Starlight Glimmer sat back heavily in the armchair. Pillows flew from their places to pack themselves around her, and a blanket swaddled everything together. “I feel like a living bruise,” she said, lying back in the plush cocoon.
Twilight Sparkle, her longtime mentor, lounged on a chair across from her. “Don’t worry,” she said with a wave of her hoof. “This won’t take long. You can leave for bed once I’ve finished, but I didn’t think I ought to wait until morning to tell you this.”
Starlight cracked a grin, though Twilight couldn’t see it under the layers of fabric that enshrouded the mare. “Especially since I doubt that either of us will be up before noon.”
Twilight’s smile was wan, but earnest and full of laughter. “Let me begin with congratulations,” she said. “Your actions today in repelling King Aspen’s Everfree Army were incredible.”
Starlight made a faint ‘aw, shucks’ noise and attempted to wave away the praise. However, as she was swallowed by layers of blankets, this went completely unnoticed.
“Not only did you help re-organize Ponyville’s defenses after my original plans were lost, and keep the town safe while the other princesses and I were battling the walking trees, you managed to befriend the deer’s lead general.”
Starlight shrugged as best she could, accidentally sloughing off a pillow in the process. “She really didn’t agree with his Majesty’s ideas of expansion. Most of them don’t, you know. We should really look into—”
“We can’t depose him,” Twilight interrupted. “Believe me, I asked after the last time he tried expanding the forest boundaries. Apparently, he can’t leave the throne except by death or his own free will, and he doesn’t die unless somebody kills him in battle. He’s a nuisance and a tyrant, but we can’t just go around killing people we don’t like.”
“Of course,” Starlight agreed. “Still, maybe we could strongly hint that he read some books by, I dunno, one of the Renaissance equinists.”
“I’ll bring it up to the other princesses,” Twilight said. “We’re getting off topic. The important thing here is, you did something today that I doubt that anypony else could have done quite as well.”
Starlight struggled to sit up. “Wait, wait. Are you going to turn me into an alicorn?” she asked, eyes going wide. “All this, ‘I’m so proud,’ and the ‘doing things nopony else could,’ is this a lead-up to wings and super-strength?”
Twilight frowned slightly. “Um, no.”
Starlight sat back. “Oh.”
“I would,” Twilight added hastily. “I’d ascend you if I knew how. But I don’t. I kind of get the idea that the ascension, it comes from within, and Celestia was just a sort of guide or… I don’t know. But this is almost as good.”
Starlight considered this. She wasn’t sure what could be considered ‘almost as good’ as getting turned into an alicorn. But she trusted Twilight. “Okay,” she said cautiously. “I’m listening.”
Twilight beamed and pulled herself up from where she reclined. “Starlight Glimmer,” she said with solemn pride, “You have learned everything which I feel that I can teach you. You have excelled in your studies of both magic and friendship, and have exceeded all expectations that I, or anypony else, had set for you. Starlight Glimmer, I hereby declare that you are a Friendship Graduate!”
Starlight didn’t reply for a long while. Twilight nodded, still smiling proudly. “Speechless, I see? Yes, I guess I did kind of spring it on you. Don’t worry, we’ll have a proper ceremony later on, when you’ve recovered yourself. Oh, and I’ll have Pinkie plan you a party, as well.” She trotted jauntily away. “Congratulations, Starlight. You should feel very proud of yourself!”
She could not see, of course, that beneath the mountains of pillows and blankets, Starlight wore an expression of sheerest frozen horror.
***
The next day, at Sweet Apple Acres, she related the tale to Fluttershy and Applejack. “...I mean, it isn’t that I’m not grateful. I am! I really do appreciate all her mentoring, and I’m just… honored that she thinks that I’ve learned enough to graduate. But…”
“But ya don’t feel like you’ve earned it,” Applejack said, momentarily glancing up from where she was hammering nails into the hog pen. “Right. Well, we all feel like we ain’t good enough now an’ again—”
“Um, no,” Starlight said with a frown. “I’ve definitely learned enough to graduate friendship studies.”
“Oh,” said Applejack.
“Um, so do you feel like you’ve changed into something different or otherwise untrue to yourself?” Fluttershy tried, not looking away from her work uprooting invasive trees and grasses. “I have a story about—”
“No,” Starlight said again. “I’m happy with where I am in life. I’m a much better pony than I was, I’ve made up with my estranged foalhood friend, and I’ve helped save the world multiple times.”
“Oh,” said Fluttershy. “Oh, this one’s really rooted in…”
Starlight’s horn flashed and the tree shrunk to the size of a toothpick. “Better?”
“Much, yes.”
Applejack sighed. “Howzabout y’all jes’ tell us what’s eatin’ ya, Starlight? Ah’m sure we can help if ya jes’ explain what yer feelin’.”
The pink mare nodded, frowning. “I guess it’s just a matter of… where do I go from here? I can’t bum around in Twilight’s castle forever, can I? And there’s nowhere in Ponyville that really needs to hire a full-time high-level mage. So… I’m probably going to have to…” she trailed off.
Fluttershy cottoned on first. “Starlight! You’re going to— to leave Ponyville?”
Applejack dropped her hammer. “Say what now?”
The unicorn sucked in air through her teeth. “I don’t see much of a way that I can stay here,” she said after a long pause. “Ponies don’t usually stay in their college towns, you know?”
Applejack blinked. “Barkin’ up th’ wrong tree, there,” she observed. “Neither of us ever went. Farmin’ is a family business fer me, an’ Fluttershy—”
“I actually did go to college,” the pegasus murmured. “Veterinary medicine.”
“Oh. Well, Ah stand corrected.”
“I do see what you mean,” Fluttershy added. “About moving on. But I don’t know how well that transfers to this situation. Ponyville really isn’t a college town.”
“Didya try talkin’ ta Twi about all this?” Applejack asked. “Ah’m sure she’d help ya find a job.”
Starlight sighed. “Yeah. Sure, she found me some options. One is out in the freakin’ Crystal Empire, one is in Canterlot, one as a pony representative to Thorax’s hive slash researcher of changedling behaviors, and one is being an ambassador to Tenochtitl.”
“I don’t get it. None o’ them in Ponyville?”
“No,” Starlight sighed. “She says she wants me to be able to ‘move on’ into a new situation, use what I’ve learned to make a fresh start. I’ve already made a fresh start, here in Ponyville! This town, right here, is my fresh start! I don’t need another one! I don’t want another one!” She deflated. “But… she’s not wrong.”
Applejack cocked her head. “How’d’ya mean?”
“When I got here, the six of you were already determined to befriend me. Plus Spike, which makes seven, plus however much of Ponyville you convinced to help out with my education. I’m grateful, don’t get me wrong! I’m so glad that you helped me come so far, but at the same time, I really can’t help but feel like an experiment, you know?”
Fluttershy gnawed at her lower lip and muttered something else about being part of the college experience.
“I need to get out there and put my education into action,” Starlight said firmly. “That’s what Twilight thinks, and that’s just what I’ll do.”
Applejack nodded. “Well, Ah wish y’all the best,” she said. “Don’t ferget ta write, now.”
Starlight gave a high-pitched, nervous laugh. “Don’t say goodbye just yet!” she said. “I haven’t graduated officially just yet.”
Applejack laughed as well. “Sure thing, sugarcube.”
“So,” Fluttershy said. “Any idea which job you’ll be taking?”
Starlight chuckled. “C’mon, Fluttershy, I’m not gonna ruin the surprise…”
***
Starlight stared at a map of the world. Specifically, it was a Dymaxion map, her second-favorite projection. The first, obviously, was a globe, but that was harder to draw on. For a moment, she wished that she had gone with a poorer projection type, like Mercator or Gall-Peters. For another moment, she mentally slapped herself even for thinking of using a Gall-Peters projection. Then she turned back to the big red circles she’d drawn on the map, and she sighed. She went over the notes she had made yet again.
Crystal Empire
Pros:
Cons:
Total:
Thorax’s Hive
Pros:
Cons:
Total:
Tenochtitl
Pros:
Cons:
Total:
Canterlot
Pros:
Cons:
Total:
She sighed and slammed the list on the desk. The choice should have been obvious. Numbers don’t lie. Canterlot had the most going for it, and the lowest ratio of negatives to positives. But she kept coming back to the same point. If she went there, she would be alone in a city of fifty thousand souls. Perhaps even fifty-five thousand if you were generous enough to count the nobles.
The Crystal Empire seemed the most obvious choice with that in mind, but she would think of the cold-- or worse still, being forced to accelerate her relationship with Sunburst-- and a chill would run down her spine.
At the same time, she still wanted to keep talking to him, so the isolated changeling hive was right out, and Tenochtitl was barely any kind of option at all. She realized that it was quite dark now, and there was a pressure on her muzzle. She wasn’t sure exactly when she had slammed her head on the table, but decided that on the whole she wasn’t going to argue with her unconscious mind.
Moments after Starlight rang the bell, the front door slammed open. A cream-colored mare with a two-tone mane glared out at her. “Shush. I’m making a souffle.”
Starlight nodded. “Is Lyra in?” she whispered.
“What? Speak up!” Bonbon demanded.
“Lyra! Is she home?”
The confectioner grunted. “Basement. You’d better come in.”
Starlight nodded her thanks and trotted quickly past the irritable earth pony. The inside of the house was a sharp contrast to the owner’s demeanor-- it was decorated in bright, friendly shades of tan, white, and green. The wallpaper was comprised of wide, diagonal stripes of color. The hall was filled with pictures of smiling, cheerful ponies. The whole place, furthermore, smelled of vanilla and cinnamon. “Basement door is second on your right,” Bonbon instructed. “If you need anything, I’ll be in the kitchen, and if you even think of ruining my souffle, I know how to kill, maim, wound, or disable a pony with just a cup of cocoa powder.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Starlight said, standing ramrod straight.
The confectioner’s face softened marginally. “Good girl. Here, have a chocolate.” She hoofed over an exquisite piece of candy.
“Auntie Bon!” a filly voice called from the kitchen. “The cheethe thauthe ith boiling over!”
“Start whisking it, Twist,” Bonbon called back. “I’ll be just a moment.” She turned back to Starlight. “Be careful not to startle Lyra. She tends to react badly. Anyway, if she yells, that’s the souffle done, and then I’ll have to destroy both of you.”
Upon seeing the other mare’s stiff posture and suddenly sweaty brow, Bonbon smirked. “Lighten up. I’m only joking.”
Starlight relaxed. “I’d only put you in the hospital.” Starlight stopped relaxing.
Bonbon chuckled to herself as she re-entered the kitchen. Starlight passed the door on tippy-hoof, scarcely even daring breathe. She pushed open the basement door and slipped down, leaving it just a little ajar behind her. “Hello?” she called quietly. “Lyra?
The basement was dark and claustrophobic. Starlight cast a light spell, illuminating the shadows with a flickering, greeny-blue glow. Boxes sat stacked all around, forming an underground labyrinth. No-- not boxes. Crates. Crates labeled things like ‘this way up’ or ‘fragile’ or, most worryingly of all, ‘specimen’. “Lyra?” Starlight called. Her voice had gone up a register. There was no reply, but Starlight thought she could hear sounds of movement from around the corner.
She made her way slowly to the turn in the corridor and peered around. What she saw nearly stopped her heart. A creature, only a little bigger than a pony, stared back at her, standing over a collapsed body. Its one eye burned bright yellow, and its hideous, mantis-like limbs reached for her. Starlight tried to scream, but it caught in her throat as she fell back.
“Oh. Hi, Starlight. What are you doing here?”
The creature reached up a hoof to push back its helmet. The glowing eye suddenly became a lit horn, and the insectile limbs resolved themselves as clawed metal hooks. The body on the floor was revealed to be…
“Lyra. Please tell me that isn’t a dead changeling.”
“It’s not a dead changeling.”
Starlight took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, good.”
“It is a dead changeling, actually,” Lyra admitted. “He donated his body to science, though. It isn’t as though I killed him or anything.”
Starlight let out a sound like claws on a chalkboard. “Anyway,” Lyra said, oblivious. “What can I help you with? Parasprite infestation? Yeti attack?” She paused. “Or has Spike come down with a tummyache?”
“I, uh, no,” Starlight said, recovering herself. She couldn’t peel her eyes from the deceased changeling, though. “I, I have a job offering in Canterlot. Um, I can’t decide if I want to take it or not. I know you used to live there, so, uh.”
“What sort of job?”
“Um, academic. College of Magical Arts. Research and Development. Thingy.”
“Oh, wow! I work there too!”
“Wait.” Starlight looked around. “What? Then why--”
“Well, I work there officially,” Lyra clarified. “Professor of Cryptozoology, see. But I don’t have to actually be there, see?”
“...Don’t you?”
“Pfft, nah. Only reason I’d go there is to teach, and the grad students see to most of that.”
“Oh.” The cogs in Starlight’s head began to turn more rapidly. “So… you can work there and live in Ponyville… at the same time?”
Lyra shrugged. “Well, sure. I mean, if they make you a Chair, you’re expected to stay at the college, and most of them don’t really leave their offices, but, um, yeah.”
Starlight nodded. “Okay. Okay! Lyra, how soon could you show me around the city?”
The unicorn tapped her chin. “Hmm. It’ll take maybe three days to show you everything you really need to see… I think I can start Wednesday.”
“Wednesday is good,” Starlight agreed.
“Great! We’ll take the first train up.” Lyra beamed like a Romane Candle. “I can introduce you to all my friends, and show you all the sights, and visit the campus--” she broke off. “I’ll have to make you a survival kit,” she added. “Don’t worry, it’ll be done by the time we have to go.”
Starlight laughed. “A survival kit for the city. What’s that, a public transit map and a university ID? Good one, Lyra. See you Wednesday.” With one last glance at the changeling, she teleported out of the house.
Lyra opened her mouth to correct the other mare, but snapped it shut when it became clear she was alone. She looked down sadly at the exoskeleton on the floor. “I tried to warn her, Mr. Mandibles. Oh well, she’ll find out soon enough. Now, let’s see just what changes have been made to your insides, hm? Are they neon-colored too?” She slipped the mask back over her head and picked the prone form off the ground.
As she carried the deceased changeling over to her surgery, she wondered how Starlight would react to meeting her Canterlot friends. Would they get along? After all, she thought as she made an incision along the changeling’s lateral side, some of them could be just plain weird.