Changing Desires

Four hours had passed since Starlight headed out to eat. She was still sitting at the cafe, waiting for noon to arrive. She was doing that because noon was when a pony could start ordering alcoholic beverages. As the clock tower struck twelve, she got the attention of the waiter, "Excuse me, could I have a hard cider?"

The waiter had noticed she never left after breakfast. He sighed, "You've been waiting here since this morning just to order that?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, I have. I've had a lot of things going on and I just need to relax. Now could you get me a hard cider?"

The waiter said, "Very well madam."

Shortly after Starlight placed her order, Spike came running to her. "Starlight, you have to come to the castle, quick! Celestia sent a message saying she needs you go up to Canterlot for a few days."

Starlight shot up. She asked, "Really? Celestia wants me to go up to Canterlot for a few days?"

Spike replied, "Yes, now hurry. It isn't wise to keep Celestia waiting."

Just as the waiter was headed to her table with her drink, Starlight ran off towards the castle. While she was curious as to why Celestia would want her to go up there for a few days, she was happy that she would be able to get away from the drama at the castle for a few days. When she arrived she headed to the throne room she was greeted by Twilight and Trixie. Without even noticing Trixie she asked, "Twilight, Spike said Celestia send a message wanting me to go up to Canterlot at once."

Twilight handed her the scroll and replied, "Yes, she did."

Starlight began to read the scroll and got a huge smile on her face. She asked, "Seriously, you told her that I have learned as much as I can from you?"

Twilight replied, "Yep, I did."

Starlight continued, "And you asked her if there was something up there for me?"

Twilight replied, "Yep, I did."

Starlight began jumping up and down, "From the way this looks I better get going right away. I'm heading upstairs to grab my saddlebags and then I'm heading out."

Starlight rushed upstairs and grabbed her saddlebags but couldn't find one thing, the scroll with her time spell. She was tearing through her room snorting, "Where is it? Where is it? I can't leave without it!"

With every passing second she was becoming more frantic. That was one thing she did not want to leave alone. While she did enchant it to where she was the only one who could cast it, she didn't trust Twilight or Trixie enough to leave it behind. Finally it hit her, she had locked it in a small lock box she had. She got it, placed it in her saddlebags and headed downstairs.

Just as she was getting ready to leave Twilight yelled, "Starlight, wait! I'm sending Spike with you as well."

Both Starlight and Spike gasped, "What?"

Twilight replied, "Yes. Spike, I want you to go with her."

Spike said, "Ok."

Starlight ordered, "Hop on Spike, let's get going!"

Spike asked, "So are we going to take the train or are you going to try to fly up there?"

Starlight replied, "I'm going to fly us up there. Yeah I can't fly as fast as Twilight but I'll get us up there."

Spike sighed, "Alright."

It was a bumpy ride for Spike as Starlight had not flown a great distance before and by the time they reached Canterlot, she was wobbly and exhausted. When they landed she said, "Next time I think we'll take the train. I didn't know that flying that far would use that much energy."

When they arrived at the castle gate they were confronted by two guards. While Celestia had told them what she looked like, they still thought they would ask. One of the guards asked, "Are you Starlight Glimmer?"

Starlight replied, "Yes, I am."

The guard continued, "Go in to the throne room, Celestia is waiting for you."

Starlight's eyes shrank. She sighed, "But I've never even been here before! How am I supposed to find the throne room?"

The guard replied, "Follow me, I'll take you there."

When Starlight first saw the inside of Twilight's castle, she was impressed but as she was being led to Celestia's throne room, she was in awe of the grandeur of the palace. She was analyzing everything so closely that it didn't seem any time at all before she heard a voice say, "Your Majesty, Starlight Glimmer is here to see you."

Celestia saw her and said, "Starlight, Twilight has told me so much about you."

Starlight replied, "Yeah, she said something about me having learned as much from her as I can."

Celestia then noticed Spike was with her, "Spike, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be down with Twilight if she needs you?"

Spike replied, "Well I would have stayed down there but Twilight seemed really insistent that I come up here. It seemed almost like she was trying to get rid of me."

Celestia sighed, "Well perhaps that is the best for right now because Starlight may need you."

Celestia cast her gaze towards Starlight and continued, "Now for why I have summoned you. Twilight told me that you have pretty much learned everything you can from her and since you have more magical talent than her, that she can't teach you anything involving magic. She did however suggest to me that I take you in as my protege or have you do something else for me."

Starlight asked, "Wait a minute, Twilight was asking you if there was anything I could do up here?"

Celestia replied, "Yeah, she did." Celestia began to chuckle, "From just the way it sounds, it sounds more like she is trying to get rid of you so she can do something else!"

Starlight sighed, "Well I do know that she is wanting to work much more closely with her new friendship student, although I think it may be in more than just a friendly way."

Celestia asked, "You're talking about Trixie I take it?" She broke down laughing, "Come on Starlight, get your mind out of the gutter! I know Twilight wants Trixie to see how truly magical friendship can be but I don't think she wants her to see the magic of that kind of 'friendship!'"

Starlight laughed, "Oh you're right. I guess that's my paranoia at work there."

Celestia became more serious, "Ok, enough of the small talk. Like I said, Twilight wanted to know if there is anything you could do up here. I know you already have a lot of magical talent but I do believe you can learn more. I am wondering if you would be interested in being my protege?"

Starlight asked, "Really? You want me to be your protege?"

Celestia replied, "Yeah I do."

Starlight had an unsure look on her face causing Celestia to realize that she wasn't just going to leave Twilight so easily. She continued, "Starlight, let me show you around the palace grounds and show you where you will be staying if you accept my offer."

Starlight replied, "Alright."

Celestia showed her around the palace grounds which was a rather mundane activity as there wasn't anything overly impressive in Starlight's eyes until Celestia led her up to Twilight's old tower. As they headed in Celestia said, "Starlight, if you do choose to be my protege, this is where you will live. Twilight found it very nice when she lived here."

Starlight began to walk around and was amazed at the wealth of knowledge that surrounded her. She headed into the bedroom and was amazed by it's size and the fact that it had a large bathroom attached to it really impressed her. What was a selling point though was the kitchen as it was huge. Starlight had not been able to cook for herself for quite some time and she always did like cooking. As she headed back into the library area she said, "Princess Celestia, I would love to be your protege. Where do I sign up?"

Celestia replied, "Your word is enough for me."

Starlight hugged her and exclaimed, "Thank you your Majesty, I promise you that I won't let you down."

Starlight calmed down and continued, "So what exactly will I be doing as your protege?"

Celestia replied, "Well you will be spending quite a bit of time with me studying in the most advanced parts of the archives. We will even be studying in the Starswirl the Bearded wing."

While Starlight knew more than anypony could imagine about his time travel spell, she was fascinated by his other works, "Wow, I can't believe you're going to be letting me study that."

Celestia replied, "Well that's what comes with being my protege."

Starlight asked, "So when will my studies with you start?"

Celestia replied, "In two weeks. That should give you time to get the rest of your things out of Twilight's palace, get settled in and get acclimated to Canterlot."

Starlight, without even thinking, self-levitated and started flying around the room. "It sounds great your Majesty, I can't wait to get started!"

Celestia's jaw dropped open when she saw this. She asked, "Starlight, are you flying?"

Starlight replied, "Yeah, I am."

Celestia asked, "Where did you learn to fly with just magic?"

Starlight replied, "It is just something that I discovered that I can do."

This really impressed Celestia. She had never seen a unicorn that could use her magic to fly. She asked, "Starlight, it is quite obvious that you have more magical talent than any other unicorn I have ever seen. Besides being my protege, what would you think about helping students who are struggling getting their magic to work?"

This only made the deal better to Starlight as she believed that she could very well move up the totem pole faster than Twilight did. She replied, "Of course I will your Majesty....."

Celestia, who had mellowed out quite a bit since Twilight was her student interrupted, "Oh and Starlight, you can just call me Celestia. There is no need to be so formal with me."

Starlight replied, "Alright, thank you Celestia."

Celestia realized that she had a meeting with the mayor of Manehattan later that day. She said, "Well I have an important meeting soon so I'll let you get settled in."

Starlight replied, "Alright, I'll see you later."

Celestia nodded and left Starlight alone in what was now her home. She had not been this happy in her life. While her time with Trixie did make her happy, this opportunity made her happier. Spike saw this and asked, "Starlight, so when do you want to go and get the rest of your stuff? I'm sure once Twilight finds out you accepted Celestia's offer, she will want you to get it out quickly."

Starlight replied, "I think we should go now. I want to just get it, get out of there and move on to this new phase of my life."

Spike asked, "What about Trixie? I know you two are madly in love...."

Starlight interrupted, "Were madly in love."

Spike asked, "Were? What happened?"

Starlight replied, "Do you promise not to tell Twilight you know about this?"

Spike replied, "I promise."

Starlight began, "Well last night Trixie and I got into a rather hot and heavy situation and then Twilight came in and asked if she could join us."

Spike gasped, "Wait a minute? Twilight wanted to join in on your activities? I never knew she was like that."

Starlight replied, "Apparently she is.....ok, back to where I was. Well morning arrived and all of a sudden Trixie only has eyes for Twilight and it seems like now Twilight has this desire to be subservient to Trixie. Trixie is calling herself 'The Hot and Dominant Trixie' and Twilight is now referring to herself as 'The Weak and Subservient Twilight.'"

Spike was appalled. He yelled, "She's doing what?"

Starlight replied, "She's calling herself The Weak and Subservient Twilight. It suddenly seems like she thinks the world of Trixie and is willing to lower herself to be subservient to Trixie."

Spike threw his hands up in the air, "Well that's it. I can't bring myself to be the assistant of a pony who would so easily do that." He got a smile on his face and asked, "Starlight, if Celestia would allow it, what would you think of me being your assistant?"

Starlight replied, "I don't know. I really don't want Celestia to get mad at me."

Spike said, "Well if I quit on Twilight there is nothing to stop me from being your assistant."

Starlight replied, "Alright, if it is ok with Celestia, you can."

Things seemed to be getting better and better for Starlight and things seemed to be looking up for Spike as well. Starlight knew that having an assistant would make life much easier since she was now Celestia's protege and Spike realized that he would suddenly have more purpose. Since Twilight had become a princess and especially after the defeat of Tirek, he had felt like he didn't serve much purpose but if Celestia would allow it, he would feel useful again and besides, he had grown to view Starlight as a great friend, even more so than Twilight.