Capitulo Treinta y Uno
Capitulo Treinta y Uno
Careful Planning
Starrk felt his second thoughts were warranted when he looked at the contraption his forelegs were strapped onto, as with the weird helmet resting on his head. He had to count himself lucky the position he was in wasn't entirely uncomfortable. He looked over at a snickering Rainbow Dash standing next to Spike, who looked rather curious for his own part as they all stood in Twilight's basement, which basically doubled as a laboratory with many working machines surrounding them.
Twilight was busy connecting wires to both the helmet Starrk was wearing and the contraption he was resting on. She then proceeded to turn on another machine the former espada had no knowledge of.
"Okay, now we can begin." Twilight said as she watched some paper roll out with a red line in a varying zigzag pattern. Starrk deduced that the line represented the intensity of his power. Twilight scanned the readings so far for herself, and was shocked "Wow! I just connected you to my magic reader and you're already showing intense magic power in the results!"
Loathe as he was to admit, Starrk still had trouble coping with the fact that his reiatsu was now being referred to as magic in his new home.
"Doesn't surprise me, what with Starrk taking down Cerberus with that cero of his." Rainbow Dash said.
"I keep missing those battles because of Twilight wanting me to stay inside the library." Spike pouted "What does a cero look like anyways?"
"Just this awesome blue beam that's super huge!" Rainbow Dash explained ecstatically.
"This is amazing. According to these readings..." Twilight scanned the paper diligently as it collected in a tray "Coyote just might be as powerful, if not moreso than the princesses!"
"Are you done yet?" Starrk asked unenthusiastically "I figured you have all the data you need."
"Not exactly." Twilight said as she approached Starrk "I at least need to get a good reading on Lilynette, since she's technically a part of you."
"That'd be hard to do unless Starrk coaxes her into it. You know that, right?" Spike said "Besides, that filly can be kinda scary." He flinched when he remembered Starrk was in the laboratory as well "No offense."
"None taken. Lilynette can be rambunctious if left unchecked." Starrk said nonchalantly "I'm sure she'll behave around Dinky." He looked over at Twilight "You might as well let it slide, since she basically is less powerful than me."
"But I can't just ignore a proper study like this. You understand, don't you?" Twilight asked.
"Not really. I'm not all for this science stuff." Starrk said as he tried to shift in a more comfortable position from where he stood. He decided to rest his chin on the machine, which was expectedly cold to the touch.
"Well, if you must know, Coyote, science can be very serious business if one looks into it well enough..." Much to Starrk's chagrin, he was now forced to listen to a lecture deemed entirely unimportant to him. As Twilight continued talking with her eyes closed, the former espada had trouble following what she was saying. He looked over at Rainbow Dash and Spike to see tired expressions of their own.
'Dammit...' Starrk was tempted to break the cuffs on his hooves so he could move around, but between Twilight's rambling and the position he was in, he found himself gradually willing himself to take a cat nap. It wasn't long until his own eyes were closed and sleep took over him as he snored lightly. Spike noticed Starrk's disregard towards Twilight's lecture and decidedly stopped her by nudging her side.
"Twilight, as much as I don't mind you expressing your passion for science, you kind of lost Starrk." He pointed at his sleeping form, which shocked Twilight. A part of her was cross with Starrk for actually sleeping during her lecture, but then she realized that she was possibly lost in her own words.
"Great. Now he's asleep again." Rainbow Dash said bitterly. Though she wasn't happy on the outside, she inwardly thought about being granted a second chance somehow and tried to act calm "Don't worry. I'll try to wake him up."
"U-Um, actually, I-..." Twilight said, appearing oddly shy and embarrassed, much to Rainbow Dash's and Spike's confusion "I do recall Derpy telling me how to wake Coyote up while we were repairing Ponyville, but, perhaps we can give him a couple of minutes?" She offered with a grin.
"I say just go ahead and wake him up, rather than wait for him." Spike said "How do you do it, anyways?" He asked curiously. Twilight gulped before she looked over at Starrk, a light blush forming on her cheeks.
'I really shouldn't do this...' Twilight thought to herself, but then she took a deep breath and approached Starrk and stared at his sleeping form for a small moment before she clenched her eyes and neared her face towards him and met her muzzle with his in a soft kiss. Needless to say, Rainbow Dash and Spike were slackjawed.
Twilight found the task to be difficult at first, but she slowly eased into it as she persisted. She rarely ever kissed anypony other than her parents, brother, or Spike, but those were all on the cheek. Her clenched eyes eased up to a more content expression as they remained closed. Twilight's left ear twitched when she heard a soft moan from Starrk's mouth.
Both Twilight's and Starrk's eyes slowly opened to view each other before shooting wide open, the former's face becoming red as a cherry. Twilight instantly pulled away and retreated towards Rainbow Dash and Spike.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Was all that came out of her mouth as she faced away from Starrk and hid her face with a hoof.
"Well, that happened." Spike said as he waddled over to Starrk and undid the cuffs on his forehooves "You should probably go. I think Twilight's day's been made from this."
"Good enough for me." Starrk replied bitterly after he rubbed his lips with a foreleg. He caught a brief look at Twilight, who kept her face hidden "Is she gonna be alright?"
"Eh, give it some time. She'll come around eventually, but I doubt she'd forget this." Spike said with a chuckle. He was unaware of the scowl Rainbow Dash wore as she looked away from her friends.
"In that case, we'll take our leave." Starrk looked over at Rainbow Dash "Hey, Rainbow Dash. Are you coming?"
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash said, brought out of her sulking "Oh yeah, sure..." Starrk and Rainbow Dash proceeded up the stairs and out of the basement door into the lobby, where they exited to the front door and took to the skies.
Spike waddled up to the open door with Twilight following behind him, both looking up at the pegasi leaving the library, although the latter was slightly unsettled with her earlier action.
"I'm kinda jealous of Starrk actually having to wake up to that." Spike said before rubbing his chin with a pensive smile "I wonder if I could get Rarity to do that to me..." He murmured to himself.
"Spike..." The purple dragon flinched, thinking Twilight had heard him and was about to reprimand him for his thoughts, hanging his head in shame.
"Is it bad if-..." Twilight continued neutrally, then looked away in embarrassment as she rubbed her left foreleg with her right hoof "Is it bad if I liked waking up Starrk like that?"
Spike perked up, surprised by both the question and the fact that it came out of nowhere. He looked over at Twilight, almost at a loss for an answer. Before he could speak to her, he heard approaching hoofbeats and looked away from her to see somepony approach the library "Hey, isn't that Zecora?"
Both Twilight and Spike looked over to see that it was indeed Zecora, although her expression was one of shock and dread as galloped forward as if her life depended on it. When she reached the library, she skidded to a halt and caught her breath.
"Zecora? What's wrong? It isn't like you to be this frantic." Twilight said, growing unsettled by Zecora's sudden appearance as she faced her and Spike.
"The guards around Ponyville have slowed my pace,
But that's not important, now that I'm at your place.
Our worries have risen. There's no time left.
I've been a victim of a heinous theft."
"Wait, seriously? Who could possibly steal from you of all ponies?" Spike asked "Unless somepony were desperate for one of your potions, I don't see a reason why."
"What exactly has been stolen from your hut, Zecora?" Twilight asked. Zecora's eyes furrowed as she bore a serious gaze.
"It's worse than the troubles we've already met.
I'm without the Alicorn Amulet."
Spike and Twilight gasped as their eyes widened. If there was an item that they remembered, the Alicorn Amulet was one of incredible power.
"But we kept it hidden ever since Twilight saved Ponyville from Trixie! Who would do such a thing?" Spike hissed, growing nervous as he looked out into town at the many passing ponies.
"I don't know, but now we know that the situation's grown worse." Twilight said, growing serious herself as she looked down at Spike "Spike, I need you to go inside and contact Princess Celestia immediately. Tell her about the situation at hoof." Twilight shifted her head towards Zecora "You might as well come inside with us, Zecora. We're gonna have to give it all we got with some careful planning." Zecora nodded.
"A sound strategy would make for an excellent boon
That would save us all from certain doom."
After Zecora was invited into the library, Twilight shut the door, but not without looking around outside first.
_____
"I thank you both for coming here on such short notice." Celestia said politely as she sat at her chair in a conference room "As you already know from our letter, we wished to discuss a matter of utmost importance with you two."
The two guests smiled politely at Celestia and Luna as they stood inside the throne room.There was a light pink alicorn that was smaller than both Celestia and Luna. Her mane was multicolored with purple, magenta, and yellow strands, and she had a cutie mark resembling a crystallized heart. Next to her was a white and muscular unicorn stallion with a blue mane and tail, as well as a shield cutie mark.
"It's no trouble at all, Celestia. Everypony at the Crystal Empire is doing well enough for Shining Armor and I to come see you." The alicorn replied "But what is it you wished to talk with us about?"
"Cadence. Shining Armor. You're both aware of the dangers of dark magic, correct?" Luna spoke up, grabbing their attention. Shining Armor shuddered as he rubbed his horn.
"Do we ever. It's a good thing Twilight and her friends came by just in time." Shining Armor stopped rubbing his horn and tilted his head "Is this a matter related to it?"
"Correct." Celestia nodded "I don't know if this may concern you entirely, but for the past couple of days, Ponyville has been met with three different attacks based around dark magic, one of which involved possessing Cerberus and damaging the town." Cadence and Shining Armor grew tense.
"Is this true? Was anypony hurt?" Cadence asked out of concern.
"If that fiend harmed Twilight..." Shining Armor muttered dangerously.
"Thankfully, no, but that doesn't change the fact that we're met with a dangerous enemy capable of throwing all of Ponyville into disarray through dark magic." Celestia said before giving a thin smile "What eases our current situation is a new pair of ponies that have recently been welcomed by Ponyville, both of which incredibly strong."
"Really?" Cadence said as she smiled as well "That's wonderful. Who are they?"
"Believe it or not, these two ponies are actually one being split a part." Luna said "What adds to this abnormality is that they're not even from this world."
"So where are they from exactly? Did they tell you?" Shining Armor asked "And did you actually see them for yourself?"
"Indeed, both Luna and I have, although we visited them at different times." Celestia replied "Luna had the opportunity to see them fuse together into an alicorn."
"They are known as Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerback respectively, hailing from a foreign realm known as Hueco Mundo. They were responsible for saving Ponyville twice in the time they spent there." Luna said "But now that we've briefed you on that matter, we must focus on the matter at hoof: How to approach this mysterious assailant."
"Right. But what can we do right now? We barely have much information on this mystery foe other than when they attacked Ponyville." Shining Armor said matter-of-factly "What else is there to point out?" Celestia looked to the white unicorn.
"Well, from what we know, Cerberus' attack on Ponyville was the first out of the three. Luna made sure to round up her night guards and survey the gates of Tartarus."
"The next was an attack on the townsfolk later on that day, and then some wildlife the day after." Luna added "I currently have my night guard patrolling Ponyville, but there hasn't been any activity since."
"If that were true, then could this whole thing have possibly started from Tartarus?" Cadence asked before looking down pensively "There was no problems prior to that day, and Cerberus being possessed out of the blue seems too suspicious for words."
"I doubt any secondary surveillance around the gates would prove beneficial to us." Luna said as she joined Cadence in thinking "Although, Cadence does raise a point on the matter. Could our foe perhaps be an escapee from Tartarus?"
"But then that would mean we could be in more danger than we realize." Celestia said grimly. Before she could address the problem further, a green flame appeared in front of the solar princess, followed by a wrapped scroll. Taking it with her magic, she unraveled the parchment and read its contents to herself before she widened her eyes, stifling a gasp.
"Sister, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Luna asked, catching onto Celestia's reaction to the letter. Celestia faced the other royal figures with a frown.
"Apparently, the situation has grown worse under our noses. There is word that the Alicorn Amulet has been stolen." Celestia informed. Luna herself was shocked while Cadence and Shining Armor were confused.
"That malevolent relic still exists!? If it were to get into the wrong hooves..." Luna said as she silently contemplated a plethora of dreadful scenarios involving the amulet.
"Sorry if I sound slow, but what's the Alicorn Amulet?" Shining Armor asked "I haven't really heard much about it in my time."
"It is an artifact of an evil sort, capable of granting a pony incredible and growing power at the cost of their mind giving way to corruption." Celestia explained "We'll have to act quickly; we need to give Twilight and her friends the Elements of Harmony quickly."
"I'll go acquire them and depart for Ponyville post haste." Luna said in determination.
"Actually, do you think we could join you?" Cadence asked "As serious as this situation is, I wish to see Coyote and Lilynette for myself."
"If Cadence is going, then so am I." Shining Armor added before smiling "I wanna see them, too, and it'd be nice to catch up with Twilight while keeping an eye out."
"Very well, but I must warn you two to be careful. Remember, this isn't so much a social call as it is delivering much needed assistance." Celestia said "Exercise caution when you reach Ponyville." Shining Armor saluted the solar princess.
"You have my word as a royal guard, Princess." He responded valiantly.
"I'll be sure to do so as well." Cadence said with a firm nod.
"Good. Between these attacks and what awaits us in the future, there's no telling what could happen were we to make the wrong move." Celestia said as she watched Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor leave the throne room.
'Could it be...? No...' Celestia thought to herself as she shook her head and trotted over towards the balcony, looking down at Canterlot and its posh citizens. She could only dread another harsh battle in the future. Celestia decided to write back to Twilight as she levitated a parchment and quill to her side.
_____
Later that day, Dinky and Lilynette sat together outside with their lunches. They were at least content with the fact that Sparkler made them both food before they left, but despite that, Dinky couldn't help but feel troubled as she finished a bite of her sandwich. Lilynette looked over at her with an uncovered eye.
"What's bothering you right now? Is the lunch not that good or something?" She asked.
"No, the lunch is fine..." Dinky replied, albeit downcast.
"So what's wrong? You've been acting like this since we left, and I wanna know why." Lilynette said sternly "We're sisters, remember? We can't keep stuff away from each other."
"Y-Yeah, you're right." Dinky said, feeling slightly guilty before she took a deep breath "I'm kinda worried about Sparkler."
"Why? She seemed fine to me." Lilynette said.
"But she's acted so differently this morning, and even her magic is different, too." Dinky replied.
"Wait, that actually matters? What's so different about Sparkler's magic anyhow?"
"Sparkler taught me that whenever a unicorn does magic, they produce an aura with a familiar color." Dinky placed a hoof near her eye "Sometimes, it's the color of somepony's eyes, their coat, or their cutie mark." She then frowned "But Sparkler's magic wasn't familiar at all. Her magic is purple, but today, it was red."
"Huh...When you put it like that, it does sound kind of weird." Lilynette pondered for a moment before she perked up "Wait a second...You think some kind of imposter might've kidnapped Sparkler while we weren't looking?"
"Umm...I don't think that's it, but-"
"I'll bet it's that stupid dark magic user!" Lilynette said, hopping up on all fours with an angry gaze as her horn lit up, startling Dinky "I swear, if I ever see that coward's face, they're dead meat!"
"Ew, what's all this talk about meat?"
Lilynette's anger was lessened when he heard a voice speak up, and both her and Dinky noticed the Cutie Mark Crusaders approaching them with their own lunches. Scootaloo was seen with a grimace.
"Seriously, what's up with you today, Lilynette?" Scootaloo asked.
"I hope you're not still sore about getting that answer wrong in math class today." Sweetie Belle said "It happens with the best of us. Nopony's perfect."
"No, it's not that." Lilynette said, calming down as she sat herself down next to Dinky "I'm just angry about that dark magic user skulking about..." Lilynette raised her forehooves and hit them together "I wanna destroy whoever's responsible for kidnapping Sparkler."
"But sis, I said I don't think that's it." Dinky spoke up before smiling "But I'm glad you care about Sparkler as much as I do."
"Ah don't blame ya about not bein' able t' do somethin' about this." Applebloom said as she and her friends sat down with the two other fillies and opened their lunches "If only we had powers like th' Elements o' Harmony."
"I know, right? Then we'd give whoever's scaring everypony a run for their money!" Scootaloo cheered before she bit down on a sandwich of her own.
"Hey, Lilynette!"
Lilynette perked up at the call of her name, and looked behind her to see Pipsqueak carrying a lunchbox on his back, a chipper smile on his face. She stifled a flinch as she tried not to get worked up by his sudden appearance.
"Is it alright if I eat with you?" Pipsqueak asked "I figured you wanna hang out more." Lilynette stared before she scowled and looked down at her food.
"Fine, but try not to make it weird, okay? We're just eating lunch..." Lilynette responded harshly. Pipsqueak recoiled before smiling sheepishly.
"Thanks." He said as he set down his lunchbox and sat around with the other fillies. The crusaders traded looks before grinning at Pipsqueak and Lilynette sitting together. Dinky only smiled kindly at the newest addition to their group.
"So, about the whole dark magic thing..." Sweetie Belle piped up "Do you really think our sisters, the princesses, or Starrk will stop whoever's doing it in time?"
"Why wouldn't they? They've saved Equestria plenty of times!" Scootaloo said proudly "Besides, I'll bet whoever's behind all those attacks won't know what hit them once that happens!"
_____
Sparkler trotted along the town, carefully scanning her surroundings and the many night guards in her vision. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the current disadvantage in her plan.
Considering the amount of power drawn from last night at the cost of some sleep, she could handle this easily if need be, but it would mean drawing unwanted attention to herself in the mix. She needed more time before her plan would come to fruition.
'There's barely an open area for me to sap more magic from the amulet unless I'm to coop myself up back at that austere den.' Sparkler thought to herself as she continued to trot 'I need to find myself another distraction worthy of their attention, but what?' Sparkler then looked over to the distant image of Canterlot, squinting her eyes at at the castle hanging from the mountains.
'Once I'm at full power, I'll make sure to return the favor to those so-called princesses before taking back my throne. I'm nearly done with my power absorption, but it's not enough...' Sparkler's gaze then spotted a speck in the air near the castle that was growing in size and headed towards Ponyville. After catching a better glimpse at what was approaching, Sparkler could only grin deviously at the oncoming sight.
"Perfect..."
To be continued...
Poor Twilight...Or should I say Rainbow Dash 
Let me tell you, sometimes, I wish I could just try and get my muse working full blast like the good old days. It's hard to be consistent this time around 
Expect big things to happen in the next chapter. Who knows? Maybe Starrk would actually spend time with Big Macintosh once his shift's over 
Enjoy the chapter. Peace! 
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And so the harem grows... Which isn't necessarily a good thing. Haremfics have never been very appealing to me. Hopefully Stark ends up choosing one in the end and the other mares back off.
"Cadence. Shining Armor. You're both aware of the dangers of dark magic, correct?" Luna spoke up, grabbing their attention. Shining Armor shuddered as he rubbed his horn.
I really like Spike and RD's reaction to Starrk getting kissed and how Twilight admits to have liked it. Good job on the chapter.
hehehe nice
before i read which espada is this about? and are there more in it?
5596567 Espada #1 (Formerly) Coyote Starrk, and his Fraccione Lilynette Gingerback. They are the only ones in this story.
5596596 more plz Lol
5596596 ok
derpy and twilight got theirs. now dash must wait her turn. $10 says the next will be a princess.
5597101 Well, Derpy's wasn't with subtle interests unlike Twilight
5597141 true. I'll rethink this with the main six. I make another guess after your next update,
Ooooh! Some serious s*** is about to hit the fan! I can't wait! *Rubs hands together seriously*
Heh, poor Dashie was just a bit too slow... that's kinda ironic considering who she is ain't it? And... oooh, can't wait to see the awkwardness unfold if Twilight is there with Shining when he meets stark, big brother overprotectiveness go!
Soo glad this is back <3 great chapter
Please, if we're gonna have a romance, can we not have a harem?
5599432
me thinks this wont go that way. as much as it seems to be going that way, the espada's arent set up for it.
the only romance fic i have see pull it off was the one were U. cieffer (cant spell and too tired to google) and luna got together after he had amnesia and about...6 minths to a year (i think, been a while)
EDIT-
i love the related bar on fimific.
Cuatro
MOAR!!!
If I can ask... Quatro exist also in this Equestria? Or is only Lily and Starky? If he exist, is he going to make a cameo (Appear in front of Coyote or lily)?
Also... Is Lilly going to learn telekinesis or some other magic? or only the Cero?
Good Story so far
5669233 You have to read the description. This story is in no way related to Cuatro.
Twilight kissed Starkk because she wanted too. Derpy does it because she's a troll and thinks it's hilarious.
5670422 wanted to wake him up*
Fixed
Derpy just was herself and managed to find an effective waking method
5669887 Sorry, I missed that... And about Lily magic?
5671039 Just keep reading.
5670594
Sure, that's all it was.
5816587 I don't know yet.
Interesting! Looks like both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle have a "small" infatuation with Staark! Not only that, Lilynette might be being crushed on by Pipsqueak! Hmm...
Man these characters are as thick as bricks made out of tar.
Without knowing that sparkler was the pony possessed, enough evidence to blatantly point her out as the culprit has emerged like 3 or 4 chapters ago. Yet nobody notices these blatant pieces of evidence.
There's another thing bugging me, well not really bugging as more confusing me. It seems these mares fall way too easily. No offense at all to the writer, 'cause I love the story, every bit, but it just seems sorta rushed where their feelings are concerned. Starrk does something mundane that looks impressive to them, and boom, instant crush and attraction. The only differences are the Princesses. While Luna is neither here nor there on him, Celestia merely acts as his comfort, not a love-struck mare intent on his stallionhood. Any reason to that?