//------------------------------// // Comfort After Dark // Story: The Wings of Time // by Lightning_Striker //------------------------------// Darkness surrounded Starlight. She looked around to find out what was going on, but still could not see anything. She then tried to light her horn, to no avail. She had no magic. "Hello, anypony there?" she asked, worried. She was met with no response, and no echo. "Hello," she shouted. Nothing. She then breathed in panic, only to find there was no air. She was in a void, absent of everything, except herself. But, strangely, she didn't need to breath. "You weren't brave enough," she suddenly heard a voice say. "Running away to the past," another said. "Away from all your problems," a third cut in. Starlight's eyes widened. She recognized the voices. They were the voices of her friends. "All for what?" the three said. "To see them one more time?" Flurry said. "To ruin their lives?" Sunburst continued. "Just so you could see them again?" Trixie finished. "What? That isn't true!" Starlight objected. "Selfishly changing the past for your own benefits," Flurry condemned. "Your own goals," Sunburst criticized. "Under the banner of a selfless risk?" Trixie said, in fury. "You are a disgrace, Starlight Glimmer," the three joined together again. "To your family," Flurry said in disgust. "To your friends," Sunburst spat out. "To everything," Trixie spoke, those final words of condemnation. "It's not like that, I swear," Starlight defended. "I wouldn't have to do it were it not an emergency. Please, no. No." "You lie!" the three exclaimed. "I'm not lying, I swear. Believe me, please!" Starlight broke down crying. There came no response. "Believe me, please," she repeated again. "Believe me, please," Starlight said, before waking up, gasping loudly. Sunset was immediately beside her. "Starlight, are you okay?" Starlight continued to gasp. "It was... just a dream?" "Yes, just a dream. It's okay Starlight. We're going to fix the timeline," Sunset assured her. Starlight began to calm down, and look around. The two were in the castle's library. "Where is everypony else?" Starlight asked, clearly shaken up by her dream. "They all went to bed hours ago. You insisted on staying in here doing research, even when Twilight and I went to bed. The only reason I stayed up as late as her was so I could get her to bed," Sunset explained. Starlight nodded. It made sense. "But what are you doing up now?" Sunset shrugged. "I couldn't sleep." "Why?" Starlight asked. If anything, her mum was the most sound sleeper in their family. Even in a crisis, she was able to sneak in some sleep to keep herself at peak performance. "Same as you, actually. Nightmares. Princess Luna may watch over dreams, but I still have trouble letting other people, I mean ponies, see me the way I see me I guess. The Battle of the Bands was hard on all of us, and sometimes I dreamed what could have happened. I've learned to run on little sleep though. For a while I had nightmares every night after, well..." Sunset couldn't complete her sentence. "After the rainbow laser?" Starlight asked. "Yeah, that. How did you know about it?" "I heard stories. Let's just say my parents are or will become close to you," Starlight replied. "I mean, I guess that makes sense, considering you are close to a princess, and that you came back to save the princesses. For all I know, you and your friends could be new element bearers," Sunset said. "I'm not sure any of us could take the bearers jobs. Besides, they're in the Tree of Harmony, remember? That's why the castle is here." "Right. I just thought that maybe they could be taken out and used still." "Interesting theory. I'll have to look into it after this is all over. Well, if I still exist when this is all over," Starlight said. "What was your nightmare about?" Sunset asked. Starlight breathed in and out. Her mum always did this, and she could always trust her. But this mare, she wasn't her mum yet. But, perhaps she still had those instincts, that they were always inside of her. "It was my friends. They were accusing me of coming back here and forcing them to come back without a good reason." "And did they say what the real reason you came back here was?" Sunset asked. Starlight could only nod. "What was it that they said?" "I... I can't say... at least not to you. It was about the future though, but they said that I was selfish," Starlight was able to get out. "And were they telling the truth?" "No, but, what if I did come here for selfish reasons?" Starlight asked about herself. "You came to help Equestria, all of you did. And all of you are risking your lives to do it. I think that's noble. And, though I still am pretty new to this friendship thing, I can definitely tell that your friends care for you, and would never blame you like that," Sunset reassured her. "Thanks, mum," Starlight whispered, too quiet for Sunset to hear. "What was that?" Sunset said, clearly hearing a mumble, but not anything else. "I said thanks, Sunset." "Well, thank you. I think talking to you about this has also made me feel better about my own nightmares," Sunset said, smiling. The two mares then hugged. "We both should probably get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," Sunset said. "Goodnight, Sunset." "Goodnight, Starlight."