//------------------------------// // To heal a broken mind // Story: Nightmare Remnant // by Starlight Glimmer1 //------------------------------// Twilight appeared outside of a cave in the Everfree Forest. She entered the cave and found herself standing before the Tree of Harmony. The tree was the one that had given her the means to defeat Tirek as well as the castle she, Spike, and Starlight called home and with it, a way for her and her friends to spread friendship across Equestria. And now she was going to ask it to help her return Starlight to her normal self. Twilight had been studying a spell used by doctors to communicate with unconscious patients through a mental link. The effect didn’t last long and it had never been used for this sort of thing, but it was the best she had. “I hope this spell works.” Twilight’s horn lit up and a beam of magic shot at the tree. Twilight felt her mind come into contact with something, so she decided to call out with her thoughts. “Tree of Harmony, can you hear me?” The tree glowed briefly as it responded to her thoughts. Twilight gasped as she heard the tree in her mind. It was clear that the spell had worked and she would now be able to make her request. “I came here today to ask for something.” The Elements of Harmony each lit up one at a time as the tree gave its response. “Yes. I believe she’s earned it. And I think it will help her recover from her current condition.” The tree glowed softly for a moment before fading. “I’m glad you agree.” All six of the elements glowed with a blinding light for several seconds before fading as the tree used their magic to fulfill Twilight’s request. When the light faded it appeared as though nothing had happened, but Twilight knew that wasn’t the case. “Thank you. I am truly grateful for this and for everything else you’ve done as well.” Twilight prepared to leave but was stopped by another response from the tree. “Something that I need to know? What is it?” Rather than receiving a direct response from the tree, Twilight was instead shown a vision. She found herself standing in front of the castle. She looked around for anything out of the ordinary but found nothing. Then a bright light caught her attention and she turned to find it’s source. Sitting in front of the castle was a bright ball of light. Twilight could tell there was something at the center of the light but it was too bright for her to make out what it was. After a moment the light began to fade and Twilight could make out the shape of a pony standing in the center. Before Twilight could make out any distinguishing features, the vision ended and Twilight found herself standing in front of the tree as she had been before. Although the vision ended before Twilight could see the pony clearly she knew who it was and what the vision meant. “I understand.” The effects of the spell wore off and Twilight’s mental link with the tree disappeared. Twilight charged up her horn and teleported back to Starlight and Trixie. Starlight and Trixie were standing in an open field not far from the castle, their kites flying high above them. Trixie stood with a bored expression on her face, unable to find any enjoyment in the activity. “Why do you enjoy this so much?” “Something about watching the kites fly up high like this just interests me.” Starlight explained. ”I wonder where Twilight is. I didn’t think she’d take this long.” “After being dragged all over Ponyville, I’d expect you to be happy to have time away from her.” “Trixie, she only did that because she cares about me. I probably would’ve done something like that too, honestly.” “You care about her that much huh?” “Of course I do. She showed me what true friendship is and gave me a chance despite everything I did to her and everypony else. She’s done more for me than anypony else and I’ll always be grateful for it. The truth is, I’m-“ Before Starlight could say anything else, a blinding flash of light caught her attention. After several seconds the light died down and Starlight turned to see that the light had come from the Castle of Friendship. “What was that?” “I don’t know.” “Let’s go check it out.” The two pulled in their kites and immediately set off for the castle. Upon reaching the crystalline structure, Trixie and Starlight went inside to see what had happened. But before they could look around, another flash of light appeared as Twilight teleported in front of them. “There you are, Starlight. I looked for you at the field nearby, but when I didn’t find you there I thought maybe you came back here and here you are.” Twilight said in cheerful tone. “Um… Yeah. We came back here because we saw a really bright light come from here, and we figured we should find out what caused it.” Starlight said. “Oh, right. That was probably because of me. Sorry.” “Really? What did you do?” “I’ll show you.” Twilight’s horn lit up as she teleported both herself and Starlight to the throne room, leaving a slightly annoyed Trixie by herself. Once they appeared in the throne room Twilight immediately asked. “Notice anything different?” Starlight looked around the room for anything that changed but everything looked the same. Same tree chandelier, same magical map, same crystal thrones. Then she noticed it, each of the thrones had moved and sitting between Twilight’s throne and Applejack’s throne was a brand new throne. “A new throne?” Starlight approached it to take closer look. Twilight walked up next to Starlight. “Yep, I went to the Tree of Harmony and had a new throne added for you.” Starlight looked up and was surprised to see her cutie mark emblazoned on the throne’s back. “You really did this just for me?” “Yes, you’ve earned it. You’ve come so far since I first took you in as my student and you’ve shown that friendship is one of the most important things to you. Plus you’re the only one of us who’s been called by the map that doesn’t have her own throne.” Twilight put her hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “You’re one of my best friends, Starlight and I wanted to prove to you that you haven’t messed up as badly as you think. Everypony makes mistakes and that’s okay, the important thing is that we learn from them.” Starlight found herself tearing up at how much Twilight cared about her. “Twilight… I don’t know what to say. Thank you.” Starlight gave a genuinely happy smile for the first time in days. “There’s one more thing.” Twilight said in a somewhat more serious tone. “What is it?” “Starlight, in the time since you’ve started living here I’ve come to realize just how great a pony you really are. You’re great at magic, your heart is always in the right place, you’re always willing to help your friends, and lots of other things.” Twilight could feel her heart racing inside her chest and she could feel herself growing nervous but she kept her composure. “When I’m around you I feel something that I can’t explain.” Starlight simply looked at her friend incredulously and asked. “What are you saying?” “Starlight… I love you.” Twilight leaned in and kissed Starlight. To her surprise, Starlight didn’t try to stop her or end the kiss prematurely, rather she seemed to welcome it. After a few moments she ended the kiss and looked away, fearful of Starlight’s response. “Wow. I knew you cared about me, but I didn’t think you felt that way.” “I didn’t realize it myself until earlier today, but I do. It’s fine if you don’t feel the same way. I just want you to know that—“ Twilight felt a pair of forelegs wrap around her as Starlight pulled her into an unexpected hug. “Twilight… I love you too.” Caught off guard by Starlight’s statement Twilight simply asked. “You do?” Starlight let go of Twilight and nodded. “I’ve been in love with you for a long time, but I never said anything because I was afraid you didn’t feel the same way. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to leave after I graduated, because I didn’t want to leave you.” “That explains why you always wanted to spend so much time with me.” Starlight’s face turned a deep shade of red and she gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah. I’m surprised you never asked about that actually.” “I didn’t really think anything of it.” “So does this mean you’ll be my special somepony?” “Of course it does. And listen, I’m sorry I put you under so much stress while you were in Canterlot. I just wanted to make sure you did okay an—” Before Twilight could finish, a pinkish-purple hoof was planted on her mouth. Starlight giggled and said. “It’s okay, Twilight. I forgive you.” The two once again locked lips for what felt like an eternity. During the new couple’s embrace, the throne room doors opened revealing the Mane 5, Spike, and Trixie standing on the other side. The group stared at Twilight and Starlight for a few moments before Applejack broke the silence. “What the hay is going on here?” Pinkie Pie randomly popped up next to Twilight and Starlight, who had stopped kissing by this point. “Are you having a kissing party? I wanna join!” Pinkie then grabbed Rainbow Dash and pulled her into a passionate kiss despite the mare’s protest. Rainbow Dash attempted to pry herself away from Pinkie but she had a tight hold on her. Eventually Rainbow Dash managed to break free from the party pony’s grasp and immediately flew up out of her reach. ”Ack! Pinkie!” She said as she began wiping her mouth. “What? Twilight and Starlight were doing it.” “Pinkie Pie, darling, I’m certain Twilight and Starlight’s display of affection was for an entirely different reason.” Rarity said as she sat down in her throne. “Yeah, what was up with that anyway? And why is there a throne with Starlight’s cutie mark?” Rainbow Dash asked as she and the others also sat in their thrones, except for Trixie who’s lack of a throne forced her to stand. “Looks like we better tell them huh?” Twilight asked her new marefriend as she approached her own throne. “Yeah, we should.” Starlight replied as she sat in her throne for the first time. Although she had sat in one of the thrones before she hadn’t paid attention to what it felt like until now and was surprised at how comfortable it was to sit in despite being made of crystal. “This throne is more comfortable than I expected.” “Then let’s start by telling them about us.” Twilight looked into Starlight’s eyes and saw that the cheerful spark had returned. It was at that moment that Twilight knew that Starlight was back to her normal self.