Outside the window, Starlight watched her old town. It should have made her happy, but really only reminded her of the thoughts that had troubled her sleep.

"Good morning, Starlight," a voice spoke out behind her. She turned her head to see Twilight Sparkle smiling at her.

"Morning," Starlight responded, trying to keep her voice cheerful as she turned back to the window. But the sight was enough to make her voice hitch, and the Princess of Friendship wasn't easy to fool. In the window's reflection her expression turned into a frown.

"Is something bothering you?" she asked. 

"It’s... meeting Chrysalis yesterday, seeing how she treated her hive, and remembering how this town used to be... I really was the same, wasn't I?"

Twilight hesitated. "I'll be honest, Starlight. In many ways, you were. You forced this town to be what you wanted, not what the ponies wanted, and kept your cutie mark because you considered yourself more important. And like Chrysalis, when you lost, you became obsessed with revenge, blaming others for your mistakes."

That was just too much. Starlight felt her rear legs collapse under her.

"But in the most important way, you're not like her at all." 

"What's that?" Starlight asked.

"Why don't you tell me," Twilight said with a smile. "You've got a lot of friends here who might be able to help."

[hr]

"Yeah, Twilight does the whole 'figure it out on your own' thing a lot," Spike said. "I think she learned it from Celestia."

Starlight stared at her coffee. "What do you think? Was I like Chrysalis?"

"No way," Spike protested. "I mean, you really messed things up, but Chrysalis is, like, comic book villain evil!” He stopped, considering. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. Thorax took part in the attack on Canterlot, but he realized it was wrong, and decided to be a better pony. Well, changeling. You’re like that."

Starlight thought for a moment, but then shook her head. "I don't think that's the answer she's looking for. I mean... I could have realized I was wrong after Twilight chased me out of town. Or- Chrysalis could still change her mind and apologize."

Spike just shrugged. "Well, maybe it's not her answer. But I don't think you were evil, Starlight."

[hr]

"Trixie thinks the Princess gives very annoying homework assignments."

"Starlight is starting to agree with you. But do you have any ideas? What makes me different?"

"Aside from not being a love eating bug monster?” Trixie rolled her eyes dramatically. “Intentions matter. I never wanted for a giant bear to attack Ponyville, or to be corrupted by an evil amulet. You didn’t want to destroy Equestria with your time spell, did you?”

"No!" Starlight responded. "I just wanted revenge."

"That’s what I wanted when I put on the amulet, and Twilight forgave me."

"Maybe.” Starlight thought about that for a moment. “But if intentions matter... you just wanted to beat her in a magic duel. I wanted to ruin her friendships. If you thought the amulet would do that, would you still have put it on?"

Trixie shook her head, and Starlight sighed again.

[hr]

“So, have you figured it out?” Twilight asked. Above them, Celestia’s sun was rapidly climbing towards noon.

It was all Starlight could manage not to sigh. “Is it because I realized I was wrong? Or because my goal wasn’t hurting ponies?”

“Those are good guesses,” Twilight replied. “But they’re only part of the answer. Here, try this: Why did you take everypony’s cutie marks?”

“Because… because cutie marks cost me my only friend. I thought it was the only way for them to get along.”

“And when I couldn’t stop you from changing the past, why did you give up?”

Starlight couldn’t help but blink in surprise at the question. Surely the answer was obvious. “I was hurting everypony. The future I saw, there was nothing. No revenge is worth that.”

Twilight nodded. “And that’s the difference between you and Chrysalis. You [i]cared[/i]. You always did, even when you were at your worst. I thought, once, that maybe Chrysalis just wanted to feed her children, but you and Thorax found a way to help them and she still refused. That’s the difference between the two of you.”

“I…” Starlight began, but found herself unsure what to say. She looked out across the town, spotting Party Favor walking down the single street. He smiled, giving her a friendly wave.

Twilight beamed as Starlight waved back.