Gray Cloud

by Twinkletail

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life
Length: 6009

Starburst refuses to smile today.

It's a lovely day, and everypony is happy except for Starburst. Star's having an awful day, and all she wants to go home and stew. The last thing she needs is an insistent friend trying to make her smile. There will be no smiling on this day as far as Starburst is concerned.

Written for the Kilala97 Fan Works Fun Fact Contest! Based off of the fun fact for Cotton Candy: "Candy was Starburst's first and best friend when they were little. Since Star was a crybaby, Candy would always cheer her up. Now, even though Starburst is serious and tough, Candy makes it a goal of hers to make Star smile everyday somehow."

Cover art, as well as Starburst/Cotton Candy/Prism Bolt/Golden Delicious/Anthea, are created by the wonderfully-talented Kilala97.

Published 2015-03-17 21:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-17 21:10:02 UTC

This Frown Will Not Turn Upside-Down

There was a cloud in the sky.

Normally, Golden Delicious's qualifications for a beautiful day required a lack of clouds, but he was grateful for today's single obstruction in the otherwise-clear blue sky. The sun had been beating down on him all morning, and the bit of respite offered by the cloud's gentle rainfall was greatly appreciated.

"How's that for ya?" Prism Bolt called down from above the fluffy white mass.

"Perfect," Del replied, closing his eyes and tilting his head up to let the rain drizzle over his face. Prism was a pain in the rump sometimes, but when it came down to it, he was a true friend. This fact was especially evident when he wanted to apologize to a friend for a particularly mean prank he'd played on him. Del had already accepted his apology for the macoun incident, but if Prism felt the need to apologize further with a welcome bit of precipitation, then he wasn't about to complain.

"So where is Starburst already?" Prism asked as he nudged the cloud along to match Del's movement. "Wasn't she supposed to be here to help you a while ago?"

"Don't know," Del responded. "Not like her to be late. Especially not for working out." To Del, working on the farm was a responsibility, something he did for his family in return for everything they'd done for him. For Starburst, though, it was a way to keep her strength and endurance up, with the added benefit of spending time with her friend. Normally she would have been at the farm an hour ago, but there was a distinct lack of small yellow pegasus; as much as he knew she didn't need him worrying about her, he couldn't help it.

"She probably just overslept or something," Prism said, hopping up atop the cloud.

"She's not you," Del replied with a grin.

"Hey, who was up nice and early to come over here and cool you off?" Prism shot back.

"Wouldn't call 12:30 early," Del answered, chuckling lightly. "But it's mighty appreciated either way."

"It'd better be," Prism said as he spiraled down to the ground. "It was the least I could do after..."

"The macoun incident," Del finished. "And I said you're forgiven."

"Good," Prism said. "Because mom's going to be real annoyed when she finds out that I pulled this cloud out of the collection for tomorrow's rain."

"Now don't try to guilt me for your idea," Del said, smirking. "I'm not about to be made to feel like I owe you for something you were doing to apologize to me."

"Yeah, yeah," Prism replied with a smile and a roll of his eyes. Del just grinned. On some days, it seemed like he and his friends just couldn't catch a break, but he was in a rather good mood today, and glad to see that Prism was as well. As far as he could tell, there were clear skies ahead for today.

Suddenly, a gray cloud rolled into their day in the form of a very perturbed little pegasus. Del and Prism's attention was drawn to Starburst as she trudged her way onto the farm, looking for all the world like somepony had just kicked the puppy she didn't own. On her back was a small box of cupcakes, a little treat which she'd promised Del yesterday to bring along today. Even a bunch of delicious treats on her back couldn't seem to reduce the amount of anger that seemed to be radiating from her very being. The two stallions looked at each other with trepidation, trying to mentally prepare themselves to deal with Starburst's legendary temper.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm late," Starburst practically growled, responding to the comment that neither stallion dared make. Before either of her friends could warn her, Starburst stomped directly under the raincloud. The rain from the otherwise-sunny sky startled her, and the leap that she took to get out from under it sent the box of cupcakes flying. All three ponies stared, seemingly frozen in time, as the delectable delights splattered into the dirt, doomed to never be properly enjoyed. Del and Prism looked to Starburst, who seemed about ready to explode into assorted pony bits.

"Well," Prism said, attempting to lighten the mood. "At least the bugs won't go hungry."

Starburst's eyes burned holes in Prism's skull. Her tremendous wings spread out in intimidating fashion, and it took all of Prism's willpower to keep him from hiding behind the larger Del who, for his own part, was also a bit trembly in the knees.

"Horse apples!" Starburst shouted, loud enough to rile some of the chickens in the nearby coop. She stomped into the dirt but ended up stepping right into some of the frosting splattered on the ground. Thankfully, Del was able to react quickly enough to catch her before she shared the same fate as her confections. He was also quick enough to set her back down before her anger spiked at the fact that she was being held.

"C'mon, Star," Del said, calmly as he could muster. "What's gotten into you today? You're angrier than a swarm of diabetic honeybees."

"Diabetic honeybees?" Prism asked. "Really?"

"Can't all be winners," Del replied with a shrug. Starburst did not seem to be entertained by her friends' banter.

"What's gotten into me?" Starburst spat. "Today's been terrible! I woke up late and got a whole lecture from my mom about the importance of waking up on time. Nighty ate the last of my favorite cereal. I wasn't able to find my lucky ribbon until just before I left the house, I got mistaken for a nine year old filly at the candy store--which, by the way, was out of my favorite watermelon candies--I'm already late to start my workout, and now I get wet and drop the treats I was bringing over because of the only stupid raincloud in the sky!" Her last words were directed straight at Prism, who smiled nervously.

"Hey, I was just trying to do something nice for Del!" Prism said. "Because I felt bad about..."

"The macouns! I know!" Starburst shouted. "Ugh, how many times am I going to have to hear that story?" The petite pegasus steamed like some sort of sentient yellow teapot, prompting a sigh and gentle pat on the back from Del.

"That does sound pretty rough," Del said. "But I'm sure things'll get better for ya today."

"No, they won't!" Star responded, pulling away from Del's touch. "I'm sick of ponies trying to tell me things are fine when I'm in a bad mood. Can't I just be angry? Isn't that okay?"

"Course it's okay," Del told her. "But we're your friends, and that means that we're gonna try to make you smile." Prism quickly nodded in agreement. Even with how much he liked to joke around, he knew that this wasn't exactly the time for it.

"I don't want to smile!" Starburst shot back. "I just want to be angry right now and deal with it, and I don't want anypony doing anything to..." She trailed off, a look of panic slowly appearing on her face.

"...Star?" Prism asked.

"Have either of you seen Cotton Candy today?" Star asked quickly.

"Uhh...can't rightly say I have," Del told her.

"Yeah, me either," Prism said.

"Good," Star said, relieved. "I don't want her anywhere near me today."

"What? Why?" Prism asked, stunned. "What the hay did Candy do to you? She's like the nicest pony ever!"

"Oh, you're just saying that cause you have a huge crush on her," Del said, giving Prism a little nudge.

"H-hey, shut up!" Prism shot back. "You should talk, Mr. Smoochy-Lips!"

"Hey, that was an honest mistake," Del mumbled, his cheeks coloring. "Not like how you wanna kiss her on purpose."

"Hey now!" Prism shouted. "Just because I think she's really nice and fun and pretty and has a hot-"

"Could you both shut up about kissing Candy?" Star shouted over the two of them. The three ponies stood silently for a good five seconds before Del spoke back up.

"But Prism's right," Del said. "Candy's nothing but nice. Why would you want to keep her away?"

"That's exactly why!" Star responded. "For some reason, Candy has this thing where she has to make me smile at least once a day."

"Yeah, that sounds like Candy," Prism said. "But why would you want to stop her from doing that?"

"Because I'm in a bad mood!" Star answered, expecting that to be a sufficient explanation. When it was clear by the blank expressions on her friends' faces that it wasn't, she continued. "I don't want to smile today. I just want to be grumpy and let this awful day pass. So if you see Cotton Candy and she asks where I am, don't tell her. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal," Del responded.

"Not Crystal, Candy!" Star shot back.

"I meant crystal clear," Del said flatly.

"Oh..." Star said quietly. Then she frowned once more. "Ugh...I'm not even in the mood to work out right now. I just want to get my market trip out of the way, then go home and let this day end. I'll make it up to you tomorrow when I'm not so angry, Del."

"If you insist," Del replied. "Seeya later, Star."

"Later, Star," Prism echoed.

"Later," Star said, turning tail and heading out. She found herself grumbling as she accidentally walked under the raincloud once more, casting another glare in Prism's direction before departing.

The two stallions gave each other a sidelong glance. Neither of them agreed with Star's reasoning, but they knew how stubborn she could be. It might not have been the best idea, but perhaps they were better off just leaving it be.

"Hey guys!" a cheerful voice suddenly rang out. Del and Prism both whirled around to see a smiling Cotton Candy approaching them. The boys were surprised but at the same time acknowledged that they shouldn't have been. Candy did have an odd tendency to show up when needed, or at least relatively close to it.

"Hey Candy!" Prism called out, his excitement a bit too palpable to remove credence from Del's earlier claim of an existing crush. This did not go unnoticed by Del, who gave him a little nudge with his elbow as he echoed Prism's greeting.

"How's it going?" the peppy pony asked, giving each of her friends a hug. "Nice random raincloud, Prism!"

"Heh...thanks," Prism responded, his cheeks coloring the tiniest bit at the praise. If Candy noticed it, she was doing a good job of letting Prism off the hook for it.

"Prism's doing his good deed for the century and cooling me off with this here rain while I work," Del said with a grin, causing Prism to scoff lightly.

"Heehee, aww, don't say that about Prism," Candy said, giving Prism a wink. "He's a total sweetie under that tough exterior!" She grinned as she watched Prism turn so red that he could be mistaken for a rainbow-maned Big Macintosh. "So hey, isn't Star usually here helping at this time?"

"Eeyup," Del responded.

"So where is she?" Candy asked. Del took a breath, considering his options. His mother had always taught him that lying was wrong, and he didn't quite agree with Star's plans for the day. But at the same time, he'd agreed to her terms. If he were to tell Candy where she was, then he would be betraying her trust, and he simply couldn't—

"She's going to the market and then going home," Prism said. "She's in a real bad mood today and doesn't want you finding her and trying to make her smile ‘cause she's not in a smiling mood."

"Prism!" Del shouted, staring daggers at his friend.

"What?" Prism asked. "You and I both thought it was a dumb idea anyway."

"Yeah, but we said—" Del started.

"...She doesn't want me around her?" Candy asked, her ears falling. Prism gulped quietly, glancing sideways in time to get a stern look from Del. He winced, feeling a pain in his chest. Seeing Candy look that sad hurt him in ways he never imagined possible, although that terrible feeling was quickly alleviated when her expression changed from sad to happy in a heartbeat.

"Noooo problem!" Candy sang. "No matter how bad a mood she's in...if she wants to be left alone, I won't bother her~"

It wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that Candy had a trick up her sleeve, and that fact was not lost on Del or Prism. Something about the smile she currently wore was more devious than those that she usually displayed. And if that hadn't tipped them off, the fact that she was currently rubbing her front hooves together and chuckling to herself would have been a dead giveaway.

"Candy...what are you planning?" Del asked.

"Nothing!" Candy said quickly, planting her front hooves back onto the ground. "But anyway, I gotta go! I was just passing by the farm on my way to the market."

"The market where Star's gonna be," Prism said, raising one eyebrow.

"Don't worry!" Candy said, patting Prism on the head. "I'll give her her space. Toodles!" With a smile and a wave, Candy was gone in a flash, not even leaving either stallion enough time to respond. Del and Prism looked at each other once they were alone, and the silence was soon broken by a scoff.

"Way to go, blabbermouth," Del said, shaking his head.

"I couldn't lie to her!" Prism whined. "Could you lie to that face?"

"And you say you don't have a crush on her," Del said, causing his friend to roll his eyes. "Now c'mon. We still got work to do."

"Ugh...fine," Prism said, flying up to the cloud as he stared at the ground. "Hey, you think those cupcakes are still good?"

~~~~~~~~~~

Starburst's day hadn't gotten any better since she left the apple farm, despite how much she was hoping it would. Nothing seemed to want to go right for her today. She'd been looking forward to getting her workout done and sharing her cupcakes with Del, but Prism's stupid raincloud had to go and ruin all of that. She didn't care how attractive his eyes were; there was no way she was letting him off the hook for that. She had been so distracted with her thoughts after leaving the farm that she nearly flew straight into another pony, and it took a fair amount of willpower not to yell at him. Aunt Cadence had taught her a little exercise recently to calm herself when she was stressed, and it took quite a few repeats of it to save the hapless pony from her wrath. She probably would have been proud of herself, too, if her vision wasn't clouded with frustration over the day's events. And the day wasn't even half over.

The market trip was not helping in the slightest, either. On top of the fact that she was constantly surrounded by a number of other ponies when she just wanted to be alone, she was also forced to keep an eye out for Cotton Candy. Mom always told stories about how Candy's mom had a knack for showing up without warning, often when she least expected it--stories which Ms. Pie was always more than happy to confirm. As it turned out, that was just one of the many ways that Candy had taken after her mother. Candy's tendency to appear out of nowhere was legendary, and this fact was not lost on Star. Every step she took was taken with a healthy dose of trepidation, every corner was looked around twice over, and every potential hiding place was inspected thoroughly. Onlookers might have deemed her crazy for her behavior, but if she cared enough to stop and explain to them why she was acting like this, they likely would have understood. No matter what, she was not going to smile today.

"Candy!"

Starburst froze in place as she heard that name shouted out about twenty feet from her. She then whirled around towards the source of the voice, ready to bolt as soon as she saw that familiar pink mane. Every muscle in her body tensed for her imminent flight but relaxed once she realized that the voice belonged to Toot Sweet, the owner of the Flutes and Candy Store down the road. She had forgotten that today was the day that he ran his stall in the marketplace. Star breathed a sigh of relief at the false alarm.

"Cotton!"

Star whirled around again, her heart racing a mile a minute. The previous call had been a fluke, but there was no way that the same thing was going to happen twice in a row. This one had to be talking about Cotton Candy the pony and nothing else. Star wasn't sure if she was more relieved or frustrated when she laid eyes on Thread Bolt, the local fabric salespony. Her eyes narrowed as she observed the sign next to her advertising a sale on cotton. She had been fooled again, and she wasn't sure if her nerves could take another scare like that. She took a few breaths to calm herself, then took one deep breath. She touched one front hoof to her chest as she inhaled, then extended it in front of herself as she exhaled, just like Mom and Aunt Cadence always did. She felt the tension flow out of her; if she wasn't in such a terrible mood, she might have even smiled.

It was at that moment that Star decided not to listen to any more calls that sounded suspiciously like Candy's name. She liked to think of herself as a rather perceptive pony. She needed an eagle eye if she was going to follow her father's and her uncle's hoofsteps and join the royal guard, after all, and she had worked to make sure she had exactly that. If Candy was truly approaching, she would likely see her before anypony else. No matter what she heard other ponies call out, she would pay it no attention.

"Cotton Candy!"

Star ignored the voice, just like she intended. It had to be a complete coincidence.

"I said, Cotton Candy!"

Star tensed up very slightly, but vowed to have that be her only reaction. It had to be another vendor calling out and talking about the delicious snack, rather than the pony.

"Yes, Cotton Candy!" the voice called out a third time, louder than the other two calls combined. "Not the delicious snack! The pony!"

That oddly-specific shout was too much for Star's frazzled nerves. The market would have to wait. Without a moment's hesitation, she took off at a speed that would have impressed even Ms. Dash.

"Ohh!" a nearby pony said to her friend as Star flew by, having just adjusted her hearing aid. "So that's who you've got organizing your retirement party! Why'd you specify that it wasn't the snack, though?"

"Don't know," the owner of the voice that had shouted responded. "Just seemed appropriate at the time."

~~~~~~~~~~

By the time Star was far enough away from the marketplace, she felt as if she'd made up for not having gotten her workout on the farm earlier. If she was in a better mood, the knowledge that she'd ended up getting her exercise despite all else might have made her smile, but there would be no smiling today. Not on her watch.

Star glanced around her surroundings. In her haste to escape the impending Cotton Candy Smile Brigade, she had failed to put much consideration towards which direction she was flying in. As it turned out, she had landed close to Carousel Boutique, which was just a bit away from her intended destination of her own home. Star grumbled to herself, the momentary good feeling from before dashed to smithereens. It was just her luck that she'd end up so far away. She would have to make this trip home fast, lest she keep herself out in the open too long and risk being caught by Candy. Sure, she had supposedly just left her at the marketplace, but that meant nothing when it came to Candy. It was still entirely possible that she could show up any minute now. With a huff, Starburst began towards her home. Nothing would stop her now.

"Hey Star!" a voice called out.

Star sighed to herself. As much as she wanted to rush home, she couldn't be rude to Anthea. Anthea was way too nice for her to just leave without giving her a reply. She turned tail to face the approaching unicorn. She figured that if she had to run into any of her friends on her way home, it was best that it was Anthea. She felt bad thinking about it in this fashion, but at least with Anthea's limited eyesight, she wouldn't be able to see the lack of smile on her face.

"Hey Annie," Star responded, doing her best to mask the annoyance in her tone.

"So what's got you so down?" Anthea asked, giving her a kind smile.

Star slapped one front hoof to her forehead. Of course Anthea had picked up on it. There was no hiding anything from Little Miss Perfect.

"Ugh...I've just been having a bad day, okay?" Star said dismissively. "Right now, I just want to go home and-"

"What's so bad about today?" Anthea asked, taking a step closer. "It's a beautiful day, the birds are singing...well, they're always singing back at the cottage, but anyway..."

"It's just bad, okay?" Star interrupted. She was in a bad mood, and the last thing she believed she needed right now was Anthea's incessant optimism. The other last thing she needed was close contact, but as she felt Anthea trot alongside her and touch sides with her, she begrudgingly allowed it. She knew of Anthea's tendency to get anxious if she wasn't making at least some physical contact with the friend she was talking to, so she got a pass.

"Come on, Star," Annie said, shifting her gait so she could give her friend a gentle bump with her rump. "There's so much to be cheerful about. What could possibly be so bad that it's got you so grumpy?"

Star took a deep, deep breath. If Anthea wanted to know so badly, far be it from her to keep it from her. Her frown only grew as she recanted every single thing that had gone wrong today, from her late awakening right down to the disaster at the farm. By the time she was done, even the small bit of frustration that she'd managed to burn off had come back to light. She turned to Anthea, renewed frown painting her face, waiting for whatever kind, gentle words her friend most certainly planned to try and placate her with.

"Oh my,,," Anthea said, in such a way that it echoed her mother quite well. She followed it up with a very un-Fluttershy statement: "That sucks."

"Gee, you think?!" Star shouted back at her. She instantly regretted doing so as she watched her friend recoil from the loud noise, and quickly rejoined her side. "Sorry for shouting." In her current state of mind, the last thing she wanted to do was apologize. She was the one who deserved an apology for all the bad things that had happened to her today. But she still apologized, no matter how much it bugged her. She knew when she was in the wrong, and that knowledge did nothing to help her opinion of how the day was going.

"It's okay, it just startled me," Anthea responded. "But yeah, that sounds awful. It's okay though."

"What do you mean, it's okay?" Star asked.

"Well, Candy'll likely show up soon to make you smile," Anthea said with a grin. "She always does."

"Not today!" Star insisted. "I don't want to smile today! So no matter what, Candy has to be kept away from me. Which is half the reason I was rushing home in the first place!"

"Sure couldn't have been rushing too much if you ended up all the way here instead of home," Anthea replied with a wink. Star rolled her eyes. If she explained that she accidentally flew this way in a panic, that would just make her look like an idiot.

"Well either way, that's where I'm going now," Star said. "I'm closing myself in my room and not leaving until this terrible day is over."

"Uh-huh," Anthea responded. "Well, feel better, okay?" She turned and gave Star a little hug. Star was in no mood for hugs, but she also didn't want to be mean to Anthea, so she reluctantly hugged back. It was a nice hug, and on another day it might have made her smile, but that would not be the case today.

"Are you smiling now?" Anthea asked.

"Yes," Star said, although her frown hadn't left her face. What Anthea didn't know couldn't hurt her.

"Liar," Anthea replied with a wink. Star cursed under her breath. What Anthea didn't know couldn't hurt her, but Little Miss Perfect knew everything.

"Yeah, I..." Star began, but she was suddenly interrupted by Anthea giving her another bump.

"Star!" Anthea exclaimed, staring past her and down the road. "Candy's coming! You gotta get out of here!"

"What?!" Star gasped. She spread her wings, ready to bolt.

"Hurry!" Anthea urged. "She's coming down the road right now!"

"Thanks, Annie!" Star shouted. Without another moment's hesitation, she took off into the skies.

Anthea let out a sigh of relief. As much as she didn't agree with Star's plan, she figured that if that was what she wanted, then the best thing to cheer her up was probably to let her have it. She watched as the powder blue blob with the two-tone pink blob mane approached and gave her a smile and a nod, but then blushed once she was close enough to get a better look.

"Oh...hi, Mrs. Cake," Anthea said sheepishly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Star breathed a sigh of relief as she landed in front of her house. Between all the holdups in the morning, her late arrival to the farm, and the misdirection on the way home, she was already so much later than she'd planned. At least she was home now, though, and there was nothing that anypony could possibly do to keep her from locking herself in a Candy-free environment.

"Starburst!"

The pegasus's ears fell as she heard her mother's voice ring out. She winced, staring wistfully at the stairs that led up to her room. All she wanted to do was go and close herself away from the world, but if she ignored her mother's call, her day would only get worse than it already was. She sighed and turned towards the main hall, following her mother's voice.

"Yes, mom?" Star asked as she entered the living room. Her mother was sitting on the couch, glancing up from the book she had been reading. Twilight Sparkle had a way of looking at her children that, while it wasn't an angry look, still managed to send a small shiver down their spines.

"Sit," Twilight said calmly, patting the space next to her on the couch. Star was quick to obey, walking up and plunking herself down next to her mother.

"Is something wrong, mom?" Star asked.

"You should know the answer to that, sweetheart," Twilight responded, setting her book down. "I had a talk with your brother this morning after you left. He claims you called him a very hurtful name when you saw him finishing his bowl of cereal. Is this true?"

Star gulped. She should have known that he would go and tattle on her. He always did. She briefly considered lying, but she knew that no good would come of that. Her mom already knew what had happened, and trying to deflect it would only dig her deeper.

"Yes," Star said, looking away. "But he was eating the last of my favorite cereal, and I was really upset and..."

"No buts, young lady," Twilight said. "I understand that you two don't always see eye to eye, but that's no excuse to call him what you called him."

"But he was being a..." Star began, but Twilight placed a hoof over her mouth.

"Starburst," she said, softly but sternly. "No buts. Understood?"

"Nndrffrrd," Star responded, staring down at the floor.

"Now, when your brother gets home, I'd like you to apologize to him," Twilight said, removing her hoof from her daughter's mouth. "Alright?"

"Alright," Star said, still staring at the floor. Now she was not only angry, but she also felt lower than dirt.

"Good girl," Twilight said, smiling lightly. She turned to look at Star, and her own ears fell when she saw just how dejected her daughter looked. She quickly wrapped her up in a hug. "Now come on, don't be so sad. I'm sure Nighty will forgive you."

"It's not just that," Star mumbled as she leaned into the hug. As upset as she was, she wasn't going to refuse a hug from her mom. She loved her mom's hugs, but even as comforting as it was, it wasn't going to elicit a smile from her.

"Then what is it?" Twilight asked. Star sighed and shook her head. She was in no mood to repeat the events of the entire day back again.

"I'm just having an awful day," Star said. "Everything's going wrong and I just want to go upstairs and sit there until this day is over."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetheart," Twilight said, giving her a gentle nuzzle. "We all have our bad days. It's just a part of life. Do you know what I used to do to get in a better mood when I had a bad day?"

"What?" Star asked.

"Nothing," Twilight responded. "I used to sit by myself, just like you want to. And it never helped, because I ended up just stewing over my problems. But do you know what I do now?"

"What do you do now?" Star asked, hoping for some real, decent advice.

"I wait for Mrs. Pie to show up and make me smile," Twilight responded with a grin. "Doesn't Cotton Candy do that for you?"

Star let out a loud groan. That was the last thing she wanted to hear as far as advice went.

"I don't want to smile," Star said, managing to keep herself from raising her voice to her mother. "Can't I just go upstairs and be by myself?"

Twilight took a long look at her daughter. She knew, possibly better than anypony, that accepting friendship was the right way to go about things like this. On the other hoof, she also knew the value of spending time alone here and there. Star was with her friends often enough. Perhaps one afternoon and evening of solitude couldn't hurt. She gave Star another little nuzzle.

"You go upstairs and relax," Twilight said. "If Cotton Candy comes over, I'll ask her to come back tomorrow, okay?"

"You're the best, mom," Star replied, leaning up to give her a kiss on the cheek. It took a little willpower not to smile at her mother's generosity, but her resolve was strong.

"But you still have to apologize to Nighty," Twilight reminded her.

"Right," Star said before zipping up the stairs. Twilight smiled as she watched her oldest child vanish upstairs. Maybe it wasn't the best way to handle things, but she could certainly relate to it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Despite being allowed to keep to herself, the rest of Star's day was anything but calm. She still had to leave her room to apologize to Nighty and to have dinner, but that wasn't even the worst of it. Candy's tendency to pop up out of nowhere had her on edge, even when her mom had promised to keep an eye out for her and she had a good view of every entrance to her room. There was no logical way that Candy could possibly get into her room without her knowing, but logic rarely stopped the cheery party pony. Star couldn't even count the number of times where there was no feasible way for Candy to show up, yet she managed to do so anyway. She was a heat-seeking missile of joy, and Star was hoping that her cold demeanor would deter her.

Star's normal ways of relieving stress were non-factors as well. Her room wasn't really the proper place for exercise, and reading, dancing, and even sleeping were impossible when she had to keep on the lookout for her friend. Every time she'd try to concentrate on something else, she'd hear Candy's voice in her head or see something that she mistook for a puff of pink mane or tail. By the time dinner rolled around, her nerves were shot, and even her favorite meal couldn't quite calm her down.

Through it all, though, there was one singular thing keeping Star sane. No matter how many times she freaked out over being positive that Candy was in her room, the fact remained that she never was. Star's ultimate goal for the entire day was to keep Candy from making her smile, and as she watched the clock hit her bedtime of 10:30, she breathed a sigh of relief. Despite everything, against all odds, she had made it through the entire day without letting Candy get to her. Even though her day had been just completely awful, she accomplished the goal that she had set out to accomplish. It might have been a very minor victory, but all things considered, it was a victory she was willing to be proud of. Slowly but surely, the corners of Star's mouth turned up, until she was left with a serene smile.

"A-HA!" came a voice from the closet. A startled Star fell out of her bed, crashing onto the floor.

"I knew I could make you smile!" Cotton Candy said as she stepped out from the closet. "And there's still an hour and a half left of the day!"

The lump of blankets on the floor slowly stood up, two large pyramids forming on top of it. Upon realizing that the sheets were quite a large deterrent against her intimidation factor, Star threw the blanket off of herself. She breathed heavily, staring balefully at Candy.

"H...how did you..." Star stammered, gritting her teeth.

"Oh, I snuck up here while you were having dinner," Candy responded.

"So you've been in my closet for three hours," Star said evenly.

"Yuppers!" Candy said, smiling from ear to ear. "I needed to make you smile today, after all. Gotta have my priorities~!"

"But you didn't make me smile!" Star growled. "I smiled by myself!"

"Uhh, Star?" Candy said. "No you didn't."

"What?" Star said indignantly. "What do you mean I didn't? You didn't do anything to make it happen, I just smiled because I'd avoided you making me smile all day!"

"A-ha!" Candy exclaimed, giving Star a wink. "You wanted me to stay away from you and not try to cheer you up, so I stayed away from you all day, just like you asked! I made you get exactly what you wanted, and you just said that that's what made you smile. Soooooo I did make you smile!"

Star stared, dumbfounded, at her grinning friend. As hard as her mind worked to do so, she simply couldn't come up with a counterargument for that. After a few moments, her stony frown gave way to a gentle smile. Her wings lowered, and she trotted over and gave Candy a hug, one which Candy was more than happy to reciprocate.

"You're insane sometimes," Star said with a soft chuckle.

"I'll take that as a thank you," Candy giggled.