Starlight embarks on a journey of self discovery after being physically and mentally broken. Strange things, sorcery, and marvelous magic abounds! Follow Starlight as she ventures to be Sorcerer Supreme!
Starlight wasn't able to use her magic to help save her friends. It was a miracle, really, that she was even able to save Equestria with a shattered horn and a ragtag team of anti-heroes. The odds had been stacked against them.
Starlight struggled with not being able to use magic at all after an accident, so when she extended a hoof to Chrysalis in the hopes of reformation and it was rejected, her spirit was broken too. In a self-righteous show of pride, Starlight embarks on a journey of self healing and discovery that she hopes will help heal her body and mend her spirit.
Unfortunately, fourth-dimensional magic is probably going to break Starlight's mind more than it's going to heal it.
Doctor Strange: Pony Style! - Comics Edition! The Adventures Of Starlight Glimmer, Sorcerer Supreme!
Strange things, sorcery, and marvelous magic abounds! Follow Starlight as she ventures to be Sorcerer Supreme!
Starlight looked at her hoof as everypony was running around and having fun in Our Town.
She sighed, feeling tears at the edge of her eyes. Seeing Starlight’s dismay, Twilight walked up to her protoge and lay a hoof on her in comfort. “What’s bothering you, Starlight?” Twilight inquired, wanting to help her student in any way.
“She… Chrysalis, I mean, didn’t take my hoof… And- and she vowed revenge…” Starlight whispered. “And I couldn’t even use my magic to help you at all… and I doubt I’ll ever be able to ever again..”
At that moment, Twilight truly took note of the bandages that were wrapped around Starlight’s horn and various other parts of her body. She had noticed them before, but had forgotten about them in all the excitement. “Oh dear Celestia, what happened to you?!” Twilight said worriedly, seeing Starlight’s current form.
“Oh, you know, just a normal hydra attack as me and Trixie made it back to Ponyville from Our Town…” Starlight chuckled lightly, even as black began to approach the edge of her vision.
“What?!” Twilight cried, fretting over Starlight. “And we weren’t there to help save you…” Twilight whispered in disdain carefully unwrapping Starlight’s horn and gasping at the sight of the cracks in Starlight’s horn. Mana pulsed from within, the cracks occasionally giving off a very faint light blue glow.
“Oh, and about that,” Starlight mumbled, now feeling drowsiness overcoming her mind. “You know, I may have… left… the hospital… a little too early… heh…” And with that she began to sway from side to side before falling to her right. Just as she was about to lose consciousness, she could hear Twilight cry in surprise and fear.
“STARLIGHT!”
Hours Earlier...
“Are you seriously still worrying about that whole fiasco?” Trixie asked as she trudged along with her sulking friend.
“Just because you said to pretend it never happened, doesn’t mean it didn’t,” Starlight grimaced.
“You need to lighten up,” Trixie announced as she came to stop. “How about a stand-up comedy routine to lighten up the mood, hm?” Trixie hummed before her trailer burst open into a stage. She then threw down a smoke ball, reappearing on stage before clearing her throat. “Welcome, one and all, to the GreatandPowerful Trixie’s stand up comedy! Prepare to be mediocred with-!”
“Uh, Trixie?” Starlight interrupted as she rose a hoof hesitantly. “Maybe we shouldn’t start a show in the middle of the Everfree.”
“Hush! I’m about to start!” Trixie hissed before continuing. “Prepare to be mediocred with these sub-par jokes of my own invention!”
“Trixie!” Starlight prattled worriedly as a shadow loomed behind the trailer.
“Can’t you see what I’m trying to do here?” Trixie sighed as she facehoofed. “What’s so important that you must interrupt my show?”
Starlight shakily pointed her hoof behind Trixie. As Trixie turned slowly, she widened her eyes in surprise before jumping back and hugging Starlight fearfully. The two mares quivered as the four headed hydra pushed the trailer-stage away, making it revert back to trailer form.
“GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” it roared as it stomped towards them and Starlight lit her horn with magic. A shield of light turquoise erupted around them before the hydra swiped at them. It’s claws collided with the shield, and it’s hand rebounded. A crack then appeared on Starlight’s shield just as the hydra attacked again, shattering the shield. The mana dissipated and Starlight shoved Trixie towards her trailer.
“Run, Trixie! I’ll hold off the hydra for as long as I can!” Starlight cried before getting back to all four hooves.
“And leave my friend behind?” Trixie shouted in defiance. “Never!”
Starlight smiled at Trixie’s loyalty, and they both charged their horns in preparation for what was to come. The hydra roared again and Trixie yelled a battle cry before throwing several smoke pellets at the hydra’s face. With the hydra stunned, Starlight blasted the hydra with her magic and the hydra staggered backwards. As the smoke around it’s heads cleared, it could be seen that it was agitated and enraged. Their attack had done little to affect the hydra’s health.
“Trixie, throw a few more smoke bombs at it’s heads!” Starlight said and Trixie nodded, pulling a hoof-ful of smoke balls once more and launching them at the hydra. They made impact and Starlight charged her horn once more with mana for a powerful teleportation spell. If she could just generate enough mana, she could teleport the hydra away from them so they could run away-
The hydra swiped it’s claws out in a blitz, hitting Starlight broadside and the purple mare yelped in surprise and pain. With a quick thought, Starlight shot the hydra with her unfinished spell just as she hit a tree and the hydra disappeared in flash of magic. But just then, Starlight’s head exploded in indescribable pain as her horn fissured from mana build up.
When she had been caught off guard, she pushed more mana than required into her horn and had released her incomplete spell. Although it worked, the mana had reacted violently with Starlight’s rough impact and thus, her magic violently exploded outwards… through her horn. The underbrush and trees in her unstable magic’s path disintegrated and mana crackled and arched from Starlight’s now cracked horn.
“Starlight!” Trixie cried out as she rushed to her friend’s aid, but Starlight didn’t notice. All she could do was scream in agony, blood trickling out of wounds in her sides and hooves.
Trixie had little time to react. Though she was only a showmare, she had studied minor healing spells for sole purpose of avoiding the need to ever go to the hospital… but this was way out of her league. Her horn flourished with her own magic and she administered the simplest sedative she knew, before hastily wrapping some bandages over her friend’s wounds and gently placing her in her trailer. She could hear Starlight’s ragged breathing and screaming, and Trixie raced through the Everfree before breaking the canopy and tumbling into the town of Ponyville. She quickly spotted Applejack and Rarity and made her way to them.
“Applejack, Rarity! We were attacked by a hydra and Starlight’s injured real bad! You need to help!” Trixie gasped for air, eyes wide.
“Us? Help you? As if!” Applejack snorted. “You’d do better helping us!”
“What is that get-up?” Rarity remarked before laughing. “What kind of fashion-sense do you have?”
Trixie stared at the two mares in shock and disbelief as they trotted away, laughing to themselves. “What the buck?!” Trixie whispered, enraged at how they brushed off her urgency and she shook her head before rushing to the hospital. Her friend needed help, and if she was the only one willing than so be it.
Unlatching herself from the trailer, she burst through the doors of Ponyville General, her hat blowing off her head as she did so. “Trixie?!” Nurse Redheart shouted in alarm at the sight of the showmare.
“Nurse Redheart, Starlight needs help! A hydra attacked us and she’s injured!” Trixie demanded with tears in her eyes. “Please, you have to help my friend!”
“Y-yes of course,” Nurse Redheart quickly nodded as she processed the words of Trixie. “First Aid, get the emergency staff! We have a mare in need of desperate attention!”
“Yes, Nurse Redheart!” First Aid said before he shouted and the Emergency medical staff rushed out to Trixie’s trailer.
“By Celestia’s sweet grace,” one of the doctor’s whispered wide-eyed as they saw Starlight’s unconscious and broken form. Light leaked from Starlight’s horn and some blood stained the wood of Trixie’s trailer.
“Quick, get her on the stretcher, she hasn’t got much time!” First Aid yelled and the unicorn team lit their horns, carefully generating a magic cushion under Starlight before laying her on the gurney. With no time to waste, they rushed into the emergency room. Trixie attempted to follow, but one of the nurses reluctantly pushed Trixie away, telling her that she couldn’t be in there as they were working.
With nothing else to do, Trixie sat down in the lobby, head in her hooves. She began to cry, worried for Starlight’s well-being and blaming herself for being an idiot. Nurse Redheart saw this, and she left the counter to sit beside Trixie, rubbing a hoof up and down Trixie’s back to comfort her.
After a few hours of operation, one of the doctors exited the room and approached the two mares. “Starlight has reached a stable condition, though she is in a very fragile state right now and will at least take the day to be back to full strength…” he addressed Trixie and Trixie nodded.
Trixie looked at the doctor for a bit and before he could leave, she said to him, “But?”
“I’m sorry?” the doctor asked, and Trixie sighed.
“I’m sensing a ‘but’ there, so what is it?” Trixie asked tiredly.
“I don’t think it would be appropriate to share this information with ponies who are not related to Starlight directly-”
“Just answer her question,” Nurse Redheart scolded and the doctor flinched, “Can’t you see she’s close friends with the mare? She’s the one who brought her in, for Luna’s sake!”
“S-sorry, miss. Although Starlight will recover, some of her wounds will never heal. Her horn has fractured, and there is nothing this side of Equestria that we know of that would be able to heal it. As far as we know, she may never be able to conjure magic properly ever again.”
Trixie could feel her stomach drop for Starlight at those words and she stared off into blank space. “Can… can I see her?”
“Yes, she is mostly conscious but she is still very much so in pain. The pain should pass as long as she doesn’t move at all in the next several hours, but if she uses her horn it may cause more damage than good. Perhaps you can relate this information to her, as we have yet to break it.”
Trixie nodded mutely before following the doctor into one of the hospital rooms. In the hospital bed lay Starlight, who was gently breathing with bandages surrounding her horn and part of her head. Wrappings also cover her sides, barrel, and her forelegs, and it all seemed freshly applied.
“Starlight?” Trixie whispered as she walked to Starlight’s side.
“...Trixie…?” Starlight slowly opened her eyes to see her best friend standing at her bedside.
“Thank Luna you’re okay,” Trixie whispered with tears at the corner of her eyes and she gently hugged Starlight. Starlight winced a little as her hooves still hurt and her head throbbed but she appreciated the notion.
“...Of course I am… why wouldn’t I be?” Starlight smiled as Trixie pulled away.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because we were attacked by a hydra and now you’re in the flipping hospital?” Trixie breathed out in a huff before sighing. Starlight chuckled, some of the spells the doctors administered still having an effect on her mind and body.
“Oh yes, that,” Starlight nodded as she waved her hoof in a circle. The two mares stayed silent for a few moments after that, just enjoying the fact that Starlight was still alive.
“Starlight…” Trixie whispered quietly. Starlight’s ears swiveled to try and catch what she was saying.
“Yes, Trixie?” Starlight said after a moment, trying to think faster than the medical spells would allow.
“I don’t know how to properly say this, but you might never be able to use magic ever again…”
“Hm?” Starlight hummed, not really getting it.
“Because your horn is… is broken, you can’t use magic anymore.” Trixie muttered and Starlight took a few moments to process those words.
“I…” Starlight whispered at last, “I can’t use magic?”
“Not without hurting yourself more than you already are,” Trixie confessed and Starlight closed her eyes in thought.
“Where are Twilight and the others?” Starlight breathed after another long silence.
“At the moment, I’d rather they burned in Tartarus than visit you,” Trixie hissed and Starlight frowned.
“Why?”
“Because of how-!” Trixie began with a shout before closing her eyes and breathing. “Because of how Rarity and Applejack so casually shrugged me off when you needed help. I asked them to help us… and they laughed.”
Starlight, with her eyes still closed, frowned further. “That doesn’t sound right,” Starlight muttered.
“No, it really doesn’t,” Trixie growled before sighing. Rubbing her temples with her hooves before finally noticing her hat was missing, she sulked. “I’m sorry, Starlight. I’ll come back later when I’ve gotten some sleep and calmed down. At least I know you’re okay.”
As Trixie turned to leave and reached the doorway, Starlight called out her name. Turning around, Trixie returned her attention to the light purple mare. “Trixie?” Starlight began, “You’re the best friend I could have ever asked for.”
Trixie smiled tiredly at the comment and laughed a little. “The Great and Friendly Trixie thanks you for being her friend as well,” Trixie whispered before finally leaving. Now alone, Starlight winced ever so often, feeling the healing magic of the hospital working on her as her head throbbed every few seconds. Soon enough, she found herself being pulled down into the clutches of sleep, falling into oblivion…
“Starlight Glimmer!”
Starlight looked around, trying to find the source of the voice. It sounded a lot like… “Princess Luna!” Starlight cried, twisting around in the dense fog, trying to find where the Lunar Princess might be. “This is just a dream…” she whispered to herself, realizing this after hearing the Princess’ voice echo in her dream.
“Starlight Glimmer!” the voice whispers once more.
“Princess Luna, where are you?” Starlight asks worriedly, wondering why there was such a sense of urgency in her voice.
“Starlight Glimmer, there is no time! You must get help!” Princess Luna mutters, her voice now breaking louder than before. Starlight frantically began to run around Our Town, looking for the Princess.
“What are you talking about, Princess Luna? This is all just a dream!” Starlight says, rushing around the houses, looking into windows, now fearing the worst. If it really was just a dream, then Princess Luna wouldn’t be talking to her. Starlight bit her lip before she found a large shadow suddenly cast onto the ground. Without hesitation, Starlight looked up to see Princess Luna’s shape in the moon, clinging on inside the moon for what seemed to be dear life.
“Not here! In the waking world! They've taken my sister and I! It's worse than the last time! Your dream called to me, and I was able to break through! You must find help!” Princess Luna gasped, chitin hooves clutching at her form.
“What are you saying?! Who's taken you?!” Starlight shouted, seeing Princess Luna getting dragged down. With one last burst of strength, Princess Luna shot out of the hooves’ grasp once more. “I can’t even use magic if I could to help!”
“It does not matter if you cannot use magic. All you need is to be yourself, Starlight Glimmer! But know this, be careful who you trust! You need all the help you can find! The changelings have returned and-!” Before Luna could finish, a swarm of black hooves grabbed her and pulled her down. Starlight could hear the shout of alarm from the Princess before the dream began to collapse.
“Princess Luna!” Starlight cried before running away from the enroaching black. With a swirling sensation, Starlight awoke in her hospital bed.
“Gah! They’re back!” Starlight shouted with a cry of pain. In an attempt to activate her magic, the bandages that wrapped her horn glowed blue where the cracks were present and she doubled over, clutching her horn.
“AHHHH!” she screamed before stumbling off the bed. She shakily hoofed her hospital gown off before stumbling out of the room, through the hospital and into the streets of Ponyville. “Have…” she began to pant, “To… get… to… Tri... xie!”
Luckily, she didn’t have to look far as Trixie’s trailer was only a few hooves away from the hospital. Still pale from blood loss and a little woozy from the healing spells the doctor’s had performed on her, she found herself falling at the door of Trixie’s caravan. She began to knock and with each smack of the wood her hooves cried in pain but she ignored it. Equestria was in trouble, and her own woes were nothing compared to what had returned.
After banging on Trixie's trailer, Trixie woke up in an explosive manner. Upon seeing Starlight and registering that she was standing in front of her, Trixie began to scold Starlight for being an idiot, but Starlight shushed her. She then explained herself to shut her friend up, before making sure Trixie was really Trixie and not a changeling in disguise. Soon enough, Trixie grumbled her response and Starlight sighed before telling her of the very real threat of changelings and what she expected. Watching as Trixie suggested getting Twilight's help, Starlight shook her head before expressing her worries.
With a quick conversation on what they should do, they both agreed they needed to make sure and they made their way to the Castle of Friendship. Opening the main doors, they made their way to the Cutie Map room and began to hear the voices of their beloved friends. As they peeked through the open doors, Trixie narrowed her eyes at the sight of Applejack and Rarity but Starlight shook her head. They watched in scrutination as Spike was mistreated and Rarity laughed at his misfortune.
“Is it ready?” ‘Twilight’ grinned evilly.
“Just one more,” ‘Applejack’ smiled before pushing a chitin covered rock into a circle and it activated, pulsing green. Above the Cutie Map was conjured a swirling green expanse, which in no time portrayed the image of the Queen of the Changelings.
“Queen Chrysalis!” Starlight gasped silently as she and Trixie watched events unfold.
“Ugh. I can't take any of you seriously when you look like that,” Chrysalis groaned and ‘Twilight’ chuckled.
“Oh, right,” ‘Twilight’ said before all seven of the beings in the room transformed into changelings/
Both Trixie and Starlight gasped as they watched green fire engulf everypony, revealing their true selves. They then held their breaths as the master plan of the Changelings was relayed to them, how all the Princesses, the Mane 6, and even Spike were all replaced.
To their utter horror, the door to the room creaked, alerting all the changelings to their presence. As they all hissed and transformed, Starlight pulled Trixie away from the door and breathed a few times in preparation for what she was about to do. “Starlight, what are you-?!” Trixie whispered before Starlight cast an invisibility spell on them.
White hot torture lanced through Starlight’s brain but the spell held. Trixie widened her eyes in horror at what Starlight was doing, but held her mouth as the changelings burst from the room in search for them. The seven changelings then dispersed, leaving only ‘Twilight’ behind. Trixie held her breath and held Starlight dearly as they shivered in fear and pain respectively. ‘Twilight’ sniffed for a few seconds, before finally leaving them.
With a gut-wrenching and ear-shattering scream, Starlight teleported them out of the castle.
“STARLIGHT!” Trixie yelled in anger and concern as they found themselves just outside of the Castle of Friendship.
Starlight didn’t respond, rolling in her torment and wallowing in her suffering. Through Starlight’s bandages could be seen the cracks, and magic was glowing through and pouring out of those cracks. Just by looking at it, Trixie felt sick. As a unicorn, seeing magic coming out like that was unnatural, and meant something was very wrong. Starlight gripped at her horn as the glow slowly ebbed away, some of the healing spells still having an effect on her, and Trixie decided it wouldn’t hurt to add another painkilling spell.
Finally, they were left panting and breathing hard, still processing what they had just learned.
“Don’t ever do that again!” Trixie scolded Starlight after she knew Starlight was intelligible and Starlight groaned in response.
“If... I... have... to... I will...” Starlight panted but smiled all the same. After finally recuperating to the point where Starlight could talk normally without too much pain, Starlight slowly got to four hooves, with a little help from Trixie.
With the situation dawning on Trixie once more, she began to hyperventilate. “Okay, a hydra I can begin to handle, you being injured, sure, but this? I can't deal with this! I'm just a performer! This is... This is princess-level stuff! But the changelings have all the princesses... We're doomed!”
Starlight grabbed Trixie by the hooves and shook her. “Get a hold of yourself!” Starlight struck Trixie across the face and Trixie immediately silenced. “Okay, so... uh, Queen Chrysalis only said they took Luna and Celestia and obviously Twilight and the others... but maybe Cadance is still safe! Our best bet is to get to the Crystal Empire before the changelings do. That way we can…”
A rustling in the bushes interrupted them and a changeling with shimmery wings appeared before them. “There’s no help coming from the Crystal Empire.” At the sight of Thorax, Trixie began to freak out again only for Starlight to smack her once more.
“I would use my magic to hold you in a bubble of silence, but you know I can’t, so keep! It! Together!” Starlight whispered sharply and Trixie held her cheek with a hoof, nodding wide-eyed as she watched Thorax. She gulped, and Starlight faced the changeling. “Thorax?” Starlight eyed suspiciously. “Were you waiting in the bushes the entire time we were lying on the ground here?”
Thorax rubbed his head with a hoof. “Uh, yeah.”
“Okay…” Starlight muttered. As Thorax raised a hoof to step forward, Starlight held a hoof up to stop him. “Wait! How do we know you’re really Thorax and not a changeling in disguise?”
“You were there when Spike defended me to the ponies of the Crystal Empire. Princess Twilight said-” Thorax transformed into a doppelganger of Twilight “-As the Princess of Friendship, I should set an example for all of Equestria. But today it was Spike who taught me-”
“Okay, okay- ouch!... We don’t need the whole speech.” Starlight stopped Thorax as her head crackled with pain again. Thorax then noticed the bandages present all over Starlight and he rushed over worriedly. Trixie yelped at the sudden movement and Thorax froze.
“You heard it yourself, Trixie. This is Thorax, and he’s a reformed changeling, which means he’s on our side. Understand?” Starlight explained, and Trixie gulped, bracing herself against her trailer.
“Hi, it’s a pleasure to…” Thorax begun but Trixie squeaked.
“Look, If Starlight says you're on our side, I believe her. But maybe just stay over there for now, okay?” Trixie eeped and Thorax nodded slowly.
“What happened?” Thorax said worriedly, looking over Starlight’s form, and Starlight grimaced before waving a hoof.
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Starlight shrugged off, but Thorax eyed her carefully. “So you said there's no help... did the changelings get Cadance too?”
Thorax assessed Starlight for a moment before responding. “They… they took Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart! Sunburst, he sent me here to get Princess Twilight's help, but... but it sounds like it's too late for that, too! What do we do, Starlight?”
“Yeah, Starlight. What are we gonna do?”
Starlight gulped as two ponies now looked to her for leadership. “I... I don't know! There has to be somepony else who can handle this! Isn’t there?”
“There is nopony else! Everypony with powerful magic is already gone! We still have you, I guess, but you can’t use your magic without severely injuring yourself more than you already are!” Trixie exclaimed with desperation. “We’re all going to die!”
“You know whenever ponies talk about powerful magic, they always leave me out. If I weren't so evolved, I might decide to take it personally,” a voice purred as they all turned to see who it was. Trixie, Thorax and Starlight’s mouths parted slightly at the sight of the Chaos God. “Well, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters? Where are Twilight and the girls?” Discord asked, his body coiling around Trixie’s trailer.
“First of all, how do we know that you're really you?” Starlight questioned suspiciously, and Discord gave an offended snort. With a snap of his fingers, Discord began to unleash some chaotic magic on the area, causing the land to become soap and chocolate rain to fall.
“Do I need to continue?” Discord inquired with a cocked eyebrow, filing his nails as if he wasn’t truly paying attention. He then noticed all the bandages on Starlight and sucked his teeth in sympathy. “Ooh, ouch. What an injury! If I didn’t know better, I’d say you only got that injury to help the author start a story,” Discord announced much to the confusion of the group.
“Look, Discord, we don’t have much time! Chrysalis and the changelings are back, and they've ponynapped all of the most powerful ponies in Equestria! Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, even Twilight and her friends. We need to-” Starlight explained but before she could finish Discord snapped his fingers and everything reverted back to normal. With one quick motion, Discord put his face up against Starlight.
“They took Fluttershy?” Discord whispered menacingly, and Starlight nodded her head quickly, the motion causing her head to throb.
“Y-yes, they would’ve taken Fluttershy as well,” Starlight stammered.
“Where?” Discord growled, his voice reverberating with intensity.
“The Changeling Kingdom, more than likely,” Thorax provided. Discord narrowed his eyes, straightened his back, and snapped his claws.
They appeared on the edge of a relatively small cliff, and Discord frowned. “Odd. I was trying to take us right to Fluttershy, but there is no Fluttershy.”
“I think I have a pretty good idea where she might be…” Trixie whimpered as she looked at what lay past the cliff and in the distance.
“I'd hoped never to see that place again. Now what?” Thorax stammered, and they all looked at the ever depressing Changeling Kingdom Castle.
Thus, the trio embarked on a quest to save Equestria, and we find ourselves back in the present…[1]
“Starlight?”
Starlight groaned as she turned in bed. “Just one more minute, Ma…”
“Starlight,” the voice persisted, and Starlight opened her eyes to see a frazzled purple pony princess talking to her. “Starlight! Thank Celestia you’re finally awake!”
“Hm?” Starlight murmured before shooting up in her hospital bed once more. With a disorienting case of déjà vu, Starlight shook her head and faced Twilight with an alert mind. “Twilight? What- where am I?”
Twilight laughed nervously before clearing her throat. “You’re in, uh, the hospital again.”
Starlight began to emit a high pitched whine, putting her face in her hooves. She winced as her hooves brushed her horn and then proceeded to drag her hooves down her face. Twilight sighed before continuing. “Okay, so you’re not in the actual hospital, you’re in the Castle’s hospital.”
Starlight froze and cocked an eyebrow with her hooves still on her face. “The Castle has a hospital.”
“Sure does,” Twilight confirmed and Starlight dropped her hooves.
“Does that mean I can leave now?” Starlight said, attempting to get out of the hospital bed. Twilight’s horn lit up and suddenly, Starlight was frozen in place. “Uh, can you maybe not use your magic to freeze me?”
“Sorry, Starlight, but I wanted to address the elephant in the room,” Twilight explained before releasing Starlight. Starlight stayed at the edge of the bed, waiting for whatever Twilight wanted to talk about. “Your horn.”
Starlight locked up before glancing up at her still bandaged mana conductor. “W-what about it?” Starlight asked, and Twilight lowered her gaze.
“I’m sorry we weren’t there to prevent that hydra from attacking you. It must’ve sensed that the magic that we have been imbued with was absent from Ponyville and thought that it would be safe to attack. If only-”
“Twilight, stop.” Starlight dropped off her bed and approached Twilight. “It wasn’t your fault that the changelings chose then to kidnap you. It isn’t your fault that I may never properly use magic ever again. None of it is, okay?” Starlight lay a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder and Twilight nodded.
“Thanks, Starlight,” Twilight whispered before stepping away from Starlight. “Starlight, if you will say yes, can I take a look at your horn without the bandages? I… I only caught a glance just before you passed out, and I want to make sure it’s... stable.”
Starlight gulped nervously before nodding, and Twilight brought a mirror in front of Starlight. She then slowly began to unravel Starlight’s bandages on her head. “When I take these off, you can see for yourself just how bad they might be. I don’t think you know yourself the severity of it’s damage, but here we go.” Starlight nodded once more, acknowledging what Twilight said. Just the motion of Twilight taking the bandages off burned her nerves and she resisted the urge to bite her cheek, just before her horn was fully unraveled, and soon so was her head. Starlight breathed quickly, looking at her pale face before casting her eyes up to assess the damage.
“I’m really sorry, Starlight,” Twilight murmured as they both looked at Starlight’s horn.
Starlight could feel something die inside her at the sight of her shattered horn. Cracks weaved her horn and one large crack spiralled from the top to the base of her head. With every throb of pain in Starlight’s head, she could see the faintest glow of mana emanating from the main crack in her horn. It was like a spider web, with faint fractures lining the entire magical appendage. Starlight could feel tears reaching her eyes just at the sight of it, as well the oddest feeling of sickness at seeing magic leaking from her head.
Starlight closed her eyes, blinking the tears away. She breathed slowly in and out, trying to calm her beating heart. “Trixie told me the doctors said there is nothing they could do to heal my horn like this,” Starlight began before facing Twilight. “Is that true?”
Twilight looked crestfallen and turned away before teleporting a book from one of her shelves. She could see Twilight’s own reaction at seeing her friend’s state and Starlight felt sorry for making Twilight go through this, as much as she had had to face that hydra. “While you were recovering after we went to Our Town, I scoured the library for anything. I asked the doctors at the hospital, and I even wrote to the Princesses. They sent me a few tomes, but it was only ever mentioned a couple times in the few hundred books they sent me.”
Starlight widened her eyes at how Twilight seemed to shrug off a hundred books (probably with 400 pages each) as a few but said nothing on that matter. “How long was I asleep that you could find the time to read more than a hundred books?” Starlight asked.
“Two, maybe three hours,” Twilight replied. Starlight blinked.
“...What did you find, then? Even if it’s just a word.”
“There’s a few mentions, but the strongest is a small section that mentions healing in here: ‘The Way Of The Spirit’, and I… I hate to admit it but I read this book last out of all of the books for the only reason that it is so far out there. It talks about chi and spiritual energy… Which, I’m hard-pressed to say is not what I call ‘real magic’.”
“What does it say,” Starlight implored quietly after a moment, demanding more than asking.
“Starlight, I don’t exactly think this is the best book to trust. I think it’d be better if we just figured it out ourselves or just let it be and-”
“Something is better than nothing, Twilight,” Starlight muttered, “So tell me what it says.”
Twilight stood still for moment before she nodded and flipped the book open to a marker. “Any wound, whether it be spiritual or of physical nature, can be healed with a journey of self discovery and intense trial. Many secrets are held in the makings of the universe, and one only needs to look to find them. There are few who have mastered this art and it’s magic is all but forgotten, but if you are truly penitent and willing, you will find yourself feeling jubilant in what you have seeked, and what you have found.”
Twilight shut the book and sighed. “I told you, it’s a bunch of gibberish spouting nonsense about things like ‘spirit’ and ‘secrets the universe has hidden’. It certainly is interesting, and I’m sure there’s sound theory behind it but I just don’t find it… it doesn’t sound right, Starlight. Starlight?”
Twilight watched as Starlight muttered things under her breath, talking to herself. “Starlight, are you still with me?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah,” Starlight whispered before pointing her hoof at the book. “Can I see that page real quick?”
“You’re not seriously considering going on a ‘journey of self discovery’, are you?” Twilight asked Starlight with worry as she hesitantly floated the book over. “It just doesn’t sound right.”
“It doesn’t matter what sounds ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ right now, Twilight.This might be the only chance of helping me recover, and if it means that I get to learn more about myself, than all the better.” Starlight flipped to the page before frowning after skimming it over a few times. “Twilight, some of the letters are printed differently than others.”
Twilight cocked an eyebrow as she walked over to Starlight’s side. Looking the page over once more, Twilight shook her head. “Starlight, there’s nothing wrong with any of the letters. It’s all the same. What are you talking about?”
Starlight began to point to several letters on the page. “Kay, Ay, Em, Ar, Ee,Tee, Ay, Jay. Those specific letters are bolded or something. Can’t you see it?” Starlight questioned, and Twilight looked at the letters once more, comparing them to other letters on the same page.
“There’s… there’s nothing wrong with those letters, Starlight. Are you sure you’re okay right now? Maybe your headaches are making you see things, and I fear that if that’s the case, then your condition is much worse than either of us thought-”
“No, Twilight,” Starlight said firmly. She gently closed the book shut once more. “I haven’t thought more clearly in years. If it means helping me discover who I really am…” Starlight looked at the book in her hooves before looking back up at Twilight. “I need this, Twilight. Even if it means I can’t use magic, even if I don’t heal. I… I’ve been torn about my role as a pony ever since you helped me see there’s a better way of doing things… I don’t know if I’m a leader, or a skilled mage, or a broken mare! Look at me, Twilight, really look at me. What do you see?”
Twilight studied Starlight for a time. “I… I don’t know. But I know one thing. I see a friend I can trust to do what’s right.” Twilight sighed, feeling the cover of the book Starlight held. She then hugged her friend with sincerity and trust. “If there’s anypony I know who’s capable of taking care of themselves, it’s you. And if you really think this is what you need…” Twilight pulled away from the hug and smiled at Starlight. “Nothing’s stopping you.”
Starlight pulled Twilight in for another hug, surprising the Friendship Princess. After a while, they let go, and Starlight had tears streaking her face. “Thank you, Twilight. You always seem to understand in the end.”
Twilight nodded as Starlight collected herself and slowly walked out of the hospital wing. “Anytime, Starlight…” Twilight whispered. “Even if that means following a book that doesn’t make sense…”
Standing in the hospital for a few more minutes after Starlight had left, Twilight tried to make sense of what she felt. Something felt off. She could’ve sworn that there was magic in those pages, so subtle and different that she hadn’t really noticed it. If only for a few moments, Twilight pondered the credibility of anything in the book. “Kamaretaj…” Twilight muttered to herself as she remembered the letters Starlight pointed to and connected them in her head. Turning the word over in her head, she walked out of the hospital in a cloud of thought.
“Are you absolutely sure about this, Starlight?” Twilight asked her friend.
Starlight silently faced out the open door for another moment before turning to Twilight. She could feel her own self doubts on going on such a journey, but she felt it needed to be done. Ponies… she had always heard of how ponies changed when after they had gone somewhere. When they came back, they were always different, changed, better, maybe not just physically but mentally and emotionally stronger.
“...Yes, Twilight,” Starlight nodded, “I- I need this. I know it’s going to be hard, and- and I know it might not heal me or anything, but it just feels right. I can’t explain it… I just…” Starlight turned around to look out the door of the castle once more.
She watched the citizens of Ponyville milling around, going about their daily routine as morning had broken. She then looked beyond, at the rolling hills and the peaceful grasslands of Equestria. The places she’ll end up venturing into… The land she’ll journey and wade through to find the answers to her inner peace and physical healing…
“I’m ready, Twilight. Whatever I find, whatever happens to me… I am glad I was able to be your friend in the time that you have helped teach me the values of friendship. When you next see me… I- I hope I’ll be a different pony.” Starlight hugged Twilight before taking a step out the door.
“Starlight, wait,” Twilight called, and Starlight turned around once more. Approaching her slowly, Twilight levitated something over to Starlight. Starlight carefully took the piece of parchment within her hooves and looked at the word written on it. Before she could question it, she was given another item, a crystal that looked to be of the same property as the castle.
“Twilight?” Starlight whispered quietly, looking at the two items Twilight had given her. “What is this? Kamare-taj? What’s this crystal supposed to be?”
Twilight smiled at her soon-to-depart friendship student sadly, as she did not like the idea of seeing a good friend leave her side, especially one that seemed to be injured and broken. “That, that is what those letters you pointed at seemed to form. It might be an anagram for something else, but… And that crystal, I want you to keep it. So that if you ever encounter hard times wherever you are going to end up, you can always know you have a home to return to. It can be your reminder, a reminder that we are all still here for you. Just remember to be safe-”
Starlight lunged out and hugged Twilight once more, taking Twilight by surprise. “Thank you, Twilight. For everything… thank you.”
“Happy travels, then,” Twilight smiled sadly once more, pulling away with tears in her eyes. Starlight’s own composure had fallen, and she too had tears falling freely. Nodding, Starlight placed the items into her enchanted saddlebags and set out. Just as she left the stairs of the castle, she glanced one more grin that said many things at Twilight, before waving goodbye.
“Say… say goodbye to the others for me, will you?” Starlight shouted once more, before seeing Twilight’s nod and smiling herself. Starlight nodded once more, before resignedly leaving her friends and home behind her.
And it finally came all too soon. In no time, she found herself at the outskirts of Ponyville, and soon on a pleasant trot on a long and dusty road. For the first time in a long time, truly alone, she ventured along quietly and thoughtfully. She kept thinking about all the things that had happened in her life, the friends she had made, the enemies she had faced… and the mistakes she had made. She thought about how willing to forgive the ponies of Our Town were, and how accepting the citizens of Ponyville were to her.
She hadn’t done much on the side of good for either town. She had garnered a grudge on a friend she didn’t know she still had, she had messed with a fixed point in time that led to catastrophic futures… ones that Twilight had had to experience. Yet those six ponies still accepted her, her ponies in Our Town still believed in her…
Was she a leader? A hypocrite? A mage? A friend… or an enemy?
These thoughts plagued her mind as she slowed to a soft pace, breathing it all in. The scenery around her passed by in a blur. Wavy grasslands and long empty fields, trees spotting the landscape ever so often. She looked around as she took in the beauty of it all. So often she had been with companions to pass the time, never truly paying attention to what was around her when she was travelling. Always talking, always looking, but never seeing. And now, here it was, the gift of nature that the world had given her, at her beck and call.
Her ears swiveled and she could hear birds chirping. Honey and the scent of flowers and the grass graced her. A nice empty blue dominated the sky and Celestia’s sun shone down with it’s radiant warmth. Stopping at a small burrow for a snack, she looked at how far she had already come.
Ponyville could still be seen in the distance, but it was now just a speck of houses in the horizon. Taking a drink of water, she looked over the Everfree and found a storm raging over the chaotic forest. A gust of wind blew through the field she was in and she smiled with her eyes closed at the feeling of the wind flowing through her fur. Solitude embraced her, yet she couldn’t help but think of all the friends she had left behind… All the things she could’ve done if she had just stayed…
She brushed these thoughts away as she hoofed out the piece of paper Twilight had given her. In Twilight’s writing, Kamare-taj was scribbled. Why there was a hyphen there, she couldn’t tell, but she could remember Twilight hesitating when she suggested it might be an anagram. Maybe it’s a place… Maybe Twilight found something in her books and was being unnecessarily vague. Or it could even be a pony, but how would she know who it was? Putting the slip of paper away and her mind still electrified in thought, she pulled out the other thing Twilight had given her.
A crystal. Chipped from the Castle of Friendship by Twilight, she held it close to her chest and could feel the warmth of home and her friends fill her being. She looked at it again and found it glowing softly, and she dolefully looked at it. Seeing a tiny hole in the top and an inscription on the side, she read it.
Friendship is Magic, and you are our friend. Just remember that we will always be here, now and forever. Stay safe, Starlight.
Feeling her vision beginning to blur, she carefully laced a line of twine through the hole before tying it and looping it around her neck. Getting back to all four hooves, she looked down at the reminder of home that now lay gently against her fur. Holding it in one hoof and looking forward, she took a deep breath before nodding to herself. Resigned and determined, Starlight continued forward, and Ponyville soon disappeared behind her.
And little did she know, an astral projection watched her silently, her eyes following the mare for a distance before smiling to herself. Finding herself back in her body, she got to work, humming to herself. After all, she needed to prepare for visitors, and it wouldn’t do to be ill-prepared.
Starlight shivered as she quickly pulled out her cloak at the sound of thunder in the near distance. She could see the swirling opaque clouds hovering ahead of her, and the haziness that accompanied the look of rain falling in the distance. Huddling her cloak close and clasping it closed, she breathed in the petrichor that now came with the storm before truding.
FzzzKrKRAKOW!
Lightning struck all around her as the sky only darkened further and rain began to pelt her. The flashes of lightning helped illuminate her path ahead and she pressed on, never giving up. The wind pelted her relentlessly, and with it came the grazing gale of rain against her face.
BrrmmmmGRKRAPOW!
Mud covered her hooves as she desperately tried to follow the path she had taken. With only the light to truly see, she squinted through the unrelenting downpour of water coming from all directions and nearly slipped on a rock she hadn’t seen in front of her. Yelping in surprise, she scrambled and jumped, landing on her barrel.
FzzzzzASH!
She got back to her hooves and began to hurry, trying to get under the cover of the tree canopy just a few trots away. Bursting through some bushes and into the graces of the underbrush, she sighed. Looking up, she could see the faint electric charges going off in the clouds, and much less subdued rainfall.
RrrrbmmmmBM!
Muttering under her breath, Starlight began to look for shelter as she started to rush through the small forest. Jumping over fallen trees and overgrown moss as well as squirrel hills and jutting rocks, she found herself over a crevice that stretched for as far as she could see from side to side. It stretched for about three metres and with little light to see with, it appeared to be ominously bottomless. Nudging a few rocks off the edge, she held her breath and waited.
BrrrrrBOOM!
Prkchkkikplat!
Five seconds.
It took five seconds for the sound of rock hitting the bottom of the ravine.
She did the math in her head, and she paled. That was nearly one hundred and fifty metres. Gulping, she backed away from the edge before moving to her right. As another crackle of thunder lit up the sky, she found a path across that had been created by a weeping willow. Testing its strength with her hooves, she carefully got on and began to catwalk across, very very slowly. With her senses focused on the task at hoof and being buffeted by rain once more, she didn’t notice the telltale sign of burning ozone and her hairs standing on end. Electrons began charging and the air seemed to come alive.
BRAKOW!
In an instant, lightning struck.
Everything around her shook and she was blinded with light, making her slip. Crying out in alarm, she attempted to grip the tree but found herself sliding. With her ears ringing and suffering from temporary flash blindness, her hoof snagged against something and she screamed as she felt the world slip out from beneath her. Hitting her head on the wood of the dead tree, pain tore through her skull.
She could feel something rip open and felt one side of her body suddenly feel weightless. Blinking her eyes to try and rush her recovery, breathing in and out all the while, the white began to leave her vision. Looking up, she saw that her hoof had been snatched by a small V created by two branches. As she looked down, she bit her tongue as her survival instincts lit her already searing mind on fire.
“Gah!” Starlight gasped as she saw the book she had borrowed from Twilight floating downward before hearing it impact the ground below. With it went nearly half of her rations that she had prepared, and she groaned at the first thought that came through her mind.
“Twilight’s going to kill me…” Starlight whispered, gazing warily and wearily down at the wreckage of her book, and with it the only hope she had of going where she needed to go. And maybe even her own life if she ever made it back to Ponyville. She then thought of her food and silently began to panic as what the loss of that food implied.
At the current moment, however, she had more pressing matters to attend to. Such as: the ensurance that she live and not die. As her hoof slipped slightly, she cried and turned her attention back to the task at hoof. Swinging her right hoof up, she struggled to grasp anything that would aid in her ascendance. With no trees to cover her currently, rain blew in full force and she could barely make out what she was seeing as water sprayed against her eyes. It especially made it harder to grasp things when they were constantly being showered in water.
Finally catching a cranny, she cried out in extreme effort to lift herself up. Throwing another hoof over, she was able to get more leverage, and soon, her form lay breathing heavily across the width of the trunk. Feeling it would be safer to just crawl on the tree now that she had had a near death experience, she scooched herself across the remaining length of the tree. With adrenaline still pumping through her veins, she once more entered the safety of the trees and soon came across a small overhang of dirt which lay with the open side against the wind. Smiling to herself, she made her way beneath it, testing it with some branches and rocks before settling down and collapsing.
Breathing heavily and feeling the strain of recent events catching up to her, she looked through her remaining belongings and then up at her new temporary dirt ceiling. Moaning, she put both of her hooves onto her face in vexation. With no book, half her food gone, and wet and cold, she pulled her hooves down her face, stretching it out while she groaned all the way.
When Starlight woke up the next morning relatively dry and a bit cold, the rain had fallen back to a more pleasant drizzle. With dew and rainwater covering everything, soaking the path and making everything wet, she moved slowly through the rest of the forest.
The sky was a pleasant grey, with only the faint touch of droplets of water to remind you it was raining. The wind blew and the smell of green filled the world around her. Breathing it all in, she sighed. Thinking over what she had read from passages of the book she had lost (surely Twilight would forgive a friend… right?), she winced. Something was off… to Starlight, it seemed as if the book had something important to say to her. She just couldn’t piece it together. Like a puzzle, some things just wouldn’t click in her mind, yet from an outside point of view it seemed to make a picture.
Kamaretaj… Starlight thought as she walked forward. It sounds like something I should know… Could it be a pony? A place? An item?
She soon found herself walking out of the forest and into some grassy lands. As if by some miracle, she could see a large body of water in the near distance and she smiled. With an area of water that big, there was bound to be a settlement near it. It made sense, after all. Now looking forward to replenishing her rations, she increased her pace to a brisk trot.
As she now moved a bit more giddily, the Celestia’s sun finally broke through the clouds that the weather ponies had so meticulously crafted and warmed her very being right up, filling her with determination. This was the day. She could feel it. Something was going to happen, and she only hoped she could be prepared for it.
Stumbling onto an oft-trodden path, she now grinned. With well walked roads came civilization! She then began to follow the path it made towards the body of water, and began to recite what she might say to new ponies. She then paused, as she realized she would have to talk to ponies… looking and smelling as she was at the moment. She also began to panic as she did not like the idea of having to talk to new ponies, now that she thought.
Knowing that the latter problem was unsolvable and irrational at best, she thought of how to deal with the former. As she entered a clearing and saw the edge of a village, she glanced to her left and saw a river that flowed out of the small sea. Sighing to herself, she stealthily made her way to the river banks before casting off her saddlebags and cloak behind some bushes. Testing the waters with a hoof, she reeled back in alarm.
“Whoo!” she whispered, shaking her hoof. It was freezing! She didn’t want to go into freezing water… but what choice did she have? She hadn’t brought perfume or scented spray with her. Now she kind of wished she had. Holding back her tongue and whimpering, she splashed into the river.
“Eek!” she gasped out as the full force of the river met her and she was carried a little bit downstream. With a bit of maneuvering, she quickly regained control of herself and pushed against the current. Holding her breath, she counted down and bobbed her head before submerging her full form into the waters.
…
“Wagh!” Starlight shouted as she threw her head back. “Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold!”
Stepping back onto some stable riverbed that wasn’t submerged, she panted. Shivering from the cold, she whipped her mane a bit, getting a lot of water out. Finally sitting on her haunches and squeezing the rest of the water out before hugging herself, she closed her eyes.
“Idiot,” she muttered to herself. At least it numbed some of the pain emanating from her skull. Once she could finally feel pin pricks poking at her body from all sides, she painfully got back to all four hooves, pain relatively speaking. As she moved through the greenery, she whimpered.
“Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow,” she winced with every step. A shiver went up her back as she continued to walk forward and she shook. “Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.” Feeling was returning to her legs and body thanks to the torrential cleansing, but at a cost. It hurt. Somewhat. But when it’s freezing water and you have to go back to walking… yeah.
“Ow,” Starlight finally said, happy she could just fall over until she felt better.
After some time, she brushed off any dirt that was left on her coat from lying on the ground, and donned her saddlebags and cloak once more. Grabbing a brush from her bags, she quickly worked through her mane, biting her cheek as she unravelled some knots, and sighed as it was fixed to the best of her ability.
Just as she was about to make it back onto the main path, she heard hooves nearing and she promptly jumped into the bush next to her, poking her eyes out comically as she watched to see who it was. Two stallions were walking, hauling a load of berries and miscellaneous foods. They talked amongst each other, but didn’t notice the presence of Starlight in the bushes ahead of them.
“So why are we getting all this stuff again?” the one on the left asked, only slightly farther back than the pony on the right.
The right pony groaned in annoyance and disbelief. “How many times do I have to say? Somepony name ‘The Ancient One’ or something stupid like that wanted some of our monthly earnings. Today is that day. It seems you have so much fluff in your brain that not even us pulling this food could clue you into what we’re doing.”
The left pony made an O with his mouth before smirking evilly and once more looking confused. “Why are we doing this again?”
“Oh for the love of-!” the right pony began before the left pony shushed him.
“Okay, okay, geez!” the left pony snickered as he watched the right pony’s face turn red from anger. “It was just a joke, I’m sorry!” Evidently, that was not true.
“It wasn’t a very funny joke,” the right pony muttered and they walked right past Starlight.
“So who is this ‘Ancient One’ anyways?” the left pony asked, now on the right from Starlight’s perspective and a short ways away.
“No clue. I don’t think anypony really does. I’ve heard she’s not even a physical being, but I know that’s bull. I mean why would she even…” the right pony said, and their chatter died away as they left Starlight’s presence, becoming blobs that entered the grace of the town ahead of her.
For some reason, that name rang a bell in Starlight’s mind. Hearing it felt the same as when she read the book. Could this possibly be what the book was leading her too? “The Ancient One, huh?...” Starlight muttered as she stepped out of her cover. Maybe this Ancient One could help her find Kamaretaj… Whatever the case, Starlight knew she needed to find out more.
One thing was very clear, however. Those two stallions were morons.
Mortar was the name of the small town that she had intended to find answers in. Upon hearing the two wagon pullers, she waited before slowly making her way down the main road. As she neared, she could see the houses were less built with love and more out of necessity. More blocky than anything, each house seemed to be dull in colour, and the grey clouds above only made it seem drabber than it already was.
Ponies milled around, minding their own business. Only a few seemed to be smiling, and there was no where near enough cheerfulness and energy to combat that of Ponyville’s. Though it still felt somewhat homely, it was not a place Starlight would choose to live.
Then again, Our Town had once been even greyer and lackluster than this village, so she didn’t say anything.
She couldn’t seem to find anything that could lead her to somepony who knew about the ‘Ancient One’, and she was now attracting a lot of stares. With her cloak and saddlebags, she must’ve looked like some shady pony who had come with ill intent. Sighing to herself, she gently pulled back the hood from her head and watched the ponies around her ease up.
Frowning inside, she continued forward. She was here for one reason, and she intended to follow through. Looking around, she looked for signs of anypony who seemed important. Searching as well for the two stallions that she had stumbled upon, she trotted through the main streets of Mortar.
Tracks spotted the roads she walked on and most she could see were hoofprints. With one exception; fresh grooves of continuous and otherwise uninterrupted tracks marked some of the ground and she could only assume that this was from her two leads. Following the tracks, she couldn’t help but feel a bit happy that she was now closer to some answers. She didn’t come this far, only to be disappointed…
Right?
Starlight’s stomach grumbled, bringing Starlight out of her reverie. With a huff, Starlight moved to the side of the lanes ponies traveled on. Opening the clasp on one of her saddlebags, she was greeted with the precious image of nothing. Deadpanning and looking ahead with empty eyes, she closed the flap before moving to the other bag. Opening it up, she found her remaining rations, her as-of-yet untouched bag of bits, and some twine and small miscellaneous items. Hoofing the bag of bits, she fished out a few bits before looking around for a general grocer.
Eyeing a dried fruits and veggies stand, she put her saddlebags back on and walked over. “Hi there,” Starlight smiled. The vendor looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“You new around here, miss?” she asked after a few seconds of awkward silence. The question caught Starlight off guard.
“W-what?” Starlight stammered, and the purveyor smirked.
“I haven’t seen you around before, so I assumed as such, you know?” she stated, and Starlight gulped nervously before shrugging off the butterflies in her stomach.
“Heh, yeah. Just dropping by, I guess. So, um, can I have some dried potatoes, apples, and, uh, ‘the highest quality hay’?”
“Only the best,” the stall-mare rolled her eyes before getting the items for Starlight with her magic. Without thinking, Starlight looked at the shimmering glow of magic around the seller’s horn, forlornly thinking about her own situation. A feeling rushed through her chest and heated her up inside, and she took a deep breath before the unicorn mare turned around to set the requested items on the wooden dividing table between them. Unbeknownst to Starlight, she had seen Starlight looking at her horn.
“The name’s Dro. Just Dro, yep, and that’ll be 5 bits.” Having hoofed over the bits and popped a few of her replenished rations into her bags. As she was about to embark, Nim spoke up. “Hey, you never gave me your name.”
Turning around, Starlight sheepishly raised one corner of her mouth. “It’s Starlight. Starlight Glimmer.”
Before she could leave again, Dro nodded. “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s wrong with your horn? I don’t see many unicorns like you still walking around when they have a hurt horn like that.”
Wincing, Starlight sighed before walking back up to the stall. “I… it’s broken. I broke it. When I use magic, it hurts like Tartarus burning through my mind… and it potentially makes it worse…” Sighing, Starlight turned her head to the side. “I’m looking for… for something. I needed to prove myself, I needed to heal myself, so I went on a journey, and now here I am, buying dried fruits and veggies because I nearly died and lost half of my stuff.
“I’ll probably never even find it…” Starlight finished. “I better get going. I have to find two dolts that might lead me to where I need to go.”
Dro hushed just as Starlight finally began to leave. “Do you mean Kamare-taj?” Starlight froze in her tracks, turning once again to face the vendor.
“How did you know?” Starlight inquired hesitantly.
“Intuition, and the whole ‘self healing’ thing you went on about,” Dro said, and Starlight neared her with hope in her eyes.
“Do you know what it is?” Starlight asked quietly.
“Not what,” Dro said, “Where.”
With a spark of joy in her mind, Starlight smiled. “Do you know where it is?”
“Not exactly, and I doubt you’ll get answers from the two stallions you’re talking about. All they do is transport things back and forth to a drop off point. They probably know less about why they're even transporting goods than you would think,” Dro explained. “As for me… well, I knew somepony a long time ago. A very good friend of mine… she got herself hurt in some fashion like you did and went on her own ‘journey’.
“She came back to town a while ago, and believe me when I say she was a completely different mare, yet the exact same,” Dro finished. “All I know is: it’s a place nestled between the mountains and the hoof-hills, and the cost to get there is high.”
“Thank you, thank you!” Starlight whispered gladly, catching Dro by surprise by hugging her.
“Whoa, watch it!” Dro called and Starlight let go.
“Sorry, I’ll leave now,” Starlight nodded, and briskly made her way once again to the roads leading out of town. Slowing down just a few hooves away, she turned around once more. “How can I ever repay you?”
“Just come back for me, how about, hm?” Dro smiled, waving. “It might seem strange, but watch for the signs! Stay safe, my friend.”
Waving a hoof as well, Starlight breathed in deeply, rejuvenated from the tiny spark the mare had so willingly given. With her mindset renewed, she began to follow the roads and soon found herself at the edge of town. Once again seeing nothing but the vastness of nature ahead of her and the sounds of a bustling town behind her, she smiled.
“Looks like we’re making progress, girls,” Starlight whispered, holding the crystal around her neck in one hoof.
“We’re almost there.”
Issue 1.4 ~ Something Funny Happened On The Way To Kamare-taj
It was too long for any attempts at building a bridge, and would take too much time. Looking for any way in the world she could cross it, she eyed a long staircase winding down to the bottom of the ravine on the side opposite. Smiling, she began to scan her own side, knowing it would only be logical for there to be a staircase on this side.
After all, who would build stairs to a side they can’t reach? How would they even reach the side in the first place to build or carve those stairs? Or maybe they just lived on the other side which also made sense. Starlight crossed her hooves in the hopes that this was not the case.
“Aha!” Starlight glimmered as she found a little outcropping. “Stairs! Oh thank Celestia,” Starlight whispered, before beginning her journey down them. Halfway down, she stepped on unstable rock and slipped a little, yelping in surprise and rolling towards the rock wall quickly. She stayed for a few seconds, cloak now dirtied and recovering from her near heart attack.
The climb up the other side left her disappointed, but glad as well. She had kind of expected to see a giant rock ball to begin rolling down the side and kill her, but she was glad there wasn’t. It was uneventful, really, until she got to the top. Legs dead and panting from the climb, she collapsed onto the ground a ways away from the edge.
“I don’t think I ever want to do stairs again,” Starlight groaned. Her head pounded from breathing too hard, and she was pretty sure the pressure just above her forehead was her own mana pulsing to the beat of her heart.
Shakily getting to all four hooves, she swayed a bit at the rush of blood to her head and then steadied. Shaking her head, she tiredly glanced around her to get her bearings. She could now see a small settlement in the distance. More than that, was the three young bucks that now neared her cautiously.
“Uh, hey there,” Starlight smiled nervously, and the colts -no older than 17- looked at each other before glancing at Starlight’s neck. Frowning, Starlight looked down as well and saw her necklace, before widening her eyes in realization. “I don’t have anything I can give you.” Starlight whispered as she backed up a bit.
“You can give us that fancy looking crystal you got there,” one of them uttered. Starlight then noticed that they all seemed ravenously hungry and desperate.
“L-look, I’ve got some food, if that’s what you want. I can give you that!” Starlight felt sweat once again begin to perspire on her forehead as she backed up more and the ponies advanced.
“There won’t be enough for all three of us, and I know that that little gem has got to be worth a lot,” another one stammered, and the three began to move faster.
Starlight instinctively, momentarily forgetting, lit her horn. Pain split her head and mana exploded blue from her horn, cracks lighting up like the day’s sky. It momentarily blinded the trio of desperados, but it didn’t compare to the Starlight’s own impaired state. “AH!” Starlight yelled, clutching her horn and stumbling back. The cliff was now only metres away.
The three ponies quickly went to Starlight’s side, stripping her of her cloak, saddlebags, and necklace. Just as they were about to make off with their acquired goods, a hooded figure blurred in front of them. Clad in green and face unseeable, the anonymous pony growled. “Drop her belongings and leave.” The figure’s voice was feminine, soft and dangerous.
The three boys widened their eyes at the pony, before they bolted with their stolen items. The figure took a quick glance at Starlight, seeing her breathing heavily on the ground, before she squinted and turned her attention back to the fleeing colts.
They had stayed at a steady pace with each other, and all three skidded to a stop as the green figure appeared in front of them again. “Play time’s over, boys,” she whispered before she moved with precision and agility. Swiping her hoof as she slid beside one of them, all four of his hooves were tripped and he fell face-first, leaving two still standing.
In an act of defiance and desperation, the blue buck swung a hoof at the green figure. Seeing it coming from a mile away, she ducked before striking him in the chest, sliding to the side with the momentum she gained. The colt blasted backwards and coughed as he fell.
As she turned her head to the last colt, he widened his eyes. They then promptly rolled into his head and he fainted. With a shake of her head, she gathered Starlight’s belongings and stuffed them into Starlight’s saddlebags before throwing said bags over her own haunches. With a face of apology at what she had to do, she left a bag of bits with who seemed to be the leader of the disarmed bucks before making her way back to Starlight.
Now having nearly recovered as the scuffle had only lasted several minutes, Starlight eyed her saviour. Getting to all four hooves, she gulped as the green hooded mare took Starlight’s saddlebags and slid them over to her. Taking her own equipment and making sure everything was still there, she sighed.
“Here’s all your stuff. Had to fight those edgy teens over it, but they’ll be okay,” the figure stated. Starlight nodded her head and thanks before slipping her necklace, coat, and saddlebags back on.
“Th-thank you,” Starlight stammered.
“Hey, no prob!” the mare said giddily, catching Starlight by surprised. With no warning whatsoever, the figure pulled back her hood and grinned, letting her sky blue and white mane fall out. “I’m Blue Jade, by the way. You can just call me Jade.” She extended her hoof, and Starlight noted her turquoise coat which seemed to have a greenish tint to it.
“Starlight,” said Starlight after a few seconds of hesitancy, and they shook hooves.
“Oh, and by the way, you’re this close to falling off the cliff,” Jade mentioned. Starlight widened her eyes before galloping towards Jade and then looking back off the cliff. With that little scare out of the way-
“BLARGALARGARHAAA!” Jade shouted and Starlight jumped six feet in the air. Landing back on the ground stiff as a stone, Jade poked Starlight. “Huh, I guess that worked a little too well,” Jade muttered with a smirk. She then proceeded to walk away.
“All things aside, I know you’re looking for Kamare-taj. You better come along if you want to know where it’s at,” Jade announced before pulling her hood over her head again, tucking her mane away.
Starlight unfroze, her eyes still wide, galloping after Jade. “WAIT! You know where Kamare-taj is?!”
“No, I don’t,” Jade said with an edge, “It’s not like I live there or anything.”
Starlight grinned as she knew she finally found what she needed. As she opened her mouth, Jade interrupted her.
“Don’t ask me anything yet, we’re out in the open and it wouldn’t do for some things to be said in public,” Jade chided, and Starlight frowned to herself. Jade didn’t even turn back to know she was going to say something.
“But-”
“No whining. I don’t like it when ponies whine.”
“You’re unbearable.”
“Thanks, I like to think I am.”
“Great. I travel across a whole lot of Equestria and the first pony I meet from the one place I hope will heal me has an attitude!”
“I think we’ll be great friends,” Jade grinned, and Starlight groaned.
“Yep, this is definitely the start of something, alright.”
“Do you know a pony named Dro?” Starlight asked Jade after sometime as they walked. Jade visibly stiffened as they kept going before she relaxed a little.
“Uh, yeah. I… I did,” Jade muttered. “Why? How do you know that name?”
“Well, I just stopped by the small town of Mortar and bought some dried fruits and veggies for the road. The mare at the stall I bought noticed I wasn’t from around and I explained to her what I was doing. She then told me of how she knew a pony a long time ago who found Kamare-taj.” Starlight turned her head to look at Jade.
“She is… was an old friend,” Jade said, face concealed behind her hood, “I haven’t seen her in ages. Wouldn’t know if she would even recognize me.”
“Why don’t you go visit town, then?” Starlight inquires as they begin to climb up a steep incline. “You know, reconnect?”
“The life of a Kamare-taj mage is somewhat secluded, I’ll give you that,” Jade allowed. “There are some who prefer to live amongst normal ponies, but most of us are humbled outcasts that have learned to harness more than just your typical magic. Hermits and all that. Me? I just don’t like large crowds. Things happen in large crowds.”
“Magic like what?” Starlight questions, before looking at Jade with confusion. “Things like what?”
“No more questions!” Jade snapped, increasing her pace. Starlight began to struggle as she tried to keep up. “I already told you no asking me anything. I’m going to get into so much trouble just because I answered those.”
“But we’re in the middle of nowhere in a secluded mountain valley!” Starlight reasoned.
“That’s what they want you to believe,” Jade said dubiously. With Jade’s hastened speed, Starlight was now a ways away from Jade, who just kept on going. Panting a bit and feeling a headache coming along again, she called out to the hooded figure.
“Jade! Wait!”
Jade looked back to see Starlight’s resting form and sighed in vexation. “You know, maybe you should’ve exercised a bit before going on this ‘magical journey of healing’.”
“I had one day,” Starlight breathed, “One. Day.”
“Still, I should think,” Jade grumbled before Starlight painstakingly made her way up to Jade’s position. “You ready again?”
“I think I remember saying ‘no more inclines’ just at the cliffside,” Starlight complained.
“No, you said ‘no more stairs’, but it’s the same difference.” Jade began to trot up again with a more manageable pace for Starlight. “Don’t worry. By the time we’re done with you, you could run all of Equestria and back without breaking a sweat.”
“W-what?” Starlight fearfully asked. “By the time they’re done with me…?”
“Oh yes! I’ll make sure to tell them that you love doing hills. Aren’t they great?” Jade joked, and she enjoyed watching Starlight’s face pale further. “Relax, I’m just kidding!” Jade said after she couldn’t stand it anymore and burst out laughing.
“Oh, phew! For a second there…” Starlight giggled nervously.
“Yeah. Don’t worry, they won’t make you do hills,” Jade started, walking a little bit ahead, “They’ll make you do mountains.”
If Jade thought Starlight’s face before was funny, Starlight’s face now was downright hilarious. Jade snickered as she continued walking, followed by the visibly paled Starlight Glimmer.
“Going to have lots of fun with you,” Jade smiled before the trip was met with silence once more.
“And here we are, Kamare-taj! Tucked away in the edges of the Canterlot and Unicorn Range and the Grand Prairies and Hoofhills,” Jade announced dramatically gesturing to the small village ahead. Starlight eyed it with a look of slight displeasure and judgement.
“Took me long enough!” Starlight hurrah-ed with satisfaction, but paused. “Are you sure that other town we passed wasn’t Kamare-taj? It seems a bit more ‘Kamare-taj-y’, doesn’t it?” Starlight questioned, visibly tuckered out from their trip. It had taken much longer than Starlight thought, much much longer.
“You know, I was like you once,” Jade related as she strutted calmly into Kamare-taj. “Disrespectful… In some ways I still am.” She stopped at a door and turned to Starlight with a smile. “So, might I suggest something?”
“Y-yes?” Starlight inquired.
“Forget everything you think you know.” And Jade opened the door.
Starlight hesitated. “How do I know this isn’t just another one of your jokes?”
“I don’t joke about the Ancient One,” Jade whispered reverently, and Starlight could only gulp in response. In the short time she knew this enigmatic mare, she was always upbeat and humoring and annoyed. But the way she talked about this pony… Starlight could feel a shiver go down her spine.
“R-right,” Starlight murmured. Jade then walked in, and Starlight followed. Starlight couldn’t help but startle into the air when the door closed behind her of it’s own accord.
Everything seemed old, or, if Starlight were to assume correctly, properly ancient. The wood smelled musty yet fresh, covering the walls and floor. Cabinets and display cases filled with relics and various items dotted the aisles and hallways that Starlight could see, the occasional floating candle hovering above them. They soon neared an open room with dying sunlight pouring through the rafters. Twinkling through the air, some dust could be seen floating and resting in all places and it smelled of a fragrance which Starlight could not describe- something close to the gentle smell of fresh blossomed flowers and cinnamon.
Seeing an old-wise looking mare with glasses and flourishing garb studying at the raised area of the room, Starlight removed her own hood and bowed her head. “Thank you-” Starlight was interrupted when three ponies removed her saddlebags and her cloak for her. Quite startled, Starlight chuckled hesitantly.
“Oh, well, that’s a thing, I guess…” Starlight murmured. “Thank you-” Another pony dressed in pure white robes came and hoofed a cup of tea to Starlight, who smiled thankfully. “Uh, thanks…?”
Once more, Starlight tried to give her gratitude, just as the old mare began to walk away. “Thank you, Ancient… One… for seeing me…?” Starlight ended whispering as she watched the old mare begin to walk away.
“You’re very welcome,” a voice said behind her and Starlight turned around to see the pony who gave her her tea. She looked young, younger than she would’ve thought. With white fur and a neatly tied back yellow mane, she smiled.
“The Ancient One,” Jade bowed, introducing Starlight to the white mare as well as paying her respects.
“Thank you, Master Mos, thank you, Master Jade!” the Ancient One grinned and Jade bowed once more before taking post at the doorway, smiling.
Starlight glanced from the doorway to the mare in front of her before remembering Jade’s words. “Y-yes, of course. Thank you, Ancient One.”
“Well, I think we’ve already said our gratitudes, I think it’s time we move on, hm?” the Ancient One said happily, going to the table which Master Mos had just been at, preparing another cup of tea. Starlight took a sip and widened her eyes.
“Yeah… that’s good tea,” Starlight uttered after agreeing.
“Miss Glimmer,” the Ancient One greeted as her eye twinkled, “You’ve come a long way.”
“I’d like to think so,” Starlight agreed.
“All so you can heal that horn of yours and find your inner peace, hm?” the Ancient One said, hoofing the cup of tea she had made to Jade, who took it with regards.
“Y-yes,” Starlight confirmed, surprised that she knew why she was here, “Can you help?”
The Ancient One’s lip crooked up, a wry grin spreading across her face.
“Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place. Welcome, Miss Glimmer, to Kamare-taj.”
“I’ve heard that Kamare-taj was- er- is a place that I could find myself and help in my healing,” Starlight said, watching the Ancient One move around the room, picking a book up.
“Well, it can be that if that’s how you would wish to see it,” she said cryptically.
“So you can do it?” Starlight asked, “You can help me?”
“Well, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” the Ancient One asked, “You’ve taken quite the trip.”
“Yes, I have,” Starlight agreed. “What kind of magic is it that you have that can heal a horn? Not even the Princess of Magic, my friend, Twilight Sparkle could do it.”
“Oh yes, that,” the Ancient One smiled, circling around to talk with Starlight. “Tell me, Starlight, when you cast magic, how do you do it? Is it you, or is it that horn of yours?”
“Well, everypony has some kind of magic inside them,” Starlight relayed, not quite knowing where this was going.
“And is it you or the magic that does what you want?” the Ancient One continued, drinking some tea.
“It’s the magic,” Starlight replied.
“And magic can only really be controlled by the horns of unicorns?” the Ancient One questioned, raising an eyebrow.
“...Yeah?”
The Ancient One smiled widely, as if greatly amused by her answer. Starlight was trying to rack her brains in an effort to understand what was funny. “What if I told you that magic can be conjured, regardless of race or lack of innate magic, in all sorts of ways?”
“You’re talking about magic casting as if you don’t need magic,” Starlight gasped, thinking it over, “The very thing you need to cast magic in the first place!” She quickly began to connect some dots and her mind went racing at the implications. “Is that why you’re here? Without other mages, witches or wizards to watch over you? Nopony to watch over whatever it is you do? Just how advanced is your magic?”
The Ancient One made an ‘about’ face and grinned. “Quite.”
“So you managed to figure out a way to be able to cast spells and use magic, without the necessary requirements to do so?”
“No, Miss Glimmer,” the Ancient One began, “I know how to reorient the spirit, to better heal the body.”
“R-reorient the spirit… heal the body?” Starlight stammered. “How does that…? N-nevermind… Alright, so, uh, where do we start?”
The Ancient One grabbed a book from the table near her and flipped through a few pages before landing on one. Looking it over once, her smile dominated her face once again. She faced Starlight once more, holding the book up, showing an image that made Starlight do a double take.
“Don’t like the map?” the Ancient One inquired, frowning slightly at the book.
“Oh, uh, no, it’s fine,” Starlight sighed, “I’ve just seen them before, you know, done by amateur magicians.”
The Ancient One laughed at that. “Oh, Jade, she’s funnier than I thought.”
“She’s a keeper,” was all Jade said, a high level of mirth evident in her tone.
Starlight looked between the white robed mare and Jade, now a little vexed at how they seemed to be shrugging the whole thing off as if it were a joke. “W-what?”
Raising an eyebrow at Jade, the Ancient One continued on. “How about… this one?”
Starlight stared at the image. “...Acupuncture?”
“Yeah?” the Ancient One asked, “Are you familiar with this one?” The Ancient One turned one more page to see a magical scan of a pony’s nervous system and skeleton, causing Starlight to groan.
“I… no, I can’t…” Starlight whispered, turning away, her mind racing. None of this was good. Here she was, in a place she had thought would help her. The head of whatever this place was, the Ancient One, was showing her pictures she had seen dozens of times before. Pictures that did not seem relevant at all. “I… sacrificed time with my friends and- and travelled so far, and now you’re saying I can just heal myself through the power of belief!”
The Ancient One remained smiling, though less prominent. It annoyed Starlight very much. “You’re a mare, looking at the world through a keyhole,” the Ancient One began, putting the book down and moving closer to Starlight. “And you’ve spent many hours trying to widen that keyhole.
“Our Town, the Sonic Rainboom, Mind control, Chrysalis and the changelings,” the Ancient One listed off, each striking a personal chord with Starlight. “You’ve tried very hard to excel, to see more, to know more… and yet, upon hearing that this keyhole can be widened in ways you can’t begin to imagine, you reject the possibility?”
“No, no, that’s not it,” Starlight laughed sharply. “No, you see, I reject it because you can’t just wish your problems away-”
“A valid point,” the Ancient One interrupted. Starlight ignored her.
“There’s no such thing as chakras or spirit. Mana, yes. It’s what fuels our magic, what surrounds Equus itself, but this? I don’t believe in healing by the power of belief. The world doesn’t revolve on our wishes alone. We control the weather, the moon, the sun, but this? This is madness, this is as false as the view I had on equality when I was still a delusional maniac!”
“You know, you think too little of yourself,” the Ancient One remarked, “You do much more than just operate under your own free will. You do so much more than you can truly see. Everything you do does more than just affect yourself. Even just coming here has altered future events, coming here has changed the very destiny of the world.”
Starlight chuckled bitterly, shaking her head and walking around. Facing the Ancient One again, she let her voice wind down. “You think you see through me, do you?” Starlight whispered, her voice low with jaundice, “Well, you don’t. You don’t know a thing about me, you don’t know me!” Starlight began to approach the Ancient One with resentment and hysteria. Jade could see what Starlight was beginning to do, but Starlight didn’t see the glance the Ancient One sent her, telling her to stay back.
“You think you can see me?” Starlight continued. “You can’t. But you know what? I can. I. See. Through. You!” Starlight finished, jabbing the Ancient One in the chest with a hoof as she faced her.
As if she expected it, the Ancient One grabbed Starlight’s hoof with precision, catching her by surprise. Another twist of her hoof in the same instant caused Starlight to shout in alarm, before Starlight was suddenly jabbed by the Ancient One’s free hoof, sending her flying back. All in the same moment. All in one fluid motion.
Starlight could see herself floating.
And she could also see herself falling.
And thinks that she may have screwed up a little. Just a little.
What…? Starlight thought, staring at her hooves and her falling figure. They were semi-transparent, and she could almost see an afterimage whenever she moved her being. Beginning to hyperventilate, she could see Jade walking up to her side and righting her being, bringing her swinging back into her body.
With a jolt, all of Starlight’s senses returned, and she blinked. “Wh-what did you just do to me!?” Starlight whispered, breathing faster and putting a hoof to her barrel and chest. She almost felt overjoyed that she was back in her body.
“I separated your astral form from your physical form,” the Ancient One stated directly. “Quite an easy feat if you know what to do.”
Starlight glanced from her hoof to the tea kettle that was settled on the table a few inches away. “What’s in that tea? A mind spell? Pinkie’s caffeine?”
“Just tea,” the Ancient One replied. She glanced at it really quickly before adding shamelessly, “With a little honey.”
Starlight glanced behind her to where she had somehow been floating moments before. “What in the hay happened?”
“Simple, really. For a moment, you entered the astral dimension.”
“You mean the thing that makes the Princess’ hair all wavy?” Starlight asked, shocked.
“Not quite,” the Ancient One chuckled, “Though that is a funny way to look at it. It’s a place where your soul exists away from your body.”
Starlight stared at the Ancient One with a level of wariness. “Why are you doing this to me?”
Jade smiled at that, and the Ancient One grinned. “To show you just how much you don’t know.” In another instant of impossible speed, the Ancient One’s hoof connected with Starlight’s head. In that split second of interaction, Starlight could only think of one thought.
Buck.
And suddenly, the world warped around her before exploding outward, causing her to begin falling upward. Up, up, up, quickly and with no end in sight. “Oh sweet CeLESTIA MY FLANKS OH BUCK I MESSED UP OH HAY NO AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
The wind rushed past Starlight, whipping her mane back and forth. She waved her legs wildly in an attempt to gain some form of control but it was all for naught. She could only scream, wide-eyed as she flew past the clouds and to the verge of the atmosphere, where she saw an impossible butterfly lazily flying past her. Frowning in confusion and breathing heavily, she reached out to touch the space-butterfly but she heard a loud boom and she was sent flying at lightspeed.
The Equus warped around her, gravity seemingly inverting the entire planet before she was sent flying through a portal. Psychedelic colours and indescribably lights twisted around her, the stars and cosmos themselves flying past her. “NOOOOOOOOOOO GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!” was all she could scream as she flew wildly. She couldn’t even process what she was seeing as she was moving so fast.
“HELP ME TWILIGHT SUNBURST CELESTIA LUNA ANYPONY PLEASE NO!”
“Her heart rate is getting dangerously high,” Jade’s voice echoed from somewhere, a chuckle accompanying it.
All of a sudden, Starlight flew forcefully into a chair, the Ancient One smiling down at her. As she panted with exhilaration, the Ancient One remarked, “Oh, I don’t know. She looks alright to me!”
Starlight stared at her, wide- eyed with exhilaration. Another boom reverberated through her very existence and the world around her twisted. Struck with a sense of vertigo, Starlight screamed again.
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” she yelled as she caught flame, and was now burning her way across the multiverse. Thrown across against her own will, she could hear a single voice echo around her.
“You think you know how the world and everything in it works??
Points of light burst from all of Starlight’s appendages, A rainbow colours seeped out of her horn and forelegs. She shook her body frantically, screaming all the while. She could only keep spinning and spinning and spinning spinning…
“You think this is the only universe that exists? Material and tangible? Magical and flowing?”
Imagery and space warped around her, new things appearing every next second. She couldn’t comprehend any of it. None of it made sense. Colours and gases undulated, worlds of infinite numbers passed by her, her own essence travelling at speeds she couldn’t fathom.
“What is real…? What hides at the reach of your senses? At the beginning of everything, mind and matter meet… Where thoughts shape reality…
“This universe is only one of many… a multiverse of possibility… Some worlds benevolent and life giving…
“Others filled with the seed of destruction, malice and hunger.”
Starlight burst through an opening, finding herself in a place full of mirrors. Copies of herself floating and looking lost, confused, and scared. Her mane flapped in an inexistent wind, and she quickly fell through another dimension, in one where dark colours flew around her. Giant spheres made of unknown material floated around her, collisions and fire reining everywhere she looked.
“Dark places where evils lurk… where powers older than time lie… dormant and waiting…”
Screaming in fear, she began to zoom out of that dimension, and she began to fly face-forwards, the world spinning around her, colours and stars, the universe itself. It all whizzed past, and Starlight had to squint to even try and see what was happening, her entire body locked in a rigid and unmoving form.
“Who are you, in this vast multiverse, Starlight Glimmer?”
Starlight screamed one last time before she found herself zooming back to the wonderful land of Equus, seeing the earth come back to her. Not slowing at all, she suddenly found herself falling from the ceiling of the room, crashing into and breaking the chair she had sat on. Splinters and wood flew, and the Ancient One stared down at Starlight’s form.
“Have you seen that done by amateurs in a gift shop?” the Ancient One inquired..
Starlight shakily picked herself up, staring at her hooves, and up at her horn, before shakily taking a breath. She patted herself down and glanced up at the Ancient One with newfound respect and a little fear. Breathing heavily, she gulped. “T-teach me,” Starlight begged, her body still shaking.
The Ancient One ever so slightly narrowed her eyes, and Starlight waited.
Though she was technically in Kamare-taj, she had just been rejected by the highest authority, meaning she would not get taught. Starlight began to feel tears in her eyes as she looked at her surroundings, students, mages, wizards, and witches of all kinds looked at her curiously while she began to bang on the door. Starlight hadn’t come all this way just to be cast out. She hadn’t sacrificed her time to find such a place only to be denied.
“No, please!” Starlight cried, beginning to knock on the wood. “Open the door! Teach me! Please! I’ll believe! I’ll comply!” The door shook and rattled, but it remained firm. Starlight continued to hit it, hoping for results.
“Please!” Starlight whimpered, “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or rude! Let me in!”
Starlight’s pleadings fell on the door, her cries falling upon deaf ears.
“Even after all this time, Starlight continues to wear away the door with her cries,” Jade commented, her ears flicking intently. “I didn’t think she had it in her.”
“She has the ambition, but does she have the heart?” the Ancient One murmured, cross legged in a meditating position. Her eyes were closed, her mind’s eye focused elsewhere. “I’ve taught students like her before. Powerful, amazing, all falling short of their true potential. Succumbing to dark magicks and different paths.”
“You and I both know her relations to the Princesses,” Jade said, “It would be out of the question to think she does not have it-”
“And you and I both know I do not mean friendship,” the Ancient One interrupted, “Does she have the strength to overcome her failings? The mentality to push through trial and error? The heart to remain firm and not be moved?”
“She has the potential,” Jade remarked. “She has the spirit. However hilariously weak she may be.”
“I’d dare say her magic was better than mine while her horn was still intact,” the Ancient One implored. “Of all your many useful attributes, pride is not one of them.”
“I wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t a little,” Jade smirked.
There was a small moment of silence before the Ancient One smiled. “Yes, quite.”
As Jade circled a pedestal with an artifact set upon it, she glanced up at the large spinning globe. Three large sets of double-doors surrounded the circular room, each with a large inset graving of a consistent symbol. Spinning the discs that were in the pedestal, the globe changed position, and Jade frowned.
“She reminds you of him. Of Baron.”
“Mordo is irrelevant to this situation-”
“But she does, doesn’t she.”
Silence.
“Yes. Yes she does.”
“She’s nothing like him,” Jade said. Wincing at the look the Ancient One was giving her, she sighed, “Okay, maybe a little.” The raise of an eyebrow, and Jade had to look away. “Okay, maybe a lot.”
The Ancient One sighed, finally opening her eyes. “And that, Jade, is why I am afraid.”
Jade made an about face, looking at the Ancient One once more. “Of her motives?”
“Of where she may eventually end up. With a similar fate to Mordo’s, or a more righteous path; I cannot lead another to go astray. As I did with him.”
“Well, look at me, I turned out fine,” Jade smiled.
“You still have a ways to go, my friend,” the Ancient One murmured with a smile, getting up. “But I still do not think it wise for me to take in Starlight.”
Jade frowned. “You’ve been watching her for a while, now. You know who and what she is. She can do a lot of good. She already has, saving the rulers of Equestria. With Mordo’s whereabouts unknown, Kamare-taj may face dark times. We can use a mare like Starlight.”
“It may be true that Starlight’s path has diverged to meet with ours, but something about that doesn’t sit right with me. It’s as if…” The Ancient One looked off into the distance, lost in thought, before shaking her head. “I do not know anymore, Jade.”
“Then there is only one option,” Jade grinned, and the Ancient One sighed.
“Ple-he-hease!” Starlight begged, her forelegs tired from hitting the door. “I want to learn! I won’t think it’s all unrealistic and stupid! Please!”
Sore from her efforts, Starlight sat with her back to the door, leaning onto it for support. “Don’t shut me out… This is… I have nowhere else to go, and…”
As if the door responded by sympathetic response, the door clicked open. Surprised, and with her precarious position as she leaned against the door, she fell backwards, onto her back and nearly hitting her horn. Yelping as she did so, she stared up at the ceiling with a growing sense of happiness and relief.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Princess,” Jade smirked, “I need to show you to your room.”
Starlight was helped up by Jade before she began to follow her around. They followed the same hallways, until just a corridor away from the main room she had been in, they went a different path. Following Jade down new territory, they eventually stopped at a door. Opening the doors, Jade walked in, and Starlight followed.
“This is quite nice,” Starlight commented, “Better than I’ve had in the past few weeks.”
“So it would seem,” Jade replied mysteriously. The room was a little on the small side, with room for a small closet and a mattress. A side table was present with a candle on top and a drawer to store things. There was also a window, open to the breeze and a bronze artistic cover to decorate it. At the foot of the bed was a desk and a stool. With walls of ancient wood and an air of books, Starlight couldn’t feel more at home.
“So for initiation tomorrow, you’ll be running stairs,” Jade smiled.
Starlight froze. With a face of suspicion, Starlight narrowed her eyes at Jade.
“I’m just kidding!” Jade finally laughed, causing Starlight to sigh very deeply. “You should’ve seen the look on your face!”
“I’m going to kill you,” Starlight facehoofed.
“You can try.”
“I’ll find a way.”
“Suuure you will,” Jade grinned, “Have a good night.”
“You too,” Starlight replied, albeit half-heartedly. Jade closed the doors, and Starlight waited as she listened to her dying gales of laughter. Now having successfully found Kamare-taj and made it in, Starlight collapsed onto the bed beside her.
Starlight groaned painfully. “Why is it always me?”
“Hello again, Starlight,” the Ancient One smiled, eyes closed in meditation. Starlight joined her on the ground in front of her. Mimicking the Ancient One’s position, she crossed her hind legs and rested her forelegs on them, frowning inside at the slight discomfort.
“I’m sorry for casting you outside. It must have been gruelling to be knocking on wood for several hours.”
Starlight could only nod in response. “Uh… yeah, it’s okay, I guess.”
“Quite,” the Ancient One responded cryptically. Opening her eyes, the Ancient One looked Starlight in the eyes. “Lesson One; are you ready?”
“Absolutely,” Starlight nodded.
“Let’s start with the basics. The one’s of old figured out magic long before the tribes unified into a single force. Ancients, as we call them, created what came to be known as spells. Spells that did not need to be cast by a unicorn horn. Spells that needed no runes, only one’s knowledge and belief. That is why, in the early ages, unicorns were usually rejected from joining such schools of magic.”
“Wait,” Starlight said while the Ancient One had paused, “You guys existed before the Friendship Fire, and unicorns weren’t allowed?”
“You could go as far as before the Princess’ time, yes,” the Ancient One allowed. “And as I said, many thought that unicorn magic was one and the same as occult magic, or arcane magic, as some would put. Honestly, there is no proper prefix for it and we usually refer to it as just ‘magic’.”
“Alright. ‘Magic’ it is,” Starlight said to herself.
Slowly, the Ancient One started to move her hooves as she spoke. “Moving on, we earth ponies and pegasi were able to create our own forms of magic; our hooves and wings doing most of the work.” And just like that, lines in the air started to form.
Bright, burning lines were starting to get drawn by the hooves of the Ancient One, thin strips emerging from the center of each of her hooves. With little effort, the Ancient One completed a circle of energy, and she continued to draw lines. Line upon line, each one adding to a bigger picture, all of it connecting.
“Even though unicorns seem more proficient in their spellcraft, this is how we can truly tap into the magicks that lay just beyond our reach. We pull energy from other dimensions, a multiverse of diversity, and we harness this power into spells. Spells similar to unicorn magic that can do all sorts of things, as a unicorn like you would know, and many more that cannot be cast by horn alone.”
A spinning set of squares within squares to look like an octagram now lay inset within the circle, the diagram looking more and more complex. The Ancient One could only smile as the face of awe on Starlight continued to grow. “Yes, some spells can only be cast by the power of the multiverse. If a mortal soul were to pull the energy required from their reserves alone, they would shrivel up and cease to exist within a matter of seconds; this is yet another reason why unicorns do not tend to seek this place out.
“Everything is connected, Starlight,” the Ancient One finished, her drawing complete. “And thus, we have magic.” The drawing drew in a wind from an unknown source, billowing around Starlight and the Ancient One. With a resolute hoof, the Ancient One pushed the drawing outward, and it pulsated, eventually dissipating into sparks of mana and energy.
Dumbfounded, Starlight realized she knew a lot less than she really did. “But… even if my hooves could do that… or however a unicorn would do it, my hooves would just be waving around.” With a gesture of pointing from herself to the teacher, Starlight asked the one dominant question in her mind. “How do I get from here to there? How can I use magic again?”
“How did you get to cast spells that manipulate time and remove cutie marks?” the Ancient One replied, raising an eyebrow at Starlight. “Spells from that horn of yours, a horn now incapable of doing even the simplest of tasks?”
Starlight could only wince at the memory of what she had done to her village. The terror and destruction she had seen revolving around her reality-breaking endeavour. The pain she had endured using her shattered horn. With a gulp, Starlight answered. “S-study and practice, of course. Lot’s of it.”
Smirking, the Ancient One nodded. “The same applies, Miss Glimmer. Study and practice. It will not be easy, but it will be well worth it.”
Finally getting up, the Ancient One moved to her desk in the room they had come to occupy. Sighing, Starlight herself was glad that they did not have to sit in such a cramped position anymore, however “meditative” it may be.
“Tea?” the Ancient One asked, “We’ve still got a whole lot more to go through after this. You of all ponies especially, if you want to get that horn of yours working in whatever time you seem to be planning.”
“Yes please,” Starlight smiled, before frowning. “You seem to know a lot more about me than I thought.”
“When one shatters the universe trying to change a fixed point in time,” the Ancient One began, handing Starlight her tea, “It’s hard not to notice.”
“I guess so…” Starlight whispered, taking a sip. Suddenly, she spit out her tea, the water dissipating into the air. “W-wait, what?”
“Oh yes, don’t think that little stunt of yours went unnoticed,” the Ancient One smiled, “Especially when an alicorn princess was using the spell just as much as you were. It is quite remarkable you were able to figure such a spell out, given its complexity and it’s taxing cost on the multiversal scale.”
“I didn’t mean to- it was only just- I mean-” Starlight stammered, trying to explain to the Ancient One just exactly why she did what she did.
“It does not matter the why you did it anymore, Miss Glimmer,” the Ancient One said, cooling her tea just a smidge, “What’s done is done. What matters is what you’re going to do to fix it. Something happened, Miss Glimmer, something that broke the universe in more ways than one. Even now, events don’t seem to have happened the way they should’ve.
“Because of that one event, things changed. Past, present, and future. Though they may have been indirect, your future changed. It split, to put it simply. Here, you may be now, but in another time, another place, another universe, you never got injured.” The Ancient one tilted her head and pointed her eyes towards Starlight’s horn.
“That horn of yours never broke, and you continued on to become Twilight’s first graduated student of friendship." Sighing, the Ancient One waved a hoof. "Neigh, it is all irrelevant now, you being here and all. I just thought you should know,” the Ancient One finished, before finishing her tea as well.
“On second thought, we’ll have our next lesson tomorrow. Check out a few books, study the basic concepts and principles; I'll let the librarian know you're coming. I believe you have a lot to think about.” With that said, the Ancient One left the room, leaving a dumbfounded Starlight behind.
With her entire mind going into shock and her face perpetually frozen in revelation, Starlight flapped her mouth open and closed like a fish.
Starlight sat outside in the courtyard, quietly assembling a kite by her books.
In the stillness of the morning, she enjoyed the peace and loneliness. The last night, she hadn’t been able to sleep, so she eventually wandered around to where she was now. Her mind was restless from the thoughts that were swirling within.
It was a painstaking task to have to look down and read while manipulating a kite without magic. To assemble it with her hooves was a chore, for she had to check and double check that what she was doing was what she would’ve done if she had been using magic. It also meant having to concentrate on two separate things at the same time. Something she had had no trouble doing beforehoof. That, and the fact that she was beginning to feel the effects of her fatigue kicking in.
It pained her to no end that she hadn’t gotten her kite up yet, and she had yet to turn a page! Focusing solely on her kite, she stuck her tongue out in concentration. Just put the spar here and tug the fabric over there… And tie these two ends together…
Starlight cheered when she got it assembled. Happily picking it up in her hooves, she glanced upwards to look at some of the stray clouds. Wind. There was a decent amount of wind, and just enough for a good fly. Smiling, Starlight slowly uncoiled her string a little. Then, holding the hoof with the kite on it in the air, she waited for a small gust of wind to take it from her grasp.
There! As it was swept from her reach, Starlight began to quickly give more slack as fast as she could with her hooves. A feat that was incredibly difficult, but not undoable. Now she could say she knew how to fly a kite successfully in every way possible! Smiling, she continued to uncoil as the wind continued to carry it further and further up. Soon enough, Starlight had a nice altitude.
Sighing in content as she watched her making bob lightly in the air, Starlight pulled a book from the pile next to her. As she began to read, however, she found her eyes sliding right across the page, not really taking in anything on it.
As she looked back up to watch her kite, she couldn’t help but think back to the conversation she had had with the Ancient One.
It does not matter the why you did it anymore, Miss Glimmer... What matters is what you are going to do to fix it.
The Ancient One’s words continued to echo within her, and she sighed, shutting her books. As she could see the sun in the distance beginning to rise, she figured it was time to get ready for her next lesson. As much as she wanted to continue flying her kite, she needed to get going. Others might see her and ask her what she was doing, and she would rather they didn’t.
“I can certainly see why you would choose the art of kite flying as a pleasurable pastime.”
The voice that spoke beside her made her freeze up. Squeaking in surprise, the coil dropped from Starlight’s grasp. The Ancient One quickly recovered for Starlight by grabbing the stringed spindle before it could meet the ground.
“Careful, Starlight,” the Ancient One whispered. She smiled as she began to control the kite for herself, her movements a clear work of mastery. “Wouldn’t want to wake the others quite yet.”
Starlight bit her lip and began to break a sweat as she quickly stuffed her books into her saddlebags. Making sure she didn’t trip on her new robes, she stood on all four hooves. Just as she was about to bow in respect, however, having seen countless others do so, the Ancient One held a hoof on her shoulder.
“That isn’t necessary, Starlight.” The Ancient One turned to Starlight with a face of recognisable tiredness. “Trivial formalities like that won’t be a requirement. We are friends now, you and I, so you do not need to go to such extremes to show your respect. You can do that by learning well and following my teachings.”
Starlight nodded vigorously, almost about to bow her head once more before she caught herself. Turning back to the kite at hoof, the Ancient One looked up. The kite weaved between the shifting folds of wind, bouncing along an unseen current and slicing effortlessly through the oncoming wind.
Starlight glanced morosely at her hooves, shifting her weight around. With the Ancient One now in her presence, she couldn’t help but think of yesterday and everything that transpired-
“Do not trouble yourself with our talk the other day,” remarked the Ancient One.
“H-huh?” Starlight stammered, shifting her gaze nervously towards the Ancient One.
The Ancient One shook her head, cutting Starlight off. “What I said does not matter to me or you right now, Miss Glimmer. I know what you are thinking right now, and doing so will do us no good.”
“But you said-” Starlight sputtered, her ears folding back.
“Are you capable of performing a simple spell without unicorn magic yet?” the Ancient One questioned.
“No?” Starlight replied.
“How many lessons have we had together?” she asked once more.
Starlight answered in kind, turning her head to the side. “Just yesterday…”
The Ancient One quietly handed the kite back to Starlight, who eagerly received the coil. Sitting on her haunches, Starlight made sure she was holding the coil in both hooves. Pointing up the the kite, the Ancient One turned to Starlight. “Starlight, how long did it take you to master flying kites?”
Starlight stared at the spindle in her hooves. “...A little bit…”
The Ancient One continued. “And how about mastering your magic to match that of a tired alicorn’s? Even enough to use a spell that requires absolute concentration lest their very essence be torn asunder by the very fabric of reality?”
Starlight sighed closing her eyes, remembering the encounter with crystal clear precision and regret. “...Much much longer…” Starlight turned to look up at the Ancient One, who stood beside her with a face that told of her great wisdom and knowledge. “Where are you going with this?”
“Just like how you got to this point here,” the Ancient One said, pointing up at the kite again, “Just like how you practiced your magic until it was outstanding in every way, you must gather your strength and learn. Walk before you run, Starlight. You cannot take on the task of rebuilding the walls between worlds and the strands of space and time as you are now.” Sitting on her own haunches, the Ancient One took Starlight’s hooves into her own with the string still in her hooves and made Starlight look into her eyes.
“Tell me. Would you be able to save the world with those friends of yours with how you are now? Tired, broken, learning and healing?”
Starlight couldn’t keep the eye contact. She broke away from the Ancient One’s gaze. Beginning to recoil the string and pulling her kite in, she sighed. “No. I wouldn’t be of any help at all.”
“And what does that tell you?”
Starlight paused, her heart cracking at the answer she had to give. “That… that it’s not my problem… and that I can’t be responsible for something I can’t do…”
Smiling softly, the Ancient One nodded. “Precisely, Starlight.” Patting Starlight on the back, the Ancient One stood back on all four hooves. Glancing around, both mares could see that Kamare-taj was beginning to wake. Doors were beginning to be opened, and windows unlatched. The sun had finally broken over the mountains.
“That shall be our lesson today, Miss Glimmer.” The Ancient One watched Starlight as she finally pulled in the remainder of her kite, beginning to disassemble the creation.
Starlight gazed at the Ancient One with wide-eyed surprise. “W-what? Really?”
“Yes,” was her simple answer. “You must know when you can tackle a problem, and when you cannot. Without the proper skills, you would be outrageously outmatched as a foal is to a full grown pony. You must remember when you can take a threat in full or when you must stand by and watch. You may try, and you may succeed... but you may also fail. This is the lesson for today.”
With that, the Ancient One left Starlight to her own musings, moving on to oversee the other ponies that were training under her careful eye.
But not to the extent the Ancient One seemed to be teaching Starlight.
Still sitting at the edge of the courtyard, overlooking a hill that sloped downwards into the valley she had entered, she could only do one thing.
The morning after, Starlight went to check books out of the library. Having seen that no librarian was in sight, she wrote her name down and took a few books out of the library for reading. Not much, just three books. Compared to what Twilight had the both of them scour through and read… it really wasn’t anything too long.
A day passed, another lesson. The Ancient One talked about more history to set Starlight up for the eventual practical lessons she would take up. At the moment, she was learning about how ponies had discovered, through divine revelation, or otherwise, direct contact from the beings that managed the many dimensions, as the Ancient One put, ponies of all types were able to start forming magic with their very hooves.
After a good chunk of exposition was placed before her, she finished her books and was about to place them down on what appeared to be the central desk before she saw a figure arranging things behind it. Waiting patiently, she whistled until the figure turned around and her mouth dropped a little.
“J-Jade?” Starlight stammered. “Blue Jade?”
“The one and only!” Jade grinned, expertly tossing a book to the side and landing in perfect unison with an already formed pile.
“You manage the library?” Starlight asked, flabbergasted at the thought.
“Is it any more obvious?” Jade shrugged, expertly swiping the books from Starlight’s wobbly balance on her back. “So, whatcha got here?”
“Oh, it’s just a few… books…” muttered Starlight, still reeling.
“Glimmy-Glam, don’t be so surprised!” Jade giggled, smirking.
“I just, erm, didn’t take you as the kind of pony to do this kind of thing,” Starlight explained. “The only other pony I know who would single-hoofedly manage a library is the nerdiest bookish alicorn I’ve ever met.”
“Tsk tsk tsk,” Jade tsked, “Hey yourself. First thing you do when you come into my library is judge my character without the common courtesy of a hello? Some two-day old friend you are.”
“H-hey, I’m sorry!” Starlight waved a hoof. “Erm, what I meant to say was hello-”
“Relax, girl!” Jade moved around the table and slapped Starlight on the back, not noticing how Starlight coughed and winced as she was shoved forward a bit. Chuckling lightly, Jade shook her head with a grin. “You’re seriously so tense. Liven up!”
“O-kay then…” Starlight smiled nervously, glancing at Jade with trepidation.
“So, you’ve been reading some pretty thick tomes, eh?” Jade asked, shuffling the books Starlight had signed out. “All in the span of a day, too!”
Starlight looked to the side, rubbing a foreleg. “Twilight was pretty intense with her study sessions…”
“What kind of friend forces them to go through a hundred books in one sitting?” Jade asked. “Some friend. So…” Jade glanced at the titles of the books. “The Solar Key, Lunam Secretorum, The Tempest of Tempus and… Tua Mater?” Jade looked at Starlight. “Impressive. Most impressive.”
Starlight felt her cheeks go rosy at the comment, embarrassment filling her thoughts. “Yeah…”
Jade smirked. “Hey, if you can read things like this, I’m sure you can read even more! Follow me.”
As Jade turned around and began to trot behind the many bookshelves Starlight could see, she followed. Not sure what was going to happen, Starlight observed the walls they were passing with squeamish eyes.
“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask,” Jade began.”
“About what?” Starlight replied.
Jade stopped just before a large expanse that Starlight couldn’t really see with Jade in the way. “What’s that crystal you’ve got hidden your robes? Can’t help but wonder with you rubbing it when you’re nervous, ya dig?”
Starlight was taken off guard by the inquiry. Glancing down, she found that she was indeed, holding onto it the moment they had stopped. The shard pulsed with soft purple light and Starlight breathed. “It’s… just something to remind me of… of home…”
Jade watched as Starlight bit her lip studying the inscriptions of the crystal. Shrugging, Jade continued forward. “Huh.”
Starlight hid the shard and continued onwards, following Jade into the… extra library. “So, uh, Jade, what is this place?”
Jade motioned around her. “Oh, this is a section that is for Masters only. Ya know, ponies like a moi?” At Starlight’s sigh, Jade grinned and continued. “That’s what it would say if it had a plaque, but at my discretion, others can use it. Seeing as you’re here…”
“You’re saying I can read these?” Starlight asked. As she trotted over to a random table piled with books of all sorts and turned a book around to look at its cover, Jade had begun to pull a couple books off the shelves.
“You can start with something like Belle’s Beginnings and Jewels of Jarkhatan,” Jade said, placing the books on Starlight’s back. With a smirk, Jade remarked “How’s your Pre-classical Equestrian?” All the while, Starlight squinted at the book, trying to read it’s title.
“The… Room of Requirement?” Starlight murmured, furrowing a brow. Suddenly, a glinting orange caught her attention, and Starlight twisted her head to look at a bunch of chained up volumes, all with a glowing circle imbued with otherworldly energies.
Glancing at Jade, she trotted over to them, She was attracted to one particular tome, she looked up at it. “Hey, Jade… what are these?”
Jade nonchalantly glanced over as she was looking at books and shrugged. “Those are the Ancient One’s private collection.”
Starlight pulled back her hoof, wincing. “So, uh, they’re forbidden?”
Jade chuckled. Turning to approach her section, Jade shook her head. “No knowledge is forbidden in Kamare-taj, girl,” she said, walking into an aisle. “Only a few practices and other dark shmuck. Nothing I would dabble in.”
Encouraged by the answer, Starlight reached for the tome, unlatching it before carefully bringing it down. Sitting on her haunches, Starlight placed the tome on her lap and opened it up to a noticeably ripped page.
“Those books are too advanced for anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme.” Jade said as she had begun wheeling a tray of books around and had come back down the aisle.
Starlight glanced from the torn page to the adjacent pages before looking up at Jade. “This one’s got pages missing?”
Jade rose an eyebrow at the tome’s cover and sighed. “Eeyup. That is the Book of Star Swirl the Bearded, otherwise known as ‘the Study of Time’.”
Starlight’s eyes widened at that, glancing back down at the book before her with sudden interest and equal amounts of worry, memories of an ear-shattering rainboom clouding her thoughts. Wincing, she began to wonder how something of Star Swirl’s could be found here until Jade interrupted her thoughts.
Shuffling up to stand beside the sitting Starlight, she rested herself on the table beside her. “Those pages were stolen by a former master, this idiotic zealot named Mordo, just after he strung up the old librarian and relieved him of his head.”
Starlight’s eyes shot up to Jade’s figure once more, a mouth going to her hoof in shock. Her previous thoughts were banished in an instant, being replaced by Jade’s statement. “W-what!?”
Jade let a bitter smile creep up on her face. “That leaves me to guard these books, so if you even think of crossing the borders of Kamare-taj with a stolen volume, I’d know it…” Jade slowly shut the book in Starlight’s grasp and placed it back. The somewhat shaken Starlight blinked, a shiver going down her spine as she stared at Jade.
“...and you’d be dealt with before you left the compound.”
“B-but somepony died?” Starlight asked, her eyes widening into space.
Jade shook her head. “Yep. A friend of mine, too. He was pretty swell.”
“But that’s… that’s…”
Jade cocked an eyebrow. “Murder? Uh-huh. Knowing you hail from the likes of a peaceful land like Equestria, it would only be natural that there aren’t any things like that you’re aware of.” Sighing, Jade trotted up to Starlight, helping her back to four hooves and placing books on her back. “But the real world is much, much more twisted and much more dark than you would want to think.”
“I-I know, but…” Starlight murmured, thinking back to Chrysalis just a couple weeks prior, “Still…”
“Don’t dwell on it too much, my friend,” Jade muttered, patting Starlight on the back as she led them back to the main library. “I see a lot of good in you. This is not your problem to deal with. Just focus on your teachings with the Ancient One and you’ll be fine. So long as you remain the pony you are… I have no doubt you will make the right decisions when push comes to shove.”
With that, Starlight found herself standing outside of the library and staring into the tree-centred courtyard filled with training individuals of all kinds. Feeling the weight of the books on her back, she sighed and looked down.
Maybe some reading would take her mind off her increasing worries.
“Mastery of the Ridge Gauntlet is essential to the mystic arts.”
Starlight walked up in the line and found herself set before a box filled with numerous identical bracelet-type brass adornments. Going around the lower foreleg of a pony, it would sit snug and tight, but comfortable as to not fall off. Slipping one on that fit just right, she followed the group of trainees into the middle of one of the training courtyards as they began to make motions with their hooves or with the occasional set wings to accompany them.
“They allow us to travel throughout the multiverse. Unlike the teleportation spells that unicorns have devised, this is much safer and much more reliable.”
Starlight glanced around her and tried to follow the motions of the earth pony beside her, as the ground was beginning to be showered in multi-coloured waterfalls of sparks by all of her fellow students. With a furrowed brow, she began to attempt the same type of magic with her own hooves, using what she had read and what she was currently observing to attempt the portal.
“All you need to do is focus. Visualise. See the destination in your mind. A unicorn once told me that to teleport, they had to know where they were going. You have to picture it. Feel it. Try and be there and be here at the same time. Look beyond the world in front of you. Imagine every single detail. The clearer the picture, the quicker and easier the gateway will come.”
Starlight glanced behind her as the voice grew nearer. Jade’s green robes swayed in the soft wind, and Starlight grimaced as mere scintillas of magic formed in the air in front of her. All around her, she could see glowing circles of raw dimensional mana twirling in the air, their rings shaky but undeniably more tangible than Starlight’s. As Starlight felt a pulse of pain in her horn, she instinctively put a hoof up to it, breaking her concentration.
At that moment, the Ancient One followed by a familiar master had entered the same courtyard Starlight and Jade occupied and Jade nodded to her. “And stop,” Jade simply stated. At once, all the students broke whatever form they had entered and stood at a reverent attention.
The Ancient One smiled at everypony before her. “Good work everypony. Keep studying and practice hard.” Nodding to Jade, the Ancient One continued: “I would like a moment alone with Miss Glimmer.”
Jade grinned and slapped Starlight on the back. Starlight winced. “Of course.” Nodding generally to everypony she had been talking to, they followed Jade out of the courtyard. Behind their shuffling hooves, the Ancient One and the pony following beside her moved forward, approaching Starlight’s sighing and downcast form.
“M-my horn…” Starlight sighed, her eyes staring at the ground. Feeling the Ancient One stop in front of her, Starlight looked up with glum darting eyes. “I can’t-”
“It’s not about your horn, Starlight,” the Ancient One stated.
Starlight looked the Ancient One in the eyes with defeated confusion. “How is this not about my horn?”
The Ancient One blinked at Starlight for a moment before smiling softly in understanding and motioned for the mare beside her to move forward. “Master Mos,” the Ancient One murmured, and the mare obliged.
Stepping forward, Starlight recognized her as the mare she had seen studying in the room she had first met the Ancient One in. With a swift movement, the mare removed the hood that surrounded most of her head, one that Starlight had finally taken to noticing. What she saw gave her stomach butterflies, staring at it with bated breath. The Ancient One continued to watch Starlight as her expression turned from sickness to awe.
A stub rested on her head, the remnants of a horn cleanly well kept and glinting dully in the light of the sun.
With a few jerks of her head and the shuffling of hooves, mana formed with expert fluency in front of her. The burning green aura seared into Starlight’s mind, but it didn’t bother her. Starlight was fixed to how she moved, the way she seemed to still be able to do magic regardless of a horn. With finality, the mare jerked a limb forward before her lips curved and she replaced her hood above her head.
“Thank you, Master Mos,” the Ancient One dismissed. Nodding, Master Mos left their company.
“You cannot beat a river into submission, Starlight,” the Ancient One said. “You must surrender to its current and use its power as your own. Your own magic is all you’ve ever known to tap into, but you’ve felt it. The endless energies that lie beyond this realm. You cannot rely on your magic alone anymore, Starlight. You have to let go.”
Starlight bit her lip, pawing at the ground in thought. “I… I control my- er- the magic around me by letting go?” Shaking her head in perplexion, Starlight sighed. “That doesn’t make sense.”
The Ancient One smiled. “Not everything does, Miss Glimmer, and not everything has to.” Trotting forward to put a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder reassuringly, she looked her in the eye. “Your magic, knowledge, and intellect have taken you far in life, Starlight. The friendships you’ve made and the mistakes you’ve overcome have pushed you even further… but all these accomplishments will take you no further in this direction. Perhaps in other situations or even another life… but not now.
“Surrender, Starlight,” the Ancient One finished. Twirling her hoof into the stone before her and planting her other into the ground, a portal opened up behind Starlight. Seeing the bright blue aura illuminate her surroundings along with a chilly wind, she twirled around and her mind drew a blank. Smirking, the Ancient One began to walk forward and past the awed Starlight. “Quell your fears and your ego, and your power will rise. Come, follow me.”
As Starlight followed the Ancient One into the portal that was billowing frosty air and flakes of snow into the otherwise unoccupied courtyard, she found herself suddenly atop a high mountain ridge overlooking a large sparkling circular citadel down below. In the distance, Starlight could squint and make out the distant shape of a large lonely mountain and the gleaming capital of Equestria.
“Wait, is this..”
“Mount Everhoof,” the Ancient One confirmed. “The tallest mountain in the known world.”
Feeling the effects of the cold begin to kick in, Starlight shivered and rubbed her robes against her coat, now glad that she had something else to protect her exposed self. “I-it’s beautiful,” Starlight hissed through chattering teeth, “F-freezing, but beautiful.”
The Ancient One nodded. “Quite so. In fact, a normal pony could probably last half an hour in these frigid temperatures with fur alone.”
“G-great!” Starlight exclaimed, her face beginning to collect flakes of snow and her mane beginning to freeze.
Breathing in the sub-zero temperatures, the Ancient One glanced back the way they had come and, gazing at Starlight’s distracted figure, she nodded to herself. “You, however, will likely go into shock within the first three.” With quiet haste, the Ancient One made her way through the portal before Starlight’s freezing mind could catch up.
The words registering in her mind and sensing movement, Starlight shakily saw the Ancient One’s retreating robes pass through the portal and she tried to make her way towards it too. Just as she was about to jump through, she could hear the Ancient One say “Surrender, Starlight…”
And just like that, Starlight landed in a muzzle-full of fresh powdery snow.
“N-no!” Starlight had cried, now having to pick herself back up. Now covered in frosty frozen flakes, she shivered from the impact and looked around her in increasing worry. Looking at the distant Crystal Empire, she knew that there was no point. If she even tried to cross that distance with her horn, it would almost assuredly shatter from the mana buildup required, not to mention cause her to pass out and likely suffer severe mental trauma for the rest of her life.
Blinking, her eyelids already freezing up, Starlight whimpered.
“So, how’s our new recruit doing?”
Jade came up from behind the Ancient One, trotting with a smirk. She eventually came to a stop beside her, joining the mare in the training area.
The Ancient One merely continued to gaze at the empty space in the courtyard in front of her, watching, waiting. She merely acknowledge Jade’s presence by nodding. “We’ll see. Eventually.” Blinking, she added: “Any second now.”
Jade’s grin faltered for a second as she recognized the look the Ancient One was giving to the empty courtyard. Flickering her eyes between her and the space, she blinked and her smile turned into a painful wince. “Oh no… not again…”
A beat.
“Maybe I should-” Jade began to say, beginning to ready her gauntlet before the Ancient One nudged her.
“No, wait…”
Jade bit her lip as she continued to glance between her superior and the ever-silent space in front of them. Grimacing, Jade could only sympathise with Starlight.
“P-please!”
Starlight groaned as she continued to make motions with her hooves and her head, only seeing sparks appear in front of her. She could feel the mana in her horn pulsating unevenly and she winced with every movement. With a grunt, Starlight fell to her knees as she gave up attempt number four to create a portal.
She could only sigh, wincing as she put a hoof up to her horn as it glowed painfully. In that moment, she remembered what the Ancient One had said to her:
“You cannot rely on your magic alone anymore, Starlight. You have to let go.”
With a sigh, Starlight scrunched her frosting muzzle and concentrated inward. Soon, the pressure in her head disappeared, and she gasped for air. Now stretching her mind outward, she tried to follow the Ancient One’s advice, letting go of her own thoughts and feeling for everything around her.
Now making the motions once more, she closed her eyes and tried to picture as she normally would when teleporting, except this time… she tried to think without the very magic she had used all these years. It seemed a far stretch to her. She tried to think with the energies she swore she sensed just outside her reach. And there was the complete possibility that none of it would work.
But she would try, or she would perish.
Silence reigned in the courtyard.
Jade began to fidget restlessly, trying to fight her inner urge to just save Starlight. Glancing finally at the Ancient One, she could also see her growing restless.
The seconds passed, and Jade could almost taste the tension in the air.
bzzzzwHFFFFFFZSHHHH!
As if right on cue, a portal had emerged from thin air, it’s sparks glowing a bright turquoise as they exploded outward. A hazy image formed within the circle of sparks before finally realizing into the figure of Starlight dropping to the stone-hard ground of the courtyard. Snow billowed in from the biting winds on the other side, and Starlight uncontrollably shivered in her fur as she looked up at the Ancient One with questioning eyes.
Jade spotted the Ancient One’s lips curving ever so slightly, and in doing so, she couldn’t help but break into a wide grin herself.
“Thatta girl, Starlight!” Jade exclaimed.
Starlight’s chattered, every part of her body quivering uncontrollably. Her lungs fogged up the air with the freezing oxygen she had partaken of and she curled into a fetal position, twitching slightly.
“Hey again,” Starlight greeted as she entered the library.
Jade turned around from her work and grinned as she saw Starlight. “How’s our Starsicle doing?”
Starlight groaned. “Please don’t tell me you’re still going on about that.”
“Starlight,” Jade said, tilting her head with a raised eyebrow, “I’ll always be on about that.”
“It happened a couple days ago,” Starlight murmured, “Isn’t that enough to forget?”
“It’s just like the internet,” Jade shrugged, “Once it’s up, no one forgets.”
Starlight went cross-eyed. “What’s an ‘internet’?”
Jade blinked. “How should I know?”
“You’re the one who said it!”
“Starlight, I don’t know what I’m saying half the time.”
Starlight opened her mouth to make another retort, but chose otherwise. “Huh. That sounds like somepony I know down in Ponyville.”
“Does she happen to be pink?’
“Huh?”
Jade shrugged again. “Nevermind.”
Starlight blinked multiple times. “O-kay then…” With an awkward silence suddenly filling the air, she bit her lip. “Look, can I have a book on astral projection?”
“A who in the what now?” Jade asked.
“Astral projection. Like that weird thing the Ancient One did to me day one?”
Jade squinted her eyes at the unicorn in front of her. “You’re not ready for that.”
“Try me,” Starlight smirked. The incredulous look Jade gave her made her frown. “What?”
“Pffffft!” Jade began to sputter before bursting out laughing. “Snkkkt hahahaha!”
Starlight grimaced. “Seriously, what?”
Jade continued to giggle and wipe her eye before she saw the look on Starlight’s face. Quickly falling back to a grin, Jade shook her head. “Y-you’re actually serious?” She struggled behind held back laughs.
“Yes.”
Jade wiped her forehead. “Phew! Okay, nice try, but let me be serious myself, you’re not ready for that kind of stuff.”
“Come on, Jade,” Starlight implored, “Help a girl out, here!”
“Starlight, Starlight.” Jade shook her head. “Come back when you’ve at least mastered portals.”
Starlight groaned. “Come on, I’m already getting ten times better with each attempt!”
“Must I remind you of your hilarious second attempt?” Jade grinned. “I swear you would’ve died!”
Starlight rubbed her hooves against her face. “Unnnggh… the Ancient One never said what direction the portal had to face, okay?”
“Still,” Jade remarked, “You can’t make something like that disappear from my fantastic memory.”
“Maybe if I still had my magic…” Starlight muttered between breaths.
“Thatta girl!” Jade nodded approvingly. She watched as Starlight weaved her way out of the library. “All in due time, Starsicle!”
Starlight sat on the edge of her cot, glancing to her shut doors and blinds. Biting her lip, she smiled and blew air threw her lips.
Rubbing her hooves together, she envisioned the very books she would need…
And opened a portal big enough for a leg and a book. A portal to the first book. With silent agility, she stuck just enough of her head out to look around. Widening her eyes at the sight of the back of Jade’s exposed head, she yanked herself back, grabbed the book, and slid out it out, shutting the portal immediately behind her. Breathing heavily, quietly, she waited. With a slight titter and a nervous giggle of exhilaration, she smiled once more. Envisioning another one, she opened another portal and swiped it before closing it immediately.
Certain she had already gotten her books, she squinted her eyes and swirled her hooves in front of her one last time. She stuck her head out and glanced around. Her parted with mirth at the sight of Jade out of her seat and looking around at the shelves with incredulous fervor, she took the book Jade had been poring over and closed the portal before she could see.
Hugging the books close, she giggled before glancing at the title of her first one. “The Realms of Luna and Beyond”. Blinking, she looked at the publication date and found it to be concurring with the reigns of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Making an about face, she began to turn the pages and founder herself immediately smiling. New study habits… was all Starlight could think. In other words… sweet!
All the while, Jade was scrambling to scrawl down the volumes that had suddenly disappeared from her shelves, grinning wickedly as she knew of only one pony who could be stupid enough to attempt it. “...idiot…” she breathed with a chuckle.
“Once in this room, you pleaded for me to let you learn. Now I’m being told that you question every lesson, regardless of whether I teach it or not, preferring to teach yourself.”
Starlight winced before laughing nervously. “Ehehehe… well, me, er, pleading to help you was only a few weeks ago. I don’t think I’ve been advancing that much.” Clearing her throat as she stopped alongside the Ancient One to the same room she had first witnessed, Starlight smirked. “Just as well, once in this room, you told me to open my eyes. Now ponies are telling to blindly follow rules that make no sense even upon scanning through tomes of the topics! A habit, thanks to one Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
The Ancient One turned to raise an eyebrow at her. “Hm… So, you also find the need to break the rule about conjuring portals in the library, especially after the incident with an old student of mine, who I’m sure you’ve heard about.”
Starlight doubled back, blinking. With a grin, she said “Jade told on me?” Though she really wasn’t all that surprised to be honest.
The Ancient One only looked at her with mirth before glancing at the center of her room. “You are advancing quickly, Starlight. Faster than any other pupil I have taken on in my lifetime. Now, seeing as you were the student to one the Element of Magic… it still fascinates me to an extent.” The Ancient One tapped her hoof, slid it forward and made a motion as if to shatter something. As Starlight looked to where the Ancient One was looking, her jaw went unhinged.
In front of her, the world seemed to have fractured. A verifiable wall of undulating essence now distorted the world in front of her from the ground up, seemingly jingling with the sound of clinking glass and shattering china.
“You need a safe space, Starlight,” the Ancient One remarked, walking towards the break in space. “However much you have progressed in your studies of magic in any form, you need a place that you can practice it all, without damaging the world around you.” Mentioning for Starlight to join her, they both entered the new gateway.
As she walked through, she could almost feel the world change around her. As if her essence passed through something that seemed familiar… yet backwards. Looking around, she had to blink multiple times, seeing how the world all around her now looked… broken. Fractured. Like a jagged mirror.
“You are now inside the Mirror Dimension,” the Ancient One explained as Starlight observed her surroundings. “Ever present, yet undetected, the real world is not affected by what happens here. We use it to train and surveil…”
Starlight watched as a fellow initiate went to fill a cup of tea, and saw that her image seemed to shift in opposite directions as her body passed behind a fracture line. Waving her hoof in front of her, there was no recognition at all of her presence. Raising her eyebrows in a ‘wow’ expression and blowing air through her teeth, she nodded her head to the side.
“...and sometimes to contain threats.”
Starlight flicked her ears.
“You don’t want to be stuck in here without a ridge gauntlet.”
Starlight turned to face her mentor with a baffled expression. “Woah, wait.” Waving a hoof and laughing a little, she looked around. “What do you mean ‘threats’?”
For a second, the Ancient One looked at Starlight with a silent expression.
And Starlight looked back.
Wordlessly, the Ancient One stomped to hooves down, causing the entire world to shudder. In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath Starlight’s hooves folded inward and outward, croaking and booming. The walls bent and expanded, collapsed and contracted. The ceiling flew and descended, it’s ridges increasing tenfold, twentyfold. Right before her, the very world changed, before settling with a reverberating thud.
“Learning of an infinite universe, Starlight…” began the Ancient One, “Included learning of infinite threats and dangers. Surely, you didn’t think that what lies in Equestria and Equus is all that there was to the fabric of reality.”
Tapping her hoof on the ground, she paced, nodding her head before turning to look at Starlight once more. “And if I told you everything else you don’t already know…”
“Another sparring match?” Starlight groaned, having to pull on some practice gloves. “I thought that was a one time thing.”
“Nothing ever happens once, Starlight,” Jade said. “Besides, you need the practice.”
“But when am I ever going to need to fight?” Starlight asked. “My friends can just zap all the enemies with the power of friendship and harmony.”
Jade sighed. Looking over at Starlight, she sighed again and finished her equipment of training gear along with Starlight.
Starlight frowned. “What?”
Jade sighed some more.
“What?”
Jade walked up to face Starlight. “Do you seriously believe that?”
“Believe what?”
Jade waved a hoof. “That you can just shoot some rainbow powers fueled by friendship to eliminate extra dimensional beings above and beyond this world’s magic?”
Starlight fumbled for words, raising her eyebrows as she blew air from her lips. “Er, uh, huh… y-yeah?”
Jade snorted. “It’s a small universe, Glimmer.”
Frowning, Starlight squinted at Jade. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Jade shook her head. “You’ll find out.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“All in good time.”
Starlight sighed and finished putting her practice gear and stepped back, watching Jade finish her own preparations. Hearing another group of trainees shuffling, she turned to glance over. What she saw was the Ancient One pacing around the group, watching their session. She watched as the initiates grunted and moved as one, whether they had talons, hooves, or claws. They moved with grace and precision, such that Starlight still hoped to gain.
Biting her lip as a question surfaced to her conscience, a question that had been plaguing her since she had arrived, she looked back to Jade. “Just how old is the Ancient One?”
Jade paused. “Hm?”
“The Ancient One. How old is she?”
Jade smirked and finished her own preparations. “Nobody knows what the Sorcerer Supreme’s age is. Only that she’s Coltic and she never talks about her past.”
Starlight frowned. “What? You don’t know?”
Jade raised an eyebrow. “If you’re asking me, I’d venture to say she’s at least a thousand and counting.”
Starlight shook her head. “So you mean to say you follow her, even though you don’t know?”
Jade shrugged. “They’re not my details to share. For me? I know that she’s wise and strong, kind yet ruthless. She helped me quite a bit in my own… spiritual journey.” Finally she began to pace around Starlight, and Starlight paced around in kind. “Remember to always keep your eyes on the enemy when confronting them head on.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Starlight breathed.
“If they’re too powerful, don’t use your brawns,” Jade said, stepping forward and jabbing Starlight before grabbing her foreleg and flipping forward. In one swift motion, Jade had pulled Starlight into a headlock. “Use your brain.”
“Only because you don’t listen, Starsicle,” Jade grinned. “Trust your teacher, as I do with the Ancient One, and don’t lose your way.”
Starlight braced herself before rolling forward, tossing Jade off of her. Gasping for air, she gripped the stony ground before getting back to four hooves. Once up, she took a few steps away and began to circle against the recovered Jade.
“Like Mordo did?” Starlight said, rubbing her throat and grimacing. “He was taught here?”
“Correct.” Jade nodded. “When he first came here, he was a weathered, broken griffon. He had lost everything dear to him, and he searched for his purpose in the mystic arts.”
Starlight watched as Jade advanced again, and sidestepped quickly, attempting to trip Jade up. Stumbling forward, Jade used the momentum to go into a roll and quickly come back up to four hooves. “He was a brilliant student, ya know,” Jade said. “I knew him as well. Smart, but proud. Headstrong.”
Starlight gasped as Jade tripped Starlight up herself and she ended up on her back. “He questioned and rejected the Ancient One’s teaching and left Kamare-taj.” Starlight rolled away as a hoof came down to her barrel in an attempt to wind her. Jade continued as Starlight got back up. “The close friends he made with initiates at the time followed him like sheep, seduced by false teachings and ways.”
As Jade moved forward, Starlight got low and dove for her legs. Jade skidded, but fell muzzle first into the cobblestone. Starlight quickly put Jade into a headlock of her own and licked her lips, breathing triumphantly. “Hah!” Starlight grinned. “And he stole some of those forbidden pages, right?”
“Oh yeah!” Jade wheezed, before throwing Starlight off of her. Starlight yelped and rolled to a stop, nursing her horn as it had made contact with the ground.
Breathing heavily, Starlight panted. “So, uh… what did it do?”
Jade panted herself, and patted a rack that she had backed up against. “No more questions, Glimmy Glam.”
Starlight narrowed her eyes at the name. She then watched as Jade pulled a small staff from the rack and grinned at it before facing Starlight. Frowning, Starlight cocked an eyebrow. “What’s that?” asked Starlight, pointing at the object.
“That’s a question,” Jade smirked. “I said no more questions.”
“But you didn’t have that last time we trained-”
“This is the Staff of the Living Tribunal,” Jade interrupted, explaining. “Don’t ask me where the name came from, because let me be real, it’s tacky as all Tartarus.”
“Uhhhhh-huhhhhh…” Starlight nodded, squinting at the piece of unassuming wood.
“This is one of many relics,” Jade said. “Like the Wand of Watoomb, and the Bolting Boots of Voltor.”
“The Wand of what now?” Starlight’s muzzle scrunched. “They really just… roll off the tongue, don’t they?”
Jade shrugged. “Hey, don’t look at me. I disagree with ninety percent of the names out there so…”
Starlight made an about face. “Okay, and what do they do?”
Jade answered by twirling quickly, swinging the staff around. In a blink, the staff stretched with glowing green power and stretched like a lumbering snake. In one swift motion, Jade, had jumped into the air, using the momentum of her twirl into twisting mid-air, and whipped it at the ground, scorching the surface of the cobblestone with fresh hot mana.
“Whoah…” Starlight murmured, her eye twitching at the sight of the mark. “When- uh… when do I get my relic?”
Jade landed twirled the staff in a hoof before planting one end into the ground. The loud clack it made caused Starlight to flinch. “When you are ready,” said Jade.
Starlight glanced at the staff again before centering her eyes on Jade. “I think I’m ready.”
Jade snorted and giggled, shaking her head. “The relic will decide when you’re ready.” Sighing, Jade began to twirl the staff in her hoof before advancing on Starlight. “For now, conjure a weapon.”
“Wat.”
“A weapon. Your hooves. Make a weapon.” Jade rolled her eyes at Starlight’s puzzled face, momentarily resting her staff. “Seriously, just try. It’ll come to you.”
Starlight, frowning, looked down at her hooves before looking up at her horn. Sighing, she closed her eyes. “This would be a lot easier with my horn…”
“Yeah, well,” Jade said, “Your horn is out of commision right now.”
Glaring at Jade, Starlight pursed her lips. Closing her eyes, she centered her focus into the powers beyond that surrounded her. She could feel their strength, untapped, yet she could not seem to understand it. Breathing, she focused on what she needed, and the answer came to her in a whisper. A faint prompting. An idea.
Swirling her hooves, Starlight stomped one down before swirling it. Hitting her foreleg, she slid her hoof down quickly before planting her hooves down again and spreading them apart quickly. Suddenly, between her hooves appeared a sparking, vibrating construct of pure turquoise mana. Widening her eyes in wonder, Starlight sat on her haunch and flicked a hoof, watching the the mana wave around like a whip.
“Yes!” Jade cried, pumping a hoof. “You’re getting it!”
Before Starlight knew it, Jade had blurred forward and empowered her staff. “Gah!” Starlight yelped, gripping the mana with both hooves, closing her eyes, and bringing it up in defense. The loud clash of relic against magic echoed, but Starlight couldn’t take notice for adrenaline was now coursing through her.
Opening her eyes, Starlight saw the grinning face of Jade behind a two-hooved grip of a staff against her mana. “Fight!”
Starlight gasped as the Jade took her staff and took another swing. Reacting quickly, Starlight balanced on her hind legs and used both hooves to block the bending staff. Wobbling precariously, she stumbled onto her back as Jade spun and skidded to a stop.
“Fight like your life depends on it, Starlight!” Jade hollered, twirling her staff and jumping into a finishing arc against Starlight. Starlight widened her eyes as she foresaw the attack and rolled to the side at the last second, the staff leaving behind a trail of charred stone as Jade landed. Her form beared down on Starlight, and she placed a point of the staff against Starlight’s neck.
Starlight could feel the wood barely a hair’s length away.
“Because one day,” Jade puffed, “It may.”
From afar, the Ancient One looked at the sparring duo curiously.
Starlight panted, and her mana whip fizzled away. Watching as Jade flipped the staff onto her back, Starlight rested easy. Her blood still tingled with electrifying fear, and she blinked up at the sky, properly winded.
It’s purple lattice prismed in the light of night, the flames of candles and the twinkling of stars being all that was to illuminate the words etched into the crystal.
Friendship is Magic, and you are our friend. Just remember that we will always be here, now and forever. Stay safe, Starlight.
With a sigh, she looked out the window to her right, her slanted reflection staring back at her. Her eyes drifted to the horn on her head, still glowing softly despite the lack of use. Every time she thought of a spell that she could still do, her horn pulsed in response. Each and every time, she winced, gently putting a hoof on the cracking surface.
With how sore it always was, she had gotten used to it. It still felt nice to massage the pain away but… it always came back.
Forlornly gazing back to the crystal, she thought of her friends. They must be so worried for her… no word for over a month… she began to wonder if this was all worth it. If any of the time she had spent at Kamare-taj had actually helped her. She had learned to use magic again… but not in the way she had known her entire life. Maybe…
Glancing at her door, Starlight’s mind went to a book she had found her attention always catching in the library.
Staring at the crystal in her hooves, she breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and holding it close. Was it worth the risk?
Thinking of Twilight’s smile, Spike’s quirkiness... of Rainbow Dash’s cockiness, Fluttershy’s gentleness and Rarity’s inspiration… Applejack's sincerity and Pinkie’s ridiculous but livening jokes…
Another pulse went through her head and she sighed, opening her eyes and looking at the crystal one more time. With one more glance at her reflection in the window, she tried on a devilish smirk. Pocketing her crystal, she quietly left her room and found herself crossing the halls with silent haste. Her eyes darted side to side, quickly looking into each passed room before she found herself looking at the courtyard.
Focusing inward, she tried to channel magic into her hooves, and she furrowed her brow. Holding her breath, she stepped onto the cobblestone.
Nothing.
As she released her breath, she found that her hoofsteps had been reduced to ghosts of their actual sound, and her own ears strained to hear them. As she crossed some more archways and courtyards, she found her hooves getting heavier and heavier, louder and louder, and she soon stepped into the graces of the library.
Panting, she quietly glanced into the library and back out into the courtyard before closing her eyes. With a nod and a breathy smile, she made her silent entry.
Eyes flickering from side to side, she weaved through the bookshelves and deeper into the library. Stepping down into the Master’s Only section, she looked at all the hanging tomes and the various books clattered on the multiple study tables. There was only one she had her eyes on.
Trotting over to the Ancient One’s private collection, her eyes flickered with the golden shards inlaid within the Book of Star Swirl the Bearded. The Study of Time. Breathing a little more shallowly, she licked her lips and unchained the book before rushing over to the nearest table. Brushing aside some miscellaneous books, she set the tome down and smiled.
Pulling up a chair, she took the apple that she had forgotten in a study session earlier that morning and took a generous bite as she began to flip through the pages. When Jade hadn’t been looking, she had been able to glean a few pages already, so she moved onto a completely different section she knew she had nothing to go on.
Just reading the text of Starswirl in an ancient Equestrian dialect was an honour for Starlight, and she stopped on a particular page with a highly detailed drawing of some sort of… necklace. As she tried to make heads or tails of the text, something seemed to click within her and she found herself muttering the words she couldn’t quite understand.
“The Eye of Faust…” Starlight murmured. Blinking she frowned. “The Eye of Faust?”
Slowly, her confusion at the foreign name fell away as she found her gaze drifting up. Up and up… to the dialed pedestal in the middle of the circular room. Sitting in the very center of the circular room’s pedestal was a curious work of craftsmanship. Shaped like an eye, it’s center was hollowed and gilded with an intricate design, one she had seen several times across the whole of Kamare-taj.
Glancing down at the very accurate depiction of the same necklace displayed out in the open, she glanced behind her and searched for the signs of anybody watching her.
“Jade?” she called out, her voice echoing across the musty confines of the library. As the echo faded, and she waited, there was nothing. Chewing more of her apple, she turned back to the necklace. Looking down at the back, she looked behind her once more before rushing out of her seat and trotting over to the pedestal. Eyes darting, she lifted the Eye and rushed back to her table.
Putting it on, she let it rest against her robes and she squinted at the instructions laid in the book. “First, open the Eye of Faust,” Starlight managed to read. Nodding, she breathed slowly, focusing inward once more. Now, she could sense something else. Something new, powerful… and familiar.
Her concentration let her legs begin to move of their own accord. Her forelegs twisted once clockwise, and once more counterclockwise before tapping both hooves down quickly, silently. Breathlessly, Starlight heard a soft shifting and she found a brilliant green light emitting from her chest. Glancing down, she widened her eyes at the sight of the Eye now shimmering with ethereal power.
“Whoa,” Starlight said, twisting her head to the side in preparation. “Next, establish a connection with the Eye of Faust.”
Finding her left foreleg ending up touching the back of her right foreleg, she found it circling around until it ended up on the front, before tracing up her leg and to her chest. In the blink of an eye, her right foreleg had been surrounded by spinning runes and symbols. Fascinated by them, she held up her foreleg with wonder and bafflement. Glancing down to the book, her mind raced through the text before her she looked at the apple. The half-eaten apple glistened, and she lifted her hoof.
Glancing from her hoof to the apple, she pointed her hoof at the apple, and flicked her hoof. Instantaneously, a circle of glowing lines, spinning etchings and a tingling sensation came to fruition, and by instinct, she twisted her hoof one way. Slowly, the apple went from half eaten to a plump, luscious untouched apple. Seeing the spectacle before her, she blew air through her lips.
“Oh my,” she whispered, before twisting it the other way. She then watched as the apple seemed to take bites out of itself before it stopped at the core, where it proceeded to mold and rot. Twisting it the other way once more, it went back to being a full apple, unblemished by any bite marks or potential mold.
Looking back down at the book before, she glanced at her outstretched leg, the amulet, and back to the book. Moving the apple and pushing the book forward, she flipped the pages with her one hoof until she came upon the ripped rituals.
Breathing, she twisted her hoof… and the pages formed from nothing, it would seem. They floated in, almost looking as if it were reattaching themselves to the book before the pages floated down and settled against the rest of the book. It was as if there was never a tear in the first place.
Her eyes scanned and frowned at the words circling some strange otherworldly symbols, the likes of which made Starlight squirm in her robes. The very sight of them caused her face to flash in concern before words started spitting out of her muzzle.
“Dormammu…” Starlight muttered, “...the Dark Dimension… eternal life…?”
A loud boom echoed around Starlight, but it wasn’t one that she could hear. Her ears flicked and found nothing, but her mind reeled from the sound. The sound of the universe’s heart beating. Stumbling backwards, the spell was broken and the Eye shut, before Starlight was made to witness something she almost couldn’t describe.
It seemed to come from the book, spouting one crystal which began to increase more and more until multiplicitous images flickered through each and every one, the tower incomprehensibly stretching to the ceiling and beyond. Images of Starlight’s head swivelling around in the same pose she was now, flames billowing from dropped objects and green mana-flame eradicating entire cities. Glimpses of a dark, barren side of a shattered ringworld and the countless stars seen without a sun and moon as Rainbow Dash, bearing the Element of Loyalty rallied a group of strange ponies. Glances of an alicorn that resembled an older Flurry Heart standing beside Twilight, Starlight herself and another unicorn she didn’t know, Rarity activating a glowing miniaturised mana-reactor, Applejack’s form crackling with unbridled electricity, and Rainbow Dash performing multiple sonic rainbooms before throwing a star-spangled shield.
Each crystal pulsed with things she didn’t understand, and she wouldn’t for not even had a second passed in witnessing the array of crystals before she heard the booming voice of Jade ringing through the air.
“STOP!”
Starlight’s mind reeled from the sheer number of things that had just been introduced to her head, and the crystals collapsed into nothingness before Jade came bounding down the stairs and straight to Starlight. Her form slid to a stop as her eyes widened from the retreating light and the sound of glass shattering and clinking, but no sight of any of the crystals Starlight herself had witnessed. Huffing with adrenaline, Jade stared at the book wide-eyed, still seeing the crystals in her eyes disappearing.
Jade then glared icily at Starlight, her features hardening and raging. “Tampering with the continuum of probability is forbidden.”
Starlight fumbled for words as Jade slammed the book shut with enough force to rattle and blow dust off the table. The percussion echoed through the library.
“I was just… I-I wa-was j-just doing exactly what it said in the book-”
Jade stepped forward with silent anger. “And just what did the book say about the dangers of performing that ritual?”
Starlight glanced at it, shaking. “I don’t kn-know I-uh- haven’t gotten to that part y-yet…”
Jade glared at her before sighing hoisting the book onto her back, marching to the wall of the Ancient One’s texts. “Temporal manipulations can create branches in time,” Jade growled, putting the book into place and clasping the chains tightly and forcefully. “Unstable dimensional openings, paradoxes, time loops!” Jade marched back to confront Starlight and jabbed her in the chest. “D’you want to get stuck reliving the same moment over and over, or never having existed at all?”
Starlight stammered, getting back to forehooves. “They sh-should really put the warnings b-before the spell-”
Jade gnashed her teeth and shook her head. “I thought you would’ve learned by now that messing with time isn’t foals play! What with you prancing around parallel timelines and dooming countless lives to an unwarranted fate all because you tried to change a fixed point in time!”
Starlight’s ears at this point had been folded long ago and she bit her lip, her mind racing as she winced from the reminder. “I’m sorry…”
Jade dropped her head and sighed before her body relaxed, though the tension in the air did not dissipate. “Your curiosity could have gotten you killed.”
Starlight winced harder.
Shaking her head again, Jade frowned and breathed rhythmically, trying to calm her angered state. “Where did you even learn the numerous spells required to perform such a damning feat?”
“I, uh…” Starlight mumbled, “I have a knack for magic. It’s part of what my cutie mark represents.”
“What you just did takes more than a ‘knack for magic’,” Jade said. “Even mages and wizards in the past who’ve had talents in the mystical arts have had to train many moons to get to the level you are now.”
Jade furrowed her brow. “No, you were born for this sort of stuff. You were born for real magic.”
Starlight grimaced. “And yet, my horn is as inactive as ever. Broken, useless.”
“But you can still use magic now, can’t you?” Jade said. “As one door closes, another opens. For now, your horn may be stricken, but you could still recover.”
Starlight swivelled to look Jade in the eyes. “For now? Not forever?”
Jade shook her head. “We’re not prophets, Glimmer. Nopony could predict that.”
“Then when are you going to start telling me what we are? What all of this is? Why I’m still here and not someplace else that could help me?”
“You know very well why you came here-”
“Then why?”
For a moment, nopony said anything.
Silently, Jade motioned for Starlight to follow her to the pedestal. As Jade brought her forelegs onto the pedestal, Starlight stood opposite of her, wondering what she was doing. “What are you…?”
“While your friends and the Princesses guard the world from physical threats, we sorcerers defend the world against more mystical and otherworldly threats.”
Twisting the two dials, the giant globe above their heads rotated, stopping just where Kamare-taj would be on the map. “The Ancient One is the latest in a long line of Sorcerers Supreme, going back to the mother of all magic, Faust.” Looking down for a moment from the globe above, she squinted at Starlight. “The same sorcerer who created the Eye you so recklessly borrowed.”
“But who’s Faust?” Starlight asked.
Jade snorted. “How am I supposed to know? She’s Faust. Some texts I’ve read have suggested she was an alicorn much like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but that she had mastered more than just the three tribes. While an alicorn may have mastery over the three elements ponies are attuned to, Faust was able to tap into the same magic we use now. A different kind of magic.”
“So what does that mean? Is she all powerful?”
“Why are you asking me?” Jade sighed. “I don’t know everything.”
“Sorry.”
Jade looked back up to the globe and shook her head. “Anyways, Faust built three sanctuaries all across the known world. Three sacred citadels to guard over Equus in three places of power where great cities and nations now stand.”
Jade now gestured to the goliathan doors that surrounded the circular room. “That one leads to the Canterlot Citadel” -She pointed to the door behind Starlight- “That one leads to the Neighpon Citadel” -She pointed to the one adjacent to the main hall- “And that one leads to the Zebrican Citadel.” Jade finished by pointing to the door Starlight was facing.
“Together, these three Citadels create a shield that protects the world and, in turn, we mages protect the Citadels.”
Starlight furrowed her brow, watching as Jade twisted the dials and blazing lines of mana burst across the globe, hovering above the landscape itself and shimmering in solidarity. “But… from what?”
“What do we protect the world from?” Jade turned to Starlight. “From other-dimensional beings. Otherworldly threats.”
“Like Dormammu?”
In that moment, Jade looked at Starlight with bafflement and urgency. “Where did you learn that name?”
Starlight gulped. “I read it in the Book of Starswirl? Why?”
Jade’s eye twitched for a second before she twisted the dials once more. “Dormammu… he is the Eater of Souls, the Bringer of Darkness and the Lord of the Dark Dimension. There are only two others greater than he that pose a threat to Equus, and those are names that do not need mentioning. Dormammu is a being of untold power and endless hunger on a quest to bring all worlds under his rule… and for one reason or another, he wants our world the most. Equus.”
Starlight’s eyes flickered with memory of the book as she watched a spectacle unfold before her eyes surrounding the globe, and she furrowed her brow. “The pages that were stolen…”
“A ritual to contact Dormammu and draw power from him.”
Starlight glanced at Jade before incredulously smiling and shaking her head. “Okay, you know what? This is crazy. I mean, I’ve hung around ponies that literally defy all explanation and this is somehow way past that. I came here to heal my horn, not to go hoof-to-hoof with the powers-that-be. I’m out-”
And with that, a large resounding cloister bell resonated through the confines of the library, the source coming from a door Starlight had just been introduced to.
Jade frowned as the magic of the illusion above disappeared before her ears flattened. Eyes wide, her mouth parted and her gaze darted to the Zebrican Citadel entrance.
“Zebrica…” Jade murmured as the door promptly opened while a zebra sorcerer rushed to the through the door. Just as she passed the threshold, something clear, sharp, and etheral sliced into her, causing her to stumble and fall limply to the ground. As Starlight squinted to look at a group of ponies chanting down the hallway of the Citadel, she frowned in confusion as one griffon, clad in similar green attire to Jade, raised a paw to a big undulating ball of energy.
“Mordo!” Jade screamed, rushing away from the pedestal and stopping a few paces away from the door. “STOP!”
Mordo barely spared Jade a glance before slamming his talons into the ground. Promptly, the ball of unbridled energy slammed into the floor and-
KRAKOOM!
An ear-splitting explosion rocked the world before debris from the Zebrican Citadel came flying through the door. Starlight saw in that split second, Jade forming a shield spell that encased her in symbols and runes, but Starlight wasn’t skilled enough yet to react in the same amount of time. Caught off guard and in the fraction of a second, several pieces of fast-moving debris struck her, sending her flying.
She could feel her back impact with something that gave way before the rubble flew away from her and she tumbled to the ground, encased in stone dust and splinters.
She waved the stone dust away from head, closing her eyes and coughing. As plumes of the stone dust continued to settle or float, she stepped away from the blank doorway, shaking your head. Who was that griffon? Why would he attack a sanctum, something that was only part of many things that protected Equestria and the world at large?
More questions began to run through her mind as she stumbled into the hallway adjacent to the door. Where was she? Canterlot? Neighpon? She knew that, by Jade’s own words, Zebrica was the one that was attacked, but… where did the door she had just been pushed through lead to? And was there anypony here?
Trotting hastily through the empty granite halls, she called out for anypony who might’ve been present. “Hello? Helloooo?” Her calls echoed restlessly, but there seemed to be nopony there. She continued her attempts with increasing incredulity and confusion. If this was a sanctum meant to protect the world, where were the mages? The sorcerers? How about the pony that managed it?
After a minute or two, she stumbled into what she assumed was the main foyer, if the empty space, grand staircase, and glamorous translucent door were any clues. As she slowed down, she stared at the door for a second. Breathing, she opened it and walked outside. She widened her eyes, looking around.
Several nobles frowned at her sight, a dirtied unicorn with a cracked horn emerging from a beautiful looking building, but that wasn’t what Starlight was paying attention to. Her eyes were drawn towards the looming structure of Canterlot Castle in the distance, it’s spires and towers stretching to the sky. Even though she had been to the Castle before, this time was different. She hadn’t seen any part of Equestria this close in over a month, not to mention this grandiose…
Blinking, she shook her head and ran back in, closing the doors behind her. As she calmed her breathing, she looked around before frowning. So this was Canterlot Sanctum…
She began to wander. The halls were long, decorated with artifacts and weapons. Various objects she didn’t know how to describe. Several items she passed were leaking magical power, their potential latency able to be gleaned, but if the item didn’t choose you, it was virtually a glorified weapon. She recalled that each item chose their owner… but if that were so, what about those that created them in the first place?
As she thought this, she came upon a display case with a long red cape. By its simple form, it seemed to attach at the neck and drape over the back and haunches. The fact that it floated, softly bouncing with nothing holding it up was cause for interest in Starlight. She found it simply intriguing how it was floating of it’s own accord. She couldn’t really even sense any magic from it. As she moved away from it, she saw it move closer to her but stop at the glass barrier.
Raising an eyebrow, she merely glanced at the other relics in the room before moving on.
Soon, she stumbled on a trio of doors. Each set of door had glass panes in their frame, protecting the viewer from the elements on the other side. Squinting at one of them, she opened the doors, only to find a gush of salty humid air, the crashing of deafening water and the sea spray of intense mist. Blinking as her hair flew behind her, she closed the door and twisted the dial next to the door, finding that it changed the environment. Pursing her lips, she stepped away from the doors.
A noise caused her ears to flick.
Turning her head, she frowned and followed where the sound had come from. Trotting through the hallways, she found herself recognising where she was and the sound began to be clearer, until she realised they were actually voices. Her lips curling, she quickened her pace.
“You shouldn’t have come here,” a gentle voice announces. As I see a large opening from where I stand in the hall, I slow to a trot and walk through the archway, seeing the entrance to the sanctum morph back to normal as three ponies and a griffon walked through it. Stalwartly, an orange-blue mare’s back faced towards Starlight, the whole figure clutching a bladed staff tightly.
Starlight felt a chill run through her as she saw him sneer with cold amusement. “Oh, but how would I be able to do what needs to be done if I didn’t?”
“What needs to be done isn’t always what’s right.”
Mordo simply looked at his claw, studying them expressionless. “A shame, because what needs to be done right now is to get you out of my way.”
Starlight could see the mare’s stance shift ever so slightly as the polearm she held went slightly slack. In the blink of an eye, Mordo’s three henchponies rushed forward, flanking the mare on three sides. The mare tensed and looked breathed before all three rushed in.
She ducked, tucked, and swung her polearm around, knocking one of them off balance. The other two went in to compensate, jabbing at any openings they could find. The mare did not give them any, instead jabbing and parrying with her close combat weapon, blocking any strikes coming near to her. With a flourish, she quickly side-stepped one particular swipe before pulling the henchpony close and impaling them through the chest. Sputtering, the pony fell, and the mare quickly wiped her weapon on him before ducking and swinging around.
Starlight continued to watch, mortified at the death of a pony in front of her and exhilarated from watching the fight commence.
Still the mare fought, managing to handle the two ponies as they all began to tire. She failed to remember however the one extra entity who still had yet to enter the fight. Starlight saw her sense Mordo from behind and she was once again, 3 on 1, but this time, she did not have the advantage. She quickly began to falter against the barrage of a single griffon and two remaining ponies as she miscalculated an attack. She realised her mistake a second too late, and Starlight saw it too.
“No! Stop!” Starlight yelled, rushing to the railing of the balcony looking down on the foyer. It was all moot however, as the mare inhaled sharply and released a surprised gasp at being impaled with an ethereal blade. Starlight could only at her as she fell to the ground before her gaze switched to Mordo.
Mordo blinked and smiled. “Ah! So it’s you. I’ve been hearing rumours of the unicorn with a broken horn taking my place beside the Ancient One!”
Starlight’s eye twitched as she stared at the griffon. His smile only turned colder.
“How long have you been at Kamare-taj, miss…?”
Gritting her teeth, she replied “It’s Starlight.”
“Starlight. Just Starlight? Nothing else? How boring.” Patting his beak in a yawning expression, he violently pulled his etheric blade from the mare lying on the ground and looked to his two remaining henchponies. It was all they needed.
Starlight could barely think before she was being attacked from both sides by two vicious assailants. Quickly twisting her hooves on the floor, a runic circle burst into being and connected her hooves together. With no time to waste, she threw up what she had conjured and hoped for the best.
It did not disappoint.
Her mana-whip conjured from the energy between dimensions lashed out, blocking the swing of an etheric blade from her left. She then lashed it to her right, grabbing the other pony’s blade and ripping it away. It dissolved, and in a blink, the pony had a new one.
“That’s going to get annoying real fast,” Starlight mumbled, before whipping her whip at both ponies one more time. As they dodged away, Starlight used that split second to begin running. As she went down the halls, she could hear Mordo rally them. She focused on her escape.
Staring at the doors ahead of her, she frowned, for she didn’t seem to be advancing any closer towards it. Glancing behind her, she saw Mordo with his claws outstretched, flexing inward. Looking down, the floor was shifting, but it didn’t feel any different. It was as if it was moving at an equally opposite rate to her. With an eye-twitch, she turned around.
Shifting her hooves, she slammed them down, erecting two glowing-blue shields. Panting from adrenaline, her running, and her summoning, she waited. She didn’t have to wait long, as the Mordo’s two followers… ran on the walls?! Starlight had an instant to ponder the insanity of such physics before she blocked their attack, one of her shields sputtering out with a single clash. The other, thankfully, survived. She slammed the shield into one of their faces before being surprised by the other one.
“Hrnnngh!” Starlight grunted, being tackled to the ground. Slamming into the wall beside her and knocking her head back, she winced before rolling out of the loosened grip. Hastily getting a footing, she saw Mordo coming at her, blade swinging from running on the ceiling. Starlight barely had time to duck, swearing she could feel a few strands of her hair being cut off. With a huff, and seeing she had stalled them for a time, she tried running again.
She widened her eyes when she felt the world beginning to tilt.
Glancing back, she could see the hall angling down, and she gasped, quickly jumping to a corner that led to the outside, now a ledge to hold on to against the gravity. Breathing quickly, she glanced down to see them still standing normally… in front of the doors to other biomes.
With an idea, she let go of her grip.
She immediately fell, straight into one of the hench ponies. Instantly, the pony flew backwards, shattering the glass and tumbling into the sandy dunes of a desert. Quickly finding the world magic dissipating around her, she got up and ran to the dial that changed environments. She was met with a hoof around her neck.
Tucking her chin, she saved her throat from being crushed, but was still faced with being stuck. Sucking in air, she slammed her hindlegs down and threw her assailant over her, breaking his hold and slamming him into the stone floor. Dazed, he grunted. Rushing to the dial again, she saw a fist out of the corner of her eye and dropped, the talons whizzing by. Bucking backward, she hit Mordo with a leg, pushing him away. Crawling to the door, just as the pony on the other end was about to reach the doorway on their side, she twisted it.
It changed back to the ocean.
Whipping her head around at the sound of a shout, she widened her eyes and threw up a shield, sucking in a breath as the etheric blade pierced it’s weak runes and the tip lingered just centimetres from the bridge of her nose. Slamming the shield away, both it and the blade dissolving, she rolled onto her fours and leaned against the wall for a second.
Mordo smirked before the one remaining pony charged her. With bared teeth, Starlight shouted and conjured her whip, wrapping his leg in blue mana-bindings. It didn’t stop his momentum though. Slamming into her side, Starlight wheezed. With a headbutt, Starlight yelped in pain, her horn stinging, before pulling her whip causing the remaining pony to lose their balance. With one quick buck, the pony went into the rainy jungle, shattering more glass.
That left her with Mordo.
Staring at Mordo, he stared back. They stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, Starlight panting from exertion and her robes clinging tightly from sweat, while Mordo studied her curiously. With a quick step, Mordo broke the staring contest.
Starlight dodged the blade as she sidestepped and ran into the adjacent hallway.
Knowing there was only one of them now was a relief, but knowing it was Mordo of all ponies-er, griffons, was no comfort. Throwing shelves of ancient artifacts and cupboards of vintage tea sets, she hoped it would slow him down.
Of course, what was she expecting, a miracle.
Starlight felt the gush of air and twisted around just in time to take on Mordo’s cold grin and blade. She used her foreleg to stop his arm, blocking the blade from slicing her in two, and they fell into a few glass panes. She could finally feel some shards prick and stab her, and she yelped in surprise, but she took it like a mare and threw Mordo off. Throwing some of the broken glass at him, she grabbed the nearest artifact and pointed it at him menacingly. The top began to glow, emanating etheric golden light, but that was it.
Pausing, Mordo’s eyes darting from the relic to Starlight, he untensed.
“You have no idea how to use that, do you?” Mordo asked, pointing at it with a claw.
Starlight glanced from relic to Mordo before tossing it at him and turning tail. Mordo shook his head as he deflected it and gave chase.
Seeing him still in pursuit, Starlight conjured her whip again and swung it at Mordo. He deflected it with his blade and rushed, shoving Starlight into another glass case, though it’s frame still remained. Resting in shards of prickly glass, she panted and stared up at Mordo’s looming figure.
With a victorious smirk, Mordo swung down, and Starlight closed her eyes, awaiting blissful death.
Ka-Thwip!
Starlight waited. A beat.
Fwoo-Thwip!
Cracking open an eye, Starlight found Mordo’s hand and blade stuck in place for the second time inches away from Starlight’s face… held by a deep crimson fabric. Following it, Starlight saw it was the cloak she had seen earlier, floating around in it’s case.
Growling, Mordo pulled Starlight by the hair and threw her. Grunting, Starlight got up but was met with a drop kick, and she sputtered, falling backward in surprised before she fell over a railing. Expecting to be knocked out from the fall, she gritted her teeth, before seeing a flourish of red and something clasp around her neck.
Floating up, breathing in deeply, she grinned and silently prayed thanks to Celestia for the robe before conjuring her mana whip once more and lashing it at Mordo. With a quick movement, the whip, instead of wrapping Mordo, wrapped around his blade. And then he pulled.
It was tug-of-war, and Mordo was winning. With one last pull, his talons digging into the ground and breaking the stone, Starlight felt her entire body jerk forward and she collided into Mordo.
They stumbled and Starlight felt the cloak help her up. Mordo shouted in frustration and threw his blade at her. Starlight threw her hooves up in defense but quickly switched to maintaining balance as her cloak jerked her away, the blade harmlessly flying past.
Starlight then knocked against a wall, and she looked for the nearest weapon. A halberd! With a glance at the recovering Mordo who was already standing up, she rushed to the weapon on the wall next to her.
“Ack!” Starlight pronounced, stopped by her cape. Glaring at the thing, she made for the halberd again before “Urp!”
With half-a-mind to just take the cloak off, she saw it swing up, almost pointing at something. That something was a set of chains and iron locks which hung on the wall. Frowning at it and the cape, as well as acknowledging the pouncing Mordo, she grabbed the whole thing.
Mordo finally reached Starlight and screeched before being smacked by the cape. Falling to the side, he got up quickly. Starlight, still holding the contraption in her hooves with no idea how to use it, did the one thing she knew she could do. She threw it at him.
Mordo’s next assault was stopped abruptly as the chains wrapped around him, the iron bars slid into place, and he was suddenly being moved into what looked to be a very uncomfortable position, his whole body arching backward. Now immobile, he glanced at his chains before a guttural sound came from his mouth. After that, he began to say some things that were muffled by the muzzle on his beak.
“A fmmmph fm urffum ormmm pur iffm. Anh whhn henhorr hnnn hnnn annn mmmph kmmm.”
Starlight rolled her eyes and facehoofed. Breathing airily and trotting forward, she removed the muzzle.
“When I get out of this prison, I will destroy you and all that you love.”
Starlight groaned and turned away, shaking her head. Facing him again, she sighed. “Seriously? We’re going the cliche villain route here?”
Mordo turned his up in curiosity. “Were you not a villain once, Miss Starlight?”
Starlight winced as she thought of her cozy little dictatorship and time-travel shenanigans.
“Look, it’s Starlight bucking Glimmer, okay? And I’m better now! I seriously thought I escaped being reminded of that.”
Mordo’s sly little smile annoyed her to no end. “Ah. I see. Well, you must know then that some things us villains do make the most logical sense for the good of the majority.”
Starlight blinked.
She blinked again.
And again.
“Okay, what the buck.”
Mordo cocked an eyebrow before rearing his head back as much as he was allowed when Starlight shoved a hoof at his face.
Starlight laughed. “This? All of this! This doesn’t make sense. I just had an intense fight that may or may not have been complete luck and skill on my part that left me breathless half the time and now you’re here talking to me as if I’m some sort of outlet for monologuing.” Giggling manically, Starlight shook her head.
“Seriously. None of this! I’ve only been at Kamare-taj for maybe a month or two and I’ve been going hard at it for the whole time, but this? Being thrown into combat? What? Seeing two ponies die and I myself fiercely fighting for my life? Huh!? And now a murderous catbird that was tearing me to shreds a few minutes ago but is now talking to me? Has this world gone crazy?!”
Huffing and puffing, Starlight glared into space before realising she had just ranted and made a show of herself. Rubbing one hoof, she chuckled nervously. “Er… yeah…”
Mordo studied her in amusement. “It would seem, Miss Glimmer, that you have your own issues with the world.”
Starlight faced Mordo once again. “Of course. Everypony-er, everybody does. Just… some more than others.”
Mordo smiled. “Well, what if there was a way to relieve yourself of all that pain? All those worries? The Dark Deity provides for us, Miss Glimmer. He offers immortality, the likes of which the rulers of Equestria and ponies like the Ancient One so selfishly withhold. We could be living forever, with power granted from the Dark Dimension, reigning supreme over all other beings on this twisted world.”
Starlight cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re trying to convince me to join your side? You’re actually serious. Oh my Celestia… there is so many things wrong with that. I mean, first, look at your bucking headcrest! It’s all smouldery and burnt and glowy! What the hay? And I mean, immortality is great and all, but the princesses earned it, especially Twilight, and I’m sure the Ancient One has done her own amount of good deeds to warrant such a gift-”
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, Miss Glimmer, and you know it yourself,” Mordo interrupted. “I know you’ve seen the rituals. Lie to my face that you don’t know what those rituals entail. What the effects are. What they do.”
Starlight paused, her face blistering in anger at Mordo before turning away. “I’ve… seen them, yes. In the Book of Starswirl.”
Mordo’s beak twisted into a predatory smile. “Then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Who, to be more specific.”
Starlight gritted her teeth. “You’re wrong about her. She’s not like that. All she’s been with me through all my time in Kamare-taj is honest and giving. She would tell me if she was doing something like that.”
Mordo tutted, looking Starlight in the eye. She tried her best to look away… but she couldn’t.
“We both know you don’t believe that. If she would’ve told you… why did she never tell me?”
“...” Starlight stared at him. “Don’t think that because of this, you’re excused of your crimes against Equestria.”
“Crimes?” Mordo said, “What crimes? I intend on bringing a new age of glory to this forsaken plane, to make it one with the Dark Dimension. You came to Kamare-taj to be healed, and with such power, we would never need to be hurt again.”
Starlight furrowed her brows and chuckled hysterically. “Seriously? Look, this power? It turned you into a cold-blooded killer! Even I wasn’t this bad!”
In that moment, Mordo chose to begin to laugh, closing his eyes and slackening in his prison. Fuming, Starlight glared daggers at him as she narrowed her eyes. “You think that’s funny?” Starlight said, “The lives of ponies? Gone in an instant, forever? You think that’s a joke?”
Mordo shook his head, still softly chuckling. “No,” he said. “What’s funny is that you lost your ridge gauntlet.”
Starlight studied him with a confused expression before patting herself down. Frowning at its absence, she heard hoofsteps coming from behind her. Somewhat deterred, she turned around and-
Shwick!
Feeling her breath catch, she looked down… and saw an etheric blade impaled in her chest.
Starlight blinked a few times, the full impact of what had just happened still registering. She collapsed to her knees as the pony who had thrown it sneered at her and walked past her. Starlight recognised the pony as the one she had kicked into the rainforest, and had tussled with. She cursed herself for her own inability to check her surrounding— and her gear. She was snapped out of her initial shock when she felt the hoof of her attacker press on her back, giving her a hard shove.
The etheric blade dissipated, and Starlight fell down the stairs. It was of little comfort to her that thanks to the brutality of the stairs, the incoming pain of her open chest wound was somewhat lessened. She needed to find medical attention, and quickly… but where would she go? She was in the middle of Canterlot, and from where she was was, the nearest infirmary was in the castle, and the nearest hospital was at least a half-hour trot. Unless she could get her ridge gauntlet back, she was pretty much screwed.
Groaning in pain and coughing up blood, Starlight took it as a bad sign. She struggled to four hooves, grunting from the effort before trotting away as fast as she could. Instead of what she expected from the shock: slow motor controls and thinking, it seemed her mind was working faster than it had in any of the previous situations she had been in. So, when she trotted through the halls with three hooves and one pressed to her chest, the walls blurred and the scene shifted around her.
Before she knew it, she was in a hall that lead to a set of double doors. Starlight could only hope that the doors were open. Making it halfway across the hall, blood dripping from her wind and dribbling from her mouth, Starlight stumbled several times. She leaned against the walls for support, or had to pick herself up from off the ground. This time, she stopped because she heard the tell-tale sound of hooves.
Starlight barely had time to turn around before the pony that had thrown the etheric blade at her before threw another one, and she flattened herself to the ground. She regretted the decision immediately, as she squeaked from the spike of pain that erupted from her chest.
The pony was not deterred, and instead of throwing another blade at Starlight to end it quickly, the pony approached Starlight with a sneer present on their face. With great effort, Starlight got up and stumbled backward, trying to run away only to fall flat on her face again because the blood rush from her head caused her to find her world tilting crazily. Instead, Starlight did her best to crawl away.
It didn’t seem to be working, as the pony was now practically on top of her, another blade at the ready. Starlight looked up into the pony’s eyes, and realised that they were truly intent on killing her, as if she were just another pawn. Closing her eyes, Starlight accepted her fate. She heard the shwing! of the blade before a muffled fwump followed it. Starlight frowned. She heard the same two sounds repeat again, and she opened her eyes.
Her cape held the pony’s hoof in place, preventing them from enacting the final fatal blow. Starlight stared in awe, but her cape wasn’t done yet. It unclasped from Starlight, proceeding to wrap it’s head around the pony with quick chaotic precision before the pony was swung in all directions before heading straight into the ground head-first, thanks to the cape. As the pony struggled and found themself the product of several new concussions, a large item was knocked loose from the pony. Starlight’s ridge gauntlet.
Breathlessly, Starlight tentatively took her ridge gauntlet, all the while staring at her cape before shaking her head and helping herself up to four hooves. Shakily slipping the gauntlet on, Starlight felt a wave of dizziness pass and she closed her eyes tightly to let it pass. When she was sure it had, she stopped leaning against her wall.
With her remaining concentration, Starlight slammed her hooves into the ground and made the motions, a shaky portal immediately opening up in front of her. The location and image? The inside of Twilight’s castle. She knew she could find help here. If only… she risked a glance behind her, and found that her cape was still doing fine on it’s own, making the pony in its grasp struggle like a bull kicking off a pony, but the pony was glued on tight.
Deciding her attacker wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, she stepped through, and immediately felt herself grow woozy from the effort, collapsing against the wall in front of her. Walking a little ways away from her portal, Starlight licked her lips, the taste of iron still fresh.
“T-Twiligh…” Starlight gasped, another wave of dizziness causing her to stumble. “Tw-Twilight!” she yelled. “Twilight! Please!”
A door slowly creaking shut alerted Starlight, her ears swivelling with full force. Starlight tried again. “Twilight… p-pl-please, a-are you here?!”
“Oh, that voice sounds familiar…” Starlight heard a soft voice say. “...Starlight?”
“W-who is that?” Starlight asked, “Twilight?”
“Starlight, is that you?” the voice said, sounding closer now, but uncertain.
“Y-yes! Please, help!”
Finally, Starlight watched as Fluttershy, the kindest pony she knew, rounded the corner holding a platter of china and tea. Fluttershy saw only Starlight’s face first, it would seem, because she brightened instead of recoiling.
“Starlight, it is you!” Fluttershy said. “Oh, it’s been so long, how have you-”
When all the effects Fluttershy held slipped from her hooves, that’s when Starlight knew she saw her wound. Starlight smiled weakly before collapsing from the wall to the ground.
Fluttershy gasped and squeaked. “Starlight! Oh no, what happened? How did this happen? Oh, this is not good. Not good at all. Twilight, she’s, she’s just in the Cutie Map Room, we were going to have tea and, and… Ohhh, Starlight, how could you do this to yourself?”
Starlight smiled softly. “I’m s-sorry Fluttersh-shy.” She then coughed into her foreleg, pulling away only to see blood. At this point, Fluttershy was stained with Starlight’s blood, but it seemed the butter yellow pegasus didn’t care. Her was set with grim determination, fear, and worry. And Starlight felt safe.
“I’m going to get Twilight, we’re going to get you on a table, and you’re not going to die, okay?”
Starlight didn’t say anything. She gulped when she heard the tone of Fluttershy’s next word.
“Okay?”
“Y-yes Doctor Flutt-ttershy.”
Fluttershy nodded. With that, she walked a little ways away and breathed in deeply. Starlight knew what would happen. She would try to yell, and all that would come out was a peep.
All that came out was not a peep.
Fluttershy roared with the power of a tiger, her voice cascading and growing with strength off the irregularities and imperfections in the crystal structure of the wall. “TWILIGHT! I NEED YOUR HELP!”
Starlight found herself breathlessly waiting, partially because the pain she was feeling was compounding, and partially because she was completely shocked by the urgency and power behind Fluttershy’s voice. If there was anything she wasn’t used to, it was Fluttershy doing something so crazy. She had seen her shout like that once before, but it was still surprising from such a soft-spoken pony.
In the next instant, Twilight appeared next to Fluttershy, looking a bit frazzled and confused. She turned to Fluttershy and said “Goodness, Fluttershy. Use your inside voice. Well, I suppose you always use your inside voice. Never mind. Why’d you feel the need to…”
At that point, Twilight’s eyes finally drifted over to the weak, bleeding body of her pupil and friend, Starlight Glimmer. Starlight smiled tiredly. “Hey there, Twilight. Long time no see! Holding the fort down okay?”
Twilight blinked for a moment longer before teleporting right in front of Starlight and shouting “Oh sweet Celestia, Starlight! I let you leave on your own for a couple months and you come to me in robes and a gash in your side? What happened!?”
Starlight weakly pushed Twilight away, wincing from her volume. “Jeebus, Twilight. You tell Fluttershy to use her inside voice? What about you?”
“Starlight, you’re bleeding!”
“And you’re breaking my eardrums. Not exactly helping.”
Twilight winced. “Okay, fine. Sorry. But we need to get you to my infirmary, and quick! By how pale you look and the rate you seem to be losing blood, you could die in the next half hour!”
“Twilight?”
“Yes?!”
“You need to learn bedside manners.”
“Bedside what?!”
Starlight shook her head. “You know, being nice to someone who’s sick or dying? Not telling them the truth of them dying? Basically lying to them?”
Twilight screamed. “I won’t lie to you about you dying. You’re dying! And I’m taking you to the infirmary right now!”
Starlight winced and glanced to Fluttershy. “But what about-”
“No time!” And in a flash, Starlight and Twilight had disappeared to the castle’s medical wing, leaving Fluttershy behind.
“Okay,” Fluttershy whispered, glancing down at the broken china set and metal plate. “I’ll just make some more tea…”
Starlight grunted as she was very gently slammed into the table. Twilight popped into existence next to her, immediately hauling a table over adorned with various medical effects. Starlight could barely register any of this, as she was biting her tongue trying not to scream from falling onto the table so roughly. Glancing to Twilight, she said “Next time, let Fluttershy drag me over.”
“Oh hush, Starlight,” Twilight said, putting on a mask. “You’re dying.”
“As I’ve noticed, not from you mentioning it a thousand different times,” Starlight grumbled. “Did we have to leave Fluttershy behind?”
“I wouldn’t have been able to transport all three of us here and still have the energy or concentration required to focus on you,” Twilight said. She started tearing some of Starlight’s robes away before cleansing the area around the wound. “I really don’t want to start arguing with you now. She should be around shortly.”
Starlight began to argue before her wound was painfully opened again by Twilight. “You can’t be serious— Argh!” She felt tears start to stream down as Twilight’s magic quickly worked to numb it. Soon, she couldn’t feel around the are of her wound, but the damage had been done. With pain fresh in her mind, she bit her tongue, and barely acknowledge Twilight gasping in surprise and concern.
“Starlight…” Twilight murmured, carefully using what spells she knew to speed up the healing process. “What in Celestia’s name happened to you? The magnitude of this wound is astronomical, and the magical signatures surrounding the wound are like nothing I’ve ever seen in my entire life of studying magic! And what’s with the robes? Ponies don’t normally wear clothes you know.”
Starlight giggled wearily, shaking her head. “Well, that’s a funny story. Ya see, after I left, I uh, encountered some people. Took me to Kamare-Taj. I, uh, eheh, well, they live right inside the mountains, so it gets a bit cold I guess. Plus, it’s a mandatory part of the whole restoration and renewal thing. Oh, and I got stabbed by a blade made from extra-dimensional energy when I was fighting a griffin that is currently working his very best to destroy the last two remaining citadels against a higher power that could destroy all of Equus as we know it.”
Twilight blinked. She blinked again. “Sooo… you joined a cult? Again, Starlight? Remember the last time you did that, and you were the leader. How well did that go?”
Starlight winced and grumbled. “It’s not a cult, okay? Just because we have to wear robes and have to do a routine everyday and believe in mystical energies beyond our true understanding…” Starlight stared back at Twilight’s raised eyebrow and frowned. “Okay fine, maybe it is a bit of a cult. But everything they do, everything they believe in, is for the protection of Equestria.”
“And you became one of them?” Twilight asked disbelievingly. “You already saved Equestria once before, and you saved us too. What need of them would we have?”
Starlight snapped at Twilight. “Look, okay. I didn’t ask to be inducted. I was looking for healing! It just so happened that I was pretty good at what I did. Now I can do magic without using my horn. It’s weird magic, sure. Different. Really, really different. And I dunno if I can still use my horn, but if I can function like this, then sure. If I can help protect Equestria like you and your friends, then sure! If it means getting hurt like this, well, I guess it’s a side effect I have to live with, but yes. We do need them.”
An awkward silence filled the air as Twilight pondered Starlight’s words. Starlight could only hope her words made sense to Starlight. She wasn’t much of a mare with words, even if she was able to convince an entire town to follow her communistic ideals. She grimaced at the thought. Just another nail in the coffin. Another thing she held herself accountable for.
The two mares jumped when the door slammed open, swinging freely and silently before having slammed into the wall beside it. In the midst of it’s jarring bang of noise was a cringing Fluttershy holding a tray filled with new tea, teacups, and scones, who stared at the two of them and the door in horror.
“...Oh, my…” Fluttershy gulped. “Th-the door just swung open like that. I barely pushed- pushed it open.”
Twilight frowned. “I’ll have a word with Spike. It seems he’s been using his extra-strength hinge lube again. I told him to use the no name brand!” Facehoofing, Twilight shook her head. “Fluttershy, could you come over here, please? I think I need a more expert pair of hooves to help tend and seal Starlight’s gash.”
“O-oh,” Fluttershy started, “I’ve only really taken care of my animals when they injure themselves. I don’t think I know the first thing about a pony. M-maybe I should get a nurse from Ponyville General—”
Starlight interrupted Fluttershy, raising her head weakly with a smile. “Hey, Fluttershy? I know you can help patch me up, so stop standing around and get over here.”
For a moment, Fluttershy was unsure of what to do before relenting with a hesitant nod. Placing the tea tray down, she trotted over and began to fuss over Starlight with Twilight, frowning heavily.
“Starlight,” Fluttershy said softly, “What. Did. You. Do.”
Starlight smiled sheepishly. “Do you want the short version or the long version?”
Fluttershy sighed, motioning for Twilight to roll the surgical tools towards her. “You know what, it doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is sealing this up. Twilight, I trust you’ve already used some spells to cleanse and numb the wound?” Twilight nodded in confirmation and Fluttershy pursed her lips. “This’ll take at least twelve stitches on both sides.”
Starlight winced before looking incredibly pale. “I think I just went into shock. Thanks, Twilight.” With those profound words, Starlight passed out, causing both Twilight and Fluttershy to start panicking.
“Twilight, what did you do!?”
Twilight shook her head quickly. “I only, uh, dropped her… on the table? And I also had to pry the wound open a little to really clean it out and-”
“When will you learn your actions have consequences?” Fluttershy’s voice murmured, effectively cutting off Twilight and causing her to stumble even when she was standing still.
Starlight, meanwhile, had ejected her astral form out of her immobile body and was currently shaking off the effect of doing so. Biting her lip, she listened to her two friends bicker. In the distance, she could’ve also sworn the sounds of certain struggling had ceased and another presence was among them, but that was another problem. RIght now, she needed to calm her friends.
“Me?” Twilight asked, “I was only trying to help…”
Fluttershy frowned slightly. “And now she could be on the verge of death. I need you to be better.”
“I’ve never had a friend come to me like this before, Fluttershy,” Twilight remarked forlornly. “I-I panicked, a-and…”
“And you’re forgiven,” Fluttershy said, “But right now, we have to focus.”
Starlight poked a hole open into the physical realm, allowing her to manifest her astral form into a visible body that let her poke her head through said hole. “What Fluttershy said. Focus on saving me! I’m more useful alive than dead!”
Twilight and Fluttershy promptly screamed, rushing away from Starlight’s astral form and scrambling for something sharp to point at her. Starlight winced and sighed as she floated ethereally. “Okay,” Twilight stammered, “When did you learn astral projection?”
“During my training.”
“And you can appear there while your body is on the table?”
“That’s how it works.”
When Starlight saw the spark light up in Twilight’s eyes, Starlight started waving her hooves frantically and shaking her head. “But no! There’s no time, so stop thinking that!” When she saw Twilight pout but say nothing, Starlight turned to Fluttershy. “Just keep healing me as best as you can, is that alright?”
“Th-the best that I can?” Fluttershy asked. “What if it isn’t the best?”
“Then anything else is fine, Fluttershy. You’ll do great. Just don’t let me die, alright? That’s the bottom line.”
“Oh, okay.”
Starlight glanced to her left and found the presence nearing her. She didn’t have much more time. Starlight turned to Twilight and Fluttershy, grimacing with anticipation. “Hey guys, just, don’t panic if weird things start to happen, okay? I have to deal with something. Remember to keep me alive!” With that, Starlight disappeared back into the astral realm, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy utterly flabbergasted.
“We should get back to work,” Fluttershy whispered.
Starlight stared at the pony floating her way and watching them carefully. She could already tell this must’ve been the same pony she had left behind in Canterlot, as he wore an incredibly angry expression on his face. An expression that told Starlight he wanted to murder her. Starlight smiled and waved.
“How are things?” she asked, “Hopefully not too bad? Did my cloak treat you alright?”
Starlight was responded to with a lunge, one Starlight was just barely able to dodge. Twirling in the air, she re-positioned herself and wagged a hoof. She frowned and shook her head. “Now hey, that was rude.”
The stallion growled in response and shouted before catching Starlight by the robes. Starlight, for her part, kicked off the pony as best as she could, but he was already latched on with all his might. Using the momentum of his lunge, he spun and bucked Starlight, shoving her through the wall and causing her to grunt.
Starlight gritted her teeth, cracking her astral neck and hopping from one hoof to the other. “Let’s do this,” she whispered to herself. The moment the stallion appeared to look for her, she tackled him straight on, not giving him a moment to breathe. She began to punch his face repeatedly, dodging a few of his strikes before headbutting him away. He floated off, a bit dazed, before shaking his head.
“Got anymore?” Starlight taunted. “Looks like you’re not so tough now without your dark-dimension bullcrap, eh?”
The stallion snorted in response, an evil smirk on his face before he spun and delivered a double kick to Starlight’s face. The hits landed perfectly, and Starlight flew straight through the floor. Now out of sorts, Starlight could barely hold her hoofs up before she braced herself and received another beating. With two more hits to vital points of her astral form, the stallion delivered an uppercut, sending her back into the room above and knocking her astral form out completely.
The stallion floated up through the floor, grinning darkly as he neared Starlight and began to strangle her continued existence out of the world.
Fluttershy could’ve sworn as she was still stitching Starlight up that she jerked in place, as if hit by something. Her eyes were also moving rapidly, looking like she were constantly trying to watch something carefully. She related her concerns to Twilight.
“Well,” Twilight murmured, her horn aglow, “Her heart rate has been exponentially increasing since she ceased talking to us. Something’s happening, and I don’t like it.”
“Twilight?”
Twilight looked at Fluttershy questioningly. “Yes?”
“I think that was my line.”
“Oh.”
Fluttershy put the finishing touches on the final stitch before cleansing the wound again and fluttering about. “So,” Fluttershy whispered, “Can you tell me what happened to Starlight for her to be injured like this? Because once I’m sure she’s recovered, I want to talk to her about never doing something like this again.”
“Oh, that,” Twilight said. “Well, she broke her horn, as you know. She wanted to find healing. Went to a place called Kamare-taj. This is where all I know came from her mouth. She, uh, started wearing robes, somehow learned how to do magic again without her horn —though she still needs to show me what she meant— and she got stabbed by a magically created blade which dissipated upon her movement.”
Fluttershy stared between Twilight and Starlight on the table for a time before squeaking something out. “I guess I can see that,” she murmured. “I still don’t like that she had to fight somepony else though. What could have happened to make it that hurting others is necessary-?”
Fluttershy’s rant was cut short when Starlight stopped breathing. Twilight’s horn quickly flashed red before Twilight gasped and turned to Fluttershy, panicking. “She’s flatlining!” Twilight exclaimed, beginning to trot in place. “Oh no, oh no! What do we do?”
Fluttershy, calmly walked over to Twilight’s side and smacked her upside. “We remain calm. Assess the situation. Somepony is dying. Panicking won’t help.”
Twilight stood, dazed and quite surprised at Fluttershy for a moment before gulping and nodding. “O-of course. Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“No problem.” Fluttershy started feeling for Starlight’s pulse and checked her breathing, making absolutely sure that she truly wasn’t functioning properly. Frowning, Fluttershy nodded gravely. “Twilight, do you know any spells regarding electricity?”
Twilight thought quickly before nodding. “Yes. I know approximately twenty-three spells related to it.”
Fluttershy started pumping her hooves on Starlight’s chest, carefully making sure to not break open the stitches she had already set in place. “Do you know any designed to reboot a system failure?”
Twilight nodded again. “That narrows it down, but yes. I know about three.”
“Could you maybe up the voltage to around three-thousand? I need you to apply it directly to two points on Starlight’s body. Can you do that?”
Twilight nodded before staggering backwards a little. “Wait,” she stammered, “You want me to electrocute Starlight? Why!?”
Fluttershy continued pumping her chest, her movements becoming a bit more pronounced and shaky. “I can’t have you questioning me right now, Twilight! Starlight’s life is on the line. Can you do it, or can you not?”
“Of course I can, who do you take me for?” Twilight said. “But why?”
“It’s a new practice I was studying up on that came out about a year ago,” Fluttershy related to her. “And right now, it means you following what I say or we lose Starlight forever. So get in gear, Twilight.”
“Alright,” Twilight affirmed, quietly smiling as she liked seeing Fluttershy being assertive like this. “Where do you need me to, uh, electrocute her?”
“Here,” Fluttershy motioned, pointing to just above Starlight’s left chest, “And here.” She finished by pointing below and to the right of Starlight’s right chest. She didn’t budge from her pumping motions until she saw the magic envelope the points she had pointed to. Stepping back, she nodded to Twilight, who began charging her spell.
“This is meant to restart the heart by completely rebooting it with electricity,” Fluttershy explained. “It basically resets the natural rhythm of the heart. They started making these things called defibrillators, but they’re so expensive, they can only have two or three in each hospital.”
Twilight nodded, soaking it all up. “Okay,” she said through gritted teeth, “And why can’t the unicorns in said hospitals just cast this spell?”
“Because it usually requires too much energy for more than one use in an hour, and sometimes you need to do it more than once. That’s what the machines are for.”
Twilight grunted. “You don’t say?” she said before finishing her spell preparation. “I’m ready.”
“Alright, hooves off, everypony,” Fluttershy said, following the procedure she had read. “Clear!”
With that, Twilight let her spell activate, and Starlight’s body arced and convulsed from the voltage pulsing through her. Both ponies present could only watch in horror, as neither had actually seen something like this in action yet. As the spell faded, the duration having only been a second or two, she fell back to the table, and Fluttershy rushed forward, beginning CPR again. Checking for a heartbeat and a breath, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“She’s breathing again,” Fluttershy confirmed, a smile on her face. “Her heart’s back to normal. Can you check if she’s stable?”
Her horn lit, albeit a bit weaker now, and Twilight checked. “Yes,” she smiled, “She’s good.”
They collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Starlight’s eyes flew open, glowing bright blue as she suddenly felt power surge into her. She only had time to see the look in her attacker’s eyes before she exploded with energy that was revitalising as it was truly shocking. She watched as the stallion slammed into the wall behind him, her blue magic outburst still dissipating around her. Looking around in slight confusion, she quickly realised what happened upon seeing Fluttershy and Twilight sigh in relief.
When Starlight opened up another hole and poked body through, she was met with screams as Fluttershy hid under the table and Twilight shot into the air. She rolled her eyes.
“Stop doing that!” Twilight shrieked, “You literally just died!”
Sighing, Starlight looked at them both. “Alright, fine. I guess it is kinda scary. But whatever you did, I need you to do it again.” Glancing behind her at the stirring but still unconscious astral henchpony, she pursed her lips. “Quickly would be nice, too.”
Fluttershy poked her head out from under her hiding spot, looking at Starlight like she was mad. “Are you crazy?” she said, “That could kill you, and we just saved you with it!”
“I need you to do it, Shy,” Starlight remarked. “Twilight, please. It’s important.”
“Well,” Starlight began, looking behind her, “Unless you want me to really die here, and the world as well, for that matter, you’re going to do it. Right now would be great. Bye!” As Starlight disappeared once more, Fluttershy and Twilight glanced at each other before sighing. Twilight’s magic enveloped the points once more, and Fluttershy announced for everyone to clear away from Starlight, so as not to get electrocuted themselves.
Starlight on the other hoof was back to feeling alive and full of energy, feeling like she could take on a million ponies and still be able to blend a strawberry-chocolate smoothie. Looking behind her, she saw Twilight’s horn glow, and she flew towards the henchpony, pinning him to the wall with a hoof. Sneering at him as Twilight upped the input and shocked Starlight, she could feel the surge again. When her body started glowing a blinding blue, both ponies shouted, and Starlight pushed and thought as hard as she could to direct as much force into the pony.
When it all discharged, Starlight stumbled against the wall, feeling as if something had just exploded in front of her into a million different tiny balls of screaming energy. Gulping, a terrible feeling came over her before she stared at the scorch marks left behind in the astral realm. Blinking a few more times, she slowly floated backwards and towards her body.
“Starlight?” Both Twilight and Fluttershy looked at Starlight questioningly, hoping that she was still alive. When no response was given, Fluttershy gulped and took a tentative step forward. When nothing happened, she took another, and another, until she was able to feel her pulse. Upon realising that her heart was still beating, Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank Celestia- EEP!”
Starlight suddenly jerked up, breathing heavily, as she sputtered and coughed. Fluttershy, for her sake, only screeched in horror before slapping Starlight, who promptly recoiled. “Ow!” Starlight cried, her face forming into a pout. “That hurt!”
“Don’t you dare scare us like that again!” Fluttershy said, “You could’ve died from how much we put into you. And just look at Twilight! She’s holding it together, but that kind of spell uses up a lot of energy, you know.”
Twilight smiled weakly, a few of her hairs twitching out of place. “Oh yeah, no biggie. I am an alicorn, after all.”
“An alicorn that is still growing into her position,” Starlight said, before getting pinched. “Alright, alright! I’m sorry, girls. I really am. Especially for scaring you and not telling you about things.”
Fluttershy studied Starlight for a moment before smiling softly. “And we forgive you, Starlight. Just… be more careful. What was it, that you needed us to shock you again like that?”
Starlight rubbed a hoof on her leg before wincing and shifting her legs off the table. “W-well, you see, I was fighting someone… in the astral realm.”
“You were fighting somepony?” Twilight asked. “Is that possible?”
“Someone, Twilight,” Starlight said. “They were definitely pony, but they didn’t act like one. Plus, exclusivity breeds fear, anger and hate. Someone. But yeah.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Starlight,” Twilight said, “But that also kinda sounds like what you were teaching in Our Town when you were preaching equality and all that-”
“Oh come on!” Starlight grunted. Sighing, she nodded her head. “Fine. I guess it does. But it’s true. Cutie marks are a completely different story, though, so let’s move on. I need to get back to Canterlot and-”
“You can’t.” Fluttershy put her hoof down, a soft click echoing across the room. “You might open up your stitches and you’re in no condition to do anything like that again.”
Starlight frowned, knowing Fluttershy was just as right as she was in her quest. After a moment passed, Starlight spoke to Twilight without taking her eyes off Fluttershy. “Twilight, can you freeze my stitches and the fur and skin surrounding it so that it can’t move, and can heal properly?”
Twilight thought for a second. “You mean, like, freeze it with cold, or freeze it spatially.”
“Spatially. Just, so if I were running, it wouldn’t burst open or anything.”
“Sure.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Starlight, you can’t solve everything with magic like this. One day, it could get you killed, like it did today.”
“If you care to notice, Shy,” Starlight said, “I’m still alive. Also, that’s why I’m using a different kind of magic. More ancient. A little more powerful.”
“But what about me?” Twilight asked. “I still need to ask you questions on how you can use whatever magic you use is and you need to file a report in triplicate on your adventures and all the ponies and friends you’ve met on the way-”
Putting a hoof up to silence Twilight, Starlight grimaced. “Now is not the time, when the world could be at stake, Twilight! I need both of you girls’ cooperation here. Please.”
After a moment of silence, both Fluttershy and Twilight sighed, seemingly drooping tiredly. “Fine,” they both said.
“But you’re going to come right back here when it’s all done, alright?” Twilight stated, more than asked.
Fluttershy backed up Twilight, saying “We miss you, Starlight. You’re our friend. We were worried.”
“...I can do that,” Starlight agreed. “Just take care of yourselves, alright?”
“And you too, Starlight,” Fluttershy said. “But just because you’re excusing yourself, doesn’t mean we can’t help you, right, Twilight?”
“Yes. That’s what friends are for.”
Starlight smiled, a bright warmth rising in her chest. Though from her wound or from the feeling of having such good friends, she couldn’t really tell the difference, but it was warmth all the same. Slipping off the table and onto her hooves, she stumbled a bit, but was quickly steadied by two ponies at her side. Nodding, she winced with every step but they made it to the door and into the halls.
“So,” Twilight asked, “Where are you going? You’re in no condition to walk, and… wait, you said Canterlot, right?”
“Yes.”
“What.”
“Well, you see,” Starlight began, “I have the ability to open up a portal instead of teleporting. It’s pretty nifty, though I… did have to freeze on the side of Everhoof before I got the hang of it.”
It was Fluttershy’s turn to look confused. “Wait, you froze on the tallest mountain on the world?”
“Y-eah, so anyways, portals. They’re cool. Don’t use up your own magic. Pretty sweet right?”
Nothing was said as they travelled through the halls. Soon, however, Starlight could hear the telltale whoosh of her portal as it spun and spun, still open and still very much a bridge. She waited for Twilight’s reaction upon seeing the portal most, for she knew what the mare would think. Sure enough, it was exactly the reaction she had been expecting.
“Twilight. Breathe.”
The gasp Twilight had been holding the moment they stepped in view of the portal was released all at once in a long and adorable squee. As Fluttershy remained supporting Starlight, Twilight was able to prance around, her eyes sparkling. “Wow!” she cried. “This is so amazing! I previously thought the strain of opening a spatial gateway to shorten point A to point B would’ve been too taxing on one pony, but if it were anchored to something more primordial, it could work!”
“Twilight-”
“Why did I never think of this? How did nopony else think of this?”
“Twilight.”
“Then again, any manastone large enough to anchor something to would’ve been too expensive and out of the question, and this kind of magic would’ve showed up years ago if it would’ve-”
“Twilight!” Starlight and Fluttershy both yelled. Blinking, Twilight looked over from her pacing to find Starlight about to step through the portal and Fluttershy helping her steady herself to stand on her own. Blushing, Twilight trotted over.
“Twilight, I’m saying goodbye over here and you’re over there muttering to yourself about portals!”
“Sorry, sorry, wrong place and time, yeah,” Twilight said. She rubbed the nape of her neck sheepishly. “So, uh, Canterlot, yeah?”
“Mmhmm.”
“Evil bad guy we can’t help you with?”
“Pretty much.”
“We can’t stop you or do anything to convince you to stay?”
“Sounds about right.”
Twilight sighed. “Alright. Stay safe, Starlight. Don’t come back here with another wound like that. I won’t be happy.”
“Nor will I,” Fluttershy stated firmly. “Please be careful. I don’t like seeing my friends hurt.”
“I will, Twilight, Fluttershy. You two stay safe too, alright?”
“We will.”
As Starlight smiled and waved her goodbye, the portal closed shut, vanishing with a pop. Sighing, she stared at the wall where the portal had just been, longing to have accepted Twilight’s offer. With a desperate motion, she stretched her hoof forward and touched the wall.
Starlight Glimmer held her side gingerly as she took deep breaths. Deep breaths that were fully warranted, for she had just found out what had really happened to the pony she had fought. If there was any appropriate moment to puke after all that had transpired, it would’ve been then. Once again focusing inward, she did her best to calm the raging storm of emotion within her.
In all honesty, Starlight Glimmer would’ve rather bottled the feelings up and continued with whatever the buck was going on around her, but she already knew how something like that turned out. With memories now arising in her already troubled mind, Starlight did her best to redirect her thoughts from one of her best friends in Equestria: Trixie Lulamoon. Starlight could only hope Trixie was doing well for herself without her.
Resolving the train of thought by deciding she would be the first Starlight would check up on after this whole mystical end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it event happened, she continued onward. She needed to get back to Kamare-taj, if only to get reinforcements. If not, she would take this straight to Celestia herself. Being close friends with as well as the student of the Princess of Friendship certainly had nothing to do with it.
She stumbled past the pony’s body, already doing her best to wash the image from her mind. Using her breathing exercises, she put the most important thing she could think of at the moment as her only goal: Mordo. Was he still there? She could only hope. Stumbling down the hallways and following her bloody trail, she found herself at the base of a set of stairs. The same set of stairs she had fallen down.
Already, she could feel the dread building. It was almost predictable. Starlight walked up the steps… and saw the broken remains of the prison that had held Mordo. The pieces were strewn haphazardly, no care given in how the artifact was removed. Maybe if she had time, she could repair it, but it seemed time was something that she did not have in abundance. She could feel it in the air. A forbearing thickness that refused to diffuse.\
A voice from behind her called her name.
Starlight’s head whipped around, blinking as she saw the form of Jade smiling at her. “Thank Celestia you’re alright! We were worried when you got thrown through the door.”
“Ehe,” Starlight giggled weakly, trotting over to Jade. “Yeah. Hi. Nothing to worry about. You know, except for the imminent destruction of the remaining Sanctums and this gash I have in my chest. No biggie.”
“Wait, what?” Jade asked, rushing over to Starlight. “Are you okay? Woah, those are stitches. When did you get time to get stitches?”
Starlight winced and pushed Jade away. “I had… a little help. From a few friends.”
“You used a portal?”
“...yeah.”
“Good on ya, Starcicle!” Jade said, slapping her on the back. “You’ve grown proficient in your studies.”
“Owww,” Starlight winced before shaking her head. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
Jade then kept her hoof on Starlight’s back as she realised something. Starlight watched as Jade’s eyes darted over to the destroyed displays before coming back to the cape on her back. “The Cloak of Levitation,” Jade murmured, nodding her head with a small smile, “It chose you, eh?”
“Fairly impressive, I must say,” another voice said, stepping into view. How Starlight had not noticed her before, she couldn’t say, but the Ancient One now stood in front of her, her robes still as pristine as ever.
“Yeah?” Starlight said.
“Quite so.”
Starlight sighed, stepping away from the two and rubbing her temples. “It’s nice to see your priorities are in check, because Mordo is missing. He’s escaped.”
“Mordo?” Jade asked, raising an eyebrow. “Really? Noooo, that’s impossible.”
“Your snark is noted, Jade,” the Ancient One said, facing Starlight. “Starlight, I commend you for your efforts in containing him, but I find it hard to believe he was able to escape on his own.”
“He can bend space and matter at will,” Starlight remarked. “Pretty freaky stuff you got going there.”
“He folds space and matter outside the mirror dimension?” the Ancient One inquired gravely. “In the real world?”
Starlight nodded. “Yes. And he’s got like, three more initiates following him around, I think.”
“Where are they?”
“I trapped one in the desert.”
“And the others?”
Starlight gritted her teeth, shaking her head and facing away from them.
“Starlight, where are-”
“One of their bodies is in the hall, okay!?” Starlight shrieked, before covering her mouth and hiding a few tears. “I just… please… Mordo, he… Master Swift is in the foyer…”
“Yeah, it was one of the first things we did when we got here,” Jade said softly. “We took her back to Kamare-Taj. She’ll recover.”
“Mordo is cunning and ruthless, Starlight,” the Ancient One said. “He will do what he wants, where he can, when he can, and if he can break your morale before you even meet him, you’re already defeated. I know him, Starlight, and you must stay strong. The Zebrican Citadel has fallen. Only Canterlot and Neighpon remain.”
Starlight heard her pause before she continued. “You just protected this Citadel by yourself, and seeing as how the old Master has been incapacitated, it needs a new one. What do you say, Master Glimmer?”
Starlight Glimmer froze where she stood, wiping her tears away as she let herself process the Ancient One’s words. She took a deep breath, scrunching her face in frustration as she hissed. Turning around, she said “Look, I don’t want to be a master, and honestly, I don’t care. I was, and am a student of the Princess of Friendship: Twilight Sparkle, and when I became her pupil, I promised to devote my time in making friends with everypony and spreading the magic of friendship.”
With an audible whoosh, Starlight jammed her hoof in the general direction of the halls she had trotted through. “I have just killed somepony! You can’t come here and tell me to be a protector of the world when I’ve just taken the life of another being! I didn’t leave behind my past and reform myself just to do something like this again! I’ve seen the worlds I created. The destruction I’d caused, all because of my anger. I can’t, I just...”
“When you became Twilight’s student, you wanted to only wanted to make one right, and that was to help yourself.The friendship came after. When you came to Kamare-taj, you came for one thing only, to heal. Believe it or not, Starlight, you’re only here to help yourself.”
Starlight stared, brows furrowing further and further as she listened. “Seriously? Oh, oh I get it. You’re still seeing things, aren’t you? You still think you know me better than I know myself, huh?”
“Now hey,” Jade started, “That was uncalled for-”
“I see what I’ve always seen since we first met,” the Ancient One said, cutting Jade off. “I see you and your ambition, your ego, the way you think you can go anywhere and do anything. Even heal the unhealable, or challenge death, which no one can control. Not even you, Starlight Glimmer.”
Jade blinked at that, her gaze going from Starlight to the Ancient One. Starlight, on the other hoof, fumed, her face going red with indignation. “What about Dormammu?” she whispered, her voice shaking as she controlled the tempest behind her eyes. “He offers immortality. He provides everything anyone could need to have power.”
“It’s our fear of death that gives him power,” the Ancient One said, staying resolute as Starlight trotted closer. “We must rise above his persuasions and realise that immortality is not a gift, but a curse.”
“And you would know, huh?” Starlight said. “Escaping death. I saw what was written in the Book of Starswirl. I read the missing pages. I know how you do it. I worked it all out.”
The Ancient One kept her eyes fixed, betraying no emotion. “I would advise you think about your next words very carefully, Starlight.”
“Because you won’t like them?” Starlight retorted.
“No.” The Ancient One stepped forward. “Because you may not know of what you speak.”
“Starlight? Ancient One?” Jade asked. “What are you two talking about?”
“You know her,” Starlight said, pointing at the Ancient One. “Yeah, haven’t you ever wondered where her long life comes from? Her immortality? It comes from Dormammu. Right?” She turned to face the Ancient One. “You draw power from the Dark Dimension and use it to live forever. Nice, right?”
Jade waved her hooves laughing nervously. “Woah woah, hey, that can’t be true. Don’t accuse her of that. It’s not true, right, Ancient One? Right?”
The Ancient One said nothing, until something in the air changed and she looked at the two of them. “Mordo will return with his followers. When he does, you will need reinforcements to defend this Citadel.”
“Hey, wait,” Jade called before the Ancient One slipped away and disappeared into the shadows of Canterlot Citadel. For a moment, there was silence while Starlight calmed down and Jade stared into the empty space of the Ancient One’s wake. Stepping away closer to open space, Starlight tried to clear her head, sitting down and staring out the large window of the room. How could all of this be happening, when ponies were just walking up and down the street like it was just another Tuesday?
Chancing a glance behind her, Starlight watched Jade begin pacing and muttering to herself. Mustering her courage, Starlight said “The Ancient One. She’s not who you think she is. She’s good. But she’s a hypocrite.”
“How?” Jade asked. She stopped in her tracks and shook her head. “How could you possibly say that about her when you don’t even know half of what she’s done for this world?”
“Do you?” Starlight shot back. “You look about as old as me. We’ve only been on this planet less than two dozen years. What could you know about her that I don’t?”
“The people she’s saved and the creature’s she’s faced?” Jade said. “You don’t know anything about what she’s done! The responsibility she carries is one seldom few can understand, much less you!”
“No, I don’t,” Starlight agreed. “And, frankly, I don’t want to know.”
“You’re just being a sissy,” Jade shot back. “What kind of hero would back away from something?”
“Don’t you know who I am?” Starlight shouted. “Don’t you know what I’ve done!? I was a villain! I could’ve torn the universe in half and I wouldn’t have cared less, all because I was hell bent on exacting revenge! I’ve killed hundreds of timelines, I’ve murdered in cold blood, and now I’ve just killed another pony. I’m no hero. You hear?!”
Starlight fell on her haunches, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She buried herself in her wrappings, wiping as much of it away as she could. When she heard nothing, she shook her head and said the same thing again: “I’m no hero.”
What she expected was the sound of hooves trotting, trotting away from her and leaving her to wallow alone in her misery. What she didn’t expect was a pair of hooves wrapping around her, pulling her into an embrace. Sniffling, Starlight brought her eyes up to see Jade hugging her tightly. Frowning in thought, Starlight tried to form more words.
“Hey, Starcicle,” Jade whispered. “C’mere.”
“I’m already here,” Starlight muttered before obliging and reciprocating the hug.
Jade patted Starlight on the back and rubbed it, breathing deeply. “Do you want to know why I’m defending her?”
“The Ancient One?”
“No, the Muffin Mare,” Jade said. “Of course I’m talking about the Ancient One, you doof!”
“Alright, alright, I get it. And yes, I do.”
“When I was still a teenage filly,” Jade said, “I was running away. From my family. From my titles. From my responsibilities. I just couldn’t stand it anymore. So I ran.”
“Wow, no wonder you’re so sassy,” Starlight said, pulling away slightly. “That sounds like something out of a cheesy adventure novel.”
“Hey, sh!” Jade said, silencing Starlight. “Yes, it’s cheesy, but let me finish, because this is important. I was alone, and I was terrified of what was going on around me. I could hear howls, I could hear the scratching of claws, the sounds of predators all around me, when I heard someone shouting. I was so scared I didn’t even care who it was, so I ran towards the voice, and sure enough, I found someone who could protect me. Do you know who that was?”
“The Ancient One,” Starlight provided. “So that’s how you met her?”
“You are absolutely incorrect,” Jade said, pushing Starlight with a slight smile before she grimaced, wincing as if it were a bad memory. “I wish it was. Here, and now, I could only have wished it was. No, it wasn't her.”
“Then who?” Starlight asked.
At that exact moment, they could hear rumbling from within the Citadel. As they flicked their ears, they could even hear the eerie chanting of voices from within. Jade and Starlight looked at each other, all mirth now disappearing from their visages. They both knew exactly who had just arrived and said the name to each other in one accord.
The two sorcerers raced across the halls, following the chanting with no break in step. Starlight and Jade could not stop for a single moment, because they knew what was coming. They had seen it with their own eyes within the Zebrican Citadel, and they could feel the charge in the air now. Mordo was here, and he was ready to bring the Citadel down.
“Mordo!” Jade yelled as she and Starlight slid onto the balcony overlooking the foyer. “Stop!” When it was clear he wasn’t listening, Jade turned to Starlight and said “We need to stop them, now!” before jumping over the railing and tackling one of the henchponies to the ground. The other, still chanting, was slow on the uptake, and suffered with a quick buck to the chest as Jade quickly recovered.
Already, it seemed the ball of concentrated magic they had summoned seemed stable because the henchponies started focusing their brute strength on Jade, pinning her against a wall. Starlight, thinking hard about what exactly she could do, was startled into action when Jade yelled “Starlight, what the tartarus do you think you’re doing!?” Shouting in frustration as she fought off the two henchponies, she shouted up the balcony. “Get down here and fight!”
Starlight knew it wouldn’t help. There wasn’t enough time. Remembering something the Ancient One had said, she quickly slipped her ridge gauntlet on and let her cloak activate, allowing her free movement in the air. It was at that moment that Mordo smirked in victory at Jade, who glared at him before he thrust his talons down and the ball followed suit.
Knowing it was futile but trying nonetheless, Jade screamed. “NO!”
Mordo’s talons hit the ground, and the mass of energy followed suit. Everypony braced themselves… to find a brilliant expulsion of shiny green mana blasted outward in a harmless fashion.
Slowly, with intrigue already building within them, they turned toward the one pony not on the same floor as them. Starlight hovered above them all, her hooves stretched out with effort as if to say she had done something extensive to even pull it all off. “The Mirror Dimension,” Starlight said with a grim smile. “You can’t affect the real world in here.”
Mordo merely smiled back, his gaze turning to Jade as the feathers on his head ruffled in amusement. “Are you going to tell her, or shall I?”
“Buck you,” Jade growled.
“Ah well, suit yourself,” Mordo shrugged before popping his talons and spreading them apart. Quickly, he made several movements Starlight couldn’t follow before she felt the world around her suddenly seem… wrong, and for good reason. Starlight found her gaze falling downward and she immediately understood why.
What she saw was as psychedelic as it was real and mind-breaking. It almost didn’t register in Starlight’s brain, until the sound of Jade struggling to break free of her captors’ hold reached her ears. Creating a whip out of her magic, she made Mordo roll to the side, allowing Starlight to reach Jade and battle against the two zealots. As Jade was freed, Starlight pulled her forward and ran past Mordo, ripping his ridge gauntlet from him before running out onto the street.
“He can’t escape, right?” Starlight yelled more than asked as they faced the building they had just come from. “I mean, I took his gauntlet!”
“Baka!” Jade cried, smacking Starlight upside. “You idiot! Their connection to the Dark Dimension makes them more powerful in the Mirror Dimension. This wasn’t being smart, this was suicide!”
Starlight gawped helplessly as Jade fumed, staring at the advancing Mordo and his goons. It was mesmerising, really, because the building itself had begun folding into itself and spreading out like a mosaic of indescribably wonder. Wonder that could kill.
“Run!” Jade yelled. Needing no further motivation, Starlight began to gallop, with Jade easily keeping pace.
Starlight took this time to defend herself. “Look, how was I supposed to know that? The Ancient One said we used the Mirror Dimension to contain threats! And besides, he was about to destroy the citadel! What else was I supposed to do?”
Jade huffed, keeping her gaze forward. “I dunno, jump down and help me fight them when I told you too? You could’ve taken Mordo down while he was still charging it!
Starlight groaned, wanting to facehoof but unable to do so. “Fine. Okay.”
They darted past ponies, jumped over carts and slipped through the crowd, doing their best to survive the onslaught of semi-real ponies and objects. All the while, Mordo and his zealots continued to follow. For a moment, it seemed like the duo could outrun them. That all changed, however, when they stopped at an intersection and realised something.
“Celestia on a unicycle…” Starlight muttered thoughtlessly, looking up at the detached roads and floating parts of Canterlot City. The mountain it resided on was split into four, and the roads were all bent and disconnected in such a way that it hurt Starlight’s brain trying to process how it works.
Jade shoved Starlight in the side, turning her to a straight path and yelling “There! Start making a portal, maybe we can trap them before they catch us!”
Nodding, Starlight tapped her gauntlet and began running on three legs, waving her left in front of her. A portal began to form, it’s blue outline hazy and still uncertain. With Starlight’s thoughts in a mess, the portal showed the first location that popped into her mind: an open meadow atop a hill overlooking Ponyville. With clear skies, a nice breeze, Starlight could already feel the scent of freedom.
Her world was quite literally turned sideways, however, when gravity shifted and instead of solid ground, Starlight found herself falling through air. Waving her hooves frantically, the portal dissipated and she began to scream. Falling towards the side of a wide spire, Starlight braced herself, but only felt the air around her come to a dull roar. Looking down, she plopped onto the stone of the spire, and found Jade jumping down beside her.
“Boots and Cloak, remember?” Jade smirked before she began running again. Starlight glanced behind her and saw that her cloak was flapping in the wind almost as if amused. Shaking her head, she caught up with Jade and began to form another portal, this one opening up to a warm purple hallways in a crystal castle. Just as they reached it, Starlight felt the stone beneath her begin to wobbled before it completely tripped her, and she went flying forward. Sprawling onto the stone, she looked behind her and saw Mordo stretch his talons out with beaded concentration… and the spire split into two.
It was as if the world slipped under Starlight as she plummeted downwards once more. To put it quite simply, it had. As she watched the tower bend in an impossibly strange coil, she braced herself for a landing. Just because she knew she would be okay, did not mean she was okay with falling. That would have to come later. Much, much later.
Landing on solid stone that was, thankfully, more solid than the spire had been, she ran up to it’s edge and watched the chaos that had become of Canterlot unfold. Entire blocks and streets were now floating free of any attached land; Buildings and solid rock formations all rolled into each other and built bigger constructs that still managed to house clueless ponies that didn’t know any better.
“This was a mistake,” Starlight muttered, her eyes frantically darting around trying to take everything in.
Jade, who had taken it upon herself to catch up with Starlight, turned to her with the most incredulous look Starlight had seen on anypony ever. Starlight could almost hear the words “Are you serious?” just from looking into Jade’s eyes.
At that moment, the world lurched, and they went into freefall. Everything had boxed into itself. Reality around them bent inward, as if everything had become a triangular prism. It was almost too much. Starlight, in her attempt to reconcile normality with the insanity around her, focused instead on where she was going.
A set of twisting metal cones began to converge around where she would land, and she did her best to swing herself into the centre. Falling through them, she and Jade crashed into a cobblestone pavillion, one which Starlight slid down and could not hold a grip of. Falling a few more feet, she nearly landed on a metal awning with a hole. A hole she slipped into just as Jade came around to help her up.
Starlight watched the hole seal itself above her before her eyes darted around and she broke into a mad sprint. Her hooves clanged and clacked against metal and stone, a ramp that had been forming before her instantly curving away as she trod it’s path. Chancing a glance behind her, she saw herself being pursued by Mordo and and one of his zealots, while Starlight somehow ran past Jade who was scuffling with the other.
She focused her attention forward. As much as she tried, she could not help but notice the wavering path she was running on, the materials and buildings that flew past her, the many different happenings of reality warping and shaping into something new. All she could do was run. Run she did.
A zealot, the one who had been fighting Jade, blew past her, falling forward as she lost her balance, and Starlight did not hesitate to keep moving. She pushed her way through a closing stone gap, shoving them aside and causing them to billow in a strange pulse. Her hoofsteps began to wobbled the metal underneath her to the point that it was almost putty. Seeing the platform she was on end just a few feet ahead of her, she made way to jump towards a column that was floating into view.
Starlight hit the column with a grunt… and found herself slipping. Her eyes widened as she desperately tried to find hoofing around the beam but to no avail. It was shifting and reshaping, along with everything in the twisted Mirror Dimension, and she lost her grip. Admittedly, she wasn’t expecting the ground to meet her in the way that it did, because the next thing she knew she was face down on a wobbling cobblestone path.
“Ow…” Starlight moaned. Slowly getting back to all four hooves, she found her footing dangerously slippery as the cobblestone she stood on felt like it was foam floating on water. Tentative as she was, upon looking behind her and seeing three cultists hell-bent on killing her, she didn’t need much more incentive.
Starlight started with hopping, her hoofsteps uncertain and slow. The more she did it, the more confident she became, until she felt the sudden need to start galloping when a near-invisible etheric blade wooshed past her. It was almost like a game, she thought. A very tricky game that required as much concentration, efficiency and speed to win, as well as an impossible amount of luck. Kinda like Oatzee, except there were no dice, the cup was rigged, and the scoreboards were against you.
Speeding up her pace, she darted across the floating stones until they fused together to make a trottable path. A path that was already dissipating as fast as it had been created. Running for her life, she could never have anticipated Mordo appearing from beneath the stone she had been running on, and she was thrown over his shoulder and into the ground.
Starlight swore as she slammed into the smooth rock, a kick to the barrel shoving her back a few more feet and winding her. Coughing, she could see spots. A pair of talons grabbed her. Blinking her eyes, Starlight focused. Above her stood the leering Mordo, his teeth wickedly sharp as he grabbed Starlight’s ridge gauntlet. The next second, Starlight could see him rub his hands before a long ethereal blade appeared. Murder was in his eyes, and there was nothing Starlight could do.
With a yelp, Starlight flinched. The blade came down. With a heavy jolt, Starlight felt a thud, and she held her breath. Still holding it, she blinked and looked around, seeing herself floating away from Mordo’s quickly-snarling face, his blade having sliced straight into the stone with ease. Starlight had no problem imagining what it would’ve done should it have touched her.
Struggling to her hooves as more and more material joined the platform she occupied, she widened her eyes. All around her, buildings and rock and wood and glass flew as if they had a mind of their own. In all the chaos, geometric designs began to emerge, everything solid being torn apart to make something new. Her platform came to a stop when it joined an impressive circular design, where holes were slowly being patched up by more stone and rock that floated up from nowhere.
Beside her, she saw Jade float in on her own piece of rock, her relieved gaze turning into one of dubious nature as Jade looked up, past Starlight. Turning her attention as well, Staright could only gape at the haggard Ancient One, her white robes lightly dusted with grey and a tired look on her face. Her attention was not on Jade and Starlight, but Mordo and his zealots.
Jade could only stare in bafflement. “I had hoped…” she whispered, before sighing. “You were right, Starlight.”
This was one of those times Starlight really wished she wasn’t.
