Letters To Celestia

by silverthorn

Letter 2 - Concerning dragons

Dear Princess Celestia

Twilight says that I should tell you more about myself, on the chance that you read my last letter. My name is Wandering Star, I guess my parents, whoever they are, must have had a sense of humour. I'm a Pegasus mare and I originally came from Manhattan. I spent all my life either in the orphanage or foster homes, never seeming to hit lucky and find a place I belonged.

“Spike, stop that, she's doing what she needs to do”.

“This is stupid, if I write this down I might get myself into a lot of trouble. Even Spike thinks it's stupid”.

I ran away from the orphanage about two years before I arrived in Ponyville and decided to raid Sweet Apple Acres for a few apples. I was more hungry than I normally was at that point because I was stupid enough to eat the wrong kind of berries from a bush on the outskirts of the Everfree Forest.

“Spike, why are you smiling?”.

“I can't say, I promised somepony I wouldn't”.

“Okay, Spike. Carry on Star”.

I had spent most of the day before being reintroduced to the last things I had ate and I was just about hungry enough to steal apples from an orchard, just to get some energy to keep flying. That's when I fell out of the tree. I had told you in my last letter that I had woken up with a broken wing in the local hospital owing the Apple Family bits for the apples which had fallen early out of the tree and, as it turned out, the cost of getting me seen to for my injuries.

All I knew for certain was that I had little choice. I spent a week in the hospital, eating more than I had eaten in a week before. The food was filling, the little cups of jello were like nectar

“Star, you're drooling a little?”.

“What can I say, I really like jello”.

And the thing that worried me the most was the fact that I was going to be indebted to a pair of Earth Ponies who I had barely met for at least four months. I didn't have a place to stay, I didn't even know the name of the town I was in and I was completely out of my depth.

At one point a certain Unicorn you know visited me. She had, apparently, been asked to visit me by Applejack and cast a tracking spell in case I tried to get out of town as soon as I was out of hospital. Twilight explained that if I tried to leave the Ponyville area I would be teleported back to Sweet Apple Acres. Her horn lit up and I saw a glow around me for a moment and then everything was back to normal. Of course, I had been planning to get out of town as soon as I was let out of hospital but I was different then. I thought the only pony I could rely on was me myself. I guess I've learned a lot since then.

After Twilight had cast her spell on me she sat down and we talked. Well, mostly Twilight talked and I tried to ignore her but she persisted until I started to open up. I was half convinced she could have used a spell to get the information she wanted out of my mind anyway but I was a little confused. She sounded genuinely unhappy when I explained why I was trying to steal from the farm in the dead of night. She said something about the doctors weighing me while I was drugged up to the nines after they had fixed up my wing. I was apparently on my last hooves and the main reason they had been giving me so much food was to build my weight up to a acceptable level before they let me out. I said something about the doctors not needing to have done so. I'd been on my own for so long I didn't need anypony trying to help me out, especially not ponies from some stupid one-horse town.

I can't believe I said it, I hope I'm not the pony I was back then. Twilight and Spike have been a lot of support to me, despite everything. I guess I should explain that before I got to Ponyville my education was a little lacking. I could read and write a little but I had spent most of the time at school in Manehattan either ignoring what the teacher was telling me or skipping school altogether. I think it was about a month after I got out of hospital when I was sent to Ponyville to get something for Granny Smith. It was probably because the Apples had found out that I was no use whatsoever in Bucking season, I don't have the muscles to buck a tree and my wing was still next to useless so I was sent to Ponyville to give Rarity a note. At the time this mostly consisted of putting the note through her letterbox since she wouldn't me into her shop in case I decided to steal her wares. I was that much of a bad seed at that point.

I was still trying to plan for my escape from Ponyville so I headed for the library. I was not a reader by any means at that point. If anypony had suggested I would be writing letters to you I would have laughed in their face. I walked into the library and looked around, I had an idea of what I was looking for but didn't really know where to start.

“Can I help you?”

I had been expecting a pony to be the librarian but, instead, the speaker was what appeared to be a small, but perfectly formed, well it couldn't be. “Are you a dragon?”.

He smiled. “I certainly am. I'm Spike”.

Something about him made me smile despite myself. “I'm Star”.

He nodded, then frowned as he saw that my wing was strapped to my side. “Oh, you're the pony who..”. He paused, I guess he saw my general level of unhappiness that everyone in town seemed to known about why I was in town. “Is helping out at Sweet Apple Acres”.

I think I may have grinned at that point. “That's me. I don't suppose you have any books on plants and flowers, which ones are safe to eat. I had a nasty incident outside of town when I ate some berries which looked lovely but didn't agree with me”.

At that point..

“Do you really have to put that bit into the letter. This whole letter-writing lark is getting silly. She should be getting back to Applejack”.

It's alright, Spike. I'm nearly done”

At that point Spike, for lack of a better term, vomited up a scroll. I grinned again. “That's pretty much what it was like”.

“This is a letter for Twilight, from...”.

I looked at him. “You know Twilight Sparkle?”.

“Of course, I'm her number one assistant”. I started backing towards the door. “What's the matter?”.

I glanced behind me, feeling like there anywhere in Equestria was preferable to where I was. “I think this may have been a bad idea. I was planning for when I leave town, when I'm finished paying the Apple's back for what I did”.

Spike walked over to me motioned me to a couch. I helped him sit on the couch. “I know that I'll have to get out of town as soon as Twilight drops the tracking spell she cast on me. I guess I should be better prepared for life on my own than I was before”. I glanced at Spike. “Can you keep a secret, I mean even from Twilight?”.

Spike paused for a second before answering. “Yes”. “I don't know what I'm going to do when I can leave town. I know staying here is a bad idea, I've burned too many bridges to stay here but having a roof over my head and good food in my belly on a regular basis is more than I've gotten used to. Even if I'm sleeping in a barn”.

Spike nodded. “What are you going to do?”.

I shook my head. “I have no idea”. I glanced past the small, yet perfectly formed dragon, at the clock and gasped. “Sweet Celestia's furry fetlocks”.

“I really think I should cross that bit out, Twilight”.

“Leave it in”.

“...I'm running late. For all I know, the Apple's have already called the guard”. While I was running around like a mad pony Spike walked over to a book shelf and returned before putting a book in my saddlebag. “I think this is what you wanted. Bring it back when you've finished it. I'll sort out the paper work, chances are if Applejack is away on a mission for Celestia, Twilight won't be here if you don't want her to know but she'll understand”.

I hugged him, guessing I might actually have a friend in Ponyville. I guess I was wrong at the time. I should finish this letter. Spike's giving me that 'Do you expect me to send all that to the Princess' look so I will sign off.

Your loyal subject

Wandering Star
Hoping not to be sent to the tower for the furry fetlocks bit

Author's Note:

Things have changed, until I started typing this Spike was only supposed to appear in the not-letter parts of the story. Things have changed.

Comments

[SadisticRainbows]

Indeed they have changed. Indeed.

[silverthorn]

Edited to clear up a few mistakes I missed the first time through.