Being a princess is not easy. Any one of them could tell you that, be it Celestia, Luna, Cadance or Twilight.
But the one that hates her duties most of all was none other than the heir to the crystal throne herself, Flurry Heart.

In Flurry Heart's opinion, the only thing harder than being a young princess growing up in the Crystal Empire, was being a young princess in the Crystal Empire attempting to make friends.

Flurry wasn't anti-friendship, in fact she's quite the opposite, considering that 'friendship is magic' is the word that the entire world lives by, seeing as it's truth has been proven time and time again, ultimately drilling itself into the brains of every creature alive. Twilight Sparkle and her friends had made sure of that, and allies such as Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax had helped out too. Besides, her Aunt and parents were sure to give her a healthy lecture, maybe even make her sit through a day of lessons at the School of Friendship if she expressed any distaste or doubt towards the concept.

No, Flurry Heart wasn't against friendship at all. What she was against were the ponies she was supposed to be making friends with.

It was hard to come across genuine friends in her circumstance. Sure, some creatures were nice, but they weren't friend material.

For starters, there were the group of creatures that wanted nothing to do with her as a being, but ultimately as an object to be toyed with for their claim to fame. Countless times had the poor princess come home enraged or in tears because she hadn't really been considered someone's friend, but a useless pawn on their chessboard, cast aside the moment the player had gotten the chance to say 'checkmate'.

Secondly, there were the all too eager creatures that generally freaked her out. Obviously there's nothing wrong with a little generosity and kindness, but some ponies go above and beyond to dazzle her, putting her on a pedestal to be marveled. Though the attention was flattering at first, it quickly got annoying and uncomfortable. Flurry Heart had come up with her fair share of excuses to leave a 'hangout' and never return, no questions asked.

Then there were the worst of all, the ones that made Flurry Heart feel the most insecure and inferior: the perfectly normal ones. The creatures that had the perfect balance of restraint and morality, that lacked the desire to use her or sniff her mane. The ones that were friendly and kind. The ones that had almost nothing in common with her.

These were the kind she wanted to stick by, to learn from, to get into shenanigans with. But she couldn't connect deeply enough with them to do so.

Unlike most would expect, Flurry Heart was an adventurous soul. She grew up around the bravest and strongest, watching them save Equestria time and time again firsthoof. She liked to get her coat dirty and roughhouse, explore and travel. She was bold and spoke her mind when being challenged, even when most would sit quietly and get told what to do. She was polite, but not one to be silenced.

And sure, maybe if she had been a filly when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were her age, she'd have friends to get into messes with, and have help to clean them up. Maybe if she was a full grown mare when Princess Luna had returned as Nightmare Moon, she could've wiggled her way into Twilight's friend group. But she wasn't. Leaving her with ponies her age that didn't get her, that made jokes she couldn't comprehend, and were perfectly fine staying put and not adventuring. It was tiring.

The fact that she had no excuses or anypony to blame for her not being able to make friends with the good hearted ponies was disheartening. And it wasn't like a group like the Youthfuls—the first group of mixed creatures to be friends (and the first to graduate from her aunt's school)—was coming around anytime soon. Seaquestria, the Changeling Kingdom, Griffonstone, or the Dragonlands were far from close by. Plus she had never been granted permission to go to Yakyakistan alone, and even if she went on a parental/bodyguard authorized trip, she'd be watched so closely that making a friend probably wouldn't be possible. Plus, there was the variable that she wouldn't connect with anyone there, either.

It was beginning to feel hopeless, even if Flurry was no more than twelve years old. She had spent over a decade friendless, seeking comfort in the castle staff and her favorite guard (he was favored by the ruler of Equestria as well, but that's neither here nor there) Flash Sentry. He was like an uncle to her, just as much as Discord was. He looked out for her and protected her from harm, and occasionally (okay, often) saved her from a problem she'd caused on her own. But Flash Sentry was a full grown stallion, only but a few years younger than her father. It felt odd to refer to him as her best friend. The only pony closer to her age was her younger sister, Skyla, and she was just a baby. She couldn't even hold a conversation, let alone vow to never leave Flurry's side. She was all alone in one of the biggest kingdoms of all time. The irony was painful.

Flurry was beyond frustrated with her lack of a companion, and needed a way to rectify her problem that didn't involve magically forcing people to like her (Starlight had warned her a thousand and one times about how bad of an idea it was, and she didn't feel like taking any chances). She sat in her room, stewing in her own ideas.

The next morning, she burst into the dining hall, rejuvenated by excitement. The solution was so simple! Why hadn't she thought of this before?

"Good morning, sweethear–" Shining Armor started, looking up from his plate, only to be cut off by his daughter's request.

"Can I move to Ponyville?"

Author's Note

Comments and feedback are appreciated, thank you so much for reading