Chapter 172
"Starlight? What happened?" Sugar Belle was concerned, she was happy Starlight was hugging her, but she was worried as to why.
But as the hug ended, Starlight just looked her in the eye with a smile and shook her head "Nothing happened, I just wanted to give you a hug."
"Awww, Starlight." Sugar Belle looked into her eyes, she could see she was feeling much better. "See? I told you a little food would do you some good. You look so much better."
"I feel better" Starlight glances at you and Lyra "A lot better."
Oh there was smiles all around. Starlight finally bucked up. Or at least she seemed to be. You could only hope it would last.
Lunch went pretty good as well. Each of you sharing stories, having fun, and eating good food, Sugar Belle even joining in after finishing her baking. Starlight, not once, ever dropping her new cheerful demeanor. She was even being a bit of a jokester.
"So there I was in the cave, me and Anon. He uses that horn of his to turn me into a filly thinking we'd be on equal terms." Starlight gives you a smug grin "Of course, I taught him a thing or two about equality...with my hooves."
"Wow Anon, really? You got your rear kicked by a little filly? I mean, Big Mac is tough yeah...but a filly?" Lyra smirked and giggled
"That's really amazing actually. I didn't know you could do things like that Anon...though" Sugar Belle began to laugh as well "That is kinda bad"
You grumble a little, you weren't too butthurt. You knew it was in fun, but damn did it hurt to be reminded of your shit fighting skills.
"Yeah well, I wasn't gonna hit a mare, much less a filly. That'd be rude...and stuff"
"pffft, you were going to try. I just acted faster. Let it be a life lesson though, never mess with a pony that has ambition."
you lean back and turn your head, making a loud "harumph" noise
"I could have beaten you. Like I said, I let you win. If you took me on while I was trying, you'd have gone down in seconds."
"Erm, Anon. I don't wanna bring it up again but. Big Mac sorta did that on you. He beat you without trying." Lyra giggled again "It was pretty funny too"
"Come on..it wasn't that funny. I know I can't take Big Mac, I'll admit that. But hoof to hoof, I'm pretty sure I could beat you Starlight."
Sugar Belle shook her head "Well I don't think that's going to happen. Fighting is wrong, especially when it comes to foals. It's a bad example after all and never a good thing."
"Oh it's not that bad. Colts need to learn to fight so they can defend their home and their friends. Anon especially needs to learn to fight because otherwise he might beat his opponents with laughter. It's cute, but pretty humiliating" Starlight seemed fully comfortable now. And she was getting pretty smug. It made you want to try to fight her, despite being a girl.
"Starlight" Sugar Belle didn't like these comments "Come on, don't tease him like that. It's kind of mean"
"No no, it's fine." You assure Sugar Belle "Come on Starlight, ya wanna go? I wouldn't mind a round two" You give her a smug look "If I actually try, an earth pony like myself will kick-"
Suddenly, you are slammed in the face with whipped cream.
Starlight was smirking at you, her horn was glowing. She made the cherry hover up from whatever was left of the whipped cream on the banana split and put it on your nose "...And done"
While Lyra laughed, Sugar Belle , while finding that really mean, was doing her best to hold back a smile.
You start licking at the whipped cream and manage to place the cherry on your tongue before taking it all in and swallowing.
"Wow Starlight really?.....you have to be that childish?" You say in a stoic and annoyed way. But you had a plan. oh boy, did you.
"Well, I guess I still have a little of that filly in me" She giggled "Come on, don't be so serious. I was just messing with you a little"
"Well, it wasn't funny....." You slowly reach your hoof right on your glass of soda "...AS THIS!"
You splash your soda at her. But again her horn glows. Making the soda stop in mid air, right in front of herself. She takes a straw, sips it while it's floating, and then gives you an ever arrogant look. "Delicious"
"Well Anon..." Lyra takes her cup and scoops up some of the floating drink. "..At least you tried" Then she gulps it down.
You look over to Sugar Belle, who was doing the best she could to hold back giggles. But when she saw your face, which was full of a playful annoyance, she tried to further straighten up, but still found it hard not to laugh.
And you know what? It...was actually kind of funny. It even made you smile.
"Ok ok...but the only reason you win is because you used magic. I'd still kick your rear in a real fight."
Starlight smiled and rolled her eyes "Whatever you say Anon."
The lunch never got any more escalated than that.
After lunch was done. You took a look around. It was afternoon now and still no sign of Twilight. She couldn't be THAT slow. Maybe she wasn't coming? Or maybe something got in her way. Whatever the case was, it allowed you to have a nice and fun day with Starlight.
Starlight made a suggestion to Sugar Belle to gather the rest of the townsfolk later to discuss the town center.
Things were looking on the up and up. Starlight seemed perfectly fine, no Twilight, and you even got to hang with Lyra too. It was definitely a good visit.
And it had to come to an end sadly. According to Sugar Belle, the train doesn't make many stops. Usually just twice a day and never at night. As much as you'd like to stay for a little while longer. It was now time to go. You give Sugar Belle a hug and ask her to say hello for you to everyone else in town.
Starlight agrees to see you off at the station they were building. You saw it with Lyra when you came in. It wasn't much of anything. But apparently it was to set up a better trade through train as well. and try to get more visitors by having an actual stop.
The three of you actually take the long way up through the elevated path that leads to the cliff. Starlight revealing exactly where it is in case you ever come to visit again.
"I can hear the train" Lyra said "We're not going to miss it are we?"
Starlight shook her head "We won't. if the conductor sees anypony at the stop then they usually wait since there's usually barely any ponies waiting to get on or off"
You three walk towards the fledgling station's steps. The train coming to a complete halt as you approach.
"Well, here's where you two get on. Thanks you two, for coming to visit me. I really needed it...and Anon, I didn't really get to you. Did I?"
You shook your head, lying. But not too much of a lie, you understood it was playful
"Nahhh, it was all in fun....Though I was serious in the whole "beating you in a fight" thing. I'm pretty wiry, and I'm pretty sure you couldn't take an actual hit"
Starlight smirked and shook her head gently "As I said, whatever you say. Next time you come you better have a cleared schedule. Because you'll be spending most of your visit having to rub in some soothing cream on your rump." She giggled
"Pffft, come on. I'm really not that bad. Lyra tell her, you saw me fight Big Mac. Yeah I lost, but did you see all those moves? Like my spinning uppercut..thing? That looked great. right?"
Lyra didn't nod nor shook her head, she just shifted her eyes, looking about with dishonesty "Oh yeah sure....erm...you really stood your own against him"
you look to Starlight with a smirk “See?" Oh goddammit that was a terrible lie. Whatever, at least you didn't feel bad over it.
"Ok ok, to tell you the truth I don't want to really fight anyway. Really, the only reason I think I clobbered you was because I was just...so..angry. But, that was before. This is now. And I feel really great thanks to you two"
"Well, that's no problem. Wait...that means we're definitely friends now right?" Lyra asked
Starlight nodded "Yeah."
"Oh good! Hold on..." Lyra uses her magic to pull out one of the mechanical replace pencils and puts it right under Starlight's ear. "There you go"
Starlight bobs her head about,trying to get a better look at it. "what is it?"
"It's a really neat pencil with replaceable ends so you don't need to sharpen it. I thought you might like it, since you seem like the type that studies a lot"
Starlight smiles, even if it was a small gesture, it warmed her heart. "Thank you, I actually could use this. But I don't have anything for you..."
Lyra shrugged "Don't sweat it, my happy tummy is enough thanks. And we didn't even have to pay thanks to you. I think it makes us even."
The three of you approach the stopped train as it opens its doors. You all give each other a hug and final words.
"You take care of yourself Starlight, I'll remember to write. I also gotta get a day to myself for when you get the town center done. I kinda wanna see what'll look like in the end"
"Oh, it won't be much. But it will serve a great purpose"
You bet it would. You actually felt genuine happiness. She didn't relapse at all. Man, if Twilight was here. She would have gotten so bootyblasted. Though, it's probably a good thing she never showed up.
Though, as Lyra and Starlight give each other a goodbye hug and some words. You peer open at the open doors as a familiar purple pony steps out.
...oh shit.
What the fuck was Twilight doing on a train? Why the fuck did she not get on at the same time you did? Did she trying flying over and realized it would take too long? Did she go somewhere else instead of the train station? Also...you just realized that Fluttershy probably didn't actually expect you to go on the train, only to stop Twilight at the station...which she never showed up at.
"Twilight?"
Twilight hears your voice and looks down at you, with puzzled astonishment. "Anon?! You didn't...."
....So, she wasn't expecting you.
"I did.....So, you decided to come anyway huh?"
"I did, but for differ-"
Twilight gets cut off as Starlight looks over, spotting her, she lets out a very passive aggressive "Twilight..."
And Twilight wasn't expecting her to be right there at all. "S-starlight?"
"That's right, does that surprise you? You look very surprised" Starlight looked at her with disdain.
"So, you saw her. Is that good enough for you? Or do you really want to take this further?" You asked her. Immediately jumping to Starlight’s side. You didn’t need the day to end like this. Twilight had to have something up her hooves.
Twilight actually took a step back, her ears drooping, she wasn't expecting such animosity right after getting off the train. She certainly wasn't expecting you at all. Or Starlight to be right there. "I just came to talk, That's all. I didn't come to snoop, I swear."
"Oh really?" Starlight stepped forward next to you, becoming slightly more aggressive "Because the way Anon told it; it sounded like you wanted to snoop on me. Make sure I wasn't subjugating the town. I didn't figure you for a liar."
"I'm not lying!" Twilight blurted out. "I'm not, I didn't come here for a fight. And I didn't come here to spy on you. Please, let me explain" Twilight found herself at a disadvantage.
You did find it odd though, Twilight didn't usually lie about something like this. But what other reason could she want to be here? Talking to Starlight was essentialy the same as spying on her, in your eyes anyway.
"You don't need to, you came. That's all you needed to do. You couldn't resist coming to see if you were right. Could you?" Starlight's aggressiveness was becoming more apparent by the second.
so much so, Lyra had to jump in. She was surprised, just like Twilight, by the sudden aggression. "Woah woah woah. Hey, we're all friends here right? Right? Now I know I was supposed to stall Princess Twilight and all, but she's here now. We're all here now. We don't have to get all mean and nasty, right? Shouldn't we hear what she has to say?"
Starlight shrugged, her tone condescending "Sure, why not? Let's hear the princess's reason to being here. I'm sure it's a good one."
You say nothing, you just sit there. Ready to snap back against her logic.
Lyra sighed in relief "Ok....alright, I'm gonna go and make sure the train doesn't leave. You guys...just talk it out...nicely please?"
Lyra steps slowly backwards into the train "Please...no fighting..ok?"
And with that, she went inside as Twilight just stared at the two of you.
Nothing is said for the moment.
"Well? You wanted to explain yourself? Explain yourself." You said, looking up and down at her with defensive eyes. This was YOUR friend. And YOUR reformation. It was done. She was overstepping her boundaries.
Twilight was both surprised and concerned. She wasn't expecting Starlight and you to be on such an offensive. She didn't expect you to be this way at all actually.
Twilight gulped, and proceeded to speak. "I admit, at first. I was going to come here to check things out. But...Anon, you said a few things to me that, well, were actually true. I didn't consider that I might have caused a few incidents that were....kinda really bad"
Kinda she says....
Twilight continued "So, I detoured and flew over to Canterlot, to seek advice from Princess Celestia..."
Interesting, very interesting actually. If she went to Celestia's because of you. You wondered what she'd have to say. Considering how much in the know Celestia is compared to Twilight.
"I spoke to her about the whole thing. What I said, what you said, and what the letter said. I didn't know what to think, I couldn't figure out if what I was doing was best. and I just needed some advice." Twilight explained
"Of course you did, you can't do things on your own." Starlight said, in a particularly snarky way.
"Can we not be so nasty? I promise, I didn't come here to cause trouble." Twilight looked like she was getting a little peeved at the jabs she was taking.
hearing that, you thought it might be a good idea to ease off a little until she was done with what she was saying. You'd react based on your own judgement. "...ok, I'll lay off." You look up at Starlight. "Starlight?" You say her name, just so you could acknowledge to her that you'd play by Twilight's rules for now. And for her to do the same. She gets the hint.
"Fine....But this better be good"
Twilight really couldn't believe you could be acting this harsh at all. If anything, she could feel that nagging feeling that something really was off about you. But for now...
"Princess Celestia told me that trust among friends is a valuable thing. And, it was up to me to decide if I should trust in Starlight or not. That I should consider your words Anon, about her, Because she is your friend. I flew to the train station in Canterlot and waited, and thought, and pondered. And when I took the train here, I pondered some more. And I came up with this: Anon, if you were able to befriend Starlight in the first place, and help her the way you did. Then I have no right to check up on her myself. So instead, I decided to see if Starlight just wanted to talk. Maybe be friends? Maybe? I'm sure there's actually a lot of things we could learn from each other. And I think it'd be a good way to start things fresh."
Starlight shook her head. "No Twilight, I don't think that's a good idea at all. You don't get. I don't want to be friends with you. How could you seriously think that just telling me what your old teacher told you would convince me to be your friend?"
Twilight shook her head at her, her tone becoming more desperate "I didn't, I just thought maybe if we were friends that you'd feel more comfortable. I know how hard it must be to readjust after coming back. I'd just like to help"
".....help?" Starlight raised an eyebrow at her "I don't need "your" help. I never needed it. But of course you assumed that I must have been scared and wallowing in pain. pfff, as if. I'm fine, i'm ok, and I already have friends that I care about. So you can go back on your train, head back to Ponyville, and leave me be."
"Starlight...."
"No Twilight, no. I don't even understand why you would even come here to try that with me. Maybe if you had come with Anon, I would have listened. But you came here thinking it'd really just be that easy. That I'd just want to be your friend because you "trusted" me through Anon. Well, it doesn't work that way"
"But..."
"No" Starlight says nothing else, she says no with a solid and tough voice. That was her final decision, she would not budge.
"I see..." Twilight sighed, feeling utterly crushed that she somehow failed something she figured wouldn't be that difficult. "....Starlight..then all I can say is that I wish you all the good tidings in the world."
"ok" Starlight says, unphased.
Twilight didn't say another word. She went back into the train. She didn't expect that at all. it was so quick. the odds were so stacked against her. And she wanted to try to follow what Celestia had told her. But...it just didn't work.
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...twilight had it coming.. I mean.. She has to understand that you can't befriend everyone you cross paths with.. Even after the fact that starlight was reformed WITHOUT twilights Imput.
yes yeeeeeeeeeeeeesssss, she so cute when sad. also she didn't fuck shit up, what a twist
Anon's achievement list (chapter 172):
Lesson Learned II…… I Think: you were right, now try to learn a different lesson…… please.
The Road To Hell: good intentions don't fix everything. (tree progress 3/?)
Suspicious II: RED HERRINGS! RED HERRINGS EVERYWHERE!
Ship Sunk: THE FLEET SHALL ENDURE!
Wisdom: you successfully used your wisdom hoof, too bad it's advice wasn't heeded.
Tank Beats Everythi……… Why Is There A Brick There?: in celestian equestria brick throws you.
Friendship: maybe you should be the princess. (tree progress 3/6)
yep compare Big Mac to a filly. At first they don't believe he could have beaten an adult like him anyway and then they do that.
YYYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH (I want an Bulk Biceps emoticon now.)
8656236
I agree, especially if thea act like that in a story, I like it if they learn a lesson or two.
In the last two or three chapters it felt like she was some sort of final boss that was coming to bring evil and all that stuff and then it was solved pretty easily.
It is an interesting but also rather sad development. Without Anon's interference they would have been the bestest of friends. But without the reformation through Twilight that would have taken the animosity out of their relationship...it didn't work out.
I can't help but feel bad for Twilight in this fic, especially in scenes like in this chapter where Twilight does the best that can be feasibly expected of her and then still have it thrown back in her face. As past chapters made clear, Twilight screws up, A LOT, but when pointed out to her, she does her best to learn from her mistakes and rectify them the best way she knows how, but even after that, it seems like it's never enough for Anon and ponies like Starlight. This couldn't be illustrated clearer than when Twilight tried to earnestly make-up and befriend Starlight and explain her actions over the course of the day. Despite that, she still got brutally rejected. What more could they want? What more could they expect? It's rather clear to Anon by this point that Twilight operates primarily under the logic of defeating enemies by making them friends, such as when she tried to extend the olive branch to Starlight.
I'm sorry if I sound nitpicky, but I can't help but feel that Starlight held onto her resentment a little too tightly and that Twilight kind of got the short end of the stick on this one when she didn't really deserve it.
8769043
You'd be right. Because Anon did the reforming and him not being as elegant as Twilight in the act of reformation. Starlight still holds on to her resentment not just because of what happened, but also due to Anon's own due diligence. Don't feel bad though, this fixes itself much later in the story.
I ship Anonlight. I ship Anon with every mare and filly he has met. Anon needs a harem.
8769043
Eh, you’re going off of Saturday morning knowledge. This is Anon’s reformation, and like CrazedLaughter said, they both have problems with Twilight. Anon’s going off of Human morals mixed with Pony ideology with a dash of chaotic reasoning. Twilight goes off of innocent and pure belief in friendship, with Celestia’s morals as her guide and teacher. It should be expected that they’re gonna have VERY different results from the same reformation. With twilight, we see that Starlight becomes friendlier and respectable, and it only took a crushing relization that the ponies she was trying to take revenge on were the reason the world went ‘round. Only after her world was rocked like that was she able to see the falt in her ideals(almosts put mark as a joke, but nah). With Anon, on the other hand, she slowly comes closer to being nice and friendly, in a much more normal and expected way, and all it took was a frined that would be there through most anything. Oh, and Anon actually reformed her a good half season or somesuch(cant really follow the timeline all that well) before this was even brought to Twilight’s attention that Starlight was misguided.
Crazed, so you have a vendetta or something against Twilight, I feel like she is portrayed as a villain more than, you know, the actual villains
9780836
it's more of a matter of perspective
8769043
Part of the problem is the her way or the highway attitude. She doesn't get that despite making mistakes she still holds herself on a pedestal as the one who always knows the right path. As for learning her lessons she learns them until the next time something happens. She also needs to have self confidence enough to hear everyone and then decide whether they are right or wrong. She claims friendship with discord but she doesn't act like a friend. And anon was willing to show her that starlight had changed but she ditched him when he wasn't looking. Her empathy skills are in need of work considering she in order to teach rainbow a lesson twice upset her. Scaring your friends half to death for revenge is not the way to a good friend and neither is being 2 face while stealing the spotlight from a friend.