Fluttershy, Starlight, and Spike went to the park to find the rest of the Mane 6 already there, setting up decorations, seats, and snacks. “So, you all think this is a big thing as well, don’t you?” she asked. They all nodded, except Rainbow Dash.

“Honestly, I don’t know what’s so special about some boring ol-”

“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Applejack. “Could you be more considerate of your friend’s feelings?”

“No, no, Applejack, it’s okay. I don’t think it’s that big a deal either. To be honest, I’m actually not into this whole thing,” Starlight says, but immediately regrets it after seeing Twilight. She gazes down at her hooves, not wanting to hurt her mentor’s feelings again. “But, well, I am kind of excited?”

Twilight’s face lit up as she heard this. “I knew you would be up to the challenge!”

“Challenge?” Starlight scoffs. “It’s just a few ponies. What’s so challenging about that?” she asks, trying more to convince herself than Twilight.

“Oh, I thought I told you. It’s not just a few ponies. The whole school is going to see it! Plus all the ponies I mentioned before, and your friends.” Twilight told Starlight. “You might not want something like this, but I know it’s perfect for you.”

Twilight went on explaining a few concepts, but Starlight wasn’t paying attention anymore. How could she? It’s not like she had stage fright, but she didn’t want to be imperfect in front of all those ponies, and even creatures, from all over Equestria! Starlight felt like she already carried the weight of stress and pressure around everywhere, but now, her friends were giving her even more weight to hold.

“Starlight?” Twilight asked. “Are you okay? You seem stressed.” Starlight just shook her head as calmly as possible. “If you aren’t, I could always-”

There was a bright burst of teal magic as Starlight disappeared from the park, leaving Spike and the girls on their own.

4:00 already? My speech starts in 10 minutes! Starlight thought. She stepped up onto the stage Applejack had prepared for her. She took a few deep breaths, like Fluttershy taught her to do. “My name is Starlight Glimmer. As you were-” Starlight says, right before her speech is blown away. No!

Starlight tried to think of what she wrote down, but she hadn’t memorized her speech. “As you were told, I am h-h-here to g-g-give a speech about…” She stutters. She didn’t have a plan for if her speech was lost!

Starlight was frozen in front of everycreature, until someone yelled, “Hey! You gonna tell us what you’re giving a speech about?” Everyone was now criticizing her, even her friends. Having nothing to say, she burst into tears and stormed off stage, bumping into somepony. Standing up, she noticed that she had bumped into Princess Luna, who was smiling.

“Your nightmare does not speak the truth, Starlight Glimmer. Though your feelings are real, this dream is not,” she consoled her.

“Oh, thank Celestia, it's not real,” she sighs. “But how should I cope with my nerves?”

“Sometimes, what you expect you need is not really what you need. Maybe you should talk to a friend?”

Starlight shakes her head. “No way. If I tell anypony, word will get to Twilight and she’ll be disappointed in me. I don’t want that to happen.”

Luna nods. “I understand. But your future is in your hooves,” she reminds Starlight before vanishing into the moon.

Starlight sat up in her bed with a start. It’s only a dream, she reminded herself. But she knew that the feelings were 100 percent real. She took deep breaths until she was calm enough to lay down and fall asleep again.

Starlight walked over to the park in the morning, and found Twilight and Spike already up. “Hey, Starlight!” Twilight called. “Come help us?”

Starlight walked over, remembering last night’s conversation with Luna. She still didn’t want to bring it up, but the more she heard Luna’s words, the more convincing they were. Starlight did a duplication spell on the risers so that there were just about enough seats. “Do you want to practice your speech again?” Spike asked.

Starlight nodded and put on a friendly face. “Good afternoon, everycreature. My name is Starlight Glimmer. As you probably know, I am here to give a speech about what I’ve learned about the Magic of Friendship. I am delighted… to share with you that I have learned many things. First of all, friendship is important because having friends makes… things a lot easier. In my experience, you can rely on your friends to help you, so long as you help them back. You should give… as much as you take, almost always return what a friend has given you, and don’t be shy to make new friends… Everypony still has a lot to learn about friendship, but if you work hard, you can start making friends… as easily as you start walking. Thank you, everycreature!”

“That was beautiful, Starlight! You just made this yesterday?” Twilight was astounded that her student had come so far.

“Yeah,” Spike laughed. “It sounds similar to the one you said yesterday. I should know. I took notes.”

Twilight glared at him. “You were amazing! I hope you do as well as you did today as you do on the night of the real performance.”

Me and you both, Starlight thought. “See you at home in an hour, Twilight. I’m going to go check on the school for a little while.” Twilight waved back. They parted ways, and while Twilight was walking towards Sugarcube Corners, Starlight decided she might be able to tell one pony what she was feeling. “Spike?”

“Yeah?” He answered.

“I’m actually really nervous about the speech. I’m starting to feel sort of reluctant to do it, too.”

He chuckled. “I could tell. You were starting to act… differently.”

Starlight looked around cautiously. “Can you not tell anyone how I’m feeling? I don’t want Twilight to know about my anxiety.”

“Okay,” Spike agreed. “But why not? She could help you with it.”

“Luna said the same thing. Well, I guess I just don’t want her feeling sorry for me, or feeling bad that she threw this on me. I want her to know that she’s a good mentor.”

Spike nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll see you later, Starlight. Remember, tomorrow’s speech night!” He called, and ran off towards the castle.

Starlight stared at the doors of the school. “How could I forget?”

Author's Note

Just so you know, the "..." was when Starlight was flipping through her index cards.
I'm going to post a blog (Behind the Scenes + Authors Note) for every story after I finish. Thanks for reading these words; it means a lot to me!