Starlight Glimmer paced back and forth, nervously looking up at the ornate mirror that glinted in the bright light of the castle library. The only other furniture in the room was a large reading table in the center of the room. A half open copy of The Mammoth Book of Spells sat on top of it, accompanied by an hourglass that had only a small handful of its grains left at the top. On the other side of the library, Spike lay fast asleep next to a pile of comic books. He snored softly, occasionally breathing out tiny clouds of smoke.
Looking up at the mirror again, Starlight was disheartened to see merely a plain reflective glass surface. Just as Twilight instructed, Starlight and Spike had watched the mirror constantly, taking turns between them to rest. At first, they patiently waited for Twilight to return or send a message, coming up with theories as to what kind of universe the map sent their friends to. They'd come up with all kinds of wacky ideas, a mix of Starlight's magical knowledge and ideas from Spike's comic books.
However as time went by, their debates over whether a world without hay could exist fizzled out and worry began to set in. An entire day passed, and Twilight had neither sent any kind of message nor emerged from the mirror. Starlight quickly sent a message to Princess Celestia by dragonfire, letting her know what was going on. She didn't think the map would send Twilight and the others anywhere obviously dangerous, like a world of zomieponies or an icy wasteland, but then again the Tree of Harmony had motives nopony could even begin to fathom. Celestia quickly replied back, suggesting they give Twilight one more day. The princess emphasized that she understood the dangers of traveling between worlds, but that last thing she wanted to do was go charging in with an army when Twilight might be on the cusp of negotiating peace. Unfortunately, the last few grains of sand in the top of the hourglass were all that was left of the second day, and the mirror still remained silent.
Starlight groaned in frustration, willing the portal to light up and produce her friends. A blue aura surrounded the mirror, and it began to levitate up into the air. Upon seeing the magic, a spark of hope lit and was quickly crushed as Starlight realized her desire to exert her will on the mirror had accidentally channeled her magic into a levitation spell. She sighed and gingerly set the mirror down, going back to her pacing.
Exerting her will. That was one thing Starlight never understood about Twilight, despite several months of studying magic and friendship with her. Ever since Starlight had discovered her talent for magic, she'd yearned to change the world around her. After all, magic was an incredible blessing to ponykind, a gift according to Twilight, that other worlds had to do without. Magic could turn a dry, infertile land into a wellspring of sustenance, just with the spark of a horn. All it took was somepony willing to change the world around her, to exert her will on it. Sure you could occasionally overdo it, like... brainwashing an entire village, but that still didn't mean magic couldn't solve most problems easily. But despite Twilight's immense magical ability as an Alicorn, she always seemed to shy away from using magic.
Their shared passion of magic was both Starlight's bond with her teacher, as well as their greatest point of contention. Starlight remembered countless times when Twilight asserted that magic couldn't solve every problem. It was an endless debate between them, and Starlight just couldn't understand Twilight's hesitancy to use magic to solve friendship problems. Twilight constantly reprimanded her for using magic as a "quick fix". So what? If the end result was a better, easier world, did it really matter that she used magic to get there? Fortunately, Starlight was no novice debater, as many newcomers to her village would debate her philosophy of equality before conceding and joining her cause.
"You say I shouldn't use magic to solve friendship problems." Starlight would say. "But isn't it you who says Friendship IS Magic?"
Twilight would go silent, unable to think of a rebuttal. Starlight felt a tinge of sadness as she remembered their arguments. Even though Twilight could be annoying at times, she was still Starlight's closest friend. Her life as Twilight's student gave her not only a purpose, but a way to put the past behind her. Starlight sighed and trotted up to the mirror, looking at her reflection. She stared at the purple mare in the glass, contemplating her past. Everypony told her to put her past behind her, but Starlight found it an insurmountable task.
Memories came back to her, painfully biting her and dragging her back in time. She remembered crying her eyes out in the caves, after Twilight took her village away. The absolute silence of the cave only served to remind her that she was once again abandoned, forgotten by those she cared about. Starlight sometimes wished she could reach out to that broken mare, comfort and assuage her fears of loneliness. But she couldn't. Her past loneliness and anger would be something she would have to bear, just as Princess Luna bore her past sins as Nightmare Moon. The mirror could only show her reflection, what she was right now. Yet another nudge to forget the past.
Suddenly the reflection faded away, and the mirror's surface began glowing bright red. Starlight jumped back in shock, startling Spike awake. He saw the glowing mirror, and stepped behind Starlight nervously. She lit her horn, ready to stun anything that came out that wasn't Twilight.
There was a red flash as the portal spit out six ponies, who each landed on their hooves gracefully. Starlight felt elation spark through her looking at the new arrivals.
Twilight looked at Starlight and Spike for a brief moment, and then broke into a wide grin. "We're back!"
Reigning in her joy, Starlight pointed a hoof at Twilight and the others. She had to be sure this wasn't some kind of trick. "What's Twilight's secret fear?"
Pinkie bounced up and down excitedly. "Ooh pick me! Pick me! Twilight's afraid of quesadillas!"
"I am not!" Twilight complained, looking slightly nervous.
Everypony laughed, and Twilight's smile returned. She gave Spike and Starlight a warm hug.
"I'm sorry we took so long." Twilight said apologetically. "The ponies in that world really needed our help."
"We were really worried for a bit that you'd never come back to us Twi." Spike replied. "But I sent Princess Celestia a letter that you're back and okay."
"What was the other world like?" Starlight asked curiously.
"It's rather ironic dear. They had too much friendship there." Rarity mused.
Starlight raised an eyebrow. "Too much friendship? Since when can you have too much friendship?"
Applejack snorted derisively. "They were too darn soft hearted. Weren't willin ta punish anypony for doin wrong."
"When we arrived, their Equestria was in total chaos." Twilight explained. "Their ruler wasn't willing to punish crime or evil sufficiently, because she thought it would go against the principles of friendship. Villains like Chrysalis had free reign to torment ponies as much as they liked, because there weren't any consequences. Fortunately, we stepped in and helped their princess lay down the law. They didn't know there could be a better way, but we helped them find one. I guess if the princess learned a lesson, it's that sometimes you have to sacrifice your moral code to protect others, and uphold the greater good."
"And ah guess we learned the importance of a firm hoof when solvin our friendship problems." Applejack added.
"That... makes sense I guess." Starlight couldn't fault their logic, but something felt a little... off about those morals.
"And what happened to the other Equestria?" Spike asked.
Twilight smiled. "Oh we helped bring order to their world. And after all, order is Harmony right?"
"Sounds good to me. I'll take order over chaos any day." Spike said with a shrug.
Pinkie raised a hoof. "We should totally celebrate! Sugarcube corner anypony?"
Starlight licked her lips in anticipation. After the baking contest at her old village's Summer Sun celebration, she'd gained an affinity for cupcakes.
"Good idea Pinkie. I'd like to take a stroll through town anyway. Homesickness and all that." Twilight said with a grin.
They trotted out of the castle's large, crystalline doors into the bright afternoon sunlight. Starlight put a hoof over her eyes, suddenly realizing it had been two whole days since she'd seen sunlight. She enjoyed the pleasant sensation of the sun warming her back as the group walked towards town.
"Hey Twilight, nice to see you're back from your trip!" a friendly voice called out from the right. Starlight looked over, and saw Lyra sitting in a weird position on a wooden bench, throwing bread to a few ducks swimming in the Ponyville river. She waved a hoof at Lyra and greeted her in turn.
"You're not supposed to do that."
Starlight turned to Fluttershy, who was looking at Lyra with narrow eyes. She had a strangely angry expression.
Lyra turned to Fluttershy. "What?"
"Feed the ducks. It's not good for them." Fluttershy replied in a steely voice.
Lyra waved her off. "It's not a big deal. A few bread crumbs won't hurt them." The bag of bread was wrapped in a purple aura, and spontaneously incinerated in Lyra's hooves. Lyra looked at Twilight with a confused, slightly scared expression. "Okay okay sheesh I get it!" she said apologetically before galloping away.
"Wasn't that a bit harsh?" Spike asked with an edge of worry.
Twilight shook her head. "If you want ponies to respect the big laws, you have to enforce the small ones."
Again, Starlight couldn't fault Twilight's logic, but it eerily reminded her of how she dispensed justice in her old village. When anypony questioned the law of equality in the slightest, she would make sure they spent the night in solitary confinement, so that they would "feel the pain of loneliness that came with an unequal society". In her mind, it only took one spark of dissent to start a fire. Ironically, that's exactly what Twilight had done. Who was Starlight of all ponies to question Twilight's judgement?
As they trotted into town, Starlight could hear a big commotion coming from the town center. The others picked up on it as well, and they galloped to the scene. A large crowd was gathered around the town hall, shouting cries of protest. In the middle of the mass of ponies were five large bulls staring down Mayor Mare.
"King Longhorn and his cattle rustlin' gang? What're those varmints doin' here?" Applejack growled.
"Sis! You're back!" a filly's voice yelled gleefully.
Starlight saw Apple Bloom run up to her sister, and hug her tightly.
"What the hay's goin' here?" Applejack asked in a puzzled voice.
"It's horrible! That meanie Longhorn showed up a couple days ago after ya'll left on your trip. He burned down our barn and said if we didn't get off the farm, he'd do worse! Big Mac tried to stand up to em' but his henchbulls are too strong. Now he's trynta force Mayor Mare to give him the deed to our land!" Apple Bloom explained in a panicky voice.
Applejack looked angrier than Starlight had ever seen before. "MOVE!" Applejack yelled at the crowd. Seeing who it was, they parted and let them through.
"Oh, it's you." Longhorn sneered at the farm pony. Mayor Mare stood next to him, sweating profusely. She looked extremely frazzled, no doubt worried what the bulls would do to Ponyville if she didn't comply.
"What do you want Longhorn?" Applejack said sternly.
"Power. Control. But most of all, revenge." Longhorn said menacingly. "I would've taken over Appleoosa, if it weren't for you and your pathetic friends."
"We stopped you then, and we'll stop you now." Applejack replied, glaring at the cattle rustlers.
Longhorn laughed. "And how exactly are ya gonna do that missy? Maybe your alicorn could with her fancy magic, but she won't will she? No, I'm a legal citizen of Equestria, and she can't abuse her power."
Starlight remembered Twilight telling her once that as a princess, she was strictly limited when it came to using aggressive magic. They'd managed to stop Longhorn in Appleoosa by using trickery, invisible ink, and a few legal loopholes. She highly doubted that would work now.
Longhorn grabbed the mayor by her collar and lifted her up in the air. "Now if ya don't mind Miss Mare, ah'd like that deed."
Out of the corner of her eye, Starlight saw a bright, shining light. She turned and saw Twilight's horn glowing, channelling her magic. The bulls immediately went rigid, and Longhorn dropped the mayor, who quickly backed away.
"W-wha... I- I don't... remember." Longhorn gasped, rubbing his head.
"You will leave Ponyville." Twilight said in a monotone.
"We will leave Ponyville." the bulls repeated, entranced.
"And never come back."
"And never come back." The bulls got to their hooves, and obediently trotted away, leaving the crowd completely awestruck. Once the bulls left their eyesight, the crowd started cheering, thanking Twilight for saving them. Twilight smiled at them and shook hooves with the mayor.
Starlight trotted up to Twilight. "You... erased his memory?"
"I thought that was kind of obvious." Twilight joked, grinning at her.
"It's just... so out of character!" Starlight protested. Twilight was always the one telling her not to use magic, but this flew in the face of all of that!
"About time if ya ask me!" Apple Bloom said. "Ah thought he said ya weren't gonna use magic on him?"
Twilight gave Apple Bloom an affectionate pat on the head. "I just felt it was time for a change."