> Astral's Thunder
>  by Bolted Sky
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter One.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name is Astral Thunder. You might've see me walking through Ponyville. I'm the unicorn with the grey coat and long brown mane.  You might even recognize my cutie mark, a crescent moon and thunderbolt

Here's a rundown of who and what I am. I am a prospective wizard and tinkerer, though my talents in the latter, so far, consist of small, simple clockwork machinations. Obvoiusly, I'm still learning.

My focus is mainly on academic pursuits. I used to be more outgoing than I am now, though that's changed in the last few years for reasons I'll soon disclose. I'm still friendly though, even if I don't trust ponies like I used to. 

Now hearing this, you might think I come from a family of academics or doctors, but no. You see I'm (or at least I was) the black sheep of my family. Ever heard of Rainbow Dash? Yeah, she's my mom. That's right, I'm a unicorn, and my mom is a pegasus. You see, my dad was a Canterlot Royal Guard named Thunder Bolt... And he was a unicorn, in case you missed that part.

They meet a few months after Princess Twilight became sole ruler of Equestria. He was everything you could ask for, both as a dad and as a husband. He was both strong and smart. He was well educated and had a strong moral code he passed on to me. 

He died when I was around eleven. I'll spare you the details. Suffice to say, I cried harder then I'd ever before and have since. But that's another story altogether.

Now to give you an idea of how my relationship with my mom was... She got mad at me because I wasn't an athlete. I never was, and I likely wasn't ever going to be one. However, she quickly got over that little roadblock with no small amount of coaxing from Aunt Applejack.

She felt bad, of course, for blowing up at me and apologized afterwards. That being said, she'd show up to to things like spelling bees, and treat them like sporting events. So picture this:

There were two tables with four school ponies each facing the audience. One school pony questioned young Astral from the opposing team.

"So given that market economies are inherently evil l AND inefficient, why do you think mixed economies are bad compromise?"

"Well, it's not a given that they're either of those things. To say it's evil is just silly. It's an economic system, not King Sombra. As for inefficiency, let me take a moment..."

"YEAAAH! YOU TELL 'ER!"

Oh, come on!

"Is that your mom?" Asked another filly.

"Dunk her head in the toliet!" Rainbow shouted

Why?

"She's gonna learn today!"

LEARN WHAT!?





A young Astral gets up to the microphone. He looks out at the audience and the moderator gives him his word.

"Astral, spell Syllabus."

"S, Y, L, L..."

"YEAAH! MY KID'S SPEELLING THE HAY OUTTA THESE WORDS!"

Not agian. 

"Hey, kid!"

Nope.

"Hey!"

Naw.

"HEY! SPELL HORSEAPPLES!"

"Eww!" Goes a little filly.

Why, mom?

"What you 'ewwin'' for? You're gonna get dunked in the toliet!"

No, mom...

"You gonna learn today!"

No, she doesn't need to learn that...

"GO, KID! GO!"

Well, she gets an A for effort. But yeah, that's my mom, the Element of Loyalty. She certainly did her best to live up to that. She tried being as supportive as she could be, but I think deep down she'd rather I was a superstar like herself rather than bookish like my dad, or Princess Twilight. But this all changed when I was about twelve.

You see, mom meet a guy named Field Jockey, A brown Pegasus with a brown mane and a whistle as a cutie mark. He was a real hard flank and sports type. I instantly didn't like him, but I gave him a chance anyway for mom's sake. I remember when I first met him and his son, Junior Varsity. I was at recess with the other kids when mom showed up with them.

"Hey, kiddo!" Rainbow called out. Astral turned to see his mom with a strange stallion and a colt. He was tall, buff, and seemed to wear a permanent scowl on his face. He began trotting up to all three of them.

"Hi mom... Who are they?" He asked warily.

"Field Jockey, the guy I told you about, remember? And this is his son, Varsity. Field, Varsity, this is my son, Astral Thunder." Said Rainbow.

"You sure this isn't your daughter?" He asked, with a cocky smirk, and a raised eyebrow. Rainbow also cocked an eyebrow while astral simply looked astonished. 

"Good one, dad." Said Varsity, chuckling.

"Uh, yeah I'm sure." Rainbow said, laughing nervously.

"You know I'm just kidding, Dashie. But seriously, we should probably make him into a proper colt." He said with an almost sinister look.

"Riiiight! Well class is about to start, mom." Said Astral.

"Alright, kiddo. See you at home."

They continued to see each other for close to a year. And through this entire year, I continue to despise this guy more, and more, even though everypony around loved the guy. Eventually, he and his son moved in, and he became my stepdad, technically speaking. 

Oh, and I have a stepbrother now as well. Remember Junior Varsity? He's brown with a blonde mane and a Javelin for a cutie mark. And just in case you are wondering, he's only SLIGHTLY better than his dad... And he's everything she's ever wanted in a son. More on that later.

Remember how I described my dad? This guy was the complete opposite. My mom was an avid reader. However, before my dad showed up, her tastes consisted mostly of A.K. Yearling. My dad expanded her horizons, and exposed her to a whole world of  literature.

This guy encouraged ignorance and the whole "might makes right attitude." He poked fun at mom whenever she had a book in her hooves. It got to the point to where she didn't even read much anymore, aside from the few times she could do it in secret. 

And it goes without saying that he hated me, and everything I was about from the beginning. My room was filled with all the crap he despised. Books on magic, science, science fiction, fantasy, DIY, OnO player's guide, dice, various trading cards, and my various projects. The look on his face when he first came into my room, you'd think Aunt Rarity just walked into a manure factory.

And then, a week after he had moved in, this happened:

A young astral made his way to the kitchen from his room. Right next to the kitchen, Field Jockey was doing pushups in the living room. He quickly stood up when he saw this kid open the refrigerator.

"You got food in there?" 

"Huh?"

"I asked if you had food in there, stupid."

"Umm, yeah?"

"Pfff, no you don't." He quickly slammed the refrigerator door shutshut and looked at Astral in a way that made his skin crawl.

"You ain't just going to be doing whatever the heck you want to anymore, boy." Astral started backing up before turning around and trotting to his room.

Yep. That happened. Oh and if you're wondering how Mom reacted when I told her, well...

Astral could be seen lying in his bed, talking to his mom. Rainbow Dash seemed to getting more and more upset.

"He did what?" She asked, indignantly. Astral lowered his head.

"Don't worry, kiddo. I'll take care of it."

Now, you'd think that'd be the end of the story. But we all know better than that.

"Hey, Astral?" Called out Rainbow as she entered Astral's room.

"Yeah, Mom?" He said as he got ready for school.

"I think there was a bit of miscommunication between you two, yesterday. He wasn't trying to be mean. That's just how he is normally."

"Yelling and slamming doors is normal for him?" Astral asked, rightfully skeptical.

"He said you was over exaggerating. I have to admit, you've been known to do that." Rainbow said as she pointed her hoof.

"You think I'm lying!?" Astral blurted.

"What? Of course not! It's just that... You do have an overactive imagination."

Astral was beyond angry. He couldn't believe that she was taking that... Clown's side over his. Rainbow noticed his face and responded.

"Look, I'm about to go into work. You two will be alone for the day, and will be able to work all of this out between yourselves. K, kiddo?"

Oh, we worked it out all right. Well, rather I should say, he worked it out by kicking me out of the house. Kicking me out consisted of forcibly dragging me out of the house, flying down, and plopping me on the ground. 

Oh, and by the way, being a unicorn, my mom hato bring me up to the house every evening and take me to school every morning since we live in a... Cloud mansion. I wasn't able to eat all day because he didn't let me have breakfast and I had no money. That was fun. Five stars.

Anyway, I think you've read enough exposition for now. Next chapter will be getting to the actual story itself. And hey, if you like angst filled dramas, you've come to the right place. Stay tuned.
> Chapter Two.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was at recess with Pumpkin and Pound. I liked them because they were the resident weirdos like myself. They were about a year older than me and where the twins of the local earth pony bakers.

What made them noteworthy was that they weren't earth ponies. Pound was pegasus and his sister was a unicorn. The only conclusion any of us could come to was that there was a pegasus and a unicorn in their family line somewhere.

Then of course there was Princess Flurry Heart. Her parents sent her to Ponyville to live with Twilight while she went to school. Their reasoning was that she needed a "normal" childhood.

Now, you would think being a princess would make her popular. Let me just say being popular is a fickle thing. And anything, even the flimsiest excuse, can make you unpopular very quickly. For Flurry Heart, it was a number of things: Being BORN an alicorn(i.e. a freak), wearing all black, and hanging around US of all ponies.

But she didn't care. She stuck with her style and with us all the same.

"So how have things at home been?" Asked Pumpkin. This was not a question I wanted to answer. A long exhale was enough to get that message across.

"That bad, huh?" She asked.

"With a guy like Varsity around, what do you think?" Asked Pound.

"You really don't like the guy, do you?" 

"Do you?" 

"Of corse not! I don't think anyone likes him. Not really. I'm more concerned about Field. From what I've heard, he's even worse... And he's the one Astral has to go home to. Well... both of them, really." Pumpkin said, turning toward me. Great, another name I've grown to despise.

"When I take over, they better not set a hoof in the Crystal Empire." Said Flurry Heart, in a cold voice. It was her goth voice she like to use when she was just the least bit irritated by something.

"And if they do?" Asked Pound, smiling.

"I'll banish them to Tartarus and make them watch as all they hold dear crumbles before their eyes." She said. She really took this goth things seriously. Pumpkin and I looked at each other while Pound looks at her with absolute happiness on his face.

"Ahahaha, wow Princess. Talk about a Draconian regime."

"That's me being merciful." She said.

It seemed that Flurry Heart and Pound fed off of each other. We were all bullied and had to stick together. The two of them had a special way of coping with it all. Flurry Heart would say something outrageous and Pound, obviously getting a kick out of it, would make some sort of funny comment or joke about it, which would encourage her to say something even more outrageous.

As all this was going on, we heard the bell ring and all the other school Ponies were making their way back inside.

"Alright guys, let's go. We don't want to be late again." Pumpkin said while waving her hoof.

"I'll be there in a minute." I said. I forgot my lunch box on the other side of the playground and made my way there while they went inside.

"At least Varsity didn't bother us today."  I mumbled to myself. As I made my way around the corner of the school house, who do I see spilling the contents of my lunchbox on the ground? You guessed it. It's my step-brother.

"What are you doing!?" I shouted.

"I heard what you and the other little freaks said. So guess who doesn't get to eat today?" He said with a sneer.

The food that had fallen on the ground was in smaller containers, something the idiot hadn't noticed. I used my magic to gather up everything and grab my lunch box out of his hooves. I then put everything back in and start briskly making my way to the school house.

Now enraged, he flew after me. Obviously he caught me and began whaling on me hard. I tried to fight back, but in case you haven't guessed, he's quite a bit bigger than I am... And stronger to boot.

At this point I only have one option. Remember when I said I was a perspective wizard? That's because I have a passion for magic. And I'm good at it too. Really good.

Well, I had a lot of practice. In fact, it was all I had time for nowadays, since I was forced to quit my other extracurriculars. And now, I was about to put that training to the test. The first thing I did was teleport. It was a hard spell and I can only go a few feet away. But a few feet was all I needed anyway.

When he saw that I had slipped away, he came after me again. I shot a small beam of magic into his face. It wasn't enough to seriously hurt him. I couldn't really produce enough power to do that anyway, not at that age. It was enough to stun him.

He then got up and came after me a THIRD time! At this point, I was getting desperate. I didn't know how well I could pull it off, but I used telekinesis on him. I didn't exactly have a good grip, but I was able to hold him.

He was almost able to get out when I heard Miss Cheerilee calling out to me. Unfortunately, it wasn't what I would have liked to have heard.

"Astral, what and Celestia's name are you doing to your brother!" She shouted as she walked up next to me.

I let go of him and immediately backed up afterwards. I probably should have spoken up quicker. The problem is that I didn't realize Varsity was such a good liar.

"Thank Celestia! Miss Cheerilee, I don't know what his problem is! All I was trying to do is be nice!" Oh, he was milking this.

"Astral, you mind explaining why you attacked our star athlete?.. With magic, no less?" Miss Cheerilee asked sternly.

"He attacked me! First he dumped my food out everywhere! Then he..." 

"And for that you used a telekinesis spell on him?" Ask Miss Cheerilee with a cocked eyebrow.

"He also blasted me in the face!" He shouted.

"Astral, it doesn't matter what he did, you obviously overreacted. Using physical force is never, and I mean never okay. Plus, you used magic on him. Do you know what that could have done him? Do you know how badly you could have hurt in him?"

"So what? I'm not supposed to defend myself?" I asked.

"You call that defending yourself?" She pointed to Varsity, who was covered and scratches and had a nasty bruise on his nose, oblivious to the fact that I looked worse.

"I'm sorry, Astral. But there's going to be consequences for this. I'm going to have a talk with your mother."

Well there's some good news.





I was sitting on the couch trying to explain to Mom what happened at school. It was not going very well.

"But mom, he attacked me first!"

"I don't want to hear it! You attacked your brother with magic! The kid is a pegasus! He can't even use magic! Don't you ever think about what you're doing?"

"He doesn't act like a brother." I said under my breath. 

"I don't like your attitude. Well, if that's the way you're going to be, you're grounded for six months." 

"What!? But Mom!.."

"First school, then come straight home. No going to your friend's houses, no magic lessons with Twilight, and I already took all your stuff out of your room except for your bed. Now go upstairs and think about what you did!" She said, pointing.

"And Astral, I don't know why you're this way now or why you seem to dislike your dad and your brother so much. But if you use magic on him like that again, you might just get your wish and end up away from this family!"

I made a full gallop to my room, tears streaming down my face. It felt like my whole world was falling apart around me.





I had crawled into bed, my head still spinning from the day's events. I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I didn't even want to think about what happened earlier. I laid my head on my pillow and began to drift off when I heard my door open. I turned to Field staring me down.

"So you think you can attack my son and get away with it, punk?" He asked. I didn't say anything and remained very still. I continued looking at him with fear filled eyes. This made him angrier.

"I asked you a question!?" He said as he began walking up to my bed. He grabbed me and shook me hard. The last thing I remembered was a hoof connecting to the side of my head. I woke up the next morning with a headache.

I didn't even bother telling Mom this time. There was no longer any point.
> Chapter Three.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Four and a half months had passed and mom decided to let me off punishment early, much to the displeasure of my stepfather.

The day I was let off, I went to Twilight's Castle after school. Since I wasn't grounded anymore, I thought it'd be nice to learn some new spells.

I found my way through the castle, having let myself in. I finally made my way to the throne room where Twilight was. She was alone and, from the look of it, was deep in a book.

"Princess Twilight?"

"Oh, Astral. I wasn't expecting you back."  she said. I didn't notice at the time, but she had the look of apprehension on her face.

"Yeah, mom decided I've been grounded enough. Anyway, I was hoping we could continue with the lessons. I've been practicing what you taught me last time. I made some real progress and..."

"So I've heard. In particular, I've heard about your use with the telekinesis spell I taught you." Uh oh.

"Twilight, I don't know what you heard, but I was only defending myself. I promise."

"Using your magic to toss another Pony around like a rag doll doesn't sound very much like defending yourself." Twilight said, raising an eyebrow. 

"What?! All I did was hold him. My grip wasn't even that strong! He would've kept attacking me if..."

"And what did you do to provoke him?"

"Wha... Nothing!"

"Ponies don't attack one another for no reason. You must have done something to upset him."

"Twilight, you've known Astral longer than you've known Varsity.  Does he really seem like the kind of guy who would just do that for no reason?" 

I looked over at the far side of the room to see Spike sitting at a corner table. Spike was a rather tall, buff dragon. In fact, he was almost as tall as Twilight, who towered over most ponies herself.

I look back at Twilight, who had a look of surprise on her face. Apparently neither one of us knew that he was even in the room. Twilight then turn back to me with a look of melancholy.

"I thought I knew him. But he's obviously not the good colt I thought he was. He's become jealous of his brother."

"Just like you were jealous of Princess Cadence, right? Or how Pinkie was jealous of Gilda?" Spike asked matter-of-factly.

We both looked at Spike. I was elated that someone was standing up for me. Unfortunately, Twilight didn't seem to take too kindly to it, especially with Spike bringing up what I assumed were some sore memories.

"Well, you don't get a say in this, Mister! Astral, I don't feel it would be responsible to continue giving you lessons in magic. As such, I'm also going to ban you from this Castle so as to deny you access to any of the knowledge of my library." I didn't argue with her. What was the point? I would only be digging myself deeper into the whole I was already in.

"So you're going to punish him for doing what's natural?" Asked Spike.

"I think you've been hanging around Smolder and Ember for too long. Besides, it's like I said, I don't think Varsity would have just attacked him for no reason. He DID something! He had to have!" Declared Twilight.

"You're talking out of both sides of your mouth, Twilight." 

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, now offended.

"I mean you're contradicting yourself. On one hand, you're denying Astral's right to defend himself. On the other, your acknowledging, albeit indirectly, Varsity's right to do the same. How can you claim one and deny the other? You're making no sense!" Spikes said in frustration.

"Enough! Spike, I have made my position quite clear! Astral is no longer permitted on Castle grounds! That's final!"

"Please, Twilight. Please don't. This is all I have left." I begged. Unfortunately, Twilight never relented.

"I'm sorry, Astral. You brought this on yourself." Said Twilight. Spike left the room in disgust. After a couple of minutes of staring at the floor, I left in disappointment and despair.





I was making my way through Ponyville when I was doused with freezing water. After a rather embarrassing, high-pitched Yelp, I look up to see varsity with a bucket of water, laughing his flank off.

"What are you doing!" I shouted, dripping wet.

"What does it look like?" He asked, still laughing. Would you believe that this isn't the first time he's pulled a stunt like this?

"You jerk! How about I blast you in the face again!?" I shouted. Lucky for me, there wasn't anypony around to hear my outburst.

"Careful, wouldn't want to get grounded again... Wouldn't want to get beaten again." He said in the most spiteful way possible.

"Well, how would you feel about getting burned?" We both turned to see Spike staring him down.

"Oh, it's just you. Like I'm scared of Twilight's pet. Go home, freak."

With a smirk, Spike opened his mouth, and from it spewed green flames. They missed him, but just barely. It was certainly enough to singe his mane a little.

"Go home, kid... And If you tell anypony or back talk me, I'll do it again." This was enough to send Varsity flying away. As I watched him dash off into the sky, I used a spell  to dry myself off. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him and noticed in his other hand a few books.

"What are those?" I asked.

"Take a look." I gripped the books with my magic and look through the titles. They were all books on Magic. Not just any magic, the advanced stuff.

"Want 'em? They're yours." He said.

"Spike... Thank you... But won't Twilight get mad that you stole her books?"

"Who said they were hers? They're mine."

"Yours?" Now I was curious.

"Yeah, I've been getting books from Twilight every birthday and Hearths Warming Eve for years now. Of course I don't really have a use for the magic books. But I'm sure you will, though." Spike said as he winked at me.

"Spike, I..."

"Kid, I don't know much of what's going on, it seems to me that you're getting a raw deal right now. Speaking of which, I'd like to ask you a question."

"Shoot." I was too busy admiring my new haul.

"What did he mean by 'beaten agian', Astral?" He asked, now deadly serious. Now there was a question I really didn't want to answer.

"Uh... he was talking about... the playground." I said, nervously.

"The playground?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow.

"When we had our fight. That's what he was talking about." Spike was skeptical, but let it go with that.

"Just remember, Astral, you can talk to me about anything. And if anyone it's hurting you, you tell me. You tell me, understand?" I responded by nodding my head.

"Alright, take it easy, kid. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

I ran off to wait for Mom while still fawning over Spike's gift. Perhaps today was alright after all.
> Chapter Four.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was in my room doing one of my projects for school when I was called down for dinner. It had been a year since I was punished for "attacking" Varsity. Needless to say, I was still bitter about that. My relationship with my mom deteriorated hard after that. Unfortunately, she was too busy with my stepbrother to notice.

The three of them were already at the table. As I sat down and dinner was served, every pony began talking about their day, mom's job, Field's job, Varsity's buckball training. The conversation finally got around to me.





"So, kid. What's going on in your neck of the woods?"

"Yeah, like anyone's actually interested in anything he does." Said Varsity with a snark.

"Hey, that's not very nice."

"Aw, come on. Don't you want to hear about how I was able to buck the ball in the goal from the other side of the field?"

"Wait, what?" Rainbow asked, astonished. Now Varsity had her attention. Field just smirked at the display... And my obvious frustration.

"You gotta tell me how you did that!" She said.

"Uh, mom, I was..."

"Hold on, Astral. I gotta hear this." She said, cutting me off.

I sat patiently, listening to Varsity go on about his buckball training... Again. That turned into him trying out for Hoofball, which turned into his track team progress. By the time he was through, I was all but forgotten.

"Sure more exciting that some boring nerd project, right Astral?" Varsity asked with a spiteful grin.

"I don't see what's so exciting about putting a ball in a bucket." I said, looking down at my plate. Noticing the silence oh, he looks up to see every pony glaring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Astral, you need to apologize." Mom said. I looked around at the others. Field was glaring at me really hard and Varsity gleeful smile on his face all of a sudden, obviously happy that I was going to be forced to apologize.

"And what about what Varsity said? You didn't make him apologize. In fact, he insulted me twice."

"Oh, hear that? He thinks he's grown. This is what happens when you don't discipline your foals, Dash." Said Field with a sneer.

"I'll take care of this, Field. Astral, this isn't up for discussion. You need to apologize, now!" My mom shouted. I was taken aback to say the least. It was bad before, but now my mom was ganging up on me with these ponies. I had no idea what to do. The whole situation was humiliating.

Finally, after a solid thirty seconds of having holes bore into me buy everyponies angry looks, I decided the best thing to do was relent and give everyone what they wanted.

"Sorry... Varsity." I said meekly.

"And low down too." Field said under his breath. Him and his son both begin howling with laughter. Mom tried to give them a dirty look, but eventually began giggling herself. I sat there and listen to them laugh for a couple of minutes before getting up and going to my room.





A couple of hours later, I was in my room working on the project that no one wanted to hear about. If you're interested, Cheerilee wanted us to choose a subject for presentation. I chose the works of Sir Isaac Newtrot... Specifically his laws regarding motion. I was designing a few props, including an egg drop that was essentially a cardboard box with a piece of pantyhose strung inside of it, which held the egg.

During all of this, Varsity decided to barge into my room without knocking. As I'm sure you can imagine, he only wanted to torment me. I mean, we have nothing in common. So what would he want talk to me for?

"What'cha doin' nerd?" He sad. He really isn't that creative.

"None of your business? What do you want?" I asked rather impatiently. The guy had his own room, had no business being in mine. We've been under the same roof for close to six months now and this was a regular occurrence, though.

"You know your mom doesn't like you anymore, right?" He said.

Well this will certainly new. While it's true he was usually nasty, this was a new low. And it was low even for him. And yet... I couldn't help but feel some part of that was coming from a place of truth, even if he was simply trying to bully me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Dude, Rainbow Dash spends way more time with me now then she ever did with you. I mean, you've noticed that, right? She even comes to my events more than she does yours now."

During this entire exchange, I never even turned to look at him. But as I listened, I racked my brain trying to think and calculate. And the only conclusion I could come to was that he was right, as cruel and mean-spirited as he was. In fact, the only thing he was wrong about was my events. I had to quit those. The reason? Picking me up and dropping me off would've conflicted with Varsity's practices. 

The two of them hit it off immediately after they met. That was fine of course, I know what kind of mare my mom is. Heck, I'm aware that his presence means I get less attention. I get that. But I noticed almost immediately that I seem to be playing second fiddle to this guy and continue to do so more and more as time went on. It was disheartening.

"Just... Get out. Get out of my room." I choked out.

"Aww, what's the matter, big baby. Sad because Mommy doesn't love you anymore?" He jeered.

I remained silent, seething with anger. What had I done to make these ponies so angry. Why does my existence offend them?

"Whatever, loser."

He walked out of my room, slamming the door. I sat there, my anger dissolving and quickly replaced by depression. Well, at least it was Saturday... And I had something to look forward to that night.
> Chapter Five.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, so the four of you have just been announced as contestants in the Arena of Honor. From the other side enters what looks like a normal Pony. Now, from the way he's dressed, you can tell he's a nobleman. Following him is his personal army of fifty slaves. What do you do?" Spike asked in his best narrator voice.

Pumpkin, Pound, Flurry Heart, Spike, and I all sat around the table in the basement of Sugarcube Corner. Our original place was Twilight's Castle. But since I had officially been booted out, the Cake's place was the best alternative.

"What kind of nobility is he?" Asked Pumpkin.

"Role perception." Pumpkin rolled her D20. She then begins looking over her character sheet.

"... Five... With modifer." She said, not happy.

"What did you roll?" I asked.

"Dude, she rolled a two." Said Pound.

"Yeah, you don't know nothing." Spike said with a grin.

"Do I know what family they're from?" I asked. Spike thought for a minute.

"Role perception." I rolled my D20 and got a nine. Not too terribly high. Fortunately, I had a good perception modifier.

"I got a thirteen." I announced.

"You're very familiar with the way he's dressed. It's very similar to how members of the Ponymill Clan dress. They are a very large, minor noble family. They are also known slavers and keep many slaves for themselves. You know that this guy having such a huge number at his beck and call is very consistent with this fact."

"You also know that the Ponymill Clan likes to... experiment with their slaves. In particular, they like to test out different spells on them to see what their effects are."

"Aww, this dude's a caster? Heads up, we have a caster on our hooves!" Pound shouted.

All of a sudden, Varsity barged into the basement. Everyone was startled at first, but then grew irritated.

"Did no one teach you to knock, dude?" I like Pound. He's the kind of pony that'll say what everyone else is thinking. Varsity turned to look at me.

"Dad wants you home. Now." He said.

"This is very rude, you know. We're in the middle of..." spike said before he was interrupted.

"Nopony cares about your stupid loser Club! Dad wants that thing home right now!" Varsity snapped while pointing a hoof me.

"The only 'thing' I see is the brain you don't use." Said Flurry Heart.

"You can't see a brain, stupid!" Varsity shouted.

"Well no one can see yours, that's for sure." Pound said just loud enough for everyone to hear. The whole room erupted in laughter. Everyone except Varsity and Myself. I waited until the laughter died down.

"What does he want?" I asked.

"Don't know, don't care." Classy.

"I wanted to know what Field wanted, not a summary of your personality." Everyone started laughing again. Well, everyone except Varsity and I, though I did give him the most smug grin I could muster.

"Sorry, guys. I'll have to cut it short tonight."

After a chorus of disappointed "awww"s, we all said goodbye. Varsity went to leave and I got up to go after him. As we make our way to the top of the stairs, pumpkin shouts after us.

"Hey, Varsity?"

"What do you want?" He asked, getting impatient.

"Would you like to go on a date sometime? There's a special somepony that likes you an awful lot."

"Why would I ever want to go on a date with you?"

"Oh no, not me. Betsy!"  she said excitedly.

"Who?" He asked, now confused.

"Betsy! Applejack's prized pig. I think you two would be perfect for one another."  As she shut the door behind us, laughter could be hurt again, now even louder than before. I couldn't help but laugh myself, although I quickly stopped when Varsity gave me a death glare. I still smiled on the inside, though.





The next day was was nothing unusual. Just Field being a jerk to me for no apparent reason. Nothing new there, folks. Nothing new there.

"Why haven't you done your chores?" Field asked.

"I did." I said flatly

"Not the dishes. You haven't vacuumed the floor either. Why have you done those?" He asked.

"Because they're not mine. Their Varsity's. It even says so on the chore list on the refrigerator." I said, confused. 

"They're yours during hoofball season, boy! My son has to focus on training. Besides, your mom agreed this was best." He said.

"Seriously? I already do most of the housework. I now have to do the few chores HE'S supposed to do?" This outburst was met with a hard hoof to the face. As I lay there holding my nose, I Look at the vacuum that has been placed in front of me.

"Get started! If they're not both done in an hour, you'll get hit again!" With that, he left.

I got up as he left. When I heard the door shut, I began sobbing hard. After a few minutes, I calmed down enough to do what needed to get done. I began vacuuming the floor which took me about half an hour. After that I began washing dishes.

As I finished up I heard a commotion outside. I put the dishes on the rack to dry and went outside. I saw mom running plays with Varsity. Apparently she got home early that day.

I looked over and saw Field watching. Varsity tried to get the ball the goal. He was doing pretty good. He almost got to it only to be tackled by Mom.

The two of them went for a tumble only to end up in an impromptu wrestling match. It ended when Mom had Varsity in a headlock and begin ruffling his mane. She let go and they both plopped down on the cloud.

"You know, I'm not much for sappy stuff, but... I'm glad you guys are here. It's nice."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same way."  said Varsity in a rare instance of sincerity.

"Hey hey, don't you to get all soft on me." Said Field, walking over. None of them had noticed that I was listening.

"Hey, what can I say? It's true. I really like having you guys around. Plus, it's nice to have fellow athletes in the house." Mom said, blushing.

"Hey, you're an awesome mom." Said Varsity. This caught mom off guard. She was totally at a loss for what to say.

"The kid's right, you know? And you know what? I think you'd make a wonderful wife too." Said Field. Mom was even more caught off guard, as was I. After a couple of minutes, she finally responded.

"You know? I think I'd like that." She said as she smiled at Field. It was a smile that could brighten an entire room. Ironically, it was one that also made my heart sink.

"And you're an awesome son. In fact, I don't think I could ask for a better one." She said as she looked back at Varsity.

I couldn't take anymore, so I headed back inside the house. Unfortunately, I heard them began talking again. I should have kept going, but curiosity got the better of me.

"I'm sure Astral would throw a tantrum if he heard you say that." Field said. What a jerk.

"Hey, be nice." Mom said.

"Hey, you exactly what I'm talking about. I don't hate the kid. I just think he needs some straightening out. Celestia knows you've tried." Oh yeah, like you straightened your own bully of a son out?

"I know." Wow, Mom. I guess I should have known you would agree with him, but still.

"I mean, I love Astral. I just can't... Connect with him, you know? Plus, the way he's been acting lately... It makes me wonder if he even WANTS to be a part of this family." You know, I thought at this point I would be numb to it all. I thought I would be used to it enough to not let it bother me so much.

But hearing my mom say that about me, to say how she really felt about me to the ponies she could trust, I almost literally felt my heart shatter into pieces. I ran up to my room as fast as I could and cried myself to sleep. Before I drifted into unconsciousness, a thought crossed my mind.

"Maybe I really don't want to be a part of this family anymore."
> Chapter Six.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I slowly walked from school that day, the report card in my backpack reminder of the trouble to come. And it did come. Mom knew that we were getting our report cards today. I had seriously considered forging mine to where it look like all A's or A's and B's, but I didn't. It just wasn't my style.

High grades like that are usually normal from me. Not anymore, though. Last couple semesters involved my grades slipping. And boy, they slipped hard. This began not long after I witnessed Mom spilled her guts about how she felt about me to Field and Varsity. Looking back, I think I was subconsciously crying out for help, but it was a cry I knew nopony would hear.

Last semester, there was a parent-teacher conference between Ms. Cheerilee, Mom, and Field. It was pretty much what you would expect. Ms. Cheerilee, being the teacher she was, explained the problem and offered Solutions. Mom was upset and expressed her displeasure by yelling at me.

Field, for his part, thought it would be appropriate to call me names. Things like "slacker", "lazy", and "good-for-nothing." What was disconcerting about that was that nopony seem to mind him doing that very much. Fun times.

When we got home that day, Mom promised a whole lot of trouble and another grounding if I didn't raise my grades. That would be motivation enough for any other colt, but not me. I simply wasn't motivated anymore.

Not exactly wise, I know. But for a fourteen year old being treated how I was, why bother? If I could go back, knowing what I know now, I would have kept up with school, regardless of consequences or rewards. But when you're a kid and no one takes you seriously, you stop taking yourself seriously.

Sweet Celestia, had it really been two years?

Now as you can imagine, Mom kept her promise. I was grounded again and everything was taken out of my room. And what luck, it was the end of the school year, which meant a whole summer of being grounded. Which consisted of no books, no friends, and being forced to stay in the house with my two tormentors.

Well, that's not entirely true. In fact, I went outside quite a bit during that summer. Unfortunately, it consisted of being Varsity's practice dummy during his hoof ball training. And as cute and funny is that might sound, it wasn't. I was being forced to do this against my will . They both knew I wouldn't dare use magic in retaliation and they used full advantage of that.

I'll give this to Varsity, he's every bit the athlete Mom is. The guy hits like a truck and is about as hard as one to boot. I, on the other hoof, not so much. I was tall for my age, sure, but he was taller. I was also kind of lanky and clumsy. He hit me as hard as he could without actually breaking anything. And that's not an exaggeration. They purposely chose to do this on days when Mom was at work and did it in a place on the outskirts of Ponyville.

Fortunately, mom decided about a month and a half was enough. Unfortunately, when my room was refurnished, I immediately noticed something was amiss. I went to the living room where my mom was.

"Mom, where are my books?" I asked.

"Oh, umm... Well, you see... Varsity needed supplies and well..." She began mumbling while scratching the back of her head.

"We sold 'em." Field spoke up. I hadn't noticed him sitting on the other side of the room

"But... What?" I started out.

"And all your other childish mess." He almost smiled when he said that.

"Why, Mom? Why did you get rid of my stuff?"

"Because thirteen-year-old Colts should be out playing hoofball, not doing any of the gay crap you like doing. Your mom has been letting you get away with being prissy and mouthy. It ends today." He said with contempt in his voice.

"Besides, it was cluttering up my garage." It was this one simple sentence from him that sent me over the edge. That, and the fact mom I was letting him get away with it.

"You're just a loser and a has-been who enjoys torturing ponies weaker than himself. That, and you're living vicariously through your meathead son." For once, Field was speechless. Mom on the other hoof...

"Astral! What's your problem?!" She shouted. It was at this point I realized what I done. Before I could say anything, Field found his voice.

"I'm going to beat you within an inch of your life, punk!" He growled in a low voice.

"Field! No, I'll take care of this." She shouted.

"How?! By grounding him again? You've already done that several times. Has it worked?! No! Plus, you always let him off easy!" He said as he walked up to her.

"In order for us to be a family, we need to be able to instill discipline... I need to be able to instill discipline." He said in an uncharacteristically calm voice. My mom looked at him and then looked at me. Closing her eyes and sighing, she made her decision.

"You're right... Do what you need to do, Field." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Actually, yes I could. That didn't make it any less horrifying, though. He had beaten me a hoofful of times before, a few of which she knew about. But now she was pretty much openly permitting it 

He grabbed me and began dragging me to the back door. I had a few pretty good guesses about what he was about to do, so I began struggling.

"Get off of me! Mom, make him stop!"

"Kid, this is for your own good. You need this." She said, giving me a stern look. He dragged me out to the backyard and into the shed he had built ( yes, it's a cliche, I know.) and began beating me.

I wasn't grounded that day. But I wished that I had been.





Saturday came around, and I made my way to Sugarcube Corner. I wasn't feeling up to it, I had missed so many sessions due to being grounded. I let myself inside like I had so many times before and went to the basement. I saw Pumpkin and Pound down there. It seemed the others hadn't got here yet.

"Astral, what are you wearing?" Asked Pound. Oh yeah, I was wearing clothes. A blue, full body jumpsuit. It was part of a Nightmare Night costume that came with the mask and a toy chainsaw, but I didn't need those.

"Dunno, I just felt like it. I'm probably not going to be able to wear it next Nightmare Night, and it's a nice piece of clothing. Might as well wear it."

"... Why do you have a black eye?" Why, Pumpkin? Why did you have to ask that?

"Oh just an accident with the door handle. Hey, I lost my dice. Do you guys have any I could borrow. I..." The next thing I knew, Pound had me on the couch. Unfortunately, I was still sore. Really sore.

I screeched in pain and Pound immediately backed off. I looked at him and I could see the guilt and shock in his eyes. Even look down at my barrel and his eyes grow even wider. I followed them until I saw what he was looking at.

The buttons on my jumpsuit had come undone and my bruises were exposed. Pumpkin came running when she heard me yelp. She looked like she was about to give Pound the business when she saw me. She look so horrified, it seemed as though she were about to break down crying.

"What happened?" Asked Pound. I quickly covered myself.

"Nothing! It's not what you think!" 

"It looks like you've been beaten." Was all Pumpkin managed to say.

"Look, while I was grounded, Field had me be Varsity's training partner." Technically I wasn't lying.

"So what?! You're his personal training dummy?! Is that what I'm hearing?!" Pumpkin shouted. She was shaking at this point.

"We've got to tell somepony." Said Pound.

"What?! NO! No, no, no! Please no!" I began begging. In hindsight, I'm not sure why. I mean, this needed to be reported, right? Why was I so agianst the idea? Well, maybe it was a combination of things.

For one thing, I loved Mom and I didn't want to make things hard for her. For another, I didn't think anyone would listen, no one who could do anything about it, anyway. Previous experience gave me that impression. And then there was the fact that things would just be worse afterwards. The yelling, the beatings, and my relationship with Mom wouldn't fair too good either.

"Look, if you tell anyone, that'll only make things worse. Please, don't do it." I begged.

The two of them looked at one another and then back at me. I could tell they were worried sick, and had more questions. Unfortunately, I was too tired, both emotionally and physically, to do or say much of anything, including what I'd come there to do in the first place.

"Guys, I'm tired." I said. Pound gently nudged my shoulder, making me lay onto the couch.

"Just... Just lay down." He said. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet. To be honest, it was a little unnerving. I did as told and laid down on the couch. He walked out of the room and Pumpkin came over to me. I looked up at her as she draped a blanket over me.

"Get some sleep, Astral." She said, softly. She walked out, cutting off the light as she left.
> Chapter Seven.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The party was in full swing that day. Pinkie had really outdone herself with this Hearths Warming Eve party. The event was being held at Twilight's Castle, so I almost didn't get to attend. I entered into the castle, thinking that I would be allowed in this one time. Unfortunately, Twilight had other ideas.

"Astral, I do believe I banned you from this place, did I not?"

"Well, I thought it was an open invitation." I said. Honestly, I should have expected this.

"I don't want you causing trouble, Astral! Now leave." She said, forcefully.

"That was a year ago. Are we to understand Astral's banned for life?" Spike asked as he approached from the side.

At this point, we had an audience. While there were a few awkward glances, most others were glaring at me. It seems that the guests were of the same mind as Twilight. 

Of course it didn't help that I was continually branded the town troublemaker. It was a title I had earned by "attacking" Varsity, "talking back" to my mom and stepdad, being "irresponsible" with magic, slacking off at school, and generally being the resident "bad seed", as they put it. Of course nobody cared about my side of the story.

"Spike, I don't want him here." As she said that, I saw mom, who was already inside, trotting over.

"Astral, what did you do this time?" Mom said with a scowl.

"Exist, apparently." Twilight gave Spike the death glare for that comment. Twilight then turned back Mom, and explained what the issue was.

"He isn't supposed to be here. I explained that much to him after the incident where he attacked your son with magic at school." 

"Twilight... Is there anyway you could overlook that, just this once? It's Hearts Warming after all." My mom asked.

"I have a better idea." Spike then turned toward the crowd, and called out for the Cake twins and Flurry Heart, all of whom came front, and center.

"Change of plans, guys! We're having hearths warming eve at Sugarcube Corner!" Spike announced. Twilight, realizing what a fopa the celebration was going to turn into, quickly changed her tune.

"Okay, okay, fine! He can come... This once. But you better be on your best behavior, mister!" I didn't really say anything, and we all came into the castle.

It had been a few days since the incident at the Sugarcube Corner. My bruises, and black eye had healed pretty good by that point, so nopony really noticed. It was fortunate for me that O&O had been canceled that night, and they simply forgot to tell me. Still, the fact that they found out about me being hurt was not good.

When I left that night, they warned me not to provoke Field or Varsity, if I could help it. I tried to get them to promise not to tell anyone. After some convincing, they reluctantly agreed. But it felt like they were lying. Can't say I blame them, they are my friends.

Anyway, back to the present... See what I did there?

As I said, the party was in full swing, and the castle was filled with activity. Twilight, and Field decided I would be best suited serving drinks, and food to all the guests. Varsity, being the popular Pony he was, had a few friends who like to bully me as well. They thought it would be a great idea to mess with me while I carried the trays around.

It was the usual, stupid gimmicks. A trip here, a shove there. Eventually, Pound showed up, and started blocking them at every opportunity. Pumpkin and Flurry Heart could be seen doing the same not too long after.

Spike, who had been watching this all take place, eventually got tired of it, and told them to knock it off, albeit less politely. After that, I was able to carry on and peace.

Well, it was peaceful, relatively speaking. Most ponies I was serving either gave me the stink eye or made some snarky comment, even Rarity.

"You know, you could act more like a gentlecolt, Astral." 

That was nothing new, though. It certainly wasn't the worst I've heard. But coming from her, it kind of hurt. She wasn't always like that towards me. But most of the town wasn't, either... At least not until Field came into our lives.

There were some, however, that decided to be nice to me. Fluttershy was obvious, that was a given. Aunt Applejack was with her, and was kind as well. She never had a mean thing to say.

"Hello, Astral." She said softly. 

"Hi there, partner!" Said Applejack. They both seemed pretty happy to see me.

"Hi, Fluttershy. Hi, Applejack." I said. Before I could say anything else, I felt the tray disappear from my hooves.

"Astral, why are YOU doing this? Snacks are MY job." She bounced away, but then hopped back.

"Happy Hearths Warming, Astral! Happy Hearths Warming, Applejack! Happy Hearths Warming, Fluttershy!" She then bounced away again. We all looked at each other, then had a chuckle.

While Rarity, and Twilight were usually on my case about things, Aunt Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie we're always kind to me. I think they felt like there was more going on then what Mom was telling them. That's probably why they were nicer than usual to me after some of my issues began.

Before anything else could be said, I heard my mom call out to everyone.

"Hey, Everypony! We've got an announcement to make!" She yelled out, loud enough for everyone in attendance to hear. Field cleared his throat.

"Dashie, Varsity and I I've been living together for a couple of years now. And let me tell you, we're as close as kin. Having said that, I asked Dashie a question the other night... And well, she said yes. For those of you wondering what the question was..."

"He asked me to marry him!" Mom shouted, flying up, and squealing. 

I saw it coming, and yet that same sinking feeling was in my chest, that was there six months ago. What I didn't know was that the worst was yet to come.

"Varsity, could you come up here, buddy?" Mom asked. He did as he was told, and mom pulled out a small gift.

"I know it's not tradition to open gifts until morning, but... Go on, and open it up. I want everypony to see this." Varsity opened up the package, and pulled out a pendant, a gold lightning bolt. I recognized it right away. It belong to Grandpa Hothoof. Why was she giving it to him?

"This belonged to my dad. It's a family heirloom, and I want to pass it on to you." Varsity stared at the pendant in astonishment.

"Sweet Celestia, Rainbow. I don't know what to say." He said.

"You can always start by calling me 'Mom', kid." A chorus of cooing and 'aww' could be heard from the crowd.

"Thanks... Mom." Said Varsity.

"Hey, at least I know YOU'LL make us proud." The jab from Mom couldn't have been more plain if she had spelled it out in giant, neon letters. It was obvious to the other guests, as well, based on the looks I was getting.

"Your dad, and I love you, and we'll always be here for you." She ruffled his hair as she said that.

During all of this, I began feeling sick to my stomach. My head began spinning, and I was feeling nauseous. The last thing I remembered was being on my back, on the floor, and being surrounded by my friends, faces full of fear. As I drifted into unconsciousness, a single phrase repeated in my head.

"She doesn't love you, anymore. You're nothing but a mistake to her."
> Chapter Eight. (Edited.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Ponies just don't pass out like that." Huh, that sounded like Applejack.

"Well, I don't know what you want me to tell you." Mom? Am I dreaming? Probably.

"Look, I don't know why you guys are making such a big deal about this. He's not exactly what you would call 'sturdy'. Kid's probably faking It, anyways." Wow, even in my dreams, Field's is a jerk.

"He's not Faking It. I'm a nurse, I can tell." Nurse Redheart? This isn't a dream. This isn't a dream at all.

I slowly opened my eyes. By the looks of it, I'm in a spare bedroom in the castle. I slowly get up and start looking around. I see some kites, some magic books, and then it hits me. This is Starlight's old room. I remember her from when I was little. But she had moved to the Crystal Empire to be with Sunburst. 

"I'm also concerned about the bruising I found all over his body." What?

"Bruising, what bruising?" There was Fluttershy's voice.

"The bruising that he's had for a few days. You can't really see it now, unless you're looking for it. But it's there... Why?" And Pinkie's

"I didn't see any bruising!" Mom shouted.

"I should say. I saw no bruising at all." And there was Rarity's voice.

"Yeah, neither did I." Said Twilight.

"I sure did!" Pound?

"What?" Shouted a bunch of ponies at once.

"So did I. In fact, we took pictures." Pumpkin? You didn't...

I heard the sound of papers shuffling. There was a silence followed by bunch of audible gasps.

"Somepony is going to pay for this." There was Flurry Heart's angry voice. Couldn't miss that if I tried.

I heard some activity, then silence. I could feel the tension coming from the other side of the wall.

"How?" Mom asked in a low voice. There was silence.

"How did this happen, Field?" She asked agian.

"Apparently by being Varsity's punching bag!" Pumpkin shouted.

"I never hit him that hard!" Oh, Varsity's there too.

"You gave me permission, Dashie. Remember? When he decided he was going to talk back to me." Well... That was unexpected. I didn't expect him to just admit that in front of everyone.

"What's he talking about, Rainbow?" Like you care, Twilight.

"Well... I..." 

"I don't know what kind of joke this is, but it's not funny." Said Pinkie.

"Rainbow, what did you do?" Asked Applejack.

"She let me instill discipline into the little twirp, finally." Field said hatefully.

"You watch your mouth, you scum-sucking pig!" I heard a bunch of audible gasps... Again.

"Pumpkin!" Oh, Ms. Cake is there too. Lovely. I wonder, is the whole town listening to all of this?

"You have no right... You're nothing but a... A FOAL ABUSER!" She screamed.

"Dude, better tell your sister to shut up before she gets hurt." Oh, Varsity. Please give me an excuse.

"Touch my sister, and you'll be tasting your mane for the next month. That's how far up your flank I'll shove your head." I wonder, has anyone ever told Varsity that Pound is a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Probably not.

"Hey! You two are lucky I'm not a real Princess, yet. If I was, I'd be breaking out the guillotine right about now." Said Flurry Heart.

"Enough!" Twilight shouted. There was a silence. Then I heard Spike speak up.

"Tell me, does Astral still have those books I gave him?"

"What are you talking about, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"After you banned him from castle, I gave him some of my books on magic." Oh, very clever Spike. Very clever.

"Spike! Why would you do that? I stopped teaching him for a reason! I banned him for being irresponsible! Why would you go behind my back like this?" She screeched.

"Because you wouldn't see reason."

"Okay, Mister! In case you haven't realized, I get to decide who to teach and who gets to come onto castle grounds! I get to decide who gets to come in MY home, and who MY time gets spent on! You got that?!" Twilight declared.

"... That's fair." Spike said simply.

"Right. Now tell me again why you went behind my back?"

"Oh, I know you're not going to tell me what I can and can't do with MY PROPERTY! Not after that little speech you just gave!" He practically roared at her.

"In case YOU haven't realized, Missy, we have a clear case of foal abuse! Abuse that YOU helped facilitate by denying him place to escape to! Why?! Oh that's right. Because he was the victim of abuse... By his so-called 'brother'." He said bitterly. There was another short silence before he continued.

"Remind us, how did you handle that again, Cherilee? Oh, wait. Don't tell me. You punished him for restraining Varsity, a pony who's both older, and physically superior to Astral in nearly every way possible, with the only means that he had available to him."

"Spike you weren't there. It looked like Astral was attacking him! What was I supposed to do? I did all I could with the information I had." Um, no you didn't, Ms. Cherilee.

"HORSEAPPLES! I saw him after the incident. Him and Varsity both! I could tell at a glance that Varsity was much better shape than Astral was. You could have given Astral a chance! You could have given them both the benefit of the doubt and asked questions! Try to actually get to the bottom of everything! Try to actually figure out who's guilty!" There was silence before he spoke again. This time, he was a lot calmer.

"Guys, I'm... I'm not trying to be mean about this. I'm really not, it's just... That kid in there is suffering right now. He's suffering because no one wants to give him a chance." Spike said.

"Zecora says a child shunned by the village will burn that village down to feel its warmth." It seemed that Spike had finished his speech.

"Well, Astral doesn't have it in him to hurt anyone like that. But we are going to drive him away. This is Ponyville. We're supposed to take care of our own." Said Fluttershy.

There was a long silence. Nopony really said anything. I eventually went back to looking around the room. I eventually came across a postcard from the Crystal Empire. It had an address, and a picture of a house with Starlight in her family in front of it. Huh, so where she's living now. A voice got my attention.

"Rainbow, what happened?" Asked Twilight, now getting my attention. It was different, though. It sounded like it was shaking.

"Honestly, I'd like to know the same thing. I saw Astral wearing part of his Halloween costume the day after. Why did you beat him like that? I thought you were just going to spank him!" Mom shouted.

"And what made you think THAT was appropriate, Rainbow Dash!" Whoa, I've never heard Fluttershy sound like that before.

"Ah'll say. I'm willing to bet Sweet Apple Acres whatever he did, he didn't deserve that." Applejack said sternly.

"What did he do that made either of you think that either those options were even remotely appropriate?!" Shouted Twilight.

"Prissy little twerp talked back to me." Field said.

"Why?" Asked Fluttershy.

"What?" Field said, now confused.

"Why did he talk back? What exactly did he say?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is..."

"They sold all his books." I heard Spike speak up.

"What?!" Shouted a bunch of ponies in unison.

"And a bunch of other stuff too. As a matter of fact, I'm fairly certain if you look in Astral's room, you'd find nothing but the bed, and a couple of empty bookshelves."

"How do you..." Spike interrupted Mom before she could finish the question.

"Oh, it was easy... Well, easy to put two and two together after I found a bunch of Astral's books at the local bookstore. I knew they were his because he puts his initials on pretty much everything he owns."

"I figured something wasn't right, so I left, and went to look for Astral. When I saw him trotting around Ponyville, sporting a black eye, I decided to cancel O&O for the day and started looking for his stuff." Spike... you did all that? For me?

"It took all day. I had to visit several stores in the area and spent a good 300 bits. But I was able to salvage at least 90 percent of his stuff. I have it stuffed in my room right now, A kind of Hearths Warming present for the little guy. If there's anything missing, I'm sure SOMEPONY will be happy to compensate him." Oh, I could feel the smugness radiating off of Spike right now. There was more silence before somepony spoke agian.

"That's so cruel. How could you guys do him that way? Why make him suffer?" Fluttershy asked. Another silence followed, then field spoke up.

"Because he's in the way." Field said.

"What did you say?" Mom asked.

"He's in the way! Come on, Rainbow, you know it's true. After all, why would you let me get rid of his stuff if you weren't going to eventually get rid of him? Why try to turn everypony against him? Why let me do whatever I could to drive him away?"

"WHY IN EQUESTRIA WOULD I WANT TO DRIVE MY OWN SON AWAY?!"

"BECAUSE HE'S NO GOOD! You, Varsity, and I, we get each other. We understand each other. Him? He's not going to be anything. He has no future! Varsity has a future! WE have a future! He's nothing but a nuisance. He's the one whose always in trouble!"

"I figured you understood that! After all, why torture him? Why make his life a living Tartarus? All those times YOU grounded him for months on end, I thought we were on the same page. I mean... I'm surprised you haven't sent him somewhere else... But hey, if you want to keep torturing the little loser, I'm game."

"But... You... I... Oh, no! No!.. What have I done?! No, no, no, no, Astral! Sweet Celestia, what did I do?!" I heard Mom begin sobbing.

"You did the right thing, Rainbow! He's an annoyance. Honestly, he doesn't deserve to be loved." There was a silence...

"SMACK... CRACK!... THUMP!"

"RAINBOW DASH!" I heard Twilight scream.

Uh oh. Not good
> Chapter Nine. (Rewritten.)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I heard a whole lot of commotion on the other side of the wall. A lot of ponies shouting, and a whole lot of noise in general. It wasn't until a few minutes after I heard Twilight scream that I was able to make out another pony's voice.

"Rainbow! What are you doing?!" screamed Varsity.

"Rainbow! Calm down!" Applejack shouted I heard some more commotion, and some more struggling. I heard some more ponies shout and scream things.

"Dashi... You..." Field sounded messed up... REALLY messed up.

"That's what you get, YOU JERK!" Screamed Pumpkin.

"Hey! Your little Colt friend is the one who ruined everything, you little floozy! Maybe you could like to share a hospital bed!"

"DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!" When I heard pound scream that, I was up, and running. I made a full gallop out of the room and down the hall. I could tell that it was happening in the throne room. I burst through the doors.

Looking back on it, I think my assumption about the whole town being present was somewhat right. There were a LOT of ponies in that room, though they elected to keep their distance.

I looked around and saw Varsity. Pound had him in a headlock and didn't look like he was going to let go anytime soon. But when I bust into the door, all eyes were on me.

"Let him go, Pound!"

"Astral?.." was all he muttered.

"I SAID LET HIM GO!"

In hindsight, I feel bad for distracting him like that. Varsity was able to get the upper hoof and pushed hard, causing Pound to let go.

"You! You've ruined everything! You..."

"SHUT UP, GOOD FOR NOTHING MACEDONIAN WHEELWRIGHT! YOU AND YOUR SCUMBAG FATHER CAN SUCK EGGS IN TARTARUS!" I shouted.

Silence.

"How far do you to have to go? How much do you have to hurt me? You've taken everything. You and your dad both. My books, my things, my childhood, my mom. You guys are turned ninety percent of the Town against me. Now you're going to hurt Pumpkin?!" At this point, tears were streaming down my face. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the absolute horror on Mom's face.

"Heh, well. I can always just hurt you, instead.

He said this as he walked towards me slowly. In a rage, I ran at him full gallop. I don't think anybody was expecting it, not even me. I rammed into the guy shoulder first and we both went tumbling. Unfortunately, Varsity was able to recover quicker than I was so he got on top of me and started wailing on me again like he did all those years ago.

"Somepony stop them!" I heard someone shout.

I grabbed him with my magic and began shaking him. And I shook him hard. At this point I was seething with rage.

"HOW YOU LIKE IT?! How do you like to get bullied and beat up! How do you like being tormented all the time, to be the victim? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?!"

"Astral, that's enough!" I felt myself being grabbed by a force. It was Twilight's magical aura. I was able to burst out of it using my own Magic. It shocked more than a few ponies. Like I said before, though, practicing magic was about the only thing I had time for.

As I landed, I set my sights on Varsity, again. Before I could do anything, Mom jumped in front of me.

"Astral, stop!" We stared at one another, not saying anything. I was panting heavily, trying to catch my breath. I can only imagine the rage the others saw in my face. Mom, on the other hoof, had a look of pure guilt, and despair.

"Astral..." she reached her hoof out towards me.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Her ears flattened and she backed up immediately.

"Come on, buddy. There's no need to be like that." I could tell Mom was hurting inside, but I still lashed out.

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME! YOU NEVER DID! THAT'S WHY YOU REPLACED ME!.."

"Astral, no. It's not..."

"I heard what you said! 'At least you'll make us proud', like I wouldn't catch that! You must think I'm really stupid, don't you?!"

I looked around. A large chunk of Ponyville residence certainly were still in the room. All of them looked at me with a mixture of shock and guilt.

"None of you care! YOU ALL HATE ME AND WANT ME GONE! WELL YOU GET YOUR WISH!" I ran towards the door as fast as I could. I heard the familiar flap of my mother's wings as she called out to me.

"Astral, wait! Come back!" I could feel her getting closer, so I charged my horn and teleported out of the castle. When I found myself outside, I kept running. I knew where I had to go.

I teleported again. Since I could see where I was going, I could teleport a lot farther. I charged my horn and ended up right outside the Ponyville train station. 

For anyone wondering how  a fourteen-year-old became this good at something like teleportation, it was because I practiced it more than any other spell. I practiced it so much because I wanted to be able to leave Mom's house at will, rather than depend on somepony else.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any Bits. I didn't have anything, really. So I looked at the arrival in destination of the next train. I felt so relieved. The next train to come in was going straight to the Crystal Empire. I took a closer look to see when the train would be in Ponyville.

Three hours...

What?! Okay, okay. I don't know any invisibility spells. But I do know one that can make me blend in. You know, change my color and all that? And it wasn't a terribly hard spell to do, either. All I had to do just wait and cast the spell whenever anypony came looking for me.

Simple enough, right?

Well, I didn't have to wait for too terribly long. While I sat there thinking about how I was actually going to make it onto the train, I heard my name being called.

"Astral! ASTRAL!" Mom called

"Astral, darling! Come now, sweetness." Called Rarity.

The others were out there and calling out my name to. I went around to the other side of the train station and cast my spell. I was able to blend in fairly well oh, well enough to keep from being seen.

"Oh my gosh, WHERE IS HE?! ASTRAL!"

"It's all right, Rainbow Dash. We'll find him." Twilight assured. They left the train station, continuing to look for me. When I was sure they were gone, I released my spell, and presumed waiting.

I continue to wait, having to cast my spell again whenever someone from town would show up. Eventually, the train did show up... twenty minutes early, lucky me.

Another fortunate thing was the fact that train tickets weren't very much. There were only a few ponies getting off at this train station, all of whom were Ponyville residents.

I approached two of them, Time Turner and Ditzy, and I hoped one of them might be able to help me out. They were among the few that didn't completely dislike me. Then again, neither Field nor Mom associated with them at all.

"Excuse me?" I said as I tried to get their attention.

"Oh, um... Hello?" Said Time Turner. Ditzy looked at me with a smile and waved.

"Hi guys, do either of you think you could help me?"

"Help with what?" He asked.

"I need to go to the Crystal Empire, but I left my bits at home, and I didn't realize until just now. Unfortunately, I don't think the train will wait for me long enough for me retrieve them."

"Oh my. I'm terribly sorry, but I don't think I have what you need." As he said this, I noticed Ditzy digging into one of her saddle bags.

"Oh, I have it. Here, you can use these." She gave me the bits. I was ecstatic.

"Thank you so much. You don't know how much this has helped me."

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just glad I can help." She said, blushing.

"You have. I wish I could talk longer, but I need to catch this train." We wave goodbye, and I bought my ticket. I boarded the train, and took my seat, waiting for the conductor.

As I sat there, mulling over everything that happened that day, a single thought came to mind.

"What now?"
> Chapter Ten.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the very next morning before the train reached it's destination. I slightly underestimated the amount of time it would take to get there. It was no issue, though, since I simply slept on the train. I certainly wasn't the only one to do so on that trip, although it left a nasty crick in my neck.

I got off the train, and quickly found out I was lost. Luckily for me, I was able to memorize the address on the postcard. Unfortunately, it didn't mean much when I had no idea where anything was. This was my first ever trip to the Crystal Empire.

I did, however, see the palace from the train station. I also knew Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor. I didn't know them very well, but I knew them. Maybe I could ask them for help. Would I even be able to see them, though? I didn't really have any other Connections in the city, so why not?

I'd heard plenty of stories about the Crystal Empire, but none of them adequately described it in all its splendor. While taking in it's beauty, I eventually came across a statue of a baby dragon holding the Crystal Heart... and it looked eerily familiar.

"Spike?.." I said.

I remember Spike telling stories of how he saved the Crystal Empire... Twice. After a closer inspection, and remembering that Spike was a hero in this land, I eventually confirmed to myself that it was, in fact, a much younger Spike. It was a bit surreal seeing a likeness of him as a child.

I continued to walk through the city for roughly two hours. That's how long it took for me to reach the Palace. Along the way, I continue to admire the crystalline infrastructure and residences of the city. When I finally came to the Palace, I approached one of the guards at the front entrance.

"Excuse me, sir." I asked, getting the guard's attention.

"Yes? State your business." He said.

"Yes, I was hoping to speak with Princess Cadence. Either her, or Shining Armor."

"You can, but it won't be possible today, I don't think. You'd have to make an appointment for that sort of thing." He explained.

"Really? Well, I kind of know them, so... Isn't there any way I could bypass all that?" I asked, although I was sure he'd say no.

"Afraid not, kid. Besides, I'm sure you understand how many ponies 'know' Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor." 

It did make sense. He wasn't condescending, or anything like that. Being a front entrance guard likely came with a lot of annoyances, not the least of which was ponies claiming to know or be related to the royal couple. It probably became tedious after awhile.

"Yeah, actually. I can understand that. All right, maybe you can help me with something else, then?" I asked.

"And that would be?" 

"Well, like I said, I know Cadence and Shining Armor. What I really need is for someone to show me where to go. I'm trying to find where somepony lives, and I think they would know." I explained.

"And who would that be?"

"Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst."

"Oh. Actually, I think we can help you. They..."

"Astral?" I heard a feminine voice interrupt the guard. I looked over and saw the royal couple themselves. Cadence wore her royal regalia while Shining Armor wore his... Armor.

"Astral, it's been awhile." He said.

"Yeah, what are you doing here in the Crystal Empire?" Cadence asked.

"Looking for Starlight and Sunburst, actually. I know they both worked for you to at some point."

"Still do, actually. Starlight is our court wizard well Sunburst is our resident loremaster. They'll both be in around the same time tomorrow." Said Shining Armor

"Oh that's great! Can I come to the castle tomorrow and talk to them?" I asked.

"Sure you can. I'm glad your mom brought you here. Where is she?" She asked... Uh oh.

"... Back in Ponyville." I said, scratching the back of my head.

"You're here by yourself?" She asked, astonished.

"Well, yeah. This isn't the first time I've been by myself. Plus, I'm fourteen. I think I can handle myself." I said.

Yeah, but... That's still so young."

"Aw, come on, Cadence. He can handle it. Besides, you should have seen the trouble I got into at his age." Said Shining Armor in my defense.

"I did see the trouble you got into at that age. And it's not a good case, let me tell you." She responded, with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'd still like to see Starlight and Sunburst. Would it be all right if I came back tomorrow and talk to them?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Of course you can, Astral. In fact, why don't you stay here for the night?" Asked Princess Cadence.

"Oh, no. I couldn't impose on you like that."

"Oh, do you have somewhere else you can go?" She asked.

I thought about it for a moment and realize that no, I didn't have anywhere to go. I didn't know where any Starlight lived and I didn't know anypony else but these two.

"Well... No. No, I don't" 

"Wait, where were you supposed to go, then?" Asked Cadence. I have to say, Cadence was far too intelligent for my taste. I couldn't have them figuring out that I was a runaway, so I had to think on my feet. Too bad I was a bad liar.

"Well, the plan was to meet them today. Unfortunately, this was planned without Twilight, so you can see how that turned out." I may not have been good at lying, but fortunately for me it technically wasn't a lie. Good job, brain.

"Obviously... well, either way, I'm happy to have you here." Cadence seemed pretty sceptical, but she appeared to accept the half-truth, which I was grateful for.

"Well, come on in. We have a few extra rooms. We can put you up in one for tonight." Said Shining Armor. I was moved by the offer.

"Thank you, guys. Thank you so much." I said.

"It's our pleasure, Astral." Said Cadence.

"Come on. We'll get you settled in. Dinner's at seven." Shining Armor said as I followed them both into the palace.
> Chapter Eleven.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fallout from the previous day's events hit Ponyville hard. First, Rainbow and her friends tried to search for Astral. However, after an hour of searching, Twilight decided to go back and call the whole town together to form a search party. But, once they got back, a few things had to be sorted out.

"Now, tell me again how that poor colt got abused all these years under your nose?" Asked Applejack. Rainbow's only response was hanging her head in shame. The six of them had gathered into Twilight's throne room with Field and Varsity in tow.

"There was no abuse going on! How many times do I have to tell you ponies." Field exclaimed.

"You shut your mouth, you bully!" Fluttershy shouted.

"Yeah! You're just a big meanie! Hitting foals like that! Is that what they call being a stallion where you're from!" Yelled Pinkie.

"Field, you're in a lot of hot water. I hope you realize that. This is foal abuse, plain and simple." Twilight said.

"Now, princess Twilight, let's be reasonable..."

"NO! Not again! I'm not going to enable this kind of abuse! Not now, not ever again! Do you hear me!" Twilight was panting, and tears ran down her cheeks. She quickly turned to Rainbow.

"Rainbow, it's your call. What do you want to do?"

"Why are you asking me?" Rainbow asked, surprised.

"You're his mom. I think you should get the final say in what happens."

"Twilight... I'm pretty sure I lost that right a long time ago... in fact, I probably never earned it in the first place." Silence overtook the room for a moment before Rainbow stood up and faced Field.

"Field... Get out of Ponyville. Don't come back."

"Dashi... Why." Asked Field, not understanding that mercy was being given to him.

"BECAUSE SOME PART OF ME STILL LOVES YOU!"

Another silence. Everypony was shocked to hear this.

"Yeah, that's right! I still have feelings for you! You deserve  to be punished. After everything you've done, you deserve to rot in the dungeon. But I can't bring myself to demand it... And I despise myself for that. And Varsity... In my heart, you're still my son, always and forever. But this can't go on. I want to be a family, but I can't let my little buddy get tormented, anymore."

"You're going to chose that... NOPONY!... Over us?!" As soon as he said this, Rainbow Dash got in Field's face.

"HE'S NOT A NOPONY! HE'S MY SON! HE'S THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE! HE'S EVERYTHING TO ME!.. And... You already forced me to choose..." Rainbow said, turning away.

"That settles it. Field, you're hereby banned from the town of Ponyville for life." Twilight announced.

"But... I, uh... But he...." Field looked around and saw that he had no support whatsoever. The only faces that weren't glaring at him was Rainbow Dash, who was still facing away from him.

"Come on, Varsity. Let's go." The two of them left. As they went out the door, Varsity looked back at Rainbow. She was still facing away from the two of them. After a moment of staring, he grabbed the gold pendant threw it toward Rainbow. He turned and galloped out the door.

Rinbow Dash turned and saw the pendant on the floor, next to her. She picked it up and looked at it. After a few moments her eyes widened. Her pupils were the size of pin pricks as a heavy realization hit her.

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME! YOU NEVER DID! THAT'S WHY YOU REPLACED ME!"

"No, no it's not... I... I'm so sorry."

"Sugarcube?" Asked Applejack.

"That's why he got sick." Rainbow said quietly. Sniffling could be heard.

"Rainbow... Are you okay?" Asked Pinkie.

The other ponies in the room were staring at Rainbow intently. She look back at them, tears flowing down her face as she held the pendant in her hooves.

"He hates me... And it's my fault."  She looked back at the pendant. She began sobbing heavily.

"I'm so sorry, Astral! Please come back! I'll be better! Please." She felt a warm embrace has the other five ponies hugged her.

"Guys?"

"You're not the only one at fault here. I mistreated him as well. I cast him out without a second thought, and he did nothing to deserve it. Nothing whatsoever." Twilight said as she began crying herself.

"As did I, darling." Said Rarity.

"We'll find him, Rainbow. Just you wait." Applejack said.

"Even if we do, he won't come back. Not after everything that's happened."

"Sugarcube, I ain't gonna to lie. You made a whole bunch of really bad mistakes. Really, really bad mistakes. But that doesn't make you a bad pony, not if you're willing to make it right."

"He still isn't going to want to come back..."

"We just have to take it one step at a time. That's all." Said Fluttershy.

"That's right. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, we got to make sure the little fella's safe." Said Applejack.

"Yeah, you're right. Can't leave my kiddo hangin'. I'm gonna find him, whatever it takes. Twilight?"

"I'm on it." Twilight said. She begin trotting toward the front door of the castle. As she made her way to the door, she saw a spike leaning against the wall, staring into space.

"Spike?" She asked

"Twilight?" She responded.

There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two. Quite a bit of tension had built up, and it was easy to see.

"I'm sorry." Twilight finally said.

"Huh?" 

"I'm sorry. You were right... About everything. I'm sorry that I ignored you. You were trying to tell me something I was doing wasn't right, and all I did was browbeat you for it." 

"Twilight..."

"Can you forgive me?"

"... Twilight... I already forgave you." Spike's head as he walked toward Twilight. Twilight ran up and and the two embraced each other. They held one another for a couple of minutes before letting go.

"So what now? Asked Spike

"We're going to summon the town, and form a search party." Twilight responded.

"Oh yes. The one kind of party Pinkie doesn't enjoy." Said Spike, following Twilight.

However, once the town was in one place, pieces started coming together. Time Turner and Ditzy admitted to giving Astral money for a train ticket. A mare who worked at the Ponyville train station revealed that she had sold him a ticket to the Crystal Empire.

"The Crystal Empire! Why would he go there of all places?!" Asked Pinkie.

"I have no idea, Pinkie. It's not like he knows anypony there." Said Twilight.

"Yeah, actually he does." Said Rainbow.

"He does?!" All her friends shouted at once

"Starlight and Sunburst, remember? I'm pretty sure he also knows your brother, and Princess Cadence." She explained.

"But he hasn't seen any of them in years. He was really little when he saw Starlight last." Said Twilight.

"Yeah, well. That's where he's gone, and that's who he knows. Besides, he's always wanted to learn magic and stuff. Makes sense that's where he'd go." She said in a depressing tone.

Her friends all looked at one another with concern. It was true that she had made a horrible series of mistakes. But she was also well aware of those mistakes, and remorseful as well.

"Any possible way you could get in touch with Cadence and Shining Armor?" Asked Applejack.

"Of course, it shouldn't be a problem. I can send a telegram. They should be able track him down, if he's there."

"Thanks, Twi." Said Rainbow.

"No, don't thank me. It's the least I can do... Especially after everything that's happened..." Twilight responded.

"Twilight..." Said Spike.

"I know, Spike. But it's the truth. I need to help fix this. Speaking of which, since will be taking a trip to the Crystal Empire, would you be willing to come with us? We... I... Could use all the help I could get." Twilight asked.

"Of course I will." Spike said.

"Thank you, spike. You really are the best assistant anyone could ask for."
> Chapter Twelve.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke the next morning in a bit of a daze. I was unsure of whether to feel dread or relief. When all of the previous day's memories came flooding back, I suppose I settled on a little of both. I was more relieved than anything else, though, since I was sure Field was no longer a part of my life, whatever else may happen from this point.

I looked at the clock. It was ten in the morning. I knew that Starlight and Sunburst were supposed to be in at nine, so they should already be here. I got out of bed and walked down the spiral staircase in anticipation.

After a few minutes I finally made my way to the main dining hall. At the other end of the long table, I saw Cadence and Shining Armor. I also saw two other ponies, and they were just the two I needed to see.

"Astral!" Starlight called out. She and Sunburst waved at me. I trotted over to great them. But as I got closer, I noticed the two of them had a concerned look on their faces. I looked over at Cadence and Shining Armor. They wore the same expressions.

"... Everything okay, guys?" I asked. They were silent and continued to stare at me.

"Guys?.. What's wrong?" I was wondering if they found out. Turns out I was right.

"Astral... We got a telegraph from Ponyville. Twilight says you ran away. And she wants us to find you." Cadence explained.

"Did it say anything else?" I asked.

"No, it doesn't. And that's the part bothering us." Shining Armor responded.

"Astral, we're going to need you to tell us the truth, okay?" Cadence said softly.

"Yeah? Would you even believe me if I told you?" I asked bitterly. The others were taken aback. I immediately realized what I said.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just..." I stammered.

"Hey, hey. It's all right kid. We're just concerned." Said Shining Armor.

"Yeah, that's right. Besides, why would you ask a question like that?" Asked Cadence.

"Because hardly anyone ever does. I've tried reaching out before only to get my hoof smacked away."

I felt the hoof touch the back of my neck. I didn't know who it was the first, but my immediate reaction was to flinch hard and pull away. I was hunkered down to the floor when I looked up and saw Cadence, looking surprised with her hoof still hovering in midair.

"Astral..." Cadence look shocked. She had probably never seen some pony act this way before. 

"Astral, what's wrong? You can tell us." Starlight said.

"Promise you won't send me back." I whimpered.

"Huh?"

"Promise you won't send me back! Please don't send me back! Please!" I begged. I felt tears coming to my eyes. Cadence puts her hooves out in front of me

"It's okay! It's okay. We won't send you back... We won't send you back. Just please... Tell us what's going on. We'll listen." Cadence said, trying to calm me down.

I looked at her, then everypony else in the room. I was hesitant at first, but eventually, I told them. I laid it all bear and told them everything. By the time I was done, I was trying to catch my breath. I looked around the room to see a mixture of shock and disgust in the faces of the ponies I was surrounded by.

"Sweet Celestia! Have they lost their minds!" Sunburst shouted.

"I don't believe this." Starlight said, shaking her head. Shining Armor just looked angry. He seemed to be glaring at nothing in particular. Cadence looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"No wonder you pulled away when I tried touch you." Said Cadence.

"You're not going to send me back, are you?" I asked.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Starlight shouted. Cadence came up from behind. I turned to look at her.

"Astral, I'm so so sorry. And I believe you, I really do. But before we can do anything, I'm going to have to get your mom's side of the story, okay?" As Cadence said this, I felt myself being enveloped by Magic. It was different though, not telekinesis. I turned around and saw Starlight scanning me.

"Well, her side of the story better be the same as his, because he's recently sustained injuries consistent with what he told us just happened." She said. There was a silence before Shining Armor spoke.

"Well, the telegram says they're going to make a trip up here to find him. I didn't send one back just yet because I didn't know what to do. But with luck, They'll be here by tomorrow morning. We can get to the bottom of this when they do." Said Shining Armor.

"To... Tomorrow?" I asked. Every pony looked at me as my ears flattened.

"I... I don't want to see them." I said.

"You want to come with us?" Asked Starlight. I looked over to see Starlight and Sunburst looking at me with wide smiles.

"You want me to come with you?" I asked.

"Well yeah. Isn't that why you came in the first place?" Sunburst asked. 

"Yeah, I think I do."

"Well, Starlight and I get off at six. In the meantime, you can come with me to the library, I don't have much to do today so I can show you around." I followed sunburst to the library, leaving the other three to whatever their business was.





As Sunburst and Astral left the room, the remaining three ponies looked at one another.

"Starlight, what exactly did you see with that spell of yours?" Shining Armor asked.

"Well, I'm no doctor. But I know enough to know those bruises weren't accidental."

"How so?" Asked Cadence

"The only other times I've seen injuries like that was when I was back whem I was scanning foals during hoofball season. And Astral isn't exactly the 'athletic' type, so he wouldn't be playing if given a choice." Starlight explained.

"This 'Field' guy sounds like a real piece of garbage." Said Shining Armor.

"I can't believe she'd let some pony like that beat her son! After everything he's done, he needs to be in jail!" Cadence yelled.

"Rainbow Dash has a lot of explaining to do... And so does Twily for that matter." Said Shining Armor.

"Didn't Flurry Heart know about the abuse, though? Why wouldn't she have told us?" Cadence asked.

"She would have... In a heartbeat. You know her, she's quick to defend her friends." Explained Shining Armor.

"Then how come we didn't get a letter from her?" Asked Cadence. Shining Armor looked at her.

"That's the part I want Twilight to explain."
> Chapter Thirteen.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evening rolled around and I left with Starlight and Sunburst. We went to this twenty-four hour diner. We struck up a conversation during our meal.

"So, Sunburst tells me you wanted to learn magic." I began racking my brain after Starlight said this. It was certainly true, though I couldn't remember mentioning it to Sunburst while we were in the library.

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked, looking at Sunburst.

"It was kind of obvious, with all the magic books you were surrounded by. I also saw you practicing a little bit." He said.

"Yeah, Sunburst was really impressed... So am I, considering what he told me." Starlight explained.

"Oh... What exactly did you see?" I asked, looking at Sunburst again.

"You... Performing a clone spell on yourself." He said nonchalantly.

"Oh, you saw that, huh?" I asked, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Hey, I'd be glad to teach you what I know. In fact, we can start tomorrow." Starlight replied.

"Wait, you want to teach me?" I asked

"Of course. Why wouldn't I?" I didn't have to think about it. I already knew the answer.

"I'd love to!" I shouted, practically jumping out of my seat. I paused and looked around and all the other ponies staring at me. I slowly sat back down in embarrassment as Sunburst and Starlight chuckled.

"Wow, somepony's excited." Starlight commented.

"Yeah... Guess so."

We got home pretty late that night. Starlight showed me to the guest bedroom. It was weird because I didn't feel tired, but as soon as I laid my head on the pillow I drifted into unconsciousness.





I awoke the next morning to some commotion. It sounded like it was happening at the front door, but I couldn't be sure. I rolled out of bed and trotted out of the bedroom.

I snuck into the living room of the house to see the front door wide open and Starlight having an argument with some ponies.

"The answer is no, Rainbow Dash." What did she just say?

"Starlight, I understand your concern..." I heard Twilight's voice, but Starlight interrupted her.

"Concern! Try rage, sweetheart! There's no way in Tartarus I'm letting you see him!" Starlight shouted.

I began sneaking around the living room to get a look at who all was there. I snuck behind the couch and began spying on everypony. I saw Starlight, Princess Twilight, Mom, and Spike.

Look, Starlight, I know I messed up..."

"Two years it's not a mess up, it's deliberate!" Mom's face deflated, but Twilight looked more determined than ever.

"Starlight, don't make me have..."

"Make you what?" Starlight sounded  both hurt and shocked at the same time. 

"You're honestly considering..." Starlight began before mom interrupted her.

"Astral?!" Mom yelled. Mom and I made eye contact as she shouted my name. Starlight looked back at me. I rushed back toward the hallway, but Mom was quick. She rushed past Starlight and blocked the way.

"RAINBOW DASH!"

"It's fine." I said. I didn't look at Starlight, or anybody else for that matter. Mom and I stared at each other for a couple of minutes before either one of us said anything.

"Um... Hi..." Mom said. I said nothing.

"I've...ah..."  She stammered. I just kept staring at her.

"I've missed you, buddy." She continued. I just kept staring at her.

"Look, Field's gone. He's not in Ponyville anymore."

"Okay... Where is he?" I asked.

"I'm... I don't know."

"You don't know what dungeon they took him to?" Now I was curious.

"We... Didn't send him to a dungeon, Astral." She responded.

"I don't get it." I said, now confused.

"We banished him. He won't be hurting you anymore." Twilight said. I noticed Spike slowly turn to look at her, the look on his face expressed both confusion and anger.

"Oh, and what's keeping him from Ponyville?" Asked Starlight.

"Ro...Royal Decree, obviously. It's the law." Twilight said, meekly.

"Riiiight, because criminals obviously care about the law." Twilight tried to respond to Starlight's statement, but Starlight wasn't done yet.

"So not only did you let him off with a slap on the hoof after everything he did to Astral, but he's out there as we speak, probably planning some kind of revenge.  Am I somewhere in the ballpark, guys?" Starlight asked angrily.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that foal abuser is still free?" Spike said indignantly.

"I mean... I still care about him, you know? Him and Varsity are like family." I couldn't listen to anymore. As soon as Mom said this, I felt a rage burning inside me, and for the second time this week, I was going to let it out.

"Huh, it's a wonder you didn't have him executed." I said blankly. Everyone gasped in shock.

"Astral?!" Mom shouted.

"Well? I'M your family, and you haven't exactly shown ME any compassion. It just seems to me that you'd extend the same treatment towards other members of your 'family'."

She looked hurt and guilty, but I didn't care. I was done caring about ponies who didn't care about me. I was just done.

"Astral... I know I hurt you. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too! Sorry I'm not in the son you wanted! I didn't ask to be born! And unlike you, I didn't get to choose my family!"

"Astral, please..."

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" I shouted. In her shocked state, I was able to run past her and back to the bedroom where I locked the door. I jumped on the bed, content to cry myself to sleep like I had done many times before. I heard commotion outside, but I was too far in my own little world to pay any attention.





"Rainbow Dash! Get out!" Rainbow Dash shook her head and looked at Starlight.

"But... I..." Her stammering was met with Starlight pointing a hoof toward the door.

"I'm not leaving without Astral!" Rainbow demanded.

"Oh yes you are." Starlight replied.

"That's enough. Starlight, I'm sorry about all this. We'd be more than happy to let Astral stay here." Spike said. Starlight seemed to calm down a little.

"Thank you, spike."

"I have Astral's stuff. Maybe we could come to some arrangement on what to do about that?"

"Spike!" Twilight.

"And you two! I thought you guys would have learned by now! But apparently not! Once again, you two have completely missed the point!" Spike scolded. Twilight look defeated, but Rainbow Dash wasn't giving up just yet.

"I just want to take Astral home. I promise I won't..."

"Why?! What makes you think forcing him back is a good idea?! What makes you think it's good for him?! Especially after everything you did! Everything you put him through! How much more does he have to endure before you realize what you're doing to him!" Starlight shouted.

"Starlight! Is everything all right?!" Starlight looked outside to see Sunburst. Behind him was Shining Armor and the rest of Twilight's friends.

"What's going on here!" Shining Armor asked.

"What is she doing in our house!" Demanded Sunburst.

"Trespassing! And she's going to get out now!" Starlight responded in a low, threatening voice.

"Please! I just want my son!" Rainbow wailed.

"Yeah? Well you had your chance and you blew it!" Sunburst shouted as he walked through the door.

"But I..." Rainbow began to speak, but Sunburst interrupted her.

"Look, not only did you do everything that you did, but your boyfriend and his son did much worse. On top of that, you let him go free... You outright abused your own kid, and let him do so as well... But let Field off easy because?.." Rainbow had no response to Sunburst's accusations. Rainbow looked utterly defeated.

"Look... I know you feel guilty and you want to make it right. I've been there... I get it. But this is a colt who was abused and ignored for years. It's going to take more than 'I'm sorry' to fix it. I wish it would, but it won't." Starlight explained.

"I don't know what to do... Please tell me what to do... Please." Rainbow begged.

"Go home oh, Dash. Give him time to heal." Said Starlight.

"I don't want..."

"You know where he is. You know where WE are. You know he's safe... We're not going anywhere." 

"... When can I see him?" Rainbow asked.

"When he heals enough that he can... I'll let you know. But we're not making him do anything he doesn't want to do." Starlight explained.

Rainbow Dash looked back down the hall behind her where Astral ran, then back at Starlight. Without another word she walked out the front door. She looked like she was in a catatonic state.

"Rainbow?" Twilight asked, looking at her friend with concern. Rainbow Dash walked all the way to the end the walkway, then sat down.

"The rest of you should probably leave as well." Said Sunburst

"We will. Last thing we want to do is step on anypony's hooves." Said Applejack.

"I'll be back in a few minutes so we can try to figure out what to do with Astral's stuff." Said Spike.

"Thanks Spike." Said Starlight. The others gathered around Rainbow to try and comfort her. Spike had other ideas, however.

"Twilight? I wasn't in the room when it happened, so I'd like you and everypony out here to explain to me why Field isn't rotting in a dungeon right now?" Asked Spike.

"I'd like to know that as well, and you know what? I'd like to know something else, Twilight." Shining Armor said sternly.

"Wha... What's that?" Twilight asked, nervously. He answered in what could almost be described as a very angry whisper.

"Why have you been altering Flurry Heart's letters to us?"