New Mane, New Future.

by EclipseSight

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, Slice of Life
Length: 6066

Starlight is adjusting to her new life as the student of the Princess of Friendship. Little changes are the first step to making friends, or just forging a new you as Starlight soon finds out.

Starlight Glimmer knows first hoof just how horrible bottling up one's emotions can be. When she finds a distressed Spike while wandering the Castle of Friendship one night, she has to help...somehow. Though how successful could one insecure ex villain be, and could she make a friend along the way?

Published 2016-04-05 01:40:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-04-05 01:40:02 UTC

A Glimmer of Change.

Author's Note

This was just a really weird idea I had because Starlight's new manestyle kept bugging me. I liked it but I wanted to know why it changed, then this idea came into my head. A few sleepless nights and this story popped out. I'm just getting back into writing so I hope you all enjoy.

A Glimmer of Change.

She would never find her way around this castle. No matter how hard she tried to map the place in her mind, Starlight Glimmer always felt it slip away from her. Then she ended up in situations like this, trying to find her room. Twilight Sparkle, her new teacher and the pony who had extended her hoof when Starlight was at her darkest, was currently in the library. The two powerful magic users had been discussing some of Starswirl the Bearded's more obscure works. Starlight was grateful that Twilight had decided to let her get accustomed to her new surroundings before starting any serious friendship lessons. The alicorn also said that it allowed her time to prepare. While it had been a week since Twilight had taken her as a pupil, Starlight had no more sense of direction around this castle than when she had started.

Going back to Twilight was not an option. The excitable alicorn was still in the library, presumably still perusing the tomes. For one Starlight had absolutely no idea how to get back to the library from wherever she had ended up. She also was not sure how much more of Twilight's friendship she could take. The unicorn was more grateful for her new friend than she could ever express but that was the problem, she did not deserve it. She had stolen the special talents of others before almost dooming all of Equestria all because of her misguided hatred born from the loss of a childhood friend. While her heartache and emotion had been real the reasoning was petty. This fact had been solidifying in her mind and heart since Twilight's forgiveness. Her regret was great, and there was only so long she was able to hold it at bay. It was her burden to bear; Twilight deserved better than to listen to her mope.

A soft aquamarine glow enveloped her horn as she decided to just try a room. The bright green doors opened at the bidding over her magic, revealing a bathroom.

“Nope... not that one...” Starlight muttered to herself.

With a heavy sigh she closed the door. There was really nothing for it but to keep trying until she was able to find her room... Or at least one of the guest rooms. She had no personal effects that set her room apart from the others. Room after room came up blank. Half of them were storage rooms of some sort,

“That's it! If one more broom falls on top of me I am sleeping in the hallway,” the mare huffed at the castle itself, throwing the seventh mess of cleaning supplies back into the overstuffed closet where it belonged. How did a castle this big have so many overstuffed closets anyway?

Coming up to the last room in the hallway she paused. Was that talking she was hearing? Just to be sure, the mare leaned in and pressed her ear against the door. True to her initial impression someone was indeed talking behind the closed door, seemingly to themselves. Considering that this huge castle had only three occupants, including herself, that only left one option, Spike. The young dragon was Twilight's number one assistant. He had been with her throughout the entire time travel mess, something Starlight admired.

She would have just left him be, but if he was still awake then maybe he could point her in the right direction. Unless of course he was talking in his sleep. Though the more she listened, the more she realised that the young dragon sounded, distressed. Catching herself the unicorn immediately pulled her ear away from the door. She did not want to continue eavesdropping, as that would be an invasion of the dragon's privacy. Though if he was upset, should she not try and help him? The most obvious solution would be to find Twilight, though that would either take all night, or Starlight would end up in a bathroom. Taking a deep breath the unicorn steeled her nerves and raised a hoof. Breathing out slowly, she gently tapped the door with her hoof. If he was asleep hopefully the light knock would not wake him.

Heart hammering against her chest, she waited on a response. The seconds seemed to drag and for a moment she was sure that he had simply been mumbling in his sleep. Not wanting to push the door open and intrude, Starlight was readying herself to leave. A soft creak stopped her short as the door was pulled open from the other side. A rather confused looking Spike was waiting in the doorway.

“Uh, hey Starlight. Is, something wrong?” he asked, his emerald eyes widening slightly as he took in the slightly frazzled and uncomfortable looking mare at his door.

“O-oh... No,” the unicorn said gently, averting her eyes to the side and taking the weight off her front hoof but not quite pulling it into herself as many ponies did when nervous.

“Uh... I was just, walking by and I heard you talking... so I umm... was hoping you could maybe point me in the direction to my room... I am... rather lost... Though... well... are you okay?” A light chuckle escaped her throat as she fixed a smile on her face. It was forced, but hopefully it at least looked friendly.

Spike blinked once, before registering just what she had said.

“Oh... you... um... how much did you hear?” he asked, nervously fidgeting with his claws, deciding to answer her question with another question. He was not sure how much he really wanted to share. Starlight was nice and all now that she was on their side, but even so this was a touchy subject for him.

So, something really was wrong. Starlight suppressed a gulp. There was no way she could just turn away now.

“Well, not all that much...” she replied truthfully, “Though, you did sound rather... worried?” she suggested, not confident in her own wording.

Spike wrapped his claw around the back of his head sheepishly, looking down at the cool crystal floor below them. A low sigh escaped him and he shrugged and tried to be dismissive.

“It's nothing really. You said you needed help finding your room? C'mon then.”

Waving a claw Spike started to quickly lead the way through the crystalline hallways. Starlight bit her lip. Was she really ready to do this? The thought quickly fizzled as she felt herself move almost unbidden. She had to help somehow, she had to repay him for everything he had ever done...and repay for everything she had inflicted on him. Her hoof hit the ground a little harder than she intended but it had the desired effect. Whirling around the dragon saw that Starlight was staring at him, having not moved from her previous position.

“Uh... Are you coming or not?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at her odd behaviour. That was another thing the purple mare most certainly was...odd. Not in the same way as Twilight, but not a world away from the alicorn's own tendencies either.

“Spike, what's wrong?” Starlight asked, immediately wishing she sounded less blunt and demanding than she did. Sometimes her old ways slipped in when she was trying to be her most genuine. Forcing herself to be gentler worked fine, but took a lot more effort than one would imagine.

“Sorry... I mean... are you okay? I... I'm worried...” she tried again, this time sounding a lot less sure of herself. Nothing was ever going to come to an easy balance was it? Of course not.

Spike sighed at this. There was no real getting out of this short of just blowing her off and he would much rather not do that. He could tell she was being genuine in her concern and while he would much rather confide in Twilight maybe a more impartial party would be more helpful. However, was Starlight really that party? She had tried to destroy all their lives, though even she did not foresee just how far that would spiral. However, life was all about chances and maybe he could take one now... The worst she could do was probably laugh. Or be left worrying all night. Neither of those options sounded good...the latter due to how odd Starlight was, if Spike were to put it nicely.

“I'm okay... really,” he tried, putting on his best smile that he knew was not convincing her. It was just like all the smiles Starlight herself gave Twilight when trying to convince the princess she was fine.

“Spike... if... if you don't want to talk to me about it that's fine,” Starlight assured kindly, her face still etched with worry. “But you really should tell someone. I...I know first hoof where bottling things up can lead.” She felt her eyes start to water as she spoke, thinking back on all the horrible things she had put ponies through because she had bottled up her emotions.

Spike wanted to rebuke that but he really could not. Instead he was just thinking about what could possibly happen if this continued. Those thoughts filled him while he tried to brush Starlight's concern off and assure her that everything was fine. Then he started crying.

Starlight froze when the young dragon suddenly started breaking down right in front of her. She had never seen this side of him. He would get down yes and panic often, but she even when she had been trying to destroy him and his friends he had never once lost composure this badly. Whatever was wrong was well beyond her understanding. She could think of nothing more to do sit herself next to him and wrap a hoof around his shoulders. While he let his emotions spill out onto the floor in the form of his warm tears, the unicorn just let her hoof rest on him. She tried to offer support without pushing, he could come to her if he wanted or just cry himself done. Ponies, and dragons most likely, did that. She herself had dried her well of tears during her childhood before turning into the bitter and extremist pony Twilight had stumbled across.

Spike felt the warm foreleg resting on his shoulders and was grateful for it. The emotions had just become too much for him. It was a full ten minutes before he was dry of his tears and Starlight did not move or speak once in that time. Lifting his head he turned to look at her.

“Thanks...” he muttered huskily, pushing himself into a standing position. Starlight just remained sitting, though she let her hoof rest back on the floor.

“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,” Starlight said softly. “I'm sorry about before... It just slipped...”

“It's okay... You were just worried... It's nothing really... well... I hope...”

Taking a deep breath Spike continued, deciding to just get the problem out in the open.

“I... just haven't been able to talk to Rarity at all lately... Every time I try I just... freeze up... It's not something that's ever happened before...
And what if it doesn't go away... What if I'm never able to talk to her again!” he cried.

The dragon was almost shouting by the end of his speech, and it took him a few deep breaths to calm himself before he was able to say.
“Well that's it... silly huh?”

That was about the one thing it was not in Starlight's mind. The young dragon was worried that he would lose one of his most precious friendships and he was not sure why it was even happening. That was not silly at all. Shaking her head, she met Spike's eyes and said firmly.

“No, it's not silly at all. You're worried that you're going to lose your friend... Why would that be silly?”

“Well, umm... it's a bit more complicated than that...” Spike replied. “Well...I...have a crush on Rarity.”

Why he was saying this, he did not know. Maybe he just really needed to tell at least someone. Twilight would have been the better choice but she often underestimated just how great his feelings for Rarity actually were. Calling it a crush was slighting his feelings, greatly. Even the few days of not being able to talk to her like before had been horrible.

This took Starlight aback; a dragon and a pony was certainly a weird pair. However this was Equestria, where almost anything could happen.
Certain that she had absolutely no way to help him now, she asked.

“Have you told Twilight about this? Or one of the others? They might be able to help you figure out why you feel this way.”

“No... they don't really take my feelings for Rarity all that seriously... I... could ask Fluttershy but she's just been so busy lately with all her animals, and... well Discord has a habit of just popping in uninvited... literally.”

“I... I see...” Starlight said, gulping visibly. She was digging herself into this. She wanted to help, she really did. She could not find it in herself to just leave him to his hurt. Maybe it would clear up in a few days, maybe it was just a weird case of nerves. She took a deep breath and tried to think of something, anything that she could do to help. After a few moments she realised that Spike was staring at her, probably waiting on her to say something else... waiting for her to ridicule him maybe. He certainly was not being unfair by expecting such a thing of her. Beating herself up was not going to help in this situation though and she needed to know more if she was to help him.

“Okay... I... I can try help if you want...” she started shakily, trying to sound as sincere as possible through her nerves. “But I need to know... if you can think of anything... anything that may have happened before you started having problems.”

This was something that Spike had not been prepared for. She was seriously about to actively try to help him. That was something no one had really done. Twilight was always there for emotional support and he loved her. However the alicorn often did not seem to know what to do when it came to Rarity. He was too young for her, he knew that but he just could not help it. Curbing his train of thoughts, he addressed Starlight.

“Umm, we can talk in my room if you want. It would be easier than talking in the hallway,” he pointed out, jabbing a claw towards his still open door.

“If you want,” Starlight nodded.

Spike answered her nod with one of his own and strode into the room, leaving the door open for her. The unicorn entered the space nervously, her eyes scanning the room rapidly. It had the same design as all the other rooms within the cavernous castle but one could easily tell who lived here. There were comics lining the shelves and posters on the walls. A large collection of hoofball cards took up one corner, all in rather haphazardly stacked metal tins. It was certainly a lot more homely than the rest of the castle, including her own room. She closed the door behind her and moved a little deeper inside.

Spike flopped down on his bed, sitting with his legs dangling off the side while Starlight settled down on the rug. The soft warmth was a welcome change from the cold hard floor. A moment of silence endured as the pair got comfortable, then Spike broke the still air.

“I don't really know what happened... I just... went to her boutique to help her like usual and... all my words got stuck... Like... I couldn't say anything, no matter how hard I tried. I was able to go through the whole day without her noticing, but the next day was the same... and the next day... I... I didn't even go today... I made up the excuse that I was helping Twilight. Nothing I said felt important enough to say and she seemed to busy so I just helped her in silence. I don't want this to ruin everything... our friendship. But I don't know what to do.”

“So, you think what you have to say isn't important enough?” Starlight asked, to which Spike just nodded, hugging his knees to his chest and looking to the side with half lidded eyes.

“Okay, well if that's how you feel then maybe you could try to get Rarity to start the conversation? That way you know it's something she thinks is important... At least until you get your confidence back.”

“But she's always so busy... with the new boutique in Canterlot,” Spike moaned, slumping even lower onto his bed.

“That doesn't mean she doesn't want to talk to you...” Starlight pressed. “You don't know what you're saying isn't going to be important to her... And even if it isn't... not everything you say has to be important.”

“I know. I just, I can't talk to her... no matter how much I try...” he trailed off weakly, raising his head a fraction to look at her. His face looked so broken that Starlight wanted to run over and squeeze him as tightly as she possibly could. She refrained from this and instead put forth another suggestion.

“If you want to tell Twilight about it I can come with you. Or if you want to wait until tomorrow I can come with you then.”

“No!” Spike yelped, flinching back away from the suggestion. That was the last thing he wanted. He did not want to hear one of Twilight's lectures on this subject. The young dragon really did not think he could bear hearing her opinion on it. He shrank back a little when he saw how Starlight had reacted to his sudden shout. The purple unicorn was hiding meekly behind her hoof, her eyes closed tight and her whole body trembling slightly. Only a second later and she was trying to sweep it under the rug, smiling nervously.

“Sorry... I just got a little surprised there...” the mare said sheepishly.

This was a lot harder than either of them had expected. Starlight really had no idea what she could do, no matter how much she wanted to. Spike was nervous about revealing his issues with her, and even he was unsure of exactly what was amiss.

“Maybe we should just... leave this,” the dragon suggested. “Thanks... thanks for trying anyway.”

“Are...are you sure?” Starlight asked, reluctant to allow him to drop the subject when nothing was resolved yet realising there was nothing she could do at the moment.

Spike nodded in confirmation and Starlight sighed slightly, getting to her hooves.

“Okay Spike. You know where I am if you need me...probably better than I would know,” she said, chuckling weakly at her own pitiful attempt at humour.

“I'll show you to your room. It's actually not all that far.”

Now back in her room and Starlight was pacing. Spike had left only a few minutes ago, hopefully to get some sleep. Maybe he would get better with simple time but the way he had broken down in front of her this was serious. Could she really not tell Twilight about this?

“Two days. Two days and if I can't think of something and it doesn't get better on it's own I am telling Twilight. Now that that's settled. how do I go about helping a dragon with his problems about having a crush on a pony?”

The night dragged on, with Starlight so lost in her own thoughts that only when the muscles in her legs cried out did she realise that she had been pacing the entire night. She dragged herself over to the bed and flopped down onto the soft fabrics, sighing heavily into the pillows. She needed to see what was going on to know what to do but she was not about to ask Spike to try and talk to Rarity just so she could observe. Then it hit her.

“Of course!” Starlight cried, leaping back to her hooves only to immediately collapse to the ground. Her legs had fallen asleep the instant she had promised them rest.

“Oh...right,” she muttered, narrowing her eyes at her own treacherous limbs before lighting her horn. In an instant she was levitating, just as she had when... well, when she had inadvertently doomed all of Equestria seven times over.

“Anyway, time to find Spike.”

Ignoring all thoughts of sleep the unicorn carried herself through the hallways. Once again she was thankful this castle only did have three occupants. Seeing a light purple unicorn floating all the hallways while enveloped in a aquamarine light would look rather ridiculous. Now she was once again hit with the challenge of finding a certain room in this castle. Starlight Glimmer, apparently one of the most powerful unicorns around was thwarted time and time again by the layout of a castle. Though as this castle had apparently been created by magic the building was probably just doing this to torment her. A little bit of penance when everyone else had forgiven her far too easy.

“Of all the things to hold a grudge...it would be a castle.”

Her mood now a little soured she continued floating around the castle with a scowl fixed on her face. Whether the castle was out to get her or not, that still did not make finding Spike any easier. She would rather find Spike before she ran into Twilight. Getting swept up in another day of the alicorn trying to push her a little closer to her friends would only hinder her own plans. Not that she was ungrateful for everything Twilight was doing but Spike needed her more than she needed Twilight right now.

“Wait does that even make sense?” Starlight asked aloud. “Oh never mind... Look... castle, I really need to find someone. Please, make this easier.”

“Starlight?” the last voice she wanted to hear right now asked.

“...Wrong one,” Starlight groaned, the audible smack of her hoof meeting her face echoing against the walls.

“Starlight, why are you floating around the castle?” Twilight asked, tilting her head to the side as she looked up at the hovering unicorn.

“Umm... practise?” Starlight tried, giving a shaky laugh before lowering herself back onto the ground. Thankfully her hooves decided to support her weight this time.

“Oh, I see... well if you want we can go outside and practise together, I've actually never had a unicorn to practise magic with before. Rarity is more of a designer than a studier.”

Twilight looked so enthusiastic that Starlight hated to shoot her down. However, practising with Twilight would probably take all morning and time was of the essence.

“Sorry, maybe later. Right now I'm just looking for Spike's room. But well...” she trailed off and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. The two bangs that surrounded her horn fell a little lower over her eyes as she played with her mane.

“You're lost?” Twilight offered, smiling knowingly. Starlight had been asking directions to almost everything. No matter how much she was shown the way the unicorn just could not make it stick. Maybe I should make her a map, Twilight thought to herself while giggling inwardly.

“Yeah... maybe just a little.”

“Okay. Come on. I'll show you to Spike's room and then I'll make breakfast,” Twilight nodded as she lead the way towards the young dragon's room.

Spike answered the door to a pair of purple ponies and raised an eyebrow. Starlight flashed smile that she probably meant to be reassuring. That most likely meant Twilight did not know what was going on. Hopefully that was what it meant anyway.

“Hi Spike,” Twilight said, waving her hoof at her assistant. “I was just guiding Starlight to your room. She said she wanted to talk to you about something.”

Spike turned his gaze to Starlight, who nodded. She looked rather pleased with something. Maybe she really had worked out a solution. He could barely contain his excitement as he basically grabbed the mare and dragged her into the room. Twilight chuckled,

“Well I'll just leave you both to it. See you at breakfast?”

“Sure, thanks Twilight,” Starlight nodded, waiting for the alicorn to start walking away before closing the door and turning to Spike.

“Okay. I think I have something but it's... well it's only really the start of something.”

Trying to curb his expectations right away would hopefully avoid the dragon getting too excited. She would hate to let him down. Now Starlight was a lot less sure of herself all of a sudden, looking into Spike's wide hopeful eyes was making her nervous. One deep breath later she sighed.

“I need you to help me with something first though. I want you to pretend that I'm Rarity. Hopefully that will at least help me get a sense of what's going on. And it might help you with your nerves, though I'm not sure... Sorry.”

“Well, it's a start,” the dragon stated, now a lot less enthused.

He was willing to go along with anything though, and it was more than he himself was able to do. Any idea was a good idea in this situation. There was just one little problem.

“You don't look anything like Rarity though,” the dragon dead panned.

“Well, no... but... maybe you could try and imagine me as Rarity?” Starlight suggested, a light blush creeping into her pale cheeks. This whole plan was falling apart. Maybe she should have taken more time over it instead of being so impulsive.

“I'll try,” Spike replied, snapping Starlight out of her thoughts.

“Thanks... I promise I'll help you... I just need a little more information first,” the unicorn said as she sat down opposite Spike.

Now, how would Rarity sit? Starlight shifted her hooves back and forth, shuffling around on the rug as she tried to remember just how Rarity was positioned during their last meeting. It was not something she had been paying attention to and now it was coming to bite her in the flank. Flicking her tail to her side she let it lay across the carpet in full view. Rarity was proud of her appearance and she did sometimes flick her tail like that. Or did she? Starlight had to force herself not to smack herself with her hoof again, her head had went through enough pots brooms and hooves lately.

“That's a little better,” Spike nodded, sitting down on a small stool he had placed in front of her. He folded his arms and stared at her, hoping that she would start the conversation.

“Good... because I can not do her accent,” Starlight chuckled. “I may as well get one thing right.”

“Well, what should we talk about?”

“Try and pretend that I'm Rarity and just say what you would normally say.”

“Got it.”

Starlight waited for Spike to start, careful not to seem impatient as the minutes dragged on. Instead she studied the young dragon, keeping the most pleasant smile she could muster. He did not look nervous, or anything like what he had described to her last night. Instead he just appeared to be getting frustrated. Eventually Spike gave out a sigh and threw his hands up into the air, leaping off his stool and storming to his bed.

“I can't see Rarity, all I can see is you!” he groaned, beating his face into his pillow.

“It's alright Spike,” Starlight whispered, quietly moving over to his bed and resting a hoof on the young dragon's shoulder once again. He did not acknowledge the unicorn, continuously taking his emotions out on the soft pillows. Refusing to give up, Starlight ignited her horn and took a step back from the bed. Her knowledge of shape changing was severely limited, and her sleep deprived brain was starting to make everything fuzzy. Throwing as much magic into the spell as possible for her, Starlight tried to cast the shape changing spell. This would either fail miserably, or make her look like Rarity. Anything in between might at least cheer the young dragon up if it was silly enough.
The light blue glow brought Spike out of his frustration. He turned to look at Starlight, having to cover his eyes to shield them from the intensity of the illumination. When the light had dimmed he saw Starlight, looking absolutely no different than she had before. Except for her mane, which had been pulled into something reminiscent of the white unicorn that was at the root of all this drama. Spike felt his heart swell a little at just how far Starlight had been willing to go. Even if it had faltered, she had tried to perform a spell that even Twilight would think twice about just to help him. That could have gone horribly wrong. It was irresponsible, it was rash, it was impulsive, it was well...Starlight. She was an extremist, an extremist who had been taken down the wrong path by her emotions. If Spike had any reservations about how sincere her reformation was, they had quickly melted away.

“Ugh... That was about as effective as I expected it to be,” Starlight groaned, emulating Spike as she flopped her face into his bed.

Throwing magic at spells was very limited in the success it garnered, something Starlight had learned throughout her years. Sunburst had always been the smart one, the one who knew all the spells... Without him it was a struggle to learn even the simplest spells. The Unmarking spell had taken her three years, she had been a foal to think she could pull off a changing spell with barely background knowledge. A touch on her shoulder made her look up, an adorable pout fixed on her face. The new bang she had given herself hung loosely over one eye, curling slightly at the tip.

“Thanks,” Spike said, a small grin on his face.

“But I... didn't really do anything. I couldn't cast the spell, or help you...”

“You tried, that's all that matters,” the dragon assured her.

Starlight sat up and rubbed her eyes, hoping to stave off the tears she could feel welling within her. That was one thing she was getting good at in Twilight's castle...crying.

“I'm sorry I wasn't able to help...” the unicorn sighed, casting her eyes downward.

“Oh I don't know about that,” came a voice from the entrance, as two ponies walked into the room. Followed by a certain alabaster fashionista.

“Rarity?” Spike asked uncertainly, trying to conceal himself rather unsuccessfully behind Starlight.

“Hello Spike,” Rarity said gently, smiling softly.

“What, what are you doing here?” the dragon asked, immediately feeling conscious about how untidy his room was.

“Well, Twilight brought me here when she overheard you both talking.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at her teacher. Eavesdropping was most certainly not something she would have expected of the alicorn. Twilight shrunk back a little from the stare, though was saved from speaking by Rarity continuing.

“So... you've been having, problems speaking to me?” she asked, walking forwards deeper into Spike's bedroom towards the dragon.
Sensing that Spike would gain nothing from hiding Starlight moved away, depriving the dragon of his barrier against Rarity. The weight in his voice almost made her regret the decision but she stayed firm.

“Yeah, I'm...I'm sorry. I don't know why,” he started, choking up and trying to look anywhere but in Rarity's direction.

His eyes met Starlight's and she smiled before mouthing, you can do this. That gave him the confidence to continue.

“I... well... nothing I say feels important. It just feels like the same stuff I say all the time. You deserve better than that. I just don't know what to say... You're always so busy and... ”

His tirade was stopped by Rarity's hoof resting gently on his mouth, cutting him off.

“Spike, you know I care about you. You're my friend. What you have to say is important...all of it. Even if I'm busy, I still want to hear what you have to say. Whether it's about your latest hoofball card or a rare comic, I want to hear it all. You make my day more enjoyable Spike, just by being there. I'm sorry you've been feeling the way you do. Please, just remember that we all care about you. I care about you, Twilight cares about you, Starlight cares about you. We all do. You're our favourite little dragon and you always will be.”

“Thanks Rarity,” Spike said gently, a smile growing on his face once more.

“Much better,” the unicorn beamed, pulling the dragon into a swift hug. One he readily accepted.

“That... was much harder than I thought it would be,” Starlight said with a yawn, moving to walk away from the scene in favour of her bed.

Inside she was proud of Spike; if that was the correct word. He had faced his fears and gotten things sorted. Now he could hopefully he could put aside these worries and forge ahead. She wished him luck on his crush as well, if he managed to pull that off it would be an impressive feat. Though now she needed her bed. It had been calling her all night and only now was she willing to give in to it.

“Aren't you going to join us for breakfast darling?” Rarity asked, causing the lilac mare to stop in her tracks. Her mentor quickly stepped in to save her.

“I think Starlight needs to catch up on some beauty sleep,” Twilight smiled, nodding towards her pupil. “Just join us when you're ready.”

Starlight closed the door behind her with a smile. The three remaining occupants in the room turned to each other, only to return their gaze to the door as it creaked open again.

“Umm... I have no idea how to get back to my room.”

Noon had already passed by the time Starlight had rejoined the princess and her assistant. For once she had been able to find the pair relatively quickly, though she owed that to the racket they were making in the kitchen. Immediately upon seeing the mare, Spike waved frantically,

“Hi Starlight!”

“Hey Spike,” Starlight replied, walking into the kitchen.

“Starlight, good to see you. We were just making lunch. The others are coming around as well. Want to help?”

Starlight nodded. “Sure,” she said with a smile, setting her magic to work preparing the meal for seven ponies and a dragon. Every so often Spike would catch her eye and give her a smile, one she returned easily. It felt nice, to be able to smile without forcing herself.

Lunch was going swimmingly, in the clearly Rarity inspired dining hall. Rainbow Dash was having an eating race with Pinkie Pie, while Applejack was discussing apple farming with Fluttershy Rarity and Twilight. Spike was listening intently, though Starlight was pretty sure most of his attention was focused on Rarity. Taking a bite of the daisy sandwich, Starlight was content to just listen to the usual table shenanigans of her new friends. The word still felt strange to her. Less strange maybe, but she felt she had a long way to go until it would feel right to her.

“Darling, did you do something to your mane?” Rarity asked, bringing Starlight back to reality.

“Huh? Oh... I... well, yeah... I guess.”

Her horn glowed as she grabbed her the bang, ready to put it back to the way it had been before. Until a certain dragon stopped her.

“I like it that way...”

The glow around the tri-coloured lock faded as the hair fell back into place. Things were changing in her life, one little step at a time. As Twilight would say, one new friend and one new manestyle...check!