Twilight and Anthea were looking at Fluttershy in disbelief. She was jumping up and down, crying in joy about how her daughter got her cutie mark. It was something that the lilac alicorn hadn’t seen since the Young Flyers Competition in Cloudsdale.

“Oh my goodness! I’m so happy for you, Annie!” Shouted a jubilant Fluttershy. “You got your cutie mark! Oh, wait until everypony else hears about this!” She opened her eyes and saw the dumbfounded look of her friend and daughter. She quickly stopped and covered her face in embarrassment. “Um . . . too much?” She whispered.

Anthea laughed and shook her head. “It’s fine, mom. I’m very happy myself and can’t wait to show everypony my cutie mark.”

“Hey mom, I got you more parchment for the party,” said Night Light as he pushed in a stack of paper.

“Twilight, you don’t need to go to so much trouble,” said Fluttershy. “I’d appreciate just having a party with our friends and their children.”

While everypony was talking about the upcoming cute-ceañera, Starburst was sulking in the corner of the room, trying to ignore the distraction near her. She let out a sigh and grinded her teeth.

The orange pegasus jumped and yelped in surprise. She turned to see her little brother nearby. “What do you want, squirt?” She huffed.

“I’m not a squirt,” he argued. “I was just going to ask if you had any ideas about Annie’s cute-ceañera.”

“Yeah, I actually got an idea. It’s called ‘go away’, I want to be left alone.”

She sighed to herself and turned away, but her ears caught the sound of her mother’s voice.

“I have to hand it to you, Annie,” she said. “You’ve learned so much, so quickly, that I really should consider having you maybe learn magic from Princess Celestia. Well, that would mean putting up with Discord, but she’d probably take you on if you want.”

Anthea pondered for a moment before shaking her head. “No thank you, Twilight. I’d like to learn more from you. You were the one who helped teach me about magic and get my cutie mark.”

Twilight smiled and pulled her in for a hug. “You’re way too modest. Why Annie, with the way you act and how quickly you learn from me, it’s like having a second daughter around here!”

Second daughter . . . second daughter . . . second daughter . . . Those words echoed inside Starburst’s head continuously.

Her entire mind went into a blur as she felt uncontrollable anger coursing through her body. It was too much to handle now, the praising, the caring, the way her own mother said Annie was like a daughter to her; it was all too much. Her blood literally felt like it was boiling, her teeth were grinding, and her eyes became narrow.

“What’s wrong? WHAT’S WRONG!?” She screamed. She stomped towards Anthea, who, in turn, backed away from her in fear. “It’s you that’s what’s wrong here!”

“You ruined everything, that’s what! You think you can just walk in here, impress my mom with your magical abilities, and then be like another daughter to her? Well I got new for you, that’s not happening!”

“You think you’re some big shot now, don’t you? Now that you’re supposed to be my mom’s first student, that makes you famous? Well guess what? My mom taught me everything she knew before you! She taught me how to fly and be the best I could be! Now you’re parading around here like as if you are a member of this family! What gives you the right to come in here and steal my mom?!”

“Starburst, that’s enough!” Called out an angry Twilight. “Anthea hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“Oh, yes she has!” Argued the orange pegasus. She turned back to the peachish unicorn, who was cowering in the corner. “All my life I’ve been learning to fly from my mom and now she pushes me aside for you! I don’t care how good you are at magic, I won’t let you kick me out of my mom’s life! Since you’re suddenly so good at growing plants and flowers, why don’t you just go off to some part of Equestria to use your magic, and leave me alone!”

Starburst stared at Anthea in anger, who was whimpering and shivering with fear. A stream of tears poured down her face as she looked at her furious friend. She finally broke down and started crying uncontrollably. The peachish unicorn got up and ran out the room and the library, sobbing hysterically all the way.

The orange pegasus wheezily gasped for air as she felt her anger slowly subside. While she was catching her breath, a looming shadow shrouded her and turned to see who it was. Any feeling of anger in Starburst was instantly replaced by fear and terror as she looked upon the livid expression of Twilight.

“STARBURST SUNRISE SPARKLE!” She boomed, with a fraction of the Royal Canterlot Voice in it. “DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU’RE IN?!”

The pegasus stepped back and felt beads of sweat roll down her face. “Mom, you don’t understand!” She shouted. “I was just-”

“You hurt one of your best friends, for no reason!” She shot back. “How could you act like that to not only one of your friends, but to my first student?!”

Starburst’s fear was replaced by anger as she heard those last words. “Your first student?! Oh, so suddenly all those flying lessons I took from you don’t count? Wasn’t I your first student? Or do you just favor unicorns like Annie over me?”

“Yeah right! Ever since Anthea started taking lessons from you, you’ve been talking about her nonstop! Had I known you wanted a unicorn daughter, I would’ve gladly left this place and go live with Rainbow and Soarin! They would’ve been glad to help me train, which is more than I can say for you!”

“You’re not listening to me, Star!” Argued Twilight. “I always supported you going into the Royal Guard, but you keep pushing me away to do more exercises when I offer you a chance to learn more about the Guard’s history! So yes, maybe I did go a little too far when I called Annie my first student, but she was willing to work hard and study!”

“I told you already! I don’t need to constantly read stuff that happened hundreds of years ago! The Guard doesn’t care if you’re a bookworm or not!”

“They don’t look for just brawn alone! They want the sharpest minds and ponies in top physical condition! You’ve been doing nothing but ignoring me from the very beginning, and I’ve offered you more than enough chances for you to prepare for the Royal Guard. Instead, you constantly think that training is the way to go. If Anthea was going into the Guard, she surely would’ve understood that.”

“Annie, Annie, Annie! That’s all I hear from you now! I don’t need to hear anymore of this!” She turned around and stomped out the room.

The orange pegasus turned back around, with a furious expression on her. “Away from here! You wanted a daughter like Anthea?! Well I don’t want a mom who abandons her own daughter so willingly!” She felt a few tears run down her face, but quickly wiped them away. Not wanting to waste another second, she turned around and ran out the library, taking off into the air.

Twilight quickly followed behind her. “Starburst, wait!” She called back, but to no avail, for she was long gone already. “I need to-”

The lilac alicorn turned back to see Night Light standing behind her. “What is it, Junior?”

Twilight pondered for a moment before something clicked inside her. “Fluttershy, you go find Anthea,” she ordered. “Once I find Starburst, I’ll have her brought over to your place so she can apologize for what she did.”

“There’s no time to lose, Fluttershy.” She then turned to her son. “Nighty, go with Fluttershy and help her out. I’ll meet both of you at Fluttershy’s house later.” The lilac alicorn galloped out of the library and took off into the sky.

Night Light, who looked a little scared, turned to the yellow pegasus. “Fluttershy, why did my sister yell at Annie like that?”

The yellow pegasus broke out of her trance to see the rather upset Night Light standing in front of her. She gave him a hug and said, “Don’t worry Nighty, I think I know what’s wrong here.”

“I just need to speak to your mom when she comes to see me. Now come on, I believe we’ll find Annie in her room. Then, I’ll have a talk with your mother.”

Starburst turned around to see an elderly pony was overlooking the damages to his stand that had fallen over, thanks to her.

She was flying around town, desperate to find someplace to hide from Twilight. She looked in the sky to only see a few clouds overhead and then around town to see several ponies trotting around, doing their own business. The orange pegasus flew off into the sky again as she thought about where to go now.

I can’t go back now, she thought to herself. After everything we’ve done together, she was willing to replace Annie over me? It was like as if I didn’t matter anymore.

She could feel some tears build up in her eyes, but quickly wiped them away as she furrowed her eyebrows. I don’t need her anyway, I can go to Rainbow’s house and continue my training with her help. But maybe I should hide somewhere that mom wouldn’t think to look for me at. Somewhere she’d never expect me to be at. Someplace like-

Her train of thought quickly came a halt as she saw in the corner of her eye a familiar, elegant, tall building nearby. Starburst smiled to herself since she recognized the building immediately.

“Carousel Boutique, of course,” she said to herself. “Mom knows I’m don’t like fashion, so she wouldn’t think twice to look for me there.” Not wasting time, she flew down to the main entrance and knocked on the door for a couple of seconds.

The door to the boutique opened to reveal a white unicorn with part of her curly purple mane in a bun. The unicorn smiled at the guest in front of her.

“Oh, hello there, Starburst,” she said. “Whatever can I do for y-AHH!” The white unicorn had no time to finish her sentence as she was pushed by Starburst so suddenly.

“Starburst, that’s no way to act like a guest in somepony’s home,” scolded Rarity. “What was that all about?”

“Um . . . nothing really, Aunt Rarity. I just wanted to see you and Uncle Spike,” she said, apprehensively.

The white unicorn noticed how Starburst’s eyes kept darting towards the window. “Star, why do you keep looking out the window?”

The unicorn ignored her and peeked out the window to see Twilight flying around frantically, with an angry expression on her face. Rarity watched her friend fly around a little bit before taking off again. She backed up and looked down to Starburst, who was now smiling nervously.

“Starburst, I think you owe me an explanation,” she said in a stern tone. “It’s pretty obvious from the way Twilight looked that you’re hiding from her. Might I ask why you are?”

The orange pegasus looked down and kicked one of her legs. “It’s a bit complicated, Aunt Rarity.”

Both ponies turned their heads to see a tall, purple dragon with green spines and wings come through a doorway. The drake saw Starburst standing nearby and smiled warmly.

“Oh, just wanting to visit you and Aunt Rarity,” she said. “What do you say we all go-”

“Not so fast there, young filly,” said Rarity. She looked over to her husband. “Spikey, our niece here seems to be having some problems with Twilight.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Is that so now?” He walked over and placed a claw on Starburst’s head. “Hey, what’s going on between you and Twilight?”

“You know, I can always go outside, find Twilight, and tell her you’re here,” chimed Rarity. “Now why don’t you go ahead and tell us what’s wrong? Whatever’s happening between you and Twilight, we’re sure we can help.”

Starburst looked at both Spike and Rarity, with each of them having small smiles on their faces. She sighed in defeat and nodded slowly in agreement. The orange pegasus spent the next ten minutes about how Annie was learning from Twilight, the way her own mother praised and treated the peachish unicorn, and the breakdown she had when Twilight considered Anthea a second daughter. Then she went into detail about the argument between her and her mom, like how she felt that she was being abandoned.

By the time Starburst was done with her explanation, the orange pegasus felt a bit winded, but somewhat better. Rarity and Spike looked at each other with concerned looks on their faces. Spike furrowed his brow and took a deep breath as he was deep in thought about the conversation.

He looked over to Rarity and asked, “Hey, why don’t you let me talk to her?”

The white unicorn frowned a little. “Spike, I appreciate your efforts in helping Starburst, but I too can give some advice to Starburst.”

The drake leaned over and kissed his wife on the cheek. “I’m not saying you’re useless at all.” His expression changed to one of sternness. “I just know though what it feels like to be replaced, more than any of you.”

“I still don’t-” Rarity stopped talking as the realization dawned on her. “Oh . . . that incident, I remember now.” She looked at Spike with a bit of a painful look on her face. “Very well Spike, I’ll let you deal with this.” She got up and went up the stairs to her room.

After the sound of her hoofsteps faded away, Spike looked back to Starburst and said, “Let me tell you a story, Starry. It happened in the first year me and Twilight lived in Ponyville.”

Spike chuckled and rubbed her head. “Patience there, you’ll understand once I’m done.”

Star looked up to the drake and nodded. “Alright, I got nothing to lose now anyway, so fire away.”

“When I was still a young drake, and had no wings, I was really committed to assisting Twilight in every way I can,” he said. “Organize the library, reshelve books, help do some grocery shopping, and so much more. I felt proud to be an assistant to her.”

“No offense Uncle Spike, but this doesn’t sound similar to what’s going on between me and mom.”

“Shh. . .” he whispered. “Now where was I? Oh, you see, I was called her number one assistant and your aunt and everypony appreciated what I did so much. I felt happy and proud of myself for my hard work.” His small smile gave way to a frown. “Then . . . he appeared.”

Spike chuckled again. “That’s something he would say all the time. Twilight found an owl and called him Owlowiscious, who quickly took over my position as assistant to Twilight. She would endlessly praise and talk about him, the others quickly abandoned me and adored him, and I was left alone.”

Starburst looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Hey . . . this sounds a lot like-”

“Let me finish,” the drake interrupted. Star nodded and closed her mouth. “I was angry at how my world was coming down and wanted to get rid of Owlowiscious in any way possible. However, I only angered Twilight as I did, so much so in fact that she gave off the impression that she didn’t need me anymore.”

“I ran away from home that night, taking only the essentials such as food and water, but I quickly ran into trouble in the form of a greedy dragon. I tried to get away, but it caught me in a corner and was about to kill me. That’s when Twilight and Owlowiscious came in to save me by distracting the dragon and all of us escaping back to town.”

Starburst had a bit of an awed expression on her face. “Whoa . . . my mom took on a fully grown dragon? She never told me this.”

“Well she probably didn’t want you to practice your fighting skills on a fully grown drake. Need I remind you of when you constantly made me help you train? I had bruises on me for days.”

“Getting back on subject though,” said Spike. “The point is that after me, Twilight, and Owlowiscious escaped, she asked me about why I ran away. I told her the truth about how I felt I wasn’t needed anymore and that I was being replaced. Do you know what she told me?”

“She told me about how much she meant to me and that nothing in all of Equestria could replace me. Twilight apologized to me about the way she acted and said she should’ve taken my feelings into account as well. True to her word, Twilight never let me get replaced, never sent me away, and is still the best friend a dragon could ask for.”

“One question though, Uncle Spike. Whatever happened to that owl? I’ve never seen him before in the house.”

Spike’s expression changed to a remorseful frown. “He died shortly after you were born. Twilight found him dead in his cage from old age. She was really attached to him, and was devastated by the news. She never tried to find another pet after that, most likely because she didn’t want to replace Owlowiscious.”

Starburst had a bit of a pained expression on her. “I’m sorry to hear that. He sounded pretty nice.”

“He would’ve liked you, I’m sure of it. But, once again, I’m getting off topic here. Do you understand what I was trying to tell you though?”

Starburst looked a little unsure as she shifted around. “I . . . think so. It sounded just like what’s going on between me and mom.”

“But Uncle Spike, I can’t just go back to mom like that,” she said. “This is way different from what happened to you. Not only did I yell at mom, but I also made Anthea cry.” She sighed and looked away. “Besides, after everything Twilight said about her, it’s like as if she always wanted somepony like Anthea as a daughter. I’m probably the black sheep of the family.”

Spike frowned upon hearing this. “Starburst, you should know that Twilight does get carried away with stuff like that. Most of the time, she doesn’t realize how she acted until it’s too late.”

“Yeah, well it seems she has no problems when it comes to replacing family as well,” she huffed.

“Well what kind of mother just ditches one of her own for somepony else?!” She shot, with her voice slightly cracked. “When it comes to me, she wants me to do nothing but read to prepare myself. I offered her a few times to come fly with me, but she didn’t want to. It’s like she doesn’t care anymore what I do. If I could do something like a Sonic Rainboom, I doubt she’d notice.”

Starburst looked down with some tears running down her face, but she didn’t care anymore. “She doesn’t care about me anymore . . .” she weeped. “She wanted somepony like her, and now that Annie entered the picture, she got her ‘perfect daughter’ at last. Now . . . I’m just a scapegoat to her.”

The orange pegasus felt a claw touch her chin and raise her head up. She wiped away the tears to see Spike smiling softly at her. “What are you happy about? A new niece for you now?”

“No Starburst, I just want to tell you that you’re thinking things the wrong way. Twilight does care about you and always will love you.”

“Let me finish,” warned Spike. “You may think that Twilight has abandoned you, but she talks about you a lot.”

The drake nodded. “Do you remember last week when Twilight came over to see me and Aunt Rarity?” The pegasus nodded. “Well Twilight talked about your training progress. She said your speed getting better and you can sprint for two minutes without getting winded. She was so happy for you about how much progress you’ve made. Why, she even said that maybe you should recommend some exercises to Flash to prepare him for his next physical test.”

The orange pegasus felt that angry feeling fading away, but something still gnawed at her. “Uncle Spike, even if my mom was proud of me, I’m still just a pegasus and Annie is-”

“Not Twilight’s daughter,” interrupted Spike. “Anthea might be a unicorn and good from magic, at least that’s what you told me, but she can never replace you as a daughter to Twilight.”

“But, nothing. Twilight may’ve gone overboard with Annie, but she will always be there for you, and will never abandon you. You, along with Nighty, are her pride and joy, and she would never give you both up. It doesn’t matter if you’re a unicorn, pegasus, or Earth pony, she is, and always will be, proud of you. As she told me after the Owlowiscious incident, nopony will ever take your place.”

Starburst took all the words in and felt the last bits of anger against Twilight fade away. She smiled softly and walked over to Spike, giving the drake a hug. He returned the hug for a few seconds before breaking it off.

“Aunt Rarity was right, Uncle Spike,” said Starburst. “You do have a way with words.”

The dragon chuckled and said, “What can I say? I’m a natural when it comes to stuff like this.”

“What do I do now? I’m afraid to go back to see mom on my own. She’d probably yell at me and then ground me before I get a word out.”

Spike placed a claw on her shoulder. “I think it’s best you do go do this alone. She’ll want to hear this straight from you. Tell her about how you felt that you were being replaced. I’m sure once you tell her the whole story, she’ll understand.”

“Hey, where’s that tough, nerves of steel niece of mine? Come on Starburst, I know you can do this.”

The orange pegasus looked up to the dragon and gave a firm nod. “You’re right, Uncle Spike, I can do this.”

Starburst nodded and turned around. “Alright, I’ll be sure to do that as well.” She gave a wave and galloped out of the boutique.

Spike sighed and smiled to himself as he watched her leave. He heard hoofsteps coming from the stair and turned to see Rarity, who was levitating a red box.

The drake nodded. “Yeah . . . I think things between Twilight and her will be okay.” He noticed the box and raised an eyebrow. “What’s in that? An early birthday gift for Twilight?”

“It’s a gift indeed, but this one is for you.” She levitated it over to him. “Open it, darling.”

Spike grabbed the box and took the top off. He gasped and nearly dropped the gift from the sight before him. He slowly pulled out an elegant, silk white bow, covered in little bits of green and purple gems. He felt how smooth and soft it was, and then looked over to Rarity, who was blushing and smiling.

“Like it? I love it!” He exclaimed joyfully. “What’s the occasion for anyway? My birthday isn’t until next month.”

“Let’s just say that gift is a long overdue apology gift for the way I acted around Owlowiscious so callously. I should never have treated you like that at all.”

The white unicorn walked over and gave the drake a brief kiss on the lips. “Well then consider that an early birthday present if you want.”

Spike snuggled up to Rarity and said, “I already have the best gift here.” He gave her a kiss as the unicorn laughed.

She scanned the Ponyville streets in the sky, seeing only a few ponies go about their business, and then back to the air, but there was nothing but a few clouds.

“I’ve searched this whole town, but not a sign of Starburst anywhere! She couldn’t have gotten that far!”

Twilight desperately looked around town again for her daughter, but to no avail. Out of the corner of her eye though, she saw a thick, ominous forest, with a cottage not too far from it.

The lilac alicorn smiled to herself. “Maybe Fluttershy already found Annie, and see Starburst go into the forest.” She flew off in the direction to the cottage. “I can only hope I’m not too late.”

As she reached the edge of the forest, Twilight could faintly see a shadowy figure in one of the windows. “Great, she is home after all,” she said. The alicorn approached the door and knocked on it.

Twilight looked down to see her son standing there. “Oh, Junior, I nearly forgot I sent you with Fluttershy to look for Annie. Where is she anyway? I want to ask her something really quick.”

“She’s upstairs and tending to Anthea,” he said. “Fluttershy told me to wait down here and keep an eye out on the forest.”

“For what reason? To keep an eye out for Starburst?” The lilac colt nodded. “Did you see her come by?” This time, he shook his head.

Twilight sighed and said, “Well, I guess I better go back and look around town. Maybe Star is hiding somewhere I didn’t think to-”

“Hey there. Fluttershy,” she said. “I was going to ask if you saw Starburst go into the forest, but Nighty already told me.”

“I would’ve seen her enter the forest from Annie’s room anyway,” the yellow pegasus responded. “All this time, I’ve been comforting her and trying to reassure her that Star meant no harm.”

“Anthea is doing alright at the moment. She was crying hysterically in her pillow when I found her, and was shaking in fear. I calmed her down, but she told me she didn’t want to come see you anymore. She was afraid that Starburst would yell at her again and maybe even hurt her. I tried to tell her that Star meant no harm and that she wouldn’t hurt her, but she wasn’t convinced.”

Twilight’s eyes furrowed. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. Once I find Starburst, I’ll send her over here to make her apologize. I’ll make sure she never pulls something like this ever again.” She turned around and began to walk out the door.

The alicorn turned around and raised an eyebrow. “No offense, Fluttershy, but can this wait?” She wondered. “I really need to find Star before she gets any further.”

“Actually, it is about Starburst. Well, actually, the fight between you and her.”

“What’s there to say about it, really? She yelled at Anthea for no reason and hurt her feelings.”

“Well, I noticed she said some things to you before she left. I really want to talk to you about it.”

“Twilight . . . please, this is important,” said Fluttershy in a rather somber tone.

Noticing the change in tone from her friend, Twilight reluctantly nodded and looked over to her son. “Night, why don’t you go play outside? I think this may take a while.”

“Don’t worry Nighty,” said Fluttershy. “You’re not missing anything, really. You can play with my animal friends if you want. They’re very friendly, but don’t be too rough on them.”

The lilac colt frowned and said, in a disappointing tone, “Alright, I guess. I’ll try and keep an eye out for Starburst though.”

“Thanks, Junior,” said Twilight. “After this is over, tonight, I’ll let you have some of your favorite ice cream for helping out Fluttershy so much.”

“You mean cherry vanilla?” He wondered with a smile on his face. “Alright!” He quickly hugged his mom before running out the door, closing it in the process.

Twilight smiled and shook her head before turning back to Fluttershy. “Okay, so what’s this whole thing you want to talk about?”

“Well Twilight, when I listened to you and Starburst argue with each other, I noticed some words she said to you.”

“Like what?” Twilight asked as she raised an eyebrow. “She kept going on about how Annie was my first student, but yet she was. I tried to calm her down by telling her that I was offering to study alongside Annie with reading and learning about past wars. Instead, she blows things way out of proportion.”

“She also said that she felt that Annie was replacing her as your daughter.”

The lilac alicorn raised an eyebrow before a fit of laughter erupted from her. She chuckled to herself for a couple of seconds before regaining her composure.

Twilight quickly stopped laughing as she saw the stoic face of her friend. The sight of it made her feel a little uneasy. “Fluttershy, I’m sure Starburst was just exaggerating about that. She knows that she would never be replaced.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Twilight. She sounded really serious about it, and looked like she was going to cry.”

“It was probably your imagination. Starburst knows I’d never let anypony take her place. She’s my daughter after all.”

“Then what was all that talk about Annie being a ‘second daughter’ to you?”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t find anything to counter the argument.

“After you said to me that Anthea was like a ‘second daughter’ to you, Starburst started yelling at you and Annie.”

“Even if that was the case, that gives her no excuse to yell at your daughter,” shot Twilight. “Starburst was just overreacting is all.”

“Twilight, you have to admit one thing,” said Fluttershy. “You did go on about how good Annie was. How she was so hard working, so serious in her studies, and how devoted she was to you. If anything, it did sound like you were treating Anthea like she was your daughter.”

The alicorn’s eyes narrowed a bit. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous, even for you, Fluttershy,” she said with a bit of irritation in her voice. “I wasn’t treating your daughter like as if she was mine, I was praising and rewarding her for what she’s accomplished.”

“But you did say she was like a ‘second daughter’ to you, so that does mean you were treating her like family.”

“Now just hold a minute there. You, Annie, and all my friends are family to me anyway. How is this so different?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, and crossed her hooves. “Twilight, how would you describe Annie?”

“Well she’s a very hard working filly who’s devoted to her studies, a fast learner, and is a very talented unicorn. Why, I’d say she could be an apprentice to Princess Celestia like me if she keeps it up.”

Twilight waited for a response, but she never got one. She looked at Fluttershy, who was frowning and shaking her head.

“Of course I did. I said that Anthea could be an apprentice to Princess Celestia like . . .” Twilight stopped talking as everything clicked in her head. She slammed her hooves onto the table, narrowing her eyes again. “That doesn’t count! You tricked me into saying that!”

“I wasn’t tricking you into saying that,” responded Fluttershy, cooly. “You were speaking about how you felt about Anthea on your own. It seems you’ve taken quite a liking to her, more than you think.”

“I think I can understand why you’ve become so close to her. It’s because she’s very similar to you, isn’t it?”

Twilight’s eyes widen. “That . . . that’s absurd!” She blurted out. “So what if Anthea is kind of like me as a filly? That doesn’t mean I was trying to replace Starburst.”

“Twilight, I’ve listened to you about your disagreements with Star. How she refuses to read with you. The fact that she is always busy doing training. You two never really see eye to eye.”

“Think about it,” said Fluttershy. “You two are almost always at each other’s throats. She’s really nothing like you at all, and I think part of you didn’t like that. So when Anthea became your student, you saw somepony like you in her.”

This time, Twilight nodded slowly and said, “She was a lot like me . . . in many ways. It was like looking at a reflection of myself.”

“Anthea was, in many ways, like me. I’ve never seen anypony so much like me. Every time I try to bond or help out Starburst, she always turns away from me and doesn’t want anything to do with me. She claims I was abandoning her, but she was the one who was leaving me alone.”

“Whenever I offered Star some books to read on old wars, or even some flying books, she’d turn me down. She would say that if she wanted to study so badly, she’d flunk school and go to summer school instead. It hurt me and made me wish she could see training wasn’t everything in the Royal Guard.”

“I understand that she wanted to be the first mare in the Royal Guard to be captain, but I was only doing my best to help her along the way. When she was learning to fly, I showed her the basics and taught her some moves that Rainbow Dash showed me. She was so eager to learn from me so many moves, and I felt so proud about it.”

“If Starburst was so willing to learn from you, then what happened?” Inquired Fluttershy.

Twilight looked down, frowning to herself. “Well . . . after I told Star that I taught her pretty much everything I knew, she became a little distant.”

“Yeah . . . I can remember seeing the disappointment in her face when I told her that. I offered to show her some books to read on old wars, and even some books on flying. She turned away from it though, telling me that she didn’t need to study, only to train her body. She’s been like that ever since.”

Fluttershy said nothing as she thought about everything Twilight just told her. After a minute of thinking, she asked, “Twilight, how exactly did you teach Starburst how to fly?”

The lilac alicorn scratched her head for a few seconds. “I told you that I showed her the basics of flying and taught her the moves that Rainbow Dash showed me. She mimicked what I did and although she messed up on her first few tries, she got the hang of it. Once I taught her everything, she didn’t seem so interested in learning anything else from me.”

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Starburst's voice suddenly echoed in her head.

I can’t take a day off mom. How else am I going to become Captain of the Guard by just reading some books? Why don’t you come with me instead and fly with me? It’ll be like old times again.

The lilac alicorn gasped as she felt a wave of emotions come over her. “She . . . she did . . .” whispered Twilight.

Her eyes slowly swelled with tears as those last words played in her head. She leaned her head against the table, and faintly cried to herself. Fluttershy put a hoof on her friend’s head and stroked it.

Twilight sniffled as she raised her head up, with tears rolling down her face. “She . . . she did offer to fly with me,” she said in a cracked voice. “My own daughter wanted to spend time with me, and I turned her away.”

“Twilight, it’s okay,” said the yellow pegasus. “It was an honest mistake that-”

“Cost me the relationship I had with my daughter!” Wailed the alicorn. “Who knows how many other times she’s offered me to go flying with her, and I ignore it?! I could’ve shown her some of the things I read in books! We could’ve bonded together like when she was younger! We could have . . .” Twilight couldn’t finish the last sentence as she broke down crying, with Fluttershy doing her best to comfort her.

“What kind of mother am I?” Inquired Twilight. “How could I have been so blind to my own daughter?”

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to, Twilight,” assured Fluttershy. “Maybe she didn’t really ask you that many times.”

“But I always came up with reasons for not going with her! I told her I had to look after Nighty. I would have to do some research. I even told her that I wasn’t up to it. I don’t know how many times she’s offered me to come fly with her, but I always turned my nose up at her.”

The alicorn buried her head in her hooves again, sobbing quietly to herself. She continued doing so for a minute, until she felt a hoof pat her on the head. She slowly looked up to see Fluttershy, and was expecting to see disappointment on her. Instead, she looked peaceful and smiled softly.

“Twilight, I know you messed up, but if Starburst wants to spend time with you, there’s always a chance to do so,” she said. “She doesn’t need to be punished, or scolded by you. She needs a mother’s love. Your love, to be precise.”

“I’m not saying what she did to Anthea was completely right,” interrupted the pegasus. “But I can understand her frustrations of being left alone and forgotten. Star needs you more than ever. You and her may not see eye to eye all the time, but she does need you to be there for her. She may not show it, but I believe she’s lost and scared about what to do.”

“I can’t just make up with her right there though,” said Twilight in a weak voice. “She hates me, and would probably push me away like I pushed her away.”

“Now you stop that nonsense,” said Fluttershy in a stern tone. “Both of you made big mistakes, but that’s no excuse to give up now. Starburst is somewhere right now waiting for you, and it’s not too late to make amends with her. Now you go out there, find Star, and patch things up with her. She deserves to know that her mother still loves her.”

Twilight looked down for a few seconds, slowly ceasing her crying. She took the words spoken by her friend in her as she wiped the tears from her face. She could feel something build up inside her, but it didn’t make her feel sick or anything. It made her feel almost like she could take on anything that Equestria would throw at her.

She looked up to her friend and said, “Thanks Fluttershy, I needed that.” She leaned in a gave the pegasus a hug, which was returned as well. After a few seconds, they broke it.

“How did you become so good at this kind of stuff anyway?” Wondered the alicorn. “I never exactly seen you as the stern motivational speaker.”

The yellow pegasus blushed slightly. “Well . . . I’ve been learning how to be more stern over the years. I don’t really do it too often, but when it comes to my friends, I’ll put my hoof down if I have to.”

Twilight just stared at her. “Wow . . . is this like that whole Iron Will incident again?”

“Oh, goodness, no,” said the pegasus. “I’m nothing like that at all. I’m still myself, but I’ve been learning how to be strict, but fair as well.”

Just as Fluttershy was about to speak up, the door to the cottage quickly opened.

“Spike?” Asked Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “What’s he doing here? I thought he and Rarity were busy doing an order for Fancy Pants.”

Both Spike and Rarity walked in, with the dragon wearing the bow his wife made for him.

“What’s going on here, Spike?” Wondered Twilight. “And why do you have that bow on?”

“There’s no time to explain, darling,” said Rarity. “We’ve heard about what’s happened to Anthea and came over to check to see if Fluttershy found her yet. Nighty here told us that she’s okay and that you were here as well.”

“We wanted to tell you that we found Starburst,” said Spike. “I talked to her about-”

“You found her?!” Twilight interrupted. She galloped over and looked behind the drake and white unicorn. “Where is she now? Is she outside?”

“Twilight, calm yourself,” chastised Rarity as she pushed the alicorn away. “She’s back at the library, waiting for you to see her.”

“It’s a long story, Twilight,” said Spike. The drake explained about what happened and how he convinced Starburst to go back to the library, and talk things over with Twilight.

After the explanation, Twilight nodded to herself and said, “Well Spike, thank you for talking some sense into her. I got to say, that incident with Owlowiscious really did help in more ways than one.” She gave her assistant a brief hug before releasing it. “Now, I need to make sure this never happens again.”

“Twilight, don’t be too hard on her,” said Rarity. “She was upset about what happened after all.”

“I’m not going to yell at her, or scold her.” She looked back at her friends, with a frown on her face. “I’ve made my mistakes as well, more than I thought.”

“Let’s just say, I have some bonding to do with my daughter.” Twilight turned back around and galloped off back to Ponyville.

The drake shook his head slowly. “No . . . something tells me that Twilight knows what she’s doing.” He pulled in Rarity and the lavender colt. “All we can do is wait and see.”

Fluttershy heard something that sounded like a creaking noise nearby. She turned her head to see only the stairs, but nopony was on them. The yellow pegasus shrugged it off and turned back around, smiling to herself.

As much as Twilight loved reading and going to libraries, as she came up to her home, she felt a bit nervous. She knew what she had to do, but yet feared that things wouldn’t go so well. She slapped herself in the face and her expression changed to one of determination.

“You can do this, Twilight,” she whispered. “You’ve faced greater dangers before, so this should be a cakewalk.” Despite the words of encouragement, she continued to stand there. “Except this cake is hard, crumbling, and could possibly ruin things between me and Star forever.”

Again, she slapped herself and shook her head. “Focus Twilight, don’t get cold hooves now. Star needs me, and I can’t let her down now.”

Taking a deep breath, the alicorn trotted towards the door and slowly opened it. When she got inside, she saw nopony inside the lobby. She hesitantly entered the library, looking around for any sign of her daughter.

“Maybe she isn’t here,” said Twilight. “Maybe she got scared and hid somewhere else. I think I should. . .”

The alicorn stopped speaking as the corner of her left eye caught what looked like a shadow. She looked over to see it was the shape of a pony, and was coming from the kitchen.

Twilight walked slowly to the doorway and peeked her head in. Her suspicions were true as she saw Starburst sitting at the table, looking forlorn. Taking one more deep breath, she walked into the kitchen.

The orange pegasus jumped in surprise and nearly fell out of her chair. She caught herself and turned to see her mom, who was trying to hold back a laugh. Star quickly changed her expression of shock to a stoic expression.

“Oh . . . it’s just you,” she said in a deadpanned voice. “Looks like you found me at last.”

“I know what you’re already going to say, mom,” said Starburst in a pessimistic tone. “You’re going to tell me how I acted was wrong, make me go apologize to Anthea, and then ground me until I’ve graduated high school.”

“Well I can tell you this. I talked to Uncle Spike about what happened between us, and how he brought up an incident involving your old pet, Owlowiscious.”

The alicorn winced at the sound of the name. “I see then . . .” she whispered.

“Well I’m here to say that I know you think what I did was wrong, but you were doing the same thing you did to Uncle Spike with Owlowiscious. I know making Anthea cry was wrong, but you were abandoning me. You never stopped talking about her, and seemed to forget that I was here.”

“I do too,” said Starburst. She turned to her mom, looking a bit remorseful. “I’m really sorry for what I did, but I just needed to say something. I know the way I acted wasn’t the best thing to do, but you forgot that I even existed at all.” She sighed to herself and looked down in defeat. “So go ahead and ground me. You can lecture me all you want on what a big mistake I made.”

Twilight frowned at this. “Well I made a mistake as well. Something bigger than what you’ve done.”

The orange pegasus looked up at her mom, and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Mom, you didn’t do anything.”

“Yes I did, Star. I did something that no mother should ever do to their child. You weren’t the one pushing me away, I pushed you away from me.”

The alicorn sighed to herself and sat down at the table, which the orange pegasus did in return.

“It was the day I offered Annie to be my student. You asked me something at breakfast that day.”

A switch went off inside the pegasus’ head. “Wait . . . I asked you if you wanted to go flying with me.”

“What’s so important about that? You told me that you were busy with work and taking care of Nighty.”

Even though her daughter probably didn’t mean to, Twilight could detect a bit of bitterness and sorrow in her voice.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Star,” said the purple alicorn. “You wanted me to come fly with you, and I turned you down. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you asked me though.”

“How many times, Star? Did you offer me to spend time with you more than once?”

“Tell me!” She shouted, sounding a little worried. “How many times did you offer me to come fly with you? You said you wanted to do it like old times.”

“I lost count!” Screamed the pegasus, her voice cracking. “I asked you so many times, that I forgot, okay?!”

The room fell silent as Starburst buried her head in her hooves.Twilight tried to comfort her by placing a hoof on her head, but it was swatted away the moment it touched her.

“Star . . . why didn’t you say anything?” Wondered Twilight. “You know you can always come to me for anything.”

The orange pegasus looked up at her mom, tears rolling down her eyes. “Because . . . you were always busy. Every time I offered you to come fly with me, you always told me you had to do something.”

The lilac alicorn looked down in shame. “I wasn’t busy all the time. Besides, I offered you chances to read some books with me, but you turned your nose up at it.”

“What do you mean?” Inquired Twilight, sounding a bit frustrated. “I’ve been turning you away, but when I offer you to come read with me, you never accept it. What’s your problem with doing some reading?”

“Everything I learned about flying and so much more, was because you taught me!”

“You were better than any book, mom!” Yelled Star. “I learned more things from you than any old, dusty book!”

“Well it’s true,” said the pegasus, sheepishly. “You taught me so much about flying, tips about leadership, and confidence in myself. I looked up to you more than you thought.”

“Those books that you keep trying to make me read are nothing compared to what you’ve taught me. From the very moment I wanted to fly, you were there to help me. It’s not that I hate reading or anything, it’s just that you were the one who taught me so much.”

“But I pretty much taught you everything there is to know. I could’ve gladly help teach you teach other things like fighting.”

Starburst couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that statement. “Mom . . . no offense, but you? A fighter? That’s as likely as Rainbow Dash playing dress up. If I wanted to learn about fighting, I’d go to dad.” Her smile drooped into a frown. “If he wasn’t on deployment so much.”

Twilight placed a hoof on her daughter’s head. “Sweetie, I know I taught you so much, and I appreciate that you looked up to me so much. The thing is that I’ve got nothing else to teach you in flying or anything else I can think of.”

The orange pegasus looked down in defeat. “But I don’t want some musty old book to replace you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A book replacing me? What makes you think that?”

“Well . . . after you told me that you taught me everything you knew, you started insisting that I read books. I kept on insisting I didn’t need books, but you kept shoving them on me. I wanted you to come with me to help train, but you kept on saying that you were busy or something.”

“What I’m saying is that once you were done with me, it was like I didn’t matter to you. As soon as we finished our lessons together, you just gave me some books to read, and never bothered to spend any real time with me.”

“So in a way . . . it was like you were already abandoning me. When Anthea became your student, you were acting like a filly in a candy store. Not only did you treat her like a second daughter, but you made me feel forgotten. The only time you seemed to really acknowledge me is when I mess up something. I know Annie’s your student and you want to teach her, but let me ask you this, mom. Are you going to do the same thing to her and, later on, Nighty?”

“Are you just going to give them books as well once you’ve taught them everything you know? Then, when they want to spend time with you, are you going to tell them that you’re busy? Or is it because I’m a pegasus, not a unicorn like Annie or Nighty? Am I just some disappointment to you because I’m not the daughter you wanted me to be?”

By the time she was done ranting, Star could feel her heart race and her blood nearly boiling in anger.

The sound caught Star’s attention, and looked up to see something that made her anger quickly melt away. Twilight was on the verge of crying, tears running down her face. The sight of it made Starburst feel guilty about what she said.

“Mom, I didn’t really mean for it to come out like that,” she said in a panic. “I was just speaking what was on my mind.”

The alicorn held up a hoof, shaking her head. “No Star . . . you were right,” she said, sorrowly. “I’ve asked myself many times when you’ll realize that brawn isn’t everything. Instead, I’ve been pushing you aside, thinking that books and knowledge will help further your training. If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”

“Don’t say another word, Star,” said Twilight. “There is truth in what you say. Ever since we stopped our lessons together, I have been encouraging you to read a book while I do other things. Instead of spending time with you, I’ve been the one pushing you away. But there is one thing I do need to tell you, sweetie.”

“I know you want to bond with me, teach you, and be right by your side, but I just can’t.” Twilight put a hoof on her daughter’s head. “You’ve grown into a strong, confident mare, with dreams of becoming the first mare to be Captain of the Royal Guard. I can’t be by your side forever.”

“I know, mom,” sighed Starburst. “But when you started took in Annie as your student, I felt like you were done with me. You seemed to ignore me, except for only a few things. I know I’m growing up, but I don’t want to let you forget me.”

At that moment, Twilight got up and leaned in to embrace Starburst. The orange pegasus was taken aback by this, unsure of what to do or how to react. She slowly wrapped her hooves around the alicorn and returned the hug as well, albeit a bit softly.

The lilac alicorn pulled away and looked at her daughter with a smile, with tears running down her face. “Star, I know it feels like I’ve abandoned you, and what you said about me is true,” she said in a gentle voice. “I know we don’t always see things completely the same, but there’s one thing you can always count on from me. I’ll never abandon you, not now, not ever.”

“No buts, Star. I know I’ve let you down recently and I can’t change it, but I promise you that no matter what happens, no matter who my student is, or what you do with your life, I will never abandon you for anypony else.”

“Anthea might be a talented unicorn, but she’ll never take your place as my pride and joy. Star, you and Nighty mean so much to me, that I wouldn’t give you both up for all the knowledge in Equestria. If I ever stopped caring, or loving you, I could never forgive myself.”

Twilight smiled. “If I ever allow myself to abandon you, or make you feel forgotten, then I’ll strip myself of princess duties, remove my wings, and spend as much time with you as possible.”

Starburst cracked a smile, chuckling to herself. “Isn’t that a bit overboard?”

The alicorn shrugged and said, “As long as I show you how much I do love you, I’d do anything.”

Starburst’s lips quivered as a smile formed on her face. All the anger, angst, and sadness in her quickly washed away, and was replaced with hope and happiness. This time, she leaned in to hug Twilight, which the alicorn quickly returned. Both ponies let a few tears roll down their eyes as they held onto one another.

A minute later, Star broke the embrace and looked at Twilight. “Mom . . . I’m sorry for how I acted before,” she said in a remorseful tone. “I shouldn’t have kept my emotions bottled up like that.”

The lilac alicorn nuzzled her daughter. “It’s okay, Star,” she said in a motherly tone. “I brought all this on myself when I didn’t realize I was treating Anthea like she was really a daughter to me. I nearly tore us apart because of that.”

Star’s face faltered to a frown. “Um . . . that reminds me,” she said. “Is Annie okay? I know I really hurt her feelings with my outburst, and I’d like to go talk to her.”

The sound of the library’s door brought the conversation to a halt. Twilight let go of Starburst and trotted over to the door, with the orange pegasus following behind. The alicorn opened the door, but was shocked to see none other than Anthea and Fluttershy. The former was looking down in shame, while the yellow pegasus held onto her.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing here?” Wondered Twilight. “What’s wrong with Annie?”

“Oh, she wanted to come talk to you right away,” she said. “I tried to tell her to just rest from what happened, but she insisted about coming to talk to you.”

Starburst looked at her friend, but she didn’t look back, making her feel more guilty.

“Twilight, I heard you and my mom talking to each other earlier,” she said in a somber tone. “I was listening from upstairs and heard everything you said about Starburst. I can understand now why she was so upset with me. She was angry that you weren’t spending time with her, and I was taking you away from her.”

“Let me finish, please,” urged the unicorn. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about what you said, and what happened earlier, and I’ve come to a decision.”

“Yes, mom. I’ve decided that since I’m being such a burden and hurting Star, I no longer want to be Mrs. Twilight’s student.”

“Annie, you can’t be serious,” said Twilight in a worried voice. “You’ve made such good progress, that it’d be a mistake to stop now. Star and I have talked things over and patched things up.”

“I know I’ve done so well, but after hearing about Star, I can’t do it anymore. I’d be only getting in the way and making her upset again.”

“No buts, mom,” she said. “I’m sure I can continue my lessons with somepony else. Maybe I can talk to Rarity about it, or Sweetie Belle. As long as I’m not getting in the way of anypony, I’ll be happy to continue my lessons elsewhere.”

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly heard another voice speak up.

Everypony turned their attention towards Starburst, who had a rather stern expression on her.

“What do you mean, Star?” Inquired Anthea. “You told me to go away, and Twilight said that she neglected to be with you. I don’t want to take away any time you want with her.”

“You got this all wrong,” reprimanded the orange pegasus. “I blew things way out of proportion and wasn’t thinking straight. You didn’t do anything wrong, both mom and I messed things up for you.”

“Star’s right, Annie,” said Twilight. “I got so wrapped up with your growing skills and how much you amazed me, that I saw you like a daughter to me. I didn’t realize I was hurting Starburst’s feelings until today. If anything, I shouldn’t have made my own daughter feel inferior to you.”

“I should’ve said something earlier,” replied Star. “I kept my feelings bottled up and pretended everything was fine. Instead, I snapped and hurt you when I should’ve told mom how I really felt about this. You didn’t do anything wrong, Annie.”

Anthea looked unsure of herself. “But . . . what about telling me to go away? You said you didn’t want me stealing your mom away.”

She trotted over and placed a hoof on her friend’s back. “Look . . . you didn’t do anything wrong to make me upset, nor did you mean to make my mom get so wound up about you. We both made big mistakes that you shouldn’t be blaming yourself for at all. If it helps, I was impressed with your talents.”

“Forget the argument I had with you,” interrupted the orange pegasus. “I am amazed by what you can do, but I was letting my frustrations with mom get the better of me. You really are a talented unicorn who could do a lot of amazing things. You shouldn’t let something like this make you want to stop what you can do. If anything, you should continue to pursue what you want to do.”

“Think so? You made a flower bush grow in seconds, teleport something with little trouble, and learned levitation in no time. The pace you’re going at now and the way things are going, I believe you’ll become a great unicorn one day.”

Anthea looked a little unsure at first, but she looked at Starburst to see her giving a rare smile. Whatever fear she had in the unicorn melted away as her frown turned into a smile. She leaned in and gave the pegasus a hug, which Star returned. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, smiles on their faces.

Anthea was the first to break the embrace, and turned to the alicorn. “Twilight, I would like to take back what I said earlier. I do want to continue being your student.”

Twilight smiled to herself. “I wouldn’t want it any other way,” she said, proudly. “With Starburst, I’ll teach both of you about magic, history, and so much more.”

“FOREVER!” Pinkie’s voice echoed in the library. Everypony jumped a little in surprise and looked for her, but to no avail.

Twilight was the first to speak after the sudden interruption. “Star, since you want to spend time with me and learn more from me, I can probably teach you some of the things about the Royal Guard and its history.”

“He does, but I’ve studied what they do. Your dad told me that there’s a lot of stuff in the books they don’t teach you in basic training.”

Twilight smiled and said, “Well with me, you’ll be more than prepared for when you enter the Royal Guard.”

The orange pegasus smiled and said, “It’ll be way better than spending hours on end reading a book.”

“Sorry, mom,” Starburst said, sheepishly. “But I’ll take whatever you can teach me.”

Fluttershy then spoke up. “Um . . . excuse me, Twilight. How are you going to teach both magic to Annie, and history to Starburst? If you tried to do it both at the same time, you’d be in over your head.”

The lilac alicorn pondered to herself. “I can think of something to do. Maybe have some days alternating between Starburst and then Annie.”

“But Star doesn’t really like to read a lot, nor study,” said Fluttershy. “How can you show her the history of the Royal Guard?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe some visuals could-” An idea suddenly clicked inside Twilight’s head, making her gasp. “I think I got it.”

Twilight turned to her pegasus friend. “Fluttershy, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to take Annie on a trip with me and Star.”

“Hold on, Anthea,” said Fluttershy. She looked to Twilight. “Where exactly are you going to take her and Star?”

“You said that I needed to teach Star history a different way, and I know just the place for it,” said Twilight, confidently.

Fluttershy looked a little wary, but when she saw the hopeful look of her daughter's face, she immediately caved in. “Well . . . I don’t see why not,” she said. The yellow pegasus was hugged by Annie, which she returned before turning back to the alicorn.

“That’s a surprise for them. What I can tell you is that I was wondering if you could watch over Nighty tomorrow. He usually hates going to this place because of how bored he gets.”

“Are you sure he won’t be upset?” Twilight nodded. “Well, I’ll do it then. Just be sure to talk to him about where you’re going.”

Twilight gave another nod, and then turned to the two kids. “Alright, you two, I want you to go get ready for tomorrow’s ride to Canterlot. I’m sure once you see where we’re going, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Starburst and Anthea looked at each other in confusion. The building they were standing in front of was a large, elegant, white marble building with Equestrian flags hanging between the marble columns, and a name on it.

Equestrian Museum of Might and Magic
From the first spells to be discovered, to some of the greatest wars, learn about how this country came to be!

Starburst looked at Twilight, who was smiling in delight. “This is our big surprise?” She asked incredulously. “Mom, no offense, but this isn’t exactly how I saw my trip to Canterlot. I feel like I’m on a school field trip.”

“If you want, I could always take you to the library and we could do some reading,” said the lilac alicorn.

“Ugh! No thanks,” gagged the orange pegasus. “But why bring us here in the first place?”

Twilight pointed towards a sign near the entrance. Starburst trotted over to read it.

New to the museum!
Ancient books recently discovered about the first guidelines for the Royal Guard!
See the first fighting moves that they were trained in!
Learn about the first Code of Honor in the Guard!
Discover some of the first letters of war from Equestria’s first conflict with Discord!

“Remember what I read in the newspaper?” She asked. “I said I found something that could interest you, but you left before I could tell you. They had an article about the new tomes found about the Guard.”

Twilight gave her daughter a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re here now to see some of the earliest history of the Royal Guard.”

“I’ll show you some of the first spells discovered in Equestria,” said Twilight. “There’s also a small section about vegetation spells. I figured that was suited for you since you’re so talented in growing plants. I think this’ll be a good learning experience for you, and you can possibly learn some of the spells on display.”

Anthea smiled and jumped for joy. “That sounds great! Come on, Twilight and Star! I want to go see them!” She galloped up the steps and ran inside.

“Wait for us, Annie!” Star called out. She began to ran up the stairs to catch up.

Twilight watched her daughter run up, but noticed something strange about her wings. “Star, wait a minute,” she called out.

Starburst looked to her sides to see her mom was right. Her feathers were ruffled up and sticking out. There was some mud on them that seemed to stick some of the feathers together. She opened them, like she was about to take off, but felt a tinge of pain as she did.

Twilight shook her head in disapproval. “Star, what have I told you about neglecting your wings? You know you have to do them weekly, or they’ll get messed up.”

“After our trip today and Annie goes home, I can help you preen them. While we’re doing that, we can do some talking about what else you want to learn about from the Guard.”

Starburst smiled and said, “Now there’s something I think we will both like.”

The two ponies nodded and galloped up the steps, entering the museum with the eager unicorn.

Magic

by The Dragon Warlock

Magic Ch. 2