Issue 3.1 ~ A Reunion Of Sorts
Well, that was something.
Starlight blinked a few times, the full impact of what had just happened still registering. She collapsed to her knees as the pony who had thrown it sneered at her and walked past her. Starlight recognised the pony as the one she had kicked into the rainforest, and had tussled with. She cursed herself for her own inability to check her surrounding— and her gear. She was snapped out of her initial shock when she felt the hoof of her attacker press on her back, giving her a hard shove.
The etheric blade dissipated, and Starlight fell down the stairs. It was of little comfort to her that thanks to the brutality of the stairs, the incoming pain of her open chest wound was somewhat lessened. She needed to find medical attention, and quickly… but where would she go? She was in the middle of Canterlot, and from where she was was, the nearest infirmary was in the castle, and the nearest hospital was at least a half-hour trot. Unless she could get her ridge gauntlet back, she was pretty much screwed.
Groaning in pain and coughing up blood, Starlight took it as a bad sign. She struggled to four hooves, grunting from the effort before trotting away as fast as she could. Instead of what she expected from the shock: slow motor controls and thinking, it seemed her mind was working faster than it had in any of the previous situations she had been in. So, when she trotted through the halls with three hooves and one pressed to her chest, the walls blurred and the scene shifted around her.
Before she knew it, she was in a hall that lead to a set of double doors. Starlight could only hope that the doors were open. Making it halfway across the hall, blood dripping from her wind and dribbling from her mouth, Starlight stumbled several times. She leaned against the walls for support, or had to pick herself up from off the ground. This time, she stopped because she heard the tell-tale sound of hooves.
Starlight barely had time to turn around before the pony that had thrown the etheric blade at her before threw another one, and she flattened herself to the ground. She regretted the decision immediately, as she squeaked from the spike of pain that erupted from her chest.
The pony was not deterred, and instead of throwing another blade at Starlight to end it quickly, the pony approached Starlight with a sneer present on their face. With great effort, Starlight got up and stumbled backward, trying to run away only to fall flat on her face again because the blood rush from her head caused her to find her world tilting crazily. Instead, Starlight did her best to crawl away.
It didn’t seem to be working, as the pony was now practically on top of her, another blade at the ready. Starlight looked up into the pony’s eyes, and realised that they were truly intent on killing her, as if she were just another pawn. Closing her eyes, Starlight accepted her fate. She heard the shwing! of the blade before a muffled fwump followed it. Starlight frowned. She heard the same two sounds repeat again, and she opened her eyes.
Her cape held the pony’s hoof in place, preventing them from enacting the final fatal blow. Starlight stared in awe, but her cape wasn’t done yet. It unclasped from Starlight, proceeding to wrap it’s head around the pony with quick chaotic precision before the pony was swung in all directions before heading straight into the ground head-first, thanks to the cape. As the pony struggled and found themself the product of several new concussions, a large item was knocked loose from the pony. Starlight’s ridge gauntlet.
Breathlessly, Starlight tentatively took her ridge gauntlet, all the while staring at her cape before shaking her head and helping herself up to four hooves. Shakily slipping the gauntlet on, Starlight felt a wave of dizziness pass and she closed her eyes tightly to let it pass. When she was sure it had, she stopped leaning against her wall.
With her remaining concentration, Starlight slammed her hooves into the ground and made the motions, a shaky portal immediately opening up in front of her. The location and image? The inside of Twilight’s castle. She knew she could find help here. If only… she risked a glance behind her, and found that her cape was still doing fine on it’s own, making the pony in its grasp struggle like a bull kicking off a pony, but the pony was glued on tight.
Deciding her attacker wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, she stepped through, and immediately felt herself grow woozy from the effort, collapsing against the wall in front of her. Walking a little ways away from her portal, Starlight licked her lips, the taste of iron still fresh.
“T-Twiligh…” Starlight gasped, another wave of dizziness causing her to stumble. “Tw-Twilight!” she yelled. “Twilight! Please!”
A door slowly creaking shut alerted Starlight, her ears swivelling with full force. Starlight tried again. “Twilight… p-pl-please, a-are you here?!”
“Oh, that voice sounds familiar…” Starlight heard a soft voice say. “...Starlight?”
“W-who is that?” Starlight asked, “Twilight?”
“Starlight, is that you?” the voice said, sounding closer now, but uncertain.
“Y-yes! Please, help!”
Finally, Starlight watched as Fluttershy, the kindest pony she knew, rounded the corner holding a platter of china and tea. Fluttershy saw only Starlight’s face first, it would seem, because she brightened instead of recoiling.
“Starlight, it is you!” Fluttershy said. “Oh, it’s been so long, how have you-”
When all the effects Fluttershy held slipped from her hooves, that’s when Starlight knew she saw her wound. Starlight smiled weakly before collapsing from the wall to the ground.
Fluttershy gasped and squeaked. “Starlight! Oh no, what happened? How did this happen? Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Twilight, she’s, she’s just in the Cutie Map Room, we were going to have tea and, and… Ohhh, Starlight, how could you do this to yourself?”
Starlight smiled softly. “I’m s-sorry Fluttersh-shy.” She then coughed into her foreleg, pulling away only to see blood. At this point, Fluttershy was stained with Starlight’s blood, but it seemed the butter yellow pegasus didn’t care. Her was set with grim determination, fear, and worry. And Starlight felt safe.
“I’m going to get Twilight, we’re going to get you on a table, and you’re not going to die, okay?”
Starlight didn’t say anything. She gulped when she heard the tone of Fluttershy’s next word.
“Okay?”
“Y-yes Doctor Flutt-ttershy.”
Fluttershy nodded. With that, she walked a little ways away and breathed in deeply. Starlight knew what would happen. She would try to yell, and all that would come out was a peep.
All that came out was not a peep.
Fluttershy roared with the power of a tiger, her voice cascading and growing with strength off the irregularities and imperfections in the crystal structure of the wall. “TWILIGHT! I NEED YOUR HELP!”
Starlight found herself breathlessly waiting, partially because the pain she was feeling was compounding, and partially because she was completely shocked by the urgency and power behind Fluttershy’s voice. If there was anything she wasn’t used to, it was Fluttershy doing something so crazy. She had seen her shout like that once before, but it was still surprising from such a soft-spoken pony.
In the next instant, Twilight appeared next to Fluttershy, looking a bit frazzled and confused. She turned to Fluttershy and said “Goodness, Fluttershy. Use your inside voice. Well, I suppose you always use your inside voice. Never mind. Why’d you feel the need to…”
At that point, Twilight’s eyes finally drifted over to the weak, bleeding body of her pupil and friend, Starlight Glimmer. Starlight smiled tiredly. “Hey there, Twilight. Long time no see! Holding the fort down okay?”
Twilight blinked for a moment longer before teleporting right in front of Starlight and shouting “Oh sweet Celestia, Starlight! I let you leave on your own for a couple months and you come to me in robes and a gash in your side? What happened!?”
Starlight weakly pushed Twilight away, wincing from her volume. “Jeebus, Twilight. You tell Fluttershy to use her inside voice? What about you?”
“Starlight, you’re bleeding!”
“And you’re breaking my eardrums. Not exactly helping.”
Twilight winced. “Okay, fine. Sorry. But we need to get you to my infirmary, and quick! By how pale you look and the rate you seem to be losing blood, you could die in the next half hour!”
“Twilight?”
“Yes?!”
“You need to learn bedside manners.”
“Bedside what?!”
Starlight shook her head. “You know, being nice to someone who’s sick or dying? Not telling them the truth of them dying? Basically lying to them?”
Twilight screamed. “I won’t lie to you about you dying. You’re dying! And I’m taking you to the infirmary right now!”
Starlight winced and glanced to Fluttershy. “But what about-”
“No time!” And in a flash, Starlight and Twilight had disappeared to the castle’s medical wing, leaving Fluttershy behind.
“Okay,” Fluttershy whispered, glancing down at the broken china set and metal plate. “I’ll just make some more tea…”
Starlight grunted as she was very gently slammed into the table. Twilight popped into existence next to her, immediately hauling a table over adorned with various medical effects. Starlight could barely register any of this, as she was biting her tongue trying not to scream from falling onto the table so roughly. Glancing to Twilight, she said “Next time, let Fluttershy drag me over.”
“Oh hush, Starlight,” Twilight said, putting on a mask. “You’re dying.”
“As I’ve noticed, not from you mentioning it a thousand different times,” Starlight grumbled. “Did we have to leave Fluttershy behind?”
“I wouldn’t have been able to transport all three of us here and still have the energy or concentration required to focus on you,” Twilight said. She started tearing some of Starlight’s robes away before cleansing the area around the wound. “I really don’t want to start arguing with you now. She should be around shortly.”
Starlight began to argue before her wound was painfully opened again by Twilight. “You can’t be serious— Argh!” She felt tears start to stream down as Twilight’s magic quickly worked to numb it. Soon, she couldn’t feel around the are of her wound, but the damage had been done. With pain fresh in her mind, she bit her tongue, and barely acknowledge Twilight gasping in surprise and concern.
“Starlight…” Twilight murmured, carefully using what spells she knew to speed up the healing process. “What in Celestia’s name happened to you? The magnitude of this wound is astronomical, and the magical signatures surrounding the wound are like nothing I’ve ever seen in my entire life of studying magic! And what’s with the robes? Ponies don’t normally wear clothes you know.”
Starlight giggled wearily, shaking her head. “Well, that’s a funny story. Ya see, after I left, I uh, encountered some people. Took me to Kamare-Taj. I, uh, eheh, well, they live right inside the mountains, so it gets a bit cold I guess. Plus, it’s a mandatory part of the whole restoration and renewal thing. Oh, and I got stabbed by a blade made from extra-dimensional energy when I was fighting a griffin that is currently working his very best to destroy the last two remaining citadels against a higher power that could destroy all of Equus as we know it.”
Twilight blinked. She blinked again. “Sooo… you joined a cult? Again, Starlight? Remember the last time you did that, and you were the leader. How well did that go?”
Starlight winced and grumbled. “It’s not a cult, okay? Just because we have to wear robes and have to do a routine everyday and believe in mystical energies beyond our true understanding…” Starlight stared back at Twilight’s raised eyebrow and frowned. “Okay fine, maybe it is a bit of a cult. But everything they do, everything they believe in, is for the protection of Equestria.”
“And you became one of them?” Twilight asked disbelievingly. “You already saved Equestria once before, and you saved us too. What need of them would we have?”
Starlight snapped at Twilight. “Look, okay. I didn’t ask to be inducted. I was looking for healing! It just so happened that I was pretty good at what I did. Now I can do magic without using my horn. It’s weird magic, sure. Different. Really, really different. And I dunno if I can still use my horn, but if I can function like this, then sure. If I can help protect Equestria like you and your friends, then sure! If it means getting hurt like this, well, I guess it’s a side effect I have to live with, but yes. We do need them.”
An awkward silence filled the air as Twilight pondered Starlight’s words. Starlight could only hope her words made sense to Starlight. She wasn’t much of a mare with words, even if she was able to convince an entire town to follow her communistic ideals. She grimaced at the thought. Just another nail in the coffin. Another thing she held herself accountable for.
The two mares jumped when the door slammed open, swinging freely and silently before having slammed into the wall beside it. In the midst of it’s jarring bang of noise was a cringing Fluttershy holding a tray filled with new tea, teacups, and scones, who stared at the two of them and the door in horror.
“...Oh, my…” Fluttershy gulped. “Th-the door just swung open like that. I barely pushed- pushed it open.”
Twilight frowned. “I’ll have a word with Spike. It seems he’s been using his extra-strength hinge lube again. I told him to use the no name brand!” Facehoofing, Twilight shook her head. “Fluttershy, could you come over here, please? I think I need a more expert pair of hooves to help tend and seal Starlight’s gash.”
“O-oh,” Fluttershy started, “I’ve only really taken care of my animals when they injure themselves. I don’t think I know the first thing about a pony. M-maybe I should get a nurse from Ponyville General—”
Starlight interrupted Fluttershy, raising her head weakly with a smile. “Hey, Fluttershy? I know you can help patch me up, so stop standing around and get over here.”
For a moment, Fluttershy was unsure of what to do before relenting with a hesitant nod. Placing the tea tray down, she trotted over and began to fuss over Starlight with Twilight, frowning heavily.
“Starlight,” Fluttershy said softly, “What. Did. You. Do.”
Starlight smiled sheepishly. “Do you want the short version or the long version?”
Fluttershy sighed, motioning for Twilight to roll the surgical tools towards her. “You know what, it doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is sealing this up. Twilight, I trust you’ve already used some spells to cleanse and numb the wound?” Twilight nodded in confirmation and Fluttershy pursed her lips. “This’ll take at least twelve stitches on both sides.”
Starlight winced before looking incredibly pale. “I think I just went into shock. Thanks, Twilight.” With those profound words, Starlight passed out, causing both Twilight and Fluttershy to start panicking.
“Twilight, what did you do!?”
Twilight shook her head quickly. “I only, uh, dropped her… on the table? And I also had to pry the wound open a little to really clean it out and-”
“When will you learn your actions have consequences?” Fluttershy’s voice murmured, effectively cutting off Twilight and causing her to stumble even when she was standing still.
Starlight, meanwhile, had ejected her astral form out of her immobile body and was currently shaking off the effect of doing so. Biting her lip, she listened to her two friends bicker. In the distance, she could’ve also sworn the sounds of certain struggling had ceased and another presence was among them, but that was another problem. RIght now, she needed to calm her friends.
“Me?” Twilight asked, “I was only trying to help…”
Fluttershy frowned slightly. “And now she could be on the verge of death. I need you to be better.”
“I’ve never had a friend come to me like this before, Fluttershy,” Twilight remarked forlornly. “I-I panicked, a-and…”
“And you’re forgiven,” Fluttershy said, “But right now, we have to focus.”
Starlight poked a hole open into the physical realm, allowing her to manifest her astral form into a visible body that let her poke her head through said hole. “What Fluttershy said. Focus on saving me! I’m more useful alive than dead!”
Twilight and Fluttershy promptly screamed, rushing away from Starlight’s astral form and scrambling for something sharp to point at her. Starlight winced and sighed as she floated ethereally. “Okay,” Twilight stammered, “When did you learn astral projection?”
“During my training.”
“And you can appear there while your body is on the table?”
“That’s how it works.”
When Starlight saw the spark light up in Twilight’s eyes, Starlight started waving her hooves frantically and shaking her head. “But no! There’s no time, so stop thinking that!” When she saw Twilight pout but say nothing, Starlight turned to Fluttershy. “Just keep healing me as best as you can, is that alright?”
“Th-the best that I can?” Fluttershy asked. “What if it isn’t the best?”
“Then anything else is fine, Fluttershy. You’ll do great. Just don’t let me die, alright? That’s the bottom line.”
“Oh, okay.”
Starlight glanced to her left and found the presence nearing her. She didn’t have much more time. Starlight turned to Twilight and Fluttershy, grimacing with anticipation. “Hey guys, just, don’t panic if weird things start to happen, okay? I have to deal with something. Remember to keep me alive!” With that, Starlight disappeared back into the astral realm, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy utterly flabbergasted.
“We should get back to work,” Fluttershy whispered.
“Yes,” Twilight nodded, looking around, “Good idea.”
Starlight stared at the pony floating her way and watching them carefully. She could already tell this must’ve been the same pony she had left behind in Canterlot, as he wore an incredibly angry expression on his face. An expression that told Starlight he wanted to murder her. Starlight smiled and waved.
“How are things?” she asked, “Hopefully not too bad? Did my cloak treat you alright?”
Starlight was responded to with a lunge, one Starlight was just barely able to dodge. Twirling in the air, she re-positioned herself and wagged a hoof. She frowned and shook her head. “Now hey, that was rude.”
The stallion growled in response and shouted before catching Starlight by the robes. Starlight, for her part, kicked off the pony as best as she could, but he was already latched on with all his might. Using the momentum of his lunge, he spun and bucked Starlight, shoving her through the wall and causing her to grunt.
Starlight gritted her teeth, cracking her astral neck and hopping from one hoof to the other. “Let’s do this,” she whispered to herself. The moment the stallion appeared to look for her, she tackled him straight on, not giving him a moment to breathe. She began to punch his face repeatedly, dodging a few of his strikes before headbutting him away. He floated off, a bit dazed, before shaking his head.
“Got anymore?” Starlight taunted. “Looks like you’re not so tough now without your dark-dimension bullcrap, eh?”
The stallion snorted in response, an evil smirk on his face before he spun and delivered a double kick to Starlight’s face. The hits landed perfectly, and Starlight flew straight through the floor. Now out of sorts, Starlight could barely hold her hoofs up before she braced herself and received another beating. With two more hits to vital points of her astral form, the stallion delivered an uppercut, sending her back into the room above and knocking her astral form out completely.
The stallion floated up through the floor, grinning darkly as he neared Starlight and began to strangle her continued existence out of the world.
Fluttershy could’ve sworn as she was still stitching Starlight up that she jerked in place, as if hit by something. Her eyes were also moving rapidly, looking like she were constantly trying to watch something carefully. She related her concerns to Twilight.
“Well,” Twilight murmured, her horn aglow, “Her heart rate has been exponentially increasing since she ceased talking to us. Something’s happening, and I don’t like it.”
“Twilight?”
Twilight looked at Fluttershy questioningly. “Yes?”
“I think that was my line.”
“Oh.”
Fluttershy put the finishing touches on the final stitch before cleansing the wound again and fluttering about. “So,” Fluttershy whispered, “Can you tell me what happened to Starlight for her to be injured like this? Because once I’m sure she’s recovered, I want to talk to her about never doing something like this again.”
“Oh, that,” Twilight said. “Well, she broke her horn, as you know. She wanted to find healing. Went to a place called Kamare-taj. This is where all I know came from her mouth. She, uh, started wearing robes, somehow learned how to do magic again without her horn —though she still needs to show me what she meant— and she got stabbed by a magically created blade which dissipated upon her movement.”
Fluttershy stared between Twilight and Starlight on the table for a time before squeaking something out. “I guess I can see that,” she murmured. “I still don’t like that she had to fight somepony else though. What could have happened to make it that hurting others is necessary-?”
Fluttershy’s rant was cut short when Starlight stopped breathing. Twilight’s horn quickly flashed red before Twilight gasped and turned to Fluttershy, panicking. “She’s flatlining!” Twilight exclaimed, beginning to trot in place. “Oh no, oh no! What do we do?”
Fluttershy, calmly walked over to Twilight’s side and smacked her upside. “We remain calm. Assess the situation. Somepony is dying. Panicking won’t help.”
Twilight stood, dazed and quite surprised at Fluttershy for a moment before gulping and nodding. “O-of course. Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“No problem.” Fluttershy started feeling for Starlight’s pulse and checked her breathing, making absolutely sure that she truly wasn’t functioning properly. Frowning, Fluttershy nodded gravely. “Twilight, do you know any spells regarding electricity?”
Twilight thought quickly before nodding. “Yes. I know approximately twenty-three spells related to it.”
Fluttershy started pumping her hooves on Starlight’s chest, carefully making sure to not break open the stitches she had already set in place. “Do you know any designed to reboot a system failure?”
Twilight nodded again. “That narrows it down, but yes. I know about three.”
“Could you maybe up the voltage to around three-thousand? I need you to apply it directly to two points on Starlight’s body. Can you do that?”
Twilight nodded before staggering backwards a little. “Wait,” she stammered, “You want me to electrocute Starlight? Why!?”
Fluttershy continued pumping her chest, her movements becoming a bit more pronounced and shaky. “I can’t have you questioning me right now, Twilight! Starlight’s life is on the line. Can you do it, or can you not?”
“Of course I can, who do you take me for?” Twilight said. “But why?”
“It’s a new practice I was studying up on that came out about a year ago,” Fluttershy related to her. “And right now, it means you following what I say or we lose Starlight forever. So get in gear, Twilight.”
“Alright,” Twilight affirmed, quietly smiling as she liked seeing Fluttershy being assertive like this. “Where do you need me to, uh, electrocute her?”
“Here,” Fluttershy motioned, pointing to just above Starlight’s left chest, “And here.” She finished by pointing below and to the right of Starlight’s right chest. She didn’t budge from her pumping motions until she saw the magic envelope the points she had pointed to. Stepping back, she nodded to Twilight, who began charging her spell.
“This is meant to restart the heart by completely rebooting it with electricity,” Fluttershy explained. “It basically resets the natural rhythm of the heart. They started making these things called defibrillators, but they’re so expensive, they can only have two or three in each hospital.”
Twilight nodded, soaking it all up. “Okay,” she said through gritted teeth, “And why can’t the unicorns in said hospitals just cast this spell?”
“Because it usually requires too much energy for more than one use in an hour, and sometimes you need to do it more than once. That’s what the machines are for.”
Twilight grunted. “You don’t say?” she said before finishing her spell preparation. “I’m ready.”
“Alright, hooves off, everypony,” Fluttershy said, following the procedure she had read. “Clear!”
With that, Twilight let her spell activate, and Starlight’s body arced and convulsed from the voltage pulsing through her. Both ponies present could only watch in horror, as neither had actually seen something like this in action yet. As the spell faded, the duration having only been a second or two, she fell back to the table, and Fluttershy rushed forward, beginning CPR again. Checking for a heartbeat and a breath, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“She’s breathing again,” Fluttershy confirmed, a smile on her face. “Her heart’s back to normal. Can you check if she’s stable?”
Her horn lit, albeit a bit weaker now, and Twilight checked. “Yes,” she smiled, “She’s good.”
They collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Starlight’s eyes flew open, glowing bright blue as she suddenly felt power surge into her. She only had time to see the look in her attacker’s eyes before she exploded with energy that was revitalising as it was truly shocking. She watched as the stallion slammed into the wall behind him, her blue magic outburst still dissipating around her. Looking around in slight confusion, she quickly realised what happened upon seeing Fluttershy and Twilight sigh in relief.
When Starlight opened up another hole and poked body through, she was met with screams as Fluttershy hid under the table and Twilight shot into the air. She rolled her eyes.
“Stop doing that!” Twilight shrieked, “You literally just died!”
Sighing, Starlight looked at them both. “Alright, fine. I guess it is kinda scary. But whatever you did, I need you to do it again.” Glancing behind her at the stirring but still unconscious astral henchpony, she pursed her lips. “Quickly would be nice, too.”
Fluttershy poked her head out from under her hiding spot, looking at Starlight like she was mad. “Are you crazy?” she said, “That could kill you, and we just saved you with it!”
“I need you to do it, Shy,” Starlight remarked. “Twilight, please. It’s important.”
“I agree with Fluttershy,” Twilight said, fluttering down. “I can’t risk it.”
“Well,” Starlight began, looking behind her, “Unless you want me to really die here, and the world as well, for that matter, you’re going to do it. Right now would be great. Bye!” As Starlight disappeared once more, Fluttershy and Twilight glanced at each other before sighing. Twilight’s magic enveloped the points once more, and Fluttershy announced for everyone to clear away from Starlight, so as not to get electrocuted themselves.
Starlight on the other hoof was back to feeling alive and full of energy, feeling like she could take on a million ponies and still be able to blend a strawberry-chocolate smoothie. Looking behind her, she saw Twilight’s horn glow, and she flew towards the henchpony, pinning him to the wall with a hoof. Sneering at him as Twilight upped the input and shocked Starlight, she could feel the surge again. When her body started glowing a blinding blue, both ponies shouted, and Starlight pushed and thought as hard as she could to direct as much force into the pony.
When it all discharged, Starlight stumbled against the wall, feeling as if something had just exploded in front of her into a million different tiny balls of screaming energy. Gulping, a terrible feeling came over her before she stared at the scorch marks left behind in the astral realm. Blinking a few more times, she slowly floated backwards and towards her body.
“Starlight?” Both Twilight and Fluttershy looked at Starlight questioningly, hoping that she was still alive. When no response was given, Fluttershy gulped and took a tentative step forward. When nothing happened, she took another, and another, until she was able to feel her pulse. Upon realising that her heart was still beating, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank Celestia- EEP!”
Starlight suddenly jerked up, breathing heavily, as she sputtered and coughed. Fluttershy, for her sake, only screeched in horror before slapping Starlight, who promptly recoiled. “Ow!” Starlight cried, her face forming into a pout. “That hurt!”
“Don’t you dare scare us like that again!” Fluttershy said, “You could’ve died from how much we put into you. And just look at Twilight! She’s holding it together, but that kind of spell uses up a lot of energy, you know.”
Twilight smiled weakly, a few of her hairs twitching out of place. “Oh yeah, no biggie. I am an alicorn, after all.”
“An alicorn that is still growing into her position,” Starlight said, before getting pinched. “Alright, alright! I’m sorry, girls. I really am. Especially for scaring you and not telling you about things.”
Fluttershy studied Starlight for a moment before smiling softly. “And we forgive you, Starlight. Just… be more careful. What was it, that you needed us to shock you again like that?”
Starlight rubbed a hoof on her leg before wincing and shifting her legs off the table. “W-well, you see, I was fighting someone… in the astral realm.”
“You were fighting somepony?” Twilight asked. “Is that possible?”
“Someone, Twilight,” Starlight said. “They were definitely pony, but they didn’t act like one. Plus, exclusivity breeds fear, anger and hate. Someone. But yeah.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Starlight,” Twilight said, “But that also kinda sounds like what you were teaching in Our Town when you were preaching equality and all that-”
“Oh come on!” Starlight grunted. Sighing, she nodded her head. “Fine. I guess it does. But it’s true. Cutie marks are a completely different story, though, so let’s move on. I need to get back to Canterlot and-”
“You can’t.” Fluttershy put her hoof down, a soft click echoing across the room. “You might open up your stitches and you’re in no condition to do anything like that again.”
Starlight frowned, knowing Fluttershy was just as right as she was in her quest. After a moment passed, Starlight spoke to Twilight without taking her eyes off Fluttershy. “Twilight, can you freeze my stitches and the fur and skin surrounding it so that it can’t move, and can heal properly?”
Twilight thought for a second. “You mean, like, freeze it with cold, or freeze it spatially.”
“Spatially. Just, so if I were running, it wouldn’t burst open or anything.”
“Sure.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Starlight, you can’t solve everything with magic like this. One day, it could get you killed, like it did today.”
“If you care to notice, Shy,” Starlight said, “I’m still alive. Also, that’s why I’m using a different kind of magic. More ancient. A little more powerful.”
“But what about me?” Twilight asked. “I still need to ask you questions on how you can use whatever magic you use is and you need to file a report in triplicate on your adventures and all the ponies and friends you’ve met on the way-”
Putting a hoof up to silence Twilight, Starlight grimaced. “Now is not the time, when the world could be at stake, Twilight! I need both of you girls’ cooperation here. Please.”
After a moment of silence, both Fluttershy and Twilight sighed, seemingly drooping tiredly. “Fine,” they both said.
“But you’re going to come right back here when it’s all done, alright?” Twilight stated, more than asked.
Fluttershy backed up Twilight, saying “We miss you, Starlight. You’re our friend. We were worried.”
“...I can do that,” Starlight agreed. “Just take care of yourselves, alright?”
“And you too, Starlight,” Fluttershy said. “But just because you’re excusing yourself, doesn’t mean we can’t help you, right, Twilight?”
“Yes. That’s what friends are for.”
Starlight smiled, a bright warmth rising in her chest. Though from her wound or from the feeling of having such good friends, she couldn’t really tell the difference, but it was warmth all the same. Slipping off the table and onto her hooves, she stumbled a bit, but was quickly steadied by two ponies at her side. Nodding, she winced with every step but they made it to the door and into the halls.
“So,” Twilight asked, “Where are you going? You’re in no condition to walk, and… wait, you said Canterlot, right?”
“Yes.”
“What.”
“Well, you see,” Starlight began, “I have the ability to open up a portal instead of teleporting. It’s pretty nifty, though I… did have to freeze on the side of Everhoof before I got the hang of it.”
It was Fluttershy’s turn to look confused. “Wait, you froze on the tallest mountain on the world?”
“Y-eah, so anyways, portals. They’re cool. Don’t use up your own magic. Pretty sweet right?”
Nothing was said as they travelled through the halls. Soon, however, Starlight could hear the telltale whoosh of her portal as it spun and spun, still open and still very much a bridge. She waited for Twilight’s reaction upon seeing the portal most, for she knew what the mare would think. Sure enough, it was exactly the reaction she had been expecting.
“Twilight. Breathe.”
The gasp Twilight had been holding the moment they stepped in view of the portal was released all at once in a long and adorable squee. As Fluttershy remained supporting Starlight, Twilight was able to prance around, her eyes sparkling. “Wow!” she cried. “This is so amazing! I previously thought the strain of opening a spatial gateway to shorten point A to point B would’ve been too taxing on one pony, but if it were anchored to something more primordial, it could work!”
“Twilight-”
“Why did I never think of this? How did nopony else think of this?”
“Twilight.”
“Then again, any manastone large enough to anchor something to would’ve been too expensive and out of the question, and this kind of magic would’ve showed up years ago if it would’ve-”
“Twilight!” Starlight and Fluttershy both yelled. Blinking, Twilight looked over from her pacing to find Starlight about to step through the portal and Fluttershy helping her steady herself to stand on her own. Blushing, Twilight trotted over.
“Twilight, I’m saying goodbye over here and you’re over there muttering to yourself about portals!”
“Sorry, sorry, wrong place and time, yeah,” Twilight said. She rubbed the nape of her neck sheepishly. “So, uh, Canterlot, yeah?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Evil bad guy we can’t help you with?”
“Pretty much.”
“We can’t stop you or do anything to convince you to stay?”
“Sounds about right.”
Twilight sighed. “Alright. Stay safe, Starlight. Don’t come back here with another wound like that. I won’t be happy.”
“Nor will I,” Fluttershy stated firmly. “Please be careful. I don’t like seeing my friends hurt.”
“I will, Twilight, Fluttershy. You two stay safe too, alright?”
“We will.”
As Starlight smiled and waved her goodbye, the portal closed shut, vanishing with a pop. Sighing, she stared at the wall where the portal had just been, longing to have accepted Twilight’s offer. With a desperate motion, she stretched her hoof forward and touched the wall.
She turned around and trotted down the hall.
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Who is going to be Mephisto?
Squeeeee! Thanks for writing!
I saw the new chapter and I literally threw my hands in the air from pure joy.
You know, from the amount of blood Starlight should have lost by this point, plus going into Shock, she's surprisingly coherent...
8900963
Then again, when you have a set of robes somewhat bound to your body surrounding the wound, it cakes up pretty quickly, allowing for it to have been a deterrent in blood loss. Or perhaps it's just a lousy mistake on my part.
Cough.
Also, I know it's from the movie and you transferred it over, but why (and where from?!) does Twilight have medical knowledge?
8968274
Oof. Uh, yeah, fixed that. Eheh
Also, with how much Twilight reads (plus the fact that she’s a princess now with an infirmary built into her castle), it only makes sense that she knows basic pony first aid. And because she literally lived in a library and is an Element of Harmony entrusted by Celestia to safeguard Equestria.
And she does ask Fluttershy for more help (since Fluttershy, constantly taking care of animals logically has more experience with injuries of various nature (haha puns)), where Fluttershy is just as clueless, but a little less helpless. If that makes sense.
8973108
Fluttershy had made sense to me, but Twilight seemed oddly ill-suited for her attempts at helping. Then again, Lesson Zero or whatever the name of the Smartie Pants incident.