The tension was so thick that one would need something a little bit more substantial than just a knife to cut it. Starlight visibly gulped, her ears going flat against her head. Twilight slowly rose from her seat, stepping down onto the floor with very careful movements. “Starlight…? I didn’t think you would be here.” she started carefully, glancing past the mare in question.
“Uh… yeah, I’m, uh… I’m here,” Starlight said uneasily, her eyes darting between everypony else anxiously. “Where’s uh, Rainbow Dash?”
“Dashie’s back getting her broken wing looked at,” Pinkie said with a friendly smile, trying to ease some of the tension with an optimistic tone. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to try to punch you again or anything anytime soon.”
“Pinkie,” Rarity scolded while smacking the party pony with her magazine, which was now rolled up. “Have some bedside manner!”
“But we’re not at a bedside!” Pinkie wined pitifully before rolling her eyes and looking at Starlight and waving. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie. We never actually met, did we?”
Starlight blinked, seeming to relax a little bit. “Er, no, we never did. Frankly, I don’t even recognize most of you, much less know your names.” she looked around and shuffled uneasily in place.
“Oh, yeah… I never did tell you my name,” Twilight thought aloud before putting on a small, gentle smile. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends,” she began to gesture to them one at a time. “Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. You, uh…” she lowered her hoof and looked down. “You’ve already met Rainbow.”
Starlight shuddered and cringed, then nodded. “Y-yeah…” she managed to mumble out, running a forehoof through her mane absentmindedly.
Twilight shook her head. “Anyway, if I’m being honest, It’d probably be for the best if you weren’t here when Rainbow Dash gets better… While I have my doubts that she’d attack you again, I don’t want to take any chances,” she explained her shoulders sagging.
Starlight perked up a little bit. “Oh, yeah. I’m way ahead of you on that one. I was actually just on my way to the chariot that’s going to take me to Canterlot,” she said before wincing a little. “Er, uh, I mean… Shoot, I probably shouldn’t have said that.”
“Canterlot?” Rarity inquired, perking up a little and leaning forward. “I do hope it isn’t too much to ask, but, what are you going there for?”
Starlight looked around for several moments before her eyes rested on Twilight. “I’m… going to a friend of mine.” she finally said distantly, closing her eyes and quivering a little.
“Sunburst,” Twilight deduced with a slow nod. Starlight’s eyes snapped wide open yet again and she took a step back, eyeing Twilight critically. “I’m going to be blunt with you, Starlight… I wasn’t being completely honest with you when I said I’d never heard of him back in Bits and Bobs,” Twilight continued with a slow movement of her hooves. “I… I never met him, but I’ve heard his name before. And I know he meant a lot to you in the original timeline, before everything changed.” as she spoke, Twilight glanced to the counter to ensure that Painkiller was still absent.
“He… was my only friend, growing up,” Starlight conceded, poking at the floor, a despondent frown spreading on her face. “But when he got his cutie mark he just… up and left. His parents sent him off to Princess Celestia’s school and I didn’t hear from him for years…” her eyes gained a small shine to them, her frown slowly being replaced by a fond smile. “That guy… he knew everything there was to know about magic, I swear. He was a genius and always knew the perfect bit of magic for every situation…” her smile faded again. “Heck. he got his cutie mark by using magic to save me from getting hurt by a collapsing tower of books.”
“Sounds like a good colt…” Applejack said with a small nod before slightly lowering her hat. “Kinda rotten of him to leave you hangin’ like that, though.”
Starlight shot Applejack a harsh glare before turning to Twilight to speak again. Her words caught in her throat when she noticed the distant look in her eyes, how they had gone completely wide and unfocused. Starlight frowned and waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face. “Uh… you okay in there?” she tried.
Twilight audibly gasped and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap her hooves reaching to cover her eyes. A deep boom sounded in her ears while her heart rate began to rapidly accelerate, the organ hammering against her ribs. Her ears were filled with a loud ringing sound and everything else become fuzzy and muffled. White tendrils were licking at the edges of her vision and her limbs felt heavy. She managed to lift her gaze to Starlight and locked gazes with her.
Her vision exploded into white as the Flash commenced.
Ash. Dust. A frigid, biting wind.
All the world was little more than a barren, wind-blasted wasteland. A single tree bent horribly at an odd angle, jutted out from the barren, lifeless soil, the last remnant of the life that once thrived here, soon to be buried in the storm. The sky was smothered in brown and gray clouds, like the ash and dirt that rushed past the two mares and one baby dragon like a hurricane.
“I know I can’t stop you… but I thought showing you this might change your mind.” Princess Twilight said, briefly looking around the devastated region that had once been Ponyville with sorrow and resignation. The mare in front of her, Starlight Glimmer, went rigid before slowly turning around. Her pupils were dilated with furious anger and rage, her ears going flat against her head.
“Change my mind?!” she demanded coldly before taking a threatening step forward. “You don’t know anything about me! I was perfectly happy until you and your FRIENDS RUINED WHAT I BUILT!” her words escalated into an infuriated, yet saddened, scream that would have echoed all around them, had the words not been lost in the wind.
Twilight took a step back, taken aback by the way Starlight’s voice was starting to crack with emotion. “I-I don’t know what led you to make your village without Cutie Marks, and I’m sorry my friend and I had to take it away…” she admitted gently, trying to pacify Starlight.
Starlight’s teeth ground together angrily. “You want to know what happened to me?!” She shouted before her entire body was enveloped in a blue magical glow. She was hoisted into the air by her own magic and hovered above what looked like a magically projected map of Equestria that rested behind Twilight. “I’LL SHOW YOU!” she screamed out before a beam of magic shot into the map. The surface lip up, the sound of numerous clocks ticking away emanating from within the blinding light. Twilight, Spike, and Starlight were yanked roughly into the light, vanishing into the table.
For a moment, their reality was a vortex of chaotic turns and rotations, a tunnel of light and darkness before, rather unceremoniously, they were all spat out on their hooves. Twilight shook herself gently before looking up and examining their new surroundings.
The sky was a bright blue, the sun shining down at its summer height. Birds were chirping and before Twilight rested a small, cozy village. Homes made of yellowish-white bricks topped with red roof tiles were scattered around casually, a dirt road winding through the town like a thread through a needle. A few ponies could be seen light-heartedly going about their day.
“Where are we?” she asked, looking to her left at Starlight, who still wore an impatient and frustrated scowl on her face.
Starlight turned to Twilight and jabbed a hoof into her chest. “That map of yours is connected to every part of Equestria. And this part…” her voice faded and she began to slowly trot forwards toward one house in particular. “...Is my home.”
Twilight and Spike shared an uncertain glance before falling into step behind Starlight, curious about what she was going to show them. For a moment, Twilight was afraid they might be seen, yet nopony even batted an eye at them. It was like they didn’t exist. Soon enough, Twilight came up to Starlight’s side. The lilac unicorn had her forehooves resting on a windowsill, peering inside with a longing shine in her eyes, showing through her bitterness. Twilight looked in and blinked in surprise.
She saw two foals, a bright orange unicorn colt with white-tipped hooves and a fiery-orange mane and tail, and a little lilac unicorn filly with a purple mane and tail streaked with cyan. The colt was looking rather proudly at an enormous tower of books that rested atop the small round table he and the filly were sitting at, while the filly clapped her hooves together with delight and joy.
“Sunburst and I did everything together,” Starlight began, grabbing Twilight’s attention. Her eyes had lost most of their intensity now, replaced by a sort of sorrowful longing Twilight had never seen before. “In fact, I don’t remember us ever being apart.”
The little filly Starlight stood up and focused on one of the books in the tower, narrowing her eyes with concentration while her horn lit up.
“Until today.”
The filly managed to pull the book out of the tower with a deft use of telekinesis. However, she hadn’t chosen her target very well. With one of the tower’s supporting pieces gone, the entire thing began to wobble and sway dangerously. Starlight looked up, her eyes going wide with alarm as the tower of books came crashing down on her.
But no impacts came. For a moment, she merely sat there, quivering in expectation before cracking an eye open. Her eyes then shot wide open with awe and wonder as she realized what had happened. The entire tower, which itself almost reached up to the rather high roof, was floating in mid-air just above her, suspended in the yellow magical aura of Sunburst. The colt slowly lifted into the air with focus and concentration, his horn sparking. With a small twitch of his head and a flash of light, he managed to send each and every single one of the books flying into their rightful place on a shelf in the corner of the room.
When the light faded and Sunburst touched back down, his coat had acquired a new addition. A cutie-mark depicting a brilliant sun casting several rays of golden light had appeared on his flank, still twinkling in the aftermath of its appearance. He glanced down at it, his eyes widening with unspeakable joy.
Starlight went to thank him and congratulate him, but in his excitement, Sunburst barreled right past her and out onto the streets outside, rocketing by Twilight and the adult Starlight with a jubilant neigh. Starlight watched him go with a somber, nostalgic look on her face. “...and just like that, my friend was gone. His family recognized his magical talent and sent him off to Canterlot… I never saw him again.” she said, watching sadly as Sunburst was carried away by his parents in a glowing aura, all of them laughing and excited.
“Well… why not?” Spike asked carefully, taking a step forward.
Starlight whirled on him and Twilight, all of her rage returning in full force… along with tears starting to leak out of her eyes. “Because of his cutie mark! He got his, and I didn’t! He moved on, and I DIDN’t!” she took a step back, her entire body shaking with uncontrollable emotions. She looked down. “I stayed here and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would TAKE THEM AWAY, TOO!” when she looked at Twilight again, she wasn’t even trying to contain the tears.
The world shuddered, and the vision shattered.
Twilight gasped again when she returned to her senses, shaking slightly. Her back was resting against the backrest of one of the chairs, everypony else standing before her with eager and worried looks on their faces. Fluttershy came forward. “Are you okay, Twilight?” she asked gently, touching a hoof to Twilight’s shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Twilight dismissed Fluttershy before looking to Starlight, who was hanging back with a confused look on her face. Slowly, gingerly, Twilight eased herself out of her seat. She wobbled when she was on her hooves, but after a moment found her balance and moved towards Starlight.
“What’d ya see, Twi?” Applejack asked urgently, trying to fall into step next to Twilight. She stopped when Twilight practically ignored her, continuing to trot until she was right in front of Starlight.
“Starlight… I am so sorry for what happened to you,” she whispered before reaching out, offering a hug if Starlight wanted one.
She backed away a few steps, her eyes shifting with confusion. “Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Sunburst… I’m sorry he left you like that. He didn’t even stop to say goodbye or let you thank him. He just… ran off,” Twilight continued before lowering her hoof to the floor. “For how little you were… there is no way that went well for you.”
“I…” Starlight gulped, her ears lowering slightly. “...How do you know?” she managed to ask, no longer able to meet Twilight’s gaze.
“My friends and I… we sometimes get little glimpses of the original timeline, before things changed,” Twilight said, glancing back at the others as if seeking their approval. While they all looked at her with eyes that begged her to use caution, none spoke out to stop her. “Echoes of another life, reminding who we are now of who we used to be. And… I just had one. I saw you showing me your own past… how Sunburst ran off. How it hurt you…”
Starlight began shaking, a small shine coming to her eyes. She wiped a forehoof over them and sniffled slightly. “Oh… I think I understand… heh. Considering all of the other crazy stuff you told me out in the woods, I don’t doubt what you’re saying…”
For a few seconds, everything was silent. Then Twilight’s ears perked up as a thought struck her. “Hold on… just then, before the flash hit me, you said you didn’t hear from him for years… did he get back in touch with you?”
Starlight blinked in surprise, then nodded. “Uh, yeah, kinda. He… sent me a letter a few years ago apologizing for losing contact. He said that something had happened that made him think about me… said it reminded him of how much he missed me.” her ears perked up and she smiled a little. “We’ve been trying to keep in touch as much as possible but, well, it hasn’t been easy. Between how far away from each other we live and, uh, other issues… it’s been difficult.”
Everypony looked away as Starlight said this, all of them getting a sort of guilty air about them. It was Applejack who broke the following silence. “Aw, shucks… We’re really sorry, miss,” she said, taking her hat off of her head. “We didn’t know…”
Rarity nodded along, grimacing slightly. “Yes, it seems we could have stood to do a bit more research before we went on this little mission of ours… my sincerest and deepest apologies, miss Glimmer.”
Twilight looked up as everypony else gave their own murmured apologies. “I’ll make sure Rainbow Dash knows… maybe someday she can apologize to you herself. But right now, I think we’ve kept you away from your friend for long enough,” she said before nodding for the door. “Go ahead. None of us are going to stop you.”
Starlight looked between all of them with wide, unbelieving eyes. “I… I don’t know what to say about all of this…” she said with an exasperated laugh while reaching a forehoof up to her temple.
“Don’t say anything, then,” Twilight smiled and gestured for the door. “Go. Sunburst is waiting.”
Starlight looked up at her, then nodded. “R-right… uhm… I guess this is goodbye? For real, this time?” she asked hesitantly.
Twilight shrugged. “For now, yes. But who knows… maybe we’ll see each other again someday.” she answered simply.
“Okay, then… Goodbye, Twilight,” Starlight said with a nod to her, then nodding to her friends before turning to the door and cantering out. Despite how absolutely ludicrous everything she had just heard sounded to her, Starlight believed every single word of it. She didn’t know why, really, but for some reason… she felt lighter. Like a weight had been taken off her shoulders.
With a small bounce in her step, Starlight descended the rings of Hollow Shades, making her way to the transportation office, where the chariot that would take her to see her oldest friend awaited her.