Ponid-19

Starlight awoke with an odd mixture of repugnance and peace. It was yet another lovely Spring day. The birds were chirping from a low hanging branch just outside of her window. Multicolored feathers filled the frame as they did their work. They seemed to be calling out to something so vastly empty, yet, so filled with joy and cheer. She had always held a curiosity regarding these birds, namely, what each individual fluttering creature was saying. Yes, she knew that it was mostly about finding mates and carrying on various conversations with other feathered ones within the same species, but she had always wondered what might be said were they to be tossed in between quotation marks.

She seemed to lose her train of thought in the endless stream of sounds, but then her mind flipped right back to where it was. That strange mixture. It was an absolutely exquisite day, so…why on Earth did she feel this way? She felt like there was some impending doom, yet at the same time, felt an urgent sense that everything would be alright. Like the ending of the story would be much better than the beginning. Perhaps she was simply remembering her village in the far northern reaches of Equestria, and how Twilight had helped rewrite her own tale.

I owe so much debt to that pony, she said internally, I only hope that, someday, I might repay it.

“Starlight!” A young male voice called, “breakfast!”

Starlight smiled as she registered Spike’s vocal tone, and quickly arose and magically floated her bathrobe over to her. After she covered herself properly (which was weird, considering a pony’s normal lack of dress), she trotted out of her room and down the carpeted hallway of the Castle of Friendship. She yawned deeply as she entered the dining area, which was rather sparsely adorned. Twilight liked to keep things simple when it came to decoration. The table was short for a royal locale, and round in shape. It held three large chairs made of the same marble that the six thrones were made of. On it sat a pile of pancakes, eggs, and various fruits that ponies enjoy.

“Wow!” Starlight exclaimed, “this looks amazing!”

“Aw, shucks,” Spike said as he entered the room with a pitcher of orange juice, “it wasn’t anything.”

Starlight smiled, silently thanking the young dragon for all his hard work. She pulled her seat out and looked up as Twilight entered the room, yawning and looking as if she’d had a rough night. Her mane was unkempt and her eyes were bloodshot. Her fur was matted and looked as if she’d taken one or two well placed hoof shots to it. She looked angry at something as she used her magic to yank the platter of flapjacks over and rather scornfully toss two onto her own plate. She dumped a careless pile of syrup on them and went to chewing rather loudly.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Bad night, Twi?” She asked, knowing the answer.

“UGH!” Twilight grunted loudly, “I just can’t STAND it!”

“Can’t stand what?”

“Spring Break is in two weeks, and I have NO IDEA what to do! I was up half the night last night trying to figure out the perfect schedule, and the perfect organizational structure so that I might elicit as much time with each of my friends as possible! But it’s…IMPOSSIBLE!”

Starlight felt a twinge at her heart as Twilight slapped her face on the table and began crying. She knew just how badly the Princess wanted to be able to see everypony during their break, but she also knew that her fellow teachers and faculty were making plans of their own. Still, though, Twilight was her best friend, and she felt a sense of duty to ensure that everything was alright. She trotted around to where Twilight was and placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“There, there, Twilight,” she said, “everything’s gonna be just fine.”

“No, it’s not!” Twilight cried, “I’m not gonna have the perfect Break plan! It’s all over! Goodbye, fun vacation, and HELLOOOOOOOOOO boredom!”

“Well…thanks a lot,” Starlight said, reminding Twilight that she would still be there.

Twilight turned and saw how much her mood and her words were affecting her school’s guidance counselor. “Oh…I’m sorry, Star,” she said with an honest smile, “I guess I’m just upset at my own failure.”

“You know you can’t be afraid of failure, right?”

“Well…yeah, but…I just wanted this Break to be so perfect. I wanted to thank everypony for working so hard to make the school a success. Now, I’m not gonna be able to. Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash are going on a ‘sister’ trip with the Crusaders, Fluttershy’s going off to Saddle Arabia to study some new species of spider, and Pinkie’s going off to tour Equestria with Cheese Sandwich and throw parties for foals who’ve ordered them! I just feel…alone.”

Starlight smiled and hugged her friend. “Well, you’re wrong. You’re not alone. I’m here, and so is Spike.”

Spike chuckled. “Heh…actually, I’m not gonna be here.”

“You aren’t?” Starlight asked in surprise.

“Nope,” Spike responded, “Ember’s invited me to the Dragon Lands for a special celebration. Apparently, dragons really get into the whole Spring thing. I accepted and I’ll be leaving the minute the school bell rings.”

“Oh…” Starlight said, before turning back to Twilight, “…well, you’ll still have me!”

“Thank you, Starlight,” Twilight said, “I’m grateful that you’ll be here. I know I shouldn’t get so worked up about these things, but I’ve just…always been able to pull things out of my rump at the last minute.”

Starlight nodded, understanding her friend’s position. When she was dictator of her village, she had to make things happen quickly. Unfortunately, when she did so, it was to the detriment and despair of everypony. Twilight had to do it for the benefit of everypony, which was, obviously, a lot harder. Being mean to ponies was easy. Being kind and friendly was way more difficult.

“Well, I’m sorry that things didn’t work out for your perfect Break,” Starlight said, “but, I’m sure that there are plenty of fun things you and I can do around here!”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah, there are…” Suddenly, she stopped and acquired one of her famous looks of brightness. “Or…”

“Or what?” Starlight asked.

“I’ve got it!” Twilight exclaimed, “everypony else is going somewhere, so why don’t we?!”

“You mean…?”

“Our very own road trip!”

Starlight became very excited. She had always secretly hoped to spend some one-on-one time with Twilight that didn’t involve school or lectures on friendship. Now, she would be able to do all that! She was thrilled at the prospect, and immediately shook Twilight’s hoof. She noted, with some amusement, the sense of confusion that came over her friend, and explained that she was ecstatic to be able to have some time with her.

“Not that I don’t love our other friends,” she said, “but it would be nice to spend some time just with you.”

“Aw, thanks, Star!” Twilight said, “then, it’s settled. We’ll go out and paint Equestria red!”