Splintershard

by TheMajorTechie

Prologue ◈ The Magic

"Everything... everything's broken..."

The voice was lonely.

"I... I need to get out of here! Think, Starlight, think!

The voice was desperate.

"What would Twilight do, what would Twilight do... let's see..."

Sometimes, it seemed thoughtful.

"I mean, I could simply disappear forever like she did, but... no, that's an awful idea..."

...Just a little.

---

"So, you gonna make more teacups or something?" Emily yawned, picking up her plate. "Or are you gonna do something else now that you've got a body again?"

She walked past Starlight, ruffling the mare's mane before dumping her plate and utensils in the sink. "By the way, your mane is really soft. Did you know that?"

"It's going to be nothing but dust in about twenty seconds."

"Shame. Got any other tricks you can do?" she pointed the spoon at Starlight. "I've got the wand and everything for you to use!"

"You're not taking me seriously again, are you?"

Emily shrugged, watching the disintegrating mare. "Yeah? Anything else I already know?"

The last of Starlight's temporary body dispersed into the air, leaving her voice once again in the girl's head. "Y'know, if I were to write a story about my experiences thus far, then you'd be quite the unlikeable character."

"Eh."

Starlight's voice fell silent for a moment. "...If you don't act kinder towards me, then I'll stop showing you magiiiiic!"

"Oh, fine," Emily leaned back against the counter. "So... is there anything else you can do then? Besides the teacups and... uh, manifesting and all."

"Heh. Name something and I'll cast i--"

A giant grin spread across the girl's face. "Fire. I wanna see some sort of fire spell."

"Alright. Fire's what you want? You sure?"

"Yeah," Emily nodded. Though, maybe she should step outside for this.

"Don't worry about that. I'll keep the area of effect small."

A quiet click came from her finger, followed by a strange warmth that crept up her arm. Slowly, the girl raised her hand, her eyes widening at the sight of a tiny flame flickering on her fingertip.

"It... it's--"

"Small. Yes, I realize that," Starlight's voice sighed. "My mana's mostly exhausted for now because of that spell from before. It'll take some time to build it back up, so a finger-lighter's all you're gonna get. Even if I could make it bigger, I'd rather not. You don't exactly seem to be the type that'd show restraint."

Emily blew out the flame, leaning against the counter again. "So... what else do you know?"

She heard Starlight take a deep breath before beginning. "Well, most unicorns, myself included, tend to start at basic levitation spells. So that's one... let's see... personally, I know teleportation, advanced levitation-- including self-levitation, cutie mark snatching spells, cutie mark replacement spells, magical bolts and shields for offense and defense, respectively... oh, I've also dabbled in time travel and portals here and there as well. Though, with what was going on before I was sent here, a lot of what I can remember off the top of my head are offensive and defensive spells."

Emily raised a brow. "Cutie marks?"

"...Don't worry about it. That was in a past that I'd rather forget."

"Any reason why?"

"No, no, trust me--" Starlight's voice countered, "You do not need to know. It's... it's honestly from a pretty dark time in my life."

Emily rolled her eyes, stepping away from the counter. So much for prying into Starlight's life. Maybe there was something else she could do today... actually, come to think of it, did she even have anything to do in the first place? Homework wasn't anything to worry about this weekend, and most of her friends only really ever talked online, and--

"If it helps, my years of practice and experience have made me become accustomed to needing to quickly recharge my mana. A healthy diet is one of the simplest ways, in my opinion."

Emily wandered to the pantry and pulled out a bag of chips.

"No, I'm not talking junk food!"

"Too late," Emily hummed while chewing. She'd just eaten breakfast anyway, so what was a few chips on top of that?

"You are an absolute chore to deal with. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"And, you should learn to respect those aroun--"

The girl shook the bag, peering inside. "Hm. These barbeque chips are pretty good for something that's been sitting on the shelf for months!"

"Fine. I still have enough mana lingering for a few more spells. Will that catch your attention, or are you going to continue pushing me aside?"

"Hm? Spells? I'm listening," Emily set the bag back on the shelf. "What spell are you going to do next?"

"Levitation," Starlight's voice deadpanned. "Lift your hand, and I'll handle the rest. Actually, what happened to the spoon you were using to channel my mana? It'd be rather useful right now as far as directing the flow goes."

"Left it in the sink with everything else. It got dirty."

"You didn't even use it!"

Emily smirked. "It got dirty when I put it in the sink."

Though Starlight didn't have a physical body anymore, Emily could feel the intensity of her facepalm. Or was it facehoof? Since... she was a small horse and all... actually, come to think of it, how does she even know about hands? Are there humans in her world too? Ooh-- maybe it was like a full-on fantasy world with like ogres and goblins and stuff, since she already mentioned--

"Ahem."

Right. Raise hand and let Starlight do the levitation thingy. No spoon needed.

"Alright, now focus on the object that you'd like to levitate. Don't just stare at it-- imagine it. Imagine where it is, and how it'll move. That should be enough to get the spell going... er--" Emily's hand pulsed with mana as a charge began to build. "--enough to let me know how you want the spell to be cast, I mean."

Emily nodded, her eyes wandering to the bag of chips from earlier. She closed her eyes, picturing where the bag currently was, and where it was going to go-- into her awaiting arms.

"Really? Chips again?"

She imagined some tasty barbeque chips floating out of the open bag into her mouth.

"HHhhhhfine. Chips it is."

The glow surrounding her hand dimmed, transferring some of itself away to envelop the bag. Slowly but surely, the chips began to shift, crinkling with every fraction of an inch that it moved along the shelf.

"Y'know, you should be glad that you don't need to learn all of this from scratch. Learning levitation for me was... well..."

Emily chuckled, still closing her eyes. "You sucked at it?"

"More or less. Though, the reason why I'm struggling right now is more due to straining my mana reserves. Not having a horn or a wand to channel my magic isn't exactly helping, either."

The bag began to tip over the shelf's edge. The aura surrounding it sputtered, flickering erratically before fading.

"Hm," Emily snatched the chips before they could fall. "Well, that's cool. Want me to eat some chips to restore that mana of yours, then?"

"Fine."

Someone seemed to be in a sour mood.

"And someone needs to be a little nicer!" Starlight's voice snapped. She paused, taking a moment to recompose herself. "...And I'm feeling drained, anyway. Just plain old rest at this point would help the most."

"Including your mood?"

"Maybe. Just let me be for now."

"Touché," Emily stuffed another handful of chips in her mouth before returning the bag to the shelf. "And to think that I told you that not too long ago."

She let out a quiet breath, chewing as she gazed blankly into the pantry. Today was a Sunday, and tomorrow was a Monday... Mondays were annoying. It meant she had to wake up early in the morning and go to school all over again, and keep on doing it for five days in a row!

Actually... she blinked, breaking out of her trance. Didn't Starlight say something before about portals?

Comments

[Zapper Frost]

The last of Starlight's temporary body dispersed into the air, leaving her voice once again in the girl's head. "Y'know, if I were to write a story about my experiences thus far, then you'd be quite the unlikeable character."

I don’t know what you’re talking about Starbright, Emily seems like a very likable character