Chasing Stars

It was a bright and sunny afternoon, and Seyfert had just finished tidying things around his observatory. He decided he’d pay his friend Aurora a visit, and quickly cleaned himself up before heading to her home. It was a bit of a walk, but the scenery was nice and the air was crisp and clean. Upon arriving the straightened his mane and knocked on the door.

Aurora had just put away her paints when she heard someone knocking. She trotted briskly over, she opened the door with her magic. She smiled wide seeing her friend was the one on the other side. “Hey Seyfert, how have you been?”

“Great,” he replied, “And you?”

“Oh, pretty good actually. Just finished up an art project I’d been putting off.” She opened the door further, motioning for him to step inside. “What do I owe the honor of your visit? You’re a pretty busy stallion these days I hear.”

He smiled as he stepped inside, “I was busy there for awhile,” He said, “But as of late things have been pretty slow around the observatory.” Then he noticed the painting on the other side of the room, “Is this the piece you’ve been working on?” He asked looking at it with amazement.

Aurora nodded, “Yes, it’s a commission for one of my clients. He requested a stylized portrait under the moon. It’s probably one of my best pieces to date.” She walked over to the kitchen which had a large opening in the wall so that you could see into the living room. She quietly poured herself and her guest glass of water, and carefully made her way over to where Sey stood.

“I must say, you have quite a way with a paintbrush.” Seyfert says still amazed by the painting, it took him a moment before he noticed Aurora standing next to him with a glass of water. “Oh thank you.” He said with a smile, taking the glass from her.

“Thank you for the compliment.” She felt her face get warmer as it turned a light shade of pink. She was still very shy when it came to praise for her work. “In any case, what has you on this side of town.?”

“Eh, well I hadn’t been out in a while so I figured I’d pay somepony a visit. I love my job, but it’s not always fun being cooped up in the lab after hours.” He chuckled.

Aurora laughed in reply. “My sister says that all the time. She is constantly begging me to go dancing with her when she’s not working. She;s just a ball of energy! Speaking of sisters, how is Europa doing?”

“Last I heard she was doing great.” He said with a smile, “I’ve been meaning to go visit her at the university but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.” He chuckles. “That and I haven’t been back to Canterlot since I move away.”

“what I wouldn’t give to visit it again.” Aurora mused. “I have only been once, with my sister to a convention. It only lasted two days, so we didn’t really have much time for sightseeing outside the convention center.”

“Oh?” Seyfert said, raising an eyebrow, “If you’d like you could accompany me when I go to visit Europa, your sister is more then welcome to come along too. Traveling alone is never any fun.”

Aurora’s eyes lit up as she perked her ears, nearly dropping her water from her magic grasp. “Really? You mean it?”

“Absolutely, it would be great to have others to travel with and I would love to show you two around Canterlot.” He took a sip of his own water before continuing. “A friend of mine owns an inn, so lodging shouldn’t be a problem.”

“EEEEEEEEE!!!” She squealed, pumping her hooves up and down trotting in place. Some of her water splashing onto the wood floor. “I can’t WAIT to tell my sister! She’ll be so excited! Thank you, Sey!”

“Not a problem at all,” He grinned, “Just let me know when you and your sister are available and I’ll set everything up. It will be nice to take a trip that isn’t related to work.” He chuckled.

“Oh gosh, I’m on summer break from University right now, and Stardust can pretty much take off whenever she wants, seeing as she runs the observatory. She’ll just leave her assistant in charge while she’s away I’m sure.” She put a hoof to her muzzle as she thought for a moment. “So anytime in the next three weeks or so should work for us.” She smiled, and then immediately lost focus as she stepped in some of the water she spilled earlier. “Opps” She levitated a towel over from the kitchen counter to dab is up off the floor.

“I’ll send wor dot Europa and my innkeeper friend, Benton, about our upcoming visit.” He sated scratching his chin.

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Stardust rubbed her front hooves together excitedly as Aurora brought out her bags and locked her front door. Seyfert was on his was to pick them up, and in a few moments they’d be off to Canterlot. Aurora wore a cream colored sundress and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her sister wore a similar dress, white in color. Her hair was done in her usual messy bun at the back of her head. “I’m so excited Aurora! I can;t wait until we get there!”

Seyfert was making his way to Aurora’s to meet up with her and her sister for their trip. Fighting with a button on his jacket, he made his way up to her door and knocked. He continued to fight with the troublesome button while he waited, not noticing the mares standing to his left and laughing at him.

“Oh I didn’t see you two there, was too busy fighting with this darn thing.: He blushed, laughing nervously as he finally got the button in place. “Shall we be off?”

Stardust was quite smitten, this friend of her sister’s was cute when he was oblivious. “Indeed, you must be Seyfert! Love the name.”

“And you must be Stardust! I’ve heard a lot about you, and it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Seyfert replied. Dusty smiled, it was barely visible that her cheeks were flushed, thanks to her dark and dusty coat. Aurora just rolled her eyes with a wry grin, picking up a few bags with her magic.

“Lets get going, we don’t want to miss the train.”

The walk from Aurora’s house to the train station was long, she lived on the very outskirts of the neighboring town. Poor Aurora was left with carrying all Stardust’s luggage, as the dusty blue mare lagged behind, exchanging pleasantries with her fellow astronomer. Thankfully it was still early spring and the sun hadn’t made it over the horizon yet. There was a slight chill in the air as beads of dew splashed against her hooves. After trekking three miles, the trio had finally arrived a their destination.

As they made their way to the platform, the conductor was making a last minute call for tickets. Aurora somehow managed to use her magic to fish them out of her dress pocket while balancing both hers and her sister’s bags precariously above her. The conductor smiled, taking the tickets as she started to board, Stardust lagging a bit with Sey.

Seyfert and Stardust had gotten into a discussion about their observatories and how they both shared the same line of work when Sey realized he and his new friend were about to be left behind, “We’d better hurry.” He suggested as the both made a quick dash for the train, boarding just as it was pulling off. Stardust was laughing by the time they made it safely on board. Aurora just raised an eyebrow at her younger sibling before turning to find a seat and put down the luggage. Those two certainly hit it off. She laughed to herself, as she got situated. Stardust gave a playful nudge to Sey before heading down the narrow passageway to seat herself.