Starlight Glimmer Regrets Her Mistakes

by MagicS

It's Still Making Things Better

“Of course you know her. She’s Starlight Glimmer. Student of Twilight Sparkle, the one who-” Tempest Shadow said to Iron Will before he cut her off.

“Not just like that. I mean I know her. I’ve met her before,” Iron Will said.

“That’s impossible. I already imprisoned her in Tartarus before you would’ve ever seen her,” Tempest frowned. “That dragon too for that matter.”

“Uh, excuse me?” Starlight smiled awkwardly and raised her hoof. “Iron Will is right. We’ve met before.”

“That’s right!” Iron Will smirked and leaped over his desk, loudly jumping onto the floor in front of Tempest’s desk. “Iron Will is certain of it—you’re the mare he met ages ago back in Canterlot! The one who gave him such great advice! I had no idea you were Starlight Glimmer.”

“Wait a minute-” Tempest shook her head. “The mare you told me about? The one who inspired you to write the book I found and started all this?”

Spike glanced up at Starlight with an unamused look on his face. She could only chuckle nervously and shrug in response.

“That’s her for sure!” Iron Will folded his arms over his chest and nodded.

“But how… why… shouldn’t she have known or said something?” Tempest Shadow was thoroughly confused.

“I might be able to shed some light on this whole situation,” Starlight Glimmer gently broached. “You see I’m not the Starlight Glimmer. I’m a Starlight Glimmer.”

Tempest Shadow narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “And what exactly does that mean?”

“I’m from a different world. Years ago—to you and Iron Will—I came here and met him. Now I’m back because uhh… things are a little too chaotic and it’s messing up our world and every other world right now. Time and space collapsing and all that. So I’m traveling around trying to make things more harmonic in all the various timelines and stuff,” Starlight explained.

“And I’m supposed to believe that nonsense?” Tempest Shadow snorted.

“It’s true. Really,” Spike interjected.

“And she’s definitely the mare I met all those years ago,” Iron Will nodded in agreement.

Tempest frowned at the three of them, but seemed to at least consider what she heard as well. “So even if that’s true… what do you mean by try to make things more harmonic? And there’s nothing chaotic about this world. The opposite for that matter. I’ve made this a better Equestria than ever before!”

“How exactly?” Starlight said as she looked between her and Iron Will. “Pardon me for asking but how did you take over Equestria? Back in our world things are… really, really, different.”

“Heh. Since apparently you had a lot to do with it—and seemingly I owe you because of that—I’ll tell you,” Tempest smirked and sat back down.

“Years ago now I was working for the Storm King after leaving Equestria thanks to becoming disillusioned with it. For a while I thought about getting revenge on the hypocritical, selfish, ponies and also restoring my horn and I thought that the Storm King could grant me those things. Then I came across a popular book that had been making its way across the continent. A self-help book written by a certain Minotaur,” Tempest smiled over at Iron Will, who proudly puffed out his chest. “That book changed my life! I realized I couldn’t be living like a follower anymore, that I shouldn’t be passive in what I wanted, or let myself get pushed or ordered around by someone else again. I had to take life by the horns!” She said as Starlight and Spike quickly glanced at her broken horn. “Instead of just blindly assuming I’d get what I wanted I needed to take action and not let myself be manipulated. Especially by someone as incompetent and silly as the Storm King was. I was already doing most of the tough stuff for him anyways.” Tempest Shadow chuckled and lifted up something from behind her chair. “So I defeated him and took this!”

She lifted up the Staff of Sacanas for them all to see, Starlight and Spike gulping and sharing a worried glance before trying to act normal.

“And now that I had the Staff I could do anything I wanted!” Tempest took a lingering look up at it, smiling. She turned around a few times and looked over at Starlight and Spike. “But Iron Will’s book helped me with something else at the same time. It taught me positive mental attitude. It taught me how to deal with my anger and put it towards something constructive. I wasn’t going to just take petty revenge on Equestria. I was going to change Equestria so no one would ever have to take revenge again. Petrifying the Princesses and taking their powers with the Staff allowed me to take control of Equestria since now I’m the only one who can raise the sun and the moon. And with that I’ve been able to shape things to my will ever since—and now I’ve created a better Equestria. One where no one will ever be bullied or mistreated again!”

As she finished her speech she smiled broadly at Starlight and Spike. Spike was doing his best to not make any “She’s crazy” motions to Starlight while Starlight just rubbed her chin in thought.

“You know, the old me would’ve loved this,” Starlight said. “But anyways—you’ve made a better Equestria, huh? But it sounds like a lot had to be given up for that to happen.”

“So a few holier-than-thou Princesses got turned to stone?” Tempest shrugged. “Nothing less than they deserved? And some troublesome ponies got imprisoned—it needed to happen. And some rich jerks in Canterlot can’t do whatever they want whenever they want anymore? Big. Deal. No little filly is ever going to lose her place or her friends anymore with how I’ve changed things. That’s worth it in my book. And I’m the one who took charge—I’m the one with the right to shape things to my will.”

“Mhm. She really liked my book,” Iron Will said, giving Tempest a thumb’s up.

“And that’s why once I was done conquering Equestria I found Iron Will and brought him here to show him my gratitude. Together we’ve been working on policy and sending self-help advice to ponies across the country! And I’m planning to send his books and writings to every corner of the world soon—that’s what these special autographed copies are for,” Tempest said and pointed to his desk. “I think everyone will be happier if they’ve read Iron Will’s books.”

Starlight coughed. “Well… it’s nice that the two of you have become such close friends.”

“That’s not the word I would use,” Spike shook his head.

Tempest Shadow merely chuckled. “Well there you have it. Apparently thanks to you the two of us were inspired to make this happen. I guess I should be appreciative, my time-traveling friend.”

Starlight frowned. “I really don’t think I can be blamed for this. This is crazy, no one could have ever expected something like this to happen from me talking to Iron Will. Right, Spike?”

“I mean… yeah. But could you have expected the world to end from you stopping Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom?” Spike raised an eyebrow at her.

“I-” Starlight stopped mid-breath. “No comment.”

“So what exactly is your goal here now? There’s nothing for you to do. I bet this Equestria is far friendlier than the one you come from,” Tempest smirked.

“No. It’s not. And you may be happy here right now, but it’s not true happiness. You still haven’t let go of all that hate and negative feelings you’ve had inside you since you were a filly. I’ll admit I don’t know the Tempest from my world half as well as Twilight—but she’s a better mare than you,” Starlight said. “You’re not evil—just misguided—but you’ve done some evil things and you’ve petrified some of the nicest, kindest, ponies in the entire world. If you wanted to make Equestria better you should’ve talked to Twilight first instead of just forcing this on everyone. But you didn’t even give her a chance, did you?” Starlight snorted. “Don’t answer, I already know. You’re bullheaded the same way I was.”

“Excuse me,” Iron Will glared at her.

“Er—didn’t mean it like that. Sorry,” Starlight waved her hooves.

“Thank you,” Iron Will tilted up his chin.

“Anyways—this place only has the facade of friendship. You’re forcing ponies to be nice and not bully others instead of teaching them why they shouldn’t and getting them to really understand each other,” Starlight said.

Tempest rolled her eyes. “Oh like you know any better.”

“Actually, she’s the headmistress of a school that teaches friendship now,” Spike interjected.

“That’s a thing?” Tempest frowned.

“Yep!” Starlight smugly grinned and puffed out her chest.

Tempest growled in annoyance at the sheer defiance and disagreement the two outsiders were showing her. She stood up and angrily waved the Staff of Sacanas at them. “Whatever! This is my world and the Equestria I’ve made is still better than how it was before! Neither of you have anything to do with me or my world, so get out of here!”

“Sorry but we can’t exactly do that,” Starlight shook her head.

“A lot more than just your Equestria is riding on this,” Spike nodded. “And…” He frowned and stood up straighter, staring confidently at Tempest. “There’s no way I’d let Twilight stay petrified like this, even if she’s not my Twilight.”

“That’s right. The petrified Princesses are still here in the castle, aren’t they? Please, return their power with the Staff and change them back to normal. I’ll make sure they give you a chance and don’t just lock you up,” Starlight said.

“Absolutely not,” Tempest jumped over her desk, Staff levitating beside her. “I won’t let Equestria return to the way it was. I’ve erased any reason for ponies to be unhappy! In a few years they’ll all be used to it! This Staff is the key to maintaining everything—if the Princesses were awakened it wouldn’t just be that my work is undone, it would be impossible for it to ever happen again. Ponies treat each other better here. Who cares if it’s forced or if they don’t really like each other? It’s better!”

Starlight sighed and looked down at Spike, giving him a questioning gaze.

He seemed to think about something for a moment before shrugging.

“Well, let it be known that I tried,” Starlight shrugged back.

“And what does that mea-” before Tempest could finish her sentence she was blasted in the face by a powerful magical laser from Starlight that sent her careening backwards into her desk—demolishing it and all the scrolls and papers around it.

“Tempest!” Iron Will shouted in shock.

The Staff of Sacanas meanwhile went spinning into the air and started falling to the ground—right before it was grabbed by Spike. Flapping his wings he sighed in relief and dove back down to Starlight.

“Okay—next move,” Starlight grabbed Spike and the two of them once more teleported away.

Right as they both heard a massive yell from the destroyed desk along with a fireworks display of sparking blue magic.

“GUAAAAAARDS!”

---

Starlight hadn’t been thinking of any place in particular inside the castle when she made her little jump. That was why they ended up the kitchen. Spike again teetered about for a bit and was slightly green in the face before he got over it. He looked up at the Staff and all the power it contained in it before shooting a look at Starlight.

“Now what?” Spike asked.

“We’re not going to have a lot of time before the entire castle is swarmed by all the guards. And fighting them and Tempest together will cause too much chaos, we still need to avoid that. So we’re going to fix this problem at the source. We’re taking this Staff to the Princesses and giving them their magic back. Returning them to normal and destroying the Staff should fix nearly everything here in the short term,” Starlight said.

Spike nodded. “Works for me.”

“I need your help a bit though, Spike.”

“What do you need?”

Starlight grinned sheepishly. “I have no idea where the Princesses actually are right now.”

“Oh,” Spike blinked. “Yeah that’s an issue.”

“I wasn’t able to help out or do anything when the Storm King invaded Equestria in our world. I only know what happened thanks to you and Twilight telling me all about it. Where were the petrified Princesses actually held? I know it’s somewhere in the castle but I have no idea where.”

“Don’t worry, I remember where they were taken and how it went down. I bet this Tempest has them in the same spot!”

“Then show me the way, we need to move as fast as we can!”

A second later a swiftly flying dragon and a sprinting unicorn came running out of Canterlot Castle’s kitchen, heading up to one of the many tall towers that loomed over the capitol of Equestria. The Staff of Sacanas and all the Alicorn magic it contained was held in Starlight’s telekinetic grip as she followed behind Spike. It didn’t take long before the rumbling of guards, summoned by Tempest, began to shake the castle. The only good thing right now was that Tempest shouldn’t have any idea where Starlight teleported.

The bad thing was that she probably knew where Starlight planned to go.

They had to get through the castle real fast before Tempest could block them off. Starlight didn’t want to hurt any innocent guards, she didn’t want to damage the castle, or potentially put the Princesses in danger. Though things weren’t solved completely with friendship she could do her best to make sure there wasn’t any unnecessary violence.

That was why when the two of them went speeding up a flight of stairs, Starlight blocked each entrance at every level in the castle with a hastily erected barrier of crystals. She could still keep them from getting swarmed like this. She kept that up at each intersection and hallway they passed through as well—anything that could buy them some time and keep Tempest off their tails. It wouldn’t stop pegasi guards from coming in from the outside and higher levels of the castle but Starlight doubted they were that organized yet.

“Spike I really hope you’re remembering right!” Starlight said as they zoomed up into the supposed tower.

“Yes! I’m telling you the room where they were all held is just up ahead!” Spike answered.

“I guess I wish I knew the castle as well as Twilight does...” Starlight murmured.

A minute later they were running towards a set of closed doors—and even from out here the two of them felt an ominous sensation pouring from the room behind them. Starlight and Spike rushed faster, with Starlight preemptively using her magic to grasp the doors and pull them open. The lock that had been switched to keep them closed shattered under her magic. Once she and Spike skidded through the doorway she threw up another wall of crystals that blocked the room off from the hallway. Hopefully buying them just enough time.

The rumbling from behind them was getting stronger.

But they now paid no mind to that. The circular room in front of them held what they were looking for.

It was sad, and even a little scary, to see the Princesses like this. The four of them, petrified and arrayed at the cardinal directions, would Tempest have kept them like this forever?

“Twilight...” Spike whispered in sorrow. So what if it wasn’t his Twilight? It still hurt.

“Celestia… Luna… Cadance… ugh, this is all so wrong. I can’t imagine how their friends and families are hurting in this world,” Starlight said.

“Well that’s why we’re going to fix this right now!” Spike said and grabbed the Staff of Sacanas from Starlight. “Come on—I’m putting it right in the center and you just unleash the magic from it and turn them back to normal.”

Starlight smirked. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

Together they went right into the middle of the room, all the frozen statues staring at them in the center, and Spike slammed down the Staff of Sacanas while Starlight activated its power with her magic. Just outside the room the entire hallway was shaking. But that was secondary. Starlight’s turquoise magic enveloped the entire Staff, lighting it up and drawing forth the magic within.

She was actually kind of just winging it right now. Willing her magic and the Staff to do what she wanted. But Starlight was nothing if not gifted when it came to magic—a true natural.

The stolen Alicorn magic was drawn out from the Staff and naturally flowed in four different sparkling beams back to the ponies it came from, the display so bright both Spike and Starlight had to close their eyes briefly. When they opened them back up the Staff was left devoid of magic and the statues of the Princesses were bathed in a magical rainbow glow. The magic stayed wrapped around their frozen bodies, glowing brighter and brighter while Starlight and Spike looked on in anticipation. Finally the magic seemed to seep into the statues and their petrified bodies started to change, the stone skin vanishing like a watercolor painting.

In just a moment the four Princesses were standing like normal again, rescued from their petrified state. They looked dazed, tired, and befuddled, but they were okay.

“Twilight!” Starlight and Spike yelled together and ran to hug the Princess of Friendship. More for her own sake than theirs.

The purple Alicorn was rocked back on her hooves by the two of them but the hug at least seemed to bring her to her senses. “S-Starlight? Spike?” She looked around at the other recovering Princesses and the Staff of Sacanas. “Did you rescue us?”

Starlight smirked. “Actually, you’re the one who still needs to rescue us in Tartarus.”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked in confusion.

“Sorry, don’t mean to confuse you or anything. In fact—let me just take care of this first,” Starlight said and turned around, blasting a powerful beam of magic at the Staff of Sacanas. The Staff was blown apart, reduced to splinters and smoking embers that littered the floor and shocked the other Princesses.

“What’s going on?” Celestia asked, her eyes still glassy.

“Not a lot of time to explain, Spike and I actually have to be going now. I know the four of you can fix things from here,” Starlight said and smiled again at Twilight. “Also, go easy on Tempest. Make sure you give her a second chance just like you gave me.”

“I’m… very confused right now but I promise I will,” this world’s Twilight Sparkle said.

“Great! Come on, Spike! We’ve got more work to do,” Starlight said and grabbed the dragon, pulling him past the Princesses towards the back of the room.

Right after that, the crystals blocking off the room exploded and revealed an angry Tempest Shadow with an army of guards behind her. However—there was now a big problem for her. She was faced with four just as angry Alicorn Princesses, now all standing together and staring her down. Tempest’s eyes widened and her angry frown turned to nervous pursed lips. Meanwhile, the guards also noticed this big change. Their beloved Alicorn Princesses were no longer stone statues, no longer held hostage and helpless. And thus they had absolutely no reason to listen to or side with a certain usurper anymore.

The guards, pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies alike, slowly turned their attention towards Tempest Shadow. None of them were smiling any longer.

Tempest gulped. “Okay—let’s talk this out...”

And while that happened and everyone else was occupied, Starlight reached her hoof into Spike’s bag and yanked out the Discord flute.

Discord blinked as if slowly waking up. “Ah, is it time to-”

“PORTAL, PORTAL, PORTAL!” Starlight frantically shook him up and down.

His eyes spinning around in their sockets, Discord snapped his fingers and created another glowing blue circle that Starlight and Spiked quickly jumped into.

Comments

[RoboRed]

That frantic wake-up call, lmao.

[redmar]

Tempest is ging to learn the hard way that her methods didn't work. Well as hard as Twilight is willing to be which isn't very.