Reaching For The Stars

The next day, Mom walked with me to the train station. She looked super happy with this whole thing and told me again when I woke up how proud she was that I was going through with this whole ordeal. I smiled sheepishly, still pretty nervous that whether or not I was making the right decision.

“Nervous, sweetie?” Mom asked me quietly. She coughed a little bit, resting a hoof on my back.

I nodded slowly. “Just a little,” I admitted. “I don’t want to disappoint anypony, but I also don’t want to leave you behind. What if you need me?”

Mom shook her head. “I’ll be fine, Astral, trust me. I can take care of myself while you’re away. Besides, you’ll be back home for the summer soon.”

I smiled a bit, rolling my eyes slightly as well. “Summer isn’t for another six months, you know. What if you need me before then?”

Mom pushed me up the stairs as we approached the platform. “Stop your worrying already. I told you that I’ll be fine. I’m a grown mare, I can handle taking care of myself for a little while.”

We approached the counter and looked at the train schedule. I spotted “Ponyville” on the schedule after a few seconds of looking, noticing that the next train leaving for it was in six minutes. I was called next and bought one ticket for the train to Ponyville, paying the eleven bits to the conductor for the ticket. Taking control, I took the ticket from him and joined back up with my mom on the platform, waiting for the train to pull in.

Mom looked at me as I held the ticket out in front of her. She was noticeably happier than before, which made me feel just a little bit warmer on the inside. I always loved seeing Mom smile with me since it made me feel as if I was doing something right. Mom looked down towards the ticket, then began to pan her vision up towards me slowly. I blushed ever so slightly and rubbed the back of my neck softly.

“I can’t believe it’s almost time,” Mom sighed happily. She wiped a tear from her eye, reaching out to hug me.

I hugged Mom back and nodded a bit. “Me neither. I don’t know whether to be excited or nervous.”

Admittedly, I was very nervous about going through with this whole thing. Nervous about my new surroundings, leaving Mom behind, breaking out of my shell, and, well, basically everything. It’s amazing I got over my anxiety when I was younger because if I still suffered from it, I don’t think I would have made it this far.

From a distance, the train’s whistle could be heard. I shivered very slightly, hoping that Mom hadn’t seen that. Looking over in the direction the sound came from, I could faintly see a funnel and smoke coming from said funnel. Mom smiled some more, nudging me slightly.

“Almost here, Astral,” she observed, “I can’t believe it’s almost time.”

“Yeah, Mom,” I chuckled nervously, “neither can I.”

I sighed a bit, then glanced upward to make eye contact with Mom. I wanted to protest going once more, but at this point, I felt that there was no use in trying that now. Giving off a half-smile, I tried to make it seem like I was less nervous than I really was, but, being her daughter, Mom could read me like a book.

“It’ll be okay, Astral,” she responded, showing sympathy towards me, “I know how smart you are and I also know that you can do this. You’re an ambitious pony…I know you can do anything you set your mind to.”

I blushed the palest shade of pink that was possible. Deep down, I knew that Mom knew best - all parents do, really. I had already decided on giving the School of Friendship a chance, but still, it pained me to do such a thing. Friendship, in the past, has only caused heartache and heartbreak for me since everypony I met ended up abandoning me anyway. Every time I gave it a try, they would leave me because they thought that I wasn’t cool enough to hang out with them or because my studies were just too weird and “out there,” as a lot of them put it.

That is the reason why I’m invested so heavily into my studies. I know I’m not judged whilst doing such a thing because there’s nopony around to actually judge me. My studies are very important to me and, since I tend to focus on them throughout a large portion of my day, the studying for any particular day usually results in me being by myself. I feel better when I’m either spending time with my mother or when I’m studying and discovering new things about any neighboring galaxies.

The whistle blew a little bit louder this time as the train got closer to the platform. Mom rested her forehoof on my back and nuzzled me slightly. She always did that when I felt a little uncertain about myself and it made me feel better nearly every time she did it. It’s just such a nice feeling, honestly, and it’s something that she’s done to me ever since I was a little filly. Besides my mother’s company, that small gesture might be the one thing I’ll miss the most while I’m away.

I felt her pull herself away from my face and turned to her. She lifted her hoof from my back and used it to adjust my dark purple beanie, giggling when she thought it was finally perfect. I grinned in response and thanked her for fixing it for me.

“Anytime, sweetheart,” answered Mom, “you look cute now.”

I tittered a bit. “Thanks for the compliment.”

The train pulled into the station slowly and came to a stop in front of us. There were about three coaches between where we were and where the caboose was located and, as the door opened up, ponies began to walk on and off of the train. The conductor came off of the train too and looked at his pocket watch for quite some time. I exhaled some air slowly and took control of my bags, looking at Mom one more time. Hugging her tightly, I felt some tears escape my eyes. I hid my face in Mom’s neck as I tightened my hug, feeling Mom’s hooves wrap around my body and hugging me back.

“I’m going to miss you, Mom,” I whimpered, my voice being muffled by my mother’s body, “I love you so much.”

“I’m going to miss you too, sweetie,” Mom stated, “I love you too and I know that you’ll do well at your new school.”

I felt Mom begin to pull herself away from my body. I let go of her, then started to board the train. Wiping away some of my tears, I turned to Mom one final time and blew her a kiss. As a joke, Mom caught it with her hoof and put the kiss away in her “front pocket,” even though she didn’t have any pockets on her.

“I’ll make sure to write to you, Mom!” I shouted, waving goodbye to her.

Mom nodded and smiled brighter. “And I’ll be sure to respond to each and every one I receive!”

“Bye, Mom!”

“Goodbye, Astral!”

I boarded the train and made my way through the aisle, sitting down at one of the nearby, empty seats. I placed my bags under the seat and looked out the window, waving at Mom once more before I finally left her.

“All aboard!” The conductor shouted, blowing his whistle afterwards. He boarded the train within a few more seconds, closing the door behind him.

The train to Ponyville began to move out of the station slowly. The train’s whistle sounded off, echoing through the wide open land. I sighed once more and looked down towards my hooves.

Alright, Astral, I thought, we’re on our own now. You can do this; Mom told you so. Besides, you won’t be gone forever. It’ll only be for a few months until the summer arrives. Then, I can come home and spend more time with Mom. Yeah! I can do that!

Looking out of the window, I began to think about what would happen in the school. Ponyville was a very historic town because of six ponies that called it home, and those six ponies were all teachers within the School of Friendship. I had a feeling that they would grade us harshly because they know everything about the topic of friendship and that started to make me just a bit more nervous.

I tried to clear my mind about the uncertainties that were sheltering themselves inside the crevices of my mind by staring at the rolling hills that were well in the distance. The more we traveled, the less snow I began to see. I was unsure of how different Ponyville’s weather was from Whineysota and wondered if I would even see snow while I studied at the school. Eventually, the hills and mountains turned into steppe plains, pushing my attention away from them.

The conductor eventually came into the coach I was sitting in and was going from seat to seat checking the tickets each pony had. I pulled out my ticket as the conductor got closer and prepared myself to give it to him.

Without warning, the train jerked slightly and made me lose my concentration on the ticket, causing it to drop to the ground. The conductor, nearing my seat, saw this and slowed down just a bit to give me time to grab it once more. Looking on the floor, I saw that the ticket had fallen into a medium-sized slit that my bag was leaving, so I pulled out the bag with my magic, grabbed the ticket, and closed the bag back up, tightening the string around it so that the slit was no longer there.

“I see you’ve found your ticket,” the conductor noticed as he finally reached my seat. He reached out and asked to see it.

“Does this train go straight to Ponyville,” I asked, “or does it make a few stops in between?”

Taking control of the ticket, the conductor smiled. “It does go to Ponyville, but it makes some stops along the way. We have stops in Green Hay, Indianeighapolis, and Coltlumbus before we arrive in Ponyville.” He punched a hole in the ticket and gave it back to me with his magic. “Hopefully we don’t have any snow along the way, otherwise the journey will be even longer.”

That statement got my attention as my ears perched up just a bit more. “What do you mean? How long is the journey?”

“Well,” continued the conductor, “if everything goes right, then we should be in Ponyville by tomorrow evening.”

I thought of one more question before I let the conductor continue working and checking tickets, “How long will each stop be before we start once more?”

“They’ll be approximately thirty minute stops for recoaling,” the conductor advised, “so you can do some local shopping if you so choose to do so, as long as you still have your ticket if you leave.”

I nodded at the conductor, forcing a smile to show on my face. “Thank you, sir.”

“You’re quite welcome, miss,” the conductor reciprocated, moving on with his work.

I glanced back out the window and began thinking about the journey once more. I felt happy to know that it would be just a bit more time before I got to Ponyville and, honestly, knowing that we would have some time in each of the stops for ourselves, I started thinking about possibly getting some gifts for Mom as well. She hardly ever traveled outside of Whineysota ever since my father left us both, so I figured that bringing some of the charms from other towns to her would make her happy.

Yawning a bit, I began to doze off slightly, enjoying the soft hum that the train was providing as it barreled down the tracks. I closed my eyes and rested myself against the side of the coach, yawning once more in the process.

“Now arriving in Green Hay. Our stop here will be for thirty-three minutes to allow for recoaling. If you wish to shop around, we recommend staying close by. Remember to have your tickets with you for reentry.”

I stretched out my hooves and twisted my back a bit, cracking it slightly. I sighed contently, then rose from my seat, placing my bags over my back in the process. Walking off of the train, I looked beyond the entryway to the split platform and saw a large marketplace nearby.

I made sure to heed the advice of the conductor operating the train and planned to be back within thirty minutes. I decided to get one thing for Mom in the marketplace, then see if I could contact her to check up on her. Carefully walking down the stairs off of the platform, I glanced around the marketplace to see what I should get for Mom.

“Mugs here,” one shopkeeper shouted, “get your authentic and collectible Green Hay mugs here!”

I giggled softly, wondering how a mug could be authentic before moving along in the market. Looking around, I tried looking for something that would catch my eye and surprise Mom. I turned a corner and started walking down more collapsible tables that had a bunch of Green Hay memorabilia.

“Hey there, little filly,” somepony called out to me. I looked in their direction, making him continue talking, “you look like you’re looking for something bold and brash.”

I shook my head and continued walking, “No thanks, sir.”

“You won’t know what you’re missing!”

I rolled my eyes playfully and looked around some more. Turning yet another corner to reveal even more collapsible tables, I saw a beautiful looking fabergé egg. Approaching the table slowly, the pony running it saw me idolize it and talked to me about it.

“I see you have a very fine set of eyes if you’re fascinated by that egg,” she said.

I smiled in response. “What kind of material is this made out of?”

“This particular egg is made out of jade,” the pony answered, “it’s usually retailed at about a few hundred thousand bits, but for you, I’ll sell it for six thousand bits.”

I blushed and backed away slowly. “I don’t have that kind of money, unfortunately.”

The pony scratched her chin softly, then pulled out a small necklace that had a sapphire encrusted in the center of a small heart. She showed it to me and talked about this piece of jewelry now.

“You look like a pony who appreciates sapphires over her other sisters, Emerald and Ruby,” she told me, chuckling at the sound of his own joke.

I engaged him with a bit of my own laughter, giving her just a bit more of my attention. In retrospect, her joke was unique since I’ve never heard it before. I approached the table and the pony once more and responded happily to her.

“Yes, I do,” I smiled.

“Well,” continued the shopkeep, “this sapphire encrusted, heart-shaped necklace just screams ‘I love you’ to the one that you love most! It’s a wonderful gift for that special somepony in your life.”

That sealed the deal for me. “How much for it?”

“This little thing,” she beamed, “is only thirty bits.”

“Can I get it wrapped?” I inquired.

The pony nodded in response. “For no extra charge, too.”

“I’ll take it,” I declared, taking out thirty bits from my bag and giving them to the shopkeeper.

With the necklace placed inside a cute, little box, the pony gave it to me and took the bits, securing them in her cash register behind her. I secured the box in one of my bags and thanked the pony once more.

“Thank you for your business,” she answered in a delightful manner, “I hope to see you again real soon.”

“Likewise,” I replied, deciding to go back to the platform now.

I made my way back towards the station’s entrance, hoping to find a clock to see just how much time I had left before the train left. There was no clock on the side of the platform that I was on presently, though I did see that the train was still there. Going inside the station building, I noticed a clock on the far wall that said it was 04:38 P.M., meaning that there was about twenty minutes left for the current stop. I smiled, not only because there was still time left in the stop, but because I saw a phone below the clock as well. Smiling like a schoolfilly, I approached the phone and put in a couple of bits, calling Mom back home, hoping she was there to pick up. The phone rang for a couple of times before I heard a click on the other end and Mom’s voice.

“Hello?” She said.

“Hi, Mom!” I beamed. “It’s Astral!”

“Astral!” Mom replied enthusiastically. “How are you doing? Where are you at right now?”

“I’m doin’ fine, Mom,” I answered, “and I’m in Green Hay right now.”

“Wow,” Mom remarked, “the train made a good distance. How many stops are there on the trip to Ponyville?”

“Only three,” I informed, “this one being one of them. The stops are to get more coal for the train.”

“It is a pretty far distance,” Mom insisted, “so it only makes sense. How long do you have at this stop?”

“About another fifteen minutes,” I told her, “I miss you so much.”

“Already?” Mom joked. “You haven’t even been gone a day yet!”

I laughed playfully. “Nice to know you feel the same way, Mom.”

“You know I’m only kidding, Astral,” she giggled, coughing slightly, “besides, you know I miss you. It’s quiet here without you.”

“Well,” I thought, “I could come home and make a difference, if that’s what you-”

“Nope.” Mom responded, interrupting me in her usual joking manner. “I know you can do this, Astral. For the umpteenth time, you’re a special pony and can succeed.”

“Thanks again for believing so much in me, Mom,” I acknowledged, “it really means a lot to me.”

“Think nothing of it, sweetie.”

Just then, an announcement was made over the public address system, “Attention, everypony. The train leaving for Ponyville will be leaving the station in approximately five minutes. Once again, the train leaving Green Hay for Ponyville will be leaving the station in approximately five minutes. Thank you.”

Mom chuckled lightly, “I guess it’s time to go then, huh?”

“Yeah,” I smirked, “so you get to enjoy your peace and quiet again.”

“Oh Celestia, bless me,” Mom laughed.

I rolled my eyes playfully, “I’ll talk to you soon again, Mom. I love you!”

“Love you too, Astral,” Mom replied, “talk to you soon.”

I hung up the phone, then proceeded to go back to the train, passing by a large amount of ponies and creatures along the way. Entering the train, I found the same seat from before and sat down at it once more, placing my bags underneath the seat. I looked out of the nearby window and saw a peculiar looking pony. They were a sky blue pony with a multicolored mane and beautiful wings. I wondered what drew my attention to her, then remembered that I needed to take my ticket out once more.

“All aboard!” The conductor alerted. Within a few seconds, he shut the door behind him and the train began to move once more with the destination being Indianeighpolis.