A Disparate Bond

by the7Saviors

A Thestral's Dilemma

Twilight had no idea how long she stood there staring at the dead manticore. It could have been minutes or hours, she had no idea, but a distant tugging sensation on her tail finally made her turn away.

Starlight was pulling on her tail with her teeth.

"C-Come on, Twilight," she stuttered through clenched teeth, "let's... l-let's get outta here."

Twilight simply blinked at her.

"Twilight," Starlight growled, yanking harder, "let's go!"

Twilight blinked again and turned to stare at the manticore for a few more moments, then—with a painful slowness—she turned to follow Starlight down the hall and away from the gruesome sight.

Starlight led the way, her jaw set and her eyes resolutely facing forward as she tried not to break down at the thought of what Twilight had just done. The shaking in her legs and the unsteadiness of her movements gave her away, but Twilight didn't notice.

The lavender filly's mind was still reeling from the sudden violence, the scene still repeating in her head. She followed after Starlight in a confused daze, her eyes clouded and unfocused.

Starlight had no idea where she was going, but she didn't care at this point. She only wanted to get as far away from where they'd been as possible.

Eventually Starlight began to calm down, her heartbeat slowing, and her thoughts once more becoming clear. With the manticore no longer a threat, the pink filly's mind was free to wander, and her thoughts split off into countless directions.

Being able to think clearly, Starlight could deduce more or less what happened with Twilight and even why it happened. They were both in a dire position, and through a magic miracle, Twilight unleashed a powerful Dark Magic spell.

The nature of the magic she released made sense, as Dark Magic was her affinity—according to Aeon anyway. Starlight herself wasn't actually one hundred percent sure it was a magic miracle though.

She had never actually seen one, and didn't know all that much about how they worked, but it clearly wasn't a magic surge, or else the situation would've been a lot worse than it was, so it had to be a magic miracle... right?

She thought to ask Twilight, but then remembered that the filly hadn't even known what a magic miracle was before Starlight told her, nor was she in any condition to give an answer as it was.

In short, Starlight Glimmer was able to rationalize the situation, which did wonders to calm her even further. She did still have more than a few questions, however.

One of the biggest questions on her mind right now was just where in Tartarus that manticore came from and why it was in the Fortress.

She had seen sunlight coming in through the hall where it emerged, so maybe there was some kind of huge doorway that led outside and it got in because somepony forgot to lock the door?

No, somehow that didn't seem right.

In fact, the very idea was so dumb that Starlight dismissed it outright.

Either way, she wasn't curious enough to go back the way they came and find out, that was for sure. Then there was the matter of the mysterious bat pony colt they'd run into earlier.

Did he know about the manticore?

Did he have something to do with it?

No, that was even stupider than somepony leaving the door unlocked and letting a manticore in... unless he was the one that let it in.

But... why would he do that? When would he have done that? Wouldn't it have killed him on the spot? Starlight had no idea, and as the questions continued to tumble around in her head, she absently turned another corner...

...and promptly smacked right into the dark grey colt himself just as he was about to do the same.

They both cried out in alarm, falling over and scrambling away from each other in wide-eyed panic. It was a few moments of heavy breathing and a couple of rapidly pumping hearts later that they finally calmed enough to notice just who they had run into.

Twilight had no reaction to give.

"Y-You!" Starlight growled angrily, "what are you... you know what? No, I don't have time for you," she rose to her hooves and brushed herself off before pushing past the stunned colt, "Twilight and I need to get out of here. Come on, Twilight."

The colt turned to the other filly in question, who merely stared back at him blankly for a moment before following after Starlight. The colt watched her go, spluttering wordlessly before gritting his teeth and giving a low whine deep in his throat.

"W-Wait," he called out, following after them, "hey, wait a minute! You can't just go wandering off on your own!"

"Watch me!" came Starlight's petulant reply, "I don't know where this place is, but there has to be a way to get back to the main corridor somehow, and we'll find it ourselves."

The colt observed them both as he followed a few hoof-lengths behind. They both looked sweaty, exhausted and just a complete mess in general.

The lavender pony looked as though all the life had been drained out of her.

"Let... let me help you at least," the colt offered meekly, "these halls... aren't exactly normal right now. You'll get lost without a thestral to guide you... well, more lost than you are anyway."

Starlight stopped in her tracks and whipped around to glare at the colt. He flinched back, but didn't relent, shuffling his leathery wings and looking away before speaking again.

"I heard you screaming earlier," he continued, "I... the only ones that should be roaming these halls are me and Tenebris—er, that manticore that you probably ran into."

Starlight narrowed her eyes at the colt.

"Yeah, we ran into it, alright," she confirmed, taking an aggressive step forward towards the colt, "you seem awfully calm about it though, and even know its name."

She took another step forward and the colt shrank back a bit.

"What else do you know about it?" Starlight demanded, "did you release that thing? Was it your fault Twilight and I nearly died trying to get away from it?"

"No!" the colt cried, backing away as the pink filly cotinued to advance, "I didn't do anything! I didn't release it, the Elders did! I-It was supposed to be part of my test!"

"The 'elders'?" Starlight asked, momentarily caught off guard, "part of your test? What the hay are you talking about?"

"I-It's supposed to be a rite of passage—a sort of coming-of-age trial!" the colt explained quickly "the corridors are enchanted to become disorienting and maze-like, and the Elders release the Tenebris.

"I'm supposed to either kill it on my own, or survive for three days and three nights with nothing but the rations I'm given!"

Starlight stared at him.

"That's why I told you guys you shouldn't be here," he continued in a slightly more measure tone, "it's way too dangerous. I'm not sure how you managed to escape or even get into these halls in the first place, but we shouldn't even be standing here, not when—"

"The manticore is dead."

It was the colt's turn to stare.

Starlight sat down a little ways from the colt and considered him for a moment before speaking again, her tone no longer angry, but contemplative.

"That manticore—Tenebris or whatever?" Starlight continued, searching the colt's face, "it's dead. Gone. Twilight killed it."

The thestral's jaw dropped open and his gaze shifted to Twilight, who stood frozen a few hoof-lengths away. She didn't respond, and she didn't look back, but the colt could see her visibly shiver.

He swallowed and looked back the way they had come before turning back to Starlight. When he next spoke his voice was weak with disbelief.

"How?" he croaked, "no thestral has ever been able to even touch Tenebris, let alone kill him. Most of the fillies and colts end up hiding out until the three days are over. Those that don't... don't make it at all."

"Well, it's a good thing we're not thestrals," Starlight replied with a weary shrug. She cast a small glance back at Twilight before speaking again, "we have magic, and that made all the difference."

The colt was silent for a time, his mouth sitll hanging open slightly. He snapped it closed eventually and shuffled his wings uncomfortably again.

"Oh."

"Right," Starlight replied slowly before rising to her hooves and backing away towards the other filly, "so... we'll just be going now. Good luck with your... incredibly insane, and incredibly stupid trial."

"I... wait, no I..." the colt struggled with his words, looking from Starlight to the corridor behind him, "this changes things," he finally said uncertainly, "you can't just leave now. I have to explain what happened to the Elders, and I can't just go back to them alone without some kind of... of..."

"Not my problem," Starlight replied, turning on the spot and trotting away with a dismissive flick of her tail, "we're not supposed to be here, remember? Just... tell them it was you or something."

"No!" the thestral suddenly cried in both frustration and desperation, "it doesn't work like that! There's rules! Strict rules about outside help! They'll know it wasn't me who did it, and I'll be punished!"

"Oh please," Starlight replied, rolling her eyes as she continued to trot away, "if what you said is true, these 'elders' of yours are practically sending you to your death. What could they possibly do to you that's worse than what they're doing now?"

"They'll cast me out!"

Twilight, who had started to follow after Starlight, came to a dead stop. The colt, not taking any notice, fell to his haunches, his eyes tearing up.

"My tribe has no use for a coward who needlessly puts others in danger just to save their own skin," he said quietly, "if I go back alone, they'll find out what happened, and come to their own conclusions. They'll banish me, and I don't have anywhere else to go."

Starlight stopped and was about to turn around and tell the colt just how much she cared, when she suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder.

She turned to see Twilight looking at her with a stern expression, her eyes somewhat clearer than they had been before.

She didn't say anything, but Starlight knew the other filly well enough by now to know what she'd say about the situation.

What's more, Starlight knew she was right. The main reason she'd come back was to apologize for her behavior after all, and, while the lavender filly was still clearly bothered by what happened, it was a relief to see some of the light come back to her eyes.

With a heavy sigh of annoyance and resignation, Starlight turned back to the colt. He continued to sit there, his eyes downcast and tears streaming down his face.

She watched him for a moment before quietly trotting over and sitting down in front of him. Starlight was aware of Twilight's eyes on her as she took a deep breath.

"Hey."

The thestral sniffed and looked up at the filly sitting before him. Starlight rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly and looked away for a few seconds before looking back with a frown.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" she said with another sigh, "about this... and about earlier. I'm just... I don't know. I was just being a jerk. I'm scared, and worried, and... and there's some other things going on in my life and I just kind of took it out on you, so... yeah. Sorry about that."

The colt sniffed again and lowered his gaze once more.

"It's fine."

"No, no it's not," Starlight replied shaking her head, "hey, look at me."

It took a second, but the colt hesitantly raised his head to meet Starlight's gaze. Once she had his attention Starlight spoke again, a bit more conviction in her voice.

"What's your name?" she asked, "I can't just keep thinking of you as 'that bat pony colt'. It's weird and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't appreciate me calling you that all the time."

The colt fidgeted nervously for a moment before responding in a small voice.

"My name's... Firebrand."

"Great, now we're getting somewhere," Starlight replied, this time with a genuine smile, "alright Firebrand, because I know Twilight will just do this without me, we're gonna help you out with these 'elders' of yours."

Firebrand's eyes widened in disbelief and he looked from Starlight to Twilight, who nodded with a small smile of her own. Twilight's smile fell quickly though, replaced once more by a grim line as she looked away.

The colt looked back to Starlight, who was eyeing Twilight with a worried frown. After a second, she noticed Firebrand looking at her and she gave him a weak smile.

"You're actually gonna come with me to see the Elders?" he asked, still stunned, "you'll help me convince them that this was all a mistake?"

"Yeah," Starlight answered, maintaining her unsure smile, "I, uh... guess so."

Starlight 'eep'd' in surprise as she found herself wrapped in a tight hug.

"Thank you!" Firebrand cried joyfully, " thank you both so much!"

"Y-Yeah, sure, great! You're welcome!" Starlight cried, her face growing red as she pushed the colt away, "now get offa me and just show us where to go already!"

Firebrand stumbled back, but didn't seem to mind as he wiped his eyes and beamed at the filly.

"Sure thing," he replied happily, "just follow me!"

With that, he turned and began trotting down the corridor, a visible bounce in his step.

Starlight watched him go with a grimace. Twilight trotted up next to her, and despite her current state, she couldn't help but give Starlight a small smile of appreciation and approval.

"Don't you dare say a word," Starlight growled before trotting after Firebrand, "not... one... word."

Twilight's smile merely widened as Starlight trotted away, but soon fell again, as she thought about prior events. She still had a lot to think about, and she was far from okay, but hopefully this would serve as a good distraction for the time being.

With a heavy heart and even heavier thoughts, Twilight hurried to catch up with Starlight and Firebrand.

Author's Note:

And thus Twilight didn't say a single word throughout the entire chapter.

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

Aw, happy bat pone!

[Zeprto678]

Firebrand? So he's going to have a talent involving branding with fire?

[71M073J]

Gah this ended too fast...