Seriously, It's Embarassing
An adolescent unicorn sat in her room listening to death metal and contemplating the futility of life. The light-blue streaks in her mane and tail were dyed black, the color of her soul. Her eye shadow accentuated the look. She would have dyed her fur, too, but her dad would not let her.
"Sugar plum? You up there?"
Speaking of. The teenage unicorn rolled her eyes. "Da-ad, I told you, it's Deathdark Grimmer!"
"Right, right, but you can indulge your old dad a bit, can't you?" he said as he opened the door.
Deathdark Grimmer glared at the intruder and used her magic to toss a book at him.
"Dad! Privacy!"
Mr. Glimmer magically caught the book with practiced ease, turning down the music with his hoof in practically the same motion.
"Now what's all this about? You didn't used to mind," he said.
"I'm not a foal anymore! I'm a grown mare and I need my privacy!" the teen protested, stomping her hoof indignantly.
"Oh now, you know you'll always be my little filly," her dad said with a smile as he replaced the book on its shelf. "Now, why was I up here...? Oh, right, your report card came in."
Mr. Glimmer held up the report card showing all A+'s with his magic with a grin. "That's my brilliant filly! What say we get ice cream to celebrate?"
"Geh! Stop embarassing me!" Deathdark Glimmer said, covering her face with her hooves. "And I don't DO ice cream anymore!" she said, putting down her hooves, "If I DO go out, it's after dark for black coffee!"
Mr. Glimmer's smile never wavered. "I don't want you out past curfew, so how about coffee flavored ice cream?"
Deathdark licked her lips in spite of herself. After a moment she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fiiiine, I suppose."
"That's my silly filly," Mr. Glimmer said, putting a hoof around his daughter's shoulder.
"Daaad!" she whined, shaking him off.
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"Starlight?" Sunburst said to his friend seated across form him in the train. He waved his hoof in front of her eyes, "You ok? I said, how DID you leave your old room?"
Starlight shook herself out of her reverie. "Oh, you know," she said nervously, attempting to wave her hoof dismissively, "Normal... teen stuff."
"I... see," Sunburst said. "Actually... no, I don't. I uhh... don't think I ever saw a filly's room as a teenager." He blushed slightly. Starlight did not notice.
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In the past, Deathdark Grimmer made a show of not enjoying her ice cream.
"Pumpkin cake, with grades like yours you could get into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns no problem. I still don't understand why you won't go," her dad asked as he did every report card.
Deathdark's feigned scowl suddenly became real. She stared at the spoonful of ice cream in front of her without really seeing it.
"Because it wouldn't be that different than here." She said the truthful part first. "I can learn more on my own than any school is going to teach me." Then the half-truth. "Besides, I don't want to leave my friends here." Lastly, the complete lie.
Mr. Glimmer was silent. On a previous occasion, he had pointed out that her old friend Sunburst went to Celestia's school, so she would have at least one friend there. Starlight had just scowled. He was not sure what happened between them, and he wished he could help, but he was flying blind. He had grown up without sisters, so he had next to no idea how to deal with a teenage filly. If only her mother were around, maybe she could have said something.
Starlight resumed eating her ice cream, but now she was stewing. She might learn some new things in Canterlot, sure, but there was no way they would teach her the sort of magic she really wanted to know, even if they could. But she was on the right track, she knew it. Soon she would be old enough to leave home. Then... well, then she might just be able to find what she needed to finish her spell.
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"It's... nothing special," Starlight said, casting about to change the subject, "What about yours? Or, maybe your room at the academy if we're talking the same time. Rows of books and scrolls?"
"Ummm..." Sunburst said, thinking back.
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Years earlier, Sunburst waved a wand around in his room, a fake scar on his head and a fake cutie mark of a circle inscribed in a bisected square taped to his flank. On his walls were scrolls showing crests depicting a raven, a snake, a griffon, and a badger.
"Beware, Lord Moldy Wart! I, the great Hairy Potter shall defeat you!"
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"Yeah, pretty much," Sunburst said in the present, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Heh heh heh."
Starlight giggled, "That bad, huh?"
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Years before, Sunburst stopped his actging and looked at his report cardg. No surprises: D, D-, F, D+, F. He was hanging on by a thread. One more semester like this and he'd flunk out. Sunburst sighed.
"I bet Starlight isn't having any trouble," he said to himself. He propped his forehooves on the windowsill of his dorm room and stared out at the sunset.
"Someone like her? Probably top of her class and the most popular filly in school," he said wistfully, "Maybe she's even met a great stallion and they're planning their future together.
Sunburst continued to stare out the window until the sun had vanished completely. With another sigh, he left the window and walked to the center of the room. He looked longingly at the pile of books in the corner, but began to practice his magic for the next day. Long experience kept his heart from being in it, but he kept trying futily until he could not stay awake any longer.
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In the present, Sunburst laughed. "Yeah, it was... something. Tell you what, you show me your old room next time we visit, and I'll see if I can replicate mine."
"It's a date!" Starlight said brightly. They smiled at one another for a moment, then realized what she had said. They both looked away and blushed.