"What are you doing here?"

Good question. What was Star Tracker doing standing at the front steps of the castle? Twilight's mind wandered for a moment as she wondered how the navy blue, freckled stallion could smile so widely. It made his face look like it could split in half.

"H-hi, Twilight! I don't know if you remember me-"

How could she not? The memory, only a week old, was still fresh in her mind. The deal with Iron Will, the constant bumping into Star Tracker ever since he'd won the prize to be an honourary family member of the Sparkles, all those crazy 'princess duties', almost missing out on every of her family's fun...

Of course, things had gotten better, but only after she'd broken down and even snapped at Star Tracker. They made things up, learnt their lessons, and spent the rest of the cruise having fun. And although he decided to leave her and her family be to enjoy their time together, they still found one way or another to include him in some of their activities. When they said their goodbyes as the zeppelin docked back at Canterlot, she thought that would have been the last she'd see of him in a while.

"-but I just dropped by Ponyville... I wanted to pay you a visit. I got you something!"

He turned towards his saddle bag and pulled something out with his teeth. Twilight used her magic to accept the book, then stared and gasped.

"Is that-?"

"The Complete Study of Uncharted Territory Outside Equestria?" Star finished for her and hopped excitedly. "I know!"

"But the copies of this book are extremely rare! How did you get your hooves on one of these?" Twilight asked, her eyes shining as she flipped through the pages of the book.

"Oh, I've had that in my collection for a long time," he answered, beaming when he saw how fascinated Twilight was with the book. The book did not sell out well as it had several negative critiques, and as a result, only a few copies existed in the world. When evidence was discovered that the texts in the book might have been real, it was too late. And the author, who had remained anonymous, had never been found. He knew she would love it.

Twilight looked surprised. "Really? That's amazing! It looks almost brand new! And you're... giving it to me?"

This pony sure knows how to keep his books, she thought in approval as she gave him a grateful hug.

"Thank you so much! I can't wait to read it! Actually, would you mind if I read it now? This chapter looks intriguing!" she giggled, then cleared her throat and stepped back. "Err, why don't you come in? We can talk better over tea."

He'd already dashed in before she even finished her sentence.

"Whoa, this place is bigger than I'd imagined! How many rooms are there?" he asked in amazement as he stared around him, just barely resisting the urge to explore as he followed Twilight into the tea room. "I'm in Twilight Sparkle's castle. I'm having tea with Twilight Sparkle. This is the best day of my life!!" he squeed. "This is going in my journal later!"

Twilight smiled, feeling amused, as she got the tea ready.

"Wow, you make the tea yourself?" he peeked over her shoulder, then grinned apologetically and stepped back. "Heh, sorry. I'll, err, sit down!"

Soon, Twilight brought the tea set over.

"I'm only one pony," she said in answer to his earlier exclamation. "Just because I'm a princess now doesn't mean I have to get other ponies to do things for me all the time. Though, having a number one assistant has been really helpful!"

After she set things down - and dealt with a small accident that occurred when Star tried to get up to offer to help when he didn't need to and almost upset the teapot - she sat down opposite the stallion.

"So, what brings you to Ponyville?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea.

"Oh, well..." he rubbed the back of his head and looked embarrassed. "It... it was you. Mostly. I loved the Friendship Journal you and your friends wrote, and I really enjoyed being with you and your family. You've all been so nice to me.

"I want to learn more about friendship from you. And... I really wanted to see you again. Ponyville sounds like a nice place to live in too! I figured staying here for a bit would give me more to write about, just like other places I've been to."

Twilight wasn't sure she should be disturbed that he came all the way here mainly to see her, or curious that he implied that he did not have a permanent home and he did not seem to be planning on making this little town one. Or elated that he was another one of the very few ponies who read their friendship journal the way she meant it to be. And that he wanted her to teach him more about friendship!

"Thank you for coming to me. My door is always open if you ever need help," she finally said with a smile. "As it is to all the citizens of Ponyville. I hope you'll enjoy your stay here."

"I sure will! The house I found gave me a good view of twilight," he winked and grinned that wide smile again. "This is gonna be great! I have so many questions!"

They spent the rest of the hour chatting about her adventures. Awkwardly. Somehow Star still could not get over the fact that Twilight was talking to him and had offered to help him with friendship and kept making excited noises and apologising everal times. Twilight had never really gotten used to this sort of attention even after all this time.

Eventually she had to get him out of the castle as dusk drew near, telling him it was getting late and he should go. That did not even seem to dampen his mood. He just cheerfully skipped down the streets, with a promise to return tomorrow.

Twilight really hoped she would not regret this.

Author's Note

This is just a short, experimental chapter. It's my first time writing an actual fanfiction. I'll (hopefully) get more in the future. Hope you'll like it! Critiques and advice welcome. Preferably together. Thanks.