//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Long ago, in the broken remains of Equestria 
// by thegenieworld 
//------------------------------//

Starlight didn’t like talking in front of other ponies. It’s not like she wasn’t good at it. She was very convincing, actually. However, it made her nervous because usually when she did, she was not prepared in the slightest. In front of her stood the five most powerful ponies in Equestria. They had passed judgement on her decisions before, and it was just as scary now.
“So what I’m saying is,” Starlight continued, giving herself just enough time to think of a good way to formulate her words before continuing. “I believe that we’ll be able to use the elements against the Nightmare using this spell.”
“I don’t want to disagree with you,” Applejack replied, meeting Starlight’s gaze. “But you said yourself that the spell is unfinished. How much will an unfinished spell be of use?”
“Twilight has finished a spell before,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “I’m sure she could find a solution again, right Twilight?”
“Well, it’s not nearly that simple.” Starlight didn’t think she’d ever seen Twilight so nervous before. “While it’s true that I finished a spell before, it was under very different circumstances and I have more than enough to do trying to help Equestria survive this war.”
“You clearly have some faith in this endeavour, though,” Rarity replied. “You did call us here for a meeting to discuss it, and I’m sure you wouldn’t need us to dismiss a bad idea for you.”
“Right, I actually did have an idea for the spell.” Twilight turned to Starlight again, all nervousness gone from her eyes. “Starlight, I want you to finish the spell.”
“Wait, me? How am I supposed to do that better than the Guardian of the element of Magic?”
“You already have experience in modifying spells, and I need you to help me with this. You’re my student, Starlight, and I can’t do this alone.”
“I think you’re all forgetting the most important thing here.” Twilight and Starlight broke their eye contact and turned to Rainbow Dash, who looked like she was challenging them both. “You know what would be nice to have if we’re going to use the elements again?”
“Dash, come on,” Applejack said, giving Dash a stern look, but Dash ignored her.
“It would be nice to have all the elements!” She looked like she was ready to up and fight the other Guardians. Starlight shrunk back in her seat a little. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard this debate before, but Rainbow Dash was aggressive and a strong soldier. She was intimidating.
“Rainbow, you know we’ve done everything we could.” Twilight stood up and put her hoof on the table they were all gathered around. “It’s no use having this fight again. Nothing good will come of it.”
“We need all the element bearers present for them to work anyway!” Rainbow Dash stood up as well, planting both her hooves on the table. “We need her!”
“She is gone, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight raised her voice. Everyone seemed to either look away, or stare at her in shock. She never raised her voice like that. “Fluttershy is as good as dead. There have been no reports of seeing her for years, and she couldn’t survive on her own outside the castles. You know that!” Rainbow Dash didn’t respond. Instead, she turned her back on the rest of the Guardians and walked towards the door.
“Dash, where are you going?” Twilight called out. “You can’t just leave, we might finally be close to finding a solution!”
“I’m going to look for her.” With that, the commander disappeared through the door. A heavy silence was left in the room. Starlight took a deep breath.
“Maybe she has a point. We’ll never get anywhere without the elements.” Everyone turned to her, a sad mood hanging in the air.
“Don’t say that, darling.” Rarity broke the silence. “At least you found something, that’s what really matters. Maybe we can find a way to work around the elements? Or, who knows, maybe it works with only five?” Starlight wasn’t convinced, but she appreciated Rarity’s effort to turn the situation around.
“Starlight, I think you should at least try to finish the spell. That might be the most important part. We’ll try to fix everything else,” Twilight concluded and with that, the meeting was over. Nopony found Rainbow Dash after the meeting, and when Applejack asked the other soldiers, they said she’d gone out on a mission, bringing with her the captain and one of their strongest soldiers.
Starlight had felt very out of place in the meeting. She was on her way back to the tower, but she still felt a weird feeling of discomfort. The five Guardians were all expecting something big and important from her, which was unusual, given how little trust she’d gained from most ponies after all these years. Maybe this was a good thing? It could be her big chance to prove that she wanted to do something good for Equestria, and that she’d learned and changed for the better.
“Starlight, wait!” Starlight stopped and turned to see Pinkie Pie trotting up the stairs after her. “Let me come with you!” The pink pony came to a halt beside Starlight, who simply shrugged and continued walking up the stairs, Pinkie by her side. When the two ponies entered the library at the top of the stairs, Pinkie stopped and seemed to take in the room for a moment.
“Was there any specific reason you wanted to come with me?” Starlight walked past them, putting her book down on the nearby desk, making sure the page with the unfinished spell was marked. Not taking the time to look at Pinkie, the unicorn instead focused on looking through her shelves to find any books on writing and modifying spells.
“Well, this meeting ended up being a lot of fighting and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Starlight dropped her books on the desk, meeting Pinkie’s eyes. She must have looked confused, because they continued explaining. “I guess it’s just a part of my old duties in Ponyville sticking to me, a bit of an old habit. I feel a need to make sure everypony are doing alright.” Starlight felt sympathy for Pinkie. They’d been ripped out of their old life so suddenly.
“It’s alright, Pinkie,” Starlight said, after a small pause. “I’m okay. It’s nothing I’m not used to.” Pinkie Pie smiled, before they noticed the sun setting outside the window.
“I should probably head to the kitchen. Almost time for dinner.” They walked over to Starlight, giving her a small side-hug before trotting back down the stairs. Starlight smiled, for the first time in a while. Maybe ponies were starting to trust her more than she’d realized.