Bringing Back The Laughter

by Flutterpriest

Chapter 3 - Daemon McRae - Twilight Sparkle/Starlight Glimmer

Twilight Sparkle was, in short, a genius. One of Celestia’s greatest students, renowned by some as the most talented spellcaster since Starswirl the Bearded, and the only pony in Equestrian history to turn herself into an alicorn, there was very little about magic she did not know. This, of course, led to her biggest flaw, and a lesson she had yet to learn: not everything could be solved with magic. So far in her life, that’s how almost every dilemma had been addressed. Even her ‘Friendship Problems’ had gone the way of magical stop-gaping ever since the discovery that friendship was actually magic.

This shortcoming had only been exacerbated by the introduction of her very own student, Starlight Glimmer. A powerful unicorn in her own right, Starlight was nothing less than the personification of Twilight’s glaring flaw. She believed that everything, even things that weren’t problems could be solved with magic, and seemingly always at the expense of somepony else. From mind control to emotional manipulation to actually breaking the laws of time and space for a grudge, Twilight’s most faithful (by virtue of being the only) student had yet to encounter a problem that couldn’t be solved by horribly twisting highly questionable magics together like a balloon animal made of bad decisions.

Things had been looking up for both of them, through the natural course of making friends, experiencing the world, and one or two actual interventions. The pair had slowly been learning to rely on non-magical solutions to everyday problems, becoming more acclimated to things like communication, manual labor, and social cues. All of which were, unfortunately, forgotten at speed the day Pinkie Pie died.

Despite Twilight’s constant confusion and irritation at her party-loving friend, she loved Pinkie Pie. One of the first ponies to actually try and make her feel welcome and at home once she’d arrived in Ponyville, the bright, bubbly earth pony held a special place in the Princess's heart. Starlight, too, had an affection for her, as Pinkie had been key in teaching her a very important life lesson: forgiveness. Always ready with a smile and maybe a bit too trusting, Pinkie had been far less focused on the evil Starlight had done, instead choosing to see the good she could do and the potential of a new friend.

Which might be why both of them had reacted so… peculiarly to the news that their beloved friend was no longer with them. They had cried, of course. Wept for the loss. Consoled each other. They even spent a day in solace, gathering their emotions and putting themselves back together in the wake of tragedy. Except that had been over a month ago, and nopony had heard from either of them since. In that time, the castle had become a fortress. Nopony had been in or out in weeks, and Spike had long been sent to stay with the Apple family while the two talented sorceresses went about their secretive ‘mourning process’.

“Starlight, how are you coming with that sigil?” Twilight yelled over her shoulder. She seemingly couldn’t be bothered to look up from the immense tome on the pedestal in front of her.

The room they’d holed themselves up in was immense. Easily as tall and wide as the room above them which held the Cutie Map, this basement cavern had been, up until a few weeks ago, a grand empty space with shining crystal walls and a bare floor. Now, though, the floor was a mess of scattered papers and books, strewn around the outside of a carefully drawn magical circle, to which Starlight Glimmer was now applying the final touches. “Almost done!” she called, squinting her eyes in concentration as her horn glowed faintly. A small piece of chalk hovered before her, encased in the same light as her horn, making small marks and careful edits to the last corner of the almost insultingly complicated spellwork.

Twilight finally tore herself away from the text, returning her attention to the intense spellwork at hand. “Alright, listen. We only get one shot with this spell, or we have to do the entire mess from scratch. And don’t get me started on how hard it is to make chalk out of spirit stone, so unless you want to sit staring at a grinding stone for twenty hours straight, pay attention.” Her tone was unusually authoritative and terse. Her mane was a mess, her feathers clearly unattended for the last several days.

Starlight rolled her eyes under her own scraggly bangs. “Yes, yes, I get it, mooooooom. Do you have the rest of the materials?”

The alicorn’s eyes nearly disappeared into her upper eyelids as she focused her magic on gathering a seemingly discordant scattering of objects around the room, bringing them to the middle of the circle. “Ok, freshly crafted bloodstone, silver circles, piece of the pony you’re trying to summon…” her nonchalant tone was a stark contrast to the rather disturbing inventory she was checking off. “Right, that should be all of it.”

“No wonder nopony likes necromancy, it’s complicated as Tartarus,” Starlight groaned.

“Star, how many times do I have to tell you, it’s not necromancy! It’s spirit magic! And yes, it is supremely complex. Which is why I would really rather NOT DO IT MORE THAN ONCE,” Twilight growled.

“Tomahto, tomato,” Glimmer groaned, taking a seat at the top of the circle. Possibly. It certainly did have enough pointy bits aimed at where she was sitting. “I’m still a little foggy on why you’re the one that gets to sit at the center of the circle. I mean, you’re the one who wants your questions answered, right? Kinda hard to do that with someone else steering your ship.”

“For a few reasons,” Twilight explained, fiddling with the occult objects at the center of the room, taking her place in the middle of the sigil. “One, I can’t guarantee that the amount of magic we’re about to channel through this circle won’t actually kill you, at which point I’ll have to do this TWO more times. Two, getting possessed is supposed to be massively draining on your reserves, of which I have been assured I have a near-infinite amount. Three, you are significantly less emotionally attached to Pinkie Pie than I am, and should be a much better proctor for the questions I’ve come up with.”

Glimmer gave an annoyed huff. “Gee, thanks. So glad to hear you think so little of my ability to form emotional bonds with ponies.”

“Just be quiet and focus. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can take a much-needed vacation on opposite sides of the planet,” Sparkle groaned. Living with somepony was one thing. Spending three weeks locked in the same room with them working on a single, massive spell was a surefire way to make sure you never spoke to them again.

Starlight looked ready to retort, but thought better of it, wanting nothing more than to see some actual results after a month of preparation. She stared at a point in the circle almost until her eyes crossed, pouting magic into an intersection of white lines drawn on the floor. Soon, the white ignited into a mauve flame, spreading along the lines like a mouse made of fire in a massive, round maze.

Twilight’s part in all of this was arranging the individual, rather tasteless magic items into set points in the sigil. As the flames surrounded each one, they themselves ignited, burning away into colorful ash that wove itself into the great burning tapestry overtaking the room. In only a couple of minutes, what had once been a poorly lit cavern was now a brilliant, luminescent display of prismatic flames, their light dancing on the walls like moving works of art.

If only their purpose was even close to beautiful.

The light didn’t last very long, however, as the fuel burned itself out, the ashes and smoke coalescing into a single point of sickly light floating gently above Twilight’s horn. The Princess stared at it intently, hesitantly, before it lurched forward, into her forehead, disappearing completely. Soon, her eyes lit up with a similar unhealthy glow, a green and red and unhealthy yellow that overtook the whites of her eyes like a disease. After a second, the swirl of colors mixed with the purple of her irises, slowly but surely turning them into a familiar light blue.

Starlight watched the spectacle with a mix of awe and admiration bordering on worship. When the light had settled and Twilight showed no further signs of disturbance, she called out, “Pinkie? Is that you in there?”

Twilight, who up to that point had been curiously inspecting her hooves, snapped her head up and stared at Starlight with an expression of wonder and confusion, as if staring at a face she recognized but couldn’t place. “I… think so? Who are you?”

“It’s me, Starlight. Listen, we don’t have a lot of time. I just need to ask you a few questions, ok?”

“Where’s Twilight?” she asked, in a hollow, un-Pinkie-like voice. It was, technically, Twilight’s, but the lack of emotion and understanding made it sound all but alien. “I mean, I feel her, kind of. And these hooves look familiar, but…”

“Yes, you’re in her body right now. But seriously, I need to ask-”

“Oh. That’s nice. I miss her. I guess. I think that’s what it’s called.”

Starlight balked a moment, but pressed on, floating a list of questions in front of her. “Ok, first things first, do you remember dying?”

‘Pinkie’ just looked at her curiously. “Do you remember being born? It’s much the same.”

Starlight made a few marks, nodding intently. “I see. That’s interesting. Second-”

“Oh, that’s funny I guess it’s time to leave. Bye Starlight. Tell Twilight I miss her,” ‘Pinkie said hollowly, as if reciting a script.

“No, wait!” Glimmer cried desperately. It was in vain, however, as the light in Twilight’s eyes returned to normal. There was no extra glow, no spirit moving into the light. One moment, Pinkie Pie, and in the next breath, Twilight. “Darnit!”

“Wh-what?” Twilight said groggily, waking as if from a dreamless sleep. “What happened? Did you get any information?!”

“Like, one question. Barely,” Starlight said bitterly, throwing the scroll on the ground. “What a waste.”

“What?!” Twilight bellowed. “That’s IT?! No! We have to do it again! Damn it all!”

Starlight looked around the room wearily. The chalk had burned away, as had the materials they’d gathered. All that was left was a maddening assortment of notes and books in an empty basement room. “Twilight… I can’t. Not again. It just… it takes so long. And… I don’t think I have it in me to spend another minute down here.”

Twilight stared at her incredulously. “What are you talking about?! You KNOW this process takes two ponies!”

“Well, Twilight, if you’re so powerful, just create a lab partner or something. I’m… done. I think I need to go… mourn or something. Properly,” she added, with more than a little acid in her voice.

Twilight started and stopped like a dying engine, trying to get a sentence out. “Wha-but… I don’t… FINE. Fine, just go! I’ve got work to do!”

Starlight thought about responding, again, but just didn’t have it in her, after their not-even-a-failed-experiment. “Bye, Twilight. Let me know when you decide to rejoin the rest of us.”

“Hmph,” Twilight scoffed, burying her muzzle stubbornly in a book.

Glimmer stopped at the bottom of the stairs, when a thought occurred to her. “By the way, Pinkie says she misses you.”

“WHATEVER.”

Starlight took a step back at the shouting, then quietly walked up the steps back into the castle. She hadn’t made it halfway up the stairs, however, before the sobs reached her ears, and chased her out of the basement.

Author's Note:

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/126602/Daemon+McRae

Comments

[_SkyHorse]

She stared at a point in the circle almost until her eyes crossed, pouting magic into an intersection of white lines drawn on the floor.

Pouring.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Oh, yeah. That is so Twilight and Starlight. Down to the tee.