"Doob-be-doo, Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beauteous day, my daughter has been returned to me, and she'll be here to ssttaayy." Having just awoken from her usual extended Saturday snooze and further bolstered by the long-awaited return of her absent progeny, it was safe to say Starlight Glimmer was in rather an upbeat mood.
The fact she was singing off key and dancing around like a loon didn't bother her at all, as all sorts of wonderful plans for the future came brimming into her head about the shared activities they could do together: First of all, I'll take her to see my old village, who knows how Double Diamond will react when he finds out about his lost child. Then, we'll have a nice day out with Trixie, maybe take along some cinnamon nuts for the ride. Afterwards, we'll visit the new peaceful Changeling kingdom, do some fruit painting, and...
"Ahem!" Starlight's joyous frolicking was suddenly cut short by the unexpected arrival of her mentor, who'd somehow managed to sneakily open and close her pupil's bedroom door undetected and observe the unicorn's flamboyant display for a number of minutes with wry amusement.
Deciding that enough was enough though, Twilight had taken it upon herself to inform her student of the alicorn's presence... which sadly came in the middle of an improvised pirouette by the prancing pony in front of her.
Oof. Down went Starlight, landing flat on her back as her amazingly professional choreography finally came to a rather anti-climatic denouement. She stared listlessly up at herself in the reflective ceiling for a moment, before the royal cause of her undignified tumble hovered over her with a sheepish grin.
"Sorry to disturb your, um, 'exercises'..." Twilight hauled up Starlight with her hooves, thinking that using her magic in this delicately poised situation would be a little too impersonal. "...But I have a few things I'd like to discuss with you before you go downstairs this morning, if it's not too much trouble."
"I-I was just rehearsing the ritual for a new spell I'm working on." Starlight explained none-too-convincingly, while attempting to compose herself as best she could. "F-First of all, you bend like this, then you twist like this, before shaking it all about... S-Sunburst taught it to me the last time I was in the Crystal Empire with him! I-It's top secret stuff you know, so I can't tell you much else. V-Very hush-hush..."
"It's okay... you don't have to lie or make excuses for my sake. I totally 'get' why you'd be in such high spirits around now, and I apologise for not knocking first." Twilight had evidently decided that her pupil was embarrassed enough at being 'caught in the act' as it were, and decided not to linger on the issue any further. "Anyway, I think you know what I'm here concerning. Or rather, who. You see, I've just had to give your daughter a bath, because she wet the bed last night..."
"What?! Then I must go to her at once!!" All of Starlight's arrant feelings of humiliation were snuffed out upon hearing this news, and her newfound maternal instincts seemed to kick in as she made a break for the door. "Whatever could the matter with the little dear be?! I should've let her sleep with me on her first night here, oh how could I be so thoughtless?"
"...Actually, I have a pretty good idea as to why she did it, and it was nothing to do with your absence. If anything, coming on too strong might've made the incident even worse." She'd been trying to hold back, but Twilight finally gave into the temptation of using her horn, and Starlight found herself moving her hooves a lot in mid-air but not really getting anywhere. "In fact, that's really what I wanted to..."
"You still could've told me, before dumping her in the tub!" the unicorn wailed from her lavender aura 'prison', as she floated helplessly around. "I'm her mother! I should be learning to do those sort of things! How am I supposed to take responsibility for my daughter, if you're taking over my main duties? In the future, could you please let me deal with stuff like that?"
"B-But you were so fast asleep, even the roar of a Ursa Major wouldn't have... sigh, never mind." Twilight was much too exhausted after getting up early to arrange her portfolio for the weekend and washing a rapidly squirming filly to argue any further, so she decided to let this one go for now. "The point is, and Diamond told me this herself, maybe you're moving things a bit too fast with her. Don't you remember what we discussed at Rich Mansion? That we should approach the situation with a little more tact? After all, you don't want to alienate your daughter at this early stage by pushing too hard, do you?"
Twilight's words had the ring of truth about them, and as Starlight was gently deposited back onto the ground, the unicorn's face seemed to concede that point. "Y-You're right, Twilight. I've been so busy singing and dancing here, thinking about what I want to do with her and who I'm going to show her off to, I completely forgot about how difficult this whole experience must be for her. She has to be absolutely terrified, spending the night in a strange new place and finding out the family she knew about for all those years weren't her real family at all. Once again, you've talked me down from making a complete fool of myself. Just what would I do without you?"
Twilight blushed a little upon hearing Starlight's heartfelt praise, and she looked away in a vain attempt to appear impassive. "Y-You don't have to shower me with compliments Starlight, I'm just trying to help out a friend. The pony you should really be attending to is downstairs right now, freshly dried and bored out of her mind from hearing Spike's life story on repeat. You can only hear the same 'modest' tales about saving a nation and changing the fate of a species so many times, you know. So, why don't you get yourself ready and join us? I think sharing a meal together would be a good initial step in beginning your relationship on the right hoof."
"Yes, yes, of course..." Starlight quickly dashed off to her mirror, to make sure she was properly presentable for her first big day with her long-abandoned filly. "...Also, I know you're good with lists, so allow me to run this one by you, about my conduct from now on. I won't try to force her into doing activities with me she doesn't want to do, I'll back off if I think she looks a bit too uncomfortable, I shan't mention what happened to her this morning seeing as how you've fully taken care of it... do those sound like decent starting points?"
"I would say those sound like very sound choices, if you want to make her feel more at home..." Twilight nodded her approval at the unicorn's suggestions, finally hopeful that her until now quite overzealous student was getting how sensitive the current climate was. "Don't forget, this is a completely fresh start for her, and whatever you do between now and the end of the month could possibly impact how she perceives you forever. Have patience with her, try to establish her needs and requirements, try to plant a nurturing seed for the future. Remember to make sure the soil is fertile..."
"Okay, Twilight. I think I get it. Thank you." As much as Starlight appreciated the advice of her alicorn friend, she did occasionally have a tendency to stretch out her weird metaphors. "I shall finish up here, and be there for breakfast as soon as I can. And I promise: no more amateur vaudeville today, you have my solemn word. Well, to business then!"
With nothing more than a simple nod and a slight smile, Twilight left the unicorn to her own devices to prepare for the no doubt testy day that lay ahead. At last, she's starting to understand, thought the optimistic alicorn as she descended the stairs one at a time, I knew she had it in her to be a serviceable parent. I'll still keep a close eye on her in the meantime though, and I'll tell Spike to do the same. Speaking of him, I better make sure Diamond hasn't fallen asleep head-first into her cereal. My number one assistant might be an invaluable part of my life, but he can't half waffle on sometimes.
As Twilight's somewhat hypocritical musings followed her to the ground floor, Starlight began to go through the motions of brushing her striped mane... but then abruptly stopped. Something Twilight had mentioned was nagging at her brain, and upon a bit of deliberation she figured out what it was.
"How can my daughter have a 'fresh start', if I never even got the chance to..." she said aloud, while staring back seriously at herself in the mirror. "...That she's still known by the moniker that awful, horrible, abusive mare gave to her..."
Suddenly, a 'wonderful' idea hit her like a ton of bricks. A truly ingenious plan, which would make everything alright and allow her filly to forge a new identity for herself, to separate the youngster from her less-than-perfect past and truly make the 'fresh start' Twilight had suggested.
The only real question was, whether she could do it or not...
Now, where did I put my copy of the contract again?
.............................................................
Fortunately, Twilight had got downstairs just in time to prevent the towel-wrapped Diamond from having a very milky hairdo for the day. Uncle Spike had just reached the gripping part in his adventures where he'd bravely stood up in front of Cadance, Shining Armour and the entire palace guard to regale them in song form about Thorax's true nature, when Twilight had taken it upon herself to cram a few loose gems in his mouth via magic. Not that the hungry drake had minded too much... you can never have enough of the good stuff, after all.
"Are you feeling okay, Diamond?" Twilight trotted over to where a visibly drowsy filly sat in front of her uneaten food, as the filly was still attempting to digest all the events of that morning and the preceding evening before even attempting to do the same with her meal.
"H-Huh? Oh, yes. I-I suppose so..." Diamond's eyes shot open upon hearing Twilight's voice, and she straightened up in her chair. "I-I just started to feel tired again, for some reason."
"Well, I can't say I really blame you. Spike does like to draw out his exploits a bit sometimes when we have company..." Twilight gave her devoted assistant an affectionate glance, to which he only responded with a pronounced scowl before swallowing his jawful of jewels. "Anyway, you'll be glad to know I've had a little talk with your mo... with Starlight, and I genuinely think she sees that she may have been a little too indiscreet with her administrations yesterday, and she'll try to reign them in from now on. Until you get settled in of course, and grow more comfortable with her being around."
"T-Thank you, Twilight." Diamond was grateful for the alicorn's help, even if she used a few too many long words to describe simple things. Maybe one of the items she'd request the princess bring her from home later on would be a dictionary. "I-I want to be happy here, even if everything seems strange to me now. I-It'll take a lot of getting used to, but I hope over the next few weeks, with all of your support and Daddy's, I'll be able to..."
"You can count on me, Sparkling! I'll be there for you whenever you're good and ready, all you have to do is say the word!" Starlight made a startling entrance, wandering over to the table and sitting down gleefully in front of the three other occupants with an air of confidence about her.
"That's great to hear Starlight... but, who's Sparkling?!" Twilight and Spike looked around the room in confusion while Diamond gazed pensively at the mare who claimed to be her real mother. She had a really bad feeling about this.
"Why, that's my daughter's new first name!" Starlight grinned happily at this sudden announcement, as if everypony should be happy that she'd taken this impulsive initiative. "It never sat right with me that Spoiled got the chance to name my daughter when she lied from the beginning about her personal circumstances, and when I found out how she mistreated my filly over so many years, as far as I'm concerned she lost that privilege. I looked through the contract as signed by us, and what do you know... it gives me carte blanche to give my child a 'fresh start' by removing the last trace of her terrible past, which would only serve as a reminder of everything terrible she's been through, after all! So, starting from today, she'll be known as... Sparkling Glimmer! What do you think about that, sweetheart?!"
...And that's how Diamond Tiara came to be known by a quite unusual new name.
It's also how you reduce a room with a chewing dragon, a chattery know-it-all and a boisterous filly to utter silence.
In case anyone ever wants to try it sometime, of course.