//------------------------------//
// 4 - Beyond Stars 
// Story: Starlight, Star Bright 
// by BlackWater 
//------------------------------//








The group of colored ponies were an odd sight to say the least. In Ponville, nopony would think anything of it. In greater Equestria, the same would be said. Even in Griffonstone that would be true. In Maredina, however, the group might as well have been the Smooze at the Grand Galloping Gala. That was to say, they stuck out like a sore hoof. Saddle Arabian horses looked very different from them – or they from the Saddle Arabians.
“I know why we're gettin' weird looks,” Applejack said with her head half down and her hat tipped unusually forward. “But still a might uncomfortable.”
“If Twilight says she and Starlight can handle the meet-up then we have to trust her,” Rarity responded. She might have been as uncomfortable as AJ if she were not so in love with their present location. It would be far from her to mention she was using the sights to help distract her from worrying over the small stolen dragon. “Oh Celestia!” she enthused for the thousandth time.
Rainbow Dash facehoofed as she hovered behind, watching Rarity dash once more to the next awe-inspiring plaza. The small part of the city they had traversed so far in search of clues or information had indeed been unbelievable. Being so far away from Equestria, none of the girls had been here before and photographs did it little justice.
Fluttershy had been disinterested at first with the smooth sparkling marble walkways and towering white palatial estates. However, the first plaza they entered was decorated with exotic trees and well-kept garden dividers. The unusual green and white birds perching on some of them piqued the mare's enthusiasm.
The sunny-yellow pegasus was still chatting to some birds on one of the last plaza's trees. Pinkie Pie had disappeared some time ago, likely to a bakery in the outer-city market. That left just Applejack and Rainbow Dash to search with any real seriousness – giving that Rarity was now swooning over some ornate lamppost made of marble and clear silver.
“Twilight wants us to find out if there's more than one pony involved,” Rainbow futilely tried reminding Rarity. “We're not going to uncover some gang of dragonnapping thieves by admiring the scenery.”
Applejack nodded but then caught sight of a suspicious character who had been following them for some time. She kept from making the assumption of him being a “tail” until it could no longer be explained away by coincidence. They were being watched – and not just by the locals who had never seen a pony before.









It was easy to imagine why the ancient horses of Saddle Arabia had named this the Brook of the Sacred Stars. Twilight almost lost herself gazing into the clear water of the brook from her peeping position behind the thick bush. When she had looked at the water carefully, the surface seemed to change and display a sea of stars in place of the smooth pebbles lining the bottom of the stream.
If the stars were a reflection then it made no sense. It wasn't night, but rather daytime. The global position of Saddle Arabia meant that the meet-up was during the day because the time in the note was for Equestrian Time. Perhaps the natural light made it odd that the surface of the water also swirled with a magical mist, like a block of dry ice. Twilight was trying to focus on the approach of the dragonnapper, but instead her ears picked up on a rhythmic humming that seemed to come from the brook.
Twilight forgot the intensity of the heat that the oasis held or the glare of the sun that the thick foliage mostly blocked out. Here in the relatively dark confines of the Brook of the Sacred Stars, Twilight's mind was drawn to the mystery before her. Only the horn-light signal from Starlight on the other side of the brook broke her obsession.
Starlight was also hidden, but her flashing light meant that she had detected an intruder. Likely their adversary. Her message read “red mare to the east.”
Twilight stole back her gaze and saw the pony in question. Indeed, it was a pony. Considering their remote location, Twilight had assumed it would be an Arabian horse. The physical characteristics of this pony lead Twilight to calculate a very high probability of her being of Equestrian origin with perhaps a heritage coming out of Las Pegasus. Her wavy emerald mane was done up in a style popular within that city – a fact only known to Twilight because of Rarity's ravings about it.
The mare stepped right up to the edge of the brook's water and spoke to the air. “It is time. You may come out now.”
A moment.
“I speak to you, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer.”
Twilight made a quick exchange with Starlight via horn-light and the both of them stepped out from their cover. Being on either side of this red mare was advantageous to them. Or so Twilight thought.
“The two of you need no introduction to me,” the red mare bore her green-eyed gaze first into Twilight and then Starlight. “I should share my name, however, if nothing else. It is Ruby Rose. Your dragon is safe. You need know nothing more.”
Twilight responded with as much steel in her voice as Ruby, though less confidence in her posture. “Where is he? And why did you take him-”
“Shush shush,” Ruby waved her forehoof. “You'll have him again shortly. In fact, all you need to do is blast this brook with as much magical energy as you can. Both of you. At the same time. Do it and your dragon is returned.”
“Destroy the brook?” Twilight's brows furrowed. She glanced to Starlight, who had suspicion heavy upon her face.
“No no no,” Ruby clarified as she tossed her mane back. “Raw magic. Not converted to kinetic force. The blast should cause no physical reactions. I know the two of you can do it. Sustain the release for only a few seconds.”
“Spike will be returned unharmed?” Starlight spoke up.
“I believe I already said that,” Ruby rolled her eyes.
Twilight eagerly nodded for Starlight to sync with her, but the lighter mare was apprehensive. This all had a reason. A purpose. There was no telling what would happen given this mare was willing to dragonnap because of it. Twilight's irritated call out to her made her do it, though. She trusted her marefriend was not blind to a potential scheme.
The energy collected in their horns, glowing a brilliant azure and purple. They looked to the water slowly and steadily trickling by in the brook. Besides the crackling of their magic, the place was quiet. What small amount of breeze mixed with their breathing to make what happened next all the more noticeable.
The magic aura from their horns began to flow towards the water. The remarkable thing was that neither of them had yet willed it to do so. Starlight glanced to Twilight, who was doing the same. Once the first tendrils of the magic aura touched the water, they felt a pull strong enough to nearly topple them over.
“What?!” Twilight exclaimed as the magic suddenly rushed out of her and poured into the mirror-like brook.
Starlight tried pulling back and canceling her spell, but her efforts were met with futility. Her magic also poured into the brook, leaving her feeling drained, tired, and more than a little disoriented. She heard Twilight fall to the ground on the other side of the stream.
“It better be enough,” Ruby grumbled as she dipped a forehoof in the water.
Starlight, still on wobbling legs, was about to ask what was going on when the brook lit up. No longer did it show a sea of stars, but rather a strange world. It was almost like looking through a window – only the window was on the ground. Even stranger was the collection of sounds coming from the brook-portal. Clicking, clacking, and kuchunking. Blasts of steam and an unusual hum. All of it seemed to be connected to the moving gears and pistons rising up from an otherwise empty stone field that Starlight could see in the portal. Little else besides a red-orange sky was visible.
“Ha!” Ruby declared to herself in triumph. “It works! Finally!”
The mysterious mare said nothing more before plunging herself down into the brook, reappearing at a different orientation in the other world. She materialized right side up on the other side of the portal and at a considerable distance, now a third of her size since she was further away in the field. Starlight never saw where she went after that because her legs gave out and she fell down as Twilight did.
“Spike...?” Twilight murmured in exhaustion as she desperately crawled towards the brook. “She left. What about Spike?”
Starlight glared at the still glowing brook. Her magic was so low that she couldn't cast any spells requiring energy. Her body was tired too, but she had backup plans for everything. Defeating Twilight had required that. With as much ache as Twilight doubtlessly was feeling, Starlight crawled to the water's edge.
“May this site not withhold...a tiny spark to unfold,” Starlight recited the old-fashioned speaking spell. “By my horn's light, let my magic reignite!”
It worked much to her relief. Ancient mystical sites such as this one were fifty-fifty on giving back anything they took. It was a gamble and the second Starlight felt magic trickling stubbornly back into her horn, she used it to catapult Twilight and herself into the water. With magic coming back out of the brook, it was inevitable that the portal would close again. They had to get in before it sealed.
However, it was quite some time before either of them knew they had transported. As soon as they entered the warp, they blacked-out.









“What if we can't get back?” was Twilight's immediate and rather huffy question when Starlight came to.
Twilight was kneeling next to her marefriend, nudging her to get up while also eying her with disapproval. Around them was a rock field. Bare rock with strange gears rising out of the stone seemingly at random. The gears turned too, just as they did in the brook's image.
“Ruby wouldn't have gone in if it was one-way,” Starlight replied as a matter-of-fact. She nearly choked on her words, finding her throat dry. The air was equally parched. No rainclouds cluttered the sky. No clouds at all.
“Maybe she doesn't want to go back,” Twilight countered with the same harshness.
“She's vain and greedy,” Starlight looked Twilight in the eye with as much conviction as she felt when she first tracked the mare. “Her motives may be complex but her goal is simple. There's something here she wants and it will only have value back in our world.”
“For the record,” Twilight relented and got back up with the other mare. “There's no guarantee this is another world or that your assumptions are accurate.”
Starlight looked to the sky and found enough stars to make her point. It was practically sunset and a few of the brightest stars were just visible. She pointed to one particular pair.
“You of all ponies would know the constellations in all seasons and hemispheres,” Starlight argued. “So tell me, Ms. Princess, what in Equestria are those?”
Twilight frowned. “Sometimes I wish I hadn't gotten involved with somepony as clever as you.”
“Why? Because you don't like it when somepony else is right?”
The purple alicorn hung her head, all stubbornness seeming to bleed away. “When it means we could be stranded in another world with Spike missing and no promise of his safety...yes...”
Starlight was no fool. She knew when she pushed too far. With her love's well-being in mind, she switched to comfort rather than hard-hitting analysis. “Sorry, Twi,” she instilled her words with sympathy and a warm nuzzle.
“I know.”
The fact that Twilight said that rather than be depressive or huffy again was a silver lining for Starlight, who was honestly more concerned about her relationship with Twilight than the small dragon. It wasn't that she was heartless or that she hadn't grown fond of the little reptilian. Rather, she had far more faith in his durability and resilience than his pseudo-mother did.
Starlight also knew that this Ruby pony was likely less dangerous than she seemed. She was an Earth pony and lacked the raw magical power of a unicorn. The best she could put forth was physical strength. As for finding her, Starlight noted the only place that appeared to have any trail-like qualities to it. Since the ground was hard stone, it took a careful eye to spot a path across the surface that was more worn than the surrounding rock.
“I guess we know where to go,” Starlight said aloud.
Twilight followed the mare's gaze. The trail ended suddenly. The pair only realized that it was a cliff when they followed it to the edge. What lay below the cliff was both incredible and difficult to comprehend. What they were looking down into was essentially a valley situated between the ridge they were standing on and an opposing line of mountains in the distance.
A great city laid in the valley. Bizarre in colors of metal and rust with massive cogs moving as did the gears in the rocky field behind them. Besides the turning and pumping contraptions, nothing else could be seen moving in the city. No ponies or other creatures. Neither unicorn nor alicorn dared assume it was abandoned until they could get a closer look.
Where the trail ended, a ladder resided. It lead down to a platform below, where it spiraled down again into a much easier flight of stairs leading into the valley. Twilight made only one comment as they descended.
“I really hope this place isn't what I think it is.”