//------------------------------// // Dinner and a Friend // Story: Student of Friendship // by zalla661 //------------------------------// Starlight cocked her brow at Trixie who just claimed she was going to perform the Moon Shot Manticore Mouth Dive. A bold claim for her even with her ability in magic Starlight was sure it was beyond the mares magical capabilities. Somehow Glitter Heart being involved didn’t put her at ease. “Trixie, are you sure you want to do that?” Starlight asked her friend. She was familiar with the famous trick performed by Hoofdini, but wasn’t convinced Trixie had what it took to pull it off. Trixie being Trixie of course took offense to this remark. “Why would you doubt the great and powerful Trixie?” “No offense, but your magic is very… lacking.” Starlight remarked with a wave of her hoof. Trixie fumed puffing her cheek spattering incoherently in frustration at the mares remark. From the sidelines Roseluck and Glitter Heart chuckled at Trixie’s reaction. When the blue mare turned to them they both whistled innocently. Trixie turned away from them with a huff and stormed off towards her wagon. Glitter Heart chuckled waving bye to Starlight and floated after Trixie. Roseluck watched Trixie and the phantom pass by. She stepped to the side to allow them to pass, Trixie brushed against the mare’s shoulder. Starlight sighed and walked up to her friend patting her back. “Don’t worry Roseluck.” Starlight looked at Trixie who was talking excitedly to Glitter Heart. “I don’t know what happened between you two, but I’m sure she’ll open up to you. Eventually.” Roseluck didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t think so. The damage has been done and nothing will change what I’ve done.” Starlight watched as the rose maned mare walked away holding her head down in shame. She turned to follow Roseluck, running up beside her. “So, what happened between you two?” Starlight asked as they walked near one of the many bridges in Ponyville. Roseluck stepped onto the bridge and heaved her upper body on the side rail and rested her arms on it. Starlight joined, imitating her posture. “It was a many years ago when I lived in Canterlot with my mother and father,” Roseluck explained watching the water flow beneath them. “My mother was a teacher at my school and my father a professor at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.” Starlight whistled impressed by that. “So, was your father or mother a unicorn by chance?” Roseluck shook her head smiling. “No, my parents were both earth ponies. My mother was an elementary school teacher, my father taught alchemy and science.” “Both science and alchemy? Strange.” Roseluck chuckled. “Not really if you think about it. My father was a alchemy specialist. He could mix anything and make anything he wanted. He was a genius and talented in his field of study.” Starlight looked at Roseluck who was basking in the warmth of her memories. Roseluck leaned into Starlight’s shoulder a bit, resting her head on top of the unicorns. “But I digress. When I was at school, I was about fifteen, maybe sixteen and Trixie and I were friends since we were children.” She said. “We were the best of friends. Nothing could tear us apart.” “We did everything together. We played together, we ate together, we sometimes slept together at sleepovers. Our families were close too.” Roseluck explained. She looked long at her reflection, the distorted figure of her reflection made her insides churn. It was a very good representation of how she felt at that moment. “We were in our late teens when Trixie started dating a pegasus stallion from our school. He was very sweet and kind to her and me. He made Trixie laugh and made her feel like she was the center of his world.” Roseluck sighed looking up at the sky as a dark grey pegasus flew overhead. “Later on I grew jealous of Trixie and stole her lover away. So, you can imagine her anger is not unwarranted.” Roseluck admitted sadly, her ears drooping behind her skull. Starlight looked into the water seeing their reflections in the slow running water feeling bad for her friend and Trixie as well. She never once would have thought Roseluck was capable of doing something so cruel to another pony. Feeling bad for her friend she wrapped her arms around the rose maned mare and pulled her gently into a comforting hug. Roseluck choked out a slight sob feeling the weight of her actions on her heart and leaned into the soft fur of her friend. After several minutes in her friends embrace Roseluck managed to calm herself. “Thanks Starlight. I needed that.” “No problem, Rose.” Starlight said nuzzling her friend's cheek. “Come on let's go.” Roseluck nodded. “Right.” The two mares walked along the busy roads of Ponyville until they came up to the Crystal Castle on the edge of the quaint town. Roseluck looked up in awe at the impressive castle. She had seen it before but never had she entered the castle's interior. Starlight lead the pony through the main gate and inside where she was greeted by a very grumpy Thunderclap and the main hall, just outside the dining hall. “Thunderclap? How was your vacation?” Starlight asked the older mare. Thunderclap greeted Starlight with a simple nod saying, “It went well, but be warned you troublemaker if I catch you in my dresser again I’ll saw your horn off.” “Noted.” Starlight repled with a nervous gulp. “Come on Roseluck, let’s head inside.” “Right behind you.” The two mares then entered the dining hall to see the largest table prepared for four. The table was covered with a beautifully woven periwinkle cloth with exquisite silverware and Twilight’s finest china all placed in a neat and precise orderly fashion. The detail behind the placement was very obvious to Starlight. It was the attention to detail that Rarity would put into her best works and spend more than a few days to work on. Roseluck all the while looked around slack jawed. “This is amazing Starlight,” She said craning her neck every time something caught her eye. “So it's going to be us and Princess Twilight and Celestia I’m guessing?” “Yes, I had to bring a friend along to show how well my friendship studies are going.” She nudged Roseluck who gave a confused look. “I think Twilight just wants to impress her teacher.” “Aww. That sounds like her!” Roseluck chuckled. “Ha ha, very funny you two.” Both Starlight and Roseluck turned to see Twilight standing at the entryway with some wine glasses in her pink aura, floating just above her head with an unamused look. Starlight giggled at her teacher. “Hey twilight, you can’t blame us. You are like that.” “And you are well on your way to getting a twenty page essay, missy.” Twilight rebutted with a grin. Roseluck giggled lightly as Starlight immediately shut her mouth from whatever she was about to say. Twilight walked around them and set the glasses down before returning her attention to the two ponies. “Rose, it’s good to see you again.” Twilight greeted the flower pony. Roseluck hugged Twilight each pony patting the other on the back like two old friends would after being apart for a long time. “It’s good to see you again too, twilight.” “You two are just in time. Come have a seat.” Twilight instructed guiding the two ponies to their seats at the left side of the table. Starlight took a set at the end of the table with Roseluck sitting next to her on her right. Twilight sat next to Roseluck and to her right was an open seat, presumably for Celestia when she arrived. Twilight gave a bright smile feeling good about tonight's dinner and how well it would play out. While they awaited Celestia's arrival they chatted among themselves to pass the time. When the Princess of the Sun did arrive she said she was late due to a rather interesting distraction she saw when passing over a crowd of ponies surrounding a manticore as a mere shot herself from a canon into its maw. Needless to say the dinner was a rousing success. Celestia showed her approval for Starlight’s studies and Twilight gained her former mentor's approval to continue in Starlight's studies, after an intense demonstration. This left Celestia as impressed by Starlight’s magical capabilities as she had when she first found Twilight. Later that night Celestia and Luna had a long talk about the younger alicorn passing on her ways to a pupil. Much to the older mares surprise Luna had already chosen a potential ppil, but held back until the pony grew more. To that Celestia had no idea what her sister was planning, but trusted in her judgement as an equal and allowed Luna to purse said pony on her own terms. Under the condition that if things got too hairy Luna would come and ask her for help. So, it went on so and all parties slept well that night, with one exception being Thunderclap who shivered in her bed holding a stuffed teddy bear close to her, fearing the ghost who would come to devour her soul.