My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Starlight Sparkle

Teacher's Pet

The next few days were like the aftermath of a miserable storm now that Twilight's Queenly reign of terror was over. It was a relief to finally see the sun again after its week long absence, though Twilight herself was too preoccupied to fully enjoy it. She spent her time trying to apologise to every single pony she possibly could, as she felt just terrible about what had happened.

It wasn't really her fault, a fact that her friends were quick to point out to her. The Starlight Sapphire would have made anypony evil, and it only chose her because she was the most powerful pony it could find. In fact if Twilight had not leapt in front of Celestia at the crucial moment, then it likely would have been Celestia herself corrupted by the sapphire's dark magics. Had that happened then things could very well have turned out much worse. The idea of a nightmarish evil Celestia didn't bear thinking about.

Twilight knew this, but that still didn't make her feel any better. She remembered everything she had done whilst under the gem's dark influence. Every insult, every punishment, even the cringe worthy bombastic speeches she had delivered. It might not have actually been her who did all those things, but from her point of view it certainly felt like it had. She had been a prisoner inside her own body whilst a malevolent presence pulled at her strings.

Celestia was remarkably understanding, all things considered. It probably helped that her own sister had undergone the exact same kind of transformation. If anything the princess was relieved that Twilight had been returned to her normal self rather than being banished for a thousand years. Had they been forced to use the Elements of Harmony against her without Twilight herself being one of the wielders, the end result might not have been a happy one.

In any case Celestia made certain everypony understood that Twilight was not to blame for what had happened. There would be no angry reprisals or calls for Twilight to be punished. Whilst that was a relief, her own guilty conscience was doing a good enough job of punishing her as it was. All she wanted to do besides apologise was hide away out of shame and embarrassment, but her friends would have none of it. They made it perfectly plain that they did not hold a grudge against her, and made certain that Twilight understood she was still their friend. Pinkie Pie decided to throw a celebratory party at Sugarcube Corner, with Twilight as the guest of honour.

And what a party it was. Pinkie had been bottling up her natural party animal instincts for a whole week, and she had a lot of catching up to do. It was a huge affair, with dozens of Ponyvillians present eager to have fun after a week of fear and gloom.

"How are you holding up?" Twilight asked Astra, who had managed to suppress the urge to teleport bail on the party. She smiled nervously back.

"It's a little overwhelming," the princess confessed, "but not half as scary as you were."

Twilight grimaced and stared at the floor. "Really sorry about that."

"Not your fault, we keep telling you."

Twilight lifted her gaze and smiled back. "I've actually been meaning to thank you, Astra."

"For what?"

"For snapping me out of it. If it hadn't been for that friendship report you wrote, I'd probably still be taunting Discord and passing royal proclamations right now. Thank you. I really owe you."

Astra waved a dismissive hoof at her remark. "Nonsense. If anything I'm the one who owes you, Twilight. Look!" She gestured to indicate the party in full swing about them and managed to grin despite her uneasiness. "I'm at a party! The last time I was at a party I fell into the river to get away from it. If it weren't for you I'd be hiding away from things like this. Now though, I'm determined to meet new ponies and make some friends."

"I'm so glad to hear that," said Celestia as she approached Astra and Twilight. She looked her old (which is to say magnificent) self again, a sunflower no more. They both rounded on her, startled.

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, running up to meet her teacher excitedly. "I didn't realise you were coming."

"That's quite alright Twilight," Celestia assured her soothingly, "I just came to congratulate you on a job well done."

She blinked at that, puzzled. "I ... err, don't quite follow."

Celestia glanced over at Astra. "Spike sent me Astra's friendship report earlier today. I'm given to understand that it was largely responsible for breaking the Starlight Sapphire's hold over you." She turned back to Twilight and smiled warmly at her star pupil. "It would seem that you performed the task I assigned you admirably. Astra was quite correct - I did indeed send her to learn about the magic of friendship from you. Given the report she wrote, and the statement she just made about her newfound desire to make friends, I would say that you taught her very well. Thank you Twilight Sparkle."

By now the partying ponies were all watching and listening intently, and at this Twilight's friends cheered for her. She looked away bashfully, embarrassed by the praise. After all she'd done she certainly didn't feel like she deserved it. Celestia now turned her attention to Astra.

"Princess Astra, we all owe you our thanks for freeing Twilight Sparkle from Nightmare Moon's magic. I am especially grateful to you for returning my student to me unharmed. Your method for resolving the situation was most admirable."

Now it was Astra's turn to shy away in embarrassment. "Thank you, Princess."

"As much as I'm sure you would like to resume your studies with Twilight, I am sorry to say that she cannot continue to remain your teacher," Celestia went on, "I must therefore ask you to accompany me back to Canterlot."

This was met with a resounding silence. Crestfallen, Astra exchanged a heartbroken look with Twilight before turning her soulful eyes upon the princess. "But ... why?"

"Twilight Sparkle is my student," Celestia explained, "And as talented and wise as she is, she must still focus upon her own studies. It would not be fair of me to ask her to continue to accept the burden of teaching you as well."

"But Princess, I really don't mind!" Twilight insisted, trotting over to stand by Astra's side. Celestia regarded both unicorns kindly.

"Thank you for the offer Twilight Sparkle, but that will not be necessary. You need not worry, for I have found a new teacher who is more than willing to accept the responsibility of educating my niece. Someone I believe you are both quite familiar with."

Astra and Twilight exchanged looks, both ponies frowning as they tried to work out who Celestia meant.

"I speak of course of my sister, Luna."

"Luna?" they said in unison, mutually surprised at this revelation. Celestia bowed her head slightly to indicate that this was so.

"My dear sister has expressed a desire to get to know Astra better. She was very impressed with the way Astra resolved the recent crisis, and told me that she would like to take it upon herself to have Astra as her personal protégé. Just as you, Twilight Sparkle, are mine."

"Wow!" the pair exclaimed together in astonishment. As sad as Astra would be to leave Ponyville, this news did at least soften the blow somewhat.

"And of course you can always visit Twilight and her friends whenever you wish," Celestia added brightly.

"Or we could come and visit you in Canterlot!" Rarity piped in suddenly and rather gleefully, drawing startled looks from everypony. She smiled back at them all sheepishly. "What?"

"Oh thank you Princess!" Astra beamed, then turned and hugged Twilight. "And thank you, Twilight. I wont forget what you've taught me. You're the best friend a pony could ask for."

Twilight giggled and hugged her back. "It was my pleasure. Just try not to let Princess Luna intimidate you; she's a good pony at heart, and I think she could use a new friend just as much as you."

Before they could say anything further Pinkie Pie bounced forwards enthusiastically, brimming with boundless joy. "This calls for a celebration!"

"Err, Pinkie Pie? We're already celebrating," Rainbow Dash pointed out, gesturing to indicate the streamers and party food. Pinkie jumped up and down on the spot and laughed merrily.

"Well then what are we all standing around for? Let's PAR-TAY! Come on ladies, who wants to play pin the tail on the pony?"

Rarity's eyes gleamed with excitement and she rushed forwards eagerly. "Oh! Me!" She stopped as Pinkie handed her a blindfold, her face screwing up as it brought back a particularly unpleasant memory.

"On second thoughts ... I think I might pass."

"Here you go," said Spike, stifling a yawn, "One cup of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows."

Twilight pointed her horn and magically lifted the steaming mug from his hands, setting it down on the stand beside her. "Thanks Spike. You should go get some sleep, it's really late. Owlicious will help me out if I need anything else."

The baby dragon yawned widely this time and rubbed at his sleepy eyes. "Sounds like a good idea. You shouldn't stay up all night though. Ponies need sleep too y'know."

Twilight chuckled, touched by his concern. "Don't worry, I wont. It's a nice night though, and I just want to look at the stars a little before I turn in."

She was seated before her telescope, a collection of star charts set out neatly next to her cup of hot chocolate. After recent events she couldn't help but take a little extra time to admire the stars in the night sky. She wondered briefly if Astra was doing the same thing in Canterlot. Spike stared up at the twinkling stars himself, frowning at them. Twilight asked him what was wrong.

"Ahh, I guess it's nothing. You were right though, Twilight. Those UFEs and crop circles turned out to have a magical explanation after all. No aliens involved."

Twilight smirked. "You almost sound disappointed."

He shrugged. "It was just nice to think that there might be something ... y'know, out there. To know that we're not alone in the universe."

Twilight blinked at the sleepy little dragon, surprised by him. "Wow Spike, that sounds kinda ... well, deep. You really think there could be intelligent life out there?"

"Don't you?"

Twilight looked up at the starry sky once more and fell silent, not sure what to say. It was an interesting question. Might there be ponies on another planet somewhere? Perhaps looking up at the stars just as she was, wondering the same thing? And if there were, just what would they be like?

"You know Spike, I think there might be. But one thing I'm sure of is that there are no alien equines in Equestria ..."

Ponywell, New Filly

Thick clouds of noxious smoke poured from the wreckage of the gleaming saucer, a trail of scattered debris littering the desert floor leading up to it. Ponies clad entirely in black snapped pictures of it, whilst others set up a black and yellow tape perimeter. Agents Muldavia and Skulduggery stared at the wreckage in silence, both thinking the same thing.

They turned as they heard a noise and found themselves facing a bright blue pony box. It opened and Doctor Geronimo strode out to greet them, putting on a pair of sunglasses to shield his eyes from the harsh glare of the sun.

"What?" he said when they continued to stare at him for several seconds longer than normal. He followed their gaze upwards and frowned. "It's a Stetson. I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool, okay?"

"Doctor, we believe we have discovered the remains of an EBE - an Extraterrestrial Biological Equine. We need you to examine it and tell us what you think," said Agent Skulduggery. Doctor Geronimo beamed at him.

"Certainly! I can do that. Because I'm clever and ... stuff. Lead the way!"

He followed them into the wreckage of the saucer, CIA unicorns using their magic to clear the worst of the smoke away. The technology that had gone into building the crashed craft was obviously far ahead of anything Equestrian. Eventually they reached a section of the saucer that had been gouged open by prolonged high speed contact with the ground. Nestling amidst the exposed workings of the craft and sheared metal plating lay the EBE.

"Oooh, that's interesting ..." The Doctor clambered over a twisted bulkhead to get a better look at the thing. It had the general appearance of a large dark pepperpot, with a plunger and a whisk attached around the midsection. He lowered his horn and concentrated, casting a bright green glow from the tip. Sparks erupted from the thing and it made various sizzling noises, but that was all.

"Doctor, please be careful," Agent Muldavia warned. Geronimo rounded on him and treated him to a haughty expression of self-assured confidence.

"Careful? I'm the Doctor. I know exactly what I'm doing."

There was a dreadful sound of screeching metal behind him as the pepperpot came to life and rose up slowly into the air, a cold blue light emanating from an eyestalk like protrusion at the top. Doctor Geronimo didn't turn around, as he could see the look of abject horror upon the faces of his colleagues quite well enough to know what was going on. He swallowed nervously and removed his sunglasses.

"As I was saying ... RUN."

The Stetson was blasted from the Doctor's head as he galloped past the two CIA ponies, the pepperpot's shrill mechanical voice blaring at them as it continued to fire.

"Exterminate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!"