Runaway

Starlight slowly peeked her head out from behind the Town Hall. It was noon, the worst time to be snooping around, especially if you were going to spy on a princess. But either way, the princess had taken away her sanctuary, and she would not hesitate to retaliate.

But no one seemed to be wandering around Ponyville anyways, so she decided it would be safe if she cast a cloaking spell. No one would run into the "air," would they? Of course not. Not with everyone gone. So she cast the cloaking spell and ran towards the castle, making sure not to run into anything, especially not any living thing.

As she got closer and closer to the Castle of Friendship, she realized that there were more ponies than just Princess Twilight Sparkle at home. They were having a party. Starlight was about to look through a window, when she realized she had stopped casting the spell. She bit her lip and reactivated her invisibility spell, peering through the window once she had finished.

"But you shouldn't just let it pass by you," Twilight said, putting her hoof on a lightly colored earth pony with a blue and pink mane. "You should talk to her and tell you how you really feel. That way, she may feel more open to you, and then you'll each know both sides of the story."

The earth pony nodded. "Thank you, Princess," she said, bowing.

"Oh come on, Bon Bon. You know you can call me by my actual name. And just know that I feel kind of... well... uncomfortable when you give me a gesture like that," she added.

Bon Bon chuckled. "Of course, Twilight. Thanks again for helping me. I just hope Lyra will be-"

"She will," the princess reassured her. Then, Bon Bon walked out of the castle door, trotting to a house, presumably her house. Starlight shook her head and peered into the castle. Twilight was cleaning up. The party, or advice giving session, was over. She teleported all her dirty dishes somewhere, then walked to another room. Starlight, wanting to get every last bit of information, teleported into the castle.

She followed after Twilight, making sure not to step on anything or bump into anything, making sure she wouldn't make any noise. She hid behind the couch Princess Twilight was sitting on, peering from behind it, she could clearly see her getting a book, sitting down and reading it. Wow. Today was not the right day to arrive in Ponyville if all the princess was going to do was read and relax, maybe tell some others about friendship. Then, Spike walked into the room, and Starlight ducked behind the couch again, making sure her spell was on, which it was.

"Ugh," Spike groaned. "You know the worse thing about you being the Princess of Friendship?"

She takes away other pony's paradises? Starlight thought to herself, almost giggling.

Throwing off his kitchen gloves, not waiting for an answer, Spike answered the question himself. "The dishes!" he complained. Starlight nodded in realization. So the princess had made her dragon do all the hard work, huh?

"Thanks for taking care of that, Spike," she replied, turning her head to face him. "After three events in one week, I really needed to relax with a good book." Starlight rolled her eyes.

"Eh, it's kind of funny, isn't it? All these ponies coming to you for advice about friendship," he responded. Starlight couldn't have agreed more.

"What's funny about that?" Princess Twilight asked, hopping off the couch and placing the book back on the shelf.

"You know," Spike explained, "'cause you used to be famous for being such a bad friend!" He said this rather casually, and Starlight's jaw dropped open. The Princess Twilight Sparkle? A bad friend? No, she couldn't beleive that. Twilight was the most friendly, do-goodiest pony ever. It was impossible. Yet, it was true.

"What are you talking about? I had good friends in Canterlot!" she rejected.

"Come on, Twilight," Spiked scoffed, "look at the wall! Do you see any photos from before we moved to Ponyville? And look at you now, the Princess of Friendship!"

Twilight gasped. "This is a disaster!" She started pacing around the room, much to Starlight's annoyance. "I can't remember any of their names right now. Do you really think that they think I'm a bad friend?"

"Well, I only meant that you've come so far," Spike reasoned. Starlight could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "You're a great friend now and-"

"Oh, I feel terrible!" she shouted, interrupting Spike. "I've got to make it up to them." Starlight watched as Twilight ran out of the room. "Pack a bag, Spike. We're going to Canterlot!"

Starlight's gaze moved to Spike, waiting for his next move. But then Twilight came running back into the room. "And make a list of my friends' names," she sheepishly directed him.

Starlight eyed Spike again. "Ugh, me and my big mouth," he groaned.

Well, yeah! Starlight angrily thought at Spike. I came all this way to Ponyville, and now I have to venture off, again? She crossed her hooves as Spike sulked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"Ugh," she moaned out loud. "I'll see you in Canterlot tomorrow."

Starlight teleported behind the Canterlot Castle and looked around. Princess Twilight Sparkle, though, was nowhere to be seen. It was only a day after Twilight had left for Canterlot, but Starlight couldn't find her anywhere. Starlight was about to give up when she heard a familiar voice through the open door of a donut shop. "So for all the pain I caused you, I am truly sorry."

Starlight peeked her head into the shop, looking for Princess Twilight. And she found her, hanging out with three other unicorns. They were all laughing, probably at Twilight, while she just sat there, a stunned expression on her face. Serves her right, Starlight thought to herself.

Once they stopped laughing, the blue unicorn spoke up first. "Aww, come on, Twilight! Sure, it might of stung a little bit when you ran off to Ponyville without saying goodbye, but it's not like we weren't used to that from you!"

Walking into the shop, Starlight kept her eye on Twilight's group of friends, almost bumping into another group. "Yeah, we didn't take it personally," the pink-haired unicorn agreed.

The yellow-coated one added, "But it's really good to see you now." Then, suddenly, she grinned. "Hey! Anypony up for a blast from the past?" Everyone showed their agreement with nods and smiles, and even Starlight smiled. Though, it was more of a smirk than a smile.

Starlight hid in a bush, waiting for something to reveal what Twilight really hated, and maybe even what had linked her friends together in the first place. But she didn't have much to say. Gasping, she remarked, "It's our old science lab! I have so many great memories of this place."

The blue mare giggled. "Remember when Lemon Hearts got her head stuck in that beaker?" Twilight's ears dropped almost simultaneously to Starlight's. If she wanted information, then she would have to spy on Twilight when it was more, well, serious. Although having your head stuck in a beaker must have looked really funny. Starlight shook her head, clearing her thoughts. If she wanted revenge, she couldn't focus on silly things like lab accidents.

It had already been three days. Still, Starlight hadn't gotten much information. Maybe that was because all Twilight was doing was spying, as well. Starlight groaned from behind the building and walked to the library, since Spike had said something about Twilight's victim going there.

Luckily for her, Twilight came by in a few minutes. Starlight quickly ducked behind the building, watching through the windows as Twilight walked past a cream-coated unicorn with glasses. She couldn't hear anyone, since the library was sound-proof, but she could make out Twilight doing some pretty akward things. And she could see the other mare's face, which mostly only showed aggravation. And Starlight didn't blame her. Twilight could be pretty annoying.

After a while, Twilight and the unicorn walked out of the library, and Starlight gave them a head start. They ended up in a section of Canterlot Castle, which apparently used to be the Princess of Friendship's home. Starlight levitated herself, watching through the window as the two talked with each other.

Eventually, though, the glasses girl grew bored of Twilight, and, surprisingly, Starlight liked her already. Starlight lay herself flat against the staircase, breathing heavily. "See you at dinner tonight!" she heard Twilight call out. After that, she heard a few mumbles. Starlight grinned. She could probably stay one last night, just for dinner.

Starlight walked into the diner. She spotted Twilight sitting at a table with Spike and the four unicorns from earlier. She chose a seat near the door, where she could run in case of an emergency. Luckily, Twilight's table wasn't too far from hers. She buried her face into the menu book on the table and listened to the conversation.

"So, uh, what are you studying these days?" a high voice, probably belonging to the unicorn named Minuette, asked.

A bored voice replied, "Science, magic, history, economics, pottery, things like that."

"Yowza!" She heard a nervous laugh from Minuette. "You... planning on being a professor or something?"

"No."

"So, you're just... studying!" Minuette remarked.

"Can I go now?" Moondancer groaned.

"Moondancer, please," Twilight confronted.

"It's alright, Twilight. We're having a good time. Right, everypony?" But all she heard were two nervous chuckles in response. Wanting to lighten the mood, Minuette spoke up. "So, uh, Spike!" she said, quickly coming up with more to say. "Tell Moondancer that story about how Twilight had to read a book about doing a sleepover."

Starlight moved her menu down just a little so she could see what was happening. Spike wiped his lips and opened his mouth, but Moondancer interrupted.

"Slumber 101? I've read that," she blandly replied. Starlight's expression turned almost identical to Moondancer's, and then she covered her face with the menu book again.

"Oh," Twilight nervously chuckled, "really? Well, did you know... Lemon Hearts here, works at the Canterlot Palace?"

"Uh, yeah, it's true," she agreed. "I do the big events, mostly, state dinners, that sort of thing." After a few moments of silence, everypony, except for Moondancer, nervously laughed. It was starting to get old.

Starlight heard a chair being pushed away as Moondancer groaned, "Ugh," trotting away. She saw a pink flash of light, and she assumed that that was Twilight teleporting out of the shop. Lowering the book, she realized she was right. Then, a pony came up to her. "What would you like to order, miss?" he asked.

Starlight slammed her book on the table, but not loud enough to capture everyone's attention. "Nothing," she snapped, teleporting away similar to the way Twilight did.