//------------------------------// // Practice Makes Perfect // Story: A Star Pony Tale // by BlondeSky //------------------------------// Chapter 26 Practice Makes Perfect After hearing what Sail had to say Astro couldn't help feeling closer to her mentor. While there was of course still much that she didn't know about the mare it was an amazing feeling that she had been trusted with the tale. Just the idea that Sail might truly trust her deeply made her practically giddy. She was eager to learn more of her, but thought it best not to press her for more information. She didn't want to come off as pushy or annoying in her eagerness for knowledge. Especially right then with what was happening at the base. With Dust's ever worsening condition the entire place was growing ever more on edge. Tensions grew quickly as the days passed. Sail did inform her that a new manager would be chosen to take his place soon. Each of the members of the base were allowed to put forth their opinion as to who it should be and anyone wishing to take that place would submit an application and inform others that they were planning on doing so. In the end it did come down to the decision of the head base in their particular country. All comments given however were read through and deeply considered by the deciding members. The only requirement seemed to be that you had to have been at The Wish Division for at least a year so Astro was qualified to put forth her own comment, but she didn't know what she wanted to say. Despite having been there for a good while she didn't have any strong opinions towards anypony for the next manager. Her first thought when everything about a new manager had been announced was about the murals on the ceiling. One of them was going to have to be replaced and she wanted to help to do it. It would be good practice for the plans for her walls. She had spoken to Sail about it and found out that there was a whole committee that was made to create the new mural and repaint the door when a new manager came into place. "If you would like to join them then I believe you should talk to Acrylic. He's the head of the committee. I doubt that he'll turn you away. From what I understand they don't have very many ponies and it is quite a large amount of work to replace the mural." she informed her. "Cool! But, um, where can I find him?" she asked as she didn't know. "Oh, yes, of course. Right this way." Sail replied before turning and leading her off. Astro followed on her heels as Sail led her through the base. She was rather excited to meet this Acrylic even if she was nervous to as well. When they came to room 419 which was labeled with the name Acrylic Brush she found her heart beating quicker than it probably should've been. Sail walked up and knocked before taking a step back. The filly walked up to her side ready to take shelter behind a hoof should the need arise for her to do so. She felt a great tension come over her as the door opened. A tall and thin unicorn stallion stepped out into the open doorway. He had an unkempt head of bright red hair that looked sort of windblown. He smiled as he saw Sail, but had a distracted look in his eyes. "Hey, um, Sail I think?" he asked uncertainly. "Yes, that would be me. Good morning. I'm here about your mural committee." she told him. "Really? What about it?" he inquired shooting a quick glance at the nervous filly before returning his gaze to Sail. "Well," she began as she nudged Astro forward, "She was wondering if she might be able to help with it." "Um, yes." she agreed as she rubbed one of her back hooves with the other in anxiety. Her gaze had been directed at the floor while she spoke. "Well, I don't see why not. Can I see something of yours first though?" he responded nonchalantly. She looked up in shock at his response and quickness to accept her. She looked over at Sail for direction concerning what to do next. "Why don't you go and get one of your paintings to show Acrylic?" she suggested. "Okay!" she answered happily before zipping off down the hallway to her room. She was ecstatic as she burst through the door labeled with her name and plucked the painting of the sunset carefully off of the wall. While she did want to bring it back as quickly as possible she also didn't want to be reckless with her treasured canvass. So she walked slowly back to the room with anticipation burning in every step. She was still impossibly giddy from her speedy welcome into the project. Of course that's all over if he doesn't like this, something in the back of her mind whispered. No, she scolded herself, he will, I worked hard on this and it looks amazing. While looking it over she grinned with pride. She was more than confident that he would like what she had done. As she rounded the corner she found Sail and Acrylic talking amicably. She found a slight bit of apprehension bubble up inside her as she approached. She held the canvass in such a way that he wouldn't see it until such a point when she presented it. Her pace slowed as she grew ever nearer to them. "Ah, there you are." Sail said announcing her return. "Heh, yeah." she agreed nervously. "So? Let's see." Acrylic requested as he gestured for her to present the painting. Breathing deeply to calm herself she moved it so that he could see. His eyes widened slightly as he saw it. "That's pretty good actually." he commented grinning, "You're hired!" He offered her a hoof and she looked from it to him in surprise. Slowly she took it in hers and shook. "I'll let you know when we're gonna start planning this all out. It won't be until after the new manager is announced so it might be a bit. But until then, it's been a pleasure." "Same." she finished as she offered him a smile. He then turned to walk back into his room and shut the door behind him. "Is that… it?" she inquired confused as she turned to Sail. "For now anyways. As he has told you a notification will be sent to you as to when the work is going to start. You will know when your services are required. Of course you should understand that your schoolwork does need to be done before you can go to help with it the same way that I expect it to be done before you come to the sorting room. A large deal of work is required to complete the project and while I am glad that you wish to be involved I don't want you to overwork yourself with it." Sail informed her. "I know." she promised. "Good. You probably won't be meeting with them for around a month as the new manager to be chosen won't be announced until that time. I suspect that the planning will begin at the first available date for everypony on the committee. As a part of it you will be expected to devote your time to this project. While not all of it a good deal of your free time is now devoted to this. Do you understand?" "Yes ma'am." she answered. This soured her excitement slightly as she remembered her promise to spend more time with her friends. I can still keep the promise though, she told herself, I have to. She was determined not to let her friends down simply because she had taken on a new responsibility. Despite the fact that she had told herself that she needed a break she felt as though that was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. It was a great way for her to learn and she didn't want to miss it. She was certain that she could find a way to manage her time so that she could give her time to both activities. Due to the recent addition to her friendship circle she felt very motivated to be able to work time to spend with them into her busy schedule. "Also, I managed to get somepony who will come by later to move your dresser over. I believe it was the back wall where you wanted it." Sail added interrupting her thoughts. "Really?" she inquired excitedly. "Yes, but you never told me exactly why you wanted it to be moved. Might I ask the reason?" "Well, I needed more space for my art stuff." she replied which wasn't a complete lie. She did intend to use it as a place for her work. "But the back wall would work just as well for that." she responded. "I suppose, but I would prefer the right wall to the back one." she told her with a shrug. "Why exactly?" she inquired pushing for more information. "It has more space on it and it's directly across from my bed." she informed her honestly. "That is true." Sail conceded which ended the conversation. She however was quite certain that Astro was planning something. The two went to the filly's room so that she could put her painting back up where it had come from. "Are those two going to stay where they are?" Sail asked her looking at the two paintings that were hanging over her bed. "Hm?" she said confusedly before realizing what Sail was talking about, "Oh! Yes, I think that they'll stay where they are." she answered as she hung the sunset back in its spot. "But everything else is stored neatly in the dresser correct?" she replied gesturing to said object. "Except for the stuff on the mirror." she agreed. "Then what exactly will be going up on that wall?" she questioned wanting to know what her plan was. "Still working on that, but planning ahead isn't a bad thing." she responded not wanting to reveal anything yet. She wasn't entirely sure of her plan herself. Also, despite what she'd been told, she wasn't completely certain that her plan was completely within the confines of the rules. "No it is not, but I want to understand your urgency to clear that wall." she told her. "I just want to be able to see how much space I have so I can start working." she said simply. "So you do have a plan then?" she queried. "Sort of, nothing's concrete yet. Just a general concept is all I've got so far." she replied which wasn't entirely true. "But you know what is going up there to an extent." she pushed. "I guess, yeah." she conceded finally. "And would you care to inform me of your plan?" she questioned. "Well… like I said, nothing's concrete yet. I might not even do anything with it." she answered hoping to dodge the question. "So?" she began nonchalantly, "Just tell me what it looks like right now." Astro looked down nervously before deciding to answer the question she'd been asked. "It looks like that." she informed her as she gestured to the two paintings that hung over her bed. "But you told me that those were staying right where they are." Sail responded in confusion. "Those were only drafts of an even bigger project." she admitted. "Really? What kind of project?" she inquired intrigued. "A mural." she answered simply. "Which is why you were so interested in getting to work on the one for the new manager." Sail deduced. "Yes. I'd like to be able to have some practice before I start this one." she confirmed. "What exactly would you like it to look like?" Sail asked taking a seat and smiling at the filly. Her eyes lit up at the question. She described her perfect image to her mentor in detail. She flew around the room to show where everything would be and how it would be set up. "See, the reason that there isn't any ground in the sunset is because this is the ground." she said landing and tapping the floor with her hoof. "And I know that I haven't tried doing it yet, but the two pictures are going to meld right here." she continued as she flew up and gestured to a point about three quarters of the way up the right wall. "Since the horizon line is the edge of the floor the ceiling is still going to be the sky. All the constellations are going to go right here." she explained as she flew up to touch the ceiling. "When it's done it's going to cover the entirety of the right wall and the ceiling as well as spill over onto some of the other walls. I don't know if I can, but I'd like to see if I can slowly blend out the color so it fades into the white of the walls instead of just stopping abruptly." she went on. "I can't wait to finish, but I haven't even started planning yet." "You cannot rush perfection and this certainly sounds like it is going to be grand." Sail told her. She nodded in understanding and then said with the utmost certainty, "I know, and it is going to be grand. It's going to be magnificent."