Diablo III: Fall of Equestria

It was warm. It also hurt. Starlight didn’t think the afterlife would be painful. At least she wasn’t cold anymore. With great effort, Starlight opened her eyes. It took a while for her eyes to focus, and Starlight found herself in a strange cave. She also realized she couldn’t move, and had a brief panic attack until she realized she was wrapped in blankets. A heater glowed bright orange and gave of delicious heat. As her mind woke up, Starlight reasoned that her body hurt because her heart was trying to pump warm blood through her frozen extremities. Two glowing lights, one blue and one red, appeared out of the darkness. “You’re awake. Good,” Nyx said.

Starlight shuffled backwards until she hit a wall. “What do you want with me?” she asked suspiciously.

Nyx slowly moved until she was sitting across from Starlight and pushed a large cup of steaming liquid in front of her. “Drink.”

Starlight narrowed her eyes and looked at the cup. She wiggled one of her legs loose from the blankets and reached for the cup. When her hoof touched the cup, she jerked back and winced. Starlight tried to focus her magic, but her horn sputtered and died. “I guess my body is still trying to recover,” she mumbled.

Nyx sat for a moment, then picked up the cup and held it to Starlight’s muzzle. Starlight huffed and rolled her eyes, but Nyx remained unmoving. “You’re not my mother you know,” Starlight pouted.

“I am aware,” Nyx replied evenly.

Starlight stared at the cup, then turned away. “Why did you rescue me?” She looked around and added, “Where are we?”

“In my ship,” Nyx replied.

Starlight stared at her out of the corner of her eye. “How did you find me?”

Nyx put the cup on the floor. “All of you ponies have a unique magic signature, like a fingerprint for humans. I had Johnny-boy scan you and Sunset Shimmer back at the library so I could find you if anything happened.”

Starlight faced Nyx directly and glared. “So you’ve been stalking us?” she accused.

“I brought you here,” Nyx pointed out.

“And then you abandoned us!” Starlight shot back, raising her voice.

Nyx was unmoved. “I told you from the start it would be like this,” she replied evenly. “There are somethings that only you and Sunset can do, and some things that only I can do.”

Starlight said nothing and stared at the heater. Nyx picked the cup back up and held it out. Starlight grudgingly put her lips to the edge and Nyx slowly tilted the cup so Starlight could drink.

Starlight braced for the scalding liquid, but found it was a manageable temperature. The warmth flowed down her throat and into her belly, where it spread to the rest of her body.

Nyx refilled the cup and set it down in front of Starlight. They sat in silence as the wind gently rocked the ship. “How did you find me?” Starlight asked again.

“My Ghost picked up your erratic teleporting and triangulated your location when you finally stopped moving,” Nyx explained.

“I didn’t ask you to,” Starlight mumbled.

Rather than ask the obvious question, Nyx said, “You and Sunset had an altercation.”

Starlight sighed. “You could say that, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Nyx asked.

“Nothing!” Starlight shouted. “I don’t want to talk about anything! Everypony should just stop asking how I am! I’m fine!”

To Starlight’s surprise, Nyx didn’t say anything and remained silent. Finally, somepony who respects my decisions, she thought.

Feeling started to return to her hooves, and Starlight slowly gripped the cup. Whatever was in the cup was delicious and not only filled her belly, but warmed her up. “What is this?” she asked.

“Chicken noodle soup,” Nyx replied and Starlight stopped. Her eyes went wide and she looked down in horror at the cup. “You mean-“

“There was no chicken, just noodles, broth and vegetables,” Nyx assured her, and Starlight sighed with relief. After a while, Nyx asked, “How well do you know Sunset Shimmer?”

“Not very I’m afraid,” Starlight replied. “We met a few months ago when she came to get a new journal, and we hung out a little, but that’s all. Since she lives in the Human World, we don’t interact all that much.”

“Yet she was the first one you reached out to for help,” Nyx pointed out.

“What other choice did I have?” Starlight asked. “Twilight was missing with all of her friends! Celestia has been no help at all, Luna even less so, and Discord is Discord. There was nopony else.”

Silence settled in again. Starlight didn’t quite understand it. Anypony else would have been fussing over her, talking to her, trying to take care of her, or at least trying to make conversation. Nyx seemed to be content to sit in silence. At least she wasn’t staring to the point it made her feel uncomfortable. Starlight got the impression that Nyx was used to being along with her thoughts. Unfortunately, that was the last thing Starlight wanted. “Tell me about where you come from,” she asked.

“Princess Luna has been there. You should ask her,” Nyx replied.

Starlight rolled her eyes. “Princess Luna isn’t here right now and you are.”

“Rehashing the same story over and over is boring, especially for the readers,” Nyx said.

“What?” Starlight asked, clearly confused.

“Perhaps I will tell you when the story is focused on a different character. That way, it won’t take up needless word count,” Nyx said.

“What?” Starlight repeated.

Nyx looked up to face Starlight. “I am not a therapist, nor the kind of person who can help you deal with the trauma you experienced.” That really threw Starlight for a loop. “I am sorry that happened to you, and I sincerely wish it didn’t have to,” Nyx continued. “But a punch to the face is the quickest way to realize the gravity of this situation. Nothing you have faced before can prepare you for this. What’s happening now could be the end of Equestria.”

“Hold on,” Starlight said, leaning forward. “What do you mean? How can you know any of this?”

“What else could it be?” Nyx asked. “You said yourself how dire everything is.”

“True, but Equestria has faced big threats before,”

Nyx stared into the lantern. “I hope you are right.”

To be honest, Starlight wasn’t so sure herself. What she said was true. Equestria has faced challenges in the past, but not like this and not all at once. Looking at the big picture, it was easy to be overwhelmed and lose hope. Maybe the best solution for now was to focus on the most immediate problem. Right now, that meant accomplishing the task the Cutie Map had sent them to do in the Crystal Empire. Just from the short time they had been here, Starlight guessed it was rescuing Princess Cadance and defeating Sombra.

Starlight frowned. “If the princesses are supposed to be all-powerful Alicorns, why do they need rescuing all the time?”

“That, is the right question,” Nyx spoke up. “I believe the best way to answer that question is with Sunset’s help.”

Starlight frowned and made a face. “You don’t trust her,” Nyx stated.

“How can I after what she did?” Starlight asked.

“And what did she do?” Nyx asked, leaning forward.

Starlight sat back, suddenly uncomfortable with how intently Nyx was staring at her. “She used her magic to look into my mind and made me relive what happened to me,” she said.

Nyx stroked her chin. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe Sunset can’t quite control when her Empathy Touch activates?”

Starlight frowned. “How could she not?”

Nyx leaned back. “I believe that is a question best answered by Sunset.” A light beeping sound from the cockpit caught Nyx’s attention and she went to investigate. Silence settled around Starlight and for the first time, she realized the wind had died down somewhat. She pushed out of the blankets and stretched, before heading to the cockpit. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the snow falling gently outside. “Storm has calmed down some,” she said.

“How are you feeling?” Nyx asked.

Starlight thought for a moment. She was tired and hungry, which was to be expected. Now that she had calmed down some, Starlight felt okay. Darkness whispered from the corners of her mind, but she pushed it away. “Tired but okay for now I guess,” she said.

Nyx looked up from her console. “The sun will be up in a few hours. You had better get back.”

Starlight’s face fell. “Yeah,” she replied glumly.

“If you are worried about Sunset, don’t be. She understands,” Nyx said.

Starlight shook her head. She didn’t think she would ever understand Nyx. Her horn lit up and just as she was about to leave, Nyx spoke up. “One quick question. How does you teleport spell work?”

“Huh?” Starlight asked with confusion.

“Teleporting. How does it work?” Nyx asked.

The glow on Starlight’s horn faded. “The mechanics of the spell are pretty complicated and there are a lot of variables you have to account for, such as planetary motion, spatial awareness, and a few other things. There are safeguards built in so you don’t accidently teleport yourself into a wall, or another pony.” Starlight frowned. “Basically, you form a picture in your mind of where you want to go, the clearer the better. Ideally, someplace you have already been to. However, there are variants of the teleportation spell. For instance, always returning to a single location, or adding a tracking spell to always arrive at the pony or thing you are tracking.”

Nyx nodded her head. “I suppose that all makes sense.”

A faint smile appeared on Starlight’s face. “Like right now for instance. Since I have already been to the room where Sunset and I are staying, it will be no problem to appear there.” Starlight’s horn lit up and she disappeared in a flash of light and a quiet POP sound.

Nyx stared at the spot where Starlight had just been standing. “Very interesting indeed.” She held out her hand and John Carter appeared. “Our turn Johnny-boy.”

John Carter mumbled nervously to himself as his ring split into four parts and started spinning at high speed. Nyx’s body turned into light and vanished.