Nopony's Ever Cared As Much As You...

Twilight Sparkle sat on the hill, watching the sun's slow descent to the horizon. A gentle breeze blew through her mane, gently cascading it behind her.

Twilight closed her eyes, relishing in the warmth of the sun. The opportunity to take time away from her responsibilities and relax was very seldom, so she enjoyed every moment of it.

After a couple moments, she heard the faint sound of hooves on grass. Twilight opened her eyes to see Starlight approaching.

Twilight smiled and stood up. "Starlight!"

"Hey, Twilight!" Starlight greeted.

The two met each other with a hug. "How are you?" Twilight asked.

"I'm doing pretty good," Starlight responded. "I'm hoping you're doing the same."

"I'm actually doing pretty well, but I'm a bit sore from flying earlier." In an attempt to ease the soreness, she slightly stretched out her wings, only to be met with a sharp pain shooting through her back. "Ow!"

"You okay?" Starlight asked.

"Mhm."

Twilight closed her eyes due to the pain.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." The pain in Twilight's back began to subside as she sat down.

The alicorn eventually opened her eyes again, looking off into the distance. The golden light of the sun danced on Twilight's mane and fur. Starlight couldn't help but stare, noticing how her mane seemed to shimmer and the curves of her body were accentuated. She was so beautiful.

A light blush tinted Starlight's cheeks.

Taking into account how sore Twilight must be, Starlight sat behind the mare and put her hooves to her back.

"What are you..." Twilight trailed off when the muscles in her back began to relax.

"I just thought I should help ease the soreness a bit," Starlight said, rubbing her hooves in circles.

Twilight let out a hum of content as Starlight massaged her back.

The two mares sat in silence, Twilight taking in the beauty of the sunset. Hues of purple, red, orange, and yellow danced together across the sky. The sun was beginning to fall below the horizon while the moon started peeking over on the opposite side.

There was only silence, save for the rustling of leaves in the breeze and the relaxed breathing of the two mares.

After a couple moments, Twilight broke the silence. "So, how come you wanted to see me? Is something wrong?"

"No," Starlight responded. "But it's important."

"Alright. What is it?"

Starlight looked down at the ground, subconsciously counting the blades of grass. She didn't quite know how to word it. "I wanted to tell you about... my feelings. Yes, I know that's blunt, but I don't know how else to put it."

The alicorn nodded. "Alright, I'm listening."

Starlight sighed. "Remind me how long it's been since you took me in."

"Six months."

"Wow. It feels like it was only yesterday that you were trying to stop me from destroying the future of Equestria. I can still remember how exhausted I felt, but I pushed through it to prevent you from stopping me. After all that I had done, it was such a surprise that you took me in as your student. I didn't know where to start with friendship, but I had you and your friends to start me off and guide me. That meant so much to me."

"I'm glad it did," Twilight said. "My friends and I really wanted to help you become a better pony and teach you the values of friendship. After everything that you had been through, you deserved it."

"Well, in all honesty, I was worried that it wasn't going to last. I thought I would mess it up somehow, or you and your friends would decide that that there's no chance of redemption for me. You're a princess. A princess, for Celestia's sake! For you to be my first friend in a long time was scary. I was worried you'd think you were too good for me."

Twilight took a couple seconds to contemplate what her friend was saying. "Just because I'm a princess doesn't mean I put myself on a pedestal. It doesn't matter what a pony's background is, nor does their class. I'm open to befriending anyone if they're willing to give it a chance."

"I know that now, but back then, that worry rubbed off on my first official friendship lesson. I thought that you were going to give up on me because I failed to rekindle my friendship with Sunburst. Yet, you didn't. I was so happy about that. I felt like I was on top of the world. I had felt pure happiness for the first time in ages."

"I had a feeling that you hadn't felt that in a while," Twilight began. "I wanted to do everything in my power to ensure that you were happy."

Starlight nodded. "You showed me nothing but kindness. You showed me care, affection, forgiveness, understanding. Most importantly, you showed me sympathy. You tried so hard to put yourself in my hooves, to understand what I had gone through. You knew I was hurt, hurt beyond belief. You knew I was...

"Broken," Twilight finished the sentence. "You were broken and longing for something to fill the hole in your heart. The hole that was nearly filled when you had your village."

"Yeah. Believe it or not, I think that void is almost completely filled again, thanks to you and your friends."

Twilight thought about that for a second. "You really mean that?"

Starlight nodded. "You made me feel like I truly belonged. You made me feel like I had a place in your circle of friends, in this town. You showed me the side of myself that I hadn't seen in so long. You helped me will myself to change. You've helped me become a better pony to everyone around me. Most importantly, you've taught me how to be a better pony to myself."

"It's good that you overcame that. You felt guilty about your past and didn't know how to forgive yourself."

"Yeah."

Twilight thought for a moment. "Forgiving yourself can be harder than forgiving somepony else. Although everypony else forgives you, you have a hard time forgiving yourself for the pain you caused other ponies. I trust that you've forgiven yourself for everything, though."

"I have."

The alicorn looked over her shoulder and smiled at Starlight. "That's really good to hear."

"For the first time in forever, you made me feel hopeful. You made me understand that I have purpose to my life. You've taught me how to embrace all of the good that I have, rather than focus on the bad. You've taught me how to be proud again, to move past my embarassment and shame. You've taught me a new way of life that I never thought I would have."

A short silence fell upon the two mares.

"I cannot thank you enough for being there for me, for teaching me that everything will turn out okay. I don't hate myself anymore. I don't feel worthless. I'm not constantly berating myself. Most importantly, I forgave myself. That's all thanks to you. I'm kinder to myself, I know my worth. You appreciate who I am. That's something I hadn't had in a while. Nopony's ever cared as much as you.

"If you hadn't convinced me to take your offer of friendship, I don't know where I would be. All I know is that I'm on a much better path now.

"So thank you. Thank you for teaching me that life has more meaning than I thought. Thank you for teaching me how to love myself. Thank you for showing me kindness and promise and honesty when I needed it most. Thank you for everything."

Twilight heard Starlight sniffling and felt a drop of liquid on her shoulder.

"Starlight, why are you crying?"

"Because I have friends..." Starlight stuttered, letting out a small laugh. "I'm sorry."

Twilight turned around and faced her. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Starlight," She hugged her. "I know you're not sad. You're happy. Knowing that makes me happy." She paused for a second. "I'm glad that I've been able to make such a good impact on you. It means a lot knowing that I've not only succeeded in helping you with friendship, but also being on better terms with yourself."

Starlight smiled. She hugged Twilight back, allowing herself to enjoy the warmth and compassion of her teacher. "There's something else I need to tell you," Starlight said.

Twilight let go of her pupil, looking straight into her violet eyes. "Go on..."

"You like me, right?"

Twilight was taken aback by the question. "Of course I do! You mean a lot to me, Starlight."

"You mean a lot to me, too. It's more complicated than that, though."

"How so?"

"When I started getting to know you, I thought I just wanted to be like you. You have a way with words. And you're so smart and kind and proud. You're always there for other ponies and you're not afraid to stand up for what you believe in. But then I started thinking that..."

"That what?"

"That you have a really nice smile," Starlight couldn't help but smile along with the comment. "And laugh. Your eyes are so pretty. Your mane, too." She reached out her right hoof and ran it through Twilight's mane.

Twilight blushed at the sudden touch.

"What I'm trying to say is," Starlight brought her hoof down. "I like you. A lot. And not just in a platonic way. It's in a... love sort of way. I understand if you don't feel the same way, and I'm sorry if I'm acting like a fool by telling you all of this. I just hope that-"

She was cut off by Twilight hugging her. "I like you, too," Twilight softly responded.

Starlight felt her heart swell. She leaned into the hug, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight. She felt so happy now, complete even.

Twilight pulled away. She was smiling, red tinting her cheeks.

As Starlight looked at the mare before her, she thought she had never seen such beauty. She reached her hoof out to Twilight's mane again. "I love how silky your mane is, how soft it is. She leaned closer. "How your nose feels against mine." Her voice lowered to a breathy whisper. "And your lips..."

Starlight closed her eyes. She felt the gentle press of Twilight's lips on her own. Her heart was pounding. Nothing, not even her village, was as perfect as this moment. She wanted it to last, but it ended when Twilight pulled away, a small gasp escaping her lips and a broad smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, was that okay?" Starlight asked, her heart still pounding.

"It was nice. Very nice."

As Twilight reached out a hoof and touched Starlight's cheek, she looked into her eyes. They were so gorgeous in this light.

It was then Twilight who kissed Starlight. Twilight's heart was beating so loud and so fast that she was worried Starlight would hear it. The moment was pure bliss for both mares.

Twilight leaned back as she felt Starlight's body fall upon her. The weight of Starlight's body pushed her into the cool grass and Twilight managed to hold back a giggle.

Starlight pulled away from the kiss, running her hooves through Twilight's mane.

"Thank you, Twilight."

"Thank you, Starlight."

The two mares looked into each other's eyes.

"The girls are going to be so surprised," Twilight said.

"Who says they have to know?"

"Hmm, maybe..."

"We can keep this to ourselves, let them figure it out on their own. See how long it takes."

Twilight giggled. "Yeah, that would be nice. Let them figure out what's going on right under their noses. Listen to Pinkie's panicking and Rarity's gossip."

Starlight thought for a moment. "This is gonna be fun."

"I know my friends, it will be. I bet they're gonna be surprised." Twilight paused for a moment, thinking. "I've actually never had a special somepony. And I've never told anypony that I like both stallions and mares. So this will be interesting."

"Let me guess," Starlight gave a knowing smirk. "You're gonna frantically search the library for a book on relationships, to no avail, then go out and check one out from the Canterlot Library."

Twilight blushed. "Maybe...?"

Starlight let out a small laugh. "I know you so well."

"Yeah, you do."

The two mares lay next to each other, watching the last rays of Celestia's sun fall below the horizon.

Everything was perfect.

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