//------------------------------//
// 33 - Rehabilitation - Starlight Glimmer 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer - Six Friends One Heart 
// by Babroniedad 
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Starlight Glimmer



Starlight looked around nervously. This was the address; the sign over the door proclaimed “The Royal’s Residence”.

She had asked her friends at CHS, and found Sunset was staying with the Royal sisters; Celestia and Luna, the school’s Principals. On-line sleuthing turned up their address; now here she was. She timed it to arrive while school was in session, hoping to catch Sunset alone. Clearly though, someone was still here. A sedan was parked in the driveway, and a video game could be heard inside the house. Nervously, Starlight rang the doorbell.

The game stopped. Starlight could hear footsteps coming to the door. Her heartbeat quickened. A bead of nervous sweat ran down her forehead.

The door opened. Vice-Principal Luna looked down at her. “May I help you young lady?” she asked.

Starlight's heart raced. “Uhm. Yes mam. I’m looking for Sunset Shimmer? Is she here?” she gulped.

“She is. And whom might you be?” replied Luna.

“No one mam! Just a friend! Hehe. We were worried about her. We just wanted to know that she was alright, and ask how she’s doing?” Starlight swallowed nervously. She looked hopefully at Luna.

“I see,” responded Luna. “Come in, please.” She pulled the door back, waving Starlight over to the couch in the living room. “Wait here.” She left, and went up the stairs.

Starlight could hear muffled voices. Luna returned, standing at the top of the stairs. “Sunset will see you, ‘friend’.” She turned, stepping aside, waving Starlight up the stairs. Starlight approached; Luna pointed to the open door just down the hall. “She’s in there.”

She called out down the hall “Sunset! Your ‘friend’ is coming in. I’ll be in my room, just call out if you need me.” She walked down the hall, entering the room at the end.

Starlight leaned into the open doorway, and knocked lightly. “May I come in?” she asked.

Sunset looked up from her desk. “Sure, come on in. Have a seat.” She shut the laptop, and rolled over to the sofa. “I don’t bite… much.” She grinned.

“Hehe… okayyyy. Sure.” she sat on the couch, hands clasped in her lap.

Sunet smiled. “I’m sorry. I don’t believe we’ve met. Do I know you?”

“Sorry no, hehe. We’ve never met. I go to a different school. Crystal Prep Academy. Maybe you’ve heard of it?” Starlight replied nervously.

“Oh… actually yes, I have. Are you friends with Twilight?”

“Twilight Sparkle? You know her?” asked Starlight.

“No, not exactly. I’ve never actually met her. I know her brother.”

“Ah. Oh, okay. Uhm... no. I’m not friends with Twilight Sparkle. Not that I wouldn't want to be! Just... she doesn’t really travel in the same circles. Or well… in any circles really, I guess? She’s kind of a loner. She doesn't hang out with anyone actually,” answered Starlight.

“That sounds like Twilight. Yeah… okay, so pardon my asking, but then… why are you here?”

“Uhm. yeah. Hehe. Well, about that… I’m friends with some girls from your school. And they were kind of hoping to find out how you were doing? They hoped to see you at school, after hearing what happened, but, well... when they didn’t, they asked me to stop by. You know, to see if you were alright, and what’s happening.” Starlight looked down at her hands. “They’re just really worried about you, and wanted you to know they cared, and they wished you were alright.”

“That’s very sweet of them. Thank you Starlight, and thank them for me when you see them again,” replied Sunset. “One question though… why you?”

“Why me? Why me what?” Starlight looked up in panic.

“Why you, Starlight. Do you live around here? You don’t even go to my school. Why did they ask you to stop by, and not come over themselves? It just seems odd, don’t you think?”

“Odd? No! No no no, not odd. Just, why not right? I offered to help out, that’s all. Nothing odd here!” Starlight wrung her hands.

Sunset reached over and placed her hand on Starlights. “Starlight. It’s okay! Just tell me. What’s going on. Why didn’t your friends come over themselves? Why did they ask you to see me? You can be straight with me. I won’t mind. Just talk to me.”

Starlight stopped fidgeting, and looked up. Her eyes misting, she looked into Sunset’s eyes. “She’s scared, Sunset. She's really scared, She doesn’t want to get hurt. And I don’t want her to get hurt! So... I kind of offered to come, in her place. She’s worried about you, and she’s scared.”

“She was there, wasn’t she,” asked Sunset.

“Yeah. Yeah, she was there,” replied Starlight in a small voice. “She was there, and she was horrified by what happened to you. And she’s scared to death if she says anything, that the ones who did this to you will do it to her too! But she couldn’t not know if you were alright! And she wanted you to know she cared! But she’s scared. Scared to death.”

“Considering what they did to me, I think she’s a smart girl,” answered Sunset. “But she has a very brave friend in you, willing to help her out.” Sunset squeezed Starlight’s hands.

“She was the one that called 911. She hid until they came. And she didn’t leave until she knew you were going to be okay. She thought you were going to die. She was so scared. You were so hurt.” Starlight looked into Sunset’s eyes. “She’d do anything to take back what happened! Anything.”

“Nothing can ever undo the past Starlight. What’s done is done. But thank you for the thought.” Sunset looked pensive. “Can I meet her?”

“Can you meet her?” echoed Starlight. “I don’t know. If anyone finds out she was talking to you, she could really get hurt.”

“No one needs to know. Just you, me, and her. Bring her by. I'd like to thank her. Tell her it’s okay, I want to meet her, to say thank you. Can you do that Starlight? Can you tell her that? I can give you my number. We can set it up if she agrees.”

Starlight nodded, then handed her phone over. Sunset typed in her number. Starlight saved it. A moment later Sunset received a message with Starlight’s contact information which she saved.

“Okay. I’ll let her know. Thank you Sunset.”







“Starlight, why did you tell her? If they find out I said anything, they're going to kill me! Or make me wish they had.” Trixie yelled at her friend. “Trixie trusted you Starlight!”

“Trixie, it’s fine. Relax!” Starlight hugged her friend. “Look, I know you’re frightened those thugs will hurt you too. I get it. But trust me Trixie... I would never let you get hurt. I talked to Sunset. She’s not mad at you. She just wants to talk, and thank you for helping her. I’ll be there the whole time. No one will know anything about it but the three of us. You’ll be fine! And we both know - you need to do this. You need to talk to her about this. Or you’re never going to be able to put this behind you.”

“Are you sure she said that? Are you sure she isn’t angry with Trixie?” Trixie asked.

“I’m sure. One hundred percent positive. Trixie, she’s not that kind of girl. I got a really kind feeling from her. You can trust her!”

“Okay. Trixie is trusting you Starlight. Don’t let me down!”

“Okay. So Trixie, here’s what we’re gonna do…” Starlight laid out her plan.







The next day Sunset received a text from Starlight. “My friend would like to meet you. Are you free this afternoon?”

Sunset texted back. “Sure. Come on over. I’ll be here all day.”

A few hours after lunch, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!” called out Sunset. She rolled out of the dining room and into the entry hall. Opening the door, she saw Starlight and Trixie standing in the entryway. “Hi Sunset.” Trixie said quietly, looking down in shame.

“Trixie? You’re Starlight’s friend?” replied Sunset. “Huh… okay. Come in! We can meet out back.” She backed up, letting the girls enter. Shutting the door behind them, Sunset rolled past. “Follow me.” She rolled down the hall and into the dining room. “Luna, I’m going to the patio with some friends! Let me know if you need me!”

“Will do Sunset! Thank you!” called out Luna from the back of the house.

“Vice-Principal Luna is here!” whispered Trixie in panic.

“Trixie, relax! It’s her house. We live here,” Sunset reached out, taking Trixie’s hand. “It’s fine. Let’s just go talk. So, do you girls need anything? A snack maybe, or something to drink?”

“I could use something to drink. What’cha got?” asked Starlight. Trixie just nodded, looking back and forth from Sunset to the hand Sunset was holding. Letting go, Sunset led them into the kitchen. She showed them the drinks in the fridge, and opening a bag of chips, dumped them into a serving bowl. Placing the bowl in her lap, she led them out to the patio.

They sat in the shade, around the patio table, chips and sodas in easy reach. Sunset took Trixie’s hand again. “I wanted to say thank you.” She nodded to Starlight. “Thank you both. I really appreciate your being here, and your talking with me, Trixie. Starlight, I can see you’re an amazing friend. This has to be incredibly uncomfortable for both of you. It says so much that you’re here, by her side.”

Starlight blushed, but nodded.

“Trixie, you’re incredibly brave! Thank you for coming here, and for coming forward to speak with me. I know you’re scared. I am too! But I won’t allow anyone to hurt you. I’d never want you, or anyone else, to go through what I’m going through. I’m just so grateful you’re here.” She squeezed Trixie’s hand gently. “And I’m extremely grateful for what you did! Trixie, you may have saved my life. I’d definitely like to have you as my friend. Will you be my friend Trixie?”

Tears spilled down Trixie’s cheeks. “Trixie would love to be your friend, Sunset,” she said softly. Starlight poked her side. “I mean, sorry. Sunset, I would love to be your friend,” she amended. Starlight grinned.

“Trixie, I would love to be your friend too. Thank you.” Sunset beamed.

“So…” Sunset continued. “This is probably hard for you to hear… but I’ll just put it out there. I have no idea what happened that evening. I mean, aside from the obvious… I was beaten within an inch of my life. But I really don’t remember anything about it. The last thing I can recall was heading towards the gym looking for Rainbow Dash.”

Tearfully, Trixie related what had happened…