Starlight Glimmer Regrets Her Mistakes

by MagicS

So That's Why

It was a new dawn in this Equestria. The magic had been returned and everyone had been overjoyed to have their lives back. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia immediately lowered the sun and raised the moon together to give this side of the world a respite from the sun and soon afterwards messages and decrees about what had happened were being sent out all across Equestria. Starlight and Spike’s role was kept secret—as they didn’t want to make this Equestria think that the actual Princess Starlight had returned. Starlight meanwhile had also kept her promise to Tirek, he wasn’t as huge as before but his body was still fit and healthy after she had allowed him to swallow up a considerable amount of her Alicorn magic.

The following morning, the first real morning in weeks, saw Princess Luna and Princess Celestia address a massive crowd in Canterlot about what had happened and how they were going to move forward.

But despite things being so much better here, Starlight and Spike were still facing a bit of a conundrum. Without the Discord Flute they had no way to leave. They had no way to travel to the next world to try and help fix it. They were trapped—and time was still very much not on their side.

At least Princess Luna was letting them use the castle as if it was their home for the time being.

“I just don’t get it,” Spike said to Starlight as they watched the big speech Luna was giving from a window high up one of the castle’s towers. “What are we even supposed to do now? We fixed the big problem here and I kind of thought that something would happen because of that but Discord’s still missing. Worse than missing—he doesn’t even exist in this world!”

Starlight furrowed her brow. “I know what you mean Spike… but there’s something I’ve been thinking about.”

“What?”

“I think we need to figure out what happened to Princess Starlight. Somehow it has to all be connected, her disappearance when I first arrived here, and Discord’s disappearance now too. We need to find her or at least figure out why this world and the rules for it are completely different from the others,” Starlight said.

“And how are we going to do that?”

“I HAVE NO IDEA!” Starlight threw up her hooves in exasperation and flopped onto her back. “I have absolutely no idea, Spike! In the past we’d just shift to a new timeline when something big happened or get sucked in some other way. Now Discord is supposed to be our guide and he’s lost too! I just don’t even know where to start when it comes to uncovering what happened to me—the Princess of Friendship—here. But if we left before we found her and brought her back it would be catastrophic for this world so we couldn’t just leave them hanging even if we did have a way to leave!”

Spike scratched his head, thinking about how best to solve this mess while hopefully avoiding more complaining from Starlight. “Why don’t we talk to Princess Starlight’s friends here first? Maybe we can piece things together from what they know? If anything we can still figure out everything else that’s different about this world.”

“Mmm...” Starlight grumbled.

“I know you have to be at least curious about your friends here,” Spike said.

“Well yeah… I kind of want to know what Trixie is like as an Element of Harmony. Sorry, I mean Element of Unity,” Starlight snorted and couldn’t help but grin.

“Yeah… that’s a real odd one to wrap my head around too,” Spike said.

Starlight sighed and stood up. “It can’t hurt to talk to them, you’re right. Come on, Spike, let’s figure out whatever we can.”

---

“So Compassion, huh?” Starlight said to Sunburst as they sat at a small coffee table together, Spike between them and chewing on some gemstones Celestia had gifted them after the speech was over.

“Personally I never thought I was or ever did anything special,” Sunburst blushed. “Obviously Starlight and the Flower of Unity thought different. We had known each other for years beforehoof so it came as a big surprise to the both of us I think. Is that the same with you and me in your world?”

“Well we were childhood friends but obviously neither one of us is an Alicorn or Element...” Starlight said.

Sunburst nodded. “Right. Starlight and I actually drifted apart when we were younger and when we met again in Canterlot it was quite surprising. She wasn’t interested in being friends again at first but I managed to convince her to give me a chance. I saw, well, I saw how miserable she was without friends. I understood how bad she felt and things just evolved from there… like I said I thought I was just doing what any pony would. But apparently a few more moments like that with others clued Starlight in on the Element I represented.”

“And so you and the others used the Elements of Unity to save Princess Celestia and turn her back to normal when she returned to Equestria?” Starlight questioned.

“Um, yes. How did you know that?” Sunburst raised an eyebrow.

“Lucky guess,” Starlight snorted. “So I had no friends and saved a Princess with my fellow Elements? I really am the Twilight of this world.”

“The who?”

Spike choked.

“Apparently it’s not important,” Starlight shook her head. “Look, Sunburst, you’re really smart and you know a ton about magic. Do you even have a theory about what happened to your Starlight Glimmer?”

“I’m sorry but it’s something I’ve already been trying to figure out since it happened. I’m at a loss. When Tirek had us all and was getting ready to take your magic, it was like you suddenly took her place in our world and she disappeared. It’s as if only one of you was allowed to exist here at a time and you pinched her into some other plane of existence. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to look. Not to mention that not even the Princesses can perform such interdimensional magic,” Sunburst said.

“Yeah… we rely on Discord for that too,” Starlight sighed.

“Right, your spirit of chaos,” Sunburst nodded.

“I know for a fact based on previous worlds we’ve gone too that I can exist just fine with other me’s. I don’t know what’s special about this place. Was it because she’s an Alicorn here? Is there some other power at work? Harmony definitely seems to be different here—since it’s called Unity in the first darn place,” Starlight said.

“I’m sorry, Starlight. We just don’t have any answers. And if chaos is the reason for your trip through all these worlds then we can help you even less since that Discord entity doesn’t seem to exist here at all,” Sunburst shrugged.

Starlight shrugged as well. “It’s okay, we always somehow figure things out in the end. Right, Spike?”

“Sometimes it take a while but yeah,” Spike nodded.

“And I kind of just liked getting to talk to you,” Starlight said as she stood up. “Now I’m going to find Trixie, and hope she’s at least willing to give me a chance.”

“Good luck—with everything,” Sunburst said.

Starlight smiled. “And good luck to you too, Element of Compassion.”

---

“The Great and Powerful Trixie must admit that while you may not be as good as her Starlight you still did a good job helping to save Equestria,” Trixie said to her. “I’m already planning to put on a big party and magic show here and back home in Ponyville.”

“Because Equestria could use some more fun right now?” Starlight asked.

Trixie smirked. “Exactly. And no one knows fun as well as I do.”

“Well… I suppose that is true,” Starlight allowed.

“So you’re friends with me in your world too?” Trixie asked. “Is that me even half as great and powerful as I am?”

Starlight rolled her eyes. “I’m not about to go and start stoking your ego if that’s what you want. I know you, Trixie. That ego of yours doesn’t need to get anymore inflated.”

“Pshaw! How boring!” Trixie defiantly crossed her hooves and looked away.

“Uh, hold on one second,” Spike raised a claw. “You live in Ponyville?”

“I wouldn’t say I live there. I travel a lot, but that’s where I’m from. Why?” Trixie asked.

“Nothing really, just one more weird difference between our worlds,” Spike shrugged.

Starlight chuckled and grinned at him. “Do you think she got in a fight or something with the traveling magician Twilight Sparkle when she came to Ponyville?”

“Twilight Sparkle? She’s an old friend of mine from Ponyville,” Trixie blinked.

“Wait. What?” Starlight said while Spike’s jaw dropped.

“She’s my friend. Do you know her in your world?”

“Y-Yes! What’s she like here? Does she still study and practice magic?” Starlight asked.

“That would be a little difficult for her since she’s an earth pony,” Trixie answered with a single raised eyebrow.

Starlight and Spike looked at each other.

“Now that’s a weird picture,” Starlight said.

Trixie shrugged. “She’s still very bookish and studies all kinds of things. I don’t know what she’s like in your world but if you want to meet her here I can arrange that. You could come see all of Ponyville if you want.”

“I don’t know if that would really amount to anything at this point...” Starlight sighed.

“Yeah, a Twilight here, even if she wasn’t an earth pony, probably wouldn’t be able to help us with our problems. Sunburst doesn’t know anything, the Princesses and Tirek don’t know anything, the Elements of Unity can’t even be used right now, ugh,” Spike shook his head.

“Well thanks for at least offering, Trixie, but it seems like we’ve still got our work cut out for us,” Starlight said.

“You know if you’re stuck here for a little while longer, the Great and Powerful Trixie would gladly put on a party for the two of you. Seems like you need it,” Trixie smiled.

“Thanks Trixie, that sounds fun. Although I hope we aren’t around that long,” Starlight said.

“Seriously. Even just a single extra day is a big problem for what we need to do,” Spike said.

“Judging off my experience with you here I’d say you’ve both got a fairly good chance at saving the world. Maybe not as good as my Starlight if she was here, but decent. Also I wouldn’t worry so much, from prior experience things just seem to randomly sort themselves out,” Trixie shrugged.

“Well you’re living up to your Element with that attitude for sure,” Starlight said.

“The world needs to be more carefree and relaxed now than ever. Ponies need to realize they can still have fun, that it’s not the end of the world, that they can still laugh and smile even if their Princess of Friendship is missing. I’m going to make sure that happens. Even if Starlight isn’t here I’m still the Element of Fun—and now with our magic back I know things will end up okay. Somehow,” Trixie said.

“A good outlook to have. Goodbye for now, Trixie. In any world, in any timeline, I love talking to you,” Starlight said.

---

“Hi Maud! So do you enjoy being an Element of Unity?” Starlight asked the stoic mare as they stood in one of the secluded gardens of Canterlot Castle.

“It’s not what I planned for my life but I enjoy it,” Maud answered.

“Not too “loud” for you?” Starlight asked.

“Sometimes I wish I could just spend time on my own and not have to help save Equestria, but I enjoy the presence of all my friends too,” Maud said.

Starlight smirked. “I can see why you’re the Element of Sincerity.”

“I get that a lot.”

“I think in any world you can count on Maud to always be sincere,” Spike said.

“Not always,” Maud said.

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“There was a time where I would never let anyone know my true feelings because I didn’t want to hurt them. But my sister made me realize all I was doing was putting up walls between myself and others. If I ever truly wanted to be close to others and for them to understand me I had to be sincere. Princess Starlight got pretty angry at me the first time we met, but it ended up being a good thing,” a ghost of a smile graced Maud’s face. “She knew she could always trust me after that.”

“And you must really want her back as soon as possible?” Starlight asked.

Maud nodded. “Very much.”

“I don’t know how, but Spike and I are going to do our best to find her. Whatever it takes we’re not leaving until we’re sure this world is okay. And it needs its Princess of Friendship for that to be the case,” Starlight said.

“Thank you. You really are a lot like her. But a little more… aloof,” Maud said.

“Sounds accurate. Well you at least have your other friends and your sisters around for now, Maud. If things go a little slowly I’d love to talk to you again so you can tell me about your family,” Starlight smiled. “This would be the part where I give you a little hug but I know you wouldn’t like that.”

Maud slowly blinked. “That is correct.”

---

“I’m going to be perfectly honest here—I have almost no idea who you even are back in my world,” Starlight said to Sassy Saddles while they had tea together in the castle. Spike sitting beside her.

“I know her, but that’s mostly because she works for Rarity,” Spike said.

“Who’s Rarity?” Sassy asked.

“Oooooouuuughhhhh...” Spike groaned and buried his head in his hands.

Starlight rubbed his back. “Um… don’t mind him.”

Sassy cleared her throat. “Yes, well, anyways I had kind of figured you didn’t really know me from other things you’ve said and how you’ve acted. But that’s alright, it just means I can become friends with Starlight Glimmer all over again.”

“There’s the Element of Hope part talking,” Starlight smirked.

“Just for positive thinking?” Sassy giggled.

“Considering what’s happened in your world lately? Being able to think positively is a big deal,” Starlight said.

“Well not to sound cliched then but yes—I’ve always held out hope that things would be alright in the end. I knew they would be, because Starlight would never let us down. Although it turns out it was a different Starlight who saved us for the moment,” Sassy said. “But it really was important to stay hopeful when everything was at its absolute worst. I could tell ponies were on the verge of giving up completely...”

“Sorry about that...” Starlight frowned.

Sassy shrugged. “I don’t really think you need to apologize. You did what you thought was most helpful in the moment—and technically you did save us from Tirek—it’s just that you didn’t know what the long-term effects would be.”

“She kind of has a tendency to not think about those,” Spike mumbled.

“I’m working on it,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Well so what do you plan to do now? Things are at least stable in Equestria again,” Sassy said.

“We’re going to find Princess Starlight. Somehow,” Starlight answered.

Sassy smiled. “Good luck, I know you can do it. And that’s not just me being the Element of Hope talking.”

Starlight sat back, idly swirling her tea with the little spoon. “Before we get back to that though… could you tell me about yourself a little? I’d like to get to know you. Maybe when I get back to my world I can become friends with the Sassy Saddles there.”

“If we’re similar at all I think you certainly have another good friend waiting for you. As for me, I love fashion, obviously,” Sassy said as she stood up and showed off her outfit. “I always considered myself quite adept at running a business—that’s mostly what I was doing before I met Starlight and became an Element. Since then though I’ve mostly been helping out organizing and running various charities and events in Equestria.” A more contemplative look came to her face. “As much as I love fashion I’ve never exactly been a great designer or had that spark of inspiration that the great creators do. Even now I don’t really know what my true calling is besides being the Element of Hope.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you… doing alright?”

“Yes,” Sassy smiled again. “I really am, it’s just… I want to tell you something that I’ve never even told my Starlight. I considered myself quite adept at being a manager for many businesses—but that doesn’t mean I actually was. I had store after store sink underneath my management. Failure after failure. When Starlight met me it was at the start of a new job, I told her about all the failures I had had recently but that I was still working, and still intended to succeed. I think she got the “spark” from that what my Element was. What she didn’t know though… was I was lying. That job I was starting when we met? I had told myself that if I failed there it would be the last time. I was going to give up, go back home, and try something else with my life.”

“But before any of that could happen...” Starlight said.

“That’s right. Princess Celestia returned and Starlight and the rest of us became the Elements of Unity. My outlook on life changed after that and I’ve never looked back. So even now when I’m still a bit unsure of myself, I believe that I’ll find something someday. Just like I did when I met Starlight.”

“I think you’ll find it too,” Starlight smiled. “And if you promise to tell Starlight what you told me—I promise to go become friends with Sassy back home.”

Sassy Saddles nodded. “I think I can keep that promise.”

---

“So uh… this is a little awkward for me,” Starlight said as she walked with Chrysalis through the gardens.

“How so?” Chrysalis innocently asked her.

“You never changed back in my world. In fact you really, really, hated me specifically. Seeing you like this is… odd for a number of reasons,” Starlight said.

“Hearing that just makes me feel bad for my other self,” Chrysalis sighed.

“It makes me wonder too if things could’ve been different. If maybe we could’ve actually gotten her to change her ways or if there was more I could’ve done. But we did give her a lot of chances to be honest...” Starlight rubbed the back of her neck.

“Even I know how stubborn and miserable I used to be,” Chrysalis chuckled mirthlessly.

“Well it’s nice to see that you’re happy at least,” Starlight shrugged. “How’s the hive by the way?”

“Better than it ever has been,” Chrysalis smiled.

“Not hard to imagine,” Starlight said. She thought for a moment and turned to the reformed changeling. “Since you know a lot about redemption now, would you do me a favor and help out Tirek? Give him a friend while he’s going through a new phase in his life?”

“I’d have done that anyways—after the kindness and patience thrown my way it’s only right that I do the same for him,” Chrysalis said. “I think Starlight would want me to do that too.”

“From what I’ve heard she’d certainly be happy,” Starlight smirked.

“What are you going to do now that you’re still here? You’re stuck aren’t you?” Chrysalis asked.

“Yeah… and even though I may have been given this Alicorn body I’m no Princess of Friendship. I can’t take this world’s Starlight Glimmer’s place. And I don’t think it would even really be right to watch over you. Not to mention the whole space-time continuum might collapse soon if I don’t get a move on. Spike and I are going to be looking for your Starlight but we’ve still got no clue whatsoever on what might have happened to her. That’s why we’ve been talking to the other Elements and you,” Starlight said.

“The Elements do have a deeper connection to this world and each other, and while I may be quite a bit older and more powerful than the average pony I’m afraid I don’t know what could have happened to our Starlight either,” Chrysalis shook her head.

“That’s alright. Honestly the second part of wanting to talk to you was just for my own peace of mind,” Starlight said.

“I’ll be talking with both Tirek, the Princesses, and the Elements a lot in the near future. If we discover anything about what happened to Starlight you’re going to be the first to know,” Chrysalis said.

“Thanks. In the meantime, I think you might as well enjoy having your magic back. I think all of you have earned the right to have a little fun here,” Starlight said.

---

Starlight and Spike both lied down on the grass in one of Canterlot Castle’s courtyards, staring up at the blue sky as the clouds floated on by. They were alone with not even any guards around for obvious reasons, just the two dimension-hoppers together. Later they planned to talk to the Princesses when the two of them had more free time but right now they were both taking a break. After all, the other talks hadn’t born much fruit. They had been interesting, and Starlight felt her life was certainly enriched, but they didn’t help the two of them with their problem here in this world.

“I’m still lost. There’s nothing I can think of that might clue us in on what happened to the other Starlight Glimmer or where we can find her,” Spike said.

“There has to be something we’re missing. There has to be something that ties all this together. Everything off and different about this world—why the rules are different, what happened to Princess Starlight, and Discord too, why the entire foundation of this Equestria is different from ours. There has to be an answer,” Starlight said.

“No offense, but this is the kind of thing we need Twilight to figure out.”

“None taken,” Starlight rolled her eyes. “Or for Discord to just snap his fingers and fix it like that.”

“Seriously. He’d be a huge help right now,” Spike nodded.

Starlight frowned and bit her lip. “Discord… I swear this has to have something to do with his absence in this world. Because why would he suddenly vanish?”

“I dunno. I barely have any guesses,” Spike said.

Starlight closed her eyes and thought. “What is it? What’s the key? This world is more different than any world we’ve traveled to. It’s more different than any of the worlds you and Twilight visited when I stopped the Rainboom—because there are key differences that go back thousands of years, key differences that somehow even changed the Tree of Harmony to the Flower of Unity. So what could have caused that? Is there anything or anyone we know who could ever do something like this?”

She continued to take a few deep breaths before she narrowly opened her eyes and sat up.

“I know what the answer is. I’m sure of it.”

“Huh?” Spike sat up with her, surprised at her sudden declaration. “What is it? What did you figure out?”

“There’s only one possible explanation for all of this. Only one thing—one creature—that could do this and change the world so completely. Although I’m still not entirely sure how and why it’s the only answer I can think of.” Starlight stood up and looked at her wings. “I don’t know if this started accidentally because of how we first came here… but now there’s definitely something actively at work behind the scenes.”

“Starlight, I’m a little confused right now,” Spike said.

“Think about it, Spike. Absent from the world despite it not making any sense? The only one who could change things to such a degree like this? I’m confused about the reasons too or what he’s getting out of this, but I know who’s behind this world,” Starlight said.

“You mean?” Spike stood up.

Starlight nodded and looked sharply to the sky. “DISCORD! Show yourself!”

Comments

[redmar]

Discord is good at not making any sense. He is indeed practically the only being powerfull enough to cause those changes.