//------------------------------// // ...Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming... // Story: Starlight Glimmer has a really bad time // by Discorded SheepcityUSA //------------------------------// “Starlight? Starlight are you okay?” Twilight shouted from the other side of her enemy-turned- student’s bedroom door. They were supposed to be having a meeting with her friends to discuss any friendship issues that may need their assistance on the map’s call. Nothing of substance had come up lately but even then, Starlight still missed an important bonding opportunity with her new friends. This was worrying to Twilight so she tried to get Starlight to open up, but so far had made no progress. Twilight’s friends also surrounded the door, visibly concerned (some more than others) over what it was Starlight was even doing in there. “Did any of you even see her at all last night?....Do you think she’s dead?” Rainbow asked. “She ain’t dead Rainbow, she’s jus’ bein’ stubborn and ain’t openin’ up. Or maybe she’s a real heavy sleeper and hasn’t woken up yet.” Applejack responded with a deadpan. “Seriously, why’d the most morbid possibility come to yer mind before anythin’ else?” Rainbow shrugged a little. “I dunno. It’s not the happiest possibility but it’s there. Ponies die in their sleep all the time…oooor maybe someone from her old village still hated her and tracked her down and stabbed her to death, who knows?” “U-Um…Rainbow can you please not?” Fluttershy said with a whimper at the thought of blood being splattered all across the bedroom walls and sheets. “Oh, I know for sure how to find out!~” Pinkie said with a bright smile. She lightly pushed Twilight aside and put her ear to the door, seeming to concentrate very carefully. “Hmmm…” Rarity observed the odd behavior of her friend (not that it was anything particularly new) and raised a quizzical eyebrow. “Pinkie, whatever are you even doing?” “Listening for breathing. I know how creepy that sounds out of context but she won’t open up so-“ Pinkie wasn’t given the chance to finish her sentence, as a very audible and angry voice yelled out from the other side of the door, making Pinkie cringe and her ears ring. “FUCK! THIS GAME MAKES ME HATE MY EXISTENCE!” the voice, clearly belonging to Starlight yelled, followed by the sound of glass breaking. Pinkie, still visibly uncomfortable, backed off from the door and held onto her ears in pain. “Well…at least we know she’s not dead.” She said with a slight whimper. The second Twilight heard those words spoken in Starlight’s voice, she knew what was happening. Those were the same words she herself had yelled after she’d tried and failed to beat Undertale’s Genocide run not too long ago. It was an even shorter time ago that she’d introduced Starlight to the Genocide run and had gotten annihilated by Sans. “…Oh no, not this again.” Rainbow, having been the first of the group to play the game at all, recognized that amount of rage can only be induced by one thing, and it made her snicker. “O-Oh Faust is she...T-Twilight you did NOT show Starlight, the most angry and easily triggered pony alive, Undertale’s Genocide run.” Rainbow asked, trying to contain her laughter. Twilight groaned a little and put her hoof to her face. “…I did.” She said, obviously regretting that decision on her part. Rainbow completely lost it and she fell on the floor laughing out loud. “O-OH MY CELESTIA TWILIGHT YOU’RE A MAD GENIUS! STARLIGHT FIGHTING SANS IS A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!” She yelled, rolling on the floor and holding her stomach. Fluttershy’s eyes widened a little when she heard just what was causing Starlight to scream so angrily. “O-Oh goodness…Twilight um…doesn’t introducing Starlight of all ponies to the most unforgiving video game boss in history seem a little bit…um…sadistic?” she asked. Twilight took her hoof off her face and looked at Fluttershy with a look that clearly communicated ‘You’re kidding right?’ and shook her head. “Considering what she put me, Spike, and several other realities through, this was being merciful…which is the entire point of that game. I’m hoping it teaches her something. You do bad things and there will be consequences. THEN we work on helping change for the better.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “…That and ya wanted to see her rage over it cause ya thought it’d be funny.” “…And I wanted to see her rage over it because I thought it’d be funny. It ended with my computer being turned into electronic pudding. Look, I didn’t expect her to try this AGAIN okay? She’s just more determined to get through it than I thought.” Twilight continued. Rarity shook her head. “Oh darling we understand. I can’t say this wasn’t warranted but….gracious I never thought video games could have this kind of effect on ponies. It’s just like that time Pinkie accidently knocked out a shiny Pokemon on her game last year.” “Oh yeah…I still have flashbacks.” Pinkie said unusually cheerily with a slightly more demented smile than usual and a twitching left eye. “I hate critical hits with every single fiber of my very being; you have no idea.” She said rather bitterly but with the same cheery demeanor about her. Twilight rolled her eyes a little at that. She tried to get Starlight to open up the door again my giving it another knock. “Starlight, can we please come in? We’re worried.” She asked softly. There was a slight pause of seemingly nothing happening; nopony dared to make a sound while not even knowing what would happen next. The only sound the group heard after nearly seven seconds of complete silence was the sound of Undertale’s “Game Over” screen initiating from the other side of the door. Not long afterwards, the door slowly opened to reveal Starlight in definitely the worst shape they’d ever seen her. Disheveled mane, bloodshot eyes that looked ready to pop out of her head at any minute, and a deep frown grazing her mouth. “…What?” Starlight asked with an unamused expression, clearly not happy about being interrupted from her game. “U-Um Starlight? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked with a nervous stutter. Starlight quickly shook her head and tried to put on the happiest face she could, given her circumstances at the moment. “O-Oh never better! I’m just peachy this morning~” she said with a smile. Her mouth may be conveying a pleasant mood, but her exhausted eyes completely blew her cover. “Uh, you sure because you kiiiinda look like a zombie.” Rainbow Dash added. Starlight looked at Rainbow Dash, her incredibly fake of a smile turning into a slight grimace. “Well excuse me if I don’t look drop-dead gorgeous after getting approximately zero hours of sleep and spending that time staring at a computer screen. Fuck you too.” Starlight said with a sour tone in her voice Rainbow took mild offense to that. “Geez sorry.” She said. What she was thinking though was something along the lines of ‘So a side effect of sleep deprivation is bitch syndrome. Good to know’ “I’m sorry darling, but you really haven’t slept since last night? Do you even know the bags that leaves under your eyes? It’s atrocious I tell you!” Rarity gasped, obviously shocked that Starlight would be willing to suffer the consequences of staying awake so long over a video game. “I feel I’d be terrified if I really gave a crap about how I look right now. But I don’t. I’ve only got ONE thing on my mind right now and it’s right in my reach. I won’t let victory slip from my grasp. Not when I’ve gotten so close.” She said with a serious and determined look in her bloodshot eyes. Twilight’s ears folded a little and she frowned. “Oh Celestia. You’re really going to try to fight Sans again?” she asked with worry in her voice. “No. Not try. I WILL beat him. No matter how long it takes me, I will beat Sans and then I can just put all the horrible things I did in there behind me.” Starlight tried to sound as confident as she could despite her fatigue. “Uh, sugarcube ya do know that nothin’ in that game is…ya know…alive right?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. She immediately regretted asking that question, because what followed was a now-hysterical Starlight Glimmer viciously shaking her by the shoulders. “DON’T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT WHEN FLOWEY THE MOTHERFUCKING FLOWER INVADES MY DREAMS AND WON’T LET ME SLEEP! THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT THE GAME, MY MENTAL STATE AND MORAL COMPASS IS AT STAKE HERE! I DIDN’T KILL MY ROBOTIC HUSBANDO JUST TO STOP NOW!” She yelled as loud as she could. Applejack managed to get out of Starlight’s grasp, though it didn’t make her any less dizzy from the shaking. “U-Ungh, hear ya loud and clear.” She said with a slightly shaky voice. “Waaaaait what was that last part?” Pinkie asked with a somewhat questioning and sinister smirk, and it made Starlight get just a little bit red in the face. “….Nothing.” Starlight started to back up into her room and put a hoof on her door. “Look, I appreciate your concern but this is something I NEED to do myself. It’s a personal, soul-searching sort of thing that I need to do on my own. I’ll be fine…trust me.” Starlight quickly slammed her door shut before any of the group could object and they all looked at each other in confusion over what to do. “Um, do we try to help her or…?” Rainbow asked with a really confused look. “Well, under any other circumstance I’d say we should but…Starlight seems too adamant about doing this herself. And judging from her behavior last time she tried this, she’s not going to quit. I’d say if she doesn’t beat the game in the next couple hours that we pry her off the computer. But, hey she’s fought him so many times already, maybe she’s got the patterns down!” Twilight said with a smile, trying to remain optimistic about the situation. What followed was the sound of the Game Over screen coming from the room again, and even more furious screaming coming from Starlight. “FAUST DAMN IT, SON OF A BITCH!” “…She’ll get it eventually.” Twilight said with her ears dropping a little. “Though really, that fact is sort of what bothers me the most…”