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// _j_u___t__a____p_a___k_ 
// Story: Refraction 
// by shortskirtsandexplosions 
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	The bell above the door rang as Lone Star trotted into Sugarcube Corner.  One of several books slipped from her grasp, and she struggled to float them back up with a sparkling horn.  Gulping, she gazed across the eatery.

Cantershy and Apple Jewel sat at a table in the far corner of the place.  Neither of them looked up.

Lone Star bore a bashful smile.  She shuffled briskly across the eatery and stood before the table, hugging the books to her chest.  "Uhm... D-do you girls mind if I join you?"

"Hmmm?"  Cantershy looked up with a flounce of her short mane.  She smiled.  "Not at all, Lone Star.  Here..."  She shuffled to the side, making room.  "You can take the chair next to mine."

"Th-thanks."  Lone Star slid into her seat.  She smiled across the way.  "Good afternoon, Apple Jewel."

"Yes, indeed."  Apple Jewel had her nose deep in that day's edition of the Neigh York Times.  "I wish I could say the same about Uncle Orange's stocks."

"Oh..."  Lone Star winced slightly.  "Are they doing b-badly?"

"Bad enough that I don't mind being distracted by redundant inquiries," the orange mare grumbled.

"Eep!"  Lone Star ducked her head.  "I-I'm sorry!  I just thought..."

"Nnngh... don't take it the wrong way, darling."  Apple Jewel took a dainty sip from a teacup and stared across the table with bored, green eyes.  "The Gala is coming up, and I've allowed the stress of it to get to me, I suppose.  I used to think that, this far from Manehattan, country life would give me an escape from the trivialities of affluent social circles.  But, once you've tasted of the Big Apple, I suppose there truly is no going back to what we were born into."

"The Gala is coming up?"  Lone Star's ears perked up.  "Oh, th-that's wonderful!"  She glanced aside.  "Isn't that wonderful?"

"Mmmm..."  Cantershy bit her lip, gazing out the nearest window.  "I don't really think so..."

"Wouldn't you want to go to something like that someday, Cantershy?" Lone Star asked.  "I grew up in Canterlot, you know!  My brother's Captain of the Guard!  I bet if I played my cards right, I could get the two of us in!"

"Er... n-no thanks, Lone Star."  Cantershy smiled nervously.  "That is very nice of you to offer, but... it j-just wouldn't be right."

"But..."  Lone Star gulped.  "You could have fun."  She glanced at the two.  "We could have fun!"

"I've been to it before," Apple Jewel said, stifling a yawn.  "Trust me, it's not worth all of the outrageous pomp."

"Besides, it's simply not my kind of thing," Cantershy said through a sigh.  "I'd much rather stay at home and do more writing."

"Awwwwww..."  Lone Star smiled sweetly.  "You know, you could always come and do that at the library!  It's not too hard!"  She gestured at her books.  "Why, even I take my studies on the go!"

"But that's your talent, Lone Star," Cantershy said.  "Studying magic.  Just because you do it well doesn't mean others can."

The unicorn exhaled, glancing loosely at her own cutie mark, a bland geometric star floating in the middle of her lavender coat.  "Still... I-I wouldn't mind the company..."

"That's what we're enjoying at the moment, yes?"  Apple Jewel flipped a page of her newspaper.  "I mean, how else do you enjoy company?"

Lone Star was about to open her mouth when a figure shuffled up.

"Hello there."  A mare with straight pink hair stared—more like glared—at the table's newly seated patron.  "Welcome to Sugarcube Corner," she unenthusiastically droned.  "What can I get for you today, ma'am?"

"Oh!  Uhm..."  Lone Star squirmed, thinking aloud:  "Do you serve root beer?"

"Yeah."

"Do you serve it in a large glass?"

"Yeah."

"Well... then... uhhhhhhh..."  Lone Star smiled thinly.  "I'll have one of those, please.  Thanks!"

"Yeah..."  The mare scribbled on a notepad, blowing her fuchsia bangs back with a sigh.

"And... uhm..."  Cantershy raised an empty glass.  "More iced tea?  I mean... if th-that's okay with you..."

"Hmmmph..."  The mare took the glass and trotted off.  "Whatever."

Lone Star blinked after the mare as she made her way to the kitchen.  "Well, the service here really doesn't live up to the place's name!"

"I can tell that something's bothering that pony," Cantershy said.  "But I can't tell exactly what."

"Don't pay her any mind, darling," Apple Jewel said, flipping to another page.  "She's on the Cakes' Pity Payroll."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Some problem child adopted from a rock farm, from what I hear," the mare continued.  "Not that I'm an expert on the local gossip of these agricultural plebeians, mind you."

"She looks like she's been through a lot."  Cantershy glanced at Lone Star.  "Pinkamena, I think is her name?"

"Where'd you hear that from, darling?"

"The local day spa.  Word travels quickly in this town."

"I-I wouldn't know," Lone Star said with a shrug.  "I'm still new here.  It's difficult enough getting used to you girls."  She instantly winced.  "Th-that didn't mean how it sounded like!"

"It's okay, Lone Star," Cantershy said with a gentle smile.  "We know you're a nice pony."

"Mmmm... yes..."  Apple Jewel muttered over her newspaper.  "A regular Canterlot Princess."

"Uhh... thanks?"  Lone Star blinked.  "I-I think."

"What are you working on, Lone Star?" Cantershy asked.

"Huh?  Oh!  You mean what I'm studying?"  Lone Star flipped through the various texts.  "Well, that depends.  You ever heard of diamond dogs?"

"Diamond... d-dogs?"

"Not a clue?"

Cantershy shook her head.  "I-I'm not exactly an expert on animals."

"Well, I'll tell you what I've learned so far—"

Just then, the waitress trotted back, slapping down the root beer onto the table.  A little bit of the frothy drink splattered onto the pages of Lone Star's open book.

"H-hey!"  Lone Star grimaced, fumbling to dry the tome with a napkin.  "Watch it!"

"What does this look like?" the mare droned.  "A library?"  She slapped the refilled iced tea onto Cantershy's side with even less grace.  "There.  Remember, there's a refill limit, kay?"

"Thank you, Pinkamena," Cantershy said with a pleasant smile.  "I appreciate you getting that for me."

"Hrmmph..."  Apple Jewel rolled her green eyes.  "Of course you would."

In the meantime, the waitress was busy squinting at the dainty pegasus.  "...how do you know my name?"

"Oh.  You mean 'Pinkamena?'"  Cantershy shrugged.  "I've heard it in passing... word of muzzle, I guess.  I think it's really pretty!"  She smiled.  "Just like your mane!"

Pinkamena merely snarled.  "It's not nice to talk about other ponies behind their backs!"

"Huh?"  Cantershy blinked.  Under the waitress' glare, she suddenly trembled.  "I... I-I swear I didn't mean anything bad by it!"

"Yeah, well, not all of us have to change our names to be accepted around here!" Pinkamena snapped.  "Isn't that right, Fluttershy?"

Lone Star instantly cringed.

Cantershy's muzzle fell agape.  "Where..."  Her brow furrowed.  "Who have you been talking to?!"

"Pffft..."  Pinkamena rolled her blue eyes.  "I mean, who hasn't heard that old jingle about the local pegasus with weak wings?!"  Her voiced lifted, only to resonate with a mock tone:  "'Fluttershy!  Fluttershy!  Fluttershy can hardly fly!'"

"Stop it..."  Cantershy squeaked.

Pinkamena only barked louder:  "'Fluttershy!  Fluttershy!  Fluttershy can hardly fly!'"

"I said st-stop it!"  Cantershy jumped to her hooves, knocking her table over.  She quivered from head to tail, eyes watering.  "You... you..."  She wept.  "You're a meanie!  And I hate your mane!"  Spinning, she ran out of Sugarcube Corner, sobbing.

"Cantershy!" Lone Star stammered, wide-eyed.

"Hmmph..."  Pinkamena tossed her mane, stomping off.  "What a laugh."

Lone Star snarled at the mare.  "That wasn't very nice!"

"Life's not very nice!" Pinkamena hissed over her shoulder in mid-march.  "You try eating gravel for breakfast every morning of your foalhood and see how cheery you friggin' get!"

Mrs. Cake had burst out of the kitchen, gawking at the runaway customer.  She instantly snapped at the waitress.  "Pinkamena!  How many times have I told you about yelling at—?"

"Yeah yeah, blow it out your doughnut hole."  And with that, Pinkamena kicked her way through the kitchen door and stormed off.

"Apple Jewel!"  Lone Star gasped at her remaining friend.  "Didn't you see Cantershy gallop off crying just now?!  We've got to go find her!"

"What's the use?"  Apple Jewel yawned.  "The mare's never going to change."

"But she needs our help—!"

"You can't help ponies who won't help themselves," the mare returned calmly.  "One of the first platitudes Aunt and Uncle Orange taught me."

Lone Star glared at her, huffing and puffing.  "You know, Apple Jewel..."  She angrily scooped up her books.  "If you were as dependable as you were brutally honest, then you wouldn't have to treat the newspaper as your only friend!"

"Why not?" the mare droned tiredly.  "It's the most loyal thing around here."

Lone Star was already galloping out into the falling evening.  "Cantershy!"  She panted, spinning about and looking down every street.  "Cantershy!  Come back!  Don't run like this!  Please!"

A few ponies blinked her way, but most of the populace paid her no mind.  The roads stretched on, empty and quiet.  Like the friend who had just run away.

It didn't stop Lone Star from trotting down each avenue, searching intently.  She called Cantershy's name several more times, but even ten minutes into the hunt she knew just how futile it was.  Her gallop turned into a slumped trot as she hugged the sidewalks closely, staring down at the cracks in the concrete.

"Silly pony," she muttered aloud.  "If only you told us where you lived..."

At last, Lone Star's sighs dragged her home.  She wandered towards the town library, fiddling with her keys at the front door.  She paused, lingering to take one last, forlorn look at the night-drenched streets.  Cantershy was gone, a complete stranger at that point.

Ears drooped under a cloud of failure, Lone Star opened the library and stepped in.  All of the books were lined neatly on their shelves.  There wasn't a single spot of dust to be found in the place.  The place was clean—of course it was.  Lone Star had all the time in the world to keep it that way.

There was no relishing the spotlessness of the place.  Head hung, Lone Star wandered up the stairs towards her bedroom—when she spotted something out of the corner of her vision.  She glanced aside, then gasped, nearly falling off the steps.

A figure stood in the shadows, wings outstretched.  "Twilight Sparkle," said the cold voice, accompanied by even colder eyes.

Lone Star merely blinked, face awash with confusion.  "'Twilight?'"

The eyes narrowed.  "Are you happy now, Twilight Sparkle?"

Lone Star slowly cocked her head to the side, muzzle agape.  At last, she murmured, "Yeah?"

Her eyes reflected a deathly beam of light, like a distant sparkle, suddenly bright and encompassing.