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Magic in the Stars

by Australian Chaos

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Crushed

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Author's Notes: Shorter chapter today, but one that has a lot packed into it's length. With the return of "DiamondGirl400", who has kindly beta-read this chapter, and having left you on a cliffhanger with my last update, I thought I'd spare you all an agonising wait, and post this now.

Quick note to "Scarlet Rabbit", I believe the person complaining about my notes did have a valid point, they were getting excessively long, and I was waffling on over nothing of extreme importance. The focus should be on the story, not my incessant ramblings.

In any case, a big thank you once again to those who had read, reviewed, faved and alerted, or any combination of them. And a big thank you to "DiamondGirl400" once again! Now on with the story!


Chapter 16

Crushed

For several long, agonising moments, there was complete, total and utter silence. Luna just stared at Starfall, clearly coming to grips with the conclusion she had just reached, just Starfall waited, terrified of what reaction the Princess was going to have to the realisation that, for the last few weeks, Starfall had been hiding a secret crush on her, the Princess of the Night.

Starfall had previously heard of the phrase about a silence being deafening, but now understood what it meant. The silence in this moment was so complete, so total, that it felt like his ears had been shut off, his hearing gone, leaving him both hoping for the next sound...yet dreading it at the very same time.

He did not even dare move, fear rooting him in place despite a strong desire to turn and simply flee the room. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as Luna continued to process her discovery, his blush doing little to dissuade her from her conclusion. For the first time in his life, he found himself wishing he was a unicorn. He had never really wanted magic powers, but right now, the ability to sink into the floor and vanish would really help his situation.

But he had no horn, and his wings were of little use at the moment, any attempt to fly away would end up being less than subtle, especially since he was not a particularly strong flier. He had once taken a Wing Power test, out of sheer curiosity, and found his Wing Power to be a rather underwhelming four point seven. Six point five was considered the average for male stallions.

But it would not have mattered if he had twenty Wing Power...he could not will either his wings or his hooves to move. Whatever happened, Starfall was going to have to ride the fallout of this as best as he could...and only hope it was not too painful. He did not carry any hope of that happening, though.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Starfall, Princess Luna showed her first true reaction to her realisation. "We...all this time...thou hast been...interested in...us?" she stammered, seeming stunned almost beyond words by the revelation.

Sighing, knowing the game was up, but hoping that Luna's rather anti-climatic reaction so far was a good sign, lowered his head once more and nodded softly. There it was, beyond any shadow of a doubt for the Princess of the Night. Starfall had a crush on her, and now she knew it for certain.

When Starfall looked back up, though, he instantly backed away several hoofsteps, shrinking into himself in fear. Luna's expression had morphed from shock to cold anger, her eyes suddenly attaining a brilliant white glow as her presence seemed to expand like some kind of dark balloon, filling the whole room. She was angrier than Starfall had ever seen her before, and that was saying something.

When she next spoke, her words were not only loud, but had an ethereal echo to them that made her sound downright horrifying...a glimpse of the nightmare buried deep within the Princess of the Night; Nightmare Moon. "This whole time, thou truly believed thou could get close to us?" she demanded, settling a steely glare on Starfall that made him freeze, only just barely able to stammer out a reply, he was so terrified.

"N-no, L-Luna!" he cried shakily, trying to reason with the enraged Princess, but she interrupted, clearly not about to stop now that her anger was on a roll.

"We gave thee a chance, Starfall!" she roared, making the pegasus cower back even further, part of him praying someone would hear her amplified voice and come calm her down, the other half praying no-one heard, and the matter could be kept private.

"P-please, Luna," Starfall tried again...if this kept up, there was a very real fear in his mind that Luna would kill him. This had gotten far worse than he had ever imagined.

But once more, Luna cut over him, Starfall's small, fearful voice having no hope of overpowering Luna's booming tirade. "We thought of thou as a pegasus of honour! Of dignity! We even considered thee a friend! But this was never about the studies, was it?" she spat accusingly.

This time, Starfall could not find a voice within himself to raise in his defence. He was so terrified, his throat just would not work, and he knew that this time, there would be nothing to stop Luna from handing down the worst punishment she could on him. Was fraternising with royalty bad enough for the death penalty? Starfall knew that Princess Celestia used the death penalty only as an absolute last resort, but he could tell, and had known for some time, that Luna was much less forgiving.

"This was never about the stars, or the planets, or teaching us how to be a modern Princess, was it?" Luna continued, her voice only getting scarier the longer her rant progressed. "This was about us from the beginning, and thy pathetic attempts to win the heart of the Princess of the Night!" She paused for a moment, stepping forward so was standing tall over Starfall's prone, cowering form, glaring hard at him. "Does thou have anything to say in thy defence? Speak, Starfall!" she snapped coldly, making Starfall jump even from his prone position, fighting to get his uncooperative throat working again.

"I-I...I..." he stammered, struggling to find the words. "P-please, P-Princess Luna. You...y-you have to b-believe me!" he begged, his voice filled with obvious fear and desperation. "I knew you would never s-see me t-that way! T-that's why I-I never said anyt-thing! I-I just...I couldn't c-control my f-feelings! I n-never meant f-for this to happen! I s-swear!"

Princess Luna seemed to back off slightly at Starfall pleas. Her eyes lost the enraged, magical glow, but her voice still had that terrifying loud echo, and without the glowing eyes, it was even more obvious that she was staring at him with an intense, cold look. "Hmmph...even if thy lips speak the truth, it still not change the matter at all," she snarled, backing off a step, though the extra room did not help Starfall's sense of terror. "Thou art still a liar, Starfall. Not just a lair, but also a traitor."

"Wh-what?" Starfall cried. "N-no...!"

"Silence!" Luna snapped, her eyes flashing that same white briefly, reminding Starfall of just how much trouble he was in as he cowered back once more. "Thou art a traitor Starfall; to the Royal Family, to my sister...and to us," for the last three words, her voice lost the echo, sounding almost pained. All the rage and animosity died from her voice, and now she looked like she was the one who wanted to flee to some dark corner and weep over the whole thing.

When Luna went for several seconds without speaking, or even making eye contact, Starfall risked getting back to his hooves, and carefully approaching the Princess of the Night. Part of him just wanted to run, but Starfall figured his situation could not really get any worse, and that he might as well try and salvage something.

"Princess?" he called tentatively, pausing when the Princess did not openly respond, before trying again. "Princess, please...I didn't mean for any of this, and I..."

"Just go." Princess Luna's interruption was so quiet, so pained, that Starfall very nearly did not hear her. As it was, he froze, not sure what to do. He desperately wanted to say something, anything, that could help repair his shattered friendship with the Princess. But it seemed that her patience was done for, as Starfall's hesitation caused Luna's anger to once more boil over.

"Get out, Starfall!" she snapped, making the pegasus scramble back as her voice once more reached that echoing volume. "Thy studies are over! Leave this place, and we never want to see thee set hoof in the Royal District again!"

But once again, Starfall was rooted to the spot, absolute horror coursing through him. He had realised that his friendship was Luna was gone, and likely would never come back. But his astronomy studies, too? His one chance to make something of his life...gone?

"Go!" Luna roared, forcing Starfall's decision, as he fled the room, barely hearing the door slam shut behind him as he raced back through the Royal District. This had been his one chance to pull his life out of the gutter and make something of himself, and now it was gone...and he had no-one but himself to blame. His heart had chased after more than he was entitled to, and now because of it, he had lost everything. He sure that once Princess Celestia got wind of this, he was going to be in even more trouble.

As he galloped, fleeing for the tower he called home, although he worried it would not be for much longer, he could feel the tears forming in his eyes, and screwed them shut, trying to keep them at bay as he fled through the Royal District. He vaguely felt himself bump into something that felt like another pony...probably one of the Royal Guards...but he did not stop, or even slow down, just fleeing as fast as it hooves could take him, desperation even making him take wing and fly over the buildings once he was out in the open air, just seeking to escape the scene of his worst nightmare as fast as possible.

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