You know what… Noby Starlight FanChaptersI’m Tired Of This NonsenseDoubts and TurmoilConsiderations and ChoicesMending Hearts and Drying TearsI’m Tired Of This NonsenseStarlight was ticked off right now. This wasn’t like the time where Trixie had ignorantly teleported the map table away from the castle or when Ember practically called her and Twilight clones of each other, this time she was really annoyed. After the Pillars had been brought back to Equestria, they had to deal with the Pony Of Shadows. Their chosen method of dealing with the villain was to use the Elements Of Harmony to banish him back to limbo, but in doing so, they’d lose the Elements forever. Starlight had suggested that they’d try and see if they could reform the villain, seeing as Stygian did use to be a friend of the Pillars in the past but Starswirl had coldly dismissed her and said “once a villain, always a villain”. Worst part was Twilight hadn’t bothered to say anything. Perhaps Twilight thought Starswirl meant nothing too seriously by it, but Starlight couldn’t help but feel that Twilight was somehow embarrassed by her. Nonetheless, once she got more information on Stygian, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to try talking to Starswirl and Twilight again, they were at the library with Sunburst trying to perfect the spell to send Stygian to limbo. She decided to keep her anger to the side and try to be as civil as possible. “That looks like a lot of work.” Starlight said in shock. “It is what must be done.” Starswirl told the unicorn dismissively before waving an uncaring hoof to the side, “And it would be best if we were not disturbed.” Starlight silently took offense to that dismissal but made sure to keep herself calm, this wouldn’t go anywhere if she lashed out. “I'm sorry, Starlight, but we can't stop to talk. The stakes are too high, and we have to-“ Twilight said as she levitated a book at her side so she could address her friend. “Banish Stygian to limbo. I get it.” Starlight said in an annoyed tone. “Uh… who?” Sunburst asked, clearly confused. “Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness.” Starswirl explained briefly as he went back to reading. “But I’m just trying to figure out why.” Starlight said. “Envy!” Starswirl closed his book angrily as he got up in Starlight’s face, “He wanted more power than he had, and that desire led him down a path from which there is no return! Of course, you obviously wouldn’t understand that.” Normally Starlight would have just let that remark go and move on, but this was the second time that Starswirl had coldly disrespected her. She prevented herself from forming an anger cloud, she didn’t want a repeat of the bottle incident after all but he let Starswirl’s words sink in and soon she realized… she wasn’t the only one who reformed before. “You act as if you know everything.” Starlight rolled her eyes with a scoff causing Starswirl to glare at the unicorn. “What are you suggesting?” The wizard narrowed his eyes. “Starlight…” Twilight spoke softly, whether it was worry or embarrassment Starlight did not know but she wasn’t backing down. Not this time. “I’m just saying, considering you were banished from Equestria for a thousand years, you might think to value the opinions of ponies from this timeline instead of only listening to yourself.” Starlight continued while keeping her face as stony as possible, she was very annoyed but she refused to lash out and make herself look bad. “Please. How could Equestria possibly be different from my time?” Starswirl rolled his eyes but Starlight caught the hesitation in them. “Well if you haven’t noticed, many creatures have improved from being able to seek redemption in their lives. We gained the Changelings as valuable allies, got the Lord Of Chaos to accept friendship and harmony while still having a bit of space to be mischievous, and even your student Luna went through a time where she fell to the dark side and she wouldn’t have been able to continue living her life if she wasn’t offered a chance to redeem herself.” Starlight began ranting while keeping her temper in check as she took in the shocked look in Starswirl’s face. “Oh but let me guess, if you were around you would have banished her without a second thought about saving her. I’m not saying Stygian will reform but it’s better to try and help your friends than to abandon all hope entirely.” Starlight finished off her rant before walking away from Starswirl and up to Twilight. This wasn’t as easy as speaking to Starswirl but after what was displayed today, Starlight knew she wouldn’t gain anything if she didn’t make her feelings known. “Oh yeah, I guess I’m lucky that your idol wasn’t around when you decided to be my friend, maybe I would’ve been banished to limbo too.” Starlight said to the alicorn, but this time she had a tearful gaze instead of anger which Twilight noticed and tried to extend a hoof to Starlight but Starlight teleported away before she could do anything, leaving Twilight and Starswirl with shocked looks on their faces. “Wow… I’ve never seen Starlight this driven before.” Sunburst gasped in shock, to which Twilight had to agree but she also has never seen Starlight this upset before. “So what should we do now?” Sunburst asked curiously to his magically gifted companions. “W-We should work on finalizing the spell first. We are almost finished with it and we must have it ready.” Starswirl told his two fans. “But what about Star-“ Twilight began speaking in concern before Starswirl shut her down. “Forget about her right now. Just focus at the task at hoof.” Starswirl narrows his gaze at the alicorn who sighed forlornly as she continued to search through her book. Little did Starswirl and Twilight know is that Starlight’s words had affected their feelings on banishing the Pony Of Shadows more than they both thought they did, whether it be their own thoughts or each others’, but Twilight certainly knew that after finalizing the spell, she needed to talk with her former pupil. Author's Note This will get interesting as we go on. This isn’t over guys. Doubts and TurmoilStarlight laid on her bed deep in thought, tears silently streaming from her eyes. She knew she was no saint but she figured her friends would give her opinion the benefit of the doubt, especially with the Elements Of Harmony at sake, but of course, she was practically ignored in favor of Starswirl the Bearded. When she thought back, the moment Starswirl had said “once a villain, always a villain”, no one bothered to speak up against that. None of her friends bothered to prove Starswirl wrong. Not Spike, not Fluttershy, not… her. Why did she think that she ever had a chance? If Twilight was willing to let Starswirl say those type of things when she knew that Starlight has been redeeming herself, what chance did Starlight ever have at being… No, she won’t even think about it. It was a foolish dream anyway. She should have known better than to feel that way about her and Twilight. Suddenly she heard a knock at the door and tried her best to wipe her tears. Whoever it was, she refused to look weak in front of them. Starlight opened the door and saw Twilight standing before her. There was an awkward silence between them, and both were aware of how much tension there was right now. “What do you want?” Starlight sighed in frustration. “I just wanted to let you know that the spell’s finished and we’ll be able to use it so we can banish the Pony Of Shadows or Stygian as you pointed out.” Twilight said, nervously rubbing the back of her head. “Pfft, figures.” Starlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Look Starlight, I get your upset about what happened earlier and I understand if Starswirl can… annoy you but not everypony can be saved.” Twilight told her friend solemnly. “Not like you’re even gonna try.” Starlight pointed out bitterly. “I know, but I’m sure Starswirl knows be-“ Twilight began before Starlight interrupted. “What about the Tree Of Harmony? Whenever it calls us down, it’s for a friendship problem and I have no reason to believe this is an exception. Also, I’m guessing if Starswirl knows best, maybe his mindset about lack of reformation applies to me too huh?” Starlight spoke furiously as hot tears streamed down her face, much to Twilight’s shock and horror, why would Starlight think this? She’d never do that to her? “Starlight, you know that’s not true.” Twilight spoke pleadingly, hating to see Starlight so upset. Twilight was being entirely honest here, Starlight meant everything to her and Twilight always knew there was good in her and she just needed Starlight to remember that. “You didn’t seem to care when Starswirl said ‘once a villain, always a villain’. You of all ponies should know that’s not true, but I guess you didn’t care to correct him at all if it meant pleasing your idol.” Starlight kept a furious glare at the alicorn before she began letting tears slip and her expression changed to one of sadness. “Maybe I should’ve seen this coming. Even after all our time together, we’re not as close as you and the rest of your friends. Today just helped me realize what I’ve been denying, we’re just average friends, not best friends or anything. Our friendship basically formed out of a business deal, yet for some reason I thought we could be more, I fell in love with you for Celestia’s sake!” Starlight let all of her pent up sadness out and let the tears fall. She didn’t even care to acknowledge Twilight’s shocked expression, she needed to let this all out. “Yes, for some forsaken reason I fell for you, and you know what, I still have! I love you Twilight, but you probably don’t feel that way about me, and I’m fine with that…” Starlight said softly, wiping her tears, “It’s just hard for me to let the truth sink in, y’know.” “Starlight-“ Twilight tried to speak before Starlight interrupted. “Twilight, you don’t have to try and convince me that I’m more than just a casual roommate to you. I know the truth now.” Starlight sighed despondently before closing the door to her room. Twilight couldn’t believe what she just heard, Starlight was in love with her? If Twilight was honest, she was feeling strange about Starlight for a while now. She couldn’t place it but all she knew is that whenever she was with Starlight, it felt really good and there was a certain charm to the unicorn she couldn’t figure out and Twilight wasn’t quite sure what it meant but after hearing Starlight’s confession, it became clearer now. Twilight was in love with Starlight. Once she realized this, she immediately flung open the door to Starlight’s room. “I’m not trying to convince you of anything Starlight, I’m being honest with you. You’re a very special pony in my life, if it weren’t for you, we’d all be Changeling stock. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You and I share common interests and you can always be a rock for me when I need it. Starlight, what I’m trying to say is… I love you too.” Twilight found herself confessing much to Starlight’s shock. Starlight couldn’t believe what she just heard, Twilight really was in love with her? Such a confession would normally have her as happy as Pinkie Pie in one of her parties but all she felt was looming doubt. Twilight may say she loves her but could she trust that? “I don’t know if I can believe that Twilight, I’m sorry.” Starlight began walking off and despite Twilight wanting to follow her, she couldn’t bare to do it. She had already done enough. Twilight silently teared up as she watched Starlight leave, she loved Starlight and Starlight loved her, but now it was too late for her to realize both of those things. What could she do now? She broke Starlight’s heart and she doubted it would be repaired so easily. Author's Note Before anyone gets up in arms, Starlight may be right about what’s going on but her emotions are sort of clouding her judgement with her refusal to hear Twilight out. Considerations and ChoicesStarlight laid on the soft grass on the sunny fields behind Twilight’s castle and looked at her reflection in the water. She couldn’t believe she had just admitted all that to Twilight. She didn’t regret what she said about potentially helping reform Stygian, that was something she felt Twilight needed to hear but she just had to open her big fat mouth about how she was in love with Twilight. Why?! Why did she do that?! If their friendship wasn’t on awkward terms earlier, it certainly would now. But Twilight pretty much said she loved me right? Starlight shook the thought out of her head, what was she thinking? Twilight didn’t love her, she probably just had some crush on her. Starlight may have had self doubt issues from time to time, but she was aware that she was physically attractive to most ponies. Heck, at one point Spike had to flare his nostrils at somepony when he caught them staring at her butt. Twilight just happened to be really close with Starlight and had a physical attraction. That was all it was and that’s what made the most sense to Starlight. So why did she feel this lingering doubt that she was wrong. Thinking over all the times they spent together, could Starlight be making a miscalculation? Could Twilight really love her? The thought almost made the unicorn smile and blush before realizing what she was doing. “GRAH! What is wrong with me?!” Starlight furiously gripped her head before staring sternly at her reflection, “Get a grip Starlight! You know she wouldn’t love you! She’s a Princess and just a year ago you were a villain she had to tame! That’s all you are to her! Her loving you is an absolutely ludicrous and you should know that! She doesn’t love you!” Starlight began to tear up again before furiously wiping them and sighing. She could focus on that romance crap later, right now they need to deal with the Pony Of Shadows. Twilight probably wasn’t going to listen to her, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying one last time to talk to her about Stygian. After this whole situation was over, Starlight needed to consider how things were going to go between her and Twilight. Suddenly she heard little footsteps running over to her and turned to see it was Spike. “Oh good, I found you. Everypony was wondering where you went.” Spike said in relief, “I figured you were here since I know that’s where you normally go when you’re upset.” Starlight was shocked to find out that Spike knew she was upset but she tried to keep a brave face, “It’s nice of you to be concerned but I am NOT upset. Just annoyed with how nopony’s listening to me. Nothing more.” Spike gave a dull look, showing that he did not believe Starlight’s lie for a second so she just scoffed and said, “Let’s just go already. I’ll deal with my emotions later.” Twilight hated to admit it, but she really was considering Starlight’s point about the Pony Of Shadows. The map usually does call her and her friends for friendship problems and this could very well be no different considering how Starswirl and the Pillars used to be friends with Stygian before he became what he was. She also had a point about how Twilight reached a hoof to Starlight when it came to friendship but she always found Starlight and Stygian’s situations vastly different. Starlight was never really evil when it came to her motives for her twisted ideology of Equality but her actions were too extreme, Stygian genuinely became evil and wants to send the world into darkness. Then again… she also befriended Luna and Discord and they turned out better than they used to be. Starlight’s love confession may have surprised Twilight, but Twilight wasn’t going to deny that Starlight made some really good points and as she, her friends, Spike, Starlight, Sunburst, and the Pillars traveled to Hollow Shades while the Elements were on her and her friends, she found herself approaching Starswirl and whispering, “Are you sure Stygian can’t be helped? Starlight did bring up a good point to me earlier, the map’s called us to solve friendship problems.” Starswirl seemed surprised by the notion and even though Twilight expected to hear him speak in a stiff tone, he surprisingly stammered a bit, “I’d like to believe you are right, but perhaps Friendship quests are not the only thing the Tree Of Harmony had in purpose for you. You said it yourself, it could very well just be leading us to the Pony Of Shadows.” He ended firmly. Twilight was surprised to see Starswirl not speak so confidently as usual but maybe he was a bit shaken up from what Starlight said about Luna. At last, the group had finally reached Hollow Shades and took in the abandoned land. “I don't remember reading anything that said the Hollow Shades was like this.” Sunburst recalled to the group. “Ohhh. The Pony of Shadows must have twisted it to his purposes.” Mistmane said sadly. They all grouped by the well and Starswirl immediately narrowed his eyes, as he heard evil chuckling. “He’s here.” He muttered lowly before yelling, “Stygian! Show yourself and face us!” Evil laughter was heard as the ground beneath them suddenly began cracking and because of that, they fell through and landed underground in some rocky caverns. “Ugh, after facing so many villains, you’d think you’d expect this.” Spike muttered to himself but only Twilight heard it. Black mist began to swarm the ground so Starswirl immediately put up a shield around everyone in the caverns when the Pony Of Shadows finally formed into its menacing state. “Welcome to the Well of Shade! When you turned your backs on me, I discovered this place. The darkness spoke to me of a power beyond any I could imagine, and I listened. The shadow and I became one. Soon, all of the realm will be the same. Then all ponies will feel the despair I did when you cast me out!” The Pony Of Shadows ranted furiously, much to Twilight and Starswirl’s shared concern, it was as if they were reconsidering everything they were going to do before Starswirl spoke. “We did what we had to do. You tried to steal our powers for yourself!” Starswirl spoke defiantly but all the Pony Of Shadows glared at the heroes. “You act as if you’re in the right don’t you?! Typical Starswirl! Vain and Prideful till the end! It was you who were selfish and now you must PAY!” The Pony Of Shadows furiously spoke before blasting the forcefield, causing it to crack. Before it fell completely, Starlight had turned to Twilight fearfully, “Are you sure this isn’t a friendship problem?” Twilight wasn’t sure how to answer that, she considered what Starlight had told her but also considered what Starswirl said, she wasn’t sure what to do. “Open the portal…” Starswirl weakly commanded before the barrier finally shattered, “NOW!” The Pillars and Twilight’s friends immediately linked hooves with each other and used the Elements and artifacts respectively to begin firing up a rainbow laser and began shoving the Pony Of Shadows into a new portal but the dark entity resisted as it tried to push him into limbo. “No! You will not trap me again!” The Pony Of Shadows growled furiously. Twilight gave a look of reluctance at the Pony Of Shadows before noticing something poking out of its body, a grey skinny stallion with a blue mane. She immediately turned to Starlight in concern once she noticed this, and she had no doubt Starlight did too, “There’s a pony in there.” She spoke sadly before immediately knowing what she had to do, Twilight dove into the creature in an attempt to rescue the pony inside. Starlight was shocked to see what Twilight was doing, she thought she was going to dismiss the presence of Stygian’s true form entirely when she saw him, even if Starlight was going to point it out to her but no, Twilight noticed it too and dove inside the Pony Of Shadows and Starlight knew why, she genuinely wanted to save him now. Starlight couldn’t believe what she just saw, especially after everything that happened. “What is she doing in there?!” Starswirl spoke furiously but Starlight could see the concern in it, “She is going to get herself killed!” Starlight suddenly heard a voice from the beaming light of the Pony Of Shadows body and shushed Starswirl, “Look! I hear something!” “ I went to Ponhenge to make my own copies of the artifacts. With them, I thought I could be a Pillar, too, and stand by their side in battle. I never wanted to steal their power.” Stygian’s voice was heard from inside the dark creature, much to Starswirl’s shock, and Starlight couldn’t help but shoot a stone faced look at the wizard, however, she faltered once she heard Stygian’s voice again. “But instead of sharing and letting me help, my friends threw me out. So I became stronger than any of them! The darkness welcomed me when no pony would, and I will do what I must to protect it!“ Stygian’s voice began deepening and Starlight couldn’t help but feel worried about what’s going on in there so she lit up her horn and began levitating towards the Pony Of Shadows and flying inside to find Twilight and Stygian arguing. “This is all a misunderstanding! If the Pillars knew how you felt, I'm sure they wouldn't have turned their backs on you. The shadow isn't who you really are. Let me help you be Stygian again.” Twilight tried reasoning with Stygian as darkness began to envelope him. “Even if my friends did still care, what makes you think you have the power to help me?” Stygian said lowly before Starlight stood next to Twilight and interfered. “Because it’s what she does.” Starlight said sternly, “I wasn't so different from you, and Twilight helped me change. If there's one pony in Equestria that can save a friendship, it's her.” Starlight shared a smile with Twilight and after that, she began feeling warm inside again, that familiar feeling she almost forgot about having. “I-I want to believe you…” Stygian looked convinced before the shadows began to take over again, “But the darkness will not be STOPPED!” Twilight glared at Stygian in determination and used her magic to make a magical tether rope and pull him away from the dark atmosphere and back into the underground but unfortunately the Pony Of Shadows was refusing to let him go as Starlight found out when she levitated back to the ground with everyone else. Once she saw Twilight struggling to maintain a hold on Stygian, she immediately grew worried for her safety. “TWILIGHT!” Starlight cried out before using her magic to wrap around the hoof Twilight didn’t use her magic to grab and began pulling along with her, it wasn’t much but Twilight had a better grip on him with Starlight’s help. “What’s going on?!” Spike asked, clearly worried about his friends. “The shadow won't let go of him. He wants to stop, but he can't do it alone.” Twilight told Spike and everyone else below. “Then we must help him.” Starswirl said in determination before he and Sunburst used their magic to pull Stygian out, and soon enough the rest of the Pillars and the Elements Of Harmony helped to pull Stygian out of the Pony Of Shadows causing the dark soul to be plunged into Limbo and finally the portal closed, releasing a powerful rainbow explosion in front of them. Once they got out of the hole, Rarity noticed that the Elements did not disappear and Fluttershy explained that it might be because they used them for healing magic and not banishing, an explanation Twilight could accept. Twilight and Starlight then turned to see Starswirl helping Stygian out of the hole and soon Starswirl spoke to the smaller stallion, “Long ago you needed our help Stygian. But instead of listening, we turned our backs on you. Pride clouded my judgment. I owe you an apology.” He then turned to the two mares in front of him and spoke softly, “Thank you Twilight and Starlight for helping us see the error of our ways. It seems I never accounted for the Magic of Friendship.” “Thank you Swirl Star.” Twilight said happily, seeing as she was being praised by her idol before correcting herself, “I mean Starswirl.” Soon Twilight and her friends’ cutie marks began glowing when Spike walked over to Starswirl with a grin, “So I guess a conversation CAN save Equestria and keep our defenses strong, huh?” Spike smirked as he gave Starlight a playful elbow jab. “Oh yes… it appears I’ll be making a lot of apologies today, won’t I?” Starswirl smiled sheepishly when he remembered how he treated Starlight. Maybe in another universe, Starlight would have shared Spike’s smug attitude but she couldn’t help but feel confused. She was glad to have been proven right but now she had no idea what would become of her and Twilight, especially after the confessions they made. Author's Note So I had to use some of the canon dialogue but hopefully that was a good chapter. We’re not done yet though, we have a whole can of worms to open when it comes to Twilight and Starlight. Stay tuned for that. Mending Hearts and Drying TearsThings seemed to be going back to normal for Equestria, heck normal may not be putting it the best way, everything would be better now that the Pillars are back from being banished. The best part is that they still had the Elements Of Harmony at their side. Celestia and Luna were overjoyed to reunite with their old mentor as he was to reunite with her. In fact the princesses were happy to let them stay in the castle until they could find a way to integrate into the new society. Meanwhile Twilight, her friends, and Sunburst were all staying in her castle themselves to unwind after dealing with the Pony Of Shadows and to make up for the lack of rest to bring back the Pillars as well, but there was still an elephant in the room. Twilight and Starlight could barely talk to one another. Currently, Starlight was playing Dragon Pit with Sunburst and introducing it to Spike, so that allowed Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity to confront Twilight on what was going on in the map room. “Okay Twilight, be honest with us. Did something happen between you and Starlight in that library?” Applejack tried to patiently get an answer out of Twilight for why she and Starlight were being so distant. “I’ll be honest… something did happen in the library. When Starlight was trying to convince me and Starswirl to try and reform Stygian. Neither of us listened to her and Starswirl coldly cast her aside, I didn’t even try to defend her, even after Starswirl made a snarky remark ‘once a villain always a villain’, so I feel like something in her just snapped and she tore into why second chances have always worked before to Starswirl and how she believed she was lucky that he wasn’t around when I decided to be her friend or she’d have been banished to limbo too.” Twilight explained solemnly. “Well… that’s certainly bad, but we figured you two might have made up by now or-“ Rainbow Dash began before Twilight interrupted. “She said she loved me!” Twilight blurted out, much to the shock of all her friends except for Pinkie who just shrugged. “Saw it coming to be honest.” Pinkie Pie admitted. “And… I love her too, but now she doesn’t believe that I’m being genuine because of how quick I was to ditch her for my idol and just thinks that I just have a crush on her.” Twilight sighed sadly. “Oh dear. I hope you two can get out of this okay.” Fluttershy’s said sympathetically. “Yeah, and hey. You might even get a girlfriend out of it too.” Rainbow Dash smiled encouragingly. “I appreciate the confidence, but I’ll be lucky if she wants to stick around after what I did.” Twilight scoffed, “I know I need to face her eventually but I have no idea where we’ll stand.” “Darling, if I may vent.” Rarity smirked confidently, “One little fight between the two of you isn’t going to be enough for Starlight to stop caring from about you and invalidate everything you’ve been through. You share similar hobbies, had so many good memories, taught her the value of friendship, managed to be close in spite of your arrangement, and for Celestia’s sake you SAVED her from losing herself to evil.” Twilight smiled lightly at this before hugging Rarity, “Thanks Rarity, I needed that. I should probably go talk to Starlight. The sooner the better.” Once Twilight let go of Rarity, she turned to her friends and smiled at them, “Wish me luck.” She then teleported out, leaving her friends to converse. “Hopefully it goes well in there, Starlight seemed really upset when I saw her.” Fluttershy said in concern. “Those two mean everything to each other. I'm confident they'll be able to work through it." Rarity smiled back at the pegasus. We then see Twilight was near the library entrance and saw that Starlight, Spike, and Sunburst had switched to playing cards, and took a breath to compose herself. This was it. Twilight then knocked lightly at the open door, getting their attention. “Uh… Starlight, can I talk to you?” Twilight said with an awkward smile. “I suppose we needed to eventually.” Starlight admits with a shrug before turning to the boys, “You two should go.” “Of course.” Sunburst nodded before walking off, and gestured Spike to follow. Once they were out of the room, Starlight began speaking. “So Twilight, what did you want to talk about?” Starlight asked with a polite smile. “I’m sorry.” Twilight blurted out much to Starlight’s surprise, but Twilight continued with her apologetic rant, “I thought that if I just listened to Starswirl everything would be okay but I shouldn’t have ignored your ideas. I made you feel like you didn’t deserve your second chance, and I can’t express into words how wrong I was to do that. There’s no excuse for what I’ve done and I just hope we can still be friends.” “Twilight. Settle down.” Starlight gripped the alicorn’s hoof before looking at her eyes with a soft smile, “I’ve already forgiven you for that.” “You did?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have jumped to help Stygian when you realized it was possible if you didn’t truly care about your values.” Starlight told her, “I know you care about me, I’m sorry I ever doubted that.” Twilight smiled back before she gained a look of confusion, “But if you forgive me, why were you hesitant to talk with me?” “Because I know we have to address the confessions we made.” Starlight sighed, “I meant what I said Twilight, I do love you and that didn’t change.” Twilight realized what this meant and immediately pulled Starlight in for an embrace, “I meant what I said too Starlight. I do love you, heck, that’s probably the reason I was so upset about you potentially leaving in the first place. I don’t think you get that upset over a crush.” Starlight teared up with joy when she heard that and immediately wiped her eyes after Twilight let her go, “Wow, you have no idea how much that means to me. So where do we go from here?” Twilight immediately blushed and nervously grinned at Starlight, “Well… I never had my first kiss before.” “I haven’t either.” Starlight smirked, knowing where she’s getting at, “I suppose there’s a first time for everything.” Author's Note Despite the controversy, I opted to put them together. I suppose some may argue Starlight deserves better than to be in Twilight’s shadow especially after seeing what happened here but I don’t feel that’ll be an issue since Twilight still managed to keep the same dynamics she always had with the Mane Six after becoming an alicorn and I think risking her life to save Stygian proved she was sorry.
I’m Tired Of This NonsenseStarlight was ticked off right now. This wasn’t like the time where Trixie had ignorantly teleported the map table away from the castle or when Ember practically called her and Twilight clones of each other, this time she was really annoyed. After the Pillars had been brought back to Equestria, they had to deal with the Pony Of Shadows. Their chosen method of dealing with the villain was to use the Elements Of Harmony to banish him back to limbo, but in doing so, they’d lose the Elements forever. Starlight had suggested that they’d try and see if they could reform the villain, seeing as Stygian did use to be a friend of the Pillars in the past but Starswirl had coldly dismissed her and said “once a villain, always a villain”. Worst part was Twilight hadn’t bothered to say anything. Perhaps Twilight thought Starswirl meant nothing too seriously by it, but Starlight couldn’t help but feel that Twilight was somehow embarrassed by her. Nonetheless, once she got more information on Stygian, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to try talking to Starswirl and Twilight again, they were at the library with Sunburst trying to perfect the spell to send Stygian to limbo. She decided to keep her anger to the side and try to be as civil as possible. “That looks like a lot of work.” Starlight said in shock. “It is what must be done.” Starswirl told the unicorn dismissively before waving an uncaring hoof to the side, “And it would be best if we were not disturbed.” Starlight silently took offense to that dismissal but made sure to keep herself calm, this wouldn’t go anywhere if she lashed out. “I'm sorry, Starlight, but we can't stop to talk. The stakes are too high, and we have to-“ Twilight said as she levitated a book at her side so she could address her friend. “Banish Stygian to limbo. I get it.” Starlight said in an annoyed tone. “Uh… who?” Sunburst asked, clearly confused. “Stygian was the name the Pony of Shadows gave up when he turned to darkness.” Starswirl explained briefly as he went back to reading. “But I’m just trying to figure out why.” Starlight said. “Envy!” Starswirl closed his book angrily as he got up in Starlight’s face, “He wanted more power than he had, and that desire led him down a path from which there is no return! Of course, you obviously wouldn’t understand that.” Normally Starlight would have just let that remark go and move on, but this was the second time that Starswirl had coldly disrespected her. She prevented herself from forming an anger cloud, she didn’t want a repeat of the bottle incident after all but he let Starswirl’s words sink in and soon she realized… she wasn’t the only one who reformed before. “You act as if you know everything.” Starlight rolled her eyes with a scoff causing Starswirl to glare at the unicorn. “What are you suggesting?” The wizard narrowed his eyes. “Starlight…” Twilight spoke softly, whether it was worry or embarrassment Starlight did not know but she wasn’t backing down. Not this time. “I’m just saying, considering you were banished from Equestria for a thousand years, you might think to value the opinions of ponies from this timeline instead of only listening to yourself.” Starlight continued while keeping her face as stony as possible, she was very annoyed but she refused to lash out and make herself look bad. “Please. How could Equestria possibly be different from my time?” Starswirl rolled his eyes but Starlight caught the hesitation in them. “Well if you haven’t noticed, many creatures have improved from being able to seek redemption in their lives. We gained the Changelings as valuable allies, got the Lord Of Chaos to accept friendship and harmony while still having a bit of space to be mischievous, and even your student Luna went through a time where she fell to the dark side and she wouldn’t have been able to continue living her life if she wasn’t offered a chance to redeem herself.” Starlight began ranting while keeping her temper in check as she took in the shocked look in Starswirl’s face. “Oh but let me guess, if you were around you would have banished her without a second thought about saving her. I’m not saying Stygian will reform but it’s better to try and help your friends than to abandon all hope entirely.” Starlight finished off her rant before walking away from Starswirl and up to Twilight. This wasn’t as easy as speaking to Starswirl but after what was displayed today, Starlight knew she wouldn’t gain anything if she didn’t make her feelings known. “Oh yeah, I guess I’m lucky that your idol wasn’t around when you decided to be my friend, maybe I would’ve been banished to limbo too.” Starlight said to the alicorn, but this time she had a tearful gaze instead of anger which Twilight noticed and tried to extend a hoof to Starlight but Starlight teleported away before she could do anything, leaving Twilight and Starswirl with shocked looks on their faces. “Wow… I’ve never seen Starlight this driven before.” Sunburst gasped in shock, to which Twilight had to agree but she also has never seen Starlight this upset before. “So what should we do now?” Sunburst asked curiously to his magically gifted companions. “W-We should work on finalizing the spell first. We are almost finished with it and we must have it ready.” Starswirl told his two fans. “But what about Star-“ Twilight began speaking in concern before Starswirl shut her down. “Forget about her right now. Just focus at the task at hoof.” Starswirl narrows his gaze at the alicorn who sighed forlornly as she continued to search through her book. Little did Starswirl and Twilight know is that Starlight’s words had affected their feelings on banishing the Pony Of Shadows more than they both thought they did, whether it be their own thoughts or each others’, but Twilight certainly knew that after finalizing the spell, she needed to talk with her former pupil. Author's Note This will get interesting as we go on. This isn’t over guys.
Doubts and TurmoilStarlight laid on her bed deep in thought, tears silently streaming from her eyes. She knew she was no saint but she figured her friends would give her opinion the benefit of the doubt, especially with the Elements Of Harmony at sake, but of course, she was practically ignored in favor of Starswirl the Bearded. When she thought back, the moment Starswirl had said “once a villain, always a villain”, no one bothered to speak up against that. None of her friends bothered to prove Starswirl wrong. Not Spike, not Fluttershy, not… her. Why did she think that she ever had a chance? If Twilight was willing to let Starswirl say those type of things when she knew that Starlight has been redeeming herself, what chance did Starlight ever have at being… No, she won’t even think about it. It was a foolish dream anyway. She should have known better than to feel that way about her and Twilight. Suddenly she heard a knock at the door and tried her best to wipe her tears. Whoever it was, she refused to look weak in front of them. Starlight opened the door and saw Twilight standing before her. There was an awkward silence between them, and both were aware of how much tension there was right now. “What do you want?” Starlight sighed in frustration. “I just wanted to let you know that the spell’s finished and we’ll be able to use it so we can banish the Pony Of Shadows or Stygian as you pointed out.” Twilight said, nervously rubbing the back of her head. “Pfft, figures.” Starlight rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Look Starlight, I get your upset about what happened earlier and I understand if Starswirl can… annoy you but not everypony can be saved.” Twilight told her friend solemnly. “Not like you’re even gonna try.” Starlight pointed out bitterly. “I know, but I’m sure Starswirl knows be-“ Twilight began before Starlight interrupted. “What about the Tree Of Harmony? Whenever it calls us down, it’s for a friendship problem and I have no reason to believe this is an exception. Also, I’m guessing if Starswirl knows best, maybe his mindset about lack of reformation applies to me too huh?” Starlight spoke furiously as hot tears streamed down her face, much to Twilight’s shock and horror, why would Starlight think this? She’d never do that to her? “Starlight, you know that’s not true.” Twilight spoke pleadingly, hating to see Starlight so upset. Twilight was being entirely honest here, Starlight meant everything to her and Twilight always knew there was good in her and she just needed Starlight to remember that. “You didn’t seem to care when Starswirl said ‘once a villain, always a villain’. You of all ponies should know that’s not true, but I guess you didn’t care to correct him at all if it meant pleasing your idol.” Starlight kept a furious glare at the alicorn before she began letting tears slip and her expression changed to one of sadness. “Maybe I should’ve seen this coming. Even after all our time together, we’re not as close as you and the rest of your friends. Today just helped me realize what I’ve been denying, we’re just average friends, not best friends or anything. Our friendship basically formed out of a business deal, yet for some reason I thought we could be more, I fell in love with you for Celestia’s sake!” Starlight let all of her pent up sadness out and let the tears fall. She didn’t even care to acknowledge Twilight’s shocked expression, she needed to let this all out. “Yes, for some forsaken reason I fell for you, and you know what, I still have! I love you Twilight, but you probably don’t feel that way about me, and I’m fine with that…” Starlight said softly, wiping her tears, “It’s just hard for me to let the truth sink in, y’know.” “Starlight-“ Twilight tried to speak before Starlight interrupted. “Twilight, you don’t have to try and convince me that I’m more than just a casual roommate to you. I know the truth now.” Starlight sighed despondently before closing the door to her room. Twilight couldn’t believe what she just heard, Starlight was in love with her? If Twilight was honest, she was feeling strange about Starlight for a while now. She couldn’t place it but all she knew is that whenever she was with Starlight, it felt really good and there was a certain charm to the unicorn she couldn’t figure out and Twilight wasn’t quite sure what it meant but after hearing Starlight’s confession, it became clearer now. Twilight was in love with Starlight. Once she realized this, she immediately flung open the door to Starlight’s room. “I’m not trying to convince you of anything Starlight, I’m being honest with you. You’re a very special pony in my life, if it weren’t for you, we’d all be Changeling stock. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. You and I share common interests and you can always be a rock for me when I need it. Starlight, what I’m trying to say is… I love you too.” Twilight found herself confessing much to Starlight’s shock. Starlight couldn’t believe what she just heard, Twilight really was in love with her? Such a confession would normally have her as happy as Pinkie Pie in one of her parties but all she felt was looming doubt. Twilight may say she loves her but could she trust that? “I don’t know if I can believe that Twilight, I’m sorry.” Starlight began walking off and despite Twilight wanting to follow her, she couldn’t bare to do it. She had already done enough. Twilight silently teared up as she watched Starlight leave, she loved Starlight and Starlight loved her, but now it was too late for her to realize both of those things. What could she do now? She broke Starlight’s heart and she doubted it would be repaired so easily. Author's Note Before anyone gets up in arms, Starlight may be right about what’s going on but her emotions are sort of clouding her judgement with her refusal to hear Twilight out.
Considerations and ChoicesStarlight laid on the soft grass on the sunny fields behind Twilight’s castle and looked at her reflection in the water. She couldn’t believe she had just admitted all that to Twilight. She didn’t regret what she said about potentially helping reform Stygian, that was something she felt Twilight needed to hear but she just had to open her big fat mouth about how she was in love with Twilight. Why?! Why did she do that?! If their friendship wasn’t on awkward terms earlier, it certainly would now. But Twilight pretty much said she loved me right? Starlight shook the thought out of her head, what was she thinking? Twilight didn’t love her, she probably just had some crush on her. Starlight may have had self doubt issues from time to time, but she was aware that she was physically attractive to most ponies. Heck, at one point Spike had to flare his nostrils at somepony when he caught them staring at her butt. Twilight just happened to be really close with Starlight and had a physical attraction. That was all it was and that’s what made the most sense to Starlight. So why did she feel this lingering doubt that she was wrong. Thinking over all the times they spent together, could Starlight be making a miscalculation? Could Twilight really love her? The thought almost made the unicorn smile and blush before realizing what she was doing. “GRAH! What is wrong with me?!” Starlight furiously gripped her head before staring sternly at her reflection, “Get a grip Starlight! You know she wouldn’t love you! She’s a Princess and just a year ago you were a villain she had to tame! That’s all you are to her! Her loving you is an absolutely ludicrous and you should know that! She doesn’t love you!” Starlight began to tear up again before furiously wiping them and sighing. She could focus on that romance crap later, right now they need to deal with the Pony Of Shadows. Twilight probably wasn’t going to listen to her, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying one last time to talk to her about Stygian. After this whole situation was over, Starlight needed to consider how things were going to go between her and Twilight. Suddenly she heard little footsteps running over to her and turned to see it was Spike. “Oh good, I found you. Everypony was wondering where you went.” Spike said in relief, “I figured you were here since I know that’s where you normally go when you’re upset.” Starlight was shocked to find out that Spike knew she was upset but she tried to keep a brave face, “It’s nice of you to be concerned but I am NOT upset. Just annoyed with how nopony’s listening to me. Nothing more.” Spike gave a dull look, showing that he did not believe Starlight’s lie for a second so she just scoffed and said, “Let’s just go already. I’ll deal with my emotions later.” Twilight hated to admit it, but she really was considering Starlight’s point about the Pony Of Shadows. The map usually does call her and her friends for friendship problems and this could very well be no different considering how Starswirl and the Pillars used to be friends with Stygian before he became what he was. She also had a point about how Twilight reached a hoof to Starlight when it came to friendship but she always found Starlight and Stygian’s situations vastly different. Starlight was never really evil when it came to her motives for her twisted ideology of Equality but her actions were too extreme, Stygian genuinely became evil and wants to send the world into darkness. Then again… she also befriended Luna and Discord and they turned out better than they used to be. Starlight’s love confession may have surprised Twilight, but Twilight wasn’t going to deny that Starlight made some really good points and as she, her friends, Spike, Starlight, Sunburst, and the Pillars traveled to Hollow Shades while the Elements were on her and her friends, she found herself approaching Starswirl and whispering, “Are you sure Stygian can’t be helped? Starlight did bring up a good point to me earlier, the map’s called us to solve friendship problems.” Starswirl seemed surprised by the notion and even though Twilight expected to hear him speak in a stiff tone, he surprisingly stammered a bit, “I’d like to believe you are right, but perhaps Friendship quests are not the only thing the Tree Of Harmony had in purpose for you. You said it yourself, it could very well just be leading us to the Pony Of Shadows.” He ended firmly. Twilight was surprised to see Starswirl not speak so confidently as usual but maybe he was a bit shaken up from what Starlight said about Luna. At last, the group had finally reached Hollow Shades and took in the abandoned land. “I don't remember reading anything that said the Hollow Shades was like this.” Sunburst recalled to the group. “Ohhh. The Pony of Shadows must have twisted it to his purposes.” Mistmane said sadly. They all grouped by the well and Starswirl immediately narrowed his eyes, as he heard evil chuckling. “He’s here.” He muttered lowly before yelling, “Stygian! Show yourself and face us!” Evil laughter was heard as the ground beneath them suddenly began cracking and because of that, they fell through and landed underground in some rocky caverns. “Ugh, after facing so many villains, you’d think you’d expect this.” Spike muttered to himself but only Twilight heard it. Black mist began to swarm the ground so Starswirl immediately put up a shield around everyone in the caverns when the Pony Of Shadows finally formed into its menacing state. “Welcome to the Well of Shade! When you turned your backs on me, I discovered this place. The darkness spoke to me of a power beyond any I could imagine, and I listened. The shadow and I became one. Soon, all of the realm will be the same. Then all ponies will feel the despair I did when you cast me out!” The Pony Of Shadows ranted furiously, much to Twilight and Starswirl’s shared concern, it was as if they were reconsidering everything they were going to do before Starswirl spoke. “We did what we had to do. You tried to steal our powers for yourself!” Starswirl spoke defiantly but all the Pony Of Shadows glared at the heroes. “You act as if you’re in the right don’t you?! Typical Starswirl! Vain and Prideful till the end! It was you who were selfish and now you must PAY!” The Pony Of Shadows furiously spoke before blasting the forcefield, causing it to crack. Before it fell completely, Starlight had turned to Twilight fearfully, “Are you sure this isn’t a friendship problem?” Twilight wasn’t sure how to answer that, she considered what Starlight had told her but also considered what Starswirl said, she wasn’t sure what to do. “Open the portal…” Starswirl weakly commanded before the barrier finally shattered, “NOW!” The Pillars and Twilight’s friends immediately linked hooves with each other and used the Elements and artifacts respectively to begin firing up a rainbow laser and began shoving the Pony Of Shadows into a new portal but the dark entity resisted as it tried to push him into limbo. “No! You will not trap me again!” The Pony Of Shadows growled furiously. Twilight gave a look of reluctance at the Pony Of Shadows before noticing something poking out of its body, a grey skinny stallion with a blue mane. She immediately turned to Starlight in concern once she noticed this, and she had no doubt Starlight did too, “There’s a pony in there.” She spoke sadly before immediately knowing what she had to do, Twilight dove into the creature in an attempt to rescue the pony inside. Starlight was shocked to see what Twilight was doing, she thought she was going to dismiss the presence of Stygian’s true form entirely when she saw him, even if Starlight was going to point it out to her but no, Twilight noticed it too and dove inside the Pony Of Shadows and Starlight knew why, she genuinely wanted to save him now. Starlight couldn’t believe what she just saw, especially after everything that happened. “What is she doing in there?!” Starswirl spoke furiously but Starlight could see the concern in it, “She is going to get herself killed!” Starlight suddenly heard a voice from the beaming light of the Pony Of Shadows body and shushed Starswirl, “Look! I hear something!” “ I went to Ponhenge to make my own copies of the artifacts. With them, I thought I could be a Pillar, too, and stand by their side in battle. I never wanted to steal their power.” Stygian’s voice was heard from inside the dark creature, much to Starswirl’s shock, and Starlight couldn’t help but shoot a stone faced look at the wizard, however, she faltered once she heard Stygian’s voice again. “But instead of sharing and letting me help, my friends threw me out. So I became stronger than any of them! The darkness welcomed me when no pony would, and I will do what I must to protect it!“ Stygian’s voice began deepening and Starlight couldn’t help but feel worried about what’s going on in there so she lit up her horn and began levitating towards the Pony Of Shadows and flying inside to find Twilight and Stygian arguing. “This is all a misunderstanding! If the Pillars knew how you felt, I'm sure they wouldn't have turned their backs on you. The shadow isn't who you really are. Let me help you be Stygian again.” Twilight tried reasoning with Stygian as darkness began to envelope him. “Even if my friends did still care, what makes you think you have the power to help me?” Stygian said lowly before Starlight stood next to Twilight and interfered. “Because it’s what she does.” Starlight said sternly, “I wasn't so different from you, and Twilight helped me change. If there's one pony in Equestria that can save a friendship, it's her.” Starlight shared a smile with Twilight and after that, she began feeling warm inside again, that familiar feeling she almost forgot about having. “I-I want to believe you…” Stygian looked convinced before the shadows began to take over again, “But the darkness will not be STOPPED!” Twilight glared at Stygian in determination and used her magic to make a magical tether rope and pull him away from the dark atmosphere and back into the underground but unfortunately the Pony Of Shadows was refusing to let him go as Starlight found out when she levitated back to the ground with everyone else. Once she saw Twilight struggling to maintain a hold on Stygian, she immediately grew worried for her safety. “TWILIGHT!” Starlight cried out before using her magic to wrap around the hoof Twilight didn’t use her magic to grab and began pulling along with her, it wasn’t much but Twilight had a better grip on him with Starlight’s help. “What’s going on?!” Spike asked, clearly worried about his friends. “The shadow won't let go of him. He wants to stop, but he can't do it alone.” Twilight told Spike and everyone else below. “Then we must help him.” Starswirl said in determination before he and Sunburst used their magic to pull Stygian out, and soon enough the rest of the Pillars and the Elements Of Harmony helped to pull Stygian out of the Pony Of Shadows causing the dark soul to be plunged into Limbo and finally the portal closed, releasing a powerful rainbow explosion in front of them. Once they got out of the hole, Rarity noticed that the Elements did not disappear and Fluttershy explained that it might be because they used them for healing magic and not banishing, an explanation Twilight could accept. Twilight and Starlight then turned to see Starswirl helping Stygian out of the hole and soon Starswirl spoke to the smaller stallion, “Long ago you needed our help Stygian. But instead of listening, we turned our backs on you. Pride clouded my judgment. I owe you an apology.” He then turned to the two mares in front of him and spoke softly, “Thank you Twilight and Starlight for helping us see the error of our ways. It seems I never accounted for the Magic of Friendship.” “Thank you Swirl Star.” Twilight said happily, seeing as she was being praised by her idol before correcting herself, “I mean Starswirl.” Soon Twilight and her friends’ cutie marks began glowing when Spike walked over to Starswirl with a grin, “So I guess a conversation CAN save Equestria and keep our defenses strong, huh?” Spike smirked as he gave Starlight a playful elbow jab. “Oh yes… it appears I’ll be making a lot of apologies today, won’t I?” Starswirl smiled sheepishly when he remembered how he treated Starlight. Maybe in another universe, Starlight would have shared Spike’s smug attitude but she couldn’t help but feel confused. She was glad to have been proven right but now she had no idea what would become of her and Twilight, especially after the confessions they made. Author's Note So I had to use some of the canon dialogue but hopefully that was a good chapter. We’re not done yet though, we have a whole can of worms to open when it comes to Twilight and Starlight. Stay tuned for that.
Mending Hearts and Drying TearsThings seemed to be going back to normal for Equestria, heck normal may not be putting it the best way, everything would be better now that the Pillars are back from being banished. The best part is that they still had the Elements Of Harmony at their side. Celestia and Luna were overjoyed to reunite with their old mentor as he was to reunite with her. In fact the princesses were happy to let them stay in the castle until they could find a way to integrate into the new society. Meanwhile Twilight, her friends, and Sunburst were all staying in her castle themselves to unwind after dealing with the Pony Of Shadows and to make up for the lack of rest to bring back the Pillars as well, but there was still an elephant in the room. Twilight and Starlight could barely talk to one another. Currently, Starlight was playing Dragon Pit with Sunburst and introducing it to Spike, so that allowed Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity to confront Twilight on what was going on in the map room. “Okay Twilight, be honest with us. Did something happen between you and Starlight in that library?” Applejack tried to patiently get an answer out of Twilight for why she and Starlight were being so distant. “I’ll be honest… something did happen in the library. When Starlight was trying to convince me and Starswirl to try and reform Stygian. Neither of us listened to her and Starswirl coldly cast her aside, I didn’t even try to defend her, even after Starswirl made a snarky remark ‘once a villain always a villain’, so I feel like something in her just snapped and she tore into why second chances have always worked before to Starswirl and how she believed she was lucky that he wasn’t around when I decided to be her friend or she’d have been banished to limbo too.” Twilight explained solemnly. “Well… that’s certainly bad, but we figured you two might have made up by now or-“ Rainbow Dash began before Twilight interrupted. “She said she loved me!” Twilight blurted out, much to the shock of all her friends except for Pinkie who just shrugged. “Saw it coming to be honest.” Pinkie Pie admitted. “And… I love her too, but now she doesn’t believe that I’m being genuine because of how quick I was to ditch her for my idol and just thinks that I just have a crush on her.” Twilight sighed sadly. “Oh dear. I hope you two can get out of this okay.” Fluttershy’s said sympathetically. “Yeah, and hey. You might even get a girlfriend out of it too.” Rainbow Dash smiled encouragingly. “I appreciate the confidence, but I’ll be lucky if she wants to stick around after what I did.” Twilight scoffed, “I know I need to face her eventually but I have no idea where we’ll stand.” “Darling, if I may vent.” Rarity smirked confidently, “One little fight between the two of you isn’t going to be enough for Starlight to stop caring from about you and invalidate everything you’ve been through. You share similar hobbies, had so many good memories, taught her the value of friendship, managed to be close in spite of your arrangement, and for Celestia’s sake you SAVED her from losing herself to evil.” Twilight smiled lightly at this before hugging Rarity, “Thanks Rarity, I needed that. I should probably go talk to Starlight. The sooner the better.” Once Twilight let go of Rarity, she turned to her friends and smiled at them, “Wish me luck.” She then teleported out, leaving her friends to converse. “Hopefully it goes well in there, Starlight seemed really upset when I saw her.” Fluttershy said in concern. “Those two mean everything to each other. I'm confident they'll be able to work through it." Rarity smiled back at the pegasus. We then see Twilight was near the library entrance and saw that Starlight, Spike, and Sunburst had switched to playing cards, and took a breath to compose herself. This was it. Twilight then knocked lightly at the open door, getting their attention. “Uh… Starlight, can I talk to you?” Twilight said with an awkward smile. “I suppose we needed to eventually.” Starlight admits with a shrug before turning to the boys, “You two should go.” “Of course.” Sunburst nodded before walking off, and gestured Spike to follow. Once they were out of the room, Starlight began speaking. “So Twilight, what did you want to talk about?” Starlight asked with a polite smile. “I’m sorry.” Twilight blurted out much to Starlight’s surprise, but Twilight continued with her apologetic rant, “I thought that if I just listened to Starswirl everything would be okay but I shouldn’t have ignored your ideas. I made you feel like you didn’t deserve your second chance, and I can’t express into words how wrong I was to do that. There’s no excuse for what I’ve done and I just hope we can still be friends.” “Twilight. Settle down.” Starlight gripped the alicorn’s hoof before looking at her eyes with a soft smile, “I’ve already forgiven you for that.” “You did?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have jumped to help Stygian when you realized it was possible if you didn’t truly care about your values.” Starlight told her, “I know you care about me, I’m sorry I ever doubted that.” Twilight smiled back before she gained a look of confusion, “But if you forgive me, why were you hesitant to talk with me?” “Because I know we have to address the confessions we made.” Starlight sighed, “I meant what I said Twilight, I do love you and that didn’t change.” Twilight realized what this meant and immediately pulled Starlight in for an embrace, “I meant what I said too Starlight. I do love you, heck, that’s probably the reason I was so upset about you potentially leaving in the first place. I don’t think you get that upset over a crush.” Starlight teared up with joy when she heard that and immediately wiped her eyes after Twilight let her go, “Wow, you have no idea how much that means to me. So where do we go from here?” Twilight immediately blushed and nervously grinned at Starlight, “Well… I never had my first kiss before.” “I haven’t either.” Starlight smirked, knowing where she’s getting at, “I suppose there’s a first time for everything.” Author's Note Despite the controversy, I opted to put them together. I suppose some may argue Starlight deserves better than to be in Twilight’s shadow especially after seeing what happened here but I don’t feel that’ll be an issue since Twilight still managed to keep the same dynamics she always had with the Mane Six after becoming an alicorn and I think risking her life to save Stygian proved she was sorry.
