The Dragon, the Spoon and the Offer
Smiling gratefully, Rainbow suddenly lunged forward, giving the surprised Starlight a hug. "Thank you!" she cried again, before leaping into the air, and taking wing with all the speed the Fastest Pony in Equestria could muster.
As she watched her erstwhile companion shoot like a bolt into the distance, Starlight grinned to herself. "Miss Starlight Glimmer: Evil Dictator, Guidance Counsellor, and Matchmaker," she murmured aloud.
With her heart soaring almost as high as the clouds above, she began trotting briskly for home.
The walk back through Ponyville, with the light beginning to fade into dusk and the streetlamps being carefully lit by the village's resident lamplighter, Candle Taper, was very pleasant, with the gentle hum of a populous preparing for the evening meal, young fillies and colts being taken upstairs to bed, a final few market traders collapsing their stalls till the morrow, and with the final rays of the darkling sky reflecting off windows and shopfronts.
It was with a bounce in her step that Starlight arrived outside the Castle of Friendship and, without bothering to knock - after all, she did live there - she pushed open the needlessly large, though no doubt highly impressive, crystalline doors, and passed within.
Inside, Starlight was met with a similarly cosy atmosphere. It had taken Twilight a long, long time to become used to the castle following the destruction of her beloved Golden Oaks Library during the Second Tirek War, and although Starlight hadn't been around at the time, she could appreciate the Princess' reservations - the castle could feel cold, empty and unforgiving at times, hardly conducive to an uplifted sense of wellbeing. But since her friends had done everything they could to make living in the castle more welcoming for Twilight, she had grown to enjoy living there, especially now she shared the vast hallways and deserted corridors with not only Spike, but Starlight Glimmer as well.
So now it was that, instead of clip-clopping echoingly down bare, chilly passageways, Starlight was instead met with a warm, glowing ambience, full of the sights, sounds and smells of home. As she padded comfortably along the carpet-floored corridors, taking pleasure in the light show provided by the sun's dying rays dashing on the prismic crystal which formed the castle's walls, she looked forward to a refreshing tea - of both the edible and the liquid variety - almost certainly prepared by the resident able cook, Spike the Dragon.
After a couple of minutes of trotting (no matter how long she lived there, the castle's interior always felt unnaturally large when compared with its visible exterior proportions!), she reached the huge wooden door which led into the dining room.
Or rather, it led into one of the dining rooms. Despite her friends' efforts, Twilight had never been at ease sharing her meals with Spike in the cavernous quarters which had originally been set aside for the purpose of eating, and had instead preferred to eat in either her bedroom, or in a small, informal chamber located off the Friendship Map room, which was accessible both from there and from the main hallway. After some months of living in the castle, Twilight had officially declared this room to be the new dining room, and since then the majority of their meals had been eaten in there. The exception was, of course, on occasions when a number of their friends were round to visit, as the new dining table was really too small to seat more than about four ponies (or dragons).
Of course, Starlight was already familiar with all of this 'castle lore', as Twilight would say, and was focussed instead on the heady aromas of the sumptuous tea which was waiting for her within; without hesitating she pushed open the door and headed inside.
"Ah, Starlight!" Twilight was already sat down at the circular table, spoon held eagerly in front of her, with Spike - still dressed in his chef's hat and apron - to her right. "You're just in time. Spike has made leek, lentil and potato soup, and it smells delicious!"
This last statement was certainly true, and Spike grinned bashfully as Starlight breathed in the air in appreciation. "Hmm, that smells tasty, Spike!"
"Ah, you guys!" the dragon blushed.
Without further ado, Starlight joined the others at the table, and together they began the solemn business of eating. After a few minutes of silent mastication, Twilight swallowed, and asked, "So, how was the walk with Rainbow Dash? Did she fly off almost straight away, or did she manage to stay on the ground long enough to have a conversation?"
Starlight grinned. "Actually, she barely took flight all day - with the exception of a crash-landing when we met up, she hardly spoke about flying the whole time, and only mentioned the Wonderbolts thirty-seven times!"
"That few? I'm impressed," Twilight acquiesced, while Spike snorted with repressed laughter. All three of them were very familiar with Rainbow's addiction for all things Wonderbolt.
"What d'ya talk about?" Spike inquired with his mouth full.
"Oh, quite a few a things." Starlight tilted her head to the side, thinking back to the day just gone. "As well as asking me how I was, which seemed to make her incredibly uncomfortable -" ("You know how she is when it comes to emotions!" chortled Spike) "- we got talking about our other friends. Don't worry," she added, seeing the mild anxiety on Twilight's face, "nothing unpleasant!"
Blinking in gentle relief, the alicorn smiled, and seemed about to say something, but Starlight forestalled her, eager to pass on the juicy titbit of gossip she had been storing up and looking forward to telling somepony ever since Rainbow had admitted her innermost feelings to her. "In fact, I learnt something quite interesting."
She paused, waiting for the encouragement she knew would come. As Twilight nodded encouragingly, Spike implored, "Well? Don't keep us in suspense, what did you learn?"
"I don't want to give too much away," Starlight tantalised, "But let's just say that I think Rainbow might be asking somepony something very important, right around now!"
After looking confused for a moment, an expression of sudden realisation and understanding washed over Spike's face, but Twilight still seemed nonplussed. "Something important? Like a lot important, or more like only a bit important?"
"Oh," Starlight intimated, "I think it's very important indeed. . ."
Twilight still looked blank.
Starlight tried again; "I think she - Rainbow - is going to ask somepony special - a yellow somepony, perhaps - a very special question - about their relationship. Maybe. Possibly."
"Er. . . wh-what?" Twilight wondered in desperation, still not grasping what Starlight was trying to tell her, and completely oblivious to the fact that Starlight was attempting to do so in a non 'I totally just told you what was probably a secret' sort of way.
Starlight facehooved. "Think about what I'm saying, Twilight. Rainbow - is asking - somepony very special - an important question. A very personal question! Do you get it?"
After a moment, Twilight's face cleared, and she smiled self-consciously. "Oh, I see!" she announced. "Yes, I see. . . No, I'm afraid I still don't get it."
Starlight burst (metaphorically). "Oh, for Celestia's sake! Rainbow's loves Fluttershy and has done for years and she's going to ask her out!"
As the unicorn slumped back in her chair, seemingly worn out from the effort of not only having kept this interesting snippet of gossip to herself for so long, but from trying to explain it in such a way as Twilight's thoroughly logical brain could understand.
"Oh!" Twilight cried. "Now I get it! Wow," she added thoughtfully, "That is surprising. . ."
Spike merely raised an eyebrow as though he'd known all of this for a long, long time, and said nothing, merely sharing a knowing smirk with Starlight.
As Twilight seemed to be deep in thought - she had, in fact, stopped eating with the spoon still levitating halfway to her muzzle - the three of them ate in silence for a while. It wasn't until they had almost finished the soup (or, rather, finished the first helping thereof - Spike, knowing that Starlight's appetite had returned now that she was recovering from her depression, always made enough for seconds and thirds) that the Princess spoke again.
"Huh," she murmured, apparently still amazed at the startling revelation of Rainbow's feelings for Fluttershy, before shaking her in an attempt to clear her mind. "Well," she continued, "I have something of my own I'd like to share with you both, seeing as we're all here like this."
Starlight, sensing Twilight was a little uncertain over what she was about to saying, put down her soup and listened intently, breaking the focus of her attention only to smack Spike lightly over the head with her spoon; he had been absorbed in licking out the last remains of the dish from inside the pan, and looked up, surprised, before realising that something was happening. He, too, temporarily stopped eating.
The air was heavy with anticipation, and as the seconds ticked by without Twilight saying anything further, Starlight's left eye starting twitching with the suspense; the Princess was staring at the table, muzzle scrunched up in consideration, her eyes absentmindedly studying the ornate tablecloth. (The cloth had been a gift from Princess Luna and, although perhaps rather too 'Gothic' for Twilight's taste, she had felt too polite to say anything, and now felt obliged to lay it out on the table whenever they happened to be eating after nightfall.)
After the second minute of deathly silence had passed by without anything more being said, and just as Spike was about to share a raised-eyebrow-glance with Starlight, the unicorn had had enough. "Come on Twilight! Either spit it out, or tell us you've changed your mind! You're killing us here!"
At this, Twilight suddenly jumped, as though she had been in a trance, and apologised profusely. "Oh, I'm so sorry! It's just that I remembered a problem I had been working on this morning regarding the presence of pheromones in changeling courtship norms, and whether what I was studying could be applied in an abstract way to modern Equestrian society as a whole, drawing on the writings of Haycartes. . ."
She trailed off, surprised at the disbelieving looks on the faces of Starlight and Spike. Then she remembered where she was, who she was, and what she was doing, and stammered, "Oh! I'm s-so sorry! I d-didn't mean to go off on a t-tangent like that!"
The other two both smiled indulgently - they knew Twilight very well, after all. They watched in silent mirth as the obsessive-compulsive alicorn wracked her brains for whatever it was she had been meaning to say.
Eventually, she started. "Ah, that was it! I remember now. What I was going to say," she declared, "was that, as you seem to be so much better now, Starlight - and please correct me if I'm wrong," she added hastily, "- I was wondering if you'd like to return to your place as guidance counsellor at the School?"
Spike sighed; it was evident that he had been expecting something just a little more momentous than that, but Starlight merely smiled, and considered what Twilight was offering.
Am I really ready? she thought. Do I really want to take that back on? It's a lot of work, and not just in the literal sense. Although she could never be certain, Starlight had often wondered if the emotional strain of her role as counsellor, rather than the physical element, could be partly to blame for her fall into depression the previous autumn. Am I well enough to take that responsibility back on? What if I become ill again. . ?
But even as she thought this, Starlight knew that things would be different now. Before, she hadn't realised just how strong her friendships had been, and had had no idea of how much she could rely on her friends to help her through difficult times. And now she knew: whether it was Applejack's sage words of wisdom, Rarity's obvious trust in her, Fluttershy's openness and willingness to share her innermost sentiments, Pinkie Pie's infectious enthusiasm, Rainbow's simple, awkward show of empathy, the teasing, banterous humour she could share with Spike, or how the troubled, neurotic Twilight had been so willing to forgive her and welcome her into their lives; Starlight knew - without a shadow of a doubt - that she could always, always, rely on her friends for kindness, compassion, and a helping hoof when times were hard. I am so lucky, she thought. With these ponies - and dragon! - by my side, I can do anything.
Looking up, Starlight smiled warmly, and said simply: "I'd love to."
Twilight smiled back.
Author's Note
(This story is a prequel to Spectrum.)
