Adventures in the Weather Patrol

by Blade Star

Chapter 14 - These Aren't the Ponies You're Looking For

Starlight Glimmer has now been living in Ponyville for just under six months. The stares have stopped, as have the whispers about her old cultish behaviour. With the passing of time, and only a few minor hiccups, Ponyville has come to accept her. Still, if you ask me, while she may no longer be evil per se, she does have a long way to go when it comes to friendship and understanding it.

She has one main fault really; she tries to use magic in the place of friendship. Now friendship may be magic, but that doesn’t mean one ought to be used in the place of the other. I remember Bones telling me that, before Starlight met and befriended Trixie, Twilight tried to introduce her to a few ponies around town. One of those ponies was Big Mac.

As we all know, Big Mac is…well, he’s a quiet guy. He has plenty to say according to both his sisters, only he chooses not to. Well, Starlight obviously wasn’t a fan of standing in silence when they were introduced. So, rather than talk and spend time with Mac to get him to open up, or maybe accept him for who he is, she cast a spell on him that forced him to talk non-stop.

I was on patrol over the orchards when it happened, and I saw the terrified stallion galloping away for Starlight hell for leather, begging anypony to make him stop talking. That’s her big problem if you ask me, she views magic as a quick fix to everything, rather than as an aid. Don’t get me wrong, once upon a time, Twilight had the exact same problem. And if I’m honest, the incident I’m about to relate was no worse than when Twilight cast a ‘Want it, Need it’ spell on the town when she got worked up over finding a friendship problem. I guess it was made a bit more serious by the fact that Starlight meant to do what she did, and she saw no problem with it.

Let me explain.

---

Twilight had for several months been tutoring Starlight, in a way not too dissimilar to the way she’d taught my brother. Although, while she helped my brother learn about magic and how to use it, with Starlight the subject was friendship, which if you ask me is far more complicated that any spell or incantation.

So far, she’d had mixed success. Starlight had been able to reconnect with her foalhood friend Sunburst (who I hear she may like as more than a friend) during Flurry Heart’s Crystalling and the slight disaster that accompanied it. She’s also made peace with her former followers back in the town she created. Her biggest stride though, was meeting and befriending Trixie. Although Twilight was less than pleased with the unicorn’s choice of best friend, she still accepted it.

Since then though, Starlight has sort of stagnated. She hasn’t gone back to her old ways or anything, but I rarely see her with Twilight on friendship lessons. She prefers to work on her already impressive magical abilities. A laudable goal, but not what Twilight is looking for. After all, it was using magic in the place of friendship that led her to run her crazy Equality cult.

I briefly bumped into them one morning as I was flying my morning route. Let me tell you, a unicorn is not something you expect to see when you’re a couple thousand feet up. Bones has told me about Starlight’s flight spell. He can even do it himself, although he says it’s very impractical and a wear on your magic. It’s actually a form of self-levitation, only Starlight can get herself up a lot higher than most, as it requires more power.

As I was buzzing along, the unicorn suddenly rose up into my flight path like a Harrier jet. Slightly below her was Twilight, following with her own alicorn wings.

“Starlight! Look out!” Twilight shouted out. Starlight spotted me seconds too late.

I banked as hard as I could, but there wasn’t enough room. The two of us collided with a fair amount of force. Ironically, if it all went to court, I’d probably get the blame, since Starlight was stationary in the air. Crashing into Starlight sideways caused my left wing to take the brunt of the impact. While the sky hog unicorn managed to keep her magic active, I lost all semblance of lift and, with a slightly injured wing, went tumbling from the sky.

Fortunately, I was able to straighten myself out before I bit the dust, and Twilight followed me down as well. I’m sure if I’d gotten into real trouble, she’d step in to help. As I stabilised, with one wing definitely sprained, Twilight appeared opposite me, concern on her face.

“Lizzie, I’m so sorry,” she exclaimed. “Are you alright?” I took a look at my wing. While it hurt to push it too far, I could still flap.

“Nothing a bit of rest won’t fix, Twilight,” I replied. “Although I’d suggest in future you keep your student on the ground. She might be able to fly, but she doesn’t seem to have much spacial awareness.” Twilight winced at that.

“Starlight was just showing me how her flight spell worked,” she explained. “Believe it or not, she’s actually shown me a thing or two I didn’t know about magic. But I’m sorry she caused you to crash.” At that moment, Starlight joined us, floating down in her own magic.

“You really ought to be more careful flying around like that,” she said, rubbing her shoulder. I narrowed my eyes at her and Twilight cast a withering glare in Starlight’s direction. She then turned back to me.

“Sorry,” she said again. “How about tomorrow you drop by the castle for lunch?” I smiled at that. See Starlight, you mouthy cow, that’s called apologising for being a unicorn that’s in the sky when she shouldn’t be! I suppose I should add to my criticisms that, at times, Starlight is socially tone deaf.

The two mares descended out of my field of vision, heading for the ground, where most unicorns belong. Meanwhile, I went and found a nice cloud to rest up on for a few minutes. I’ve got some first aid training from the Weather Patrol; mandatory course and everything. And based on the pain, I was fairly sure nothing was broken. Just to be safe though, I decided to pop down to the hospital and get myself checked out. My morning patrol could wait.

---

A quick visit to Nurse Redheart gave me a clean bill of health. However, Redheart did instruct me to rest up for a day or so, since I had indeed sprained my wing. Short flights were fine, but a full day at work would most likely exacerbate the injury. So, I had to go and find Dash and tell her she’d be a pony down tomorrow. She wasn’t best pleased, even less so when I explained why I was walking wounded.

Like me, she doesn’t see Starlight as evil any more, but she does see her as a bit of a walking talking safety hazard. Sure, you could say the same thing about Dash, but the worst she’s ever done intentionally is…well.

Okay, bad example.

Long story short, I was out of the game for a day or so. Luckily the schedule was fairly quiet at the moment, and we’d had practice working short one pony when Dash was off on her Wonderbolts training sessions, which occasionally clashed with her obligation at the patrol. Obviously, Bolt trumped Weather Patrol. So at least my temporary absence wouldn’t be too much trouble.

And at least I had something to do tomorrow to occupy myself. I suppose you could call it tea with the princess if you wanted, although few ponies call her anything other than Twilight. Still, it would be nice to see her again; she’s been meaning to do something for me since I took Spike up north to see Thorax. I know I spent a fair bit of time just hanging around the cottage when I first got here, but nowadays, if I’m cooped up in there too long, I start going a bit stir crazy. So as I said, I was glad that I wouldn’t just be sitting idle.

Having told Dash what was going on, I made for home. It was still fairly early in the afternoon; school was just about to let out. I soon passed over the town and decided to walk the last part of my journey to the cottage. I didn’t need to fly, and my legs could use the exercise. Plus, it gave me a chance to stop and smell the roses, along with all the other flowers that dotted the route home.

Fluttershy was tending to the chickens when I got back. My friend was quick to spot the bandage on my wing; something Redheart assured me was just a precaution. She quickly flew over to see what was the matter. I quickly reassured her, telling her about my literal run in with Starlight. Fluttershy frowned at that.

“Well, I’ll certainly be having words with Starlight when I see her tomorrow,” she said, puffing out her chest indignantly.

“What are you going to see Starlight for?” I asked. Surely she wasn’t just going because of that. Had the unicorn done something to one of her animal friends? If she had…Celestia have mercy on the poor mare’s soul.

“Oh, she was supposed to come by and help my take care of some of the animals,” Fluttershy replied. “But she keeps putting it off to study magic. I think Twilight’s told her to do it tomorrow. She stopped by and invited me to come to the castle tomorrow with a few of the animals.”

“Well, that’s lucky,” I replied with a smile. “Twilight invited me up to the castle tomorrow by way of an apology. We can go together.”

---

The next morning, Fluttershy and I headed out to the castle, with Fluttershy escorting a fair share of her animal friends. She was a little worried about finding the right habitat for some of them, who were ready to go back into the wild. With any luck, Starlight could bond with her over that, after all, she was quite the polymath like Twilight.

I meanwhile, was looking forward to catching up with twilight. It had been a few weeks since I’d taken Spike to the Crystal Empire, and it would be nice to catch up with her.

However, as we walked up the road to the castle, I was surprised to see Twilight and Spike standing outside with their bags packed. Fluttershy called out to her friend.

“Morning, Twilight,” she greeted cheerfully. “Morning, Spike,”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Twilight replied. She then noticed me, which seemed to surprise her.

“Hi there, Lizzie,” she said with a wave. “What brings you here?” I mimicked one of Applejack’s famous eyebrow raises.

“You invited me here, remember?” I said. “After Starlight crashed into me.” Twilight’s eyes went wide for a moment in realisation.

“Oh shoot!” she exclaimed, facehooving. “I completely forgot! Spike and I have to head up to Canterlot. I’m giving a presentation on friendship. I must have been so discombobulated after that accident yesterday that I forgot about it.” She let out a groan of frustration. Luckily, I was understanding. I’ve done the same thing myself once or twice.

“It’s no biggie, Twilight,” I replied maturely. “We all make mistakes. Rain check?” Twilight nodded emphatically.

“Absolutely,” she replied. “I’ll come find you as soon as I get back this afternoon.” I turned to Fluttershy while Twilight went to say bye to Starlight.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you later Fluttershy,” I said. Fluttershy nodded and we parted ways.

As the castle door opened though, I couldn’t help but notice that all of Twilight’s other friends were there. I guess she wanted Starlight to get to know each of them. Presumably, her putting it off had caused everything to pile up. Go big or go home, I guess.

Leaving Fluttershy and the others with Starlight, I headed into town. I fancied grabbing a bite to eat from Sugarcube Corner. And then, maybe I could go and relax in the park for a bit. It was a gorgeous day after all.

---

Given how physical my work is, I have to keep myself in tip top shape, and that includes keeping a careful watch on my diet. But, like most ponies, every now and then, I do have the odd little cheat day where I indulge myself a little bit. And since I had nothing to do for the next while, I decided to treat myself.

Heading down to Sugarcube Corner, I found the place fairly busy for the morning. It’s sort of like a cheaper, better quality version of Starbucks. The shop does cakes, biscuits and so forth, as well as hot drinks. So it makes the ideal place to go and grab a bite to eat. Trotting inside, I soon found myself at the front of the queue. Pinkie of course, wasn’t there, and Mr. Cake was manning the till instead. I presume his wife was looking after the kitchen.

“Morning, Mr. Cake,” I said as I came up to the counter, taking a look at what was on offer.

“Hello there, Lizzie,” the stallion replied. “What can I get for you?” I thought for a moment before settling on my choice.

“Can I have a slice of Madeira cake and a coffee to eat in, please?” Mr. Cake dutifully jotted down my order.

“Sure thing, Lizzie,” he said, tearing the one sheet off to pass to the kitchen. “That will be five bits. Take a seat and I’ll bring that out to you in a minute. We’re a little behind today with Pinkie Pie being busy at the Princess’ castle.”

“No worries,” I said, dropping the gold coins on the counter for him. “I’m sure you’ll be able to catch up when she gets back.”

I decided to sit outside. In the late spring and all through the summer, the Cakes set out of a few tables in front of Sugarcube Corner to increase the number of ponies who can eat in. Since it was nice and warm today with only a slight breeze, I thought it would be nice to have my snack outside.

I grabbed a copy of the local rag that was sitting on one of the chairs outside. It’s not exactly the Sunday Times, but it’s usually got a bit of interesting news to peddle, or at least something in the gossip column. There was a moderate sized article about Thorax, although it seemed the changeling was facing a bit of negative publicity from a few detractors.

A minute or so later, Mr. Cake brought out my coffee and cake. Unlike Bones, I tend to have a fair bit of milk and sugar in mine. Like I said before, today was a cheat day for me.

As I tucked into my little meal, I heard the signature whoosh sound of a pegasus close at hoof. Looking up, I spotted Rainbow Dash. Peculiarly, she seemed to be gathering up a whole lot of clouds, including stuff we’d put on the slate for next week. I wondered what was up.

“Hey, Dash!” I called up, catching her attention. “What are you doing with all those rain clouds?”

RD turned to me with an odd expression on her face. It was arguably devoid of…well, any expression; thousand yard stare and everything. My own expression now turned to one of worry.

“Starlight told me to get some water,” she said, in a monotone voice. Then, without paying any more attention to me she flew off, clouds in tow.

Something screwy was definitely going on. There was at least something wrong with Rainbow. Like I said, the vacant stare and monotone voice seemed very off, like she’d been lobotomised or something. The mention of Starlight’s name also caused me a bit of worry. I know what I said before, but I’m inclined to be a little suspicious about her.

I was about to fly off in pursuit of Dash when I felt a sharp twinge run up my wing. I looked back and, via the bandage still wrapped around it, I was reminded that I was temporarily grounded.

“Dammit,” I muttered to myself. Walking back to my table, I necked what was left of my coffee and trotted off in the direction I’d seen Dash go, back towards the castle.

---

I got to the castle, as it turns out, not too long after Twilight returned and everything was wrapped up. In short, the place was a mess. The pony responsible? You guessed it; Starlight Glimmer. The kitchen had clearly had a fire at some point judging by all the smoke that was now venting out of the open front door and windows. But the place also seemed to be half flooded. Understandably, Twilight was furious.

Galloping over to see if I could help, I ran into an unsteady Applejack who told me what it was that had happened, according to Twilight. By her own admission, due to what Starlight had done, she didn’t remember a thing.

“The five of us were all standin’ in the main hall,” Applejack explained. “We were all s’posed to be doin’ somethin’ with Starlight to try and help her make some more friends and deal with some friendship lessons. But she couldn’t work with all of us at the same time, so she went off to the library to look for a spell she could use. Dang fool.

“Anyway, she tried to mix together a bunch of different spells, an’ ended up hypnotising us all instead. She figured it would work for her friendship lesson, only problem was that everything she asked us to do, we took literally. It ended up with Pinkie Pie settin the kitchens on fire, and then when she asked RD to go get some water to put the flames out, Rainbow brought an entire storm indoors and flooded the place.”

“Well, that explains what Dash was up to when I saw her,” I said, quite shocked. “And it explains why she was acting so weird.” Applejack nodded.

“We’re all goin’ to meet up at a café down the street. Ah’m no good to anypony while Ah’ve got this headache.” She put her hoof to her forehead. “Dang that smarts worse that Bones’ whiskey.”

Leaving Applejack and the others to go on their way, I went over to Twilight, who it seemed had just finished scolding a very guilty looking Starlight.

I myself was at a loss to explain her reasoning. Okay, Twilight tried a few shortcuts with magic every now and then, but mind control magic? That stuff's bad juju by anypony’s standards, it’s effectively a form of dark magic. How could Starlight not realise how dangerous it was? For goodness sake, Bones has spent over a year studying all different kinds of dark magic trying to find ways to counter it.

That was when I got an interesting idea. Starlight had learnt an important lesson today; don’t hypnotise your friends. But at a more basic level, she seemed to lack an understanding about how dangerous certain types of magic can be…*cough* time travel *cough*. Maybe she could take a break from working with Twilight for a while, considering that Twilight still looking to be fuming, and go and talk with my brother? If nothing else, he could show her how to undo her mistakes.

Trotting over to the two mares, I waited for a break in the conversation to pitch my idea. Twilight was actually quite receptive to my suggestion, while Starlight stayed fairly quiet, keeping her head down, lest she draw further ire from the alicorn princess.

“That does sound like a good suggestion, Lizzie,” Twilight said. “It’s going to be a while before the effects of my counter spell wear off. I’m sure Blade Star could give Starlight a few pointers for a couple of hours.” Starlight made no reply. I did my best to be encouraging, despite the scale of her cock up.

“Come on, Starlight,” I said with a smile. “I’ll take you up to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I’ll go on ahead and let Blade Star know you’re coming,” Twilight said. She then winked out of existence as she teleported away.

---

Starlight and I walked together in an uncomfortable silence. I’m not sure whether she was more ashamed or embarrassed by her actions. She had gone to Chrysalis levels of mind control after all. I hoped that Bones would be able to offer her some advice; something to help her feel better. It would certainly be a long road to forgiveness from Twilight and her friends. I’d say this has set her lessons back months. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if Princess Celestia or my dad got involved. After all, I’m pretty certain there are actual laws against mind control magic, regardless of whether the spell was used intentionally or not.

I remember when Starlight first moved in with Twilight, my dad watched her like a hawk for months, never entirely trusting her. This incident certainly won’t help matters. Unless Twilight agrees to handle things, Starlight may find herself going to a dungeon.

I was however, a little more optimistic about my brother. He’d been rather neutral when it came to Starlight. He’d been friendly enough to her when she arrived in town, with him having her briefly help him test a spell he was working on. Aside from that though, he’d kept a respectful distance, going on about ‘risking contamination of the timeline’ when I asked him about it. While he’ll no doubt be mad that Starlight harmed Applejack, I think he’ll be a little less angry than Twilight was. After all, at the end of the day, nopony was permanently harmed, and it isn’t as if Starlight is going to do something like that again.

Before long, the two of us came upon Sweet Apple Acres. Following the path to the farmhouse, we found Twilight waiting for us. It was evening now, and the sun was going down. Twilight had spoken with Bones, who’d agreed to lend a hoof. She now had to head back to Ponyville to check on the others. She also told Twilight that she was to come to the café tomorrow to meet with them all and apologise. I decided to hang around, partly to support Starlight, but also to see my brother and what he was up to.

Heading into the Apple homestead, we passed Granny Smith, who was cooking at the stove. She told the two of us that Bones was waiting for Starlight upstairs. And so the two of us went up there, passing Big Mac and Apple Bloom on the way. Applejack had apparently come straight home and fallen fast asleep in her room.

Knocking on the room’s door with a hoof, Bones called for us to come in. I was a little surprised at what I found.

Bones has, for as long as he’s been here, been a farmer, studying magic occasionally as an amateur when he has some free time. His room then, was a reflection of that strange mix. On the one hoof, you had a Stetson hat and lasso on the hook behind the door, with a simple bed with apple motif sheets. But on the opposite side of the room, along with a desk and bureau, which was itself covered with various volumes and papers and what looked like a monograph of his own writing, there was a bookcase filled with volumes on magic as well as various little trinkets which he seemed to be studying, giving the impression of an academic’s office.

He smiled as the two of us walked in, although he seemed a little surprised to see me.

“Hey there, Starlight,” he said. “And what brings you here, sis?” I shrugged my shoulders.

“I just thought Starlight could use some company on the way over,” I replied. "What are you planning on doing anyway?” Bones explained.

“Don’t worry, Ah’m not mad if that’s what y’all are worried ‘bout,” he reassured the two of us. “If Twilight can forgive Trixie for all that stuff she did with the Alicorn Amulet, Ah reckon Ah’m able to overlook this misdemeanour. No, Ah thought Starlight and I could look at some of the dangers of dark magic, and how to counteract them.”

“Twilight told me before that you were studying dark magic,” Starlight said. “She said you’ve even done some experimentation with the Alicorn Amulet.”

“Under very close supervision,” Bones said. “We won’t be doin’ anythin’ like that today.” Getting up from his spot at his desk, he levitated his Stetson and placed it on his head.

“It’s a beautiful evenin’ tonight,” he went on. “How ‘bout we talk outside.”

The two of us followed him back outside, walking softly past Applejack’s room where the mare continued to sleep off the effects of her mind control experience.

---

Bones led the two of us out into the apple orchards, which were now bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. As we walked, Bones began to talk.

“Dark magic, Starlight,” he began. “Is like fire. It ain’t evil, not on its own. But if you don’t respect it, it will destroy you, and everypony around you. Nopony can truly master dark magic. Ah certainly can’t, nor can you. So ya shouldn’t go dabblin’ in such things.” Starlight now jumped in.

“It wasn’t that bad, Blade Star,” she replied. “I know I made a mistake, but nopony got hurt in the long run.” Bones turned and flashed her a cold glare.

“Starlight,” he said. “Tell me, if Twilight hadn’t come back, what would have happened? Say ya managed to get things in the castle under control, what would ya do, with five ponies effectively mindless? How long do ya think y’all would last before your morality began to crumble? For Luna’s sake, you were already happily manipulating them today.” He paused in his sermon as we came upon a rock with a spider sitting on it, nearby was a bucket filled with water.

“Well, why don’t we do a practical demonstration right here?” he suggested. “Let’s start with somethin’ simple; a little spider.”

With little warning, his eyes turned green and purple smoke began to pour from them like tears. His horn glowed black with dark energy. A moment later, a purple beam flew from his horn and struck the spider, briefly lifting it into the air. Just as quickly though, the display stopped, the spider returned to its spot on the rock, and Bones’ magic stopped.

“There,” he said, with some small amount of satisfaction. “That’s not too dissimilar to what y’all did today. That little critter is now completely under my control.”

The two of us looked at the spider. It didn’t seem any different, and it continued going about its business as though there was nothing wrong. Now though, Bones tapped into his magic again.

The spider went rigid for a moment, before leaping up into the air. It landed squarely on Starlight’s snout, causing the mare to let out a sharp cry and rear up in fright. It then scuttled off her and climbed up a nearby tree, coming to a stop on the end of a high branch. Bones, his magic still active, laughed at Starlight’s fright and turned his attention to the spider again.

“What should I have her do next, Starlight?” he asked, smiling malevolently. “Jump out of that tree?”

The spider now hurried down the trunk again and crawled over to the bucket of water. Climbing up the handle that hung at the side, it contentedly moved itself to the edge, its forelegs reaching out into the abyss.

“Maybe Ah should make her drown herself?” Bones suggested, still smiling with that strange vapour pouring from his eyes.

Starlight and I watched in horror as the spider inched ever closer to the edge. Then, as if it was perfectly natural, it let itself fall into the water.

Luckily, before that happened, Bones used his magic to place it back on the ground. He quickly reversed the spell he had placed on the creature and allowed it to skitter away amongst the grass. He turned to Starlight.

“Do ya see what I’m sayin’ now, Starlight?” he asked, sounding more like himself again. “A mind control spell can be fatal if ya want it to be. That’s why such spells must never be used. Magic may only be a tool, Starlight. But used improperly, it can take on a life of its own. That goes for normal magic too. Do ya get what Ah’m sayin’?” Starlight nodded. Bones smiled.

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with a pony bein’ good at magic, or choosin’ to study it. But ya must learn responsibility and control over your abilities. If ya start down that dark path trod by so many before, then that same dark magic will forever dominate your destiny.”

---

We stayed with my brother a little while longer as the evening drew on towards sunset. He offered Starlight some guidance on reversing the effects of certain dark magic spells, pointing out that, with her abilities, she would be able to reverse spells that would leave him at a loss. I think he was channelling his inner Obi Wan Kenobi for the most part though. Starlight seemed to take his advice to heart though. To date, she’s not made a screw up quite as spectacular as that one.

The next day, she met up with Twilight’s friends, all of whom were still…hung over I suppose you could call it, it’s how Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy described it in any case. The five mares did forgive Starlight for her actions, although I know Twilight was still very disappointed in her student, and partially in herself for not seeing this coming. I know for a fact that she’s locked away a few choice texts and tomes in her own private study, lest some other unicorn prodigy wander in misuse them.

As for my dad, he was at first quite cross with Starlight and threatened her with proceedings. But some counselling from both Twilight and Celestia convinced him not to act. In the end, he settled for having an official caution placed on Starlight’s record and signed the matter off as being a case of no contest. He also advised Starlight that, should she find herself in hot water again, her best bet was to put a pair of underpants on her head and jam two pencils up her nose, convincing a court she was crazy so they’d send her to hospital rather than imprison her.

And as for Starlight herself, she was very much ashamed of her actions, seeing in hindsight how foolish, dangerous and unethical it all was. It upset her greatly, as she liked to think that she’d moved beyond the sadistic nutter that ruled a town of ponies without cutie marks. It left her questioning herself, and it took some time before her confidence was fully returned.

But on that front, a few months down the line, fate and an old enemy intervened.

Author's Note:

Proofread by Sweetolebob18.

'Every little Thing She Does' really did go a bit beyond the pale in terms of magical cock ups. That episode blew even Twilight's 'Want it, Need it' spell out of the water. But hay, Starlight has been off the grid for a while, so I guess your sense of common decency gets eroded when you're cut off from Equestrian society. This is the same mare who took her childhood best friend back in time, turned them both into foals and saw no problem with it.

Comments

[Paulon]

Heh. I laughed out loud at the Blackadder reference.

[Noctis Prism]

Oh dear, I wonder what pops up now?

[Blade Star]

8651107 Wibble!

[harts fire]

a vary good chapter and i different look at how this played out.
i love the Harry Potter reference. i did not know the Blackadder reference.

[redmar]

She also told Twilight that she was to come to the café tomorrow to meet with them all and apologise.

Twilight should be Starlight, and I personally don't see why they wouldn't remember anything they did while under mind control.
The event you mentioned in the author's note was most likely an illusion rather than actual time travel.

[drFraud]

Mad Eye Moody's teaching methods may be dark, but you can't deny their effectiveness. He'd be proud of Bones

[AuthorGenesis]

“Sorry,” she said again. “How about tomorrow you drop by the castle for lunch?” I smiled at that. See Starlight, you mouthy cow, that’s called apologising for being a unicorn that’s in the sky when she shouldn’t be! I suppose I should add to my criticisms that, at times, Starlight is socially tone deaf.

That's racist. Also how do you miss a non pegasus pony who isn't hidden in a cloud or pea soup thick fog? If her eyesight shuts down while she's being introspective, then that's clearly a flight risk and something she needs to address and fix or solve.