Chapter 0 - Sudden Arrival
Nicholas races in through the glass doors and down the hall before him. His shoes squeak annoyingly with every step, as the rain water upon them smears against the hard tiling of the pale floor. He doesn’t notice it through the music playing out of his earbuds. He removes the earbuds to put them away in his pocket as he turns down the next corridor. The song “Babs Seed” from My Little Pony is heard from his phone, as he forgot to mute the volume before unplugging the earbuds. Others in the hallway stare, their gazes irritated by the sudden interruption of music and shoe-squeaking.
“Gah! Sorry,” yelps Nicholas, as he hurriedly tries to find the volume buttons on his phone. In the panic he slips and quickly smacks down onto the floor. His jacket’s hood opens and covers his head, but he pushes it back into place on his neck. The weight of his backpack and all of it’s textbooks hold him down as he checks his phone screen for cracks. As he gets up, he checks to make sure he didn’t drop anything else such as his wallet. He begins to notice a slight ringing in his ears for a second and a light headache begins in his skull. Ouch...
“Are you okay, man?” A stranger asks, lowering his phone and turning towards him.
“Uh, yeah. Thank you.” Nicholas checks his wrist watch as he sets back on his course down the next hallway. 11:58 am. He has less than two minutes to make it to class. He normally wouldn’t be worried, except that today he was about to take the Chemistry II Third Exam and needed all the time he could get beforehand. Nicholas isn’t too worried about his grade in this class since he has the highest grade, but about his overall GPA this semester. If he underperforms in school, he is likely to lose his scholarship and be forced to drop out of college half way through. Until he works a labor job to earn the money to come back, that is. Needless to say, his family back home would not let him forget that for the rest of his life. Though neither would he.
Nicholas is a dedicated student. His goal is not just to get an A. He finds it personally unacceptable to let someone get a higher grade than him. He refuses to become a side-character and is ready to earn his place above his competition, where he belongs. Nicholas wants to live up to the expectations placed on him by his family. To stand out from his classmates. To stand out from his siblings. To stand out in general. Nicholas deserves respect and he will fight for it. As he thinks over this in his head, his heart begins racing as he feels energy pumping through him. Haha, I need to calm down. It’s just an exam.
Nicholas slows himself as he approaches one of the lecture hall doors. Alright. He takes a breath to slow his heart rate then opens the door. He first checks if the professor has handed out any exams yet. She has not. He now checks if his favorite seat is taken. It is. This is likely due to the assigned spread-out seating during exams. He takes a seat that has an empty space on either side to extend the checkered pattern of students across the room. He rests his jacket on the seat’s back and turns off his phone. As he reaches for his Chem II notebook, he hears his professor speak up in her aged, crisp voice.
“Alright folks, we have an exam to get through today so put away your papers, turn off your devices, and don’t forget to write your number at the top of your exam when it's passed to you. You will have 75 minutes to complete the 15 questions. Um, there’s a free seat back there, Miss. You are all required to-” Nicholas tuned the rest out to close his eyes and concentrate on rehearsing the information he would probably be asked to recite. He plans to write it all down on the front page immediately to make sure he doesn’t forget it after a few problems.
Calm down. It’s fine. Take a breath. He arches his back out and reaches forward in a long stretch. It pops. As he closes his eyes, he leans back and lets the sound of the professor slowly walking closer, row by row, and the soft wiping of papers across the tables wash over him and become the only thing he senses. He matches his breathing to her slow footsteps across the room. The harmonic rhythm syncing together seems to put him in some sort of relaxed trance. He often finds light meditation such as this helpful before an exam.
After a few seconds he notices something off. The pattern of sounds he had been vibing to had changed. They became more spirratic, yet also different in general. The room had also grown warmer in this brief pass of time. The sound of his professor’s footsteps had ceased to approach him, though he still hears the rhythmic patter of a soft clapping sound. He tilts his head toward the noise and opens his eyes to see a bright azure sky bordered with treetops above him. He locates the sound as a bird pecking from one of the tree branches. Oh, okay. He closes his eyes again before snapping out of his trance. Confusion and fear pulse through him. What? He slowly begins feeling grass against his back. After a moment, he builds up the courage to open his eyes again. He is no longer in the lecture hall.
He peeks around for any danger before moving but finds nothing other than bushes and trees. He’s laying in a thin clearing in a forest. The trees loom up high above him, with foliage and various plant life surrounding the clearing. The warm sun presses against his face.
He rolls on his side to place down an arm for leverage, but notices a furry yellow sleeve covering it. What am I wearing? He leans and goes to place his other arm down to lift up, but halts when he realizes something off with his limbs. Are my elbows… backwards? He tries to shoot up onto his legs, but loses his balance and falls back onto his side.
What’s happening? I don’t understand. He manages to get up on all fours before realizing that his legs are about the same length as his arms. Umm. He turns his head to gaze at his body and notices a shiny white tail. His feet meet in a more cylindrical shape than usual. He looks around at his surroundings, listening to the soft melody of the morning birds and the woodpecker from earlier as they fail to calm him.
Am I a horse? Nicholas tries to turn around to look at himself, but continuously falls. This is so… odd. After a moment, he manages to adapt to his legs enough to successfully spin. He is definitely a horse. He sits down and looks up at the sky. After a moment of pondering his situation, something hits him.
“My exam!” He shouts, hopping up and looking around quickly as some birds fly away from him, startled. I really need to wake up, I can’t sleep through this. I can’t sleep through this. He closes his eyes to listen to the woodland sounds once again. Water. He stumbles his way towards the sound of flowing water to come across a shallow creek flowing before him.
Before diving his head in, he stares into his reflection with wide eyes. He is a yellow stallion with a clean white mane to match his tail. His eyes are blue and oddly cartoonish. He notices a stumpy little horn. Not only am I a horse… I’m a My Little Pony… His head flicks up as he blankly looks ahead, lost in thought. His gaze swiftly translates to his flank. No cutie mark? He looks back at his reflection and dips his head in the water. Okay, this is great, but now is not the time. Wake up! Wake up! His snout is wrapped in coldness and he feels part of his mane tug downstream with the flow of the water.
He holds his head under until he’s forced out for air, panting. I’m still here. He takes deep breaths to refill his lungs. This is an odd dream. Is it lucid? Can I control it? Nicholas tries to make various objects appear and disappear to no avail. Can I fly? He winds up a run, but lands roughly and trips over. I don’t know how to use these legs properly. I’ve gotta be able to control something. He stares at a stick on the bank, jutting out of the dirt between some daisies. Come here. A soft purple aura engulfs it as it slowly begins to levitate. Whoa! He tries to slide it closer, but ends up throwing it at himself. He ducks as it zooms overhead, splashing in the stream behind him.
He leans in to watch ripples crawl away from it across the water, but winds up getting caught in his reflection again. Yellow pelt, white mane, purple magic. Not the best color combination, but I’ve seen far worse. He looks back at his bare flanks. I don’t look too young yet I don’t have a cutie mark. Am I just not creative enough to think of one?
Nicholas’ mind wanders back to his exam. If I don’t wake up soon there is no way I’ll keep the highest grade in Chem. He remains in awe at this dream. He’s never had one like this. He’s also never fallen asleep in class before. Did I just stay up too late?
He thinks back to the lecture hall. Surely someone will wake me up? I hope I’m not snoring. Is this a dream? If it is, any other time would have been fantastic. Right now is one of the worst times. I need to get back. He continues reciting the information he wants to jot down on the first page of the exam as he begins awkwardly trotting downstream. If I’m gonna be here for a while, I may as well practice for the exam.
Author's Note
Thank you for your interest in the story! From this point on is what you came here for :)
“May I help you?” A voice breaks his concentration and spooks him. He has heard nothing but quiet and the echoing of his thoughts for an amount of time he can’t judge.
“Magnesium Sulfate!” Nicholas shouts in panic. He blushes and focuses on the situation. A pretty, dark blue pegasus with a soft, yellowish mane hovers before him, her eyes wide in confusion. He clearly startled this mare with his yelling.
“I’m- I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. I hope I didn’t scare you?” He relaxes and sits down in place. A pony? I’m still in this dream, aren’t I. How long has it been?
“Oh, it’s quite alright. What brings you out to my home?” The pegasus stares at him though he cannot tell whether her expression seems friendly or accusatory. Nicholas questioningly looks about the area as he feels her gaze spread around him, noticing his colors and horn. The stream has led him to a small wooden house alone in the forest to his right. It doesn’t seem to be in bad condition, but it is still a small wooden house alone in a forest. The cottage remains unpainted as far as he can see, as if it’s owner is too busy to manage it. Who is this character? Is this Everfree Forest? Is this even Equestria?
“Are you alright?” The mare’s voice penetrates his thoughts again, making him look back up at her face.
“I- Yes, I’m fine. Who are you?” He looks again at her sleek dark blue pelt and soft yellowish-orange mane. She has sparkling yellowish-orange eyes to match. She doesn’t seem much different in appearance from most of the characters he knows.
“My name is Aura Flair.” She replies with a suspicious expression. “Who are you?” Aura Flair? Is this someone’s O.C. or something? I don’t recognize her at all. Maybe I’m not in Equestria. Regardless, I’m not sure this is the best time for an elevator pitch.
“Right. I’m… Nicholas.” I’m not sure what else to say, to be honest. Aura Flair looks at him curiously. This feels a little too real to be a dream. I’ve been here for quite some time and haven’t woken up.
“Your name is Nickal Hiss?” Oh, I probably should have used a pony name to make things easier. Too late now.
“It is... Might I ask where I am?” The mare’s head drops. She looks as if she was just asked to do a day’s worth of chores.
“Uh, I can just guide you back to the train for Rainbow Falls. It’s a little walk but not that bad. Follow me.” She replies, landing and turning to lead him away down a path only she can seem to see within the trees. Rainbow Falls. Equestria. Got it.
“Wait, what? I asked where I am. Just some forest near a train station? Why are you taking me there?” Aura Flair turns back around and looks confused.
“Are you not another lost tourist? This train stop is awful and travelers always get lost on the hiking trail and end up here.”
“I am not, no.” The pegasus gives him a questioning stare.
“Then why are you here?”
“I don’t... know. I was about to take an important exam, but then I was suddenly in this forest a ways back down stream. I just started following it and have now arrived here.” Nicholas watches the cool water flow across the ground as he tries to think of a simple way to explain what has happened to him.
“Somepony randomly teleported you here?” She seems puzzled yet slightly uneasy.
“I- I’m not sure. Could someone… somepony have also turned me into a unicorn? You see, uh, I’m not-”
Aura Flair roughly lands on the ground in front of him and stares deep into his eyes, noticeably upset. “Hilarious. Never heard that one before... You can find your own way back to... wherever you came from. And try using a decent fake name next time. What kind of a name is Nickal Hiss? That kind of gave it away.”
“Fake name? Gave what away?” Nicholas stares in disbelief as the pegasus walks away and slams the door to the house, leaving him standing beside the water alone. … What? He looks around before knocking on the door with one of his new hooves. “Did I say something? Are you alright?”
“Go away, you’ve made your point.” Aura Flair calls from inside. Nicholas waits a second before peeking inside one of the front windows. There’s a nice maroon couch, a clean wooden desk, and loads of books in the living room. More books than he has ever seen in one place outside of a library. Aura notices him observing and walks back out the door. “Do I have to make you leave?”
“No! What is wrong with you? I just need to know what’s going on.” Could she even make me leave if she tried? I suppose I don’t know how to use magic well yet. Nor even walk well for that matter. Aura Flair stops in front of him at her door.
“What’s ‘going on’ is that I’m tired of you all mocking me and my work. I know it seems unrealistic, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Look,” She turns to show her cutie mark, a blazing orange fireball on her flank to match her mane. “Even my cutie mark knows it.”
“Knows… what?” Nicholas looks up at Aura Flair . She looks frustrated.
“That I can use magic! Is that what you needed to hear?” What?
“But you’re a pegasus? Since when can pegasi use magic?” Nicholas tilts his head slightly to the side. This angered her. She stamped a hoof on the front stair and stretched her neck up for a second.
“Gah! You all try to tell me that I can't do it, that only unicorns can cast spells, that my cutie mark is for my remarkable flying skills or whatever. No! You’re all wrong! And I’ll laugh the day I prove you wrong.” Aura Flair snickers and trots inside, closing the door behind her. Umm… What? This is new. Nicholas approaches the house.
“If you can use magic why don’t you just prove them all wrong right now?” Nicholas calls through the cracks of the door. A moment passes filled with nothing but silence. The door opens back up to see the mare pouting with a tear in each eye.
“Just leave me alone. Please. What did I do to you?” She stands in the doorway looking down. Oh, geeze. This girl is a wreck.
“Look, Aura Flair, I’m sorry that you’ve been bullied by other ponies but I honestly don’t know who you are. Could you please explain to me what’s wrong?” If she closes the door again I’m leaving. I have more important tasks at hand. Is that a bad idea though? What if that causes a bad relationship with this pony? That may matter if it turns out that I’m not dreaming. Nicholas laughs in his head. This is insane. I’ve never not been able to tell if I was dreaming before. Maybe that means I’m not? Aura Flair looks back up at him and sighs.
“I suppose you won’t leave until I talk, huh?” Nicholas stands unmoving, waiting for her to finish her response. He doesn’t want to ruin his chance to gain any sort of information.
“Well I’m a pegasus, clearly. Our bodies have no natural way of harnessing any form of magic like a unicorn such as yourself can.” Oh right, I’m a unicorn.
“So you can’t cast magic? But you just said you could?” Aura Flair’s mood lowers again.
“I will one day. Just not today. You see, I’m kind of a magic scholar... but only in my free time. No one will ever accept or even give my papers and studies a chance because I can’t cast spells yet. It’s like... a blind pony trying to sell his own paintings... No one wants them besides him.” She begins to tear up again but stops herself.
“But you’re searching for a way to?” Aura Flair’s ears perk back up.
“Oh yes, yes I am. I have been for a long time. It’s just difficult because I can’t officially make it a profession if no one can agree to my work. It takes up all of my free time, so I’m just always so busy.” I think she’s avoiding talking about where she works. Does that not feel like a waste, though? Pouring countless hours into a project that no one else wants to see?
“So why do you live out here alone?” Aura Flair takes a seat in place as she formulates her answer to the question.
“I can’t live around other ponies again. It’s too hard. I feel like Princess Celestia walking through town but instead of everypony smiling and waving, they all just laugh or judge... Oh! Well, not all of them of course... But the majority.” She sniffles and looks back down at her hooves. Wow, this is… tragic. I feel so bad for her. This character is so different from any that I know. Is this really not a dream? Am I really in Equestria? Focus. Nicholas looks around again. Nothing in sight but her house. I might regret this later.
“Would you mind… showing me some of your work?” The pegasus’ head shoots up and her jaw drops slightly. I hate to invite myself into a stranger’s home, but I can’t find anything else to do and maybe I can learn something about what’s going on. I don’t even know what time period this is. If she’s a My Little Pony she’s probably trustworthy. Even if she’s some sort of villain, I can still get information.
“Well, um, why yes! Let me, uh, here come in.” Aura Flair hurriedly starts tidying up the room as she pulls out different books and scraps of paper.
“Close the door behind you, please.” Nicholas walks in and pushes the door closed behind him. It makes a loud squeak. He turns back around to see Aura Flair slightly confused but she goes back to searching.
“Here’s this… one. And that, there, and-” She begins a pile on one side of the desk and keeps them in a specific order.
“So what did you do before all of this?” Nicholas sits on the couch next to the desk. What? This couch is softer than the bed in my dorm. He begins browsing the room. It’s not as dark as he had expected due to the amount of candles around the room. The bookshelves seem neatly organized, though the piles of books on the floor suggest otherwise. The room presents a warm, cozy atmosphere.
“Um,” She begins, sorting through papers, “I was born in Cloudsdale, but moved to Canterlot on a Strong Flyer’s scholarship. I was training to join the Royal Guard like my grandpop, but one day after class when I was in the library, you see I liked to read a lot, oh! Here’s this article, too!” She places another paper on the desk as Nicholas glaces out the main window. Man, she is frantic. He notices that you can see a nice view of the stream from where he’s seated. He snaps out of his thinking and re-enters the conversation. “And then she gave me the wrong book! Well I didn’t notice until I got back, so I decided to give it a try. It blew my mind! I had never read about magic before. Never knew it was more than stuck-up unicorns floating around tea cups at fancy parties, and-” She halted. “Uh, no offense.”
“You’re fine, none taken.” I keep forgetting that I’m a unicorn. If this is real, I need to get that in my head. Er, well, my horn. I don’t know. That was a bad joke.
“So when I returned the book, the librarian apologized but I said ‘Oh no, this was a fantastic book! Do you have others like it?’ and it all went downhill from there.” She drops one last paper on the desk and stares at him through big, cheery eyes. I hope this is written in English. At least maybe I can pick up on some casting etiquette for myself?
* * *
As Nicholas begins reading through the second paper, Aura pipes up.
“So what’s your story? I feel kind of rude just dropping my life on you after you said somepony teleported you here.” Nicholas sets the paper back down.
“Oh, right. Well, I never exactly said that was the case. Either way, earlier I asked if it’s possible for someone- somepony to be turned into a unicorn, but seeing you now tells me that if it’s possible you would have been the first one to do it.” Aura seems to take this as a compliment.
“So what do you mean? Were you not previously a unicorn?” She quickly grows in excitement, relishing the opportunity to advance her studies. How do I say this?
“I was a human.” The mare’s expression immediately changes.
“A what?”
“Um, just don’t worry about it for now. Try writing Princess Twilight about it sometime. She might be able to explain it well.” Aura seems to wonder how difficult it must be to explain but she seems to want to respect Nicholas’ lack of desire to do so.
“Humans don’t work like Changelings, do they? Do you know what those are?” Mentioning Princess Twilight didn’t confuse her, I must be in the time of the Mane Six. It would make sense that the world is up-to-date with the show. Or is the show up-to-date with the world?
“I do know changelings, yes. No, humans cannot change. They’re quite similar to Earth ponies but they walk on only their hind legs.” That should be sufficient enough.
“I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of them.” Aura starts writing on the back of a nearby paper. Notes on humans, maybe?
“I’m not surprised. We’re not from this world.” Oh geeze, what did I just start?
“You’re what?” She drops her quill and it spins to the floor. “Surely you’re messing with me?” Nicholas sighs.
“I don’t believe that I have a way to prove it to you so I’ll just ask you to take my word for it.”
“I know what to do!” Aura Flair takes a glass mug off of her desk and chucks it at Nicholas, hitting him in the arm.
“Ow! What was that for?” He was unable to stand up and dodge it in time with how small the room was. The mug bounced off of his arm and landed on a round rug in the middle of the floor.
“Haha! A real unicorn wouldn’t have flinched! They would have just caught that with magic!” She seems proud of herself. That was actually pretty clever.
“That was… a good test I’ll admit. I suppose magic is always on your mind?”
“Well, it is, but I was already concerned when you didn’t close my door with magic. I’ve never seen a unicorn physically touch a door unless they were small fillies.” I hadn’t even considered that.
“But that’s not the only thing. I’ve also never seen a grown pony without a cutie mark before.” That’s right! I completely forgot!
“I suppose you’ll believe me then?” Aura smirks after a short pause.
“I’ll believe that you’re a human if you believe that I’ll learn to cast magic.” I like this mare. Nicholas holds out a hoof.
“Deal.”
* * *
Nicholas was just finishing up reading Aura Flair’s research when she looked outside. He’s been at her desk while she has been patiently waiting, sitting in her window-sill.
“It’s getting quite dark. I don’t suppose you have a place to stay?” She turns back to him.
“No, I don’t. All I’ve seen since I’ve been here has been trees, water, research, and you.” He looks up from the text.
“Feel free to stay here as long as you like. I’ve never had… real company before. Only my parents.” Aura stares back out the window at the sun setting over the horizon of trees and distant shadow-covered mountains.
“What exactly are your plans, … I’m sorry what was your name again?” She asked. Nicholas chuckled.
“Nicholas.”
“Right. What exactly are your plans right now? I can’t imagine what I would do if I was suddenly in another world in a different body. You mentioned something about an exam?”
“Yes, I was taking a very important exam when I appeared here. I’ve now missed it by a large chunk of time, but I’ve already done most all the work for the semester. My grade should be fine for now, especially if I can somehow do a make-up exam in a few days, but I’ll run into big trouble if I don’t get back in time for the final exam.” Aura shifts her glance away from the window and back to Nicholas.
“What kind of trouble? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“In my world, school is very expensive. I also have a scholarship, but I’ll lose it if I don’t keep my grades up. If I end up losing it, I won’t be able to go back and that may just ruin my life for a long time. My family will never let me live it down.” Aura looks back out of the window, expressionless.
“I lost my scholarship.” Oh, I hope I didn’t offend her. Is that why she skipped over mentioning where she works? Did I just describe fearing the life she has?
“I slowly stopped attending practices to study magic and skipped classes to go to the library. My grades fell and I just stopped caring. It seemed that every unicorn in Canterlot started to know me as the mare that flunked out of Royal Guard school to dedicate her time to something utterly useless. I honestly never even wanted to join the Royal Guard in the first place, that was my parents’ plan for me. I just happened to be a great flyer.”
“I’m… so sorry to hear all of that.” Aura stayed unmoved, staring out of the window.
“It’s no big deal.” Her head lowered as she now looked at the windowsill. Yes it is. I need to cheer her up somehow.
“At least you get to do what you love now. All of that trouble is in the past. Right now, all of my time goes into my schoolwork. I even have a private dorm so I don’t have a roommate to distract me. Sometimes it feels like I’m trapped in H- Tartarus, just waiting for my sentence to run up so I can move on with my life. You probably feel the same way, Aura Flair. I just want to remind you that one day we’ll both finish our studies and show the world what we can really do.” Aura looks up in shock. I hope that’s true. And--not too sappy.
“Thank you, Nickal Hiss. Those are very kind words and I needed to hear them. I wish I had more to offer you than just a place to sleep.” I need to find a pony name, she’s having trouble with Nicholas. Anyways, she seems a bit more mature than what I first thought.
“That’s more than enough, don’t worry about it.” Aura gazes back out the window up at the rising moon.
“You said that you hadn’t seen much besides the forest and stream, right?”
“That’s correct, why?” Aura gets up and moves towards the door.
“Follow me.” Nicholas stands up and curiously follows the mare out the door and down a path in the trees. He can hardly see, but Aura is unphased by the lack of light. I need to ask her about a flashlight spell sometime.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
She leads them to the top of a hill nearby her house, void of nearly any trees at it’s peak. She stops and sits in place atop the hill’s center, gazing up at the stars. Nicholas sits beside her and looks around over the forest. The horizon is covered in mountain ranges, though he can’t see much else in the dark. He notices Canterlot in the distance on a mountainside. Oh my--Celestia? Sure, I should probably say that now. Canterlot is spectacular. I never considered what a city like that would look like in person. Er, in pony. It’s actually fairly close. We must be right between it and Cloudsdale. Perhaps Aura Flair couldn’t decide which home to go to so she stopped in the middle?
“Isn’t it beautiful, Nickal Hiss?” Aura says without turning her gaze from the sky. He looks up to join her.
“It really is, thank you for this... That reminds me, though, do you think it would be easier for me to assume a more Ponish name?”
“Oh, am I messing it up?” Aura looks at him.
“Well, it’s fine, but I fear having to tell others in the future on my quest back home. A foreign name and no cutie mark may make me more enemies than friends.” This place is so beautiful. I really wish I could stay. Aura looks back up at the stars.
“That’s a fair point. It wouldn’t hurt.” The two ponies stare at the sky together as a shooting star crosses near the moon.
“Make a wish.” Nicholas says.
“I’m sorry?” Aura looks at him confused.
“Um, in my world, when humans see a shooting star they make a wish.”
“Do shooting stars have magical properties?”
“Well, no. It just kind of gives people... hope, I guess.”
“Like you. You kind of gave me hope… I guess. When you gave that little speech earlier. No one has ever been that nice to me. Or even believed in me.”
“I’m glad to hear I could help you.” A few moments pass.
“Star Wish.” Aura mentions, unmoving.
“What?” Nicholas looks over at her, noticing her mane outline against the night as her pelt blends in with the dark environment surrounding them.
“How about Star Wish? That could be your name. It matches both your pelt and your personality.” That’s absolutely brilliant.
“I love it, Aura Flair, thank you.” Aura and Star both look back to the moon as a white shooting star appears on Nicholas’ flanks.
Star Wish drops to the cave floor, panting, as Aura Flair’s voice echoes across the stone walls. “Come on! I saw something! Try it again!”
He had found it confusing to wake up earlier this morning. He was in a sleeping position not possible for a normal human to be in. It didn’t help that he didn’t recognize the inside of Aura Flair’s house in the morning light. He managed to get over it after some tea. I don’t think it’s possible to sleep during a dream. This has to be real somehow. I must really be in Equestria...
“We’ve been in here forever! I need a break.” Star looks up to where Aura Flair’s voice is coming from but can’t see her in the darkness. He had asked her for help with a flashlight spell this morning. Needless to say, Aura was stoked. She led Star to a cave a half-mile from her house to help them keep track of how much light he could emit. However, now that he had finally made progress, he’s worn out.
It could have been dangerous to be led into a dark cave by a stranger, but I took my chance. After all, if she wanted to, she could have mugged me or whatever while I was asleep in her house. Taking me to this cave would just be a waste of time if she had any ill intentions.
“I’ve tried thinking, relaxing, believing, all of that.”
“But you haven’t tried feeling!” Star takes a seat on the floor. I suppose she might have a point. When he had levitated the river stick after he had first arrived in Equestria, he did so without any sort of notion towards it. It just happened when he expected it to.
Star stands up on all fours and closes his eyes. He blocks out the sounds of dripping water and horse-breath. Don’t think about anything. Don’t think about not thinking about anything. Star begins one of his meditation rituals from his exam preparations. When he remembers he's wanting to emit light from his horn, he does.
“Whoa!” Star can hear Aura leap with delight and he breaks concentration. He opens his eyes but remains in darkness.
“D- did it work? How bright was it?”
“I could see all the way to your snout! You made a few sparks!” A few sparks? That’s nowhere near a flashlight. But progress is progress I suppose.
“Just imagine the spells you can cast! You can learn handy spells like gem seeking! Or defensive shield spells! Or laser beam attacks! Or-”
“Hey, hey, calm down Aura. One at a time.” Was that rude? That sounded kind of rude.
“Right, yes, sorry. Carry on.”
“Sorry, I’m just tired from all of this effort.”
“No, no, don’t worry. I understand. Well, not really. I can’t cast spells yet. You just take a break real quick.” He hears Aura shuffle around.
“Let’s go take a break in the light.”
“Alright!” Star stands still for a moment, but nothing happens.
“Aura?”
“Yes?”
“Are we going? I don’t hear you moving.”
“Are we? I can’t see anything. I was waiting for you.”
“Me? This is your cave. I don’t know the way out.” Star begins to panic internally.
“My cave, right. I guess I just assumed that you would learn the light spell when I brought us here. We can try following a wall?” Of course she doesn’t know the way out. She seems oddly calm, though, for being lost in a cave. Normally I have a good navigational sense, but I’m just not used to walking as a unicorn yet. I wobbled the whole way here. I wonder what else could we try?
“Can you try making some sort of gust of air and see if you can hear where it goes?”
“Wonderful idea!” Star feels a breeze travel past him and through the cave. The ponies take turns of Aura blowing air, Star tracking it, then signalling where he’s at for her to catch up.
* * *
“Well, this tactic is leading us somewhere, but I have no idea if it’s in the right direction.” Star takes a seat after calling to Aura.
“I agree, I think we’ve now spent more time doing this than we did walking in. Valiant effort, though, Star Wish.” This is great. We’re even farther away now. At least neither of us seem to have claustrophobia.
“Thank you. It was worth a try. Hey! That was a break of sorts, let me try the flashlight spell again.”
“Great idea!”
Star leans back against the wall of the cave and lets the atmosphere calm him. He pictures what he thinks the cave would look like lit up--with Aura Flair sitting in front of him wearing a wide grin across her muzzle. As he remains focused, slowly adding more detail, he notices Aura take a deep breath.
“Wow! Star you did it! It’s so bright!” Relax. Don’t lose it. Star slowly opens his eyes to see a roughly similar image to the one he had pictured in his mind. It was still no flashlight, but it wasn’t far off from holding a small candle. “I’m so proud of you!”
I'm doing it! I’m casting a magic spell! No one back home would believe this! Actually, they wouldn’t believe any of this. Even I have been having a hard time believing this, and I’ve read a lot of Fan-Fics about humans visiting Equestria.
The group begins trotting back down the cave using what little light they have to speed up their travel. Wait, did she say she’s proud of me? That--has anyone told me that before? As Nicholas, Star had tried to constantly stand out to get the attention he felt he deserved. His siblings also stood out, however, leaving him in their shadows no matter what. That spell was more of her work than mine. She should be the one getting the praise. I just followed along.
“Thanks for helping me, Aura Flair. I couldn’t have learned this spell without you.” He turns his head to look back at her reaction. She bumps into him, startled. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be guiding her.
“No, thank you, Mister Star Wish, for being a good student. A unicorn learning a spell form a pegasus? No one would ever believe me if I said that, but it’s true! I... really needed this. Thank you.” Aura gives Star a big smile as she tilts her head to the side.
“It’s no problem. Thank you for the name, too. I really like it.” Star looks back ahead to navigate. I could make this an OC when I get back.
“Yeah, it’s pretty good I must admit. Some of my finest work.” Aura says jokingly, “You got that nice cutie mark, too!” She winks at Star.
“I have a cutie mark now?” He immediately halts to turn to his flank. A white shooting star? “When did I get this?”
“Oh, I thought you noticed! It was sometime between after when we first met and before we got back to my cabin.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Isn’t this a big deal?” Oh, that sounded kinda angry.
“I... saw it last night. After you... fell asleep. I didn’t want to wake you up. I... forgot about it until now. I’m sorry.” Why did that sound so suspicious? Is she a creep? Did she watch me all night? Perhaps she just wanted to study my horn or something and felt embarrassed about it? Whatever, I'll let it slip for now.
“No, I understand. I wonder what it means? Can it mean anything? I am from another world, maybe it doesn’t work that way.”
“Well, your body is from this world.” Aura mentioned.
“Fair.”
“The shooting star could be a reminder of your rituals from your world, like how you shared with me that you used to wish on them. You could go as far as saying that the white of it represents purity or something, but that’s a bit of a stretch. It’s probably just white because it matches your mane.” Aura giggles.
“That’s very insightful. I thought that cutie marks were supposed to be talents, though?”
“That’s true most of the time. Perhaps your talent is giving others hope, then? Is that not what you said shooting stars do?”
“I suppose they do, don’t they? Thank you, Aura Flair.”
“Oh, just call me Aura!” Wow, that’s a lot of thought put into a butt emblem. How does magic determine all of that? Is it some sort of living being? Regardless, I’m suddenly very happy, though.
The ponies continue their trot through the cave system. They finally find a trace of light ahead and sigh with relief as Star deactivates his spell. As they exit the mouth of the cave, they find themselves in the same entrance they began at.
“I guess that’s enough practice. You seemed to get the spell down.” Aura takes a seat and deeply inhales the fresh forest air.
“Yeah, let’s not go back in there.” Star takes a seat next to her.
* * *
“I need to get some more food, especially if you’ll be staying here for a while.” Aura mentions, sitting across from Star at her table. “I have to go work tomorrow, so I guess you can come to town with me. No offense, but I don’t trust you enough yet to stay here alone.”
“Oh, of course not. I understand.” She did mention having a lot of trouble being around unicorns. “May I ask what you do for work?”
“I just work at a bowling alley.” Aura seems unphased.
“Oh, I thought you would have worked in a library or something.” Aura looks slightly disappointed in herself.
“No, I get too distracted reading.” She looks down at the table.
“Did you previously work at one?” I hope I'm not hitting a hard spot.
“Yeah, a few different places.” I need to change the subject, she clearly doesn’t want to delve any further into this topic.
“So... what’s town like?” I’m assuming she means Cloudsdale. It’s the closest to us.
“It’s nothing too special. Just a normal town. There’s really not much to say about it, you’ll just have to see it. Sorry.”
“I would think Cloudsdale would have a lot to talk about? It is a floating city after all.”
“Oh, no, we’re going to Ponyville.” Yes! “I don’t really go to Cloudsdale anymore. Plus we’d need a blimp ticket for you anyways.” Wow, she still won’t go back home?
“Awesome, I can’t wait!” How do I explain to her that I know a lot about Ponyville already? That’s a problem for future Nicholas. Er, I mean Star.
“I can’t really have you back behind the counter with me or anything, so I guess it might be best for you to mosey around town. Though, you can stay with me at the alley if you really want to.”
“I appreciate the invite, but I should probably be on my own for a bit. I’ll check in, though.”
“Alright.” Aura looks a little sad, but tries not to show it. Star decides to change the subject again. We can’t hold this off.
“So, Aura, I’ve been wondering if you have any idea what could have caused me to come here.”
“Magic-wise?”
“Correct. Do you know anything or any--pony that could have a... hoof in this?”
“I’ll have to look into it. I can’t think of anything at the moment.”
“I guess, for now, we should focus on learning spells.” I wonder what we should try next? "I'm unsure if something protective would be the best. If somepony sees me not defend myself properly they may get suspicious. Though, something a little flashier would be pretty cool."
"Maybe if we try something more advanced it will be easier to pick up a bunch of little spells!" Star can see Aura's excitement radiating off of her.
"Well, I'm sure magic schools here take it one step at a time. Let's take this cautiously and properly." Star tries to calm her.
"I suppose that's fair. After all, it could be dangerous if you turn out to be super powerful or something. I mean, you are from another world. Apparently." I hadn't even considered that. I don't feel great and powerful?
Author's Note
Sorry for the wait! I do many projects and this is just one of them.
