A Star Pony Tale

by BlondeSky

Figuring it Out

Chapter Eleven

Figuring it Out

Astro wondered if the gift of the cap meant something was going to happen, but nothing did. The day that followed the presentation of the gift was very similar to the others with no real anomalies. It was the day after that where the first real break in the routine came for her. She came to the school right on time just as every day before, but there was nopony there. Even on the days where she had come earlier there had still been at least some ponies there. She was confused and concerned to find nopony there. Had there been some strange routine change that she hadn't been informed of? None of it made any sense as she wandered helplessly around the front of the school. Her anxiety only grew as she started to notice some ponies giving her strange looks. In the end she opted to leave the school grounds in favor of attracting less attention.

She didn't really have much to do as she wandered the town aimlessly searching for something to occupy herself. The conundrum of what had happened to the regularly scheduled school day confused and worried her. No reason came to her as she thought about it, but she hadn't expected one to. There were too many differences between what was considered regular in her mind for her to understand what half of the things in that world meant. That didn't mean that she'd stop trying, but it did make her fear that she might never really be able to fit in no matter how hard that she should try.

Again she found herself continuing to draw eyes even after having left the school and her worries only escalated exponentially. She wanted to be able to blend into the environment, but such a thing was difficult as she understood little about it. As some stares continued to follow her she stopped wandering and instead decided upon a location. She kept to the shadows as well as she could and made her way silently and discreetly to the edge of the town. The crowds of the bustling metropolis only meant more attention and opportunities to mess up that she didn't want. As she reached the edge of the town she picked her pace and cantered quickly home.

She sat in her clearing thinking about what to do, but couldn't think of anything particularly useful. Plus none of it was anything that she particularly wanted to think about anyway. She stumbled over to the nearby stream to try and not think about it and wash up. Despite how long it had been and that she had attempted to wash it out previously her hair had remained the black color and it hadn't faded at all. If anything the color had become darker. It was the same for her shoulders as well. Over the four days there had been no fading, and when washed the color hadn't come out, the only change had been the hue becoming even more solid looking. Of course she was grateful for it as it made her life all the more easy. Still, she hadn't anticipated that it would be so hard to figure it out. She sighed tiredly as she finally walked out of the small stream dripping slightly from the water. Shaking some of it off she turned to return to her clearing.

She was nearly there when she thought she heard a pony shuffling around. No sound escaped her as she stiffened and strained her ears to hear the sound. Sure enough the quiet sound of somepony moving around reached her ears. Petrified she silently walked towards the clearing to see if she could catch a glimpse of whoever it was. The trees shielded her from view as she approached and sure enough there was a figure standing there. Looking carefully between the trees she saw an earth pony mare standing in the center of the area. She was tall and slender with a strikingly white coat. Her mane was short and straight as well as a bright orange color. She was looking through all of the items that she had come to acquire and Astro found herself even more afraid as she looked on.

She watched from the shadows every possible worst case scenario coming to her mind. She looked worriedly at the mare who had discovered her home. That was, however, when she noticed something peculiar. The mare's ears were twitching about as she worked. It wasn't a very conspicuous movement, but it was definitely there. She moved around the edge of the area so that she could get a better view of the mare's face. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the mare's eyes for just a moment. They were the same blue that hers were, as well as the rest of the star ponies'. While telepathy was one of the more difficult things to learn and normally was one of the last things that was learned by the foals she had started to learn the basics.

With great difficulty she sent out a signal, just a small and quiet hum, which was all she knew how to do. If the mare reacted then she was a star pony and if she didn't then she wasn't. There was no harm in trying. She watched intently from the sideline for what she wanted to see. The mare shot to attention and looked around expectantly. Astro pulled back worried even if glad to have found somepony similar to herself. She didn't know why they were there or what they wanted. The mare scanned the trees around her and Astro pulled back further into the shadows. She felt her heart rate increase as she stepped backwards apprehensively, but curiosity and a slight hope kept her from running off.

"Hello?" the mare called out, but it wasn't just vocal, she heard it in her head as well. Her ears moved about in reaction and she inhaled sharply. "I know you're probably scared, but if you would come out we could help you." the mare stated and again she heard it in her head. The statement was just directed into the space as she couldn't see the filly hiding in the surrounding in the wood. But part of the phrase had confused her. Who was the we that the mare referred to herself as a part of? "Whether you just got lost on your way back to the Astral Plain or stayed down here on purpose we can get you where you want." she promised. She still remained hidden as she wasn't sure whether this was a genuine promise to her. As she stood there thinking about it though she realized that it was the best chance that she had at anything.

She gave out another hum still remaining in her hiding spot and wondering if she was making the right decision. 'Hey, I can hear you calling.' the voice came only in her mind and she listened worriedly as she felt her ears moving, 'I know you must be scared, but we only want to help. No matter what your choice is.' she continued. No matter what your choice is, she thought to herself confused. What choice was there for her to make. She wanted desperately to peek out around the corner, but was afraid to do so at the same time. A long silence came after as the mare looked around carefully and Astro remained concealed. 'Still there?' the mare asked after a significant silence. She gave another hum in response to it. While being lonely had never particularly bothered her, at the point she more feared the isolation than anything else.

She slowly stepped slightly out and peered cautiously into the open clearing. The majority of her form however remained hidden behind the trees. The mare's eyes then immediately directed towards her and she pulled back worriedly. "Wait! You came from the Astral Plain right?" the mare inquired approaching her slowly. She found that he sound was only verbal as she listened. She nodded in response, but looked at the oncoming pony with concern. "Are you trying to get back, cause if you are we can help you get there." she told her with an encouraging smile. She shook her head, she neither wanted nor intended on ever returning to that place. "You aren't trying to get back?" the mare questioned looking a little confused. She shook her head again certain of her answer. "You want to stay here on the surface?" she asked grinning hopefully. She nodded tentatively in the hopes that this was a good thing. The mare certainly seemed happy about it. "That's great!" the mare exclaimed. She took a step back from the sudden loudness of it. "Sorry, I can be a little loud sometimes. They didn't call me Bold for nothing. But you chose a name for yourself yeah? Astro wasn't it?"

"How'd you know that?" she asked worriedly.

"Well we got word of a mysterious new filly who showed up in town fitting the description of a star pony. Of course sometimes, well actually most of the time, it is a false alarm, but we always make sure to look into it. I'm glad we found you though." she told her with a kind smile.

"Who's we supposed to be." she questioned.

"You don't know? Didn't they mention us to you on the Astral Plain?" she inquired looking confused.

"I didn't even know that there was a surface until recently and most ponies don't know ever." she admitted nervously.

"Really? No wonder we almost never get any ponies off the Astral Plain. Anyways, how long have you been here? Your hair has already changed color." she responded sounding surprised.

"Oh, um, only a few days." she replied.

"Wow. It normally takes a while for ponies' hair to change color." she informed her. She just gave her a confused look in response. "Sorry, this probably isn't making much sense. Let's get you back to base. I'm not really good at this kinda stuff." she admitted.

She started to walk off, but promptly noticed that she wasn't being followed by Astro. "You are coming right?" she asked turning to face her. She just stood still slightly unsure of the trustworthiness of the whole situation, but again came to the conclusion that she'd rather not be alone. After gathering all of her things she followed slowly after the mare as she continued forward, even though she still had some reservations. "Oh, and the name's Bold Runner by the way. And you know what? I think you're going to like it here with us a lot." she told her confidently.

"Who's us?" Astro asked as she'd been wanting to know since Bold had referred to herself as a part of a group.

She stood up a little straighter as she responded, "We are The Wish Division. The star ponies' home on the surface, as well as the ponies in charge of all shooting stars and the wishes made on them."

Author's Note:

My upload schedule is going to be a bit weird for the next few weeks so if you want to see what it looks like then you should go check my profile for it.

^_^ Thanks, BlondeSky