The Night She Fled

Starlight felt slightly awkward, trying to move past the gathered ponies at the center of town. She couldn't figure out what was going to happen, but she had a feeling she wouldn't like it. The princesses coming to town normally meant something very good or very bad. She couldn't shake the feeling that it was the latter. But onward she trudged to see what the commotion was. If the faces of the others was any indicator, this visit was just as surprising to them. Why come to Ponyville right now? It made no sense...

And then the world began to spin. Starlight gasped for air but couldn't find any. She tried to walk but her legs wouldn't budge. Everything screamed at her to run, to get away, but to no avail. She couldn't. She simply was too late. The spell rushed over everyone and finally lulled them all to sleep.

After waking, her mouth felt like a desert. She tried to gather spit, but with no success. She felt as though she ran forever, her legs feeling worn and exhausted. She was just as tired. With effort she opened her eyes to find where she was. Light penetrated her eyes, stinging them tremendously. She blinked to try and wash them out, even moving to her other side carefully to adjust for the light. Once again she opened her eyes, just to have more light flood in. With a sigh, she gave in. Her ears twitched. Was someone talking? Maybe she could just...

"AHHH!"

Starlight flattened her ears at the sudden outburst. What was with the scream? What was wrong? With one more surge, she picked herself up and opened her eyes slowly. Light filtered in coming into a blinding light, but she pressed on. She walked toward where the sound came from. She bumped straight into another pony. Was this the one that screamed? Starlight opened her mouth to talk, but was once more cut off by a bloody scream. This one stopped abruptly. Starlight actually feared what could happen. She stood and waited for her eyes to adjust. Once it was finally clear enough she took in her surrounding. Large walls surrounded them, stone colored, earthy walls that could probably take a beating. She looked up to find a pair of gleaming eyes bearing down on her.

"Uhh..." Starlight stammered.

"Well hello Ms... what is your name?" The stallion questioned.

"Starlight... Where are we?" She implored.

"All will be seen in due time. For now you might want to take care of your eyes."

"Wha..." But he was gone in a puff of smoke. What was going on? Was she drugged? How was that possible? She decided to ask another pony. She walked over to another stallion, who simply turned to a cloud of smoke. Okay she was really getting scared. She walked over to a mare on her right, who followed suit with the stallions. This was just getting weird. Out of nowhere though, a voice rose up.

"...Starlight..."

After the voice, Starlight felt a tug on her body.

"Starlight... up..."

As though on cue, the ground dropped out from below her. She couldn't move, just stay the course of the invisible force. As she ascended, a light began to filter in. This one as blinding as when she first opened her eyes. It flooded in making her shut her view. The feeling in her body started fading. Suddenly she started to drift off...

She came to. As though it were all a dream. Looking around she saw she was back in her bedroom. Was she having dreams inside of each other? She shook her head. That couldn't be. It just couldn't. Now she wanted answers that she was gonna get one way or the other. The question was... from who? She walked out her door to find that Ponyville didn't look the same at all. It looked... older. What WAS going on here? How long was she out? Starlight ran back inside and looked into a handheld mirror she kept in a nightstand by her bed. She... Oh no... She wasn't herself...