Author's Notes: And here's yet another stupidly fast update! Almost 4 months since I started this fic, and we're finally 10 chapters in...sheesh, four months already?

Anyways, a few reviews I'd like to reply to. First, to "trigrbrony777", I didn't mean in my last author's notes that people were forgetting this story, merely that my little mention of taking requests for background ponies people would like to see in my fan fic seemed to have been forgotten, sorry about the miscommunication, but I know from all your wonderful reviews that this story is far from forgotten!

In "SilentPony"'s review, I know the community can be demanding at times. My response is as simple as this...I write this story in my style. Unfortunately, there's not much I can do to change that. If you don't like how my story's progressing, the only advice I can offer is to go and find something more to your tastes, because unlike Hasbro and the way they changed Derpy, I won't change my story on the whims of a few naysayers, especially with all the fantastic support I have recieved from the likes of not only SilentPony, but several others so far.

Furthermore, SilentPony's mention of the dark constellation pony in Hurricane Fluttershy (I think the fandom's calling him Star Hunter right now) reminding him of this story got a smile out of me. I may even find a way to get Star Hunter into the story into a somewhat significant capacity, thanks to that!

To everyone else who reviewed, a huge thank you as always. Once again, "DiamondGirl400" has not betaed this chapter, so any and all errors and goofs are entirely my fault. And keep an eye out as you read this chapter...there are no less than four background ponies from the show mentioned here. And I think more than a few of you are going to be pleased with the selection.

Anyways, enough babbling from me, go read! And enjoy!

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Chapter 10

The Public Eye

Starfall grimaced slightly as he wandered the streets of Canterlot, shrugging his midnight black cloak higher on his shoulders and resisting the urge to throw the hood up and obscure his face. Why he had not seen this coming, he had no idea. But now it had come, and he was just going to have to smile, and bear it as best he could.

It had been a week since Starfall had handed the scroll in to Princess Luna...a week that been spend going through the early stages of his studies, which had focused heavily on the planets, one of Starfall's most notable shortcomings. He had thrown himself into his first week of studies, determined to prove himself to the Princess of the Night. So far, the Princess had adopted the quiet approach, neither criticising, nor complimenting his work as of yet. It was clear that, while Starfall had worked to remove a lot of the Princess' dislike of him, she was still wary, and possibly a little put-off by his nature as a common pegasus. Starfall knew that royalty and high society tended to stay within their own circles, and Princess was more than a little uncomfortable socialising with a commoner like himself...as such, she mostly ignored him, focusing on the studying their time together was for.

No, Starfall had predicted Princess Luna's awkwardness and wariness...what he had not predicted was the attention his studies under her were bound to draw. Word had spread fast through Canterlot that a young pegasus pony was currently being taught by the Princess of the Night herself, just like Twilight Sparkle was a personal student of Princess Celestia. Once word spread of Starfall's appearance, then the stares started. Every time Starfall left Twilight's tower, be it to head to his studies, or just to wander around Canterlot and stock up on supplies, various ponies stared at him, whispering as he went.

Fortunately for Starfall's sanity, the majority of ponies in Canterlot were either unaware of his new status, or otherwise did not really care, for while the stares were frequent, he was ignored enough for him to get on with his life, which he was silently thankful for. He did not want to be treated like some big celebrity. He was doubly thankful for that today, since this was his day off, in which he needed to get some shopping done. He was running low on food and various other things back in the tower, and as such had to head to the little shopping strip in the area of Canterlot near the tower to stock up.

The stares continued to follow him even as he reached the small commercial hub on the outskirts of the city, heading into a small shopping mall and getting his bearings. He caught snippets of various whispers as he passed several ponies, including two lilac-coloured pegusi, who appeared to be twin sisters, save for the differing manes, both of which were done up in rather complex styles. As he passed them, he heard their none-too-quiet whispers.

"Hey, is that him?"

"Who?"

"Him, over there, in the dark cloak. Isn't that the pegasus Princess Luna's meant to be teaching or something?"

"Flitter, honestly, Princess Luna wouldn't teach anypony anything if she could help it. I saw him with Twilight Sparkle a week ago, when she was visiting Canterlot. He's probably her friend, and found some way to convince her to let him have an audience with the Princesses."

"And she agreed?"

"Probably owed him a huge favour or something. But you know how most stallions are, sis. Always trying to get cosy with the Princesses...he probably just likes the mystery of Luna more than the majesty of Celestia, that's all."

Starfall rolled his eyes as the conversation faded out of his hearing range, continuing on, even as the faintest blush formed on his cheeks. So the rumours now were that he had convinced Twilight to let him into the Princess' world, just so he could crush on Luna? Half of him wanted to run and hide in embarrassment, the other wanted to burst out laughing at the sheer stupidity of the rumour. Him...and the Princess of the Night? Seriously?

Allowing a quiet chuckle to himself, Starfall carried on with his wanderings, gathering up a few bits and pieces at various stores, before finally heading to the grocery store for some food and other essentials.

As he grabbed various things off the shelves, though, his mind went right back to the overheard conversation, and the rumour of him attempting to gain the affection of Princess Luna. His mind couldn't help but conjure up an image of himself and the Princess of the night, together in the study like normal, only they were both stargazing, sitting much closer to each other than proper social norms dictated, not that either pony was complaining...

Starfall quickly shook his head, tearing the daydream to pieces, and getting himself back in focus. She was the Princess of the Night, co-ruler of Equestria, and his mentor! She might look young, but she was over a thousand years old! And, of course, he wasn't even friends with her, and had no intention of pursuing anything more than friendship...if he could even get that much. He was lucky enough just to have the privilege of having met her in something other than an official capacity.

The thought once more banished from his mind, he quickly finished stocking up and made his way to the checkout. A sizable queue had already formed, but fortunately, as Starfall took his place, nopony paid him any attention, leaving him relieved. He did not want to have to deal with stares while waiting in queue for ten minutes.

As the next pony came into the queue behind him, he glanced back briefly, hoping this other pony had not recognised him, only to pause, doing a quick, subtle double-take. The pony appeared to be a normal pegasus at first glance, with a bluish-grey coat and blonde mane. What had caused Starfall to take a second look was her bright amber eyes, which Starfall had noticed were crossed, seeming to look in two directions at once.

Starfall had absolutely no idea how the young mare could see with her eyes like that, but figured it was some sort of condition the pegasus had, and turned back to the front, stubbornly resisting the urge to stare, or ask about it. He highly doubted she wanted to be pestered about her condition, even if he was sociable enough to actually want to talk to a strange pony.

His attention was drawn back once more, however, as yet another pony, a unicorn this time, came to the queue and, while the grey pegasus was distracted picking out some last minute treats, jumped in front of her. Starfall's expression turned sour as the cross-eyed pegasus turned back, realising what had happened, before simply giving a rather resigned look to herself and settling in behind the unicorn stallion.

"Excuse me," Starfall said, looking over at the black unicorn fully. "That young mare was in front of you," he pointed out, before pausing as he took a good look at the unicorn...who he recognised. "Wait...Cosmo?" he asked, stunned.

The unicorn also looked up, revealing steely grey eyes, that seemed to be a close match to his short mane and tail, which were a pale grey, streaked with faded blue. "Starfall?" the unicorn replied, though his surprised tone was also laced with a touch of loathing that Starfall did not fail to notice. "What in Equestria are you, of all pegusi, doing here?" he asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

Starfall frowned slightly, resisting the urge to step back, knowing he would bump into and probably upset the pony in front of him in the queue. Cosmo, as the stallion's name was, had been a foalhood friend of his. But the two of them had been through a rather unpleasant falling-out, leaving Starfall lamenting the loss of the pony who had been more or less his only friend until Twilight had come along. Cosmo, on the other hoof, seemed to have developed a lasting hatred of the yellow pegasus, though the details of Cosmo's reasoning pained Starfall too much to even think of.

"Nothing," Starfall replied to Cosmo's question, knowing where his former friend was heading with the conversation, and seeking to avoid it at all costs. "But you still pushed in front of her," he pointed out, attempting to get back to the real reason he had spoken up, noting that the cross-eyed mare was looking at him with no small amount of surprise. Probably not used to having anypony stand up for her, Starfall thought with bitter cynicism. "Just let her back in line where she was," he added, attempting to resolve this in a somewhat friendly manner.

Cosmo simply snorted in response. "She wasn't in the line when I got here," he snapped back, Starfall cringing both at his confrontational tone, and the fact that their argument was drawing looks from the others in the queue.

"She was, and you know that perfectly well, Cosmo. She was just reaching over to grab something from the shelves next to the queue. That did not mean she had left the queue, now let her back in."

Cosmo opened his mouth, his glare turning even nastier as he prepared to retort rather nastily, before another pony, a slightly older mare this, spoke up, from a few places in front of Starfall.

"The young pegasus is correct, sir," the Earth Pony said, sounding like she was part of Canterlot's upper-class, which Starfall knew for a fact she was, even if she was not terribly well-known. Her grey coat, along with a darker, charcoal-hued mane and tail, both of which were long, straight, and sleek, clearly well-tended, identified her as none other than the primary cello player in the Canterlot Grand Orchestra, known to most of the public simply as Octavia. Her treble clef cutie mark only served to throw away any doubts Starfall could possibly have.

Cosmo turned his glare on Octavia, pausing as he obviously recognised her as well, those faded purple eyes giving him a simple, silent message...everypony knew he was the bad guy here. Cosmo, however, did not seem too troubled. "Well, I stand by my story, and I'm not moving. Are you really going to make a big scene over this, and over her?" he asked, giving the cross-eyed pegasus a look that made her take half a step back, lowering her head sadly.

Octavia gave a derisive sniff in Cosmo's direction, but otherwise turned back forward and let the matter go, clearly thinking Cosmo was not worth making a scene over. Starfall tried to come up with some way of helping the poor mare, and just as he, too was about to give up and let the matter drop, he looked up again, smiling as he found the mare again. "Excuse me, miss," he called, making the grey mare look up at him...or at least Starfall thought she did, it was hard to tell with her strange eyes. He then gestured, taking a step back so there was a small gap in the queue. "Come on, hop in front of me, I don't mind," he said encouragingly, ignoring Cosmo gaping at him.

The pegasus looked at him strangely for a few moments, seeming to be slightly disbelieving of him. When he gestured to the gap in front of him again, though, she gave him a wide grin, hopping passed Cosmo to settle in front of Starfall, who noted the seven bubbles on her flank. He had no clue what that kind of cutie mark would represent, though.

As the pegasus mare took her new spot in the queue, she turned back and gave Starfall a bubbly smile. "Thanks, mister! You're really nice!" Her voice was rather deep for a filly, but had a loud, cheerful air to it, despite the slight slur to her words that only confirmed Starfall's suspicions that the mare probably suffered some mild mental affliction.

He gave her a small smile back. "It was nothing, really," he replied softly, once more trying to divert attention away from himself. Octavia seemed slightly impressed by the way he'd resolved the situation, sacrificing his own place in the queue and getting back at Cosmo in a way in which he could not retaliate against without causing a huge scene, while others in the queue seemed to be waiting to see what happened next...Starfall could tell Cosmo was absolutely furious, since he could feel the unicorn's eyes boring into the back of his mane.

The grey mare grinned once more, before speaking up again. "Not many ponies are very nice to me. My name's Derpy Hooves! What's your name?" she asked, still as cheery as ever.

Starfall gave her a slightly odd look at her excessively bright attitude, but eventually shrugged it off. "My name's Starfall," he said, trying to be as quiet as possible about it, remembering the stares he kept enduring.

"Starfall?" Derpy repeated, much more loudly than Starfall wanted, making the young stallion cringe. "You mean the same Starfall that Princess Luna's teaching about the stars?" she asked, sounding even more excited than before.

Starfall groaned as everypony turned to look at him, the stares and whispers starting up as they all finally recognised him. "Yeah..." he muttered reluctantly. "That's me."

Derpy giggled. "Awesome!" she cried, nearly knocking a sweet stand over as she hopped around excitedly, her eyes going even more crossed than usual in the process. "That must be so exciting! I mean, I sort of met Princess Luna last Nightmare Night, when she visited Ponyville, where I live, but I didn't get to actually talk to her!"

As it was, Derpy spent the rest of their wait in the queue talking excitedly to Starfall, and while Starfall could not understand the clumsy pegusi's cheerful nature in the face of her condition, he kept his patience with her, and by the time they parted ways as they left the mall, Starfall noted with a slight smile, and a hint of worry, that he seemed to have just made another friend.