The sun was beginning to poke its head over the horizon in Ponyville. From her seated position out on one of the balconies of the Castle of Friendship, Starlight Glimmer was admiring the beauty in the sunrise. It was the small pleasures in life that gave her a future to look forward to, the promise of more to come.
Her gaze shifted from the sun to town of Ponyville. It might have still been a little foreign to her, but that didn't mean that it wasn't just as wonderful as her previous home. The fact that its size nearly dwarfed her old home had no bearing to her. Despite the uneasy feeling of never truly being settled in one place, this place had grown about as familiar to her as she could expect in the weeks since her arrival.
The sound of hoofsteps broke her reverie. Looking over her shoulder, Starlight could see the Princess of Friendship coming out of the shadows of the castle. The violet-color-coated pony was a welcoming sight to behold, if only slightly unnerving. Her presence meant that soon she would begin her studies anew.
Starlight nearly sweat-dropped as her teacher, Twilight Sparkle, approached her. Princess Twilight Sparkle was hard to please sometimes. She practically drilled her day and night in the lessons of friendship and magic. She doubted that today would be any different.
Still, she never tired of the alicorn's companionship. She was the first true friend she's had in a long time, and for her, she would do anything. That didn't make some of the lessons any easier, but it did settle her heart a bit. Twilight wanted only the best for her, she was sure of this.
"Its beauty never dulls the more you see it, does it Starlight?" Twilight asked. She had meant the sunrise. Placing a hoof over her shoulder and giving her a full-hearted squeeze, she smiled at her student. "Have you had a good night's rest?"
Nodding in affirmation, Starlight gave an affectionate squeeze to Twilight's hoof with her own before gently pulling away from the hug. "After that rigorous training session we had last night, I slept like a baby. I nearly missed the sunrise this morning."
With a giggle, Twilight responded, "You're affinity for magic is, as always, astounding. I had no idea your stamina was that good. With time and learning, who knows just how good you could become? You might even surpass me one day."
An unsure expression settling on her face, Starlight shook her head. "I don't know about that." She got up and withdrew from the balcony. Before stepping into the shadows, she said, "You know so many magical spells. I still only know a few."
A sound of disappointment came from her teacher as she tsked. "It's not the quantity of spells that makes one's magic strong, but the knowing of the principals behind the spells. True magic goes beyond the casting of a spell. But we can save that for another time."
The pink-coated mare stopped in her tracks. Suddenly, she dreaded what she presumed would be in store for her today. Still she asked, "What will we be focusing on today?"
Following after her, Twilight entered the room. With a quick spell cast, she illuminated the room, revealing it to be an antechamber. On its walls were decorations and parchments of various subjects. Starlight wasn't sure what was written on those scrolls, and she didn't dare peer into them.
As Twilight rejoined her, she said, "I'm glad you asked. Today, I thought we'd get together with the other harmonies for an outing. It has been quite a while since we've paid them a visit, and I think it's time for us to stretch our hooves and enjoy the day with our friends."
Starlight let out a breath of air in relief. There weren't any friendship lessons to be learned after all. "But I want you to keep a look out. A friendship lesson could-" Twilight continued as she pointed a hoof in Starlight's direction.
"Appear anywhere, I know." Starlight interrupted, slightly exasperated. For the first time since her stay at the Castle of Friendship had begun, she didn't want to think about friendship. She always found herself stressed out about it, worrying over the littlest things that could go wrong and ruin her friendship with Twilight and the other ponies. She would be more than happy to be in the passenger seat of their outings and simply enjoy everyone's presence, but usually Twilight had other plans for her in mind.
Twilight must have noticed Starlight's uneasiness because she walked over to her and placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "I know I've said this before, but if it becomes too overbearing for you just let me know. Remember, baby steps."
A warmth burned in her heart as she smiled back up to princess. "Thank you, Princess Twilight. You're the best friend I could have ever asked for."
"You too." Twilight continued onto the main chamber, a large room housing a table in which all the harmonies held meetings concerning matters of friendship and other pony emergencies. There, a purple-colored dragon by the name of Spike sat at the head chair, meant for Twilight Sparkle, filing his nails. When alerted to her reentry into the chamber, he jumped off the chair and resumed attention. "Ah, there you are Spike. Starlight and I were just about to leave. Would you care to join us?"
"Sure! What did you have in mind?" Spike said excitedly.
"Haven't decided yet. We'll just play it by ear for now." Twilight Sparkle said with a smile as she recalled a time where she would have meticulously planned every little detail of such a venture. In some circumstances this was still true, but thanks to her friends, she knew when such planning was simply unnecessary.
This notion did not go unnoticed by Spike, who immediately sprang to life at the prospect. "Now that's a plan I like to hear." He followed the two mares as they left the confines of the castle.
Seven ponies and one dragon were either standing or sitting in a clearing somewhere in the vicinity of Fluttershy's cabin. Joined by them were their pets who were enjoying playing with each other, some who were even up to mischief as they crossed from one end of the prairie to the other. Sprawled out before them was a tarp underneath hearty provisions courtesy of Applejack and Rarity.
There had been little debate on what their first even of the day should consist of. It had already been almost noon by the time they were ready to do anything; Rarity had been indecisive on what she should wear to their outing. There of course wasn't any rush, yet Rainbow Dash seemed slightly off-put by the wait.
Starlight Glimmer was treating herself to a daisy sandwich topped with cucumbers à la Rarity's fine cuisine and an apple cider to wash it down. So far during their picnic, she hadn't done much talking; what her friends had to say were much more interesting.
"And then, I said to Mrs. Cake, 'Gummy is too a chef. He's even got the hat!' He once even manned the store for me while I had to track down that runaway cupcake." Pinkie Pie said, the beam on her face as wide as ever. "Mrs. Cake can be so silly sometimes." She wiped a tear from her eye before digging into her own supply of food, which included nothing more than sugary substances.
Rarity wasn't as impressed. "Fascinating story, darling." She tried to sound persuasive, but it didn't sound entirely convincing. "But I do believe Mrs. Cake was anything. But. Silly! Why, if I left Opalescence in charge of the Boutique, it would be in shambles before sundown. Imagine how she must feel."
Looking taken aback, Pinkie Pie retrieved Gummy and presented him before her. "Gummy is more than capable of handling the store. Aren't you Gummy?" The small alligator blinked in each of his eyes separately as he gave them all the thousand yard stare.
The girls couldn't help but laugh a little as they imagined the green-colored pet running the store all by his lonesome. It was a good-natured laugh that led to Pinkie Pie giggling along side them.
After settling down, Twilight turned to Starlight and said, "What about you, Starlight? Do you have any funny stories to share with us?"
Taking a moment to ponder over her experiences for something noteworthy, Starlight looked down and scratched her chin. A lulling breeze picked up, caressing her fur. Unconsciously, she closed her eyes. "I think I have one. You remember how I enslaved a whole town once?"
"Oh, not this. Come on Star, we've been over this. You're reformed now." Rainbow Dash said as she shot her a worried expression. "You shouldn't continue beating yourself up over this."
Shaking her head ruefully, Starlight replied, "That's not the story. I don't believe I told you how my first attempt was a complete and utter failure. It's really quite embarrassing, but I think I'll be okay with telling you all.
"Before I had the Staff of Sameness, I tried to replicate its effect using a combination of Persuadere, Cutie Abjuration, and a bunch of other spells I didn't really have any background knowledge about to compel the townsfolk to be the same. Well, all that magic plus trying to cast it over such a wide area resulted in my spell backfiring. For the next three days, the entire town thought they were various animals. Frogs, Goats, you name it." Starlight giggled emptily as she thought of but one of her many failures.
She noticed that none of the others had joined in her laughter. She looked up to find that her friends were staring wide-eyed at her. "Right..."
Applejack came up to her and said, "Shucks, sugarcube. I ain't sayin' we don't rightly respect your choice ta open up ta us about that, but I just wanna make sure you're not still bearin' a grudge on yourself."
The concern on each of their faces was present. Starlight's lip quivered as she struggled to formulate a response that didn't raise more suspicion. At last, she relented and sighed. "Maybe just a little. But you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."
"Oh darling, we wouldn't be much of friends if we didn't consider your feelings." Rarity gave her a reassuring smile. The others mimicked her gesture.
"You guys...I don't know what to say except I-" Before she could say anymore, there was an abrupt interruption as somepony yelled for help off in the distance.
Immediately their conversation was put on hold, and they broke into a gallop after the source. It didn't take them long to find the somepony, a brown-maned, yellow-furred colt who was gasping for breath as he pressed a hoof to his chest. The poor pony looked frightened out of his skin. Starlight hoped that it wasn't as serious as her mind was telling her it was.
"We're here to help. What's the matter?" Twilight Sparkle asked.
The colt took a moment to catch his breath before he responded. When he did, his voice cracked as he stuttered, "I-It's in the t-town square. I-It's...I don't know w-what it is, but it's a-attacking Ponyville!"
It was all the warning they needed to hear as they proceeded off in the direction of the town square, leaving the colt behind in relative safety. In their approach they could tell something was wrong by the way townsfolk were fleeing in all directions. Smoke was billowing through the air; something was on fire, and ashes snowed the outer rims of Ponyville.
At the center of the village, they were met with an unfamiliar creature shadowed in darkness. It was short, no taller than Spike, and several tentacles were protruding from its body, whipping around fiercely. From the way its limbs slammed into buildings and ponies alike, it was evident that this the source of the destruction.
Stepping up to engage it, Twilight shouted, "Stop right there!" At first there was no response in its movements. It simply continued placing its back to them as it focused all its efforts into the movements of its appendages. When it turned around to face them, it shocked them all. It harbored no distinguishable face.
It shook, and the ground underneath its feet rumbled. A limb suddenly smacked itself into Twilight, sending her reeling to the ground.
"Twilight!" Everypony cried as they jumped into action.
A rope lassoed onto the creature, intending to hold it in place as the others went to Twilight's aid to check on her well-being.
Rainbow Dash alone followed up on Applejack's bind, speeding through the air and diving hoof first into the shadow monster. It careened into a building behind it, momentarily vanishing from sight. "Serves you right!" The blue Pegasus declared.
Three tentacles erupted from the building with intense swiftness, latching onto Rainbow Dash before she could escape their clutches. As it pulled her away, she fruitlessly struggled against them with all her might. "Hey, put me down!"
Terror rose in Starlight as she watched her friend get pulled into the building, and she conjured up scissors which cut through the appendages and freed her. Once its task was complete, the scissors were dispelled, and the pink mare dashed towards Rainbow.
The sight of the entity barreling through the hole in the building stopped her in her tracks. It flipped end over end, connecting its feet to the mare in flight and driving her into the building opposite the one it had just come out of.
In conjunction with its attack, the monster sent another of its limbs hurling towards Starlight, who gasped as the tentacle nearly connected before the rope attached to the creature drove it higher into the air. She looked over to Applejack, who still had lasso in mouth as she flung the offender onto her other side where she delivered a well timed buck straight into its gut.
It fell away from the group, grinding its feet into the ground to slow its momentum. A number of its tentacles struck the ground, burrowing their way underneath only to reappear around Applejack. "What the hay?" She cried out as they drug her to the ground.
Suddenly Starlight's teacher appeared before the shadow creature via teleportation. Immediately, she placed it into a bubble. "Why are you destroying Ponyville and hurting my friends?" Twilight Sparkle demanded.
The creature did nothing to respond, opting to merely levitate freely in the bubble Twilight placed around it. When there was no response, she continued, "Very well, you give me no choice but to send you away to Tartarus."
As if recognizing the abysmal name being called out, the monster shook violently. A red energy formed and began to bend around it, and it cried out, seemingly in pain. The magic warbled for a second, and suddenly Twilight's bubble dispersed. This came as a surprise to Twilight, who clearly didn't expect her spell to be negated so easily.
Around its head, the dark skin formed a tear that eventually coalesced into a glowing red eye. It continued shaking, letting out a roar as it lashed out at Twilight, who screamed as she was driven farther away from the group until she was no longer in sight.
By now, Rainbow Dash had recovered, and she yelled to everypony, "I've got her. The rest of you deal with that...whatever it is." She then disappeared off after Twilight.
"Okie Dokie Loki!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she retrieved her party cannon from seemingly nowhere. "Have some confetti!" She cried as a mixture of confetti and cake batter exploded from the instrument. Simultaneously, Applejack flung her lasso at the creature once more.
Starlight Glimmer, not wanting to leave all of the action to her friends, conjured a boulder overhead and completed their combination attack. With the flick of her horn, she sent it hurtling directly on top of it.
All at once, tentacles shot out, cutting through the batter, boulder, and lasso, rendering them ineffective. The offending appendages continued in their path to strike out at the five mares, including Fluttershy and Rarity who were quivering with fear and standing, guarded, respectively.
Only Starlight was able to escape the attack with a teleportation spell. She cursed herself at being unable to teleport all her friends as well, as she was too far away to do so. She didn't dwell on this fact for very long before turning back to face the foe. Desperation mounting, she focused all her effort into one final attack. A beam of light shot forth from her horn, its rays glistening in the sunlight and making direct contact with the being.
For but a moment it was completely engulfed in the magical blast. When the attack dissipated, the creature, with red energy still warbling around it, stood unaffected. No way, there was no effect to it? Before, magic clearly affected the creature, but now that seemed not to be the case.
There was no more time for her to assess the situation as more tentacles wormed their way around her. With another use of the teleportation spell, Starlight transported to safety only to find herself struck by another well-placed tentacle. Through foggy senses, her last moments before passing out were spent trying to fathom why he was able to predict her transport's destination so well.
The landing was rough, and it left Twilight Sparkle winded for a few moments at a meadow on the outskirts of Ponyville. As she lain there in soft grass, she ran through her mind all of the details of the battle, gauging the significance of each to come up with an overall strategy for defeating the unwanted intruder.
It was her every intention to immediately spring back into the action and help her friends, but she felt that if she didn't take a few moments to think, then the results of such an action would yield similar results. She did not have the luxury of failing. And it was in this way she afforded a moment of her time.
One particular detail about the whole encounter stuck out to her. At the moment that the red magical aura formed around the creature, her magic bubble prison was nullified. It wasn't much to go off of, but she felt solving that puzzle might be the key to victory, for if she can determine why her magic was cancelled, then the intruder was as good as caught.
A sudden thought popped into her head, a tactic she might be able to implement that would result in a definitive answer. "I have to get back to them right away," She said, a plan now laid out carefully in her mind.
As she took flight, however, something bound her from behind. She looked around herself and was surprised to find magical chains, cold to the touch, wrapping around her tightly and reeling her in. She tried glance behind her to find the source of this offense only to find that her movement was restricted. She struggled against the chain and tried to cast magic, but the energy merely fizzled off of her horn unexpectedly.
"We can't have any of that, now can we, Princess?" Came a voice from behind her. The source came into view suddenly as she was turned around. Before her was a bipedal creature, something akin to a minotaur-goat hybrid. His fur was brown and black and unkempt, and he had a beard the length of her mane. His eyes were silvery white, staring right through her. His ears were scraggly and misshapen.
"Who are you, and what do you want with me?" Twilight cried as she continued to tussle with the chains.
The new figure ignored her question, holding out a hand in front of him as he set himself to deep concentration. Before them, ripples of violent energy coalesced, snaking back and forth from the ground in a jagged pattern. In a constant state of flux, the energy warbled until it finally ripped a hole in the space-time continuum, revealing an entirely different plane of existence.
Twilight gasped as she watched the scene play out. A fear grew within her as her mind conjured fantasies of this new person's master plan. He was going to take her away from her friends, her home, to wherever that was. His reasoning for doing so was still a mystery, and she could only imagine what was in store for her next. Isolation? Interrogation? Torture?
"What do you want with me?" She repeated her question. "Why are you taking me?"
As she struggled against her chains for one last time, movement in her peripherals caught her attention. Hovering in midair by the steady flapping of her wings was Rainbow Dash, who was also soaking in this scene. She tried to cry out to her friend, but she found her voice was caught in her throat. What if this minotaur-goat person captured her too?
"Don't worry Twilight, I'm coming!" Rainbow Dash yelled. The blue Pegasus suddenly surged forth at an alarming speed, reducing their distance to almost nothing in an instant.
The figure took note of this, and with his free hand he conjured a wall of bricks between them. "I've been planning this for far too long to be stopped by the likes of you now." He said just before advancing upon the portal and stepping through. Moments later, Twilight was pulled through as well, and the portal began to close behind them.
Rainbow Dash barely had enough time to avoid crashing into the wall, twirling around and over it. Her sights now set on the portal once more, she could see it growing smaller. Desperation clouded her thoughts. Forgoing all sense of safety, she dove at the portal at even a faster rate. Despite this, by the time she had reached Twilight it was already too late. The portal closed behind her, and Rainbow Dash crashed head first into the building behind it.
Stars spun around her as she slowly reoriented herself. She would have a headache after that one for sure. When her headache began to subside, realization donned on her that her friend had been kidnapped. She shook her head and cried out, "Twilight!"
With a mighty huff of air, Applejack stood laboriously in front of the beast, an eye clenched shut in searing pain. She glanced around her and noticed that she was the only remaining pony standing. She struggled to come up with a plan that would work where the others have failed, especially in her current condition.
Was this the end? No, that was fool's talk. "I've gotta try. My friends are countin' on me ta stop this vermin." She murmured to herself. Sufficiently motivated to continue, she retrieved her lasso and took a tentative side-step around the monstrosity before her.
It stood still, as if waiting for her to make the first move. Its newly acquired eye stared menacingly at her. It growled, shifting its weight in time to Applejack's steps. The tentacles continued writhing around it freely, prepared to counter any attack on their owner.
Those limbs proved to be its most dangerous weapon, and it would likely negate any ranged attack against it. There was really only one course of action available, the orange mare decided. She would have to get close to it.
She darted forward, closing the distance between them. In anticipation, two tentacles struck out at her on either side. She leapt over them, and skidded closer to it on her forehooves. At the same time, she spun around and pointed her hind quarters at it. She delivered a powerful buck directly into its jaw and sent it straight upward into the sky.
Without missing a beat, she flung her lasso around the creature and reeled him back in for another buck to the face. The second attack sent him sprawling across the ground, kicking up dust and masking his body.
Applejack was surprised when black appendages burst forth from the dirt cloud and smacked her into a fountain at the center of the town square. Water sprayed into all directions and soaked the orange mare's fur.
Pain coursed through her body as she struggled to stand back up. Pressing weight onto her hoof, an intense burning sensation lanced through her, and she fell back to the ground. "Gosh darnit, nopony is in any condition to be doin' this. Why in tarnation can't I stand?"
After the dust settled, the monster was still standing tall. It seemed no worse for wear, despite all of the attacks it's been dealt. It growled once more, creating a clicking noise as it advanced upon Applejack.
Just as it reached her and was about to finish her off, the sounds of magic being produced distracted the creature. It turned to stare in the direction of the source. A blindingly white aura shuddered for a moment before dissipating, revealing a determined Starlight Glimmer.
Applejack stared at her in befuddlement. "Starlight?" She was pretty sure that Starlight was too injured to continue fighting, yet there wasn't a single scratch on her. She glanced over to where she last remembered seeing Starlight. Sure enough, she was still there. Since when were there two Starlight Glimmers?
"You don't belong here!" cried the new Starlight Glimmer. She teleported directly next to the monster, a shining light emanating from her horn as the tentacles wrapped around both of them. Another blinding light encapsulated them. When the light died away, Starlight Glimmer, the monster, and a chunk of the ground they stood on were gone.
"What the hay ... just happened?" Applejack asked to herself just before her consciousness faded and black was all that she could see.