Going Home

by abandoned14

Chapter 2 - Light

Star Wish drops to the cave floor, panting, as Aura Flair’s voice echoes across the stone walls. “Come on! I saw something! Try it again!”

He had found it confusing to wake up earlier this morning. He was in a sleeping position not possible for a normal human to be in. It didn’t help that he didn’t recognize the inside of Aura Flair’s house in the morning light. He managed to get over it after some tea. I don’t think it’s possible to sleep during a dream. This has to be real somehow. I must really be in Equestria...

“We’ve been in here forever! I need a break.” Star looks up to where Aura Flair’s voice is coming from but can’t see her in the darkness. He had asked her for help with a flashlight spell this morning. Needless to say, Aura was stoked. She led Star to a cave a half-mile from her house to help them keep track of how much light he could emit. However, now that he had finally made progress, he’s worn out.

It could have been dangerous to be led into a dark cave by a stranger, but I took my chance. After all, if she wanted to, she could have mugged me or whatever while I was asleep in her house. Taking me to this cave would just be a waste of time if she had any ill intentions.

“I’ve tried thinking, relaxing, believing, all of that.”

“But you haven’t tried feeling!” Star takes a seat on the floor. I suppose she might have a point. When he had levitated the river stick after he had first arrived in Equestria, he did so without any sort of notion towards it. It just happened when he expected it to.

Star stands up on all fours and closes his eyes. He blocks out the sounds of dripping water and horse-breath. Don’t think about anything. Don’t think about not thinking about anything. Star begins one of his meditation rituals from his exam preparations. When he remembers he's wanting to emit light from his horn, he does.

“Whoa!” Star can hear Aura leap with delight and he breaks concentration. He opens his eyes but remains in darkness.

“D- did it work? How bright was it?”

“I could see all the way to your snout! You made a few sparks!” A few sparks? That’s nowhere near a flashlight. But progress is progress I suppose.

“Just imagine the spells you can cast! You can learn handy spells like gem seeking! Or defensive shield spells! Or laser beam attacks! Or-”

“Hey, hey, calm down Aura. One at a time.” Was that rude? That sounded kind of rude.

“Right, yes, sorry. Carry on.”

“Sorry, I’m just tired from all of this effort.”

“No, no, don’t worry. I understand. Well, not really. I can’t cast spells yet. You just take a break real quick.” He hears Aura shuffle around.

“Let’s go take a break in the light.”

“Alright!” Star stands still for a moment, but nothing happens.

“Aura?”

“Yes?”

“Are we going? I don’t hear you moving.”

“Are we? I can’t see anything. I was waiting for you.”

“Me? This is your cave. I don’t know the way out.” Star begins to panic internally.

“My cave, right. I guess I just assumed that you would learn the light spell when I brought us here. We can try following a wall?” Of course she doesn’t know the way out. She seems oddly calm, though, for being lost in a cave. Normally I have a good navigational sense, but I’m just not used to walking as a unicorn yet. I wobbled the whole way here. I wonder what else could we try?

“Can you try making some sort of gust of air and see if you can hear where it goes?”

“Wonderful idea!” Star feels a breeze travel past him and through the cave. The ponies take turns of Aura blowing air, Star tracking it, then signalling where he’s at for her to catch up.

* * *

“Well, this tactic is leading us somewhere, but I have no idea if it’s in the right direction.” Star takes a seat after calling to Aura.

“I agree, I think we’ve now spent more time doing this than we did walking in. Valiant effort, though, Star Wish.” This is great. We’re even farther away now. At least neither of us seem to have claustrophobia.

“Thank you. It was worth a try. Hey! That was a break of sorts, let me try the flashlight spell again.”

“Great idea!”

Star leans back against the wall of the cave and lets the atmosphere calm him. He pictures what he thinks the cave would look like lit up--with Aura Flair sitting in front of him wearing a wide grin across her muzzle. As he remains focused, slowly adding more detail, he notices Aura take a deep breath.

“Wow! Star you did it! It’s so bright!” Relax. Don’t lose it. Star slowly opens his eyes to see a roughly similar image to the one he had pictured in his mind. It was still no flashlight, but it wasn’t far off from holding a small candle. “I’m so proud of you!”

I'm doing it! I’m casting a magic spell! No one back home would believe this! Actually, they wouldn’t believe any of this. Even I have been having a hard time believing this, and I’ve read a lot of Fan-Fics about humans visiting Equestria.

The group begins trotting back down the cave using what little light they have to speed up their travel. Wait, did she say she’s proud of me? That--has anyone told me that before? As Nicholas, Star had tried to constantly stand out to get the attention he felt he deserved. His siblings also stood out, however, leaving him in their shadows no matter what. That spell was more of her work than mine. She should be the one getting the praise. I just followed along.

“Thanks for helping me, Aura Flair. I couldn’t have learned this spell without you.” He turns his head to look back at her reaction. She bumps into him, startled. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be guiding her.

“No, thank you, Mister Star Wish, for being a good student. A unicorn learning a spell form a pegasus? No one would ever believe me if I said that, but it’s true! I... really needed this. Thank you.” Aura gives Star a big smile as she tilts her head to the side.

“It’s no problem. Thank you for the name, too. I really like it.” Star looks back ahead to navigate. I could make this an OC when I get back.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good I must admit. Some of my finest work.” Aura says jokingly, “You got that nice cutie mark, too!” She winks at Star.

“I have a cutie mark now?” He immediately halts to turn to his flank. A white shooting star? “When did I get this?”

“Oh, I thought you noticed! It was sometime between after when we first met and before we got back to my cabin.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Isn’t this a big deal?” Oh, that sounded kinda angry.

“I... saw it last night. After you... fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake you up. I... forgot about it until now. I’m sorry.” Why did that sound so suspicious? Is she a creep? Did she watch me all night? Perhaps she just wanted to study my horn or something and felt embarrassed about it? Whatever, I'll let it slip for now.

“No, I understand. I wonder what it means? Can it mean anything? I am from another world, maybe it doesn’t work that way.”

“Well, your body is from this world.” Aura mentioned.

“Fair.”

“The shooting star could be a reminder of your rituals from your world, like how you shared with me that you used to wish on them. You could go as far as saying that the white of it represents purity or something, but that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s probably just white because it matches your mane.” Aura giggles.

“That’s very insightful. I thought that cutie marks were supposed to be talents, though?”

“That’s true most of the time. Perhaps your talent is giving others hope, then? Is that not what you said shooting stars do?”

“I suppose they do, don’t they? Thank you, Aura Flair.”

“Oh, just call me Aura!” Wow, that’s a lot of thought put into a butt emblem. How does magic determine all of that? Is it some sort of living being? Regardless, I’m suddenly very happy, though.

The ponies continue their trot through the cave system. They finally find a trace of light ahead and sigh with relief as Star deactivates his spell. As they exit the mouth of the cave, they find themselves in the same entrance they began at.

“I guess that’s enough practice. You seemed to get the spell down.” Aura takes a seat and deeply inhales the fresh forest air.

“Yeah, let’s not go back in there.” Star takes a seat next to her.

* * *

“I need to get some more food, especially if you’ll be staying here for a while.” Aura mentions, sitting across from Star at her table. “I have to go work tomorrow, so I guess you can come to town with me. No offense, but I don’t trust you enough yet to stay here alone.”

“Oh, of course not. I understand.” She did mention having a lot of trouble being around unicorns. “May I ask what you do for work?”

“I just work at a bowling alley.” Aura seems unphased.

“Oh, I thought you would have worked in a library or something.” Aura looks slightly disappointed in herself.

“No, I get too distracted reading.” She looks down at the table.

“Did you previously work at one?” I hope I'm not hitting a hard spot.

“Yeah, a few different places.” I need to change the subject, she clearly doesn’t want to delve any further into this topic.

“So... what’s town like?” I’m assuming she means Cloudsdale. It’s the closest to us.

“It’s nothing too special. Just a normal town. There’s really not much to say about it, you’ll just have to see it. Sorry.”

“I would think Cloudsdale would have a lot to talk about? It is a floating city after all.”

“Oh, no, we’re going to Ponyville.” Yes! “I don’t really go to Cloudsdale anymore. Plus we’d need a blimp ticket for you anyways.” Wow, she still won’t go back home?

“Awesome, I can’t wait!” How do I explain to her that I know a lot about Ponyville already? That’s a problem for future Nicholas. Er, I mean Star.

“I can’t really have you back behind the counter with me or anything, so I guess it might be best for you to mosey around town. Though, you can stay with me at the alley if you really want to.”

“I appreciate the invite, but I should probably be on my own for a bit. I’ll check in, though.”

“Alright.” Aura looks a little sad, but tries not to show it. Star decides to change the subject again. We can’t hold this off.

“So, Aura, I’ve been wondering if you have any idea what could have caused me to come here.”

“Magic-wise?”

“Correct. Do you know anything or any--pony that could have a... hoof in this?”

“I’ll have to look into it. I can’t think of anything at the moment.”

“I guess, for now, we should focus on learning spells.” I wonder what we should try next? "I'm unsure if something protective would be the best. If somepony sees me not defend myself properly they may get suspicious. Though, something a little flashier would be pretty cool."

"Maybe if we try something more advanced it will be easier to pick up a bunch of little spells!" Star can see Aura's excitement radiating off of her.

"Well, I'm sure magic schools here take it one step at a time. Let's take this cautiously and properly." Star tries to calm her.

"I suppose that's fair. After all, it could be dangerous if you turn out to be super powerful or something. I mean, you are from another world. Apparently." I hadn't even considered that. I don't feel great and powerful?

Author's Note:

Sorry for the wait! I do many projects and this is just one of them.