Sweetie should have known it was too good to be true. She had been utterly confused when Silver had said all of those nice things about her, until they arrived back at their room. Silver had laughed that such small things actually impressed the mares at the meeting. When she was able to do more than say her father owned Petrichor they would all bow to her.

At least, that was how Sweetie took the last part, even if she hadn't said those actual words. She had thought that Silver had changed because Diamond Tiara wasn't around. No, Silver was as bad as Diamond Tiara. She wasn't just a sidekick who went along with whatever Diamond had said. This was obvious.

She had gone to bed, barely managing to tell Silver off. Silver had always grated on her nerves. Always standing behind Diamond Tiara, backing up whatever that mare had said. It had been like she couldn't think for herself. And now? She was talking about the people here as if they were beneath her. This was the capital city! Choosing not to say anything, and to check on switching dorms in the morning, Sweetie fell asleep without saying a word to the grey earth pony.

Of course Silver would be up at the break of dawn, singing in the shower. Sweetie pulled her pillow over her head, trying to block out the sound to no avail. She got to her hooves with a groan, using her magic to make her bed as she thought about banging on the bathroom door.

Just as she thought she might, the door opened. "Oh, Sweetie Belle, I didn't know you were awake?" Silver seemed genuinely surprised. "I wouldn't be, except father expects me to be at a meeting at eight."

"I wouldn't be either, if the walls were thicker. I think we should trade cutie marks next time you try your hoof at a capella." Sweetie had meant it as a joke. It was something she had told Scootaloo countless times.

Silver scowled, glancing at the black eight note surrounded by a rainbow-colored stave. Sweetie had received her cutie mark later than most ponies, at the age of twelve. Still, she had been before Apple Bloom, who had been the last in their class.

Not saying a word, Silver went on about getting ready, giving Sweetie time to use the bathroom. By the time Sweetie had finished her shower and other morning rituals and exited the bathroom, Silver had gone. Which was well enough. She wondered briefly if she should tell Silver she was applying for a room change, but decided against it.

It took her a few minutes to find the main office on campus, then to find the correct floor and room. The line was huge; there had to be at least two hundred ponies. And the office wasn't even open until nine am. Surely this many ponies couldn't have problems with their roommates. She turned to a black-coated Pegasus stallion nearby. "Is everyone trying to change dorms?"

He shook his head. "Na, some of it has to do with what is wrong with dorms, some with an overcrowded dorm, it's always crazy. My sister has three ponies assigned to a two pony room. You would think Canterlot University would be better than this."

Taking one last look at the line, Sweetie decided to come back later. Maybe tomorrow would be better, actually.

Now she had to figure out what to do with her day. Classes started tomorrow, so she could probably get her books now. She pulled her list out of her saddle bag, looking at what she would need. She was a music minor, of course, but Rarity had insisted she at least get her Associate's degree in something she could use should her aspiring music career fall short.

She had picked something that had made Twilight very happy; a magic teacher. Schools and wealthy families were always looking for a unicorn to help teach their children, especially families like the Cakes where neither parent was a unicorn. Twilight had helped her build up her magical power the last few years. In fact, she had already studied two of the books on her list. Twilight had them, and would surely let her borrow them for school, so there was no need to buy them.

The other she had never heard of before, so she was sure Twilight didn't have them. Though she could probably ask about the one for history-but it didn't feature Star Swirl the Bearded at all, so probably not. And the others were for her two music classes. The crowd in the bookstore was much smaller, causing Sweetie to sigh with relief. She found the three books she needed to purchase and waited in the line that nearly wrapped around the entire store. Still, it only had about fifty ponies in it, and moved much faster than the other line.

By the time she was finished, it was time for lunch. She still hadn't bought any groceries to keep in her dorm, since she planned on eating in the school's cafeteria more often than cooking for herself. She may have improved since foalhood, but the improvement only meant everything wasn't a blackened blob anymore.

She remembered a deli Rarity had taken her to once, and decided to go there. Sweetie took her newly bought books back to her dorm. She thought she heard something, but when she called out Silver's name, there wasn't a response, so she shrugged and left. She looked around for Karat, thinking the mare might like to hang out before classes began, but she didn’t see her anywhere. She looked around at all the buildings, noticing a couple of girls from the hall meeting were sight-seeing. This city was the capital of Equestiria and held so many amazing things. Sweetie had visited several already on her trips here with Rarity.

She thought back to when the Changelings had invaded, wondering what all the people out in the city had done. She had never thought about it before. She had been in the castle, cowering with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Rarity had ran off with her friends to find the Elements, but it had been no use.

It was terrifying. She shuttered, remembering how one had turned into her. Shaking the thoughts from her head, she concentrated on where she was going. She didn't know this city as well as Ponyville. The deli was close to the castle, she remembered. She just hadn't realized how far the castle actually was from the school.

After what seemed like an hour, but in truth was only fifteen minutes, she arrived at the deli. Simply called Daisy's, it reminded her a little of Ponyville. It was a nice restaurant, though. She was surprised when she saw Karat in line. She walked over to the Pegasus, hoping to join her.

"Hey Karat," she said with a smile.

Karat grinned. "Hi Sweetie. I didn't expect to see anyone I knew here," she exclaimed. "Would you like to join me? I was just about to order."

Sweetie nodded her head. They made it to the front of the line, ordered and received their food, and sat at one of the round tables. "Do you have your books and things yet?" Sweetie asked.

Having just taken a bite of her rose petal salad, Karat nodded. "Did you?" she asked around her food, reminding Sweetie of another Pegasus.

"Yes, I got them just before coming here, actually. I don't remember, what was your major?"

The conversation continued in such a fashion, the two mares simply getting to know each other. Sweetie had her back to the door, so when the entire shop suddenly became silent, she looked around. Standing there, dark blue hair floating around her head as always, was Princess Luna.

"Princess!" she grinned as she walked over to her. "I was hoping to see you soon."

Luna grinned. "It's good to see you, Sweetie Belle. Twilight says you'll be saying in Canterlot for school. Celestia has allowed me to teach Astronomy there, you simply must take it." The entire room was still silent, which Sweetie didn't miss. Of course, she was talking to Royalty. She had known Luna since she was a filly of ten, but these ponies didn't know that. And she hadn't even bowed.

Luna noticed Sweetie look around. "I hope you all are having a lovely day. I thought I would simply get some lunch." Slowly, everyone resumed talking, though still shooting looks at the Princess every few seconds. She leaned in closely, and said so that only Sweetie could hear, "I go out in public as much as possible, and yet they always react this way. At least they are acting like they want to give me space now."

Sweetie giggled. "I'm with a friend, if you would like to join us, Princess."

Luna agreed. "The fun shall be doubled," she said with a wink.  After Luna obtained a sandwich (which took a bit longer, because the owner of the deli didn't want to accept the Princess' bits) she sat with Sweetie Belle and Karat.

Karat, for her part, was very tense and didn't say much. She only really spoke when spoken to, and kept her gaze averted from Luna. "Oh, what is your major, Sweetie? Twilight didn't say."

Sweetie felt her cheeks redden. "Magic, actually. And teaching, I guess. I want to teach magic to young unicorns."

"I thought it would be something musical, what with the voice you have. I remember that Nightmare Night just after you received your cutie mark, you were singing constantly."

Sweetie's blush deepened. "Yes, I had just got it. It was my special talent, and I guess I was showing off."

"Until Rainbow Dash managed to scare you."

Sweeite buried her face in her hooves. "I know, I was such a foal. So embarrassing."

Just then, one of the guard who must have been stationed outside of the deli walked over to the Princess. He was about to say something when he saw Sweetie Belle. Their eyes met at the same time. "Sweetie Belle? Twi said you were in town, but I didn't imagine I'd already run into you." Shining Amour grinned.

"Who hasn't my sister and her friends told? I'm a grown mare," she sighed.

Shining ruffled Sweetie's hair. "Oh, you'll always be their little filly, you know. She said for me to keep an eye out, because Rarity is worried about you being in the big city on your own. Cadance and I were planning something more…subtle, but this works." He shruged, nodded to Karat, and then turned to Luna. "I'm sorry Princess, but Celestia sent me. She wanted to speak with you."

Luna sighed. "How am I ever going to get ponies to treat me normally when I am constantly being whisked away by the guard?" She smiled, though. "I suppose I'll see you on campus, Sweetie."

Sweetie said goodbye to the pair before they left.

Karat, for her part, was staring at Sweetie Belle as if she had grown an extra head. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked, wiping hurridly. That would have been mortifying, to have lunched with Luna and had something on her face. Rarity would never forgive her.

"You know the Princess that well? Silver wasn't lying? You said you weren't as cool as that." Karat didn't sound or look angry, but confused.

"Princess Luna comes to Ponyville every Nightmare Night since she was freed from Nightmare Moon. It's great, always scared the foals. Plus, free candy because they still give some to her statue. Luna's cool."

"And the Prince?"

"Prince? Oh, Shining Armor? That's just Twilight's brother. And she's one of my sister's best friends." Sweetie shrugged.

"I guess," Karat said. "Still, that is pretty amazing."

Karat relaxed after a few moments, though, and soon the two mares picked up normal conversation. They walked back to campus together, the trip seeming much shorter to Sweetie now that she had a friend to talk too.

Karat agreed they should hang out again the next day, and Sweetie Belle walked into her dorm. She stood, frozen, at the sound that was coming out of the bathroom, over the sound of water from the shower.

Silver Spoon was crying.

Next Chapter: III: Jealous Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 56 Minutes