My Little Countries: Magic of the Stars

by BlondeSky

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Hey, so this is part of the Ponytalia reupload. I edited it after going back over the first version and deciding that I thought I could do a better job if I rewrote it. It does take place in a setting of my own design and the majority of that will explained be in the next chapter. The countries also don't come in until the next chapter either. I do feel that Chapter 2 is much stronger than Chapter 1. If after reading this one you are still iffy about continuing reading I would hope that you would read the next one before quitting completely. Of course, I don't want you to read anything that you don't want to. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated. This is an mlp/hetalia crossover fic so if you don't watch or enjoy hetalia you probably won't enjoy this. Anyways, this is long enough already!

^_^ Enjoy, BlondeSky

Chapter 1

She was flying as fast as she could. She was almost late to a competition she was performing in and had no intention of being tardy. Her long pitch black mane and tail were blown back by the oncoming wind. The purple ball cap with a gold star on the front which she always wore was almost blown off by the breeze. She was a small pegasus with a pure white coat and bright blue eyes. Astro Color was her name and she had a talent for art depicted in her cutie mark by a circle of seven stars each a different color of the spectrum. She descended and skidded to halt in front of the amphitheater where her friend was waiting and her mane flew forward into her face with the sudden halt in momentum.

"Astro! You had me worried. I almost thought you weren't coming." her friend Spot Light teased her as she came in through the doors. He was a stocky and well built pegasus with a short and messy brown mane and tail. His coat was white with brown spots and his were a golden yellow honey like color. His cutie mark was a single gold star which was representative for his talent with performing.

"I'm so sorry! I got lost in my sketchbook and the time just sort of… got away from me." she apologized.

"It's fine, you're here now. We've still got a good amount of time to practice before we're up." he promised turning to walk inside with her.

The two walked into a back room where several pairs of dancers were practicing their own routines. Each of the groups were deeply concentrated on what they were doing. This was a national level competition, there was no room for error. Astro and Spot began running through their own routine alongside the others. He didn't speak as they moved, he was nervous as was to be expected, she knew however that the second they stepped on stage he would be fine. It seemed to have a calming effect for him being out there. She was anxious too, but he did a better job of hiding it than she did.

"We'll do great, promise." he told her with a reassuring smile. She smiled back, but it was less confident.

The minutes passed as the various performers were all called up on stage to be judged. They continued to run through their own routine hoping to be as ready as was possible when they were inevitably called up. She was certain that they would do well if not perfect and as was he, but that confidence didn't make the experience all the less nerve racking. The tension only seemed to build as the minutes ticked past and more and more ponies left the room for the stage. She tried to avoid paying attention to them as they came back and seeing how they seemed to feel about their own performance, but it was hard to do knowing that she would eventually be one of them. Still in the back of her mind she couldn't help thinking about what they would look like coming back.

She realized she was about to find out as the moment came when they were called to the stage. Pausing she looked over at him eyes a little wide and he gave her a reassuring smile in return. She took off her cap and set it down on a nearby chair and gave him the same smile with a nod. "We'll do great." she promised just like he had earlier, but it was more to calm herself than him.

The two walked out onto the stage together and as soon as she set hoof on it she felt her heart flutter. She looked over at him a good bit less confident than before. If he was feeling any extra nervousness or anxiety however he wasn't showing it. He still wore the same smile that he had been previously as the two performers took their places waiting for the music to start.

As the music started to play both of the dancers started to move with it. In her mind she did her best to block out the crowd and focus on the task in front of her. Her heart was beating out of her chest for the fear of missing a step, but she couldn't help but smile from the exhilaration of it all. It was a feeling that she was sure she would never get used to. Still that was a good thing because if she ever did then the excitement of it all would fade. She continued to count the steps in her head maintaining concentration as they neared the end of the song. When they struck the final pose together she could hear her breathing and feel the adrenaline.

The crowd gave a hearty applause and after they had quieted down the dancers received some comments, and their score from the judges. After being dismissed they headed backstage more than happy with their performance. Astro let out a happy sigh of relief all of the apprehension gone. They had the second highest score at the moment, but there were still others who still had yet to go up. "I told you we'd do great." Spot teased her.

She smiled, "Yeah, I know. I just wasn't sure I believed it."

The two walked back towards where the crowd was to watch the final few performers do their routines. On their way back however they were greeted by their friends who had come to cheer them on. Farthest to the left stood Ink Well. She was an orange unicorn with a teal colored and curly mane and tail, deep blue eyes, and a cutie mark which depicted a quill in an ink bottle. On her right stood Kara Tay, a light green unicorn with a long and straight orange mane and tail, violet eyes, and a cutie mark of a black belt which she was in multiple different forms of martial arts. Next to her was Zone Flare who was an orange pegasus with a spiky yellow mane and tail, a spiraling wind cutie mark, and silver eyes. Then finally to the right of him stood Diplo Change. He was a grey colored unicorn with dark green eyes, a scroll as his cutie mark, and a wavy golden mane and tail.

"You guys did great!" Ink said excitedly.

"Yeah! That was amazing!" Zone agreed.

"Second place, not half bad." Diplo added.

"Thanks." Astro replied still a little out of breath.

"There's still a few more to go though." Spot reasoned.

"Don't be so down! You two were smiling the whole time you were up there!" Kara scolded him.

"I'm not saying it wasn't fun, I'm just saying we don't know the final scores yet, that's all." he answered.

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Diplo agreed.

"I suppose." Ink admitted sounding slightly downtrodden. Zone frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Oh c'mon guys!" Kara began exasperatedly, "Weren't we all just saying that they did great? Didn't you just say you had fun? What's with the pessimism?" she finished rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, second's nothing to sneeze at, and that was pretty exciting too." Astro said.

"I was just saying we don't know the final score. That's all." Spot defended himself, "I'm not upset."

"And he is right." Diplo supported him.

Their conversation was interrupted by the next groups score coming out on the loudspeaker.

"Still in second!" Ink exclaimed happily after hearing the score.

"Let's go watch the rest of the performers routines." Spot said before heading over to the crowd the others following.

The other competitors continued to go up and dance for the crowd and the judges before receiving their score and exiting the stage. As the last pair went up only one other had beaten them with an almost perfect score earning first. As the awards were presented they received the third place trophy. The both of them were beaming as they were presented with it more than happy with what they had gotten.

As they exited the building Kara piped up, "Whaddaya say we head down to the beach to celebrate?" she suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Astro replied happily. With that the group of friends took off for the beach.