//------------------------------//
// The Monster You've Become 
// Story: Dark Arts and Kind Hearts 
// by Boomstick Mick 
//------------------------------//

Starlight Glimmer's hangover was an unpleasant thing to wake up to. Groaning, she cracked an eye to look out the window, and was immediately assaulted by the blinding morning sun spilling east light through her window. It figured that she'd be waking up with a hangover on the one day the peninsula had decided to grant her a morning that wasn't grey and gloomy.


She turned, drew the blanket over her head, and then she shut her eyes to stave off the nails of pain the morning light was so viciously pounding into her head. She had never experienced a hangover before. She had never even been drunk before. Her lack of experience with the drink must have made her tolerance to its after effects weak. She couldn't even recall how she got to bed last night. It was a disconcerting thing, not being able to remember. Never again, she promised herself. 


Starlight could only writhe helplessly in her misery where she laid. The nausea was unbearable, and she was so terribly thirsty. Her throat was barren as a desert, and her tongue felt like a thick strip of cotton in her mouth. 


Eventually her stomach began to heave, and she felt her gorge rising to the back of her throat. With a sudden urgency she began to crawl toward the edge of her bed, her weak muscles straining with the effort. Retching up on the floor was a disgusting prospect, but she preferred that to vomiting all over her bed to lay feebly in her own filth. She grappled the edge of the mattress and pulled for all she was worth. It was just then that she noticed an empty receptacle on the floor, as if it had been set there strategically. She could feel her abdomen constricting, forcing out a miasmic belch of air from deep within her stomach. With no time to be bemused or bewildered she grasped for the empty pail, and it all came out of her in a violent series of guttural heaves. 


Some time had past, and the sour taste lingered in her mouth as she laid groaning in her bed, teary-eyed and miserable. She could hear someone working the handle of her door, and she knew who it was. Starlight would have preferred to not be seen in the pitiful state she was in, but there was nothing to be done about it.


Winter Lilac dropped her medical bag to look down into the nearby pail with an expression of unrestrained revulsion. "Plow me with a jackhammer, that smell!" she exclaimed, holding her nose. 


"Jackhammer?" Starlight Glimmer said dryly, not taking her eyes off the canopy looming above her. She hadn't heard that expression before. "Try not to indulge in that fetish near any construction sites. A worker just might fall in love with you."


"What did you eat last night?" the apothecary went on. "Smells like... Like rancid milk poured over the yeast infection of a rotting corpse!"


"Yeah, well, that's not perfume in that bucket. You can use it if you want, though. That colorful fragrance you just described would go with your personality." 


Starlight expected a quip or a sneer in return for her remark, but what she got instead was a laugh. "I like you when you're hungover," Winter Lilac cackled in amusement. She then started to dig through her medical bag. "Now, then, let's get this over with."


Starlight Glimmer surrendered her arm to her without a word. She didn't even have to be prompted to do so.


"I have a little something here for you," informed the apothecary, after the injection had been administered. "Two somethings, in fact. Courtesy of The King himself."


Starlight pressed her hooves firmly against the sides of her throbbing head, as if to subdue the rhythmic pounding threatening to split her skull apart. "It's not a severed head, is it?" she groaned, only half joking. "I learned yesterday Sombra has a rather strange taste when it comes to gifts."


"Hey, a severed head wouldn't be such a bad gift to receive. You could save on Nightmare Night decorations, at the very least; those realistic Applewood-tier horror props can be so expensive."


Starlight, not in the mood for Winter's macabre japes, sighed and began to work her hooves deep into the surfaces of her temples with slow, circular motions. "What are these gifts you've brought me?"


"First thing's first..." Winter Lilac rummaged through her bag and produced a waterskin. "Here, Sombra figured you'd be thirsty."


Starlight's thirsty, bloodshot eyes snapped to the receptacle, and with the assistance of the stimulant now coursing through her veins, she sat up and seized the skin from the apothecary's hooves without a word. She downed its contents eagerly, pulling every drop she could from the container. She was out of breath by the time it was empty.


"Damn, you were thirsty." Winter almost looked impressed when she took the skin back. "You just guzzled down a liter of water in four seconds. Frankly, I'm surprised it's not coming back up."


Her ravenous thirst now sated, Starlight Glimmer let out a sigh of content as she wiped her mouth with the back of her foreleg. "I've thrown up enough fluids for one day, thank you very much." She looked at the apothecary. "What was the other thing you had for me?"


"This." Winter Lilac held out a glass container. The clear vessel was teardrop-shaped and stoppered at its top with a cork. The fluid inside glittered amberescent in the morning light shining through the window.  


"Oh," Said Starlight. Any first year alchemy student could identify the container as a potion flask. What manner of potion it contained however, she couldn't say.


"Drink it," Winter instructed. Then she threatened, "You won't find the taste very appealing, so be prepared for that. And don't spit it out or cough it back up, or this bottle's going right up your pasnoot, you got it?"


Starlight Glimmer narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to tell me what that stuff is, at least?"


"It's for your hangover." The apothecary shook the bottle impatiently for her to take it. "Would you just drink it already?"


Once the container was in her hooves Starlight Glimmer couldn't help but give the fluid inside a distrusting look. "Can't you just tell me what's in it first?"


The apothecary sighed. "It's hippocrass, laced with nettle, honey, ground mustard seed, and gorgon mucus."


"What was that last ingredient?"


"Mustard seed," the apothecary fibbed. "Just drink it."


Starlight wrenched the cork free with her teeth and gave the fluid a cautious sniff. The potion's scent seemed innocuous enough. Perhaps a little pungent, but no more than a recently spoiled apple. "You actually went through the trouble of making this for me?"


"Yes, because The King told me to. Now hurry up and down it. I want to go get breakfast."


Starlight Glimmer bolstered herself, then she tipped the bottle back. She had to struggle to keep the fluid in her mouth once its foul flavor assaulted her taste buds. She could scarcely bring herself to swallow it. It had a thick and slimy texture to it, and it tasted like a pureed rancid cabbage. It was like a mouthful of tepid pond scum fresh from the swamp.


"Don't you dare spit that out!" Winter Lilac demanded. "It was a pain in the ass to make. I had to wake up two hours early just to prepare that for you. I'm already cranky enough in the morning as it is."  


You're cranky all the time, Starlight might have said. She had to tilt her head back and fight with the muscles in her throat to get the liquid down. Though it was only a mouthful, it took several attempts to swallow it. And when she finally did, the fluid felt like greasy tendrils traveling down her esophagus. It made her shutter. It was all she could do to keep from gagging.


Winter Lilac took the container from her and put it back in her bag, a preferable place to where she might have put it if Starlight tossed the imbibement back up. "How are you feeling?" asked the apothecary.


"I feel..." Starlight Glimmer placed her hoof over her belly, amazed. She didn't feel sick anymore. Her head still pounded something awful, but at least the worst part of her hangover had been cured. "Better," she said in wonderment.


Winter Lilac nodded. "That draught you just imbibed soothes the constitution by providing a temporary coating over the walls of your stomach. I would give you something for your headache, but mixing different potions can have a toxic effect on the body that may leave you worse off than you already were, so you're just going to have to grit your teeth and bear with it until it passes."


Starlight Glimmer nodded understandingly. "Thanks. I get that you're only helping me because you were told to, but still, I appreciate it." 


"Whatever," said Winter Lilac, clasping her bag closed. "My work here is done." She turned and made for the door. "No more hangovers, alright? You get shit faced again, I'll be rousing you the next morning with a troupe of flugal horn blowers."  


Starlight was just beginning to climb out of bed, but the apothecary turned around as she arrived at the door and said, "Where do you think you're going?"


"Uh... Breakfast?" Starlight responded, puzzled. She was sitting at the edge of her bed when the odd question froze her in place. She felt hungry now that her nausea was cured. "What, do I annoy you so much I can't even walk with you?"


"You're staying here. Sombra wants you to remain in bed."


"Sombra's consigned me to my bed?"


"Yes, he has. Do you really want to walk into the feasting hall with the way your head feels? The strident clanger of dishes, crying babies, the dull roar of numerous conversations all around you? Not to mention that you will most likely have trouble keeping down whatever you eat. You want to throw up in front of the entire castle staff?" 


"But my nausea is--"


"You still have the hangover toxins lingering in your body. Your stomach will be sensitive for a time. Get some more rest, king's orders. He'll probably have some broth and bread brought up to you in a bit." 


Starlight had to concede that the apothecary had a point. She no longer felt sick, and she was now strong enough to get around on her own, but she still had hammers ringing in her head. "Well, I'm still a bit tired. I guess it couldn't hurt to..." She was about to vocalise her consent to the order to get more rest, but Winter was already out of the room and shutting the door behind her. 


"And a good morning to you, too," Starlight said once the door was closed, returning the farewell that was never given.


When next Starlight Glimmer had opened her eyes, the sun was well out of sight when looking through her window. She couldn't be sure of the time, but she speculated that it was at least noon, or afternoon at the very latest. 


With her headache all but gone she pushed herself up to a sitting position and arched her back. Yawning, she turned her head and noticed a tray of food that had been set out for her on the nearby bedstand. She realized the bucket that she had filled that morning was absent, and in its place there was a small clay bowl of dried colorful herbs. It filled the room with a sweet scent that conjured images of a steaming cup of mulled cider spiced with cinnamon. 


The confection of crushed herbs was most likely Winter Lilac's doing, Starlight suspected. The apothecary was knowledgable when it came to the properties of plants; fashioning an air freshener would have been a less than remedial task for one such as her. If that was the case, the bowl of herbs was more like to be an insinuation than a gesture of generosity, an emphasizer for how badly she had befouled the air in the room. Starlight couldn't help but smile at that, despite herself.    


Starlight sat with her back against the headboard as she ate. The heel of brown bread wasn't exactly fresh, and the soup, which she quickly realized was just onion broth with some chopped up leaks and mushrooms thrown in, straddled the boundary between cold and luke warm, but her empty stomach formed no protest to the much needed nourishment. Fresh or stale, hot or cold, it felt good to have something in her stomach. She was mopping up the remnants of the broth at the bottom of her bowl with the last bite of bread when the sound of her door opening captured her attention.


Fluttershy's head peaked out from behind the door, her pink mane pulled stylishly through her lustrous dragonbone crown. She smiled when she saw Starlight was awake. "Oh, you're finally up. How are you feeling?"  


Starlight swallowed the last morsel of bread and replied, "Better. Head feels a little fuzzy, but it's not pounding like it was this morning." 


"That's good." Fluttershy closed the door behind her as she entered the room. The end of her velvety blue cape brushed the floor as she approached the bed. "Hubby figured you'd be a little puny this morning."     


Starlight studied her for half a moment. She still wasn't used to seeing her friend in all her royal finery. That pregnant belly of hers made her no less of a spectacle to look upon. "So..." She began awkwardly. "Last night... I didn't do anything to embarrass myself, did I?"


Fluttershy sat on her haunches at Starlight's bedside. She cocked her head to the side, looking cutely befuddled. "Embarrass?"


Starlight peeled the blankets away from her lap. "I can't remember much of anything last night. I hope I didn't do or say anything I should be regretting."


"Must be all that booze you had," Fluttershy suggested.


"You think?" Starlight said dryly. "If I never see a cup of wine again it will be too soon."


The Queen giggled. 


"It's not funny," Starlight snapped. "I didn't actually do something stupid last night, did I?"


"You've no reason to be concerned," Fluttershy assured her. "My husband wouldn't let you do anything to embarrass yourself. He actually became quite concerned for you when he realized how intoxicated you were." 


"If you say so," replied Starlight, not entirely convinced. "Speaking of your husband, where is he?"


"Hubby's at the garrison right now. He's giving his congratulatory speech to the new batch of rangers that just graduated from the academy."


"Rangers?" Starlight echoed. "What are they, like, special forces, or something?"


Fluttershy nodded. "The ranger academy is really tough. Only five out of every ten applicants are accepted each season, and even then only three out of every ten who do get accepted into the academy actually pass. Sombra gives a speech to those who graduate, and at the end he calls them each individually up to the stage to ceremoniously present them with their green cloaks."


"A thirty percent success rate?" Starlight mused. And I thought CU had a tough reputation. "So, what are you doing here? I mean, I don't mind your company, but shouldn't you be at your husband's side when he's addressing his soldiers, or rangers, or whatever?" 


"I usually am, but I opted to stay home so I can check up on you. You were sleeping like a baby the last two times I came by."


"Well, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine now."


"That's good to hear," Fluttershy said. "I don't suppose you had any plans for this afternoon?"


Starlight furrowed her brow at the question. "Yeah, I was planning on going water skiing around two, and after that I was gonna head to the hey burger to pick up something to eat. You want to tag along, or would you rather have me bring something back for you?"


Fluttershy stared at her blankly. "Uhm... What?"


Starlight Glimmer had to stifle an exasperated groan. "No, I haven't made any plans. We prisoners aren't too keen on making appointments that don't involve sleeping, eating, and counting the tiles on the ceiling."


"Huh," was all Fluttershy had to say to that. "Well, I was thinking, if you aren't busy, and you've so faceiously stated that you aren't, while the hubby's out and about tending to his royal duties, perhaps you and I could hit the spa?"


"The spa?" Starlight ran a hoof through her mane and was suddenly aware of how stringy her hair felt. She realized she hadn't bathed the day before, and being abed most of the day had given her coat a somewhat musty scent, which was tinged with a vague note of booze. In short, she smelled like a lush. Visiting the spa, she realized, didn't sound like the worst idea in the world. She gave a shrug and responded, "I guess I could do with a little bit of freshening up."







Violet Viola, the mare Starlight Glimmer had met at the spa two days prior, was already there when they arrived. "Ah, there they are," she sang cheerfully when she looked back to meet them, every word spiced with an exotic lilt that enhanced her allure.  "A good day to you, my queen. And to you as well, Miss Glimmer. How are you, my loves?"


Starlight returned the greeting as politely as she could. The earth pony was just as she remembered her, with her glossy sable coat and her ashen hair all done up in a cute little pixie cut. Her narrow almond-shaped eyes added a somewhat sultry quality to her demeanor, as if they were made for seductive smiles and intimate implications.        


"The pool should be full in just a moment," Violet announced as she pumped away at one of the spouts, drawing from the rich mineral springs deep below the palace. The head of the nozzle eventually made a gurgling sound, before a short spurt of water burst forth from its mouth. She continued to pump, and pump, and pump, until the short blasts became a steady stream, then she wiped the sweat from her brow, removed the long wooden leaver from the back of the spout, and used it to activate the next one. There were four spouts in all, and two had already been activated.


After the pool had finally been filled, Violet added in a carefully measured mixture of ground herbs and scented oils. The attendant smiled as she took in a deep pull of the pleasant aroma now wafting from the water. "The scented bath is ready, my loves," she announced. "Be careful, the water may be very hot."


Starlight Glimmer was the first to ease herself into the spring. The water reached her upper chest when she lowered herself onto the chiseled stone bench rounding its lower wall. She took in a deep breath, and what was left of her headache immediately washed away when she took in the bath's sweet lavender scent. She closed her eyes with a hum of pleasure and rested back against the wall of the pool. No hot spring had ever felt so nice. 


Fluttershy took her seat next to Starlight on the bench and offered Violet her thanks for getting the bath prepared so quickly on such short notice.  


The mare bowed her head and said, "I am honored to serve you, my queen. May I offer you some tea to help you relax? We're out of Earl Grey, but we have plenty of Jasmine."


Starlight Glimmer sighed contentedly. "Thank you, but I don't think I need anymore help relaxing."


Fluttershy relaxed against the tiled edge of the pool and said, "I think we'll be fine, Miss Violet. That will be all for now."


Violet tilted her head in bewilderment. "But, the pool, it will need to be drained and scrubbed when you and your friend are finished using it."


"I'll drain the water," Fluttershy volunteered. "You can just clean it tomorrow morning. Go, enjoy the rest of your day off. It's sunny outside, and it's as warm as the New Haven climate is ever likely to be. Perfect weather for playing your violin out in the garden, wouldn't you say?" 


Violet looked hesitant. "Are you sure this is what you want? Draining the pool is such a... Well, such a menial task. It is beneath you, my most beloved queen."


Fluttershy gave the spa attendant a wry grin. "You just turn that valve, right?" She indicated a skeletal iron wheel protruding from the far wall. "Do you really think I'm that helpless? If the task of simply twisting a valve is so beneath me, I shouldn't even be chewing my own food."  


"I suppose that is true," Violet conceded with a sheepish chuckle. "Well, then, if it would please your grace, I shall take my leave. With your blessing, of course."


"I've already given it to you." Fluttershy waved her away. "And it would please me for you to go and enjoy what's left of your day."


Walking backwards toward the exit, the spa attendant kept her head bowed in The Queen's direction as she offered her thanks and promised to do just that. 


Starlight Glimmer watched her leave before she turned to Fluttershy. "Where are the others?"


"The others?" 


"There were other spa workers, weren't there?"


"I gave them all the day off. I just sent for Violet so she could prepare the bath. I figured you'd have an easier time relaxing if it was just you and me. Of course, If you wanted a massage or a hooficure I could call back Violet or send for one of the others."


"No, no, it's okay," Starlight objected. "This is fine. I wish you and I could do this more often." 


Fluttershy smiled at her. "Who's to say we can't?" 


Starlight studied her for a moment. "What do you mean?" 


"Well..." Fluttershy hesitated. "You could take my husband up on his offer. We could be like sisters, you and I."


Starlight sighed. She was trying to relax. She didn't feel like dealing with this right now. "Fluttershy, we've already had this conversation," she said, keeping her refusal as cordial as she could make it sound.


"But, don't you want to get to know the baby?" Fluttershy went on. "We could have the baby call you auntie Starlight. Wouldn't that be cute?"


"Fluttershy, stop. I already told you, I have no intention of becoming Sombra's apprentice. I'll still be your friend, Fluttershy. Always. But I just want to get our friends and go home."


Fluttershy looked away from her. "I know it's not fair for me to ask you to make such a life-altering decision, but, if not for me, or for you, I implore you to reconsider for the sake of our friends. It's true that I have a plan set in place, but we can avoid any possible nastiness between Sombra and Celestia if you just join us. It won't be half as bad as you think it'll be, Starlight. I mean, if my husband plans on teaching and training you, I've no doubt he'll put you through the ringer, but after that--"


"After that... I'll be his lapdog, his assassin, his trained killer. He wasn't interested in me until he witnessed my prowess for weaponizing magic. It should be pretty obvious what he intends to use me for once he's got his hooks in me."


"Sombra wishes to usher you to your full potential," Fluttershy insisted.


"For butchery," Starlight added.


The Queen took her hoof and held it firmly against her breast. "Not for butchery, for justice! Starlight, with your capabilities and Sombra's guidance, you could do so much good! Sombra might even grant you a lordly title one day. Just think, your own castle and incomes and lands to preside over. I think 'Countess Starlight Glimmer' has a lovely ring to it, don't you? All you have to do is accept Sombra's proposal, and I just know he'll broaden your horizons beyond a level you couldn't even begin to imagine."


Starlight could take no more. "Fluttershy!" she shouted. She reclaimed her hoof, and It was all she could do to restrain herself from using it to slap some sense into her. "Would you listen to yourself? Sombra - assigning me lands that he has stolen - to rule in his name? I'd rather die, Fluttershy. I'd rather die!"   


"But, you were the leader of your own commune at one time. Having your own land to rule over wouldn't be that much different."


"That's exactly what I'm afraid of!" Starlight spat. "I was a power hungry, manipulative monster, but Twilight showed me the error of my ways. Are you seriously trying to convince me to devolve back into what I once was?" 


"Starlight, that's not what I meant. I don't know what you think Sombra has planned for you, but I can tell you what it is he wants to do: He wants to train you. He wants to teach you. He respects your abilities. He sees your potential. He wants to make you an instrument of justice."


"I've seen Sombra's notion of justice, Fluttershy. I'll have no part of it."


"Are you still going on about that bandit keep?"


"No, I'm talking about that farce of a court you and your husband forced me to attend. He had a stallion pilloried and publicly whipped, Fluttershy! You can't look me in the eye and tell me you actually agreed with that sentence."


And that was precisely what Fluttershy did. She looked Starlight in the eye with a deadly serious expression and said, "Yes, I did. If I disagreed with it I would have objected."


Starlight was speechless for that moment. Several times she opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come. She's become a monster.


"You noticed that lynch mob forming around you in the courtroom, didn't you? They most likely would have killed that gambler if Sombra didn't back them down. The sentence he handed down was a severe one, but it placated the masses, who might have otherwise murdered him. Not to mention that the gambler was taught a sharp lesson. I doubt he's going to be a repeat offender." 


"A jury in an Equestrian court would have never acted so barbaric," Starlight insisted. "And Celestia would have never handed down such a draconian sentence." 


"Precisely!" Fluttershy agreed. "Thank you for reinforcing my point. There is no comparing our nations. Equestria is far more progressive, peaceful, and civilized than New Haven can ever hope to be in our lifetimes. And can you tell me why this nation is so uncivilized?" 


"Because, Princess Celestia is clearly the superior ruler," Starlight presented in a matter-of-fact tone.


"Because Celestia never civilized it in the first place!" Fluttershy asserted.


Starlight laughed humorlessly. "I see you've lost your temper as well as your morality."


"Morality?" Fluttershy scoffed. "You want to talk about morality? Alright, we'll talk about morality. What would you say is the moral option? Embarking on a campaign, where hundreds of thousands of monsters are put to the sword in order to establish law and usher in a future of guaranteed peace and plenty? Or, allowing those very same monsters, who would seek to do evil to others, to thrive for generations upon generations, letting the suffering of the weak and downtrodden go unchecked for millennia, even though you have the power to stop it? Think about it really, really hard. Which subject had the stronger sense of morality? The so-called 'bloodthirsty' conquerer who took action, or the able but unwilling pacifist who allowed the madness to continue in perpetuity?" 


"If Princess Celestia heard you comparing her to some impotent--"


"Answer the question!" Fluttershy demanded.


"I'm not going to validate your justification for this campaign of genocide you and your husband have set out on. And don't bark commands at me. I'm not one of your servants, I'm your friend. Or, at least, I was." She rose from the pool, turned, and climbed out. 


"What's that supposed to mean?" Fluttershy said.


"No friend would ever ask me to do something so horrible as what you're trying to get me to do." Starlight pulled a towel down from a peg on the wall and began to dry herself. "I just want to get my friends and go home. The sooner, the better."


Fluttershy climbed out of the pool after her. "I don't know what's going to happen to you tomorrow. Sombra could throw you in the dungeon. He might even put you back to sleep. It's true that I have a plan set into place to free you, but it could take moons or maybe even years before Sombra could be pressured to release you. It doesn't have to be like that, Starlight. If you could find it in your heart to give my husband a chance, our friends could be on their way home as early as tomorrow, and the strife between Celestia and my husband can finally be put to rest."


Starlight let the towel fall in a disorganized pile on the floor. She stared The Queen down with a defiant glare and said, "I'll take imprisonment over servitude to that bastard any day. I'll not give him the chance to manipulate me like he's done with you." And then she turned and made for the exit.


"Where do you think you're going?" Fluttershy demanded. "You're not permitted to wander the palace without an escort. I'll take you wherever you want to go, but let me dry off first."


"Don't bother. I'm done with you." She looked back at her after she pushed the door open. "It's a good thing our friends aren't here right now. I don't know how I'll console them once they've seen what a monster you've become. You and Sombra, you really deserve each other, you know that?" 


Fluttershy just looked at her blankly after she said that, so Starlight left her there.   


I don't need another day to make my decision, Starlight had decided as she traversed the corridor with long angry strides. I'm going to find Sombra, and I'm going to tell him exactly what I think of him and where he can shove his offer. I'm gonna spit right in his eye, and damn the consequences. He can't hurt me. The worst he can do is throw me in his dungeon. Or, better yet, he can put me back to sleep. It will only be a matter of time before Celestia starts putting the screws to Sombra, and he'll have no choice but to release all of us. I'll sleep for a little while, and the next thing I'll know, I'll be awakened at Celestia's behest, and I'll be sent on my way home. Goodbye frozen hellscape, good bye Sombra, and good bye Queen Fluttershy. Good riddance to them both.


Starlight eventually reached the end of the corridor and rounded a corner, and just as she did, she was suddenly staring at a pair of massive steel gauntlets. She would have ran into them if she hadn't immediately stopped. She looked up, and saw two burning red irises gleaming down at her. 


"Good afternoon, my lady," Sombra said with icy courtesy. "Pray, why and how are you skulking about my halls without an escort?"


Startled by his sudden appearance, Starlight's words abandoned her.


"Would you have one of us escort the lady to her room, your grace?" asked one of the guards in his company, whom Starlight hadn't noticed until he spoke.


"You may do so, after the lady has answered my question," Sombra replied, keeping his eyes fixed hotly on Starlight. "My queen has already volunteered to be your chaperone this afternoon. Why isn't she with--" The King suddenly lifted his head. His ears twitched. "Something's wrong," was the last thing he said before he tore off in the direction Starlight had come from.


The four guards that had been in Sombra's company traded bemused looks with one another before they followed after him. One of them turned his head and shouted a curt order to 'stay put' at Starlight Glimmer as they urgently galloped down the hall.


The next thing Starlight knew her hooves were moving. She managed to catch up with Sombra and his guards just as he was opening the spa door. The King was the first inside, with his entourage of palace sentries all filing in after him. Starlight made up the rear, and had to shuffle through the gawking line of red cloaks to see what was happening.


Starlight Glimmer's stomach fell when she saw Fluttershy laying on the spa floor, her face hidden behind her hooves as she wept uncontrollably to herself. How did Sombra know? She was beginning to ponder, but then she remembered The King's sonar senses. 


"My love, tell me what has happened." Sombra's voice was low, feather soft, and tender with concern. He undid the fastenings of his gauntlets and removed them to bear his forelegs, and he gently helped his wife up to guide her into his arms. Fluttershy practically disappeared, she looked so absurdly diminutive when she was enveloped in the massive stallion's embrace.


"Tell me," The King said again, but this time it was in a pleading, soft whisper.  


Fluttershy was trying and failing to stifle her sobs. "My... It... I... Horm... Hormones..."


It was as if Sombra had forgotten about Starlight, forgotten about the guards watching them. He paid them no mind. For that instant he actually bore the expression of a gentle loving husband. "Hormones?" he said. "Is that all?"   


Fluttershy gave a nod and sniffled. For one brief second her shimmering blue eyes betrayed her. She glanced at Starlight, quick as a flash, and then she looked away. 


Sombra was quick to pick up on the clue his wife had just unwittingly given him. His gaze shifted to Starlight, and his expression began to harden into a suspicious glare. "What did you do to her?" he said.


"Nothing!" Fluttershy sobbed. "She didn't... Didn't do anything." She wiped her eyes. "She just... I felt th-the baby. It kicked. For the first time, I felt our baby kick... I sent Starlight to go... To go find you, so she could tell you about it. I was so excited... I was so happy, I just started crying."


Sombra kept his accusatory scowl zeroed in on Starlight Glimmer as he replied, "I thought you said it was your hormones that had made you so emotional."


Fluttershy's eyes widened as she realized her mistake. 


"You..." Sombra released his bride, and he started toward Starlight, red eyes wreathed in jade flames. "What. Did. You. Do."


"I..." Starlight backed away as Sombra's shadow began to engulf her, but the crimson cloaks were behind her. She didn't see which one shoved her forward.


"She didn't do anything!" Fluttershy insisted.


A queer sort of madness began to replace her trepidation as The King towered intimidatingly over her. Whether it was a need to vent the insanity that had been building up inside her for the past few days, or just a coursing spike of sudden adrenaline racing through her veins, she couldn't have said, but Starlight had some choice words for her tormentor, and she was suddenly compelled to let them be heard. 


"You want to know what I did?" She jabbed a hoof in The King's face. "I put your queen in her place, and it's passed time I did the same to you, you--"


Starlight Glimmer did not see his hoof move, but she felt it. She felt the blow on the side of her face, she felt the tile floor under her as she slid across its surface, and she felt the unyielding stone wall when she collided with it. Her ears were ringing so loudly she could just barely make out Sombra's command to his guards. 


"Take her away!" 


It was an echo, loud at first, and then becoming quieter, and quieter, until the world around her went completely silent.