After Sharpshooter's death, Twilight and Starlight retired to a certain room to talk with each other. This room was completely their own. Each had decorated half to reflect their certain personalities. They called it "The Chamber of Shared Sisterhood," and it was off limits to everypony except them. Of course, they made certain exceptions to this rule, such as medical emergencies, but other than that, the room was theirs.

Twilight went and sat on one of the comfortable plush chairs that Celestia had sent them as a "sisterhood" present. When Twilight's old mentor had found out the true connection that she and Starlight shared, she was absolutely enthralled and insisted on throwing them a small congratulatory party. These chairs had been specially made in Canterlot, and each bore one of their names. They were sat very close together, symbolically recognizing the true bond between the two.

Starlight sat in her chair and turned to face her sister. Normally, when they came in here, they were in jovial moods. But not this time. This time they had to face the harsh reality that three of their best friends in the world were gone. Three precious lives snuffed out in an instant. The fire of friendship that had burned so brightly between them seemed dim by comparison. The embers were softly glowing, but that seemed to be all.

Twilight sighed. "I miss them," she said as tears came.

"I do, too," Starlight said, "but…we can't bring them back."

Twilight shook her head. "No, we can't. I've yet to hear of a magic powerful enough to raise the dead. So we have to deal with this."

Starlight nodded, then suddenly turned to Twilight. "Twi…I've been meaning to ask you this for quite some time. What does our sisterhood mean to you?"

Twilight started a bit. Was Starlight doubting her faith in their friendship? If so, she shouldn't. Twilight's faith was stronger than ever, and she thought their friendship benefitted from it. Had she done something to harm her sister? Had she committed some completely abhorrent crime without knowing it?

"It means the world to me," Twilight said, "you know that. I love you, Starlight. You are my sister and nothing will ever change that. Nopony could ever come between us. I know I have lots of friends and I'm the Princess of Friendship and everything, but you're my best friend."

She smiled and Starlight smiled back. "I know," she said, "but…"

"But what?"

"Oh, I've just been thinking a lot about my old village lately. You got letters from them stating they had survived Midnight's wrath, didn't you?"

Twilight nodded. "Yeah, I got them."

"I've asked you that before, haven't I?"

"Five times."

Starlight smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Twi, but I just…miss them."

Twilight embraced her sister. "I know you do, but this is your home now. You have lots of new friends here that love you and care about you. Since we discovered our sisterly connection, I've felt our friendship grow stronger than ever before."

"Stronger?" Starlight asked, "but we've fought a lot, too."

"Nopony ever said best friends had to agree on anything or never fight," Twilight pointed out, "come on, you know that. You're my guidance counselor, for Celestia's sake!"

Starlight smiled as they broke their embrace. "Yeah, I guess I lost sight of that for a minute. Still, though, I can't help but wonder what might have become of me if you and our friends hadn't ever shown up."

"You probably would have remained a cutie mark hating dictator for the rest of your life," Twilight said bluntly.

Starlight shivered. She felt the cold winds that used to blow over her village trace a new route down her spine. She saw ponies like Sugar Belle and Party Favor in her head, just as innocent as they had been on the day she found them. Then they were corrupted by her vicious collectivist philosophy. She told them it was the only way to truly make progress as a species, and they bought into it.

She suddenly realized that she and her deceased niece had a lot in common. Midnight had gone around Equestria proclaiming lies about the rich and smart ponies in the land. She had gone to one village and proclaimed that cutie marks were defeating ponies, not assisting them. She guessed that there were a lot of ponies who would buy into radical philosophies if they were worded correctly.

"Starlight?" Twilight asked.

Starlight snapped out of her small reverie. "Yeah, what is it, Twi?"

"Sorry, you just seemed lost in thought for a second. Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

"How far would you have gone?"

"Huh?"

"To save me. How far would you have gone?"

Twilight grabbed her sister's hoof with her own. "I would've gone to the ends of the earth to save you."

"Even knowing what a horrible pony I was?"

"I don't think you were a horrible pony at heart. I think you had a horribly vindictive outlook on cutie marks and when you gained power in that village, that outlook created that horrible pony. But now you've completely changed. You've done a 360, and it shows. You're kind, caring, wonderful, and a true friend to others. Look, I've been doing a lot of thinking about who you are to me and what you mean to Equestria…and I've come to a decision. You are my sister, which makes you royal blood. Not only that, but you've studied friendship to the point where you basically have a doctorate degree in the subject. Starlight, I want to make you a fellow princess and welcome you onto the dais of the rulers of Equestria!"

Starlight's mouth fell open. "What?" She asked in shock, "you want to make me a…princess? But I thought only Celestia could do that!"

Twilight shook her head. "All four princesses have the power to do something like that. I was just waiting on the right moment, and Starlight, now is the right moment. I want you by my side as a princess."

"But…you're the Princess of Friendship. What would I be?"

"The Princess of Guidance, Starlight. You know what it is to come from the outside, to be that lonely pony without a single friend in the world. You can help other ponies know what it is to be a friend and to have friends instead of being alone. You can help ponies who are new to friendship. Oh, and it comes with a promotion in the School of Friendship. I want you to be Vice Head Mare!"

"Vice Head Mare?"

"Yes, indeed."

"But…who would be the guidance counselor?"

"I've decided to ask the Cutie Mark Crusaders to be our counselors. They understand the ins and outs of friendship so well, and they certainly deserve the position."

Starlight looked at the ground, then back at her sister. She couldn't believe everything that had happened in the past thirty seconds. She had gone from a simple guidance counselor to being offered one of the highest positions in Equestria! She was thrilled, but then she turned suspicious.

"You're not doing this out of sheer nepotism, are you?" She asked. Twilight started a bit and shook her head. "Of course not, Starlight! Yes, you're my sister, but you're also the most qualified pony to take this position! Now, do you accept or not?"

"I…I…" Starlight stammered. How could she take this spot? How could she stand on the same level as Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight? How could she do it? She looked up and saw the sparkles dancing in her sister's eyes. Twilight looked absolutely enthralled to be offering this position to her. So, Starlight puffed up her chest a bit and said, "…I accept."

Twilight beamed, and got down off her chair. She fired up her horn and shot a magic blast into Starlight. Suddenly, the guidance counselor found herself lifted up off the floor. She looked down and saw her sister's lips moving, but she couldn't quite make out what she was saying. There was a terrible roar in her ears. She felt a weight of thousands of pounds being placed on her shoulder. She thought it would crush her. She wanted out.

Then, her sister's sweet voice reached her ear. "My dear Starlight, how far you have come. I remember Celestia saying those same words to me the day I became a princess. But know this. The demands of royal life are absolute. The things you knew as a regular pony will become distorted and you will get a completely new view on life. I know you feel a weight on you, a burden that you cannot carry alone. That is Equestria and all the ponies in it. But the good news is, you don't have to carry it alone. You have the four of us and all the rest of your friends to help with it. Don't ever forget your friendships, Starlight. I am very proud of you my dear sister, and I am even more proud to be the first one to hail you by your new title. Princess Starlight Glimmer, the Princess of Guidance. Help the lonely and lost, and Equestria will love and look to you for the rest of your now extended life. Do good to those who need it, and punish the unjust. Defeat evil, and look to the good in ponies. I am thrilled to have you with me in this endeavor. I love you, my sister."

With those words echoing in her ears, Starlight was let down. She found herself standing before Twilight, who was beaming. She felt something odd on her flank and looked down to see a brand new pair of wings. She unfurled them, and they stretched out just as wide as her sister's did.

Twilight embraced her. "I'm so proud of you, Starlight! We'll worry about your official coronation later, and Celestia does know all about this. She's just as proud of you as I am. Now, let's go show Ponyville the new you. Princess Starlight Glimmer. It has a nice ring to it, if I do say so myself."