Two Much-Needed Talks
Starlight Glimmer raised the cranberry muffin in a magical field and took a delicate bite from it. Sugar Belle's muffins had tasted much better ever since she got her talent back, but somehow this one seemed even more delicious than usual. Starlight sighed contentedly.
What was I so worried about? she wondered. Of course Sugar Belle wouldn't treat her any differently, even if she was different now. Neither would Party Favor—then again, he always treated her with respect bordering on terror anyway. Starlight becoming a princess certainly wouldn't change that.
Starlight swallowed the bite of muffin she was chewing and washed it down with a sip of tea. She slowly lowered the cup to the table and took a deep breath.
I need to think about this rationally, Starlight told herself. It was unrealistic to think that she could keep her wings hidden forever. Sugar Belle had seen them already, and it was only a matter of time before Starlight slipped again and somepony else found out. Besides, it wasn't the wings themselves that were the problem, it was what they represented.
So if she accepted that it wasn't a matter of if, but when ponies found out about her ascension, then... what? What did that mean for her?
Starlight took another nibble of the muffin as she mulled it over. Logically, it meant that the best she could do was control when and how the others found out, and how they reacted. A relatively simple mind-control spell could—
She nearly choked on a cranberry.
No. Bad Starlight. She would solve this like a normal pony who didn't brute-force through all of her problems with magic. She would solve this like...
Like Twilight would.
Thinking of her former teacher's name caused anger to flare up inside Starlight, but she pushed it back down. Anger and fear had driven her back here, gotten her cornered in what used to be the jail of the town she used to rule. If she wanted to get out of that corner, she needed to use what Twilight had taught her. It was only fair that Twilight's teachings would get her out of the mess that they'd caused.
Starlight groaned and rubbed her temples. Suddenly the muffin didn't taste so deliciously sweet anymore. She took a larger swig of tea, hoping the caffeine would jolt her mind into action.
There were really two separate issues here: controlling the reaction to her ascension in the short-term, and undoing the transformation in the long-term. She had no doubts that reversing the ascension would be extremely difficult, and she'd be starting completely from scratch, so she had to make sure that things didn't get out of hoof in the meantime. The thought of seeing Princess Starlight glorified in a stained glass window in the royal palace just made her shudder.
She took a bite of the muffin and chewed it mechanically. She needed to do this properly, one step at a time. The first step was to build more of a support network in the town, ponies who could keep things in check and encourage others to keep quiet once the secret was out. The town's extreme isolation would work to her advantage, but it wasn't as if ponies never left to visit other places in Equestria, and she wouldn't stop them from travelling even if she could. She just needed to be sure that they wouldn't spread news of her ascension everywhere.
Now that she thought about it, the next step was obvious. She needed to talk to a pony who she could be certain wouldn't spill the beans until she okayed it. Someone who always did as she said, even though he was supposedly in charge. She needed to talk to Party Favor.
Now that she had her next step solidified, the muffin and the now-lukewarm tea seemed to regain their sweetness. She finished her meal, savoring every mouthful.
Twilight Sparkle and Night Glider sat in silence for a long while, just watching the scenery fly past as the train chugged north.
"How are you feeling?" Night Glider asked Twilight.
"Really nervous," Twilight admitted. "Scared. Kind of sick," she finally squeaked.
They sat in silence for a few moments longer.
"That's usually when you reassure the other pony that everything will be okay," Twilight half-joked.
Night Glider thought it over for a second, then said, "I can't promise that everything will be okay. But I can promise that you're doing the right thing."
Twilight groaned and buried her head in her hooves. Her stomach was doing flips almost as frequently as her emotions. One moment she felt strong and confident, secure in the knowledge that she was finally taking steps to fix the mess she'd caused. The next moment all she could picture was Starlight angrily refusing to even talk, chasing her out of the village and disappearing from Twilight's life forever.
"Hey." Night Glider nudged her with a hoof. "That's not gonna help."
"It was alright while I was planning, while I was doing something," Twilight answered. "Now that we're just sitting here it's all catching up to me again."
"Do you want to talk?" Night Glider asked. "I haven't told you what else has been going on around town."
Twilight performed the breathing exercise she'd learned from Cadance, taking a deep breath in and letting the stress go with the air. It worked, sort of.
"Sure," she replied. "What has been going on around town?"
"Well," Night Glider began, then trailed off. "There's... um. I guess there's not really much news to tell," she finished sheepishly. "Party Favor has been doing well enough as the new leader. Now that we've all got our talents back, things are a lot better all around, and we mostly take care of our own business. No news is good news, I guess."
"That's good," Twilight answered absently. The mention of their returning talents made her think of something. "I never asked," she said, "and feel free not to answer if this is too personal. What did the ponies in that town think of Starlight's ideas about equality? What do you all think of her now?"
Night Glider frowned in thought, and was silent for so long that Twilight worried she had crossed a line. Right as Twilight was about to apologize for asking, Night Glider finally answered.
"I can't speak for anypony else," she said, "but I think that Starlight's heart was in the right place. She really was trying to make life better for everyone. And, to be fair, her manifesto was what got us all there in the first place." Night Glider shrugged. "A world where everypony is equal and treated the same is a nice idea."
"Yeah," Twilight murmured. Starlight's words echoed through her mind, reminding her that she lived in a magical crystal castle and regularly had ponies bowing to her. "Yeah, it is."
"She went about it all wrong, obviously," Night Glider continued, "but I think she's learned a lot since then. Thanks to you."
Twilight went slightly pink at the praise.
"She really is amazing, isn't she?" Twilight said sadly.
"Yeah," Night Glider answered. "I bet she's gonna do some great things."
True though it was, something about that made Twilight frown.
"Something wrong?" Night Glider asked.
"What if—" Twilight had to take a second to put the words together, and decide how much to tell. "What if she doesn't want to do great things?"
Now it was Night Glider's turn to frown. "What do you mean? She's already done some amazing stuff. Not good stuff, but definitely impressive."
Twilight chose her words carefully. "Starlight once told me that one of the things that bothered her most about running the town was that she was being a hypocrite. She was pushing for everypony to be the same, but she had to keep her own talent so that she could continue using her magic. I've sometimes wondered if she doesn't want ponies to look up to her anymore, because that would mean that she's somehow better than them."
"That's silly," Night Glider answered. "Literally the first thing you and your friends taught her was that it's okay to be different, and to have talents that other ponies don't."
"I know," Twilight said, "but I think there's a difference between being good at something that another pony isn't, and being up on a pedestal like... well, like me, or like her when she was running the town. I don't think she wants to be in the limelight like that again."
"Well, maybe you're right," Night Glider answered. "Does this have something to do with your, uh, falling-out?"
Twilight sighed and nodded. "Yeah," she answered. "I pushed something on her, without really meaning to, that she wasn't okay with. It would have put her in a very prominent position. I guess she'd rather go back to the town than have to live with what that new role would mean for her."
"I see," Night Glider said. "Sort of. She couldn't just turn down this new job, or whatever it was?"
"No, not really," Twilight replied. "It's not the sort of thing you can just forget happened." If only we could, she added silently.
The conversation petered out after that. Eventually Twilight, who had not been sleeping well, was lulled to sleep by the gentle motion of the train. Night Glider, despite a powerful curiosity about what exactly had happened between Starlight and Twilight, was happy to let her rest.
Starlight stood outside the door to her old house, which now belonged to Party Favor. She swallowed the lump in her throat, wishing that it would go down as easily as Sugar Belle's baked goods. She'd been standing there for well over a minute now, trying to work up the nerve to go inside. Maybe she'd just do it tomorrow.
No. It had to happen sooner or later, and the sooner the better. The longer she put off revealing what she was, the greater the chance that ponies would find out on their own. She was going to do this right now, before something went wrong.
Right now.
Right... now.
Everypony is staring, she told herself. It was true—they'd all seen her go in and out of this house freely. Why would she just be standing awkwardly in front of it now? Just knock on the door, for pony's sake!
Starlight took a quick breath, shut her eyes, and quickly knocked twice. She waited, so tense she was practically trembling, as the sound of hoofsteps came closer. The door opened, and Party Favor looked out at her in surprise.
"Hey, Starlight!" he said. He was making an effort to sound calm and collected, though he looked almost as scared as she was. "What can I do for you?"
"Can we talk?" Starlight asked through clenched teeth. "Inside?"
"Uh, sure," Party Favor answered hesitantly. "C—come on in."
Starlight walked into the house and shut the door behind her. Then, with a quick burst of magic, she shut the blinds over all of the windows and slammed the lock shut on the door. Party Favor was staring at her with wide, terrified eyes, causing Starlight to roll her own.
"I'm not going to do anything to you," she said exasperatedly. The annoyance was something of a blessing, actually, since it had pushed out her nervousness. "I..." Okay, maybe not. "I have something I need to show you, and I don't want anypony else to see."
"Something to... show me?" Party Favor stammered. "Something private?" A faint blush was creeping up his face.
"Oh, for—" Starlight facehoofed. "It's nothing like that. Just... just don't yell or anything, okay?"
"Um. Okay?" His face was some strange mix of curiosity, fear, and confusion. "What is it?"
Starlight took a shaky breath. She used her magic to undo the buttons on the gray vest she wore everywhere, and set it off to the side.
"It's this," she said. She flared her wings open.
Party Favor, remembering his promise, stifled his exclamation with a hoof.
"This happened to me just before I came back to town," Starlight explained. "It's actually why I came back. And no one else can know about this, understand?"
Party Favor, not trusting himself to speak, simply nodded that he understood.
"So... yeah." Starlight let her wings droop, then remembered to fold them back in against her sides. "That's it."
"That's it?" Party Favor exclaimed. At Starlight's glare, he lowered his voice to nearly a whisper. "That's amazing!"
"No," Starlight spat, "it's awful!"
"But why?" he asked confusedly. "Doesn't this make you a princess, like Twilight?"
"Yes, and that's exactly the problem!" Starlight snapped. "Me, who dedicated her life to helping ponies live as equals—and admittedly I made some mistakes along the way, but—how can I be a princess? Am I supposed to live in a magical castle like Twilight, having ponies bow to me while I tell them that they're all just as good as anypony else? How the hay is that supposed to work?" Her breathing was getting very fast and she was shaking where she stood, sure signs of an impending anxiety attack. "Of all the ponies in all of Equestria, why me?!" she wailed. She cut off with a muffled gasp as Party Favor drew her into a tight hug.
"Hey," he said quietly, "we'll figure something out. Don't you worry. I won't tell anypony, and you don't have to do anything that you don't want to." He held her close for a few seconds until her trembling stopped. Then he saw the look on her face and quickly backpedaled.
"Right, you and hugs, not good," he stammered nervously. "Sorry. Won't happen again."
Starlight took a deep breath in and let it out as a heavy sigh. "It's okay," she said. They stood in silence for a short while, then Starlight magicked her vest back over to her. "Well. Um. That's what I wanted to tell you. I guess I'll be heading back home."
"Right," Party Favor answered. He looked like he was deciding whether or not to say something more. He must have decided to, for he continued, "If there's anything more I can do to help, let me know."
Starlight paused in putting her vest on. She was actually rather touched by the gesture.
"Not right now," she said, "but the others in town are going to find out sooner or later. I'd rather they find out on my terms. I'm going to need your help with that."
"Sure," he answered. "Just tell me what to do."
Starlight nodded gratefully. "I will."
Immensely relieved that the meeting had gone so well, Starlight buttoned up her vest and left the building.
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But, didn't Starlight give up her plans when she became Twilight's student?
I honestly agree with Starlight, I mean yeah being an Alicorn would be cool for someponies, but when you've spent your hole life believing everyone should be equal, getting turned into royalty if not a God isn't going to make you happy or help your believe, and if she is immortal that's just adding insult to injury if not a punishment worse then death all on its own....but I guess I'm a bit biased to her becoming an Alicorn just because she's already awesome as a unicorn, giving her wings just drives the idea being an Alicorn would make you better
.....and the fact I hate the concept of destiny and any destiny driven situations just tick me off doesn't help
but all in all great story
Thanks fotr the update another good chapter. I do hope that Starlight accpets her new role because he out look on things would be very refresing on problems anyway can't wait for the next chapter.
She should look at it another way. Help raise other ponies to where she is now. Why lower yourself, when you can raise others? If she's going to live forever, she should make it her plan to use that time to make all ponies better overall.
That's just my view on it.
And yeah, she did give up the whole equal thing. Even has a picture in her room with an equal sign crossed out.
Looks like the real problem is that Starlight thinks she doesn’t deserve to be a princess.
8695755
I think thats the main point of contention, for someone with her ideals being an Alicorn kinda wrenches that idea hard.
8696234
True, but it also seems like she’s worried about what her role as a princess would actually be. That’s what I get from what she’s saying anyway.
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Wouldn't it be great if Starlight realized she could be just as much Princess serving other ponies?
It looks like the seed of doubt has been presented to Twilight. Maybe this will allow the possibility of compromise...
Keep going! ;)
Maybe it's a good thing Starlight's camped out in Our Town for a while. After all, she's a nervous wreck right now, so better if she's able to bleed off some of the anxiety there instead of in the centre of Equestria.
8726603
I don’t think it’s nerves so much as it is anger. Then again it might be both.
8728167
8726603
Definitely both. She's terrified of what ponies will think of her now, and furious at Twilight for doing this to her.
8728257
As far as I can tell you have created the only fanfic where starlight becomes an alicorn princess which makes this story the only one on here that I’m excited to read more of and the suspense is once again killing me
9104577
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/398786/the-celebration
9115007
We shall see old friend
So when can we can we expect the next update anyway? I’m not being impatient or anything, I’d just like to have an idea of when we’ll be seeing it.