An Astronomer's Light

Chapter 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.