Reaching For The Stars

A couple of months had gone by since I’ve started attending Princess Twilight’s School of Friendship. I could not have imagine a while ago staying here for such an extended period of time and was actually proud of myself for doing so. I wrote Mom letters along the way and told her everything that had happened thus far, starting with making a lot of new friends. She was very proud of me for actually succeeding so far in my latest attempt at friendship and wished she could see me sometime.

I was super prepared for summer break to come around, even though it was still a few weeks away. Right now, Eclipsa and myself had Summer, WIllow, and Doppel in our room for a study session for Headmare Twilight’s test for tomorrow. Cobalt was supposed to join us eventually after he finished up with his project for Rarity’s class.

“The Elements of Harmony, Summer,” Eclipsa smirked, “go!”

“The Elements of Harmony are Equestria’s, umm,” she paused briefly to collect her thoughts and remember her notes, “they’re Equestria’s most powerful means of defense and there are…five of them?”

Eclipsa, playing along with Summer’s mistake, continued her questions, “And what are they?”

Summer thought about that for a while, “Umm…well, there’s Generosity…Laughter is one, right? Then there’s Honesty, Loyalty, and…the last one is Kindness…I think.”

“Close, Summer,” I nodded, “but there are six Elements and the last one is Magic. Remember, when in doubt, think about the names of the classes we have, they all are the answer: Professor Rarity’s Generosity, Professor Dash’s Loyalty, Pinkies’ Laughter, Honesty with Applejack, Fluttershy’s Kindness, and Headmare Twilight’s Magic of Friendship class. Just remember the ‘Magic’ part of that name.”

“Okay, Astral,” Summer said, “thanks for the advice.”

“Think nothing of it, Summer,” I replied.

“Your turn, Doppel,” Eclipsa continued, “my question to you is this: When this creature tried taking over Equestria, they nearly succeeded after stealing the magic from everypony. Who was that and, as a follow-up question, what happened to them?”

Doppel scratched his chin lightly, “I remember that happening. That was Lord Tirek and I believe he is locked in Tartarus now, right?”

Eclipsa nodded, “Yes he is. Trust me, flying away to protect myself would have worked out better had I saw him first. Who would’ve guessed that all that magic would have made him bigger?”

“I think magic works differently for each creature,” WIllow spoke, “perhaps the magic centaur’s feel empower them and make them grow in size, especially with the magic of a whole kingdom in his body.” She shrugged, then looked out the window, “That’s just my assumption.”

“Not a bad thought, Willow,” Eclipsa smiled, “and, honestly, it may make sense since he’s been the only centaur to show up here in a long, long, super duper loooong time!”

“Your turn, Astral,” Summer stated, “and I think this one will be a doozy.”

I gulped slightly, unsure of what kind of question I was about to be asked.

“Ooh,” Eclipsa idolized, “this ought to be gooooood!”

“Headmare Twilight explained to us a lot about the Tree of Harmony,” Summer said, “including when it was planted and by whom. Who planted the Tree of Harmony?”

I blushed a bit, thinking back to the lecture Twilight gave us on the Tree of Harmony. Her lecture was extensively detailed and went back to a time that predated Princess Celestia’s own knowledge. I tried my hardest to not look at my notes, pushing the notebook away from me.

“She, umm,” I slowed down a bit and gulped, “I believe, umm, she told us that…was it Star Swirl the Bearded that planted the tree?””

“And?” Summer pressed.

It hit me after a while. I knew that ponies who helped plant the Tree, but I couldn’t remember what they called themselves. I gazed at Summer and sighed, explaining myself.

“I know who did it,” I said, “but I can’t remember what they’re called. There were six of them and they were trapped, but I can’t remember their name.”

“The Pillars,” answered Cobalt, coming inside the room, “they’re the ones that resulted in the Pony of Shadow’s banishment to Limbo, as well as their own. They saved Equestria and planted the Tree of Harmony in an attempt to protect Equestria while they were gone.”

“Hey, Cobalt!” Eclipsa beamed.

“Hey, everyone,” he smiled, stopping his glance on me, “Astral? Headmare Twilight wanted me to tell you that she wants to see you in her office.”

I felt worried, “Me?”

Cobalt nodded, “She said it was urgent.”

I rose up slowly, then left my friends as I made my way towards Headmare Twilight’s office. I wondered what was so urgent that made Twilight want to see me and began to feel my hooves grow just a little bit weaker.

Am I in trouble? I thought. Did I do something wrong?

I walked down the stairs of the dormitories and promptly made my way towards the exit into the courtyard. Crossing the courtyard, I turned left down towards the main hallway where Twilight’s office was. I slowed down immensely and felt my hooves tremble a little more.

What if I’m being kicked out of the school? I feared. I don’t want to leave…not yet, at least…

I stopped at the door to Twilight’s office and felt as if my hooves weighed a ton. I couldn’t find the strength to knock on the door and looked down, worrying that something awful may be waiting for me on the other side of these tall doors. I saw a magenta colored aura encase the doors and open them up for me, making me look up.

I saw Twilight inside the room, along with Starlight. They both appeared to have dismayed looks on their faces as they invited me inside. I pressed forward, forcing myself to move, despite the fact that I couldn’t really move my hooves all that well. When I was all the way inside the room, Twilight closed the doors behind me and locked them to make sure that nopony else would interrupt us. I slowly approached her desk and sat on a chair that Twilight provided for me.

“Astral Flare,” Twilight began.

When I heard my full name, I folded my ears and looked down. I began to fear that something troubling was coming my way shortly. Starlight came over with a blanket and wrapped it around me, staying by my side as Twilight continued.

“Astral,” Twilight repeated, “I-” She paused for a while, sighing slightly. “I know that you’ve been writing letters back and forth to your mother while you’ve been enrolled at this school; the mailmare has certainly gotten a lot more work around this area since your arrival. Tell me, what was she like?”

I looked up, a little bit confused at Twilight’s tone and question. Nonetheless, I obliged to her question and conversed with her about Mom.

“She’s a strong pony,” I said, “and she’s been through a lot in her life. She’s the one who raised me after my father left us both and, really, is my first and my best friend. She’s given up so much to make sure that I was raised properly and taken care of, helping me confront and overcome my anxiety issues and my previous troubles with friendship. She means a lot to me because she was really the first pony to believe in me so much.”

Twilight nodded slowly while Starlight rubbed my back softly.

“I, umm…” Twilight sighed again. “I, uhh…oh dear, Celestia…”

“What’s wrong, Headmare Twilight?” I asked, wondering if she’s gone through something devastating recently.

“This is so hard…” Twilight admitted.

“What is?” I wondered, looking to Starlight and seeing a worried look on her as well. “What’s going on?”

“Astral,” Starlight said, “umm, there’s…there’s something that you need to know.”

“That I need to know?” I repeated.

Starlight nodded, “Yeah,” she looked to Twilight and sighed as well, “and it seems that Twilight can’t get through without choking up like that…”

“No, Starlight,” Twilight responded, “it’s fine…I have to do this…I want to be the one to do this, as Headmare of this school.”

“What’s wrong?” I said again.

“Astral,” Twilight began, “y-your mother…”

“What about her?” I thought. “Did something happen to my mom?” I looked to Starlight. “Well?”

“She’s gone, Astral,” Twilight muttered ruefully.

I blinked a few times and folded my ears again. “Wh-What? That’s impossible…how could…?”

“Doctors from Whineysota contacted us to tell you that she passed from health complications, Astral,” Twilight continued, “I…I’m so sorry…”

I shook my head, tears starting to form in my eyes, “N-No…this can’t be! She can’t be gone! Th-there must be some kind of mistake! She can’t be gone…she just can’t…she’s all I have…”

Starlight hugged me tightly as I denied allegations that Mom had died, but I just couldn’t have it. I sobbed on the chair and raised my front hooves to my eyes, trying to wipe away the tears that were escaping my eyes. Twilight rose from her chair and came over to hug me as well while I cried my heart out on the chair in the middle.

“S-She c-can’t-t b-be…” I sobbed. “S-She just c-can’t… “

“I’m so sorry, Astral,” Twilight repeated.

I cried as the realization finally began to sink in slightly.

Mom was gone…

Twilight and Starlight both spent a few tense minutes doing their best to console me. As much as it was appreciated, their words fell on deaf ears. Inside my heart and soul were on fire. I just couldn’t believe that Mom was gone, not like this. I had just gotten a letter from her yesterday and she told me that everything was fine, so how does she go from fine to gone in a little less than twenty-four hours? This was all just so much to take in right now.

Probably knowing how much I wanted to be alone, Twilight rose and stood in front of her desk, looking me in the eyes.

“I understand if you want to be alone right now or even if you want to go home and see her one last time,” she told me, “I would do something similar if I were in your horseshoes.” She tried her best to give me a small smile, but it quickly faltered due to the severity of the situation. “Your classes and tests will be excused for the next week…I just want you to know if you ever need anything or somepony to talk to, Starlight and I will be here for you anytime you need. The same goes for the others as well.”

Starlight gave a small nod and rubbed my back once more before slowly pulling her hoof away and standing beside Twilight.

Quickly taking my tear-soaked glance down towards the ground, I slowly rose from the chair and onto shaky hooves.

“Th-Thanks…” I muttered quietly as I made my way towards the door and out into the hallway.

I walked slowly back to my room and inside, tears falling from my face. I didn’t acknowledge any of my friends as I lifted myself onto my bed and began to cry face-first into my pillow.

“What’s wrong, Astral?” Summer asked.

“What happened?” Cobalt added.

I sniffled a bit, trying to pull myself together slightly. “P-Please, just leave…I need to be alone right now.”

“But why?” Eclipsa wondered. “We’re your friends…we can help you out if you just-”

“LEAVE NOW!” I screamed, as I began to feel a strong, raw energy build up in my horn. I never felt that much power before in my life; it had teleported the others outside the room.

I cried more as I planted my face back into my pillow, destroyed by the news.

I’m going to miss you, Mom, I thought, if only…if only I had put my hoof down and been with you…none of this would have happened…

I sobbed and mourned to the point where I had no more tears. I was really going to miss her…