The Thousandth Moon [NaPoWriMo 2019]

by sonofaskywalker

Chapter 2 – The Sin

Starlight knocked on the door to Twilight’s room again. “Twilight? Are you in there?” she called out. The sun is out, but I guess she could have raised it and then went back to sleep. Or she’s been using that spell. Maybe she’s not even here. She didn’t leave for Canterlot already did she?! Just when Starlight was beginning to really worry about her friend, the doorknob glowed purple, turned, and the door creaked open. “Twilight?” Starlight peaked into the room. Starlight was stunned by what she saw. There were files and bits of paper all over the floor. And in the center of it all lay Twilight. She looked tired.

Careful not to step on anything, Starlight made her way over to the bed, which she noticed had not been touched. She sat down and just stared at her friend for a few moments. Something was wrong, aside from the obvious. She hadn’t seen Twilight like this before. Okay, sure she’d caught her asleep on the floor surrounded by files in the past but those were research all-nighters. This was different. “What is all of this?” Using her magic, Starlight picked up the nearest file from the floor and read the title aloud, “’School of Friendship’s 100^th Anniversary Party’? Wait, are these all–”

“Pinkie’s future party plans, yes.”

“Twilight why would you do this to yourself? It’s too soon for this!”

“I– I couldn’t help myself okay? I had to look, but I had no idea that there would be so much down there. Did you know that last night marked the thousandth new moon I’d raised? I didn’t, I just raised it like I always do and went on my way. But Pinkie knew. She had a whole party planned to celebrate the occasion. It– it was the first party she didn’t get to throw.” Twilight buried her face in her hooves.

“Twilight? Are you–” she caught herself before she could finish that question with the word ‘okay’ and tried again. “Are you ready to talk about it? Not the parties, but Pinkie and the rest of the girls. I know right now it feels like there will never be a good time to talk. Because that’s how I feel too. But I know from experience that it’s best to not bottle things up. I’m here for you, and you can talk to me whenever you need me.”

“I know you are… but for how much longer?”

“W- what?”

Twilight turned a looked at Starlight. “How much longer will you be with me, Starlight? How long until you’re gone too and I’m speaking at a celebration of your life? You won’t be there to comfort me then. Who will be?” Twilight buried her face in her hooves again and began to cry. Yesterday had already demanded so many of her tears, it seemed today wouldn’t be content without its share.

Starlight wasn’t sure what to say. She knew the past few years had been hard on Twilight, but she’d never considered this perspective. Twilight was destined to outlive almost every pony she’d ever met or ever would meet. Forever. There were exceptions, but they were few. Twilight would always have her sister-in-law and niece as well as Celestia, Luna, and Discord. No pony knew for sure if alicorns were truly immortal or if they just had very, very long life spans. It was entirely possible that alicorns had a limit, but it was just far beyond anything anypony had been able to observe. In the end, Starlight concluded that it didn’t really matter. Ten thousand years may as well be immortality compared to the lifespans of everypony else, even her own.

With her search for words of comfort failing her, Starlight stepped over to Twilight and laid a hoof on her shoulder. “I’m sorry Twilight. I… I don’t know what to say. I can’t pretend to know how you’re feeling.” Starlight paused. “I mean, I guess I went through something similar, albeit not on the same scale as you and with one major difference.”

Twilight lifted her head, “What do you mean?”

“Well, when Sunburst and I thought we solved that age spell, we planned to use it to help so many ponies. The goal was never to live forever, but simply live a longer life; to have more time to spend among friends and family. When we learned that the spell was only effective when powerful magic was present not only in the caster but in the target of the spell as well, we were both disappointed. We felt we’d let so many down, even though we had never promised anypony anything or even mentioned the project to anypony other than you and the girls. Nopony knew it, but they were all so very close to having more years with their loved ones. And to know that we failed, in a way we felt that we had robbed them of those extra years. Magic is our thing; the theory shows how it should work. But we didn’t consider that the spell would have the limitations that it did. Sure, we could extend our own lives, but we set out to help everyone, not just ourselves.

“We debated using the spell on ourselves for the foreseeable future. And we discussed the likelihood that this would lead to us outliving most of our friends. It was really the only downside we could think of that had any weight to it. Ultimately, we decided that it was the right choice to use the spell. At least if we could extend our own lives, we could spend that much more time researching both old and new magic to help everyone.”

“And the ‘major difference’ you mentioned? What was that?” Twilight asked.

“You. No matter who Sunburst and I may outlive, we’d have each other, and we’d have you. For me it was a win-win. I get to do what I love by pushing the bounds of magic with the goal of helping others and I get to live longer and spend more time with two of my best friends. I was difficult knowing that I’d outlive the rest of the girls and Trixie, but it made it an easier choice when I knew that I would always have you.” Starlight’s cheeks went a bit red, a little ashamed to admit what she was about to say next. “I never considered the fact that you wouldn’t always have me.”

“What if I could?” Twilight looked at Starlight intently, saying nothing more.

Starlight wasn’t sure what Twilight was getting at, but she didn’t think that she liked the look that had come over her friend’s face. When Twilight offered nothing else, she simply asked, “What?”

“You said I wouldn’t always have you with me. What if I could?” Twilight had gotten up off the floor and continued to stare at Starlight, a steady fire beginning to grow in her eyes.

“Twilight the spell doesn’t work that way. Even if you were to cast it with all of your strength, the effectiveness would be limited by my own power. If you cast the spell on me daily it still wouldn’t be enough for it to last.” Starlight could tell that her words hadn’t changed what was going through Twilight’s mind.

“I’m not talking about using an age spell Starlight.” Twilight began to levitate off the floor and Starlight could feel magic begin to swirl through the room. Starlight’s heart began to pound in her chest. What’s going on? Pages from Pinkie’s files were lifted from the floor and began flying around the room, caught in the currents of magic. Twilight’s voice seemed to echo from all around her as she used the traditional Canterlot voice and she said her name. “STARLIGHT GLIMMER.” Starlight had never heard Twilight speak like this before and it made her uneasy. Twilight’s eyes were now glowing pure white, her mouth twisted into a dangerous looking smile. “HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BECOME AN ALICORN?”

“What?! An alicorn?” She can’t be serious, can she even do that? The glow in Twilight’s eyes and the maelstrom of magic flowing around her convinced Starlight of the answer, and it frightened her. This was magic on a level she’d never felt before. This was alicorn magic. Before she could say another word, Starlight was lifted from the ground. She tried to fight it at first but there was nothing she could do. She saw that more magic had begun to swirl closely around her body. She recognized the color of it as the color of her own magic. She hadn’t cast any spell but whatever this was, it had come from within her. The magic swirled faster and faster and grew to envelop her completely. As frightening as the experience was, the magic felt warm and welcoming and Starlight decided not to fight it, instead she hesitantly embraced it. Twilight would never knowingly hurt her, of that she was sure, but something told her that Twilight wasn’t thinking straight. And as hard as it was for her to believe, she knew what was happening and thought it best not to fight it. The magic surrounding her had begun to glow brighter and brighter. Just when it was becoming almost too bright to bear, there was a bright flash and then Starlight’s world went dark.

-------

Starlight woke up with a start. She was immediately on alert but as she looked around, she found herself in her own bed like any other morning. Her heart rate slowly began to return to normal as she saw that there was nothing out of the ordinary. What a wild dream that was. She yawned as she looked out the window. The sun was high in the sky, birds were chirping, and she could make out the faint sounds of Ponyville residents going about their day. I must have really overslept. Starlight began to get out of bed. Given the circumstances, I’d say oversleeping is acceptable. Yesterday was an extremely emotionally draining day. Between Pinkie’s Celebration of Life and my talk… with… Twilight... Wait. Starlight took one step out of bed and immediately lost her balance and fell over. Right onto her left wing. “Oww! My wing! That really– WAIT.” She stood back up, careful of the wing she’d just landed on, and ran to a mirror and saw the changes her body had gone through. “That was no dream!”

Stepping away from the mirror, she cast a spell that allowed her to view herself from any angle. Normally it was a spell used to see how potential new outfits looked on her, now she used it to inspect the new appendages that had grown out of her body. Starlight couldn’t believe it. She had wings! She was an alicorn! She looked twenty years younger! This is… this is… many words came to mind, all fighting each other for dominance in Starlight’s mind. The two she felt strongest were ‘amazing’ and ‘disappointing’.

Starlight was amazed that she was now belonged to a group of a select few that had ever existed in Equestrian history. She’d always had an incredible amount of raw magical ability but now she was an alicorn; she could do almost anything. She’d often wondered what this would be like, but she didn’t entertain the thoughts for too long because she doubted she’d ever be able to experience it. She was also in awe of the display of magic she’d witnessed when Twilight sparked the transformation. Has she always had the power to do that? Surely, if she did, she would have chosen to use this power on one of the girls rather than me. She had so many questions.

She was also disappointed in Twilight for making such a huge decision that would impact her life literally forever and hadn’t thought to ask her if this was something she wanted. Regardless of the result, this was a breach of trust and Starlight struggled with how to feel about it. On one hoof, this was amazing; the most amazing thing to ever happen to her. I’m an alicorn! On the other, this was way too big of a decision for Twilight to have made for her life without discussing it with her first, especially while being in the emotional state she had been in. I need to talk to her.

After checking Twilight’s room and not finding her there, Starlight went down to the library. Upon entering, she found a mess of books all around the room. The number of books still on the shelves were vastly outnumbered by those in piles on the floor. Starlight made her way to the desk that she was sure Twilight had been using based on the sheer number of books, scrolls, and quills that were stacked nearby. There was a note from Twilight which read, “Starlight, if I’m not back yet and you want to talk, I’ll be in the Canterlot Library. I’m so sorry, I hope you can forgive me. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.” Well at least she’s already recognized that what she did was wrong, Starlight thought, but what is she doing in Canterlot? And why is this place such a mess? There was only one way to find out.

If she was going to Canterlot, she was going to need to eat something first; she was starving. Must be an alicorn metabolism thing. Once she’d made herself a generous brunch in the kitchens, she went up to her room to freshen up before heading out. On her way out, she grabbed a light cloak to wear on her trip to cover her new wings, it’s probably best to not let anyone else to see these yet.

Starlight’s horn glowed and with a flash of light she teleported herself to Canterlot. When she appeared, she gasped. That was different. That was… easy! While teleportation magic was no challenge for a unicorn of her skill, it still took an amount of effort and concentration to pull off; especially to teleport the distance between Ponyville and Canterlot. This time the teleportation took next to no effort at all; nearly the equivalent of doing the most basic levitation spell she’d learned as a filly. If teleporting such a large distance is this simple… she began to wonder what the limits of this new power could be. But those questions would have to wait. She needed to speak with Twilight, and questions about the limits of her powers were not on the agenda.

The new alicorn had teleported herself a few blocks from the library so that she could enjoy a short walk in the sun before heading inside to face Twilight. She was beginning to think that had been a bad idea. Starlight felt eyes on her from every direction. Her new wings were not cooperating, and she couldn’t seem to get them to close enough to be concealed by the cloak. It didn’t help that her left wing was still a little tender from landing on it earlier. The result was the appearance of a pony who was clearly trying to hide something and doing a very poor job of it. She hadn’t made it a full block before she decided to teleport the rest of the way to the library, straight into the restricted section where she was sure she’d find Twilight.

Glad to be off the street and out of sight, Starlight surveyed the room. Twilight was sat at a desk facing away from her, her horn aglow as she held several books in the air in front of her face, turning the pages every few moments. She also held a quill in her magical grasp, using it to the scrawl notes on some parchment on the desk. Starlight called out to her, “Twilight?” but she didn’t seem to notice. “Hey. Twilight.” Still not getting a response, Starlight began to slowly approach her friend and mentor, taking off the cloak as she did so. She shuffled her hooves as she walked, hoping the noise would reach Twilight and alert her to her presence. Whatever she’s working on, she’s lost in it.

Now close enough to touch her, Starlight slowly reached out and placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. She felt Twilight tense beneath her touch and the books and quill began to fall as the glow of her horn went out. Before they could hit the floor, Twilight grabbed them out of the air once again with her magic and placed them gently on the desk. Twilight slowly turned toward Starlight, but as soon as she saw her new wings, she closed her eyes and turned away in shame. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to come; that you wouldn’t want to talk to me. After four days, I thought for sure I’d have to go looking for you when I was done here.”

“Wait, did you say four days?” Was I really out for four whole days? That explains the hunger.

Twilight turned back toward her. Starlight could tell she was trying not to look at her wings. “Yes, why? When did you wake up?”

“A couple hours ago. Wait, did you just leave me there not knowing when I would wake up?”

“Well… yes and no. Once I realized you were out and my initial checks showed nothing was physically wrong, I had a nurse take a look at you to be sure. She assured me that you were fine and that you would wake up with a bit of rest. It just seems she underestimated how much rest you would need. I can hardly blame her for being wrong, this is such a… unique case.”

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that.” Starlight said. “Twilight, just once did you consider at all if this was something I wanted? Did you even care what I would think, or what I would say if you offered this to me?” Twilight winced at her words. Starlight didn’t enjoy this at all, but this needed to be said. Twilight needed to hear these words even if she’d already come to the conclusion herself. “No, you didn’t.” Looking back on the moments before her transformation, Starlight was sure she could have gotten through to Twilight and stopped her if she’d been given the chance, but everything had happened so quickly.

“Twilight, I love you, you’re my best friend. But this… this was going too far. I’m– I’m disappointed in you Twilight.” It hurt her to say it, but it was true. It didn’t matter that this was something Starlight had begun to see as potentially a good thing. A good decision made for the wrong reasons could still be wrong, especially something of this magnitude. Tears had begun to stream down Twilight’s face. “I need some time to think.” Starlight said as she turned to leave. “I guess I’ll have all the time in Equestria do it.”

“Starlight wait.” She stopped but didn’t turn around to face Twilight. “Before you go, I just want to tell you again how sorry I am. You’re right, I didn’t give any thought to how you would feel about any of this. I was blinded by my own grief. The moment you collapsed after your transformation, I snapped out of the haze I was in and I knew I had done something terrible. As soon as I knew you would be okay, I began to research. I’ve been searching day and night trying to find a way to reverse the spell, to fix my mistake.” She looked over at the stack of books and notes on the desk. “So far, I’ve found nothing. I have a few leads on how a spell might be created, but nothing solid enough to have any confidence in. It could take years to create and perfect this spell if it’s even possible. There may be nothing at all that I can do to reverse it. I will keep looking for a way to fix this, but I know nothing can excuse my actions. I just hope you can forgive me.”

Teleporting away without responding was harder than Starlight expected it to be.

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[titanhades70]

You know what they say. It's easier to ask for forgiveness then permission.