It has been a month since the crisis with the changelings and that Queen Chrysalis witch.
This was a big day. An award ceremony was going to be held for Starlight, Lyra, Thorax, and me.
At this moment, in my living room, I was sitting on the couch, wearing a fancy black suit and tie. Rarity was behind Starlight to brush her mane; both mares were standing up. Starlight's mane always looks good, but for this, Rarity wanted it to look -- in Rarity’s words -- extra fabulous.
“Well, today’s the big day for you two,” Rarity said.
Starlight said, “I still can’t believe we’re going to receive medals.”
“I can believe you getting one, Starlight, but not me, your average Joe.”
Rarity stopped brushing Starlight’s mane. Both she and Starlight turned their heads to me with puzzled frowns.
“Who is ‘Joe’? Someone you never told us about?” Starlight asked.
I facepalmed. Four months in Equestria now, and I still make mistakes like this. “Oh, I keep forgetting this world doesn’t have many of my world's expressions. ‘Average Joe’ means somepony that's at best, ordinary, and aren't anything special.”
“Well, I beg to differ that you aren't 'special'," Starlight told me.
"She's right about that, darling. Speaking of how your world is compared to Equestria, you have gotten used to how Equestrians talk: you have been saying ‘somepony’ more and more.”
“Ha, well, I suppose it would happen eventually. Twilight still hasn’t figured out how and why I got here or if I’d ever be able to go back, so I might have well get used to how you all like to talk.”
Rarity looked away at something, but at around the same time, knocks came from the door.
“It’s open!” I shouted.
The door opened. On the other side was Spike; we all looked toward him.
I waved a hand and greeted, “Hey, Spike.”
“I thought you were still helping Twilight and Pinkie prepare for the party. Did they finish early?" Rarity asked.
Spike shook his head. “No. Those two are still hard at work, but Twilight wanted me to tell you that the Princesses will be here in about an hour.”
“They will?” Starlight looked toward me. “In that case, should we head to the castle?” Starlight turned her head to Rarity. "Or are you still working on my mane?"
Rarity leaned to take closer looks at Starlight's mane. "I was just about finished and it looks extra-fabulous. Plus, we can't risk being late."
Spike nodded in agreement. “Yeah. If we run late...let’s just say Twilight wouldn’t handle it well.”
“You mean she’d get mad?” I asked. I had seen her be a little irritable a couple of times, but I've still hadn't seen that temper Spike said Twilight has. I thought the Chrysalis crisis would have been a good time for it to come out, but maybe Twilight was struggling too much with guilt and/or blaming herself to get angry like that.
Spike fidgeted his claws. “Well, she wouldn’t really get ‘mad’, but Twilight had planned for every single thing for this award ceremony. If we run late, she will try to adjust perfectly for it and...let’s just say it won’t end well.”
Starlight giggled. “So more for her sake than ours, we should go.”
The four of us left the house and made our way to Twilight’s castle.
Once we reached the castle, Spike led us to its dining hall. There were pink, blue, and yellow streamers along the walls; balloons tied to some of the streamers. A banner saying "Thank you Sam, Starlight, Lyra, and Thorax!" hung from the ceiling in the center of the hall. Rectangular tables were spread out, all with plates; spoons, forks, and those fancy glass cups sat beside the plates. I didn't see any food yet, though.
Overall, quite impressive! Then again, considering who was planning this and had help from -- in Pinkie's words -- the bestest party planner in allll of Equestria, I should have expected no less.
A few ponies were by the tables or standing around talking to each other. A couple of them waved in Starlight’s and my direction. It wasn’t vigorous waving like what Lyra used to do, but your typical, friendly waving. At this point, Starlight really doesn’t need to wear her collar anymore, but I think she just wants to now. She did say it could be her “good luck charm.”
However, as for the rest of our friends, I didn’t see them around.
I looked down at Spike. “Surprised Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow aren’t here yet.”
“They should be here any second now,” Spike said. “They know not to risk being late for anything planned by Twilight.”
Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy trotted in from the hall’s doors and toward us. Spike wasn’t kidding by “any second.”
Applejack greeted, “Howdy y’all.”
Starlight, Spike, Rarity, and I returned the greeting.
I said, “I was just asking where you three were.”
"We would have come a little sooner, but Rainbow and Applejack had to settle...something.” Fluttershy turned to Rainbow and Applejack; Fluttershy was to their right.
Rainbow rubbed her neck with a sheepish smile. “Yeaaaah. Applejack and I were busy trying to see who could stay on one leg longer.”
Rarity disapprovingly shook her head. “You two were having your silly competitions again?”
“Who won?” Starlight asked. Unlike Rarity, Starlight asked her question with a curious smile.
Rainbow and Applejack both answered, “Neither.”
“Neither?” Spike asked.
Applejack explained, “As Rainbow said, it went longer than we thought, so we had to call it a tie.”
“But when this is over, we’re going back to Applejack's farm to see who can do it the longest,” Rainbow added with a big, confident smirk. I wonder how long they had this rivalry of theirs -- and how long will it keep going.
“For now, since we have some time to spare, how about we just relax and talk for a while?” Fluttershy proposed.
“That sounds good to me, but, Sam, if we end up chatting with one of the other ponies, do try to remember to not do any ‘cute’ talk.” Rarity winked in my direction. Calling ponies cute hasn’t happened since I nearly called Lyra cute, but my friends still like to mess with me about it sometimes.
“Oh, shush, Rarity. I can hold myself back from calling ponies cute.”
“If not, we will be here to stop you like I did when you nearly called Lyra cute,” Starlight pointed out with a giggle.
“You think I’m cute, Sam?” a new voice from behind asked. “Do tell!”
We spun around to see Lyra Heartstrings standing behind us with a big, sly smirk aimed right at me. A beige earth pony, Bon Bon, was beside her, chuckling.
I rubbed my hands. How would I get out of this? “Oh, uh, hi, Lyra. B-But that was just...I didn't mean anyth--”
Lyra giggled, but her smirk remained unchanged. “Oh, Sam, relax. I’m not offended if you think I’m cute. In fact, I don’t have anything to do tomorrow, so would you like to take me out to dinner tomorrow night?”
My cheeks rarely felt so warm. Was Lyra serious?! “W-Wait, it’s not like that, Lyra! I don’t think of you that way, really, I-I was just--”
Starlight, Spike, Lyra, the rest of my friends, and even Bon Bon burst out in laughter. I just stood there, not knowing what to say next.
After they had their big laugh, Spike and those mares calmed down.
“You are so easy to tease. Seriously, I knew what you meant, and thanks. You’re cute too.”
“Uh, thanks.” I rubbed my hands again. This might have been a long time coming for me.
Through the dining room’s doors, Thorax walked in with three of the now-nice changelings, a yellow, light-green, and light-blue one. We hadn’t seen them much over the last month. Even so, we did learn about (another) big change they did: after a suggestion Starlight made three weeks ago about it, Thorax is now the new leader of the changelings.
“Hi, guys. How are you all doing?” Thorax asked with a cheerful smile.
“Hi, Thorax,” Starlight greeted.
“We’re doing alright,” I said.
“You all are looking well. How have things been back at your hive?” Rarity asked.
“Save for a few of us that are still hesitant to change, we’re doing great,“ Thorax answered. I thought all the changelings did that transformation thing, but I guess some weren’t at the hive when we ran there to save our friends. He turned his head a couple of times and asked, “How is Princess Twilight’s back and wings?”
Spike answered, “Her back and wings are almost fully healed and she can even fly for short distances, but her doctor doesn’t want her to fly for at least another week. But other than that, she’s well and good.”
Twilight shot into the dining hall, dashing from one spot to another. She was carrying a long list in her magic; part of it dragged behind her. “Okay, all of the balloons and streamers are up. The tables and chairs are all in the right--wait, this chair is a tad out of place so I’ll fix that. There we go.” She sped toward the table near the rest of us. “No! There are supposed to be two fork knives and two tablespoons by each plate, but one of the two spoons here is a teaspoon! That won’t do!”
Yep, Twilight’s well and good alright. At this point, this side of her has really grown on me and even looks cute now.
I chuckled, patted Twilight on the back (a part that wasn't hurt) when she was close enough, making her turn her head to me. “Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t think anypony would mind having a teaspoon and a tablespoon.”
It was surprising when she relaxed her stressed frown to give a smile. From what I know and heard, she's usually near-impossible to calm down when she enters these states. Since she wasn't running all over the place now, I could notice the little black mark still on her back and at the end of the wing hurt by Chrysalis. It was four times bigger when the injury was just starting to heal. “Oh, hi, Sam. I thought you all would have come a little later.”
“We could have,” Rarity answered, “but we couldn’t risk running late and ruin what you had planned.”
“Yeah, we know you love your plans to go exactly as scheduled,” Rainbow said with a teasing smirk.
Twilight gave a little cute giggle. “Well, I appreciate it, but you didn’t have to do that, and I can handle it if things run a little late. But since you are here, we can--oh, wait! I still have to check and make sure everypony will each have five napkins! Sorry, but we’ll talk more later!”
Twilight went back to darting from spot to spot, mumbling to herself.
Applejack looked at me. "Just so ya know, Sam: don't believe a word she just said about bein' able to handle things runnin' late. She just might not die over it is all."
“Yeah," Rainbow agreed with a chuckle. "That egghead can’t help having everything perfect."
We continued to talk, with some jokes mixed in. As we did, more ponies came in, food was brought out and put on the tables, and Pinkie and Twilight eventually joined us. Even Discord showed up after a while but, finally, wasn't calling Starlight a pet. Soon, with all the Princesses here, it was time for the awards to be given out.
Starlight, Lyra, Thorax, and I went to one side of the dining hall and stood in a row. Starlight and I were beside each other with Starlight to my right; Lyra was to my left and Thorax was to Starlight’s right.
The Princesses, including Twilight, also stood side by side. From order to (my) left to right, Cadance, Luna, Celestia, and Twilight. Luna was levitating an open gold case with four medals in the shape of pink hearts; a string tied to each one.
I'm not "shy" about these kinds of things, but as we waited for one of the Princesses to say something, I felt my heartbeat speed up.
Celestia stepped forward and said, “Starlight Glimmer, Sam, Lyra Heartstrings, and Thorax, we can never thank you enough for your heroic deeds. If Queen Chrysalis would have won, I fear to think of what might have followed. Not only did you assist Princess Twilight Sparkle to save Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, myself, and many other innocent ponies from Queen Chrysalis’s grasp, your actions also gave the changelings a brand-new, better life."
"I mm sure what Princess Celestia said last is especially personal to you, Thorax,” Luna commented with a smile.
Thorax rubbed his neck bashfully.
Princess Luna walked to us and, with her magic, she levitated the medals from their case, one by one, and rested one around our necks.
Or Luna tried to with Thorax, but she couldn’t push its band past his mandibles. It wasn't easy to keep a straight face as she tugged it, trying to get past those big mandibles. After maybe five seconds, she just left the medal's band around his mandibles.
Once our new medals were around our necks/mandibles, Luna walked back to the other Princesses with a blush. Maybe Twilight’s not the only princess to have less princess moments and more “normal”, or just awkward moments.
Next, the moment I knew was coming: a speech from Twilight. Similar to when Celestia did it, Twilight took a step forward, then said with a proud smile, “Starlight, Sam, Lyra, Thorax, thank you so much for your bravery, strength, and for even helping me conquer a few demons in my head that I had for a while. You more than deserve your Pink Hearts of Courage. As your princess and -- more importantly -- your friend, I'm proud of each and every one of you.”
I had said that Twilight’s friendship speeches can be corny, but I didn’t feel the corn this time. Maybe it was because this one was particularly heartfelt. Or could I have gotten used to them? Even if it had felt corny, it would have been mean to mess with her about this one.
Corn or no corn, after Twilight was done, all in the room clapped; Pinkie cheered as well as clapped. Despite the difference in hooves and hands, ponies clapping their hooves sounds nearly the same as hands being clapped.
Twilight walked to Starlight, Thorax, Lyra, and me to give us each a hug. When she got to me, she stood on her hind legs before giving me my hug, which I returned.
But right before she took her forelegs off me, Twilight playfully whispered, “If our speeches were too corny, tough luck. Hehe."
If I didn't already know, what I just heard told me that Twilight never took real offense to my teasing about her speeches. Probably helped that I never truly meant anything by it, and she knew it.
With the awards given out, Starlight, Lyra, Thorax, and I went back into the crowd to our friends. Lyra broke off to be with Bon Bon, but Thorax chose to stick with Starlight, Spike, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and me. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stayed together, but Twilight broke off from them to hang with our group.
Rarity leaned to Starlight’s medal with big, starstruck eyes. “My, that is gorgeous!”
Pinkie hopped in circles around Starlight and me as she asked, “How do you like your Pink Hearts of Courage, or should I say your ‘thank-you-for-saving-us-from-the-changelings-and-changed-all-changelings-but-Chrysalis’ medals?”
Twilight chuckled, grabbing Pinkie with a foreleg when she hopped close enough to keep her still. Wonder if that hopping was annoying Twilight more than she was putting on. “Uh, maybe we should stick with 'Pink Hearts of Courage' instead of the...what you said.”
“Whatever you would like to call them, they look wonderful on you all,” Fluttershy said. Unlike Rarity, Fluttershy wasn’t trying to take a closer look at one, but her eyes seemed to be on my medal though.
“And y’all deserve it,” Applejack commented. “Ah shudder at the thought of never seein' my family again if Chrysalis had her way.”
After another minute of chatting, from behind, a male voice called out, “Starlight?”
A stallion that we didn’t even see up to this point stood there. He was a white earth pony with a white mane.
Double Diamond.
We didn’t hear he was going to be here at all. Did even Twilight know he was coming?
His face wore a serious frown, yet it was somewhat different here than at Our Town. Or maybe it wasn’t: it was three months ago when we went to her former village.
But no matter why he showed up, things felt awkward. REALLY awkward. Starlight looked toward the floor while the rest of us just watched.
Twilight shook her head to snap out of it and greeted, “H-Hi, Double Diamond. I wasn’t sure if you would have accepted my invite.”
I have a couple of guesses why, but why did Twilight keep this a secret? Something I did know was that Starlight continued to stare down, even crossing one of her foreleg’s hooves over the other.
“Sorry for being late. The train ran behind,“ Double Diamond said. His face felt somewhat less serious. If the circling of his hoof on the floor said anything, he was nervous too. After a second, he crept closer to Starlight. “Hey, Starlight.”
Starlight finally, slowly, lifted her head. I thought she might have shown more confidence at this point, but with her past, it made sense that the less confident side of her wasn't gone yet. “Hey, Double Diamond. I...didn’t know you were coming. Why are you here? Uh, not that we mind it.”
Double rubbed the back of his head, his ears flopping to the side. “Well, I heard about what you did when the changelings came out of hiding. It told me that you truly are a different, better pony than...before. So, I came to do this.”
He smiled and walked to Starlight. With Starlight wearing a baffled frown, he gently wrapped his forelegs around and...hugged her.
Starlight gasped and stayed still. I knew those widened eyes of hers screamed shock and surprise. The last time we saw Double Diamond, he wasn’t ready to be Starlight’s friend, but now he’s hugging her! It gave flashbacks to when Rainbow gave Starlight a hug after she finally forgave her. I still can’t get the image of Starlight crying so badly back then out of my mind.
“And I wanted to say that I was already thinking of accepting your offer of friendship, but now I know I want to. Starlight Glimmer, I would be honored to be your friend, if you still want to. ”
“You do?” Starlight asked, still staying put. She wasn’t even hugging back.
“I do. Sorry I didn’t want to when you came back to Our Town three months ago.”
Starlight’s forelegs reached over to finally return Double’s hug, a tear running down her cheek. “I will be happy to be friends, Double Diamond. I can never have enough, and I will be one that you can be proud of.”
“She said those words to me when I accepted her friendship, and she did more than enough to prove she meant it,” Rarity commented. Was she wiping tears back? If she was, I guess the others were too. Even I almost let a tear flow. Guess they're rubbing off on me.
The two new friends let each other go, then Double went to a different part of the dining hall. If I remembered right, Double Diamond is the last pony Starlight had wronged during her “Cutie Mark stealing” phase to forgive her. Added to how she was able to atone like she wanted, I would say that Starlight Glimmer’s redemption is now complete.
"Well, it looks like you have another friend, Starlight," Twilight said with a smile.
"Hee hee, I guess I do. Now, if I go back to the village to visit, I won't have to stay away from Double Diamond."
"Yep. Now he's more likely to say 'Welcome!', not 'Stay away from me!' the next time you're in Our Town." Pinkie raised her head in thought, I think, for a brief moment. "Though, it might not be a bad idea if he does it without the big creepy smile he had the first time he told us 'Welcome!' I live to see ponies smile, but that was a bit too much, even for me."
Save for Starlight, the rest of the mares laughed. Starlight, Spike, and I stared at each other. I get the feeling there's an inside joke that we missed.
More importantly, while she still hadn’t talked about trying to, maybe someday, Starlight will face her parents again. If she does, I will be with her. Not just to be there for her, but because I still want to give them a piece of my mind about how they treated my best friend as a filly.
But if facing her parents was still too much for her, maybe she’ll soon face that Sunburst guy.
Either way, we still had a party to enjoy.