Border of Illusion ~ Eastern Land
A pair of unicorns stood apart from one another in the throne room of the Castle of Friendship, a book placed strategically on the floor between them.
"Remember, the most important thing is to focus," advised Starlight Glimmer. "We don't want a repeat of our little mishap with the map."
"Trixie never makes the same mistake twice." Trixie rolled her eyes. "Besides, you've told me this already. Let's just get on with it! I think I've got it this time."
Starlight gave a quiet sigh at her friend's impatience and took a step back. "Okay then, whenever you're ready."
Trixie lowered her head, staring intently at the book. After a deep breath, a soft glow began to envelop her horn as she focused her magic, gradually brightening as it built up.
"Ah..."
Starlight's heart skipped a beat. That wasn't what she thought it was, was it?
"Ah... ah...!" Trixie's face contorted as the sneeze welled up, her horn still aglow with her prepared spell.
"Trixie, careful!" Starlight bit her lip. "Quick, the spell! You need to - "
"CHOOOOO"
A blinding flash engulfed Starlight Glimmer.
Trixie gave a great sniff and wiped her muzzle with her foreleg. "The Great and Powerful Trixie seems to have forgotten her allergy medication today." She gasped as a thought struck her. "Wait, the - !"
A cursory glance revealed the map table in the center of the room to be accounted for.
"See? Trixie told you she doesn't repeat mistakes."
Trixie's blood ran cold as this failed to elicit a response from her tutor, prompting her to actually look where Starlight had been standing just a moment before... only to discover that nopony was there.
"E-Everything is fine!" Trixie grinned nervously as she began pacing back and forth. "S-She'll teleport back in just a few seconds, scold me for being careless, and everything will be fine. Right?"
A full minute passed, during which the only sound to be heard was the twittering of birds through the open window.
Trixie cringed. "Oh dear."
" - dispel the magic before... you... ugh."
Starlight grumbled, raising a hoof to her forehead in irritation. "Trixie, what am I going to do with you?"
Trees stretched in every direction, the cool breeze rustling their leaves. There was no shortage of forests near Ponyville, so this didn't narrow down her location very well, but she could at least be thankful she hadn't landed in the Everfree. Granted, the brightly-colored mushrooms dotting the base of some of the trees did strike her as somewhat odd, as she'd never seen anything like them before... but fascinating as all this was, it seemed ultimately irrelevant; a quick teleport would put her back in the castle with relative ease.
Starlight's horn glowed as she prepared her spell... and faded as it fizzled out.
"Out of range? That can't be right..." Starlight rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Trixie's teleportation magic isn't as powerful as mine yet, and she even messed it up when she sneezed... so how could she have sent me past my maximum range? That doesn't make any sense..."
She glanced at the forest canopy above with a sigh. There was nothing for it at that point but to pick a direction and start walking; with any luck, she would find a town or some railroad tracks before long, and could get her bearings from there.
"But how am I supposed to know which way to go...?" she wondered aloud. "Everything looks the same."
"Why not let the stars be your guide?"
At once, the forest began to darken rapidly. Soon, what had at first appeared to be midday now looked much closer to dusk. Starlight staggered backward in alarm, her eyes darting all over as she searched for the source of the voice. "W-What's going on? Who's doing that?"
From the brush nearby, a tall figure emerged. It wasn't quite like anything Starlight had seen before: it walked upright on two legs, holding what appeared to be its arms outstretched to either side. Most of its body was covered by a black dress, and a small red ribbon-like decoration was tied on one side of its blonde mane. She wasn't sure whether it was the otherworldly appearance, the implications its existence made, the fact that it was almost certainly the source of the darkness now surrounding them, or something else entirely... but seeing it sent a chill down Starlight's spine.
"Don't mind me!" Starlight grinned sheepishly took another slow step backward. "I was just on my way home, so..."
The figure approached Starlight casually. "I've never seen anything like you before. Are you lost?"
Starlight hesitated. Maybe she had misjudged it? It certainly looked bizarre, but it hadn't actually shown any signs of being hostile. "There... was a little mishap with a teleportation spell. I just need a way to get my bearings, and then I should be fine!" Perhaps it would see that as an invitation to help.
"Oh." The figure looked as though it wasn't sure how to process this information. "Hey, I'm hungry. Are you good to eat?"
Or perhaps not.
Starlight resumed her gradual retreat as beads of sweat built up on her forehead. "Oh no no no, you don't wanna eat me! Ponies are, uh... tough and dry. Not very good for - ah!" She let out a small yelp as she felt her rear collide with a tree, causing her to scramble a bit in panic.
The figure looked her over with interest as it marched forward. "I dunno... I usually only eat humans, but you look pretty tasty to me. Maybe I'll just have a quick bite and see what I think~"
The darkness seemed to grow ever thicker as the figure bore down on Starlight, terrible visions of her imminent fate dancing through her head. No matter how she willed her legs to move, fear seemed to have them as though locked in a vice. Just as it seemed she had run out of options... a thought surfaced in her mind. Why hadn't she thought of that sooner?
Starlight's horn glowed brilliantly as a bolt of magic erupted from it, striking the figure squarely in the face.
"Ow ow ow!" The figure staggered back, shielding its face with one arm even as the other remained stretched out to one side. "Hmpf, never mind. I wasn't even that hungry anyway."
Not willing to take any chances in spite of this statement, Starlight's legs finally kicked into gear as she dashed away, galloping as fast as they would carry her even as the darkness finished fading back into daylight.
These cool stone steps were a great place to rest after fleeing for her life, Starlight decided. The strange red gate towering over her from the very top might warrant investigation, but what if she ran into another of those strange creatures? Then again, once she'd gotten past the initial shock, it hadn't taken much to turn the thing away; perhaps she was in less immediate danger than she thought.
Unfortunately, that gave way to the more pertinent question: where was she? A land of bizarre bipedal creatures somewhere outside her teleport range was all she'd deduced thus far. Something told her she wouldn't be getting home anytime soon on her own; maybe - just maybe - if she mustered everything she knew about friendship thanks to Twilight's guidance, she could get one of them to help her.
Slowly, she ascended the steps and took a cautious peek through the gate. The stone path appeared to stretch a little ways further into the woods, halting at a small building; though its architecture was entirely unfamiliar, it reminded Starlight of a very small palace. Sure enough, one of the bipedal figures sat idle at the front of the building, causing her heart to skip a beat... but closer inspection revealed that, aside from also being blonde and wearing white and black, this one looked almost nothing like the last. In fact, it happened to be wearing a hat that reminded her rather strongly of Trixie's, tall and pointed as it was.
Starlight gulped audibly. The longer she dallied, the longer she'd be stuck here. Were there any chance not all of these creatures were dangerous, it was worth a shot. That thought in mind, she steeled her nerves and slowly trotted down the path toward the building. Predictably, the creature perked up as soon as she was through the gate, and watched with what Starlight could only assume was curiosity as she approached, eventually coming to a stop just in front of the building.
For several seconds, neither moved. The two simply stared at one another.
"Uh, Reimu?" The creature broke the silence, calling over her shoulder. "A tiny pink horse has come to visit the shrine."
A deep sigh came through the building's open doorway. "Marisa, I know you're bored, but you're gonna have to do better than that if you want me to humor you."
"Uh... hi there!" Starlight greeted the creature with a wave of her hoof and what she hoped was a friendly enough smile. "I think I might be a little lost, and I was hoping somepony could help me find my way home?"
Marisa blinked. "Reimu? The tiny horse is talking."
"What? Wait a minute." At this, another creature appeared in the doorway and stared blankly at Starlight. This one was dressed in a very strange red and white outfit, including a large red ribbon that sat atop her brown hair. "Is it a youkai?"
"I don't... think so?" Marisa scratched her head for a moment before hopping to her feet and looking Starlight over. "Are you a youkai? You don't seem like one to me."
"Uh..." Starlight glanced around as though expecting to find some form of clarification nearby. "I'm not sure I could say. Does a unicorn count? I do know a bit of magic," she offered, reaching out with it to grab a broom leaning against the building nearby and sweeping some nearby leaves into a small pile.
Reimu shrugged. "Well, if you're not a youkai and you're not causing an incident, then you're welcome to hang around if you like." With that, she leaned against one of the building's front supports and crossed her arms idly.
Marisa, on the other hand, seemed quite taken by the relatively simple display. "Hey, that's pretty neat! You know, I've got some magic too - you wanna see?"
"Sure!" Starlight smiled as she took a step back. Apparently she didn't have anything to worry about after all; things were going rather swimmingly! She still wasn't sure what was going on with that first creature she ran into, but these two were pleasant enough - and most of all, if this Marisa knew a thing or two about magic, that meant there was a chance she could help Starlight work her way home.
Marisa took a few steps back as well. Reaching into her pocket, she produced a small wooden block that appeared to be covered in intricate carvings. Before Starlight could get a better look at it, however, Marisa pointed the block at the branches of a nearby tree...
"Here I go, ze~!"
...and fired.
A brilliant flash of light engulfed the area, prompting Starlight to shield her eyes as an enormous beam of energy erupted from the block in Marisa's hand. The force of the blast whipped up the air around them, obliterating Starlight's meager leaf pile in an instant. After several seconds had passed, the beam finally began to fade.
Starlight stared in awe at the tree. No trace of it, not even ash, remained in the space where the beam had struck.
"Ha, that never gets old." Marisa brushed a stray hair from her face.
Reimu, for her part, looked rather disinterested by the incredibly flashy display; she spent its duration watching Starlight instead. "By the way, did we get your name? I'm Reimu Hakurei, maiden of the shrine here. The loudmouth there is Marisa Kirisame."
After several seconds of continuing to stare at the half-vaporized tree, Starlight shook her head in an attempt to get her brain back on track. "Oh - sorry, I don't think you did! My name's Starlight Glimmer."
"Starlight Glimmer?" Marisa echoed. "Sounds more like a spell card if you ask me. Actually, that's not half bad..." She seemed to mull this over for a moment; Starlight simply stared, as this statement meant nothing to her. "Hey, you oughtta stay for a drink!"
Reimu's eyes narrowed. "Stop offering people my booze."
Starlight winced. "Actually... that does sound fun, but I really need to look into finding a way back home before everypony starts worrying about me."
"Psh, we can worry about that later!" Marisa waved her hand dismissively. "Tell you what: I've got the biggest library in Gensokyo at my disposal 'cause I'm good friends with the owner. Have a drink with me, and I'll see what I can do!"
"Actually..." Reimu shrugged and rolled her eyes. "She just waltzes into the mansion on the lake and takes whatever books she wants without asking. Don't let her fool you about what kind of person she is."
Marisa put her hands on her hips in mock indignation. "Hey, don't make me look bad in front of our guest!"
Reimu quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'our' guest? Only one of us actually works here, you know."
Starlight giggled as she gave Reimu an amused smirk. "Don't worry, I'm starting to get the idea."
Marisa looked affronted. "Not you too!"
Reimu straightened up. "I have a better idea. You seem like you're from a little further away than the outside world, so I don't think a simple spell is going to do the trick. I can call in a favor from Yukari to get you home pretty easily, since I'm fairly sure she can go literally anywhere she wants."
"That's strange..." Starlight scratched her head. "If that's true, then how did Trixie put me here in the first place? All she did was sneeze during that teleportation spell..."
Marisa shrugged. "Who knows? Magic is just weird like that sometimes."
"That said..." Starlight turned back to Reimu. "If you'd really do that for me, I can't thank you enough."
"No problem." Reimu shrugged. "We'll probably have to wait until pretty late, though; she spends almost the entire day asleep. Maybe I can bother one of her familiars about it..."
Marisa, however, had taken to staring at Reimu with a beaming grin on her face.
Reimu returned the stare for several seconds before finally heaving an exaggerated sigh of defeat. "Oh, fine. Just make sure you replace it at some point, alright?"
"Woohoo!" Marisa threw her fist in the air in triumph and dashed off into the shrine, returning about a minute later carrying a small jug and a pair of tiny ceramic cups. Taking a seat, she filled the two cups from the jug and held one out toward a curious Starlight.
"So... what is it, exactly?" Starlight grasped the cup with her magic and sniffed curiously at the drink within.
Reimu tilted her head subtly. "Never had sake before, I suppose?"
Starlight shook her head. "Other than the occasional bottle of wine, it's hard to find anything in Ponyville that isn't Apple family cider." With that, she took a cautious sip, her expression brightening as she did so. "Hey, that's pretty good! Not as sweet as I'm used to, but the flavor is interesting."
"Have as much as you like!" Marisa's grin had hardly left her face the entire time. "There's plenty more where that came from, and considering we're waiting on Yukari, we've got lots of time to kill."
Starlight drained the rest of her cup and licked her lips. "You know, I think I just might."
"...an' get this! After they beat me," explained a bright-faced Marisa to the pony sitting beside her, "they just went on their merry way! Didn' bother explainin' the whole 'endless night' thing or nothin'. Just told me not to catch a cold and left!"
"Wow, that is so rude." Starlight's face, no less flushed than Marisa's, burned with secondhand indignation in the evening light. "How could somepony who's supposed to be your friend just toss you aside like that?"
Marisa leaned back, gently swirling the remaining sake in her cup. "S'fine, really. Can't be any hard feelings when there's an incident goin' on. Y'know?"
Starlight stared at her own drink for a moment. "Yeah, I guess so. I mean, you do what you gotta do, right?"
"Yeah, 'zactly!" Marisa sat up a little too quickly, resulting in a bit of her drink making a grand escape from her cup only to land unceremoniously in her lap. "Now your turn! You gotta have cool stories from that pony land o' yours."
"Weeeeell..." Starlight cocked an eyebrow and a smirk. "I suppose I could tell you about the time my friends and I infiltrated a changeling hive and helped orchestrate the defeat of its evil queen..."
Marisa's eyes went wide. "I have no idea what that means, an' I already can't wait."
"I'm afraid you'll have to," declared a voice from above.
Despite having seen her take off earlier, Starlight watched in awe as Reimu landed nearby. These 'humans' were like nothing she'd ever seen before! Flight without wings, boundless magical power... She suddenly found herself very thankful these two were so friendly; woe betide any who might stand against them.
"I found the cat," Reimu explained. "She says we ought to be able to catch Yukari in the bamboo forest just after sundown; if we head out now, we'll be right on time."
"Well what're we waitin' for?" Marisa quickly gulped the last of her drink and hopped to her feet.
"Just a moment." Starlight snatched up the jug with her magic and quickly emptied its contents, wiping her mouth with a foreleg once the remaining sake was depleted. "No reason to let it go to waste, right?"
Marisa beamed at Starlight as she reached for a nearby broom. "I like the way you think! Now here, you can ride with me if you want. Not afraid o' heights, are you?"
Starlight attempted to shake her head, but quickly stopped as it began making her extremely dizzy. "N-No, I'll be okay! Although I've never flown on a broom before..."
"Just hang onto me and you'll be fine," Marisa insisted, taking her seat astride the ordinary-looking cleaning implement and motioning for Starlight to join her.
Reimu quirked an eyebrow as she watched Starlight awkwardly grip Marisa's sides with her forelegs. "You sure you're good to fly like that?"
Marisa gave an undaunted grin. "Pff, are you kidding? I've done this a million times! I know what I'm doing."
"Don't worry," Reimu assured Starlight. "I'll catch you when she drops you."
Starlight gulped audibly. "What do you mean, 'when'?" She wasn't totally sure she could trust her hovering spell at a time like this...
Without further ado, two humans and one pony passenger took to the sky.
All of Starlight's worries melted away as soon as they'd cleared the treetops - the view was breathtaking. The forest stretched on and on for miles, eventually broken by a mist-covered lake shimmering in the light of the setting sun. Yet beyond that, the mountains stretched all across the horizon.
Starlight smiled. This would be a day to remember.
"...I can't remember anything else."
Starlight sat up in her bed, looking and feeling as though she'd been run over by an entire convoy of wagons, and sipped carefully at a glass of water.
Twilight gave her protege a worried look. "And you also don't remember how you got back?"
A gentle shake of the head was Starlight's response. "Every time I try, all I get are brief flashes of purple, and... eyes staring at me from all directions..." The thought made her shiver.
Twilight paced back and forth as she pondered the strange tale she'd just been given. "Well... I'm afraid your story simply doesn't add up. Nopony can just accidentally teleport to another world like that. Barring Discord, maybe... but certainly not Trixie."
Starlight deflated. "You don't believe me."
"Of course I believe you." Twilight approached Starlight's bed and smiled reassuringly for a moment. "It's just that, well... if a hangover is the only evidence we have to work with, there's no way to know for sure what really happened. It may have been a dream, or some kind of illusion."
Starlight merely stared at her glass, her aching head full of unanswerable questions.
Twilight's soft smile returned. "Just try to relax for a bit, okay? We'll see if we can sort this out later once you're feeling a little better."
Starlight nodded, taking another sip of water and watching as her mentor closed the door behind her on her way out of the room. She soon realized she wasn't so sure herself anymore; maybe the whole thing was an illusion after all? It felt so very real...
Then again... who's to say it couldn't be both?
