//------------------------------// // Bringing Back Starlight // Story: Normalcy Is Overrated // by Starlight Fan //------------------------------// The next day, Starlight and Trixie were heading towards the caravan Trixie lived in and used for her magic shows and soon gestured to the apple on the small table she set up. “Okay, I know it might be egotistical of Trixie to have you practice magic with me since we’re trying to help you but I do know you enjoy it so I figured we could try practicing some spells again. Which spell do you think would be a good one to practice?” Trixie said enthusiastically. “Hmm, well given your lack of magical expertise as proven by the time you teleported the map table, we should start with something small like a levitation spell.” Starlight told the showmare. “Are you sure? We always work on the teleportation spell. I have been improving on it lately.” Trixie asked, unsure of her friend’s decision. “Ah yes, but I feel you could take a break from it for once.” Starlight patted Trixie’s head with a smile meant to be reassuring but came off as condescending much to Trixie’s annoyance, “Just watch me levitate it and then you do the same.” Starlight soon turned to the apple and then used her horn to envelope it in her magic and then levitated it into the air and then onto the table. “There. Easy as pie.” Starlight smiled proudly, “Your turn.” Trixie soon turned to the apple, clearly bored and then levitated it like Starlight did. “Oh wow. I did the simplest spell in the book. I feel sooooooo accomplished.” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Fair point. I guess we were doing the most basic spell.” Starlight admitted with a shrug, “I apologize Trixie, but ever since I cast that spell to change, my interest in magic has faded so to speak.” Trixie’s eyes widened in shock before saying, “Are you serious?!” “Never been more serious in my life.” Starlight said naturally. “Look Starlight, I mean Glim Glam, I know you wanna be normal but you can’t just give up on something you enjoy, can you honestly say that will make you happy? Come on, can’t we at least try another spell?” Trixie said, showing a rare amount of seriousness. “Hmmmm.” Starlight hummed in reluctance before admitting, “I suppose we could try another spell.” “Excellent.” Trixie said, happy that she was making some progress, “I was thinking I could try the self levitation spell. It is impressive how you’re able to do that.” “If you say so.” Starlight shrugged before explaining, “The key to this spell is to light up your horn and perform the levitation spell but channel more power into it so you can do it to yourself.” “Can you demonstrate?” Trixie asked with a smile, figuring that reminding herself of how she used magic would help bring back the old Starlight. “If I must.” Starlight said before she began lighting up her horn and slowly began levitating herself which had her smile fondly, “Hmmm, that actually felt pretty good.” “That’s good. Try floating around a bit, maybe you’ll find that fun.” Trixie smiled excitedly. “Okay.” Starlight smiled, her voice starting to show some pep again, before she started floating around with her magic, “Hey. This is actually kinda fun. Hahahahahahahaha, look at me! Woohoo.” Starlight said happily before she suddenly stopped floating and levitated herself back to the ground. “Apologies, I lost my cool there for a moment.” Starlight apologized, seemingly embarrassed. Trixie merely just smiled and walked up to her, “No no! That was awesome! You seemed to be having fun too. Don’t you see? Using magic still makes you happy, and you still love it.” Starlight seemed to look around awkwardly before shaking it off, “Your attempts to tempt me with silly spells is admirable but I can’t go back to the way I was. I’ll just upset Twilight again. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet Applejack at the Sweet Apple Acre Orchard, goodbye.” She soon teleported away much to Trixie’s sadness. We then see Applejack at the entrance to the Orchard of Sweet Apple Acres and soon Starlight appeared. “There you are Starlight.” Applejack said happily. “Yes yes Glim Glam is here. So what is it that we are doing today?” Starlight asked curiously. “Well I remember from the times you showed up that you did like joining me in bucking for apples.” Applejack smiled before she and Starlight headed to an apple tree where a bucket was stationed near the tree. “Why don’t you give it a try.” Applejack suggested. Starlight rolled her eyes before using her magic to pick off the apples one by one from the trees and put them in the bucket. “Uh, what are you doing?” Applejack asked curiously. “I find picking the apples to be much more efficient than bashing my back hooves against a tree.” Starlight explained. “Uh… hate to break it to you… uh Glim Glam but we earth ponies don’t have horns like you do.” Applejack reminded the unicorn. “I am aware. I’m just sticking to the most effective way my race can get apples off the tree.” Starlight explained with a smirk. “Uh… that’s kinda racist Glim Glam.” Applejack glared a bit annoyed at the unicorn. “It actually isn’t, I never said that unicorns were superior to Earth Ponies or some nonsense like that.” Starlight argued amicably, “Earth ponies are best known for their strength, Pegasi for their flight, and Unicorns for their magic. These are the traits that make us different and unique.” “Okay then…” Applejack rubbed her chin in thought before she smirked, “Y’know, you could get this done faster if you used your magic to get multiple apples off the tree at once. It WOULD be helpful.” “Hmm, that doesn’t seem very normal to me.” Starlight admitted with a shrug. “Well it is efficient and isn’t being efficient normal?” Applejack asked teasingly which made Starlight’s eyes widen. “I suppose that’s correct.” Starlight grumbled before she lit up her horn and soon multiple apples were picked off the tree and put into the bucket. “Hmm, that felt oddly exhilarating.” Starlight admitted with a smile. “Oh yeah.” Applejack challenged with a smirk. “Well I bet ya can’t do it for two trees in a row.” “Hmm. Child’s play.” Starlight smirked before using her magic to pluck every apple out of the next two trees and then placed them in buckets. “So you can do two trees? I doubt you could clear half of the trees in the orchard.” Applejack scoffed in amusement. Starlight just smirked before she levitated to the sky and then used her magic to get all the apples off the trees and put them all in their respective buckets. She soon levitated down and smirked before realizing what she had done, “Oh goodness, I must have been such a showoff. How embarrassing.” Starlight groaned. “What? Are you kidding?” Applejack laughed, “I challenged you to do that. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.” “Nonsense, there was no need to overdo like I just did.” Starlight scoffed in denial. “Why are you so upset? You acted efficiently and got this done quicker.” Applejack asked curiously. “Because Starlight used to overdo and go big with her magic. I’m not Starlight anymore, so I shouldn’t do that. I’m now normal and my name is Glim Glam.” Starlight explained neutrally. “You know, you can still stay true to what makes you Starlight and still be normal. I get you mess up sometimes sugarcube but you don’t have to change who you are, other than not being evil of course.” Applejack told the unicorn comfortingly. “I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not sure if I can be Starlight without being a menace.” Starlight sighed in monotone, “Now if you’ll excuse me, Pinkie Pie told me to meet her at the hill overlooking the town and I prefer to not be late.” With a flick of her horn, she was gone. “At least I know Starlight’s still in there somewhere.” Applejack admitted with a sigh. Starlight soon found herself on top of the hill overlooking the town and Pinkie smiled at her happily, “Starlight! Glad you could make it!” “It’s Glim Glam.” Starlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Okay then.” Pinkie Pie rolled her eyes with a smile, “Anyway, I’ve been told by Maud that you love this activity so I figured we could try…” She said as she went behind the bushes before pulling out two kites. “Kite flying! Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie smiled as she showed Starlight a kite with a cupcake on it and a kite with Starlight’s cutie mark on it. “Ah kite flying! The most childish of all activities.” Starlight rolled her eyes, “Have you seriously decided to waste my time?” “Deny it all you want, but I know you really enjoy it. It helps relax you and makes you feel at peace. You can’t deny it, Maud told me this.” Pinkie Pie waved the kite at Starlight’s face which did seem to tempt her, “I… guess it wouldn’t hurt.” Starlight admitted sheepishly. Meanwhile Twilight was pacing around the library in worry while Spike was lounging on the chair nearby, “Oh. I don’t know what to do Spike, I’m not sure how we can fix Starlight and bring the real her back if our friends can’t convince her to turn back to her actual self. I don’t want Starlight to be ‘normal’ , I want her to be Starlight!” She spoke in a panic before sighing, “I just wish I could’ve let her know that sooner.” “You done?” Spike asked curiously and nonchalantly. “A bit rude but yes I’m done.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Good.” Spike smiled before getting out of his chair and flying to the shelf and pulling a book titled ‘Chaos’ which then opened a purple portal. “What the heck?!” Twilight asked incredulously. “This portal was something Discord had given me in case I wanted to visit him.” Spike explained to his oldest friend. “Are you kidding me? How is Discord of all creatures gonna help me? He’s likely just going to laugh at me for what I did.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just come on. He’ll probably me more helpful than you think.” Spike groaned as he led Twilight inside the portal. Soon they found themselves at the doorstep of Discord’s house, Spike then knocked on the door which made a doorbell sound. Instead of the door opening, Twilight and Spike were teleported inside to a mismatched chaos of Discord’s house. “Oh goodness. This place belongs to Discord alright.” Twilight cringed. Soon Discord appeared in front of them with a smirk, “Oh! I see The Princess Of Friendship decided to visit me along with my little buddy Spike.” He gave a playful noogie to the dragon in question before asking, “To what do I owe the pleasure?” “Well Discord, we have a bit of an issue and you have some experience in this type of situation.” Spike admitted sheepishly, “You see, Twilight got mad at Starlight for accidentally destroying her figurine of the old treehouse library I made for her and said she wished Starlight would be normal.” “Hmm, that does sound harsh of Twilight to say.” Discord admits as he strokes his beard, “But what ended up happening after that?” Spike bumped Twilight on the sides causing her to sigh and confess, “Well, Starlight basically granted my wish.” Twilight sighed sadly, “She cast the spell Normalcia on herself to turn herself completely normal. She’s basically unrecognizable, she’s no longer bubbly, passionate, or as empathetic as she used to be. Now she just feels like a boring brick wall.” “Blegh.” Discord gagged in disgust before coughing up a hair ball, “I’m sorry but I’m disgusted by what she has become. Unfortunately I can’t help you. The spell she cast on herself has to be undone by her accepting herself for who she truly is, not by any other magic.” “I know.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “So basically what we’re asking is how we should turn Starlight back to Starlight. I figured you would be best for this type of question since you also tried to change for Fluttershy.” Spike explained. “Well Spike, I must admit, I did try to change for Fluttershy but the reason wasn’t because of Fluttershy herself but that was due to other ponies making me question my friendship with her. She was the source of my inse-“ Discord began explaining before gagging once again and coughing up a piece of Swiss cheese, “My insecurities.” Discord sighed. “So what does that mean?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. “It means that what I was going through with my emotions wasn’t as bad as what Starlight is going through since you’re the one who gave her the urge to change.” Discord explained bluntly much to Twilight’s annoyance, “Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence Discord.” She said bitterly. “What I’m saying is, what me and Starlight both have  in common is that we were trying to change for the ponies we care about, I did it for Fluttershy, and she’s doing it for you. Once Fluttershy ended up confronting me herself, I managed to accept myself for who I am.” Discord answered. “So… if I want to convince Starlight to return to herself again, I should confront her? But she doesn’t even listen to me when I talk to her about it.” Twilight groaned. “Then make her listen, and try to dig a bit and get her to admit what she’s insecure about and help her with it.” Discord said before snapping his fingers and a bulldozer appeared with himself inside it. “Like so.” Discord smirked before he dug through his house floor and created a hole in it before he appeared in front of Twilight yet again. “Do you get the picture?”  Discord asked happily. “I… I think I do.” Twilight smiled in surprise and enlightenment, “Thanks Discord, I think I know what I need to do.” She then flew outside the house with a smile on her face. “Uh how long till she realizes that she was no idea where she is?” Spike asked curiously to Discord. “Eh, I’d give it a couple more seconds.” Discord checked his watch with a smirk. Soon Twilight and Spike were back at the map room of the castle where the rest of their friends were waiting along with Trixie. “Starlight did seem to be having fun with the kite flying at first but then suddenly she just shook her head and left in a hurry.” Pinkie Pie told the group. “Well you made more progress than I did. She did enjoy helping me sew clothing, but I barely caught a glimpse of her original self and all I got was her Canterlot noble-esque attitude, except she wasn’t nearly as obnoxious.” Rarity admitted sadly. “Still better than my attempt. Starlight didn’t even get a chance to help take care of the animals, she was afraid of her suit getting filthy and also stated she felt exposed without it.” Fluttershy sighed. “Is she crazy? We’re always exposed!” Spike asked incredulously. “I know. That’s why it’s so confusing.” Fluttershy said sadly. “I did take Starlight out for a bit of a flight since she does seem to like flying. She enjoyed it for a bit before asking me to put her down.” Rainbow Dash told everyone. “I think me and Trixie made the most progress with her along with Pinkie. We both encouraged her to use magic to levitate herself and pluck the apples outta the trees and she seemed really happy… until she felt embarrassed about it.” Applejack told the group. “She told me that she couldn’t go back to the way she was because she thought she’d upset Twilight again.” Trixie narrowed her eyes at Twilight hatefully. Twilight sighed sadly before speaking up in determination, “You know what? I’m done hiding behind you girls. Thank you for at least giving Starlight reminders of her old self but I need to confront her about this. It’s clear that she’s doing this because of me so I need to be the one who helps her.” Soon Starlight walks inside the map room with a haughty smile, “I got your letter Twilight. You said you required my services.” “Yes. I need to talk to you about your new persona.” Twilight said sternly to Starlight. “Ugh. This again. I told you Twilight, this is the new me.” Starlight rolled her eyes angrily. “I’m not so sure about that Starlight, from what I heard from our friends, you at least felt a little something special about the activities you did. You still love using magic, flying kites, and just letting loose, you’re just acting as if you don’t.” Twilight argued softly. Starlight seemed nervous at first before scoffing in frustration, “It’s Glim Glam now. So what if I did, it doesn’t matter. I’m better off being normal.” “But why do you feel that way? Why do you feel like you need to be normal to please me?” Twilight asked sadly. “Well… after you told me you wished I could act normal, I began thinking about all the reckless and idiotic things I have done in the past and figured that my personality was the problem. So… I thought if I cast that spell on myself, you’d be able to accept me more and I’d no longer get you mad at me.” Starlight said solemnly, finally showing more emotion. “Starlight I only said what I said out of frustration. It doesn’t make it any less wrong but I don’t want you to change who you are.” Twilight put her hoof around Starlight before tearing up and beginning to rant,  “I want the Starlight who took a chance on the Changelings and Stygian and showed them compassion to help them see the light, the Starlight who encouraged me to disregard the EEA and do the School Of Friendship my way, the Starlight who’s empathetic and is willing to help students with their problems, the Starlight who helps calm me down when I have a freak out, the Starlight that I know and love.” Twilight ended off her tirade as tears began to flow before she wiped her eyes and closed them, “Though I guess I probably should’ve told you sooner. I don’t blame you for being upset.” Soon she heard a sniffling noise and looked to see Starlight with tears in her eyes but smiling. “Wait, what’s going on?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow, confused by this sudden emotional change in Starlight. “I think your emotional tirade might have done something.” Spike smiled. “Are you okay Glim Glam?” Twilight asked carefully. “Better than okay, I guess I forgot that there are good things about me to be proud of.” Starlight smiled gratefully as she took off her glasses to wipe her eyes and threw them to the side, “And my name is Starlight Glimmer. Not Glim Glam.” Suddenly a bright turquoise light surrounded Starlight causing her to smile as she knew what was happening next. Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Trixie watched in awe yet confusion. Pinkie Pie pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her mane with a smirk but Twilight and Spike both looked at each other with smiles, both knowing exactly what was about to happen. Suddenly Starlight’s mane changed from her old bangs to her small bouncy purple and teal swirl. Soon Starlight floated back to the ground and soon she shined a bright light before it faded. “Starlight? How do you feel?” Rarity asked carefully. “Well I feel…” Starlight began before she suddenly cringed at her suit she was wearing, “That this suit is so annoying. Goodness, what was I thinking when getting this?” She soon teleported the suit off of her and onto the table and breathed out a sigh of relief, “Oh that feels so much better.” “She’s back!” Trixie immediately embraced Starlight causing her to get squeezed a bit and make a wheezing motion causing Trixie to let her go, “Oh sorry.” She sheepishly smiled. “It’s okay Trixie.” Starlight smiled warmly before looking at her front hooves and tearfully smiled, “I’m free… I’m free!” She soon began levitating herself across the room and cheering and laughing, “I finally feel whole again! It feels so good to be myself again!” She then saw Twilight’s gleeful smile levitated back down to the alicorn and immediately embraced her, “Thank you Twilight. I’m so sorry for what I did. I’m trying my best to not be reckless but I still sometimes screw up.” “I’m sorry too. I should have been more understanding about what happened and I shouldn’t have been so upset over a figurine of my past. Our friendship is more important and something of the present, which is just as important to me as the past.” Twilight hugged her friend back. Applejack soon spotted Rainbow Dash’s eyes watering as she smiled and smirked at the pegasus, “I can see those tears Dash.” “Ugh.” Rainbow Dash scoffed playfully as she wiped the tears, “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just happy they made up.” “I’m still holding this over Twilight’s head.” Trixie admitted with a whisper earning her a glare from Spike, “Hey, Starlight’s back to her old self so the Great and Understanding Trixie won’t be mad forever.” Spike shrugged, “Better than nothing I suppose.” “You know, I think we both learned a friendship lesson from this. And speaking of my past, I think there’s something from my past I’d like to share with you.” Twilight told Starlight with a smile. Celestia and Luna were currently sitting in the throne room, a bit bored given they didn’t have much to do when suddenly a scroll appeared in front of Celestia. “Oh, this is a shock.” Celestia admitted as she levitated the scroll to read it, and soon Luna grew curious and read over her shoulder, “What does it say sister?” Dear Princess Celestia, It’s me, Twilight. I know I don’t really send these to you anymore but I figured this felt warranted given what me and Starlight learned. I learned that even when you’re mad at your friends, you shouldn’t say stuff like that they should change their personality and be more understanding when they screw up. As I learned, sometimes it could end up hurting their feelings to the point where they feel they need to change. From your former student Twilight Sparkle Before you close off this letter. I, Starlight Glimmer, also like to say something. Even when you screw up with your friends like I did, you shouldn’t try to change your entire personality, you should work on a couple flaws of course but don’t become an entirely different creature when you don’t need to be. It doesn’t truly make you happy as you basically are preventing yourself from being who you truly are. From a friendly acquaintance, Starlight Glimmer Celestia and Luna smiled as they read the letter, they might not know what happened between Twilight and Starlight but from what it looked like, they learned a very valuable lesson.