//------------------------------// // Ch 2: Starlight // Story: All These Shining Lights // by InkyTalon //------------------------------// Starlight Glimmer sighed softly, leaning her cheek against her hoof. "Your move." "Alright!" Spike picked up a chess piece off the board, and tapped his chin, before smashing it into one of hers. "Checkmate!" The lilac unicorn let out an exaggerated, bored groan. She couldn’t help it. “...Why don't we play something else? Or you know... do something useful?" The young dragon shrugged. "I guess chess isn't your thing. But that's cool. You'll find something you like to do that isn't... enslaving entire towns to your philosophy and making them give up their cutie marks— ...And messing with the space-time continuum and dooming the fate of Equestria." Starlight groaned again, getting onto her hooves and walking slowly out of her bedroom in Twilight’s castle. "S-Sorry!" Spike exclaimed, shooting to his feet. "It's just kind of hard to forget..." "It's fine. I guess I deserve that sometimes. After all, Twilight left me off without any other punishment... so it's not that bad." "Aww, Starlight, you don't have to look at it that way!" Spike caught up with the mare and rested a claw on her shoulder. "Just... look at it as a reminder of how far you've come since then." "And how far exactly have I come? I mean, I made up with Sunburst and helped fix the Crystal Heart, yeah, but I haven't done anything to really... prove myself yet." Starlight sighed once more, smoothing her hoof against the back of Princess Twilight's throne. "You'll get your time to shine, Starlight." Spike reassured, hopping into his little throne beside Twilight's. "I hope you're right, Spike." Starlight sat down in the space in between Spike's throne and Rainbow Dash's. Her ears twitched, hearing the castle doors open. "Twilight?" The purple alicorn flew in and landed, a bit clumsily. "Hello..." She said, unable to contain her sadness. "What's the matter, Twilight?" Her dragon assistant asked, running up to her. Twilight payed Spike no mind, not even glancing at him. "Princess Celestia…… she’s… she’s sick." "Oh no..." Spike whimpered. "That's awful..." Starlight looked down, not sure what to say. It really was awful. Twilight inhaled deeply and slowly, trying to keep herself from getting too emotional. She had a task at hoof, one final test to pass. "Spike, would you fetch me the magic journal, the one that I use to contact Sunset Shimmer and my friends at Canterlot High?" "Yes ma'am!" Spike saluted and scurried off into another room. Starlight looked up at Twilight questioningly with a puzzled frown. "Who's Sunset?" The Princess of Friendship turned to Starlight, equally puzzled. "I'm sorry? I thought I told you about her." "Er... no." Starlight let out a small laugh. "Not once." "Oh... well, Sunset's one of my close friends, but she didn't always used to be... you see, she's actually a lot like you. Even more like you than Trixie, even.” “Really?” Starlight raised an eyebrow. Ponies she could really relate to were so hard to find… if not non-existent. Trixie, her now best friend, had been the closest. They shared so many experiences and hardships. The idea that there was somepony even more like Starlight struck her as… unlikely. But Twilight had her interest. “She was Celestia's student before I was, until she went through a portal to another world. She stole my Element of Harmony and took it there. Then my Canterlot High friends- who are basically just like my friends here- and I defeated her, and reformed her. Since then she's helped defend that world against threats and she's been trying to understand the magic there." "Wow..." Starlight smiled a little, fascinated by all this that Sunset had accomplished since her reformation. Certainly a lot more than Starlight, it seemed. "She sounds nice but... not really like me." "Well, you two certainly had different motives, but all in all, you two are basically the same pony." "Starlight Glimmer... Sunset Shimmer... well, our names are similar." Starlight noted. "And she's reformed. So... maybe." Twilight shrugged. "I guess you'd have to meet her to see what I mean. Which you will, very soon." "I will?" Starlight frowned in confusion. "She's coming to Ponyville?" "More like coming back to Equestria." Twilight said, as Spike brought her the book she needed. "Sooo... when you say she's in another world... you're not kidding?" Starlight blinked. "Nope. And that's not the craziest part either. Everypony– …I mean, everybody there walks on two legs." "Like Spike..?" "Sort of. But not quite…" Twilight giggled softly, levitating a quill towards her. "They call themselves humans. They have no magic, but they do have plenty of interesting technology at their disposal." She began to write. "Wow... that's... cool?" Starlight grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, it's a little strange." "Not to mention the portal transformed you into a human too. And me into a dog!" Spike added. "That is weird..." Starlight said. "I can see why you don't talk about it a lot." "Well... It's kind of become a force of habit to keep the portal a secret. It's safe here, kept out of the way. But I guess you're ready to know about it, considering." "The portal's here? Where? Is it in that one room that's closed off?" "Yes." Twilight continued scribbling her letter to Sunset. "Wow... and Sunset's going to get that... how?" The alicorn sighed with a smile. "She has a magic journal of her own. These two are connected. When I write on a page, it appears in her journal in the human world, and vice versa." Starlight nodded, giving the questions a rest for now. She was sure that she could get more information out of Sunset later. If they became friends, that is. She hoped so. With Trixie always on tour with her magic show, and Discord not really being in her league... she hadn't hung out with anypony she could really relate to in a while. "Done!" Twilight said, scribbling her name at the end of her letter, before teleporting the quill away with her magic and shutting the book. "We'll wait for a response. She usually replies pretty quickly." Her student nodded again, tracing circles on the castle floor with her hoof. "What do we do until then?" "I think we should wait near the portal, in case she comes right through." Twilight stood, gesturing for Starlight to follow her down the hall, carrying the book with her. "She'll need help getting back on her hooves. It's been many, many moons since she's been in Equestria for real. The last time she was here was when she stole my crown." "Oh wow... Why do you think she hasn't returned? She came from Equestria…right?" "Well... I think it's partially because she made friends there, friends she can't say she has here yet. And maybe some of it has to do with how guilty she feels about leaving her studies with Celestia to do... bad things. She's told me how terrible she feels all the time in her letters..." Twilight unlocked the closed door with her magic, revealing a room with a giant mirror as it's centerpiece. "Ooo..." Starlight marveled, sitting on her haunches and looking up at the mirror. "So... even after she proved herself to her friends, and helped defeat those threats... she still feels guilty?" "Well... yeah. She's probably going to carry that guilt for a long time... but she's changed for the better with her friends at her side, and that's all she needs to recover." Twilight sat beside Starlight. Hmm, Starlight thought. Maybe Sunset really is a lot like me. She felt herself growing a bit more excited. Twilight smiled warmly at Starlight, though sadness still showed in her eyes. "I think you two will get along fine. Which is why I'm taking this opportunity to assign you your next lesson." "Of course," Starlight said. "We have a few days... So in these next few days, I'd like you to make friends with Sunset, and do your best to help make her feel welcome. She needs all the friends she could get here." "I'll do my best." "Spiiiiike!" Twilight called, and the dragon was there within seconds. "Yes?" Spike asked. "Could you go out and contact my friends? They haven't met Sunset yet.. and now that I think about it, one of Pinkie's parties might be perfect to help welcome her back." "On it!" Spike raced out of the room. Twilight sighed softly once more. She hoped this would help get her mind off things. After all, it wasn't every day she got to have all her friends in one place. She placed a hoof on the magical journal, and gazed up at the portal, wondering what adventures Sunset and her Canterlot High friends were having.