A Danger in the Stars

Chapter 4
When I was a filly, I remember spending hours upon hours trying to assemble a simple telescope my parents gave me. It was a beautiful piece, which was very effective in doing its job. (Actually I find it hard to see how a telescope would fail to do its simple job) The reason it took me a while to assemble the telescope was because of the fact that it had many bits and pieces that needed to be placed slowly and precisely. I got to say, whoever designed that telescope made it so that only unicorns would be able to do it with ease. Since we earth ponies had nothing but the hooves in front of us, it was a difficult task trying to insert the lenses to the specification that the instructions stated.

But when it was done, I felt proud of myself. It was something that I devoted a lot of time to and it was finally done. It shone under the sunlight, as the brightly polished material and lend were kept clean, so that it won’t interfere when used. Seeing that a small smudge can bring so many misconceptions, remembering stories of ponies thinking a small smudge on the lens was a black hole.

I felt joy in my heart; so I decided to put the telescope to the test. I planned to bring it to the park, where a small hill provided excellent elevation for viewing the night sky. So with my telescope and a book of the constellation, not that I needed it since I knew which group of stars was which, I decided to go to the park, planning to set up my telescope before the night falls upon the land.

The park was a beautiful place, with its open fields and nice hills. Unlike most towns, which preferred the new cybernetic parks, which had holographic screens and cyber animals, the park in our small town decided to stick to nature. Which I found great, since I gave me breathing space from the constraints of technology. Now don’t get me wrong, I appreciate every bit of technology as much as the next pony, but it can sometimes be too much to bear, if you know what I’m saying. Probably not, but that’s not important.

Anyways, the park in our town was the perfect place to set up my telescope so I decided to arrange myself and make plans to go there.

After getting permission from my parents, promising them that I won’t stay late, I left the house, books in my saddle bag and telescope in its casing, which was strapped to my bag. The load I was carrying was heavy, but it wasn’t enough to make my day sour. But the ponies I met on the way were sure enough to accomplish that goal.

“Well if it isn’t our favorite blank flank, Silver Shine.” An annoying and smug voice called, as I was about to make a turn towards the park.

“What do you want, Jewel?” I said, facing the light blue pegasus and her friend, a dark blue pegasus named Sapphire, the two most arrogant fillies in town.

“What do you mean?” She asked, as the two came closer and circled me. “Can’t we talk to our favourite blank flank anymore or has Celestia turned it to a crime?”

“No…” I said, shaking my head as I started to back away, but Sapphire was there to block me. “…but last time I checked, every encounter I had with you two was never pleasant.”

“Oh come on, Silver Shine.” Jewel said. “Can’t we just have a friendly talk?”

“About what?” I asked, knowing that every conversation with her always had a catch.

“Maybe about…this!” Sapphire said, snatching my telescope from its casing and flying up, preventing me from reaching it. Why do we earth ponies have to be cursed with the lack of magic and flight? It just seems unfair.

“Well what do we have here?” Jewel said, flying up to Sapphire to examine my telescope. “Oh a telescope. Now where would an earth pony like you get something like this? You didn’t steal it, did you?” It always annoyed me how some ponies, mostly pegasi, viewed us earth ponies. They always tend to think that we were poor farmers, even though farmers were one of the richest members of society. It was probably our relationship with the soil and land that gave that image.

“No!” I shouted. “That is mine; it was given to me by my parents, so give it back!” I tried, in vain, to get it by jumping up and swatting my hooves. But the two were flying high enough to avoid my desperate attempts to retrieve what is mine.

“Make us!” Jewel said in a mocking town. “You can’t reach it and we have no plans on giving it back. Something like this would make a nice decoration to my room.”

“I said give it back!” I choked, angry and sad as I felt tears forming in my eyes. During that time, the telescope was my pride and joy and I didn’t like the idea off anypony taking it away from me. Especially a pony that was as arrogant as Jewel. She was my sworn enemy and I believed that she wouldn’t be satisfied in life until I was left miserable.

Suddenly, a green aura surrounded the telescope, as it was pulled away from Jewel’s grasp. A confused and annoyed expression appeared on her face as she flung her hooves in anger. She obvious didn’t like anypony spoiling her plans.

“Hey!” She complained. “What’s the meaning of this?”

A brown unicorn trotted towards us, horn glowing as he had the telescope floating right in front of him. “Jewel, I think you know that stealing is an offence that nopony tolerates, right?” He said, as he floated the telescope back to me. I immediately grabbed it and held in within my hooves, not wanting it to leave me again.

“Oh, what do you want, Vector.” Jewel said, facing him. “Can’t you see we’re having fun with our dear friend, Silver Shine?

“Yeah, right…” He said, obviously unconvinced. “Last time I checked, having fun meant both ponies were enjoying it.”

“Oh, quit being a spoil sport, you know that you would not get anything while you defend that nerd.” She said.

“Hey!” I complained. Although I had to admit that I read a lot of books, most of them about the stars and space above, I was no nerd. You can’t blame me for enjoying a good book and reading a lot. Sure, I talked about those books a lot and probably bored everypony to death about the many fact about space exploration, but I was no nerd. Or was I?

“Well, nerd or not, it still not right to pick on somepony.” He stated. I didn’t if I should feel happy that he was defending me, or be mad at him since he called him a nerd.

“Well isn’t that cute, the blank flank is defending the nerd, who is also a blank flank.” Jewel said before shaking her head. “Fine, if we can’t entertain ourselves with Silver Shine, then we might as well head somewhere else.” She said before turning around and flying off, with Sapphire trailing close behind.

“Why can’t this town just have one of those cyber parks, honestly, is it that hard?” I heard her mutter as they flew off.

“Thanks, Vector, for defending me earlier.” I said later, as I was setting up my telescope. After the encounter with Jewel and Sapphire, Vector decided the join me in my star gazing expedition, stating that it sounded like a cool idea.

“It was nothing…” He said, shrugging it off. “…those two always got in my nerves. I didn’t know it was possible for ponies to be that cruel.”

“Well, thanks again anyways.” I said, finally finishing the set up. By now, the sun was starting to fade so that it could be replaced by the darkness of the night. It was a graceful exchange, from day to night, something that would never cease to amaze me. The sudden change of colors and the appearance of stars up in the sky were breathtaking.

“Princess Luna sure did a great job tonight.” I heard Vector say, as I brought my eyes towards the telescope, looking through it.

The view I got was amazing, as I was able to see the far off stars. I could see the many stars that littered the sky and created the different patterns that I have memorized, thanks to the countless of hours of reading.

I knew that out there, each star had one out of thousands of Equetrian Colonies, in which ponies cultivated the land so that they could be used for the benefit of everypony.
I dreamed that one day, I would be able to go there and let me hooves touch the soil of a foreign planet. The thought of travelling through space trilled me, as the possibilities filled my head. Being able to float in zero gravity as I flew through space, discovering new life forms, seeing the beautiful wonders of a unknown planet. These were all the thought that flowed in my head. I know it sound like an exploration novel or a diary of a settler or scientist, sent to colonize or study Equestria’s new planets, but this was my dream.

“Hey look up there.” I said, bringing my head away from the telescope and offering him a look through it. He gladly accepts and I soon found myself lecturing him on the constellations as I pointed the telescope to each group of stars. I explained to him the location of each constealtion and on who discovered them and when.

The park was a perfect place, like I said earlier, and the hill I positioned the telescope was well elevated. Unlike the cities, where the artificial light prevented the proper viewing of the night sky, the area in which our town was located gave as a full view. With only little artificial light, there was nothing to interfere the view.

Normally, a pony would be bored of me explaining it and would make up a lame excuse to leave, but Vector was different. He stayed and listened enthusiastically, nodding his head and asking me questions which I was glad to answer.

“Vector was a good friend and I liked him a lot because of that. He was a pony who didn’t treat me differently and actually found interest on my hobbies. He was the perfect friend and I was glad to be with him during that wonderful night. The stars looked down upon us as we looked up to them.

“Hey…ummm, Silver Shine.” He said, catching my attention and making me look away from the telescope.

“Huh, yes?” I asked, still half focused on the billions of stars above.

“You didn’t tell me you already got you cutie mark.” He simply stated, a small grin forming on his face.

“My cutie mark!” I exclaimed, eyes wide open. I never expected my cutie mark to appear, despite my desperate attempts, and was caught by surprise when he stated it. At first I thought he was joking, although I felt my heart beat fast in excitement. But knew there was only one way to make sure.

Turning my head towards my flank, I was surprised and happy to see that it was true. Right there, taking the image of a group of stars, a constellation, was my cutie mark. A cutie mark, something little fillies and colts try their best to achieve, was now present on my flank and I felt happiness feel me.

It was a great achievement to gain your cutie mark, knowing that you are actually good at something, and mine seems to tell me that I was good at telling the stars above, which overjoyed me.

I large smile formed in my face as I swapped glances from my cutie mark and Vector.

Laughing with joy and gave him a hug as I giggled. He seemed to be happy for my achievement as he returned the hug and smiled. “Congratulations.” He said to me, complementing the appearance of my cutie mark. Although he himself hasn’t gained his own mark, he didn’t seem to be jealous and was instead very happy for me.

This made me smile once more, since I thought he would be angry at me. It was common for others to get jealous over cutie marks, but he didn’t seem to mind. To him, cutie marks didn’t matter much, yet he still felt happy when I received mine.

So I reminded myself to be just as happy when he received his, because I would be a terrible friend if I didn’t. Besides, a pony gaining their mark was like celebrating ones birthday.

“I got my cutie mark! I got my cutie mark!”

I was happy and life felt great. Being able to see the beautiful stars above, gaining my cutie mark, and being here with a good friend. These were the things that made me happy. As time went by, troubles brewed and tragedies came, I always looked back to this moment when I felt down.