Shadow Play: Aftermathby TheKing2001ChaptersChapter IChapter IIChapter IIIChapter II lifted my head off the pillow. I levitated some tissues to me and wiped the tears off my face. I thought the whole Sunburst thing when I was a filly hurt me. That pales in comparison to the hurt I feel right now. I never thought Twilight and my other "friends" would have abandoned for that idiot unicorn Starswirl. They didn't stand up for me, but sure as hell stood up for Twilight when he was rude to her. What makes me so less important that I don't get ponies standing up for me. Not even the Princess of Friendship herself cared enough about me to defend me. Nor Spike. Some Elements of Harmony these six are. "I thought we were friends," I mumbled to myself. I rolled my eyes. "And now you're talking to yourself while Princess Twilight fawns over Starswirl." I glanced at the picture of me and Twilight along with our friends. I don't know why seeing that angered me, but it did. I lifted the picture with my magic and flung it at the wall as hard as I could, wincing at the sound of the glass shattering. I waited for someone to come to my room on concern. But shocker, no one came. "Probably so busy with their replacement friends," I growled. "I always get fucking replaced." I fell backwards on my bed and fought back tears again. I really thought we were friends. After everything I did. After all my progress. From stopping Chrysalis with Trixie, Discord and Thorax, to Stygian. Now that I think about, that doesn't sound like a lot of progress. I wiped a tear that sneaked past my defenses away with a hoof. I should honestly quit holding back the tears, maybe letting it out would be best. I rolled over and shoved my face into my pillow and started sobbing again. "W-what makes me so unimportant that I don't deserve respect?" I sniffled to myself. "I'm trying so hard for be a good pony. I thought I put my past behind me, but it always comes to bit me in the flank." I angrily slammed my hoof into the pillow. Repeatedly. "Maybe I just need to give it a few days, and everything will turn out fine." I snorted at that and wiped some snot of my muzzle with a hoof. I felt disgusting with the snot in my fur. I decided to get out of bed and looked in the mirror. "Holy shit," I mumbled. I looked like a mess, mascara running down my face and the rest of my makeup messed up. I really need to fix my make up later. I prided my appearance a lot. I really toned down the makeup usage since I left my village. Probably because I didn't need to worry about ruling with an iron fist over every pony there. They were doing well from what I heard. Nightglider was on the town committee, Double Diamond was opening a skiing resort in the mountains to bring in revenue for the town and Sugar Belle was running a bakery out of her house. I stepped forward into my shower and turned it on, feeling the warm water spray onto my fur. I levitated the sprayer with my magic and rinsed off my makeup and tear stained face. I focused extra hard on the snot covered hoof and my chest fur. I hated crying, it always left me a mess like this afterwards. Before that, I never cried. Crying doesn't really give off strict leader of a village, does it? I stepped out the shower after rinsing my mane and using my favorite shampoo. I quickly dried myself off and brushed my mane into my favored style. I decided to go talk to them, maybe this is all a big misunderstanding and I just need to talk to them. After all, friends communicate with each other. Right? I stepped out into the hallway and trotted down the hall. I froze when I heard voices floating up the staircase. I missed the first part, but I sure as hell heard the last. "Never change," Starswirl said. I felt the same sadness wash over me. They had to be talking about my former villain status. Going to talk to them was stupid. I turned around and galloped to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I came to a conclusion in that moment: I was going to run away and decide if I wanted to keep staying here or not. I had entertained the possibility of leaving these past few days and go stay with Trixie, but she was out on tour at the moment. I packed a bag with all my meager belongings. My picture of Trixie and I after we kicked Chrysalis' ass, my book that allowed me to communicate with Sunset in the other world. Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush and a few other essentials. Thankfully ponies don't wear clothes often so I didn't need to worry about that. I slung the bag onto my back carefully and opened the door with my magic. I cautiously stepped over the broken glass. No matter how hurt I was emotionally, I didn't want to get hurt physically. I'm not suicidal, well not anymore at least. I stepped into the hall way and shut my door quietly. I don't know how long I was in there, but I could still hear ponies talking in Twilight's back up library. I was grateful they used that one instead of the main library. Farther from the door and easier for me to escape. I snuck down the stairs and to the door. "Uhm, are you okay?" I spun around and focused on Fluttershy. I threw my bag into a room nearby. "I'm just fine," I snapped and she flinched. "What do you want?" "Just checking," she stared at me with an unreadable expression. "Why don't you go away and check something else out?" I regretted that as soon as I said it. Her ears flattened against her head and she nodded. "I'm sorry for bothering you," she mumbled. "Won't happen again." She slunk off into the castle and I sighed. As much as I regretted those words, she was the element of kindness. She didn't stand up for me either. I left the castle quietly after retrieving my bag. I ended up in the middle of the town and started wandering. I had no idea where I was going to sleep. Other than Trixie, I didn't know anyone else in town. Maybe I should go back to the castle, I mused. Certainly would be safer than sleeping out on the street. I quickly shook that idea away. As long as the Pillars were there, I didn't want to be there. I spotted a nearby bench and trotted to it. My hooves hurt after walking around town and punching my bed. I slumped against and sighed. "This is for the best," I sniffled. "They probably were lying the entire time they said we were friends." "You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity I think," a grey pegasus I vaguely recognized as Derpy settled on the seat next to me. "Hey Derpy," I forced a smile. "How's it going?" "Going good," she faintly frowned at me. "And you?" "Been better," I admitted as I stared up into the night sky. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She said sweetly and I shrugged. "Talking about your feelings is healthy." "Fine," I sighed and told her everything. I mean everything, from the village to now. To her credit, she took it all well. Especially me practically brainwashing a bunch of ponies. She wrapped her hooves around me and hugged me. "I'm sorry you're dealing with this," she whispered and rubbed my back with a hoof. "Nopony deserves to feel unimportant, especially a pony who's trying her hardest to change." "Why are you being so accepting of this?" I asked. "I just told you I stole a bunch of ponies cutiemarks and you're sitting there like it's nothing." Derpy inhaled. "Sure it was wrong," she admitted. "All my life, I've been called names for my speech and my eye. And for being accident prone. I've learned to accept all ponies, no matter what they've done." I gave her a flicker of a smile. "You would make a better Element of Kindness," I sighed. "I feel you would have stood up for me at least." "I would have, yes. But Fluttershy is good too." I rolled my eyes at that. "She was there and didn't do a dang thing. She's guilty too," I reminded her. She patted me with a hoof. "It'll turn around," she promised. "Everything gets better. Everypony makes mistakes." She gave a faint frown. "Where are you gonna sleep?" I shrugged. "Probably the street and just hope to Luna nopony rapes me or kidnaps or kills me," I mumbled. "Yeah no," Derpy announced and stood up. "That won't stand. I refuse to allow that. You're coming with me." She pulled me off the bench. "Uhm, where?" I hesitantly asked. "My house. I refuse to knowingly let you sleep on the street or leave you at risk of death," she started pulling on my hoof. "I can walk," I grumbled. "Are you sure I won't be a bother?" Derpy gave a chuckle. "You won't," she promised. "Plus, I have the cutest filly in all of Equestria for you to meet. You'll love her, just get ready for death by hugs. Dinky adores hugging new ponies." I gave a laugh at that. That sound sounded a bit foreign to me after these few days. "Sure sounds like a good way to go," I said. "It is," Derpy agreed. "Right this way." She pointed a hoof towards a carrot farm and I followed her with a smile. ---------------‐-----------------------------------------‐--- Fluttershy nervously entered the library. "Uhm Twilight, can we talk?" She hesitantly asked. Twilight looked up from her book. "Yeah, sure Fluttershy. What's up?" "I just saw Starlight wandering the castle. She looked upset and told me to go away when I tried to ask her what's wrong. Do you have any idea what could be going on?" A worried look crossed Twilight's face. "I have an idea. I never apologized to her for not defending her." Fluttershy's ears once again flattened. "None of us did," she realized. "She must be heartbroken by it." "I'll go talk to her right now. She's probably up in her room after taking a walk," Twilight mumbled as she teleported outside Starlight's room. She carefully knocked on the door. "Starlight? I'm here to apologize for not defending you against Starswirl. It was wrong of me. And the others. We're very sorry." The door creaked open and Twilight peeked her head in. "Starlight?" She gasped when she saw the broken picture and glass. She looked around the empty room and started to freak out. She quickly teleported back to the library, startling her friends and the Pillars. "Starlight's missing!" She screamed on the verge of tears. "Welcome to my humble abode," Derpy announced with a flourish of her hoof. "It may not be much, but it's a roof over me and Dinkys heads." I looked around the slightly run down small house. It was quaint, that's for sure. "It's nice," I finally said. "It's crappy, but it works for now." Derpy took my bag and set it on the ground. "You can sleep in the spare room or in my bed." "I'll take the spare room. I wouldn't dream of stealing your bed after all. It would be rude of me," I said adamantly. I was surprised she would even offer me that. "It would be rude of me to not offer my guest it," Derpy answered. "Dinky's asleep, you can meet her tomorrow. She has school, otherwise she would be up right now." I smiled at that. "The spare room is on the left side up stairs, I'll take your bag up there." She grabbed the bag with her mouth and slowly trotted up the stairs. "Thanks Derpy. For everything," I mumbled. She dropped the bag upstairs and looked back at me with a wide smile. "Anytime, Starlight. Anytime." Author's Note I really fucking hated how the mane six and Twilight allowed Starswirl to treat Starlight and no one stood up for her and she never got an apology. I absolutely love Starlight, she deserved better. Chapter III smiled at the filly sitting across from me. I idly spinned a muffin on a plate in front of me. "Are you okay, Ms. Glimmer?" Dinky asked sweetly as she ate some oatmeal. She gazed at me with innocent wide eyes that I couldn't help but fall in love with. "Yeah, I'm good kiddo," I ruffled her mane and smiled even bigger. "Just exhausted is all. And please, call me Starlight." "Sorry, Starlight. Are you having trouble sleeping?" She asked me. I gave a soft nod. "It's been a rough past few days," I admitted. Dinky strained to reach my hoof with her own. Grumbling, she climbed on the table and patted my hoof. "It's gonna get sorted out, whatever is bothering you," she reassured me. We both heard trotting on the stairs. "Dinky Hooves! Please get off the table," Derpy chided. "It's not polite." Dinky hopped back into her seat with a sheepish look. "Sorry mom," she said. "I was just trying to comfort Starlight." Derpy smiled at her daughter and patted her on the head. "I understand. Just please refrain from standing on the table please." Derpy trotted into the kitchen. Dinky looked back at me. "Why are you having trouble sleeping?"I gave a shrug. "Bad dreams," I admitted and she nodded sagely. "I have nightmares too," she leaned in conspiratorially to me. "Wanna know a secret?" I leaned towards her too and our noses bumped. "What's that?" I asked in a hushed whisper. "Find a pony who will protect you from the nightmares. Mommy says she'll fight off the scariest monster of my nightmares to protect me," Dinky told me in a whisper of her own. That was actually pretty good advice. Pretty adorable too and exactly what I'd expect Derpy to say. She's pretty protective of her daughter. "Good advice," I smiled at the filly. "I'll work extra hard to find me a friend like that." Dinky nodded and took advantage of our noses touching, quickly nuzzling me. I melted at the gesture. This filly was adorable, Derpy was right last night. I returned the gesture with a smile. "Derpy is right, you're the most adorable filly in all of Equestria," I announced and she blushed. "Thank you, Starlight." "No problem, kid." I bit into my muffin and my tastebuds exploded at the taste of wildberries. "Woah. This is spectacular." "Thank you," Derpy smiled as she sat next to her daughter with a muffin of her own. She rolled her eyes at Dinky making a mess of her oatmeal as she ate. "I make them myself." "That's incredible. You ever think of opening a bakery?" I asked as I eagerly took another bite. I was disappointed when Derpy shook her head. "No, not really. I'm fine with delivering the mail. The money would be nice but it costs money to buy a building and all the equipment," Derpy admitted as she bit into a muffin that I suspected was blueberry. "I used to move furniture with my foalhood friend Raindrops but I got fired." "Why's that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I may or may not have accidentally dropped a piano on Twilight's head," she sheepishly admitted. I burst out laughing at that. "No way," I struggled for air. "Yes way," Derpy nodded. "And a vase. And an anvil. And a wagon." I turned red from laughing. "Breath, Starlight. It's funny now, but I was afraid at the time." I quickly got a hold of myself. "Sorry for laughing," I hastily apologized. "That sucks. Sorry you got fired." Derpy waved a hoof dismissively. "It's all good. Twilight forgive me and we can laugh about it now. I mainly felt bad because she was already hurt." Derpy looked at the clock and jumped. "Dinky, we gotta get you to school." She jumped off her chair and shot to the living room. She quickly returned with some beat up saddlebags. Dinky hopped to the ground and Derpy plopped them on her. "Hugs!" Dinky shouted as she hugged Derpy. Derpy grinned and hugged her back. "Have a good day at school, love. Have fun, learn a lot and don't take any wooden bits." Derpy nuzzled Dinky and she quickly returned it. "Love you too, mom!" She darted out the door and shut it. I opened my mouth and prepared to say something when the door flung open. Dinky charged to me and flung her hooves around me. "Hugs!" She shouted again and squeezed my neck. I never knew a filly could hug that strong. How she doesn't have a hugging related cutie mark, I will never know. I quickly returned the hug and smiled. "Air, please Dinky. Air!" I barely managed out. She finally let me go and ran outside. "Bye, Mom. Bye Starlight!" I barely managed to wave bye before she shut the door. "You were right," I said as I faced Derpy. "She is a hugger. And adorable, too." Derpy smirked as she put on her mailmare hat and worn out saddlebags. "That she is," Derpy agreed. "What are your plans for today?" "I have no clue," I admitted. "Might go for a walk or something." That's probably a bad idea, might run into a group of ponies I want to avoid for the time being. Just long enough for me to sort my thoughts. "Well have fun," Derpy trotted to the front door. "I have to get to work, my shift starts soon." "Alright," I said. "Is there any chores you want me to do?" She gave me a confused look. "I'm staying here, might as well help out around your house." "I don't make my guests help out around the house," Derpy gave a soft laugh. "But I suppose you can get us some strawberries for pancakes tomorrow morning." She rummaged with a hoof and pulled out a few bits. "Here's my last bits till I get paid." I stared in shock as she hoofed them to me. I pushed them back to her confusion. "Keep them," I smiled. "I'll sort something else out." Derpy raised an eyebrow before shrugging and trotting outside. I shut the door and observed her flying away. I had an idea on how to get more bits for her but I had to go into enemy territory to get it. With a sigh I teleported into the castle and cast a spell so I was invisible. I carefully trotted around for a bit, searching for the room I wanted. I was slightly surprised when the castle was empty. "Probably having fun with the Pillars," I grumbled. A sound behind me made me spin around. Okay, maybe the castle wasn't as empty as I thought. I held my breath and watched as Spike looked around. "Huh. Weird," he scratched the back of his head. "Sounded like I just heard Starlight talking." He shrugged and walked away. "I'm hearing things." He walked down a different hallway and I let out my breath. I rolled my eyes when Spike poked his head back around the corner and stared right at where I was standing. I froze and made eye contact. I really hope he didn't see or smell me. He jumped as Twilight's pet owl flew past him. "Owlowiscious! You startled me, don't ever do that again. Almost gave me a heart attack," he grumbled as he walked away again. I trotted to the room I needed and stepped inside. A bunch of bits caught my eye and I smiled. This wasn't technically theft, Twilight did say I could take bits whenever I needed them. And this counted as an emergency in my eyes. I picked up the large bag and shoved it into my saddlebags. I quickly teleported away to the market and canceled my invisibility spell. "What the hay?" A golden mare rubbed her eyes. "I must be going crazy." I rolled my eyes and kept trotting till I found the stall I wanted. "One pack of strawberries, please." I pushed twelve bits across the counter. The pegasus mare counted it out and pushed me aside a pretty good looking large box of them. "Thank you." "You're welcome," the mare replied with a bored expression on her face. I quickly trotted off to the next stall and bought two new saddlebags. "Thanks," I told her and the mare waved a hoof. "No problem. Have a good day!" It's kinda scary how friendly this town is. Well, with some exceptions of course. I didn't like Cranky that much. He was a rude old donkey. "I'm telling you dear," I froze when I heard a familiar voice. I quickly dove behind a flower stall and startled three mares behind it. "She couldn't have gotten far." I peeked my head around it and watched Rarity trotting past with Mistmane. "She left last night," Mistmane pointed out. "She could be miles away from here by now." The pair faded into the distance and I let out a sigh of relief. I turned around and stared at the three mares. They looked less than happy. "Thanks for letting me hid behind your flower stand," I cracked a smile. "Why are you even hiding in the first place?" A pony I recognized as Daisy asked. I gave her a shrug. "I'm practicing my skills in spying," I explained with a bored expression. "You're stepping on a flower," Lily grumbled. "Kindly get off." While I understand I was stepping on the thing she sold, I did not appreciate the attitude. "How about you watch your tone?" I snapped. "Well you shouldn't even be back here," she shot back. I rolled my eyes and looked around before hopping out from behind the stall. "There. I'm out from behind the stall. Are you happy?" I demanded. "Yes," she groaned and facehoofed. "Do you want a flower?" Roseluck quickly intervened with a smile. She was probably my favorite out of the sisters. Really friendly mare. I shrugged and pointed a hoof at a few white roses. "Those will be fine," I reached out and Daisy smacked my hoof away. I glowered at her and she shrank back. "Sorry," Daisy mumbled. "We don't want our customers to get their own flowers. We prefer to do everything for them. Helps our reputation as a friendly flower seller." Lily nodded with a grin. "Oh okay," I mumbled as I placed a few bits on the counter. Roseluck carefully put the flowers in my saddlebags. She waved as I trotted away. "Have a good day, Starlight!" I froze and stared at her. "How do you know my name?" I demanded as I looked around to make sure no one else had heard it. They thankfully didn't. Roseluck smiled at me. "Everypony here knows you. I believe you're the first student Twilight has taken on." "Plus you brainwashed a village of ponies," Lily mumbled and my ears flattened against my head. Roseluck shoved a hoof into her sisters mouth. "Ignore her," Roseluck glared at Lily. "She doesn't think before she speaks." I rolled my eyes. "Fair enough," I grumbled. "It's been nice seeing you, I need to get back to Derpy's." Roseluck raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean the castle?" Oh fuck. I really shouldn't have let that slip. "Yeah," I gave a nervous laugh and rubbed my head. "The castle right." I took off running. "She's acting weird," Daisy announced. "Agreed," Lily mumbled as she shoved Roselucks hoof out of her mouth. "Did you really need to put your entire hoof in my mouth? It tasted like dirt." "Yes, yes I did," Roseluck sighed as she straightened a flower. ------------------------‐--------------------------‐--------- I placed the roses in the center of the table with a smile. They really brightened up the dull room. I levitated the strawberries to the fridge and carefully shut it. I set the new saddlebags I bought for Derpy and Dinky aside. The front door opened and a yellow pegasus floated in. "Uhm, hello?" I asked nervously. "Who are you?" "I'm Raindrops," she inspected me. "Who are you?" "Starlight Glimmer. I'm staying with Derpy for a bit." "Oh. Pleasure to meet you," she smiled at me. "Derpy was right behind me but I kinda flew too fast for to hear her tell me anything about this." The mare in question trotted in the room and shut the door. "Oh you two already met I see," Derpy hung her hat up. "Good." "Hey Derpy," I smiled. She quickly hugged me and Raindrops at the same time. "Hi." I struggled to get air and based on Raindrops expression, so was she. Derpy quickly let us go and we fell on the floor gasping. Now I know where Dinky got her strong hugging ability from. After I got a few breaths in me, I pointed a shaky hoof to the saddlebags I bought in the corner. "I noticed you and Dinkys saddlebags were a bit old so I bought you two new ones," I mumbled and Derpy stared at them. "You didn't have to do that," she smiled. I gave a shrug. "You're letting me stay here for free. The least I could do was return the gesture." Derpy bounded over to me and I braced myself for another round of hugging. She lifted me up and squeezed. I'm pretty sure I heard a popping sound. I thought she was strong when hugging two mares. She's even stronger when hugging just one. "Air Derpy please," I strained to get the words out and she let me go. Raindrops covered her mouth with a hoof and snorted, laughing. I shakily stood up and fixed my mane. "Raindrops will be staying for dinner," Derpy told me. "Why don't you two go to the living room and talk to one another?" I shrugged and we trotted to the sofa. Before either of us could speak, the front door swung open. "Uh oh," I grinned. "Prepare yourself, something adorable comes this way." Dinky shot to me and hugged me. I was getting an awful lot of hugs recently. "Are you okay?" "Ponies made fun of me for having oatmeal all over my muzzle. I'm sad," Dinky mumbled into my fur. I looked at Raindrops and she shrugged, mouthing the words talk to her. I awkwardly rubbed her back. "Well, what did the teacher do?" I asked. "Ms. Cheerilee gave Rumble a warning." "No other form of punishment?" I asked in surprise. If I did that when I was a filly, I'd have been in detention for a week. Don't even get me started on what my parents would say when I got home. "Nah, she did say detention was next." I frowned at that. "Where can I find Cheerilee?" Cheerilee sighed as she brought a bowl of soup to her living room. She was exhausted after teaching a class full of loud rowdy students. "Hello Cheerilee," I greeted coolly as I relaxed in the chair. She jumped and stared at me. "How did you get in my house?" She demanded. "How did you even know where I lived?" I rolled my eyes. "A friend told me. Took a lot of convincing, but she did it." I stared her in the eyes. "What can I do for you?" She hesitantly asked. "I'm here about Dinky," I maintained eye contact. "Heard she had a issue today." "Ah yes. The Rumble incident, I talked to his brother. " I nodded slowly. "Yes. The Rumble incident. And what did his brother say?" Cheerilee nervously pawed at the ground. "That his brother wouldn't do something like that." I sighed in frustration. "What's your biggest fear?" I suddenly asked. "Uhm heights. Why?" I teleported us away to the highest point on Mount Neighalaya, dangling Cheerilee over the edge. She gave a terrified scream and her eyes went wide. "Take me home, now! Please!" "After you agree to give Rumble detention for what he said to Dinky. She didn't even tell us all what he said, but it was bad enough for her to cry. She's a damn good filly and deserves respect." "I will!" Cheerilee screamed. "Get me out of here, please!" I pulled her back from the edge and dropped her back on the snow. She curled up shivering. "I hope we don't end up here again. If we do, I'm dropping you and will catch you at the last second," I said calmly. I wasn't actually going to do that, taking advantage of her fear like this was as far as I was going to go. I did feel kinda bad for it but I needed to get the point across that I wasn't playing. Derpy would kill me for this if she found out. "Okay," she glared at me. "I'm so scared right now. Please, can we take me home?" I nodded and we were back in her living room. I quickly levitated a cup of hot chocolate in front of the mare and a new bowl of soup. "Eat," I said gently. "Your body needs to warm up." She stared at me in confusion. "You were just threatening to drop me off a mountain. Why are you so nice now?" Cheerilee asked incredulously. "I'm not a mean pony or a monster," I admitted. "I do have standards." She nervously sipped some of her soup. "Makes sense," Cheerilee admitted as she drank more of her soup. "Thank you for not killing me." "You're welcome," I stared at the mare as she drank some of her chocolate. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared right now." Cheerilee raised a confused eyebrow. "Why?" "Social interaction scares me. I'm not used to being friendly or making friends often," I admitted. "Even after defeating Chrysalis, I still have a small amount of anxiety about it." Cheerilee patted the cushion next to her. "Sit," she instructed. I complied after a moment of hesitation. "While you did just threaten to kill me, I'm not gonna just let you leave without at least alleviating some of your fear." "Uh, okay?" "You're gonna come here every weekend for coffee. We are going to talk about everything under the sun. And then hopefully your anxiety will be one hundred percent gone," Cheerilee smiled at me. How did she go from terrified to whatever this was in a matter of minutes? "I can do that," I finally said. "I'm sorry for dangling you over the edge, by the way." "While it was probably the most scariest thing I've ever done, I probably deserved it," she admitted. "Nah. It was cruel of me to take advantage of your fear like that," I mumbled. "Yes it was," Cheerilee agreed. "I'm a forgiving pony though. You have to be, being a teacher and all for how long I've been one." "Fair," I admitted. "I've never been a teacher before. I am good with fillies though." "You should come give a lesson at the school," Cheerilee offered. "I'm sure Dinky would pick you for Parent Day." "I'm not her parent though," I pointed out. Cheerilee smirked and gave me a wink. "I could always make an exception," she tapped her chin with a hoof. "If you wanted of course. Plus, she's been talking about you all day, so she obviously adores you." "Up to Derpy," I decided. "I don't want to intrude and hurt her feelings. Wait, she's been talking about me?" That surprised me, I've only know the filly for a few hours. "Okay," Cheerilee shrugged. "I hate to kick you out, but I really need to sleep. And yes, she has." ""Fascinating. Why are you so forgiving after I took advantage of your fears?" I demanded. "I'm a forgiving pony, like I said. Besides, I know you wouldn't have actually dropped me. Twilight would have been mad at you." I nodded at that. I completely forgot about what the others would think. I stood up and trotted to her door. "Sorry again." I trotted out the house back to Derpy's . Twilight paced back and forth in the room with the bits in it. "She had to have come back and get money. But for what?" She wondered out loud. "Maybe she got a house far from here or an apartment." "I doubt it," Rainbow disagreed. "I overheard Roseluck talking to Golden Harvest about Starlight hiding at her flower stand this afternoon." Twilight's eyes lit up. "So she's still in town then. But where?" Twilight wondered. "Correction, she was in town. She could have left after the flower stand thing," Rainbow pointed out. "Good point," Twilight sighed and stared up at the ceiling. A blue hoof rested on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we will find her," Rainbow reassured Twilight confidently. "And then we can fix things." "I hope so, Rainbow. I hope so." Chapter III"You zapped my pegasus!" Dinky pouted. I gave a smirk over my side of the Pegasus Battles board. "Sorry about that kiddo. You turned my Flash Bees into goo!" I replied. It was a close game, we each had one piece left. "Your turn." Dinky grinned evilly at me. "Cloud six," she said confidently. "You zapped my pegasus this time!" I feigned disappointment and Dinky started cheering. "I won!" She leaped over the board in one go to my amazement. She pushed me onto my back and stood on my chest, staring down at me accusingly. "You didn't let me win, did you?" "Nah, you're just that good," I grinned as I ruffled her mane. I tapped my chin with a hoof. "Though if you don't get off me, I'll have to punish you." "How so?" Dinky challenged and my grin turned evil. "Like this," I said as I started tickling her exposed belly. She started laughing and I rolled her off me. The only downside of me being on top of her tickling her was she could easily reach my exposed underside. She started tickling me back and soon enough we were both on our backs laughing. "I see you two reached a truce in the tickle war," Derpy stood above us with a grin. "Dinky, it's time for school. Can you walk there for me Starlight? It's gonna rain this morning and Dinky hates walking alone when it's raining." I quickly stood up. "Yeah no problem," I smiled. "Ready to go?" Dinky shakily levitated her saddlebags I got her and put them on. "Nice job." "Thanks!" Dinky beamed at me. I opened the front door with my magic and we stepped outside. "So, what's your favorite part of school?" I asked as we trotted. "Lunch time, recess. Oh and going home," Dinky replied as she strained to keep up with my longer stride. I slowed down a bit to let her catch up. "No classes are you favorite?" She shrugged. "I guess history is okay. I despise math though," she tapped a hoof against her chin. "Math was invented by evil ponies." I had to agree with that, I disliked math when I was her age too. "I don't like math either. It's important unfortunately." "I guess. To bank ponies or businessponies." I gave a laugh. "Maybe you're right." A loud thundering sound shook me slightly and Dinky yelped. I looked around in confusion. Where on earth did that filly go? "Dinky? Where are you?" "Back here," a voice behind me came and I turned around. "Now I'm in front of you." What? I turned around again and didn't see her. "I'm behind you again." Sighing, I turned my head and looked back. Dinky was holding onto my back leg, shaking. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Thunder scares me." I levitated her onto my back and made a shield above us with my so we didn't get any wetter. "I personally enjoy the rain," I stated as I walked towards the school house. "It gets my mane and coat wet," Dinky grumbled. She shook her mane and rain water splattered onto my already soaked fur. "Thanks for the shower," I teased with a grin. "You're welcome." I pushed open the door to school and trotted to her classroom. "Hello Starlight," Cheerilee waved to me. "Hello, Cheerilee," I knelt down so Dinky could hop off. "Here's your stop, kiddo." She hopped off and hugged me eagerly. I was certainly starting to become a fan of hugs. "Have fun with your friends, learn a lot." She trotted off into the classroom and started mingling. "I'm sorry about taking you to the mountain," I apologized and Cheerilee sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's fine, for like the nineteenth time." "Okay, good." I opened my mouth to say something else and froze. "Learn something new, sugarcube," Applejack told her younger sister sternly. "You as well, Sweetie Belle," Rarity chided. The two froze as well and stared me in the eyes. Well shit. There's only one thing I could do now: run. I took a deep breath and bolted at them, jumping over the two. I was honestly amazed I made it. I don't normally get physical exercise often. Moving here changed that evidently. I glanced behind me and my eyes widened when I saw them chasing after me. There's no way in hell I can outrun Applejack, but I could at least outsmart her. I hope. She and Rarity could be some pretty sharp knives in the drawer when they wanted to be. "Stop!" Applejack shouted as I pushed the doors open and continued running. I ran right in front a pink filly with a tiara on for some reason and she barely stopped in time to avoid hitting me. "Sorry!" I called out as I continued running. I spared another quick glance behind me and my eyes widened even more if that's possible. Applejack was gaining on me and Rarity was slowing down. She didn't really get much physical exercise as Applejack did. Thank Celestia Rainbow wasn't here or I never would have made it out of the school. My only hope was I could outlast them. Rarity was an easy one, Applejack would be much harder. "Quit running, darnit!" Applejack shouted out to me and I gritted my teeth. This mare was stubborn as hell. Under no circumstances was I gonna stop. Why is it so bad that I want to sort my thoughts out by myself without them trying to influence my decisions? I grinned as I saw a wagon starting to block the road. I sped up and darted in front of the pink earth pony. I kept grinning triumphantly. There's no way they could get around that. Yeah, I never was more wrong. Applejack just straight up jumped over it and landed perfectly on her hooves. "Go away!" I shouted to her as I kept running. "No!" She shouted back and I groaned. I was trying my hardest to ignore the staring ponies as we galloped throughout town. I couldn't afford any distractions. Where was Rarity? I only saw Applejack. I glanced down a side street and saw Rarity galloping, glancing at me every so often. I hated how smart these two were. My hooves were really starting to hurt. I quickly crossed the bridge into Sweet Apple Acres orchards. Most ponies would think of that as a bad idea since Applejack knew the lay of the land better than I did. I had a plan of course, I never would have came here if I didn't. I found a decently sized tree and ran towards it, Applejack right behind me. Most ponies would have stopped but instead I sped up when I got closer. With a faint smile, I teleported right before I was gonna hit it and heard Applejack slam into the tree hard. "Bastard!" Applejack growled and I winced. It sounded really painful but they should just leave me be. I slowed down to catch my breath and a white blur tackled me. In my moment of victory, I entirely forgot about Rarity. We went tumbling as we rolled to a stop. "Get away!" I shouted as I shoved her off me. "Stop running! We just want to talk!" Rarity panted out. I took off running and she followed, barely keeping up. "Well, I'm not in the mood to talk to you!" I shot back. I rolled my eyes as Applejack started chasing after us. I needed to get them off my flank and quick. I was getting tired and it was evident Applejack was pissed about getting caught in the tree. I was honestly scared of what she would do if she caught me. That thought spurred me to run faster. I ran through some trees, weaving back and forth between them. I glanced behind me and noticed Applejack and Rarity doing the same. Perfect, everything going to plan. I slowed down a bit as I continued my weaving and heard the sound of two ponies slamming into one another. I dug my hooves into the soil and grinned when I saw Applejack and Rarity tied up with their tails and manes to each other, both wearing dazed expressions. "Ha! You can't outsmart me!" I panted. That whole chase exhausted me. Rarity glared at me. "You got my mane tied up with hers! We just wanted to talk, Starlight!" She growled and I rolled my eyes. "Stay away from me. I'm not in the mood to see any of you." "Can ya at least untie us, please?" Applejack asked and I snorted. "I'm not stupid. As soon as I do, you're gonna tackle me. Twilight or Rainbow will be here to help you soon I bet." I quickly teleported away and flopped onto the living room floor of Derpy's house, panting. The last thing I remember before I passed out was a young unicorn mare looking over me with a concerned expression written all over her face. I groaned and pressed a hoof to my head. I recognized the familiar feel of the spare bed that was in Derpy's spare room. I tried to sit up and felt a force field push me back down. "Sit," the same unicorn mare was in the chair in the corner of the room, staring at me. "You're exhausted." "Who are you?" I demanded and the mare rolled her eyes. "I'm Derpy's daughter. Amethyst Star. And you are?" "Uh, Starlight Glimmer. I didn't know Derpy had two daughters." Amethyst gave a chuckle at that. "I'm her adopted daughter, Dinky is her biological daughter. I'm here visiting because college just got out for the summer." "Ah. I'm staying here for a bit too while I uh sort my personal life out," I decided being vague was the best option. I'm sure her mom would tell her all about it later. "Ah, okay. I guess we're gonna be room buddies for a bit," Amethyst smiled at me. "I called the left side of the bed, and don't try to hook up with me. I'm fine with cuddling." I snorted at that. "I can safely assure you, getting laid is the last thing on my mind right now," I told the younger mare. I decided to have a little fun with her. "Not that you aren't cute or anything." She turned a bright shade of red and I gave her a smirk. "You're lucky I know you're joking, otherwise I'd have turned you into a stain on the sheets," she grumbled and hid her smile behind her hoof. "Not the first time a stain has been on these sheets I bet," I continued my teasing with a grin. She rolled her eyes. "You'll never know," she winked at me. I'm not gonna lie, the idea of not knowing made me not want to sleep in this bed. Maybe that was her master plan all along so she could have the bed to herself. I really should examine my opponent before opening my mouth. "What were you even doing that caused you to get so tired?" She asked. "Running away." "From?" She prodded and I sighed, looking her in the eyes. "My problems." She gave a sigh of her own. "You know, the harder you run from your problems, the harder they're gonna try to keep up?" Why is everypony in this house so wise? "I know," I admitted. "Then why do it?" She asked and I shrugged. "It's easier. I don't plan on running forever, just long enough to get my thoughts together." I didn't know if that was true or not, but it seemed appealing to keep running. Then again, I really didn't want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. "If you say so," Amethyst said. "As long you plan to confront them." "Aren't you younger than me?" I demanded. "I'm in my twenties so probably. I'd guess you're about thirty five." I made a strangled gasp at that and glared at her. "I'm twenty eight, for the record." "Oh," she said simply as she stood up. "Sorry." I got out of the bed and groaned, stretching. It felt good to stretch out my tired joints after running that much today. My hooves were still sore but that's not important. "Mom is downstairs, Dinky will be home soon." I sighed and trotted down the stairs. "Hey Derpy," I greeted with a smile and noticed Raindrops drinking tea with her. "Hey Raindrops." "Hey Starlight," they said in unison and giggled. "You okay?" Raindrops questioned me. "Heard you had a little sprint around town." I frowned at that. "You heard?" I asked softly. "We all heard," Derpy piped in. "Half the town saw it. It's the talk of the town." She gave me a concerned look. "You okay?" "Yeah. I completely forgot Dinky shared class with their sisters," I gave a drawn out sigh. "Me too," Derpy admitted. "Gotta admit, it was impressive to hear you outsmarted Applejack AND Rarity," Raindrops said with a grin. "Never thought that would happen to them." "I just had to get them so focused on me that they didn't pay attention to anything else. I wasn't really expecting Rarity to tackle me like that," I admitted. "That was a mistake." "We all make mistakes. Trust me, I know," Raindrops laughed. "From experience." "What do you mean?" I asked. "You know how Ponyville got chosen for tornado duty a few years back?" "Yeah, I've only heard that story from Rainbow a few thousand times," I rolled my eyes. It was true, once Rainbow Dash has a victory, she'll never shut up about it till her next one. "That sounds like her. Anyway, on the first try to form the tornado, the wind got too strong for me and I lost control. It pushed me back into the funnel of water along with Dizzy Twister. Most embarrassing thing I've ever done," Raindrops shivered. "At least you didn't brainwash a bunch of ponies into giving up their cutie mark, have Twilight and her friends come by, steal their cutie marks and then stage an insurrection against you. And then stalk said princess for a few months in a restaurant while she reconnected with her old friends and then use a spell to go back in time so she didn't meet her friends so none of them got their cutie marks and then be convinced by her to stop it," I countered. The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. "What did we say about self depreciation?" Derpy pointed out. "Yeah. Like I said, everypony makes mistakes," Raindrops piped in. "And even though it indirectly affected us, we forgive you." "Thanks," I sighed. "It does directly affect you though." "How's that?" Amethyst asked. I didn't even know that mare had came downstairs to the table. She's a quiet one and you know what they about the quiet ones: watch out for them. "One of the alternative futures Twilight dragged me to had nothing. Everypony was dead except me her and Spike. I could have killed all of Equestria just to get revenge. That future made me change and accept her offer of friendship," I gave a bitter laugh. "Look where that friendship got me. With none of my alleged friends here because they cared more about Twilight meeting her idol." "We're your friends," Raindrops told me after a few moments of silence. I slightly jumped at that. I didn't even know we were friends to be honest. "We are?" I asked in a whisper. "Of course," Derpy agreed. "Why do you think I always stuck around the castle after delivering your mail? I wanted to be your friend." "And Dinky adores you," Raindrops added. "And if you hurt her, I get to hurt you," Amethyst piped in with a wicked grin. "Sparkler," Derpy said in a warning tone with a frown. I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "I thought your name was Amethyst?" I asked. "It is," she admitted. "Sparkler is my middle name. My mom and friends sometimes call me it. Mom mainly does it when I'm in trouble or getting close to it." "Not gonna lie, I only ever had two friends. Before you guys adopted me as a friend, I had one. Trixie," I grinned at the thought of my blue magical friend. "Trixie Lulamoon?" Raindrops asked in shock. I nodded. "Yeah. We got along because of our previous mistakes. Twilight hated us being friends," I grumbled. "She was very rude about it." "I remember Trixie," Raindrops mumbled. "I wasn't the nicest to her when she came back." I glared at her as I remembered something. "She told me that. You, Daisy, Bon Bon, Golden Harvest and Berry Punch ran her out of town. Berry and Golden Harvest vandalized her wagon if I remember correctly," I grumbled. "You're gonna apologize to her, by the way. All of you are." "Berry and Golden Harvest didn't vandalize her wagon," Raindrops admitted sheepishly. "Snips and Snails did it for some stupid reason. I already punished Snails for his involvement." "Okay. All you running her out of town hurt her feelings a lot. She tried to change and nopony gave her a chance," I mumbled. "Me and Shoeshine will apologize," Raindrops promised. "Good luck getting the rest to do it." "Wait, why did you punish Snails?" I asked suddenly. "Because he's my younger brother and I raised him better than to run around vandalizing other ponies belongings. No matter how upset I am or he is." "Have you always raised Snails?" I asked and she nodded. "Mom and Dad ran off to Celestia knows where so I got custody of him," Raindrops sighed, sipping her tea. "Thank Luna he didn't get up to the stuff I did his age, then the town would be burnt to the ground. We already got the CMC to worry about." I gave a subtle shiver at that. I heard all about how crazy destructive they used to be. "You guys are my friends too," I finally said. Derpy beamed at me and Raindrops patted my shoulder. Amethyst gave me a subtle nod. The door swung open and Dinky shot in the room, hugging Amethyst eagerly. "Amy!" She shouted and I grinned at how happy she was. Amethyst eagerly hugged her back. "Hey there Dinks!" She ruffled her mane and smiled. "Didja miss me?" "Yeppers peppers!" Dinky let go and clambered onto my lap. I stared in shock at her, I wasn't expecting that. I honestly didn't expect any of this when Derpy gave me a safe haven. I started stroking Dinky's mane and smiled at her. "How was school?" I asked. Dinky's face lit up. "It was really good! I drew you something, Starry!" She screwed her face up in concentration and levitated a paper out of her saddlebags. The paper shakily levitated to me and sat down on the table in front of me. I leaned over her head and my heart melted again for the second time in a few days. The drawing was of me and Dinky in a red heart. "I love it," I whispered as I wiped a tear away with a hoof. "I'm gonna frame it and cast a spell over it so it never gets destroyed." Dinky gave a gasp and twisted her head to look up at me with her adorable large eyes. "You really like it?" She asked in awe. I eagerly nodded. "Yeah. Nopony has ever given me anything as meaningful as this," I nuzzled her. She grinned and returned the gesture. I noticed Derpy beaming at us out of the corner of my and Amethyst giving me an approving smile. "It's bed time, everypony," Derpy announced. I glanced at the clock. Holy shit, I didn't realize it was that late. Time really does fly. I poked Dinky with a hoof and smiled when I realized she was asleep. Raindrops hopped off her chair and waved. "I'll see you all around. Nice hanging out with you again, Starlight." "See ya around, Rainy." She shut the door and I saw her flying off to her house. I levitated Dinky in the air and stepped off the chair. I carefully levitated her onto my back and started walking up to her room. I pushed the door open with my head and admired her room. Her small bed was covered with different stuffed animals Derpy had told me she won for her. I rested her on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. I shut the light off and strode to the door. "Sleep well, Dinky," I went to shut the door. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" She sleepily asked me and I jumped. I guess I wasn't as gentle as I wanted to be. "Sure." I trotted back to her bed and carefully squeezed myself next to her. It was a tight fit, but I could manage. She forced her way between my hooves and sighed contently, starting to snore. Cautiously, I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight." "What do you typically do on your days off?" I asked Derpy as we walked down the market, occasionally looking at stalls. She gave a shrug. "Typically I rest or clean up the house," she smiled at me. "But you've been doing the cleaning, so might as well get some more berries." I smiled at that. "Good reason as ant. It's nice to hang out with some pony new." Derpy frowned at me. "What about Trixie?" "She's out on her apology tour thing right now. Still. I typically go with her, but this time I had to stay behind to help save Stygian. Because remember, once a villain always a villian," I said in my best Starswirl impression and Derpy giggled. "He sounds non intelligent," she commented and I stared at her in shock. She usually never says a bad thing about anypony. "He isn't what I thought he would be," I admitted. "All the stories hyped him up so much and he's just a bitter old pony who's a jerk." "I don't know much about unicorns, but even I heard about him. Shame he isn't as nice as we thought, we have no room for bullies in Equestria," Derpy announced. "Agreed." Derpy stepped to a berry stall while hung back and watched the sky. I focused on a strange looking cloud. Weird, but this is Ponyville. Weird stuff happens here daily it seems. I shrugged it off and started walking alongside Derpy again. "It's the town derp," a voice from behind me said and I slowly faced them. I recognized the pair instantly from Rainbow's stories. "Hoops and Score," I growled. "What do you two want?" "Nothing," Hoops(or was it Score?) said. "Just here to annoy her." He pointed a hoof to Derpy and my blood started to boil. She was a very sweet mare and they were insulting her. I took a deep breath in and released it like Raindrops had taught me. Apparently it helped with her anger issues and she thought it would help me. I always found it dumb when ponies said, "just breath!" What dumb advice. Oh, you mean the thing I've been doing since I was born and that I can't stop because I'll die? Gee, thanks. That's like telling me to keep eating. Getting off track, I have some bullies to deal with. "I just don't know what went wrong," one said in a impression of Derpy that wasn't even close to how she actually sounded. That was my breaking point. I glared up at them. "What's your guys favorite plant?" I asked with a smirk. "Uh, a cactus. Why?" Idiot One asked. I decided it wasn't worth trying to figure out who was who. "Cool," I batted my eyelashes and them and shot them both with a beam. Two cactus' sat down next to me. "Don't be mean to my friend, she's a good pony." I turned to Derpy and flinched at her disapproving look. "Starlight, turn them back," she sighed. "Fine," I mumbled and quickly returned the two back to their normal state. They were curled up in a ball, shaking. We left them like that and I was satisfied because I knew they wouldn't bully Derpy again. "All I did was turn them into some plants. It could have been worse." We started trotting home and I could see it down the street. "Because it was wrong," Derpy chided. "They were bullying you!" I exclaimed in surprise. Derpy inhaled. "Yes, they were," she agreed. "The most important thing I've learned is to not care what other ponies think. I let it roll off my back because I know the hurtful things they can say aren't true. No pony defines me, I define myself." I never thought about that. I always did my best to get revenge on those I deemed rude to me. Maybe I could start living like Derpy and just not care what others think. That sounded pretty appealing to be honest. She opened the door, trotting in the house and I stepped inside. I paused and looked behind me. I had the feeling I was being watched. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I shrugged and shut the door. It's probably nothing. A pair of eyes poked out of a cloud. "Found you," Rainbow muttered. A loud knocking sound at the door made me freeze. Derpy peeped through the hole she had to see through it and froze herself. She glanced back at me nervously. "It's Rainbow Dash," she whispered and I teleported to the nearby closet, cracking it open a bit and pressing an eye to the opening. Derpy opened the door and allowed Rainbow inside. "How can I help you, Rainbow?" She asked innocently. Rainbow's eyes flicked around the room. "Where's Starlight?" She asked and Derpy maintained a neutral expression. "Not here," she replied firmly. I had to thank her for that one. "I saw you and her come in here earlier today and I didn't see her come out. Where is she?" I got mad at that. Can we not have peace for once? Derpy narrowed her eyes slightly. "You're spying on me now? I can get a restraining order, you know. She was here but isn't anymore. She's a unicorn, she can teleport." "Where did she go?" Rainbow demanded and I felt myself get a bit more angry. Who was she to talk to Derpy with that tone in her own home? Derpy glared at her and flared her wings out. I got slightly nervous at that. I didn't know much about pegasi, but I did know flared wings meant two things: anger and being turned on. Unless Derpy had a secret crush on Rainbow that I didn't know about, I was leaning towards the first option and she was getting mad. Which was scary, I've never seen her mad. "Rainbow, get out of my house now," she snapped. "I will not tolerate that tone directed to me in my own house." "Not without Starlight," she said adamantly. I was shocked when Amethyst put herself between Rainbow and her mom. "Mom said it's time for you to go," she growled with their noses pressing against each other. "So get the hell out." I jumped at that. Derpy hated cussing in her house. She even washed my mouth out with soap after I accidentally said fuck. Amethyst levitated Rainbow by her tail and tossed her outside, shutting the door and locking it. That must have been difficult, given Rainbow being her godmother even though she wasn't religious. "There's only option left, but it is in enemy territory. I'll be back soon, I won't let them bring anything sort of drama," I announced as I stepped out of the closet. "Stay safe," Derpy announced as she hugged me. "Hurry back soon, Dinky needs her aunt." I smiled at that. Dinky had adopted me as her aunt the other night and I was super honored. Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked back and forth in front of the statue. She had gotten a message from Starlight asking to meet her. She was about go home when Starlight shot through the statue. Sunset jogged over to her and helped her up. "Hey Starlight," she grinned. "How's it going?" I accepted her hand and she pulled me up. "Been better. Can I spend the night for a bit? Need to get away from some drama?" Sunset's expression turned serious and she nodded. "You can sleep at my apartment, but Pinkie lives there too." I shrugged and started to follow her to her motorcycle. "I can't believe you, Rainbow!" Twilight fumed. "You insulted Derpy in her own home and now we are further from finding Starlight." Rainbow sunk into her chair. "I didn't mean to get rude with Derpy. It was an accident!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at Applejack and Rarity. "What about them? They got lead on a chase by Starlight the other day and lost her." "We didn't actually expect to find her darling," Rarity piped in. "It just happened." Applejack said nothing but nodded her agreement. "We just need to double our efforts," Twilight decided. "And not fight with each other. We all have the same goal, Fluttershy should be back soon. She decided to go to Starlight's old village before we knew she was still in town. We need to sit down and come up with a better plan that doesn't involve us acting alone. We need Starlight back, she's our friend. This is our mess and we will fix it." "What if she doesn't want anything to do with us?" Pinkie nervously asked. Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "She wouldn't just up and abandon us," Twilight reassured the depressed looking mare. "Are you sure?" Pinkie asked softly. "We're a bunch of meanie pants." "I'm certain of it." Author's Note I know I said Starlight wouldn't do anything rash, but I really wanted a scene were Derpy taught her something so yeah.
Chapter II lifted my head off the pillow. I levitated some tissues to me and wiped the tears off my face. I thought the whole Sunburst thing when I was a filly hurt me. That pales in comparison to the hurt I feel right now. I never thought Twilight and my other "friends" would have abandoned for that idiot unicorn Starswirl. They didn't stand up for me, but sure as hell stood up for Twilight when he was rude to her. What makes me so less important that I don't get ponies standing up for me. Not even the Princess of Friendship herself cared enough about me to defend me. Nor Spike. Some Elements of Harmony these six are. "I thought we were friends," I mumbled to myself. I rolled my eyes. "And now you're talking to yourself while Princess Twilight fawns over Starswirl." I glanced at the picture of me and Twilight along with our friends. I don't know why seeing that angered me, but it did. I lifted the picture with my magic and flung it at the wall as hard as I could, wincing at the sound of the glass shattering. I waited for someone to come to my room on concern. But shocker, no one came. "Probably so busy with their replacement friends," I growled. "I always get fucking replaced." I fell backwards on my bed and fought back tears again. I really thought we were friends. After everything I did. After all my progress. From stopping Chrysalis with Trixie, Discord and Thorax, to Stygian. Now that I think about, that doesn't sound like a lot of progress. I wiped a tear that sneaked past my defenses away with a hoof. I should honestly quit holding back the tears, maybe letting it out would be best. I rolled over and shoved my face into my pillow and started sobbing again. "W-what makes me so unimportant that I don't deserve respect?" I sniffled to myself. "I'm trying so hard for be a good pony. I thought I put my past behind me, but it always comes to bit me in the flank." I angrily slammed my hoof into the pillow. Repeatedly. "Maybe I just need to give it a few days, and everything will turn out fine." I snorted at that and wiped some snot of my muzzle with a hoof. I felt disgusting with the snot in my fur. I decided to get out of bed and looked in the mirror. "Holy shit," I mumbled. I looked like a mess, mascara running down my face and the rest of my makeup messed up. I really need to fix my make up later. I prided my appearance a lot. I really toned down the makeup usage since I left my village. Probably because I didn't need to worry about ruling with an iron fist over every pony there. They were doing well from what I heard. Nightglider was on the town committee, Double Diamond was opening a skiing resort in the mountains to bring in revenue for the town and Sugar Belle was running a bakery out of her house. I stepped forward into my shower and turned it on, feeling the warm water spray onto my fur. I levitated the sprayer with my magic and rinsed off my makeup and tear stained face. I focused extra hard on the snot covered hoof and my chest fur. I hated crying, it always left me a mess like this afterwards. Before that, I never cried. Crying doesn't really give off strict leader of a village, does it? I stepped out the shower after rinsing my mane and using my favorite shampoo. I quickly dried myself off and brushed my mane into my favored style. I decided to go talk to them, maybe this is all a big misunderstanding and I just need to talk to them. After all, friends communicate with each other. Right? I stepped out into the hallway and trotted down the hall. I froze when I heard voices floating up the staircase. I missed the first part, but I sure as hell heard the last. "Never change," Starswirl said. I felt the same sadness wash over me. They had to be talking about my former villain status. Going to talk to them was stupid. I turned around and galloped to my room, slamming the door shut behind me. I came to a conclusion in that moment: I was going to run away and decide if I wanted to keep staying here or not. I had entertained the possibility of leaving these past few days and go stay with Trixie, but she was out on tour at the moment. I packed a bag with all my meager belongings. My picture of Trixie and I after we kicked Chrysalis' ass, my book that allowed me to communicate with Sunset in the other world. Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair brush and a few other essentials. Thankfully ponies don't wear clothes often so I didn't need to worry about that. I slung the bag onto my back carefully and opened the door with my magic. I cautiously stepped over the broken glass. No matter how hurt I was emotionally, I didn't want to get hurt physically. I'm not suicidal, well not anymore at least. I stepped into the hall way and shut my door quietly. I don't know how long I was in there, but I could still hear ponies talking in Twilight's back up library. I was grateful they used that one instead of the main library. Farther from the door and easier for me to escape. I snuck down the stairs and to the door. "Uhm, are you okay?" I spun around and focused on Fluttershy. I threw my bag into a room nearby. "I'm just fine," I snapped and she flinched. "What do you want?" "Just checking," she stared at me with an unreadable expression. "Why don't you go away and check something else out?" I regretted that as soon as I said it. Her ears flattened against her head and she nodded. "I'm sorry for bothering you," she mumbled. "Won't happen again." She slunk off into the castle and I sighed. As much as I regretted those words, she was the element of kindness. She didn't stand up for me either. I left the castle quietly after retrieving my bag. I ended up in the middle of the town and started wandering. I had no idea where I was going to sleep. Other than Trixie, I didn't know anyone else in town. Maybe I should go back to the castle, I mused. Certainly would be safer than sleeping out on the street. I quickly shook that idea away. As long as the Pillars were there, I didn't want to be there. I spotted a nearby bench and trotted to it. My hooves hurt after walking around town and punching my bed. I slumped against and sighed. "This is for the best," I sniffled. "They probably were lying the entire time they said we were friends." "You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity I think," a grey pegasus I vaguely recognized as Derpy settled on the seat next to me. "Hey Derpy," I forced a smile. "How's it going?" "Going good," she faintly frowned at me. "And you?" "Been better," I admitted as I stared up into the night sky. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She said sweetly and I shrugged. "Talking about your feelings is healthy." "Fine," I sighed and told her everything. I mean everything, from the village to now. To her credit, she took it all well. Especially me practically brainwashing a bunch of ponies. She wrapped her hooves around me and hugged me. "I'm sorry you're dealing with this," she whispered and rubbed my back with a hoof. "Nopony deserves to feel unimportant, especially a pony who's trying her hardest to change." "Why are you being so accepting of this?" I asked. "I just told you I stole a bunch of ponies cutiemarks and you're sitting there like it's nothing." Derpy inhaled. "Sure it was wrong," she admitted. "All my life, I've been called names for my speech and my eye. And for being accident prone. I've learned to accept all ponies, no matter what they've done." I gave her a flicker of a smile. "You would make a better Element of Kindness," I sighed. "I feel you would have stood up for me at least." "I would have, yes. But Fluttershy is good too." I rolled my eyes at that. "She was there and didn't do a dang thing. She's guilty too," I reminded her. She patted me with a hoof. "It'll turn around," she promised. "Everything gets better. Everypony makes mistakes." She gave a faint frown. "Where are you gonna sleep?" I shrugged. "Probably the street and just hope to Luna nopony rapes me or kidnaps or kills me," I mumbled. "Yeah no," Derpy announced and stood up. "That won't stand. I refuse to allow that. You're coming with me." She pulled me off the bench. "Uhm, where?" I hesitantly asked. "My house. I refuse to knowingly let you sleep on the street or leave you at risk of death," she started pulling on my hoof. "I can walk," I grumbled. "Are you sure I won't be a bother?" Derpy gave a chuckle. "You won't," she promised. "Plus, I have the cutest filly in all of Equestria for you to meet. You'll love her, just get ready for death by hugs. Dinky adores hugging new ponies." I gave a laugh at that. That sound sounded a bit foreign to me after these few days. "Sure sounds like a good way to go," I said. "It is," Derpy agreed. "Right this way." She pointed a hoof towards a carrot farm and I followed her with a smile. ---------------‐-----------------------------------------‐--- Fluttershy nervously entered the library. "Uhm Twilight, can we talk?" She hesitantly asked. Twilight looked up from her book. "Yeah, sure Fluttershy. What's up?" "I just saw Starlight wandering the castle. She looked upset and told me to go away when I tried to ask her what's wrong. Do you have any idea what could be going on?" A worried look crossed Twilight's face. "I have an idea. I never apologized to her for not defending her." Fluttershy's ears once again flattened. "None of us did," she realized. "She must be heartbroken by it." "I'll go talk to her right now. She's probably up in her room after taking a walk," Twilight mumbled as she teleported outside Starlight's room. She carefully knocked on the door. "Starlight? I'm here to apologize for not defending you against Starswirl. It was wrong of me. And the others. We're very sorry." The door creaked open and Twilight peeked her head in. "Starlight?" She gasped when she saw the broken picture and glass. She looked around the empty room and started to freak out. She quickly teleported back to the library, startling her friends and the Pillars. "Starlight's missing!" She screamed on the verge of tears. "Welcome to my humble abode," Derpy announced with a flourish of her hoof. "It may not be much, but it's a roof over me and Dinkys heads." I looked around the slightly run down small house. It was quaint, that's for sure. "It's nice," I finally said. "It's crappy, but it works for now." Derpy took my bag and set it on the ground. "You can sleep in the spare room or in my bed." "I'll take the spare room. I wouldn't dream of stealing your bed after all. It would be rude of me," I said adamantly. I was surprised she would even offer me that. "It would be rude of me to not offer my guest it," Derpy answered. "Dinky's asleep, you can meet her tomorrow. She has school, otherwise she would be up right now." I smiled at that. "The spare room is on the left side up stairs, I'll take your bag up there." She grabbed the bag with her mouth and slowly trotted up the stairs. "Thanks Derpy. For everything," I mumbled. She dropped the bag upstairs and looked back at me with a wide smile. "Anytime, Starlight. Anytime." Author's Note I really fucking hated how the mane six and Twilight allowed Starswirl to treat Starlight and no one stood up for her and she never got an apology. I absolutely love Starlight, she deserved better.
Chapter III smiled at the filly sitting across from me. I idly spinned a muffin on a plate in front of me. "Are you okay, Ms. Glimmer?" Dinky asked sweetly as she ate some oatmeal. She gazed at me with innocent wide eyes that I couldn't help but fall in love with. "Yeah, I'm good kiddo," I ruffled her mane and smiled even bigger. "Just exhausted is all. And please, call me Starlight." "Sorry, Starlight. Are you having trouble sleeping?" She asked me. I gave a soft nod. "It's been a rough past few days," I admitted. Dinky strained to reach my hoof with her own. Grumbling, she climbed on the table and patted my hoof. "It's gonna get sorted out, whatever is bothering you," she reassured me. We both heard trotting on the stairs. "Dinky Hooves! Please get off the table," Derpy chided. "It's not polite." Dinky hopped back into her seat with a sheepish look. "Sorry mom," she said. "I was just trying to comfort Starlight." Derpy smiled at her daughter and patted her on the head. "I understand. Just please refrain from standing on the table please." Derpy trotted into the kitchen. Dinky looked back at me. "Why are you having trouble sleeping?"I gave a shrug. "Bad dreams," I admitted and she nodded sagely. "I have nightmares too," she leaned in conspiratorially to me. "Wanna know a secret?" I leaned towards her too and our noses bumped. "What's that?" I asked in a hushed whisper. "Find a pony who will protect you from the nightmares. Mommy says she'll fight off the scariest monster of my nightmares to protect me," Dinky told me in a whisper of her own. That was actually pretty good advice. Pretty adorable too and exactly what I'd expect Derpy to say. She's pretty protective of her daughter. "Good advice," I smiled at the filly. "I'll work extra hard to find me a friend like that." Dinky nodded and took advantage of our noses touching, quickly nuzzling me. I melted at the gesture. This filly was adorable, Derpy was right last night. I returned the gesture with a smile. "Derpy is right, you're the most adorable filly in all of Equestria," I announced and she blushed. "Thank you, Starlight." "No problem, kid." I bit into my muffin and my tastebuds exploded at the taste of wildberries. "Woah. This is spectacular." "Thank you," Derpy smiled as she sat next to her daughter with a muffin of her own. She rolled her eyes at Dinky making a mess of her oatmeal as she ate. "I make them myself." "That's incredible. You ever think of opening a bakery?" I asked as I eagerly took another bite. I was disappointed when Derpy shook her head. "No, not really. I'm fine with delivering the mail. The money would be nice but it costs money to buy a building and all the equipment," Derpy admitted as she bit into a muffin that I suspected was blueberry. "I used to move furniture with my foalhood friend Raindrops but I got fired." "Why's that?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "I may or may not have accidentally dropped a piano on Twilight's head," she sheepishly admitted. I burst out laughing at that. "No way," I struggled for air. "Yes way," Derpy nodded. "And a vase. And an anvil. And a wagon." I turned red from laughing. "Breath, Starlight. It's funny now, but I was afraid at the time." I quickly got a hold of myself. "Sorry for laughing," I hastily apologized. "That sucks. Sorry you got fired." Derpy waved a hoof dismissively. "It's all good. Twilight forgive me and we can laugh about it now. I mainly felt bad because she was already hurt." Derpy looked at the clock and jumped. "Dinky, we gotta get you to school." She jumped off her chair and shot to the living room. She quickly returned with some beat up saddlebags. Dinky hopped to the ground and Derpy plopped them on her. "Hugs!" Dinky shouted as she hugged Derpy. Derpy grinned and hugged her back. "Have a good day at school, love. Have fun, learn a lot and don't take any wooden bits." Derpy nuzzled Dinky and she quickly returned it. "Love you too, mom!" She darted out the door and shut it. I opened my mouth and prepared to say something when the door flung open. Dinky charged to me and flung her hooves around me. "Hugs!" She shouted again and squeezed my neck. I never knew a filly could hug that strong. How she doesn't have a hugging related cutie mark, I will never know. I quickly returned the hug and smiled. "Air, please Dinky. Air!" I barely managed out. She finally let me go and ran outside. "Bye, Mom. Bye Starlight!" I barely managed to wave bye before she shut the door. "You were right," I said as I faced Derpy. "She is a hugger. And adorable, too." Derpy smirked as she put on her mailmare hat and worn out saddlebags. "That she is," Derpy agreed. "What are your plans for today?" "I have no clue," I admitted. "Might go for a walk or something." That's probably a bad idea, might run into a group of ponies I want to avoid for the time being. Just long enough for me to sort my thoughts. "Well have fun," Derpy trotted to the front door. "I have to get to work, my shift starts soon." "Alright," I said. "Is there any chores you want me to do?" She gave me a confused look. "I'm staying here, might as well help out around your house." "I don't make my guests help out around the house," Derpy gave a soft laugh. "But I suppose you can get us some strawberries for pancakes tomorrow morning." She rummaged with a hoof and pulled out a few bits. "Here's my last bits till I get paid." I stared in shock as she hoofed them to me. I pushed them back to her confusion. "Keep them," I smiled. "I'll sort something else out." Derpy raised an eyebrow before shrugging and trotting outside. I shut the door and observed her flying away. I had an idea on how to get more bits for her but I had to go into enemy territory to get it. With a sigh I teleported into the castle and cast a spell so I was invisible. I carefully trotted around for a bit, searching for the room I wanted. I was slightly surprised when the castle was empty. "Probably having fun with the Pillars," I grumbled. A sound behind me made me spin around. Okay, maybe the castle wasn't as empty as I thought. I held my breath and watched as Spike looked around. "Huh. Weird," he scratched the back of his head. "Sounded like I just heard Starlight talking." He shrugged and walked away. "I'm hearing things." He walked down a different hallway and I let out my breath. I rolled my eyes when Spike poked his head back around the corner and stared right at where I was standing. I froze and made eye contact. I really hope he didn't see or smell me. He jumped as Twilight's pet owl flew past him. "Owlowiscious! You startled me, don't ever do that again. Almost gave me a heart attack," he grumbled as he walked away again. I trotted to the room I needed and stepped inside. A bunch of bits caught my eye and I smiled. This wasn't technically theft, Twilight did say I could take bits whenever I needed them. And this counted as an emergency in my eyes. I picked up the large bag and shoved it into my saddlebags. I quickly teleported away to the market and canceled my invisibility spell. "What the hay?" A golden mare rubbed her eyes. "I must be going crazy." I rolled my eyes and kept trotting till I found the stall I wanted. "One pack of strawberries, please." I pushed twelve bits across the counter. The pegasus mare counted it out and pushed me aside a pretty good looking large box of them. "Thank you." "You're welcome," the mare replied with a bored expression on her face. I quickly trotted off to the next stall and bought two new saddlebags. "Thanks," I told her and the mare waved a hoof. "No problem. Have a good day!" It's kinda scary how friendly this town is. Well, with some exceptions of course. I didn't like Cranky that much. He was a rude old donkey. "I'm telling you dear," I froze when I heard a familiar voice. I quickly dove behind a flower stall and startled three mares behind it. "She couldn't have gotten far." I peeked my head around it and watched Rarity trotting past with Mistmane. "She left last night," Mistmane pointed out. "She could be miles away from here by now." The pair faded into the distance and I let out a sigh of relief. I turned around and stared at the three mares. They looked less than happy. "Thanks for letting me hid behind your flower stand," I cracked a smile. "Why are you even hiding in the first place?" A pony I recognized as Daisy asked. I gave her a shrug. "I'm practicing my skills in spying," I explained with a bored expression. "You're stepping on a flower," Lily grumbled. "Kindly get off." While I understand I was stepping on the thing she sold, I did not appreciate the attitude. "How about you watch your tone?" I snapped. "Well you shouldn't even be back here," she shot back. I rolled my eyes and looked around before hopping out from behind the stall. "There. I'm out from behind the stall. Are you happy?" I demanded. "Yes," she groaned and facehoofed. "Do you want a flower?" Roseluck quickly intervened with a smile. She was probably my favorite out of the sisters. Really friendly mare. I shrugged and pointed a hoof at a few white roses. "Those will be fine," I reached out and Daisy smacked my hoof away. I glowered at her and she shrank back. "Sorry," Daisy mumbled. "We don't want our customers to get their own flowers. We prefer to do everything for them. Helps our reputation as a friendly flower seller." Lily nodded with a grin. "Oh okay," I mumbled as I placed a few bits on the counter. Roseluck carefully put the flowers in my saddlebags. She waved as I trotted away. "Have a good day, Starlight!" I froze and stared at her. "How do you know my name?" I demanded as I looked around to make sure no one else had heard it. They thankfully didn't. Roseluck smiled at me. "Everypony here knows you. I believe you're the first student Twilight has taken on." "Plus you brainwashed a village of ponies," Lily mumbled and my ears flattened against my head. Roseluck shoved a hoof into her sisters mouth. "Ignore her," Roseluck glared at Lily. "She doesn't think before she speaks." I rolled my eyes. "Fair enough," I grumbled. "It's been nice seeing you, I need to get back to Derpy's." Roseluck raised an eyebrow. "Don't you mean the castle?" Oh fuck. I really shouldn't have let that slip. "Yeah," I gave a nervous laugh and rubbed my head. "The castle right." I took off running. "She's acting weird," Daisy announced. "Agreed," Lily mumbled as she shoved Roselucks hoof out of her mouth. "Did you really need to put your entire hoof in my mouth? It tasted like dirt." "Yes, yes I did," Roseluck sighed as she straightened a flower. ------------------------‐--------------------------‐--------- I placed the roses in the center of the table with a smile. They really brightened up the dull room. I levitated the strawberries to the fridge and carefully shut it. I set the new saddlebags I bought for Derpy and Dinky aside. The front door opened and a yellow pegasus floated in. "Uhm, hello?" I asked nervously. "Who are you?" "I'm Raindrops," she inspected me. "Who are you?" "Starlight Glimmer. I'm staying with Derpy for a bit." "Oh. Pleasure to meet you," she smiled at me. "Derpy was right behind me but I kinda flew too fast for to hear her tell me anything about this." The mare in question trotted in the room and shut the door. "Oh you two already met I see," Derpy hung her hat up. "Good." "Hey Derpy," I smiled. She quickly hugged me and Raindrops at the same time. "Hi." I struggled to get air and based on Raindrops expression, so was she. Derpy quickly let us go and we fell on the floor gasping. Now I know where Dinky got her strong hugging ability from. After I got a few breaths in me, I pointed a shaky hoof to the saddlebags I bought in the corner. "I noticed you and Dinkys saddlebags were a bit old so I bought you two new ones," I mumbled and Derpy stared at them. "You didn't have to do that," she smiled. I gave a shrug. "You're letting me stay here for free. The least I could do was return the gesture." Derpy bounded over to me and I braced myself for another round of hugging. She lifted me up and squeezed. I'm pretty sure I heard a popping sound. I thought she was strong when hugging two mares. She's even stronger when hugging just one. "Air Derpy please," I strained to get the words out and she let me go. Raindrops covered her mouth with a hoof and snorted, laughing. I shakily stood up and fixed my mane. "Raindrops will be staying for dinner," Derpy told me. "Why don't you two go to the living room and talk to one another?" I shrugged and we trotted to the sofa. Before either of us could speak, the front door swung open. "Uh oh," I grinned. "Prepare yourself, something adorable comes this way." Dinky shot to me and hugged me. I was getting an awful lot of hugs recently. "Are you okay?" "Ponies made fun of me for having oatmeal all over my muzzle. I'm sad," Dinky mumbled into my fur. I looked at Raindrops and she shrugged, mouthing the words talk to her. I awkwardly rubbed her back. "Well, what did the teacher do?" I asked. "Ms. Cheerilee gave Rumble a warning." "No other form of punishment?" I asked in surprise. If I did that when I was a filly, I'd have been in detention for a week. Don't even get me started on what my parents would say when I got home. "Nah, she did say detention was next." I frowned at that. "Where can I find Cheerilee?" Cheerilee sighed as she brought a bowl of soup to her living room. She was exhausted after teaching a class full of loud rowdy students. "Hello Cheerilee," I greeted coolly as I relaxed in the chair. She jumped and stared at me. "How did you get in my house?" She demanded. "How did you even know where I lived?" I rolled my eyes. "A friend told me. Took a lot of convincing, but she did it." I stared her in the eyes. "What can I do for you?" She hesitantly asked. "I'm here about Dinky," I maintained eye contact. "Heard she had a issue today." "Ah yes. The Rumble incident, I talked to his brother. " I nodded slowly. "Yes. The Rumble incident. And what did his brother say?" Cheerilee nervously pawed at the ground. "That his brother wouldn't do something like that." I sighed in frustration. "What's your biggest fear?" I suddenly asked. "Uhm heights. Why?" I teleported us away to the highest point on Mount Neighalaya, dangling Cheerilee over the edge. She gave a terrified scream and her eyes went wide. "Take me home, now! Please!" "After you agree to give Rumble detention for what he said to Dinky. She didn't even tell us all what he said, but it was bad enough for her to cry. She's a damn good filly and deserves respect." "I will!" Cheerilee screamed. "Get me out of here, please!" I pulled her back from the edge and dropped her back on the snow. She curled up shivering. "I hope we don't end up here again. If we do, I'm dropping you and will catch you at the last second," I said calmly. I wasn't actually going to do that, taking advantage of her fear like this was as far as I was going to go. I did feel kinda bad for it but I needed to get the point across that I wasn't playing. Derpy would kill me for this if she found out. "Okay," she glared at me. "I'm so scared right now. Please, can we take me home?" I nodded and we were back in her living room. I quickly levitated a cup of hot chocolate in front of the mare and a new bowl of soup. "Eat," I said gently. "Your body needs to warm up." She stared at me in confusion. "You were just threatening to drop me off a mountain. Why are you so nice now?" Cheerilee asked incredulously. "I'm not a mean pony or a monster," I admitted. "I do have standards." She nervously sipped some of her soup. "Makes sense," Cheerilee admitted as she drank more of her soup. "Thank you for not killing me." "You're welcome," I stared at the mare as she drank some of her chocolate. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm scared right now." Cheerilee raised a confused eyebrow. "Why?" "Social interaction scares me. I'm not used to being friendly or making friends often," I admitted. "Even after defeating Chrysalis, I still have a small amount of anxiety about it." Cheerilee patted the cushion next to her. "Sit," she instructed. I complied after a moment of hesitation. "While you did just threaten to kill me, I'm not gonna just let you leave without at least alleviating some of your fear." "Uh, okay?" "You're gonna come here every weekend for coffee. We are going to talk about everything under the sun. And then hopefully your anxiety will be one hundred percent gone," Cheerilee smiled at me. How did she go from terrified to whatever this was in a matter of minutes? "I can do that," I finally said. "I'm sorry for dangling you over the edge, by the way." "While it was probably the most scariest thing I've ever done, I probably deserved it," she admitted. "Nah. It was cruel of me to take advantage of your fear like that," I mumbled. "Yes it was," Cheerilee agreed. "I'm a forgiving pony though. You have to be, being a teacher and all for how long I've been one." "Fair," I admitted. "I've never been a teacher before. I am good with fillies though." "You should come give a lesson at the school," Cheerilee offered. "I'm sure Dinky would pick you for Parent Day." "I'm not her parent though," I pointed out. Cheerilee smirked and gave me a wink. "I could always make an exception," she tapped her chin with a hoof. "If you wanted of course. Plus, she's been talking about you all day, so she obviously adores you." "Up to Derpy," I decided. "I don't want to intrude and hurt her feelings. Wait, she's been talking about me?" That surprised me, I've only know the filly for a few hours. "Okay," Cheerilee shrugged. "I hate to kick you out, but I really need to sleep. And yes, she has." ""Fascinating. Why are you so forgiving after I took advantage of your fears?" I demanded. "I'm a forgiving pony, like I said. Besides, I know you wouldn't have actually dropped me. Twilight would have been mad at you." I nodded at that. I completely forgot about what the others would think. I stood up and trotted to her door. "Sorry again." I trotted out the house back to Derpy's . Twilight paced back and forth in the room with the bits in it. "She had to have come back and get money. But for what?" She wondered out loud. "Maybe she got a house far from here or an apartment." "I doubt it," Rainbow disagreed. "I overheard Roseluck talking to Golden Harvest about Starlight hiding at her flower stand this afternoon." Twilight's eyes lit up. "So she's still in town then. But where?" Twilight wondered. "Correction, she was in town. She could have left after the flower stand thing," Rainbow pointed out. "Good point," Twilight sighed and stared up at the ceiling. A blue hoof rested on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we will find her," Rainbow reassured Twilight confidently. "And then we can fix things." "I hope so, Rainbow. I hope so."
Chapter III"You zapped my pegasus!" Dinky pouted. I gave a smirk over my side of the Pegasus Battles board. "Sorry about that kiddo. You turned my Flash Bees into goo!" I replied. It was a close game, we each had one piece left. "Your turn." Dinky grinned evilly at me. "Cloud six," she said confidently. "You zapped my pegasus this time!" I feigned disappointment and Dinky started cheering. "I won!" She leaped over the board in one go to my amazement. She pushed me onto my back and stood on my chest, staring down at me accusingly. "You didn't let me win, did you?" "Nah, you're just that good," I grinned as I ruffled her mane. I tapped my chin with a hoof. "Though if you don't get off me, I'll have to punish you." "How so?" Dinky challenged and my grin turned evil. "Like this," I said as I started tickling her exposed belly. She started laughing and I rolled her off me. The only downside of me being on top of her tickling her was she could easily reach my exposed underside. She started tickling me back and soon enough we were both on our backs laughing. "I see you two reached a truce in the tickle war," Derpy stood above us with a grin. "Dinky, it's time for school. Can you walk there for me Starlight? It's gonna rain this morning and Dinky hates walking alone when it's raining." I quickly stood up. "Yeah no problem," I smiled. "Ready to go?" Dinky shakily levitated her saddlebags I got her and put them on. "Nice job." "Thanks!" Dinky beamed at me. I opened the front door with my magic and we stepped outside. "So, what's your favorite part of school?" I asked as we trotted. "Lunch time, recess. Oh and going home," Dinky replied as she strained to keep up with my longer stride. I slowed down a bit to let her catch up. "No classes are you favorite?" She shrugged. "I guess history is okay. I despise math though," she tapped a hoof against her chin. "Math was invented by evil ponies." I had to agree with that, I disliked math when I was her age too. "I don't like math either. It's important unfortunately." "I guess. To bank ponies or businessponies." I gave a laugh. "Maybe you're right." A loud thundering sound shook me slightly and Dinky yelped. I looked around in confusion. Where on earth did that filly go? "Dinky? Where are you?" "Back here," a voice behind me came and I turned around. "Now I'm in front of you." What? I turned around again and didn't see her. "I'm behind you again." Sighing, I turned my head and looked back. Dinky was holding onto my back leg, shaking. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Thunder scares me." I levitated her onto my back and made a shield above us with my so we didn't get any wetter. "I personally enjoy the rain," I stated as I walked towards the school house. "It gets my mane and coat wet," Dinky grumbled. She shook her mane and rain water splattered onto my already soaked fur. "Thanks for the shower," I teased with a grin. "You're welcome." I pushed open the door to school and trotted to her classroom. "Hello Starlight," Cheerilee waved to me. "Hello, Cheerilee," I knelt down so Dinky could hop off. "Here's your stop, kiddo." She hopped off and hugged me eagerly. I was certainly starting to become a fan of hugs. "Have fun with your friends, learn a lot." She trotted off into the classroom and started mingling. "I'm sorry about taking you to the mountain," I apologized and Cheerilee sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's fine, for like the nineteenth time." "Okay, good." I opened my mouth to say something else and froze. "Learn something new, sugarcube," Applejack told her younger sister sternly. "You as well, Sweetie Belle," Rarity chided. The two froze as well and stared me in the eyes. Well shit. There's only one thing I could do now: run. I took a deep breath and bolted at them, jumping over the two. I was honestly amazed I made it. I don't normally get physical exercise often. Moving here changed that evidently. I glanced behind me and my eyes widened when I saw them chasing after me. There's no way in hell I can outrun Applejack, but I could at least outsmart her. I hope. She and Rarity could be some pretty sharp knives in the drawer when they wanted to be. "Stop!" Applejack shouted as I pushed the doors open and continued running. I ran right in front a pink filly with a tiara on for some reason and she barely stopped in time to avoid hitting me. "Sorry!" I called out as I continued running. I spared another quick glance behind me and my eyes widened even more if that's possible. Applejack was gaining on me and Rarity was slowing down. She didn't really get much physical exercise as Applejack did. Thank Celestia Rainbow wasn't here or I never would have made it out of the school. My only hope was I could outlast them. Rarity was an easy one, Applejack would be much harder. "Quit running, darnit!" Applejack shouted out to me and I gritted my teeth. This mare was stubborn as hell. Under no circumstances was I gonna stop. Why is it so bad that I want to sort my thoughts out by myself without them trying to influence my decisions? I grinned as I saw a wagon starting to block the road. I sped up and darted in front of the pink earth pony. I kept grinning triumphantly. There's no way they could get around that. Yeah, I never was more wrong. Applejack just straight up jumped over it and landed perfectly on her hooves. "Go away!" I shouted to her as I kept running. "No!" She shouted back and I groaned. I was trying my hardest to ignore the staring ponies as we galloped throughout town. I couldn't afford any distractions. Where was Rarity? I only saw Applejack. I glanced down a side street and saw Rarity galloping, glancing at me every so often. I hated how smart these two were. My hooves were really starting to hurt. I quickly crossed the bridge into Sweet Apple Acres orchards. Most ponies would think of that as a bad idea since Applejack knew the lay of the land better than I did. I had a plan of course, I never would have came here if I didn't. I found a decently sized tree and ran towards it, Applejack right behind me. Most ponies would have stopped but instead I sped up when I got closer. With a faint smile, I teleported right before I was gonna hit it and heard Applejack slam into the tree hard. "Bastard!" Applejack growled and I winced. It sounded really painful but they should just leave me be. I slowed down to catch my breath and a white blur tackled me. In my moment of victory, I entirely forgot about Rarity. We went tumbling as we rolled to a stop. "Get away!" I shouted as I shoved her off me. "Stop running! We just want to talk!" Rarity panted out. I took off running and she followed, barely keeping up. "Well, I'm not in the mood to talk to you!" I shot back. I rolled my eyes as Applejack started chasing after us. I needed to get them off my flank and quick. I was getting tired and it was evident Applejack was pissed about getting caught in the tree. I was honestly scared of what she would do if she caught me. That thought spurred me to run faster. I ran through some trees, weaving back and forth between them. I glanced behind me and noticed Applejack and Rarity doing the same. Perfect, everything going to plan. I slowed down a bit as I continued my weaving and heard the sound of two ponies slamming into one another. I dug my hooves into the soil and grinned when I saw Applejack and Rarity tied up with their tails and manes to each other, both wearing dazed expressions. "Ha! You can't outsmart me!" I panted. That whole chase exhausted me. Rarity glared at me. "You got my mane tied up with hers! We just wanted to talk, Starlight!" She growled and I rolled my eyes. "Stay away from me. I'm not in the mood to see any of you." "Can ya at least untie us, please?" Applejack asked and I snorted. "I'm not stupid. As soon as I do, you're gonna tackle me. Twilight or Rainbow will be here to help you soon I bet." I quickly teleported away and flopped onto the living room floor of Derpy's house, panting. The last thing I remember before I passed out was a young unicorn mare looking over me with a concerned expression written all over her face. I groaned and pressed a hoof to my head. I recognized the familiar feel of the spare bed that was in Derpy's spare room. I tried to sit up and felt a force field push me back down. "Sit," the same unicorn mare was in the chair in the corner of the room, staring at me. "You're exhausted." "Who are you?" I demanded and the mare rolled her eyes. "I'm Derpy's daughter. Amethyst Star. And you are?" "Uh, Starlight Glimmer. I didn't know Derpy had two daughters." Amethyst gave a chuckle at that. "I'm her adopted daughter, Dinky is her biological daughter. I'm here visiting because college just got out for the summer." "Ah. I'm staying here for a bit too while I uh sort my personal life out," I decided being vague was the best option. I'm sure her mom would tell her all about it later. "Ah, okay. I guess we're gonna be room buddies for a bit," Amethyst smiled at me. "I called the left side of the bed, and don't try to hook up with me. I'm fine with cuddling." I snorted at that. "I can safely assure you, getting laid is the last thing on my mind right now," I told the younger mare. I decided to have a little fun with her. "Not that you aren't cute or anything." She turned a bright shade of red and I gave her a smirk. "You're lucky I know you're joking, otherwise I'd have turned you into a stain on the sheets," she grumbled and hid her smile behind her hoof. "Not the first time a stain has been on these sheets I bet," I continued my teasing with a grin. She rolled her eyes. "You'll never know," she winked at me. I'm not gonna lie, the idea of not knowing made me not want to sleep in this bed. Maybe that was her master plan all along so she could have the bed to herself. I really should examine my opponent before opening my mouth. "What were you even doing that caused you to get so tired?" She asked. "Running away." "From?" She prodded and I sighed, looking her in the eyes. "My problems." She gave a sigh of her own. "You know, the harder you run from your problems, the harder they're gonna try to keep up?" Why is everypony in this house so wise? "I know," I admitted. "Then why do it?" She asked and I shrugged. "It's easier. I don't plan on running forever, just long enough to get my thoughts together." I didn't know if that was true or not, but it seemed appealing to keep running. Then again, I really didn't want to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life. "If you say so," Amethyst said. "As long you plan to confront them." "Aren't you younger than me?" I demanded. "I'm in my twenties so probably. I'd guess you're about thirty five." I made a strangled gasp at that and glared at her. "I'm twenty eight, for the record." "Oh," she said simply as she stood up. "Sorry." I got out of the bed and groaned, stretching. It felt good to stretch out my tired joints after running that much today. My hooves were still sore but that's not important. "Mom is downstairs, Dinky will be home soon." I sighed and trotted down the stairs. "Hey Derpy," I greeted with a smile and noticed Raindrops drinking tea with her. "Hey Raindrops." "Hey Starlight," they said in unison and giggled. "You okay?" Raindrops questioned me. "Heard you had a little sprint around town." I frowned at that. "You heard?" I asked softly. "We all heard," Derpy piped in. "Half the town saw it. It's the talk of the town." She gave me a concerned look. "You okay?" "Yeah. I completely forgot Dinky shared class with their sisters," I gave a drawn out sigh. "Me too," Derpy admitted. "Gotta admit, it was impressive to hear you outsmarted Applejack AND Rarity," Raindrops said with a grin. "Never thought that would happen to them." "I just had to get them so focused on me that they didn't pay attention to anything else. I wasn't really expecting Rarity to tackle me like that," I admitted. "That was a mistake." "We all make mistakes. Trust me, I know," Raindrops laughed. "From experience." "What do you mean?" I asked. "You know how Ponyville got chosen for tornado duty a few years back?" "Yeah, I've only heard that story from Rainbow a few thousand times," I rolled my eyes. It was true, once Rainbow Dash has a victory, she'll never shut up about it till her next one. "That sounds like her. Anyway, on the first try to form the tornado, the wind got too strong for me and I lost control. It pushed me back into the funnel of water along with Dizzy Twister. Most embarrassing thing I've ever done," Raindrops shivered. "At least you didn't brainwash a bunch of ponies into giving up their cutie mark, have Twilight and her friends come by, steal their cutie marks and then stage an insurrection against you. And then stalk said princess for a few months in a restaurant while she reconnected with her old friends and then use a spell to go back in time so she didn't meet her friends so none of them got their cutie marks and then be convinced by her to stop it," I countered. The room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. "What did we say about self depreciation?" Derpy pointed out. "Yeah. Like I said, everypony makes mistakes," Raindrops piped in. "And even though it indirectly affected us, we forgive you." "Thanks," I sighed. "It does directly affect you though." "How's that?" Amethyst asked. I didn't even know that mare had came downstairs to the table. She's a quiet one and you know what they about the quiet ones: watch out for them. "One of the alternative futures Twilight dragged me to had nothing. Everypony was dead except me her and Spike. I could have killed all of Equestria just to get revenge. That future made me change and accept her offer of friendship," I gave a bitter laugh. "Look where that friendship got me. With none of my alleged friends here because they cared more about Twilight meeting her idol." "We're your friends," Raindrops told me after a few moments of silence. I slightly jumped at that. I didn't even know we were friends to be honest. "We are?" I asked in a whisper. "Of course," Derpy agreed. "Why do you think I always stuck around the castle after delivering your mail? I wanted to be your friend." "And Dinky adores you," Raindrops added. "And if you hurt her, I get to hurt you," Amethyst piped in with a wicked grin. "Sparkler," Derpy said in a warning tone with a frown. I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "I thought your name was Amethyst?" I asked. "It is," she admitted. "Sparkler is my middle name. My mom and friends sometimes call me it. Mom mainly does it when I'm in trouble or getting close to it." "Not gonna lie, I only ever had two friends. Before you guys adopted me as a friend, I had one. Trixie," I grinned at the thought of my blue magical friend. "Trixie Lulamoon?" Raindrops asked in shock. I nodded. "Yeah. We got along because of our previous mistakes. Twilight hated us being friends," I grumbled. "She was very rude about it." "I remember Trixie," Raindrops mumbled. "I wasn't the nicest to her when she came back." I glared at her as I remembered something. "She told me that. You, Daisy, Bon Bon, Golden Harvest and Berry Punch ran her out of town. Berry and Golden Harvest vandalized her wagon if I remember correctly," I grumbled. "You're gonna apologize to her, by the way. All of you are." "Berry and Golden Harvest didn't vandalize her wagon," Raindrops admitted sheepishly. "Snips and Snails did it for some stupid reason. I already punished Snails for his involvement." "Okay. All you running her out of town hurt her feelings a lot. She tried to change and nopony gave her a chance," I mumbled. "Me and Shoeshine will apologize," Raindrops promised. "Good luck getting the rest to do it." "Wait, why did you punish Snails?" I asked suddenly. "Because he's my younger brother and I raised him better than to run around vandalizing other ponies belongings. No matter how upset I am or he is." "Have you always raised Snails?" I asked and she nodded. "Mom and Dad ran off to Celestia knows where so I got custody of him," Raindrops sighed, sipping her tea. "Thank Luna he didn't get up to the stuff I did his age, then the town would be burnt to the ground. We already got the CMC to worry about." I gave a subtle shiver at that. I heard all about how crazy destructive they used to be. "You guys are my friends too," I finally said. Derpy beamed at me and Raindrops patted my shoulder. Amethyst gave me a subtle nod. The door swung open and Dinky shot in the room, hugging Amethyst eagerly. "Amy!" She shouted and I grinned at how happy she was. Amethyst eagerly hugged her back. "Hey there Dinks!" She ruffled her mane and smiled. "Didja miss me?" "Yeppers peppers!" Dinky let go and clambered onto my lap. I stared in shock at her, I wasn't expecting that. I honestly didn't expect any of this when Derpy gave me a safe haven. I started stroking Dinky's mane and smiled at her. "How was school?" I asked. Dinky's face lit up. "It was really good! I drew you something, Starry!" She screwed her face up in concentration and levitated a paper out of her saddlebags. The paper shakily levitated to me and sat down on the table in front of me. I leaned over her head and my heart melted again for the second time in a few days. The drawing was of me and Dinky in a red heart. "I love it," I whispered as I wiped a tear away with a hoof. "I'm gonna frame it and cast a spell over it so it never gets destroyed." Dinky gave a gasp and twisted her head to look up at me with her adorable large eyes. "You really like it?" She asked in awe. I eagerly nodded. "Yeah. Nopony has ever given me anything as meaningful as this," I nuzzled her. She grinned and returned the gesture. I noticed Derpy beaming at us out of the corner of my and Amethyst giving me an approving smile. "It's bed time, everypony," Derpy announced. I glanced at the clock. Holy shit, I didn't realize it was that late. Time really does fly. I poked Dinky with a hoof and smiled when I realized she was asleep. Raindrops hopped off her chair and waved. "I'll see you all around. Nice hanging out with you again, Starlight." "See ya around, Rainy." She shut the door and I saw her flying off to her house. I levitated Dinky in the air and stepped off the chair. I carefully levitated her onto my back and started walking up to her room. I pushed the door open with my head and admired her room. Her small bed was covered with different stuffed animals Derpy had told me she won for her. I rested her on the bed and pulled the blanket over her. I shut the light off and strode to the door. "Sleep well, Dinky," I went to shut the door. "Can I sleep with you tonight?" She sleepily asked me and I jumped. I guess I wasn't as gentle as I wanted to be. "Sure." I trotted back to her bed and carefully squeezed myself next to her. It was a tight fit, but I could manage. She forced her way between my hooves and sighed contently, starting to snore. Cautiously, I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight." "What do you typically do on your days off?" I asked Derpy as we walked down the market, occasionally looking at stalls. She gave a shrug. "Typically I rest or clean up the house," she smiled at me. "But you've been doing the cleaning, so might as well get some more berries." I smiled at that. "Good reason as ant. It's nice to hang out with some pony new." Derpy frowned at me. "What about Trixie?" "She's out on her apology tour thing right now. Still. I typically go with her, but this time I had to stay behind to help save Stygian. Because remember, once a villain always a villian," I said in my best Starswirl impression and Derpy giggled. "He sounds non intelligent," she commented and I stared at her in shock. She usually never says a bad thing about anypony. "He isn't what I thought he would be," I admitted. "All the stories hyped him up so much and he's just a bitter old pony who's a jerk." "I don't know much about unicorns, but even I heard about him. Shame he isn't as nice as we thought, we have no room for bullies in Equestria," Derpy announced. "Agreed." Derpy stepped to a berry stall while hung back and watched the sky. I focused on a strange looking cloud. Weird, but this is Ponyville. Weird stuff happens here daily it seems. I shrugged it off and started walking alongside Derpy again. "It's the town derp," a voice from behind me said and I slowly faced them. I recognized the pair instantly from Rainbow's stories. "Hoops and Score," I growled. "What do you two want?" "Nothing," Hoops(or was it Score?) said. "Just here to annoy her." He pointed a hoof to Derpy and my blood started to boil. She was a very sweet mare and they were insulting her. I took a deep breath in and released it like Raindrops had taught me. Apparently it helped with her anger issues and she thought it would help me. I always found it dumb when ponies said, "just breath!" What dumb advice. Oh, you mean the thing I've been doing since I was born and that I can't stop because I'll die? Gee, thanks. That's like telling me to keep eating. Getting off track, I have some bullies to deal with. "I just don't know what went wrong," one said in a impression of Derpy that wasn't even close to how she actually sounded. That was my breaking point. I glared up at them. "What's your guys favorite plant?" I asked with a smirk. "Uh, a cactus. Why?" Idiot One asked. I decided it wasn't worth trying to figure out who was who. "Cool," I batted my eyelashes and them and shot them both with a beam. Two cactus' sat down next to me. "Don't be mean to my friend, she's a good pony." I turned to Derpy and flinched at her disapproving look. "Starlight, turn them back," she sighed. "Fine," I mumbled and quickly returned the two back to their normal state. They were curled up in a ball, shaking. We left them like that and I was satisfied because I knew they wouldn't bully Derpy again. "All I did was turn them into some plants. It could have been worse." We started trotting home and I could see it down the street. "Because it was wrong," Derpy chided. "They were bullying you!" I exclaimed in surprise. Derpy inhaled. "Yes, they were," she agreed. "The most important thing I've learned is to not care what other ponies think. I let it roll off my back because I know the hurtful things they can say aren't true. No pony defines me, I define myself." I never thought about that. I always did my best to get revenge on those I deemed rude to me. Maybe I could start living like Derpy and just not care what others think. That sounded pretty appealing to be honest. She opened the door, trotting in the house and I stepped inside. I paused and looked behind me. I had the feeling I was being watched. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I shrugged and shut the door. It's probably nothing. A pair of eyes poked out of a cloud. "Found you," Rainbow muttered. A loud knocking sound at the door made me freeze. Derpy peeped through the hole she had to see through it and froze herself. She glanced back at me nervously. "It's Rainbow Dash," she whispered and I teleported to the nearby closet, cracking it open a bit and pressing an eye to the opening. Derpy opened the door and allowed Rainbow inside. "How can I help you, Rainbow?" She asked innocently. Rainbow's eyes flicked around the room. "Where's Starlight?" She asked and Derpy maintained a neutral expression. "Not here," she replied firmly. I had to thank her for that one. "I saw you and her come in here earlier today and I didn't see her come out. Where is she?" I got mad at that. Can we not have peace for once? Derpy narrowed her eyes slightly. "You're spying on me now? I can get a restraining order, you know. She was here but isn't anymore. She's a unicorn, she can teleport." "Where did she go?" Rainbow demanded and I felt myself get a bit more angry. Who was she to talk to Derpy with that tone in her own home? Derpy glared at her and flared her wings out. I got slightly nervous at that. I didn't know much about pegasi, but I did know flared wings meant two things: anger and being turned on. Unless Derpy had a secret crush on Rainbow that I didn't know about, I was leaning towards the first option and she was getting mad. Which was scary, I've never seen her mad. "Rainbow, get out of my house now," she snapped. "I will not tolerate that tone directed to me in my own house." "Not without Starlight," she said adamantly. I was shocked when Amethyst put herself between Rainbow and her mom. "Mom said it's time for you to go," she growled with their noses pressing against each other. "So get the hell out." I jumped at that. Derpy hated cussing in her house. She even washed my mouth out with soap after I accidentally said fuck. Amethyst levitated Rainbow by her tail and tossed her outside, shutting the door and locking it. That must have been difficult, given Rainbow being her godmother even though she wasn't religious. "There's only option left, but it is in enemy territory. I'll be back soon, I won't let them bring anything sort of drama," I announced as I stepped out of the closet. "Stay safe," Derpy announced as she hugged me. "Hurry back soon, Dinky needs her aunt." I smiled at that. Dinky had adopted me as her aunt the other night and I was super honored. Sunset Shimmer sighed as she walked back and forth in front of the statue. She had gotten a message from Starlight asking to meet her. She was about go home when Starlight shot through the statue. Sunset jogged over to her and helped her up. "Hey Starlight," she grinned. "How's it going?" I accepted her hand and she pulled me up. "Been better. Can I spend the night for a bit? Need to get away from some drama?" Sunset's expression turned serious and she nodded. "You can sleep at my apartment, but Pinkie lives there too." I shrugged and started to follow her to her motorcycle. "I can't believe you, Rainbow!" Twilight fumed. "You insulted Derpy in her own home and now we are further from finding Starlight." Rainbow sunk into her chair. "I didn't mean to get rude with Derpy. It was an accident!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at Applejack and Rarity. "What about them? They got lead on a chase by Starlight the other day and lost her." "We didn't actually expect to find her darling," Rarity piped in. "It just happened." Applejack said nothing but nodded her agreement. "We just need to double our efforts," Twilight decided. "And not fight with each other. We all have the same goal, Fluttershy should be back soon. She decided to go to Starlight's old village before we knew she was still in town. We need to sit down and come up with a better plan that doesn't involve us acting alone. We need Starlight back, she's our friend. This is our mess and we will fix it." "What if she doesn't want anything to do with us?" Pinkie nervously asked. Twilight placed a hoof on her shoulder. "She wouldn't just up and abandon us," Twilight reassured the depressed looking mare. "Are you sure?" Pinkie asked softly. "We're a bunch of meanie pants." "I'm certain of it." Author's Note I know I said Starlight wouldn't do anything rash, but I really wanted a scene were Derpy taught her something so yeah.
