Don't Anger It
Twilight walked through the halls of the school of friendship, hearing the different teachers giving their classes to the new generation of creatures that would define the future of Equestria.
Everything seemed peaceful, which was a blessing after so many incidents, both inside and outside of the school. And it was that what made her do this little surprise visit.
She had left Starlight in charge of the school as its headmare not too long ago, and knew the poor unicorn was as nervous as she was excited about it, so she wanted to just make sure that she was taking things well.
After she reached her office, she gave a gentle knock on the door, and heard something heavy hit the ground. “Starlight?”
“One second!” the mare shouted, and Twilight started to hear a heavy struggle inside the office.
“Is everything alright?” the alicorn asked, putting her ear against the door to try and deduce what was happening.
“I said one second!” the unicorn screamed as the sounds of struggle got louder, and then Twilight heard pottery being smashed to pieces. “Phillis! Noooo!”
A kitchen knife pierced the door right in front of Twilight’s face, making her recoil in horror at the near-death experience. “Starlight what’s going on?!”
“Don’t worry, I-” the sound of a chainsaw hitting stone drowned the rest of the response.
The alicorn had enough. “Starlight, I’m going in!” She tried to teleport inside, but the spell failed. “Why can’t I-”
*gunshot*
The room seemed to go silent, and seconds later the knife was extracted from the door, and it slowly opened.
Starlight was sitting perfectly straight behind her desk, sipping from her coffee mug which read ‘Don’t mug me’. The office seemed to be in order, no signs of a struggle, except for the fact that the left side of Starlight’s body was covered in a black, oily liquid.
Twilight carefully walked inside. “What just happened?”
“Nothing!” the unicorn responded with a big nervous smile. “What brings you here today?”
Twilight frowned. “What are you hiding from me?”
“What? Why would I hide something from you?” Starlight took another sip form her mug, which now read ‘Knife to meet you’.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What’s covering half your coat then?”
“Coffee,” Starlight quickly responded. “Black coffee.”
Twilight didn’t look convinced. “What were the noises I heard then?”
The unicorn dismissed her with a hoof. “Oh, I’m sure it was just the music class.”
The alicorn raised an eyebrow. “Since when does the music class use chainsaws?”
Starlight pointed a hoof at Twilight. “Hey, don’t judge an artist for trying to innovate.”
The alicorn was starting to get frustrated. “Then what about the knife that nearly stabbed my head?!”
“Really Twilight? Why would I have a knife in my office? It wouldn’t even scratch a rock golem.” Starlight took another sip of her ‘Everything’s right, there’s no left’ mug.
The alicorn shook her head. “Wait, there was a rock golem?!”
“What? That’s ridiculous! Rock golems are extinct, people make them out of cement now.”
“Starlight, tell me what’s going on. I know you are hiding something.”
“Twilight, I assure you, there’s nothing supernatural going on in this office.”
*crack*
“What was that?” the alicorn asked.
“What was what?” the unicorn asked back.
“That cracking sound.”
“Oh, that’s must be my back, I’ve been sitting here for too long.” Starlight looked at her mug with a tired look. “Far too long.”
Twilight then noticed the unicorn’s unusual posture. “What are you hiding behind you?”
“What? It’s just a perfectly normal wall.” She responded with an even more nervous smile than before.
Twilight walked a few steps to the right, but Starlight kept trying to obstruct her view, so she pushed her aside, seeing a small crack in the wall. “Why are you trying to hide a crack?”
“It’s not a crack!” Starlight quickly corrected. “It’s just a… new wallpaper!”
Twilight looked at her with a deadpan expression. “Of a crack? Just behind your desk? The exact same color as the rest of the wall? And it makes cracking sounds as it gets bigger?”
“Yes.” Starlight answered with the most serious face she could muster.
Twilight facehoofed. “You can’t just expect me to believe that.”
“Oh, and what would be the other option? That I’m being held hostage by an unknown entity that threatens to destroy the school?” Starlight took another nervous sip of her ‘Alcohol is the solution, says the chemist’ mug.
Twilight decided to follow along. “Ok, theoretically, if that were true; would it be the reason there are rock-”
“Cement.” Starlight corrected.
“Right, cement golems in your office?”
The unicorn took a long sip of coffee. “No.”
Twilight contained a scream of rage, but suddenly, a sound like dozens of rocks being crushed together seemed to come from everywhere in the office, and Starlight became even more nervous. “Oh, I just remembered, I’ve an announcement to make!” she fumbled with the microphone until it finally started broadcasting. “Attention to all students and faculty personnel! Please report to the gymnasium for a… surprise event… yeah, you will be very surprised!”
Starlight let go of the microphone and looked at Twilight with shame and worry.
“Is the crack really holding you hostage? Is this some sort of joke made by Discord?” the alicorn asked, now more concerned about her friend’s behavior.
Starlight put her mug aside. “Let’s say, theoretically-” Twilight contained a grunt of frustration. “-there is an unknown entity that spawns cement-based lifeforms.”
“You just said that there wasn’t,” Twilight grumbled through clenched teeth. “But continue.”
Starlight nodded. “And the only way to keep it pleased is to entertain it with gladiator-style combat against these cement creatures.” Twilight patiently nodded. “What other option would you have but to obey?”
Twilight rubbed her hoof against her forehead. “Starlight, even if what you’re telling me-”
“Theoretically!” the unicorn almost screamed in panic.
“Yes! Theoretically!” the alicorn shouted, her patience finally running out. “Even if theoretically true, it’s ridiculous! It’s just a crack!” Twilight walked up to the crack, and concentrated her magic on it, making it slowly heal and disappear from the wall. “There, all done!” she turned back, and saw Starlight jumping through a window.
“I will always remember you!” the unicorn screamed before running away.
*CRACK*
Twilight’s eyes grew wide, and she slowly looked back at the wall behind her, seeing that the crack had not only returned, but it had taken the form of two big, angry eyes, staring right into her soul.
Celestia and Luna looked at the depths of the large rift that now occupied the space where the school of friendship once stood.
“And you don’t know how this happened?” Celestia asked Starlight, who had pieces of broken glass in her hair and half of her body was still covered in black liquid.
“Well, I know that the school fell inside when it appeared.”
“And neither you nor Twilight could do anything to stop it?” Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Twilight tried, but it was useless. It couldn’t be stopped. Nopony can stop it.” Both alicorns looked at her with concern, thinking that the poor pony was too nervous to think coherently.
“How deep even is this thing?” Celestia wondered. “Why haven’t anypony flew out yet?”
Starlight gave a nervous laugh. “Well… maybe they hit lava, maybe they found a secret underground world.” Her eyes suddenly got lost in the darkness of the rift. “Maybe they’ve been consumed by an ever-expanding entity, and are now trapped inside it’s immense mass, their bodies squirming, contorting, and fusing themselves together in the darkness.” Starlight snapped herself out from her trance and looked at the two alicorns, who watched her with wide eyes. “Or maybe it’s just really really dark and they got lost,” she added with a nervous smile.
“Well, we better go down there and rescue them. You stay here, okay? We will get you into some therapy afterwards.” Celestia said before she and her sister flew down into the depths of the rift, their horns helping them illuminate the way.
Starlight watched as the light of their horns slowly descended, until she heard two short screams, and both lights were quickly snuffed out.
The sound of rocks being crushed together reverberated in Starlight’s head, and two figures were spat out from the depths of the rift, landing at her sides.
“I can… breathe,” Trixie gasped, touching her body as if unsure if it was there.
“What was that… feeling?” Sunburst asked, trying to look back at the rift, but Starlight hugged them both, pushing their heads against hers.
“Don’t worry, everything is okay now. The deal was honored,” She told them, hugging them closer.
“But the things I saw…” Trixie said with horror in her eyes.
“The things it did to Twilight.” Sunburst added in the same state.
“Forget about it.” Starlight stroked their manes in a comforting manner. “It doesn’t matter anymore. You’re with me now.”
“But our friends.”
“Stop thinking about it, Sunburst. The only thing important now is The Rift, and as long as we are loyal in its unending reign, its mercy will allow us to be together.”
The three unicorns hugged each other, holding back tears to not upset the rift that was now their lives. Their world. Their very existence.