//------------------------------// // Prologue II.V: Graduation? // Story: The Little Pony Legend: The Redeemers // by eric-emanwu //------------------------------// Prologue II.V: Graduation? Next thing Starlight knew, she was back in the library room. She shook her head, only then to feel something on her head. She reached up and felt…”My horn!” Then she remembered what was going on. “The Ceremony!!” Quickly she galloped through the halls of the castle. Eventually she screeched to a halt in front of the grand doors the ceremony was being held in, and briskly making her way in. Much to her embarrassment, she saw that she was walking through a crowded hall that was just about ready to begin. And at the end of the hall, there was everyone she knew. Discord, Thorax, Trixie, the Spirit Triplets, and of course, P’Li. And right next to them were all the princesses. Not just Celestia and Luna, but also Cadance, Twilight, Queen Leilani, and the Princess Avatar Korra herself. Not wanting the stares on her for too long, Starlight quickly made her way toward the front. “There you are!” called a very familiar voice to Starlight. “The esteemed Trixie was afraid her best friend wouldn’t be at her own award ceremony.” Starlight finally skidded to a halt on the platform. “Well, I’m here now. And we can get things going.” “Indeed we can” spoke Queen Leilani. “So, let us begin.” She then turned to look at the assembled ponies and humans. “People of the nations, we are here to celebrate the accomplishments of these brave heroes and all they have done for Equestria.” “GO DISCORD!” cheered someone in the crowd. Starlight turned her head, only to chuckle. Discord was there doing this for himself. Queen Leilani then looked at everyone standing there, first turning to the Changeling King at the end of the line. “Thorax, though you are a fellow royal, you will always have a place in our nation. Along with your medal of friendship, I hereby decree you an honorary citizen of Equestria. Should anything bad happen to you, you can always find a safe haven with us.” Thorax nodded his head. “Thank you your majesty.” “Trixie Lulamoon, though you may seem an ordinary stage pony, you have proven to have the cunning of the best of us. With bravery of lions and a heart of a hero. Along with this medal of friendship, I hereby decree that you shall have one royal performance per year to help you get by in your travels.” Trixie’s eyes almost bugged out. “A royal performance at Canterlot???” She nearly tipped over, before catching herself. “Trixie is most honored your magnanimous majesty.” Leilani gave a slight chuckle at that before turning to the odd spirit out. “Discord, you’ve really come a long way, haven’t you?” Discord somehow managed to inflate his chest at that, and eagerly awaited the medal being hung on his neck. “There’s...one other thing we’d like to offer you. Despite the reservations of some of the triumvirate of Equestria, we would like to offer you THIS!” And at that, Leilani’s horn lit up, shining a light to a mirror on the ceiling, eventually resulting in it shining on… Discord gave a gasp. “No! You didn’t!” Leilani gave a gentle smile at that. “Yes Discord. Custom made in the Crystal Empire. Enchanted to be adjusted to your sense of gravity. You may take this throne of friendship to your own realm as proof of your good standing with Equestria.” Discord suddenly gave a little squeal that NOBODY was expecting. “Yes! I made it! I made it! In your face Tirek!” Leilani shook her head in slight disbelief, before looking at the small spirit trio floating in front of her. “Mika, Ali, San, there is nothing that I can give that your parents Princess Avatar Korra and Mako can’t already provide. But, there is something I’d like to promise you three. If you ever feel a need to travel anywhere in Equestria alone, I promise to personally escort you wherever you plan to go.” The three spirits gave a small squeak, before flying around Leilani’s head. “Royal Escort Trip! Yay!” Then flew back to the others. Leilani then turned her head towards P’Li. Something akin to sadness briefly passed over her face for just a second, before speaking again. “P’Li, as you are a ward of the Air Nations, you will always find reasons to travel, so I offer you what I offered Thorax. You are now an honorary member of Equestria, and may find sanctuary here in the future as needed.” P’Li also had a look of disappointment that briefly came over her face at hearing this. Something Starlight felt a bit caught off guard over when she noticed it. But then it was gone, and P’Li merely nodded and said, “Thank you Leilani.” And finally, Leilani turned to look at Starlight. “Starlight Glimmer, we are all very proud of your progress. I would give you so much more as thanks for your help in saving me and my daughters, but Princess Twilight will give you your special award in private.” Celestia then stepped up. “Alright ladies. Let’s hang these medals!” The princesses present all levitated the medals up to be placed on necks. Celestia first placed a medal on Discord, who kindly disconnected his head to get it on. Which drew a cringe from the audience. Starlight got her medal from Twilight, while Trixie got her medal from Princess Cadance. Korra gently draped a medal over P’li’s head, and Leilani took 3 small custom medals to place on the spirits. And finally, Thorax got his medal from Luna. Or, she tried to, but ran into a problem getting the medal over his horns. “Unnngghh” Luna strained, trying to push the medal down. Pinkie Pie meanwhile watched with fascination at Luna’s struggle. “Yeah! Oh. Uh, no. Not quite. Uh... all right. There it is!” Finally, Thorax gave a slight sigh, and briefly shapeshifted so that he was in a slightly smaller version of himself. One that Luna easily placed the medal over, and Thorax gratefully shifted back to his full form afterwards. Luna gave an uneasy laugh at that, before straightening herself again. Then she turned to the assembled people and ponies, and proclaimed, “I give you the heroes of Equestria!” A cheer of joy came up from the crowd. Small bits of magic flared into the air, and all the beings then began to disperse for the afterparty. Starlight gave a content sigh. She felt so much lighter. For just a second she looked up at the sun shining through, and saw what looked like a white butterfly, fluttering out of the sunbeam. What the..is that..? But then Starlight remembered herself, lightly shook her head, then made her way down the stairs to the main party. It was at that moment though that Princess Twilight approached her. “So, did you have a good time in the mirror world?” Starlight beamed. “Yes. It was a wonderful time in there. Great to get to see more of the worlds we know. Actually, is there any chance I might get to go back there sometime?” That seemed to cause Twilight some discomfort, but she held Starlight’s gaze with unusual seriousness. “Actually, I want to talk with you about your current arrangements. Starlight Glimmer, I’ve been thinking about your friendship training.” “Yes?” “Well, I was running a few simulations from the Friendship Map with Tenzin and Princess Celestia, thinking about where I might send you for a study assignment in friendship. You know, to break up your time spent with us. Maybe even lead a few airbenders there for a change. I thought about sending you to live among Thorax’s people, taking time with Ember’s dragons, or sending you to work in the Crystal Empire alongside Sunburst’s father. But, I got worried that wherever I sent you, there’d be disaster following in your wake.” Starlight couldn’t help but feel a little offended at the remark. “Hey, I haven’t done that bad since I became an airbender!” Twilight gave an embarrassed laugh. “Okay I admit, your airbender discipline did give those two easy material to reign me back in. But the truth is, I was afraid of letting you go.” Twilight teared up slightly. “I was going to miss you. But after talking with them both, I realized I need to make the best decision for you rather than for me. So, after talking with them and President Raiko, I’d like to offer you something Starlight.” Starlight suddenly got very curious what Twilight wanted to talk with her “bosses” about. “What?” “Starlight, I’d like to offer you a full absolution of your crimes in the past. You don’t have to stay an Airbender, or my student, or anything. You’ll be free to do whatever you like. Go wherever you want. Nobody and nopony will need to stop you anymore. You...you’ve learned all you need to know about friendship. You’re graduated from me, and from Tenzin.” Twilight shed a tear. “Thanks..for all the memories.” Then Twilight turned around and began to walk off. Starlight barely could make herself think. “I’m free! I’m forgiven! I can run wherever I want, live how I want to live. I’ll be able to…to..wait.” “WAIT!” Twilight turned around to look at Starlight, who looked at once both certain and terrified. “Twilight, I can’t leave here yet! I have…so many people and ponies here that I’m friends with. I have a life waiting to travel the world helping others. I have a coltfriend for crying out loud!” Then she regained herself. “But more importantly, I’m not ready to accept that kind of freedom. I want to earn back the world’s trust. Not just have it handed to me.” Twilight gave a blink of surprise. “Are you sure?” Starlight then gave a smile. “I’m sure. Sure, I saved 4 nations. But from what you guys told me, I have at least 10 more to go before I’m truly square. I know I’m not ready to leave yet, but that doesn’t mean I won’t find my way to doing my own thing soon enough. After all, being an airbender troupe leader is going to be so much fun!” Twilight laughed a bit at this, wiping a tear with her hoof. “In that case…” And then to Starlight’s surprise, Twilight levitated a wrapped package up to her. “I was going to make this your ‘Thank you for saving us’ present, then I planned on making it your ‘going away’ present, but now I guess it’s your ‘Graduation’ present.” Starlight undid the wrapping, revealing a mirror frame with pictures of different...of her friends! There was Trixie, Thorax, Twilight, P’Li, Asami, the other elements of harmony. They were all here! Then her eyes scanned it all and she came to a realization. “Thank you Twilight, but I’m afraid this frame is incomplete.” Twilight looked like Starlight had just told her that Tirek had returned. “WHAT??” Starlight gave a small smile. “Oh it’s not your fault. It’s just, I want a picture of my new friend Sunset Shimmer on here too.” Twilight slowly let her fear fade into relief. “Oh, thank goodness. Of course. I’ll see if I can find a photo of her.” A few months later…. Starlight was studying in the library again. Part of her could hardly believe that Twilight had so many advanced books on spell theory along with a few psychology books on how to be a friend and a councilor to other ponies. “That pony needs to lighten up a bit,” Starlight mused. She also reflected that it was probably around time for Sunset to finish her high school graduation. And indeed, Starlight had managed several extra trips into the mirror world in the time between, but hadn’t been since Sunset and the mirror humans had gone on their graduation trip to Camp Everfree. “Has it really been so long? I wonder what Sunset ended up deciding for her life after high school?” Just then, she heard a noise from the center of the library. She looked up, and saw a sight that made her heart sing. The mirror was shimmering, the machinery around it was working hard, and all of a sudden, out popped...a yellowish unicorn with red and yellow hair. She looked like she had 2 large bags with her. Only a few seconds later, several boxes followed her in as well, falling splat around her. Starlight leaped up. “Sunny!” The unicorn had only just regained her bearings, but turned to the voice, suddenly lighting up with happiness. “Starry Eyes!” The 2 unicorns galloped toward each other, embracing in a hug. “You’re here! You came back!” Sunset gave a bittersweet smile. “And I’ll never have to leave for a long time.” Starlight raised an eyebrow at that, prompting Sunset to give a slight sigh. “I talked with the girls about what we were going to do after we all graduated, and eventually they came to...a hard conclusion with me. As much as I loved being around them and the technology of their world, they could see that I still missed the land of ponies and the magical adventures that come with it. So, they gave their blessing so that I could come back here and not worry about pretending to be less than I am.” Starlight gave a small laugh at that. “Sunset Shimmer, you’re a noble of virtue now. How is that not something high up?” Sunset still didn’t perk up from that. “But that doesn’t mean anything in their world. They could see that I needed to come home and apply myself to pony affairs again. Feel useful. Get involved in things way bigger than what they’re planning.” At this, Sunset raised a hoof to wipe a tear from her eyes. “But, I will miss those girls so much.” Starlight sympathetically placed a hoof on Sunset’s shoulder. “Hey. It’s not that you lost em. It’s how you choose to adapt to this change. They’re all chasing their dreams, so I think you should find yours too. And you’ll always find a way to talk with them. I’m sure of it.” Sunset gave a rueful smile at that. “Well, I did ‘accidentally’ leave my friendship journal with Glasses Twilight, so..that’ll work I suppose.” Then Sunset looked over at Starlight again. “And I’ll always have you my silly pony friend.” She gave Starlight a noogie on saying that, then she turned to look at everything that followed her through the portal. “Now give me a hand with all my stuff. I don’t know how proficient my multi-object telekinesis is at this point.” Starlight gave a sly grin at that. “Don’t you worry young mare. Together, we can get all this moved. I think there’s a spare bedroom on the 3rd floor if you want to stick around here for a bit.” Sometime later…. Starlight was strolling along Airbender island, when she spotted Mako hesitantly looking at something in his hands. “Mako? Why do you look so nervous?” Quickly Mako closed what looked like a small box. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” Starlight gave a piercing gaze. “Come on Mako. Don’t you trust me after all this time we spent together?” Mako stopped, then approached Starlight. “Starlight, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Can you keep it?” That caught her off guard, but only for a second. “Maybe? Uh, I mean, yes. Yes I can Mako. What is it?” Mako leaned in a whispered something in Starlight’s ear. Starlight felt her hair partially stand on end, then she felt woozy. Until at last she turned to Mako with a big grin and asked, “Really?” “Yeah. But you have to promise not to tell anyone about it. It’ll be much better as a surprise.” Starlight quickly did the signs. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Then she gave a small squeal. “I can’t believe I’m going to my first wedding soon!” ----------------------------- And as they say, the rest was history….or at least, that’s how we all thought it would be. Yeah, things got crazy when Princess Avatar Korra was poisoned by the Sirens and betrayed by her friend Kuvira. 6 months the world didn’t have an Avatar, but it always had the elements and the airbenders. Starlight even got some special time every week with Sunset Shimmer while she was in Republic City. Sunset got busy mastering firebending and taking some informal magic lessons from Princess Twilight. Not to mention studying business on the side for “light reading”. And then of course there was the whole giant magical platinum colossus crisis. But like all darkness, eventually light overcame it. And more importantly, the light never seemed to diminish after that. First there was the 3 weddings. Varrick and Zhu Li, Korra and Mako, Asami and Bolin. All of these pairs tied the knot together. This was followed by Princess Twilight’s Wedding, then Starlight’s own wedding. And of course, there was the babies. Some very special children were soon born: Princess Iris: the daughter of Korra and Mako, Young Hiro from Bolin and Asami, and Princess Akari: the daughter of Flash Sentry and Twilight. The hope for the future. But then a fateful decision to help an old friend forced the Princess Avatar to confront something she didn’t expect. And eventually led Sunset and Starlight into the next big adventure of their lives.