The Light of the Star

3 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.