A tale of Starlight

by redspark

07. Magic sickness

Chapter 7

Magic Sickness

“Staaaaarliiiiiiiiiiiight!”

Trixie’s shout pulled Starlight our of her surprise. She immediately casted teleport as she clung to Trixie, making sure not to let her best friend go. As the spell charged, she realized it was taking too long. She also felt her magic dissipating… However, she managed to will herself and focus enough to charge the teleportation spell. Seeing a natural platform formation on the side of the abyss, she focused it there.

Flash. Smoke. THUMP.

The two landed heavily, the cart almost braking into pieces, barely managing to hold itself together. Now that they were not in immediate danger, Starlight managed to feel the sickening feeling of her magic being drained. However, her adrenaline seemed to be countering it for now as she looked for any ways of escaping. The rock they were on seemed to be helping as a shield against the abyss, but here the magical pull was much stronger than outside the abyss. She needed to come up with a way to escape, and fast.

“Starlight, what will we do?” Trixie seemed to be barely holding herself together. The unexpected teleportation, combine with the fall and their current predicament seemed to be a lot on the poor showmare. “The great and powerful trixie… Does not have any great and powerful tricks for this situation…”

Starlight could feel herself getting more anxious by the second, but managed to steel herself and focus on getting them out. In a way, the magic falling into the abyss was like a huge waterfall of magic, so she could probably use that.

Maybe… If she could use it faster than the void was attracting it… That was it!

She grabbed Trixie and shook her a bit. “I know how to get out of here!” Trixie was pulled out of her desperate state and looked relieved. “But I will need you to help me out.” Fast nodding from the light blue mare. “Remember how I use magic to let me float around?” More nodding. “We will need to do that, but on the entire cart.” She opened the cart and went inside. Trixie remained outside, confused. Starlight went outside and grabbed her. “Come!”

Starlight took position on the front of the cart as Trixie went to the back confusedly. “What must the great and definitely not confused Trixie do?”

“Channel all the magic you can unto me!” Starlight began casting the levitation spell but focusing on the entire cart. The exertion was clearly worse than it was when levitating herself, but as she began to focus on the torrent of magic flooding down, her body felt lighter than ever; she had never felt so much power flowing through her as her spell powered up. Trixie, who had been unsure on how to proceed, immediately began focusing as well, as her horn shone with a blue light. A beam of magic shot out towards Starlight, who began to levitate slightly from the cart’s floor. As Starlight’s spell powered up, Trixie managed to open her eyes and look around.

Starlight was completely focused, her eyes shut tight as her mane shimmered with power. A halo of light surrounded her body as the cart began to turn a magical purple hue. The cart shook slight and seemed to begin to move upwards slightly. However, it remained still in the air for a few seconds, prompting Trixie to ask confusedly.

“Ehh… Starlight, when will we be mo-“ her question was interrupted as the cart shot forward extremely fast. Trixie screamed in surprise as she lost focus on her magic transfer spell. She tumbled against the back of the cart as Starlight seemed to collapse from her position, her magical aura fading instantly and tumbling backwards on top of Trixie. The cart flew up into the air and out of the hole, giving Trixie enough time to slow its descent unto the ground, her light blue aura enveloping the cart. It was not enough to make a soft landing, however. The cart landed hard as the wheels broke off, sending wooden splinters to the sides. Trixie was sent flying against the door, braking a hole through it as her body landed roughly on the ground in front of her poor cart.

She rubbed her horn as she suddenly realized the headache she seemed to have. However, the amount of magic the void had seemed to steal from her had been much less than when they were tumbling to their deaths. She stood up slowly, making sure she was alright. She had a few scratches and would definitely have a few bruises, but otherwise appeared fine.

Then, she saw her cart.

“M-my…” She approached it slowly, her mouth opening and closing, unsure if she could finish her surprised exclamation. “MY BEAUTIFUL AND MAGNIFICENT CART IS DESTROYED!”

While not entirely true, it seemed like the cart had sustained major damage. The wheels were a lost cause, with only one remaining in place, although lacking a good chunk of it to make it usable. The windows were cracked and the door had been broken in the middle from where she had broken through. However, she realized that Starlight was still inside.

Running inside, she called out to Starlight. Her friend seemed to be passed out in the back, with cuts and bruises around her body as well and an odd burning smell coming from her. “Starlight!” Rushing to her friend, she inspected her to make sure she was alright. Noticing her coat seemed eerily faded and slightly burnt, she casted a health scanning spell as Starlight’s body shone blue for a second. Trixie gasped as she felt a shivering cold course through her body. Starlight was almost entirely drained of magic, which explained her faded coat and passed out state. Using the same spell as before, she transferred some of her magic unto the passed out mare. She finally stopped once she began to feel dizzy and awaited her friend’s reaction.

A few seconds passed and made Trixie get restless. “Come of Starlight!” She casted the magical transfer spell once more, feeling her headache begin to get worse and her legs start to feel wobbly. Trixie stopped as she began to pant, yet Starlight was not moving, only managing a quiet shiver.

Trixie carried Starlight off the cart, and dragged her as fast as she could closer to the crack. While it would suck their magic, the showmare guessed that the extra magic going inside could be used to make Starlight wake up.

She finally set her down and scanned her once more. While she appeared to be better, the cold remained; this meant she required more magic.

The same spell was casted as she began to take in the surrounding magic, taking advantage of the flood that poured down the abyss. While not as effective a tactic as it had been down on the abyss itself, she managed to feel the magic fill her reserves and immediately transfer to her friend. A beam of light connected their horns as Starlight began to turn her natural brighter light purple. Slowly, her eyes opened allowing Trixie to stop the magic flow into her friend, the beam of light fading away.

“H-huh?” Starlight slowly opened her eyes. Trixie, suddenly realizing how cold it was, rushed to hug her friend.

“Don’t ever do something so risky Starlight!” Starlight was surprised as her friend latched unto her. She felt Trixie shivering, unsure if because of the cold or the shock of having her friend passed out like that. “What happened to you? You were unresponsive… I though you-” she didn’t finish.

The purple mare patted Trixie. “Magic sickness…” came Starlight’s reply. “When a unicorn spends all their magic.” Trixie looked at her for a second, concern in her face as she proceeded to hug her tightly. “I’m sorry Trixie. I couldn’t think of anything else.”

Trixie nodded, breaking the hug. “However, you can now thank the great and resourceful Trixie for saving you,” she said, her voice returning to its normal pompous air, albeit shivering due to the cold air. Starlight chuckled and got on her hooves, her legs giving away for a bit as she shakily managed to gain balance.

“Starlight… your cart!” she rushed to the cart as Trixie finally remembered about her cart. “It’s broken…”

Trixie sighed. “After that landing, I’m surprised it’s still in one piece. Or at least, in a reasonable condition. I can fix it, just…” She looked around. What appeared to be around them was a barren frozen wasteland, no trees or anything noticeable that rose above the perfect plane in front of them. “…there’s nothing to fix it with.”

Starlight looked around and proceeded to head inside and pack her stuff inside her saddlebags. She hung it on her back just as Trixie went inside. Starlight noticed Trixie taking her time with the cart, and once she came out she saw her friend appeared clearly distressed, but seemed to be hiding it as she gave the cart one last look. “I will return, my faithful cart! You won’t be abandoned here!”

Nodding, Starlight patted her friend in the back before hugging her once again. “We will come get it back, Trixie.”

“We better!” Trixie exclaimed as she turned around and began walking. “And princess Twilight better give me something worth the trip!” Starlight chuckled as the two began to walk into the frozen wasteland, with nothing in sight.

Author's Note:

Music for next chapter!! Let me know what you guys think of the story so far. While I'm writing it mostly to accompany my symphonic poem, I can't help but feel like this story is becoming a bit more than just that...