A few weeks ago, 2 ponies traveled to the past, creating different timelines in the process, where the ponies and other creatures that tried to conquer or destroy Equestria achieved their goals. Fortunately that did not happen, because an unexpected event occurred, the pony that caused all that disaster voluntarily gave up taking revenge.
Dusk Shine made Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn particularly skilled in magic, reflect on her actions and desist from changing the past, or at least, that's what everyone believes. The truth was that Starlight did not change her mind, she only pretended to reform so as not to destroy Equestria, she wanted revenge, but she did not want the entire kingdom to pay the consequences of something that she caused directly or indirectly, perhaps she could make another plan while no one would suspect.
But, although in her heart she still had a desire for revenge, a new feeling also blossomed towards Dusk, the pony who, after seeing her enslave a village, remove cutie marks, and almost destroy the timeline, gave her a second chance, a new home. , and most importantly, friends willing to welcome him, even though most ponies would not have hesitated to give him an severe punishment.
During all this time, both ponies have been particularly close, no matter if it is necessary or not, they both meet frequently, looking strangely at each other, and all the ponies close to Dusk have noticed it.
However, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash still don't completely trust Starlight, no pony was present on the time trip she and Dusk had, and the only thing they know is that after Starlight and Dusk's unexpected appearance that supposed adventure, Dusk and Spike were now his friends.
Even with those suspicions, the 5 mares decided to give their friendship to Starlight, if their friend, the prince of friendship, trusted her, then they would too.
Starlight knows that something strange is happening to her because of Dusk, but she is determined that this time she will get her revenge, without distractions, without friendship and without Dusk getting in her way, or that's what she wants to believe.
It was a new day in Equestria, specifically, in Ponyville, the sun rose and its light filtered through the windows of the pony houses, although one of the things that stood out the most in the small town was a large crystal castle, home of Prince Dusk Shine and, to the surprise of almost everyone who knew, his new student and friend, Starlight.
In one of the rooms, the unicorn was sleeping peacefully, at least until the sunlight illuminated her face, waking her up.
'Should I wake up so early? Can't I sleep and enjoy my "punishment" a little?'. She thought Starlight to herself. Eventually, that led her to remember some recent things.
When she pretended to abandon her plans for revenge, she feared that she would be punished by banishing her to the moon, locking her in a dungeon, or sending her to Tartarus... or banishing her to a dungeon in Tartarus. After all, traveling back in time and causing every villain to take control of Equestria (according to what Dusk had told him) was not something that could be considered "mild."
However, she was surprised when Dusk not only allowed her to stay in the castle as her new home, but also punished her by simply not allowing her to leave the castle alone for a few days.
'I can start again, and correct my mistakes... Or I can also look for some spell to control Dusk's mind and take peaceful revenge. That would be a very ungrateful pony. Why does that matter to me if I still want revenge? Will Dusk stop me again?'
For several minutes, Starlight debated whether she should wake up or sleep again, and also what she should do now that she could start over, until a sudden sound interrupted her thoughts.
"Toc toc"
Someone was knocking on her room door, and the only thing Starlight wished was that it wasn't Dusk, although she liked him, she still didn't know how to process the fact that she was living in the house of the pony that she tried to ruin the life of twice.
"Who is it?". Starlight asked, yawning and trying to get up.
"I'm Spike, I brought breakfast." He answered the dragon from the other side of the door.
"You can come in." Starlight exclaimed without much courage to get up yet.
"Dusk didn't tell me what you liked to eat for breakfast, so I made a little bit of everything." Spike said entering the room, while he held a large plate with pancakes, a fried egg, some cookies and a glass of orange juice. "I hope you enjoy it". Spike placed the plate on a small cabinet next to Starlight's bed.
"Wow, thank you". She exclaimed Starlight in amazement as she smiled. "Everything looks delicious".
"Courtesy of assistant number 1, me." Spike exclaimed as he raised his arms and head proudly. "See you later, if you look for Dusk, he's in the library, he won't be out of there for a looooong time...". Spike said with a bored tone as he left the room.
'Does that pony do anything else besides read?'. Starlight thought as she moved her eyes and head to the side. 'How does a library fit in this castle? From the outside it doesn't look very big-'. Before answering her own question, another strange sound and a sensation in her abdomen caught her attention.
“¡GROWL!”
"I can answer it another day, this is more important." She said Starlight happily, before sitting down and starting to eat breakfast.
In the castle library, Dusk Shine was writing and organizing books and some scrolls, as he almost always did.
But this time there was something different, Dusk was more unfocused than usual, specifically, thinking about a mare in particular, his new student, Starlight.
'I wonder what Starlight is doing right now...' Dusk thought as he separated the books on advanced magic and magical experiments in alphabetical order. 'Are you thinking about making new friends, making a new revenge plan, or me?'
Dusk quickly shook his head after asking himself that last question, causing some books he was moving with his magic to fall to the ground.
"Because I'm thinking about Starlight!?" Dusk shouted nervously, as he tried to clear his usually organized and clear mind. "I must calm down, I am the prince of friendship, and she is a reformed guest a few days ago, it's nothing...".
Dusk interrupted himself after noticing something in the books he was arranging a few moments ago. "Oh no! These books are organized into AD and AB, they're supposed to be AB and AC!" Dusk said with an expression of disgust and sadness, which quickly changed to an excited and happy face.
"I guess I have to organize all this again." Dusk exclaimed happily as he levitated the books around him, ready to organize all those books in a very precise and exact order... again.
And so, the minutes passed, while Dusk watched and organized his books, time seemed to move faster, but he didn't care, he was doing one of the things he enjoyed the most without interruptions and most importantly, without thinking about Starlight.
After an hour rearranging books in an exaggeratedly precise alphabetical and numerical order, Dusk finally finished, and prepared to rest, but his inner nerd was awake and it would take a long time to calm down.
"I'm done, but maybe... I can add some very specific transformation books in AB, and a few in AD..." Dusk exclaimed, smiling mischievously. "Hmm...maybe an extra teleportation book in A-".
"Oh Dusk, I finally found you!". Starlight's relieved and tired voice interrupted Dusk's concentration, causing him a small scare.
"Ah!". Dusk gasped. "Oh, hi Starlight, I was doing a little organizing in the library, you wouldn't believe how much of an alphabetical mess there was." Dusk said casually.
"I see that you really like books..." The unicorn exclaimed. "...And also organize them every 2 days." Starlight said, with a small mocking laugh.
"Hehehe... yes... I love books, organizing them helps me relax, and also makes it easier for me to find what I may need." Dusk said, while he smiled shyly. "But tell me, were you looking for me? Or maybe you need a book?" Dusk asked excitedly.
"I was looking for you, I wanted to ask you if my punishment has strict rules, I want to go out to the park to touch the grass and not go crazy from confinement, hahaha." Starlight replied, laughing a little at how funny it was to see the prince of friendship being a nerd.
"Really? It's good that you asked." Dusk exclaimed excitedly. "Because I have a whole agenda meticulously organized for you for this entire month!" Dusk brought 2 sheets of paper towards him with his magic. "One is a simple black and white schedule, but if you don't like it, I also made another organized one with colors, my book on agendas and schedules says that colors help a lot to differentiate the sections...". Dusk moved the leaves towards Starlight so he could choose one.
"Thank you...". Starlight said smiling awkwardly. "...I didn't know you liked the organization so much." 'Holy Celestia, he's probably already organized our next 2 weeks.' Starlight thought fearfully.
"Thank you for looking for me..." Dusk thought out loud, not being able to help but smile a little as he looked at Starlight.
"What did you say?". She exclaimed Starlight in confusion as she took the colored schedule with magic from it.
"Oh!" Dusk reacted as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown at him. "I said 'Thank you for looking for me to answer your questions,' I'm glad to do it... After all, you are my student and I am your teacher." Dusk tried to speak normally, but only managed to speak quickly and awkwardly, with his face turning tomato red from embarrassment.
"Of course... Thanks to you, it couldn't be for anything else." Starlight said blushing, as she left the library. "See you later". Starlight left the library awkwardly, looking for her room.
'Dusk said “thanks to me”, and that… I liked it?” Something about that sentence was pleasant to her, but she denied herself the exact answer so as not to form wrong ideas.
For his part, Dusk stayed in the library, thinking about what had just happened. "Why I said that!?". The alicorn shouted as he hit his face with one of his hooves, and then returned to the matter of his books being organized.
As each one returned to their activities, both ponies had a single thought in their minds: 'Why is this happening to me?'.
It was a quiet day in a park in Ponyville, the weather was warm and all the ponies were happy, except for a unicorn who was accompanied by a small dragon.
"Do you really think they forgive me so easily?" Starlight asked in disbelief. "I wouldn't forgive the pony who took off my cutie mark." The unicorn exclaimed with regret.
"I assure you that they are the friendliest mares you have ever met, they forgave you the same day you and Dusk explained to them what happened." Spike said happily as he licked his ice cream.
“I think they're just pretending to believe me because Dusk told them to change…” Starlight responded, afraid that one of Dusk's friends would discover her true intentions.
"This reminds me a lot of one of the best comics out there, The Power Ponies!" Spike exclaimed excitedly.
"What is "power ponies"?" Starlight asked, completely confused.
"You really don't know them!?" Spike shouted in disbelief. "They are the best comic book superheroes ever!" The dragon exclaimed excitedly.
"Will you believe me if I tell you that I don't understand anything you're saying?" Starlight answered awkwardly as he sat on a nearby bench, thinking that Spike's talk wouldn't make him suspicious.
"It all started when the villain called "doctor octo-hooves" used the Star reactor to swap minds with...". Spike began to talk about a ridiculous and complex series of events related to the power ponies and "doctor octo-hooves", becoming increasingly excited and exaggerating his gestures and body movements.
Although Starlight was 1m away from Spike, she barely paid attention to him, she was more occupied with her own thoughts.
'Maybe I should steal Dusk's cutie mark while he's sleeping, or I should run away right now while I'm unguarded seriously.' Thought Starlight smiling evilly. 'But that rainbow pegasus is as fast as the speed of sound...'. Starlight erased his smile as she analyzed his own thoughts. 'I think the only thing I have to do is cast a mind control spell on Dusk, so he will be under my command... how clever you are Starlight hehehe.'
For an hour and a half, Spike was talking about power ponies the same way Dusk would talk about his favorite books, while Starlight made plans to escape, to get revenge, or simply to cast some malicious spell on Dusk and his friends to feel satisfied.
Every time she planned a way to get revenge on Dusk, she felt a tickle in her stomach, especially when ideas of having him under her control came to mind. She even thought about offering to be at her side, a thought she quickly dismissed because of how quickly she diverted him from her initial goal, revenge.
"...and that's how Doctor Octo-Hooves changed his ways and tried to be a hero." Spike exclaimed excitedly, as he posed triumphantly in a childish manner. “Then he made a new body and went back to being the same old villain… silly status quo.” Spike growled in frustration.
"Oh..." Starlight said, quickly pretending to pay attention to everything Spike had been saying for the past hour. "It's interesting, but... I still don't understand how that will help me get Dusk's friends to forgive me."
"What I mean is that Doctor Octo-Hooves reformed after understanding that he was an egomaniac who did horrible things." Spike exclaimed mockingly. "And if he reformed and was forgiven, then you too can be forgiven." Spike said with a compassionate voice.
"You know that Doctor Octo-Hooves is a comic book villain, right?" Starlight asked awkwardly. "I'm a real-world villain."
"This is not something I like to tell other ponies..." Spike looked down from him to the ground. "...But I also did bad things, very bads." The dragon exclaimed with sadness.
"I've only known you for a few days, but I know you're not capable of doing anything wrong." Starlight said in disbelief. “Please tell me I'm right…”
"3 years ago was my birthday, and they gave me so many gifts that I became greedy." Spike said sadly. "I became a giant monster who stole things that weren't his and also... Also..." Spike's voice broke. "...I also kidnapped Rarity and tried to take her to the top of a mountain with me." Spike finally said, completely embarrassed.
"Wow, I didn't know..." Starlight exclaimed, not knowing how she should react.
Starlight's mind tried to imagine Spike as a giant, greedy monster who kidnapped ponies, but it was impossible, the only time she saw Spike do something wrong was when he sneezed in front of Dusk and accidentally spat fire in his face, It wasn't even evil, it was a funny accident.
"But after I kidnap Rarity..." Spike continued. "She forgave me, and she didn't stop being my friend, and Dusk was there when it happened." finally explained the dragon.
"If what you say is true, then I can trust that you and Dusk's friends will forgive me." Starlight said happily, getting up from the bench.
"That's what Friends Are For". Spike responded with a smile. “But… how about we visit your new friends and you get to know them a little better?” The dragon asked as he picked up a note from the floor that wasn't there when they arrived.
“Where did that come from?” Starlight questioned.
“Dusk sent it while I was telling you about doctor octo-hooves.” Spike responded.
“Do I have to visit each of Dusk's friends in alphabetical order?” Starlight asked sarcastically.
“No, we have to visit Sugarcube Corner, we have to go get a gift that Pinkie Pie made for you.” Spike replied. “Usually I would have already made you a welcome party or a cake for a new friend for life, but I don't think I can make cakes and parties for everpony, hahahahaha”.
“Well, anyway, I wasn't planning on doing anything…” Starlight exclaimed with a fake smile. 'In the name of Celestia! This way I won't be able to plan my revenge!' The unicorn felt frustration and fury. “Is there anything else to do?” Starlight asked, trying to distract herself.
“This note says we can return late, but not after dark.” Spike pointed out.
"Let's go before Dusk sends us a list of books I forgot to buy." Starlight joked.
“You're right hahaha.” Spike responded, holding back his urge to laugh.
Starlight and Spike entered Sugarcube Corner, and to their surprise there was no one at the counter, causing the mare and the dragon to search for any clues as to where everyone was.
“Hey, there's a written note.” Starlight said as she took the note with her magic. “Prepare an unexpected surprise for Starlight, go to the table with the gift box.” Starlight turned her head towards the nearby tables, quickly locating the table in question.
Spike also saw the table, so they both walked towards it.
"This is normal?"
“It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it”.
Suddenly the gift box exploded in a shower of confetti, while familiar ponies emerged from their hiding places.
"SURPRISE"
Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash approached Starlight and Spike, while Pinkie for some reason remained face down on the ceiling.
"You liked the surprise?". The pink pony asked.
“It almost gave me a heart attack, but yeah.” Starlight replied. “How did you get there?”
“With my special boots for walking on ceilings and walls, obviously.” Pinkie Pie said with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
To Starlight's bewilderment, her eyes located Pinke's hooves, seeing the damned boots, which seemed stuck to the ceiling. 'At least I know they can set a trap, noted.' The unicorn snapped out of her mind as soon as she remembered that her potential enemy was still hanging upside down as if she were a bat. "How is it possible…?".
"I told you". Spike interrupted as naturally as possible. “It's just Pinkie, don't think about it too much.”
“Ummm… Can you help me?” Exclaimed Pinkie, who pointed her eyes at her boots.
"Oh sure". Starlight used her magic to carefully lower the pink mare to the ground, while her mind tried to process what was happening.
“Sorry for not bringing you a gift, but we didn't know what you liked.” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Of course, my presence alone would be more than enough for some ponys.” The cyan pegasus received a few disapproving looks, which she completely ignored.
Starlight's mind suddenly remembered a detail she had completely forgotten, the party was for her, for no apparent reason. “Why are they throwing me a party?” Starlight asked confused. “It's not my birthday yet, and I haven't graduated from Dusk's friendship classes.”
“That's what we asked Pinkie.” Rarity pointed out, looking at her friend.
"I couldn't leave you without your welcome to Ponyville party, your 'congratulations on reforming' party, your new best friends party, and not to mention your early birthday party..." Pinkie Pie didn't seem to stop with her party list, making Starlight and even Spike dizzy.
“Pinkie, I think she got the point.” Fluttershy interrupted timidly.
“You're right, we don't have all day.” Pinkie exclaimed seriously, as he headed at an impossible speed to an unknown place, returning at that same moment with a record player.
As soon as Pinkie Pie turned on the record player, all the ponies and dragons present directed their attention and energy to enjoying the party. For the next 2 hours, Starlight had the second best moment of her life, after discovering that she could travel through time.
As soon as the party was over, Spike reminded Starlight that she had to return to Dusk's castle, since she still didn't have "permission" to roam freely around the town, or at least not unsupervised.
Her friends stayed behind to clean the place, but Rarity insisted on accompanying Starlight, something Spike happily agreed to.
“Why do you want to join us?”. Starlight asked as they left Sugarcube Corner.
“I was lying a little when I said I didn't have a gift for you.” Rarity responded with a smile. “It's not a great gift, but you'll definitely love it.”
'What kind of friend would I be if I refused a gift?' She thought Starlight, walking behind the white unicorn, noticing how Spike was apparently happier than he was at the party for some reason.
As soon as Rarity led Spike and Starlight to her boutique, the white mare turned to the little dragon and smiled warmly. “Dear, could you help me with a small favor?”
“Of course, what do you need?” The dragon exclaimed with a simpering smile.
“I need you to hold a mirror that I will use, it is next to some boxes with fabric.”
Spike didn't question it before entering and quickly searching for the mirror, while Starlight reflected to herself. “I'm sure she shouldn't take advantage of Spike like that, not that I care, but Dusk should do something.”
“Put it right there Spike.” Rarity indicated to the dragon, who obeyed without hesitation, placing a considerably large mirror in front of Starlight.
“My gift is a mirror?” Starlight questioned. “I think we already have one in the castle.”
“Hahaha, the mirror is only the tool to give you the gift.” Rarity replied, as she took out a comb from a small box nearby and began to comb Starlight's mane. “Now you have a new life, I think that deserves a new look, very flattering if I may add.”
“Is my gift a hairstyle?” Starlight asked, watching the white mare change the front of her hairdo to another manestyle
“Oh it's not just a gift, your hair is truly divine, and I think a new style would bring out its true beauty.” She said the white unicorn, as she put the finishing touches on it.
Starlight analyzed her new hairstyle, it was no longer symmetrical and divided by her horn, her hair was now curvy and combed in one direction. 'This mare just used me as a test pony to style my mane similar to hers just because they are a similar color.' Starlight thought. 'But she's right, it's prettier than the previous hairstyle.'
"Besides…". Rarity's playful voice interrupted her thoughts. "...maybe that way you'll get the attention of a certain stud you're now living with, hehehe."
Spike moved his head to look at both mares in confusion. "Sorry?". The dragon asked, realizing the only pony Rarity could refer to.
Starlight immediately shook her head while blushing. “No, definitely not, we're just friends who've known each other for a month or two.” I exclaim nervously.
“I'm just joking, dear, there's no reason to get upset.” Rarity purred. "TRUE?".
“Of course, hehehe.” Starlight wanted to teleport into an Ursa Major's mouth right then out of embarrassment. 'Don't give yourself away, remember that you want revenge!'
You can stop holding the Spikey wikey mirror now.” Rarity said, to which Spike obeyed.
“Look at the time, I think Dusk told us that we should return before nightfall.” Starlight said nervously, remembering the note the alicorn prince had sent her.
“But the sun hasn't even set, and I don't think Dusk will be upset if we're a few minutes late.” Spike pointed out.
“I ssaid we have to go, see you soon Rarity, thanks for the hairstyle, it really is cute.” Starlight exclaimed as she trotted out of the boutique, levitating Spike with her.
"In the name of Celestia, if I didn't distrust that mare I would think she had just revealed her biggest secret." Rarity said indignantly. “Although if that's the case, she'll thank me later, hahaha.”
Starlight closed the castle doors as soon as she opened them, while ideas related to the current day formed in her mind. 'Is that what friends do? Is this friendship? Should I abandon my plans? If I want revenge because I'm enjoying it?; Would Dusk like my new hairstyle?'
"Are you okay? You look like you want to run away from something." Spike suddenly exclaimed.
"It's not that, I just don't want to alter Dusk's schedule, hahaha, why do you think I'm running away from something?"
“Maybe it's because I'm still levitating?” Spike pointed out with annoyance.
Starlight immediately returned the dragon to the ground, to her surprise, she had forgotten that detail in her “escape.” “I'm sorry, I think the party left me very tired and now I can't concentrate, I'm going to go to my room to sleep, see you tomorrow.” Starlight quickly walked down the hallway looking for a random room to enter without further explanation.
To her surprise, Dusk came out of a door in front of her, colliding and ending up on top of each other.
Time seemed to stop as both ponies looked at each other, blushing and their hearts racing.
“Sorry, I didn't know you were here!” Dusk quickly exclaimed, helping Starlight up as her nerves subsided.
“You don't have to worry, it was my fault for not paying attention to the road.” Starlight replied.
For a moment, there was an awkward silence that filled the room, until the prince of friendship noticed a detail about Starlight that he had not noticed until now, something about her looked different.
“Did you do something to yourself?” Dusk asked trying to make the situation less awkward.
“Oh, this?” Starlight said stroking her mane. “Rarity, something about a new life or something, but she was right, I loved it.”
"You're cute". Dusk stopped breathing when he realized what he said. “I-i mean... your new manestyle looks nice on you!” The alicorn prince quickly exclaimed.
“Thank you, I like to know that you like it.” She answered the unicorn, as she walked towards a random room that she was close to, to avoid more problems and strange sensations.
Dusk just continued on his way, trying to get Starlight and the feeling of butterflies in his stomach out of his mind, 'I shouldn't think this way about my student... But she is beautiful up close.'