//------------------------------// // Those Canterlot Days // Story: Starlight Glimmer Makes Many Mistakes // by MagicS //------------------------------// If there was any place to be stuck while you waited for some other pony to fix your problems and save the world you could do a whole lot worse than Canterlot. And as guests of the Princess where everything they did was on her payroll? Starlight and Spike could indeed have done much, much worse. Not that they would ever take advantage of Princess Celestia’s kindness and generosity like that. Not at all. Or at least Spike wouldn’t. Starlight on the other hand was determined to have some fun and really make this a vacation. “How do I look, Spike?” Starlight asked him as she stepped out of the dressing room she had just been using to put on a new dress. She had dragged him to a high-end boutique known as L’Suave’s and for the past two hours had been running the poor manager of the store ragged as she tried to find something that she thought was “just perfect”. “You look great, Starlight.” Spike said in a bored tone, not being able to care anymore. Starlight frowned. It was true she never had an interest in fashion anyways but the whole point of a vacation was letting loose and doing things you didn’t always do. And if Starlight was gonna get herself a fancy dress she wanted to do things right. Since Spike was clearly not going to be any help Starlight just examined herself in the mirror. The two-toned short blue dress, a lighter color on top and darker on bottom, flowed nicely off her backside and stopped just before her ankles. Sequins adorned the collar and a golden broach tied it all together. “Well you were right anyways. I do look great.” Starlight said as she twirled around in her dress. “Now all I need is a hat and I’ll really look like a lady of Canterlot.” Spike rolled his eyes. “At least you’re finally done.” Starlight blew a raspberry at him, something completely unbecoming of a lady. “If I was Rarity you’d be loving this.” “Yeah, well…. uh...” Spike blushed slightly and was unable to deny the truth of what Starlight was saying. “I do believe this hat will go perfectly with the dress you’ve selected.” The sweaty manager suddenly appeared by Starlight’s side, holding up a white hat. He’d likely been eavesdropping on their whole conversation and was happy to speed them along. Starlight grabbed the hat in her magic and put it on her head. Alabaster white with a wide brim and a band of blue silk. A single blue rose had been put on the left side as well. Starlight tilted her head side to side, inspecting it from every angle. Finally, to the delight of the manager, she smiled. “I like it.” “Wonderful, I’ll ring you up right away.” He said in happy contentment. “Hm? We’re not done yet.” Starlight said as she turned to look at him. “You’re not?” His face fell. “We’re not?” Spike also said, an eyebrow raised at Starlight. Starlight grinned and looked at Spike. “Well of course not. We still need a suit for you, Spike.” The dragon’s eyes widened in surprise before he chuckled and snapped his fingers. “Heh. Now you’re talking.” Well, Spike wasn’t perfect either. So much later that it isn’t even worth mentioning Spike and Starlight both walked out of L’Suave’s bedecked in their brand new clothes. The lovely dress for Starlight and a newly made custom black tuxedo for Spike complete with a sparkling red ruby on his lapel and a glossy black bow-tie. “I gotta admit, Starlight. When you’ve got a good idea you’ve got a good idea.” Spike said, admiring his new look. “And like I said this is just a drop in a bucket for Celestia. I’m sure she’d be happy to know we were enjoying ourselves anyways and would’ve been glad to buy this for us. She loves to please after all.” Starlight said. “Well I’m not totally convinced you aren’t just being selfish but I’ll let it slide this time.” Spike playfully digged her in the side with an elbow and straightened out his bow-tie. “Back at you.” Starlight grinned and gave it right back to him. The two of them now in good spirits once more. As they walked down the streets of Canterlot it was amusing to them to see the typical city-dwellers heads turning this time not because of how out of place they looked but because of how good they looked. Without the clothes a unicorn walking around with a little dragon would just seem kind of weird, as it was when they first arrived. Now they looked important and high-class. And you can bet Starlight and Spike were flaunting it for all it was worth. Her nose upturned and eyes disdainfully ignoring the other ponies in the city, Starlight couldn’t help but grin on the inside as she played her character to its fullest. Spike as well was basking in the attention he was getting. Starlight knew Spike enjoyed this kind of thing quite a bit, he was like a sponge for it. “You know normally I wouldn’t be the type to show off like this but around snooty ponies like this it feels pretty good.” Starlight whispered to Spike. “Hey, most ponies of Canterlot are still perfectly good. It’s just some of the upper crust can be kind of snobs.” Spike said. “We’re definitely in one of the richer parts of the city too, huh?” Starlight said as she looked around. Only the best of the best of Canterlot shops and restaurants surrounded them, down the street a ways Starlight could see huge manors and gated estates start to rise up. They walked quietly together for a little longer, neither exactly sure just what they were going to do today now after getting their clothes. Their stomachs were still full from the massive stacks of pancakes Celestia had cooked for them and Sunset was surprisingly nowhere to be found. “What do you wanna do now, Spike? I don’t really know what kinds of stuff I should be messing around with back here to improve things.” Starlight asked him. “First off you shouldn’t be messing with anything. Secondly… Twilight lives here you know?” Spike nervously looked up at Starlight, wondering if she had thought about that at all. Starlight grimaced. “Yeahhhh, even I’m not gonna try messing around in Twilight’s life. That could really cause big problems.” Spike breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. And if you want something to do Celestia said there was going to be a big Wonderbolts show today, remember? Were you paying attention at breakfast?” “Guess not.” Starlight said. “Huh. A Wonderbolts show could be fun. I bet we can get the best seats in the stadium too.” She smiled. “Alright, let’s do it. I don’t think I’ve been to a Wonderbolts show before, being friends with Rainbow Dash you kind of get enough of that kind of stuff up close and personally.” “Heh, tell me about it.” Spike then directed them to where the stadium was, even from far away they both could tell there was a large crowd already trying to get inside. And because neither of them were paying attention to their hooves Starlight didn’t notice the little filly walking in front of her until it was too late. “Wagh!” “Oof!” A yelp came out from the young filly as Starlight tripped over her, the two of them falling to the ground. Starlight was thankfully able to move to the side so she didn’t fall on top of the filly but they still both landed in uncomfortable heaps. “Ugh, sorry! Are you alright?” Starlight asked the filly as she got up, both her and Spike leaning over her in concern. “I’m fine.” The filly said as she stood up, wiping some dirt off her legs. She was a pegasus with a teal coat and a yellow and gold mane and tail with strong, bright eyes. Starlight wiped her brow in relief. “Good, I was worried that I hurt you.” “Nothing to worry about, I’m tough.” She said proudly, sticking out her chest. Starlight chuckled at her precociousness. “Apparently so. Are your parents around?” She asked, looking around the street to see if any obvious ponies were looking for this little filly. “Nope! I came here all on my own to see the Wonderbolts show.” The filly said, frowning. “All on your own?” Starlight asked, raising an eyebrow. A young pegasus going to see the show by herself gave off a few warning signs. “Do your parents know you’re here at all?” “I left a note. It’s their fault they didn’t want to bring me.” The filly stamped her hoof in frustration. Starlight and Spike shared a worried glance. “So you basically ran away from home for a day?” Spike said. The filly rolled her eyes. “Psh. So what?” “I think I should bring you to the police and have them contact your parents.” Starlight said, being a responsible adult for once as she looked down with an admonishing gaze at the young filly. At that the filly’s eyes widened and she ran up to Starlight, grabbing and hugging her foreleg in desperation. “No, please! At least wait until I’ve seen the show! It’s my dream! I’ve always, always, always wanted to be a Wonderbolt! And Wind Rider is in the show today, he’s my hero! I’ve never actually been to a live Wonderbolt show before, you have to let me see it!” Starlight looked down at the pleading filly, her face scrunching up in dismay. She looked over at Spike who merely gave her a shrug, an equally distressed grimace on his face. It was pretty clear to Starlight what she should do but was there really any harm in letting her see the show when things had gotten to this point? And there was another thing that was tugging at Starlight’s heart as she looked at the young filly. “What’s your name?” She asked the teal pegasus. “It’s Lightning Dust.” She stated, her eyes confidently looking up at Starlight. There it was. Starlight may not have been a Wonderbolt expert but even she knew there wasn’t any pony named Lightning Dust on the team in the present. Whoever this pony was she wouldn’t achieve her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt. It instantly made Starlight sympathize with the little filly. “So why didn’t your parents want to take you to see the show themselves?” Starlight asked Lightning Dust. Lightning Dust snorted. “They think I’m too obsessed with becoming a Wonderbolt. Like I’m pushing myself too hard or something.” That must be it. Starlight thought. Her parents probably get her to calm down and she loses the drive she has. “Yeah but you have a dream right? You can’t let anything like that stop you. Sometimes you have to try your hardest and then some if you want that dream to come true.” Starlight said to reassure the filly. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t listen to your parents but you probably know your limits better than anypony.” “I know right?!” Lightning Dust beamed up at her with sparkling eyes, jumping back and flying up with her small wings buzzing so she was face to face with Starlight. “They don’t get it but I’m not letting anything or anypony get in my way of becoming a Wonderbolt!” Starlight grinned. “Just keep up that attitude and I’m sure you’ll make it one day.” Lightning Dust grinned right back at her. “Thanks, miss!” She then got a slightly more bashful expression on her face and floated down to the ground, starting to paw at it. “Er, so what about the show?” “Hmm...” Starlight made an exaggerated show of thinking it over before winking at the filly. “You can watch it. But! Immediately after that we’re going to take you somewhere where your parents can be contacted, you’ll probably have to wait around with the police. And for the show you’ll be sticking with the two of us so we can keep an eye on you.” Starlight said and patted Spike on the shoulder. “Awesome!” Lightning Dust threw her hooves wide open. “I don’t even care! I get to see Wind Rider, this is amazing!” And just like that she started flying ahead of them on the way to the stadium, Starlight and Spike following close behind her. “You know now that I think about it there’s something about that pony that’s familiar.” Spike said from beside Starlight, tapping his chin in thought. “Maybe you’ve seen her older self in the present.” Starlight suggested. “For now that’s not important though, I’m gonna make sure this is the best Wonderbolt’s show ever!” Starlight smirked, a familiar glint appearing her eyes. “Starlight… what are you planning?” Spike’s worry was evident. But the unicorn didn’t answer as their party of three made its way into the stadium.