Glimmers In The Fading Starlight
Author's Note
Just so we’re clear. In this AU, the Storm King escaped and Chrysalis got sent to Tartarus.
This takes place after School Raze
Prologue: Drained
It all happened so fast.
It was just supposed to be a simple visit to the Crystal Empire to see Sunburst again, nothing more but suddenly the train was stopped near some field and the she and the rest of the passengers were ushered out so that the conductor could see what was going on.
As she was pacing around the field and calming herself down, she had sent a secret SOS call from her horn to Discord. Ever since the Storm King and Cozy Glow incidents, he wasn’t willing to risk another problem happening in his absence, so he had shown Twilight and Starlight a spell to use to alert him if there was a crisis, but it did take a lot of power so it would be a while before it reached him.
Starlight felt bad for potentially disturbing whatever Discord had planned, but considering the train was in the middle of nowhere, she felt it would be easier if there was help on the way.
She remembered seeing a shadowy figure as she was heading back to the train but that was all she could remember before she became unconscious.
She was now in some cave, and found herself tied up with her horn being tied to some rock like substance. She tried using her magic but found she could not. A cold chill went down her spine as she realized the situation she was in.
“Wh-What is this?! Where am I?!” Starlight called out fruitlessly, knowing that no one would answer but she had to let out her worries. She was scared and it was painfully clear no one knew she was kidnapped, and she had no idea if anypony would come to her aid before it was too late for her.
She then saw that someone was walking in the cave, and to her horror it was a familiar face in the worst way imaginable.
The figure was tall and slender, had white fur, stone armor and two black horns though they were both chipped and uneven. It was the tyrannical martyr the Storm King.
“Oh man, you should see the look on your face. It’s quite amusing, not gonna lie.” The Storm King smirked mockingly before it became more menacing, “I believe we haven’t properly met, I am the Storm King and I assume you were at the Canterlot invasion but I honestly don’t know, you ponies are all the same anyway.”
Starlight glared furiously at him but the Storm King just laughed, “Oh wait, I’m totally kidding myself. I know exactly who you are. You’re the protege of one of those prissy princesses. Which one was it, Sunbutt, Moonbutt, Heart Crystal, oh wait, it was that friendship princess wasn’t it?”
Starlight didn’t answer but her wide eyed gaze was all the answer that the Storm King needed.
“Oh it’s her, isn’t it?” Storm King laughed evilly, “Man, won’t it be exciting when she finds out what I’m about to do.”
Starlight immediately gulped and stammered, “What do you want with me?”
”Well I kinda wanna take over Equestria for myself. I can’t exactly do that without magic powers, I had an army but we all know what became of them. I lost all my power and weapons, including my obsidian orbs. I used my last one when I tried to freeze those six ponies.” Storm King said in annoyance before he smirked at Starlight and took out a red diamond, “But after I escaped the dungeons, I quickly stole a book from the libraries on ancient artifacts and found this Red Rock Of The Everfree. All I have to do is enchant it with some unicorn magic and it will allow me to use magic as I please.”
Starlight froze at this, realizing exactly what the Storm King was after, which made his smirk widen, he was glad to see the pony was catching up.
“I believe you get the picture but I don’t just want some magic enchanting this diamond, I want ALL of it so I could have limitless possibilities, and word around says that you’re a super powerful unicorn or whatever so I kinda need to perform this whole thing where I take all of your magic for my gain.” The Storm King shrugged absentmindedly, “This’ll hurt a lot, just thought you should know.”
The Storm King immediately took the diamond and placed it on Starlight’s horn, and the effect was immediate. Her head felt like it was burning, and soon the pain trailed across her body like she was in a fire. Starlight began crying from the amount of pain she felt as her magic was slowly being drained from her. The pain was excruciating, and she couldn’t hold it in and began screaming.
“Please! Please stop it!” Starlight begged, pleading for the torment to end but despite that, the Storm King continued to grin like a mad man as he continued to drain Starlight of her magic. The pain increased as she began to feel drained of her power and her energy in general. It was all too much, he wouldn’t stop any time soon, so there was only one thing that popped in her mind and on instinct, she called for the pony she needed the most.
“TWILIGHT, HELP!” Starlight screamed, but it was no use, they were probably so deep in the forest that nobody could hear her. She was all alone with this psychopath, it was hopeless to believe she’d be saved.
After that, the Storm King had finished taking all of Starlight’s magic but Starlight felt weak, her magic wasn’t just stolen, but her energy was completely drained. She looked to her side and saw that her cutie mark had turned grey. How fitting.
“Ohohohohohohohoho. I did it! I have the magic! I have the magic!” The Storm King only celebrated at his success of stealing Starlight’s power, not caring about how much pain she was in, before turning to the unicorn herself.
“You served your purpose well. I’ll thank you when I rule this land with an iron fist!” Storm King smiled before saying, “So for that, I will spare your life but I don’t think you’ll last long anyway. So enjoy what little lifespan you have left.”
The Storm King immediately ran out of the cave and Starlight didn’t even bother trying to catch him, not like she could anyway. She felt like she couldn’t even stand.
She silently wept after a good portion of time when she realized what the Storm King had taken. She took her magic, her special talent, and possibly her life as well. She had just started to put her life back together but now she might never be able to see her friends again. Trixie, Sunburst, Twilight, Spike, Maud, and heck even Discord, she never got to say goodbye to any of them. Oh Celestia, what will happen when they realize what the Storm King did.
Suddenly, she heard a distant call, “Starlight. Starlight.”
Starlight felt she was about to pass out but she knew who it was, how could she have forgotten? She sent a distress signal to Discord earlier.
“Discord!” Starlight cried out weakly, “I-In here!”
Suddenly a flash popped inside the cave and the Draconequus was right there and looking confused as he looked around the cave, “You know, I really don’t understand why you’d wander so far into a cave, I mean it’s not even raining and-“
He paled once he saw Starlight’s state, her hair was frazzled, her fur was singed and the color was dulled, and her eyes were bloodshot.
“STARLIGHT!” Discord cried out in horror before asking, “What happened?!”
“S-Storm King… M-Magic gone…” Starlight muttered before finally passing out.
Glimmers In The Fading Starlight
She was fading in and out of consciousness as she finally began to feel her eyes open and her senses returning.
“STARLIGHT!” She heard a familiar voice cry out before abruptly waking up and saw that Twilight, Spike, and Discord were all waiting on her to wake up in some kind of hospital. Spike looked like he was crying and she could spot Twilight was seemingly tearing up as well but she wiped them as soon as she saw Starlight was awake.
“Starlight! You’re awake!” Twilight embraced the unicorn’s neck which she leaned into. It felt so good to be near her again.
“Ugh… where am I?” Starlight asked after Twilight let her go, now feeling a dull ache.
“You’re in the hospital.” A brown unicorn stallion who she assumed to be the doctor said as he walked in Starlight’s line of sight, “You were rushed here really quickly and if we’re being honest, you’re lucky that your friends brought you here at that speed.”
Starlight wasn’t sure what happened at first, but then her memory was returning by pieces. She remembered the train breaking down, the kidnapping, the magic drain, everything. All that made her begin shuddering in fear and made her begin to cry.
“Starlight, what’s going on? What happened to you?” Twilight asked in concern when she saw Starlight.
“After the train crashed, I sent a magic message to Discord, but before it reached him, the Storm King had found me and captured me. He took me in a cave, used some diamond to…” Starlight began before letting the tears fall out, “He took my magic! I’m so weak now. I feel like I can’t do anything and I don’t know if this is some twisted karma for what I did in my past or-“
“Starlight, calm down.” Twilight pushed Starlight back onto the bed, lightly of course but inside she felt terrible. She knew of the Storm King’s recent escape, but she didn’t think twice before letting Starlight go off on her own.
Twilight didn’t take precautions and now Starlight was paying the price for it.
“How can I calm down? I lost my very essence. Unicorns need at least a little magic in their veins but now I have practically nothing.” Starlight continued to cry, “Now my magic could be used as a weapon at any time and I’m powerless to do anything to stop it.”
“It really depends on how long the Storm King can master it. Your magic is capable of complex spells and I don’t think his tiny mind will fully grasp that yet.” Discord smirked in a reassuring matter.
“But in any case, we WILL get your magic back and let the princesses know of this.” Twilight said firmly, feeling rage as she realized what that monster did to one of her best friends.
“So how is she?” Spike asked worriedly towards the doctor after he felt Starlight’s breakdown was over.
“Well other than her magic being taken away from her, she seems to be stable. However, she definitely needs the rest.” The doctor explained.
“Can she come back with us?” Twilight asked curiously.
“I’m not exactly sure whether she should or not, she’s no longer in life threatening conditions, but she does need to take some procedures so she can adjust to her new magicless lifestyle.” The doctor told the Princess Of Friendship.
“I promise I can take care of that. Starlight’s one of my closest friends and I am good at following directions, I feel like I need to be there for her in this tough situation.” Twilight spoke encouragingly before whispering, “It might be easier for her if she’s with a friend.”
The doctor seemed to ponder over this before deciding, “Well Twilight, you’ve never exactly let us down before so I believe I can trust you’ll take care of her.”
The unicorn then levitated a list to Twilight to which she immediately put in her saddlebags, “That list contains the things needed to quicken Starlight’s recovery.”
After that, Discord picked up Starlight and put her underneath his shoulder, “Thank you for the help.” Twilight said gratefully before she, Spike, and Discord took their leave with Starlight in tow.
After getting out of the hospital, Discord had snapped his fingers and all four of them were at the castle entrance.
Once he put Starlight down, her hooves immediately wobbled a bit before she caught herself.
“Thanks for saving me guys.” Starlight said sadly but genuinely as she began entering the castle with a defeated frown on her face.
“Hey, where are you going?” Spike asked solemnly.
“Nowhere important, just my room.” Starlight sighed as she continued walking.
Once she was out of earshot, Twilight immediately stomped on the ground furiously, “UGH! I can’t believe I was so careless! I thought the Storm King’s escape wouldn’t be a major deal and that we’d be able to track him down just fine but no, I didn’t think he’d be able to pull this off and now look what happened!”
“Twilight, this isn’t your fault.” Spike said comfortingly, “The princesses already had guards searching for him and no one would ever think that he would target STARLIGHT of all ponies.”
“Besides, Starlight’s a strong pony. She got out of trouble without her magic before and she can do it again.” Discord said to remind the alicorn of Starlight saving Equestria from the Changelings.
“Back then Starlight’s magic was only negated by other magic, but now she’s literally lost all her magical powers and some of her vitality!” Twilight explained the difference morosely before gaining a firm look, “But I can’t wallow in my guilt, Starlight needs me and all of us more than ever and I need to be strong for her.”
“She’s faced villains before, how is this time any different?” Discord scoffed.
“Because this might be the first time one has ever traumatized her.” Twilight said bluntly.
