//------------------------------// // A failed gambit // Story: Blooming Days // by Hoofprintz //------------------------------// I stumbled through the halls of the castle back to my room, lazily chewing a bar of chocolate along the way. Time had slipped right through my hooves and I'd forgotten to get a proper meal so a candy bar I had stuffed in my saddlebags had to suffice for the night's meal. My stomach wasn't going to be happy with me tomorrow, but my brain was calling the shots right now and it was demanding I get to sleep asap. Honestly, I felt way more guilt because I'd managed to let Celestia down again. If she could see me right now, I'm pretty sure I'd get a firm lecture on the importance of a balanced diet...and ample rest. On top of forgetting to eat, I'd stayed up way past a reasonable hour again, except tonight it was so much worse because I'd gotten such poor sleep last night too. Maybe if you actually listened to your wise old mentor, you wouldn't end up in such stupid positions like this, Sunset. "Yeah, probably," I mumbled to myself as a long yawn escaped my muzzle. Multiple guards had already asked me if I needed to be escorted to my room, which I of course, denied each and every time. I didn't need any more coddling, I'd already received enough of it today, thank you very much. "Miss Shimmer are you al-" "I'm fine, thanks for asking!" Speak of the devil. I trotted by the concerned guard with a tired smile. It was always like this. The entire guard treated Princess Celestia's star pupil with the utmost respect and care. It was kind of annoying to be honest, mostly because it made me wonder how they'd treat me if I was a nobody. They'd probably just let me walk past without a second thought. "Probably." With another long yawn I turned the corner to the hall to my room only to gasp and instantly jump right back around said corner. I pressed my back against the wall, breathing heavily all of a sudden. It couldn't be. I'd seen something that wasn't there. YEAH, that's it, I'd hallucinated. I was seeing things cause of the whole sleep deprivation thing. I just had to peek around the corner again and she'd be gone... NOPE! It was definitely her. An overly depressed looking Starlight Glimmer was sitting right next to the door of my room, her gaze locked on the carpet. What could she possibly want?! If I waited long enough would she leave? WHAT DOES SHE WANT!?" UGH! It was way too late and I was way too tired to deal with this crap. I turned the corner again, this time in a tizzy, more annoyed than tired at this point. I stomped my way over to the mare, trying to exude both confidence and anger. As I approached, she lifted her head slowly, the look of depression staggering me as she forced an artificial smile. "What are you doing here?" I had to struggle not to yell in her face. To be frank, I wanted to buck her in the teeth, but that seemed a little aggressive... just a little. She continued to stare at me with the same unchanging expression. "WHAT do you WANT!?" I repeated with a bit more emphasis. "Look," her face turned sour. "I like this about as much as you do, okay? It's not like I was begging your stup-" she cut herself off and took a deep breath to calm down. It's not like I asked your princesses to let me stay here or anything." She stood to her hooves, staring at me as if she expected something from me. After the two of us did nothing but glare at one another for about a minute I decided to say something. "WHAT?!" I was a hair's breadth from yelling so loud the guards would come over to investigate. "You're not gonna invite me inside?" The look on her face made it seem like she thought I was the rudest pony she'd ever met. I had to press my hooves into the floor so one of them didn't accidently end up smacking her across the face. "That's not very nice." "Wh-" I rubbed my face with a hoof so that I wouldn't leap on the obnoxious mare and strangle her. "Why would I ever invite you inside of my room?" "We need to talk," her face screwed up into an even more displeased visage. "Your mentor is forcing me, take it up with her." Celestia... you big jerk. With a compliant huff I opened the door and lead the way. "Close the door," I grunted as I tossed my saddlebags onto my desk. "Please," Starlight snapped. "Please what?" I jumped onto my bed face down. It was so very comfortable, but I couldn't fall asleep with a stranger in the room, especially one as dangerous as her. "Rude," her voice was saturated with boredom. I turned my head to the side to find her inspecting the posters that lined the walls of my room. "You stole my cutie mark and tried to make me your slave," I said apathetically, half because I was so tired and half because it really didn't matter much at this point. She was here to stay and holding a grudge wouldn't change that now. Still, that didn't mean it had never happened, It just meant I had to get stronger. I had to get better than her and everything would be alright. "You're still mad about that?" she examined one of my DJ-PON3 posters. "How old are you?" she chuckled, pointing at the display with a hoof. "What's that supposed to mean?" Her question annoyed me enough to get me to sit up. I glared daggers at the unicorn I wished were anywhere but here bothering me... preferably in a dungeon somewhere starving to death. "Aren't these for foals?" she gestured around at my posters before covering her smug grin with a hoof. "Starlight. LEAVE! NOW!" I growled, pointing at the door. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she spun my chair around in her telekinesis before plopping down onto it. "Sheesh. Out of everypony here I thought you might've had a sense of humor. Guess I was wrong." "YOU! STOLE! MY! CUTIE! MARK!" I emphasized each word by slamming my hoof on the bed. The psychopath didn't seem fazed by my outburst at all. I hate to admit it, but it was probably because she could kill me with her magic in a millisecond if she wanted. "If I said I was sorry would that help?" she crossed her hind legs, leaning back in my chair comfortably. "NO! YOU HORSE!" I really, really, REALLY wanted to throttle her and that dumb smile of hers. "Good, cause I'm not," she giggled. "Y-" I bit my lip to prevent myself from getting any more pissed off. I bit so hard I could taste iron, but it worked. I sighed, rubbing my temples with my hooves. "You said Princess Celestia wanted us to talk, so talk." "Oh, you believed that, huh?" she looked down at her forehoof, not a care in the world. "YOU-" I'd had enough, my horn flaring with my mana. I didn't care if she was stronger than I was, I'd find a way to shut her stupid mouth. "I don't think Celestia will be very happy if she finds out you were trying to pick a fight with me," she didn't even look up at me, still examining her stupid hoof. "Oh, she'll understand," I was just about to blast her with everything I had, my spell seconds from being ready, when I came to a realization. My horn slowly fizzled out, the energy returning to my body as I calmed down. "What, you get cold hooves or something?" she decided to look up at me now, probably because her trick hadn't worked on me. "You want me to attack you, don't you, Starlight?" I'd already figured it out, seen completely through her little game. if I would've kept a cooler head before it would've been a lot more obvious sooner. "Why would I want that?" It was easy to see the disintegration of her cool attitude as she sat up straight and looked me in the eye. Apparently, when things didn't go exactly as she'd planned she started to freak out. "Despite what you might think, I'm not an idiot, Starlight," I got off my bed and walked over to her. Her face contorted in anger, just like I knew it would. "You don't want to stay, so you figured if we didn't get along, if I got into a fight with you, you'd get moved or something." "Pfffft! If I really wanted to leave that much all I have to do is hurt you, little foal," she hissed. With her air of superiority dissipated it was so easy to see through her. I don't know why, but all of a sudden she was like an open book in front of me. The whole situation kind of made me feel sorry for her. It was sad... She was sad. "I don't think that's true," I shook my head, scooting closer to her. "WHAT!?" she spat. If she thought I was gonna back down because she was being a little more aggressive, she was wrong. "You would've already done that if it was an option for you." I got even closer to her, our muzzles so close she was forced to lean backward, her cheeks turning crimson. "If you try to hurt me, you'll get thrown in the dungeons... or worse, won't you?" She looked extremely mad for a second before her rage fell through and she sighed. Her true visage, one of sadness and uncertainty, came to the surface. "I don't belong here," she turned her head away from me. "They just want to use me... It wouldn't be the first time." I backed off a bit, giving her some breathing room. She was being honest now so I didn't have to push her so hard anymore. "Who does?" I sat on my bum and waited for her response. "Celestia and Luna." Saying their names brought a grimace to her lips. She must've been really cross they'd foiled her plans. "Well, I can't really speak for Princess Luna, but Celestia would never do something like that." I wasn't exactly familiar with Luna, her motivations, or her personal philosophies, but I knew the Princess of the Sun. I'd stake my or anypony else's life on her benevolence. "She'd never do anything to intentionally hurt anypony un-" "SHE WANTED TO HAVE ME EXECUTED!" she interrupted angrily, glaring at me with the face of a demon. I cleared my throat. "As I was saying, unless they did something very wrong." She rolled her eyes, clearly not pleased with my reasoning. "You have to understand, Starlight. What you did... it was really bad." "That's what Luna told me too," she rubbed her face with her hooves emphatically. "UGH! Why did you all have to screw everything up, if you would've just left me alone I..." she sighed before growing quiet. "I was... I was happy..." she dropped her hooves to her sides, somehow looking even more displeased. I wasn't sure what to say. On the one hoof, I could kick her while she was down. While that did sound like a wonderful idea, it didn't seem right. On the other hoof, I could try and help her... That didn't sound fun at all... but I knew what Celestia would do if she were in my position. Ugh! Fine... "Starlight.. were you really happy?" Regardless of the risk, I laid a hoof on her thigh, causing her eyes to spring wide open. "I mean, you didn't really have anything... real... did you?" "I... I had..." She stopped short, really contemplating my question. I'm not sure, but I think she'd grown quiet because she realized the truth. "It may not seem like it now," I rubbed her thigh gently before getting to my hooves and trotting back to my bed. "But if the princesses made you stay here, it'll all work out for the best." "But what if I don't want to stay?" her head hung low. "I just want to go back to what I had." "I don't believe you." I sighed. She looked at me with the weariest eyes I'd seen on a pony in a long time. There was a lot there, in those eyes, a lot of sorrow. "I think you want to stay... or rather, I think you should," I clarified when she gave me a confused look. "Give us a shot, you might find we're not so awful to be around," I winked at her, causing her complexion to grow beet red yet again. "You are..." she chuckled with a disbelieving expression as she regained her composure. "A very strange mare, Sunset Shimmer." "Trust me, you're not the first to tell me that, Starlight," I laughed. Maybe this could work. Maybe Luna had made the right decision. Starlight jumped off my chair and started for the door. "That was... an interesting discussion, to say the least," she opened my door with a hoof, forgoing a spell. "What are you gonna do?" I asked as I lifted my blanket out of the way. "Honestly... I'm not so sure anymore," for the first time since I'd met the lilac mare the laughter that came from her sounded authentic. "Which is actually a lot more positive than it might sound," she offered me a half-smile. "Oh and one more thing?" "What is it?" I tilted my head, a little curious as to what she wanted to end the discussion with. "You might wanna get rid of those," she pointed a hoof at the pile of chocolate bars on my desk. "They're really bad for you." "I know, I know," I groaned. She chuckled. "Night, Sunset." As she moved to close the door behind herself I told her one last thing. "I hope you decide to stay, Starlight." The door stopped for just a second before it closed with a click. I hastily dove into my bed and got under my blankets. So COMFY! I casted a simple locking spell on the door before reflecting on the overly eventful day I'd had. No matter what, tomorrow was gonna be a whole lot different than today. I was ready for whatever it might bring. I gently touched my cutie mark with a hoof. I really did hope she decided to stay.