An Unlikely Love: The Tale of Two Friendship Students

Morning arrived in Ponyville and the sun woke Starlight up. She sat up and wiped the sleep out of her eyes. Despite being happy that Twilight took her in she still resented her a bit. She hated the fact that it seemed like Twilight was above her given that for quite some time she had ruled over others and not that long ago she was so close to altering Equestria forever. She thought to herself, "Ugh, yet another day of being a subordinate."

Over time she had learned to navigate the castle much better so she had no problems finding the dining hall. When she arrived she found Twilight with a huge smile on her face, "Good morning Starlight!"

Starlight replied, "Morning."

Twilight paid no attention to her less than enthusiastic greeting. She continued, "Guess what?"

Starlight had a bad feeling about where this was going. She sighed, "What?"

Twilight continued, "I have a wonderful lesson for you today! After breakfast, I want you to go out into town on your own and meet a new friend. No help from me, no help from my friends and no help from Spike. I want you to do this on your own."

Starlight became nervous. She replied, "I don't know Twilight. What if ponies start looking at me weird being out there alone? What if they yell at me or bash me over my past?"

Twilight laughed, "It's alright Starlight. The ponies here know that you've changed. They know you're not the same pony who stole cutie marks and then tried to destroy Equestria with that time spell!"

Twilight's comment only made Starlight frown. Twilight saw this and continued, "Oops, perhaps not the best thing to say."

Starlight sighed in frustration, "So you seriously want me to go out into town on my own and make a friend?"

Twilight replied, "Yes, I do and once you get a friend, I want you to bring your friend here so I can meet her or him."

Starlight said, "Alright but can we at least eat breakfast first? I'm getting quite hungry."

Twilight nodded her head and they told the chefs what they wanted for breakfast. Once their food arrived, despite being hungry, Starlight wasn't eating her food much. Twilight saw this and asked, "Starlight, I thought you were hungry. You're hardly touching your food."

Starlight nervously replied, "Like I told you, I'm nervous about this. What if I don't make any friends?"

Twilight said, "Come on Starlight. You are a likable pony and I bet you will make more than just one friend, but lots of friends today!"

Starlight's pupils shrank and she cowered down. She felt like Twilight was setting the bar way too high for her but she suddenly realized that she would not be able to make any friends if she went out like this. She sat up and confidently replied, "Alright Twilight, I'll do my best to make at least one friend today."

Twilight smiled, "Good. I can't wait to meet the friends you make."

Starlight noticed that Twilight had used the plural term, friends, but realized that probably if she at least made one friend without anypony else's help that Twilight would consider it a success. After breakfast she headed towards the door. Twilight said, "Remember Starlight, just be yourself, just be the pony that everypony knows you truly are."

Starlight yelled, "Alright Twilight. See you later."

Starlight couldn't help but sigh on the way out. Twilight told her to be herself. She thought to herself, "If I were to be the real me, I would either be stealing cutie marks or writing my own time spell to make sure you never meet your friends."