Starlight has started having visions that are near indistinguishable from reality. Will she be able to figure out what’s going on before they ruin her life?
It all started with a weird crystal growing in the basement. Now Starlight Glimmer is seeing things that feel so real, that she can’t always tell the difference between her visions and reality. But the worst part is the wedge these visions are creating between her and her friends. Will a solution be found before Starlight’s psyche breaks?
Her kiss was not being returned. She did not know why. She opened her eyes and those beautiful blue eyes were staring back without any hint of a twinkle causing her to break off the kiss and take a step back.
“Um. Sorry about that. I just thought…you know…we were connecting.”
“I have a boyfriend, Starlight.”
Maud’s deadpan delivery of the simple fact tore through Starlight’s chest. “I know that, Maud. I know. I just…”
“You felt like there was something developing between us beyond our friendship.”
“I’m…I’m sorry.” The sob stuck in her throat was making it hard to talk.
“I appreciate the apology. You’re a really good friend, Starlight, but I think it’s a good idea for me to leave now. I think I’ll need some time to calm down. I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again. Goodbye.” Maud reached over and grabbed a pebble off of the table. “Come on, Boulder.”
All Starlight Glimmer could do was watch through tears as her friend left the castle.
Starlight Glimmer blinked to clear her eyes. Maud was still there standing in front of her. Her extreme emotional state had dissipated, though the memory of it was quite strong. Maud was staring at Starlight like she was waiting for something. Right. She was waiting for the reason Starlight had wanted to see her.
Starlight cleared the lump still lingering in her throat. “Right! I wanted you to come over and help us a little bit. There’s a new crystal growing in the basement. We don’t know why. We were wondering if you could take a look at us and let us know what it is. And why it’s there.”
“Okay.”
Starlight turned and began leading Maud to the stairs down to the basement. Her thoughts landed on what had just happened. Why did she just see what she saw? Her imagination usually wasn’t that vivid. At least, not when she was awake.
It wasn’t long before they were standing in front of the crystal protruding from the center of the basement. It came up to Starlight’s chest, and to her untrained eye, it looked exactly the same as any of the other crystals making up the walls of the castle.
“It’s grown about a foot in the past month. That seemed…unusual to me. That’s why I had you come over.”
Maud walked up to the crystal and stared it up and down. She placed her ear right next to it and gave it a couple taps with her hoof. She then reached into her dress and pulled out some jeweler’s glasses. She put them on and put her face right up next to the crystal.
“Starlight, can you give me some more light?”
“Um, sure.” She lit up her horn and kept watching.
“Can you aim it more directly at the crystal?”
Starlight tilted her horn down toward the crystal more.
“Can you make it a little brighter?”
Starlight concentrated and made her horn brighter.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“I need to talk to Twilight.” Maud put her jeweler’s glasses away and turned to go back up the stairs.
“Oh.” Starlight stopped her light and began following Maud to the stairs.
Maud stopped on the bottom step and turned to face Starlight. This stopped Starlight just a few feet behind her.
“You know, Starlight, I’ve always found you to be interesting.”
“Huh?”
“You were genuinely evil. But you overcame yourself to become my best friend.”
“I, uh, thanks?”
Maud stepped down from the step and approached Starlight. Her expression hadn’t changed at all, but Starlight could tell she was about to say something really important. Maud stopped just a hoof’s width away from Starlight. Starlight could feel her breath barely caressing the tip of her nose. All Starlight could do was stare into Maud’s half-lidded eyes.
“I love you, Starlight.”
Starlight’s breath caught in her throat. This wasn’t happening. This wasn’t real. And Starlight certainly didn’t feel the same. Except she did. She had for a while. She had simply been holding it in. She hadn’t wanted to over step their friendship. And she certainly didn’t want to be the mare that broke up a happy couple.
But Maud was right here in front of her. Declaring her love.
“Maud. Is this real?” Starlight reached her hoof out to caress Maud’s face. Maud closed the gap and it was electric. Her lips were soft. Her lips were hot. And the passion in her kiss was beyond anything Starlight had ever dreamed of. Starlight closed her eyes and melted into the earth pony’s overpowering intensity.
Starlight was sweating profusely. She was alone. Still at the bottom of the stairs. Her heart was beating like she had just been running for her life. And she could swear the taste of Maud was still on her lips.
Starlight waved goodbye to Maud from the entrance of the castle. When Maud was over the hill, she ran in and slammed the door. Twilight was musing about the information Maud had given her, Starlight certainly wasn’t listening. She ran up and grabbed Twilight’s face with both her hooves.
“TWILIGHT!” She screamed louder than she intended.
A rather terrified Twilight replied, “Yes?”
Starlight took a deep breath. It didn’t help. She took another.
And another.
And another.
Twilight by this time could tell something was really wrong. She grabbed Starlight’s hooves and held them. “What’s wrong, Starlight?”
Starlight took another deep breath and was finally able to whisper, “Something is happening to me…”
Twilight led her friend to the couch and had her sit. “Okay, Starlight. Tell me what’s happening.”
Starlight took a shaky breath. She was shaking. When did she start shaking? She looked at Twilight and started explaining what had happened. She explained the strange visions. She explained how REAL they were. She explained how she DIDN’T feel the way she felt when she was having them. Twilight sat and absorbed everything Starlight was saying, her face displaying that she was deep in thought.
“You know, Starlight, what you’re describing sounds very similar to an experience I had many years ago. I drank a potion that gave me visions of the past. The visions were so real, it felt like I was actually there. Did you drink any strange potions recently?”
Starlight shook her head. “No. And I haven’t worked on any new spells in about a week or so. And the spells I was working on before that…just some minor conjuration spells with Trixie. Tea cups, crumpits, that sort of thing.” Twilight’s face shifted to one of mild worry. “She’s getting better, Twilight. She gaining better control and I make sure to practice with her away from the castle now.”
“I know. I just…” Twilight took a breath, her voice still carrying a bit of unease. “I’m glad you guys are such good friends. And I trust your magic tutelage.”
“Are you sure? You sound more like your insides are twisting up because you aren’t overseeing the lessons.” Starlight smirked.
“I’m glad to see you’re feeling better.” Twilight’s deadpan reply got a chuckle out of Starlight. “So back to that weird crystal in the basement. Maud was able to confirm that it was definitely not a part of the castle structure. She was also able to confirm that it is magical, as I suspected. But the nature of the magic is still unknown. She’ll be helping me develop some equipment to further examine it. I was thinking she could stay in the room across from yours since you guys are friends, but after hearing this, maybe I should put her on my floor.”
“Wait. Maud is moving in?”
“Temporarily, yes. While we work on figuring this out. Of course, I suppose we could make other arrangements, under the circumstances.”
Starlight could feel her legs starting to tremble again. “Um…no. It’s fine. I’ll just get a place in town while you two work on it. If she’s here, you guys can get started nice and early every day.”
“Are you sure, Starlight? Maybe I should put this whole cyrstal thing on hold until we can figure out what’s going on with you.”
“No, Twilight. It could start affecting the foundation of the castle or something. And make the whole thing collapse. Then we wouldn’t have anywhere to live.”
“Okay. But only if you’re sure, Starlight.”
“Oh, I’m sure. I figure if I can just keep my distance, I’ll be okay. I’m already feeling a bit better with her gone.” The words stabbed at her heart as soon as she said them. She was relieved that her friend was gone. Her friend that she loved like a sister.
“Alright, Starlight. Let me help you pack. And then I’ll make sure that we start nice and early tomorrow morning so we can be done as quickly as possible.”
Starlight looked around her room. She had honestly never stayed in such a…basic room before. Even in her house back in her village, she had more amenities. All was good, though. She just needed a place to sleep for the next few days.
Starlight dropped off her bags and decided to go get some lunch. It would be a late lunch, so she was going to miss the crowds. That was probably a good thing. Starlight didn't much feel like being around anybody right now.
She started down the street toward The Hayburger. It was a nice day and the sun felt amazing on her fur. She had all but forgotten about what happened by the time she got to the restaurant. She ordered her food and waited.
"Starlight!"
She turned toward the cheerful familiar voice. The familiar face caused Starlight to smile. Trixie cantered over. She gave Starlight a hug and a simple peck on the lips.
"Hey, Trixie. Did you find everything you needed?"
"The GREAT and POWERFUL Trixie always finds what she is looking for."
Starlight could only chuckle at her marefriend's theatrics. She could be a bit much, sometimes, but when they were home, she was nothing but the most loving marefriend a pony could ask for. Completely crass sometimes, but loving just the same. Starlight gave her another kiss on the cheek.
"Trixie, shut up. What do you want for lunch?"
"Just a double Hayburger for me. No fries. I don't like the hayfries here."
Starlight chuckled again, “I know, Trixie. We’ve been dating for, what, a year now?”
Trixie tapped her chin in thought. Then her eyes got big as saucers. “Oh my gosh! It’s our anniversary!”
Starlight straight out laughed at this. And she laughed some more. She put her hoof out onto Trixie’s shoulder. “Haha Trixie, it’s not our anniver-“
Trixie didn’t have any bags. What she did have, however, was a look of both fear and worry. Starlight glanced around and noticed that there were a few ponies that were trying to pretend to not notice what was happening.
“Starlight,” Her attention whipped back to Trixie’s confused expression, “Did you say we were dating?”
Starlight didn’t know how it happened, but simultaneously her heart jumped to her throat while her stomach sank all the way to the pits of Tartarus. Her mind was reeling. She was getting clammy. She was starting to see spots appear in her vision. And she knew if she didn’t do something fast, she was going to just faint.
Starlight bolted out the door. She just ran. She ignored Pinkie Pie waving. She ignored Maud glancing at her in the Plaza. She ignored the Apple Family at their cart. She ignored Rarity stitching in her window. And she especially ignored Trixie following behind her and screaming her name.
Starlight made it to her hotel room and slammed the door behind her. She resolved to just staying in her hotel room for the remainder of the time this was going to take. And possibly for the rest of her life. She sat on the floor, put her head in her hooves and began to weep. She cried until she had no more tears.
********************
Starlight was startled awake by some light knocking on her door. Apparently she had cried herself to sleep on the floor. It was dark in her room. The sun was down and, obviously, she hadn’t lit any lights. She stood up and stumbled to the door. She was surprised to see Twilight standing there when she opened the door.
“Hey Starlight. Trixie came and told us about what happened. Well, what she saw happen. I’m glad you talked with me about it earlier. I’m guessing it was the same sort of thing as what happened with Maud?”
All Starlight could do was nod. And it was about this time that Starlight’s stomach decided to growl the loudest it had ever growled. Starlight gave a sheepish smile.
“I, uh, haven’t eaten all day. Heh.”
“Yeah I kind of figured that, since it’s late and you ran away from your lunch. Here,” Twilight hovered a small package out of her saddlebag, “I put together something with what we had at the castle. I’m not as good a cook as Pinkie Pie or Applejack, but I used to cook for myself a lot so I know my way around the kitchen.”
Starlight grabbed it and placed it on the side table. “Thank you, Twilight. And, yeah. It was…similar. The transition into this…hallucination was completely seamless. And it was different than with Maud, because Trixie and I were…established. We had been dating for almost a year, so the strong NEW feelings weren’t there. They were subtle. Still there, but I was accustomed to them. Or something. And…I think I kissed her.”
“You,” Twilight cleared her throat, “You did. Twice. She was very confused and worried when she got to the castle. And frankly, so am I. Starlight I want you to stay here while I look into some things. Don’t go anywhere. I’ll have Spike bring you some supplies in the morning. Is there anything you might want to help you entertain yourself?”
Starlight thought about it for a second. Nothing really came to mind, so she just shook her head. “Okay, Starlight. If anything comes to mind, just let Spike know when he gets here in the morning.”
“Will do.” Her emotional exhaustion came through causing Twilight to reach out and give her a hug.
“We’ll figure this out, Starlight. And Maud will be sticking around and working on that crystal in the basement. OH! I never told you what Maud found during her examination.”
“Oh yeah. She had me really light that thing up down there.”
“That’s just the thing. None of your light was going through the crystal. The light that it’s giving off is coming from inside it. It’s not catching or refracting any of the external light around it. Maud says that it’s the same sort of crystal that the castle is made out of. It’s nothing special. But the fact that it’s being weird with the light is suggesting that it’s magical. I was actually doing research on it all day until Trixie came to us in the late afternoon. I didn’t find anything substantial yet, but I will.”
“I’m sure you will, Twilight. You always figure these things out.”
Twilight caught her disappointment in her voice, “Starlight, that crystal doesn’t matter right now, though. What matters is you. I know that I talk about research and what I was doing all day, but all that is over, because now the focus is one hundred percent on figuring out what is happening with you. I can’t imagine the stress you’re under right now.”
“It’s…” Starlight sniffled, “It’s a lot, Twilight.” She broke down into quiet sobs once more. Twilight’s embrace brought little comfort, but at least she wasn’t alone.
They were prettier than Starlight could describe. Trixie was gorgeous in her sheer dress, the white lace contrasting beautifully with her powder blue coat. The rose in her mane added a splash of color and fun to her ensemble. Maud was just as stunning. Her simple, full-length gown hugged her figure perfectly, the subtle shimmer of the blue fabric matching the shimmer in her eyes.
Rings were exchanged and they didn’t even wait for the minister pony to finish. They embraced and kissed. Slightly more tongue than most ponies would condone at a wedding, but why would they care? It was their wedding. They were going to show their love for one another.
And then they decided that the reception was optional. Trixe pulled Starlight toward their room, and Starlight pulled Maud right behind her. They began laughing and jumping in the room. Starlight fell into the bed with Trixie on her right and Maud on her left. Her two greatest loves were going to be with her for the rest of her life and this made her the happiest mare in the whole world. And this was going to be the best night ever. Though they were going to need to change the bedding in the morning.
********************
Starlight was jerked awake by loud banging on her door. Groggily, she walked over and opened it up to see the biggest grin she had ever seen in her life. It was attached to an exhilarated Twilight Sparkle. This was truly the most excited Twilight that Starlight had ever seen. She was even emitting a barely audible “squee” sound.
“Hey, Twilight. Looks like you have some good news.”
Twilight bounced, bounced, into the room. She was giggling like a little filly. If she were pink, Starlight would’ve sworn that she was Pinkie Pie. She finally settled into position right in front of Starlight. She reached up and cupped Starlight’s cheeks in both hooves, her smile never leaving her face.
“I did it.” The giggle in her voice was intoxicating and Starlight couldn’t help but giggle a little bit with her.
“What did you do?”
Twilight let go and assumed her more demure posture, though she couldn’t drop her smile. “I found the ley lines.”
“Ley lines?”
“Well, ley LINE, technically. Which in and of itself is a little weird.” Twilight was soon in the midst of her normal contemplative pacing, “You see, I went home last night and decided to keep working, so I was in my library looking through all sorts of books about mental health and mental magic and dreams and anything I could possibly think of that would explain what is happening to you. But, surprisingly, I didn’t have all that much on these sorts of topics, so I resigned myself to going to Canterlot today and visiting the Royal Archives to continue my research there. So I went to bed. But I couldn’t sleep. I had too much rolling around in my head, so I got up and just started pacing around the castle aimlessly. And I just sort of ended up in the basement next to that crystal. So I figured I wasn’t going to be sleeping for a while, so I started examining the crystal some more. I had some equipment made to make deeper scans of the crystal. So I started scanning and discovered that the magic of the crystal isn’t contained in just the crystal. It had made a connection. A Ley Line. So I followed it. And guess where that ley line goes?”
Starlight had to shake her head a bit. Twilight’s rants about magic and science were always so…rambly. “Um, where does it go?”
Twilight reached out her hoof and pointed at Starlight. “It connects directly to you.”
********************
After some tea and a couple hours of convincing, Starlight put Twilight to bed for a much needed nap. She was going to go to Canterlot herself, and do some research. It was nice and far away from the crystal and her friends, so it shouldn’t be any issue. Plus dividing up the work like that meant that things could get figured out faster. And knowing a little bit more about what was going on certainly helped ease her fears. That is, until she stepped out of Twilight’s room after tucking her in.
There was Maud. Blue dress, purple eyeshadow Maud. “Hello, Starlight.”
“Maud! Hi! I, um, I need to go to Canterlot. And help Twilight. She’s taking a nap after another one of her all-nighters.” Starlight chuckled.
Maud blinked. “I see.”
Starlight could sense that Maud was sad. She was really sad. Her beautiful Maud was sad.
Starlight shook her head. “Maud I’m sorry. I swear I’ll explain later, but I gotta go.”
Starlight galloped past Maud and away from the castle as fast as she could. If she couldn’t figure this out and fix it, she would never be able to hang out with her friends again. Her hot tears began flowing once more and she could barely see where she was going. But she kept running.
By the time she got to the train station, her tears had stopped. Her heart, however, was still heavy in her chest. As she waited for the train, her thoughts drifted back to her friends. She really wanted to go kite flying with Maud. She wanted to put on a show with Trixie. She loved just walking quietly with Maud through the park. She loved fighting over pointless things with Trixie only to end with them laughing together at their own stupidity. She missed them.
As the train rolled into Canterlot, Starlight’s resolve was steeled against anything that might come her way. The ride to Canterlot saw Starlight planning her strategy to make her way through the Royal Archives. She drew up an outline of the topics that she would need to cover. She drew out a rough map with X’s on each of the sections of the library that she would need to go to. She was going to knock this out in just a couple hours.
As soon as the train stopped, Starlight hopped out and started trotting to the library. But she was stopped just outside the train station by none other than Princess Luna, herself.
“Starlight, we need to talk.”
Starlight could see that the princess was sleepy, but she decided that making a comment was a bad idea. She simply fell into step behind Luna and followed her into her chariot. Starlight had never been inside a flying chariot like this. It was…smaller than she was expecting.
Luna’s stoic voice caught her attention, “Starlight Glimmer. I know what is happening to you. I was in your dream last night.”
Starlight started to blush, “Oh! Um, the…whole…dream?”
Luna nodded, “Indeed. Do not be embarrassed. Yours was tame compared to some others I have seen.” Her matter of fact tone eased Starlight’s mind. Slightly. “Starlight, I do believe that you are under the influence of some ancient magic. I was unable to interact with you at all during your dream. I have only had this happen twice in my life before. Once, the pony was enjoying their dream so much, he literally willed me out. The other was very similar to what I witnessed last night. You were happy in your dream, yet your happiness was making you uncomfortable. I could sense this, yet all I could do was watch as if you were behind a window. I attempted to discern the source of the influence, but unfortunately, I was unable to do so. But if it’s anything like what I saw all those years ago, we must act quickly.”
“Starlight. I trust my sister has informed you of the gravity of your situation?”
The throne room was empty, save for Starlight and the two sisters.
“Well, I was pretty sure about it before I came here, but yes. She told me of times in the past she has been unable to help ponies in their dreams. But there wasn’t time to get into too many details.”
“I see. Let’s get to the archives.” Celestia lit up her horn and teleported the whole party to the archives.
Luna took the lead, “Follow me. What we are looking for will be found amongst the Archaea.”
Starlight scrunched up her face. “Archaea? Really? I thought that was just history now. Isn’t it just the primitive first attempts at harnessing magic?”
Luna nodded, “Yes. But being primitive does not mean it is not powerful. Quite the opposite in fact. Because it lacked our current refined skill, these primitive spells had to be more powerful than most magics we use today.”
Starlight began considering Luna’s words, but was brought back by Celestia’s voice.
“How is Twilight doing? Is she freaking out too much?”
“Oh, heh, she’s just being Twilight. She was up all night last night working on a weird crystal in our basement. That’s when she found out that it's ley line is connected directly to me. It took a lot for me to convince her to take a nap.”
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief, “Oh good. I’m glad she has a friend like you to help her.” She smiled a moment, but it quickly turned earnest, “But that crystal of yours is quite baffling. Twilight informed me of it as soon as she noticed it. And if it has, in fact, attached itself to you we must learn its secrets quickly.”
“We are here.”
Starlight looked into the alcove. It was probably the smallest section of the Royal Archives. Just two bookshelves filled with piles of scrolls. Luna lifted a book out of one of the piles and handed it to Starlight.
“This is the catalogue of all the Archaea Scrolls. You look through and see if anything jumps out to you. My sister and I will begin scanning through the scrolls, themselves.”
Starlight took the book and began flipping through the pages. She quickly found a few things that might be useful.
“Okay, I see Mystical Properties of Crystals…”
“Got it.” Celestia’s half distracted tone was a bit strange to Starlight.
“Good. I also see Focusing Crystals and Crystal Chargers.”
A mirthful chuckle burst out of Luna’s muzzle. “Oh ho! Chargers.” This caused Starlight to jump slightly and stare at her. “Sorry, Starlight. I did not mean to startle you. It’s just…the ponies developing these spells did not truly know what they were creating. Here.” She floated two scrolls over to Starlight. “I have found them.”
Starlight took the scrolls, set them to the side, and continued looking through the book. She got through the spells and nothing else caught her eye, though the next section, Alchemy, looked intriguing. She leisurely read through the various descriptions while Celestia and Luna continued scanning scrolls. She didn’t have much experience with alchemy herself, but she enjoyed reading about it. She was nearly at the end of the book when a title caught her eye again. Celestine: a breakdown. She remembered that Maud had pointed out that the castle was made of the most common Celestine known to ponies. Starlight asked if the Princesses had seen that scroll yet.
Celestia answered, “Yes. I know where it is.” She scooped up a large pile of the scrolls and placed them back on the shelves. “It’s not here.”
“You guys finished going through all the scrolls?”
Luna tried to hide a smile behind her hoof as she scooped up her pile of scrolls and also put them back. Celestia cleared her throat and started to turn just slightly pink. Starlight looked back and forth between them. At first she was confused at how the two princesses were acting, but then it dawned on her. She gave Princess Celestia her most incredulous look. “Did you take it because it's basically named after you?”
Luna let loose a hearty guffaw, “Come, Goddess Celestine. Let us show this mortal to your personal study.” She began walking away, chuckling to herself.
Celestia gave Starlight a small sheepish smile, “I have…reasons?” She grabbed the scrolls they had set aside and began following her sister. Starlight couldn’t stop staring in disbelief as she followed Celestia.
********************
Celestia’s personal study was large. Very large. Starlight couldn’t help but feel like a nervous little filly on her first day of school in the place. Bookshelves lined three walls, going from the floor up at least three stories to the ceiling. Each shelf was full of books and knick knacks. Some looked brand new while others looked positively ancient. The footprint of the room was a little smaller than Map Room in Twilight’s castle, but still. It was massive. In the center was a large table with a stool, and the corner contained a single chaise lounge.
Celestia began unrolling the scrolls onto the table in the center of the room. After doing so, she took flight up to the highest shelves, soon coming back down with a scroll much larger than any of the others. As she descended, Starlight could tell that the scroll was actually very large. It was as long as Celestia, and nearly as tall. Starlight felt vibrations of ancient magic in the scroll and became very excited.
Celestia was straining with the weight of the scroll, and set it down with a heavy thud on the floor. Luna handed her sister some water, and began rubbing her back as she drank it down. Starlight grew concerned for Celestia and asked, “Are you alright?”
Celestia turned and smiled. “Oh, yes. This scroll is just so full of ancient magic. Even just lifting it creates a connection to its power which can be…draining. But I’m okay. It’s not the first time I’ve had to lug this thing around.”
Luna's face turned stern beside her sister, “Yes, dear sister. You are okay.” She turned to face Starlight, “But Starlight, here, has not had millenia to learn how to properly handle it. If she were to attempt to even lift this scroll, it could destroy her.”
Starlight’s mouth went dry. She tried to speak, but all she could do was open and close her mouth. She wasn’t even sure if she was breathing. Celestia chuckled and broke Starlight out of her stupor.
“Oh, Starlight, you are in no danger. While Luna is correct, she and I have had plenty of experience to know how to handle this artifact. While it is powerful, it is still exactly what it appears to be: a scroll. It is simply a depository of information. However, the way the information was written down as well as the content itself, are what poses the danger.” Celestia turned to an empty spot on the floor and conjured up an image of the Crystal Empire. “The Crystal Empire sits on top of the largest celestine deposit on the planet. This deposit has veins reaching out across all of equestria.” Celestia zoomed her image out to depict a vast network of veins densely spread throughout the whole land. Even all the way out to the Dragon Lands. “These veins carry the energy of its heart throughout our lands, blessing us with the magic we use every day.”
Starlight spoke with not a little trepidation in her voice, “So, you’re saying…all of Equestria’s magic comes from this one giant crystal?”
Luna spoke up, causing Starlight to whip her head around, “You sense the gravity of the situation. This is good.” She walked a slow path around her sister’s image. “You see, Starlight, not only is this crystal the source of our magic, but it is also entirely connected. Look.” Luna pointed a hoof at Ponyville. “Twilight’s castle was grown directly from the main vein in Ponyville, much the same as the Crystal Kingdom was grown from the heart. If something is going wrong, we may need to cut it out so that it doesn’t begin to affect the whole system.”
Starlight stared at the small image of Twilight’s castle, blinking. It was a lot to take in. And suddenly, she was angry.
“Are you telling me that our entire nation is reliant on this giant system of crystal magic under the ground and NOPONY KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!”
Starlight snorted and glared at the two sisters. They, in turn, could only manage weak giggles and awkward looks at each other. After about a minute of waffling, Celestia finally spoke up. “Well, we do teach our graduates about this. It's just…well…we swear them to secrecy afterward.”
“Isn’t that a little dangerous? What if somepony decides to dig a hole and reaches a vein? What if somepony is down in a cave and they run into the vein? What if they decide it’s pretty and break off a piece to take home? Have you thought about any of these things?”
“Any hole a pony may need to dig shouldn’t go deep enough to hit the vein. And if they were to find it and break a piece off, the crystal would simply grow and repair itself.” Luna’s matter-of-fact tone, again, worked and calmed Starlight’s mind. “We tell anypony that needs to know and have the crystal under constant watch. We’ve been studying this crystal system ever since the Crystal Kingdom returned. In fact, you should thank your friend, Maud. If it wasn’t for her studies to earn her Rocktorate, we wouldn’t have a complete map of the system, as we do now.”
Starlight’s demeanor softened at the mention of her friend’s name, “Really? She helped figure this thing out? That’s really cool.”
“It is, indeed, Starlight.” Luna wrapped her wing around Starlight, “Now, let us see to solving this problem of yours.” Starlight gave her a small, hopeful smile.
Celestia dropped the image she was projecting and turned back towards the large, audibly buzzing scroll. “Now after hearing all that, I’m sure you’re wondering why we need to research this. But I assure you, we do. This scroll is full of all the information we have about our celestine system running through our lands. All you need to do is touch the scroll to learn what you wish to learn. But caution is absolutely necessary. If one were to touch the scroll without knowing specifically what information they required, the scroll would attempt to provide all the information it contains. More than one mind has been broken by this.”
All Starlight could do was slowly shake her head at the rush of information. It was so much to process. Finding out that the world you know and love is held up by a single object. Finding out that your friend was more helpful than she would ever in a million years admit.
Starlight started to chuckle, soon morphing to mirthful laughter, and finally turning to mildly crazy cackling. The princesses only looked to each other with quizzical expressions. A few minutes passed and Starlight was able to calm herself.
“I’m sorry,” still softly chuckling and wiping her eyes, “I just realized that Maud was totally right when she told me the castle was made of the most common crystal in all of Equestria. And that she is definitely more amazing than anyone will ever truly know.”
Luna nodded her agreement as Celestia stepped over to embrace Starlight. “Starlight, you are the only one that can do this right now, as my sister and I have not seen this crystal. You need to read through these scrolls. You need to formulate clear questions. When you are ready to ask your question, simply touch the Celestine scroll. You will be given all information relevant to your question. Keep in mind, the scroll will not make any conclusions about the information it provides. You must figure out what it all means on your own.”
“On my own?”
“Celestia, why do you play with everypony like that? Can’t you see this poor little pony has been through Tartarus? Gods!” turning to Starlight, she continued, “What my sister means is that you will have vast amounts of information in your head that you will need to contend with. Nopony actually expects you to do it on your own. Write it down. Share it with friends. With us. Then we can all,” She turned to Celestia as she emphasized the word drawing an annoyed huff from the white mare, “work on it together.”
With a gentle sigh, Celestia conceded, “Yes. We will be available to help you put the pieces together. I apologize, Starlight. I’ve developed some…not so good habits over the past millennium or so.”
Starlight began laughing again. “You princesses are too much, ha ha. You should make a play about your daily life or something. It would sell out every night.”
The two princesses shared a moment of embarrassment before joining Starlight in her mirth.
********************
The three ponies had spent all day studying the scrolls. Celestia had, on occasion, stepped away to handle some business, and Luna had taken a couple naps, but they had all worked together up to the point of needing to lower the sun and raise the moon. Now they all sat there fairly dumbstruck at how little information that they had actually found.
Starlight jumped up and began yelling at nopony in particular, “Crystal Chargers tells us that we can charge a crystal to make a portal. Big Whoop! Focusing Crystals tells us that we can use a crystal to absorb and amplify our spells. I DO THAT EVERY DAY! And Mystical freaking Properties of Crystals is oh so helpful by adding, guess what, NOTHING! What the hay did we waste all this time for?”
She turned and glared at the giant pulsating scroll. The two princesses stood slowly, not wanting to provoke any further outburst. “Starlight..” Celestia began but was quickly cut off, as Starlight unleashed her next volley of vitriol.
“And I bet YOU are only gonna tell me how big you are and where you come from and how you grow and any and everything else that won’t HELP ME!”
She charged and bucked the scroll as hard as she could. The last thing she saw were the looks of complete horror on her princesses faces.
Starlight awoke in the map room of Twilight’s castle.
“How the hay did I get here?”
She heard a sound in the hall and went to check it out. It was…her. Except different. She was carrying herself completely differently. Her hair was her old style. From back…
“You gotta be bucking kidding me”
Her suspicions were confirmed as her past self walked right through her without a care. As if she were just a shadow. She turned to watch herself walk up to the table. Memories of past emotions began flooding her mind as she watched herself doing what she did. She had been so angry, so filled with rage, that she had completely given into her evil. She didn’t even recognize this pony sitting smugly at the table. Sure she still had some anger issues, but nothing would ever push her this far again.
Then she heard Twilight coming. She knew what was going to happen. She knew this whole story. Why was it playing out in front of her? She watched helplessly as her past self mocked Twilight. She watched as Starswirl’s scroll was produced and activated. She watched the magic of the scroll and her spell activate the map and open a portal through time. She watched as her past self flew up into the portal with pure malice in her heart. She felt something on her cheek and brought her hoof up to brush it away, but instead of brushing off, it smeared. She looked at her hoof and saw the small indication of moisture. She was crying.
She watched as Twilight and Spike were sucked up into the spell she had created, and the room became quiet again. And she was still there. She heard hoofsteps and went out to check the hall. It was her past self again. Walking on the same path. Walking to the table. Waiting for Twilight. Starlight watched the whole scene play out for a second time. Mocking Twilight. Activating the spell which activated the map and opened the portal. And then soon, the room was empty again. And she was still there.
And then again. She walked in. Sat down. Twilight walked in. Got mocked. Spell activated. Table activated to create portal. Everyone gets sucked out. Starlight watched the scene play out over and over and over. Why? Why was she seeing this over and over? Was she dead? Was this her eternal punishment? To witness the most horrible thing that she had ever done in her life over and over again for all eternity?
She was oddly at peace with that. She deserved worse, probably. She was going to miss her friends, of course, but at least she was paying her penance. She would just sit there, watching her past self activate the most amazing spell for the worst possible reason for all time. She would watch herself invade the castle of friendship with the sole purpose of destroying it. She would watch herself sit at that table, put up her hooves, and…
“Ho. Ly. Buck.”
********************
When Starlight woke up, she was being carried in a very warm and comforting aura of magic. She could just make out a slightly yellow glow to it. She heard many panicked voices yelling back and forth, none of them very clear. She then heard Celestia’s voice right beside her, strong, caring, commanding.
“You will help her. Between everypony here, you know all there is to know about that scroll and how it affects ponies. Find out what happened and get her back.”
Without missing a beat, Starlight replied, “I’m back.”
Celestia swung the pink unicorn up in front of her face. She turned Starlight around and around, inspecting every inch of her, much like a mother would her young foal. She then set Starlight down gently on the ground and pulled her into an all-encompassing hug, “Are you all right, Starlight?”
“Yes, Celestia. I’m fine. I was just…learning…I guess?”
Celestia released Starlight and commanded everyone in the room to leave. Everyone did as they were told and soon it was just Starlight and Celestia. After getting as comfortable as they could in the medical examination room, Starlight began telling Celestia what she had seen. How her memory kept playing in front of her eyes like an extremely well produced play. How every word her past self spoke felt like knives raking her skin. How she shuddered every time she saw her past self sit in Twilight’s chair and kick her hooves up on the
“YES! Twilight’s table with the map! That’s the connection. I activated the spell. The spell that opened a portal through time. The spell that needed the power of the table to fully work. The table that is an integral part of the castle!”
Starlight stood and turned to face a moderately confused Celestia, “Thank you so much for all your help. I’ll explain everything better after I get back to Twilight's castle and fix this. With her help, of course.”
In a flash, Starlight was gone.
A moment later, she was in the map room of Twilight's castle. She was woozy from the distance. She had pushed just a tad too hard.
"Starlight!" She heard three friends. Then she felt them wrap their hooves around her. Purple hooves, blue hooves, and grey hooves. All of them glad to see her and more than willing to offer her their love. Oh no.
They released her and let her get her bearings. Twilight was smiling, happy to see her student. But her two marefriends were ecstatic. Even Maud had a medium sized smile. Trixie, of course, couldn't stop herself from jumping on Starlight and smothering her with kisses. Maud picked them both up off the ground and held them in her strong embrace. Starlight couldn't stop kissing them. Some for Maud, some for Trixie, back and forth. Her relief and joy at finally being reunited was completely overwhelming.
After a few minutes, the group calmed down and settled into a nice comfortable snuggle on the ground. Starlight looked to her two friends and smiled once more, except they weren't smiling anymore. Trixie was looking slightly annoyed with a flush to her cheeks. Maud's eyes were wide as they could be, her blushing face nearly the same color as her younger sister.
Twilight answered with a nervous chuckle, "Um, yeah. But I think we figured it out!" Twilight began a small prance in place. "Between Maud's expertise and my research, we've determined the castle is dealing with residual magical energy laced with malice. Though we haven't been able to determine-"
"It was me, Twilight." The interruption ripped Twilight out of her train of thought. "I caused this. It's probably why it's affecting only me."
"But what did you-Ooohhh. Right. Right...But wait. If it's because of the time spell, does that mean it's residual time magic? If it is, then you're probably getting visions of parallel worlds! Like where Sunset is, but a bit more closer to home. Oooh we could take notes of everything you see and then compare the visions . And then we can see if there's a way to make a bridge just like with the mirror to-"
The glares from three separate ponies caused Twilight to stop once more. "Right, let's go figure out how to stop these visions."
The three friends were laughing around their empty plates in a beautiful cavern. Maud had invited Trixie and Starlight over for lunch after the insanity of the past few days. It was so nice to finally be with her friends again and not have any weird things happening. Good food. Good friends. Zero drama. This was everything she ever wanted.
"I'm thinking about breaking up with Mudbriar."
All chittering stopped as Trixie and Starlight turned to look at Maud in surprise.
Starlight was the first to speak, "Oh my gosh, Maud, why? Are you okay?"
"Mudbriar is pretty great, but I think I found someone better."
"Oh it's fine then," Trixie picked up another cookie, "I want my friends to only be with the greatest of ponies, as you both know."
"But Maud, you've been with him for a while. Are you sure this isn't something you should just talk to him about?"
Maud reached over to grab Starlight's hoof. Starlight gave it a little squeeze of support. Their eyes met and Starlight gave her a smile.
"I'm just not sure how to tell him that I met the best kisser in Equestria."
Starlight dropped Maud's hoof and stood up indignantly. Trixie exploded in laughter and fell off her stool by the table. Maud herself even had a small grin on her face.
Starlight sat down and huffed, "You guys are jerks."
Trixie got off the floor still giggling "Shut up, Starlight. You know we love you. Have a cookie." Trixie picked up a cookie and shoved it in Starlight's muzzle.
