A Star Pony Tale

by BlondeSky

Settling In

Chapter 15

Settling In

Sail nodded her head simply as Astro finished her tale. It had taken a bit to run through all the details, but she had been a good listener. Both of their coats had taken up their glow in response to the moon as she spoke. She had never interrupted while she spoke and paid complete attention to every word that had been said. Sail still made her nervous, but Astro felt exceedingly more comfortable around her then. Above all else she did seem calm and quiet and that was something that she appreciated. Both were qualities that she possessed herself and was glad that the pony she was working with also held. She considered asking her for her story, but refrained as she remembered Bold's words from the previous day. She didn't want to do anything to cause undue discomfort to the mare and held her tongue.

"You have an interesting story to tell." Sail commented giving another small smile. She gave a soft sigh and closed her eyes and Astro could see her mouthing something, but couldn't decipher the words. "You are probably the first that has come down here fully of your own decision. All that I know of down here were rescued from… and brought here with no way to get back. They didn't have much of a choice."

"Would you have chosen differently?" Astro asked out of curiosity.

"What place do the stars have messing in the affairs of others that we know nothing of?" she replied simply. "I would prefer that we stay away from their business and keep to our own." Astro frowned, but said nothing in retort to her comments.

"Come now, it is time that you should rest. I have work to attend to. In the morning I may show you this place and what it is that I do here. Now sleep, tomorrow shall be busy." she commanded as Astro moved her things off of the bed and on top of the dresser. She laid down on the bed and pulled the covers over herself. She started to relax as Sail began humming a soft tune. It wasn't long before Astro drifted off into a soft slumber.

-/|\-

Astro yawned and stretched slightly as she awoke. She was surprised at first to find herself in a warm bed, but quickly remembered the previous day's events. Looking over at the clock she found that it was fairly early that morning. She considered trying to go find Sail, but decided against it as she realized that she wouldn't know where to start looking. She doubted that she could get too lost in the place but didn't want to risk it. She gave a small yawn and pulled the warm covers closer around her glad to have them there. In a world that constantly confused her she was appreciative of any form of security that she had.

After allowing herself a few minutes of calm rest she then threw off the covers and rose to her hooves. She stretched once more before walking over to the dresser where her belongings lay. She brought them over to the bed and laid them out as she had before. They had been spread according to their purpose so there weren't very many piles. To one side sat all of her school supplies, the majority of her things, in the middle sat her money, next to that the drawing, and to the right sat the hat and necklace. She put both of the accessories on before turning to the rest of her possessions.

The money she quickly dealt with as she placed it inside one of the drawers seeing as she didn't own any clothes. All that left behind were her school things and the drawing that she had made. To her the drawing felt special and she didn't want to just discard it. She looked over at the mirror in its frame knowing that she most likely wouldn't use it often. Picking up the paper and walking over to the mirror she inspected it for somewhere to place the picture. There was just enough space between the frame and the mirror for her to slide the paper inside. She did so and it stuck there in the upper corner of the mirror. Satisfied she turned to her school supplies.

Looking at it she decided that it would be simple enough to just put it away in her saddlebags. She walked over and divided the pile into two separate sensible ones. Then she made sure to put each one into its respective pocket carefully. It wasn't hard for her to take her sweet time with the task as she had nothing else to be doing and was used to overworking the simple everyday tasks she always received. Still, even taking every second possible she was done earlier than she would've liked to be. She carried the newly organized saddlebags over to the dresser and laid them neatly on top of it. Looking over at the clock she frowned sadly, she had no idea when Sail was going to arrive to pick her up and wasn't used to having time to herself. There had always been some task that required her immediate and attention and without that she didn't know what to do with herself.

She gazed over at the most recently completed task, the organized saddlebags, but she quickly found her attention drawn to something else. Her eyes drifted up to the drawing that she had made. Their attention stayed there for a moment examining it and she recalled the moment each one had been made after. She pursed her lip in thought as she looked it over. Looking at it then she could see how it had been hastily made and where all of the imperfections were. While she had tried to include details a lot of it didn't look quite right. Writing and drawing weren't the same thing. She sat looking up at it and analyzing all the places and how she would change it if she were to do it again. It wasn't long before her mental list probably wouldn't have fit on paper. That didn't bother her however.

Wanting to try again now that she had thought of all of these things she grabbed another paper from her saddlebags. She grabbed her quill and ink and started to draw one of the few pictures again. She made it larger in the hopes of allowing her to get more details in and work in a larger space. She was careful not to smear the ink and took her time in making it. As opposed to the rush and energy she had in making the first one she slowed down and mapped it out being careful as to where every drop of ink landed. She knew that no stroke could be taken back and spent time on each one to make sure she wouldn't regret any. She found herself smiling absentmindedly. Maybe you could be an artist! The words came back to her as she drew and her grin widened slightly. Maybe I could be an artist, she thought hopefully.

It felt like only minutes had passed when she looked at her finished work, but looking over at the clock it seemed that well over an hour had passed. Her eyes widened at the passage of time, but she wasn't all that worried. It was more from the shock at how the time had seemed to condense itself into a much smaller space. She sat back and looked at what she had managed to complete in that time. Her work was far from perfect, but she was proud of it. Picking up the paper she held it out in front of her admiring what she had been able to accomplish. She set it down on the dresser for it to dry. After it had done so she intended to put it up on the mirror just like the other.

Looking for the time she found that it was just after 7:30 in the morning. She frowned in concern at the fact that Sail had still failed to show. Again she considered going out to look for her, but again decided against it. Still, ponies who come from the Astral Plain, we call them night children, are notorious for being… cumbersome. She didn't want to cause any problems by stumbling into something she wasn't supposed to. She was determined to prove them wrong and be helpful in any way that she could. Getting lost and causing any other trouble by doing so wasn't a good way to start off. She remained in the room and walked over to sit down on the bed.

She sat down tapping her hooves against the wooden bed frame in boredom. After a minute she fidgeted about a bit before taking up a lying down position. She proceeded to curl up into a little ball on the mattress. Again she sighed, but this time from the monotony. She soon realized however that the lack of excitement could be a good thing. Instead of moving from task to task she had the opportunity to simply rest. She pulled the covers over her and closed her eyes with a contended smile on her face. Maybe all of it wasn't as confusing as she had thought. Maybe she could learn to live there.