The Light of the Starby JohnDarkblaze15ChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 1In a humble little town in East Equestria, everypony in the local library is suddenly startled by a loud banging amongst the shelves. The librarian quickly trots over to the source of the ruckus and sees a lone unicorn filly with twin ponytails walking solemnly through the aisles, pulling books off their stands with her magic as she passes them. "Starlight Glimmer!" the librarian says, "What in Equestria are you doing?" The filly looks back at him and sees the mess she created, "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to!" she stammers as she begins to pick up the books she disturbed while the librarian grumbles angrily as he helps her. As they work, he fails to notice Starlight's tear-stained cheeks or red eyes; in fact, not many ponies in town have noticed her after everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks. . . * * * * "Wh-What do you mean you're moving?" Starlight asks the orange-coated colt standing on her doorstep. "They're sending me to Canterlot," he replies, "To Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." "B-But that's so far away!" she says, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I know, but I don't really have a choice," he continues, "My parents say that a cutie mark is a wondrous thing, and whatever direction it takes me, they say I should follow it no matter what." "But Sunburst," the filly pleads with her friend, "What about all the things we said we would do together? Like practice our magic or hang out after school?" "I guess you'll just have to find somepony else to do those things with you," he suggests, "I'm sorry, but I should be going. the train for Canterlot leaves tomorrow, and I still need to pack." He begins trotting away from the door. "Sunburst, wait!" Starlight calls out, the tears finally escaping as rain begins to fall. "Goodbye, Starlight!" Sunburst calls back to his friend before galloping away for shelter, leaving a heart-broken filly in his wake. * * * * How can they be so wondrous if they can tear ponies apart like that? Starlight asks herself as she continues her walk around the library, paying closer attention to keeping her magical outbursts to a minimum. Ever since Sunburst left, she spends most of her time hiding from the world amongst her new friends: books. She finds that they are the only ones who will not judge her for what happened that dreadful day; even her own parents refuse to speak to her anymore. "But you're so much better than him at magic, and he got his cutie mark before you did?!" they had said when they found out about Sunburst's new development. "Well, there must be something wrong with you, then," they added, and since then, they rarely even acknowledged her, as if they were ashamed of their failure of a daughter. Starlight tries to forget everything that had happened by burying her face in the words of others, but nothing can keep the nagging voices in her head away. Something must be wrong with you, then; how can you live with yourself?; cutie marks are wondrous things. That last one still gets to her, and whenever she thinks about cutie marks, she gets so upset that her magic becomes out of control, as the poor books in the library only recently found out. She secretly hopes for a way out of her predicament, a way to ensure that nopony will think of her any lesser than she deserves. As Starlight scans the various aisles, one particular book catches her eye; leather-bound and very worn, she takes the ancient book in her aura and gingerly brings it down to the floor. The cover displays stars following an inward spiral, of sorts; the title reads Spells of the Ancient Crypt by Star Swirl the Bearded. She keenly opens it and realizes that it is full of spells - both successful and failed - that Star Swirl himself attempted in his days, complete with copies of his notes about each one. Curious, she brings it up to the counter and presents it to the librarian, who monotonously checks it out for her, not caring or thinking hard about the transaction. Little does he realize the consequences of giving such a powerful book to such an equally-powerful young unicorn. Rather than wasting her days in the library, Starlight now finds herself attached to Star Swirl's spellbook, reading about nearly every single spell in existence. Spells that can remove cutie marks; spells that create new cutie marks for blank flanks; even spells that can change time themselves. In her research, she finds one particular page about a spell that can open doors to other dimensions; this becomes the primary focus of her efforts. She studies day in and out, trying to perfect the spell, called a Trans-Dimensional Spell, for her own use; she desires to open a portal to another dimension long enough for her to pass through and leave her tragic circumstances behind her. The day finally comes when Starlight will finally attempt the Trans-Dimensional Spell; all her efforts over the previous few weeks have been leading up to this moment. "Alright, here goes nothing!" she tells herself and fires up the spell, which takes most if not all of her concentration and focus. A small portal briefly opens up in front of her before quickly dissipating as quickly as it formed. More. . .focus, she thinks, forcing herself to concentrate even harder to the point that she feels like she will burst from the raw power she expels. Finally, after several minutes of concentration, she manages to create a portal stable enough to walk through. She prides herself in her accomplishment and takes one last look around her bedroom; "Goodbye, everypony," she says quietly and begins walking towards the portal. Suddenly, the portal shimmers, as if there is some sort of activity just behind it; all of a sudden, a long arm sprouting strange appendages sticks out into the room through the portal. Starlight shrieks and scrambles back, breaking her concentration on the portal and causing it to fade away; she hides behind a stack of boxes as she hears a heavy pounding on the floorboards, indicating that the creature stepped into her room. She peers nervously over the tops of the boxes to see a pair of green eyes set into a sea of black staring back at her. She jumps, scattering the boxes and revealing the intruders; one is tall and lanky with unusual skin and appendages, the other long and black with dragon wings and green eyes. They see the filly and scramble away, too, to the other side of the room; "What's that?!" the tall creature exclaims while the black creature whimpers at the others' side. Starlight bravely steps forward, shaking with fear, and asks, "W-what. .w-who. .a-are. . .you?" The tall creature remains hesitant at first but eventually replies, "M-my name's Leo." "I'm Starlight Glimmer," Starlight says, sticking her hoof out in greeting, which Leo takes hesitantly. "What are you?" she adds. "Um, I'm a boy," Leo states, "and this is my night fury, Asger," he gestures to the other animal, who whimpers in response. "Wait, are you. . .really a-a pony?" he adds. "Yes, I am. What happened to the portal?" Starlight asks, suddenly realizing that her one-way ticket out of her terrible life was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, you mean that shiny thing in the air?" he asks innocentlyWell, I think it disappeared when we went through it." "Oh, really?" Starlight asks, suddenly growing impatient, "Well, why in Equestria did you go through it?! I could have been out of here, but you just had to ruin everything!" she shouts, startling the duo. They crawl further back into the corner of the room, looking terrified, but Starlight does not notice. I can't believe my luck! she fumes to herself, Of course something like this would happen, preventing me from going away and leaving me stuck here with these freaks! she adds as she looks over at Leo and Asger. What she sees, however, is something she is not expecting; Leo holding his dragon for comfort, eyes sparkling with tears, with Asger almost consoling him. "I miss Mom and Dad," he whispers, sobbing softly into Asger's neck. Starlight immediately regrets her initial attitude towards the newcomers; despite having no place in a world like hers, they did not deserve such harsh treatment. After all, they had obviously been rudely stripped from wherever they came from, for which she feels personally responsible. Starlight realizes that, despite being a different species, they seem about the same age as herself and that, if she were in their position, she would probably feel just as scared and alone. "Hey, don't cry," she says softly, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, and I'm sorry about bringing you here. But, we can be friends, if you'd like?" she adds, walking over to them and taking his appendage in her hoof. Although he was not looking directly at her, Starlight could feel the smaller appendages wrapping around her hoof. A little while later, she senses Leo's chest steadily rising and falling, and realizes that they must have cried themselves to sleep. Trembling with sobs of her own, Starlight squeezes Leo's appendage slightly tighter and whispers in his ear. "Don't worry, Leo. I'll take good care of you while you're here." Chapter 2For the next few months, Starlight Glimmer watches over Leo and Asger until she can figure out a way to get them back to their home. When her parents found out about the mysterious strangers, they initially wanted nothing to do with them, but after some pleading from their daughter, they eventually agreed to put them up in an old tool shed in their backyard. Starlight would go out to the shed every day to check up on and hang out with her new friends; she would even sleep with them to keep them company. While they spend time together, Starlight learns more about the world Leo and Asger came from. "And what are those appendages on your hooves called, again?" she asks, staring at Leo's upper forearm. "These are fingers," he answers, "and this is a hand. And these are my feet," he adds, wiggling his lower forelegs, "which have toes on them." "Fascinating!" Starlight says with wonder, "Everypony I know just has hooves." "Everypony?" Leo says, tilting his head in confusion. "Oh, sorry," Starlight apologizes for misspeaking, "You guys say 'everybody,' right?" "It's okay," Leo says, "It's no big de-what was that, Asger?" he suddenly looks over at his friend and they seem to have a mental conversation with each other. Eventually, Leo turns back to Starlight. "Asger wants to know why your mom and dad look at us funny?" Leo says innocently. Starlight gulps, "Well, its because you're a bit - different, from everypony I know." "I know that," he chuckles, "but I think he meant why they look so - angry - whenever they see us?" "Well, they've never been the most welcoming sort of ponies," she sighs sadly, "especially to outsiders. They've lived almost their entire lives here, so anypony who comes from anywhere other than this village means trouble in their eyes." "Oh, I guess that makes sense," Leo comments, then looks at Asger as they have another mental conversation, the only indication being Leo's occassional change of expression. "How do you do that?" Starlight asks Leo. "Do what?" he asks, "Oh, you mean talk to Asger? I've always been able to, at least for as long as I can remember. He doesn't understand the words everybody else uses, so I tell them to him in my mind. Back home, I was the only one who could understand what he was saying." "Wow, that's amazing!" Starlight says, "Tell me more about where you came from! I mean, if you don't mind, of course." "Okay, well," Leo begins to say, "I grew up in a place called New York City, in Manhattan, specifically. Lots of tall buildings called skyscrapers." "Hey, that sounds kind of like Manehattan," she says. "Yeah, but we didn't live in any fancy skyscrapers," he says, "My family lived in a small apartment building a few blocks away from where I would go to school. We moved around a lot, though, because of my dad's job." "What did he do?" she asks. "He was a journalist for newspapers," Leo explains, "and he would move from job to job all over. He wasn't in any of the big newspapers, like the New York Times." "Interesting," Starlight comments, "I think we have something similar, called the Manehattan Chronicles." "I guess," Leo says, "So, what do your parents do?" "My dad's a buisnesspony," she explains, "and my mom works the bakery. You can tell by their cutie marks." "What's a 'cutie mark'?" he asks. "Well, it's a-" she begins to say by looking down at her flank, then realizes that she is still a blank flank. All of a sudden, the memories of a few months ago flood her mind and cloud her vision; when she looks up, however, she realizes that tears are clouding her vision, not the memories. "Are you okay, Starlight?" Leo asks; even Asger seems concerned. "No, i-it's nothing, I," Starlight responds, wiping her eyes clear, "I just don't really feel like talking about it." "Hey, it's alright," Leo says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "I'm here for you, just like you're here for me and Asger. You don't have to feel sad with us around," he adds as Asger stands up and sits down beside Starlight, nuzzling her side. Starlight chuckles, "Thanks, guys." She pauses for a moment, "Basically, a cutie mark dictates what you will do for the rest of your life, whether it's staying here and doing all the hard jobs or going away to learn about magic and having fun." "That doesn't seem fair," Leo says, "Where I'm from, people get to choose what they want to do when they grow up, and they go to school and get degrees and stuff. In fact," he lifts Starlight's chin up, "it's probably better that you don't have your cutie mark." "What do you mean?" Starlight asks. "Well, if you don't have something that tells you what you're suposed to do," he explains, "then that means you get to try anything you want to do; there's nothing to keep you away from getting what you want." "I-I guess you're right, Leo!" Starlight exclaims, hugging him hard, "I can do anything I want! Thank you!" "Hey, that's what friends are for," Leo says, returning the gesture as they hold each other, silently comforting one another for their problems. Chapter 3Despite her parents’ ill manners towards their new company, Starlight enjoys spending time with Leo and Asger. As they spend more time talking together, she finds more qualities and querks that they share, even though they are different races of creatures. What worries her is that Leo and Asger are becoming restless from being confined to one area for so long; one thing she found out about them is that they prefer to explore rather than stay in one place. Starlight tries to reason with them, that other ponies will not accept their kind, but they keep insisting that they want to see the world around them. Finally, after several days like this, Starlight approaches Leo and Asger one day with a surprise. “What is it?” Leo asks excitedly. “Well, I’ve been studying a spell that will allow you both to get out and roam around!” she says, equally as excited. “Hooray! Did you hear that, Asger?” Leo exclaims while his pet bounces around the shed happily. “Granted, this spell will only last for a couple of hours,” Starlight explains hesitantly, “but don’t worry. I’ll be with you the entire time, so I will let you know when the spell is wearing off.” “Okay, sure,” Leo says, “Now let’s get going! I’ve been dying to get out of here!” “Alright, here goes nothing!” Starlight says as she performs the spell. Leo and Asger suddenly become enveloped in a pink glow as they begin to transform; their hands and feet turn into hooves and their bodies shrink to her size. When she is finished, they look more pony-like, but Leo keeps his clothes and Asger retains his wide snout. “Well, it’s not perfect,” Starlight says, admiring her work, “but I’m sure it will be fine.” “Wow, this feels. . .weird,” Leo says, looking down at his hooves, as Asger purrs in agreement. “Don’t worry, you guys look great,” she says as she leads them out into the main road, “Alright, here we go!” she adds as they step out into the street. Leo and Asger stare around in awe, taking in as much of their surroundings as they can; the hustle and bustle of the village, the smell of freshly baked pastries, and fillies playing games in the street. Starlight decides to take them to the library first; upon entering, the librarian instantly perks up. “Good morning, Starlight,” he greets warmly, “I see you’ve finally made some new friends!” “I sure have!” Starlight returns the gesture, “This is Leo and Asger.” “How’d’ you do!” the librarian turns to the newcomers. “Hello!” Leo says while Asger nods in greeting. “They just got in from Manehatan, so I’m showing them around town,” Starlight explains. “Well, feel free to have a look around, young ones,” the librarian says, “We don’t bite – well, not much, at least,” she adds with a wink as Starlight leads Leo and Asger towards her favorite sections. For the rest of the day, Starlight shows her new friends all of her favorite things to do around town, from playing hopscotch to sharing laughs over turnovers. Starlight cannot remember a time when she had been happier to be with anypony else – not recently, at least. She never even thought about all the hardships she faced a few weeks ago or the heartbreak she felt over Sunburst leaving. She has so much fun, in fact, that she completely loses track of time; just as they finish eating their treats, Starlight notices a faint glow emitting from Leo and Asger’s bodies. “Oh no, the spell!” she exclaims and suddenly pushes them into a dark alleyway. “Hey, what’s going on?” Leo asks. “Shsh!” Starlight says, “The spell is wearing off! Just wait here until the coast is clear; I’ll let you know when.” She steps out from the alley to keep watch when she runs into somepony else; she looks up into the muzzle of Dark Wing, one of the biggest bullies in her school, surrounded by his friends. “Well, look who it is,” Dark Wing exclaims, “Lil’ Gilm-Glam out an’ about, ey? I thought Mommy and Daddy didn’t let you out of the house anymore, after your little breakdown?” he finishes laughing in her face. “Nice to see you too, Dark Wing,” Starlight groans, “Don’t you have some colts to bully around or something?” “Schedule’s clean today, baby,” he sneers, “And you’re the only one around, so I guess this is your lucky day.” Suddenly, they hear a low growl coming from the alleyway, “W-What was that?” Dark Wing stammers. “Uh, n-nothing,” Starlight says hastily, “Now, why don’t you just get out of here, Dark Wing!” she adds, pushing him back. The other colts coo teasingly while Dark Wing recovers. “Oh, I’m just getting started with you, little punk!” he says, throwing Starlight forcefully to the ground. Suddenly, Asger, returned to his full night fury glory, leaps out from the alley and stands over Starlight, staring menacingly at the bullies. “Asger, stop!” Leo emerges from the alley, looking human again. The bullies gasp in horror at the newcomers and gallop quickly away. All the commotion the group caused turns quite a few heads, but Leo and Asger’s appearance receives attention from the entire village. “What in Equestria are those things?!” a shopkeeper exclaims. “They’re going to eat us!” another calls from behind a sign. “Starlight Glimmer, get away from those things!” the librarian calls out from the entrance. Leo and Asger take the brunt of the insults and cower in fear, but Starlight bravely stands her ground to the villagers. “No, I won’t leave them!” she shouts, “They’re my friends!” “But they’re monsters!” the librarian shouts back. “No they’re not!” Starlight retorts, “They’re kind and sweet and – well, a lot nicer than most of you!” Suddenly, the local police force arrives with riot shields and batons, completely blocking both ends of the street. “Young lady, step away from the creatures while we apprehend them!” one of the officers calls out. Starlight looks both ways down the street at the lines of police ponies and makes her decision; “NO, I won’t let you hurt them!” she screams and shoots down the alleyway, with Leo and Asger close behind. They eventually make it back to her house before anypony else can catch them. To her dismay, however, her parents block the doorway leading inside. “Oh no you don’t!” her mother says, “We warned you about taking in these – things – but you just wouldn’t listen, would you?” “How could you have done this to us?” her father exclaims, “Did you ever stop to think about how this will affect our reputations?” “Mom, dad, please, this isn’t the time!” Starlight says, “We need to hide because everypony in town is after Leo and Asger!” “I can’t believe how selfish you’re acting,” her mother says vehemently, “We tried to raise you right, but we clearly failed!” “You certainly won’t be staying here anymore!” her father adds, “And to think you could ever be our daughter after this stunt.” Starlight Glimmer stands there, horrified, tears pouring from her eyes, “Fine! I don’t need you guys anyway!” she shouts and runs away, with Leo and Asger in tow. Asger picks both of them up onto his back and climbs high away from their old home, with Starlight sobbing into the wind. * * * * My life is officially a complete mess, Starlight thinks somberly to herself as she, Leo, and Asger trudge along the outskirts of Equestria. Basnished from my town and my home, nowhere to go, she continues, I don’t deserve to live like this. “Um, Starlight,” Leo asks, “Are you okay?” “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” she asks sarcastically, “I’m just a complete emotional wreck who is also a fugitive in my own home!” She says that last line a bit harsher than she intended. “S-Sorry, w-we didn’t mean to,” Leo says, and from the sound of his voice, on the verge of tears himself, “We only wanted to have a little fun, right Asger?” he asks his pet, who whimpers in agreement. “I’m sorry, Leo,” Starlight says comfortingly, “I didn’t mean to get angry; I guess I had it coming for a while. But please don’t blame yourselves,” she adds, holding her hoof under his chin, “I would have done it again in a heartbeat. You guys are, like, my closest friends-” Leo smiles gratefully “-well, my only friends now, I guess,” she chuckles lightheartedly. “So, what do we do now?” Leo asks, “Where should we go?” “Well, my village is pretty small,” Starlight thinks aloud, “So, word about you guys probably hasn’t spread very far yet. Maybe we should-“ she suddenly looks down into a valley and spies an abandoned-looking house; they crawl down the mountainside and take a look around. With no other settlements for miles, the house stands completely isolated from other ponies – other ponies, Starlight thinks to herself, who won’t be able to judge us. For being an abandoned house, she observes, the house is in pretty fair condition; “We could stay here for a little while,” she offers to the other two. “Um, I don’t know,” Leo says hesitantly, “How will we get food? How will we live all the way out here?” “How about we sleep here for the night; it’s getting pretty late,” Starlight says, noticing the sunset, “We can work it out more tomorrow. What do you say?” Leo ponders for a moment before consulting with Asger in their secret language; finally, he looks up and says “Okay, that seems fair.” So they settle in for the night; as Asger collapses with exahaustion and Leo prepares for bed, he notices Starlight curled up in a corner of the main room, looking tired and dejected. Feeling sorry for her, he walks over and picks her up around her waist. “Hey, what are you doing?” she asks surprised, but calms down when he sets her beside Asger. “You should sleep with us,” Leo says warmly, “You could use a friend or two right now. Now come on, make some room, Asger!” Asger playfully scoots over to allow Leo between him and Starlight. She begins to relax a little when Leo wraps his arm around Starlight and whispers in her ear “Good night, sis.” Starlight sits speechless as the other two doze off. Being an only child, she never really knew anypony well enough to consider them as more than just a friend. With tears of joy in her eyes this time, Starlight finally settles in and falls asleep, whispering in reply “Good night, brother.” Chapter 43 years later. . . Starlight wakes from her slumber, wiping the fatigue from her eyes, as she goes through her daily morning stretching. When she finishes, she looks around their once-abandoned-turned-humble abode, once again admiring how far she, Leo, and Asger have come since being banished from her village. Since they settled down, they managed to fix the house up to its former glory, patching up holes and making it feel more welcoming. Despite not knowing much about carpentry, Leo and Asger were more than happy to help, which Starlight did not mind since Leo was still a fair bit taller than she was, even though she was older. Starlight looks out the window of the house’s only bedroom upon their little town; ever since they arrived, ponies from all over had happened upon the house, looking to start a new life, as well. Their main house had become so crowded that, with Leo and Asger’s help, they built several smaller cottages in rows on either side of the house, creating their own village of sorts. The other ponies were initially hesitant of Leo and Asger, but they managed to grow on the townsponies over time, so Starlight does not have to worry about hiding them from anypony. “Starlight? You up yet?” Leo, who must have woken up earlier and ate breakfast already, calls from downstairs. “Coming!” she shouts back as she brushes her bed-head away and makes her way downstairs. When she first met the duo, Starlight had to get up on a chair just to reach Leo’s shoulders when he stood. Now that she is almost a fully-grown mare, she can easily walk by and brush his shoulders with her head without standing. Even so, she still does not quite size up to Asger, who is almost three times as big as both her and Leo. “We weren’t sure when you’d be up,” Leo says, “so we made you breakfast.” He holds out a tray of her favorite breakfast foods – eggs, “Oh my, thank you guys!” Starlight says appreciatively as she digs into her plate, “What’s the occasion?” “N-nothing,” Leo says, stammering a little, “Why does there need to be an occasion for us to make you breakfast?” She looks up, a sly grin on her face, “Because I know you both better than that. So, what do you want?” she asks playfully. Leo looks down at Asger then nervously up at Starlight, “Well, um, we were wondering. . . .there’s not a whole lot to do around here, and Asger really wants to stretch his wings, so. .” “So, what?” Starlight looks up again, this time looking confused. “Can we please go and visit another town or something?” he suddenly blurts out. Starlight gasps, a look of shock on her face, “Why would you want to leave?” “I-It’s nothing against you, Star,” he recovers himself, “It’s just that, well, we’re not all that used to staying in one place for years on end. We like to travel, and while things here are great, we’d really like to meet new ponies.” “But you’ve got everything you could ever need here!” she counters, “Besides, don’t you remember what happened the last time I took you guys out in public?” “Yes, but we weren’t being careful that time,” he says, “I – we – promise that we’ll take extra good care not to reveal ourselves. Please Starlight,” Leo adds, kneeling down to beg at her hooves, “We’d really love it if you said yes.” Both he and Asger then look up at her with what she calls their “baby faces.” Starlight considers for a moment, “Ugh, OK, I guess you can go, so long as you’re careful.” She is suddenly swept up by Leo into a fierce yet appreciative hug. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou Star!” Leo exclaims as Asger bounces happily around them, “Don’t worry, we’ve done some research, and we know the perfect place to go!” “Wait, when, wh-what?” Starlight tries to ask in her flustered state. “It’s a town south of here called Ponyville,” Leo explains, “Everypony here in the village says that it’s the friendliest town in all of Equestria!” “Well, I guess that’s alright,” she begins to say when Leo interrupts her again. “This is gonna be great!” Leo exclaims, jumping into action, “Come on Asger, let’s go!” They run outside and Leo starts to climb on Asger’s back when Starlight stands in front of them. “Hold on, where do you think you’re going?” she demands. “We’re going to Ponyville,” Leo says, “You said we could!” “Yes, but I didn’t think right now,” she retorts, “Remember when you promised me you’ll be careful?” “Yes,” he replies. “Well, there are certain things I want you to do before you set off so I know you’ll be careful,” Starlight says; when she sees Leo’s face droop, she pulls him into a hug, “Sorry, but I just want you to be safe; I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you two.” “Alright,” Leo finally agrees, “What do you want us to do?” * * * * “Really, Star? This again?” Leo asks, staring down at his hooves. “Trust me,” Starlight says, blowing the remnants of her aura away from her horn, “The spell should last considerably longer this time.” She looks them over and admires her handiwork yet again; both Leo and Asger wear their ponified disguises from before, though she knows that the strength of the spell should last throughout their visit to Ponyville. “Now, there’s a station not too far from here,” she says, giving them their tickets, “If I’m right, there should be a train arriving in half an hour, which should give you plenty of time to get there.” “Alright, alright, we get it,” Leo says impatiently, “Now can we go?” “OK, I guess you’re all set,” Starlight says, Just be careful who you talk to. If there’s something I’ve learned over the years,” she adds ominously, “you never know who you can trust.” “OK, Star,” Leo chuckles and gives her a hug goodbye, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? It’ll be fun!” “No, I’d better not,” she says, “Somepony needs to stay behind and make sure things are alright here.” Se squeezes Leo a bit tighter, “Please be safe you two.” “We will, don’t worry about us,” he says reassuringly, “Come on, Asger!” he says as they spread their wings and take flight, waving one last goodbye to their adopted sister. Well, that was certainly overkill, don’t you think? Asger says to Leo. Hey, cut her a little slack, Leo retorts, Be thankful she made us pegasi so we can fly to the station instead of making us walk with her there. Oh yeah, she sure showed restraint there, Asger says sarcastically. Listen, I know Star can get a little overprotective at times, Leo tells his friend, Trust me, I wish we had more freedom, too. But, considering where we came from, I’d say we’ve got things pretty good here, don’t you? Asger was silent for a moment. Yeah, I guess so, he finally agrees. So let’s just make the best of it while we’re here, Leo continues, Besides, we’re finally getting to see more of this world. Aren’t you excited about that? Of course, Asger says to him. Alright, so get the lead out, buddy, Leo says slyly, Or you’ll be eating my dust! And he zips ahead of Asger before he can reply. Asger smiles and quickly follow suit as they head out on their new adventure.
Chapter 1In a humble little town in East Equestria, everypony in the local library is suddenly startled by a loud banging amongst the shelves. The librarian quickly trots over to the source of the ruckus and sees a lone unicorn filly with twin ponytails walking solemnly through the aisles, pulling books off their stands with her magic as she passes them. "Starlight Glimmer!" the librarian says, "What in Equestria are you doing?" The filly looks back at him and sees the mess she created, "Oh dear, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to!" she stammers as she begins to pick up the books she disturbed while the librarian grumbles angrily as he helps her. As they work, he fails to notice Starlight's tear-stained cheeks or red eyes; in fact, not many ponies in town have noticed her after everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks. . . * * * * "Wh-What do you mean you're moving?" Starlight asks the orange-coated colt standing on her doorstep. "They're sending me to Canterlot," he replies, "To Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns." "B-But that's so far away!" she says, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I know, but I don't really have a choice," he continues, "My parents say that a cutie mark is a wondrous thing, and whatever direction it takes me, they say I should follow it no matter what." "But Sunburst," the filly pleads with her friend, "What about all the things we said we would do together? Like practice our magic or hang out after school?" "I guess you'll just have to find somepony else to do those things with you," he suggests, "I'm sorry, but I should be going. the train for Canterlot leaves tomorrow, and I still need to pack." He begins trotting away from the door. "Sunburst, wait!" Starlight calls out, the tears finally escaping as rain begins to fall. "Goodbye, Starlight!" Sunburst calls back to his friend before galloping away for shelter, leaving a heart-broken filly in his wake. * * * * How can they be so wondrous if they can tear ponies apart like that? Starlight asks herself as she continues her walk around the library, paying closer attention to keeping her magical outbursts to a minimum. Ever since Sunburst left, she spends most of her time hiding from the world amongst her new friends: books. She finds that they are the only ones who will not judge her for what happened that dreadful day; even her own parents refuse to speak to her anymore. "But you're so much better than him at magic, and he got his cutie mark before you did?!" they had said when they found out about Sunburst's new development. "Well, there must be something wrong with you, then," they added, and since then, they rarely even acknowledged her, as if they were ashamed of their failure of a daughter. Starlight tries to forget everything that had happened by burying her face in the words of others, but nothing can keep the nagging voices in her head away. Something must be wrong with you, then; how can you live with yourself?; cutie marks are wondrous things. That last one still gets to her, and whenever she thinks about cutie marks, she gets so upset that her magic becomes out of control, as the poor books in the library only recently found out. She secretly hopes for a way out of her predicament, a way to ensure that nopony will think of her any lesser than she deserves. As Starlight scans the various aisles, one particular book catches her eye; leather-bound and very worn, she takes the ancient book in her aura and gingerly brings it down to the floor. The cover displays stars following an inward spiral, of sorts; the title reads Spells of the Ancient Crypt by Star Swirl the Bearded. She keenly opens it and realizes that it is full of spells - both successful and failed - that Star Swirl himself attempted in his days, complete with copies of his notes about each one. Curious, she brings it up to the counter and presents it to the librarian, who monotonously checks it out for her, not caring or thinking hard about the transaction. Little does he realize the consequences of giving such a powerful book to such an equally-powerful young unicorn. Rather than wasting her days in the library, Starlight now finds herself attached to Star Swirl's spellbook, reading about nearly every single spell in existence. Spells that can remove cutie marks; spells that create new cutie marks for blank flanks; even spells that can change time themselves. In her research, she finds one particular page about a spell that can open doors to other dimensions; this becomes the primary focus of her efforts. She studies day in and out, trying to perfect the spell, called a Trans-Dimensional Spell, for her own use; she desires to open a portal to another dimension long enough for her to pass through and leave her tragic circumstances behind her. The day finally comes when Starlight will finally attempt the Trans-Dimensional Spell; all her efforts over the previous few weeks have been leading up to this moment. "Alright, here goes nothing!" she tells herself and fires up the spell, which takes most if not all of her concentration and focus. A small portal briefly opens up in front of her before quickly dissipating as quickly as it formed. More. . .focus, she thinks, forcing herself to concentrate even harder to the point that she feels like she will burst from the raw power she expels. Finally, after several minutes of concentration, she manages to create a portal stable enough to walk through. She prides herself in her accomplishment and takes one last look around her bedroom; "Goodbye, everypony," she says quietly and begins walking towards the portal. Suddenly, the portal shimmers, as if there is some sort of activity just behind it; all of a sudden, a long arm sprouting strange appendages sticks out into the room through the portal. Starlight shrieks and scrambles back, breaking her concentration on the portal and causing it to fade away; she hides behind a stack of boxes as she hears a heavy pounding on the floorboards, indicating that the creature stepped into her room. She peers nervously over the tops of the boxes to see a pair of green eyes set into a sea of black staring back at her. She jumps, scattering the boxes and revealing the intruders; one is tall and lanky with unusual skin and appendages, the other long and black with dragon wings and green eyes. They see the filly and scramble away, too, to the other side of the room; "What's that?!" the tall creature exclaims while the black creature whimpers at the others' side. Starlight bravely steps forward, shaking with fear, and asks, "W-what. .w-who. .a-are. . .you?" The tall creature remains hesitant at first but eventually replies, "M-my name's Leo." "I'm Starlight Glimmer," Starlight says, sticking her hoof out in greeting, which Leo takes hesitantly. "What are you?" she adds. "Um, I'm a boy," Leo states, "and this is my night fury, Asger," he gestures to the other animal, who whimpers in response. "Wait, are you. . .really a-a pony?" he adds. "Yes, I am. What happened to the portal?" Starlight asks, suddenly realizing that her one-way ticket out of her terrible life was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, you mean that shiny thing in the air?" he asks innocentlyWell, I think it disappeared when we went through it." "Oh, really?" Starlight asks, suddenly growing impatient, "Well, why in Equestria did you go through it?! I could have been out of here, but you just had to ruin everything!" she shouts, startling the duo. They crawl further back into the corner of the room, looking terrified, but Starlight does not notice. I can't believe my luck! she fumes to herself, Of course something like this would happen, preventing me from going away and leaving me stuck here with these freaks! she adds as she looks over at Leo and Asger. What she sees, however, is something she is not expecting; Leo holding his dragon for comfort, eyes sparkling with tears, with Asger almost consoling him. "I miss Mom and Dad," he whispers, sobbing softly into Asger's neck. Starlight immediately regrets her initial attitude towards the newcomers; despite having no place in a world like hers, they did not deserve such harsh treatment. After all, they had obviously been rudely stripped from wherever they came from, for which she feels personally responsible. Starlight realizes that, despite being a different species, they seem about the same age as herself and that, if she were in their position, she would probably feel just as scared and alone. "Hey, don't cry," she says softly, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, and I'm sorry about bringing you here. But, we can be friends, if you'd like?" she adds, walking over to them and taking his appendage in her hoof. Although he was not looking directly at her, Starlight could feel the smaller appendages wrapping around her hoof. A little while later, she senses Leo's chest steadily rising and falling, and realizes that they must have cried themselves to sleep. Trembling with sobs of her own, Starlight squeezes Leo's appendage slightly tighter and whispers in his ear. "Don't worry, Leo. I'll take good care of you while you're here."
Chapter 2For the next few months, Starlight Glimmer watches over Leo and Asger until she can figure out a way to get them back to their home. When her parents found out about the mysterious strangers, they initially wanted nothing to do with them, but after some pleading from their daughter, they eventually agreed to put them up in an old tool shed in their backyard. Starlight would go out to the shed every day to check up on and hang out with her new friends; she would even sleep with them to keep them company. While they spend time together, Starlight learns more about the world Leo and Asger came from. "And what are those appendages on your hooves called, again?" she asks, staring at Leo's upper forearm. "These are fingers," he answers, "and this is a hand. And these are my feet," he adds, wiggling his lower forelegs, "which have toes on them." "Fascinating!" Starlight says with wonder, "Everypony I know just has hooves." "Everypony?" Leo says, tilting his head in confusion. "Oh, sorry," Starlight apologizes for misspeaking, "You guys say 'everybody,' right?" "It's okay," Leo says, "It's no big de-what was that, Asger?" he suddenly looks over at his friend and they seem to have a mental conversation with each other. Eventually, Leo turns back to Starlight. "Asger wants to know why your mom and dad look at us funny?" Leo says innocently. Starlight gulps, "Well, its because you're a bit - different, from everypony I know." "I know that," he chuckles, "but I think he meant why they look so - angry - whenever they see us?" "Well, they've never been the most welcoming sort of ponies," she sighs sadly, "especially to outsiders. They've lived almost their entire lives here, so anypony who comes from anywhere other than this village means trouble in their eyes." "Oh, I guess that makes sense," Leo comments, then looks at Asger as they have another mental conversation, the only indication being Leo's occassional change of expression. "How do you do that?" Starlight asks Leo. "Do what?" he asks, "Oh, you mean talk to Asger? I've always been able to, at least for as long as I can remember. He doesn't understand the words everybody else uses, so I tell them to him in my mind. Back home, I was the only one who could understand what he was saying." "Wow, that's amazing!" Starlight says, "Tell me more about where you came from! I mean, if you don't mind, of course." "Okay, well," Leo begins to say, "I grew up in a place called New York City, in Manhattan, specifically. Lots of tall buildings called skyscrapers." "Hey, that sounds kind of like Manehattan," she says. "Yeah, but we didn't live in any fancy skyscrapers," he says, "My family lived in a small apartment building a few blocks away from where I would go to school. We moved around a lot, though, because of my dad's job." "What did he do?" she asks. "He was a journalist for newspapers," Leo explains, "and he would move from job to job all over. He wasn't in any of the big newspapers, like the New York Times." "Interesting," Starlight comments, "I think we have something similar, called the Manehattan Chronicles." "I guess," Leo says, "So, what do your parents do?" "My dad's a buisnesspony," she explains, "and my mom works the bakery. You can tell by their cutie marks." "What's a 'cutie mark'?" he asks. "Well, it's a-" she begins to say by looking down at her flank, then realizes that she is still a blank flank. All of a sudden, the memories of a few months ago flood her mind and cloud her vision; when she looks up, however, she realizes that tears are clouding her vision, not the memories. "Are you okay, Starlight?" Leo asks; even Asger seems concerned. "No, i-it's nothing, I," Starlight responds, wiping her eyes clear, "I just don't really feel like talking about it." "Hey, it's alright," Leo says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "I'm here for you, just like you're here for me and Asger. You don't have to feel sad with us around," he adds as Asger stands up and sits down beside Starlight, nuzzling her side. Starlight chuckles, "Thanks, guys." She pauses for a moment, "Basically, a cutie mark dictates what you will do for the rest of your life, whether it's staying here and doing all the hard jobs or going away to learn about magic and having fun." "That doesn't seem fair," Leo says, "Where I'm from, people get to choose what they want to do when they grow up, and they go to school and get degrees and stuff. In fact," he lifts Starlight's chin up, "it's probably better that you don't have your cutie mark." "What do you mean?" Starlight asks. "Well, if you don't have something that tells you what you're suposed to do," he explains, "then that means you get to try anything you want to do; there's nothing to keep you away from getting what you want." "I-I guess you're right, Leo!" Starlight exclaims, hugging him hard, "I can do anything I want! Thank you!" "Hey, that's what friends are for," Leo says, returning the gesture as they hold each other, silently comforting one another for their problems.
Chapter 3Despite her parents’ ill manners towards their new company, Starlight enjoys spending time with Leo and Asger. As they spend more time talking together, she finds more qualities and querks that they share, even though they are different races of creatures. What worries her is that Leo and Asger are becoming restless from being confined to one area for so long; one thing she found out about them is that they prefer to explore rather than stay in one place. Starlight tries to reason with them, that other ponies will not accept their kind, but they keep insisting that they want to see the world around them. Finally, after several days like this, Starlight approaches Leo and Asger one day with a surprise. “What is it?” Leo asks excitedly. “Well, I’ve been studying a spell that will allow you both to get out and roam around!” she says, equally as excited. “Hooray! Did you hear that, Asger?” Leo exclaims while his pet bounces around the shed happily. “Granted, this spell will only last for a couple of hours,” Starlight explains hesitantly, “but don’t worry. I’ll be with you the entire time, so I will let you know when the spell is wearing off.” “Okay, sure,” Leo says, “Now let’s get going! I’ve been dying to get out of here!” “Alright, here goes nothing!” Starlight says as she performs the spell. Leo and Asger suddenly become enveloped in a pink glow as they begin to transform; their hands and feet turn into hooves and their bodies shrink to her size. When she is finished, they look more pony-like, but Leo keeps his clothes and Asger retains his wide snout. “Well, it’s not perfect,” Starlight says, admiring her work, “but I’m sure it will be fine.” “Wow, this feels. . .weird,” Leo says, looking down at his hooves, as Asger purrs in agreement. “Don’t worry, you guys look great,” she says as she leads them out into the main road, “Alright, here we go!” she adds as they step out into the street. Leo and Asger stare around in awe, taking in as much of their surroundings as they can; the hustle and bustle of the village, the smell of freshly baked pastries, and fillies playing games in the street. Starlight decides to take them to the library first; upon entering, the librarian instantly perks up. “Good morning, Starlight,” he greets warmly, “I see you’ve finally made some new friends!” “I sure have!” Starlight returns the gesture, “This is Leo and Asger.” “How’d’ you do!” the librarian turns to the newcomers. “Hello!” Leo says while Asger nods in greeting. “They just got in from Manehatan, so I’m showing them around town,” Starlight explains. “Well, feel free to have a look around, young ones,” the librarian says, “We don’t bite – well, not much, at least,” she adds with a wink as Starlight leads Leo and Asger towards her favorite sections. For the rest of the day, Starlight shows her new friends all of her favorite things to do around town, from playing hopscotch to sharing laughs over turnovers. Starlight cannot remember a time when she had been happier to be with anypony else – not recently, at least. She never even thought about all the hardships she faced a few weeks ago or the heartbreak she felt over Sunburst leaving. She has so much fun, in fact, that she completely loses track of time; just as they finish eating their treats, Starlight notices a faint glow emitting from Leo and Asger’s bodies. “Oh no, the spell!” she exclaims and suddenly pushes them into a dark alleyway. “Hey, what’s going on?” Leo asks. “Shsh!” Starlight says, “The spell is wearing off! Just wait here until the coast is clear; I’ll let you know when.” She steps out from the alley to keep watch when she runs into somepony else; she looks up into the muzzle of Dark Wing, one of the biggest bullies in her school, surrounded by his friends. “Well, look who it is,” Dark Wing exclaims, “Lil’ Gilm-Glam out an’ about, ey? I thought Mommy and Daddy didn’t let you out of the house anymore, after your little breakdown?” he finishes laughing in her face. “Nice to see you too, Dark Wing,” Starlight groans, “Don’t you have some colts to bully around or something?” “Schedule’s clean today, baby,” he sneers, “And you’re the only one around, so I guess this is your lucky day.” Suddenly, they hear a low growl coming from the alleyway, “W-What was that?” Dark Wing stammers. “Uh, n-nothing,” Starlight says hastily, “Now, why don’t you just get out of here, Dark Wing!” she adds, pushing him back. The other colts coo teasingly while Dark Wing recovers. “Oh, I’m just getting started with you, little punk!” he says, throwing Starlight forcefully to the ground. Suddenly, Asger, returned to his full night fury glory, leaps out from the alley and stands over Starlight, staring menacingly at the bullies. “Asger, stop!” Leo emerges from the alley, looking human again. The bullies gasp in horror at the newcomers and gallop quickly away. All the commotion the group caused turns quite a few heads, but Leo and Asger’s appearance receives attention from the entire village. “What in Equestria are those things?!” a shopkeeper exclaims. “They’re going to eat us!” another calls from behind a sign. “Starlight Glimmer, get away from those things!” the librarian calls out from the entrance. Leo and Asger take the brunt of the insults and cower in fear, but Starlight bravely stands her ground to the villagers. “No, I won’t leave them!” she shouts, “They’re my friends!” “But they’re monsters!” the librarian shouts back. “No they’re not!” Starlight retorts, “They’re kind and sweet and – well, a lot nicer than most of you!” Suddenly, the local police force arrives with riot shields and batons, completely blocking both ends of the street. “Young lady, step away from the creatures while we apprehend them!” one of the officers calls out. Starlight looks both ways down the street at the lines of police ponies and makes her decision; “NO, I won’t let you hurt them!” she screams and shoots down the alleyway, with Leo and Asger close behind. They eventually make it back to her house before anypony else can catch them. To her dismay, however, her parents block the doorway leading inside. “Oh no you don’t!” her mother says, “We warned you about taking in these – things – but you just wouldn’t listen, would you?” “How could you have done this to us?” her father exclaims, “Did you ever stop to think about how this will affect our reputations?” “Mom, dad, please, this isn’t the time!” Starlight says, “We need to hide because everypony in town is after Leo and Asger!” “I can’t believe how selfish you’re acting,” her mother says vehemently, “We tried to raise you right, but we clearly failed!” “You certainly won’t be staying here anymore!” her father adds, “And to think you could ever be our daughter after this stunt.” Starlight Glimmer stands there, horrified, tears pouring from her eyes, “Fine! I don’t need you guys anyway!” she shouts and runs away, with Leo and Asger in tow. Asger picks both of them up onto his back and climbs high away from their old home, with Starlight sobbing into the wind. * * * * My life is officially a complete mess, Starlight thinks somberly to herself as she, Leo, and Asger trudge along the outskirts of Equestria. Basnished from my town and my home, nowhere to go, she continues, I don’t deserve to live like this. “Um, Starlight,” Leo asks, “Are you okay?” “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” she asks sarcastically, “I’m just a complete emotional wreck who is also a fugitive in my own home!” She says that last line a bit harsher than she intended. “S-Sorry, w-we didn’t mean to,” Leo says, and from the sound of his voice, on the verge of tears himself, “We only wanted to have a little fun, right Asger?” he asks his pet, who whimpers in agreement. “I’m sorry, Leo,” Starlight says comfortingly, “I didn’t mean to get angry; I guess I had it coming for a while. But please don’t blame yourselves,” she adds, holding her hoof under his chin, “I would have done it again in a heartbeat. You guys are, like, my closest friends-” Leo smiles gratefully “-well, my only friends now, I guess,” she chuckles lightheartedly. “So, what do we do now?” Leo asks, “Where should we go?” “Well, my village is pretty small,” Starlight thinks aloud, “So, word about you guys probably hasn’t spread very far yet. Maybe we should-“ she suddenly looks down into a valley and spies an abandoned-looking house; they crawl down the mountainside and take a look around. With no other settlements for miles, the house stands completely isolated from other ponies – other ponies, Starlight thinks to herself, who won’t be able to judge us. For being an abandoned house, she observes, the house is in pretty fair condition; “We could stay here for a little while,” she offers to the other two. “Um, I don’t know,” Leo says hesitantly, “How will we get food? How will we live all the way out here?” “How about we sleep here for the night; it’s getting pretty late,” Starlight says, noticing the sunset, “We can work it out more tomorrow. What do you say?” Leo ponders for a moment before consulting with Asger in their secret language; finally, he looks up and says “Okay, that seems fair.” So they settle in for the night; as Asger collapses with exahaustion and Leo prepares for bed, he notices Starlight curled up in a corner of the main room, looking tired and dejected. Feeling sorry for her, he walks over and picks her up around her waist. “Hey, what are you doing?” she asks surprised, but calms down when he sets her beside Asger. “You should sleep with us,” Leo says warmly, “You could use a friend or two right now. Now come on, make some room, Asger!” Asger playfully scoots over to allow Leo between him and Starlight. She begins to relax a little when Leo wraps his arm around Starlight and whispers in her ear “Good night, sis.” Starlight sits speechless as the other two doze off. Being an only child, she never really knew anypony well enough to consider them as more than just a friend. With tears of joy in her eyes this time, Starlight finally settles in and falls asleep, whispering in reply “Good night, brother.”
Chapter 43 years later. . . Starlight wakes from her slumber, wiping the fatigue from her eyes, as she goes through her daily morning stretching. When she finishes, she looks around their once-abandoned-turned-humble abode, once again admiring how far she, Leo, and Asger have come since being banished from her village. Since they settled down, they managed to fix the house up to its former glory, patching up holes and making it feel more welcoming. Despite not knowing much about carpentry, Leo and Asger were more than happy to help, which Starlight did not mind since Leo was still a fair bit taller than she was, even though she was older. Starlight looks out the window of the house’s only bedroom upon their little town; ever since they arrived, ponies from all over had happened upon the house, looking to start a new life, as well. Their main house had become so crowded that, with Leo and Asger’s help, they built several smaller cottages in rows on either side of the house, creating their own village of sorts. The other ponies were initially hesitant of Leo and Asger, but they managed to grow on the townsponies over time, so Starlight does not have to worry about hiding them from anypony. “Starlight? You up yet?” Leo, who must have woken up earlier and ate breakfast already, calls from downstairs. “Coming!” she shouts back as she brushes her bed-head away and makes her way downstairs. When she first met the duo, Starlight had to get up on a chair just to reach Leo’s shoulders when he stood. Now that she is almost a fully-grown mare, she can easily walk by and brush his shoulders with her head without standing. Even so, she still does not quite size up to Asger, who is almost three times as big as both her and Leo. “We weren’t sure when you’d be up,” Leo says, “so we made you breakfast.” He holds out a tray of her favorite breakfast foods – eggs, “Oh my, thank you guys!” Starlight says appreciatively as she digs into her plate, “What’s the occasion?” “N-nothing,” Leo says, stammering a little, “Why does there need to be an occasion for us to make you breakfast?” She looks up, a sly grin on her face, “Because I know you both better than that. So, what do you want?” she asks playfully. Leo looks down at Asger then nervously up at Starlight, “Well, um, we were wondering. . . .there’s not a whole lot to do around here, and Asger really wants to stretch his wings, so. .” “So, what?” Starlight looks up again, this time looking confused. “Can we please go and visit another town or something?” he suddenly blurts out. Starlight gasps, a look of shock on her face, “Why would you want to leave?” “I-It’s nothing against you, Star,” he recovers himself, “It’s just that, well, we’re not all that used to staying in one place for years on end. We like to travel, and while things here are great, we’d really like to meet new ponies.” “But you’ve got everything you could ever need here!” she counters, “Besides, don’t you remember what happened the last time I took you guys out in public?” “Yes, but we weren’t being careful that time,” he says, “I – we – promise that we’ll take extra good care not to reveal ourselves. Please Starlight,” Leo adds, kneeling down to beg at her hooves, “We’d really love it if you said yes.” Both he and Asger then look up at her with what she calls their “baby faces.” Starlight considers for a moment, “Ugh, OK, I guess you can go, so long as you’re careful.” She is suddenly swept up by Leo into a fierce yet appreciative hug. “Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou Star!” Leo exclaims as Asger bounces happily around them, “Don’t worry, we’ve done some research, and we know the perfect place to go!” “Wait, when, wh-what?” Starlight tries to ask in her flustered state. “It’s a town south of here called Ponyville,” Leo explains, “Everypony here in the village says that it’s the friendliest town in all of Equestria!” “Well, I guess that’s alright,” she begins to say when Leo interrupts her again. “This is gonna be great!” Leo exclaims, jumping into action, “Come on Asger, let’s go!” They run outside and Leo starts to climb on Asger’s back when Starlight stands in front of them. “Hold on, where do you think you’re going?” she demands. “We’re going to Ponyville,” Leo says, “You said we could!” “Yes, but I didn’t think right now,” she retorts, “Remember when you promised me you’ll be careful?” “Yes,” he replies. “Well, there are certain things I want you to do before you set off so I know you’ll be careful,” Starlight says; when she sees Leo’s face droop, she pulls him into a hug, “Sorry, but I just want you to be safe; I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you two.” “Alright,” Leo finally agrees, “What do you want us to do?” * * * * “Really, Star? This again?” Leo asks, staring down at his hooves. “Trust me,” Starlight says, blowing the remnants of her aura away from her horn, “The spell should last considerably longer this time.” She looks them over and admires her handiwork yet again; both Leo and Asger wear their ponified disguises from before, though she knows that the strength of the spell should last throughout their visit to Ponyville. “Now, there’s a station not too far from here,” she says, giving them their tickets, “If I’m right, there should be a train arriving in half an hour, which should give you plenty of time to get there.” “Alright, alright, we get it,” Leo says impatiently, “Now can we go?” “OK, I guess you’re all set,” Starlight says, Just be careful who you talk to. If there’s something I’ve learned over the years,” she adds ominously, “you never know who you can trust.” “OK, Star,” Leo chuckles and gives her a hug goodbye, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us? It’ll be fun!” “No, I’d better not,” she says, “Somepony needs to stay behind and make sure things are alright here.” Se squeezes Leo a bit tighter, “Please be safe you two.” “We will, don’t worry about us,” he says reassuringly, “Come on, Asger!” he says as they spread their wings and take flight, waving one last goodbye to their adopted sister. Well, that was certainly overkill, don’t you think? Asger says to Leo. Hey, cut her a little slack, Leo retorts, Be thankful she made us pegasi so we can fly to the station instead of making us walk with her there. Oh yeah, she sure showed restraint there, Asger says sarcastically. Listen, I know Star can get a little overprotective at times, Leo tells his friend, Trust me, I wish we had more freedom, too. But, considering where we came from, I’d say we’ve got things pretty good here, don’t you? Asger was silent for a moment. Yeah, I guess so, he finally agrees. So let’s just make the best of it while we’re here, Leo continues, Besides, we’re finally getting to see more of this world. Aren’t you excited about that? Of course, Asger says to him. Alright, so get the lead out, buddy, Leo says slyly, Or you’ll be eating my dust! And he zips ahead of Asger before he can reply. Asger smiles and quickly follow suit as they head out on their new adventure.
