The Light of the Night

It was getting remotely late by the time Sunset Shimmer and Starbeam Glitter made it back to Twilight’s house. The sun was about to set, as the hour of dusk approached, as Sunset Shimmer pulled up along the driveway of their house. Sunset set her car, a 1984 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, with a red paintjob and black roof with her cutie mark symbol on the hood, in park right next to Twilight’s car, a 2013 VW Jetta Sportwagen, it’s body pale, light grayish mulberry with Twilight’s cutie mark symbol on the back. Starbeam picks up her skateboard, seated on the floor of the passenger side, as mother and daughter exit the car and glance toward the house.

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Sunset Shimmer assured.

“I’m not the one who’s nervous,” Starbeam Glitter replied. “Why should I be? It’s not like I’m the only girl in the world who’s about to show a parent that I suddenly have magic powers.”

“That’s exactly just what it is. It’s not like you’ve met someone and have been exchanging numbers… Wait. Have you?”

“What? Noo…! I hardly know anyone…”

Still, just to see the slight blush on her daughter’s cheeks, if only to put her at ease, was more than enough for Sunset to reassure herself (If not her daughter).

“Still… How much you want to bet that mom’s going to freak out?” Starbeam asked.

“Don’t worry about your mom,” Sunset assured. “I’ve known Twilight since the Friendship Games. She may get a little crazy, but I’m sure she’s not going to ‘freak’…”

<>

Several minutes later…

A gasp, which sounded more like a choke, escaped Twilight’s lips, her glasses slanted along her nose and her jaw went wide. Earlier, she was just making final preparations for a vegetarian chili dish, which took about an hour and a few minutes to properly cook, when Sunset came home with Starbeam. The former mentioned that their daughter had something she needed to both say and present before dinner. At first, Twilight didn’t think much of it… Until it happened before her very eyes.

Hovering the dishes and silverware with a light pinkish aura, a similar glow coming from Starbeams hands as she raised her arms over her head, twisting her hands in a circular motion to make them follow a figure eight pattern, Starbeam was performing magic right before her eyes. Sunset Shimmer stood close by, making sure their daughter was able to perform the magic feat without fail. But Sunset didn’t have to say anything, she seemed impressed by how focused Starbeam was, not taking her eyes off the dishes and not even having to strain. It was as if the magic emanating from her hands was effortless as if she had done this a million times… Even if this was her first true display before her parents.

For a while, both parents were speechless, not sure of what to say. But when Sunset saw the look on Twilight’s face, she couldn’t help but form a small smirk as she knew this was exactly how Twilight would react.

“I think it’s safe to say we broke your mom, Starbeam,” Sunset replied.

“N-N-No!” Twilight stuttered. “J-J-Just stunned… Ho-Ho-Ho-How long have you been doing this?”

“I’ve only just discovered this now,” Starbeam answered, never breaking her focus. “It kind of feels like I’ve been doing this magic for… An hour or so… Intentionally.”

To say that both parents were a bit skeptical was an understatement. At this level of magic Starbeam was able to perform, at such an early age, it was too remarkable. Then again, Sunset had told Twilight that in Equestria that baby unicorns had strange magic surges that come and go. But as it seemed, in the case of Starbeam, if she ‘did’ have a surge it hadn’t gone away. Eventually, Starbeam slowly dips her hands arranging the dishes and silverware back onto the family room table… Not a single chip on the plate, a scratch on the glass cups, nor even a dent on either the forks, knives, or spoons. Starbeam let out a sigh, even though not a drop of sweat could be found on her brow.

“Incredible!” Twilight spoke, silently.

“I know, right?” Starbeam asked, brushing her hands. “Heck mom’s shown me a magic trip of her own, some form of mind-reading thing. It was a bit awkward and she didn’t specifically tell me what she saw, but I’m surprised you never told me you married a ‘superhero’.”

“I… Wouldn’t exactly call myself a ‘superhero’,” Sunset replied, humbly. “Though I’m flattered you’d call me as such.”

“What about you Mama Twi? Can you perform any magic tricks?”

Naturally Starbeam was just being curious, as any child would be. But there was no hiding the slight discomfort on Twilight’s face when Starbeam asked her that question. Twilight hoped for a lot of things, that their daughter would be older before revealing anything about her upbringing or at least old enough to understand her parents are not all as they seemed to be. Or the very reason why Starbeam even has magic to begin with, if initially to explain her existing at all. There was just too much to cover.

“It’s a long story,” Twilight replied, quietly.

“Oh… Well, I suppose it can wait,” Starbeam shrugged. “Actually, there is something I always wanted to do.”

Starbeam made her way out to the backyard as Sunset Shimmer quickly followed. Twilight Sparkle sighed as she left the pot of chili on the oven, glad that it was off, so it won’t overheat. She made her way toward the backyard, joining up with Sunset Shimmer and Starbeam in the yard. It wasn’t a big backyard, but there was just enough room for a small garden, so they’d almost never have to shop for vegetables. Starbeam’s attention was turned toward a rock which was somewhat buried amongst the grass, yet the very top was shown.

“You always said how that rock made it frustrating to mow the yard,” Starbeam spoke. “I wonder…”

Taking a deep breath, Starbeam extended her arms toward the rock embedded in the yard, an aura surrounds the stone. Sunset and Twilight look on as their daughter works to lift the miniature bolder out of the yard, the stone shuddering as it struggled to lift out of the grass. Concentrating deeply and slowly lifting her arms as if lifting a weight, Starbeam slowly got the tiny stone to move as it broke free from the grass and lifts toward Starbeam’s eye level. A look of satisfaction is on their daughter’s face, as she successfully lifts the boulder out of the yard.

“Pretty cool, huh mom?” Starbeam asked Twilight. “… Mom?”

Twilight Sparkle wanted to show her daughter she was proud, if not amazed. But the look on her face told a different story. For when she looked at her daughter, as she watched her lift the boulder out of the yard, she saw something else. Her vision switched briefly to a glance of a very familiar demoness, Midnight Sparkle, her dark violet aura glowing over her clawed hands as she cackled maniacally. The sweat poured down Twilight’s brow, as she found herself leaning on the railing of the backyard patio.

“MOM!” Starbeam shouted, rushing toward her mom.

The loss of her focus caused the boulder to drop onto the grass, but all Starbeam could think of is her mother. Sunset, also concerned, rushed over to Twilight’s side catching her as she leaned against her loving wife.

“It’s all right, Starbeam,” Sunset assured. “She’s just fainted. Come on, let’s get her back in the house.”

Each taking her arm, Sunset and Starbeam aided Twilight Sparkle back into the house. As they make their way through the backdoor, still laying on the grass, dark purple lines appear along the stone. In a matter of a few seconds, the boulder instantly split into several pieces witnessed by no one. As if great power didn’t just lift the rock from its former position… But also destroyed it.

<>

It did not take long before Sunset and Starbeam had Twilight Sparkle settled on a single sofa chair in the family room. They had just prepared a bowl of the chili that Twilight was preparing, the aroma of chili powder and ground cumin proved soothing for her nose.

“I’m alright, really,” Twilight assured, taking a spoonful. “I just need to sit quietly for a moment.”

“That was quite a nasty dizzy spell, Twilight,” Sunset spoke.

“Was my magic display really that scary, mom?” Starbeam asked, worried.

“No, no… It has nothing to do with you. It was ‘wonderful’ magic I promise you… It just happens every now and then.”

“That’s the first time it’s happened in months,” Sunset points out. “Did something happen?”

Twilight Sparkle was about to explain herself until…

RING! RING! RING! RING!

Twilight’s cellphone rang off the counter. Sunset Shimmer makes her way over and looks at Twilight’s phone.

“It’s Rainbow Dash!” Sunset replied.

“Oh yes,” Twilight nodded. “Put her on ‘facetime’. She said she’d call tonight.”

Sunset and Starbeam gather around Twilight Sparkle, as the former hands her wife her cellphone. After swiping with her finger and imputing the code, Twilight Sparkle proceeds to answer the call, setting the camera on, as a slightly older Rainbow Dash, her rainbow hair cut into a mohawk, came into view.

“Hiya Twi!” Rainbow called. “Hey Sunset!”

“Hey Rainbow!” Twilight and Sunset answered, putting on a smile.

“I hope I didn’t catch you two at a bad time,” Rainbow replied.

“Oh no, of course not!” Twilight replied. “We’re all just settling down for dinner; worked really hard.”

“Hold on, now.”

Rainbow’s face gets closer to the screen, perhaps a bit too close.

“No way… That can’t be little Starbeam Glitter!”

“Hi Auntie Dash!” Starbeam waved, with a smile. “Sweet haircut!”

“What? This? I just had it done over the weekend, felt I needed something ‘cooler’ to reflect my image. Oh, hold on a sec! Hey Flutters, get over here! Starbeam’s on the phone!”

A commotion is heard from the other end as another figure joins Rainbow Dash and sure enough it’s another of Sunset and Twilight’s old friends. Fluttershy, nearly the same as she was five years ago, albeit with her hair more in a bun and slightly messy. But otherwise, just as pretty all the same.

“Oh, hello Starbeam!” Fluttershy spoke, next to Rainbow Dash. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s great to see you too, Aunt Fluttershy!” Starbeam spoke.

“I take it the shelter’s been keeping you busy?” Twilight asked.

“Oh yes, those little guys are such a handful that it’s almost hard to keep track. But those sweet animals are so dear, they just need firm guidance and proper manners that’s all.”

“Actually, Flutters and I are glad you’re with your moms,” Rainbow told Starbeam. “Because we have a big announcement, we want to tell you guys!”

“Oh really?” Sunset asked. “What’s that?”

“You want to tell them Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked her friend.

“Oh, that’s all right, you can tell them,” Fluttershy offered. “If you’d like to.”

“Tell you what? How about we ask together?”

“All right…”

The two best friends took a deep breath, turned toward the camera, and they each extended a hand, and the trio see makes their eyes widen. For before their ring finger, their friends wore golden rings which can only mean one thing…

“We’re engaged!” They announced.

“No way!” Twilight shouted, excitedly. “Congratulations!”

“That’s so cool, girls!” Sunset nodded. “When did all this happen?”

“So, you remember that guy from the Canterlot Wondercolts Football team I used to date?” Rainbow Dash asked. “The guy with the pie fascination?”

“Soarin’?” Sunset guessed. “I know you two broke up three years ago.”

“… Yeah, ‘that’ happened. I got really bummed out, needed a place to crash, and Fluttershy just happened to invite me over. We talked for a while, hung out, you know the usual stuff. But that’s when I started having these ‘feelings’ spending time with Flutters here and the rest is history.”

“I always had a crush on Rainbow Dash since we were kids at Junior Speedsters Summer Camp,” Fluttershy added on. “But I was always too nervous to express how I felt because I didn’t want to spoil our friendship. It took some baby steps before I finally found the nerve to express my true feelings.”

“’Some’ baby steps?” Rainbow asked, jokingly. “It took you years before we could finally get you a solo on stage without the spotlight chasing you away.”

“Oh, shut up!” Fluttershy giggled. “But yeah… That was true.”

“Well, we are very happy for both of you,” Twilight said, approvingly. “We’ll definitely be coming to the wedding for sure.”

“Speaking of which, you guys pick a date yet?” Starbeam asked.

“Well no, we’re still jumping back and forth on that,” Rainbow Dash replied. “We’re still trying to find a right place we want to hold the venue. But I’ll tell you this much kiddo, as soon as the arrangements are made, our wedding is going to be…”

“Awesome?” Starbeam finished.

“Heh-heh… You girls really raised a special kid, you know?”

“Yeah… More than you can imagine,” Sunset chuckled nervously.

“Well, we’d hate to take up the rest of your time,” Fluttershy said. “We still have all our other friends to share the news with. I know Pinkie is bound to be excited; I just hope she doesn’t go ‘too’ overboard if she starts asking to do the preparations.”

“Heh, knowing Pinkie… Yeah she will,” Rainbow shrugged. “Well catch you later girls! Maybe we’ll talk later; see ya!”

“Bye Dash!” The three said in unison. “Bye Fluttershy!”

“Buh-bye!” Fluttershy smiled and waved.

And just like that, their friends hung up as the screen disappeared. Sunset, Twilight, and Starbeam sighed happily hearing the wonderful news from their friends.

“Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Who would’ve thought they’d end up together?”

“If you had asked me years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Sunset admitted. “But I can see why they make a cute pair.”

“I can’t imagine how surprised they’ll be once they hear of our magic surges,” Starbeam added.

“Well…” Sunset began, scratching the back of her neck.

Starbeam turns her head towards Sunset, her eyes wide with surprise.

“They know about the magic too?”

“More like everyone in town has known about magic going on here. It’s kind of a long story.”

“Well if it has anything to do over why I’m able to do magic, I want to know.”

“I promise we’ll tell you all you want to know,” Twilight assured. “But right now, why don’t you go wash up and change? No sense to ruin your yoga attire over dinner.”

It was then Sunset and Starbeam acknowledged the fact they still had their yoga attire on since leaving the park.

“Yeah, I better get changed too,” Sunset replied. “You just sit comfortably and eat; we’ll be down later.”

“Just don’t take too long,” Twilight smiled.

Sunset chuckled before planting a light kiss on Twilight’s lips before she and their daughter went upstairs. Twilight looks on, before releasing a sigh when they disappear on sight. As she looks down upon her bowl, she suddenly gasps when she saw a pair of fiery eyes looking toward Twilight. She quickly stabs at the dish with her spoon, stirring it up for several seconds. When she eventually stopped, the eyes had disappeared, but Twilight had a sneaking suspicion what was up.

“It can’t be…” Twilight spoke to herself. “Why now?”

<>

Several minutes later…

While Sunset Shimmer was using the bathroom right by the bedroom she shared with Twilight, Starbeam Glitter had just gotten changed into her usual get-up after a warm shower. With a brush in hand, she combs along her white hair attempting to get it straight. Her mind raced with all that’s been going on during the past few hours. One moment she seemed like a regular little girl with two loving parents, next thing she knew she found herself performing magic and add to the fact her parents had known about it (Considering one of her moms claimed to read her mind).

But still, even Starbeam began to wonder… Was this the only time she ever performed magic? Had she actually been doing a few subtle spells but hadn’t suspected anything? Was she so oblivious to her own talents it took stopping a delinquent purse thief to finally get her attention? She tried to concentrate but the sound of rushing water from the bathroom sink distracted her. She places the comb down and turns the knob to shut off the water.

SPLAT! SPLAT!

Suddenly, she saw two drops of a purple liquid drop into the still wet sink, flowing into the water. Starbeam felt something warm and slowly reached up her nose… And felt something wet. Pulling back her fingers, she saw they were soaked in the strange liquid.

“Is this... Blood?” Starbeam asked to herself.

Just as Starbeam turned to the mirror, she drew back with a gasp. Not only did she see her nose bleeding with this strange purple goop, but the right side of her face had blue fire surrounding her right eye as her face seemed to morph. Starbeam reeled back towards the bathroom door, trying to twist the knob opened. But the door handle wouldn’t budge, as if it were frozen in place.

Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation on her hands and slowly lifted them to her face. All at once, purple fingernails start to grow out as she gasped and shuttered at the slow transformation. Suddenly, she could feel a stabbing pain around her entire body. From her shoulders to her chest, even her knees as she wobbled back toward the sink. Falling back onto the counter, she slowly picks herself up staring at her reflection in the mirror.

Breathing heavily, Starbeam was horrified to see a hideous reflection staring back at her. As if it wasn’t scary enough, the face in the mirror smiled sinisterly with sharp teeth. It leaned itself against the glass as it stared toward Starbeam, uttering three words in a frighteningly haunting voice.

“Make… Us… WHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!” Starbeam screamed, closing her eyes.

<>

Starbeam opened her eyes back, as she found herself sitting on the bathroom floor, her back against the wall. Starbeam breathed in and out, trying to regain her breath, sweat poured along her brow as she looked around. But there was none of that liquid on the floor and when she examined herself, looking at her hands and feeling her face, she was still the same as before. Just then, a knock at the door startled her, making her gasp.

“Honey! Are you okay in there?” Sunset asked, from outside.

“Uh… Uh, yeah…” Starbeam stuttered. “I, uh… Just slipped… Yeah, just picking myself up.”

“Hmm… I told you about leaving the mat on the floor. You know those tiles are slippery when they’re wet.”

“Yeah… Definitely got to stop being so careless… Be right down!”

“Okay, just remember we still have that talk about your… Gift. There’s actually more we need to talk about.”

“All right, I’ll be down soon.”

Starbeam looked toward the bottom of the door, watching as Sunset’s shadow disappeared downstairs. Getting herself back on her feet, she took one last look at her reflection in the mirror… To her relief, she was still the same Starbeam Glitter, brushing off a bit of her hair from her eyes. She had no idea what that was about nor even what that creature was. But she had never lost her cool this way in her life.

Thinking it was just all in her head, probably just some stress she’s dealing with, Starbeam decided not to pursue this matter further. Instead, the only focus she wanted to deal with was her circumstance surrounding her newfound magic. She makes for the bathroom door, turns back to the bathroom mirror one last time, then opens the door before leaving. As the door closes behind Starbeam, along the glass shower doors and unbeknownst to her, there appeared to be…

Claw marks…