The Next Best Thing

by Posh

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life
Length: 5388

Starlight Glimmer bonds with Diamond Tiara over their mutual status as reformed antagonists... and over a shared love of trolling Spike.

Summer vacation has come and gone, and school's back in session, only Diamond Tiara isn't interested in attending if Cheerilee isn't standing at the front of the class. Her solution? Hire Twilight as her teacher.

Except it's not Twilight she runs into at the castle.

(Winner of the Pinkie Pie award for Scribblefest 2017!)

Published 2017-03-06 20:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-03-06 20:00:01 UTC

...And Courage, and Faith

"Starlight, come on," Spike groaned, waddling down the castle's corridor beside Starlight Glimmer. "You're just being pedantic now."

"Pedantic?" Starlight leveled a teasing, half-lidded look at Spike. "That's an awfully big word for such an awfully little dragon."

Spike rolled his eyes. "You know, in all the time I've been alive, I don't think I've ever not lived in a library – or at least library-adjacent – so can you please stop pretending to be surprised at my vocabulary?"

Their walk had brought them to the towering double-doors of the library. Starlight paused in front of them and tapped her chin, hamming it up with a crinkly-nosed expression of contemplation.

"Okay," she said at last. Then she smirked. "You're still wrong, though."

Spike groaned. "Look, I helped Twilight research her speech. I wrote her note cards, for pony's sake! The law doesn't care about technicalities."

"First of all, the law is all about technicalities," said Starlight. "Second, this isn't about technicality, but perspective. Equestria might mark the signing of the treaty as the anniversary, but Saddle Arabians celebrate the date the treaty took effect, not the date it was signed. Which means they're not celebrating the 150th anniversary for another three months exactly. Which, if Twilight doesn't know that now... eh, she probably will by the time she leaves Saddle Arabia."

Spike, still skeptical, folded his arms. "How would you even know that?"

"Think about it. Three months from now? The thirtieth?" She looked expectantly at Spike.

"...Oh!" Spike's arms dropped. "Isn't that your birthday?"

"Look who remembered!" Starlight grinned. "That's a little bit of historical trivia my mom liked to give me every year – sometimes instead of a gift." She blew her mane out of her face and resumed her walk down the corridor. "Look it up, if you don't believe me."

"About your mom, or about—" Spike went abruptly silent.

Starlight, realizing Spike wasn't keeping stride anymore, turned around. He was staring at the library doors – the partially open library doors, now that Starlight took the time to notice. A razor-thin line of sunlight from the opening cut across the carpet and into the wall, refracting into a pale rainbow on contact.

"Coulda sworn I closed this last night." Spike looked at Starlight. "Have you been in and out this morning?"

"No, and Twilight won't be back for another two days. So, unless she's taken up astral projection as a hobby, and has mastered interaction with the corporeal world in that state..."

Starlight approached Spike, a nervous feeling crawling up her spine. Leaning down, she pulled him close and lowered her voice.

"...We might just have an intruder in the castle."

Spike pulled away with an incredulous look. "Or I didn't close the door all the way last night."

"Or we could have an intruder in the castle!" Starlight hissed. "Ugh, if Twilight had just put in for that Royal Guard garrison after the changeling incident..."

Cyan light shimmered around her horn, reflecting off the corridor walls.

"But never mind that; we'll have to handle this ourselves. Stay behind me."

Spike backed away from the door, a palm against his forehead. "Oh, here we go..."

Starlight took a deep breath and flung the doors open with a thought. She swept into the library, flaring her aura brighter, and drawing herself up to full height. Being a fairly slight unicorn, that admittedly wasn't much, but her grandiose entrance more than made up for it.

Hopefully, she thought.

The library was wall-to-wall bookshelves, furnished with scattered tables, chairs, and a pile of cushions in the middle of the room, which were bathed in a sunbeam from an easterly window at ceiling height. Atop those cushions, a pony curled – a filly, much slighter than Starlight, with a candy-striped mane and a pair of saddlebags that were the same shade of pink as her coat, and trimmed in stylish silver.

The filly's face was emotionless as she lifted her head and glanced at Starlight's horn. She blinked, once, slowly – her eyes were red from lack of sleep.

Or perhaps from something else.

Spike pitter-pattered into the library and leaned smugly against Starlight's flank. "Gosh, you're right. She looks like trouble. Might have to break out the Elements."

Starlight, her face flushed, dimmed her aura. "I was right about an intruder, wasn't I?"

Spike gave her a condescending pat and pulled away from Starlight, putting his hands on his hips in an awkward attempt at a commanding posture. "The castle isn't open to the public until 10, Diamond Tiara."

The filly flopped onto her side, her back to Spike. "You really oughta put up a sign, in that case."

"There is a sign."

"One that isn't so easy to ignore," she amended.

Spike gritted his teeth and turned back to Starlight. "Can there be literal kicking involved when we kick her out?"

She wasn't sure. Not about the kick – that much she was pretty certain was off the table – but whether it was necessary to do anything. Trespassing in the Princess's castle outside of normal hours did call for some kind of punitive measure, if not one quite as severe as a hoof to the hiney, but Starlight wasn't sure what the rules were where minors were concerned.

Especially when said minor was, judging by her limp, floppy limbs, and the redness in her eyes, somewhat disquieted. So Starlight asked herself what Twilight would do, as she found herself doing with greater and greater frequency in her everyday life, and decided to spare the rod.

"That seems uncalled for." Starlight trotted toward Spike. "What say we let it go this one time?"

Spike glared at her. "Seriously, Starlight? She's trespassing, and you want to let it go? Miss 'The-Law-Is-All-About-Technicalities' wants to let something go?"

"Doesn't the spirit of the law come before the letter in this case?" Reaching Spike, she beckoned him close and lowered her voice again. "Maybe I jumped the gun before, but I don't think she came to rob us blind. And she isn't hurting anything, right?"

"Well, no, but..."

"So maybe we cut her a little bit of slack?" Starlight nodded toward Diamond. "Look, just... let me handle this one, alright? I think she's upset about something, and I don't think she's gonna open up to you about it."

Spike shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, your heart's in the right place and all, but I really don't think you know what you're getting yourself into."

"What are you talking about?" Starlight touched her chest indignantly. "Hey, I can be very sympathetic and compassionate when I want to be, you know."

"I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about her. Diamond Tiara has a reputation for being—"

"I can hear every word you two are saying, you know," Diamond called out.

"It's rude to eavesdrop," Spike retorted.

"It's also rude to gossip about somepony when you think she isn't listening. What are you, the seventh element? Element of Being a Little Purple Hypocrite?"

Spike's hands clenched into fists. "So, about that kick, Starlight."

"Spike." Starlight put a hoof on the dragon's shoulder and leaned over him. "Treaties and Alliances of the Age of Harmony. Volume four. The one with the red cover and the worn-out binding, three shelves up, over there. Do me a favor – go get it, and flip through it for a while. In the other room."

Spike, his face awash with irritation, looked at her silently.

"Because," said Starlight, responding to an unasked question. "I have a point that I need to make."

Spike did as he was asked, grumbling all the while. He stomped away, toward a ladder that leaned against a nearby wall, and ascended to fetch the indicated book.

That left Starlight to contend with Diamond Tiara alone. Thinking on it made her nervous – if the filly had a friendship problem, then solving it would probably make Twilight happy, but she didn't have a great deal of experience talking to foals, and she wasn't sure what help or guidance she could provide. Part of her was tempted to cast a localized time displacement spell and peruse that dog-eared copy of Discourse on Fillies that Twilight kept in her bedroom...

...but perhaps messing with the fabric of space/time was a step too far to solve a mundane friendship problem. And reality-altering magics really shouldn't be her first recourse when dealing with everyday troubles. That was a lesson she had to learn the hard way.

"Diamond Tiara, right?" said Starlight with a smile. "I'm Starlight Glimmer. Sorry for jumping to conclusions before, but we've had security problems in the past."

She neglected to mention that she had been one such security problem, once upon a time.

Starlight cleared her throat. "You're welcome to stay for a while, if you'd like. Enjoy the library. Just make sure you put everything back where you found it when you're done."

After all, Twilight was very much alone in her love of reshelving.

"That's okay," said Diamond. She rolled to her other side and looked up at Starlight. "I actually just came to talk to Princess Twilight. I figured she'd be in here, but I haven't seen her."

"You want to talk to Twilight?" Starlight frowned. "Whatever for?"

Diamond Tiara looked into Starlight's eyes.

"I'm going to ask if I can be her personal student."

The distinct sound of suddenly dislodged literature tumbling over a baby dragon drew their attention to Spike, who was currently being bombarded by a series of books about Equestrian foreign policy.

When the deluge finally ceased, Spike was red-faced and snorting green-tinged smoke from his nostrils. "What are you talking about?! You can't just break in here and expect Twilight to—"

"Spike," said Starlight firmly. "Go read. I got this."

Spike grumbled even more irritably than before as he slid down the ladder, lugging a massive red tome that was close to half his own size.

"What Spike was going to say," said Starlight, keeping her voice sweet. "Is that, while Princess Twilight has been known to take on students occasionally, it's usually for, um... certain special circumstances and situations. I don't think you really meet the criteria, I'm afraid."

Diamond's eyes narrowed. "I'm plenty smart, I'll have you know."

She stood, pulled off her saddlebags before Starlight could protest, undid the strap holding one of them shut, and reached into it with her muzzle. She produced a stack of papers, some old and faded yellow, others slightly fresher. Starlight reached for a relatively recent-looking one with her telekinesis, and raised it to eye level. It was an old report card – nothing but As, in all categories, signed by somepony named "Miss Cheerilee," who seemed to enjoy dotting her "I"s with sunflowers.

Starlight tried to put a face to the name. It took less time than it normally did with Ponyville's residents, because she'd at least seen and spoken with Cheerilee more than once in the past. She saw her, periodically, on days when the class came to visit the library. They'd never exchanged more than a few words of polite small-talk, but even from that minimal contact, it was obvious that the mare exuded a comforting aura of warmth that put anypony who spoke to her at ease. A natural teacher – five seconds in her company, and Starlight was half-tempted to fetch her an apple.

"Every single one is like that, too," Diamond said. "I've had straight-As for as long as I've been in school. That alone should more than qualify me for private lessons with the Princess."

"That's... very impressive," said Starlight diplomatically as she shuffled through the papers. It was as she said – straight As, year after year. This girl was smart. And a good study, clearly.

"But, also, not really my point." Starlight set the papers down, looking seriously at Diamond. "It isn't a matter of smarts, or dedication. It's about... among other things... time. And commitment. Princess Twilight's just too busy to take on the workload of a full-time educator; she doesn't have the time or the resources to devote to—"

"Yeah, yeah, say no more," Diamond sighed. "I know where this is going."

The filly undid the strap on the other bag and smacked it, tipping it onto its side. An avalanche of shiny gold bits jingle-jangled forth, forming a sizable pile on one of the cushions.

"Like I said. I came prepared." Diamond Tiara looked expectantly at Starlight as she eyed the currency. "I've never actually bribed anypony before, least of all royalty, so I'm not sure if this'll be enough. You can take a little bit for yourself, if you like, as long as you leave the rest for the Princess."

Starlight shook her head. "That's not what I was getting at either. I'm afraid you're... um... just how much money did you bring?"

Diamond shrugged.

Yowza, thought Starlight. Then she shook her head rapidly. "You're not understanding me – it's not about grades, or qualifications, or money. Princess Twilight just isn't taking on new students."

"And how do you know?" Diamond pressed. "Has she said so? Like, with an actual Princess decree and everything?"

"Well, no, but—"

"So you can't really speak for her, can you?"

Starlight's mouth hung open as she made a weak noise from the back of her throat.

"Didn't think so." Diamond flopped onto her side again, staring up at Starlight. "Sorry, but I think I'm gonna wait to hear what Princess Twilight says about this. I'm sure you understand."

"You'll be waiting for a while, you know," Starlight said.

Diamond shrugged. "I've got time."

"You may as well do your waiting at home. Princess Twilight is in Saddle Arabia on state business – she won't be back for another few days. "

"Well, you did say I was welcome to hang out here."

"Did I mention it'd be days?" Starlight felt her patience straining. "Don't you have other stuff you should be doing besides hanging out in an empty library? Heck, I'm pretty sure your mom would notice if you just vanished for two days straight."

At that, she just laughed – but it was a bitter, empty sound. "You've never met my mother, have you?"

Okay, consider that bit of childhood angst trodden upon...

Diamond seemed self-conscious about what she'd just said, and flopped over, baring her back to Starlight again. Starlight swallowed and sat down beside Diamond on the pile of cushions. The filly shifted at her presence.

"That was kinda rude, wasn't it?" Diamond turned her head to bury her face in her cushion. "I'm sorry."

"To be fair, you're right," said Starlight gently. "It's funny, actually. I've been here a while, and outside of my own circle of friends, I'd be hard pressed to match more than a hooffull of names and faces here in town. I even had to think for a moment to remember who Cheerilee was."

"That's not funny." Diamond sat up and looked at Starlight. "Kinda sad, actually."

"Yeah. But it's okay."

Starlight glanced to where Spike was struggling with his book, trying (and failing) to keep it balanced on his back while hunched over. Her horn glowed briefly, and her strength added to his own long enough for him to get a more secure hold on it. Shooting Starlight a look – one that she thought had some gratitude in it – Spike hefted the tome and staggered out the door.

"I have good friends." Starlight smiled at Diamond. "So it's not as if I'm lonely, at least. You know?"

Diamond just nodded.

They passed a minute sitting in silence, the sunbeam warm and toasty on Starlight's coat. She looked at Diamond closely, connecting the dots in her head. Diligent student from a wealthy family, and a neglectful mother to boot... It was pretty clear what kind of upbringing the filly was going through. Parts of it, Starlight could identify with – the money, definitely not, but the rest...

Neglectful mother, diligent student. Oh, so painfully familiar.

"Can I ask you something?" said Starlight quietly. Diamond nodded again. "Are... are you running away from home?"

Diamond chuckled once, another bitter sound. "Can't say I've never thought about it, but no. I definitely wouldn't run away here, if I was. I mean, this place is nice and all, but it's kinda..."

"Impersonal?"

"Drafty." Diamond scooted further into the sunbeam, closer to Starlight, who made room to accommodate her. "I don't know how Princess Twilight stands it. I'll make sure to ask her about it when she gets home – a ponycicle wouldn't make an especially good student."

We're still working with that assumption, I see.

"Do you know what day it is today?" Diamond blurted suddenly.

Starlight brightened. "Oh, well, actually – today marks a hundred and fifty years since Saddle Arabia became a protectorate of Equestria. Although, depending on where you live and what your cultural preferences are, that might not actually be..."

Diamond stared flatly at her.

"...And that's not what you meant at all." Starlight sighed.

"It's the first day of school," said Diamond. "Summer's over. Classes are starting. I'm not running away from home; I just don't particularly want to go to school, hence why I'm here, looking for Princess Twilight. I can't avoid school, but I can at least choose where I study, and who I study with, can't I?"

Starlight frowned quizzically. "But why would you want to avoid going back to school at all? You don't want summer vacation to end?"

"Missing the point." Diamond shook her head. "I don't care about vacations."

"You... hate homework? Or you hate having to do it?"

"Still missing the point. Also?" Diamond pointed viciously at her report cards. "Straight As. Every year. Does that spell 'slacker' to you?"

"Actually, I think it'd just spell 'AAAAAAAAAA,' but – oh, you weren't speaking literally, were you?" Starlight grinned sheepishly as Diamond smoldered at her – she had the kind of face where even a look of anger was precociously precious.

"Well, if it's not school you're avoiding, then perhaps... somepony at school? A friend you're fighting with? A bully?" Starlight winked. "Some cutie pie making you nervous?"

"At school?" Diamond stuck her tongue out and bleh'd. "I don't think there's anypony who'd fit the bill."

"Well, if it's not a student, then maybe it's... your teacher?"

Diamond sagged her shoulders at that.

Paydirt.

"I guess that would explain why you came looking for a new one," said Starlight, casting a quick glance back at her report cards. "You don't get along with Miss Cheerilee?"

"Miss Cheerilee moved," said Diamond shortly. "A few months ago. It's somepony new. I don't know her name; I haven't met her yet. There was supposed to be a meet-and-greet at the schoolhouse last week, but I faked being sick so I could get out of going."

Starlight scrunched her muzzle. "You waited until the first day of school to meet your new teacher?"

"What difference would it have made if I met her a week ago, or I met her today?" Diamond snapped.

She spoke so venomously that Starlight was caught off guard. But before she could form a response, Diamond cut her off with a raised hoof.

"Y'know what? Don't answer that, because it doesn't matter." She dropped her hoof, scowling at Starlight. "I've already decided to be Princess Twilight's student, so whether or not I meet this other teacher? Totally irrelevant. And by the way? I did get along with Miss Cheerilee. Everypony did. Because—"

Diamond's voice cracked suddenly, and she rubbed one of her eyes with her fetlock. Then she glared at Starlight, her eyes wet, and redder than before.

"Because Cheerilee is sweet, and kind, and wonderful. This other lady's not Cheerilee, and that is all I want, or need, to know about her."

"Twilight isn't Cheerilee either," said Starlight softly.

"Duh!" Diamond cried, flinging her hooves in the air. "But she knows me, and I know her. You get it? This teacher's a stranger, but Princess Twilight isn't, and I'd rather have somepony who knows me than somepony who doesn't!"

"...I think I do get it." Starlight hesitated. "I thought maybe that you were afraid to meet your new teacher. But I had it backwards. Didn't I?"

Diamond snorted and looked away, tears beading in her eyes.

She's not afraid to meet the teacher. She's afraid of the teacher meeting her.

Starlight stared in silence, once more at a loss. This seemed like a good opportunity to pat Diamond on the back, or cup her chin with her hoof – perform some kind of physical gesture of affection or solidarity. But coming from her – from another stranger – it might come across as clumsy, or awkward. She wasn't even sure why she was opening up this way.

Maybe I just give off a vibe.

Diamond Tiara spared her from making a decision just then by speaking up. "Spike wasn't wrong, y'know. I do have a reputation. It's one that I've tried very, very hard to get away from. One that I don't think I ever will." A quaver crept into her voice. "You asked me if I was afraid of meeting a bully – why would I ever be afraid of that? I was the bully, Starlight Glimmer. I was mean, and cruel, to everypony I knew. Even my best friend! That's not something that ponies just forget about and put in the past – it's gonna follow me around as long as I'm at that school. Maybe even as long as I live."

Diamond's nose was running. She pulled a handkerchief from her saddlebags and blew into it, wiping delicately and sniffing.

"Miss Cheerilee knew all that stuff about me. All the bad stuff I did, she was around to see – and through it all, she never gave up on me. Do you get it? She knew about who I was, because she was there. She saw it all, the bad and the good that came after. And she accepted me. No – she didn't just accept me. She pushed me to be a better pony."

She wadded up the handkerchief and put it away with a sigh. "This new teacher, she's gonna hear a lot about me, from a lot of different ponies. Probably already has, too. She might be nice; she might even be a really good teacher. But in the back of her mind, she's just gonna be thinking of me as a bully. Just waiting for me to mess up. Just like everypony else."

This time, Starlight did reach out and touch her on the shoulder. Diamond didn't shake off her hoof, so she let it linger comfortingly.

"And you think that Twilight wouldn't," said Starlight.

"The Princess of Friendship? Of course she wouldn't," Diamond said with a sniffle. "She knows all about that stuff already, anyway. Not like Miss Cheerilee did, but... but she knew the old me, and she knows the new me too. And with Miss Cheerilee gone, Princess Twilight's the only teacher I can go to who knows both."

Starlight wanted to smile. This little heartbroken filly thought of Twilight Sparkle – Princess of Friendship and scholar extraordinaire – as a mere runner-up to her beloved schoolteacher. Clearly, that spoke to Cheerilee's credit.

"Believe it or not, I know exactly how you feel about your old teacher," said Starlight. "Because I used to be bad, too. I did a lot of harm, and hurt a lot of good ponies in the process."

"You were a bully too, weren't you?" Diamond's eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she gazed up at a baffled Starlight Glimmer. "I can always tell these things. Call it a sixth sense. Plus, you give off a vibe."

...Oh. Um. Should I be offended?

"I'm not sure 'bully' is quite the word I'd use." Starlight scratched the back of her neck. "My 'bad things' weren't really of the 'teasing the fat kids and making ponies eat sand on the playground' variety. More of the 'strip ponies of their individuality and brainwash them, then attempt to subvert the flow of time itself to satisfy my own selfish agenda,' variety. Like, comic book supervillain variety. Like Mane-iac. Or Mooselini."

Diamond's face blanked for a moment. The last of her tears finally shed, and streaked silently down her face. Then her eyes narrowed.

"That's the kind of thing you probably shouldn't just casually drop into the middle of a conversation. Especially with somepony you barely know."

"Ah... sorry." Starlight's face fell. "Sometimes I sorta... barf my dark and villainous past all over anypony who's listening. It's a bad habit."

Diamond's face screwed up. "You're a little socially awkward, aren't you?"

"You have no idea." Starlight blushed and buried her face in her hooves, groaning. "Twilight keeps saying she's gonna buy me a conversational filter..."

"...It's okay," said Diamond, after a pause. "Awkward's kinda fun."

Starlight pulled away her hooves to see the filly smiling at her, and they shared an awkward laugh of relief.

"But my point," said Starlight with a sigh as the last of their giggles ebbed away. "My point is that I know exactly what you're going through. I go through it every day of my life. You're afraid of making new friends, because historically, you haven't had the best track record with it. And you're doubly afraid to try, because you don't know how they'd react if they knew who you used to be. So you live with that fear, and you let it eat you up inside, and you just focus on the ponies who do know about you, and accept you for who you are. You've got friends like that, right?"

"Silver Spoon," said Diamond automatically. "And the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And... and Miss Cheerilee, too," she added, looking down at her hooves sullenly.

"For me, it's Twilight. And Applejack, and Rarity, and the rest of the girls. Spike, too, of course. But Twilight, especially." She felt warm, inside and out, and a genuine smile broke across her face unbidden. "The way you feel about Miss Cheerilee? That's how I feel about Twilight. There's nopony else in the world who's seen as much of me as her, good and bad. There was a time, a really long time, where I thought I'd be lost without her. Maybe you feel that way about Miss Cheerilee, too."

Diamond reflected on that in silence for a moment before shrugging. "I don't think I'd be having this conversation if I didn't," she admitted.

"I get that completely. It's something I still struggle with. But that feeling goes away the more you work at it." Starlight patted Diamond's hoof. "At the end of the day, you have to trust yourself – just as much as you have to trust other ponies. You gotta accept that you're not defined by the pony you used to be. It's up to you to decide who you wanna be, as much to everypony else as to yourself. That takes courage, and it isn't easy, but if there's one thing I've learned from Twilight Sparkle, it's... well, actually, it's where to put the two-pronged fun fork on a table setting..."

Diamond tilted her head. "The what?"

"Never mind." Starlight waved the errant thought away. "But if there's two things I've learned from Twilight Sparkle... it's that ponies will like you for who you are now, rather than condemn you for who you used to be, if you just give them a chance. You gotta have faith in yourself to be that pony, and you gotta have faith in everypony else to accept you, too."

She saw the tears coming back – of relief, rather than misery, but tears were a wet and slippery slope one way or the other. Starlight spoke quickly to lighten the mood.

"Besides, your plan to be Twilight's student wouldn't have ever gotten off the ground – you wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise before, but between me and Sunny Delight... or whatever her name is... Twilight's sort of full-up on apprenticeships. I don't think she'll be accepting new ones for a long, long time. Maybe once you're a little older, you can fill out an application?"

Diamond giggled (success! Starlight thought), then sighed, wiping her cheeks with her hoof. "I figured... I figured she'd say no. I guess I just – wait a second." She stopped and stared at Starlight. "Did you say you're her student?"

"Um... yeah?" Starlight looked askance at Diamond. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"No reason!" A blush dusted Diamond's cheeks, and she looked away, muttering to herself. "Guess I owe Silver Spoon twenty bits..."

...Strange filly.

The blush faded, and Diamond looked over her supplies – her report cards and pile of bits – with a wry half-smile. "So I guess I can't put this off any longer, can I?"

"Probably not, no. When's class start?"

"I got another half hour. But I suppose being early would make a good impression."

Diamond rose, stretching out her back and her legs, and began pushing her belongings back into her saddlebags. Starlight's magic tinkled, and the report cards piled into a neat stack, which she slid into one of the bags.

"Thanks, Starlight Glimmer." She'd stopped crying; save the sticky cheeks and still-red eyes, she looked every bit a cheerful young filly. "For listening. I mean it. And I won't tell anypony that you used to be a bad guy."

"Oh, don't worry; I'm sure I'll find a way to slip it into random conversation with everypony in town, at some point," said Starlight with a self-conscious chuckle. "You know, I kinda need to stretch my legs after all that sitting. Do you mind if I walk you to school?"

Diamond Tiara slid on her saddlebags and stepped out of the sunbeam, looking confidently at Starlight.

"Not one bit."

They passed the map table as they went. Spike was at his seat, with his book open to one of the back pages. He was scanning through it carefully, his mouth working silently as he read.

"Find anything yet?" Starlight called as she stole up behind him, the sound of her voice making him jump in surprise. "I was right, wasn't I?"

Spike glared at her. "No," he said defiantly.

Starlight grinned slyly at him until he blushed and returned to his reading.

"Sh-shut up."

With a victorious chuckle, Starlight ruffled the top of his head. "I'm gonna walk Diamond Tiara to school, okay? I won't be gone long."

Spike mumbled something and waved her away.

She resumed walking, with Diamond close behind, until the filly paused mid-step and turned around, biting her lip.

"Hey, Spike?"

Spike looked up, a cutting remark on his lips. It died when he saw the look on Starlight's face, his hard expression softening.

"I'm sorry for how I talked to you earlier." Diamond Tiara fidgeted. "And for trespassing. And ignoring your 'don't trespass' sign."

"It's..." Spike exchanged a significant look with Starlight, before nodding at Diamond. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

Relief poured through Diamond Tiara. Then her eye glinted mischievously. "And it really wasn't easy to ignore. I had to try really hard."

Spike's eye twitched. "Thank you," he said icily.

Diamond turned back toward the door, grinning at Starlight's questioning glance. "What? I can be good and still have fun, can't I?"

Author's Note

Find all the references, get a prize! The prize is an old dustbin full of mud samples. It has a lot of sedimental value.

Thanks to Oroboro, who gave the first draft a read and a lofty score of 8/10, and to Editor Man, even though he didn't edit this one and probably won't even read it, since he has a visceral gag reaction to the mere mention of Starlight Glimmer's name.

And best of luck to everyone else entering Scribblefest!

(Also, I have no clue who the cover art is from; it was uncredited on Derpibooru. If you made it, and you're reading this, let me know so I can stick your name in the story description. I really appreciate you making that; it's absolutely perfect.)