Author's Note: This story is a direct sequel to The Magic Within, which must be read first to understand this tale fully.
….
"The talent of empathy, whether pure or variant, is so rare and difficult to understand that the majority of ponies are unaware of its existence. The variant form is seen more frequently, though whether the pony with that gift realizes it is partly empathy is another matter. But in the pure form, the pony (always a unicorn) who's talent is truly empathy, is so rare that it has passed into myth and legend. The empaths are capable of great works and great evil, as their talent enables them to see clearly into the hearts of other ponies. Their magic is unstable, because it is constantly reacting to environmental stimuli from location to weather to other ponies. Unless managed with care it can turn black quickly, and more than one empath, due to their circumstances, has succumbed to the darkness they built within themselves. Should another appear in Equestria, beware, for it will signal a great trial is immanent, as empaths are not born unless they are needed."
- Sigma Inkwell in his paper "Cutie Marks Obscura"
"… and a week's supply of muffins, and a quill, and a protractor, and a vial of poison joke antidote, and a rubber ball because ev-ery-body needs a rubber ball!
"Pinkie…"
"And here's a blow-up giraffe, and a china dog, and this weird rock I found, and a loofah just because loofah is a fun word to say, I mean, listen to it! Loofah, loofah LOOOOOOFFFAHHHH!"
"PINKIE PIE!" Aura's voice finally cut through her friend's rambling, and while she sounded upset, her teal eyes twinkled in suppressed laughter. She shook her golden head slightly, causing the two-toned deep and bright fuchsia hair to sway gently back and forth. Pinkie stopped scurrying around the train platform, and looked slightly guiltily up at Aura.
"But I wasn't done!" She protested.
"I know you weren't!" Aura responded, laughing. "But I've known you for too long not to know what you're up to." Pinkie drooped, dropping several more obscure objects.
"I don't want to face it." She said quietly.
"I know you don't, you were stalling. And I don't want to face it either. But we have to. It's what Celestia wants."
"But… but it's not… Pinkie stammered with a fallen face. Aura gently put a hoof around her.
"It's not what you want. Or what I want, really. I don't want to… to…" Aura's voice finally began to break as her face sagged.
"Iiiii do-don't wan-t you to g-g-go!" Pinkie finally wailed. Aura tightly embraced her fillyhood friend then, her eyes brimming with tears from the excess of her own feelings combined with the force of Pinkie's.
"I don't want to go either, Pink." She whispered with a catch in her voice. "But I have to. I have to learn more about this…" Aura flicked her tail at the still new cutie mark on her flank, the golden heart with it's ring of rainbow fire and offset of sparkle shone brightly in the morning sun. "… and if Celestia thinks Cadence is the best pony to learn more about my strange talent from, then we have to trust that, right?" Aura's voice was raw with the doubled emotions. Pinkie squeezed tighter before releasing her and sitting back with a sniffle.
"I guess so. But I don't have to be happy about it." She sullenly muttered.
"And you think I'M happy about it? Shells and shards Pink, until a few days ago you and Zecora were the only friends I had in the world! I'd much rather stay here with you and her and the rest of your friends!"
"Ahem. 'Our'." Rarity broke in, glaring at Aura. Aura looked over, confused.
"Say what?" She asked. Applejack suddenly grinned, catching Rarity's meaning.
"'Our friends', sugar cube. We're not just Pinkie's friends anymore, we're yours as well. A little incident in the forest sealed that jar of jam, I'm a thinkin' you just might remember it." She drawled the last bit sarcastically.
"For real, Aur." Rainbow butted in, hovering above the platform lazily. "In what crazy world would we not consider you a friend after you protected us from an evil cloud bank that wanted to possess us like some weird jewel hoarder."
"Excuuuuse me." Rarity shot daggers at Rainbow. Rainbow chuckled hoarsely.
"No offense meant, resident jewel queen."
"Much better." Rarity said primly.
"The point is," Applejack said, "you're OUR friend now. We're not just Pinkie's friends, we're yours too, and we'll always stay that way." Aura blinked in a somewhat stunned fashion at them for a moment, and then a slow smile spread across her face.
"I think I needed to hear that, AJ."
"Well then, you're welcome. Friend." Applejack winked the last comment.
"Leave it to the element of honesty." Rainbow chortled.
"Excuuuuse me, loyalty, but some pony had to get her to see the truth of our friendship, and y'all sure weren't sayin' it in plain speech." Applejack's face was rather sassily stuck in front of Rainbow's. A quick grimace and tongue stuck out greeted her.
"Potato, potato. We were all saying the same thing in different ways, right Aur?"
"Well, you were getting there for sure…" Aura giggled. Pinkie snorted and a few stray pieces of confetti flew out and floated around the platform.
"Pinkie Pie, how DO you manage to snort confetti all the time? It's like you're magic or something!" Rainbow turned to her friend in honest astonishment.
"Well duhhhh. I just inhale a half a can of confetti every two days, and it tends to last!" Pinkie bounced, happily. The rest of the girls stared at her, incredulously.
"… The worse part is, I can't tell if she's serious, or joshing." Rainbow whispered.
"I can't tell either." Twilight broke in for the first time from where she had been standing with Fluttershy watching the fray.
"She couldn't have some latent magic or something, could she?" Rarity queried.
"But she's not a unicorn!" Aura glanced at her in confusion.
"Unless the Elements changed her somehow… we all had magic then…" Twilight got a gleam in her eye as she spoke.
"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow flew down and smacked Twilight with her wing. "No going into study mode right now, you have places to go and friends to see!"
"Oh. Right. Sorry…" Twilight rubbed the spot Rainbow had hit her with an embarrassed grin. She cast around wildly for a topic change, and as her eyes lit on Fluttershy, she smiled.
"Fluttershy, didn't you bring something for Aura?"
"I did." Fluttershy quietly smiled. Aura stepped close to her.
"Oh Fluttershy, you didn't have to!"
"But I wanted to. It's just a little something, as, as a 'see you later' present." Fluttershy said quietly. She shyly pulled a small pot off her back and handed it to Aura who held it in her hoof and looked curiously at the little plant. It looked like a tiny, spindly tree, but with no leaves or foliage of any kind. Actually, it looked quite dead.
"I've never seen a plant like that before, Fluttershy. Where in the hay did you find that stick?" Applejack leaned in for a closer look, with Rarity and Rainbow right beside her.
"I found it in the forest." Fluttershy answered, peeping up from beneath her long mane.
"UGHHHH!" Rarity jumped away.
"What in tarnation…?!" Applejack recoiled at the same instant. Even Rainbow Dash backed off a few wingbeats.
"Oh would you ponies stop that!" Fluttershy snapped, no longer in her shy mode. "It's not dangerous. It grows near the Castle of the Two Sisters, you all have passed it many times and never noticed. Just because it's from the forest doesn't mean it's evil."
"So what is it Fluttershy?" Aura asked, curiously, as the other ponies continued to keep well back from the little plant. "It doesn't look, quite… alive." Fluttershy, surprisingly, giggled at the statement.
"No it doesn't, does it. It never does in the daylight. But wait until the sun goes down and you'll see it comes to life. It's called Starstem. Leave it near a window for the moonlight to touch and you'll understand why." She smiled up at Aura. "I thought, since it came from the same place you defended us and found your talent, that it would remind you of us whenever you saw it. And since it blooms at night, it would be a reminder that love and friendship can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to look towards the light."
Aura was overcome. She set the pot gently down, and pulled Fluttershy into a hug, her eyes brimming with tears. "Thank you Fluttershy." She whispered.
A shrill whistle burst through the moment.
"The train!" Pinkie hollered, unnecessarily.
"We'd better go Aura." Twilight said softly, with a tear in her eye. She gently picked up the Starstem pot with her magic, and smiled sadly at Aura. "Best give everyone a hug quickly!"
Aura keeled over as she was buried under a pile of hugging ponies, all shouting their love and promises to write and visit. At a second, shriller whistle, Aura extracted herself, gave Pinkie one final hug, and bounded onto the train as steam began to pour from the engine.
"Goodbye every pony! I will see you soon, I promise!" She called through the open window. A chorus of goodbyes responded as the train began to pull away. Pinkie sprinted out of the group and tore along the platform for as long as she could, yelling,
"DON'T FORGET TO WRIIIIIIIiiiiittttteee…"
"I WON'T!" Aura hollered back. The train turned a corner, and the little group of friends vanished from sight as it picked up speed. Aura sighed, and rather than withdraw into the car, she let her head and hooves hang out the window, the wind blowing her mane around like a raging tempest. She stayed there for a few moments in silence. Finally, a soft sob escaped, and the tears that flowed out of her closed eyes mingled with the wind and whipped away. Her heart ached and twisted within her. Her friends, her only friends, they were…
"Aura?" A soft touch on her shoulder brought her back to reality. She reluctantly drew her head back into the train car, and slid the window up with a light click.
"Sorry, Twilight." She said softly.
"You have nothing to apologize for." Twilight levitated a tissue over to Aura, who took it in her hoof gently and dabbed at her eyes, looking sheepish.
"But I feel like I do. Here I am, off on what any other unicorn, or pony, would consider the honor of a lifetime, to get to study with a Princess, and I'm crying like a little filly because I can't stay with my friends." She hung her head as she ended.
"Well for one, I'm glad you've finally started referring to them as my friends." Twilight had lowered her face so she could look up under Aura's flyaway hair and into her eyes. A flash of a smile answered her comment. "And second, never apologize for feeling sadness about having to leave friends behind. You can't let it control what you do, but a sense of loss is a natural and good thing to have!" Aura stared at her, incredulous. Twilight quirked a grin. "I didn't say a nice feeling to have, but it's a good feeling to have. It means you have something of value and recognize it and hate to lose it." Aura started, and then smiled a little.
"I suppose so," she mused. "But," and here she looked pleadingly at Twilight, "distract me for a bit, please? It's rather overwhelming at the moment." Twilight tried to remain serious, but he finally broke down in a giggle, her eyes roving over her friend.
"Um, I think I need to fix the way you are currently distracting me, first."
"Huh?" Aura's eyes reflected her confusion under her windblown hair.
"Your hair. I may not be Rarity, but right now you look like you had a tangle with a tornado, and lost." Twilight's magic created a mirror, and Aura recoiled at the sight.
"Ugh. I do look awful."
"Let me help you." Twilight began gently combing the tangled mess out. Aura slowly relaxed, and sighed deeply.
"When am I allowed to try magic again?" She asked, eyes closed against the pull of the tangles.
"Once we get to the Empire and Cadence says so. Celestia thought you should wait a week, it's been about that length of time, but I'd like for you to be in Cadence's care in case the overload should happen again. Not that I think it will, but still."
"It wouldn't, would it? Not if I'm careful?" There was a bit of fear edging into Aura's voice.
"I really don't think it will. It's rare even in young unicorns, so an older, steadier unicorn shouldn't have a problem using their magic judiciously until it's built up in strength. You just tried to do too much magic, too fast, that's all!"
"I didn't exactly have a choice." Aura muttered. Twilight chuckled merrily.
"Not particularly, no. Stop worrying about it Aura. You'll be fine."
"I hope so." Aura's voice betrayed more than she said. Twilight loosened the last knot, and Aura's mane fell in it's usual wave of fuchsia. She looked thoughtfully at the golden mare.
"I don't have your talent, Aura, so if something is bothering you, you're going to have to just come out and tell me." Aura looked up sheepishly.
"Was it that obvious?"
"Your emotions tend to color your words." Twilight smiled encouragingly at her. Aura sighed, and looked down before addressing her friend.
"I'm… I'm afraid Twilight!" She burst out. "I won't know a soul in the Empire. At least Ponyville was familiar, and the forest was free of any pony. But the Empire… it's full of unknown ponies. I won't even have Pinkie or Zecora as a safety net. I'm leaving everything I've ever known, the bad and the good. I… I feel lost."
Twilight gently placed her hoof over Aura's. "Time will change that. It doesn't ease the transition, but it will get better, I promise. And I can assure you that Cadence and Shining Armor will be as good a friends to you as the one's you've left behind. They've already promised me that."
"They have?" Hope colored Aura's voice.
"Of course they have! They wouldn't take on a pupil just to let her flounder and wither away from loneliness! You'll see. Besides, I'd have a few choice words to say to my dear brother should he do anything to upset you…" Twilight trailed off with a wicked grin that made Aura snort.
"What are they like?" Aura asked, rather suddenly.
"They're amazing." Twilight stated, unblushingly. "Of course I'm 110% bias about that fact, but it's my opinion and I hold to it." Aura snorted again at Twilight's words, and with a thoughtful smile Twilight grew a bit more serious. "Shining is the most loyal friend you could ask for. He will pick on you and tease you, but woe betides any pony who does that to you who isn't him! He notices little things, like when you've been studying too hard or are obsessing about something too much. He's always there to get you out of a scrape, whether you got yourself into it or not. He's a faithful friend, and brother," she concluded simply.
"And Cadence?"
"Cadence is truly the embodiment of her cutie mark. She loves more deeply than any pony I have ever met, and will move the heavens to ensure those within her care feel that love poured out on them. She is genuinely caring, not for any gain of her own, but because she wants you to be happy and to be the best pony you possibly can be. She's become a wise and benevolent princess to the crystal ponies, but greater than that, she is a true and enduring friend." Twilight's eyes found Aura's. "You'll be safe with her, I promise." Aura smiled back, a true smile this time.
"Thanks Twilight. I guess knowing something about them helped, at least a little."
"Good. And don't worry. Of course it will be hard at first, any change is, but you most definitely won't be alone. They'll be there for you, and we're only a letter away if you need some familiar faces."
"I'll remember that." Aura said with a small smile.
The two mares sat in comfortable silence for a while as the train rumbled on further and further north. Aura, who had been watching the countryside flash by with quiet interest, suddenly started.
"Is that the Empire?" She asked, pointing a hoof out the window. Twilight looked up from her book and followed the pointing hoof with her gaze.
"It is!"
Aura lowered her hoof and gaped out the window. Nestled on a plain before a chain of purple mountains, encircled with soft snow, lay the shining city of the Crystal Empire. The tall spire in the very heart of the city sent sparkling waves shimmering down the magical dome that kept the biting northern air out. It glowed almost golden in the afternoon sun.
"It's so beautiful." She whispered to herself. Then, without realizing what she was doing, she reached out and felt towards it. "It even feels friendly! And… familiar. No, not quite familiar. But it has the flavor of a home about it. Or yet… some place I should know, but don't yet, but that knows me." Aura mused quietly.
Twilight looked up at the teal glow around Aura's horn with an alarmed expression, but it faded quickly as the glow of magic vanished. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Aura you scared me for a moment there." Aura snapped out of her reverie and glanced over at her friend.
"Huh? Did I do something?" She asked, confused. Twilight blinked, and then realized what had just happened.
"You were using your magic, I saw the glow around your horn. You didn't realize it?"
"No! I didn't mean to. I didn't realize I was using it at all! It just felt, natural, somehow, to reach to and see if i could feel what the Empire was like." Twilight smacked her hoof into her face.
"Aura. Your talent is empathic magic. It didn't occur to you that reaching out to see what someone or something feels like is probably a part of that?" Aura's mouth formed an "O" of surprise.
"I hadn't connected them."
Twilight groaned. "Well no harm done it looks like, so all is well. I guess I can't be too upset with you," she smiled ruefully, "your talent is so new to you that I shouldn't be expecting you to know all it's intricacies yet."
Aura was still in mild shock. "I've been doing that since I was a foal. I'd have these weird flashes of intuition about places or people or things. Not all the time, but every once in a while. That was part of my talent you think?" She looked over at Twilight excitedly.
"I would think so. It seems to fit." Here she laughed. "I have a suspicion you're going to discover a lot about yourself is tied back to your talent, and you just never realized it because your talent was unknown for so long!"
"You're probably right!" Aura grinned back. A screeching of brakes and several jolts as the train slowed down told the girls that they had reached their destination.
"End of the line, the Crystal Empire!" A pony's voice shouted over the loudspeaker. Aura stiffened and her eyes went wild for a moment until Twilight put a gentle hoof on her shoulder.
"It will be ok, I promise. Come on, Aura." Aura unfroze, nodded quietly to Twilight, and followed her friend out of the train, and onto the platform where the next chapter of her life awaited.