Breaking Point
16. Breaking Point
"This is your singing telegram
I hope it finds you well
You're invited to a party
'Cause we think you're really swell
Gummy's turning one year old
So help us celebrate
The cake will be delicious
The festivities first-rate
There will be games and dancing
Bob for apples, cut a rug
And when the party's over
We'll gather 'round for a group hug
No need to bring a gift
Being there will be enough
Birthdays mean having fun with friends
Not getting lots of stuff
It won't be the same without you
So we hope that you say yes
So, please, oh please R.S.V.P
And come, and be our guest! "
Starfire bounced happily back into her room over Sugarcube Corner, Gummy clinging by his jaw to her mane. After dancing and singing seven renditions of the song, it was somewhat stuck in her head. Not that she minded, it was a good song after all. It was also the first song she'd managed to sing the entire time she'd been in Pinkie's body. She didn't understand why Raven was so against singing. However, she wasn't going to judge her for it. Besides, the extra costumes she had to come up with - a firecracker at Trixie's trailer, an alligator egg at Gilda's new place, and a pony sized fairy when floating outside Cyborg's door - had been quite fun to craft. But she wouldn't think about all that right now - or about how strangely wonderful it had felt to sing - because it was time for a party!
She smiled as her friends entered happily. Raven was first to arrive, with Beast Boy riding on her back. Trixie was hot on her heels while pretending to be travelling separately. Melvin showed up next. Robin managed to make his arrival casual, commenting that Big Mac was watching the fillies. Cyborg crashed through the window, which Starfire somehow knew to open just in time to keep it from being broken. Gilda came in through the front door, with Jinx keeping a telekinetic leash on the cub, who had - apparently - become incredibly active with the sheer excess of visual stimulation.
"Not to worry, Gilda, I'm sure he'll calm down," Jinx was reassuring the nervous mother. As the bright colors of the party caught the cub's eyes and he broke free of the leash to race around, she corrected herself, "...eventually."
The young cub leapt into the air, attacking one of the balloons. As his claws touched it, it popped, sending him bouncing back with a surprised squawk. His hind claws contacted another balloon, sending him soaring forward again, flapping his wings franticly despite them still being too small and weak for flight. He landed on a table, digging his claws in with a high pitched squeal of nail on wood accompanying his braking. He glanced around at the balloons, streamers, and other colorful objects.
Gilda watched carefully. Starfire was pretty sure she knew why. Infants, whatever the race, could be frighteningly inventive once they were fully mobile.
Squawking happily, the cub suddenly leapt into the air, landing on one of the balloons. When it popped, he used the force of the air release to propel himself towards another balloon, bouncing off it as it popped as well. Seizing a trailing streamer hanging from the ceiling in his beak, he swung across to another balloon and proceeded to continue bouncing between them, setting up quite a racket.
From his spot on the ground, Gummy appeared to be watching in fascination, his eyes actually tracking the young cub's movements. As everyone watched, they couldn't help but laugh at how energetic the cub was. As he landed, the last filled balloon popped and the decorations pulled a bit astray, he ran up to Starfire, looking up at her wide eyed.
Gilda laughed. "He wants you to fill more balloons," she translated.
Starfire grinned. "I have plenty!" she said happily.
Once the cub was fully tuckered out from balloon bouncing, the more grown up party guests enjoyed themselves with music, games, dancing, and overall merriment. After the sun had fully set, everyone gathered together to help clean up - both the room and the cub, as he had apparently woken up and gorged on the leftover cake, leaving him stuffed and frosted. Bathing a griffon cub appeared to involve transferring a large amount of water from the basin over the entire room and everything and everyone in the vicinity.
"We should have cleaned him first!" Cyborg commented as he shielded his eyes from yet another splash.
Once everything - and everyone - was clean, the guests headed home. Starfire happily tucked Gummy in before bouncing into bed herself.
----------------
The following morning, Starfire bounced happily out of bed, racing to do everything she needed around Sugarcube Corner to help with the business. Returning to her room, she paused. "Hmm...what should I be doing today?" she thought aloud. She glanced towards Gummy. "Oh, that's right! It's the day after Gummy's birthday, so I should be setting up an after party-" She gasped. "But that means today is MY birthday!"
'No it's not,' she thought to herself. 'It's Pinkie Pie's birthday, not mine.'
"Hmm...well, I can't throw a party for myself. That would be rather ostentatious...or overbearing...or some other o word I can't think of just now." She smiled. "Well, I'll think about that later. What should I be doing today?" She turned to the mirror.
She blinked, staring. Her reflection wasn't right. Her mane and tail were completely flat. Tear tracks ran from her eyes down her face. She looked emaciated, falling apart.
Starfire staggered backward, staring at the image in the mirror as something inside her began to fray. "What...no...she's not...what have I..." She sank back onto her rear, trying to figure out what she was seeing as the scent of copper and sulfur assailed her nostrils. "I didn't do this!" she cried out, trying to hide her eyes from what she saw...but her eyes were drawn back to the image in the mirror. Desperately, she tried to find some protection from what she saw in the only thing she could think of...music.
"Princess Celestia,
I've tried to be a righteous maid,
of my works I have been justly proud"
She heard a sibilant whisper on the edge of her hearing.
"Princess Celestia,
I've always fought on the behalf
of the innocent, defenseless by standing crowd"
The image of Pinkie in the mirror stared at her, begging for help.
"So tell me, Celestia,
Why is she in that mirror there,
Why does her gaze burn deep inside my soul?"
The image in the mirror seemed to sink against the glass, hope draining out of her. The sound of tears filled Starfire's mind.
"I hear her, I see her,
The hopelessness within her gaze
Burns inside me all beyond control!"
She walked forward, trying to reach through the mirror, but was blocked by the glass.
"Like fire
Hellfire
It's burning in my skin.
My peaceful
Desires
Have I been turned to sin?"
All throughout the room, things began to rattle. Starfire flinched away from the menacing images of a pile of rocks, a bucket of turnips, a sack of flour, and a ball of lint.
"It's not my fault!
That's not the case!
It was not I who put me behind this face!"
Gummy walked up to her in concern, but even his gaze made her flinch.
"It's not my fault!
Is it so wrong
That I would yearn for this carefree life of song?"
Star collapsed on her side, lost in the song and her thoughts.
"Help me, Celestia
I've fallen to this siren spell
The music in my heart has found release!"
She raised her head, staring at the image in the mirror that stared back, accusingly.
"But she's still there
And drives me beyond the sanest fields
Why can't she leave me here in peace?"
There was a knocking on the door as the room seemed to return to normal. "Pinkie Pie? Are you alright?"
Starfire looked up. "I'm...I'm just fine, Mrs. Cake. Just...trying out a musical number for Nightmare Night."
"Oh, alright," Mrs. Cake replied. "Just make sure it's not too much for the kiddies."
"Okie-dokie-loki!" She waited until she heard Mrs. Cake back downstairs. "Is...is that what's happening? Do I really want to take Pinkie's place...permanently?" Staring into the mirror, she saw her natural face...but her red hair darkened, as did her green eyes.
"Hellfire
Blackfire
That's the face I now see"
She shook her head, trying to banish the vision.
"That's not right
who I am
That's not who I want to be!"
As the images faded, she fell to the ground, curling up into a fetal position.
"Celestia, help her
Celestia, help me
Of this endless fight,
I can't...be...free..."
As the music that had filled her began to subside, something inside her began to stretch and fray. Somewhere just beyond the reach of her senses, something occurred...and the sound of a broken lute string underlay the sound of a deflating balloon. As Starfire's mane and tail deflated, a crazed grin spread across her face, the choked sobs turning into soft chuckles.
----------
Kor'iander chuckled to herself as she walked around the room, smiling widely, her pupils and cornea shrunk to mere pinpricks. The world around her seemed to flow, with strange shapes filling it that made her laugh. Turning, she saw a form that seemed to be a blending of all colors swirling before her eyes. She giggled madly.
"pInkiE?" the form said, tilting a colorful part of itself back and forth.
Kor'iander giggled. "Maybe. Who's asking, colorful?"
"iT's mE, rAinbOw dAsh," the image replied.
Kor'i blinked for a time, then giggled. "Oh, right, Rainbow!" She grinned, leaning forward. "You must be here to help me make cupcakes!" Her eyes spun in their sockets. "Basement's this way!" She started to walk towards the stairs.
The figure in the colors moved in front of her. "sAy, mayBe we shOulD tAkE a dEtouR?" The figure seemed to gesture off towards a colorful circle in the wall. "i KnoW a FastEr waY."
Kor'i giggled. "I don't see why not." She felt herself picked up and whisked along in a blur of colors and wind. As she was set down inside another colorful area, she saw lots of other color blurs. Turning, she saw an orange and purple swirl before her. Leaning towards it, she giggled madly. "Ooh...let's make rainbows!"
The blur backed up. "coMe on, gIrlS," it said. "lEt'S tAke tHe cuB arOund toWn, get MorE cAke."
Another blur, white and pink, started to move, but then followed the orange and purple one out of the area, along with a yellow and red blur carrying something white and gold. Kor'i giggled madly, and found herself falling into the arms of an orange blur. "Hi mister sun!" she said happily, giggling like crazy.
The orange figure bent over her.
"Star?"
The quiet whisper echoed inside her mind. Deep inside, she heard the sound of a string being stretched and tuned to a G sharp. The world seemed to come into focus around her, and she stared up into the face of Applejack, and through her eyes to the familiar soul behind them. "R...Robin?" she whispered.
Robin pulled her into a tight embrace, and she let tears fall from her eyes as she struggled to get her mind back under control.
"What happened to her?" Raven was asking.
"Twilight," Trixie spoke up. "I don't know how to explain this, but...the two colors of her energy are out of balance."
"What do you mean?" Raven asked.
"The six of you have...two colors of energy inside you. I first noticed when I healed Fluttershy. Most ponies only have one. And...one of Pinkie's colors has fluctuated to the point of losing cohesion."
"Can you do anything about it?" Raven asked.
"I...think I can put some of the energy of the other color into it, to strengthen it," Trixie said quietly. "It...it might work."
"Give it a try," Raven replied.
As Starfire continued to cling to Robin, she felt Trixie's horn against her back. As she felt energy flow into her, she began to feel a bit weaker, but the fracturing in her mind began to seal as she felt something being drawn back to her from a distance. "Wha...what happened to me?"
"We'll figure that out later," Raven said, leaning over her shoulder.
"Pinkie," Trixie said quietly, "do you think you could hit a G sharp for me?"
Confused, Starfire opened her mouth and sang a G sharp note. As she sang it, she felt her energy inside reach more stable levels. She held the note until Trixie pulled her horn away. "Am...am I better?"
Trixie shook her head. "This was a stop gap measure at best, I am afraid. You'll be stable for another...two weeks, maybe a bit more."
"Might be long enough," Raven mumbled.
"Why'd you ask her to sing?" Cyborg asked.
"So I could find her internal Harmony," Trixie replied.
Raven blinked at her. "Huh?"
Trixie smiled, apparently pleased that she could teach Raven something. "Ponies are inherently magical, whatever their variant. Their internal magic is on a specific harmonic frequency that is unique to everypony. In Pinkie's case, it is a Middle G sharp." Trixie smiled. "Mine happens to be a high C," she said quietly.
Gilda blinked. "Is that why ponies are always breaking into song?" she asked curiously.
"Indeed," Trixie replied. "Individual musical numbers help us to stabilize and boost our internal magic, while shared musical numbers help to strengthen the Harmony shared by all ponies." She glanced around. "I had thought that being the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony was why you six hadn't been singing, that you didn't need it...but it seems like your energies are starting to waver as well. I would certainly recommend singing at next opportunity."
Raven stared at her for a time, then glowered briefly at the other Titans before turning her back. "It's just a song, Raven," she muttered under her breath. "Just one, stupid song..."
Gilda suddenly focused her gaze on Raven intently. "Twilight, you just called yourself Raven." She swung her gaze to Robin and Star. "And Pinkie called Applejack Robin. And AJ called Pinkie Star. What's up with that?"
Starfire blinked. 'Forgot griffons have raptor hearing as well as vision,' she thought silently.
"Star?" Trixie asked suddenly. "Not...short for Starfire, by any chance?"
Everyone spun to stare at Trixie. "Where did you hear that name?" Raven asked.
Trixie blushed. "Tell no one," she said flatly. Reaching into her cloak, she pulled out what looked like a thick magazine and set it carefully on the table.
Mareval Comics Presents
COLLECTOR'S EDITION
TEEN TITANS!
Raven and the others stared at the extra thick comic book, and the picture on the cover. "Well," Raven said at last, "this should make explanations easier."
Couldn't find a way to upload the image properly. The image on the cover of the comic book is the cover art.
Edit: Thanks to Midnitemist, I figured out how to add the picture properly! 
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Trixie's a comic book enthusiast. Who knew?
And wait, Isn't Teen Titans DC?
Dun, Dun Dun!
2559930 It is, but you can't really make a horse pun from DC so I'm guessing that the whole slew of comics are now one entire universe.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
HAH! I should have known! Hee hee hee hee!
So, each world has the other as a fictional tale? Nice! Trixie being a closet Teen Titan fan? Eh, it's believable.
That being said.....are there only one enemy and one ally in this.....or two, one of each from EACH world?
I like this! Please kind author, may we have some more?
Edit: By the way, nice use of the "Frollo Confessional" from the Disney "Hunchback of Notre Dame" for the Pinkamena/Starfire (in)sanity spiral! Really put that scene together for me!
A DC comic in a Hasbro World... But the introduction of a comic does make the introductions WAY easier.
2559930
It's by the same company that makes Batman comics, right? Unless Marvel did some Weird Licensing Stuff then I'm pretty sure Teen Titans is made by DC.
so instead of closet bronies its closet (insert term for comic book lovers)?
Oh man what a twist.
HaHAHAHA!!! the ponies need to sing or they die. Now it all makes sense. I dont think any creature for any reason besides being killed if they didnt would sing as much as they do.
Wait.
WHAT?!?!
Wrong Comic Book franchise. As said before by others...Teen Titans is a DC product.
Otherwise, good job with this chapter.
Teen Titans was DC comics, I believe...
Though I never though it would be Trixie who read the comic...I had Luna pegged as the one who';d figure it out on Nightmare Night...oh well off by a week or two isn't bad XD
2559975>>2560186>>2560198>>2560024
Actually, it's just because no one buys PC comics...and the DC comics are more believable and acceptable in Equestria than the Marvel ones are, so I switched them.
2559980
I'm glad you enjoyed.
And yeah, I really love the song "Hellfire", and use it a lot to set this sort of scene.
I like the fact that you are back
And i like also where this is going, in fact as a proof of my appreciation of your work I give you a Space-Llama
th08.deviantart.net/fs71/200H/f/2012/319/c/e/space_llama_kicking_alien_butt__by_gerezon-d5l2pg0.jpg
Sing or die... Kill me now I doubt I could handle it. Good chapter overall though.
The plot thickens!
Nice.
Nice!!
So, we have just got ourselves a Fourth-Wall-breaking item...oh boy, this is going to be rather interesting. Neat concept with the reason why ponies sing together, by the way.
C&C:
"Twilight, you just called yourself Raven." She swung her gaze to Robin and Star. "And Pinkie called Applejack Robin. And AJ called Pinkie Star. What's up with that?"
> Use single quotation marks for the second names, otherwise they will blend into one name, and I am sure that wasn't Gilda's intention.
Also, I think there should a few ending markings somewhere in that song of her.
I'm about 90% sure it's supposed to be Koriand'r.
Cept he doesn't have teeth, hence the name Gummy.
And so the plot thickens, cliff hangers are allways a pain for me, i am extreamly antcipating the next chapter, so please kind author, spare me the insanity of waiting for the next installment. Or at least make my pain as insignifigant as possible.
Mareval wait not marvel
but MARE VAL
go with DC
I saw a lot of the Teen Titans show and I only have one question, Who the heck is Koriand'r or is it Kor'iander?
2561264 thats the real name of starfire
So now the titans have to sing and Trixie knows who they are. This is gonna be good.
Trixie reading comics?
Piccolo: NEEEEEEEEEERRRRRDDDDDDD!
Great chapter though, keep goin and stay golden^^
2561612 you wanted to say: "Her nerd power... ITS OVER 9000!!!"
2560505
"Never met a villain that they liked" Ahem
2561305
I knew that.
2561665 Nope! Jinx isn't a villain anymore. Your argument is invalid.
"unique frequency"? What? I know there are technically an infinite amount, but it would be difficult have a name for each 1 Hz change. And don't even think about getting smaller. Also, that comic book; why am I thinking about Inception?
2554497
The Tropes page.
And nice twist last chapter.
What a twist!
2562329
Don't know how.
And glad you liked the twist.
2562195
They don't all have names. Some just happen to exactly match music notes. Pinkie's happens to exactly match middle G sharp (the G sharp above Middle C) as played on a piano, and Trixie's happens to exactly match High C.
I've seen stories that make humans fictional characters in Equestria as ponies are on Earth, but never a crossover that are direct fictional properties in each others' worlds.
Actually, wait, that one TF2 fic did that. Also the singing thing seems interesting. But Pinkie/Star was singing before her attack. And during.
2562507
Just go to the Tropes website, sign up for a free account, add start adding Tropes!
Other people reading this should add tropes as well.
2559993 under the guise of a marvel name. which, by extension, means spider-man and other such things are available in comic form in equestria.
Spider-man and other comics from marvel are highly realistic and sometimes disturbing. with death and grief, etc.
2562629
Something else caused Pinkie/Star's break.
2562512
Those are some amazing odds.
Wow, finals week is making me an asshole.
2563065
Earth statistics says it is nearly impossible for such a thing to happen.
However, "What Dreams are Made Of" established that Equestrian statistics are based in the laws of literary convenience.
Ergo, it happens because the story calls for it to happen, and 'hum a G sharp' is an easier direction to follow than 'hum at 374925.364 Hz'. And I know that's probably way to high, but I'm just making a point.
Thank you for the schadenfreude.
2563081
Yeah, I always seem to forget that the author is literally the god of the universe. And I just have to stutter, "bu- b- but physics and probability!"
2563652
Well, physics I try to be consistent on, but probability?
Magic's more fun.
Where did my mind go? And why is there pink shit and blood all over the walls?
2564010
Good question.
Next question.
Did Trixie just... pull a Pinkie Pie with that comic book?!