> A New Haircut for Starlight Glimmer
>  by twilightsparkle3562
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A New Haircut for Starlight Glimmer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Starlight Glimmer had been living in her new hometown of Ponyville for the past few days. It seemed like only yesterday since her now teacher, Twilight Sparkle, had convinced her to abandon her equality ways and learn the magic of friendship. In fact, Twilight had treated her with the same amount of respect as the rest of her friends, which was kind of surprising to someone like Starlight.

However, Starlight knew that if she was going to start turning over a new leaf, it would have to start with her showing that on the outside. To this end, she went into the bathroom of Twilight's castle and looked at herself in the mirror.

"Starlight, how could let yourself become the pony that you are now?" Starlight asked herself in the mirror. "I mean, every time that I see myself in the mirror, I see that same evil pony who tried to make others equal. I need to change and I need to change now."

Starlight then looked towards her mane and noticed that the one trait that tells one pony from another was a pony's hairstyle. She couldn't change her cutie mark because it was here to stay for good. Her hairstyle needed to change and that was all there was to it. To Starlight, her current hairstyle was a reflection of evil, of tyranny, of a monster that came out of the depths of equality.

After a few minutes, Starlight walked away from the mirror and then made her way over to Twilight's private library where the Princess of Friendship was looking over papers from ponies that were wanting to have her solve their friendship problems.

"Hey Twilight, I don't mean to interrupt you," she said. "But, is Rarity around to give me a haircut or something?"

"What's wrong with your hair, Starlight?" wondered Twilight as she turned away from her duties for a quick moment. "I think it looks fine as it is."

"That's just it, Twilight!" cried Starlight, stamping her hoof down. "Every time that I see myself in the mirror, I see that same old monster I once was, wanting to emerge and go back to old ways and habits. I need to have a new hairstyle, Twilight. A reflection of my new self where ponies can view me as a pony who wants to learn about friendship and not equality."

Twilight then realized that Starlight did indeed have a point. The ex-obsessive equality leader wanted to have a change that would better reflect her new outlook on life.

"Well, I'm sure Rarity can figure out a way," suggested Twilight, walking over and placing a hoof around Starlight's shoulder. "She knows how to make ponies better reflect their current selves, if I do say so myself."

"You are probably just saying that because she is into fashion," remarked Starlight.

"I'm serious, Starlight," retorted Twilight. "When Rarity created our gala dresses for the first Grand Galloping Gala, each dress was a reflection of our personalities and who we are. The hairstyle you have now is perhaps a bad reflection and if you want to change it, then by all means change it. There is nopony around that is going to stop you, Starlight."

Taking her teacher's advice, Starlight left the castle and made her way over to Rarity's boutique, where Rarity was going through her latest collection of hairstyles that she was planning to create.

"Oh, indeed a manestyle is a reflection of one's personality, Starlight," said Rarity as she placed a red sheet over Starlight's body while she sat in the chair. "It's the same with fashion, darling. As they always say, action speaks much louder than words. So, what were you thinking of? A braid? A bun? How about curly and pink like Pinkie Pie's mane is?"

"Just focus on the front, Rarity," asked Starlight, as Rarity picked up a pair of barber's scissors with her magic. "If you wouldn't mind, that is."

Although it was against Rarity's judgment, she knew that the client was always right and gave in to Starlight's request, only focusing on the front.

"If you want me to focus on the front, darling," said Rarity as they looked in the large barber's mirror. "How about a hair bang? A lot of mares like you often use bangs to make new relationships happen."

"A hair bang?" wondered Starlight. "Do you think it will work?"

"Of course it will, darling," replied Rarity as she took a comb and scissors, getting to work on the front of Starlight's mane. "I wouldn't exactly say that it would completely erase your past self, but it is worth a shot to say the least."

So, Rarity continued to work tenderly on Starlight's mane, cutting away several small chunks and pulling the remaining hairs up as she applied a hair gel to get the hair to stand up. There was however, a moment where Rarity pulled hard on the hairs and Starlight took notice.

"Careful!" she cried, much to Rarity's embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Starlight," tittered Rarity, a hint of red blush appearing on her face. "I was just so caught up in the moment, darling. It's not every day that you do mane styling."

"That's all right," sighed Starlight as Rarity became a little more careful with her technique. "I know how it feels when you are trying to change over a new leaf. I mean, Twilight had to talk me out of tearing Starswirl's scroll and permanently messing up the history of Equestria. I mean, how was I supposed to know that evil creatures would take over Equestria and make it into their own?"

"Well, it's not your fault for not knowing ahead of time," said Rarity. "I mean, you were running your own village where everypony followed the same order of life every day, deprived of their talents. But, I think with Twilight as your teacher, you'll better understand the ways of life that makes Equestria…well…Equestria. Most importantly, you'll learn friendship and what it means to have a friend."

Now, of course, Starlight did have a friend, but no others. All she had was Sunburst, but he was off learning some magic tricks or something in Canterlot. To say the least, Starlight's own cutie mark was very…bland to say the least. Soon, Rarity finished her work on Starlight's mane.

"What do you think, Starlight?" asked Rarity as Starlight admired her new look in the mirror. "Does it say 'new life' or doesn't it say 'new life'"?

Starlight inspected Rarity's work and then realized that perhaps maybe, just maybe, this new hairstyle could better reflect her new life.

"It says that there is 'new life'," replied Starlight. "I just hope this is the beginning of something new for me."

"In that case, Starlight, darling," remarked Rarity. "Your new beginning has already begun."

So, Starlight had her better reflective self to admire. However, only time would tell if it truly was the new beginning Starlight had been wanting. Chances are, she would get her wish over time.