Hopes and Dreams

In the dusky night sky, a shooting star flew far overhead. Two children pointed up at it, gasping in awe. They were no ordinary children; they themselves were high in the sky on a floating broom, each dressed in a similar elaborate magical girl outfit. The little girl in bright teals and whites clung tightly to her friend's shoulder, though it was the slightly taller girl in pinks and whites who spoke first.

“Look, Burst! It's a shooty star!” the pink girl cried out, pointing up at the wondrous sight.

“Wow! It's so… shiny! I've never seen anything like it, Sparkle!” The teal girl, Shining Starburst, raised her hand to her own cheek.

“Hehe! You think that's shiny? Wait ‘til you see my Dazzle Beam! That'll really knock your stockings off!” Shining Sparkle sat up tall, tilting her chin up in boastful pride.

“Oh, that's awesome too! But I mean… You can't wish on your Dazzle Beam like a shooting star… Can you?”

“Uh, I guess not. Fine, it wins this one.” She relaxed her posture, chuckling. “Alright. I made my wish. I want to live the rest of my life in a big ol’ mansion! One of those really pretty ones in the… the architec… in that one cool style!”

“Ah! Sparkle, you can't say it! You'll jinx it!”

“How's the star supposed to hear you if you don't say it? Come on, Burst, tell it yours!”

“Um… Hehe…” The teal girl tapped her index fingers together. She was blushing heavily. “...I wish… That we could be together the rest of our lives too.”

“What?!” Shining Sparkle nearly fell off the broom with how shocked she was. “Burst! I can't believe you just wasted it like that! That was your one wish!”

“Um… But I really want it. I get so lonely when we're not magical girls and have to do all that boring school stuff. I just want to be with you even more.”

“Like you needed to wish on that! We're magical partners, aren't we? We'll always be together! Maybe not outside of our magic forms, but… Bah, who needs that! Maybe our contracts don't allow us to share our private info like that, but I'll still hang out with you every night! Don't you even think that's gonna change, Burst.” With a toothy grin, Sparkle stuck out her pinky finger.

“Hehe… You're right, huh? I don't need anything else to make my wish come true, because you always come through for me. Thank you, Sparkle.” She raised her pinky finger as well, locking them together in a pinky promise. Both girls giggled as they kicked their legs off the side of the broom, basking in the calming night air far above the smog of the city.

A busy week had passed before one strange night fell over the town. Shining Sparkle felt a creeping sense of dread that she couldn't wait to tell Shining Starburst about. How else was she supposed to get it off her chest? Only, Shining Starburst never showed up at their usual meeting spot. Shining Sparkle kicked rocks and traced stars with her finger for half an hour, but that feeling of dread was too much to keep waiting. Shining Sparkle had no leads, but she was extremely nosy. She called out to the sky in an irritated tone, resting her hands on her hips.

“Tell me where Starburst is! Come on already. I know you're listening!”

Out of the shadows, a strange swirl of light appeared before out jumped a bizarre creature. It was not a cat. It could only ever be understood as a cat, though. The entity languidly licked the back of an appendage, sitting atop the nearest brick wall.

“Yo. You called, meow?” It didn't speak, but the recipient of its attention could hear it nonetheless.

“Don't you ‘yo’ me, Ereta. You heard me! Where is Burst? She's never late! I'm getting worried.”

“Is ‘yo’ not what humans say? Besides, can't tell you, meow. Shining Starburst is a human right now. It'd be bad news if you bumped into her like she is. Go meet up with some other magical girls and go hunting with them. Do be a polite guest, meow.”

“Is Burst alright…? I don't wanna leave her if something bad's happening…”

“She's not gonna die, meow. It shouldn't take more than a few days at most before she can free herself.”

“Free herself?! So something bad is happening!”

“Aw crud. I blame telepathy. Just one stray thought, and… Meow. Fine, as your handler I can tell you where she is, if it'll get you to be quiet. You can go check on her, but don't do anything more than that. If she ever was gonna die, I'd jump in to save her, but I can already tell you it's not gonna happen. Quit worrying so much, meow. You'll just get white hairs that way.”

“Fine, I'll… try not to do anything rash. I just want to make sure she's safe.”

With an amused smirk, the entity known as Ereta pounced onto Shining Sparkle's shoulder, leaning in close to whisper in her ear. Her eyes went wide as she realized exactly where Shining Starburst was.

In the far west of the city, the only individual housing remained amidst a carefully curated greenery far beyond what most people could afford. Each home was a villa in and of itself, steadily growing larger and more extravagant the farther one went from the city proper. Nearing the edge was Emerald Lane, where the first house was an imposing Gothic mansion. It had high fencing all along the perimeter of the grounds with an intimidating row of spikes atop the whole thing. While it did nothing to slow down a flying magical girl, Shining Sparkle gulped nervously at the sight nonetheless.

Shining Sparkle moved slowly, carefully, peeking into each and every window she psssed by. The whole time, she kept hearing laughter erupting from the biggest, brightest room of them all. Carefully peering around the corner, her eyes went wide at the sight.

At the far side of the room from the window was a cage with a child in it. In the center of the room was a long table, covered in an equally long cloth and countless glasses and plates. Directly in the middle of that table was a dog, laid on its back, twitching intermittently. Its stomach was opened wide. Red gushy goop covered everything, while stringy bits of meat were pulled out by the reddened hands of cheerful masked guests. Every single one of their mouths were stained red, with a seemingly deliberate emphasis on not wiping their lips clean. The child, a little girl, was crying. A nearby old butler kept holding her arm and shaking her, compelling her to look at the scene before her.

Shining Sparkle couldn't believe her eyes. She shrieked loudly at the terrible sight, drawing the attention of all the guests. They stared up at her in unison, some losing their smiles while others gained theirs. Shining Sparkle flung herself to the side, still on her broom, trying to hide herself as if it were an option at this point. The moment of silence was broken by claps and cheers. Not long after, the old butler stuck his torso out of the window, looking up at the magical girl.

“My dear, do come inside. We've been expecting you!” The butler said, clasping his hands together.

“What? You're lying! There's no way you expected me!”

“Why, you're the guest of the hour! Don't doubt the lord's know-how with these sorts of things. Now, quit dilly-dallying and come inside! I'm certain you'll have all your questions answered.”

“Okay…” Dumbstruck, Shining Sparkle cautiously lowered herself to the window, hopping off her broom and landing feet-first on the marble tile floor. Her face was awash with shock and disgust. “What is going on here?!” she shouted, earning only chuckles from some of the masked guests.

“Why, my dear, it is a ritual!” announced a thin man in a wolf mask, taking a deep, theatrical bow. “For us lowly mortals to make contact with the elusive magical girls that you are. Little did I expect for two of you to join us tonight. I am Lord Clasp, at your service.”

“Two of us?” Shining Sparkle asked.

“Yes! Both your magnificent self along with your fellow magical girl over here.” He gestured over to the cage where the crying child sat.

“That's just a child! What are you thinking?! Let her go!” Shining Sparkle stomped her foot down.

“Ah, but she is a magical girl as well! Why, there has been reports of this girl mysteriously going missing every night, yet returning every morning without any explanation, never showing any degree of exhaustion. Sounds quite familiar, no?”

“Um… Uh… I don't know,” Shining Sparkle lied, poorly.

“Ahaha! The look on your face says it all! Besides, I had my men watching, and they confirmed that this girl left at dusk and returned at dawn, both times in the same distinctive outfit that you now wear. There is no doubt that she's a magical girl, but in spite of our best efforts, we have not been able to convince her to transform. That is why you see our little… performance here.”

“How is eating a dog supposed to do anything?! You people are insane! I should just break her out and escape with her at this point. I don't know why I'm still talking to you…”

“Ah, but wait! It is a performance, like I said. Look!” He pulled out one of the red, gooey pieces of meat, pouring water over it to wash off the muck. It came off instantly, revealing the goo to have been strawberry jam and the meat to have been ham. The twitching legs proved to be the result of induced vibration rather than actual twitching. “It was just a scare. Thought the girl would finally come around and transform before us then. She must have nerves of steel underneath all that crying, if she's really refusing such a simple request after all this time.”

“Magical girls can't transform in front of humans, stupid! You're just torturing her for no reason!”

“Mm, you say that, but… I know for a fact it has been done before. It is possible, even if you are just unwilling. If you want us to let go of this girl so badly, then you do it instead. All we need is a demonstration, not necessarily hers.”

“Nnn… No! I'm not doing it either. I'm taking Burst and leaving!” Shining Sparkle turned around, only to find that the little girl had a knife to her throat by the butler.

“Aha… I think that's not an option, dear,” Lord Clasp said. “I'm afraid we're at a bit of an impasse here. Charlene, could you give us a breather?” he asked, glancing at a nearby maid. She scampered off without a word.

“Just… let her go. Please!” Shining Sparkle begged. She lacked the maturity to do anything more.

“On one condition, girl. I've already told you what it is, and I'm not changing that condition. This only gets worse the longer you drag this on for.”

“I can't! And… I don't want Starburst to get hurt either.”

“I'm sure of that. Well, take a deep breath…” He coughed momentarily, reaching up to his mask. “...and consider your options.”

A strange cup-like device connected to the mask covered Lord Clasp's mouth and nose. Around him, other guests followed suit with their own masks. Everyone was coughing until they had those cups over their faces. The butler holding the little girl had his face turning red as he seemed to be holding his breath. The little girl was not so stoic. She was coughing her lungs out, each time growing weaker and limper in his arms. Shining Sparkle was no different. She coughed and sputtered as she lost her footing. Before she hit the ground, she found herself caught by Lord Clasp's arms.

The world went dark, but Shining Sparkle had no dreams. The darkness seemed to stretch on endlessly, always with muffled sounds that she could never make out. With what little senses she had, she muttered “Starburst…” intermittently. Her friend was nowhere to be found in the abyss. The only thing surrounding her in that darkness was that sense of dread, now made manifest yet still impossible to see.

When Shining Sparkle awoke, it was with the serenade of furiously barking dogs. Her head throbbed with a thunderous headache. She tried to lift a hand to her head, but her arm was stuck, bound by iron restraints. Ones she could easily break as a magical girl, yet while passed out, she had transformed back into a normal child, in the pyjamas she was wearing. Her broom was nowhere to be found.

“Ah, look! Starburst, was it? Your friend is finally waking up! Good, now we can put an end to this farce,” Lord Clasp said, delighted.

“Ugh, my head… What's going on? Why do I hear barking?” Shining Sparkle clutched her head. The barking sounded like it was right next to her, on the other side of a wooden fence. She could see Lord Clasp on the far end of the room as her, but his hand was holding something on the opposite side of the fence, the same side as the dogs.

“Oh, don't you mind them one bit. Actually, maybe you should mind them. Those dogs haven't been fed since our little Starburst first was brought to the manor this morning. They're quite peckish, you see! Now, if I see either of you transform, or both of you preferably, these dogs will be fed the finest of steaks. But if five minutes pass and you both keep refusing my simple request, they'll be released from their chains… You see, Starburst here is right in their line of sight.” He lifted Shining Starburst to her feet, making sure Sparkle could see her. “We did not actually eat dog during our dinner, but I wonder if the hounds would offer us the same courtesy? Or better yet, do you really want to find out?”

“What in the world is wrong with you?! Why does this matter so much?! You're just stupid, stupid, stupid!” Sparkle was already getting tears in her eyes. From what she could hear, Starburst was going through the same. “I already turned back into a human when I passed out. That counts! Let us go already!”

“If it counts, then surely you can transform before me again. No? Not going to do it? Then I guess it really doesn't count for you either.”

“Just let her go…” Starburst pulled on Lord Clasp's arm to get his attention. “It's me you want, not her. So let Sparkle go already!”

“Ah, so her name is Sparkle is it? Shining Sparkle, no? What an interesting name. They really do recycle names among you girls, I see. Well, change of plans. Shining Sparkle, you now have to be the one to transform. I want only you.”

“What?! Why?!” Sparkle squirmed where she sat.

“Because it wouldn't be the first time I've seen a magical girl named Shining Sparkle transform. Your appearance might differ greatly, but… yes, that name is familiar indeed. Ahaha… Hahahaha!” Lord Clasp chuckled for a few seconds, then he threw his head back in maddened laughter.

“There was… another Sparkle before…?” Starburst frowned heavily as she tried to make sense of it.

“Don't listen to him, Burst. He's crazy! We'll be able to find a way out of this, I just know it!”

“Crazy? Oh, crazy like a fox, perhaps!” With dramatic flair, Lord Clasp grabbed his wolf mask and threw it aside, revealing himself to be one of the top business leaders in the city. To both of the little girls, though, his reveal meant nothing. He was just some man. “You want to know why it matters so much? Because the last Shining Sparkle, I knew her well. She was my sister!”

“No way! I'm the only Sparkle around here. You're lying if you say there's anyone else!” Sparkle glared at the man.

“You may be the only one today, but that name was used many years ago. When both me and my sister were children, we were all each other had. Inseparable, we completed each other. Then one day, she became chosen as a magical girl. I found out about it when she mysteriously kept disappearing at night and returning in the morning. Then one day, I refused to leave her room until she told me what was going on. She not only revealed her identity, but also transformed right before my eyes. It was such a dazzling sight. I was so proud of her. Then one day, she left and never came back. She was declared missing and no one ever heard from her again. I've spent many years hoping for any evidence, but I never found any. You magical girls may be active every night, but you're so dratted elusive to actually speak with like this…”

“You forced her to transform in front of you…?” Starburst cautiously asked.

“You stupid man! You can't do that! That's why she must have disappeared.” Sparkle was far more reckless with her own conclusion.

“Silence!” Lord Clasp slammed his fist against the wall hard enough that the sound alone made even the dogs quiet down. “I will not tolerate such slander! It simply isn't true! She transformed in front of me and nothing happened for a long time. If I can't find out what happened to her, at the very least one of you can transform in front of me again and prove that it doesn't kill you. I'm not the reason my sister died! That's why I need you to prove it once and for all!”

“...It doesn't happen instantly, Lord Clasp.” Starburst was the first to speak. “We get evaluations done now and then. That must have been when she was removed from being a magical girl.”

“She would've known that too! But it's not like it would kill her… I mean, I hear it hurts a lot to get fired from this if you break your contract, but that doesn't mean it's why she disappeared. Maybe something else happened?” Sparkle tapped on her chin.

“She must have really liked you too if she was willing to transform in front of you… Maybe you didn't force her. Maybe she did it on her own.” Starburst stared up sympathetically at the man. “It sounds like you both were really close. Close enough she didn't even consider the consequences. She just wanted to show off to you and make you happy. That's what being a magical girl is all about. Bringing happiness to people. I think that's what she was trying to do with you too, and she didn't notice she was making a big mistake.”

“She can't… She can't have thrown it all away just for me… I'm not at fault here! And she would never have ran away like that! Surely it's… it's the magical girls’ fault! All of you were the ones who put her in danger, fighting monsters every night! Yes, that's right… You're all to blame, not me!”

“Oh, can it already! If you actually felt you were innocent, you wouldn't be so obsessed over pointing fingers at other people!” Sparkle snapped at Lord Clasp in a heartbeat.

“Would I? She was my everything… Even all these years later, no one has filled the hole in my heart that she left… Aha… haha…” His laughter was broken by intermittent sobbing. Neither of the girls knew what to say.

“...Actually, you know what I just realized?” Lord Clasp wiped his tears away. “It's been five minutes, and you still haven't done as I ask.” He walked to the side, placing his hand on a metal button. “I warned you what that means…”

“Wait!” “No!” Both girls shouted at the same time.

With a maniacal grin, Lord Clasp slammed his hand down on the button, loudly releasing the dogs from their metal restraints. They immediately leapt to their feet, barking voraciously. They did not run towards Starburst, however. They both leapt over the fence right on top of Sparkle, whose scent was far closer to them this whole time. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, trying in vain to block the dogs as they began to growl and nip at her.

“Sparkle, no!” In an instant, Shining Starburst flashed in a rainbow light, morphing from her normal form to that of a proper magical girl. She shot beams from her hand at her own restraints, breaking them instantly, before flying across the room to Sparkle. She grabbed each dog one at a time, forcing them to let go of Sparkle before throwing them to the side. Both canines darted towards her again before being blasted with a low-powered beam from her hand, sending them flying into the wall. Neither dog was bleeding nor did they have any burn marks. They were rendered motionless aside from their soft breathing.

“Sparkle, oh my gosh! You're bleeding! You're all chewed up!” Shining Starburst blasted away Sparkle's restraints, holding her closely in her arms. Sparkle had a lot of bite marks on her arms and legs, but none were particularly deep.

“Ha! Hahaha! There, a transformation! See, see?! It can be done! Now you too, Shining Sparkle. Now, now!” Lord Clasp sounded almost like a little boy again.

“Quiet! Sparkle is hurt. I need to get her to a hospital!” Shining Starburst manifested her broom beside her, looking every which way for an exit from the dingy basement.

“Wait, wait! Won't her transforming make all her wounds go away? Just look at your own wounds, already gone! Please, just do it already… Don't make all of my time be wasted!” The man was staggering towards them. A crazed look took his face as he pathetically begged the children.

“You wasted your time yourself, meow.” Out of the blue, an entity that is not a cat appeared atop the fence, sticking one appendage out to stop Lord Clasp from taking a step farther. “Then again, Sparkle did as well. I told her not to get involved, but what can you do? A fool always meets a fool's fate, meow.”

“Ereta, you're here!” Shining Starburst lit up in relief as their handler showed up.

“Took you long enough…” grumbled Sparkle, covering her wounds.

“I said I would step in before either of you died, not before either of you got some tiny flesh wounds. I would've stopped the mutts before they did anything lethal, meow.” The entity stretched languidly.

“You… What are you…?” Lord Clasp stared in reverent awe at Ereta.

“I'm the girls' handler. You really gave them a rough time, but it doesn't matter to me as long as they survived, meow. Any major injuries wouldn't apply to their magical girl forms, and being bedridden might keep them out of trouble for a while. Fine by me.”

“Were you… the handler of my sister too? The old Shining Sparkle? Is she… alive?” He gazed up at the entity. While atop the fence, it towered over him.

“Yes, yes, no. There's been a lot of Shining Sparkles over the years, and I've handled them all. She must have been one of them. Can't say I remember any of them past a decade or so ago.”

“She… died? But why? What happened? Was it… for a good cause? What was my sister even fighting for?!”

“I already said I don't remember, meow. But I can answer the last part. She was like every other magical girl. She fought for the heart of the city. Every single one of you should be more grateful, but it doesn't matter to me much. We handlers don't need mankind's permission anymore.”

“What does that mean? The heart of the city?! Tell me what she died for!” His face turned red, while his breathing grew shallow.

“Don't get that tone of voice with me, meow. It's exactly what it sounds like. The heart is where all hopes and dreams are made. It's the collective desires of everyone who lives in the city. You see, you notice how every city is next to water? Rivers, lakes, oceans, and all that. We were originally water spirits, but as cities grew to be as large as they are in modern times, a lot of us water spirits adapted to be urban spirits. There's a lot of spiritual energy you humans make, meow. Gives a lot more sustenance for us than fish ever did, but you're all so nasty you end up making monsters as well. So we take some of that spiritual energy, find pure souls that can handle it, and they use that power to take care of all of your spirit monsters. Way more efficient than doing it all ourselves every night, meow.”

“Wait, then… Why is it always girls like us? You never told me that part before, Ereta,” Shining Starburst said.

“I just said it takes pure souls, meow. You're the most innocent kind of humans. We give it to adults, and they just end up getting passionate and causing trouble. We give it to little boys, and… I mean some of them are fine, but there's a lot more troublemakers to sift through. It takes far less scrutiny picking out little girls that can do their jobs right, out of all humans. You see, spiritual energy is all emotions. Not just love and happiness. People's rage, their greed, their lust, their hunger, their madness. The more aware someone is about those things, the more they'll be affected by being given this much spiritual energy. You know how many people's hopes and dreams are some very sick stuff? Actually, it's better you don't know. Ignorance is bliss, meow.”

“So she just got unlucky to be randomly picked… My dear sister… Still, you've proven to me that it wasn't my fault! Her transforming in front of me had nothing to do with her death! Ahaha!” Lord Clasp raised his arms to the ceiling in rapture.

“Ah, right I was just getting to that.” The entity didn't look at anybody. It only licked its appendage nonchalantly.

“Huh?” The man's celebration was cut short.

“On behalf of the handlers, I hereby judge you, Shining Starburst, guilty of breaking the rules of your contract. Normally I'd wait til our next evaluation, but since you're right here, that's a summary execution.” A contract appeared out of thin air. Ereta tore it in half without any hesitation.

“Wh—?!” Starburst immediately found herself back in her human form. All traces of being a magical girl were gone. The real problem, though, was in her chest. Something snapped in half. It was her heart. She could only scream for a second before the pain took even that away from her.

“As for you, human… There's no real rule about it, but since you caused the death of two magical girls now, I feel you've earned some punishment. Can't have humans running around free as recidivists. Consider this waste disposal.” With a tap of its appendage against the fence, the ground beneath Lord Clasp gave way. It was not a mouth that he was dragged into, but it was full of mouths. Moaning, groaning, gnashing, crunching. They were loud to begin with, and soon they drowned out his wailing until nothing remained. As the last trace of him faded from view, the ground closed up with no signs of the many mouths.

“Burst… Burst! What happened? Are you okay? Stay with me. Please…” Sparkle's attention was kept on her friend after the horrific sight faded from view. She embraced the former magical girl, hovering her face just inches from the other's.

“Ah… this… this is how it ends?” Starburst was struggling to breathe. Her voice was just above a whisper. "I didn't think... about this... I just saw you in trouble, and I already went to save you before I realized it..."

"There has to be something we can do! I don't know what's wrong, but we can get you to a hospital! Just hold on Burst!"

“...Hey Sparkle… My real name… it's Botan. I really want you to know that... since we never got to share names before. What's… yours?” She kept her eyes locked with Sparkle's. All distress on Starburst's face faded into an eerie calmness.

“What…?” Dazed by the odd request, Sparkle slowly responded. “My name is… it's Sakura.”

“Hehe… It's nice to finally meet you… Sakura…” Botan closed her eyes. Her lips held a soft smile, as if to say ‘see you later’. Her breathing soon stopped, and her face lost all color. Her eyes would never open again.

“No. No… Burst… Botan…!” Tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks. She turned towards the entity, shouting. “Ereta! Do something! We have to save her!”

“Not gonna happen. All that talk of hearts wasn't just a metaphor. When the contract was torn in half, her heart physically was torn too. It's nothing any human could recover from, hospital or no.”

“No, she… she can't be…” Sakura's sobbing grew worse. “Don't tell me she's actually going to die…”

“She's already dead. Nothing you can do about it. Now quit crying already, it doesn't do any good. Let's get going before trouble starts brewing in this mansion. We'll find you another partner soon.” The entity turned to walk away.

“I can't I can't just leave her like this! Burst was my best friend…”

“Fine, be that way. I'll give you the rest of the night off if you're really gonna cry your eyes out. I've got other things to do.”

“You don't understand! I can't go on living without her…” Sakura grasped her friend's corpse, pulling it into a pitiable embrace.

“...” Ereta sat back down, still not turning to face the girl. “You know, maybe you're right. You're going to be a real hassle to deal with, and it's not like you're such a great magical girl that it's worth dealing with all that. I'm already going to be scouting one girl, so what's one more? Tell you what, if you get over this, shout for me again and I'll get you out of here quietly. And if you can't get over it, well…” A contract manifested itself, landing on Sakura's chest. It had her own signature on it. “...I'm sure you'll know what to do.”

With that, the entity walked away, disappearing into a strange swirl of light once more. Sakura stared down at the contract for a long time. It was something she was so excited for, when she was chosen all those months ago. She was so grumpy when she learned she had to work with a partner, but before she knew it, she couldn't imagine being a magical girl without Shining Starburst. She couldn't imagine anything in a world without her. All she could imagine was that this was how Lord Clasp must have felt this whole time. He showed her what trying to live on was going to do to her.

She held the contract tight in one hand as she turned to the side. She adjusted Botan's arms so they'd be wrapped around her torso, and that her own would also stay holding the other girl. With all that done, she closed her eyes, forced her own soft smile, and took the contract in both hands.

“...It's nice to meet you too, Botan.”

Sakura tore the contract in half.