Glimmering Spells

Chapters

Starlight's Frustration
A Discussion With Trixie
Spell Writing
Spell Casting
The New Student
Starlight's Admission

Starlight's Frustration

Another day was drawing to a close in Ponyville and Starlight Glimmer was sitting in her office feeling a sense of frustration. While running the school itself was not causing any problems for her, there was one individual that was. Ever since Starlight had started working at the school, she always took her job seriously and couldn't stand it when others didn't. She felt as though she needed to be just as if not more professional than Twilight was.

It was probably around 3:30 in the afternoon when Starlight heard a knock on her door. She ordered, "Come in."

Sunburst came in with a smile on his face and immediately Starlight began to frown. She glared at him and asked, "What is it?"

Sunburst replied, "Starlight, I know the last couple times you said no but I was wondering if you might want to go out on a date tonight?"

Starlight had taken Sunburst out for supper a couple times but was not overly thrilled with the way he behaved when she did so. He started to call them dates and Starlight was picking up a feeling from him that he saw them as more than just friends and co-workers. Starlight was getting very frustrated but didn't want to hurt her oldest friend's feelings. "Sorry," she responded "but I have lessons to plan tonight."

Sunburst asked, "But it is Friday night. You have all weekend to do that, I'm sure just one evening wouldn't hurt."

Starlight could feel a rage building within herself but then remembered the last time she joined him at the cafe for supper that he quit bugging her about it for a couple of weeks so despite rather doing anything else she responded, "Fine. Meet me there at six and be sure to bring money because I'm not paying for your food again."

Sunburst could tell that Starlight was less that thrilled but still smiled brightly, "Alright Starlight, I'll let you get back to work, see you then!"

Once he left Starlight began banging her head on her desk before turning to Phyllis. "Ugh, what the hay can I do to make him just leave me alone? I know he wants more but I don't see him that way." Phyllis remained silent as she continued, "Ugh, it seems like the longer I have to be around him the more annoying he gets!"

She stared intently at Phyllis and thought she heard something, "What, you think an ancient spell will get him to quit bugging me?"

A leaf fell from Phyllis as Starlight continued, "That's it! Tomorrow I'm going out to Celestia's old castle! There has to be something there, maybe a spell that will make him only see me as a co-worker!" She then exclaimed, "Thanks Phyllis! I guess I better get back to grading these papers."

Starlight then got to grading the huge stack of papers from the past week. She knew that she should probably grade them after every day but her social time with Trixie and spending time with her other friends caused it to skip her mind, especially when Fluttershy would ask her to help her in bathing her animals.

As Starlight was grading the papers, she got in the zone for the most part and completely lost track of time. Just as she was about to finish the stack of papers she heard a knock on the door. She knew that it couldn't be Trixie because she was sick that day and didn't come in and she knew it likely wasn't one of the students so she wasn't sure who it could be. She sighed, "Come in."

Sunburst came in with a concerned look on his face, "Starlight, it is 6:30. You said you'd meet me at the cafe a half an hour ago."

Starlight looked up with a glare and said, "Look, I lost track of time, ok. I only have a few more papers to grade and then we can get going, alright?"

Sunburst gave her a smile, "Alright, I'm so excited we're going out."

Starlight rolled her eyes in frustration over his enthusiasm over something that she was hoping that she could make clear that going out was something she didn't want to do. Once she finished grading the papers she said, "Give me a minute to water Phyllis, ok. This shouldn't take long."

Starlight grabbed a large cup and headed to the restroom to get some water. When she returned she gave Phyllis a loving smile and continued, "Here you go Phyllis, you've been so much help today!" She leaned in and kissed one of her leaves before giving her a bit more water. "Now don't worry, I'll be in early tomorrow morning to give you some more water!"

As she was sitting the water glass on her desk Sunburst sighed, "Ugh, it seems like you care more about that stupid plant....."

Starlight flared her horn up and yelled, "Her name is Phyllis and she is not stupid." Her voice became more snide as she added, "Sometimes I think I should have hired her as vice headmare instead because at least she wouldn't be bugging me about going out to supper and expecting me to pay for her meals!"

Sunburst was not thrilled over the comment, "Ugh, I don't know if I even want us to go out to the cafe tonight with the way you're treating me. I never thought my best friend would be treating a plant better than me."

Starlight saw this as her chance to nip the problem in the bud. She yelled, "To be honest, I don't want to go out to the cafe with you. I know you always think whenever I take you out that I might want something special when I don't."

Sunburst went silent for a minute and decided that yelling and insulting Phyllis would not get him anywhere. He sighed, "Alright, maybe tomorrow night or next Friday."

Starlight grunted, "Whatever."

Once Sunburst left her office she again began to talk to Phyllis, "So Phyllis, what should I do tonight?" She then thought she heard Phyllis say something, "Go home and check on Trixie? Phyllis, you're a genius!"

She again kissed one of her leaves before giving her a thank you and then shutting the lights off and leaving her office. She was clearly not thrilled over what had happened earlier in the day but was happy that Phyllis in a way helped get her out of having to put up with Sunburst. As she was heading home she said to herself, "Alright Starlight, tomorrow we're going to study some magic, magic that will nip this problem in the bud."

A Discussion With Trixie

Once Starlight got home to the castle she headed upstairs and immediately went to check on Trixie. When she got to her room she could tell that Trixie was still not feeling all that well. She approached her and apologized, "I'm sorry Trixie. I would have been home sooner but I got held up by a huge stack of papers."

Trixie replied, "I thought maybe Sunburst asked you out and you took him out to supper."

Starlight sighed, "He did ask me out but I lost track of time, he came looking for me and then he had the audacity to call Phyllis stupid! He called her stupid because I was talking to her when I was watering her."

Trixie rolled her eyes, "Well you do seem to give that plant more love than anypony else." She paused before emphasizing, "I'm surprised you don't put her ahead of me, your best friend!"

Starlight replied, "Trixie, I would never put anypony ahead of you and you should know that!" She paused as she realized that Trixie likely needed something to eat. She asked, "Trixie, is there anything I can get you to eat?"

Trixie sighed, "Well The Great and Powerful Trixie could use some soup and some cider. That always makes her feel better."

Starlight gave her a smile, "Very well Trixie, I'll be back up shortly."

As Starlight was fixing Trixie some soup, the events of the day continued to play through her mind. She knew that Trixie wasn't overly fond of Sunburst but still couldn't help but wonder what she would think about her casting spells on him and she knew she couldn't just go telling Trixie that Phyllis had been giving her ideas because Trixie would think she was nuts.

Ten minutes later Starlight returned up to Trixie's room with a bowl of soup and a large mug of cider. Trixie grabbed the items in her aura and said, "Thanks Starlight, you're too good to me."

Starlight gave her a smile as she was trying to think whether she should talk to her about the events of the day. It wasn't long until Starlight knew that if anypony would understand how she was feeling, it would be Trixie. "Trixie," she asked "can I ask you for some advice."

"Well you did make me your guidance counselor so of course."

Starlight began, "Ok, this afternoon Sunburst came into my office wanting us to go out on "a date" as he is calling them now. Well I told him we could but then I wound up getting caught up in grading papers and I didn't show up at the cafe at six like I told him I would."

Trixie gave her a smile, "You did that on purpose didn't you?"

Starlight gave her a sheepish grin, "Mayyybeee!" She then continued, "Well anyway he comes over to see where I was so I finished grading the papers and now for what pissed me off. While I was taking care of Phyllis, I was talking to her and he called her a stupid plant, a stupid plant!"

Trixie sighed, "Well sometimes you do talk to that plant more than you do most ponies." She paused for a second before adding, "At least you haven't put her ahead of me, yet."

Starlight replied, "I'd never put anypony ahead of you Trixie, you know how much you mean to me." She paused for a moment before adding, "Anyway, Phyllis gave me some advice. She told me I should cast a spell on Sunburst to where he will only see me a co-worker."

Trixie's jaw dropped open when she heard this. She knew Starlight had cast spells on her friends in the past but it wasn't so much that she was going to do it that shocked her but it was who gave her the advice. She snickered, "Really, Phyllis told you? Starlight, she's a plant."

Starlight replied, "Seriously Trixie, Phyllis and I talk a lot when nopony else is around!"

Trixie had an unimpressed look on her face. She knew that Starlight had her quirks but for her to think that a plant was telling her to cast spells on another pony seemed out there, even for her. She sighed, "Starlight, are you sure you want to cast a spell on him? Remember what happened last time when you cast a spell on your friends?"

Starlight tried to justify it, "Come on Trixie, I'm not going to try to get him to do my bidding, I'm just going to make him stop wanting to date me!"

"Uh, huh." Trixie responded, "Well just don't do anything like steal his cutie mark or wipe out his memory, ok."

Starlight replied, "I won't." She was becoming a bit tired so she yawned, "Well I think I'm going to hit the hay. If you need anything let me know."

Trixie sighed, "Oh I will."

Starlight then headed to her bedroom and hoped that Trixie wouldn't think anything strange was going on given that she was going to be out of town for a fair amount of the day. She seriously didn't want Trixie knowing what her plans were for the next day but knew that she'd have to tell her the following morning since friends as close as them did not keep secrets from one another.

That night she was having trouble getting to sleep. Two things were keeping her awake. She knew that Trixie would try to stop her from going to the Castle of the Two Sisters or she would want to go with her and know what kind of spell she planned on using. The other was casting the spell on Sunburst with nopony else knowing about it. She knew that with her having a history of casting spells on others that if he was to start behaving in a strange way that she would be the one that would get blamed.

Spell Writing

That night Starlight didn't sleep all that well because of the plans she had made for the day. It wasn't just that though, she was also a bit worried about leaving Trixie alone, assuming she was still not feeling so well. She was also concerned about getting caught casting the spell she wanted to cast. She then realized something, such a simple spell shouldn't require her to have to go to Celestia's old castle to do some research. She figured that she should be able to write something like that herself.

Once the sun rose she got up and first went to check on Trixie. She knocked on Trixie's door and heard a cough, *cough*, "Come in."

Starlight headed in and found her friend laying in bed, looking worse than she did the previous night. She sat down on her bed and commented, "Trixie, you look like you feel terrible."

Trixie sarcastically replied, "Oh really? What gave you that idea?"

Starlight said, "Ok, with you feeling like this I'm not going to go out of town. I just need to go over and water Phyllis...."

Trixie interrupted, "And ask her for advice on what to do to Sunburst, right?"

Starlight gave her a sheepish grin, "Mayyybeee." She then became more neutral and asked, "Ok, is there anything you want to eat before I go take care of Phyllis?"

Trixie replied, "Some oats and warm cider sounds good."

"Oats and warm cider, got it. I'll be right back."

Starlight felt bad that morning that she would be leaving Trixie alone for a brief while but she did promise Phyllis more water and she did want to consult with her some more since she had changed her plans. It didn't take her long to prepare Trixie the meal she wanted. Once she delivered it to Trixie she asked, "Ok, is there anything you need while I'm out and about?"

Trixie threw in a snide comment, "Yeah, a friend who won't put a plant ahead of her sick friend."

Starlight groaned in frustration as she headed out of the castle. She knew that she should simply be staying home with Trixie but she always goes in and waters Phyllis every single morning. She did promise to come in and water her after all and she wasn't going to break it.

Once Starlight got to the school she headed to her office to get the cup she uses to water Phyllis. She gave the plant a smile and said, "Alright Phyllis, I'll be right back."

Starlight quickly went and got Phyllis some water and once she got back to her office she gave her some water. She said, "Alright Phyllis, change of plans. Trixie is still sick so I can't go to Celestia's old castle, I'll need to just write my own magic at home."

Starlight stared at the plant and thought she heard something, "What's that? You have some plans to take care of this?"

Again nothing but silence but Starlight continued, "Ok, you're saying I should give him a sex change operation, age regress him, give him a different cutie mark, dye his coat, dye his mane and tail and alter his personality?"

She gave the plant an uncertain look before continuing, "Well that will be tough but you're right! If I do that, everypony will think he, well she, is a new student and everypony will think that Sunburst just ran off! That is the perfect plan!" She thought she heard one more thing, "Oh and tribe swap him too? You know what Phyllis, once I get this taken care of I'm promoting you to vice-headplant!"

A leaf fell off of her and Starlight finished, "And I think you're going to need some plant food too."

Starlight then left the school and headed back to the castle. Once she got home the first thing she did was go up and check on Trixie. When she peeked into her room she saw that Trixie was asleep. While it would normally be rude to disturb somepony from their slumber she still wanted to make sure she was ok. She said, "Trixie, are you ok?"

Trixie grumbled, "Ugh, yes Trixie is fine so just let her sleep. You go work on a crazy spell or whatever it was you were going to work on."

Starlight sighed, "Alright but I will be checking on you every now and then."

"Ugh, fine. Just let Trixie sleep!"

Starlight closed Trixie's door and headed to her bedroom. Once she got there she sat at her desk, grabbed some paper and a pen and began to think before writing spells down.

"Ok, first I have to make him a her....this shouldn't be too difficult!"

"Right now the pony is a he and that simply cannot be,
The problem there is that a he often does not agree,
For now the pony shall be a she since they more often agree,
The great thing about a she is that she will always agree!"

"Ok, there is spell number one! Now to age regress her...hmmmm, how about twelve.

"The pony is old and that is very bad,
At a younger age the pony will be glad,
The age of twelve will be great,
At that age there shall be no hate!"

"Alright, that is done so now for the mark. Well I'm thinking of the name Sunshine so a simple sun should do the trick!"

"The mark and name Sunburst has is just not right,
For a new mark will cause her to not engage in a fight,
The new name of Sunshine and the mark of the sun it shall be,
With these changes nopony will suspect a thing and she won't have to flee."

"Ok, that's good now for the coat. It has to be different and more feminine!"

"For a coat the color tan is bad,
And that color must be changed more than just a tad,
The color pink it shall now be,
All shall love what they will see."

"Alright, good! Now for the mane and tail. She can't have that putrid color she has now!"

"The light brown color is uglier than hay,
That is something that certainly cannot stay,
For now the color dark pink it shall be,
And throw in a black stripe for all to see!"

Ok, that sounds good! Now to write one to alter her personality because we can't let her have the same one now can we!"

"Right now the pony is just a little bit out of whack,
That may be ok for some but for this the cuteness would lack,
The young mare's personality must not be that of a geek,
Her personality shall be that of the valley, which is something all will seek."

Alright, that is good. Now to tribe swap her, we can't have anypony thinking it could be Sunburst now can we?"

"For some being a unicorn is great,
But for others it is something they hate,
With some they would prefer to not have magic,
Others prefer the strength of the earth and not having it would be tragic."

"Ok, that's good. Now we have to wipe out all her memories of being Sunburst. If I don't do that, I could wind up in Tartarus."

"Memories of the past can cause issues,
Remembering some can cause one to need tissues,
Memories of the past will be no more,
Without them her memories will not make her sore."

"That sounds great, now to fix that vision. You know what, I'll be nice and give her 20/20 vision. That should hide this easily!"

"Right now the pony has poor sight,
And that simply isn't right,
The pony's vision 20/20 it shall now be,
A life without glasses shall set her free!"

Starlight exclaimed, "Alright, this didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. Now to go check on Trixie."

She got up and headed to Trixie's room. She knocked on the door and heard, "Ugh, Trixie is fine!"

Starlight headed in and saw that Trixie was still laying there, feeling downright miserable. She asked, "Trixie, do you want me to stay in here with you?"

Trixie sighed, "No, Trixie will be fine. Just come back up when it is lunch time."

Starlight replied, "Alright Trixie, I'll be back at noon!"

Trixie sighed in frustration and tried to get back to sleep. As Starlight was leaving Trixie's room, she did feel a bit guilty leaving Trixie alone the way she did and seeming like she wasn't putting her first but this was too important for her. She returned to her room to read over the spells she wrote to see if they would need any altering. She thought to herself, "Come this time Monday, my problem will be gone!"

Spell Casting

Monday morning had arrived and Starlight woke up early that day. The first thing that she thought about was Trixie's condition. She was hoping that her best friend was feeling better but also knew that altering Sunburst in the ways she saw fit would be better if she were still ill. She got up and headed to Trixie's room. She knocked on the door and heard a voice, "Come in Starlight!"

Starlight went in and Trixie was getting ready to head to the shower, feeling perfectly fine. Starlight asked, "Feeling better?"

Trixie embraced her and exclaimed, "Yes, much better! Thanks for taking such good care of me."

Starlight replied, "Well you know I'll do anything for you Trix, anything." Trixie broke the embrace and Starlight added, "Well we probably should get showered before we eat and head to the school."

Trixie commented, "Sounds good."

The two headed to get ready to start their day. Starlight was happy that Trixie felt better but at the same time this made her a bit nervous. She wanted to cast all these spells on Sunburst but knew that it was going to be a bit more difficult with Trixie there. It then hit her, Monday mornings were often the time when Trixie would have a line of students who wanted to see her. As she was showering she exclaimed, "I've got it! While Trixie is seeing students I can do this and after that, Trixie can help get our new student enrolled in her classes."

Starlight had a lot more confidence as she finished her shower and headed downstairs. Trixie joined her and she asked, "So Trixie, you want the usual?"

Trixie replied, "Yes, the usual."

Starlight headed into the kitchen and began to fix their oats and pour them large mugs of cider. As she was doing this, she hummed a happy tune realizing that by the end of the day that she would never have to put up with her annoying "friend" bugging her about going on dates or crushing on her ever again. She did know though that she couldn't act too happy, well yet anyway since there was no guarantees that the spells would work.

After breakfast that morning the two headed to the school and there were plenty of creatures outside the school interacting with one another. Starlight asked, "Well Trixie, you ready for another day?"

Trixie replied, "As ready as I'll ever be."

The two headed in and headed towards their offices. Sure enough, there was a long line of students waiting to see Trixie. As Trixie headed to her office Starlight gave her a smile, "Have fun Trixie!"

Trixie sighed, "Oh I will."

The next office Starlight passed was Sunburst's. She saw that he was sitting in at his office and said, "Sunburst, I need to speak to you in my office, alone."

Sunburst's ears perked up as he got up and enthusiastically followed Starlight to her office. She led them in and locked the door behind them. She said, "Sunburst, we need to talk."

Most ponies would think that such a statement from their boss was a bad thing but Sunburst thought otherwise. He asked, "Starlight, do you want to ask me to be your......"

Starlight fired a bolt of energy at him, stunning him. She whispered, "No Sunburst, I don't want to be your marefriend, I would NEVER be your marefriend."

She got a smile on her face, flared her horn up and readied herself to cast the spells. She first cast the sex change spell. She fired a bolt of energy at him and recited,

"Right now the pony is a he and that simply cannot be,
The problem there is that a he often does not agree,
Now the pony shall be a she since they more often agree,
The great thing about a she is that she will always agree!"

He became encircled in a white ball and after thirty seconds, a slightly different pony emerged. Starlight approached what was now her and made sure it worked. She got a huge smile on her face and snickered, "Oh yeah, the most important one has been taken care of." She then flared her horn up and readied herself to cast the second spell. She hit her with a bolt of energy and recited,

"The pony is old and that is very bad,
At a younger age the pony will be glad,
The age of twelve will be great,
At that age there shall be no hate!"

Again Sunburst became encircled in a ball of energy and it was less than a minute that the ball dissipated and revealed a younger pony. Starlight took a close look at her and laughed, "Excellent, she's the age of a student now, not a staff member!"

She then readied herself to cast the next spell, the name change and mark changing spell. She repeated the process and recited,

This one took a couple minutes before the ball popped and who was now Sunshine was revealed. She took a look at her mark and it was exactly what she wanted. She knew she had to be quiet so she whispered, "Yes, I knew my superior cutie mark magic could pull this off!"

She then decided the time had come to make him much less recognizable. She flared up her horn, hit her with a bolt of energy and recited,

"For a coat the color tan is bad,
And that color must be changed more than just a tad,
The color pink it shall now be,
All shall love what they will see."

With each spell it began to take a bit longer but given the length of the line of students that needed to see Trixie, she wasn't too worried. Once the ball popped, the pony standing before her now had a pink coat. She pumped her hoof skyward and added, "Now it is time to take care of the mane and tail."

She repeated the process and recited,

"The light brown color is uglier than hay,
That is something that certainly cannot stay,
For now the color dark pink it shall be,
And throw in a black stripe for all to see!"

Much to Starlight's delight, this one was rather easy and like she had hoped, the style was that of Twilight's. There was one thing that did bother her, that putrid facial hair was still there. She sighed, "I hope this doesn't reverse the stun spell."

She grabbed it in her aura and ripped it out, causing Sunshine to let out a screech of pain but remained stunned. She looked at the black and pink hair and saw that she had ripped it out by the roots. "Good," she said to herself "at least it won't grow back."

She then repeated the process and got to the next spell,

This one was a rather easy spell but what bothered Starlight was that she wouldn't know if it worked or not until she undid the stun spell. She sighed, "All I can do it hope, now to make her an earth pony."

She knew that this one was going to require a lot more power and would take longer given the complexity of it. She flared her horn up bright, struck Sunshine with a powerful bolt of energy and recited,

The energy struck her with a great amount of force and the ball she was in was shining much brighter. Starlight quickly became impatient worrying that Trixie would wind up catching her doing this. She knew that Trixie cared about her but also had her concerns that she might turn her in. She then calmed down when she realized that she could just erase her doing that from Trixie's memory.

When the ball finally popped, standing before Starlight was an earth pony. She pumped her hoof towards the ceiling and whispered, "Yes, I'm almost done!"

She was a bit relieved because the most difficult spell had been taken care of but she still had to do. She repeated the same process and recited,

"Memories of the past can cause issues,
Remembering some can cause one to need tissues,
Memories of the past will be no more,
Without them her memories will not make her sore."

This was another one of those spells that she wouldn't know if it worked or not until she undid the stun spell. She then decided it was time to take care of his vision so she did the same thing and recited,

"Right now the pony has poor sight,
And that simply isn't right,
The pony's vision 20/20 it shall now be,
A life without glasses shall set her free!"

He became encircled in one more ball and once it popped, she knew that those glasses had to go. She took them off and easily disposed of them by incinerating them into a pile of ash, a pile that she quickly moved under her desk. She then said to herself, "Anything else, anything else."

She then turned to Phyllis and said, "What's that? You think I should make all of these permanent." She continued to stare at her beloved plant and thought she heard her say yes. "Alright, hopefully writing this won't take too long."

She was a bit concerned because writing magic from scratch, well good magic anyway, wasn't easy. She then realized that she had to take her time so she took the still stunned Sunshine and put her in the supply closet in her room. She sighed, "I can take care of her later. I have classes to teach."

Once she put her in the closet, she left her office and locked the door with her magic just as the last student was leaving Trixie's office, she quickly turned the lights off in Sunburst's office before closing and locking the door. Trixie came out and sighed, "You know Starlight, some students complain about the tiniest things."

Starlight replied, "Tell me about it. I remember when Silverstream was wanting to tell the seaponies about showers, that had to be the most frustrating appointment of all time."

Trixie took a look to her left and saw that Sunburst's office door was closed. She approached and knocked on it. She knew this wasn't normal so she yelled, "Sunburst, are you ok?"

They heard nothing. Trixie seemed a bit concerned, "Starlight, this isn't like him. Do you think he is ok?"

The illness that Trixie had had was spreading around Ponyville pretty bad so she figured she could use that as an excuse, "He probably caught that virus you did and is laid up at home sick. I'm not going to worry about it too much."

This wasn't exactly normal behavior for Starlight and this caused Trixie to become a bit suspicious, "Starlight, you didn't do something to him did you? You didn't use some freaky spell to kill him did you."

Starlight remained calm, "Trixie, that would be murder and you should know that I'm not a murderer!"

Trixie sighed, "Alright. Well I'm going to get back to my office in the event a student needs to see me and I'm sure you probably have administrative duties to handle or a class to teach."

Starlight replied, "I do have a couple classes to teach this morning and then papers to grade. I want to get those done so I don't have a mountain of them come Friday night."

Trixie gave her a smile, "Well you better because I want us to go to the cafe come Friday evening."

Starlight gave her a light embrace and replied, "I wouldn't miss that for the world Trixie!"

Trixie headed back into her office while Starlight headed off to teach her classes. She was a bit concerned that Trixie might break into her office at first but then realized that Trixie couldn't do anything like that given only her magic could unlock the door. She also knew that her stun spell she put on Sunshine was strong enough that she wouldn't be coming to until after she had the time to cast a permanent spell on her to keep those spells nice and strong.

The New Student

After teaching her classes, Starlight headed to her office and noticed that Trixie's door was closed and that there were a few students waiting to see her. This did please her some because Trixie would be busy for a while and that might give her enough time to come up with something. Once she got in her office, she shut the door and locked it. There on her desk was Phyllis. "Hi Phyllis, you ready to help me out?"

There was nothing but silence but Starlight thought she heard her say yes. She clapped her hooves and exclaimed, "Alright, let's do this!"

She sat down on her desk and began to go into thought, trying to figure out the right wording. She would look up at Phyllis every now and then hoping that she would give her advice. Finally she thought she heard Phyllis say something,

"The spells I cast on this pony are great,
Though if the spells aren't permanent there could be much hate,
Never to be broken is how they must be,
Eternity under my spells is what I shall see."

She gave Phyllis a smile and said, "Thanks Phyllis! Now let's do this!"

She dragged Sunshine out of her supply closet and set her in the center of her office. She flared her horn up and struck Sunshine with her energy and recited,

Sunshine then became encircled in a ball and it began to glow brightly. Starlight figured that this one would glow brighter given the type of energy she had to put into it. Again she was becoming nervous as it took fifteen minutes before the ball popped and in front of her was the still stunned Sunshine. She then flared her horn up and readied herself to reverse the stun spell. "Well let's hope everything worked." she said as she struck Sunshine with her energy.

Sunshine finally came to and asked, "Ugh, like where am I?"

Starlight was thrilled. Sunshine did have a female voice and she didn't know where she was. Starlight did want to know more though before she could truly celebrate. She asked, "Sunshine, could you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Sunshine replied, "Well y'see, the last thing I remember was that I was like in Manehattan and then my parents said they wanted to send me away and stuff. I was like so totally unhappy about that cuz I liked it back home. I like don't know where I am now" she looked out the window and sighed, "but I know I'm like in some small town I don't recognize."

Starlight asked, "So why did your parents send you here?"

Sunshine replied, "By train cuz y'see, my mom is like a stock broker and my dad is like some bank president and stuff and they said I just got in the way and said that this school would be good cuz I was like getting into trouble back home."

Starlight was thrilled when she heard all of this. She knew that her spells had worked! Sunshine not only didn't remember anything about being Sunburst but had a completely new past. There was only one problem, Sunshine would need proper paperwork to be accepted at the school so she pulled out some papers along with a pen and asked, "Sunshine, could you fill these out for me since your parents just sent you here?"

Sunshine grabbed the papers and began to fill them out. Starlight hoped that she would remember the names of her parents and their phone number from her new "past." She had absolutely no plans on trying to contact whoever she put down but still needed that information since it was school policy.

Once Sunshine got the papers filled out Starlight took a look at them and said, "Alright, we'll get you a folder created but for now, let's go visit the guidance counselor and she'll help get you in the classes that would be best for you."

Sunshine exclaimed, "Alright, that sounds so cool!"

The two left Starlight's office and much to Starlight's delight, the last student was leaving Trixie's office so the two could just head straight in. Starlight said, "Guidance counselor Trixie, we have a new student, her name is Sunshine. Her parents just came, dropped her off and left her."

Trixie levitated the papers that Starlight was holding and asked, "Sunshine, so you're twelve and your parents just dumped you? That wasn't very nice."

Sunshine was a bit agitated, "No, that was like so uncool of them to do that. They put their fancy jobs ahead of their own daughter. Oh well, I'm sure Starlight will like take better care of me anyway."

Trixie replied, "Well you'll be staying in the student dorms so it isn't like Starlight will be raising you." She then began to look at the reasons why Sunshine was sent there and added, "Now let's get you put in the courses that will be best for you, ones that will help you with the problems you seem to have getting along with others."

Sunshine sighed, "Ugh fine but I wish I like could live with Starlight cuz she's like so cool!"

Starlight gave her a smile, "Sunshine, creatures get sent here to develop friendships with other creatures their age. You won't be able to accomplish that if you're living with me!"

Sunshine sighed, "Alright, I understand."

Starlight turned to Trixie and ordered, "How about you get her signed up for classes and get her settled into her dorm, I have administrative things I need to handle."

Trixie nodded and said, "Come on Sunshine, let's get you settled in and help you get acquainted with your new schoolmates."

Sunshine sat down in Trixie's office so they could start the process of getting her signed up for classes while Starlight returned to her office. Once she got sat down at her desk she gave Phyllis a smile and said, "Mission accomplished Phyllis, mission accomplished! I'll never have to worry about Sunburst bothering me ever again!"

There was nothing but silence in her office but Starlight could have sworn she heard Phyllis congratulate her over everything she did.

Starlight's Admission

Friday afternoon had arrived and the week was coming to a close for everypony at the friendship school. For the most part everything seemed normal. With the exception of a new student who was still adjusting to her new environment and the absence of the vice-headmare, nopony really noticed anything out of the ordinary.

When the clock struck five, Trixie headed to Starlight's office and asked, "Hi Starlight, do you want to go out to the cafe?"

Starlight jumped out of her chair and exclaimed, "Of course I do Trixie! Just let me get Phyllis watered, ok?"

Trixie rolled her eyes as Starlight was watering Phyllis, she wasn't frustrated though as she was fully expecting this. Once she got her plant taken care of, the two exited her office. Starlight shut the lights off and used her magic to lock the door. As they were walking past Sunburst's office Trixie commented, "You know, I wonder what happened to Sunburst. If he really did get that virus, he shouldn't have been out for this long."

Starlight replied, "I honestly haven't given it that much thought. On Monday we had Sunshine just get dropped off here and then we've had multiple exams going on this week. It was either a matter of me administering them or grading them and then once we're off the clock, I do my best to not even think about this place."

Trixie laughed, "Wow, talk about a change. Used to you'd be worried about the students at all hours of the day!"

Starlight laughed slightly, "I know, I know. Now let's get to the cafe, I'm hungry!"

Once the two got to the cafe, they were immediately seated and Trixie continued to discuss something that had been bothering her, "Starlight, something just doesn't seem right. I thought you would be more concerned about Sunburst going missing. If one of my friends went missing, I'd be at least going to check on them if not going out looking for them."

Starlight sighed, "Trixie, he probably got really sick and didn't feel up to notifying us. I remember how grumpy you were when you were sick, chances are bothering him would cause more problems than it would solve."

Trixie replied, "Well whether you want to think about the school or not, after we're done here we are going to go check on him, alright?"

Starlight replied, "Very well."

Starlight couldn't help but wonder why Trixie was so adamant over checking on Sunburst. Yes the two got along because he can actually do stage magic but still, to her it seemed like Trixie was concerned like if she was the one who had gone missing, either her or Gallus given their rapport.

That evening Starlight was leisurely eating her meal while Trixie seemed to be scarfing hers down. Starlight noticed this and commented, "You must be really hungry tonight! You're acting like you haven't eaten in weeks."

Trixie replied, "Starlight, I just want to hurry up and eat so we can check on Sunburst. I know you're there thinking he is simply laid up with the virus but I think there is something else going on here." She paused for a moment before adding, "I've heard some of the students and staff wondering what happened to him. It seems like you're the only one who isn't concerned at all!"

Starlight replied, "Oh ok, you can go check on him. I'll head home so nopony thinks I'm trying to break an entering."

Trixie still couldn't believe how nonchalant Starlight was over the issue, especially given that Sunburst was her oldest friend. Once the two finished their meal and paid for it Starlight said, "Alright Trixie, I'll see you back at the castle."

Trixie sighed, "Oh alright, I still wish you'd come with me."

When Trixie approached Sunburst's house, she noticed that it was completely dark in there. That was something that she didn't think would be normal given it was only thirty minutes ago that the sun had set. She approached the door, knocked on it and yelled, "Sunburst, are you ok?"

She heard nothing so she went to open the door and discovered that unlike pretty much everypony else in Ponyville, he didn't lock his door when he went out and about. Trixie turned some lights on and began to go through his house. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary until she reached his bedroom. On the wall she saw a big picture of Starlight with a heart around it. She then saw a journal laying on a desk under the picture.

The page it was opened to was on the Sunday before he went missing and Sunshine showed up at the school.

20 September 2021

Dear Diary,

Well as you know, I was shot down in a rather unpleasant way on Friday by Starlight. What I don't get is why she has to be so unpleasant. All I want is for her to give me a chance. I'm not demanding a relationship but she gets mad when I do classify the times we go to the cafe as dates. Technically they are dates but what really bothers me is that she puts that stupid plant of hers ahead of me, a stupid plant and to make matters worse, she loves it as though it were her own child! Well I will try again tomorrow and maybe she'd at least maybe want to eat lunch together or something. Despite the way she treats me, I still love her and would love it if we was to one day be husband and wife.

Sincerely,

Sunburst

Trixie sighed, "It's a good thing Starlight didn't see this, I know she would be very unhappy but maybe I should take this with me."

She then began to think that perhaps she shot him down on Monday and then he ran off somewhere, perhaps in the Everfree Forest and was killed by some dangerous creature. She grabbed the journal, then left his house and rushed towards the castle. This was something she had to let Starlight know about. She knew she would be less than thrilled over the diary entry but thought that maybe she'd care more if she speculated that he got killed by a creature in the forest.

Once she got back to the palace she barged in and yelled, "Starlight, I think I know what happened. I found something in Sunburst's journal."

She heard a yell, "I'm in the library."

Trixie rushed to the library and found Starlight doing one of the things she loved more than anything, studying magic. She got her attention and said, "Starlight, I think I know what happened to Sunburst. I think I know what the real reason is he hasn't shown up to work for a week."

Trixie levitated the journal to Starlight and a hateful glare formed on her face as she was reading it. She read page after page of him talking about how much he loved her and wished they could be something special. When she read the part about being married in the last entry she snickered, "I guess I did the right thing after all."

Trixie heard her snickering but couldn't make out what she said. She asked, "Starlight, what is the snickering about? I thought you'd be mad over what he wrote."

Starlight couldn't hold it in anymore. She laughed, "I said I guess I did the right thing after all."

Trixie's eyes grew wide as she asked, "What do you mean? What did you do to him?"

Starlight began to laugh harder as she continued, "Nothing bad, I promise! It isn't like i killed him."

Trixie then remembered that it was on the very day that Sunshine was dropped off that Sunburst disappeared. She also knew that Starlight was very good when it came to rare and powerful magic. She yelled, "Sunshine really wasn't dropped off by her parents was she? Sunshine isn't even really a twelve year old filly, is she?"

Starlight's laughing became more hysterical with what she was thinking of as Trixie's speculation. Once she calmed down enough to where she could talk she asked, "Now why wouldn't she be a twelve year old filly? I don't think she lied about her age."

Trixie began, "Starlight, I know how good with advanced and likely forbidden magic you are. I also know how your mind works. If you thought you could do something to make sure that he'd never bother you about dates and think he had a chance with you, you'd jump on the opportunity."

Starlight had calmed down a bit more as she asked, "Trixie, how much can I trust you?"

Trixie gasped, "What all did you do to him?"

Starlight again asked, "Trixie, how much can I trust you?"

Trixie knew that Starlight had her concerns that she may snitch on her and that is why she was asking her this. She also knew that Starlight could easily overpower her with her magic and maybe do something bad to her, despite them being friends. She replied, "Starlight, whatever you tell me won't leave this room."

Starlight began, "Ok. Well the first thing I did was cast a sex change spell on him so that he'd be a mare. After that I cast an age regression spell on her to transform her into a twelve year old filly. After that I cast a spell to alter her cutie mark and make her think her name is Sunshine. Then I cast a spell to change her coat from tan to pink, I couldn't have her looking too much like Sunburst after all. Once I did that I figured that she needed a mane and tail that would match her coat so that is why I gave her the dark pink mane and tail with the black stripe. Once that was done I altered her personality to where she would behave more like a valley mare because if she still had Sunburst's personality, somepony might think something was up."

Trixie gasped, "Really, you did all of that?"

Starlight laughed, "Oh, there is more. I cast an incredibly powerful spell to transform her into an earth pony. I figured that if she came in as an earth pony instead of a unicorn, nopony would think anything about it. Then I wiped out her entire past memory of being Sunburst. I didn't intend for this to happen but she got a whole new memory, a memory that is nothing like what Sunburst's past was. After that I did her a huge favor, I corrected her vision to be 20/20 so she wouldn't be seen with those hideous looking glasses on. If anypony saw her in those, they'd know something was up. Pretty impressive, huh?"

Trixie was standing there in a state of shock. She knew that her friend was great with magic but she never knew that she was that good. While she did find it impressive, she was not thrilled over the reason why she did it. She became very angry and yelled, "Starlight Glimmer, I can't believe you'd do that to him. I can't believe you'd do that to your very first friend." She then became more paranoid, "Do I have to worry about you turning me into a colt?"

Starlight replied, "Trixie, you should know that I would never do anything to you. You know you're the closest I've ever got to anypony. Before you, I never got this close to anypony before." She hugged Trixie and added, "I know I may seem paranoid right now but you mean a lot more to me than you could ever imagine."

Trixie gasped, "Really, I do."

Starlight replied, "Yes, you do."

Trixie was happy that she meant that much to Starlight but was still not happy over what she did to Sunburst. She glared and suggested, "Starlight, I really think you need to go and reverse those spells. What you did was wrong, very wrong."

Starlight got a sheepish grin on her face and giggled, "I can't because, well you see, I kinda made those spells permanent."

Trixie became very angry over learning about this, "What? You made those spells permanent? So you took Sunburst away from his mom just because he had a crush on you and replaced him with a filly with no birth certificate?"

Starlight snickered, "Yeah I guess I did."

Trixie threw her hooves up in the air, "You know what Starlight, I don't think I can even sleep in the same castle as you tonight. I'm going to sleep in my wagon."

Trixie slammed the door on her way out of the castle. Starlight sighed, "Oh well, I'm sure I can fake a birth certificate for her. I'll just find out her parents' names, her birthday and where she was born. Then she'll have that birth certificate!"