Coming back to Ponyville after so many years spent studying under Princess Twilight in Canterlot was definitely new for Luster Dawn. Not much had changed since her departure to become the princess' student, mind you, but even seeing familiar sights again for the first time in years was an experience like no other, especially when one had some new friends to share them with.
Friends, the very mention of that word was enough to give Luster room for pause. Until recently she'd felt she had little use for them and if not for her mentor practically telling her to make some friends she might have kept on thinking that way. Now, however, the mare couldn't imagine her life without them: The griffon named Grizelda, the kirin named River Song, the yak named Yola (apparently a distant cousin of another yak who lived in Ponyville) and the earth pony stallion named Sunspot, to say nothing of the recent addition of Scales the dragon.
Princess Twilight wasn't the only one pleased to hear about this development, Luster's mother was practically beside herself with joy to find out her daughter was making friends and embracing friendship. "I told you friendship wasn't silly, my little Luster," Starlight Glimmer cooed as she talked to her daughter at her work, the headmare's office at the School of Friendship. "And you always thought I was crazy. You kept telling me you could make your own decisions about life."
Luster Dawn did her best not to blush while this conversation was ongoing. Her mother had an unfortunate tendency to embarrass her without even realizing it. "Yes, Mother," She sighed and forced herself to smile. "You don't need to keep rubbing it in. I see now how important friendship is, and how special it can be. A conclusion I probably would've come to on my own."
"I wasn't involved in Twilight's decision to send you here," Starlight pointed out. "I just casually let it slip that you weren't giving much thought to friendship and needed to understand its importance. I'm still glad she let you come back home though, now I can see you every day to monitor your progress, and see how big you're getting."
"Mom!" Luster whined in spite of her better instincts.
Starlight quickly realized her mistake as a raging blush broke out, turning her cheeks a bright pink (even pinker than her daughter's coat). "Sorry, Luster, kind of runs in the family I suppose. Just ask Grandpa Firelight. Actually, on second thought, don't."
The younger unicorn thankfully said nothing further on the subject, knowing how many embarrassing stories her grandfather had about her mother (it was apparently something grandparents did, which made Luster shudder to imagine what her own mom would be like if she became a grandmother). She instead decided to change the subject to something far more concerning. "Well, Mom, you'll be happy to know that I'm making tons of progress on my friendships. I'm actually looking forward to my first ever sleepover next weekend. There's just one little thing I need to take care of before then if possible."
"Oh, you're talking about the progress report Twilight wants you to give about how your friendships are coming along," Starlight cooed with a bright smile. "I don't see what's so wrong about that. After all, she'll be coming to Ponyville in a couple of days to celebrate the anniversary of when she met her friends."
"And that's on the same day she's bound to be expecting my progress report!" Luster protested as her eyes began to widen. "But I've only just begun to really get to know my friends. Queen Twilight is gonna be expecting so much more and I'll have practically nothing to show for it! She's gonna get the wrong idea!"
Sensing that a panic attack was about to set in, Starlight instructed her daughter to take some deep breaths in sync with her. Those breaths did the trick. "I'm sure the queen will be happy with any kind of progress, Luster. Besides, you have a few days still to work on it, the reunion's not gonna be until the end of this week."
Luster Dawn was anything but reassured by this. "That's hardly time to get to know my friends on the same level as Queen Twilight knows her friends! I'm her student for pony's sake! I promised I wouldn't let her down and that I'd take my studies seriously! I don't want to disappoint her," And she desperately pleaded with her mom. "Please, you gotta at least put in a good word for me before I give my report. Let the princess know I'm trying to work on my friendships and that I'm not slacking off."
"I'll see what I can do. I've got a lot on my hooves as it is," Starlight replied as she adjusted her headmare robe. "Just relax and make the most of what time you still have. If you ask me I'd say any progress at all will be great."
"But you're not the Princess of Friendship who founded a school to teach friendship, and went on to become Queen of Equestria! She's sure to be expecting a lot!" Luster protested. "Oh, why am I still talking to you now, Mom?! I've got to get out there and try to find my friends so we can start learning more about each other! Why does Queen Twilight have to come to Ponyville so suddenly, and why does my progress report have to coincide with that?!" Frustration boiling over inside of her, the young mare dashed out of the headmare's office as quickly as she could!
If Starlight was at all worried by the display she'd just seen she didn't show it outwardly. She instead turned to a potted plant on her desk and let out a slow sigh. "I know, Phyllis. Twilight and I were just like her when we were her age. Making a big deal out of things regardless of what they actually were. I guess it's up to me to talk to Twilight, and hope she can get through to Luster for me. I hate having to rely on her so often but there's really nopony else I can turn to on such short notice." She quickly made a mental note to write a physical note to Twilight informing the young queen of the situation.
The rest of the week passed quicker than poor Luster Dawn would've liked. And no amount of reassurance from her mom that she was making too big a deal about this could get the young unicorn to see sense. She tried as hard as she could to spend the days with her friends and learn all there was to know about them. But of course a lifetime of memories can hardly be crafted in just a few days, which left Luster feeling all the more anxious and frustrated as the deadline for her report drew nearer with each passing sunrise and sunset.
At last the day of Twilight's reunion with her friends arrived, and Luster Dawn woke up that morning with a knot in her stomach that only deepened as time passed. She began to immediately rehearse her apology, hoping that she could luck out and get little more than a disapproving glare from her mentor.
Twilight, for her part, was already aware of what her student was going through and had arrived secretly at the school she'd founded all those years ago to talk to her former student: Starlight.
"Come in," Starlight called, already expecting her former mentor. And sure enough that was who came trotting into the headmare's office as Starlight sat behind her desk. She had to blink and adjust her eyes when she saw her friend. "I still can't get over you looking like that, Twilight. We both know that's not how you actually look."
Twilight blushed as she lit up her horn, her large body shrinking down to one that was about the same size as Starlight's and had a few gray locks forming under her bangs and pink skunk stripe. "Sorry," She somewhat nervously giggled. "It's just, everyone always kept saying when they met me 'I thought you'd be taller.' So I took it to heart and researched a spell to make me look like Celestia and Luna when they were on the throne. And I keep forgetting that I don't need to keep it up in public all the time, at least not around here."
"Yeah, well we've got bigger problems to deal with than your looks," Starlight commented to the queen. "And I think you know what I'm talking about."
"Luster Dawn?" Twilight asked and received a confirming nod that answered her question. "I know, I got your letter. Trust me, when she shows up I intend to let her know that I'm not mad with her or think any less of her. The report is more for her sake than mine if I'm being honest. But how else am I supposed to know if she's truly understanding friendship?"
Starlight Glimmer just commented in reply. "You've all but done everything for her. Just like you did with me you've got to give Luster space to be her pony. And I know it's not easy for you, because it's not easy for me. Being so close to your child now that they're all grown up, it can be so hard to forget that they don't need to rely on you all the time and don't always need you to step in and help them out. Sometimes the old urges slip out."
Twilight smiled as she put a hoof around her fellow mare. "Your daughter is truly something, Starlight. You've raised her quite well. And in a lot of ways she's just like you when I took you under your wing. It's remarkable to think how much the cycle repeats itself, and yet things are never quite the same each time."
"You make it sound like you're planning to make her succeed you as Supreme Ruler of Equestria someday." Starlight blinked.
"Maybe, if that's what she really wants. What I want most is for her to be free to live her life the way she wants it, free to make her own friends and have her own experiences." Twilight replied while massaging the back of her neck with a hoof.
Starlight then replied. "That's great, but I think Luster needs to hear straight from the queen's mouth so to speak."
Twilight just grinned. "Not to worry, Starlight. Luster will show up to give her report sooner or later, and when she does I'll be ready. It'll be just like when my friends and I decided it'd best to send her here to study friendship. Speaking of friends," She turned to leave, though not before casting the spell to make herself tall and display a flowing mane and tail again. "One of these days I'll have to reveal the truth to Luster Dawn as well." She said to herself. If one listened carefully they might have heard the queen snicker ever so faintly before she departed.
To the surprise of only herself and Spike (as no one else had gathered yet), Twilight was the first in her circle of friends to gather on the hilltop overlooking the quaint little town of Ponyville. Despite how much had changed in Equestria over the years Ponyville had never lost its sense of community that had made it the friendship capital of Equestria (Twilight had officially designated it as such in one of her first acts as the new supreme ruler).
But it wasn't long before the rest of Twilight's friends began to join her one by one. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the first, surprisingly. Rainbow Dash even pointed out this. "See, Applejack? When you let me help you out with the chores we actually can get to places on time for a change."
Applejack just grinned in reply. "Only because ya agreed to do the chores the right way instead of the lazy way. After all the times you've crashed at my place, how have you still not learned how I work yet?"
"I'm not lazy, keeping up with the Wonderbolts keeps me on my hooves. Just ask Soarin," Rainbow replied back before looking to Twilight and greeting her. "Hey, Twilight. Long time no see. Surprised the others haven't beaten us here again. Must be running late or something."
Just then, however, Fluttershy emerged from a portal as she waved goodbye to a certain draconequus before his departure. "Sorry. Discord just wanted to make sure I'd be okay to get back home on my own power. He's gonna be visiting with his parole officer again today." Fluttershy greeted while apologizing.
Rarity arrived not long afterward, still sporting that fashionable purple robe as she had now dyed her mane and tail to remove any traces of gray locks from them. "I'd have been much earlier, darlings, but I needed to check up on Carousel Boutique and make sure everything was okay with Yona. Never would've believed she'd become my most promising fashion pupil. It's funny how life works sometimes."
"Hey, the funny doesn't start until I get here!" The familiar bubbly voice of Pinkie Pie protested as she bounced up to the group, this time with the noticeable absence of her only child. "I just wanted to make sure Lil' Cheese was comfortable with his new foalsitter. I hope this one sticks around, but not literally."
Rarity had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. "That's what, his fifteen foalsitter this month?"
Pinkie shook her head. "Nope, it's his twentieth. But I got a good feeling about this one! This foalsitter seems right up his alley!"
"I don't mind you bringing Lil' Cheese along when we have these get togethers, Pinkie," Twilight smiled in reply. "He's just a bundle of adorableness, most of the time anyway," And then she commented. "Well, it looks like we're all here now. Can you believe it's been so long since we first came together and defeated Nightmare Moon? Seems like it was only yesterday that all happened."
Everypony nodded as Rainbow Dash remarked. "Tell me about it. It's really amazing how time flies. Now I can hardly remember a time I wasn't part of the Wonderbolts. And I gotta say, the current batch of recruits I'm training looks promising. Perhaps the best batch I've ever had come out of the academy in my time."
"Big Sugar's about ready to start learnin' how to applebuck," Applejack smiled. "I know Sugar Belle's a little worried, but Big Mac, Apple Bloom and I know what we're doin'. Heck, Big Mac and I have been around this here block before. It ain't our first rodeo."
"He's that old already, huh?" Fluttershy couldn't help but comment. "I can still remember the day he was born. Pretty soon he and Lil' Cheese are gonna be trying all kinds of things to get their cutie marks, just like the Cutie Mark Crusaders."
"I suppose there's truth to the old saying," Rarity observed. "'The more things change, the more they stay the same.'"
Just then, who should come panting up to the hillside the six mares (and a dragon) were standing on but a familiar unicorn mare whose mane and tail looked quite frazzled?
"Ah, Luster Dawn," Twilight warmly greeted her pupil. "I assume you're here to deliver that progress report I assigned you? The one about the state of your friendships?"
Luster Dawn reluctantly answered between pauses to catch her breath. "Y-yes... Please accept... my apologies... I've been... working on my friendships... I swear... But this deadline... it just... crept up on me... so fast."
The alicorn's response was not what Luster had been expecting at all. Just like when she'd learned she was wrong about her mentor's friends and the point of the story about the follies behind her mentor's coronation, the six mares in front of her (as well as the dragon) were laughing. "Okay, what I am not getting this time?" She questioned as she immediately suspected something was up.
Fortunately, Twilight was quick to explain herself. "You giving the progress report on this day was little more than a suggestion, Luster Dawn. It didn't have a fixed deadline. The intent was to see if you would actually try to develop your friendships enough to have something to report. I assume you have that, don't you?"
After thinking it over for a moment, Luster answered. "Huh? Oh y-yeah, I do!" She cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure. "I learned that River Song is a really talented singer who wants to become the next Sapphire Shores or Songbird Serenade, whoever those are. I learned that Yolla has a distant cousin who lives and works here in Ponyville. And I learned that Scales was actually the youngest dragon in a group of eggs totaling more than a dozen."
Before Luster could say more, Twilight interrupted her student. "That's all I need to know, Luster. It's more than enough to convince me you're taking your friendships seriously, and that's what's most important," She then explained. "Friendship is something that's truly magical. And like magic it's something you have to work at to be good at, because like magic there's always something new to learn when it comes to friendship. Who knows, your friendships could be the ones that change Equestria not unlike the way my friends and I did long ago?"
"Do you really believe that, Queen Twilight?" Luster asked as she nearly gasped in surprise.
Nodding, Twilight confirmed. "I most certainly do, Luster Dawn. Every friendship is special, and every friendship has the potential to change the world as we know it. And the best thing about friendship is often how it helps us grow as individuals in the process. Just as friendship took me to places I never would've gotten to on my own, I know friendship will do the same for you. And as long as you keep at it, I know you'll discover just how magical friendship can truly be."
Author's Note
There is conflicting information about whether Luster Dawn is the daughter of Starlight. Jim Miller said in an interview that he specifically was against it even though Josh Haber (who wrote "The Last Problem") wanted it, and thus Luster Dawn's family was not eluded to in the final product. It's a bit more apparent that Lil' Cheese was supposed to be a boy, and the writers didn't communicate this to the animators (who in turn, wanting to save time and money, took Pinkie Pie's filly model and recolored it).
The names of Luster Dawn's circle of friends as shown at the end of "The Last Problem" (minus the dragon since that was not part of the group shown) are primarily just based on speculation. Apparently, fans have been running with River Song for the kirin. And Grizelda was Gilda's originally planned name before it was changed. Yola is what I originally mistakingly believed Yona was called. Sunspot is a name that some associate with Sunburst's dad shown in flashbacks, though there's been no official confirmation and the name has popped up independent of that.
And lastly, the bits with Twilight are partially headcanon (the appearance of her in "The Last Problem" after the time skip) but also partially confirmed by canon (merchandise has established that Twilight after the time skip is officially called Queen Twilight).
