Stargazing

Starfall scrambled from his seat in a heated frenzy. Dashing across the room, he strapped his saddle bag to himself and gathered what little he needed. He forgot to give his customary farewell as he burst out the front door and took off galloping as fast as he could towards the town market. He worked and slalomed his way through the streets and alleys, passing by pony after pony. After sprinted flat-out for just five minutes, his breathing grew heavy as he muttered to himself, "I just hope Miss Bark isn't mad..." The good news was that she wouldn't be mad because he was late. The bad news was that she couldn't be mad because he was late.

Upon arriving at the store, he saw that there were boards nailed across the windows and that the usual open/closed sign was missing from the door. He pondered, What's going on? but the facts were all there. He was all but certain Miss Pine was "remodeling," as she called it, but in truth, what she did was go away on vacation for weeks at a time. He did not want to jump to conclusion, no matter how obvious any of the signs were. Regardless, he believe he was the first one of the two to reach the store. Even though his boss was probably in Los Pegasus by now, he couldn't sit by at his house without purpose. He figured the only thing to do would be to open the shop up again. He concentrated, and his horn began to glow. He drew a key-chain out of his bags, flipping through each of the keys in turn before finding the correct one. He inserted the brass one and unlocked the door, but this only raised more questions than it answered. The store shelves were completely empty, the usual decorations were missing, and there was no sign of his boss, Miss Pine Bark. It was as if somepony had either robbed the store, or something much worse had happened here. Even though she closed down the shop when she left for rest and relaxation, she didn't strip the place to its foundation. As he stared into the barren shop, he felt lost for words. Had something happened here?

At that moment, he heard a rattling noise coming from the back room. He wheeled around and realized it was his superior, who was carrying a saddlebag stuffed with what seemed to be merchandise from the store. Her brown mane flowed down her shoulders, but it was not long enough to conceal her face. She looked as though she was a thief trying to make away with the princess's crown. Come to think of it, thought Asterian, those *are** probably stolen, if what I think is going on is going on.*

The mare gasped, noticing him for the first time. "Oh my dear, Starfall... You nearly gave me a heart attack." Upon her unnaturally informal greeting, he sighed heavily, still a bit breathless from his run.  "I nearly gave you a heart attack?" He nudged his head down towards her saddlebags, "Tell me, what are you doing with all that stuff? Restocking? Remodeling?" The pegasus hoarsely responded with words that shook Asterian to his core. "I'm... clearing this place out... We're closing down."

"What?! Bu-bu-but this can't just happen!"

"Asterian, there's nothing I can do," she said. "Unless you've got thirty-two hundred bits you can pay by the end of the mon-"

"Thirty-two hundred bits?! Miss Pine, please tell me you didn't invest the company!" Miss Pine had always had a problem with money. She would go off these wild sprees, investing every bit she had into the most ridiculous of market schemes, only to lose it all. Asterian dreaded the answer he knew was coming. Miss Pine inhaled sharply, swallowing her pride. "Yes... I did. It's going back to the bank in ninety days."

"Miss Pine, how could you?! You know that never works!"

"You know well that it did work once, Starfall, but I guess I should have listened to you for a change. I'm sorry."

Asterian's frustration had nearly reached its peak. He wanted to yell at her, Of course you should have listened to me, you imbecile! but as much as every fiber of his being screamed yes, his heart and head said no. After a few seconds to calm down, he asked her, "Do you need anything? Like a loan or something?"

"I can get myself out of debt. I've done it before. How old are you? Fifteen?"

"Sixteen." he replied.

Miss Pine tried to change the subject onto a more cheerful one. "A young stallion like you should be out looking for love! I hear tha-" She was stopped dead at Asterian's infuriated expression. He always loathed it whenever somepony tried to play Cadence with him. Now he had had enough. Diffusing the situation, she waved a hoof to him, ending the awkward silence, "Anyway, you should get out and enjoy your life."

Enjoy life? How could Asterian do that when his place of business had been shut down? His only source of income was his managerial position at the Art Supply Shoppe, how could he truly enjoy life?

        After some more pointless talk about the shop and Miss Pine giving Asterian his last pay-check, he left the shop. Defeated, he roamed about the town square, pondering what he would do. His life as he knew it was over. With the store closing down, and with no published works, what would he do for a living? He continued to mope in his own self-pity, unable to ignore that his life seemed to be collapsing around this one aspect that had been abruptly taken out of the equation. He slumped down by the park fountain and took out his journal, as well as a quill and a bottle of ink. He levitated the quill to the paper and began to write...

This day is one of disappointment and confusion. The shop is closing down, only this time it's not one of Pine's silly vacations. The place is being repossessed altogether. I don't know what to do anymore... How will I find work? How can I take care of myself, much less Merriweather now? I do not know what to do. I only pray that Celestia might help me get through this.

A single tear appeared from his topaz eyes. His fortune could not have been worse. Having lost the will to move, he sat there motionless for what seemed like hours, not writing a single word or letter into his book. He closed his eyes, crestfallen and paralyzed by anxiety. Morning turned to afternoon as the day dragged on... Time seemed to dissolve from existence... But, as fate would have it, the day still had far more in store than he would have bargained for.

Having wallowed in his own self-pity long enough, the young unicorn returned to his home. Just because he was in a sorrowful mood did not mean he should dampen other ponies' days.

He had set writing out his feelings aside momentarily to try his hoof at alchemy. If writing wasn't such a passion for him, his cutie mark would have likely been a test tube. He ran his hoof through his mane, mumbling to himself as he began to dissolve the needed ingredients for an invisibility potion. A complicated brew, but one he had confidence in. There were random items scattered across the table, ranging from bottled poison joke extract and rose petals to giggle-mint and cockatrice tears. As an added bonus to his potion, he knew that he could likely sell it for a handsome sum, if only he could get it right for once. He always failed somewhere around the half-way point, and that was about where he was at... "Okay... 'Pour in a bright rainbow's glow...' Then... 'Heat to 200 degre-'"

*BANG!* The beaker had exploded, showing Asterian and the desk in its contents. He jumped back from the work area in fright. It had been a while since a flask had actually exploded on him, and even though this was not the first, or even the eleventh time, he would never get used to that sudden release of energy. His ears continued to ring as he gathered his nerve. "Euagh," he groaned in disgust as he looked at the mess. "Just perfect." Acting quickly, he magically vaporized the chemical from the floor, walls, and ceiling areas. Once he picked up the loose shards of glass, he began to rake the grey-ish solution off of him. Despite his downcast mood, he couldn't help but chuckle, "Well, let's hope this doesn't stain." Once all was restored and he had rid every last speck of potion from him and the area he could, he was ready for a reset, when unexpectedly, there was a knock at the door. "Huh?" he blurted out to himself. He slowly craned his head towards the door as the pony on the other side knocked again, this time with a little more emphasis. Inquisitively, he looked to Merriweather, shrugging as if to say, "Are we having company?" The owl simply blinked in response, implying, No. Wonder who that is... Asterian cautiously walked up to the door and grabbed the knob with his magic. He opened the door slowly to reveal a cloaked unicorn mare standing before him. By what Asterian could see, she could have been no older than seventeen years of age. Her blue-mint colored tail whipped in the breeze, and her face remained hidden behind the cloak as she asked, "May I come in?"

Starfall wasn't partial to trusting complete strangers, especially ones as shady a character as this one, and yet, something in the back of his skull whispered to him. Something about this mare put him at ease, despite her veiled identity and anonymous behavior. Well, if I do let her in and she turns out to be a robber... Then again, something tells me she's not. The stallion weighed out the odds carefully. If she was a bandit, wouldn't she have just come back when he was sleeping to steal from him? He had every right not to let her in and every reason, but on the other hoof, he hadn't given him a reason to do so.

After a few moments, he sighed, "I suppose so," and stepped aside to let her in.