A Star Pony Tale

by BlondeSky

Growing Up

Chapter 31

Growing Up

Once the mural work had finally been finished Astro's newfound amount of free time was liberating. The complete lack of free time before had helped her to learn to manage her time, but was still extremely constraining. The reception of countless extra hours of time after the mural had been completed left her with nothing but time to do what she wished. While at first she spent the majority of the extra time with her friends she was more than happy to have some of the time to herself. After the huge and exhausting project she set down her brushes for a short time, but it wasn't long before she was using them again.

She didn't intend to start any large projects immediately, but instead she worked on the various things that she had learned from the others on the Mural Committee. She wanted to perfect what she could before putting a great deal of work into something only to mess it up when it counted. She was waiting to make a final copy of the flower sketch and planned to try out what she'd learned on that. Before she did so however she wanted to be sure that she had a handle on what she'd learned. Even though she was at that point no longer working with Acrylic she still went to him for advice or opinions when she tried various things. The relationship was less personal and more professional but she was glad to have it. He was far more experienced than her and could better judge something that she'd created than Sail or her friends would've been able to. Under his direction, at least in a way, her skills continued to grow.

When she thought herself to be proficient enough she endeavored to attempt to change the sketch of the flower into a painting on a canvass. She was excited to work on a project that was all her own and to show her friends the final product that she'd promised them. The fact that the image held a meaning that only two would understand made her more determined to complete it. When she finally touched the paint to canvass she took her time and worked hard on the details. The lighting to her was the most important part as she wanted to be sure that the light source would be traced back to the flower in the center. Just like everything else that she worked on she didn't want to end with anything short of perfection. She knew that she would never have perfection truly, but that didn't stop her from trying for it. And just like she had hoped the result was what she'd wanted out of it.

She was very proud to show it to her friends and the feedback she received only increased the pride that she felt. Everypony she showed it to seemed to be impressed by the mastery of it. As she hung the finished painting on the wall she was riding the high of the praise she had received. All of the good things that she had heard whirled around in her head and she felt ready to tackle the world. Just looking at it made her burst with pride over the fact that she had made it. In that moment she was invincible and nothing would stop her. That very night she started the planning of her mural.

She put a great deal of work into the details as she started to work out the final design. She wanted to make sure that everything was perfect. Remembering her work with the Mural Committee she applied what she'd learned to her planning. Since she was working with a canvass that was a great deal larger she exercised even more care than she usually did with her work. She knew that what she was about to put together was going to be her best work yet. It had to be. If there ever was anything that she was a perfectionist about it was the mural that was going to take up a great deal of her wall space. She wanted everypony to be amazed by it the same way that they were amazed by her paintings. It wasn't just about pleasing herself anymore, but that she had a standard that she needed to live up to. She had no intention to disappoint her audience.

Knowing better how to manage her time she made sure to still devote time to all of her various commitments. She spent time with her friends, completed her schoolwork, spent time in the sorting room, found time to relax, and time to work on her mural. Her pride continued to blossom as she found herself with time for everything. She was both relaxed and motivated without feeling the stress of keeping up with everything. Spring no longer came as a sign of relief, but just enjoyment. She had managed to find her balance for things. The freeness of it was amazing.

This didn't mean that her work on the mural moved quicker necessarily, but it was significantly less stressful than it most likely would've been otherwise. The speed at which her work was done was more attributed to her motivation to complete it. With the mural she was very motivated as she had been waiting to work on it for so long. She was quite eager to finally see it displayed across her walls and the majority of her free time was devoted to the project. Working on it helped her to relax as she just lost her thoughts in the colors before her.

While she was determined to make the mural her best project yet she was also determined to make it her project. She didn't want to have anypony's help on it so that it could be completely her achievement in the end. She kept the majority of her work to herself and didn't go to Acrylic for opinions as she normally would. Sail was of course aware of what she was doing, but that was for all intents and purposes as far as the knowledge of her project went. She judged the work herself as it progressed and made adjustments as she felt necessary. There was nothing that was going to take what she was putting together away from her. After it was done she was definitely going to show it to all who cared to look, but until then it was for her eyes only.

The preparation phase for it lasted a while, just like for the mural for The Wish Division. It took longer than that for hers due to the fact that she was the only worker and wasn't as experienced as those on the mural committee either. There was also the fact that, despite her motivation, not all of her time was devoted to it. Just like always she spent the entirety of the summer solstice with her friends. That year she had two extra ponies to spend it with and the other two understood the significance of the day to her. She spent a great deal of time with the four of them for the rest of the summer as well. Then there was her time in the sorting room to consider. Relatively speaking her work on the mural wasn't taking up all that much of her day. Her ever lessening need for rest did allow for more time during the night hours however. She spent many nights simply working by the light of her coat.

She waited to truly start laying things out on the wall until she felt more than confident in her ability to create the mural competently. A fair amount of time as spent in preparing the walls for the new coat of paint, and just like always she continued to take her sweet time as she laid her design out on the wall. Nothing was allowed to go wrong in those moments. It took a great deal of paint and even greater deal of hours, but everything was coming together just as she'd hoped it would. As it ever neared completion her stash of bits was almost out, but she only needed it to last through the murals completion. If it could just do that then she could worry about the rest later. While she worked on her walls the environment was completely private as Sail was elsewhere while she worked. The only pony who even knew of what Astro was doing was her mentor. Astro had asked for total privacy until it was done at which point she would go and retrieve Sail.

It was well after midnight when Astro finished by the light of her coat. She sat back and looked up at it for a long while not at all aware of the late hour. She had, as per usual, been completely engrossed in her work and unaware of the minutes passing right by her. Sail, while she understood that Astro wouldn't need very much sleep at that point, wanted to go in and interrupt her, but she knew that wasn't the best of ideas. She had stood by the door to knock before changing her mind and instead going back to her room. I'll just make sure she gets her rest tomorrow, she reasoned. As she had finished her work she entered her room to relax and wait for the filly to come and retrieve her. It was quite a bit after it had been finished however before Astro went to go and get Sail. She had spent a good bit just sitting there and admiring her finished work for herself. The knock didn't sound until the first hours of the next day.

"Come in." Sail answered promptly as soon as she heard the knock at her door. She had been expecting Astro for a while. Astro entered to find her mentor waiting for her. She beckoned for Sail to follow her and as she turned she saw a surprised look on Sail's face. She was slightly worried to show it to her even if she was quite proud of it herself. She had no idea how it was going to be received. She walked down the halls with Sail on her heels as she walked to her room. As she reached the door labeled with her name she looked back at her mentor. Sail stood behind her smiling encouragingly. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she opened the door to her room.

She walked inside and was followed quickly by Sail. The mare looked at the painted wall in astonishment. Just as Astro had said the floor took the place of the horizon that the sun was setting behind. The bright half circle sat on the baseboard. The sky around looked just like the sky she remembered seeing on the night of their outing. The oranges, reds, and purples blended seamlessly together behind the thin clouds. She was also surprised by how the colors spilled off of the right wall and blended off slowly into the white walls around them. Close to where the walls met the ceiling the hues of the sunset blended into a midnight blue blanket that covered the entire ceiling. Small dots above her depicted the shapes of constellations and shooting stars flew across the picture as well leaving small streaks behind them. The moon hung off to the left side of the ceiling, as opposed to taking center stage, illuminating the night sky around it. Instead in the very middle of the ceiling sat a star that glowed slightly brighter than the rest around it. It was the very last star on the handle of the little dipper, Polaris, the North Star.

"It's beautiful." Sail said in astonishment as she looked at the mural that surrounded her.

"You really think so?" Astro asked excitedly as she looked at that awe in her mentor's face.

"I do." she promised as she stepped back to sit down on the bed. Astro sat down next to her beaming with pride. "After all, not just anything will earn you a cutie mark." she added smiling down at the filly.

"W-what?" she stuttered confused as she looked down at her flank. She was startled to find that her cutie mark had appeared without her even noticing that it had.

Six stars circled around one center one, and each one was a different color of the spectrum. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet stars were around the edge with a larger indigo star in the center. "I did get it!" she announced in shock as she looked down at it. She turned back to Sail with an impossibly wide smile on her face.

"I noticed." Sail said with a grin.

"Just wait until I get to show it to everypony at school tomorrow!" she told her excitedly.

"You mean today. It's past midnight. I know that you are excited, but you should try and rest now. You will not want to be tired when you get to show it to your friends." she replied as she stood and pulled the covers over her, "Maybe after you get back from school you can take a picture of it to show them." she added before kissing the filly's forehead. "For now however I would recommend that you sleep.

"Okay, I will." she promised as she moved herself into a more comfortable position.

"Good, sleep well." she finished before exiting and shutting the door behind her.

Astro did sleep quite well that night and awoke more than ready to show all of her friends her newfound cutie mark. As she trotted to school with Sail she could hardly wait to see the expressions on their faces. She wasn't the first pony in their grade to get their cutie mark, but she was the first from her group to receive theirs. She trotted proudly up to Spot and Ink who were already there after Sail had dropped her off. When she reached them she made sure to keep her front to them so that when they did see it would be because she was the one to show them.

"Hey Astro." Spot greeted her.

"Nice to see you." Ink added.

"Nice to see you guys too!" she replied cheerily unable to contain her excitement.

"What're you so happy about?" Spot asked wanting to know.

"This!" she declared proudly as she turned to show them her newfound cutie mark.

"What!?" Ink shouted in shock as she saw the cause of her friend's delight.

"You got your cutie mark!" Spot shouted excitedly

"I know! It's great! I made my mural and when I was done with it I got my cutie mark!" she exclaimed in explanation.

"That's awesome!" Ink yelled happily. Astro laughed from the pleasure that she felt soon her other friends were laughing along with her.

Diplo joined the circle during the laughing fit and was rather confused by it. "What's so funny…?" he started to ask before trailing off at the end as he noticed his friend's new cutie mark. "When did you get that?" he inquired.

"Last night." she answered proudly.

"Wow." he said in astonishment. She giggled slightly, but was more composed than she was moments earlier. She gladly shared her joy and excitement with her friends as she chatted with them before they were let in. Kara arrived, as per usual, not long before they were let in, but she was there early enough to be able to notice the marks on Astro's flanks. She gasped as she cantered up to her beaming friend.

"You got your cutie mark!" she cried joyfully as she embraced the pegasus filly.

"Yeah, I know." she agreed as she returned the hug.

"That's amazing!" she shouted as she released her and looked at her flank. Before Astro could respond however the bell rang and they were rushed inside.

Author's Note:

The next chapter will not be up until 8/20. After that it's back to the every other day schedule.

^_^ Thanks, BlondeSky