//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Apostle 
// by EquestrianKnight97 
//------------------------------//

Starlight Glimmer's right front hoof tapped on the surface of the wooden table in a consistent, steady manner, while her blue eyes turned to look at the clock on the far side of the dining room. It had been roughly three hours since the lavender unicorn had seen Princess Twilight Sparkle, who had retreated to her studies in the castle to grade the short essays that Starlight had given to her this morning, and the feeling of loneliness was beginning to wear down on the mare, who was already nervous about seeing her new mentor. The elegant architecture of the dining room, with its crystal walls, painted windows, and marble columns, did nothing to ease the knot in her stomach. 

The assignment Twilight had given to Starlight three days ago was not as time-consuming as she initially thought it would be -- taking only two days to complete -- but the fear of negative feedback floated in her mind. It had been less than two weeks since she has lived in Ponyville, having been accepted as the alicorn's pupil and residing in the castle with her and her dragon assistant, but already Starlight was beginning to see a future where the expectations placed on her would be proven faulty in the end. But before more negative thoughts entered, the sharp pitch of a door opening broke Starlight out of her episode and drew her neck to turn to the other side of the room behind her. 

Entering the dining room was Spike, who carried with him a plate stacked with pancakes covered in syrup and frosting as he whistled a cheery tune to himself. The small purple dragon made his way to the right side of the dining table just adjacent from Starlight's position and took his spot at one of the cushioned seats.

"Good morning, Starlight," Spike greeted. 

Despite her racked nerves, Starlight was polite enough to respond. "Hello, Spike. Technically, it's afternoon right now, not morning."

"Huh?" The confused dragon looked up at the clock. "Oh, you're right! Well, anyway, I hope your day's going well."

Starlight chuckled through a forced smile. "Well, it's still too soon to say for certain, but let's both hope so. But why are you eating pancakes so late?"

Spike took his fork and knife off the plate and began to cut wedges from out of his stack. "Well, I went to sleep late last night -- being too busy reading the latest issue of The Horseshoe Academy. But I figured that just because I missed morning it doesn't mean I have to miss out on breakfast, either." He stuck the fork in his mouth, chewed up the pancake bites, and gave a satisfied gulp. "Besides, it's been a while since I've made myself pancakes."

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the room, opposite from the door Spike came through, opened up with a stack of paper floating out, surrounded by a purple aura. Following behind the floating papers was Twilight, who, upon spotting Starlight and Spike at the table ahead, smiled at them both.

"Good afternoon, Spike," the purple alicorn said. "I was wondering when you would get out of bed."

The purple dragon, whose cheeks were stuffed, placed his eating on hold in order to give a wave to the princess, who sat down at the end of the table opposite from Starlight. Upon sitting down, Twilight levitated a pair of reading spectacles out of her mane and placed them to the bridge of her snout. She then separated the stack into smaller sections of paper, and began to float one section into her vision after another, flipping through the pages to examine its contents. 

The speed of Starlight's tapping hoof ran at a much faster pace as she watched Twilight from a far. As the seconds ticked away, the lavender unicorn began to hint signs of losing her composure, as she bit her bottom lip and started to rock back and forth in her seat. Eventually, her attention was brought to two, thin stacks of paper that were levitated to her side of the table. When Starlight looked down at them, both had red ink markings in the both the margins and around the original black writings. 

Starlight then stared at Twilight, who had a calm, yet serious, look on her face.

"Okay then," Twilight announced. "I just finished grading the two essays I told you to write, and I must say ... you still have a bit of work that you need to improve on."

"Well," Starlight said, trying her best not to sound scared, "can I ask what I did wrong?"

"Of course. I just need you to look at the papers on your left."

In a light blue aura, Starlight brought the stack of papers closer to her seat, with Twilight herself staring down at one of the sections she had divided. When she saw that her student was situated, Twilight began to speak.

"The topic of this essay focuses on the situation involving Garden Beauty, Sally Sweetlocks, and the isolated town of Palmy Oasis. As Garden Beauty, everypony in the town depends on you help ensure that the crops they rely can adapt to the bad soil and temperature of the land. When you aren't busy with that, you use your free time to grow beautiful flowers that you one day plan to display to your neighbors.

"One day, a gifted unicorn named Sally Sweetlocks comes to town, and begins to use her magic to take care of the town's numerous problems. Though ponies in Palmy Oasis are initially grateful for her help, they soon become annoyed with her when she begins to brag about her skills, puts down others for not being as great as her, and makes outrageous demands in order to keep her around and make the town safe, even though doing so takes a huge chunk out of the town's budget."

Twilight lifted her eyes towards Starlight. "You're still following me?"

"Yes," Starlight answered. 

"You, as Palmy Oasis, begin to fear that if you improve on your magic and become more showy about, that you'll eventually end up just like Sally and begin to see yourself as better than other ponies, since both of you are just as good at magic. But, if you choose to neglect your magical training, the crops that Palmy Oasis relies on will become vulnerable to the harmful elements of the environment, and the town as a result may face a food shortage. How do you respond?"

Twilight places the paper down and looks at Starlight, who realized that it was a cue for her to begin the discussion.

"I'm assuming the part that I got wrong was how I decided to handle the situation?"

The purple alicorn flipped through a few pages. 

"Yes," Twilight replied. "The problems are really present between pages 3 and 5 of your essay, if you could turn to around there. While I appreciate you listing all the problems that come with being arrogant and having a superiority complex, the issue doesn't have to be solved by completely giving up your special talent forever."

"But it might be only a matter of time before Garden Beauty begins to see herself as better than everypony, especially once she realizes that Palmy Oasis can't keep its food without her magic. That has to be a bit of an ego booster." 

Twilight flipped to another page. "That is true. But all Garden Beauty would need to do is simply keep her pride in check and remember how her talent doesn't devalue the talent of other ponies, especially if they could do things better than her. Then there's also the problem with how you want the ponies of Palmy Oasis to solve their food shortage problem after you gave up on magic."

"Are you sure?" Starlight asked. "I mean think it seems reasonable for Garden Beauty to ask the town to put all their effort into collecting enough money and material to trade with nearby towns for food and better soil. It's even better considering that she would persuade them rather than brainwash them -- unlike how a certain pony used to do."

"Though I think it's good think that you would want Garden Beauty to encourage the town to work together to solve the food problem, the problem would be better solved if you simply continued to use your magic to keep the crops growing -- without being boastful about it. After all, you have to remember that town spent a lot of money to keep Sally Sweetlocks from leaving."

Starlight's ears dropped. "Oh," she said. "I didn't think about it like that." Despite being let down by her answer, a hopeful smile appeared on Starlight's face. "But I at least get credit for not wanting to enslave the townsponies, right?"

"You do," Twilight answered, before floating a different stack of papers in front of her. "But your decision to forsake your special talent and convince the town to work harder at solving their problem doesn't align with the moral that I wanted you to learn -- that you can be proud of your skill without being in everypony's face about it, and that you don't need to let go of something you're proud of in order to have a humble spirit. As you can see on the last page, your choices as Garden Beauty have, sadly, earned you a B- ."

"B- ?" Starlight said. Turning to the last page, the lavender unicorn indeed saw a red B- underneath the last paragraph of her essay, along with a short note describing the overall character of her arguments. She flipped back and forth through the other pages of her essay, catching as many red notes as she thought were important to memorize. Once she was done, she looked across the table at Twilight, who retained her stoic composure as she continued reading. Spike, on the other hand, was nearly done with his breakfast, seeming to have paid little to no attention to the conversation in front of him.

Feeling the need to break the awkward silence, Starlight spoke.

"Well, I'm pretty sure a B- is a good start for my first essay," she said with a smile. When Twilight heard that, the purple alicorn placed down the paper and stared at Starlight with a raised eyebrow that weakened her recently established confidence. 

"If you would pay attention to the paper on your right," Twilight said, "we can begin to discuss your work on your second essay."

Reluctantly, Starlight floated the paper in front of her, placing the previous one further away. Opening the essay, Starlight skimmed through the pages, her eyes catches an abundance or red writing that seemed to be absent in the last essay. What was worse was the grade that she found on the last page, which unsettled her stomach. 

"In this essay," Twilight began, "you are a unicorn filly named Dilly Dally. You are one of the few students at your school who has not yet earned their cutiemark, due to you having a hard time finding a talent that you are good at. As a result, you are bullied for being a blank flank, are seen as a pony who will never accomplish anything in life, and have no friends that you are aware of. What is the best solution that you can think of in order to deal with the problems mentioned in the previous sentence?."

Twilight looked at Starlight again after her speech, and though the distance between them was large, the lavender unicorn was certain that her mentor could begin to see her nervous disposition, even though her blue eyes were doing their best to avoid contact with the princess. 

Starlight chuckled, "I'm assuming that you don't like how I dealt with that situation either."

Twilight nodded. "You are absolutely right about that. Now while I believe that bullying is a thing that should not be tolerated in any way, it is definitely not right to use a spell that gives your classmates nightmares about being bullied themselves for having no cutiemarks."

"Well, I felt like those fillies and colts teasing Dilly could have learned a really valuable lesson in humility if they understood the torment that she went through. Those nightmares weren't going to be bloody and gory -- just a bit haunting."

Twilight sighed, and Spike, who was at this point finished with his pancakes, was left unimpressed. 

"Geez, Starlight," the dragon commented. "That's a bit too much."

Defensively, Starlight placed a hoof on her chest. "Well, it's not like I planned on using magic to brainwash the bullies into leaving me alone. That would obviously get me in trouble. By giving them those bad dreams, it wouldn't lead back to me, and in the end of the day they might think twice about believing that their cutiemarks makes them better than those who don't have them."

"Once again, I appreciate you for seeing how wrong controlling ponies is," Twilight said. "But in the end of the day, it's immoral to use fear to solve your problems with ponies. The best solution to your problem would have been to: #1, ignore the taunts and approach an adult about those issues; #2, continue to try different activities until you get your cutiemark; and #3, attempt to find friends in or out of the school that won't judge you based on your lack of a cutiemark."

"And that's the reason for why I got a C- for that essay, isn't it?" Starlight asked timidly, her voice no longer holding an sense of self-assurance.

"Yes, that is."

Rising from his seat, Spike took his messy plate off the table and walked towards Twilight as she placed the separate stacks of paper back into one collection and took off her glasses. 

"Hey, Twilight," Spike said. "I'm going to visit Big Mac and Bulk Biceps at the Hay Burger in a few minutes to talk about the latest hoofball game." 

"All right, Spike," Twilight said with a smile. "Just remember to be back before it gets dark."

"Sure will." As the dragon walked back towards the door he had entered a few moments caught, he approached Starlight at the other end of the table. The gloomy lavender unicorn turned her drooped head around when she noticed his presence. 

"Cheer up, Starlight," Spike said with an encouraging grin. "It's your first assignment, so it just makes since that most of your mistakes show up this early. But I'm sure you'll do better next time."

Starlight feigned a smile. "Thanks, Spike," she said. "I'll be sure to remember that."

Starlight watched the little dragon waddle across the room until the door closed. Once she realized that Twilight and her were the only ponies left, Starlight's demeanor returned to that of an embarrassed and discouraged mare. Even when Twilight got up out of her seat and approached her, she felt little need to put on another forced smile.

"I'm not angry at you, Starlight," Twilight said. "What Spike said is right. This is just one of many tests that you'll be going through in order to become a better pony than who you once were. As you keep going through these challenges, you'll eventually leave behind some of the flaws you carry with you with now. It just takes time."

"I believe you mean well, Twilight," Starlight said. "But are you sure I'm worth it? With all the damage I did to those ponies, and the incident two weeks ago, don't you think it would have been better if you had Celestia and Luna just put me in Tartarus? Or in a very, very dark dungeon deep underground?"

Twilight took Spike's former seat and placed her front hoof on her pupil's. "Starlight, it's apparent that the things you did in the past were based on how Sunburst's departure molded your previous perception on cutiemarks and friendship. As the Princess of Friendship, I have a duty to make sure that I can change you into a pony who understands the true way of creating harmony with those around you -- especially with you having shown regret over what you've done."

When the lack of change on Starlight's face became apparent to her, Twilight took her own hoof and tapped it underneath her chin until a metaphorical lightbulb popped up above her head. "And considering that your essays didn't include forcing ponies to do your bidding, I can say you've already made a great start in progressing yourself!"

A faint rosy blush on Starlight's cheek, accompanied with a small smile, were enough hints for Twilight to see that her pep talk had worked. 

"I guess I should see that as a bit of a small victory," Starlight admitted, her mood already showing signs of improvement.

Twilight gave her a friendly nudge with her elbow. "That's the spirit! But how about for now we focus on something else?"

"Like what?"

"Well, in a few days Ponyville is holding it's annual Foal and Filly Fair. This year, Ms. Cheerilee of the schoolhouse is heading a music and art show contest for all the young ponies in town, and I and a few others have volunteered to help out. And now with you here, I see this as a good opportunity for you to have positive interactions with other ponies. I'm sure the fillies and colts could use your help."

"Really?" Starlight asked, sounding unsure about the news. "I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean, for all I know I could back into a domineering pony once again. Maybe these private lessons are just what I need."

"Starlight, please," Twilight exclaimed lightly, sounding to be near exhaustion. "You're showing improvement, and so you need to form connections with ponies other than Spike and I. The first essay was about how you can retain a humble spirit without letting your talent cause you to be arrogant, and what the second essay was meant to teach you was that you don't have to feel bad about yourself just because others have it better than you. By going to this contest, you'll be helping ponies build up their skills and interests -- the complete opposite of what you were doing before."

"And this will help me become a better friend?"

The purple alicorn nodded. "Yes. Besides, I'll be right next to you the whole time. That way I can give you a little nudge in the right direction, if need be. But hopefully that won't be the case. Just keep this saying in mind: 'Encourage talent, but remember humbleness'".

The idea of the fair mulled about in Starlight's mind for sometime. From the quizzical look on the lavender mare's face, Twilight was not certain as to whether or not she succeeded in persuading her student. Eventually, once she left her train of thought, Starlight let out a soothing sigh and smiled at Twilight. 

"Sure, Twilight," she said. "I'll be glad to go."

"Excellent!" Twilight exclaimed. Bolting out of her seat, she trotted to the other end of the table and levitated two sheets of paper. "We'll be helping the foals prepare for the contest the day before the fair starts. It'll be in the afternoon near the schoolhouse. In the mean time, you should read these along with the notes in your essays."

The two papers glided towards Starlight's end of the table. When they were within reach, her magic changed the aura surrounding the paper from a purple to a mix of blue and purple, until the latter color faded away. 

"What are these?" Starlight asked.

"There the friendship letters that your essay subjects were based on," Twilight answered.

"Friendship letters?"

"Yes. Before I became a princess, as Celestia's student I was tasked with writing her a report whenever I learned an life lesson centered around friendship. Overtime, some of my friends did the same. The first essay was inspired by the time this powerful unicorn came into town and annoyed ponies with her bragging. And the second essay is based on an encounter I witnessed when a filly teased for having no cutiemark found solace with new friends who were in the same boat."

Starlight levitated them closer to her face and inspected their writings. "Well, I'll definitely try to read them when I get the chance."

"Good," Twilight said. "But please take your time. It'll be a while before I ask Spike to send another request to Princess Celestia to send back more copies of the letters sent to her. I don't want to bother her with menial affairs, so it'll be a while before you get another essay assignment."

Menial affairs. 

Starlight shook her head, hoping that her teacher had not notice any sudden change in her mood, but when she looked forward Twilight had already exited the dining room with her papers. Now alone, Starlight saw it as best to leave the room as well, ensuring that the papers left to her floated right behind. As she used her magic to open the door that Spike had left through, Starlight repeated the saying that Twilight had told her to memorize.

"Encourage talent, but remember humbleness. Encourage talent, but remember humbleness. Encourage..."