What happens to Golly?

by Golly4Ever

Astral Says

The days grew shorter, skies grayer and air cooler. The leaves began to turn color. It wouldn’t be long before the earth ponies in the smaller towns and villages started making their rounds causing the leaves to fall out of tradition and collect in piles and drifts all over the countryside landscape. Some had already gotten a head start. The castle and school grounds however were carefully maintained year-round to look its best regardless of the season. Groundskeepers were constantly hard at work keeping a perfectly manicured presentation of Equestria’s best form. It was an example to lead by. Paths were always kept clear and neatly swept. The trees always seemed to have just the perfect amount of leaves and branches, keeping to themselves, or at times, spreading out and contributing to the overall aesthetic of the intended look by design. It was a lot of work to make something so unnatural appear as if it had been pulled out of nature’s best offerings. It was almost too perfect. Despite their best efforts, most of it had largely gone unnoticed by the students, staff and others that frequented campus. Only visitors ever took the time to stop and admire the scenery.

Astral stood in a meadow at the edge of a small wooded area. "Come on, you can do it," she said to herself while staring at a wild bunny. Her thoughts echoed in her mind, "It puts the carrot in the basket."

The bunny looked at her blankly. She clearly had its attention, but there was very much a language barrier to overcome.

"It puts the carrot in the basket!" she strained to repeat, telepathically to the bunny. It wasn’t language that she was primarily using to influence the bunny. It was impulse; a drive. The rabbit had to want to put the carrot in the basket. At least, that’s how Astral had come to understand it. It was a very gray area, this particular brand of telepathy. Not much had been written about it, and those who were knowledgeable were hesitant to speak of it. It was another prime subject for Twilight’s class. This branch of telepathy, however, was one that Astral pursued on her own. She wasn’t sure how Twilight would react to the idea of mind controlling forest critters. There was no way she could spin it to be a purely good thing. ‘Fluttershy has her stare ability…’ But then again, Fluttershy was also an element of harmony; kindness, to be precise. Astral was not an element. Fluttershy was also a pegasus, not a unicorn. If she could do it, surely a unicorn could too, especially with the aid of brain-talking powers!

A moment of hesitation passed before the bunny finally and timidly did as commanded. It did not seem happy.

"Yes!" Astral jumped for joy, besides herself with excitement. A small amount of blood trickled down from her nose. It carried that familiar taste and smell. Astral paused, “Oops!” she said to herself. ‘I concentrated too hard.’ That didn’t bother her, though. She was too excited, and it was only a little blood, this time.

The bunny's daze was broken as it was startled, bolting off into the deep cover of the woods.

Astral continued to talk to herself. "I did it! I really did!" she approached a nearby bird that was perched up in a tree looking down at her quizzically, "You, fly!" she said out loud.

Startled by the pony jumping at it, the bird flew off. Astral giggled to herself as she fell backwards into a pile of autumn leaves. It was a good day. Astral gleamed with pride.

* * *

Later, in the early night, Astral sat in her usual hangout spot at the base of the statue, her horn softly glowing. She was bundled up in a light fleece blanket that shielded her body just enough from the brisk autumn air. Ever since she first saw it, the statue had been tucked far away in a remote corner where few ponies traveled. While an important part of Equestria’s history, it was not a particularly proud moment of which to remind everypony. Nevertheless, castle management saw to it that nopony, rather no statue, were to be left unkempt. The moon cast its light down onto Equestria brightly as it usually did. Astral had a clear view of the stars as she gazed up at the vast, inky sky. She tried to imagine a moon she had never known, one which housed a pony she had only heard and read about: Nightmare Moon. She wondered if it was a better punishment than stone. Even if it was, she wouldn’t want Cozy to have been banished there. They would have never met. It was a selfish thought, but Astral didn’t care. ‘It’s not like I’m the element of generosity.’

"Do you feel it when it's cold?" Asked Astral.

Cozy paused before replying. "It's always cold. You get used to it, almost. Is it cold out there?" Cold was the best way she could describe the feeling of not feeling. It helped her make sense of her situation.

"Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to..." Said Astral, stopping short of completing her sentence. She knew she could be blunt if she wanted to, but something inside her insisted on being nice, polite… stepping carefully. Cozy was her very first true friend, after all. Saying the wrong thing might jeopardize all she had worked for.

"I know. It's ok," comforted Cozy.

"Yeah. It’s starting to get cold. Winter is coming," said Astral.

Astral sat in telepathic silence with Cozy. It was nice. Sometimes she just sat there, connected, with nothing said for seemingly hours. Sometimes she would bring books and read stories to Cozy. Sometimes nothing needed to be said at all. They often just felt each other’s presence, comforting each other.

Curiously, Astral asked another question. "What about when it rains? Do you feel that?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" replied Cozy. No. She doesn’t.

"What about what that one bird did last week?" continued Astral.

"What did that one bird do last week?" asked Cozy, with a sense of concern.

"Oh, nothing. Um, just came and uh, went. That's all," said Astral, hastily.

"Eww..." replied Cozy. Even though the outside world was largely irrelevant to her, she was glad to hear from Astral that the statues were regularly cleaned in the warmer seasons when nature was at its busiest.

"Nevermind that,” said Astral, changing the subject. “I've been working on something. It's a surprise! You'll see!" she said, gaining a hint of excitement.

"Oh golly yes! That sounds fun," said Cozy with less than equal excitement. She knew she wasn’t going to actually see anything. Astral had yet to learn about planting images into other ponies' heads. The thought that it was possible had never crossed her mind. Still, Cozy was happy to know that there was a pony somewhere willing to do nice things for her, even after what she had done to land her where she had been for the last eternity. It was a friendship truly worth keeping. Why stop at one, though? Cozy would later learn the name of the new feeling getting close with Astral brought: Regret. If only she knew in her freedom what she knows now, the true power of friendship, things might have turned out vastly different for her. But then again, she never would have met Astral. Was it possible to regret regret, and then turn and regret that regret? It was a paradox to study in the time until Astral's next visit; another welcome distraction.

"I'm still practicing. So don't get your hopes up yet," said Astral. A moment passed. "Cozy? I'm glad we're friends. Hopefully someday, we can be together, not just here. I want to get hayburgers with you, and ice cream," she said, sincerely. Astral thought to herself, ‘Is stone a forever sentence? Discord was set free.’

"Me too," said Cozy.

"...me too," repeated Astral.

* * *

Another season had passed. The snow was deep this year. There had been a surplus of water at the cloud factory and the snowflake technicians had been busy with overtime all season long. “It took a lot of wing power to get all this water up here, we are going to use it!” a Pegasus from the factory’s accounting department said, back at the end of autumn. The excess water had to be returned to the land one way or another. It had been universally decided in Canterlot and surrounding areas that snow was absolutely more fun than rain. Much of it was already dumped in the mountain tops. The runoff from the winter wrap-up and spring melting would find its way back into the lakes and streams, evenly distributing itself as best as nature could. That was the idea, anyway. The rest would be converted into armies of snow ponies to defend their newly built snow forts, managed by out of school foals everywhere.

"I'm getting better at it, Cozy!” said Astral, with excitement. “I only have to ask them once, and they'll do it! Well, it's not really like asking. It’s more of a suggestion," she continued. “Their noses don’t even bleed anymore! Neither does mine!” While the challenge of commanding critters had been getting easier, the challenge of finding them was starting to become difficult. Of those that weren’t hibernating, many had learned to keep an eye out for Astral, and even warn the others.

"You don't say!" replied Cozy. Astral had eventually let her in on what she had been practicing in her free time. Cozy wasn’t quite sure how it was going to play into the surprise she had for her, though. ‘She’s not going to try and force me to behave, is she? Force me to talk about home?’

"Yeah! In your face, Fluttershy!" teased Astral.

"Tee-hee," giggled Cozy.

Astral thought to herself for a moment. 'I hope Fluttershy didn’t actually hear me.' She focused her attention back to Cozy. "But no, really. I don't even have to stare or anything. It helps, but I don’t need to, usually." Astral was pretty sure her methods were not how Fluttershy did it anyway. Without a horn, the magic that Fluttershy used was more akin to earth pony magic, working with nature. At least, that’s what was taught. Magical science was not always an exact science. New things were being discovered all the time; old forgotten lessons relearned.

"Wow, you're getting good. I always had to be sneaky to get ponies to do what I wanted. But I could never talk to animals. Does anypony else know you can do this?" asked Cozy.

"No,” replied Astral. “Not yet. I wanna tell Professor Twilight just how good I'm getting. But not yet. She just thinks I'm really good at feeling feelings and stuff and talking and listening to other ponies. It’s not like I’m able to tell any pony what to do or anything, unless they already wanted to do it, or were going to do it anyway. But then I’m not really telling them, then. I don’t like to try. It feels kinda wrong.”

Honestly, Astral had tried sneaking some experiments on her dorm mate. Without a proper setting, control, and wider sample range, though, she was never really sure of her results. She does believe her dorm mate to think she’s even weirder than previously thought, now, though.

Astral liked to try to stay out of other ponies' heads if she wasn’t invited in. It was hard enough for her to socialize without being singled out as a freak. She had had enough of that growing up. The School of Magic was a fresh start for her. She was careful to try and not ruin it too much. Being “that one quiet mare” was good enough. She could feel a general sense of indifference from the ponies around her, and that was a good thing. Telepathic communication was definitely something to be used with great caution. Cozy was the exception, but only because there was no other choice. With Twilight’s help, she learned to more finely control her powers and shut out the thoughts of others more easily. It was a power she couldn’t really turn off, only focus and channel. Doing so made her feel normal, like she finally belonged with the rest of the pony population. Focusing in on her own thoughts was the closest thing to “off” that she could achieve. There was an added benefit of enhanced concentration, as long as she didn’t try too hard and give herself a headache, or cause intense nausea.

“You’ll get used to it, feeling bad about things you do,” said Cozy. "But that Twilight..." said Cozy, grudgingly.

"You really should try to let it go. I can feel your anger. She only did what she thought she had to," begged Astral. “It wasn’t even her that put you there.”

"I'll let her go, alright," continued Cozy. “She didn’t do it, but she didn’t stop it either. And I'm still here.”

"Now Cozy, that's not very nice," scolded Astral. "You attacked Canterlot, Cozy. You attacked the princesses."

"It wasn't just me," pouted Cozy.

"Right, and they're being punished, too." Even though it felt like a small step backwards, Astral had made great progress in getting Cozy to forgive those she felt had wronged her. Twilight’s friends, Discord; though that one was questionable. It was only because he had spent his fair share of time in the very condition she now shared. That and it was understood that the Lord of Chaos true motives and reasoning were far beyond anypony’s understanding. Even if Discord states his intentions, the true meanings were rarely ever known or discovered, if at all.

"...I know," replied Cozy, defeated. Cozy knew she didn’t mean her own words. She was really trying to turn around. She was working hard with Astral to be the pony she knew she could be, the pony she knew Astral would be proud of, even if no pony else ever got to see it. Astral was now the most important thing in her suspended life. She was the only thing in her life. She couldn’t afford to lose her.

An old curious thought once again popped into Astral's head. "You never told me, why did you think you needed power?" inquired Astral.

"I know," answered Cozy. ‘This again…’ If Cozy had eyes, she would roll them. She couldn’t even answer the question for herself. It hurt her too much to try, and she didn’t even know why. It was not something she wanted to get into with Astral, again.

"But why?" persisted Astral.

"Can't you see for yourself? Ms. I'm-In-Your-Head, reading your memories. Feeling your feels?" said Cozy, sarcastically, becoming irritated. Spats among friends weren’t uncommon. Cozy and Astral were no different.

There was a longer-than-usual moment of silence. Astral was speechless. They both knew that wasn't quite how her abilities worked. Friends just sometimes say things they shouldn't.

"Golly, I didn't mean to..." apologized Cozy. She let her anger get the better of her. She had tried so hard to be better, but there was just so much of it bottled up. Sometimes discussing it just wasn't enough. Her best efforts had failed her once again. Cozy suddenly feared the emptiness that surrounded her.

"I know. I gotta go," said Astral, abruptly. Astral felt they both needed some space right now. It would be the best thing for both of them.

* * *

The final school bell for the season rang. Everypony rushed out of the classroom for winter break, each heading off to their own Hearth's Warming plans with their families; only Astral stayed behind. She had a family to go home to if she wanted, but no friends that would have her. No friends except for Cozy, who was the only pony she cared about for the moment. There was no other pony that she would rather be with.

Twilight noticed that Astral had not yet left the classroom with the other ponies. "Class is over, my student. Is there something more?" she asked.

Class was over, school out. What was the appropriate title to use? "Professor Twilight? Err.. Princess? I mean, Professor Princess," said Astral, unsure of how she should address her majesty.

"As long as you are here, I will always be your teacher first," assured Twilight.

Astral could sense the sincerity in Twilight’s voice and thoughts. "Yes, Professor," she said.

"What is on your mind today?" asked Twilight. Astral seemed to be a case of constant worry. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. While concerned, Twilight learned not to obsess and focus on any one particular struggle with Astral as each day seemed to always bring something new. After-school tutoring wasn't only for her grades. Twilight had taken on the roll of Astral's counselor as well. Through all her abilities, Astral never knew it.

"Well, you know how you can't really change the past, right? If a pony did wrong, it's done?" started Astral.

"Well Technically, you can change the past, but I wouldn't recommend it." said Twilight, remembering all her past dealings with Starswirl’s spell.

"Oh, right. Well, what if everything you thought you knew about a pony was wrong? Like, they were bad once, and did bad things. Maybe even always hurt everypony, but all everypony could do was hurt her back, because neither of them knew any better, but now you do know better, and that changes everything?" asked Astral.

"That sounds like something for the school of friendship. Are you interested in attending there?" asked Twilight, thoughtfully.

"Well, um. Maybe? That's not what-" said Astral, being interrupted.

Twilight continued, "Today is also their last day before the winter break, but come Spring, we can transfer you to study there. Too much knowledge over a wide variety of subjects can never be a bad thing! And you could definitely learn a thing or two about making friends."

"Wait, what?" asked Astral, confused and mildly offended.

"No offense, but I never see you hanging out with any other ponies here. You eat your lunch in the garden by yourself. Your dorm mate says you never talk to her; she says sometimes forgets what you sound like, even."

Astral muttered to herself, "I already know what's on her mind.. she never shuts up, I don't even have to read it."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, nothing." replied Astral. A moment of awkward silence passed. "I have a friend. I talk to her almost every day," she said, defensively.

"Oh?" inquired Twilight, with interest.

"Yeah. Everypony thinks she's bad, but she's just misunderstood. But... Well, I don't know how to make everypony see what I see," said Astral. “What I feel in her.”

“I see,” said Twilight. “Does this pony know that you are in her head all the time? Remember what we talked about with privacy and boundaries, Astral Bell.”

“She knows. It’s kinda the only way we can really talk.” said Astral.

Twilight smiled, "Well, as long as you have her permission, but be careful. Once lost, trust can be a very hard thing to regain,” she warned.

“Yes, Professor Twilight,” said Astral.

“You know, my friend Pinkie Pie would have a perfect solution for showing the world who your friend really is,” said Twilight.

"what's that?" asked Astral.

"A party! You should have a party in honor of your friend and all the good things they can do and be. Show everypony! Be sure to invite your friend, of course," suggested Twilight, enthusiastically.

"Show everypony..." astral said to herself, the gears of thought beginning to turn. "But if Everypony hates her, do you really think that's a good idea?" she asked.

"If you really believe they are good, then yes. If you know your history, there is a certain changeling that would agree," said Twilight, reassuringly. “Sometimes you have to fight for your friends when they can’t fight for themselves.”

"Ok. I'll do it. Thanks, Professor. Have a happy Hearth's Warming!" said Astral as she quickly gathered her things before trotting off in a hurry, happy and excited.

A guard could be heard from outside of the classroom: “Hey! No galloping in the halls!”

Twilight was left wondering, "I wonder who it could be."

Author's Note:

Yet another chapter down, several more to go. Again, so much is going into this final pass of revising, I really hope you all are enjoying it, especially if you've read the original >green and can see first hand just how much work has gone into it. Many changes, both big and small, are still to come! As always, I appreciate and literally feed off of your input! It's the drug that keeps me writing.