Starlight woke up with something on the boundaries of her mind. It was screaming at her, shouting for her to get out of her bed. She started obliged, unwillingly.
Until she felt it. A tiny little scurrying over her back legs. She yelped, tearing off the covers with her magic to reveal a mouse. A mouse that had decided to find cover underneath her covers while she was asleep. She growled, grabbing the suddenly terrified mouse and brought it close to her face.
She stared at it, while it struggled in her magic. She took a moment to decide what to do, then sighed and rushed to the window. She was about to teleport it to the Everfree forest where she paused. She examined the mouse once more, looking for a pet collar but finding none. She put a hoof to the creature and inscribed a small spell onto it. Then she threw open the window to hurl the mouse towards the Everfree forest from which it likely originated.
“And stay out!!” She shouted at the mouse that was already long gone. She stayed at the window, confident that her spell would protect the mouse upon landing but not from the dangers of the forest. It would have to obey the laws of nature in that regard.
She too found herself in that circle. Hunted. Buried in a tiny hole hoping the fox wouldn’t be able to dig her out. Though she wasn’t alone, the remaining citizens of Ponyville had banded together to survive the everlasting sun. In the span of a year, they had been able to build and fortify a wall around the entire town. Two doors were lodged in the walls, heavily protected with pony power and magic.
“You alright Starlight?” A voice wafted up from the ground below.
She looked down, seeing a guard with makeshift armor, “Huh?” She asked, confused.
“And stay out?” the guard asked curiously.
Starlight chuckled, “A mouse decided to use my bed while I was using it…”
The guard laughed, “Again?”
Starlight nodded, “Yeah, guess Twilight’s magic on her castle is fading a bit. Or there’s a hole in here somewhere.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me with the last attack. It took quite a beating last month.” The guard said looking up at the castle, “Well, I hope you don’t have any more mice to worry about. Have a nice morning!”
Starlight smiled and replied likewise before turning her attention back to the wall. It was at least 20 meters thick of concrete, metal, and magic. A height that overshadowed many of the smaller homes under its protection. It stood unwavering against the little attacks that were sent their way. Raiders, thieves, Celestia’s mechanical puppets, or even those who followed her.
But she never saw the Elements of Harmony. She hoped that forming a near unbreachable stronghold around their hometown would guide them back home. But she hadn’t seen any of them.
She sighed, looking at the wall with frustration. It was still annoying to defend though. Especially when Celestia’s mechanical beasts brought something that could shoot over the wall. Last month an attack had flown over the walls to hit Twilight’s castle. It lost a huge chunk of the adorning star at the top that crushed a good portion of the right side of the structure. Fortunately, no creature was killed but a few were severely injured by the bits that fell below.
Cracks had then spread through the entire building letting in all sorts of pests. Causing all sorts of problems with food and furniture. Though Starlight had quickly enchanted the library to keep such pests out. She had also backed the entire library up onto a large piece of crystal. The spell was magically etched into the piece and was the size of her head. But it was critter-proof, so a much more secure option should another attack destroy the library.
She kept it in her personal dimension, using it from time to time to read stories to the young creatures. She didn’t let any others use it, mostly because a majority didn’t have magical capabilities to do so, but mainly because she was worried about breaking it. That and the library was open to every creature.
But mainly it was because it contained the memories the roots of the Golden Oak library held aloft. All backed up securely in case the castle was to fall to bits. Starlight was worried about being in the castle should such an event occur, but she just couldn’t help herself. Its halls offered many more memories that supplied much-needed comfort in such, troubled times.
She had to ignore the massive cracks that spanned much of the castle but it was at least contained to the upper levels. The entry hall and the levels below all remained intact. Both of which were no longer used for their original purpose.
The entrance hall was now a gathering for the spreading of information. A conference hall or meeting grounds. It was often used as well for plays and other theatrics as the thick crystal walls provided a coolness that wooden walls could not. It was also easy to close off the windows and doors, creating a darkness that was now a commodity.
The basement and the levels below it were now a bunker. Filled with food storage and weapons that would make it very hard for an attacker to get in once they had bunkered down. It was maintained well and only had to be used once. Though after the wall was constructed, threats seemed to merely bounce off. Except for the occasional mortar.
“Starlight!” Trixie called, announcing her presence in the room, “You’re going to be late!” She said in a singsong voice.
Starlight rolled her eyes and warped the two ponies to the stairs leading to the conference hall.
“One is rarely late when one can teleport,” Starlight said.
“Trixie wishes she can teleport…” Trixie said, following Starlight down the stairs.
Starlight smiled, “You can teleport an orange and others! You’re doing much better than most!”
Trixie poshed, “Pfft, please. The Great and Powerful Trixie is already doing that with her amazing skills! But the praise is welcome.”
Starlight chuckled then said in a quieter voice, “How’s the wall?”
Trixie shrugged, “Sturdy as always I guess. Though some are complaining about their shifts of the wall.”
Starlight frowned, “Did the mortar damage not get repaired? What are they complaining about?”
Trixie rolled her eyes, “What they always complain about,” She gestured upwards, “The sun! Oh, it's too hot!” She said in mock mimicry, “Oh why do we have to stay on this wall alllll day? I mean, nothing is getting in!!”
Starlight frowned, “Except when the day comes when something can get in. What if Celestia comes? I doubt it's going to hold to an Alicorn!”
Trixie nodded strongly, “Oh Trixie mentioned that but they didn’t believe her! Why would she come to Ponyville!? Why would she have any reason to come here?! Oh, I don’t know, to kill us?!”
Starlight nodded, “Agreed. Not to mention that Ponyville was the Elements' home. Maybe she’s hoping for the same reason we are.”
“Have we gotten any word of them?”
Starlight shook her head, “No. Information has been quiet for a while. Though, it doesn’t surprise me with all the battles that are happening. Appolusa was demolished only a week ago.”
Trixie nodded, “Yeah. I heard about that. Wonder when it’ll be our turn…”
Starlight gave her friend a not-so-serious frown, “Don’t say that! You’ll jinx us!”
Trixie smiled and pulled off her hat, with a little wave of her hoof, she pulled out a wooden board with her magic. She proffered it to Starlight.
“Care do dispel the jinx? Or does the Great and Powerful Trixie need to?” She said.
Starlight chuckled and knocked on the wood twice. Trixie returned the board to her hat then the hat to her head. The two remained in silence, finishing the last of the steps to the hall. There stood a very large table. A circular table that had many holes and slides was designed to transform it into a stage when required. This time it wasn’t a stage, rather it was just a table with a multitude of chairs. Almost all the chairs were occupied as Starlight and Trixie took their seats. Starlight exchanged looks and smiles with those around her. Though the group merely waited.
Little chat was happening around the table as the group was just appreciating the cool shade of the castle halls. A comforting silence that held a peace the group rarely got to feel.
Starlight let her eyes wander around the table, seeing all matter of creatures. Griffins, Yaks, ponies of all types, dragons, and even a few bird pirates. Each one had faces of hope but of tired complexion. They were all tired. So was the way of life at this point. It was difficult to even survive let alone thrive. But they made do with what that had.
Starlight felt a smile tug at her lips as she saw each creature bore a necklace, even as she did. They were all bound together with a special blue gem necklace. While the gem was held on by differing types of metals and woods when you got to each individual, each one had the pale blue gemstone.
They were of her making. A final escape plan that she dearly hoped to never be forced to use. An escape that would teleport everypony in the town to the underground bunker. This section of the bunker held a flying blimp vehicle built with help from the former pirates. It would then take off and teleport the entire blimp to a safe spot that had been previously scouted and planned out. There they built an underground facility, using magic to guarantee its upkeep. Though it had been a month since its last checkup, the previous checkup turned up just fine.
The gems were all part of the castle they were currently in. It was the only material strong enough to handle such a magical burst. Each necklace would be tested and each month every necklace would be retested.
Starlight had spent a lot of time making the spells and devices to support an escape. She wasn’t going to let down her town just because a tiny gear refused to move when it was required. But she pushed that back to the depths of her mind. She wasn’t going to let herself Twilight. She already had a plan and every creature, no matter the age, knew just what to do when the little gemstones began to glow.
A sudden trumpet shattered her thoughts.
Hers and every creature’s head shot to the entrance from where the sound came. It was the first door, sounding the alarm for an attack. Long distance.
Starlight swiveled her head to Trixie a question in her eyes. Trixie smiled and tipped her hat in a nod. Starlight turned back to the door and warped the two to the top portion of the wall above the East gate. She stood off the designated teleportation area and rushed to the main guard.
She looked past the wall as she went, seeing a very large machine crawling towards them. It stood much taller than a house, but not too tall to dwarf the castle. But if it were to run through the base, it would likely topple it.
This device was foreign to Starlight, and she warped a spyglass from her pocket. With it, she could see quite a bit of detail. It was like a large tank or Trebuchet. Only, it had no swinging mechanism the older piece of human history had. Rather this machine held a massive barrel supported above the treads. The supports were blocky and equally as massive. From her spyglass, she saw multitudes of pipes and tubing. Wires and blinking lights among its steel and red colors.
This thing wasn’t going to be as easy as taking down the tanks that shot plasma rounds. But, before she could figure out what the device was supposed to do; she had to worry about the small army of mechanical wolfs surging ahead of the tank.
She frowned. She couldn’t call it a tank. It was the size of a house! It was more of a building on wheels if anything. She let the thought slide as she pulled away from the spyglass and sounded another trumpet to signal the activation of the wall.
The wall was powered by all the unicorns of the town. Powering it with magical energy to shoot simple lasers at the oncoming enemy. They weren’t as effective as the physical weapons and the crude plasma lasers they were able to make. But if aimed well, it could destroy a few legs of the attackers, rendering them useless.
The bigger units they called trolls were a much bigger pain. But the group could use energized crystal chunks and a slingshot to effectively launch an explosion at them. Sometimes it took two, sometimes three. But this time there weren’t any. Which worried Starlight.
It made her think the rolling building was meant to destroy the wall and let the wolfs through. So, she tied her magic to the wall, energizing it with her own energy. She quickly formed her magic into a shield, ready to use at a moment’s notice.
Though the wolves hit first, their sharp claws allowed them to crawl up the stone walls with ease. Each one was covered in devices that could launch sharp bits of lead at hypersonic speeds that made a tiny boom with each shot. They also had laser fire and razor-sharp teeth that had an electrified edge to immobilize the target.
Scanners.
See in the dark eyes.
Hardened metal bodies.
Fearless.
But they were dumb. Pretty easy to outmaneuver provided you weren’t facing a hundred of them at a time. At that point, they’d just mow you down as simply as a Big Mac would plow a field.
The thought tinged her mind with sadness.
The wolves continued to hammer the wall, their destroyed frames piling up. After the battle, they could be retrieved and dismantled into useful parts. Parts they used to make pumps, lights, and the blimp in its hidden entrance. Though, they’d only be useful if they survived.
Starlight gave the approaching building another look, letting her allies take care of the wolves. Now it wasn’t too far from their wall. While it wasn’t quite close enough to act as a support for wolves to jump off of it, the barrel worried her. She felt a sense of doom build up in her very soul.
It only multiplied as it stopped, out of range of their strongest long-range attacks. Only 200 meters away. There was a loud thoom as the machine suddenly seemed to power up, its barrel beginning to brighten with a golden glow.
Starlight activated the magic she was connected to, filling the wall with runes of protection and a light blue glow. It took a few seconds for the machine to respond, but it did so with a plasma laser that grew as it went along, easily able to swallow a house with its light. The beam of energy hurled itself towards the wall, colliding with Starlight’s shield. She felt her energy feed into the spell, and even though she made it as efficiently as possible, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to hold it.
“Move away! I can’t hold it!!” She shouted, remaining still as she put her foucus into her spell. She was changing it now, maintaining its shielding but adding resistance, hoping to weaken the laser before it hit the wall. But the laser was getting stronger. Ramping up in its energetic might.
“Move!!!” She shouted, feeling her throat protest at her volume. She heard the troops around her clink around as they moved with their armor. She could feel the panicked movements of those below her as well. She closed her eyes, straining with her magic. Buying as many seconds as she could.
But it was only a few.
The shield shattered allowing the full force of the laser to collide with the wall. It burned through the wall as if it wasn’t there and kept going, vaporizing the original town hall and several other buildings. Then, due to the slope the town was on, it kept going and ran into the wall on the opposite side. It took a bite out of the top of it, leaving a perfect half-circle as it went.
Only then did the laser stop. Revealing a massive hole that was keeping out the machines trained to kill. Starlight slumped to the ground, drained. She struggled to breathe but pulled a strip of paper from her mane. It had the word lock written onto it with magic. She struggled but managed to lift it to her mouth and rip the paper in half.
Immediately, she felt a surge of energy that revived her. She shook herself and turned around to the inside of the wall. The concrete was smoking around the near-perfect circle that had contained the gate. Though it was gone, allowing the wolves to pour in. The creatures stationed inside the wall fought and were able to keep them at bay. Thankfully, the blast hadn’t destroyed the wall’s ability to fire lasers, so a good portion of them was stopped before they could enter.
She jumped down, using her magic to land safely. Her horn glowed as she formed a shield and pushed the wolves back out of the town. Her shield was a perfect fit to the wall, creating a seal that no creature could get through.
“We have planned for this! Let’s get it sealed!!” Starlight shouted, getting several unicorns to the left side of the hole. There they pulled at a section of the inner wall. After a few tense moments, the section moved, revealing a curved stone slab that matched that of the wall. Once they got it out of the torn edges, earth ponies and other creatures grabbed onto the grooves of this inner wall that were carved along the entire length.
Together they gently pulled the slab out, pushing it to the other side. Creating a more durable and less expensive seal to the hole. Starlight had made this ring of stone in the wall. Several of them. So in the case of a breach, the rings could be rotated to show undamaged stone. This slab also had grooves and slots in the top to allow for metal grates to be placed to help seal holes taller than the stone rings. It had been a pain to make, but even as she watched griffins place the metal grates she smiled. It was well worth it.
Though as she watched the unicorns clear the damaged stone to allow the rings to slide, she didn’t see Trixie. Which was odd as she would surely be helping. The doom that Starlight could feel in her soul seemed to ring, like that of a church bell. It made her bones shake with the unheard harmony, making Starlight feel weak.
“Trixie!?” She felt her voice call out, her head swiveling around.
A pony walked up to her. He was adorned in metal armor that showed the welds along the plates. But the armor did little to hide his expression. Even less to hide the large, blue starry hat he was carrying.
“She didn’t make it,” The pony said, “She used her magic to teleport everyone behind the gate to her hat.”
“What?” Starlight said gently, feeling dread in her mind, a terrible cold that threatened to take her over. Her magic sparked, making her shield change color and fade a bit. Though it remained.
“I didn’t think she could teleport…” The pony continued, looking at the hat, “But she did. She saved every creature behind that gate. Sending them to this hat…”
Starlight gingerly grabbed the hat from the pony’s hooves. She could feel the spell etched into the gem’s interior. While the Great and Powerful Trixie couldn’t teleport herself due to her inability to calm her inner magic, she found no trouble teleporting things and creatures to her hat. The teleportation marker replaced the end of the teleportation, allowing the pony to focus on the beginning. It became a simple thing for her. Something that she could use with her shows. But she still needed help from Starlight to teleport herself.
Starlight felt a terrible sadness as she could imagine the pony’s final moments. She shook her head, refusing to dwell on it. She instead warped the hat to her personal pocket. She felt anger build up in her heart and mind. She growled, half shouting as it filled her body. Her magic responded, making her horn fizzle and snap.
She warped back to the top of the wall, making those already there jump back in alarm with her anger. She stared daggers into the machine that took her friend from her. Its smoking barrel and torrents of steam emerging from hidden vents on the back were its only response. She lowered herself into a crouch, staring into the barrel of the machine.
She cooled her mind for a moment, allowing her to breathe. She needed to destroy the machine. But it would take a blast from Celestia herself to destroy the no doubt magic-resistant metal covering. Though, it was a machine. It couldn’t adapt like a creature. It had a hard weakness, something that could be exploited. The wolves had flexible joints, but when destroyed, they shattered into shards that only damaged it when it continued to try and move. The trolls were back-heavy. Big explosions could knock them over to reveal gaps in their armor only accessible as their weight crushed their armor.
This machine would be no different. And Starlight would make sure to destroy it utterly. As it had her friend.
And she had an idea of how to do it. She charged her magic, its response to her anger was difficult to control but the power boost was most welcome. She shot a single thin laser at the machine, aiming directly for the center of the barrel. Once it reached inside, it blossomed into arcing currents of electricity, hitting everything inside. She maintained it, noticing with a smile that the steam coming from the back was getting visibly thicker.
Though as it thickened, it turned out not to be steam. But rather pure heat that mixed in with the dirt and dust the sunbaked planet gave freely. It distorted the light further as more came out. She could see the edges of the sides becoming black as they were burnt to a crisp.
Yet the inner barrel began to glow once more. Prepping another shot even if it killed itself. Starlight angrily growled and sent more magic through her horn, increasing the amount of electricity that was jumping around in the barrel. The glow just brightened, outshining the blue glow with a golden hue.
Starlight took in several deep breaths, feeling her body begging her to stop. But she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
She wasn’t going to let her friend die in vain!!
The golden glow suddenly stopped increasing in strength, disappearing quite suddenly. But Starlight didn’t stop. Rather, she shouted, pushing harder on her magic. The glow was starting to become white with the amount of magic collected in such a tiny spot.
The external of the barrel was beginning to glow red now as the metal began to heat up, its internal cooling system no longer able to supply enough cold. Starlight continued, pushing her lungs hard as they struggled to give her body the oxygen it needed. But her efforts were rewarded a few moments later when the rolling building vanished in a bright flash of light. A shockwave accompanied the explosion, hitting her like a slap in the face. But it felt like a victory to her. Even as a piece of it cut her on the shoulder.
She grimaced as the wound had been cauterized immediately by the red-hot piece of metal. But after a close look, she’d be okay. It stung a little when she moved but not enough to bother her.
“Look out! Take cover from above!!” Some pony shouted, making Starlight look up.
The barrel of the machine had been ripped away to be shot into the sky. Now it was right above them, looking as if to say a final word about her friend.
“No you don’t,” She muttered and flung her magic up towards it. There she created a magic barrier for it to bounce off of. Altering its trajectory to the outside of the wall, rather than inside the wall. It took a moment, but it landed with a thundering crash that seemed to shake the ground around her. Starlight gave the smoking barrel a questioning look. That material was quite heavy, she felt it bounce off her shield. But it was also very temperature resistant. What was it made out of?
But her questioning mind came to a halt as her body reminded her of the energy she had used to destroy the device. It came on her like a bag of bricks, making her fall to the ground with a dull thunk. She heard others ask if she was alright, but she couldn’t respond. Rather, she called a piece of paper from her personal dimension. It was another strip with protection written on it. She tore it, feeling her energy return to her.
“Only two left…” She muttered and nodded to those who had asked if she was okay. She had made large crystals that could absorb quite a bit of energy. She then over the course of several months made four of them. Four containers of magical energy that could re-supply her at a moment’s notice. She only had to break the lock she placed on them and the energy would return to her cutie mark, replenishing her energy.
But she already had used two of them. She looked to the inside of the wall, seeing her friends take out a few wolves that got in when she collapsed. But in that time the wall seemed to have been patched enough to keep the wolves out.
Starlight breathed a sigh of relief. The wolves were not a problem. They attacked all the time. Now they just had to destroy the remaining ones and reap the salvage. She doubted the rolling building would have much to salvage but they’d just have to check.
“Once more, from above!” The pony called again.
Starlight’s face curled into a silent snarl, expecting to see another piece of the rolling building trying to get a last word in. But she saw a flaming comet only two house lengths up. The anger drained out of her like water would a sink. Dread slowly slinked in after, filling her bones with cement.
The comet landed in the wall with a fiery thud. Thankfully the blast wasn’t as large as she was expecting. Actually, the blast was tiny! More like a thud than a blast.
But Starlight gulped as she watched Celestia step forward from the mini dust cloud she had created. Her hair was ablaze as her original colors were replaced with the orange-yellow tones of pure flame. The white coat seemed to glow like molten metal and seemed without blemish. Her golden armor was plain and seemed more cosmetic than protective. But it stood as a challenge, warning those dumb enough to challenge her that she didn’t need armor. But the red rubies studded here and there along with the centerpiece on her petyal. Its red glow replacing the purple glow for those who could remember it.
The air seemed to be silent for the arrival of the Alicorn. But then it shattered as her allies began to unload the physical weapons at their disposal. Though none dared to charge her directly.
The flung ammunition: spears, salvaged blasters, arrows, and slingshot ammo all vaporized before it got close and spun around Celestia in a molten ring. It took a minute, but the weapons stopped firing. Once it did, the molten metal condensed together in a ball the size of a pony. Then, it shot upwards to come back down as molten rain.
Starlight ignored the shouts of fear from her allies and once more threw her magic up. She doubted she could catch every spec, so she just pulled the heat out of the area till she couldn’t see glowing metal. The cold air then descended upon them, making Starlight shiver. She then looked down to see Celestia staring directly at her. The cold emanated from within, making her blood crawl like ice as the metal pellets rained harmlessly.
“There you are,” Celestia said in a carefree tone, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Though I really ought to have looked here first!”
“Everyone! Evacuate!” Starlight shouted, tapping on the blue necklace with a magic hoof. The gem glowed blue, along with everyone else’s. She then shot a beam of magic at the castle, its crystal walls glowing in response.
But the glow was overshadowed by a golden one. The castle then shuddered as it was ripped upwards, leaving only a stump in its place. The castle was then cast aside, landing just outside the wall with a mighty crash. The force pulled up a dust cloud that stormed its way across the town, obscuring everything in view. Starlight held her breath and once more sent a beam of energy at the stump that was the castle. She felt her magic click, and felt the spell begin.
Though a sudden air current rushed past her, pulling her tail and mane in a flurry. The dust cloud was being drawn in, collecting into a small space in front of Celestia. Once the dust cloud had fully gathered there, it became a sphere, then shrunk to the size of a baseball.
It fell to the ground with a soft thump, hard as a rock.
Starlight stared at the pony with shock, her mind screaming at her for action. But she stopped herself. Here was the pony who destroyed Appolusa in a single hit. Vaporizing the entire town and leaving a crater.
She had to be careful.
But her mind asked her why the pony didn’t do that to Ponyville. Her mind settled on a single answer. She wanted something. Something that was in Ponyville. Something that she couldn’t destroy.
Was it the Elements? Well, those weren’t here. No pony had seen them.
“No fancy magic from you Starlight,” Celestia said, pulling her full attention, “As much fun as it would be to see what magic a student of Twilight could think of I nee—”
She stopped as a pony next to Starlight vanished in a flash of blue light. Starlight swallowed carefully. That meant the bunker had been evacuated to the blimp. Which meant the spell was now targeting those outside the castle.
A pony next to her vanished in a flash of light. She dearly wanted to be in the blimp. But, she had made the spell make her last. She had also placed a marker in the blimp, so she could teleport to it at any time.
Provided she was still alive.
But somepony needed to stay and make sure the blimp launched safely and was protected. It did have protective measures, but not all magic could stop a balloon from popping.
Especially from a blast of Celestia’s magic. She needed to make sure the blimp got to safety. Regardless of her getting a seat or not. She took a step forward, taking a deep breath.
She was about to say something when Celestia pulsed in a golden hue of magic. Her horn remained lit, and she turned to the glowing stump of the castle which dimmed in response.
Starlight frowned. That meant the spell had targets but couldn’t finish the teleportation. She had an hour before the crystals holding the energy would drain to the point of failure. And their escape couldn’t fail with Celestia in their walls. Or they would say hi to their fallen comrades.
Starlight took another breath and studied the magic she felt from Celestia. It was simple. It was merely distorting the energy around her, changing the magical energy of that around her ever so slightly. It wouldn’t affect them. But the spell would no longer be able to target the necklaces with the interference. But it wouldn’t affect teleportation from within.
She quickly calmed herself then shouted, “Well I guess you get to see the crazy magic the student of Twilight can do!!” She then teleported next to Celestia and transmitted an energy of her own. It was an inverse of the one Celestia was transmitting so it would cancel it out. A few pops sounded her success.
“To battle!!” A pony shouted and she heard a resounding battle cry.
Starlight felt her eyes widen as she heard the cry. She faced the Princess, a plan formed in her mind. She watched the eyes of the pony light up with glee, horrible golden yellow eyes full of power, then Starlight summoned the ground up to surround the alicorn and harden once more. She then jumped up and kicked the alicorn downwards. She sunk six meters before stopping. Starlight landed and charged her forelegs with magic. Containment magic filled the ground but it was immediately put under strain.
“NO!! Every creature get away! I will hold her for as long as I can!!” Starlight shouted, looking towards the approaching horde of her allies.
“No! We will take her down together! She dares to step hoof on our land! Then she’ll pay the price!!” The pony responded getting a shout in return.
Starlight desperately shook her head, feeling the magic crack. A golden beam of light shot out of the ground, warming the already warm air.
“NO! Remember what happened to Appolusa!? The only reason we are still alive is because Celestia wants something!” Starlight rebuked as another beam of light pierced the ground.
“What is that?” The pony asked as another creature vanished with a pop of blue light.
“ME!” Starlight said, her exceptions to the ground below making her scream, “I’m the one she’s after! I don’t know why but I’m going to use that to let every creature get away!! So go!!”
The ground shook as another level of her spell failed, letting more light spill out of the ground.
Cheeraliee stepped forward, her face stern and serious. Her steps were accompanied by the clicks of her armor as she spoke, “Then Pinkie Promise us you’ll teleport to the blimp the moment you can!!”
Starlight shuddered as her body felt the effects of the magic for the third time. But she painfully pulled up a forehoof to make the signs, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”
Cheerilee nodded and the group made their way to the castle, a few vanishing in the process. Starlight warped a third piece of paper to her mouth as the final strand of her spell cracked. She dove out of the way as the ground exploded leaving a small but deep crater.
Starlight panted through clutched teeth, pooling the saliva into the paper in her mouth.
“Really Starlight? You can only bury me when I’m dead,” Celestia said with an amused tone, elegantly stepping out of the hole as if nothing happened.
Starlight then used her tongue to rip the weakened paper, feeling her energy resupply once more. Though she got pinned down before she could act and found herself face-to-face with the Solar alicorn.
Her face was warm, radiating that heat to Starlight only a few centimeters away. Her voice came as a quiet whisper, “Well said Starlight. Indeed, I could vaporize this entire town if I wanted to. Destroy every creature within your pathetic walls. But you’re right, I do need you.”
“What could you need me for?” Starlight asked, feeling sweat form on her brow.
Celestia laughed, “Oh I don’t need you, I need your knowledge.”
Starlight frowned, “What would you want me to tell you?”
Celestia chuckled, “Oh I’m sure you can think of many things. But I do know you are stalling for time…”
Starlight gulped, prepping a teleportation spell in her mind. She still transmitting the inverse signal Celestia was transmitting, so she didn’t need to hide her magic.
“Where is Twilight Sparkle?” Came the question, serious and bold.
Starlight swallowed again but stayed quiet. She had no idea where the Princess of Friendship was. But she couldn’t let the Alicorn know that. She heard the sound of a large metal door open, pushing away a meter of dirt and dust. Sounds of propellers then filled the air.
Celestia looked past Starlight with an incredulous look, “Really? A big balloon is your big escape? Miss Pinkie too much?”
Starlight growled, envisioning the large yellow blimp rising from the hidden hangar below.
“Last chance Starlight!!” Celestia cooed, “I don’t think I can miss such a big target!” Her horn glowed and a small ball of golden energy blossomed on her horn.
“No!” Starlight said struggling in the alicorn's grip. Though the air was knocked out of her as she was subjugated to the alicorn’s full weight on her chest.
“Then where is Twilight Sparkle!? If you tell me, I’ll let your friends go!!” Celestia said, her voice suddenly full of anger.
Starlight coughed, getting air back into her lungs, “Why should I trust you?”
Celestia smiled, “Because you really don’t have a choice…”
“There is always a choice…”
Celestia laughed, “Oh you really want to be the bad guy? Doom your friends to a fiery doom? Okay!” She then turned away, the ball on the end of her horn growing brighter. Starlight then teleported above Celestia, and slightly to the side, then smacked her as hard as she could on the head with a forehoof.
She heard the crack as her horseshoe made contact. She was aiming for the pressure point that would make a unicorn let go of their magic. She knew for a fact that it worked on alicorns.
Celestia’s head tilted down, releasing the ball of energy into a powerful beam of pure power. Because of the sudden head movement, the beam missed the blimp and carved a four-meter-deep hole in the ground. It cut buildings in half leaving them to catch fire, the wall caught in the blast vaporized, leaving a cut cleaner than the rolling building, and the ground became black with a faint mist of ash dancing in the air.
All in a single head movement that lasted for half a second.
Starlight teleported back to the ground, swallowing her fear and replacing it with anger. She couldn’t back down, not now!
Celestia was laughing, however, throwing off her emotional balance. She turned back to Starlight with a wild look in her eyes, “Oh it’s been a long time since I’ve been hit! It’s not as fun when the prey can’t put up a fight! Simply, easier, and probably better to nuke them where they stand… But where’s the fun?!”
Starlight frowned and said nothing.
Celestia chuckled, “My offer still stands!” She said as a salespony would, “The location of Twilight Sparkle for your friend’s lives. What will it be?”
Starlight remained mute, prepping another teleportation. Luckily, the pressure point was also mirrored on the opposite side of the head, so she could be unpredictable.
“Silence? Oh, the witty Starlight has nothing to say?”
“Not to you…” Starlight said.
“Ha! So you do have a voice! So, what will it be?” Celestia said.
Starlight remained silent, bidding her time. The blimp should be high enough to activate its teleportation. The moment she heard the blimp teleport, she’d teleport.
But she didn’t hear it.
“Last chance Starlight!!” Celestia said with her horn glowing brighter.
Starlight wrinkled her face in a frown and was about to speak when the alicorn shrugged.
“Okay,” She said with a grin and her horn shot a large beam of fiery orange energy at the blimp. Starlight’s face wrinkled more as she threw up her will to the blimp. It was filled with her magic and would respond faster than her sending her magic up.
She pulled the energy from the blimp into a shield. It would only take from the blimp’s energy for a moment as Starlight’s energy reached it. Her energy drained as the shield deflected the beam. It drained further as she again teleported up to kick the pressure point once more.
But the beam ceased as Celestia released her magic and turned her head. She avoided the blow and caught Starlight with her head and horn, its long edge running along the side of Starlight’s skull. Starlight’s head seemed to fit perfectly into this notch, which Celestia used to throw the pony away.
She flew for a bit, her neck complaining from the force it was subjected to. She then tumbled on the ground for a moment before colliding back first into the wall. It knocked what little breath she had out of her lungs, leaving her gasping for air. She dearly wished she had gotten her helmet before going to battle. She wasn’t wearing any armor, which her body was confirming with aching sensations.
She finally got air into her lungs and stared at the fiery alicorn with anger in her eyes. It was met with equal annoyance in the form of a forced smile.
“I’m really trying not to kill you!!” She said through the gritted teeth of her unpleasant smile, “But you are really making that hard!”
Starlight didn’t respond, instead letting her body rest and recuperate. She was still broadcasting the energy that was interfering with Celestia’s, so she gently put the spell out. She then rerouted the energy into a refreshing spell. She watched the alicorn take slow steps toward her. Like a monster out of Tartarus that had been given the freedom to rid the world of her.
The alicorn was still watching her as her body recovered using her magic. It wasn’t a full recovery but a full night’s sleep would have to wait. She calmed her breathing as the alicorn got closer but she stopped.
“The tree, limiting my power so I didn’t vaporize you when you buried me, now,” She said with a voice that held back a tidal wave of rage, “But, I do need you. Though, if I really need to. I can use other methods to get the information I want… Not so, pleasant methods.”
Starlight got to her hooves and stared the fiery angel of death in the eyes, “If it wasn’t clear,” She gathered her magic in a ring of projectiles and summoned it in front of her, “I’m not telling!” Her magic flurried forward in a blast of light blue projectiles.
They homed onto Celestia and all hit their mark. Though, they weren’t designed to hurt the solar Princess. Her shield would no doubt be effective. But it was designed to be destroyed.
The projectiles exploded in a bright flash of light. Celestia laughed at the effects though, her eyes glowing bright.
“Really? That’s all you got?! I eat light shows like that for breakfast!” She shouted, her energy spilling out of her armor in translucent rays.
Starlight struggled to keep her smile from emerging on her face as she dissolved the magical ring. She summoned it forward in a large beam that hit Celestia square in the chest. She enjoyed the look of surprise on the alicorn’s face but did not enjoy the look of glee.
She ignored it and turned her attention to the blimp. She charged her horn with a spell key that would activate the spell built into the blimp.
It would force the activation of the teleportation of the blimp.
She could imagine the ponies ready on the switch, ready to teleport the moment that she got on. But if she did, Celestia would no doubt burn their little balloon into a molten crisp. She had to make sure that her friends, now family, would survive.
She could still teleport to the blimp; she was still in range of the secondary bunker. She did have her teleportation scramblers…
Her ring pushing the alicorn back was almost gone, so she sent the spell key to the blimp. The little ball of magic popped on the yellow material and caused the entire thing to glow with several hundred carefully etched symbols and thick lines of sparking magic.
The air around the entire vehicle warped as if it was consumed in fire and glowed brighter. Starlight frowned as her ring vanished, leaving the alicorn free to move. Though, she watched the blimp’s spell work its path. Starlight prepped a shield in her horn, feeling her magic stores getting empty. She quietly pulled the last lock out of her dimension and lodged it in her mane.
But the alicorn straightened her stance and looked at the blimp with curiosity. A resounding thoom filled the air as the teleportation took place.
Celestia laughed, unable to look at Starlight with her mirth, “Really? Teleportation?! Goodness, you are soo predictable! Do you think I can’t track that? Can’t just appear next to them and vapor—”
She stopped speaking and her mirth seemed to vaporize on her face. Her head snapped to where the blimp was and she stared at the spot for a few moments. Starlight’s lungs wanted to hold onto air, but she slowly let it out.
“Well played Starlight,” Celestia said slowly, “Well, played…” Starlight could envision the venom dripping from her metaphorical fangs.
Starlight gulped and then summoned her shield as Celestia sent a blast in her direction. Thankfully it wasn’t too strong but it was just strong enough to blast her shield to bits. The shield exploding sent her flying once more into the wall. She laid against the wall, feeling exhausted. She started to pull the paper from her mane when a mechanical leg burst from the wall and wrapped around her neck. It cinched tight, pressing her against the wall. Her instincts prompted her legs to the metal object in a vain attempt to get it off.
“It seems my negotiation card is gone,” Celestia said calmly, “But that means we get to do it the fun way…” She grinned, trotting forward.
Starlight ignited her horn but felt her weakened magic get smothered by the alicorn’s. She pushed with her legs, once more attempting to get free from the mechanical restraint. She kicked and pushed, trying to leverage her back legs to push. But she was just left to contort her body in desperate actions. Celestia merely smiled at her attempts and sat down in front of her.
Starlight attempted to light her horn but her weak magic was still smothered by the alicorn’s magic. Celestia’s grin seemed to grow wider as she placed both hooves on Starlight’s temples. Starlight couldn’t control her lungs as they demanded air. She was forced to look into Celestia’s glowing eyes as her mind seemed to be ripped open with searing hot magic.
She screamed, once more straining in a wild attempt to free herself. She felt herself running through her memories. She was watching her battle with Celestia in Celestia’s eyes. Her eyes went wide.
Mind magic!!
Celestia chuckled, watching her battle going backward, “How far back will we have to go? How long will your brain last?”
Starlight shuddered, feeling the searing magic scuttling through her mind like a spider stuck in a small box. She vainly tried to fight the magic but simply didn’t have the stores. She shuddered, using the mind tactics she had learned long ago. If she could hide the information before Celestia saw it, then it would be much harder to find.
She first hid where the blimp’s final location was, then started with the layout of her bunker—
She gasped when the magic receded from her mind. Starlight shakily took breaths and looked up at Celestia. She was looking at her with a frown.
She noticed the unicorn’s look and got close to her face, “Starlight, you try to hide your deepest secrets but forget the tiny little things. Remember the conversation you had with the late Great and Powerful Trixie? Just before your little meeting?”
Starlight’s eyes twitched as she remembered her conversation with the unicorn about the elements. Her internal thoughts about the missing alicorn.
Celestia turned back to where the blimp had vanished. She stared at the spot intrigued by something. Starlight gently reached her magic up to her mane and pulled the piece of paper out. She tried to tear the paper but it got surrounded by a golden glow before she could.
The alicorn didn’t turn around as her magic pulled the paper away from her and the mechanical arm released her. She fell to the ground in a heap but levitated as she got surrounded by the golden glow. It was warm, like that of a heat blanket.
“You don’t know where Twilight is. You set up camp here hoping that she’d come back. I left the town standing for the same reason. Though I felt her magic. Or at least, Alicorn Magic. But that doesn’t matter. You don’t know,” Celestia said, turning slowly to her, “So you are now no use to me!”
The magic surrounding Starlight hurled her into the town, making her scuttle along the ground like a discarded pebble. But gravity pulled her down, slowing her path with painful scrapes. She shakily got to her hooves but collapsed. She was still able to look at the Alicorn as she walked towards her. She was staring at her piece of paper, reading the spell etched into it.
She laughed and the little piece of paper erupted into flames. Immediately she felt her magic rebuild, slowing her breathing. The air next to Celestia glowed with a golden hue, obscuring the area. Her battle axe appeared when the light faded. The weapon was a large golden axe, covered in molten cracks. It spun once in the air, seemingly excited.
“It makes sense how you seem to be able to block my magic. Or,” She mused, “Part of it. Either way, let’s have some fun! It’s been so long since I met an opponent that could actually hit me!”
Starlight chuckled slowly getting to her hooves, “No thanks. I really thank you for the offer and the compliment! But no.”
She charged her magic, prepping teleportation. She also located her teleportation scramblers in her pocket dimension and thought up a pattern for elusion.
She gave the alicorn a grin and let her magic pop. She felt her form flash with light as she summoned a scrambler from her pocket dimension and activated it in front of her. A moment later she felt her teleportation take effect, obscuring her vision. But saw the Alicorn when her vision returned. Her grin vanished, replaced with a look of horror.
She jumped back as her scrambler opened up sharply, letting a blast of condensed magic out, ripping apart any magical patterns that were connected to teleporting. She looked at the device with horror. Normally, those devices weren’t harmful in the slightest. They were just designed to break the quantum resonance that teleporting left behind. Leaving no trace to anypony to track her.
However, standing right next to the device would impede her ability to interact with the quantum realm at all. She wouldn’t even be able to touch the fabric of her dimension. Which meant she wouldn’t be able to teleport for at least ten minutes.
Celestia laughed, her axe falling to the ground with a thunk with her mirth, “Oh Starlight! You are hilarious! Do you really think I would take you on without some way to stop your teleportation?!”
Starlight felt her mouth dry up as she looked up at the alicorn with shock.
“I’ve got my mechanical wolves all along your little wall. Each one projecting a field that teleportation spells can’t pass! Not even mine!!” She cawed, “Now you’re stuck inside a dome, with me!” Her hair flared with energy.
Starlight frowned. The field couldn’t be completely solid because the blimp was able to teleport. Or was it because the blimp was able to pass through the dome while not in time-space? Was she just lucky with how high the blimp was set to get to?
Celestia smiled, picking up her axe once more in a golden glow, “So, once more Starlight. Let’s make this interesting, shall we?”
Starlight felt a shiver pass through her.
“Awww,” Celestia cooed, “Cat got your tongue? You going to lay down and accept your fate?”
Starlight shuddered, her sudden lack of escape rooting her legs in the ground. They seemed to be suddenly in quick set cement. No, they were filled with it.
Celestia frowned and her axe glowed with flames sticking to the metal edge. Starlight shuddered once more, her body feeling the shock of adrenaline. She then dove to the ground to avoid the weapon as it was hurled at her. She shakily got to her hooves.
Hopelessness filled her soul as she found she could take a few steps back. How was she supposed to take on Celestia!? Without teleporting?! Without her extra reserves, she couldn’t block any hits without being completely drained! Even if she was able to hold her ground for the scrambler’s effects to wear off, how was she going to get out of town? Did the dome cover the tops of the wall? Could she teleport to the top of it?
Wait. Starlight’s head twitched as she felt the urge to look behind her, trying to see the hole that Celestia had made when Starlight first hit her. She could use that to get out of the field. But surely Celestia would see her attempts and maneuver her mechanical creations to cut her off. There was no way she could fight an alicorn and the metal, magic-resistant creations while crossing the entirety of Ponyville!
But she had to try right? She couldn’t just stand there and take it!
But running across the town was just going to be a death sentence! Especially when Celestia’s magic could just plow through anything here!
Celestia was smiling, letting flames exit her mouth through the slits in her teeth. Starlight shivered, her mind frantically running through the things in the town, trying desperately to think of something that could block Celestia’s attack. Even just a little bit!
Starlight gulped. There was only one place in the town that could block Celestia’s attack even for a minute.
The bunker underneath Twilight’s castle. Though it was not a castle anymore, the underground bunker would still be intact. Well, enough for her to use. But what then?! She’d just be a mouse in a trap!
“Tick tock, Starlight…” Celestia said slowly, with evil intent that seemed to smother Starlight’s hope.
Starlight was partly shaking now. She had to go to the bunker and hope to lose the solar Princess in an unknown place. Any other choice would lead to her untimely demise.
So she took off running. She was practically gasping at the very first step. Laughter boomed behind her as Celestia taunted.
“Think you can run? Hide?! Oh, did I scare you that badly?”
Starlight didn’t respond but threw her magic behind her. It stuck to the air like a cloud, filling the air with sparkles. It wasn’t any sort of attack but a precautionary measure against her falling over. She needed to keep her eyes up front but the magic would shift if something passed through it. So if Celestia threw something at her, she was confident that she’d be able to dodge.
The warm glow of magic started to surround her, but she tuned her magic to the opposite of it and pulsed it on her skin, vaporizing it.
“Oh fun! So many unicorns forget about the simplest of grab breaks!”
Starlight pushed the memories of reading through combat books after several battles had caught her unprepared. Though those were from Twilight, long before Celestia gave the throne to Twilight.
Ugh! She thought, Focus!! She desperately needed all her attention on the stump of the castle. But she spared some as her magic shifted behind her.
She jumped left, getting showered with dirt and pebbles as Celestia’s battle axe gouged the ground with a black streak. She ignored it and kept running. Her legs were burning as the castle became a frisbee throw away.
This time she felt a shift in the magic cloud. But, it didn’t pass through but instead kept disturbing the magic. She felt her breath quicken as her subconscious screamed at her to move faster. Her conscious mind fought the use of energy and took a peek behind her.
She saw the alicorn gaining ground on her. Flames poured from her smile, joining her flowing mane and tail. Her eyes were glowing with bright auras that flowed away as her horn was sparking with lava-like magic.
Starlight shrieked and pumped magic to her legs. It wasn’t the best way to speed up and she was definitely going to be sore later but sore was better than being barbequed.
“Oh Starlight!” Celestia’s voice came behind as Starlight had whipped her head forward, “I’m right behind you!!”
“Shut up!” Starlight said.
Celestia laughed, “Oh, this reminds me of some, rhyme that I can not remember its origins…” There was silence for a few moments, only Starlight’s breathing filling it.
“Run, run, fast as you can,” Celestia sang in an unknown tune, “You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man!”
“I’m not made of gingerbread!!” Starlight cried, suddenly very worried.
“Slow down! Let’s find out!”
“NOO!” Starlight shouted and pushed her legs harder. Though no matter how hard she pushed her legs, her magic remained disturbed behind her. Though she didn’t dare look behind her this time. She just focused on pumping her legs. Her mind was screaming questions at her.
Why was Celestia toying with her!?
How come she was still alive?!
What was the alicorn magic Celestia was talking about?!
Were her friends alive?!
She felt tears well up in her eyes as thoughts of the potential fate of her friends. She shook her head. She had worked for days on the blimp. The spell was perfected and had been tested. Her friends were safe. She just now had to survive long enough to get back to them.
She took a breath, feeling determination seep into her fear-soaked brain. The castle was close now, and she threw her magic forward to it. She rummaged around the broken tables and décor for the door to the bunker. She found the large door and swung it open with her magic.
She steadied her frantic heart and focused on the rhythm of her legs. She planned the jump into the hallway as she covered the staircase with ice, creating a ramp. She ran through the fractured doorway of the crystal castle, careful of the razor-sharp debris.
She heard Celestia crashing through the debris sending it flying. She wrapped herself in her magic to protect against it, making her way to the hallway.
“That won’t save you Starlight!” Celestia taunted, “But you know that, so what is your brain coming up with?”
Starlight ignored the pony, jumping over the table that she had sat at for so many meetings. Though it had survived the destruction of the castle, it did not survive the solar Princess charging through it.
Starlight’s shield protected her from the chunks of flaming wood and ash as she jumped into the hallway with the open door at the end. She landed on the ice she had created and used the lack of friction to spin herself around. She then shot a beam of energy at the Solar Princess in hopes to slow her down a bit.
Her momentum and her magic pushed her down the iced steps, already lit by the little spell lamps activated by the blimp’s activation. Her beam hit Celestia in the tiny hallway and managed to put some distance between her and the angry flaming pony.
Though not enough to think.
She continued her slide till the slippery slope became flat and she passed the large door to the bunker She slammed the door shut as she slide by, her ice path stopping shortly after. She used the sudden traction to roll into a forward position. She rotated the large locking ring on the door as she ran down the hallway, maneuvering large metal poles into locking positions.
She also threw her magic into the walls of the dimly lit hallway, causing them to glow blue. Large blue rectangles of blue magic blocked the hallway behind her, offering several levels of protection. This all took only a few seconds, a speed only given by days of practice. Though she hit a roadblock.
She hadn’t thought to open the axillary door while she was running to the castle. She had forgotten that it had already been used, the bunker already active. She didn’t pause though, instead throwing her magic into the door. The magical seals recognized her magic and allowed it through the thick metal door hiding dozens of magic spells and mechanical mechanisms. She grasped onto the locking ring on the other side and began to rotate it. It rotated rapidly but this one was designed to be stronger and took longer to lock and unlock. There hence the magic shields and the primary door.
A sudden thunk made her whip around. There in the primary door was a glowing horn. The door hissed as it turned red, then orange, yellow, and began to bulge inwards. It then became white and lost its shape as it liquidifed. The molten lavafall fell over Celestia as she walked forward, the liquid doing nothing to her smile as she took casual steps forward.
Starlight gulped as she watched the liquid metal capable of vaporizing her run over the Alicorn’s open eyes like water. Fear permeated her mind once more as she desperately tried to move the locking mechanism faster. But it was designed only to go so fast, allowing it to be stronger.
But it meant she was stuck in a metal box with a crazy alicorn Princess who could control the sun.
“Comon, come on come on!!” She pleaded, listening to the door’s mechanisms click and slide.
Celestia laughed and seemed unaffected by the cooling metal around her. She walked up to the blue forcefield separating her and Starlight and rose a hoof to it.
“Boop,” She said simply, her words not blocked by the magic. Her hoof tapped the shield, causing it to shatter into thousands of condensed magic shards that bounced and faded.
“Bop,” Celestia said in a playful voice, causing another shield to shatter under her hoof.
Starlight felt the fear move back into her face as she watched the spectacle. But she heard a thunk and practically tackled the door in to push it open. She spun on the edge of the door and swung it closed, fighting its momentum swinging it open. She ran from it, turning the locking handle as she did so. She didn’t bother trying to push it too fast. It wouldn’t hold long anyway.
She didn’t hear a thunk like last time, only a hiss of vaporizing material. She whipped her head back for a second to see the door liquefy and splash outwards as Celestia burst through it. Starlight returned her head forward and pushed the speed of her gallop to her physical limit.
The hallway remained slim and dim, little lights lined up along the walls. But she could see the hallway getting brighter as she ran. No doubt because of the glowing threat behind her. Though she passed through an entrance into a much, much larger hallway.
This was like an elongated coliseum. Rows of seating ran along both sides room, slightly curved to face the entrance she had just entered. At the base of those stands were makeshift turrets that snapped into motion. Starlight looked down the carefully crafted barrel to the messy wires and magic-infused crystals. They were tracking her movements, and she had to double-check to make sure her necklace was still around her neck.
But they suddenly snapped to something behind her and opened fire with blazing beams of magic. Starlight smiled, knowing that the full force of hundreds of unicorns imbued into those turrets wouldn’t be enough to stop Celestia. Hopefully though, it would slow her down.
At the end of the room was another door. This one was thick and strong, like the others. But this one wasn’t as hard to open with its differing mechanisms. She found herself missing her teleportation as the door slid into the wall. She dashed through it, closing it behind her.
She was now in the main connection room. Here, she could get anywhere she wanted in the bunker. The blimp launch bay, living quarters, recreational rooms, the agricultural section, and more. She paused for a moment, taking precious seconds to figure out where she wanted to go.
A massive explosion made her pause and look behind her. Those turrets were likely gone and the room a blackened mess.
The door began to change colors forcing Starlight to take off. She ran to the living quarters, its multitude of hallways and rooms hopefully providing enough cover for her to stall. She just needed to stall Celestia long enough for the effects of her scrambler to wear off. Then she could teleport out of the bunker and to that hole in the wall. Once there, she’d use the scramblers properly and get back to her friends.
Hopefully in one piece!
The door exploded in a hot gooey mess, sending molten metal everywhere. Starlight heard the explosion, imagining the scene in her head as she put up a shield behind her. She felt her magic drain as several droplets hit the shield.
“Clever Starlight! Imbuing unicorn magic into crystals to then fire out of machines! Took that right out of my book, didn’t you? You even used my machine’s targeting systems, only switched its enemy and friend directory huh?!”
Starlight didn’t respond but continued to run toward the hallway that lead to the quarters.
“Acting just like a gingerbread cookie huh? Just keep running and running!? Where’s your fancy magic I’ve heard so much about?!”
Starlight stuck out her tongue and turned to Celestia for a moment to satisfy her ego before turning back around. She passed into the much smaller hallway that lead to the quarters. Luckily the door had been left open, but she closed it with her magic as she passed by. Or, at least tried to.
Celestia smashed through the half-open door, liquefying it with her mere presence, “Oh Starlight!” She called, “Don’t you learn? I don’t care if your entire little base is a door, IT WON’T STOP ME!”
Starlight felt magic build behind her, making her mind fill with worry. She pushed magic to her legs speeding her up. The first doorway was only a meter away, so she barely made it to the doorway before the magical blast reached her.
Though it was close enough to shorten her tail, leaving a blackened husk that smelt terrible. Luckily it only cooked hair and wasn’t enough to reach her tail. Though the experience left her lungs taking as much air as she could give them.
“Aww, that was close,” Celestia’s said in a motherly tone, her hoof steps slowing to a walk, “I apologize. Next time I’ll make sure not to miss…”
Starlight felt sick to her stomach with how Celestia was talking. She could vividly envision Celestia before she went nuclear on Equestria. But this tone was a mockery of that past and she could hear it vividly. She calmed her lungs and continued into the room. She didn’t dare leave it as the hallway was no doubt too hot to transverse through. The metal reinforcements would see to that.
But she had planned for that. Well, kinda.
She had designed the quarters to make sure that there were no dead ends. Every single room had at least two exits, most had three or four. That way, if a threat did break through all the bunker’s defenses then families wouldn’t be screwed over because of their quarter’s placement.
Now she could use them to sneak away. She made sure to quietly step around to not alert the solar Princess of her actions. Though she was sure the hissing of the molten metal touching drywall and other flammable items would cover her. She didn’t have to worry about the smoke as the ceiling was covered in vents for that purpose. The fire suppression spells would kick in here in a moment so she wouldn’t have to worry about fire.
She walked into the quarter’s kitchen, quietly opening the door between the stove and cooling unit. There she stepped into another quarter’s living room. She quietly made her way through the room, moving towards the bedrooms. There was another door in between the door doorways for the two bedrooms. It was a dark green, signaling that it lead through the quarters in a clockwise fashion. A dark orange was for the opposite direction. A few had fought her over the colors, but she had only relented on its shade.
She slipped through the doorway and into another quarter’s set hallway. She then passed through quarter to quarter till she was ten quarters away from the entrance. She slid against the dark orange door, landing in a sit that rested her sore legs. Her use of magic with them was starting to affect her. She massaged them a bit before letting herself relax.
She had a few moments. She would have to move rooms but she could relax. There was no way Celestia could track her through all these rooms. Especially with the magic flowing through the walls to satisfy heat and lighting.
She was safe for the moment. Now she just had to wai—
A searing pain ripped into her ear, an intense heat that vaporized all thoughts. She screamed and pulled away. Though that only succeeded in making it worse, causing her entire ear to scream as it was cut in two. She put a hoof to it, feeling the membrane in two pieces. She then looked to the door in confusion and fear, hoping not to see what had cut her.
But her heart knew it, no matter how much her brain wanted not to. She watched the burning horn smoke off the remains of her ear, then grow into a head as the alicorn pushed through the door. Starlight remained there in shock.
Celestia chuckled, “You know, if I were to fry you to a crisp, then you might resemble a cookie!”
Starlight didn’t respond, the words rolling off her ear. How had she tracked her? Through so much magic? Did she see her enter the doorways? Was she right behind her this whole time? No! She couldn’t have!
Celestia chuckled, “Oh, did I break your little brain?” Her form emerged as she pushed through the door, leaving the molten metal to roll off her armor. It would then cool, except for the material that got stuck in her armor. That would remain glowing bright.
She took a step forward and looked Starlight directly in the eye, “You aren’t getting away. Magic or not, you will not escape my sight.”
That got Starlight to her hooves as she scrambled away as fast as she could, “We’ll see about that!” She shouted as she ran into the adjourning living room. She noticed that she was holding her ear as still as she could, but it had cauterized so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Celestia smiled and walked after her, “Ah, there you are. Now show me some magic! I’ve been patient enough.”
Starlight growled as she threw open another green door, “Oh, you really don’t want to see what I can do!” She then slipped into the next room, closing the metal door behind her. Though the Princess didn’t walk through the door but rather took a straight line to her through the wall. Smoke and molten metal followed her as she emerged.
“Oh please Starlight,” Celestia said, “I know what you are doing! We’re just stalling till the scrambler’s effect wears off!”
Starlight frowned noting that even though the Princess was just walking fast, her longer legs were helping her gain ground on her. So, Starlight reached out with her magic and opened everything that felt like a door. That ought to help her.
She then passed into another room, escaping the smoke behind her. She had emerged into a kitchen and she had just opened all the cupboards. Starlight growled with annoyance and ran through, pushing them closed as she passed. But one section of doors closed the opposite way than she was expecting, making her open the door even more. She heard the hinges creak as they strained against her chest but she was moving too fast to avoid the obstacle and tripped over it. She caught herself with her magic and levitated herself forward out of the room.
“Starting to panic now?” Celestia said in a singsong voice, “How about I turn up the heat?”
Starlight growled again, prepping a heat shield in her mind, but the expected heat waves didn’t come. Rather, she merely spoke.
“Four minutes and 38 seconds till the effect wears off. And do you think I’m going to let you live past that point?”
Starlight’s blood ran cold.
Celestia laughed, her voice being cut off a bit as Starlight weaved in and out of rooms and among opened cupboards. How was she able to time it so well? Though it made a sort of sense as Celestia began to talk.
“I’ve been keeping time for over a thousand years, did you not think I could count to 600? It’s not that hard!”
Starlight merely growled in response, trying to think of a plan of action. She simply needed more space! Why couldn’t the quarters be larger? Give her a tiny bit more room to maneuver!
She sighed running through yet another room. She had made sure the quarters were the same size throughout and at a moderate size for every creature to avoid disputes. The last thing they would have needed when they had to hunker down would be inner fighting about the size of their rooms. They had tried to make her take a larger room as she was, “the strongest one” but she refused. Though after days of arguing, she relented to having a separate office where she could relax and recuperate if needed.
That made her pause in her tracks. Her office!! She had gotten tired of returning to the ground surface as the bunker completed. Such trips took time and she loathed that. She could teleport but had several close calls when she’d teleport next to creatures and almost make a creature hybrid.
So she made a teleportation tunnel to her room. She had made the magic only respond to her magic. Though it could be activated if some unicorn knew about it but her protective measures made sure very few could activate it. But if she were to use it now, she’d be able to get out of the bunker!
Starlight frowned as she remembered where her room was now. She growled, closing yet another door as she ignored Celestia’s taunts.
The tree had been chucked over their wall…
Starlight frowned thinking about the nature of her spell. It worked by maintaining a quantum tunnel between her office and her bedroom in Twilight’s castle. Since the quantum tunnel was still active when the tree was thrown over, would the anti-teleportation dome have formed around it?
It was worth a shot. If she could get to her bedroom, then she’d be out of the dome! From there she could lose Celestia with her teleportation and get back to her friends!
She now had a plan. She walked into quarters and cycled through the rooms till she ran into a dark orange door. She opened it to get a face full of smoke. It wasn’t too strong thankfully but it was enough to curl her face with the smell.
“Oh, does Starlight have a plan? Only a few minutes left!!” Celestia coed, her voice making Starlight wanted to clock her in the face with her hoof. But she resisted the urge and continued through the ruined quarters. She ignited her horn, wrapped herself in a heat shield, and took off through the hole Celestia made. Her form was smaller than an armor-wearing alicorn so she fit just fine. She made sure to be careful though, she didn’t want to run herself through on a searing hot piece of metal.
“Oh, we leaving already? But you haven’t shown me everything!” Celestia’s voice followed after her, “But I guess you don’t have enough time…”
Starlight didn’t respond, despite the many comebacks on the tip of her tongue. She focused on the red-hot path ahead of her. The moment Celestia’s internal timer ran out, she’d no doubt use the same type of magic that she used on Appolusa.
She would likely be vaporized at that point.
She shook her head. Minutes is all she had and she had no time to imagine the poor future that would be. She made it to the main hallway and followed the massive crater through the remnants of the hallway. She ran till there was a hole in the wall, created by the solar alicorn, and took a left. But the wall started to glow red as she turned the corner. She used her magic to throw herself forward to avoid.
“Nope!” She cried returning to a full gallop.
“Yes, Starlight! You can only run for so long!!” Celestia called. Starlight could feel the warmth from her magic rushing over her like a hot bath. Though it did not bring comfort to the forefront of her mind.
Starlight growled, “Watch me!”
Celestia laughed behind her, her laugh being interrupted by the walls she was walking through. Starlight ignored the oscillating sound and continued through the maze that was the living quarters. Though she knew the twists and turns to her office. Slowing down likely meant Celestia would torch her, but thankfully the teleportation was quick so there was no need to slow her down.
She rounded another corner and flew open the door to her office. It was a simple dark door with her cuite mark etched into the wood. It was etched after the stain was applied, so it stood out among the darker wood. Though it didn’t matter as the solar Princess crashed through it.
The room was a simple room, resembling her office at the school of Friendship. But this one had side rooms that had a sleeping space and a small kitchen. She made sure they were small and made the desk movable, making a large empty room for tinkering, spell making, or games with other creatures. It was much like her original office but this one was rarely used. She had just planned to be there for a long time. Yet, this time was different.
Behind the desk was a large comfy red chair. She levitated into it and sat down. Her aching body enjoyed the cushions but she refused to allow her body to relax. She steadied the chair as it tried to take some of her momentum and stared at Celestia who was standing there in the scorched doorway.
There was a large amount of magic resting on her horn and a smile on her face, “Did you want to die here?”
Starlight filled her lungs and let them go, “No, no I do not.”
Celestia laughed, walking closer, “Oh? Need to take a break? You’ve only got about a minute left.”
Starlight smiled, “Well that’s perfect then!” She then placed her forelegs on the rests of the chair and pushed them down slightly. They clicked, making two crystals touch and allowed a magical current to flow into the cushion. She allowed the energy to flow through her and she felt a familiar tug of teleportation. Her vision flashed bright gold then nothing.
Starlight cataloged her senses. She couldn’t see nor hear, which was a bad sign but she could think and she could feel her, essence. She felt it being compressed and pushed as if she was going through a tiny tube. It was uncomfortable and if she could feel her face it would show on it. Though after a few moments, the pressure vanished and everything returned with a flash of light blue light. Only, she was sideways.
Gravity snatched her and pulled her down, making her land on, a wall? Her head tilted as she examined the room. It was her bedroom in the castle, much to her relief, but it was tilted on its side. The floor had become the wall and the windowed wall had become the ceiling. Her bed was smashed on the wall next to her, with the bookshelf and pictures scattered around in hundreds of various pieces. Her back complained and she got up feeling the stiffness and soreness of using magic to increase her physical strength.
The room clicked and groaned as the crystal tree continued to settle, shifting the room ever so slightly. Starlight added to the noise with a groan as she pushed herself to a sitting position. She had landed on a hardcover book but it had saved her from the multitude of glass shards. There were several little ones in her tail and flank. They were small, however, so they didn’t get the chance to pierce her skin. She took several breaths, sitting on the hardcover book in a minefield of glass, waiting for her heart to stop beating out of her chest.
She suddenly clenched, feeling immense pressure on her mind. She clapped her hooves to her temples to try to release the pressure, but she knew it was futile. She’d just have to wait as the magic rushed back to where the scrambler had pushed it from. It took a few seconds and she was left with a slight headache, but she could feel the fabric of space again! So, she should be able to teleport.
But that wasn’t the main concern. She had felt something on the side of her head when she clamped her hooves to it. She pushed her magic from her hoof into it, grabbing it and pulling it. It held on with some sort of adhesive, pulling the sensitive hairs of her coat but it wasn’t supposed to be there! So she grimaced against it and gave it a yank.
Her coat hair screamed in pain as some were pulled from her skin. But it was a small price to pay for the removal of the device she was now holding in her hoof. It was shaped like a horseshoe and was small enough to fit within her horseshoe if a groove had been etched into it. It was blinking quietly with several hundred tiny lights all contained within a metal housing.
Though her inspection of the device stopped when the ground rumbled. Starlight quickly levitated herself to the ceiling, where the window had been before the castle’s impact had shattered it, leaving a clean hole in the crystal. She carefully peaked over the edge of the now trapdoor and looked towards Ponyville. She looked in time for it to explode like a volcano.
The ground shuddered and shifted as if it was hit by an immeasurable hammer from below. Buildings were thrown off the solid ground like play bricks on a rug. Then a mighty hole burst through the ground, pulling up larges chunks of the ground as a new mountain formed. Though it lacked the material to hold itself up, so it almost immediately fell back to a large hill that was immediately covered in molten metal and debris. Rock flowed in tandem with the molten metals of the bunker. The buildings, the stump of the crystal tree, and the wall all were simply blown away. But the blast had seemed to be contained within the wall’s perimeter, so even though Starlight was pelted with dirt and a massive heatwave, she was safe. But the explosion had made her pull her head back into the room.
She could feel her soul quivering knowing she had been seconds away from being caught in such an explosion. She shook her body, shaking the shakes off and she refocused on the window above her. Though the explosion had thrown chunks the size of homes into the sky, she saw one such chunk glowing above her. It was pretty high up, but, it was glowing brightly and coming closer. Even if it had been molten metal, it would have cooled with the air rushing by. Sure, the air around them was hot but it wasn’t that hot!
Starlight eyed the chunk for a moment, only to realize that it wasn’t debris, it was the thing that had caused the debris!
She looked at the device still in the grip of her hoof, realizing that Celestia must have been using it to track her this entire time. She tossed it aside and teleported away. She reappeared in the forest next to Ponyville. She peeked around one of the trees to see the castle get consumed by a fireball of bright orange flame. It didn’t last long as it slowly morphed into a blackened ball of ash.
Starlight gulped seeing that she had barely escaped the solar Princess’s wrath twice.
Though a sudden beam of magic blasted towards her direction from the cover of ash. Starlight barely had time to widen her eyes as she brought up a shield to deflect the beam. She then jumped out of the way and let her shield go. She laid on the ground, breathing heavily as most of her magic stores had been entirely consumed.
In a mere second of deflection, almost the entirety of her magic had been consumed.
“Did you really think that you’d be able to get away?!” A voice said as the solar Princess landed with a thud next to her, “I can sense your magic!!”
Starlight couldn’t respond as her lungs were still busy trying to resupply her body with oxygen. But she lit her horn and vanished with a flash of light. She teleported away and teleported herself onto her hooves. They were shaking as she summoned a scrambler from her dimension. It was hovering next to her when she heard a pop of another teleportation. Laughter appeared next to her as Celestia followed her teleportation. Starlight teleported again, this time to a large field, leaving the scrambler to explode in her place.
But she summoned another and once again the Princess was before her, this time with a greedy smile and her battleaxe.
“Starlight!” She said gleefully. Though if she said something else Starlight didn’t hear it as she used her magic to teleport once more. This time in the middle of a desert with a heat that could cook her alive. She pulled another scrambler from her dimension and vanished with a flash of light the moment she heard Celestia’s spell appear.
Though this time she appeared in another forest, she almost immediately heard Celestia appear next to her. She growled, noting that she had teleported too fast and had allowed Celestia to get the teleportation location before the scrambler went off. She teleported a few meters forward to avoid a swing from the axe, her legs far too tired to move.
She summoned another scrambler and held it on her forehooves. She activated it but held the little device closed. Only then did she teleport farther away. This time to a field of overbaked and brown grass. She hoped the scrambler would have immediately gone off the moment she had disappeared. She had to be careful though as if she messed up the scrambler would stop her ability to teleport.
And she would be very dearly dead.
Another scrambler appeared in her forehooves, activated and ready. She flicked her ears around to the tiniest of sounds, waiting. And she didn’t have to wait long for Celestia to appear in a blaze of fire. Starlight teleported before the heat had consumed her but felt her skin dry in the mere moments it reached her.
She was now in a mountain cave, far from any civilization she knew. She didn’t want to curse anypony with the solar Princess appearing on their doorstep. But the scramblers should be masking her teleportation! How was the pony tracking her? She summoned another scrambler to her hooves and quietly waited.
She had removed the little device Celestia had placed on her, was there another one giving her location away?
Starlight’s instincts pulled her head up and to the right where a section of the cave split into a smaller cave. There were two glowing white eyes. Once she locked her eyes on them, a glowing smile appeared and the cave filled with light as the rest of the alicorn appeared.
Starlight blinked, changing her location to the bottom of the ocean. Her magic protected her from the crushing depths. She summoned another scrambler, giving it a bubble of air so as to not fry its sensitive magical components. Though that gave her pause for thought.
Celestia had said she could feel her magic when she had first teleported. She just thought that the pony had used that ability to aim at her while Celestia was covered in ash and fire from her divebomb on the castle. Could she really feel Starlight’s magic across Equestria?
Starlight frowned and began to restrict her magic, reducing the amount of magic her body would naturally give out. Immediately Celestia appeared in front of her, her rage burning a blazing bubble of steam and ash that turned into a mini explosion. Though the water didn’t allow the shockwave to reach her before Starlight vanished in another flash of light.
She reappeared on a mountain and had another scrambler ready to go. She continued to restrict her magic, reducing her magical signature even further. She was halfway done when Celestia appeared once more in a ball of fire. Starlight vanished and reappeared in a destroyed crater that was Appolusa.
She remained in a sitting position with the scrambler in her hooves. Her eyes were wide as she looked around the blackened crater. The scorched stones gave off a smell that only could be matched with dinner left on the stove for several days on full heat. But nothing remained of the town, only her memory and the large crater that remained.
Celestia reappeared this time throwing her axe the moment she appeared. Starlight teleported, being carefully sure that her teleportation would only catch her and not the axe being hurled in her direction. She reappeared in a swamp, trees and plants around her seemed to be working together to turn the swamp into a forest.
She let out a breath as she finished restricting her magic. But she didn’t dare breathe normally. Celestia could still be around. Could still be trying to throw he—
Starlight fell to the ground as a force shoved her down. She managed to keep the scrambler closed but she didn’t sense magic behind the force behind her so she took the scrambler with her in a teleportation only a meter away. From it, she saw a wolf with a grey coat looking at her with confusion. She sighed with relief and teleported once more, leaving the scrambler in her escape.
This time she reappeared in the Everfree forest. She had done this to hide her magic further in the magic of the forest and to see what was left of Ponyville. All she could see of it was a large hole covered in red hot metal, ash, and debris. The homes and buildings that managed to escape with scorched walls were barely standing and at odd angles. Slabs of stone and earth surrounded the hole like a sunken crown. Its edges were scorched black but sections seemed relatively untouched. The wall was completely gone, well, mostly. The extended portion of the wall that extended around the Apple farm seemed to have escaped most of Celestia’s wrath. Most of the apple farm seemed intact, surprisingly. It lost a few trees and there were a few fires along the fields but they were arranged far enough apart that they wouldn’t destroy the entirety of the crop. Though even as she surveyed the destruction, she noticed Celestia walking around.
She felt her blood cool as the alicorn threw up debris and destroyed piles of half-obliterated homes. Starlight frowned. If Celestia thought she’d teleport back here, why not just nuke the place? She frowned further and looked towards the Apple farm. The hardy trees had been able to withstand the eternal sun and were even able to thrive! Did Celestia want the farm intact? That the real reason she didn’t nuke Ponyville?
Starlight shrugged then walked more into the trees, tired slow steps that made her want to replace her legs with metal. Ponyville was lost but the inhabitants had been able to evacuate successfully. She had lost Celestia, so it was time she rejoined her friends. She sat down and immediately felt the soreness of her legs as her weight rested on her haunches. A tired smile was on her lips as she charged her horn with what little magic she had left. Then activated her specialized teleportation spell. It would take her directly to the blimp.
The forest around her flashed with light as the spell took effect. But the trees did not disappear. Starlight felt her eyes go wide as she subconsciously stood on all fours, the complaints of her limbs absolutely ignored.
NO! Her mind screamed, begging the magic to work.
She tried again, and again, and again. But the magic did not work! She closed her eyes, her urgency only halted with cation. She had to be careful using magic with Celestia around or she’d be thrown right back into the ring.
The magic flowed how it should in her mind and body. The spell was being cast correctly. She could use teleportation so that wasn’t the cause. She cast it again, restricting the magic to slow it down for her to analyze. It flowed from her to her horn, along the spell’s carefully planned states then,
The magic froze, then crumbled as Starlight realized the problem. Her magic was fine, but it couldn’t find the marker on the blimp. Which was impossible because Starlight had weaved the marker into the blimp itself. So, the reason her magic couldn’t target the blimp was because the marker was destroyed.
And the only way for the marker to be destroyed was for the blimp to be destroyed.
Starlight shook, tears covered her eyes and fell down her cheeks in the matter of seconds. But she shook her head, refusing to believe it. Her mind ran like a mouse stuck in a wheel, trying to come up with another solution.
Maybe the blimp was out of range?
Starlight scoffed at the weak answer. She was very proud of her ability to teleport. She could teleport very, very far. And there was no way for the little blimp to travel far enough in the time she had fought Celestia.
Maybe the magic ran out? Maybe the blimp’s magical signature was suppressed for stealth? Maybe the full blimp full of magical creatures had caused her mark to fail? Maybe—
Maybe….
Starlight felt her mind counter every one of her suggestions. She had planned the blimp well. The blimp’s magical stores would last for weeks of continued use, magical suppression did not affect her teleportation mark, and the cabin of the blimp was shielded from the rest of the blimp’s magic. Isolating it so even if a unicorn foal had a magical outburst the blimp would stay intact.
Which meant the blimp had to be destroyed. Along with her friends.
The realization fell on her tired body like a pile of bricks, bringing her to the ground. She was half tempted to walk over to Celestia in defeat and accept the fireball that would be sent her way. At least it would be quick.
She remained on the ground for a bit, her eyes streaming tears along her cheeks. Her heart was aching with the pain of loss. Her lungs didn’t want to breathe and her limbs and body shook from her battle. The ground beneath her felt like pillows despite being made out of stone and rock. She sighed and closed her eyes. Maybe she should check, maybe she could go to the bunker and double-check. There could be many things wrong with her magic. But there was—
She shook her head, scraping her chin along the ground. Maybe there was a chance! She had to check! She slowly pushed herself to her hooves and lit her horn for a teleportation to the secondary bunker. But after she let the teleportation spell loose, her body slumped to the ground with her breathing even more so.
She had reached her body’s limit of function. She couldn’t even teleport anymore. Her body shuddered as she pushed herself into a sitting position. Her nerves seemed to stretch with anxiety, just waiting for Celestia to appear behind her, taunting her.
But thankfully it didn’t occur. She took in a shaky breath and lit her horn. She pulled out a simple protein bar from her dimensional pocket feeling her magic pulling on her horn as if a string was being pulled through it. Then, the string snapped and the bar fell to the ground. A frown appeared on her face as she stared at the protective cover. She sighed, feeling the action travel through her like a ripple in water.
Had she ever opened a protein bar with her hooves? She shakily grasped the bar with two hooves trying to use her hoof magic to tear at the tiny perforations along the top. She just had to grab the tiny little corners and pull in opposite directions then downwards. Easy.
Only her magic exhaustion seemed to be affecting her ability to use her hooves. She growled and placed the bar on the ground, directly on a large rock. She then grabbed each side of the top and pulled them apart. The material resisted for a bit and then gave way, splitting the seal apart. She gently grabbed the bar inside the foil, wrestling with it for a minute before it came free.
She took a bite of the bar, happy to find she had grabbed an apple-flavored one. It was apple pie flavored if she wasn’t mistaken but she was eating it too fast to fully catch onto the flavor; nor did she care. The bar was consumed in seconds, and she grabbed the wrapper and warped it into her pocket dimension out of habit.
But the action caused her to fall to the ground, grasping her chest as she could only focus on breathing and not breathing in the dirt of the Everfree forest. She held the position, feeling the pressure in her body slowly release. Once it did, she remained staring forward with a dull glumness that consumed the forefront of her mind.
She needed to sleep. Her protein bar was highly filled with calories and would likely be enough to allow her to walk once more. Water was a priority but she wasn’t going to be able to get it right now. She needed a place that was secluded and somewhat shady. She sighed, looking around at the floor of the dangerous forest.
A very bright orange caught her attention in the form of a large pitcher-like plant. This plant was huge, looking to resemble a barrel rather than a plant. Though the large pink and green flowers caught her attention and she got up with a groan.
This particular flower was part of the carnivorous plant that used the magic of the forest to digest its prey. It was quite effective in doing so, easily destroying Timberwolves, chickens, or just about any creature that gets entranced by its sweet aromas. Except for ponies. The magic that was inside the ponies was a natural safeguard to the potent magic inside the plant. So a pony could safely use it as a hiding spot. It wasn’t without side effects though, the enzymes inside the plant were still strong enough to bleach her coat and irritate her skin after an extended period of time. But it was much better than trying to sleep in the open with the potential to have Celestia stumble across her.
She wearily shuffled to the plant and reared up to place her forehooves into the top of the plant. After a few breaths to steady her shaking limbs, she lifted the rest of herself into the pitcher. She slide, half fell into the plant, barely managing to get her head up out of the fluid and getting into a sitting position.
There she stayed. Feeling her body settle into her position like a sandbag. She sighed and looked towards the opening of the plant, seeing sunshine filtering through like a grim reminder of what was nearby. But the sun disappeared as the plant closed up. Starlight smiled, letting her weight rest against the wall of the plant.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely dark when the plant closed. Her magic was interacting with the liquid surrounding her, making it glow. But that meant it was protecting her and she’d not have to worry.
She wouldn’t have to worry about Celestia as the plant’s magic would mask her suppressed magic. No creature would see her, nor would the plant accept anything else while she was inside. She could take a nap then when she woke up she’d just teleport out.
The plant wouldn’t be harmed. She wouldn’t be harmed.
She scoffed as she heard her mind rant. She closed her eyes, pushing her mind to go to sleep and rest. It was difficult with the unbearably sweet aroma that seeped into her mane. But she heard another sound, a foreign sound.
A steady, beep?
She didn’t react though, as her body refused to move. She felt her breathing slow as she gently fell to sleep. And she welcomed the blackness that muted her body’s complaints.
A door clicked as it swung open, “Is she alright?”
A faint sigh, “Yes, we believe so.”
A worried but now slightly relieved voice, “That’s good. What happened?” The voice was now confused and worry tinged its tone.
“Simply put, she ran out of magic. It seems that she was using her magic to satisfy her body’s need for sleep.”
“But if she was using magic to satisfy sleep, why did she just fall asleep when she came through the gateway? Without the mirror’s magic, ponies are unaffected by traveling between dimensions, right?”
“Yes. You are correct. But it seems that she wasn’t relying on her stores of magic. Her magic lines are noticeably more developed towards her skin rather than her core and horn. It's not much but it's noticeably so. So, we believe that she was using the residual magic from her environment to fill her magic and sustain her brain’s operation even after prolonged times of no sleep.”
“Why would she do that? Wouldn’t that be harmful?”
There was a pause, “Yes, technically it is. But she is more magically developed than most. So I do not think that much harm would come to her. If she was an alicorn then I’d have no worries but she’s comparably close to one so I worry a little. If she was just a normal unicorn, I’d doubt she’d wake up from her sleep.”
“Why take that risk?”
“We’ll just have to wait for her to wake up for that answer.”