//------------------------------//
// Awkward Conversations on the Canterlot Express 
// Story: Growing Up Glimmer 
// by Lord Camembert 
//------------------------------//

"But your natural mane color is so pretty! Why cover it up?", Firelight exclaimed, running his hoof through Starlight's mane, freshly dyed black. "I know you're going through a rebellious phase–"
"Dad! It is not a phase! This is who I am," Starlight interjected, pushing his hoof away. She grumbled, "not that you would know anything about that."
"Alright, alright, honey bun. I just worry about you sometimes; the first thing I heard of you wanting to dye your hair was when you showed up at the station with your mane already done. I want to know what's going on in your life."
"Then maybe you should have come home last night. To my going away dinner? The one you put together? Sound familiar?", Starlight replied, ice creeping into her voice.
"I'm sorry, Starlight, but there was an emergency at the mayor's office–"
"And they needed the mayor to deal with it. Yeah. I get it. That's what you say every time and every day when you come home late. When exactly was I supposed to tell you?"
Firelight sighed, rubbing his muzzle with a forehoof, moving to the bags under his eyes soon afterwards. "For what it's worth, pumpkin, I did try to leave as soon as I could. And I was able to convince them to hold the fort long enough for me to come with you to Canterlot. It's not every day you send your kiddo off to college!"
"Do you even remember where we're going?", deadpanned Starlight.
"Of course!", Firelight enthused. "My pumpkie-wumpkin didn't just get into any old college–", he paused, wrapping a foreleg around Starlight's shoulders and drawing her in for a tight hug. "You got into that honors program at the University of Canterlot for magic. I always knew you had it in you."
Firelight was beaming. Starlight, however, looked mortified, quickly looking around the train carriage. Once she was sure no-one she knew was around, she pushed her father away.
"Daaaaaaaad, you promised no more embarrassing me in public!" Starlight sighed and turned to look out the train window at the landscape whizzing by. "Besides, even if you're here, mom still didn't make it."
"Starlight, I'm sure if our letters had reached her, she'd have made it. You know how hard to reach she can be on her adventures."
"Yeah, well, it's not like I asked to be born to a mom too busy chasing her 'precious destiny' to spend time with her daughter." Starlight rolled her eyes, emphasizing her point with air quotes. "Or a dad, for that matter, so busy running the town I grew up in that he wasn't there to watch me grow up." She glared at Firelight.
Firelight closed his eyes and sighed. "I do wish I had been there for you more, Starlight, but your mother and I both have responsibilities outside the family! We've talked about this many, many, many times!"
"Arrrgh!" Starlight groaned. "Fine, whatever. Not like you'll even notice I'm gone."
"Well, that's not true. When you're gone, who's gonna play all that alternative music on their guitar for me?"
"Wait… you heard me playing?"
"The ceilings of our house aren't exactly soundproof, you know."
"You… heard the lyrics I wrote?"
"I thought they were nice! I could tell you put a lot of effort into them, and I thought it was so great that you found a creative outlet for your–" Firelight stopped, his mouth clamped shut between Starlight's hooves.
"No, no, Celestia, please, no, I will do anything, anything for you to forget everything you heard."
Firelight freed his mouth and continued. "I always wondered why you didn't get your cutie mark playing music with how great you sound!"
Starlight heard a few passengers snickering at that comment. She sank into the increasingly uncomfortable train seat, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
Firelight, seeing Starlight's plight, reined in his voice. "It'll probably make you happy to know that between your mother's adventures and my pension, I'm about ready to retire. I'll be stepping down at the next election, which means I'll have all the time in the world to spend with you when you're on breaks."
Starlight recovered from her bout of embarrassment and sat up. She allowed the barest hint of a smile to sneak onto her face. "Really? And what about mom?"
"No real changes on that front. You know her, she never felt right sitting in one place for very long. You're a lot like her that way, you know."
"Ugh. Fine. Can we just… not… for the rest of the ride? I'd like to meet my roommate with at least some of my dignity intact."
"Alright, chipmunk cheeks. Want to play Dragon Pit? I picked up an old classic at the antique shop: Dragon Pit: Travel Edition! You see, it's got these neat little trapdoors that magically mimic the trapdoors in the full game! And then there's the..."
Starlight's resigned annoyance turned to mild laughter as she gently interrupted her dad, grabbing the game's six-sided die with her magic, "Alrighty, but as you know, I've never lost a game of Dragon Pit to any of the other school ponies."
"You're on, pumpkin."

Despite the name, the express train to Canterlot from Sires Hollow wasn’t much faster than the normal line. The route wound through a mountain range, and only bypassed stops at a few old pioneer towns which were sparsely populated, containing at most a few farms and the occasional antique shop. Starlight had booked the trip before announcing to her father her intent to matriculate at UC, figuring it was the best chance she had of getting to Canterlot in less than a day’s journey.
“I’m just saying, Saddle Pass and Pie Camp were the backbone of the growth of Sires Hollow!”
“Yeah, like centuries ago! Now it’s just a bunch of dirt and rusty horseshoes. What would we have even seen there?”
Whatever Firelight had to say in response was drowned out by the sound of steam hissing as the train rolled to a stop. The announcer’s voice hissed from the carriage’s P.A. speakers.
“Canterlot Transit Terminal, end of the line.”
In the midst of their heated debate, neither of them had noticed the train entering the outskirts of the city. Firelight looked out the window, excitement and wonder painting his face. Starlight cringed as she watched her father.
“Come on, dad, let’s get off the train.”
Starlight wondered at how anyone could go on for quite as long as her dad went on about Canterlot history during the carriage ride from the station to the university dorms. Night had fallen by the time they reached her dorm room and, despite her protests, Starlight’s old blanket had somehow ended up wrapped around her head. They continued bickering as she opened the door to her new room, then turned around to face her father.
“I’m not cold, and even if I was, why, in Celestia’s name, would you be carrying around my old blanket? I’m an adult!”
“But you’ll always be my little sugar plum Glimmykins, Starlight.”
A small cough interrupted Starlight before she could respond. She turned around to see another unicorn mare sporting a dark-blue mane, darker hair, and a smirk on her white-muzzled face. Starlight gaped at her new roommate as several thoughts raced through her head. What ultimately came out was:

“Oh, fuck me.”