Starlight poked her head into the Map Room, where Twilight was waiting for her. “Spike said you wanted to see me?”
Twilight looked up from the parchment she was holding in her magic and faced her. “Yes. Come in.”
Starlight walked all the way inside and closed the door behind her.
“As you know,” Twilight began, “we have a small ‘party’ planned for Jake later today.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, even though he knows about it, Pinkie wants the party to be set up in secret, so he can, quote ‘enjoy its full intensity’. That being said, we need to keep Jake away from the castle for a couple of hours while Pinkie sets up,” Twilight explained.
“Let me guess, you want me to do it,” Starlight assumed.
“Well, yeah, but I was planning on asking you to spend some time with him anyway. And you did look pretty shy yesterday when you met him. Think of this as a friendship lesson.”
Starlight rubbed her chin with her hoof and answered, “I...guess I can do that.”
“Thanks, and don’t worry. I know Jake’s appearance can be a bit...strange at first, but he’s a really great guy once you get to know him,” Twilight added.
Starlight began to leave as Twilight turned her attention back to the parchment she had earlier. But before she left the room, Starlight noticed the parchment and asked, “What’s that for?”
Twilight looked back to Starlight and blushed. “T-This? This is nothing. Just a little...something I’ve been working on lately.”
Starlight tilted her head in suspicion, but still walked out of the Map Room, leaving Twilight to the parchment she had.
“Okay,” Twilight muttered to herself. “How can I say this?”
She levitated a quill to the parchment, but didn’t write anything, instead levitating it back.
“I have to get this right. He’s meant so much to me; I couldn’t bear it if this wasn’t perfect for him.”
Twilight rubbed her chin in thought, before coming up with an idea.
“Pure honesty that comes from the heart!” she exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one heard her when she realized how loud she had been.
Once she had confirmed no one had heard her, Twilight began to write her letter.
I woke up with the sun peering through the window directly in my eye, causing me to groan. Why is it that whenever I wake up after sunrise the sun is always shining directly in my eye?
Regardless, I rolled over and opened my eyes further, fighting the urge to close them again. I wasn’t usually one to sleep in, unless I had nothing going on that day.
But today was the ‘mini-party’ Pinkie had planned due to my return. I still remember the first party she had thrown me. At the time, the majority of the citizens of Ponyville were a bit suspicious of me, but Twilight and her friends had actually warmed up to me. I was still a little sad that most of the ponies in Ponyville didn’t trust me, so Pinkie threw me a party, which I would soon find out was her go-to move when it came to cheering other ponies up or just making them happy.
I remember walking into Golden Oaks Library to find the lights were off, only for them to be shot on, and all of my friends jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” I actually jumped from how shocked I was. It was my first surprise party. My parents and I celebrated my birthday, but never with an actual party, and it’s not like I had any friends to plan one for me when I got older.
Anyhow, I literally jumped from the surprise. Unfortunately, I was still standing in the doorway to the library, so I hit my head on the low roof. Everypony rushed to my aid to see if I was okay. My head hurt a little, but I actually started laughing at the whole situation. Soon, everypony joined in, and I had the time of my life.
I snapped myself out of my daydream and got a change of clothes. I looked for some soap in my pack; I didn’t really want to make Twilight share with me. I found some and made my way to the door.
When I opened it, Starlight was standing there, looking as if she were trying to decide whether or not she should knock.
“Oh, morning, Starlight. Did you sleep well?” I asked.
Starlight blinked a few times before she responded, “Um, yeah. Listen, um...I was thinking...you know what? I’m just gonna say it. Twilight asked me to get to know you a bit more as a friendship lesson.”
“That sounds nice, but I was hoping to take a shower real quick,” I told her.
“Alright. I’m pretty sure you take a left and two rights then another left to get to the bathroom. I think. I’m not sure,” Starlight admitted.
I chuckled a bit at her, causing her to laugh a little in embarrassment. I had to admit, she looked pretty cute at the moment.
“I trust you,” I told her.
“I’ll be in the library,” she said.
I followed her directions and opened one of the doors. Sure enough, it turned out to be the bathroom, but it was already occupied by Spike, who was posing in front of the mirror. I wanted to say something, or to close the door, but my arms and feet didn’t want to move. I simply stared with a confused look on my face.
After a few more seconds of posing, Spike turned his head just enough to notice me standing in the doorway. He chuckled nervously and said, “H-Hey, Jake.”
“That...that’s not...that’s just weird. I’m sorry, but it is,” was all I told him.
Spike sighed and slouched a bit. “I know, but I just kinda...I don’t know, need a way to know I’m maturing at least a bit.”
“Well, that is not a way to do it. But if it makes you feel any better, you were a baby dragon when I last saw you two and a half years ago, so you’ve gotta be at least an adolescent by now,” I assured.
Spike seemed to cheer up a little. “Thanks, man. You always know what to say to cheer someone up.”
“No problem. Now, can I use the bathroom to take a shower?”
“Oh, uh, right, of course,” Spike said, walking out of the bathroom. “Also, can you not tell Twilight about what you just saw me doing?”
“I, uh...sure.”
After I did what I had to do in the bathroom, I found Starlight sitting in the library with a straw basket.
“Hey, I was thinking maybe we could have a little picnic to get to know each other,” Starlight suggested.
“Alright, sounds good. And if my memory serves me correctly, I think I know the perfect spot,” I said.
“Lead the way.”
The two of us made our way out of the castle and I led her to the spot I always used to go if I wanted to be alone. It was a hill nearby where my house and Golden Oaks use to be. If you looked one way, you could see through all of Ponyville, including Twilight’s castle. If you looked the other, there was a lake that the sun hit just right, so it glistened as the air caused small ripples.
I helped Starlight lay out a carpet, and we sat down. Starlight opened the picnic basket and pulled out a few daisy sandwiches. She had brought the food, much to my gentlemanly dismay. Regardless, I took a sandwich and bit into it. It wasn’t the first daisy sandwich I had tried, but it was definitely the best. Starlight clearly knew what she was doing when she made them.
“I hope you like them. They’re one of the few things I can make without making a mess,” Starlight said. I noticed she still seemed a little shy around me, albeit a bit less than yesterday.
“I love it. You really know your way around a sandwich,” I complimented.
She simply let out a laugh with hints of nervousness. I sighed on the inside. I was really hoping she would come to be more comfortable around me here, but the way this was going, it looked like the exact opposite.
“You know, I don’t usually enjoy a daisy sandwich this much,” I said, hoping that would lighten her mood.
She seemed to loosen up a little, but not as much as I wanted. For some reason, I felt a little bit of annoyance toward the situation.
I looked to the ground when something in the basket caught my eye. I couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but I knew it wasn’t a sandwich.
“What’s this?” I asked.
Starlight followed my gaze to the basket and blushed with embarrassment when she saw what I was talking about.
“That? That’s my, uh...kite,” she said in a sheepish voice. I tilted my head a little. “I just really like kites. They help distract me.”
“Oh,” I said, getting an idea that might help Starlight loosen up. “Why don’t you give it a fly?”
“Really?”
“Go ahead.”
Starlight levitated the kite out of the basket. It was a triangular pattern of lilac and purple, kind of like her. She held it up to the air and slowly let out the string. She seemed so focused on what she was doing, she probably forgot I was there. She positioned her body a little until she felt comfortable and let the kite fly.
In that moment, I finally saw what I was hoping for. For the first time since we met, Starlight didn’t seem embarrassed, shy, or even nervous. Right then, she was finally, truly happy. She had a smile on her face. Not a forced smile, or a nervous one. This was a true smile.
It made me smile too. But in that moment, I felt something different as well. I was happy, but there was something more to it. It always made me smile when I made ponies happy, mostly because they just looked so darn cute, but with Starlight, things felt different.
However, as much as I was enjoying this moment, I felt like exploring it a bit further.
“What got you so into kites?” I asked Starlight.
She didn’t take her eyes off the kite, but answered, “I guess it all started in my fillyhood. It was always really hectic, but kites...kites were just the one thing I had that-“
“Went with the flow,” I finished.
Starlight’s smile widened just a bit. “Yeah.”
I scooted a little closer. “I know what you mean. My childhood was never very calm either. Getting passed from orphanage to orphanage.”
Starlight looked at me with a shocked expression. “Orphanage?!”
I blushed a little, realizing what I had said. “Y-Yeah. My parents died when I was only four. I was outside playing with toys while either my mom or my dad left the stove on. The house caught fire, but since no one noticed until all the exits were blocked, they couldn’t get out.”
“That’s so sad,” Starlight said.
“It’s fine. Well, actually, no it’s not, but that was way back when. I’m way better now,” I said.
Starlight started to look a little sad when I said that.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, not wanting her to return to her former state.
Luckily, she seemed to cheer right back up. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
Hearing that, I looked back up at her kite. It was still soaring high. I couldn’t help but look back at Starlight again. She wore another smile as she too looked at her kite.
“You know, I say this to a lot of ponies, but you look really cute with a smile on your face,” I said.
She blushed with embarrassment upon hearing that. “R-Really? Y-You think I’m...” Her face suddenly scrunched up with seriousness. “Wait, you think ponies are ‘cute’?”
Upon realizing what I had said, it was my turn to blush with embarrassment. “W-Well, um...I-I mean...y-yeah. C-Compared to humans at least,” I stuttered.
She looked me in the eye with a mix of curiosity and anger. I looked back with a hint a fear surely showing.
However, much to my surprise, she actually started laughing. It started with a simple chuckle, before turning into a cute giggle, and then becoming a full-on laugh. I couldn’t help but join in as well. We laughed for what must have been at least a few minutes.
After we finally calmed down, I managed to let out a satisfied sigh.
“You know, I’m really glad Twilight gave you this assignment. I had a really great time...friend,” I said, looking out to the horizon.
I waited for a response, but heard nothing but silence. That is, until I heard faint sobbing coming from Starlight. I looked back at her to see her neck craned down, a hoof over her mouth, and tears flowing freely through her eyes. She was now full-on crying.
I scooted even closer than before and rested a hand on her mane.
“Woah, what happened? What’s wrong?” I asked.
She looked at me with teary eyes before breaking into louder sobs and more tears. Her display of sadness wrapped around my heart and made it ache. I couldn’t bear to look at her like this.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Starlight sniffled and began to calm down a little from her fit. “No, you were great. Perfect, even. It’s just that...I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your kindness. I just don’t deserve to be your friend.”
I was shocked. “What?! What in Equestria makes you think that?!”
She took a deep breath before speaking. She spoke in what seemed like a forced manner, as if she didn’t want to, but knew she had to.
I’ll admit, what she told me was very shocking. She had taken a village’s worth of Cutie Marks simply because she thought it was right. Then, when that didn’t go the way she wanted, thanks to Twilight and her friends, she tried to change it permanently by stopping the event that caused them to get their Cutie Marks.
By the time she had finished, her mane was sticking out, and her eyes may as well have been public pools with how teary they were.
“Now you know,” Starlight said, her voice still shaking. “I don’t deserve to be able to call you a friend.”
I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into a hug. I rested my other hand on the back of her head, rubbing it ever so gently. She buried her muzzle into my chest, and I could still feel her sobbing a bit.
“Don’t. You. Ever. Feel like you can’t call me a friend. I don’t care about what you did in the past. That’s not the Starlight I’m with right now. The Starlight I know is trying her best to make up for what she did, but she’s just too afraid to do it. Well, you don’t have to be afraid anymore. You understand me?” I said with clear authority.
She looked up at me, her frown from earlier now a teary smile. “T-Thank you, Jake. You’re a really good friend,” she said, wrapping her hooves around me before resting the side of her head on my chest.
“What are friends for?” I responded, running my hand up and down her back. I still felt her sob just a bit, but I could tell these were sobs of joy. I’m not sure if it was her head on my chest, or the knowledge that I had just really helped her feel better, but I felt my heart warm, even more than before.
Starlight Glimmer felt something she hadn’t felt in a really long time while in the arms of Jake Taylor. It wasn’t just friendliness, she had felt that plenty with her friends. No, this was something else. Something she unknowingly needed. Something she had unknowingly longed for.
She felt safe. Safe from judgment, anger, even fear. Between the embrace and the words of comfort Jake had given her, she felt complete and utter safety.
“We should do this again sometime. Just, you know, without all the crying,” he said. All she could do was nod.
She tightened her hooves around him just a little bit, and he tightened his arms around her. She never wanted this moment to end. Unfortunately, that was when she remembered something.
“The party! I completely forgot!” Starlight said, getting free from his grasp.