//------------------------------//
// S7 E2: Celestial Advice, Part 2 (What If?) 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 7 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

When last we left Twilight Sparkle and pals they were adjusting to some very big changes in their lives. Starlight Glimmer, along with Trixie, Sunburst, Spike, Discord and even Thorax were being honored for defeating the evil Queen Chrysalis and freeing the changeling hive from her rule.

"I still can't believe my friends and I are getting rewarded with Pink Hearts." Starlight had commented.

The award ceremony itself went smoothly for the most part even as Princess Luna struggled to fit Thorax's pink heart around his big antlers.

But that had all been abruptly upended when Twilight took the stage in the middle of the celebration and declared. "Part of me always knew this day might come, but I convinced myself it would not be for years and years. Starlight Glimmer. It is with great pride that I hereby declare you to have officially graduated from friendship lessons!"

"What are you gonna do next?" Discord had questioned Starlight after the shock announcement (as Twilight had run off to be by herself).

"I don't know. I never even knew Twilight was planning to end my tutorship." Starlight had confessed.

Meanwhile Twilight was facing her own dilemma. "I'm supposed to have a plan for her, to be able to guide her and know where to send her," She'd tearfully confessed to Princess Celestia and Spike. "I just don't think I can send her anywhere, Spike." And the only ideas she'd gotten she had dismissed out of hoof due to various concerns about what might happen.

At that Princess Celestia had unexpectedly laughed. Fortunately she was quick to explain to a very surprised Twilight. "I was laughing because I once had the same exact worries you're now having." And she'd proceeded to share her own vision of the past that had showed much she struggled to let Twilight Sparkle go to Ponyville and make friends on her own.

All of this was because of a confession that Celestia made to Twilight. "I feared that... if you made friends... you wouldn't need me anymore."

And Twilight had replied by embracing the sun princess in a hug and telling her. "That is so not true! I will always need you!"

Soon afterward the conversation had switched to teaching and at that Twilight and Spike had questioned Celestia about her years as Starswirl's student, and then becoming a teacher in her own right. "I must warn you that what you're about to hear is something I have never shared with anyone else." She'd warned the two, before she proceeded to begin recalling her experiences with Starswirl the Bearded.

Unbeknownst to the three, Starlight was making up her own plan for what to do. "I fear I may have to run away again," She'd told all her gathered friends. "I was terrible at goodbyes when Sunburst left and who knows what I'll do if I have to do it for all of you? I may have no other choice." She'd warned.

And so it was that Twilight and Starlight were going to have the answers to their problems, but not in a way either of them would suspect.



"Starlight, you can't run away!" Rainbow Dash protested. "Where would you even go?"

The unicorn sighed as she admitted. "I don't know. If I'm being honest, I never really had a home prior to coming to Ponyville."

"What about that village?" Fluttershy pondered.

"Or your childhood home Twilight says she saw?" Rarity added. "Surely either of those would count as a home, no?"

Starlight only shook her head in protest. "What few memories I have of my childhood home revolve around Sunburst and being with his family. I don't really remember my mother, and my father was always away. After Sunburst left there was nothing that really tied me to that town," And then her lips quivered. "As for my old village, the only thing I could think about the whole time I was running it, was how evil cutie marks were and how great Equestria would be without them. And we all know how that turned out. After I was beaten and revenge consumed my every thought, I never stayed in one place for long. When I first came here after Twilight showed me the error of my ways, I never thought I'd be able to get used to how crazy this town was. But now..."

"Now you've come to embrace the chaos, just as I've come to embrace friendship," Discord realized. "Trust me, the adjustment process for yours truly was difficult. Not being able to do whatever I wanted anymore took a lot of getting used to. But now I can't imagine how I could've ever lived without friends."

"Which is why I don't want to have to leave them all behind," Starlight unhappily sobbed. "It isn't fair! I was just getting used to finally having true friends and now they're all going to be taken away from me again!"

Sunburst reached out a hoof to try and console Starlight. "There there, Starlight," He spoke with practiced precision (months of off and on tending to Flurry Heart had given him a lot of experience, along with more than a few sleepless nights). "I'm sure Twilight's not gonna send you away forever. She'll probably just send you someplace like the Crystal Empire or Manehattan for a while." Deep down the stallion knew he couldn't be sure of that statement, but he was determined to console and reassure his friend all the same.





Meanwhile in the throne room of Twilight's castle, Princess Celestia was preparing to share with Twilight and Spike information that she had kept largely to herself up to this point. "You really want to know about Starswirl and about my own teaching experiences?" She said with a heavy sigh. "Well, I suppose there's no point denying the request. I'll start with Starswirl the Bearded himself."

Twilight's wings eagerly fluttered open in excitement! "Ooh, I can't wait! I've always wanted to know more about him, and now I'm finally going to get the answers!"

Celestia couldn't help but giggle. "I wish I could say Luna and I were as excited as you are now when we learned Starswirl would be our teacher. But in actuality we were anything but, we thought we knew all there was to know. And we didn't need some cranky old wizard teaching us. Oh how we were quickly proven wrong."

A vision began to overtake the three, as they suddenly found themselves overlooking a classroom in Canterlot. And there stood a familiar elderly unicorn stallion with a flowing white beard. Atop his head was adorned a dark blue wizard's hat with jingling bells and a robe of matching color draped across his body. Two wooden desks and a chalkboard were the only decorations in this makeshift classroom.

And as if on cue into the room strode two giggling alicorn fillies that were instantly recognizable to Twilight. "Are they-"

"-Yes. That's Luna and I when we were younger," Celestia confirmed with a nod. "And this is where Luna and I spent most of our fillyhood. While our parents were busy running the kingdom, Starswirl the Bearded was tasked with being our teacher. Not only in magic but in many other things. He was the only tutor available after Luna and I sort of scared away all other contenders," A blush formed on the sun princess' face. "I'm ashamed to admit that in my youth I was quite a troublemaker, nothing like the pony you know now."

"You still have a sense of humor." Spike commented.

"Yes, Spike," The sun princess nodded. "But it has been tempered by over a century of experience and wisdom. As a filly I was far less restrained, and often pulled pranks. Case in point."

The vision Starswirl stroked his beard as he looked over the two fillies in his care and spoke to them. "Alright, young fillies. You both know why it is you're here, to learn from the very master of magic himself. I am Starswirl the Bearded, though you've probably already heard of me." That was right before he was struck in the face by a water balloon.

"Gotcha!" The filly Celestia laughed and stuck out her tongue. "Get this through your head, you old coot, Luna and I don't need to learn! We know everything."

The filly Luna nodded. "What Tia said! What makes you think you'll be any more successful than the last hundred or so ponies who tried to teach us?"

"Well if you think you're so smart then all by means, prove it!" Starswirl declared as he adjusted his robe and removed his hat. "Let's see if the two of you can best me in combat. I'll give you a sporting chance, I won't use more than half of my magic."

The filly Celestia just laughed. "You'll regret that decision, grandpa!"

At that Starswirl appeared to become ever so slightly enraged. "Young filly, you will respect your elders on my watch," He sternly declared. "I am not that old. On the contrary I am quite young for a pony of my considerable stature."

"Then why the long beard?" Filly Luna snickered. "It makes you look ancient."

"That beard is a fashion statement!" Starswirl snapped! "All the wisest scholars wear them! But enough talk, we're not here to play dress up. You're here to learn, and this shall be your first lesson. One in humility."

The two alicorn fillies fired off magic blasts from their horns, noticeably straining themselves in the process. But Starswirl appeared to not even be breaking a sweat. He effortlessly repelled the twin beams and knocked the fillies back.

"No fair! You cheated!" Filly Celestia complained as she and Luna rose to their hooves.

Starswirl only shook his head in disappointment. "You're both quite lucky. Had I been using my full power far worse would've awaited you than a wounded pride," He proceeded to write one word on the board: Humility. "Humility is an important value to learn, young princesses," He cautioned them. "For one day you shall be running the kingdom instead of your parents, and you'd be wise to remember that there will always be someone better than you. The moment you become careless and complacent, is the day that someone whips you and whips you good. There is ALWAYS room for improvement!"

"Wow!" Twilight commented as she watched the vision Starswirl. "I never imagined he could be such a harsh taskmaster."

"As harsh as he may have been he must've had saint like patience to not quit after the first day," Celestia commented as the vision changed. "Luna and I constantly drove him crazy, pulling all sorts of pranks on him. Sticking his hoof in warm water, making the books in his study float by themselves so he'd think it was haunted, once we even attempted to trim his signature beard. And we learned a painful lesson, you do not mess with Starswirl the Bearded's beard. I thought my ears would never stop ringing after the lecture he gave us."

"Bet you're glad Starlight never pulled anything like that on you." Spike commented to Twilight.

Twilight just eyed Spike and giggled. "Don't get any ideas, mister. I hatched and raised you since the day you were given to me as an egg, I know all your little tricks. And don't think that just because you hang out with the master of chaos, your methods have suddenly changed."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh you're no fun. Sometimes it feels like I'm more of a student than a son."

"Who says you can't be both?" Twilight corrected. "Besides, you being my son is a learning experience for the both of us. Nothing could've prepared me for motherhood, and that was when I had nannies, my parents, Princess Celestia, and Princess Cadence to help me out. I've got the pictures to prove it."

The little dragon blushed bright red. "Not in front of the princess!" He pouted.

Princess Celestia just smiled. "It's funny you should mention family," She commented. "Because as time went on and Luna and I stopped being so hard on him, we came to see Starswirl the Bearded as family. He was like a father to us, at times he was the only family we knew."

A new vision suddenly popped up, showing Starswirl alone in his study one evening, getting some light reading done by the comfort of the fireplace. Suddenly he heard a knock at the door, and with his curiosity naturally aroused the unicorn rose to answer it. "Yes?" He called as he stuck his bearded face out into the cold of the night. Bending down he happened to notice a strangely wrapped present in pink and blue wrapping paper.

When the elderly stallion picked it up and opened it, he nearly fell back in surprise when he heard a pair of voices yell! "Surprise!" It was none other than Celestia and Luna!

It took a few moments for Starswirl to regain his composure. "What in blazes are you two young ladies doing here?" He remarked. "I thought I told you that I don't like to be disturbed."

"It was Tia's idea!" Luna accusingly pointed a hoof. "She was the one who said we should surprise you tonight."

"You were in on it too, Lulu!" Celestia shouted back. "You were the one who wanted to do something special for Starswirl's birthday."

Starswirl's green eyes happened to wander off to the calendar that hung on a nearby wall of his study. Today's date in particular had been circled. How could he have forgotten that today was his birthday? "Oh hush now," He advised his two young charges and pulled them into a hug. "I'm simply glad you remembered. I thought you didn't care at all about me, except for when you were trying to drive me up a wall."

But Celestia protested in reply. "We used to do that a lot and Luna and I are sorry."

"You're a lot like our father, only older and cooler!" Luna explained. "Who ever knew old ponies could be so fascinating?"

At that the wizard chuckled. "Well I always did want foals of my own someday, but being the wizard that I am I could never find the time to settle down and raise them. But I've always felt my true calling was in teaching," And at that he smiled. "It delights me to know that I've left such an impression on the two of you. Though I wouldn't go around repeating that to your parents, I don't need them thinking that I'm trying to take their place in your lives. I am your teacher first and foremost."





A happy sigh escaped the elder alicorn's lips as the vision faded away. "Those were truly the good old days," She commented with a noticeable hint of longing. "But all good things must come to an end eventually. One day, Starswirl got called away for an urgent matter, and that was the last time Luna and I ever saw him."

"Did he die?!" Spike gasped in horror.

"What? Oh no no no, nothing of the sort," Celestia shook her head. "He simply vanished without a trace. To this day, nopony knows what became of him or where he went. Even his works left no clue as to where he went. But Luna and I kept up hope that he would someday come back and all would be right again," Then her lips quivered and she hung her head. "Alas, it was not to be. You know what happened next, Luna fell to the darkness and I was left with no choice but to banish her. To this day I'm not sure I was able to survive those thousand years of loneliness. I suspect it was Kibitz and his family that were responsible."

At the mention of Kibitz Spike began to scratch his head with a claw, before suddenly he remembered. "Oh yeah, Kibitz! The royal schedule advisor!"

"I think I remember seeing him once or twice while I lived in the castle," Twilight nodded. "He always seemed to know just what to do to get everything under control."

"Advisors like him as well as the royal guard, they are likely what kept motivating me to get out of bed each morning and perform my royal duties," Celestia went on in noticeable sorrow. "Eventually they proposed a radical idea to snap me out of my sorrow, to help me cope and move on. With the Elements of Harmony rendered useless to me, it would fall to a new generation to wield their powers and free my sister from her own dark manifestation."

"That's when you started taking on a student, isn't it?" Twilight guessed, to which her former mentor nodded in approval.

Spike couldn't help but ponder. "So who was your first student, princess?"

"A unicorn stallion named Dusk Shine," Celestia explained. "At the time I doubted I was truly ready to be teaching again, let alone take on a student. But all around me agreed that it was necessary to snap me out of my depressed state. Dusk Shine was not much older than Sunburst when I took him on. He showed potential, but ultimately he sensed his true talents lay elsewhere and we drifted apart. I blame myself partially for that, I was so distant and so detached. But only in hindsight has that become apparent. It would take the fall of another student of mine before I would see the error of my ways."

"And that's when Sunset Shimmer came along!" Twilight realized.

Princess Celestia nodded in confirmation. "The very same Sunset who I understand now resides in another world all together, similar to ours in many ways yet different in many others. It pains me that I have not been able to keep in contact with her."

"Well you'll be happy to know she's doing fantastic!" Twilight proudly beamed. "I've seen her growth for myself and you would never believe she used to a power hungry bully. In fact, in a way she's become a teacher in her own right. And I think you'd be very proud of her."

"I'm sure I would," The elder alicorn agreed. "But even to this day what happened between Sunset and I remains perhaps my second greatest failure. Some might even say it was worse than Luna's banishment."





The scene changed and Twilight and Spike (along with the present Princess Celestia) found themselves deep in the Canterlot library, rows upon rows of books lined the pathways. But only a few faint and flickering lights illuminated the building, indicating that it was after hours and the library was supposed to be closed.

A pony instantly recognizable to all lay in the center of the library, pouring through books as her moderate cyan eyes scanned the pages and soaked up the knowledge contained within like a sponge. Her brilliant amber coat and two toned red and light green mane and tail perfectly complimented her red and yellow shimmering sun. The pony was Sunset Shimmer.

All of a sudden Sunset felt the book she'd been reading be yanked out of her hooves by the familiar golden glow of Celestia's magic. "Sunset Shimmer," The sun princess' stern face spoke volumes as she disapprovingly looked down at her student. "This is the forbidden section of the Canterlot library, I specifically told you that nopony was allowed to enter it. Let alone read the books contained within it."

Sunset Shimmer just stood up and coldly hissed. "You've been keeping secrets from me, princess! You don't trust me!"

"Trust is earned, Sunset! And you have just broken the trust I placed in you!" Celestia scolded. "The knowledge contained here is forbidden for a good reason! With that kind of power a pony could be corrupted forever, and all of Equestria would suffer!"

But Sunset snapped and stomped her hooves down in protest. "That's just what you want me to think, Princess Celestia! I saw in that mirror what I could be! A princess just as great as you are!" She snarled. "I've more than proved I'm ready. I've aced every test on magic theory and magical practice, all my classmates agree they've never seen anypony as powerful as I am!"

Princess Celestia only protested with a shake of her head. "Sunset, I showed you that mirror in the hopes that you would recognize what you still lack. There's one lesson you still haven't even begun to master, and until you learn what it is you will never receive your wings!" In a low, hurt voice she added. "I'm very disappointed in you, I thought you of all ponies would know better. But you leave no other choice, now that you know what you know I'm afraid I must terminate your lessons. Guards, take Sunset Shimmer to pack up her things!"

Before anypony could do anything to Sunset, however, she growled at the top of her lungs and ran off! "You'll regret this, Princess Celestia! One of these days you'll see that I was right and you were wrong! All I ever wanted was to be your student, to be your equal. But nothing was ever good enough for you!" And before she could be stopped she managed to slip through the mirror and disappear into the world that rested on the other side of it.

"She's gone, your majesty!" One of the royal guards reported. "Forgive us, we were outsmarted."

Another guard then offered. "Shall we dismantle the mirror before anypony else attempts to misuse its power?"

Celestia took one look at the mirror, its smooth, shimmering surface taunting her with its perfection. It remained her of a similar mirror she'd once used long ago to see a different alternative world, before Kibitz had found out and ordered it destroyed. Having been denied contact or closure with those in that alternative world, she could not bring herself to do the same to this mirror. "No," She protested with a heavy sigh. "Move it to my castle and leave it there. Perhaps one day, Sunset will return to apologize and seek forgiveness."

"Understood, your majesty." The guard saluted.





"For weeks after Sunset's abrupt departure I locked myself in a room and wouldn't come out no matter what," Celestia tearfully confessed as the vision ended. "The one question I kept asking myself was 'Why?'. Eventually I started to realize what had to led the events. I had been too distant, too detached. I was growing desperate as the 1,000th Summer Sun Celebration drew near and I still hadn't found the one who would make the friends needed to unlock the Elements of Harmony again and free my sister. When I discovered Sunset Shimmer I thought I had finally found the solution," And she proceeded to add. "I convinced myself that it didn't matter that her cutie mark was not the one engraved in the Tree of Harmony, that could change. But I trusted Sunset to see what I could see, and that blinded me to what she was becoming. Her raw power and talent was so unmatched that she felt she had no time for friendship, that it was just a distraction and a waste of time. I had hoped showing her the mirror would spark a realization, but it had the opposite effect."

"Why'd you move it to the Crystal Empire after it returned?" Twilight questioned.

Celestia's lips quivered once again. "Because... I convinced myself that Sunset was never coming back. I think seeing you in her place when she snuck back through the mirror, it made her feel like I had replaced her with you. Had I left the mirror in Canterlot, who knows how the events would've played out?"

But Twilight immediately approached Celestia and told her. "On the positive side, Sunset is a changed person... er I mean pony now. It still amazes me that her message of help reached my castle right when it was needed most."

The sun princess only gave a wink as she replied. "It wasn't luck, I had the old journal sent to you. When you came back through the mirror the first time, I sensed that Sunset trusted you more than she did me or she would've come back to Equestria with you."

Spike added. "You really should come and see her one of these days, princess. I'm sure Twilight could take your place for a day or two, now that she's got the portal working all the time."

"Perhaps, but the last time I abandoned my duties to see somepony I cared about, the results weren't pretty to say the least." Celestia firmly shook her head at the idea.

"Didn't your mirror self nearly destroy the entire multiverse?" Spike pondered. "Everything happened so fast during that time, it felt like a blur."

"I prefer not to dwell on the past too much, Spike," Princess Celestia interrupted as she cleared her throat. "Too much regret for my own actions and lack of responsibility. Anyway, after Sunset I realized that I needed to be more open, to show more of myself to my students. I tried with Sunburst while he was briefly working directly under me, but eventually he dropped out of magic school as he could not keep up. I was on the verge of giving up on having a student all together, facing the reality that I might have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save Equestria. And that's when I met Twilight and everything changed."

Twilight smiled in confirmation. "In more ways than one, Princess Celestia. If not for your guidance I never would've been able to embrace the magic of friendship, let alone understand how it works. I'd have probably become a shut in like Moondancer," A pang of guilt escaped her as the alicorn sighed. "It still pains me to know I treated her and my other classmates in Canterlot so poorly."

"Part of life involves making mistakes, and everypony has things that they regret," Celestia cautioned. "If you refer to Moondancer's party in the castle, by not going to that party you inadvertently were able to save all of Equestria from eternal night and being starved into submission. Though you did not know it at the time, not going to the party was ultimately for the greater good. Besides, haven't you and Moondancer made amends by now?"

Spike nodded. "Just last month, Twilight invited Moondancer over for her first sleepover. It's so amazing to see how much Moondancer has changed. She even mentioned that she's actually planning to leave Canterlot when she's done with her studie. She's going to see the world."

"In a way it's like everything has come full circle. Funny how these things work out," Twilight giggled. "I guess maybe if you never truly had a plan for all of your students, it's okay if I haven't completely figured out what to do with Starlight. As a teacher I can be there to guide her, but everypony has to decide for themselves what they want to do with their life."

Celestia nodded and then she happily declared. "Here we are, Twilight, after all these years. And just look at us. We're living proof that the bond between a teacher and her students doesn't have to end when the student graduates. Proof that letting someone spread their wings doesn't mean you no longer have a place for them in your heart," To emphasize her point she proceeded to wrap a wing around both Twilight and Spike and pull them in for a hug. "And if you're still worried, you can always make your student write you letters." She teased. But Twilight and Spike were too busy enjoying the radiating warmth of the hug to be worried.





After what felt like an eternity of contemplation and reassurance, Twilight finally returned to the celebration that had now become one to mark Starlight's official graduation.

Upon reaching the podium where she'd made her earlier announcement, the alicorn was most surprised to be lightly bumped on the forehead by a microphone. She tried her hardest not to glare.

"Terribly sorry about that, princess," Discord apologized. "I may have gone around talking it up just a little bit, but we're all excited to hear what you've cooked up," Then after tapping the microphone he instructed. "Go ahead, we're all ears. Tell us what you've decided and don't hold back on the details," Then snapping his talons, the witty spirit morphed into a reporter with a sketch pad and a pencil. "Ooh, this is gonna be the scoop of the century! It'll be in all the papers!" He could be heard saying to himself.

"Thank you, Discord," Twilight spoke with practiced precision. "I apologize for the abruptness of my announcement earlier and perhaps my timing should've been better. But this was not an easy decision for me to make, it was one I had to think over for a considerable amount of time. However, after some helpful advice from a pony I can always turn to in a moment of need, I can safely that Starlight's future..." She paused and took a deep breath before she added. "Is not for me to decide."

Everyone in the room gasped for the second time that day!

"Wait?! What?! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop the presses!" Discord could be heard muttering as the pencil slipped from his grasp.

But none were as shocked as Starlight, who could barely believe it when Twilight called her up to the podium. "Twilight... look..." She said with a deep breath. "I appreciate you trying to spare my feelings but whatever you've really planned... I'll be okay with it. Running away wouldn't solve anything, it'd just make me feel empty and make everypony else said that they never got to say goodbye to me."

But Twilight shook her head. "You misunderstand, Starlight. I'm not sending you anywhere. You're staying right here in Ponyville, where you belong."

"What?!" Starlight gasped! "Are you for real?! Thorax, is this you trying to fill in for Twilight?! Because believe me when i say, you're not doing a very good job at it!"

"Um, I'm over here, Starlight." Thorax waved a hoof, and Starlight saw that he was nowhere near the podium. He couldn't be standing in for Twilight. This Twilight was the real deal.

The alicorn just smiled as she looked at her former student. "The lessons may be over but our friendship is just getting started. Since coming to Ponyville you've made so friendships and do so many incredible things, I can't uproot all of that for the sake of some 'plan'," Then with a wink she added. "Besides, I'm going to need your help more than ever with what I do have planned."

"R-really?" The unicorn with a coat of light grayish-purple nearly jumped back in surprise. "What is it?"

"It has come to my attention that Diamond Tiara is still struggling with the magic of friendship," Twilight explained with a smile. "She's making progress to be sure, but I think she could benefit from some direct intervention from two of the ponies who know more than anything what friendship means. It won't be all the time, she's already got her regular studies to keep her busy and I'll have to talk things over with her parents first. But once that's been taken care of, will you be by my side to help my newest student?"

Starlight smiled back. "Of course, Twilight! It would be an honor!"

"Good! Because I'm not ready for you to leave just yet!" Twilight declared with tears in her eyes and then pushed a box close to Starlight. "Here. I was going to give this to you as a going away present. But it can be a 'So glad you're staying' present. It's just what your room needs."

Upon opening the box Starlight could feel her heart skip a beat! It was a mirror similar to the one that hung in Twilight's room,  but this one contained photos of the various friendships Starlight had made. Photos of her with Trixie, Discord, Thorax, and Sunburst to name a few, all decorated the mirror in various spots. She gave her former teacher a big hug, wrapping her hooves around the alicorn. "Oh thank you, Twilight! It's the best gift I could've asked for! I'm proud to have been your student!"

"And I'm proud to have been your teacher." Twilight happily replied.





The ceremony went on for a few more hours but eventually it was time for everyone gathered to leave, and for the rescuers to go their separate ways. Discord of course departed abruptly without a word, never really one to just say goodbye. And Thorax left with the changelings that had accompanied him.

But Starlight was surprised to see Trixie heading for the castle's front gates and called out to the magician before she had a chance to leave as well. "Trixie, wait!" Starlight cried as she run up to her friend. "Aren't you gonna stay in Ponyville now?"

Trixie shook her head. "As much as the Great and Powerful Trixie would love to she cannot. There are still parts of Equestria that have not been graced with her Great and Powerful Repentance Tour, and she must keep the promise she made to her nephews Tom and Nolan," And then, after briefly glancing around to be sure the castle hallways were empty she added in a whisper. "Plus it has become clear to Trixie that the gap between her and Twilight Sparkle may never truly be closed. That there are areas in which we will never be equals. It is a fact that is hard to accept."

"At the least will you promise to write to me from time to time?" Starlight suggested. "I'd be more than happy to teach you what I know about magic, especially when it comes to what powers them: my emotions."

Trixie took off her hat and bowed her head as she nodded. "For you, Starlight, Trixie shall be more than happy to keep in touch by any means necessary. She owes to her Great and Powerful Best Friend."

"Good, I look forward to hearing from you, Trixie!" Starlight smiled and then the unicorn encouraged. "Now don't let me stop you. Get out there and show the world what you can do!"

"With pleasure!" Trixie grinned and with that she departed.





Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was surveying what remained of the room in which the celebration had been held just hours earlier. Namely all the tables, chairs, plates, and streamers that needed to be cleaned up.

But the party pony just took one look around to ensure no one was watching, and then she wheeled in a vacuum that had a smiling face on it. With the push of a button the vacuum whirred to life, sucking up everything. The room was spotless and the vacuum bulged outward as its face became distorted.

"Phee-yew!" Pinkie declared with relief, wiping the sweat from her brows. The only thing that was more difficult than planning a party was cleaning up after it.