CRASH!
“STARLIGHT!” cried Fire Light with panic in his voice. “SWEETIE!”
Trixie, Emerald, and Minky tried to keep him from barging into the room after the loud explosion-like sound that rattled the house. However he just wouldn’t be stopped.
“SUGAR PLUM!” he continued to worry as he scoured through the messy room in search of his daughter. “SILLY FILLY! WHERE ARE YOU?”
Emerald was first to enter after Fire Light.
“Something feels… at peace,” he said while his horn gave off a quick glow.
“Speak for yourself,” remarked Trixie as Starlight’s father kept pouring through the remnants of the room in search of his daughter.
Minky moved alongside her husband.
“Do you feel our daughter?” she asked nervously.
WWHOOO
SPOP!
A gentle hum heralded the sudden appearance of a newborn foal who was swaddled snugly in a print blanket covered in Starlight’s Cutie Mark.
There was a pause in the room as every pony didn’t know what to make of the new arrival.
“Is that, Starlight?” asked Trixie.
Fire Light ran towards the bundled foal.
“No,” he sighed. “Starlight’s mane is purple and not blue. Starlight also smelled different as a foal and she has blue eyes and not green.”
Minky shot up and quickly scooped up the small bundle.
“It’s Cozy!” she cooed with joy. “Oh, how wonderful! Starlight found a way to give her a second chance!”
The foal smiled.
“I think she recognizes me!” Minky cheered. “Oh, how wonderful!”
TING!
“Minky!” cried Emerald. “You got your Cutie mark!”
“I can’t take my eyes off her,” the royal-blue coated Earth Pony replied. “Can you tell me what it is?”
“It’s actually like mine,” he said. “However the heart at the center of your yellow star is pink instead of purple.”
Fire Light had now fallen to the ground and was crying uncontrollably.
“She’s gone,” he sobbed. “My little punky wunk is gone.”
Trixie went over to try and comfort the mourning father. However she more just joined him in crying over their shared loss of some pony very near and dear.
PFFT
Starlight found herself standing before everyone in her room. However no pony noticed.
“Hey,” she said awkwardly. “Any pony looking for me?”
Fire Light dared to open his tear-swollen eyes to see his daughter looking right back at him.
“Sugar Plum!” he called out with joy as he rushed towards his daughter. “You’re alright!”
Starlight buckled from how tightly her father was hugging her.
“Yeah,” she gasped while tapping a hoof against her father’s side. “But you’re choking me.”
“Oh,” said the pleased papa as he let go of his embrace. “I’m just so happy to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back,” she remarked. “It was certainly a close call.”
Trixie ran forward and gave her friend a hug that was as equally tight as Fire Light’s.
“Ooh!” she delighted. “I was so worried I’d never see my great and powerful best friend ever again!”
Starlight was more open about kindly pushing Trixie off of her.
“I was worried, too,” she said while trying to downplay how scary things had just been for every pony in the room. “But let’s just say I had help.”
Emerald Ebon walked towards Starlight.
“I’m so happy you are okay,” he stated. “I don’t know how you did it but Minky and I couldn’t be happier having a chance to raise Cozy Glow as our very own.”
Starlight blushed.
“Yeah…,” she said with a laugh. “It was actually my hope to make sure she didn’t turn back into a doll. However the spell I created to give her life actually almost ended my own.”
“What?” panicked Fire Light. “Why would you do that?”
Starlight gestured over to where Minky was now cradling the newborn Cozy Glow.
“For that, dad,” she said. “To give Cozy Glow a second chance where she can grow up with a loving family without carrying all the hurt, pain, and sadness I unfairly pushed off onto her.”
“Out of curiosity,” asked Trixie. “Where did you go? We came up towards the room and didn’t see any sign of you.”
“That’s a good story,” replied the periwinkle Unicorn. “I suppose it’s safe-to-say I did another form of time travel.”
Trixie gasped.
“I thought you promised never to use time magic again,” she stated.
Starlight laughed nervously.
“I did,” she said. “However, this time, I sacrificed my life to grant new life to Cozy Glow.”
Fire Light, Emerald Ebon, and Trixie were awestruck.
“Starlight,” said Trixie. “What you can do with magic is downright scary sometimes.”
“Trust me,” the Unicorn replied. “I’m not going to do anything crazy like that ever again.”
“I would hope not,” scolded Fire Light. “Throwing away your life like that is very irresponsible , little lady.”
Starlight growled.
“Dad,” she said as calmly as possible. “Grown mare, remember?”
“Grown mare who still needs her papa to keep her out of trouble,” he added firmly.
Starlight lowered her head and sighed.
“So…,” posed Trixie. “Now what?”
Starlight turned to face Minky who was clearly enjoying the joy of having a newborn foal to comfort.
“How about we head back to Our Town and help the new parents get settled?” she posed.
“Ooh!” gleed Trixie. “Does this mean we can still do our magic show?”
The periwinkle Unicorn laughed.
“Of course, Trix,” she said with a smile. “I’m definitely up for fun magic after all I’ve done these past few days.”
“Mind if your dear old dad tags along?” Fire Light more insisted than asked. “I’ve always wanted to see where you ran off to when you left home.”
Starlight sighed.
“Sure,” she gave in. “The more the merrier
***
Two months later, Starlight was reflecting back on how she had started the summer while getting everything ready in her office within The School Of Friendship.
“The Princess Of Feelings,” she thought aloud. “I honestly prefer just being Guidance Counselor, Starlight.”
“It was an impressive thing you did, though,” remarked Twilight as she entered into the office. “Your magical ability never ceases to amaze me. Neither does your ability to show how any creature can be more than their past.”
Starlight blushed.
“Thanks,” she replied simply. “However I only did what I knew was right.”
“Doing the right thing isn’t always the easiest thing,” added the Princess Of Friendship. “I doubted Cozy Glow could ever be reformed. So did Celestia, Luna, and Cadence. Heck even most of Equestria felt she deserved an eternity in Tartarus.”
“But she didn’t,” stated Starlight firmly. “And that is why I trusted my gut and did what I did.”
Twilight nodded.
“And it was the right thing,” she added. “Just like when I doubted you for befriending Trixie and switching Celestia and Luna’s Cutie Marks to help them understand what it was like to be in each other’s hooves.”
“I thought we were done with apologies?” inquired Starlight. “Isn’t the point of friendship to be open-minded along with understanding to each other?”
Twilight looked towards the bokkshelf.
“There are many times I wonder how great a teacher I really was to you, Starlight,” she somberly stated. “Most of the time I think I was learning from you instead of you learning from me.”
“Pfft!” dismissed Starlight as she walked alongside Twilight. “None of what you see as my achievements wouldn’t have been possible if you didn’t show me the power of friendship.”
“Thanks, Starlight,” the purple Alicorn replied. “I still can’t believe you were an Alicorn.”
“I don’t miss it,” replied Starlight. “I also am perfectly okay with knowing I can never achieve such an elevated state ever again as a consequence of what Celestia and Luna did to restore my youth.”
Twilight took a book in her magic and flipped through some pages.
“How’s cozy?” she inquired.
“Actually,” the Unicorn blushed. “It’s Starlight Glow now.”
“Really?” considered Twilight. “So Emerald and Minky changed her name?”
The periwinkle Unicorn felt bashful about having her name associated to the young Pegasus she had saved from the very emotions she had forced upon her.
“I guess so,” she shrugged. “I think they wanted to really give her a fresh start along with thanking me for giving them the foal they could never have.”
“Any plans to visit her before school gets started?” Twilight asked while putting the book back.
Starlight smiled.
“Of course,” she replied before charging her horn and quickly casting a regression spell upon herself. “Lil’ Glim-Glim wants to make sure lil’ glowy always has a friend until she makes her own and is ready to come to our school.”
Twilight admired the toddler-sized Starlight.
“A bit unconventional,” the princess remarked. “However that is what has always made you a great student, excellent guidance counselor, and dear friend.”
“She’s going to have a good life,” Starlight stated before returning to her normal form. “I’m going to see to it as Glim-Glim until she has the confidence to make her first real friends. I won’t let her down.”
Twilight nodded in agreement.
“I know you will, Starlight,” she said.
Starlight moved towards her window and watched as some young ponies played outside.
“Twilight,” she asked. “Do you think I’d make a good mother?”
The Princess Of Friendship smiled as she moved towards Starlight and put a wing around her back.
“I know I’d be honored to have you for a mom,” she confirmed. “You’ll make a great mom, Starlight.”
Starlight felt a knot in her stomach as she thought more on it. Infusing Cozy with her own life energy was like giving birth to her. All her heart was into giving the living doll that second chance. She had once abused her child when she was nothing more than a doll but replacing all the bad with so much good gave her such a sense of joy. She could only hope to have that feeling again through being the parent that she knew she could be. The parent that didn’t need to be like her dad who was always away and couldn’t help but try to overcompensate for lost time.
“I’ll be there for you,” she said softly as a tear rolled down her cheek. The view of the children playing outside making her even more emotional.
“I know you will,” agreed Twilight. “But don’t downplay all you do for our students as our guidance counselor.”
“I look forward to giving it all my all,” Starlight smiled. “Thank you for giving me my second chance, Twilight.”
“You gave it to yourself,” the princess added. “Now I need to check on Spike to see how our ‘To Do’ list is coming along.”
Twilight left the room and Starlight continued to smile out the window.
“One day,” she merrily said as some parents came into view. “That will be me and I will be the happiest pony in all of Equestria.”
***
Starlight Glow was in her crib and reaching up for her mother, Minky, to pick her up.
“You’re such a sweet little bundle of joy, my lil’ glow worm,” the baby-blue haired Earth Pony cooed as she plucked up the foal and sat herself in a nearby rocking chair. “Your dad and I promise to do all we can to ensure you’re the happiest filly ever.”
Minky placed a bottle of milk into Starlight Glow’s hooves.
SPOP
HMMMMM
“Oh…,” wondered Minky as she felt a sudden warmth against her body. She then saw that the baby Pegasus was glowing a gentle shade of orange along with giving off a relaxing amount of heat.
“Seems you still have some magic left in you, lil’ glow worm,” she cooed. “You’re going to turn out as wonderful as the pony you’re named after."