An Astronomer's Lightby TitanicIsBestShipChaptersMount SilverThe FrontierDownFate has spokenLost and FoundFriends ForeverMount SilverAn Astronomer’s Light By: TitanicIsBestShip Chapter 1: Mount Silver Cold. It was always cold this time of night, on the mountain of course. Barzano stared into the dark sky. Although he longed to just sit there forever and stare, he had work to do. The unicorn walked back inside the mountain observatory. In a corner of the room were some starmaps he needed to work on. I do have to pay my bills, he pondered. I supposed I'll get to work. The charts would be sent to Canterlot the next morning, and back would come the money. As Barzano sat down to his work, his thoughts drifted to other matters. He had friends back in Canterlot, and he hoped they were doing well. His work on Mt. Silver unfortunately forced him out of the loop of information. This lack of knowledge, was in fact, so bad, that all of Equestria could burn down and he wouldn't notice until the food and supplies stopped coming. But there were upsides to working on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. There was nopony there to distract him from his work, or get on his nerves .... nopony.... Barzano got up from his desk. He headed towards another part of his home and workplace. On his bedside table was a picture of his older brother, Crimson Peak. Barzano missed his brother, the only part of his family he loved. Crimson had gone to serve in the Royal Guard a year and a half ago, and as he was the only pony who visited Barzano on a regular basis, Barzano was now completely alone. Knock. "Humm?" Barzano mumbled. He looked around quickly. More knocking. Somepony? At the door? Whatever for? He quickly walked to the door and opened it. "Uhm, hello?" A tan coated pegasus mare with a creamy green and yellow mane was standing in the doorway. "Mount Silver Observatory? "Uh..y-yeah." "Are you Barzano?" "Yes." "This is for you," the mare said as she handed him a package. "Thank you," Barzano said softly as he picked up the package. The mare turned around and began walking. "W-wait!" She stopped and turned her head around. "Yes?" "What's your name?" "Uh-I-um....Flarania," she stuttered as her cheeks turned red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I- It's just that I don't see many ponies around here," Barzano stared at the mare. "It's ok. I'm in the Frontier Service, so package delivering isn't usually my job." "Well, thank you Flarania, not many ponies even know I exist-" The mare stopped Barzano. "Are you kidding? Your name is on everything!" "What?" "Our navigation papers! Everything we use on the Frontier!" "I-I never knew they were actually used practically!" "Oh yeah, you make great stuff! You like your work?" "Oh u-uh yeah, get's kinda lonely sometimes....." "Oh, you don't have anypony to keep you company? That's horrible!" "It's fine, I-" Flarania stopped him. "I'll stop by when I get some time off," she said quickly. She stared at the ground for a few seconds before turning and flying off. Nice mare, Barzano thought. Probably just trying to cheer me up though.... The next few days went be easily. Barzano was more upbeat than usual. Some ponies actually know who I am! He thought. He'd had somewhat of a hard life, so it felt nice to be appreciated. Time flew as he worked, and he hadn't noticed he had missed lunch until 2 hours after the fact. He sighed, got up, and took some leftover salad out of his pantry. He finished eating and went over to the package that had been left for him yesterday. Barzano wondered what was inside as he used his magic to cut the packaging tape. It was a book, and a rather large one at that.It read on the cover "Daylight Starmapping, a Guide to Deep Space Radio Telemetry." Barzano had studied the stars and ways to map them for the better part of his life, and he had no idea what this book was about. He opened the first cover and inside was a note, which read: "Barzano, I obtained this through my travels elsewhere, and thought that you might enjoy it. Unfortunately, I cannot say where I discovered this, but I hope it proves useful. -Princess Luna." Well, that was interesting. Barzano made a note to thank Luna later. As he flipped the next page over, he saw the title was repeated, along with the author. That's strange, he thought, why would somepony repeat their name? "Daylight Starmapping, By: Stephen Rogers." That was interesting, Barzano had never heard of anypony with a name like that. Must be Royalty. Barzano looked over the next few pages. Three Rivers Press? Copyright 2004? I've never seen these markings before! Barzano had his face in the book for the rest of the day. He only stopped reading when his stomach growled at him. "Wha? Already?" He looked at the clock: 9:41. "Are you kidding me...." Dinner could wait, Barzano had to write his brother about this. He'd eaten at some pretty weird hours before. Barzano sat down at his desk, pulling out a pen and some paper. He started the letter: "Hey Crim! I got a book from Luna recently that could not possibly have been written by ponies. It describes something completely alien that, hopefully, will be of use to my work....." Barzano described the book and what it contained, drew a few pictures of the photographs in the book, and sealed it all in an envelope. He'd send it out tomorrow. Author's Note Special Thanks: Celestia Radio - For giving me good music to listen to while I worked on this DerpTime - For giving me some inspiration, and for putting up with me on his show, and for creating the cover art DJ Cloudbolt - For letting me put him in this story, and for encouraging me to keep writing Whitecloud/Emeraldsnow - For helping me keep writing, and for giving me inspiration and the name of this fic, and for editing it. My Non-Brony brother - For letting me put him in this story, and for being the best brother ever! The people that have been with me from the start: -Whitecloud/Emeraldsnow -DJ Cloudbolt -Doctor Whooves/Pretty Pony -HinderburgIsBestZepplin/Lightning Stryke Thank you all! The FrontierChapter Two: The Frontier Barzano woke up relatively early for him. Good thing though, he had some work to do. Barzano was just finishing his breakfast when he heard a knock at the door. Quickly, he rose and walked to the observatory entrance.There she stood, the same Mare from two nights ago. "Hey!" she said with a smile. "Oh hey," "You doing anything today?" "Just work...why?" "Wanna do some work in the field?" "Uh, seriously?" "Sure! I have to do pathfinding work, and we can camp out, an-" Barzano held up his hoof. "Hey, this is great and all, but I really need my telescopes for my work," he said sadly. "Well, don't you have some you can bring with you?" "On hoof? On a hike? no way," "Oh, well I guess that's ok then, thanks anyways!" Flarania said with a smile. Jeez! Barzano thought. She's so upbeat! I wish I was that optimistic. Wait, the Constellation is prepped, I was going to use it anyways today. "Hey, wait a second!" Barzano said as Flarania walked away. "Mmmm?" "Uh, I have a compromise," "I'm listening!" Flarania cooed. "I have an airship we could use," "You have an AIRSHIP?" she said, shocked. "Yeah, I use it for stars I can't see or get a good look at from the mountain, or when I need to map distant locations," He said. "That sounds AWESOME! I've never been on an airship!" Flarania said, jumping up and down. "B-but....how would I be able to pathfind on an airship?" "What is pathfinding anyways?" Barzano said as he cocked his head to one side. "OOOH! It's so much fun! You get to see awesome views and look at critters and camp out, but it's mostly just making paths through the wilderness for traveling ponies," Flarania beamed. "Well I suppose, you being a pegasus and all, you could fly back and forth,” Barzano suggested. “Oh! That could work!” “Ok! I’ll prep the Constellation! Do you want to come inside?” “Sure!” Flarania stepped inside the observatory. “Wooooow! This place is huge! You’re the only pony that lives here?” “Yeah…. Hold on” “Ok!” Barzano sighed. There was her optimism again. Life must have treated her well, I wish I could say the same. “Alright! All ready!” “Yay!” Flarania jumped for joy as she ran up the stairs. “Woah there!” Barzano said laughing. “It’s not all tha-” “Wooooooow!” Sheesh, she was excited. It’s just my airship, it isn’t that special. Flarania started walking around the ship as they ascended. Barzano was lost in his thoughts. This is the first time he’d taken somepony else up in his airship. She was a nice mare. Barzano could see himself spending time with her. He looked up from his console. She was staring at him. “Ummm…” He began. “Oh! Uh S-s-sorry! Just look at your...uh equipment! Yeah! Heh heh….” Flarania’s cheeks turned beat red. Barzano just smiled. “Lovely view!” He exclaimed. “Oh yeah! Thanks a bunch, I’ll tell you when I have to hop off,” Flarania said. “Yeah sure. You know Flarania, you’re the first other pony to come up in this ship,” Barzano said with a smile. “Oh really? Cool! And you can just call me Flara, i-if you like,” She blushed again. Barzano shook his head. Does she like me? I barely know her! To be fair though, I offered to take her up in my skyship, and I barely know her. "Ok Flara," Barzano said. They were silent after that for quite some time. Only the sounds of the ship's twin propellers and the air moving around them could be heard. It was finally Barzano who broke the silence. "You get off soon?" "What, are you trying to get rid of me?" Flarania said, laughing. "N-no! Of course not, oh. You're joking," "Course I am silly! Lighten up a bit!" Flarania said as she nudged him. "But yeah, in a few minutes, I have to j- Oh. I'm going to have to jump, aren't I?" "Yeah, yeah you will. Sorry, I can't really land this ship in those forests," "Oh no! This is going to be awesome!" Flarania said as she walked to the lifeline near the bow of the ship. "Don't hurt yourself!" Barzano said jokingly. "Haha, Don't worry!" Flarania joked as she did a backflip off the ship. "WEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Barzano looked over the edge, only to see her wave from mid-air as she flew towards the ground. Barzano smiled. This was going to be a wonderful day. He could not have been more wrong. DownChapter Three: Down Flarania hit the ground with a thud. "Urgggh...." she muttered. "That could have been a better landing," she told herself as she dusted off. "Well, time to get to work!" Flarania pulled a machete out of her bag and, holding it in her wing, began to cut a path through the forest. Ever so often she'd look up at the zepplin. "I wonder what he's doing right no," she wondered. "Probably reading a book." She smiled and kept going. Barzano sat at the bow. He knew he didn't have to be at the console, the Constellation wasn't going anywhere fast. He looked at the deck clock, "Eh, I don't have to work for another hour or two. Oh, who am I kidding, I need to get those maps done," he said to himself as he walked below decks, towards the bilge of the vessel. Barzano checked the engines, making sure they were running smoothly. A mishap on a 34' airship could be deadly. The Constellation was powered by two internal combustion engines, as there wasn't enough room on the skyship for a steam boiler, and Barzano had an easy way to get oil, actually cheaper than coal, not to mention the water. The engines where the most powerful anypony could get for their size, however they required a lot more maintenance and observation. The other complication on the Constellation was that, like the Hindenburg, its dirigible was filled with Hydrogen instead of Helium. The hours went by, and it began to get dark outside. Barzano decided to leave his work for now, and he went up to the deck. Had he stayed a few seconds longer, he would have seen the red light on the engines indicating a fuel leak click on.' Flarania looked back on her work. "I did well for today," she said, smiling. "Time for the fun part!" She reached into her bag, pulling out a small explosive and lighter. "Hope he's not looking right at me right now," Flarania remarked as she lit the explosive, tossed into the air, and covered her ears and eyes. The explosive made a flash bright enough to see for miles and a sound deafening to those around it. "Suns of Celestia! What was that?" Barzano exclaimed. He looked over the rimbar of the ship; there was a fading light some 450 yards away. "Hmmm, must be where she is," Barzano walked over to the console steered towards Flarania's location. Flarania, looking up from the ground, smiled as she took off for the Constellation. "Hey there!" Flarania said excitedly as she jumped on board. "Miss me?" "It definitely got lonely up here," Barzano responded. "Yeah, I actually got kind of lonely myself," Flarania looked down. That was the first time she had ever goten lonely while doing her job. "Well then, are you hungry?" Barzano asked as he brought out some sandwiches. "Oh yeah! Those look delicious!" Flarnia said. At first they were quietly eating, but conversation soon broke out. "So tell me about yourself! I don't really know much about you, Flara," Barzano said. "Oh ok! Well, I have a younger brother, he's a bit of a pest, but my mom's nice! I'm away from home a lot, so I miss my family. Oh, you must too! Being away from home for so long! How often do your parents visit?" "I-I don't miss my family. And my parents never visit." Barzano stared at the deck. "Oh goodness! That's horrible! What happened?" Flarania questioned. "I don't really want to talk about it...." Barzano said slowly. "Oh man, it must have been bad! Is there anypony in your family you DO love? "My brother. I love him dearly," Barzano looked up. "Does he visit you then?" "He used to, he's in the guard now." "You really are lonely..." "Yeah, well we write each other, it's not so bad. I like the peace and quiet" "Honestly though! How do you live? I always have my buddies at base camp to go back to, but you...you have nopony!" "It's not so hard really, you get used to it." "Oh my," Flarania said, looking north. "That sky." The northern sky was absolutely black, and a wall of water could be seen approaching them rapidly. "Squall!" Barzano yelled as he rushed for the console. "What do you normally do during storms?" Flarania said, worried. "Land! But seeing that's not possible, I'm going to go at a 45 degree angle to the storm, squalls are usually narrow. I'll need full speed though," He said. As soon as he threw the throttle forward, the sound and sight of an explosion cut him off. "Tartarus!" Barzano yelled. "What was that?" "No idea, stay here!" He ran below decks. The whole ship was on fire. "How did this happen?" He questioned himself. All sorts of alarms were blaring as the ship rapidly dropped in altitude. The fires were ever-so-slowly creeping towards the second engine. "Oh no...." Barzano ran updeck. "FLARANIA! JUMP!" He yelled as loud as she could. Flarania, understanding the emergency, immediately jumped off the ship. "Guess I'm going down with the ship," Barzano said to himself as he walked to the bow of the Constellation. At that time, the second engine exploded, and a few seconds later the ship plunged into the ground in a roaring fireball. Barzano woke up staring at...some part of his ex-ship. He didn't know how long it'd been or how hurt he was. "'Bout to find out, I guess." He tried to get up. "URRRGGGH!" He yelped. Blood was streaming down his side. "Gah!" He looked up, only to see the dirigible still floating above the ship. "It hasn't been punctured? Oh no! The hydrogen's ganna go any minute!" He ran to the supplies locker, which was fortunately unscathed. He grabbed as much food and water as he could, bandaged his wound best he could, howling in pain as he did so, and tried to make his way off the ship. "Barzano!" He could hear Flara yelling for him. "Flara! Run! Get away from the ship!" "There you are! Oh, you're hurt! How bad is it?" "Never mind that! We need to get away from here!" He responded. The two of them ran from the ship, Barzano struggling due to his wound. They stopped about 320 yards from the crash. "Argh!" Barzano groaned. "Here, you need to stop moving. Sit down, good, now let me see the wound," Flarania said as she unwrapped Barzano's bandage. "Oh man, you've lost a lot of blood. What caused this?" She stared at the deep gash in his side. "No idea, probably metal, seeing as I don't have any splinters," Barzano responded weakly. "Ok, I need to treat this, do you have any alcohol?" Barzano handed her a first-aid kit. "I have whatever's in here," he told her. Flara opened the kit. "Here's some, now this is going to stin-" "I know, just do it," Barzano groaned. He tensed as she rubbed it on his side and rewrapped the bandage. "Ok, that'll be good for now, but you're going to need stitches." Just then, a loud explosion was heard. "Woah! Was that ship?" Flarania asked, whipping her head around. "No way, would have been louder, that was thunder," Barzano said, looking at the sky. Another explosion, much louder than the first, sounded. "THAT was the ship," Barzano said. "Look, storm's on the way, we're going to need shelter." "There are some caves east of here." "Alright, let's go!" Barzano said. The two ran off, Barzano lighting the way with his horn. The wall of water that was the squall was advancing towards them with every passing minute. It blocked the view of all that was behind it. The pair was still half a mile from the caves when the rain hit them. Visibility dropped to about 10 feet. Thunderclaps and roaring winds were heard loud and clear. Fate has spokenChapter Four: Fate has Spoken "We have to pick up the pace!" Flarania said in a panic. "I kno- ARRRGH!" Barzano howled. The wound was too much for him right now. "I know it hurts, but we have to keep moving!" "I know....urrgh," Barzano groaned. He was running, well limping really, as fast as he could, but he still couldn't keep up with the mare in front of him. When they finally reached the caves, they were sopping wet and freezing cold. "Brrrrr! That storm must have brought in a cold front! At least it's dry in here," Flarania panted. "Tell me those bags are waterproof!" She said. "Well, they should be, but I've never tested them," Barzano said weekly. He couldn't stand up anymore. The run had exhausted him of all of his remaining energy, and he colapsed to the cavern floor. "Bar!" Flarania rushed to his side. "You ok?" "MMmmf....tired, and cold," he muttered. "Need some sleep...probably....." "Ok, lie there and don't move," Flarania told him as she started unpacking bags. "HUm....Flara..?" "Yeah? Oh dear," There was a small puddle of blood pooling where Barzano was lying. Flarania took another layer of bandaging from one of the bags and wrapped it around the now-sleeping Barzano. She took a blanket from another bag and lay down next to him, wrapping the blanket over both of them. "Goodnight," Flarania said softly. She soon fell asleep, but awoke several times during the night. Even though the warmth of the blanket and their collective body heat, she was still cold enough to shiver. When dawn came, the storm was still raging. "Hey Bar, wake up!" Flarania said as she shook him awake. "MMmmerrm? O-oh. Morning...." "Hey, the storm's still strong outside. You want something to eat?" "Oh, yeah that'd be great...." His words trailed off. "And it's not the same storm," "Huh? What do you mean?" Flarania took some MRE's out of the bags. "Squalls are brief, they usually last between 10 minutes and an hour, but one often follows another. A strand of squalls can last for days," Barzano said as he took the package handed to him. "You mean, we're going to be stuck here? For how long?" "No idea, this could clear up in a minute, or in a few hours, or tomorrow," Barzano responded. Squall weather patterns are extremely unpredictable." "Well, that sucks. Are you feeling any better?" "I'm still freezing," He said, smiling. "Oh, sorry!" Flarania held him as she wrapped the blanket around the two of them. "Mmmmm.." "We might have awhile in here, why don't you tell me about your past?" "Mmmok... Well, I grew up in Canterlot, I never liked the busy city, but I was stuck with it. My parents went to work every day and I went to school. They demanded I get good grades, and I delivered, for when I did, they would lavish me with gifts and praise. I didn't really like my school. It was easy, but my teachers were mean and I got picked on. Life was generally a bitch to me, which shaped me into the cynical and pessimistic pony I am today." "That's horrible! You said you had a brother though, what about him?" "Mmmoh? Oh yeah! Crimson Peak. He's the best brother anypony could have. We almost never fought, he was the nicest guy I knew, but that kindness was also his weakness. He couldn't see the bad in the world, didn't know when not to trust somepony, but I think he's learning. You see, he never had the bad experiences I did. He was always the perfect pony of the family. Nevertheless, we kept in touch as we grew up, even after we went our separate ways." "That's great! You have other friends though, right?" "Yeah, I have my friends in Canterlot. Known em' since high school. Speaking of which, lemme fill in some gaps. When I was fourteen, I enrolled in some advanced magic classes. I wasn't very athletic, so I figured I needed magic to help me defend myself. But trust me, you learn a lot more about magic in everyday situations where it's practical, than you ever will in a classroom." "Yeah, I bet." "I learned some pretty advanced stuff. Anyways, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life for some time.I didn't even have my cutie mark yet. But one day, my class got to take a tour of the grand castle. The tour included a speech from the Princess herself, and as we were walking towards the auditorium, she pulled me aside. I was a little scared at first, but she just wanted to have a friendly conversation with me. Celestia asked me where I wanted to work when I got older. I told her I had no idea, but she just smiled and told me about the observatory. It was like she knew. She mentioned many perks of the job, and told me I would work directly for her." "Wow! That's awesome!" "Yeah it was. From that point on, my heart was set on what I wanted to do. I worked some to earn some money, and used the bits to buy a telescope. It was great fun! Looking at the stars and all. I borrowed a book on starmapping, and I started working on my first map. I told my parents what I wanted to do, but they weren't so happy about it. 'Be prestigious!' They said. 'Be a doctor! Or a guard pony! Or an architect! Don't be some silly astronomer!' But I had decided, and if they didn't like it, that was too bad. I got my cutie mark when I finished my first map, which I have framed in the observatory. I wrote the Princess about the exciting news, and she told me I could start as soon as I was able." "Wow! That's a great story!" Flarania shivered, and held Barzano tighter. "Mmmhmm, your turn!" "Oh, right!" She giggled. "Well, I grew up in a small town. I made a lot of friends, and I had a generally great life! School was fun, but my grades weren't so great. I loved the outdoors, though! My friends and I would go play in the woods almost every day! My mom was always happy for me, and let go wherever as long as I came back before dinner. My brother was born when I was 8, so I couldn't really have the relationship with him you had with yours." She frowned. "But as I got older, I started looking in to what I could do to earn some money. I began clearing paths for people, sitting their animals, and building treehouses for foals!" "Wow, seems like you really had your life planned out." "Well not really, I loved the outdoors! But I liked adventure! I didn't want to garden, or be a park ranger, or have any of those silly jobs. I was kind of worried about all that until I saw a flyer for the Frontier Service. That really made my day! I ran home to tell my mom; she was so happy for me!" "I bet, but you keep mentioning your mom. What about your dad?" "M-my dad died when I was four...." "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Barzano put a hoof on her shoulder. "It's ok. I'll continue! When I was sixteen, I dropped out of school and headed off for the frontier. Apparently, the ponies in charge were always looking for more workers, so I was welcomed immediately! I got along with the other ponies they're great! We all loved the outdoors, and I got my cutie mark when I made a path for the first time! Ever since then I've worked on the frontier, rising through the ranks and actually making a pretty good living! "MMmmm, good for you!" Barzano sighed and closed his eyes. Flarania smiled at him, but her smile faded as Barzano's face began to pale. "OH no!" She jumped up from where she was sitting. "Wake up!" She shook him. "Wakeup! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" Flarania hollered. She looked at his wound. The bleeding had stopped, but there was a great deal of blood on the ground. "You must have lost too much blood! Please don't lapse into a coma! Nopony ever wakes up from those!" Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook Barzano again. "WAAAKE UP!" Flarania checked his pulse. The beat was slowing down. "Noooooooo!" she screamed, tears streaming from her eyes as she buried her face into his coat. "Barzano?" Hmmm? Who was that? Somepony called my name? I can't make out her voice. "Barzano? Are you coming?" Coming? coming where? What? The dream faded and all went dark. The next morning yielded more promise. The storm was fading, thunder could no longer be heard, and the rain was letting up. Flarania awoke to a still-sleeping Barzano. She continued to cry. "What am I going to tell his brother? What am I going to do?" she sobbed. "I never told you!" She looked at him. He was smiling, like he was having a good dream. "No Flarania, you musn't let your emotions get to you. You still have work to do, maybe he'll wake up," She told herself. "Now, how am I going to get us out of here?" She wondered. "Oh! The explosion! Somepony must have seen the ship crash, they have to have sent somepony to look for us! But how will they know where we are? Oh! I can build a signal fire!" Flarnia told herself as she trotted into the forest. "Barzano!" Huh? That voice again. What does she want with me? Barzano looked down at his side. Oh! My woun- what? There was no mark on his right side. Oh great, I'm dreaming. "Barzano!" "W-who are you?" A large, indigo, pony came into his view. "Princess Luna?" "Hello Barzano. Are you feeling well?" "Well, I gu- wait, you're dreamwalking, do you have something to tell me?" "I certainly do! You must stay strong! We are counting on you!" Luna began to fade from the dream. "Luna! Wait! What do you mean? Luna!" The dream collapsed into darkness. Lost and FoundChapter Five: Lost and Found A white pegasus was standing at the gates to the Frontier Service's 14th outpost. "But I saw an explosion!" "Listen Cloudbolt," A brown earth pony said. "You're not stationed here. Let my ponies do their work. Go back to your post." "But there was an airship! I saw it crash! Ponies could have been hurt!" Cloudbolt said. "Listen, kid. I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack. If there was an airship, and if it had crashed, I'd know about it. Guarantee it," The brown stallion said sternly. Cloudbolt glared at him. He wasn't green anymore! He knew what he was doing, and he hated it when people treated him like he didn't! This guy was an idiot, he'd have to get some other pony to help him. The brown pony went back inside. Cloud sat there for a minute, wondering how he could get past these ponies. "Oh! I know! There's an observatory not far from here. The pony that lives there has an airship. Oh, what was his name? B-bar something?" He couldn't remember, but regardless, he took off for Mount Silver. When he arrived at the observatory, he found it deserted. Cloudbolt knocked on the door. "Hello?" He pushed the door open. Unlocked. All the lights were off, nopony was here. "Hello?" He said again. I guess I can just leave him a note, saying that I needed his airship for an emergency. Cloudbolt found a staircase maked "Constellation Skyship." This must be it, Cloud thought as he walked up the stairs. To his surprise, he found an empty dockyard. "Huh? Odd," Cloudbolt said to himself. "Wait a second, what if this airship was the one to crash?" Cloudbolt facehoofed. "I'm an idiot." As he turned to run back down the stairs, his eyes spotted a small, one-pony, little skyrider. It was about 11 feet long and 5 feet wide. Cloudbolt looked inside and saw it had a full tank, still, past experiences haunting him, he grabbed an extra fuel tank and hopped on board. "Ok, this looks fairly similar to the ones we flew at flight camp," He told himself, "Should be easy." He unclipped the docking locks and headed off in the direction of the southern forests as fast as the little skyship would allow. Flarania sat on the top of the cave looking into the sky. Her little fire was burning bright, and smoke was rising steadily into the sky. Why wasn't anypony coming? She had no idea. Her fellow pioneers should have left long ago! They had to see the smoke! Why was nopony here? She sighed and went back down into the cave. Barzano was still lying there. He was breathing, but very slowly. Flarania began to cry as she looked at him. "If only you had known," she sobbed. It was late noon, but she wasn't hungry. Flara just wanted somepony to show up already. She never wanted to see this place again. Cloudbolt glanced at the shipboard clock. It was 3:18. He wanted to find the crash before nightfall, but things weren't looking very good. "Wait a second," he said to himself as he looked at the horizon. "Is that smoke?" Indeed it was. A great pillar of smoke was rising high into the sky. "Signal fire!" he exclaimed, and steered the little skyrider towards the black pillar. As he got closer, a large cave came into view, and then a pony jumping up and down. “Hello down there!” Cloudbolt shouted. He couldn’t hear the other pony, but he was pretty sure he recognized her. “Flarania! Is that you?” “Yeah, how do you know me?” Flarania shouted back up. Cloudbolt started the skyrider on a slow descent, eventually landing a few feet from the mare. “Cloud!” She said. “B-but why are you here? You’re supposed to be stationed at 77th! Oh, why am I complaining? Thank you for coming,” Flarania said. She had lost her usual upbeat attitude. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Cloud asked her. “D-d, It’s all my fault!” Flarania yelled as she broke down in tears. “Woah-ho-ho there! What’s going on Flara? Hey, hey look at me.” Flara picked her head up, her face full of tears. “Now, what happened?” She spoke so fast that Cloudbolt couldn’t possibly make out what she was saying. “We were up in his zepplin and it was so fun and he was such a great host and then one of the engines exploded and it crashed and IT’S ALL MY FAULT!” Flarania wailed. “Hey, slow down. Why is it your fault?” “He’s….he’s dead,” She sobbed. “Oh man….how?” “Well, not exactly dead, he’s in a coma. He’s lost too much blood,” “Wait, we might still be able to save him! Show me where he is!” Flarania took Cloudbolt down to the cave where Barzano was still sleeping. Cloud looked at him. “This looks bad. I can’t do anything for him, we need to get him to the nearest town, right away!” “Barzano!” Oh, she’s back. “Luna?” What do you want? “You have to fight it!” “Fight what? What’s happening?” “Barzano! You’re dieing!” That’s strange, I feel fine. “Luna, what are you talking about?” “Your wound has caused you to lapse into a coma! You must wake up! That pony needs you!” Which pony was she talking about? “How am I supposed to wake up?” “Fight it Barzano! I believe in you!” The dream faded again. Cloudbolt had tried to calm Flarania as best as he could, but she just kept staring at the dark-coated stallion sleeping on the floor of the skyrider. “Flara, listen, it’ll be ok! We’ll get him to a hospital and they’ll fix it,” Cloudbolt insisted. “I hope so,” she sniffed. “Flara….” Cloudbolt looked at her. “Did you have something for him?” Flarania stared at Cloud. “Yeah, yeah you did, didn’t you?” “Maybe….” “Hey, I’m really sorry, that sucks.” “Yeah….he didn’t even know.” They sat in silence for awhile. Barzano sat up with a shot. “Gah!” He yelled. “Omigosh you’re awake!” Flarania shouted as she grabbed him tightly. “OWWWWWWWW!” Barzano yelped. “Oh! So sorry!” She backed off. “You’re fine!” he said and returned the embrace. The two of them sat there in silence for the rest of the ride home, for there was no need for words. They had been through hell together, and were happy to return home. Friends ForeverChapter Six: Friends Forever. “So what are you going to do now?” Flarania asked Barzano, who was sitting on his couch, it was about a week since they got home, and he was still recovering. “Well, first, I’m going to buy a new skyship!” They laughed together. “Well, I’ll probably build my own. “Really?” “Yeah, ganna be sure to fire-proof it too!” They laughed again. “How’s your side?” “Getting better. Still can’t roll onto it.” “It’ll heal!” Flarania hugged him, making sure not to touch his bandage. “Mmmm! Thanks. When do you plan to go home?” “Well, I was actually hoping I could stay here for a bit, seems like you could use some company,” Flarania said with a smile. “‘Course you can stay here!” Barzano responded with a smile. “Really? Great! Because uh, ya know….I….I really like you! In fact...I...uh,” “It’s ok, you can say it,” “I think I love you,” They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Barzano returned the phrase with a passionate kiss. “Wha-Oh!” Flarania’s eyes went wide. “I think I love you too,” Bar told her. They both snuggled for a while before drifting off to sleep. Author's Note An Astronomer’s Light - TitanicIsBestShip - Started August 18th, 2013 12:34 , Completed August 21st, 2013 17:54. Length: 6585 Words. Thank you for reading!
Mount SilverAn Astronomer’s Light By: TitanicIsBestShip Chapter 1: Mount Silver Cold. It was always cold this time of night, on the mountain of course. Barzano stared into the dark sky. Although he longed to just sit there forever and stare, he had work to do. The unicorn walked back inside the mountain observatory. In a corner of the room were some starmaps he needed to work on. I do have to pay my bills, he pondered. I supposed I'll get to work. The charts would be sent to Canterlot the next morning, and back would come the money. As Barzano sat down to his work, his thoughts drifted to other matters. He had friends back in Canterlot, and he hoped they were doing well. His work on Mt. Silver unfortunately forced him out of the loop of information. This lack of knowledge, was in fact, so bad, that all of Equestria could burn down and he wouldn't notice until the food and supplies stopped coming. But there were upsides to working on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. There was nopony there to distract him from his work, or get on his nerves .... nopony.... Barzano got up from his desk. He headed towards another part of his home and workplace. On his bedside table was a picture of his older brother, Crimson Peak. Barzano missed his brother, the only part of his family he loved. Crimson had gone to serve in the Royal Guard a year and a half ago, and as he was the only pony who visited Barzano on a regular basis, Barzano was now completely alone. Knock. "Humm?" Barzano mumbled. He looked around quickly. More knocking. Somepony? At the door? Whatever for? He quickly walked to the door and opened it. "Uhm, hello?" A tan coated pegasus mare with a creamy green and yellow mane was standing in the doorway. "Mount Silver Observatory? "Uh..y-yeah." "Are you Barzano?" "Yes." "This is for you," the mare said as she handed him a package. "Thank you," Barzano said softly as he picked up the package. The mare turned around and began walking. "W-wait!" She stopped and turned her head around. "Yes?" "What's your name?" "Uh-I-um....Flarania," she stuttered as her cheeks turned red. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I- It's just that I don't see many ponies around here," Barzano stared at the mare. "It's ok. I'm in the Frontier Service, so package delivering isn't usually my job." "Well, thank you Flarania, not many ponies even know I exist-" The mare stopped Barzano. "Are you kidding? Your name is on everything!" "What?" "Our navigation papers! Everything we use on the Frontier!" "I-I never knew they were actually used practically!" "Oh yeah, you make great stuff! You like your work?" "Oh u-uh yeah, get's kinda lonely sometimes....." "Oh, you don't have anypony to keep you company? That's horrible!" "It's fine, I-" Flarania stopped him. "I'll stop by when I get some time off," she said quickly. She stared at the ground for a few seconds before turning and flying off. Nice mare, Barzano thought. Probably just trying to cheer me up though.... The next few days went be easily. Barzano was more upbeat than usual. Some ponies actually know who I am! He thought. He'd had somewhat of a hard life, so it felt nice to be appreciated. Time flew as he worked, and he hadn't noticed he had missed lunch until 2 hours after the fact. He sighed, got up, and took some leftover salad out of his pantry. He finished eating and went over to the package that had been left for him yesterday. Barzano wondered what was inside as he used his magic to cut the packaging tape. It was a book, and a rather large one at that.It read on the cover "Daylight Starmapping, a Guide to Deep Space Radio Telemetry." Barzano had studied the stars and ways to map them for the better part of his life, and he had no idea what this book was about. He opened the first cover and inside was a note, which read: "Barzano, I obtained this through my travels elsewhere, and thought that you might enjoy it. Unfortunately, I cannot say where I discovered this, but I hope it proves useful. -Princess Luna." Well, that was interesting. Barzano made a note to thank Luna later. As he flipped the next page over, he saw the title was repeated, along with the author. That's strange, he thought, why would somepony repeat their name? "Daylight Starmapping, By: Stephen Rogers." That was interesting, Barzano had never heard of anypony with a name like that. Must be Royalty. Barzano looked over the next few pages. Three Rivers Press? Copyright 2004? I've never seen these markings before! Barzano had his face in the book for the rest of the day. He only stopped reading when his stomach growled at him. "Wha? Already?" He looked at the clock: 9:41. "Are you kidding me...." Dinner could wait, Barzano had to write his brother about this. He'd eaten at some pretty weird hours before. Barzano sat down at his desk, pulling out a pen and some paper. He started the letter: "Hey Crim! I got a book from Luna recently that could not possibly have been written by ponies. It describes something completely alien that, hopefully, will be of use to my work....." Barzano described the book and what it contained, drew a few pictures of the photographs in the book, and sealed it all in an envelope. He'd send it out tomorrow. Author's Note Special Thanks: Celestia Radio - For giving me good music to listen to while I worked on this DerpTime - For giving me some inspiration, and for putting up with me on his show, and for creating the cover art DJ Cloudbolt - For letting me put him in this story, and for encouraging me to keep writing Whitecloud/Emeraldsnow - For helping me keep writing, and for giving me inspiration and the name of this fic, and for editing it. My Non-Brony brother - For letting me put him in this story, and for being the best brother ever! The people that have been with me from the start: -Whitecloud/Emeraldsnow -DJ Cloudbolt -Doctor Whooves/Pretty Pony -HinderburgIsBestZepplin/Lightning Stryke Thank you all!
The FrontierChapter Two: The Frontier Barzano woke up relatively early for him. Good thing though, he had some work to do. Barzano was just finishing his breakfast when he heard a knock at the door. Quickly, he rose and walked to the observatory entrance.There she stood, the same Mare from two nights ago. "Hey!" she said with a smile. "Oh hey," "You doing anything today?" "Just work...why?" "Wanna do some work in the field?" "Uh, seriously?" "Sure! I have to do pathfinding work, and we can camp out, an-" Barzano held up his hoof. "Hey, this is great and all, but I really need my telescopes for my work," he said sadly. "Well, don't you have some you can bring with you?" "On hoof? On a hike? no way," "Oh, well I guess that's ok then, thanks anyways!" Flarania said with a smile. Jeez! Barzano thought. She's so upbeat! I wish I was that optimistic. Wait, the Constellation is prepped, I was going to use it anyways today. "Hey, wait a second!" Barzano said as Flarania walked away. "Mmmm?" "Uh, I have a compromise," "I'm listening!" Flarania cooed. "I have an airship we could use," "You have an AIRSHIP?" she said, shocked. "Yeah, I use it for stars I can't see or get a good look at from the mountain, or when I need to map distant locations," He said. "That sounds AWESOME! I've never been on an airship!" Flarania said, jumping up and down. "B-but....how would I be able to pathfind on an airship?" "What is pathfinding anyways?" Barzano said as he cocked his head to one side. "OOOH! It's so much fun! You get to see awesome views and look at critters and camp out, but it's mostly just making paths through the wilderness for traveling ponies," Flarania beamed. "Well I suppose, you being a pegasus and all, you could fly back and forth,” Barzano suggested. “Oh! That could work!” “Ok! I’ll prep the Constellation! Do you want to come inside?” “Sure!” Flarania stepped inside the observatory. “Wooooow! This place is huge! You’re the only pony that lives here?” “Yeah…. Hold on” “Ok!” Barzano sighed. There was her optimism again. Life must have treated her well, I wish I could say the same. “Alright! All ready!” “Yay!” Flarania jumped for joy as she ran up the stairs. “Woah there!” Barzano said laughing. “It’s not all tha-” “Wooooooow!” Sheesh, she was excited. It’s just my airship, it isn’t that special. Flarania started walking around the ship as they ascended. Barzano was lost in his thoughts. This is the first time he’d taken somepony else up in his airship. She was a nice mare. Barzano could see himself spending time with her. He looked up from his console. She was staring at him. “Ummm…” He began. “Oh! Uh S-s-sorry! Just look at your...uh equipment! Yeah! Heh heh….” Flarania’s cheeks turned beat red. Barzano just smiled. “Lovely view!” He exclaimed. “Oh yeah! Thanks a bunch, I’ll tell you when I have to hop off,” Flarania said. “Yeah sure. You know Flarania, you’re the first other pony to come up in this ship,” Barzano said with a smile. “Oh really? Cool! And you can just call me Flara, i-if you like,” She blushed again. Barzano shook his head. Does she like me? I barely know her! To be fair though, I offered to take her up in my skyship, and I barely know her. "Ok Flara," Barzano said. They were silent after that for quite some time. Only the sounds of the ship's twin propellers and the air moving around them could be heard. It was finally Barzano who broke the silence. "You get off soon?" "What, are you trying to get rid of me?" Flarania said, laughing. "N-no! Of course not, oh. You're joking," "Course I am silly! Lighten up a bit!" Flarania said as she nudged him. "But yeah, in a few minutes, I have to j- Oh. I'm going to have to jump, aren't I?" "Yeah, yeah you will. Sorry, I can't really land this ship in those forests," "Oh no! This is going to be awesome!" Flarania said as she walked to the lifeline near the bow of the ship. "Don't hurt yourself!" Barzano said jokingly. "Haha, Don't worry!" Flarania joked as she did a backflip off the ship. "WEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Barzano looked over the edge, only to see her wave from mid-air as she flew towards the ground. Barzano smiled. This was going to be a wonderful day. He could not have been more wrong.
DownChapter Three: Down Flarania hit the ground with a thud. "Urgggh...." she muttered. "That could have been a better landing," she told herself as she dusted off. "Well, time to get to work!" Flarania pulled a machete out of her bag and, holding it in her wing, began to cut a path through the forest. Ever so often she'd look up at the zepplin. "I wonder what he's doing right no," she wondered. "Probably reading a book." She smiled and kept going. Barzano sat at the bow. He knew he didn't have to be at the console, the Constellation wasn't going anywhere fast. He looked at the deck clock, "Eh, I don't have to work for another hour or two. Oh, who am I kidding, I need to get those maps done," he said to himself as he walked below decks, towards the bilge of the vessel. Barzano checked the engines, making sure they were running smoothly. A mishap on a 34' airship could be deadly. The Constellation was powered by two internal combustion engines, as there wasn't enough room on the skyship for a steam boiler, and Barzano had an easy way to get oil, actually cheaper than coal, not to mention the water. The engines where the most powerful anypony could get for their size, however they required a lot more maintenance and observation. The other complication on the Constellation was that, like the Hindenburg, its dirigible was filled with Hydrogen instead of Helium. The hours went by, and it began to get dark outside. Barzano decided to leave his work for now, and he went up to the deck. Had he stayed a few seconds longer, he would have seen the red light on the engines indicating a fuel leak click on.' Flarania looked back on her work. "I did well for today," she said, smiling. "Time for the fun part!" She reached into her bag, pulling out a small explosive and lighter. "Hope he's not looking right at me right now," Flarania remarked as she lit the explosive, tossed into the air, and covered her ears and eyes. The explosive made a flash bright enough to see for miles and a sound deafening to those around it. "Suns of Celestia! What was that?" Barzano exclaimed. He looked over the rimbar of the ship; there was a fading light some 450 yards away. "Hmmm, must be where she is," Barzano walked over to the console steered towards Flarania's location. Flarania, looking up from the ground, smiled as she took off for the Constellation. "Hey there!" Flarania said excitedly as she jumped on board. "Miss me?" "It definitely got lonely up here," Barzano responded. "Yeah, I actually got kind of lonely myself," Flarania looked down. That was the first time she had ever goten lonely while doing her job. "Well then, are you hungry?" Barzano asked as he brought out some sandwiches. "Oh yeah! Those look delicious!" Flarnia said. At first they were quietly eating, but conversation soon broke out. "So tell me about yourself! I don't really know much about you, Flara," Barzano said. "Oh ok! Well, I have a younger brother, he's a bit of a pest, but my mom's nice! I'm away from home a lot, so I miss my family. Oh, you must too! Being away from home for so long! How often do your parents visit?" "I-I don't miss my family. And my parents never visit." Barzano stared at the deck. "Oh goodness! That's horrible! What happened?" Flarania questioned. "I don't really want to talk about it...." Barzano said slowly. "Oh man, it must have been bad! Is there anypony in your family you DO love? "My brother. I love him dearly," Barzano looked up. "Does he visit you then?" "He used to, he's in the guard now." "You really are lonely..." "Yeah, well we write each other, it's not so bad. I like the peace and quiet" "Honestly though! How do you live? I always have my buddies at base camp to go back to, but you...you have nopony!" "It's not so hard really, you get used to it." "Oh my," Flarania said, looking north. "That sky." The northern sky was absolutely black, and a wall of water could be seen approaching them rapidly. "Squall!" Barzano yelled as he rushed for the console. "What do you normally do during storms?" Flarania said, worried. "Land! But seeing that's not possible, I'm going to go at a 45 degree angle to the storm, squalls are usually narrow. I'll need full speed though," He said. As soon as he threw the throttle forward, the sound and sight of an explosion cut him off. "Tartarus!" Barzano yelled. "What was that?" "No idea, stay here!" He ran below decks. The whole ship was on fire. "How did this happen?" He questioned himself. All sorts of alarms were blaring as the ship rapidly dropped in altitude. The fires were ever-so-slowly creeping towards the second engine. "Oh no...." Barzano ran updeck. "FLARANIA! JUMP!" He yelled as loud as she could. Flarania, understanding the emergency, immediately jumped off the ship. "Guess I'm going down with the ship," Barzano said to himself as he walked to the bow of the Constellation. At that time, the second engine exploded, and a few seconds later the ship plunged into the ground in a roaring fireball. Barzano woke up staring at...some part of his ex-ship. He didn't know how long it'd been or how hurt he was. "'Bout to find out, I guess." He tried to get up. "URRRGGGH!" He yelped. Blood was streaming down his side. "Gah!" He looked up, only to see the dirigible still floating above the ship. "It hasn't been punctured? Oh no! The hydrogen's ganna go any minute!" He ran to the supplies locker, which was fortunately unscathed. He grabbed as much food and water as he could, bandaged his wound best he could, howling in pain as he did so, and tried to make his way off the ship. "Barzano!" He could hear Flara yelling for him. "Flara! Run! Get away from the ship!" "There you are! Oh, you're hurt! How bad is it?" "Never mind that! We need to get away from here!" He responded. The two of them ran from the ship, Barzano struggling due to his wound. They stopped about 320 yards from the crash. "Argh!" Barzano groaned. "Here, you need to stop moving. Sit down, good, now let me see the wound," Flarania said as she unwrapped Barzano's bandage. "Oh man, you've lost a lot of blood. What caused this?" She stared at the deep gash in his side. "No idea, probably metal, seeing as I don't have any splinters," Barzano responded weakly. "Ok, I need to treat this, do you have any alcohol?" Barzano handed her a first-aid kit. "I have whatever's in here," he told her. Flara opened the kit. "Here's some, now this is going to stin-" "I know, just do it," Barzano groaned. He tensed as she rubbed it on his side and rewrapped the bandage. "Ok, that'll be good for now, but you're going to need stitches." Just then, a loud explosion was heard. "Woah! Was that ship?" Flarania asked, whipping her head around. "No way, would have been louder, that was thunder," Barzano said, looking at the sky. Another explosion, much louder than the first, sounded. "THAT was the ship," Barzano said. "Look, storm's on the way, we're going to need shelter." "There are some caves east of here." "Alright, let's go!" Barzano said. The two ran off, Barzano lighting the way with his horn. The wall of water that was the squall was advancing towards them with every passing minute. It blocked the view of all that was behind it. The pair was still half a mile from the caves when the rain hit them. Visibility dropped to about 10 feet. Thunderclaps and roaring winds were heard loud and clear.
Fate has spokenChapter Four: Fate has Spoken "We have to pick up the pace!" Flarania said in a panic. "I kno- ARRRGH!" Barzano howled. The wound was too much for him right now. "I know it hurts, but we have to keep moving!" "I know....urrgh," Barzano groaned. He was running, well limping really, as fast as he could, but he still couldn't keep up with the mare in front of him. When they finally reached the caves, they were sopping wet and freezing cold. "Brrrrr! That storm must have brought in a cold front! At least it's dry in here," Flarania panted. "Tell me those bags are waterproof!" She said. "Well, they should be, but I've never tested them," Barzano said weekly. He couldn't stand up anymore. The run had exhausted him of all of his remaining energy, and he colapsed to the cavern floor. "Bar!" Flarania rushed to his side. "You ok?" "MMmmf....tired, and cold," he muttered. "Need some sleep...probably....." "Ok, lie there and don't move," Flarania told him as she started unpacking bags. "HUm....Flara..?" "Yeah? Oh dear," There was a small puddle of blood pooling where Barzano was lying. Flarania took another layer of bandaging from one of the bags and wrapped it around the now-sleeping Barzano. She took a blanket from another bag and lay down next to him, wrapping the blanket over both of them. "Goodnight," Flarania said softly. She soon fell asleep, but awoke several times during the night. Even though the warmth of the blanket and their collective body heat, she was still cold enough to shiver. When dawn came, the storm was still raging. "Hey Bar, wake up!" Flarania said as she shook him awake. "MMmmerrm? O-oh. Morning...." "Hey, the storm's still strong outside. You want something to eat?" "Oh, yeah that'd be great...." His words trailed off. "And it's not the same storm," "Huh? What do you mean?" Flarania took some MRE's out of the bags. "Squalls are brief, they usually last between 10 minutes and an hour, but one often follows another. A strand of squalls can last for days," Barzano said as he took the package handed to him. "You mean, we're going to be stuck here? For how long?" "No idea, this could clear up in a minute, or in a few hours, or tomorrow," Barzano responded. Squall weather patterns are extremely unpredictable." "Well, that sucks. Are you feeling any better?" "I'm still freezing," He said, smiling. "Oh, sorry!" Flarania held him as she wrapped the blanket around the two of them. "Mmmmm.." "We might have awhile in here, why don't you tell me about your past?" "Mmmok... Well, I grew up in Canterlot, I never liked the busy city, but I was stuck with it. My parents went to work every day and I went to school. They demanded I get good grades, and I delivered, for when I did, they would lavish me with gifts and praise. I didn't really like my school. It was easy, but my teachers were mean and I got picked on. Life was generally a bitch to me, which shaped me into the cynical and pessimistic pony I am today." "That's horrible! You said you had a brother though, what about him?" "Mmmoh? Oh yeah! Crimson Peak. He's the best brother anypony could have. We almost never fought, he was the nicest guy I knew, but that kindness was also his weakness. He couldn't see the bad in the world, didn't know when not to trust somepony, but I think he's learning. You see, he never had the bad experiences I did. He was always the perfect pony of the family. Nevertheless, we kept in touch as we grew up, even after we went our separate ways." "That's great! You have other friends though, right?" "Yeah, I have my friends in Canterlot. Known em' since high school. Speaking of which, lemme fill in some gaps. When I was fourteen, I enrolled in some advanced magic classes. I wasn't very athletic, so I figured I needed magic to help me defend myself. But trust me, you learn a lot more about magic in everyday situations where it's practical, than you ever will in a classroom." "Yeah, I bet." "I learned some pretty advanced stuff. Anyways, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life for some time.I didn't even have my cutie mark yet. But one day, my class got to take a tour of the grand castle. The tour included a speech from the Princess herself, and as we were walking towards the auditorium, she pulled me aside. I was a little scared at first, but she just wanted to have a friendly conversation with me. Celestia asked me where I wanted to work when I got older. I told her I had no idea, but she just smiled and told me about the observatory. It was like she knew. She mentioned many perks of the job, and told me I would work directly for her." "Wow! That's awesome!" "Yeah it was. From that point on, my heart was set on what I wanted to do. I worked some to earn some money, and used the bits to buy a telescope. It was great fun! Looking at the stars and all. I borrowed a book on starmapping, and I started working on my first map. I told my parents what I wanted to do, but they weren't so happy about it. 'Be prestigious!' They said. 'Be a doctor! Or a guard pony! Or an architect! Don't be some silly astronomer!' But I had decided, and if they didn't like it, that was too bad. I got my cutie mark when I finished my first map, which I have framed in the observatory. I wrote the Princess about the exciting news, and she told me I could start as soon as I was able." "Wow! That's a great story!" Flarania shivered, and held Barzano tighter. "Mmmhmm, your turn!" "Oh, right!" She giggled. "Well, I grew up in a small town. I made a lot of friends, and I had a generally great life! School was fun, but my grades weren't so great. I loved the outdoors, though! My friends and I would go play in the woods almost every day! My mom was always happy for me, and let go wherever as long as I came back before dinner. My brother was born when I was 8, so I couldn't really have the relationship with him you had with yours." She frowned. "But as I got older, I started looking in to what I could do to earn some money. I began clearing paths for people, sitting their animals, and building treehouses for foals!" "Wow, seems like you really had your life planned out." "Well not really, I loved the outdoors! But I liked adventure! I didn't want to garden, or be a park ranger, or have any of those silly jobs. I was kind of worried about all that until I saw a flyer for the Frontier Service. That really made my day! I ran home to tell my mom; she was so happy for me!" "I bet, but you keep mentioning your mom. What about your dad?" "M-my dad died when I was four...." "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Barzano put a hoof on her shoulder. "It's ok. I'll continue! When I was sixteen, I dropped out of school and headed off for the frontier. Apparently, the ponies in charge were always looking for more workers, so I was welcomed immediately! I got along with the other ponies they're great! We all loved the outdoors, and I got my cutie mark when I made a path for the first time! Ever since then I've worked on the frontier, rising through the ranks and actually making a pretty good living! "MMmmm, good for you!" Barzano sighed and closed his eyes. Flarania smiled at him, but her smile faded as Barzano's face began to pale. "OH no!" She jumped up from where she was sitting. "Wake up!" She shook him. "Wakeup! Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" Flarania hollered. She looked at his wound. The bleeding had stopped, but there was a great deal of blood on the ground. "You must have lost too much blood! Please don't lapse into a coma! Nopony ever wakes up from those!" Tears welled up in her eyes and she shook Barzano again. "WAAAKE UP!" Flarania checked his pulse. The beat was slowing down. "Noooooooo!" she screamed, tears streaming from her eyes as she buried her face into his coat. "Barzano?" Hmmm? Who was that? Somepony called my name? I can't make out her voice. "Barzano? Are you coming?" Coming? coming where? What? The dream faded and all went dark. The next morning yielded more promise. The storm was fading, thunder could no longer be heard, and the rain was letting up. Flarania awoke to a still-sleeping Barzano. She continued to cry. "What am I going to tell his brother? What am I going to do?" she sobbed. "I never told you!" She looked at him. He was smiling, like he was having a good dream. "No Flarania, you musn't let your emotions get to you. You still have work to do, maybe he'll wake up," She told herself. "Now, how am I going to get us out of here?" She wondered. "Oh! The explosion! Somepony must have seen the ship crash, they have to have sent somepony to look for us! But how will they know where we are? Oh! I can build a signal fire!" Flarnia told herself as she trotted into the forest. "Barzano!" Huh? That voice again. What does she want with me? Barzano looked down at his side. Oh! My woun- what? There was no mark on his right side. Oh great, I'm dreaming. "Barzano!" "W-who are you?" A large, indigo, pony came into his view. "Princess Luna?" "Hello Barzano. Are you feeling well?" "Well, I gu- wait, you're dreamwalking, do you have something to tell me?" "I certainly do! You must stay strong! We are counting on you!" Luna began to fade from the dream. "Luna! Wait! What do you mean? Luna!" The dream collapsed into darkness.
Lost and FoundChapter Five: Lost and Found A white pegasus was standing at the gates to the Frontier Service's 14th outpost. "But I saw an explosion!" "Listen Cloudbolt," A brown earth pony said. "You're not stationed here. Let my ponies do their work. Go back to your post." "But there was an airship! I saw it crash! Ponies could have been hurt!" Cloudbolt said. "Listen, kid. I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack. If there was an airship, and if it had crashed, I'd know about it. Guarantee it," The brown stallion said sternly. Cloudbolt glared at him. He wasn't green anymore! He knew what he was doing, and he hated it when people treated him like he didn't! This guy was an idiot, he'd have to get some other pony to help him. The brown pony went back inside. Cloud sat there for a minute, wondering how he could get past these ponies. "Oh! I know! There's an observatory not far from here. The pony that lives there has an airship. Oh, what was his name? B-bar something?" He couldn't remember, but regardless, he took off for Mount Silver. When he arrived at the observatory, he found it deserted. Cloudbolt knocked on the door. "Hello?" He pushed the door open. Unlocked. All the lights were off, nopony was here. "Hello?" He said again. I guess I can just leave him a note, saying that I needed his airship for an emergency. Cloudbolt found a staircase maked "Constellation Skyship." This must be it, Cloud thought as he walked up the stairs. To his surprise, he found an empty dockyard. "Huh? Odd," Cloudbolt said to himself. "Wait a second, what if this airship was the one to crash?" Cloudbolt facehoofed. "I'm an idiot." As he turned to run back down the stairs, his eyes spotted a small, one-pony, little skyrider. It was about 11 feet long and 5 feet wide. Cloudbolt looked inside and saw it had a full tank, still, past experiences haunting him, he grabbed an extra fuel tank and hopped on board. "Ok, this looks fairly similar to the ones we flew at flight camp," He told himself, "Should be easy." He unclipped the docking locks and headed off in the direction of the southern forests as fast as the little skyship would allow. Flarania sat on the top of the cave looking into the sky. Her little fire was burning bright, and smoke was rising steadily into the sky. Why wasn't anypony coming? She had no idea. Her fellow pioneers should have left long ago! They had to see the smoke! Why was nopony here? She sighed and went back down into the cave. Barzano was still lying there. He was breathing, but very slowly. Flarania began to cry as she looked at him. "If only you had known," she sobbed. It was late noon, but she wasn't hungry. Flara just wanted somepony to show up already. She never wanted to see this place again. Cloudbolt glanced at the shipboard clock. It was 3:18. He wanted to find the crash before nightfall, but things weren't looking very good. "Wait a second," he said to himself as he looked at the horizon. "Is that smoke?" Indeed it was. A great pillar of smoke was rising high into the sky. "Signal fire!" he exclaimed, and steered the little skyrider towards the black pillar. As he got closer, a large cave came into view, and then a pony jumping up and down. “Hello down there!” Cloudbolt shouted. He couldn’t hear the other pony, but he was pretty sure he recognized her. “Flarania! Is that you?” “Yeah, how do you know me?” Flarania shouted back up. Cloudbolt started the skyrider on a slow descent, eventually landing a few feet from the mare. “Cloud!” She said. “B-but why are you here? You’re supposed to be stationed at 77th! Oh, why am I complaining? Thank you for coming,” Flarania said. She had lost her usual upbeat attitude. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Cloud asked her. “D-d, It’s all my fault!” Flarania yelled as she broke down in tears. “Woah-ho-ho there! What’s going on Flara? Hey, hey look at me.” Flara picked her head up, her face full of tears. “Now, what happened?” She spoke so fast that Cloudbolt couldn’t possibly make out what she was saying. “We were up in his zepplin and it was so fun and he was such a great host and then one of the engines exploded and it crashed and IT’S ALL MY FAULT!” Flarania wailed. “Hey, slow down. Why is it your fault?” “He’s….he’s dead,” She sobbed. “Oh man….how?” “Well, not exactly dead, he’s in a coma. He’s lost too much blood,” “Wait, we might still be able to save him! Show me where he is!” Flarania took Cloudbolt down to the cave where Barzano was still sleeping. Cloud looked at him. “This looks bad. I can’t do anything for him, we need to get him to the nearest town, right away!” “Barzano!” Oh, she’s back. “Luna?” What do you want? “You have to fight it!” “Fight what? What’s happening?” “Barzano! You’re dieing!” That’s strange, I feel fine. “Luna, what are you talking about?” “Your wound has caused you to lapse into a coma! You must wake up! That pony needs you!” Which pony was she talking about? “How am I supposed to wake up?” “Fight it Barzano! I believe in you!” The dream faded again. Cloudbolt had tried to calm Flarania as best as he could, but she just kept staring at the dark-coated stallion sleeping on the floor of the skyrider. “Flara, listen, it’ll be ok! We’ll get him to a hospital and they’ll fix it,” Cloudbolt insisted. “I hope so,” she sniffed. “Flara….” Cloudbolt looked at her. “Did you have something for him?” Flarania stared at Cloud. “Yeah, yeah you did, didn’t you?” “Maybe….” “Hey, I’m really sorry, that sucks.” “Yeah….he didn’t even know.” They sat in silence for awhile. Barzano sat up with a shot. “Gah!” He yelled. “Omigosh you’re awake!” Flarania shouted as she grabbed him tightly. “OWWWWWWWW!” Barzano yelped. “Oh! So sorry!” She backed off. “You’re fine!” he said and returned the embrace. The two of them sat there in silence for the rest of the ride home, for there was no need for words. They had been through hell together, and were happy to return home.
Friends ForeverChapter Six: Friends Forever. “So what are you going to do now?” Flarania asked Barzano, who was sitting on his couch, it was about a week since they got home, and he was still recovering. “Well, first, I’m going to buy a new skyship!” They laughed together. “Well, I’ll probably build my own. “Really?” “Yeah, ganna be sure to fire-proof it too!” They laughed again. “How’s your side?” “Getting better. Still can’t roll onto it.” “It’ll heal!” Flarania hugged him, making sure not to touch his bandage. “Mmmm! Thanks. When do you plan to go home?” “Well, I was actually hoping I could stay here for a bit, seems like you could use some company,” Flarania said with a smile. “‘Course you can stay here!” Barzano responded with a smile. “Really? Great! Because uh, ya know….I….I really like you! In fact...I...uh,” “It’s ok, you can say it,” “I think I love you,” They stared into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before Barzano returned the phrase with a passionate kiss. “Wha-Oh!” Flarania’s eyes went wide. “I think I love you too,” Bar told her. They both snuggled for a while before drifting off to sleep. Author's Note An Astronomer’s Light - TitanicIsBestShip - Started August 18th, 2013 12:34 , Completed August 21st, 2013 17:54. Length: 6585 Words. Thank you for reading!
