A full moon shimmered high in the sky as Princess Luna's private chariot entered Ponyville airspace, strangely vacant of its usual regal occupant. The bat-winged guards pulling it slowed their pace as they descended, steadily coming to a halt only a few feet shy of the crystal stairway leading up to Twilight's castle. The chariot's sole passenger, a gray-coated bat mare likewise clad in the armor of the Night Guard, hopped down from her transport to make her way up the stairs.
Having been expecting them, the large doors at the top slowly opened to reveal three ponies: the Princess of the Night, the Princess of Friendship, and one shivering unicorn. Spike had wanted to join them as well, but at Twilight's insistence, it was already well past his bedtime.
"Now, you're sure that you're okay with me doing this?" Twilight quietly questioned, levitating a horn suppressor up in her magic so that her student could inspect it. Even floating there in her aura, unattached to the purple alicorn's own horn, she could still feel the artifact's slow drain on her power.
Starlight gulped once as she looked at the suspended golden ring and the many runes inscribed upon it. She'd never been without her magic before and just the thought of it left her feeling very helpless and exposed. The closest she could recall had been when she was a young filly, so small, so uncertain, long before her magical talents had ever even bloomed.
It was that little filly's fear and wild imagination that had driven her down a dark path towards a corrupted concept of equality, a road that ended in a barren wasteland where all were truly equal in death.
Somehow, she'd managed to come full circle, with that same little filly's frightened frame of mind driving her towards death all over again.
A sudden, unexpected lurch in the pit of her stomach sent the pink unicorn into another bout of dry heaving, her fear mixing into a sickening slurry with the nausea that had overtaken her after being cut off from the comforting bottles on her nightstand.
Only bile and spittle came up.
A lavender wing draped itself over Starlight's shoulders, hugging her close as her stomach struggled to void itself of contents that weren't there.
"It has to be done, Starlight," soothed a familiar whisper on the night wind. "I know it's scary, but it's for your own protection."
"Y-you... you have to be able to trust me, right?" she whimpered, her voice still weak and shaky from the hours that had been spent discussing her teacher's plans for her. "And you can't do that right now. I can't... I can't even trust myself right now."
A long pause punctuated the pink mare's words as she lowered her head and presented the source of her magic. A few small tears slipped down her cheeks.
"D-do it."
Nodding, Twilight carefully lifted the band to her student's head and slid it down her horn. Once the magical shackle had reached the base at Starlight's forehead, a locking spell was added for good measure, ensuring that the ring could not be removed without the use of the same spell.
The enchanted ring's effects took hold instantly.
For a moment, Starlight's eyes widened and her pupils shrank to tiny dots as the feeling of her magic being drained completely from her body shook her to her core. Her knees quickly buckled, but a pair of lilac hooves were already there to safely catch her. As she was lifted back up, a tender nuzzle from her teacher helped to steel the pink unicorn for what was to come. She was uncertain and afraid, but at the very least, she was far from alone.
"Getting used to the sensation will be difficult, I am sure," Luna said, her eyes sorrowful and understanding, "but remain dedicated to your healing and you will overcome it. Once your rehabilitation is complete and you can be trusted to abstain from attempting to harm yourself once more, your magic will be returned to you just as my own was."
Starlight's eyes widened again. "They supressed your horn?" Her shock at this knowledge came softly, but the sheer surprise was nonetheless present in her tone.
Closing her eyes, the Night Princess ruffled her wings and answered, "If I remember correctly, it took three of the Greedgold bands to do it. For some time, I was unable to even take to my own hooves and stand. If it helps at all, my little pony, at least you will not be rendered an invalid as I was during the duration of my stay."
"See? If Princess Luna could do this from the confines of a wheelchair, then you can do it on your own four legs too."
"Now," Luna announced, directing the party's attention towards the pony standing just a few steps down the stairwell, "if I may, I would like to introduce Sergeant Moonflower of the Royal Night Guard, one of my own personal bodyguards."
Offering the standard Equestrian salute, the batpony turned to address the lone unicorn of the group and said, "You're Starlight Glimmer, correct?"
Nervously, Starlight nodded.
Removing her helmet and revealing her white mane, Moonflower offered the pink mare her warmest smile. Helpfully, she explained, "I'll be accompanying you as both your bodyguard and companion during your stay at Fairhoof. I'm a trained battlefield medic, so should any harm come to you, be it by your own hooves or those of any other, I'll be right there by your side to fix you up."
A brief silence.
"I-is that really necessary?" the unicorn hesitantly questioned. "I mean, th-there's certainly standard medical doctors there too."
Starlight gave her teacher a pleading look, but all the purple princess could do in return was offer her a sad smile.
"There are, of course," Moonlight answered, giving her new ward a knowing glance, "but I think you're already aware that that's not entirely why I'm being entrusted with looking after you."
The unicorn winced. Indeed, she did know.
Sensing this, Moonflower joined the others and took her place by Starlight's side. Outstretching a hoof, she added, "There is more to it than that though. I'll be there as somepony for you to talk to, if for whatever reason you don't feel like approaching any of the doctors or therapists. You really should go to them, but nopony can force you to if you're feeling uncomfortable; that's not how this kind of healing works. If anything, I'd like for you to think of me as a friend."
Ears perking at the word "friend", Starlight gulped down the knot still stuck in her throat and extended her own hoof to shake Moonflower's.
"Good girl. You don't have to push them away out of fear. All they want to do is help."
It was weak, but Starlight managed a small smile.
"Now, if we've got all that settled," the bat mare concluded, donning her helmet again and turning back towards her princess, "shall we depart? It's a long flight back to Canterlot, after all. We'll have a lot to do once we get there."
"Very well," Luna answered. "We go."
Trotting down the stairwell, the Mare of the Night climbed aboard her chariot and patiently awaited the rest of her party.
Back at the top of the stairs, however, a simple question had to be asked before any sort of departure could begin.
Its answer was obvious, but all the same, it needed to be heard.
"You're coming with me too, right, Twilight?" Starlight asked, though begged likely better described the fearful quake in her voice. "I-I know you won't be able to stay, but I~
Wrapping her hooves around her pupil to hush her and hug her tight, Twilight softly assured her, "Absolutely. And don't think for a second that I'll be leaving before I'm certain that they can help you. I'll turn all of Canterlot upside-down if I have to, just to make sure."
And indeed, the purple princess would if need be.
"Th-thank you," Starlight whispered into Twilight's mane, her eyes misting over once more. "Thank you for everything."
"You don't need to thank me for anything at all. I'm your friend. I'll be there for you."
"Your friend."
With that simple gesture of support, the pink mare's journey towards recovery finally began.
Four ponies sat in relative silence as the night sky rushed by them, glittering jewels above and a sea of clouds below. In the distance, hazy visions of marble towers and ivory spires ever so steadily became clearer and clearer. A pink hoof gripped a lavender one tightly, its owner fearful that should she let go for even a second, she would fall back down into the merciless waters of a churning black ocean.
For the entirety of their ride, the lavender hoof held fast.
The sun rose as they reached their destination.
Nopony fell.