message to the filly.
'I appreciate your coming, but at this current moment I don't believe your presence is useful here. As far as The Wish Division is even concerned you are not a certified sorter. You have yet to take your test and you aren't allowed to until you exit school. I believe it would be best if you returned to your room and remained there. After I complete these I will come and see you before it is time for you to sleep.' she told her. She concentrated with all of her might as she tried to deliver her own message back. She had been practicing with her telepathy, but it was exceedingly difficult and was hardly something that was mastered overnight. Despite the fact that they had the ability few ever mastered it and trying to do it from a large distance was nearly impossible for even those who were the most skilled.
'Okay.' she replied with great difficulty.
'Then I shall see you after my work is done.' Sail finished.
She walked out of the room and the journey was just as agonizing as her walk to the desk. She couldn't have been happier when she moved into the hallway. It didn't matter that it was on the opposite side from her room. That door had been closer and so she'd had taken that route. She let out a relieved sigh before taking off at a trot for her room. It was an amazing feeling to not be afraid of her hoof steps. They did still ring out in the unusual silence, but at least then she wasn't surrounded by others who had to notice. She picked up her pace slightly so that she could get back to her room and away from the tense outside. The inside might not have been much better though as she would have nothing but time to stew over what was going on. Still, at least there I might be able to distract myself, she though hopefully.
That was her mindset as she strolled into her room and closed the door behind her. While she had told herself that she wouldn't start thinking about the mural until she had first taken some time away from the project she had a change of heart in that moment. She wouldn't be devoting the entirety of her time to it over the course of its construction, but right then she needed something to devote her attention to. The first problem however would be getting a clean wall. She wanted to use the one across from her bed, but that was where the dresser resided at that point in time. If she wanted to use that wall in particular then it was going to have to move.
She sighed tiredly as she examined that problem. While there was nothing inside of it she doubted that it would be light or easy to move around. Sliding it around on the floor was probably the least productive way to do it, but she knew that she certainly wasn't going to be lifting the thing. The mirror on top would be a much simpler thing however as she just had to pick it up and move to lean against the back wall. She started with that as she didn't want to tackle the dresser right then. Flying up next to it she grabbed it and flew it over to where she wanted to keep it for the meantime, but with that done the dresser stood waiting for her.
She sat for a moment staring at it and frowning before deciding to just try and push it along the wall. Moving to stand on its right she braced her back hooves against the floor and her front ones against the sides of the wooden piece of furniture. She pushed as hard as she could but didn't get very far with it. She tried again by keeping her back hooves to the ground but instead of her front hooves she pushed her back up against the side of the dresser. Once more she pushed as hard as she could and just as previously it didn't get her far. She kept trying to move it and that was how Sail found her when she walked in.
"Is there a problem with where your dresser is currently?" she questioned as she saw what Astro was doing. She jumped as she hadn't noticed Sail's entrance to the room.
"Oh, um, no. I just wanted to put it up against that wall." she answered embarrassedly as she pointed to the wall where the mirror had taken up residence.
"Well, I believe that it is about time that you were informed of what is happening. Leave that for now, I will see what I might be able to do about that another day. Right now I am here to tell you why this place is so on edge." she replied. She took a seat on the bed and gestured for Astro to sit down next to her.
"Do you remember that stallion that Bold took you to meet on your first day here?" she asked.
"Yes." she answered vividly recalling the elderly pony that she had been brought to.
"He is quite old and it has recently become apparent that he might not be here for much longer. His resignation has already been announced." she informed her solemnly, "He has experienced what they call dwarfing here, on the Plain they never truly gave it a title. As you probably already understand a star pony's body contains a great deal of magic. Of course surface ponies' bodies contain magic as well, but the magic with us manifests itself differently. That is why our coats glow in the moonlight and theirs don't. It is also why we have some abilities like telepathy and teleportation that they don't. And while this magic makes us able to do these things it needs to synchronize with the body on a certain level to let us do this. A problem arises from this fact when the magic finds itself running low. The energy that had been powering this body for so long collapses in on itself and physically weighs the pony down. Usually shortly following this the magic will release itself from the pony's body in a large blast. While this explosion of magical energy does not harm the body it came from if there is a pony close by then they might find themselves injured, and without the magic to help power the body it will die." Astro listened to what Sail had just told her in a stunned silence. "This is even more of a blow due to the pony that it is. Star Dust has been a part of this place for as long as he has been alive and has been a manager here since he was old enough to do so. Losing him is quite a blow to the morale here. That is why you've found this place in such a state recently."
"But, couldn't you just get more magic?" she asked.
"No, like I told you the magic has to bind itself to the pony and that doesn't just happen overnight. It is used quicker than it replenishes itself which is why it eventually runs low as it has for him." she answered.
"Is there any way to make it bind faster?" she questioned.
"I'm afraid not. Take for example when star ponies first arrive here from the Plain. It can take weeks and sometimes even months for their hair and coat to finally change color. This is because it is changed by the magic here on the surface. It takes a good while for the magic to work its way to the pony." she explained.
She kept her almost instant transformation to herself, "But I thought that the star ponies didn't have surface magic, that's why we're different."
"That is half correct. What separates star ponies and surface ponies is indeed the magic as speaking anatomically we are identical to them. The magic that resides in us exits purely on the Astral Plain and the magic that inhabits surface ponies exists only here on the surface. As we live on the Astral Plain it works its way into us and the same goes for the ponies here. However if you were to take a surface pony and bring them up to the Astral Plain and they were to remain there for long enough they might very well became a star pony as their surface magic dwindles and more of our magic bonds with them. The same goes for a star pony being brought to the surface. Our difference from them is purely environmental." she informed her.
"Then why haven't The Wish Division ponies changed?" she queried confused.
"They have though, if only slightly, their manes and tails as well as the marks on their shoulders all change. As for the rest there are enough star ponies here to maintain a significant concentration of our magic. However if a pony were to wander from us and remain on their own for a while then they might very well change. I don't believe anypony has ever tried it, but I feel that for star ponies it would be less advisable due to our magic's more explosive tendencies. While neither magic is more powerful than the other our magic is the more unpredictable of the two. But I feel that I've burdened your mind with enough for one night. It is time that you went to sleep. We may speak more of this later if you wish, but right now you should rest." she finished.
"Okay." she conceded.
Sail stood up and Astro laid down and pulled the covers over her. Her mentor leaned down and kissed her softly on her forehead. "Goodnight." she whispered quietly before taking her leave from the room.