Twilight and Starlight went around Ponyville and allowed Starlight's new subjects to get a good look at her. They weren't conceited or boastful about the affair, but that didn't mean that Starlight didn't furl and unfurl her new wings as much as possible. She was so excited to be in her new position and she talked the ears off of everypony they came across.

Soon, even Twilight was getting a little annoyed with her constant conversations, so she pulled her aside. "OK," she said, "princess lesson #1: be sociable, but know when to restrain yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, princesses have to talk to all kinds of ponies, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So that means that you need to save your voice a bit. You're talking with everypony!"

"But I'm so excited, Twi. I mean, I'm a princess now! It doesn't happen to everyone."

"I know, and believe me, no one is happier for you than I am. But slow down a bit, OK? You're making the ponies here a little nervous."

Starlight looked around and realized that her sister was right. Nopony was approaching them. At first, they had all been amazed and ecstatic that there was a new princess in Equestria. Now, they all went about their business, casually avoiding the two royal mares. Starlight looked upset by all this. "Hey! I'm a princess now. Doesn't that mean they should be…you know…bowing and stuff like that?"

"Only in formal situations is bowing required by law," Twilight said, "in these informal times, we're seen as their friends. If we were Celestia or Luna, things would be different because they actually rule the country."

"So, then…our princess title is merely a formality?"

Twilight nodded. "Basically," she said, "it's nice to have it, but we really don't make laws or anything like that. However, we do have a shared piece of authority in the land, and we can arrest, judge, and imprison ponies or other creatures if need be. It says so in the Equestrian Constitution. We also rule Ponyville."

"Wait…we rule Ponyville? What about Mayor Mare?"

"When I became a princess and was placed in charge of both Ponyville and friendship, Celestia ordered Mayor Mare to submit all of her new laws and ideas to me for review and approval."

"So…do I get to help with that?"

"Yep! Luckily, we hardly ever have to make new laws because Ponyville is the friendliest and happiest town in Equestria! Nopony breaks the law…except for evil outsiders like Sharpshooter or Tulip or whatever her name was."

Starlight looked down a bit. She couldn't help it, but a part of her had wanted to be placed in charge of something important. Being "The Princess of Guidance" was all well and good, but she wanted a town to rule like Twilight. I would think a new princess would be given something more than the job of a glorified guidance counselor, she thought selfishly.

Then she stopped and realized what she was doing. She was turning back into the dictator that had ruthlessly ruled over an innocent village with an iron hoof. She was becoming selfish and mean spirited once again. She immediately turned and threw her hooves around her sister and sobbed.

"Oh, Twilight…" she choked out, "I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, hey! It's OK," Twilight said as she tried to console her grieving sibling. "You don't have anything to be sorry about!"

"Yes, I do!" Starlight said as she backed away from her sister, "I don't deserve this princess title. I don't deserve to be on the same level as you or Cadance or Celestia or Luna. I'm an awful, awful pony!"

"You are NOT an awful pony!" Twilight said firmly.

"Yes, I am! All I've been thinking of since I got these wings has been myself. I wanted another town to rule over. I wanted more ponies to be under my dominion! I was turning back into the old me!"

Twilight grabbed her sister and shook her. "Starlight, listen! You are not that pony anymore! We talked about this. You've gotta snap out of it!" Starlight shook her head a bit and cleared away the mental cobwebs before looking back at Twilight. "Starlight," Twilight said softly, "you are an amazing pony, and you'll make an amazing princess. But even princesses make mistakes. It's good that you caught yourself and stopped yourself from thinking that way. But you can't burst into tears every time you do something wrong."

She put a comforting hoof on her sister's shoulder, and smiled. "If I burst into tears every time I did something wrong, there'd be a river flowing through the middle of town!"

This earned a laugh from Starlight, who promptly embraced her sibling. "Thanks, Twi. I needed to hear that. I guess I just need to start learning from my past and applying it when necessary."

Twilight nodded. "Exactly. See, you're making a fine princess already. Come on. Let's head back to the castle. I have a feeling that your nieces are gonna want to see their new princess aunt."

Starlight grinned and nodded in excitement. They turned their tails around and headed for the Castle of Friendship. On the way back, Starlight had the opportunity to do some thinking. I really do need to learn from my past. But…how? I mean, my past is so undeniably dark and evil. I took the very thing that makes a pony special and turned it into common household waste. I made everypony equal, here she stopped and shuddered, but I also made everypony miserable.

Her tail and mane began drooping as they walked along. Twilight took notice of this. "Everything OK, Starlight?"

"No," Starlight said, "look, I'm not gonna fly into hysterics or anything, but…I'm not sure how to learn from my past and use it in my new position."

"You already have," Twilight said

"I have?"

"Yeah. By recognizing that the way you were thinking back there was selfish and returning to the benevolence demanded of a princess, you learned from it. Heck, by becoming The Princess of Guidance at all, you've learned from it. That shows that you're willing to help anypony who comes to you, and that cutie marks are irrelevant in that regard."

Starlight smiled as they made their way across the bridge to the castle. "What did I ever do to deserve a sister and best friend like you, Twi?"

"It's not a matter of deserving, Starlight," Twilight said as she smiled back, "it's a matter of my love for you and your love for me. That's what being sisters is all about."

They trotted up to the front door and Starlight was in a much better frame of mind. But as they opened it and prepared to enter, something caught Twilight's eye. "Hm…what's this?" She asked out loud as she used her magic to pick it up. It was a piece of paper. Both princesses looked at it and their mouths fell open. It was a note and it read: "Beware the return of darkness. The Summer Sun Celebration shall be Equestria's final hour."