Twilight is good at friendship, singing, and hosting celebrations but one thing she's never been good at is boundaries and giving ponies space.
Twilight is good at friendship, singing, and hosting celebrations but one thing she's never been good at is boundaries and giving ponies space. Starlight, on the other hoof, is getting fed up with it but she is scared that if she tells Twilight, Twilight will just get mad at her and kick her out of the castle for good.
"Twilight," says Starlight as she walks into the library of the castle, "can we talk? It's important."
"Sure, Starlight, what do you want to talk about?" replies Twilight as she puts a book on the top shelf.
"Uh, your behavior in front of the princesses. What you did was uncalled for. You don't give other ponies their personal space. You always cross their boundaries and you did that right in front of your mentor and her sister. What the hell Twilight! That's not how to behave in front of royalty."
"Yeah, I can see why you'd be upset about that," replies Twilight, "but do I really cross boundaries with everypony like that?" She puts another book onto the top shelf.
"Uh, yeah, you do," replies Starlight rubbing her neck nervously. "I've talked to Trixie about it, Applejack about it, the rest of the Mane Six about it, and they all said the same thing, well, except for Pinkie. They all think you get into their personal space constantly especially Trixie."
"Well," guffs Twilight, "well."
"You need help," replies Starlight. "You need to work on not crossing other ponies' boundaries because you'd never like it if they'd cross yours."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," replies Twilight, "but how do I even stop?"
"First, we are going to Canterlot. You're going to apologize to the princesses for grabbing me and poofing away and being rude in general," replies Starlight as she firmly plants her hoof on the ground with a thud. Starlight pops the two to Canterlot.
"Princesses," says Starlight, "Twilight has something to say to you."
"Spill it Twilight," says Luna.
"I'm sorry for poofing off in front of y'all last week with Starlight. That was wrong. I shouldn't have done that," sighs Twilight with her head hanging between her legs.
"It's okay, we forgive you," reply the royal sisters in unison. Starlight and Twilight then say a nice and friendly goodbye to Celestia and Luna before popping back to the castle.
"See, that wasn't so hard," replies Starlight.
"I guess so," replies Twilight. "I just never thought I crossed ponies' boundaries. It never occurred to me."
"Now, let's go meet up with Trixie, Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and Fluttershy. They need to know that you're going to work on staying out of their personal space," responds Starlight. Twilight nods and follows Starlight to the cafe, where they meet up with their friends and take their seats. A few minutes later, Spike plops up onto a stool beside them. Twilight then gets to work on seeing how she gets into their boundaries and how she can prevent that from now on.
After two hours of talking, Twilight finally learns how not to cross her friends' boundaries. She's also taken it to heart and promises never to get into their personal boundaries ever again. Now, she's got to put those promises into action and that's going to be the hardest part of all.
A few days later, Twilight receives a surprise visit from Cadence. "Cadence," she says with a shock, "what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Starlight invited me over," replies Cadence, "she said you were having trouble with boundaries when it comes to other ponies. What did I tell you about this after the zeppelin incident?"
"You told me to set boundaries and learn how to give other ponies theirs," replies Twilight as she places her head on the window sill in front of her.
"Right," replies Cadence, "now put those words into action, put that second part into action." The two then go off to lunch, where they meet up with Starlight, to continue this little chat.
A few minutes later at the cafe, Twilight and Cadence take their seats at the table where Starlight has been waiting for them. "Hey Twilight, hey Cadence, glad you could make it," says Starlight with a smile.
"Yeah, me too," replies Cadence with a smile. "Now can we order something to eat? I'm starving. The baby never gives me time to eat."
Starlight nods and calls over the waitress, White Chiffon. "What can I get for you today?" says White Chiffon sweetly with a smile.
"I'll have the spring vegetable soup, a hayburger, a daisy sandwich, a three ice cream sundae, and a lemonade," says Cadence.
"I'll just have the daisy sandwich," says Starlight.
"I'll have a hayburger and a Pony Cola and some horseshoe fries," says Twilight.
"Sure thing, I'll be right out with those orders," replies White Chiffon as she sticks the pen back behind her ear and walks back to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, White Chiffon returns back to their table with their orders and places them in front of each pony. She then bows and walks away after saying a sweet 'enjoy your meal.' The three then begin to eat, Cadence scarfing down her food every few minutes when she's not busy talking with Twilight and Starlight. After an hour of eating, the three finish up and go to the park where they continue to talk with Twilight about the whole boundaries thing. Twilight is so humiliated. Maybe she was bad at boundaries when it came to other ponies but she didn't mean to be and she's going to work on fixing that, right now, right away. That much she can promise and to Cadence and Starlight, that's the first step down this very difficult path for Twilight.
That afternoon, Cadence returns home to the Crystal Empire and her family. Twilight then goes off to watch Applejack and Rainbow practice for their buckball game, which Ponyville is hosting this year. Once she arrives, Rainbow flies over to Twilight and asks her to time their practice and hands Twilight a watch. "Be careful with the watch, just press the top button, that's all you have to do," says Rainbow. "It's my father's. If you break it, be prepared to lose a friendship." Twilight nods. Rainbow then flies over and begins practicing and Twilight presses the top button down with her magic. The last thing she wants is to lose Rainbow as a friend.
After three hours, she gives the two the time and hands the watch back to Rainbow then returns to the palace where she is greeted by Spike. "How'd buckball practice go?" he asks.
"It went well," replies Twilight. "I don't get how it helps me learn boundaries though."
"Simple," replies Spike, "you stay in the bleachers while they stay on the ground area. That's how boundaries fit in."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," replies Twilight. She then goes over to the bookshelf and pulls down her Daring Do book and begins to do some pleasure reading. Her efforts to stay out of other ponies' boundaries are slowly getting better and for that, she couldn't be more grateful.
A few weeks later, Twilight has finally partially solved her boundaries issue. She's learned to give ponies space as well as give herself space a lot more and Starlight couldn't be more pleased. Twilight has to admit, Starlight does well as both the teacher and the student. To celebrate Twilight's progress, Starlight takes her and her family for a zeppelin cruise and Twilight is thrilled. Not only does she get to see the northern stars with his family but with the best student in the world as well. This is also the only time that having no boundaries is perfect because it is the one-time Twilight is free to share a group hug with everypony she loves for giving her the time of her life.
