Aurora Flare

By Aureity

• August 8, 2012




Age: 17

Gender: Female

Species: Unicorn

Appearance: Not my art :3<br /><br /><br />http://mlpforums.com/topic/43722-raptorart-custom-wearable-ties-and-commissions-i-do-ocs/

Cutie Mark: Three aquamarine-blue stars housed underneath a gentle purple night sky, to signify her love of stargazing.

Personality: Aurora's usually very easygoing and very trusting of others (to the point of gullibility), and always strives to put even random strangers' considerations before her own. She has a cheerful, warm smile to lift the spirits of those around her, and prefers listening to others rather than talking herself - although she's quite chatty as well. More often than not, her outgoing personality hides her true emotions, the ones that she locks inside of her heart - everypony has enough to deal with on their own, anyway. <br /><br />With her friends, Aurora is even more outgoing, and sports a very carefree nature about her, although she's always on the lookout for her friends, and cares deeply about their well-being. She's not afraid to let her playful side show – the part of her that's never really grown up, but she's also empathetic, and is always there to listen to the problems of others.<br /><br />Her friends have noticed that sometimes, Aurora's unusually quiet – a blatant contradiction to her usual outgoing self. She's this way sometimes – reflective on her memories and emotions, and unreceptive to the world around her. She usually doesn't stay in this phase for too long, and returns to her bright and cheery self after a while. She's lonely, but doesn't show it.

Backstory: Um...as far back as I can remember, I was raised in a foster family on the outskirts of Baltimare, with my father working as a lumberjack and my mother as a gardener. I can still sometimes smell the fresh rosemary drifting in on the morning mist. We...we were never really what anypony would consider rich, but to me, the cozy log cabin we shared was a million times better than any old Canterlot mansion. I'd wake up every morning to the beautiful, warm sunshine, and the refreshing dew glistening like crystals on the lush green grass. So what if I wasn't a city pony sitting on their hooves playing Pac-Pony all day? I had the outdoors, which was always a million times better.<br /><br />I-I was always teased by the rest of my family, and the relatives who occasionally came to visit, about my lack of magical power. I was useless, they said. The strength...well, lack of, of a unicorn pony, and the demeanor of an earth pony. Whereas my little brother was levitating his toys into the air since he was born, I hadn't so much as opened a door with my horn. I promised to myself never to let them see how much their taunts hurt me. Th-the last thing I needed was another fresh round of insults about my emotions.<br /><br />Now, m-my father never really treated me too well, even worse than everyone else. In contrast to the beautiful scenery just outside the window, the clanking of watering cans as my mother sprinkled the plants just outside the cabin, and the yells of my little brother as he ran around outside (I bet he loved it outside just as much as I did), my father was probably a raging tempest every time he came stomping home. I don't blame him for hitting me often. It-it must have been hard chopping logs all day. Nor did I ever really get mad when he gave me his axe and told me to go do his work for him instead. I-I had to earn my keep, after all. <br /><br />It-it was otherwise a pretty normal routine for me. I'd wake up every morning and do my chores, and watch my little brother to make sure he didn't get into any sort of trouble (He had a magnifying glass, you see, and he loved to go and melt all his little plastic toys with it). Whenever I found myself with a bit of free time, I'd always go traipsing off to the forest that bordered our home. The grass was just a little greener under my hooves, the morning dew just a bit fresher, and the songbirds just a tad sweeter. I was happy here, as I ran wild around the forest, and splashed noisily into the crystal-clear river. Even grown as I am now, what I wouldn't give to go back...<br /><br />Well, one day the rest of my family left to go on a visit. A family reunion, I think. I wasn't allowed to go, of course...since I wasn't actually related to anypony. I'll admit, that did make me feel lonely as I watched the rest of them trot out the door and towards the tiny speck on the horizon that was Baltimare. I-I think I cried, too, curled up in a ball in the middle the rosemary garden, the gray rainclouds overhead matching my mood. Loneliness was the worst feeling in world, and it hurt, too.<br /> I didn't stay sad for long, though. A hummingbird landed on my nose, and as I tilted my head to look at it, it flew away. Although I don't think it actually meant anything, it did make me realize that there was one place that never failed to cheer me up. So, eagerly, I bounded back to the forest that I had frolicked in so many times.<br /><br />It was one of the best afternoons of my life. The sun had just come out, and was filtering its warm rays through the treetops. Raindrops still hung on the trees, and would patter down every once in a while, and there was a beautiful rainbow stretching across the sky. I lost track of the time as I dashed through the forest without a care in the world. By the time I paused to rest, I was deep in the heart of the forest, and had no idea which way was out. It took me hours to retrace my steps back, but I didn't mind. A beautiful navy-blue night sky was there to greet me by the time I emerged, and flopped in exhaustion in the tall grass to catch my breath.<br /><br />It was then that I noticed the stars. They were...beautiful. Like tiny, glittering jewels speckled across a dark, vast background. I couldn't help but feel amazed just looking up at the sky. I-I still can't explain it, but...I felt like I had a purpose, gazing towards the night sky. Like they held some sort of meaning, some gigantic mystery that all the ponies in the world wouldn't be able to unravel. I'm not even sure how long I spent staring, tummy up, at the starry expanse above me. I probably would have spent longer, but at that moment, something clicked into place in my brain, and my horn started the glow, for the first time in my life. And looking back at the starry field, I noticed that they seemed to...flicker, just a little.<br /><br />I-I was so happy by that time! I leaped to my hooves and ran around wildly across the grassy field. My head was starting to really hurt by this point, and I was getting kind of dizzy. And my horn was growing steadily brighter, by bit. I wasn't sure whether I was ecstatic anymore or just...scared. Either way, I wasn't watching where I was going, and tripped over a rock. And as I landed flat on my face (ow), my horn glowed momentarily with light. Nothing special, just a little bright burst that faded away almost instantly. And with it, my horn returned to its normal snow-white non-shiny self. But all that paled in comparison with the stinging sensation on my flank – I had cut it as I fell and tumbled into the grass. I turned my head to take a look at the injury, and it took me a full five seconds to register the picture that was now emblazoning my flank. I finally had a cutie mark!<br /><br />To the day, I still don't know whether I got it from gazing up at the stars, or for what I eventually realized after a sleepless night out in the open was absorbing and redirecting starlight, almost like a little lantern. I had figured out that instead of releasing it all in a small burst, I could concentrate it into a beam instead, and turn my horn into a split-second flashlight. That was where most of my headaches, cramps and fatigue came from – it only took a few seconds to absorb the starlight, but turning it into a beam and finally releasing it took me at least a minute. I also realized that the more time I spent absorbing light, the stronger the beam would become. Up to a certain point, at least. Each bright star hanging in the sky was like a tiny, white speck, and there was only so much starlight something so far away could give. I fainted from exhaustion after a while – it was just too much effort for a tiny bit of light.<br /><br />When I woke up, the sun was already shining brightly in the sky. My family hadn't come back yet, and my belly was growling. I made my way back into the cabin to fix up something to eat while I waited, and wondered about my special talent. I-I was a little bitter, I'll admit. A talent that turned my horn into a flashlight seemed a little underwhelming to me, considering how short-lived the light source was, and how much I'd ache after it was over. I knew my family wouldn't be impressed either, and it would just be more fuel for their taunts. I felt useless...and not for the first time in my life, either. Only the memory of the beautiful star-studded sky kept me from flopping down onto my bed...I instinctively dashed right out of the cabin and stared up at the sky for reassurance, but silly me...the sun was the only thing shining high in the sky.<br /><br />And that's when I realized...the sun was a star, too.<br /><br />So I just...tilted my head a little, and tried to replicate what I had done the night before, by absorbing the sun's rays. And almost immediately, I got a splitting headache as my horn filled to the brim with solar energy. Compared to the tiny amounts of light each star in the sky gave off, the sunlight was like a tidal wave, there was so much there, I didn't even know what to do with it all, so I just sort of...let it out again. And almost immediately, th-there was a searing flash of light, a thousand times brighter than anything I'd ever tried the previous night. I-I wasn't prepared and blinded myself...must have spent at least a half hour rolling in the grass rubbing my eyes until I could see again. When I got up again, I was weak-kneed and breathing heavily, but excited at the new possibilities.<br /><br />I...I was always a curious pony. I'm sure you know what I tried to do next. <br /><br />I opened my mind to the sunlight all around me, and drew it into my horn again. That effort almost made me want to drop to the ground, but the hardest part was amplifying it into a...a more concentrated beam of sunlight. I stood there, rooted to the spot in concentration, for what seemed like eternity. Sweat was rolling down my face and neck, and my hooves were threatening to give way, but I couldn't move. I couldn't even think about moving – all of my effort went into my horn. And then finally, after a few excruciatingly delicate moments...I-I was done. I spotted one of my little brother's plastic ponies lying half-hidden in the tall grass, one of the ones he always liked melting with a magnifying glass. For a moment I hesitated, gazing at its half-melted mane, but there was nothing better to aim at. I just lowered my horn at it and released the sunlight. The one action I will always regret.<br /><br />All I remember is getting thrown backwards by a brilliant blast of solar light, and landing hard on my back before fainting for the second time that day.<br /><br />When I woke up, there were two ponies gazing at me. For a second, I thought they were my foster parents, having finally arrived home. I remember asking one of them what happened, before realizing that I wasn't asleep in my warm cabin bed, but rather lying on a firm stretcher.<br /><br />“We had to drag you from that burning building, missy,” he answered. “It's like a bucking laser went off and carved a hole right through the wall – and set fire to the bucking thing, too.” I-I think he went into a rant about the quality of building materials after that, but I wasn't paying attention. I-I had to see for myself what happened. Dodging both protesting ponies and running right out of what I now realized was the Baltimare Central Hospital, I didn't stop until the city was well behind my hooves pounding the dusty ground. And then...I saw it.<br /><br />T-take every good memory you've ever had. Every single hope and dream, everything that's ever made you smile...and burn it into a shriveled, charred crisp. E-everywhere I saw dead grass, scattered, smoking timber, and pieces of furniture. There were other ponies already milling around the horrifying scene of destruction, and they paid no attention to me as I pelted towards the smoky ruins of what used to be my home. No attention as I clutched a fire-blackened, half-melted bedpost to my chest and cried, the tears dripping down my face instantly soaked up by the ruined earth. They didn't know who I was. But I did. I-I had caused this. And no amount of writing could ever express what I felt.<br /><br />My-my family. What would they say once they got home, once they saw what I had done? What could I possibly do to apologize? Their faces swam through my mind, one by one. Their insults were meaningless now – no matter what they had done in the past, they had always provided for me, always made sure I had enough to eat. The answer was about as obvious as the logs now scattered on the ground – there was nothing I could ever do to make it up to them.<br /><br />I was a coward. So I ran. Away from the wreckage of my life, and towards the forest that sheltered it.<br /><br />I-I don't have much to say after this point. I'll make it quick.<br /><br />The very forest that I had frolicked in happily just yesterday, I now couldn't stand to look at. Everywhere, the memories faded in and out. Every leaf that fell, bush that swayed, and bird that sung was a reminder of what had been. U-until my bucking “special talent” destroyed my life...!<br /><br />I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to curse.<br /><br />I managed to make my way to Fillydelphia, where I scraped together a meager living helping the ponies with various odd jobs to make ends meet. I-I lived as frugally as possible, to save up enough bits. You see...I had never truly given up hope of one day coming back. I had promised myself...one day I would return, and tell them how sorry I was. I'd use my earnings to replenish what was lost, and maybe, just maybe, life could return to the way it was. Th-that was my sole motivation to drag my hooves throughout Fillydelphia day after day to finally earn enough bits for my trip back home.<br /><br />B-but when I finally arrived back in Baltimare, six months later, tired, worn-out, but hopeful, my family was nowhere to be found. Not even the broken timbers remained of the small cabin I had spent my fillyhood in. The tall, dark-green grass had regrown, the songbirds were still singing, and the sun was still shining brightly over the field. It was like...no one had ever lived here before. And that was the day my hope finally crumbled to dust.<br /><br />My family had left me. <br /><br />I don't remember how long I spent just...staring...at the very spot I had used to live. The birdsong eventually gave way to crickets, and day turned into night as I just sat, defeated, in the grassy reminder of my home. I-I would have probably sat there all night...but a numbing pain in my flank forced me back up, as I turned around to see what I was sitting on.<br /><br />It was a half-melted plastic pony. Its features were distorted and one of its legs was missing, but as I held it in my hooves, I remembered a day - back when I was just a filly, carefree and happy, watching as my little brother gamboled around me, devilishly setting fire to his army of toys. I lay down in the lush green grass, and held the toy up into the night sky.<br /><br />The beautiful, star-sprinkled night sky.<br /><br />As I lay there, tummy up, looking with wonder at the thousands of bright stars all glinting down at me, I realized – some things never changed. My memories would always be with me.<br /><br />My memories...