Dusk

"Dusk" is the second episode of StarLight. It was written and published as part of Project 20:15, and was later posted to FictionPress and SparkaTale in seven instalments between 25 May and 6 July 2015. The episode follows directly on from the first episode, "Dawn", but is noticeably more serious in tone.

"Dusk" depicts the fallout from White Star's debut during the climax of "Dawn", before centering on Amaya as she discovers another Emblem in a junkyard. Driven by anger, jealousy, and a desire for attention, Amaya becomes the villainous Black Star and is drawn into conflict with White Star, with neither magical girl realizing that the other is their best friend. The episode also expands on Kousen's origins.

Plot
The day after White Star destroyed a sea monster that was attacking Mitsuzawa, the world is rife with speculation regarding the incident, while White Star has picked up a significant following on the Internet. Arriving at school that day, Sanae and Amaya discover that White Star is the sole topic of discussion: Sanae is slightly creeped out, while Amaya seems rather jealous, and the pair find solace in each other's dislike of the constant speculation. At lunchtime, Kazuo publicly - and correctly - accuses Sanae of being White Star; having been told by Kousen not to reveal her identity, she manages to shrug the accusation off.

When Amaya arrives home that afternoon, the source of her jealousy becomes clear: her mother is a video gaming fanatic who pays no attention to her, and her father walked out having had enough of his wife's addiction. Amaya goes for a walk through the local junkyard and comes across a strange artifact lodged in a junk pile; she tugs it free, but falls over and hits her head. When she wakes up, she finds that her clothing has transformed, and that there is a strange winged woman sitting on a junk pile in front of her.

After Amaya buys the winged woman dinner, she reveals herself to be a youkai named Kage. When Amaya asks how Kage came to be traped in the Emblem, Kage claims that she had travelled to Earth with a friend in order to protect humanity, only for the population to grow complacent and start treating her like a slave. When Kage tried to object, her friend then turned on her and sealed her inside her own Emblem. Motivated by the desire to avenge Kage, and to usurp White Star's attention, Amaya decides to become the villainous Black Star and wreak havoc in the city.

After witnessing Black Star's attack on the news, a horrified Kousen reveals to Sanae that she and Kage had once fought together, only for Kage to turn against humanity as she felt they had become ungrateful. The two had ultimately come to blows and Kousen had been forced to seal Kage away inside her Emblem, before sealing herself away in order to recover from her injuries. She warns Sanae that the new Black Star will be a powerful foe, but Sanae is confident of victory, and rushes off to confront the villain.

Sure enough, Black Star soon proves to be a formidable opponent, tricking White Star by whispering her attack names or giving them misleading names. White Star manages to hold out, however, and the two ultimately resort to unleashing their respective Star Beam attacks. The beams cancel each other out, and after four hours, the pair reluctantly decide to call it a day, vowing to settle the score next time. The following day, Sanae and Amaya discuss the battle, not realizing that they had been fighting each other.

Cultural references

 * At one stage, the infamous Rule 34 is mentioned.
 * Both Sailor Moon and Goku are mentioned during the episode, with regards to whether White Star would beat them. The latter discussion turns into a lengthy critique of Sailor Moon Crystal.
 * When Kazuo confronts Sanae about being White Star, he brandishes a granola bar, mistaking it for a tape recorder. This is a reference to snack company Nature Valley, who in 2014 began superimposing their granola bars into scenes from various anime, sparking a Photoshop meme.
 * One of the people Amaya swears revenge against is "that guy at GameStop who refused to sell [her] Black Ops 2", referring to a 4chan meme.
 * The shonen anime characters who spend three episodes shouting each others' names back and forth are named Kenshiro and Jotaro, parodying Fist of the North Star and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure respectively.
 * When White Star confronts Black Star, she proclaims, "Stop right there, criminal scum!", a reference to the video game Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
 * On two separate occasions during the climactic battle, an overweight otaku appears only to be chewed out by White Star and Black Star; he then runs away with his arms trailing behind his back, mimicking the iconic running stance of Naruto Uzumaki.

Reception
The episode was well-received by critics.