Friendship is Messing With Evil Unicorn Heads (Or How Sunset & Starlight Learned a Terrible Truth)

by Leondude

Starlight Learns A Terrible Truth

Page after page after page of re-reading the Friendship Journal and still, Starlight still couldn’t wrap her head around how it was possible that Twilight succeeded with her and Sunset where she had failed with Queen Chrysalis. She didn’t get it. She used to be vindictive. She used to be a control freak that would hurt those who had different ideas from her. She used to believe what she was doing was right. She and Chrysalis were one and the same. So how was it that when she held out her hoof to Chrysalis the same way Twilight held out her hoof to her, Chrysalis flew away swearing vengeance on her? She told Chrysalis why seeking revenge is a bad idea. They should have been best buddies. She could have even given her pointers on how to be a better leader to her people similar to how Starlight learned to be a better leader to the ponies that lived in her town. Maybe it’s because of their similarities that Chrysalis made the same mistake Starlight once did. If she found where Chrysalis disappeared to and tried again, maybe they can become friends. After all, if Twilight can make friends out of her enemies, how hard can it be for her to do the same?

She flicked back to the chapter detailing the first time Twilight travelled through the Crystal Mirror. From the way Twilight wrote about Sunset before they became friends, some of which based on what few tidbits Celestia told her, Sunset sounded like a completely different pony back then. In many ways, she was like a worse version of Trixie. And yet, after becoming friends with Twilight, she changed for the better. Sure, she did get a face full of rainbow laser and it would make sense that the Elements of Harmony would change her the same way they reverted Nightmare Moon back to the innocent Princess Luna. But she knew from the last time she saw Luna that she still held some resentment and envy for her dear sister, the same emotions that caused her to become Nightmare Moon in the first place. Sunset, on the other hand, was no longer manipulative nor megalomaniacal.

Suddenly, the sound of a crystalline door interrupted her train of thought.

“You okay?” Spike asked.

Given how Starlight was currently laying on her back while holding the Friendship Journal uncomfortably close to her face with her hooves, it would make sense for Spike to be just a little bit concerned about her mental well-being. She quickly got up and used her magic to transfigure the Friendship Journal out of sight. While she was thinking of the drawer in her room, the sound of Twilight shouting “Ow!” moments later suggested she accidentally teleported it into the library instead.

“Peachy,” Starlight quickly replied.

Spike just gave Starlight an odd look, “Ooookay. Twilight told me to check on you so…”

“Actually,” Starlight asked, “There is one thing that’s been bugging me these past few weeks. How did Twilight and Sunset become friends?”

Spike shrugged his shoulders, “With a Friendship laser?”

Starlight put a hoof to her mouth in thought. Even though she knew Spike was being sarcastic, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was being a little bit sincere in his answer. Sunset did get blasted with what would technically count as a ‘Friendship laser’. Who’s to say the Elements of Harmony didn’t alter Sunset’s personality like she initially thought?

“Ah, so she did use the Elements of Harmony to brainwash Sunset into being her friend,” Starlight pondered aloud.

Spike chuckled nervously, “Hehe, not exactly.”

Starlight tilted her head, “What do you mean ‘not exactly?’”

“Uh…” Spike stammered.

Starlight trotted towards Spike, her face riddled with confusion and bemusement topped off with a slightly unhinged glare.

“Oh, would you look at the time?” Spike exclaimed as he held up his claw as if he was wearing an invisible watch, “Guess I better help Twilight out with her books before sh-”

Before Spike could run away, Starlight blasted him with the same combination of spells she used that one time she controlled the minds of Twilight’s friends. She hated that she had to use those spells again and feared what would happen if Twilight caught her but it was the only way she could get some answers out of Spike.

“Twilight’s books can wait,” Starlight said with a hint of annoyance in her voice, “Now I’ll ask again. How did Twilight and Sunset become friends?”

“Twilight used a reformation spell of her own making on Sunset,” Spike monotonously replied, “And the only reason why I knew that instead of thinking the Elements of Harmony pulled a Nightmare Moon on Sunset is because I saw Twilight use that spell on you.”

“I knew it!” Starlight exclaimed triumphantly before realizing the entirety of what Spike just said, “Wait a minute, what did you mean Twilight used that spell on me? I turned good on my own.”

“No, you didn’t,” Spike bluntly replied.

Starlight chuckled. She remembered being so moved by Twilight’s advice to move on, make new friends and do whatever it takes to make sure her new friendships won’t end the same way her and Sunburst’s friendship once did that she immediately gave up on her vendetta against Twilight and her friends. Would Twilight really have gone through all that effort if she could have just used magic to make her good instead? And that’s when she realized one important detail. Twilight wasn’t alone when she tried to stop Starlight from messing with the space-time continuum.

“Ah, but you were there when Twilight told me to give friendship another chance!” Starlight exclaimed as she pointed at the enthralled dragon before her.

“Yes,” Spike droned on, “But I watched her use memory-altering magic too because she didn’t want you blabbing to any of her friends or even the Princesses that she messed with your brain. Then she told me to keep it a secret.”

“But…uh…” Starlight stammered nervously as she tried to deny the truth being told to her, “But if she could do that, how come she didn’t do it to you?”

“Because I trust him,” Twilight sternly replied.

Starlight turned around and saw Twilight right behind her with an ice pack on her head, most likely where the Friendship Journal landed on her. She could tell Twilight was mad at her but she didn’t know whether it was because she used a bunch of mind-control spells on Spike or because of the Friendship Journal.

“Just like how I trusted you not to mind-control my friends,” Twilight said coldly, “Again.”

While Starlight felt mild relief that Twilight wasn’t mad at her for dropping a book on her head, she was still terrified about what Twilight would do to her. But amidst that terror, an intriguing question popped into her head. If Spike was telling the truth under the spell’s influence, then who was Twilight to judge her for using mind-control magic? How’s it fair that she gets to use magic like that while Starlight doesn’t? Better yet, what in Celestia’s name was she even doing with spells like that? Then she thought back to how Celestia tasked Twilight and her friends with reforming Discord. While the chapters written by Fluttershy were reassuring, the chapters written by Twilight detailing her thoughts on the task at hoof weren’t much so. From what Twilight had written, the only reason Celestia tasked them with reforming Discord wasn’t because he deserved a second chance but because there had been a breakout in Tartarus and Celestia needed someone powerful enough to help round them back up. And given how it hadn’t been that long since she, Trixie, Discord and Thorax teamed up to free everypony from the changelings, she couldn’t help but wonder if Twilight just saw her and Discord as tools when compared to her actual friends. Maybe that’s why she made a friend out of Sunset. It wasn’t because she wanted to. It was because she needed somepony to keep an eye on that other world.

Without hesitation, Starlight teleported out of her room and outside of the Friendship Castle. She also brought the magic journal Sunset gave her as well as a quill and a jar of ink, though apparently she either forgot to screw the lid back on or the lid simply didn’t come with the jar since she now had ink spilt all over her. She quickly opened up the journal and started writing.

Dear Sunset

I’ve just learned a terrible truth.

Author's Note:

It's a pity I didn't post this chapter on Revenge of the Fifth. I can already foresee the jokes about Starlight thinking Twilight is a Sith Lord.

Comments

[overdue]

roll credits

[Da Beak]

I wanted to hear Twilight's justification of her actions. Not because im sympathetic to her, but because she was too busy fainting from anxiety attacks to give a response. Jokes are nice but your story made me think, not laugh. I wanted an epic confrontational speech about morality, free will, end ethics of having a choice. But all I've got is a zip! Nada! A fat zero! What she did was definitely immoral, akin to having a God complex, but in spite of her shortcomings, Twilight has made the world a little safer by keeping an eye on her enemies, if not equals. Did she do a right thing? You don't need to answer that. Each of us finds our own answers.

Say, how's that for an ending?

Twilight is greatly shaken by the confrontation but still finds it in her stomach to reach a decisive argument. She tells starlight and Sunset that warping their minds, as grim as it might look to them, was the only step to save the world from destruction. If starlights emotions took over and she tore the spell into pieces then the world as we knew it would become obsolete. And wasn't it poetic justice to see how its like to be on a recieving end of all those games - being someone's plaything? (Having not watched equestria girls I cant elaborate on sunset but i assume she wasn't very nice either) Finally, Twilight coldly presents them with a choice, something they didn't have until now. If they cherish the lie they lived, she'll brainwash them again, making them forget the whole ordeal, similar to your ending. So friendship was enforced on them. But were their decisions also enforced? They chose to be happy, flawed. They still were themselves. And they still were loved in spite of those flaws. Starlight and Sunset are probably bitter over Twilight outsmarting them rather than having a real grudge against her methods. So they can accept defeat, embrace their inferiority to Twilight, and maybe even help Twilight see her own flaws. If they, however, will not decide to accept defeat, she will make them forget everything, including herself, friends, everything. If friendship never mattered to them then they are better off without it. They'll return to their empty misguided evil selves. And tartarus will be a welcoming place for them. With that, she will leave them to think it over. And with her closing the doors, leaving two frozen ponies standing in the dark, you end the story.