//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Twilight's Star 
// by AlicornPriest 
//------------------------------//

It was like stepping into a hyperactive fairytale. Everywhere Rarity looked, there were pale white figures in long ballgowns whirling and spinning in their dances. No two dresses were alike, as far as she could tell, and they each had their partner, another white figure like themselves, only in a handsome black tuxedo. The figures took no notice of Rarity and her friends intruding on their gala; instead, the pulse-pounding music rose in volume to drown out their speech. Before Rarity knew it, her own thoughts matched the elaborate three-quarter time rhythm of the dance itself. She saw the others marvelling, just as she was, and endeavored to bring them back on track.

"We must look for a missing dancer!" she called out to them, but they clearly hadn't heard. She grit her teeth and decided to forge her own path into the bustling whirlwind. Almost immediately, one of her hooves got caught in the crook of one of the dancer's arms, and she began to twirl and spin with the unnoticing pair. At this speed, the other dancers were sheer smudges of color, mere background against the unity the dancers made. Rarity, however, only wanted to get off the wild ride. She struggled to regain her footing and pull off the pair, but no sooner had she done so than another group would snag her and trawl her across the dance floor.

It was a troublesome few moments for certain, each catch and release. But after a few iterations of this cycle, Rarity realized the secret of the waltz: rather than fight it, she needed to accept it, dance along with it. Refusing to dance, she was an unwanted distraction, but as a fellow dancer...

Rarity was one of the best dancers in Ponyville, owing to her deepest desire to appear like a Canterlot maiden. A beat or two to reorient herself, and she was merrily following along. From then, it was a simple matter to grasp one dancer, then another, orbit around and around and in so doing scan the floor with a level eye. All of the dancers appeared almost identical, but all she needed was to find a hole, not a particular being...

There! A pretty one in a green-blue evening gown. Her partner was missing, though you would hardly know it if you weren't looking specifically. Her pirouettes and sinuous steps fit her right in with the motion of the others. Rarity flowed through the crowd, first one and then another (one of which she touched and thought perhaps might be her own star but not now, Rarity, Twilight needs you), each bringing her closer to the lonely dancer. She reached out with a single hoof to join her, complete her motion, when--

Whumph!

As one, the dancers stopped, and Rarity fell to the floor. She scrabbled to catch the hem of Twilight's star's partner, but the mysterious figure began sliding away from a local center. Together, they created an open alley, where the others stood likewise spread out and goggling about. At one end of the alley, four tall figures walked slowly down to where the six were standing. Once they were near, Rarity got a better look at them. The one who stood in front of his companions was tall, smart-looking, and eminently regal. To his left was a red-orange young mare bearing a kind, innocent look. To the central figure's right was another mare, but a more serious one, more efficient than kind, who wore a tricorn hat on her head and a compass around her neck. And the fourth figure... the fourth figure was a dog, apparently. They were heading towards the others, so Rarity hurried to reunite with them, the dancer she had been searching for out of her mind for the moment.

The stallion was trying to shake Twilight's hoof. Unsuccessfully, it seemed: she didn't react to anything around her. He sighed and greeted the others instead. "Hello, all of you. So good of you to come here!"

Rarity pushed her way to the front, looking the stallion directly in the eye. "Who are you, exactly, and what are you doing here?"

The kind mare only smiled. "Ah, Rarity. This is your starscape, right? A huge dance; how romantic!"

Rarity recoiled. "How... How do you know my name?"

"It's simple," said the other mare. "We aren't normal ponies. We are actually stars like those figures out there" --she gestured out to the attendant dancers-- "just particularly special."

The stallion bowed and offered his hoof again. "I am the Regent Governor Lux Sidis, Luna's representative while she works upon the Earth. You may call me Regulus. This is the Pole Star, Polaris," he said, pointing to the serious mare, "this is the Dog Star, Sirius," he said; the dog barked cheerfully to punctuate it, "and this is the Morning Star, Venus."

"Venus?" said Rarity. "Wait, aren't you actually a planet, not a star?"

Venus winked at her. "I won't tell if you won't."

"In any case," said Polaris, "we're here because Regulus said Twilight was back, and he wanted us to meet her. Not particularly interesting, I have to say."

"She's very sick at the moment, actually," said Fluttershy. "We were hoping you might be able to help her."

Regulus blinked for a moment. "We... aren't physicians, Miss Fluttershy," he replied. "I suppose we could go find Ophiuchus, but..."

"She's sick because you blew up her star, you jerks!" Rainbow Dash said. She flew right up to Regulus and pushed him back.

"What?" Venus gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof. "That shouldn't be. We work really hard to make sure nothing bad happens when we perform a nova."

"Besides, it was supposed to be a favor to her." Regulus stood back up and dusted himself off. "She was supposed to be happy about it!"

"That's a pretty awful gift, Reggie!" said Pinkie. "Twilight was really upset to see it go away!"

"And she was right to be so," Rarity added. "She's only half-lucid, her cutie mark is gone... explain that!"

"Hmm..." Regulus took a careful look over Twilight, examining her horn, her wings, and the spot where her cutie mark should have been. At last, he smiled and put a hoof in the air. "Ah, of course! It's a nocebo! Completely in her head!"

The ponies were shocked. "How kin that be?" Applejack asked. "Are you sayin' she made herself sick?"

"Somewhat," Regulus said. "More accurately, she believed that her star disappearing would harm her, and because she believed it would, it did."

"It... makes sense, though," said Rarity. "If her star represents her future, then it dying must mean she would die, too!"

"It's not her future; it's her destiny. Two completely different things," said Polaris.

"Right. Without a destiny, she would be free to do whatever she wished, no longer bound to the passage of the stars. That's why I thought it would be good for her," Regulus said. He shifted from one leg to another, clearly a bit disappointed in himself.

There was a moment of silence. Then Fluttershy asked, "So how can we help Twilight?"

"I'm afraid there's not much we can do," said Venus. "Just support her now, assure her that her symptoms are real, and give her the space to overcome herself."

Rarity struggled to accept this. "There has to be something we can do. Something better than simply sitting back and hoping!"

Polaris shrugged. "There is not."

"Hmmph." She went over to Twilight and felt her head with the back of a hoof. Still hot, but... cooling? It was hard to tell. "I just wish we could fix this whole mess, make it so that it was like it never happened."

"Like it never happened, you say?" asked Regulus. "We could certainly try that."

"What do you mean?" Applejack asked.

"I'll just send you back in time. Remind the Twilight of the past that destiny is just a binding!"

A white wind began to wrap itself around her and Twilight. Panicking, she waved at Regulus to make him stop. "You don't understand," said Rarity, "it's not going to work!"

Twilight started to recite, "Starswirl's Fundamental Law states that time travel cannot change the past, for it has already--"

But at that, the two of them vanished.