It was close to the end of the week. It was Thursday night, and tomorrow would be the last day to send out letters or gifts to anybody. The winning students would be announced on Monday.
Taz had just a little more ways to go. There was one student who had just a few more gifts sent out than she did. Sandbar was at seventeen, just two more than she had. And she was in second place. Two, maybe three, more letters and she'd be at the top of the board. Not that it was her goal. Friday morning, in Twilight's period 1, she found three ponies that letters could be sent to who were all in Twilight's Period 1 class. Their names were Cozy Glow, Grape Raindrop, and Huckleberry Rose. She had the whole period to observe them, and then find things that were good about each one. The letters could be given during lunch.
After a bit of looking, she found traits that were perfect for each of them. She wrote them down on the paper that was meant to be for taking class notes, not on observing other ponies. But she had grown, and a lot, and she thought that was just as crucial as focusing on how the class was doing. Then, during her 2nd period, she wrote the letters in their official form. Then, she tucked her final letters in envelopes and put them in her bookbag along with a few other gifts she had bought for ponies. One was for someone in Rainbow Dash's class named Sunshine Sweetfeather, the other was for Minty Campfire, a young pony in Pinkie's class.
She delivered all of them, the letters at lunch and the gifts when she found them in their classes. A smile crept across her face. She had done nothing like this before, yet it was fun and beneficial to her. She hoped that it would not stop once it hard started. She spent Friday night tired and worried, and counting. She had to know who had won.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized how greedy and competitive that sounded. She didn't like it that way. With a yawn, she wrote another mental letter because they were that big a part of her life now.
Dear world, good night.
Taz walked into the school on Monday with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. She was a bit earlier than she had been for the past few days, because not as many students were crowding around the stage. The top five givers would be announced, although all the records were recorded. They had a list of students who didn't participate, but it didn't go against them. Participating in the gift/letter exchange was only extra credit. At least that's how it worked for Twilight. She hadn't given the announcement yet, but everyone was ready to see who had given the most out. Everyone was eager to find out who got what. Twilight hadn't started the announcements yet, though, so friend groups still had time to chat and dream.
When Twilight did start, Taz started sweating and trembling. What would happen if everyone were to find out about the mess she had created, that the whole exchange was her doing? And how would they react to seeing her onstage? They would never expect such an outcome.
That was when the announcements started. "Thank you, everyone, for participating in our letter exchange. Hopefully, it has taught you some valuable friendship skills, and made you feel proud and better of yourself, as well. As of right now, let's announce the winners and their personalized prizes!" At this everyone applauded, staff included.
"In fifth place is Lavender Rose with ten gifts sent!" Another round of applause. "Here is your boquet of, well, lavender roses! For our fourth place winner, Glory Dusk! She wins a glittery keychain for her fourteen gifts sent! Third place goes to Cozy Glow with sixteen letters! Here is a plushie with the look of you! With seventeen letters sent would be Sandbar with his turtle toy."
Taz bit her lip. She knew she had been on the leaderboard. And her name wasn't announced yet, meaning she was first place. She was so excited for this moment. But also incredibly nervous. Mostly just nervous. As she heard Pinkie put it once, she was "nervicited."
"Give it up for our first place winner," Twilight stated with a grin, "Taz! At least, that's the anonymous name they go by." Twilight stepped aside and waited to see who was moving towards the stage, who Taz was. Taz herself trembled and took deep breaths. This is how it goes, what did you expect, she asked herself. After the millionth breath, she put one hoof in front of the other, one by one, slowly, until she finally made it to the stage.
Her eyes were squeezed so tightly because she didn't want to face the stares of her friends, not to mention the whole crowd. But she forgot to close her ears or do some deafening spell. She still heard several voices, all in unison, say her name. "Starlight?"
Twilight gaped. Alongside all her friends. She then swallowed what she had been holding in. She had been so eager to meet Taz, so desperate to find out the truth and, really, she seemed to have given up on putting the clues together. On that first day, the day Starlight had introduced "Taz's" first letter, the clues were there all along. But nopony cared enough to see what was right in front of them. And now Twilight felt stupid. But she still had questions, obviously. "Why? Why any of this? What started it all?" she asked.
Starlight gazed down and dug at the ground with her hooves. "It started out a truth. When I first started, I viewed the letters as more of a story I was creating to heal myself. But eventually, I just saw it as an opportunity to create a more friendly environment at the school, because students were drifting apart from others and just staying with their own friends. And by then, well, I'd already shaped the character of Taz. And so this became a thing."
She looked into Twilight's eyes, feeling shy. "Besides, I have social anxiety myself," she whispered.
Twilight smiled. "That's alright. New friends are great to have, and I'm glad you realized that. I see that our school is back to the more friendly and open environment it originally was. But why the letters? Why anonymous, and why the 'truth' at the beginning?"
"Are you alright?" Spike asked. "You could've just told someone, you know. We would have helped."
Starlight sighed and looked at them. "You put me on the job of student counselor. And I can't complain; I love my job! But at first it was stressful. And at first, it felt as if I were all alone. And I couldn't take it all on my own, I couldn't help myself. So I confronted you, well, really myself, with one of the last letters I thought I was going to write. I ended up writing more because I felt better when I could express myself truly. And of course, express myself without anypony knowing I ever did."
Twilight was at a loss for words. Starlight had come so far as a student, sometimes going backwards in steps, but sometimes she tended to get stuck. This was one of those times. "But you helped yourself escape the problem. Right?"
"Yeah. Totally," Starlight grinned. Her friends smiled back at her.
"That's good to hear, of course. Besides," Twilight thought, "this whole thing has even taught me a thing or two!"
Starlight's eyes widened in shock. "Really? Like what?"
"You taught me that we should always respect others' wishes, no matter how eager we are to find out our own thing. You've shown me that sometimes, I get lazy to the point where I give up on seeing the clear answer. I need to improve on that from now on. And one more. This whole mess taught me that sometimes, an answer does not always seem right until you consider it. And that's when you realize you should have put more effort into trying before finding the answer."
Starlight was at a loss for words. "I... I taught you all that?"
Twilight nodded, looked away with a smile, and then looked back. "Sometimes, a teacher can learn from their student. Including the Princess of Friendship."
Starlight smiled. She then looked back at the crowd watching. "You should all start heading to class; we'll be in our classrooms in just a moment." Through the chatter and movement, Starlight asked with a laugh, "So, what was my prize?"
Twilight giggled. "It was a writing set! The words you wrote in the letters were so elegantly written, so neatly, too. Compared to your usual writing, at least."
"Wow, I just... I don't know what to say. Thank you!" Starlight smiled.
"Thank yourself," Twilight grinned back. "After all, Taz was all your doing. Now the school is a really friendly environment, just like it started out as."