My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
StarLight
A "Magic in the Stars" Companion Piece
"Hmm...how to work this out? Maybe if I...no, that won't work. How about...ugh, no, too formal. Perhaps...no, that's not right. What if I just...no, that doesn't come out right, either." The lavender unicorn muttering to herself gave a sigh of suppressed frustration, brushing her violet hair out of her bright eyes, which were also a brilliant purple hue, and currently narrowed in focus as she tried to wrangle out a solution to the challenge before her.
She was standing before a rough, clearly well-used desk,a candle providing faint light over a roll of parchment unfurled over it, held down by a set of simple, unassuming stone paperweights to keep it from rolling back up. Beside the unfurled, blank parchment was an open inkwell, while a quill was poised over the top left corner of the sheet, held afloat by a magenta aura of magic, originating from the unicorn's horn, the spell second nature to her as she continued trying to focus on the problem...what she wanted to write on the parchment.
It was little more than a simple letter, a means of corresponding with a friend she was at present unable to visit herself. But at the same time, she wanted this letter just right. It was the only form of contact she really had with the pony she was writing to, and as such, she took meticulous, almost obsessive care over what each letter she sent contained.
But that just left her back where she started; what to put in the letter that would live up to her high expectations and standards? Nothing she could think of so far seemed to come out right, and this time, her previous letters were not helping. The friend she was writing to had been involved in an incident of sorts that Twilight had come to hear about. She had spent the last few days doing a bit of fact-finding, and was now ready to send the letter...but was not sure how to word what she wanted to say.
She was worried about finding that balance. She did not want to sound like she was scolding him, but at the same time did not want him to think he was totally in the clear. She wanted to warn him of what he had almost done, without risking their friendship over it. She was sending this letter because she cared about him, but did not want to overdo that, either.
Giving a half-groan, half-growl of frustration, the unicorn smacked her forehead against the blank parchment, sighing heavily as the action did nothing but leave her head throbbing slightly. Glancing up to look out the window, seeing that it was completely dark outside, the last traces of sunset having long since disappeared from the western horizon, the young pony was just about to call it off as a lost cause and leave it until tomorrow, only to be surprised by another voice coming from somewhere behind her.
"Twilight, it's nearly midnight! I thought you were going to stop with the late-night pacing?" The unicorn whirled around, a little startled...she had expected Spike, the baby dragon under her care, and her number one assistant, to have long since fallen asleep. But as Spike gave her a glare, clearly annoyed that she had disturbed his rest, he seemed to spot the parchment, the quill still hovering above it, Twilight's spell still going despite the surprise and distraction. "What are you doing, anyway?"
"Oh, Spike," Twilight cried, taking a moment to get over her surprise at seeing the dragon up so late, a slight pang of guilt flicking through her as she realised her muttering has woken him up. "Sorry if I disturbed you...I guess I lost track of time trying to work this letter out," she explained, nodding back towards the blank parchment.
"A letter?" Spike repeated, the dragon's voice clearly exasperated, as he heaved something between a groan and a sigh. "Twilight, have you forgotten? Princess Celestia only wants you to send her letters about friendship when you have something to tell her. You don't need to send them every week, any more."
Twilight gave Spike her own exasperated look in return. "I remember, Spike," she answered with a sigh. "The letter's not for Celestia. I'm just writing a friend in Canterlot," she explained, hoping that would be the end of it. "It's nothing you should worry about, Spike, go back to sleep."
Spike actually seemed to be about to dismiss it, but paused before he had even begun to ascend the staircase back to Twilight's bedroom. "A friend in...wait, Canterlot? But...I thought you didn't have any friends in Canterlot?" he asked, perhaps a little insensitively. Twilight let him go, though, since he would probably have been right a month or two ago.
Until Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville, books and scrolls had really been Twilight's only friends. But while in Ponyville, she had met five mares who had shown her the magic of friendship, and the time she had since spent in the town was time she would never trade or replace for the world. But during her most recent visit to Canterlot, she had stumbled across another pony who seemed similar to her in several ways. She had reached out and offered her hoof in friendship to the introverted pegasus, and despite seeming rather hesitant, as if worried about something, he had eventually returned it.
The young pegasus in question had ended up staying in Canterlot, while Twilight had once more returned to Ponyville to continue her duties there, meaning they had been unable to meet since that initial day. If there was one thing Twilight was good at besides studying and reading, it was writing, and she immediately started sending letters to him, hoping to keep in contact that way. The pegasus' initial replies had been hesitant, almost as if he was not sure what he was doing, but in the couple of months since, Twilight thought it was safe to assume that they were good pen pals.
Which brought her back to Spike's question, the baby dragon clearly still waiting on an answer. "I met him last time a went up to Canterlot, Spike. We've been exchanging letters since then," Twilight explained, her tone full of kind patience, knowing Spike could get incessantly curious at times. This seemed to be one of those times, and as Twilight made to explain further, Spike jumped in.
"'He'?" he repeated, his voice slyly accusing. "Just who is this he?" he asked, putting on an air of fake innocence that Twilight, in her own naivety, missed completely.
Instead, the young unicorn was much more focused on the fact that Spike seemed to be in the dark about the young stallion's identity. "Haven't I already told you about Starfall?" she asked, her own confusion showing through. "I'm sure I would have mentioned him at least once since I came back from Canterlot..." she trailed, wracking her brain for any memory of talking to Spike about her newest friend.
Before she could confirm or deny her own question, though, Spike cut her off. "Just as I'm sure I would remember you talking about a stallion from Canterlot," he quipped back, adding slight emphasis to the last part, his tone now sounding subtly suggestive, as if accusing Twilight of hiding a coltfriend from him...which seemed to be exactly what he was assuming. "Do the rest of the girls know about this, Twilight?"
Twilight, however, once more missed the subtle signs, replying with a smile. "Of course. I've told all the others about him, and I'm sure they'll all be eager to meet him if he ever gets a chance to visit Ponyville. Rainbow Dash in particular wants to meet him, after he helped another friend of hers in Canterlot a few weeks ago."
Spike, in the meantime, just sighed, slapping his head into his hand in exasperation. Realising that subtlety was not going to cut it with Twilight, he went for a more direct approach to teasing her. "Twilight, what I meant was whether you've told the girls that you have a coltfriend," he said, the direct use of 'coltfriend' finally getting Twilight's attention, the young mare pausing to look back at her assistant, rolling her eyes slightly at her assistant.
"Spike, he's not my coltfriend," she said with a slight groan, seeing the gleam in Spike's eyes. It would not matter how much she denied it, now, Spike was going to tease her endlessly for this.
"You sure about that, Twilight?" he said slyly, grinning all the while. "I mean, I've never seen you so determined to get a letter just right...even your letters to the Princess don't give you this much trouble."
Twilight sighed, smacking her chin roughly against the desk in frustration at Spike's antics. "That's not what this is about, Spike. I'm struggling with this letter because Starfall's in the middle of a very delicate situation, and I'm trying to give him advice without overdoing it, or seeming to act all insensitive to his feelings."
This explanation at least seemed to distract Spike, if only a little. "What situation, Twilight. Is he in trouble?" he asked, narrowing an eye at the unicorn. "You're not looking for more trouble, are you? We have enough adventures as it is, you know," he added.
Twilight once more rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Spike...I don't just go plunging into danger when I see it. You know that," she said, sounding almost hurt that Spike could even think she would be so reckless. She quickly brushed it off and moved on, though. "As it is, Spike, what Starfall's going through is private, and I'm not going to break his trust." Her voice attained a hard edge for the last part, clearly putting her hoof, and that any further attempts by Spike to get details out of her would not be appreciated in the slightest.
She knew Starfall would appreciate his privacy, especially in this situation. The young stallion was currently studying the night sky under the watching gaze of Princess Luna herself...a Princess Starfall had recently admitted he had developed a crush on. Princess Luna had reacted rather poorly, a fact that had not surprised Twilight in the slightest. The Princess of the Night was still adjusting to modern society after being imprisoned on the moon for over a thousand years. Many of her beliefs and traditions were rather out-dated, which of course meant that a common pony harbouring feelings for royalty was simply not accepted.
The incident had threatened to end Starfall's prestigious studies under the Princess, and see him cast out of Canterlot, but Princess Celestia herself had intervened, managing to salvage the situation, and get Starfall and Luna to continue their joint studies, since the elder Princess had enlisted Starfall's help in teaching Luna more about the modern world she was still struggling to adjust to.
But Twilight had learned that things still remained rather tense, bordering on hostile between the young pegasus stallion and the Princess of the Night. She wanted to help, but the complex nature of the situation had left her lost on what to put in her letter.
But before she could focus back on the task at hoof, Spike once more spoke up, obviously having not quite let go of an opportunity to tease Twilight. "Keeping his secrets, Twilight?" he asked, his voice once more taking on that suggestive, sly tone that was starting to annoy the young mare. "Wow, you've got it bad, don't you?"
A low, annoyed growl rumbled in Twilight's throat...something that should have been a clear warning signal to Spike that he was pushing her limits. "Spike, for the last time...he's not my coltfriend!" she snapped at him through clenched teeth.
At long last, Spike seemed to sense that he was pushing the limits of Twilight's patience, turning around and heading back for the staircase leading to their shared bedroom. "Sheesh, Twilight, okay, I'll knock it off," he cried, seeming a little stunned by Twilight's rapidly flagging temper. Once he'd reached the safety of the stairs, though, he could not help one last parting quip. "Just do me a favour and keep any mushy stuff between yourselves when you next see him. I don't need to see that sort of stuff," he commented, rapidly disappearing up the stairs as Twilight whirled around, her quill dropping to the desk as her horn glowed brilliantly, likely about to cast some kind of embarrassing, uncomfortable spell on the baby dragon for taking his teasing one step too far.
Upon seeing that Spike had wisely retreated, and probably would not be coming out until late the next morning, Twilight gave a heavy, exasperated sigh, muttering to herself as she turned her attention back to the letter. "Honestly, Spike..."
She did love and care for the baby dragon a lot, but at the same time, he really seemed to know just what buttons to push to rile her up, her frustration rising again as she found herself completely unable to focus on the letter any more, Spike's accusations ringing in her ears.
She may have only seen the young stallion once, but that one meeting, and the subsequent letters between them, had been enough for Twilight to know that the pegasus was a kind, caring, sensitive stallion, if a little shy and introverted. He reminded her of herself a little, remembering how lonely and closed-off she had been before Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville.
They were almost mirrors of each other, in some ways. She was Princess Celestia's prized student, while Starfall was being tutored by Princess Luna. The more she thought about, the more her own mind started to throw up doubts; was Spike right, in a way? Did she harbour feelings for Starfall that were a little stronger than friendship?
The more her keen mind analysed the situation, the more it seemed to make sense. She and Starfall had a fair amount in common, but at the same time, there was enough about them that was different to keep things interesting. Twilight had never really given much thought to potential coltfriends, but now she had to admit that Starfall actually seemed like one of the best candidates she knew of. He was a...logical choice, really.
But that made Twilight stop, cringing slightly. Relationships were not supposed to be about logical compatibility, even if that could play a factor. It all boiled down to one simple thing...what did her heart say, her feelings?
That was a question that was going to get a much more complicated answer. All her life, her relative solitude had seen her shut out her emotions for the most part, her devotion to her studies and books giving her a mind that preferred facts and logic...certain, determined answers to the complexities of pony emotions. But as she searched her feelings, the answer lay there, just waiting for her, all she had ever had to do was take the time to look.
As much as she considered Starfall a friend, possibly within the same league as her closest friends here in Ponyville...she held no romantic feelings for him, or for any other stallion. Starfall's heart appeared set on another, and besides that, she did not feel she was ready to take on a coltfriend. She was still young, and her studies of friendship under Princess Celestia would not leave her much time to dedicate to a special somepony, even if she did feel that way for him. As right and compatible as her logical mind said the relationship would be, her heart was not there. Starfall was a friend, and she was happy to keep it way...just as she knew Starfall would be, too.
But that still left the issue of her letter to Starfall, and how to explain things to him. She knew that Starfall must be hurting right now. For him to have admitted his crush for Princess Luna in front of the alicorn herself meant that his feelings must already be rather strong for her, making the situation even more delicate...
Twilight gasped. "Of course..." she muttered to herself, her mind suddenly seeing a way through, her magic jumping to life, dipping her quill into the inkwell sitting next to the parchment, before rapidly leaving neat, precise strokes across the page, the words practically flowing out now that she had a starting point.
Her own soul-searching regarding her feelings for Starfall had given her the context she needed to give Starfall some advice on how to handle his own situation with Luna. She made a mental note to thank Spike for it later...his teasing had, even if by complete accident, given her the inspiration she needed to help Starfall, and finally give her the chance to put the issue to rest, and get some sleep, herself.
Before the young unicorn knew it, she was done, the final period punched into the parchment as she signed her name, her magic putting the quill down, before quickly rolling the scroll up, tying it off neatly with a ribbon to keep it sealed, and finally placing it in a small container she used to hold all her scrolls, letters and such that she intended to drop in the mail the next chance she got.
But instead of blowing out the candle on her desk and leaving to retire for the night, she instead grabbed a fresh piece of parchment, her quill once more finding it's way into the inkwell, as she began another letter. During her letter to Starfall, she had suddenly hit a realisation, actually pausing for a moment to wonder why she had not realised it sooner.
She did let it hold her back for too long, though, instead letting it fuel her desire to get this second letter down as fast as possible. She would have to ask Spike to send this particular letter when he woke up, smiling as she wrote it down.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Last night, I made another discovery about friendship...and it was thanks to one of my newest friends, Starfall, that this discovery came about.
Me and my friends have learned many things about friendship since we came to Ponyville...above all, we have learned the friendship, in its truest form, is unconditional, and knows no boundaries or limitations. Even incredible distances are no barrier to friendship.
Two friends can live what seems to be entire worlds away, but that does not mean their friendship is lost, or even put on hold until they can reunite. If their bond is strong, and they are willing to put the effort in, as true friends do, then their connection can overcome any distance or divide, possibly even allowing their friendship to grow and prosper even more, making the day when they can finally reunite all the more special.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
Author's Note
Well, I hope that little one-shot was enjoyable to you all! It's my little tribute to all those people out there who reviewed Magic in the Stars with comments that Starfall and Twilight might have made a good couple. I do read your reviews, and take them under consideration, so hopefully I did this little piece justice.
