//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - Friends 
// Story: At the Edge of Hope and Reason 
// by Emily Brickenbrackle III 
//------------------------------//

Starlight clung to her teacher's purple chest for dear life, tears cascading down her cheeks like twin waterfalls. At some point, Spike had heard the commotion whilst on his way to the bathroom and peeked his head into Starlight's room to see what was the matter. Unsure of what was going on, he nonetheless found himself immediately at the sobbing mare's side, struggling to comfort her just as Twilight was.

Off to their side sat Princess Luna, motionless save for the gentle flowing of the starry sky that made up her mane and tail. Silently, she guarded the three, a midnight sentinel there to protect them and offer guidance should they ask for it.

"We're going to get you help, Starlight," Twilight soothed, her hooves and wings enveloping the unicorn in a tight, almost motherly embrace. Her voice remained even through sheer force of will, though her steadily trickling tears betrayed the mask of strength that she wore. "You're going to get through this. I don't know who we're going to go to, but I'll throw every resource I have at making sure that you get the best help Equestria has to offer."

Now all too aware of the situation, Spike placed a claw on his friend's shoulder and unsteadily assured her, "I... I've g-got your back too, Starlight. Anything you need, and I mean anything, you just come to me and I'll make it happen. You're like a big sister to me and... and I mean this, your l-little bro is gonna be right there by your side to take care of you. I p-promise."

The little dragon swallowed a suffocating lump that had since formed in his throat. Starlight always seemed so confident and brazen, a powerful wizard capable of rivaling Twilight in the staggering degree of her magical genius. Seeing her like this and knowing what she had attempted to do sent cold chills racing up and down his spine. He'd never known anypony who tried to commit suicide before and the knowledge that one of his closest friends had tried to absolutely horrified him.

Being nearly as cocky as Rainbow Dash, the baby dragon found it hard to admit that, just this once, he really did feel too young to take the whole situation in.

"And you have my full support as well," Princess Luna joined in, placing her hoof atop Starlight's own. "I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am to know that the realm of sleep has tortured you so. It is my duty as the Princess of the Night to banish such nightmares, but clearly, I have been failing to do so for you for some time now. You have my word, sworn upon my title and every shimmering jewel dotting my sky, that your slumber shall be troubled no more."

Closing her eyes, Luna lit her horn, casting a gentle blue light throughout the room. Before her materialized a small book, no thicker than the magazines most ponies might find sold as an afterthought at a streetside newspaper kiosk. On the cover was a picture portraying several ponies, all dressed as doctors and smiling warmly. Below the picture, in bold font, were the words: Fairhoof Psychiatric Hospital.

"Canterlot is far," the blue alicorn said softly, "but there is a hospital there staffed by the finest doctors in the land for the expressed purpose of treating this precise sort of trauma. You will be tended to by the best in the psychiatric field, the very same who tended to me after I returned from my thousand year banishment. Suffer not, my little pony, for you are now and will be cared for."

Twilight looked to her elder with a mixed expression of pain and humble thanks. In return, Princess Luna simply spread her wings and draped them across the other three, sheltering them as mother would for her foals.

"V-voices," Starlight suddenly croaked, her own voice rough and ragged after spending more than a solid hour sobbing. "I-I've been h-hearing v-voices..."

Twilight bit her lower lip, the ordeal having been rendered even more complicated in the span of a single admission.

"One b-begged me n-not to," the pink unicorn whimpered, her entire body shivering violently. "Th-the other w-wanted me to, t-told me it could all j-just stop... Th-they were b-both me... and n-not me..."

"Can you hear them right now?" the lilac alicorn asked her student, brushing her mane tenderly with a hoof. "Either of them?"

"It's going to be okay. She'll help you. They'll all help you. No more cliffs, no more oceans; just their hooves to guide you."

Starlight nodded her head, clinging to Twilight just a little bit tighter.

"Yes."


~ w ~


A hot cup of coffee always seemed to work wonders for the Princess of Friendship whenever she felt that the weight of the world was beginning to overcome her.

This time, however, the steaming contents of her mug seemed to do next to nothing.

Her friends sat with her around their magical map of Equestria. Elsewhere, tucked in her bed with Spike standing guard to ensure her safety from herself, Starlight slumbered. True to Luna's word, the unicorn's sleep appeared tranquil. There was no thrashing, no cold sweat, no crying; only sleep.

Back in the throne room, Applejack was the first to break the silence.

"Is there a plan?" she asked, tone lost and concerned. "Ah mean, we gotta have a plan, right? Ah don't know what Ah can do, if'n anythin', but Ah'm not gonna just sit idly by an' twiddle mah hooves while mah friend's tryin' to... to..."

"Kill herself," Rainbow finished the farmer's sentence for her. The normally spunky pegasus found her voice hollow, quite devoid of any spunk whatsoever. "She tried to kill herself, AJ."

Her mane and tail hanging as limp as a wet blanket, Pinkie Pie shook her head and said, "They don't... there aren't any parties I can think of for this. I mean, how do you cheer up somepony who wants to die? There aren't enough balloons or steamers in the whole wide world for that."

Taking another sip of her coffee, the lavender princess cleared her throat and explained, "Princess Luna has offered her full support. There's a psychiatric hospital in Canterlot, the same one that she went to after she... well... you know. It's apparently the best of the best and the way she explained it, it sounds exactly like what Starlight needs right now. Given her current... emotional state, I'm going to have her temporarily placed under my custody, then I'm going to have her admitted at Fairhoof. If she tries to resist, I... she might hate me for it, but I'm prepared to restrain her if it comes to that. I have the spells to do it and I've asked Luna to provide me with one of the Royal Guard's horn supressors just to make sure."

Rarity let out a light gasp.

Twilight winced, looking down into her mug. The words tasted far more bitter on her lips than her coffee could ever hope to.

Something akin to self-hatred seemed to fill the purple pony's voice as she concluded, "I hate the idea of resorting to that sort of thing. A unicorn's magic is an integral and very personal part of who they are. Having it cut off, even if only for a short while, would be like removing a pegasi's wings and grounding them from the sky. But... if I have to treat her like a prisoner in order to help and protect her, then so be it. I'll do whatever is necessary."

"I apologize, darling," Rarity said quietly, dabbing a tissue at her eyes daintily. The fashionista's mascara had long since been ruined by the day's revelations, but that was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment. "You've clearly put quite a lot of thought into this."

"I had to," Twilight replied, closing her eyes and heaving a small, exhausted sigh. "She... she's lost right now, girls. She's scared and she feels like she's all alone and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her fall apart like this."

It was Fluttershy who let out a tiny gasp this time, her ears flattening at the sound of the solitary curse. She'd never once heard her friend use that kind of language.

By way of reply, Twilight simply held up an apologetic hoof.

"I'm sorry, it's just... she's my student and my friend. She isn't the same mare she was before... she's come so far and made so much progress. This just can't be the end of the road for her, girls, it can't."

Once again, Twilight found her gaze locked upon the contents of her half-empty mug. The coffee inside rippled uncontrollably.

She was trembling.

She'd been forcing herself to remain calm, collected, and strong for Starlight's sake, but the mask didn't come naturally to her and it wouldn't remain intact for much longer. The thought of holding her student down and muting her magic made the little lilac alicorn sick to her stomach.

The dams were breaking all over again.

"I'm scared, girls," the purple princess near-whispered, her eyes misting over for what felt like the millionth time that day. "I d-don't think I've ever been so scared. You saw what she did. She w-was ready and... and... I watched her do it again in her dreams. I was there to catch her... but... b-but..."

Coffee spilled across the floor as the mug fell and shattered.

In an instant, five familiar ponies were at her side, their thrones vacant.

The Princess of Friendship had their support. Starlight would be okay... wouldn't she?

"S-somepony needs to notify Sunburst," Twilight choked. "He'll w-want to be there for her too... He deserves to know..."

As if on cue, a jovial voice then called out, "Tell Sunburst what?"

In a flourish of bright light, a mismatched creature seemingly from every trot of life all at once materialized in the room standing atop the map. In his lion's paw, he held a tray of freshly-made cucumber sandwiches. All eyes but Twilight's immediately focused on him, each mare donning their most bone-chilling glare. They made no effort whatsoever to hide the fact that they were in no mood for Discord's usual shenanigans.

In an instant, the temperature in the room dropped by ten degrees.

"Well," the Lord of Chaos sputtered, tugging nervously at the collar of a necktie he wasn't wearing, "I'm sensing that I dropped by at a bad time. I didn't... do anything untoward lately, did I? I don't think I did, but honestly, it's hard to tell sometimes."

Dead silence. Five pairs of angry eyes remained fixed on him.

"Would it maybe help if I said that I was sorry in advance?"

Yet more silence.

The draconequus wilted under their unflinching gaze, the beginnings of an anxious sweat forming on his brow. Quickly, he turned his head and scanned across the large room for something that might help his situation. It was only then that he noticed something very peculiar. First, the group of friends were all clustered around Twilight's throne. Second, Twilight appeared to have been crying.

"Correction," Discord thought to himself as he eyed the distraught pony, "she still is."

In a flash, the tray of sandwiches vanished.

Hopping off the map, Discord strode with purpose over to join the small group. Ignoring their glares even as they lessened, he gently placed a paw on the lilac mare's shoulder and waited. Only when she finally lifted her chin to look up at him did he speak.

"I'm still quite new to the whole friendship thing, but I'd like to think that I've been around the block enough times to know when something's up. Whatever it is, keep in mind that you've got me here. There's nothing a pinch of chaos can't do... or fix."

Shaking her head, Twilight whimpered, "You can't fix this."

"Nonsense," he assured her, grinning. "Now, why don't you tell your ol' Uncle Discord what's wrong."

Twilight looked as though she wanted to fall through the floor to get away from saying it again.

"Starlight tried to kill herself."

To his credit, it seemed to take Discord a moment to register what had been said.

"Oh."