A Steep Learning Curve

by ObabScribbler

Rating: teen
Tags: Violence, Death, Applejack, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Starlight Glimmer, Horror
Length: 5015

Starlight tries to help Applejack and Rainbow Dash fight Timberwolves while Twilight is away on vacation.

Starlight Glimmer has never been very good at the whole 'friendship' thing. Her track record speaks for itself about her poor decision making in the past and all the heartache that has come from her mistakes. She is determined to do better with Twilight Sparkle and her new friends in Ponyville.

Except that Starlight is not very good at learning from her mistakes.

Written for the FiM Barcast's 'Halloween in April' Horror Contest

Adapted into a full-cast audio drama by the phenomenal TheLostNarrator!

Published 2020-04-23 20:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2020-04-23 20:00:02 UTC

"I can’t afford to fail again."

“You’re sure you can handle things?”

“Relax, Twilight. You act like I haven’t handled things in your absence before. Don’t look at me like that! I promised I’d never do that again, didn’t I? I’ve made lots of progress in my friendship studies since then.”

Twilight did her best to keep her face neutral. Apparently that was a poor choice because Starlight’s indignant expression did not abate, so she upped it to a smile and watched her reflect it tenfold. Twilight’s reservations softened. Starlight really did only want to do well and please her. It was wrong to doubt her.

“All right, Starlight, I trust you. But remember, Spike won’t be here either so if you need anything–”

“I’ll go through your list of approved emergency contacts,” Starlight interrupted. “And if they can’t help, I’ll move on to the emergency-emergency list. And if they can’t help, I’ll move onto the nuclear option and call Pinkie Pie.”

“Uh, right.” Reluctantly, Twilight levitated her suitcase to her side. “Spike restocked the kitchen so you shouldn’t need to do any grocery shopping for the whole two weeks - except fresh fruit and vegetables, but I arranged deliveries from Golden Harvest and Applejack each Friday–”

“Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t your train at 11am?”

“Yes. Why?”

Starlight gestured at the clock. “It’s 10:55.”

“Ponyfeathers! See you Starlight!”

“Bye Twilight! Enjoy the-”

The corridor whited out in a sheen of teleportation magic.

“-convention.”

The fridge door was heavier than usual when Starlight opened it. She surveyed its contents, face sinking with each shelf.

“What’s with all this health food? Ach, she always goes Mother Hen when she travels. Does she think I’m a foal who can’t feed herself?”

She nudged aside a bag of kale as though it might jump out and bite her. Behind was another bag of kale. Behind that was a cantaloupe and behind that… another bag of kale. She gagged. She hated kale. Hopefully, she turned to the kitchen cupboards instead.

Fifteen minutes later, her worst fears were confirmed.

“Not a scrap of candy anywhere!”

It wasn’t that she was addicted to sugar, like some ponies, but the idea of spending two weeks without so much as a square of chocolate was repulsive. She had been looking forward to this break from her studies but evenings without a mug of hot chocolate and a packet of cookies… well it was unthinkable.

Twilight hated cookies around her books. Starlight never ate them when she was around but when the cat was away…

Starlight replaced everything so it looked like it had never been touched in the first place. It was time to go shopping.

“Wow, this is a lot of candy.”

Starlight grinned weakly, wishing everyone in Ponyville wasn’t quite so interested in each other’s lives. She could never quite get past the idea that they were judging her – or that their judgement found her wanting in some fundamental way. Wasn’t it normal for ponies to come to the candy store to buy candy?

“Well, I’m… um… running a book club and it’s my turn to bring the snacks.”

Bon-Bon nodded sagely. “Usually ponies go for cheese and crackers for stuffy book clubs. I’m glad to see you’re a pony of better taste.”

Starlight sagged, gratitude pooling in her belly. “Yeah. Yeah! Sweet treats are way better for talking about books.”

“But don’t you worry about getting melted chocolate on the pages? I imagine Princes Twilight would get pretty neurotic about stuff like that.” Bon-Bon leaned across the counter. “When she was the librarian, I once brought back a cookbook with the tiniest cocoa powder stain on the cover and she went ballistic! Chased me right out the library tree and banned me from ever borrowing books again.”

“Heh. Yeah, I can picture her doing something like that.” It was comforting to know that her teacher wasn’t perfect either. “But no, she doesn’t mind.”

Bon-Bon arched an eyebrow.

“Well… yes she does mind, but I have a paper restoration spell ready to use if that happens.” She had perfected it on cookies crumbs but it was applicable to all stains, she was sure. Twilight would be none the wiser when she got home.

Bon-Bon’s smile was a little sharper than Starlight might have liked, yet she said nothing more as she shovelled jawbreakers into a brown paper bag and weighed them on the old-fashioned scales that dominated the counter.

“That’ll be fifty-two bits.”

Starlight winced but levitated the money from her purse without comment.

“I sure hope the ponies at your book club appreciate how much you’re spending on them.” Bon-Bon raised her voice over the jangle of the cash register. “What are you guys reading, anyhow? Lyra was looking for a new hobby. A book club might be just the thing to get her out from under my hooves once a week.”

“Uh, Mythic Wish’s Thaumaturgical Constructs and Other Physical Realm Based Magical Theories.”

“Hmm. Maybe not. She’s more a Daring Do kind of girl. Well, have a nice day and be sure to mention my shop when those clever ponies at your book club ask where you got such awesome candy!”

Starlight exited gratefully. Her heavy saddlebags pulled at her spine as she began the walk home. Making small-talk was hard. Did everypony find it as difficult as she did? Or was this, again, just something with which she struggled because she was such a–

“Starlight!”

Oh no.

“Starlight Glimmer!”

Oh no!

A splash of colour coalesced on the street in front of her, followed by a backwash of air so strong that if she had not been weighed down by her saddlebags, Starlight would have been knocked over.

“Hi Rainbow Dash,” she deadpanned.

Rainbow hopped from hoof to hoof like the ground was made of hot metal. “You gotta come quick! It’s an emergency!”

“What?”

“Twilight’s not around and she’s probably gonna need a unicorn and Rarity’s in Manehattan at that stupid store of hers and–”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. What’s the emergency? Who needs a unicorn?”

“Applejack!”

“Applejack needs a unicorn?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Why?”

Rainbow looked at her like she had just stated that two plus two equalled twenty-two. “Duh! Because she needs magic!”

“I… what? Rainbow, you’re not making any sense. Slow down.”

“Urrrgggh!” Rainbow clapped both forehooves over her face and dragged them down. Every atom of her being shouted that Starlight Glimmer was the dumbest pony in the universe right now. Starlight simultaneously bristled and cringed. “Applejack thinks that a new pack of Timberwolves have been busting down the fences at the edge of her property.”

“She thinks they have? But she doesn’t know they have?”

“She went to check it out – alone! She’s gonna totally get herself killed and I’m awesome but even I can’t take out a whole pack of Timberwolves! That takes magic!”

Starlight’s mouth hardened into a thin line. “Where did you say she went?”

“North field, right on the edge of the Everfree. C’mon, dump those saddlebags and I can fly us there–”

“No.” Starlight grabbed Rainbow’s hoof. “This is faster.”

Starlight did not know Sweet Apple Acres as well as Rainbow Dash, so when her teleport dumped them in a field next to the one they actually wanted, Rainbow wasted no time in telling her, nor in flying off. Starlight was left to gallop after her, huffing and puffing.

“This way!”

“You do… realise… this is… all… precautionary… anyway… right?” Starlight panted. “Apple… jack… might… not… have… even…”

A howl from the treeline cut her off.

“Damn… it…”

“C’mon!” Rainbow shot away. “Hurry up!”

Starlight powered through the broken fence that marked the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. She was no expert but the deep gouges in the soft ground looked like claw marks. And were those grooves on the uprooted fence posts the result of teeth?

Breaking wood and yelling pulled her forward.

“Take that, y’varmints!”

“Applejack!” Rainbow shouted. “We’re coming! Hold on!”

“Dash? Stay back! They’re a lot bigger than I thought!”

“I brought Starlight!”

“You wha- Argh!” Applejack’s response was cut short by an agonised yelp.

“AJ!” Rainbow disappeared in a volley of branches and crackling prismatic trail.

Starlight followed the debris from the tunnel literally carved out by the force of Rainbow’s speed. As she drew closer, hopping over rocks and through bracken, the noise of what could only be a fight became ever more apparent. Even so, when she burst through the undergrowth in time to see Rainbow Dash buck a barn-sized Timberwolf in the eye to make it drop Applejack, she pulled up short.

“Oh… oh wow… that’s big…”

Applejack screamed as the wolf bit down.

“Starl-whoa!”

Another Timberwolf leapt at Rainbow from behind, stopped only by telekinetically launched saddlebags shooting straight through the centre of its face, sending its nose out the back of its skull. Its body collapsed to the ground, shattering on impact.

“Starlight! Hurry! It’s gonna crush her!” Rainbow called desperately.

Starlight was sweaty, tired and frustrated – but more than that, she was angry, and an angry Starlight Glimmer was something this pack of overgrown saplings had not anticipated when they picked this fight.

The big brute biting down on Applejack’s midsection yipped in surprise when its lower jaw was torn off and tossed away over the trees. Rainbow angled down to catch Applejack before she could hit the ground but a cloud of turquoise magic caught the limp orange body and moved it to a safer spot. Starlight advanced on the confused wolf, each step punctuated by a halo of magic that lassoed one of its feet.

The three smaller wolves in phalanx around it leapt forward, clearly thinking to take her while she was distracted, but each found itself similarly ensnared. They barked and whined piteously as her magic hauled them up, legs splayed like grotesque giant piñatas. With a noise akin to three gigantic trees being felled at once, her magic ripped off their legs and heads, mangling each and flinging the parts as far as she could into the depths of the Everfree.

The lead wolf watched her, green eyes wide with fear. Starlight pointed.

“Stay away from here. Next time you won’t be able to put yourselves back together.”

It screeched as she ripped it up like it was made of paper and scattered its pieces far and wide. She kept the face for last, hoping some vestige of memory from this experience would remain when it inevitably reformed. With a flick of her head, she crunched its snout up into its eye sockets and watched the green flicker out.

Tired, she finally let go of her telekinesis and sank to her knees.

“Starlight! Applejack’s hurt real bad!”

Grunting, she got back to her feet and hurried over to where Applejack lay. Rainbow hunched over her, one wing trailing from a purple bend that swelled in what had to be a break. She caught Starlight looking and scowled.

“I tried to catch her and you knocked me into a tree. But I’m fine!”

“You’re not fine.”

“Okay, no, it hurts like Tartarus but she’s worse than I am right now.”

Starlight could not disagree. Applejack lay on her side, deep slashes along her spine from the Timberwolf’s upper fangs. Her stomach, however, was far worse. Her entire undercarriage glistened red, shards of ribs poking through at irregular intervals. Something like pink rope slithered free when she groaned. Starlight realised that one of her hind legs had been nearly detached at the hip, held on by only a few threads of skin and fur.

“Th-they were fighting over her,” Rainbow stuttered. “Like she was a f-friggin’ chew-toy!”

Starlight stared. “Um… um…” She swallowed and tried again but the words would not come. “Um…”

“What are you waiting for? Do something! Use your magic!”

Starlight bit her lip. She knew some healing spells from her time running the village but nothing on this level. She could set broken bones and sew up small wounds but there was more here than a simple first aid spell could handle. She supposed she could simply turn up the power on a spell she did know and hope for the best. If in doubt, throw more magic at a problem, right? That had always worked in the past.

Except that it had not.

Recent instances wherein she had tried to fix problems with magic squirmed through her mind. Almost none of them had worked: not turning Sunburst into a colt; not mind-controlling her friends; not helping Pinkie Pie look for Gummy’ s parents in Alligator Swamp–

“STARLIGHT!” Rainbow gripped her cheeks and forced their faces together until they were nose to nose. “Focus. Don’t freak out on me, okay? I need you to not freak out right now. Focus now, freak out later. Applejack may be dying. There has to be some spell in that big brain of yours to fix her long enough for us to get her to a hospital.”

Of course. Of course! What had she been thinking? She didn’t need to heal Applejack entirely. She just needed to do enough to stop her from dying before proper medical ponies could heal her. Why hadn’t she thought of that? Starlight nodded, mouth squashed from the press of Rainbow’s hooves.

“Focush now, fweak out later,” she lisped.

“Okay.” Rainbow released her. “Now for buck’s sake do something!”

“Okay. Okay, I’m… going to need you to step back and not touch her. No matter what, do not touch Applejack, okay?”

“Whatever. Get with the magic already!”

She gritted her teeth and reached into her internal reserve, pushing raw magic into her horn. She muttered extracts of an old textbook under her breath, envisioning matrices and forming the raw power into the right shapes before releasing it. Healing was delicate work and her magic was more a hoof-mace than scalpel. Slowly, she eased the intestine on the ground back into Applejack’s belly. There was dirt on it and a bit of dead leaf but that would be okay. The medical ponies at the hospital could take care of that. Starlight drew the spell along the edges of the gut wound, pulling them together where they had parted under the Timberwolf’s teeth.

Abruptly, Applejack started to convulse. Her eyes rolled up and her damaged back arched, forcing pained grunts up her throat as her body thrashed beyond her control. Spittle gathered at the corners of her mouth. Her tongue flopped out, one side smeared with dirt and blood. Starlight lost her hold on the wound.

“Damn it!”

She urged more magic into her horn, spreading the base spell matrix to cover Applejack’s whole body. She tried to summon the anaesthesia incantation she had learned long ago but her thoughts jumbled as Applejack’s convulsions worsened. The base matrix started to fracture as her concentration lapsed.

“No, no, no!”

“What? What is it? What’s happening?”

She ignored Rainbow’s questions. Her internal power reserves were depleting. She needed to think of something – fast!

“Don’t do this, Applejack! Don’t you dare die!”

Applejack’s breathing hitched… and stopped.

“Oh no…”

“Starlight? What happened? Why isn’t she breathing? Applejack? Applejack!”

Starlight squeezed her eyes shut, summoned a bolt of raw power and channelled it through her horn directly into Applejack’s chest. She felt it jam into the earth pony’s heart, trying to jump start it like electric paddles, before fizzling away into her limbs and thereafter the ground. Grass burned to its roots where the raw magic touched, leaving a smoking ring around them. She sent another heart-bolt, then a desperate one into her lungs, until Applejack’s mouth gaped and she sucked in air.

“Yes!”

Except that was when the screaming started and Starlight realised that the repeated bolts of magic running through Applejack’s limbs had severed the final strips of flesh holding on her hind leg. It lay smoking on the ground, a charred lump where it used to be attached. And thanks to Starlight’s magic, all Applejack’s nerve endings were alive with the pain of it.

“What the buck did you do?” Rainbow Dash demanded. “What the buck did you do you absolute psycho?”

Applejack flailed, trying instinctively to roll onto her hooves, but her remaining hind leg snagged in her exposed intestine. She floundered, not understanding what was happening, crushing it. When her hoof moved the destroyed organ oozed burned black ichor and blood.

“Applejack, please, you have to … Applejack, stop! I can help you! You have to lay down so I can fix this!” Starlight ignited her horn and recast the healing matrix, swooping it over Applejack’s belly and leg-stump. “I… I can fix this. Then we can take you to the hospital. Please, just –” She widened the spell, peeling off a loop of magic to try the half-remembered anaesthesia incantation. “You’re making it worse! Please, just do as you’re told!”

Applejack’s screams turned wet and guttural. Red foam sprayed the air. Her skull smacked the ground, heedless of Starlight’s words.

This was all going wrong. There was no other choice. She would have to turn up the power. If in doubt, throw more magic at a problem. It may not be the best plan, but it was all Starlight could think of.

Reaching deep, she pulled up every scrap of power she had left and channelled it into her horn, which glowed white hot, casting eerie shadows around them. She knew her eyes were shining with power. Her hooves were off the floor, buoyed by a nimbus of magical might.

“What are you…? Starlight? Starlight!”

“Hold. Still.” Her voice echoed like something from a nightmare. She readied, aimed and fired the amped up spells. “This will end her pain.”

“Are you crazy? You’re gonna kill her! I knew we couldn’t trust you!”

Rainbow grabbed Applejack, apparently trying to pull her out of the way.

“Rainbow Dash, no!”

Starlight’s voice faded into static that filled her ears. She knew her mouth was moving but heard no sound. She knew her eyes were open but saw nothing. She knew her body was moving but did not feel the impact as she was thrown back.

Rainbow Dash screamed.

Applejack screamed.

Starlight did not.

Apple Bloom knocked on the castle door. She wrinkled her nose. She had preferred it when Twilight Sparkle lived in the library tree and knocking on her door had not felt so much of an imposition. The library door had made a pleasant rat-a-tat-tat under her balled hoof. The castle door sounded more like she was thumping a pane of glass.

“Are you sure they’re here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Well where else could they be? We already checked everywhere else.”

“Yeah but Princess Twilight is out of town.”

“Starlight Glimmer’s still here.”

“Do they… even really like her?” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her neck. “I always got the feeling she was more of a charity case than a friend, y’know?”

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle chastised. “What an awful thing to say!”

“Well it’s true! She’s, like, somepony who used to do bad things to other ponies or something, right? And Princess Twilight has been teaching her how to not be awful and become a better pony? That doesn’t sound like friendship to me. That sounds like charit-” She stopped talking as the great double doors eased open.

“Hello?” Starlight looked down at them. “Oh. Hello girls. The, ah, Cutie Mark Raiders, right?” Her smile was tight at the corners, as though she did not want to offend them.

“Crusaders.” Apple Bloom stepped forward. “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“Oh, yes, right.” Starlight’s smile stretched even tighter. Come to think of it, Apple Bloom thought, it was more of a rictus than a smile. “Can I help you with something? Are you selling cookies? Because I would really love some cookies right now.”

“No, we’re lookin’ for my sister.”

“Your… sister?”

“And Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo added. “Although she’s practically my sister too.”

“Wh-why?”

Scootaloo frowned. “Because she was meant to give me a wing workout session today and she never showed.”

“Anytime they disappear without a word like that they’re usually here on friendship business because of that there map thingy,” Apple Bloom explained.

“Oh. Oh, well… not quite.”

“Not quite?”

“They’re not here for a friendship quest for the map.”

“But… they are here?” Apple Bloom ticked her head to one side.

Starlight Glimmer bit her lower lip and glanced over her shoulder. Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed but before she could say anything, the mare spoke again.

“They’re here on friendship business. For me. My friendship. Um, there was a… a bit of a crisis and… I brought them here to help.”

“Oh. Well… can you ask ‘em what time y’all will be done? Granny’s mighty ornery about some busted fences she wants AJ to fix.”

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I can ask them that.” Starlight’s smile slipped and she darted back through the door, shutting it behind her.

All three Crusaders blinked.

“You’re right, Scoots. Definitely a charity case.”

Scootaloo folded her forelegs. “I can’t believe Rainbow threw me over for her.”

“I’m sure she had a good reason,” Apple Bloom reassured.

“Like what? Blackmail?” Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “I’ll bet it was blackmail. Yeah, that’s right. She’d never miss our session to just hang out with a weird pony like Starlight Glimmer unless she was being blackmailed into it.” Evidently placated by that interpretation of events, she allowed her forehooves to fall to the ground and tapped irritably. “Sheesh, what’s taking her so long?”

“I… don’t like her,” Sweetie Belle said softly. “There’s something… weird about her.”

“No duh,” Scootaloo huffed. “I hope someday Princess Twilight graduates her or knights her or whatever and she leaves to go start a friendship quest someplace else in Equestria. And takes her stinky blackmail with her.” Scootaloo’s tiny wings fluffed.

They fell into a complicated silence, each caught up in her own thoughts until the doors reopened and Starlight’s tight smile appeared in the gap.

“They’re… um... they’re…”

Apple Bloom got to her hooves. “What the hay is goin’ on here? You’re actin’ awful weird, Miss Glimmer.”

“No I’m not!” If Starlight’s smile got any wider is was going to split her ears right to the tips. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash are just… just…”

“Tell us where they are!” Scootaloo’s wingtips reached for the sky, back arched.

“We’re right here.” The door was shouldered open around Starlight by a pair of much more athletic bodies. Rainbow flicked her tail and smirked down at the Crusaders. “Celestia’s butt, Scoots, overreact much?”

“We… I… you...” Scootaloo drew herself up. “You missed wing workouts!”

Rainbow’s eyes rounded. “Ohmigosh! I totally spaced on that! I’m sorry, Scoots! Applejack had this thing with some Timberwolves–”

“Timberwolves?” Apple Bloom echoed.

“Now don’t go worryin’,” Applejack reassured her. “Things got a lil’ hairy but Starlight fixed me up. Plus, I doubt we’ll be troubled by them varmints after what she did to ‘em.”

Starlight bowed her head. “I didn’t do much. Any unicorn could have done the same.”

“You stoved in one o’ their faces with your dang saddlebags, sugarcube!”

Her smile fell. “Yeah, well, they were really full and really heavy so they did more damage than they ordinarily would’ve.”

“Pshaw.” Applejack slung a foreleg over her shoulders and pulled her in for a half-hug that created the first real smile Apple Bloom had seen on Starlight Glimmer’s face today. “You saved my life. Don’t belittle that. Why, I reckon Twilight herself couldn’t have done better.”

“R-really?”

“Darn tootin’. I owe you so many favours after this – but for right now, I’d better get home. I’m guessin’ my family’s been pretty worried about where I’ve been all day.”

“You didn’t tell Granny where you were goin’,” Apple Bloom confirmed. “She’s angry about some busted fences.”

“I’ll bet. Mayhap she won’t be when I tell her they got busted by a runaway Timberwolf who was worryin’ our cows.”

“Uh… yeah, that might do it.”

Applejack unslung her foreleg and tipped her hat at Starlight. “Be seein’ you, Starlight. I’ll speak to Granny Smith an’ about invitin’ y’all to a thank you dinner in honour of today. Y’like apple pie?”

“If it’s got sugar in it, I’ll love it. Does your Granny bake, uh, apple cookies by any chance?”

Applejack laughed. “I’ll let her know to make some. C’mon, Apple Bloom.”

“Yeah, c’mon Scoots. Still got time for some wing workouts?”

“Do I ever!” Scootaloo dashed back to her scooter at the bottom of the staircase.

“Bye Starlight!” Rainbow Dash waved vigorously.

Applejack matched her vigour. “Later, sugarcube.”

“Bye guys. I’d say it’s been fun but I’d be lying.” Starlight backed up and closed the doors with a decisive click.

“Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo buckled on her helmet. “Do you want me to drop you off at Carousel Boutique on the way?”

“Uh… yeah, sure.” Casting one last uneasy look at the castle, Sweetie Belle hopped into the wagon and they sped away.

Slick with nervous sweat, Starlight slid down the door with a squeak. She froze, as if someone outside might have heard it too. She barely breathed for a few seconds, ears flicking to catch the monotonous sound of little wings buzzing away. Only when her lungs burned did she release her breath and get to her hooves.

That had been far too close. Wearily, she picked her way across the foyer and down one of the castle’s multifarious corridors. It was the work of a moment to manipulate the coded lock enchantment Twilight had placed on her laboratory and slide away the door. As she stepped down the dark staircase, she lit her horn with what sparks she had left and reflected that her teacher should invest in electric lighting instead of relying on magical glow-lanterns. They were pretty but their light was meagre and more than once she had lost her footing on these stairs. Hurrying up them just now had bruised her shins and she knew they would hurt doubly tomorrow unless the bathroom cabinet miraculously still had some anti-bruise tincture left.

The moaning was audible from halfway down the stairs. She sighed and grabbed one of the lanterns. It levitated ahead of her, catching the splayed tail hair first, then the curve of a haunch and a scrap of ragged belly before she moved to the far corner of the lab and fumbled with Twilight’s chemistry set. She had left it on a low heat and just hoped it hadn’t boiled dry. If it had she would have to start over and that would be very vexing indeed.

“St… Starrr…”

Her ears flicked. Her shoulders slumped. She shouldn’t answer.

Thankfully the mixture hadn’t burned. She sighed in relief and added the powdered griffin heart. The solution turned a pleasing shade of green.

“Stahhh… laaaiiii…” The utterance ended in a dry grating noise from a throat ill-suited to speech. It sounded painful, yet the noise came again. “Staaahhhhh-”

“Stop.” Starlight removed the flask from its clamp and turned around. “Don’t hurt your… selves. Self?” She shook her head. “Just stop. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

Green and pink eyes stared up at her, arranged in no order amidst the marbled orange and blue fur. One of them still had a tear duct. It was leaking.

“Stahhhrrr…” gurgled the strange double-throat.

“I told you not to touch her, Rainbow. Why couldn’t you just do as you were told? I warned you, didn’t I?” Starlight shook her head. “What am I saying? I always warn you. You never listen. Maybe this time I got it right and the new Dash is more biddable. You know what they say; fifth time is the charm, right?” She stepped towards the writhing mass of exposed sinew, bone and fascia. Next to the spot where she had extracted flesh portions for regrowth was a bare lung inflating and deflating. She averted her steps to a portion more covered in fur. “New Applejack is certainly an improvement this time. I like how she seems friendlier to me than you were.”

“Yyyyyouuuu–”

“Look, I’m sorry, okay? I tried, I really did – I even tried not to use too much magic this time! But… I can’t afford to fail again.” Her ears drooped. “I can’t let Twilight down. I’ve built a new life here. I have too much to lose if I make mistakes.” She spritzed the green liquid around the abomination and stepped back. “But for what it’s worth, I really am sorry. I’ve made improvements to keep them from taking risks like that again. More fear this time, less bull-headedness. And less distrust of me so they’ll do as I say without thinking I’m…” She bit her lip at the memory. “A… psycho. I’ll do my best to protect them.” She ignited her horn with a flame spell. “I promise.”

The mass of flesh screamed as it was set ablaze. The magical accelerant raced across its surface, charring fur and scorching skin so it split and curled into blackened spirals. Subcutaneous fat bubbling and spat. The exposed lung quivered as juices trapped inside it boiled until it exploded. Bones cracked and splintered, marrow hardening and fissuring into dust. After less than two minutes, all that remained was a shrinking ball of greasy ash that popped and vanished.

Starlight cleaned up after herself meticulously, being especially careful with the corked bottle of Mirror Pool water. Twilight would never guess that her equipment had been used. Starlight never used any of the lab’s raw materials, especially given they weren’t rare or exotic enough for her needs when she was desperate enough to need the lab like this.

As she replaced the lock, her stomach rumbled. She remembered the lost saddlebags and grumbled. Forfeiture of all that candy stung particularly. She resolved to go to Sugarcube Corner and see whether the extra generosity she had implanted into Pinkie IV could get her a free cookie.

"I can totally handle things here," she murmured. "Totally."