Starlight Glimmer Regrets Her Mistakes

by MagicS

Scratch

Glimmer fell out from the space between worlds and landed on the ground without a problem this time. Her four hooves hit the dirt at the same time and she smiled to herself at the success. Right behind her, Moonlight came falling out and also managed to land fairly cleanly, only wobbling and stumbling a bit. But it was far better than coming face first with the dirt or landing on one another. A small cloud of dust had been kicked up by their landing so Glimmer shook her shawl to get any dirt off it.

“Well, where are we now?” Moonlight asked after stretching a little and looking around. “It’s really dark out.”

She was right, Glimmer thought as she looked around as well. They had entered this new timeline in the dead of night and there were only a few lights anywhere nearby. However—that was enough for Glimmer to identify where they were. Although it looked different than what she was familiar with in her world. “We’re right outside Ponyville.”

Moonlight raised an eyebrow at her. “This is Ponyville? I’ve heard of it but I’ve never been.”

Glimmer nodded, frowning at the lack of Twilight’s Castle as the two unicorns stood on the outskirts of town. They were either far back in time or something had happened in this world to stop its creation. She looked up at the moon hovering in the sky and saw the Mare in the Moon staring back at her. Unfortunately that also didn’t tell her anything concrete after visiting Moonlight’s world. They could again either be years back or something had kept Luna from returning.

“I have another question,” Moonlight said with an uncomfortable frown on her face, interrupting Glimmer’s thoughts.

“Yes?”

“Why are we alone?”

Glimmer blinked and looked around—Starlight, Spike, and Sunset nowhere to be seen.

“Umm...”

---

Spike and Sunset landed on a cold stone floor after dropping out of the portal. Sunset just barely managing to keep from tripping.

“Hey, looks like you got the hang of it,” Spike grinned at her.

“I guess next time I’ll come out and do a pirouette,” Sunset rolled her eyes. She then shivered and looked around. “It’s cold… and really dark, are we in some building?”

Spike took a gander around and noticed they were in what looked to be a narrow hallway with only a few barely flickering torches lighting up the way every twenty feet or so. “Yeah. That’s weird though, I don’t remember us ever ending up inside on one of these trips so far.”

“And uh… why is it just the two of us?” Sunset asked. “The triplets aren’t here.”

“Uhhh… I have no idea. But this isn’t good,” Spike frowned and scratched his head.

“Did Starlight do something?” Sunset asked. It was as good a guess as any.

Spike shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“Well how do we know we even ended up in the right place? This might not even be the correct world or timeline,” Sunset looked at the dark stone walls surrounding them. “This is… this isn’t just some random building’s interior… I think this is a dungeon.”

“Yeah it’s kind of… spooky…” Spike narrowed his eyes as he stared at the walls. Something about this place was familiar to him. Then he realized something else. “Oh yeah! In times like this, just ask Discord!” He reached into his bag and pulled out the slumbering Discord flute, flicking it on the head.

“Ow!” Discord yelped and rubbed his head, angrily waking up and glaring at Spike. “And what was that for? I can tell it hasn’t been long enough for you to need me again.”

“It’s not that,” Spike shook his head. “Starlight, Glimmer, and Moonlight are missing. We got separated when we came through the portal or something.”

Discord blinked. “Huh. That shouldn’t have happened.”

Spike glared at him. “Well it did. What do we do now?”

“Hmm… I can tell they’re still in this world at least. So I think you’re just going to have to go and find them yourselves. Good luck,” Discord shrugged and went right back into stasis.

“Oh thanks a lot,” Spike scoffed in annoyance and shoved Discord back into his bag.

“He’s such a good friend, isn’t he,” Sunset smirked, holding back a chuckle.

“Takes a little time getting used to…” Spike said. “I guess we have to find our way out here first and look for Starlight and the others.”

“And figure out where here even is,” Sunset said.

“Actually, I already got that part figured out,” Spike said, causing Sunset to look at him with a surprised and expectant gaze. “I recognize these walls, and the feeling from this place. It’s somewhere I’ve been a few times before already—we’re in the Castle of the Two Sisters.”

---

Starlight’s hooves landed on a soft silk carpet—not what she was expecting when she came out of the portal into whatever world this was. There was a chill in the air but no wind as Starlight raised an eyebrow at the unexpected room she had found herself in. It was a large hall held up by pillars with tall windows and luxurious tapestries hanging down the walls. Outside the windows she saw the night sky and the moon providing the only source of illumination for the spacious hall. More curiously—she was utterly alone—her friends gone. And strangely as well, this place looked kind of familiar to her. She grimaced, worried that something had gone wrong once again.

“I do not know who you are or what you were thinking when you teleported inside my castle—but I can assure you that it is very likely the last mistake you will ever make.”

Starlight’s eyes widened at the deep and menacing voice as she turned around, looking to the end of the hall.

There sat a throne, and upon it was a pony she had only seen in her dreams. Or more accurately—in her nightmares.

Nightmare Moon coldly glared down at her, her dark mane billowing behind her head. A half-dozen guards wearing strange and ornate armor stood before her throne with spears raised, ready for the order to annihilate the intruder.

“Uh oh,” Starlight gulped.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Oh dear. Not fun times when the party gets split.

[redmar]

I wonder what the Harlequin did and if it chose this this world.