After restoring the Crystal Heart and having Flurry’s crystalling successful, Everypony was heading back to the train station to go back to Ponyville.
But Twilight needed to ask Sunburst something before they left.
“Hey Sunburst.” She said.
“Yeah. Is there something else you need?”
“Yes, there is. I need to ask you something.”
“What do you need to ask? Whatever it is, I’m sure that I could find the answer in one of my books back at my house.”
“No, you won’t.” Replied Twilight. “This isn’t that kind of question.”
“Oh, well what’s the question?”
“Why?”
“Um, why what?”
“Why did you leave your friend without saying goodbye?”
“What do you mean? I’ve said goodbye to my friends before I left.”
“So you’re saying that you said goodbye to Starlight before going to Celestia’s school of magic when you were young?”
Sunburst opened his mouth to say yes, but then he realized that he didn’t.
“N-no, I didn’t. But I’m sure that she was fine.”
“Did she tell you about what she did? The whole anti-cutie mark thing and then going back in time for revenge?”
“Yes, she did. What does that have to do with anything?”
“She did that because you never said anything to her before you left.”
“S-she did.”
“Yes.” Replied Twilight. “You were her best friend back then. When you got your cutie mark, she felt like she suddenly wasn’t important.”
Sunburst didn’t say anything.
“You just left her like how a pony leaves behind something unimportant to them.”
“I-I didn’t mean for her to feel like that. I was just so excited.”
“And that prevented you from saying goodbye?”
“No, it didn’t. I still could have told my parents that I wanted to say goodbye to Starlight, but I never did.”
“If you had said goodbye, do you think that she would have done all those terrible things?”
“Probably not.”
“Moving on. When you were in Canterlot, did you have time away from your classes?”
“Yes, lots of time.”
“Did you take time off from studying?”
“Yeah, I took time off.”
“Then why did Starlight never receive any letters from you?”
“Um.”
“If you had sent her letters telling her how you were doing, maybe a few letters of encouragement that she would get her cutie mark eventually, she would have felt a little better.”
“I guess the thought never came into my mind.”
“So you’re saying that the thought of sending letters to your best friend, who tried so hard to be as good at magic as you were, never crossed your mind? Is that what you’re saying?”
“When you put it like that, it does sound terrible. But, yeah I am.”
“One last thing.” When you moved to the Crystal Empire, did you inform Starlight where you were so that she could visit you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
You could have told her about your new home in the empire so that she could visit you.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess that she slowly slipped from my mind until she visited me yesterday.”
“Do you think that Starlight wouldn’t have turned out like she did when she hated cutie marks if you had simply done those three things?”
“I suppose that she wouldn’t have. I was a horrible friend.”
“You know what you need to do.”
“Yes, I do. I need to go apologize to Starlight for what I didn’t do. It’s all my fault.” Said Sunburst, running to Starlight.
“Starlight!” Yelled Sunburst.
“What’s up, Sunburst?”
“Just let me catch my breath for a second.” Replied Sunburst, breathing heavily. “I needed to apologize.”
“Apologize?” Replied Starlight, confused. “For what?”
“For what happened when I got my cutie mark.”
“It’s okay, Sunburst.” Said Starlight, about to hug him.
Sunburst pushed her away. “No, I need to say this.” He said, taking a deep breath.
“Starlight, I’m sorry. I was a horrible friend back then. I could have said goodbye to you before leaving for Canterlot, but I didn’t. I could have sent you letters of encouragement and to tell you how I was doing, but I didn’t. I could have told you that I was living here so that you could have visited me, but I didn’t. I’m the reason you became that cutie mark hating mare who enslaved an entire village. I’m the reason you went back in time for revenge and nearly destroyed Equestria. And I’m the reason why you’re afraid that other ponies will judge you based on your decisions. For that, I’m truly sorry.” Said Sunburst
“Oh Sunburst, it’s okay. I forgive you.”
“Thank you, Starlight.”
“You too, Sunburst. It meant a lot hearing that apology from you.”
“Now, come on. We should continue going to the train station.” Said Sunburst.
The two friends continued walking towards the train station.
“Twilight confronted you, didn’t she.” Said Starlight
“Yes, she did.” Replied Sunburst. “She really helped with the problem between us.”
“Well, she’s not the Princess of friendship for nothing.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Replied Sunburst.
“Well, we’re here.” Said Starlight.
They walked up towards the train station, where Twilight was waiting for them.
“How was the apology?”
“It worked very well. Thanks for that, both of us needed it.”
“I’m glad that I could help. And I’m glad that you two resolved the issue.”
“So are we.” They replied together.
Then they heard the train pull into the station.
“Well, I have to go now.” Said Starlight.
“Goodbye, Starlight.” Replied Sunburst. “I’ll visit you soon, and will be sending you letters until then.”
“Sounds good. Bye, Sunburst.” Replied Starlight, getting on the train.
The train began to leave the station as Starlight and Sunburst were waving until they couldn’t see each other.
From that point on, both Starlight and Sunburst wrote letters to each other very often, and they visited each other 5 times every month.
I wrote this because I felt like Twilight should have talked with Sunburst about what caused Starlight to become a villain before her reformation. I hope you like it.