'She really is an amazing performer,' Starlight thought to herself. Despite needing her help, Trixie had pulled off her new trick with spectacular showmareship and the pomp and circumstance she was renowned for. Of course, now that the show was over, Starlight was returning to her room at the Castle of Friendship. 'It's too bad I couldn't make it back in time for dessert,' she mentally complained as her stomach rumbled.

Still, she decided to forego a trip to the kitchens and instead walked up several flights of stairs to the floor her room was on. As she rounded the corner and started down the hallway, she spotted Twilight wearing a rut in the floor in front of her door.

"Twilight!" she exclaimed with surprise. The purple alicorn jumped in surprise and turned towards her student. "How did the dinner go?" Starlight asked as she trotted closer.

"There you are, Starlight," Twilight sighed in relief. "I've been looking all over for you! Where have you been?"

"Uh," she stammered, a little out off by Twilight's blitzkrieg questionaire. "At Trixie's show?" she continued hesitantly.

"I looked for you there, but I didn't see you," Twilight accused her.

"I was backstage," she explained.

"Oh," the alicorn replied. She gave a sheepish grin when she saw the irritation in Starlight's expression. "Erm, sorry?"

"It's fine," Starlight sighed. "I take it the dinner didn't go so well?"

"Well, you could say that..." Twilight giggled nervously.

Starlight rolled her eyes and asked, "What happend?"

"Well," Twilight drew out the word as she hesitated. "I kind of tried to turn him away at the door," she admitted, shamefaced.

"Ugh, Twilight," the unicorn facehooved. "So you just turned him away? Just like that?"

"No, your friend pointed out how... hypocritical I was being, so I let him in."

"Oh, good!" Starlight brightened a bit. "So was he as intelligent and knowledgeable as I told you he was?"

"Well, yes," Twilight admitted. "We had a discussion on advanced physics on the way to the dining room. Did you know that his people have discovered five fundamental forces, but Magic isn't one of them?"

"Really?" Starlight blinked. "But that would mean-"

"His universe has no magic! Or, well, if it does his people haven't discovered it yet," Twilight enthused.

"But that goes completely against One Cup's Theory of Magical Relativity!" Starlight exclaimed.

"I know, right? Even if physics in his home world works completely different to how they work here, just learning what his people know and how they discovered it could advance our understanding of nature by decades!"

"See, I knew that if you just talked to him you'd find a lot in common," Starlight teased.

"You're right," Twilight admitted. "That was one of the first friendship lessons I ever learned. 'Don't judge a book by its cover', but..." she sighed. "I guess I never really gave him a chance, did I?"

"No, you didnt." Starlight said a little harshly, but she continued in a gentler tone, "but maybe now you'll finally be able get to know him."

Twilight slumped. "Somehow, I doubt it."

"What do you mean?" Starlight asked.

"After tonight's dinner, I don't think he'll want to speak to me again," Twilight moaned, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

"It went that bad?" She asked.

"Yes. It wasn't his fault," Twilight explained when she saw Starlight's stormy expression. "The princess... well, she knew he was a demon, and... well, she kinda held him against the wall and interrogated him."

"She what?" Starlight ground out through gritted teeth.

"She thought he was here to trick us or use some kind of mind control spell or something," Twilight defended her mentor. "But... well, he was really angry, especially because the gifts he brought got ruined, so he left before we even sat down."

"Gee, I wonder why," Starlight muttered under her breath, but Twilight's bowed head indicated she heard it anyway.

"Both the princess and I were... well, he pointed out just how poor hosts we were being. We tried to follow him and apologize, but we couldn't find him after he left the castle." Twilight admitted. "Princess Celestia had to return to Canterlot, but she asked me to pass along her apologies. Do you know where to find him?"

"I've never been to his house," Starlight admitted. "I only just met him yesterday, so I don't know exactly where he lives. But I think I know someone who does."

"You do?" Twilight asked, hope shining in her eyes. Starlight nodded. "Ok! Let me get my saddlebags, then we can go find him."

"Hold on," Starlight stopped her before she had taken two paces. "First of all, you're probably the last pony he wants to see right now." Twilight flinched at the blunt statement. "Second of all, his cabin is somewhere in the Everfree Forest; a forest that's incredibly dangerous at night. Finally, the pony who might know where he lives is probably sleeping right about now."

"But Starlight," she whined, "I have to make things right!"

"Not tonight, you're not," Starlight sternly said. "I'll go in the morning and talk to him."

"Oh! Well, if we're going to leave first thing in the morning, I better go get packed!" her mentor exclaimed.

"Twilight, you're not coming with."

"W-what?" Twilight stuttered. "Don't be silly, Starlight. How can I apologise if I don't come?"

"Look, Twilight, tonight was his best chance in nearly five years to make friends in Ponyville," she explained, exasperation creepinginto her voice. "He's already bitter enough about how ostracized he's been, but with the way you and Princess Celestia treated him tonight? I'd be surprised if he ever comes to Ponyville again, let alone accept your apologies."

"B-but..." Twilight tried to protest.

"Look, Twilight," Starlight cut in, "You bucked this up big time. You, the Princess, this whole Tartarus-damned town, you've all treated him like dirt," she spat as she opened the door to her room and stepped in.

"It makes me wonder just how committed to friendship you really are," she finished.

Twilight flinched at the stinging accusation as much as the sound of the door slamming shut. Shame once more tightened in her chest, and the pickling of her eyes spoke of welling tears. Even her flanks twitched, as if her Cutie Mark itself was trying to express it's displeasure.

'What have I done?' She asked herself as she turned and trudged away, the weight of her own failures heavy on her withers. No answers would come to her that night.

A few hours after sunset, Princess Luna walked into the small, private dining hall she occasionally used when she wanted to eat alone or with only the company of her sister. Her nightly duty, the raising of the moon, had long since been completed, and since the Night Court did not begin until a few hours after moonrise, Luna had taken the time to bathe and prepare for the night. She had come to this small dining room at the insistence of her complaining somach, however the last thing she expected was to see her sister slumped on her cushion, pushing around a mangled but only half eaten slice of cake.

"Sister!" She greated her solar counterpart warmly. "I had assumed you would have been long asleep by now. What troubles you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Celestia asked her with a weak grin. It wasn't very convincing.

"You usually leave naught but crumbs when you are presented with cake," she gently teased. "Tis only when you are truly troubled that you play with it in such a manner," she gestured to the mess of crumbs and icing on the plate.

Celestia was not one to take such japes without retort and was usually able to bring her considerable wit to bear, but this evening she merely sighed and slumped a touch further. Concerned, Luna gracefully sat herself on the cushion opposite of her sister's.

"Did something happen?" she asked. The silence held for a moment. Her sister refused to meet her gaze, instead shuffling the mushy remnants of her cake around her plate with a fork.

"Sister," Luna said firmly. Celestia reluctantly lifted her head. "What happened?"

"Twilight gave her new student a friendship assignment," she said quietly. "Starlight Glimmer was instructed to make a new friend in Ponyville and bring them to an informal dinner with me. That dinner was supposed to happen tonight."

"I take it the dinner did not go well?" Luna asked comfortingly.

"No. It never happened."

"It was cancelled?" the darker sister asked.

"No, not cancelled," Celestia clarified. "I'm afraid I had a rather... poor reaction to Starlight's guest. A... violent reaction."

"Violent?!" Luna asked in shock. "Surely her guest couldn't have been that bad."

"It... he, was a human."

"A human?" Luna questioned. "Starlight Glimmer has resorted to demon summoning?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort," Celestia replied. "The human claims to have been brought here through a portal, not a summoning, nearly five years ago when Discord escaped from his enstonement."

"Why did the Elements not erase him, then?" Luna asked.

"We are not sure," she admitted. "Perhaps because this human had not been summoned by chaos magic, but rather physically pulled through the portal?"

"In either case, it matters not," Luna declared. "I trust that you returned it from whence it came?"

"Ah... about that." Celestia ducked her head in shame once more. "I captured him and interrogated him. He claimed to mean no harm to my little ponies."

"Have you been ensorcelled?" Luna gasped. "Surely you did not fall prey to the foul beast's Aura of Seduction!"

"He claimed to have negated his Aura, and I confirmed this as true," Celestia explained. "He claimed that his Aura was not magical in nature, but rather entirely natural; a sort of natural pheremone that ponies happen to react strongly to. Furthermore, he claimed that he merely wished to coexist with my little ponies, not to seduce or to harm them in any way."

"And thee believed it's deceptions?!" Luna asked in disbelief. "Have thee taken leave of thine senses, dearest sister? If thee hast, thee surely hast gone either mad or simple!"

"Twilight Sparkle confirmed it's claims," Celestia said, raising her voice slightly to be heard over her sister's shouting.

"This cannot be!" She exclaimed. "Did thee not ensure thine precious pupil was clean from bewitchment? If this foul demon has ensnared a Princess of the Realm-"

"Twilight was not being bewitched!" Celestia interrupted her rant. "I checked. No pony was being bewitched. To the best of my knowledge, the human was telling the truth."

"But... surely..."

"Believe me, sister, I could not believe my own senses and I was there," Celestia admitted. "How many times have we been fooled by demons such as humans? How many times have we had to banish them to Tartarus?"

"Too many," Luna admitted, her eyes glazing as she recalled millenia old battles.

"I know as well as you the kind of chaos and destruction that humans are capable of." Celestia spoke with resolve. "This human... I reacted as I always have: capture, interrogate, and banish. Only this time, when I interrogated him, every word he spoke was nothing less than the truth, confirmed by my most faithful student and friend. I... I believed him."

"You let it go..." Luna said in shock. "Sister, do you realize what you have set loose on Ponyville?"

"I do," she confirmed. "But he has been living there for nearly five years, or rather, in the Everfree Forest, and coming to town on a regular basis to barter for goods."

"More like seduce ponies into giving it what it wants," Luna grumbled angrily.

"That is what surprised me the most, actually. He has supressed his Aura every time he has come to town."

"Did it not say that it's Aura was some sort of pheremone? Does that not imply that it cannot be surpressed?"

"He claims that scent-blocking soap surpresses it."

"... and just what is scent-blocking soap?" Luna asked.

"It was invented in Griffinstone almost a hundred years ago as a hunting aid. If their prey could not smell them coming, they had a greater chance of success, it would seem."

"I see." Luna considered the situation for a moment. Celestia recognized the look of contemplation on her sister's face and stayed silent.

"So, this human," she began, carefully enunciation each word, her eyebrows furled in concentration, "intentionally surpresses it's Aura, does not deceive or seduce anypony, legitimately barter for goods, and has not been involved in any violence for nearly five years?"

"That's correct."

"Then why are we only learning of its presence now?" Luna questioned. "Surely if it had naught but good intentions, your student would have befriended it long ago and brought it to our attention."

"That is the crux of the issue, sister," Celestia admitted. "It has been living peacefully near Ponyville, that is undeniable, but it seems as if it has been... ostracized by most of the village. Even my faithful student did not attempt to befriend it."

"Your student? The one you crowned the Princess of Friendship," Luna pointedly enunciated, "did not see fit to befriend a peaceful being, demon or not?"

"That's correct."

"Surely, if it had good intentions, Princess Twilight would not have... Surely she..." Luna struggled to put to words her absolute disbelief.

"I know, Luna." Celestia commiserated. "I am... dissapointed in her actions, or lack thereof. But more than that, I am ashamed of my own."

"What do you mean?" Luna asked.

"... do you remember how many humans begged for leniency?" she asked.

"Many of them."

"Do you remember what we told the few we actually listened to?"

"That we would only consider granting them mercy if they willingly surpressed their Aura," Luna told her, mild confusion on her face. Celestia's ashamed gaze bore into her sister. Slowly, shock and horror began to spread across Luna's face as she realized what her sister was hinting at.

"By Faust..." Luna whispered.

"How many of those whom we issued that ultimatum to claimed to not know how to surpress their Aura?"

"Sister... surely..."

"How many!" Celestia shouted.

"All of them," she admitted.

"And how many did we banish to Tartarus when they couldn't comply?"

"... all of them."

After that revelation, Luna found her appetite had entirely abandoned her.

Author's Note

This one was rather short. I typed it up on my phone while at work and I haven't properly edited it yet, so if I've made some mistakes, I'll have to go back and fix them later.

The scene between Celestia and Luna was unplanned, but it came to mind nearly fully formed and practically wrote itself. I had originally planned to have Starlight visit Henry at his cabin this chapter, but I felt that, as short as it is, it would lessen the emotional impact of Celestia and Luna's past experiences with humans. So I decided to post it as-is.