Old and New Friends

"Mom, do I really have to come with you for this?" Starswirl padded behind her mother reluctantly, her voice sullen and her eyes downcast.

"Now Starswirl, I don't want you being moody with Moondancer- she's one of my oldest friends, afterall. Besides, I think her daughter's about your age- this'll be a great opportunity for you to make a new friend!" Twilight replied cheerily, excited at the prospect for a friendship opportunity for her daughter.

Starswirl stopped nearly dead in her tracks. 

"Couldn't I just wait at the castle with Ren and Bre instead?" Starswirl pleaded, dreading interaction of any kind. 

Eagerly, and ignoring her daughter's request with a pointed look, Twilight glanced around the busy streets of Canterlot until finally focusing on a familiar mare with a similar, reluctant shadow. She grinned instantly, calling out to Moondancer and waving enthusiastically. Moondancer returned the smile and rushed along to meet Twilight half way.

"Twilight! Oh, it's so great to see you!" Moondancer and Twilight shared a warm hug, meanwhile Starswirl remained uneasy. Similar to herself, a young filly, looking very much like her mother, stood cautiously behind Moondancer, staring at Starswirl with shy but feverant eagerness. Starswirl moved closer to her mother immediately, trying to hide between Twilight's hooves. Twilight glanced down at her daughter and shook her head fondly, nudging Starswirl gently forward. 

"Moondancer, I'd like you to meet my daughter- Starswirl, say hello!" 

Starswirl stared at her paws and mumbled a sheepish hello, fluffing up immediately in embarrassment from the attention and effort. Moondancer beamed at the little princess.

"It's a pleasure, Star! Someone else has also been very excited to meet you." At this, she turned around, beckoning the young filly behind her to come forward. She crept forward nervously, tugging at the wooly purple turtleneck she was wearing. Starswirl tried to creep backward, but was blocked by Twilight's firm hoof. She gulped nervously. Moondancer encouraged her daughter to speak up, her eyes glued to Starswirl.

"U-um, hi, I'm Cinnamon Swirl... It's really nice to meet you." Cinnamon blushed, looking around awkwardly. Starswirl nodded, at a loss for what to say. 

In the meantime, Twilight and Moondancer had been watching the exchange with vigor, and once silence descended upon the two children, Moondancer burst into a fit of giggles. Twilight, worried for her daughter's lack of enthusiasm, looked up at her dear friend, puzzled.

"What's the matter?" Twilight asked, raising her brow in alarm. Moondancer ruffled her daughter's mane affectionately, drawing Cinnamon close, much to her embarrassment. She wiped a tear before responding, finally composing herself.

"Oh geez, they're just like us, Twilight, when we first met!" Moondancer nuged Twilight and grinned enthusiastically at Starswirl, giggling once again. Twilight herself smiled, remembering her school-filly days, soon beginning to laugh herself. Cinnamon and Starswirl stood uncomfortably at their sides, Cinnamon herself once again staring at Starswirl, and Starswirl averting her gaze shyly.

The two mares soon took the lead after they both calmed down, their daughters trailing behind them awkwardly as they made their way to the donut shop. Cinnamon was the first to break the silence, suddenly blurting out into conversation.

"Oh my gosh, I've never met a princess like you before!"

Starswirl's ears pricked back, paranoid at the vagueness of her statement.

"Wha-what do you mean?" Cinnamon winced at her poor choice of words, waving her hoof to take back her previous statement.

"Nothing bad, sorry, I just mean, well, you're a sphinx! That's so cool! I've been trying to do some research on sphinxes since I learned from Mom that you and Princess Twilight were coming to visit, and boy, I've got so many questions to ask you-" Starswirl's eyes widened as she gawked at the filly beside her, her mouth running a mile a minute, evidently excited to be speaking to her, making Starswirl feel secretly glad. Cinnamon was an avid reader, just like she was, and the more she talked, the more Starswirl found herself a little more comfortable and willing to respond.

'Oh, wait a minute, I almost forgot, I brought you something- it's one of my favorites." Cinnamon offered her a sheepish smile, handing Starswirl a blue book.  Great Equestrian Legends and Lands. Starswirl's own favorite book, too.

For the first time, she grinned with genuine happiness.

"It's really nice to meet you, too, Cinnamon."
--

BOY HOWDY THAT WAS LONG, SORRY! Trying to get into writing again, heh.  

Since most of you wanted me to feature Starswirl in my next Harmonyverse piece, I decided to hit two birds with one stone, and so I took the opportunity to introduce my Donutdancer (Donut Joe/Moondancer) foal, Cinnamon Swirl, their eldest child! Star and Cinnamon are best friends, so I wanted to show you all their first meeting. Cinnamon was really excited to meet the heir to the Princess of Friendship, interested in Starswirl's sphinx status and her magic. Although they're both pretty shy and awkward when it comes to making friends, they very quickly hit it off, bonding over their mutual love of reading, history, and magic. They're geeky dorks, just like Twi and Moony were back in the old days, hehe. Since that day, Star and Cinnamon became pen pals and best friends, never letting the distance between them keep them apart. Starswirl will often go visit Cinna in Canterlot, or vice versa, and really they're both each other's true and only friends, as neither have too many friendships to begin with. Cinnamon is also good friends with Star's "cousin" (the royal next gen all see each other as family, at least), Tenebres, while Star doesn't have too many close friends in Ponyville. Nonetheless, Star and Cinna are two peas in a pod, hehe.

Sorry again for the long post- I promise they won't be super long frequently. The background was nabbed from Google, as per usual. Hope you enjoy, guys!



Harmonyverse characters, canon, and art belong to me.
MLP belongs to the Pony Gods.