New beginning.

by zman123

chapter 3

Another large set of doors opened and showed to Lightning Dust, Starlight.

Starlight?, that meek and mostly nondescript unicorn who stepped across the threshold like an intruder was Starlight?
The master of magic who could go toe to toe with even Princess Twilight the alicorn who had spent her whole life studying magic, despite only being an ordinary unicorn herself.

The light purple unicorn walked forward with her head down, so it was impossible to see her emotion which quite frankly, she did not seem eager to reveal.

"This is Starlight, my new personal student." explained Twilight. "She'll show you around."

Starlight nodded and looked up so that Lightning could see from her rapidly blinking eyes, and disheartened frown that she had until recently, been in shock. The dark lines on Starlight's other wisely clean and young face a testament to sleepless nights, not unlike the marks on Fluttershy's rosy cheeks noted Lightning.

Starlight held out her hoof and greeted Lightning with a cheerful hello that held no gravel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." she said, her voice surprisingly chirpy and upbeat making Lightning wonder if Starlight had any idea who she was talking to. Aside from Fluttershy, no pony had said that to her for a while now.

"You'll like it here.". And Starlight gestured for Lightning to follow. And as Lightning turned to follow, for the first time in a long time she allowed herself to crack a small grin. These two ponies, different as they were with their ideologies would get along together like a house on fire. This, thought Fluttershy to herself, was a dream too good to be true.

Lightning walked in silence, only nodding occasionally as Starlight led her through one spacious chamber after another.

Each room was filled with more eye catching, exorbitant items of value than the last. Beautifully woven tapestries hung from glistening crystal walls. Exquisite rugs painted with the most fine murals, covered the floor along with a long red carpet that laced the hallway between the rooms. Probably, thought Lightning, modelled after the exact same one Celestia would have in the grand hall in her palace from how elegant and vibrant it seemed.

Princess Twilight really did have a fine sense of style and refinement. Not surprises there, thought Lightning, she was a princess now after all and she would be expected to live up to certain standards.

A brief flash of Spitifire stripping her of her lead pony badge came to her, but she quickly pushed it away.

"Do you like it here so far?" asked Starlight politely, noting how wide Lightning's eyes were at the sight of so much high end furnishing and artisan ship, and Lightning only nodded, too amazed to think of anything more to say. And to think she would be living here now, when just a few weeks ago she would have to be content with the cold, hard and grimy floor in her cell. No pillow, no blanket.

She had thought that to be able to live in Fluttershy's homely little cottage was pleasant enough, but this. Fluttershy's kindness really did know no boundaries. Once again, against all odds, Fluttershy had managed to surprise Lightning with just how far she was willing to go to help Lightning when no pony else would even give Lightning the slightest tear in pity. And once again thought Lightning with a heart full of guilt, she deserved none of this.

Another flash of the cold look in Spitfire's baleful eyes. Lightning blinked and briefly shuddered. The past, she told herself, was in the past.

Starlight looked at Lightning curiously. "Something the matter?" she asked gently.

"No" sighed Lightning. "Not really."

"I can see it in your eyes." She explained. "Something's wrong. Something's bothering you."

"Nothing's wrong. Really. I'm fine."

Starlight only nodded but knew it would not be the end of the matter.

She knew that look in Lightning's blinking eyes very well. A look that just a few weeks ago, would have mirrored Starlight's own.

But she understood why Lightning wanted to say nothing. Yet she knew that until Lightning did say something, Lightning would not be able to recover. And Starlight was determined to help Lightning in any way she could, having been through what Lightning was now in.

But first she had to understand what exactly it was that Lightning was mad at herself about. And next she had to convince Lightning from her own experience, that whatever it was, that Lightning could improve. That she was not cast in iron for all of time.

But not now. One day they would exchange stories of how they had each sunk to such a low depth without realising. But a hasty cross examination was not the way to go.

"And here's your room." declared Starlight, leading Lightning into a room that though relatively small compared to the other rooms in this large castle, was no less opulent and well furnished.

It was beautiful. What else could Lightning really say?
She'd gladly have taken this over her dormitory in Wonderbolt's academy in a heartbeat.

"I, I love it" admitted Lightning, almost shedding tears of joy at the thought of so much comfort.

"I thought you might." replied Starlight. "I certainly loved it here when I came."

A glimmer of sadness flashed in Starlight's eyes, but she quickly recovered.

Lightning noticed, but said nothing.

Then, the pair wordlessly headed through the hallways, and down the stairs where Twilight and her friends were gathered around what appeared to be a gigantic map on a table.

This Lightning knew from Fluttershy, to be the cutie map which forecast friendship problems around the region and determining which members of Twilight's group would be best suited to deal with such a problem.

"This is the cutie map" explained Starlight. "It alerts us to friendship problems around Equestria, that we as Princess Twilight's friends help her to tackle."

Lightning nodded, though remained sceptical.

If this map really could see every single friendship problem in Equestria, why then did Fluttershy feel so depressed and lonely with her life. Why then were there so many problems left?

It took a while but eventually two ponies, Rarity and Applejack stood up and stated they would be off before bolting out the door.

Twilight waited until their footsteps had died away before turning to Lightning.

"It's a lovely map isn't it?" she asked.

"It is."

Though Lightning knew deep down in her heart, it really wasn't all that great and that she had no part in these missions.

But for now, Lightning's priorities lay with tracking her old partner dash and making friends with the local townsfolk. She really did need to prove not just to them, but herself that she wasn't evil. That now her bad ways were during her school days.

And finding some way to help poor Starlight. The look in her eyes just wasn't right, and there was no way the poor girl would be able to survive like that.

How she could help or how Starlight's grief had escaped the watchful eye of Princess Twilight, she didn't know. But she couldn't just leave Starlight like this.

She barely knew Starlight, but say what you will about what she had done in the past, this Starlight now standing in front of Lightning was not a bully.

These were the thoughts that passed through Lightning's mind as she sat at the dining table, doing her best to avoid the baleful eyes of Princess Twilight and her friends so as not to anger them any further.

Twilight told stories of her past adventures, of which happily Lightning Dust did not listen to.

Not that she intended any rudeness, but simply that these tales were as alien to her as she was to Twilight and the others.

The tale arced on, in the direction of a parallel universe that existed through a certain portal into another world filled with strange creatures with things called "hands".

This world was home, stated Twilight, to a group of friends who bore striking resemblance to the denizens of this world. Every pony in this plane, seemed to have an almost exact counterpart with the same appearance, personality and even interests. Barring the fact that they were of different races of course.

Still Lightning was not very interested, but could not help but overhear some of the story.

"A certain group of bullies came from the school next to the one where I went to." stated Twilight. "Unlike the kind and gentle friends I met in Canterlot high, the bullies from that school, according to my letters from Sunset Shimmer were selfish and backward. Especially one particular group of them who were willing to go any lengths to win titles that they didn't earn, and had no qualms about cheating or mistreating each other along the way."

"One of them was Indigo Zap. She was very competitive but also very cruel and uncaring about even looking after her own friends."

Suppressing the shock and anger she felt at hearing her fillyhood friend's name being dragged through the mud in that manner, regardless of whether this was or was not the same Indigo Zap that was the first pony she had ever met who could be called a friend, Lightning's nearly closed eyes snapped open upon the mention of her fillyhood companion.

The companion who she had longed to see again, but could not when they parted ways.

If this really was as Twilight put it, a parallel dimension and all of these things Twilight had said about it were in fact true, then...

"What about the other school?" put in Lightning, as delicately as possible.

She was determined to glean as much information as possible, as little as it might be.

Author's Note:

Thank you once more for reading and appreciating my hard work.
I've only just been recovering from my writers block and it took a lot of effort.
Do you like the characters?, the story?
What do you think should happen next?
Please comment to support me and answer the above questions.
Thank you once more.