Magic Pt. 3

As much as Twilight loved reading and going to libraries, as she came up to her home, she felt a bit nervous. She knew what she had to do, but yet feared that things wouldn’t go so well. She slapped herself in the face and her expression changed to one of determination.

“You can do this, Twilight,”  she whispered. “You’ve faced greater dangers before, so this should be a cakewalk.”  Despite the words of encouragement, she continued to stand there. “Except this cake is hard, crumbling, and could possibly ruin things between me and Star forever.”

Again, she slapped herself and shook her head. “Focus Twilight, don’t get cold hooves now. Star needs me, and I can’t let her down now.”

Taking a deep breath, the alicorn trotted towards the door and slowly opened it. When she got inside, she saw nopony inside the lobby. She hesitantly entered the library, looking around for any sign of her daughter.

“Maybe she isn’t here,”  said Twilight. “Maybe she got scared and hid somewhere else. I think I should. . .”

The alicorn stopped speaking as the corner of her left eye caught what looked like a shadow. She looked over to see it was the shape of a pony, and was coming from the kitchen.

“Or maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough.”

Twilight walked slowly to the doorway and peeked her head in. Her suspicions were true as she saw Starburst sitting at the table, looking forlorn. Taking one more deep breath, she walked into the kitchen.

“Starburst?”  She asked.

The orange pegasus jumped in surprise and nearly fell out of her chair. She caught herself and turned to see her mom, who was trying to hold back a laugh. Star quickly changed her expression of shock to a stoic expression.

“Oh . . . it’s just you,”  she said in a deadpanned voice. “Looks like you found me at last.”

“Well yes, but we got a lot to talk about,”  said Twilight.

“I know what you’re already going to say, mom,”  said Starburst in a pessimistic tone. “You’re going to tell me how I acted was wrong, make me go apologize to Anthea, and then ground me until I’ve graduated high school.”

“That’s not what I-”

“Well I can tell you this. I talked to Uncle Spike about what happened between us, and how he brought up an incident involving your old pet, Owlowiscious.”

The alicorn winced at the sound of the name. “I see then . . .”  she whispered.

“Well I’m here to say that I know you think what I did was wrong, but you were doing the same thing you did to Uncle Spike with Owlowiscious. I know making Anthea cry was wrong, but you were abandoning me. You never stopped talking about her, and seemed to forget that I was here.”

“I can tell you that I have something to say.”

“I do too,”  said Starburst. She turned to her mom, looking a bit remorseful. “I’m really sorry for what I did, but I just needed to say something. I know the way I acted wasn’t the best thing to do, but you forgot that I even existed at all.”  She sighed to herself and looked down in defeat. “So go ahead and ground me. You can lecture me all you want on what a big mistake I made.”

Twilight frowned at this. “Well I made a mistake as well. Something bigger than what you’ve done.”

The orange pegasus looked up at her mom, and raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Mom, you didn’t do anything.”

“Yes I did, Star. I did something that no mother should ever do to their child. You weren’t the one pushing me away, I pushed you away from me.”

Silence fell upon them for a minute.

Starburst said, “I’ll say it again. Excuse me?”

The alicorn sighed to herself and sat down at the table, which the orange pegasus did in return.

“Do you remember what you asked me the other day?”

“Can you be a little more specific? What day was it?”

“It was the day I offered Annie to be my student. You asked me something at breakfast that day.”

A switch went off inside the pegasus’ head. “Wait . . . I asked you if you wanted to go flying with me.”

Twilight nodded.

“What’s so important about that? You told me that you were busy with work and taking care of Nighty.”

Even though her daughter probably didn’t mean to, Twilight could detect a bit of bitterness and sorrow in her voice.

“You don’t need to lie to me, Star,”  said the purple alicorn. “You wanted me to come fly with you, and I turned you down. I’m sure this isn’t the first time you asked me though.”

Star fell silent and looked down.

“How many times, Star? Did you offer me to spend time with you more than once?”

Again, Twilight was met with silence.

“Tell me!”  She shouted, sounding a little worried. “How many times did you offer me to come fly with you? You said you wanted to do it like old times.”

Star was shaking violently.

“Sweetie, I only want to know because-”

“I lost count!”  Screamed the pegasus, her voice cracking. “I asked you so many times, that I forgot, okay?!”

The room fell silent as Starburst buried her head in her hooves.Twilight tried to comfort her by placing a hoof on her head, but it was swatted away the moment it touched her.

“Star . . . why didn’t you say anything?”  Wondered Twilight. “You know you can always come to me for anything.”

The orange pegasus looked up at her mom, tears rolling down her eyes. “Because . . . you were always busy. Every time I offered you to come fly with me, you always told me you had to do something.”

The lilac alicorn looked down in shame. “I wasn’t busy all the time. Besides, I offered you chances to read some books with me, but you turned your nose up at it.”

“It wasn’t the same though,”  she sniffled.

“What do you mean?”  Inquired Twilight, sounding a bit frustrated. “I’ve been turning you away, but when I offer you to come read with me, you never accept it. What’s your problem with doing some reading?”

“Everything I learned about flying and so much more, was because you taught me!”

Twilight’s frustration turned into confusion. “. . . What?”

“You were better than any book, mom!”  Yelled Star. “I learned more things from you than any old, dusty book!”

“Hey!”  Scolded the alicorn.

“Well it’s true,”  said the pegasus, sheepishly. “You taught me so much about flying, tips about leadership, and confidence in myself. I looked up to you more than you thought.”

Twilight stayed silent, dumbfounded from what she was hearing.

“Those books that you keep trying to make me read are nothing compared to what you’ve taught me. From the very moment I wanted to fly, you were there to help me. It’s not that I hate reading or anything, it’s just that you were the one who taught me so much.”

“But I pretty much taught you everything there is to know. I could’ve gladly help teach you teach other things like fighting.”

Starburst couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that statement. “Mom . . . no offense, but you? A fighter? That’s as likely as Rainbow Dash playing dress up. If I wanted to learn about fighting, I’d go to dad.”  Her smile drooped into a frown. “If he wasn’t on deployment so much.”

Twilight placed a hoof on her daughter’s head. “Sweetie, I know I taught you so much, and I appreciate that you looked up to me so much. The thing is that I’ve got nothing else to teach you in flying or anything else I can think of.”

The orange pegasus looked down in defeat. “But I don’t want some musty old book to replace you.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “A book replacing me? What makes you think that?”

“Well . . . after you told me that you taught me everything you knew, you started insisting that I read books. I kept on insisting I didn’t need books, but you kept shoving them on me. I wanted you to come with me to help train, but you kept on saying that you were busy or something.”

“What are you getting at, Star?”

“What I’m saying is that once you were done with me, it was like I didn’t matter to you. As soon as we finished our lessons together, you just gave me some books to read, and never bothered to spend any real time with me.”

Twilight felt a surge of emotions rage on in her, but remained silent.

“So in a way . . . it was like you were already abandoning me. When Anthea became your student, you were acting like a filly in a candy store. Not only did you treat her like a second daughter, but you made me feel forgotten. The only time you seemed to really acknowledge me is when I mess up something. I know Annie’s your student and you want to teach her, but let me ask you this, mom. Are you going to do the same thing to her and, later on, Nighty?”

Twilight remained silent, but tears were slowly building in her eyes.

“Are you just going to give them books as well once you’ve taught them everything you know? Then, when they want to spend time with you, are you going to tell them that you’re busy? Or is it because I’m a pegasus, not a unicorn like Annie or Nighty? Am I just some disappointment to you because I’m not the daughter you wanted me to be?”

By the time she was done ranting, Star could feel her heart race and her blood nearly boiling in anger.

“ . . .*sniff*”

The sound caught Star’s attention, and looked up to see something that made her anger quickly melt away. Twilight was on the verge of crying, tears running down her face. The sight of it made Starburst feel guilty about what she said.

“Mom, I didn’t really mean for it to come out like that,”  she said in a panic. “I was just speaking what was on my mind.”

The alicorn held up a hoof, shaking her head. “No Star . . . you were right,”  she said, sorrowly. “I’ve asked myself many times when you’ll realize that brawn isn’t everything. Instead, I’ve been pushing you aside, thinking that books and knowledge will help further your training. If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”

“Mom, listen, it’s not that-”

“Don’t say another word, Star,”  said Twilight. “There is truth in what you say. Ever since we stopped our lessons together, I have been encouraging you to read a book while I do other things. Instead of spending time with you, I’ve been the one pushing you away. But there is one thing I do need to tell you, sweetie.”

“What’s that?”

“I know you want to bond with me, teach you, and be right by your side, but I just can’t.”  Twilight put a hoof on her daughter’s head. “You’ve grown into a strong, confident mare, with dreams of becoming the first mare to be Captain of the Royal Guard. I can’t be by your side forever.”

“I know, mom,”  sighed Starburst. “But when you started took in Annie as your student, I felt like you were done with me. You seemed to ignore me, except for only a few things. I know I’m growing up, but I don’t want to let you forget me.”

At that moment, Twilight got up and leaned in to embrace Starburst. The orange pegasus was taken aback by this, unsure of what to do or how to react. She slowly wrapped her hooves around the alicorn and returned the hug as well, albeit a bit softly.

“What . . . what’s this all about, mom?”  Star wondered.

The lilac alicorn pulled away and looked at her daughter with a smile, with tears running down her face. “Star, I know it feels like I’ve abandoned you, and what you said about me is true,”  she said in a gentle voice. “I know we don’t always see things completely the same, but there’s one thing you can always count on from me. I’ll never abandon you, not now, not ever.”

“But . . .”

“No buts, Star. I know I’ve let you down recently and I can’t change it, but I promise you that no matter what happens, no matter who my student is, or what you do with your life, I will never abandon you for anypony else.”

“What about Annie though?”

“Anthea might be a talented unicorn, but she’ll never take your place as my pride and joy. Star, you and Nighty mean so much to me, that I wouldn’t give you both up for all the knowledge in Equestria. If I ever stopped caring, or loving you, I could never forgive myself.”

“Are you sure?”

Twilight smiled. “If I ever allow myself to abandon you, or make you feel forgotten, then I’ll strip myself of princess duties, remove my wings, and spend as much time with you as possible.”

Starburst cracked a smile, chuckling to herself. “Isn’t that a bit overboard?”

The alicorn shrugged and said, “As long as I show you how much I do love you, I’d do anything.”

Starburst’s lips quivered as a smile formed on her face. All the anger, angst, and sadness in her quickly washed away, and was replaced with hope and happiness. This time, she leaned in to hug Twilight, which the alicorn quickly returned. Both ponies let a few tears roll down their eyes as they held onto one another.

A minute later, Star broke the embrace and looked at Twilight. “Mom . . . I’m sorry for how I acted before,”  she said in a remorseful tone. “I shouldn’t have kept my emotions bottled up like that.”

The lilac alicorn nuzzled her daughter. “It’s okay, Star,”  she said in a motherly tone. “I brought all this on myself when I didn’t realize I was treating Anthea like she was really a daughter to me. I nearly tore us apart because of that.”

Star’s face faltered to a frown. “Um . . . that reminds me,”  she said. “Is Annie okay? I know I really hurt her feelings with my outburst, and I’d like to go talk to her.”

“She’s doing alright, but she-”

TAP, TAP, TAP</B>

The sound of the library’s door brought the conversation to a halt. Twilight let go of Starburst and trotted over to the door, with the orange pegasus following behind. The alicorn opened the door, but was shocked to see none other than Anthea and Fluttershy. The former was looking down in shame, while the yellow pegasus held onto her.

“Fluttershy, what are you doing here?”  Wondered Twilight. “What’s wrong with Annie?”

“Oh, she wanted to come talk to you right away,”  she said. “I tried to tell her to just rest from what happened, but she insisted about coming to talk to you.”

Starburst looked at her friend, but she didn’t look back, making her feel more guilty.

“What’s wrong, Annie?”

“Twilight, I heard you and my mom talking to each other earlier,”  she said in a somber tone. “I was listening from upstairs and heard everything you said about Starburst. I can understand now why she was so upset with me. She was angry that you weren’t spending time with her, and I was taking you away from her.”

“Anthea, it’s not that-”  Twilight tried to get out.

“Let me finish, please,”  urged the unicorn. She took a deep breath and exhaled. “Listen, I’ve been thinking about what you said, and what happened earlier, and I’ve come to a decision.”

“Decision?”  Wondered Fluttershy.

“Yes, mom. I’ve decided that since I’m being such a burden and hurting Star, I no longer want to be Mrs. Twilight’s student.”

“What?!”  Everypony cried out.

“Annie, you can’t be serious,”  said Twilight in a worried voice. “You’ve made such good progress, that it’d be a mistake to stop now. Star and I have talked things over and patched things up.”

“I know I’ve done so well, but after hearing about Star, I can’t do it anymore. I’d be only getting in the way and making her upset again.”

“But Annie . . .”  pleaded Fluttershy.

“No buts, mom,”  she said. “I’m sure I can continue my lessons with somepony else. Maybe I can talk to Rarity about it, or Sweetie Belle. As long as I’m not getting in the way of anypony, I’ll be happy to continue my lessons elsewhere.”

Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly heard another voice speak up.

“Annie, stop this nonsense, now.”

Everypony turned their attention towards Starburst, who had a rather stern expression on her.

“What do you mean, Star?”  Inquired Anthea. “You told me to go away, and Twilight said that she neglected to be with you. I don’t want to take away any time you want with her.”

“You got this all wrong,”  reprimanded the orange pegasus. “I blew things way out of proportion and wasn’t thinking straight. You didn’t do anything wrong, both mom and I messed things up for you.”

The peach unicorn gawked at that statement. “. . . What?”  She asked.

“Star’s right, Annie,”  said Twilight. “I got so wrapped up with your growing skills and how much you amazed me, that I saw you like a daughter to me. I didn’t realize I was hurting Starburst’s feelings until today. If anything, I shouldn’t have made my own daughter feel inferior to you.”

“I should’ve said something earlier,”  replied Star. “I kept my feelings bottled up and pretended everything was fine. Instead, I snapped and hurt you when I should’ve told mom how I really felt about this. You didn’t do anything wrong, Annie.”

Anthea looked unsure of herself. “But . . . what about telling me to go away? You said you didn’t want me stealing your mom away.”

“Again, I overreacted when I snapped,”  said Starburst.

She trotted over and placed a hoof on her friend’s back. “Look . . . you didn’t do anything wrong to make me upset, nor did you mean to make my mom get so wound up about you. We both made big mistakes that you shouldn’t be blaming yourself for at all. If it helps, I was impressed with your talents.”

Anthea looked at her friend in awe. “Really? But what about the-”

“Forget the argument I had with you,”  interrupted the orange pegasus. “I am amazed by what you can do, but I was letting my frustrations with mom get the better of me. You really are a talented unicorn who could do a lot of amazing things. You shouldn’t let something like this make you want to stop what you can do. If anything, you should continue to pursue what you want to do.”

“You really think so?”  Anthea asked, sounding hopeful.

“Think so? You made a flower bush grow in seconds, teleport something with little trouble, and learned levitation in no time. The pace you’re going at now and the way things are going, I believe you’ll become a great unicorn one day.”

Anthea looked a little unsure at first, but she looked at Starburst to see her giving a rare smile. Whatever fear she had in the unicorn melted away as her frown turned into a smile. She leaned in and gave the pegasus a hug, which Star returned. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, smiles on their faces.

Anthea was the first to break the embrace, and turned to the alicorn. “Twilight, I would like to take back what I said earlier. I do want to continue being your student.”

Twilight smiled to herself. “I wouldn’t want it any other way,”  she said, proudly. “With Starburst, I’ll teach both of you about magic, history, and so much more.”

“Really?”  Both ponies asked in wonder.

“Pinkie Promise, you two.”

“FOREVER!”  Pinkie’s voice echoed in the library. Everypony jumped a little in surprise and looked for her, but to no avail.

Twilight was the first to speak after the sudden interruption. “Star, since you want to spend time with me and learn more from me, I can probably teach you some of the things about the Royal Guard and its history.”

“I thought dad knew everything about the Guard.”

“He does, but I’ve studied what they do. Your dad told me that there’s a lot of stuff in the books they don’t teach you in basic training.”

Starburst raised an eyebrow. “I never knew that.”

Twilight smiled and said, “Well with me, you’ll be more than prepared for when you enter the Royal Guard.”

The orange pegasus smiled and said, “It’ll be way better than spending hours on end reading a book.”

“Hey!”  Scolded Twilight.

“Sorry, mom,”  Starburst said, sheepishly. “But I’ll take whatever you can teach me.”

“I’ll be glad to help.”

Fluttershy then spoke up. “Um . . . excuse me, Twilight. How are you going to teach both magic to Annie, and history to Starburst? If you tried to do it both at the same time, you’d be in over your head.”

The lilac alicorn pondered to herself. “I can think of something to do. Maybe have some days alternating between Starburst and then Annie.”

“But Star doesn’t really like to read a lot, nor study,”  said Fluttershy. “How can you show her the history of the Royal Guard?”

“I’m not sure, but maybe some visuals could-”  An idea suddenly clicked inside Twilight’s head, making her gasp. “I think I got it.”

“What do you mean, got it?”  Asked Starburst.

Twilight turned to her pegasus friend. “Fluttershy, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to take Annie on a trip with me and Star.”

Fluttershy looked at her friend in surprise, but Anthea let out a jubilant cry.

“Oh, I’d love to! Where are we going?”  She asked, excitedly.

“Hold on, Anthea,”  said Fluttershy. She looked to Twilight. “Where exactly are you going to take her and Star?”

“Canterlot.”

“Canterlot?”  The others asked, curiously.

“But why Canterlot?”

“You said that I needed to teach Star history a different way, and I know just the place for it,”  said Twilight, confidently.

Fluttershy looked a little wary, but when she saw the hopeful look of her daughter's face, she immediately caved in. “Well . . . I don’t see why not,”  she said. The yellow pegasus was hugged by Annie, which she returned before turning back to the alicorn.

“But where are you planning to take them?”

“That’s a surprise for them. What I can tell you is that I was wondering if you could watch over Nighty tomorrow. He usually hates going to this place because of how bored he gets.”

“Are you sure he won’t be upset?”  Twilight nodded. “Well, I’ll do it then. Just be sure to talk to him about where you’re going.”

Twilight gave another nod, and then turned to the two kids. “Alright, you two, I want you to go get ready for tomorrow’s ride to Canterlot. I’m sure once you see where we’re going, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Both Star and Anthea cheered happily.

---

Starburst and Anthea looked at each other in confusion. The building they were standing in front of was a large, elegant, white marble building with Equestrian flags hanging between the marble columns, and a name on it.

                    Equestrian Museum of Might and Magic
 From the first spells to be discovered, to some of the greatest wars, learn about how this country came to be!

Starburst looked at Twilight, who was smiling in delight. “This is our big surprise?”  She asked incredulously. “Mom, no offense, but this isn’t exactly how I saw my trip to Canterlot. I feel like I’m on a school field trip.”

“If you want, I could always take you to the library and we could do some reading,”  said the lilac alicorn.

“Ugh! No thanks,”  gagged the orange pegasus. “But why bring us here in the first place?”

“Look over there.”

Twilight pointed towards a sign near the entrance. Starburst trotted over to read it.

                             New to the museum!
    Ancient books recently discovered about the first guidelines for the Royal Guard!
          See the first fighting moves that they were trained in!
              Learn about the first Code of Honor in the Guard!
      Discover some of the first letters of war from Equestria’s first confllict!

Starburst looked back at her mom. “When did this happen?”  She asked.

“Remember what I read in the newspaper?”  She asked. “I said I found something that could interest you, but you left before I could tell you. They had an article about the new tomes found about the Guard.”

The pegasus looked down in shame. “Oops. . . “

Twilight gave her daughter a hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re here now to see some of the earliest history of the Royal Guard.”

“What about me?”  Inquired Anthea.

“I’ll show you some of the first spells discovered in Equestria,”  said Twilight. “There’s also a small section about vegetation spells. I figured that was suited for you since you’re so talented in growing plants. I think this’ll be a good learning experience for you, and you can possibly learn some of the spells on display.”

Anthea smiled and jumped for joy. “That sounds great! Come on, Twilight and Star! I want to go see them!”  She galloped up the steps and ran inside.

“Wait for us, Annie!”  Star called out. She began to ran up the stairs to catch up.

Twilight watched her daughter run up, but noticed something strange about her wings. “Star, wait a minute,”  she called out.

The orange pegasus stopped and turned around. “What is it?”

“It’s your wings, sweetie. They don’t look so good.”

Starburst looked to her sides to see her mom was right. Her feathers were ruffled up and sticking out. There was some mud on them that seemed to stick some of the feathers together. She opened them, like she was about to take off, but felt a tinge of pain as she did.

Twilight shook her head in disapproval. “Star, what have I told you about neglecting your wings? You know you have to do them weekly, or they’ll get messed up.”

“Sorry, mom,”  Star said.

“It’s okay. I actually have an idea though.”

“What is it?”

“After our trip today and Annie goes home, I can help you preen them. While we’re doing that, we can do some talking about what else you want to learn about from the Guard.”

Starburst smiled and said, “Now there’s something I think we will both like.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The two nuzzled one another in affection for a quick moment.

“Hey! Come on you two!”

Twilight and Star looked up to see Anthea was looking impatient.

“We got to go now, or we’ll never see everything!”

The two ponies nodded and galloped up the steps, entering the museum with the eager unicorn.