I was wondering when Starlight would want to go back to her village to make up with the ponies there. Standing in front of me, she just gave the answer to that: it would be in a few days.
Still sitting on my couch, I said, “So, you’re finally ready to make up with them. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, I really should have done it already, but…” Starlight leaned her head down.
“What?”
Starlight lifted her head back up. “I ruled that village for so long and maybe I...made those ponies feel like nothing, like my parents did to me. What if I go back and they hate me?”
“Hmm.” I sat up from the couch and knelt down in front of Starlight. I’m not sure who likes me rubbing her mane more now: Starlight herself or me, so I rubbed it a few times, and she smiled from it. “I think telling them why you did all that would help. You saw how fast Rainbow Dash’s attitude changed from hearing it. Besides, from what both you and Twilight have told me, no one was truly hurt, right?”
Starlight shook her head. “No. Nopony was hurt, but still..."
She was definitely remorseful, but I had a feeling there was more to it. “I think I know what might be wrong. Is it because you also feel too ashamed to go?”
Starlight set a hoof on her cheek, obviously in thought. “Maybe. But I didn’t feel like this when I apologized to the others.”
“Hmm. Well, you were with the ponies in that village for a long time, right? Maybe you feel some extra shame because they trusted you when you said ‘your’ friendship was better?”
“It may be. I really was trying to help, but I...*sigh*...just can’t believe I never even thought about how they might have felt, just like how my par--”
I covered Starlight’s mouth. I wasn’t going to allow my friend to talk like that about herself. “No, no, don’t you think like that, Starlight Glimmer. You didn’t take those Cutie Marks just for your own gain or for fun. You were just misguided, but you’re not anymore.”
“I...you’re right, Sam. I guess I still haven’t fully forgiven myself yet.”
“You will in time, I think. Anyhow, Twilight should still be doing her princess stuff, and most of our other friends are probably busy too, so do you want to ask them tomorrow if they can come with you to your village?”
Starlight smiled. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
After that, Starlight and I did our usual talking and music-listening to. I still had plans to finally talk to her parents about how they treated her someday, but I kept that to myself.
The next day, Starlight and I left the house to search for the gang, walking beside each other. I elected for us to go to Twilight’s castle first. From what I’ve seen, if all of them were together, the castle would be the most likely place they would be, so we took a dirt road that led to it.
Save for a few, the ponies we passed by that usually gave me dirty looks or shook their heads weren't this time. They didn't say anything, but it didn't seem like they were disapproving of me anymore. Starlight promised it wasn’t because of one of her spells, so maybe her idea to willingly wear a collar was starting to help other ponies think better of me. Or maybe my friendship with Lyra did that somehow. However it happened, I wasn’t going to complain.
When Starlight and I got closer to the castle, but still a ways away, we saw something flying over it in circles as well as faint screaming. It was too small to tell, but from its color, it might have been Twilight, although I've never seen her fly or act like that.
Once we were a little closer, we recognized that the figure over the castle was indeed Twilight, but it still wasn't clear what she was saying. Standing in front of the castle’s doors in a line were Spike, Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack with their heads up, watching Twilight.
“Odd. What do you think is going on?” Starlight asked.
“Don’t know, but the others have told me that Twilight can panic over anything. Let’s ask what her deal is and see if we can help calm her down.”
We walked to our friends -- the ones on the ground -- and as we did, Twilight's words became clearer: she was yelling “I’m going to be an ant!” over and over.
Pretty sure she meant “aunt.” Then again, I didn’t know if she had siblings and with the magic in Equestria, she probably could be turned into an ant if she wanted. Though I would have no idea why.
“Hey, Sam, Starlight,” Applejack called out, breaking me out of the little trance Twilight "Ant" Sparkle put me in by her flying and yelling.
“Hey,” I said.
“What’s with Twilight?” Starlight asked.
Rainbow answered, “Twilight’s older brother and sister-in-law came earlier and told her that they’re going to have a baby.”
I was right: she did mean “aunt." After some chuckles, I said, “Oh, so that’s why she’s so happy!”
Starlight asked, “But why is she saying ‘ant’ and not ‘aunt’?”
Spike explained, “She’s so excited, she doesn't know she’s saying ‘ant', but she will once she calms down.”
Rainbow pointed at Starlight, or more so at the collar around her neck. "Wait, why you have a collar on again, Starlight? I thought you hated wearing them!"
"This? Well, I--"
Twilight stopped flying in circles and swooped down to Starlight and me, stopping Starlight's explanation. With a grin of pure joy, while changing her spot in the air every second, she said, “Hi, Sam and Starlight! I’m going to be an ant! I can’t believe my brother and sister-in-law are going to have a foal!” Twilight flew into me and wrapped her forelegs around my stomach, her head against my chest. Her grip was tight, forcing me to grunt from the pressure. She did look cute being so excited, but the pain of her forelegs’ squeezing made it tough to really enjoy it.
“Whoa, easy, Twilight, that's too tight! Let me go!”
Not even sure if she did it because I asked/begged her to, or on her own, but Twilight let me go and flew to Starlight. Or more like Twilight slammed into her, actually knocked the unicorn to the ground, wrapped her forelegs around her stomach, and Starlight grunted from it.
“Isn’t this day amazing? Did you hear that I’m going to be an ant, Starlight? *squeal* I’m so excited!”
“Ow, yeah, the day's amazing, but your hug's making it hard to breathe!” Starlight said in a higher-pitched voice than usual.
The rest of us giggled at the sight of Equestria’s newest aunt. Rarity finally used her magic to separate the two mares and set Twilight on the ground. Starlight was in Twilight's vice-grip longer than I was, so she panted for a few seconds to recover, then she walked towards me to stand beside me again. I didn't know Twilight was that strong!
Twilight apparently came back to her senses, making her gasp and cover her mouth. "Oh, guys, I am so sorry about that. Guess I got a little carried away.”
“A ‘little’? I thought you were about to break us in half!" In a playful voice, I added, "If you wanted a hug, all you had to do was ask."
“And from what you were saying, you’re going to be an ‘ant’?” Starlight asked with a playful smirk. She was still breathing a tad harder, but it wasn't enough to stop her from teasing Twilight.
“Huh? ‘Ant’? Why would I...oh.” Twilight formed a cute smile, seemingly now understanding her mistake. “Was I saying ‘ant’ and not ‘aunt’?”
“Yep, over and over!” Spike answered.
Twilight blushed and rubbed the back of her head. Her nervous smiles, or smiles in general, never stop being cute. “Oops.”
“But anyhow, Starlight wanted to ask you all something.”
Twilight’s blush faded. “What is it?”
“I want to go to my old village and apologize for what I did there. I was hoping you all could come with me, and I’ll ask Pinkie and Fluttershy if they can when I see them later.”
Twilight said, “I see. I was wondering when you were going to do that. I was even going to ask about it soon.”
Rarity asked, “Are you feeling nervous?”
Starlight frowned and nodded her head. “Yeah. I couldn’t...hear what they said when you were taking me away after you caught me, but they didn’t look happy.”
“Yeah, they were pretty mad at you,” Rainbow pointed out.
Starlight's ears drooped, she leaned her head down, and let out a sigh.
I guess Rainbow realized the damage that her words did, so she gasped and said, “Uh, that is, they were mad, but I think they’ll forgive you. After all, we did.”
Applejack assured, “And with yer reason for doin’ all that, I think they’ll let it go too.”
“I hope so. Especially...” Starlight sighed even deeper than before, keeping her head down. I had to fight the urge to ask who Starlight was particularly worried about.
Maybe hoping to ease the tension, Spike asked, “So, uh, which day did you want to go?”
Starlight raised her head back up to face us and didn’t have the frown she had before. Her ears were also perked back up. “I was thinking of going in a few days, if you all won’t be busy?”
“Well, I should be free to go, so count me in!” Rainbow said, placing a hoof on her chest.
“Me too!" Spike said.
“If we’d be gone for just a couple of days, ah can go. The next week or two at the farm will be quiet, so Big Mac could handle my share of the chores.”
Rarity said, “I will be happy to come along. I should be able to move a few things around my weekly schedule to free up the time. I have been wanting to spend some more time with you and Sam anyway.”
“I’m becoming more used to my princess duties, so I’m better at managing the time for it than I was before. In fact, if you want to go in a few days, I can change some plans to free up two or three days.”
“Yeah, it’ll only take you a week to free up those two or three days,” Spike said in a teasing voice with a smirk.
With the obvious exception of Twilight, we all laughed.
As for Twilight herself, she rolled her eyes. “Come on, Spike! It won’t take me that long to rework some plans.”
We all stopped laughing and Starlight said, “Hold on, Twilight. If it would be too much trouble for you, you can stay here. I don’t want you to have to go through too much trouble for me.”
“Thanks, but I want to come.” Twilight frowned and her ears drooped. “Besides, I should be there for you anyway.”
That change in Twilight’s mood seemed to come from nowhere, making me ask, “What’s wrong?”
Twilight sighed, then walked closer to Starlight and me. “The last few days, I've been thinking. Sam, I...kinda stuck Starlight on you without any kind of warning, because I didn’t know what to do with her. Starlight, I wasn’t there to help you learn friendship like I should have been as the Princess of Friendship, not even after we truly became friends. It even feels like I might have been a bad friend to you two.”
So that was why Twilight suddenly became bummed. Starlight brought it to my attention before she and I looked for Lyra, but something about Twilight was different the last couple of days. She was somewhat more friendly toward Starlight and me, and told us that we can go to her for anything. Not that Twilight’s never said to go to her for assistance -- it’s why I thought little of it -- but when she was telling us that lately, it was like she wanted us to ask for help. How I missed the signs that something was bothering Twilight was more proof that I have plenty to learn about friendship too, not just Starlight.
At any rate, the Princess of Friendship needed a pep talk.
“You? A bad friend? That’s one of the silliest things I’ve ever heard, Twilight. Despite what I did to you, your friends, and the ponies in my village, you still wanted me to get a second chance AND you even believed that I could become not just a good pony, but a great pony. I can never thank you enough for it.”
“And I got a new friend because of you asking me to help with Starlight. You really did me a big favor, so I should have paid you for it, not the other way around.” I knelt and gave Twilight a boop on the muzzle. Of course, she giggled from it. The context of this “boop” was a little different from the ones I’ve given Twilight before: this one purely was for cheering her up, not to mess or poke fun at her when she does something cute.
Still smiling from my boop, and both Starlight’s and my words, Twilight said, “Thanks, guys.”
With that, the plan was set. We just needed to ask Pinkie and Fluttershy if they could come the next time we saw them. When we did, they agreed to tag along. It was only later on that I realized that Rainbow or any of the others didn't ask about Starlight's collar again. Maybe they thought it was a personal reason or something.
Three days later, Starlight, Spike, Twilight, I, and the others headed to Ponyville's train station and boarded the Friendship Express. Starlight and I sat beside each other, and Twilight and Rainbow sat beside each other in the seats in front of us; Starlight and Twilight were by the windows. The others sat in either the seats by the windows opposite the ones Starlight, Twilight, Rainbow, and I were in, or in seats behind or in front of us. Despite the smaller height of ponies, there was just enough room in my seat for me.
This was the first time I traveled outside of Ponyville, so I was a little excited about it. However, seeing Starlight's frown, flopped ears, and the fidgeting of her hooves kept me from feeling too excited.
“How are you feeling, Starlight?” Twilight asked. I think the obviousness of that answer sank in right after she asked, because she facehoofed a second later.
“Nervous."
I assured, “I understand, but just remember that we’re here with you.”
Rainbow said, “And if you need it, we’ll back you up.”
Fluttershy said, “While we can’t make them forgive you, we will do our best to at least help them understand why you did what you did.”
Starlight smiled, her flopped ears straightened back to their normal positions, and she gave a small smile. “Thanks."
“By the way, Sam, if I remember correctly, this is going to be your first time outside of Ponyville, correct?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah, it is. Hopefully I won’t have to worry about any dirty looks in Starlight’s village.”
“Are ponies still doing that?” Applejack asked. “Ah thought they stopped.”
“It has been getting better the last few days. I didn't get any of those stares at all yesterday and today.”
"In fact, I forgot to tell you all this, but I thought that if I wore a collar again on my own, it might help ponies think better of Sam. I think it's been working."
"Oh, so that's why you have it on! I was going to ask why, but Twilight was worried it might have been personal, so she didn't want me to try to ask again," Rainbow admitted.
Pinkie said, "And I thought it was 'surprise collar week', so I guess I don't need to keep these collars I had ready for the rest of us." Pinkie pulled out eight turquoise collars -- the same color as Starlight's collar -- from her mane, opened the window beside her, and tossed the collars out the train's window. What was scary was that it shouldn't have been physically possible for her to open that window: it was sealed closed. If that wasn't enough, those collars shouldn't have been able to all fit in her mane, yet they did! It's frightening how Pinkie can do those things and she's not even a unicorn or alicorn. I'm just glad she's a very friendly pony that won't try to hurt anyone. I hope.
“Anyway, that’s great news about the stares, Sam,” Twilight said with a smile, but after a moment, that smile left, her ears drooped, and she sighed. “But not only did I not try hard enough to stop the staring myself, but it made Starlight feel that she should wear that collar on her own to help. I guess those are two more things I wasn’t a good friend at.”
I didn’t think Twilight still felt bad about “not” being a good friend, and I guess it was why she didn't want to risk upsetting Starlight by asking about the collar.
“Come on, Twilight, don’t talk like that. Those ponies tended to avoid giving me those looks when you were around. Besides, it was my own fault, and if I just told you how bad it really was, you would have tried to do something about it, right?”
“Yes, but still I let it--”
"And I didn't put my collar on again just for that reason. I was wearing this when I made my first two friends after turning over a new leaf, so I want to think of this as a good-luck charm. I really don't mind wearing it now, I promise, and the color I changed it to matches the streaks in my mane!"
Spike interrupted, “So try not to beat yourself up, Twi. Not even you can fix every problem we have.”
Fluttershy added, "And we all know that you would do anything for us if we really need you."
"So just try to give yourself some credit," Applejack chimed in.
“I...you’re right.” Twilight smiled and her ears perked up again, just like the last time we cheered her up. “I'm sorry about that guys. I’ll try not to be a downer again.”
Rarity suggested, “But, how about we talk about something more...pleasant?”
We took Rarity’s advice and went on to chat about more happy things as we rode the train. The way Twilight was kicking herself over guilt reminded me of how Starlight was doing it. I didn't think about it too much, but those two have more in common than I thought.
Six hours later, once the train apparently reached our stop, we all got off. I was expecting us to at least be at a train station, but it wasn’t a “station”: it was like being dropped off at the side of a road...in the middle of nowhere. After we were off it, the train left in reverse. For a moment, I thought Pinkie Pie was the one driving the train away, but the spring-like sound from her hopping beside us told me that she was still with us. Though I did double-check by actually looking at her.
There were some mountains in the distance. Brown rocks were on the ground here and there, and the cool wind was pushing the sand against my shoes. But other than that, there was nothing out here. Maybe that train should have taken a left turn when we were passing by Canterlot or something.
“Uh...guys? We got off at the right spot, right?” I asked while turning my head back and forth, trying to see if I could see the village from here. No buildings were in sight.
“It is, trust me, but I thought the same thing the first time we came out here,” Twilight answered, looking at a map she held in her magic. “We’ll see the village when we get closer to it.”
With Twilight leading the way, we walked off to the village.
After about half an hour of walking, a group of houses finally came into view. Once we got closer, we could see some ponies standing or walking in front of the houses. We were now close enough for me to tell that there were a total of twelve houses, organized in two rows of six, in the shape of an equal sign -- I’m guessing Starlight had something to do with that. There were also a few thin trees growing in the area outside of the village, so it didn’t quite feel like the middle of nowhere like it did when we got off the train.
Starlight took a deep breath. “Let's go.”
We didn't even have to ask if she was ready. Since she was, we walked down the path we were on and approached the village's borders. Starlight Glimmer had some things to say.