Twilight's Star

by AlicornPriest

Chapter 1

It was quiet up on the balcony. Under the moonlight, the castle glittered in a way that reminded Rarity of the gemstones she had discovered in a geode so many years ago. Although the castle was, in a sense, just as much for all of them as it was for Twilight, Rarity was still jealous that Twilight lived in such a resplendent sort of building. It was nothing less than incredible what Twilight had achieved in such a short time. The Princess of Friendship, Rarity thought to herself. It was an incredible stroke of luck to even be in the same town as her, let alone be one of her closest friends. Not everypony got to sit on a little balcony with a princess and watch for a meteor shower.

Twilight, for her part, was almost greedily excited for the time to come. “Rarity, look!” she said. “Cassiopeia's lovely this time of year. See? Right there!”

“Yes, darling,” Rarity replied. She couldn't keep any of the constellations apart (save for Virgo, her starsign), but it made Twilight feel better if she smiled and nodded along with whatever she said.

Spike, meanwhile, brought out pillows and blankets for the two of them as the night grew colder. He had said he would stop running back and forth once the meteor shower started, but Rarity had a feeling he was trying to “show off” in his own little way. Each time he returned, he would say, “Anything else I can get for you two?” No matter what they said, he would always regress to the inner bowels of the castle to find some new way to be of service.”

It was during one such run that the meteor shower began. Rarity expected a, “Spike, come quick! It's starting” to come from her companion, but instead she saw Twilight entranced to the point of muteness at the sight of the falling stars. It fell to her, then, to call Spike back. “Spike, dear, the--”

“Shh!” Twilight brushed Rarity away. “He'll come, I'm sure. Look, my star!”

“Where? Which one is yours again?” Rarity asked.

“There!” Twilight pointed up towards a faint little star nestled among the unforgettable Ursa Minor constellation (okay, so here were two constellations Rarity could remember).

...Well, it had been faint. To Rarity's surprise, the star was growing brighter. “Twilight, dear...” she hazarded, “do most stars do that?”

“...No, not that I'm aware of,” said Twilight. “Did Spike bring up Starswirl's Star Scroll?” She turned away for the briefest moment.

In that moment, Twilight's star flashed three times, then vanished into nothingness.

Rarity immediately began pursuing methods of damage control. The meteor shower dropped several levels in priority. “Let's go see what Spike is up to!” she said, attempting to push Twilight towards the door.

“Well, I'm sure the scroll is some--” --she caught sight of the sky-- “where.”

“Now, Twilight, this was nobody's fault--”

“Rarity? Where's my star?” she asked.

“It's gone, Twilight,” Rarity replied. “And before you ask, I don't know how or why.”

“No, you don't understand,” Twilight said. “I'm not mad. My only question is this: why am I not dead yet?”

“Dead? Well, why on earth would you be dead?”

“My star is gone! My destiny! If my star is dead, then shouldn't I be too?”

“That's utterly ridiculous,” Rarity answered.

“No, no, I think I understand it. Maybe 'death-by-lack-of-destiny' doesn't travel at the speed of light. Maybe it will take a while for death to come and find me.”

“Twilight, I do not want to hear another word of this!” Rarity shouted. “Now, we are here to watch a meteor shower, and by Celestia, we will watch it and enjoy it!”

Twilight seemed a bit surprised at how brusque Rarity had been, but it was a necessary evil. The last thing anypony needed at the moment was for Twilight to go off on one of her paranoid rampages. A bit too heavily, she pushed Twilight onto her cushion then plopped herself onto her own seat. They sat for a few quiet seconds; no matter how much Rarity tried to watch the dancing lights sparkling across the sky, her gaze kept drifting to that empty spot where Twilight's star had been. What could have caused something so swift and so catastrophic as that? Like Twilight had said, stars didn't just disappear on a whim.

The door behind them creaked open, and Spike came through carrying a tray of snickerdoodles. However, as soon as he looked up at the sky, he dropped the tray with a clatter and cried out, "Holy moly, Twilight! Your star's gone!"

"I know right Spike I mean it doesn't make any sense I'm pretty sure I'm going to die now but if you calculate the speed of 'death-by-lack-of-destiny' at one one-hundredth the speed of light then it could take over three years to get here Spike I don't wanna die what are we gonna doooooo?!"

Rarity sat by and facehoofed. It was going to be a long night.

***

Once Twilight had been sufficiently put at ease about how her star disappearing was certainly not worth worrying about, she convinced Twilight to head to bed for the night, in part so that she too could get her beauty sleep. But it was an uneasy, spotty sleep: she couldn't help but worry about Twilight's missing star. These things didn't just happen, she reasoned. Everything happened for a purpose. And yet, both she and Twilight were completely lost.

The next day, she vowed to think about something, anything else. Whenever she was stressed, the spa worked better than anything she could think of. So she invited Twilight to come along and make a day of it. Unfortunately, despite the reigning stillness of the place, Twilight still seemed distressed. During the mud bath, the sauna, and even the hooficure, Twilight kept whispering subvocally, and she glanced back and forth like a criminal hiding away. There was no doubt in Rarity's mind what Twilight was thinking about; she was thinking about it, too. During the massage, she decided to take Twilight's mind off of her belief of her own doom.

“So, are you working on a magic project at the moment?” she asked.

“Mm-hmm...” Twilight replied.

“...What, exactly, are you working on?”

“It's… I mean, very complicated… I don't quite...” Twilight struggled with every word, almost like she couldn't actually remember what she was, in fact, working on.

“Spike probably has a record of it, right?”

“Yes!” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed on her table. Rarity only looked at her more askance. Twilight had a mind like a steel trap; even at her most panicky, she could remember all of her various projects she busied herself with.

“I'm sure it must be very difficult.” Rarity twitched and readjusted her spine so that Aloe could reach a particularly troublesome spot.

“Sometimes, but...” Twilight stopped talking and began to glance idly about, her attention caught up in the swinging of a chandelier to Rarity's left. “I can't...” She struggled to bring herself back to the conversation she'd been having. In a single moment, her attitude transformed from drifting to terrified. “Rarity, we have to leave right now.”

“What? Why?”

“I don't know. But my brain, my thoughts, they're… not right, I don't… I need to be outside. The walls, this space...” She began to twist and struggle underneath her towel, only succeeding in getting it more tangled around herself.

Rarity signalled to Aloe and dismounted from her bed in order to get to her. “Hold on, let me--” Twilight vanished from her spot in a burst of magic, leaving Rarity stunned and perplexed. She shook it off and ran outside to find Twilight staggering from the impromptu teleportation work.

“It has to be the star, Rarity,” Twilight said. She stared unblinkingly into Rarity's eyes, her eyes filling with fear. “I don't know how or why, but… my mind, it's… going…” Twilight placed a hoof to her head, a clearer sign for a sudden migraine Rarity had never seen.

“Twilight? Twilight, stay with me.” Rarity propped her friend up as she wobbled on her hooves. “Let's get you home, maybe up in your bed, hmm?”

“Rarity, please...” Twilight pushed Rarity away and took a few lurching steps. But before long, she staggered once more and fell to her knees. When Rarity caught up, all Twilight could say was, “...Get Luna. Now.” Then she gasped one heavy breath and passed out into darkness.

Comments

[Lost_Marbles]

Geeze. Some serious stuff must be happening. A star thief, maybe? That'd be interesting.

Also, Twilight seemed to react a little strange when she saw her star go out. I mean, I certainly would act pretty bizarre if I just saw proof of an immediate and imminent demise heading my way.

[Dream Seeker]

Technically speaking, by Twilight's estimates, she was doomed hundreds of years before she was born. Ouch.