The stars come out every night and ponies everywhere look on in wonder at their granduer, but none have ever heard the inside story of what really makes the glow of constellations and shooting stars.
The stars come out every night and ponies everywhere look on in wonder at their grandeur. Some even find the shapes of constellations in the vast labyrinth of light. Ponies of all ages wish on shooting stars hoping with all their hearts for their wishes to come true. The world wonders, watches, wishes, and tells of the glorious night sky, but none have ever heard the inside story of what really makes the glow of constellations and shooting stars. (I made the cover art | Prequel to Magic of the Stars)
The sun broke the horizon in the east banishing the night from the sky. The stars glow faded as they left from the sky. They were returning to their homes on the Astral Plain where they would work through the sunlit hours before returning to the sky in time for dusk as another team left to take their place while the other half of the world fell into darkness. That was how every day went, the same routine every single day of every single year. Work was done efficiently and well and absolutely no deviations were to be made. Sleep was barely necessary for it interfered with time when work could be being done. Even foals were expected to start work as soon as was possible. All were expected to contribute to the overall welfare of the group.
At a young age all foals were released to go and find one who they would take after. A mentor of sorts whose hooves they would fill once they could no longer perform the work themselves. By that age they had learned all that was common sense, maturing quickly was essential in their environment, and were deemed fit to join the work force. They walked through the settlement and were promptly taken under by one of the adults. When accepted they would then shadow said pony, following them wherever they went and learning to do as they did. Their mentor even gave them their name and essentially raised them. That way when the time came they could take over the post with no disruption in the set routine.
So on and on the cycle went year after year, decade after decade, century after century, and millennia after millennia. Each new generation slowly became more efficient and uniform than the last. Abilities of teleportation and even telepathy developed between them to help information travel as fast as possible. Every one soon shared the same monotone voice, the same pure white coats, the same electric blue manes, tails, eyes, and star insignias on their shoulders, and the drive to maintain the order created before them. The only differences between them were their gender and race. They were born with a spirit that was quickly surrendered to what became almost a hive mind.
Still in their years as foals this spirit remained with them and their uniqueness shone as bright as any normal pony. They still slept and even managed to dream in those precious hours of unconsciousness. Emotions coursed through them such as the nervousness and apprehension that one pegasus filly felt as she roamed the streets looking for a mentor. It had been a good while back when she had been sent to find one, but she hadn’t wanted to. She was shy and had kept to herself and laid low and now that was punishing her. As she walked about all the adults she saw walking past had foals following them. Until such time that the foals could teleport properly they walked from place to place. She watched them all walk by, sadly it had taken too long for her to gain her courage and now she was going to have problems finding a pony. She didn’t know what happened to those ponies without stations, but she couldn’t assume it was good. Still, even if it was a dull environment it wasn’t cruel.
Walking around and seeing all of the foals already shadowing a pony she couldn’t help feeling a little sad at what dreams they had to have given up on to join this humdrum society. She didn’t particularly have any dreams of her own, just a want to be happy like all things have. Sometimes though it felt like the world around her was just a giant void that any kind of creativity was surrendered to. Maybe, just maybe, that was good though, she thought. The colony was always in the best of condition, running even better than a well-oiled machine, and everpony always lived to a ripe old age, always occupied by something until they simply couldn’t be anymore. Some purpose has to be better than none, she added to herself.
In her wonderings all focus had been lost from her original task and she had continued to wander aimlessly. A simple ambling walk, eyes directed at the ground, and mind spinning as it always did. Still, wondering wasn’t her job and so she shook off the thoughts and refocused her attention to her current task. While in thought she had managed to walk off into a much less familiar location. Due to the fact that she was less knowing of where she was she decided that maybe she’d be more likely to find a pony there. She reasoned that it was better to look somewhere that she hadn’t tried yet. Rounding a corner of one of the many sterile white crystalline buildings she carefully examined each of the adults walking past, but each one she saw was being shadowed.
Then though another pony rounded a corner and into her line of sight. He was a rather elderly looking stallion and appeared to have nopony shadowing him. Thinking it too good to be true she reigned in her excitement with apprehension appearing in its stead. Still this was the only chance she might find in a very long time. With that thought she slowly and anxiously approached the stallion preparing for her hopes to be dashed. He bore the same appearance that all star ponies did, but had a stern expression where normally an emotionless one would be. He was well built and possessed no horn or wings. His stride was regal in a way and held a clear air of purpose. As she looked up at his face he noticed her.
He stopped and so did she lowering her head as she realized who he was and why he wasn’t being shadowed. The pony that she had run into was North who was in all essence the leader of the star ponies even if having never been given the title officially. It was the same with each pony in the long line that he had come from. The original North was said to have shadowed their queen before she vanished from existence. Vanished though, not died. That was what everypony believed. Many of their kind had gone to great and dangerous lengths in the name of finding her again, but none had ever succeeded. None of the long line of Norths had ever taken part in such excursions, but had never stopped any from going on either.
He approached her and she fell back ready to beat a hasty retreat. “Why are you not shadowing anypony?” he asked her in a serious tone. Now that he was standing directly in front of her she felt intimidated by his tall and strong stature. A rusted, scratched, and dented metal pendant hung around his neck. It was difficult to read due to the wear and tear, but you could just see an H embossed on the surface of it.
“I-I, uh, could not f-find anypony.” she stuttered nervously as her eyes shifted between him and her hooves. He looked her over carefully and caught her eyes looking into them intensely. He held her gaze in his for the longest time before walking onwards past her. He stopped just after where she stood stunned and turned back looking at her once more.
“Come along then Polaris, there is work to be done.” he finished before continuing forth. She still didn’t move unsure of what to do. “Polaris?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, you. There is a lot to do so please hurry along.” he informed her before starting on again with her following behind uncertainly.
Six months had passed since the day when she had found North and he had accepted her as his shadow. Over the past while she had learned much and grown accustomed to her new life and name. There was a lot of office work to it, but it still managed to be interesting to her. Also there was the fact that North had become more her family than her own. Unlike the others he seemed to process emotion the same way that she could. At this point all of the other foals had already melded into the hive like society. He managed to be unique despite the overall uniformity of their entire species. It was a pleasant and more than welcome change in pace from everypony and everything else.
It was almost dusk so she was preparing to leave as he in turn was preparing to leave for the Night Field, seen as the night sky from below. Everything had been put away neatly except for a scroll that was unrolled on the desk before him. He was pouring over it carefully as she waited by the door to be dismissed. Even if it wasn’t really necessary she always waited to leave before being told to. He, however, was too absorbed in whatever it was that he was reading to notice her waiting for his command. She sat politely by the door not wanting to interrupt and not wanting to leave without permission either.
“What do you know of the surface world?” he asked her rather suddenly after what felt like an eon of silence.
“Surface world?” she inquired not entirely sure of what he was talking about.
“Yes. Where ponies live.” he answered simply and finally taking his eyes off of the scroll.
“But we are ponies.” she argued cocking her head in confusion.
“I suppose so.” he agreed after a moment’s thought, “You are dismissed. I will see you tomorrow.” he finished turning back to the paper before him. She waited for a moment to be sure that there was nothing else before exiting.
She had been practicing for a while and focused on the look of the inside of her home and willing herself to move there. She heard a zing noise and opened her eyes to find herself in her room. She took a few clumsy steps grinning stupidly from her success. She collapsed on her bed rather contended with her current situation, but pondering the final cryptic question that he had asked her. It was a singular anomaly in the average day that had existed before. It confused her, but didn’t necessarily worry her.
She pulled out the multiple papers and quill ink that she kept nearby her bed. She had been doing a lot of writing and whenever she was bothered, or having problems sleeping she would draw the letters in different forms and shapes. It had an almost calming effect and allowed her to devote her attention to something else. It was now a subconscious action, but still managed to distract her. Just moving from one letter to the next in no particular order or pattern. She had already filled multiple pages front and back and was down to the last of her ink. Before long she had to get up to grab a new bottle of ink.
Now though the mundane action reassured her slight doubt and helped her mind to shut down for the quietness of the hours of sleep that were getting progressively shorter as the weeks passed. It wasn’t long before she had managed to fill another page with a random assortment and amount of the alphabet. Soon enough though she started to slip into unconsciousness with the page still in front of her. That night sleep came to her on the paper with the quill and nearly full bottle of ink lying next to her.
-/|\-
When she woke up just as every day she brushed her mane and tail and went about cleaning herself up for the day ahead. She picked up the empty ink pot that she had used and the other one which appeared to have spilled over the night. Still she dismissed it and headed straight for the office like building that was still of the same white crystalline structure as all of the other buildings that there were. When she entered he was again pouring over a scroll and looked almost as if he’d never even moved from that spot. He looked up as she walked in and his eyes widened in shock as he saw her. “Polaris, how are you feeling this morning?” he asked as he always did when she arrived.
“Of course. Why would I not be?” she replied the same way she always did.
“Naturally. Now, for the days work, I’m afraid we are going to be looking at something slightly different today.” he told her in cautious tone.
“What?” she asked now slightly worried.
He exited the room and returned with a bucket full of a pitch black liquid. She looked down at it wondering what it was as she had never seen anything like it before. “What is this?” she asked curiously.
“I will explain in a moment. Yesterday I mentioned to you the surface world.” He told her moving the bucket away so she could no longer see its contents. “There they know nothing of our own existence as we do nothing to interfere with their affairs. To them we are simply lights in the sky. Of course to the majority of our own population they are nonexistent as well. I also wish to keep it as such, when you go down there you will be disguised as one of them. As the current heir to my own position I believe that it is important for you to have this knowledge and at least a conceptual image of the surface world. I would like for you to visit there. Of course if you do not wish to go down yet I will not force you.”
“Why go down there if we want to remain hidden from them?” she queried.
“As I said before you are to lead the star ponies one day it is important that you know of and understand them. You will only be down there for a short time. Just enough to gain an impression of how they operate. Yes we are ponies, but we are very different ponies from them. So, what do you wish to do?” he explained.
“I would like to go now.” she replied barely masking her excitement.
“If you are sure.” he finished with a nod. “Still, while a simple coat could keep you hidden in their world it is better to be thorough.” he grabbed the bucket turned and walked towards a door leading further into the building with her in tow.
She followed as he pulled out a jar with a white substance in it. “This is designed to be used as paint on the body.” he explained, “You can use it to camouflage the stars on your shoulders.” He then handed it to her after taking the top off so that she could reach the substance inside. She dipped her hoof in and used it to coat both of her shoulders and continued to apply it until the stars that had once been there were completely hidden. She felt incredibly different as she looked her rather altered appearance. North screwed the cap back onto the jar and put the container away where he had gotten it from. “Now, there is the matter of your mane and tail. While their current colors are not conspicuous I would rather be overly careful in this situation.” he finished before moving the bucket towards her, “This can be used to change the color of your mane and tail” he informed her before helping her to apply it. Once it was done her hair looked to be completely black. “Finally, we must get you to the surface.” he finished before leading her out onto the streets.
She was ecstatic at what she had just been told. The fact that there was indeed something different, a concept she much enjoyed, out there was wondrous. She wasn’t going to waste this chance to break the routine that grew ever more stale as time went on. Despite the fact that the job could’ve been a great deal less interesting it still wasn’t quite exciting. The prospect of a completely new world that was out there delighted her beyond belief. She followed behind him at an energetic trot as she tried to imagine what it might be like. She was practically bounding with joy as they entered the long and low warehouse like structure that he had led her to.
Inside there were several unicorns walking and trotting about the almost completely barren building. The only thing worth noting was the numerous large platforms all over the floor. Each one was round, at least four feet in diameter, raised up to a height of about 6 inches, and made of a bright blue stone. As they entered one of the unicorns tending to the stone platforms nodded acknowledging their presence before continuing her work. The filly shadowing her did the same before following after the mare. “These are the teleports that are used to move between the two worlds. They were set up a very long while ago and haven’t been in use for a rather long time Of course they have been kept in good condition simply because that is what we do. They do come in use from time to time due to that fact that it is rather difficult to travel between the two plains. They’re made of astral stone which conducts magic well enough for them to be used to teleport between them without nearly as many problems.” he explained to her.
“So what happens now?” she asked slightly nervous.
“You may go down to the surface world. It is still not too far after dawn so you will have the entirety of the day to explore. Your coat will start to glow however as night falls, just as the stars do. It is best to be up here and out of sight by the time that happens.” he answered. “Unisus Isle.” he told the unicorn who had acknowledged them earlier.
She nodded and the filly shadowing her came up to Polaris and led her up to one of the platforms. After reaching it she gestured for her to get onto the blue dais and so she stepped nervously onto the platform. She looked over at the unicorn who would be teleporting her down feeling significantly less confident. Her attention however was drawn back to North as he spoke, “Down there you will see a blue rock in the ground, it will be a great deal smaller than this, but it serves the same purpose. Once you are done all you have to do is touch that stone and teleport back.” She nodded and the unicorn managing the teleport fired a beam of magic into it.
She reached the earth below excited and ready to complete her mission. As soon as she was down there however it felt like all of the air had been sucked away. She collapsed with a weak cry as her heart felt like it had stopped beating. Something was wrong, there should've been something there that wasn't. She didn't know what it was, but she wasn't getting something that she desperately needed. She lay there on the ground eyes wide, breathing in heavily the air that didn't seem to come, unable to move, and grasping for something that wasn't there.
She couldn't cry for help, or help herself. She was completely at the mercy of whatever happened by. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her breathing as she felt her heart beating again. Slowly the sudden emptiness started to fill. Now breathing properly again she could feel her heart was racing in alarm as it should've been. Still though, she felt light headed and it hurt to try and think. She laid there for she didn't know how long until she actually attempted to move.
Slowly she moved one of her forelegs under her and then the other. She managed to push herself into a sitting position, but swayed with the effort that it took. Again she remained stationary for a good amount of time gathering herself as best as she could. When she did finally rise to all four hooves it was a slow and arduous process. Spots swam before her eyes as she swayed precariously trying to maintain her balance. When she finally found her center of balance her legs were spread wide and she was trembling slightly. Then just as the other two times she stayed right where she was until she felt comfortable trying to move again. As she took an experimental baby step she was starting to adjust, but she still wasn't going anywhere fast.
Why hadn't anypony mentioned this fatigue to her? It certainly was an important detail. Surely somepony would've thought to say something. It wasn't incredibly likely that they just forgot, but why would they have chosen not to say something? Was it some form of test to see how she would fare in these conditions? Either way, several hours wasn't going to be happening, in her current condition it was looking more like at least a full day if she was lucky. Still as the time passed she could feel herself adjusting slowly to… whatever had changed in this new environment around her.
As she stood, still as a statue, trying to recuperate she finally directed her attention to the environment that was surrounding here. She had never seen something so colorful and different in all of her life! From the soft and smooth green carpet underneath her to the sturdy and rough dark brown columns that came from the ground, everything was completely new to her. She had to refrain from squealing with joy as she looked about her. She risked a larger step eager to explore the new world before her. Her task was to observe this new world and she couldn't have been happier to complete it. It left her a little dazed, but not completely drained like before. She was adjusting to the change more and more as the time passed. She took another careful step and found herself successful. She started to walk slowly in a small circle in the clearing making sure that most of the fatigue was indeed gone. It wasn't too long before she felt confident enough to explore a little bit more.
She started her trek through the strange place not really aiming in a particular direction and just admiring those things that surrounded her. She lost all track of time as she wandered with her only focus being the world around her. It was a rather startling awakening when the scenery suddenly changed. She found herself no longer looking at the strong and sturdy columns, but a path that cut through it all. Deciding that it was a good sign seeing as she was supposed to observe the ponies that were down there. She stepped out onto the dirt trail and headed onwards toward what she hoped to be civilization.
She hadn't walked to long before the large sturdy columns stopped and she found herself facing a field with a sprawling metropolis laid out behind it. It wasn't all that far off from her, but she couldn't make out any details other than that it was definitely a community. Ponies must live there, she thought excitedly as she looked at it in awe. From where she was she could already make out different colors from the ones that she was used to seeing. She trotted towards the lovely city with her emotions having reached a point that was somewhere far beyond ecstatic. She could barely contain her joy as she grew ever closer to the establishment. Although she could barely describe those things around her due to a simple lack of knowledge she believed all of it to be stunningly beautiful and unique.
As she approached the city the dirt road became paved and she started to see ponies. She was quite surprised at all of the different colors and shapes and sizes that they were. Every single star pony was the same color and generally same build so the distinction was rather strange to her. She supposed that she should avoid talking to them so that she wouldn't be noticed and just observe instead. She walked by all that surrounded her with none of those belonging to the bustling metropolis paying her any mind. She admired all that she walked by seeing as every last millimeter was filled with something new to her. As she observed her surroundings she did notice that there weren't any foals running about, but only adults. She didn't want to stick out and as the only foal there she felt like quite the standout.
She started to look for other ponies around her age that she could stick with to be less conspicuous. The warning of not being noticed was something that she had taken to heart. Her eyes searched the environment for a place where she felt she could fit in. As she spotted a group of foals her age she let out a sigh of relief and trotted over to them. Even then though, she felt the outcast as all of them wore saddlebags and her own back was completely bare. Still, there she would at least be less of a stand out. A sudden bell rang out startling her and all of the foals along with ponies who seemed to be closer to teenagers trotted in through the building's doors. She followed along hoping to just blend into the crowd as she observed their strange place.
She followed the crowd that looked to be her own age as they burst through the door. They walked through the hallways as she followed behind them and finally entered one of the many doorways lining the walls. As they walked in they each walked dutifully up to a desk, sat down there, and moved their things from the saddlebags into the desk. Then they just started to talk and horse around with the ponies near them. Rather unsure of what to do Polaris simply found an empty desk and sat there hoping to be like the rest around her. The joking around and conversation confused her however as she looked at the other foals in the room. "Hey! What's your name!? You weren't here last week!" the filly next to her exclaimed catching her attention.
She looked the excitedly grinning filly over as she attempted to figure out how to respond. The filly was a unicorn and a light green color that was just a little too bright to be called mint. She had a long and straight orange mane that fell over one side of her face and the rest fell over the opposite side of her neck. Her tail was the same color and style and fell from her chair where the end rested on the floor. Her violet eyes glowed with energy, joy, and curiosity as she leaned towards Polaris in excitement. Her bright grin was completely ecstatic.
Think, think, think, Polaris told herself, I can't say my real name, that's a star pony name. "Astro." she blurted as the first thing that came to mind. She scolded herself silently as it still held relations to her origins.
"Really? Cool! My name's Kara! You wanna be friends!?" the unicorn filly, apparently named Kara, responded.
"Friends?" she asked astonished, "But I do not even know you, and you do not know me."
Kara looked at her in confusion due to how she had phrased her reply, but quickly shook it off to answer, "Well why not? We can be friends and then I can know you and you can know me! It'll be fun! It's always the best to be friends with somepony you sit next to because then you can talk all day! But you have to be quiet 'cause you can't get by Ms. Rule though. Nopony can talk when she's talking."
Quiet seems to be the last thing on this filly's mind, Polaris thought worriedly, I didn't want to form any relationships, but maybe if I say yes she will talk to another pony. "I suppose that would be alright with me."
"Man, you really talk like an adult. Are you like trying to be like one, 'cause I don't think it'd be all that fun to be an adult. I mean you'd have to go to work and get up early and stuff. The only cool thing about being grown up is having a cutie mark." she told her.
"I think it would be interesting to be an adult, so I thought that I would try and imitate their speech." she answered trying to make up an excuse for her speech pattern which she considered to be perfectly normal.
"Whatever you think." she dismissed with a shrug. She opened her mouth to speak again, but was cut off before she had the chance.
"Now kids! It's time for class to start!" came the voice of a mare from the front of the class. Looking forward Polaris saw a light blue earth pony mare at the front of the room. She wore a kind smile and her red mane framed her face well and looked similar to her tail. Her dark pink eyes held a sort of kindness to them as well. All of the foals in the room quieted down and turned their attention to her as she stopped speaking. "I'm still getting to know you all since it's only the second week of school, so please forgive me if I mix up any names. Now, it's time for roll call." she finished as she sat down at her desk at the front of the room.
"Oh! Oh! Ms. Rule!" Kara called out.
"Yes, Kara I believe." she responded still wearing her smile.
"Yeah! There's a new student today!" she replied excitedly. Polaris pulled back as she realized who she was referring to.
"There is?" the mare asked looking confused.
"Uh-huh! This is Astro and she just started here today!" she proclaimed proudly gesturing to the pegasus sitting next to her. Polaris shrank away even further as this happened. Things were not going according to plan.
"Oh. Hello there. I'm sorry, nopony told me I was going to be having a new student in my class today. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?" she asked politely after recovering from her surprise.
No, she thought, but decided against declining. "H-hello, m-my name is Astro." she stated quietly as she blushed.
"If you could please give me your last name as well so that I can put you on the roll list?" the mare reassuringly requested sensing the filly's apprehension.
Another name, she thought confused, just spit out a word, come on! "Color." she blurted out as it was the first word that came to mind looking around the colorful room.
"Well welcome to the class Astro. Now, roll call." she finished turning back to the paper on her desk.
She started calling names off of a paper and each student would respond as both of their names were called. The light green unicorn jumped up and proclaimed that she was present as the name Kara Tay was called off of the list. That was the only name she heard since she was devoting the majority of her attention to finding a way out of her current predicament. Still, she felt that just leaving was the most conspicuous thing that she could do at that point. She hoped to just keep her head down and out of the way so that she wouldn't get any more eyes in her direction.
The class continued on after that with simple mental exercises that Astro couldn't say caused her much thought. She felt a little panic as she realized that she didn't have any of the supplies, but Kara was more than willing to share with her. All of it seemed mundane after that as Ms. Rule was explaining things up by the board at the front of the room. The other foals however seemed to be having a much less easy time of it. They weren't struggling, but they had to think about it at the least. She attempted to look more absorbed in her task and mimic the ponies around her. She also did her best to listen to the ponies as they talked so that she could develop a speech pattern similar to their own. It wasn't long before she started to figure out how her own speaking was considered different. They didn't annunciate all of their words nearly as much as she did, they had a much less serious tone of voice, and used words with less serious connotations. She was a fast learner and recorded all of these discoveries in the back of her mind as she continued to listen carefully to each word that was said so that she would be ready if she had to speak again.
The time came as Kara once again started conversation. "Wow! You're really smart!" she exclaimed looking over at Polaris's finished paper and her own half-finished one, "And you're hoofwriting's awesome! Where'd you learn to write like that?" she asked entranced.
"At home." she supplied trying to avoid talking too much, or mentioning details she'd regret.
"You gotta teach me to write like that some day! Maybe that's what you'll get your cutie mark for! Writing! That would be cool I guess, but I wanna do something with a little more energy to it!" she replied.
Anything involving energy you would be great at, Polaris thought, but not in a spiteful way as she stowed cutie mark away in a list of words she needed to find the definition to. "I'm fine with something a little less loud." she told her simply.
The filly shrugged and again said, "Whatever you think."
"I do like writing though." she offered trying to engage properly in conversation to observe more of this culture.
"I don't really know what I wanna do yet. My parents say I'm pretty agile so I was thinking I might be able to do something with that. It's cool that you already know what you wanna do though. You might be the first pony to get their cutie mark! That would be amazing! I mean I suppose you're really good about making the letters look pretty, and that's different from actually writing stuff." she told her trailing off into thought at the end. She gasped as an idea came to her, "Maybe you could be an artist!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Aren't we supposed to not let Ms. Rule hear us?" Polaris asked worriedly.
"Oh… right." she apologized significantly lowering her volume, "I forgot." she mumbled looking slightly ashamed.
"It's fine." she reassured her, rather upset by the look on the filly's face.
"I know. I get a little too loud sometimes, sorry."
"Apology accepted."
"Thanks." Kara finished with a genuine smile. Polaris returned the favor a little less sure, but happy all the same.
As the day went on Polaris found herself conversing with Kara more and more. It was a good pass time that helped her to learn as she tried to steer the conversation towards things she didn't understand and get her to explain them without obviously asking what they were. For example: "Why do you want a cutie mark so much?" she asked hoping to get a definition.
"Why do I want one!? Are you kidding me!? If you have a cutie mark that means that you're grown up! It shows that you finally know who you are! You can't get when until you figure out what makes you special and who doesn't want to be unique!?" she retorted rolling her eyes.
"Well, I feel pretty good just like I am." she replied simply as a rebuff. With each sentence that passed she grew more confident and comfortable in her place. When lunch time arrived she sat next to Kara and the filly offered her an apple to eat. Most of the time was spent in the classroom however. Kara did most of the talking as they conversed, but that allowed more time for Polaris to figure everything out and analyze her habits. Despite that she had found enjoyment in the filly's company she still had a task of observation to complete and that was her main priority.
"Alright class!" Ms. Rule called from the front of the class interrupting their conversation, "Time for recess!" Everypony cheered in response and headed for the door in excitement, Kara included. Unsure of what was happening Polaris just followed suit as with every other sudden variable thrown at her. She walked behind Kara as the hyperactive filly trotted energetically into the grassy area at the back of the school. As the entirety of the class stepped out into the yard Kara turned back and smiled widely at Polaris. "Now that we're at recess I can show you everypony." she informed her eagerly. She grabbed her hoof and dragged her over to the center of the playground where you could clearly see all that were running around.
"That's Dusk Dark over there." she said pointing at a dark brown unicorn colt with a pitch black mane skulking not too far from the swing set. "He's not the nicest pony," she whispered, "if I were you I'd avoid him. Then there's Spirit Stream!" she exclaimed gesturing to another unicorn colt who was standing directly to the right of the bright red metal bars that swings hung down from. He looked to be concentrating as his horn sparked slightly. His coat was such a pale purple that you really had to look to even see that it was there. His mane was wavy and such a pale white that it was almost translucent. "He's pretty shy and doesn't talk to all that many ponies. He's already learning how to do magic though which is really cool! He's the only one in class that's already doing that." She then moved her hoof to a pair of ponies running around together. One was a black coated earth pony filly with a messy and white mane and tail, and the other a red unicorn with a dark brown and curly mane and tail. "Those two are pretty good friends. The unicorn's Ruby Ore, and the earth pony's Soul Striker. Both of them are pretty nice most of the time, but Soul sometimes blows up at ponies. I don't think she means it, but sometimes she just says things without really thinking about it. She normally apologizes afterwards." After explaining those two she turned to the pinto pegasus on the swing set. He was repeatedly getting the swing as high as it would go and then jumping off and trying to glide down, but was rather unsuccessful. "That's Spot Light. He's kind of a loner most of the time. I don't really talk to him all that much." she dropped her voice again as she continued speaking, "I don't wanna be mean, but he's kind of not really the best flier. He tries really hard, but he's just not really good at it. That's why he's doing that actually. Normally whenever he gets a chance he practices." She scanned the playground for the next pony that she would show to Astro, but then noticed something and gasped. "There's swings left! There's almost never swings left! Let's go!"
She dragged Polaris over to the swing set to grab the two remaining swings that weren't being used. At the last moment she ran forward ahead of her and grabbed both of them like somepony else was going to take them. "We got them!" she cried excitedly. She moved closer to one and offered the other to Polaris. Kara quickly clambered onto hers, but Polaris didn't exactly know what to do. She climbed on and just sat there as Kara swung back and forth in hers. She didn't really mind though, she was content with just watching. Almost this whole experience had been a relaxing break from her typical routine, and despite her original wariness Kara had ended up being a nice pony to bump into. Although there were several glaring differences between the two she did enjoy the surface world as much as her own even for as short as she'd been there.
She heard a crash interrupting her thoughts and cringed as she looked over at the pegasus colt. He had failed to glide successfully down once more and had slid across the grass on his front. He just got back up unfazed and trotted back over to the swing. He already looked pretty scraped up from previous failed attempts at flight. "Are you alright?" she asked carefully.
He looked over at her a little startled, "What? Oh… yeah. I'm fine."
"You know that you don't have to jump off, cause then you won't hurt yourself." she told him kindly.
"Yeah, I know." he replied looking embarrassed.
"Maybe you could try it?" she offered hopefully.
"I guess." he agreed, but mostly so that he wouldn't attract attention. He sat down on the swing without another word and started to swing back and forth on it. She looked over at him and tried to imitate the motion. She grinned slightly as she started to gather momentum and swing the same way as the ponies on either side of her.
"There you go Astro!" Kara shouted excitedly as she looked over at her. She smiled widely at her as she picked up speed. Polaris just watched as Kara continually tried to get the swing higher.
"You're the new kid right?" he asked looking over at her.
She nodded, "Yes I am."
"Well… welcome then." he told her with a small smile.
"Thanks." she replied gratefully, "I never got your name."
"It's Spot, you sit behind me in class." he informed her.
"Cool, maybe we can talk, but only when Ms. Rule's not looking." she responded remembering Kara's warning.
"But you're not supposed to talk while you're in class." he argued.
"That's why you have to wait till she's not looking." she reasoned with a small grin.
"I don't know." he stated warily.
"That's fine, I wasn't sure either, but Kara didn't really give me a choice." she promised.
"Hey!" Kara interjected.
"It's true." she retorted. Kara stuck her tongue out and the both of them started to laugh. Spot looked on and smiled a little bit. Polaris found herself practically bursting from the amount of joy around her. It was such a wonderful feeling and she had never felt in such multitudes as that moment before. She could feel it in the air around her and even as recess ended and all of the students were pulled back inside.
For the rest of the day she conversed with her two new friends learning of their world and a little bit of their daily lives, although Spot was far more reluctant to talk during lessons. Slowly the research project just became a vacation day with which to simply enjoy life. When the school day came to a close she walked out with the both of her newfound friends. It hadn't been nearly long enough when they had to leave. "I'm sorry guys," Kara apologized, "I gotta go now, my parents are waiting, but I'll see you tomorrow right?" she asked excitedly. Spot nodded, but Polaris didn't want to have to lie to either of them. She just gave a sort of wide smile that they took as confirmation. Kara waved goodbye and then took off to where her parents stood.
"I have to go too," Spot told her, "So, see you tomorrow I guess." he finished before trotting off.
Polaris moved to head home as well before hearing her pseudonym and halting. She walked towards the voice and listened carefully to what was being said. "Are you sure?" a voice, which she recognized as Ms. Rule's, asked worriedly.
"Completely, there wasn't any Astro Color that was supposed to be starting here today. I sincerely doubt it's that we just misplaced paper work or something of the sort. She shouldn't have been here." a stallion's voice answered with a tone of finality to it. Polaris blanched as she realized that they had indeed discovered that she didn't belong. She cantered off, utterly terrified, without a second thought hoping that she wouldn't be caught. Teleportation would've been faster, but there were far too many ponies in the area for her to feel comfortable doing so. Fear propelled her as she galloped straight back to the wood she had come from.
She slowed down as she disappeared into what she then knew to be called trees. She took a deep breath calming herself as she started to walk. Despite her very best efforts they had still discovered that she didn't belong there. Still, she thought of the friends that she'd be leaving behind. She tried to push the thoughts away as she walked to the teleport. There's no point in getting emotional, she told herself. She walked into the clearing and found the inconspicuous looking rock and laid a hoof on it.
She arrived back in the warehouse and found that North was already waiting there for her. He didn't even look as though he had moved, but had instead simply waited there patiently for her return all of those hours. He smiled at her as she stepped off of the platform in a slight daze. It was like when she had teleported down, but the opposite. Instead of feeling a sudden loss of vigor she felt empowered, like she could just keep running for forever. She regained her bearings after the spur of invigoration and returned his kind smile with her own. Still, it felt false as she already missed the colorful world below. She knew that she couldn't stay there however, even after only being down there for a few hours she had already been found out to be different from the rest.
"I expect everything went well?" he inquired as she approached.
"Yes, everything went just as it should've." she promised despite the fact that it was only a half truth. Everything had gone essentially according to plan, but she couldn't shake the feeling that saying everything was perfect was untrue. She hadn't felt that there had been any hint that she was unsure of what she said in her tone, but he must have found something. The slightest glimpse of a frown came across his face for half a second, and she was certain he'd deduced that maybe it wasn't as perfect as she had claimed.
"Excellent, you can tell me of what you have learned once we return to my home." he stated simply and without any form of connotation in his tone. She tried to convince herself that she'd imagined what she had seen in his expression, but was unsuccessful. After having worked with him for the time she had she learned that he was a very sharp stallion and was smart enough herself to recognize that if there was even the slightest suggestion of a hint that she was uncertain he would have found it.
She thought about what to tell him of what she had learned, but couldn't think of a way to do so. Yes it was different, and she could recognize these differences, but it was difficult to express these differences in words. It was less organized than her own home, but still made use of the time it had. It was certainly much more colorful and vivid, but that simply wasn't enough to describe it. Was it bright? Yes, but again there wasn't enough meaning in the word to convey just what it was she was trying to. It puzzled her that she couldn't quite place this adjective the way she wanted to. None of them, while being sufficient enough to fill the blank, quite fit at the end of the thought. Being unable to complete the description the way she wanted to she settled for a less whole explanation. When asked for her thoughts she would settle for less organized and strict, but certainly resourceful, and significantly more diverse in hue. She nodded to herself as she finalized her decision on her response.
When the two ponies approached their destination she continued to repeat her response in her head so that she could answer him with complete certainty. She was determined to hide her doubts from him so that she could possibly forget them herself. She didn't like this feeling of uncertainty inside her and hoped that it would leave her soon. If she admitted it to him however she felt that it would continue to follow her wherever she went. He sat behind his desk and she sat on the other side. Straightening her posture and summoning all of her conviction she waited for him to ask his question.
"Something tells me that not everything went perfectly well." he stated simply.
"Why wouldn't it have?" she asked in response ready for him to have said that.
"I am asking you why it would not have." he replied emphasizing the two words she had combined. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had been speaking in the surface dialect as she had started calling it in her mind. In her hurry to appear unfazed she had forgotten to speak correctly only making her seem even more confused. "It is fine, it is only natural that you would feel ever so slightly disoriented after seeing what the surface world is like. It is a lot to think of. So tell me, what stood out the most to you?"
She sagged a little bit as her doubt doubled and she realized that she didn't know the answer to his question. She thought for few moments before stating the very first thing that had come to her mind after she had arrived, "The colors that there were."
"Yes, it is certainly much more vibrant than our own plain." he agreed. A silence followed as she realized he was waiting for a different answer. In truth the largest difference she had noticed was the one that she couldn't find the correct word to describe.
"It was more… more… I-I am sorry I cannot find the right word for what it was." she admitted hanging her head in shame.
"It is fine, it is a difficult thing to describe. I cannot say that I quite know the right word for it, but I understand what it is you mean." he promised her.
"Did you visit the surface world as well?" she queried in confusion.
"Yes, when I was the same age as yourself I was sent down to learn the same things that I have just sent you to learn." he told her, "Now, if you wouldn't mind telling me of your experiences in more detail." She nodded and began the story of events for him while the doubt continued to bubble around in her mind and in her heart.
-/|\-
"I see. It seems you experienced quite a lot of interaction with the ponies there." he commented as she finished.
"Yes." she agreed worried that she might have done something she shouldn't have. She never mentioned the sudden fatigue she had experienced upon arrival, and she had left the final part where they had realized she shouldn't have been there. He had stressed the importance of not being discovered and she stumbled when it came to that in her mind. Unfortunately she had made her presence known, and not only that but the fact that she shouldn't have been present in the first place. He, however, said nothing more to her. There were no words of chastisement or congratulations.
He turned to one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a scroll from it. She recognized it as the same one from two days previously when he had first asked her of the surface world. While she had been allowed to look through most of the documents he possessed as she learned of the work he performed there were a small number she was not allowed to see. The scroll he now looked over was one of the few she couldn't read. She easily knew it from the rest due to its age. This particular scroll easily aged past the others by a very large margin. He read over it carefully and with purpose and focus. He seemed to be trying to decipher what he read as he looked it over with complete concentration. She said nothing as he did so not wanting to break his train of thought. After an amount of time she could not measure he rolled it up and shook his head in annoyance. "An old document speaking of the world in confusing riddles." he told her, "I'm afraid I don't understand it no matter how hard I try. Maybe one day you will however."
"May I see it?" she asked hopefully thinking she might be able to help.
"I'm afraid it comes with strict instructions as to who can and who cannot read its contents." he told her simply. She didn't need to be told specifically that she was on the list of those that couldn't, it was enough that he hadn't let her read it automatically. "You have had a very draining day I would expect, so you may return to your home early today. I do expect you back at sunrise however. We can assess if you might need another period of rest then." he finished. She nodded in understanding before exiting the building to head back to her abode.
As she walked along the streets to her home she thought about the doubts she felt. She didn't like this feeling of not knowing. Would her new friends miss her the next day? What was written on the scroll and why couldn't she see it? Why had she felt such fatigue and why hadn't anypony mentioned it before or after? What was the word she needed and why wasn't it in her vocabulary? She wasn't used to questioning things and it was an unsettling feeling having to do it for once. Maybe I'll understand more if I go down again, she thought to herself. Then she realized that it was a hopeful thought. She wanted a chance to go back down again. Whatever it was that she couldn't describe, she wanted more of it, and that was a fact.
Polaris arrived at North's home at sunrise just as he had asked her all cleaned up and looking like a star pony again. She had decided against asking for a repeat visit to the surface after thinking about what North might think of this request. Still, she knew that she might have problems focusing on her tasks that day. There were so many things she wished to know about, but at the same time she knew she would never know any of them. The constant speculation was eating away at her concentration as he arrived and the two went about their regular day. It wasn't difficult for him to notice that she was distracted. Normally she was quick and proficient in her tasks, but that day she was fumbling and falling behind easily.
"I am afraid I am going to have to interrupt for a moment." he declared and she jumped to attention as she had just been daydreaming. "I do believe that I am going to have to send you back home for the rest of the day. You still seem to be experiencing exhaustion from yesterday." he told her even though he knew it wasn't exhaustion. She frowned and looked ashamed even though she had no reason to be. "There is no reason to feel upset. What you are experiencing is to be expected." he promised. She nodded, but was biting her lip in uncertainty as she exited. It was exactly what he expected from her. She was bright young filly who enjoyed learning and being unable to understand something would frustrate her. She was perfectly rested and he understood that, but she needed more time to process what she'd seen. He knew that there was nothing he could do to prevent her from wondering, his only concern was that she'd decide to take action on these wonders herself. Still, if she did he felt it was his responsibility to help her. She might not yet be allowed to see the words of those riddles, but he felt that she might have the answers to the questions they raised. Either way, if she was going to pursue that path she would have to choose to do so of her own accord.
-/|\-
Polaris was being driven crazy by the questions in her head and her want for answers had morphed into a desperate need to know. She considered taking matters into her own hooves as she looked in the direction of the warehouse, but didn't go that way as she considered what good being brash ever did anypony. On the other hoof however the hole of knowledge in her mind was urging her to risk it. She couldn't deny that the need to understand was slowly becoming more and more unbearable. The entirety of her determination was concentrated on not straying from the path to her home to instead of turning to the warehouse of teleports. She knew that actions without consideration of consequences could only end in disaster and so she started going over possible outcomes in her mind. Not many worked out with optimal endings, but she still needed to know horribly bad. Chances like that came along once in a life time.
She entered the door to her home and shut it behind her. She hoped that maybe that closing it would bring finality to her thoughts, but there was no such luck for her. Why doesn't he understand, she thought desperately. North of all ponies should've realized that she wasn't tired, she was confused and distraught. In her rather short life she had never had a need to question things and never had. All she did was try to understand these things better so that she could help others understand them later. It was about learning the rules not changing them, but now she wished that she could. Why couldn't he see her disorientation and help her to better understand what she couldn't grasp. What was that word that she was missing?
She collapsed onto her bed trying desperately to comprehend a concept she had never been presented with before. Just like every time she found herself upset or confused she pulled out a scroll and a quill and ink to distract herself. This time however instead of littering the page with calligraphy as she normally did she drew pictures of that which she'd seen. She drew the trees, making sure to put in every last detail. Even though she might not understand that didn't mean she couldn't remember. She drew the grass that she had found herself in when she had opened her eyes. She wished she had ink of different colors, but all she had was the pitch black liquid. Still, she didn't let that deter her as she continued to float the quill across the page forming images of exquisite detail. She drew the clearing, the city from far away, the school, the playground, and finally the two ponies that she had found friends in.
It was so easy, so natural, a motion that she knew so well from her writings, but now that she had applied it to pictures it took on so much more meaning. It made her feel… again the word hid just beyond that veil she couldn't breach. She did know however that it was exactly what she had felt down there on the surface. Now that she had found it again she found herself greedy to feel it again. She wanted more of it and that desire took over her mind as she decided taking matters into her own hooves was well worth the risk. Without it she felt sad and confused. Now that she'd had a taste she couldn't stand being without it. Whatever it was, she had deemed it was worth taking risks for and that was exactly what she was going to do.
Just as the previous day she needed to disguise herself however. The paint and dye was back at North's home and she knew that she couldn't be seen by him. She could teleport to one of the back areas of the building that he rarely went, but that was risky. The risk is worth it, she reminded herself. Now however in the heat of the moment her willingness to take risks had turned into recklessness. She grabbed her saddlebags and started to pack various things into them that she might need or want on the surface. She put in her quills and ink as well as a good amount of paper, she also added in some food as well. Whether or not she really was running away for good she wasn't sure, but she needed to understand what there was there which she couldn't do from the Astral Plain.
Having rationalized recklessness in her mind she teleported to a backroom in North's home at full throttle. The backroom she had chosen was the one that she knew the paint and dye were in. It was closer to the main room than the others, so she was slightly more likely to be seen upon entering, but it was a much quicker trip in and out as well. She grabbed it and teleported out as quickly as she could glad that she hadn't been seen. North who had been going about his business paused as he heard a noise come from one of the nearby rooms. He walked silently over to where it had come from listened carefully. Just a moment later he heard the telltale sound of teleportation that he was certain came from a certain filly. For better or for worse, he thought to himself as he realized that she had chosen to take things into her own hooves.
Polaris had teleported back to her own home with the paint and dye to try and formulate a more solid plan. The complete recklessness of her most recent action had struck her as she had started to perform it. She needed to be more careful if he wasn't going to be discovered, but unknown to her she already had been. Still, he didn't plan on doing anything to stop her so she would continue to believe that her plan remained secret. Looking over what she had packed she saw that she really did need to be more careful. Just because I've decided to break rules doesn't mean I need to throw all forms of reason out the window, she scolded herself. As she added more items to her saddlebags she thought about what she would do when she got down. That was the biggest issue at the moment. She couldn't be discovered to not belong since she might not have the option of returning to the Astral Plain.
'I can't go back to school since they know that I'm out of place, but then how am I supposed to see Kara and Spot? I could just stop by and say hello, but I still might get caught. I'd have to be quick about getting in and out to be sure I don't end up in deep trouble. Then what though? At that point they'll probably have realized here that I'd left. If I stay on the surface then I'll have to find a place to stay there. I know that I could probably do something temporary with clouds, but it's only a temporary solution to a long term problem. Of course it's not as though they'll kick me off of the Plain completely. Either way it won't be too long before Kara and Spot notice that something's up. I don't even know what I'm doing, but I can't stand not doing anything.' she thought while she packed her things. In the end she decided this was probably something she'd rather make up as she went along.
That was just what she did as she teleported to the front of the warehouse in full disguise with full saddlebags. She had made up her mind and she wasn't about to let anything change it. The more she waited and thought the more her resolve weakened so she moved forward without looking back, but she knew she still had to take the time to make informed decisions at times. She couldn't be reckless, but she couldn't be too afraid to do anything. She pushed open the doors to the warehouse and just told herself to keep moving. The unicorn filly and unicorn mare from the day before stood waiting for somepony to come through the door.
"Unisus Isle." she requested in the most authoritative tone she could muster. The mare gestured for her to step onto one of the platforms and she did so. Then the mare stepped away and the filly moved forwards. She met eyes with the unicorn filly before the young filly lowered her horn and screwed her eyes shut in concentration. It only made sense that she was already learning to perform the task. Polaris remained still and calm as she charged up her spell. As the beam was fired from the filly's horn she took a deep breath. Once again she was going down to the surface.
When Polaris felt her hooves meet the grass she held strong knowing what would follow in just a moment. Sure enough just as the time before she felt the sudden fatigue hit her, but now she was prepared and fought against it. She managed to stay on her hooves, but just that little action took extreme effort. Her exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her, but she continued to fight it knowing that she didn't have as much time. Before she had from essentially sunrise to ward it off and reach the school, even if that hadn't ben her objective. Now she had already spent a fair amount of time just getting ready and coming down. She had to fight and move quickly if she was going to make it on time to catch them and not be herded inside.
With her newfound determination she fought harder, but still struggled to overcome it. She thought of all of the dreams that had been surrendered to follow the rules that had been made and it made her stronger to know she wouldn't lose hers. She needed to survive, but more than that she needed to live. Her posture straightened as she slowly overcame the pressing force against her. As she thought of all that had already been lost her resolve continued to strengthen and she grew ever more confident. She soon stood at her full height and breathed heavily from the strain of it. Her thoughts were to keep moving quickly so she wouldn't miss them. It took more out of her than she would've cared to admit, but she inched slowly forward baby step by baby step as the minutes passed.
She wasn't fully confident in her stride when she left the clearing, but she didn't mind much. The fact that she was moving sufficiently was the point, despite the strain that it put on her. This new spur of the moment way of thinking was new, but she wasn't going to let that impede her. If she was living by the moment for that day then she was going to let it happen. For the first time in her life she was following her heart and she felt it, that indescribable feeling that was priceless. She smiled brimming with joy even though she still felt the tension in her muscles from trying to move properly. Still, with every second that passed she felt herself adjusting to the environment just the same as before. Her stride slowly eased and she walked with more confidence moving with purpose towards her destination. She tried a small jog as she continued to grow in strength. She was adjusting faster than the time before and couldn't have been happier.
She exited the forest into the field and could see the town in the distance and she grew once more in poise. The exhilaration she felt was like nothing ever before. She'd never had a dream before and here she was chasing one with all of her heart. The idea that you felt with your heart was preposterous, but right then with it racing right alongside her she understand how some could think so. She broke to a run as the last of the strain on her left and she could really move freely again. Her emotions burned as she hoped she could make it on time. This whole experience of desperation, want, indecision, uncertainty, and risk was something new and she was loving every second of it in that moment. Living in the moment was something that she could definitely get used to.
She galloped into town and in the direction of the school with her saddlebags bouncing along on her back. She was grinning from ear to ear despite the tension of whether or not she'd make it. If she was too late that defeated the whole purpose of risking all of this, but the risking was the best feeling she'd ever had. This whole thing was the best experience that she'd ever had in her rather short life. It was the feeling that she never wanted to lose ever and right then she could feel it pumping through her. Her smile was impossibly large as the school came into view. As her eyes caught a glimpse of green through the crowd a small giggle escaped from her. She was practically drunk on the adrenaline.
She trotted over to her unicorn friend smirking proudly. Kara saw her coming and waved excitedly. "Hey Astro!" she called happily.
"Hello Kara." she greeted her cheerily. She knew that she couldn't stay long, but hoped to have a short conversation at least.
"You seem happy." Kara observed beaming at her.
"I'm very happy." she promised returning the joyful grin.
"That's great!" she proclaimed with her bubbly aura.
"I know!" she agreed with the same energy.
Then however the bell rang out into the courtyard and all of the students rushed inside as the doors opened. Kara grabbed her hoof and dragged her inside along with the rest of the crowd. She tried to pull away, but was unsuccessful in her efforts. That wasn't a part of the plan that ended well for her. She tried to say something, but was muted by the huge crowd of students all around them. That sense of being on top of the world was now a sense of dread as she felt herself nearing her doom. If she was seen there in the classroom she was certain that everything was over. She would have to go back after doing so much just to return and see them. As she entered the classroom, against her own will, she felt as though her fate was being sealed. There was no escape at that point.
Ms. Rule looked up and she smiled at Polaris as she came in. This confused the pegasus for sure, shouldn't she be confused or upset with her? "Astro! There you are! Could you come up to my desk for just a moment?" she asked kindly, but Polaris heard something very different from kind. This is it, she thought terrified, what do they do with ponies who don't belong? She walked slowly up to the desk at the front of the room trying to make each second last since she was fairly sure that they would be her last in that world. That didn't mean that she could put off forever the inevitable. Soon she stood at the teacher's desk looking shamefully at the ground. "I know you're worried, but it's all fine. I didn't mean to scare you yesterday at the end of the school day." she told her. Polaris was confused at the fact that she knew that she'd overheard her and the stallion, but said nothing. "I just want to let you know that we got all of your paperwork worked out, so it's fine." she promised.
"Y-you did?" she asked stunned.
"Yes we did. Your grandfather stopped by earlier and helped us to work everything out." she replied. "You should probably go get back to your friend over there, she looks ready to burst." she added looking over at Kara.
"Yeah." she finished and walking back over to her desk.
In her mind however the conversation was far from over. Who was this grandfather figure, and why did he help her? She was trying to think of who it might be, but couldn't think of anyone who would be able to do it. Nopony could just materialize paperwork out of thin air if there wasn't any. Who could pull that off flawlessly without getting themselves caught? She shook her head in confusion as she trotted back to her seat. None of it made any sense to her in the slightest. Still, she wouldn't deny any help that she received and decided to just accept the mystery for the time being. As Ms. Rule had stated Kara was waiting for her and she didn't want to just leave her hanging. She slid into her seat and the floodgates opened.
"Why did she call you up? You aren't in trouble are you? It wasn't because we were taking yesterday? I didn't want to get you in trouble! I'm sorry!" she blurted as Polaris sat down.
"It's fine actually. Apparently there was something wrong with the paperwork, but it's fixed now." she answered smiling unsurely.
"Really?! That's good. I was worried for a sec there. I'm glad it was just something boring like paperwork." she responded clearly relieved.
"Yeah, me too." she agreed happy that it had worked out.
"So, we can still talk right?" she asked looking for confirmation.
"Yeah, I hope so." she replied grinning with much more conviction.
"Good cause if you couldn't talk that would be horrible! I mean he's not great conversation." she told her lowering her voice on the second sentence, but making it loud enough for Spot to hear.
"That's cause you're not supposed to talk while Ms. Rule's teaching. You two are going to miss something if you keep talking while she's teaching." he argued turning around in his seat.
"He has a point Kara." Polaris agreed turning to her.
"But it gets old sometimes! I mean you could be doing something! Especially if you already know what she's teaching!" she retorted moving her hooves about as she spoke. Polaris giggled slightly at her rebuttal, but Spot frowned at her in disagreement. Then however Ms. Rule started to call roll ending the discussion.
Again when her pseudonym was called she hesitated for half of a second before responding to it. It still felt significantly less out of place than before however. As she spent the day talking to and running around with her new friends she felt more like a part of something than she ever had before. That sensation she could never find the word for because she didn't know it well enough to describe it was there the whole way. Still, the more she experienced it the more words that came to her mind that it could be, but none of them were quite what she would saw was right. All of them could fill the blank, but none of them fit it perfectly. Even though she had a good enough option as her answer she wanted a better one. Something as wondrous as that deserved the perfect description and nothing less. So, as she spent her day absorbed by it while she joked around with her newfound friends she ran all of the words she could've used to describe it through her mind. At one point she had asked both of her companions what they felt right then, but the question only seemed to confuse them. She soon realized that she was probably going to have to riddle this out herself.
As she bid them farewell at the end of the day she was still pondering this conundrum to herself. In the back of her mind however she was starting to realize what all of this added up to. It was a word she had never considered as it had never meant much to her before, but now she had a sneaking suspicion that it might be it. Still, this slow discovery was occurring more in her subconscious as she devoted most of her conscious thought to running through her mental dictionary. She continued to think about it as she wandered back to the clearing. It wasn't like she had a particularly small vocabulary, but this question's answer evaded her exceedingly well. She knew it was because this was an experience she had no prior experience with, but she was growing frustrated with her lack of success. She had always been a fast learner, but with this she just couldn't understand.
She sighed in frustration as she stumbled into the clearing. Maybe I'm just not supposed to understand, she thought warily. She turned her attention from the ground to what lay ahead and frowned in confusion. There on the grass of the clearing stood a stack of various items she recognized as what the other students had along with a lumpy brown sack. She trotted over and looked through the items more thoroughly and found that it was most definitely school supplies that she needed. The bag had been filled with various foodstuffs that all looked delicious. Her thoughts turned to this mysterious grandfather who had gotten her nonexistent paperwork to work out. Did he give her this as well? She was glad to have somepony helping her, but this helping from the shadows felt a little shady. Still, she wasn't about to deny help even if she didn't quite know who gave it.
She spent the rest of the day sorting through her belongings and new supplies as she absentmindedly continued to ponder the question. The different piles grew as she went through more of her stuff, but she was slow and methodical in her actions so none of the stacks and piles grew too fast. Just placing one object after the next in its proper place as it came along. It was mundane and required little of her attention, but she gave it much more than it needed. The simple sorting cleared her confused and crowded mind and allowed her subconscious to surface. That's when the answer hit her suddenly and with the force and weight of a stack of bricks.
She sat back as she examined this idea further trying to be sure. It seemed so obvious once she saw it though. There was too much for her to truly understand, but it seemed fuller than anything else she'd ever come up with. Everything had always had such an easy concrete answer, but now she realized and recognized the ambiguous. Not everything was simply black or white. There was always a gray place in between and that was where the answer she was seeking lay. Maybe some things held a meaning that was something more than just words. She had been trying to match this feeling to a definition, but all that would do was restrict it. She looked back over all of the words that she had used to fill the blank. Whatever it was its meaning was almost infinite with each word she'd looked over providing a small portion of it's true majesty.
"I do not quite understand it, but I can see that you do and it must mean a lot to you." she heard a voice speak from behind her. She jumped and turned to face them and her eyes widened.
"N-N-North!?" she stuttered confused.
"Yes Polaris, or should I call you Astro?" he asked her raising an eyebrow.
"Well… I, I just missed everything here." she admitted looking towards the ground.
"I understand that it can be a very strong call, but do you want it over the world you know?" he questioned. She didn't answer and instead continued to look at the grass below beneath her. "It is a difficult decision I know, but it is one you must make. Is the surface the path you choose to follow?" She finally turned her gaze to face him.
"It is." she told him in the end with a tone full of genuine conviction.
"Then I will not prohibit you, but you must understand that I cannot directly involve myself in helping you either. Still, where you need me I shall offer you what I can." he promised.
She paused as she started to put some pieces together. "Grandfather?" she asked stunned. He gave her a small smile which was enough confirmation for her. It only lasted a moment however before turning to a more dejected frown.
"If you will stay here for your remaining years then you must promise me that you'll enjoy it all that you can." he pulled out a necklace from the saddlebags he wore on his back and placed it around her neck. She recognized as a much newer looking version of the one that he had always worn. "You'll notice there is an H on the pendant, it stands for honor which means you must honor this promise to me. Now, I must depart from here, I suppose this is farewell then Astro." he finished bowing his head to her and teleporting away.
She leaned her head towards the sky where she knew he was and proclaimed her promise to him, "I promise I'll continue to appreciate what there is here, and do my best to understand its meaning."
The night after her encounter with North Astro had fallen asleep on the grassy ground in the clearing where she had first found herself on the surface. It had been slightly cold, but hardly unbearable. Her largest task would be working out how to make living accommodations for herself. She was hardly good with construction so that wasn't the best option for her. Her stacks of items that she would have to store stood around her in their respective categories between which she had divvied them. An extra bag stood, however, beside all of the items she recognized as her things. She walked over and opened it and found a good deal of golden coins inside. It took a moment, but she soon identified them as bits which she had discovered at school worked as a means of trade. She quickly decided that North had probably left them there for her. She didn't know how to use them, but hoped that they'd learn how to work it out at school. Another problem arose in that her saddle bags were hardly large enough to carry all of it and she didn't exactly feel comfortable leaving all of her stuff in the middle of a clearing in the forest.
She tried to think about these new conflicts that she would have to plan for, but all of it seemed silly as she had just given up everything she knew for something she could barely understand. As she tried to collect herself she continued to ask herself whether or not she made the right decision. It had all happened so fast and she found herself wishing she'd waited longer to make her final choice. The little metal pendant felt like ice against her chest where it lay. The realization of all that she'd given up hit her very suddenly and tears started to come to her eyes from the loss she felt. She lowered her face to the ground to try and hide them even if she didn't have anypony to hide them from. It wasn't what she'd hoped it would be, but she had promised to enjoy this path she'd chosen and she was determined to. She wore her honor on her chest and she would live up to it no matter the cost.
She held the little metal oval in her hoof with the H embossed on its front. It was clean and new and shone with a great deal of luster. It wasn't what she'd call beautiful, but it was still striking in its own form. It was simple and had a sort of proud feel to it, like it wasn't afraid to proclaim its message to the world. I am honorable and I carry with me and display proudly all of the promises that I have kept to my companions. It was strange, but the simple metal trinket seemed to speak to her on an emotional level. It didn't contain the color or vibrance of this new world, but it still belonged just the same as everything else that was there. She held it to her front and took a deep breath calming herself. Crying had little to do with joy unless they were tears of happiness which hers were not.
She wiped the tears from her face as she turned again to her current conundrums for distraction. In her mind she felt certain her best bet at that moment for stowing away her things was to hide them in some nearby brush. Bringing it all school would've been difficult and in her opinion ill advised. So she scanned the outskirts of the clearing for a sufficiently hidden place to place her belongings until she should return. It didn't take long for her to find a spot that fitted her needs and she placed all of the items there excluding the bag of bits. She knew they held more value than the rest of the items and had decided to keep them with her. If left behind and discovered they were more likely to be stolen and so it made more logical sense to keep them closer to her.
Soon she had her saddle bags packed with everything that she thought she might need for school and the bits that she didn't want to leave behind. This consisted almost entirely of the things North had left to her and she found herself tearing up again looking at them. She closed her eyes and again took a deep breath trying to compose herself. In the quiet and calm moments that followed she attempted to expel the sentimental thoughts from her mind. Until she felt more emotionally stable she had decided she wouldn't allow herself the sensation. If she couldn't handle it then she would avoid it until she felt she had the ability to do so properly. In her heart she locked away these sentimental thoughts where they would stay awaiting the moment she felt comfortable releasing them.
She hefted her bags onto her back and started her way towards the school trying to focus on seeing her friends. Still, she couldn't even find joy in that as she was afraid that releasing the joy would release the sorrow as well. She walked into the area where the students waited to be allowed inside the school completely straight faced. She had arrived a good bit early and so there weren't that many ponies there, but a good few were still present. Scanning the thin crowd she didn't see Kara there, but she did recognize Spot. She walked over to him hoping that he wouldn't notice her sudden change in demeanor from the previous two days. That day was not one for her to be happy, but she refused to be sad and so felt nothing at all.
She pulled a fake smile as she waved to him while approaching. He smiled back genuinely and waved to her as well. When she got closer she looked down ever so slightly hoping that he wouldn't notice any tear stains. He was the first to speak once the two stood next to each other. "Nice new necklace." he complimented her looking at it.
"R-really?" she stuttered not wanting to think about it due to who she received it from.
"Yeah, the silver looks nice and the H is cool." he answered sincerely.
"Thanks." she mumbled in appreciation.
"Course, where'd you get it?" he inquired just making innocent conversation that to her set off an emotional grenade. She felt her eyes welling up and found herself unable to speak past the lump in her throat. Running away had seemed so simple before she understood what she had left behind. He saw a tear run down her cheek and his mouth fell open in shock. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say anything! C-can I help?" he stammered confused and concerned.
"It's fine. I just… stuff happened. Not your fault." she choked out wiping her eyes and shooting him a smile. Her plan for containing her emotions had failed miserably and she felt like a train wreck waiting to happen. She wanted somepony to confide in and looking over at his face full of concern she considered doing so, but there was too much to say. Still, she wanted to at least let something out and thought of what she might say as he responded.
"I'm sorry that… stuff happened, I guess. I hope that stuff gets better." he offered with a reassuring smile.
"Th-thanks. I'm just having some trouble adjusting, new location and all. It's so different from where I used to live and well… it's a lot. I got this from somepony who lives where I used to live and I'm going to miss them a lot." she confided in the end.
"Oh, that's too bad. But you got new friends here right?" he asked grinning hopefully.
"Yeah, I do." she agreed growing a true smile and releasing the smallest of giggles.
"I'm glad you do." he commented happy to see her smiling
"Me too." she replied with her smile widening a little bit. She was still sorrowful, but it felt nice to have somepony who knew, if not in detail, what her story was.
As her emotions escaped their cage she found that she felt better, even with the sadness that they brought. It was much easier to enjoy her company without her heart on lockdown. It was still guarded for several valid reasons, but opening up felt good and lightened the load she carried. She still felt that she should've more carefully considered her decision, but right there, talking and even laughing slightly with Spot she felt more confidence in her choice. She knew that there would be consequences on either side of the resolution, but what she felt was important was that the pros outweighed the cons. In that moment though she felt that they indeed did and managed to find the enjoyment that she promised North she would. It was a good moment just talking with him and her joy only escalated as Kara arrived as well.
Throughout the entire time that day she managed to balance her grief for what she had left with joy for what she had found. At some points it seemed that the consequence was too much, but both Kara and Spot seemed to know exactly what to say to her when she leaned towards the more dejected end of the spectrum. They hadn't even known her for a week and already they knew how to make her smile. Just as the two days before, when it came time to leave it didn't feel like a long enough period had passed before their departure. She managed to smile despite her dejection as she left the school grounds due to her friends' reassurance and was glad she had found them. The previously icy pendant became warm against her neck.
When she reached the clearing in the forest she felt content if not bursting from her joy as with the previous day. She grabbed an apple, some paper, a quill, ink, and a hardcover book for a solid surface before starting to draw. It wasn't the same as writing, but it was a similar enough motion to what she had been doing for the past six months of her life. She wasn't exceedingly skilled with it yet, but she was improving as she continued to work. She had always been a quick learner and this was no exception. It was just as therapeutic as her previous pastime and she enjoyed it even more. She was keeping her promise, just as she said she would. It didn't matter that not everything was perfect as long as she could see past those imperfections. That night when she slept she felt full both in her stomach and her heart.
When Astro awoke she felt well rested and much better than she had the previous morning. There was still some sorrow stuck inside her, but there was no avoiding that and it would probably remain for a good while for good reasons. Still, she found it easier to see past it that day. North had given her his blessing to go forth on the path that she had chosen and she felt better accepting her more deviant path. She might've no longer had him at her side, but she had others standing by her in his place. The previous day she had been able to see that these others did care at least. Her time with them however had been short so she couldn't be entirely sure of them, but she did feel confident for the most part that she could trust them.
As she stood up from her rest and opened her eyes she found that it was much lighter than it was when she had awoken the previous days. I must've slept later today, she thought to herself. Instead of having just broken the horizon the sun was up in the sky, but still not at its apex. Her sleep had been so peaceful as opposed to previous days and thus she had managed to enjoy it for longer. It was a nice feeling of being well rested, but she wasn't about to tolerate drowsiness when there were things that needed to get done. She yawned slightly and stretched before considering the day's events and what needed to get done by sundown.
She knew school was something that she couldn't skip and that would take up several hours on its own. That still left a good amount of time for her to get what she needed done and so she set about listing her tasks in her mind. 'I definitely need to try and find a bed of some kind. I'm still good on food but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get some more. Shelter would be nice, but that's definitely the most difficult to obtain of the three. Then there's money and since this bag won't last forever I'm going to need a way to get more.' she thought to herself. It was really just the last two that worried her at that moment. It hadn't taken her long to learn that foals didn't have jobs there, the adults did and in turn supported the kids. She however didn't have an adult unless of course she were to count North, but she wasn't sure what all he would be able to do for her at that point. She gave a tired sigh as she put away her belongings just as the day before and hefted her bag onto her back. She could think about the more complicated questions after she had worked out the simpler ones.
She started off to school wondering if that day would be any different from previous ones. The three days before had all been fairly uniform, to an extent. They weren't nearly as identical as the previous constantly repeating routine she had experienced. While each day had been different in its own right each one hadn't been the most exciting. What she really took joy in at school was the time that she could spend with her friends. Sometimes that meant talking when they weren't supposed to be, but it was fun all the same. She was glad that she had so many things to ponder over and think about with each new discovery she made. Her friends however were definitely what she pondered over the most. The two were so different from each other and yet they offered the same thing to her. It was strange to her how different that two ponies could be, but still share similarities when you got down to it.
She trotted into the waiting area out front of the school and just as the day before she was early. Also the same as the day before Kara hadn't seemed to have arrived and her other friend was already there. She walked over to him and offered a genuine smile. The previous day had been an anomaly for her and she was determined to keep it that way. He returned the smile and hers widened slightly at the gesture. "Hello." she greeted him cheerily as she reached him.
"Hey." he replied in turn happily.
"Do you know where Kara is?" she asked curiously. A shadow of a frown crossed his face for just a moment and she almost thought she'd imagined it as he started talking.
"Oh, she always shows up only just before they let us inside." he answered.
"Got it." she responded with a nod. A slightly uncomfortable silence followed and to break it she asked him something she'd been wondering about. "So I was wondering what you think about cutie marks. I mean, I never really thought it was a big deal, but a lot of the others seem to think it is." she told him.
At first he seemed to be confused by the question, but eventually answered it, "There's no denying it's a big deal, but I think that some ponies do kinda blow it outta proportion." She simply nodded in response. That was something that still confused her a bit. "What do you think about it?" he queried wondering why she'd asked the question.
"I don't really know yet, I just don't get why some think it's this huge deal." she replied truthfully.
"Well, it means-" he was cut off as their other friend came bounding into the conversation.
"Hey guys!" she called running over and skidding to a stop in front of them, "Phew! Made it! Thought I was gonna be la-" at which point she was cut off by the bell signifying that they could enter the school.
They all rushed hurriedly into the building as their conversation had to be put on hold. When they took their seats however it didn't pick back up as the teacher moved right into taking roll. This time when her name was called Astro experienced no hesitation and instead answered quickly and confidently to the call. It felt right somehow now that she had managed, to at least to a degree, to accept what it had cost to reach it. 'Farewell Astro,' he had said. That would be her name to all those who knew her from that point forward and even to him who had known her the best in her past. She had better learn to respond to it earlier than later especially considering that it was no longer truly just a pseudonym. Still, she already felt that it belonged to her and in her mind had already replaced it as her own. Just one more step towards truly joining the community that she already felt like a part of.
For the whole day she felt much more at ease with her surroundings and her company. She was learning very quickly how to be a part of the environment and was enjoying the whole experience immensely despite the downsides that there were. It was a new kind of unity than that she had felt on the Astral Plain. As opposed to the uniformity and common purpose that linked her to the rest of her kind with this it was the empathy that they could feel for each other. They each were different from the next, but all of them still managed to connect and to her that was close to miraculous. It was something that didn't make sense in her mind, but she wasn't going to question due to how amazing she found it. She loved the sense of community she felt despite knowing that she should have been an outlier and could not truly be close to the average no matter what the others thought. That didn't, however, put any kind of a damper on how much she loved the environment and the love that she felt returned to her from it. Just as each day before when the day came to a close it was too soon.
The three again bid their goodbyes to each other before Kara took off first to her waiting family. Astro, although having no deadline, left second after offering her own farewell. She had started to walk off, but stopped as she heard a shout. "Wait!" Spot called running over. She had halted and as he reached her he stood still as well. "Well, I just thought that necklace must mean a lot to you." he commented. She nodded in confirmation wondering why he was bringing it up. "And also the pony who gave it to you cause you keep it around." he added awkwardly. She nodded again still confused as to why this information was important. "And when you found out you would be moving it probably meant a lot that they thought to give you something." he continued looking slightly anxious. She gave another nod of affirmation trying to work out where this was headed. "And yesterday it was pretty clear that you miss this friend a lot cause you were so sad." he ventured meeting her eyes. She frowned nervously, but nodded again since it was the truth. "And it was really sad seeing you sad like that." he told her. She blushed and pulled back bashfully.
He reached back into his saddlebags and pulled out a little ball cap. It was a deep purple color with a golden star embroidered on the front. "Well, you know you've got friends here too." he told her bashfully and handing her the cap, "And we care about you so… just like they gave you something to remember them by, this is something to remember me by if anything were ever to happen." he finished with a shy smile as she took it with her mouth slightly open in shock. An awkward silence fell for a moment after which he took off before she could say a thing. Of course she didn't have any clue what she would've said if he had waited.
Astro wondered if the gift of the cap meant something was going to happen, but nothing did. The day that followed the presentation of the gift was very similar to the others with no real anomalies. It was the day after that where the first real break in the routine came for her. She came to the school right on time just as every day before, but there was nopony there. Even on the days where she had come earlier there had still been at least some ponies there. She was confused and concerned to find nopony there. Had there been some strange routine change that she hadn't been informed of? None of it made any sense as she wandered helplessly around the front of the school. Her anxiety only grew as she started to notice some ponies giving her strange looks. In the end she opted to leave the school grounds in favor of attracting less attention.
She didn't really have much to do as she wandered the town aimlessly searching for something to occupy herself. The conundrum of what had happened to the regularly scheduled school day confused and worried her. No reason came to her as she thought about it, but she hadn't expected one to. There were too many differences between what was considered regular in her mind for her to understand what half of the things in that world meant. That didn't mean that she'd stop trying, but it did make her fear that she might never really be able to fit in no matter how hard that she should try.
Again she found herself continuing to draw eyes even after having left the school and her worries only escalated exponentially. She wanted to be able to blend into the environment, but such a thing was difficult as she understood little about it. As some stares continued to follow her she stopped wandering and instead decided upon a location. She kept to the shadows as well as she could and made her way silently and discreetly to the edge of the town. The crowds of the bustling metropolis only meant more attention and opportunities to mess up that she didn't want. As she reached the edge of the town she picked her pace and cantered quickly home.
She sat in her clearing thinking about what to do, but couldn't think of anything particularly useful. Plus none of it was anything that she particularly wanted to think about anyway. She stumbled over to the nearby stream to try and not think about it and wash up. Despite how long it had been and that she had attempted to wash it out previously her hair had remained the black color and it hadn't faded at all. If anything the color had become darker. It was the same for her shoulders as well. Over the four days there had been no fading, and when washed the color hadn't come out, the only change had been the hue becoming even more solid looking. Of course she was grateful for it as it made her life all the more easy. Still, she hadn't anticipated that it would be so hard to figure it out. She sighed tiredly as she finally walked out of the small stream dripping slightly from the water. Shaking some of it off she turned to return to her clearing.
She was nearly there when she thought she heard a pony shuffling around. No sound escaped her as she stiffened and strained her ears to hear the sound. Sure enough the quiet sound of somepony moving around reached her ears. Petrified she silently walked towards the clearing to see if she could catch a glimpse of whoever it was. The trees shielded her from view as she approached and sure enough there was a figure standing there. Looking carefully between the trees she saw an earth pony mare standing in the center of the area. She was tall and slender with a strikingly white coat. Her mane was short and straight as well as a bright orange color. She was looking through all of the items that she had come to acquire and Astro found herself even more afraid as she looked on.
She watched from the shadows every possible worst case scenario coming to her mind. She looked worriedly at the mare who had discovered her home. That was, however, when she noticed something peculiar. The mare's ears were twitching about as she worked. It wasn't a very conspicuous movement, but it was definitely there. She moved around the edge of the area so that she could get a better view of the mare's face. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the mare's eyes for just a moment. They were the same blue that hers were, as well as the rest of the star ponies'. While telepathy was one of the more difficult things to learn and normally was one of the last things that was learned by the foals she had started to learn the basics.
With great difficulty she sent out a signal, just a small and quiet hum, which was all she knew how to do. If the mare reacted then she was a star pony and if she didn't then she wasn't. There was no harm in trying. She watched intently from the sideline for what she wanted to see. The mare shot to attention and looked around expectantly. Astro pulled back worried even if glad to have found somepony similar to herself. She didn't know why they were there or what they wanted. The mare scanned the trees around her and Astro pulled back further into the shadows. She felt her heart rate increase as she stepped backwards apprehensively, but curiosity and a slight hope kept her from running off.
"Hello?" the mare called out, but it wasn't just vocal, she heard it in her head as well. Her ears moved about in reaction and she inhaled sharply. "I know you're probably scared, but if you would come out we could help you." the mare stated and again she heard it in her head. The statement was just directed into the space as she couldn't see the filly hiding in the surrounding in the wood. But part of the phrase had confused her. Who was the we that the mare referred to herself as a part of? "Whether you just got lost on your way back to the Astral Plain or stayed down here on purpose we can get you where you want." she promised. She still remained hidden as she wasn't sure whether this was a genuine promise to her. As she stood there thinking about it though she realized that it was the best chance that she had at anything.
She gave out another hum still remaining in her hiding spot and wondering if she was making the right decision. 'Hey, I can hear you calling.' the voice came only in her mind and she listened worriedly as she felt her ears moving, 'I know you must be scared, but we only want to help. No matter what your choice is.' she continued. No matter what your choice is, she thought to herself confused. What choice was there for her to make. She wanted desperately to peek out around the corner, but was afraid to do so at the same time. A long silence came after as the mare looked around carefully and Astro remained concealed. 'Still there?' the mare asked after a significant silence. She gave another hum in response to it. While being lonely had never particularly bothered her, at the point she more feared the isolation than anything else.
She slowly stepped slightly out and peered cautiously into the open clearing. The majority of her form however remained hidden behind the trees. The mare's eyes then immediately directed towards her and she pulled back worriedly. "Wait! You came from the Astral Plain right?" the mare inquired approaching her slowly. She found that he sound was only verbal as she listened. She nodded in response, but looked at the oncoming pony with concern. "Are you trying to get back, cause if you are we can help you get there." she told her with an encouraging smile. She shook her head, she neither wanted nor intended on ever returning to that place. "You aren't trying to get back?" the mare questioned looking a little confused. She shook her head again certain of her answer. "You want to stay here on the surface?" she asked grinning hopefully. She nodded tentatively in the hopes that this was a good thing. The mare certainly seemed happy about it. "That's great!" the mare exclaimed. She took a step back from the sudden loudness of it. "Sorry, I can be a little loud sometimes. They didn't call me Bold for nothing. But you chose a name for yourself yeah? Astro wasn't it?"
"How'd you know that?" she asked worriedly.
"Well we got word of a mysterious new filly who showed up in town fitting the description of a star pony. Of course sometimes, well actually most of the time, it is a false alarm, but we always make sure to look into it. I'm glad we found you though." she told her with a kind smile.
"Who's we supposed to be." she questioned.
"You don't know? Didn't they mention us to you on the Astral Plain?" she inquired looking confused.
"I didn't even know that there was a surface until recently and most ponies don't know ever." she admitted nervously.
"Really? No wonder we almost never get any ponies off the Astral Plain. Anyways, how long have you been here? Your hair has already changed color." she responded sounding surprised.
"Oh, um, only a few days." she replied.
"Wow. It normally takes a while for ponies' hair to change color." she informed her. She just gave her a confused look in response. "Sorry, this probably isn't making much sense. Let's get you back to base. I'm not really good at this kinda stuff." she admitted.
She started to walk off, but promptly noticed that she wasn't being followed by Astro. "You are coming right?" she asked turning to face her. She just stood still slightly unsure of the trustworthiness of the whole situation, but again came to the conclusion that she'd rather not be alone. After gathering all of her things she followed slowly after the mare as she continued forward, even though she still had some reservations. "Oh, and the name's Bold Runner by the way. And you know what? I think you're going to like it here with us a lot." she told her confidently.
"Who's us?" Astro asked as she'd been wanting to know since Bold had referred to herself as a part of a group.
She stood up a little straighter as she responded, "We are The Wish Division. The star ponies' home on the surface, as well as the ponies in charge of all shooting stars and the wishes made on them."
Astro looked over at Bold in confusion. The words shooting star meant nothing to her as she'd never heard the term before. She only understood the meaning of the words as two separate articles. The mare noticed her questioning look and frowned in confusion herself. "What does shooting star mean?" Astro asked her confused, "And what does it have to do with wishing?"
"You mean you don't know?" she questioned looking astonished.
"N-no." she muttered blushing in embarrassment at her apparent lack of knowledge.
"So you really don't know anything about anything we do? They didn't teach you anything about us on the Astral Plain?" she queried looking almost offended. Astro was just confused as to why the mare didn't have these answers herself. As a star pony she must've been born on the Astral Plain as well and come down herself, so why didn't she understand it?
"No, I wasn't taught anything. You're a star pony too so why don't you know about what happens on the Astral Plain?" she argued.
"I've never actually been up to the Astral Plain." she explained, "I was born on the surface like most of the star ponies who do live on the surface. It's not exactly a common occurrence that a pony from the Plain comes to live on the surface. Well, I suppose not rare per se, but the number that are naturally born on the surface and live here far outweighs the number that weren't born here and live here."
"You were born here?" she asked astonished.
"Yeah, there's a whole star pony society down here just like on the Astral Plain, but not nearly as large of course. We'd have been found by now if our population was that large." she informed her, but then added more as an afterthought, "Still, it's not like a little bit more staff wouldn't be appreciated."
"What do you mean 'more staff'?" she inquired.
"More ponies to help with the work. I may've never been to the Plain, but I have heard a lot about it, we have nine or ten ponies who came from there here, and although The Wish Division is pretty different from The Constellation Order one thing does seem to remain constant is the work ethic." she told her simply.
"The Constellation Order?" she questioned not recognizing the term.
"It's the official name for the group that lives on the Astral Plain since they're in charge of the constellations. We are in charge of shooting stars which ponies make wishes on, hence The Wish Division." she answered.
"You don't seem to have a problem explaining to me." she commented.
"What?" she asked confused by the comment.
"You said earlier that you weren't very good at this, but you seem fine at it to me." she stated simply.
"I dunno, I guess. Still, I think you would understand it better from a pony from the Astral Plain." she responded.
"Why?" she queried genuinely curious.
"Cause they can better understand what you understand. All of this has been common sense to me since I was younger than you." she explained.
"Oh, okay." she replied feeling a little senseless as she knew none of those things.
"Not like that makes you any less though, you just don't get it cause you haven't lived here is all. I'm sure you'll catch on quick." she reassured her as if reading her thoughts.
"Thank you." she mumbled appreciatively.
"No problem." she finished dismissively.
The two fell silent after that as they continued toward their destination. Many thoughts were swirling around in her head as she tried to process all that she had just heard. There was a whole other population living on the surface that she and nopony else on the Astral Plain knew about. Of course she didn't know if she was the only one who had been kept ignorant, but it didn't seem to her like she was the only one who didn't know. The very idea of The Wish Division existing confused her, but it did appear that despite the position that she had been in the process of being trained for it had still been kept from her. She was certain that North knew of the place's existence and had purposefully kept the knowledge from her. It annoyed her and nearly made her angry, but she withheld the emotion. Still a question spiraled through her mind as she walked: Why would he keep this from me? She wanted to ask him herself, but felt as though that would be impossible.
That simple ambling walk returned to her as she let her thoughts travel. Her face was to the ground and her thoughts spun skyward as she walked slowly onwards. Her mood wasn't necessarily downcast, but she wasn't in the brightest of spirits either. She was too confused to know for sure how she felt. Too much was being thrown at her at once for her to truly comprehend all of it. She had always been good at taking in and processing information, but this was far more than she knew what to do with. Her mind was being overworked for the first time in her short life and she didn't like the feeling of it. Of course she had been experiencing many new things that she hadn't enjoyed, but there had been much to love as well. She found herself absentmindedly readjusting the cap on her head.
"How did you get all of your stuff?" Bold inquired as she noticed the motion.
"Oh, well North gave me all my school stuff and Sp-
"Wait." Bold stumbled and nearly fell, but collected herself, "You said North? As in current leader of The Constellation Order!?"
"Yes, but how do you know about him if you've lived here your whole life?" she inquired confused by her immediate recognition of the name.
"Who doesn't know his name? He's the first North Star to have ever made contact with The Wish Division for centuries!" she exclaimed in response.
"Really?" she wondered aloud slightly shocked.
"Yeah. Before him the two separate populations had their borders completely closed to each other. No communication ever went to or from either side. All the ponies that had come down from the Astral Plain were really just lost foals who had wandered accidentally into the Night Field and were found by our ponies. Down here nopony knew quite where they were coming from since our place of transport is far off from where you all have your settlement set up. It also went the other way as well, ponies from our group would wander off into the Night Field and never come back. I think it would be pretty safe to assume that they ended up on your side of the field and decided to stay there. The two bases are set up on opposite sides of the Night Field. North however found ours when he was just a kid apparently, but unlike the majority who just start living down here he stayed on The Astral Plain. Once he was in charge he opened communications to Head Sector. He reopened the teleportation center that you all have on your side of the Night Field. Ever since there's been more and more movement in between the two, but it is still restricted quite a bit. You don't seem to know anything about us, and like I've already told you we know next to nothing about you." she explained.
Again her mind spun into a frenzy as it was bombarded by all the new information. So many questions had spawned in her head as Bold had spoken, but she kept them all to herself. She remained silent as she tried to absorb everything that she was being told, but of course that was impossible. What she really wanted was to be able to go to school and see her friends, but the building had of course been closed earlier that day and she was certain that it would be the same if she returned to it. Wanting to focus on something simpler as well as wanting to give the previous information time to settle in her mind she decided to work that out first.
"So, why was there nopony at school today?" she inquired simply.
"Oh, well it's the weekend and schools are closed on weekends as well as some workplaces, but not all." she explained. After seeing the still confused look on Astro's face she explained further. "I suppose they don't have weeks on The Astral Plain do they, but you have days right?"
"Of course we have days." she retorted slightly surprised that Bold needed to ask for that information.
"Well, a week is seven days, five week days and two weekend days. Yesterday was Friday, the last week day, and today is Saturday, the first day of the weekend." she told her, "You'll catch on fast, it's not exactly a difficult system to understand, you've just never been exposed to it, that's all." She nodded despite not feeling entirely sure that she would ever understand the way that the surface world works. "And here's where you'll learn it all." Bold proclaimed as she stopped walking and gesturing proudly to a rather simple looking building in front of her before adding in a quieter tone, "The Wish Division base of operations."
The building that Astro and Bold stood before didn't look all that impressive, in fact it looked like a fairly average one considering its environment. A simple town house with a white exterior and a gray door, or, in other words, it was exceedingly ordinary with no distinguishing factors. It wasn't exactly the grand operating base that she was expecting to be met with, but Bold still held a smile of content pride on her face looking at it. She gave a quiet happy sigh before walking up to the door with Astro on her heels. She quickly unlocked the door and opened it to allow the two of them inside. To Astro's surprise the inside was just as unremarkable as the outside as well as completely empty of ponies. An entry hallway with white walls and pristinely clean hardwood led into a living room with the same blank walls and unassuming contents. A gray sofa and a small wooden coffee table laid down on a gray throw rug were all that lay inside.
"Hey, Jeweled! You here!?" Bold called out into the empty space.
"Yeah, yeah! Coming! How'd it go?" a mare's voice replied from deeper in the house.
"Why don't you come and see for yourself?" she yelled back as Astro inched nervously backwards behind her. She watched cautiously as a pure white unicorn mare walked casually into the room. The mare's bright blue eyes widened in shock as she saw Astro standing there. As the filly looked on equally shocked she found that the mare was just like Bold excluding the horn and long and curly golden mane and tail. She would've believed it if she had been told that the two were sisters.
"Looks like it was." Jeweled muttered clearly in awe. Astro pulled back slightly further feeling unnerved by the mare's stare. Noticing that her gaze was making the filly uncomfortable she closed her eyes and shook her head before again returning her attention to her. "Sorry, it's just that we do get a lot of false alarms with these types of things and we almost never get any new ponies off The Plain." she admitted, "I assume you're off to base then?" she asked turning to Bold.
"Yep. I think Dust is going to want to hear about this one." she replied.
"Well, you'd better get down there then." Jeweled responded before turning to lead them further into the house.
They finally stopped in another bare looking room very similar to the others. The walls were sterile white and bare with simple hardwood flooring. A twin size bed and bedside table stood next to each other on one side with a small gray rug on the floor. Jeweled walked up and stopped just in front of the rug. She pushed the rug aside revealing a strange mark small enough to fit in a one inch square. It comprised of a five pointed star inside a circle with spikes of various lengths coming off of the edge of the circle. The shape had been carved out of the wood and then filled in with astral stone. She simply tapped her hoof to the small insignia and it started to glow before a section of the floor just smaller than the rug fell away to reveal a small box like structure made of the stone underneath the floor.
Bold simply clambered inside having already been accustomed to it while Astro just looked on in shock from the top. "You didn't really think that this was where everything happened did you? This is the elevator down to the actual base of operations. Normally ponies just teleport in out of the place, but you have to have some idea of what you're teleporting to and teleportation for star ponies is only made to carry one pony and that pony only. We do have to have a manual entrance in case." Bold explained beckoning for her to join her inside the elevator. She flew down into it uncertainly.
"Be sure to tell me how it goes!" Jeweled called as it started to descend.
"I will!" Bold responded as the floor closed back up over top of them.
As the roof closed over completely Astro was grateful for the dimly lit stone that surrounded them. She could feel the structure moving downwards quickly and smoothly and wasn't sure that she appreciated the motion. She looked over to find that Bold gave no reaction to the current events as she tapped her hoof impatiently. For her it wasn't that it was uncomfortable, but that it didn't make sense as nothing had recently. Doubts continuously plagued her mind as they continued downwards towards the actual base. "It's pretty far down so that it doesn't get found accidently if there's somepony digging around, tunnel systems and all that." Bold informed her as they continued further into the earth. She couldn't have said how long it took to get to the bottom, except that due to the apparent distance it hadn't taken nearly long enough.
As the elevator opened, as opposed to the roof opening up the front of it did. This revealed what must have been nearly a hundred pure white ponies milling about in a large central room. The room itself was rather bland of color with a light gray tile floor and white walls. It was similar to the color scheme of the house above. The ponies, while all having the same coat and eye color, had mane colors and styles of all different kinds. They were all different ages, builds, and races. Each one was clearing off to somewhere that they needed to be confidently and quickly. They did this by entering little stalls on the right side of the room before teleporting out. Ponies were streaming in from stalls on the opposite side of the room. They all came through an opening in the back wall which led into another room. On either side of the opening on the far side of the wall a smaller door led into a hallway. A large banner hung on the back wall with the same symbol that she had seen on the floor displayed.
Tearing her eyes away from what was in front of her she looked upwards instead. A giant arching ceiling loomed over her divided into five different sections. Each one had been painted with a brilliant design. The first was a midnight blue sky with an eight pointed star in the center and small dots surrounding it and expanding outwards. The second showed a marble column with a shining silver ribbon wrapped around it. Third in line was a stormy sky with three bolts of lightning arcing fantastically through it. Fourth was a telescope on an emerald green hill looking out at the sky. Finally a cluster of beautiful royal blue gems covered a shining purple background designed to look like satin.
"You like that?" Bold asked noticing her mouth hanging open in awe. She then looked up at it as well. "It's a little tradition that we have here to do something for all of the managers that we have. This particular base has five hence the five murals you're looking at right now. Each one was made for one of the five of them. Of course when one steps down and another steps up we have theirs repainted for the new pony. We've got a lot of really talented artists here." she informed her, "But right now we have to get you nice and situated which means meeting one of the ponies that these were made for." she told her.
"Oh." Astro answered her awe turning to anxiety.
"They're not scary, promise." Bold replied ruffling her mane slightly and giving her an encouraging smile.
"Okay." she conceded still feeling nervous.
The two walked into the crowd of ponies that were streaming in and out of the large room. She led her into the doorway on the far right and into a significantly smaller hallway. Doors to other areas littered the right side of the hall with occasional openings into the center room on the left through which Astro saw bits and pieces of what was going on. More ponies were lined up in multiple single file lines for whatever it was that lay at the front. Through several she saw many rows of filing cabinets, offices, and the like. She looked back towards the other side of the hallway and saw that the doors were still coming. She couldn't imagine what they would need all of that space for. But she also couldn't imagine that they would make all of the space for no reason. Bold again just kept walking on while she looked around distractedly.
When the hallway did finally end it curved around a corner and she counted ten doors on the back wall. Bold walked up to the door fifth from the right and knocked three times. She turned back to give Astro some words of encouragement, but found that she was still at the corner looking at her with concern. "C'mon, there's nothing to be worried about. We just need to work out where you're going to stay and who's going to show you the ropes right now. You don't need to do anything, but listen." she promised as gestured for her to come stand by her. She frowned uncertainly but did walk up to stand behind Bold.
"Come in." came a stallion's voice from inside. Bold did just that and opened the door.
Bold strolled into the room with confidence in her stride, but Astro felt none as she trailed in nervously after her. A stallion sat at a polished wooden desk looking over some papers that he had stacked up there. He looked up as they came in and a look of surprise crossed his face as he saw Astro, but he quickly masked it. He had a pale blue and rather windblown and shabby looking mane as well as looking significantly older than some of the others that she'd seen there. He was a pegasus with a slightly bulky structure and a serious expression. "Mr. Star Dust," Bold began with a respectful nod in his direction, "Astro here has come from the Astral Plain to stay here with The Wish Division."
"I see. So we need to work out living arrangements and a tutor for the young filly," he said giving her a slight nod. She returned it nervously as she wondered if she had done the right thing. He got up and walked over to one of the many filing cabinets in his office and opened and started to look through its contents. He pulled a file slightly out and flipped through the pages before stopping having found what he wanted. He read it over mouthing the words as he read them. "Left, Room 13. The pony who was in there just moved up and the room's been cleared." he said to Bold not even looking over at them. He then put the papers back in the folder and the folder back in the drawer before closing it. After that he went over to a different cabinet and opened a drawer in that one. It seemed a good bit emptier than the other one he had looked through previously. Then, just as previously, he pulled up a folder and looked through the papers inside before stopping and reading through one. "Take her to Sail Breeze. They should get along fine." he finished. Afterwards he simply put the file away and sat down with no further acknowledgement of their presence.
This made Astro nervous, but Bold just gave another respectful nod before leading her out. "He didn't look very happy." Astro commented warily after they had exited the room.
"Yeah, I know. Still, ponies who come from the Astral Plain, we call them night children, are notorious for being… cumbersome." she informed her awkwardly.
"Why?" she inquired confused as to why that would be the case.
"Well, we have our base on the Astral Plain set up quite a ways away from where yours is which is why the two never crossed paths before, but the Night Field is a large and dangerous place where ponies can easily get lost. All of the night children had all been lost for days on end and wandering around that place can do a number on anypony's head. There's a good reason that some ponies that go down in there don't come back up. The ponies that we have found before communications opened up had been lost in there for days, or weeks, or in some extreme cases even months. It takes them a while some times to get back to a right state. Even then though won't really talk about it or anything before it which is why we couldn't learn of your colony from them. Even the few who did mention it had the comments excused as deranged mumblings. Then even after they had recovered they would know nothing of how this world worked and had to be taught everything." she explained, "I'm sure you'll catch on quick though, you've already seemed to learn a lot just on your own." she added quickly.
"Yeah, course." she mumbled uncertainly.
"Anyways, we should probably get you to your room first. I'll let you hang out in there for a bit while I go find Sail. She's pretty nice, I'm sure you'll like her and that she'll like you too." Bold promised as she started off down the hall. She was going the opposite way that they'd come on the way back. As they walked almost the whole way down to the main room Astro wondered why they'd go full circle. Just three doors down from the main room however they stopped. Unlike most of the doors which had names on them that one was labeled as vacant. "I'm sure Mr. Dust has already got ponies getting a new sign for this door for you. After all, this is going to be your room."
"Why is it room 13 if it's the third door?" she queried confused.
"Oh, that's the division that it's in. The five managers are each in charge of one division and Mr. Dust is the manager of the 1st division so all of the ponies are in rooms starting with a one. It's really more like room 1-3, but we just 13. The third room for the 2nd division be room 23, and so on and so forth. But that's beside the point, you should go inside and take a look around since this is where you'll be staying. It's just been cleared, meaning basically returned to the way it looked originally, or the way it looked before anypony moved in. You can do anything you want with the interior as long as you don't break anything. It is your room now after all." she told her opening the door for to go inside, "I'm going to go and get Sail for you okay."
"Okay." she replied with a nod and looking anxiously inside her designated room.
The inside was fairly bland, but of course that was to be expected. As she gazed around at all the empty space she thought of how it was all hers to do with what she wished. Most of it was empty space in all honesty. A simple wooden dresser stood against one wall with a mirror on top leaning on the white wall behind it. Opening the drawers on the dresser she found them to be empty. She quickly closed them and turned to the rest of the room. A small closet rested in one corner and a bed in the other. It had sterile white sheeting with a similar pillow. The flooring was a light gray tile and her hooves clicked against as she walked about the room. She stuck her head inside the small closet inquisitively, but found nothing there. She again walked around the room her hooves clicking on the floor before sitting down on the bed.
She took off her saddlebags and laid them out before her. It didn't take her long to fully empty their contents. There wasn't much that she had to her name. All of her school things, a bag of bits and her little drawing. She then also had the hat on her head and the necklace that she wore. The money, school supplies, and necklace, the majority of what she currently owned, had all been given to her by North. She sighed sadly looking at it, but quickly reminded herself that there was no point to it. He had given his blessing to her journey and she knew that was the most the she could expect from him at that point. He still had a sky to run. At his age however it wouldn't have been long before his apprentice took his place. The thought had struck her suddenly. He no longer had an apprentice. After she had left he would've had to have found a new one. Maybe one day she would see another walk into class who didn't belong.
Her thoughts however were interrupted by the door opening. She looked over to see Bold standing in the doorway gesturing for somepony behind her to come in. As she watched a rather thin earth pony mare glided gracefully into the room. She had a deep blue green mane the fell in wavy strands to one side of her face and neck. Her stature was tall and willowy, but each step had a deliberate motion to it. Her eyes had a delicate look to them as well, but again held the same structured look behind the fragility. She towered over Astro with her height, but didn't appear to be at all intimidating.
"Astro, this Sail." Bold introduced her.
"Hello." Sail greeted her with a nod.
"Hi." she responded as she sat up straight trying to look proper under her gaze.
"You are to be under my supervision?" she asked with a pointed look. Astro gave an anxious nod under her gaze. Looking her in the eyes had an unsettling effect. "Of course, I should have assumed as much." she said with a small smile. Astro tried to return the favor, but felt that the smile she was giving didn't look genuine.
"I'll, uh, let you two get acquainted. Good luck." Bold finished with a warm smile before walking and shutting the door behind her as she left.
Sail moved to sit down next to Astro on the bed and gave her a smile not dissimilar to Bold's. "So tell me Astro, how is it that you found yourself here?" she said adjusting herself to a more comfortable position, "I am curious to know."
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.
Astro wasn't entirely sure how long she had been resting for when she heard the door open. Sleep had never been achieved, but even the simple restful state had been wonderful. Not wanting to look lazy she quickly jumped up throwing the covers off of her and stood straight with her eyes directed attentively to the door. Sail walked in to find her in this position. "You look ready." Sail commented smiling slightly.
"Yes, I am ma'am." she promised.
"I'm sorry that it is so late. I did get some shut eye after I had finished, but unfortunately overslept it seems. I haven't slept that well in quite a while." she apologized.
"It's fine ma'am." she replied uncertainly. She had never been in a situation where somepony above her position had apologized to her.
"I have already finished everything for today so that I can take the time to show you around. I assume you have some paper with your school things?" she said with the last phrase being a question.
"Of course ma'am." she answered with a nod.
"Could you get me some paper and a quill and ink? One of your books as well, hardcover." she requested sitting down on the bed. Astro was confused by what she had asked for, but went to retrieve it anyways. While she grabbed what Sail wanted she checked on the state of her drawing. Discovering that it had dried she made a mental note to hang it up later that day. Leaving that for her original objective she brought back the requested objects to Sail.
Sail gestured for Astro to sit next to her and the filly did so. Sail laid the book on her lap portrait and placed the paper on top of the book. She then dipped the quill in the ink and drew a large rectangle towards the bottom of the page. On the outside of the bottom edge of the rectangle and in the middle she drew a small square. On the outside edge of both the left and right of the rectangle she drew long and thin rectangles. Then, connected to the top edge of the central rectangle, she drew a much longer one that was only slightly thinner. Around that rectangle she drew a sort of blocky U expanding out the same thickness as the thin rectangles. Another much wider blocky U was placed outside of that. Astro looked on as she drew the object. It wasn't a detailed or very professional drawing, but she assumed that it wasn't meant to be, it was only meant to get a point across.
"This is a rough representation of what the base looks like. This square here is the manual entrance that you and Bold used to get in since you had never been here before. The first rectangle here is the room that you entered into. It's where everypony goes to and from the base. The two thin ones to either side are the teleportation stalls. They all have little astral stone spheres inside of them to help ponies get to and from where they need to go. The ones on the right are for leaving and on the left for returning. Then this inner U here is the hallway and the outer one is where all the rooms are. The back hallway is always reserved exclusively for the managers and their personal offices. The largest rectangle here surrounded by the Us is where I work. It is divided into multiple sections. The largest of these is where all the files are kept. We need to know who all lives in the town and where to reach them as well as some other simple things. That is where those files are kept. The smaller portion is divided into several different rooms. The ponies receive their assignments for the day there. There are also offices there." she explained looking over at Astro periodically to make sure she was still following, "That is how the base is divided up, do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am." Astro replied immediately glad to have been given something that she could easily understand.
Sail set the book and the paper with the diagram on it off to the side, "Now, we have three different types of workers here, four if you want to count the managers. There are runners, stars, and sorters. Runners are the ponies who take the wishes that are made and go out to see what all they can do about it for the pony who made the wish. We obviously need the most runners. Stars, while very important, are the least in demand. They are the ponies that go to the Astral Plain every night and act as the shooting stars. Using a small telepathic field they are able to collect the wishes that are made by surface ponies on said shooting star. They normally double as runners during the day. Then, finally, there are the sorters. That is where I work. It is my job to look through the wishes that are made and divide them up among the ponies in my division based on personality, ability to complete the task, and such. All wishes that we have no control over or ones that involve situations that are best left alone are of course discarded. Essentially anypony can be a runner, but for a position as a star or sorter you have to prove that you can be proficient at the task before taking it on. You are still in school however so you will not be expected to do anything during your school day, and due to the reaction of star ponies' coats to the moon's magical aura you have to stay inside the base during the night. Any job that you have currently will take place for the most part inside, but your first priority at this point is your education." she continued, "Do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am." she affirmed just as before even though that information was slightly more confusing to her.
"Good." Sail finished.
"You have already started school, and have learned a good amount of how to work in this society, but there is a lot that you will need to learn. You may ask me any questions that you need to about what goes on." Sail said turning to look Astro in the eyes.
"C-course," she stuttered unsure of where to begin with all of the questions she had. In the end she began with the first thing she remembered, "Um… what's a week?" she queried. A small smile cracked Sail's lips.
-/|\-
It had been hours since her questioning had started, but Astro was finally feeling like she really understood the way that some things worked. Sail had been patient in answering each question in a way that Astro could understand. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do since the filly had grown up somewhere almost completely unlike where she now resided. But with a similar background Sail was able to work out ways to explain using concepts that she understood. It had taken longer than she had thought it would, but the filly was very inquisitive and wanted to know all that she could. She didn't just want concepts she wanted details. She wanted to know why things where the way that they were. Who decided that things should work the way that they did? Unfortunately Sail couldn't provide answers for all of these things, but did her best to offer whatever explanation she could. The sheer volume of questions that the filly had surprised her. It was exhausting trying to answer all of them.
When the onslaught of inquiries was over Sail voiced her thoughts. "You certainly do have a great deal of questions." she commented giving the filly a pointed look.
"I just want to understand." she replied simply and looking bashfully at her hooves while a slight blush came to her cheeks.
"That is perfectly alright, but you seem to want to do much more than 'just understand'." she responded.
"I just like to know how things work and on the Astral Plain I always knew what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. That was my job as the successor to the North Star. I needed to know and so I did. I enjoyed it as well. I enjoy understanding things." she answered.
"That is a good quality to have, but you must understand that you can never understand everything." Sail cautioned.
"I know." Astro agreed looking over at the drawing that was already on the mirror. It was a quick glance, but Sail noticed the motion.
She turned her gaze to where Astro's had gone and saw the drawing that lay on the mirror. She stood and walked over so she could see it better. "Did you make that?" she asked looking it over carefully.
"Yes," she admitted, "but it isn't very good."
"But that was the first time you had ever attempted to draw something yes?" she inquired looking at Astro over her shoulder.
"Yes, it was." Astro confirmed.
"If you take that into consideration it is fairly good. At least that is what I would say." she answered looking it over. She then noticed the one that was sitting on the dresser.
"I made that one this morning." Astro informed her as she walked up to stand next to her.
"And this was your second attempt?" she queried looking at the filly next to her. She just nodded in response. "That's quite a good start." she said looking it over. She then picked up the drawing and just as Astro had done used the space between the frame and the mirror to post it.
"North did give you a good amount of money to provide for yourself correct?" Sail asked. Astro again gave a nod. "Seeing as The Wish Division will now be providing for you that money is for you to use at your own convenience. I wouldn't discount paints as an option." she informed her. As she finished the comment however her coat along with Astro's began to glow. "The moon has risen, come now, you should rest. School begins again tomorrow and you will want to be rested." she told her nudging her towards the bed. As the filly climbed under the covers she moved the things she had used over to the top of the dresser. "I will be back tomorrow morning to accompany you to school. Now get some sleep." Sail finished giving her a kind smile as she left the room and shut the door behind her.
Astro awoke the next morning quite early as she always did. That morning however she was excited to begin her day knowing that she would soon be seeing her friends again. Of course she did also know that school wouldn't be starting for a few hours, but she got up and began to prepare herself anyways. She still had a part of the mirror left to look at and started getting herself ready for the coming day. A smile crept onto her face as she thought of seeing her two friends once more. The thought that she would be seeing them consistently for the foreseeable future made her smile widen a little bit more. Wanting to see them had been a large motivator in her decision to move to the surface. After having brushed her mane she pulled the cap on over her head her grin still growing.
For her at that moment things were looking up and only improving. After having spent the better part of the previous day speaking with Sail she had really taking a liking to her. She seemed to have a kind heart and a patient and sweet disposition. She was relieved to have her as a mentor, or at least the surface equivalent to one. It wasn't hard for her to speak with her and she greatly appreciated her willingness to answer her questions. The filly looked forward to being toured around the base later that day. Then of course for her school was nothing short of astounding. She had heard other students grumbling about the fact that they had to go, but she didn't understand their frustration. In her mind it was perfect.
She sighed happily as she thought about all that had happened. Sure she did miss North and continued to wonder about what was happening on the Astral Plain, but she felt significantly more comfortable in her position. The filly felt no need to be concerned as she had her friends and a mentor who did seem to care about her. It wasn't a perfect situation, but she was more than happy with where she was. In the act of taking off from the Astral Plain she had been more than certain that her life on the surface would be exceedingly difficult, but she had managed to find her way to The Wish Division. It was such a lucky break and she couldn't have been happier to have been taken in by them.
Then however Sail's words came to her mind. What place do the stars have messing in the affairs of others that we know nothing of? I would prefer that we stay away from their business and keep to our own. She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but decided to think about it later. She was feeling rather good about life in that moment and didn't want to have it ruined by dismal thoughts. She did however know that the thought would continue to hover in the back of her mind until she settled it. That was okay with her as she knew she would settle the thought, but at that moment she didn't need to. Right then she just wanted to enjoy what she currently had in happiness.
Seeing that she still had a few hours more of Sail's words came to her mind. If you take that into consideration it is fairly good actually. At least that is what I would say. That money is for you to use at your own convenience. I wouldn't discount paints as an option. Moving aside the materials on the dresser she grabbed another piece of paper. A quill and ink were also retrieved so that she could start to work. Her concentration was unbreakable as she went to work. She chose yet another of her original drawings to redo at a higher caliber of quality. It took almost no time for her brain to tone out everything that wasn't the paper in front of her. It went on that way as she drew for a while.
The sound of the door opening startled her so horribly that she nearly jumped out of her hooves. Sail noticed this and promptly apologized to her saying, "I'm sorry to have alarmed you so. I just wanted to make sure that you were getting ready to leave for school." She paused for a moment as she noticed what Astro was doing. "Are you drawing again?" she inquired curious.
"Oh… yes. I got a little bit absorbed in what I was doing. I am ready to go to school however." she promised pushing the unfinished drawing away and grabbing her saddlebags. She had already finished another one and it was sitting out to dry.
"May I see?" she asked stepping forward to look.
"Sure, I did it all this morning. This isn't quite done yet though. I can, uh, finish it later I guess." she said moving it in Sail's direction so that she could look it over.
As Sail examined it she grabbed the dry one that she'd made the previous morning and stowed it carefully in her saddlebag so that it wouldn't get messed up. Looking through them she found that she did have everything that she need and quickly hefted them onto her back. She then grabbed her necklace and put it around her throat. Then she looked over to find Sail still gazing intently at her work. "Why did you grab that?" she queried not taking her eyes off of the page in front of her.
"Oh, I, uh, wanted to show them to Kara. She's one of my friends at school. She mentioned that I might be able to be an artist. I thought that I could show it to her and ask her what she thinks." she answered.
"One of your friends?" she asked giving her a questioning look.
"Yeah, I've got two friends at school, Kara and Spot. They're both really nice." she answered beaming happily.
"Then who would I be to keep you from them." she finished with a kind smile, "We should get down to school."
-/|\-
As they reached the school building Sail stopped and Astro followed suit. She could see the various students waiting outside until the doors were opened. She couldn't help looking for her two friends and hoping that they'd be there. "I will let you get off to your friends now. I will be right here to pick you up after school. I do now however have to return back home. If anypony happens to be curious I am your aunt. Okay?"
"Okay." she said with a nervous nod.
"Then I will see you after school." she said leaning down and giving Astro a light kiss on her forehead, "You go run along now." she finished with a warm smile. Astro nodded and trotted off, but her eyes were wide as saucers and she stumbled slightly before gaining her footing.
Looking back she saw that Sail had already disappeared, not that she had expected her to wait. She had never received a gesture such as that, but understood that it was one of affection. What did it mean that Sail had given it to her? Yes, Sail was her mentor, but did that warrant what she had just been given? She hadn't known her for very long. Did Sail just consider it to be a cheap gesture? No, she thought, Sail doesn't seem like she would do that for no reason. But who's to say that I really know Sail, she then questioned herself. She sighed in confusion, but quickly wondered why she had done so. It's meant to show affection, she reasoned, and Sail just gave it to me, why am I stewing? This is amazing, she thought giddily.
So it was that she trotted into the crowd of foals with an impossibly large smile on her face. It didn't take her long to find Spot in the crowd. "Hey!" she called over to him. He had been standing by his lonesome so she wasn't drawing him away from anything.
"Oh! Hey!" he replied seeing her there and walking over, "How was your weekend?" he asked brightly.
"Pretty good actually, I spent a lot of it at… home." she answered still smiling, "How was yours?"
"Pretty alright I guess, wasn't really doing much." he told her with a shrug.
"Oh. That's too bad." she responded.
"I don't mind not being busy. It's nice to have some to relax." he promised reassuringly.
"Cool. Yeah, I like keeping myself busy, but it is good to relax now and again." she agreed. Silence fell between them as she finished speaking.
She thought for a moment before interrupting the silence to ask him a question, "Since you had some free time on your hooves did you get any flying practice in?" She gave him a warm smile as she spoke.
"What?" he blanched and looked down at his hooves, "Well, a little bit, but I, uh, I've never really enjoyed flying that much." he muttered.
"Neither have I." she reassured him.
"Really?" he questioned shocked as his gaze shot up from the ground to meet hers. He looked excited, but quickly masked the expression with one of mere mild interest, "I mean, um, that's nice. A lot of the other pegasi, that's all they talk about."
"I know, but I don't get what's so great about it." she replied with a shrug. She looked over at him and could see that he was trying to maintain his look of disinterest, but was having a difficult time doing so.
"Yeah, I don't get it either." he agreed a small almost giddy smile reaching his lips.
Astro opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off as Kara exploded into their conversation. "I'm here! I'm not late!" she proclaimed victoriously. "Hey guys! How long've you been waiting?"
"Oh, not too long." Astro promised, "Is there are a reason why you're always just barely on time?"
"Well… I kind of just sorta throw stuff around when I'm using it. It normally takes a while to get my school stuff together." she admitted scratching the back of her head.
"Really?" Spot asked laughing.
"Whatever." she dismissed him with a snort of annoyance.
"So, how was your weekend?" Astro asked snickering a bit herself.
"Pretty great! I got to-" she began before being cut off by the bell.
All the students started to rush inside the school and they were herded along with the others. It wasn't a good idea to try and resist the flow of traffic. Remembering the times that their conversation had been cut off by that bell and the consequential push into the school Astro laughed silently to herself. Every single time, she thought happily.
Once inside the school they funneled into their various classrooms and took their seats. Astro took her place behind Spot and beside Kara still with a glad smile on her face. Her optimism was prevailing and she couldn't have been much happier in that moment. At the front of the classroom, as per usual, Ms. Rule called the roll and each student responded as their name was called. Astro answered to her name almost instantly as it was called towards the front of the list. She waited painstakingly until after the roll call was over to continue her conversation with Kara.
"So, you got to…?" Astro asked in a whisper as Ms. Rule started the listen.
"Oh, yeah! I gotta try Tae Kwon Do! It was pretty cool!" she replied excitedly, but still in a whisper tone.
"That's really cool!" she told her with the same level of excitement despite the fact that she didn't know what that meant. She made a mental note to ask Sail about it after school had ended and she had picked her up. Slightly nervous she bit her lip, but quickly dismissed the butterflies and spoke again. "You know how you said that you thought I might be able to be an artist?" she began as she started to pull the work out of her saddlebag carefully.
"What? Oh! Yeah, why?" she said cocking her head in confusion.
"Well, I thought I'd try it out." she told her nervously as she placed the paper on her desk.
"Really!?" she exclaimed earning the both of them a pointed look from the teacher.
"Would you two like to share your conversation with the class?" Ms. Rule asked the both of them. Spot looked back and gave them a sympathetic look. Astro was mortified with the prospect of having to share the drawing with the class. Looking it over she started to find all of the imperfections that one might notice.
"No ma'am." Kara answered looking down at her hooves, "Sorry."
"Just don't do it again alright." Ms. Rule instructed.
"I won't ma'am." she replied with a solemn nod.
"Thank you," she said with a warm smile, "Now, where was I?" she continued turning back towards the board.
"Sorry, about that." Kara mumbled turning to Astro with an apologetic look on her face.
"It's fine, but, um, aren't we supposed to not do it again?" Astro queried nervously as she looked up at Ms. Rule by the blackboard.
"Nah, we're just supposed to make sure that she doesn't notice again." she said with her excited demeanor returning. "So, can I see it?" she asked her expression eager.
"You promise to keep quiet?" she questioned holding her paper to her chest. Kara nodded holding out a hoof under her desk so that she could take it. "I don't want the whole class to see this." she told her in a quiet voice.
"They won't." Kara promised as she took the paper from her hooves.
She laid it out on her desk and her eyes widened as she looked it over. She had a silly smile on her face that was almost impossibly wide. It looked like she was having problems holding her silence. "This is amazing!" she said excitedly in a whisper tone as she wore her bright grin. Looking over she beamed at Astro asking, "You really drew this?"
"Yeah, but it's not that great." she argued.
"But it's so cool looking!" she retorted.
"I-I guess." she replied bashfully as she blushed and looked down at her hooves.
"That is really good." Kara finished in an awed tone as she passed the paper back to Astro.
She stowed it back in her saddlebag with a relieved sigh as their continued conversation had gone unnoticed by Ms. Rule. She then quickly returned her attention to the front and to the teacher. It didn't take long for her to catch up so that if asked questions she could answer them adequately. The attention however was only maintained temporarily. "Hey Astro, aren't you going to show it to Spot?" she asked giving her a questioning look.
"Yes, but I don't want to disturb him right now." she answered.
"Just tap him on the shoulder. He'll turn around." she promised gesturing for Astro to do so.
"Aren't we supposed to not be noticed? She'll see if he turns around to talk to me. It's not exactly inconspicuous." she argued.
"Inconspicuous?" she asked confused.
"Discreet." she explained.
"Still not getting it." she said.
"I'm saying that she'll see it if I try and do that." she clarified.
"Then just give it to him!" she retorted exasperatedly.
"How exactly?" she shot back.
"Over his shoulder." she said still with an exasperated look on her face.
"That's not going to work either." she answered frowning.
"You know that I can hear both of you right?" came a voice from in front of them.
He hadn't turned around, but was still speaking to them, "I sit right here, and you guys aren't as quiet as you think. That's why Ms. Rule heard you. You can bring it out to recess and I'll look then. I just want to pay attention right now. Okay?"
"That's fine." Astro answered.
"Yeah, whatever." Kara muttered sitting back in her chair and rolling her eyes. After the exchange silence fell over the group. This allowed Astro a bit of time to again look up to the front of class and listen as the teacher taught. Checking the clock she found that there was around half an hour until recess. Unfortunately that meant that she had half an hour to stew.
She had received nothing but nice comments on the work, but she still worried anyways. She didn't expect him to say anything mean either, however she still wanted him to be impressed by what she had created. Pulling it out of her saddlebag she again diverted her attention from the front to look it over. Just as when asked if she wanted to share everything that was wrong suddenly came to her attention. A thought came to her to simply not show it to him, but she knew that was simply not an option. Having already agreed to show it to him she couldn't back out that easily. Maybe it'd be better if I just showed it to him quickly and didn't let myself back out, she thought as she started to tap her pencil on her desk nervously.
Looking up from her work she gazed nervously at him. She really wished that she could just get it over with, but the time wouldn't pass fast enough. Again she turned to the clock only to find that in what had felt like an hour only fifteen minutes had passed. She sighed as her brow crinkled in worry and she waited for the rest of the eternity to pass. She continued to tap her pencil on her desk in worry, but tried her best to listen to Ms. Rule. Her attempt to pay attention was fairly unsuccessful, but it helped slightly. It still felt as though another eon had passed before they finally got to go out for recess. Swallowing her nerves she grabbed her drawing and headed for the doorway outside with the others.
When they got outside they sat down where the picnic tables were and she pulled out the paper nervously. "Well are you gonna show him or not?" Kara asked rolling her eyes.
"I am." she retorted almost shoving it at him in a hurry to prove that she would indeed show it to him. He looked at the paper and just as Kara's had his eyes widened when he saw the drawing.
"You drew this?" he asked looking astonished.
"Yeah, but it's not much." she mumbled bashfully.
"But this is really good!" he argued.
"Thanks." she said gratefully before taking the picture back from him, "It's not that important either, I just wanted to show you guys to ask you what you think."
"Yeah, now c'mon we're wasting valuable time that we could be using running around!" Kara agreed with a grin. With that the trio took off onto the playground running happily after each other.
For the rest of the day as they spoke the drawing seemed to have been entirely forgotten. Neither of her friends mentioned it and that seemed to be the end of it as they simply talked for the rest of the day. When the day was over she bid them a happy farewell knowing that she would see them the next day. They trotted off to their respective families and she looked over to see Sail standing on the sidewalk leading up to the school. She trotted up to her beaming. "You look like you have had a good day." Sail commented as Astro walked up.
"Yeah, it was pretty good." she agreed with a grin.
"I'm glad." she said pulling her closer and giving her a small nuzzle, "I assume those two foals that you were with just then were your friends."
"Yeah, the pegasus was Spot and the unicorn was Kara. They're both really nice." she informed her.
"Did they like that drawing that you brought to show them?" she asked looking down at her companion.
"Yeah, they thought that it was pretty cool." she admitted a little bashfully.
"I thought that they might. You have a talent, but you will have to practice to become great with it. I'm sure that you will make the effort though." she told her.
"Thanks, I will. I promise!" she said proudly and standing up a little straighter as she said so.
"That's good." Sail replied still wearing a warm smile.
Silence fell over them for a minute. Shortly after it had however it was broken by Sail humming that all too familiar tune. She wondered what its significance was to her, but said nothing and instead just listened. She was still humming it as they turned into a shadowy backstreet to be used as cover. Once hidden in its shadow the two teleported down to the base. They had left by teleporting into a similar looking alleyway earlier that morning. Once inside Sail dropped the melody and reopened the conversation asking, "Were you assigned any homework today? I'd be happy to help you with it if you have any."
"I don't have any, but thank you for the offer. I appreciate it." she answered truthfully.
"If, you don't have any homework that you need to get done I could go and show you where I work. I believe that you would be interested in seeing it." she offered.
"Really!?" she asked excitedly. She had wanted to see more of the base than her room, but hadn't wanted to wander around and cause problems.
"Of course. We can stop by your room first and drop off your things. Then we can go to the sorting room where I work." Sail told her. With that Astro trotted off to her room enthusiastically with an eager grin on her face.
After Astro had put her things in her room she followed Sail down the left hallway and almost to the back one. She turned just before it into one of the openings leading into the center rooms. Inside a large assortment of filing cabinets were arranged in several rows. A large box made of blue crystalline Astral Stone stood in one corner. Multiple star ponies walked through the rows and would grab a paper from one of the cabinets before then trotting off into the room behind them. "This room, and the two in front of it are the sorting rooms." Sail explained, "This room is made for holding files as you had probably figured out. The two behind it are where we all have our working stations. We divide the wishes up amongst the workers of our division based on who we think has the right personality or abilities. It's important to try and get to know the ponies in your division. But of course sorters in the same division can work together, and we normally do. It's hardly exciting, but I thought that you might find it interesting. This would be different from what you're used to however as this isn't just factual information it's slightly more complicated than that."
She led Astro into the room immediately behind it where several desks were arranged and the different ponies in them were conversing and passing around papers. Every now and again when it looked like a decision was reached the paper was put in an envelope and a name was written on it. Some of the ponies waved to Sail as she walked in and she would nod respectfully in return. Some of them shot questioning glances at Astro and she lowered her head in embarrassment. "Do not worry. They are simply confused since they have never seen you before. Like I said, it is important that sorters get to know all the ponies here so a new face is very important." Sail promised noticing her discomfort.
"Okay." she replied still feeling nervous.
"Come, the station for our sector is in the furthermost room." she finished leading her through that room and into the one directly behind it.
That room was fairly similar to the one in front of it in terms of set up. It had the same arrangement of desks and the ponies were going about their business in a similar way. They were talking to each other as they passed around papers and trying to decide who would be the best fit for whatever task. Then, just as the others, when a decision was reached the paper was put in an envelope which was then labeled with said pony's name. The two's reception however was very different. As opposed to a few waves of acknowledgement from the previous group there were several calls of greeting and multiple ponies walked up to say hello. Also, while in the other room she had received confused looks there she was given smiles and waves from the crowd. As ponies walked up to greet Sail they greeted her as well. "Oh! You must the little filly that Sail's been telling us about!" one of them cried upon seeing her as they ruffled her mane. Several more followed with a similar statement and she pulled back slightly as she was feeling rather overwhelmed. Sail noticed and put a protective hoof in front of her that she gladly took shelter behind.
"She is still adjusting to this environment. Could you all please give her a moment?" she requested politely.
"Oh of course." a pony muttered.
"Yeah, c'mon guys. Let's give her some space." another chimed in.
"Thank you." Sail replied with a respectful nod. Some offered positive smiles before returning to their work. They were trying to be nonchalant, but many continued to shoot glances her way. Sail turned to her as well offering her a small nuzzle of reassurance. "I'm sorry about that. They were very eager to meet you when I told them about you. I promise you that they were just excited, that is all. They are all very kind ponies that I'm sure you'd love to meet. Now that the initial enthusiasm is passed I'm sure the atmosphere will be much calmer." she promised as she pulled her hoof away from the filly's front. Astro nodded even if she was still slightly nervous.
Sail walked forward to an empty desk where she took a seat in the chair behind it. Astro remained standing next to her as there was not a second chair for her to sit in. Sail didn't miss a beat before calling, "Could I get another chair over here?" Rather swiftly one of her comrades grabbed a seat for the filly to use and brought it over.
"Thank you ma'am." she said gratefully to the unicorn mare who had brought it over.
"Course dear." she replied with a grin and Astro offered one in return before taking her seat.
"So what happens now?" she asked turning to face Sail.
"Hm?" she replied looking up from the paper on her desk. "Well now I just look through my papers that I have here and then join the circle. We've almost always done this as a collaborative effort. It is never unwise to look at multiple points of view. It also much more enjoyable when we talk as we work."
"And you're all doing the same thing?" she questioned curious.
"Yes, while we all have different wishes given to us it helps to pick the best runner when we work together. It helps very much in the department of quality if not in speed." she explained. Astro nodded in understanding before Sail continued. "I must get to work now which means that I will be conversing with my comrades and they will be excited to speak to you. Don't be intimidated by their enthusiasm, because enthusiasm is all that it is." she promised with an encouraging smile and a soft nuzzle.
With that Sail turned to the stack of papers in front of her and quickly read through its contents. "I mean no offense to you Astro, but I don't believe you will be able to help me in this at this point. My job is to match the personality and skills of a pony to the task to be completed. You have yet to meet essentially everypony aside from me so you wouldn't have the ability to assist me yet. Of course as the time passes and you have started to meet the ponies here I am sure you would be a great help. Today though you are simply here to observe the work. You may leave whenever you wish. I will not keep you here longer than you wish to stay. I will however send you off to sleep once the hours grow late and you need to rest." she finished turning her gaze to the filly in search of a nod of affirmation. She quickly received it from her. After that no more exchange of conversation was had between them.
Sail went to work with the rest of her colleagues and, just as she was told, Astro observed it all in a dutiful silence. Just as all of the others they passed papers around discussing possible ponies who could perform the task. It was interesting for her however to watch Sail as she worked with the others as she had never seen her in such a situation before. It didn't cast any new light on her however as she was just as she normally was. Her presence was not overbearing and she only periodically entered the discussion to politely lay out her opinion on one's suggestion or offer her own proposal. She was very reserved about it as she only offered up her voice if it was clear that she felt a real need to. For the most part she just watched the conversation happen. When asked questions she would simply offer up quick to the point answers that were kept as short as possible. She was more of a spectator than an avid participator. Still, it was obvious if you watched her that she was hearing and analyzing everpony's various statements.
In the end the filly found herself performing a similar ritual as she watched all of the participants' dialogue and silently filed away their different tendencies in her mind. She experienced a silent shock as she realized what she was doing. It hadn't even been a conscious effort, but she had been sorting the ponies in the circle the same way that they were doing for the ponies of their division. Practice makes perfect right, she reasoned with herself as she resumed her task. It was an interesting experience for her as Sail had promised. While it was not dissimilar to what she had done previously the information that she was sorting was quite different. She very much enjoyed listening to them work through the numerous requests.
As she continued to observe she found it quite clear that each and every pony in the room was very familiar with their work. They all were quick to suggest several different candidates and shoot some down by listing different factors of said pony's personality or offering up a quirk of theirs that might cause an issue. She felt as though she was getting to know the entire division right there without having ever even seen any of them. In her own opinion she would be more than ready to join the discussions after having just listened to a good number. It took little effort for her to remember the words said and she was certain that she could draw the information forth if need be. It wasn't too long before she started to mentally think up her own ideas as possibilities were discussed. She was still aware of course that there was still a great deal of information that she wasn't privy to, but that didn't stop her enjoyment at silently offering a mental suggestion.
It hadn't been nearly long enough before she saw Sail glance at a clock on the wall and then turn to her clearly intent on sending her off to bed. She moved to stand, but Astro waved her off and turned to leave. The rest of the ponies were too engaged in their conversation to notice the two ponies' silent exchange. Sail raised an eyebrow in question at her intent on going off to bed on her own. She just smiled largely in an attempt to reassure her that she was fine to get there by herself and get to sleep. She had no intention to pull Sail away from her work or make her departure a scene. Sail just pulled her in for a moment and offered a slight kiss on the forehead. Astro then waved and trotted off to her room. A proud smile decorated her face as she found her way there all on her own and tucked herself into bed waiting to tackle the next day of school and enjoy another session of sorting afterwards.
It didn't take long for life to settle into a routine for Astro. There were few new developments as the weeks passed, but she still enjoyed each day. She spent her time at school conversing with her two friends, her time at the base for the most part in the sorting room with division one, and her other spare time working with her drawings. She had taken her spare money and invested some of it into buying art supplies and was quickly excelling in the field. Her participation in the sorting room had been exceedingly minimal, but she had started to offer up a suggestion up from time to time. The first time that she had spoken out a slightly stunned silence had fallen, but she was lucky to have Sail come to her rescue. She offered up her own comments on the suggestion and the round robin discussion continued. It became less of an event the next few times she had proposed things. Then of course she had continued to grow ever closer to either of her friends if not branching out to make any new ones. The trio became almost inseparable as time went on.
As they grew closer however they did start to spend more and more time together. Due to what she was she had to decline ever offer for her to stay the night and leave early from every event that might last later than the sun's stay. This never caused any friction between the group, but it wasn't too long before her behavior became suspicious. She always had some excuse as to why she couldn't come to night time events. On her end she felt horrible having to lie to her friends about why she couldn't attend these things. She wanted to show them, but knew that it would never be allowed. Secrecy was a very high priority, probably the highest. Everything was arranged so that nopony would be caught out of the ordinary.
During the winter months this was the hardest to uphold as the moon was out for more and more of the 24 hour day. On the winter solstice she could barely stay out for the entirety of the school day. Afterwards she was immediately back inside the base with the rest of the staff. She had hardly been able to bid her friends farewell before Sail had rushed her off of the grounds and back to the buildings security. The same had been with that morning as she had arrived just in time for the bell to ring allowing for little conversation. She had been informed before of how that day had always been one of stress for The Wish Division due to the length for which the moon shone. Still, the amount of time for which she was cooped up inside bothered her. Through the whole of winter she begged for spring to come.
The constant restriction wouldn't have bothered her earlier in her life, but the world as she knew it had changed. It wasn't just her anxiety that grew during the cold season however, her friends' confusion developed further as well. It continued to become ever harder for her to say what she was told to when they asked why she couldn't be there for things. Despite the difficulty she found in it she did still continue to lie and alongside her heart continued to grow heavy. She knew that she had to bring her plight to somepony, but worried that it might simply be met with a shutdown of her thoughts. In the end she went on keeping the spiraling ball of emotion to herself, but it did go on growing.
Once spring graced the land it became easier for her. The days grew longer and her limitation grew lighter. While the restriction was still there the ever lengthening time of sun allowed her more freedom and a relief as she had to provide excuses less often. Her worry grew smaller, her need to tell somepony faded, and she continued to keep her thoughts to herself. She realized that the bliss of lengthening days would not last forever and soon enough they would again shorten under the moon's hold, but she did not allow the shadow of that thought to cross over her mind. The anxiety was gone for the most part with the near future looking upwards.
Summer was like heaven for her with nothing but time to spend with her two friends as the days still continued to lengthen. As school ended she found herself able to do what she wished with her friends instead of just talking when they shouldn't have been in class. Of course this was all done under adult supervision. That couldn't be avoided due to the group's young age. That didn't dampen her joy nor did it lessen her friends' excitement. They still had practically all the time in the world to spend with each other over those months. In celebration of the longest day of the year she planned to spend the whole of the day with them seeing as it was the most she would be allowed to be out for a singular day. On the summer solstice the trio spent as many hours as they could enjoying each other's presence. In her mind it was one of the best days of her life and possibly even the best. It was when she returned home that she realized that again the length of the days would be on the decline.
School began and she was in low spirits as the moon came out for longer each day. The coming winter loomed over her like a terrible beast. Her anxiety again began to grow, but it was worse that time as she had the memories of the previous year's events. It continued to grow through the fall and as she stood on winter's doorstep it started worsen further. She began to run out of excuses and found herself repeating several previous ones in the hopes that her friends would fail to notice. While they may have failed to recognize the explanations it wasn't hard for them to sense her stress. When asked about it she would simply reply that she was busy which fit quite well with the amount of excuses that she had to provide for various events.
When winter did begin however she found herself needing somepony to confide all of her bottled up emotions in. One night when she was stuck in the base she managed to pull Sail away from the sorting room discreetly and into her room. After they were inside with the door closed behind them a slightly tense silence came as Sail looked at Astro with concern. "W-Why do I have to keep lying to my friends? Can't I just tell them! They would understand!" she cried letting all of the stress pour out. "I shouldn't have to keep all of this from them! And having to stay restricted to this space for so long is driving me up the wall! I'm running out of excuses for why I can't be places! And I hate lying to them! I don't understand why they can't know! I don't want to tell the whole world! I-I just want to tell… to tell them." she shouted with her pent up tension running out as she finished. She wanted to cry, but refrained from doing so as she looked up at Sail.
Her mentor's expression was at first shocked, but changed to be dejected and sympathetic. "I understand your feelings, but you must understand the importance that they place on secrecy." she replied reaching a hoof down to lift her chin. Astro frowned slightly at her use of the word they. "I believe that your two friends would keep your secret from the world. I also believe that your telling them would only strengthen your already solid bond. This place's rules were never made to accommodate any form of a relationship with the surface world. While this place is on the surface any who would consider it to be a part of this world are naïve." she promised. Her words surprised Astro, but she listened in silence as Sail spoke. Her expression was serious and there was a certain steel behind her eyes as she spoke. She remembered how Sail had spoken ill of The Wish Division when they had only just met.
They held each other's gaze for a moment before Sail's hardened expression broke allowing a small smile to come to her face. "What if we were to slip out for just a minute until the sun sets? I do not believe anypony will notice two ponies' absence in this sizeable building. I can just go back and inform the others that I will be taking the night off. We do get to take breaks every now and again. As far as anypony else is concerned the two of us are in our rooms resting. I can't think of anypony who might decide to check on us. The night sky is quite a beautiful sight to behold. The two of us could sit out on some empty field somewhere and watch the sun set behind the horizon. You have never seen that have you? It is an amazing thing to behold. Just the two of us and the distant sky." she said smiling warmly as she held Astro's hooves in hers.
"Really?" she asked in awe of what she had just been told.
"Yes." she promised with a nod, "We can even go right now. I will inform them that I shall be taking leave and we can run for some far off plain to stay this night." As had become their custom Sail planted a kiss on the filly's forehead before heading from the room.
Astro could hardly contain her excitement at their unexpected field trip. The last time she had seen the night sky had been the very few days that she was on her own, but that hadn't been her focus then. She could hardly remember what the constellations looked like from below. Of course she could still recall every shape as part of her job had been to make sure that the shapes were made correctly. Still, she had never taken the time to see their beauty from the surface. Every second that she waited for Sail to return felt like it had been slowed to take the place of 20. It had been far too long when she came into the room.
"They are now aware that I have decided to rest for the duration of the day. I have been working awfully hard and simply wish to take a bit of a break today. Of course they all understand." Sail informed her with a sort of sly grin, "Now, we had best be going." She presented a small chip of astral stone to the others laid out on her hoof. "While our form of teleportation is only meant to take one pony this can be used to fix that." she informed Astro. "If more than one star pony puts their hoof to a piece of astral stone and only one teleports it will bring the rest along. It also, as you are aware, simply makes teleportation easier as it is used when teleporting to and from the Astral Plain." She simply nodded and reached her hoof up to touch it. Within moments the duo was gone from the blank little room.
When they landed they were in the middle of a simple field looking toward the westward skyline. There the sun lay as it dipped down just barely touching the distant horizon. It was chilly as it was the winter season, but she didn't particularly mind the cold temperature. The two sat looking on at the sun in a contended silence. As it dropped lower and its hues changed to golds, reds, oranges, and purples Astro found her own silence changing from content to one of pure awe. She watched and examined the way that the hues moved and blended from color to color as the burning sphere continued its descent. Such an event had never been witnessed by her eyes. As she drank in every detail she promised herself to remember it all. It was a beauty that she wasn't keen to forget, but what followed made her wonder even more.
The silver moon floated into the darkening midnight blue sky as Sail's coat along with her own started to glow faintly in its light. The constellations above came into view and her jaw dropped slightly in awe. She couldn't believe that she'd ever thought of the moon's glow as a bad thing. A different idea of the floating light came to mind as she saw its beauty displayed. Again her mind went to work analyzing the sky and recording the details in her mental database. The midnight blanket was littered with the small glowing dots all framed in the background by the silver sphere of the moon. Her eyes widened as again she gazed into the sky's depths wanting to engrave its beauty into her mind forever. A slight gasp escaped her lips as she saw small streaks start to shoot across its vastness. She looked over at her companion in question as to if those were what she believed them to be.
She found Sail had laid down on the ground and was looking up at the many constellations with a great look of pride in her eyes. An unconscious smile decorated her face as she gazed upward. It was a moment before she looked over to find Astro's questioning expression. Sensing the question that she wished to ask Sail offered a simple nod before again looking up at the midnight expanse. Astro as well again looked skyward and examined the bright streaks cutting through the night. The idea that ponies had decided to wish upon them confused her, but she didn't wish to question it. If they hadn't thought to do that then I couldn't have made a life here, she thought to herself. She counted herself lucky that they had.
She smiled happily as she drew out every constellation that she knew, which was all of them, and could see over her. Finding the little dipper she followed the handle down to the star shining brightly on its end. She laid down and leaned against Sail's side as smiled contentedly. She sighed and closed her eyes as she relaxed into her mentor's side. "I'm afraid that concerning your friends there is not much that I can do for the time being."
"For the time being?" she queried noticing her choice.
"Yes, there is nothing that I can think to do yet." Sail confirmed her smile growing. Astro looked up at her and could definitely see a small glint in her eyes.
"That's fine." she finished grinning herself and moving closer into her.
She looked once more up at the great network of constellations and at the North Star shining in the middle of it all. As she grew drowsy and her eyelids began to feel heavy she obeyed their wishes. She let her eyes fall closed, but just before they shut she could've sworn that she saw the North Star twinkle.
After the night on the plain under the sky Astro's tensions had been eased immensely and the beauty and tranquility of it all inspired her. A project began for her as soon as she returned back home to her room. She grabbed a pencil and started to draw what she remembered of the sunset. She took her time in drawing out every detail of the image that she had saved in her mind with the ground being somewhere below the bottom of the paper leaving only the sun and the sky in view. The drawing and the coloring however were going to be two drastically different tasks in term of difficulty. It was the colors of the sunset that had been truly haunting to her and what had caused her such awe. The spectrum that radiated from it had been amazing and had placed her in a state of admiration. The shades that it had cast on the clouds and the blanket of the heavens were stunning.
She closed her eyes and imagined it all seeing the image displayed behind her eyelids. Her drawing continued to evolve as she kept on working, but it was hardly finished in one night, no, not by a long shot. Just the pencil sketch was drawn out over quite some time as she attempted to capture it perfectly. It had been a long while before she even started to experiment with the various colors. That of course would take a great deal more time than just sketching out the design which had taken long enough. She had a whole different paper with which she started to test out her paints once the sketch was finally finished. With each color that she made she took careful mental notes on how she had created each hue. The colors used and the amount of each were carefully recorded in a mental database for future use should she decide to use them in the painting. She practiced blending the different mixes together to create the cascading mural of the sky.
This project began to take up almost all of her time as she devoted herself to it over the course of time. She was determined to finish it off with perfection and that required the majority of her attention. Sail noticed her absence from the sorting room at the very beginning of this project however. She had always been very prompt to come to the work area and listen to and participate in their discussion. When she failed to show Sail was quick to question her lack of attendance, and Astro was quick to answer Sail with her goal. The mare clearly saw her determination to complete the task and left her to her work. She even became a consultant of sorts as she showed Sail her work as it progressed asking what she thought of various ideas, concepts, colors, drafts, and shapes. Sail in turn was swift to offer her support on her endeavor and give her opinions and assistance.
When she could she would bring a palette to show to her friends or a sketch to ask their opinion of. It was tedious work that lasted through the rest of her school year and into the summer. She found herself slightly more reluctant to spend time out with her friends as it was time that she could've been spending working. She didn't of course shut them out completely and she still spent time with them over the break, but the time was much less than it had been the year previously. This didn't hurt her relationship with Spot and Kara, but the two did notice her growing fixation with the painting. She wished that she could bring them down to the base to show them all that she had done, but Sail had yet to give her any further word on showing her friends her nature. It had become easier to give excuses as working on the painting had started to take the place of a good deal of the ones that she had to provide. Still, just as the year previous she did make sure to spend the entirety of the day of the summer solstice with her two friends.
That was the only day that she spent almost entirely away from her task, but even on that day she had worked on it some as she returned. As she had aged from when she had first reached the surface her need for sleep had started to lessen. Once having passed through adolescence star ponies needed almost no sleep to function properly. She was still young and did need to rest, but she needed significantly less slumber than an average foal of her age would require. She woke early and worked as well as stayed up late to further her progress. When school started back up those early mornings and late nights became her primary times of work as the majority of the middle of her day was taken up by school and the homework she received. She did always make sure to complete any school work before moving onto her painting.
Shortly after winter had begun once more she had completed a couple of drafts of the sunset that she wished to create. They had been made on simple pieces of paper as opposed to canvas, but she had wanted to see it there before transferring it to the more professional medium. The simple drafts were more than she could have ever hoped for. As she looked at the finished sunsets she couldn't help to contain her laughter. They all looked just the way that she had wished it would and she couldn't have asked for anything better than the result. She almost wished that she had taken the opportunity to use the canvas, but knew that she could only improve upon a further try at it. Each draft had improved from the last and she felt that she was prepared to try it one final time. Already overjoyed with her success at her first attempts she was eager to try it once more.
She bought the canvas with her own money which was starting to dwindle. This worried her, but she just needed it to get her through this project and no more. She would need to use it for more paint later, and possible more brushes should the need arise. Conserving it was an option, but she didn't want to buy anything cheap that might ruin her final product. The supplies that she had settled on weren't as inexpensive as they could've been, but she was set on the quality of them. They delivered as well when she finished the sunset on canvas. There was no hiding her excitement at the final product that was put on display. Both her mentor and her friends were amazed when they laid eyes on the finished masterpiece. When they saw what she had devoted all of her time to they understood why it had taken the time that it had. They didn't understand at the time that the painting that they were shown was only half of the equation.
The canvas was hung on her bedside wall and all of the drafts and such were stored in a drawer as she didn't want to trash them. Then she set right to work again. It wasn't just the sunset that she saw that night; it was also the midnight sky full of stars surrounding a glowing silver moon. She grabbed a new paper and the process began all over again starting with a sketch of what she saw that night. It was the first time that she had ever been glad for the winter solstice to come so that she might spend all of that extra time working on the second half of the sky that she was in awe of. Winter became a blessing and not a curse as she could work in peace.
Having learned a great deal from the first work her progress moved much quicker with the second. She finished the sketch in just over half the time it had taken her to complete the first one and moved swiftly onto messing with the colors. Despite her much quicker moving progress her work did still last into the summer, but it was almost done as she grew nearer to the summer solstice. She knew that it was wrong to rush perfection, but she wanted to try and finish the second one by the time school rolled around in September. Despite her want to get it done however she took off of her work on the day of the solstice for her friends just as every year that she'd spent on the surface. There was no intention held by her to abandon her two friends for her paints.
She kept on working hard through the shortening days ever nearing her goal of finishing by summer's end. It wasn't too long after the solstice when she completed her drafts of the night sky on the simple paper. Again she was thrilled with the result that she was greeted with, and again she was eager to move it to a proper canvas. With a considerable amount of her ever shortening money supply she bought another canvas for this second painting, the closing half of the night sky's duet. She transferred the drafts' portrait to the canvas promptly and skillfully. Once more she had captured the exact image that she had wished to and her joy was hard to keep in. Her companions were just as impressed as they were with the first. She had completed it before fall and the accompanying start of school. It took its place next to the sunset just where it should just when it should.
She looked up at the two paintings hanging over her bed and smiled in content as she let herself relax into the pillow. Unknown to the rest those were just drafts as well, not the finished products that she had led the others to believe that they were. She looked over at the wall and smiled to herself as she pictured the glowing sunset that would eventually adorn it. Her head rolled back to look skyward. The blank ceiling would also soon be covered in the constellations and silver moon that were printed in the back of her mind. It was going to be absolutely perfect once it was completed in all of its glory. Some of Bold's words from her first day at The Wish Division came to her as she started mapping everything out in her head. You can do anything you want with the interior as long as you don't break anything.
Astro knew that a great deal of planning would go into the murals on the walls before they were quite ready to begin construction. She also recognized the amount of time that she had been spending working over the past while. As school rolled around once more she resolved to let it be for a while to allow herself more time to spend with her friends. Towards the end of summer she again joined Sail in the sorting room, although she did remain silent for several sessions as she had to have her memory refreshed on the various ponies that were up to the tasks. She also promised herself that during the school year she would spend more time with her two friends. When she had brought up to Sail about spending a night with her friends she had responded saying, "I am doing my best, but I want to make sure that everything will work out the way that it should." Astro understood that Sail wanted to be cautious, but she desperately wanted to be able to share everything with her two friends.
On the first day of school she went in with a hopeful outlook as she knew that Sail wouldn't let her down. As always when she arrived Spot had already arrived and Kara was nowhere to be found. She walked up to him and smiled and waved as she did so. He remained where he was and returned the gesture to her. "Hey!" she greeted cheerily as she reached him.
"Happy first day of school." he answered smiling.
"Yeah." she agreed.
"Anymore new projects that I should know about?" he inquired wondering if she was about to start a whole new time consuming painting project.
"What? No! I think I'm gonna take a break from that for a while. I haven't been hanging with you and Kara as much as I should." she admitted looking down at the ground and blushing in embarrassment.
"Nah, it's fine. I'm not mad and I don't think Kara is either. If she was then that'd be silly. I'm glad we'll be seeing more of you though. That's nice." he promised reassuringly.
"Yeah, I'm happy that I'll be you guys more too." she responded appreciating the understanding.
"Of course it does look like all three of us ended up in separate classes from each other." he added in disappointment.
"I know! It's terrible! But there is still recess and lunch at least." she answered.
"Yeah, but it would've been way better if we could've been in the same classroom. At least it isn't just two of us with the other pony off on their own." he said trying to be optimistic.
"Yeah, cause you and Kara would've driven each other crazy." she agreed with a smirk.
"Yeah and you two would've gotten in trouble for talking at least five times by the end of today." he pointed out in retort.
"True enough." she admitted with a shrug still smiling. At that point their missing friend rushed into view signaling that school was about to start. No sooner had she opened her mouth to greet them than the bell rung cutting off her unspoken statement. She frowned in annoyance and rolled her eyes as they were rushed inside by the crowd.
Shortly after entering the three had to go their separate ways to get to their various classrooms. She entered her own classroom to find a maroon earth pony stallion sitting at the front who she knew to be her teacher. His mane was short and combed neatly as well as a lighter shade of red than his coat. He wore thin framed glasses over his dull gold eyes. He sat dutifully at the teacher's desk in front of the blackboard at the front of the room. Examining the rest of the room she found that a good number of the students had already arrived and taken their seats. She knew that she should take hers, but she didn't know anypony and was unsure where it would be wise for her to sit down.
She didn't get a chance to make her decision however before the teacher looked up and noticed her entrance. "Ah, good morning." he welcomed her as she stood just inside the doorway.
"Good morning sir." she replied with a respectful nod.
"Could you give me your name please?" he requested warmly.
"Astro, sir." she answered.
"Very good." he said nodding, "Could I speak to you for a minute?" he asked gesturing for her to come up to his desk at the front. This worried her slightly, but she didn't argue and walked up.
Looking at the rest of the foals in the room she was glad to find that she at least wasn't causing a scene. Everypony looked to be far too occupied talking with their friends to notice her. When she reached his desk she just stood silently as she waited to be told why she was there. "You know how new students transfer from different schools to this place every year. You were recommended by your previous teachers to help show some of these new students around. You see the orange unicorn there in the back." he told her nodding slightly in the direction of the foal. She looked over her shoulder to see who he was talking about. Her eyes landed on a little orange unicorn filly sitting towards the back and looking nervous. She had a curly turquoise mane that fell to one side of her face. "Her name is Ink and she's new here this year and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind showing her the ropes." he said.
"No, not at all sir." she answered quickly.
"Thank you Astro. That will be all." he finished.
The desks to either side of the filly were open and so she took the one to her right. Ink looked surprised at her choice of seat, but beamed at her as she sat down. "Hello." she greeted her brightly, "I'm Astro." she stated offering the unicorn a hoof.
"Hi, I'm Ink." the filly responded in turn. While she already knew this information she just continued to smile and acted as though she hadn't.
"Awesome, it's great to meet you!" she said.
"It's good to meet you too." she responded.
"I've never seen you around before." she commented in the hopes of instigating a conversation.
"No, I just moved here from out in the country. It's a bit of an adjustment, but I like this place. It's always really busy."
"Yeah, even in the middle of the night." she agreed, "So when did you move here?"
"A little bit after school ended so that way I wouldn't have to change schools in the middle of the year. It was a bit of a bummer having to move during the break, but at least it gave me something to do." she answered with a shrug and a smile on the final phrase.
"I'd rather be busy than have nothing to do." she said. "Boredom is the worst."
"I don't know. Relaxation is good to have as well. Running around all the time would be pretty stressful and stress isn't good for anypony I don't think." she argued.
"Yeah, stress is pretty awful." she replied remembering her own from years previous, "I know the feeling."
"What?" she got a concerned look on her face as she thought that she might've awakened bad memories, "Oh! I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine, it wasn't bad and it was a while ago too." she promised as she cut the filly off.
"Good, I'd hate to remind you of something unpleasant." she replied looking relieved.
"Nah, not at all." she reassured her.
Their conversation was cut off by the teacher starting class. She waited to see if Ink would still try and converse despite the fact that the teacher was talking, but she didn't seem to be interested in doing so. Since her newfound acquaintance didn't look to be keen on engaging in conversation she simply sat in silence and listened as the teacher spoke. It was most of the usual introduction stuff as everypony went around and gave their name and a fact about them. The teacher went over various classroom rules. This included not talking while he was. The filly next to her paid polite attention to the teacher as he spoke. As had become a habit of hers from the sorting room she started to note simple things that she noticed about her.
The filly seemed to have a permanent smile drawn across her face. She saw that she was taking notes on different things as the teacher continued to speak. She guessed the filly to be a rather attentive student, hence her lack of interest in speaking while they shouldn't be. Her mane fell in graceful curves around the side of her face and it looked to have been styled that way, the same with her tail, but she hardly thought that she had done it like that herself. She guessed that it probably would've had to have been an adult who did it for her. That was where she stopped however as she wanted to wait until she actually knew the filly before casting any judgment.
The conversation had to wait until lunch as that was the first point at which they got to exit class. It looked as though their class had a later lunch time as both of her friends were already sitting at a table next to each other. There was however another colt sitting across from the two of them that she didn't recognize. He had a silver coat that was accompanied by a short and wavy golden mane and tail. It was hard to tell from that distance what his eye color was, but it looked to be a dark evergreen type hue. He was a unicorn like her own new companion as well. This confused her, but she said and did nothing to indicate this as she approached. The thought occurred to her that the fact that she had brought a new filly to the table would probably confuse them as well.
"Hey!" she greeted as she took the seat next to Spot and gestured for Ink to sit down next to the new colt, "This is my new friend Ink." As she was introduced the filly smiled brightly at the ponies sitting around her. Kara returned the gesture with the same amount of energy. Spot returned the grin as well if not with as much liveliness. The new colt however just gave a nod of recognition without looking over at her or giving back a smile. She noticed Ink's grin falter for just a moment at the colt's lack of enthusiasm, but it was a very slight motion. Looking over at the new colt she noticed that he didn't look particularly interested in any of their company.
"Well, uh, this is Diplo." Spot said introducing the colt to the two newcomers to the table. He nodded as his name was said, but again that was the only acknowledgement that he gave.
"It's nice to meet you!" Ink offered optimistically as she put out a hoof for him to take. For the first time since they'd come to the table he looked up from his food. He looked down at her hoof and then up to her eyes as if unsure of what was happening.
"Yeah." he agreed as he took her hoof and shook it.
"Great!" she proclaimed happily as he gave a slight smile before returning his attention to his lunch.
Ink looked to be satisfied with this reception and turned back to the other two ponies that she had yet to meet. The both of them introduced themselves to her, but Astro found herself paying more attention to the quiet colt sitting across the table. He continued to look at his food, but every now and again he'd take a quick look up at the ponies that surrounded him. His expression looked more bored than annoyed. At one point he looked over towards her and they made eye contact. They held each other's gazes for a moment before he broke it and looked back towards his food.
"So you got enlisted into the welcome thing too?" Spot asked her interrupting her train of thought.
"Yeah." she answered simply, but then remembered that there was only one new pony before she arrived, "Did Kara not?"
"Apparently not, she was pretty upset when she found out that it was a thing and she wasn't a part of it." he informed her.
"I hope she isn't upset because I got it too." she commented nervously.
"I think she'll get over it if she is." he replied nonchalantly.
"I suppose, but I don't want her to be mad at all." she argued looking over at her friend, who was at that point in the middle of an energetic conversation with Ink, nervously.
"I really don't think she will. She seems to be pretty happy with the pony you brought with you." he reassured looking over at the two of them talking excitedly.
It didn't take her long to do the math for their current situation. There were five of them sitting there with two groups of two talking which left only the single one. She looked away from their conversation to see Diplo eating in silence. "So you're new here right?" she asked wanting to include him.
"Hm?" he said looking up, "Yeah, I just moved here." The question hadn't gotten her as far as she had though it would. She looked over at Spot for help.
"It was probably hard to leave behind the friends that you had there." he offered up awkwardly.
"Not really. I didn't have all that many friends." he answered simply.
"Oh, well, it's never too late to change that right?" she tried.
"I'm not there anymore so it is a little late to try and make friends with them." he argued.
"I kind of meant just make friends period." she answered as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.
"I suppose." he agreed with a nonchalant shrug. She smiled warmly, but was unable to tell whether they were getting somewhere or not. An awkward silence fell for a moment, but it was cut off as one of the classes started to leave the lunch room noisily.
"That's our class. C'mon Diplo, we'd better go. See you later." he finished as the two took off for class. She waved as the two left and was glad to find that both ponies of the pair returned it with light smiles.
She found herself contemplating the meeting for the rest of lunch, and as she returned to her classroom once more she found herself with nothing but time to think as Ink would rather not speak during lessons. She looked forward at the teacher and listened vaguely to the usual beginning of year lectures, but for the most part she devoted her attention to other things. She pulled out a paper and a pencil and began to draw under her desk. She tried to appear as though she was simply taking notes. It helped to pass the monotonous minutes. It was really recess that she was waiting for as at that point she could see her friends again. She was also hoping for a chance to speak to the unicorn colt again. He intrigued her and she was curious to know if he actually considered her a friend. She hoped that he did, but she didn't know for sure.
When the time did finally come however it didn't present itself the way she'd hoped. They were all kept far too busy running around for her to get a word in edgewise to him. She walked back into the classroom disappointed in her lack of conversation with him. There is always tomorrow, she reasoned as she took her seat next to Ink. The teacher continued to speak and she continued to not pay attention to what was being said. Nothing particularly interesting happens on the first day anyways, she thought to herself as she pulled the page full of doodles back out and continued to work on out. This was how she spent the majority of the rest of the day. She only looked up from it every now and again to make sure that she had at least a vague idea of what was going on around her so that if asked to she could join in the conversation.
The bell didn't ring until what felt like an eternity later and she quickly fled from the room. She was excited to return back to the sorting room with Sail. Despite this she did make sure to wait for all of her friends to come out so that she could bid them farewell. For the majority it was just a quick exchange of goodbyes and see you tomorrows, but much to her surprise and joy Diplo waited behind. "You know what," he said holding a straight face, "I think that you might've been right about that whole friends thing you said earlier." Her eyes widened in surprise at the comment. "Maybe." he added with a shrug, "See you tomorrow." he finished before trotting off to a pure white unicorn mare who stood waiting.
"You too!" she called as he trotted off. He waved in response and she returned it. Smiling to herself she turned to find Sail and walked over to her.
It was immediately apparent to Astro that Sail was upset. She stood at the edge of the school waiting patiently as always, but she had a sort of lost look in her eyes. As she got closer she could hear a telltale tune drifting through the air towards her. Sail didn't even turn to face her as she approached. She wondered if her approach had even been noticed. Her answer came as she simply turned and started walking the second that Astro reached her. She followed, as was expected, nervously and made no questioning statements. She had never seen Sail in such distress like that and thought it best not to push for any answers. The tense silence was filled only by the wafting melody repeating over and over.
As they teleported down to the base the atmosphere seemed to consist of nothing but tension. It wasn't just Sail who was on edge, it appeared that everypony was in a similar mood. "I will be in the sorting room. You may come once your schoolwork is done." she said simply before taking off for her destination and leaving her there in a stunned stillness. She walked solemnly off to her room unsure of what was going on and worried over it as well. What's happened, she asked herself. Clearly something terrible occurred while I was in school, she reasoned, everything was fine before I left. Her mind spun through the various possibilities, but very few came to mind. While she had been there everything had always been fairly happy. The place was dedicated to making wishes come true and that generally made for an optimistic and joyful environment.
She entered her room and shut the door behind her before moving over to sit on her bed. It had been such a good day with her new friends and getting to see her old ones again. What had been a joyful lightness in her heart had become a hardened weight. She had no homework so she was free to go to the sorting room immediately, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to be surrounded by the mass of upset ponies. Well it's either that or I can sit in here and stew, she thought to herself. I know that I'm definitely not going to stop wondering and if I go then I might at least be able to find out what's happened, she reasoned. With that she set her saddlebags down on her bed and headed for the sorting room.
When she arrived she was greeted by a scene that caused her to halt from her shock. As opposed to the usual group atmosphere of a circle of ponies discussing, and laughing as they worked she was met by a silent room full of ponies working in solitude. Each one filled out their envelopes without making a sound or moving from where they were. Every face displayed a grim expression, there were no smiles to be seen. Sail certainly wasn't an exception to that rule. In fact there were absolutely no ponies that broke the trend. The whole room felt at least twenty shades dimmer than its usual brightness. She could feel the weight of it bearing down on her as she walked forward to sit next to Sail.
She cringed as each one of her steps rang out in the unbearable silence. The ponies that were working tried not to notice this obvious entrance but it was difficult not to. They didn't look away from their work, but it was quite clear on their faces that they were disturbed by her arrival. As she reached Sail's desk she took her seat on the floor as quietly as she could. There was no chair there and she didn't wish to interrupt further so she kept her silence and simply sat on the floor beneath her. The quiet continued to reign over the area as she remained there doing nothing. She couldn't have said how many agonizing minutes it had been before Sail finally acknowledged her. She didn't speak out loud and shatter the silence, but instead she offered a telepathic message to the filly.
'I appreciate your coming, but at this current moment I don't believe your presence is useful here. As far as The Wish Division is even concerned you are not a certified sorter. You have yet to take your test and you aren't allowed to until you exit school. I believe it would be best if you returned to your room and remained there. After I complete these I will come and see you before it is time for you to sleep.' she told her. She concentrated with all of her might as she tried to deliver her own message back. She had been practicing with her telepathy, but it was exceedingly difficult and was hardly something that was mastered overnight. Despite the fact that they had the ability few ever mastered it and trying to do it from a large distance was nearly impossible for even those who were the most skilled.
'Okay.' she replied with great difficulty.
'Then I shall see you after my work is done.' Sail finished.
She walked out of the room and the journey was just as agonizing as her walk to the desk. She couldn't have been happier when she moved into the hallway. It didn't matter that it was on the opposite side from her room. That door had been closer and so she'd had taken that route. She let out a relieved sigh before taking off at a trot for her room. It was an amazing feeling to not be afraid of her hoof steps. They did still ring out in the unusual silence, but at least then she wasn't surrounded by others who had to notice. She picked up her pace slightly so that she could get back to her room and away from the tense outside. The inside might not have been much better though as she would have nothing but time to stew over what was going on. Still, at least there I might be able to distract myself, she though hopefully.
That was her mindset as she strolled into her room and closed the door behind her. While she had told herself that she wouldn't start thinking about the mural until she had first taken some time away from the project she had a change of heart in that moment. She wouldn't be devoting the entirety of her time to it over the course of its construction, but right then she needed something to devote her attention to. The first problem however would be getting a clean wall. She wanted to use the one across from her bed, but that was where the dresser resided at that point in time. If she wanted to use that wall in particular then it was going to have to move.
She sighed tiredly as she examined that problem. While there was nothing inside of it she doubted that it would be light or easy to move around. Sliding it around on the floor was probably the least productive way to do it, but she knew that she certainly wasn't going to be lifting the thing. The mirror on top would be a much simpler thing however as she just had to pick it up and move to lean against the back wall. She started with that as she didn't want to tackle the dresser right then. Flying up next to it she grabbed it and flew it over to where she wanted to keep it for the meantime, but with that done the dresser stood waiting for her.
She sat for a moment staring at it and frowning before deciding to just try and push it along the wall. Moving to stand on its right she braced her back hooves against the floor and her front ones against the sides of the wooden piece of furniture. She pushed as hard as she could but didn't get very far with it. She tried again by keeping her back hooves to the ground but instead of her front hooves she pushed her back up against the side of the dresser. Once more she pushed as hard as she could and just as previously it didn't get her far. She kept trying to move it and that was how Sail found her when she walked in.
"Is there a problem with where your dresser is currently?" she questioned as she saw what Astro was doing. She jumped as she hadn't noticed Sail's entrance to the room.
"Oh, um, no. I just wanted to put it up against that wall." she answered embarrassedly as she pointed to the wall where the mirror had taken up residence.
"Well, I believe that it is about time that you were informed of what is happening. Leave that for now, I will see what I might be able to do about that another day. Right now I am here to tell you why this place is so on edge." she replied. She took a seat on the bed and gestured for Astro to sit down next to her.
"Do you remember that stallion that Bold took you to meet on your first day here?" she asked.
"Yes." she answered vividly recalling the elderly pony that she had been brought to.
"He is quite old and it has recently become apparent that he might not be here for much longer. His resignation has already been announced." she informed her solemnly, "He has experienced what they call dwarfing here, on the Plain they never truly gave it a title. As you probably already understand a star pony's body contains a great deal of magic. Of course surface ponies' bodies contain magic as well, but the magic with us manifests itself differently. That is why our coats glow in the moonlight and theirs don't. It is also why we have some abilities like telepathy and teleportation that they don't. And while this magic makes us able to do these things it needs to synchronize with the body on a certain level to let us do this. A problem arises from this fact when the magic finds itself running low. The energy that had been powering this body for so long collapses in on itself and physically weighs the pony down. Usually shortly following this the magic will release itself from the pony's body in a large blast. While this explosion of magical energy does not harm the body it came from if there is a pony close by then they might find themselves injured, and without the magic to help power the body it will die." Astro listened to what Sail had just told her in a stunned silence. "This is even more of a blow due to the pony that it is. Star Dust has been a part of this place for as long as he has been alive and has been a manager here since he was old enough to do so. Losing him is quite a blow to the morale here. That is why you've found this place in such a state recently."
"But, couldn't you just get more magic?" she asked.
"No, like I told you the magic has to bind itself to the pony and that doesn't just happen overnight. It is used quicker than it replenishes itself which is why it eventually runs low as it has for him." she answered.
"Is there any way to make it bind faster?" she questioned.
"I'm afraid not. Take for example when star ponies first arrive here from the Plain. It can take weeks and sometimes even months for their hair and coat to finally change color. This is because it is changed by the magic here on the surface. It takes a good while for the magic to work its way to the pony." she explained.
She kept her almost instant transformation to herself, "But I thought that the star ponies didn't have surface magic, that's why we're different."
"That is half correct. What separates star ponies and surface ponies is indeed the magic as speaking anatomically we are identical to them. The magic that resides in us exits purely on the Astral Plain and the magic that inhabits surface ponies exists only here on the surface. As we live on the Astral Plain it works its way into us and the same goes for the ponies here. However if you were to take a surface pony and bring them up to the Astral Plain and they were to remain there for long enough they might very well became a star pony as their surface magic dwindles and more of our magic bonds with them. The same goes for a star pony being brought to the surface. Our difference from them is purely environmental." she informed her.
"Then why haven't The Wish Division ponies changed?" she queried confused.
"They have though, if only slightly, their manes and tails as well as the marks on their shoulders all change. As for the rest there are enough star ponies here to maintain a significant concentration of our magic. However if a pony were to wander from us and remain on their own for a while then they might very well change. I don't believe anypony has ever tried it, but I feel that for star ponies it would be less advisable due to our magic's more explosive tendencies. While neither magic is more powerful than the other our magic is the more unpredictable of the two. But I feel that I've burdened your mind with enough for one night. It is time that you went to sleep. We may speak more of this later if you wish, but right now you should rest." she finished.
"Okay." she conceded.
Sail stood up and Astro laid down and pulled the covers over her. Her mentor leaned down and kissed her softly on her forehead. "Goodnight." she whispered quietly before taking her leave from the room.
When Astro awoke it was early as per usual, but that day instead of getting up and working on various things she remained where she was in bed. She had no desire to allow herself to wake up and experience the confusion and despair from what she had learned the previous night. She would much rather just lay there and let her dreams take her away. That was exactly what she did too as she drifted in and out of consciousness for the time that led up to the start of school. She was hoping that her slumber would help to make the time seem to go by faster until school started. She didn't want to have to spend any more time in the tense atmosphere than she had to. Another thing she had to look forward to there was an occupied mind. Free time to think was one thing that she didn't need. So instead of acknowledging the world around her she simply slept.
Still even in her half-conscious state some of Sail's words worked their way through her mind. However if a pony were to wander from us and remain on their own for a while then they might very well change. Our difference from them is purely environmental. Those quotes wormed their way through her subconscious as she drifted in and out of awareness. The warnings faded into nothing as they were far outmatched by what were in her mind were the rewards. That is why our coats glow in the moonlight and theirs don't. But now it was possible for her to be a part of them. Any and all consequences of such a decision paled in comparison to the possibility of becoming completely normal for their society. All of this ran through her mind as she dreamt.
When Sail came by to take her to school that was how she found her. She was quite stunned to find her still in bed as she had always been up and about much earlier than that. "Astro?" she asked walking up to the bed and tapping her shoulder with her nose.
"W-what?" she mumbled sleepily. She lifted her head to see who it was that had spoken. Upon seeing Sail standing at her bedside and looking at her in concern she shot up. She looked towards the clock that was on the wall above the door. Seeing that it was when they normally left for school she jumped out of the bed to get herself ready. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to oversleep! It won't happen again I promise!" she apologized as she ran around the room trying to get herself ready quickly.
"It's fine. Did you not sleep well last night?" she inquired worriedly.
"N-no I slept fine." she paused after she had finished not wanting to admit that she had simply not wanted to get up. Luckily she found something to fill the space as she had just finished throwing on her saddlebags. "I'm ready to go." she proclaimed turning around and offering a smile that she didn't necessarily believe.
"Then we had best be going." Sail finished before walking from the room with Astro on her heels.
They exited the base and teleported onto the streets of the city. Once there, just like every morning, conversation was sparse as Sail started to hum and the filly allowed her mind to wander. That day however she tried to keep her thoughts to ones of her friends who were waiting for her arrival. She was having a hard time doing that however and wished for a conversation to occupy her mentality. She struck one up herself by asking a question that had been burning in her mind for a while. "What's that song?" she asked turning to look up at Sail. The mare's walk slowed as the question sunk in. She stopped humming and looked to meet Astro's eyes.
"It is an old star pony lullaby." she answered simply, but she saw in the filly's eyes that she wanted to know more than that. She turned her gaze forward to find the school looming just ahead. She sighed tiredly before looking back over at her. "It is too long a story to be told right now. You don't want to be late for school or miss any time that you could be spending with your friends. I will do my best to finish my work quickly so that I might be able to tell you this tale once school is over." she told her.
"Okay." she answered more than satisfied that she would get to hear the story.
"I will be waiting for you once the day is over." she finished before walking off to return to the base and striking up the tune once more.
She trotted off into the crowd of ponies no longer wanting the school day to last forever. In fact at that point she couldn't wait for the day to be over. She quickly scolded herself for thinking that however as she still valued any time that could be spent with her friends. Knowing that Spot would be in the crowd she looked through it for him and quickly found him there as well. When she located him however she was surprised to find that he wasn't alone. Ink stood next to him and the two were talking with each other. She would've been lying if she had said that she wasn't at least the tiniest bit upset that she wasn't the first pony there to see him. Still, she didn't let it get to her and walked up to the talking pair smiling.
"Hello!" she called to them smiling.
"Hey!" the two replied together. She trotted up and took her place in the group still smiling.
"So I guess the other two aren't here yet then?" she asked since she didn't see either of them.
"Nope, I mean Kara is always almost late, but we haven't seen Diplo since we got here." Spot answered, "She got here a little while ago."
"Yeah, I normally get to school pretty early." Ink told her.
"I'm normally here right about now." she answered, "I'm pretty good with mornings."
"I think that's a good trait to have." she told her grinning brightly.
Astro laughed, "You mean as opposed to being grouchy and drowsy till late afternoon? Yeah, I think so too." The other two snickered a little bit as well.
"Did I miss something important?" asked a voice beside them. They all turned startled to find Diplo had joined them without their notice while they'd been laughing.
"Nothing really, just made a little joke." Astro supplied offering a smile. He returned the gesture with a slight grin.
"Okay. Good." he replied still holding that tiny smile.
"Good to see ya this morning." Ink greeted him cheerily.
"Same." he agreed nodding his head slightly, "Where's Kara?" he asked noticing that she was the only one missing.
"Right there." Spot pointed out seeing her as she came up, "Which means that the bell to let us in is going to ring at any moment." They were let inside just on schedule, not even a moment after she joined the group.
They were then hustled inside by the moving crowd and went their separate ways to their classrooms. Astro took her seat next to Ink and remained there in silence as the two listened to the teacher until lunch, when she could see her friends again. The time seemed to pass even more slowly with Sail's promise biting at the back of her mind. She had things waiting for her and so time did what always did when one was waiting and slowed to almost a stand still. She endured in silence as the teacher spoke at the front as well as participating when asked to. The minutes still wouldn't pass fast enough. Two eons had passed before they were released to go to lunch.
When they did enter however she trotted eagerly over to where their three friends were already sitting. Ink moved to sit across from Kara and next to Diplo. She opted to sit in between Kara and Spot. "Hey, how's your day been?" she asked upon sitting down.
"Alright, but my teacher's kind of a total neat freak and nopony will talk to me either." Kara replied in slight annoyance.
"I'm sorry." she said in sympathy.
"Why couldn't you be in my class like every other year!?" she complained pouting.
"It's not a bad thing to pay attention to the teacher you know." Diplo cut in. They were both shocked by this, but Astro did a much better job of masking the surprise.
"He's right." Spot agreed breaking the awkward silence.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." she retorted rolling her eyes and leaning back to sulk. The only problem was there no backs on the seats around the lunch tables. She tumbled down to the floor eliciting a laugh from everypony at the table. Even the reserved unicorn colt snickered a bit.
"Not funny." she said glaring at all of them.
"Here, let me help you." Ink said still laughing as she got up to help her. She walked around the table to help Kara back to her seat.
"Thanks." she mumbled embarrassedly as she again took her seat next to Astro. Ink then returned to her spot across from her.
"You know if you'd been paying attention to the fact that there wasn't anything to lean on you wouldn't have fallen over." Spot pointed out. She just glared in response.
"Alright, I think she gets the point." Astro said calming her friend down, but still laughing silently to herself.
She was about to reopen the conversation but then several ponies got up from the tables. "I think that's us." Diplo commented looking upset.
"Yeah, it is." Spot confirmed.
"Too bad." Ink commented frowning.
"Yeah." Diplo agreed, but then with a hopeful smile he asked, "But we'll see you guys later right?"
"Of course." Astro promised smiling genuinely.
"Great." he finished before taking off with Spot after their class.
And they did indeed see each other later that day. At recess they ran and played together, but after that there was only time to wait. She was overjoyed that he seemed to have opened up, but her joy was soon overcome with excited anxiety. She could hardly wait to hear what Sail had to tell her. She tried to redirect her thoughts to her friends and think about the fun that she'd had with them as opposed to the time until school would let out. It was then that she realized something. She had made two new friends over the past two days. At that point she had four friends to surrounded herself with. That was twice what she had previously. It's also twice the number of ponies that you have to lie to, a voice in the back of her mind whispered. No, she thought, I'm not about to let this moment be shattered. She smiled giddily the more she thought about it and suddenly the remaining time didn't seem to take nearly as long.
In almost no time at all she was out in front of the school bidding goodbye to all four of her friends before they went their separate ways. Sail noticed this congregation as well as the two new ponies to the group. "Who were those two new foals?" she questioned.
"Oh those are my two new friends Diplo, and Ink." she informed her with a wide smile, "I met them yesterday, they're both really nice."
"I'm glad that you've made some new friends." she replied as she gave the filly a nuzzle. Silence fell between the two for a moment before Astro broke it.
"So?" she asked expectantly.
"Yes, I know. I have finished my work for today, but before I tell you what I have to say let us return to the base. Once we are in your room I will begin my story for you. There are two parts to it and to both you must listen carefully. I will not begin either however until we should be back." she said with finality. And so they spent the rest of their trip in silence without even a melody to break it.
When they arrived in Astro's room she quickly took her seat eager for the story to begin. Sail followed suit and sat next to her before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She took a moment before opening them. She then looked to the filly ready to begin her tale.
"I believe that you have at least heard of the Queen?" Sail began.
"Yes, but she was lost long ago. She's still out there somewhere, waiting to be found." Astro answered confidently.
"Is that all that you've heard?" she questioned.
"Well, um, yeah." she told her as her confidence wavered.
"Then please allow me to tell you a story."
"O-okay."
"Once upon a time many years ago a young mare saw great suffering in her world. There was hatred and contempt, starvation, disease, and war. Back before the three tribes of ponies came together the world was not the peaceful one that we know today. She however had found a place where there were no such warring ponies, only endless space full of a beautiful peace. So, one day she thought that she might try and create a new world full of ponies with no tainted thoughts passed on to them for each other's differences. One day she brought with her a group of orphaned foals to her new found plain. There they could grow with no knowledge of the lower world's upsetting state. She continued to work to bring more and more foals to her new found plain and eventually there grew to be so many there that it started to form its own self sufficient world.
"She continued to watch in awe and pride as her new found world continued to blossom and the foals grew into strong adults and prospered. They held no contempt for each other and only great love. Their world continued to develop as they formed families and created an economy of bartering and business. Their society began to revolve for the most part about honest effort and a love for their work. While their society did not require a leader to function and they never did decide upon one it was undeniable that each and every citizen of that colony loved that mare who had helped them to prosper and grow. She however wanted none of their appreciation and simply wanted them to continue to grow and learn for themselves. She retreated from them and had her own mansion constructed far off from their colony where she might live in peace for the rest of her days. While she remained at her own home in solitude her story spread fluently through the colony so that there was nopony there that didn't know her name and her story. Among them she became known as a royal.
"The colony continued to grow and prosper for decades, maybe it was even centuries as her story continued to spread. The ponies even started to change to become more like we are now. But as with everything no peace lasts forever. One day their great society was attacked by horrible monsters. Terrible animals roared out of the Night Field and stormed their great nation. There was panic and chaos as their pacifistic society was not prepared to deal with such a threat. But then from the silent mansion came their queen. None knew how she survived for that long, but she had. They said that she ran through those great crystalline doors clothed in full golden battle armor with great jewels adorning it. There was even a glorious golden crown atop her head.
"She came to their settlement and fought of every last beast that had berated them. She did not stop until every single one had fled and even then she chased them further. From this mission however she never returned. They vowed that one day they would find her and restore her to her rightful place as their queen. After all it seemed that age was no problem for her so who is to say that she still isn't out there. But in honor of her valiant acts the ponies there started a guard in her name. For every second various ponies would be out there looking for any monsters that might try to attack their city. On the surface these guard formations became known as constellations. To this very day the guard still acts in her name and her ponies still search to find their lost queen."
"So that's what happened to her then and that's how the star ponies came to be?" she asked in awe.
"If this is what happened then how is The Wish Division here today?" Sail questioned.
"I don't know." she admitted.
"That was the story that was told on the Astral Plain. There is a slightly different one that's told to the ponies here." Sail informed her.
"Is that the second part?" she asked.
"Yes, it is." she answered.
"Then continue please." she said wanting to hear more.
"The story starts in much the same way. A mare who saw no hope for the world's future decided to create her own. She moved orphaned foals to the plain that she had discovered and they prospered and changed. They told her story far and wide as they developed their society. She retreated to her far off mansion where she remained as they continued forward to make the world that she had wished to create. But this is where the story changes. The first change is when it speaks of their society. It describes it quite differently from our story. This is what it had to say.
"As their society grew and became self-sufficient a pattern became eminent. They all worked hard for one another and that became their society's cornerstone. Nopony ever found themselves needing for anything as they second they could want for something it was supplied to them by their caring companions. But of course eventually as the decades, or maybe even centuries, passed the entire populace began to ache for something more. They began to ache deeply for that long lost home that they'd come from. They knew of the destruction that their colony had been born from, but they had hopes that maybe the surface had grown to become better. If not they could at least offer their help in improving it. And so one day they resolved to attempt to return to the world from whence they'd came.
"Their journey began smoothly, but it wasn't long before it went downhill. Horrible beasts came out of the field and marauded them and they weren't prepared to fight back, but their queen, clothed in shining golden armor, came to their rescue. She fought of all of the terrible monsters allowing them just enough time to get away to the surface world. Once down they all found that the surface world had seemed to have found its peace and they were happy that they had returned to their home. She however never followed after them. They all were distraught to think that she might've given her life for their sakes.
"They quickly sent a search party up to the plain to look for her. After all she had survived all of those years in solitude, maybe she survived her fight the beasts that had attacked them. The search party flew across the plain searching for her, but never succeeded in finding her. Still, they continued to send out these search parties every night not willing to give up in their pursuit of their queen. These search parties soon became known by the surface world as shooting stars and have continued to this very day. The Queen however was never found."
"So which one's right then?" she asked confused.
"That is for you to decide for yourself." Sail answered simply.
"But which one do you think is right?" she queried curious
"I don't believe either story is completely true as tales tend to bend over the years and this one has had many centuries to do so. However I do not wish to taint your opinions with my own. That is not why I told you those stories, or at least not the whole reason anyways." she said.
"Then why'd you tell them to me?" she inquired in confusion.
"Because, that is where the lullaby came from. The Queen's great mansion became known as the Castle of the Sky by her ponies. That is the title of the lullaby." she informed her.
"Castle of the Sky?" she said wondering if that was the title.
"Yes." she confirmed.
"But why is that significant?" she questioned.
"You would've been too young when you came down to have heard that story, but I was older when I found myself lost. I had already heard the story and was terrified that one of those beasts might find me there. It wasn't long before I began to see sinister things that weren't truly there. I needed shelter for myself. And then one day I found it. I saw a great crystalline building on the horizon and ran to it hoping beyond hope that it would not be a mirage. You could not imagine my joy when I found it to not be one. That building was so great that it could've been nothing short of a palace. In my mind it couldn't have been anything short of the castle that was told of in the legends.
"I stayed there in that wondrous place for several days, but my stay wasn't going to last forever. The place was surprisingly empty of almost everything. If it had something to offer to me then it was well hidden. All of its giant corridors, vast halls, and great rooms were completely barren. That meant that there was nothing in the way of sustenance for myself. One day while I was out looking for food I became lost and couldn't find my way back to the place. And so I wandered for days to weeks and who knows it might've even been months trying to find it again. It soon started to all feel like a long lost dream. The colony, the legends, and the palace were nothing but figments of my imagination that I had created to fill the empty spaces in my memory.
"Then I was found. One day a pony dropped out of the sky above me and took me back to civilization. While it may have been the wrong one it was still society. Still I wondered if all of my life before that had been just a dream. I wondered if I had really just sprung from the night field like they all seemed to think and had simply been wandering that blasted field my whole life. But then I heard that legend. One night when I was unable to sleep a pony here told me of the queen to try and help me to find rest. I then remembered of the legend that I had heard prior and the castle I had stayed in. I didn't see how I could possibly dream up something that was real before I knew it was real. I started to hum that lullaby to myself wherever I went to remind myself that my life hadn't been a dream. Soon it just became a comforting noise that was forever in the background." she explained solemnly.
"And now that the colony has opened its borders you know that your life really was true!" she added hopefully.
"Yes." she agreed, "Now I can know for certain that my previous home most certainly does exist. And I must say that concrete proof was a relief as opposed to a hope from a lullaby, but now you know of its significance to me. This is what you wished to hear yes?"
"Yes, it was. Thanks for telling me." she responded gratefully.
"Of course." she replied with a respectful nod, "I always intended to tell you eventually, but I thought it was best that you approach me first. I did not wish to burden you with any information that you didn't wish to have in the first place. Ignorance is bliss as some ponies say. Either way that you believe it is time that I leave you to finish whatever school work that you have and go to sleep. Feel free to ask any questions that you have and I will do my best to give unbiased answers. Now however I will go. You will be up for me in the morning yes?" she asked remembering that morning.
"Oh, um, yes ma'am. I promise." she said slightly embarrassed.
"Good. Then I will leave you to whatever it is you need to do." Sail finished before exiting the room.
After hearing what Sail had to say Astro couldn't help feeling closer to her mentor. While there was of course still much that she didn't know about the mare it was an amazing feeling that she had been trusted with the tale. Just the idea that Sail might truly trust her deeply made her practically giddy. She was eager to learn more of her, but thought it best not to press her for more information. She didn't want to come off as pushy or annoying in her eagerness for knowledge. Especially right then with what was happening at the base.
With Dust's ever worsening condition the entire place was growing ever more on edge. Tensions grew quickly as the days passed. Sail did inform her that a new manager would be chosen to take his place soon. Each of the members of the base were allowed to put forth their opinion as to who it should be and anyone wishing to take that place would submit an application and inform others that they were planning on doing so. In the end it did come down to the decision of the head base in their particular country. All comments given however were read through and deeply considered by the deciding members. The only requirement seemed to be that you had to have been at The Wish Division for at least a year so Astro was qualified to put forth her own comment, but she didn't know what she wanted to say. Despite having been there for a good while she didn't have any strong opinions towards anypony for the next manager.
Her first thought when everything about a new manager had been announced was about the murals on the ceiling. One of them was going to have to be replaced and she wanted to help to do it. It would be good practice for the plans for her walls. She had spoken to Sail about it and found out that there was a whole committee that was made to create the new mural and repaint the door when a new manager came into place. "If you would like to join them then I believe you should talk to Acrylic. He's the head of the committee. I doubt that he'll turn you away. From what I understand they don't have very many ponies and it is quite a large amount of work to replace the mural." she informed her.
"Cool! But, um, where can I find him?" she asked as she didn't know.
"Oh, yes, of course. Right this way." Sail replied before turning and leading her off.
Astro followed on her heels as Sail led her through the base. She was rather excited to meet this Acrylic even if she was nervous to as well. When they came to room 419 which was labeled with the name Acrylic Brush she found her heart beating quicker than it probably should've been. Sail walked up and knocked before taking a step back. The filly walked up to her side ready to take shelter behind a hoof should the need arise for her to do so. She felt a great tension come over her as the door opened. A tall and thin unicorn stallion stepped out into the open doorway. He had an unkempt head of bright red hair that looked sort of windblown.
He smiled as he saw Sail, but had a distracted look in his eyes. "Hey, um, Sail I think?" he asked uncertainly.
"Yes, that would be me. Good morning. I'm here about your mural committee." she told him.
"Really? What about it?" he inquired shooting a quick glance at the nervous filly before returning his gaze to Sail.
"Well," she began as she nudged Astro forward, "She was wondering if she might be able to help with it."
"Um, yes." she agreed as she rubbed one of her back hooves with the other in anxiety. Her gaze had been directed at the floor while she spoke.
"Well, I don't see why not. Can I see something of yours first though?" he responded nonchalantly. She looked up in shock at his response and quickness to accept her. She looked over at Sail for direction concerning what to do next.
"Why don't you go and get one of your paintings to show Acrylic?" she suggested.
"Okay!" she answered happily before zipping off down the hallway to her room.
She was ecstatic as she burst through the door labeled with her name and plucked the painting of the sunset carefully off of the wall. While she did want to bring it back as quickly as possible she also didn't want to be reckless with her treasured canvass. So she walked slowly back to the room with anticipation burning in every step. She was still impossibly giddy from her speedy welcome into the project. Of course that's all over if he doesn't like this, something in the back of her mind whispered. No, she scolded herself, he will, I worked hard on this and it looks amazing. While looking it over she grinned with pride. She was more than confident that he would like what she had done.
As she rounded the corner she found Sail and Acrylic talking amicably. She found a slight bit of apprehension bubble up inside her as she approached. She held the canvass in such a way that he wouldn't see it until such a point when she presented it. Her pace slowed as she grew ever nearer to them. "Ah, there you are." Sail said announcing her return.
"Heh, yeah." she agreed nervously.
"So? Let's see." Acrylic requested as he gestured for her to present the painting. Breathing deeply to calm herself she moved it so that he could see. His eyes widened slightly as he saw it. "That's pretty good actually." he commented grinning, "You're hired!" He offered her a hoof and she looked from it to him in surprise. Slowly she took it in hers and shook. "I'll let you know when we're gonna start planning this all out. It won't be until after the new manager is announced so it might be a bit. But until then, it's been a pleasure."
"Same." she finished as she offered him a smile. He then turned to walk back into his room and shut the door behind him.
"Is that… it?" she inquired confused as she turned to Sail.
"For now anyways. As he has told you a notification will be sent to you as to when the work is going to start. You will know when your services are required. Of course you should understand that your schoolwork does need to be done before you can go to help with it the same way that I expect it to be done before you come to the sorting room. A large deal of work is required to complete the project and while I am glad that you wish to be involved I don't want you to overwork yourself with it." Sail informed her.
"I know." she promised.
"Good. You probably won't be meeting with them for around a month as the new manager to be chosen won't be announced until that time. I suspect that the planning will begin at the first available date for everypony on the committee. As a part of it you will be expected to devote your time to this project. While not all of it a good deal of your free time is now devoted to this. Do you understand?"
"Yes ma'am." she answered.
This soured her excitement slightly as she remembered her promise to spend more time with her friends. I can still keep the promise though, she told herself, I have to. She was determined not to let her friends down simply because she had taken on a new responsibility. Despite the fact that she had told herself that she needed a break she felt as though that was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up. It was a great way for her to learn and she didn't want to miss it. She was certain that she could find a way to manage her time so that she could give her time to both activities. Due to the recent addition to her friendship circle she felt very motivated to be able to work time to spend with them into her busy schedule.
"Also, I managed to get somepony who will come by later to move your dresser over. I believe it was the back wall where you wanted it." Sail added interrupting her thoughts.
"Really?" she inquired excitedly.
"Yes, but you never told me exactly why you wanted it to be moved. Might I ask the reason?"
"Well, I needed more space for my art stuff." she replied which wasn't a complete lie. She did intend to use it as a place for her work.
"But the back wall would work just as well for that." she responded.
"I suppose, but I would prefer the right wall to the back one." she told her with a shrug.
"Why exactly?" she inquired pushing for more information.
"It has more space on it and it's directly across from my bed." she informed her honestly.
"That is true." Sail conceded which ended the conversation. She however was quite certain that Astro was planning something.
The two went to the filly's room so that she could put her painting back up where it had come from. "Are those two going to stay where they are?" Sail asked her looking at the two paintings that were hanging over her bed.
"Hm?" she said confusedly before realizing what Sail was talking about, "Oh! Yes, I think that they'll stay where they are." she answered as she hung the sunset back in its spot.
"But everything else is stored neatly in the dresser correct?" she replied gesturing to said object.
"Except for the stuff on the mirror." she agreed.
"Then what exactly will be going up on that wall?" she questioned wanting to know what her plan was.
"Still working on that, but planning ahead isn't a bad thing." she responded not wanting to reveal anything yet. She wasn't entirely sure of her plan herself. Also, despite what she'd been told, she wasn't completely certain that her plan was completely within the confines of the rules.
"No it is not, but I want to understand your urgency to clear that wall." she told her.
"I just want to be able to see how much space I have so I can start working." she said simply.
"So you do have a plan then?" she queried.
"Sort of, nothing's concrete yet. Just a general concept is all I've got so far." she replied which wasn't entirely true.
"But you know what is going up there to an extent." she pushed.
"I guess, yeah." she conceded finally.
"And would you care to inform me of your plan?" she questioned.
"Well… like I said, nothing's concrete yet. I might not even do anything with it." she answered hoping to dodge the question.
"So?" she began nonchalantly, "Just tell me what it looks like right now."
Astro looked down nervously before deciding to answer the question she'd been asked. "It looks like that." she informed her as she gestured to the two paintings that hung over her bed.
"But you told me that those were staying right where they are." Sail responded in confusion.
"Those were only drafts of an even bigger project." she admitted.
"Really? What kind of project?" she inquired intrigued.
"A mural." she answered simply.
"Which is why you were so interested in getting to work on the one for the new manager." Sail deduced.
"Yes. I'd like to be able to have some practice before I start this one." she confirmed.
"What exactly would you like it to look like?" Sail asked taking a seat and smiling at the filly. Her eyes lit up at the question.
She described her perfect image to her mentor in detail. She flew around the room to show where everything would be and how it would be set up. "See, the reason that there isn't any ground in the sunset is because this is the ground." she said landing and tapping the floor with her hoof. "And I know that I haven't tried doing it yet, but the two pictures are going to meld right here." she continued as she flew up and gestured to a point about three quarters of the way up the right wall. "Since the horizon line is the edge of the floor the ceiling is still going to be the sky. All the constellations are going to go right here." she explained as she flew up to touch the ceiling. "When it's done it's going to cover the entirety of the right wall and the ceiling as well as spill over onto some of the other walls. I don't know if I can, but I'd like to see if I can slowly blend out the color so it fades into the white of the walls instead of just stopping abruptly." she went on. "I can't wait to finish, but I haven't even started planning yet."
"You cannot rush perfection and this certainly sounds like it is going to be grand." Sail told her.
She nodded in understanding and then said with the utmost certainty, "I know, and it is going to be grand. It's going to be magnificent."
It was, just as Sail had predicted, around a month before the new manager was announced. It was a name Astro recognized as she was a part of the sorting room, if not officially as she had yet to take the examination, and needed to know all of the ponies in the division. She was a mare named Mint Drift with a sweet disposition and a sharp mind. While she never did end up contributing a comment of her own she was satisfied with the decision. Much to her happiness Sail seemed to be very pleased with the new manager as well. Then however the work began and it was going to go on for a while.
During the first meeting that the mural committee had she was swiftly introduced to the rest of them before they all started on their project. She was less of a part of it than she would've liked to be, but even just sitting there and listening to what they had to say helped her to learn. She also wasn't completely shut out. She was able to contribute her own ideas and suggestions. Her ideas however came much less often than others', and when they did come they didn't seem to hold as much weight either. She understood that she was easily the least experienced pony there. None disrespected her, but she graciously took her place at the bottom of the totem pole. This didn't discourage her however and she continued to come to every single meeting that they held to discuss what would be going up on the ceiling.
Despite her slight lack of involvement she very much enjoyed the work. As ponies put forth various ideas she listened carefully and took mental notes on all that was said. I'm also here to learn more about what I can do with my own project, she reminded herself, this is about testing the waters not being the leader. She had grown quite used to always being on par or excelling. Due to her origin she had a higher mental maturity than that of her peers, and even in the sorting room she had grown to be essentially the equal of the others there. It was humbling for her to be the least knowledgeable pony in the room. Still, she was glad to grow and so she simply listened and learned as they spoke. With every meeting she learned more and was happy to do so.
It wasn't until later on in the project that her commitment became apparent. As a part of it you will be expected to devote your time to this project. While not all of it a good deal of your free time is now devoted to this. These words came back to her as the time began to pass. She had less and less time to herself and it began to become overbearing. Between school work, sorting, finding time to give to her friends, and working with the mural committee she was running from sunrise to sunset. Besides scribbling some notes for her mural before bed she did essentially nothing else from her own private agenda. When told that it would be time consuming she hadn't imagined that it would be quite so taxing.
Still, she was determined to keep her promise to spend time with her friends, especially her new ones. It didn't help that she had twice as many friends to make time for, but it wasn't a bad problem to have. She spent as much time as she could with them when she found it. Unfortunately her allotting every free moment to them, due to her busy schedule, equated to the same amount of time as previous years. The fact that her best efforts equated only to on par frustrated her, but she did her best to keep her mood happy. Spending the time with them did help her mood greatly, but afterwards it always seemed to sour. They kept her spirits high and once their meet was over the joy seemed to fade to the background.
She had few problems in getting everything mandatory done, but it was when she tried to move into what she wanted to do that she encountered conflict. She tried to push herself to make the time, but there didn't seem to be enough to go around. If she did get to the sorting room it was normally late and Sail would rush her off to bed not too long after. Sail did her best to be sympathetic towards her situation and let her stay later than she normally would've, but there was only so much she could do to help. She was worried about the filly was overworking herself and wanted deeply to be able to assist her. A part of her was urging her to pull Astro from the committee, but she could in no way believe that the filly would thank her for that. It was clear that despite the toll that the time taken was having on her this opportunity meant a great deal.
Astro remembered how after missing so many sessions with the division 1 team she had forgotten quite a good deal. She didn't want to have the same thing happen again. There was also the simple fact that she missed them all. While her relationships with them were far less personal than her connection to Sail she still enjoyed all of their company. The activity was also one that she found a great deal of enjoyment in. To her dismay and disappointment however sorting had fallen to the bottom of her priority list. She had already made a promise to her friends, she had committed to the mural, and she couldn't skip out on school work. Sorting wasn't required of her, and she had made no promises to anypony, but that was only because she never thought that she'd have a need to. She had never imagined that something she took for granted like that would fall out of place.
Astro didn't want to admit it but her routine, something she had always to taken for granted, was crashing down around her. While to some a break in routine was simply an inconvenience for her it was a great crack in the foundation of her world. She had always had a steady quiet pulse of time going on in the background. Even when she had moved to the surface she had found a new, if not quite so exact, schedule to follow. It was just a fact of life for her. Things had an order to them that was followed. As everything seemed to start happening whenever it had the chance to the world's foundation continued to crumble underneath of her.
She did her utmost to find joy in every moment that she could and found herself able to find a good deal of happiness in it. Still, it was those moments at the end of the day when she was by herself in her dark room which was lit only by her own coat that it all crashed down. She had nothing to think about besides how rundown and tired she felt. The darkness of the atmosphere didn't help her already gloomy mood. Running around all the time would be pretty stressful and stress isn't good for anypony I don't think. The all too true words came to her mind while she tried to rest. The past few months had been nothing but running around and it was all too taxing for her. Stress isn't good for anypony, she agreed silently in her mind.
While it didn't completely lift her sorrow the oncoming spring did help her mood. The lengthening days and sunshine that she felt not too far in her future did a lot to improve her outlook even if the stress of managing everything was getting to her. She hoped that it might bring her the relaxed moments that she needed desperately, but she knew not to raise her hopes too high. Instead of trying to change what was going on around to bend in ways that it couldn't she tried to just enjoy the sunshine and what she had available to her. That however didn't mean that she wasn't still hoping for a break.
She was unaware of the fact that Sail was already working on organizing this vacation for her. Just as she had promised she was still working on setting up the sleepover in such a way that she could host it and keep the entirety of the base in the dark about it. Due to the importance placed upon secrecy it was difficult to keep an event meant to destroy it, at least for one pony anyway, under wraps. The only way it was going to happen was with a bit of chaos in the base and an opportunity to watch the house for the weekend. All of the ponies in the base took turns watching the house that the building was hidden underneath. They always had a pony up there just in case something should happen. There was always a fair amount of hustle and bustle as the new manager settled in. She had also managed to put in a word to the new manager saying that she would be perfectly fine with being put on the spot to watch the house should a complication arise. She had her excuse for a weekend in that on weekdays of course she had Astro to take to and from school and look after, but a weekend would be no problem at all. While she didn't intend upon making her own complication happen she had a feeling that something would with a new manager who was still figuring out how to run things.
She couldn't imagine that it would be difficult to get Astro up there with her. Again she had a perfect excuse in that the filly was experiencing difficulty with all of her commitments and she had every right to be worried. Her asking if it would be alright for her to come up so that she could watch over her wouldn't be considered conspicuous at all. She could just mention to Acrylic that she wanted to give the filly a short break. Only a day or two for her to collect herself before she came right back. He wasn't an unreasonable pony and would certainly understand. Then all that would be left was for Astro to invite her friends over. She knew how much that she had been looking forward to this and hoped it might do something for the filly's ailing spirit.
Sail was getting ready to go and put Astro to bed for the night and planned on breaking the news then. She had been called in earlier that day by Mint Drift about a complication in the scheduling. Ponies were supposed to be notified at least a week before they were supposed to watch the house. It seemed she had fallen behind. Sail was of course more than happy to offer her assistance and take the weekend. While it was most definitely short notice she believed that it could still be arranged. She had a feeling that Astro's friends would make the time to be there. She knew them to be quite close.
As she stepped into the filly's room to find her scribbling something on a piece of paper she was happy to announce her success. Astro looked up from her paper as she heard Sail come in. This was normally the signal that it was getting close to the time for her to get to sleep, so she quickly and quietly put away her pencil and paper and curled up underneath the covers of her bed. She did all of this without so much as a word from Sail. After the filly was done Sail moved to sit next to her. She noticed Sail's joyful smile instantly and wondered why it was there. She hadn't heard of anything that might cause this and so her curiosity was piqued.
"I know that things have been a bit rough recently with everything that you have to keep up with, but I did manage to put something together for you." she told her.
"Really?" she questioned curiously.
"Yes, really. This weekend I will be watching the house. And that is everypony's least favorite job. Do you know why?" she replied building up to her final announcement.
"No." she answered confused.
"It's because it is always so boring up there in the house. Nopony ever goes up there aside from the pony who's watching it. They have to stay up there all alone with absolutely nopony to keep them company." she explained.
"That sounds pretty boring." she agreed.
"It is. I have done it before and can promise you that nothing ever happens." she informed her.
"So?" she queried wondering why this was important.
"I have the house all to myself this weekend. And I wouldn't mind some company to get rid of the horrid boring atmosphere. I think five foals running around would liven the place up a bit." she said finally as she offered the filly a small nuzzle.
Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on. "You mean I can invite them!?" she exclaimed sitting up and sending the covers flying off of her.
"Yes." she answered laughing slightly.
"That's amazing!" she cried joyfully.
"I know that it is short notice, but I believe that they can make time to come. I'm sure that they will all be excited to hear themselves." she said in response.
"Yeah! This is great! Thanks so much!" she said gratefully as she hugged Sail. She returned the gesture gladly. After Astro broke the hug Sail stood and pulled the covers back over the filly.
"It is nothing much. Now, you should get some rest. The faster that you fall asleep the quicker that the morning will seem to come." she finished as she nuzzled the filly lightly and kissed her on the forehead before walking out.
When Astro awoke the next morning she couldn't have been happier to get to school. The thought of getting to invite her friends over was practically causing her heart to burst from the excitement. She could hardly wait to announce this event to all of them. She was standing ready to go before Sail even arrived to take her to school. She rushed the whole way there in her hurry to reach them. With how long it had been she had just about given up on the fact that it might happen. While she had faith in Sail she knew that it wasn't an easy thing to do. She could hardly believe that it was even going to happen. There was no hiding her smile as she walked up to the school after bidding Sail goodbye.
Both Spot and Ink who were waiting waved as she approached. She returned the gesture still beaming with joy. It didn't take long for the two to notice her enthusiastic grin. "You look really happy!" Ink began excitedly as she reached them.
"Yeah." she agreed, "But I'll wait to say anything until everypony gets here."
"Aw, does it have to wait?" Ink asked in a disappointment.
"I just want everypony to hear the news at the same time." she answered truthfully.
"If it has to wait then that's okay." she replied.
"Thanks." she said gratefully in response.
"I'm excited to hear." Spot chimed in.
"Excited to hear what?" Diplo inquired having already entered the circle discreetly.
"I have news." Astro announced proudly still wearing her wide smile.
"Really?" he queried intrigued.
"Yeah, really good news too." she confirmed.
"Then what's the wait?" he questioned wanting to hear it.
"Well, Kara isn't here yet." she answered simply.
"But she isn't going to be here until the bell rings." Spot reminded her.
"And then we'll have to wait until lunch." Diplo added.
"Lunch it is then." she said with finality. She was not intent on leaving the first friend she'd made there out, especially considering the nature of the news she was to give them. If that meant waiting a few hours longer then that was fine by her.
It did end up being the complete few hours as Kara, as per usual, arrived basically exactly when the bell rang. Still when she arrived at lunch all of them were waiting excitedly to hear the news. She sat down and found all eyes turned to face her. They all were dying to hear what she had to say. "So, this weekend," she began beaming excitedly, "I am able to host a sleepover at my place!" Both Ink and Diplo seemed slightly confused at her announcement, but Kara and Spot's reactions were nothing short of shock. The two completely astonished ponies had known her significantly longer and understood better the weight of the news. For as long as they'd known her she'd never visited any nighttime events and they had noticed the pattern, but never questioned it. This invitation to an overnight occasion caused both of their jaws to drop.
Diplo looked her in confusion, "That's-"
"A huge deal!" Kara cut him off, "I'm so there!"
"Yeah, definitely! Me too!" Spot chimed understanding the importance of the event.
"It's kind of short notice, but I'll ask my parents." Ink contributed slightly befuddled by the obvious weight of the sleepover.
"Same." Diplo agreed with her.
"Oh, okay. Well, I hope that you two can make it." she said honestly. While they didn't get it she understood perfectly well that it would be a one time event.
"Yeah well you've got a definite plus two!" Kara promised excitedly.
"But you haven't asked your parents yet." Astro argued.
"I am going to be there." she promised with certainty as she punctuated every word.
"Me too." Spot agreed.
"Awesome." Astro finished gladly. A silence fell during which the two foals that were newer to the group looked on in bewilderment. The silence however was broken as the class that the two colts belonged to left the lunch room.
Astro was slightly disappointed at Ink and Diplo's lack of appreciation for the importance of the event. She did understand that they hadn't known her as long and therefore couldn't grasp the importance of the sleepover the way that Kara and Spot could. Still, I'll know tomorrow whether or not they can come, she told herself, and I already know that Kara and Spot will be there. I won't be by myself and I know that, she reassured herself. Her excitement still persevered even if it was dampened slightly. She was happy to get what she could out of it even if it was nothing more. This is going to work out, she promised herself, even if not perfectly.
She found herself doodling absentmindedly as she thought. "This means a lot to you doesn't it?" Ink asked her quietly. She was shocked to find the filly to be engaging her in conversation. She had never done so in a lesson before.
"Yeah, it's pretty important to me honestly. If you can't go though I won't hold it against you. It's not your fault that it's short notice, or if your busy." she reassured her.
"Okay. I'll do my best to make it though. Promise." she replied.
"Thanks." she said gratefully.
"No problem." she finished before again looking up towards the teacher.
-/|\-
"What's such a huge deal about a sleepover?" Diplo asked once the two were inside the classroom.
"Whenever anything happens that even might last until after dark she can't be there." Spot explained to him.
"Every time?" he asked skeptically.
"Without fail." he promised with certainty.
"Really?" he queried still not completely believing him.
"Yeah. For as long as both Kara and I have known her she's never been out after dark. Now she's purposefully inviting us over to spend the night. It's kind of a big deal. It's also obvious that she's ecstatic. I'm not missing it. If I were you I wouldn't either. This might not ever even happen again." he answered seriously.
"You think so?" he questioned.
"Yeah." he answered assuredly.
"Then I'd better try and be there." he replied simply.
"Definitely." he agreed. With that the conversation ended as they took their seats in the class.
-/|\-
Kara went back to her classroom alone absolutely ecstatic. Nothing was going to ruin her day in that moment. Astro's having a sleepover! The words repeated incessantly in her head. Her smile stretched practically from ear to ear in her joy at the announcement. There was no way no how she was going to miss it. Nothing was going to stop her from being there. She didn't care if it ended up that she was the only one there, she was going to be there. She continued to beam to herself for the rest of the day as she thought of everything that they'd get to do while they stayed there. Her grin was stuck on her face even after they had bid their goodbyes at the end of the day.
After they had gone their separate ways at the end of the day Astro went to go and meet Sail. She was waiting for her politely and wanting to hear what had happened with the invitations. She was hopeful that all of them would be able to go, but she understood that sometimes schedules would get crowded. She hoped for Astro's sake that this wasn't the case for her friends. She knew how much this sleepover meant to her. She wasn't a fan of keeping secrets, and this would allow her to get a very large one off of her chest. It was something that Sail felt the filly needed desperately. She also needed a break from everything that was going on around her. Having all four of her friends would make the occasion all the more sweet.
When Astro walked up to her grinning she returned the gesture gladly. "I assume that it all went well?" Sail inquired as the two started to walk off towards where they would teleport back into the base.
"Yeah, mostly anyways." Astro answered.
"Mostly?" she queried frowning.
"Yeah. Spot and Kara promised that they'd come, but Ink and Diplo aren't so sure. They are gonna try though." she explained.
"Oh. Well, there is still hope right?" she reasoned.
"Definitely." she agreed.
The two returned to the base in a companionable silence. Astro was simply wondering what she would find out the next day of their attendance. The rest of the day seemed to take an eternity as she waited for the time to pass. She wouldn't know until the following morning and so every second seemed to expand to take the place of twenty. When Sail did finally come in to put her to bed it felt as though a whole twenty-four hours had already passed. She had trouble sleeping as well due to her nagging anticipation. It had been far too long when she awoke the next morning. Not only that, but it was a whole other eon until it was time for her to leave for school. The waiting was growing agonizing when Sail finally came in to take her to school.
It wasn't until they were well on their way when the dread started to build up in her. What if they can't go, she thought in fear. She knew that her one and only chance had just been presented to her and it wasn't going to roll around again. If they couldn't go then that was the end of it. Her worry only continued to grow as the school came into view. She trusted Kara and Spot when they promised that they'd come, but Ink and Diplo hadn't given much of anything solid aside from a promise to try. She did believe that they would try as well, but that didn't lessen her anxiety as they continued to approach the school. At least I'll know soon right, she reasoned as they reached the building.
She quickly bid her goodbye to Sail before heading over to her two friends who were already waiting there. They both smiled to her as she approached and waved in greeting. She returned the gesture if not with entire sincerity. She only had one thing on her mind and that was the R.S.V.P. "Hey." she greeted them as she arrived next to them. She felt bad being so blunt, but she cut to the chase after they had finished greeting her. "So, um, can you go?" she questioned. The question was directed more towards Ink, but Spot answered first, "Yeah, I talked to my mom and she said that I could."
"Great!" she replied happily, but she had already bet on that answer. She looked over at her other companion to find her staring at the ground with a frown on her face. It wasn't hard for her to figure out what that meant. "Oh." she said quietly in disappointment as her stature sagged slightly.
She looked up at her sadly, "I'm really sorry, but-"
"It's fine. I'm not mad, I promise." she reassured her as she felt herself weighed down slightly by the dejectedness she felt.
"Thanks." Ink mumbled gratefully.
There was no denying that the response had greatly depressed her mood as she heard it. Still, I know that I have at least one attendee, she reasoned as she looked over at Spot. "It's not like the whole thing's ruined. It's too bad that you can't come, but it'll be fine." she promised her, however she was more reassuring herself. She straightened herself back up and in doing so noticed Diplo approaching them. She looked over at him and smiled slightly as he walked over to them. While she was doing this however she was also preparing for her mood to take another dive. He was the other pony who wasn't sure if they could go and she was ready for him to report, what was in her mind, the worst.
They all greeted him as he entered the circle and again she went straight to the point of it. She didn't want to wait any longer than she had to for an answer. "So, can you go to the sleepover?" she asked after the initial meet and greet was over.
He frowned, "Sorry, I talked to my parents, but they said no."
She was glad that she had taken those few moments to prepare herself, "Oh, ok. That's fine." She noticed that Spot shot him a look that he didn't return and instead looked towards the floor. She sighed silently to herself in disappointment, but reminded herself not to show her sadness.
Her dejectedness was momentarily thrown away however to make place for shock. All of them were slightly surprised as Kara pulled into their circle smiling proudly. "Guess who's early today guys!" she proclaimed smugly as they all looked over at her. "And, I got here just in time to make my announcement. That I am going to be going to your super amazing sleepover." she finished dramatically as she draped an arm around Astro's shoulder and pulled her into a side hug.
"Awesome!" she replied laughing slightly.
"So is it gonna be a full house?" she asked looking expectantly over at the others.
"No, it's just you me and Spot right now." she answered her mood dampening.
"Really?" she inquired frowning. She then snorted nonchalantly and readjusted her arm around Astro, "Whatever. Now it'll just be the three of us like the good old days."
"Yeah, that's right." she agreed glad that she had Kara there to cheer up like always. With that however the bell rang and their conversation was cut off as they were all herded indoors.
Astro waited patiently for the end of the week when the sleepover would finally happen. It was difficult, but she did her best to wait graciously for the event to finally come. There was no denying her disappointment that both of her new friends couldn't go, but she was, in the end, able to find joy in the fact that she would have guests. Her only worry was of how her two friends would react to her nighttime appearance. She did however trust them and had faith that they wouldn't say anything against her. Still, when she thought of revealing herself she felt butterflies in her stomach. Both nerves and joy fluttered around inside of her as she awoke the morning of the sleepover.
The majority of her things had already been moved up to the house the night before so that they wouldn't have to worry about it that day. Her room was on the second floor of the house so it did take some effort despite her minimal belongings. It was planned that they would stay in her room for the majority of the time. That way should somepony come they could stay hidden upstairs. She didn't think anypony would, but it was never a bad idea to have a plan just in case. She got up and got herself ready while she waited to be invited upstairs. Sail would come to take her up there soon and then all that would be left was the time until they arrived. She wasn't a fan of that concept, but she had of course planned to make sure that she kept herself occupied.
Her belongings that were moved upstairs included all of her art supplies that she intended to mess with while she waited for her two friends to arrive. She had never perfected the transition between the sunset and the night sky. She had a goal and that was enough for her to focus on to make the wait take less time. Recognizing that if they arrived while she was working she would have to abandon whatever it was she didn't intend to attempt anything at all complicated. All that it was meant to do was keep her occupied for a long enough stretch of time. Right then however, as her art supplies were already upstairs, she had nothing to do but wait.
It felt as though far too much time had passed when Sail finally came in to retrieve her. "Good morning." Sail greeted her as she finished opening the door.
"Good morning to you to." Astro responded trotting over to her.
"I assume you're prepared to go up to the house?" she inquired.
"Definitely!" she answered more than ready to get up there. With that the two left for the manual entrance.
"Are you excited?" Sail asked her as soon as they were alone in the stone elevator.
"Yeah, but I'm a little nervous too. I'll get over it though." she promised more reassuring herself than her mentor.
"I bet you three are going to have a great deal of fun together, and imagine how much better your relationship with those two will be once they can understand this about you. While I can't say I have spoken to them from what you've told me about them they both seem like very nice young foals who care about you very much. I don't see this doing anything other than strengthening your bond with them." Sail reassured her with a nuzzle.
"Thanks." she said grateful for the support.
The elevator opened up and the two stepped out just in time for the pony who had been watching the house prior to them step in. While the pony that they had just traded places with rode back down to the base the pair who had just stepped out walked into the living room of the fairly barren house. There was some essentials, like food in the cupboards, to make the house look lived in, but for the most part it was empty. Still, it's better to have the sleepover here than not have it at all, Astro reasoned. She trotted excitedly beside Sail in her enjoyment of the moment as they walked through the house.
"You may go up to your room if you want. I'm going to make sure that I have everything ready to go as well." Sail told her.
"Great!" she answered before shooting up to her room. It looked just like her room in the base for the most part. Her paintings were hung on the walls and everything she owned had been moved up there. She had been sure to put everything in the exact same place that it was before. The room had identical dimensions to hers with a dresser and mirror that looked to be exactly the same as her own. She recognized that if you were to take out her personal belongings this was the same format for everpony's room. Little had been done to personalize hers besides the paintings on the walls which did come off easily. That's going to change soon though, she thought proudly as she imagined her beautiful mural on the wall.
She went straight to work as she got up there as she pulled out her art supplies and practiced blending the colors that she hadn't worked with as much. While she did this she made sure to remember how she got every successful result and then replicating it to make sure that it would work out the way that she wanted it to. She let the colors in front of her occupy her conscious thought as the time passed right by her. The exercise was therapeutic as it had been far too long since she'd had a chance to do something of the sort. An unconscious smile crept across her face as she worked through the various shades and tints at her disposal. As every little piece came together she built off of it until it looked just how she pictured or she ran out of space on the page. Soon enough she had a sort of collage of the mural that she hoped to build. Still, she continued to work.
By her count almost no time had passed when the doorbell finally rang. At first she was shocked as she took a step back from her current work, but it was barely a second before she recovered and ran down the stairs. When she reached the first floor Sail was already on her way to the door, but she made it there first. She opened it to find two ponies waiting for her on the other side. One of them was Spot and the other a pegasus mare who looked significantly alike to him. Her coat was the same color as his with spots of the same color as his as well. Her mane and tail were of an identical shade to his and of a similar length and tidiness. She looked up at her and smiled. It was in the mare's face that she found the difference between the two of them. Her eyes were a sort of sky blue color as opposed to Spot's which were more of a honey yellow shade.
Sail walked up behind Astro and opened the door wider for the two enter. "Please come in." she welcomed them as the filly stepped out of the way. The two walked into the small home as they were invited. "Would you like to go ahead and take your stuff upstairs?" Sail asked Spot noticing his full saddlebags.
"Oh, um, yeah." he replied with a nod.
"I'll show you where my room is!" she replied excitedly.
"Okay." he answered before following her as she bounded up the stairs. He wasn't quite so fast as he had his things to carry, but she was also significantly more excited at that point.
When they entered her room she very suddenly became aware of what a mess it was due to what she had been doing to pass the time. "Sorry," she apologized, "I thought I'd work a bit with some of my art stuff to pass the time until you got here."
"It's fine, what were you doing?" he asked curiously.
"Oh I was just working on some blending stuff. I want to try and put these two paintings together." she informed him as she gestured to the sunset and the night sky on the wall.
"Really?" he queried becoming intrigued.
"Yeah, but I need to be able to blend the sunset to the sky before I can do that. It's gonna look amazing when it's done." she told him losing herself in the thought of the final image.
"I bet. You look really excited about it." he commented.
"Yeah. Don't worry though, I won't disappear off the face of the planet to do it." she promised.
"That's good." he replied with a grin.
"Anyways, you can set your stuff down anywhere, I'm going to go ahead and start cleaning some of this stuff up before Kara gets here." she informed him.
"Don't put it all away though. I think it might be cool to see you make something." he responded.
"Really?" she questioned slightly confused.
"Yeah. Your stuff is really good. It'd be cool to see how you make it I think." he told her simply.
"You think so?" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah. Kara might not because she can't stand still for two seconds, but I do." he answered honestly.
"Okay. Well, maybe later I guess. I think we should wait for Kara to get here before deciding anything." she replied as she finished tidying up the majority of her things.
"That's fine." he said back.
"We should probably head back down now." she told him. He nodded in agreement and the two went back down the stairs.
They found Sail and the other mare talking with each other by the door. They halted their conversation as they saw the two foals approaching. "Are you all situated then dear?" the still unnamed mare asked Spot as they reached the bottom floor.
"Yeah!" he promised her as he ran up to her.
"Good. Then I'd probably best be going." she replied.
"Okay." he said with slight disappointment in his voice. She leaned down and nuzzled him and he returned the gesture.
"I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow." she promised as she opened the door to leave.
"I know, bye mom." he finished right before she shut the door behind her.
"So now we are just waiting for your friend Kara to arrive?" Sail asked.
"Yep." Astro confirmed for her.
"You two can go and do what you like until then I suppose. I don't think you'll have any problem hearing the doorbell when it rings." she replied.
"Maybe we should just stay down here until she gets here." she suggested in turn.
"Yeah, we can do that if you like." he agreed.
"I don't think she'll be here too much later. She'll probably be here soon I think." she told him.
With that the two sat down on the couch to wait for her to arrive. Just as Astro had predicted they hadn't been there for very long when the doorbell was rung. She ran excitedly to get it as Spot followed behind her. She had barely opened the door before the unicorn filly burst inside excitedly. The unicorn mare that followed behind her had a much calmer demeanor about her. She had a coat that was a similar green to Kara, but her mane was a soft yellow color as opposed to the bright orange of the filly's. Her eyes were a soft brown color and looked to be very serene. This was also quite a difference from Kara's striking violet irises.
"I'm here!" Kara cried excitedly as she bounded enthusiastically around the two foals who had arrived earlier then her.
"I noticed." Astro replied as she laughed slightly, "You wanna go up to my room?"
"Totally!" she shouted eagerly.
"Wait." the mare said stopping them.
"Aw, but I want to go see it!" she complained.
"Don't I get to say goodbye first?" she inquired as she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." she conceded as she trotted over to the mare.
"Love you dear." she said as she offered the filly a nuzzle.
"Love you too mom." she replied as she returned.
"See you tomorrow, and have fun." the mare told her as she exited out the door and shut it behind her.
"Anyways, right this way!" Astro called back as she darted up the stairs. It didn't take long for Kara to catch up to her and the two galloped up the stairs side by side.
"Hey! Wait up guys!" Spot called up to them as he cantered up the stairs after them.
"How about you catch up!" Kara called down to him over her shoulder as she found herself ahead of both of them. She was laughing hysterically as he reached the second floor ahead of both of her comrades.
She was still snickering as both of the other foals reached her at the top. "Took you long enough! Now c'mon! Where's your room?" Kara said silencing her laughter.
"Right this way." Astro announced proudly as she took the lead and walked onwards to her room.
"Sweet!" Kara exclaimed as she was welcomed inside. "So I can just put my stuff anywhere here?" she asked as she gestured to the room around her.
"Yep." she replied simply. With that the unicorn simply dropped all of her belongings to the floor beneath her.
She then declared with conviction, "This is gonna be awesome!"
Just as Kara had decreed it would be the event was an incredible amount of fun. While it started out a little slow as they tried to figure out what to do it soon kicked off. They kept themselves busy doing whatever they could which didn't allow very much time for chatting. The group did everything that they could for every second of the day so that they didn't waste a minute of the time. They were all quite tired from running around and playing games and whatever other nonsense that they had chosen to get up to when they finally crashed in Astro's room after having their dinner. It was the first time that they had taken the time to slow down and talk. Astro had memorized the time of the sunset and was counting down the minutes in her head.
The entirety of the trio was camping out on the floor. While Astro could have very well slept on the bed she opted not to and instead chose to sleep on the floor with her two friends. Laying next to her two tired out friends she felt very content with all that they'd done. "That was fun." she said finally breaking the silence.
"Heck yeah it was fun!" Kara agreed instantaneously as she grinned at her friend. She was still panting slightly from the events of the day.
"We really need to try and do this again some time." Spot commented.
"That'd be nice." Astro agreed even if she knew that would probably never happen.
"What time is it?" he asked curiously as he changed the subject.
"Just after 7:00pm." Astro answered promptly knowing that the time until the sunset was dwindling further and further.
"Cool." he answered thankful for the response.
"No problem." she replied with a smile.
"Yeah, anyways, what's with the sudden sleepover invite? Just curious." Kara queried.
"Oh, well I just sort of got the chance and jumped on it." Astro answered with a nonchalant shrug.
"Really?" Spot asked in confusion.
"Yeah. I was pretty excited when I found out and I didn't want to pass it up. I don't really know when another opportunity might come up though. I'm really glad that you two could be here at least." she replied honestly.
"Just like when we were younger." Kara reminded her.
"Yeah, I know." she replied.
"Good." Spot chimed in.
"Trust me, wouldn't have missed for the world." Kara promised her.
"Yeah, me neither." he agreed.
"Thanks, I appreciate it. I don't blame the others though. It was really short notice and since I haven't known them as long they don't… get it the way that you guys do." Astro told them.
"I told Diplo that he should really try to come, but I guess he just couldn't." he informed her.
"It was the same with Ink." she reassured him.
"It's whatever if you ask me. I mean we're here right." Kara responded with a shrug.
"Yeah, and I'm really grateful for that." she told them with sincerity. A content and companionable silence fell over the three of them for a minute as they simply enjoyed each other's presence.
In the end it was Spot who broke it saying, "Hey, you never got to show me your art stuff! Since we're already here, well, why not?"
"Oh, um, okay." she answered slightly nervously, "I mean, it is going to take a while, but I could try to show you something. If I were to just sketch it out first that wouldn't take as long."
"No! Do the whole thing! I mean who wants to sleep tonight anyways?" Kara said as she rolled her eyes. "I really want to see this!" she added as she smiled up at Astro.
"Well, okay then." she conceded as she went to go and get her stuff.
"Awesome!" she cried excitedly.
She grabbed her pencils and erasers as well as a piece of paper. She was slightly anxious due to the fact that she was going to have an audience and her work would most definitely run until long after the moon had risen. "So, uh, what do you want me to draw then?" she asked the two of them.
"Whatever you want to." Spot answered promptly.
"Yeah, surprise us!" Kara agreed excitedly.
"Okay, just give me a second to think." she told them as she tried to choose a scene to depict. Her thoughts wouldn't stop travelling towards the sudden glow that would fill the room once the sun had set. She channeled those thoughts onto the page as she started to sketch out her idea. Both of her friends sat behind her and looked on in curiosity at what had just started to form.
"What is it?" Kara questioned.
She considered telling them but in the end said, "You'll see."
Soon what had just been show and tell became something that she was excited to complete. The idea she had formed while pondering her dilemma was one that she very much enjoyed. As she drew her pencil across the page she wanted to see the finished result as well as her friends. They watched from behind as she worked quickly over the paper. For her however they weren't even there. She had practically forgotten their presence as she became rather invested in what she was working on. She forgot the time as well. She drew through the minutes completely oblivious to the oncoming sunset. One of her friends however did see the giant orb start to dip beyond the horizon.
"There!" she declared proudly as she drew in some of the last pieces of the sketch. She was rather happy with herself for her proficiency in finishing it as quickly as she had. Remembering her audience she turned to display the finished sketch to find that she only had the attention of one of them. Kara was gazing curiously at her finished sketch, but Spot was looking towards the window. In her confusion she followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. She found it just in time to watch the sun dip completely behind the horizon. Kara having noticed that her two friends' attention was somewhere else joined in the group looking towards the distant skyline.
Astro's eyes widened in fear as she took a step back from her two friends. She gulped silently as a soft white light began to fill the room. Her two friends noticed the new light and quickly traced the source back to her. She stood a few steps away from them with her coat glowing and tensed up from worry. Her anxiety continued to grow as both of her friends' eyes widened in shock. "You're… glowing?" Kara questioned in surprise.
"Um, yeah." she answered nervously.
"Do you always glow like that?" Spot inquired.
"At night anyways." she informed the both of them.
"Which is why you're never out after dark." he filled in. She nodded in confirmation.
"Both the sun and moon give off magical waves and my coat reacts to the magic given off by the moon. It makes my coat glow at night, but nopony is supposed to know. I couldn't stand lying to you guys about it so Sail managed to arrange this for me so I could show you guys." she explained nervously.
"Anyways, sorry I missed you finishing that. I just figured that if something was going to happen it would happen after the sun had gone down. Can I see it?" Spot inquired.
"Y-yeah, of course." she answered startled by the lack of response to her luminous state.
"Awesome!" he replied gratefully. She walked uncertainly back over to her drawing to show it to him.
"I actually got the idea from my nerves to be honest." she told them as she held it up to show them.
The pencil sketch she was displaying had yet to be colored and was purely black and white at that point. Still, she had shaded everything so the picture was fairly complete. It was a forest setting in the background and you could just see the moon in the sky. A blooming flower took center stage and was clearly the source of light in the scene. "I just couldn't stop thinking of what was going to happen tonight and, well, I made this." she continued.
"It looks really cool!" Kara commented excitedly.
"Yeah, I can see what you were getting at." Spot agreed as he looked it over.
"I think I might really want to finalize this." Astro told them as she looked it over herself, "You know, with a paint and canvass and stuff, but that's gonna take a lot longer than this so I'm probably going to save that for later."
"Show me when you're done." he stated simply as he looked at the sketch.
"I will." she promised, "And I can show all of them! Even if they won't quite get it as well."
Kara shrugged, "They'll see eventually right?"
"Yeah, I just don't know long it's going to be until eventually." she admitted with a sad sigh.
"We got your back. Anypony decides to get pushy and we'll make sure they back off." she promised. "Right?" she continued shooting a look at Spot.
"Yeah, of course. Still, what does 'making sure they back off' entail?" he inquired giving her a slightly worried look. Kara just shrugged in response. "Right." he replied sounding nervous. This elicited a slight laugh from the two fillies.
Kara yawned after the laughing had stopped and moved to curl up in her sleeping bag. "Anypony else tired?" she inquired as she looked over at her two companions.
"Yeah, a little bit." Spot agreed.
"Sure." Astro said even though she wasn't drowsy at all. She didn't want to keep the two of them up just because of her own lack of a need for sleep. The trio all curled up to go to bed side by side on the floor. Soon enough all of them had drifted off into a quiet and peaceful slumber.
When they awoke the next morning neither of them treated her like she was any different from them. The same way that they had shaken off their shock so easily when it happened they almost seemed as if they weren't anymore the wiser to her difference. While she had expected a much more dramatic reaction she couldn't have been more grateful for their lack of care about her apparent uniqueness. She couldn't help but find herself grinning constantly. No more secrets, no more having to lie, she told herself as she played with them for the remainder of their time together. Even when they had to leave she was still smiling as the door shut behind them.
"Is it safe to say that last night went well?" Sail asked after both of Astro's friends had gone.
"Yeah!" she replied enthusiastically, "They didn't even care. It was amazing! And now I don't have to lie about not being able to be at stuff because they know why!"
"I told you that you had nothing to worry about." she responded with a grin as she nuzzled the filly.
"I know. I even got an idea for a painting, but I don't really want to start anything until the mural's done. It's a lot of work, but I'm learning a lot from it." she told her.
"That's good. Just let me know if it's too much alright." she said with a hint of worry in her eyes.
"I will. I promise." she reassured her.
And so Astro's work with the Mural Committee continued through the weeks. She continued to have to work hard to balance her time between all of her commitments, but the atmosphere had a lighter feeling to it after that night. Just the fact that they knew seemed to sweeten the moments for her. The work didn't become any less difficult, but she recognized how that wasn't the way things worked. She found her happiness in the moments that she learned, and spent with those close to her. It was a while before the work was done for her. In the end she learned much from it and had grown closer to her friends as well.
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.
It had been a few months since Astro's completion of her mural and her getting her cutie mark. Since then she hadn't had any other works that came close to the mural in terms of personal significance. She walked through the town trying to find anything that might inspire her but nothing seemed to. Her muse had left her and she could only hope that it wasn't for good. For the past while she had simply been working with technique. All of her attempts at concept sketches ended up in the trash. Her work had gone essentially nowhere since she had received her cutie mark. While she was proud of having gotten it and her mural after it was finished she had no further plans. Her lack of something to do with her paints frustrated her greatly.
She noticed the sun dipping ever closer towards the horizon and sighed sadly. It was time that she returned to the base. She trudged towards her destination with her head hung and her eyes on her hooves, because of this she didn't notice the pony that was hurrying in her direction. Unfortunately for the two of them he was too busy looking over his shoulder to notice her. The two collided with each other and fell back on their rumps. Astro looked up in surprise to meet the silver eyes of the colt who had just run into her. He didn't look to be any older than she was which confused her, but she said nothing as she was too shocked to. The young orange pegasus looked a little scruffy as he rose quickly back up to his hooves. Both his mane and tail were a yellow color and spikey in appearance. He looked to be rather annoyed by the fact that they'd bumped into each other. "Hey! Watch where you're going next time!" he yelled at her before taking off once more. She hadn't even had a chance to stand up. When she did eventually rise to her hooves he was long gone down the street and around the corner still running towards his unknown destination. She shook off the dirt and looked behind her where he'd run. She gave a slight snort of annoyance before continuing on her way back. She felt no need to bother herself with him and went on her way.
Her life went on as per usual as she went to school the next day. She was still the only one of her friends to have their cutie mark, but she was sure that the others were well on their way to theirs as the majority of them had some sort of activity that they were excelling in. Ink continued to be devoted to her schoolwork and did well in all of her classes. She was always willing to help to tutor the others who might not have been doing as well. Kara had continued with her work in martial arts branching out from her start in tae kwon do. There however she had earned her red senior belt which was the last one before she would earn her black. It was Spot and Diplo who, at least from her point of view, had yet to display a particular affinity for something that she recognized. Both of them continued to be rather reserved, quiet, and levelheaded as per usual. Diplo had, in a way, become the designated peacekeeper in the group whenever arguments, which were few and far between, arose. She supposed that was something, but that did leave one pony that she had no clue what to think of.
Her complete cluelessness as to what he might get his cutie mark for upset her as the two had been friends for so long. She considered approaching him about the subject, but was concerned that she might be bringing up a sore point if he didn't have any idea either and was worried about it as well. She didn't touch the subject when she spoke to him and instead tried to figure it out for herself. Using some of what she'd learned in the sorting room she tried to calculate what he might end up talented in, but she came up short as he had never really talked about things he enjoyed doing on his own time. He had never come up to them with anything new he'd started working with either. She felt bad about the fact that she knew so little about his personal interests. Still, she didn't interrogate and did her best to try and leave the subject be.
It wasn't until very late in the school year that she got an indication of what Spot might have a talent for. She had gotten to school when she normally did and as usual both Spot and Ink were already there. The two were talking as she approached and they interrupted their conversation to greet her. The others arrived and the group was hurried inside and to their respective classes as the bell ring. That particular year she shared a class with him and was lucky enough to sit next to him. It was apparent to her that he might've been downtrodden about something. The fact that he wasn't talking wasn't a big deal as he wasn't particularly talkative, but on the rare occasions when he did speak to her that day he seemed rather disinterested which was unusual.
"Are you okay?" she asked eventually wanting to know if her hunch about his mood was correct. At first he simply seemed confused about the question and he took a moment before responding.
"Yeah, I'm fine." he promised dismissively.
"Are you sure? You seem upset about something." she argued still worried.
"I don't know. There was thing that I was working on. It kind of didn't work out. A little bummed to be honest." he admitted.
"What were you working on?" she inquired excitedly.
"Just a thing." he responded with a nonchalant shrug.
"But, what kind of thing?" she inquired pushing for more information from him. As this was the first indication that she'd gotten that he might be working on anything, and she wasn't going to give up that quickly without an answer.
"It's just a thing. It's not that important." he replied still trying to act disinterested in it.
"Then why do you seem so upset about it." she retorted unconvinced
"I'm just trying to figure out why it didn't work out. That's all." he explained still refusing to elaborate.
"Maybe I could help." she offered excitedly more than happy to be of assistance.
"I'm working it out. I'll let you know if I need some help with it. I promise." he told her.
"Okay, but you've got to let me know." she responded not wanting to be left out of the development.
"I will. I just want to try and work this out for myself." he promised her.
"That's fine. I hope it does." she informed him with sincerity.
"Thanks, me too." he told her gratefully.
After their exchange the subject wasn't brought up for a while. Astro continued to stew over it however as he didn't bring it up. Is everything going okay, she wondered. Did it work out and he never told me, the thought came. He seemed fairly normal during the days following and gave no indication towards success or failure in his quest for whatever it was. She continued to wonder what it might even be that he was working on. She didn't ask as she expected an exchange that was rather similar to the first, but she never stopped wondering what it might be. If it was going to be spoken of again it was going to be because he brought it up. The waiting for this however was agonizing for her. She wanted to help, but knew that at that point her help wasn't needed nor wanted. In her mind she compared it to her wanting the mural to be her achievement alone. She wouldn't have liked it if help had been forced upon her in that instance. She kept that in mind as she continued to hold her silence on the subject.
When he did finally bring it up to her once more it was a huge relief. It was only around two weeks later, but for her it felt like half an eternity. Her slight concern had by that point had enough time to build up. Just like the first time the conversation began in class before lunch. "So, you remember the thing I told you about?" he began awkwardly looking anxious.
"Course!" she promised immediately devoting her full attention to him.
"Well, I was thinking that I…" he paused as he looked to be considering what he would say next, "I might want to show it to you, and everypony else too."
"Really!?" she inquired excitedly.
"Well, um, yeah, I guess. Maybe you guys can all help out a bit. You know, give opinions and things." he answered.
"Yeah, maybe." she agreed. She would've been lying if she said she wasn't upset that he wasn't just going to her.
"I thought I'd run it by you first. Not gonna lie I'm a little nervous about the whole thing." he admitted as he looked over at her for reassurance.
"I'm sure whatever it is will be great." she promised her mood slightly heightened by the fact that he had thought to run it by her before the others.
"Thanks. I appreciate it." he told her sincerely.
"No problem." she finished as the both of them turned back to the teacher at the front of the room.
When they did get to lunch his anxiety seemed to practically double and this didn't go unnoticed by the others. For a normally calm and collected pony he was rather nervous. "What's up? You're sweating bullets." Kara commented as the both of them showed up to lunch.
"You know you could be a little more sensitive than that." he replied in annoyance.
"What? I'm curious." she retorted defensively.
"Whatever." he said dismissively as he started picking at his food.
"So?" she prompted him at the lack of response.
"Give me a minute okay?" he told her still slightly irritated.
"Alright." she responded as she put up her hooves in surrender.
It was a little bit before their other two friends arrived at the table so that he could make his announcement to them. It was clear that he was still quite nervous and Astro noticed him look over at her for reassurance. She smiled encouragingly at him and he smiled gratefully back before turning to the rest of the table. "R-right. So, uh, there's this thing that I've been working on and I kind of wanted to show it to you guys. I, um, I was wondering if you all were interested. If not, you know, that's cool to. So, uh, yeah." he finally said looking more at the table than at them.
"Of course we wanna see!" Ink replied instantly.
"Yeah!" Kara agreed jumping on board.
"Count me in." Diplo added.
"I think you already know my answer." Astro said simply after everypony else had their say.
"Cool." he said sounding less excited than she had hoped he would. He promptly informed them of the details before their lunch period came to an end.
-/|\-
Astro walked up to the location that Spot had asked the group to come to. It was for the most part just an empty field outside of the city, but she noticed that several yards away a cloud home hung in the sky not too far up from the ground. A mailbox stood on the ground in its shadow. A gramophone stood in the field with Spot leaning up against it looking exhausted. He was the only one there which made her the first of their friends to arrive. She expected this as she had arrived early on purpose. A record was leaned up against the side of the music player. He noticed her walking up and waved happily, but even from that distance she could tell that he was anxious.
She sat down next to him in the grass as neither of them said anything. In the end it was her who broke the silence asking, "How are you feeling?"
"Like I might just throw up." he replied honestly.
"What!?" she cried in alarm.
"Look, I'll be fine. I'm just really nervous okay." he told her as he crossed his arms, "It's just nerves."
"Okay." she said looking at him in worry. She wasn't entirely convinced that he was going to be alright.
As they began to fall into an awkward silence she changed the subject. "Where'd this come from?" she asked tapping the gramophone they were sitting next to.
"I got it for my birthday a couple years back. Birthday present since I like music. It took a bit to get it down here, but I managed it. You'll see what it's for later." he explained.
"I didn't know that you lived in a cloud home." she commented looking over at it wondering how he got the machine out.
"Yeah, it's not really my favorite thing in the world. It's not like it's horrible just sometimes a little hard to get to and from for me. Normally they're higher off of the ground than that, but after the first couple of times I fell to the ground it was moved down." he informed her.
"You fell?" she asked worriedly.
"It doesn't hurt that bad, just unpleasant is all. It was only the first time that it was really bad. Broke a leg actually, but it's all fixed now." he promised her as he moved his right hind leg around a bit, "You learn quick how to at least slow yourself down. Plus, I can fly a lot better now so it's probably going to be moved back up soon. Not excited, but I can at least make the trip now." Their conversation however was cut off as the others started to arrive. It wasn't long before all five of them were there.
The four that had been invited sat down next to each other in the grass as Spot stood facing them with the gramophone and record on his right, their left. "Right, so, um, welcome, I guess." he began awkwardly, "I should probably show you all what you came to see."
"Yeah! On with the show!" Kara agreed enthusiastically.
"Um, yeah, that." he said as he walked over towards the nearby musical machine. He placed the record on the turntable and placed the stylus on the record. The music started to play and they all looked on in confusion as he moved back to stand in the center.
His audience watched in captivation as he started to move to the music that was playing. He had all of their rapt attention, but all of his nerves seemed to have faded away as soon as the music had started. At first they were too surprised to really enjoy the show that was being put on, but soon they got into it as well and were cheering as he continued to move to the beat of the melody. Astro couldn't say she wasn't shocked as her friend who she'd never thought of as agile moved quickly and accurately through the beats, but that didn't dampen her enjoyment of it. He was practically laughing as he performed for them. Up in front of them all the anxiety faded away into an enjoyment of the music. The track was purely instrumental and fast paced with an energetic feel to it. He was matching that with his own enthusiastic and spirited performance. The audience of four couldn't help feeling joyful as they watched him dance. As the show reached its inevitable end they were all sitting forward in captivation. He struck a final pose and the entirety of his audience erupted into cheers. He started to laugh happily as he stood before them breathing heavily from his efforts. There was a small flash of light as a golden five pointed star appeared on his flank.
Astro and Spot were the only two in their group to have a cutie mark for a while. Through the end of the school year nopony else got theirs and it wasn't until the very end of summer that a third member of their group got one. It was in late August that Kara received hers after testing for her first black belt and receiving it. It wasn't quite as much of an event as Spot's due to the fact that it was significantly less of a surprise. It was still exciting though and the others were proud of her and happy for her. Her cutie mark was an image of the belt she had received. School started back up and she was more than happy to show off her newfound cutie mark to her classmates.
On the first day Kara normally arrived earlier than they were let in, but that was usually the only day of the year that she did. While she was enjoying getting to be a point of attention Astro let her and backed off slightly. She stood politely waiting for her to be done and simply looked across the crowd of ponies that stood out front of the school doors. It was then that she caught sight of something confusing in the group that was just over from theirs. For a moment she thought she saw a familiar looking orange pegasus in the crowd, but ignored it as if she'd imagined it. Still, she found her eyes glued to the spot where she had thought she'd seen him. As the crowd continued to move around she kept swearing that she'd caught glimpses of him. It started to annoy her and so she walked over to the point where she kept thinking he was.
She was shocked to find an orange pegasus colt sulking in the outskirts of the group. He looked just like the pony she'd run into months ago, but she could hardly believe that was possible. She felt like she would've at least recognized him slightly from school before or after their encounter on the street. He was in the grade below her it appeared which meant it was less likely that they'd come in contact during the school day. Still, she was puzzled by the fact that it was the first time she had noticed him. Standing next to him she thought about whether or not it was wise to try and talk to him.
Feeling nervous but also curious she tapped his shoulder so that he would turn around to look at her. As he spun his head around her to meet her gaze she felt rather less confident in her action. At first he just looked irritated, but it quickly changed to surprise as he recognized her. "What the hell are you doing here!?" he interrogated as his shock changed to anger.
"I-I go to school here." she answered simply as her anxiety grew slightly.
"Great." he muttered in annoyance, "What else? You live down the street to?"
"Well, I don't think so." she replied awkwardly.
"Whatever." he countered dismissively.
"I never got your name." she tried hoping to start a conversation.
"Yeah, I know." he said harshly.
"I'm Astro." she offered hoping he might return the gesture.
"Didn't ask." he snapped back.
"Well, I just thought… Look I'm just trying to be friendly." she said desperately hoping he'd accept the peace offering.
"And I'm not. Now whenever you want to end this conversation would be great." he retorted.
"R-right." she mumbled before walking dejectedly.
She returned back to where she had been waiting for Kara to find her already there. "Hey, where'd you wander off to?" she began before noticing her friends demeanor. "What happened?"
"It's nothing." she lied before looking over her shoulder at where she had come from. He was still eyeing her coldly from where he stood. Kara noticed this and looked from her friend to the unknown pegasus.
"Who's he?" she inquired.
"It doesn't matter." she answered dismissively.
"Actually I think it does." she argued taking more interest in the conversation.
"I just bumped into him once. He looked upset so I thought I might try and help. He didn't appreciate it." she explained.
"Define 'didn't appreciate it'." she said questioningly.
"He got mad and told me to leave," she explained clearly upset by it, "I just wanted to help." she added under her breath sadly. Her friend huffed angrily at her dejectedness.
"Forget him." she said in annoyance, "Why don't you go hang with the others?"
"Yeah, okay." she responded turning to walk over to them. She stopped as she noticed that her friend wasn't following her.
"I'll be over in a minute. I haven't gotten to show off to the lower grades yet." she added smirking proudly.
"Have fun." she told her laughing slightly.
"Will do." she promised.
She walked over to the group that was for the grade below them and found the colt in it. He saw her approaching and glared. She returned it as she walked up. "Hey." she greeted him with false cheer as she dropped the glare. He didn't respond and instead continued to eye her coldly. "You know any nice pony would say hi back." she continued mockingly while still smiling untruthfully.
"Hi! Happy now?" he replied in irritation.
"Actually no, I'm not." she snapped.
"And why is that?" he questioned still in an angry tone of voice.
"What's your name?" she asked him simply.
"Changing the subject much?" he argued.
"What is your name?" she repeated.
"None of your business." he answered coldly.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree. What is your name?" she repeated for a third time. He was silent for a moment and looked to be sizing her up.
"Zone." he told her after a few moments of quiet.
"Was that so hard?" she asked mockingly. He just glared in response. "Now that we've broken the ice-
"You never told me your name." he cut her off, "Isn't that what 'any nice pony' would do?"
She rolled her eyes before responding, "Kara. Anyways, as I was saying, I expect a full apology."
"Apology!? For what!?" he questioned incredulously.
"For whatever it was that you said to my friend that has her so upset." she explained glaring at him.
"Really?" he asked in annoyance.
"Yes, really. And I expect to hear about it, from her, by the end of the week." she finished before walking back over to her friends proudly.
-/|\-
When Astro arrived at school the next day she found herself looking over towards where she had seen him the previous day. She wasn't particularly interested in talking to him though for fear of a repeat of the previous day's events. When she found him among the crowd she quickly averted her gaze, but not before he met her eyes with his own. Morbid curiosity spurred her on as she quickly glanced back over at him. She almost did a double take as she found him gesturing for her to come over to him. Unsure of whether or not it was a good idea she walked over like he'd asked.
"Um, hello." he began awkwardly not looking up at her.
"Hi." she responded doing her best not to sound confused.
"Just wanted to, uh, apologize about yesterday. I'm not really good with other ponies." he told her doing his best to sound sincere about it, "I'm Zone by the way."
"Pleasure to meet you." she said happily as her shock faded away and she offered him a hoof to shake. It was a moment before he took it, but she was just glad that he did. "I believe you already know my name." You know, maybe he isn't so bad, she thought to herself. Is this conversation over, he thought as she dropped her hoof back to the ground. "Do you know anypony else here?" she inquired wanting to have a conversation.
"Not really." he answered thinking of the unicorn from the previous day.
"That's too bad." she said sympathetically.
"I don't mind." he reassured her not wanting any favors.
"Well, maybe until you make some friends of your own you can hang with my friends and I." she offered.
"Really?" he asked doing his best to not sound worried.
"Of course." she promised.
"I'm really just fine." he told her not wanting to get roped into it.
"Don't worry. They're all nice. I promise." she informed him just thinking that he might've been shy. I already know one of them isn't, he thought in annoyance as he blamed her for his current situation. He felt that if he denied he was going to receive another visit that he didn't want. At least this girl is nice, he thought. If I had to choose I'd rather talk to her.
"No offence meant to your friends, but I don't know." he tried hoping she wouldn't take offence.
"That's fine, maybe another time." she answered feeling a little downtrodden, but overall still glad that he was talking to her.
"Yeah, maybe." he agreed hoping that maybe meant never.
"Well, I'm going to go over and talk to my other friends. If you want to come feel free. If not though, see you later." she finished before walking over to Spot, Ink, and Diplo who were already congregated in a circle. Her use of the words 'other friends' as if he was her friend elicited a frown of confusion from him, but he said nothing and didn't follow as she left.
While she was talking with her friends and waiting for the bell ring she found herself looking over her shoulder towards him constantly. She couldn't help hoping that she might eventually see him walk up, but he was always simply standing still by himself. "What are you looking for?" Spot eventually asked noticing the repetition of the motion.
"What? Oh, uh, well I met somepony and offered for them to join us but I guess they aren't interested." she said simply.
"Who was it?" Ink inquired.
"A pony in the grade below us. You wouldn't know him. I'll point him out to you next time I see him." she answered.
"Okay." she replied satisfied. After the exchange she tried to look behind her less with success. She was still hoping to find him trying to join the circle but never did.
As the doors opened and they were let inside she walked in with the rest of the crowd of ponies. She was hoping that she might see him at lunch and so the waiting began. She no longer had recess to spend with her friends so lunch was for the most part the time that she got to spend with them excepting when their schedules clashed during class. For her however she had essentially none of her classes with her friends. So she sat through all of her classes until her lunch block finally arrived she walked happily into the cafeteria. She quickly scanned it to see if he was in the lunch room.
She found both him and two of her friends already in the lunch room. Kara and Diplo were sitting at one of the tables together and Zone was sitting at a different table by himself. She was trying to decide who to sit with as she walked between the tables and quickly made her decision. She walked over to where her two friends were sitting and said, "Hey, that's the colt I was telling you about. Since he's all by himself I was going to go and sit with him."
"Wait what?" Kara asked incredulously as she looked over, "You're gonna go sit with him?"
"Yeah, he apologized and he actually seems like he might be nice." she told her.
"I don't know." she replied skeptically.
"You don't have to come with me, but I don't want to leave him by himself." she finished before walking over to sit next to him.
"Hello!" she greeted him cheerily as she took the seat opposite him.
"Oh, hey." he replied only looking up from his food for a second.
"How are you?" she asked starting the conversation.
"I'm fine. You?" he replied, but it sounded forced to her.
"Pretty good actually. Why are you sitting by yourself?" she inquired in concern.
"I already told you, I'm not good with other ponies." he answered defensively.
"Well, maybe you should try to meet somepony. They aren't that scary." she joked.
"I'm talking to you aren't I?" he retorted.
"Yeah, I, I guess." she mumbled in reply.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way." he apologized hastily.
"It's fine," she promised, "you didn't hurt my feelings."
"Okay, cool." he responded sounding relieved.
At that point Kara sat down next to her with Diplo not far behind. He sat down next to the pegasus. Immediately Kara and Zone's eyes were locked in cold glares. "Um, do you two know each other?" Astro asked nervously. Neither responded and simply snorted in annoyance. "Right. Well, um if you know her already-
"I do." he cut her off.
"Well, then that's Diplo," she said introducing the unicorn colt. The conversation was rather tense from that point forward as Kara and Zone glared daggers at each other the whole time. When her other friends arrived she made sure to introduce them and did her best to stop the standoff with unsuccessful results. It wasn't until Kara had left the lunch table that it seemed to calm down
"What happened with her?" Astro asked in confusion.
"I don't know. She just hates me." Zone answered simply.
"Well, she'll warm up to you." Diplo promised.
"Didn't look like it to me." he muttered in irritation.
"She will." Ink promised optimistically.
"She's probably just upset about yesterday." Astro added.
"Yeah, I know." he agreed knowing that she was right.
"Anyways, welcome to the group." she replied happily.
"Cool." he said. Still not sure if that's a good or a bad thing, he thought to himself.
Kara arrived at the lunch room before all of the rest of her friends which she didn't particularly appreciate. The past two days she had sat by herself until more of them had arrived, but that day she took her seat across from the new member of her group. He looked up at her in irritation, but said nothing and instead kept eating his food. "You actually did it." she commented.
"Did what?" he asked confused.
"Apologized." she explained.
"Yeah." he answered simply.
"Did you really think I was going to beat the crap out of you?" she inquired confused.
"Not really. She's nice though so why not? Didn't really expect to be here, but I am so…" he said trailing off at the end and shrugging.
"If you thought she was nice then why tell her to go away?" she questioned not understanding why he'd do that.
"I didn't ask her to be nice to me." he informed her curtly.
"So being nice is a crime now?" she snapped.
"I didn't say that. You might not get it, but sometimes ponies enjoy being by themselves. Gee! Who would've thought it!?" he retorted irritated.
"You don't need to be a jerk about it." she snapped.
"Yeah well apparently you do." he countered her.
"So I'm the bad guy for being concerned about my friend." she argued.
"Again, I didn't say that. I just don't understand why wanting some privacy makes me a villain." he replied in annoyance. She just glared in response. "What? All out of smart comments?"
"Shut up." she retorted.
"Never heard that one before." he said with mock surprise.
They both fell into silence and simply glared at each other over their food. The tense silence was still in place when Diplo arrived at the table next to them. "Hey." he greeted them only to receive two steely glares. "Right, so what's the issue here?"
"She can't respect the fact that not everypony needs attention to survive." Zone began.
"Yeah well you can't respect anypony period!" Kara retorted.
"Respect is a two way street." he replied simply.
"I didn't even know that you know what it looked like!" she shouted back.
"Don't talk about yourself like that. It's not heathy." he told her.
"You-
"How about we just calm down." Diplo interrupted the both of them.
"So it's safe to say that the issue here is respect?" he said carefully hoping the two wouldn't start going at each other again. The both continued to glare at each other and nodded. "Okay. I think he was right in that respect is a two way street." This earned him an angry look from Kara. "But we aren't getting respect from either side of this street. Now how about I finish before anypony says anything. I think you're being a little harsh as I have yet to see Zone saying anything disrespectful aside from right now. However right now you're saying a lot of things to Kara that are rather unkind. I don't know how it started, but right now both of you are waiting to get respect from the other pony. That's not going to happen unless you give it first. So why don't you just try to have a decent conversation, a short decent conversation is all. Then it might be a little easier to move from there. Astro's going to be here in a minute and I'm going to go sit somewhere else with her. You two should try to work it out by yourselves, but if it ends up you need a referee here the whole time then so be it. I'm leaving and I really hope that I don't have to walk back over here." he finished before walking away from the pair.
Following his exit silence dominated the area for a couple of moments before Zone broke it. "Honestly, I think it's pretty cool that you can be extroverted the way you are." he said awkwardly.
"Really?" Kara asked confused.
"Yeah." he promised as he picked at his food slightly.
"Why don't you like being around other ponies?" she inquired.
"Ponies are confusing. Sometimes I just need a break from trying to figure out how to deal with them. I just need some space sometimes." he answered simply.
"That's fine, but when you want your space though don't mess with my friend." she replied.
"I didn't want to hurt her feelings alright. I didn't want to talk to anypony and she happened to be the one talking. It's not like it was personal." he retorted.
"Good because she counts you as a friend now and that means a lot to her." she told him.
"I figured as much." he said simply.
"You don't have to like me and I don't have to like you, but we are going to have to tolerate each other alright. Right now our common ground is her so just have to be nice around her." she responded.
"Sounds like a plan." he agreed.
"And also," she paused as she tried to decide what to say next, "thanks for doing more than just apologizing."
She quickly left the table to go sit where Astro and Diplo were sitting opposite each other and took a seat next to the filly. Zone was quick to follow and took the seat opposite her. It was silent for a moment as the two ponies who hadn't moved waited for any possible fireworks to start. They were both relieved as none did. The two weren't looking at each other, but even that was an improvement from the constant glaring of the previous day. There was still a slight air of tension around them, but it had lessened greatly. They were done taking shots at each other, at least for the moment.
"We worked it out. Happy now?" Kara asked Diplo in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Yes." he replied with a nod and a grin.
"Good." she responded simply.
"So you two are cool with each other then?" Astro asked for confirmation.
"Yeah." they agreed as they exchanged glances before returning their eyes to their food.
"That's good. I told you he wasn't so bad." she said happily as she nudged Kara with an elbow.
"I know." she responded begrudgingly still staring down her lunch.
"I guess she isn't so bad either." Zone admitted in a similar demeanor.
"Great!" Astro replied gladly.
"I'm glad you're happy." she told her with sincerity.
"Me too." he agreed. Again the two made eye contact before quickly looking away from each other.
"How's everything over here then?" Ink asked as she took her seat at the table next to her friends.
"Alright." Zone contributed with a shrug.
"Don't be such a downer. Great, thanks for asking." Kara told her as she amended the previous statement.
"Good." she giggled.
"What about you?" Astro inquired.
"Pretty amazing honestly. This year I'm going to be allowed to work with some of the younger kids in class. It's really exciting!" she informed them obviously having to do her utmost to withhold her enthusiasm.
"That's great!" she cried in congratulations to her friend.
"I know!" she exclaimed in a squeak.
"You like kids then?" Zone asked as he attempted to join the conversation.
"Well, yeah. I think tutoring them is going to be pretty fun." she told him.
"That's nice." he replied feeling awkward as all eyes turned to him.
"Thanks." she said gratefully as she smiled at him.
"No problem." he promised returning her grin with a nervous one.
"How about you?" Kara asked doing her best to uphold their peace offering.
"How about me what?" he questioned.
"What do you like to do?" she prompted him.
"Oh, um, I don't know." he answered nervously.
"Oh c'mon you've gotta have something that you like to do!" she retorted exasperatedly.
He shrugged, "Air currents, weather patterns, some aerodynamic stuff."
"That's cool!" Ink chimed in.
"Um, thanks." he mumbled awkwardly in reply.
"So you like flying then too?" Astro inquired wanting to join the conversation.
"Yeah. I, uh, used to live in a cloud city so it kind of comes with the environment. There it's pretty essential to learn to fly quickly. It's not the end of the world if you don't, but…" he finished the sentence with an offhand shrug.
"When'd you move here?" Diplo asked curiously.
"Recently." he informed them nonchalantly. Astro noticed him look over at her quickly before looking away again.
"Hey." Spot greeted them all as he sat at the table with them.
"How has you're day been?" Ink queried not missing a beat.
"Alright." he responded
"Both of you? Really? C'mon be a little more excited please!" Kara said dramatically rolling her eyes.
"Did I miss something?" he asked the rest of the table in confusion.
"Him too." she began as she pointed at Zone. "'How are you?' 'Alright I guess.' I mean is it really that dull around here?" she retorted as she gave him an accusing look and hamming it up for the audience of four at their table.
"Is being alright bad?" he questioned returning the look.
"It's boring." she explained.
"So in your opinion it is bad then." he concluded.
"Never said that." she argued.
"It's not hard to assume." he informed her.
"Let's not jump to conclusions." she scolded him.
"Is my conclusion right?" he asked simply.
"Maybe a little bit." she replied with a smirk and a shrug.
Their conversation was halted as Kara noticed the group of students leaving the lunch room. She sighed before standing, "That's me. See you guys later." Noticing the large number of students leaving the lunch room Zone got up as well.
"I think my class is going too. See you," he paused for a moment as he thought, "well, tomorrow I guess. Bye."
"She still hate him?" Spot asked after the two had departed.
"They're not friendly with each other, but they aren't hostile towards each other at least." Diplo explained.
"That's good. Why was she so mad at him in the first place?" he inquired.
"I don't know the whole reason. I do know that she thought he was disrespectful, but she never said why." he informed him.
"Well, that would be me actually. On the first day of school I talked to him and he sent me off which made her rather unhappy." Astro told them.
"So why is he being nice to you now then?" Spot asked wondering what changed.
"He apologized the next day. He apparently felt really bad about it. Everypony gets cranky sometimes." she answered simply.
"Yeah, that's true." he agreed while feeling there might have been another factor to the apology. The conversation started to slow and dissipate as more of the ponies were drawn away from the table to go back to class until the table was left behind completely empty.
At the end of the day Spot managed to catch Kara on her way out. He grabbed her arm and pulled her over as she started out the door. "Oh, hey!" she greeted him smiling awkwardly as she wondered why he had grabbed her.
"Hey." he said back.
"So, why are you here exactly?" she asked frowning.
"What, is it bad to want to talk to my friend?" he asked sarcastically as he smirked.
"No, but that's not why you grabbed me." she deadpanned.
"I've got a feeling that somepony just might've been encouraged to give an apology." he told her simply.
"He might've gotten a nudge." she said with mock innocence.
"Did he also get a nudge to be her friend?" he questioned growing serious.
"No. I only told him to apologize to her. I said nothing about becoming her friend. I talked to him about the whole friend business earlier alright." she defended herself.
"And what did you say?" he inquired.
"What, is this an interrogation now?" she retorted in annoyance.
"Yeah well she still believes he apologized of his own accord." he shot back.
"And she doesn't need to know he didn't." she said simply.
"Fine, it doesn't matter if the apology wasn't honest, but what about him being her friend?" he questioned.
"I told you already! I talked to him and he actually thinks she's nice and stuff." she answered.
"So he isn't going to just not come to the table one of these days?" he queried.
"Don't think so. Plus if he didn't-
"You can't just bully ponies into being nice to her. As much as all of us don't want anypony being mean to anypony in the group you can't just force them to be nice alright." he told her earnestly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever." she replied dismissively. He gave her a questioning look asking if she understood. "I got it alright. Can I go now?" she said exasperatedly.
"Yeah, I guess." he finished uncertainly as he released her and she took off for home.
As it was the beginning of the school year a lot of the various clubs and sports teams were getting started. The walls were covered in posters advertising all of the extracurricular activities. The walls of the cafeteria were littered with different promotional messages for the groups. “Anypony doing anything this year?” Astro asked her group curiously. None of them had ever done so in previous years, but she kept in mind that there was a new pony in their circle.
“Nah, nothing that interests me.” Kara replied dismissively.
“Yeah, there’s nothing new, it’s all the same stuff as last year.” Spot agreed.
“And every year before that.” Diplo added in confirmation.
“If you want to see something new maybe you could try and start it up.” Ink suggested.
“Yeah, well I’m fine just being at school for as long as we are now. I don’t need to be here any longer.” Kara answered simply.
“I don’t see what’s so bad about it.” she argued.
“C’mon, I have so many better things I could be doing with my time.” she explained.
“Like what, sleeping?” Spot questioned.
“Yes, actually. Sleep is a good thing. It’s really too bad that I can’t sleep in cause school.” she retorted. They started to go back and forth over the topic with each other neither one satisfied with the other’s argument.
“What about you?” Astro asked their newest member Zone while the others squabbled among themselves.
“I don’t know for sure yet.” he admitted with a shrug, “I’m probably going to stay after school for the initial meeting for the Flight Team here.”
“That’s cool. I remember you said that you liked aerodynamics and the like.” she responded with a grin.
“Yeah, but I’m not really sure about it yet. I’m just going to look. It’s not that big a deal really.” he said dismissively.
“Yes it is.” she argued, “That’s very exciting! When is it?”
“In a couple of days, but the first meeting isn't really going to be much. The next couple are the actual tryout days.” he informed her.
“Okay. Are we allowed to come and watch?” she inquired.
“What do you mean?” he questioned looking surprised.
“We could come and cheer you on. It would be fun.” she explained happily.
“I still don’t even know if I’m going to participate. You don’t have to make a big deal out of it.” he retorted looking slightly uncertain.
“I’m not saying that we’d show up with signs or something. We would just be there is all, like moral support.” she reassured him.
“Just don’t go to any trouble.” he replied simply.
“Don’t worry about it.” she told him.
“Okay. I’ll, uh, let you know if I decide to do it.” he responded.
“Good. I think you should.” she said back.
“I’ll think about it for sure.” he promised.
-/|\-
“So that meeting’s happened now right?” Astro inquired as she took her seat at the lunch table not too many days later.
“Yep.” Zone replied simply.
“And?” she inquired cheerily.
“I guess yeah, I’ll probably go.” he answered indifferently.
“That’s great! Can the rest of us come too to watch?” she replied energetically.
“It was never said that it wasn't allowed.” he told her with a shrug.
“Great! Then we can ask the others if they’re free and everypony who’s available can come.” she replied excitedly.
“Yeah.” he responded with less enthusiasm.
“What are you so worried about?” she inquired in concern.
“Just having an audience. I’m not used to that.” he admitted nervously.
“There’s no pressure you know. If you’d rather that we didn't come then we won’t.” she promised.
“No, it’s… it’s fine. If you want to then come.” he told her dismissively.
“Okay. When is the first day?” she asked.
“Next Wednesday.” he informed her.
“Cool, you want to tell the others?” she queried.
“Okay.” he answered simply.
He turned nervously to look at the rest of the group who had started up their own separate conversation. Still he held his silence though as he saw no need to interrupt whatever it was that they were discussing. Adding to that he didn't really see how he was supposed to make his announcement without disrupting their conversation. He would much rather just wait for them all to finish talking and then present his news. He didn't know how long that would take, but he knew that it was his preference. So he sat quietly, fidgeting every now and then while the others talked. “Do you want me to get them?” she asked him after a bit.
“No. They’re talking, so it can wait.” he answered.
“Well, I don’t think they’ll mind.” she told him.
“It can wait okay.” he said with finality.
“Alright.” she finished before holding her silence.
He sat there in an anxious silence fidgeting around unnoticed for a couple of minutes. The other four were rather engaged in their own conversation while the other two sat in silence. In the end it was the pony sitting next to Astro, Kara, who noticed the uncomfortable silence beside her. She left her current conversation and looked over at the two quiet ponies in confusion. “What’s up with you?” she questioned as she looked over at him.
“Me?” he inquired pointing to himself.
“Yes.” she answered implying that it was obvious.
“Nothing.” he told her indifferently.
“Nope.” she said simply in response.
“What?” he queried in confusion.
“No, something’s up. Maybe instead of being an idiot about it you could say something.” she retorted in annoyance.
He rolled his eyes at the word idiot, but responded anyways. “Yeah well, you guys were talking so…”
“I’m not now.” she pointed out wanting an answer.
“I noticed.” he replied simply.
“And?” she prompted him.
“Flight Team tryouts start next Wednesday.” he told her simply attempting to look indifferent. She gestured for him to continue. “I was planning on going and participating, and stuff.” he finished simply.
“Hey guys! Did you hear that?” she questioned quickly earning the rest of the group’s attention.
“Hear what?” Ink queried leaning over to join the conversation.
“He’s trying out for Flight Team next Wednesday.” she answered with a grin.
“Really?” Spot inquired also entering the new discussion.
“Um… yeah.” he confirmed not enjoying the sudden amount of attention he was receiving.
“That’s cool.” Diplo contributed.
“Yeah, um, it’s probably going to be a lot of fun I think.” he agreed nervously.
“And we are all allowed to go watch too.” Astro added happily.
“Awesome! I’ll be sure to ask if I’m available or not.” Ink promised with a grin. All of the other five promised the same to him.
“Thanks, appreciate it.” he said gratefully, but still sounding uncertain.
The majority of the others started up their own new conversations promptly after his announcement was finished. He was glad to no longer be the center of attention. “You don’t look so excited.” came the comment from beside him. He was surprised to have somepony still speaking to him and was slow to react.
“Not at all. It’s great.” he answered quickly before turning to see who it was. He found that it was Spot who had stopped to converse with him.
“You sure?” he queried doubting the answer.
“Just not used to it is all.” he answered simply.
“What do you mean?” he inquired curiously. He received a simple shrug in response. “Well, I don’t really know what that means either.”
“I don’t want to have to do it in front of everyone. Before if I hadn't done so hot it wouldn't have been a big deal, but now I have an audience.” he informed him.
“Nopony here is going to laugh at you.” he promised.
“I’m not so sure.” he mumbled looking over at Kara.
“She’s not mean, just a bit abrasive is all.” he reassured him.
“Yeah, well, the point is the whole idea of having an audience isn't very exciting.” he stated. As performing in front of an audience had become a more than enjoyable past time for Spot he tried to think of a way to help. He had come quite far from his original performance for the group when he had earned his cutie mark. He had started to try making his own music and other forms of performing arts.
He thought for a moment before telling him, “Try and think of it like this, they’re all coming because they want to see you, if they wanted to be mean about it then they would probably just refuse to show up. They also wouldn't show up just for the sake of judging or making fun. If they think that showing up would be a waste of time then they won’t. Plus it’s something that you want to do right? Why should they be allowed to stop you from enjoying it?”
“Easier said than done.” he mumbled dejectedly.
“Maybe, but we’re meant to be support not a disadvantage.” he told him.
“I know.” he responded simply.
“Okay. You said it was Wednesday?” he queried.
“Yep.” he answered with a nod.
“Then I don’t think I can be there, so that’s one less member of the audience.” he said trying to be helpful.
“Yeah, I guess.” he agreed solemnly.
-/|\-
The group of six ponies was once again sitting together at lunch. “Right, so, let’s get the numbers for the tryouts. Who can go?” Kara opened after they had all arrived, “I can.”
“Me too.” Astro quickly piped up.
“Sorry, but I’m going to busy afterschool that day.” Spot told the group.
“Yeah, me too.” Diplo confirmed apologetically.
“Unfortunately me as well.” Ink added.
“Yeah, well, two is better than none.” Kara said with a shrug.
“Yeah, thanks for at least trying anyways and offering to come.” Zone finished politely slightly relieved that such a small number were available.
-/|\-
Wednesday had arrived and the trio that was able to had stayed after for the tryouts. They were to take place outside just over the school track. “So I guess I just get to watch from below? I mean it is the Flight Team tryouts. I’m not going to be up there.” Kara commented.
“I suppose so, yeah.” Zone answered with a shrug.
“And I can just hover?” Astro inquired looking in the direction of the activity.
“It looks like they have clouds set up.” he pointed out gesturing to the fluffy white clouds residing over the track.
“Obstructing the view a bit aren't they.” Kara remarked in annoyance.
“They probably weren't expecting anypony who isn't a pegasus to be here.” he replied simply.
“Yeah well I’m here.” she retorted.
“Sorry.” he responded dismissively.
“I’ll see if I can find someplace with a good view.” she told them before trotting off.
“Okay, I’m going to head on up.” he finished before flying up to the group that was already there.
There was a group of about twenty pegasi already up there waiting for it to start as well as a smaller group who looked to be the ones in charge. Some were lounging on the clouds that had been laid out while others remained hovering about. He remained in the air instead of joining the group that was resting on the clouds. When Astro joined him she took a seat on one of the clouds surrounding them. He felt his nerves growing as the seconds passed by. He saw various obstacles set up in one area, a relay set up on another, and straight line sprints in other areas. Looking over at the ponies who looked to be supervisors he noticed that they all wore stopwatches around their necks. He figured that they would probably be doing practice races instead of drilling.
Soon enough everypony was there and they were ready to begin. He recognized them all from the previous meeting even if he didn’t know them. They were all asked to divide up and go to the area in which they wanted to participate. He moved in the direction of the obstacle course along with fifteen of the final group of around 45. The others divided up between the other couple areas. Two of the older pegasi followed with them. They all alighted on the starting line shortly before their directions were given.
“Okay we’re going to have four separate races, each one will have four participants, and the winner for each one will have one final race. When your group is off you’ll be running the course individually while one of us times you. Clear?” one of the two told them. A chorus of nods and comments of affirmation followed quickly afterwards.
“Now get in line and count off by fours.” the second one commanded.
Everypony who was a one got in line on one course for the first heat while the other twelve walked over to an identical one. He was one of the twelve who was not in the first group. “The team who has most recently gone will line up to take the individual course, but as nopony has gone yet we’ll have team four line up since they’re last and shouldn’t have to be cut off to go race together. Team four, line up single file for the individual run.” As he was not a four either he stood back and let them all line up to go. While they all started to go he watched the group of ones get ready to fly. He was curious as to just who all had come and their attitudes about it.
For him racing wasn’t a particular passion, but it was the only way he would get to fly. He certainly didn’t expect to beat out any of the more dedicated racers who would be there. It was at least a challenge though. While he was taking an aerodynamics class in school, which was a core class for pegasi, it wasn’t at all engaging. For him everything being taught there was elementary, if he really wanted to learn something he figured that the Flight Team was his best bet. It looked to him like the ponies going were all experienced fliers with a drive similar to himself. He felt at least on par with the pegasi around him.
When they called up the threes for the team race he flew over to the starting line with the rest of his group. He felt nerves coursing through him as he took his place next to the other three in his group. The instructor who was over next to them explained a few simple rules and once the silence fell the group all tensed up waiting for the signal to start. He prepared himself as the moments stretched into minutes in the tension.
The air horn that the instructor was holding sounded and the four were off in an instant. Even if it was a scrimmage all of them flew their hardest against the others. Unfortunately in that moment he became suddenly aware of the eyes that were on him. A need to do well and impress filled him, but the pressure clouded his vision as he moved forward. He could feel the other three pulling ahead of him. He knew that he was a better flyer than that and did his best to focus his attention on the winds around him. Mentally he calculated the winds he’d need to propel himself forward and through and around the course in front of him.
Still the stares bored into him as he rode the winds around him to catch the trio competing for first. As he joined the race for the top spot the anxiety grew as he realized that he had just gained the attention of three more ponies. Just keep to the wind, he reminded himself silently as he continued to catch and follow the currents around him. That was something he could understand at least. As he absorbed his conscious attention in the winds around him he pulled slightly ahead of the current leader if only by a nose. That was how it ended as they pulled across the finishing line of the course.
He stood on the cloud quite shocked that he had managed to beat out the others if only slightly. As his current situation he noticed that the other three racers were looking over at him as well as the instructor. He wilted slightly under their gazes even though their looks were not unkind. “Good job, you’ll be participating in the final race with the other winners.” the instructor said.
“Right.” he mumbled quietly with a nod.
“You four head over to the individual runs and send team four over.”
The group did as they were told and went back to the area where they had started out at. Team four left to go and participate in their race while his team waited to be told to begin the individual race. “You all just finished the group race right?” the supervisor of the individual races asked. The group simply nodded in response. “The winner of the race will go first and then head back over to the group race for the final one. The other three need just line up single file.” Zone recognized that meant that he was to go first and stepped up to the starting line nervously.
As he stood waiting to be told to start he reminded himself that he had just done this and should be just fine. Another part of his mind felt a need to incessantly remind him that since this was individual there was nopony to watch but him, unlike the group. He crouched with his wings out doing his utmost to just feel the winds around him. As he was told to start he took off steadily into the air with the wind beneath supporting him. He rarely had to flap his wings and was able to simply glide along the currents while still keeping up his speed. He knew very well how to stay in the air at a good pace without too much effort. While the gazes unnerved him he reminded himself silently that it wasn’t like he would just fall out of the sky. The wind would never disappear or just cease to exist underneath of him. As he finished the course he felt like his time would be at least respectable.
As he was instructed after he finished he flew back over to the group racer area where the race for group four looked to be close to over. The other two winning ponies sat behind the starting line. One was a filly with a short windblown mane and tail. Her coat was a pastel light blue-violet color with a lavender mane and tail. She already had a cutie mark which was a pale grey and looked like a hurricane. She was watching race four intently and hadn’t seemed to notice him fly over. The second was an evergreen colt who had noticed his approach and smiled slightly at him and waved. His mane and tail were windblown as well, but shorter than the mare’s. They were a lighter shade of green than his coat, but were still dark. He couldn't get a proper view of the colt’s flank due to the way that he was sitting and was unsure of his cutie mark.
He took a seat next to the colt unsure of what to do next. “Hey,” the colt greeted him, “you won the third race right?”
“Yep.” he answered shortly.
“Cool! You excited for the final race?” he responded energetically.
“Yeah, definitely.” he lied as his stomach churned nervously. His eyes found Astro spectating on a cloud not too far away and she smiled reassuringly at him. He offered a quick grin before letting his expression fade back to its normal monotone state.
As the fourth race finished the four finalists lined up on the starting line for a second time. By that point all of the individual runs had been completed and the rest of the ponies that were at their area had gathered to watch the final race. It was a sudden realization that came to him only moments before the air horn sounded. He knew that his take off had been clumsy as he had let himself get distracted and had already lost a lot of ground to the others. His already bad nerves got worse as he saw the distance between himself and the pony closest to him. The one in first was already leagues ahead.
He did his best to compose himself and feel for the winds around him, but the breezes didn’t seem to favor his motion. He could already feel the humiliation he was about to experience by coming in dead last by all of those lengths. As he maneuvered around the objects clumsily his frustration grew only further and his judgment became ever more clouded. The sound of mocking voices came to his head as his performance continued to fall apart. He felt his altitude start to decrease as he let his mind run away from him. He growled angrily under his breath as he managed to barely catch some currents to carry him up. He knew that he had already thrown the race well enough. He moved off of that current onto others and managed to make up some ground, but not nearly enough. In the last stretch of the race he somehow caught up by a number of lengths, but still never made it to the pony in front of him. He was in a rather sinister mood as he pulled across the finish in last.
After they were dismissed he departed quickly for the ground not looking forward to conversation with the two fillies who would be waiting. “So what the hell happened on that last race? I mean you were doing awesome and then you just stopped being amazing.” Kara interrogated as soon as he hit the ground.
“Being amazing?” he questioned in astonishment.
“Well duh! I mean it was like really cool cause they were all like out of breath and stuff and having to try all hard and stuff and you were just like chill and went right past them. You were like floating instead of flying.” she said excitedly moving about to match what it was that she was saying.
“Thanks.” he said honestly still quite surprised at the praise.
“No prob,” she said dismissively, “but still, what happened?”
“There was a crowd and I got nervous and then I got frustrated alright.” he told her his high disappearing as quickly as it had arrived.
“We’ll have to fix that then.” she replied simply.
“What?” he queried in confusion.
“We’ll have to fix that stage fright thing for when you make the team.” she explained like it should have been apparent.
“When I make it?” he inquired curiously.
“Obviously. If you don’t then they’re all stupid.” she stated assuredly.
“Um…” he mumbled uncertainly.
“Anyways, I have to go. See you two at school tomorrow!” she finished before running off.
The list for all that had made the flight team had been posted outside of the gym beside all of the other rosters for the teams. When Zone went to check it he saw that it wasn’t a particularly large number that hadn’t made it. For the most part it appeared that the various tryouts had been more of a participation grade than anything else. He didn’t mind that very much, but it made his name making the list feel like less of an accomplishment. Still, he was glad to be on the list and he let that heighten his mood.
As he walked into the lunch room later that day he became aware that he was going to have to share with the others, but by that point he had grown more confident around them, even Kara. She still felt the need to call him names, but it was not so much hostile as it was familiar. She also felt the need to ask him if he knew whether he had made it every day the moment that she saw him. His answer was always the same. He would inform her that no, he didn’t know, and that she would know as soon he did. As she took her place at the table she was not a moment late with her inquiry.
“So? Do you know yet? Did they tell you guys yet?” Kara interrogated him the moment he took his seat.
“Yes-” he began before she cut him off excitedly.
“Really!? Did you make it?” she questioned energetically.
“Along with basically everypony else who showed up, yeah.” he answered trying to sound modest.
“That’s great! When do you all practice? And what about competitions and stuff?” she queried wanting to hear all that there was to tell.
“Practices are Wednesdays after school, just like basically all of the tryout days. As for the rest I’m not really sure.” he explained simply.
“Cool! Does anypony else know yet?” she asked curiously.
“No. I only found out this morning when I got here.” he informed her.
“So I’m the first to know?” she questioned happily. He nodded. “Great! Then we can announce it to everypony else once they’re all here!” she told him ecstatically.
“Yeah.” he agreed feeling slightly less joyful.
As the rest of their group started to congregate he could see that she was practically bursting from the effort of waiting until all four of the others. No sooner than when the final pony had sat down was she making his announcement. “Did you all hear that he made the Flight Team!? It’s really exciting!” she cried excitedly.
“No, I hadn’t, that’s great!” Astro congratulated him being shortly followed by similar comments by the others.
“Thanks.” Zone replied to the group after each one had finished.
“You know you could look a little bit more excited.” Kara scolded him.
“It’s not that big a deal.” he responded simply.
“Shut up.” she retorted in annoyance at his lack of enthusiasm.
“Done.” he finished.
She frowned as he fell silent and stayed that way. “Aren’t you going to say something?” she queried. He shook his head simply in response. “But, then how am I supposed to talk to you?” she questioned. He just shrugged and returned to eating in silence. “I didn’t mean shut up.” she tried in vain. He remained eating and didn’t give her his attention. “Hey! I never said ignore me!” she argued. He looked up at her quickly before turning his gaze back to his food. “Fine.” she mumbled in annoyance, “I don’t have to talk to you either.” She quickly began her own conversation with the other four and he finished his lunch in silence, but not a dejected one.
Due to the grade difference he knew he wouldn’t see the rest of them outside of the lunch and was consequently quite surprised when he saw Kara while walking out of the school. “So when are you free during the week?” she inquired as she saw him.
He felt that his silent treatment had lasted long enough and responded, “I don’t know. Basically every day. Why?”
“Well, that whole audience thing. After school we could work on it. I think I found a good place.” she replied helpfully.
“You were serious about that?” he asked having believed that it was just an offhand comment.
“No, I wasn’t.” she muttered sarcastically, “How’s Tuesday sound?”
“Fine.” he told her after thinking about a moment.
“Great! Then you can come with me on Tuesday!” she responded enthusiastically.
“Sounds like a plan I guess.” he agreed.
“You know you don’t need to be so unsure sounding. Anyways, see you tomorrow.” she finished before trotting off.
-/|\-
When Tuesday afternoon arrived the two friends trotted out of school together. Kara had neglected to share with Zone where they were going which made him slightly nervous, but he didn’t push her for a location. Although there was another fact that caused him some worry so he attempted to bring it to her attention saying, “Right, I know that we planned this for today, but-
“What? You gonna wimp out on me?” she questioned giving him a disapproving glance as they trotted.
“No! It’s just-” he began.
“Nope.” she cut him off looking away to the front.
“I’m going, but if you’d let me explain-” he tried again.
“Nope.” she repeated picking up her pace so that she was ahead of him.
He quickened his own stride to catch up. “It’s kind of important.”
“It’s also probably an excuse.” she retorted.
“It’s not an excuse if it’s an actual problem.” he argued.
“Yeah, well I’m not having any of that out of you.” she told him with finality.
“Whatever.” he mumbled dejectedly. He just hoped that she would cool of eventually and take the time to hear what he had to say.
He followed next to her as she led him through the city. He didn’t know his way around yet as he hadn’t been there long, but he did know his way to and from a few places, one of them school. Watching her she looked fairly comfortable with where she was headed and the streets as well. “How long have you lived here?” he queried genuinely curious.
“My whole life actually. I’ve been to a few of the other islands to visit, but for the most part I’ve just stayed here.” she informed him glad to have something to talk about.
“How many islands are there?” he inquired.
“You’re new here aren’t you? Kind of forgot. There are nine islands in Unisus. All of them are really close to each other which makes transportation between them really quick. This island, Unisus Isle, obviously houses the capital, but it’s actually one of the smallest islands.” she explained.
“Okay.” he answered satisfied by the information.
“Where did you move from?” she queried.
“I came here from Equestria over the summer.” he told her simply.
“Cool! I’ve never been, but I hear a lot about it.” she replied.
“I never really knew a lot about this place honestly. I knew that it was here, but besides that not much.” he informed her.
“Yeah, well, Equestria is a lot bigger and I suppose a lot more important globally and stuff.” she responded with a shrug.
“It’s nice here though.” he said back.
“Yeah, I like it, but I’ve never really known anything else I suppose.” she agreed.
A companionable silence fell over the two as they continued to walk through the streets. He promptly remembered his concern though and tried once more to inform her of it. “So, about the weather forecast for today,” he began.
“What, you’re really going to talk about the weather?” she interrogated with a roll of her eyes.
“Not small talk, just that flying today might be-” he tried before being cut off.
“I said no excuses and I mean it! If you didn‘t want to be here then you shouldn’t have come.” she retorted angrily.
“I’m not making up excuses!” he argued unsuccessfully.
“And I’m not listening.” she replied in annoyance.
“I noticed.” he grumbled dejectedly.
Kara was not in the best of moods as they arrived at their destination. It looked to be a local park to him. “A park?” he asked in confusion.
“Yep. You can fly around all you want and after school it’s not usually all that crowded, but there is still ponies here.” She gestured to the various ponies milling about. “That’s your audience.” As he looked around he found that he was a lot less worried about the ponies on the ground than the pegasi in the air. He felt that he would get more attention from those aloft.
He walked inside with her feeling rather nervous. He noticed that the pegasi he saw were all keeping close to the ground or staying in contact with it entirely. He knew why of course, but it appeared that his companion wasn’t willing to listen to him. He halted as she stopped in an open area of the grass. She took a seat and looked at him expectantly. An awkward silence fell between them for a moment. “Aren’t you going to go fly now? That was kind of the point.” she stated blatantly. He grumbled silently to himself before taking off. He made sure to keep close to the ground. The winds weren’t ones that he could work with very well, but he’d rather have those than move up higher.
It didn’t take long for Kara to notice however that he wasn’t where he needed to be. “You’re barely even off of the ground. No wonder you’re having a hard time. You were way higher up at school.” she said in annoyance. He grimaced as he knew that she was right.
“Yeah, well…” He had given up trying to explain it to her.
“Well what? Go higher!” she commanded. His grimace deepened as he contemplated her request.
He allowed his altitude to rise hoping that he wasn’t making as big a mistake as he thought. In an instant he felt the eyes of at least half a dozen nearby pegasi on him. He did his best to ignore them and just run through the motions. The winds hadn’t betrayed him yet, but yet was an important factor in the equation. He felt himself attracting more attention from the pegasi that were around even if others were content to leave him be. It was probably more the pegasi that understood the risk he was taking staying up there like that. He only intended to stay up there just long enough for her to be satisfied and then he would promptly make it back to the ground. He made sure to keep everything that he did to a low level of skill to allow himself more attention towards what was going on around him. On another day where he felt slightly less worried he would allow himself some room to push himself.
He managed to sense the winds a moment before they caught him. Everything in the background faded away as the violent gusts threw him about like a ragdoll. He might have been able to vaguely recall a collective gasp from below or possibly a shout from Kara, but he wasn’t quite sure. He tried to remember what one was supposed to do when caught in such a situation, but a blind panic took hold in a moment. He fought for control, but brute force earned him nothing. Only pure luck allowed him to right himself for just a moment, one moment that let him collect himself.
The angry gusts buffeted about viciously, but even they had a pattern that he only need find. He knew what all of the winds felt like. These were the same ones that he was used to only more powerful and less regulated. As he found one favorable breeze he rode it to the next. He took the storm of winds one blow at a time more worried about staying aloft than escaping in that moment. Still his chain of successes continued to grow as he let his knowledge guide him through step by step. As he rode it out pride and determination filled him. When he escaped and descended he did feel battered and tired, but his jubilation trumped both of those feelings. He was grinning from ear to ear as he touched down.
“What was that!?” Kara interrogated him as he reached her.
“What I was trying to tell you about. Rogue winds.” he answered.
“What does that mean?” she questioned.
“Pegasi control the weather, but they control the winds too. Winds are more unruly than the weather however and every now and again there will be patches of winds that don’t cooperate. They’re called rogue winds and are basically just small pockets of chaotic gusts. They can’t be tamed, but they can be broken up by talented flyers. That’s what I was trying to tell you about earlier, but you wouldn’t listen. I just didn’t want to get caught by one of those monsters.” He paused as he felt that she was staring at him.
“So did you break it up?” she inquired curiously still looking uncomfortably intently at him.
“What? No. I couldn’t do that. I just managed to ride it out.” he replied simply. He wilted back slightly from her unrelenting stare. He noticed that she wasn’t looking him in the eyes.
“It looked like you did more than just ‘ride it out’ to me.” she retorted not allowing her eyes to deviate.
“That was all I did though alright. Nothing more, nothing less.” he promised hoping to divert her attention or at least diminish its intensity.
“Alright, but uh…” she began awkwardly, “Well…”
“What?” he questioned worriedly. She just gestured to him simply in response.
He looked at himself in confusion wondering if something was wrong. It was then that he noticed what she had been staring at. In his concentration he had completely missed the moment in which the cutie mark had appeared. He looked over at her in shock and then back at his newly acquired cutie mark. He found himself laughing joyfully despite his usual nature. He also found himself hovering a couple of feet off of the ground. His cutie mark depicted a wind spiraling about freely. He felt it to be an apt description of what he aspired to in the future.
“That’s neat isn’t it.” he commented brightly still hovering below the tree line.
“Neat? That’s fantastic!” she corrected him happily.
“Yeah, basically.” he agreed still beaming.
“And if I hadn’t made you come out this wouldn’t have happened would it?” she questioned with a smirk.
He rolled his eyes, “I also never would’ve been in danger from the winds in the first place.”
“Let’s focus on the bright side of this.” she replied.
“Done.” he agreed. He twisted about in the air gleefully to get a look at the cutie mark. “I think we can call it a day. Same time next week though?”
“Definitely! Next time though I’ll hear what you have to say. Sorry about that.” she apologized.
“Yeah, well, you were right. If you hadn’t pushed me I wouldn’t have this right now. I say we’re even.” he responded.
“Agreed.” she finished. The duo trotted out far happier than they had trotted in.
Over the months Zone had managed to become a part of their friendship group that all of them took for granted. Throughout the year he had spent a good deal of his time with them and ended up closer with them than he had expected. Everypony in the group had their cutie marks by then as well. Ink had gotten hers at the end of the school year after working with all of the foals in class in the form of a piece of paper with writing on it. Diplo received his for peacekeeping in the form of a rolled up scroll. For the older five of the group it was going to be their last year at the school.
They were all congregated at their table as was normal at lunch. “Right, so, the end of year sendoff dance thing, who here’s going?” Kara asked the table as soon as everypony was there.
“I can’t.” Astro said immediately in dejection.
“I’m not.” Spot answered.
“What? Why not?” she interrogated him in annoyance.
“I don’t see what’s so great about it. It’s crowded, hot, stuffy, you can barely move in the clothes, you can barely see because it’s so dark, and you have to shout at the top of your lungs just to talk to the pony next to you.” he explained.
“Fine. Be a spoil sport.” she retorted. He just rolled his eyes in response.
“I’m not particularly interested in going either honestly.” Diplo admitted.
“Well, I was planning on going.” Ink told her. Kara waited for the sixth pony at the table to answer, but he never responded.
“Hey! Idiot! What about you?” she questioned. He looked up as he was addressed.
“In case you hadn’t noticed I’m in the grade below you. I’m not allowed to be there.” he explained to her.
“Like anypony actually gives a crap.” she retorted as she rolled her eyes, “I really don’t think they’ll notice if you walk in with the rest of the crowd. If not there’s more than one entrance to the school. Open a window somewhere and we’re golden.”
“Kara, are you sure about that?” Astro asked nervously.
“Course I am.” she promised.
“So you’re saying I should sneak into the dance?” he asked for clarification.
“Do you really think that you’d get in trouble for it? They aren’t going to run around searching for ponies who might not be supposed to be there. You’ll blend into the crowd just fine too, dress is semi-formal. I mean I’d like for at least half of us to be there.” she said shooting accusatory glances at both Diplo and Spot.
“I never said I wouldn’t go.” Diplo defended himself. Spot however said nothing in reply.
“Well what’s the point of you showing up and being miserable the whole time?” she queried.
“I don’t know.” he answered.
“Exactly! There isn’t one! It’s a bummer that you don’t want to go, but you don’t need to show up and just mope the whole time. Anyways, you.” she said before returning her attention to Zone.
“I don’t know if this is such a good idea honestly.” Zone told her, still skeptical.
“Look if trying to walk through the front door is what you’re worried about then we can pick a door or a window to meet by. I could probably figure out how to unlock a door with magic. Plus, you get in trouble, I’ll take the fall. It was my idea anyways.” she said coaxing him to get on board with her plan.
“Fine. I mean you aren’t going to shut up about it until I agree anyways.” he replied in reluctant agreement.
“Look who’s learning.” she responded as she ruffled his mane. He rolled his eyes and straightened it after she finished.
-/|\-
“Hey, could I talk to you for a minute?” Spot asked Astro as they were leaving the school after dismissal.
“Sure, what is it?” she replied stepping off to the side with him.
“It’s just… I know that you really would like to be able to go to that dance.” he began.
“Yeah, but it’s too late for me to be able to.” she replied simply.
“I know, but I don’t want you to just have to sit alone wishing you were there.” he told her.
“Is that why you declined to attend?” she asked worried. She didn’t really want for him to not go just because he felt bad for her no matter how flattered she was by the gesture.
“No, I honestly don’t really want to go, but I also don’t see why we can’t just find some place to hang out. I know that you can’t be out after dark, but you managed it once right?” he responded hopefully.
“I,” she paused for a moment as she thought, “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Great.” he said with a grin, “Let me know when you figure it out.”
“I will. See you tomorrow.” she promised
“Yep.” he finished before the two went their separate ways.
She began walking towards the nearest teleportation safe location near her, but changed her mind halfway there. She opted for time to consider the previous conversation as she headed for one that was much farther instead. It would be considerably easier to get out at that point as she needed only to inform Sail that she would be leaving and then would simply need to do so. Sail would keep her secret and she would be fine. It wasn’t like before where she would need adult supervision. She was old enough to be out by herself. Of course the location that was chosen would have to be isolated and nearby. While she could teleport there he would have to walk and they wouldn’t want anypony walking in on them. As she considered these details one particular place came to mind.
-/|\-
Kara sat opposite Zone at lunch while they waited for their other friends to arrive. “Okay, so here’s the plan that I’ve got. Recently I’ve been working on this invisibility spell thing for a prank, but it could probably be used better here.” she began as soon as she arrived at the table with him.
“Why didn’t you mention that yesterday?” he questioned.
“Well, I hadn’t thought of it yesterday.” she answered simply.
“Smart.” he replied sarcastically.
“Shut up. Anyways, I can use that to get you inside. Just walk in with Ink and I invisible and I’ll drop the spell once we get somewhere inconspicuous.” she explained.
“Sounds like a plan.” he said glad that it was that simple.
“However,” she began before being cut off.
“Great, just my luck.” he huffed in annoyance.
“How about you listen to what I have to say first. While you’re invisible you are still going to be tangible and you’ll still be able to be heard. So you’d better keep your mouth shut and you’d better not trip. We’re gonna have to move fast too since I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep it up for. I’m not really a master magician.” she warned him.
“Got it.” he promised with a nod.
“Good.” she finished.
-/|\-
Once again Astro and Spot stood outside of school together just after dismissal. “I think I can make this work.” she told him while still feeling uncertain herself. She had decided that the location that she had decided upon was secure, but she hadn’t yet told Sail of what she was planning.
“Really? That’s great!” he replied happily after he heard the news.
“Yeah. It’s a lot easier to get out now that I can be out by myself. Anyways, I think I know a location that might work. I can show it to you tomorrow since you should probably get home now. It is a bit of a walk and I would hate to make your family worry about you not getting home on time.” she informed him.
“Alright. I’ll let them know that I might be back a little late tomorrow too.” he responded.
“Good.” she said back.
“See you tomorrow then?” he queried.
“Definitely.” she promised.
After the two had said their goodbyes she made her way back to the base like she usually did. She knew that she would have to tell Sail about it eventually and she figured sooner rather than later. If she was told that she couldn’t go it didn’t need to be the day before. While Sail would usually still be working in the sorting room when she returned she knew that she could just catch her later. There was homework that she had to complete anyways. She spent her time on that while she waited for her mentor to complete her tasks.
When she did approach Sail there was no denying the nerves that she felt coursing through her. “Hello.” she began doing her best to keep her voice even.
“Hello dear,” Sail replied warmly, “how was school?”
“Fine. I didn’t have that much homework so I’ve already got it all done.” she replied smiling forcibly.
“That is good.” she responded gladly.
“How did the sorting go?” she queried stalling.
“The same as it usually does. No problems arose.” she answered simply.
“Cool.” she said back.
“You seem tense, is everything alright?” she questioned sensing her nerves.
“Oh, um, yes, completely. I just… the whole dance thing, I mean I know that I can’t go and there’s absolutely no way that’s changing.” she said hurriedly.
“I am sorry. I know that you were excited for that.” she replied sympathetically.
“Yeah, but, I guess, I was kind of still hoping that I could maybe, um, still go out.” Her voice faded to a mumble towards the end of her sentence.
“What?” she queried taken aback by the proposal.
“Well, somepony suggested that maybe I could hang out somewhere private, but still on the surface. I thought that would be nice or something.” she answered feeling not at all confident.
“I don’t see much point if you plan on being alone. I assume that your friends would be attending.” she answered in confusion.
“Actually, um, the pony who suggested the idea, I was planning on having him there.” she told her as her anxiety continued to grow.
“Really?” she questioned growing more surprised.
“Yes.” she mumbled growing quite worried.
“That is an ambitious plan you have there. Are you sure that you have thought all of the elements of it through?” she inquired.
“Yes.” she answered, but it sounded more like a question.
“You will need to show me that it is safe for you and if I feel satisfied that it is then I see no problem.” she answered.
“Really!?” she questioned in shock.
“Of course. I see no reason to separate you from your friends without valid reason, but that does not mean you can abandon caution.” she explained.
“I understand.” she promised with a nod.
“Then show me to where you have this all planned out for.” she told her.
“Will do.” she responded gladly.
-/|\-
After school Spot stood waiting outside for Astro to join him. She had promised to take him to the place that she’d found that day and he was curious as to where she had deemed safe. She was nothing if not careful so if she was alright with it then it had to be safe. He hoped that he wasn’t pushing her outside of her comfort zone with his proposal, but he knew that events such as the dances were the one that she always missed attending and she would likely never be able to attend one publicly. He personally held no love for them, but he was well aware that she did. He did feel that as a private event it would be far more enjoyable.
He noticed her stepping out the door and walked over gladly. She smiled happily at him and he returned the gesture. “So, it is a little out of the way, but it isn’t a horrific walk.” she told him as they started off.
“Alright, I was expecting as much anyways. Lead the way.” he replied just glad that she had found somewhere.
“Okay.” She started off heading away from the school straight towards her destination. He followed behind her and noticed that she was indeed feeling nervous. He frowned hoping that it wasn’t his fault that she was. He picked up his pace to walk beside her so that they could talk.
He voiced his concerns from earlier to her saying, “I hope that you don’t feel like you have to do this, it was just an idea.”
“And it’s a good one.” she promised, “I’m just not used to flouting the rules so openly like this. It’s a little nerve-racking, but I’ll be fine. I talked to Sail about it and she thinks that I have taken the proper precautions.”
“Okay, that’s good.” he responded glad that she didn’t appear to be going far out of her way.
“Yeah. But I really am thankful that you offered this idea up. It will be nice to be out after dark for once in a while. I’ve only actually been out twice before. One time was the sleepover of course, and the other was just myself and Sail.” she informed him.
“Is that really it?” he questioned in surprise.
“Yes, they are quite strict about keeping secrecy. I’m fairly certain that I’ve been out more often than most a good deal older than myself. The only reason that I have is Sail.” she told him.
“Is she different?” he inquired curiously.
“Well, it would take a while to explain it completely, but there are two different kinds of us on the surface. One is far more common than the other. Sail and myself are of the type that is less abundant, and due to her different origin she doesn’t completely agree with the policies that the more common variant hold. That’s why she is so willing to let me bend rules if I feel a need.” she explained.
“Right. Um, the surface?” he questioned. The way that she had said as if it were just another place confused him.
“Well, by surface I mean the planet. I am not directly from here. The day that we met was the first day I had been here, and I chose to stay. I’ve been here ever since.” she answered.
“So then where were you before?” he inquired.
“A place called the Astral Plain. You see Astro isn’t my given name. When I was asked to provide one I was quite worried about secrecy and provided a false one. I derived it from the title of where I had come from. Of course when I chose to stay here it did become my name more than anything else and has been my name for much longer than I held my given one. If I remember correctly I had only had my given name for about six months before I left for the sur- for here.” she informed him.
“Six months, but, that doesn’t make sense.” he replied quickly realizing that those numbers didn’t add up properly.
“You aren’t born with a name, you earn one once you find your place in their society. I had mine for such a short time due to the fact that I found my place quite a bit after the rest.” she told him.
“But you were just old enough to start school.” he responded.
“Old enough to start work there. I know that from your perspective it sounds strange, but there it isn’t. It’s just a way of life.” she explained.
When they were younger he had always recognized her as more mature than their peers, but he had never thought much of it. That was just a part of her personality. When he had learned of why she never did come to evening events it had shocked him quite dramatically, but he had never questioned much why she was that way. It was just a simple irreversible fact. As she told him more about what her life was like while she wasn’t around them he felt a space growing between them, a space that he didn’t want there. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t glad that the event would be just the two of them and none of the others.
“Sorry about all the questions, I’m not trying to be nosy.” he apologized feeling that he’d overstepped his bounds.
“It’s fine, you’ve got every right to be curious.” she reassured him.
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable though.” he told her sincerely
“Don’t worry about it. It’s nice to have somepony to talk to about it who is normal.” she replied with equal honesty.
“You say it like you’re abnormal.” he replied jokingly.
“I glow in response to the moon’s magical resonance. I’m fairly certain that would define me as weird.” she answered in a less light hearted manner.
“Yeah well I bet that if I showed up they would think me pretty strange. Weird is relative.” he answered trying to put a positive spin on it.
“I suppose, but relative to around here I am not normal unfortunately. Otherwise I could go to that dance and I wouldn’t have to locate a private area to sneak out to in secrecy.” she said with a depressing finality. He looked away from her as they left the city. He couldn’t think of a rebuttal for that. As she realized what she had said she looked away in embarrassment and apologized, “I’m sorry, that was low. I shouldn’t be complaining like this, that was dumb. I’m just being immature and silly.”
“Not at all. You’re by far the most mature pony I know.” he promised reassuringly.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” she mumbled still feeling dejected.
“No problem.” he replied.
Their walk fell into a companionable silence as she led him towards her set location. The conversation had lessened his good mood, but he tried his best to just take joy in that she had trusted him with the information. He kept his pace matched to hers and they walked side by side in quiet. Looking over at her he could see that she did feel bad about what she had said, but he didn’t know what to say to improve her mood. He figured that when they arrived it would be easier to make conversation. He let the silence hold as they walked along on a forest trail under the trees. She made no effort to break it either.
He did grow slightly concerned as she moved off of the trail entirely and walked into the trees. An uncertain frown fell on his face, but after a moment’s hesitation he walked after her. The fact that her location was off of the trail worried him, but he supposed that he knew that she would be cautious about discovery. He didn’t know where they were going to end up, but he trusted her judgment. She wouldn’t have confirmed with him if she wasn’t completely confident in her idea. She wasn’t somepony that he knew to make rash decisions.
When they entered the secluded forest clearing he was quite stunned. He wondered how she had even found this place so far out of the way. It was of a decent size surrounded by a close thick circle of trees. It was almost a perfect circle which surprised him doubly. He wondered how such a perfect little place was able to form out in the middle of nowhere. It was out of the way, but not so much that it was unreasonable, and it was large enough to fit their needs.
“How’d you find this place? It’s perfect.” he inquired stepping forward and looking around.
“This place is used for teleportation between the Astral Plain and here, but the center belongs to The Constellation Order which never uses them.” she explained.
“Oh, um, right.” he mumbled rather confused by the explanation, “Well, I can see why you thought of it.”
“Yeah, I figured it would work.” she replied looking around in satisfaction.
“So, same time frame as the school dance?” he questioned wanting to know when to arrive.
“Yep.” she confirmed.
“Sounds like a plan.” he told her gladly.
“Good.” she finished with an equally bright mood. Her hopes were high for the event.
Kara had just left school the day of the dance. There was no way that the hours would pass by quick enough for her taste. She had to keep reminding herself that every second that passed meant that there was one less between her and that evening. Her excitement heightened her already significant amount of impatience. She had made sure to work out all of the details of their plan with Zone, but she was still slightly concerned about it. She wasn’t sure that she would be able to hold the invisibility spell for as long as she would need to. She hadn’t told him that though, she felt that it was a detail he need not be aware of. His attendance was one of the things causing her excitement and she didn’t want to give him any reason not to be there. It had taken enough work to convince him to go and keep him that way. He was a good friend to her and she wanted to be sure that he wasn’t left out. Despite how she had despised his attitude towards the beginning of the year she had come to enjoy his company far more than she had ever expected to. She had learned a good deal about him during their weekly sessions of practice even if not as much as she would’ve liked. He had become far more open towards her, but was still very guarded. It never ceased to surprise her how quickly his personality changed as soon as a stranger entered the conversation. He would move from good conversation to abrupt one word answers in no time at all. It made her realize just how much the trust he put in them amounted to. She was quite proud to possess it.
She also couldn’t wait to watch his jaw drop as she arrived. She had spent quite a while pitting together her outfit for that night and didn’t intend to disappoint. She imagined her dress waiting for her in her closet. Wearing it a violet saddle rested on her back with a lavender piece of fabric that would wrap under her stomach holding it in place. Sky blue and turquoise cloth flared out behind before falling down towards the floor and curling up slightly at the ends. She intended to curl her hair as well, at least her mane anyway, after she had made her way home. A fair amount of time had been spent on working out her make up as well. As she trotted gleefully home all that she could think about was the prospect of the coming evening.
-/|\-
Zone trotted home still feeling rather uncertain about Kara’s plan to have him come. He felt flattered that she had taken the time to figure it out, but he felt like it was hardly foolproof. He didn’t even know if she could use the spell and wasn’t excited to be her guinea pig. He was fairly sure that she had never tried it on another pony before. There was also the fact that he didn’t even really want to go at all. He didn’t enjoy very social situations and the dance did fall under that category. Even though he felt certain that he would be spending the whole time with both Kara, and Ink, whom he knew, that didn’t make feel much better. He would much rather spend time with them by himself, like when he met with Kara after school to practice, than with a crowd around them. Still, he recognized that he had promised to come and he wasn’t going to back out of that. He sighed tiredly as he thought of the event.
-/|\-
Ink was laughing quietly to herself as she made her way home after school. She was absolutely elated for the dance even if only two of her friends could be there. It was such a fun event and she couldn’t wait to spend her evening there. She would get to mingle with her classmates and enjoy the music and the excited atmosphere all at once. In her own enthusiasm she had picked out her dress quite a bit in advance. She was quite proud of it and felt good about how she’d appear at the dance. Her dress had a high collar with long sleeves and fringe at the ends. At the back it swooped gracefully down to the floor just behind her back legs. The front of it was a bright violet color and just behind her withers it changed to a more pastel purple. A lavender piece of fabric hung loosely as it wrapped around the back of it. A similar shade also decorated the bottom inch of the back. She was certain that everything about that night would be nothing short of fantastic. As she looked forward to the dance she grinned from ear to ear in delight.
-/|\-
Astro was excited about her plans for that night, but she couldn’t deny the worry that was coursing through her. Despite how thoroughly she had run through the aspects of her plan anxiety still coursed through her. What if something ended up going wrong? What if she was caught sneaking out when she shouldn’t have been? What if she ended up getting Spot in trouble with her? She did her best to shake of thoughts to some avail. She tried her best to think about the better aspects of that night. Her prospects for it were positive despite her anxiety.
While she did feel very sure that Spot would not have formal attire as that was one of the reasons why he had decided to not go to the dance she had gotten herself a dress. When she had decided to sneak out she had also decided that she would keep to the semi-formal rule of the dance. The dress that she had chosen was all varying shades of blue. The front was a light pastel blue, the band around her waist was a midnight blue color, the top piece of the back was a bright dark blue, and the bottom was an electric blue similar to her eyes. She had a hair piece that was also a hue close to her eyes’. Sail had agreed to help put her hair up. Then finally she had long gloves that were midnight blue to wear on her front hooves. As she started to prepare herself she looked on towards the moonlit night with hope.
-/|\-
Spot had long been looking forward to the night he would have with Astro. He was excited to see her, and was glad that she was taking the chance to come out and see him. He felt that she needed the opportunity to get out and enjoy herself for once. He knew that she would have fun that night and was also fairly certain that she would dress up. He had not bothered to get himself something nice to wear as he had never bore any love for those kinds of clothes. Still, if she had chosen to dress up then he was happy for her and would be even more excited to see her outfit. Of course because he had opted to just go looking like he usually did he had no preparing to do which had both good and bad effects. On the bad side he would have almost nothing to do to pass the time to wait. On the bright side he could just leave when he needed to without having to worry about anything. It was a good walk as well so he would have to head out early, and that made him glad that he had nothing to worry about. He allowed himself to just enjoy the fact that he would be spending his evening with Astro.
-/|\-
The hours had passed quicker for Kara than she’d though that they would. Getting ready had been quite fun and the time had flown by. She trotted towards the school having completed everything that she’d wanted to in preparation. She was right on time and saw both of her friends waiting just outside. It was almost time for her to walk in with Zone and she was slightly uneasy about whether or not she would be able to pull it off. Her fears were put off for a moment however as she walked up on them. She did get the reaction she had been hoping for out of Zone. He was quite shocked and failed to greet her due to his shock. She just smirked at him feeling rather proud. “You look nice.” Ink greeted her.
“Thank you, you too.” she responded politely.
“Thanks.” she replied with a grateful smile.
“You can head on in alright. We’ll meet you inside in a minute.” she dismissed her.
“Alright,” she said before turning to go reluctantly, “Good luck.” she called to them over her shoulder.
“Right, so I know that we were going to start around the corner, but I’m not entirely sure that I’ll be able to make it that far.” she began hoping he would agree to change their location.
“If I vanish in the doorway that’s going to draw attention.” he argued not wanting to alter their predetermined plan.
“Fine, but when you appear in the doorway it’s not my fault.” she retorted.
“You’re the one casting the spell so it kind of is.” he pointed out.
“Yeah, but you’re making me go this far.” she countered.
“Look just get this over with.” he said back with a roll of his eyes.
“You asked for it.” she finished before preparing to cast her spell.
Her horn started to glow with a violet light and she closed her eyes, clearly concentrating. He felt all of his concerns rise to his attention once more. He couldn’t help wondering why he’d ever agreed to this. He did trust her, but he knew nothing about magic and was rather worried about what might happen if she failed to perform her spell properly. As the glow around her horn brightened he felt his anxiety heighten. He held his silence, but if her eyes had been open she would’ve seen the concern plastered across his features. He gulped silently as a final burst of violet light erupted from her horn.
As he allowed his eyes to open and look down at himself he was quite pleasantly surprised to find nothing there. He hadn’t expected it to work and the fact that it had lightened his mood greatly. He almost laughed, but he remembered her warning just before he did. You’re still tangible and you can still be heard. He kept his mouth shut and made no noises to express his elation. He was smiling, but nopony could see that. Looking over at Kara however the smile dampened slightly. She wasn’t as well off as he was. It was immediately obvious that it had taken quite a bit out of her. She did seem proud of her success, but her smile was strained from the effort of supporting the spell.
She took off for the entrance at a quick trot without a word just hoping that he was following. She wanted to ask to confirm, but talking to some empty space next to her would’ve been cause for attention which she didn’t want. Each step was growing to be a challenging as she entered the building as she did her best to keep up the spell. She quickened her pace needing to get to the hallway that they had decided upon seeing as it was unlikely that there would be anypony there. As she rounded the corner towards it the magical exhaustion was starting to grow unbearable. As she entered the hallway she saw that it was empty as she had planned. At that point she just hoped that he was there with her. She felt a tap on her shoulder connected to nopony and she dropped the spell gladly.
He appeared next to her looking rather concerned. “Are you alright?” he questioned worriedly. All she really wanted to do was collapse and nap for a bit, but she wasn’t about to let that happen.
“Yep.” she promised with a nod, “I’ve just never tried anything that demanding before. Come on, let’s go find Ink. She’s probably wondering where we are.”
“If you’re sure you’re okay.” he replied not entirely certain that she was.
“I’m fine. Stop worrying.” she scolded him still grateful that he was worried about her.
-/|\-
Spot had left earlier than he had probably needed to for the forest clearing, but he didn’t mind. Astro had always been a punctual pony and he didn’t want to keep her waiting because he hadn’t bothered to be there on time. He also wanted to allow himself some extra time in case he got a little turned around. The location certainly was secluded like she’d wanted it to be. He had made a couple return trips though just to be sure that he could find it. Luckily for him the majority of them had been successful with only the first few taking longer than they needed to. As he entered the trees he ran through all of his previous visits one more time. He walked along the path that he had planned out for himself and arrived there without issue.
He smiled as he saw Astro already waiting there for him. He figured that it was safe to assume that she had arrived early. She looked stunning in the dress that she had picked out and the soft radiance flowing off of her only heightened her brilliance. She returned his grin when she saw him arrive as a slight blush came to her cheeks. The moon’s light along with her own lit up the small clearing beautifully as it glanced off of the silver looking leaves. You could smell the fragrance of the various flora nearby and hear the songs of the night birds through the trees. The whole scene felt to him like something out of a fairy tale.
“I see you made it.” she greeted him as he walked up to her.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” he promised as he offered her a hoof. She took it still with a slight color still in her cheeks. He hummed softly creating his own music for their private dance.
-/|\-
Zone had long since been left behind by Kara in her rush to talk to everypony there. It was a pass time that he didn’t much enjoy, so even when she did try to get him involved he would back off quietly while she was busy with her conversation. She had eventually given up on trying to include him in her escapades and let him go off and do what he wanted, which for the most part involved him just waiting on the sidelines. She hadn’t completely abandoned him though as she would periodically come over to talk to him for a bit before taking off to dance to a song she liked or talk with somepony that she hadn’t yet spoken to. It became quite clear that while she was closer to the friendship group that they shared she knew and was on good terms with almost everypony in her grade.
He turned his attention away from his silent thoughts as he saw her approaching him. “Are you really going to stand here and mope the whole time?” she questioned in annoyance.
“I’m not moping.” he answered in annoyance.
“Certainly looks like it.” she retorted.
“Well I’m not.” he argued.
“Well I don’t believe you. C’mon! It’s a dance! It’s in the name!” she finished as she dragged him off to the dance floor. He sighed tiredly, but ended up smiling despite himself.
And so the time passed for each one of them while their lives ticked by. For some ponies days seemed to pass like moments and months like minutes. Some of them may have been mere ticks on the great celestial clock of their world, but each bit of time that they had was one that they would enjoy. Their lives passed with dreams, perfect dreams and some vague nightmares that would force their way in. Still all of it was encased by a shroud of peaceful slumber. The great clock that led their lives however still had an alarm that would awake greater things.
It was around one o’clock the day of the summer solstice, Astro’s favorite day of the year. Every year prior she had spent the day with her friends and this year would be no different. They had taken the time to plan out what they all wanted to do and made sure to work in everypony’s suggestions. It was going to be quite the event and she was very excited for it. This was probably the most effort that they had ever put forth for one of these days and her hopes were very high. She already had her saddlebags packed and they were leaned up against the door waiting for her. When it was time for her to leave all that she needed to do was pick them up and head out. She was too excited to lay down to rest and there was the fact that she hardly needed it at her age. While she waited for the time to pass she worked on a project that she had been developing recently.
It was while she was working that she heard a massive ringing reverberating through the building. She stopped what she was doing and stepped back in shock. It was very apparent that it wasn’t just coming from her room. Whatever it was could be heard everywhere. Never once in the decade that she had been there had she heard such a noise and it alarmed her greatly. She walked worriedly over to her door to see what was going on outside of her room. As she poked her head out into the hallway she saw almost all of the other ponies to either side of her. It didn’t appear that anypony there knew quite what was going on. That only heightened her anxiety as the majority of them had lived there for their whole life.
Quickly she found Sail’s form standing in her doorway not too far down. She looked just as confused and concerned as all of the others, but she still looked to her for reassurance. Sail quickly turned to look for Astro and the two locked eyes. Just as they met each other’s gaze an announcement simultaneously reached all of them. ‘All ponies are to return to their rooms and remain there until further notice. No exceptions.' A momentary silence followed before the magnanimous ringing broke it once more. Sail gestured for her to return to her room with a reassuring smile and she did reluctantly. As she turned she saw others follow some more willingly with others. They did still all return eventually. Orders were to be followed not questioned.
Sail remained standing in her doorway until everypony else had disappeared behind their doorways before she did as well. She didn’t appreciate the lack of information that they had been given. Nothing like this had ever happened before and all they could do was tell them to stay inside like children. She wanted to go and see Astro to check on her, but didn’t want to get her in trouble for her actions. She stood still and silent glaring furiously at her wall. She had a half a mind to march down to the managers’ offices and interrogate them as to what it was all about, but she knew that acting brashly would get her nowhere.
For a moment her angry thoughts faded as the ear shattering noise stopped. It was followed quickly by another sound echoing in her head. ‘I’m afraid we require your services for this matter. Come to the back hall as quickly as you can.’ She frowned as she received the mental message.
‘What is going on here? And what happened to no exceptions?’ she questioned.
‘Come down here like I asked and you’ll see. And right now we don’t need ponies roaming the hallways. The message needed to come across.’ came the reply.
‘I should be there shortly.’ she responded begrudgingly.
She exited her room as her stomach churned with uncertainty. While she did not understand what was happening she knew enough to decide that she didn’t like it. She walked down the hallway towards the one that lay in the back. She passed by an assortment of closed doors each of which with a name on them that she recognized. These were not just names that they were playing. There was a pony behind each one of them. A pony she knew. As she reached the end of the hallway she felt her anger growing as well as her anxiety. Her worried mind created all sorts of images as to what she might find, but none of them matched what she found waiting for her.
As the base had five managers there were ten doors on the back wall of the back hallway, an office and a bedroom for each one of them. All ten of the doors had been placed equidistance apart from each other. In the very center of the hallway stood an eleventh door that had never been there before. It had been opened, but the last pony inside didn’t appear to have closed it. She could see a staircase spiraling downwards surrounded by claustrophobic earthen walls. ‘What is this supposed to be?’ she questioned looking the area over in distrust.
‘The answer to that is at that bottom of the stairs. I’m down here with the rest of the managers.’ Mint Drift replied.
‘I’m on my way down to you.’ she responded uncertainly before heading into the doorway.
The stairs were made of rough hewn stone that her hooves sounded loudly against. It smelled of must and mud and earth in the darkened space. The walls were nothing but bare compressed dirt that pressed close on either side of her. No lights guided her as she walked downwards, but her own light guided her down well enough. She was glad that she had it as well. The spiraling stairs had not been well made and she had to take the steps carefully to ensure that she did not trip. Without light the journey would’ve been far more dangerous. As she got closer to the bottom she saw the others' glow faintly. The staircase stopped curling and led down the last steps in a straight line.
The room was made completely of grey stone and torches hung on the walls that must have been lit recently. A strange magical light sat pulsing on one side of the room while on the other side an old decaying wooden desk sat with five ponies gathered around it. A yellowed envelope that had been opened sat on the desk. The seal on the front looked similar to that of The Wish Division, but it wasn’t exactly the same. The letter that had been inside sat on the desk next to it. What was written on it concerned her greatly.
“You called for me.” she declared as they turned to greet her.
“I’m sure that you were just as surprised this night as we were.” Mint Drift stated simply, “When we went to investigate we found the extra door that had appeared on the wall in the back and followed the staircase here.”
“And found that envelope and opened it before proceeding to read it and call me down.” she completed hurriedly, “Forgive my bluntness, but I know what happened, I would like to know why.” She was given the letter in response.
She looked down to read it feeling uneasy. The calligraphy was elaborate and it was obvious that the page was old, but it wasn’t difficult for her to read.
To whomever is reading this,
If all has gone as it should identical hidden chambers have been placed under each of The Wish Division’s bases containing identical copies of this letter. As The Wish Division it is our job to grant the wishes that are made upon our stars, but only within proper discretion. Recently one particular wish was made that we deemed out of our jurisdiction, but after seeing it repeatedly in ever growing frequency I question the validity of this decision. It is a time of trouble for us and the rest of the world and we are only just starting to recover. Squabbling among ourselves over such an administrative matter would do nothing to help. It is my wish however that the decision be overturned. As the leader of The Wish Division I now make an executive decision that this wish shall be carried out under a special set of circumstances. The world could not handle what just happened once more, at this moment its granting would spell complete disaster. Once the world has had time to heal from this scar these two ponies' identical wishes shall be granted. Each of the underground rooms will be set to open in exactly one millennia, at which point the base will be alerted to its presence. Once you have read this you will start to prepare this wish to be granted and do so before the end of the longest day of the year. You will bring the moon princess back to her home and end her banishment.
She looked up from her reading in confusion as she finished. “I am afraid that I do not understand.”
“It is an old tale not believed to be true. On the longest day of the thousandth year the stars will aide in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal. Or so the legend says. Due to the wording of it tabs were kept on it, but it was still believed to just be a fairy tale.” one of the five ponies standing before her replied.
“And now we are to fulfill this prophecy? It would bring about our own destruction if it is true. Nighttime eternal would end this organizations work for forever. You read through the letter as well. It is a time of trouble and we are only starting to recover. We would experience the same.” she argued.
“Possibly, but it’s safe to say that it spawned from this letter and all this letter confirms is one thousand years, the longest day, and that we would aide her. It says nothing of eternal night. That was only added when the tale was stretched and exaggerated.” another responded.
“That does not mean that it was an undue exaggeration.” she retorted.
“Then we should hope for the best. This is not a request it is a command.” added a third voice.
“Why have you called me down? I fail to see why I am relevant to this situation.” she questioned realizing that she was getting nowhere.
“You know how our process here works. The stars receive wishes, sorters assign them, and runners carry them out. You are for all intents and purposes the leader of the sorters in Division 1. Rally all of your sorters together and think hard about this one, but think quickly. You only have so long.” Mint Drift told her. She frowned as she realized what was expected of her.
“You honestly mean for me to take this as I would any other assignment that comes my way.” she stated curtly.
“No, we expect that you treat this with the weight that it deserves, but we also expect you to do your job just as you always have. You have been given your orders, now go.” she finished in an authoritative manner.
She spun around and walked to leave a steely glare on her face. When they had replied to her in that manner she had half a mind to throw their order back in their face, but she had resisted the temptation knowing full well that such an action would get her nowhere. She did as she was bid to and knocked on the door of every sorter, pulled them out, and sent them to their station. For some it was easier than others due to the announcement that had been made, but she was still able to gather most of them. She went to Astro’s door last so that she might walk with her to the sorting room. It mattered not to her that Astro was not recognized as a sorter as she had yet to take her assessment, she wanted her out of her room and by her side. She was also plenty talented enough at what she did to be allowed among their ranks in her eyes.
She walked up to her door and knocked quietly. She could imagine how the young mare must have tensed up when she heard that after the sudden silence. She spoke to her telepathically, ‘Dear, it is me Sail. Could you open the door please? I know that we were told to stay inside, but I am afraid that the no exceptions rule has been broken. The managers want the sorters working and I was sent around to get everypony. I am aware of the fact that you do not hold the title officially, but I would like to have you out here with me.’ There was a moment of silence before the door inched open and Astro’s concerned face appeared in the doorway. She smiled reassuringly at her, “Thank you dear. I already grabbed everypony else so we can go straight there.” She exited the room nervously and shut the door behind her.
“W-what’s going on?” she questioned worriedly.
“I am afraid that I was tasked to make that announcement for all of them.” she replied crossly.
“Right.” she mumbled keeping her eyes towards the floor. Her tail was flicking about nervously and when Sail did catch the look on her face she looked like she was about to be sick.
“Dear, look at me.” she commanded seeing the evident distress displayed throughout her. Astro looked up and met her eyes, but her head was still hung low. “This is not the end of the world. While I cannot see the favor in what they do I can tell you that what happened this morning was not the beginning of our end. A hidden door opened when the ringing began and this is what was found inside.” she informed her as she offered her the letter. She took it with an uncertain look on her face and read through it. As she finished her reaction was less than favorable.
She looked over and said in confusion and concern, “But… I don’t understand-”
“You aren’t supposed to understand unfortunately, you are only supposed to do as you are told. Right now for us that means select a runner for this just like we would anything else.” she finished before they entered the room full of solemn ponies all awaiting her arrival.
Silence dominated the area as she walked into the center of the circle that the ponies had formed into. “Right now I am to tell you of what occurred not too long ago, why it has, and what it means to us that are here right now. I’m sure that all of you can understand the anomaly that the noise was, but here I have what it was meant to mean.” she told them as she displayed the letter, “It was meant to alert us to the presence of a travesty that happened long ago today, a millennia to be exact, to us and the rest of the world alike. Now that the world has had its time to heal from what has happened we are meant to return that which was lost all those years ago. It has been wished that the mare in the moon be released and it falls to us to choose a pony to complete that task alongside others chosen from all over The Wish Division.”
There was silence for a moment in the sorting room as the crowd of ponies all took in Sail’s words before the room erupted in cries of discontent and arguments. Astro stood huddled in the back away from the chaos willing the raucous noise to end. For a moment she thought she felt it lessen, but she knew that it was just wishful thinking. It was then that she heard Sail’s voice rise over the throng of awful noise. It was hard to make out what she said at first, but eventually she had the room’s attention once more. The tension in the room however was still palpable. “Everypony in this room right now wanted to be here. Every last one of you sat through your examinations and became members of this organization. Whatever your thoughts may be it is not your place to refuse your work, the work that you chose to take on for the betterment of this world.” she told them as they all looked on at her. As her feelings about The Wish Division and its work were no secret her words held more power than they would have if they had come from another mouth. “We were all brought here to do the jobs that we’ve been doing all the time that we’ve been here. If you would deny that work then go now. Just know that you made the decision to leave. No matter your position on this matter this is still your work. If you should plan to waste what little time that we have I suggest you take your leave now.” Nopony rose. “Very well. Just as we always have done the matter is open to discussion, but not chaos. Give your opinions and make your suggestions. If any of you wish to see this letter you may read through it. Pass it around so that you may all see what it has to say.”
She managed to keep the room under control, but there was no denying the discontent that wafted through the air. For the first time in a long time during a sorting session Astro remained completely silent. The others spoke intensely and went back and forth over who was needed and even when she had her own thoughts she voiced none. She stood out of the circle completely secluded from the discussion. She wanted no attention from any of the ponies who clearly felt very strongly about what they had to say. There was also the fact that she didn’t feel entirely qualified as unlike the rest of the ponies there she had not taken the assessment that Sail had mentioned. As much as she would’ve liked to she wasn’t old enough and was still in school. So she kept all of her qualms to herself and let them have their own discussion which she followed with the utmost attention.
It wasn’t very long before she felt that the discussion might never end. When it had begun a great deal of progress had been made quickly, but after the choices had been narrowed all progress that they had been making halted. She saw pros and cons for all of the decisions, but held her tongue. Sail had tried many times during the dialogue to make eye contact, but she had evaded each attempt. She knew that Sail would take notice of her silence, and she also knew that Sail would do her best to end it. She looked up quickly to see if Sail was still looking over at her to find that she was gone from her position. She was worried at first, but quickly remembered that other ponies had gotten up to go around to discuss with others. It then came to her that Sail was most likely headed her way. Her suspicions were confirmed as she appeared next to her.
“You’ve been rather quiet today.” Sail commented.
“I don’t see what I have to contribute to this discussion.” she answered promptly not wanting to get involved.
“You know these things just as well as everypony else here does.” she argued.
“No I don’t.” she answered simply while looking away.
“Yes you do. You work in here with us all of the time and you’re just as capable.” she countered.
“That doesn’t mean that they think so.” she mumbled looking at the ponies who currently held the floor.
“Then why don’t you tell me what you think should be done.” she suggested. Seeing her hesitation she offered her a soft nuzzle of reassurance.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts before telling Sail what she would do, “I think that each of the ones that they’ve been deciding over are all good candidates, but each one has its downsides too. See, the pony he wants would be good in theory, he could plan it all out and possible figure it out, but I’m not certain about execution. Then the pony that she’s pushing for is definitely very talented and knows her way around the subject, but I doubt that she would be able to identify and solve problems as well as the first. This isn’t our usual business so I think we can bend the rules some. I would send both of them together. One could identify and figure out a solution to the problem and the next execute said solution skillfully.”
Sail thought for a moment before responding, “It is not a bad answer for certain.”
“Really?” she questioned a sudden pride rising in her heart.
“Yes, it would also solve some of the problems that are being had with actually deciding on a singular pony. It is a good idea for certain. Don’t be afraid to put forth your thoughts. Now however, I had best return to my place in the circle. You should join it.” she finished before walking off calmly. She considered what Sail had told her and walked closer, but still remained on the outskirts of it all. She watched as Sail reemerged where she had been for the majority of their discussion.
She stood and waited politely for the pony who was speaking to finish. As soon as they had they had she stepped forward. “An interesting point has just been brought to my attention. This isn’t the normal kind of wish that we deal with and it has far more complex elements and implements. I would not be opposed to putting together a team to handle this instead of one runner alone.” she stated. Astro blushed bashfully in the back as Sail put forth part of her idea. The concept seemed to intrigue the group that surrounded them all and there was thoughtful silence for a moment. Soon though murmurs of agreement passed through the crowd. “Then we need not further this argument for who may be the best equipped. All that we must do is create a suitable team. I don’t believe that should be very difficult considering the ponies that we have left to eliminate.”
The discussion began once again, but it had a much less hostile feel to it as they worked together as opposed to against each other trying to build the perfect team. Progress moved much quicker as they all started to agree on conclusions and pairs of skill sets. She realized in astonishment that they might even finish before the sun rose that day and it rose earlier than other day that year. As she thought that however she quickly remembered what day it was and her heightened mood was killed. It was the summer solstice and they likely wouldn’t be released for quite some time. She might never get to have her day with her friends. She sat down solemnly as the discussion was forgotten to her. Her attention had turned to her five friends waiting for her to arrive unaware that she wasn’t going to be able to attend. Of course two might depending on how well that eternal night thing works out, she thought glumly.
Her dejected state remained in place for quite some time as she sat in a saddened daze. It wasn’t broken until a mighty cheer arose from the circle in front of her. She looked up to see Sail standing triumphantly in the center holding up a sealed envelope. It was the same kind that they used to give to runners when they were assigned a job. She realized suddenly that they had made their decision and agreed upon it for the wish. She was quite shocked that they had managed to. Due to the fact that all of their coats were still glowing she realized that they had completed it before the sun rose.
The group of radiant ponies walked out into the hallway triumphantly ready to deliver their completed task to their manager. They walked in a tight group with Sail in the front holding their envelope and herself bringing up the rear. She walked with them feeling uplifted by the fact that she had been able to contribute to the final result, but the sudden realization had dampened her mood far more than it had been raised. She was nearly certain that her favorite day of the year was just about to become the least. She just hoped that maybe that last line could be wrong and the sun would rise just when it should. Of course even if it does, a voice in her mind reminded her, that doesn’t mean they’re ending this lockdown.
As they reached the back hallway where they five managers were waiting a certain jubilant achieving atmosphere surrounded them, but it didn’t extend to her. She looked up and watched as Sail handed the envelope to Mint Drift, the manager for their division. She took it gladly looking quite happy with their achievement as well. “Thank you all. You are dismissed back to your rooms.” she finished. All of them started to disperse and she waited for Sail to come to her. Sail’s triumphant smile fell as she walked up to her and saw her dejected expression. She trotted up to her looking concerned.
“Are you alright dear? You should be. Your suggestion contributed a great deal to the final decision. We would not have been done nearly as quickly. I also doubt that our chances of success would have been as high.” Sail told her reassuringly.
“Is the sun going to rise today? And if even if it does are they going to release us?” Astro queried in response.
“I am afraid that I cannot answer either of your questions. I have the utmost confidence that the sun will rise again, but I cannot rightfully say when.” she answered her.
“So I should count my day with the others cancelled?” she asked disappointedly.
“That is not for certain.” she argued.
“But it is likely.” she responded.
“There are other days to have it. The rest of your summer is free.” she promised her.
“Yeah, but they’re not the longest day of the year, and who’s to say that all of my friends are going to be free.” she retorted as her discontent continued to grow.
“Not everything always works out the way you want it to.” she replied.
“I know.” she said shortly.
“But you have to accept it as well.” she told her.
“Right." she mumbled not truly listening.
“You return to your room now. Do not despair so. Things could be much worse at this moment, but they are not.” Sail finished as they arrived at her door. Astro just nodded solemnly in response. Sail went inside her room and Astro walked on to hers before entering.
She had memorized the minute that the sun was supposed to rise and she moved her clock so that it sat next to her. She pulled out a new piece of paper and her pencils and started doodling idly while the minutes passed her by. Due to where she had placed her clock she could see it easily as she worked. Her progress on the drawings slowed dramatically as it neared the time of the sunrise. She couldn’t stop herself looking over at the clock constantly. The minutes counted down to seconds and the page in front of her was forgotten all together. She watched in tense silence as the moments fell away one after the other like dominoes. The final tick of time left passed by, and nothing changed. Her coat still glowed, the clock still ticked, they were not dismissed from their rooms, the world kept turning. Another minute, still nothing. This is not the end of the world. Another five, still nothing. This morning was not the beginning of our end. Another ten, still nothing. It is a time of trouble for us and the rest of the world. Another thirty, still nothing. We are only just starting to recover. Another hour, still nothing. Maybe one day somepony will find the letter we left of how this place met its end, she thought solemnly.
She sat in a radiant silence with all of the world forgotten to her excepting the forever ticking clock. It never stopped and neither did the glow surrounding her. She wondered which would stop first. As she watched the time pass she recounted in her head what all they should’ve been doing right then. She imagined it all in her mind, every moment that should’ve been her fun filled day. In a moment a blank page lay in front of her. The images in her mind spilled out onto the page and before she knew it the clock was gone to her conscious and she was there with her friends. She lived through every scene as she put it down on the paper. In the back of her mind something was trying to remind her that there was things she was missing, but it wasn’t nearly strong enough to grab her attention. Her mind was far too focused on that which lay in front of her to be pulled away.
She couldn’t have said how much time she spent on it when it was done. She sat back and looked on at her creation feeling quite proud of it. “It looks lovely.” said a voice behind her. She jumped and looked over her shoulder to see Sail.
“I… what?” she paused as she noticed that Sail’s coat wasn’t glowing and neither was her own.
“The sun is up dear. We’ve been dismissed as well. I’m afraid you missed it. I didn’t want to pull you away from your drawing however. You looked rather absorbed.” she told her with a slight smile.
She took a moment to collect her thoughts, “So, we can go?”
“Yes.” Sail promised. Astro looked over at the clock. If sunset remained at when it should she still had hours. “Go.” Sail commanded. Astro had her saddlebags on and was out of the door in less than moments. Sail laughed silently to herself as she walked back to her room.
The strange wish that had been received from a thousand years ago was only the first of strange events happening. That was the only one that included them as they all seemed to be centered in Equestria far away from all of them. They still heard about a lot of it though if not all. The return of the Crystal Empire had huge implications all over. The ascension of princess Twilight Sparkle made news nearly everywhere as well. The world around them changed rapidly but as the years passed they stayed constant to each other. They wouldn’t be separated by the forever turning world about them. They stayed together and that was what was important. The moments grew to days, weeks, months, and in the end years of constant presence. They had grown ever closer to each other eventually to the point of being inseparable.
The group of six sat together on the island’s beach at the beginning of one summer enjoying each other’s company. Every one of them had grown quite skilled in their various talents and had started discussing them more often. They talked among themselves that day mentioning their numerous activities and escapades involving their different abilities. “Yeah, life’s a lot easier now that it’s summer.” Zone commented as he talked with the group.
“And why is that?” Kara questioned as they were out of school so having summers off was no longer relevant.
“It’s way easier to work with easy summer breezes than pretty much anything else. The weather doesn’t just feel nice, it’s a lot nicer to work with. Plus changing seasons is a pain, even if it is just spring to summer. It gets really stressful at the weather station.” he answered.
“Yeah well you’re definitely right about the weather feeling nicer.” she replied as she relaxed into the sand.
“You’re welcome.” he told her.
“Please, it’s not like you run the place. There are other ponies involved.” she retorted with a roll of her eyes, but still grinning.
“Whatever.” he mumbled.
“Hey, that reminds me, I wanted to ask for your help for something.” Spot commented before turning to Astro.
“What is it?” she questioned more than happy to help.
“There’s a dance competition going on, but it’s for pairs and I was wondering if you’d like to do it with me. You’ve helped before so I figured, why not?” he responded.
“Sure, I’d love to.” she answered glad that he had thought of her.
Behind her he saw Kara making kissy motions. He glared and she laughed silently. Astro turned around in confusion. Kara stopped quickly and resumed her position just reclining happily on the beach. She turned back to him still not understanding what had happened. “Great, we can work out practice times later.” he answered smiling once more.
“Alright.” she answered still feeling concerned over what she had apparently missed.
“Don’t worry about it.” he told her noticing the slight frown on her face, “Somepony’s just being an idiot like always.”
“What? Me? Never!” Kara answered acting over dramatically hurt.
“No, never you.” he agreed sarcastically. She just laughed in response. “Anyways, glad you can do it. It’s going to be a lot of fun.” he finished.
