> The Coming And Going > by Asterisk-Star > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 - Coming For The Fourth Time > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- One day, Glitter Bright and Glowing Mist were having an important conversation. "Shiny's Dad," Glowing Mist said, "is Flower and Bluebob coming today or tomorrow? What did they tell you about coming here in phone? Oh! And.... by the way, where is Shiny?" Glitter Bright replied thoughtfully, "Shiny's Mom, I think Shiny is in the Summer Special 'Hot Room'!" Glitter Bright continued, smilingly, "You know, Shiny's Mom, Shiny is always nervous before somepony comes to stay in our house for a few days. I am going to bring Shiny here and then tell you the news, OK? Please wait a minute. I am going to bring Shiny." Glitter Bright went to the Summer Special 'Hot Room' and found Asterisk there. It seemed as if Asterisk was busy creating a spell. On seeing her Father enter the room, Asterisk understood that he had something good to tell her. Asterisk said happily, "Dad! I am making something for you and Mom!" "OK, Shiny, what is it?" Glitter Bright asked. Asterisk said, "It's a gift for your anniversary, a surprise gift!" "Shiny, would you please come here for a while? We have got to tell you a surprising good news. You will be most excited to hear it! By the way, are you creating a spell?" "Yes! I have already made your gift a few minutes ago. Now, I am creating a spell. OK, Dad, what is the good news?" "No, Shiny, it's a surprise. I will tell you only when you come here." said Glitter Bright, with a mysterious smile. "OK, Dad, I am coming there soon." Asterisk replied obediently. After creating the spell, Asterisk put down the paper and pencil and teleported herself to the room where she had been asked to go to. "Shiny, weren't you in the Summer Special 'Hot Room'?" Glowing Mist asked Asterisk, laughing. "Yes Mom, I was there doing something!" Glitter Bright, then asked Asterisk, "OK, now, Shiny, do you want to hear the good news?" "Yes, Dad, what is it?" "Shiny, your aunt Flower Magic and her son or your cousin, Dynamic Flight is coming today and they will stay here for a week or two. And, of course, the most important thing is that you must stay smart and nice and you must not hate Dynamic Flight." "Weeeeee!!!!!!" Asterisk cheered. She started jumping out of excitement. "They will come! And for the fourth time and will stay for a week or two! What fun!" "Remember, Shiny, you will be seeing them for the fourth time. Once again, I remind you, do stay smart and nice." Glitter Bright reminded Asterisk, remembering the times when Asterisk did some awful things, just because of excitement. "What fun! What fun! What Fun!!!!!! Did my aunt call you? I promise to stay smart and nice! And I won't hate Dynamic Flight." Asterisk continued jumping. "OK, now, Shiny, remember that we are going out today. You are growing up now. And this is the first time we are going out while somepony is coming here. It's the first time we are leaving you with them. And again we remind you, Shiny, be smart and nice and don't hate Dynamic Flight." Glitter Bright replied, worrying about being late. "Do you know how Dynamic Flight feels when you hate him? He may not tell you anything, but he may tell your aunt and uncle about it." Glowing Mist told Asterisk. "OK, Shiny's Dad, we have to get ready now. Bye Shiny, we are going out now." Glowing Mist said. "Bye Mom! Bye Dad!" Asterisk said to her Parents. "OK, now, Shiny, do you promise to stay smart and nice? Don't be so excited anymore." Glitter Bright said. Glitter Bright and Glowing Mist were just about to leave after they reminded Asterisk to stay smart and nice again and again. "Bye Shiny!" said Glowing Mist. "Bye Shiny!" said Glitter Bright. Soon Asterisk’s Parents left and Asterisk heard a knock on the door. "It seems.... like they have come now? I can hear somepony knocking on the door." Asterisk whispered, feeling the silence around her after her Parents left. Before leaving, Asterisk’s Parents opened the door to see Flower Magic and Dynamic Flight. Soon Flower Magic came upstairs to see Asterisk. Dynamic, being very shy, hid behind Flower Magic. "Oh, Hello Shiny!" Flower Magic greeted Asterisk. "Hi, Auntie! How are you?" Asterisk greeted back. "We are fine! Nice to see you again! Do you know that we will stay in your house for a week or two?" "Yes, I know! I am so happy to see you!" "Shiny!!!!!!" Flower Magic said, acting to love Asterisk a lot, "So nice to see you! I love you so much that I can't even wait to see you! I am so excited to see you! While we were on the way to your house, I was thinking all about you! See, Bluebob, how nice is Shiny now!" "Well, come on, Auntie and D.F., this is the living room. Come on!" Asterisk called them to the living room. "H-How it feels like to be the only pegasus! Yuck!" Dynamic said, feeling embarrassed about himself, all of a sudden. "Come on!" Asterisk continued calling them. But Flower Magic and Dynamic Flight did not go to the living room with Asterisk because Flower Magic had some plans for Asterisk. "Now, Bluebob, can you keep something as a secret from Shiny and her Parents?" Flower Magic asked Dynamic, suspiciously. "I don't think I can, Mom!" "But if you can't keep it as a secret, you should go to Shiny. Because she is waiting on the sofa for us! You go there and tell her that I am coming soon." "But, Mom, I want to see what you do. When you ask me to go there, I will go there." "OK, then, let's do that. Just see." "I guess you don't know what is this 'Magic Term' called. See what I do. First, I make a heart with my magic. Then, I draw stripes in it with magic and now it's glowing. It's all MAGIC! And now, it's floating and flying in the air. And I should not forget the magic sparkles. Or else, the spell won't be so effective." Flower Magic said as she proceeded with the magic heart. "Now, I'm going to do the main thing. It's time for you to go to Shiny now. This is the part you should not see, if you can't keep it as a secret. If you don't go from here, I can't do the rest of the spell, I can't continue." Flower Magic added. Dynamic became a bit confused. He asked, "But Mom, why are you hiding it from me?" "It's a thing to hide from everypony! The spell will not work if the next part of the spell is revealed to anypony!" Flower Magic replied impatiently. Dynamic had no other option than to go to Shiny. "OK, Mom, I am going." he said. As soon as Dynamic left, Flower Magic’s real magic turned black and the ordinary white magic sparkles turned green. A black and green ray of magic came from Flower Magic’s horn and turned the magic heart black and green. Then, Flower Magic put a spell on the magic heart, turned the black and green heart to its original colour, that is, various shades of magenta with white sparkles and decided to give the magic heart to Asterisk as a gift. However, Flower Magic, being not so good in nature, did not really like Asterisk but acted as if she loved her. So Flower Magic had created the magic heart and put a spell on it so as to cause Asterisk to lose her magic. > Chapter 2 - Knowing Birthdays > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asterisk waited for sometime in the living room. Dynamic Flight hadn’t gone to the living room to sit with Asterisk. He had been standing near the sofa. “D.F., where is Auntie?” Asterisk asked Dynamic, worrying about what was going on. “She is.... she is d-doing some important w-work.” Dynamic replied. Soon Flower Magic entered the room to see that Dynamic was about to tell Asterisk the secret. “Shiny.... Do you know....” “Bluebob! Don't do that!” Flower Magic whispered to Dynamic Flight. But Asterisk heard the words of her aunt and wondered why she was stopping Dynamic from telling something to her. Dynamic said to Flower Magic, “Mom, Shiny is nice to me today.” Flower Magic praised Asterisk, “Oh! Very good, Shiny!” Asterisk replied, “Thank you!” “Yes, Shiny, do you know my birthday?” Flower Magic asked Asterisk. “Yes! I know it! It is on the 8th of July.” “How did you know it? I didn't even tell you about it.” “It's all information! My Parents told me." “Oh! Shiny! That's why you're my darling! I love you!” “But I don't like D.F.!” Asterisk replied, displaying her hate for Dynamic Flight. “Do you know? Bluebob is like you.” Flower Magic said, in an effort to disappoint Asterisk. “Yucky!” Asterisk replied, not knowing what else to say. “Oh! And yes, I forgot to ask you something!” Flower Magic said. “What is it? “When is your birthday?” “My birthday is on the 20th of December.” “Oh! Poor Shiny!” Flower Magic said, pretending to be very sad. “What's the problem, Auntie?!” Asterisk asked, worriedly. “Shiny, there's a problem, a bad problem!” “And when is D.F.'s birthday?” asked Asterisk. “Bluebob's birthday is on the 13th of November.” Flower Magic replied. “Oh! Poor D.F.! His birthdate is on 13th, an extremely unlucky number for us! Yuck!” Asterisk said, pretending to be very sad. “Shiny, why are you copying my words? Why don't you say your own words?” said Flower Magic. “Sorry, Auntie! I told it by mistake!” “It's OK! Shiny!” “Mom, Shiny is becoming a bit annoying again!” said Dynamic Flight. “You don't worry, Bluebob! I am going to keep an eye on her.” Flower Magic comforted Dynamic. “Oh! But Mom, please don't make her careless!” Dynamic Flight said. “I won't be careless, Auntie, I promise!” Asterisk said, realising that she had just made a mistake. “Just keep your promise, don't break it!” Flower Magic said. “OK! Very good Shiny!” Dynamic said. Flower Magic whispered to Dynamic, “Poor Shiny! Her birthday is the last among all her family members' birthdays! That's a bad problem!” “What are you whispering to D.F.?” Asterisk asked. “I won't tell you even a bit about it, because it's a personal thing, Shiny!” Flower Magic said. Flower Magic again started whispering to Dynamic, “Look! Bluebob! Oh no! What a problem! Shiny has heard all our words which we were whispering!” “But I heard that you whispered ‘bad problem’ at the end!” said Asterisk. “Yes I did. But you didn't hear the rest, right?” Flower Magic asked, worriedly. “I heard everything! You whispered, ‘Poor Shiny! Her birthday is the last among all her family members' birthdays! That's a bad problem!’” Asterisk said, being very much sure about what her aunt was whispering. Flower Magic became a bit worried when she came to know that Asterisk had heard all her secretly uttered words. “OK, now, it's time to get up! And we shouldn't waste any more time speaking.” gasped Flower Magic. > Chapter 3 - The Gift > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flower Magic held the magic heart she had made for Asterisk and gifted it to Asterisk. "Shiny! I have made a gift for you with magic! See!" said Flower Magic. "Thank you so much, Auntie!" Asterisk said as she accepted the gift and was just about to hold the heart with magic. Asterisk was unaware of the fact that her aunt was trying to deceive her by telling her the opposite thing. The true rule was that, the magic heart would make fillies or foals lose their magic only if it was not held with magic. "Don't hold it with magic!!!!!! If you do so, the heart will burst and this will make you lose your magic!" warned Flower Magic. "But how are you holding it with magic?" Asterisk asked doubtfully. "I can hold it with magic because I am an adult. But you can't hold it. If fillies or foals hold it with magic, the heart will burst. So you can't hold it with magic." Flower Magic replied. "OK, Auntie!" said Asterisk as she walked into her room to keep the gift in her bookshelf. Asterisk held the magic heart with her hoof very carefully so that the magic heart would not drop on the floor. As soon as Asterisk came near the bookshelf, the pink magic heart turned rainbow in colour and it started glowing, flying off from Asterisk's hoof. A bright white ray of magic came from the heart and touched Asterisk's horn, attracting all her magic towards itself. Asterisk was surprised and scared. Despite having obeyed her aunt, she lost her magic and she couldn't have imagined that her dear aunt would deceive her like this. "Shiny! Come here now." Flower Magic called Asterisk from behind. "Yes, Auntie." Asterisk said, upset at the strange turn of events. "What happened, Shiny?" Flower Magic said as she looked at Asterisk's scared and shocked face, although she knew what would happen just after Asterisk would keep the gift somewhere. "Although I didn't hold the magic heart with my magic, I have lost my magic. There was a magic explosion and all my magic went into the heart!!!!" Asterisk said. "I don't know why this happened!" Flower Magic exclaimed, pretending to be unaware of everything. "Where did you keep it?" she asked. "I kept it in the bookshelf." Asterisk replied. "Shiny! That's why you are my darling! The bookshelf is the right place to keep the heart!" "Thank you so much! But can I ask you something?" Asterisk said. "Yes! But I hope it isn't about what I whispered to Bluebob!" Flower Magic said, in jest. "But I want to ask you that only! Why did you say such a thing?" Asterisk asked. Flower Magic was a bit scared that her secret was out and said, "I'm... sorry, Shiny. I said this because I don't prefer your birthday. Nopony likes to be the last among all their family members birthdays, right? So I said this." "What shall I do?!" Asterisk said, half worried about her magic and half angry with her aunt. "No, Shiny. You don't need to do anything for that. I told you I am sorry for saying this." Flower Magic said, almost pretending to break into tears. "OK, Auntie." Asterisk said, although she was not very happy with her aunt's reply. Asterisk went to her Father, Glitter Bright and told him all that had happened that day in the evening, when the three were on the sofa, but kept her own mistake, that is, saying that she doesn't like Dynamic, as a secret. "Auntie told me all these today in the evening, when we were on the sofa. You and Mom were out for shopping." Asterisk said. "Well, I will tell Mom about this incident." Glitter Bright said. > Chapter 4 - A New Friend > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Flower Magic sat by Asterisk's bed and looked at Asterisk's worried face. "I'm very sorry, Shiny! I would never do it again." Flower Magic tried to comfort Asterisk. "Auntie! I don't want my birthday to be the last among all my family members' birthdays!" Asterisk said as she closed her eyes, in an attempt to go to sleep quickly. "Well, Shiny, You'll soon forget about it. Don't worry." Flower Magic said as she rubbed Asterisk's mane. "Thank you, Auntie." Asterisk said, trying to go to sleep. "Do you know? I thought that in this family there was at least somepony's birthday after mine. But when I found out that I am the last, I started getting depressed." "No, Shiny! There's nopony's birthday after you!" Flower Magic said, pretending to be sad as she had revealed the bitter truth, making Asterisk more upset. But still, Asterisk was not satisfied and could not sleep until she met a filly standing outside the bedroom window, still awake, roaming around in the neighbourhood at midnight. She used her magic to light up her way home. On the way, she met Asterisk, who was standing near the bedroom window. "Hi, friend! What's your name? I am Astral Star Shine." said the filly. "I am Asterisk Magical Galaxy." said Asterisk. "It would be nice to have a new friend! Do you know that there is a filly named Lavender Pearl in this neighbourhood? She is nice and friendly. Her two sisters, Sky Rose and Mystic Sunflower are also nice, but Lavender is the best of all the three because she's good at everything and she's an all-rounder." Asterisk shared her knowledge about the three other fillies with Astral. "Yes, it would be nice to be friends with them! But Sky is always jealous of Lavender. So we better not add Sky in our friend list." replied Astral thoughtfully. "OK! See you next day! Good Night!" Asterisk said as she waved goodbye to Astral and Astral waved back. Flower Magic was not near when all these happened. She thought of a new plan to spoil Asterisk, while she sat in the other bedroom, where Asterisk's Parents were asleep. All that she wanted was to treat Asterisk in such a way that Asterisk fell in love with her and started to admire her more than her Parents. Flower Magic ran to the other bedroom, where she was supposed to sleep in, according to Asterisk's Parents' perfectly-made sleeping arrangement. "Shiny, where were you? It's midnight! Come on quickly!" Flower Magic said, pretending to be very worried about Asterisk. "Auntie! I made a new friend!!!!" Asterisk said, carried away by her aunt's sweet words and forgetting all about her aunt's words against her birthday, which had made her disappointed for sometime. "Oh, really? Tomorrow you have School! Come on now!" Flower Magic said, getting a bit impatient. "Good Night, Auntie!" Asterisk said as she walked to the bed and got onto it. "Good Night, Shiny!" Flower Magic said as she lay down on the bed and closed her eyes. Asterisk, Flower Magic and Dynamic were in that bedroom, whereas Asterisk's Parents were in the other bedroom. Everypony had a good sleep that night, except Flower Magic, because she was afraid that her secret would be revealed soon. Her secret was that she had put a spell on the magic heart that she had gifted to Asterisk, just in order to spoil her. > Chapter 5 - Secret Revealed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Monday, Asterisk got up early, got ready and set off for School. On the way, she was awestruck on seeing her new friend, Astral. They became friends just on the day before. Astral joined Asterisk and reached School together, on time. They went to their class, which was the same, only their sections were different. In the Break Time Astral came to Asterisk's classroom and sat next to her. "Do you know that my aunt gave me a magic heart as a gift recently? She told me not to hold it with magic, otherwise the heart will burst. So I held it with my hoof. Still when I went near the bookshelf to keep it there, it flew off from my hoof and there was a magical light that made me lose magic!" Asterisk said as she wanted to share her problems with Astral and also would try her best to solve them, but not her Parents because she didn't want her Parents to think that her aunt was bad as it would stop her Parents from asking her aunt to come to their house. "I guess your aunt has put a magic spell on the magic heart. You can do something to get back your magic." Astral said. "What if I take out the magic heart from my bookshelf and cover it with my hoof?" Asterisk asked. "Yes! It's a great idea!" Astral exclaimed. That day, after going home, Asterisk tried what she had said. The idea worked and she got back her magic. The next day, at School, during Break Time, Asterisk again sat with Astral. "Thank you, Astral, for your right guess. It has worked." Asterisk said happily. "Asterisk, it's not my right guess that helped you get back your magic, it's your idea that helped you do so!" Astral said. "You're right." Asterisk said. "The secret has been revealed! Be sure not to tell anypony about it!" Astral announced. "Tell me, how were you able to make such a right guess?" Asterisk asked. "I came across a similar situation just a month ago." Astral said. "How did you manage the situation?" Asterisk asked. "Sky Rose put a spell on my pencil. The pencil turned black and green! It was surprising. I tried to guess the story behind it because of the changed colour of the pencil. I touched the pencil and lost my magic instantly. I held the pencil with my hoof and covered it and tried my best to get back magic. Soon, I got back my magic!" Astral explained. "It was a great idea." Asterisk said. "Bye, Asterisk!" Astral said as she left the classroom when Break Time was over. "Bye, Astral!" Asterisk said as the bell rang and she took out her books and copies for the next class. > Chapter 6 - The Beginning Of A Problem > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asterisk was not feeling very good as she was somewhat unhappy with herself, mainly her birthday, which was not prefered by her 'beloved' aunt. Asterisk kept doing her homework, in order to forget about the sadness. Soon, her homework was finished. "Shiny! Here you are! I was just looking for you dear!" Flower Magic said as she rushed into Asterisk's room all of a sudden. Asterisk did not respond. She felt that being addressed as 'dear' by her aunt was her aunt's acting so as to cause Asterisk to fall in love with her, leaving her Parents. Asterisk's Parents never addressed her as 'dear' or something like that. Needless to say, those who truly love us never try to show their love. "Yes, Auntie." Asterisk said, not that excited as she usually became while talking to her aunt. "Why are you so sad? Have you finished your homework?" Flower Magic said. "Why won't I be sad?! I've finished my homework, but I haven't finished solving my problem!" Asterisk said, in an annoyed tone. "But which problem? Tell me dear." Flower Magic said, pretending to be at Asterisk's side in every problem. "I already told you, Auntie." Asterisk replied. "Oh! I guess it's what I whispered to Bluebob?" Flower Magic asked. "Yes, it is nothing other than that!" Asterisk said. Flower Magic rushed downstairs to help Asterisk's Parents with cooking. "Do you need any help, Glitter and Glowing?" Flower Magic asked hesitantly, as this was considered as an act of courtesy. "No, you needn't, Flower. You'd better help Shiny with her studies." Glowing Mist said, hoping that Flower Magic would to the needful. "Oh, OK. Thank you." Flower Magic said. Flower Magic, in order to show that she was really of some help to Asterisk's Parents, went upstairs and went to Asterisk's room, took out the textbook from Asterisk's bookshelf and sat down on the chair as Asterisk sat on hers. "So, Auntie, are you going to help me with studying today?" Asterisk asked. "Yes. So, will you be able to answer whatever questions I ask you?" Flower Magic asked Asterisk. "Yes, Auntie. Which subject are we going to study now?" Asterisk asked. "We are going to study History." "Oh, really? Then let's start." Flower Magic asked Asterisk some questions from History and Asterisk answered them correctly. "Shiny," said Flower Magic. "I think it's time for lunch now. Your Parents have come here, see." "OK, Auntie." Asterisk said. Flower Magic and Asterisk put away their chairs into their place and went to the dining table for lunch. They arranged their chairs and sat down. "Come now, Bluebob. It's time for lunch." Flower Magic said to Dynamic Flight, who was sitting on the sofa, drowned in a video game on his phone. "Umm... I am... coming." said Dynamic, as he concentrated in the game. Soon, Dynamic came to the dining table and sat on his chair. He had already washed his hooves, which the others didn't have to do, as they all ate with magic. "Well done, Flower. Such a great thing you have done by helping Asterisk with studying!" Glowing Mist said thankfully, thinking that Flower Magic had taken up the work as a responsibility. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, Glowing. I really love doing something useful for you! One more year, and Asterisk will be studying on her own like Bluebob!" Flower Magic said, pretending to be responsible and confident. Soon, it was time for Asterisk to do the next part of studying. She sat down on her chair as her aunt sat on hers. Then they began studying as they did in the afternoon, with great concentration. > Chapter 7 - What Shall I Do?! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Needless to say, Asterisk didn't like her aunt not preferring her birthday. So, she decided to do something to make her aunt realise her mistake. Asterisk went to her room with her new-found friends and some other fillies of her age and decided to sing a song about the problem. "There's a problem I'm going through, What shall I do? It's a very bad problem, a very bad problem! It's solutions will be all in vain! My Dear Aunt Flower Magic whispered to D.F., Not to say something and keep it safe. She whispered to him that, I am sad because of that, Among all my family members' birthdays, I am the last, to solve this, there are no ways! How sad it's for me! And that nopony's here to see!" Then Asterisk sang, turning to Astral, "But I know that you are the only one, To help me to bring back the fun!" Mystic Sunflower started singing, "Look, we'll solve this problem together! I had a problem too, because of my number! From that day, Sky Rose, started teasing me, And I couldn't cheer up, I couldn't be happy. But Lavender Pearl helped me cheer up, Just like Astral is cheering you up." Everypony Together except Asterisk sang, "We'll be able find a solution, To help Asterisk bring back all the fun! But that's the best thing to keep in mind, To solve the problem like the wind, Whenever, anypony comes here, Or we go to anypony's house there, Asterisk would start to act And from everypony she would hide the fact. She has to act like her favourite number, And has to pretend like she's that number! That's how we solve the problem! And, of course this solution won't be in  vain!" "'Cause we've no other options, Just follow my instructions. There are nine main numbers, Now tell me your numbers!" Astral rapped. "I am Number 1." rapped Sterling Glow. "I am Number 2." rapped Mystic Sunflower. "I am Number 3." rapped Posey Rose. "I am Number 4." rapped Gloria Loveheart. "I am Number 5." rapped Crystal Light. "I am Number 6." rapped Starlove Diamond. "I am Number 7." rapped Skyry Cloudglow. "I am Number 8." rapped Sky Rose. "I am Number 9." rapped Lavender Pearl. "And we are Number 10!" rapped everypony except Astral. "What?! Number 10?!" Astral asked. "Yes! Together, we are Number 10!" "And together, we are Number 10!" Everypony including Astral cheered.