Five Hours Later,

Twilight’s Castle, Ponyville

When Twilight walked into Starlight’s upstairs room she noticed that her student had an unusual look on her face. Instead of her usual serious expression, she had a more relaxed demeanor, almost as if she was both in a state of physical and mental contentment about something.

“It’s probably nothing,” though Twilight to herself.

“Howdy there,” she said aloud to Starlight.

Starlight turned suddenly to her, her startled expression letting Twilight know that she had in fact interrupted some thought or daydream.

“I see that you’re back from Canterlot already. How was it?”

“It was rather impressive. Celestia gave a marvelous speech about the need for easy travel between Equestria and the human world and how human inventions such as the aeroplane would bring us together. Really a standard speech from Celestia.”

“If the pegasi can fly, why do we need airplanes?” asked Starlight, uncertain of whether or not that was a dumb question to ask.

“Well the humans can’t fly, silly,” said Twilight jokingly. “Besides, the human continents are too far away for the pegasi to fly towards without having a place to stop off.”

“Duh, I can’t believe that I didn’t think of that myself,” said Starlight, feeling rather thick for not having made the connection.

Continuing with her explanation, Twilight said, “Celestia hopes that this will result in massive amounts of human tourism and thus boost the economy, especially in places such as Canterlot and Manehattan. Additionally, it will allow us to train ponies in flying aircraft, thus enabling us to transport ponies around the world for business and tourism. You really should go to Britain sometime.”

Starlight discreetly rolled her eyes. For the past two years, Twilight had done nothing but go on and on about the greatness of Great Britain. They had even adopted the British custom of drinking tea everyday in the afternoon. While Starlight was happy that Twilight had found an interest that fascinated her, Twi’s Anglophilia was starting to get to annoy even her most loyal student.

“What about you?” asked Twilight, expecting her pupil to describe a relatively placid and event free day cooped up in the castle.

“Oh nothing much. I just teleported directly to the Crystal Empire and back,” said Starlight sarcastically.

“Wait- you mean to tell me that you can teleport all the way across Equestria.?! The only other pony I know that can do this is Celestia! Why didn’t you tell me about this,” said Twilight.

“Well i didn’t have a good excuse to explain why I was making secret rendezvous to our neighbor to the north,” said Starlight, teasing Twilight by withholding information.

“That’s a good question. Why were you going off to the Crystal Empire without first telling me?” asked Twilight.

Starlight was taken aback at Twilight’s harsh tone. She felt as though Twilight believed that Starlight was obligated to report all of her comings and goings. She almost as if Twilight didn’t trust her despite her years of good behavior.

Attempting to keep her anger in check, she said, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t realize that you viewed me as a child who had to be nannied.”

“You know that’s not true!” replied Twilight sternly.

“I don’t know Twilight. Is it?” said Starlight as she got off of her bed and stood face to face, nostril to nostril with Twilight.

Twilight was taken by surprise at the sudden dark turn this conversation had taken. “Starlight, I’m surprised at your-”

“What? My behavior. What’s the matter Twilight?! Are you not used to having me continuously worshipping you and saying ‘thank you for redeeming me Twilight’ or ‘I don’t know where I’d be without you?’”

Twilight, took a step back from Starlight. She could see the veins in her neck bulging in anger at her. “Starlight you know that’s not true.”

“Really then,” said Starlight, slowly advancing upon Twilight, her head lowered as she glared upwards at her alicorn mentor, her pose almost like a bull ready to charge.

“Explain to me this then, Twilight. How come, despite mastering countless magical skills, despite having completely reformed myself, despite working with you on several occasions to fend off monster attacks on Ponyville from the Evergreen Forest, you still view me as your student. Why can’t I assume greater responsibilities like helping you guys out on ‘Friendship Missions’ or performing other heroic tasks. Why am I still here, trotting in circles, doing nothing of meaning of value in Ponyville?”

“Look, Starlight please-”

“Don’t ‘Starlight please’ me, Twilight. I think I know the real reason that you don’t trust me is-”

“I trust you with my life!”

“DONT. INTERRUPT. ME.” replied Starlight, taking time to forcefully enunciate every word as she glared at Twilight.

“I think that the real reason that you don’t want me to assume greater responsibilities is that you’re afraid that I’ll outshine you! You’re afraid that your ‘moment in the sun’ as the Princess of Friendship will taken away if there were to be a new magical unicorn hero.”

“STARLIGHT! COULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP FOR A MOMENT!” yelled Twilight with such a volume as to get the angry Starlight to jump backwards out of fright.

“Do you want to know why me and Celestia haven’t given you any greater responsibility?” asked Twilight angrily.

Not giving Starlight time to answer, she continued, “The reason is very plain and simple. We don’t know what role to give you. We already have enough alicorn princesses at the moment, the Elements of Harmony can only be wielded by me and my five closest friends. We want to give you greater responsibilities, but we are uncertain about what role would maximize your powers.”

Continuing, she said, “One, you’re skilled at observation and persuading people to support your beliefs, as demonstrated by the sizeable population of ponies you were able to convert to your village in the past. However, any diplomatic assignment overseas would waste your magical potential. Two, We could have you tour the kingdom protecting against monster attacks, however, that wouldn’t be a radical change from what you’ve been doing over the past couple of years. Three, there are no other jobs or tasks here in Equestria that would allow us to employ your magical skills and your profound leadership skills.”

“Are you happy now that you’ve received an explanation about why you’re ‘stuck here doing nothing?’”

Starlight, could feel a burning sensation on her face. She realized that she was blushing.

Lowering her head in shame, she said, “I’m sorry Twilight. I just don’t know what got into me. I’ve just been frustrated that’s all. I want to make a difference in the world by helping ponies in the same way that you do. I was just a little jealous and resentful. Please forgive me Twilight.”

“I forgive you,” said Twilight. “I want you to know that I trust you and think you’re amazing. Someday you’ll do amazing things that I couldn’t hold a candle to.”

“Thanks Twilight,” said Starlight as she embraced her teacher and friend.

“If there is ever anything that is bothering you or that you want to talk about, let me know.”

Wiping a tear away from her eye. Starlight stepped back from Twilight. “Do you still want to know why I went to the Crystal Empire?”

“Only if you feel comfortable doing so,” replied Twilight, hoping to remind Starlight that she respected her privacy.

“I was visiting Sunburst, my-” she stuttered, “-my boyfriend.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in surprise. A smile crept across her face. Suddenly she sang out, “Sunburst and Starlight, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-”

“Oh knock it out, you!” said Starlight jokingly as she lightly punched Twilight in the shoulder.

The two friends giggled as they made their way downstairs to dinner, talked about cute boys. Despite their earlier argument, Starlight and Twilight still loved and cared for each other. Such was the power of friendship.

Author's Notes:

Double Updates in One Day! Yay!