For some time now, magic from another dimension has been leaking into the world of humans. And for all that time, no one outside Canterlot City seems to have paid it much mind.
University student Starlight Glimmer thinks that's a problem. And she thinks she knows how to deal with it. However, none of her professors seemed to take her thesis very seriously.
Unfortunately for them, she knows how she can deal with that, too.
An entry into the Horror category for the A Thousand Words Contest III. Pre-read by The Sleepless Beholder and Dewdrops on the Grass.
Featured on 9 July 2024.
Chapters (1)
*Sigh*, looks like I need call Sunset and the others ( Human Six/Rainbooms. ) then. And especially bring in Pony Starlight too to knock some sense to her human self.
Chilling! This hooked me and didn't let go the whole way through.
Uh-oh. Starlight's pretty good at monologuing, I can tell! Unfortunately, she also seems to have plenty of talent for magic...
Oooh, I love the twist on the "you can't have a nightmare if you never dream" lyric. Very horrifying line in a very horrifying story.
Interesting. So the staff that Starlight had used in Equestria, the one that didn't have any magical qualities at the time, had probably become magical because the unicorn Starlight had been channeling magic through it for a while, and/or it going through the portal had given it magical qualities similar to what the staff was believed to have been able to do in Equestria during the time Starlight used it. Sort of a belief manifestation that came to be due to the portal's interpretation.
This was a good way to introduce the human Starlight; I hadn't thought about her wanting to take initiative in stopping the spread of magic in her world. That honestly sounds very plausible and makes for a good dichotomy for the two Starlights: one wanting to make everyone equal by removing their special talents, and the other wanting to remove magic altogether to level the playing field once more.
Tense, horrific, and the final dream lines sold it. Nice work.
Do I smell a sequel?
I'm just curious: What did the staff do? In Equestria, it would remove someone's cutie mark (assuming it wasn't fake), but in the human world? Did it take the guy's mind or something
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well that is not a good situation!
well which of the nerd characters could this be?
yeah, that tracks
oh hey the thing about Equestria Girls that i’ve been thinking about a lot lately! yeah EqG Starlight Glimmer definitely would be taking some extreme measures about this
commentary!
yep that is very Starlight! if there is one word she is the opposite of it is “apathy”
classic ominous villain line to end it with! and yeah i love this because this answers exactly what EqG Starlight Glimmer would be doing and makes me feel silly that i’ve somehow never asked that question before even though it’s been crying out for one. thank you for writing!
Ah yes. Government conspiracies operate on the assumption that the government is competent. Starlight doesn’t have the comforting delusion that someone, somewhere is in control and knows what’s going on. Which means she has to take the reins.
In any case, this is a fascinating exploration of character and concept, but most of the horror is yet to come… and with that comes Starlight’s almost certain defeat. Walk the same road, end at the same destination, though hopefully with less catastrophic time travel. And it’s possible that one Glimmer may be able to help another.
Mind you, the college student who was somehow able to kidnap several of her professors is concerning in her own right, but this still felt like a poor fit for the genre. Still, that may just be my own tendency to look for any bright side I can spot. In any case, this was a great read. Thank you for this; I sincerely hope you expand on it.