Author's Notes: Okay, another chapter. And may I add that when I started this chapter, I didn't have big plans for it...just a quick filler to move the plot on. Instead, it has grown out, literally as I typed it up, and become one of my personal favourite chapters, and a chapter that has some critical character development, so readers may want to pay close attention here.

Also, just this morning (April 22nd, 2012 Australian time), I watched the 2-part Season Finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Season 2. Now, I won't spoil it for those who have yet to watch it, since it was aired less than 24 hours ago, but to those who have yet to see it...you will not be disappointed! The reason I'm mentioning this is because I do plan on taking a few things from that episode and incorporating them into my story to an extent. I will not say what things or how they will be used, but keep your eyes open, because they will be there.

Anyways, review answering time! "VirusChris": nice find catching those missing words. That, unfortunately, is a very bad habit of mine, and one I'm afraid is very difficult for me to check for, since when reading my own work, my mind completes the sentence even as I'm reading it, meaning I need to be paying very, very close attention to have even a chance of finding such errors, and even then, I can miss. I'll try to watch out for them, though! And on a further note, some of your ideas for how Starfall meets and interacts with the Mane 6 are very interesting. I may borrow a couple of those ideas when the times comes for Starfall to visit Ponyville, and yes, I will give you credit.

"sarkon": I answer reviews in my author's notes so that everyone can see my answers to certain questions, and my responses when people point out certain errors. I keeps everything out in the open, and stops people repeatedly leaving reviews about the same thing, forcing me to send a PM to each and every one with the same answer. It's the lazy way of doing things, but I think it works better anyway.

"bringonthespam": Don't you worry, Starfall and Cosmo's past will be explained, though probably not until late in the story, though I should be leaving more clues for you to spot.

"BlindTeller": Thanks for the constructive criticism, but I'm afraid you're going to be complaining about excessive comma usage endlessly if you keep reading this story. That is part of my writing style...I write stories as if I was a "narrator" of sorts, and as such, will use commas to mark a point said narrator would likely pause...either for breath, or dramatic effect. As such, comma usage is going to be fairly high. Since it's a core part of my writing style, and one that seems to work well, I have no intention of changing it, and even if I did, it would mean changing a core part of my writing style, which could take months, if not years...and I doubt readers are willing to wait that long to see this story continued over the usage of a few commas. As for the missing words in sentences, that has already been pointed out, and I do endeavour to keep mistakes like that to a minimum, and to weed out the ones I do make. Thank you for pointing those out, though.

On a final note, "DiamondGirl400" was not available to beta this chapter, but I still want to give her a huge thanks for all the work she's put in so far in this story. Fair warning, though, this chapter contains a large amount of Shakespearean speech courtesy of Princess Luna. DiamondGirl has been critical in making sure I'm using the older speech style correctly, and can only hope that, without her help, I have done a moderately good job on my own.

But enough of that, read on, and enjoy!

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Chapter 14

Role Reversal

That evening saw Starfall approaching Princess Luna's study with more nerves than he had ever had since he had first become her student. Not only was he still fighting to contain his new-found crush on the Princess, but now he was also going to have to ask her to, despite all her wishes to the contrary, let him be the teacher while she became the student, albeit studying modern society instead of astronomy.

But it was not the subject that was the sticking point; it was Luna's reluctance. Not only was she obviously uncomfortable letting a simpleton like Starfall teach her, a Princess, but Starfall also knew that part of the Princess of the Night simply did not want to adjust. She was too set in her old ways, too familiar and comfortable with the traditions and niceties she knew so well from a thousand years ago. To put it simply, Princess Luna just did not want to change for a society that had, so far, been seriously reluctant in accepting her.

A part of Starfall really could not blame the Princess' reluctance. Modern society had not left the best first impression on her. He, like everypony else, had grown up with the tale of the Mare in the Moon, and his stargazing as a colt had given him plenty of time to look to shadowy image of a Mare's head and neck on the moon. When the word got out that Nightmare Moon had escaped from her thousand-year exile, but had been promptly defeated, the evil powers within her banished and returning her to the young Princess of the Night ponies from a thousand years ago remembered, most ponies across Equestria were wary and scared of Luna, believing she might still carry the dark powers she had been exiled for.

Starfall, as it turned out, was one of a rare few that had been willing to give her a fighting chance. And the more he had heard about her, the less wary he became of her dark alter-ego. She could be moody and judgemental at times, but Starfall knew that, after a thousand years in exile, she was going to have some issues adjusting...issues which were not being helped by the fact that a vast majority of ponies either fled or cowered in terror at the very sight of her, reminded too heavily of Nightmare Moon.

And now, here he was, as a student of Luna's, having developed a rapid, but no less strong, crush on the Princess of the Night, trying to find things to tell her that might help convince her to allow him to teach her about modern society. But by the time Starfall reached the door to Luna's study, he realised one, simple...he was just going to have to wing it, and pray the Princess of the Night's friendship with him would be enough to have her listen to him.

He gave his usual, customary knock on the door, but the Princess' reply was far from her usual greeting. "The door is open, and always will be open for thee, Starfall," she called, Starfall pausing momentarily at the faint, but still noticeable edge of irritation to it. She was in a bad mood, and Starfall was fairly certain he knew the reason why.

"Good evening, Luna," he called back, trying to remain friendly, even if the nerves regarding both his crush and what he had to ask of her tonight were simultaneously working to render him into a shaking pile of mush. He managed to keep himself steady, though, giving his wings a nervous slick under the pretence of shuffling them to a more comfortable position, before entering the study fully, shutting the door behind him.

For several moments, there was an awkward, almost tense silence, as Starfall tried to muster up both the courage and the words to express what he needed to, while Princess Luna was giving him a pointed stare, clearly aware of what he was about to bring up, and waiting to see if he would.

Eventually, Starfall could not bear the silence any longer, and finally decided there was no point in trying to put this off. "Uhh, Luna? Princess Celestia came to see me earlier today and, well..."

Luna cut Starfall off before he could continue. "We are aware of this, Starfall. We suspected that our dear Sister had spoken to thee about what we freely admit we have been putting off," there was no trace of guilt or sheepishness in her tone, the Princess clearly did not care that she had been putting off her lessons on modern society, giving strength to Starfall's theory that the Princess was highly reluctant to adjust.

Starfall nodded, but forced himself to press on. "I don't want to keep putting this off, Luna. I understand that you don't like it, but..." Once again, Starfall was cut off, this time by Luna's derisive snort, no words used, nor needed. Starfall knew what had caused the snort...the fact that he had just stated the blatantly obvious.

"Look, Princess," he continued, reverting back to speaking to her a little more formally. "Why don't we just give it a try? See how this lesson goes? You might like what you learn," he added, in a falsely optimistic tone, coming from his mouth...Starfall and optimism really just did not go together.

Princess Luna still looked as sour as ever though, and the sharp edge to her following words confirmed that her mood was not improving in the slightest. "Our Sister said much the same as you, Starfall. That we might enjoy these lessons, that we might like what this new world we've been thrust into has to offer."

Starfall could detect the disbelief and sarcasm in her voice, and knew he was treading on a very soft cloud here...if he was not careful with what he said next, it could all come crumbling down from under his hooves. "Please, Luna...can you at least explain why this bothers you?" he asked, his tone almost half-pleading with her. "If I know why the thought of these lessons upsets you so much, maybe I could help, somehow?" Starfall had to contain his cringe to within his own mind, aware that he was once more wandering into dangerous waters, this time regarding how much of his own care and feelings for Luna he actually showed.

For once, though, the Princess' foul mood seemed to work in Starfall's favour, meaning she was a bit too preoccupied to worry about the subtleties of Starfall's words and tones. "You wouldst not understand, Starfall..." she quipped back.

Starfall's response was immediate, said almost without thinking, and one he half regretted an instant later. "Try me." It was not meant to sound like a challenge, but as Starfall caught himself, he realised that Luna's unwillingness to open up to him was starting to affect his own mood negatively. He tried to at least soften the harshness of the words, though. "You never know, Luna...maybe I will understand," he added, his tone much more gentle, trying to coax her into sharing what it was that had her so worked up.

For a long time, the Princess was silent, and though she seemed displeased with the way was not letting the matter go without a fight, it was obvious she was considering telling Starfall what had her so troubled.

Eventually, Starfall saw Luna's face fall, knowing she had given in. "Fine...we will tell thee. But we still do not expect you to ever understand," she added, possibly a little more harshly than she had really intended, but Starfall ignored that possibility and just nodded silently, as a sign that she was free to continue, and that he would listen.

After a pause, in which the Princess was obviously hoping Starfall would change his mind and let the matter drop, she finally sighed, and spoke her mind. "It is a matter of why, Starfall," she began, the yellow pegasus resisting the clear temptation to interrupt and ask her to clarify, simply waiting for her to continue as patiently as he could. "Why should we learn this? Why should we, after everything we have already been through, be forced to change, just to suit this new world? What if we are happy with our old ways, and want to remain as we are?" As she posed these question, she gave Starfall another glare, clearly daring him to laugh at her, or else blink in misunderstanding and confusion.

But Starfall did neither of these, and shocked the Princess by showing a look of dark comprehension, though he missed the Princess' stunned expression, too lost in his own thoughts, his own dark past, for a brief moment.

"That's what you're worried about?" he asked, though his tone was hushed, and in no way mocking. He actually sounded mildly guilty, inwardly kicking himself for not thinking of this possibility. He, like everypony else, was so focused on the concept of teaching Luna, that he had not thought of the possibility that Luna may perceive this as an attempt by them to change her into something more normal...which was the last thing on Starfall's mind.

Princess Luna responded before Starfall could say more. "We get the feeling thou speaks as if this is not thy first experience with this," she said slowly, making Starfall openly cringe. He really wanted to keep this part of his past dead and buried, long forgotten...as it should be.

Eventually, realising that changing the subject was not going to impress or fool the Princess of the Night, Starfall nodded. "I've more than just seen it before, Luna...I've been through it," he said darkly. "Some ponies I once knew wanted me to change, to become somepony other than who I am, because they did not like the Starfall they knew."

To say Princess Luna had not been expecting this response was an understatement, but despite her shock, she appeared to understand that she was bringing up some painful memories for her student, as her response was directed to him in a gentle tone Starfall was sure he had never heard from the Princess before. "And what was thy response to this?" she asked, her obvious attempt to be sensitive ruined slightly by her inability to contain her curiosity, though Starfall guessed she was probably hoping his handling of the situation would tell her how she should cope with her own predicament.

This time, Starfall could not bring himself to meet Princess Luna's gaze...he did not want to talk about this. Not now, and not ever again, for as long as he lived. "I severed all ties with them, left them behind to be with ponies who accepted me for who I was," he replied, a heavy note of sadness in his voice that was impossible to miss.

Not wanting Luna to pry further, though, he got the conversation back onto the important topic, forcing his voice back to a level, almost emotionless tone. "Anyway, the point is, Luna, is that nopony here is trying to change you. We don't want you to change to fit into the modern world...that's the last thing I want, trust me," he added, the conviction in his voice possibly a little too prominent.

He pressed on, anyway. "The point of these lessons, Luna, is not for you to conform to society, but simply to understand it. Laws, traditions and customs have changed a lot in the last thousand years, and we want you to know and understand these changes, so that while you may choose to use certain social customs, you can stay true to who you are, without accidentally breaking a law you didn't know about before. Does that make sense?" he finally asked.

For a long time, the Princess was once again silent, leaving Starfall wondering if perhaps he'd overdone his impromptu speech a little, and revealed more of his feelings than he's intended. He was starting to make it increasingly obvious that he cared about Luna's feelings...but would she extent that care into something romantic? Or simply assume that his care for her was strictly platonic, as he fervently hoped.

"We believe we understand now, Starfall. The purpose of these lessons is to educate us, not change us," the Princess replied, Starfall nodding, both to show she was on the right track, and to hide his relief. Luna responded with a heavy sigh, though she sounded relieved as well. "Thou hast no wishes of changing us to fit within your society?"

Starfall paused, once again realising he was being put in a highly precarious position, here. But knowing any hesitation would be taken to mean he was lying, he spoke the first thing that came to mind. "Luna, are we friends?" he asked in turn, getting a small, but definite nod from her. "Then I befriended you, Luna, just as you are now. I would never wish for you to change...why would I want you to change when the pony you are now was the one I befriended?"

Starfall really hoped this conversation would end, and fast, as he could feel his cheeks burning up beneath his coat, and was starting to worry that if he was forced to make more heart-felt comments like that one, he would start visibly blushing, which would almost certainly clue Princess Luna into the fact that his feelings for her extended some way beyond friendship right now.

The Princess of the Night actually seemed to duck her head marginally at his words, and actually smiled at him, looking like an entirely different pony for a brief moment, compared to her usually serious, aloof self. This was the pony hidden underneath, the kind, lonely alicorn Starfall knew was there, and wanted to see more of. "We...we thank thee for thy kind words, Starfall," she said softly, sounding almost shy, in a strange way.

Starfall decided to get them back on track. "So will you let me teach you, Luna? You can still go ahead with your lesson tonight, if you want, but..."

"No, Starfall," Luna quickly interrupted. "Thou hast done well in thy studies. We believe thy progress is enough that we can delay this lesson until tomorrow. We have put this off for too long, because of a fear of something that did not exist. If thy plan for our first lesson is complete, then we will let thou begin."

Starfall nodded. "I have an idea of where I want to start," he said, before heading towards the bookshelves Luna's study contained, quickly searching for the ones he would need to begin teaching the Princess of the Night how the modern world worked...and hopefully show her that even as she was, there was a place for her in this new world.