“Every crazy pony is unique in their insanity, I’ve found,” Twilight Sparkle said. She applied her eyeliner with the edge of a safety razor, tracing a thin red line beneath her lashes that slowly wept into the soft, fine hairs of her coat. She blinked and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hoof, leaving a ruby smear behind. “I think I know more insane ponies than normal ones, and the pattern holds up pretty well.”
They were in the master bathroom of the Crystal Friendship Castle. A dozen opulent emerald basins lay in a row before a crystal mirror the breadth of a schooner’s sail. As Twilight was only a single mare and single mares needed only a single sink, the rest generally went unused except for the occasional run of the faucet to clear crystal dust and spiders out of the pipes. Everburning diamond lanterns filled the bathing suite with a soft, many-colored glow that somehow complemented the colors of whatever pony happened to be using them. As Twilight and Starlight both wore warm purples, the lights were gentle and yellow today.
Starlight usually didn’t join Twilight in the bathroom. Although ponies had little in the way of body modesty, their morning ablutions – washing and primping and preening – were still generally private functions, and Starlight considered it a sign of Twilight’s trust and affection that she was allowed to join her here.
Still, other parts unsettled her. She regarded the tongue-piercer with unease. Twin metal paddles captured the tongue and held it still, while a spring-driven mechanism slowly stored power as the user squeezed the handles with their hooves (it was an earth pony model), until a certain threshold was met and the energy explosively released in the form of a long, thin metal needle. She tested it in the air – the device fired with snap-TING that vibrated the bones in her legs. She wondered what the needle would taste like.
“So, which am I?” she asked. Better pose questions while she could.
“Oh, definitely crazy,” Twilight said. She finished with the eyeliner and smiled, checking the filing work on her teeth. They all still looked sharp to Starlight. “Megalomania, narcisism, antisocial personality disorder. The Villain Big Three.”
“Oh.” Starlight swallowed. All words she’d feared expected known Twilight would say, but to hear them uttered so starkly… “I was thinking… you know…”
Twilight chuckled. “What? That you’d gotten better? Changed?”
“I mean…” Starlight looked around the sink. So many sharp things: razor-edged spoons, porcupine bristle brushes, hair pins clotted with blood. “It could happen.”
Twilight snaked a hoof around her shoulder, drawing her into a comforting embrace. “Why would you want that?” she whispered. “Look at the others. You want their kind of crazy? A nervous, terrified wreck like Fluttershy? Schizophrenic, like Pinkie Pie? Or maybe you’d rather be obsessive like me. Count the blessings in your flavor of crazy, Starlight. They’re what make you special.”
“They’re what make me wicked.”
“That’s what I said.” The comforting leg draped over Starlight’s shoulders suddenly turned into iron; Twilight seized her with an impossible strength, trapping Starlight against her chest. Her horn glowed, and a magic of strength unseen in generations pried Starlight’s jaws apart. The tongue-piercer drifted up and into position. The metal paddles tasted like blood.
Starlight struggled with all her strength, but she might as well have tried to drink the ocean. Twilight’s embrace was a steel cage. She tried to scream, but with her tongue snared and pulled out so tight, all that could emerge was an off-key wail. Hot drool ran down her jaw and dappled the tufted coat on her chest.
“Relax,” Twilight whispered. The trigger-grip on the tongue piercer began to wind tight in her magic. The thick spring inside made little tic-tic-tic noises as it compressed. “You’re going to look beautiful.”
Starlight choked. She seized. And when it was over she finally—
Starlight Glimmer gasped, jerking upright. Sweat-damp sheets fell away from her shoulders, collecting around her waist. The bathroom, the lights, the taste of blood, they were all gone, replaced by darkness and the scent of the rice glue she used for kites. Outside, a faint nighttime storm tapped on her window.
She lay back down on her side. The pillow was wet and chilly against her cheek, but she didn’t care. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, willing her heart to slow.
The bed shifted as the pony beside her moved. “Bad dream?”
“Yeah.”
A slender hoof rested on her shoulder. “Same one?”
Starlight nodded. “Mostly. Sort of.” She rolled her tongue in her mouth. Why did it hurt? Was that pain an illusion? “Some parts were different. But the part about… you know.”
A cool nose pressed against the back of her neck. Warm breath washed over her shoulders. “You play every character in your dreams, Starlight. Those voices are just you doubting yourself. Questioning yourself. Whispering poisons in your ears. Part of you wants to change, and part of you fears change."
Starlights scooched back to press against her bedmate’s chest. “If I can change every part of me, what’s left of me?”
A laugh answered. It started high and sweet, but with each exhalation its tone grew deeper, more resonant, until it filled the room and buzzed in her chest. A hard, black limb squeezed her in a tight and loving embrace.
“That’s not the question,” the monster behind her whispered. “It’s not what’s left of you. It’s what you become.”
Starlight caressed the leg holding her close. Its edges were sharp, and she nicked the thin skin beneath her hoof on it. The tiny pain flashed through her mind, burning up the nerves and filling the nighttime with a blinding flash that—
Starlight Glimmer jerked awake. Her dark bedroom smelled of rice-glue and sweat. Outside, a faint storm whistled through the trees. The crystal spires of the castle caught the tone and resonated with it, filling the night with a mournful groan.
She rolled over. As usual, her bed was empty except for her. She thought dimly of ways to fix that problem, but before she could muster the energy to act on those desires, the tide of sleep washed over her again. Exhaustion tugged her eyelids closed, and the darkness again became complete.
She dreamed of sharp things.
Twilight isn't the only one on the receiving end of Starlight's hard questions.
... You need therapy. Badly.
9043362
SECONDED!!!!!!!
SOMEONE GET THIS MARE SOME HELP!!!!!!!!
At this rate, they're going to find her nicking her legs with a blade between counseling sessions.
9043362
My thoughts exactly. I’ve already been through this shit with two of my siblings. No more.
Wow, this is sure is taking a dark turn! I have to believe Chyrislis is behind this!
Hm. Interestingly, I notice that this is the episode following Pure Bread... in which the cutting off of horns was discussed. I wonder, are these chapter, in fact, connected, with an overall narrative slowly building and relayed to us out of chronological order?
9043362
You seem to recognize a pattern here, while I have no clue what's going on. Mind pointing me to some reading explaining what's happening?
9045676
Those dreams are very violent and disturbing. And involve a multitude of painful objects. Starlight may not be entirely sane
9045792
...This is news?
9047715
Eh, kinda. Though in hindsight, her being an ex cult leader and nearly destroying time and space for revenge SHOULD have tipped me off earlier now that I think about it.
9047718
And all because her best friend moved away and never wrote to her
9047719
I get the feeling that was just the general gist of it and we didn't see all the details because the writers didn't think of how to properly justify this crazy a pony. Granted, she may have had prior issues and it's probable that something happened between then and Our Town that made her go off the deep end, but I think that was just her Start of Darkness.
this is strangely reminiscent of most of my dreams.
9077279
You make a valid point, she's certainly trying, but she seems to view the world sideways compared to most ponies.
Did not expect that black monster she was embracing. I wonder what would Starlight's Nightmare name be? Starshine Radiance? Star Nova? Hmm
what... What the hell?
9255937
Shhhhhhh.
I so need more vodka before I read the rest of this story.
Had happened by this point in the show when this chapter was published, actually, but apparently at some point between Season 6 Episode 1 and this “G5”, all character development was reversed back to Season 5 Episode 1 or earlier.
I think at this point I’m just kind of confused as to what this fic is. It’s branded as a potential G5, but of course that’s just for show. I’d say it’s a series of character pieces, but the characters aren’t actually consistent across it – Gardez, you have a tendency to write Twilight and Starlight as a bit more stable and sane (ironic considering this chapter), while Jaxie writes them as much less so. Particularly Starlight.
Neither of them particularly strongly resemble their show counterparts, so you can’t really be said to be playing with the characters. You could just be using them as mouthpieces for conversations that you and Jaxie are having, but I really hope this isn’t the case…I find it immensely dishonest to use extant characters as mouthpieces (especially when the message you’re delivering doesn’t actually match what they’d say). Just make OCs and accept that you won’t get as many views.
I suppose it could just be Kentucky Fried Movie: Pony Edition, a bunch of nonsense vaguely organized around an extremely loose universe. Which is fine, except that every now and then the discussion gets serious. In the vein of “this is just ponified versions of discussions you and Jaxie have” I guess it sort of mirrors real life in that sometimes friends talk about nothing important and sometimes they talk about very important matters…the only thing is that I really don’t see why Twilight and Starlight would be friends since not only do they come across as usually hating each other in practice (even if they try to tell themselves otherwise), but everything about them it actually at odds with one another.
Sure, sometimes that happens in real life, you get friends who are total opposites. I’m sure you’re about to highlight yourself and Jaxie now. But there’s an old writers’ maxim: Fiction is harder than reality because fiction has to make sense.
Plus, y’know, Starlight being a bona fide sociopath and criminal in a dozen different ways. Whatever happened to that ankle bracelet?
Yeah, yeah, there’s basically no continuity here and that’s sort of the fun, but at the same time it’s hard to take the serious chapters very seriously when by all rights Starlight should be in jail somewhere a thousand times over if this is actually a serious story.
Whereas if it’s a comedy, the sociopathy is starting to wear thin.
I could spend an eternity enjoying this headspace, and enough for one or two more.