Naked Emotions

Astral Twister lives a life of luxury in Canterlot with his parents, he wears the finest clothes while attending the finest schools. His diet consists of the finest foods and the finest drinks. Day by day he goes through life, attending school, chatting with his close friends. He even makes appearances at gatherings with his family who contribute to the study of space and weather with donations and the university they founded. .

Astral is pretty much set for life, never having to work a day in his life he is free to sit in the lap of luxury thanks to his family's university, he will inherit the riches when he takes over as headmaster of the school.

Astral does appreciate his life, his parents raised him well and he could have everything he ever wanted, but a hollow feeling resides within his heart, he loves his life, but he feels unfulfilled. His friends talk about how their dads bought them the latest model of a chariot, Astral even got one but almost never drives it.

This feeling nags at him constantly as he goes through his day to day life, he desperately looks inside himself for an answer, he even tries going for a drive in the chariot his dad got him, but he doesn’t feel right driving it, so when he returns home he puts the chariot in the garage and keeps the keys on the hanger.

One day while out at a café, he had bought a sandwich and was about to enjoy it when he saw a homeless stallion on the corner, his back was against the wall and he had a blanket draped over his shoulders.

Getting up from his table he walks over to the homeless stallion and hands him the sandwich. “Here you go, sir. You need this more than I do.” Astral said as the stallion shakily grabbed the sandwich with tears in his eyes.

“T-thank you, mister.” the stallion said as he unwrapped the food, it was still warm and fresh. He bit into it and started to cry softly.

Astral smiled as he watched him, “You’re welcome, sir.” he said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, he proceeded to pull out fifty bits and gave them to the stallion. “Here, I know it’s not much, but I hope it helps.” he said as he tossed the bits in a small box that rested in front of him.

The homeless pony looked down and smiled. “Thank you, son. You brought a smile to this stallion’s face and warmed his heart.” The stallion said as he finished the sandwich.

“You’re welcome. I’m just glad to help in some way.” Astral said as he took the empty sandwich wrapper and threw it away for him. Astral waved goodbye as he witnessed other patrons following suit, he then turned and walked away, a revelation coming into his mind as he started thinking to himself. ‘That felt good, I made a difference and a community is now pitching into help. I watched that stallion beg for food the whole time I was there and no pony stopped to help him. Perhaps that’s what I long for, a community that helps its fellow ponies.’ Astral thought to himself as he walked back home.

Upon arriving home Astral looked at his living room, clean furniture, a flatscreen tv, even the kitchen was filled with luxuries and the feeling of emptiness soon came flooding back into his heart.

Astral climbed the stairs into his room and looked at an atlas he owned to study the locations of Equestria and their weather patterns for his inevitable claim to his family’s legacy. There he found a small town called Ponyville and decided to venture there, hoping to find a sense of community.

The next few weeks, Astral packed for what he believed to be a six month-long pilgrimage. He packed enough clothes to last him for the trip and put back one-thousand bits to get him by until he finds employment, when his parents came into his room he simple told them what he was doing, respecting that he was his own pony and he desperately needed this, they gave him their blessings and wished him luck, they even admitted they too wish for other ponies to help, but they already know that if they leave they won’t be able to do it themselves. When Astral told them what he did for his fellow pony and that he saw others, they were skeptical about those who followed after Astral had given the pony food. Knowing that most would just be charitable to have good publicity for them, but they could feel Astral was genuine.

The day of Astral’s departure came quickly, standing at the station, Astral hugged his parents goodbye. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in six months. I know I will inherit the business and…..”

Before Astral could utter another word his father gently put his hand up to his mouth. “Don't worry, about that son, take all the time you need and, your mother and I were talking last night. If you do not wish to take over the business, I will understand.”

“But what about keeping the business in the family?” Astral asked, shocked at his father’s words.

“I’ll handle that, might give it to a family friend.” his father said as the train pulled into the station.

“But they won’t be family.” Astral said as he began to board, waving his parents goodbye.

His father chuckled and as the train doors closed he spoke. “Oh, yes they will be.” he said leaving Astral to wonder what he meant as he took his seat.

As the train travels, the words of his father reverberate through his mind. ‘What did he mean that the friend would be family?’ Astral thought to himself as he slowly started to doze off, the vibrations of the train rocking him to sleep as he began his journey of self-discovery.