September 26th, 2019
Wednesday
Sunny/P.M. Overcast

Morning

play song

Starlight sat up from her bed and stretched. Even though she didn’t dream anything last night, she still felt rested. Maybe it was because she didn’t dream anything last night, considering what or who she’d probably dream about.

Her eyes went to her roommate, who like always seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Seeing that every morning reminded Starlight of how much good she could do with her power. Trixie was truly beautiful when she actually slept peacefully.

Well, time to get ready, Starlight thought to herself. As she got undressed and put her towel on (she seriously needed to remember to buy a bathrobe) she felt like there was something she was supposed to do. That, or something she was waiting for. Since she couldn’t remember off the top of her head she decided to just go ahead and take her-

“Ah!” Starlight cried with a start when she opened the door, again almost dropping her towel.

“Perfect timing, I was just about to knock,” Twilight said before shoving a stack of six books into Starlight’s chest, “Here. The entire series.”

“T-thanks,” Starlight said, slowly bringing her heart rate back to normal. Somehow, even though she’d been doing this for a couple weeks now, seeing her dreams continue in the waking world was still surreal to her. Also, seeing Twilight in the daytime just felt… weird.

“No problem,” Twilight stretched with an adorable yawn, “I remember reading those when I was a kid. Good series. I’d go watch the movie if the theater was open while I was up.”

“That doesn’t get to you?” Starlight asked, setting the books on her bed and stepping out of the room so she could shut the door, “Being asleep when the rest of the world is active?”

“Why would it get to me?” Twilight asked genuinely confused.

“Well, don’t you want to make friends?” Starlight asked.

“I have a friend. Her name is Ms. Tia, and she’s always up with me,” Twilight explained.

Starlight was about to correct herself by saying friends her age, but then something Twilight said caught her attention. Celestia was up with Twilight all the time? When did she sleep?

“If there’s nothing else, I’d like to get to my shower and head to bed, please,” Twilight said.

“Sorry, um, good… night? I guess?” Starlight said/asked Twilight, who was already walking off. Twilight waved to Starlight as she walked into her bedroom. Starlight figured she’d want the shower on their floor, so she decided to once again use the third floor shower.

But now she was really curious about her homeroom teacher/dorm master. If she was always up with Twilight, then up with Starlight and her friends in the morning, and then teaching class all afternoon, when did she get time to sleep?

Lunchtime

play song

Starlight got her lunch out of her locker and started heading toward the courtyard, this time spotting Rainbow Dash at her locker. After getting a few of her books, she turned to Starlight and smiled.

“Heya Leader,” Rainbow Dash said closing her locker and walking over to Starlight, “Trixie volunteered to keep an eye on Pinkie Pie after school, so if you want, we can get started with your training.”

Right, they were going to get started with that. Well, she did want to get better at fighting in the Phase, and Rainbow Dash seemed pretty confident in her abilities to teach her. If nothing else, it sounded like fun.

“Sure, let’s meet after school,” Starlight said, a bit surprised by how Rainbow Dash’s eyes lit up.

“Awesome! Just you wait, Starlight. I’ll turn you into the best anime protagonist in the world!”

Starlight had to admit, she was looking forward to this. At the very least it would be a nice break from all of the stress from helping Pinkie Pie.

After School

play song

After school, Rainbow Dash and Starlight went back to the dorm together, but this time they hung out in Dash and Pinkie Pie’s room. They had a small flat screen TV, a computer, and a few game systems. Nearby was a shelf similar to Twilight’s, but only half of it was filled with books. The other half was full of video games. Needless to say, they had quite a few.

“Welcome to my room,” Rainbow Dash said ushering Starlight inside.

“Are these games yours?” Starlight asked looking at the games on the shelf.

“Mine and Pinkie Pie’s,” Rainbow Dash explained, “She was more of a Nintendo gamer before I met her, and I was strictly Playstation. When we met, we shared our collection of games, and ended up getting Steam together. These days we actually buy games for each other’s…” she trailed off and looked at Starlight, “You… don’t understand anything I’m saying right now, do you?”

Starlight shook her head, but was still smiling, “But I love your enthusiasm.”

Rainbow Dash laughed, visibly relaxing, “Glad you don’t think I’m a total dork,” she walked over to the shelf, “I was so relieved to learn that Pinkie Pie was also a gamer.”

“You must really enjoy video games,” Starlight said.

“They’ve always been an important part of my life. That and anime. It’s kind of silly, but I always envisioned myself becoming a JRPG protagonist one day,” Rainbow Dash admitted pulling out a game and looking at the cover.

“Your roommate wants to be a Magical Girl, Trixie is the daughter of a modern day wizard, and I wanted to become a witch,” Starlight said, “Trust me, you fit right in.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” she showed Starlight the game cover, “And looks like my dream came true too. This is my Persona.”

Starlight looked at the box of the game, which showed only one character on it. It was a young woman with light pink hair dressed vaguely like a soldier. She was kind of dead eyed on the cover, but Starlight figured her expression was supposed to denote determination.

“In the game she’s called Lightning, but her real name is Eclair Farron,” Rainbow Dash said, “I’d like to think I’m at least twenty percent cooler than her though. Just an estimate.”

“Interesting how your Persona is a video game character,” Starlight said handing the box back to Rainbow Dash.

“Surprised me too,” Rainbow Dash said, “But it kind of makes sense when you really think about it. That place is a conceptualized world of some sort, and our Personas are essentially just our Shadows turned into something we can use. Kind of makes sense they’d become something we can identify.”

“You identify with Lightning?” Starlight asked.

“She has someone she wants to protect too. Her younger sister, Sarah,” Rainbow Dash looked at Lightning’s picture intently, “She’d do anything to keep her safe, even if it meant dying. That’s how precious Pinkie Pie is to me.”

“As noble as that is, I sincerely hope you don’t die trying to save her,” Starlight said, “I need you too, after all.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to randomly die with no explanation and become a valkyrie,” Rainbow Dash laughed. When Starlight raised an eyebrow in confusion, Rainbow Dash sighed, “Final Fantasy 13 is weird, okay?”

Starlight nodded in acceptance, but then thought about how paradoxical that name was. How could a game be called Final Fantasy, but have 13 installments?

“But we ain’t here to play that,” Rainbow Dash said putting the game back on the shelf, “First part of your training is to get you familiar with how to use that scythe of yours,” Starlight asked if there was anything wrong with how she used her scythe, “Nothing except it’s so basic. Anime characters never just swing their scythes. If you’re going to become a true anime protagonist, you gotta learn how to use that thing the right way, which means flashier moves.”

“Flashier moves?”

“Yeah, like spinning it around in between slashes, drawing it closer to you to slice your enemies head off,” she folded her arms thoughtfully, “Shame yours doesn’t have a sniper rifle.”

“Wait, wha…?” Starlight asked, eyes wide in confusion. A sniper rifle?

“Oh, you didn’t know that was possible? Right, you don’t watch much anime either,” Rainbow Dash nodded in understanding.

“I’ve only seen a couple of anime, and mostly nothing too violent,” Starlight folded her arms thoughtfully, “I think the most violent anime I ever watched was this one with a red haired girl with big breasts, who I think was the devil or something. Pretty good story from what I remember.”

“Wait, you mean High School DxD?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Yep, that was the name of it,” Starlight nodded. Oddly, Rainbow Dash had a deadpanned expression.

“You watched… that anime for the story…?” Rainbow Dash asked, genuinely confused.

“Was that… wrong…?” Starlight asked slowly.

“I mean, it’s not bad or anything. As far as harem anime goes, that one probably has one of the better plots, but I mean, most people watch ecchi anime for a completely different reason,” when Starlight tilted her head in confusion again, Rainbow Dash sighed rubbing her eyes, “Oh boy. I’ve got a lot of work with this one.”

From there, Starlight’s training commenced. The anime they watched was something Starlight learned began as an independent project, but then exploded becoming something more mainstream. The main character used a scythe just like Starlight, but like Rainbow Dash said, it had a sniper rifle in it as well. How that worked, Starlight had no idea, but she quickly just allowed herself to enjoy the spectacle.

She could almost feel herself moving in the same manner.

After they watched a few episodes of it, Rainbow Dash showed Starlight a fighting game that had the same character in it. She played against the computer, using the scythe wielding character to go through the story mode. It was hard, and it took a while for Starlight to figure out how to actually play, but Rainbow Dash was a really good teacher.

“Congratulations! Ya beat the story mode,” Rainbow Dash said with a huge smile. Despite knowing she was playing it on easy, Starlight actually did feel like she achieved something.

“Thanks. Sorry we had to lower the difficulty though,” Starlight said.

“No worries. This is your first time playing. I’m not one of those teachers who swears you have to play these games on the highest difficulty to actually learn,” Rainbow Dash said folding her arms thoughtfully, “Also, you wouldn’t learn anything going against me at full power. I’ve basically mastered this game, so the fight wouldn’t be fair.”

In any other context she’d think Rainbow Dash was bragging, and she probably was to a degree. However, she had a feeling if she fought Rainbow Dash, her feelings would get hurt bad.

“Then I’m really happy you’re my teacher, Rainbow Dash,” Starlight said smiling in appreciation. Rainbow Dash rubbed her neck smiling a bit bashfully.

“Geez, don’t say it like that. You’ll end up making me fall in love with you,” Rainbow Dash teased.

“I’m not trying to step on Pinkie Pie’s toes,” Starlight teased right back.

“Yeah, and the last thing you want is to make Trixie jealous,” Rainbow Dash said. As the two of them laughed together, Starlight felt like she and Rainbow Dash were closer. She could feel their bond had become significantly stronger.

They decided to hang out for a few more hours till it was dinner time. Starlight could tell they were going to get along just fine.

end song
Evening

After dinner, Starlight took the Forgotten Princess downstairs and began reading it. She was curious about how faithful the movie was to the source material, and she was pleasantly surprised to see it was pretty faithful. The only differences were that there were a bit more suggestive material in the story, and the entire book was in first person, told from Princess Victoria’s perspective.

It was a pretty easy read, so Starlight breezed right through it. Not only was she learning more about the characters themselves, she got a better sense for how much the main character suffered. After reading about one third of the book, she felt a lot more sensitive.

It was getting late now. Starlight decided to head to bed to prepare for the movie.

September 27th, 2019
Thursday
Sunny

Morning

Today was a full Professional Development day for the teachers, so there was no school. The plan today was for Starlight to go see The Forgotten Princess again and see if there was anything she missed. Since the movie wasn’t supposed to start for a few hours, Starlight decided to use this time to read through more of the book.

She was finally past the part where Princess Victoria’s mother was poisoned. Seeing Victoria break down in the movie was hard enough to watch since Pinkie Pie was playing her. However, reading in the book was a completely different experience. Since the perspective was first person, Starlight got a better idea of how devastated she was. She actually found herself getting a bit misty eyed, and for a brief second felt like she was Princess Victoria begging her mother not to leave.

She was definitely more than two thirds done with the book now, and felt significantly more sensitive afterward. She closed the book and set it down on the couch next to her, taking a second to process her emotions.

It amazed her how fresh it still was. Starlight often found herself wondering when the pain would stop, or at least when it wouldn’t hurt so much. It seemed like just about everything reminded her of how much she missed her Mother. Sometimes she’d find herself staring out the window in class thinking about her, and a few times she even started crying thinking about it.

play song

Reading The Forgotten Princess didn’t help matters at all.

Like her, Princess Victoria had a massive falling out with her mother sometime before she died, and never got the chance to apologize. In Starlight’s case however, it was worse because not only did she never get to tell her mother how sorry she was, but she also went ahead and became a witch anyway.

Looking at her Channeling Ring, Starlight began to wonder just what her Mother would think of her if she saw her now. The tears were coming again. Shoot, she couldn’t break down right now. She was the leader. She needed to be strong. If anyone caught her like this now, they’d question how capable she was.

Starlight closed her eyes tightly, trying her hardest to keep the dam from breaking. Right when she felt like it was no use, however, she felt someone wrap their arms around her from behind the couch. The shimmering multi-colored hair told her exactly who it was.

“Ms. Tia…” Starlight said softly.

“Just let it out, honey,” Celestia said tightening the embrace, “I’m right here.”

“You… you’re going t-to be-”

“No one will miss me if I’m a few minutes late,” Celestia said, “Besides, my children are what’s most important to me.”

Celestia released Starlight briefly, but only to sit down beside her. Immediately, she pulled Starlight close to her in a loving embrace. Like this, Starlight felt safe enough to let her tears out, and the way Celestia was rubbing her arm made Starlight feel like she was actually in her mother’s arms.

“Is it bad that it still hurts so much?” Starlight asked.

“Not at all,” Celestia said immediately, “I would be surprised if you were okay after only six to seven months after the fact. Even if the two of you disagreed on certain subjects, you still love her.”

She did still love her mother. In fact, these past few months without her showed her just how much she did love her. All of the nagging, how she always sang Starlight’s favorite songs off key, the mornings where she’d drag Starlight out of bed and take her to church, she missed all of that. Yeah, it annoyed her in the moment, but it was who she was, and Starlight missed that.

“I want her back…” Starlight said through her tears.

“Oh sweetheart,” Celestia said tightening the embrace as Starlight continued to cry in her arms, “I know, you’d probably do anything to get your mother back.”

“I guess… that’s impossible though. Even with my magic.”

“I’m afraid so,” Celestia said sadly, “However, as cliched as it is to say, your mother is with you always. As long as you remember her, and continue to love her, she won’t ever truly disappear.”

“That isn’t always enough though,” Starlight admitted, “I still miss being in her arms.”

“And that’s why I’m here,” Celestia said, “It may not be the embrace you desire for, but if you ever need someone to hold you, I’ll be here for you.”

This time Starlight tightened the embrace, allowing herself to just relax in Celestia’s arms. She still had a lot of questions for Ms. Tia, like when she ever slept, but for now none of that mattered. Right now, she just needed this closeness.

Daytime

play song

Once she was certain she felt better, Starlight began making her way to the theater. She seriously hated being so weak like this, but like Celestia told her, it would still be a while before she was completely over it. She might not ever get over it.

That was a bit of a scary thought.

Well, right now wasn’t the time to worry about that. She needed to focus on getting the information she needed to get from this movie. Now that she got the emotional side out of the way, maybe she could focus. Something she didn’t quite notice in the movie was how important the knight was. Starlight was so caught up in Pinkie Pie’s performance that she didn’t realize that the knight was just as much of a main character as she was.

As she walked into the theater and bought her ticket, she had a creative idea. What if she substituted all of the characters in her head with the people they represented in the version found in Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon? She’d never seen Pinkie Pie’s sisters, but she could always just imagine based on the descriptions Trixie gave her. The real important one was Rainbow Dash and her connection to the knight.

That might help her see pretty clearly what was going on in Pinkie Pie’s head.

While waiting for the show, Starlight tried to remember some of the French words Shadow Fleur used in the Dungeon. It was a shame that Fleur was such a bitch, because French was a really pretty language. She figured that English wasn’t her first language, since even in the real world she spoke partial French. Although, she could have just been a pretentious bitch.

Or both. Both was an option.

“So that one word actually meant knight,” Starlight said after looking up the word “chavelier”. She remembered that’s what Shadow Fleur kept calling Rainbow Dash in the Dungeon.

Everyone knows the chavelier dies in the end…

Wait, toward the end of the story, didn’t the knight-

play song

The lights lowered, showing that the movie was about to begin. Starlight decided to wait to see when what happened. She was almost certain that the movie ended the way she thought it did, and if she was right…

Despite going there for business purposes, Starlight had to admit that she enjoyed the movie more this time around. It was amazing how precise it was to the actual book, and reading Princess Victoria’s narration really put into perspective how Pinkie Pie portrayed her character. She was really good at conveying subtle emotions, and just like last time, Starlight forgot that this was her usually jovial and bubbly dorm mate.

The characters that her sister’s represented were good characters, but if Starlight remembered their descriptions in the dream version, their characters were almost the complete opposite of who Pinkie Pie put in their place. The caretaker was really empathetic and caring, the captain of the guard was stern but still a calm individual, and the handmaid wasn’t shy in the slightest. Actually, she was the comedy relief!

The knight on the other hand was almost exactly like Rainbow Dash.

The way he spoke, the way he carried himself, the way he held the Princess, all of that Starlight remembered seeing Rainbow Dash do on some level in the Dungeon. It was no wonder Pinkie Pie was always calling Rainbow Dash “her knight”. In a way, she was her knight. It was really easy to substitute Rainbow Dash for the knight, both because the character was so similar, but also because Rainbow Dash essentially became a knight in the Phase.

Which made one part in particular really hard to sit through.

“Princess… leave now!” the knight said, hunched forward and bloody from a previous fight, but still gripping his sword tightly.

“Richard, no! You can’t win! They’ll kill you…!”

“I swore to… protect you no matter what…! This is… the knight’s purpose…!”

“N-no! I’m not leaving you!” she ran over to Richard and hugged him tightly, “I can use my magic to keep you safe! We can leave together! Please leave with me, Richard! I need you!”

“If you say… they will recapture you… and I can’t let that happen… I’m sorry Princess…!” the knight, Richard, shoved Princess Victoria through a door and shut it, immediately locking it. The Princess ran over to the door and started banging on it frantically.

“RICHARD! DON’T DO THIS! DON’T LEAVE ME!” she screamed, tears of devastation falling down her cheeks. Behind the door, she heard an enraged scream, and a violent battle broke out. A few seconds into the fight, she heard the sound of a blade piercing flesh, followed by Richard grunting in pain. Princess Victoria held her hand tightly to her mouth to keep from screaming, and then ran down the hallway as fast as her high heels could take her.

“The knight… dies at the end…” Starlight said to herself, remembering how Pinkie Pie seemed to be pushing Rainbow Dash away. Almost like she was afraid of something. Was that the reason? Did that have something to do with why Pinkie Pie kept running away from Rainbow Dash?

Starlight more or less tuned out the rest of the movie. She saw what she needed to see. Now she just needed to finish the book and see where that death happened in there. She had an idea about why that page was torn out now, and suddenly Starlight was really worried for Rainbow Dash’s safety for some reason.

end song
Evening

When Starlight made it back to the dorm, she saw both Trixie and Rainbow Dash waiting downstairs at the couches. For some reason, neither of them looked too pleased. Starlight signed herself in and asked them what was wrong.

play song

“Guess who just showed up unannounced,” Trixie said. Starlight asked if it was Fleur, her heart sinking when Trixie nodded, “Got it in one.”

“Damn it!” Rainbow Dash slammed her fist into her palm, “We were finally starting to make headway with Pinkie Pie too!” Starlight inquired as to what she meant by that, “Pinkie Pie had finally started smiling again like normal. We went to the comic book store in the mall, and she spent the entire time reading some new Magical Girl manga.”

“When we got back here, she was all smiles” Trixie added, “But when Fleur rang the doorbell, all of that went right away.”

“Fleur really has a tight grip on Pinkie Pie,” Starlight sighed, “Is Ms. Tia back yet?”

“She’s upstairs meditating,” Trixie said, “We told her about Fleur being here. You can imagine how well she took it.”

Not well at all, then. Celestia was usually pretty friendly to just about everyone, so to see her look at anyone in venom was always shocking.

“What about you?” Trixie asked, “Did you find anything?” Starlight relayed to both Trixie and Rainbow Dash what happens in the movie, and how the knight character dies right toward the end of it, “Shoot, that’s right. That character does die in the end.”

“And that’s the role she gave me in the story,” Rainbow Dash said thoughtfully, “But that doesn’t affect me directly, does it?”

“For all we know, it might,” Trixie said, “Remember, that’s a cognitive world. Who knows how you’d be affected in there.”

“You aren’t suggesting I sit this out, are you?” Rainbow Dash said shooting up, “You guys need me to save Pinkie Pie.”

“No one is suggesting that,” Starlight said.

“You’re the Chariot, after all,” Trixie said, “According to Igor, we can’t rescue Pinkie Pie without your help,” Trixie looked down and folded her arms, “But this is a big issue here.”

“Let’s stay up and speak to Twilight about this,” Starlight said, “We need to know more about how the Phase works concerning this.”

Trixie and Rainbow Dash both nodded in agreement. Hopefully Fleur didn’t set them too far back in the meantime.

play song

“Fleur, I…” Pinkie Pie said after seeing the outfit that Fleur got for her.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it?” Fleur asked.

“It’s nice, it’s just… should I really start wearing something like this now? I’m getting a lot of harassment from the other students from the pictures alone.”

“I know this is a bit scary, Pinkamena, but is the best way to take power away from them,” Fleur said walking over to Pinkie Pie and placing a hand on her shoulder, “Besides, if you’re going to make this transition to more adult roles, it’s better to start making that shift now.”

“But… does that mean I have to become a sex symbol?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Sadly, to some degree,” Fleur averted her eyes and pursed her lips, “This is how the industry is, I’m afraid. Sex sells, and if you’re still going to be able to do the roles you enjoy, this shift is necessary. The fact your peers are noticing you actually works for us.”

Pinkie Pie didn’t feel like it worked. She liked it when they saw her more so as one of them. If she started dressing like this, that would be the end.

“Don’t worry, ma chere,” Fleur said embracing Pinkie Pie, “I’ll look out for you. Trust me, and you’ll become the star I know you can be.”

“I… I don’t…”

“I promised your late mother, remember?” Fleur asked.

“R-right. You did,” Pinkie Pie said softly, remembering when her mother died. Fleur promised her that she’d make sure Pinkie Pie’s career took off. She did look out for her in that regard, and she knew this business a lot better than Pinkie Pie did.

“Trust me, Pinkamena,” Fleur urged tightening the embrace, “I’d never lead you astray.”

“You’d… never lead me astray,” Pinkie Pie recited, slowly embracing Fleur in return, “I… I trust you.”

Late Night

play song

“Yeah, that makes sense with what I’m seeing too,” Twilight said after Starlight filled her and Celestia in on what happened in the movie, “I looked up some of Pinkie Pie’s Akashic Records using some of the terms found in that book, and from there I can gather the version of the Forgotten Princess we found there is crossed with Pinkie Pie’s life growing up.”

“So, she actually grew up on a farm?” Trixie asked.

“Not a farm as much as a rural area,” Twilight explained, “I couldn’t read too much detail on that, I’m afraid, but I get the feeling she grew up somewhere without modern technology.”

“Has she ever been in contact with the rest of her siblings?” Starlight asked.

“To my knowledge, only Maud,” Celestia said, “She stops by from time to time, but she works out of Canterlot.”

“Hey, something I wanted to ask,” Rainbow Dash said, “If Pinkie Pie’s afraid that I could die in the dream, is that a likely possibility?”

Twilight folded her arms and closed her eyes thinking, “It would have to be a very solid cognition, but yeah. That is a possibility. Pinkie Pie doesn’t realize it yet, but she’s in control of what happens in that dream. If she believes in something strongly enough, then it will happen.”

“We need to find that torn page,” Celestia said, “Starlight, see if you can finish that book by tomorrow, and mark the exact page where the knight character dies. If the outcome is the same in her Dungeon, that will let us know more about what’s going on in her head.”

“Got it,” Starlight nodded.

“When are we going back into her Dungeon?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Can we go back in tonight?”

“I’d rather you not,” Celestia said, “With Fleur showing up suddenly, there are going to be significant changes to Pinkie Pie’s Dungeon. The last thing we need is to be caught off guard again.”

“Twilight, could you analyze her Dungeon and take note of any changes?” Starlight requested.

“Sure, I can do that,” Twilight shrugged, “Not like I have anything better to do out here.”

“Then the rest of you should get some sleep,” Celestia said, “Keep an eye on Pinkie Pie tomorrow, like always.”

“Yes Ms. Tia,” Trixie said, Starlight nodding as a response.

“Yeah, got it, Ms. Tia,” Rainbow Dash sighed.

Author's Note

Fool – Seekers of Light: 3/10
Magician – Trixie Lulamoon: 4/10
Priestess – Diamond Tiara: 4/10
The Empress – Ms. Tia: 3/10
Chariot – Rainbow Dash: 2/10 Level Up!
The Devil – Silver Spoon: 2/10

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